#i took my guitar for granted so badly. i miss her | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

quickspinner · 4 years

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Second Chance - Ch 5 Cold Feet

Luka played the chord progression again and sighed. Nothing was working. He put the guitar aside gently, resisting the urge to toss it across the room. He walked out of his studio and threw himself down on his living room couch, glowering at nothing. He checked the time. He had another hour and a half to himself before he had to head back to the studio, but he was making so little progress, maybe he should just go on in.

He missed Marinette, Luka admitted to himself miserably. It was like having her here was a week-long high that he was coming down from. He’d been down since her things had vanished from his home. Everything was exactly the way it had been. Plain. Boring. Why hadn’t he ever put any effort into decorating this place? Granted, he hadn’t had much in the way of stuff to bring with him when he moved in, and most of that went in the bedroom. Then he’d been touring, and it wasn’t like he ever had visitors. He lived in his bedroom and on his balcony, he worked in his home studio and at the dining room table.

He thought fondly of the cluttered chaos of the Liberty. It had only gotten worse since he and Juleka moved out. Without her children coming and going and bringing friends in and out, necessitating a minimum level of order simply so people could get around, Anarka was free to live her precepts to the fullest, and she did. His apartment décor might be minimalist even by normal standards but it was positively barren according to Anarka’s. Juleka’s place was a little better, but Juleka had more interests outside of music. Luka was pretty sure her collection of hair accessories alone would take up more boxes than everything he owned. And Juleka lived with Rose, so there were plants and flowers and unexplainable frilly things everywhere. Rose had given him some plants when they’d all moved in, but...well. Luka was frequently too distracted to remember to feed himself, let alone take care of plants.

He suddenly remembered Marinette’s soft sympathy as she told him, You’ve been lonely. He’d answered, I guess I have.

Luka looked at his phone, considering. Anarka was somewhere on the Mediterranean out of touch by anything except satellite phone at the moment, and wouldn’t be back in Paris for another month. His old friends had lives of their own that didn’t include sleeping until noon and eating lunch at dinner time. He scrolled idly down his contacts and paused. Ivan worked construction and his hours were sometimes weird. He was a manager now, too, maybe he would have a few minutes to spare. If Ivan even cared to speak with him. Luka hadn’t exactly been in touch.

Luka took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and his thumb moved and he raised the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Ivan, it’s Luka,” he said with a smile. “No, nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to catch up a bit. Got a few minutes for an old friend?”

Really all he had to do was get Ivan rolling, and let him go on about Mylène and all the things they were doing to get ready for the baby. Luka could hear Ivan’s fear buzzing under his words.

“It’s scary, yeah?” Luka observed once there was a break in Ivan’s words. “It’s scary like all change is scary, and there’s no take backs on this one.”

“I—yeah, it really is,” Ivan admitted. “We both really wanted this and now I’m scared shitless.”

“Anyone would be,” Luka agreed. “But you’ve got Mylène. She’s probably scared too. You can be scared together, and you can get brave together.”

“She doesn’t act scared,” Ivan said begrudgingly. “She’s all plans and excitement and—“

“And keeping busy so you don’t figure out how terrified she is?” Luka chuckled.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “You think so?”

“I don’t know,” Luka admitted. “I mean, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you guys and maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. But I know that she’s facing all the same things you are, plus all the craziness of actually carrying a child in her body. If she’s not completely terrified, I’ll eat my guitar.”

“Yeah,” Ivan said slowly. “Yeah, I...shit, I’ve been so wrapped up in my own head that I never even questioned it.” He paused. “I gotta talk to her.”

“Probably should. But Ivan, you and Mylène have so much love. I’m not worried about you. You love her and you love the baby and I truly believe you’ll be okay. You can’t play the whole song the first time you pick up an instrument, right? You’ve gotta break it down. You don’t have to be perfect on day one. You’ll learn as you go.” He chuckled. “I mean, if my mom could do it, you guys should be gold.”

“Thanks, man. It sure is good to talk to you.”

Luka smiled, touched. “I’m sorry I’ve been so out of touch. I’ll try to do better.”

“No sweat, man, you’re living your dream. Speaking of which,” and Luka raised his eyebrows because he’d never heard Ivan sound sly before, “I hear you’ve been spending a lot of time with Marinette.”

“As much as either of us can spare,” Luka chuckled. “Which is not nearly as much as I’d like, honestly. She’s…” He paused. “She’s grown up a lot since I saw her last. We’re trying to take things slow and just...see what happens.”

“Luka,” Ivan said flatly. “I know you love her. You’ve been in love with her since we were kids. What the hell are you waiting for?”

Luka sighed heavily. “I don’t know, I...it just seems kind of crazy, doesn’t it? That she would just somehow show up out of the blue and suddenly I can have everything I ever wanted. It just...it sounds too good to be true. I keep looking for the catch. And that’s—it makes me feel like I’m not being fair to her, too.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know, this shit is just...complicated.”

“Marinette makes things complicated, it’s like her superpower or something,” Ivan snorted. “But I never thought you would be the one to get things all tangled up. Just let it flow and be happy, man.”

Luka sighed. “I want to, I just…after last time...I mean I told her that I don’t hold it against her, and that was absolutely true, but it just...makes it difficult. Moment to moment, I’m so happy, I just—” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Damnit, I just got Juleka to lay off the gloom and doom, and now I’m doing it.”

Ivan was silent for a moment, and then he said, “Maybe I should be the one asking you what you’re afraid of.”

Luka lifted his eyes and stared at his empty living room. This, he thought. I’m afraid loving her and thinking she loves me back will change things so much that I’ll never be satisfied again when she leaves. “I’m afraid she doesn’t mean it,” he said quietly. “That whatever epiphany she had while she was away, whatever it was about seventeen-year-old me that she was missing won’t be enough for her to stay once she’s gotten closure on the what if.”

There was a shuffle on the other end of the line. “I mean, I guess that’s fair,” Ivan conceded. “So maybe it’s smart to keep things slow. At the same time, you know Marinette overthinks everything, and she cares about everybody. I don’t think she’d have approached you if she wasn’t pretty sure this was what she wanted. I mean, she has to know how badly it would hurt you if she couldn’t stick it out so...she must be pretty sure.”

“I hope you’re right,” Luka sighed. “Most days I think so too. We’re...we’re really good together. It’s—” He blew out a breath and shook his head. “It’s just too damn perfect is what it is. I can’t possibly be this lucky.”

“Now that sounds familiar,” Ivan chuckled. “I seem to remember you saying the same thing at the party we had to celebrate you signing with the label. Ugh, listen, man, I gotta get back to work,” Ivan said apologetically. “But—thanks for reaching out. And for the advice. Mylène’s putting together a gender reveal party, we’d love it if you and the girls could come.”

“Definitely,” Luka smiled. “Just text me the date as soon as you have it so I can make sure we stay free. Take care, Ivan. I’ll try to be in touch more often from now on.”

“You too, Luka. See you around.”

Luka lowered the phone and sighed, but he was smiling. He still didn’t know what to do about the song, but at least he felt less alone. He tapped his phone on his knee and stood up.

“All right, Couffaine,” he muttered. “Back to basics.” He went back into the studio, queued up a beat on his sound system, turned up his amp, and picked up his guitar. Forget trying to write, it was time to have some fun. He moved his body to the beat for a moment, and then started to riff.

***

When he finished at the recording studio that evening, he had a text from Juleka. Marinette’s hanging out with us until you’re free, just come over when you get home.

The sound of laughter greeted him when he walked into Juleka’s apartment and he had to smile. He found all three girls sitting around their dining room table. Juleka was laughing a full-body laugh that usually meant she was laughing at him. “And yeah, she was drunk,” Juleka choked out between giggles. “But the girl was hot, I mean sex on legs. So she’s rubbing all over him and she got like, no reaction, he’s just looking at her and his face was bright red but with this bored expression, and so she says, ‘What, are you gay?’ and he said—he said—” Her face was turning red, she was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe, let alone finish the story.

“Whaaaaat?” Marinette whined, and Juleka just shook her head, laughing so hard she was silent. Rose was also laughing too hard to finish the story.

“I said, ‘Maybe I’m just not turned on by a complete and total lack of respect for personal boundaries.’” Luka supplied, leaning against the wall. “That got her to rear back enough for security to get a hold on her and they dragged her drunk ass off me and threw her out. Do I need to get you some oxygen, Jules?”

Marinette burst out laughing, and Juleka put her face on the table, still shaking with laughter. Rose, pink-cheeked and giggling, rubbed her back and encouraged her to breathe before she passed out.

Luka watched the three of them laugh with a smile on his face and a stinging sensation behind his eyes. I want this. I want to be able to have this forever. “I’m glad you guys think it’s funny,” he grumbled, trying to look put upon. “She smelled like a frat party.” He shuddered.

Marinette giggled.

Luka smiled and held out his hand. “Had enough of these two lunatics yet?” Marinette smiled and took his hand, and let him pull her up out of her seat.

Juleka raised her hand and waved, her head still down on the table, though she was finally breathing and not laughing. Rose did the same, still rubbing Juleka’s back. “Have a good night, you two!”

“I’m glad you came,” Luka said as they crossed the hall. “I know you’re probably tired.”

“I am, and I probably shouldn’t stay too late,” she said, as he opened the door, “but I wanted to see you. How’s the music going?”

He shot a soft smile back at her as he hung his keys back on the rack. “Pretty terrible, actually. I really wanted to see you too. You want to watch something? Or I could put some music on.”

“Music sounds good. Unless you want to play?”

“I do not want to play,” he snorted. “The guitar is in time out after all the frustration today. Which is probably good, honestly, I was playing myself sore and getting nowhere.”

Marinette frowned as she watched him go to his sound system and start up a playlist. “Why so much trouble?”

“I don’t know,” he lied, and then sighed, collapsing on the couch. Marinette slid into his lap and he put his arms around her waist. “I mean...I sort of know,” he admitted. “I get these surges where everything really flows and then there’s always sort of a slump afterwards, so that might be it. Except this...doesn’t feel exactly the same.” He sighed and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I’m trying really hard here not to admit that I missed you so much I was too depressed to write music, but there it is, I’m just that pathetic.”

Marinette giggled. “You’re not pathetic. I think it’s sweet.”

“I don’t even know how to say it without sounding weird,” Luka sighed. “But it’s just...I don’t know, you just put out this creative energy and it’s easy to get caught up in.”

"Mm.” Marinette looked slightly surprised and mildly amused, but not put off, and he relaxed a little. “Do you know why I came over tonight?” Marinette asked him, with a tenderness in her voice that he wasn’t prepared for, “Even though I really ought to be either working or sleeping?” Luka blinked at her. “You’re so steady and calm. It’s...I don’t know, grounding? I needed that today. I really needed it.” She shifted to put her head down on his shoulder. “I’ve always been surrounded by crazy energetic people. Nino can be chill, but he can also lose his chill spectacularly. The only people who’ve ever really given me this peaceful feeling are my mother, and you. I didn’t realize how badly I needed it until I was away from you both.” She sighed, but he could hear the smile in it, even if he couldn’t see it at the moment. “So if you’re pathetic, I guess so am I.”

“Marinette?”

“Hmm?”

“You think, when your presentation is over...maybe you could help me redecorate?”

Marinette lifted her head, looked around at the room, white-walled, with the same white blinds and off-white curtains that had been here since he bought the place. “ Re decorate?” she said drily.

He chuckled and squeezed her lightly. “Yeah, I never had the time or the taste to do much. It was fine before but...I think it could use a little color now.” He chuckled. “Maybe some of your energy will stay.”

“We can do that,” Marinette said, turning to look at him. “It’ll be fun. Now if only I could think of a way to carry your steadiness with me.”

Luka grinned, and dug in his pocket, coming up with a smooth, flat, translucent blue stone. “Sea glass. I found it on a beach we were visiting, oh, I don’t even remember how many years ago. Bigger than what you usually find and kind of a rare color, so I kept it. I’ve carried it with me for years. I like the symbolism, I guess. Seaglass starts out as plain old broken glass, and it takes decades to wear the rough edges away and make it like this. This little rock has been going with the flow probably for longer than we’ve been alive.” He took Marinette’s hand and closed her fingers over the stone.

“Luka, you don’t have to—“

“I want to,” he told her, dipping his head slightly to meet her eyes. “Whatever else happens, Marinette, I always want to be here for you when you need a calm place.” He cupped her cheek in his palm and kissed her softly.

Marinette smiled. “Thank you, Luka.” She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. This time his sigh was shaky.

Marinette tilted her head slightly. “What’s up, Luka? You seem...I don’t know, kind of emotional tonight.”

“Yeah,” he said roughly, and cleared his throat. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. Just tell me how I can help.”

“You are helping. Can you just...hold me for a while?”

Marinette moved away to tuck the sea glass stone in her purse, and then shifted their position so that his head was on her shoulder, and her were arms wrapped around him. One hand continued to slip through his hair. “You shouldn’t be so lonely, Luka. I know how much you love your family, but you need friends, too.”

“I’m figuring that out, I guess. I called Ivan today.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah,” he said, nuzzling into her neck. “It was good. I need to try harder. I need to be a better friend.”

Marinette pressed her lips into his forehead. “You just need a little balance in your life. I know getting started was hard, I know it took a lot of work to get to this point. But you’re successful, now. You don’t have to be working constantly. You can find a balance. You're good at that.”

“Yeah?” Luka smiled against her skin. “What about you?”

“I’m still in the hard part,” Marinette sighed ruefully. “I still have a lot of work to do.” She nudged his temple with her nose. “But—and I don’t mean this to sound mean, Luka—I’ve managed to do it without isolating myself. I kept my old friends and I made new ones. And I know you feel awkward with new people, but you’re so kind and so warm and you have such a big heart. There’s no reason for you to feel so alone.” She hesitated. “And...I know from experience that I can’t be the only support in your life. I can’t stand being smothered.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“I know.” Marinette’s fingers moved down to stroke the short hair at the nape of his neck, and his eyes closed in pleasure. “I heard from Juleka how careful you are not to lean on her too hard. But burying yourself in work isn’t the right answer either.”

“I get it,” Luka said softly. “You’re right. I didn’t realize how alone I felt until you were here. I’ll start reaching out more, I promise.” He cuddled closer to her and changed the subject. “Are you ready for the movie premier Thursday?”

People were getting tired of the XY scandal and the reporters he’d been dreading were bound to start showing up sooner rather than later. Luka had an invitation to a movie premiere Thursday night, and it seemed like as good a time as any to go out and officially be seen with Marinette. After some discussion amongst the three of them, Lucille had put together a press release and Luka had sent it to his friend at the entertainment magazine, requesting that he hold onto it until Wednesday and promising him an interview in exchange. At least this way they could control when and how the news got out, and it meant they would be public before Marinette’s presentation to the internship committee. Marinette would just as soon have kept it under wraps until afterwards, but Luka and Lucille were both convinced their secret would get out on its own before then.

Marinette sighed. “I suppose.” She paused. “There was kind of something I wanted to talk to you about for that.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t want it to sound weird.”

Luka huffed a chuckle. “Then don’t make it weird. Just say it, Marinette.”

“Okay.” Marinette took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I want you to know I’m not going to wear my designs when we go out together.”

Luka blinked. “Okay.”

“Listen, I know that you know that I’m not after you for your fame,” she said earnestly. “You know that and I know that and Juleka and Rose know that, and whatever anybody else thinks isn’t important.”

“I’m with you so far.”

“But people are going to say it. Especially because of Adrien. They’re going to say I used him to get that internship and that I’m using you now to promote my business.”

“They probably will,” he agreed quietly. “But like you said, we all know it’s not true.”

“It isn’t, but it is,” Marinette shot back. “It’s not the reason why I want to be with you, but it is a side effect. People will pay attention to us when we’re out together.”

“They will. I don’t mind, Marinette. Your designs deserve all the attention they can get.”

“Well, I know it’s probably practical to think that way,” Marinette sighed, “but I just can’t. I don’t want those rumors to be even a little bit true. So, here’s what I’ve been thinking.”

“I’m listening.”

“I made a lot of friends while I was away, a lot of talented young designers who are amazing but who may not get a chance at exposure like this for years. I did a lot of trades. I’d rather wear something from one of them.”

“If that makes you happy, Marinette, I certainly don’t mind.”

Marinette chewed her lip. “You don’t think I’m being ridiculous?”

Luka shrugged, his face still against her neck, breathing in her perfume. “I don’t, but who cares if you are? It’s your body, your business, and your peace of mind. I’ll support any decision you want to make about those things.”

Marinette sighed, laying her head on his. “You’re so sweet, Luka.”

“I may not have been a great student but I did pass being a decent human being with flying colors.”

“I missed you so much today,” she murmured unexpectedly, sending a lightning thrill along his nerves. Her nails dragged lightly around his scalp and he muffled his moan in her neck.

“I missed you too.” He turned his face slightly and dragged his tongue lightly along her pulse, enjoying the way she gasped.

“I thought you just wanted to cuddle,” she teased, fingers sliding up and down his arms.

“I did. We did.” He nosed up her neck to press a kiss just under her jaw, and lowered his voice to something deep and warm. “I like cuddling.” Luka trailed soft, slow kisses along her jaw to her chin. “I like that we can talk about things together.” She moved to meet him as he kissed her mouth, softly and then deeper. “I like it when you hold me.” He kissed her again. “I like it when you touch my hair.” Luka rubbed his nose lightly along hers.“I just...like being close.” He kissed her again, trailing the fingers of his left hand along her cheek and down her neck, and Marinette arched into his touch. Her eyelids fluttered and then her blue eyes focused on him with all the warmth and want he could have wished for. “And I like when you look at me like that,” he whispered as her arms wound around his neck. Luka pressed close, sliding his hands up her back and wrapping her as tightly to him as he could. “Can I really have this?” he mumbled into her shoulder. “Are you really going to stay?”

“What was that?” she asked breathlessly. He raised his head and kissed her long and slow.

“Nothing, baby. Just...tell me you missed me again.”

He kept her much later than either of them intended, lost in soft touches and deep kisses and a burning want that was growing harder to deny. It was tempting to ask her to stay, but her clear exhaustion and his unsettled mood kept the question behind his teeth.

Luka went to bed alone.

***

With the movie premiere date/announcement all planned out, and they were probably on their last few days of privacy now, and Luka hated that they couldn’t spend more of those days together. He had meetings with his record label all day, which always left him a little annoyed. Luka knew he ought to be grateful for their focus on the bottom line, because it kept him bringing in a paycheck, the kind of paycheck he could barely conceive of when he first started in this business, but their general lack of artistic vision and integrity always grated on him. He glanced at the time and wondered if she’d be finished soon. She’d been working a lot of late nights as the deadline loomed ever closer, and he knew she was annoyed to be losing time for the movie premiere at all.

He should leave her alone, she was busy. She was working, like he was supposed to be working. It would be really, really lame to bother her just because he missed her.

Luka squeezed his phone in his hand.

She probably wouldn’t even answer.

He called anyway, sighing at his own neediness.

She picked up almost immediately. “Hey, Luka, what’s up?”

“Hey,” he grinned broadly. “Just had a few minutes and wanted to check in. Are you busy?”

“Swamped,” she sighed, and his heart sank. He could hear people and machines in the background and concluded she must be on the production floor. “There’s so many things to do and we’re starting to run short on time. Honestly, we might be here all night.”

“Have you eaten?” he asked, and sighed at the guilty pause. “Come on, Marinette, you know what’s going to happen if you don’t eat and hydrate. You’ll lose a lot of time if you pass out or break down.”

“I know, I know, I just—I didn’t plan for anything and I don’t have time—”

“How about if I bring you dinner?” Luka asked, perking up at the idea. “I’ve got some time before I have to get back to the studio and I’m not getting anything done here. I could bring in dinner for your whole team if you want.”

“Luka, that’s too much, you shouldn’t—I mean—well, I guess I could ask, but you have your own things to do and—”

“Marinette, I’ll buy dinner for the whole damn building if it means I get to see you for a few minutes,” he said without thinking, and then coughed, embarrassed. “Seriously, it’s no big deal. You want to send me an email with what you want? Or you can just tell me how many people you’ve got there and I’ll call Lu, I’m sure she knows somewhere that would work.”

“I hate to bother Lucille over something like this,” Marinette fretted.

“She gets paid to put up with me bugging her for stupid things, and I don’t do it often, it’ll be fine,” Luka promised. “Just tell me how many people and if there’s any restrictions and I’ll pick it up and bring it over myself. I’d love to see you work, if that’s allowed.”

“Mmmm, sort of? Normally you wouldn’t be allowed, but since this room is only working on my stuff and it’ll be after hours anyway, I can probably get you in. Let me know when you’ll be here and I’ll talk to security.”

“I’ll text you,” he promised, and hung up, grinning.

***

There she was. Like lightning on the water, a charge he felt tingling on his skin even from this distance, beautiful and dangerous and thrilling.

Luka made a mental note to write that down later.

The person she was speaking to spotted him and said something, and Marinette turned and lit up with a smile. She waved at him and signaled “one minute.” He raised one hand in acknowledgement and thanked the departing security guard who had escorted him in. Luka set the takeout bags carefully down on the floor at his feet, stuck his hands in his pockets, and waited, humming the bridge he’d been working on to himself.

Everyone in the room had clearly taken advantage of the fact that they were here after hours. Shoes, jackets, and ties were discarded, collars were loosened. Marinette herself was gorgeously disheveled, padding towards him her stockings with her blouse untucked from her skirt and her hair piled haphazardly on top of her head and tied with what looked like a piece of scrap fabric.

“Holy shit that’s Luka Couffaine,” a voice hissed to his left, and Luka glanced that way.

“Oh God, he heard me,” one of the young men breathed. The wall behind the young man’s worktable was adorned with a large poster of Luka in full stage gear and makeup, which is to say, looking nothing like he currently did except for the tattoos on his bare arms and the blue tips of his hair. It took a pretty devoted fan to recognize him out of costume. Luka smiled to himself and turned back to Marinette.

His smile widened into a grin as she walked up to him. “Hey heartbreaker,” he greeted. “Hungry?”

Her eyes travelled deliberately over him and heat crept up his neck. “Definitely.”

“Jaques,” the young man hissed, “Jaques, Luka freaking Couffaine is blushing at my boss and I can’t deal.”

Luka heard the sound of someone being smacked upside the head and bit his lip to keep the laughter in. “Interesting folks you have working here,” he said to Marinette as she rolled her eyes. “Think you could introduce me to my fan over there, or will he have a heart attack if I talk to him?”

“He might,” Marinette giggled, waving a couple of people over to take the food from him. “But he’ll be too excited to stay dead for long.”

“You could have warned him.”

She shrugged. “This is so much more entertaining. And to be honest, I kinda forgot.” Marinette made a face at him and he chuckled.

“I feel so appreciated,” he teased.

“I bet Francis would appreciate you,” she teased back.

“C’mon, introduce me before this gets weird,” he laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders.

“Oh my God,” Francis gasped as they came his way.

“Luka, this is Francis,” Marinette said cheerfully. “He’s a big fan of your work.”

“Hey, Francis,” Luka gave his most friendly smile and offered his hand. “I’m Luka.” Francis kept one hand over his mouth. The other shook as he grasped Luka’s. Luka squeezed his hand lightly, reassuring, and used his smoothest, mildest voice as he said, “Nice to meet you.”

“Your music saved my life,” Francis whispered, and Luka’s expression softened from mild amusement to genuine concern as he covered their joined hands with his free one.

“I’m glad it helped you,” Luka said warmly. “I hope you’re in a better place now.”

“Yes. Yes, I am, but I...I’m serious, I wouldn’t have made it through that time in my life without you.” Francis flinched. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to make it weird, it just—I never expected to meet you this way and why can’t I stop talking—”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Luka moved his hand to Francis’ shoulder. “I’m just a regular guy who likes to play music. Thank you for listening to it. I’m glad my music could touch you, and I’m thrilled that it could help. Thank you for telling me, that was really brave, and it honestly means a lot to me.”

“You, um…” Francis’ eyes flicked over his shoulder to Marinette, who had retreated to deal with some issue or other. “You and Marinette, are you…like, together?”

“Yeah, but…” Luka put a finger to his lips and winked. “Let’s keep that to ourselves for just a little bit longer, okay? I’d really appreciate it if that stayed off social media for a few more days.”

“Right, of course,” Francis said breathlessly, nodding a little too fast. “I got it.”

“Well, thanks for being a fan, Francis, and thanks for helping Marinette out. I know she appreciates your hard work, and I appreciate getting her back in one piece and mostly sane at the end of the day. Do me a favor and take care of her for me, okay?” Luka glanced at the poster behind Francis. “I can sign that, if you like.”

Francis eyes went huge. “Oh my God yes please. Uh, pen, I need—”

“It’s good,” Luka chuckled, reaching in his back pocket for the sharpie he kept there. “I hate disappointing people so I try to be prepared.” He signed the poster, choosing not to hear the frantically whispered conversation behind him that he was pretty sure was about his ass. Thankfully, Marinette was there with a plate of food when he turned around.

“Are you eating with us, Luka?” she asked.

“I was hoping to,” he smiled at her. “But I don’t want to interrupt your work, I know you’re busy. I can go if I’ll be a distraction.”

“You can stay for a while,” she smiled up at him. “Unless Francis sews his finger to the garment or something.”

Luka flinched. “Ew.”

“Sorry,” Marinette laughed at him. “Hazards of the trade. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Come on, I’ve got a work table over here that’s mostly clear, we can eat there.” He noticed the tension in her shoulders.

“How are things going?” he asked.

“I have faith that we’ll get there,” Marinette said with less conviction than she probably intended. “It’s only my entire reputation and future career on the line after all.” Her hand came up to grasp a pendant on a black silk cord that hung around her neck. When she let go, he saw it was the blue sea glass stone he’d given her, wrapped artistically in silver wire.

Luka had missed having the stone in his pocket since he’d given it to her, but looking at her now, wearing it and taking comfort from it, having turned it into something practical and beautiful, made giving it up totally worth it.

“You’ll make it,” Luka said with the confidence Marinette lacked. He caught the annoyed look she shot him as she fished out their food, and smiled. “I’m not patronizing,” he said, keeping his voice low. “You’ll make it. You might have to scale some things down, you might have to edit, but creativity and adaptability are your greatest strengths. Even if you do wind up having to change your original vision to make the deadline, you’ll come up with something fantastic. Maybe even better than what you planned.” He caught her hand and squeezed it before letting go. “There’s no shame in having to cut an idea and save it for later. I’ve done it, on songs that weren’t working or when I come up with a good line or riff that just doesn’t fit the melody. It’s a sign of maturity as an artist.”

“That’s true,” Marinette said thoughtfully as they began to eat. “I’m much better at editing than I used to be. That’s—“ she paused. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and suddenly she was across the room like a shot, flipping through a stapled printout and scribbling notes.”

Luka chuckled and continued eating. When Marinette returned he could see in her eyes that she wasn’t all there, so he stayed quiet other than quietly encouraging her to eat when her fork stopped moving. When she pushed her half-empty plate aside and stood up, there was purpose in her movements.

“Huddle up real quick, team, I want to make some changes.”

Luka watched her give orders to her team with both curiosity and admiration. Marinette wasn’t much older than anyone else in the room, clearly much younger than a couple of them, but she spoke with confidence and conviction. He’d seen her make motivational speeches before and she’d always been good at them, but that was class president good. This was take-the-fashion-world by storm good.

He had to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was stunning when she was in charge. He watched the faces around her go from worried to relieved to excited.

After she dismissed the team back to their work, Marinette did slow circles around the room, checking in, offering encouragement or correction, carrying things from table to table. She was competent, she was in control, and even stressed out of her mind and on a deadline she was kind . She reminded people with still-full plates at their elbows to eat, she corrected mistakes gently. When people had questions, she was confident in her answers, even when it took her some time to come up with them. The place hummed with slightly manic energy and he could feel it seeping into him.

I’m not going to get any sleep tonight, am I? he thought as his fingers began to lightly tap out a beat on the tabletop.

“Marinette,” Luka called softly as she passed him, and she turned. “Scratch paper?” She smiled and brought him paper and a pen. He hummed softly to himself as he made some notes, pen in one hand and fork in the other. The fork was quickly forgotten; several times in her rounds of the room Marinette nudged him to remind him to eat. Vaguely Luka made a mental note to talk to Lucille about setting up more collaborations. He was really thriving on just being near the energy of other creators. His head began to bob as he closed his eyes to listen to the bass line forming in his mind.

#quickspins #backlog #second chance #lukanette #i am lukanette trash i admit it #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #mlfics #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng

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mikauzoran · 4 years

Text

Lukanette/Lukadrienette: To Waltz Among Shades: (Chapter Nine Point Five) Omake One

To Waltz Among Shades: (Chapter Nine Point Five) Omake One: Reconnecting

Luka took a deep breath as he reached out for the doorknob. Then he stood there, out in the hallway, for a solid minute, mentally preparing himself to renter the apartment and face Marinette.

He was tempted to just go home, just leave his guitar, leave his wallet, leave his phone, and come back later when he wasn’t feeling so raw. He didn’t want to deal with this. He didn’t want to fix things. He just wanted to be upset for a little while, languish in his feelings for once…but if he didn’t have his phone, he might miss a call from Adrien—or worse: a call from Plagg because Adrien was too catatonic or stubborn to call himself.

Luka’s grip on the doorknob tightened reflexively as he shuddered at the thought.

And then there was the way Adrien had begged Luka to sort things out with Marinette.

Luka breathed a heavy sigh, sucked it up, and opened the door.

Marinette wasn’t in the living/dining/kitchen area, so Luka began his slow trudge up the steps to her room, knocking at the trapdoor and waiting to the count of three before pushing it open.

Marinette spun her desk chair around to face him. “How’s Adrien?”

Her eyes were a little red and damp.

His heart ached at the sight. He wanted to go to her, to wrap her in his arms and make everything okay for her.

But he didn’t. He went over to the chaise where he’d left his guitar and his phone.

“Is he okay? I overwhelmed him, didn’t I?” she started splutter. “I’m sorry. You were right. I shouldn’t have kissed him like that. It was too much. I rushed everything and messed it all up. I—”

“—Marinette?” Luka cut her off gently. “Could you give me just a second? I’m texting Nino to go over there and check on him.”

“Oh.” Marinette tucked her hands underneath her thighs and pressed her lips together, suddenly going silent.

Luka dashed off a quick message and then smiled at the immediate, affirmative reply. “Okay. Nino said he’s on it.”

Luka sank to the chaise, setting down the phone beside him so that Marinette would know that she had his undivided attention. “Adrien’s…freaking out a little. He just needs to process. He’ll be all right. You didn’t break him or anything.”

Marinette breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“He does this. He gets overwhelmed easily nowadays, and then he needs to go freak out and have a bit of a meltdown, but then he’s okay again. He’s going to be okay,” Luka assured, attempting to explain the process.

Marinette began to nod, but her eyes were a little glassy. She looked like she was going to cry again at the slightest encouragement.

Luka mentally sighed, seeing that there wasn’t space for his hurt feelings over the Ladybug thing to be addressed. So he did what he always did: he pushed it all down and focused on her.

“Are you okay, Chanson?”

Because what right did he actually have to be upset with her? She literally rebuilt Paris and brought people back from the dead a couple times a week. Who was he to get pouty that his girlfriend hadn’t seen fit to inform him that she was a superhero?

He understood why she hadn’t, what she had said about feeling trapped and silenced, like she didn’t have the option to ask for help. He understood. He really did.

It still hurt.

Marinette shook her head, replying in a tiny, brittle voice, “No.”

He was supposed to get up and go to her. He was supposed to hold her, be there for her, make it okay.

He didn’t. He didn’t feel like it. He didn’t have the energy.

“No,” she repeated. “I’m not okay.”

Neither was he.

“Luka, I screwed everything up.” Tears slowly did begin to fall. “I should have listened to you. I should have talked to him.”

Luka remained silent. What could he do but agree with her?

“I wasn’t thinking. I just assumed.” Her voice pitched up almost into a whine, and she began to speak faster. “I just assumed that he blamed me as much as I blamed myself. It seemed so obvious that he would hate me and never want to see me again after that. But I was so, so wrong. He needed me, and I wasn’t there. I never thought he’d feel like I abandoned him. I didn’t…think.”

“Oh, Chanson,” Luka sighed, opening his arms to her.

She pushed off out of the chair and was at his side in an instant, sinking onto the chaise beside him, curling up against him, wrapping her arms around his torso and tucking her head under his chin.

“I messed up so badly, Luka. There’s no way I can ever make this up to him.” Her voice and body shook.

He gave her a bolstering squeeze, running a hand up and down her arm. “Maybe not immediately, maybe not all at once…but maybe over days and weeks and months and years you could. Maybe you could eventually if you stuck it out and made it up to him in installments.”

She pulled back slightly to study his face. “Installments?”

Luka nodded. “Be there for him from now on, and maybe each day that you are will help to make up, in some small part, for the days that you weren’t. Maybe if you keep being there for him consistently, after a couple years, it will start to feel a little more okay.”

A small smile gradually rolled across her face like a cloud passing to reveal the sun.

“You’re so wonderful, Bluebird. You always know what to say.” She leaned in, pressing her lips to his in a closed-mouth kiss of gratitude and affection.

He started to kiss back, to just let everything be fine and return to normal, but then a stray thought hit him: “I don’t know her as well as I thought I did”, and he pulled away.

Marinette’s eyelashes fluttered open, and she gazed at her boyfriend in confusion.

“Sorry,” Luka mumbled, dropping his arms to his sides and scooting back, putting some space between them. “I…” He shook his head. “Sorry. A lot on my mind. Do you mind if I…?” He indicated his guitar with a tip of his head.

Marinette put on a cheery smile and took the liberty of retreating a little on her end. “Not at all. Go ahead,” she encouraged and listened as Luka began to play a confused, twisted melody in the Phrygian mode that occasionally seemed to wonder off and, at other times, to chase its own tail.

Marinette could hear how troubled Luka was in the brooding tune. She listened for a minute or two as he worked out his thoughts and feelings in the song.

Then she took a deep breath. “You know…I didn’t just mean Adrien when I said I’d messed everything up earlier.”

Luka’s fingers paused on the strings, and a poignant G sharp echoed with a twang.

Tentatively, he looked up to meet her contrite gaze.

“I screwed up with you too, Luka. I’m sorry.”

He licked his lips and swallowed, buying time with which to wrangle his thoughts.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…. I couldn’t,” she added more softly.

With a deep sigh, Luka set down the guitar and angled his body towards hers. “You know, I understand. I can practically see you having one of your out-of-control spirals, thinking something like, ‘Everyone’s depending on me. I can’t mess up. If I mess up, the whole world could end, and it would be all my fault’. Logically, my brain understands why you made the choices you did. Rationally, I can see why you felt like you didn’t have any other choice.”

She winced. “But…?”

“Being able to look at things logically doesn’t make them hurt any less,” he muttered.

She reached out, tentatively slipping her hand into his. She didn’t apologize again, knowing that it would only feel cheap and insincere in light of her actions.

She knew that actions were what really counted with Luka, and her actions would drown out any meek apology she managed.

“…It still feels like you didn’t trust me,” he continued softly, staring down at her thumb as it traced his knuckles back and forth. “I know that trust had nothing to do with it in your mind, but, to me, it feels like you didn’t trust me with your secret…even though I trusted you with every single one of mine.”

She nodded, accepting his sedate accusations without protest or attempt at defense or excusal.

“That feels pretty crumby, when you trust someone with everything, think you know them and they know you completely, only to find out how in the dark you were.” Luka pulled his hand away, grabbing his guitar and beginning to strum aimlessly in an agitated G sharp minor.

“I feel pretty stupid now that I realize how often you’ve lied to me,” he snickered, a wounded grin ripping his lips apart. “Your excuses were so ludicrous at times, but I believed you because I just took it for granted that you would never lie to me. I thought we didn’t have any secrets. I thought we told each other everything. Part of me still wants to believe that Ladybug was the only secret, that you only lied because you felt that you had to, but…now I’m wondering if I’m just naïve and gullible. What else have I been willfully blind to?”

Just as the song seemed to be coming to an end, Luka’s melody moved into a deceptive cadence, shifting suddenly in an unexpected direction, away from resolution.

Marinette’s gaze dropped to her hands, guilt throbbing in her chest, welling up into her throat.

“I mean…” Luka chuckled ironically. “I’ve always known that I’m more in love with you than you are with me, but—”

“—Luka,” Marinette gasped softly, hands flying to grasp his.

He looked up, eyes boring through her, searching desperately. “Do you love me?” he wondered. “Really?”

“You know I do,” she insisted.

Reflexively, he began to shake his head.

“You know I do,” she repeated with more force.

“I couldn’t keep a secret like that from the woman I loved,” he whispered, lips flattening into a sad smile. “I couldn’t. I couldn’t, so I didn’t. I trusted you…and it feels like you didn’t trust me. It feels like you didn’t love me enough.”

“Luka, I couldn’t tell anyone,” Marinette finally began to argue, gripping at his right hand tightly. “This has nothing to do with our relationship. I have never told anyone. This isn’t about you.”

He laughed, and icy blue eyes starting to shimmer with tears he wouldn’t let fall. Ironically, his mouth smiled. “I know. I’m probably the least egotistical person in this city, Marinette. I know this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the greater good and the rules and the safety of Paris. I know that I was never even a factor under consideration. I know how silly I’m being right now, but…can’t it be about me? Can’t I make it about me just this once?”

She stared at him in surprise as if he were a string that had suddenly snapped on her.

He pulled his hands back, turning his body away from her as he changed keys and started on a new theme. “I spend so much time being there for others—not that I mind. I do it because I care for those people, but…I spend so much time being there for others…and I am rarely there for myself. Aren’t I allowed to be selfish and ridiculous this once and make this about me and how I’m feeling? Because I know I’m dating Paris’s savior and that she has a job to do and a lot of people who depend on her, but…I don’t have the energy today to pretend that I’m fine when I’m not. I don’t want to push my own feelings aside right now. I don’t feel like being the mature, rational adult I’ve felt like I’ve had to be since I was ten.”

Marinette’s mouth dropped open. “…Why is this the first time that I’m hearing about this? Why haven’t you said anything before?” Her voice hitched and took on a panicked tone. “Are you telling me that there have been times before when you’ve just pretended to be okay even though you weren’t? Is this a common occurrence?”

With a long sigh, Luka shrugged. “Other more important things were going on. There wasn’t really time for me not to be fine. This isn’t a weekly thing, but…this isn’t a rare thing either.”

“What could possibly be more important than you not being okay?” she demanded in a bit of a whine.

“Juleka, my mom, Adrien…you,” he listed. “Usually it’s someone needing me to be strong and be their support, and I can’t not take care of the people I love…. And people just assume that I’ve got my stuff together. It’s not usually a big deal. It’s usually fine…just, right now, it’s really, really not fine.”

Marinette blew out a sigh, letting her head drop into her hands.

Luka continued to strum sulkily in the background as Marinette tried to get her frantically whirling thoughts together.

“I’ve screwed up worse than I thought,” she finally mumbled, raising her head to smile in resignation at her defeat. “Is there any way that I could make it up to you in installments too? I want us to be okay…or are you breaking up with me?”

Luka’s fingers faltered, wringing a sour C natural out of the strings. His gaze snapped up to meet hers. “W-What? No. Of course I’m not breaking up with you. Chanson, you are it. Frankly, you being Ladybug only makes you even more perfect and astounding and wonderful…irrespective of me being upset that you kept such a big secret from me. I-I love you. …I want things to be okay between us again too.”

Marinette let out a relieved breath, nodding. “Okay. Okay. Good. So…talk to me. What do I need to do? What needs to happen?”

Luka set aside the guitar and swung around to face her on the chaise, one leg tucked underneath him. “I think I just need to be allowed to be hurt for a while.”

Marinette’s forehead creased as her eyebrows drew together. Her lips puckered slightly, but she nodded. “Okay. Yeah. That’s fair. So…?”

“I think it’s just going to take some time, Marinette,” he answered honestly. “Adrien told me that Ladybug is just Marinette in focus mode…but he knows Ladybug a lot better than I do. I can see the similarities from the times I worked with Ladybug—I did notice them when we were working together—but… It’s hard reconciling all of this. I feel like…I thought I knew Marinette. I thought we were a team. I thought we were so in sync, but I was wrong, so now I feel like everything is off between us…. I don’t feel close to you right now.”

She scooted in, hesitantly taking his hands in hers. “I’m sorry. Luka, you do know me. Nothing has changed. You still know who I am…maybe…you even understand me a little better now that you’ve got all of the puzzle pieces. You’ll see. Give it time. You’ll see I’m still me…we’re still us.”

He gave her hands a light squeeze. “You promise?”

She nodded vehemently. “You’ll see…and I’m going to start doing better. I’m going to listen to you. I’m going to listen to you when it comes to Adrien. I’m going to start asking for help when I feel overwhelmed. I’m going to talk to you when things are bothering me instead of trying to deal with everything myself.”

“Will you actually think about talking to a therapist like I’ve been suggesting for the past five years?” Luka tested.

Marinette pulled a face, grimacing at the prospect. “…I…I told Adrien I would go with him to see his. We’ll see how that goes.”

Luka nodded, satisfied. “All right. Thank you, Marinette.”

She stared into his eyes for a beat, searching them. “…Do you really think I don’t love you as much as you love me?”

He averted his eyes with a cool shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just left over from the first two years we knew each other, but I know I wasn’t your first choice. It’s not as if I think you don’t care about me—I know you do. I know you love me. I just…I’ve always felt like maybe you’d be okay without me, but I couldn’t live without you.”

“Luka,” she scolded gently in exasperation. “Oh, Luka…no…. There was a reason why I didn’t ask you out until I was sixteen. I knew I was a mess and my heart was conflicted. It’s true that I never got over my feelings for Adrien, but I waited to start something with you until I was sure I wouldn’t be using you as a rebound. I waited until I knew that I wanted you just because you were you. You have never been someone I’ve just settled for. Luka, I’m sorry if I don’t express it in ways that mean something to you, but I promise that I do love you…so, so much,” she swore insistently, inching closer as she squeezed his hands.

He blinked at her, gobsmacked. “You…You really mean all that?”

“Of course I do,” she breathed.

Luka found himself leaning in, gravitating towards her as their eyes locked.

“I promise you, I am going to actively work on showing you just how much I adore you, just how loved and cared for you really are. I’m going to spoil you,” she vowed, already making plans.

“I could do with a little pampering,” he confessed, letting his eyes slip closed as his mouth met hers.

She kissed him gently yet meaningfully, not wasting a single moment as she matched her actions to her words.

Marinette pulled back a minute or so later, giggling and smiling at the blissful expression on Luka’s face. “Come on. Bed,” she insisted, pulling him to his feet and tugging him over to the ladder up to her loft. “Let’s snuggle and kiss. Earlier, you said you didn’t feel close to me right now. Let’s fix that. Let’s get back in sync.”

Luka paused, looking up at her as she turned back to him. For a moment, he debated whether he wanted to fix things just yet or whether he wanted to wallow a bit more.

She smiled patiently, mindful of not being too pushy. “If you’re ready,” she offered him the opportunity to say no.

He didn’t want to say no.

“Okay,” he breathed. “But you should know that Adrien said if you hurt me again, you’ll have to deal with him.”

Marinette burst out laughing. “Oh my gosh! Oh, and I bet you loved that, didn’t you? I bet you went a little weak in the knees.”

Luka shrugged, motioning her up the ladder so that he could climb up after her. “Not going to lie; Adrien acting all heroic and chivalrous? So hot, and incredibly touching. I want him to feel protective of me all the time.”

Marinette flopped down on her bed, shaking her head, a wide, wide grin stretching across her entire face.

She opened her arms.

Luka readily accepted the invitation, lying down beside her and scooting in close.

Despite the big revelation, she still smelled and tasted and felt the same. Maybe Marinette really was still Marinette. Maybe they really could still be them.

Luka wanted Marinette to be right. He wanted them to be okay.

#Lukanette #Lukadrienette #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Luka Couffaine #Adrien Agreste/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Luka Couffaine #Marin Dupain-Cheng #Post-Reveal #Mikau's Writings #To Waltz Among Shades

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blankdblank · 5 years

Text

Four Pt 3

Pt 1 – Pt 2

Black Jacket - Tim McGraw lyrics used

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All –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars

x Thorin – @evyiione, @deepestfirefun, @queenoferebor

…

It had been hours without word from you and no doubt he more than deserved it but as he stared at his phone screen of the unanswered messages to you his brows inched up seeing you had read his finally. One by one they were marked read and at the end he eagerly added another to the line simply asking, “Did you find a decent hotel in Lindon?”

With your brows furrowed curiously you replied, “My Ada had plenty of room.”

His lips parted and he felt his heart skip realizing he had missed out on knowing a big chunk of your family, “I thought you lost your parents.”

“Oh, the tomb, no, that was my mother and step father. There was a bad divorce when we were little. Haven’t seen him in centuries.”

Risking a possible hang up or being ignored he called you, biting his lip hoping you would just let him know you were safe and being well cared for. But your voice came through the line and he calmed a bit at that alone. “Yo-, you’re father took your arrival well?”

With a smirk you replied on your path out onto the cold grass barefoot towards the swing set out a decent distance form the back door so you wouldn’t be overheard, “Well I had to cut off his hand, so, not that well.”

“Wait, what? I thought you were there to operate on one of the Feanoreans.”

Weakly you chuckled saying, “Maedhros Feanorean is my Ada.”

After a pause Thorin stammered, “O-oh..” you couldn’t help but grin at the sound of his shifting in his seat as you sat on one of the swings, “Is, or, was he badly injured? I mean past the hand..”

“Scrapes, bruises. Nothing the Elven doctors couldn’t mend easily. Just having to help with his rehab on his new hand.”

Thorin wet his lips, “Will, um, will that take long?”

“Few weeks at least.”

He nodded and felt his inner damn break gushing out each and every fault he had found from himself in your time together especially focusing on his points that he had returned all your artwork to their original homes and spoken to each of his relatives about honoring your home. “And I have told Nori I won’t be looking at any new homes, if you wished to one day live together fully, when I have earned it I wouldn’t dream of forcing you and the boys to move out of your home, which is already impossibly grand enough. Even in my time after work I’ve already picked up books on Elven traditions and cultures…”

You couldn’t help but grin asking, “Which ones?”

Thorin, “Oh, um, one written by a, squiggly something, it’s written in Quenya, and one with a horseshoe on the cover, written in something, else.”

You giggled ending his sentence, “Which forms of Elvish?”

“Oh, um, Sindar for one, Noldor for another, and they had one on Falmari. Is there a difference?”

You giggled again shaking your head, “Such big differences. My Ada is Noldor, my mother was Vanyar, though I stick to my Ada’s traditions. The boys’ father was Teleri, not far from Vanyar so it won’t be hard for me to share it.”

He nodded, “I’ll have to look up books on Vanyar and Teleri then.”

“You’re certain?”

“Of course. In fact Dis is insisting the whole clan buy copies too. The squiggly book I glimpsed inside and apparently your home, the arches bring harmony and the windows locations bring peaceful thoughts. The chimney is backwards for eternal oneness, whatever that means, it doesn’t explain what your chimney means if it’s backwards…” his voice trailed off into a ramble showing how much he’d already put into studying on what your home and the layout meant. Until he asked, “How are the boys? And you’re eating enough?”

“Ya, we’re good. The boys got to meet my cousin Celebrimbor, he’s their age, loves them already. We’ve had a full four meals already. If you thought Dwarves were protective of pregnant women you have not spent long around Elves. My six uncles live here too and none of them are away from me and the boys for long, or Ada.”

“That’s good. You have your vitamins?”

“My aunt Elanor bought me a new batch, forgot where I left mine yesterday morning before work. Probably in the bread box or something.”

Thorin nodded then growled at his buzzing phone he drew away from his ear to read the message he was just sent then answered, “Work calling.” He wet his lips. “Oh, and Hensen is an ass! Heard him bragging on my way back from surgery. Trust me, me Dwalin and the boys are determined to make his last few weeks here hell and Dis knows his wife so she’s sharing all the drama he flushed up about pregnant women while his wife is carrying their seventh at home. Don’t you worry on that, we’ve got it covered, in the worst case Richard can’t put us all on leave till he’s gone.”

“Go to work, save some lives. Do that brooding look near the windows to seem all distant in thought across from the nurses lounge, gives them something other than bedpans and rude patients to talk about.”

He chuckled and bid you goodnight, promising to talk to you the next day after encouraging you to get some sleep yourself.

…In Lindon…

With a sigh you walked back into the house and to your gifted room beside your father’s to change out of your jeans into a pair of shorts. At the foot of your bed you stared at it after setting your sweater on it only to turn away from it to walk through your door and into your father’s room. Under his covers in the bed he lowered his new hand from over his head in another try at fully controlling all his fingers. An easy smile grew on his face and he brushed back his covers drawing a smile from you in return climbing on and walking across is bed to settle at his side wrapped in his arm.

Quietly you laid there until he kissed your forehead saying, “It pains me to no end you had to face burying Em alone.”

“If it helps she was able to help heal a group of children lead full lives in her passing.” He peered down at you as you shared the descriptions of the children receiving her organs widening his grin knowing some pieces of her remained for you all to find peace in her absence.

“How was this Thorin of yours?”

“He bought books on Elvish cultures, has spent near a full day studying each detail of the layout of Irime and Findi’s house they left me.”

He chuckled, “No doubt that fireplace was troubling for him to decipher.”

You giggled softly, “Yes. It was, he was also stunned about you being my Ada. Apparently he saw my trip on the news, was curious, just as the world apparently is on how you had gotten into contact with me.”

He chuckled again, “Yes, no doubt. I’ve even gotten a call from my manager asking how much this mithril hand has set me back, surely he was hoping he would still get paid.”

You giggled softly, “I never charge for it. What’s a bit of blood to free them from their troubles.”

He chuckled planting his lips on your forehead again through a muffled chuckle, “No doubt none of them know it actually is your blood.”

“Just my first team who watched me bleeding out over the Captain. Though when I woke up the file said they saw me uncover a vine of mithril in the cave we hid in I drained for the foot.”

He grinned using his two working fingers on his new hand to cover you more through another warm kiss, “Good, no doubt for your gift secrecy of its source was a small price. Though I doubt any have found recovery as easy as I have, at least by Curufin’s relaying your experiences to all of them while I was asleep. If it helps I can wiggle my little finger now.” Making you giggle and snuggle closer to him, “I do hope you don’t mind us moving in with you Pumpkin. I don’t want to miss another moment with you.”

Your arm draped across his middle after his next kiss as your eyes drooped shut and you dreamily sighed, “Neither do I.” He grinned again closing his eyes pressing his head to yours with a steady smile drifting off to sleep with you.

Over the next week your therapies seemed all the more ridiculous and tedious to Maedhros sinking his mood greatly leading to his early night in leading to your taking time in the in house studio. Eventually at the wafting sound of his brothers playing tore him from bed in an irritated huff about possibly waking the boys only to pause in the doorway seeing you holding one of the spare guitars from the wall to play his parts from one of their new unreleased songs for an upcoming album as you finely tuned Celegorm’s drum sections to fit to their style more in the transfer from the page to real life.

At his side Caranthir eased over nudging his side with his elbow as Maedhros stood open mouthed at your singing a set of lyrics helping Maglor with the timing you had imagined. “You didn’t think she got through med school on grants and scholarships did you?” Maedhros looked at him seeing his wide grin, “She’s our best writer, has been for decades.”

Through the room at your grin he moved to look over your notes only to peer over at Amrod when he handed him his guitar then to you at your saying, “Might as well give it a try.” He gave a timid nod and wet his lips shouldering the strap and easing the guitar into place along with his fingers only to close his eyes trying to feel the motions of the song you would play along with him.

I remember how it felt we were sittin' on the roof

You were in my black jacket drinkin' up the view

We were Romeo and Juliet smoking Lite cigarettes

All night long

Countin' yellow cabs we were showing tattoos

On top of the world we had nothing to lose

Fallin' like snowflakes crashin' out at your place

What went wrong

If I see you out tonight

You'll think I'm doin' alright

'Cause you can't see

What's underneath this black Jacket is a broken heart and

And I never take it off

'Cause I just can't hang it up

It's too torn apart this

Black jacket has a broken heart

As the guitar role picked up Maedhros’ eyes finally opened realizing you were playing in sync with him and he had only missed a couple notes so far as you guided Maglor along through the vocals.

I still use your umbrella when I'm walking in the rain

I cant help but crack a smile every time I hear a train

I never got your music till you left and made me use it

Just to keep you around

It's a small world town

If I see you out tonight

You'll think I'm doin' alright

'Cause you can't see

What's underneath this black Jacket is a broken heart

I never take it off

'Cause I just can't hang it up

It's too torn apart this

Black jacket has a broken heart

A nip at his lip later he focused on the rising tempo in this part of the song.

One day I'm gonna take it off

Set it up in flames

Oh I won't even hear it, when somebody says your name

Nothing left to hide

I won't even hurt

Yeah, I'll be alright in a white T-shirt, but

If I see you out tonight

As the tempo slowed again a grin eased onto his lips seeing how seamlessly he was slipping back into the old motions. His eyes moved to you as your hand left the neck of your guitar to rest on your stomach only to draw Maglor’s to rest over it with a wide grin feeling your little ones shifting at the vibrations from the guitar below them.

If I see you out tonight

You'll think I'm doin' alright

'Cause you can't see

What's underneath this black Jacket is a broken heart and

I never take it off

'Cause I just can't hang it up

It's too torn apart this

Black jacket has a broken heart

Ooh, ooh, ooh

As the song ended his grin remained and his hand moved to steal a feel of his own of your bump along with his brothers before he wet his lips and chose one of their classics his brothers revealed to have been from you as well. Steadily you played with him for a couple hours until he caught your yawn between songs then he set aside your guitars and led you to his bed for some more sleep.

A few more days had passed until news of there being an inability to shift the date for a fan meet left you at the house with Elanor and Celebrimbor for most of the day until they returned exhausted and a bit uncertain after hearing they would have to head back out for the final two weeks of concert dates. Though as you heard Elanor and Celebrimbor had been traveling along with them you found your joining them for a glimpse of their tour finally possible. The grin on Maedhros’ face wouldn’t drop fro hours after knowing you would be coming with them. Through the west you would travel around for six shows then the brothers had planned it to be time for your move. A few of Maedhros’ brothers were going to stay in the house in Lindon after they had packed up to move into your house, which one of the second studies you had set up as your own in house studio the Durins had thankfully not found access to.

Through the few dates you left the boys back stage with Elanor to stand near the edge of the stage playing along with Maedhros giving him courage even though their overly eagerness to even see the full band together in support of their return. All that joined with their love for simply being in their presence, fully knowing that live shows weren’t meant to be perfect. The added bonus of seeing the newly announced and impossibly talented daughter of one of the members was greatly publicized in their media stops between shows. The last of which ending in Greenwood granting Elanor time to set up her paperwork for her new job with Curufin while the rest of you set up in your home.

Easily enough after their first walk through as you watched the boys settle their toys back into their proper places in their room the men unpacked the truck into their chosen rooms and joined you and the boys in the kitchen where you had added yet another painting. The sight of a figure passing by the window with dark hair sent Fili and Kili racing inside after getting off their late shift. The door closed after them and into the kitchen the rushed hearing the boys singing a rambling tune only to pause after calling out, “You’re back!”

In shock their eyes scanned over the tall men around you looking them both over before your father approached them offering his new hand, “Fili and Kili I presume.”

They nodded shaking his hand then peered around him at you seeing you approaching to accept their hugs filled with their muddled apologies. After you pulled apart you named all your relatives only to hear your door open and Dwalin’s voice through the door calling out, “Boys, you left your bags outside.”

Maedhros leaned in asking, “Thorin?”

You shook your head, “Dwalin.”

Behind the bald dwarf who dropped the bags in the doorway to the kitchen Thorin entered and froze only to grin at the boys greeting him happily. Through the sea of introductions he made it to the boys accepting their hugs to leave kisses on their cheeks and foreheads only to peer up at you in your approach after Dwalin’s tearful apology filled hug. A nod of your head brought him closer to melt around you in a hug of his own and a firm kiss after. The oven timer sounded breaking you apart freeing you to tug Thorin to the table into the seat beside yours as he stole a stroke of your slightly more pronounced bump he was grateful he hadn’t chased you away longer than he already had.

While your plate was being filled by both Maedhros and Thorin you chuckled at Fili’s asking form his trip to the bathroom, “So, whose boxes are in the spare rooms?”

You couldn’t help but grin as Thorin sat beside you eyeing you carefully wondering the same thing in his focused attempts to keep his attention away from the new portrait in the kitchen across from him. “Jaqi?”

Turning your head you let out a weak giggle as Maedhros stated plainly with a grin of his own, “Oh that, we’re moving in.”

Kili asked as you took a bite of this meal, “All of you?”

Maglor nodded and reached over shifting the boys’ plates closer to them replying, “Yup. We’ve all missed so much in their lives, besides with the new little ones on the way you’ll be needing all the help you can get while you two are at work. I doubt the daycare will let you bring all of them everyday.”

Amrod, “Besides, to follow Elven courtship in these circumstances you will be needing our presence.”

Amras, “Unless you are choosing to stick to Dwarven traditions instead.”

Celegorm, “Though even there you would still require certain blessings first.”

Maedhros, “Don’t worry, we’ve left a considerable space in the library as well as the studies for your belongings for nights reading in.”

Thorin lowered his fork then glanced at you asking, “My, belongings?”

You flashed him another quick smile as Maedhros stated, “In your Vanyar courting book you’ll read there is a dwelling phase in courtships. You will live with us all and complete the tasks required to earn Jaqi’s trust as well as affirm your place together and settle your plans for how your children will grow.”

Thorin wet his lips as Fili asked, “I thought Elves didn’t live together until they were married.”

Maglor raised a brow, “In what race does carrying another’s children not count as marriage?”

Dwalin’s lips pursed before he grumbled, “Told you.”

Thorin sent him a weak glare then asked Maedhros across from you both, “Does that mean we will have to plan the ceremony soon?”

Curufin, “Not at all. In fact to do so would be a great insult. It is best, in these cases to follow tradition of birth first and then not until the little ones have reached their first steps a proper engagement is allowed.”

Kili, “He has to wait that long?”

Dwalin, “Not sure Gran will allow him to break our traditions so far.”

Thorin wet his lips, “For our kin we must be at least engaged by the birth.”

Maedhros nodded then answered, “I am certain in this circumstance we might allow a well deserved engagement, however, it must be approved by Jaqi and not allowed to be taken as anything but an honest display of intentions, not simply done out of tradition for a time limit.”

Thorin nodded, “Of course.”

By lunch Curufin and Elanor arrived with little Celebrimbor in hand adding to the group of Elves now imposing the same wall of expectations on the future and shaping of the children and couple involved for Thorin that you had felt. If he had imagined himself clear on what he had done he now abundantly clear on what your position was and no doubt he imagined this was your family’s revenge in your place so he would understand. Not long after the Durins began trickling in rushing to apologize to you as well as learning just who the men were in your life and why they had been away from you for so long. But the separation of your family and divide between you and your also unmentioned twin was shared explaining your silence on the subject of your busy family half a world away.

Between the dinner and breakfast the next morning Thorin treasured being able to slip into your bed with you and hold you once again. Loving murmurs of Khuzdul between lingering kisses were finally put to an end by you so he could rest up for his next shift. Alone he woke and groggily found his way to the kitchen only to peer up with pursed lips nad a twitching brow at the colorful face of a cow new to the pale grey wall over the white and pale yellow tile backdrop. Wordlessly he tore his eyes away from it and forced a wide grin at you as you set a full plate and cup of coffee in front of him. When your uncles began trickling in you moved to finish prepping your own cup of tea beside your plate you couldn’t help but grin seeing your Cousin Elrond, who arrived last night who eased to your side in the line for coffee and peered up at the painting under furrowed brows.

“Um, so, which one of your patients painted that one.”

With a grinning nod at Thorin eating as he stared at it you mumbled behind your mug to your cousin, “I painted it.” Elrond peered at you curiously, “Just waiting to see how long it takes for him to say something.” You stole a sip as he chuckled filling his cup of coffee when you moved to your own seat by Thorin. You raised your full fork and eyed Amrod and Amras both carrying your boys to the table where Caranthir and Celegorm had already set up their breakfast for you and jumped at the chance to help them eat it. Your comment had floated around the table an in a swapping set of shared gazes you could spot their own wagers being set on when he would finally crack, though he seemed likely to last at least a few days where after he had gone Fili and Kili both lasted only a few moments after walking into the kitchen only to turn around asking together, “What’s with the cow?!”

#Thorin x Reader OC #Hobbit #lotr

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lunarsaturn88 · 5 years

Text

My Lucky Strike Part 2

Warnings: Mentioning of abuse, swearing.

Pairing; Kili x Reader x Fili

Rating: Teen

You pulled your long hair back a few brightly colored dreads that weren’t part of your real hair stuck out against your natural locks of hair. You wore a tight white tank top that showed off your arms. Your one arm had a tattoo on it that was part of your family crest so to speak decorated upon it in bright blue, red, and black. You wore a pair of tight blue skinny jeans and a pair of black ballet shoes. You grabbed the keys to your car and left your little loft that you had bought not too long ago.

You were not going to admit that you were slightly afraid of seeing Kili and Fili today. After the surprise visit from them it needlessly left you breathless seeing them both there. You missed both of them dearly and were torn in seeing them. You got into your car and started it up. Granted it wasn’t the best car that you could own, but you tried. It wasn’t as lavished as the princes cars, but it was something that you could call yours.

You blared your music as you drove to Kili and Fili’s home. Your mind was racing back to the times that you were in school. You remembered how Kili and Fili who were both ahead of you in school. Fili was a senior, Kili was a junior and you of course were a sophomore in high school. You were always torn between the two when you had classes together.

You had your eyes on both of them and you couldn’t decide on who you wanted to be with. No you had never seen the looks that they had given to you when you were around them. You always thought that they cared about you as only a friend and nothing more. You had seen both Kili and Fili go through heartbreak and it caused yours to break every time that they had a failed relationship.

They had also seen you have a failed relationship in high school. They were the ones that you went to when you had that failed relationship instead of going to your father, knowing fully well enough that your father, Dwalin would behead the boy who had hurt you.

But sadly this was one of the cases that you had just gotten out of another breakup and your father had no idea that you were seeing someone and that was one of the reasons why you hadn’t seen the princes and now you were concerned that they might bring up the fact that you hadn’t seen them wasn’t just because of you busting your ass off in your tattoo studio. You didn’t want to tell them that your ex didn’t want you to ever see them. He was someone very controlling.

“I don’t want you to see them ever again.” Your boyfriend of four months said to you. His voice very low in a hiss.

Your eyes widened when you looked at him. You couldn’t believe that he was ordering you like this. He had never stopped you before. What was he so afraid of?

“I don’t want you to see them again.” He hissed again.

“I thought you were fine with me hanging out with Kili and Fili?” You asked softly. “What is so wrong with me hanging out with them?”

“I have seen the way you look at them when you are hanging out with them. Don’t deny it. Mahal I know you have a crush on the both of them. I don’t want you to see them not while you are with me.” He shouted at you.

You gasped. You were not expecting your boyfriend of four months to do this to you. Ordering you around and saying that you have a crush on your two best friends. The princes no less. You did have a crush on both of the princes, but you kept it well hidden. You weren’t going to tell your boyfriend that.

He smacked you across the face causing you to bump into your inks for your tattoo machine. “Do you understand that?” He demanded. His voice cold and cruel towards you.

You held your cheek in pain. How were you going to explain this to Kili and Fili. You couldn’t just stop hanging out with your two favorite princes. It would cause a problem for you and both boys would be suspicious if you stopped hanging out with them.

You shook your head. You weren’t willing to remember that. It bothered you that your ex was still keeping an eye out in what you were doing, but you were not going to let him stop you from seeing your two best friends. You pulled into the driveway of your friends home and killed the engine to your car. You got out of the car and looked up at the house that Kili and Fili both shared since they had gotten out of high school and it been a while since you had last been there.

You took a deep breath as you slowly began to walk up the red brick path up to the house. Your hands went into your skinny jeans as you walked. You stopped at the door and knocked on it shyly. You put your hand back into your pocket as you waited for someone to answer the door.

Kili opened the door. He was dressed in a tight wife-beater tank top and a pair of faded black jeans that had holes in the knees. Something that you always loved seeing him in. It wasn’t fair to you or your poor ovaries. He was like sex on a stick. So was his brother. It truly bothered you. Kili smiled a cheeky smile. He was glad to see you standing there like you had promised. “Come on in.” He said moving out of the way to allow you to come into their house.

You put your hands in your back pockets and slowly came into their house.

“I really thought that you weren’t going to come here.” Kili admitted, as he shut the door. He placed his hand on your lower back causing your eyes to widen slightly as he led you into the living room.

You heard a guitar and knew right away that it was Fili. So he hadn’t stopped playing? That really meant a lot to you that he hadn’t stopped playing since you were the one that played with him. You’re eyes were glued onto Fili.

Fili was lounging on the couch with his eyes closed playing his red guitar. He wasn’t even wearing a shirt allowing you to see the blond chest hair that was scattered across his chest. His pants were blue jeans and really tight which caused your mouth to go dry. His feet were bare as well. It was as if he wasn’t ready for your visit today or he was trying to tease you with his body.

You bit the inside of your lip.

“Fee… put a shirt on.” Kili said from your side.

You looked out of the corner of your eyes and saw that Kili’s brown eyes were smoldering as he looked at his big brother. You had never seen that kind of look from Kili ever in your life. You were slightly confused of why Kili was raking his eyes over Fili like that. You shook your head at the thought. There was no way that Kili had feelings like that towards his older brother.

Fili looked at his little brother with a coy smile. “She doesn’t seem to disapprove of this Kee as much as you do.” He said, as his eyes went to you causing your cheeks to turn pink.

“You are making her embarrassed. Put a shirt on.” Kili said throwing Fili’s blue shirt at him.

Fili moved and put his guitar down and pulled the blue shirt on over his head. “Fine Kee.” He said shaking his head. He moved some more and put his feet down on the carpeted floor.

You nervously moved your fingers. You were more concerned about why Kili and Fili were acting this way. You were also concerned about what they were going to say when they found out that your ex-boyfriend was keeping you away from them. They would hunt him down even though he had left Erebor to go to the Iron Hills.

“Have a seat. We have a lot to talk about.” Kili said with a grin pushing you towards Fili.

You ended up between the two of them.

“Now, do you mind giving us the real reason why you couldn’t hang out with us.” Fili said looking at you.

You gasped. You knew that this was coming, but it still wasn’t fair to you. You really didn’t want Kili and Fili to go after him. “I was busy working.” You said admitting half of the truth.

Kili and Fili shared a look. They both knew that you weren’t telling the whole truth. There was something that you were hiding from them.

“Yeah, sure tell us another one.” Kili said crossing his arms.

You bit the inside of your lip. You knew that you had to tell Kili and Fili what had happened. This was really concerning. You were really hoping that Kili and Fili would not go after your ex.

“Come on. Tell us what the real reason is. Work couldn’t take up all your time.” Fili said placing his hand on your leg causing you to jump.

You looked down knowing that you had to tell now. There really wasn’t any way to get out of it. You took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He wouldn’t let me.”

“Who wouldn’t let you?” Kili asked, his voice was laced with concern. Who dared stop you from seeing them?

“My ex-boyfriend.”

Kili and Fili looked at one another. Anger flashed in both of their eyes.

“He isn’t worth it.” You told them. You shook your head. “He won’t ever be worth it. He is already gone. I kicked him out.”

“He still have no right.” Said Fili his knuckles were turning white.

“He couldn’t stop you from seeing us.” Kili said trying to sooth his anger.

“He was threatened.” You stated as if it wasn’t that much of a problem.

“Threatened?” The brothers asked, both of them looking at you. There was shock written across both of their faces.

“Yes, he thought that the two of you were going to take me away from him.” You shook your head at the thought. “He was insecure.” There you had admitted that your ex-boyfriend felt truly threatened by the princes.

Both boys laughed at the idea.

“He stopped you from seeing us because he thought he was going to lose you. We are your best friends. He shouldn’t have felt so threatened.” Kili said running his hand over his mouth.

Fili nodded his head. “Yes, if we wanted you that badly we would have let you know how much we loved you.” He said leaning back in the couch.

Your eyes widened. That was the one thing that you truly wanted to hear from one of them. You had cared for them both and couldn’t see yourself without them in your life. You truly were in a pickle.

#Kili #Fili #Kili/reader/Fili #Hobbit #Modern #My Lucky Strike

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barnesthesarge · 6 years

Text

Flightless Bird

Pairings: Bucky X Reader

Summary: Based on the song “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” by Iron & Wine!! Bucky passes by a coffee shop and hears Y/N singing and can’t help but stay and listen.

A/N: I love this song so much and I can’t help but listen to it like 46299374 times! I definitely recommend it.

Warnings: Fluff (idk why I’m warning y’all about that), just some sad thoughts but nothing really.

Written: August 11, 2018

Friday nights in Brooklyn always meant crowded streets, loud people, and disguises for Bucky Barnes. But it also meant he got to hear you sing at his now favorite coffee shop.

The first time he heard you, he was just walking past to get to his apartment away from the Tower. The door to the café was propped open with a speaker, filling the streets with your voice. When he heard your voice, he stopped in his tracks, forced himself inside, and watched. He could see the passion behind what you sang, and couldn’t help but think you had to be a siren, the voice, and those beautiful Y/E/C orbs.

He discovered that you performed every Friday from 8-9 p.m. and made it a priority to go. He even declined to go on missions that would prevent him from hearing you. His favorite song you sang was what he presumed to be a love song, he didn’t know the name but knew some of the lyrics.

Have I found you?

Flightless Bird , jealous, weeping

Or lost you?

American mouth

Big bill looming

He would get lost in the song, always disappointed when you finished it. He wanted to talk to you badly, but decided against it. He was scared you knew who he was—what he did. He didn’t want you to fear him, so he kept his distance in the corner seat of the café.

One night Steve came with him, he was curious as to why Bucky was always leaving the house on Fridays, where he was going. Bucky was a bit against Steve coming, he wanted you to be his secret, bringing Captain America places didn’t exactly help keep himself concealed.

Steve saw the way Bucky reacted to you, and knew what he was feeling, “Bucky why don’t you go talk to her? She’s closing set. Tip her of something.” Bucky shook his head and finished his coffee, he always let it sit to make it look like he wasn’t lingering.

“It’s best not to get involved. Let’s get going, I don’t want her to see me.” He gathered his stuff, only his phone and wallet and stood up to leave.

Steve stalked off to go talk to her, and Bucky started to panic, he sat back down to listen to them speak.

“Hey, you’re absolutely wonderful. Thank you for playing.” He handed the girl a couple bills and her smiled, breathtaking.

“Thank you so much! That means a lot to me. I also gig at The Old Boot down the street, it’s a bar, I um, perform Saturdays, at like 6-7 and then 9-9:30, if you’re interested. I’m glad you enjoyed.” She tucked the bill into her pocket, Bucky couldn’t stop staring, her voice so comforting, even when she was speaking.

“Awesome! I might just have to go get a couple drinks.” Steve smiled, “I’m Steve, my friend over there, Bucky, dragged me here, I’m glad he did.” She looked at Bucky and he froze, she grinned and waved at him and he smiled softly back.

“I’m Y/N, I hope I see you around but I have to get going before the drunk crowd gets out. Nice meeting you.” They shared another smile and she disappeared outside the door.

Bucky let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and stood up, walking over to Steve, “Asshole. Let’s go home.” They walked out the café door and walked the couple blocks to their shared apartment.

“I don’t get why you don’t just talk to her, she seems sweet. She didn’t even recognize me, what makes you think she’d know who you are?” Bucky had his left hand tucked into his pocket.

“Because my face was plastered all over the news. She probably thinks I’m a monster.” He sighed and took his metal hand out of his pocket, looking at the way the different plates shifted when he moved it.

“You never know until you talk to her.” Steve retorted, patting Bucky on the back, making him recoil slightly.

——————

Bucky found himself in The Old Boot, it was getting close to six, meaning he would get to hear you sing again. Tonight he made a bigger effort to hide who he was, wearing a burgundy beanie, dark jeans, and a leather jacket. He got his drink and went to find an empty table in the back away from the stage.

“Hey everyone! Who’s ready for our weekly entertainment?” A man was on the stage talking into the mic, people began yelling and clapping, “Here comes The Old Boots favorite, Y/N Y/L/N!” The bar was bigger than he thought, more people seemed to gather in, throwing tips in her guitar case.

“Hi everyone! Nice to see you all again. I hear it’s couples night? I guess I’ll have to sing some slow songs tonight. The dance floor is all yours tonight Brooklyn.” People cheered and many couples stood up and went onto a makeshift dance floor.

She began to sing his favorite song, her voice soft and beautiful, the words carrying him through everything in his head that threatened to swallow him whole.

Have I found you?

Flightless bird, jealous, weeping

Or lost you?

American mouth

Big bill looming

His lips curled into a smile, he felt lonely and exposed, seeing so many people dancing together, it made him miss his old self again. The old self that went dancing with dames for fun.

Once your set was over, you went to the bar and got a drink, people surrounding you and showering you with compliments, some of the men offering you drinks. You started walking his way with a drink so he quickly looked back at his, pretending not to notice you.

You sat down in the chair across from him, his cheeks increasing in temperature, you eyed him with a curious look.

“Aren’t you the guy who’s always in the café when I sing? Steve’s friend right?” You asked, he swallowed thickly.

“Y-yeah that’s me.” His gloved left hand under the table, and his right now scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“Hmm, I’m starting to think you’re either a fan or just a stalker.” When you saw his eyes looked frightened you threw your hands up, “Sorry that was just a joke, I promise.”

Bucky was horrified that you noticed him, he had tried so hard to make sure you never did, his disguise didn’t work.

“You have a lovely voice. I shouldn’t have come.” He stood up to leave and you looked sad.

“You don’t have to go, I find it sweet.” Bucky looked back at you briefly and sighed.

“What’s that song called? The one about the flightless bird?” He sat back down and took another sip of his drink.

“The first one I sang? That’s uh, it’s called Flightless Bird, American Mouth, by Iron & Wine. You like it?” The corners of your lips perked up.

“Yeah, it’s my favorite one you sing.” He blushed bashfully and pulled out his phone to write it down.

“It’s mine too. It’s from that cheesy vampire movie Twilight, but the song has stuck with me since. I think it’s a love song but some people on the internet think it’s political.” You chuckled softly and took another sip of your drink, frowning slightly, “This tastes awful.”

“I’m Bucky.” He said barely above a whisper, you grinned again.

“When your friend introduced you as Bucky, I thought it was such a cool name that I haven’t gotten you outta my head since. Granted it’s only been a day but, whatever. I’ve wanted to talk to you in the café but figured you didn’t want to be talked to. I think this might be a sign that you want to because why else would you show up here? I’m rambling sorry.” He was blushing furiously, you wanted to talk to him?

“No worries doll, I’m a bit shy s’all. Yeah it’s a sign that I’d like to get to know you. You don’t have to though, I’ll understand.” Another man came over to their table and ignored Bucky.

“Y/N, care to dance?” He set his drink down on their table and held his hand out.

“Actually, Randy I’ll take a rain check on that. How many drinks have you had anyways? You tend to get a bit handsy when you’re drunk. Dancing with you is gross.” You spat and he chuckled dryly.

“Don’t be shy with me babe.” He grabbed your hand and Bucky growled, standing up.

“She told you no, better leave before you get your ass beat.” The man, Randy, looked Bucky up and down before recognition was in his eyes, he grabbed his drink and fled.

“Good Christ thank you. He’s been pinning after me for weeks, nasty fella. Are you hungry at all? I feel like havin’ a burger.” You stood up and beckoned him to follow you.

Bucky felt horrible, if that man who was drunk knew who he was, who’s to say you didn’t, that you weren’t just trying to be nice to save your skin? He followed you anyways, holding his empty glass in his hand.

“Yo, May, can I get my usual please? And a Dr. Pepper?” You looked back at him, “You want anything?” He shook his head and desperately tried to clear his head.

She came closer to him, “Are you alright Bucky?” He looked at her for a moment.

“Y/N it was nice talking to you but it’s a bit crowded her and it’s really hot. I’m gonna get going. I’ll see you Friday.” He left right afterwards, leaving you standing at the bar counter.

——————

Throughout the week, Bucky couldn’t stop thinking about you, he hadn’t noticed any signs of you being afraid of him, but he had been so nervous himself he couldn’t focus. It was Friday, and he was debating whether or not to go. Maybe he should leave you alone, for the rest of your life, save you from his misery.

“Bucky, it’s almost 8, why aren’t you ready?” Steve knocked on his bedroom door.

“I’m not going. I’m going to leave her alone. Forever.” He mumbled numbly, it was his own fault for ever thinking you and him could have something.

“Bucky, what happened at the bar? Did you talk to her?” Steve asked, he had opened the door and sat next to Bucky on the bed.

“She spoke to me.” He explained what happened, to the best of his ability, not sparing any details.

“Bucky, you realize she’s into you right? You have to go, c’mon, get dressed, I don’t want to be late.” Bucky studied Steve’s face for any hints he could be lying.

“You think she likes me?” He questioned.

“I know she likes you Buck, now get dressed, punk.” Bucky did as he was told.

——————

The two men were fifteen minutes late, Y/N smiled when they walked in. Once you finished playing the current song, you began to play familiar notes and chords.

He listened to your voice carefully, shutting his eyes just to listen to the way your voice carried the lyrics. He loved every second of it. After you sang the song you spoke into the mic.

“I wanted to apologize, I’m not able to finish my set all the way this week, I’ll be here next week to do so. Have a nice weekend.” Your voice sounded nervous. You began to pack away your guitar and unplug the microphone.

Bucky didn’t hesitate to walk over, “I’m sorry for leaving like that last weekend. I don’t do good in crowds.”

“It’s fine.” You grabbed the straps of your guitar case and put it on like a backpack. “I won’t be performing at the bar tomorrow. See you next week.” You went to leave and Bucky spoke up.

“Are you mad at me?” He asked.

“No Bucky, I have personal issues going on right now that I need to take care of. I’ll see you.” He frowned.

“Wait, here let me give you my number, text me or call me if you ever need anything. I’m not always in Brooklyn but I can be here fast.” He scribbled his number down on a napkin and handed it to you.

“Thank you Bucky. I um, I’ll text you okay? Maybe we can hang out.” You waved at Steve and smiled, and left the café.

——————

The next day, Bucky woke up because his phone buzzed, he grew accustomed to getting up to missions he needed to do from Tony. He looked at his screen and saw it was an unknown number.

Unknown: Hey Bucky it’s Y/N

He smiled and instantly wrote back: Hey Y/N, how are you?

Y/N: I’ve been better, you?

I’m doing fine, do you want to talk about it?

Y/N: Nah, wanna grab a coffee or something?

That sounds awesome, meet you there in twenty?

Y/N: sure thing Buckaroo. See you there

Bucky grinned and quickly shot out of bed, he got in the shower and got changed fast, he had ten minutes. He sent a text to Steve saying he was meeting you for coffee and left the apartment.

He sped-walked, trying to beat you there, once he got there he sat down at his usual table and waited, within the next two minutes you came in and spotted him.

You sat down across from him and smiled, “Hey Bucky.”

“Hey Y/N.” He leaned his head down on his arm and studied your features, the way the natural light hit your face, making your eyes light up.

“Take a picture, it’ll last you longer.” You teased, “Did you already order?”

“No I was waiting for you doll.” You blushed at the nickname and stood up to order, Bucky followed close behind.

——————

A/N: I reached the limit so I’ll just do a part two bc I SUCK (it will prolly be up within the next day)

#james bucky barnes #bucky #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky imagine #bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #sargent barnes #mcu #marvel #fanfiction #flightless bird #music fic #james barnes

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bunysliper · 6 years

Note

Riddle: they left at night and arrived at the gas station at dawn. Where did they spend the night?

Sooo, it’s basically been forever since you prompted this, but I hope you like it!

Tellurian

An early season 5 ficlet

“Got everything?”

Broad palms patted at his chest, then his hips, moving ontohis back pockets in their survey for the essentials. “Phone, car keys,snacks. Yeah, I’m set. You?”

His companion smirked, lifting her arm to show him the throwblankets she’d stolen from the back of his couch. “Everything else is inthe car, right?”

“Right.”

She exhaled. “Then I’m ready. Let’s go.”

He made sure to leave the light on behind them, bathing theliving room in a welcoming glow.

She did another inspection of their things as they loadedthe rest into the trunk, lifting the bag of snacks and cocking an eyebrow inamusement.

“Funyuns, Castle?”

He shrugged. “They’re good. I bought the chips youlike, too. The garlic, basil, and olive oil ones.”

Beckett grinned. “Really not worrying about bad breathtonight, huh? I’m surprised.”

The keys slipped out of his hand, landing on the concretewith a clatter. “I – well – if we both have bad breath, it cancels out.You know this, Beckett.”

His partner snickered, returning the snacks to the car.“Whatever you say. Just tell me you at least packed water.”

Scooping the keychain off the ground, he nodded. “Ofcourse. I made some coffee, too. It’s in the thermos behind my seat.” Hemoved to the driver’s side, opening the door and lifting that bag to prove itto her.

Kate hummed, casting an appreciative glance his way. “Thinkingof everything, aren’t you?”

“Regular boy scout,” he quipped, waiting until sheclosed the trunk and moved to the passenger side to slide behind the wheel.

Beckett rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched upwardsanyway. “You were never a scout, remember?”

Delight rippled across his shoulders at her memory, therecollection of something he’d said to her on their first case together.“Honorary then,” he said. “I think I probably qualify for thatby now.”

She snorted, clicking her seat belt into place.“Whatever you say, buddy. I’ve admitted it was good thinking; no need toget cocky.”

“But I thought you liked it when I got co-”

“Castle,” she interrupted, barely sparing him aglance as she programmed their destination into the GPS on his dash.

“Right,” he said, glancing in his mirrors, waitinguntil she finished to back out of his parking space. “Getting on the road.Looks like we should make good time.”

Kate hummed an agreement, kicking off her shoes andsquirming to make herself comfortable as her hand fell to rest in the center ofthe console.

“Don’t jinx us,” she warned after the fact.

Thankfully, it seemed that he hadn’t spoken too soon, as thecity that never slept granted them a brief window where the traffic wasn’tmiserable. Still, he waited until they’d made it to the highway and pointed thecar upstate to take his partner’s hand and give it a gentle squeeze. They bothseemed to breathe a sigh of relief, of gratitude that everything seemed like itwas going to work out and the night would happen as they’d planned.

“You okay?” Kate asked a little while later,turning in the bucket seat to face him. “I can drive if you want.”

Castle shook his head, brushing his thumb over her knuckles.“I’m good to drive. Just glad the killers of New York made their dirtydeeds someone else’s problem tonight.”

“Me too,” she admitted, leaning across the consoleto brush her lips over his cheek. “But really? Dirty deeds? That’s onestep away from ‘dastardly,’ Castle.”

“Which is also a great word.”

“If this were Dudley Do-Right, maybe,” sheretorted, grinning against his chin.

Rick laughed, jostling her hand when she retreated to herseat. This was one of his favorite things about being with her, the fact thatthey could go back and forth like this without missing a beat.

“You mock the world’s most well-meaning Mountie,Beckett?”

“Oh, hush.”

She was still smiling, though. He could hear it in hervoice. And for that, he would suffer whatever teasing she wanted to dish outover his vocabulary.

“Anyway, I was merely expressing my appreciation forthe fact that we didn’t get called to a crime scene five minutes before youclocked out.”

His girlfriend gave his hand a patronizing little pat.“Yes, yes you were. By quoting a 1960s cartoon.”

Turning his head just a tad, he stuck his tongue out at her.

“There are better uses for that tongue of yours,Castle,” she drawled, slipping her fingers up his arm. The touch sent ashiver through his limbs, and his blood warmed in anticipation.

“No fair, doing that while I’m driving,” heargued, easing off the gas as the slowpoke ahead of them decelerated even more.

Kate hummed, swiping her thumb along the inside of hiswrist. This time, though, it was hypnotic and soothing instead of arousing.Okay, a little arousing, too, but that was true for most of the things Kate Beckettdid.

“GPS says we should be there in a couple of hours,”Beckett started once he’d passed the slow driver, glancing behind them to checkout the vehicle. “Plenty of time to do it when we arrive.”

The transition from paved road to not-quite-gravel startledher out of her light doze, forcing her up in her seat.

“Sorry,” Kate croaked, swiping a hand over herface, hoping she wasn’t smearing what remained of her makeup too badly.“Didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

She really hadn’t intended to conk out on him, but the hum ofthe engine and the warmth of both the car and her contentment had managed tolull her into a gentle sleep.

From the driver’s side, her partner smiled. “Don’t worryabout it. You missed my epic drum solo during Tom Sawyer and a few people beingidiots in the left lane, but not much else.

Her lips twitched. She’d seen said drum solo more than onceduring their partnership, a few of his guitar solos, too. But she kind of lovedthat he let himself be a dork with her.

"Kay.” She twisted in the passenger seat, studyingtheir surroundings with soft eyes. She could see that trees lined the drive,but nothing distinct beyond that.

“Almost there,” Castle murmured, glancing in herdirection. “The site said we’ll pass an aid station and the clearing willbe about a mile past that.”

Beckett nodded, eyes still fixed on the landscape beyond hisshoulder. Even though they were moving, everything around them seemed so still.

“Do you think we’ll be warm enough?” she askedafter a moment.

Castle glanced at the dash, as if noting for the first timethat the temperature had dropped.

“We should be. You grabbed the blankets, we havecoffee, and if nothing else we can always sit in the car to warm up.”

She nodded in satisfaction, feeling her lips lift.“What? No promise that you’ll find a delightfully devilish way to keep mewarm? Are you feeling okay?”

He chuckled, offering his hand again. He must have taken itback after she’d fallen asleep. “That was a given, Beckett. That was agiven.”

She took his hand, slotting her fingers through his. Yes,she supposed it was with Rick.

“By the way, good call on doing this on a weeknight,” she murmured once the car rolled to a stop. They were alone in theclearing, not another soul for miles. It was breathtaking.

Her partner nodded, looking around with the same curiosityand awe she had. “I figured most people would not want to venture out on aWednesday in the middle of November. Looks like it paid off.”

Kate agreed quietly, unbuckling her seatbelt and movingacross the car to touch his face. Her lips brushed his, quick but gentle.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. Castle’s cheeks liftedunder her hand, but there was no trace of cockiness in his smile, just genuinejoy.

“Good,” he rumbled, cupping the back of her neckand drawing her closer for another kiss, biting and quick this time, leavingher sucking in a breath once he released her. “Let’s get set up.”

They worked together in silence, using one of the lanternshe’d fished out of storage for light. She watched him drape a sleeping bag and theblankets over the foam camping mattress, covering her mouth to hide her smirkwhen he flopped face down to test the set up.

“Yeah, that’ll be good,” he murmured into theplush fleece.

“You comfy, Castle?” she teased after a minute.

He mumbled a response that sounded vaguely like“very,” but otherwise didn’t move. Kate snickered, consideringnudging him to make space for her, but decided to let him be instead, moving tothe trunk of the car to grab the telescope and the tripod. She set it up just afew feet from their little camp, busying herself with perusing the sky to findwhat they were out there to see.

“There,” she said, almost to herself, “readyto go.”

“Not quite.”

She turned to find her boyfriend holing out a cup of coffee,his smile soft in the moonlight. She took the mug with grateful fingers,stepping into the warmth of his chest. Rick’s arm wound around her waist,keeping her close.

“Now we’re ready to go,” he added, resting hischeek against her temple.

“Let the Pleiades watching begin,” she hummed,lifting her chin to the sky, brushing her lips across his jaw in the process.

They stumbled into the gas station convenience store as thefirst rays of light streaked across the sky, sharing tired grins and a fewplayful kisses before parting to slip into the restrooms.

What an amazing night. Unlike anything he’d seen in hislife, including his daughter’s birth, his first paycheck from Black Pawn, andKate Beckett coming apart in his arms for the first time. There was somethinghumbling about observing the sky, about contemplating how endless and ancientit all was, and how small they were in comparison. It had left his skinhumming, and when Kate had turned to him on their camp mat and drew him overher, he’d seen that she felt it, too.

“Rick?” Kate touched his back, drawing closer whenhe turned to face her. “You can’t possibly need more snack food,” shechided, making him realize which display he’d been staring at while he waitedfor her to emerge from the bathroom.

Chuckling, he shook his head. “No, just… looking butnot looking. Thinking about tonight, mostly.”

She grinned. “Me too. I zoned out a little bit while Iwas in there.”

His hand slipped around her waist, brushing her back throughher thick sweater. She’d stolen his jacket when they were out there, but hadleft it in the car to run inside with him. “Coffee?”

Kate nodded, pressing her smile into his cheek. “Please.I could use the caffeine.”

“I’ll drive if you want,” he offered, but sheshook her head.

“You drove up, I’ll drive back.” Her lips brushedhis. “Just try to stay awake with me.”

“Of course,” he promised, pecking her lips again.

Her smile carried him to the coffee machines and then to thecounter to pay.

“Got everything?” Rick asked, watching inamusement as his partner reached over and placed a double pack of CosmicBrownies beside their coffees.

“I’m set. You?” she asked, pulling her lip betweenher teeth.

Grinning, he nodded. “I’m good.”

“Okay,” she exhaled, leaning her cheek on his armwhile the cashier rang everything up. “Let’s go home.”

#Castle Fanfiction #Castle Fanfic #Caskett #Caskett Fanfic #Season 5 Fic #My Fanfic #Prompt Responses #takeiteasykate

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dreamsofanenigma · 5 years

Text

P r o l o g u e - A Welcoming to Straud Mansion.

Victoria cast a skeptical eye towards Holly as she cautiously walked up the aging steps leading to the grandeur mansion. The looming structure was vast, more gloomy than a Goth, and harbored an errie, traditional vibe that suited the desolate look of the neighborhood. To her, the small blonde appeared pure as a winter's snow, shrouded in fog and nervous energy, she could sense the young girl had a deep need to prove herself.

Well, so be it. Perfect timing.

"Mrs. Davis?"

"Miss, will do." The girl gave a short, tentative smile. She felt a bit weird being mistaken for someone's wife.

"Ah, a shame. An attractive specimen as yourself should have a suitor for each day of the week at her beckoning call."

Holly thought this was a little extreme, and strange, but as she caught a glimpse of the parlor through a long velvet drape, she knew these people were far from those modern Vampires you see on TV and fiction novels. Victoria smirked at the other woman's apprehensive expression, waving away any awkwardness between them, knowing Holly would learn the equable ways of Immortals soon enough.

"No matter. Please, come in. We will discuss arrangements and payment inside. However, you must meet my husband first, Vlad is quite interested in your arrival."

Week 1, Wednesday, 5pm.

Holly's eyes widened at the interior of the mansion, the red and yellow hue instantly created a warm atmosphere, contrasting their infamously wicked nature. It was elegant, yet provided the house with a sense of forbidding. Gargoyles and statues of Sim's long past lined the foyer. The parlor is as stately as its owners, a Victorian decor lined the kitchen with an adjacent dining room fit for a king. For all she knew, a king could have lived here over a thousand years ago.

"There you are. Become familiar with the house? Good." Victoria said before Holly can get a word in. There was an air of importance about her and Holly could see why the Strauds have become such a prominent couple.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Davis." Came a warm, unwavering voice. Holly jumped and turned to see a handsome man with staggering silver hair standing behind her. His smile turns mischievous as he notices her tensed posture. "My apologies, I did not mean to frighten you."

"Oh! You didn't frighten me. I was just startled." It didn't help that a sudden crack of thunder had resounded at the sight of his pale face. "Your home is amazing!"

Vlad chuckled, it's been a while since anyone had shown eagerness, let alone compliment his home.

"It's raining cats out there. You weren't drenched to badly, I hope?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Holly nodded, finally managing to avert her gaze long enough to shake his hand. His keen eyes are so mesmerizing that she found it hard to look away.

"Well, if we are done with formalities - the office is this way." Victoria motioned for them to follow her upstairs, Holly thought she heard a touch of annoyance in the older woman's tone but figured she was wrong.

"Now, dear. Patience is key with Mortals."

"It has nothing to do with Mortals, dear, and everything with time." She pointed a perfectly manicured nail to a nearby window. Something told Holly there was more to this than just getting caught in the sun. Weren't Vampires safe inside?

Vlad cleared his throat at seeing Holly daydreaming, when in fact she was rapidly becoming more than a little worried.

"Did we lose you already? I do hope you won't leave." Vlad smiled, allowing Holly to see the sharp points of his molars at an alarming level. Perhaps this it is a bad idea to take a job offer from a family of Vampires!

"Look, I -"

"Do not fret, sweet child. It tarnishes your beauty." Victoria brought her face to Holly's level, her fingers ice cold against the blonde's chin. "You are skittish, as I'm sure anyone would be, but this is a once in a lifetime position. You don't want to squander it, now do you?"

She swallowed thickly, Victoria had a way with words that made it seem as if Holly was entirely in the wrong.

"No, I appreciate the position. It's just -"

"Then what is the issue?" Victoria shrugged off her opposition, while Vlad's suspicious glance goes unnoticed. "Starting with your room, which is on the top floor; first room to the right. Chores and minor repairs will be done no later than dusk. Visitors are allowed on weekends, we only ask that you please try to keep noise at a respectable volume. Should you perform your duties in a competent and reputable manner, we will consider a raise. The garden is off-limits. Otherwise, you have free run of the place."

"I'll put on the kettle." Vlad had a distinct feeling Victoria was leaving something out and needed to clear his mind.

"The AD said nothing about a curfew." Holly was confused. She sounded like a full time maid, rather than a tenant working part-time.

"Well, you know the idiom; catch more files with honey." Victoria said smoothly, and handed her a small list of instructions with a schedule. "Over the phone you mentioned becoming a model. It takes hard work to achieve greatness."

"Yes, and I heard you were a talented singer." Holly was taken aback at the sudden change in topic, but if there's one thing she's good it's multi-tasking.

"I am... a talented singer. My career hit a slight snag, but the important thing at the moment is you start tomorrow. Any further questions will be handled by Vladislaus." Holly turned to leave when Victoria stopped her at the door. "May I ask if you are eating healthy? Doing Yoga, perhaps?"

"Darling, stop pestering the poor woman." Vlad appeared out of a swirling mist and set two teacups on the desk, Victoria rolled her eyes. Holly was definitely going to have to get used to that. "I'm certain she's tired from the trip."

In truth, she is starting to feel the effects of jet leg, but those unpacked boxes weren't going to let her hit the sack just yet.

"No, it's fine, totally fine. I believe in being Eco-friendly, eating right and exercising can be difficult but manageable." Holly said this with renewed confidence, though, wondered if they even needed to eat. The Straud residence was exactly within her budget and a chance to receive a great boost in her status on social media should people know who her employers are, it would be stupid of her to ruin this when she had no place to call a home.

"It's settled then, see you both in the morn - er, tomorrow night."

"Of course."

Holly still felt a little uneasy as she made her way to her new room, however, as soon as she saw the space all the fun ways she could re-decorate and make it livable convinced her that earlier had clearly been a case of overreaction. Grabbing the guitar, she flopped on the old comforter that had seen better days and strummed a tune that's been stuck in her head since yesterday, fingers lazily plucking at the strings as the rain seemed to wash away her troubles outside, leaving the unpacking for another day...

Vlad took his usual seat behind the desk, the question was practically burning on his pursed lips.

"Don't give me that look. You knew just as well as I that we could not survive long in this modern world."

"Perhaps we..."

"No, please. I'd rather you don't say anything at all, just spare me today." Victoria's stern gaze softened into a look only meant for him. It was one he knew well.

"I will grant you that, Victoria. But you know the law. You know... what is at risk. This isn't what we agreed upon."

Victoria knew the law essentially pertaining Mortals as 'untouchable' was in affect for a very good reason, but there is always more than one way to exploit rules and regulations.

"Sometimes the end justifies the means."

Vlad watched his wife's shadow disappear through the door, hands folded in a teepee and worry lines etched his face. In all of his two hundred years, he wondered if the one person left to redeem him would turn out to be his biggest downfall.

#ts4 #sims 4 #strangerville #mystery #holly davis #vampires #storyline #sorry if it's weird that Vlad has a wifey #story purposes triumph sometimes #Chapters shouldn't be too long but enough to hopefully keep you guys interested #should I say this is rated T? Probably.

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celestialceci · 7 years

Text

camp kwami: chapter 1

ok. here it is. the @pepper-bottom summer camp au. it's here. or, if you prefer, it's on ao3 and ff.net also i wanna go back in time and yell at myself bc i wrote this like a month ago and now looking back there’s so many mistakes holy shit COOL ENJOY IT!!!! next chapter ->

Summer break is approaching, and Adrien finally gets to attend the camp he's wanted to for so long. Marinette has attended the camp since she was old enough to go, and considers it her second home. They're both ready for a summer of adventures at Camp Kwami, but neither of them expected adventures quite like this.

long road

Adrien’s computer mouse clicked on the familiar bookmark, and he sighed wistfully as the webpage loaded fully. There was nothing new; there hadn’t been for the past few months. He knew every tab by heart, every detail he could glean from the photographs and entries. Photos on the homepage faded into one another automatically. Soon his favorite appeared: two girls, one with wild rusty red hair and the other with dark bluish pigtails were locked in a tight embrace, covered in mud and paint smeared on their arms, grinning into the camera lens like there was no tomorrow. Adrien hovered over it with his mouse so the photo wouldn't change. He sighed again. They looked so happy, and the dark haired girl’s smile was absolutely radiant.

Though the website had many photos from various years, he had managed to find this girl in more than just this one. In one she is helping a younger child with a yarn craft, and in another from many years ago she’s watching an older girl cook over a campfire. Adrien could tell it was the girl, even in the old photo, by her look of utter happiness from being in the woods.

Deciding he didn't want to go through any more heartache tonight, Adrien closed the browser and put his many monitors to sleep, only to find himself on his phone a few minutes later looking through the tag on Instagram.

Camp Kwami. A tiny, secluded, nature-based co-ed summer camp in Southern France, owned and operated by the same family since 1904. The kids who went absolutely loved it, even making posts in the dead of winter about how much they missed the camp and all their friends. Adrien felt he knew enough about it to explain every minute detail to anyone who asked, despite never having set foot on the property before. Adrien’s mom had gone when she was a kid, and had wanted for Adrien to go, too. He could still remember her stories of late nights and wilderness adventures that she would tell him when he was younger. But with his mother now gone, his father would always shut down Adrien’s attempts to bring it up. Without success, Adrien had tried to convince Gabriel to let him go for the past four years. Now Adrien was the age where he would have to be staff if he went, and he was upset he’d missed out on his opportunities as a camper. This could have been his chance to make lifelong friends and memories like his mom and be a real kid. But noo, his dad had him cooped up at home like a princess in a castle, only making him more desperate to get free.

Adrien locked his phone, and tossed it onto the floor, planting his face in his pillow. He felt like crying. Was it possible to be homesick for place you’d never even been to?

“Father, can I ask you something?” Adrien began tentatively. “About my summer schedule?”

Gabriel didn't look up from the tablet that had a permanent residence next to his dinner place. “What is it, Adrien?”

“Applications for camp are due in a month, and I was having a discussion with Natalie today and-”

Adrien’s father let out a sharp breath, moving his cold eyes from his device to meet his son’s gaze. “Adrien, we have this discussion at least twice a year. My opinion has not changed. You are far too busy to be wasting time away from home when you can be here working.”

Gabriel’s clipped tone never failed to send a piercing jab through Adrien, but he persisted. “I know, I remember. But I was speaking with Natalie about my summer schedule, and you haven't planned any modeling projects for me past May, besides the fall collection-”

“I said, no,” Gabriel said with a definity that would usually end such a discussion.

“But Father! It’s… it’s something mom wanted for me.”

The forkful of steak that was headed for his dad’s mouth stopped midair, but his gaze didn't shift from the plate. Adrien felt himself break out in a cold sweat. “She- she wanted me to go. And I want to go,” Adrien pleaded. “Even Natalie agreed maybe a few months of being outdoors would be good for me so I could finally makesomefriendsorsomething-”

For the third time, Adrien was cut off. This time, not by words, but by his father tossing his napkin on the table and getting up from his chair. “The decision for you to go away this summer is still mine to make. You may be 16, but you are still within my care.” With that, he strode from the room, tablet in hand, leaving a defeated Adrien to pick at his asparagus and mourn another summer lost.

Back in his room, Adrien lay curled up on his couch with his phone and hoodie. The Camp Kwami photo gallery was organized by year. Adrien could scroll back to the 80’s and look through the scans of the old film photos. Only one featured his mother, though: she was standing in front of the fire place in what Adrien knew as the main lodge with three other girls, playing an acoustic guitar with lots of little patterns drawn on it as they sang together. Adrien gazed at the photo as he held back more tears. He wanted to go so badly. So, so badly. To be able to go to a place he knew his mom loved with all her heart would make him so happy. It was the only tangible connection he could have with her now, and his father was the one person standing in the way of that.

Three quick knocks sounded on his door. Natalie. Adrien ignored her, rolling over on his couch and pulling the hood up on his jacket.

“Adrien? Open up. Your father wants to speak with you in his office.” Natalie said.

Silence.

“Adrien, please be reasonable. I think you will want to hear what he has to say.”

Adrien opened his eyes and sat up to look at the closed door before flopping back down on the couch “I doubt it!” he called, his voice cracking slightly.

He heard the jangle of keys and his lock clicked open. Damn Natalie and her master key. Couldn't she just let a boy wallow in his sorrow in peace? He yanked on the strings of the hood, leaving only his nose poking out. He heard Natalie walk in and perch on the coffee table in front of the couch. They sat in silence for a moment. Natalie loosened his hood so she could see his face, but Adrien kept his eyes shut.

“I promise you, he's not going to chew you out for asking a fourth year in a row.” Natalie stated.

Adrien shrugged. “So? He’s still going to say no.”

“You don't know that. Please just go see him.” She rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment before getting up and walking out. Adrien opened his eyes, feeling how puffy they were despite him not actually crying. He pulled out his phone and looked at the picture of his mom and her guitar one more time before getting up and trudging to his father’s study on the other side of the house.

Adrien pushed off his hood before rapping his knuckles on the slightly open door.

“Come in.”

Adrien pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked up to the desk, head down, not bothering to take a seat. “You wanted to see me.”

Gabriel turned his gaze from his computer monitor and looked at his son. “I discussed it with Natalie, and she has made a very convincing case. I see here that children above 15 are trained to be staff,” he motioned to the computer as he spoke. “We’ll have to account for the extra training week they have at the end of May. I can always find a replacement for you for the fall collection modeling we usually have in the summer. Bring me anything that needs a signature, and you have time on Thursday to go out and buy things you might need. I doubt you’ll be wanting to wear designer clothes in the forest. Adrien, are you listening?”

Adrien’s mouth hung slack. “I… I can go?”

“Yes, that is what I am implying.”

“W-Wait, for how long?”

Gabriel only shrugged. “You’re in charge of filling out the paperwork and getting anything you need. I am simply granting you permission and… supporting you monetarily.”

Adrien’s whole face lit up. “Could… could I go the whole summer?”

“If you would like to.”

WOULD I LIKE TO? Adrien thought. Yes! Yes! YES! “Thank you, father! I’ll do it right away.” He turned and ran from the room, beyond excited.

Gabriel watched him leave, sitting back in his chair. He turned to look at the portrait above the fireplace of his wife. “It’s what she would have wanted,” he breathed.

Back in his room, Adrien flew into his desk chair, fumbling with the mouse as he opened the website. He printed a few copies of the forms and the packing list, uncapped a pen and got to work.

Adrien walked in the house and went straight into the security room and to Natalie’s desk. She wasn’t there, so he pushed the button for the mail slot. The mechanical slot opened, revealing it was empty. He sighed. Adrien knew mail from Clermont-Ferrand to Paris took a few days, especially since it was all the way in the forest, but it had been almost a week with no reply about his acceptance to the staff at Camp Kwami. Hopefully it hadn’t gotten lost in the mail. He climbed the stairs to his room and threw his fencing bag down, ready for a badly needed shower.

There it was. A generic white envelope with a simple stamp of a ladybug with cat ears and whiskers next to the return address. Adrien spies his name in neat, rounded print in the middle above his own address.

Snatching the envelope off of his desk, Adrien tears open the top and skims the single paper inside.

Adrien Agreste,

We are happy to inform you that you have been admitted to serve on the Camp Kwami summer staff for all sessions! We are all looking forward to having you on our team this year. Only 3 months until summer!

See you in the valley!

Tikki

Camp Kwami

Adrien actually let out a whoop. Finally! The wait had been worth it, and now he was bursting with joy. He wanted to open his windows and yell to all of Paris that he was going to be free for the first time in his life. Instead, he grabbed his phone to call the one person who would listen.

“Hello?”

“Chloe! It’s me!”

“Adrikins!!! I was wondering when you would return my calls!”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Listen! I’ve got great news, Chlo!”

“What’s that? You have free time tonight for us to go to the ballet?”

“Actually, I might. I’ll text you about details for that later. You know the summer camp I’ve been trying to get Father to let me go to for the past few years?”

“That old place down in Clermont-Ferrand?”

“Yeah, that one exactly!”

“So? What about it?”

“You gotta guess, Chlo.”

“If I guess, you have to promise to not stand me up this time for the ballet.”

“Fine. JUST GUESS.”

“Uh… Gab finally relented?”

“YEAH! I’M GOING THIS SUMMER! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, CHLOE?!? HE ACTUALLY SAID YES!”

“Fascinating, Adrien. You won’t be gone for long right? Maybe a few days?”

“Hell no! I’m gonna be gone the whole summer!”

“THE WHOLE SUMMER?! Wh-what?”

“Relax, Chloe, you’ll live without me for a couple months.”

“Oh, my god. I can’t believe this.”

“Me neither. Anyway, I just wanted to call and tell you since you would be like, the only person who would actually understand. I gotta go now. Maybe see you later?”

“I’d better! So… what is this camp?”

“Camp Kwami. My mom went there?”

“Camp Kwami… hm. Okay, talk to you later Adrikins!!! Text me about toni-”

Adrien hung up the phone. He didn’t really want to go anywhere with Chloe right now, but maybe he would just to keep her at bay for another couple of weeks. Especially considering the great mood he was in.

#miraculous ladybug #camp kwami #ml fanfic #ml fic rec #ml au #celestialceci #writing #here goes nothing

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