#Also: how to make the neutral final boss shorter:

[sillygoofyboii]

So uhhhh small update on my uty playthrough we got through neutral run! The hardest part was probably that stupid mini game for stirring the acid. Flowey just sitting there like “uhhhhh” while watching Clover tweaking over not-pacman/not-snake. My sister was also sad she couldn’t do the hello campers Chris McLean voice for the Steamworks productivity bot :( Anyways- We all agreed that the ending Axis gets in neutral is kinda better than pacifist (sorry daisy), Flowey is kinda fucked up, slurpy gives rouxls kard vibes, and jschlatt would play I think Mo in a voiceacted uty. We are gonna watch a playthrough of geno soon sooooo yippee!

[apihtawtoussaint]

Okay, okay, okay. Hades 2 but Lord of the Rings?

Hear me out; Legolas in Aman going through the Halls of Mandos to meet with Gimli in the Dwarven Halls after his death for a few moments before being kicked back out for being a living Elf.

The hub would be in Aman, maybe on Ezellohar for the drama? Fingon Astaldo and Elrond would be initially Legolas' biggest supporters. Elrond just because he's like that, and Fingon has a vested interest in seeing if it can be done. Galadriel would be neutral initially, but Legolas would win her over and after a number of runs she'd arrange for armour and equipment buffs.

Daeron and Thranduil could also be around for colour commentary. Thranduil would disaprove and just be there to make it known how hard he was disaproving.

Boons would be from the Valar; Aulë would be the first to provide assistance. He'd be all for this nonsense. The others would join in once they noticed that Mandos was letting this happen, and isn't that just the darndest thing? The Doomsman must have some knowledge that he isn't sharing.

The first section would be the rooms of the main waiting area of The Halls. Where most Elves are waiting to be reimbodied. Most enemies would be Elves who had fallen in battle and haven't fullen become consicous again yet.

There'd be lots of colourful tapistries everywhere, and Vairë could serve as the merchant. You'd trad spider silk or some other weaving material with her in exchange for whatever she had.

I'm not certain who the friendly encounter would be, perhaps Gil Galad?

The boss at the end, Huan I think. We're just accepting he'd be here, magic dog. He'd be very conflicted, Celegorm is in the next section of the Halls and he wants to keep Legolas away from him. After the Luthièn business, I think Huan would disavow Celegorm but he spent centuries as his protector and friend; very difficult scenario especially for a dog. Caught between his warring instincts, Huan would guard this section and wouldn't let anyone in or out without a fight.

After beating him, the mid sectiom would be for those who will be in the Halls for a real long stint. The Fëanorian Section.

Parts would be in flames (the ships) and others frozen (the grinding ice). Enemies would be restless, angry spirts who had been murdered in some way because of the Silmarils.

The friendly encounter wouls be my guy, Maedhros, of course. Very similar path to Achilles and Patroclus in Hades.

Maybe Eöl or Maeglin as a miniboss?

At the end of the section would be Fëanor, chained up and very angry about it. He wouldn't be able to do much, but one of his C sons would also be there (Celegorm, Curufin, or Carnister) and would be compelled to fight you on his behalf.

Once Legolas was done with him, he's have to sneak around the edges of the Halls, close to the Void.

Here there be monsters. Werewolves, spiders, vampires, orcs, the whole gang's here.

The friendly encounter? You know what? Ungoliant.

And the boss to get through to get to the Halls of Mahal wouod be Durin's Bane himself. Big ol' balrog.

Then would be a shorter maze of Dwarven traps that were mostly made just to pass the time.

And then finally, biggest boss, Mandos the Doomsman (but he's not being super serious about it, Legolas still has a chance)

30 runs later, once you've finally beaten him you get to go through the door. On the other sIde? Gimli.

But Legolas can't stay long term, so he gets brought back to Aman where he can try again. Because it's a roguelite.

[reenvisiongame]

Side Stories + About Liza

Time to talk about a new storytelling feature, as well as a certain shopkeeper!

Development on the shop system is still going steady! In fact, if all goes well, I have plans on showing that off in depth in the coming weeks. Being a solo developer, though, my attention must remain split across many fields, one of which being the writing department (especially important, as this is a story-driven game). This leads me to something that I don’t think I’ve really mentioned before...

In ReEnvision, there’s times where the story takes a break. This is usually done to create the illusion of time passing, as well as give the player some downtime to enjoy the world at their own pace. Stop and smell the roses, all that. These breaks are called “free times” (or “free periods”, I use the terms interchangeably). During these free times, one of the ways to end them is by completing a “side story”. As the name suggests, these are basically just story-driven side quests you can do. Think of how confidants work in the Persona series, it’s similar to that, but shorter!

During these side stories, you get some lovely time to spend with one of the 9 characters who have one. Establish a bond with them. Treat them kindly and by the end of the story, maybe you’ll get a reward! Who knows?

Of course, because this is ReEnvision, there’s still a bit of a challenge to this. You see, you don’t have endless breaks. This game has 3 different routes, and different amounts of free periods are available during them. In the true/neutral routes, you have 22-24 free times. In the bad route (also called the “erased” route), you only have 12.

Now, this doesn’t sound so bad... Except every side story takes up an entire free period. Most of them are also multi-parters, and some ALSO have prerequisites, so there’s a good chance you won’t be able to complete all of them in a single run solely because you messed up the order they’re loosely done in.

The best order to do them in is... Never told to you! So there’s some fun trial and error to do as well. These free periods are also spread across every chapter, so I hope you’re good at time management, too.

Don’t stress too hard, though! Completing every side story isn’t a requirement to beat the game. Feel free to only do the ones you want (as long as they’re unlocked, of course). You don’t even have to do any of them, if you don’t want to! I wrote the main storyline under the assumption that there will be at least ONE person who ignores every single free period, so although it’s suggested you take advantage of them, you won’t be lost in the story if you decide not to.

However, I do have plans on adding steam achievements, and completing every side story will be a requirement for a few of them. So... Have fun with that :)

ANYWAY, enough about the suffering of future completionists, let’s talk Liza!

My attention this month has been split between the shop system, which uses Liza as a test subject, and Liza’s side story, which has 3 parts to it. This month has felt like a Liza Appreciation Month™ because of it. It’s about to turn into two months, though, as although my time developing the shop system will finally be ending soon, my time with Liza isn’t done yet!

In April, I will begin developing a boss fight for the game, just to see how I should go about making them in the future. I didn’t feel like making a new set of sprites just to test this with the game’s very first boss, so I decided to make use of one of the bosses that are already in the game at the moment. Can you guess who it is?

That’s right, Liza! She’s not only the game’s main shopkeeper, but also the second boss of the entire game.

This boss fight will probably take a while to develop, largely because sprites take forever to create. But when Liza’s finally in action on the arena, I’m sure it’ll be super fun to see! This year is the year that development finally starts getting exciting, and we’re only just starting >:D

[alynnl]

Live A Live Remake: Thoughts

It’s been roughly three weeks since I played through all of the Live A Live remake for the Switch.  It was a fun little game, just way shorter than what I’m used to.  I’m going to give my thoughts on all the different eras, as well as the final area.  Spoilers ahead, as I will be talking about all chapters and endgame!  I will be talking about every era in terms of gameplay and story.

Prehistory: Out of all of them, this one plays the most like a standard fantasy RPG.  You fight monsters to get healing items and materials to forge better weapons.  You have a party with their strengths and weaknesses, and of course a final boss showdown at the end of the chapter.

Story-wise it’s also pretty typical of RPGs.  Boy meets girl, girl has problems, boy tries helping girl and also gets into problems, girl gets captured, boy saves her, boy and his friends fight big monster, and they live happily ever after.  The twist to prehistory is that all of this is told without words and dialogue, so the story is instead told by emotes and gestures.  I thought that was a great creative decision, and it makes me believe that this is a time before words as we know them.  Pogo as a character is kind of endearing, but not gonna lie, he’s also thirsty if ya know what I mean.

Imperial China:  Gameplay wise, this one also has more of a JRPG flavor.  You have your main character, you have three others who can join your party at first, and then you have encounters that you can avoid, and items to gather.  It also plays on the “duel” mechanic some RPGs have, where there are one-on-one fights against opponents.

This one plays on a lot of kung fu movie tropes from what I can see.  You have the wise mentor and then the promising disciples, and the whole idea of what it means to be a martial artist.  There are people who use their kung fu for good reasons and bad, it all depends on the heart of the person.  The plot twist of only one disciple surviving an attack from a rival dojo (really, a gang if you think about it) was handled really well, and it’s interesting that the player has a choice and the survivor is not scripted for later replays.  The Earthen Heart Shifu himself is not portrayed as perfect and he makes mistakes, but overall he is a man who just wants his style of martial arts to live on.

The Twilight of Edo Japan: The gameplay mechanics in this one are very interesting.  It’s a mix between RPG combat and stealth, and you really have the option to pick your battles, so to say.  Then there’s a counter showing how many lives you’ve taken in battle, and even when you’re forced into a fight, there’s the option to run away.  One can do a “kill ‘em all” run, a pacifist run, or a neutral run.

Story-wise we’re given all the trappings of any Japanese fantasy.  There’s clans fighting one another, ninjas, and samurai.  (Although it’s pretty cool that the playable samurai in this one also has a gun, which is accurate for the time period!)  It’s a story about shaping Japan’s future.  Whether it’s a new dawn or storm clouds are on the horizon is up to you.  Either way, Oboromaru takes his role as a shinobi seriously and he’s determined to see his mission through.

The Wild West: I wanted to like this chapter.  I wanted to love this chapter.  But gameplay wise it was very difficult for a first-time player.  Because right after you see the cutscenes and you're introduced to the characters and the town, you have a timed mission.  That’s right, a timed mission to set traps before the boss and his cronies come, and if you don’t set enough traps correctly, you will have a monster of a boss fight on your hands.  I will be up front and say I used a guide because sometimes, that’s how you have to get things done.

Story-wise I did like this chapter though.  That’s what it’s got going for it, despite the difficulty curve.  Sundown doesn’t know any of the people in the town of Success, but he’s still willing to stop there and lend a hand and help them deal with a band of outlaws that have been terrorizing them.  There’s some back and forth between him and his rival, Mad Dog that I really enjoy, and there’s a choice you can make in the ending (to flee the last duel and spare Mad Dog) that makes it just worth it to replay at least one more time.

Present Day:  Gameplay wise, Present day is  like a fighting game.  Think Street Fighter, or Tekken but with the twist that you get to learn your opponents’ techniques if they use them on you.  I like how you get unlimited tries to do this, so that you can learn every skill your rivals have to offer (I know I wanted to get them all.)  The boss at the end is challenging enough to make it interesting, but if you picked up all the skills, he’s not unbeatable.

Story-wise, it’s fairly simple.  Masaru wants to be the strongest warrior, so  he challenges masters of various martial arts to learn from them and use their techniques.  It’s implied that he’s always going to be fighting for this title of The Strongest, as he faces another challenger immediately after the boss.  I think I get what the story was going for.  Being the best is a constant struggle, and sooner or later, someone else is going to rise to the top.

The Near Future: This one reminded me a bit of modern day Golden Sun!  You have different elemental powers that you use in battle, and you’re also able to read others’ minds and find out different flavor text from them.  There’s also a hint of Magitek gameplay when you get control of the Steel Titan later on.  All around solid, easy to pick up gameplay that sometimes makes you feel really powerful.

Plot-wise, I really enjoyed this story.  But that’s only because I love mecha in general and it fills me with a lot of nostalgia.  At first Akira isn’t sure what to do with his life and he’s sort of an outcast for the whole “reading minds” deal, but then he’s able to prove himself a hero when he finally takes control of the Steel Titan and goes to smack a corrupted God back into oblivion.  Imagine conspiring to bring back a mad god, only to have a mouthy mind-reading punk pound it with mecha.  Amazing.

The Distant Future:  Gameplay wise it’s a lot of dialogue, looking for clues, and later, running.  Essentially it plays like a futuristic survival horror.  There’s a conspiracy and it’s up to you to find clues to uncover it, all while being chased by a monster that will meet you with instant death if it touches you.  You have no weapons, just places to hide.

Story wise I swear it felt like Space Odyssey: 2001 the video game.  You have a crew who go in and out of cryo-sleep, you have inventors and you have an AI gone rogue.  There is discord among the crew and a sort of whodunit plot, and it all culminates in a confrontation with the computer OD-10, that decides it was going to murder people because they weren’t working in perfect harmony.  Cube has to fight for their life, and the lives of the two remaining survivors: their creator Kato and the soldier Darthe (who despised Cube at first but opens up to them later.)  Ultimately Cube’s story values the robot’s kindness over any physical strength or violence.

The Medieval Era: Gameplay wise you couldn’t get more standard of an RPG at first.  You’re in a fantasy medieval setting, with your main character Oersted being a knight who goes on a quest to rescue the princess Alethea from a demon lord that was defeated by a great hero in the past.  There is the “epic quest” aspect of the gameplay, traveling the world, finding party members and fighting random encounters.  Even after the plot happens and the party members dwindle, the swords and sorcery gameplay remains.

Story wise, I got spoiled.  But I was still in awe to actually see it on screen.  What I expected was a happy Dragon Quest like fantasy, where the hero saved the princess with the help of his friends and everyone lived happily ever after.  What I got instead was a Shakespearean tragedy.  In the course of the story, everyone important to Oersted either betrays him or dies, sometimes both at the same time.  All of the loss, hatred and pain leads Oersted, once champion of his realm into becoming the Lord of Dark himself, lashing out against everyone who wronged him with newfound dark power.  It is heartbreaking to see his attempts to do the right thing at every turn just backfire against him, making it almost understandable that he is driven to villainy (although hermit life could’ve also been an option and I’ll stand by that as an AU possibility.)

The Final Chapter: Plot-wise and gameplay wise, it feels very open world.  The protagonists from the different eras are brought together in the Dominion of Hate, which is just Oersted’s former kingdom brought to ruin.  Technically the only place you have to go is the dark mountain to face off against Odio (who’s completely taken over Oersted by now.)  But the different areas of the ruined kingdom and all the different trials your seven protagonists can take on really put me in mind of Ocarina of time and the Sages’ temples.  Every trial you take on gives you an ultimate weapon for that character, which is crucial to the ending.  And whoever you choose to lead the finale will personally confront Oersted after you do the true final boss battle.  There are so many different ways the final chapter could go, and each one is worth exploring.

[computerkit]

i played toree & toree 2 a few days ago and i did not like either all too much i think. for reference they are small short indie 3d platformer games. thoughts below read more, it kinda long!

toree 3D, i liked the environments, like i thought they looked good, but i wouldnt say it was particularly 'fun'.. being toree is not very fun to me, you are not too fast and the jumps are always a little shorter than you're expecting them to be. i didn't feel i had incentive to replay or do better on levels, either ... there IS a ranking mechanic but its so strict that i actually thought it was just a joke where you could only get a "C" no matter how well you did.. and the level design, well, i am no expert, but i feel like maybe in its quest to emulate old stuff it is dropping in stuff that is accurate but not really fun or the stuff that anyone particularly liked about these old games. like the elevators, which you just get on and wait until they drop you off at the next elevator, and if you fall off then you have to do the elevators again.. i also remember a lot of 'struggling not to accidentally fall off ledges', which, i guess is not inherently bad, but i dont really come to games for the feeling of 'i have to be careful or else'.. pairing the slippery ice section with skinny bridges and an attempted short time incentive felt like a cruel joke!!! there's also this creepy element which i feel really neutrally toward. i don't know, it doesn't go hard enough on it for me to have anything to say about it. i like that sort of thing sometimes but felt sort of artificial(?) and aimless. like dev had the idea to make a cute 3d platformer thats kind of creepy sometimes and then just went for it without really thinking about it or how to make it fit

i think the dev realized some of this stuff, cause toree 2 is a lot better. i still don't know that i'd say i 'like' it or 'have fun' playing it, but it could just be that it is too short for me to have warmed up to it, considering a lot of my enjoyment of things is actually based off of familiarity. there is a lot more "going fast", and consequently it doesnt feel crappy to be and move around as toree anymore. the ways you interact with the environment are a lot more to do with speed and height and a lot less to do with waiting or being careful now, which i thought was just better, although it could just be that it aligns more with my personal tastes. the ranking system was noticeably less strict, which made me consider trying to get better times on the levels, and the checkpoint + timing system was changed to be a bit more player friendly (maybe too much?). the dev must've thought the creepy stuff was maybe unnecessary too - it is much less prominent in toree 2. the identity of the whole game actually feels a lot different as a result of all this stuff, so it shows developer is learning and making choices. but i would say. that it feels. maybe too easy? in comparison to the first one? i dont know, it's hard to get good ranks, but you can typically do ok by just kinda blasting through stuff, which is fun but feels unearned i guess. maybe it could do by being a bit more like toree 1 in this regard - not player unfriendly but a little more challenging. i guess my sweet spot for difficulty was maybe the car levels in toree 1. However. this criticism. does NOT. Apply. To the final boss. initially i was pleased that it decided to add a final boss at all because, like i mentioned before, i thought toree 3d's ending was anticlimactic - but the final boss is actually just exponentially harder than literally anything else in the game. i havent even beat it yet. i tried for so long man. once "oh cool they are doing a boss this time" wore off there was simply no fun to be had in that fight. some of the attacks feel impossible to avoid and i think it goes on much too long. i think you have to get lucky in order to beat it, or maybe just be better than i am. either way, it's stopped me from playing any more of it.

i wouldnt say either of them are bad... but it obvious to me that the dev is learning. this means these first 2 games are flawed, but on the flipside, it means the dev is actively looking for ways to make the next one better... i played toree jolly jam, which released this year and is (basically) a single level. i liked the art more, and i thought it was definitely more fun and with a better atmosphere / feeling than either toree 1 or 2. in fact, just writing this i am somewhat feeling the urge to play it, which did not happen with the other games. toree does a little squash and stretch when jumping now, and there's a new dash / jump-to-object mechanic, both of which i'm not really sure if i like or not but i'm glad to see the dev experimenting. the camera is better too - i think it is obvious the dev took a look at and really thought about every aspect of this game in this installment. i feel this especially with my favorite change - you don't have to hold down shift to run anymore. that was something you had to do in toree 1 & 2 and i didn't really question it until jolly jam took away the run feature and made toree have 1 consistent speed and i realized 1) that i had not stopped running for the entire duration of both games and 2) that my hand was sore as hell. so. thank you for quality of life. genuinely made it inherently so much better to play just because its not Painful anymore LOL

i thought it was still a bit too easy as well (although yeah, again, i didnt get above a C hahaha - easy to start hard to master?) but i thought its clear that jolly jam is more focused on Cozy Speedy Good Times than it is Hardcore Platforming Challenge so that is not really problem i think. and the secrets were cute too. that 1 level makes me a lot more excited for toree saturn (the upcoming installment) than anything in toree 1 or 2 has, so if anyone reading this is considering playing toree, i'd say to just play jolly jam. it's free, too! although, the other games are 1 dollar each, and it's not christmas anymore either... hm.. hating on one dollar games.. am i being a grinch right now???

well thats it. this is all just because i got toree 1 & 2 through an itch.io bundle and cant leave a steam review but i like to beam my thoughts into the brains of the public

[erina-writes-headcanons]

Hello, can I request headcanon from Germany and Prussia with an S/O that, being higher, always charges them when they are distracted? (I believe in the supremacy of tall couples)

Gilbert Beilschmidt, Ludwig Beilschmidt, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo and Lovino Vargas with Tall S/O who Always Charges Them When They Are Distracted.

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A/N: Hello there Anon! I'm not sure if you want this headcanon as fluff or as a comedy because I can see that these characters would have a funny reaction when they are surprised with the S/O Antics. Anyway, I hope you like the final result.

Gender: Neutral

Warning: None

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Gilbert Beilschmidt - Prussia

It is canon that Gilbert Beilschmidt height is 177 centimetres, which is around 5'9 in feet which is kind of tall but not as tall as Netherland, which is 185 in height. Because of that, I can see he would have S/O who's higher than him.

With Gilbert's Personality, he would also nonstop make puns about how much tall you are. He would also give ridiculous nicknames, calling you beanpole, tower, or skyscraper.

However, if you are tall but still a little bit shorter than him below 177 centimetres. Gilbert still gonna tease you about your height as he would call you Shortie, Chibi (Shrimp), or Pipsqueak.

Because of his non-stop teasing and his height jokes towards you. You decide to do an act of revenge on your boyfriend to make him stop teasing you.

You have a genius idea of how to repay Gilbert's pranks as you realize that you can take an advantage of your height to prank him as the devil on your shoulder snickers.

You can imagine his expression when you are running up to him like a bull as he was distracted. It was one hundred percent worth it, seeing him shriek like a little girl.

Correct, you were charging up to him by running with a maximum speed as he was feeding his Gilbird. He didn't realize you were watching him from far as you sprint like there was no tomorrow.

"GILBERRRRRTTTT!" You scream, earning a loud German crurse from Gilbert who immediately drops the seeds on his hands and putting his hands on his chest to calm his racing heart. It was worth it.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

A pair of (S/C) hands holding out a shiny metallic object on their/her/his hands before putting it on top of the table carefully, knowing the object that they/she/he held in their hands is cost an arm and a leg. (Y/N) nails slid into a thin lines between of the stuff before pulling it upwards, showing a computer screen.

A bright light shines throughout your whole bedroom, showing many icons on it along with desktop and other software. (Y/N) (L/N) glances at the clock before starting to type down the given assignment from their/her/his boss and there were many of them. Not wanting those papers to pile up, you began writing them to lessen the loads from your boss.

But all of those peaceful moments with a cup of coffee on your table are ruined in an instant. From far away, a pair of red eyes with platinum blonde locks standing behind the door of your bedroom with evil written all over his lips and his smile. It is a perfect chance for the Prussian male to distract you from your job and cause trouble for you.

Prussia slowly came up to you after pushing the door open without causing any kind of sound since he did not want to alarm you. It was silent for a few seconds until you look up to see some of the papers that were on the table are gone as if it just disappears into a thin air. Panicking, your eyes glancing around to see where you could have put it.

'KESESESESE' You hear your boyfriend laughter.

"Gilbert! I know you are teasing me! Where did you put it!" You turn around and giving him a menacing glare.

"Vhat are you talking about? I don't know chat do you mean by it," he's playing an 'I'm innocent' card at you.

Pushing up both of your knees, you began walking around to search for the missing paper until you saw it was on top of your wardrobe. Because of your height, you were able to take it away without any struggles but once you turn around to scold your boyfriend, he already disappear somewhere else, causing you to be even more peeved than before.

Timeskip

It was lunchtime and everything was peaceful, as well as your boyfriend Gilbert who is feeding his birds with seeds in his hands as he was humming out a song. (Y/N) almost feel bad doing this but he did pull a prank on you when you were working so he needs to get a little bot of repayment after the stunt that he just pulled.

By all of your might, both of your feet clicked against the floor as your arms swung side by side with full power. 'GILLLBERRRRTTTTT!" You shouted, charging up at him like a raging bull to scare the living shit out of your boyfriend. Hearing your scream, Gilbert immediately shrieked 'SHIT!' before spilling the seeds from his hands.

Seeing his reaction, you couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. You did not expect he would scream in surprise like that. Gilbert turn around with confusion and surprise still written all over his face "V-vhat just happened? Did jou just scream like a banshee?" he asks. With a cheeky yet sheepish smile, (Y/N) nods, pulling out their/her/his innocent smile.

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Ludwig Beilschmidt - Germany

Unlike Gilbert, he isn't as prankster as his brother and he never makes fun of your height as Gilbert did. Even if he is teasing your height, it's not as annoying as what Gilbert did.

In this case, it is you that often pranking your boyfriend Germany since he has a funny and cute reaction sometimes after teasing your tall boyfriend.

Anyway, it is canon that Ludwig Beilschmidt's height is 180 centimetres which is 5'11 in feet, a little bit taller and bigger than his older brother who is 177 centimetres.

Because of his height, it would be kind of hard to see s/o who is taller than him in case you are female but I can see someone taller than him in case you are male.

Many people would be intimidated by the two of you since you two are tall and your best friends would tease the two of you that you two have the power of tall couples.

As I was saying, you often annoy him either in purpose or not on purpose but today it seems that your tickle bones are tickling after a long time of boredom.

As he was smearing the chocolate on the cake after baking, you decide it was a good idea to scare the living shit out of your boyfriend, Ludwig Beilschmidt.

Because you made him drop the chocolate icing and made a mess on the cake. Ludwig made you icing the cake as he watch your every movement with an intimidating glare.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

It was a beautiful day with the light of the sun shining throughout the window, flowers blooming and birds twitting their morning songs to wake the civilians. A giant ambled around the kitchen, preparing some of the ingredients that he needs to make a chocolate cake for a snack as he grabs all-purpose flour, eggs, sugar, cocoa powder and other important stuffs.

His eyes focused on the view of the outside where he can see people passing by and enjoying the spring where flowers are blooming and decorating the town. Ludwig takes a deep breath before he starts to heated up the oven before starting to make the dough for the cake along with the icing.

On the other side of the bedroom, a person with (H/C) and (E/C) snores throughout the morning until their/her/his alarm starts to ring out loud. The deafening ring made (Y/N) jump in fright before they/her/his eyes opened to look around the bedroom to see Ludwig already gone from the bed.

'Huh? Where is he?' (Y/N) asks themselves/herself/himself.

Feeling still a little bit drowsy from the slumber, (Y/N) rubs their/her/his eyes and stretches the arms out along with the legs to feel the satisfying pop. (Y/N) carefully steps out from the bed before walking to the bathroom to see the reflection which was really messy because of the birds nest hair, wrinkled shirt, and dried drools underneath the mouth.

Embarrassed with the current state where you look hazardous, your hands cupping the water that were running after you twist the knob and splash your face with the running water before turning it off and dried your face with a napkin.

After cleaning, you slowly leaving out of the bedroom and go to the kitchen where you can see your husband Ludwig Beilschmidt baking with the 'kiss the chef' apron. which looks ridiculous on him but cute nonetheless since the apron was the gift from you in April fool.

A bulb appears on top of your head and a smirk adorns your face. Getting ready, you prepare yourself by walking backwards without causing any noises before starting to run from far away "LUUUUDWIGGG!!!!" You shouted.

The bowl that was in his hands immediately dropped with a loud crashing sound and chocolate was spilt everywhere "Scheiße!!!" he curses before dropping the icing on the ground. everything suddenly turns silent and you realize the stunt you just pulled are going to bite you back "Oh...no..."you whisper, backing away and getting ready to escape Germany's wrath.

"(Y/N).......Come here,"Ludwig commanded

"Hey Schätzchen (Sweetheart), l-let's talk about this," you began to sweatdrop.

"Eins.....Zwei... " Ludwig began counting down.

"UUUHHHH GOTTA GO!!" You ran away from mad Ludwig.

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Antonio Fernandez Carriedo - Spain

It is canon that Antonio is quite tall but not as tall as Ludwig. He is just one centimetre shorter than Prussia which means he is 176 centimetres.

I can see he has a S/O who is taller than him or just a few centimetres than him which means you're also tall for your peers. You two literally look like a walking model since you two are gorgeous.

People are jealous of you and your boyfriend's height. They would ask you two how you two can get so tall and what kind of exercises you two did.

Antonio can be quite a prankster but not as annoying as Gilbert because of this. You did a prank on him when he was distracted by charging at him like a bull.

The pranks that he would pull aren't as hardcore as Prussia. It would most likely just be a silly nickname such as calling you Torre de Cristal (The highest building in Spain)

However, he used to be a matador of a bull so he can sense that you are coming up at him to scare him so he just smirks or smile innocently and stepped away.

Instead of you who win the prank, it was him who were laughing his ass off when you look at him with a priceless face when he dodges you charging up at him.

Don't worry, he did apologize to you for the prank that he pulled twice by making delicious churros for you if you like sweets or his special spanish dish as a way for him to say sorry.

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It was really hot on the outside, especially around 12 in the afternoon when the light of the sun feels like a stabbing needle pricking your skin with heat. It was very tiring to work in tomato field when outside was really hot, especially when digging to plant the tomatoes seeds and picking the ripe tomatoes.

Wiping the streaming sweats on the forehead, (Y/N) (L/N) decides to stop for a moment before standing up after putting the tomatoes inside of a basket "el cariño (Sweetheart), I need to go to the kitchen and take a drink. Is it okay for me to rest?" You ask your husband.

The young Spanish man with curly brown hair, green eyes, lightly tanned skin and a khaki suit glances up at you with a smile on his face, "Sure, Mi ángel (My angel). You can rest, I will continue picking the ripe tomatoes," Antonio chrips happily as he's continuing his activities whereas you're going to the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, your hands pulled the door of the fridge as you look up for any kind of cold drinks but there were none until you open the freezer which was higher. You're tall but you're not as tall as your boyfriend and because of this, it annoys you because you had to be on your tip toes before taking one of them and drinking the cold beverage. This makes you plan to revenge on your boyfriend.

Timeskip

After leaving the room, (Y/N) sees Spain is digging a new holes for the tomato seeds and it is a perfect chance for you to prank him since he is focused on his job. From far away, you began running up to Spain at maximum speed "ANTONIOOO!!!" You shouted as you got really close to him.

However, his reaction makes you surprised because he did not jump in surprise or scream like you hope. He was just standing there and before you crash, he immediately stepped away before turning around to look at you with a cheeky yet innocent smile "Aww, did mi ángel try to scare me? You forgot I used to be a matador so I already know when to dodge~" he teases you.

His mockery causes you to get more peeved with his action as you start to gritting your own teeth "YOU!!" You shouted. After those words escape, everyone in the neighbourhood could see you chasing your laughing husband around as they were amused with the comedic sight in front of them.

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[princecharmingmendes]

Heart by Heart | Chapter X | Raul Mendes

                                               *secret agent AU*

Y/N and Raul have been friends ever since they could remember. And falling in love with your best friend can be pretty tricky and messy 99% of the times, add that to the fact they're constantly risking their lives side by side on the field since they're both secret agents, and the best team that's ever existed. Perfect recipe for disaster.

Hi, this chapter is finally here, it's a bit shorter, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for that long anymore and on the cliffhanger, and this was also important for the story development. Anyway, this is the tenth chapter of this series, you can find the first ones here. Please read the warnings on this one, if you don’t feel comfortable with the contents listed on the “warnings” section, please read something else, there are a lot of other works on my masterlist and on the “fic rec” hashtag on my blog. Please give me some feedback and I hope you guys like. Happy Reading! 

                                                previous chapter | masterpost | next chapter

*Word Count: 2K+

*Warnings: cursing, violence towards the reader, blood, kidnapping, hostage situation, angst.

Please don’t read it if any of this subjects make you uncomfortable, feel free to check my masterlist for other writings.

*Posted: September 16th, 2021.

                                                  -*-

Raul was a mess as soon as he was able to get into an empty room. 

He allowed himself to finally let the severity of the situation hit him. He had no idea where Y/N and Tom were, if they were alright or what could Geonoff could possibly win with this. He certainly would’ve tried blackmailing them to get something in return of the two agents he had in his hands. 

He’s been pacing back and forth in the tiny room as he tried to remain calm enough to keep his rationality so he could still be helpful. Raul just wanted to punch his way into that base and get the kid and his girl back, but he knew that was completely stupid, even for him. He could practically see the frown on Y/N’s face if she ever heard his brilliant idea, and the vision alone was almost enough to bring him to tears. Instead he shook his head, knowing that letting his feelings take control would only be a waste of time in this situation, and that’s something he learned a long time ago when he first started working with his best friend. 

She was a really rational, and maybe even a bit cold on the field. Always with a sharp remark on the tip of her tongue and a thousand of extra plans in case something failed, she could easily slip into the role of the Professor in Money Heist. Constantly analyzing and thinking. And while she was clearly the brain of their duo, Raul was clearly the heart, not thinking twice before jumping head first to save someone or get and intel. And that’s why they worked so well, he pushed her to be more spontaneous while she kept him in his place (and alive) most of the time. 

He needed her more than ever right now. 

The sound of hushed whispers and two pairs of shoes approaching him, made Raul sharply move in the direction of the door, still on edge, and waiting for it to reveal his visitors. As soon as the handle turned, he was met with his triplet and Celine wearing the same saddened and worried expressions. He might’ve come down to help with the investigation as fast as he learned about his best friend. 

Peter sighed taking in the sight of his brother. Raul looked like a lost puppy in distress, eyes on his face but his mind was clearly somewhere else, shoulders sagged and curls a mess from the constant nervous tugging habit he had. One look was enough for him to know he was carrying all the guilt and having no clue how to fix it. It’s the same look he gave his younger self when he accidentally broke his brand knew camera. 

“We’re going to find them” was the first thing he said and Raul nodded, looking unconvinced “It’s not your fault” he then added and at that, his gaze finally seemed to snap into place as he stared his brother dead in the eye. 

“Whose fault is it then?” his voice sounded a lot smaller and less threatening than he pictured. 

“Geonoff’s” Celine mumbled “but not yours, you did what was best, what was right”

Raul shook his head in response, mumbling a quiet ‘yeah, right’ under his breath, but Celine was quick to take three steps closing the distance between them and placing both hands on his shoulders. 

“Cut this shit right now” she snapped, catching both him and Peter by surprise “you and I both know I’m not your biggest fan and never truly got what everyone else saw in you, but this past months changed my perspective of things and you’re actually a decent person, a great friend and an amazing agent, and you did the right thing” she said squeezing his shoulder for great measure “and you and I both know Y/N would’ve wanted you to do the same thing, she’d be proud of you”

Raul nodded slowly and Celine let him go at that, as he was still processing her words. Peter finally reached his brother, placing his hand on his shoulder as he turned to face him “I know you’re going through a lot right now, but we need you to help us find her, we need you to hold on a bit and try to think of the places they could possibly take her, everything you heard  or saw on the past month is useful”

He nodded again “yeah, okay, I can do that”

“Good, come with me then” Peter said patting his brother’s back “she’ll come back to us, you and I know her enough to know she’s probably making their life a living hell”

Raul snorted a little laugh, that didn’t quite reach his eyes and nodded along, as they dragged him back into the main room. He needed to do what Y/N would in his place, shut his feelings off and analyze every every they took.

                                                 -*-

Y/N starts slowing coming back into her senses, feeling her muscles burning, her arms stiff and head hurting, the dark place she was situated doing little to help her regain her memories. She tried looking around to see if she could find something useful to recognize the place, only noticing a slim frame still unconscious close to her. The person had its back to her, but from their clothes and body type, she was able to recognize them as Tommy.

Tommy who was still breathing and almost at arms reach.

That was a good sign, or as good as it could be in this situation. But he was there, breathing and no signs of big blood loss around them, so no external wounds that needed to be taken care of urgently. She tried to reach for him, but the heavy chains attaching her wrists to the cobblestone floor kept her in place.

She tried locating their belongings, or anything that could help them get out of there, but it was all missing. Raul was also nowhere in sight, which probably meant he wasn’t there and probably the info was delivered safely. At least that’s what she hopped with no signs of him around them. 

There? Where the hell was there?

That’s when it finally clicked to her, she had no idea where they were or how long was she out. They could be across the ocean as far as she was concerned. She had to get them out of there. But before she could start planning their way out with absolutely nothing and Tommy still out, she heard the grating of the old and rusty hinges coming from the only way in and out of that room, a heavy iron door. 

Coming from the source of noise that snatched her attention was the man responsible for all of this. Geonoff Reyes himself. Wearing a button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled back, and a pair of dress pants, and a smug look on his face. He took lazy long strides getting close to her, crouching down in front of her. 

Geonoff smirked at her “You know, it’s pretty hard to fool me and you almost got away with it, if it weren’t for your stupid boss you’d be home by now”

Y/N just blinked at him, a completely neutral facial expression on as she stared up at him, making him tsk.

“By the way, how is your little boyfriend? Does he know this relationship is just an act or you manipulate him as well?” he asked and she didn’t even flinch at his statement, noticing that her silence was doing more at getting him upset than clapping back “it must be sad, being such a pathetic agent and letting his little girl and friend get caught as he fled, and in the end discovering this was one sided”

Her gaze shifted quickly to Tommy and then back to Geonoff’s face, that was too close to hers for her taste “don’t worry, he’ll live for now, need him to get you to cooperate” and Y/N felt a little lighter knowing that, taking all the self control she had to not let that show on her face “you know they’ll never find you, right? Thought about sending a little photo as a gift for them, but might do it whenever we move to our next location, better lighting and stuff”

“What do you want?” her voice was hoarse, but she was able to keep her tone steady enough to not seem frightened.

“Oh, sugar, missed that sweet voice of yours, it matches your pretty face, just wish I could see that beautiful smile again, but we’ll get to that” he said patting her cheek with his long fingers, making her insides turn in disgust and she had to swallow the sudden wave of nausea down “I want something simple, just know all the info you’ve been feeding your precious little team for the past weeks, you’re smart enough knowing I wouldn’t mind hurting you to get what I want”

Y/N only stared back at him watching his brow twitch in annoyance “don’t want to hurt your pretty face, so cooperate with me and I might even let you go safely”

But her silent response seemed to be enough for him to loose it, because he took a deep breath before slapping his hand across her face for the first time. The pure shock of the action almost made her react, but she held her face up as she kept staring at him, her face burning but she wouldn’t give him the little taste of a small victory at breaking her neutral mask of indifference. 

“This could be so easy” he mumbled slapping the other side a little harder “you didn’t have to do this, you could be free by now” the third one was stronger than she was expecting, making her face turn with the pure force of it, the loud sound coming from the aggression echoing on the empty room and down the large corridor, the echo making her realize there wasn’t much down where they were, mostly just blank empty walls without doors to divide the sound. 

“What is it? Anything you’d like to say?” he asked grabbing her chin and yanking her face to look up at him, but her mouth remained closed “well, your choice”

After a few consecutive hits, one being so strong making her face collide with the wall when it turned, and she felt the sticky liquid running down her face. Her skin probably breaking with the brisk contact with the stone wall, cutting her cheek in the process. The seemed to please him, since he let out a loud boisterous laugh, making her lean her head so he could see it better mumbling a quiet “vicious bitch” under his breath “stop fighting back” before going back to it. 

After a couple more minutes, her right cheek numb already, Geonoff said grabbing her face roughly in his hands, forcing her to look up at him “Come on, sugar, you’re really stressing me out here”

“I’m truly sorry you had to kidnap and keep two agents hostage to try and prove you’re better than your sister” she said blinking at him monotonously and that seemed to hit a nerve, because Geonoff squeezed her face harder in his palms before pushing her head against the wall. 

Y/N felt her limbs giving out as her vision got blurry, her vision going dark before she felt her body leaning to her side and hitting the floor with a dull thud. The sound of shoes hitting against the rocks and the door being shut closed again a sign that the man lost his patience and left them behind. She tried fighting the numbness getting ahold of her body, but ended up succumbing at the end. 

The sounds of waves breaking somewhere near them and the constant throbbing of her head dragging her back into unconsciousness. 

                                                  -*-

*Please reblog or like this post if you liked it so I’ll know.

*I’m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.

*Please do not repost this without giving me the credit, this is a completely original piece and I do not give permission to copy this!

*Hope you guys enjoyed it!

*xoxo

-🌙

[wienerbarnes]

Much Ado About Nothing (5/6)

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 2,747

Warnings: none! wedding stuff? 

A/N: happy new year yall hope everyone had a safe one! das all imma say tho im keeping my mouth shut about 2021 i aint risking shit anyway enjoy this chapter :P

MAIN MASTERLIST | MUCH ADO MASTERLIST

For being given a week, the ballroom looks immaculate. Satin drapes and tablecloths of cream and white cover the room, gold and olive green accents strewn throughout. The handful of tables in the room have large centerpieces of small white flowers, thin branches, and delicate leaves, as well as a lace trim around the vase they rest in. A warm toned light makes the room look bigger than it is and the dancefloor welcoming for everyone.

The wedding guests include the team, of course, some of Sharon’s family that were able to make it in such short notice, and anyone’s dates were welcomed. Sam brought a date himself, Sharon extended the invitation to some agents she’d been training over the last few months, and she told you invite those who worked in the lab with you.

She insisted, in fact.

Sharon banished you and Nat to the ballroom, while she finished getting ready, wanting to have a few minutes by herself before the wedding started. You assume Steve felt similarly when you see Sam and Bucky enter the ballroom and merge together with the rest of the team. You linger by the bar, hoping to get a bit of liquid courage before the party starts, but to your dismay, the bar doesn’t open until after the ceremony.

You also don’t want to take a seat because you’ll be one of Sharon’s bridesmaids, along with Nat. You and her wear matching warm brown dresses with a slit on the side, tying in with the neutral and woodsy tones going on throughout the rest of the wedding. Sam and Bucky wear brown bow ties and you assume they’re taking the role of Steve’s groomsmen. You pray you don’t have to walk with Bucky.

As more and more people take their seats, you find Nat and meet the other boys at the back of the room.

“Sam already claimed me.” She tells you cheekily as she loops her arm through Sam’s bent elbow.

Of course he did. You sigh and begrudgingly loop your own arm through Bucky’s as he smirks. While the group of you wait for the music to start to indicate your time to begin walking, you take in the man standing next to you.

He smells crisp and clean, his cologne smelling fresh and flooding your senses with lavender, rosemary, and cedarwood. His bicep is ginormous in your hand and you can feel the warmth radiating off of him through his suit jacket that he wears. He cleans up really nicely. Not that you’ll tell him, but you’ll definitely be thinking about it for the rest of the night.

Bucky’s mind goes through a similar thought process. Your skin is shiny and smooth, and he imagines you applied lotion while getting ready with the other girls. Maybe there hints of glitter in whatever cream you use, because to him, it looks like you’re glowing. You smell like the sweetest of roses and juiciest of fruits, and you look good enough for him to take a bite. He won’t give you the satisfaction of a compliment - God knows the argument that would lead to - but he imprints this vision of you in his mind to remember.

Finally, Steve enters the ballroom and makes his way towards the front of the room and any few people left standing take their seats. As people settle, Steve adjusts his jacket and glances over the room to take in all of his loved ones in one room. He glances over to where John sits alongside Leila and Kennedy, the two other lab interns that work under you, he’s come to learn about. He briefly wonders what John is thinking about, if he thinks his plan worked, if he thinks Steve is going to cause a huge scene in front of everyone, accusing Sharon of cheating in some big explosion. He wonders what John’s reaction will be when he witnesses him marry the most beautiful woman in the world, kissing her to solidify their love.

He can’t wait.

Soon enough the music starts and Nat and Sam begin down the aisle, you and Bucky following after. For someone that has hated the idea of love for so long, walking down the aisle like this feels really great. You’re not sure if it's the anticipation for the bride, or the decorations, or the huge hunk of handsome soldier guiding you down to the front of the room, but it makes you feel tingly all over. Almost makes you want a wedding of your own. Almost.

As Bucky makes his way down the aisle with you on his arm, he meets Steve’s eye, who gives him a smirk that looks a lot like I told you so. He ignores it, though. He knows he’ll get picked on later, but for now, he enjoys having you so close to him. You’re close to him outside of the lab, outside of a mission, outside of an argument. You’re close to him, holding onto his arm like you’re his girl in a sweet silence. He can almost get used to this. Almost.

Once everyone’s in their place, the rest of the guests rise as the music changes and Sharon enters the ballroom. Her dress is beautiful; a lacy brassiere top to connect the flowing train, all of the silk following her walk, making her elegant and glowing. Her hair is lightly curled and there are a few white flowers pinned around the back of her head, matching the rest of the room.

The officiant reads everything they have to and Steve and Sharon share their vows, causing everyone in the room to shed a tear or two. Nat and Sam find it particularly amusing to see you and Bucky wipe a few tears as well, seeming to get foggy eyed in spite of their hatred for love. They’re too busy silently teasing their friends to notice the fume coming from John’s ears, realizing his plan didn’t work the way he wanted it to.

There’s still time, he thinks. Maybe Steve didn’t want to make a big, public fuss. Yeah, once everything is over, he’ll take her upstairs and they’ll talk and soon enough they’ll announce that they’re marriage is over! Shorter than the Kardashians.

Finally, Steve and Sharon kiss to seal their marriage, sharing their official first kiss as husband and wife. Cheers and clapping erupt in the room as the couple makes their way back down the aisle, Nat, Sam, you, and Bucky following after. The lights dim a bit and the bar opens as the music changes to encourage people to mingle and dance until the couple emerges once more.

“What’s the matter, don’t like weddings?” You tease John, coming up behind him, your voice making him jump from leaning against the bar the way he was.

“Uh - No, not really.” He says, turning to face you, feeling awkward as he talks to his boss after trying to sabotage her best friend’s wedding.

“They grow on you.” Bucky’s deep voice makes him jump once more as it comes behind him, forcing him to turn away from you and face him, staring at his towering stance.

“Uhm -” John stumbles as he realizes he’s cornered against the bar by you and Bucky.

“Did you really think you’d get away with it? I mean, you’re surrounded by spies and an artificial intelligence system that records everything in the tower.” Bucky tells him.

John’s eyes widen as they glance between you and Bucky, realizing where he went wrong in his plan. I should’ve figured out a way to hack F.R.I.D.A.Y.! Or at least get rid of any footage of what I did!

“Not to mention the fact that Steve and Sharon are too disgustingly in love with each other to even fall for the kind of charade you put on. In my lab, nonetheless,” You add, “Some kind of unfunny joke by an ex-lab intern.”

“Ex?” John confirms.

“Oh, yea. Leila and Kennedy, too. I don’t want to waste my time training and giving experience and advice to the kind of people that lie, play around, and cause mischief in a lab and in a tower where some of the most important and delicate information in the world is handled. If I wanted that, I’d have Barnes, here, as an intern.” You tell him.

“Hey, I thought we were on the same team here -” Bucky tries to interject, but you smack his arm to get him back into the focus of their conversation with John.

“Anyway,” Bucky continues, “Why don’t you do us the favor of getting out of here? We’ll tell Steve and Sharon that you’re sorry you weren’t feelin’ well and had to head out early. Unless, you’d like for me to get them and bring ‘em over here?” He slings an arm over John’s shoulder, leading him over to one of the exit doors, as John nods his head in agreement, accepting his defeat.

Once John has left and the wedding is officially safe again, Bucky meets you back at where you wait at the bar.

“Nice job, McGeek.” He tells you, leaning on the bar next to you as you turn to face him better.

“Could say the same to you. He looked real scared there at the end.” You giggle.

“He should be, he almost got Steve’s ass kicked by me when Sharon first told us the whole situation.” Bucky tells you, leaning just a bit closer to you.

The bartender comes over to them asking what they’d like to drink. “Whiskey, neat, please. How bout you, Geeky?” Bucky says.

“Vodka cran.” You order.

“Really? That’s your drink of choice?” Bucky teases.

“What? What’s wrong with it?”

“Well, I thought you’d pick a drink that’s actually good, is all.”

“And here I was revelling in the fact that this was the longest conversation we’ve had where we’re not at each other’s throats.” You tell him.

“Well -” Bucky’s cut off by the dimming of the lights and change in music as Sharon and Steve enter the room again to share their first dance.

His words are forgotten as he watches his best friend dance with his bride, the two of them looking happier than Bucky’s ever seen. Bucky feels a smile bloom on his own face as he watches on; he’s so happy for Steve. He knows this is all he’s ever wanted. The girl, the marriage, the house together, the kids in the future. The happy ending. And he’s happy that despite things - or people - trying to get in the way of that, Steve still got the happy ending he deserves.

He peeks over to see you have a similar smile, admiring the love shared between your best friend and his. He gets lost staring at you as the DJ is heard inviting anyone else to join the newlyweds on the dancefloor.

He asks before his brain can filter his mouth, “Do you want to dance?”

Your head snaps over at him, a surprised expression on your face, and Bucky prepares for you to make fun of him.

“Sure.” You tell him.

He doesn’t risk saying anything that might change your mind, only grabbing your hand softly and leading you to the dancefloor where other couples have begun to fill in. The slow music continues as his hands find their place on the curve of your waist and yours rest on the tops of his shoulders. He feels warmth and tingles flow from the placement of your hands through his suit jacket, down his arms, and through his entire body. He looks at you and how close your face is to his, quite enjoying having you so close in his arms like this.

“Do you remember what we were talking about last night?” She finally breaks the silence.

He hums in indication that he does and for her to continue, “So, you really don’t hate me or anything?” You ask.

“No. I don’t. Actually,” He chuckles humorlessly, “I know you like me.” He confesses.

Tension floods your body. How does he know?! “No, I don't! Not anymore than reasonable, I mean.” You deny.

Bucky’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, his body still swaying with yours with the music, “Oh. Well, you have Steve and Sam fooled, then, because they, uh, had me convinced.” He tells you, trying to play off his incorrect assumption.

“Do you like me?” You ask, drawing yourself just a bit closer to him, his arms moving from your waist to the small of your back.

“Uh, no, no more than a friend, I mean.” Bucky lies.

“Oh. Well, you have Sharon and Nat fooled, as well.” You tell him.

The two of you chuckle softly with each other at the whole situation, an attempt to hide the disappointment in each of your chests at the thought of unrequited feelings. Bucky glances back up to meet your eyes once more, eyes flickering down to look at your lips, in time to see you take your bottom lip into your mouth with your teeth. He looks back up at your eyes to catch you staring at his own lips. When your eyes meet his again, it's as though the two of you have a silent understanding. An understanding that you were both lying, and an understanding that you both really want to kiss each other right now.

So he does. Bucky leans in seemingly at the same time you do and presses his lips against yours in a sweet yet fiery kiss. His hands push a little harder into your back to bring you closer and your hands move to touch his neck and cheek, ensuring that his face won’t leave yours anytime soon. Everyone in the room has since disappeared; there are no wedding guests, there are no decorations, there is no music, only you and Bucky.

His lips are soft, softer than you were expecting, and he tastes of peppermint and the sip of whiskey he had, all mixed with a taste that’s so him. His taste and his smell and the feel of his hands on your back and his chest against yours makes you want to melt to the ground in a puddle of mush. You can’t believe you waited so long to kiss him.

Your lips are plump and soft. Your lipstick is fruity but he can taste the sweetness of cranberry behind it and a sweetness that’s all you. You’re the rarest candy he’s ever tried and he’s not sure he’ll ever get enough of it. A part of his mind wants to ignore that they’re still in public, though it certainly doesn’t feel like it, and just kiss you silly for the rest of time.

The two of you finally pull away after what feels like forever and you both can’t help but lick at your own lips, savoring the taste of each other. Before either of you can say anything to follow what just happened, another voice interrupts, “About time.”

You both turn to see Tony and Pepper, her with an admiring smile and Tony with a shit-eating grin. The two of you feel warm as you realize the rest of your friends that occupy the dancefloor are also staring at the both of you. Nat smirks from her place in Bruce’s arms, Sam winks at Bucky over the shoulder of his date, and Sharon and Steve are almost on the verge of happy tears at the sight of their best friends finally getting to be happy with each other. Even Clint and his wife smile at the two of you.

“What are you guys looking at, huh? Never seen a guy and gal dance together?” Bucky barks, Brooklyn accent slipping out as he chooses to pretend none of them saw the kiss that you and him shared.

“Not you two.” Steve says.

“Oh, whatever! What are you guys, five years old?” Bucky asks only to be met with his friends giggling.

“Whatever. Make fun of us all you want. I don’t care.” You speak up, curling your hands around the back of Bucky’s neck.

He looks back at you to meet your kind eyes with a gentle smile. Their friends continue to tease on, but you and Bucky only have eyes for each other. He ignores them and chooses to kiss you again, already craving the taste of your lips on his and the feel of your body in his arms.

[archer3-13]

shadow the hedgehog came to mind recently, a game that in many regards has an overblown reputation, but also one that utilizes a 'moral choice system' as part of its main gimmick of a chose your own adventure style story. Now there are three things i wanna note about how shadow implements this moral system that i find interesting before making the actual comparison i wanna make.

1. evil missions are on the whole much easier then hero missions. often by a substantial amount.

2. the neutral path, aka the path you take if you disregard both hero and evil missions, is the only path that end with shadow convinced hes actually a robot on either variation of its ending.

3. on that note, all of the final missions require you to make a choice between a hero or evil mission, there is no neutral missions even on the 'true neutral' paths final mission.

why do i bring this up? because i want to make a favorable comparison of shadow the hedgehog to crimson flower of fire emblem three houses. now, crimson flower stems from a route split on the black eagles path and is effectively the 'evil' mission as it were. not going to debate that, because according to developer interviews thats just what it is. now, crimson flower actually matches up with that first point rather well, of the routes its generally the easiest of the bunch not only coming in 3 chapters shorter then its sibling route silver snow, but 4 chapters shorter then the remaining two non black eagles routes. crimson flowers own copy pasted final boss is also much easier then its sister routes version coming in a whole phase shorter and with less complications to deal with.

now why is that important? i would argue because its suppose to represent 'temptation' which is the whole point of a good and evil moral binary system. the evil option is liquidizing children sure but its also the more personally expedient choice for you the player, because those kids would have needed to be protected in an escort mission later on, and to shadow the hedgehogs credit it actually accomplishes this point very well, arguably better then most because instead of tying the moral binary to personal perks it instead ties it to the flow of the story and the gameplay presented to you. the evil mission on the circus level for instance is clearing up enemies, as are a lot of the evil missions, well the good mission requires more scrutiny to collect a large number of rings. crimson flower isnt quite to this same extent as its more so marginally easier thanks to a shorter run time and less complex bosses and mechanics to deal with, but it is atleast built towards this point.

but what about the second shadow point as it were? this isnt particularly relevant to crimson flower because theres no neutral option between it and silver snow, i would just like to note it because the neutral missions in shadow are also the most self interested missions on shadows part, hes intentionally ignoring the world ending conflict around him to focus on his personal happiness and knowledge but it blows up in his face as it were by convincing him hes a robot. in that sense its also arguably symbolic of the player themself rather then shadow, that in refusing to take a side in the conflict they turn shadow into a vessel for their own objectives and desires making him symbolically little better then a robot. and now we can pull out a relation to crimson flower, because crimson flower ties this element of 'player vessel' into its 'evil' option instead of relegating that to a neutral option. that in rejecting the evidence around you of edelgards complicity and crimes, you in essence remove byleths agency and identity as a character and it becomes no longer a story about them so much as a story about you and what you want. where crimson flower stumbles in, is in not subverting that vassal ship with the cruel twist of shadow convincing himself hes a robot. its why a lot of people more critical of crimson flower feel byleth should have died when their heart disappeared because that would have served a similar narrative function. instead byleths allowed to live and romance per the players desires.

which brings me to the third point, how the final missions of shadow force you to chose between good and evil. in shadows case its fairly obvious, its a way of forcing you to make a final moral decision and definitive choice on which side to support. in crimson flowers case that dilemma instead serves as the inciting incident of the route split. not much else to really say in that regard because they serve different narrative functions [which flavour of ending shadow gets and which split in the story byleth takes] but similar thematic ones of rising above or falling to temptation. i should also note that many of the evil options in shadows case tend to be about enacting a sense of justice against gun for its actions, blowing up their stuff, killing the president, destroying their base and helping black doom win, because gun was personally mean to shadow.

and make of that what you will.

[honesthammie]

From my prompt list:

4) After reaching your 16th birthday you gain the ability to see everyone's red strings of fate and on your 18th you finally get to see yours, except yours dissappears into the ground/sky.

Fandom:Doctor who

Pairing: 13 x gender neutral reader

This is my first fic on tumblr. I know its hella long and not all of my fics will be like this. This came to me from a dream I had recently. I love Jodie and I decided to write the spider episode from a different perspective. I may have change the episode slightly to fit the reader. I am thinking of doing a part 2 but it may be a while before I do as I have deadlines and stuff to keep up with. The next part may be more fluff between 13 and yourself. I know this didn't have much but it's something. I'm also sorry to any Americans reading this, I love yas but its just the personality I put to go with the readers personality. I'm also sorry for any spelling mistakes as I'm doing this on my phone.

Summary: spider episode with a small change I'm plot to accommodate your beautiful self in this fic

Warnings: slight description of a couple of panic/anxiety attacks, swearing and a bit of angst. Long intro for small fluff. And it's a part 1 do I guess a small cliffhanger is a warning?

Beep beep beep. Your alarm starts blaring in your ears, waking you up with a start. You glare at the interrupting machine before turning it off. After such a crazy night, you did not want your sleep so rudely interrupted. Why did you have a crazy night? It's your 18th birthday today and your friends decided to visit your place for a little house party, last night, to celebrate and now you have a pounding headache.

You groaned as you realised, you would need to take some pain meds before you even think about going back to sleep. Slipping out of your bed, you walk to the bathroom and find the cupboard with all sorts of medicinal and bathroom bits and bobs. You then grab the glass that you placed there in preparation for the definite hangover. The glass was a little cold to the touch but you filled it with some cool water from the sinks tap.

You took two, just so you could have a longer sleep. You waddle back into your bedroom and just as you get comfy, you widen your eyes at the memory. You needed to see your mother today, she said she had a gift for you but she would only be at home until 11. You looked at the machine that you hated for the time. It was currently 10:05. You jumped to your feet and rush to get ready.

As you walked outside, you saw the regular red strings that you saw everyday. Why do you see strings? You honestly didn't know, but you knew their purpose, it helped match 2 soulmates together. But something seemed a little off, there was no one on the street anymore, so why could you still see one line of destiny? You decided to follow the string south, down to your own (s/c) hand which was now slightly shaking at the sight.

"Fuck. Fuck,fucky fucking fuck. Why now? Why me? What the shit is going on with me?" You curse to yourself. You could feel your breath getting rapid and your head started spinning slightly. You quickly unlocked your car and sat down to help calm you down. You took a few deep breaths and focused on your senses.

When you eventually calmed down, you decided to look at where the string led. Oh, how you shouldn't have looked. It didn't go in any way of a compass, it went straight up and past the clouds. How? You had so many questions but you had to focus on the day ahead.

You had been to your mothers house and collected your new (fave game series) and your card. You were incredibly thankful as you have been saving up to buy it for yourself one day. You had played the previous games and loved every one of them and to say you were excited was an understatement. You almost ran back into your place if it wasn't for needing the key to access the gates.

Living in a gated community helped you feel a lot safer but it did also make you a big target for thieves to practise picking locks. No one had figured out where the hidden camera that kept alerting the authorities was though. Even you have tried put of plain curiosity but you got stumped after the 10th day of searching. You were sure you looked in every possible hiding spot, yet the camera always seemed to evade you in the pointless game of hide and seek.

As you unlocked the gate, you felt a twitch on your finger. The string was moving down and at a very fast pace, almost falling speed. You looked up and saw a small black dot heading towards the ground, if thats your soulmate, they would certainly be dead the second they meet their fate. When you could no longer see the dot, you kept your eyes glued to the string, waiting for it to disappear like everyone else's did when a soulmate died.

After five minutes, the string was still there and was still as red as ever, like no harm had come to them. But thats not possible. No creature could survive that especially from that great a height! You were beyond curious and quickly went into your living room and searched on all your social media for anyone else that may have spotted the dot in the sky, yet no one had but you knew (b/f) had another massive fight with their roommate, Stella, over whose turn it was to do the dishes again.

If you didn't know that Stella was in a relationship with another, you would have sworn those two were in a relationship. You giggled at the silly thought, "if Stella ever goes through a break up with her, I'm totally gonna set those two up."

You give up on finding anything out today, maybe it'll be on the news tomorrow and you set off to go on an online shopping spree, you had a few codes and now, thanks to your wonderful mother, had a little cash to spare and you did see that gorgeous top on sale. Once you had spent the day either shopping or gaming you decided to head to bed but you couldn't stop thinking about that dot and what the red string meant for you.

When your alarm had went off, you hit it and got dressed for your new job at some hot shot posh hotel run by an aspiring American with High expectations and little experience with Sheffield. You had been told you wouldn't get to meet him much and you were beyond fine with that, you hated Americans, simply because you hated violence and guns were the big no on your weaponry list of avoidance. You didn't mind weapons in video games, those were harmless to the outside world. You didn't mind verbal violence though, it was all you had to defend yourself with and in Sheffield, that was better than nothing. You were very short tempered when it came to your anger but you found that it was either verbal or physical, you chose to be verbal.

You looked at your phone for any messages from (b/f) and had a good luck message. You replied with a smiley face and a "ill need all the luck I can get. I've heard from a few employees that he can be a real asshole for no reason and fires people just because they made eye contact for too long. It's like he suspects someone is out for his blood."

After 2 minutes you received a reply from from them. "You better be on your best behaviour then, young lady!"

"That's the problem. I wonder what the record is for the quickest a person has got fired? Because I may break that, you know me! I don't exactly do as I'm told, that's why finding a job has been so hard. Anyway, I best get ready, gotta look the part! First impressions and all!" You replied with a nervous face. What you failed to notice was the red string no longer pointing towards the sky and you were making it shorter with every step you took. You did give up on finding out about the strange dot and came to the assumption that it fell in a lake, there were plenty of them around.

You walked into the swanky looking hotel and noticed the cobwebs that definitely were not there two days ago when you had your interview, yet they looked like they had been there for weeks. You would have put it down to Halloween decorations if it wasn't for the fact that it was June. You decided to not ask in case this was some sort of strange new American trend that your boss was following to help bring in the youth. It does help make it fit into Sheffield a lot more with the run down and abandoned look. It would need some rust, water damage, mold and cracks to finish the look but it was a start. If you had to be honest, the spider webs helped bring the place together. It was way too posh for Sheffield but you had to lie and say you love it in order to get hired. Just from that lie alone you knew exactly the personality of your boss, arrogant, vain and ignorant.

"Hello, you must be my new helper! I'm Najia, your second in command here. As you can see, there are loads of spider webs so they should be priority. If you could start cleaning in the south west second floor and continue that floor, that would be amazing. Now here's your cleaning trolley and if you happen to finish the floor early, send me a little message through the walkie talkie and I'll give you another room or floor. Do you have any questions?" Najia spoke softly. She seemed lovely and it was shame that she had to be in a place that would get more damage than its worth.

"Just one question: why so many spider webs?"

"I don't know, they just seemed to have appeared, I thought it was silly string from some teenagers that managed to break in somehow but it is actual spider web. It wasn't here when I left last night. I guess I'll have to ask someone about that."

And with that you separated and got to your floor when you finally noticed a slight burning sensation on your finger, it wasn't hurtful. It was like putting the finger in a really hot bath. You looked down and noticed it now pointed downhill and seemed to be glowing a shade of gold ever so gently that you would miss it if the weird sensation didn't make you look.

You left your trolley outside a toilet to make it seem like you were in there when really you had wondered off to follow the string. You would probably lose yourself in the maze of hallways that all looked the same as the last if the string didn't help lead you to a ballroom. You opened the door and instantly screamed. A giant spider was walking towards you, however you couldn't get out, you had used a staff door which needed a key card to use from this side as the other side still needed to be fitted and you left yours in the trolley, near the toilets. And the massive spider seemed to be blocking the other way out so you were trapped.

You weren't scared of spiders but seeing them at the size of a van did intimidate you. You started shaking from fear of what it would do to you. Out of pure instinct, you put your hand out to protect yourself and the sound of 8 legs against wooden flooring had ceased. The only sound was your laboured breathing. It stayed like this for what seemed like hours but in actuality was only 5 minutes. You opened your eyes slowly to see 8 more stare right back. 8 eyes that showed fear but no intention of harm. Instead the spider gave you space to breathe by walking back a few feet. Then it seemed to be watching you, studying your next move to see if you were a threat and whether or not it should kill you.

You stayed still for a moment, wrapping your head around what had just happened before gently walking towards the creature with both hands forward to show them clean of weapons. You decided to try and speak to the spider to see if it can understand you.

"Hello. I'm new around here, I'm sorry if I'm trespassing on your area, I wasn't aware of you being here to be honest. I mean you no harm, if anything, I want to help you but unfortunately, I'm stuck in here aswell." You spoke carefully as if it was a child that was afraid. You gently put your hand in its head and it seemed to understand your good intentions and your situation as it let you pet it. Now you were close, you started to admire it and realised it wasn't poisonous or venomous, it was just a regular house spider. But you couldn't figure out how or why it got this big but it did explain the cobwebs everywhere.

You had been with the spider for hours and it seemed like Najia either didn't care or has gotten fired as she hasn't asked about you. You had spent the time talking or singing to the spider. She, as you found out after looking it up, seemed to put her body around you to protect you. You had even met a couple of her children as they gave you food from the cafeteria to nibble on when your stomach growled.

Eventually the burning on your fingers turned up massively and was causing you pain. The spider seemed to sense this and wrapped her web around your finger to help cool it down a little. It didn't help but you showed gratitude anyway as she was only trying to help in anyway she could. You gave her a small smile and her eyes seemed to show sympathy in return.

Then the doors opened again and the sound of several feet walked in. "Oh thank god. I thought I was never going to be found in here." You thought to yourself as you heard the voices mumble to each other and probably about Betty and what's the best way to get rid of her. You would have paid more attention if your finger didn't feel like it had caught fire and was tight as if your soulmate was amongst those that had walked in.

Now you were nervous. How would you introduce yourself? What did they look like? Were they male or female, not that you really cared? So many questions made you feel lightheaded so you grabbed onto Betty to keep yourself planted.

Then the door opened again and a familiar voice echoed in the hall and you knew exactly how he'd want to deal with Betty and after your bond today, you would rather die than her. She was obviously innocent here and maybe the others could see it. Then you heard the familiar click of a gun safety being taken off and your body reacted before your mind did and you jumped in front of her to stop him, although you had a feeling it wouldn't, but it was worth a shot for the others to stop him.

"Don't you fucking dare shoot that gun Dickhead! Not without going through me!" You spoke with fire in your eyes and maybe a slight mix if fear aswell. That's when you looked over at the new group of people. They all seemed trustworthy enough.

There was Najia, who welcomed you here earlier and she looked sad, so she had definitely been fired. Then there was another woman who looked a lot like her, you guessed she was a daughter or something and she was pretty and definitely somone with authority with the way she stood and held herself, maybe she is a police officer? A man who looked as though he was in his 50s and definitely did not belong in this weird group. A young man who looked of a similar age to the police woman, maybe they are friends.

Then you laid your eyes on one of the most beautiful woman, no, human, you had ever seen and would probably never see again. She had short blonde hair in a bob. They seemed to be brunette at the root. She had beautiful chocolate honey eyes that glimmers with so much emotion and age well beyond her years, like she had experienced thousands of years before this moment. You also noticed her odd sense of style but you admired her boldness and it did look amazing on her. You decided she could only be described as sunshine and rainbows.

Then you noticed her hand And a familiar red string that was also glowing a beautiful subtle gold. Like millions of tiny golden stars circled around the string in a beautiful dance of love. Your eyes started to follow the string down and back to your own. She was your soulmate. That goddess that stood before you, was to be yours forever some day.

Then you looked into her hypnotic eyes before you remembered where you were and what situation you were in. And you realised everyone was staring at you for your previous action towards a spider.

"If you want to keep your job, I'd suggest you move out of the way silly girl!" Your boss grumbled in a threatening tone.

"Nope. You are about to hurt an innocent creature that is stuck and terrified. You built on top of landfill and didn't bother to check and thought of no consequences. This is your fault. Is this how you would treat a child that was a mistake after a one night stand or something? Would you shoot a child that had no choice?" You spoke with confidence yet more nerves now she was there listening to every word. When he didn't answer you shouted "Answer me! Would you shoot your mistake of a child?"

He glared at you. "This is different. This is an animal. A pest. It needs to be killed so more can't be born! I made my mistake and now I'm fixing it!" He bellowed just seconds before a shot was made from his gun. You had expected pain but instead you heard a horrible shriek from behind you.

You quickly turned around and petted her whilst whispering sweet words as she took her last breath. You stood up and made your way over to the murderer. You couldn't stand him and you were so tempted to take his gun and shoot him with it, but you didn't. With fire in your eyes and pure hatred, you slapped him hard enough to leave a mark and maybe a bruise as a reminder of his shitty choices. "You can't fire me because I fucking quit you arrogant dick! She had caused no harm to you or I and I'm sure if you would have sorted it sooner, so many more lives could have been saved as she only had humans because flies didn't fill her anymore! She was so kind and just so afraid. I hope you lose everything you pathetic sad sack of boiled shit! You are truest one of the lowest excuses for a human I have ever met and if we meet again please be very afraid, because next time, it won't just be a slap you have to worry about! It'll be your balls as I cut them off beacuse men like you shouldn't repopulate the planet! You horrid scum! I hope your empire fucking collapses!" You spoke with venom lacing every word. You were seething and boy did his face look punchable. Instead you walked away with your middle finger proudly being the last thing he sees as you walk out the normal doors.

Once you were outside, you sat in the steps and finally let out all the emotions. You cried so hard, over your loss of yet another job and a newly found friend. You screamed at him with a string of curses that would offend just about anybody. You suddenly felt somone sit at the side of you. You knew who it was when the string was burning more than ever before and yet you couldn't feel it over the pain your heart.

"You did brilliant back there. You chose, not just your job, but your life over a creature you barely even knew! If you wouldn't have jumped in when you did, I don't think her children would've had a chance to escape to my TARDIS because he's going on a hunt right now for the rest of them. Sure, you didn't save her but you saved so many more lives than you think. And I know each one is eternally grateful for what you did. I know I would be." Her words were certain and sympathetic. They seemed to calm you down instantly. Or maybe is was the way she talked that helped with her soft but strong voice and you knew you already couldn't get enough like it was the best drug ever. You could listen to her all day and yet, she had said very little to you. It was a strange effect but you liked it.

She fell into a silence for a while just keeping you company as you came to terms with had happened.

[romanianseba]

Pretty Dresses

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Bucky Barnes, you, and the way you love your dresses throughout the seasons.

Warnings: some angst, mentions of death, major fluff. A very, very smitten Bucky.

Word count: 6.9k

A/N: This is very special for me and I’m so proud of it, loved writing it sooo much. ‘Everybody but them knows they like each other and they don’t even think about the possibility of being liked back’ kinda fic. Enjoy!

—

winter~

Your focus goes from Bucky to the man in front of him. You study the man’s expression, analyze his body language and the speed in which he talks to Bucky through the lens of your weapon. Not a hint of suspicion in his features. What an idiot, you smirk satisfied. Bucky’s very good at this, you think proudly.

“Who’s gonna listen to my ideas from now on? Yep, Tony Stark. You better thank me properly, Anthony.” You whisper to yourself as your eyes flicker from Bucky and the guy to the small classic diner behind them and you’re relieved to see that there’s barely five people inside.

The guy seems to have no suspicion at all up to now but you never know. So you feel thankful to find the place as empty as you wanted it to be. And, as far as you can see from your position, there aren’t any other cars around besides the one your target came in. Good, he came alone. Because you’re here just in case he didn’t.

The guy you’re aiming at is about three inches shorter than Bucky, hair that reaches his ears and slightly built but not even close to match the size of a super soldier. He’s a member –a low range member, you believe, but a member nevertheless– of the criminal gang Tony and Steve had been trying to track down for almost four months. They’ve been trying to find where they hide, following them from a distance but never coming close enough. The gang is credited with about twelve innocent deaths in the past months.

Tony was desperate, until you came up with a not so original plan. Really, you didn’t understand how nobody came up with the undercover concept before.

Although you were elated that your idea was taking the form of a plan, your eyes went wide open with disbelief when Tony suggested Bucky would be the one doing the undercover part.

He would try to infiltrate and pretend to want to be part of a criminal group. Your heart raced. Pretend enough for them to allow him into their places. Your stomach churned.

Do you think he is capable? One hundred percent. Are you still terribly afraid something really bad could happen to him? One hundred and fifty percent.

I’m in. You had said determined when Tony asked who wanted to be covering Bucky’s back in this one. Haven’t done that job in a while. You shrugged when all heads on the table turned towards you, realizing only then how immediately you throw yourself into it. I want him to get comfortable with all members of the team. You should go with him next. You lied to Natasha with a sweet smile when she smirked at you knowingly after that meeting. She didn’t believe a word you said.

The dirty roof of an old, abandoned warehouse is were you lay over your stomach, across from that diner you can’t tear your eyes away from.

You smile when you see a young couple sharing a pink drink over the red table by the window. A woman in her forties sips from her coffee cup on the other side of the counter, newspaper in hand and glasses over her nose. She wears an uniform that matches the diner’s paint inside. You wish for it to stay that way as you keep an eye on Bucky and your aim on the target. You hope you won’t have to shot anybody nearby those shiny windows.

It’s an enchanting diner. You haven’t seen one in ages. It has some old 80’s vibes to it; soft blue, white and red tones, and it seems to be taken care of very well. It’s parking spot is where the team decided the first step of this mission was going to take place.

You had always wanted to own a diner like this one. Yeah, you just remembered now. Own a diner and a much more simple life. But not everything is as easy as you think it is, right? As aunt Marlize used to say. She also happened to be the reason you wanted to own a diner. That woman was the owner of the one you used to go to as a kid -every Sunday at around 11 a.m. for late breakfast of lazy Sundays.

You also remember aunt Marlize complaining about how much she hated it. Evey time I sit down to finally have my lunch because is dead empty around here, someone walks in right away. This job. It’s gonna make me die sooner, she would say. But aunt Marlize would complain just about everything really. There, that’s what made her die sooner, you think as you watch Bucky making his way back to your hiding spot once he is sure the target has left.

Your muscles relax immediately. Bucky is okay. This step was successful. You didn’t have to shot anybody and that diner will remain pretty and peaceful. Letting out a sigh you stay in position, you don’t want surprises, you watch Bucky’s back all the way until he’s by your side; all body parts where they belong.

“Hey,” Bucky lifts his left hand as he climbs the ladder to get to where you are. “You can put it down. It’s me.”

“Yeah,” You chuckle, peeking over the edge. “I’m just watching your back.”

“Thank you, doll. I felt very protected over there.” He says once he is on top and smiles at you, that million dollar smile of his. Lord, he’s beautiful.

“It is my duty to ensure your safety, Sargent.”

He laughs, “You can rest now, loyal guardian.” He swallowed the word wanted to say the most. He wanted to say my loyal guardian. Because Bucky wanted you to be his.

“Here, let me hold that for you.” He reaches and takes the heavy weapon from your hands.

"Let’s get out of here, that rat smell only gets worse every second.” You wince, shaking the dust off the front of your black dress.

Yeah, you’re wearing for this mission. You love dresses. So much. Way too much. Your mother loved dresses, your grandma loved dresses, even aunt Marlize loved dresses. Dresses feel right to you, they feel familiar, they feel like home. Naturally, you wear dresses most of your days. Comfortable, loose, flowy, colorful sundress, but also neutral sundress, dresses with an old vibe to them. It was a strange connection to you mother that you felt through the dresses you wear.

This avenger job, if you can call it a job, a responsibility maybe? It doesn’t allow you to wear them every day but you take advantage of it when you’re able to. Like today.

Today, hopefully, you were not going to fight bad guys. Today you weren’t going to get blood all over. Today your clothes weren’t going to get ripped. Today, oh pretty please, you weren’t going to run towards saving someone’s life. Today you could wear a dress for work. So you did. Of course you did. It stops just above your knee and it blows with the late evening breeze. Dark thick tights underneath because it’s the first week of winter. Combat boots, the only remaining of your official on-duty suit. And Bucky’s jacket. Because he couldn’t decide what to wear for his undercover rol, so he had thrown a bunch of his clothes in the backseat of the car that drove you here and asked you to help him look appropriate. He handed you one of the many jackets he brought when you stepped out of the car and into the chill wind in only the thin three-quarter sleeves of your dress.

“You know, I just remembered,” You tell Bucky, walking by his side as the two of you make your way to the car you were given instructions to leave a couple of miles away.

Guess this’ll have to be your workout for today, the one you avoided this morning because it’s Monday, you told Steve when he looked disapprovingly at you at breakfast.

“I always wanted to own a diner when I was a little kid,” You make a pause, “Hmm, maybe just work in there, I’m not really a boss lady.”

Bucky smiles, and it hurts. Whenever you’re the reason smiling always hurts for Bucky because he can’t control how long it stretches on his cheeks.

“It’d match your style.” He says after a moment.

“My style?”

“Yeah, the way you dress.”

You laugh at that and Bucky frowns.

“What?” His eyes meet yours with amusement and wonder.

Pretty blue eyes hold yours for a second until you shake your head and look away, faint flush painting your cheeks and a small smile lingering in your lips. “Didn’t think you notice.”

Bucky noticed. Yeah he does. He does every day. Bucky notices when you’re wearing a new dress and he knows which one you’ve had since he moved to the compound.

He remembers the dress you were wearing when he met you- and oh, how he wishes you wore it more often. He loves that baby blue dress you wear in the summer. He knows how many floral dress you have, because it’s his favorite imprint on you. It makes him feel lighter, brighter, it makes him remember picking up his mother’s favorite flowers in a spring field, it makes him feel happy.

He knows which one is your favorite because he can talk about all the times you’ve worn it in the last three months. It’s on the days that are the most special for you; the days that you look particularly happy. And if he were to buy you a dress, he knows, Bucky knows you would love it because of how much he has noticed your style. He knows the colors, patters and what lengths you usually go to. Yes, Bucky does notice.

“Why?”

You shrug. “Well, men never notice those things. It’s a miracle when they do once in their whole life. No offense.”

“Not that,” Bucky laughs, the corners of his eyes wrinkle. “Why did you want to work there?”

“Oh! You know, free strawberry milkshakes and fries.” An adorable giggle bubbles from your mouth and you shake your head when Bucky narrows his eyes playfully. “It’s just a cute place in my opinion, Bucky.”

Bucky nods.

“Do you feel like having a strawberry milkshake now?” Closing the driver’s door, Bucky has finally gathered enough courage to ask.

Silence fills the car momentarily and he rushes to believe he has crossed a line until he risks looking your way. A big grin and brighter eyes look back at him from the passenger seat. “Absolutely.”

–

spring~

“You alright, doll?”

You wanted to believe he caught you because it’s you. No, he would do it for anybody. He would. But you wanted to believe he caught you extraordinary fast because he was watching you. No, it’s just the serum running in his veins. The serum had nothing to do with that. He caught you fast because it’s you. He caught you as fast because he was watching you, your every move, since the moment you stepped out of the elevator that brought you here from your bedroom.

The way the skirt of your yellow sundress swayed as you walked. The way you were smiling at your friends, so genuine, no restrictions; your smile was as big as it naturally wanted to be, Bucky noticed, and you weren’t trying to hide it. The way your eyes lit up as they took on everything around you, decorations that Bucky thought matched your being; colorful, simple, beautiful, lighter. A flower. Like those little spring wildflowers covering the grass around the compound. The way you kept coming closer and closer to were this spring party was being held, at the spacious compound’s yard. Closer to were he was, sitting on one of those expensive looking outdoor chairs. The way your eyes stayed a little longer in the chocolate cake in the middle of the room. The way you drank your strawberry drink- which was now stained on your pretty dress. The way you looked like an angel.

Yes, an angel.

“Careful there, darling,” Tony, who was nearby when you stumbled with God knows what, walks past the two of you as Bucky balances you to your feet. “Thank God we have super soldiers around here.” He says over his shoulder, stopping in his tracks when one of his guests abruptly comes to stand right in front of him and starts talking in a smug millionaire voice.

Strange faces with expensive looking clothes and fancy mannerisms. The place is full of people that Bucky doesn’t know. And, judging by the way he has watched him exchanging barely three sentences with every person he comes across, he doubts even Tony Stark himself actually knows any of them.

Bucky didn’t really understand the actual reason or intention behind this outdoor party. He only remembers Tony’s annoying reminders for the team that Friday delivered daily for an entire month and he remembers little of the simple explanation Steve tried to give him while he was busy trying to find you in the crowd before you even arrived down here.

“Thanks, Bucky.” Your embarrassed mumble is almost not even there and Bucky thinks the flush in your cheeks is the prettiest pink he has ever seen.

God, you’re considered to be part of the earth’s mightiest heroes and you almost crashed face first onto the neatly trimmed grass if it weren’t for Bucky’s quick reaction because you were not paying attention to what was in front of you.

“Hey,” He exhales softly. “Like Tony said, thank God I was around.”

You can’t help the grin that reaches your eyes. It made you happy, the way he no longer referred to Tony as Stark, now he calls him Tony. Now he feels more comfortable. It’s been almost three years. The team is no longer a group of strangers for him. He wants to know them. He wants to go out with them and get close. He knows he can trust this people. He has noticed how this people trust him. Now he knows he belongs.

Yes, yes, Bucky. Thank God you’re around.

“I got a little distracted and…” Words die in your tongue as you squint at the hem of his dark grey shirt. “God, it got to your shirt, too. I’m so sorry, Bucky.”

Looking down he spots a faint red stain but he doesn’t care one bit, he’ll remember this moment and how adorable embarrassed you look whenever he wears it.

“It’s fine. It’ll wash off.”

“If it doesn’t, you know where to find me. I’ll take the responsibility.”

He chuckles. “Don’t worry about that, doll.”

“Well, I think I’m gonna need another drink,” You look down to your dress. “And a change of clothes.”

“That’s a good color on you.” It escapes his mouth before he can think it over as he usually does.

And it’s only then, when his deep husky voice falls right over your ear, that you realize how close he is and, looking up, everything you see is baby blue. You smile at him, all teeth and rosy lips and bright eyes that reflect the sun and Bucky swears he’s dreaming.

“You think so?” A sweet, sweet and nervous laugh falls from your lips and it’s angelic; Bucky thinks the sound is angelic.

“Yeah.” He sounds almost out of breath.

And you have to tear your eyes away from him because it feels like you are about to drown in his intense blues.

“I think you would rock yellow, Bucky. I’d love to see that.”

Bucky always hated to wear yellow. Were man even allowed to wear yellow? He doesn’t care. Because now he would stand to wear it, as long as he sees you smile about it the same way you’re smiling at him now. He would wear yellow every day if it meant you were going to smile like that for him.

“Welcome, welcome, everyone! It’s a wonderful afternoon and we’re just getting started…” Your heads turn to where Tony is standing holding a mic when his energetic voice is heard through the entire place.

Bucky groans inside. Just getting started? Been here for about an hour already.

But then you face him again, sweetly smile up at him and suddenly Bucky doesn’t care how much longer he’ll have to stay.

–

summer~

“Where do you get all these cute doll dresses from?”

It comes out unexpected amongst the chaos in the kitchen over breakfast. Unexpected for you. For the whole team bumping against each other, taking turns to make their individuals breakfast. Unexpected for Bucky, the owner of the voice that just made that question. Muttered but clear, loud enough for everyone to hear. Did he intend to say that out loud? Was it just a casual thought that escaped his grasp way too fast? It was debatable; for you, for Bucky, for everyone now exchanging discreet knowing looks and badly hidden half smiles across the kitchen.

It is questionable in Bucky’s mind whether he had wanted to say that out loud. But he is positively aware about the one unquestionable truth; the connection between mind, thought filter and speaking was inexistent when you are near him.

And you are. Delicately setting pieces of your sandwich together right beside him at the adjacent side of the counter. You are pretty close to him and he can’t help his thoughts about you ever, but especially when you are this close.

Damn Sunday mornings when everybody feels like spending a ridiculous amount of time and effort making breakfast, gathering all enormous shoulders and muscle in the relatively spacious kitchen -but enormous shoulders and muscle-, all at the same time, ridiculously early for a Sunday morning because everyone in this house seems to have a permanent hen-like biological clock.

Bucky’s cheeks turn pink the moment you lay your eyes on him; eyebrows high, wide eyes, mind processing what you just heard, mouth open but nothing comes out, cheeks equally flushed because damnit if you’re not internally struggling to chill. Was that a compliment? From Bucky? Bucky? Buc-

“Uh, I-” You swallow, lick your lips nervously, “Do you-” Inhaling to regain some sort of maturity. Dang it, how old am I? “Do you like my dresses,” It’s more of a statement than a question.

Bucky shifts awkwardly on the counter stool, “Yeah, I-” Clears his throat, looks down at the oatmeal bowl in front of him.

“Do you think they’re cute?” A smile starts forming on your lips when his eyes lift to yours again.

Sam groans from the stove, dramatically rolling his eyes, “You idiots, stop acting like you’re not in lov- ouch!” He whines when Wanda pinches his bicep.

“Not your business,” She hisses.

“It’s so obvious, are they blind-”

“Shut up,” Natasha demands with a grin, washing her vegetables in the sink while Sam glares at the back of her head.

It doesn’t matter because whatever everyone else is doing or saying is muffled in the back of your lovesick minds.

The smile tugging on Bucky’s lips eventually matches the size of yours as he answers, “I mean… yeah. They look good on you. And you have your own style, that’s… pretty cool actually.”

He shrugs slightly. As if he weren’t affected by it everyday, as if he didn’t love it so much.

“Well I-,” You go back to your unfinished sandwich with shaky hands because he’s doing that thing again when he stares like you’re the only person in the room. Like you are an exotic discovery that must be put under scrutinized inspection. And you can’t breathe properly when he does. “I buy them online, or-”

“Wow, really?”

You laugh at his amazed tone. “Yeah.”

“How do you know they’ll fit?”

“It’s a process, Bucky. But it’s fun! I also go out there to see what I can find. And I’ve made some of them myself.”

“Are you for real?” He sounds amazed. It’s adorable. Absolutely astonished.

“I can teach you,” You laugh playfully.

He laughs along, “That’ll be fun.”

“For real, I will teach you.”

“Doll, I’m in.” Bucky beams as he watches you place thin sliced tomato over lettuce. “You like them so much, don’t you?”

“Dresses?” You catch his nod by the corner of you eye. “I do a lot.”

“Why?” He asks with nothing but curiosity and you smile bigger.

“It’s a special connection with my mother. She’s not here anymore but that’s how it feels when I wear them.”

When your eyes find his again, Bucky notices the light in your eyes is brighter and his heart goes fast. He can see right through them; the sincerity and how much you mean what you said. And God, do they shine so beautiful.

“That’s amazing, doll.” He whispers with genuine interest.

You stare dumbly at each other for a moment until you look back down shyly, flushed cheeks, timid smile; Bucky looks down at the same time, clears his throat again as if stepping out of a trance and hides his equally timid smile with a spoon full of oats and berries.

After a minute, you speak again, “Also, it’s so easy to put one on, and you don’t really have to think about combinations. You’re done when you throw a dress over your head,” You chuckle, “So, emotional value but also practicality. And comfiness, let’s never forget you can move around with liberty.”

And Bucky doesn’t care how crowded the kitchen is on Sunday mornings, or the overwhelming smell of all sorts of different dishes when you beam at him warmly, like the sun outside.

-

It’s one of those days. All he wanted was to stay home. There are various steps of progress, just as there are steps back. Trauma isn’t something you can move on from easily. It takes years. If it actually even comes to an end before death reaches for you first. Sentiments of unworthiness plagued him once in a while. Not as often as it used to, but they’re there. Days like today. Mentally and physically exhausting missions adding to it all this time around. One after another during the last two weeks.

Bucky’s eyes squint with the summer sun as watches everyone from afar. People he wants to get to know better when it’s not a day like today. He hears the laughs, the bantering, but his eyes keep coming back to you. Sunlight hitting your face gives you rosy cheeks, wide smile matching the light of that infinite light, half of your hair tied up messily, the sound of your sweet laugh as you chat with Wanda standing on wet sand, water covering your feet when a new wave crashes against the seashore. Bucky thinks you’re as bright as the sun, small embroidered flowers covering the white dress that stops bellow your knees, a walking ray of sunshine.

You look pure and innocent and so, so sweet. Sweet, like the coconut water you were drinking a few minutes ago. And he finds himself wondering how someone so sweet can be so lethal when required. His minds travels for a second to your sparring sessions with Steve, the confidence and strength you show on missions.

“Man, you have to stop just looking at her,” Sam leans down beside him to bury his beer in the sand. “You’re wasting time over here.”

It provided reassurance for Bucky. Words he didn’t know he desperately needed to hear. Some sort of confirmation outside his mind that he is allowed to fall in love and receive that kind of love back at this point in his life. It’s possible, it’s still wanted, it’s needed and deserved. It is not too late.

His heart aches when he thinks about how he’s been a little distant with you since that Sunday breakfast conversation you both had a week ago. You’ve noticed the exhaustion in his eyes, deciding it was good to give him some time and space; unaware of the actual reason behind his exhaustion. Forget about tough missions. Undeserving thoughts plague him specially right after getting a bit closer to you. His heart flutters and he believes and he hopes. And then, he’s not good enough, and you’re too good for him.

Giving Bucky one last glance and a smirk, Sam runs to join the rest, splashing salty water all over Wanda when he gives it a hard kick with his foot.

Pushing away wet hair sticking over her face, Wanda stands still, staring down in disbelief as your hands rush up to cover your mouth, attempting to suppress your laughter.

Still from a distance, watching everything with a grin on his face, Bucky leans down to bury his own beer right when the beach chair next to him lights up in a reddish tone, floats on its own and goes flying in the blink on an eye towards Sam, who crouches down with his arms tightly wrapped over his head just in time for the manipulated chair to fly over him and land on the water. Bucky’s eyes go wide, seeing nonliving stuff floating around by control of Wanda’s hands always takes him by surprise.

“Guys, can you stop acting like first graders?” Tony shouts from further away, his head being the only part of his body visible outside the water. Natasha floating peacefully on her back behind him.

The chair crashes against Sam’s side repeatedly when Wanda makes it slide over the surface pulling an exaggerated groan out of its victim. “Hey! Okay, I’m sorry! Wan!”

Shaking your head at such displays of affection of your friends for one another, you turn around, smiling indeed as bright as the sun when your eyes find Bucky’s and waving hello from afar. His mouth mirrors yours as he waves back. Eyes stay connected while both of your overthinking minds debate whether it’s a good idea to approach the other or not.

You win first against yours. Heart drums at a fast speed inside his chest when you approach him slowly, your white dress creating moving shadows on the sand.

“Come, Bucky,” You say sweetly when you reach him, leaning down to grab his hand in yours. “The water is so nice.” You add, tugging at it for him to stand up. “Wanda won’t throw things your way as long as you don’t bother her.”

A sweet laugh falls from your lips as you hold his hand all the way back to the seashore. Not letting go even after fresh water crashes against Bucky’s feet and goes up his ankles.

“Close your eyes, Bucky. Feel everything that is around you.” You whisper next to him. Hands still clasped together.

Feel everything that is around you

Eyes closed, he does what he’s told; the weight of your hand around his, fine sand under his bare feet, refreshing water covering his feet, sunlight touching his heated skin, sea breeze ruffling loose strands of hair that fell from his bun, an entire awe-inspiring ocean in front of him. And Bucky only feels you.

_

autumn~

Ice cream cones, dogs, pineapples and stars imprints. The dresses you wear started to get very peculiar by the end of the summer and through the few first weeks of autumn.

It’s like a door was opened and I have new endless possibilities before me. You said enthusiastically one time Sam asked about your current dress situation.

Until you stopped wearing them.

Bucky is aware you don’t wear dresses every single day of your life. There’s this particular week every month that it’s actually not that comfortable, nor convenient to wear a dress, Bucky. You had told him with a tender smile dancing on your lips at his curiosity when he –pre- rehearsed, pre-meditated and over-considered– had asked you casually why you weren’t wearing any dresses during a certain week a few months ago. And with flushed cheeks, once Natasha had illuminated him with what you meant by that, Bucky nodded. And he got it. He understands.

The thing is, you haven’t in four weeks. Three of which were spent at the compound. Three weeks at home, one week on a mission overseas. Three weeks off duty and you haven’t worn a dress. For three weeks. At home. Where you’re free to wear them anytime you want.

“No, Bucky. It doesn’t. For the hundredth time, it doesn’t last three weeks.” Natasha groaned during breakfast today when he asked her again if your time of the month could last that long.

Over and over again, for all the time you’ve been acting weird, Bucky has been going to her with the same question; ~but what if… ~Nat, you sure there’s not a chance… ~would Wanda know better… -to which Natasha had sent him daggers in the form of a glare- ~why would it be three weeks? ~is she okay? ~haven’t you talk to her? ~but why…

Because not only were you not dressing the way you loved, you had also lost that optimistic attitude and that joyful behavior that lights up every room. And lastly, Bucky noticed sadly, the light in your eyes was gone.

“She’s acting the same way, are you really that sure?” He pushed desperately that morning, absently moving the cereal inside the bowl in front of him. “Looks like the same symptoms, only so much worse.”

Natasha sighed in defeat, talking slowly, “She’s going through a hard time right now. And I’m only telling you this because I hope so profoundly that you will stop asking the same question every single day. Bucky, I appreciate you a lot, but you are driving me crazy. It is not my place to tell you how she feels right know. Only she decides what she wants to share with each one of us, I’m not taking that away from her. I know it’s not easy for her right now and that’s all I’m gonna give you. And no, it’s not because of that time of the month so please stop it.” She begged exasperated.

Looking into his uneasy blue eyes, her expression softened.

“Look, I know she trusts you and she feels comfortable around you. Why don’t you just ask her what’s going on?” She had encouraged him with tender eyes. “She’ll have a better answer to how she’s feeling than I ever will.” Sending a wink his way, the redhead jumped off the stool beside him, dropped a dirty bowl by the sink and walked out the kitchen door.

And that’s what he does. At least, in a way. In his way.

Leaving out a shaky breath, Bucky stares at your closed door, sweaty hands holding the envelope tightly.

He decided wrapping a gift rather than throwing it into a gift bag or a box would give more intention and meaning to it.

It turned out neatly done, a brown-ish ribbon going around and tied on top. Wanda helped when she found him cursing the red tutorial app on the screen of his phone, balls of ruined gift wrap on the floor all around him. I think she’ll love it. She had said. You don’t know who this is for. Bucky replied. Right… I don’t, right? She smirked knowingly.

Looking down at the note he wrote attached to the ribbon, Bucky sighs one more time and places the envelope gently on the floor in front of your door.

I hope the reason you don’t wear them anymore is because you ran out of them; and not because you’ve grown tired of them.

Bucky.

This was Bucky’s way. A silent reminder that he cares about you.

Questions like how are you feeling? can I do something for you? do you want to talk about it?, those didn’t really worked for him. When he was new into this word, those questions didn’t help. He needed space and time, not a constant reminder that something was wrong with him.

And so he was grateful every time you would do something for him, no words spoken. Just little actions that showed him you were there, and that you cared and appreciated him being around.

No pity. Not being sensitive around him. Actions that showed him you were not afraid. Pouring a cup of coffee for him in the mornings. Making space for him on the couch without looking. Normal. He felt normal when you did things like that. Like he didn’t need to be treated a special way. Eyes weren’t on him the whole time to see his every move when you were the only one in a room with him.

Bucky didn’t want to come up to you with those questions. He didn’t want to make you feel like you had to share something with him when you weren’t ready. A dress is what he bought for you. A silent reminder; I’m here for you. I notice, and I care.

It takes you some time to find him, but you finally spot him by the tall bare trees around the compound. Hundreds of dry, colorful, autumn leaves covering the ground, creaking under your feet. And, if you weren’t in such state of mind, you would be laughing and throwing handfuls of fallen leaves into the air. Autumn is such a wonderful time of the year.

His back is to you and his hair looks messy, and curly, and so soft; makes you want to get your hands on it.

“Bucky.”

“Hey, doll.”

Bucky takes you in when he turns around. Dress or not, you’re beautiful. Sweatpants, an oversized shirt. Always beautiful.

“Hi.”

He smiles fondly, “Hi.”

“Thank you. For the…” Your lip trembles and Bucky isn’t sure, but he thinks he sees your eyes get watery before you bolt forward, surprising him when you wrap your arms around him tightly. “Thanks, Bucky,” Your voice is muffled against his hoodie. “It means a lot to me.”

He exhales, his smile grows, his heart drums happily. Unsure of how much he should hold you, his arms go around your shoulders lightly, even when his whole body wants to hold you so close until it is impossible to know whether there are two bodies or just one.

“I thought it would cheer you up,” He whispers, his breath tickling your scalp at the top of your head. “I don’t know what you’re going through. It’s okay if you don’t wanna talk about it. But I’m here. If you need me. I’ll do anything for you.” He speaks slowly as his flesh fingers squeeze your shoulder gently and you pull away with a smile; though, he notices, it doesn’t reach your eyes.

“I know you would.” And he knows you’re being sincere when you hold his gaze.

Taking a deep breath, you walk past him. Facing him again after a minute when you lean your back against a big tree catching a yellow leaf as it falls, twisting its little stem between your fingers. He watches you cautiously.

“Remember when I told you about what dresses mean to me?”

Bucky blinks and then nods, smiling. “I do. It makes you remember your mother.”

“Yeah,” Your voice cracks a little and his smile falls. “My whole family actually. Dad always loved them,” Your eyes are on his shoes as your continue. “He loved seeing mamma, me and my little sisters wear them.” Bucky watches one side of your mouth slightly twitching upwards. “It was tree years ago… when I lost them all.”

You finally look up and Bucky sees tears pooling your eyes.

“I guess I had deprived the grief before because I was always busy and we never stopped working after what happened,” Your voice is totally trembling now and tears are falling free down your cheeks. “I pushed it aside for so long, and I’m truly just now processing everything, and my younger sister,” You choke a little and Bucky clenches his fists because he wants to hold you so tight and wipe the hurt away. “Little Lyla, she would- would have turned four two weeks ago and it’s just so much, Bucky. She was- she was just a baby.”

Both of your hands cover your mouth as you sob, full of years and shaking violently. And Bucky can’t take it anymore, he strides towards you hastily and cages you in his arms. Tight.

“Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” His metal hand cradles your head against his chest and there are tears in his own eyes as he mumbles against the top of your head, “So sorry, baby.”

He has heard about what happened with your parents, in the New York attack; but he never knew you had little sisters.

“I’ve protected so many people and I couldn’t keep them safe. The most- the most important for me.” Your fingers grip the fabric on his back.

“No, doll. No,” Bucky closes his eyes, jaw clenched, tears covering his cheeks, pained to the core. “It was not your fault, not your fault.”

He wants to shatter the guild and grief that you’re feeling and protect you from it forever.

“My parents would have been twenty five years of being married yesterday and it was mom’s biggest dream to celebrate it, she would talk about it all the time and I don’t know what to do, Bucky.” You sob against him, letting everything out.

“It’s okay, I’m here.” His fingers stroke your hair soothingly.

And he just hold you for a moment and you let him; you need it. More leaves slowly falling all around you. It would be magical and romantic in different circumstances.

“Sorry.” You cry, throat dry and it hurts and Bucky’s heart falls in pieces.

How someone so sweet can be so broken.

“Hey,” He says softly. “No, you don’t have to apologize about anything.”

“I was so distant…”

“It’s okay, doll. It’s okay.”

“That’s why I didn’t- I couldn’t wear anything that remind me… I would see them all if I- if I put a dress on I would see my family,” You sob. “I miss them a lot.”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry,” He whispers. “I’m sorry if I made you remember. I didn’t know.”

“No, Bucky,” You shake your head firmly. “I love it. Thank you. Thank you so much. It made me feel so much better. I love it.”

Bucky holds you some more, until you’re not shaking and your breath is almost even.

“I want to try it on,” Your voice is raspy. Pulling away, the back of your hands go up to sweep against your cheeks. “I want you to see it first.” A small smile graces your tear stained face as you look up at him shyly.

“Okay.”

His hand outstretches to you and you take it without a second thought, letting him lead the way back to the compound.

Anticipation running hot in his veins, and he feels the excitement in his belly when he waits patiently outside your bedroom door. Bottom lip trapped between his teeth because all he can think about is how you’ll look with that dress and he’s grinning so hard.

The enhanced ear catches every little shuffle inside and he arranges his hair and straightens his posture when he catches the soft paddle of your feet approaching the door. And the air is kicked out of his lungs as soon as you open it and he takes you in.

“What do you think?”

“I think it was made just for you.”

“I really love it. It’s my favorite now. Just wanted to let you know I’m gonna wear it a lot.”

Bucky chuckles; smiling so big because the scene in front of him is so much better than image he had in mind. “Can’t wait.”

“It’s the best thing I have ever been given,” You look down, running your hands over the soft fabric of the beautiful green dress. “Thank you again, Bucky.”

“I’m glad you still like them, you know,” He shrugs.

“Of course.”

And, taking a leap of faith –and courage–, Bucky steps closer. One step. Then, another one, slower and more hesitant than the first. Your breath hitches when your shoes touch the tip of his, and you find his eyes when his left hand touches your cheek. The cold metal a welcoming temperature to your flushed skin.

“You look beautiful,” Thumb gently strokes under your eye, “And– you’re so strong. I’m proud of you,” His voice is so gentle, his eyes even more, they hold so much sincerity and tenderness, looking at them makes your heart believe what others have told you. “You’ve made it this far. So many would have given up long ago. I’m so proud.”

Bucky doesn’t miss the way your eyes lit up the longer he holds you. Eyes that compete with the stars look up at him; hopeful, bright, wanting. And Bucky jumps, the leap of faith, erases the distance that keeps you two apart. Tender lips pressed to yours, soft and lovely.

He met you wearing a dress. He fell for you wearing a dress. He hold your hand first time when you wearing a dress. Kissed you for the first time when you were wearing a dress. Loved you wearing a dress. Made love to you for the first time, a floral dress rucked up around your waist. He wanted to marry you, and you would be wearing a dress. Bucky wanted to grow old watching you wear pretty dresses for the rest of his life.

[goldport-archive]

How friendly is everyone to outsiders? - Totally Not Inky No Not At All

Most of the general population in Goldport is warily kind. You’ll get a passing smile, but that’s about it. If you’re new to goldport and moving in, or just visiting for your first time, it all depends on who you meet first and/or ask for directions, because Goldport is a very big city and you will need help. (this will get long and i’m sorry)

If you’re lucky enough to run into Candace when you first show up (which isn’t outside of the realm of possibility- her candy shop is only a few blocks away from the metro station), she’ll be super friendly towards any new face that shows up. You’ll probably be taken back to her shop and given a lot of free stuff as a welcome to the city.

With Pietro, you would definitely have to initiate the conversation with an “I’m new here” or “I’m visiting”, and even then, you wouldn’t get much out of him other than a cold shoulder. He doesn’t like his conversations lasting too long, and he’s more of a bootstraps theory kind of person.

If you meet Bugsy Bethany first, you’d definitely have to start up the conversation. She would be helpful in a condescending manner, like an adult giving a child directions. If you’re shorter than her, she’ll even look down on you. But you’ll get directions to her dance club. Catalina would be a lot nicer about everything, although a bit shy.

Dastron would be nice to any first-timers, especially if they don’t know that he’s a major-league crime boss. During the entire conversation, you’d get an odd vibe, and he’d casually but discreetly throw in some crime-related things that would catch the interest of any criminals moving in so he can scout out potential new partners in crime. But otherwise, you’d get what info you needed from him.

Maximoff is a pretty intimidating guy, but he’s nice enough. He doesn’t really change from his neutral expression ever, so he’s hard to read, but he’d help you with whatever you needed.

Harry would usually be with Freya, and if you were to approach them, Freya would do most of the talking. She’s rather nice, although a bit blunt about how much crime there exactly is in this city. She’s also very smart. After a lot of info in a short amount of time, Harry would simply apologize to you and they would leave.

Felix would be the one walking up to you, probably trying to get you involved in whatever get-rich-quick scam he’s got in the works. He’d follow you around trying to make “friends” with you and get your money.

Jade & Jayd would talk over each other and would try their best to help, but it’d be first graders giving directions. They’d try their best and it would be super cute and nice, but no help whatsoever.

Levi is very intimidating as well, but he’s approachable at least. He’ll help you out with whatever questions you have, but he won’t make conversation at all.

If you decide to approach Riker first youre insane. That man has very obviously killed people before and youre about to ask him for directions. He’s not mean, but he’s definitely not someone who you see and think to approach unless you’re a criminal or crazy.

Robinson and Phil are incredibly nice and would definitely help you out. They’re like those nice grandpas that always have those strawberry candies on them somewhere. They’d direct you to their restaurant and offer you a 10% “First-Timers” discount.

Calvin and Circuit are definitely some of the most knowledgeable people in regards to the city. They know the best places to eat, the best places to stay, and are also incredibly friendly. Calvin’s a little weird, and Circuit’s a little awkward, but they’ll give you a good sense of what the people in Goldport are like.

Skell doesn’t know much about things despite living in this city for most of his adult life, so he wouldn’t be very helpful but you’d have a nice conversation. Skell would be very awkward the whole time, though.

Stratos is kind of softspoken, but nice. He’d physically take you places rather than tell you directions and you might possibly end up spending the whole day with him dragging you around, but he’d be nice about it.

Randall definitely stands out in a crowd, and if approached will definitely help you with directions, give you recommendations, grab something off a tall shelf for you, etc. but if you try and make conversation he slowly starts panicking.

Beta and Audrey would probably poke fun at you, but they’d answer any of your questions and know the city pretty well.

you would probably meet Danny and Duna only if you arrived by boat rather than plane, as they spend most, if not all of, their time at the beaches. However they’d be very nice (Duna would probably try and gaslight you into going into her clothing shop), but not too knowledgeable about the entire city.

If you manage to work up the nerve to speak to Copper, this very tall, leather-clad skeleton man who looks like he could and will knock your teeth in, he’s very friendly and would be nice to talk to. He’d even buy you lunch.

Robert is boring, but nice to have a conversation with. He knows more about his own neighborhood, but would know some good places to stop by.

Sousa is a very obviously eccentric person, but they give off good vibes and are very approachable. They also know a LOT about Goldport and would probably give you a map they made themself in a mapmaking class.

Mac & Rooney are… nice. Eccentric. Definitely give odd vibes. They’d be helpful and would make conversation, but you’d definitely feel like you’re in some weird kind of danger around them.

and finally i’m so so sorry if you have the misfortune of 👁 being the first one you contact in this city. Goldport is at least slightly better than they say it is I promise. I’m so sorry. Candace’s shop is a few blocks away go there and have a good time and please for the love of god forget about your interaction with 👁

[meigh-day]

Obligation (Tendou x Reader) - Part 13

———————————————————–

Title: Obligation

Pairing: Mafia AU Tendou x F!Reader

Characters: Includes characters from both Shiratorizawa and Seijoh/Some OC background characters

Includes: Swearing, Guns, Knives, Violence, Blood, Torture

Status: Complete

Word Count: 1.6k

Previous Next

———————————————————–

So far Tendou had only seen the pictures but as he scrolled through a video loaded. It started off with a shaky angle but slowly your form came into view. You were still propped up in the corner of what he assumed to be a van, eyes closed and head bowed. A figure moved across the screen and then knelt before you, his back was to the screen, short blonde hair the only distinguishing characteristic that could be made out at the moment.

"C'mon doll, why don't you wake up and have some fun." He cooed out in an attempt to coax you awake before reaching a hand out. He pressed three fingers and a thumb roughly into your cheeks and pulled up so your face was now facing towards the camera. Your lips parted from the pressure on each side of your face, so he decided to take the opportunity to stick his index finger inside your mouth. He wiggled it around, dragging the pad of his finger across your tongue, a visible shiver ran through him.

"Dude, don't be a fucking pervert..." The camera holder spoke, obviously uncomfortable with the turn this had taken. The blonde man turned his face slightly, giving the other a side eyed glare before pulling his finger out and wiping the saliva he had gathered across your cheek and chin. With a sigh the man released your face and stood, the video cut as your head started to fall to the side once again.

The next few pictures showed you in a new setting, this time on the bare floor of a room. The way you were crumpled up on the ground almost made it seem like someone had just dropped you in a pile on the floor and walked away. Finally, Tendou was facing the last two videos, he wanted to stop watching, it was equal parts heartbreaking and enraging to see the state you were in. Yet, he had to see, he needed to know what happened next, he needed to see what they had done to you. Tendou was absolutely frothing with rage after seeing that disgusting goon stick his vile finger in your mouth.

The next video is short, only about 15 seconds. You are seated in a chair, your arms and legs bound to the chairs arms and legs. Your torso was held fast to the back of the chair by more restraints. At first your face is angled down and away but at the sound of your name, you stir. Your head was throbbing and your body ached, someone was calling out to you but the lights just seemed so bright so for several seconds you just glance around in confusion, blinking rapidly as you try to shield your eyes. You want to cover your eyes with your hands but you can't seem to make them move. It takes a few more seconds for you to realize you can't move, your eyes widen as you realize why. As the room comes into focus, the realization hitting you, you look up in the direction of the phone. The last thing Tendou sees before the video cuts is you, wide eyed as tears slip down your cheeks.

For several seconds all he can do is stare at the screen, the final frame of your frightened face frozen on his screen. This was all his fault. Despite not know for certain why you had left, there was no doubt it was connected to the way he had treated you over the last few days. As a result you were now in danger, you'd already taken at least one hit according to the bruises on the side of your face and then that thug had put his hands on you. There was one final video left, all he could hope for was that you were in one piece and alive at the end.

This video is longer but you are now awake, a neutral expression on your features, a similar expression to the one you had given Tendou the day before.

"Why don't you say hello to your fiancé, little cutie?"

You lift your gaze to the side, looking to the person who was speaking just out of frame. "Look I don't know who you think I am but I don't mean anything to him or anyone else." It hurt to say the words out loud. Words that others might have cried out in desperation, hoping the lie would be believed. However, you knew those words to be true and what you were about to say would have had you in tears if not for the perilous situation you currently found yourself in. "I'm just....some girl he got saddled with." You hoped using the cruel words Tendou had said, the very words that had broken your heart, would prove to these thugs you were speaking the truth but as a grin spread on the mans lips, you knew it had been futile to even try.

"Now now, no need to be so modest Y/N..."

This guy was really irritating, an odd thought to have while being captured for sure but it was true. This whole situation was terrifying but also just really annoying. How had they even known where to find you? Had they just been lurking around town on the off chance you went for a midnight stroll? You sigh, shaking your head as you glance away. "You do realize it's an arranged marriage, right?"

"And?"

You look back over at him, narrowing your eyes a bit as if you were confused. "Are you stupid or something?" The words just came out and before you had time to regret what you had said the man was suddenly in front of you.

"Stupid?" His voice was low, an edge of anger in that one word. His back was to the camera but it was easy to tell that he was a tall and well built, his short cropped hair initially seemed light brown but as he moved it almost looked pink at times. He glowered down at you. "You should learn to watch your mouth little girl." Before you had time to brace yourself he had already completed the swing. Pain flooded your senses as your mind worked to sort out what had happened. Really all he had done was slap you across the face but the force he had used had your vision spotted with white. Blood appeared a moment later on your lips a small bit trickling down your chin as you tried to focus again.

"Now, why don't we try this again." His hand grabbed onto your jaw, forcing you to look at him as he leaned down. "Beg like the bitch you are for that psychopath to come save you."

You grimace as he holds your head still, your face still burning with pain. As you slowly began to center your gaze on him, a smirk pulled at your red stained lips. "Drop dead asshole." His fingers dug into your cheek causing you to wince in his grasp. It felt like he was going to crush your jaw in his hand but after a moment he let go and took a few steps back. "This obviously isn't working. Shido, give it a shot." He turned and disappeared off camera. For a moment you were sat alone on the screen, head still throbbing as tears, you hadn't realized you'd shed, dried on your cheeks. Footsteps could be heard approaching and soon you were join by another man. He was shorter and slimmer than the previous guy, with black wavy hair that hung in his eyes. As he approached you, a sadistic grin stretched across his lips, it was hidden from the camera but your eyes widened slightly upon seeing it. He knelt to the side of your chair and all you could do was watch as he pulled the bandage off your finger. He slide the pad of his finger across the still healing skin, his touch was gentle at first but soon his thumb was being driven down causing you to yelp out.

"What the fuck...get off me!" You hissed out, trying and failing to pull your hand out of his grip. The restraints held your arm fast to the chair, severely limiting your movement. The man looked up at you with such perverse pleasure at your reaction it had you wishing you'd been able to remain silent.

"So pretty...." He whispered, returning his gaze to the wound on your finger. He pressed down into again, an involuntary hiss leaving your lips. As if what he'd been doing wasn't bad enough, he decided to amp it up. He placed one finger on either side of the injury and pulled viciously in opposite directions. His grip was crushing and no matter how you wriggled your hand you couldn't get free of his grip.

"Sto-AHH!!" As the skin finally gave away, blood welled and quickly began to weep, gathering in your palm. You threw your head back, eyes closed shut as you let out a short, frantic, shriek of agony.

"Enough." The man from before commanded from off camera, the man at your side frowned but let go of your hand and retreated out of frame. Tears spilled across your cheeks as you trembled in silence, sparing a brief glance up at the camera before looking away. You looked almost ashamed, embarrassed for letting them get to you. You hated that they had made you scream, you felt weak and humiliated for sitting here crying. The screen went black signaling that the video had come to an end.

Tendou was shaking, darkened red eyes shifting upwards. Yamagata had seen this look before, whatever had been on that phone must not have been good, he'd only been able to hear a few snippets but it sounded bad.

"Boss..."

"Round up the team. I'm gonna talk to Jin and Reon. We either take care of Seijoh now or I do it myself."

[softrozene]

Hello luv. I just came across your blog and I was wondering if you could do a one shot or headcannon for crocodile? Maybe something along the lines of someone kidnapping his wife or something. Feel free to make it as angsty as you want. Thank you and have a great day.

Ahhhh I actually had to do a double-take at who sent this because guess what? I’m actually a fan of yours lmao. Not too long ago I read your All Might Omegaverse story on ao3 and it was soooo good omg. Anyway, you asked for angst? I hope I delivered! I did a one-shot but it was on the shorter side so I also did bonus headcanons! Hope you enjoy it Lovely and stay safe out there!

Sir Crocodile x Wife!Reader

Warnings: Angst, so much angst, mentions of violence and injuries, I made the ending neutral meaning it can be bad or good depending on how you feel :’) The bonus headcanons may help ease any heartache

Words: 1650

Crocodile stares down at the piece of paper with that everlasting scowl on his face. The words on it fill him with rage but his eyes remain emotionless. The question now, is how should he go about this? Slowly, his hands twitch alongside the piece of paper before his eyes flicker up to Nico Robin.

“Well… What are your thoughts on this sudden problem, Miss All Sunday?” He questions.

Robin merely smiles at his tone. He is angry, very angry, and she for one knows better to keep any information on this subject to him. She speaks in a calculating tone, “Whoever sent this has been tracking you for a long time if they know you are in Alabasta. However, they do know that you are respected across the country but did not know of your ties to Baroque Works. That can only mean that they know you from your past if they followed your name here. They must have known her too if they were able to capture her so easily-“

“Do watch your choice of words when speaking about my wife. (Name), could not have been captured easily even if she did know her kidnapper. She would have put up a fight,” Crocodile growls out momentarily losing his cool.

Robin only hums before she continues. “It says a time, a date, and a number. There is no location. They may be sending another note soon then. I expect that to be when they wish to meet with you and money. Mr. 0 I advise you to be careful. If they are from the past and still holding a grudge who knows what has happened to her. You even went the whole mile to make sure she was a safe distance. Their anger probably holds no bounds so prepare for the wor-“

“You are dismissed,” Crocodile cuts her off.

He can’t even bear the thought of her saying prepare for the worst. Robin leaves immediately and he is stuck in his dark office observing the stupid paper that holds his precious wife’s fate. Your fate.

Crocodile will not admit it with his organization- But you are truly his whole heart. You are one of the reasons why he has not completely fallen and why he has made sure you were so far away from him, actually at a home where you can be happy and hopefully soon be a mother with his kids, and not on the run with a Warlord like him. He thought you would be safe without the target on his back from the enemies he has made over the years but this proves not to be true and now he realizes that your true place is really by his side where he can protect you in a moment’s notice.

He will be damned if anything happens to you.

~*~

You do not know how much longer you can hold out for. It feels like it has been years since this group of pathetic pirates seeking revenge took you from your home and lit your home on fire. All because they wanted to see Crocodile in pain. The note they sent with your handwriting on it as proof they have you was a lie.

They made you write the time, date, and a money amount after making you write how you have been kidnapped by these people. How they are just looking for money Crocodile owes them for once taking out their entire ship and ruining their dreams. It truly was pathetic because they plan on having you half-dead by the time the date is supposed to be here.

You have a feeling it is soon from how weak you are. They have starved you, dehydrated you, watched you bleed, painted your skin black and blue, all for the sake of seeing Crocodile upset. You have been married to the man since he was a rookie, so you know they are doing this in vain.

He will never give them emotion even if he is painfully feeling it. They will see the satisfaction of him being hurt but with your observant eyes and knowing his true self you will see it painfully clear.

“Oi, have a little bit more fun with her will ya? I’m going to send the location- Be prepared to move her when I get back,” The boss of the whole kidnapping states.

One of the burlier men started to make his way back to you and you wish desperately that you can beg or plea with them but… It did not work the first time and it only made the men angrier. His large hand comes across your face and the numbing you had felt a bit ago is gone. The pain is so much from the previous beating that you can’t help but to cry out.

They enjoy that and as the boss leaves- You fear that your time may be running out.

~*~

Crocodile sighs as he finally gets to the location- Some abandoned building in Alabasta, near Rainbase. Your kidnappers really did want to get him that they hid right under his nose. He does not knock. He uses his Devil Fruit powers to enter the building and reform himself. Immediately, shots are fired but as always, they do not faze him.

“Still same tough boy, aren’t you?” The leader questions with a laugh.

With a bored expression, Crocodile glances around the room only for his eyes to fall on your unmoving form. It looks like you are barely breathing. The blood tainting your skill is enough to put him in a murderous rage, but he holds off.

The men standing idly are waiting for his expression to change but when it remains the same, they begin to sweat out of slight anxiety.

“In the note, it said she would be fine, but it appears she is dying. Not that it bothers me, if she truly let herself get kidnapped by you lot then her life was not worth much anyway. I will be disposing of the lot of you for wasting my time. In your next life make sure whatever you have hostage actually has meaning,” Crocodile states in monotone.

There is no mercy as he has the floor made of sand beneath them open and up and swallow them. This truly was a waste of time for him and his anger grows as he makes his way over to your form. Your eyes are trying to stay open and he kneels down beside you to pull you onto his lap.

You recognize the anger in his eyes but ignore it as you give him a weak smile. Your hand comes up to cup his face and he immediately leans into it, the warmth for you, showing in his eyes now that he can let his guard down.

“I am pathetic, aren’t I? Getting kidnapped by these idiots. I am sorry to make you worry so much,” You say in between wheezes.

Crocodile adjusts him and you so he can help you sit up and hopefully breathe better. If you are wheezing in a pile of your own blood- It just is not a good sign at all. He can see how fatigued you are, and he hates it for not finding you sooner.

“You aren’t pathetic. These lowly scumbags were. I commend you for staying alive for what they did to you and when you recover, I will lavish you with the attention you deserve. I will never let you out of my sight again,” He promises.

Your hand has trouble sliding up his face to mess up his gelled back hair, but you did it with struggle. You mumble, “Dear, I believe you me if, not when. I am not feeling too hot right now.”

“Really? I think you look divine as always. Enough talk. Save your strength. I will have my associate, Miss All Sunday help us go to a private clinic so they can work on you,” Crocodile states.

In his mind, there is no possibility of you dying so you no longer try to tell him how you are slowly fading away. Nico Robin as she enters the room, for once, does not have the heart to say anything witty as she sees an innocent woman slowly perishing all while her husband is denial. If luck is on their side, you will survive but- When has a man who lost his hand and with ever-growing arrogance ever have luck?

For your sake, Robin is hoping that you are his good luck charm.

Bonus Headcanons:

Okay so yeah, much like in the one-shot if Crocodile had a wife who was kidnapped- He would be boiling with anger

He would look all calm at first but the moment he saw the damage he would murder everyone on sight for daring to hurt his precious person

He would be more caring if he wasn’t y’know trying to take over Alabasta for the weapon but since he is in this one-shot that is why he tries so hard to pretend he does not care

He totally would go ballistic

He is possessive and he hates the idea of someone else touching his wife

For the sake of the one-shot, I had his wife away but as I said in the prior point he is possessive so he would definitely have eyes on his wife all the time- She is one of his only weaknesses so he would protect her at all costs

Here is a fluff idea! He would love just giving his wife items of luxury- It just makes him happy knowing he can provide for her even if he is doing it with blood money since he is a bad guy

He would also remember every important date that has to do with him and his wife so he can lavish her on said dates

[starrykitty013]

Sneak Peak!! Gotta Go Hard Ch.5

Full Chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30983819/chapters/80906605

Reminder that all my sneak peaks are unedited and will be severely altered in the actual story. 

Enjoy!

This kind of assignment shouldn’t really surprise him.

He has always been assigned to mutant cases, it was kinda his thing what with harboring so many super powered individuals on his main team. It was only natural that Fury trusted him with this assignment.

Although it was a little weird. Fury was oddly content with just monitoring one Peter B. Parker (and he’s known he heard that name before, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.) aka Spiderman and not enlisting him as an asset. Albeit, the kid wasn’t even in high school yet, but he was still of an above average intelligence that set him apart from his peers; besides the, ya know, superpowers and all that.

Maybe it had something to do with Tony Stark vouching for the kid when he was successful in taking down a potential risk to society - or New York, at least - successfully. Two if Scorpion would be included. It seems like Spiderman was starting to indicate a pattern of stopping risks before they could become full blown dangers. Like a soon-to-be drug lord, or a alien hybrid weapon dealer. Phil had to admit, it was impressive.

Spiderman didn’t seem like a threat, although everything was a threat in this line of business. If it wasn’t with you, it was against you - that sort of thing. But Spiderman seemed to genuinely be one of those things that was as non-lethal as they appeared; well lethal non-lethal, the kid could still throw a bus, no problem.

And it’s not like SHIELD had never turned a blind eye to vigilantes. Daredevil being the prime example, which no one could ever figure that one out - that must frustrate Fury beyond belief. But there was no reason to uproot a kid who hasn’t done anything but help so far. Although, one wrong move and he’d be neutralized; but until then they might as well reach out and acquaintance themselves. Before some bad guy gets the drop on an impressionable pre-teen, went without saying.

The ideal solution would be to shut the entire Spiderman thing down, but Stark had already tried that and that only lead the kid to take down one of his planes. So normal life fix was out of the question, so next best option was to make nice and hope he doesn’t stab them in the back - which would be very hard, considering they were still suspicious of the Avengers.

Making nice, as Stark suggested, would be upgrading that eyesore of a suit. Phil couldn’t help but agree. How the hell had a child in a hoodie and beat up converse taken down an entire plane without getting shredded? Phil found that highly unlikely, and a little part of his bleeding heart ached in sympathy.

The kid was approximately 43 seconds early when he dropped silently into the elevated alley that Phil had set the randevoz at. All he had to do was have Stark send a encrypted message to the kid’s phone - although there was some bellyaching about it being a tad harder what with outdated technology and fucking firewalls how does he even get it that strong? Or some other nonsense like that.

“Gotta admit, I thought I was gonna get kidnapped and experimented on.” he said in a casual tone.

“Night is still young.” Phil joked with a plastered friendly smile, that elevated none of the tension in Spiderman’s posture. Huh, not easily fooled. Daisy did say that his smile could come off a little creepy with a splash of pedophilic, maybe she was right. “You’re shorter than I thought you would be.” Because seriously, this kid was basically a step up from a fetus. A foot shorter than Phil, who was admittedly short for his age, and scrawny as all hell - though the oversize stitched up hoodie did obscure that a bit.

“Rude.” the kid muttered “So if not to kidnap and syphon my blood, what does SHIELD want me for?” he asked, getting straight to business.

“Got somewhere you need to be?” Phil quirked an eyebrow and the kid scoffed, but didn’t say anything more. “We want to be allies.” he stated.

“Sorry, I don’t do teams. Lone wolf-spider kind of guy, ya know.” he said and Phil’s mouth quirked at the pun.

“You misunderstand. You aren’t eligible for the Avengers.” yet. SPiderman shifted a little “Ally was a strong word, more of an acquaintanceship if you will.”

“Is that even a word?” the kid asked skeptically.

“It gets my point across, no?” he quirked a brow up.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Spiderman said rocked on the balls of his heels and swinging his arms a bit, a very child like gesture that Phil filed away for later “So what would this ‘acquaintanceship’ entail?” he asked with a cocked head and a curious lit, Phil smiled a little more genuinely. He couldn’t help it, this kid was fucking adorable. He knows most accounts say Spiderman is annoying, but he guesses he shouldn’t take the people he put away word for anything other than petty insults - although he can see why, it must be irritating to be taken out by a 4’ 5” kid in a hand-me-down track suit. Speaking of

“Well, let’s start with the attire.” Phil held out a brief case and SPiderman looked at it then him then back to the case and paused “You gonna take it, it’s kind of heavy.” he said, just to get Spiderman to take a cautious step forward and delicately exchange the briefcase and set it down to gingerly open it. As if it were a bomb. When it didn’t go off, he inspected the suit in the case. Running his hands over it carefully.”Stark made and approved.” he said as the kid explored the high tech polyester “form fitting and flexible for anya nd all acrobatics. HIgh tech lenses to manage your super senses too.” he recited from what he knew when Stark explained it ot him. There were a million other things, but Phil didn’t really care about them.

“It’s bugged.” the kid concluded flatly, shutting the case and looking up.

“Then debug it.” Phil said with a shrug “That was Stark’s addition, it’s not required.” the pre-teen nodded curtly.

“So what’s my contribution?” the kid stood up, handling the case with him. “This isn’t free, I assume.” he wiggled the case a bit.

“You assume correctly.” Phil smiled “And that’s on a need to know-”

“Yeah, I don’t roll that way.” the kid cut off dryly “Tell me up front, or you got no deal.” Phil was a little speechless.

“Disclosure is up to my superiors-”

“Then get permission to disclose.” Spiderman jutted the case out “I’ll wait.” he said and Phil looked at the case and then at the tiny kid who had gave him the oddest ultimatum he had ever heard, then laughed. The kid stiffened. “What’s so funny?” he sounded near offended and Phil waved him off.

“Nothing, just that,” he sighed good naturedly “You are a smart little tike aren’t you.”

“I’m not a toddler.” the kid grumbled.

“Well, I’m not supposed to but since you leave me no other option and I really don’t wanna play messenger for my grumpy boss and a little prepubescent vigilante, I’ll tell you.” Phil sighed, he was so gonna get torn into for doing this. Oh well, he’s done worse. The kid straightened, but didn’t retract his hand. “You can keep the suit, if we can call on you for missions. Back up and what not.” the kid analyzed him for a second and finally hummed.

“Okay, how about this. I keep the suit, but you don’t get to parade me around like a monkey. I won’t be your lackey.” the kid retracted the suit and Phil furrowed his brow and opened his mouth in protest, but the kid cut him off “I will however, act as a consultant. You need information regarding and surrounding or about anything going down in my stomping grounds, I’ll give it to you with no questions asked.” Phil closed his mouth as the kid took a deep breathe “And, additionally, if you need any back-up, in New York, I will provide it.” he said resultly. “Deal?” the kid stuck out his free, tiny hand.

“Hmm.” Phil considered. How good could a child’s information even be? Good enough to stop a drug empire and entire illegal weapon cyndicate. He also seemed to have good intuition, and having a little spider look out jumping around and keeping an ear out for them wouldn’t be so bad. “Deal.” he took the kid’s hand and shaked firmly, which caught the kid a but off guard but then he matched the strength.

“Okay, cool.” he said as they separated, and awkwardly fidgeted - losing most of that confidence he had a moment ago when he was demanding a fair deal. Phil almost laughed at the contrast. “Uhm… yeah that all?” he asked awkwardly, Phil nodded once. “Cool. Kay, see you around Mr. SHIELD-agent-dude.” he waved and then shot a web off to the nearest building and swung away as Phil looked after him. As he disappeared up and around the corner, practically flying away, Phil couldn’t help a more genuine smile spread across his lips.

Fascinating.

OoO

for more on this series go to: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1415002

[firemblem-fics]

Running With the Wolves [2]

<< | >>

-> Pairing: Yuri x Fem!Reader

-> Gang!Au | Modern!Au | Enemies to Lovers

-> Word Count: 2.4k

-> Warnings: Blood, Violence, Cursing, Angst, Crack

-> Summary: You were just a normal college student, trying to find her way in a new place. You didn’t mean to get caught up in the wrong crowd. You just wanted coffee, but now you’re running with the wolves.

-> A/N: okok i know this is a lot shorter than the last chapter BUT y’all already heard my struggle with it so i’m actually kind of happy with this and liked where it ended. i’m sorry it’s boring, i think this was just a chapter where i do some introductions and go further into characters and a teeny bit more into the world of the gangs idk more info in later chapters because reader will NOT suddenly get a huge info dump of shit - also i hope you all like my two oc’s in here!

if you’d like to be put on the taglist, send me an ask or a message!

“Run.”

In that second, Yuri began firing shots at your pursuers again. Hapi gave her gun to Balthus, who began using both his and her pistols to keep them back as well. She turned and grabbed your arm- the same one that was bleeding before recoiling.

“Who hurt you?”

“Yuri dragging me around.”

Hapi scoffed and reached for the other arm, leading you out the back door and into a small white car. She cranked the engine and backed out before you could even get buckled, narrowly missing a larger black van parked beside it. You held onto the door frame, your fingers turning white as Hapi whipped the car down a smaller, empty street.

“Why are you driving like a fucking lunatic?”

“They could easily follow us! Look behind, do you see anything?”

You turned as well as you could as Hapi made another sharp turn. “No, there’s nothing behind us.”

She slowed the car just a little bit. “Keep checking. We don’t need someone knowing where we’re going.”

You stayed turned in your seat, heart jumping out of anxiety every time you saw a random car or person pass by. “My home is the other way.”

“Wh- Oh, honey, no. They think you’re a part of us, you can’t go home.”

“What? Why not? I could just explain to them what I was doing- they’ll understand-“

“No, they won’t.” The redhead leaned her head back against the seat and bit back a sigh before mumbling to herself. “We weren’t even involved in their little spats with the other places. Why the hell would Edelgard come after us?”

You checked back one more time. “Didn't she say something about how ‘she’s the boss now’? Whatever it’s about, it’s because she’s apparently in charge or whatever. I- I just want to go home.” Your nose burned as tears filled your eyes, but you willed them to not fall. Hapi would definitely be the kind to make fun of you.

You thought back to the others- Yuri, Balthus, and Constance. Ellie had said that they were just some random college kids, making money to get by. Obviously they were more than that.

“What about the others? We just left them there.”

“They’ll be fine. They’ve had their fair share of fights. We’ll meet them back at the house.”

You could only nod and try to soothe your shaking body. Your arm still burned from the wound, but you didn’t want to look at it. Knowing the severity of it would only make it hurt worse.

Eventually, Hapi pulled into a normal looking house. It seemed inconspicuous, with a fraternity sign hanging out front to complete the “normal college kids live here” look. You shuddered. Things are not as they seem with these people, and their house for sure isn’t a normal one as well. Hapi got out of the car and scouted around it, searching the entire car before once again muttering to herself.

“... Can’t believe I forgot to look for a tracker-“

“Look who’s finally home! Hapis and- who’s this?”

Suddenly a loud, annoying voice shouted from the front door of the house. You looked up to see a new man, slowly putting down his waving hand as he saw you. From the top of the brick stairs, he looked quite tall, but as you continued to ascend, the shorter and shorter he became until he was scarcely a few inches taller than you.

“Hiram, this is Y/N. She was, uh, put in an unfortunate circumstance and had to come with us.”

His white eyebrows furrowed and he looked at Hapi confusedly before nodding. “Uh, yeah, okay. Come on in, then. Rhys is out getting takeout. What’s the circumstance?”

“Edelgard attacked the café.”

Hiram was still confused, but it was cut short as the same black van you saw earlier pulled into the open garage. Hapi motioned for the two of you to come inside, saying that Yuri would explain everything.

The house was more normal than you expected. The living room walls were painted a light blue with a couch surrounding the fireplace and a TV on top of it. The colors of that room contrasted greatly against the honey yellow walls of the kitchen, where everyone had gathered and sat at the table. You squeezed yourself between Hapi and Constance, the only other girls there.

“We should wait for Rhys-“

“There's no time.” Yuri scoffed at Hiram and leaned back on his chair. “Somehow, Edelgard took power from her father and is now the leader of the Black Eagles. I’ve yet to figure out what her plans are- attacking us, out of everyone possible- but I’m sure they aren’t good.”

You sighed and leaned against your arm, but stopped. You really, really needed medical attention for your arm. You also really, really needed to go home. You stood up.

“Okay, well, have fun with that. I’m out.”

Yuri laughed. “No, you’re not. Sit down.”

You whipped around to face him, your cheeks burning in anger. “I am! I’m going to leave this house, go to a hospital, fix my arm, and go home. I have no business here.”

You moved to leave again, but a pair of pale arms wrapped around you. One arm gripped your waist tightly as the other flicked out a knife, holding it against your neck. You tried to struggle, but the person- a tall man- tightened his hold even further. Yuri rolled his eyes.

“Easy with her, Rhys. You started having business here the minute you decided to open your stupid little mouth. Hasn’t anyone ever taught you to shut up? To think rationally in the face of danger? Did you even realize the danger you were in, or are you really just that dense?” He sneered, walking towards you. “You, Princess, have gotten yourself into a Hell of a lot of trouble. You’re right, you shouldn’t be here, but now it’s time to reap what you sow.”

You grimaced at Yuri’s close proximity and spat at him, making him stumble back and wipe his face in disgust. This caused Rhys to lift your chin with the knife, pressing down enough to leave a small cut. A trail of blood dripped down to your collarbone.

“I suggest you learn to keep your mouth shut.” Hiram laughed almost maniacally from the table. “Rhysie’s silent but deadly. Don’t mess with us.”

Said man finally let you go, pushing you back to your seat, which you took with a huff. Constance handed you a tissue from the small pocketbook she carried and you thanked her, smiling wearily.

Hapi, who had stayed silent the entire time, coughed awkwardly. “So, what’s our next move?”

Yuri shrugged. “We’re no longer neutral, obviously. But we don’t know if the Golden Deer or the Blue Lions are on our side either. Edelgard had to have had a plan when she attacked us.”

The six others sat in thought for a minute while you, on the other hand, had never been more confused. “Wait, what’s even going on? Why do restaurants kill each other?”

Hiram giggled and plucked the bloody tissue out of your hand, beginning to mess with it and look at the new stains. “You’re tellin’ me that you really thought this was just some dumb restaurant rivalry? Hah! Sweetheart, we’re gangs. Y’know. Drugs. Illegal trades. Turf wars. The usual.”

You tried to put more pieces together. “So, Edelgard’s gang is the bad guys?”

“Exactly-“

“We’re not good. None of the gangs are. Our sins are irredeemable- we’re not the good guys. Edelgard’s people aren’t the bad guys. We don’t know what’s going on right now.” Hapi cut off Hiram.

Said man snorted and ran a hand through his ponytail. “Hey, Rhys, say fuck for me.”

Rhys’s freckled skin flushed a bright red and he avoided the eye contact of everyone around. “...I can’t.” He mumbled.

“See? Rhysie’s good.”

Hapi closed her eyes and suppressed a sigh again, and you wondered what was up with her and sighing. “The next move is to wait. Maybe do a little digging in their computers and communication, but that’s Hiram’s job.”

“We’ve got to figure out something for the rat to do.She can’t just sit here and be in the way.” Yuri mused. “Housekeeping, perhaps?”

“I am not a rat!” You hissed, “You are!”

The purple haired boy only smirked. “Whatever you say, Princess. Go upstairs to the first room on the left. There’s a big stack of manila folders with profiles on the desk. Bring them back down here.”

You rolled your eyes and stood up from your seat, practically stomping your way to the wooden stairs. Opening the first door on the left, you found the folders Yuri was talking about. You reached for them, but hesitated and looked out of the window beside the desk.

It would be so easy to leave, you thought, but jumping from this height would definitely lead to a broken bone.

You committed this room to memory and grabbed the folders, taking your time down the stairs to plan an escape route if needed. You were going home, whether they liked it or not, you decided. You were close to the bottom of the steps when a paper slid out from one of the folders. It was a profile with a rather familiar looking face on it.

Yuri Leclarc, It read, Age 24. Affiliation: Ashen Wolves. Family: Father (unknown), Mother (missing).

You heard footsteps walk through the living room and you quickly snatched up the paper, stuffing it in a folder before you finished reading it all. Hiram became visible, one hand carrying a large laptop and the other, a basket of cables and other equipment. He didn’t say anything to you. Instead, he barely spared you a glance as he walked back into the kitchen. You followed.

“Here.” You huffed and slammed down the folders. Hiram was busy plugging up different cords and routers to the computer, still completely ignoring your presence.

Yuri nodded and stood, sifting through the papers before landing on one labeled “Black Eagles”. He pushed the other folders to the side and opened that one. He laid out 8 profiles, all of people around your age. You could’ve sworn you’d seen some of them around campus, but you nearly vomited as your eyes caught one certain profile.

Ferdinand von Aegir.

“It’s up and running!” Hiram’s voice knocked you out of your stupor. “A piece of art, truly!”

Constance snorted. “A piece of shit, actually.”

Hiram ignored her comment and grinned, placing his hands on his hips proudly. “I call it the Computer of Chaos. COC for short.”

The silence in the kitchen was practically screaming.

Yuri looked up from the profiles. “The what?”

“The Cock, Yuri-bird. Didn't you hear him correctly?” Balthus nearly choked trying to hold in his laugh.

“Exactly! And it works for everyone here, you just have to say your name and it’ll unlock for you.” Hiram motioned for someone to give it a try.

Yuri still looked at the computer quizzically, but walked towards it nonetheless. He leaned down and said, “Yuri Leclarc.”

“Access Denied.”

“What?” Hapi questioned, pulling the computer toward herself. “Hapi.”

“Access Denied.”

“Ohhh, that’s right.” Hiram’s grin turned mischievous. “It only answers to the nicknames I gave you all.”

If looks could kill, Yuri would have committed a murder. He sighed heavily and violently moved the computer back to him. “Yuris.”

“Permission Granted.”

“Go die.” He growled at Hiram, who only laughed.

“What nicknames?” You had to ask, but regretted it once Hiram’s smile was directed at you.

“I add an -is to the end of everyone’s names! Yuris, Hapis, Constis, Balis, but I call Rhys ‘Rhysie’, he doesn’t tell me not to~”

Yuri rolled his eyes. “He doesn’t fucking talk, that’s why.”

“Can I have a nickname?” If you were going to be stuck here, you may as well make friends.

“Hmm,” Hiram pondered, “No.”

“Wh-“

So much for making friends.

Yuri interrupted the awkward moment by slamming his hand down on COC, making Hiram gasp in protest. “Fucking- Hiram, try to find something- anything- to find out Edelgard’s intentions. We had a neutrality pact, she shouldn’t have broken it.”

Your head was starting to hurt from the events today. Rubbing your temples, you stood up, making everyone look at you.

“Listen, I’m tired. I’m stressed. Is there like, anywhere I can sleep? I can’t do much more.”

Constance nodded. “I’ll take you up to the spare room!”

She led you up the stairs and past the room you had gone into earlier. Opening the door to one of the bedrooms, she gestured for you to enter.

“I’ll have to lock you in, but I’m sure you won’t mind. You’ll be sleeping, after all!” Constance smiled, “Goodnight!”

You waved back at her and waited for the click of the lock before turning on the lamp and peeling your sleeve away from your arm. You grimaced- blood had dried and caked around the wound, which was still slightly bleeding. You needed medical attention, but you didn’t blame the Wolves for not thinking about it.

They certainly were stressed- being previously neutral and suddenly attacked. They’ve got enemies now and you suspected that was something they haven’t had in quite a while. And then there was you, the epitome of ‘wrong place, wrong time’. Who would’ve thought that you’d end up accidentally in the middle of a gang war when you moved here? Certainly not you.

Guilt tugged at your stomach. These people were different from you. You didn’t belong here and you needed to get out of their hair. Yuri made it obvious that you stuck out like a sore thumb, unaware of what to do like they did.

You glanced at the window in the bedroom and stood up, making your way towards it. You could easily unlock it and risk an ankle injury. You’d already hurt your arm, it would be fine.

Your two choices were to try to survive a mob that wanted to kill you all, or get a foot injury while escaping and get back to your normal life.

Unlocking the latch on the window, and sitting on the edge, you had already made your decision. You jumped down and ignored a loud crack that resounded in your ankle, slipping into the depths of night.

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