#(anyway it'll be here in two weeks i'm going to be spinning until then)

[hirazuki]

Welp. Anguirel acquired 😔

[comebackwhen]

While I don't have a lot of time to enjoy the fandom the way that I used to, I did finally manage to borrow a PS5 and a copy of Rebirth. Almost 94 hours later I have thoughts and no one to share them with because I'm the only idiot I know IRL who is this deeply invested in this franchise. I kept notes while I was playing and have a lot of thoughts.

I don't expect anyone to actually read any of this, but it'll be fun for me to come back to whenever the next part comes out. If you want to read the ramblings of a fan from the earliest days (For context, I borrowed my brother's copy right after he finished playing it when the game first came out in 97) feel free.

Since I managed to stay spoiler free until I played the game over the last two weeks, I'm still going to pop my thoughts under a break in case there are others out there waiting on a PC port. Beyond here nothing is safe, plot and character-wise.

Holy shit.

I feel like the last two weeks have been kind of a fever dream. It was simultaneously everything I wanted out of the game and also weirdly disappointing in a lot of places.

So, to kick it off, I wasn't mad about the way they were playing around with the whispers and the multiverse-esque concepts. A perfect shot for shot remake would be fine, but as someone who wrote a lot of fanfiction about the game, I can hardly fault the game's creators for wanting to get in on it. lol I would imagine that some of the new content falls into the - would have been in the OG if not for the limitations of the day - category anyway.

I also found it supremely funny that they included a vaguely malevolent entity that was obsessed with keeping the story "on track" and forcing the players to disagree with those entitles via the characters when a significant chunk of those players would be making that their chief complaint when they hit the end of the game. Call em on their bullshit FF7 devs!

As someone who has always been fascinated by Zack, even when he was practically nothing more than a few lines of dialogue and a missable cutscene in the Nibelheim basement, I can't tell you the joy I felt when I saw him live through the final fight. I was down for whatever they wanted to change at that point. I was even excited for it, I think. I find the idea of a time loop or multiverses crossing over kind of fascinating, so I was ready for whatever they wanted to do with it.

So now that you have context for where I stand on that particular side of the argument...

There was so much that rebirth did right. On the whole, I'm so, so impressed with what they did. The world feels so much bigger and some of the details are exquisite. Little things, like the way the news reports things in the background while they're happening and seeing the way Shinra would spin it. Hearing people talking about world events while you walk by - not to mention the sheer amount of people in the world. It really gives weight to some of the events in a way I had never been able to picture.

Though, whoever thought it was a good idea to put so much destroyable/movable clutter in the world was an idiot. JFC. I had to kick coral out of the way on the way to the altar in the Forgotten City and it genuinely annoyed the everloving hell out of me to be distracted by something so dumb in that moment.

I was worried about playing through the Nibelheim flashback for the Nth time but there were so many subtle things that made it interesting. Like, I didn't appreciate the way that Cloud's VA would be able to do that subtle impression of Zack in the way he delivered the lines. If you don't know what's happening there, you'd totally miss it but iykyk. I loved that. There were also subtle, heartbreaking things, like the kids playing Sephiroth when you walk through town. And I cackled when Tifa and Aeris outright call you an asshole for going through her drawers.

Honestly, the amount of casual swearing in this game gave me life. Which is hilarious, because I'm pretty sure Cid didn't curse once. I was really looking forward to hearing him tell us to sit down, shut up, and drink our $#%Y^ tea in full VA glory, so I'm a little sad that we didn't get that.

The choices between what was changed/how it was changed and what wasn't changed at all sometimes seemed a little weird to me. Like falling off the bridge into a river that being what swept the other trooper away, makes way more sense than falling into a ravine as far as why someone could survive it with scraped knees and someone else would end up in a coma. Removing the hidden bookshelf entrance into the Nibelheim labs? Lame. Chocobos at the ranch don't dance? Laaaaame.

I am glad that they finally called out how weird it was that Tifa never said anything about Cloud being there. It's like half the reason I always disliked her character so much. I even liked the conflict between them and the way that Sephiroth kind of turned it into an uno reverse situation. Cloud's eventual descent into madness near the end feels more earned because Sephiroth has been putting the pressure on the whole time.

Some thoughts about the world travels:

Fuck the Midgar Zolem. Nopenopenope.

I loved so many things in Junon. People in lower Junon protesting at the idea of the parade, awesome bit of world building. The weird ass bald bar with Rude? Chef's kiss. Cloud becoming the parade captain and having to go gather the squad. Loved it. He got so into it and you could see the hints of trooper Cloud under the fake Soldier persona he built. Lovely. The parade mini game was perfect. Even little things like the 1/35 soldier collectibles being used to plan the parade formations in the building where you usually grabbed them in the OG. It's the little details like that. I was super bummed that we weren't getting Red XIII in the trooper uniform until we did.

The Gold Saucer. THE GOLD SAUCER. I spent actual hours there. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a section in the Wonder Square where you could have played the OG versions of the mini games. Cait Sith's voice was giving Crowley high on laudanum and I wasn't mad about it.

I had a really funny moment when I got to Gongaga where I went, "Huh, she looks an awful lot like Cissnei..." and then she said she was Cissnei and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Most of the Turks went into hiding, so yeah, okay sure. I just feel like there was a missed opportunity for her to call herself something else and it to be a subtle nod to the fact that Cissnei's probably not her name either. I just can't believe she didn't say anything to Cloud or Aeris (you'll pry that spelling out of my cold dead hands) about Zack.

Cid's early entrance into the game was also a little confusing. Like, he was still working for Shinra at that point in the OG. The only reason I was mad about it was that it meant we probably weren't getting Rocket Town. To be fair, I had to start speed running the plot by that point because I only had the the PS5 for two weeks, so I pretty much skipped exploring the Nibel region entirely. Could Rocket Town be there, sure. I won't know until the PC port comes out. lol I'm intrigued by the idea that Cid knew Ifalna. Was he the one who let them out? Again, not an idea I ever considered, but I wouldn't be mad about it.

Going to Cosmo Canyon was the moment I realized this game was not made for anyone remotely neurospicy. I started calling Rebirth "ooh, a squirrel!" the game at that point. I was so excited to go to Cosmo Canyon. Like it was one of the parts I was most excited to see in modern graphics. I immediately got sidetracked by the chocobos, the reagent collection stuff, the screaming owls, the towers, the Chadley bullshit in general.

That was probably one of my biggest complaints, honestly. Trust me to want to go over every inch of the map on my own. I don't need this weird AI kid to give me quests to make me do that. If anything, I actively started avoiding areas because I could see a cluster of his nonsense which meant traveling through that patch of map would be a pain in my ass. I didn't mind him or the concept as a whole, I just needed like 60% less of it, at least.

That being said, I loved the look of Cosmo Canyon, but I was confused by the vibe there. I feel like if that many people believed in Planetology, Shinra could never have gotten away with the bullshit it did. Even in all the towns, there's a dude in robes preaching Planetology. People are talking about the Lifestream and the Planet as a sentient being CONSTANTLY. There needed to be more, "don't believe that hippie, religious nonsense" people to balance that out. Or people saying, mako's absolutely a renewable resource, even if you believe that Planetology stuff. People on the whole would be destructive for the sake of comfort, but there was this weird disconnect there.

Since they were going with this, Planetology is more popular route, I do appreciate the fact that the people who believe in it at the Canyon are kind of pretentious about it. Tifa literally got eaten by a weapon, the group - including Nanaki who is one of them - have seen a number of wild, inexplicable things in the last couple weeks. Probably mako poisioning and group hallucinations. You should get checked out and how dare you question me! Oh you're a Cetra? Here, light the pretty lights at the festival then.

Since we're talking about Cosmo Canyon, the bit about Red's voice cracked me up. I was not prepared for the tiny babby puppy voice he started using in the back half of the game. I definitely missed his grownup voice the rest of the game though.

The GI cave part was well done. I'm sort of intrigued by the idea of the GI creating the black materia. I just wish they would have explained where the GI came from then, since they weren't born of the Planet. Materia is supposed to be the condensed knowledge of the Planet, so how did they make their own? I love the idea that the black materia was supposed to just be a way for them to take themselves out of the world and it ended up being so powerful it could destroy the entire world instead.

Also, the Cetra were just out there fighting everyone, the GI, the humans, Jenova. I really liked the way that GI Nattak called out that she's only Cetra by bloodline because the actual Cetra were kind of assholes. It's an angle I never considered and I'm kind of here for it.

I don't know how to feel about them turning Nibelheim into a mako poisoning treatment center. I think I preferred the Shinra coverup. It makes them much more sinister. It also made more sense when the replacement townspeople were rude to Cloud and Tifa. They have to stay in character because that's their job. Hell no you two didn't live here. Get lost. Now, everyone's just uncomfortable because two people who used to live there are in their midst. It was weird.

Also Cloud remembered Zack way the fuck early for no good reason. He doesn't talk to Aeris about it. Tifa tries to get him to cover it up. Why though? It makes way more sense for him to get flashes but nothing concrete if you want to foreshadow but you're not going to do anything interesting with it.

I have mixed emotions about what they did to Vincent. It's weird that he stayed at the mansion of his own volition as "security" considering what Hojo and Lucrecia did to him. Why tf was he sleeping in a coffin then? It made way more sense for him to be locked away and willing to join up with the party so he could take a piece out of Hojo. Now, he's claiming to have unfinished business with Sephiroth instead but also refuses to go anywhere near him? Also, I can't not hear Matt Mercer's voice when he talks so that was super distracting. lol Galian Beast was incredible. I'm just pissed I didn't get to use him as a limit break.

This was the point that I realized I had to start skipping exploration/side quests if I wanted to get to the ending before I lost access to the game and system. If I don't mention something and it's not required to beat the game, assume I didn't get to see it and will have to wait until the PC port comes out and I can take the whole game completely apart.

I got the Aeris Gold Saucer date. 10/10. I just wish they had got a vocalist that sounded more like Aeris's regular VA, but the play was a fun little minigame. I was confused by why they were all wearing VR headsets while sitting in a theater and if everyone saw themselves as the hero and people in their party as Rosa, the enemies, etc, but I mostly just turned my brain off and enjoyed the ride. The ferris wheel date was the perfect update to the dialogue while still keeping the vibe. Loved it.

The Temple of the Ancients was both better than I could have hoped for and possibly the worst section to play through at the same time. I was really looking forward to a quirky puzzle solving section with a weird, reality warping backdrop. The temple itself was perfect. The way it built itself up when the keystone got inserted. The look of the labyrinth. All of it. Then, it turned into an action RPG enemy grind. It needed to be half the size it was if they were just going to cut all the cool parts out anyway.

The flashbacks to everyone's sad moments were cool, but I feel like they didn't actually do what they were supposed to for anyone but Aeris. Red ends his tied to the table by Hojo, Barret - Myrna's dead and his arm is gone. (Though it was cool to see what Myrna looks like!) Tifa's dad's dead. Yuffie's confronted by Nero and mocked for leaving Sonon behind. If the Temple was trying to tell them that anger and grief can only take you so far as a warrior, they should probably all ended with some sliver of hope, like Elmyra helping to take care of her. Barret finding Marlene for example, would have been great.

I like the way they handled Cait Sith here much better than the OG. Him physically holding up the temple so it wouldn't collapse was a nice touch. He seemed genuinely remorseful about what he did and the surprise, here's Cait #2 moment seemed far less out of the blue and wrong toned because everyone was still conflicted about how to feel about him.

Cloud creeped me the hell out by the end and that was perfect. The way he chased Aeris for the black materia while saying creepy half-mind controlled stuff. I'm also not mad that they skipped him beating her up and replaced it with them both falling into the pit. It still gives a viable reason for why he's unconscious and gives her the space to run off to the sleeping forest.

I am a little sad that we lost out on his indecision about whether he's safe to go onward. The group dynamic when it comes to Cloud being weird is confusing. It seems like they all understand that degradation is a thing and there's a good chance it's happening to Cloud, but they also let him get away with shit that he really shouldn't be doing/saying if that is the case. He yeeted Tifa into a mako pit and she got eaten by a WEAPON. Did we address that, not really..? He's desperate to get to the black materia in a way that's making Yuffie looked restrained? That's fine. We don't need to tell him to go back and sit with Cid and Vincent. Just let him come along!

The ending leaves me feeling conflicted and brings me to my complaint about the remake itself. I feel like we were speedrunning the plot to ultimately get nowhere fast. Everyone knows the plot, so who cares if we bring Cid in early to cut some of the journey out. We're going to skip over Wutai for now by hinting at the side story we'll get to later. Vincent's backstory, who needs it? Any world exploration in relation to the keystone, nah, Cait just knows that. Let's put Rufus and Hojo at the temple with the Turks and steal some of the northern crater stuff and do that instead of the Temple of the Ancients puzzles. Bone City, Sleeping Forest, Forgotten City? Yeet.

For real though, the Forgotten City feels smaller than the OG version and that's a fucking crime.

I assumed that the climax would explain more about the alternate universes, why Zack survived, how the whispers work, etc. and that was the REAL story here, so sure, let's get to that.

Any time now.

I'll wait.

Wait, not like that! I didn't mean- and the game's over. Well fuck.

Seriously, that's how I felt about the ending. I was kind of holding off on the Zack side story so I could come at it all at once. I loved that Zack got into Midgar just to see that, without Cloud, the Avalanche stuff falls apart. There's a teeny plot hole in how Aeris would have ended up involved without Cloud buuuuut fate's gonna do its thing and I can suspension of disbelief that.

What I can't ignore is that we never find out who the missing Soldier with the Buster Sword was that was involved. The reports talk about a missing Soldier who Shinra's still searching for. Maybe they're just tacking that on because Zack survived his execution and they're trying to kill two birds with one stone, but then why aren't they looking for two Soldiers? Zack still clearly has Cloud. I have questions.

On that note, literally no one bats an eye at Zack and Cloud looking like they could 100% have been running from that fight. Kyrie would have absolutely have handed Cloud over to a Soldier/Trooper the second Zack was gone.

So great. Now we have Zack and Cloud at Elmyra's with Marlene and Aeris in a coma. Her materia's all clear. The world is ending. Spooky af. I'm fascinated. Biggs is the only one who survived the capture of Avalanche. he's super guilty. Love it. Wait, why's he talking about Cloud like he knows him and he was there at the bombings? Marlene too? Of course Aeris has a crush on Cloud, you're dead silly! It's probably best she never wakes up because then Sephiroth murders her.

Elmyra implying that it's okay if no one saves Barret and Tifa because the world is ended and they're all going to end up in the same place soon was fucking DARK. I was not prepared for that.

Then, Zack has a decision. Shinra HQ for a cure to Cloud's coma or rescuing Biggs from his own stupidity. He chooses a friendly chat with Hojo, rocks up to the building on a motorcycle and guns it into the building despite the troopers. Love it. Wait. Why's he talking to Biggs in the reactor? And Biggs is dead and Zack's facing down the army again. Did we just branch into a second alternate timeline where Zack both went to HQ and tried to save Biggs? Awesome. We're really leaning into the weirdness. Let's fucking go.

Aeris and Cloud wake up in their coma bodies. Okay, awesome. We're finally going to get an explanation. Is this some weird sort of afterlife where all the souls from the multiverse end up and drop their knowledge off before rebirth? Is Aeris going to take Rebirth!Cloud and bring him somewhere else because she's a Cetra and can do crazy shit like that?

Nope, we're going on another weird ass date.

This is when I realized that we've definitely got at least two "Zack lives" timelines. The Cloud and Aeris one seems like a spinoff of one of those too, since Cloud woke up in the wheelchair in Aeris's house. Then there's one where Zack is sitting on the church steps right before Sephiroth shows up. I can't tell if the dog Johnny's holding is the same one as the bag from the remake ending or not. You can keep track of which timeline you're in because of the Stamp used in that universe. What the fuck even is my life?

So assuming that "Johnny dog" Zack is the one who fights with Cloud, is he gone when he says goodbye at the end? Is he the one that wakes up in the church? But the flowers in the church are okay when all the other Zack timelines aren't. Is this a fifth timeline?

I don't necessarily mind that they didn't tie it all up in a bow because this isn't the end, but I have so many frustrating questions.

Lastly, let's get to Schrodinger's flower girl. If she's really dead, I feel robbed. If they were actually going to kill her off, I wanted to be fucked up emotionally in 4k. I wanted everyone saying goodbye on the altar. I wanted the water burial. All of it in high def so I could sob my heart out like a teenage girl.

I'm intrigued by the overlay of Aeris bleeding and not. Her holding Cloud's face and it looking like he's holding her hand up because she's already dead. Cloud giving the OG speech with no words and just crying and ignoring Sephiroth entirely. Are we seeing multiple worlds converging and only Cloud can tell because he was dragged into that alternate world with her? Is Cloud's mind cracked beyond all telling and this is just Jenova/Sephiroth coming to him wearing the face of someone he loves and trusts?

I'm still annoyed that they seemed to scoot on by the most pivotal part of the OG, but I will forgive them if it turns out that Cloud's crazy and we get to see it all properly in Part Three. Or if they come up with an equally suitable twist involving multiversal travel where she really is both alive and dead in any given universe.

I'll be excited when the PC port comes out so I can really take the game apart and find out what makes it tick. I'm sure I only barely scratched the surface, considering how much side content I had to skip. I think a lot of this could benefit from a second playthrough, even if I had 100% it.

If you're still here, I'm confused but hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Night all.

[spade-club]

Ive been off tumblr mostly for a few days and had the best week of my life (fri-wed)

Anyway, my friends and I are the absolute cutest. We played spin the bottle, just the five of us, and kept going around and around (to be fair we made some fucked up rules so not all of us even kissed eachother really. Others of us kissed 7 times o.o) And idk. I wish I could explain how much fun ive been having this week but its all so blurry and I may or may not have been high for the past 4 days straight which is not a feeling I've felt at all, before about four days ago. Which sounds like addict behavior, and it is, but it'll go away until it comes back later! Later me's problem! No one will be here to give me endless weed in literally two days, and im not here for the hunt, so whateves.

btw this paragraph is tmi sex stuffs ewwie look away if u dont want to know. But yea, I'm like, really understanding why people do these things. I mean, I am still a trauma sponge, so my enjoyment is very closely tied to how sober I am, but I am still understanding and craving rn, two things I didn't know I was capable of! I have never really Got The Point of sexual interactions, but no one has ever made me Feel Like This so uh, hehe, I'm starting to get it. Endlessly, I am grateful for my person <3 I am also so glad they're so understanding and kinda always the right amount of involved when I tell them things. They take what I say at face value and dont assign extra reasoning to things. If I say, "I got triggered during sex but its not your fault, and its okay," they go, "okay, thanks for letting me know!" And that's that!! Now, they sometimes ask me for pain updates during and also take those answers exactly in the way I mean them!!! & then they adjust accordingly and we move on!!! They dont let their insecurity or fear make me feel bad! And they dont make shitty assumptions on my character for no good reason!! I might be falling in love with them... but that's another tangent. I could go on about them for ever and ever

My friends and I have decided that the five of us are a "mostly platonic polycule," which has absolutely short circuit my brain bc that's all I've ever wanted, really, and it's really nice?? We all adore eachother and we paint together, and we kiss eachother, and go on five person dates, and have sleepovers, and cuddle in the back seat of the car while the other two jam to the music, and refer to a group as 4/5 or 3/5 if someone is missing. Idk, it's just nice, I know it's to be short-lived as we would not survive as a couple without the friend who came to visit (and may not be back again for months.) We will fall apart without her. We're all still good friends tho and im excited to see what does happen next!!

I have so many more songs to relate to now lol

[mossgirrrl]

Where are my friends?

"God, I didn't think we were old enough to know so many who've gone like this," I half-whispered into the living room of my friend's flat in Bangkok. We were 21 and talking about a beautiful, charismatic yet quiet boy who'd taken everyone by surprise in deciding to end his own life. That was six years ago and I needed two hands to count the people from my youth who weren't here anymore. Mostly due to drugs or poor mental health- or both. Fast forward to this week and H's hit me like scalding water- a moment of nothingness, then dawned a gnawing pain that burned for weeks. When you're in your late 20s, death amongst your peers tends to be more accidental and less frequent... so it comes as more of a shock. H and I didn't really talk anymore. A pandemic and 1000+ miles of distance will creep in between you whilst you're not looking. In fact I think I left his last message (a reply to an Instagram story) on read and that'll nip me with guilt for the rest of my life. A year later he was in my city and I didn't know until I saw the obituaries on Facebook. Nevertheless, I was numb for two days and cried for two more. Trying, and mostly failing, not to sink into a cradle of dissociation. In one such episode of dissociative scrolling, I read that; some friends are for a reason, some friends are for a season, and some friends are for life. H was a heady, sun-soaked, and glitter-smudged season- one of the most formative and pivotal of my 28 years. We met at university and shared two and a half endless summers of house parties, bicycle rides, picnics, and river dips. He was a ray of sunshine. The persistent kind that forces itself through the crack in your curtains, making everything it touches sparkle, rallying you out of bed like a no nonsense pep talk.

It's a weird, icky thing to grieve someone from your past- even if they once and always will hold a special place in your heart. You catch yourself feeling ashamed and self-indulgent, silently apologising to their nearest. I think about my friends now and how I'd feel if they ceased to exist, even if we'd lost touch for head foggy time-warp of a half decade. I'd feel the same. What is self-indulgent is the small part of me that knows I'm reacting this way because of an on-going age crisis. A small part of me that's been crying almost daily anyway over lost youth and time we'll never get back... But I supposed that's all grief too. Searching through my camera roll and old Instagram posts for memories I'm not sure if I'll share in the group chat yet, I found a quote I'd posted on the day I moved out of the beautiful rabbit-hole of a town we'd all called home; "I hope that in the future they invent a small golden light that follows you everywhere and when something is about to end, it shines brightly so that you know.

And if you're never going to see someone again, it'll shine brightly and both of you can be polite and say, "It was nice to have you in my life while I did, good luck with everything that happens after now." And maybe if you're never going to eat at the same restaurant again, it'll shine and you can order everything off the menu you've never tried. Maybe, if someone's about to buy your car, the light will shine and you can take it for one last spin. Maybe, if you're with a group of friends who'll never be together again, all your lights will shine at the same time and you'll know, and then you can hold each other and whisper, "This was good. God, this was so good." ~ Iain S. Thomas And suddenly it had more meaning than the day I posted it, with the very same person in mind.

[mercurygray]

I'm still spinning some plates with this TGM 1940s AU.

(An unwelcome but necessary reminder that segregation was official American armed forces policy until 1948, and it wasn't completely eliminated in practice until 1952.)

As was becoming the usual, trouble had found them. All they'd done was walk into the bar - all twelve of them, gussied up for a night out and ready to do the navy proud.

"Don't serve them here," the barkeep said, casting a disdainful eye over Fitch and Machado, his scorn heaviest for the men but none too kind on the women, either, who must be some kind of loose moraled types to walk into a bar with a group of men they clearly weren't related to.

Bradshaw looked around the room, the other soldiers at the bar and a few of the sailors in their chairs, and ran the odds on whether they'd win or lose whatever fight might be coming next. They could take 'em - Bradshaw himself had at least a foot on half the guys in this place and the others aren't far behind him. The room was deadly still. "Guess we'd better take our business elsewhere, then," he said, slow and calm, making eye contact with the rest of the aviators. "Afraid our money's no good here, boys."

Seresin looked like he'd like to spit nails being denied his beer, but a team was a team, and a line was a line, and the girls looked to be following Bradley anyway, so - out they went, scuffling their shoes in the parking lot.

So much for Friday night plans. "Who needs it, anyway?" Bradshaw said, trying to recover, smiling at Reuben and Javi. Everyone had worked hard this week, and a beer would have been nice. It wasn't their fault they were stationed where they were. "Go find our own fun somewhere else."

"There's a liquor store in town," Bob suggested, his hands in his pockets. "Someone could take some money and buy us a case or two." All eyes turned to him - Bob never drank, never, and for him to know where they could buy liquor? It was just this side of absurd. "Go to the beach?"

"Robert Floyd," Jake Seresin said with a grin, looping an army around his shoulders, "you're a damn genius."

The beach was nice, for the time of year, and Shore Patrol didn't seem to want to tangle with them, especially in such a big group.

"It's smart, what he did back there," Natasha said, sitting in the sand with Bob close to the fire they'd started with some driftwood. Someone somewhere had found a football, and they were tossing it around, shoes and socks thrown in a pile and pants rolled to their knees. "That's what'll get him made team leader. Seresin would have started a fight."

"Just so he could look good for Laura," Bob added dryly, taking a sip of his Coca-Cola. Natasha laughed.

"You don't miss much, do you, Iowa?" she asked, grinning at him in the dark. But Bob wasn't laughing. "And you're right. It'll be a cold day in hell when Laura gives him the time of day." She scratched at the label on her beer bottle, not really caring that it wasn't ladylike to drink straight from a bottle. "Any other brilliant observations to share on your fellow pilots?"

"I know you're wasted as a backseater," he said, looking out to the ocean for a moment. Natasha put her bottle down, stunned that he'd really just...said that. "You're a better pilot and a better hand at the stick. Ought to be me in the backseat with that machine gun." He nodded, almost to himself. "And I'm going to tell Maverick that, next chance I get."

Natasha was still staring. "You'd fly backseat with a girl?"

"With a better pilot," Bob corrected, meeting her eye with sincere admiration.

She sniffed, trying not to sound emotional, like this wasn't everything she'd wished for since she'd joined the program. "You're all right, Bob Floyd."

Bob smiled at that, and took another sip of his cola, and the two of them sat watching the fire, and the figures beyond it laughing and running in the dark.

Natasha gives Bob the moniker Iowa in this drabble here; you can read more of the 1940s TGM au at the tag on my blog.

[technowoah]

THESEUS - a dsmp story ( DreamSMP x Queen!Reader)

CHAPTER FOUR : LOOK ‘EM IN THE EYE AIM NO HIGHER, SUMMON ALL THE COURAGE YOU REQUIRE THEN COUNT!

Chapter Summary: Wilbur makes a proposition, Tommy finally gets his fight, warning shots are fired and the bomb that was planted finally went off.

pairing: c!wilbur x queen!reader

an// tbh im not that happy with this one, I hope yall like it! but hopefully Ill like chapter 6 lol

⚠︎ swearing, dsmp spoliers(?), angst, fighting, minor blood mention, not proofread. Y/N/N = your nickname

word count: 5.1k

THESEUS MASTERLIST 

"Are you sure you want to do this because Tommy is a good fighter!"

"He's also good at being annoying, so you'll die either way."

"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" 

Currently Tommy and You were by a small lake in L'Manburg facing each other with swords and guns. Fundy and Tubbo were belittling Tommy on the sidelines. Tubbo was trying to convince the both of them not to do this so they wouldn't get hurt badly before the actual war begins. Wilbur was standing in between the two and Eret nervously standing off to the side with Tubbo and Fundy.

When You arrived you explained to the three people who were there, Tubbo, Fundy, and Wilbur, that Tommy and you were going to fight that day. Tubbo and Fundy were not for that idea at all, but Wilbur approved it. After a while of thinking and conversation of course he agreed. 

Eret and Tommy arrived at L'Manburg as well and apparently Tommy already told Eret that he was fighting his wife.

"You know what Eret? I'm gonna fight your wife today! Yeah it'll be a good fight, don't worry I wont hurt her that badly."

Of course Eret did not want this duel to happen and tried to convince Wilbur to not let the two do this to one another. He was concerned about the task and hand yes, but You getting hurt or even worse, killed was not a thing he wanted not needed. Tommy was a loose cannon, he worked on impulse. You were basically fighting a bull while wearing all red.

Wilbur had pulled You aside for the second time this week and started to have a conversation with you again. It was a needed conversation so when Wilbur grabbed her arm.and pulled her away you didn't hesitate this time. As the two talked in the distance you heard Fundy yelling at Tommy about the dangers of fighting You at a time like this. Your mind was all over the place at this point.

"You know how this works?" Wilbur looked at You and Tommy.

"Yes!"

"Yes I do"

You knew what was going to happen. They both had 6 bullets in their gun, if they use all of their bullets they can use their swords instead. You were in your head at this moment. Wilbur was explaining how this duel would work to Tubbo, while You contemplated whether to waste youshot by shooting in the sky or aiming at Tommy's foot. you didn't want to hurt him at all, they had a war coming soon so hurting Tommy would not help L'Manburg. Then again, when was helping L'Manburg a part of your mission?

You snapped out of your mind and saw Tommy glaring daggers at her. He looked harmless.

"I am going to beat you." Tommy said in a voice that can be only compared to a robot.

"You wish!" You scoffed and smiled, smiled which made Tommy scoff and look away.

Wilbur spoke over the two, "ALRIGHT! You two will be back to back facing away from each other, then take ten paces. When I say "fire" you two will fire and shoot and fight until one is damaged and cannot battle anymore or until I call a draw. Understand?"

"Yes Wilbur!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Of course." You calmly said.

"Alright" Wilbur agreed and motioned for the two to turn away from each other. 

They had both touched backs and You had taken a huge deep breath. 

The dilemma in your head was still spinning. Whether to shoot him or to shoot into the air. you would be a coward wouldn't you?

"You scared?" Tommy taunted you.

"No. Just getting ready to beat your ass."

"HA! That's not gonna happen. You're all talk." 

"We'll see about that." Wilbur spoke, inserting himself into their conversation.

Wilbur had stepped back towards the group of men who sat and were watching the whole duel. There was tension in the air, they all could feel it. They all thought this was a bad idea, You thought this was a bad idea. What if this tore the whole plan apart will they ever get to-

"READY? ONE!"

They both took a step.

Aim to the sky or aim towards Tommy?

"TWO!"

Where would you aim?

"THREE!"

What would happen if Tommy ended up dead?

"FOUR!"

Would Dream be happy?

"FIVE!"

If you aim towards the sky. Tommy might shoot. you would be an open target.

"SIX!"

It would be over right? If you aim at the sky?

"SEVEN!"

Tommy.

"EIGHT!"

Up in the air.

"NINE!"

How can this end?

The sky? Tommy? Where does the bullet go?

Where do you go?

"NUMBER TEN PACES, FIRE!"

*bang!*

Tommy's eyes widened and You stood my ground.

"She shot her pistol towards the sky?!" Tubbo shouted.

Wilbur stood there with a smirk and Eret let out a sigh of relief and immediately relaxed. Tommy didn't shoot his gun at all; he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. This was the right way.

-----------------

"I want you to shoot into the sky." Wilbur had taken you to an uninhabited part of the wall to talk.

"Why?"

Wilbur had sighed and looked over to where Tommy was gloating to Eret about dueling his wife.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Tommy is rather impulsive. He does things without thinking or with any concern for consequence. He says things without thinking too, as you've seen firsthand."

You nodded and laughed before Wilbur kept talking.

"I want him to hesitate. I want him to think for once. I know he wants to fight right now, he's riled up because of the battle. I expect him to shoot, but I hope that he won't. He won't." Wilbur seemed to be convincing himself this was a good idea.

"That's reassuring." You replied sarcastically.  

Wilbur rolled his eyes, "I believe he won't kill you nor harm you. At least that's the plan. I care for him. He's a good fighter and he should be able to see his opponent before going all ape shit." 

"I get it. I want to do this, but you said he works on impulse. What if he shoots?" You continued to worry.

"I'm here. And uh- Fundy is great at healing. We have healing potions in the van as well. You will not die on my watch. We need you for the war."

You nodded and continued to stare into Wilbur's brown eyes waiting for another comment from his mouth.

"Do this for me please? For us?"

You opened your mouth to speak, but Wilbur sighed before continuing his statement, 

"You don't have to do this. I should've said that first. I understand that death is scary, believe me I don't want to die either. So I can figure out another way to get to Tommy if you are uncomfortable with this."

This time it wasn't a forced situation. He was literally giving you a huge way out, an open path, but you already agreed to fight before. It wasn't like you were put into this without paths to take. you had options. Now that potions were involved and there are spectators that can act as doctors eased your nerves just slightly. you can do this.

"Or were you planning on shooting Tommy anyways?" 

--------------

You looked towards Wilbur and smiled warmly at him and he returned your same smile.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE THE BAD GUY! YOU-"

 "I didn't even call it a draw yet Tommy. You can still fight-" 

"It's clear that my opponent doesn't want this. If I did, I would be more of a bad guy than I already am now." Tommy dropped his gun to the green grass underneath his feet. 

You followed suit, dropping your gun onto the grass below you. You walked towards Tommy trying to find the right words at this moment. He had his head hung low looking at the gun that laid in the lush grass in front of him. You had walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder and he began to tense up at the friendly gesture.

"Tommy, you're not a bad guy. You did the right thing at that moment. You're neutral really, if you would've shot me then yeah you would be considered "the bad guy". But in reality, there is no such thing as good or bad, there are just people with different morals." You whispered that last part and Tommy seemed to reluctantly understand, still sticking to his main idea of him being a bad guy. 

He was really stubborn, which made it harder for you to make him feel better.

"This is what I wanted Tommy! I wanted you to hesitate before you shot her." Wilbur tried to pick his spirits up by revealing his plan.

"THEN WHAT IF I SHOT HER?!" 

"you would've been fine. Plus you weren't going to brutally damage or kill Y/N right?"

Tommy stuttered a little bit before speaking, explaining himself.

"No I wasn't! My goal was at least to scare her, or graze you with my bullet." Tommy rushed.

"What if you slipped up and hit Y/N instead?" Tubbo came into the conversation leading Fundy and Eret with him.

"Then I would feel incredibly horrible that I hurt an ally." Tommy said while hanging his head. "I understand, Wilbur, I understand what today's duel was for." Tommy continued.

"To be honest, this was a last minute decision! I talked to Y/N before and we both decided it was a good idea for you. Especially when a war is coming up."

"Mhm. I am okay now. I've learned, and I just hope that I can transfer this into the war." Tommy seemed relieved, but also not wanting to learn his lesson. It was bad to assume, but it sounded like he wanted to get this lecture over with.

Wilbur humed while turning away satisfied with what happened today. He walked towards the HTO van with Fundy following suit leaving Tommy and you standing next to each other still recovering from what just happened. Eret and Tubbo were standing a few feet away from them making small glances to the two making sure they are okay.

"I still hate you." Tommy grumbled.

-----------------

The five citizens were sitting in the meeting room making potions with the brewing machines or doing their own thing at the moment. Wilbur didn't have anything planned for today except for making many potions for battle. You were helping with potions as well. you were more skilled at potion making than battle. you can hold yourself down and maybe kill someone, but you don't recommend for herself to do that.

"Wow Y/N/N you're making potions so much faster than I am. Teach me your secrets!" Tubbo exclaimed.

"What did you call me?" You asked The boy softly.

"What do you mean? I called you Y/N/N." Tubbo said, confused.

Has Dream ever called you Y/N/N before because it seems like you've never been called that before. Tubbo was still looking quizzically at you waiting for an answer.

"I don't think I've been called Y/N/N before." You answered.

"Y/N might be uncomfortable with that." Wilbur joined into their conversation.

"Oh! I'm sorry! If that made you-"

"I'm okay! You can call me Y/N/N'' You said while waving your hands to dismiss the situation.

"Good! I thought I was being a creep or something." Tubbo laughed.

"Y/N/N HELP ME OUT WITH THESE POTIONS WILL YA?" Tommy shouted from across the room.

"Okay you don't get to call me Y/N/N." 

Tommy huffed, "If my best friend can call you Y/N/N I will too!"

"Okay children settle down." Eret said while looking up from the book he was writing.

There was another pause until Fundy had spoken.

"Today seemed like a good day huh? Even though it isn't over so far, so good eh?" Fundy tried making conversation after writing whatever enchantments in his book.

"Yes it was so far! Very surprising today." Tubbo agreed with Fundy.

"Tommy and You gave me a heart attack today. I wouldn't consider this a good day so far." Eret exhaled jokingly. He seemed in good spirits today.

"I'm sorry I gave my husband a heart attack." You taunted.

"But seriously that scared me. Thank goodness nothing happened to the both of you. I wouldn't know what I would do." Eret continued.

"You would live." You said bluntly, staring at him. 

Eret nodded at you, sending a small smile your way.

"You would've been a good fighter. Have you fought before?" Fundy inquired.

"I have fought before! I've been trained as well, I'm more into the sneaky side of things, and making potions like I am now." You cheerfully explained.

"Sneaky things?" Wilbur asked.

Your eyes widened slightly before maintaining your composure. you forgot that Wilbur was still on youtail. He thinks that You is still suspicious, so of course when you said that he would jump on the opportunity to interrogate her.

"You could be a spy for us! Maybe spy on Dream and George!" Tubbo exclaimed.

Oh the irony.

Wilbur hummed, "Maybe, that would be interesting. We could get information and they wouldn't turn her down."

"It would be too late anyways if they've seen you here so it would be a major red flag if you showed up there trying to join their team." Eret spoke up, still concentrating on writing enchantments with Fundy.

Thank God that Eret was here, You would be stumbling for the right words and then eventually blowing their cover. you had this happen too many times. They are almost to the end you have to pull back.

"True. You're right!" Wilbur agreed. "Plus we've been more productive since you two came back."

Eret and you both nodded in agreement and went back to doing their tasks.

Tubbo and You were standing together on one side of the room making potions and talking to one another until Tubbo made a quiet gasp. 

You looked at him and followed his line of gaze until you saw them again. It was Sapnap and Dream on the top of the new, enlarged L'Manburg walls. Dream pulled back his hand and whipped something toward the van. It looked metal and shiny as it bounced harshly in the grass. 

Sapnap then pulled out a bow and arrow and Dream had set it on fire. Sapnap launched the arrow into the walls and it landed by the machine that Dream had thrown. The grass around the arrow caught on fire as well, not making a huge fire but enough to scare the two.

"WILBUR! You have a gift!" Tubbo said as he rushed out of the van and You watched carefully through the window so the two wouldn't do anything to the boy.

"Where did he go?!" Wilbur yelled.

"He went outside to grab the metal thing Dream and Sapnap threw." You said keeping an eye on Tubbo as he came back into the van.

Wilbur rushed towards the window where Aryia was stationed and looked towards the top of the wall where Dream and Sapnap were. Dream took one last final glance at the two in the window then turned away to jump down the wall with Sapnap following suit.

"Guys you might want to take a look at this." Tubbo said while placing the metal thing, which was an old answering machine, on the table.

Wilbur sighed, clearly exhausted with everything that had been going on. He sat down on the edge of the table. Tubbo pressed play on the machine and the recording started.

"Tommy, and Wilbur, and the rest of L'Man-child-burg. We are at war. There is no mercy. We have burned down Tubbo's house, we have planted TNT cannons around your land, we have cobblestone walled the outside, we have shot one warning shot inside your walls. WE HAVE NO MERCY, NO MERCY FOR YOU! We will burn down your houses! We will kill everything inside your walls and we will take back the land that is rightfully ours. If you do not surrender I WANT TO SEE WHITE FLAGS! WHITE FLAGS OUTSIDE YOUR BASE BY TOMORROW AT DAWN, OR YOU ARE DEAD!"

*beep~* 

There was a long beep until Tubbo shut off the recorded message. Everyone was silent looking at each other for the next move. Everyone either had a face of anger or one of concern. Eventually everyone turned to Wilbur who had his head down, his hair slightly covering his eyes in a thinking pose. We were waiting for a response from the leader, but it didn't seem like anyone had a response to this situation.

"Hey lets just-"

"Grab me a book and a pen" Wilbur spoke.

------------------

It's been about an hour since we last received the message. The sun has gone down and they are all still sitting around the meeting table. 

"What do we get? What's the report?" Wilbur asked.

Tommy started, "Okay so here's the situation, the ‘Dream boys' they're on the roof, they've already killed me and Tubbo once, they feel like they got their power. Their egos are up-" 

"They've taken it all." Tubbo added.

"I don't know man, what do you think we've got to do now? Ultimately you're the leader here." Tommy asked the older man.

Wilbur paused before speaking, "I think, the element of surprise is needed. We can't go in just guns blazing."

"My son, how are you doing?" Wilbur asked Fundy.

Fundy stuttered before speaking, "I could've been better."

Wilbur smiled then opened the book he had been writing in for the past hour.

"Before we go into battle though-

"WORDS OVER WEAPONS MY FRIEND!" Tommy interrupted Wilbur

"My gents and m'lady, may I read you the Declaration of Independence?" 

Wilbur had started to read through the Declaration complementing the writers who wrote lines in the book. He began reading the main parts of the book.

"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for-"

"Wilbur" Tommy interrupted Wilbur again

"Yes what, what?" Wilbur asked annoyed

"They're surrounding us, Wilbur." 

Tommy stood up looking out of the window at the many fiery arrows making their way towards the van and making the grass around the van catch on small fires.

From inside the van it looked like rain from hell. All the fears you once had came flooding back into your mind. you put herself right in front of the greatest fighters, and assassins in the kingdom and you might not make it out alive. 

Wilbur started to head out of the door trying to face his opponents. They all were putting themselves out there exiting the van as fast as they could like a huge target. Speaking of target, an arrow shot by Sapnap landed too close for comfort next  to Wilbur. He seemed un phased at this.  

"They're not the best shot." Wilbur turned his back on the archers and stood in the doorway to the group inside.

Wilbur began to yell at the archers, "Gentlemen how are you!?" 

"Good!" Dream replied bluntly.

Surprisingly they could hear both of each other. 

"Do you like the view of our nation!?" Wilbur asked as he smirked.

"Oh God!" Tubbo exclaimed, worried because of the taunting Wilbur was doing.

"We might be a little out gunned here gentlemen." Eret said softly to the others while placing a hand on your shoulder in a comforting way.

"I thought this was a trailer park!" Dream shouted back. 

"Very funny, listen. It seems like you've gained the upper hand in people! We will meet you in the field, but on our own terms!" Wilbur concluded.

"YEAH!" Tommy shouted at the archers hyping Wilbur up.

The rest laughed at Tommy's antics trying to keep it together.

"Please stop making things worse!" Tubbo laughed.

Another arrow was shot at Wilbur's feet. He was clearly stunned by this, turning to the rest of the L'Manburgians he spoke to them.

"We armor up gents." Wilbur said, walking away.

Just as he walked away Tommy followed Wilbur outside of the van and then an arrow was shot into Tommy's bicep by George. Tommy yelled in anger and in pain, and the rest followed suit yelling in shock. Tommy clutched the arm that the arrow had found its way into, he tried to keep it together as he fell to his knees. You rushed to Tommy's side trying to take the arrow out carefully and heal him. He kept on shielding his arm away from you and kept babbling incoherent nonsense about “leaving him alone” too.

"It's okay! I'm fine! I'm fine! Don't worry!" Tommy kept shouting.

"You're not fine Tommy, let me help!" You yelled and he finally succumbed to you.

You slowly pulled out the arrow and used bandages that Eret had rushed to give you to wrap around his arm carefully. Throughout this whole process Tommy had a face of discomfort and pain until you had successfully bandaged his upper arm so no blood would seep through. Later on you would have to tend to his wounds more delicately.

"Just stay inside!" Fundy yelled in a hurried tone and was angry at the fact someone had already gotten hurt.

This would've been the outcome of the duel if you hadn't followed Wilbur's orders. Either way he would've been injured. Of course they would go for Tommy. Wilbur's right hand man. It was bound to happen. 

You and the rest of the men were clad in netherite or diamond armor and they surrounded Wilbur waiting for another order.

"Tommy I'm putting you in charge of this army." Wilbur said.

Your eyes widened. Didn't Wilbur just say he acted on impulse. This was a bad idea. you were going to die at the hands of the people who gave this opportunity to you.

Wilbur continued, "No matter what happens during this war, no matter who wins and who loses. Just remember that we're on the right side of history."

You have heard that before. What side of history was you on? They have rubbed off on you of course, but with different morals coming from both sides, whose morals do you fit with? If you die, will you be painted in the wrong manner? Are you on the right side as you stand with Eret and Fundy in L'Manburg? Is there even a right side?

"Up the walls we go!" Tommy exclaimed as the group climbed the ladder over the walls.

Your heart was pounding as Tommy led the way towards their next destination. This was going to be very interesting.

----------------

Tommy led us to the destination where the other warriors were on top of a small tower looking down on the L'Manburgians.

"God- whatever we do, don't go up the tower." Tubbo exhaled. 

"We have to get them down to our level. We have to get them to come down on their own accord." Wilbur commanded.

"Those bastards." Tommy said as an arrow made of fire was shot precisely onto the ground.

The floor began to rumble as the ground cracked and smoke began to rise beneath you revealing the red, fiery TNT that blew up from beneath them breaking the very ground and dirt they stood on making everyone lose their balance. Everyone started screaming, scrambling to get away from the constant chain of TNT slipping and falling on the debris, and the crevices that formed. You had started to run faster,and faster, sometimes you fell to your knees because of the ground shaking and breaking underneath you. You couldn’t look back but you heard screaming and you could only hope and pray no one fell into the big canyon the TNT made behind you. Your mind was not catching up your feet as you blindly followed Tommy into his own home, cutting around the whole kingdom. The rest followed close behind making their way into the house. 

Their clothes were tattered and dirty, singes from the fire were on their war uniforms and armor. As they scrambled for safety the arrows kept coming, hitting the house and the ground outside of it. You felt like this was it for you, your first friends, your enemies shooting arrows of fire at you through your so-called enemies house. You had to stay alive though, keep up the act, but right now you didn't really have to keep an act up because you were actually scared for your life.

The grass in front of Tommy's house was burning while the men gave Tommy all of their arrows. Wilbur commanded them to hail them with arrows. Arrows began burning through the walls breaking into their safe haven. To escape this situation Wibur had told all of them to scatter and make it harder for the archers to shoot them. They all did just that, playing on the defensive dodging the arrows that were hurled towards their way. 

Eventually the archers jumped off of the tower retreating towards a nearby river. The L'Manburgians currently had the high ground and You started shooting with arrows purposefully missing so you wouldn't hurt them.

"They are heading to Ponk's tower!" Tommy shouted.

You looked up to one of the highest towers in the kingdom. Damn.

"In that case we need to start heading towards Ponk's tower!" Tubbo yelled, ceasing his arrows trying to get the rest of them to follow his lead.

The men followed Tommy through his shortcuts to get to the base of Ponk's tower faster. Fundy went forward shooting at the others at the base of the tower. You, Eret, Tommy and Tubbo followed Fundy and started shooting and dodging as well. 

For now they have retreated towards the walls of L'Manburg hiding slightly below the top. Wilbur was there at first then the rest of the groups followed. The arrows couldn't reach them and the boys cheerfully pointed that fact out. Soon they had started slowly retreating as the sun went down in the distance. You sighed and cheered with the rest of the men that they finally stopped fire. Your heart still beating fast you looked behind you towards Eret sending each other a knowing glance.

The rest were cheering and complimenting each other until Eret spoke up.

"Gentlemen, I think we need to go back to our home." Eret said.

"I think you're right, Eret." Tommy agreed happily.

They made their way back to L'Manburg into the night with Tommy leading them for the last time tonight. Tommy and Wilbur were playfully bickering through the whole walk back to L'Manburg. It was a fun time filled with laughter and it was much needed after that whole war. Even though they all were beaten and tattered with burn marks and scratches, they kept smiling. It's crazy to think about.

The fun ended for you as they reached their destination. The extended walls of L'Manburg were in their sights and your heart rate picked up even more than it had before. This is the end. 

"Gentlemen in L'Manburg I have a secret weapon." Eret says, sparking a new conversation.

"What is it?" You asked playing dumb. 

"What is it?" Wilbur asked asked as well

"A secret weapon!?" Tubbo exclaimed.

"I feel like Eret is just going to pull out a giant missile." Fundy joked around and your breath hitched. If only they knew.

"But seriously, what do you mean you got a secret weapon?" Tommy spoke fast.

"I've been grinding for equipment, I've been grinding materials." Eret said not to give it away.

"Show us please!" Tommy exclaimed as they all entered L'Manburg once more today.

You joined in as well, "I haven't seen any of this show us Eret!"

You hated lying to them.

----------------

"This is the final control room for you too!" Dream yelled with excitement showing the beautiful dark room. 

The chests were empty, there was a button on top of a podium, and there was a secret room where Dream and the rest would be hiding after the war. The plan was simple enough on paper. The two countries would fight until sun down and then Eret would lead the L'Manburgians to the final control room where he would press the button and then The citizens of L'Manburg would be killed and a life would be taken from them.

Dream has taught You about the life limit. Everyone in the kingdom had three lives and if all three lives were taken, there is no coming back. you felt weary taking away someone's life.

"This is where the battle will end." Dream said calmly

Currently it was just Eret and You with Dream. Dream kept explaining the mechanics of the room while they both listened. You kept slipping in and out of your mind at the moment.

This would be the end, he said. It will all come to an end and you will finally find your place in the huge kingdom. you can finally have closure. It will all come to an end.

"You two are on the right side of history, don't worry. Cause if you do this you'll be doing the kingdom a huge favor."

----------------

"This way." Eret led the group into the final control room.

The men were astonished about the huge tunnel entrance to the room. They continue to rush down the tunnel to catch up to Eret.

"I'm excited to show you!" Eret cheerfully said as he walked. "They will never suspect a thing!" 

They all ended up in the final control room. You made sure to stand next to Eret making sure that they stayed together. you knew where to leave and when the button was pressed but you had a few minutes to play it off.

"WHAT?"  

"This is so cool!"

"What is this place?!"

"There's nothing in the chests." Wilbur said bluntly, as he turned to us still crouching because he opened the chests.

"Eret?" Tubbo asked.

Eret pressed the button and then the wall behind Wilbur opened and revealed Dream, Sapnap, George and Punz. The men started to scream in shock. They were getting attacked. Blood was being spilled and fire was burning down the whole final control room. Eret grabbed your hand pulling you to a secret wall, opening it to reveal stairs that led out of the final control room trying to protect you from getting hurt.

The L'Manburgians fought anyone they saw, but the others knew who specifically to kill. As the L'Manburgians fought for their lives you heard Wilbur yell out over all of the chaos.

"A TRAITOR! GET OUT GET OUT!"

Were you a traitor? Yes you were. They died. The fire around their bodies began to calm as their murders stood over their bodies breathing heavily. There was an orange and purple tint to the room. It looked unreal. This was it. Their bodies began to glow a light blue color and disintegrate showing that one of their lives was taken that day. This was the closure you wanted, but why did it feel like an unfinished symphony? Like it reached the climax of the song then ended.

It's over

Eret saluted to their disintegrating bodies and you followed suit.

"Down with the revolution boys! It was never meant to be."

---------------

Wilbur's POV

"Eret how could you?" We sat on the burnt grass of L'Manburg waiting for one another to show up from being killed. 

This was what I suspected from the beginning. Sadly this is what I suspected from the beginning.

"Hey where's Y/N?!" Tubbo whipped his head frantically looking for her.

"They were a traitor as well." Fundy said sadly.

Tommy and Eret were facing each other. Tommy in L'Manburg's walls and Eret standing a few feet outside of them. It was a beautiful picture at this moment, very symbolic. 

Tubbo was talking to Eret in a distraught voice before Tommy had interrupted him. "Eret listen to me! And I mean this in the nicest way possible. You fucked up." Tommy said harshly to Eret.

Eret only smirked at this like the madman he is and spoke around him, "farewell gentlemen." And he left us in our ruins.

I had such high hopes for the two of them. Especially Y/N. I knew they were trying to find their home, their place in this huge world. Maybe they'll find it with Dream. That's not what I would've wanted, but they might want to stay there. they'll be back, they'll find their home soon.

"We'll meet again. I know you."

taglist: @hi-imuwu​

[yuzukimist]

Challenge: list the WIPs you promised you’d update, and why you haven’t yet

I was tagged by my good friend and mutual @phantomchick; thanks for tagging me, I had a lot of fun with this!

In return I shall tag some other good friends and mutuals, haha @garbria @darknightfrombeyond @lanternwisp @lananiscorner @whostarlockeda03 @oftincturedwords @ceruleanmusings @archangeltwins @ladykf-writes and whoever else wants to do it!

Anyway, moving on to the challenge itself! I will preface this by saying that I’ve actually been trying to be better about updating my WIPs and I think I’m mostly succeeding; I recently posted chapter updates for two of my multi-chapter fics (Legends Are Made & you’ve got ten more thousand miles to go) as well as new installments for two of my drabble series (no matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) & Tales of a Nabradian Hunter). That being said, I still have a LOT of WIPs outstanding, lol. Sorry, guys. ^_^;

In regards to older OC fics (like Adrift on Ebony Wings, Echoes of Remembrance, I Have No Regrets, Adamant, etc.) it’s largely a case of me needing to find that spark of inspiration/motivation again. I love all my stories so much, but sometimes that drive to work on them just isn’t there. And I try not to push myself too hard to work on them if I’m really not feeling it, because I don’t want to end up feeling resentful or fed up with the stories in question, since that could lead to even more problems, haha. That being said, I did poke at Adrift on Ebony Wings a little while ago and I think a rewatch of Cursed could potentially help me get some of the creative juice for that story back (but tragically I’m juggling so much other stuff right now that I don’t have time for a Netflix binge, and so that’s on the backburner for the moment).

In regards to my Batfam fics: Not Where I Belong is the most recent installment of my Motley Crew of Dysfunction series, and I’m currently a bit stalled out on it. I remember having very clear plans for what I wanted to do in the next chapter way back in 2019, but unfortunately here and now in 2021 I have No Clue what those plans were, lol. So I’m going to have to let it spin around in my brain for a bit until something clicks. Apologies to everyone who’s waiting on an update for that one; I’m sorry it’s taking so long!

All My Wolves Begin to Howl, meanwhile, is actually the one most likely to get an update in the near future! I recently worked on the upcoming Chapter 5, and I’m *almost* done with it. I just need to fill in a couple chunks of the narrative and do some final edits and it should be good to go. So there should be an update sometime in the next…month, probably? That being said, I still work full-time and I have two college classes starting in a couple weeks, so please bear with me if it gets delayed again.

There's also my MMZ Axl-centric fic; I'm working on the next chapter of that but I don't have an ETA for when it'll be posted because I'm trying to, like, choreograph a boss fight lol.

[stanbillyhargrove]

Ghosts chp 13

Billy x Katrina

A/N: this is a multi chapter series that will contain smut, angst, fluff, substance abuse

This is a sweet fluffy Steve chapter, boy deserves it 💜💜 also we get little hints of what's to come next week 😈

Steve's POV

"Oh, hey! Do you guys mind if we pop in here for a minute?" I asked, pointing at a little apothecary.

Katrina glanced around, noticing a coffee shop across the street, "yeah, sure, we'll go get some coffee."

They took off across the street as I ducked into the little shop. Plants filled the deep windowsills, except for a little spot cleared for a plush, purple pillow. All around the shop were white shelves filled with all sorts of soaps, lotions and little bags filled with flowers and herbs. I could have spent all day just soaking in all the different smells.

I was holding a bag to my nose, inhaling deeply when I heard a voice.

"Love charm, smells good, doesn't it?"

I whirled around to see a girl who had just come out of the back of the store. Long brown hair hung in waves down her bare shoulders when she leaned on the counter.

She stared at me, waiting, "hello?"

"Oh, I, ah..yes, smells...pretty."

She smiled, "you trying to attract someone?"

"What?"

"The charm. You looking for something to attract love?"

"N-no," I stammered, putting the bag back on the shelf, "I just...like all the smells."

"Follow me," she said, leading me to a different shelf.

She pulled out a bar of soap and handed it to me, "smell this. I just got the recipe right."

I held it up to my nose, inhaling deeply. A warm scent filled my nose, deep woodsy musk and sharp spices. I hummed, my eyes closing.

"Good, huh?" She giggled, "it's one of my new favorites."

"This smells amazing, you made this?"

"Yeah, I run this place with a couple friends. I make most of the soaps and charms."

"Wow, that's...amazing. What is this one?"

"Cedar, clove and cinnamon for prosperity, protection and love."

I looked up at her, "but...I'm not.."

She smirked, "who doesn't need a little love in their life? And even if you don't need it, it still smells great, right?"

"Yeah," I murmured, "it does...my name's Steve, by the way."

"Riley," she answered, extending a hand to me.

Her hand was so small and delicate in mine, soft like rose petals. Our hands lingered for a moment, neither wanting to let go.

"Hey, uh...are you, would you like to get coffee or something later?"

Her cheeks flushed a light pink, "yeah, yeah I would."

--

"Steve?"

I hummed, glancing up from Riley's cup, away from the stick that seemed to spin around the cup for too long on its own.

"I said, what brings you to Salem?"

"Oh, my friend Katrina. She's looking for someone to help her."

"With?"

"Ghosts."

"Oh? Is she haunted or is she a medium?"

"A medium, I guess? She sees them, talks to them. She's trying to find someone to help her control it."

She was quiet for a moment, thinking to herself, "I might be able to help, I'll have to ask."

"That would be great, she'd really appreciate it."

--

"Oh! A Scream marathon!"

I looked over at Riley, who was smiling from ear to ear, "you're a horror fan?"

"They're my favorite!" She wiggled her eyebrows at me, "are you a scaredy cat, Steve?"

I could feel my cheeks heat up when she giggled, "don't worry, Riley's here to protect you."

--

We'd been here for a little over a week now and I'd spent every moment possible with Riley. Slowly getting closer and closer until.

"Steve," she murmured.

I pulled away from her, just a little and opened my eyes.

"I think we should talk."

My heart sunk to my knees when she leaned away from me, "oh, okay."

I was preparing myself for the heartbreak of 'I think you're a nice guy but...I just don't like you like that.'

But what I wasn't expecting was, "I really like you...but I don't know if I want anything physical. I, we...I just don't know if I want to be in a long distance relationship y'know?"

I let out a relieved sigh, "I thought you were about to tell me I had misunderstood, that you didn't like me. We don't have to start anything if you don't want to, I can deal with us just being friends if that's what you want."

She smiled and leaned into my shoulder, "thanks, Steve."

--

"Dude, you gotta fight for her! Prove you're worth the distance!"

I rolled my eyes, "Billy, I can't force her into a relationship."

He grabbed my shoulders, "we leave in two hours, Steve. You make it sound like she's the love of your life and you're willing to just give up on that?"

I shrugged, "if that's what she wants."

"Screw that. What do you want?"

I knocked his arms away, "it doesn't matter."

"It does matter, what do you want?"

I felt my eyes starting to sting and looked away from him, clenching my jaw.

"Steve!" He yelled, "what do you want?"

I glanced back at him, my eyes watering, "I want her to choose me...I want to try."

His expression softened and he smiled at me. Smug bastard.

"Then go tell her. Tell her that's what you want, that you're willing to go the distance. That you care about her."

But, I didn't. Couldn't muster up the courage to lay myself bare before her.

--

We were just finishing packing up the Camaro, shuffling around our bags in the truck to make them fit. Katrina and Billy moved out of the way so I could close the trunk and there, standing in the door of the house staring at me, was Riley. I gave her a tight smile and moved around the car but was stopped by her yelling.

"Wait! Steve, wait!"

I looked up just in time to see her running at me, dark hair streaming behind her before she jumped into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her waist and felt her legs tighten on my hips, holding herself up. Her hands were warm on the side of my face, her lips soft against mine. She broke away after a moment, moving just far enough to tip our foreheads together.

"I couldn't just let you leave," she murmured, "if you still want to try, I do too."

"Yeah," I murmured, a slow smile stretching across my face, "yes. I want to give us a shot."

I could see Billy's smug grin from the other side of the car. He must have said something to her, the bastard.

-- March

"Hey, it's okay, Riley. I understand. We'll see each other next weekend though?"

"Of course," she replied, voice soft and sleepy, "we'll have a movie marathon?"

"Anything you want, I'll load up on snacks just for you."

She hummed, "ice cream too?"

I smirked, laughing softly, "super fudge chunk?"

"You listen so well."

I smiled, "night, Riley."

"Night, Steve."

I hung up and walked out into Billy's living room, still smiling. He was sitting on the couch, fiddling with the Xbox controller in his hands.

"Took you long enough," he teased, "thought this was boy's night."

"Sorry, Riley was just letting me know she can't come this weekend. Family stuff."

"Well, you can hang with Katrina and I. She's been a little spacey so we're just staying in."

I flopped down beside him, "she okay? Do you think it's cause of what happened?"

He shrugged, "she says she's fine, thinks it's just stress."

--

I could barely contain myself as the minutes ticked down to when Riley was supposed to be here. I had taken forever to set everything up. Snacks covered my kitchen counter, dinner was waiting on the stove, ice cream was in the freezer. I'd even built a blanket fort in my living room, though I was starting to second guess that decision. Whenever I'd done things like this for Nancy, she always said it was too much. Too childish.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a knock at the door. There was no backing out now.

I swung the door open to see Riley, a duffel bag over one shoulder and a big smile on her face.

She dropped her bag inside the door to wrap her arms around my neck and give me a soft kiss before murmuring, "it smells amazing in here."

I stepped backwards, leading her into my apartment and closed the door behind her, "I made breakfast."

She hummed, "breakfast for dinner? I love it."

She broke away from me and stopped, staring at the living room, "oh my god."

"It's too much isn't it? I'm sorry, I can take it down."

She shook her head and turned to smile at me, "no, it's perfect."

I kissed her again before going to the kitchen to start dishing up our food.

Riley padded up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist, "so, what did you make us?"

"French toast, I used Katrina's recipe, Billy swears it's the best thing he's ever had, scrambled eggs and sausages. I hope that's okay. I have snacks and ice cream too."

"Steve," she soothed, running her hands up and down my chest, "everything is perfect. Relax."

I let my shoulders drop, let out a long breath and held a plate out to the side for her, "what movies did you bring?"

She let go of me to grab the plate, "I figured I'd start you out with a funny movie so I brought 21 Jump Street to watch first. Then I have Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

I smirked, "isn't that a little backwards? Don't you leave the funny movie for after the horror?"

She shook her head, "if I did that, you wouldn't need me to comfort you."

-- April

"Thanks for coming to get me," Katrina murmured, wincing when the seat belt of my car put pressure on her bandages.

"Yeah, no problem."

We were quiet as I started to drive towards Katrina and Billy's apartment building. We were about halfway there when I cleared my throat.

"Why didn't you call Billy?"

"I didn't want to give him another reason to worry about me."

"He's worried anyway, he called me saying you were hurt and disappeared. Maybe I should call Riley, get her to talk to Audrey.."

"No!" She turned to me, "no, don't do that. I'm fine, I promise. It's just stress or anxiety or something."

I glanced over at her and huffed, "okay.."

-- May

"Bye, Audrey! Bye, Brooke!" I called from the the front door of their house.

I could hear them call back as I backed away from the door, Riley trailing behind me. She followed me to my car and leaned into my chest after I'd thrown my bag in the backseat.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head, "it's just a few weeks, it'll go by fast, you'll see."

She sighed, "I know, it just sucks."

I ran my hand up and down her back, "I know, but Billy said Katrina needs to get away from the city for a bit and we planned for the three of us to go."

She looked up at me, "call me though?"

"Of course. I'll call you so much you'll be sick of me."

She smiled, "love you, Steve."

I leaned down to kiss her gently, "love you, Riley."

I made a mental note as I drove away to get something delivered to her house every weekend we were apart, just to make her smile.

@charmed-asylum @champagnesugamama @alias-b

[rogue-barnes-16]

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF NATASHA ROMANOFF (part IV/?)

Summary: after the too convenient disappearance of Natasha Romanoff, the Avengers —a local biker gang— search for help in the most unexpected place in order to get their friend back. Will it help, or will the situation just get more twisted and dangerous?

Pairing: Biker!Bucky Barnes x reader

Genre: angst-ish (biker gang au)

Tags:

The mysterious disappearance of Natasha Romanoff: @shirukitsune @retrxbarnes @montypythonsholysnail

Permanent taglist: @notexactlythatgirl @thisismysecrethappyplace @sofreakinmanyfandoms @pizzarollpatrol @bubblycypress87 @1a-girl-has-no-name1 @loislp @lovenaturefirst @dyanna-corona @2ptonpt @goodnightmode @disneyprincessbuffyannesummers @mannls @cutie1365 @catch22inareddress @mybooradley @sebastianisasnack @butifulsoul125 @unlikelygalaxygiver

Warnings: language

A/N: I'm hella tired so this probably got typos I'm sorry babes. Might edit tomorrow, but I'm not sure. 70% sure that I'll end up leaving it like it is. I'm a mess lol, enjoy it loves <3.

The mysterious disappearance of Natasha Romanoff masterlist

Rogue-barnes-16 masterlist

BUCKY'S P. O. V.

I had reached home before Y/n and Clint, probably because the man had decided to go slower and more careful due to Y/n riding with him.

Clint used to be always so protective of her, he still was.

The blond man took the fiery girl under his wing as soon as we both started to date, treating her like a little sister, even if that meant arguing with me or lecturing the shit out of her.

Now Y/n could barely trust Clint anymore, and I had to carry that weight over my shoulders, just like I had been carrying it for the past year.

I lost my train of thought when the roaring engine of Clint's bike got louder and louder, until I was able to see them, seconds before the bike was parked.

She climbed off first, and was closely followed by Clint, who came directly to me, stopping just an instant long enough to spat on my face "next time I'll take her to grab a goddamn coffee, and you'll fuckin' stay here."

After that, he passed by me and walked up the few wooden stairs of my porch to open the main door.

"He's mad." Y/n stated, intentionally slowing her steps right before reaching my side, probably for me to take the cue and fall into step with her.

"Yeah." I replied shortly, walking to the door, left open by Clint. "you both got plenty of reasons to be pissed at me."

I didn't need to look at her to know she was about to say something she needed a second to think of.

"Not really. At least not this time." I steal a side glance at her, just in time to catch a casual shrug accompanied by a peek at my form. "You were just being honest with me, so yeah."

I really didn't know what to reply to that statement, which caught me completely off guard.

"Listen" she kept going as we entered the hall "I'm running on three hours of sleep and a bad coffee, so don't take anything personal." she added jokingly, which surprised me even more.

"I'm running on zero hours of sleep and a bad coffee." I finally responded, taking off my leather jacket to leave it on the coat rack. "So don't worry 'bout that."

She nodded understanding whilst handing me the helmet for me to lay it besides mine. "Did you find anything so far?"

" 'Bout Tasha or 'bout the mole?"

"Both, I guess."

I shook my head no before motioning her to climb upstairs, which she quickly complied, allowing me to follow her.

"Nothin' useful." I answered as we entered the living room, where Sam and Steve were waiting. "Where's Rhodey?"

"Sleepin'." Sam informed us, giving Y/n a quick glance before letting his brown eyes come back to me. "Clint's gone upstairs to get your laptop."

"What're y'all planning on doing with a laptop, Google Natasha's location?" Y/n questioned sarcastically, and when all eyes were on her, she realized what she had just said. "I'm sorry I just... No filters when I'm tired."

Sam shook his head dismissively, throwing himself back to the couch. " 'S okay. We're all in the same mood right now."

"That's great," Y/n nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "we'll sass the shit out of each other until we pass out." she ran her fingers through her hair. "what you gonna do with the laptop?"

"Us? Nothin'." Steve replied, leaning over and resting his elbows on his thighs. "You're the one who gotta use it."

She frowned, glancing at me before taking off her jacket and throwing it over the chair's backrest. "Care to explain?" she sat down in one of the couches.

"Can you hack Natasha's phone?" Sam requested as Clint entered the room silent with the only goal to leave the laptop over the coffee table.

"I mean-" she knew she could, we all knew that was child's play for her, something she'd do with her eyes closed, but Sam wasn't asking if she was able to do that.

He was asking if she was willing to do that.

Y/n pursed her lips and squinted her eyes, thinking how should she abord it before giving us a reply.

"Yeah... Yeah I can, but it'll take me a while." she finally answered. "it's been months since I did something like this, and I'm hella tired."

"It's fine," Steve assured her "just take your time."

"No, man" Clint retorted, spinning around to face the blond former soldier. "don't tell her that when-- no, alright?" he turned back to Y/n with distress peeking out of his eyes. "you gotta be as fast as possible."

"Barton-" Sam warned him.

"He's right, though, don't sugarcoat it." she interrupted, well aware that we had little time to find our friend, and the more time she took to do this, the lesser possibilities of finding the redhead we had. "If I'm not quick, we're fucked."

I crossed my arms and shared a rather worried look with Steve before letting my eyes travel to Y/n.

"right?" she rhetorically questioned as her eyes got locked with mine for a hot second.

The stressed out look on her face as she stared at me made me desperately want to take some of pressure we have just placed over her, off her shoulders, but I really had no way to do that.

She felt that, I saw it in her eyes just as she looked away.

"Anyways" she cleared her throat and started typing the password she, apparently, still remembered. "Let's..." she made the briefest pause, peeked at me, and then kept talking. "get to it."

I realized too late that I hadn't changed the laptop's home screen yet; that picture of her, becs and me messing around after a fun night at the bar was still there.

I almost felt like I was going to blush.

Just as she stared typing, a phone rang.

"Shit."

Her phone, to be more precise.

She picked it out of her pocket to check who was calling, and suddenly her face somehow dropped when she saw the screen.

"Fuck... Okay, hold on-" she left the laptop back over the coffee table and, getting up, she picked up the call. "Hey."

Silence.

"Yeah, just a 'hey'. What were you expecting, honestly?" She opened her eyes widely and clenched her jaw. "two weeks, no calls. You really don't deserve anything but a 'hey'."

I looked at her confused while the rest of the boys exchanged looks.

She huffed. "yeah well, good mornin' to you." whoever it was, they were making her fume. "listen, it's really not the greatest time for-" she pinched the bridge of her nose. "no-- yeah- yeah now I get to choose when's a good time for this-- Don't 'babe' me 'cause I swear to fucking—" walking to the door, she mouthed a 'gimme a second' to me. "you have 30 seconds, I really don't have time for this— yeah I don't have time for you-- no, don't play the victim here."

READER'S P. O. V.

"Are you serious right now?" my silence as a reply gave him the cue that I wasn't bluffing at all. He had 30 seconds and then I would hang up. "Fuck 'kay listen, I'm sorry or whatever, but I came to your place so I can take you to have a nice breakfast and sort this out, and you're not here and I wanna know why."

I stole a guilty peek at Bucky, whose worried yet confused eyes were laid on my form.

"Your bed's a mess, your clothes are all over the place and-" I could almost see the gears in his head turning just a little bit slower than mine. "did you cheat on me?"

"Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Where are you."

I hesitated for a moment before turning my back to the boys and slightly lowering my voice tone. "I'm at my ex's."

"what the hell do you wan' me to think right now, Y/n?"

"well, not what you're fucking thinking 'cause that's ridiculous as hell." I took a deep breath, regretting my next sentences before they had even left my lips. "a friend's in trouble, alright? I'm helpin'-"

"Your ex. Your helping your fucking ex."

BUCKY'S P. O. V.

I approached the door and rested my side against the door frame, silently checking up on her.

She only held up a finger in front of me, signaling me that she needed a little bit more "Listen, babe."

I froze at those two words, and I felt Steve's, Sam's and Clint's eyes on me the moment they caught the pet name.

"You're fucking jealous-- I said what I said- you're jealous, and I don't have forces to put up with this shit." she ran her fingers through her hair. "3 hours. Don't act like you give a damn-- I'm fine- no, you're not picking me up." her hand ran over her face in desperation. "well you waited two fuckin' weeks darling, you can wait a few hours right? Bye."

She sighed as she hang up, throwing her phone back into her pocket.

"everythin' alright?" I questioned in a low tone.

She stayed there for a second, looking at me before nodding. "Yeah, don't worry." she sighed again and passed by me, taking her seat back. " 'Kay guys, I have until lunch to finish, so you better give me whatever I request real quick, alright?"

"Why?" Clint questioned.

"Gotta have lunch with my boyfriend."

[fal-carrington]

Just Friends Pt.3

Pairing: KamilahxMc

Disclaimer: The characters are NOT mine, they belong to PB

Prompt: “She was able to catch your eye at the minute she stepped into the same environment as you. She was gorgeous, kind, interesting, brilliant and... Single. I never thought my type would be a serious, tall woman, who loved suits, with straight hair down her shoulders and beautiful brown eyes until I met her. It was very easy to fall in love with Kamilah Sayeed, the CEO, billionaire, she was out everyone’s league, the difficult part of the task was to make her love you back. But this was a task that I was more than happy to accomplish”

A/N: This is my newest work, I'm working on this fanfic which is basically the fluff / smut style, since you guys filled my message box with requests for smuts and I've only been writing so much angst lately XD This is for all the anons who asked this ❤️Anyway I have not abandoned my previous works, which will eventually be posted. The events occur after the battle against Vega

Ahmanet Financial

Kamilah’s pov

"Are you free tonight?" Hayley asked softly on the other end of the line.

"That depends on your definition of free,” I replied as I reviewed some contracts that were on my desk. It was about 18:00 pm when Hayley called. She was anxious, I could feel it in her voice. I had to admit that hearing her voice for the first time that week was very good, but I would not say that to her.

"Oh, come on. I have plans for us today, if you are available. And before you arrange any excuses, I've already asked Adrian and you both has no council meeting scheduled for today. So there's no place you can runaway, Miss Sayeed” She said boldly and I smiled at that.

"Us?" I asked, frowning with that unexpected word. “I have to admit I’m surprised with your call.” I said.

“Since you did not show up at the office this week, I found myself thinking about you and I thought it would be nice if I called you..."

"So you admit that you were thinking about me?" I teased with a smile on my face. She was thinking of me, that precious little human thing, how she always capable of surprising me. In my time of life, only few people were able to surprise me, but Hayley did it with great ease. She was impulsive, young, stubborn and extremely unpredictable.

"I... Um... Kamilah!"

"You said so."

"I didn’t meant that—“

"Oh, I think you did. It’s alright. I'm not mad at you thinking of me," I said with a smile and I heard her sigh.

"Yeah...Um... I ... I was just referring in case of the two of us... You know, maybe we could—" I smiled involuntarily, as I heard her stammer, imagining that cute red blush on her cheeks. "...You know, maybe we could go out and do something nice.”

"You know, I'm busy now, right?" I told Hayley, holding my phone in my ear.

"I know, I know! But you're always busy! And I do not want to bother, but you said you would release a day on your agenda,” she said, remembering my words perfectly, I sighed.

"I think I underestimated your memory. May I ask what your plans are?"

"So you're interested?" She asked, laughing.

"Maybe," I said with my eyes on my computer.

"I can guarantee you'll have fun," she said excitedly. "Sooo... Are you considering leaving work early for us spending some time together?"

I spent a few seconds reconsidering that, a part of me strangely was eager to spend time with her. And the other part thought that going out early work would not be a very responsible act on my part.

I sighed. I could hear her breathing perfectly on the other end of the line, eagerly awaiting for the answer. I wanted that. I really wanted spending so time with that young mortal. Who am I and what have I done to Kamilah Sayeed?

The irresponsible part won obviously, that was exclusively Hayley’s fault. Spending so much time like this with her, make that effect on me.

"Okay, I believe I can release my agenda for you, Miss O'Connell."

"Thank you, Miss Sayeed. You will not regret it.” She said and I could feel the smile in her voice.

Hayley’s pov.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Kamilah asked as she drove through the streets of Manhattan.

I looked at her. She was unbelievably beautiful that night, which was not much of a struggle for her, but today she wore something different and casual that fits her nicely. She wore a white Gucci sweater, skinny jeans, oh my god, Kamilah was in jeans... She looked fantastic in jeans.

"It's a surprise! It would not be fun if I told you,” I said with a smile. I was grateful that she had not chosen a more formal look because the place I chose was far from something she was accustomed to.

"Can I at least know what we're going to do on Chinatown?" She asked curiously.

"Let's have fun! It'll be cool, Lily and I we used to go there all the time,” I said excitedly.

"I hope it's worth the time of drive." She said with her eyes on the street.

"Don’t worry." I touched lightly on her hand that was on top of the cambio. Kamilah stiffened, but did not take her hand under mine. "You worry too much when things are out of your control, right?" I said with a smile.

"Just a little," she said with a small smile. Stroking my hand lightly. “You look beautiful, by the way.” Kamilah said casually, and I felt my cheeks burn and my ears turn red. "And here we go, you're blushing again." She laughed.

Another twenty-five minutes of traffic and finally we arrived at our destination. Kamilah looked around at people walking through the streets and fireworks scattered around the shops, all well-colored, music echoing from everywhere.

"Can you explain now what we're doing in Chinatown?" She said impatiently again.

"Park there!" I said pointing to a spot that was a few feet from us. Kamilah rolled her eyes, but did as I said and parked the car.

I got out of the car and threw the handle of my bag over my shoulder. Today I had chosen something for myself, Lily was not at home so I had to turn myself, then I chose something more my style. A black tank top with several necklaces on my neck, shabby jeans with all star and my cross purse plus my beige leather jacket hanging on it. Kamilah got out of the car still looking around, as she was in a hostile environment, I believe she's never been here before.

"Come on, it's going to be fun. I'll introduce you to my favorite restaurant.” I said excitedly.

"Your animation is definitely contagious." She watched around and started to walk beside me. "I've never been here before."

"I love this place. It’s amazing"

"Is that so?" She replied with her eyes narrowed. She was so close. Oh my god, she smelled so good. That perfume...

"Oh, serious? Has not Mama Sayeed taught little Kamilah not to judge without knowing?” I asked with folded arms, standing in front of her. She studied me for a few seconds, before letting out a laugh that made me smile.

"For your government..." She said approaching me until we were inches from each other. Being so close to her kept me from forming concrete thoughts. "...My mother never said that." She said her lips so close to mine, her beautiful brown eyes burning mine.

"Sometimes I forget you're royalty, ma'am. I bet you had a lot of servants to straighten your shiny, moisturized hair with a comb, you have until today.” I said with a boldly smile and kept walking beside her.

"Not that it's in your best interest, but my hair is naturally smooth..." She said walking beside me, I could feel the smile in her voice. "But you're right, they used to comb my hair, but it was me who held the extra comb." I laughed out loud.

"I can not believe you're joking." I touched her warm hand, curling my fingers into hers.

"You're a bad influence," she said with a smile.

We went to my favorite restaurant, and I must say the food was great. They always surprise me every time. Kamilah tried not to show, but I'm sure she liked it. After dinner we walked the streets and watched the fireworks, we bought ice cream, which made the evening even better. When was almost midnight Kamilah stopped the car in front of my apartment and I saw the light of the room lit, Lily had already arrived.

"I hope you enjoyed it," I said looking at her. Kamilah smiled, a small smile, and I saw a sparkle in her brown eyes.

"Very much," she said. "But, if you do not mind..." She leaned forward, touching my face, I swallowed hard as she approached. Kamilah kissed me then, her lips were soft and her perfume made me lose my senses. At first she was gentle, but as the seconds passed, the kiss became rough, and when I found myself, I was out of breath, my tongue against hers, my mind spinning, and clinging to Kamilah's sweater. "Let's go to my house," she said between kisses.

"But, I told Lily..." I stopped kissing her breathlessly and looked at her. Kamilah looked back at me with pure desire in that brown eyes. Fuck. Was that what I was supposed to do? I mean, it's our second date, but we already sleep together. Twice. And just now we were going out, if I lower my guard now... would that be wrong? Oh fuck, but she's looking at me with those eyes, I can not even breathe when she looks at me like that She wanted me and I wanted her. "... Forget what I said, let's go to your house.” I said impulsively and Kamilah opened a widely grin.

Lily and Hayley's apartment 9am

I unlocked the front door and entered the apartment, closing the door behind me. Still with a smile on my face and with the memories of last night in my mind.

"Look who's come, if it's not the Obi-wan of sex." Lily greeted me with a sly grin on her face as she made pancakes. I felt my face turn red, left my purse on the armchair, and approached the counter.

"Obi-wan of sex?" I frowned at her. Trying not to turn red, obviously staying the same way.

"You are obi-wan and Kamilah is clearly Yoda. How was last night? You not came home,” she said with a laugh. She and her Star Wars references.

"Ah ... Um ... It was good. We talked a lot. She is pretty funny"

"My ass you both kept talking all night. You smell like sex girl, I smell her perfume on you, it's really good, by the way.” she said with a laugh. "I bet Kamilah bang you yesterday. You're even with a hickey on the neck.” She said pointing at me with a spatula, I tried to cover it uselessly.

"Lily! This is not a hickey here! This here... Is... accidentally I fell." I said embarrassed.

"I bet it fell down. In Kamilah's bed, that’s right,” she said with a laugh and I covered my face. “Girl look at yourself you look red as tomato. But if want to keep acting like nothing happened, so nothing happened.” She gave me a wink with a smile.

Ahmanet Financial 7pm

It had already been two months of weekly dates, sex nights at Kamilah's house, outside our relationship, the only person who knew was Lily. And it's been great, all the time I spend with her, my feelings only increase, if that's even possible. I could almost say we were dating, things have been going very slowly between us. Kamilah was not a big fan of the G word. So today I decided to briefly go over at her job to see her before going out with Lily for a girls night, since Adrian had given me the night off.

"Honestly, I do not care," she said as I walked beside her through the hallways of her office. She was dazzling in her black suit that looked perfect on her body, her black blouse had a neckline that valued her breasts, and I swear I had to stop staring. "Hayley, serious? Could not you send me a message instead of coming to my work to say you're going out with Lily?” She said.

"Hey, one day you'll thank me for giving you satisfaction where I'm going to you. And you do not check your cell phone at night, what would be the purpose? Besides, I wanted to see you.”

"That's cute, but I'm working." She stopped in front of her office door. A young brunette girl who seemed to be older than I was standing watching, with a tablet in hand.

"Hi!" I said as I caught her looking and her cheeks burned as she was caught looking at us. I reached out my hand and she hurried to squeeze it

"Hi, I'm Karen. Mrs. Sayeed's assistant." She said with a smile.

"We were finally introduced. I'm Hayley, Kamilah's future girlfriend. Nice to meet you,” I said and saw the horror in Kamilah's eyes. Karen tried to hold back the laughter.

"We're just friends," Kamilah said, trying to correct me seriously.

"Anyway, she is, but I’m not. How long have you worked here?"

"Ten years," she said.

"Holy shit. You've been working here for a long time, tell me, the job comes with a health plan, a dental plan?”

"Okay, Hayley. I have to work and you have to do whatever it is, come on.” Kamilah said pulling me into the elevator.

“Bye Karen!” I stopped in front of the elevator. "But I did not even tell you where I'm going with Lily tonight," I said looking at her.

"OK. Where are you going? "She asked impatiently with her hands on her hips. I prepared myself for her response after what I was about to say.

"So... Priya invited me to come to her club. Basically, we are going to one of Priya's shows,” I said, and at that moment I saw her features change. Kamilah's look of impatience turned to hidden anger behind those brown eyes.

"Are you serious?" She said.

"I came to warn you and ask if everything was fine. I know you and Priya are not very close," I said, watching her features. Kamilah sighed and ran her hand over her face.

“Oh, come on. It's just a show, and it's going to have electronic music and drinks, it's going to be amazing” I said excitedly.

"Of course not, why would bother me. You going to one of Priya’s shows, knowing perfectly what my feelings are towards that particular person and how she behaves when you're around?"

“Yeah...?”

"Go ahead then. If you want.” She shrugged.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Um... So we're cool about that?"

"Sure why not?" She snapped angrily.

"Alright then! I'll call you when I get home.” I said with a smile and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, stepping into the elevator.