#{ you wanna be cool; lemme show you how || ben } | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whumpywhumper · 4 years ago

Text

Trouble

No 21. I DON'T FEEL SO WELL Chronic Pain | Hypothermia | Infection

TW: Sick fic, mostly fluff

Tagging: @misspelledwitch @insanitywishes @imagination1reality0 @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @voidwhump @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @walkingchemicalfire @captivity-whump @liliability @muumimafia @fanastywhump @elisabethrosewrites @unsure-but-alive-752 @jeverest00 @texdoeshalo

As always, special thanks to: @0idril0 @rosesareviolentlyread

I’m spoiling you with content, it’s been months since i’ve posted this much. This is set shortly after Markus is released from the hospital, in the vague future timeline.

Masterpost

V***V

Markus shivered, pushing himself deeper into the couch, icy hand tucking the blanket around the exposed skin of his neck.

He really wanted to sleep. If he could sleep then maybe he’d start to feel better.

The doctors had warned him about pushing himself too hard so soon after being released, but working on one charm had rolled into the next, and before he knew it, he’d been working for hours. He had barely managed to drink some tea before the exhaustion was rolling over him. The sandwich he hadn’t even really wanted was still sitting on the coffee table, untouched.

What he really needed was sleep anyway.

He grunted, shifting on the couch to try and soothe the ache in his back and muscles. Now that he wasn’t vertical, he couldn’t find the motivation, or the energy, to get up and go to bed.

The couch was comfortable enough, usually. He would just sleep here.

If only he wasn’t so damn cold.

Groaning, he leveraged his heavy eyelids open and found Kincaid’s blanket thrown over the back of the couch. It was a thick, lumpy crochet thing that Ben had apparently made for him years ago, and the man was ridiculously proprietary of it. Even Ben wasn’t allowed to use it without suffering from Kincaid’s damn puppy dog eyes.

Heavy eyes slid across the room, the dusk light creating shadows over the empty apartment. From what he recalled, Ben and Kincaid wouldn’t be home until tomorrow. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

Snaking his arm out into the frigid air, he snagged the soft material and pulled it over his own blanket, the heavy weight pressing him back down into the couch. Heat slowly built under the blankets, and while Markus didn’t feel any more comfortable than before, it allowed his muscles to relax.

With a sigh, he let his eyes slide back closed, eyelashes feeling glued together. Absently, he hugged himself, arms bracing his perpetually aching ribs. He took a deep breath, coughing slightly as the air tickled his throat, and rubbed his cheek against the throw pillow.

Maybe he could sleep now. Get some energy back. He would feel better in the morning.

Ben unlocked the apartment door, his duffle hanging heavy on his shoulder as he made his way into the dark entryway.

Trying to be quiet, he lowered the bag to the floor and toed off his shoes. It had been a long day, and Ben was eager to get to bed even though he wouldn’t be sleeping next to Kincaid. The other officer was still on stake out, but Holland had sent Ben home.

He’d fucking fallen asleep. Twice.

Using the light of his phone, he illuminated his way into the kitchen, grimacing when the oven clock announced that it was two o’clock in the morning. He groaned lowly, rubbing at his whiskery cheeks. Grabbing a glass of water, he thought about rummaging in the refrigerator, using the microwave to heat up something, but he didn’t want to wake Markus.

They were getting along better, the witch was less wary of him now, but it was still day by day. Something about the fact that Ben wasn’t a supernatural made Markus nervous, and after everything he’d been through, it was tough to blame him.

Shuffling toward the living room, he yawned, intent on the bedroom at the opposite end. A soft, muffled whimper from the couch, however, halted him in his tracks, ice sliding down his spine.

He swung around, the dim light of the phone not doing much other than showing him an indistinct lump on the couch. Infinitely more awake than before, his hand snagged the chain on the standing lamp, the soft, yellow light flooding their apartment. Ben’s eyebrows drew together in concern when he made out the lump on the couch.

Markus’s tall figure was curled up there, somehow buried in the cushions to where only the back of his head was visible. Ben’s heart swelled when he realized that the witch was wrapped in Kincaid’s throw.The blanket was a monstrosity of yellow and white, Ben’s ill conceived hobby resulting in only the one blanket that he’d gifted to Kincaid for their second anniversary.

It was ridiculous, not to mention inappropriate, how his heart skipped a beat and sped when he thought about Markus being wrapped in it.

Padding over on sock clad feet, Ben peered into the cocoon of blankets and frowned at what he saw. Markus’s face was flushed, color high on the apples of his cheeks, and his eyes moved rapidly under red tinged lids. Ben cocked his head, ears picking up on the slight wheeze to each of his sleep heavy breaths.

“Markus?” he questioned softly, hesitant to startle his friend. The witch barely stirred, his nose wrinkling slightly as he let out another quiet sound of discomfort. As gently as he could, Ben brushed the back of his fingers against the sleeping man’s cheek, unsurprised by the heat he found there. He tsked, frown deepening.

On autopilot, Ben moved to he and Kincaid’s bathroom, collecting the supplies he would need and snatching one of his many kits from under the sink. He wasn’t terribly worried, even though the witch hadn’t been out of the hospital all that long. Markus’s immune system was down, and the witch hadn’t been very receptive to all of their warnings about taking it easy. This was probably just a bug, but he still needed to check Markus’s injuries and see if they’d gotten infected.

Back in the living room, Markus hadn’t moved, his dark hair glistening slightly with beads of sweat. Sliding an untouched sandwich out of the way, Ben set his supplies down on the coffee table, and started rubbing Markus’s shoulder through the blankets. “Hey, Markus,” he called, voice slightly louder than before but still soft, “I need you to wake up for a minute, okay?”

Markus shifted slightly, moaning in complaint when Ben started rubbing his back a little harder. “Wake up, buddy, I need to check you out.” Green eyes creaked open to glare at him, and Ben couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Even hazy with fever and sleep, Markus’s ire at being bothered was clear. “Easy there, tiger,” he chuckled, “it’s just me.”

“Ben?” Markus mumbled, voice rough, “wha’s goin’ on?”

“Yeah, buddy, it’s me,” he answered, smiling encouragingly, “I think you’ve got a fever, I gotta check you out, make sure nothing’s wrong.”

The other man grumbled, turning his face back into the pillow. “‘M fine, just need some sleep.”

“Nuh-uh,” Ben shook his head, not allowing him to escape that easy. He brushed his fingers through Markus’s hair, pulling gently at his shoulder. “At least roll over and let me check your temp, huh? Get some ibuprofen in you.”

“Don’ wanna,” Markus groused, “‘Lemme alone, ‘m sore.”

“Yeah, I bet you are,” Ben said under his breath, reaching behind him for the temporal thermometer. As well as he could, he pressed the small device against Markus’s forehead, rolling to get an accurate read. 101.8. He winced, whistling through his teeth. “Yeahhh,” he drawled, “you’re running a fever, Bambi. C’mon,” he coaxed, pulling at the corner of the blankets. He needed to get that fever down and the only thing the blankets were doing was making it worse.

Markus shivered, whimpering softly as the cool air hit his fever warm skin. “You suck,” he whined, “it’s cold.”

“I know I do,” Ben agreed, helping Markus as the witch finally cooperated and rolled onto his back. “I’m gonna grab you some water to wash these down with, I’ll be right back.”

Throwing his arm over his eyes, the witch nodded stiffly as he clenched his jaw against chattering teeth. “Be here,” he said faintly, fisting his free hand in the corner of the blanket.

Ben shook his head, pressing his lips together as the exposed line of Markus’s throat caught the dim light, the small, shiny scars from the bite marks standing out. The poor guy can’t catch a break, he thought darkly.

In the kitchen, he grabbed one of the chilled water bottles they had in the fridge. As an afterthought, he snagged a soft towel from their overstuffed drawer and wet it. He knew how much he hated being touched when he was running a fever, but he didn’t want that for Markus. Hopefully, the worn material wouldn’t chafe the witch’s oversensitive skin.

“Can you sit up for me, Markus?” he called, hearing a groan answer him. He returned to the witch leveraging himself up on his elbows, arms shaking as his dark hair fell into his face. Ben darted in to support Markus’s shoulders, murmuring a soft apology as his quick movement garnered a flinch. “Sorry, baby,” he murmured, the much more familiar endearment slipping from his lips as easy as breathing, “sorry, just want to help a little.”

Markus let him take over the movement, allowing Ben to brace him against the back of the couch as he sat next to him. “S’okay,” the witch sighed, “just dinn’t see you.” Their eyes met, and Markus’s placating smile wasn’t enough to hide all of the exhaustion that had nothing to do with fever and sickness.

Ben suppressed the instinctive need to soothe him, knowing it would just be taken as pity, and hummed in response. “Take these for me?” he requested, handing over a few ibuprofen. The witch grimaced, but tossed the pills back and dry swallowed with the practiced motion of one accustomed to a barrage of medications. Ben cracked open the water bottle and held it out, but one look at Markus’s shaking hands had him raising it for the other to drink.

A glassy, irritated glare was all the objection he received, so he let the bottle rest against Markus’s chapped lower lip, ignoring the way the water soothed the dry skin as he tipped it. Markus drank a few mouthfuls of the cool water, shaking his head and turning away with an exhausted sigh when he was done. “Okay, baby, just a little more, and I’ll let you go to sleep,” Ben said quietly, “Can I see those incision sites? I need to know if they’re infected.”

“Can’t get me outta my clothes that easy, Ben,” Markus slurred, eyelids firmly closed even as his lips lifted in a soft smile, “gotta at leas’ buy me dinner.”

Ben couldn’t help but laugh, his hand moving to brush the hair away from Markus’s eyes without even registering the motion. “Aw, c’mon gorgeous, you’ll make my night.”

Markus laughed, but the exhale turned into a low, grinding cough that made Ben’s smile drop into a concerned frown. The witch grimaced in discomfort, hugging his ribs as he tried to even his breathing. “Fucking hell,” Markus cursed, breaths rough in his throat.

“Yeah, okay, Bambi,” Ben soothed softly, petting through Markus’s hair again. His chest ached when the witch turned to nuzzle into Ben’s palm, the unconscious action startlingly comfortable. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away, fingers going to the buttons of Markus’s soft flannel. Clinically, he examined his friend’s lingering injuries, moving the waist of his sweats as modestly as he could so that he could palpate the healing stab wound above his hip. Other than a grimace at the ache, Markus didn’t show any sign of discomfort, and Ben felt himself relax when there wasn’t any sign of infection.

“I don’t think anything’s infected,” he announced softly, pulling the stethoscope from his bag, “but I’m thinking that cough is going to be our culprit.” The cool circle of the tool made Markus jump, and Ben hissed in apology. “I always forget to warn about that, sorry, pumpkin. Take a deep breath for me?”

Markus obeyed, staying limp against the couch as he took the careful, measured breaths that Ben requested. His skin was pebbling with goosebumps as the fever made him shiver, a slight sheen of sweat highlighting his pale skin. “‘M really cold,” Markus whimpered, eyes sliding open to half mast as his breath colored with the sound of a sob.

Ben’s heart broke, and he set aside the stethoscope to pull Markus’s shirt closed. “I’m done, baby, I’m sorry. I know you’re cold.” He disentangled Kincaid’s throw from Markus’s and draped the crocheted blanket back over him, tucking it around him even though he probably needed the thinner material of the other blanket. “I think you’re gonna be okay, so no ER tonight. Do you want to stay here or do you want to go to your bed?”

“Not movin’,” Markus muttered petulantly, long, dark eyelashes kissing his rosy cheeks as he seemed to sink back into the cushions.

“Gotcha,” Ben chuckled, “I’m gonna help you lay back down, okay?” Carefully, he slid his arm under Markus’s shoulders, free hand cradling the back of the other man’s head as he moved to stand and free up the space on the couch.

A hand latched onto Ben’s bicep through the blanket, and he froze when Markus’s foggy green eyes fluttered open to stare into his own. “Don’t go?” the witch breathed, the request so soft that Ben wouldn’t have been sure he heard it except for the desperate longing in Markus’s eyes.

It was impossible for his weak heart to resist.

“Okay, sweetheart,” Ben replied, settling back onto the cushion and grabbing the damp cloth he’d set aside. Reverently, he maneuvered Markus so that he was in the circle of his arms, heart fit to burst as Markus’s cheek settled against his chest, “I won’t go anywhere.”

Gently, Ben pressed the cool cloth to Markus’s face, moving it over his heated cheeks and down to his neck. The witch sighed in relief even as another shiver stole through his body. Ben smiled sadly, knowing the contradiction of fever hot cheeks and cold aches that made your entire body sore. Absently, he pressed his lips against Markus’s hair, holding the other man as his breathing evened out into a restful sleep.

It wasn’t long before Ben joined him even with the light of the lamp pressing against his eyelids. The exhaustion of the day, the last several weeks really, catching up with him as he held his friend.

That was how Kincaid found them hours later. Ben’s legs stretched out in front of him and his cheek smashed into Markus’s hair. A gentle kiss to the forehead had Ben twitching and opening his eyes, automatically smiling as he met his lover’s gaze. “Hey, baby,” Ben whispered softly, words ponderous and sleepy.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Kincaid whispered back as he ran a hand through Ben’s dirty hair, “what’s going on?”

Ben hummed, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as he picked his head up. “Markus was running a fever,” he answered, yawning through his teeth. “He didn’t want to get up.”

Kincaid’s face creased in concern, moving his hand from Ben’s head to brush the back of his fingers against Markus’s cheek. The witch didn’t stir other than to curl his fingers tighter around Ben’s thigh, causing Ben himself to blink in surprise. He didn’t remember Markus’s hand moving there.

“He still feels a little warm, but it doesn’t seem high.”

“I think he pushed himself a little hard today, I don’t think it’s too serious. We’ll monitor him, make sure he takes care of himself and doesn’t let it get worse.”

Kincaid nodded, and Ben watched his lover’s eyes soften as he took in the two men curled together on the couch. His big hands were gentle when he pulled the edge of his blanket back around Markus’s shoulder, smoothing the bunched, well-loved yarn as he stroked his back. Already wrapped around his little finger, Ben thought, heart swelling.

“We’re in so much trouble,” Ben murmured, smiling softly when Kincaid’s eyes snapped over to his own. Ben didn’t feel anything other than acceptance, love, and affection in his expression when he pressed his cheek against Markus’s hair again. There was nothing else in his heart for both of these two.

“I know,” Kincaid whispered, shaking his head a bit as his growing smile turned rueful.

They didn’t need anything else to know that the other was on the same page.

Slowly, Kincaid bent to place a kiss on Markus’s forehead as well, his other hand curled around Ben’s nape.

#Whumptober2020 #No. 21 #Infection #Markus/Lucien Series #hurt/comfort #sickfic #fluff #Markus Protection Squad

66 notes · View notes

fatandnerdy30 · 4 years ago

Text

Land of the Avengers chapter 2

“May?” Peter tossed his bag into the corner of his school apartments, listening for his aunt moving about the house. “May, you home?” He bounced through the kitchen and down the hallway where he found his aunt working on something at her computer, headphones in and speaking to someone.

“That’s fine. Just keep an eye on her vitals and BP, okay?” There was a pause as the other person’s lips were moving. “No, no, she hasn’t had a problem with her oxygen since she was admitted, so you should be fine. If not, call me and I’ll walk you through it on my way. Janet, you’ll be fine, I promise. Just do what you have to do and you’ll be great. Okay, talk to you later.” The screen went blank and May sighed, pulling out the earphones.

“You got a call from your apprentice?”

Peter’s voice made the woman scream and twirl around in the chair so fast she actually spun herself in a circle. “Peter! Oh my god don’t do that!” She held a hand to her heart and gave her grinning nephew a mock glare. “I swear you’re out to kill me.” Getting up, she gave the young boy a hug. “How was school today?”

The boy was practically bouncing in May’s arms until she finally let go. “I have something amazing to tell you! Captain Potts suggested to Colonel Richards for Harley and I to take the flight test early!” His face was beaming so much it was almost glowing. “He scheduled the test for next week! And that’s not the best part, either. Colonel Richards told us we can take one person with us, and since you’re family…can you maybe take a week off?” He looked a little worried when May’s brow furrowed.

“Next week? Isn’t that a little last minute? And why a week? I thought the test was a one day thing.” What would cause the man to schedule a test so soon? Maybe she should call the school.

“Well, that was the only placement open in the next two years, and the colonel really thinks we’ll do amazing! And he also said we deserved a break, so the test would be the flight to wherever we’re going, he hasn’t told us yet, and back, but there will be a small vacation in between, so that’s why it’ll be a week. Can you come?”

“I don’t know, honey. That is really short notice, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to get that time off, but, I do have some vacation coming up, so I’ll talk to my boss. I can’t-” She laughed at the way Peter was practically bouncing in place. “I can’t promise anything, so don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

“Yes, May.” The boy was still grinning though. May’s boss was sweet on her, so he would so approve this vacation. He wouldn’t want Skip dating her, but if he could pull some strings, he would definitely allow it. “Okay, I’m gonna go call Harley and tell him the good news! Bye May!”

“Peter, I told you….and he’s gone.” She hung her head. “I swear that boy is too hyper.” She smiled all the same and turned back to her computer to get some work she’d brought home done before taking her nephew out to dinner to celebrate.

*~*

That weekend found two boys stepping off the monorail above the city and stopping to look up at the intimidating white and silver building towering over Peter and Harley. The afternoon sun glinted off the windows, reflecting it back onto the clouds to create a mirrored world of light. It was a sight to behold.

“I wonder how tall it is?” Peter asked, staring up at the top of the buildings that looked as if it were scraping the sky itself.

“It’s thirty-five stories tall, so about three-hundred-eighty feet in total. But, that doesn’t include the sublevel floors. I read it last night on my comp-tab. It’s really interesting. Did you know this is also where the city gets its power, including our school?” The younger boy just rolled his eyes.

“You’re a dork. Let’s go.” He laughed and pulled a pouting Harley behind him. They had just walked in and Peter stopped, causing Harley to collide with him. “Woah!! Look at this! How cool is this!” Peter’s voice echoed through the lobby, making a few of the employees smile and giggle. “I mean, we’re in the actual Baxter Building! I wanna see every floor before we go to the simulation floor!” Harley shook his head, pulling the boy’s head under his arm.

“No, we’re on a time schedule, you doof! We only have a week to prepare for our flight.”

Peter pouted and tried to pull his head out from Harley’s grip. “I know that! I just got excited, that’s all.” They walked to the receptionist, who was giggling at Peter’s outburst, making the boy blush and look down.

“Good morning boys. How can I help you today?” She smiled at Peter, who had looked up. “Hello Ma'am,” the older of the two spoke in a deeper voice. “We’re here to use the simulation room. We have our flight test in a week.” Harley puffed out his chest, but his voice remained the same volume.

“Oh really? Aren’t you a little young?” The woman pushed her brown locks behind her ear. The boy couldn’t be older than fifteen, possibly younger. and Jenny couldn’t allow kids upstairs just because they said they were given permission. If she did that, every kid would have to be let in, and she could never handle that.

“He’s not,” Peter said lowly. “But, I was offered to take the same test together as Harley by Colonel Richards himself.” He then pulled his backpack off his shoulder, digging around and showing the woman his pass. “He even made us these passes.”

“Oh my,” the woman stared at the pass, her green eyes wide in shock. They were actual building passes given to the members of Richards’ team themselves. “I had no idea the special visitors Mr. Richards would be so young. Let me just scan your badges and you can go right up.” Peter and Harley handed the woman their passes, both boys looking proud, as they should. They would be the youngest pilots on the sub-orbital force in history, especially Peter.

“Okay, everything checks out. You boys train hard, okay, but remember to take frequent breaks. I’ve heard that room can be intense,” the woman informed, her face serious.

Harley nodded. “Thank you, Ma'am. We will.” He began walking, Peter following, looking around with wide eyes.

“I still think this is awesome,” he said for the hundredth time. “Have you asked your mom to come on the trip?”

The older boy’s face fell as he nodded. “Yeah…but she can’t get off work on such short notice.” He had really wanted her to come, but she couldn’t. The diner wouldn’t have been able to cover her shift for a whole week. His mom did seem sorry to have to miss his test, but she promised to tell everyone at the diner, this way they could celebrate with them after hours. “But, I understand. I’m not some little kid,” he pushed Peter playfully through the elevator doors as they opened.

“Hey!” The younger stumbled, catching himself on the wall. “I’m not a little kid! I’ll let you know my fifteenth birthday is in two months, thank you very much.” He put his nose in the air.

“Okay, okay. Your aunt coming?”

Peter’s eyes lit up and he nodded. “Yeah! She said she’d talk to her boss, but it looks good! So, she’ll be able to video every second of the trip and show it to your mom when we get back!”

Harley nodded, watching the numbers rise until the elevator beeped and the doors opened.

*~*

“Woah…” was all Peter could say as the two stepped through the doors. The technology on this floor was amazing! In the middle of the floor sat a large dome shaped room that took up more than half the floor. “This…this is so cool.”

“I know, right?” Harley was looking around, his eyes wide with wonder, when suddenly a gruff voice snapped them both out of their stupors.

“Hey, there’s no kids allowed on this floor! It’s dangerous!” A hulking bald man made his way over to the boys, his footsteps quick. “Waddya think you’re doin’ here, anyway?”

“We…we have passes,” Peter stuttered, holding up his blue pass in a shaking hand. “The colonel invited us. For simulation practice…” His face was red and he was looking at the floor.

“Lemme see those.” The man grabbed Peter’s pass and studied it. “Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. You must be the little geniuses Richie told us about! How ya’s doing?” He clapped both boys on the shoulder, catching their winces. “You wanna get straight to it, or do ya’s wanna have a tour first?”

“Umm…a tour would be great, Sir,” the oldest responded.

“Tour it is. I know you’s don’t have a lot of time, so let’s get rolling. Introductions first. Susie! Over here!”

A blonde woman looked up from the keyboard she was furiously typing at. “What is it, Ben? I’m kind of busy.”

“Well, you can take a second break. These are the kids Richie told us about. Introduce yourselves.”

Peter and Harley stared up at Susan Storm as if they were seeing the northern lights themselves. “Miss Storm…I mean, Dr. Miss-I mean Dr. Susie…Oh, I’m dead.” Peter’s face turned an even brighter shade of red and he hunched his shoulders down until just the tips of his ears were showing. Dr. Storm chuckled as she took her glasses off.

“Susan is fine. And let me guess, the red one is Peter,” the boy nodded. “And that must mean this is Harley.”

“Yes Ma'am. It’s nice to meet you.” He held his hand out and shook the woman’s hand.

“Good to see one of you is together,” the woman said jokingly. “Don’t be so nervous, Cadet Parker. I don’t bite, I promise.” She smiled softly at the boy, who nodded.

“Yes Ma'am.”

“Good. Now, my job here is to measure spikes of electromagnetic fields that appear in the upper atmosphere.” She pointed to three screens that had small lines jumping up and down on them. “This measures the amount of activity, this tells me where they are and this one measures the frequency,” she turned to each screen respectively. “I see nothing new, so this is a good thing for suborbital pilots. It helps keep them safe and us out of trouble.” She smirked at her joke.

“Do you have any other jobs?” Peter asked, watching the lines on the screen jump.

“Yes, actually. I often have to go into suborbital space in order to get a better reading of the ozone for safer flights, and to experiment on new ways in order to create quicker flight plans safely.”

“That’s kind of awesome, actually,” retorted Peter, staring at the consoles. “Do you send your findings to the pilots or to the radio tower?”

“Excellent question. I actually send it to both, plus the pilots also get a vibration meter just in case any falling debris from space comes into the atmosphere. It’s happened quite a lot, and before this, a lot of crafts actually went down. We had a whole legal battle until we came up with this idea.”

“So it measures any kind of disturbance around the plane?” Asked Harley. “How does it do it? I mean, it’s got to have a high frequency to detect even the most subtle of vibrations in the atmosphere around the entire plane. There’s got to be hundreds of tiny cameras and wave sensors hidden in every plane!”

“Yes, actually,” Susan’s eyes were alight with wonder. “No wonder why Richard likes you two. He loves students that are full of questions.” She smiled down at the two. They really were a little young to be taking the flight simulation test, but her fiance had been talking about these two nonstop for days. Ever since Pepper had mentioned it, he’d been all gung-ho about it. It really was cute to see him excited about something.

“Don’t let Suzy-Q here bore you guys,” came another voice as the door opened. “I actually have the best job.”

“Great,” Ben sighed. “Kids, this is the younger-and dumber- sibling of Dr. Storm. Johnny, introduce yourselves to the cadets.”

“Heys, kiddo’s. Nice to meet you, I’m Captain Storm. The youngest pilot the Sub-Orbital crew has ever seen.” He made a muscle man pose. His uniform was a dark blue, as was everyone’s, but his matched him better with the darker skin. It might have been the shaved head, or his attitude, Peter didn’t know. All he knew was that he liked Captain Storm.

“Hello sir,” the younger boy said, saluting him.

“Hey, hey, no sirs around me, okay? And put that hand down, don’t want you poking an eye out. Just call me Jay, okay?”

Ben snickered. “He always wants to seem cool and hip in front of the kiddies.”

“Hey, I am hip, man! It’s just hanging around you old dudes all day makes me miss seeing young faces.” Jay then looked around the room. “Oh yeah…where’s their tour group? I was hoping to let the little group to take some photos of me being the awesome pilot I am.”

The two scientists looked at each other before bursting into laughter. “That’s a good one, hot head!” Ben cackled.

“What?” Jay cried angrily.

“There is no tour group. It’s just these two. They’re here to use the simulation machine,” Sue responded. “Oh, and I would rethink that 'youngest pilot ever’ title, because these two are taking the test in a week’s time.”

The pilot’s face fell as he stared at the two youngsters in front of him. There was no way! “When did this happen?”

“Colonel Richards told us earlier this week, Mr. Storm.” Harley felt pride well in his chest at that. And Ben noticed, grinning at the look on the boy’s face.

“Well, I think we should let them get to training,” the bald man said, clapping Johnny on the shoulder. “Come on. You can show off later, or maybe the kids can tell you how to do your job better.”

Johnny sent him a look that made Ben throw his head back and laugh, pulling the young man out.

*~~~~*

"This is the flight simulator," Dr. Storm showed the boy's the dome-shaped room in the middle of the floor. "The main reason why there are so many generators in here because of this. It takes a lot of energy to run the simulator. Probably enough to run the entire city for three years."The boys were stunned. It took that much energy to run the simulation machine?

"That's insane," Peter whispered. "But, isn't that bad for the environment? I mean, the generators make so much heat and the gasses they're known to produce have been proven to deplete the breathable air and-"

Susan held up a hand with a smile. "I know all of that, but Richard actually developed these especially with that in mind. It's a new kind of energy, renewable energy. It's something the world has never seen. Actually, you're the first people outside this building to see it." Her watch let out a beep and she turned her wrist to see the time. "And now it's getting late, so you two better get in there. You have today and tomorrow to practice before your test. I'd wish you boys luck, but I'm sure you won't need it." She opened the door latch.

"Just so you know, there is a water dispenser and a bathroom. People tend to spend a long time here and I got tired of having to clean up after they left." She sent a glare to the doors her brother went through. "So, I had Reed put in a bathroom." She gave the boys a tight smile. "Go on in. And we'll be monitoring you from out here, so we'll be the first to know if there's a problem."

Peter and Harley gave a nod in unison and stepped into the chamber. As soon as the door was shut behind them, they looked at one another. "Let's do this," Harley said, holding his hand out.

"And kick its ass doing it," Peter replied with a smile and they grabbed each other's hands in their secret handshake.

"Did I mention that we have cameras and microphones in there, too. So no bad language," Susan's voice made the two jump and look up at the camera that had turned to look at them, feeling her admonishing look through the lens.

"Sorry!" they yelled in unison and began making their way through the dome to the two seats in the middle of the room. In some odd way, they made the room seem emptier. Together they sat and buckled themselves in, looking around the white room.

"Good job on buckling up, boys. You don't know how many trainees make that mistake and treat this as just a VR ride instead of a potentially dangerous experience. You two signed the wavers, right?" The boys nodded. "Good. The room will make an odd noise as the simulation starts, but soon it will fade into the noise of the flight sim. Simulation starting in three......two....one....good luck boys."

They didn't get a chance to respond before the room started making a high pitched whirring noise before the room actually disappeared! In its place was the inside of a sub-orbital craft. Harley stared out the window and actually looked real, even down to the birds! "This...this is amazing!" His voice didn't even echo in the cockpit, as it was a small, full space. "The reality is so real." He reached out and touched a control, surprised to feel the yoke in his grasp. "Amazing."

"I wonder how they do it? Maybe it's something to do with the brainwaves that measure your senses? That would be amazing tech to put into use in the real world! Imagine what could happen if people didn't have to leave their homes in order to work, that would mean they'd be able to spend their lives in filtered air and therefore increase their lifespan by at least ten years!"

Harley gave him a look as if to say 'shut up'. "But, think of the damage the power one of these needs in order to run. Could you imagine something like that in every home? It would kill the planet indefinitely. It was a good thought, though, kid." The younger nodded and got a 'thinking' look on his face. "Worry about it after we're done, okay? Our futures ride on this simulation. We have to do good, or else those scholarships should be taken away." Peter's face turned serious in an instant and he gripped the yoke. "I'm ready. Let's get started."

#marvel fanfiction #iron dad #g/t fluff #marvel g/t #Giant/tiny #g/t #sfw g/t #natasha romanoff #steverogers #Iron Man Tony Stark #virginia potts #harley keener #professor hulk #clintbarton

17 notes · View notes

n8thegr8 · 4 years ago

Text

My Avengers Academy Chapter 1: An Old Fashioned Notion

Not everyone is created equal. There are people in this world that are born with privileges and advantages that put them ahead of everyone else. There are people that are born with nothing and must climb their way out of oppression. These lessons of privilege should be taught to children with care and respect. To help them understand. These lessons should not, however, be taught to children with violence.

Peter Parker learned this lesson at the age of five. He laid there motionless; eyes widened as he looked towards the sky. He had bruises on his arms and legs, dirt stained his cheeks, and his head was pounding with pain. All he could do now was crawl into a ball and cry his eyes out.

It was supposed to be a fun day for him; his kindergarten cancelled all classes due to a nearby villain attack which cut out all the power on that grid. A day off of school is supposed to be a fun time for children. It was supposed to be fun for Peter. It was, at least in the beginning.

He had a playdate with his best friend in the world, Eugene “Flash” Thompson. He was so excited when his aunt dropped him off at his house; he couldn’t wait to play hero. Their playdates consisted mostly of watching old footage of battles between heroes and villains, and any live fights happening on the news. Today, however, was different.

“Hey, Pete, wanna ditch this, and go to the playground? I’m getting kinda bored,” Flash said.

“Um, yeah! Let’s go tell your mom and-“

“Nah,” Flash said, “Let’s just go, we’ll be back before she knows anything.” This was unusual for Peter. Going to the park without any adult supervision? His Aunt May and Uncle Ben always told him to never go anywhere without an adult that he trusts. But, he trusts Flash. He wouldn’t let Peter get hurt right? Besides, Flash has this really cool quirk, if any bad people try to kidnap him, he’ll protect him.

Peter agreed, and off they went. Getting out of the house was easy since Flash’s mom was sleeping on the couch in the living room with some sort of bottle in her hand. This usually happened when Peter had a playdate at Flash’s home; his mom was asleep most of the time, letting them have free reign of the house. Whenever Peter asked why his mom sleeps so much, Flash would say, “She just works a lot, okay? Stop asking.”

The journey to the park, however, was difficult because they had to stay out of sight, so no adult would see them and call their parents, or aunt and uncle in Peter’s case. They ran from bush to bush, and jumped fences to get to their destination. Eventually, they came to the wall that separated the park from the playground. It loomed over the two kids, and it cast a great shadow over them. To Peter, it was the highest wall he’d ever seen.

Peter heard Flash chuckle. “This wall ain’t nothing to me.” Flash’s arms became covered in this black goop. The goop seemingly crawled up his arms and eventually to his hands, turning his small hands into big claws. Flash looked at Peter. “Lemme show you how a man climbs a wall.”

Flash stepped back five steps and then dashed towards the wall, jumped, and stuck to the wall, digging his claws into the concrete. Peter watched in awe as Flash effortlessly climbed up. Once Flash got to the top of the wall, he peered down and looked at Peter, flashing him a toothy grin.

“Well, come on!” he exclaimed.

Peter stared at the wall. Noticing it’s craggily state, how long has this wall been standing? Before he was born? Before Auntie and Uncle were born? Before quirks?

“What are ya waiting for?!” yelled Flash, “Just climb the stupid thing!”

Jolted out of his thoughtful daze, Peter looked for his path to climb up the wall.

“Come on, Peter!”

The more Flash shouted the more nervous he got. Finally, he found his path. Peter took five steps back and then sprinted towards the wall until-

“I AM IRON MAN AND IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO WAKE UP! I AM IRON MAN AND IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO WAKE UP!”

This phrase loudly repeated throughout Peter Parker’s bedroom, bouncing off the walls, and making his ear drums perform a drum solo. He let out a loud scream of confusion as he was rudely awakened by the pre-recorded message. He jolted from laying down comfortably to sitting up uncomfortably. Holding his head in discomfort, Peter groaned. “I hate that dream…” The alarm clock blared on his bedside table. Peter sighed as he clicked it off. It was a special alarm clock, a special edition Iron Man alarm clock, with a small figurine of the hero acting as the “turn off” button. Peter sighed once again and he flopped back on his bed. He took a moment to look around his room. He didn’t know why. It’s been the same for as long as he remembered. Plastered along the walls were memorabilia of his favorite heroes: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, etc. Figurines of said heroes stood atop his shelves. His walls were a deep shade of blue. His bedsheets were red, but his blanket was Avengers-themed. He was fifteen-years-old, but his room was one of a twelve-year-old. Peter didn’t mind; he really liked heroes. He absentmindedly reached over to his bedside table, and grabbed his phone. The bright screen blinded him for a small moment. His eyes readjusted themselves, and he looked at his messages.

Wanda Maximoff :P (6:30 AM): Get out of bed sleepyhead. May made pancakes.

Pietro Maximoff (6:35 AM): Is my sister at your house? She’s not answering my texts.

Pietro Maximoff (6:36 AM): Never mind lol I took a quick run around town and saw her in your kitchen lol

She’s downstairs? Peter thought. It wasn’t unusual for Wanda to be over before school started, but sometimes Peter questioned if she ever ate breakfast at home. “Your Aunt’s cooking is just too good!” she’d say. He had his doubts, of course. She always said that Pietro was cranky in the morning, so maybe that’s why she spends her mornings here.

“Peter! Breakfast is almost ready!”

Peter groaned as he heard his Aunt’s voice calling for him. “I’ll be down in a second!” he shouted back.

“A second has passed!” he heard a shout from downstairs followed by a hearty laugh.

Oh, Ben, he thought. His Uncle really was a joker.

~A~

“How long have you been mastering the art of dad jokes, Mr. Parker?” Wanda asked inquisitively, “Because you need a lot more work.”

Mr. Parker lowered his newspaper, took off his reading glasses, and gave a thoughtful look. Mr. Parker was wearing what he always wore: an ugly red sweater with aged blue jeans. “It’s my look!” he’d always say whenever he was questioned about his choice of apparel. “Well let’s see… when Peter was born! His father hated whenever our dad joked with us, and I just knew that he wouldn’t do it for Peter. So I wasn’t going to let Peter live his life without the best form of humor.”

Wanda rolled her eyes. Highly subjective opinion he’s got there, she thought. She turned her gaze to Mrs. Parker who was just finishing cooking the last pancake. “Mrs. Parker, how do you live with this?”

“A strong will and wine, my dear,” she said, grabbing the plate of pancakes and bringing it to the table where Mr. Parker and Wanda sat, “A strong will and wine.” Mrs. Parker was also wearing what she normally wore. Underneath her cooking apron, was her usual yellow shirt and blue jeans. Unlike her husband, she knew fashion, which Wanda appreciated.

“Oh please,” Mr. Parker said, “You love it; you know you do.”

Mrs. Parker chuckled as she put down the plate on the table. “No dear, I love you, not your jokes.”

Wanda let out a small laugh. “See, she’s the funny one here.”

“No one here appreciates my stellar comedy,” lamented Mr. Parker.

“I do,” a fourth voice said. Wanda turned her head towards the stairs that led to the upper floor, only to see her best friend: Peter Parker. Peter looked like he crawled himself out of a grave. His eyes were droopy, heavy bags surrounding them. His skin was paler than normal and his hair was also more ruffled than normal as well.

“Ah, my hero,” joked Mr. Parker, “Jeez, son, you look like a zombie.”

“I always appreciate your jokes, Ben.” Even his voice was coarse.

Wanda eyed her best friend and gave a cocky grin. “Did you even shower? I can smell you from here.”

Wanda saw Peter roll his eyes at her. “Well, good morning to you too,” he said.

~A~

The ensuing breakfast was also per the usual for the Parker family. A lot of banter between Uncle Ben and Aunt May, but even more between Wanda and Peter. “Don’t pass out from being a geek when you meet Dr. Banner today.”

“And don’t try to pass out from boredom when he starts talking about the dangers of gamma radiation,” he retorted. However, Peter couldn’t deny his excitement. For the first field trip of the school year, his high school, Midtown High, was going to Avengers Tower to meet the heroes and watch a lecture from the Incredible Hulk himself, Bruce Banner, the fourth most popular hero in America. Eventually, the pair finished their breakfast.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Parker! The food was great as always,” Wanda said. She always said this after having a delicious course of Aunt May’s cooking, which at this point was every other day or so.

“Oh you’re always welcome here, dear,” said Aunt May, “Now go, you two are going to miss the train.”

The two said their goodbyes to the married couple and off they went out the front door and onto the sidewalk, where an impatient Pietro waited.

“Took you two long enough,” he said while tapping his foot incessantly. “Mom and dad missed you at breakfast, dear sister,” he said in a mocking tone.

“Well get back to me when dad can actually cook something worth a damn, dear brother,” she fired back.

Pietro shook his head in disappointment, his silver hair flowing side to side as he did. “Hey Pete, ready for the field trip?” he asked excitedly, a complete change in his composure.

“Dude, you know it!” Peter exclaimed, high fiving Pietro.

Wanda groaned. “I’m surrounded by geeks.”

The walk to the train station was yet again, per the usual for the life of Peter Parker. Talking to Pietro about the villain fight that was on the news the night before while Wanda playfully mocks them.

“So the paper is due Friday right?” Wanda asked.

“Yep,” responded Peter.

“But does that mean 12:00 that morning or at 11:59 that night?” replied Pietro.

“No, it’s du-“

sudden explosion was heard. The trio stopped in their tracks and looked to where they heard the explosion. They see smoke in the direction they were looking.

“That’s the station…” Peter said.

“That explosion…” Pietro said.

Peter turned to Pietro. “Which means…”

Wanda eyes widened in horror. “Oh God, please no.”

Peter and Pietro's eyes lit up. “Villain attack!” they both exclaimed. Then the two ran off in the direction of the station.

“Hey, wait up you two!” Wanda exclaimed, running after the pair.

When Peter, Pietro, and Wanda got to the station it was a sight to behold. On top of the tracks was a villain they’d never seen before. He was gigantic in size and was entirely made out of sand. He stood on the overpass and roared out, daring any hero to attack.

“A new villain?” Peter asked with extreme curiosity.

“Yeah looks like it,” Pietro responded with eagerness, “He looks so cool!”

The villain reeled back his fist and punched a chunk out of a building. The crowd that was surrounding the scene screamed as debris threatened to crush them. That is until a blue and red blur flew in and destroyed all of the debris that dare harm the populace. It was the Avenger Captain Marvel, one of the strongest members of the team.

“Oh Cap’s here? This’ll be done in no time,” mused Pietro.

Peter swooned. “She’s so cool.”

Wanda huffed and crossed her arms, a small blush cascaded her cheeks. “She’s okay.”

The villain’s voice echoed and roared. “Get outta here pipsqueak, before I slaughter ya!”

Captain Marvel floated above the crowd, glowing with a golden light, her hair defying gravity as it floated upwards. Her very presence exerted the power she possessed. She looked back to the crowd. “Multiple Man, form a barrier!” she ordered.

“Alright people, don’t move past the clones y’hear?” multiple voices echoed.

The trio looked and saw the rescue hero Multiple Man! A new up and coming hero who could create a seemingly infinite amount of clones of himself. A sea of clones barred entrance to the battle. “They’re exact copies of him,” Peter whispered. “I gotta...” He reached into his book bag and took out a notebook and a cheap digital camera.

“And there he goes,” Wanda sighed.

He took his camera, aimed at one of the clones, and snapped a quick picture. Then, he opened his notebook. It had the number twelve written in sharpie pen on the cover. Peter opened it and flicked through the pages and pages of hero analysis until he found Multiple Man’s entry and feverishly wrote in his new finding.

“Oh, it warms my heart to see such an enthusiastic youth!” A laugh rang in Peter’s ears. He looked to his right and saw an older looking gentleman. Balding, but still has his white hair, a bushy mustache, and a cool pair of black sunglasses.

A blush danced onto Peter’s face. “Ah, well it’s just a hobby of mine.”

The elderly gentleman chuckled. “Oh don’t try to fool me, young man! I know exactly what you are! A fanboy!”

Peter’s face was bright red from embarrassment. “I, well I-“

“Hey there’s nothing wrong with being a fanboy!” Pietro exclaimed, standing up for his friend.

The gentleman continue to chuckle. “Not at all, young man! Why when I was your ag-“

The villain roared once again. “Don’t you come near me!”

Captain Marvel flexed out her arm and pointed at the villain. “Flint Marko, you are under arrest for illegal quirk usage and destruction of property! Anything you say can and will be us- gah!” The heroine was suddenly cut off by a gigantic fist made out of sand punching her into a nearby building.

“I ain’t going to jail!” the sand villain yelled as he reeled back his other giant fist, “And I’ll be sendin’ ya straight to hell!” The sand giant flung his fist into the building where Captain Marvel crashed into, but the attack was blocked by an invisible force field! Peter looked to the top of the building to his left, and standing there was the Invisible Woman, one third of the Future Foundation!

“Ah! It’s Susan Storm!” Peter heard Wanda squeal in delight. “She’s gonna kick this sand dude’s ass!”

“Nah, my money’s still on Cap,” replied Pietro, “She can probably bench press the continent if she wants to.”

Wanda groaned. “Not every problem can be solved by brute strength, dear brother,” she said in a mocking tone, “You need finesse and to think outside the box! Right, Pete?” She stood with her hands on her hips in a stance of confidence. However she got no response from her friend. “Pete?” When Wanda turned to face him, all she saw was him feverishly writing in his notebook. Deaf to the world around him.

“So Invisible Woman actually doesn’t disappear she just bends the light around her to make the illusion that she’s invisible so does that mean that she can’t see when she’s invisible or maybe the light is still hitting her eyes anyway so maybe she sees but you also have to consider…” Peter rambled on and on.

A moment of awkward silence fell upon Wanda, Pietro, and the gentleman as Peter muttered away. “Oh Pete.” Wanda sighed.

“Does your friend usually do this?” the gentleman asked.

Pietro scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “Yeah, it’s hard for him to stop when he gets going.” Another crash was heard and the attention of the group was once again focused on the ensuing fight.

“You ready, Sue?!” yelled Captain Marvel as she flew upwards towards the sky.

“The barrier’s up, Carol; turn this villain into glass!” yelled the Invisible Woman back as she flexed her arms out.

The sand villain tried to reach for the flying superhero but found himself unable to move past the invisible barrier that blocked his path. “Wh-what the hell is this?!” he screamed in terror.

“This is the end of your villainy, Marko!” exclaimed Captain Marvel.

The crowd went wild, this was the public’s favorite part in villain fights: when the hero triumphs over the villain and saves the day. “Come on, ma’am! Show us a flashy finish!” the older gentleman exclaimed.

“I told you so,” Pietro said as he bumped Wanda’s arm with his elbow.

Wanda shot a dirty look at her brother. “Oh, shut up,” she said. She put her hand on Peter’s shoulder who was still writing in his notebook. “Peter, it’s about to finish. You’re gonna wanna see this.”

Peter’s consciousness came reeling back into reality as he saw Captain Marvel floating in the sky. Her golden aura intensified as her hair stood straight up. Peter internally squealed as he knew what was coming, he quickly aimed his camera at the hero. It was Captain Marvel’s signature move! The golden aura stopped being an aura and started to be the color of Captain Marvel’s skin as her body stored energy. Her quirk: Binary Engine, allows her to store energy inside of her and release it at her will. She yelled out a battle cry and flexed her arms forward. “Binary Ignition!” A beam of golden energy erupted from her fists. If one were to ask the crowd what occurred that day, they would say that they felt the Earth shake beneath them as they saw the furious fiery energy hurdle itself towards the giant sand villain. With a loud scream of pain, the sand villain took the blast in his giant sandy chest. The extreme heat from the energy started to solidify the sand that it hit.

“No!” the villain roared, “I-I can’t move!” With the invisible barrier now closed fully around the villain, the extreme heat from the binary blast went to work. The heat was trapped and had nowhere to go, just like the villain. The villain was quickly calcified in glass, unable to move. A statue to the victory of heroes, the sand villain was.

The crowd erupted in cheers and chants as Captain Marvel slowly descended back to the ground and the Invisible Woman followed suit. The heroes gave the all clear for the police to restrain the villain, a tall order given his size but the police always came prepared.

Peter, on the other hand, was feverishly writing in his notebook about the intricacies of what he saw of Captain Marvel’s signature move. How much heat it truly produced being the main point of intrigue for him. “So for sand to turn into glass the sand has to be exposed to a temperature of 3,090 degrees Fahrenheit or 1,700 degrees Celsius which means that Captain Marvel’s energy output is far greater than what I initially calculated for her maybe…”

“He really likes to write doesn’t he?” the gentleman asked.

Wanda sighed with a tinge of embarrassment. “Yeah, he really does,” she said. She then put on a big enthusiastic smile. “But, he’s going to be the best hero of all time. I just know it.”

“Wow, thanks, sis,” said Pietro.

The old man let out a light chuckle as he saw the two siblings bicker and Peter mutter and write in his notebook.

“... and you also have to consider the possibility that with enough stored power she can become a walking sun and that would be devastating for villains but maybe she can also solve any future energy crisis that the world will face and-“

“Hey, kid.” Peter felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the old man standing next to him. “You don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t be a hero, alright? If somebody doesn’t believe in you, prove them wrong. Think of heroism as the classic mask and spandex costumes, it doesn’t matter who’s behind the mask. Anybody can be a hero.”

Peter felt the warmth and kindness of the old man’s words. He flashed him a goofy grin. “Thank you, sir! I promise to become the world’s greatest hero.”

The old man returned with a big smile. “Excelsior, young man! Now go out there, and become the best hero that you can be!”

The trio thanked the gentleman for his time and walked up to the train platform as the police gave the all clear to enter the station. They got on their train and sat down. Peter glanced out the window and a small smile formed on his face. Across the river he saw the apple of his eye. Adorned with a stylistic “A” on its face, stood Avengers Tower, HQ of the Mighty Avengers, the most popular hero agency in the world. While Avengers Tower was the HQ for the agency, it was also a school, Avengers Academy, where teenagers learn to become heroes. The school only taught from sophomore year to senior year of high school. Apparently because there wasn’t enough material for a full four years of hero education. “Hey, guys?” Peter called out to his friends.

Pietro and Wanda snapped out of their individual dazes from the painfully normal train ride and turned to their friend, his face plastered with an even bigger smile. “What’s up, man?” Pietro asked.

“Let’s apply to Avengers Academy,” Peter said. “Let’s be Avengers.”

Wanda’s face grew a soft smile. “Peter, you always say that,” she pointed out, “We’ve been wanting to be Avengers since we were kids!’”

“I think he just forgets that we made that pact years ago,” said Pietro, laughing as he did.

Peter turned to his left to face him. “No, I didn’t forget! I just want to make sure,” he said with a hint of anxiety in his voice. Peter’s face went from cheerful to solemn. This usually happened to him after being excited about heroes and his dream to be one. Almost as if somebody completely different swapped places with him. He would go from raving about heroes and claiming he was going to be an Avenger one day one second, and then the next second he would become eerily quiet. His eyes would darken with sadness. His whole demeanor would shift. He became reclusive and antisocial. In his head he thought to himself,

They’ll be the ones going to AA… not me. There aren’t any quirkless heroes in the first place, why would I be the exception?

Wanda noticed the drastic change in him. “Hey, hey, hey look at me,” she urged him. Peter turned to look at Wanda, and felt her hand on his shoulder. Her gaze met his. “You are going to be the best hero ever, okay? It doesn’t matter, okay? You’re already my hero.” She pointed to the red bandanna wrapped around her head as she said this. As Peter glanced at the accessory, he noticed how it wrapped down her cheek, under her chin, and was tied at the top of her head in a nice bow. Peter knew what she meant.

It’s been five years and she still remembers. To him, helping her up and tying his bandana around her head to keep her jaw in place was just the normal thing to do when someone trips and falls on their chin in Physical Education class.

He shot her a small, but genuine smile and said, “Okay.” Wanda shot a big smile back at him. As she did this his stomach became infested with butterflies and his face felt like it was lit aflame. He swore that he heard Pietro behind him groan and mutter, “Jeez, get a room.”

After yet another painfully average walk, they finally made it to their destination: Midtown High. Midtown High was just another average year 9-12 public high school located in Forest Hills, New York. Moderate in size, but gigantic in population. The school had trouble with too many students and not enough teachers to teach them. Cramped classrooms didn’t look good in the paper and it needed to be fixed. So to combat overpopulation and to promote transferring to other schools, there is a field trip to Avengers Tower for the freshman. If you want to tell kids to get out of your school, might as well tell them to be superheroes.

Unfortunately for Peter, the trio had to part ways for the time being since they all had separate homeroom classes. Peter sat in his classroom, and his gaze wandered around, looking at the 4x4 room that confined him. 25 desks filled the room in a semi-orderly fashion, Peter sitting near the back, which was unusual for him considering how studious he was. The floor was stained with age, under the coat of yellow was once a beautiful marble floor. The blackboard could never be truly cleaned as there were always remnants of past classes leaving their chalk footprint. Peter sighed and took a glance at the clock at the front of the class, however, he couldn’t make out the time with his bare eyes. He sighed once again, reached into his bag, and took out a container. He opened them and groaned as he was reminded that his glasses were ugly. Bright red covered the frame and the circular lenses felt as if they were half the size of his head. He put on his glasses, and the world suddenly became much clearer. He glanced at the clock again and saw it say it was 8:00 AM, right on the dot.

He groaned and let gravity claim his head. It made a nice and loud “bump” as it hit the desk. Peter knew what was coming. He counted down from fifty. He always comes in at 8:01 AM. Throughout the years of being bullied, Peter picked up a thing or two about personal quirks. At exactly 8:01 AM, he walked through the classroom door. His black hair stood in a spiky fashion, he wore a black muscle shirt, and baggy dark blue jeans. He was laughing as he entered the classroom, as if someone had told him a hilarious joke. Peter quickly stood up a book on his desk and opened it, creating a makeshift barrier between himself and the rest of the world. He fumbled with his glasses as he tried so desperately to put them back into their case. He lowered his head, below the book barrier. He didn’t want him to ruin today. It was supposed to be a happy day. He was going to Avengers Tower, he was going to see his heroes!

The world went silent and all Peter could hear was the sound of shoes hitting the floor, and it was getting closer. Peter silently whimpered. Why did he have to come after him today? Wasn’t he tired of this? Making his life hell? The footsteps stopped right next to him.

Oh no.

Pain was all Peter felt as his hair was being pulled back, forcing him to sit up straight. He felt every single strand of hair being unsuccessfully pulled from his scalp. He reluctantly opened his eyes, he had to face him now. All Peter saw was the black-haired kid smiling at him with a devious toothy smile.

“What do you want today, Flash?” Peter groaned, “Can you please let go of my hair?” Peter struggled as he grabbed the hand that had a fist full of his hair.

Flash gave a hearty laugh. “Aww, is Puny Parker all alone today? Is the quirkless wannabe sad that he can’t have his friends save him?”

He hated when Flash said that. It just reminded Peter of his true nature, that he was just normal. He doesn’t have the X-gene, he doesn’t have a quirk, he isn’t a mutant, he’s just human. Peter focused all of his might into digging his nails into Flash’s hand to make him let go. Suddenly, as he did that, Peter felt a gooey and slippery substance cover Flash’s hand, Peter squeezed but Flash didn’t let go. He only laughed.

“Oh Parker, did you piss off Venom?” he asked in a mocking tone. “Oh, is that right?” Flash said to no one in particular. Peter continued to thrash in pain as Flash kept his vice grip on his scalp. He felt like his hair was going to be pulled out, and his brain right with it. “Parker,” Flash said, his voice deepened, “Did you try to hurt me?” At this point, his voice became deep and twisted, almost demonic, as if two people were speaking in unison.

Peter grunted as he continued to struggle. “Yeah, so what? Let me go, damn it!” He glanced up at Flash and saw that his neck and a portion of his face were covered in black goop. Peter’s gaze then went to Flash’s mouth, he was baring his teeth, but they were all razor sharp. Oh God, Peter thought.

He saw this before. This black goop. Flash pulled Peter closer to his face. He could practically smell him failing to brush his teeth properly that morning. “That wasn’t very smart of you, Parker,” Flash said.

“Christ, Flash! Just leave me alone!” Peter exclaimed. Peter then curled his free hand into a fist and swung it at Flash. Momentum was stopped as Peter’s arm was caught, not by Flash’s arm, but a mouth, a mouth with sharp teeth. It wasn’t Flash’s mouth, but it was the black goop’s. It was a macabre sight to say the least. The mouth shot itself from Flash’s abdomen and latched on to Peter’s fist. Peter didn’t feel any pain, however, but he did feel the sharp teeth prick his wrist as it held it in place.

“Oh, Venom. You always know how to make me proud,” Flash said with a small chuckle. “Oh, that’s right! I didn’t feed you today, did I?” Peter’s eyes widened in horror. Flash gave a sinister smile. “Go wild.”

Peter shut his eyes as the word went into slow motion. Was Flash serious?! Was he going to let Venom devour his hand?! He could get suspended! Expelled even! He’d be charged with assault and battery and be tried as an adult! This is what perplexed Peter about Flash, he had great grades, was the school’s star quarterback, but he always did reckless activities that could have the potential of ruining his life. Even from a young age he was like this. Peter felt the terrifying mouth start to close on his fist, it was slow as if it was taunting him. As if it was letting his host enjoy the scene play out in front of him. He snapped back in reality, his gaze darted across the room, looking for someone, anyone to help him. His heart sunk as he saw the cruel reality; others had arrived by that time and they were all in their own groups, their own cliques, and they were watching the events unfold. They all just intently stared at the scene. No one dared make a move. Would anyone stand up and intervene? Peter closed his eyes, and braced for the pain that was to come.

It happened. Peter felt the teeth rip and tear into his skin. He tried letting out a scream but more black goop shot out of Flash’s chest and onto his mouth, which muffled Peter’s scream for help. The mouth kept slowly clamping down, it wasn’t long until it was going to hit Peter’s bone. Peter started to hyperventilate. His chest rose and fell. Rose and fell. Over and over again. As he saw what was happening to his hand his mind raced. Why him? Why today? Today was supposed to be a good day. Why? Why? Why? Peter felt the sharp teeth graze the top of his carpal bone. He closed his eyes and whimpered.

“That’s enough!” A voice pierced the unsettling air like a bullet.

Peter glanced towards where the voice was shouted from, and there he saw Wanda and Pietro. Pietro had his hand on Flash’s shoulder, grasping it with an iron grip, and Wanda stood near Peter, grabbing his arm and pulling it out of the jaws of the beast. Peter looked at her eyes, her pupils were glowing a bright red. She looked at the lacerations on his wrist with a deep and sad look. She took in a deep breath and put her free hand over the wounds, and then the magic started. Red energy started to flow out of her hand and into Peter’s wounds. When the red energy entered the wounds, Peter felt an extreme warmth run up his arm. It felt odd, but it wasn’t strange to him; he had felt this many times before. When Wanda first got her quirk five years ago, she’d been the person to heal Peter’s scars and bruises he sustained from his run-ins with Flash. The reason why Uncle Ben and Aunt May didn’t know how bad Peter really had it was thanks to Wanda’s quirk. He looked down in embarrassment, he could already tell that she was worried about him. The day had just started and Peter was already hurt.

“You got a death wish, Maximoff?” Flash growled.

“Leave him alone, Thompson,” Pietro demanded. Peter looked at the two feuding teens. To him, it was as if two forces of nature collided. Pietro, a benevolent mountain standing tall no matter the condition, and Flash, a ravaging tornado destroying everything in its path. Two titans facing off against each other, and it’s all because of a quirkless boy.

Flash scoffed and all of the black goop retreated back into his body, out of sight. He looked directly into Peter’s eyes. “You’re lucky your body guards came to rescue you, wallcrawler,” he said. He then went and sat in his seat at the other side of the room.

“Alright kids,” Peter’s teacher, Mr. Harrington said, “As you all know, today is the field trip to Avengers Tower.” Mr. Harrington was always an odd fellow, even in this world of superpowers. He was a tall lanky man, with brown hair and a bushy beard and moustache. Just by looking at him you can tell that he was a nerd in his youth. He wore brown suits to class, always had a neat tie on, and wore black dress pants. On his desk one could find memorabilia of the wonderful world of science. Globes, a model of the solar system, a Newton’s cradle, a map of the periodic table, etc. Peter liked Mr. Harrington; the appreciated his love of science, and even though Mr. Harrington gave the aura of a man who has been punched in the face one-too-many times, Peter related hard.

“Just so you all know, two students from different classes have requested to join ours for today.” Peter then took a glance at Pietro and Wanda who were sitting to the left and right of him respectively. As Peter looked at her, Wanda proudly showed him a small doodle of Flash being punched in the face by the Hulk. Peter smiled at the rough sketch. No matter how bad he felt, she could always make him laugh.

Peter’s gaze trailed back to his notebook in front of him. This was Peter’s Quirk Analysis book. It was open. The name Wanda Maximoff was written in the title section with neat handwriting. A picture of her was clipped on by a paper clip. Peter smiled at the photo he had taken last summer when they visited the planetarium. Her pose was odd, but unique. She had her fingertips touch one another, her legs spread and bent, her torso bent forward, and a big toothy smile plastered on her face as if she was saying, “Come at me, ya scoundrels!” She stood in front of a model of the planet Saturn. A small grin created itself on Peter’s face; that was a fun time for him.

Beside her picture were the words, “Quirk: Hex,” and below that were notes. Peter read these notes every so often. They were notes on Wanda’s Quirk. He came up with the name himself after seeing it in action so many times. Hex was one mystery of a power as it just showed up one day. For years people thought that Wanda was quirkless, until one day when she saved Peter from being Flash’s punching bag for the day. The memory flew through Peter’s mind like a bird through the sky. He remembered being pinned up to a tree, gazing into Flash’s eyes, which were filled with murderous intent. The next thing he remembered was Flash being lifted in the air by a mysterious red glow, and then seeing Wanda glowing with that same redness. This didn’t stop the bullying for her, however. Before she was being bullied for being a foreign quirkless girl, now she was being bullied for being a foriegn freak who got her quirk late.

Peter had spent hours studying Wanda’s quirk. There was one conclusion that he came about, Hex was a sort of probability manipulation, similar to Dr. Strange’s quirk: Mystic Arts. Her power could bend the fabric of probability in her favor. He theorized she can probably cause a gun to backfire just by looking at it, but he’d rather not test it. She can also shoot out red energy bolts as projectiles, they don’t hurt much, but it still was a force of concussive energy. Her quirk also allowed her to “heal” people, however, this was contested by Peter. The only thing she had done to heal him was close his wounds; he still felt sore and achy afterwards. Maybe since she doesn’t know the intricate details of the human body, she doesn’t know how to heal someone fully, or maybe she was just scared of screwing it up. In the end, Hex was an amazing quirk in Peter’s eyes. He couldn’t wait to see her become a hero one day.

He turned the page and came across Pietro’s entry. His picture was a one-in-a-million shot that Peter took at one of Pietro’s soccer games during Physical Education class. Pietro’s pose was simply art, his left leg outstretched after kicking the ball, his right arm crossing his body as his left arm is outstretched, keeping him balanced, and all the while a big goofy smile that screamed, “Yeah, I’m the best!” Peter remembered how much he and Wanda were cheering for him that day. In the end, Pietro’s team won and got bragging rights for a whole year.

Like Wanda’s entry, next to Pietro’s picture was the name of his quirk: Superspeed. It was fairly self explanatory, Pietro’s quirk allowed him to move at superhuman levels. He could outrun any car, train, plane… Well, maybe not a plane, Peter thought to himself. However, his quirk also granted him enhanced metabolism. Pietro was always fit, any scrape or bruise would be gone within minutes, and he had to eat a lot to keep up. Pietro always wanted to be a hero, and his quirk locked in his future to be one of the greatest heroes of all time.

Peter's smile turned into a frown as he turned to the next page. The name in the title box was Eugene “Flash” Thompson, and below that were the words “Quirk: Symbiote.” Flash’s quirk was the scariest of them all, it was a living organism that was bonded to Flash’s body. Its base form was a black goop that would cover Flash if it felt like it or Flash was being threatened. In reality, the symbiote was always on Flash. It was Flash, and Flash was it. It also gave itself a name: Venom. Venom can form any weapon from itself, be an impenetrable shield for Flash, and can enhance Flash’s strength fivefold. Flash and Venom were one and the same, they talked to each other, and they looked out for each other. Sometimes Peter would see Flash mumbling to himself, when in actuality he was having a conversation with Venom.

However, Flash wasn’t the only person in the world with a symbiote. Symbiotes were a quirk that arrived late to the scene as they’ve only been around for the past 80 years or so. Nobody knew where the symbiote quirk came from, and some even theorized they were a failed experiment caused by the Weapon program that was never properly disposed of. Unfortunately for people with symbiotes, there was a dangerous stereotype connected to them: cannibalism. It’s no secret that people with symbiotes need to have a larger intake of food since they’re effectively eating for two, so naturally rumors started to spread about people with the symbiote quirk. This stereotype was derived from one entity, a villain named Carnage.

The only symbiote that was able to leave its host and live on its own was one of the most dangerous villains alive. Its original host was a serial killer called Cleetus Cassidy, a cannibal with over 30 confirmed murders, most of them women and children. Cassidy was as messed up as a human could get. He truly believed that human life was meaningless, and he was doing his victims a favor by murdering them. Cleetus Cassidy’s religion was murder and cannibalism, and the symbiote believed as well. Eventually, the symbiote grew tired of Cassidy, and murdered him. Police found the gruesome corpse of Cassidy strung about the apartment, but Carnage was nowhere in sight. It escaped and bonded with a new host; It would continue this cycle for the next 26 years.

“Hey, uh, Pete?”

A voice pulled Peter out of his day dreaming, he looked around the room to see all the desks empty and Wanda and Pietro at the doorway of the classroom. Peter’s face turned red in embarrassment.

“Oh, sorry!” he exclaimed as he gathered his belongings and joined the duo.

At 200 Park Ave. in New York City sits a skyscraper unlike any other. It was a business center, R&D center, a laboratory, a Hero HQ, and an academy for young heroes-in-training. Adorned with a stylized “A”, Avengers Tower stands as a beacon of heroism. Peter Parker muttered these words to himself as he found himself standing outside the front door. He had so many questions to ask, but one stood out amongst all the others. A question he’s had since he could talk. A question on that day he would finally have answered.

As he stood in front of the building in a daze, Wanda and Pietro stood by his side, they both gave him a big smile. “Avengers Assemble?” Wanda asked them.

Pietro nodded. Peter looked Wanda in the eyes, and smiled as well. “Avengers Assemble.”

~A~

“Boss, there’s an emergency at Central Park. Reports say that Carnage has been spotted and is on the run.”

“Any heroes on patrol near there?”

“Negative, boss.”

“What about Carol?”

“Captain Marvel is currently with the Invisible Woman, they’re at the Raft making sure the villain they captured earlier is in proper custody.”

“... So you’re saying that I-“

“Boss, get off your ass and be a hero.”

“I don’t remember programming you with a potty mouth, Friday.”

“And I don’t remember asking for your opinion. The suit is at 100%.”

“How long will the charge last this time?”

“About two and a half hours, boss.”

“Heh, plenty of time.”

The shutters to the darkened room opened, revealing the city down below. A man clad in red and yellow armor walks out onto a balcony.

“Time to be Iron Man.”

To be continued...

#My Hero Academia #Avengers #Marvel #My Avengers Academy #Spiderman #Wanda Maximoff #Spideywitch #Pietro Maximoff #Venom #Iron Man #Fanfiction #Avengers Fanfic

5 notes · View notes

unofficialkfamtranscripts · 4 years ago

Text

King Falls AM - Episode Twelve: All the Pretty Flowers

View on Google Docs

Summary: October 15, 2015 - Against Ben's wishes, Sammy broaches a touchy subject after witnessing a hearse delivering white roses on his way into the station. Is it a King Falls Halloween tradition or could it be something more sinister? #RedRumRoses

[podcast intro music]

[jazz music]

Chet Well the clock on the wall is telling me that’s all, y’all. So I’m gonna mosey on down to The Red Rock bar and buy all the ladies a drink on me. But don’t try to fool me again, Dennis. This has been Chet Sebastian’s Jazz Corner. Until next time… keep it cool King Falls.

[Sammy & Ben Show intro music]

Ben Good evening, you’re listening to King Falls AM [door closing]– that’s 660 on the radio dial. [slightly irked] And this is the Sammy and Ben show— sans-Sammy at the moment.

[footsteps]

Sammy Sorry about that, Ben! everybody at home. I was just running a little late. I was j- Y-you know, I just saw the weirdest thing!

Ben Was it Chet leaving? I told him to take that fur coat off. Guy looks like he walked off a set of a Blaxploitation[1] film.

Sammy *laughs* No, I wish I’d seen that. But I was driving in tonight- I was running a tad bit late, as you can see, and I swear to you: I’m coming up Main Street, I got behind a hearse delivering these giant white rose bouquets! Like, every couple of streets the damn thing’s stoppin’!

Ben No.

Sammy No *laughs* yeah it did.

Ben … SOOOOO… Weee’ve got a great show for you folks tonight. Uh, Ernie Salcedo…

Sammy Ben.

Ben *pointedly clearing his throat* … Yes?

Sammy Okay, I can see you slashing at your neck furiously and shaking your head “no”, but the audience can’t. Sooo, what’s the issue here?

Ben *nervously* I’m sorry we… just don’t talk about this, Sammy.

Sammy So you know of it! Is it like some kind of weird Halloween thing?

Ben [flatly] Halloween? Are you serious? We don’t celebrate Halloween here in the Falls, Sammy.

Sammy WHAT? This is like friggin’ Halloween Town! You know those shops that open up every year around Halloween and close the day after? King Falls is where all those shops should move to when it’s not Halloween.

Ben Two things. 1) That’s a horrible business model, and 2) Halloween is one, big, diabetic pumpkin.

Sammy Come on? You don’t like decorating? Trick-or-treating?

Ben ALL OF IT. It’s like you’re— tempting these ghouls and goblins to come and mess with you. We get enough of that here. And again, diabetes.

Sammy Okay, I can see where you’re coming from, but I’m not gonna lie— this is kind of a surprise.

Ben What can I say? We’re more the Christmas or Arbor Day types.

Sammy Okay, so the hearse is delivering flowers. What’s the deal if it’s not a Halloween… ritual?

Ben Did you really see that? Did someone tell you to mess with me about this?

Sammy Scout’s Honor. I was late because of it! I illegally passed on a double yellow line (sorry Deputy Troy) just to skate around ‘em and make my way up the mountain.

Ben … I don’t like this. I-I don’t know that I’ve ever known anyone that saw the flowers delivered. Usually businesses and people just find the wreaths the next morning. D-Di-Did you see inside the hearse? Was it… people?

Sammy You know, I didn’t look, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say… it was a human being.

Ben Well, that’s good. *breath* It’s something.

Sammy Okay, so the roses…

Ben [voice breaking] Damnit, Sammy! We got a show scheduled, ya know?

Sammy I’m well aware! Just fill me in about the roses and we’ll move on.

Ben [muttering] Yeah yeah, okay, so… *deep breath* Every year, around this time—

Sammy Halloween…

Ben OCTOBER.

Sammy Uh-huh…

Ben Every— October… there is a certain society of people— and I use the term “people” loosely— that congregate and deliver the rose wreaths to individuals and businesses. That’s— a fact.

Sammy And?

Ben Annnd… nobody really knows what happens after that.

Sammy [audible grin] But legend has it…!

Ben Don’t “legend-has-it” me! Nobody knows for sure! Why gossip?

Sammy Okay. What do you think happens, Ben?

Ben *breathes in* Uuuugghhhh… Well, I think people either accept this weird— invitation or… they don’t. But I can tell you, the people that don’t? Well… they don’t, last long after that.

Sammy Okay. So we’ve just went from spooky 1-800-Flowers to murder in only a few easy steps.

Ben Not- murder- per say, but… businesses that decline tend to… move away or go under. Or tragedy strikes. Sure, I-I’ve heard stories of these folks winding up on the wrong end of a funeral ceremony, but… I couldn’t prove it. Are you satisfied now?

Sammy Of course. Thank you, Ben. King Falls, you’ve heard our story, now let’s hear yours!

Ben DON’T open the phone lines!

Sammy We’re-opening-up the phone lines here at the station! 424-279-3858. Have you had contact with this demonic annual floral delivery? Hit us up!

Ben Don’t call or tweet us. Please.

Sammy Give us a call or tweet us @KingFallsAM, [smugly] Ben will personally answer every tweet #RedrumRoses[2]

Ben NOPE! Not gonna happen.

Sammy Ben…[faux sympathy] It looks like the phone lines are lighting up, buddy.

Ben I expected better of you, King Falls.

Sammy Lucky Line 1, you’re on the air with Sammy And Ben.

Pete Low-down, gossip-mongering, muckraking filth.

Ben [flatly] Pete?

Sammy [quiet and amused] Escobar?

Pete N-uh- it’s Pete. You know damn well I’m listenin’.

Ben Wwhat’s on your mind tonight, Pete?

Sammy Did your mom teach you to start off phone calls with name-calling, Pete?

Pete [faint creaking in bg] My mom taught me to… stand up for myself! Don’t start a fight, but don’t be afraid to end it.

Sammy Who’s fighting?

Pete Oh, what a short attention span you have, Sammy. Not dwelling on you and Mr. Howard Ford Beauregard III issues; you’re picking a fight with the Unknown! Ben told you to shut your trap. [very faint sounds of driving]

Sammy Heh, lemme tell you, this would a long four hours if we didn’t talk and, y’ know, sometimes you have to—

Pete Yeah yeah, I get it, Mr. Nincompoop Radio Host. [creaking] You gotta blab. But that’s something you don’t trifle with. You should know this.

Ben Sammy, you know I hate to say Pete is right about anything, but—

Pete But I’m right about this! I know you know, Ben. That’s all I need to know. Stop yapping about things you don’t understand.

Ben Thanks, Pete.

Sammy [mostly resigned] Did you have a question or an experience with the flowers, Pete?

Pete Abs-absolutely not! I– d-don’t try to get me in trouble. [car door closing]

Ben You okay over there, Pete?

Pete [failing at being nonchalant] Yeah I’m just out, and… uh, just out.

Sammy [incredulous] This time of night?

[car door slamming]

Pete Yeah! I’m- runnin’ errands and- stuff like that, y’know. ‘T’s- It’s not- it’s not your business!

Ben [literally tongue-in-cheek] Uh-huh…

Pete You’re makin’ something of this. Yer- you’re doin’ somethin’, you’re getting me invo— Stop.

Ben It’s just weird, Mr. Beauregard’s gardener is out at 2 in the morning, running errands.

Sammy So your boss doesn’t have anything to do with the roses, does he, Pete?

Pete Ben Arnold. If you’ve got a lick of good sense, I wouldn’t walk too close to Sammy for the next feww… mm— mmmm… lifetimes! He’s gonna wind up on the bottom end of an anvil.

Sammy You know, I just don’t think asking questions is the equivalent of buying ACME rocket kits and trying to catch a damn bird.[3]

Ben [semi-stern] Y’mind answering his question, Pete?

[creaking]

Pete Oh, HELL NO. You two are a couple ‘a horse patoots. I’m never listening to this show again.

Ben Until tomorrow.

Pete PETE OUT! [click, dial tone]

Ben Are you happy, Sammy? Is this what you were hoping for?

Sammy Civilized conversation is the only thing I look for. That said… I’m gonna say, it’s a tad bit suspicious.

Ben There are dots we don’t need to connect. MOVING ON!

Sammy Maybe you’re right.

Ben Folks, we’re gonna take a break to pay some bills, and we’ll be right back and on schedule.

[rattle, guitar strums]

Dale (presumably) [voice is a low murmur (for lack of a better word)] Dale’s Dollar Tree… [strum] at dirt cheap prices… [strum] it’s almost free. [guitar,western music] Hi, everybody, I’m super excited to tell you ‘bout some unbelievable deals we have right now… at Dale’s Dollar Tree. Let’s segue to the savin’s [eagle screech] Our low prices are guaranteed… Who’s guaranteeing it, you ask? … Me… [guitar stops] How do you take advantage of these savings? [strum, rattle] 1) Walk into Dale’s Dollar Tree [strum] 2) Throw somethin’ in your cart [strum] 3) Savings. [guitar] Dale’s Dollar Tree. [eagle screech]

[S&B theme]

Sammy Ladies and gentlemen, we are back and you’re listening to King Falls AM. Now we were just talking about me running late this morning, because of a, uh, hearse—

Ben [cutting Sammy off] So we’ve got a great show scheduled tonight. We’ve got Mr. Eli Goldblum on later in the hour.

Sammy And who is Mr. Goldblum?

Ben Are you kidding me? Only the most renowned post-mortal psychologist known to man! He’s on his spoken-word world tour, and this Thursday, you can see him live at the King Falls Convention Center.

Sammy … That’sss-something.

Ben Indeed! So that’s in about… forrrty minutes. Uh, we got Rose, (from Rose’s Diner, of course) calling in to talk about how the Bee Crisis is affecting her honey-baked ham specials for the- foreseeable future.

Sammy [TIL] Really? That’s something that’s happening?

Ben Come on, Sammy. This bee situation is serious business.

Sammy You get points for not buzzing or saying “beeees-ness”

Ben You don’t wanna know how hard that was…

Sammy -eh- Okay. So, how can we help with the bees?

Ben Uhhh… cut- back- on swatting them?? *awkward laugh* I-I-I don’t know for sure that’s-that’s why we’re talkin’ to Rose.

Sammy Gotcha!

Ben And our first topic of discussion this evening— was gonna be—

Sammy About the flowers.

Ben Don’t.

Sammy Okay, look. Can we open up the phone lines again? I’d like to talk about these flowers. Uh, you tell King Falls your topic, and then we’ll see what they wanna talk about.

Ben You know they’ll talk about the damn rose wreaths!

Sammy You heard it here, folks. Line 7, you’re on with Sammy and Ben.

Herschel Ugh, I can’t sleep with all this damn racket going on! You two DINGLEBERRIES keep it down!

Sammy *laugh* Herschel??

Herschel Oh, hell. Don’t make me get out of bed and give you a full blast so late at night! [muttered] Don’t even know where my slippers are…

Ben Mr… Baumgartner, you realize you called us, right? This is- the radio station.

Herschel I know who and what I called. I dialed you DICKWHISTLES because all this [mocking] cry-babying about the damn flowers. Turn that jazz fella back on so- so I can get some rest!

Sammy Chet is on from 10 to 2, Mr. Baumgartner. This is Sammy and Ben and we- talk about—

Herschel I don’t give a damn if it’s Tricky Dick Nixon calling to give me a Congressional Medal of Honor! You shut your nose holes about the damn funeral flowers. And play me some heroin-fueled American art! [click]

[dial tone]

Sammy We’re gonna count that as one for the flowers…

Ben Line 14, you’re live on the air.

Creeper Long time listener here!

Sammy [click, dial tone]

Ben Did you hang up, Sammy?

Sammy Yeeaah, sorry. I hate that guy.

Ben Line 3,*chuckles* this is King Falls AM.

Beauregard Good evening, Benjamin. Samuel. This is—

Ben Beauretard?![sic]

Beauregard *sigh* Mr. Howard Ford Beauregard the Third. My man told me that you were spreading more lies than usual on your little “radio show.” I thought I would call and clear the air.

Sammy Mr. Beauregard, can I just say, before this call goes ANY further— that we will not accept any abuse towards us or the listeners of this show.

Beauregard How cute that you think people listen to you two buffoons.

Ben That’s abuse! That’s exactly what we were—

Beauregard Oh, that’s a joke where I come from. You millennials would never have lasted back in my day. With your emotions and feelings and the like.

Ben When was that day, again, Mr. Beauregard?

Beauregard Information about myself and my family, can be found in my international, best-selling e-book, “King of King Falls” … I don’t have to answer to— well— you.

Sammy *sigh* Did you have a reason for the call tonight, Beauregard?

Beauregard Indeed, I do. While men with any couth wouldn’t speak about festivities that they know nothing aboouut—

Sammy So, you’re behind these deliveries?

Ben Also, while I would never name names and throw my friend under a bus— you should know this wasn’t the agreed upon topic of the show.

Sammy Oh, stop it.

Beauregard [agonizingly insincere] I don’t know a thing about the supposed yearly white rose deliveries you speak of. My family, nor myself, have ever been involved with such jovality.[sic] In fact, in all my years I can’t recollect such a thing.

Ben I don’t buy that for a second. Maybe you’ve never sent the roses, and— let’s play devil’s advocate and say, sure, you’ve never received them (which I doubt), but there is No Way you haven’t heard of this.

Beauregard Maybe it’s something you commoners have made up, like, uhh- the tooth fairy or the Illuminati orrr— equal rights for the sexes.

Ben I can’t deal with this guy! Just dump him and let’s take another line.

Sammy Wait… Mr. Beauregard. If you don’t care about this— and, in fact, haven’t even heard of it until tonight— why would you bother to break your Hate-Silence with us to call in?

Beauregard You’re not nearly as dumb as you look, Stevens! And while I continue to honor my statement before— I’d have to assume that this “rose” ordeal is a real thing. It’s probably a very special thing! An intimate invitation sent by the upper echelons of King Falls. A way of making amends or bring people worthy of attention, into a conversation that normally would not have been invited to have.

Ben Just for everyone keeping score at home: I took a college course on Crazy and I believe he is saying he knows that the wreath deliveries are real, and he is probably behind them.

Beauregard Time is money, gentleman. Not that you understand that concept. But instead of painting a ceremony you know nothing about as tragic and scary— perhaps it’s not. Perhaps it’s something more than that, entirely. In any case, it’s not something that should be spoken about in public. [phone pings] Ahhh… I’ll be going now, “gentlemen.” And while I do use that word lightly, perhaps take a break from your radio program and… check your door.

Ben Isss that a threat?

Beauregard Trick-or-Treat, Samuel… Benjamin. [click]

[dial tone]

Sammy I wonder what he sounds like when he has something nice to say to people.

Ben He probably hasn’t said anything nice to a person since the 60s… The 1860s.

Sammy Ya know, I didn’t mean to ruffle anyone’s feathers tonight. Especially crazy old billionaires who try to drive us off the air— so let’s just—

Ben I’M GONNA GO CHECK THE DOOR.

Sammy What?!

Ben Yeah. [chair sliding out] I’m sorry, man. Beauregard gives me the willies [squeak] and I wanna make sure there isn’t—

Sammy A sugar-glider on a noose?

Ben Too far. I was just gonna say— that he hasn’t had Pete ding-dong-ditch us- or something.

Sammy And here I thought the Williams boys had that market cornered.

Ben I’ll be back in a sec. [footsteps rushing off]

Sammy [shouting after him] Don’t talk about Pete that way, Ben! He’s never gonna listen to the show again! Alright, folks. We are just a few hot minutes away from Eli Goldblum coming into the studio to talk about, [ominous bg music starts] uh… I’m guessing- ghosts with lingering mental issues? Ah, sorry— apparitions. [footsteps rushing back] I’m holding out hope for an apparition with multiple personality disorder, but I don’t know if that’s a thing or not… [chair squeak, Ben sitting] Ben? You okay, buddy?

Ben [upset] How many times, did I ask you to stop talking about the stupid, hearse, Sammy?

Sammy What’s wrong?

Ben [sarcastic] Oh, nothing. You wanna go outside and take a look?

Sammy You know, I don’t think I want to. I’m happy with you filling me in.

Ben Well, I didn’t go outside, Sammy! I didn’t have to. I looked out the front window.

[ominous bg music getting louder]

Sammy Yeah? And?

Ben [hissed] damnit

Sammy … Ben. What is going on? Do we need to call Troy?

Ben The whole parking lot- your car, MY car— as far as the lights will let me see— Nothing but white roses, man.

Sammy … Are you serious?

Ben Go look!! Just don’t go out there, huh? It looked like it was snowing, that’s how many of those damn things are out there.

Sammy [scrambling for optimism] What’s the chances that it’s just a non-Halloween bouquet from Emily to you?

Ben ZERO. Zero percent chance, Sammy.

Sammy [seriously] Folks, we’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors.

[KFAM outro]

[CREDITS]

References

[1] Blaxploitation - Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The films, while popular, suffered backlash for disproportionate numbers of stereotypical film characters showing bad or questionable motives, including roles as criminals.

[2] #RedrumRoses - Redrum is from the psychological horror film The Shining. It’s “murder” spelled backward.

[3] “ACME rocket kits and trying to catch a damn bird” - I sincerely hope no one will ever be too young for this reference, but I once had my little brothers ask who Mr. Rogers was so: this is a reference to the Looney Toons cartoons, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. In each episode, Coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and eat the Road Runner, a fast-running ground bird, but is never successful. In order to catch the Road Runner, Coyote uses absurdly complex contraptions- most acquired from the mail-order company ACME- to try to catch his prey, which all backfire comically with Coyote often getting injured in slapstick fashion.

#king falls am #king falls #kfam #sammy stevens #Ben Arnold #kfam transcripts #kfam ep12 #pete myers #herschel baumgartner #hfb3

9 notes · View notes

parkersvibes · 5 years ago

Text

finding out peter is spiderman

read part one here

a/n: omg guys. i got so much feedback from you all on part one so i decided to make a part 2. and yeahh i really hope you guys enjoy. if you do lmk and i’ll do a part 3 (:

(i also apologize if the read more doesnt work )))): )

warnings: fluff, a smidge on angst

pt 2. peter parker x stark!reader

• figuring out he was spiderman

• alright you’re a stark

• but no one knows that

• but you’re really intuitive

• so there were little things you started to notice

• after uncle ben died there was some weird shit (if you want a part ab comforting peter ab uncle ben lemme know. he deserves his own part)

• like how he stopped wearing his adorable glasses

•and i guess started almost bulking up????

• he got WAY taller

• and usually you’re used to seeing him shirtless but this one time you walked in on him

• holy mother of god

• IT WAS LIKE HE GREW ABS OVER NIGHT

• BECAUSE FRESHMAN PETE DID NOT HAVE A 6 PACK

• freshman peter also got winded walking up the stairs

• AND NOW HE’S RUNNING LAPS IN GYM LIKE ITS NOTHING ??

• must be nice

• but then things got more sus

• all of a sudden he was skipping class more

• leaving early

• cancelling study sessions and skipping movie nights with ned

• and you and ned were clueless

• you and ned started hanging out more

• MR. LEEDS IS HILARIOUS LEMME TELL YOU

• he was like this little ball of happiness

• you found out his real name is Edward

• HOW CUTE

• and WOW HIS MOM BEING FILIPINA MEANT THAT YOU WERE BEING FED ALL THE TIME OH MY GOD

• ngl pete got a bit jealous

• one night,,, when pete cancelled YET AGAIN

• ned asked you, “hey y/n?”

• “hm”

• “why don’t we ever hang out at your place”

• “i told you ned, my family is just a lot yanno. plus your family and may are really cool”

• “okay but how come you don’t have any social media under your name?”

• “wdym?”

• “like you go by ‘y/n Smith’ but everything that pops up on the internet isn’t YOU”

• “pfff i told you,,, i dont believe in that stuff”

• “y/n, you know you can tell me anything”

• you wanted to be honest. this was one of your best friends. and you’ve been lying to them about your family for over a year now

• “ned i just. it’s complicated”

• “like peter’s family?”

• “nonono, i’m lucky to have both of my parents- well i have a step mom. my real mom wanted nothing to do with me. so she left me on the steps of my dads house. never came back”

• “oh shit bro, i’m sorry”

• “nah don’t worry. my dad is really cool and my step mom... she’s awesome.”

• “what’re their names”

• NATASHA WAS GONNA KILL YOU IF SHE COULD SEE HOW BAD YOU WERE STRUGGLING

• “well- uh- my step moms name is,,, um. well her real name is Virginia”

• THE WORLD KNEW PEPPER AS PEPPER NOT VIRGINIA

• “and my- my dads name is ehm... st, steve???”

• natasha was gonna have your ass

• “y/n,,,”

• “yeah”

• “you’re a horrible liar”

• “PFFF WHAAAT? NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT”

• “dude you left your spiderman fan tumblr open on my laptop that one night,,, and i MAY have done some snooping”

• okay you mightve had a slight obsession with the webslinger. HE WAS COOL. and what better way to keep track of him without alerting your family,,, good ol tumblr

• oh god ned, HOW MUCH SNOOPING”

• “enough to know that you have a weird obsession with that spider guy and that your last name isnt smith”

• so you told him the truth. you were a stark

• and well,,, he reacted with

• “okay cmon,,, don’t lie”

• so you showed him your late night dance parties with Nat when she was feeling goofy

• and your random snaps of steve when he was trying to figure out how to work technology

• videos of you reacting to vines with bucky

(if yall wanna see domestic life with the avengers just lmk)

• which usually results with THE WINTER SOLDIER ALMOST PEEING HIS PANTS. and trying to reenact it with sam or the other avengers

• “heyheyehy y/n guess what?”

• “what bucky?” *is in the middle of doing hw*

• “FRESHOVACADO” *bolts out of the room before you throw something at him*

• only the two of you getting vine and meme references

• (meaning getting in trouble during meetings bc you’ll make eye contact and start laughing)

• OH HIS FAVORITE IS THE “country boiiii, i love you,,, 😛”

• anywaayyy

• ned was SHOOK

• “nowayohmygodyoureanavenger”

• “no ned,,, only when they need me to be”

• *led to him asking 100000 questions*

• “does Mr. America smell like old man”

• “what language does Ms. Widow think in”

• “how many shirts does Mr. Hulk own”

• “so do they wear normal clothes or are they always PREPARED”

• “does your dad have to walk a weird way when hes in his suit”

• “do they ever chafe in their suits”

• “yes ned. we’re stocked up on baby powder”

• which you didnt mind bc it felt nice telling the truth

• ned WANTED TO TELL PETER SO BAD

• “ned no, i don’t want him to think of me differently”

• he understood. but still defended peter and said that hed still treat you the same

• anyway,,, peter started showing up with bruises and stuff which had you v concerned

• “pete what’s up? you’ve been avoiding ned and i and you have skipped out on every movie night since sophomore year started”

• “t’s nothing. dont worry ab it”

• “peter cmon, it’s just me”

• you figured maybe it had to do with ben??? but you gave him his space. you just wanted to be there for him yanno. you didnt want him to shut you out

• “Y/N I SAID ITS NOTHING. FOR FUCKS SAKE CAN YOU LEAVE ME ALONE???” he snapped (and not in the good way)

• and this was on your way to class so the whole hallway heard

• ouch

• so you left him alone. probably more than he meant. but it hurt

• i mean he was your first friend here, and now he yelled at you to leave you alone

• ned felt awful at first. trying to comfort you and tell you it wasnt your fault

• but then he started acting weird. whenever you brought up peter hed be super antsy about it

• you- “i think he got into another fight or something”

• ned- “pFFT PETER? FIGHTING? no way,,, i got-i gotta go”

• so you figured that whatever peter was hiding, ned knew about,, which also hurt your feelings

• so you closed off

• and wow could the super family tell something was wrong

• wanda- “little stark, i can feel your sadness all the way to my room”

• sam/bucky/rhodes- “okay what’s the deal, we’ve played 5 rounds of fortnite and you havent once rage quit even though you’re doing terrible”

• tony- “kid, what’s wrong? everyone here can tell you’re not feeling great”

• nat- “cmon. ive given you 3 opportunities to kick my ass and you havent once complained about me going easy?”

• thor- “lady y/n what is causing you distress? not once have you smiled, i even wore my hair in pigtails,,, and that seems to always do the trick”

• and you gave the same response every time “‘m just tired” “lots of homework”

• they noticed you werent going out on weekends anymore

• so tony figured that your friend group and you were having some Stuff

• pep gave him an idea of meeting his new prodigy

• now tony knew it’d be kinda sus because peter went to midtown but he figured that if the kid kept his mask on it’d be fine

• “dad i don’t wanna see another one of your weird maid robots”

• “wha- no i want you to meet someone”

• “dad college isn’t for another 2 years. if it’s your friend from MIT-“

• then right before your eyes was the insect boy that youve been admiring through the internet

• needless to say

• your jaw dripped

• “y/n meet spiderling, spiderling meet my daughter y/n stark”

• *seconds pass*

• “i uh- oH- um- sp-spidERman, h-hi. biG fan of you- your work”

• *silence*

• you- “oH dad diD you hear th-that? moM is calling mE”

• tony- “what?? pep wouldve called on the interco-“

• spiderman- “y/n”

• you- SHOOK TO THE CORE BECAUSE YOU KNEW THAT VOICE. THAT WAS THE VOICE THAT SOUNDED LIKE HONEY BUT COULD CUT YOU DEEPER THAN ANY WEAPON IN YOUR HOUSE

• you- “p-peter???”

• tony- *shocked pikachu face* “you know each other???”

• you- “so-something like that yeah”

• peter takes off his mask

• “ohmygodpeterisspiderman”

• “ohmygodyourlastnameisntsmith”

• tony- “im gonna let you guys figure this out” *walks backward slowly*

*insert silence*

• you- “so this is what you were hiding, huh?” with a cold tone

• “IM HIDING? YOU LIED ABOUT YOUR WHOLE HOME LIFE TO NED AND I”

• *yelling at each other for another minute. even though you couldnt hear what the other is saying*

• you- *yelling loudest “I DIDNT WANT YOU TO SEE ME DIFFERENTLY OKAY”

• peter- “you really thought id do that?” (heartbreaking voice)

• you- “i- once i got to know you, i knew you wouldnt but i was scared. i didn’t know how to tell you. for once in my life i had found someone my age who liked ME for ME. not for my name or money or my dad. and i didn’t want to change that. i’m sorry i didn’t tell you sooner”

• peter- “... i get what you mean. after ben died everyone gave me that look. except you and ned.”

• you- “why didn’t you tell me”

• peter- “everyone i love or ever cared about dies. my parents and then my uncle ben. so once i got my abilities i knew that the risk was even higher and i didn’t want to put you in that position. i wanted to keep you safe. but it seems like you know how to handle yourself” (referring to the fact that you grew up with THE EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROS)

• y/n- “so how come ned found out?”

• peter *scratches back of neck* “well- he- i- May let him in my room and i happen to be crawling on the ceiling in my suit and he dropped the death star” *head hangs in shame*

• you had to giggle at that i mean CMON

• you stepped closer to him

• “pete you’re my best friend. you can tell me anything okay?”

• “no more secrets?”

• “no more secrets”

• and you both pinky promise and your thumbs “kiss” bc IF THEY ITS THE ULTIMATE UNBREAKABLE VOW DONT @ ME

• peter parker gives you the biggest hug that maKES YOUR HEART JUMP BC PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH A PERSON AS PRETTY AS HIM MAKES YOUR HEART FEEL A CERTAIN WAY

• but you wrapped your arms around his neck and enjoyed the moment

• wow he is really cozy

• * the avengers are watching from the cameras in awe*

• led to MANY questions at dinner

• and so everything went back to “normal”

• it wasn’t until you went to bed that night that you realized peter said the L word

• WHAT

• so much for no secrets

taglist: @silver-winter-wolf @emmmmszy @everythingaboutnothingsstuff @rexorangecouny @wishiwasanavenger @marjoherbo @nologinisoksothatsit @mindset-jupiter @hpnjrph @soup238

some favs/mutrals: @h-osterfield @starksparker @stuckonspidey @sunshinehollandd @keepingupwiththeparkers @hey-marlie @spyder-bites

267 notes · View notes

freddiesaysalright · 5 years ago

Text

Dancing With Ben Week 10

A Ben Hardy x Reader Fic Dedication Dance - Waltz

Summary: Reader is one of the pro dancers on Dancing With the Stars. It’s her second season on the show, and this time, her partner is none other than Ben Hardy. Will they win the Mirror Ball? Maybe they’ll win something even more meaningful!

Word Count: 3.8K

Tag List: @psychosupernatural, @someone-get-a-medic, @twigleektribute23, @ionlyhavepicturesofflowers, @asquiresofftime, @caborhapch, @iwasnothingbutacityboy, @a-kind-of-magik, @anxious-diabetic, @royalblueviper, @toms-irish-girl, @doingalrightt, @borhapqueen92, @angiefangirlworld-2, @ziggymay, @pink-lemo, @riddikuluslypotter, @wearewiththebands, @i-was-born-like-this, @prince-lucifer-v, @mariekuuuuuh, @teenwolflover28, @minigranger, @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls, @theprettyfandom, @sam-mercurry-sixx, @reddies-stanlon, @irlkell, @deakyismydad, @kimmietea, @lelifesaver, @simmisblog, @crazylittlethingcalledobsession, @kyleetheeditor If you want to be added, let me know!

A/N: This gets sappy as fuck, y’all. Enjoy!

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9

Week 10 here we go!!!

You woke to the harsh sound of your phone ringing, only much earlier than the time your alarm usually sounded. Bleary eyed, you snatched it up and looked at the screen. Ben stirred beside your and cracked an eye open.

“Who is it?” he asked groggily.

“My dad,” you said, brow furrowing as you swiped to pick up. “Hey, Dad.”

“Hi, sweetheart,” he said brightly. “Glad you’re up. Wanna come over today? I haven’t seen you in a while and I miss my little girl.” You could hear him slurring his words.

“Dad, it’s four in the morning,” you told him. “Are you just getting home?”

“Yeah, I left the bar a couple minutes ago,” he said with a sloppy chuckle. “So how about coming over?”

“I have rehearsal today,” you said, sighing. “I’m in the middle of a season of the show.”

“Just for breakfast,” he insisted. “Hell, bring your partner if you want.”

The color drained from your face. “How did you know he was here?”

He barked out a laugh and you heard his tires screech as he parked. “I didn’t! But I do now! He your boyfriend?”

“Yep,” you said shortly, embarrassed.

“Even better!” he said. “I’d love to meet him!”

“I’ll invite him,” you said. “What time?”

“Y’all can sleep a little longer,” he told you. “How about around ten? I probably need to sleep some myself. Ha!”

“Sure thing, Dad,” you said. “See you then.”

“Bye, honey!”

With a soft beep, the call ended. You rolled over and looked at Ben.

“You are absolutely allowed to say no to this, but would you want to go to rehearsal late so we can have breakfast with my dad?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

You nodded. “He’s a bit eccentric, but he’s friendly. I know it’s kinda soon, but -” He cut you off with a kiss.

“I’d love to,” he said.

You went back to sleep for a couple hours before getting up and getting ready to go to your dad’s house. He still lived in the house you grew up in, south of LA, in Costa Mesa. It was why you took Ben to Newport Beach that day after Clark kissed you. You’d grown up escaping to that beach whenever things were difficult. It was your solace.

You drove out there, pulling onto the curb. You frowned when you saw your dad’s car was not in the driveway where he usually parked it.

“That’s weird,” you said.

“What?” Ben wondered.

“His car isn’t here,” you said. “But I definitely thought I heard him park while we were on the phone.”

“Do you have a key?” he asked. “Maybe he parked it in the garage.”

“Yeah, let’s go in,” you said.

You walked up across the lawn, unlocked the door, and went inside, Ben close behind. You looked around the living room and saw no sign of your dad. You walked into the kitchen, but he wasn’t there either. When you looked out into the garage, his car was also not there.

“I’m gonna check upstairs, just to be sure he’s not here,” you said.

Ben nodded and followed you up. You poked your head into your dad’s bedroom, but it was empty. The duvet was rumpled and the pillows were squished. It was also warm, so he had at least been home.

“I wonder where he could have gone,” you said, joining Ben in what was once your bedroom.

He was looking around in amazement. You had moved out at eighteen to pursue dance in earnest in Los Angeles. Your dad still had your room exactly the way you left it. The walls were a soft yellow, and the furniture was old and tan. Your bed had pale green comforter and lots of pillows. Pictures of you and your friends hung sporadically around the walls, alongside posters and little art pieces you thought were cool.

“A Queen poster,” Ben said. “I like that.”

“I have several,” you told him, pointing them out. “At one point in middle school, I printed pictures of Roger Taylor off the internet and made a collage.”

“Where is it?” Ben wondered with an excited smile on his face.

“The ceiling,” you said, pointing above your bed, laughing a little as he hopped on the bed to gaze properly at it. “I don’t know why I didn’t take it down. It’s so stupid.”

“I love it,” he said with a teasing grin. “You really were that big of a Queen fan?”

“My dad actually got me into them,” you told him. “My parents met at Queen concert and were big fans.”

“Very cool,” he said. “So does your mum not live here anymore?”

“My mom passed actually,” you replied. “She was killed in a car accident when I was ten.”

His eyes went wide. “Oh - I - I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” you assured him. “But the reason I love Queen’s music so much is because it makes me feel connected to her. It got me through losing her and missing her. It still does.”

“Wow,” he breathed. “That’s...really special.”

“Yeah…” you said with a small smile. “She never understood why I was a Roger girl, though. She was all about some John Deacon.”

He chuckled. “Did she put him on the ceiling?”

You laughed. “Nah, she didn’t have quite my level of dedication.”

He started to answer, but then you got a text from your dad. It said “go outside.” You told Ben and then headed back down the stairs and out the front door.

Then you heard it. Your father’s car barrelling down the street and an impossible speed for such an old piece of machinery. Then the sirens. Ben shot you a worried glance.

“Oh, God,” you sighed.

All you could do was watch as your dad came hurtling past the house. He honked and waved at you excitedly as he passed in a flash. The wailing police car came not far behind, whizzing by just as quickly in pursuit of your father. Ben gaped at you.

“Was that -”

“Yes.”

You turned around and went back inside, heading for the garage so you could open the door by the time your dad looped back around. You pressed the button and just in the nick of time. The door rose as your father whipped into the driveway, coming to a screeching halt in the garage as you closed the door behind him. He cut the engine, grabbed what appeared to be grocery bags from the front seat, and stepped out of the car.

“Hi, sweetheart!” he greeted warmly.

You smiled at him and walked over to take the bags. “Hi, Dad. Where have you been?”

“Grocery store,” he said as if it were obvious. “I invited you over for breakfast, passed out, and when I woke up again, I realized I didn’t have anything to feed you.”

“And why were you being chased by police?” you asked.

“Ran a red light,” he said with a shrug. “Not that big of a deal, but you know what I always say. Outrun ‘em if you can.”

You sighed, shaking your head as you took the eggs out of the bag to check them.

“Wow,” you said, impressed. “You didn’t crack one.”

“Years of practice,” he said smugly. “Who’s your pretty friend?”

“Oh, sorry!” you gasped. “Dad, this is Ben, my boyfriend.”

You father extended his hand, and Ben shook it, looking friendly but a little bewildered.

“Nice to meet you, Ben,” you father said. “I’m Eddie Y/L/N.”

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Y/L/N,” Ben returned.

Your dad waved that off. “Just call me Eddie, son, I don’t need all that. Well, y’all come inside and let me get a good look at you.”

Ben moved to take the bags from you and you both followed Eddie into the kitchen. He immediately started pulling out pans from the cabinet. In the sautee pan, he spotted his glasses.

“There those fuckers are!” he cried, putting them on.

“You drove without your glasses?” you questioned.

“Why do you think I didn’t see the red light?” he returned.

Ben placed the groceries on the counter and Eddie thanked him. You observed, and saw that your father was still a little shaky.

“Dad, why don’t I cook?” you suggested. “You take a seat.”

“Alright, sweetheart, go ahead,” he agreed, plopping down into a chair at the table.

“How can I help?” Ben wondered.

“Can you just start some coffee?” you asked.

He nodded and began brewing. You popped some bread in the toaster before you got the eggs and bacon out of their packages. While you and Ben worked, Eddie watched you. It was a rather domestic little scene there, and he liked the way Ben looked at you. When the coffee was done, Ben poured some into three mugs.

“How do you take your coffee, Eddie?” he asked.

“Black, thank you,” Eddie said.

Ben brought the cup over and set it in front of your father. Then took a seat beside him.

“C’mere, Ben, lemme look in your eyes,” Eddie said.

Ben smiled and obliged. He leaned forward, and Eddie put his hands on either side of Ben’s face. They held each other’s gaze for a solid thirty seconds before Eddie released him.

“You’ve got a good soul,” he said.

“Thank you,” Ben replied.

“Yeah, it’s a shame you’re not better looking.”

You snorted. Ben laughed heartily.

“That really is too bad,” Ben said. “But at least Y/N likes me.”

Eddie chuckled. “So, tell me about yourself, Ben. What do you do?”

“I’m an actor,” Ben told him.

“Oh, what would I have seen you in?”

“He was in Bohemian Rhapsody, Dad,” you interjected, bringing them plates and setting them in front of them. Ben thanked you softly. “Remember when I took you to see that?”

Eddie’s eyes went wide. “Whaaaat?! Oh, yeah, I see now. You look pretty different without the wig, but you played Roger Taylor, didn’t you?”

Ben nodded. “I did, yeah. Had the time of my life.”

“I bet,” Eddie said, taking a bite of his eggs. “I loved that movie. It really brought me back. They were just incredible.”

“Y/N tells me you met her mother at one of their shows,” Ben said.

“I did,” Eddie said, solemnly. “That was the best day of my life. Until Y/N was born, of course.”

You smiled at him.

“There’s a picture from that day up on the mantle, if you wanna look,” he continued.

“Oh, absolutely,” Ben said.

He got up from his seat. You followed him over to the mantle, grabbing the framed photo and allowing him to hold it. He gazed at your parents’ smiling faces in awe.

“She’s beautiful, your mother,” he said. “You look just like her, Y/N.”

“Thank you,” you replied. “Dad always said he never drank after he met her. He wanted to remember each moment.”

“That was true,” Eddie said. “I didn’t even touch a bottle when Kara was alive. Then she went, and...well, things changed.”

Ben replaced the photo and together you returned to the table. He looked at Eddie.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I could have met her.”

“You would have loved her,” Eddie said. “Everybody did. I was the luckiest man in the world because she let me be her husband.”

Ben took your hand and looked at you. “I’m beginning to understand that feeling.”

You could have melted into a puddle.

The three of you spent the rest of breakfast on happier topics. Your dad was especially interested in Ben and what it was like to be an actor. Ben was so sweet and patient. It went better than you had even imagined. You got through breakfast and said warm goodbyes. As you drove back to Hollywood, Ben held your hand.

“I like your dad,” he said.

You giggled. “He likes you too.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “Seriously, thank you for bringing me. I feel like I know you so much better now.”

“You were so good to him,” you returned. “So thank you.”

“Of course.”

When you reached the studio, it was almost noon. You parked and got ready to rehearse, the producers rushing Ben away to do his interview for the video package. They would be telling him about the week’s theme since it was a little different.

Ben sat back in the leather chair while the producers set up the sound and cameras. They put a mic on him and he waited patiently until they finally started.

“So, this week is dedication week,” Kelly explained. “Who would you like to dedicate your dance to? It can be a parent or a mentor or anyone you feel has had an impact on you.”

Ben considered this. His head swam with everything you had done for him, beyond teaching him to dance. You had become his friend. You pushed him to be a better person. You made him laugh a lot. And you loved him so sweetly. He could think of no one more deserving of a dedication dance.

“Y/N,” he said quietly.

Kelly’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“I want to dedicate my dance to Y/N,” he told her.

“Why Y/N?” she asked gently.

“Because...I love her.”

“You love her?”

He nodded. Tears pricked his eyes as his heart swelled with just how much. He took a deep breath and tried to blink them back.

“Where is this emotion coming from?” Kelly asked.

“I just…” he trailed off and released a half sigh half laugh. “I don’t even know how to describe her. She means a great deal to me. I want to dance with her forever.”

“Can you tell us more?”

“I don’t know,” he answered with a chuckle, wiping his face. “I’m turning into a mess just thinking about her.”

“Try.”

“She’s made me a better man,” he said through a sniffle. “If I can give her a dance in her honor...it’s not much, but it’s something to show her how much I appreciate it.”

Meanwhile, you were on the floor of the studio, sketching out some ideas for the routine. You wanted to know who he was dedicating his dance to before you got too far into it, but you had some things in mind already.

The door pushed open and you beamed at Ben as he walked in. With a sweet “hello” you got to your feet. You cocked your head in confusion when you saw his eyes were watery. You guessed he had gotten emotional talking about his dedication. You wondered who it must be. Ben didn’t say anything yet. He just grabbed you by the shoulders and pulled you into a hug so tight the breath left your lungs.

“What’s the matter?” you asked.

He eased his grip on you so you could inhale, but he did not release you.

“Just need to hold you for a bit,” he muttered.

“Okay,” you returned, rubbing his back.

You stood there in his arms for what felt like hours. When you broke apart, he smiled at you.

“So, who are you dedicating this dance to?” you asked.

“You,” he said.

Your heart nearly stopped and you blinked. “Wh...me?!”

“Yeah.”

“Ben...I don’t even know what to say,” you said. “I’m touched and honored and just - wow, thank you so much!”

You hugged him again. It felt like your heart twirled in your chest. Just when you thought he couldn’t make you any happier, he did.

“So, what kind of dance have we got?” he asked.

“A waltz,” you told him. “To ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ by Chris Stapleton.”

“That’s perfect,” he said.

You started rehearsal. It seemed that Ben had his groove back, as he took to the waltz like a pro. It was just the basics, but it turned out you only really needed the afternoon for him to get them down. He had a great frame and his footwork was light without bouncing. You were impressed with him.

Over the next few days of rehearsal, as you put your routine together, it started to seep into you how much it meant that Ben was dedicating his dance to you. Most people chose someone with more significance - a parent, child, or teacher. Ben had so many important people in his life. Out of all of them, he chose you. You were struggling to find the words to thank him.

You were really locking everything in the day before dress rehearsal. There was one part of the dance that you both loved and hated. Ben had his hands on either side of your head, caressing you gently as you stepped through the dance. You rolled your head as you went. But the way Ben looked at you through this portion always made you ache for his kiss. His intense, focused eyes, with so much love for you burning behind them made it hard to breathe.

“Perfect,” you breathed as you ran through it.

Ben came to a stop. “What?”

He was still holding your face, looking at you.

“You’re perfect,” you repeated so he could hear.

“Well, I think there’s a few steps I could make better,” he said.

You smiled and shook your head, taking his hands in yours.

“Not the dance,” you said. “You.”

His cheeks went pink. Then he leaned in to kiss your forehead.

“I’m far from perfect, love,” he said.

“You’re perfect for me,” you whispered.

You fell into an embrace. Holding each other tenderly before agreeing to get some water.

When it was time for dress rehearsal and camera blocking, you were feeling great about the dance. You were still completely in shock that Ben was dedicating his to you. It was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for you.

You came over to where Ben was getting fitted for his shirt, and he was frowning as he spoke to Alex in wardrobe. They were clearly disagreeing about something.

“What’s going on?” you wondered.

“Ben doesn’t approve of his outfit,” she said, rolling her eyes.

You looked at Ben expectantly.

“They don’t want me to button the shirt,” he said, exasperated.

“Why can’t he just button his shirt?” you asked. “I told you weeks ago, we’re not exploiting him. If he’s not comfortable, we need to change it.”

Alex groaned. “The audience would -”

“The audience can suck it up,” you said firmly. “This isn’t Magic Mike. Can you just let him be comfortable?”

She glowered at you. “Fine. Button up the shirt.”

“Thank you,” you said irritably. You looked at Ben and smiled. “Anything else?”

“You look beautiful,” he said with a smirk.

You had a pink, flowy gown with a wide slit. The fitted, glittery bodice had a plunging neckline. It was sexy and sweet. You beamed at him.

“Thank you,” you replied.

By the time you and Ben were up to run through camera blocking, Ben had his shirt buttoned and had gotten a vest. He looked ridiculously handsome. The dance went perfectly and you were ready for showtime.

When the show came, you and Ben were going third. Now that the numbers were dwindled, that was toward the end. You were honestly so excited for this dance. You wanted to redeem yourself after last week.

As the video package played and you watched Ben’s interview, you gasped at his emotion. The audience collectively “awww”ed. You felt him squeeze your shoulders from where he stood behind you.

“I love you,” he whispered in your ear.

“I love you more,” you returned.

Before anything else could be said, it was time to dance.

youtube

The dance was perfect. It was another moment where it felt like you and Ben alone in the ballroom. Many dancers had a “ballroom smile” which was the fake smile they wore while dancing. Your smile was absolutely genuine. Every twirl, turn, step, and lift made you happier than you ever thought you could be. Because you were with Ben.

When you finished in your dip, you held Ben for a moment before he help you upright. The ballroom erupted into applause as you joined Tom to receive your feedback from the judges.

Carrie Ann had to dab at her eyes with a kleenex before she spoke.

“Sorry,” she choked out. “That was just so beautiful. You had me going with the video package and then you did that dance, and it was stunning. Technique wise and emotion wise, you told a wonderful story. It was honestly really romantic. Probably one of the most romantic routines I’ve ever seen on this show. We really felt what you feel for Y/N. Excellent work, Ben.”

“Thank you,” he said bashfully.

“Ben, that waltz was absolutely fantastic,” Len began. “You had great frame, you led your partner, and your footwork was incredible. Not only that, but you touched our hearts with it. I can confidently say that you are a dancer. A real dancer. Well done.”

Ben nodded and put his arm around you.

“That was exquisite,” Bruno began with uncharacteristic calm. “It was so romantic and sweet - like you were making love to her. And these two are right, your technique was flawless. We were all very moved by it, and that you dedicated it to her. You are an amazingly talented young man.”

Again Ben thanked them and you went to the skybox to get your scores and talk to Erin.

“That was beautiful,” she said as you approached. “I’m gonna need a kleenex too!”

“Thank you,” you said with a smile.

“You two are so cute,” she continued. “I think everyone just wants to know what’s going on between you?”

She held out the mic for either of you to answer. You and Ben exchanged a glance.

“We care about each other,” you said. “Very deeply. There’s not much else to it, honestly.”

Erin laughed. “Well, it’s vague, but we need to get your scores now.”

All three scored you a ten. You and Ben shared an excited hug and then waited for the elimination time. When it came, you stood on the stage, shaking with nerves. If you made it, you and Ben would go to the semi-finals. He held your hand tightly.

“The first couple that is safe and will dance in the semi-finals is…” Tom said. He waited a long moment. You held your breath. “Ben and Y/N!”

You screamed, jumping up and hugging Ben around the neck. He picked you up and spun you around. You were almost there. So close to the mirror ball. But that was also one step closer to the journey ending, and you still had no idea what that meant for you and Ben.

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy x you #bohemian rhapsody #BoRhap #BoRhap cast #borhap boys #borhap imagine #bohemian rhapsody imagine #borhap boys imagine #borhap cast imagine #Queen #queen imagine #roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x reader #roger taylor x you #dancing with ben series

195 notes · View notes

thetimelordbatgirl · 5 years ago

Text

Random scattered thoughts about D3 under the cut

*The fact that everyone has basically abandoned Audrey though......where goodness doesn't get better? More like 'we'll abandon you once your dumped by our king and also rub it in your face that you couldn't hold a prince like your mother could'- also Audrey knows about the love spell and WHY Mal did it, but if that's the, case then everyone knows and still doesn't care that Mal did that- like the one person with brain cells is Audrey and shes the villain of this movie.

*Queen of Mean is a bop though- its one of the only valid songs in this movie, but also with the evil laughter almost that could be heard BEFORE Audrey puts on the crown, it makes me wonder if they planned to have Audrey be possessed after all.

*One Kiss is literally just gay panic the song, no I don't take arguments its literally Evie in gay panic mode and its Disney having to do that one heterosexual song to remind us that no, only heterosexual couples are valid in this universe- also despite dating for three years, Evie struggles to tell Doug she loves him and even doesn't believe her true loves kiss wont work???? WOW- can we say, clearly goals to have a relationship where bae stalks you originally and you struggle to tell him you love him after three years of dating and after sharing a cottage with him?

*Night Falls is a cool song, but I love how as soon as Uma tries to lead, Mal gets bitchy and acts like she can lead a sword fight better then a pirate captain could- like, mal chill, your not queen yet.

*Mal as Hades daughter.......lemme just uh, stress that's the worst twist in history, literally over-powers Mal once more with now god blood- and Do What You Gotta Do is literally daddy issues the song, and despite having the same parenting as Maleficent with how he neglected Mal basically, Hades is somehow the better parent?? HOW?! Also its never showed how Mal learnt this information.....did Disney forget to write that in or- and of course, Mal must be the only VK of the core four with a good parent- cause of course, Mal must have everything as always.

*Audrey singing Happy Birthday while cursing the party and singing 'dear jane' while smiling evilly......can we just uh say, she at least got down with the aesthetic of being a villain?

*Oh yeah, speaking of villains- despite being promoted as villains, Hades does nothing basically besides drain Mal of her magic and all 'evil' scenes from trailer is just him doing random shit or good shit, while Uma is more of a anti-hero while Celia is kinda just there doing scamming and such- Audrey was the only accurate villain to promotion and even then she only got one trailer.

*My Once Upon A Time is literally Pity Me the song and Mal even sings at the end about reaching greatness and such- Jay, Evie, Carlos and Ben got stonned for this shit.

*Also yes, they literally stonned Ben, Carlos, Jay and Evie cause only Mal can take part in final fight.

*ALSO- MAL LIED- like, girl literally lied to her friends about the isle barrier and didn't tell them she was going to seal it up, and when confronted about it, she acts like she had no choice when she MADE the decision on her own and then after friends get stonned, she goes into pity song mode and doesn't suffer much consequences for the lie afterwards.

*Audrey saying to Mal though about the love spell and how its a touching story for the grandkids.......grandkids in the future felt that burn.

*Mal is cursed into a old hag and Ben into a beast......except Mals curse wears off under the barrier while Bens is soon enough fixed by Jane blasting enchanted lake at him- just......cant have true love fix curses like they do in the movies, nah, that means our couple being true love.

*Audrey nearly fucking dies- thanks plot for nearly killing the WOC princess.

*"Mal came through"- yeah, after planning to seal up the barrier and abandon every kid on the isle basically- but its okay they didn't know so its okay, TIME TO CELEBRATE MAL AGAIN-

*Lady Tremaine's character is fucking weird- in descendants 2 they say shes not a good grandma, but here she is?! Can Disney make up their mind on how the characters are written?!

*Celia and her relationship with her father though is precious, y'all can fight me on it.

*Mal literally saying she has to be queen of the isle as well- one, excuse you that's Uma's title and two, the isle IS apart of Auradon and is a PRISON, then again, descendants 2 forgot this detail when trying to act like being from a place where VKs are abused by their parents is something you cant ignore so why am I not surprised Descendants 3 is continuing that trend.

*Mal is drained of her magic but this isn't even explored cause she gets it back when Hades gives her the ember- so guess we cant even see Mal be forced to fight a battle without magic.

*Also Hades gives Mal the ember at the end for good- BUT WHAT WILL SHE DO WITH IT?! Its probably gonna go in the museum lol- so he basically lost his weapon as well.

*The Smee twins are also precious, and the fact that Smee cares about them is adorable- plus Smee is kinda accurate in design so.

*Jay being a big brother to all....precious- but also hes clearly gay for Gil sorry don't make the rules.

*Carlos and Jane must be protected from the plot.

*Evie's plot is good as well, but her whole 'struggling to say I love you to doug' is still bullshit plot.

*Doug is as boring as ever- next.

*Uma is a queen as always- her boys were so happy to see her again and she looked so happy to see them as well, let alone seeing the sun finally when the barrier fell at the end.

*Which brings me to uh, the ending.....THEY TORE DOWN THE BARRIER- like, the entire Isle is free now, not just the VKs but also villains- VILLAINS WHO IN FIRST MOVIE WANTED REVENGE- villains who will likely hurt their kids in Auradon still and villains who will likely not want to play peaceful and happy families- I thought Mal knew how villains worked, but she thinks villains will wanna play good guys? What happened to 'your parents cant reach you here' in film 1? NOW THEY CAN- Jasmine already fucking calling bullshit if Jafar thinks he can roam free.

*Hades at the end.......uggghhhh- Mal as his kid still makes no sense and never will and we get it, protective dad joke- WE GET IT- god, those jokes tire me sometimes.

*Disney really better not be acting like they deserve an award for that Hades and Mal twist- everyone saw it coming, you gave it away with Mal's hair and the teaser trailer- which is also never explained in D3 so lol.

*Disney: *doesn't have Lonnie being mentioned at all* Lonnie: "Am I a joke to you?"

*Chads weak as always- again, next.

*Audrey does get a apology finally but um, it took THREE YEARS to do so! Y'all asked for her revenge! Like, I love Ben but who the fuck says to a pissed off person that's about to curse you and your trying to talk them out of it, "I'll forgive you" like- DUDE NO-

*VK Day is still bullshit and that's just facts- also I love how they like I wish we could take you all- WHY. CANT. YOU?! You have power to take them all of it! But you DONT! In fact, Mal later decides to seal up the barrier at one point meaning she had to abandon the VKs there and even prevent Celia from seeing her dad again! So guess she forgot the VKs and was like 'yeah seal that fucker up cause Hades stole my magic'.

*Mal needing cheering in final fight......yayyy- I didn't need anymore reminders this was a Mal movie.

*Remember when HSM3 at least felt connected to the prior movies? D3 doesn't even FEEL connected- your expected to read books that may not stand a chance at getting mentioned- also had a entire different thing with Mal's dad but Disney erased that despite connecting the books each time they said to read a book before seeing the film- and in D3, a lot of shit just feels separate to the previous two- let alone the major time skip making it harder to connect- with Young Justice, while timeskips happen you still get hints at what happened inbetween those timeskips- but with D3? None is mentioned- so your left with this as the last movie and yeah, its just messy really.

*Well at least Huma won- we got one good ship in this movie at least- too bad its surrounded by a mess.

*Thank fuck there's no more descendants movies after this- sure, its sad and descendants still has a place with me- well with the aspects I like/the characters I like- but at the same time, a fourth descendants would be disrespectful to Cameron Boyce, the only Carlos really and of course, considering how messy D3 was and how Mal centred it became, a fourth movie really is not in the future- its sad I know, but at the same time, at least descendants can live on in fandom.

#disney descendants #descendants #descendants 3 #d3 spoilers #descendants 3 spoilers #descendants spoilers #please be aware its not my overall review #this is just random and not formed properly #but yeah uh i'll take huma celia Audrey and the smee twins and that's it #also carlos parts cause I treasure them really #but everything else is a mess really

68 notes · View notes

hamletandthegang · 5 years ago

Text

France- Part 3

A dark figure walked towards Horatio in the dark underground corridor. The old green-tinted light attached to the ceiling caste a chilling glare onto everything in the tunnel. Horatio jumped, startled, and his back hit the back of the step he was sitting on.

“Hello,” A dark alto voice said. “Who are you?”

“Hi, uh, hi,” Horatio stood up awkwardly and met her gaze. It was sharp, and cut through him. “Where- um- Where did you come from?”

“I’ve been watching you for a few minutes from over there,” she jerked her thumb back where there was a scooping indent in the tunnel, but it had been so dark he hadn’t noticed her there. “Who are you?” She repeated.

“Uh, yeah, sorry, I’m Horatio Gilbert. Who are you?”

She pushed a piece of her bushy black hair out of her face, “I’m Maggie.”

“Cool,” Horatio said, starting to get weirded out about the random person talking to him. “Well, nice meeting you, but I think I’ll-”

“Not many people come down here,” She interrupted. “Not unless they’re hiding from something. What are you hiding from?”

Horatio was taken back by the question. “I dunno. The world, I guess.”

“Huh,” Maggie looked him over scrutinizingly. She finished her scan of him, and said, “Do you have a place to stay? It’s getting late.”

“Uh, not really. I thought I’d probably get a place at a hotel or something.” Horatio knew that was a lie- he had no money on him at all. He’d had nothing but his phone when he woke up that morning.

“Hotels are expensive around here,” Maggie mused, seeming to have read his mind. “I’ve got a little place where me and some friends are staying, if you wanna come stay for the night. There’s an extra bathtub waiting for you.” She sounded like she was joking, but there really was no way of telling.

Horatio knew that he’d typically be appalled at the thought of staying at a random person’s house that he’d never met before, but in that moment, he had nothing. No roof, no food, no money, nothing. And he felt as though he could pass out. Maggie was offering at least a place to stay the night, before he could find somewhere else to go.

Horatio agreed, and Maggie led him up to the street. She walked quickly, and since there was more light due to the streetlamps and shop lights, Horatio was able to get a better look at her. She was wearing black ripped up jeans, and a black leather jacket. She had on chunky tennis shoes, and had a small bag slung on her back. She had a dark complexion, with curly black hair that circled her head like a crown. She also had a silver nose piercing of a silver spike, and long glossy nails.

Horatio was still wearing the uniform that Laertes had given him back at the base. Somewhere along the way, he had lost his helmet. But he didn’t really care. He just hoped that Maggie didn’t know he was the reason the fire in Notre Dame was raging. Maybe she knew, and that was why she was taking him to her place. Maybe she would turn him in and he’d be dead.

Maybe he deserved that. Maybe he should be.

He tried to stop thinking about that. This was his only hope of having a roof over his head. He had to take it.

After a few minutes of walking, Maggie stopped and turned to look at Horatio. She was standing in front of a fancier hotel, and motioning toward the alley that led down the side of the building. Horatio pushed the red flags away and followed her. She hefted a large dumpster out of the way, behind which a ragged tarp was hiding a short door. Maggie held the tarp up over Horatio as he went inside, and she followed after. He stood up and looked around.

Horatio was standing in a compact room with shelves lining the room. The shelves were packed with cardboard boxes, and in the center of the room, a card table and a few foldable chairs stood. A woman with dark skin and pink braids was sitting in one of the chairs on her phone. As she turned towards him, he realized with a shock that he recognized her. She was the leader of the acting troupe, the one who had attacked Hamlet! Then it hit him. Were the rest of the rebels here too? Then who was Maggie?

For the time being, Horatio was forced to pretend that he didn’t know the acting troupe leader. There were two doors, one he assumed led out to the hotel, and the second was sitting open, exposing the disgusting bathroom inside. The door to the bathroom had a considerable chunk hanging out of the wood. It looked kind of like a gunshot. Horatio peered inside, where a sink, toilet, shower curtain (he assumed that behind that was the tub he’d been promised to sleep in), and dirty rug, all bathed in a sickly greenish orange light. Both the tile on the floor and the mirror had multiple cracks and hunks taken out of them. Maybe he should have slept in the tunnel instead.

“The bathtub’s in there,” Maggie grunted, noticing Horatio’s appalled stare.

“Right,” Horatio made for the door, but the leader of the troupe (Monica, he remembered), jumped up suddenly.

“Oh, sorry, lemme grab some stuff out of there.” She quickly closed the bathroom door and shuffled around. Horatio couldn’t exactly see through the hole in the door, but she seemed like she was taking a bunch of large objects from the tub. She opened the door, and Horatio stepped back to see that she was holding many large guns, pistols, and rifles. She was holding a small revolver in her teeth that she couldn’t hold.

Monica dumped the weapons in an empty box in the corner, and Horatio glanced at Maggie with wide eyes.

“Well did you wanna sleep on them?” She asked sarcastically. “In the morning we can reevaluate and probably set you up with some food or something, but for right now that’s all we got.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Horatio made for the door once again, but Maggie stopped him and threw a lumpy pillow at his head.

“Head’s up.” Horatio caught it and closed the bathroom door behind him. He took a breath and let it out slowly. At least he was alive.

Horatio spread out a little bit, placed the pillow in the bathtub, and sat down in it. Scrolling on his phone, he realized that Hamlet had texted him and he hadn’t felt it buzz.

Where in Paris are you?

He quickly typed out, Staying the night in the backroom of a hotel. I think I might’ve gotten picked up by the rebels.

Hamlet immediately shot back, Wow, small world. Which hotel? It isn’t La Masquerade by any chance?

Actually yeah, I think that might’ve been the name.

I’ll see you soon, gotta backtrack a bit

Horatio put his phone away, and tried to keep from crying. He was so happy Hamlet was coming. He was going to be with someone who wasn’t going to hurt him. He was so overjoyed, he passed out in the tub.

~~~

Hamlet was walking down the sidewalk, and had been for a few minutes. Far behind him was the train he had taken. And now it was dark, so the streetlamps and glow of the restaurants and shops lit his way.

Hamlet had texted Horatio a while ago before he had gotten off of the train, but he hadn’t responded. He didn’t want to open his phone, for fear of the flood of texts from Ophelia who was no doubt mad he had left without telling her. He silenced his phone. No news was coming in, unless it was from Horatio.

Hamlet sat down on a little green metal bench. He was tired from the sudden trip, and didn’t even know where he was going. He looked up to see a tall hotel called the La Masquerade. The moon was bright and blue tinted, and cast a pleasant light over everything.

After a moment, Hamlet stood up and continued walking aimlessly down the sidewalk.

It was over half an hour before Hamlet’s phone signaled that Horatio had messaged him. He opened it, and saw that he had responded to his text. He was staying in a hotel with the rebels apparently. He asked, and found that it was in fact the La Masquerade, the hotel he had passed a while earlier. He turned around, and started back down the other way, when he saw a newsreel being played on a screen. It was showing the same articles he had seen on the train and before he left, mostly just pictures of Horatio and Claudius and the French ambassadors talking. Then something else flashed onto the screen. FIRE OF NOTRE DAME LESSENED; ONE PERSON FOUND DEAD AND ANOTHER RESCUED. MORE INFO AT TEN. The screen flashed two big pictures of Ben and Marc. Ben was gone.

Hamlet stumbled and sat back down on the bench.

~~~

Horatio was jolted away in the middle of the night by the sound of something hard hitting the floor. He heard a soft scraping sound from the room behind the bathroom door, and then the door that led to the hotel opened. He sat up and peered through the hole in the door, and through the darkness he thought he saw a familiar face.

“...Hamlet?” He whispered, perfectly audible in the quiet room. The head jerked to the side, and the person opened the door to the bathroom. Horatio held his breath as the door swung open.

Hamlet stood in the doorway. His eyes lit up as he saw who it was, and Hamlet rushed to the bathtub, and dropped to his knees. He wrapped Horatio in a hug over the white rim of the tub.

Horatio broke down. He had lived a year in the few days since he had seen Hamlet, and he had been hurt in so many ways. Hamlet allowed him to, and hugged him harder.

“It’s okay,” He whispered. “I’m here.”

Monica and Maggie seemed to still be in the other room, sleeping presumably. So the two of them stayed quiet, and tried to communicate as softly as possible.

After Horatio had collected himself, he told Hamlet the whole story. How he had woken up that morning in terrible pain, and Laertes had given him a uniform and his phone, and driven him to Notre Dame cathedral. He told Hamlet how he had been roped into watching for spies with the other people in Laertes’ team, and how the fire had started. He told him about what Laertes had said, and about meeting Maggie. And he told Hamlet how everything was his fault. The fire was his fault, and he was so, so sorry, and he hoped that Hamlet and the rest of his friends would forgive him someday, and that he understood if Hamlet didn’t want him to be around him anymore, and how-

Horatio stopped spiraling when Hamlet hugged him again.

“I would never do that,” Hamlet said. “I would never push you away. You are the one thing keeping our group together sometimes. We won’t make it without you. Well, I won’t make it without you.”

Horatio and Hamlet stayed in the bathroom, talking until morning.

#hamlet #hamlet modern au #Hamlet & Co. fics #horatio #maggie #oc monica #hehehehehehe #we've been really excited about this chapter #send in ur theories if you feel like it!#france debacle #guys this plot point marks the beginning of all the interesting stuff #i think theres only one more part?#maybe two idk #everything just goes downhill from here #ahhh horatio angst #fun stuff #hatg1

2 notes · View notes