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squishneedsahero · 3 years

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Building Bonds

Awesomest of Them All 2.0

Part 3 of 13

Word Count: 1259

Batman x Batmom!Reader

You know what the bat family needs? Someone to pull them together and give them all the love they deserve. Who better to do that than you? An author rising to stardom in Gotham who catches the eye of a billionaire with your standoffish attitude at a huge social gathering. You are yourself and never pretend to be more or less than that. Plus you're the most stubborn person in the world, refusing to let good things go without reason.

This is a rewrite of my story Awesomest of Them All, I wanted to see how much I've improved over 3 years.

"You sure you want to take him with?" Bruce asks.

You look up from packing, "Yes Bruce, have you ever known me to not be sure of something?" You move out of your bedroom to sit on your couch next to Bruce.

He wraps his arms around your waist, "He can be quite the handful," as he speaks you lean against his chest.

"I know," you pause, "but we've been dating for over a year now, and I want to get to know Dick better."

Bruce sighs, "Alright, I'm going to head home and I'll let him know," he stands up and you do as well.

"I'll come pick him up tonight," you lead Bruce to the door of your apartment.

"I'll see you then," he leans in and kisses you before leaving.

"Hello Miss l/n," Alfred greets you at the door.

"Hi Alfred," you say shaking his hand because what else are you supposed to do when someone won't just call you y/n? As soon as you step inside you hear a shout.

"Y/n!" Dick exclaims running up to you and wrapping his arms around you in a hug.

"Hi Dick! Are you ready to go?"

"Almost," Dick releases you and goes to grab his bags.

When you stand up from hugging the boy you feel two arms wrap around your waist from behind you. "Hello you," You say turning around to face Bruce as he holds you tighter.

"Be safe," Bruce says before he kisses you and you kiss back, not as long as you'd like as you hear a gagging noise behind you.

You smirk and pull away from the kiss, "No promises, conventions can be quite dangerous," you release from the hug as you lay a hand dramatically across your forehead. You then turn to face Dick, "you ready now?"

"Yup!"

"Then let's go," You say going to help him carry his bags. You take the duffel bag from the eleven year old and throw it over your shoulder. "See You next week," you say kissing Bruce one last time.

"See ya," Dick says hugging Bruce then Alfred.

"Be good," Bruce says ruffling Dicks hair.

"Goodbye Master Dick," Alfred says hugging the boy back.

"Were driving?" Dick asks when he sees how packed your car is.

"Well I am, but yes we're driving," you reply to his question.

"Cool," Dick says, "we usually just fly to things, it's been a while since I've been on a road trip..." he trails off sounding slightly down.

"You get to be the D.j.," you say waving at the radio, trying to lighten the mood as you get what he's saying about the last time he'd been on a road trip, as it was probably last with his parents, the flying Graysons.

"Really?" Dick looks at the radio then back to you excitedly.

"Yup. We'll listen to whatever you want to," you say, smiling at him.

He turns on the radio and finds the aux cord and plugs it into his phone and hits shuffle. He's heard the weird music you listen too, a little bit of everything so he knows you won't judge his taste in music. He obviously still picks a playlist he thinks you'd approve of that is all Disney music since that's always a safe bet to play around adults when you're only 10.

The two of you bond during the long drive to Metropolis, singing along to all the classics such as Under the Sea and Hakuna Matata. The both of you share a joint hotel room for the night, Dick in his own room to be sure he's comfortable and knows he is free to have boundaries with you. The two of you go out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and bump into some reporter who apparently knows both Dick and Bruce relatively well.

The tall broad shouldered man introduces himself as Clark Kent and you introduce yourself just for Clark's girlfriend Lois to ask you for an interview while you're in town.

You're about to turn her down but Dick answers for you, saying he's sure you'd love too and he'd just go hang out with Clark for a while. It's a little odd but you go with it since Dick seems so excited about it. After talking for a while and setting up a time to meet they leave the restaurant to let you and Dick finish your dinner and desert before going back to the hotel.

The two of you walk into the convention center and Dick exclaims, "Woah! This is awesome!"

"Yeah, it is," you say following him where ever he went. You had let Dick pick the costumes so you were dressed as (Disney Princess) and him as (Quirky Sidekick), since today wasn't a day you had a panel for the third book of the series you were writing. "So, where to first?"

He shrugs, "I don't know," he keeps craning his neck to look around, "I've never been to one of these before."

You shake your head and tsk softly, "come on, I'll teach you how to enjoy a comicon kiddo," you gently take his hand and lead the way incognito over to the artists alley.

The main reason you gave Dick for being dressed up was so less people would recognize you since you really had blown up in popularity since releasing your first and second books and the third being released this year.

In the artists alley you both look at all the cool stickers and pins that they had made. You get lots of stuff since you could now afford to actually support the artists with more than a like and a follow.

As the two of you wander you come across someone who had drawn some merch for your series. Their art was amazing, catching the character's personalities perfectly. It's as you're talking with the artist about their different work that they suddenly recognize you as y/n l/n and not as just another fan.

You smile and laugh softly, this was the one reason you enjoyed being a public figure, so that you could make people's days in such a small way by just liking their art or smiling at them. Anyways, Dick is hungry so you hurry along since you know he won't complain as he's used to Bruce getting held up. Anyways you quickly get the artist's contact information and take a picture with them, letting them know they can share it that night once the con was over for the day.

After that you move on with Dick to find some junk food to eat and a couple panels to sit in on. Over all the two of you have an amazing week together, bonding over movies, music and food. You get interviewed by Lois who is just as confused as you are as to how Clark and Dick know each other. Then you have a fan panel yourself at the con, answering lots of fan's questions. Plus the fact that you finally found someone to be the official artist for your books.

With a week spent together you and Dick are closer than ever. The two of you hadn't been not close but without Bruce and Alfred not around to buffer your interactions you have closer to what you think a mother son relationship should be like. After that week spent together you head back home to Gotham, the two of you had had fun but it would be nice to get back to normal life once again.

#Batman #batmom #batmom reader #batman x you #batfam x batmom #bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x y/n #bruce wayne x you #batfam #batfam x you #batfam x reader #batfam x y/n #batman x batmom #batman x batmom!reader

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binniedeactivated · 4 years

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saint. || soobin (4)🌪

🖤┊𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔱 . ೄྀ࿐ 𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌: 𝖘𝖔𝖔𝖇𝖎𝖓 𝖝 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖗𝖊: 𝖘𝖒𝖚𝖙/𝖆𝖚 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙; 2300

“mom i’m home! i know you missed me”. soobin jokes while closing the door behind you. He knew full well his mother wasn’t there but it was fun for him to think that his mom was waiting for his return. He laughs and you nudge him.

“that isn’t funny soobin that’s actually kind of sad”. he throws his jacket on the coat rack.

“hey i’ve come to terms with the way my parents are a long time ago. I laugh at it to keep it from being sad”.

“do they always beat you like that?”. you ask, following him upstairs to his room.

“do you know what kind of kid I am in school? of course they beat me like that”.

“so why do you act out if you know they’re going to beat you?”. you ask confused.

“yeah and you sound like my mother now”.

“well you act like a child soobin”. you found it weird how often he laughed at you. if you were some kid in school talking to him the way you talk he would’ve ruined your life. Soobin was too nice to you.

He walks into his closet and starts undressing, you were following him but once you realized what he was doing you gasp and immediately covered your eyes. Trying his best to pull his other leg out of his pants he chuckles at you again.

“what are you hiding for? It isn’t like I’m naked”.

“I’m scared of seeing something”. you utter moving to the other side of the room away from his closet. “oh yeah? what are you afraid of seeing?”. he grins. for some reason you still had your eyes covered. “you know”.

soobin shoves his legs into some black sweatpants. “oh come on. you can’t even say the word?”. you swallow. “What word?”.

“Penis. Dick. Cock”.

“yes, i’m afraid of seeing those”.

“what are you afraid of?”.

“of what they might look like”.

“you’ve never saw a dick before?”. soobin asks from inside his closet still, wincing at his wounds while he changed his shirt.

“no soobin”.

he makes his way out of there shutting the door behind him. he folded his arms while you were by the door with your eyes still covered. He removes them. you were so innocent, he thought.

“Do you want to see one?”.

your eyes expand. you weren’t exactly expecting him to say that.

“you mean you’re going to...?”. soobin laughs making his way to his bed. He reaches in the drawer at the bottom of his night stand for his computer.

“I was talking about porn you little freak”. he said, you instantly regained breath.

“come sit”. he directs patting the spot beside him. you do as you were told and watch him surf the web. Things looked pretty normal until he was now on a black screen full of videos with an orange and white header that read Pornhub.

Was it bad that you never heard of it before?

He scrolls down and you saw more than you’ve ever saw before. I mean you knew body anatomy pretty well but damn, you’ve never explored further than your biology classroom.

“so sometimes when two people have sex or they want to have sex they watch a little porn to get them going. you don’t have to be with someone though. even kids our age and younger just watch it to get ourselves off”.

“why?”. you questioned disgustingly.

“because it’s fucking hot. here let me show you”. soobin clicks on a video of a couple. you couldn’t really make out anything with how fast he clicked on the video. It buffers a bit before showing a tiny girl with a skimpy outfit. She was pretending to bend over in front of some muscular guy on her living room couch. you watch closely as the guy smirks before grabbing her and bending her over the couch he was sitting in. She moans while he rips her panties off.

“Does it feel that good?”. you ask. Soobin shakes his head.

“most girls do it for camera purposes. they get paid a lot of money so it’s best they do it good so they can get a lot of castings”.

you nod and continue watching. by now the guy is already unzipping his pants and pulling out his dick and you flinch not believing you kept your eyes open enough to see. It hadn’t looked as weird as you thought it would. Kind of like a banana with a mushroom head. But it definitely was huge.

“oh my--are they all like that?”.

“that’s for you to find out”. soobin laughs at your innocent reaction. he thought you were adorable. the girl gets on her knees for a while and sucks it. you had a slight idea of what transpired during sex but it was never this. you always thought people got straight to the point. Well that’s all you got to see at least while your parents shielded your eyes whenever a rated r part occured in any movie. she’s moaning and spitting on it as if it were the best thing she’s ever tasted. your jaw drops completely.

and this was nothing compared to what you felt when it was his turn. he laid on on the couch before he swipes his tongue up her pussy. She’s pushing his head further inside of her and he’s slurping her like there was no tomorrow. you compared it to the feeling you got when soobin touched you. you shuddered at the thought, reliving it again. The way the guy sucked every part of her intrigued you and you felt your heart racing. he didn’t stop either, he sucked her just as good as she sucked him. With spit and his tongue curling around her clit every 5 seconds.

you felt yourself growing hot as you watched more. she moans and rubs herself against his mouth. your throat runs dry. you were feeling a little uncomfortable in your school skirt, a wet feeling. as she moans you pulsate in your panties. you never knew just a simple video could have this effect on you and now you knew why kids your age watched it. of course you weren’t going to tell soobin that it was turning you on. You tried to look as calm as possible. Especially since soobin was watching as casual as if it were an anime.

it was now time for them to have sex and god you were a mess. you wanted something to calm your nerves. your blood was rushing and you couldn’t stop throbbing. you wished soobin would turn the video off but you didn’t want to have to explain the reason why. but you couldn’t take it anymore and you just hoped father benjamin would forgive you after what you were about to do.

“ssoobin”. you stammer.

“sh this is the good part”.

you look at the screen and the girl is on all fours with the guy absolutely hammering her. It looked painful. you tug on soobin’s shirt sleeve.

“ssoobin I need help”.

he pauses the video, glimpsing over at you to see what was the matter. you didn’t look like you needed urgent care.

“what is it? are you alright? if you’re feeling sick I can just turn it off. She’s fake moaning anyway”.

you shake your head no.

“It isn’t that”.

“what is it?”.

with a shaky hand you lift your skirt up a bit so he could see the wet stain growing in your panties. you were embarrassed but you had to say something because you knew he’d know how to help you. He bends his head over to get a better look. He was shocked to be honest.

“are you horny?”.

you palm your face in humiliation.

“yes soobin”. he picks your head up with his hand so your eyes were now on him.

“you don’t have to be embarrassed alright? That’s what porn is supposed to do. Hold on”.

Soobin assures before standing up. He drags his pants down slowly and your breathing stops. you hadn’t learned enough to have sex yet. and soobin knows this which is why he wasn’t going to have sex with you. He makes himself comfortable on the bed next you.

“ssoobin I don’t think I’m ready”. you stutter. he had boxers on of course but you’re nervous just in case he was planning on taking them off.

“I’m not going to have sex with you. have you ever heard of thigh riding?”.

you shake your head no.

“I’ll teach you. you’ll have to take off your panties first though”. you hesitantly stand up on his bed to do so. you weren’t exactly nervous about it since you had your skirt to cover your naked parts.

“straddle my thigh”. he demanded. and you did so. as soon as you came in contact with his skin you grimaced. Just the pressure alone felt good.

“move your hips”. he said again. you gripped the front of his shirt while you dragged yourself up and thigh and back down again. you whine a little, never feeling something so pleasurable in your life. you do it once more, loving the way his skin stuck to your clit in the most delicious of ways.

soobin watches you. he thought you looked so hot when you were desperate. he tries his best to keep a boner down though. “Does it feel good?”. he ask.

“yyes”. you murmur dragging yourself against him again. You could feel your core producing twice the amount of wetness you had before. But this pace wasn’t enough for you. You’d never get off like this. You decided to quicken the speed of your hips. It was the best decision you’ve ever made. You couldn’t contain your small squeals and whimpers of pleasure as you rode soobin’s thigh.

“you’re pussy is so wet..are you okay?”.

you push a strand of hair behind your ear and nod as you bite your lips still clutching his shirt for support. you were grinding hard at this point and soobin felt every ounce of wetness that came from you. your heart raced at lightening speed as you kept going. Soobin eyes were just fixed on your every move. He puts his hands on your waist pushing you down harder. sensation burned in your abdomen.

“ssoobin”. you stuttered again.

“hm?”.

“I feel like I’m gonna--”. your eyes drive to the back of your head as you grind on him as fast as your waist allowed. Your hips began stuttering and you felt the familiar pressure you felt when soobin touched you in the classroom.

“you’re going to cum?”.

“yes!”. you wail dragging yourself on his thigh while your juices was squirting out of you. when you were finished you were hit with a lazy limp feeling that urged you to lay your head on soobin’s chest. You were breathing heavy and now you were more than embarrassed.

“I’m sorry about your leg”. you apologized. your liquid was rolling down the sides of his thighs. He rubbed your back softly.

“It’s alright I shouldn’t have showed you that video if you’ve never watched porn before. I should played something a bit more softer. Welcome to your second orgasm though”. he adds at the end and chuckles. you slapped his shoulder and bury your face in his shirt.

“stop I can’t believe I just did that”.

“Welcome to being a real teenager. Do you want to put your panties back on? I won’t look”. soobin questions and you wondered what was it that made him softer than usual. It was cute yet odd. If you were any other girl he’d be telling the whole school your business on social media right now.

soobin closes his eyes while you slip your panties back on under your skirt. you told him you were done and he flutters them back open. He glares up at you while you were still standing on his bed pressing your foot into it with concentration.

“what are you doing?”.

“your bed is bouncy”. you mention jumping a little. He laughs.

“are you really jumping on my bed right now?”.

you nod and jump higher. with your skirt flaring up It was kind of fun to be honest. And it got your mind off of what you had just done.

“yeah why not?”.

“because you’re 18 and not 5 years old”. you stop jumping to look at him.

“so? you’re 18 and still misbehave in school”. you reply before jumping again. soobin sucks his teeth before he playfully tackles you to the bed. you admit it was fun wrestling to get out of his grip. but he held you tightly and the both share a laugh once he got you fully down on the bed. He does that stare again that made your heart do weird things.

It felt as if the world stopped whenever he stared at you. And it was intense yet heartwarming. An aura that you never thought you’d get from Choi Soobin. He leans in carefully, pressing a delicate kiss on your lips. He was a great kisser. He had a way of making his kisses slow enough to make your heart full and powerful enough to leave you wanting more. He pulls away and stares into your eyes again, rubbing your cheek with his thumb. You take that as an invitation to bring your head up to meet his lips again, this time initiating the kiss yourself. You had to learn someway.

You copied soobin’s movements whenever he kissed you. Your lips danced in perfect harmony with his. It wasn’t hard to kiss it’s just that you had to match the timing of the other person for a good slow heated kiss. Your timing was just right. He presses his body against yours and deepens the kiss keeping his lips slow and steady. surprisingly you wanted more. You comb his hair with your hands and he glides his tongue in your mouth smoothly. He felt your breathing come to a halt at the feeling.

“it’s alright, just keep kissing me the way you were”. he speaks with his lips closely shadowing yours. you follow his directions and his tongue feels like magic on yours. He places his hand on your thigh and curls your leg around his waist and you now knew why kissing lead to sex. It was something your parents always told you, that they forbid you kiss anyone because they knew what were to happen next.

you didn’t necessarily think it was a bad thing especially if kisses felt like this. like nothing else mattered. as if every worry you had from the outside world was gone. you couldn’t believe yourself. you were rocking your hips steadily against soobin. he was gentle with you though. He wasn’t rushing to lift your skirt up or sliding his sweatpants down. You both were fully clothed and he respected that. and you didn’t even know soobin had one respectful bone in his body.

you had to pause though with your phone buzzing in your pocket. you reached into it fishing it out. It happened to be your mother calling. You put a finger up in front of soobin’s face telling him to wait one moment.

“hello yes mom?”.

“where are you? your study group should’ve ended by now”.

“I know mom we’re finishing up right now”.

“Okay. If you’re not home in within the next couple of minutes you’re not going to be able to keep going to study group”.

“alright I’m coming”. you say and quickly hang up. Soobin looks down at you with that stupid grin. you rolled your eyes and laughed at him, mushing his face the other way. “shut up soobin”. He got off the bed and went into his closet to grab some sneakers.

“Come on. I’ll take you home”.

“If my mother finds out some guy is taking me out she’ll lose it”.

“i’ll drop you off at the corner and you can walk down the sidewalk to your house”.

you nod in agreement and slip your boots on before the both of you head back to the car. While soobin was driving though a call from his phone appeared on the touchpad in the middle of you both. It was Mia. He answers it.

“hello?”.

“hey I was thinking if you’re not doing anything maybe you wanted to come over?”. her voice blares through the speakers of the car, it sounded even more annoying on the phone.

“um I’m in the middle of something right now”.

she scoffs.

“I hope you’re not with that prissy little religious bitch”. you felt yourself sink further into your seat. Were you mad that she said that? yes. but were you going to argue with her? no.

“can you relax? you’re always riled up for no reason”.

“because you are always in other bitches’ face soobin”.

“if you think that then why the hell are you trying to date me then?”.

“soobin just look at us. We clearly belong together”.

you roll your eyes. god she was desperate.

“you’re crazy”.

“whatever. are we still on for tomorrow night?”.

“yeah I guess so”.

“I’ll be ready. Talk to you later”.

“alright”.

and with that the conversation ended. Pretty one sided relationship if anyone asked. you knew you were starting to hate Mia though.

“soobin if you don’t like her then why are you taking her on a date?”.

you question. it was clear that he didn’t like her back.

“you’ll see”. he replies which was a weird way to answer your question. You wanted to ask him what he meant by that but you were already at your house.

“alright. Don’t forget to study your bible”. soobin chuckles while you unbuckle your seat belt and open the door. you laugh.

“thank you soobin. Have fun at Mia’s house”. you responded while hauling your bag around his car.

“what?”. he yelled from his car while you were walking away.

“I know you’re going over there soobin”. you yelled back.

he laughs as if it weren’t true. he watches you walk down the sidewalk and into your house, admiring how obedient and respectful you were.

Maybe he was going to Mia’s house but, he’d rather be with you.

#txt #choi yeonjun #choi soobin #choi soobin au #txt au #kpop #imagines #kang taehyun #heuningkai

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grayseekerswritinglife · 4 years

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Tricks & Treats (1/5)

Chapter One: Smoke-Bombs

Starscream locked his lab door behind him and took a long, hard look around. He was alone. There was no telltale ‘vop’ of teleportation, nor was anyone perched on his work-bench, feet swinging idly as they babbled a string of increasingly nonsensical questions.

Hey, Starscream! What about exploding snakes? That’d be cool, right? No—wait! What about sparklers that turn into snakes and then explode? I mean! One second you’re wavin’ a sparkler around, and next it turns into a snake and explodes! Wouldn’t that be nifty?

“It would not,” Starscream growled, stalking through his now-vacant lab. “It would not be the least bit ‘nifty.’ It would be a puerile, pointless waste of my time and intellect.” He yanked open a supply cupboard, grabbed a sturdy trash bag, and began clearing away the mess. There was glitter. A lot of it, in varying shades of orange, black and purple. Also various accelerants, types of fuses, scraps of hollow, articulated cable meant to resemble snakes, globs of sticky orange resin designed to bond to one’s exo-structure and look… well, gross, and—last but not least—a pumpkin-shaped mold for making inflatable gourds.

Once the last bit of ‘snake’ tubing had disappeared into the bag, Starscream allowed himself a sigh of relief. While he’d accepted long ago that the only sure way to get any uninterrupted lab-time was to appease Skywarp’s need for ever more creative pranking supplies, this event that humans called ‘Halloween’ was testing the limits of his fragile patience. He tossed the bag in the trash receptacle and trudged to his workstation where he paused, one hand on the power-switch.

“Now, where was I?” His gaze settled idly on the holocube that sat beside his workstation. It showed two explorers about to depart Cybertron on a deep space mission. Neither of them had heard of Halloween, which was probably why they both looked so optimistic. “Ah, yes,” he said as he sat down. The screen flickered to life, and the project he’d been working on three days ago, when Skywarp had first invaded his lab, appeared. Within moments he’d re-immersed himself, and was in the throes of some highly sophisticated mental calculations when someone pounded on the door.

“Go away!” Starscream shouted. “I’m busy!”

The knock came again. Louder this time, and more urgent. So much for uninterrupted lab-time. Starscream pushed his chair back with a growl, pausing just long enough to switch off his monitor before he stomped to the door. Whoever his caller was, it couldn’t be Skywarp. Skywarp wouldn’t have knocked; he would have teleported right in and started nattering about his latest prank idea. The only other likely choice was Megatron, who sometimes knocked, but wasn’t always in the mood to respect a locked door. The last thing Starscream wanted was for Megatron to see what he’d been working on. Unlike Skywarp, he might actually figure out what it was.

“I’m coming! Hold on to your trigger-guard, and—” Starscream broke off as the next round of knocks were accompanied by… yes, it was: a faint boom of thunder. A sonic boom, just strong enough to rattle the chemistry glassware on his shelves. He yanked the door open.

“Thundercracker?” Starscream stared at his Trinemate. He wasn’t used to seeing Thundercracker by himself. Normally, Skywarp was at Thundercracker’s side—when he wasn’t haunting Starscream’s lab—and his presence provided a certain buffering influence. Alone, Thundercracker looked… dangerous. Especially with his wings hiked to such an aggressive angle and his fist raised to batter the door again. Or, possibly, Starscream’s face. He looked angry enough to try it, and Starscream took an involuntary step back. “What are you doing here?”

“Is he here?” Thundercracker demanded, peering into the lab. “Please say he is.”

“Is who here?” Starscream asked, irritated at his own reaction. He was the Trineleader, for frag’s sake. He had no reason to feel intimidated by an underling. Thundercracker shoved past him and stalked into the lab, raking his gaze over the shelves, the monitors, the small berth upon which Starscream occasionally slept, and the cabinets filled with supplies and scientific apparatus. “Wow,” he muttered. “Geek Central.”

“What do you want?” Starscream demanded. It occurred to him he couldn’t recall the last time Thundercracker had set foot anywhere near his lab. His presence here seemed ominous. It also occurred to him that he had more to hide than just his secret project. The holocube on his desk was rather incriminating. Normally he shoved it well out of sight before entertaining the few visitors he got down here, but this time he’d forgotten. He edged in front of it, trying to block Thundercracker’s view. “What are you looking for?”

Thundercracker let out a sigh. “I was hopin’ he’d be with you, but…” he reached into his subspace and drew out a plain black metal box. “You know what this is, right?”

Starscream nodded. He’d recognized it instantly. Originally designed to hold specimen-jars, it had recently been repurposed to house smoke-bombs. “What about it?”

“I found it on his berth.” Thundercracker raised the lid. “It was empty. He also cleared out the compartment where he was stashing his other Halloween junk.”

“So?” Starscream adjusted his wings as he spoke, mentally gauging the optimal angle to keep the holocube from Thundercracker’s line of sight. “He’s probably commenced this… Trick-or-Treat nonsense he keeps going on about.”

Thundercracker shook his head. “Nah. He was saving all that for Halloween, which isn’t for a couple days. I checked.”

“Thirty-six hours,” Starscream corrected automatically. “But what about it? Maybe he’s getting an early start.”

“Maybe.” Thundercracker sounded doubtful. He started to pace, forcing Starscream to turn in his direction to keep his wings in the right position. “But I don’t like it.” He stopped and leveled a glare. “You couldn’t just let him have his fun, could you?”

“What?” Starscream flinched at the note of accusation in his Trinemate’s voice. “You think this is my fault?”

“Who else? You got him interested in human traditions in the first place!”

“Me? I beg your pardon?”

“You encouraged him to go looking for Santa Claus at the North Pole!”

“Just to prove there’s no such thing!”

“Well, he didn’t take it that way! He took it as encouragement.”

“But—”

“He’s also decided he’s the Easter Bunny.”

“What?”

“He’s gonna… I dunno, hide a bunch of eggs in the Command Center or… something.” Thundercracker swept a hand over his forehead, as if trying to push the thought aside. “Human traditions are so bizarre. Anyway, when he got interested in Halloween, you encouraged him.”

“I did no such thing! I merely—”

“Helped him build smoke-bombs? Yeah, exactly.” Thundercracker shook the empty box. “And all that other nonsense, the… fake snakes and stuff. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talkin’ about.”

“If you know so much, how can you claim I wasn’t letting him have his fun?”

“Because!” Thundercracker slammed the box on the nearest table. “Halloween isn’t just about playing tricks!”

“It’s not?” Starscream had been rather under the impression that it was, considering how thoroughly Skywarp had latched onto it.

“No. Apparently it’s also an excuse for humans to gorge themselves on whatever disgusting food passes for sweets in their weird, organic diet. Well, guess who else likes treats?”

“I…” Starscream’s mind raced. “Wait. Are you talking about the gold? I couldn’t let him keep that!” Earlier that day, Starscream had discovered a sizable bag of gold ore in Skywarp’s quarters. Primus only knew where he’d gotten it from. Starscream allowed his fliers to consume some of the rich, sweet metal, which could be healthy in small quantities. It could strengthen one’s frame by improving flexibility, for example, but in larger quantities it could soften one’s armor and add excess weight, ruining a flier’s aerodynamic performance. "I am the Air Commander,” Starscream pointed out. “I need my fliers combat-ready, and Skywarp was taking on too much ballast.”

“It was just until Halloween,” Thundercracker argued. “You could have waited a couple extra days instead of takin' away all his goodies. Now he’s…”

“What?” Starscream felt a twinge of unease. “What’s going on, Thundercracker?” He realized that in his rush to defend himself, he’d neglected to ask. He’d also forgotten about the holocube, which was now in plain sight if Thundercracker cared to glance in its direction. He didn’t. His gaze was on the empty box which had contained the smoke-bombs.

“I dunno,” Thundercracker said heavily. “He’s not answering me. He’s run away somewhere—probably to get more treats—but hell if I know where.”

“More treats?” Starscream mused. “If gold is what he’s after, I might have an idea.”

~~~~~~~

This was written for @darkstarofchaos for the @transform-or-treat Halloween gift exchange. There are five chapters of it in all, and I will be posting a chapter a day until Halloween! Many, many thanks to @justawayninja or being my awesome beta. Your suggestions helped me get the story to the next level.

#transform or treat 2020 #transform-or-treat #darkstarofchaos #transformers #maccadam #halloween #starscream #skywarp #thundercracker #skyfire #humor #hijinks #pranks #secret relationship #trine dynamics #team as family

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juniperwindsong · 4 years

Text

A Night at the Rosier’s

This little drabble is dedicated to my very dear friend, who asked for an "emotional support/comic relief social buffer" for Christmas. Sorry this came so late, but I'm immensely proud of you. Also, to the mod of @ask-chester-davies, who said something nice about my other story. Here is some additional Felster content for your fandom.

Also important to note: if you’ve read anything else by me, you’ll recognise Juniper Windsong (my MC) but this story doesn’t exist in the same universe as my other Felix x Juniper fics. Apologies for the confusion!

Summary: Every time another oily old wizard sidles over to offer him congratulations on such a fine catch, Felix finds himself more irritated. He has made a fine catch, he thinks, and it isn't the Hogwarts curse-breaker. And for the first time, it bothers Felix that he can't show off the person he truly wants to.

Juniper Windsong stares glumly down at her red satin stiletto heels, then out across the cruelly cobbled path to the Rosier's manor house. It's unnecessarily long and winding, the stones fitted together in an uneven pattern and jutting out irregularly. She groans and takes a cautious step forward, instantly stumbling. "So, tell me why I'm here again?"

Juniper poses the question to the comfortably oxford-clad young man walking a pace ahead of her and oblivious to her struggle.

"I did explain that in the letter." Felix replies, his tone and pace brisk with buzzing nerves.

"Yeah, but explain it again because it was weird."

Felix sighs. "You are pretending to be my fiancée so my parents will relax about the whole "marriage thing" for a bit and I can continue seeing Chester without their knowledge."

"Uh huh..." Juniper mumbles, her eyes on her feet, working hard to avoid the cracks between the stones. "Okay, you have to slow down. I'm not good at this!"

Felix rolls his eyes and extends an arm for her to use as balance. Together, they tackle the cobbled walk at a more stately pace.

Finally able to focus on something other than her shoes, Juniper says, "Follow up question."

Felix closes his eyes, praying for patience.

"Why didn't you just bring Chester?"

Felix stops and stares at the girl next to him.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes?" she responds tentatively.

"Did you not hear the part where I'm seeing Chester without telling them? It might be a bit hard to keep it secret after I bring him as my date to their Christmas party."

Felix begins to walk again, his steps slightly faster and Juniper has to cling to his arm to keep from stumbling.

"Yes, but why is it a secret?"

"That sort of thing isn't permitted."

"Really?" Juniper asks incredulously. "Blimey, your parents are old fashioned."

Felix runs his free hand through his hair in frustration. "It isn't about the fashion. My parents are well aware of my preferences. Unfortunately, preferences are the privilege of the lower classes. Pure bloods have an imperative to procreate."

Juniper makes a noise somewhere between a snort and a retch, and her heels catch in the stones beneath her. Felix has to drag her up again as she tries hard to stifle her giggles.

"Who talks like that?"

Felix shrugs the shoulder not supporting her weight, "It's how it was explained to me."

They graduate from the winding walk-way through the grounds into the smoothly paved front drive approaching the manor itself. Juniper's steps become more confident as her heels click on the even concrete.

"Is it a preference, though?"

Felix furrows his brow, not that she can see in the twilight. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you prefer blokes but you could go either way if you met a nice girl?"

Glad for the cover of darkness that hides his flush, Felix replies tersely, "That's rather personal."

Juniper snorts and he can sense more than see her exaggerated eye roll. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot I'm only your pretend fiancee. I suppose I have to wait 'till after our pretend wedding to ask you personal questions."

Felix sighs. He is asking rather a lot of her this evening and Juniper did agree with equanimity, as she always does. He considers briefly before answering.

"I don't know. I think I just prefer Chester."

Juniper nods. "Fair enough."

She's quiet for a few seconds, then begins again. "So..."

Felix groans out loud. Juniper ignores him. "How long are you planning on keeping this up?"

"What do you mean?" he asks in a tone of weary resignation.

"Well, today I'm your fiancée, but what happens a year from now when we're not married and there's no wedding plans?"

Felix smirks just a little. "Well, one can't plan a pure blood wedding in so short a time. We have at least two years."

"Merlin's pants! Two years? To plan one party?" Juniper exclaims, and Felix can't help but laugh. "Okay then. Two years. What happens in two years?"

"You call it off." explains Felix promptly. "And the whole thing being rather hard on me, there's no way I will even be able to think about marriage again for some time."

"Wow, I really don't come out of this looking good, do I?" Juniper says shaking her head.

They reach the flight of stairs leading up to the grand entrance, and Felix waits while Juniper takes each step carefully.

"Or..." ventures Felix cautiously.

Juniper cocks her head at him as she climbs. "Or?"

"I suppose... if you're willing we could always go through with it."

"Through with what?" asks Juniper, nonplussed.

"The marriage."

Juniper stops at the top of the stairs, removing her arm from Felix's to face him fully, her expression unreadable.

"It would merely be for show." he assures her in a soothing tone. She continues to say nothing.

"And it has some benefits..." he insists.

Juniper finally breaks her silence. "For whom?"

"Well, myself obviously but for you as well."

"Name one." she challenges, folding her arms across her chest.

"Money?" Felix offers.

"Got it."

"Power? My family is very well connected."

"I'm alright in that department as well."

"Well then, a rather more respectable family name?" Felix suggests but he winces as he watches her eyes narrow at him.

"You really want to go down that road?"

From anyone else Felix would consider it an insult but, he supposes, he did draw first blood. And anyway, she's hardly wrong.

He sighs. "I suppose it would benefit me rather more than you."

Juniper crosses the short distance left to the door and pulls the bell before turning back to face Felix again, her eyes taking on that open and earnest quality that both unnerves him and is the reason they've been friends so long.

"Felix, do you know how much time and energy you would have to invest in a show like that to make it work? It's not just dragging someone else along to a party twice yearly, it's half your life! If you can think seriously about marrying another person, even just for show, then maybe you don't love Chester as much as you think you do."

Felix bristles. He opens his mouth to issue an angry retort, but before he can respond the door behind Juniper opens and the outline of a house-elf beckons them into the light and noise.

For all her excessive questions and blunt honesty, Felix appreciates Juniper's ability to play nice with his admittedly high brow family. She smiles politely, deflects impertinent questions about her cursed vault history with practiced ease, and does an excellent job of keeping the attention of his parents and their society friends on herself allowing Felix space to breathe. It's the reason he's been bringing her to these events since he graduated school. Juniper makes an excellent shield against the people he has no interest in talking to and the questions he doesn't want to answer.

But Felix continues to be rankled by her earlier pronouncement the entire evening. Every time another oily old wizard sidles over to offer him congratulations on such a fine catch, Felix finds himself more irritated. He has made a fine catch, he thinks, and it isn't the Hogwarts curse-breaker. And for the first time, it bothers Felix that he can't show off the person he truly wants to.

Felix continues to brood through dinner and into drinks afterward. A crafty conversational device by Juniper encourages the party to forgo the separation of men and women into their traditional different salons, in favor of hearing her recount the tale of the cursed vault hidden in a portrait she defeated in her fifth year. Felix knows she's done this on purpose, to spare him the time alone with his father and his father's friends that he so dreads. And while he's grateful, another part of him is irritated. Not with her, but with himself. He wants to work at the Romanian Reserve, Felix thinks furiously, how can he expect to handle dragons if he can't even defend himself against his own parents?

He feels a champagne glass being pressed into his hands. Felix looks up and realizes Juniper has finished her story, and his father is standing near the fireplace clearing his throat.

"I would like to propose a toast." his father addresses the room at large. "To my son, who has finally managed to do something right, and his exceptional fiancee, Juniper Windsong." He lifts his glass smugly toward Felix and Juniper. Juniper lifts hers in response, nodding slightly in polite acknowledgement. As she brings the glass to her lips, she catches Felix's eye out of the corner of hers and gives a little wink. And Felix feels some strange indignant energy take over.

"She's not my fiancee." he announces, setting his glass down firmly on the table beside him.

There's several poorly suppressed gasps from around the room, and a choking cough from the girl beside him.

"She's not?" his mother asks from her place on the sofa.

"She's not?" Juniper repeats, through her coughing fit.

"No." Felix confirms. "Juniper is just a friend. I'm currently..." he pauses, trying to find an appropriate word. "...with someone else." he finishes vaguely.

His father's eyes narrow dangerously. "And may I ask who?"

Felix can feel his heart racing in his chest, and he has to work hard to keep his voice steady as he replies. "His name is Chester Davies."

The room is deathly silent. Even Juniper appears to be holding her breath.

His father's voice is now barely above a whisper.

"Excuse me." It isn't a question.

"Chester Davies." Felix repeats carefully. "He was in my year at school, only in Ravenclaw. He works at the ministry now." And he can't keep the pride he feels from leaking out around his words.

There's the rustling sounds of small, nervous movements from the people in the room, fidgeting with clothes and glasses awkwardly. Next to him, he notices Juniper tilt her glass back and down her entire drink in one long gulp.

"I would like a word with my son." Felix's father says evenly, eyes fixed on his son. "In private."

Everyone in the room moves quickly to the door, desperate to escape the uncomfortable scene. Juniper glances at Felix, her eyes posing a question. His response is a deep breath and a very small smile to say he's as ready as he'll ever be. She returns his smile, her eyes twinkling, and reaches between them to squeeze his hand in solidarity; a gesture his father does not miss.

"That means you as well, Miss Windsong." he says pointedly.

"I would like Juniper to stay." Felix isn't sure where this courage to contradict his father has suddenly come from.

His father looks Juniper up and down disdainfully. "What exactly are you doing here in the first place?"

Juniper meets the older man's eyes, her voice as pleasant as if she were still making polite conversation about the weather.

"Oh, I'm just here as a social buffer."

His father says nothing, but his eyes twitch very slightly.

"And emotional support, I suppose?"

The silence stretches on.

"Comic relief?" Juniper tries to jest, her lips quirking very slightly. Felix chokes on a laugh and turns it into a quick cough. This seems to break the spell holding his father's tongue hostage.

"If you are not my son's fiancée, then you have no business in my house. I bid you good evening."

"She's my friend." Felix says loudly, and his father turns on him in an instant, his voice rising.

"Then the answer is clear! Marry her, fulfill your family responsibilities and do whatever you like on the side as long as your friend-" He jerks his chin toward Juniper, "approves."

Next to him, Juniper folds her arms across her chest. "Blimey, that's twice this evening I've been proposed to, and it's even more romantic the second time."

Both Felix and his father ignore her, too busy staring daggers at each other.

"No." says Felix firmly. "I can't."

"Why. Not." His father enunciates each word through gritted teeth.

"Because..." Felix hesitates for just a split second before plunging on, "I love Chester too much. The idea of spending any time and energy pretending not to, it's anathema to me. I'm all his. I don't want even part of me to belong to anyone else."

Beside him, Juniper covers her mouth with both hands in an attempt to hide her giddy smile and quiet little squeal of delight. Felix finds her display of enthusiasm encouraging. His father does not. He steps forward slowly, hand drifting to his pocket for his wand and Felix stiffens, trying to hold on to his newfound courage.

"Your selfishness knows no bounds." He murmurs venomously, lifting his wand. Felix cannot help flinching, but stands his ground steeling himself for whatever hex his father will throw.

Juniper steps between them.

"That's quite enough." And there's no humour in her voice now. Juniper faces Felix's father steadily. She holds her own wand almost lazily at her side, but Felix is all too familiar with how quickly she can change her stance. "This isn't a school yard and we're none of us children, so you can drop your posturing because no one's impressed. Whatever old fashioned sort of notions you insist on clinging to, you at least have to act like a civilised wizard."

Felix watches with a small degree of satisfaction as his father's eyes widen. He can't remember the last time anyone told off his father. It's possible it's never happened, at least in front of him.

"I will not be corrected by some minor half-blood celebrity in my own home." His father's voice hits that dangerous note that Felix recognizes as the sign that he's about to lose control. He grips Juniper's arm to pull her back, but her feet are planted firmly as if her five inch heels have stuck into the stone floor.

"Then I suggest you correct yourself. Unless you'd like to duel, of course." She challenges, raising her wand. "Although, I imagine, whoever wins or loses, that'll make for a far more interesting story in the gossip column than whoever your son is dating."

She's hit upon his father's only weakness, bad publicity, and Felix waits with bated breath to see how he'll react. He's never seen his father so pale and furious. He takes a violent breath in through his nose and lowers his wand reluctantly.

"Dueling a guest in my own home is beneath me. Particularly, a little girl." He pronounces the words with a sneer. "And you," he flicks his eyes above Juniper's head to his son briefly, as if loathe to look at him any longer than absolutely necessary. "You are welcome back in this house when you are willing to fulfill your obligations to your family."

With the final word securely on his side, Felix's father turns on his heel and marches with dignity from the room.

"Well, that's that then."

For once, it's Felix who breaks the silence as he and Juniper step slowly down the paved drive to the cobbled stone walkway again, Felix lighting the way with his wand while Juniper clings to his arm for dear life.

"Yes, I suppose so." she agrees with a breathless grin. "And I must say, the sitting room while everyone was trapped together? Truly the perfect time."

Felix flushes slightly. "I did it, though." he insists, quietly.

Juniper's smile fades a little and she looks up from her feet to Felix's face, his blush illuminated to a rosy glow by the light in his wand.

"Yeah, you did. And I can't imagine how hard it was."

"It wasn't that hard, actually." Felix replies in a would-be casual voice, flicking back a piece of hair from his forehead.

"Okay," Juniper laughs. "Then I can't imagine why you didn't do it earlier and save me all the million questions from your mother about our wedding." She gives a dramatic shudder, and Felix smirks.

"I needed a laugh."

"You need your head examined."

He chuckles lightly as they tread carefully across the uneven stones. Approaching the wrought-iron gate that marks the apparition point for the Rosier property, Felix turns to face the girl next to him, her heels making it easier than usual to meet her eyes.

"Juniper," he starts, then looks away before finishing, "Thank you."

Juniper cocks her head to the side. "Why? I didn't do anything."

"You... made me brave." says Felix quietly, still looking down. He can hear the smile in her voice as she replies.

"No, I didn't. I just made you mad." She gives his hand a slight squeeze. "Chester made you brave."

She's right. That, and the realization that this dreadful evening is over, and he's only moments away from seeing the man he loves causes warmth to spread through Felix, and he smiles.

"Happy Christmas, Juniper. I owe you."

Juniper shakes her head. "Friends don't owe friends." she argues. "I'm happy to help anytime. But, I'm afraid my days as your escort might be at an end, at least for any social events that involve your family. You'll have to find yourself another companion." She says with a wink, and steps through the gate.

Felix's smile widens. "Don't worry. I have the perfect person in mind."

#felix rosier #felix rosier x chester #chester davies #mc #hogwarts mystery mc #Hogwarts Prefects #coming out fic #unsupportive parents #rosier #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery fanfic #hphm #hphm mc #hphm fanfiction #felix rosier fanfiction #felster

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thevampirediariesdiary · 6 years

Photo

2.03, Bad Moon Rising

Welp I accidentally took a month-long hiatus but I’m back! This semester has been kicking my ass, so I’ll do the best I can with getting one of these up each week, but go easy on me.

Damon, Stefan, and Elena convince Rick to help them go through Isobel’s research at Duke University – which is all still there, because apparently her only being missing and not dead means she gets to keep her office?? Tenure is one hell of a drug. The plan is to find anything on the Lockwood family, because for some reason Damon feels threatened by their very existence, and also Katherine.

“So are you sure you wanna do this?” Stefan asks. “Which part?” Elena retorts, pouting while she packs her road trip stuff. “Digging through my birth mother’s life work or –” she pauses, says with perfect derisive scorn, “going to Duke with Damon?” Stefan snorts a little, answers, “Either? Both?” “Well, I’m sure about the first part,” Elena answers, “but then again Rick is a good buffer, so we can bond in our anti-Damon solidarity. I wish you were coming, though.” “You know what?” says Stefan, “Why don’t we hold off a couple days? Wait until Caroline’s less of a danger and then I can go with you.” “It’s okay that I’m going right?” Elena asks. “And be honest because if it’s not then I can just stay here and we can take care of Caroline!” She’s warming to the idea as she suggests it, but Stefan says, “No, listen, I want you to go, okay, I do. You have questions about your lineage, about Katherine, and look, I’m not gonna let the fact that Damon is going keep you from an opportunity to get some answers.” Elena nods, looks at him, says: “You hate it though.”

“I hate it,” Stefan confirms.

“But I love you,” he says. “I love you, too,” Elena answers. They kiss. And with that, this very ambiguous conversation is over; does Stefan hate it because he doesn’t trust Damon (as established in 1.22)? or because Damon killed Jeremy and he’s siding with Elena in her unforgiveness? Why must they go to Duke now? Why is Damon going? Is Alaric really in anti-Damon solidarity with them, because last I checked they were on fine terms, and we never got a Jeremy-murder reaction from him so why assume otherwise? Where IS Jeremy? Is Damon giving him whittling lessons yet? So many questions left unanswered. Ah well.

Downstairs, Alaric and Jenna are being Super Mature about the fact that they’re interacting: Rick makes an excuse about how busy he’s been, Jenna tells him she’s grateful he’s giving Elena this connection to her birth mother. I’m proud of them both, but I’m especially proud of Jenna; Rick offers her an apology for their relationship being start and stop and says “Maybe once I”, and Jenna cuts him off with an “Uhhh, no. Don’t do that,” she says, not unkindly. “Not the half apology, maybe, hope-for-the-future thing.” He smiles wryly. “Do what you need to do, okay?” Jenna says. YOU GO, JENNA!! YOU ARE KIND AND PATIENT BUT YOU WILL NOT BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF!! Elena asks her if she’s okay as she heads out the door; “Yeah,” Jenna answers, “just, men and their baggage!”

Now, this next scene is absolute gold. Damon leans against the car, says while pouting mightily, “Sorry you can’t come too, Stef.” Stefan ignores him, but Elena throws her bag into the car extra violently and glares.

Stefan tries to sidetrack her: “Call me if you need anything.” “Oh,” Damon says, inserting himself again, “I’ll take really good care of her.”

And Elena!! While maintaining eye contact with him!!! Grabs Stefan around the neck and makes out with him. Is this fucking Twilight?? I don’t know but it’s ridiculous and spiteful and I love it.

And then: they both turn around and look at Damon again? Stefan kind of…smacks his lips???

“Okay, time to go,” Damon says. Having adequately antagonized the person who literally killed Jeremy because Elena chose Stefan over him, they pile into the car and boogie on out.

Stefan sits down with Bonnie to convince her to make Caroline a daylight ring; it’s important, he says, to keep Caroline in contact with the people that connect her to her humanity, and that requires being able to go out in the sun. Bonnie’s not so sure she can trust new vampire-Car; Stefan says, “Then trust me.”

Sighhhhh.

In the car, Damon reaches back and appears to jiggle Elena’s knee?? “How you doin’ back there?” he asks. “You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly.” Alaric, stuck in the middle of a classic Damon/Elena mess-around yet again, scoffs. “I don’t think she’s pretending. You did kill her brother.” “There is a HUGE asterisk next to that statement,” Damon protests, “he came back to life.” “Yeah,” says Elena flatly, “thanks to a ring you didn’t know he was wearing.” “Why are you so sure I didn’t know?” Damon says. “Did you?” Elena says. “Yes,” he says. Her eyes narrow; “You’re lying,” she says, unsurprised. “Elena!” Damon says, “I saw the ring! It’s a big, tacky thing, it’s hard to miss.”

Bonnie makes Caroline a daylight ring. “So I don’t get to choose the ring I wear the rest of my life?” Caroline complains. No, Car, of course you don’t!! Haven’t you ever heard of engagement rings? But for serious, I think this line is on purpose. This is the beginning of a love story between Caroline and vampirism. Also, this is her “skeptical about spell-casting face”:

Over at Duke, Alaric’s hair is doing something awful.

Vanessa, a research assistant, gets them the keys to Isobel’s office, and then attempts to shoot Elena with a crossbow. Three guesses how that turns out.

Yep, Damon vamps over and takes the arrow for her. Last episode he spared Caroline for her and she stopped Bonnie from killing him; now he’s risked his life to save hers. And what do you know? While Alaric is subduing the unfortunate academic,

Elena’s fallen to her knees at Damon’s side to check on him. This episode has a bunch of purposeful callbacks to Bloodlines – they’re on a road trip, looking for info on Elena’s ancestors, Damon steps in to save her from danger and then she acts worried for his well-being. But this is where the similarity ends. When we return from the commercial, Damon is nagging at Elena to pull the arrow out of his back and she’s making faces like she wants to pull it out and then immediately re-stake him with it. She pulls it out, and then while he’s yelling in pain reaches over his shoulder to drop it, presumably just to be annoying.

Damon blows out a breath, raises his eyebrows (you thought I forgot the eyebrows didn’t you), and announces, “that bitch is deaaaaad.” Elena’s eyes widen – how dare he talk about killing people when he’s trying to make amends for killing her brother – and she says, “Uh, you’re not gonna kill her.” He adopts a weird sultry voice: “Watch me.”

“You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again,” Elena says.

“What makes you think that has any power over me?” Damon challenges. Elena blinks.

“Because I took an arrow in the back for you?” Damon says, mockingly. He slings an arm over her shoulder, which she immediately pushes off with disgust; “You are severely overestimating yourself,” he says, gleeful. “Right,” says Elena, “I forgot I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine. Go ahead. Do whatever you want.”

“You’re trying to manipulate me!” Damon says indignantly. “If by manipulate you mean tell the truth, okay,” Elena says, “guilty.” Damon, for whom manipulation is all tied up with love, kind of stares at her lips.

“Okay!” says Elena, and makes her exit.

Archery-happy research-assistant tells Rick she freaked because she thought Elena was Katherine Pierce, and then everyone digs through Isobel’s giant office holy crap how has Duke not given this office to someone else?? Damon makes a crack about Vanessa wanting to see him naked, and Elena tells her that he can be a first-rate jackass. Damon smiles; this is familiar, this is the way she talked to Jenna about him before everything happened. A bit later, he comes up behind Elena and tells her it’s too bad they’re not friends anymore, because he knows something she doesn’t know that would help her find more about Katherine. “Now who’s manipulating who?” she retorts. Vanessa explains the Aztec legend of the Curse of the Sun and Moon, which will become more or less significant later, and that werewolves in this mythology are hardwired to hunt vampires, who can be killed by a single bite.

Stefan takes Caroline wabbit hunting. He explains to her that vampirism amplifies natural behaviors and traits. “So you’re saying that now I’m basically an insecure, neurotic control-freak…on crack?” she asks.

“Well, I wasn’t gonna say it like that,” Stefan says lightly, and then offers to go with her to Tyler’s swimming hole party to meet up with Matt. Seriously, they both shine in this episode. Stefan’s “that-guy” awkwardness is perfectly foiled by Caroline’s sincerity.

They literally….cribbed this shot……..from a Twilight movie

Anyway…

“Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?” Caroline asks.

“My what – my serious vampire look?” Stefan repeats, aghast. “Mmhmm,” says Caroline, “I mean, it’s different than your worried vampire look.”

“Neither of which stray too far from your ‘hey! It’s Tuesday’ look.”

“Oh, okay, I get it,” Stefan says, “you think I’m too serious.” “Well,” says Caroline, “I wasn’t gonna say it like thaaaat.”

Did you notice how many emotions Stefan expressed in that conversation? I’m so proud of him. Real Eleanor from The Good Place flirts with Matt until Caroline compels her away; Matt gets angry at Caroline’s jealousy-drama and wanders off, and Stefan gets angry that Caroline used her compulsion for shallow reason. “So now I have magnified jealousy issues?” she says. “I might as well have stayed dead, my whole personality is killing me.” Stefan finds this freaking delightful:

“Shut up,” she tells him.

They hang out at the party together until it gets dark and everyone starts to pack up (on Mason’s orders), and Stefan tells Caroline to go talk to Matt. Caroline promises Matt no more drama, and they scamper off into the woods to kiss. This coincides with Stefan getting a call from Elena to fill him in on all the new werewolf lore – he looks around for Caroline as soon as he hears a werewolf bite can kill a vampire, but she’s nowhere to be found. Mason Lockwood is in the middle of transforming into a werewolf. Welcome, A plot.

Vanessa informs Elena that a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself, who usually torments the person they look like, tries to undo their life. “More things we already know,” Elena says flatly. “I just wanna know why we look alike.” “Headscratcher, isn’t it?” says Damon, from over by the bookcase. “Do you know something or are you just being yourself?” Elena asks with more sass than you would think would fit in her tiny body. “Well, if I knew anything, I’m not gonna tell you,” Damon says, “not with that attitude.” Alaric looks like he needs a drink, but also a little bit like he’s trying not to laugh?

“That’s good, Damon,” Elena says, dropping the attitude down a notch, “and that’s coming from someone who wants to be my friend. Friends don’t manipulate friends, they help each other.”

This does not compute.

Back in the woods, Tyler gets the brush-off from Real Eleanor, Mason-wolf jumps out of his car at Stefan, Caroline bites Matt, and everyone runs around a lot. Thank goodness it’s not more complicated than that, because this recap is getting really long.

Elena refuses to admit that Alaric’s car is locked and stands fighting with the door handle like a petulant child; it’s been a long day. Damon arrives as the shining knight and unlocks it, and then opens her door for good measure. Then, good deed done, he gets all up in her personal space.

“You’re not going to be able to hate me forever,” he says. She rolls her eyes, says, “Can we just go?” He sighs and hands over a text labeled “Petrova”, for Katherine’s real name: Katerina Petrova. “Let me know what you find, I’m very curious myself,” he tells her; he’s trusting her with the truth, trusting that she’ll share it. She goes to move past him, he says, “You have every right to hate me. I understand. But you hated me before and we became friends.”

“It would suck,” he admits, “if that was gone forever.”

“So,” he says, with forced lightness, “is it?” She meets his eyes, but her face is more closed than it’s ever been. “Have I lost you forever?” Damon asks, like it’s a joke, like it doesn’t matter or like it’s impossible.

“Thank you for the book, Damon,” she says. He gives the smallest of nods, and motions her into the car.

Caroline compels away Matt’s memories of her biting him, and then she and Stefan have a heart-to-heart about their human significant others. “If I followed my own advice I would have walked out on Elena a long time ago,” Stefan says. “You think you should’ve?” Caroline asks. “I know I should have,” Stefan says, “I just can’t.”

Tyler confirms with his (very naked) uncle that he was in fact the wolf that almost killed all of them. Another secret, out. I’m resisting making a very stupid joke here, but I’ll probably succumb and post it separately later.

Caroline walks into the Grille and purposely starts shit with Real Eleanor so that Matt walks out on her. “So what, are you like, breaking up with me?” she calls after him. “Yeah,” he says, wearily, “yeah I guess that’s what I’m doing.” He waits, expecting her to fight him, but she only stares back and lifts her chin defiantly. Caroline is strong enough to walk away, and kind enough to let Matt think that he knows why. As, @itspileofgoodthings pointed out in these tags, she did what Stefan couldn’t do.

Having warned Vanessa against getting caught up in all the supernatural nonsense, Alaric realizes he doesn’t want to get totally caught up in it either, and is able to make good on his half apology maybe hope for the future.

Damon trails Elena up to her porch, exclaiming, “Road trips work well for us!” “This doesn’t mean things are back to the way they used to be, Damon,” says Elena. “Oh, come on,” Damon says, “you know I chipped a little bit off of your wall of hatred.” Elena turns to look at him, says seriously, “I need to know the truth.”

“When you broke Jeremy’s neck, did you know he was wearing the ring?” she asks.

“No,” he says, his voice so strained. “No, I didn’t.”

“Katherine really pissed me off, and I snapped, and I –” He stops, looks at her intently. “I got lucky with the ring,” he admits. “And I don’t know what I would’ve done if he wasn’t wearing it.”

She nods, slightly. “Elena,” he says, “I’m sorry.” She nods again, says, “Thank you for being honest with me. And the answer to your question, about our friendship?”

“Is yes…you have lost me forever.”

She turns to go into the house. “But you knew that already, didn’t you?” Damon says, bitter. She pauses, he accuses, “You used me today.” She looks at him, unrepentant.

“You had information about Katherine that I needed to know.” “I thought friends don’t manipulate friends,” he replies. She looks back at him, her response left unspoken: they’re not friends, and so it doesn’t matter. He swallows, tells her, “You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks.”

Both women stood on this porch with him and pretended to be something they weren’t so that he would pour his heart out to them, and then turned around and rejected him. Living, breathing mirror of oneself indeed.

Katherine wakes Caroline, tells her not to be frightened. “We’re gonna have so much fun together.”

Music Moments: A Fine Frenzy’s “Ashes and Wine” plays over the final scenes, and wow that song doesn’t fuck around: “don't know what to do anymore / I've lost the only love worth fighting for”, “is there a chance / a fragment of light at the end of the tunnel / a reason to fight? / is there a chance you may change your mind / or are we ashes and wine?”

previous episode

#2.03 #bad moon rising #tvd #rewatch #I KNOW I WENT OVERBOARD #BUT THERE'S SOME DAMN GOOD FACE ACTING IN THIS EPISODE #long post

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