#Asking Alexandria Dallas
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rockweiler-again · 6 months ago
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Asking Alexandria in Dallas TX, Warped Tour. 06/24/11
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spectroscopic-binary · 2 years ago
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Saw a similar post asking about the top 9 most populous cities worldwide and 98% of respondents do not live in one of those. Was very curious to repeat the experiment using the top US metro areas
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another-supernova-girl · 3 months ago
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Bleed American - Wyatt Walker ("Ida Red" 2021) x Fem OC
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* Part 1 : Salt *
I'm taking a short break from my Cooper Abbott fic to indulge in another Hartnett character that I had actually started writing for before I watched Trap. This is canon divergent from the last, oh, 30 minutes of the movie (where Ida gets paroled as agreed upon, so Wyatt and Dallas don't have to do the violent plane theft job, and Dallas doesn't have to die, and Wyatt doesn't have to go to prison 💙). Feel free to check out my Josh Hartnett masterlist for all my writing of his characters so far. Comments and reblogs with unique are very appreciated (I'm sorry if I don't respond, I do see them and read them all and they give me about the only serotonin I have left these days). Gif is mine .Also...I really hate onions.
(( word count ~ 6,800 ))
“I'm...I know, I'm sorry, just...can't you just come pick me up?” Darla whined into the phone, to her older brother, knowing that calling up her so-called 'mom' or 'dad' was more than she was ready to deal with, after the events of the night so far. She glanced over to the woman at her side, sitting on the edge of the stage, an apologetic look on her face as she waited for the voice on the other end to speak up. After a few moments, she started nodding, spewing thank you's and more sorry's, and disconnected the call, letting out a breath. “My brother an' my uncle are gonna come pick me up,” she confirmed as she slipped her phone into her pocket. “I'm sorry for makin' you wait.”
“It's okay...I just wanna make sure you get home safe.”
* * *
“Alright, baby girl, I can't wait to hear an explanation,” Wyatt Walker's voice rang out as he stepped into the mostly empty building, his uncle, Dallas Walker, at his back, the two of them glancing around for signs of life.
“I didn't do nothin' wrong,” Darla vocalized her defense, Wyatt and Dallas following her voice until they reached the main room of the establishment, featuring a bar, several tables pushed back toward the walls, and a small stage for live music, serving as a perch for Darla, and a young woman neither of her relatives had ever laid eyes on.
“No, 'course not, someone else-” Dallas spoke up, but Darla's nervous voice piped up again.
“Ask Lex, she'll tell you! I didn't...it wasn't my fault,” she huffed, crossing her arms and looking to the non-relative at her side for back-up. “Lex?”
Wyatt and Dallas both directed their dark eyes to the stranger, who suddenly looked quite nervous herself. “I...well, it's true,” Lex uttered, and Darla threw her arms up as if that were the end of the conversation, hopping off the edge of the stage and walking toward one of the tables to grab her bag, leaving the stranger alone with the two men before her. Dallas watched as she wandered away, his gaze quickly gravitating toward the bar, which he began to approach, leaving his nephew alone with the stranger.
“Lex, huh?” Wyatt spoke up as he eyed her casually, reaching his hand out, and carefully grasping hers when she took it and hopped down.
“Alexandria,” she mumbled, her eyes darting toward the teenage girl as she snagged a bar stool and sat upon it to grab a beer she was definitely not legally old enough to drink next to her uncle, who grabbed a bottle of the same.
“Alexandria,” Wyatt repeated, nodding as she extracted her hand from his, and following her as she walked across the empty room to join the other two. “So what excitement did we miss tonight that you couldn't call your mama about-”
“She ain't my mama-” Darla murmured, and Wyatt closed his eyes, his expression becoming momentarily tense as he sat down.
“You know what I mean,” he answered, but his gruff demeanor quickly faltered as he glanced at his little sister. He couldn't stay mad at her, not for much of anything. “Well, we ain't gonna get the truth outta this one,” he declared, shifting his gaze instead to the new acquaintance. “How 'bout you?”
Lex opened her mouth briefly before closing it again without a noise. She hadn't expected a conversation, just a confirmation that the girl was in safe hands so she could head back to her motel room.
“Well, damn, Wyatt, you're makin' her nervous,” Dallas spoke up, and Lex followed the voice to the man farthest from her. “What was your name, sweetheart?” he asked, reaching out a hand that Lex tentatively grasped.
“Lex,” she mumbled, and the eldest of the quartet nodded.
“Well, I'm Dallas, I'm Darla's uncle, and this is Wyatt, her brother. He ain't usually this rude,” he concluded, and Wyatt let out an audible breath. “Why don't you tell us what went down?”
“Well...,” Lex began again, licking her uncomfortably dry lips, not even slightly more at ease than she had been before she knew their names. “We were on stage-”
“We?” Wyatt asked immediately.
“Yeah, my band and I-”
“You're in a band?” Dallas inquired, surprised, though he supposed the vibrantly dyed purple hair and calloused hand he'd shaken made more sense in retrospect.
“Yeah, we suck. Anyway,” she continued before she could be cut off again, “we were playing, and I saw this girl,” she quickly indicated Darla, “getting groped by some guy in the crowd, and it was pretty obvious she wasn't about it, so I stopped the show and had security pull him on stage, and...”
There was silence for a few seconds before Wyatt's voice sounded, repeating her last word, “And?”
“And, I...tased him in the crotch,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders at the male grunts on either side of her.
“Twice,” Darla added, Wyatt looking to his youngest sister, Dallas taking another swig of beer.
“I asked him if he knew how old she was, and he said something about how she was dressed, and it was pretty clear the message hadn't sunk in,” she continued, “so I electrocuted him until he couldn't stand up.”
“Well, that's...not what I expected,” Dallas declared, setting his bottle down, glancing to the musician, and his nephew beside her. “And where's this guy now?”
“Um...no idea? But, uh...” she paused, shifting her weight on the stool and reaching into one of her back pockets to pull out a government-issued piece of plastic, and placing it in Dallas' hand when he reached out for it. “I snagged his license, in case she decided to press charges, after all, and I asked security to remove him. I figured it was safest for Darla, here,” she acknowledged, reaching to grasp the teenager's hand, “if she had someone trustworthy come pick her up, just in case.” She heard the seat beside her squeak under the brother's weight, and glanced his way reflexively.
“Well, that's awfully upstanding of you,” he drawled, his face seeming a bit kinder than it had the last time she'd looked his way.
“Well, we...try to make sure wherever we play if a safe space for the girls and the gays, so...” she shrugged again, finding it harder this time to look away from him.
“Well, on behalf of the girls, and, uh...” he motioned to his uncle, who raised his beer in acknowledgment, before taking another drink, “ the gays, that's much appreciated.”
Lex glanced Dallas' way and let out a light chuckle, eyes drifting back to Darla, who seemed more at ease after the vocal explanation. “Well, anyway, you're here now, and I'm sure she's in good hands, and I really should be go-”
“Well, hold up, now. Where do you think you're going,” Wyatt cut in before Dallas could, the two men clearly on the same page as they caught each other's gaze.
“...Away?” Lex hedged, easing off her bar stool.
“Nah, we can't have that,” Wyatt stated as he reached out, snagging a belt loop on her jeans with one finger. “You saved our girl, here. Least we can do is buy you dinner,” he offered, though with his digit clinging to the loop at her hip, it seemed more like a demand. “You hungry? Dallas, you hungry? Darla?”
“Starved,” Dallas declared, Darla nodding, looking to Lex for her answer.
“I...I guess.”
* * *
“Are they always that intense?” Lex asked the teen at her side as she drove behind Dallas' car, toward the 24-hour diner they had suggested, having declined the offer to ride along in the same vehicle as both of the men.
“I guess...I mean, not really...sorta,” Darla mumbled, playing with the charm on her necklace as she watched their surroundings from the passenger seat. “Dallas is always kinda crazy...Wyatt was actin' kinda weird, though,” she admitted.
“Like he expected you to be the cause of the trouble?” Lex ventured, glancing briefly to her side, before her gaze flitted back to the road.
Darla let out a soft laugh before answering, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“You run to them for help a lot?”
“Wyatt, mostly. He was my favorite uncle, and then I found out he's actually my brother, and...it's just confusin', I guess. He still backs me up, though,” Darla continued. “He ain't mean, or nothin'. I think he's just been stressed out. Guess I ain't exactly helpin'.” The conversation dwindled to a mostly comfortable silence as Lex's car continued to follow Dallas', the restaurant finally coming into view, to her relief.
* * *
“Ah, not the salad. Don't tell me you're one of those girls,” Dallas chided as Lex flipped through the menu and landed in the health-conscious section of the laminated booklet. “Get some meat on them bones, girl!”
“Do you have any idea how much fast food I get stuck eating on the road? I am cheeseburger-ed out,” she retorted, glancing to the elder of the two men, before returning to the description to figure what she'd need to have left out. She wasn't about to sit and pick out onions from her greens in front of these people.
“Yeah, whatever,” he mumbled, taking a swig of beer from a new bottle provided by the diner, another reason she'd chosen not to ride with the men.
Somehow, she'd managed to find herself in the middle of a round booth, in much the same layout of group members from the bar : Wyatt, herself, Darla and Dallas. How it kept happening this way, she wasn't sure, and regardless of how obnoxiously handsome both of these men were, she couldn't shake her discomfort.
“You spend a lot of time on the road?” Wyatt spoke up, and Lex glanced his way before shifting her eyes back to the menu. His presence had felt intimidating in the shadowy bar that doubled as her band's venue for the night, but in the florescent light of the diner, he was even harder to look away from. It took a conscious effort not to stare, and his arms outstretched, resting along the upholstered edge of the booth seating, and nearly at the back of her neck, wasn't helping.
“We mostly do local venues, but when we leave the city, we try to schedule as many stops as we can to get the most out of the trip,” she answered, taking a drink of water.
“And what's local?” he continued, reaching with the hand not inches from her shoulder to push his hair out of his face.
“Um...Oklahoma City,” she confirmed, and he nodded, as did Dallas.
“ 'Bout a hundred miles away,” the older of the two acknowledged, and she nodded. “How you like it, down there?”
“I don't,” Lex uttered immediately, which earned her glances from both men, before the entire table lifted their gaze at the approaching, elderly waitress, each guest proceeding to rattle off their order, ending with Lex, who specified what she did and didn't want on her salad, and feeling the eyes on her from the inhabitants of the table, finishing off her order with, “and a banana shake.” After the waitress disappeared again, Lex glanced to Dallas' smirking face. “Happy?” He shrugged in response.
“Sure...I'm gonna judge you on those onions though-”
“My mother made it her mission to put onions in almost everything she could, okay? I hate them. I'll always hate them, and you can't make me feel bad about it,” she cut in defensively, Dallas' smirk widening, Wyatt remaining silent as his limbs shifted slightly, his tanned arm brushing against her neck, the ends of her purple ponytail tickling his skin.
“Alright!” Dallas exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defense. “So, anyway...what's it like, being a rock star?” he inquired, receiving an eye roll from Lex, though Darla's attention perked up at the question.
“I...couldn't tell you,” Lex admitted with a small laugh, shaking her head slightly.
“Not the fake modestly,” Dallas protested, but Lex shook her head, firm in her convictions.
“No, really...I mean, you saw how tiny that stage was, right? How small that venue was? No, if you wind up at one of our shows, it's probably by accident,” Lex explained, taking another drink.
“Well...you look the part, at least,” Wyatt suddenly spoke up, and Lex felt his hand graze the back of her neck, playing at the ends of her dyed hair.
“Yeah, I guess,” Lex murmured, unsure how she felt about the physical attention. He still unnerved her, maybe even more than the older man at the other end of the booth.
“So...” Dallas spoke up again, his eyes shifting to his nephew, and back to the new acquaintance, “what's the deal? Can't play your instruments of somethin'?”
“Because we're a girl band?” Lex asked suddenly, head tilting, eyes slightly narrowed. “Because girls can't play their instruments?” When Dallas shrugged, she shook her head slightly and relaxed more fully against the upholstered seating, Wyatt's arm drifting back around the edge again, the nape of her neck against his sleeve. “We currently have three guys, and me, by the way. I'm the only girl.”
“Currently?” Wyatt's voice again.
“Yeah, that's, uh...that's kinda part of the problem. We're constantly losing and gaining and swapping members. I think I've been with them the longest at this point. We mostly do covers, though, so it doesn't really matter who's playing or singing or whatever,” she finished.
“And that doesn't bother you?” Wyatt asked suddenly, Lex turning to look in his direction, to the chocolate brown eyes that hid in the shadow of his brow.
“Um...some days, I suppose. I guess I...I was never really a songwriter. I mostly just wanted to learn to play the songs I already loved, from other bands. Certainly not itching to get famous or anything.”
* * *
The conversation carried on steadily until their meals came, and a mostly comfortable silence filled their corner of the diner as they ate, Dallas and Wyatt finally shifting some down the booth so everyone could stretch their arms and eat comfortably. In the midst of finishing their meals, Lex cleared her throat and mumbled an “excuse me”, indicating for Wyatt to move so she could exit the booth, the younger man slipping out and stepping around to the other side to sit by his uncle until she returned. As soon as she slipped through the women's bathroom door, Lex put her weight against it, and the back of her shirt slid against the glossy wood until she sat on the tile floor, taking a deep breath.
When she'd pulled the creep on stage to humiliate him and zap him with her taser-like stun gun, she never expected the rest of her evening to turn into this. She certainly had no regrets in saving Darla, of course, as she'd hope that anyone on stage who saw such behavior would do the same, but...she had not signed up for this, sitting at a table in some secluded diner in the middle of the night with a couple of 'good ol' boys'. Regardless of how admittedly attractive both of them were, they were intense and intimidating, and she had not felt comfortable since the moment they'd walked into the venue that night. “Just a little longer...it's almost over, I'm almost free,” she mumbled to herself as she sat with her face in her hands, cross-legged on the floor. She wondered briefly how much charge was left in her little stun gun.
Deciding she might as well make the most of her time away from the group, she quickly used the facilities and rinsed off her face, swished some water around in her mouth to loosen any spare bits from the salad, checking her reflection, taking her hair down to redo it...and wondering why she was taking the time to groom herself at all, given the situation. With a last glance in the mirror, she stepped toward the door and pulled it open, and nearly yelped at what she found waiting for her.
“Jesus, fuck, what is with you two?!” she exclaimed in as hushed a tone as she could manage, confronted with Wyatt, waiting just outside the door in the narrow hallway.
“You were gone so long-” he began in his cool demeanor, but she quickly cut him off.
“And?! I don't...I don't fucking know you. I haven't done anything to you, or your uncle, or your sister. I did a nice thing, and ever since you two showed up, I feel like I'm being sized up and interrogated and shit,” she huffed, letting out the frustration she'd kept locked inside the last few hours. “What is with all this,” Lex continued, looking around to make sure there weren't more strangers approaching, “all this intimidation crap?”
Wyatt slumped against the wall behind him, though it put little distance between them, watching her thoughtfully. “Didn't realize I was-”
“Really?” Lex challenged, reaching for his waist to snag a finger around his belt loop and giving it a tug, as he had done to her at the bar. “Grabbing me like this, and hovering and touching me, that doesn't...” her words faltered as he dipped his chin to drop his gaze from her eyes to his waist, where she gripped his jeans, staring for several seconds before he extended his own hand to carefully grasp hers and draw it away.
“You're right,” he admitted, running his free hand over his chin and cheek to scratch lightly at the facial hair that decorated his skin. “It's, uh...it's been a tough year, and I suppose it's made it hard to trust people, and my own instincts. And that's got nothin' t' do with you,” he explained, running his thumb absently over her knuckle. “I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It weren't my intention. I guess it's just...habit,” Wyatt continued, and Lex's gaze finally shifted from their connected hands, up to his face again, his pretty brown eyes framed by those charming brows. “Can we start over?”
* * *
Another half hour had passed by the time Dallas stood up to give his arms a stretch, glancing over at Wyatt and shifting his head to indicate the younger man follow him, the two of them leaving the booth to walk across the diner, toward the register to pay the bill.
“He ain't with nobody,” Darla whispered as soon as she presumed them out of earshot, and a smile spread across Lex's lips, shaking her head as she let out a breath of amusement.
“I wasn't planning on asking,” she answered, glancing over at the two men, oddly huddled together, as if in a secret conversation of their own.
“Oh, come on. You two've been making eyes at each other since...well, at least since you got back from the bathroom,” Darla protested, but Lex continued to dismiss her.
“We live a hundred miles apart-”
“So?” the teenager's voice took on a whiny tone in protest.
“And he's gotta be close to twenty years older than me-”
“Sooo?” Darla continued, as if she were speaking to one of her schoolmates.
“Annnd...” Lex whined back, a little exasperated. “We don't even know each other.”
“Well, I can give you his phone number,” Darla offered eagerly, and Lex put her elbows on the table, her face in her hands, covering her eyes as she leaned forward.
Meanwhile, across the diner, Dallas leaned on his own elbows against the varnished surface of the bar counter, his voice hushed as Wyatt leaned against the same counter at his side.
“She sure is somethin',” the older man muttered, staring at a rogue menu, considering whether of not to get a dessert to go.
“Yeah, I noticed,” Wyatt answered, staring at nothing in particular.
“I noticed you noticin',” Dallas responded, thumbing through the laminated pages. “So, you want me to...pop outside and kick her taillight in or somethin'?” When Wyatt finally looked directly at him with an indignant stare, Dallas continued. “She can't go home with a busted taillight...someone's gotta fix it so she don't get pulled over...and damned if you don't just happen to own an auto shop-”
“Yeah, Dallas, I get your meaning. I'm not an idiot,” he answered, shaking his head. “And how exactly do you think that's gonna look after the night we've had?”
“Hey, I'm not the one that decided to spend half the night acting like a dick-”
“Fuck,” Lex's voice sounded from across the diner, and both men shifted their gaze in the girls' direction.
“What's wrong?” Darla piped up, sliding out of the booth and walking toward Lex, standing directly in front of the glass entrance door. Heavy rain drops plopped down from the sky, soaking everything in sight, coating the windows of the cars in the parking lot and giving them a sheen of fog. Dallas and Wyatt had crossed the restaurant by the time she answered.
“My windshield wipers are...pretty much useless,” she huffed, leaning her forehead against the glass, water vapor collecting where she breathed against it. “I didn't exactly plan to be out until...fuck, almost 2am,” she sighed as she looked at her phone. She knew rain was on the way, she just thought she'd be able to beat it, easily.
Wyatt and Dallas were already exchanging glances by the time Darla's voice sounded again. “Well, Wyatt's got an auto shop just a couple miles away,” she explained, and Lex lifted her forehead from the glass to turn and glance over her shoulder at the two Walker men who had gathered.
* * *
“Thanks for this,” Lex mumbled as she watched the rain through the passenger window of her car, Wyatt in the driver's seat, having split up from Dallas, who'd agreed with absolutely no complaints to take Darla home.
“It's nothin',” Wyatt answered, tempted to sneak a glance at the young woman beside him, but thinking better of it with the rain coming down as hard as it was, the rubber squeegees of the wipers uselessly flopping around like spaghetti noodles as they swiped noisily across the windshield. “You saved our girl...that's worth a lot more than a salad and a milkshake.”
Lex was quiet for several moments before she spoke up again, leaning her head to the side against the upholstery of her seat. “I half expected you to lecture me for letting them get this bad,” she confessed.
“Yeah...you get this one, lecture free. I'm not your daddy. Just don't let the new ones...what?” he glanced over for the briefest second when he noticed an odd expression on her face in the periphery of his vision. She shook her head, but continued her silence. “Did I say something funny?”
“Don't worry about it,” she mumbled, glancing out the window again, a crooked smile on her lips.
True to Darla's word, not ten minutes of driving passed before Wyatt's combination auto shop and car lot came into view, Wyatt pulling in when he was near enough and driving around the back to the dock doors, Lex breathing a sigh of relief.
“See? Told you I'd get you there. I ain't got an umbrella though...can't promise you won't get wet,” he stated as he got out of the parked car and closed the door behind him, walking around the front as Lex watched him, stepping out when he opened the passenger door. “What?” he asked as he glanced briefly to her face, but stating nothing else as she followed him with narrowed eyes back around the other side to the front door. When they stepped inside, Wyatt quickly locked the door behind himself, and walked past her as she stared at him, wandering toward his office. He stopped suddenly in his tracks at the unmistakable sound of angry electricity, swerving around to look upon the young woman, still situated near the front door, grasping the device she'd zapped the creep at the concert with, earlier.
“Just testing it,” she stated simply, sliding it back into the purse she carried.
“Right...how about you find a place to sit and get comfortable, and I'll get your car in here and take a look,” he offered, wary of the small but powerful weapon, resuming his walk toward his office. Lex didn't take a step until he'd disappeared from view.
* * *
“So what do you do, when you're not playing, uh...what was it you said you played?” Wyatt's voice rang through the shop as he gathered various tools and bottles of fluid, the wipers swapped out for new ones without issue.
“A little bit of everything, mostly bass though...I didn't ask you to do that,” Lex spoke up as she realized her car was slowly rising into the air, Wyatt activating jacks underneath.
“No, you didn't...but your oil is filthy,” the mechanic declared, drawing out the dipstick to show her, Lex waving her hand as she approached.
“That's okay, I believe you,” she mumbled, putting her hands on her waist as she watched him pull up a rolling board to lie on and disappear beneath her car. Before he even touched metal with his hands, he felt himself being pulled back out, and he found the musician crouched beside him when he reappeared, her hand firm on the molded plastic his weight lay upon. “Why are you doing this?”
“Like I said, your oil is-”
“Good enough to get me home,” she cut him off, shifting her legs until she sat on the cement floor beside him. “I'm grateful for the new wipers, but you don't need to do all this.”
“It's really no big deal,” Wyatt shrugged, and vanished again when Lex loosened her grip.
“So, is this what passes for flirting up here? Topping off a girl's fluids?” she asked, leaning forward to balance her elbow on her leg, her cheek against her palm as she glanced around at her surroundings.
“You make it sound so dirty,” Wyatt's voice floated out from underneath the car.
“I saw your finger nails, you're way past dirty,” she mumbled, sliding back a bit when the little wheels beneath his body began to move and he reappeared before her, fresh grease stains on his cheek and forehead. “Definitely dirty,” she observed, but her smile was a pleasant and welcome sight to behold. “Do you need anything?”
Wyatt looked thoughtful, and he stuffed his hand in his pocket and pulled out some change, dimes and half a dozen quarters. “Why don't you go grab a drink from the vending machine.”
“That's not what I meant-”
“I know what you meant. I've got this handled, darlin', you just relax.” When she wandered off for a few minutes, and reemerged, it wasn't the sound of a can opening that met his ears, but a box full of something loose inside. “What'd you get?”
“Sour Patch Kids,” Lex declared, tearing at the thin cardboard as Wyatt slid out into view again. “What?”
“You took my Sour Patch Kids?” he asked, and she glanced down at the box. “Those are my favorites.”
“You gave me the money,” she mumbled, easing open the plastic bag inside and dumping a few pieces into her own hand.
“I said a drink,” he reminded, but there was no edge in his voice, or on his face. “Everybody around here knows the Sour Patch Kids are mine.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn't keep them in the vending machine,” she shrugged, watching as he started to reach for the box in her hands. “No, your hands are gross...here.” She plucked a piece out of the bag and hovered it over his lips, which he immediately parted, accepting the tangy treat. “Are you about done under there?”
Wyatt chewed briefly and swallowed, turning his head to glance back at her elevated car. “I guess I'm just stallin',” he finally admitted.
Lex nodded and glanced up at her car, freshly serviced and in much better shape to hit the road. “Yeah, I kinda guessed that.”
“You gotta drive home tonight?” he inquired suddenly, and something about the question felt more like a sort of invitation. She dipped her slender fingers into the box and drew out another piece of candy, offering it to him when he opened his mouth again.
“In the morning. I have a motel room, tonight...that I will be going back to, alone,” she clarified when he raised his thick brows.
“Now, did I say anything about-”
“No, but you said, yourself, that you're stalling,” she reminded, dropping another sour-coated gummy into his mouth, his larger, grease-stained hand grasping hers suddenly when she started to pull it away. He was quiet for several seconds, content to stare into her dark green eyes, before he finally spoke up.
“You gonna electrocute me with that zap stick if I try to kiss you?” he whispered, his eyes trained on hers.
Lex watched the mechanic thoughtfully, his body practically sprawled out on the floor, before her. “God, this has been such a weird fuckin' night,” she finally declared, and his lips twitched in response.
“That ain't exactly the answer I was looking for,” he retorted, and Lex leaned away again as he slid out completely from beneath the car and sat up on the rolling board. “You got a boyfriend at home, or somethin'?” She glanced away, shaking her head, the loose strands of violet hair by her ears swaying. “Or a girlfriend?”
“No, I...I'm not seeing anybody,” she admitted, looking back at him as he lifted himself off the board and rose to his feet, reaching a dirty hand out that she stared at for a few seconds before accepting.
“Anybody waitin' for you back at that motel?” he asked abruptly, and she suddenly wondered if it had been a bad idea to leave her stun gun in her bag. “Or can I convince you to stay a little longer?”
“I, uh...” she began, but her words faltered.
“You don't have to,” he stated, loosening his embrace of her hand. “But, I sure wouldn't mind if you hung around a bit longer.” When she swallowed noticeably, her face visibly flushed, even in the dim light of the empty shop, Wyatt nodded with a hint of a smirk, dropping her hand completely. “Why don't you think on it, and I'll go get cleaned up.”
In his brief absence, Lex began to wander around the auto shop, eventually finding her way to what was clearly his office, leaving the door open behind her. Small, cheaply framed pictures of Hot Rods and other classic cars hung against ugly, yellow ochre walls. To her relief, there were no sleazy calendars of scantily clad women draped across muscle cars in sight. Ignoring the distance slaps of rubber-soled shoes against smooth concrete, she continued her casual inspection, glancing over pinned-up receipts and finally rounding the desk, finding brightly scrawled coloring pages full of cartoony cars, taped to the walls. Darla's name was written in crayon on both of them. “Don't tell 'er I still got those up. It'd just embarrass her,” Wyatt's voice sounded from the doorway as he observed his office invader.
“I won't,” Lex answered, a gentle smile on her face as she observed them, the mechanic stepping around the desk from the opposite direction and dropping down into his swiveling chair.
Reaching into a desk drawer and pulling out a canister of grease-cleaning wipes, Wyatt popped open the container and handed one to his guest, placing her car keys down on the glossy surface as she wiped away the stains he'd left on her hands. “Whatcha thinkin' about?”
“About how much of a hypocrite I am,” she mused, glancing over her shoulder before shifting to rest her weight against the edge of his desk. When Wyatt said nothing in return, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest instead, regarding her with curious eyes, she continued. “Preaching to your little sister to take care around dangerous men...and now, here I am, doing something impulsive and stupid,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders, placing her palms against the rounded edge of the desk.
Wyatt was silent for several seconds as he considered her, only serving to add to her hesitance. “I take it Darla's been tellin' stories about me,” he finally stated, and Lex simply raised her brows in response. “So...am I still makin' you nervous,” he guessed, his gaze, directly into her eyes, ceaseless.
“I don't think 'nervous' is the word I'd go with,” she mumbled, glancing away from his intense stare.
“Then why do you keep doin' that?” Wyatt asked suddenly, and Lex's brows knit together in mild confusion. “Lookin' away from me like that...Do you just not trust me, or-”
“I don't trust me,” her voice was barely above a whisper, and Wyatt tilted his head to the side, uncrossing his arms and leaning forward in his chair, a strange smile forming on his lips.
“That so?” he asked, and Lex pursed her lips, as if she were wary some other uncomfortable truth might slip out. Her hands gripped the edge of the desk tighter as Wyatt finally stood up from his chair, stepping so casually in front of her, and so her body sat sandwiched between his own and the heavy, sturdy piece of furniture below her. “Know what I think?” he asked, his body looming, and Lex shook her head as her eyes focused on his. “I think you're a little sweet on me,” he murmured, his large hands finding her smaller ones and uncurling her fingers to weave his own betwixt them.
“Against my better judgment,” she whispered, glancing down to where their hands joined.
“You know, I...just 'cause I ain't exactly on the straight an' narrow...doesn't mean I ain't a good man,” Wyatt did his best to assure, his hands maneuvering hers up to his shoulders, and letting go to grasp her waist when her fingers scrunched up the fabric of his button-up. “Ain't nothin' t' be nervous about, sweetheart,” he rasped as her digits clutched at his shirt, his large, calloused hands traveling down her sides and gripping her outer thighs when he reached them to lift her up onto the edge of his desk. The tiny metal bits of her jeans scraped against the smooth wood as he stepped even closer and situated his thighs between her open knees. “Alexandria,” he breathed as her fingers worked their way up his neck, to the chestnut hair at his nape, his own hands gliding over her bare arms, her shoulders, finding their way back up to her jaw, tilting her chin back with his thumb until she had no choice but to look into his eyes. “If you're gonna tell me no...you better do it, right now,” he warned as her fingers worked through his dark mane, Wyatt finally descending over her to capture her lips, the tiniest moan sounding in Lex's throat.
Wyatt's lips were just as soft as they looked, careful and gentle as they caressed her own, the accumulation of his short whiskers scraping lightly against her skin. His mouth worked so delicately against her own, as if any hint of over-ambitiousness might divide their bodies from one another, that it was Lex who finally took some initiative. Parting her lips against his, gripping a fistful of his hair as his hands began to descend down her body again, she took advantage of the opportunity when a sigh escaped him, prodding against his tongue with her own until his mouth practically latched over hers. A muffled groan rumbled in Wyatt's throat as he felt legs wrap around his waist, slender fingers at his shirt again, groping along his clavicle and shoulder, Lex's blunt-cut nails gripping the fabric as his own hands worked under the hem of her tee. When her body gave a light shudder at the contact of his rough fingertips against her bare skin, but showed no sign of displeasure, he eased higher, mouth still working against hers as his calloused digits met fabric-wrapped underwire, traveling higher still, cupping the soft mounds of flesh through the light padding of her bra. It wasn't enough.
Finally drawing away from her mouth, leaving lighter kisses against her cheek, her jaw, his hands slid around her to pluck at the clasp keeping her soft flesh from his hands, pausing when her whole body seemed to noticeably still. “Is this okay?” he breathed against her skin, his scruffy chin against her temple, open palms against her shoulder blades. Wyatt felt her breath on his throat, her hands meeting at the top button of his shirt. “Is that a yes?”
“I...I'm sorry. It's just been a long-”
“Don't apologize,” Wyatt quickly cut into her words, his hands descending to the small of her back, her unhooked bra still clinging to her chest. “You got nothin' to be sorry about.” His large hands still at her back, his thumbs gently caressing her sides, Wyatt's mouth found Lex's once more, following her lead as she descended against his desk, legs still at his waist. His fingertips eased her shirt up over her stomach, grazing a bit too lightly over her ribs, making her squirm for just a moment before his hands slid higher, pushing back multiple layers of clothing up to her collarbone, and grasping gingerly the soft mounds he'd uncovered.
“Wyatt?” he heard her whimper as his mouth followed in the wake of his hands, ghosting his lips over a taut peak as he palmed at the other side, his tongue dancing over her supple flesh as his free hand weaved between their bodies, toward the button of her jeans. It was enough to snap her out of his spell, and Wyatt found his face being lifted off her chest from her grip in his silky hair.
“Too much?” he mumbled as her fingers loosened, pushing his fallen hair out of his face.
“A little,” she managed, rising up on her elbows, her legs unlocking to fall away at his hips.
“I just wanted a little taste,” he whispered, abandoning her breasts in favor of her parted lips.
“I think you've tasted enough for one night,” she answered, but her smile was still present when he granted some distance between them. “What time is it?”
Glancing at his watch as Lex began to pull and clasp her clothes back into place, Wyatt proclaimed it nearly four in the morning, and surprise and an edge of panic took over Lex's features. “Oh, shit, I didn't...God, they're probably freaking out,” she mumbled as she scrambled off his desk, disappearing from his office before he could ask whom she was talking about. “Fuck!” he heard her exclaim as he stepped out of his office, following her voice across his shop, finding her holding her phone up to her ear as she waited for a voice on the other side of the call. “I know, I know, I didn't have my...yeah, I'm okay, I, uh...kinda lost track of time,” she spoke into the receiver, glancing at Wyatt as he stepped closer, his features tinged with concern and a dash of frustration. Frustration with himself for keeping her out so long, or pushing a little too far, or just the thought of not getting to see her again after tonight, he couldn't decide. Maybe a bit of all of the above. “Right, yeah, I'm about to head that way...yes, I'll text you when I get to my room...goodnight.”
“Your band?” Wyatt ventured, and Lex nodded as she ended the call.
“Yeah, I guess they've been blowing up my phone for an hour, now,” she confirmed, pushing her mobile into her back pocket. “You're not the only one that worries, I guess.”
“I guess,” he repeated, a weak half-smile across his lips. “I suppose I gotta let ya go, now.”
“Um...yeah,” she agreed, though she didn't look any happier about it than he did.
“I don't suppose I'm gonna see you again,” he spoke, not even trying to fake a smile anymore.
“I, um...I'd like to...I don't know when, exactly, but...I-” Lex's words ceased as Wyatt closed the distance between them, his hands finding her jaw as his lips met her own, his kiss as gentle as their first.
“We'll figure somethin' out,” he assured as he put the slightest distance between their mouths, his hands descending to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her in closer. “You ain't gettin' away from me that easy.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
tagging : @one-of-thewalkingdead , @gissellec1 , @rainingrabbits89-blog , @pinkflowerwombat , @sashimeep , @strangererotica , @the-butchers-baby , @callsign-fangirl , @hibiskooks , @jessy02 , @charliehoennam , @pinastrihaven , @amethystblackkchaos , @bleeding-heartz , @lucy-sky
If I forgot anyone, I apologize, and please let me know if you want to be tagged in the next one
COMMENTS AND REBLOGS AND TAGS ARE DEEPLY APPRECIATED. 💙
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occupyhades · 6 months ago
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Operation Phobos
Targets the Denizens of Zophos: The Violators of Children.
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3 (ESV)
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Ephesians 5:11 (ESV)
There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide. Job 34:22 (BSB)
What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The LORD can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!” Isaiah 29:15 (NLT)
While you did all this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you. Psalm 50:21 (NLT)
The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him. Proverbs 5:22 (BSB) 
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 3 John 1:11 (NIV) 
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The Righteous One knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked; he will bring disaster on them. Proverbs 21:12 (NLT)
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arpov-blog-blog · 2 years ago
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...'Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top lawmaker on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the panel would act on allegations that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted lavish gifts from a billionaire Republican donor over a period of decades.
For years, Thomas took luxury trips and outings on yachts and private jets owned by Dallas businessman Harlan Crow, according to an investigation by ProPublica. But Thomas did not disclose the travel, the investigation found. Crow has donated lavishly to Republican candidates.
Durbin said in a statement that the report was a “call to action” for lawmakers, arguing Supreme Court justices needed a code of ethics that could be enforced.
“The highest court in the land shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standards,” Durbin said in a statement. “Today’s report demonstrates, yet again, that Supreme Court Justices must be held to an enforceable code of conduct… the Senate Judiciary Committee will act.”
It was unclear what action the committee would take, but Durbin joined a number of other Democrats who weighed in on the Thomas news; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called for the justice to be impeached.
“This is beyond party or partisanship,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter. “This degree of corruption is shocking — almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said the news called for an independent investigation
“This cries out for the kind of independent investigation that the Supreme Court — and only the Supreme Court, across the entire government— refuses to perform,” Whitehouse said on Twitter.
Crow in a statement did not deny the allegations that Thomas and his wife accepted the gifts from him, but stated that the couple never asked for them.
“The hospitality we have extended to the Thomas’s over the years is no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends,” Crow said in a statement. “Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality,” referring to the justice’s wife, Ginni Thomas."
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longworm-blog · 7 years ago
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y’all
I’m so tired yet I’m so woke... I just saw bring the empire, asking alexandria, AND black veil brides. I’m... shook...
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milariskanavasi · 2 years ago
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masterlist;
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Haze & Hellfire - Eddie Munson x female oc
Summary: March 1986. Eight months after the Starcourt Mall burned down, the town of Hawkins is back on its feet. The smart, expressive leader of the D&D Hellfire Club, Eddie Munson, is determined that ‘86 will be his year, the year he finally graduates from Hawkins High and finally, maybe pluck up the courage to ask the most stone cold girl in Indiana, Dallas Haze, out. Meanwhile, Dallas Haze lives her life to the fullest by enduring the last three months of high school in the company of her cousin Chrissy, looking forward to her 18th birthday as well as planning a wicked road trip after graduation with her band, Dallas and The Velvet Haze, on the road to fame. Plus it wouldn’t be too bad if someone asked her to prom. When Eddie’s and Dallas’ paths cross in the most unexpected way, neither of them knows what lurks beneath Hawkins or what the future has planned for them.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] chapters (active)
Link to ao3
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Jersey on my mind - Daryl Dixon x female oc
Summary: When Daryl Dixon suddenly finds himself running back to Alexandria with a dying woman in his arms, he doesn’t know his reality is about to take a drastic turn. Who is this feisty, young lady who just saved his life, dying in his arms? Life has never been easy on Mila Sergeyevna. There's enough trauma in her backpack to last a lifetime and would made anyone else crack. Well, Mila isn't just anyone. When the whole world is about to perish, just as life finally seems to be getting better for her, it’s survival mode ‘on’. This time it’s permanent. As the walking dead roams the earth, Mila has to embrace her past demons and prove once and for all that she can do anything, whether it’s raising a disabled toddler on her own in the middle of an apocalypse or killing her fiancé, to save the both of them. When Mila stumbles upon, and saves a sulky, ungrateful archer from a trap, it’s more than ever a question of survival. It will change her entire life.
52 parts (active) [separate index] Link to ao3
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xenawolfe · 7 years ago
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BVB & AA concert Dallas TX
I have an extra ticket and I am currently at the venue. Anyone want it?
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vnllacosmo · 3 years ago
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ships *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
below is a list of ships i love! anyone is welcome to squeal about them in my inbox with me — as well as send in prompts with them! if i don’t feel comfortable writing the prompt, i will let you know. but i looooove writing for my ships <3. also anything with & means the relationship is strictly platonic. anything with + means romantic. if there is a romantic ship that you’d like me to write as platonic, feel free to ask! if there is a ship that isn’t on the list, you can still ask because i may have accidentally forgotten to add it!
the one hundred:
raven & abby
raven & octavia
clarke & octavia
bellamy & octavia
spacekru family
bellamy + echo
bellamy + anya
bellamy + clarke
raven + luna
raven + bellamy
raven + clarke
raven + murphy
raven + anya
raven + lexa
raven + echo
raven + emori
emori + murphy
anya + echo
monty + harper
monty + jasper
maya + jasper
octavia + lincoln
abby + marcus
raven + clarke + bellamy
raven + echo + bellamy
raven + murphy + emori
echo + bellamy + anya
echo + bellamy + clarke
grey’s anatomy:
meredith & lexie
meredith & amelia
meredith & maggie
meredith & cristina
derek & amelia
addison & amelia
mark & amelia
mark & callie
mark & derek
mark & arizona
meredith & baby ellis
amelia & baby ellis
addison & baby ellis
callie + arizona
addison + derek
addison + meredith
addison + teddy
addison + mark
teddy + mark
meredith + derek
meredith + finn
cristina + teddy
cristina + alex
izzie + alex
jo + alex
april + jackson
amelia + arizona
amelia + owen
magic crew
season 6 attending crew
the walking dead:
maggie & beth
maggie & carol
maggie & tara
maggie & rosita
maggie & sasha
maggie & daryl
beth & daryl
rick & daryl
carol & lydia
carol & rosita
daryl & rosita
glenn & tara
maggie + glenn
carol + daryl
rick + andrea
rick + michonne
tara + rosita
beth + noah
rosita + gabriel
pre-alexandria crew (rick & michonne + kids, daryl & carol, maggie & glenn, noah, rosita, abraham, eugene, sasha)
road trip crew (maggie, glenn, tara, rosita, abraham, eugene)
private practice:
charlotte & amelia
charlotte & violet
charlotte & addison
amelia & addison
cooper & violet
charlotte + cooper
addison + pete
violet + pete
king-freedman family (charcoop, mason, triplets)
glee:
santana & shelby
santana & mercedes
santana + brittany
santana + quinn
finn + quinn
tina + mike
shelby + holly
shelby + cassie
unholy trinity: santana + brittany + quinn
trebletones
victorious:
jade & cat
beck & cat
jade + beck
jade + tori
bade as cat’s parents
pitch perfect:
aubrey + chloe
aubrey + emily
aubrey + beca
chloe + emily
chloe + beca
beca + emily
aubrey + chloe + emily
aubrey + chloe + beca
aubrey + chloe + beca + emily
pretty little liars:
alison + emily
spencer + emily
spencer + hanna
spencer + toby
hanna + mona
hanna + caleb
liars squad
gilmore girls:
lorelai + luke
rory + dean
rory + paris
louise + paris
once upon a time:
regina & hope
regina & henry
emma & henry
regina & snow
regina & zelena
mal & lily
regina + emma
regina + mal
ruby + belle
snow + charming
manifest:
grace & olive
grace + ben
olive + tj
michaela + zeke
degrassi:
paige + spinner
paige + alex
spike + snake
manny + jt
manny + jay
liberty + jt
ellie + sean
ellie + craig
ashley + jimmy
emma + sean (early season only)
holly j + declan
imogen + fiona
alli + dallas
drew + bianca
clare + eli
tristan + miles
zig + tori
grace + zoë
shameless:
fiona + angela
lip + mandy
ian + mickey
carl + bonnie
kev + veronica
fiona + jimmy / steve
criminal minds:
emily + elle
emily + hotch
emily + penelope
emily + morgan
morgan + penelope
elle + penelope
the fosters:
stef & mariana
stef & jesus
stef & jude
lena & mariana
lena & jesus
lena & jude
mariana & jude
mariana & lexi
mariana & jesus
jesus & jude
stef + lena
mariana + matt
jesus + lexi
jesus + emma
orange is the new black:
nicky & red
nicky & piper
nicky & alex
taystee & poussey
maritza & flaca
daya & aleida
piper + alex
nicky + lorna
switched at birth:
bay & regina
bay & kathryn
bay & toby
bay & daphne
bay & angelo
bay + emmett
toby + lily
kathryn + regina
kathryn + john
angelo + regina
riverdale:
betty & kevin
veronica & kevin
betty + veronica
betty + archie
veronica + cheryl
veronica + archie
toni + cheryl
alice + hermione
the vampire diaries:
caroline + stefan
caroline + katherine
caroline + elena
caroline + bonnie
katherine + stefan
elena + stefan
the originals:
elijah & rebekah
elijah & hayley
rebekah & hayley
rebekah & klaus
hayley + klaus
legacies:
hope + lizzie
marvel:
natasha & yelena
jemma & may
fitz + simmons
bobbi + hunter
may + coulson
bobbi + jemma
victoria + may
natasha + maria
elena + mack
friends:
phoebe & chandler
phoebe & monica
joey & monica
joey & chandler
rachel & chandler
rachel + monica
rachel + phoebe
rachel + joey
phoebe + joey
monica + chandler
lost in space (2018):
maureen & penny
don & penny
smith & penny
john & penny
judy & penny
maureen + john
supergirl:
kara & alex
kara & cat
kara + lena
mom (sitcom):
bonnie & christy
bonnie + adam
full / fuller house:
dj & becky
dj & danny
dj & jesse
dj & joey
dj & stephanie
dj & michelle
dj & kimmy
dj & ramona
dj & rocki
stephanie & jesse
stephanie & joey
stephanie & michelle
stephanie & kimmy
stephanie & ramona
stephanie & rocki
ramona & kimmy
ramona & rocki
one day at a time:
penelope & lydia
elena & penelope
elena & lydia
elena & alex
elena & schneider
elena + syd
penelope + schneider
outer banks:
john b. & kiara
john b. & jj
john b. & pope
kiara & pope
jj + pope
jj + kiara
rizzoli & isles:
jane + maura
american horror story:
cordelia & madison
cordelia & mallory
misty & madison
mallory & coco
mallory & madison
cordelia + misty
madison + zoe
how to get away with murder:
michaela & connor
michaela & annalise
michaela & bonnie
michaela & oliver
michaela & laurel
connor & annalise
connor & asher
oliver & asher
annalise & bonnie
annalise + eve
bonnie + frank
blue bloods:
jamie + eddie
danny + maria
danny + linda
danny + jackie
law & order (svu):
amanda & olivia
amanda & alex
alex + olivia
disney:
alex & theresa (wizards of waverly place)
teddy & charlie (good luck charlie)
raven + chelsea (tsr / raven’s home)
london + maddie (suite life)
gabriella + troy (high school musical)
gabriella + sharpay (high school musical)
riley + maya (girl meets world)
mal + evie + jay + carlos (descendants)
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newstfionline · 4 years ago
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Monday, May 17, 2021
Colonial shutdown shows how Americans pay the price of efficiency (Washington Post) The drivers stuck in gas lines after the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, the Texans freezing in their homes after the February grid collapse, the Californians sweltering through their own power failures last summer—all were paying the unintended and unexpected price of efficiency. The market-driven energy sector has spent a decade or more cutting costs, streamlining and digitizing. Four big oil refineries have shut down in Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 2010 because it’s cheaper to bring in gasoline by pipeline from the Gulf Coast, 1,500 miles away—as long as that pipeline stays in operation. Texas and California have driven the price of electricity down by throwing out the old regulatory structure—the structure that made sure utilities earned enough to invest in backup resources. In the name of efficiency, “resilience was assumed,” said Daniel Yergin, a historian and author of “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.” But even as American fossil fuel producers proudly declared the country to be energy independent once more in recent years, the energy sector has stripped redundancy out of its systems, at the risk of leaving customers in the lurch when things go wrong. Some companies have declined to take the precautions needed to survive the unexpected, whether it’s bad weather or a cyberattack.
Police in Cities Across U.S. Brace for a Violent Summer (WSJ) Police departments in New York City and other large metro areas across the U.S. are bulking up patrols and implementing new tactics to prepare for what they say could be a violent summer. States lifting Covid-19 restrictions and more people out in public spaces in warmer weather increase the likelihood of more shootings, as well as less-serious crimes, officials say. Many crimes, including violent ones, normally rise in summer. Gun purchases also rose during the pandemic and cities have seen an increase in guns being used in crimes. Shootings and homicides in big U.S. cities are up this year again after rising last year. In the last three months of 2020, homicides rose 32.2% in cities with a population of at least one million, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report. In New York City, the number of homicides has reached 146 for the year so far, an increase of 27% from 115 during the same period in 2020. In Dallas, police have counted 75 homicides this year, up from 58 during the same period last year. Chicago police have recorded 195 homicides, up from 160 in the year-ago period.
Tensions Among Democrats Grow Over Israel as the Left Defends Palestinians (NYT) With violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories forcing the issue back to the forefront of American politics, divisions between the leadership of the Democratic Party and the activist wing have burst into public view. While the Biden administration is handling the growing conflict as a highly sensitive diplomatic challenge involving a longstanding ally, the ascendant left views it as a searing racial justice issue that is deeply intertwined with the politics of the United States. For those activists, Palestinian rights and the decades-long conflict over land in the Middle East are linked to causes like police brutality and conditions for migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Party activists who fight for racial justice now post messages against the “colonization of Palestine” with the hashtag #PalestinianLivesMatter. With President Biden in the White House, traditional U.S. support for Israel is hardly in question from a policy perspective; he has made his support for the country clear throughout his nearly 50 years in public life. Still, the terms of the debate are shifting in Democratic circles. On Thursday, a group of leading progressive members of Congress offered a rare break from party unity, giving fiery speeches on the House floor that accused Mr. Biden of ignoring the plight of Palestinians and “taking the side of the occupation.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York directly challenged the president, who had asserted that Israel had a right to defend itself. “Do Palestinians have a right to survive?” she asked in an impassioned address. “Do we believe that? And if so, we have a responsibility to that as well.” “The base of the party is moving in a very different direction than where the party establishment is,” James Zogby said. “If you support Black Lives Matter, it was not a difficult leap to saying Palestinian lives matter, too.”
Bleak futures fuel widespread protests by young Colombians (AP) Thousands of young people and college students have been at the forefront of Colombia’s antigovernment protests for more than two weeks, armed with improvised shields made from garbage cans and umbrellas. They have taken the brunt of the tear gas and gunshots from security forces, and dozens have paid for it with their lives. The young men and women have become the voices for Colombians fed up with a government they say has mismanaged the coronavirus pandemic and crushed hopes of a better future. “To a large extent, we found that there was no fear of death. Sometimes it is the only thing that remains when the system is starving us and there are no opportunities,” said Yonny Rojas, a 36-year-old law student who also runs soup kitchens in one of the poorest areas of Cali, the city where the government response has been especially violent.
Pandemic triggers new crisis in Peru: lack of cemetery space (AP) After Joel Bautista died of a heart attack last month in Peru, his family tried unsuccessfully to find an available grave at four different cemeteries. After four days, they resorted to digging a hole in his garden. The excavation in a poor neighborhood in the capital city of Lima was broadcast live on television, attracting the attention of authorities and prompting them to offer the family a space on the rocky slopes of a cemetery. The same plight is shared by other families across Peru. After struggling to control the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year, the country now faces a parallel crisis: a lack of cemetery space. The problem affects everyone, not just relatives of COVID-19 victims, and some families have acted on their own, digging clandestine graves in areas surrounding some of Lima’s 65 cemeteries. The desperate lack of options comes as the country endures its deadliest period of the pandemic yet. More than 64,300 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in Peru, according to the Health Ministry, but that figure is almost certainly an undercount. A vital records agency estimates that the true figure is more than 174,900, counting those whose possible infection was not confirmed by a test.
UK readies for major reopening but new variant sparks worry (AP) Travelers in England were packing their bags, bartenders were polishing their glasses and performers were warming up as Britain prepared Sunday for a major step out of lockdown—but with clouds of worry on the horizon. Excitement at the reopening of travel and hospitality vied with anxiety that a more contagious virus variant first found in India is spreading fast and could delay further plans to reopen. On Monday, people in England will be able to eat a restaurant meal indoors, drink inside a pub, go to a museum, hug friends and visit one another’s homes for the first time in months. A ban on overseas holidays is also being lifted, with travel now possible to a short list of countries with low infection rates. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following similar but slightly different reopening paths.
Turkey eases COVID-19 restrictions but keeps many curfews (AP) Turkey’s interior ministry on Sunday lifted a full lockdown that had ordered people to stay home to fight COVID-19 infections, shifting to a less-restrictive program that still involved curfews on weeknights and weekends. Shopping malls will be able to reopen. Some businesses will remain closed, including gyms and cafes, but restaurants will be able to offer take away in addition to delivery. Preschools will resume in-person education but upper grades will continue remote learning. Turks can return to their workplaces but will have to stay home from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday, with the exception of walking to a market to buy food. Civil servants will continue working remotely or in shifts in offices. Foreign tourists and workers with special permits are exempt.
Syria’s Surprising Solar Boom: Sunlight Powers the Night in Rebel Idlib (NYT) When the Syrian government attacked their village, Radwan al-Shimali’s family hastily threw clothes, blankets and mattresses into their truck and sped off to begin new lives as refugees, leaving behind their house, farmland and television. Among the belongings they kept was one prized technology: the solar panel now propped up on rock next to the tattered tent they call home in an olive grove near the village of Haranabush in northwestern Syria. “It is important,” Mr. al-Shimali said of the 270-watt panel, his family’s sole source of electricity. “When there is sun during the day, we can have light at night.” An unlikely solar revolution of sorts has taken off in an embattled, rebel-controlled pocket of northwestern Syria, where large numbers of people whose lives have been upended by the country’s 10-year-old civil war have embraced the sun’s energy simply because it is the cheapest source of electricity around. Solar panels, big and small, old and new, are seemingly everywhere in Idlib Province along Syria’s border with Turkey. “There is no alternative,” said Akram Abbas, a solar panel importer in the town of al-Dana. “Solar energy is a blessing from God.”
India to start evacuating parts of west coast as cyclone approaches (Reuters) India is preparing to evacuate thousands of people from low-lying areas along its western coast as a powerful cyclone is expected to make landfall on Tuesday morning in the state of Gujarat. Cyclone Tauktae, which formed in the Arabian sea, is expected to cross Gujarat with wind gusts of up to 175 kmph (109 mph) and is expected to make landfall in the state the following morning. The meteorological agency warned that there could be destruction of houses and flooding of escape routes. Disruption to railway services was also expected until May 21.
Israel stages new round of heavy airstrikes on Gaza City (AP) The Israeli military unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Monday, saying it destroyed 15 kilometers (nine miles) of militant tunnels and the homes of nine alleged Hamas commanders. Residents of Gaza awakened by the overnight barrage described it as the heaviest since the war began a week ago, and even more powerful than a wave of airstrikes in Gaza City the day before that left 42 dead and flattened three buildings. There was no immediate word on the casualties from the latest strikes. A three-story building in Gaza City was heavily damaged, but residents said the military warned them 10 minutes before the strike and everyone cleared out. Gaza’s mayor Yahya Sarraj told Al-Jazeera TV that the airstrikes had caused extensive damage to roads and other infrastructure. He also warned that the territory was running low on fuel and other spare parts. The U.N. has warned that Gaza’s sole power station is at risk of running out of fuel. The territory already experiences daily power outages of 8-12 hours and tap water is undrinkable.
Ethiopia again delays national election amid deadly tensions (AP) Ethiopia has again delayed its national election after some opposition parties said they wouldn’t take part and as conflict in the country’s Tigray region means no vote is being held there, further complicating Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s efforts to centralize power. The head of the national elections board, Birtukan Mideksa, in a meeting with political parties’ representatives on Saturday said the June 5 vote in Africa’s second most populous country would be postponed, citing the need to finish printing ballots, training staffers and compiling voters’ information. The board said she estimated a delay of two to three weeks.
Sharks use Earth’s magnetic field as a GPS, scientists say (AP) Sharks use the Earth’s magnetic field as a sort of natural GPS to navigate journeys that take them great distances across the world’s oceans, scientists have found. Researchers said their marine laboratory experiments with a small species of shark confirm long-held speculation that sharks use magnetic fields as aids to navigation—behavior observed in other marine animals such as sea turtles. The study sheds light on why sharks are able to traverse seas and find their way back to feed, breed and give birth, said marine policy specialist Bryan Keller, one of the study authors. “We know that sharks can respond to magnetic fields,” Keller said. “We didn’t know that they detected it to use as an aid in navigation ... You have sharks that can travel 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) and end up in the same spot.”
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rockweiler-again · 6 months ago
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Asking Alexandria at SXSW, The Palladium, Dallas TX. 03/19/11
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authoressskr · 6 years ago
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Howlite and Hearts
Characters: f!Reader, Melanie (OFC), Tania (OFC), James “Bucky” Barnes, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, James Rhodes
Warnings: Language and no Beta   ::   Word Count: 8,465
This was written for @moonbeambucky’s 5k Writing Challenge!! I went with a dragon!soulmate!au, which I hadn’t seen before, but I did have a nifty dream about it that spawned this whole idea. He’s still an Avenger. Events are basically still the same, just with dragons. ‘Cause who wouldn’t love a dragon companion??
Prompt: “You said you would come back for me.” Bolded in text below.
Please do NOT repost, copy & paste, post or share my works on any other platform without my EXPRESS PERMISSION.
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Since men emerged from caves, began using tools and reshaping their environment, they have been intrigued by the draconian terrors of all shapes and sizes that roamed the world. The first records of man and dragon working together are from Mesopotamia, pieces of shattered pottery pieced back together showing a dragon standing beside a woman. Assyrian artifacts depict water dragons helping farmers in the field. Egyptian murals show dragons protecting the Pharaoh and his family, others showing different breeds of dragon fetching books from inside the Library of Alexandria.
History is dotted with famous dragons and their bonded humans; King Arthur and his steel-colored dragon, Excalibur. William Shakespeare and his dragon, Bard. Cleopatra and Bucephalus, named after Alexander the Great’s legendary steed. Abraham Lincoln and his dragon, Crusoe.
Over the centuries, dragons have become smaller from the giants painted in mythology, old texts and wall murals. The biggest dragon these days are about the size of a large crocodile, with the biggest recorded in the last decade almost as big as a hippo. Height varies on the type of dragon - with the tallest one balancing on its tail, hits almost eye level with a giraffe.
Classes have been taught for centuries about dragons and the bond between them with humans. Dragons will sometimes die right after their human counterpart and vice versa. Dragons who have lost their counterpart will sometimes live, seeking out their counterpart’s soulmate to stay with their draconian mates as well. It is not an uncommon thing - especially after times of war - for soulmates to have both dragons if one has died.
Dragon pairs will usually have the same colors and markings, even though they will often not be the same type of dragon. Dragons may look similar to the human eye, but a dragon will know it’s mate no matter what. It has not been determined how the dragons know their mate almost instantaneously, but after millennia humans have begun to follow the dragon counterpart’s knowledge in this area. Marriages of alliance and royalty have often been changed or dropped when one party finds its soulmate. In the same vein, marriages have also been arranged due to this circumstance as well. Cinderella is the most referenced fairy tale of this, with Cinderella having the same sapphire and gold colored dragon as the prince (*Dragon color varies by region and culture).
With the reemergence of Captain America and his dragon, it has helped scientists and theorists who now believe that the dragon and human bond is stronger than initially thought. Steve Rogers, known as Captain America, and his dragon Rak, were frozen for nearly 70 years and both proved to be in perfect health with an unbroken bond after thawing from the ice. Several theorists are pointing to a pieced together story found in Egypt about a man who was thought to be dead during a war, his dragon dying alongside - only for the pair to wander through the desert for nearly two years before arriving in Constantinople. The pair nearly died of dehydration several times but emerged with a stronger bond than before. The man claimed to the writer that it seemed as if after his trouble, he and his dragon experienced more than an emotional bond. It was as if they were linked in their minds and hearts. Whatever the case, it seems as if the bond between human and dragon is strong, it can always be strengthened. The only bond that is stronger - most noted and pointed out - is that of a matched pair with both dragon and human with their mates, protecting each other.
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You slide into the restaurant’s plush booth, smiling across the table at your best friend of nearly 13 years as you toss your purse further onto the bench.
“How was work?” You ask as you settle in, your dragon climbing from the inside of your jacket where she’d been resting earlier to drape her long body over your shoulders while your soulmate’s dragon settles his bulk over your feet under the table, his tail curling around your leg.
“Awesome. Matt finally asked me out.”
“Ooh! Congrats! When are you two supposed to go out?”
“Saturday!”
“Nice.” Your conversation pauses as the waitress appears, cheerfully asking for your drink order as a little yellow head pops out of her apron pocket.
“Iced tea and water, please.” You request, fingers coming up to scratch under Cloud’s chin.
“Gin and tonic, please. And water, as well. Thank you.” The waitress bounces off, high ponytail bouncing. Mel leaning a bit forward with a grin. “We could double date.” A deep growl sounds from under the table, making you chuckle.
“Godzilla says no.” Mel frowns at the table before shifting her brown eyes back to you. “He’s a good boy,” You coo before continuing. “He’s just keeping an eye on me until we’re reunited with my soulmate.”
“You gotta stop letting him do that. And you can’t reunite with someone you’ve never met.” Mel mutters as the waitress arrives with your drinks. You both thank her as she withdraws her pen from her apron, causing her little dragon’s yellow head to pop from the black apron pocket again.
“What can I get you ladies?”
“May I get the alfredo with chicken and mushrooms, please?”
“Side salad or soup?”
“Salad. Italian dressing please.”
“Of course! And you?”
“Shrimp carbonara. And a side salad for me as well. Ranch. Thanks.”
“I’ll get that out in a jiff!”
“Semantics. He and I will finally meet. Godzilla will be reunited.” Stroking his lifted head under the table a few times before he settles back into place again.
“Did your time off get approved?” Mel switches the subject before taking a hearty sip of her gin and tonic, both of you thanking the waitress as she sets your salads down before bouncing off again with a big smile. Melanie’s long serpentine jade dragon slithers from her purse, using a little flap of its peacock-colored wings to get it to the tabletop and chirps until Melanie surrenders all her croutons to him. “Bread thief.” She mutters as it chomps happily away.
“Yep!” You mutter cheerfully around a mouthful of greens. “Two freakin’ weeks! Soooo happy and ready for this road trip.”
“Model employee, you are.”
“Thank you for that high praise, Yoda.”
“When I finish this salad, I’ll dig out my proposed itinerary outline for the trip. I’m already so excited! Five days and we’ll be on vacation!” She does a happy little wiggle, Linus mimicking her with his little jade body. You both giggle at his antics.
“Did Tania get off? I text her on Monday and she said it was ‘Pending’ in the system.”
“Yeah, she texted me yesterday morning to say she got it off. But her brother’s wedding is on Saturday. In Dallas. So she’ll fly out late Sunday afternoon so we can all start out from San Fran on Monday.”
“Keep her hydrated Sunday night. Got it.” Your bouncy waitress reappears to whisk the salad plates away, promising the food will be out in just a few minutes. Godzilla’s heavy tail thumps against your leg and the booth, making you grin at your chunky boy. “Is Chinatown on your itinerary?”
“I keep forgetting you’ve never been there before…” She digs her little notebook from her purse and hands it across the table to you. “I’ll add it to the couple of days when we come back.” Cloud nudges at your jaw as you read through the daily logs.
“I like it. Taking our time everywhere. Plenty of adventure and time out for the fluffernuggets.”
“You call them by the weirdest names...” Mel mutters with a big smile as the food arrives, thanking the waitress before you take a long drink of your tea.
“They love them.” You take a couple pieces of chicken and pass it under the table, Godzilla happily chomping as you pass a piece to Cloud. “And jealousy is an ugly thing, Mel.” She passes a piece of shrimp to Linus, his little fingers on his wingtips holding onto the shrimp to tear it two.
“Uh huh. Sure.”
“So, what are you gonna wear on -” An older couple walks by, the woman tutting as she sees Godzilla’s tail under the table. You can see her counting and mentally steel yourself.
“Three.” She mutters loudly to her husband, who gives a solemn nod and steers her away. You feel a hand on top of yours, a gentle squeeze making you turn your attention back to your food.
“She’s just an old hag who doesn’t know anything.” You nod.
“She just really brought down my happy mood.”
“Then we’ll a couple drinks and go to that bookstore you like.”
“You always know the right thing to say to me.” She snorts, making you grin at your oldest friend.
“I should fucking hope so by now, honey.”
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Bucky and Sam sit on the patio closest to the hanger, playing poker when Steve comes around the corner, tapping on his phone.
“How’s it going today guys? Missed our morning run.” He leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk.
“We stayed up drinking loooong after you left last night.” Sam chuckles out, throwing a card down and picking up another.
“Alcohol doesn’t affect Bucky.”
“I slept in and didn’t drag my ass out of bed that early in solidarity.” Steve snorts but nods.
“Yeah. Okay, pal. Keep lyin’ to yourself.”
“I can and I will,” Bucky replies, using his vibranium hand to scratch the scruff on his jaw with a lazy grin plastered on his face.
“Hey, guys! Uh, I mean Mr. Rogers, sir. And Mr. Barnes. And, um, Mr. Wilson.”
“You don’t have to -” Steve starts, shaking his head at Peter’s formality.
“Nah, I think I like being addressed as Mr. Barnes.”
“Just stick to first names, kid.” Sam orders, tossing down another card and making a face at Bucky.
“Right. I can do that. Mr. Stark asked me to come and get you,” Steve pushes off the wall. “Mr. Barnes. Uh, Bucky, sir.”
“Okay.” Bucky grins before laying his cards on the table. “I win. You’re cookin’ me breakfast for the rest of the week.”
“Damnit.” Sam curses as he tosses his cards onto the table.
“See you all in a bit. Lead the way, kid.” Peter leads Bucky down to the lab he built for Bruce, the two farthest walls projecting documents and a few pictures of the West Coast of the United States. Bucky carefully scans the walls as Peter eagerly announces Bucky’s arrival.
“Ah, Barnes. Just the man I sent the kid for.” Tony comes around a table and points to the documents on the left wall. “What do you see?”
“Intel on a Hydra base by the Washington/Canada border. You think it’s active?”
“I wouldn’t have. Except for this morning, the power kicked on there.” Bruce comes into the room behind Bucky, pointing to the map as Tony zooms in on the border.
“We only know this because Fury cleared that particular base after he became director. He set up sensors to alert S.H.I.E.L.D. to any unwanted visitors.”
“And I hijacked all their sensors, systems and alerts,” Tony add smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.
“So you want me to go scout it?”
“No, I’ve sent a suit to go do some recon. I want to know everything you know about this base… Anything they might’ve had there. Any reasons you can think of to why they’d attempt a reactivation there.” Bucky gives a little sigh before he walks up to the wall, flipping through each piece of intelligence information, racking his mind for any and all information he possessed on that base.
“Smuggling arms from Russia would be my best first guess...my second would be the terrible answer of human trafficking.” He then begins to explain the ins and out of the base, what he remembers being at the base and some of the areas they used for experimentation there.
“Jeez.” Bruce exhales loudly before rubbing a hand over his face, his dragon lifting its head from the chair in the corner, looking quizzically from Bruce to Bucky. Tony taps his fingers on the tabletop across from Bruce, thinking.
“Okay. We’ll wait for the suit to report back before alerting the rest of the team.” Bucky nods, casting an envious glance towards Bruce’s now sleeping dragon. The quick look makes Tony’s stance soften a little, something unnoticed by Bucky as he turns to leave. “Wait.” Bucky turns himself back around. “I’ve been scanning for a dragon that matches your descriptions and archival photos.” Tony has a ghost of a smile dancing in his eyes as he drops this bomb on him.
“That’s why you don’t have a dragon?” Peter pipes up from the other side of Bruce.
“Mine didn’t go into the ice with me like Steve’s. He probably ran away from the base when I fell from the train...I don’t think Howl has survived to now.”
“And you couldn’t have survived a fall from a train. Steve couldn’t have survived the ice-cold grip of the Arctic.” He leans his butt against the table he’d just been tapping on, arms crossed over his chest with a smile. “Yet here we are, Barnes.”
Bucky clenches and unclenches his jaw, fear curling in his gut at the question he’s about to ask.
“Did you find anything?”
“Got two hits so far.” Bucky’s heart stutters in his chest. “One in Scotland, the other in California.” Tony gives a sly smile as Bucky gives a firm nod, turning to leave with his human hand clenched tight.
“Hydra first.” He manages to grit out before opening the door, ready to escape to the woods just outside the base to get his thoughts straightened out.
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“Portland here we come!” Tania yells as you start the rental car, making you laugh as you pull onto the road, heading to the freeway entrance.
“I can’t believe it’s been two months since all three of us have been together!” You say excitedly as you merge onto the freeway - officially starting your road trip to Portland.
“Two months too long!” Mel yells from the second row.
“So, Tania, you gotta fill us in on your brother’s wedding!”
“Ugh. Ultra small. They just had her immediate family and our immediate family plus, like, his two idiot best friends and her best friend.” She pauses, shoving a handful of thick black curls away from her lovely face. “Beautiful though.” She sighs out with a small smile on her face. “Almost exactly the colors I’d like to do for my wedding one day; light blue and black, with silver accents. Dinner was delicious! Whew! Glad I wasn’t interested in getting laid, cause all that food was too good to pass up.” Mel nearly snorts behind you as Tania continues. “A nice long dinner, some light dancing and a few rounds of shots between siblings and friends. Then I got to tuck myself into a plush hotel room, watch ‘The Wedding Date’ and nod off to sleep.”
“I think that’s the least stressful wedding you’ve ever told us about.” You remark with a quick look at Tania.
“That’s cause this is my oldest brother. Typical big bro. Looking out for everyone else. Dated Katherine for like 3 years before he popped the question. He thinks everything through. Unlike my younger brothers. Those two are idiots.”
“Hot idiots.” Mel pipes up from the back as you and Tania make faces.
“Nope. Nope. Nope.” Tania says seriously before half turning in her seat. “So, how did your date with Matt go?”
“All he wanted to talk about was work and who I thought was going to get the new promotion...How he was waiting for his soulmate after three bad relationships. Total bust.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Need me to find a coffee shop before we officially head out of town?”
“Nah, she ordered a dessert to go at her busted dinner and I’ve bought her like four cups of coffee since yesterday.” You interject, watching Mel’s face break out in a big smile in the rearview mirror. Tania’s dragon slips from the folded down third row up to the front, crawling into her lap and sticking its head out the window, the soft black hair on its head and back twisting and turning in the breeze.
“Our first stop?” Tania asks Mel, stroking a hand over Falkor’s black wispy hair.
“Wherever you want it to be.” Mel grins out, brown eyes meeting yours in the rearview.
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It was about two hours down the line before Linus began chirping and growling, so you pulled over at a roadside area and let all the dragons out to go the bathroom and explore. You stake out a nice shaded bench to watch the four dragons play with a pair of Golden Retrievers. Dragons tended to love cats and dogs, and this was also a good chance for them to get out some of that pent up energy.
Tania demands a few selfies set against the coastline views and you suggest one with the dragons rolling around with the dogs, making you all laugh. After nearly fifteen minutes, you wander over to the middle-aged couple with the dogs, introducing yourself and thanking them for letting their dogs wear out your dragons. A few pleasantries and a loud goodbye, followed by some pets for Thelma and Louise, you herd the dragons up the hill to the bench for some water and a few snacks.
“That was a workout for everyone.” Mel chuckles, patting your back as you all head back to the SUV.
“Laugh it up. Next time wrangling is up to you, Melanie.” She just laughs as you climb back into the driver seat.
“Next stop, Fort Bragg.” Mel pipes up, holding her cell phone up for Tania to see.
Luckily, it only takes another two hours to get to Fort Bragg and the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, where Mel had mapped out your first official stop on the road trip.
After admission and grabbing some lunch at Rhody’s Garden Cafe, getting a bowl of clam chowder in a bread bowl and two lamb gyros for Godzilla and Cloud. You give Godzilla a whole one and carefully cut the other into thirds. You give a third to Cloud, putting a travel dish of water between the two before digging into your lunch. Tania joins you next, Falkor perched on her shoulder and eyeballing the two smoked tempeh gyros on her tray with glee. Mel is the last to join with a bowl of tomato basil bisque, a side salad and a lamb gyro for Linus. You discuss the flora and fauna already surrounding you, the faint scent of the ocean blowing through a few times while you all enjoyed lunch.
Forty-five minutes later you’re looking out over the Pacific Ocean, eyes closed at the serenity of it all; Godzilla pressed against your left leg while Cloud is curled around your neck. You knew your soulmate couldn’t feel the contentedness you felt, but you hoped he could.
That was the same thought you had as you laid curled up in the king-sized bed later that night with Mel hogging the covers on the other side.
I hope wherever you are, you’re safe and know that we miss you and want to meet you, soulmate.
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“Suit came back negative.” Tony points to the screen running the video in the Debriefing Room. “No human traces. Followed the electrical lines back to the main breakers and … nada.”
“Nothing at all? Then who turned the power back on?”
“Still don’t know. There were no fingerprints on the breaker boxes or on the doors to and from that area. The only sign anyone had been there at all was in the semi-buried loading dock to the west of the actual facility’s blueprints.”
“So what’s the plan?” Wanda asks, looking from the footage to Tony.
“I think we should all go there. Clean out whatever S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t and then inspect that buried loading dock.”
“All of us?” Rhodey repeats, leaning back in his seat, trying to ignore Peter’s too excited looking eyes.
“Well, most of us. Leave the broken ribs twins here and Banner, of course. Vision and Rhodey will cover the outside, Steve and Wanda will go to the secret loading dock while Bucky and Sam locate wherever the loading dock’s exit should have been. I’ll recheck the systems, download all the information - if S.H.I.E.L.D left any on the servers - and I’ll call in Rhodey to do the heavy lifting, if need be, of machinery or files we locate.”
“When do we leave?”
“First thing in the morning. Better light for the Tin Man and Birdboy to search in.”
“So considerate,” Sam mutters loudly, rolling his eyes as he looks at Steve.
“Rest up team.” Steve dismisses everyone, Bucky still sitting in his chair, staring at the screen without really seeing it. Steve’s brow furrows, leaning forward in his own chair. “You okay, Buck?”
“Tony tell you he thinks he might’ve found my dragon?” Steve’s jaw drops open. “Guess not.” His entire face changes, his blue eyes lighting up and a smile growing.
“That’s great!” When Bucky doesn’t react except a nod, Steve’s dragon flits from his perch on the back of his chair to land before Bucky, letting a high pitched squeal out until Bucky offers him his hand. The ruby-colored wyvern scampers up his arm until it is able to nuzzle under his jaw.
“Thanks, Rak.”
“Don’t get too excited, Buck.” Steve snarks out, pursing his lips before leaning back in his chair.
“It’s just a lot to deal with. I thought he was dead...I thought I would just be alone, ya know?”
“You don’t gotta be alone now though. You’ll get Howl back.”
“Tony said a woman had him.”
“Your soulmate.” Steve’s breath out so reverently it sent shivers down Bucky’s back. Bucky rubs a hand tiredly over his face.
“I guess.”
“But you hope not.” He clenches his jaw before shaking his head at his best friend. “Jesus, Bucky.”
“I know, Steve. You act like I don’t fucking know.” Rak tugs sharply at a piece of Bucky’s hair at the tense air between the two men, hissing loudly when he drops his hair. Bucky turns to glare at the dragon. “Listen here, pipsqueak, I don’t need it from you too.” Rak blows a little puff of smoke at Bucky before launching off his shoulder to flit out of the room. “Stevie...it’s just a lot. All of a sudden. I mean, damn, there is no easing into it either. Tony just fucking laid it on me this afternoon and -”
“It’s all you can think of now. I get it - trust me Buck - but I wish I was in your shoes.”
“Still different shoes, Steve.”
“Shuri worked with you. You got a good therapist now. Don���t have as many nightmares or sleepless nights...I don’t see why you think you wouldn’t or don’t deserve a soulmate. You’re one of the best people I know, Bucky. Then and now.”
Bucky just sighs again, dropping his head into his hands and tugging on the long strands with frustration.
“It’s not that I’m not excited.” He begins softly. “It’s just that the cons right now outweigh the pros.”
“How exactly?”
“I am a formerly wanted Hydra assassin.”
“They cleared you of all charges against the Vienna bombing. They cleared you for helping me and the guys against Tony. But go on, drama queen.” Bucky raises his head and rolls his eyes at Steve.
“And it’s go off, Steve. I’m over a hundred fucking years old.”
“So am I. We look like we are in our thirties. Maybe she likes older men.” Bucky scoffs at his best friend’s smile.
“I haven’t seen Howl in seventy plus years.”
“Rak and I were in the ice for nearly that long. The bond doesn’t lessen by circumstances or distance. You two are a pair.”
“Alright, we both know someone else came up with that.”
“Coulson,” Steve admits with a rueful smile. “Words are still true.” Bucky rubs his hand over his face again with a sigh.
“Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess we’ll find out after this mission.”
“I guess we will, pal. And apologize to Rak. He didn’t do anything to you, you bully.” Bucky and Steve both push themselves up from their chairs, making their way from the room.
“I’ll give him some pepperjack. You know he loves his cheese.”
“No more cheese! You aren’t the one who has to sleep with the little gas ball.”
“RAK!! CHEESE!” Bucky yells as he takes off for the kitchen, the little ruby dragon running to catch up at top speed behind the supersoldier as Steve shakes his head.
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You were all up just before sunrise, walking down the abandoned Glass Beach. Tania had been up the night before, googling things to do in Trinidad when she’d stumbled upon an article about the sea glass remains in Fort Bragg. And honestly? What’s better than an empty beach in the morning with your best friends and your dragons happily bringing you seashells, pieces of driftwood and harassing seagulls? Not much.
After an hour or so on the beach, you all make the quick trek back towards town for a large breakfast, where Godzilla swallowed a whole plate of eggs and sausage before looking up at you with big sapphire eyes. You’d given in - you nearly always do - and given him a piece of your toast and Mel had given him one of her pancakes.
“Chunker.” You mutter around a sausage link, giving the other half to Cloud as Godzilla amps up the begging eyes. You don’t give in this time. But Tania does - giving him the last bit of her omelet.
Forty-five minutes later, you’re all headed towards Trinidad. It’s an almost three-hour drive, beautiful and hugged quite close to the coastline. The windows are down and the music is up, with the sea air swirling around the cab.
You arrive, everyone tying on their tennis shoes to trek out to look at the enormous redwood trees that California is known for. You snap a few pictures as Godzilla attempts to follow Cloud and Linus up a Redwood, but his little glider wings aren’t as helpful as they should be. He turns those big blue eyes up at you, with Falkor perched on his back, both looking so sad.
“Oh, Lord.” You mutter as you bend over, “Okay, you gotta help.” His head bobs eagerly before you heft Zilla up, letting his claws lightly dig into the tree to help claw Falkor and himself up. Once he gets above your head, he manages another twenty feet or so before launching off the tree and gliding back down to the forest floor. His little teeth are barely seen in what you have come to learn is his smug smile. “Yes, you did amazing. Glad to be of help.”
You refuse to help him up a bigger tree, so he begins climbing every fallen one you all come across until Mel taps out about a half hour later. You all get back to the SUV, then find a place for lunch before continuing on into Oregon. A quick stop at the state line for a photo op and letting the dragons wander around for about fifteen minutes, Tania gives a sharp whistle to round them up so you can continue on your way.
You get just past Selma when a huge rainstorm blows in. It takes an hour and a half extra to get to the next town of Wilderville. Then have to go another 9 miles to get to the nearest hotel. Mel ran out to get some late lunch/early dinner since the rain wasn’t letting up at all.
An old Godzilla movie is on, Zilla swinging his tail excitedly when he hears Godzilla’s roar through the tv, imitating him happily in his deeper tones.
“That’s why you call him that?” You shrug at Tania’s question, chuckling at all the dragons watch Godzilla battle King Ghidorah enraptured.
“My mom just always called him that. She said cause they both got cankles.”
“They do!” She squeals, withdrawing her pajamas from her luggage. A drenched Mel struggles in a handful of minutes later. She stopped at the little grocery store, getting a small pack of tea bags, some honey, and a little tray of sausages and cold cuts for the scalies. Fried chicken and some salad for you three as you look up how long the storm should last and if there are any road delays ahead.
“So, after tonight do we go to Cannon Beach or Astoria? We all know which I prefer.”
“Yeah, Y/N we know you’d rather go to Astoria.”
“HEY, YOU GUYS!” You shout happily in reply.
“Well, I think Astoria would be good too. There are trails - providing it’s not too wet after this storm - plus museums, cute little shops downtown, antique stores, Lewis and Clark National Historic Park and a waterfall. That’s not including the Goonie house, which we’ll go see for Y/N.”
“Okay, so if it’s mostly clear by like, I don’t know, 5 am then I say we head out for Astoria then. My only thing is that we are kind of off the path Mel first planned. Do we head to Bandon then up to Astoria? Cause it says,” You withdraw your copy of her itinerary. “That it’s about 5 hours from Bandon to Astoria. And right now, it’s almost 3 hours to get back on Highway 1. We could do 8 hours, provided we stop enough to stretch our legs and let out the fluffernuggets.”
“I say we do the 3 hours to get us back to Bandon. Then the next day we’ll head to Astoria. When we are done in Astoria, we’ll head to Portland to grab a hotel for the night and explore it the next day. We aren’t in a rush.”
“That’s right,” As you nod in agreement with Tania, Mel continues. “This is only day two.”
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“Found anything?” Sam’s voice comes in through his earpiece, giving a little grunt as he shoved a part of a fallen tree out of his way.
“Looks like the exit. Covered in moss, leaves and a few fallen tree trunks that must have rolled partially down here. I’m about a click away from where we started.”
“Finally! Two damn days of looking...all this green blurring together. I’ll be there in a few seconds to help.” Bucky tears at the moss and vines around another trunk as he grunts out an “Okay” over the comm before Steve’s voice replaces Sam’s.
“Rhodey, Tony, Wanda and Vision are inside now, so I’m coming out to help you and Sam.”
“Gotcha,” Bucky replies, straightening up with a groan. “I got two trunks out of the way, but the last one is massive...I think the wall is behind it, and we should be able to follow the wall to the collapsed exit.”
“Roger that, Tin Man,” Tony confirms. “The last of the debris is nearly clear on this side. Wanda waved most of it away after we did the heavy lifting.”
“Right. Yes, that was exactly what happened...” Wanda’s voice is heavy on the sarcasm, making Bucky grin.
It’s nearly an hour later that Bucky and Steve manage to dislodge the trunk enough to comfortably get behind it to search the moss-riddled wall. Sam has Redwing searching along what they think is the wall, while Rak and Blackbird - Sam’s onyx little dragon - scramble along the base of the wall.
“Anything yet, Stark?” Bucky settles himself on the large log, fingers sliding into his damp locks and tying them back while they wait for Tony’s reply.
“Well, I haven’t found a secret door yet…”
“What Tony means is: yes Steve - we’ve found a mangled wall panel. Looks like it was smashed.” Bucky snorts at Wanda’s continued sass.
“I am working to fix the panel. Tony has gone back to divert the power to this end of the base.” Vision’s voice fills the comms just before they all hear a loud crack.
A rumble from the stone looking metal door shakes the ground around them as it attempts to roll itself up. By the time Tony makes it back to the dock, the door has managed to heft itself halfway up. Bucky eyes the door warily. He’s seen Indiana Jones...
“I hope we didn’t just do all the hard work for the bad guys,” Sam mutters as Rhodey, Vision, Wanda and Tony all join them carefully on the forest side of the door.
“We should blow it up,” Bucky remarks, Rak crawling up his pants and tact vest to settle on his shoulder. “That way we’re sure. The base is empty - all that’s left in there is old medical equipment I wouldn’t let anyone use, some desks and some chairs. We blow it up and then we just set up surveillance around the base and around Portland.”
Rhodey huffs out a breath in tandem with his dark emerald dragon, looking from Tony to Steve.
“I agree with Bucky, man. We get rid of the base then we get rid of the lure of any fractured HYDRA factions. Then we head to Portland for some delicious food at Proud Mary Cafe.”
Tony gestures at Rhodey, “Is that the place with the crab omelet?”
“Yep.” Bucky’s mouth waters a little at the mention of an omelet, only have a couple power bars since they’d started this morning. Portland sounds delicious at this point.
“Damn, that was almost decadent. Okay, I’m sold on Portland.” Steve rolls his eyes, making Tony smirk as his crimson and amber dragon clamors up his armor.
“We have gotten all files that were left behind. As well as documenting the whole base. We have no need for it if we are not going to occupy it.” Vision redirects the conversation back to the base. “And surveillance along the way, from here to Portland, would be excellent to execute for further knowledge on any HYDRA or other evil entities in the area. As Bucky and Rhodey have stated.” Bucky nods as he pulls a little leftover piece of jerky from his vest to give to Rak, who lets out a happy trill before Wanda reaches over to scratch the top of his head.
“Alright - you heard the Tin Men! Let’s blow her up.” He gestures back towards the half-open door. “Rhodey?”
“Tones, man, I’m gonna buy you a whole tableful of those omelets.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.”
“Jesus. Are we like that?” Bucky mutters to Steve, smiling as Rhodey selects his weapon.
“Worse,” Sam mutters from Bucky’s left, making Steve and himself chuckle before they all head back up the hill in an effort to avoid most of the dust and debris.
“Jealousy is an ugly thing, Sam!” Bucky calls out as Sam and Wanda rise into the air, both of them sporting big grins before Rhodey launches into his destruction of the base.
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“I’ve never had such pretty looking pizza!” Tania exclaims as it’s laid on the table, Godzilla’s tail thumping excitedly against your leg under the booth.
“Edible flowers and mushrooms? Ick.” Mel makes a face before picking up a piece of her fennel sausage pizza before picking up her fork and spearing a piece of the pansotti pasta to give to Linus.
“Well, we can have breakfast wherever you want.” You placate before handing a slice under the table before picking up a piece for yourself. You only got two bites in before Cloud drags it from your hand to devour it by your wine glass. “Apparently I am too slow for you, scaly.” Taking a healthy sip of your wine, you look across the table at Tania. “I saw a flag when we were walking earlier for the Portland Japanese Garden. We should check that out. The dragons like it when they can roam. Looks serene too.”
“As long as I don’t gotta hike, I’m golden with whatever,” Melanie mutters around another piece before handing one under the table for Zilla.
“If we do the Lan Su Chinese Garden, it has a teahouse!”
“Ooh, that sounds nifty Tania!”
“There’s also Powell’s City of Books. An entire city block worth of books.” Mel smiles over the rim of her glass at you. “And a hell of a coffee shop inside too.” Tania laughs, jiggling Falkor who is balanced on her shoulder, nibbling at her slice of pizza.
“If Y/N went in there, she might not come back out!”
“You say that like that’s a bad thing!” You defend, taking the last slice of your shared pizza with a playful glare at Tania.
“Think of all the money you’d spend.” Mel joins in.
“But then I’d have books…” You mutter around your mouthful.
“Your tiny little apartment can’t handle any more books.”
“That’s true,” You concede with a little sigh. “But that doesn’t mean if we have spare time, we can’t go and look!”
“Knew that was coming! Knew it!” Mel cackles, Linus giving her a judgemental look from his perch on the pasta plate as her hand slapped a few times on the table beside him.
“Well, I should fucking hope so by now.” You add smugly, taking a sip of your wine as Tania pulls out her phone.
“Okay. So what place do you want to do for breakfast, Mel?”
“I set up a reservation for breakfast for tomorrow at Proud Mary Cafe. One of the guys at my work, Tomas, says it’s the most delicious place to eat. So I set it up the day we left San Francisco since he mentioned it usually has a waitlist.”
“Holy crap,” Tania says softly as she peers down at her phone. “This food sounds decadent!”
“Read us a bit.” You request as you settle a little more comfortably into your seat.
“Savory french toast: Buttery portabella mushroom, smoked ricotta, chipotle charred greens, paprika crumb, croissant brioche, poached egg.”
“Whew. That sounds amazing!”
“Crab omelet: Singapore chili crab omelet, spicy noodles, bean sprout, and Asian herb salad, crispy onions.” She continues, licking her lips. “God I love crab.” With a shake of your head she looks up, “This is one I know you’ll want. Dutch honey hotcake: Vanilla and ricotta hotcake, mandarin segments, caramel, baked cheesecake, dutch cookie, honeycomb.”
“That’s a fancy pancake right there,” You say, handing Cloud the last piece of pansotti before reaching across to Melanie’s last slice, tearing it into thirds for Linus, Falkor, and Godzilla.
“Maybe pavlova? It’s a classic Australian pavlova with matcha, baked rhubarb, rhubarb syrup, and, ooooh, a custard cream. Damn. We should just order one of everything. It all sounds wonderful.”
“I wouldn’t say no to that!” Mel giggles out as the waitress comes over to ask about any ice cream desserts. “No thanks, we probably need to walk off what we just ate!”
“So,” Tania begins as the waitress goes to get the check. “We gonna walk for a bit then grab an ice cream cone while we’re out?”
“I wouldn’t say no to that!” You chuckle at Mel’s words, sliding the waitress your debit card when she returns.
“Or coffee.” You add.
“Or coffee. Man, I love me some coffee.” Mel replies with a grin, all of you standing after you sign the receipt, leaving a hefty tip for the waitress who had added some sausage on the side of the pasta for the scalies. “Let’s go find a coffee and ice cream place...then a park for the dragons.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Tania agrees, tucking Falkor into her oversized handbag as they exit the eatery, all of them taking a deep breath and headed down the street.
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When they checked into The Benson last night, Bucky was exhausted. Exhausted but hungry. The food nearby was outstanding, though both Rhodey and Tony both kept saying it wouldn’t be as amazing as breakfast. Sam had rolled his eyes, remarking that everything tastes “amazing” to Steve and Bucky who had grown up with boiled cabbage and then hadn’t eaten for nearly seventy something years.
“One thing they don’t need to be - food critics,” Sam had finished as they’d stepped out into the evening air.
“I had plenty of good food back in the day when I was in Italy and France, thank you very much Mr. Won’t Pass Up A Big Mac.” Bucky sasses back, shoving his metal hand into his pocket. He takes about four steps when he felt a tingle up his spine. His head moves subtly from left to right, scanning the people around.
“Buck?” Steve’s voice is soft, straightening up when he sees Bucky’s posture change. All of them are on alert now, but none sure what they’re looking for.
“Just had a feelin’...”
“Like a ‘we’re about to get sniped’ feeling or more like ‘deja vu’ feeling?” Rhodey queries as he watches a group of men cross the street.
“Like something important is gonna happen feelin’.”
“I think he means an innocent feeling or an about to be ambushed one, Sgt. Barnes.” Vision adds, his eyes moving from the building behind them to Bucky. Bucky sees a flash on white, low to the ground up the street a little, but it’s lost in the foot traffic soon after he spots it.
“Nothing malicious. Just an odd, but nice feelin’.”
“Next time, lead with that.” Tony claps him on the shoulder before moving in the opposite direction, talking about a steakhouse with the most flavorful clam chowder he’s ever had. Wanda pats his arm before trailing after Tony and Vision, a small smile gracing her face.
When they’re seated and drinks have been ordered, Bucky still can’t shake the feeling. The light conversation is interrupted by Tony’s phone.
“Uh huh. Yep. Oh really? Did you activate the satellite feed? Uh huh. Bout an hour or so, I would venture to guess. Okay. Yep. Let me know. Thanks, Bruce.”
Steve raises an eyebrow at Tony, who is eyeing Bucky with interest.
“Did you tell them?”
“I told Steve.”
“Well then, I’ll catch everyone else up.” Bucky manages a nod just before Tony begins. “After getting first-hand descriptions, photos, plus information from both HYDRA and SHIELD - I began looking for Bucky’s dragon. I started from the base where Howl disappeared then branched out from there. And then one day it hit me -”
“Here we go…” Sam chuckles out, bracing his elbows on the table as a waiter appears with their drinks.
“Where would a dragon who has seemingly lost its human partner go?” Tony pauses dramatically, taking a healthy sip of his whiskey. “To find it’s soulmate.”
“So you’re saying you found not only his dragon but his soulmate?” Rhodey takes a good swig of his beer. “Damn.”
“I’ve narrowed it down to two women, just from satellite footage, you understand. One in Scotland, one in California. I asked Bruce to keep an eye on them while we were gone. Apparently, our California candidate has disappeared. Nowhere in the state.”
“You think something happened to her?” Wanda questions, looking from Tony to Bucky, who has his jaw clenched harder than is probably healthy.
“Nothing bad.” He takes another drink. “I don’t think. Bruce is readjusting the feed to get her last location and that should take about an hour. So, by the time we finish our dinner, we’ll have an answer.”
“Excellent.” Vision smiles encouragingly at Bucky, who gives a tight-lipped smile back as a mouthwatering steak is set before him. Suddenly his hunger isn’t as all-consuming as it was before...
God, Doll, I hope you’re safe wherever you may be...I don’t know if I can take it if you aren’t…
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There are quite a few people lingering outside the establishment and a few shopfronts down, settled on benches and scrolling through phones while they wait. It’s cooler than you had expected, the storm you’d encountered earlier in the week still lingering. In a few days it’ll be warmer, something the dragons will appreciate but you will not.
Proud Mary Cafe opens at 7am, but the dragons and Mel had other ideas, and you’d all gotten up right before 6. Mel and Tania had showered the night before, so you hopped in only to be interrupted by Godzilla howling for you through the door. You had to hop out to crack the door open so he could reach you, resulting in the hot water to peter out to lukewarm water in those two minutes. Tania had insisted on doing your hair, like she had many a time in college, letting you slap on some sunblock and then minimal makeup while she twisted and coerced your hair how she wanted. Herding the dragons downstairs and over to the park for some pre-breakfast walkies had woken you up better than the two cups of coffee Mel had already downed.
You’re about to enter the cafe when Godzilla shoots off down the street, you and Cloud both calling out after him. You shove your purse at Tania before tearing off after him, silently cursing his damn monitor-like body as his short but powerful legs carry him away. When you see him, he’s at the end of the block sitting on some poor man’s chest.
“I’m so, So, SO sorry!! He never does this!!” You wrap your hands around his thick black collar, attempting to tug the two hundred plus pound dragon off the man. “Bad Zilla!! Bad!! Off the nice man!!”
“Zilla? As in Godzilla?” You huff, still tugging, finally looking at the man standing beside you. Holy shit it’s Iron Man.
“Off.” The man grunts from under Godzilla, who happily obliges, his thick marble-looking tail wiggling so hard his entire body is moving along with it.
“Holy shit. You tackled an Avenger. Apologize!” You hiss at your wayward dragon, Captain Rogers helping the man up. And holy shit are you glad you said that while you could because of the specimen before you is drop dead gorgeous. Dark hair that’s hanging just past his shoulders with the most intense blue eyes you think you’ve ever encountered. He’s a good head taller than you with just enough scruff covering his cheeks to look almost sinful with his pink lips. Cloud’s sharp nails dig into your shoulder, kicking your mind back towards the fact that Godzilla just tackled the unsuspecting Avenger. “I’m very sorry, Sergeant Barnes. Godzilla has never done that before. He’s been acting off since last night. Must be all the time in the car for the last few days. I really am very sorry.”
“Told you it was a vacation - you owe me fifty bucks.”
“Shut up Tony.” Captain Rogers glares at the billionaire before smiling at you. You turn your attention back to Mr. Barnes.
“No need to apologize. I’m sure he just sensed me last night - like I sensed him.” The dots all suddenly align in your head, releasing your fingers from Godzilla’s collar.
“Oh.” You breathe out, tears coming to your eyes as you look down. “Why didn’t you say something?” He huffs, his tail wiggling dying down before snorting angrily at the super soldier’s boots.
“It’s gonna be that way, Howlite, pal?” Sgt Barnes kneels before the dragon, holding out his flesh hand.
“You said you would come back for me.” You say, causing those intense blue eyes to find yours, while you give him a small sad smile before letting your gaze drop to Zilla - Howlite. He swallows hard then nods, smiling at his dragon.
“I did promise you I’d be right back, didn’t I buddy?” Godzilla eased a little closer, Cloud switching shoulders so she can be closer to her mate, glaring at the former Winter Soldier. “And I meant to...I didn’t mean to...for things to happen like they did. But I’m glad you left. I don’t want you to see me that way, ever. And I don’t want to think about what they’d have done if they found you. You were the best, Howl. You did right and ran. I’m sorry you went seventy years without a home,” He swallows again, blue eyes shining with tears that are being fought back.
Godzilla - Howl, you mentally correct yourself again - moves closer to you, nudging your leg with his muzzle before stepping forward to rub his scaled face into James’s outstretched hand.
“Don’t worry, Sergeant Barnes. He wasn’t alone that long.” Howl is trying to shove his entire hefty body into his owner’s kneeling form, the super soldier’s smile is bright as he welcomes him, trying to wrap himself around the dragon in turn.
“Thank you.” He says gently, but with a light shining in his sapphire eyes. “Okay. Okay. I gotta introduce myself.” Howl happily disengages, his tail thumping happily against the pavement as James straightens up. His hand stretches out towards you, an unsure smile tugging on his plush lips. “James Barnes. Bucky...Bucky Barnes, actually.”
“I’m Y/N Y/L/N.” You take his hand and both of you inhale sharply at the sensation of your skin touching for the first time. He hasn’t released your hand - not that you’re complaining - so you use your free hand to push a piece of hair out of your eyes. “We were about to have breakfast.”
“What a coincidence! So were we! Proud Mary Cafe?” Tony pipes up, sporting a huge grin.
“Um, yeah, actually.”
“Wonderful. We’ll all have breakfast together. Get to know each other.” Tony gestures towards where you’d run from, Bucky giving your hand a small squeeze before releasing it, his cheeks pink as you both realize you’ve just been staring at each other with dopey smiles painted on your faces.
Bucky walks closely beside you, although not as close as Howl who is pressed right up against his leg as he walks, your arms brushing against each other comfortably as you make your way to the cafe entrance...as if you’d walked like this a hundred times before. And it’s nice - this feeling of finding your soulmate, of finally being able to talk to them and to touch them. In fact, your fingers are nearly twitching with the need to touch him. Bucky holds the door open for you and then pulls your chair out for you when you’re all taken back to the now joined tables. This is all you could’ve asked for.
Plus you did have that week and a half left of vacation time...
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gaycrouton · 5 years ago
Note
Times they did something which could be considered 'intimate' or something couples would do
Ten Times Mulder and Scully were intimate in their own unique way. UST. MSR.
Huge shout out to @admiralty-xfd for her beta and for helping me think of a good chunk of these.
I
“What’s this?” she asked, picking up the metal key he’d set on her desk. She already had a key to the office, she didn’t need another one. She flipped it over and saw on the other side, the word ‘SCULLY’ was written in black marker in Mulder’s signature scrawl.
“It’s a key to my apartment,” he responded. A permanent key to his apartment.
She felt a look of surprise pass over her face as she raised her gaze to look at him. “W-what’s it for?”
He looked at her for a moment, almost nervous, and for some reason it made her nervous. “Are you still available?” he asked. She was learning he was a bit of a flirt, but this was a little bold even for him. She’d just told him that she broke up with Ethan less than a month ago. She still kept forgetting he liked Iced Tea when it was her turn to run and get lunch. And now he was inviting her over for…?
“…For what?” she replied, tracing the ridges of the key with her thumb.
“Remember,” he started, sitting at his desk while maintaining eye contact with her. “You said you could feed my fish while I go to Pittsburgh this weekend.”
Memories of a sleepy agreement dawned on her and she felt embarrassed for jumping to conclusions. “Oh, yeah-sorry,” she laughed awkwardly, feeling blood rush to her face.
A surprised smile quirked his lips upwards as he caught sight of her blush. “Did you think-”
“No, no. I just forgot. I’m still available,” she interrupted, not wanting to hear him say it out loud.
“Thank you, do you remember the address?” he asked.
“Hegal Place in Alexandria, right?” she replied, diverting her attention to her work.
“2630 Hegal Place, apartment 42,” he replied with a nod, seemingly pleased she was right. “Scully,” he added, prompting her to look at him.
“Yes?” she replied, looking at him expectantly.
“Are you implying you wouldn’t be interested in becoming roommates?” he joked with a wink.
Now, a few days later as she stood in the middle of his apartment, the answer would have to be no.
This was, in every sense of the word, a bachelor pad. She’d fed the fish after searching for the food for a minute, and had spent the rest of the last ten minutes taking a self-guided tour. She didn’t want to invade his privacy…she was just curious.
A framed basketball jersey, an odd affinity for Aztecian home decor, a refrigerator filled with expired foods and liquids, it was so stereotypically ‘man cave’-y that she couldn’t help but smile. She could see the quirks she’d noticed in the office manifest here. Being in his apartment, in some odd way, felt like being with Mulder. His sunflower seeds were in a pile on his kitchen table, surrounded by… copies of The Lone Gunman? She hadn’t heard about that publication, but he seemed to have quite a collection.
Not only were the traces of Mulder activity present, but she could still smell his cologne around the apartment. She chastised herself for how oddly comforting the whole place was. Minus the fact his bedroom looked like a storage unit for miscellaneous crap rather than a place to sleep.
When she’d decided she’d intruded quite enough, she went into the living room to grab her purse off the table but got distracted by the bottom row of his bookshelf - which was filled with something that didn’t quite look like books.
Upon bending over, she was met with:
Night Trips
Nothing to Hide
Debbie Does Dallas
Latex
The Opening of Misty Beethoven
In the Office
Her mouth dropped open as her eyes widened at the collection. Oh my god…there were so many. She wasn’t disgusted or anything, it was natural he’d want to…stress relief, but surely-
Well, actually, they never actually brought up if he had anyone. It didn’t seem like he had a girlfriend, sometimes she could tell he was lonely. She still regretted teasing him with “Unlike you, Mulder, I would like to have a life.” It hurt his feelings and she could tell. But, he was an attractive man. There was no denying that. Surely if he wanted to…indulge himself…it wouldn’t be hard for him to find someone who wanted to join. Even I-
She stood up quickly, breaking her own train of thought and shaking it from her mind. This is why you don’t intrude, Dana.
II
Usually she was pretty good at checking forecasts before they ran off to whatever part of the country Mulder dragged them to. This was not one of those occasions. She just didn’t realize how fucking cold it got in Indiana at night. It was only September. But heaven forbid Mulder warn her, he clearly knew to come prepared if his big warm jacket was any indication.
Mulder’d asked her several times if she was cold, but all it did was serve to piss her off more. They’d been snapping at each other since they got here and every little thing was just aggravating him. The flight was late, the witness stood them up, the police were treating them like jokes. He clearly was pissed off because he felt bad he’d dragged her there, and she was pissed off that he was acting like she was just following him around and that it wasn’t her assignment too or her choice to go there.
It was just a series of little things being blown out of proportion and it was even more frustrating being that they both could acknowledge they weren’t really mad at the other but they were too fucking stunted apparently to just apologize.
They’d been walking for a few blocks now, the 'three blocks over’ the sheriff had told them in reference to a diner was turning into fifteen, clearly either being wrong or a practical joke. Her jaw hurt from clenching so hard to keep her teeth from chattering. It was juvenile, but she didn’t want him to take her freezing as another lash of guilt to add to himself.
“Scully- he started.
“I’m fine, Mulder,” she replied tersely as she stabbed her fingers against the 'walk’ button.
She drew her arms into her chest in an attempt to compartmentalize her warmth, and then suddenly she felt something warm and relieving drape around her shoulders. She looked over and saw he’d taken off his coat to give it to her with a look of contrition littering his face. “Listen, Scully. I’m sorry I’ve been short with you all day.”
She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled them further in on herself, burying her face against it and internally reveling in the lingering scent of him still present. “I’m sorry too. I just don’t want you to think I’m some stray dog you brought along for the ride-”
“I’d never think of you that way,” he interrupted gently.
“Then stop saying you 'dragged me out here.’ I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t want to,” she told him earnestly.
“Thank you,” he replied softly, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to help warm her up as they walked across the street. “I guess I’m just a little embarrassed,” he shrugged.
“Don’t be, they just don’t understand you,” she comforted, feeling exponentially better in the warmth of him.
“Well,” he sighed, rubbing up and down her arm as she bumped into his side from walking so close. “At least you do.”
III
“Wait,” she called out, stopping him as he turned to part ways in the middle of the parking garage.
He turned back around wordlessly, waiting for her to continue, and was surprised to see that she seemed more shy than she’d just been a moment ago. She started fumbling around in her purse as she talked, and as much as it was probably to find whatever object she was looking for, he was equally suspicious that she was avoiding eye contact. “I, um. I just thought that, you know, since we’re in so many stressful situations all the time that it might be convenient for you to have this.”
As if punctuating that last word, she pulled out something small and silver and extended her hand out to him. He held his hand out and let her drop something metallic into his palm. When she pulled back, he saw it was a key and he felt oddly proud of this display of trust. “Is this to your apartment?”
She lowered her gaze and paid a slightly ridiculous amount of attention to zipping her purse. “Yeah, I just figured that if I have yours it’s only fair that you have mine.”
“Thank you,” he smiled, pulling his keyring out from his pocket and flipping them so that her key would be right next to his.
“But use it wisely, Mulder,” she warned lightheartedly. “This isn’t an invitation for you to bust into my apartment whenever you please.”
“You’re no fun,” he teased.
IV
Should he leave? Does she know he’s here?
They’d been investigating a lead at a church and he lost sight of her. When he caught up with her, he found her kneeling at a pew with her hands clasped in front of her. He could see her lips faintly moving and he suddenly felt like he’d intruded on something extremely intimate.
Yet he couldn’t look away. It was touching, seeing her in her element, and in this moment he felt like he got a taste of what it was like for her to work with him everyday.
He didn’t understand it; on a fundamental level this wholehearted trust in one being to have complete and utter control in your life seemed overwhelming. It was the very same thing he fought against everyday, he couldn’t imagine finding any comfort and solace in it.
But yet he respected it because it meant so much to her. To her it was the backbone of her being, a guide for all she did. And anything that meant so much to Scully was important.
4He was watching her perform this ritual with practiced grace. He felt like it might have been intrusive, but he watched her lips move with rapt fascination. He saw the word 'mom’, he saw 'Bill’, and then he saw something that made his breath catch in his throat.
Scully prayed for him.
V
“Mulder,” he states into the phone, only to be answered with dead silence for ten seconds. He adjusts the phone against his ear as he turns his blinker on to switch lanes. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me,” Scully’s voice replied from the other end. She sounded apprehensive, but he figured maybe she was worried because he wasn’t usually late to work.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m almost there,” he apologized, turning onto the street of the Hoover Building.
“Oh… um. Okay, I’ll see you here,” she answered oddly.
Something was off but he wasn’t sure what it was. “Is everything okay? Did you need something?” he asked.
“No, no. It’s fine, nevermind,” she rushed.
“If you need me to pick something up for you I can, I promise it’s no inconvenience at all,” he earnestly reassured as he passed the entrance for the parking garage.
“Can you pick me up some-,” the last word she said was mumbled and he was curious if there was someone in the office she didn’t want to overhear.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
“Could you pick me up some tampons? I don’t have any and I can’t find a dispenser or a generous coworker and I really need them,” she mumbled.
Scully was asking him to do a personal favor.
Sometimes he felt like he unloaded so much of his own personal baggage onto her and she never asked for anything in return. In all honesty, they’d been partners for three years now, yet she was still a bit of an enigma to him. It didn’t matter to Mulder in the slightest that asking him was her last choice, he was just over the moon that she’d tasked him with something so important and not work-related.
“Of course I can. I’ll stop by Walgreens right now,” he comforted. He could only try to empathize with her situation and even then he felt like he wasn’t doing it justice. Was she in pain? Was she bleeding on herself?
He really didn’t know, but what he did know was that he wanted to do all he could to help her.
“Thank you, Mulder. I really appreciate it,” she replied.
“Don’t mention it. I’ll see you in a few.”
He lasted a minute in the aisle before calling her again. “At the risk of sounding like a stupid man, I’m confused,” he admitted.
“Usually there’s a feminine hygiene section next to the pharmacy-”
“No, I found them. I just found too many of them. What do the letters mean? Does it matter what color they are?” he asked, scanning the aisle filled with boxes adorned with women playing tennis on them.
He could hear her smiling and was glad to know his confusion was easing her prior self-consciousness. “Um, aim for getting the ones that say S plus, please. If you see a multipack that’d be great.”
He looked around and found a section dedicated to multipacks and there he saw ’S plus’ meant 'Super Plus’ and his heart went out to her. “Do you want Kotex, Playtex, or Tampax?”
“Whichever’s cheapest is fine,” she replied before quickly adding. “But no cardboard applicators!”
“Cardboard applicators?” he repeated, confused.
He heard her chuckle under her breath before informing him, “The part you put in to get the tampon in. Most are a smooth plastic, but some sadistic, cheap man invented ones with cardboard instead and they hurt.”
Well that man be damned. “Okay, how does a one hundred and twenty pack, equally divided between 'R’, ’S’, and ’S plus’, of Kotex with a plastic applicator sound?” he asked, grabbing the box.
“That’s probably expensive. I’m really fine with just the small pack,” she told him as he walked to the chocolate aisle.
“Sure. I have to pick up a few things, but I’ll be over in a sec okay?” he replied.
Kotex 120 Pack - $24.99
Midol Complete Symptoms 40 Capsules - $6.99
M&Ms - $0.99
————————————–
Tax: 3.42
Total: $36.39
On the way into the building he started to fear she’d be mad at him for getting things she didn’t ask for, but he felt confident in his decision when he walked into the office and caught her grabbing her side with a pained grimace on her face, her lips pouting and her brows furrowing in discomfort. “Hey,” he greeted gently, not wanting to startle her.
She jumped and immediately let go of her side and put on a brave face, making him worry how many times she’s hidden her pain in the past. “Hey, thank you,” she smiled as she took the bag from him, her smile turning into confusion when she realized how heavy the bag was.
He stuffed the receipt in his pocket as he sat down, trying not to make a big deal out of this. “Mulder,” she drew out, shifting the contents around the bag for inspection. “This is very sweet, but you really didn’t have to.”
“I know,” he shrugged, turning on his computer.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked.
“Nothing, they were giving stuff away for free,” he teased.
“Mulder, no. This must’ve been expensive. I-”
“Consider it a thank you for all the hard work you do even though you’re in pain. I don’t mean that condescending or anything, I just feel bad that you have to deal with this every month,” he explained awkwardly.
She smiled at him and looked back at the bag before gasping, “M&Ms!”
VI
“Mulder, I’m fine.”
He hadn’t even asked the question and he could already hear her curt answer. It was the same answer he’d been getting for the past month.
But she wasn’t fine, and it was obvious.
He understood it was hard for someone as private as her to open up, but he wished she recognized it was just as hard to have to sit and watch her get thinner, paler, and sicker everyday yet be expected not to care.
And that’s really all he could do. Sit and watch.
Which is what he was doing and how he noticed the way her body lurched while she was looking at her computer, eyes widening before standing up as all the color drained from her face. “Scull-” he began to question.
“I have to go t-” her words were only the ghost of a whisper, as if she didn’t want to actually give them a voice, but he still heard them.
She turned to leave but just as quickly turned on her heel and let her eyes scan the floor as she raised a hand to her mouth.
Oh
He jumped up and quite literally leaped into action, reaching an arm to the side of the desk she wasn’t on and pulling the trash can from the floor so he could pass it to her.
She snatched it out of his hand in her hurry and turned her back to him as she set the trash can on the floor, fell to her knees, and threw up. Her entire body was being wracked from the force of her vomiting, and he was at her side in a minute.
He grabbed her hair, focusing on the front and sides to avoid any strands falling and getting in the way. With his other hand, he rubbed soothing circles on her back as he whispered, “It’s okay, Scully. Let it out. Please don’t cry.”
He felt himself trying not to choke on the last words as he saw her lip quiver in between her now sporadic bouts of dry-heaving. The first two rounds were powerful, what looked like her entire, miniscule lunch coming up, but these last few were just strained sounds as her body tried to throw up nothing - which was all she had left.
Mulder took his hand off her back momentarily as he strained to grab his mug of water from his desk, eventually looping his fingers around it and pulling it down to give to her. “Here,” he offered as she sat up straighter.
She looked at the cup only, avoiding his eyes, and grabbed it with both hands before bringing it up to her lips and taking small sips. “It’s just a side effect of the medicine I’m taking,” she murmured softly into the cup.
He knew. Nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, weight changes, mood swings. He looked up every single piece of information he could find when he was able to read the medicine label one day. It was the only way he could bite his tongue when he saw her sway on her feet or ask the same question twice within five minutes or continue wearing her old clothes even though they hung off her skeletal body or when she managed to look him in the eye and tell him she was seriously fucking fine. It made it easier on him; She wasn’t dying, it was the medicine.
“I didn’t want you to see that,” she admitted and he felt like he’d finally taken a breath of fresh air after suffocating for weeks. She was being honest.
He watched as she untucked the trash bag from the can, bringing the edges together and tying them up to conceal her puke. “I want you to know I’ll always be here for you,” he told her.
She looked over at him and he saw her eyes were red, puffy, and wet. No tears had fallen, but they were wet enough to reflect her pain to him. The same pain he heard in her voice when she said, “I know you will.”
VII
He was a little worried when she wasn’t answering or returning his calls. His worry morphed into full blown concern when she wouldn’t answer the door when he knocked. Want to meet at my apartment at six?
They had plenty of time before they needed to be in Harrisburg, but it was unlike Scully to be late, even more unlike her to be unresponsive. He got out his key ring and found the one he seldom had the opportunity to use.
He timidly let himself into her apartment with his key, not wanting to evoke fury from his not-so-morning person partner. “Scully?” he called out, letting the door close behind him. All the lights were off, the only light streaming in through the blinds and making the dust motes in the air dance.
Surely she didn’t get the plans mixed up.
He heard a sound from down the hall and he followed it calling her name once more before reaching the doorway of her bedroom to alert her of his presence.
Oh.
Scully, his perfectly punctual partner, slept in.
The blinds to her window were pulled up completely so he could see her perfectly through the blue light of morning. He felt himself holding his breath in an unneeded attempt to maintain the serenity of the room as he tiptoed to the other side of the bed to get a look at her fully.
She looked so diminutive under the covers and he couldn’t believe that the little bundle wrapped in quilts was actually his partner. When he moved enough to see her face, he couldn’t help the smile that broke out onto his face. She’d kill him if she knew he thought it, but she looked so cute.
She was laying on her side and cuddling one of her many pillows, embracing it with her arms and draping her top leg over it protectively. For the first time in his life, he was jealous of a pillow. Her hair was unruly and puffy, but didn’t obscure his view of her peaceful face.
He froze for a second when he heard her make a sound, immediately realizing how creepy he’d seem if she just woke up to him hovering next to her. But instead of waking up, she just made a little sleepy whining sound and tightened her grip on the pillow, burrowing her cheek against it.
Her lips were parted as her usually stoic face took on an almost childlike innocence. He felt in this moment how he did looking at the little perfection in life - blankets of virgin snow, the surface of a lake without any ripples, dawn breaking in the distance on a cool morning. All made his breath stop as he couldn’t resist stopping and taking in the fleeting beauty.
He wished it could last forever, but he knew he had to be the one to wake her.
Easing down onto his haunches next to the bed, so they were face to face, he tentatively raised a hand and brushed some hair away from her face. It almost seemed like she recognized on some subconscious level that he’d done that because a small cooing sound of comfort escaped her lips as her tongue came out to lick her lips. He didn’t think he’d ever said 'awwww’ so many times in his head before as he had since entering this room.
“Scully,” he whispered, stroking her cheek.
He didn’t get a response so he moved to her arm, squeezing lightly, “Scully.”
“MMgoo'night,” she murmured, barely moving her lips and still deep in sleep’s clutches.
He couldn’t help but chuckle at that as he told her, “No, no, Scully. It’s morning. We have to leave soon.”
An adorable frown tugged on her lips as her brows furrowed - the first footfall in the snow, the ripple in the pond. “Five more minutes, please,” she begged in an uncharacteristically whiney voice.
“I have coffee for us in the car,” he prompted.
She must’ve actually registered him that time because her eyes started to flutter open, lazily flitting around until they landed on his face. He smiled at her sweetly in an attempt to prevent her from getting startled.
“Mulder?” she asked, sleep still thick in her voice.
“Good morning,” he greeted.
“Wha’s wrong?” she asked, raising herself up on one hand as the other came up to her face to rub her eyes.
As she raised herself, the quilt fell from her and revealed the tight tank top she’d been wearing as a pyjamas. She wasn’t wearing a bra and he wasn’t prepared to be face to face with Dana Scully’s barely concealed, perfect breasts so early in the morning.
“Uh, n-nothing. You just weren’t answering my calls and I was worried something was wrong,” he answered, clearing his throat and trying not to gawk as her body reacted to the cool morning air.
She looked confused and rolled away from him, craning her neck to presumably look at a clock on the other nightstand. As she did this, the quilt twisted in her legs and pulled down, revealing the bottom portion of her pyjamas.
Or lack thereof.
To add another thing that was just making this the best morning of his life, he just got an eyeful of Dana Scully’s underwear clad ass. She gasped and whipped back over to him and his eyes shot to the ceiling. “Oh my god, Mulder! I’m so sorry!”
“Y-you’re fine,” he assured as she jumped out of bed and inadvertently rubbed against him while running to her closet.
“We’re so late!” she rushed, the navy brat in her coming out. If they left right now, they’d be an hour early.
“Scully, take your time,” he said as he watched her grab a pantsuit at random and rush to the bathroom, trying his best to ignore the way her lithe body moved in the morning light. “Um, I’ll give you some privacy. I’ll wait out in the living room.”
“I’m so sorry!” she called out again to the man who felt like the luckiest guy alive.
VIII
She’d been asleep for the last three hours of the drive and only woke up because there were too many cars around them for him to avoid this particular pothole. Mulder tried not to stare as she did her adorable little stretches to wake up and orient herself.
She rubbed her eyes before quietly groaning, “Shit.”
“Hmm?” he hummed in recognition, internally rejoicing that he got to hear her swear.
“I forgot I was wearing makeup,” she mumbled, pulling the visor down and looking at herself in the mirror.
Mulder wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she was just making little adjustments and wipes here and there with her fingers. She looked under the visor to make sure they were at a red light before turning to him. “Do I look okay?”
He knew his answer before he even turned to look at her, but he pretended to have to check just to take the opportunity to examine her face. She was letting herself be on full display, looking directly at him and jutting her chin out, slightly rotating her head around so he could get the full Scully-experience. “You always look good,” he replied honestly.
She smiled, despite herself, and rolled her eyes. “No seriously. Is my makeup smudged? Does it look even?”
They just stared at each other for a moment, her trying to find signs something was off in his eyes and him just enjoying looking at hers. Taking a chance, he raised a hand to her face and cupped her cheek. He felt as much as he saw her breath catch as she remained totally still. He lifted his thumb and very carefully stroked the skin under one of her eyes. She looked up to, he assumed, give him better access, and it made him happy to see this small display of trust.
As quickly as it started, he pulled his hand back into his lap, and murmured, “Perfect.”
They both knew he wasn’t talking about her makeup.
IX
She should just give up. She finally tried to go on a date after an embarrassingly long dry spell, one that seemed to correlate perfectly to her work on the X Files, and she got stood up. Well, kind of. She was completely dressed and on her way to the restaurant, the one that required a monetary donation in order to get a reservation, and he decided to call last minute and cancel. No raincheck though, apparently his wife wasn’t fond of polygamy. Go figure.
For a moment she considered pulling over and having herself a good cry, just let herself have a moment to indulge in some good ol’ self-pity, but by the time she found a place to park, she found herself right outside Mulder’s apartment. It was funny how things seemed to work out like that.
She turned off the car and took a moment to look at herself in the rearview mirror and evaluate her situation.
One, she looked sexy right now. Hair, makeup, dress. She looked damn good.
Two, she would only lose out on the money she spent on the reservation. Insult to injury.
Three, Mulder would say yes. He loved food and he loved hanging out with her.
Four, she’d rather be on a date with him anyway.
But it wasn’t going to be a date. That’s what she told herself as she made her way to his door. She had been intending to go on a date, and now she was just hanging out with her best friend. No more, no less.
He opened the door on the third knock and his normal greeting of “Hey, Scully” managed to morph into “He-oh my god…you look…Scully, you look fantastic.” His appreciation of the hard work she’d put into choosing a dress made her feel somehow validated. Appreciated. She figured it had something to do with the fact that she’d been holding every dress up in the mirror and thinking about whether or not he’d have that very same reaction.
She loved being right.
“Thank you,” she smiled, pretending like the newly exposed tops of her breasts were something he saw everyday and that she wasn’t noticing the way his eyes were unabashedly roaming. She might’ve noticed if this was a date, maybe even teased him a little. But this was not a date. “I was just curious if you were busy tonight?”
“No, why?” he asked, and she ignored the hint of hope she heard in his voice because no one ever sounded that eager to hang out with their friends. Which is what this was.
“My mom tried to set me up on a date, but he cancelled while I was on my way and the dinner reservations are non-refundable. So, I was hoping, since I’m not going on a date anymore, if you’d want to just go grab some dinner with me?” she asked, hoping she managed to subtly emphasize her point.
“He cancelled? Was this a blind date?” he asked, incredulous shock in his tone.
She laughed lightly and walked through the door when he ushered her to. “No, we’ve actually met a few times. He goes to my mother’s church.”
She heard Mulder grumble something under his breath that sounded really close to 'what an idiot’ but before she had a chance to ask him to repeat himself he stated. “Of course, I’d love to go with you and salvage your evening, but if you’re any indication, I’m severely underdressed. Where is it?”
“It’s at Un restaurant français chic,” she told him, tucking a wavy tendril of hair behind her ear.
“I’ll go put on my suit,” he nodded, walking to his bedroom.
“Oh, Mulder, I really don’t want to put you out. You look fine,” she called out.
“Not when you look like that!” he replied, closing the door.
She caught her reflection in a nearby mirror and couldn’t help but smile. She’d done her eye makeup darker than normal, her hair was waved, and both served to compliment her face nicely. Her dress was midnight black with thin spaghetti straps, a heart shaped neckline, and a slit up the side, emphasizing her leg.
She looked good and she was glad he got to see it.
Within a few minutes, Mulder came out of the bedroom wearing what had to have been the best fitting suit known to man. She whistled appreciatively and he ducked his head and smiled. He stopped near her, next to the mirror to look at himself. “Do I look okay?” he asked, his eyes roaming aimlessly as they’d never fall on an imperfection.
“You clean up wonderfully, partner,” she confirmed.
He smiled and turned, but she stopped him with a gentle hand on his chest. Mulder looked at her wordlessly as she adjusted his tie, biting a smile as she watched his adam’s apple bob nervously under her touch.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Ready,” he smiled, leading her with his hand on the small of her back.
X
She was a strong, independent woman. She was resilient, she was self-reliant, and she was proud. She was the last person who would ever want to fall privy to the gender stereotypes often forced upon her.
But she couldn’t for the life of her figure out how to fix her goddamned sink. It’d been leaking for days and she just couldn’t figure out how to get it to stop. To top it all off, her apartment complex’s maintenance guy was creepy and she didn’t want him in her apartment - and her schedule was too hectic to call someone.
That left one option.
“Hey? Can you stop by my place after work?” she asked from across the desk.
He looked surprised, but curious. “Yeah, why?”
“I’m not asking you because you’re a man and I assume you know how, but because I know you’re a good problem solver,” she began.
“Wow, what a preamble,” he teased.
She rolled her eyes and explained, “My sink is broken and I don’t have the right tools to fix it nor do I understand how to.”
“Say no more, I’m your man,” he boasted.
He’d said that with so much confidence that she could barely believe her eyes when she walked behind him a few hours later and saw he was browsing the internet for 'How to fix a sink.’ He quickly clicked onto a different document when he noticed her presence but she pretended that she hadn’t been paying attention to him. She felt herself smile even though she was trying her hardest to repress it, that was just too sweet and so incredibly Mulder of him.
To say she was excited to see how this panned out was an understatement. She knew Mulder was a quick learner and eager to please, but, honestly, looking back she couldn’t think of a time she’d ever seen him do anything handyman-esque.
They’d agreed on seven and he showed up at six thirty. “I’m sorry I’m so early, I can leave and come back,” he apologized when he took in her wet hair and fluffy bathrobe.
“No, no, I just got out of the shower. This is perfect timing, come on in.” As he walked passed her, she admired his new outfit. He was wearing old, worn blue jeans with a heather gray t-shirt. It was a casual side of him that she couldn’t help but admire. He looked really good.
“Is it the kitchen sink or bathroom sink?” he asked.
“Bathroom,” she motioned. She followed him down the hall and flicked on the light switch for him. “Sorry it’s warm in here. I just got out of the shower.”
“It smells like you,” he replied. Then, as if embarrassed he said that, he teased her by playing mechanic, putting on a deep, 'manly’ voice, “So little lady, what seems to be the problem.”
Indulging him for once, she made her voice airy and breathy and, in a faux southern drawl, replied, “Well, my pipes just won’t stop leakin’.”
As if they realized the innuendo at the same time, they burst out laughing. “Okay, sorry. No-it just honestly is dripping everywhere.”
“Too wet?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes and slapped his arm lightly as he set his tool bag on the sink. She didn’t bring attention to the store tag she saw still attached. “I think I can take care of that,” he replied, pulling out a wrench. She wondered how many tutorials he read to know exactly what tool to use.
He bent down and opened her cabinets before turning so he was on his back, looking upwards. From her vantage point she could just see from chest down and it was an erotic sight she hadn’t anticipated. Most plumbers exposed their asscrack, but Mulder was letting his defined adonis belt peek out over his jeans and under his slightly raised shirt. “How long has this been an issue?” he asked, making conversation.
“About two weeks,” she answered, clearing her throat.
“Make sure to do it the right way this time,” she teased, suddenly remembering when he offered his help a few cases ago and how absolutely horrible that had worked out.
“Haha, very funny,” he chuckled.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she smirked, watching him work.
“Why didn’t you ask me sooner?” he asked, accompanying the sounds of cranking.
“I wanted to figure it out. I tried to tighten it myself, but I think I just couldn’t get it,” she replied, watching the way his hips lightly thrust upwards from the force of his cranks.
“It looks like you were close,” he comforted, though she didn’t know if it was necessarily true.
“Thanks,” she smiled.
“Try the sink,” he told her.
She awkwardly tried to reach the faucet, but ended up having to stand right next to him while hoping her robe didn’t gape open and expose herself.
The sink ran and she heard him let out a triumphant sound before he hit her legs with his face. “Sorry,” she laughed, stepping back as he placed a hand on her calf to pull himself up.
“No, you’re fine,” he chuckled. Mulder stood up, a few wet stops from the prior drip blossoming on his shirt.
She hadn’t expected it to be so fast and she didn’t want him to leave quite yet. I mean he drove all the way here and all. “Want to stay for coffee?” she asked, tucking a wet strand behind her ear.
He smiled at her, clearly not having wanted to leave himself and nodded, “Yeah.”
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my-little-bubble · 8 years ago
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Asking Alexandria in Portugal ♡
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rickeybowenx · 5 years ago
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“please don’t regret me.” for calex.
Connor could feel the heavy, warm, sticky awkward air that seemed to cling to his suit. Alone. That was a notion that neither him nor Alex could believe was a tangible concept. Yet, here they were. Two young adults acting like teenagers with anguish and fear that they would be caught. Maybe it was the thrill of knowing that their relationship was considered forbidden, and possibly it was the fact that despite Connor was betrothed to Alexandria’s older sister that made it all the more heartbreaking. The kind of heartbreak where it slowly washed over him like a tsunami. Waves and troughs of guilt, the build of anticipation that the truth would soon be concealed cracking at the once strudy foundation of a guarded heart. He could understand that maybe it was flippant on both sides. Connor’s time had run out, so to speak. Ending the engagement would have been the most scandalous rumour in town, especially with the footnote that he was terribly and irrevocably falling for Charlotte’s sister. “I could never regret you and I, any of this.” His words wavered as folly as his confidence in believing he could come out of the rubble unscathed. But it didn’t solely involve them. The soon to be crowned king’s soon to be sister in law of said thrown was expecting an heir. All the more chatter to infiltrate the castle to cast every downgraded glare of nobles and their people. However, every soul that lingered in the village assumed the child to be her own fiance. But alas, it wasn’t. Connor was a smart boy, yet in this contradicting situation all he could do was assess with both hands tied behind his back. Gently, he sat at the corner of the chair in the reading room where they resided, unusually out of public or familial prying eyes. “I just want you to be happy. It’s my fault you’re having to lie to everyone in the country about what’s going on, but all I want is for what you desire and I’ll go along with it. I could never say that I wished to have never told you how I feel, because that would be lying to you. And you don’t deserve to have someone who’s comfortably in doing that.” Glassy eyes interrupted him as he reach over to smooth his thumb over the crease of her thumb, lip quivering in meekness. The blonde could feel himself losing her consciousness as he simply stared at the wall only a few feet away where Alexandria’s sister stood, feeling his breath catch in his throat as she broke her own trance. “Charlotte...I promise I can fix this, just give me time. We just need a little more time.” 
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“just… stay for the night.” for katty.
It was almost ironic how Matteo came in contact with Keira’s cabin door. Fists balled up in an effort to be the bold man he wanted to resolve into. Words were never his forte, but every lingering thought that hung onto the thread of his subconsious disappeared into thin air once his mind was flooded with that sound. Muffled static fumed his eardrums like fog in a distantly frigid morning. No matter how much white noise was attempting to distract him, he couldn’t quite shake the Earth-shattering sobs that he recorded from the opposing side of the door. The door. It was an obstacle. The Auburn haired teen wasn’t the intruding type. In fact, he would have rather flung himself into the camp creek fully clothed than make his mark in disrupting whatever was sending Keira off of the usual cheerful, jovial and mirthful disposition. “Kiki?” Sandpaper scrolled over Matteo’s throat as if his vocal cords were polished until they were smooth, however his every mimic was screaming at a lurch to do the impossible. Be bold, Matteo. For her. “Can I come in?” A rhetorical question that lead to him bursting through the frame as he clutched the slick doorknob in his palm. Frozen still, Matteo slapped his hand against the slightly stretched opening of his pant pocket. Each heaving breath was followed by his eyes darting right at the cascaded bounty of caramel locks that belonged to Keira. His Keira. “Don’t cry.” He pleaded, inching ever so closer to disclose the distance that was between them. Finally, he leaned over the edge of the ruffled sheets that were spread across the vacancy of the mattress. This was uncharted territory. His heart was sore with regret, his lower lip knit under his teeth as he nodded. Be brave, Matteo. “Come here, I -- I’ve got you.” Voice breaking as if he were the disgruntled one. His arm coiled slowly around to wrap securely set gently upon her shoulder. He could feel each jolting shudder coming from her sobs, electricity bolting every second. Pressing his lips to her temple, Matteo slowly massaged his palm over her forearm. Just... stay for the night. Matteo Rosati was not a weak-willed puppy that toddled around begging for affection. But when the girl he had secretly fallen for for nearly two thirds of his life told him to stay where he was, there was no argument. “Close your eyes, Kiki. I’m not leaving you. I’m right here.” He whispered tenderly as he closely dusted his lips over the exposed apple of her cheek. It took every ounce of self control he had to not give in to the temptation. As he coaxed her to quietly rest in the fold of his lap, Matteo laid onto the backboard of the bed, threading his fingers through the mass of honeyglossed locks that covered Keira’s face. Hushing ever so gently the moment a sob was rumbling in the air, “I love you, Keira Porter. And I will never stop for as long as I live.” Did he really just say the words he would have rather died than to have confessed? Yes, Matteo Rosati was terribly and clumsily in love with Keira. But any chance to help her fall asleep, he was willing to bend over backwards for her just to get even a wink of sleep. Now, he waited the long anticipated break of fallen silence in hopes that she wouldn’t reject his commitment.
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"did you ever love me?" for jallas.
“That’s rich.” Not missing a beat, Dallas scoffed at the question as if it were an insult. To him, it was. “Tell me something, who really loved who when someone just off and left with no note, no goodbye, no warning? When one day you’re living here with me and the next your side of the closet is completely empty? You never loved me, Juliet. You wanted the life I couldn’t give you in Orange Beach.” Each word felt like a torpedo misseling through the room like a cannonball, in total dissaray, unaware of it’s casualties. Leaning back in the recliner, Dallas splayed a hand over the wooly arm of the arm, legs crossed at the ankle as if it were all nonchalant. He never asked for her to come back. Why come back when all it gathered was confusion? As far as he was concerned, their marriage was dead. As dead as the horse that was helpless, insufficient and incapable of admiting defeat. That’s how Juliet was to him. A stubborn girl who had left him high and dry for the fashion capital of the United States. “You can’t just come back here and question my love when you were questioning yours all along. That’s not fair, Jules.” Suddenly, his voice broke a wave of self imposed doubt, seeding the plant of grief in the bottom of his heart that he had spent so long trying to suppress with the notion that Juliet would never come back, and that he would be perfectly fine never seeing her face again. However, that wasn’t the case. Dallas felt nothing if not love for the love of his life ever since they were toddlers. Thinking back on the past, the same shaggy haired seven year old was not the man staring him down in the mirror everyday anymore. The hurt that pushed him away from Juliet hardened him, yet he could never doubt the love he still had for her, truthfully. Their relationship was put through the ringer more times than he could count on his two hands, and everytime they came out of it stronger. But not this time. “When did you stop loving me? Or did you even care for a guy like me at all?” Then, sprinklers. His cheeks flooded with threads of fire that blushed his face up like a tomato. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him cry. His weakness, his fear. “Go back home, Jules. Go back to New York. And don’t come back.” Sharp tongued and as vapid as he could, all Dallas wanted was for Juliet Tanner to disappear from his life. So he didn’t have to rehash the wound she so memorably left scarred on the pieces of his once mended heart.
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