Loid had once overheard Yor confiding with her coworkers that she had never had any experiences with any man, at least romantically. But Yor never once said she had (somewhat) successfully seduced her senior, Mirage, during a practice run for a premeditated assassination.
aka
- Klaus needs to go to get bonked and sent to h**ny jail
- Yor was caught with a premeditated vendetta
- Twilight/Loid Forger can't parse Yor Briar Forger no matter what she does
- TwiYor should have more domesticated fluff moments
Read it here:
AO3 | Fanfiction.net | DeviantArt
A/N:
I'd like to give a shout-out to...
@fluffmelange: for your creative input and inspiration. Also, for identifying my grammar during VC xD
@lizzisgeek: For advising me on Loid/Twilights's character and behavior and steering me away from OOC.
@undercoversleepover: For being encouraging, patient, and supportive every time I cried in VC about why I kept torturing myself with more ideas when I wanted this chapter to be shorter than it was supposed to--but hey, I finally did it!!
@taser-dude : For literally (art) WIP-ing me in shape. Thank you for inspiring me with your art WIPs of future TAoS chapters--but I swear to God I'm trying to catch up TwT
To my best friend John for his impressive knowledge of firearms. I was genuinely shook that he recognized Sylvia's gun so quickly.
The original plan was to write about Yor's flashback > Loid seeing Yor > Good night. I had estimated it to be around 2,500 words, but here we are at 5,000+ words because I couldn't resist writing about Sylvia (can you imagine how happy I was when Endo-san posted a Sylvia-centered chapter?! It felt like a good omen!) and mentioning Yuri too. Also, I poured a bit more TwiYor moments in this fic to balance the attention Klaus got lol
Also, the main reasons why this fic took a long time were:
(1) I had rewritten Loid's mission 3 times. The first was a bit OOC (and re-written with @lizzisgeek's guidance and suggestion) and the second rewrite disrupted the pacing of the plot, so I ended up scrapping it for this chapter, but it will be recycled in a future chapter.
(2) The plot bunnies wouldn't shut up, but I have no qualms with it.
(3) The extensive research I put into firearms, fashion wear, and character analyses was long but we made it guys and gals!
The next chapter may take up to a month again since I will be occupied with my thesis research project and will be biting the bullet to submit the report. I'm hoping to graduate with my master's degree come mid-May!
Hopefully, I can be called Professor Scarlet soon :^3
Thank you for reading! ^^
Fic Summary:
There was a subtle change in the air that Loid Forger sensed around Yor since reuniting with her childhood friend, Klaus Kraus. Her form seemed straighter and she carried herself more confidently which heavily contrasted with her usual negative sense of worth. She was more attractive, bold even. He didn't know what to make of these changes. What he did know was he didn't like the idea of someone holding his wife in such an intimate way.
4 days of no writing because I didn’t know how to start chapter 2, but then it just happened while I was head empty and enjoying jazz music from 9 PM - 12 AM.
Don’t ask, because I genuinely don’t know how I do it.
Now, time for me to sleep! I hope you guys enjoyed the read ^^
I had no idea this was a thing, but I guess I’ll take it as a sign to post my fanfic today. What a serendipitously creepy timing. I was just mulling over the idea of publishing my fic the other day or not.
Will update this post when I’ve finished publishing my fic on AO3, fanfic.net, and DeviantArt.
UPDATE:
It’s done. The summary will probably be updated in the future. I just wrote that text as a placeholder (I might recycle it into the chapter eventually lol)
I hope you enjoy my fic, and sorry for my ramblings in the top and back notes. I really put a lot of effort and thought into writing it <3
In retrospect, you realize the outfit you wore and took hundreds of pics for a fanfic inspo gives off spicy selfie vibes; and now, you can no longer trust anyone with your phone.. 😳
A/N:
Happy belated birthday to me~ I hope you enjoy my version of the (half) big reveal!~
I actually planned to post this last weekend before my birthday, but my plans had piled up. I had a birthday celebration to prep for, then the party the next day. The day after that, I had to say goodbye to a family member. And the day after that, I was asked to work on my remote job for the whole day. Then midterms began on the day of my birthday...I'm v busy, but I'm glad my me-time was spent writing this chapter two weeks ago, but with some time in between I was able to clean up the chapter with the addition of the newest episode Kwami Buster incorporated into this chapter.
It is far from coincidences that these miraculous jewels ended in Marinette’s and Adrien’s possession. Their kwamis claim that they have been specifically chosen as the sole protectors against evil. But when an akuma returns a forgotten past, it unravels an unforeseen destiny of their Miraculous predecessors’ lives. Their decisions, from this moment forward, could possibly alter the true meaning of their existences and their destinies.
In Chat's safe arms, time moved at an incredibly slow pace, almost as if they had accomplished freezing time completely. Despite Marinette's mourning and sniffling state echoing through the night, Paris was very peaceful. Chat Noir moved the hand patting her back, to smooth through her glossy ultramarine hair. He leaned towards the crown of hair and gently pressed his lips against them.
Marinette felt his sweet gesture and smiled to herself. Her eyes fluttered to a close as she melted against his chest and began to calm down. She kept her arms wrapped around Chat Noir's waist until she was finally able to recollect her composure. She felt painfully embarrassed to have revealed this ugly and vulnerable side of herself to Chat Noir, but she was also grateful that it was Chat who was able to help comfort and relieve her from this burden. She lifted her head off his chest and with a gentle voice, she said, "Thank you, Chat. I really appreciate it."
Chat's usual playful demeanor was replaced with an unusually soft expression. His eyes, the color of emeralds, were slightly squinted, the slight lift of his mask suggested his eyebrows were raised, and his lip was gently tugged to the side. It was so bizarre to see this sentimental side of him. It was almost captivating. Marinette felt her cheeks blossom with warmth when Chat interrupted her thoughts. "It's no problem, Marinette." Chat had sat Marinette down on her foldable beach chair while he sat crouched by her feet.
"I'm sorry," the dark-haired woman apologized, "I didn't mean to cry in front of you."
"Don't worry about it," Chat comforted, "I'm just glad to see you feeling better after that."
Marinette smiled sheepishly before continuing, "We were talking about Ladybug before I rudely interrupted…"
Chat swatted his hand in front of his face to signal that he hadn't taken any offense, "It's fine-" Suddenly his body grew tense when his ears heard something from the distance. Before Marinette could continue the conversation, Chat scooped her in his arms and jumped from her balcony and into a nearby building. Seconds later, a familiar sound of a metallic string wrapped around the beach chair where Marinette had once sat on. Within seconds, the beach chair was sliced into minced pieces.
"Chat Noir, surrender your Miraculous and I'll let you and Marinette free," a familiar mezzo-soprano voice commanded. A metallic string encircled the chimney that Chat Noir and Marinette were standing on. Moments later, a dark figure launched from the ground and landed in front of them.
Marinette's expression drained of color as she recognized the dark silhouette standing before them. The moon glowed behind her back, but city lights on the other side of the bridge dimly lit a tall, slim body in a red spandex one-suit and black polka-dots, pale face with icy, faded blue eyes, and hair colored like the ocean on a starless evening separated into two long pigtails that swayed against her thighs.
"Hello, sweetie."
"Mom?!" the navy-haired teenager gasped.
"Mom?" Chat Noir echoed, glancing from Marinette's horrified expression to the figure.
"That's Ladybug, to you!" she hurled her yo-yo forward, encircling Marinette and Chat Noir like a lasso.
Chat Noir prepped his escape by crouching to a squat. Without taking his eyes off from the new Ladybug Miraculous holder, he instructed Marinette, "Hold tight, it looks like we're in for a game of cat and mouse."
Marinette wrapped her arms around the dark feline's neck when she had heard the familiar whizzing sound of her yoyo being yanked towards the center. But before the metallic wires could catch them, Chat Noir and Marinette were launched in the air and traveled from roof house to roof house.
"This is a catastrophe!" Marinette sighed as she nestled her forehead against Chat Noir's neck.
"Furreal," Chat responded. "Who knew your mom completely transformed when she used the Ladybug Miraculous."
"It doesn't make any sense," Marinette sighed frustratingly, "why would Hawkmoth suddenly give it to her?"
"You think she's still influenced by him?" Chat wondered.
The navy-haired teenager, lifted her head to search over his shoulder for any signs of her mother's pursuit. To her vexation, her mother was no-where in sight-a familiar pattern that Lucky Chance had. "We need to go down-now, Chat Noir!"
"Are we safe?" He asked while jumping off a rail, landed on the cobblestone street, and had set her feet to the ground.
Marinette responded by shaking her head. Lucky Chance had won previously because Chat Noir and Ladybug had ran away from her.
Ladybug had decided that the Seine would provide enough space between them, and would give them time to catch their breath. However, Lucky Chance was already on the bridge of the Seine, waiting for them. Before Ladybug had the opportunity to stop him, Chat Noir had used his Cataclysm and dove straight towards her. Lucky Chance was one step ahead, using her die as a smoke bomb and engulfing her and Chat Noir. Ladybug had used her yo-yo as a propeller to clear the smoke, in hopes to buy her partner time to recollect himself and find their opponent. But instead, Lucky Chance had stood victorious with her hand around Chat Noir's neck. He was unconscious with several trails of blood seeping from his forehead and his right hand that once held his cataclysm powers were gone. Chat Noir was hit by his own Cataclysm once before and had ended up winded of air due to Miraculer's, Sabrina's akumatized alter ego, attack. But it was never this violent or bloody, and to see Chat Noir that badly wounded had scared her as Ladybug and traumatized her as Marinette.
Lucky Chance-or her mother, Sabine Dupain-Cheng-was uncharacteristically skilled. It was most likely the influence of the akuma that enhanced her tactical skills. But even so, the level of her tactical strategy, as Lucky Chance, had far exceeded that of an advanced learner or killer. It seemed as if the akuma had sharpened and enhanced the skill to a true and experienced tactician's level, just like what happened to Kagami and Armand D'Argencourt's fencing skills when they were akumatized to Riposte and Darkblade, respectively. However… her mother was never the tactical type… or was she?
"She'll be here any minute," Marinette announced, then taking their situation into their consideration, she turned to face him completely, "Chat Noir, do you trust me?"
Taken aback by her soft expression and determined eyes, Chat Noir found himself having difficulty to look away. "Of course, Marinette."
"Chat Noir, I need your miraculous," Marinette requested while raising an open palm to him.
Chat Noir placed his right paw on her pale palm and gently lowered her hand. "Marinette, she's after me, not you."
"That's precisely the point," Marinette insisted, "It's better I have it rather than you. That way she'll lose complete sight of you. There's no way my mom would hurt me."
"I don't know, Marinette," Chat Noir began, perplexed, "this is too risky. You're putting yourself in danger by involving yourself in this fight, especially with Ladybug's miraculous being worn by your mom. It's better if I stay and face her." He pats her head gently while looking into her cerulean eyes, "Please, let me protect you."
Chat Noir was about to lift his hand off her head when Marinette's hand grasped his hand and gently guided it down and in front of her. She looked at him, softly, sadly, pleadingly. She had let him protect her before, and she had almost lost him. It was her turn this time, "Please."
Marinette's pained expression had left a deep impression in Adrien, and he had felt no choice but to cave in to her wish. Marinette had never let him down before, never was the type of person to betray the people who were closest to her, and something inside him insisted to trust her risky request. He gently extended his left hand, gesturing her to lead the way.
Marinette had hurriedly dragged both of them to a narrow alley, where she instructed the feline hero to hide in the shadows and de-transform. While he adjusted himself in the darkness, Marinette turned her back against him.
"Claws off."
Marinette brought her left hand behind her back with her palm open. When she had felt the ring placed in her palm, she told him quietly, "What matters is your identity is safe, Chat. She must never know who you truly are."
"Marinette…" Adrien's hand raised towards her but slowly dropped it along with his the idea of enveloping her in his arms. "All you really need to do is turn around and you'll know who the real me is."
Marinette shook her head, her palm closed tightly on his ring, "It's better if I don't… I don't think Ladybug would appreciate it if you revealed your identity to me… I…," she shook her head at the thought, "I don't know what I would do if anything happens to you… again…" the last word faded into a soft whisper. With her free hand, she reached out to him. Just this once, she wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel the same warm hands that protected her and comforted her… just for affirmation. She wanted to know that he was alive and that he would be okay.
Adrien reached for her hand. It was all he could do. This girl, who was his first important friend at Francoise Dupont High School, slowly became more and more important to him. He trusted Marinette with so many things, especially with his miraculous in her hands.
Floating beside them, stood an uncharacteristically silent Plagg. He wasn't particularly tired since Adrien hadn't used his Cataclysm, but he wasn't in a good mood either. He knew Marinette must've been suffering for a number of days now. Losing Tikki had surprised him too-then again, it wasn't surprising. His human was to blame for his stupidity, especially with the unlucky nature that came along with holding the Cat miraculous. But Marinette will succeed. She wasn't picked as the current Ladybug, for nothing. And she proved it during Juleka's second akumatization when she had donned on the Cat miraculous and became Lady Noir. She always had it in her, it was just being clouded by Tikki's absence along with the miraculous earrings.
"Take care of her, Plagg," Adrien instructed softly. After exchanging a quick hug with Plagg resting against his cheek, he took several steps backward into the darkness to camouflage himself. He fell to a crouching position, with one leg resting to the ground. He trusted Marinette, but he never planned to abandon her.
After his quick hug against Adrien's cheek, Plagg floated above Marinette. He took Marinette's identity into consideration, on behalf of Tikki. He decided not to expose himself to her… not just yet. That would probably put Marinette in an uncomfortable position if she were to express familiarity with him while Adrien, who he knew was hiding in the shadows, was watching the both of them. Like his miraculous owner, he camouflaged himself in the shadows to prevent receiving attention.
Within the next several seconds Sabine Dupain-Cheng, as a young adult Ladybug, landed in front of her daughter. "Marinette, either tell me where Chat Noir is or hand over his miraculous."
"I don't understand," Marinette began, "why are you after Chat Noir and his miraculous? Are you still influenced by Hawkmoth's akuma? Why are you using the Ladybug miraculous?"
"Marinette," she raised her hand to her daughter, "I know there is a 30% probability you'd let Chat Noir escape with his miraculous, and 55% probability that you will ask him to give it to you. In both cases, it would lead me to a dead-end to looking for him and buy you both time."
"What are you talking about?" Marinette feigned accusation, "Why would you think Chat Noir would give me his miraculous?"
"Because you're my daughter," Ladybug answered confidently, "who do you think did you inherit your clever ideas from? Your father?"
Marinette stood before her, speechless and flabbergasted.
"If my memories weren't erased, I would still be Ladybug right now. But I see Master Fu had entrusted you with the Ladybug miraculous when I was decommissioned, mentally at least."
Marinette is Ladybug?! The blond model's eyes fell on Marinette's back. He couldn't believe his ears. Adrien cupped his hand over his mouth to prevent himself from gasping aloud. Feeling surprised was an understatement in this situation-perhaps overwhelmed. His mind wouldn't stop piecing Marinette and his Ladybug together. His educated guess during Ms. Mendeliev's scientific discovery was right on the mark.
"Me? Ladybug?" the teenage girl stammered, "No! What are you talking about mom?"
"Oh, Marinette…" Ladybug had her hands positioned at her waist while she looked down and shook her head, "you're very clumsy, often disheartened, unconfident around people and when making big decisions, and often act before you think. But…" she looked at her daughter, "you've always had a pure heart with good intentions. No matter what, you came back to see the just of things. That's why Master Fu chose you to be the next Ladybug. As much as I am proud to see you as my successor, sweetie, I am also heartbroken to see you walk the same path as I had."
Marinette stared into her mother's dark eyes, unsure how to respond to her praise.
"You recall that Nadia mentioned there was an absence of a Miraculous holder in the last twenty years, right Marinette?"
The navy-haired teenager's forehead formed creases as she recalled Nadia's announcement on the news when Alex's dad had found the rock that contained Feast. She swallowed, audibly.
In the distance within the shadows, Adrien was mirroring her reactions.
"A little over twenty years ago, Master Fu gave me the miraculous ladybug. I was your age. But those memories were erased because of a certain person's wish. No one remembers I was Ladybug, not even myself. That's why I need the miraculous to undo the wish." She extended her hand to her daughter, "I need the cat's miraculous, Marinette."
Marinette's brain was on hyperdrive. She couldn't think straight, nor was she sure if she could trust her mother with the miraculous, considering the destruction that was left behind in her wake. Instead, she decided to buy more time. Marinette insisted, "I don't have-"
"Don't be silly, sweetie," Ladybug retorted, "my memories as an akuma weren't erased. I know exactly who stood in front of me when I took off her earrings, Marinette. You went as far as to jump into the Seine to save Chat Noir from drowning."
"Mom," the navy-haired teenager's body shook, her hands clamped into a fist, and her eyes swam with tears threatening to crawl down, "how could you do something so cruel?"
"It's not cruel, sweetie. I had to make my act convincing," Ladybug explained, "I was being watched after all."
"But if you were going to use the miraculous ladybug afterwards and defeat Hawkmoth, then what was the point of putting on a show?"
"Defeat Hawkmoth? No, sweetie. Hawkmoth and I have a common goal."
Marinette staggered and stepped backward, "Common goal?"
Ladybug stepped forward, "I need the cat miraculous, Marinette."
While the exchanges took place, Plagg grew concerned for his miraculous owner. He flew down to Adrien and landed on his shoulder to offer him support. But with Adrien's growing agitation, Plagg tried to comfort him by nudging his head against his owner's cheek. When the black kwami felt the muscles in the model's cheeks become rigid, the cat kwami flew towards Adrien's mouth, hoping to keep Adrien silenced. "No, Adrien," the cat kwami whispered while putting his two tiny paws on the model's lips, but Adrien shook him off.
"Sorry, Plagg," Adrien apologized while gently pushing him away. Unable to listen to the conversation between Marinette and her mother any longer, Adrien hollered from the darkness, "Don't listen to her, Marinette! It's a trap!"
"Chat Noir?" Marinette gasped, looking over her shoulder, "What are you still doing here?! Get out!"
"I guess we found where the 15% probability would be," Ladybug commented before throwing her yo-yo the direction of the dark alley.
Marinette didn't think as she moved. She ran in front of the alley and shielded herself with her arms. Upon impact, an explosion of light emitted from the yo-yo, and despite her best efforts to protect herself, Marinette was blinded by a bright, white light while her ears screamed with a deafening high pitch roar. With her vision gradually improving, she saw her mother and a trail of afterimages quickly approaching her. The ringing in her ears grew dull and was quickly overlapped by reverbs of voices and hurried footsteps.
"Marinette!" Plagg cried out. Unable to restrain himself, he darted from Adrien's side and towards the dazed navy-haired teenager.
"Plagg!" Adrien hollered, unable to prevent his kwami from exposing himself to the danger before them.
"Marinette!"
Marinette thought she had heard her name being called at the end of a tunnel. Then, she recognized a dark outline of a small, black kwami float in front of her face.
The sudden presence of Plagg had caught Ladybug off guard and momentarily stopped her in her tracks.
"Marinette!" Transform already!" he quickly instructed.
"No!" Ladybug exclaimed while extending her arm towards her daughter.
"Right!" Marinette had closed her eyes to help herself readjust her equilibrium, and quickly slipped the ring on. Punching her hand forward, she cried, "Plagg, claws out!"
Adrien watched, dumbstruck, as Marinette's body was encapsulated by a green and black light. With a small twirl with her right hand punched to the air, she followed through with the same hand to wave across her face, where she donned on a black mask with a long braided ultramarine hair following in its wake. With her other free hand, she swiped through her hair where two black cat ears with green lining emerged. Switching to her right, her clothes were enveloped by a black and green one-suit. He recognized his partner in a heartbeat, despite it being a one-time event where Plagg and Tikki had switched miraculous owners. He couldn't forget. He would never forget.
I was 15 when I first started publishing my fanfiction stories…
beginning with RobStar (Teen Titans). To me, writing was an escape from dealing with a lonely high school reality. I was extremely lonely with pent up feelings over someone I had loved dearly and earnestly, and I was tired of sharing and venting my frustrations of my one-sided love story to the wrong people--wrong because they gossiped to our friends because drama was the juciest thing to hear back in the day. One of those friends had jealousy issues with me, and it bled to a friend who disliked my flamboyant personality, and then, I lost all of my friends.
My (former) friends used to say that I was the heart of the group because I was the one who introduced everyone to one another, but it had been heartbreaking to accept that they dropped me because two people, with "good" personalities--well they're the kind of people that gets along with the crowd due to their humor and outgoing personality--chose to out me and told everyone else to exclude me.
I was 13 then, and I felt deeply betrayed because no one stood up for me, nor stood up for the kind words they had praised me with.
And that sucked.
At 15, I was still bruised. I made many new friends in high school and left behind my elementary - junior high school friends. However, my upper classmen best friends were graduating, and I was back to that lonely state. I hated feeling lonely, but I also distrusted people. That's where writing happened.
It was like an addiction. The whole process of writing stories is like having an endless craving for a particular food. For the next 3 years, I had dedicated my spare time to writing stories. Even during class lectures, I would end up freewriting the next chapter of my story. I still remember seeing film scenes that I had wanted to incorporate into my stories, and also rewatching those movie scenes as I re-read my work. It was fun, but more importantly, it was for me. Honestly, I never thought I would receive a lot of attention, and to this day (as I'm writing this), I still receive favorites and subscribers on my fanfic.net account.
I feel humbled, but also guilty. Humbled because I had accomplished in leaving an impression on the interwebs, and guilty because I left a number of stories unfinished. And I'll share you those reasons today.
In my previous posts, I had swept everything under the rug by stating, "life happens." I don't condone my younger self because honestly I had no idea what the hell I was doing. And life did happen:
I grew up. I sacrificed so much time in my career… I lost that career. I was in a relationship with someone new. We broke up. I went through so many anxiety and depressive episodes in community college. I lost myself. I lost my drive to write because many of my fanfic stories were a reflection of myself. It became too close to home, and I needed space.
Writing didn't become fun anymore, it was a reminder of how many sad things I had overcame, and how many happy moments I wished would have happened. XxScarletxRosexX had always been a pretty sad author who found happiness in finishing one-shots to a full chapter. And of course, the comments had always cheered her up and motivated her to keep writing.
But along with that motivation also came pressure. I became overly technical in my fanfics by incorporating numerous references. Learning from my singing experiences, anything to do with technicalities became extremely tiring. And the rest was history.
I'm turning 24 in October this year, and these were the pent up feelings that I had refused to face up until this point. To be honest, I feel a little embarrassed about what I wrote about, and all the hidden messages I was nudging to readers in the comment sections. But I honestly don't regret any of it. I miss being Scarlet Rose, but I know I'll never write like Scarlet Rose from 9 years ago. I'm not the same person, because I'm not sad anymore.
If there's anything I can praise about my younger self's work, it would be how she would get readers to live vicariously through their experiences. Fanfics may be fanfics, but the situations are not too far from reality. My younger self wanted readers to learn from the character's mistakes, and that's still something that is very much still within my ideals when writing stories.
Now for the big question: Am I back?
To be honest, I can't answer that. Because I don't know if I'll have the heart and patience to commit to finishing stories like I had done in the past. Writing is an on and off relationship to me, and I usually write when I feel enlightened or am in deep thought. To be fair, I have been writing every so often just to express a thought or practice imagery again. But this is the longest I've ever written in so long.
What brought me back, you wonder? I saw a Ladrinette post on Instagram, and I felt the need to write and say hello.
If you're still "alive" as well, drop me a comment! I just wanted to say that I miss you and that I'm doing well!
Much love,
~Scarly
People say those who belong in your life will come back no matter how much time has passed by. They will come back.
A glimpse of a man’s lean back and blond hair disappears as he slams the door behind himself.
Nearby, an ebony table with a burgundy frame shudders from his stormy departure. A picture of a young woman with dark hair and a blonde male are cuddling together laughing and smiling, enjoying each other’s presence. Her eyes are closed as she falls against his shoulder, mouth ajar revealing her pearly teeth. The man’s emerald eyes are glowing, sparkling as his eyes are looking at her while mirroring the same grin.
A shadow casts over the frame, a woman’s silhouette before the frame is lifted up. A woman with raven hair and a burgundy silk robe cradles the frame for several seconds then lays the frame face down.
But no matter how much time passes by, when you give him that freedom, he will come back. If he loves you and is meant to be, he will come back. But who is to know how long he will stay?
At the height of her youth, at the tender age of 26, her hard work had finally paid off. Marinette had finally accomplished her dream to become a world renowned fashion designer. She has everything she has always wanted, and it was everything she had expected. But as amazing and exciting it was at the beginning, the hype had begun to die down.
The raven haired woman woman ambles back to the dining area. She is light on her feet despite her hunching posture from burdening back to back stress and unfortunate news from the piling orders at her work to the sudden passing of one of her colleagues. And then the sudden reappearance and disappearance of a ghostly lover.
The hallways leads straight into the dining area. To the left is the kitchen with a black counter to divide the cubicle from the dining and lounge area. Marinette pulls a red velvet cushioned seat at the head of the table, back against the door, and stares at the flaxen bubbles in her half empty wine glass and back to her guest’s three fourth’s full glass. A bottle of Perrier Jouet Champagne Grand Brut is just beyond her glass, abandoned and hissing in the silence. Beyond that, flaxen spot prints lead to an untouched cork sitting just beyond her guests glass.
The raven haired woman sighs and props an elbow to the table and softly connects her forehead to her cradling fingers. When she looks up again, she reaches for the champagne and pours to the brim.
It had always been like this for as long as I can remember…
A fair, slender hand wraps around the glass, like a snake held on to dear life, and brings it to her lips. She drinks the entire glass in one go.
He would reappear and disappear as he pleases like a wanderlust time traveler passing through time. He had all the money in the world to spend it on luxurious leisure, but his decisions were unexpected. Completely 180 to the expectation of a successful and hard working individual.
Her face scrunches from the bitter after taste but pours herself another glass filled to the brim.
When she raises it again, she pauses to toast with the invisible guest and drinks it in one go. Marinette continues to pour herself drink after drink until her vision is clouded. She attempts to pour herself another drink to the brim, but realizes that she is missing the wine glass and pouring over the glass table. She reaches for the champagne and drinks straight from it instead.
Despite the bitter and soapy aftertaste, she forces herself to finish the bottle and stumbles towards the lounging area. Her feet are clumsy and stumbling like a disharmonic dance to the grey plush couch. She collapses on top of it and sweeps a birdnest of raven hair from her face and stares contemplating at the ceiling. A vignette begins to form around her peripheral vision, heavy lids are guiding her sight to the door before losing consciousness.
