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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 1 year ago

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I’ve finished listening to the Do the Right Thing podcast, after thinking I’d try a couple of episodes and then move on to other things. I am so bad at trying a couple of episodes of anything and then moving on to other things. But I’ve been busy while listening to it, so have been mainly saving up my thoughts about it for when I was finished.

Obviously, I enjoyed it a lot, that’s why I kept listening until I was done the 50-ish episodes. It started out a little shaky, I think it took time for all the people involved to figure out exactly what they were doing. The regulars sounded at first like they didn’t have full confidence in the format and/or their own abilities to carry it, as they kept falling back on painfully shoehorned in stand-up material and/or really cheap things that were barely jokes. The first episode brought in, as their expert, a burlesque dancer, entirely so they could giggle about acknowledging that sex exists, because they didn’t seem sure that they could make anything else funny.

But they relaxed after the first season or so, and it got a lot better. Once the regulars relaxed, the guests seemed more comfortable too, and it helped that they started bringing in more actual comedians. I think most panel shows might take a little while to let the format get out of the way of the comedians so they have room to do their thing.

Having said that, I do think the format was very good. All the rounds had good potential in any given episode, though I might have made the first round (a team is presented with a hypothetical scenario, decides what to do) a little longer as I thought it was the best one. And as with most panel shows, I thought the audience participation one was the weakest. I see why panel shows do that, they probably draw in their audience more by making people think they could have the chance to be part of it. But I also think it’s extremely rare for any audience involvement, from crowd work in stand-up to the “now let’s talk about an audience member’s problem” in Do the Right Thing and that similar round in the Pappy’s podcast, to be better than it would be to just hear the comedians talk about their own stuff. Audience members are never as interesting as they think they are.

But still, it was rare for a whole round to go by without making me at least almost laugh. And that’s a reasonably good standard for a podcast to maintain. A lot of that was carried by the three regulars, who went quite quickly from feeling like forced chemistry to actually gelling very well. It was a good mix, I guess. You can get Danielle Ward’s abrasiveness playing against Margaret Cabourn Smith’s more hesitant nature, then clashing with Michael Legge in the other direction as he does his angry shouty man thing, and then every once in a while Michael Legge ends up alongside Margaret Cabourn Smith marveling at some of Danielle Ward’s most genuinely unhinged comments.

That brings me to what I think really made the show, which is that Danielle Ward is awesome. She was a really good host, which in itself isn’t a skill that everyone – or even every panel show host – has. She could read the pre-written format points with the perfect mix of partly sounding smooth, while partly sounding like she does acknowledge that pre-written things are awkward. She was good at making sure everyone was included. She was quick on her feet when it came to making someone expand on a story if it sounded interesting, or poking at people if she knew they had something that would fit well into the current discussion. And, around all the pre-written format stuff and planned stories from guests, she managed to let her own humour come out in a really natural way. She was one of the few people who almost never sounded like she was shoehorning in material, she’s just funny when she says what comes into her mind.

I’d written before about my options for the next big thing to listen to, and had lamented that I don’t love how much of my favourite comedy that I’ve heard before, and how much of the comedy I’m most interested in finding next, can be described as two (or, sometimes, three) white men talking to each other in a studio. So I’d sort of half-jokingly said that Do the Right Thing would be a good addition to my list because at least it’s not just two white men talking to each other in a studio. Jokingly because obviously I do not actually have a diversity quota on the comedy things I pick to listen to, I just pick out the ones that look most interesting, but half- because I guess I do sort of appreciate having a bit of diversity in there.

And that’s not just for diversity quota reasons, as I quickly found while getting into this show. Having women involved with a panel show as regulars is fun in a substantial way, in really little things that I wouldn’t have thought of before hearing it. The way the hypothetical stories were about women around half the time, and every time a story was about a woman I briefly thought “Why did she make this one about a woman?” before realizing that’s a ridiculous question. Made me realize how ingrained the male default is in shows like that, even on really small parts of it.

I hesitate slightly to write this, because I don’t know if I’m really in the right politically to think this or if it makes sense, but I do like that they didn’t change some of the things about panel shows that some other people, including some reasonable and feminist and right-thinking people, would suggest are a way to make it more woman-friendly. I’m thinking of some comments that smart and good people, including female comedians, have made about early Mock the Week being bad for the women because it was all competitive, combative, abrasive male comedians jockeying for position and cutting each other up and women don’t get along well in that kind of environment.

I’ve said before that I feel a bit guilty for how much I like early Mock the Week, not despite its bearpit elements but because of them. I’m sure it was terrible for the comedians involved (the male ones and the two or three female ones who managed to get on), and terrible for comedy as a whole. I can see how in later Mock the Week, they made better comedy because people were more collaborative than competitive, and managed to build on each other’s jokes instead of just jumping all over each other with the first thing they could find. But still, it does bug me sometimes when I see people say the earlier, competitive show was male-centric because women don’t like that stuff. I do, I’m kind of sorry to say, like watching people be competitive and combative and abrasive at each other.

To go even further off topic for a moment, it probably comes from my involvement in sports, and how many times I’ve seen promotions for “girl-friendly” camps or events or teams or whatever, to encourage female participation in sports, because this event or team or whatever focuses on fitness and fun over competition and it’s not so intense. Some of the stuff I’ve seen said about Mock the Week reminds me of that, that girls don’t like it because it’s too intense. I saw Milton Jones say something like that once and immediately thought he was being a misogynistic dick, and then I saw Jo Brand say something similar and thought, okay, maybe this does hold true for some women.

But not all of them, and I liked the way Do the Right Thing (back on topic, don’t mind the digression) showed ways you can make a panel show less male default-y but don’t have to make it soft and non-competitive to be girl-friendly. Because this had all the abrasive stuff that you’ll expect in a panel show, and I hadn’t even realized how much I just expect that to be relegated to men until I heard Danielle Ward doing it, and realized it sounded a bit surprising in a woman’s voice.

Even more than that, I think I found it odd to hear the other side of it played by a woman, when Danielle Ward would direct some of the most classic panel show would-be-an-autocue-joke-if-it-were-TV-but-it’s-not-so-she’s-just-reading-off-notes barbs at Margaret Cabourn Smith. Some of them felt really harsh, until I realized it’s exactly the stuff that male comedians throw at each other on panel shows all the time, but I almost never hear women do it. Danielle Ward didn’t make it any gentler for this “women’s version”, but I think her jokes along those lines were a lot funnier than the average one you hear from, say, Jimmy Carr on 8 Out of 10 Cats. Maybe because she wasn’t falling back on misogyny, and had to find things to say about Margaret Cabourn Smith besides the stock sexist ones you hear from someone like Jimmy Carr. But she also wasn’t doing what you’d hear from a more progressive male-led panel show, which would be to go easier on the women altogether. She didn’t go easy on anyone.

I enjoyed listening to Danielle Ward talk an equal amount of shit about Margaret Cabourn Smith and Michael Legge, about the male and the female guests. I think her autocue-style jokes were more fun because they weren’t on an autocue, they were on paper, because it wasn’t a TV show with a room full of writers, it was a podcast where Danielle Ward wrote most of the scripts herself, and only a couple of other people had credits for “additional material”. But I get the impression that it was mostly her, because most of the jokes are in her style. This makes them a lot funnier than whatever generic thing a writer’s room wrote for Rob Brydon to say while introducing the WILTY guests.

(I’m feeling the need at this point to mention this one joke that made me think “Jesus Christ, Danielle Ward can go really harsh when she wants to.” They had on Matthew Crosby and Ben Clark from Pappy’s Fun Club, and Danielle Ward introduced one scenario by saying it exists in a world where people have figured out that Tom Parry is the Greg Davies of Pappy’s, while Matthew Crosby and Ben Clark are the Steves and Mareks. Which is, you know, a pretty good burn. Managed to hit four comedians at once, by pointing out the obvious fact that Steve Hall and Marek Larwood of We Are Klang were much less successful than the other member Greg Davies, and by suggesting that two members of Pappy’s were in for similar fates. But I didn’t think it was that good a burn, which is why I was surprised when every person on the panel, reacted as though she’d just stood up and driven a scythe though a person’s heart. They all protested with the general vibe of “Oh my God I cannot believe you just said that”, and Matthew Crosby felt the need to say that Steve Hall is a writer on one of the most successful comedy shows on TV. Which is true, I’m sure writing for The Russell Howard Hour must be a good steady gig, even if maybe 0.5% of the people in the world who know Russell Howard’s name also know Steve Hall’s.

Anyway, the point is that Crosby’s statement made me remember that time in 2007 when Steve Hall went on Daniel Kitson’s Triple R radio show, and spent two entire episodes talking about how miserable he was because his girlfriend had just left him. He did not name this girlfriend, and I think in some posts I’ve made before, I’ve implied that it took some detective work to figure out who she was. But the clues really weren’t subtle; one was that Daniel Kitson said this ex-girlfriend was in The Loves and asked Steve what instrument she played, to which Steve replied, “The bass and the scythe through a man’s heart.” Which is the sort of thing that probably seemed more acceptable to say before the rise of the incel movement, though it hardly stood out because almost nothing that happened during those old Triple R Graveyard episodes was all that acceptable. Anyway, The Loves were a weird band that had a lot of different members over the years, but they only had one female bass player in 2007, and that was Danielle Ward. When I remembered this, I revised my initial belief that the panel had over-reacted to a mildly sick burn, and agreed with Matthew Crosby that, okay, Danielle Ward wins harshest pre-written/throwaway joke made by a panel show host.)

Anyway. The show is different from a lot of panel shows in that it’s mainly the creation of one person, Danielle Ward. Not entirely, obviously. I think their producer Ben Walker also had a hand in creating it, and as I said other people are sometimes given credit for helping to write scripts. But it seems to be mainly her, coming up with the rounds and the material and the ideas. And having the showrunner actually appear on every episode of the show does seem to be a good thing, there’s no sense of disconnect between the intent and what actually gets said, as can sometimes happen in shows like this.

This brings me to another thought about Do the Right Thing, which is that now that I’ve seen/heard both, I can have an opinion on the Hypothetical controversy. Basically, when Hypothetical was first announced, Danielle Ward went on Twitter to be angry that it was pretty much the same premise as Do the Right Thing, they took her idea and put it on TV fronted by two men who were more famous than her and without her involvement. Then later she retracted it and said it turns out the show isn’t all that similar so it’s okay. I read about this a while ago, but couldn’t say what was true, having not heard the podcast.

I’ve heard it now, and… yeah, they’re pretty fucking similar. Not exactly the same or anything. But the main round on Hypothetical is pretty much the same premise as the main round on Do the Right Thing. Two teams with two guests each that change each week (though Do the Right Thing had team captains as well as Hypothetical didn’t) have to say what they’d do in a particular situation. One host reads out the situation and talks them through their answers (Josh Widdicombe/Danielle Ward), and then a different host (James Acaster/Ben Walker) gives out points for the best answers.

The terrible celebrity wall round on Hypothetical is a very similar premise to Do the Right Thing’s Ask and Expert round, but a worse version of it. Ask an Expert brought in people from different professions or walks of life so they could talk about their experiences, and it was sometimes interesting to hear about a way to live life that I wouldn’t think about much. Definitely more interesting than it is to hear from a random famous person, like Hypothetical did. But both rounds involve trying to guess what someone from outside the comedy panel would do in a certain situation.

Both shows have a quickfire round, though on the podcast it’s called Do the Wrong Thing where they have to pick the most incorrect answer to a bunch of scenarios in quick succession, and on Hypothetical they pick the most correct answer. Because I guess ripping off the “reverse rules” round’s specifications would have been a bit too obvious.

Like I said, it’s not exactly the same. Do the Right Thing compared the ideas to “real” answers, according to advice they’ve found in survival books or things like that, while Hypothetical just compared the idea to what James Acaster decided. Do the Right Thing tells absurd stories but then gives scenarios that could possibly happen, while Hypothetical goes more absurd. Hypothetical had a gratuitous wall of celebrities (I did like the TV show, but I found that round really grating) that wasn’t in the podcast, and Do the Right Thing has gratuitous audience participation that wasn’t in the TV show. Hypothetical had little sketches where they acted things out, and Do the Right Thing obviously didn’t, I can’t see how that would work on an audio-only podcast.

It's also significant that this isn’t that original an idea. I’m sure people have been sitting around playing “let’s imagine what we’d do in fake situations” for hundreds of years, and Danielle Ward doesn’t have a patent on that parlour game. But does she have a patent on turning it into a panel show format with two teams of comedians who answer the questions via predetermined rounds while a couple of hosts gives out points for it? I think it’s fair to say she should at least have a right to be offered the option to be part of it if that gets put on TV. I know it’s fairly normal to take an audio or stage thing to TV but replace the people with more famous ones (in fact, Do the Right Thing tried exactly that with Claudia Winkleman), but I’m pretty sure the original people are usually involved in some capacity. Some capacity where they don’t find out about it via the official public announcement and then complain about it on Twitter.

I can also understand the argument that it seems like a specific betrayal to have Matthew Crosby involved with Hypothetical, as there seemed to be a lot of crossover between Do the Right Thing and Pappy’s Fun Club. There was that episode when the Pappy’s came on Do the Right Thing, both podcasts ran for many of the same years and seemed to be pulling from the same general pool of guests (comedians at a similar level of fame in each, lots of people who did both), and were both produced by Ben Walker. It’d be fair to be pretty upset if your fellow guy from medium-fame podcast land took your idea and put it on higher-fame TV without telling you. I believe I’m on Danielle Ward’s side of that one.

To be honest, Hypothetical is one of the shows I mean when I talk about panel shows that have that little disconnect between the performers and the material, which made it really noticeable that Do the Right Thing didn’t have that, at least not after the first few episodes. It’s not a perfect show or anything, it had its episodes that dragged a bit like anything else. But I thought it was really well put together.

Also, I feel like I owe Margaret Cabourn Smith an apology. I’ve been holding a vague grudge against her because I found her slightly annoying on the Taskmaster podcast once, and beyond that hadn’t heard her do much, a few Now Show things I think but that’s it. She really grew on me throughout this podcast. She was the only one of the three regulars who didn’t draw me to the podcast – I put it in my list because I liked Michael Legge and Danielle Ward and I figured she’d be fine – but by the end I liked her quite a bit too. Her style of reasonable straight character who uses our expectations of her to make it funnier when she says something mean or blue – I do enjoy that style. She also bounced off everyone else really well.

I actually downloaded a few episodes of Margaret Cabourn Smith’s podcast after I finished Do the Right Thing, and I started writing this post (a couple of days ago now) while I was listening to Danielle Ward’s episode of it. Which was fun, it was mostly stories I’d heard Ward tell before on Isy Suttie’s podcast or at some point on Do the Right Thing, but I just enjoy hearing her talk about stuff. They were talking about when they were younger and got crushes on famous people, and near the end, Margaret Cabourn Smith said that now that she’s had a career in showbusiness Danielle Ward must have been on the other side of that, and Ward replied that nope, she’s never had that scenario. And that she’d be flattered and like hearing about it if it had happened, but it hasn’t.

Which is such a weird thing to say, because there is absolutely no way that’s true. I realize she’s not, like, incredibly famous. But some people know who Danielle Ward is, and therefore, I cannot possibly believe that there’s any way she hasn’t constantly had fans being weird about how incredibly attractive she is. There’s no way. No woman who’s as attractive as Danielle Ward and has ever been anywhere near a public career can get away without dealing with that.

She weirdly specifically said she’d be happy if it happened, so I’d like to briefly pause the concerted effort I’ve been making to not mention this all time because I want to be respectful, and say obviously that is what happened here. I heard Danielle Ward as a guest on a couple of different things across the last year or so, I immediately found her very attractive just based on the way she talks and the things she says, I watched her stand-up special Seventeen and thought it was very good and also she was very very attractive, and put Do the Right Thing on my list because I wanted to hear her say more stuff. And then when I started the list, I said I’d only listen to a couple of episodes of this one, but then I listened to all of them because I wanted to hear her say even more stuff.

I mean, it was also because I started it right before moving house and I didn’t want to change podcasts while I was busy with other stuff, and also Do the Right Thing was very funny and well made and grew into itself well, and Michael Legge and MCS were very good, all that other stuff I said about it was true. But just to be clear, I did say all that while trying not to also say “and I have a very large crush on Danielle Ward and want to hear everything she’s ever said.” And then, while writing that, I heard her go on a different podcast and say she’s never had fans with celebrity crushes on her but it would be fun if they did. Come on. That is not possible.

MCS’ whole podcast is about crushes, I listened to Nish Kumar’s episode as well and just wrote a whole post about that one in which I discussed my massive crush on every character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I think I just really have a thing for any woman who can play the bass and the scythe through a man’s heart.

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tommyspeakycap · 3 years ago

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I seen a Tik Tok of a girl and a guy with the guy leaving and saying I love you and the girl not saying it back - thought the guy had a similar accent to John stones. could I maybe request something like that please and thank you.

went searching for it to write this fic and I thought the same - he does sound a bit like John!!! also thank you for that - video made me howl!!

Say it Back

John had been a pretty private guy for most of your relationship. It was a well known fact that you two had been together for years, but any insight into your relationship was small, brief and rare. it was usually camera caught moments by paparazzi after games or tidbits in magazines when you were spotted outside together.

The only actual look people got into the two of you that weren’t shady hidden behind bush photographs that made you, John and anyone who stumbled across those articles majorly uncomfortable was through your instagram. You shared few and far between pictures of him. If he preferred to share only the football aspect of his life with the world, then that was for only John to decide. You were more than aware that most people only followed you because of him, but to be totally honest you couldn't have cared less.

You weren't a hugely private person when it came to many aspects of your life. It paid for you not to be. You met John at 22 in a very fast paced episode of you life where you were wrapping up a final year of uni and bouncing around just enjoying your life, sharing intimate stories at parties that broke the ice and made everybody cry with laughter. John actually admired that about you. The ability to turn absolutely everything no matter how potential personal, uncomfortable or awkward into a hysterically funny story.

He didn't at all feel forced out of his comfort zone with you, his opening up just came so natural as he observed how much people genuinely appreciated how open you were about things. John truly aspired to be a lot more like you.

Maybe that's why he was open to the cheeky tidbits that you had begun to share with the world through the opening of your tiktok account.

Lockdown had quite literally gotten you both knocked flat. You'd watching everything that was of interest and there was still no word that either of you would be able to return to 'working' anytime soon. You browsed through videos on your private account, the sound of your screeching laugh always a tell tale sign that John knew would precede his phone pinging only seconds later with that same video sent to him even if he was on the other end of the couch.

It had become so addictive and John wanted to hate it, but you had roped him in quicker than he cared to admit. It also gave you something to do when there was quite literally nothing else. New things to bake, new types of coffee to try, stupid things off amazon that give you a couple hours of amusement.

You filmed a couple of videos that had blown you up pretty much as soon as people realised it was your account, which was fair. Your instagram photo dumps were cute, but the insight that people got into your life through tiktok was something that reporters could only dream of managing to capture behind bushes in the street. It gave you and John a weird kind of boost, having full power of your own exposure.

He relaxed into it so cutely. Shyly suggesting he would actually like to be involved in the baking competition video you'd talked to him about earlier that week. Even if it wasn't his face, just his hands and the cakes that he made to challenge yours because even your face wasn't in it, it was just about your beautiful cakes and his terrible attempt at a Kermit the frog design. Everybody knew it was him, but people were hysterical in those comments and there was so little negativity that you both had fallen in love with the concept of sharing your life together on here.

Just insights into the love you shared, sweet little things like a day in your lockdown life, you filming him working out in the garden with the 'what a man' sound over the top or trying to learn the renegade together after teaching him how to make whipped coffee.

People just adored everything about you two, with such an obvious love for each other that could just be felt and seen so clearly. It was in him going for the weekly shop and bringing you home flowers every time or picking up something new he seen because it looks like the kind of thing you might like to try. In the way that he looks at you in those videos, even if he says few words and spends only seconds in the frame, his face always lights up with a smile when you walk into a room even if you are doing something sneaky behind the phone.

His laugh is genuinely so infectious, everybody just loves it and loves him and John actually feels - probably for the first time in along time - that like people actually like him. And you were in love with the fact the world was getting to see and know him as the John that you love with every inch of your being.

By far, the best tik tok idea you had stumbled across one was what you had spotted a few times on your trending pages and just had to try.

"Right, I'd better head off then before it gets busy eh?" John says he mulls around in the sitting room after putting his shoes on and moving around slowly to gather his keys, wallet and a hoodie from various locations in the house. You hum in acknowledgement, eyes not leaving the TV playing reruns of friends as you lie on the couch wrapped in a burrito blanket.

You flick your phone onto tiktok to film him discreetly. "Got the list? and a mask?" You call out to him as you open the app, hearing him pat down his pockets to ensure he has both stuffed into his trousers left hand pocket. He nods and walks over to you, now filming him in a way he won't notice at all.

You actually feel a bit guilty for what you're about to do when he leans down and presses a sweet, loving kiss on your temple and suggests you have nap while he's away because he knows you didn't sleep well last night.

"Bye babe, love you!" He yells from the door, your phone pointed over the back of the couch at the entrance of the living room where you can about see him loitering in the foyer of the house, hand on the front door as he waits to hear you shout back to him like you do every single time he leaves the house - even if just going out to get something from the car. "Bye!"

"Bye!" he repeats, "I love you." He echos, this time louder than the first time as he pauses again, leaning back slightly to listen closer as to make sure he wasn't just not hearing you. "Bye babe." You retort, covering your snort of laughter with a loud clear of your throat. John furrows his eyebrows tightly and closes the door over completely. "Oi! I said bye, I love you."

"I said bye, John!" You call back out to him casually, giving the appearance that you were playing around on your phone while you actually watch him plant his hands on his waist, keys jingling together at the motion as his shopping bag remains tucked under his armpit. John's face is utterly priceless, the picture of adorable confusion as he walks straight into the living room with gusto and pace. “What’re you doing?” You giggle slightly, trying to stifle the noise as he appears into your full vision in the doorway of the large living room where you sit up.

“I said; bye I love you.” He states emphatically, gesturing with his hands to you for you to speak with his eyebrows raised expectantly. “Bye baby.” You beam, waving him off and turning back to your phone.

“You’re in love with me,” he states confidently, something like a look of clear expectation on his face, “so why aren’t you saying it back?”

That’s when you burst out laughing, giggles hiccuping out of you as he stands there, hands out at his side waiting for you to say something else. “You’re insane, away you go,” you snort though giggles, an involuntary smile ticking on his lips only for a moment before his face straightens out again. “Only if you say it back.” He protests, crossing his arms back over his chest firmly,

You’ve just lost it now, folding yourself over as you wheeze in laughter. You don’t know exactly what you expected from him, but his protest and insistence wasn’t exactly it. “Lo…love you.” You wheeze, words broken by your breathless laughter as your phone wobbles around in your hands.

“Nah, not good enough mate.” He shakes his head, chucking his folded tesco shopping bag for life down onto the other couch as he walks around towards you. “Say it like you mean it.” He insists, a teasing glint in those blue eyes you know so well.

John walks right over to you now, the situation dawning on him the second you tilt your phone to capture his movements. “You’ve made me look a right clingy bastard!” He chuckles, that signature John laugh as he throws his head back and your whole world brightens just at the sound of it, your heart flooded with happiness all because of him. You stand up from the couch to meet him where he now stands right in front of you. You turn the camera to front facing and show you stood with your head resting on his chest as he wraps his arms around you. You tilt the camera up at him, capturing him pressing that sweet kiss down on top of your head. Then you tilt your head up, subsequently shattering the hearts of every person who would come to watch this video on their tik tok because that kiss that you peck onto his lips from your tip toes is still somehow so full of love from just a small gesture and his eyes are absolutely shining in adoration for you as you mumble a sweet, smiling “Love you baby.” against his chest.

He laughs slightly, a smile overtaking his lips as he flicks his eyes to the little red bar just about to run out of time along the bottom of the recording tik tok.

“Just as well, thought I’d have to remind you before I left.”

And the ever cheeky Barnsley boy sends a very telling wink to the camera as you blush furiously right in the time that video ends, just to let everyone know exactly what he means.

#john stones #john stones blurb #john stones imagines #john stones imagine #john stones x reader #england national team #england national team imagine #football #football blurb #football fic #footie fics #footballer fics

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leviiattacks · 4 years ago

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Seven minutes in Heaven with Physics Major Levi

author note :: i lost the ask but anon i do not know what this is. reading it sounded better in my head but physics major levi with reader who likes him is that a good description???? HM ANYWAY enjoy it’s not too great i’ve been revising nonstop for exams but i might as well have finished this off for the anon who requested it :-)

word count :: 2.5k probably... hm who knows maybe 3k

when you and levi become friends it’s definitely unexpected to say the least. everyone is naturally very confused by the peculiar pairing. levi doesn’t really... go out of his way to befriend anyone really??? so for him to approach you in the middle of the library and start talking about how he noticed you shared a class together was out of the ordinary

the flow of the conversation is a little awkward at first, you’re revising for a final exam and don’t really appreciate the disruption but you’re not confident enough to tell him to leave.

at one point an awkward silence drifts between the two of you until he points out you’ve completely RUINED your notes and have been looking over the wrong lectures for the up and coming physics exam

later on into the night levi’s stood sighing next to you. he tells you to take your pick from the pot noodle section — “hey, i know we literally just met but i’m telling you a chicken pot noodle is gonna make you feel better.”

you’re so distraught that he has to pick it up for you and pay

and that is how you and levi become friends !!!

if it’s of any relevance yes you passed the final (all because of levi giving you his organised binder full of notes and telling you to make use of it)

you know it just sorta happens but through all of the all nighters you’ve pulled with levi by your side you become used to his presence nearby. in fact most of the the time it’s difficult to even find you anywhere without him. you’re both practically joined at the hip

levi’s pretty protective of you, hates the whole party scene but is willing to tag along if you’re going. at first you think it’s because he feels more comfortable stepping out of his comfort zone if you’re there with him but his intentions become more evident later on

any time someone makes you uncomfortable he’s by your side, if you happen to get into any sort of trouble he’s the person people call to help you because who else knows you the way levi does?

currently you and levi are at another party, you tend to keep to yourself and only ever talk to your close friends. it’s also not like you to partake in games, you’re far too nervous to play anything like seven minutes in heaven but for some reason you find yourself wanting to take part JUST this once

maybe it’s the fear of never making fun memories to tell your future children about

then again why on earth would you be telling your children about your experience kissing a random man in a closet??

either way, participating shouldn’t hurt!!! you’ve got to loosen up a little!!!

levi’s a little surprised you agree to play nevertheless he still sits next to you, the both of you have your legs crossed on the floor, your knees are touching and you aren’t sure if he feels the same warm sensation that you feel. it bubbles in the pit of your stomach – you feel oddly content

“levi!! anyone you want the bottle to land on ???” hange a mutual friend of yours leans in handing him the glass bottle

levi gives the bottle a disgusted look before his gaze flicks over to you.

“i’m only here because of y/n, i ‘m not playing.”

that doesn’t satisfy hange and they begin to groan complaining that he can’t stay unless he spins the bottle

“look you don’t have to do anything in the closet, okay??” hange’s begging him at this point, he’s still holding up pretty well and for some reason you’re disappointed. it’s almost like you hoped he’d spin the bottle just so it would land on you

levi takes notice of your frown and guesses you want him to be included, he isn’t one for games like these but if it’ll make you happy so be it. there’s still the chance it’ll land on you and his thought process falters for a second.

he thinks he really wouldn’t mind if the bottle landed on you and so he ends up nodding and agreeing to play.

anyway it’s not as if he isn’t guilty of imagining the two of you being a little more than friends

ok wait!!!! it’s completely innocent HE SWEARS!!!!

he’s never told you about it but sometimes he thinks if he was a little more straightforward that day at the library and asked for your number MAYBE just MAYBE his intentions would be clearer and he wouldn’t be stuck in the friend zone for this long

he should’ve used a stupid physics pick up line he knows you love those

something like – “i’m attracted to you more than an electron’s attracted to a proton.”

or maybe — “i’d fall for you even in the absence of gravity”

ok... maybe you wouldn’t have got that one considering you were revising the wrong content and probably forgot about that topic

he can’t imagine himself saying those things but if it would make you finally see him as a potential love interest and not a best friend he wouldn’t mind having to force it out

but still it’s not really a secret that levi has a soft spot for you, literally everyone can see it. when has he ever gone out of his way to save a seat for anyone? when has he ever willingly gone to a party? WHEN has levi actually let someone lay their head on his shoulder??

he only ever let’s you do that stuff

let’s actually discuss the head on his shoulder thing!!!

whenever finals approach you’re always sucked in by huge amounts of work and barely get to sleep, levi’s always hovering over your shoulder reminding you to catch a few hours but of course you don’t listen. you think you’ll be just fine if you rely on an energy drink and two hours of sleep to get by

but levi knows you better than you know yourself. it’s hour seven into the day and you’re already dozing off in your seat. slowly but gradually your head tilts forward. levi’s sitting across you contemplating whether or not he should prop your head back up like a nice friend would or if he should wait for you to smack your forehead right into the solid oak table.

he ends up making his decision last minute, your head flies towards the table and if it were anyone else he’d just let them jolt awake from the harsh impact but it’s you and his body won’t let him ignore you.

on reflex his hand flies out and in the matter of a split second he’s holding your head back. he’s surprised you haven’t woken up and he’s even more surprised he bothered to help you

before that happens levi knows he likes you, he knows he enjoys your company, he’s aware you make him happy but he thinks he’s willing to just be friends with you because clearly you don’t want to pursue anything.

you haven’t even flirted with him before aside from the witty “you remind me of an exothermic reaction” joke that you made one time

oh and there’s also the additional fact that you had a boyfriend up until quite recently so he’s sure you don’t see him romantically

honestly he’s fine with not dating you but something about seeing you overwork yourself like that has him simmering in anger. if he were your boyfriend he would have forced you into bed whether you liked it or not

if he were your boyfriend he’d never break up with you because he “found someone better.” he can’t even manage to imagine anyone better than you.

levi shuffles into the seat next to yours and places your head onto his shoulder. a few students shoot him questioning looks but the deadly glare he sends back is enough to deter them from coming any closer

it’s a little funny actually, by the time you wake up you’re rubbing at your eyes, you don’t even notice how close levi is to you until his hot breath fans across your neck. it seems like he’s dozed off whilst trying to make notes on fluid dynamics

wait

levi. right. next. to. your. neck.

should you move????

no, he might wake up he barely sleeps and you don’t want to mess up his schedule even more

that day you choose to drift off back to sleep as if you never woke up to his breath against your neck.

“OHHHH LEVI LANDED ON Y/N????”

your head shoots up NOW you’ve completely been dragged away from your thoughts.

��lucky for you both. guess you won’t have to do anything and stand there for seven minutes. told ya levi there was nothing to worry about B-)”

hange without warning pulls you both up by your arms, you’ve yet to see levi’s reaction, you’re too stunned to have noticed his slack jaw or wide eyes

“HAVE FUN!”

and with that said and done you and levi are shoved into the cleaning closet

“well, i’m glad it landed on you. i won’t have to do anything.” levi seems happy as can be, you don’t really know why but it stings a little

he doesn’t even seem to stop for a second to wonder if you’d maybe want to do anything

are you just not his type ????

hange once told you levi liked organised people and well,, you’re anything but organised. you’d probably pass out from the work load of your physics lectures if not for levi always helping you out

scowling to yourself you try to ignore just how awkward the situation is until levi plops down on the floor in front of you

“you okay?” he asks looking genuinely concerned

“i- yeah i’m good.”

your eyes dart away trying to look at anything but him. you can’t deny he looks good today, you actually helped him slick his hair back - the entire time he complained about the hair gel feeling weird but he looks great and now you can’t even stare at him for more than a second

“i’m guessing you’d have preferred if the bottle landed on someone else.”

leaning forward without even noticing it you aggressively deny what he says. “NO!!! i like being stuck here with you.”

levi looks stunned by your outburst but nods “oh, did you feel pressured to join the game? we can leave if you want—”

“no, no i– you aren’t– oh god i mean, look. i can explain– do i need to explain???”

completely choking up in front of him and sputtering before slamming your lips shut and saying absolutely nothing is probably one of the most awkward things you’ve done in your ENTIRE existence

levi reaches out for your knee, something that’s usually seen as him being friendly only feels intimate tonight. his thumb strokes comforting circles into your skin. the situation doesn’t make it any better, essentially you’re meant to be making out with him right now

“is something bothering you?”

there it is again. that look. he only seems more concerned than before and you hate yourself for not even thinking about your friendship before you open your mouth.

“do you not want to kiss me because we’re best friends or is it something else?”

there it is. you’ve said it.

you see levi’s face contort from a mix of confusion to what looks like disgust then shock. screwing your eyes shut you know you’ve ruined everything now. he’s never going to speak to you, never going to approach you again. you’re mentally preparing for him to ditch you at this party right here right now

but then you notice his hand still steadily placed on your knee, he’s now stopped with the circles, his grip is bruising

“do you want me to kiss you?”

his question isn’t really expected, it helps you find the courage to look your best friend in the eye.

it’s pretty dark but you can still make out the familiar shadows of his face. the butterflies rush up from your stomach all the way to your throat.

mild regret fills you, usually his curtains obscure his piercing gaze but the way you’ve styled his hair gives him a better view of you, there’s nowhere for you to hide

not even stopping to think about the possibility of him teasing you right now, all you care about is telling him the truth. you’ve come all the way here you may as well finish off what you’ve started

“would you be mad if i said i’d like it if you did?”

levi doesn’t need any more confirmation than that, he swoops in yanking you by your waist. his knees are still pressed against the floor and so you find yourself leaning down into his mouth and craning your neck downwards

his chest is completely pressed against yours. the drumming of your heart is so loud you feel self conscious but levi’s soft lips moving against yours distract you from that

not even ten seconds in and you feel out of breathe but not in an overwhelming way. levi’s pace isn’t at all what you imagined it to be like. he’s soft and slow yet calloused and rough around the edges, some how he still manages to make the kiss sweet

his left hand leisurely travels to the small of your back, the other hand now caresses your cheek. his fingertips are anything but soft but the way he handles you is tender and endearingly delicate.

you smile into the kiss and almost instantly levi’s lips tug upwards too. his take on seven minutes in heaven is quite easily the most romantic thing you’ve been subjected to. instead of a passionate make out you’ve been given a honeyed introduction to a new side of him

the kiss ends much quicker than you anticipate, you open your mouth to whine and convince levi that the two of you should still have a solid minute left before hange returns but he presses his index finger against your lips

“later. i promise.” his voice is heavy and if his blushed cheeks are anything to go by he’s thoroughly enjoyed your session together

at his reassurance you comply and take the time to have a better look at him

his lips are wet – some of your lip gloss has clearly stuck to him. his hair isn’t as well styled as it was before, seeing him like this makes you feel a surge of confidence. you know you did that to him.

so... what is someone to do with a sudden boost in confidence?

hit your new possible love interest with a pick up line :-) !!!

“heyyy so i know the spring constant of my mattress, would you be interested in taking some data with me?”

slapping your shoulder lightly he’s yet to gain his composure back, levi’s genuinely out of breathe now trying to steady himself and your comment doesn’t do him any favours that’s for sure

“my god you have no sham–”

without warning the door to your left swings open you and levi flinch trying to scramble away from eachother only to fail, hange marches in before stopping dead in their tracks.

all they see is levi knelt in front of you, hair disheveled huffing like his life depends on it

then their focus shifts to you, you’re sure some of your makeup has smudged and the entire scenario looks suspicious

levi seems as if he’s about to warn hange to not tell anyone and keep this a secret for now but they sprint away before any of you have the opportunity to ask for some privacy

not even ten seconds later a collision can be heard alongside a series of thuds and then hange’s yelling towards the end of the hallway “GUYS??? THEY ACTUALLY DID IT???”

for some reason the cheers coming from the living room warm your heart

you guess your friends figured out the direction of your relationship long before you and levi did :-)

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davyjoneslockr · 3 years ago

Note

Ohh I wonder what you say about Giorno :0

I have So Many Thoughts about him and none of them are coherent let's go

favorite thing about them: Moral ambiguity in a main protagonist is always very cool and epic. I like that he's so thoroughly a combination of his dads, like he's a gentleman who aspires to make his country safer for kids, but he also. Y'know. Murders people a lot and doesn't bat an eye if it's for a greater cause. Very Machiavellian for a 15 year old lol. He's also just super weird and I really like that. My boy literally went to meet with Polpo and was like "yeah my only skill is I can put my entire ear into my head. watch this" and then proceeded to kill him. "Ohhh instead of stealing one car, I'm gonna ruin a hundred peoples' days by turning all these cars into frogs." "Yeah I'm gonna drive the car into a large body of water to escape an enemy who turns everything into ice. This is a good and sound decision." Literally impeccable

least favorite thing about them: Okay so maybe this will come as a surprise. But based on Vento Aureo alone, he is my least favorite JoJo by far. I found him really boring and overshadowed by the rest of the cast, mainly because he rarely had a real struggle. Like, in nearly every fight, I had no doubts that Giorno was going to sweep in and kill the enemy easily. Everyone in the main cast was constantly singing his praises except for Abbacchio, and even his disdain was clearly out of his own insecurities rather than actually disliking him. And like, even by JJBA standards, he just seemed a liiiittle too overpowered in general without much to balance it out. I think it's cool that he's essentially a catalyst for everyone else's lives to get overturned and for them to change as people, but at times, he really seemed like no more than a narrative device. It wasn't until I read PHF and started writing my own Vento Aureo fics that I started liking him and developing him as a character in my brain and now I can't stop thinking about him help

favorite line: Everything he says in the Solider in Love chapter in PHF. Holy shit. Everything from the stupid chicken rant to the "half a step" speech is just so interesting, and (to me at least) it all feels so deliberate characterization-wise. Like, Giorno in the PHF-verse is kind of a terrible person at times, and a lot of it has to do with him being so closed-off from everyone as a coping mechanism, but him being just like. A little silly and awkward with Fugo by complaining about chicken (and then proceeding to stuff his face with it, which is also just supremely funny), and admitting that he's grieving too, and offering to share in that grief with him, essentially prompting both of them to turn a new leaf together, etc etc I love it so much.

brOTP: Him and Mista. I love their platonic dynamic so much, even in canon/PHF timeline where they have a falling out, because that dynamic is still super super interesting to me. Just. Mista taking him under his wing and becoming the first genuine friend Giorno's ever had, Giorno looking up to him for guidance because, even though he's hyper-competent and definitely has his shit together more than Mista does, he's still an awkward teenage boy who's never really had any kind of social outlet, and he thinks Mista is cool in the way a kid thinks their older sibling is. Giorno goes to him for advice on talking to his crush and making new friends, and Mista takes him out to do silly teenager things he never got to try, and idk. Their friendship is so fun. And when shit goes down in canon and Mista hates him, I still think that a part of Giorno still looks up to him, and one of his biggest regrets is how he treated Mista because of his own inclinations to push away any potential bonds in the fear of being abandoned. Anyhow

OTP: Fugio!! Talked about them a lot already on my Fugo post, but. Man. From Giorno's end, I like to think that his feelings sort of stemmed from Fugo completely overturning his whole worldview just by existing. Like, Giorno has gone his whole life believing that suppressing emotions makes him strong and will keep him safe, and then in walks Hyper-Emotional Pannacotta Fugo and his Feelings-Based Killing Machine and he's like. What the fuck. How does he just. What. And cue Giorno Giovanna's extreme distress over this walking contradiction who can feel things and gains power through emotions and has just torn everything he believed to shreds and now he won't leave his brain what is happening??? (It's okay he just has a crush but he's really dramatic about it.) Also Fugo is a massive simp but Giorno is, too, he's just more subtle about it. 1000% he writes melodramatic love poems for him and decorates them with pressed flowers and sprays them with perfume and the whole time he's like. "Love my pathetic emo bf so very very much :) <333"

nOTP: Uhhh Giomis and that's all I'm gonna say on the matter. Also stuff like Brugio/Abbagio/whatever obviously.

random headcanon: When he was a kid, his mom and stepdad sort of left him to fend for himself, so he got really good at making like. Kraft mac and cheese and kid cuisines. On the other hand, he can't cook a meal from scratch to save his life. He has like no idea how the individual ingredients work, so, if left to his own devices, he just makes horrible 50s housewife jello salad type meals. He's definitely tried making alfredo sauce with melted ice cream because "ice cream is just frozen cream, isn't it? By that logic, I can melt it, and it should work." It did not. He was banned from cooking in the Bucci Gang house after that.

unpopular opinion: The fandom does him dirty just as much as Kakyoin. Seriously, I know I'm not the best Giorno writer either, but some of the stuff I've seen on AO3 is just. Yeah. Stop writing him as a sex object please thanks <3

song i associate with them: Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall by Simon and Garfunkel is more or less how I like characterizing him. I also have a little playlist for him here.

favorite picture of them: Classic image but he looks so very cool :]

#giorno is my least favorite jojo!!1!#proceeds to write a whole ass essay about him #jjba #giorno giovanna

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moonbaby26 · 4 years ago

Text

Title: The Battle

Pairing: Peter Maximoff x Reader

Summary: Continuation from last chapter. Set during X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, you and the others fly to Cairo to confront Apocalypse and his soldiers in an attempt to rescue Xavier.

Warnings: Apocalypse being a leg breaking, hero strangling jerk. Characters fighting for their lives, but bookended with fluff from Peter x Reader pairing.

Chapters: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Taglist: @drikawinchester , @n0obmaster69 , @alexloveskili , @what-a-silver-lining , @bluesprings18 , @weakmoony-stuff , @slytherinsi-mp, @wintwrsoldiwr, @tommy-braccoli, @amourtentiaa

Peter Maximoff x Reader Masterlist

———————————

You’d at least gotten to clean up somewhat. Earlier as Hank and the new woman you’d just met, Moira, had worked on readying the jet, you’d found some bit of helpful supplies. Clean rags to wipe off the blood, and bandages that’d you’d hurriedly applied to your shallow claw wounds.

All the remnants of your restraints were gone, and your old, torn clothes you’d just tossed in favor of the thin jumpsuit and lightly armored black flight suit over the top of it. You all wore these suits, commandeered with this experimental jet now rumbling beneath you as you shot off to Cairo together.

There was silence for a good while, after some initial nervous chatter and joking from the others. It would have been too easy to fill this quiet with any of the myriad of questions still rushing through your brain, but you really had just listened and little more when they’d filled you in earlier with the gist of what they’d learned.

All that really mattered was that the Professor was being held captive by a seemingly omnipotent mutant. One that had now declared war on all and recruited his own powerful soldiers. This was a rescue mission, with likely all your lives at stake.

You leaned your head back, wondering if anyone else would really even know or care what had happened to you if you never came back from this.

The escape from Stryker’s lab had been life threatening as well of course, but it was so different when it’d just been one thing after another. Events unfolding too quickly to really develop any sense of dread, it’d been all adrenaline and luck really.

But even in a jet like this, flying all the way to Egypt was more than just a skip and a jump. It was well enough time to dwell on your own inexperience and shortcomings, to wonder if this was the last time you’d ever do anything at all.

“Hey,” Peter’s voice was quiet, just to you, as you glanced over, having been mired only in your own thoughts until that moment.

He was sitting beside you, both of you strapped in these jump seats that ran along both sides of the jet. Vaguely you realized the others had started talking once more as well then. Maybe that was why he felt more comfortable speaking to you again now.

He hadn’t addressed you directly since you’d reunited with the others. Though you wouldn’t blame him if he was just as nervous as you were deep down. But from his self deprecating jokes in front of your friends earlier, about still living at home with his mother, he would at least seem better at hiding fear if he did have any.

“Hey,” You answered back reflexively, looking at him fully again.

“So uh....” He was chewing a piece of gum, as if some part of him still had to stay in motion in order to remain comfortable. “That car, that was pretty sweet. That yours or what?”

Honestly it took you a very long, awkward pause before you could piece together any idea of what he was referring to. But being that you’d only known him since literally just earlier today, there wasn’t anything else he could possibly mean. “The yellow convertible?” You questioned anyway, not really surprised by much of anything now.

“Yeah, I mean, I take the road if there is one. I saw you guys on the way to the house,” He answered, still offering a little explanation regardless. “Looked like you knew what you were doing though.” There was a more sheepish grin emerging. “I was going to stop and say hey I guess. But then I saw the, you know, fireball coming out the house and all, had to go see what that was about. Save everybody or whatever...” He trailed off after a bit, maybe realizing that you were just letting him ramble.

It reminded you of how you’d acted with him during the whole lab fiasco. He seemed the more confident one down there, while you got easily flustered. You really wondered if having your friends here now was making the difference. As if he was more unsure of himself when there was a potential audience to hear what you might say back to him.

It was interesting, getting to put more of those pieces together, or at least starting to be able to when it came to him. For putting on the display of an extrovert, and if you could finally admit it, even him being an outright flirt, you felt more and more sure that that was only skin deep really. That was just the outer layer he protected himself with.

“It was one of the Professor’s cars,” You smiled genuinely, probably the first one since they’d told you where you were going in this jet and why. “We were on our way back from the mall.”

That warmth from you seemed to ease him back into his normal tone, maybe a slight relief in him that you didn’t find it off putting that he’d already taken notice of you before you even knew he was anywhere around.

“Oh, mallrat, huh?” He quipped, “I can picture that.”

He was teasing, but you gave it right back. “There is no way you can tell me that you don’t end up in music stores wherever you live, like a lot.” You hadn’t forgotten his band t-shirt after all. You thought you’d seen him putting away headphones at some point too. “And that leather jacket and pants you had? Come on, that didn’t come from some bargain clothes rack.”

You might have had him for just a moment there. Just a flicker of surprise in his eyes to know you really had paid him that much attention, before he retorted, “Hey, what’s the point of a fast car if it has no style, right?”

“Says the guy who most people can’t even see until he slows down.” But you were purposeful to make clear in your tone that that wasn’t an insult at all, just continuing a little more bravely afterward, “Though their loss I guess.”

There was no mistake then, he really did pause. You could feel the slightest bit of heat in your face again, but you were not about to take that back. Not when you didn’t even know what was really awaiting you all at the end of this flight.

And you were still the next one to speak, that resolve remaining. “If we make it out of this, maybe you can come with me back over there to our mall. Help me pick out some new stuff.” You tried not to make it sound funny, but on some cosmic level it still was. “Seeing as how my room and everything I owned was incinerated and all.”

“Deal.” He said immediately. Only a little afterward seeming to realize that maybe he sounded a bit too eager. He cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. “I mean, I’m pretty good at Ms. Pac Man too. They have an arcade, right?”

“Yes.” You answered, trying not to look too amused, and going along with him to help him feel more comfortable. “I can’t say I’m actually any good, but they do have a Flash Gordon pinball machine I always play. And a couple of air hockey tables. That’s my go-to.” No question with his speed that he would likely annihilate you on both. But the idea of being in a much simpler, safer place like that with him some day was a pleasant one right now.

“Oh yeah. I can show you a thing or two.” He was clearly back in his element then, looking smug once more.

“I’m sure you will.” You could only wonder if the god complex mutant and his lackeys you were now off to go challenge would have any idea that in the back of your mind you’d now be dreaming of a simple date in an arcade as extra motivation to get back home in one piece.

———————————

It wasn’t long before things had started spiraling in quick succession again. You’d all arrived in Cairo to find it essentially destroyed, save for what this fake god had already erected in monument to himself. A huge pyramid in the style of the ancient Egyptians, one he’d taken Xavier hostage inside.

It hadn’t been clear though how much of the destruction was done by this mutant, and how much had actually been at Magneto’s hands as it was with more shock that you’d found him in the middle of this as well. Now serving this apocalyptic mutant.

You knew enough about Magneto to both fear and respect him. Even though his history with the Professor went back so many years, Erik Lehnsherr as he was actually named was always more on the side of peace through violence. While Xavier preached ideals of tolerance and education for regular humans to one day accept mutant kind, Magneto thought them incapable of such, and had no qualms on preemptive strikes against non mutants as well as eye for an eye type vengeance.

But even for Magneto this seemed surprising. He would really just give Xavier up this way? As you’d gotten closer, Jean had sensed that Apocalypse (what you were now calling the new enemy in your own mind) intended to take over the Professor’s body, possessing him permanently to gain access to his mind control powers and become basically omniscient. He’d be unstoppable with everyone as his puppets then. Free will would cease to exist.

“You guys help Nightcrawler get into the pyramid!” Raven called back to all of you as the jet was landing. “Get Charles and I’ll take care of Erik.”

You’d snapped back to attention at the orders, and you saw that Peter was suddenly at her side.

He looked so focused all at once, “I can get you in there,” He told her, referring to the debris field of broken buildings and all else now churning, stuck in a huge magnetic orb with Magneto at its center. When she didn’t look sure, he continued quickly. “I came here for him, let me help you.”

Raven nodded to Peter then in agreement, knowing there was no time for more back and forth. “The rest of you, get Charles on this plane and get him out of here!”

You too knew what was at stake, there was no reason to argue, even if there still must have been concern on your face. You didn’t understand Peter’s change and sudden fixation on Magneto.

But it was only Kurt that spoke up immediately, yelling back to Raven and Peter, “We’re not leaving without you!”

Peter looked back at that, “Don’t worry.” In fact, you realized he was looking directly to you for one moment. “We’ll catch up.”

———————————

While Peter had sped Raven out of sight to try and reason with Magneto, Moira had stayed with the jet and Hank had come with you, Scott, Jean, and Kurt.

But as you all ran along the rubble, trying to make your way to the pyramid, it hadn’t been but moments until you encountered Apocalypse’s other soldiers, mutants set on stopping you all from interfering by any means necessary.

A tall, blonde man with wings made out of metal, a ninja seeming woman with a pinkish purple energy she could wield from her hand like a blade even while also carrying a katana, and a girl nearer your own age with stark white hair and seemingly the most power out of the three as she’d flown right towards you throwing lightning bolts from her hands.

You’d had no choice but to split up. Which you were sure was what they’d wanted even as you’d chosen to try and take the white haired girl’s attention. You didn’t really want to find out what would happen if one of those bolts struck you directly, but you could guess you had the best chance of anyone to maybe absorb some of it in your energy form.

You’d immediately powered up, glowing white as she’d chased you around the sky, both of you darting and flying in some kind of bizarre dog fight.

Your heart had been racing though, no amount of training at the mansion could actually prepare you for dueling with someone who actually wished to harm you. Everything to this point had just been about learning to control your powers, maybe even firing an energy blast at a dummy or paper target or two. But you’d never tried to hurt anyone. Not on purpose.

“Why are you helping him!?” You yelled out to her, swerving again as she tried to get close enough to you to land a hit. You generated an orb of light energy from one hand, letting it destabilize before you threw it towards her. It collapsed into itself, exploding to make a shockwave through the air that pushed her back again.

“He’s going to make it so we never have to hide what we are again!” She growled back in frustration, steadying herself in the air before her eyes hazed over into solid white.

You doubted that could be good, and of course it wasn’t as she raised her arms, a tornado like blast of wind then trying to knock you from the sky. You were able to shield yourself somewhat with your force fields, but the barrage of debris and wreckage that came with the winds made it too difficult to keep track of her as she did nearly land a direct lightning strike then.

“You’re wrong!” You yelled back, even as you felt numb and disoriented briefly, like the electricity surge was messing with your own energy. “He’s just using all of you! He only wants slaves, nothing more! And you’re just going to hand us all to him!”

She didn’t answer back after that, but you knew it wasn’t as if you could change anyone’s mind for them. She’d have to live with her own choices, just as you’d have to live with yours.

After a good while of this tit for tat though, you were really trying to take her out of the sky at last, knowing you needed to find and help the others as this had already been going on for far too long. You started trying to get her in the chest with white energy beam after energy beam shooting from your hands. She was fast, but you were able to at least get her in one shoulder at last as she spun with the force, losing altitude quickly with the hit.

Even as she fell, you could see her already correcting course though, trying to take aim at you again as she glared upwards.

But you didn’t get to see what happened next. A three fingered hand grasped your left arm suddenly from thin air, and then you were collapsing onto the floor of the jet you’d come here in.

“Gotcha, time to go!” Kurt spoke quickly as you looked to him in surprise, that strange burning smell hanging in the air briefly that always accompanied his teleporting. It was as instant a feeling as moving with Peter, but thankfully without the subsequent vertigo as you stood quickly, powering down, even as you were already looking around for the speedster.

With relief you did see Jean cradling the Professor’s head as they sat on the floor, Xavier unconscious but still breathing. But you did not see Peter or Raven.

Moira and Hank were already firing up the jet engines and you grabbed hold to the wall as you felt the craft quickly rising. “What about Peter and Raven?” You called out over the noise of the turbines spooling up faster and faster.

“We’ll have to trust them to figure it out, we’ve got to get Charles out of here now!” Hank answered back, leaving no room for debate.

You felt an unease building in your stomach, but it was true that if Apocalypse got Xavier, that Peter, Raven, or anyone else would then no longer matter anyway. At least for now you could hope Peter would just take Raven and run somewhere far from here. Xavier and Jean could use their psychic abilities to find them later and you could reunite.

But a hard thud above you left you all looking upward as the jet rattled.

“What the hell was that!?” Moira called out.

As soon as you saw that pinkish energy blade emerging through the jet’s hull, you had already powered up again, glowing and ready to shield the others as best you could. Apocalypse’s soldiers were proving too difficult to shake.

Yet Jean had other plans, “Everyone, grab onto Kurt!” She yelled.

You didn’t know what altitude you were already at, but you knew it wasn’t a survivable one for the jet itself if it was ditched now. Yet a fight in this close of quarters with all your powers would likely end in the same result. So her choice wasn’t as irrational as it first seemed.

You reached one hand quickly back, firmly grabbing onto Kurt’s shoulder, even as you kept your other hand raised towards where the metal winged mutant and the blade wielding woman were now trying to force their way in through the breach they’d created in the hull.

“I’ve never done it with this many people!” Kurt warned as you all held to him.

“Get us out of here!” Jean commanded, her desperation bringing out a forcefulness you hadn’t yet seen from her.

But Kurt was still straining, the sound of his opening whatever portal he used clearly heard but not bringing you anywhere as he tried several times.

The man with the metal wings jumped down into the cockpit, now just feet away as you realized what you had to do.

“Go without me!” You screamed over the rush of wind now coming through the hull breach. You let go of Kurt, making direct eye contact with Jean.

You could get out on your own. At least you were going to try. It was the only way. Kurt wasn’t able to take you all.

You felt that Jean was listening, that she heard your thoughts and that as difficult as it was, she agreed just as quickly. It was the only way.

“Do it!” She urged Kurt even through the horrified look he gave you both.

“I’m taking it down.” You also heard her voice say in your head almost simultaneously. That briefest warning to ready yourself before she willed the controls to throw the plane into a nosedive and cause Apocalypse’s soldiers to lose their footing.

The last you saw of your other friends was still their shocked and frightened expressions as they disappeared from right in front of you. But this was your only chance as well, propelling yourself as fast you could, right through the fading cloud of gas they left behind and past the now tumbling winged mutant as all your focus went to that small square of sunlight that they’d cut into the hull.

It was your one window of survival. For just the briefest moment, you felt him try to grab hold of your leg as you flew past him. But you kicked him with the other leg as hard as you could manage, breaking free into the open air as the jet plummeted on without you.

Out the corner of your eye you saw the woman had remained on the outside of the jet, but jumped free from it as well. You lost sight of her as you both fell, focusing only on trying to slow your descent to a survivable speed. It was one thing to levitate yourself up from a neutral position, and wholly another to try and control your energy field around yourself enough to reverse the terminal velocity transferred to you from being within a crashing plane.

The ground still came too fast, too hard. You blacked out on impact, laying alone in the dirt as your light energy faded, receding back inside you.

————————————

An unknown time later, something jolted you awake. You could hear screaming as you opened your eyes. You were laying on your side. Everything hurt and you could taste blood in your mouth.

But you were already forcing yourself back up as you swallowed. Disoriented as you were, you still recognized that voice. It was Peter. He was hurt.

You were looking all around you, and it didn’t take long to see the source and reason for the screams.

Not far from you at all, Apocalypse stood in a clearing from all the rubble. Peter right beside him, half crumpled to the ground. One of Peter’s feet was encased in the earth, trapping him there like an animal in a snare. His other leg was clearly broken, twisted at a grossly unnatural angle.

You felt a foreign rage beginning to burn up inside you, but before you could even physically react you saw the woman with the katana again. Nowhere in your mind did you take any time to consider how she would look so clean and uninjured having just come from the same circumstances as you of barely escaping the crashing jet.

All you saw was her walking towards her master, sword at the ready to finish Peter.

“Stop, (Y/N)!”

Charles screaming inside your head was the only thing that kept you from revealing yourself at that moment.

“It’s Raven! I’m telling you, it’s Raven!” Even Charles was struggling to break through your flaring emotions, as he repeated himself desperately. “He’ll kill you, (Y/N)! Stay in place, I beg you!”

The Professor had never spoken to you in such a way before. You gripped onto the broken wall in front of you, still only just obscured from their view as you saw Apocalypse grab Peter by the hair, jerking the young man’s head back roughly to expose his throat to the woman.

“It’s Raven, please trust her!” Charles did not let go. You could feel him actually starting to control you even, something he had absolutely never done before, though your emotions were exploding like they also never had. He didn’t want you to make a life ending mistake.

“(Y/N), please.” He called again and you realized you were being held in place, unable to move out any further. You were forced to only watch as the woman raised her blade, Peter wincing in fear and pain beneath her as she swung it.

But it was only Apocalypse’s throat that ripped open. Yet even in your surprise, any sense of victory was still non existent. No blood poured from the wound, and it healed completely within moments as he only grabbed his supposed traitor by the neck, holding her up immediately.

Raven’s feet hung in the air while she choked, her blue skin and true appearance quickly returning as she could no longer control her disguise as Apocalypse strangled her.

And it was only then that you felt Xavier letting go of you, in his own shock as Apocalypse tried to bait him out.

“Charles! Come! Rescue your weaklings!” Apocalypse challenged aloud, still dangling the now helpless Raven while Peter stayed trapped at their feet. “Give your life for theirs!”

He was going to kill her right in front of you. You powered up, knowing there was no other choice. You had to-

“No. I’m still connected to him. Let me get in his head, (Y/N), then you can go to them.” The professor spoke quickly, yet with a touch of new resolve.

“Charles! Will you do nothing?” The false god continued to bellow.

This time you listened without being forced to. You did see Apocalypse pause as if Xavier was indeed making contact. It was still an agonizing wait, but when he finally let go of Raven, you allowed yourself some shred of hope. You’d never seen anyone be able to overpower the Professor mentally, once he was fully in.

But that hope was also short lived as just moments later Apocalypse raised his hand abruptly. At will he dissolved the outer wall of a nearby building. You could see Scott and Hank then exposed, themselves just as surprised and staring out. But you knew it could only mean that Apocalypse had used Xavier’s connection against him just that quickly to root out his hiding place.

This could be the end then. You resigned yourself that the only choice was to die fighting if that is what it had to be. But you weren’t as alone as you thought.

As Apocalypse had left Peter and Raven behind, now striding confidently to his prize, two massive steel beams suddenly shot into his path. They buried themselves into the ground, crossing into an X to block him.

You looked back into the sky, glad in this single moment that you had been right about at least one thing. Magneto wouldn’t give Xavier up in the end. Not without bloodshed anyway.

“You betray me?” Apocalypse asked, already turning to deal with Erik instead.

“No. I betrayed them.” Magneto unleashed hell then, every bit of metal he could pull shooting towards Apocalypse in an unending assault as the other raised a shield that incinerated each and every piece as it hit. But doing so clearly taxed him, allowing the perfect moment for the rest of you to join the battlefield.

You got to Peter almost simultaneously as Hank got to Raven. You and Beast were clearly in the same mindset of getting the injured out of the immediate firefight before you would join in.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, the Professor froze me,” You spoke in quick apology to Peter, using a small energy blast to break up the earth that had been hardened around his trapped foot. Once cracked, you broke the rest of it free just with your fingers.

He was obviously surprised, grateful, and maybe even confused all at once as you gently lifted him with the help of your powers. You wrapped his arm around your shoulders, trying to mind his broken leg as you helped support him while gliding over to a safer spot some distance away.

“Stay here.” You spoke, sitting him down so his back was against a mostly still standing wall to shelter them.

Hank was sitting Raven down in the same manner beside him as Peter suddenly spoke up to you. “Wait.”

You were still crouched in front of him, you’d been about to stand back up when his hand went around the back of your neck and pulled you in closer.

Before you could register anything else, you felt his lips press against yours. It was a bit harsh, desperate even, and then it was over just as fast as you pulled back in surprise.

“In case we don’t ever get to make it to that arcade,” he responded to your shocked expression that was still evident even in your energy form like this.

You took a breath, now was not the time for verbalizing any of this. But you wanted to show you agreed with the sentiment. You leaned back in, kissing him yourself for one longer moment, one hand gently cupping the side of his face before you stood back up. He allowed the contact readily and you could only wonder what it felt like to him when you were enveloped in light like this.

Hank and Raven just gave you both the most confused of looks, but nothing was said as you and Beast had then rushed back off to throw yourselves into the fight.

——————————

(Continued in next chapter here)

#quicksilver x reader #quicksilver x y/n #quicksilver x you #quicksilver #x men #marvel #peter maximoff #pietro maximoff #xmen #x men fanfiction #peter maximoff x oc #peter maximoff x you #peter maximoff x y/n #pietro maximoff x you #pietro maximoff x y/n #pietro maximoff x reader #xmen apocalypse #pietro maximoff x oc

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judesstfrancis · 3 years ago

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Hi hello could you tell us more about Benny and Val please bc they're very good and I'm love them

the thing about benny and val is that they are both hopeless romantics but in opposite directions. benny's heavy on the romantic and val is heavy on the hopeless, which is not a dig at val's character it's just how she feels. benny's got all the optimism in the world and val is....well, he's a little burnt out.

they meet bc a mutual friend, anaya, introduced them, which at the time was genuinely just an innocent interest to see if they would get along as friends bc honestly anaya worries about val sometimes. it's hard for val to make friends, for a multitude of reasons, but benny is the sweetest guy in the world and anaya is absolutely certain val can make friends with him in at LEAST 3 months. tops.

of course the more they hang out all together, the more anaya can tell that benny Likes val, capital-L and all, and she doesn't like to put words in val's mouth, but val seems like he could feel that way about benny. eventually. if he wanted to. anaya likes to meddle but she would never force val into anything just for the sake of her own matchmaking glory.

that being said she does orchestrate an accidental oops I got stuck in traffic! moment to try and speed things along in whatever direction val decides they're going in.

when it happens actually benny is kinda pissed. bc he and val are waiting around outside a restaurant waiting for anaya to show up and she calls about 5 minutes after some awkward two-word small talk to say "hey, funny story--" insert obvious lie there. and benny doesn't know val's whole deal yet, but he can tell when people are uncomfortable.

bc val is bad at making friends but it's not bc she hates everyone or anything. it's not even that she makes a bad impression! he's just quiet a lot of the time and he has a hard time pinpointing the transition from acquaintance to friend and all that makes it impossible for him to open up and start sharing things about himself. and she's had plenty of people leave her once she finally gets to the point where she does know where she stands, where she is comfortable, so she's never all that eager to let her guard down even when she does get comfortable.

and val likes benny at this point, she knows that. as a potential friend at least. he wouldn't quite call benny a friend yet, but he'd say it's getting there. he still needs anaya there as a buffer to grease the conversation. there's less pressure when she's there to get everything right bc at the end of the day she doesn't care if val might say something a little weird or different or if he might accidentally divulge something a little too personal.

anyway, like I said, benny can tell that val is uncomfortable when anaya cancels. anaya is generally late and benny has gotten used to the awkward two-word small talk that he and val always share while waiting for their friend to catch up. he finds it endearing. val never responds with a full sentence and she never keeps eye contact but she always answers. she's interested in the conversation she just. doesn't know how to keep it going, and it suits benny just fine to carry it.

when anaya cancels tho val just kinda. shuts off. he's quieter, his posture goes stiff, and he starts responding with sounds instead of words. devolves from a genuine "oh cool!" while flipping between looking at benny's nose and staring at a point just over benny's shoulder, to a distracted "hmm" while staring down at the ground, at a spot right in front of his shoes.

benny doesn't take it personally. obviously val isn't uncomfortable with him in general, she just doesn't like being left alone with people she doesn't know that well. he gets it--he still has a panic attack any time he has to make an appointment somewhere bc he doesn't know who's going to answer or if they're going to be mad at him for calling or laugh at him for calling them wrong, somehow, which isn't quite the same but it does mean he understands.

he is kinda mad tho, bc like. anaya is val's best friend. like, soulmate level. so she's gotta know this about him, right? and benny knows that anaya likes to meddle but...this is a bit much. she could have at least waited until she knew for certain that val was comfortable.

benny will kinda lay into anaya about this later and val will overhear and be equal parts bewildered and charmed by benny's frankly surprising (to her) willingness to make sure val is allowed to take things at whatever pace she wants.

but that's later! in the moment benny inconspicuously shoots off a text to his mom who immediately calls, no questions asked, and throws together a big dramatic story about why benny has to come help with the restaurant right now (benny's family owns a restaurant. it's cute) and benny is like oof yikes!! sorry val do u mind if we rain check??

and it is very obviously a lie but val is like kinda relieved so he doesn't push it. for a minute he entertains the idea that benny actually hates hanging out with him but he literally bought her the expensive ice cream in the novelty helmet at that one baseball game they went to so that can't be it. and then he overhears benny kinda laying into anaya about her meddling and he's like oh :) <3

anyway then the next time anaya ends up ditching them (for real this time not in a meddling way, she learned her lesson on that tactic), this time benny is very clearly like "we don't have to, if you don't want." bc he thinks val trusts him more, she's started talking more about herself to him and answering with more than a few words at a time, but he doesn't wanna push it. and val thinks for a minute before shaking her head and saying "no, it's fine. I was looking forward to talking to you today"

and they either have a picnic or go hang out in benny's family's restaurant, I haven't decided yet. either way it's cute and they are besties and they are falling in love <3

#this devolved into me detailing a very specific scene that happens Super early in their story but #hey! it's a scene that I think about often we love a man who notices and respects boundaries #like. imagine someone loving u so much they can pick apart the tiny differences in your reactions and they do not hesitate #to remedy the situation even without u telling them something is wrong bc they just Know. I am dissolving #benny last name pending my beloved <3 #asks #dartlekey #val&benny.txt #gabby writes

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queenof-literature · 4 years ago

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Something with Wind and Wild finding out Wild’s actually related to Wind? (It’s a personal hc of mine that they’re related due to vah medoh being named after Medli and the fact that there are rito in the first place + rito’s village theme being a variant of the dragon roost island theme)

Thank you for the prompt anon! That’s a fun headcanon and I did my best with it! I hope you enjoy!

I said in an announcement I’m putting shorter requests/drabbles in its own story and place in my masterlist to make things a bit more organized. Here’s the Ao3 link to that.

“When will we learn to stop trying to figure out the timeline.” Warriors deadpanned to Sky as he watched the others fight.

“Do we ever learn?” Sky replied, laughing at the sight before him. He supposed there were benefits to being the forger of the Master Sword. His place in the timeline was relatively solid.

“No, no, no. We all know there are different timelines, there has to be.” Hyrule waved his hands.

“Yes, and you and Legend are in the same one, we know that at least.” Four nodded.

“Why does it matter?” Wild whispered to Twilight.

“It doesn’t.” Twilight said simply.

“That’s funny coming from you! Legend pointed. “You have blood relation to prove your place in the timeline!”

“It’s Time’s fault for breaking the timeline in the first place.” Four accused.

“Hey! Blame the sages, not me.” Time spoke up, holding his hands up in defense.

“Do you know where you are in the timeline?” Twilight asked Wild curiously while the others fought around their campfire.

“It’s been 10,000 years since the last hero in my Hyrule.” Wild shrugged. “So, I mean, does it even matter in my timeline?”

“I’ve never been big on blood meaning everything, the people in Ordon are my family even though I was found in the woods. But if you’re curious, we may be able to figure it out.” Twilight assured. Wild never knew how he and the others somehow always knew what to say to him.

The truth was, Wild wasn’t sure that he wanted to know the answer. The group had helped him understand that the events of 100 years ago was out of his control, even if he had a hard time believing it sometimes. But he wasn’t stupid, he saw the forlorn gazes the others cast towards the ruins of his Hyrule. Castletown was a ghost of itself, even if Zelda had plans to begin rebuilding, it wouldn’t be the bustling city the other Links knew for a long time, perhaps with the small population of his Hyrule it never would be.

But he loved his Hyrule. He knew every inch of the land yet it still managed to surprise him. The land nurtured him, and he nurtured the land. He ensured monsters didn’t destroy nature, and nature forgave him for letting wildfires. He killed animals for food and ensured he used every part. The others could make fun of him all they wanted, but it was a mutual bond he longed for when he was far from it. To see the others look at it with such sad gazes after a long journey… he understood, but it hurt.

“Meh.” Wild answered. “If we happen to figure it out, then we figure it out.” Wild ignored the suspicious look Twi sent him. Wolf boy was too perceptive for his own good.

“Well Wild and I are obviously in similar timelines!” Wind, with ever impeccable timing, proclaimed.

“Don’t sound so sure.” Warriors challenged. “Don’t forget that almost your entire world is water.” Warriors said, as if Wind could forget that. As if Wind could forget that his entire kingdom of Hyrule flooded, the kingdom Time worked so hard to protect.

“Yeah, no shit!” Wind cursed to let out some steam. “But water dries, I’ve seen entire places in other Hyrules that used to be covered in water.”

“Those are lakes and rivers, not entire oceans.” Legend spoke up.

“Yeah but Wild has said before that the last hero came 10,000 years before him! Who knows what has happened since my time! And before the hero who knows how long it’s been since I was there!” Wind puffed out his chest.

“What makes you so sure it’s you anyway?” Hyrule asked.

“Easy! Our Koroks are practically identical! I mean evolution takes time right?” Wind asked with arms wide. “And Vah Medoh, that divine beast Wild told us about, sounds like Medli from the Rito in my world. And you guys don’t even have Rito! Maybe they originated in my Hyrule and continued on in Wild’s Hyrule! The music they play and their instruments are really similar!” As Wind kept listing off points, Wild didn’t know what to think. Wind? His predecessor? Perhaps even his blood? How was he supposed to react?

“And what does Wild think of this theory?” Sky raised an eyebrow. Despite his teasing tone, Wild knew Sky was making sure he wasn’t left out of this conversation, and it wasn't for the first time Wild was extremely grateful for Sky.

“Yeah Wild! What do you think?” Wind was practically vibrating with excitement and nerves. What did Wild think? He didn’t have any better theories, and besides, Wind made a lot of valid points. Wild bit his lip.

“W-well.” Shit, Wild could feel the words bubbling in his throat again. It’s been so long though! “I mean, I- well.” Wild tried to repeat what he had been thinking about, how Wind made great points and how the boy had obviously thought long and hard about this. Instead, with a frustrated huff, he raised his hands to sign, as usual he appreciated that no one interrupted him. ‘Sounds good to me.’ Wild signed simply, hoping his message came across well enough.

“Yes! I’m a grandfather!” Wind cried cheerfully, much to the shock of the other Links.

“We never agreed you were blood related-” Four tried to argue, only to be shushed by Wind.

“Shut it, sonny!” Wind pointed with a glare he most likely thought was threatening.

“You have to at least put a thousand ‘greats’ in front of that grandfather title.” Warriors lectured with an amused smirk.

“No one has time for that! I’m near the end of my life and you want me to waste time on that?” Wind shot back, as if they were the ones being ludicrous.

“Wind, you’re 14-”

“I’m old!” Wind cried out. “I’m decrepit! My joints ache! My knees pop every time I bend down!” Wind rambled.

“Looks like you’re being replaced.” Legend whispered to Time, who simply glared back. He did not sound like that!

Hyrule glanced towards Wild, slightly afraid this conversation would make him upset. Finding out where you were in the timeline was… odd. It was nice to know where you stood but the answer wasn’t always happy, or it wasn’t always what you wanted. Hyrule relaxed upon seeing Wild smiling and laughing at Wind’s antics with the rest of them, only getting louder as Wind continued on. Wait, didn’t this mean Wild was a part of Time’s line? And so Twilight’s as well? Oh well, better not go there tonight.

“Hey Wind?” Wild questioned turning in his bed roll to face the younger boy. The others had mostly turned in, and Wind had settled next to Wild’s bed roll, causing Wild’s chest to light up with an odd warmth.

“Yeah Wild?” Wind ceased his joking tone at Wild’s serious one.

“Are you… upset? That it's me who's your potential predecessor?” Wild asked hesitantly.

“Wild we’ve talked about this-”

“No, no, not that.” Wild really did not want to get into his, what Four called, ‘self esteem issues’. “But… I’ve seen the way you all look at my ruins. Aren’t you, you know, sad, that that’s what Hyrule turned into?” There was an awkward silence and Wild as glad Sky was probably far enough away for his watch he couldn’t hear them.

“Do you remember when we first got to my Hyrule, I mean the first time with you there?” Wind asked, and Wild didn’t see how this related but let the boy continue. “And you were stunned by how much water there was. I mean the look on your face.” Wind joked, but it was stiff and dry. “I was self conscious too. Especially with the Hero of Time there, I loved visiting my home but having Time there always made me nervous. I mean I was already suspecting that he was perhaps part of my timeline. What if he found out his Hyrule, the one he worked so hard to save, was flooded during my quest?”

“That wasn’t your fault-”

“I know.” Wind interrupted Wild, with a small smile that this time seemed genuine. “Still at the time, the way you were all were still talking about how much water there was, how irritating it was to go around on boats all the time, how odd it was that there were so few land masses. It scared me, I thought they all hated what their land had become.” Wild’s eyes widened in surprise. He never even knew…

“But Time knew something was wrong, of course he did. I couldn’t tell him yet, I had to be sure. I didn’t want him to know until I knew for sure, as excited as I was to meet the Hero of Time, I was so scared what he would think of me, of my Hyrule.” Wind’s voice trailed off into a whisper, and wrestled his arm out of his bed roll and placed it on Wind’s shoulder. That’s what he was supposed to do, right? He relaxed when Wind smiled and nodded in thanks.

“What he said, it stuck with me. I told him how I felt, how the others seemed to hate my Hyrule. You know what he said?” Wild knew it was a rhetorical question, still he shook his head. “He said ‘It’s not bad, it’s different.’ I know it's simple, but he’s right. We’re just not used to each other’s Hyrules, that includes you Wild. We’re not used to ruins, or Guardians, or insane lightning storms. But the giant mushrooms you have are amazing.” They weren’t really mushrooms, but it still caused Wild to smile. “And those super tall islands you showed us! And your Rito have an amazing village. You know how I see it?” Wind waited for Wild to tilt his head against his bed roll. “I think our Hyrules just prove that no matter what, we’ll endure. There’s been cataclysms, great floods, calamity, but no matter what, Hyrule finds a way. That’s pretty great, don’t you think?” Huh, Wild had never thought about it in that grand of a way. He knew that the people of Hyrule, all of them, Hylian or no, were strong. But Wind put it into perspective. Wild wondered if Wind knew how good he was. Just… good. A good kid, a good hero, a good person, a good brother. Just genuinely good. Wild didn’t know how to say that, especially without sounding patronizing, so he settled for something else.

“You’re right Wind, thank you.” Wind knew the words were simple, but the emotion behind them got Wild’s point across perfectly. Wind smiled brightly.

“That’s Grandpa Wind to you.” Wild had to muffle his laughter in his bed roll.

~~~

This turned out a lot more fluffy/little angsty I hope that’s alright anon! Thank you for reading all, I hope you enjoyed!

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 years ago

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Little thing that I've found really sweet while listening to The Bugle: When Andy Zaltzman got the job of BBC News Quiz host in 2020, Nish Kumar made a point of, to borrow a phrase from the kids, hyping him up. And Nish was up against him for that job. When Miles Jupp left that job in 2020, I was already subscribed to the BBC Friday Night Comedy podcast, getting each new episode of The News Quiz and The Now Show. I’d been subscribed to that for years – long enough so I was genuinely upset in 2015, when Sandi Toksvig left and was replaced with Jupp.

In 2020, Miles left and they gave short seasons to three regular guests who were potential replacements: Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes, and Andy Zaltzman. I know those trials runs happened in spring 2020, because that’s when Kier Starmer took over the Labour Party from Jeremy Corbyn. I remember Angela Barnes saying it’s difficult to match up in the eyes of the public when you’re taking over from a popular far left predecessor, but enough about Nish Kumar and she’ll try to do a good job anyway (since Nish had done his episodes as host right before her). I remember that joke because it made me laugh out loud in a grocery store and people looked at me funny.

Those three hosted a few weeks each, and I enjoyed them all. But, if I’m really, really honest, I preferred Nish or Angela over Andy. I don’t know if I can fully explain why, now that I’ve listened to The Bugle and realized that Andy Zaltzman is one of the great geniuses of our time, and I use that phrase a bit hyperbolically, but honestly not that hyperbolically. Before getting into The Bugle, I’d known him for years as a News Quiz guest, and then I knew him for a bit as a News Quiz host. And I liked him fine, I just didn’t like him as much as I liked Angela or Nish. Because The News Quiz did not give him the space he needed to fully show off his abilities. It took the more open format of The Bugle for me to see that.

Anyway, that’s what happened. The News Quiz let those three host a few weeks each, and then they ended up giving the permanent job to Andy Zaltzman. Honestly, there was a discrepancy in how much they each needed/wanted the job. Nish, at the time, had The Mash Report. Angela was a borderline regular on Mock the Week. Andy was less represented on TV than they were, this was a bigger thing for him then for the others, compared to what else he'd done. But still, even by the standards of people who had TV work, The News Quiz is a flagship show and being out in charge of it was a big deal.

In the first episode that Nish Kumar did after Andy got that job, Nish was asked at the end what he wanted to plug. He said he wanted to plug Andy Zaltzman’s News Quiz, because that is a great show, and Andy just got put in charge of it, and getting that job is a big deal because it’s the gold standard for British radio comedy, and we should all be happy for Andy for getting it and go listen to it to support him.

Andy actually sounded a little awkward in reply because he hasn't plugged it that hard himself, it sounded like Nish knew Andy was going to be modest about it and wanted to make sure someone told the listeners what a big deal it was. Like Nish knew Andy Zaltzman was the best of them, was sorry to see him overlooked by mainstream stuff for so long, and was genuinely excited for him to get that success, even though he beat Nish to the job.

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imagining-in-the-margins · 5 years ago

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Here to Misbehave (Pt. 4 | S.R.)

Summary: Spencer and Reader go on their first date. Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader Category: Smut (NSFW 18+) Content Warning: Adults w/ Age Gap (10yr), exhibitionism, masturbation, fingering, spanking, penetrative sex, Prof/Student fantasy Word Count: 8.3k

MASTERLIST | Series Masterlist

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When I was younger, I hated going to museums. Granted, I'd only ever really had the opportunity to go during school field trips. The crackling, barely coherent ramblings of a stranger through a loudspeaker had never been my idea of fun.

In fact, I'd been to that exact museum before. But the present time was a little different. That time, I was enthralled with the objects on the other side of the glass. With wide eyes and childlike wonder revived, I was hanging on every word out of Spencer's mouth.

I knew the guy was probably a genius, but I had no idea how much of a genius he was until he was recounting the entire history of civilization like he'd been reading straight from an encyclopedia. He looked like a hilarious mix of proud and embarrassed when he finally admitted his IQ. Meanwhile, I had to admit that I not only had no fuckin' clue what my IQ was, I was certain it was significantly lower than his.

He didn't seem to mind.

In a way, I thought it was strange when he told me he wanted to bring me to a place like that. After all, I'd told him I wanted to learn more about him. I figured a museum would teach me about everything else, not him.

But seeing him in this environment told me more about him than I ever could have imagined. I learned about his avid love for the most trivial facts, the way his inflection changed when he got excited, and that despite reading probably hundreds of thousands of books, his hunger for knowledge was still very much alive and well.

Most of all, I learned that Spencer Reid was unlike any man I'd ever seen before.

It was a bad idea. Because when we finally made our way out of the final exhibit, I didn't want to leave. Not even close. If you'd told my mother I spent several hours in a museum and didn't want to leave, she'd never believe you.

"Hey, so..." I started, pausing outside the gift shop on our way out. "It's almost 5. Did you want to grab dinner before we head back? I have worked up quite the appetite listening to you for the past 4 hours."

"Has it really been that long?" he asked incredulously before glancing down at his watch wrapped over his shirt.

I tried very hard, and failed, to suppress a giggle at the habit.

"I'm honestly surprised you still have spit left in your mouth," I joked as I swayed closer to him, almost enough to touch him.

"Ha ha, very funny," he replied. A slight pout formed on his face. I almost enjoyed the swapped roles; it wasn't often that he was the one who looked so forlorn.

"Come on, I'm joking!" I laughed before slipping my arm around his and pulling him closer to me.

Spencer glanced down in surprise, staring at my chest that was now fully pressed against his arm. Although, the way he looked at me was nothing compared to the response he'd given after I showed up in a pleated skirt that better belonged on a Catholic schoolgirl.

But I mean, like I'd said, I used to go there on school trips. It was only fair.

"I love listening to you talk, Spencer. You know that."

The speed with which he looked away when I finished talking was enough to tell me that I had said the wrong thing. His goofy, playful demeanor vanished so quickly, I'd almost gotten whiplash. He didn't remove his arm, instead clearing his throat and pulling out a brochure from his pocket to look at nearby places to eat.

A bit reserved, he asked if I was interested in one of the closer casual restaurants, to which I agreed. At that point, I removed myself from his side and was only a little surprised to see the way his body immediately relaxed.

I wanted to believe he just didn't like to be touched, which I was certain was true, but he was behaving differently with me than he had before. We'd touched in public before, a lot more than that, and we'd known each other a lot less!

But of course, that was probably why. The closer we got, the farther away he felt.

The walk to the restaurant was slightly awkward, so after a moment I decided to break the silence.

"You said you grew up in Vegas, right?"

"Yeah, until I moved to go to school," he explained, looking around at the surroundings of the D.C. crowds winding down rather than turning his attention back to me.

At least I was finally learning more about him.

"Where did you go?"

"Caltech."

He was keeping his answers short, but I feel like he might still be a little embarrassed at my little jab at the museum. That was fine, I knew ways to make him talk. I clasped my hands behind me as I walked by his side, still tempted to touch him somehow, however ill advised.

"Was it hard being away from your family? That's a few hours away, isn't it?"

He laughed awkwardly, a sure sign that I'd forgotten that him and I come from different worlds.

"Well, I was barely 13, so... My mom was kind of legally obligated to follow me."

He was so cute, and he definitely wasn't aware of it.

"Right, sorry, forgot about the genius thing for a minute. Don't know how."

The smile he returned was genuine, which helped my guilt for bothering him yet again. But in my defense, it was easy to do when he was a literal genius and I was barely scraping by half the time.

As we arrived, we were seated in a booth near the back of the restaurant. I offered him the booth with a view of the door because I'd figured he would want it. He gave me a strange side glance at my assumption, like I was hiding something from him that would grant me the knowledge that it would be more comfortable for him to be able to see the door.

I didn't want to talk about how I knew that, though.

Instead, I asked, "Do you like it here? In Virginia?"

He nodded as he flipped open the menu, speaking almost scripted answers absentmindedly, "I do, but mostly because it's been so long that everyone I know is here."

I'd already been here before, so I didn't bother looking at the menu. Naturally, he'd only required a few seconds to read it. When he made eye contact again, I spoke through my thoughts.

"You said you're a profiler for the..."

"Behavioral Analysis Unit."

His tone was a mix of pride and nerves, which immediately made me nervous.

"I haven't looked it up yet because I'm scared about what I might find. What do you guys do, exactly?"

The server brought us drinks just in time to pause his answer, which he seemed to appreciate. I figured it was either a tough job to explain, or he didn't want to share that part of his life with me just yet (or, potentially, ever).

Spencer lowered his voice like he usually did when he talked about work.

"We profile the behavior of serial killers. Sometimes for research, but mostly to assist local police in catching them."

"Oh..." I started, stopping mid-sip of my drink. It was a lot to take in at once. "So... yeah, I'm glad I didn't google it."

He scrunched his mouth in that unsure way, like he wanted to explain to me how he really felt about his job. Something in the bags under his eyes told me he hasn't talked about this in a long time. At least, not like he should. But he didn't talk about it. He looked away, opting to say nothing at all.

"Doesn't it get to you?" I pushed, trying to offer him the platform to talk about the thing that no doubt consumes most of his life.

"Does what get to me?" His voice sounded so far away.

"Spencer, when I met you, you were whisked away at the crack of dawn to go talk about serial killers. On a weekend. The second time you showed up at my place after clearly not having slept, I'm guessing straight from work..."

His eyes narrowed as I spoke, like I was talking from a tightrope that I could plummet off any second. He seemed scared that I would speak something into existence he wasn't ready to face himself.

"You're surrounded by evil all the time. You're responsible for learning, recognizing, and manipulating evil. That can't be easy."

Spencer's eyes were glazed over in a way I couldn't describe. He seemed defensive, steeled, and absolutely terrified. He wouldn't look me in the eyes, opting instead to stare down at the menu in front of him.

He shrugged as he halfheartedly concluded, "I guess that's one way to look at it. We also get to see a lot of good."

"Yeah..." I nodded solemnly, recognizing the dismissive thoughts from my own experience.

He was downplaying the great likelihood of traumatic memories he carried, as if he could will away the damage. Like it would stop existing if he could convince himself it wasn't that bad.

I wondered what had happened to him on the job for him to already have forgotten that things didn't have to be the worst possible to matter. That he still deserved better. That hurt does not require permission.

I couldn't stop myself, needing to see how he reacted when I continued, "But which do you see more of?"

I never got my answer. The server once again saved him from a conversation that got away from him. The presence of a third, impartial person shifted the mood back to what it was in the museum. I wondered how much was an act, both back then and in that moment.

Deciding it best not to dwell on the thought, I tried to forget about the darkness brewing in those coffee colored eyes. Once our orders were in, he turned his attention to the cocktail menu still laying in the middle of the table with a smile.

"I'm almost surprised you didn't try to order alcohol," he half-joked.

I leaned forward on the table, bringing a hand up to my mouth and whispering, "I heard there might be an undercover fed here, so, never can be too safe."

The bubbly, childish laugh that followed renewed my faith in him. He had that kind of infectious laugh that made you forget that badness existed at all. Once our ruckus had died down, he looked at me with the softness that had drawn me to him in the first place.

"You're cute."

When the words registered in my mind, I couldn't believe I'd heard them. The way his expression changed shortly after the words left his mouth told me he hadn't meant to say them aloud. But their effect on me was not at all stifled by his momentary lapse in judgment.

I'd wondered if it was getting hotter in the building, or if it was just my nerves getting the best of me. But it wasn't bothering Spencer, who was about to down yet another cup of coffee in front of him. I cleared my throat, trying to not look like a schoolgirl whose crush had just checked 'yes' on a note asking if he liked me.

Pointing to the mug in front of him, I joked, "How do you sleep?"

"Honestly? I usually don't."

That was the goofy overly literal dork I wanted to see more of.

"I can think of one way to wear you out," I suggested, lifting my leg to press the top of my foot against his leg under the booth.

He raised his eyebrows, giving a simple glance down to acknowledge the contact. Then his eyes were back on me, staring deeply with a hunger that would not be satisfied by whatever dish they brought out to us.

"I can think of several."

Humming cheerfully, I continued to run my foot up and down his leg. My cheeks flushed with my growing desire that I'd managed to put off for several hours. I was honestly shocked that I'd spent the whole day with this man, and only then thought about sleeping with him.

"It's too bad we can't," I pouted. "My roommate is back in town. Not sure she'd appreciate all the noise."

That time as my foot drew up his leg, he shifted in his seat so that his legs moved closer to me, extending the contact for a few seconds longer.

"Not to mention, I don't think you'd like to deal with several 20-year-olds."

The way he behaved whenever I pointed out my age was endlessly entertaining. That time, though, he seemed significantly less bothered.

"One is already borderline for me," he teased back.

I gasped, clutching at my chest as I batted my eyelashes just dramatically enough to showcase my pride.

"You flatter me, Dr. Reid."

He almost choked on his coffee as he stifled a chuckle, putting it down as he shook his head.

"Only you would take that as a compliment."

Recognizing this repartee as the foreplay it had always accompanied, I leaned forward on my elbows towards him. He immediately mirrored the movement, putting our faces much closer to each other than they'd been all day.

"What can I say? I enjoy being a challenge."

"Yes, you do." He hadn't even thought about it, responding almost instantaneously, suggesting once more that he could actually read my mind.

"How are you so good at that?" I kept the question vague on purpose.

He didn't fall for it.

"I'm good at a lot of things. Which are you referring to?"

What a cocky bastard. A very handsome, ridiculously sexy, dork of a bastard.

But he wasn't the only one at the table that knew how to get someone hot and bothered.

"Your humility is my favorite part, Dr. Reid." I stuck my tongue out at the end of the sentiment, a cheeky grin that reflected on him just as quickly.

"Quoting me? That's bold."

Deciding it had been too long since I had touched him, I lifted my hand to press a single finger against his chest as I taunted, "You aren't the only person with a good memory."

He leaned back at this point, backing away from my finger and the heated exchange.

"I don't have a good memory. I have an eidetic memory."

He had been very proud of that fact earlier when I asked him why the hell he was able to list off every single word from a museum display we'd seen an hour earlier. I'd asked him if it was the same as a photographic memory, and he'd gone on a rant about the pejorative connotations of the term. I wasn't going to go down that rabbit hole again today.

Instead, I took the same hand that had touched him moments before, curling all but one finger into a fist.

"So you'll be able to remember this forever?" I cooed as I held up my middle finger.

"I'll just file that away with the most important memories, like birthdays and the works of Arthur Conan Doyle," he sighed in response, graciously admitting defeat.

I was not brave enough to tell him I had no idea who that was, but I was sure I'd learn one day. That one, I thought, was probably safe to google. While he filed away my crude gesture, I filed away yet another fun fact to surprise him with later.

"You are, by far, the most interesting person I've ever met," I implored, to which he immediately shot back, "I could say the same about you. And I regularly talk to serial killers."

Touché, Dr. Reid.

"I'm flattered," was the last word I got in edgewise before our food arrived.

The rest of our time in the restaurant went very similarly, with teasing comments that built the sexual tension that was already too big for this tiny room. Our legs never stopped touching throughout the entire meal. Maybe that was why, when it was finally time to leave, we both felt a strange mixture of excited and sad. Once we were no longer behind the booth, it was back to pretending like we weren't constantly trying not to pounce on the other.

The walk to the metro was equal parts long and tense. At one point I'd swayed closer to him than I intended, and our sides brushed up against one another. Unlike before in the museum, he hadn't moved away. I couldn't believe something so minuscule could made me so happy.

The metro was more crowded than I'd anticipated. The fact that the station is underground was usually enough to make me feel a little claustrophobic, but the number of people bustling around me felt especially overwhelming. I couldn't help but chastise myself for having worn a skirt, considering the stark number of perverted men in places like these.

Spencer's touch woke me from my reverie. His arm had wrapped around my lower back with such unassuming delicacy, I'd hardly registered it at first. He was looking down at me with concern covering his features as he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry, there's a lot of people here."

I had one hand holding my skirt down against my leg, the other crossed over my chest.

"Makes me nervous," I further explained.

"Can I help?"

Even though he was offering, I could tell the crowds bothered him just as much. Thankfully, his presence was enough for me.

"You already are."

There was something so calming about his presence that was hard to explain. It wasn't his ability to physically protect me, considering he didn't have his weapon with him most of the time I was with him. It wasn't his emotional availability (or lack thereof). It was more like he exuded some chemical that made me docile. It was hard to explain.

I just liked him, okay?

When our train pulled in it was relatively crowded, but we managed to grab two seats near the back of a car. I sighed in relief as I plopped down into the plastic chair, happy to finally be able to rest my legs.

With Spencer on the aisle seat and us on our way back to Franconia Springfield Station, I let myself relax. My head dropped down onto his shoulder without much thought, and my entire body slumped over with it.

"How am I supposed to stay awake for this when you're so comfy?" I mumbled, looking down at the hem of my pleated skirt as I fiddled with it.

"That certainly sounds like quite the predicament," he said in what I assume was jest.

He sat up, bumping my head off his shoulder for a moment. I interpreted it to be a subtle way of telling me not to do it, but once he had shrugged off his cardigan, he looked at me like he was confused I hadn't resumed the position.

Armed with a simper, I cuddled up even closer this time, wrapping my arms around his and resting my cheek against his shoulder. I wasn't sure why he had gotten so open to touch, but I wasn't going to complain.

He didn't say anything when he draped his cardigan over my lap, covering my knees peeking out from under my skirt. A nice gesture, I thought as my body instinctively gravitated towards him. It wasn't until I closed my eyes that the pieces started to come together.

I was on the metro, in a skirt, with Spencer Reid's hand slowly but surely inching up my thigh.

My eyes shot open, and I tensed my grip around his arm. It was the only thing I did to betray my otherwise composed and unassuming position.

His breath was hot on my ear as he leaned over to me and began to whisper, "Do you know the idea that people fall asleep after sex is less true for women than men? Many speculate it's because women are just neglected in bed, but that's not quite it."

I didn't dare respond, hardly trusting myself to breathe as his hand continued to move closer to me.

"Both sexes do release the same chemicals during orgasm. Oxytocin to stimulate smooth muscle contraction and initiate the need to bond, prolactin to relieve arousal and signal satiation, and the leftover gamma aminobutyric acid, dopamine, and serotonin..."

I couldn't understand how he'd managed to make the lecture sound sexy, but I was too lost in the sound of his voice to bother thinking about it then.

"Still, women are less likely to fall asleep. Sure, they typically exert less physical energy during sex, but what about those women like you with a penchant for going for a ride?"

A woozy, lovesick smile spread across my face at the reference to our first encounter.

"Those women might still stay awake for longer and may actually be more invigorated after reaching climax. And it's all thanks to their naturally lessened refractory period."

I nodded dumbly, gasping lightly once I felt his fingers make contact through the flimsy cotton of my underwear.

"Which might sound like a curse. But it's not. It means that those lucky women can reach multiple orgasms in succession. Some partners just aren't willing to put in that kind of effort," he continued, tracing a finger up and down my folds through the fabric.

"But I'm not one of them."

His words were strong, and I buried my face into his shoulder, trying not to alert the entire car what was happening underneath his cardigan.

"I would much rather watch you come undone. Again, and again, and again. I want to make sure that when I'm done with you, you can't keep your eyes open."

My breath was getting quicker, and I let out a small squeak against his shirt as he pressed down on the bundle of nerves at my center, drawing circles around it.

"That being said, if you need something to keep you awake, I do have a solution. But if you make a single noise, I will stop."

I had to bite down hard on my bottom lip to prevent any noise from slipping out. My legs were wavering between opening and closing as I tried to keep them apart. I could feel how damp I was getting. My hips were moving with a mind of their own, rocking toward his hand. It took all of my concentration not to give us away.

I choked on my breath as a sly finger snuck into the side of my underwear, allowing entrance to the others that followed.

"Shhh," he hushed, pressing a soft kiss on the top of my head. Underneath my skirt, though, he was much less chaste. Slipping two fingers into my heat, I could have sworn I heard him laugh from above me.

I didn't dare look at him, nervous that the moment I did, I would lose all control.

"I had no idea it would be so easy to get you to follow directions. Are you that worried you might get caught?"

He could feel my heartbeat against his arm. He must have been able to, because I was suffocating against his arm. My hands clenched around him like he was the only lifeline in an ocean of pleasure.

"Imagine what they would think if they knew what you let me do to you. What you beg me to do to you."

My legs were beginning to tremble around him as he stroked me from the inside. All I could feel was him. His hands, his breath, his words.

"Is that why you wore this skirt? A naughty little schoolgirl fantasizing about an older man touching you like this?"

He quickened the pace of thrusting into me, his words getting more insistent as the train was almost empty now, closing in on our stop.

"Is it everything you thought it would be? No. Can't be. You wish there was something else of mine in between your legs."

I couldn't explain how, but my climax snuck up on me. When it happened, it smashed into me like a wave crashing onto the shore. I gasped for breath against his arm, and he thankfully took mercy on me. Despite definitely making a noise, he continued his motions, palming at the crest of my folds to give me one last boost of stimulation.

I shook around him, my thighs tightening onto his arm as I finally found release. I could hear the announcement calling for our station, but it felt worlds away. Still, Spencer pulled his hand out from underneath our pile of clothes, wiping the evidence of our escapade against the inside of my skirt before also removing his arm from underneath my tight grip.

"Son of a bitch," I puffed, relaxing all my muscles at once as I tried to retain control over my pulse. I could barely think straight.

"You're welcome," he beamed, as if he hadn't just gone full dominant as he finger fucked me on the metro.

I didn't understand how the hell he expected me to get up and walk off like nothing happene, but somehow, I managed. I stood with wobbly legs and a flustered state of mind until he linked his arm with mine and led me off the car and into the station. I clung to the assistance, grateful that he was once again taking pity on me.

However, it felt like it wouldn't last long. Once we'd gotten to his car, he helped me in before climbing into the driver's seat. It was silent for a moment, like he wanted me to ask him a question that I wasn't willing to ask.

I didn't want the night to be over, but if he asked me if I was ready to go home, I'd have to say yes. After all, it wasn't proper form to invite myself to his apartment. Especially with how weird he got whenever I got close to him.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

The pity was gone.

I didn't think before I spoke, immediately responding as a joke, "Not unless it's yours."

The silence was back.

Oops.

I realized that I'd spoken out loud at the same time he delivered his response; I was going to stop him, but he was too quick.

"My place it is, then."

I couldn't help but smile, my cheeks burning as I asked quietly, like my volume might change his mind, "Really?"

"Sure, why not?"

I didn't have an answer. We didn't talk for a moment, enjoying the contented silence as I texted my roommate to tell her that I was going to be late home, if I came at all. I was hoping for the latter. Once that was sent off, I returned my gaze to the man paying almost full attention to the road.

"You know, I have to get you back for what you did back there."

He smirked, not breaking away from the road as he replied, "I did you a favor."

"A cruel favor," I whined, turning in my chair as I buckled my seat belt so I could get closer to him.

"No such thing," he corrected, although I think we both knew there very well could be such a thing.

"Uh-huh."

I watched him for a moment, trying to decide the best way to get back at him. I could always try the most relevant payback...

He didn't even notice my hand reaching out until it was already sliding up his thigh at a rapid pace.

"What are you doing?" he asked, as if it weren't already obvious.

"Getting you back," I snickered as I finally made it up his leg, palming the quickly forming erection under his pants.

"I'm driving!" His voice was so high pitched it was heartwarming. It was like our roles had switched, even just for a second.

"I'm not stopping you from driving!"

Obviously trying to compose himself, he grabbed my wrist and held it in the air and out of reach of him.

"Unless you want to crash this car, you'd better wait until we get back to my place."

It was a valid warning, but not one I wanted to hear.

"Spoil sport."

"At least you're alive!"

It was back to the sexual tension from before in the restaurant. I wanted to touch him, and I was guessing based on the visible tent in his pants, he wanted me. So, I got to thinking, and I figured that if I wasn't allowed to touch him, that only left one other person.

"... What are you doing?"

It was a valid question. He'd glanced over to see my hand traveling up my own skirt as I parted my legs just enough to maneuver beneath my underwear.

"Nothing," I hummed, now looking at him with half-lidded eyes as I rocked forward onto my hand.

"That's cruel." He sounded so devastated to see that I was doing what he couldn't, despite the fact he had his hand in this exact spot not that long ago.

My fingers dipped between my folds, collecting the remnants of the orgasm he had given me as I crooned, "What? You said I couldn't touch you while you're driving. I'm not touching you. You're welcome."

I opened my eyes just enough to see the way he tightened his grip on the steering wheel while trying not to look at me. Couldn't drive distracted. That was the entire reason why I was touching myself and not him.

"Unless, of course, you do consider this part of me as your property. In which case, I'm not going to stop, anyway," I snickered.

Rewarding myself with a soft moan, I tried to prolong the experience the best I could. It was hard when every couple of seconds he would look over at me. I hadn't thought that I would find his anger that attractive, but there I was, coming apart at the seams already based on nothing but a look.

He was thoroughly unamused, which only egged me on, honestly. I didn't care if I was being overdramatic as I touched myself, I wanted him to think about what he was missing. Which was why I didn't stop myself from moaning. Pants and gasps echoed throughout the car as I picked up my pace.

"I hope you're ready for the consequences of this very poorly thought out decision."

On the contrary, Spencer. I had very clearly thought it through. I was thinking it so clearly I could picture his hands where mine were, among other parts of him.

Thinking about how to dig an even deeper hole for myself, I found the perfect mechanism.

"Mmm, Professor Reid," I cried, recognizing that it would either infuriate him or bring him a great sense of pride. I was fine with either.

I closed my eyes so I could better envision the fantasy that was actually just a memory. For now. With my eyes closed, I couldn't tell much of what was going on outside of my touch, trying to ignore the man beside me as best as I could. I wanted him to suffer.

Spencer, however, had other plans. With both eyes still on the road, his hand had found its way to my legs, where it shot up to join mine. He removed my hand quickly and replaced it with his own.

There was no subtlety or warm up this time. Without any hesitation, he dipped a finger into my heat just to remove it and begin rubbing harsh circles over my clit. I couldn't stop the yell that resulted, and seconds later I came undone against him.

As soon as the spasming stopped, he removed his hand, not speaking a word or even looking at me. I'd realized at that point that he'd only finished me off because he hadn't wanted to grant me the satisfaction of doing it myself. He was asserting that yes, in some sense, he viewed this as a part of his property.

I was oddly okay with that.

"Is the silent treatment my punishment?" I asked with a pout after a few moments of nothing.

He laughed bitterly back, finally looking at me for a moment before vaguely replying, "No. Your punishment will be much more fun for me."

I had to admit the implication that the silent treatment wasn't fun for him was flattering, at least. I was glad to hear that he enjoyed talking to me as much as I enjoyed listening to him talk.

But for the moment, I was sort of exhausted. Not in the way that would make me fall asleep, but in the I-just-had-two-orgasms-let-me-recoup way. Even though we enjoyed talking, those moments were refreshing in their own way. The best kind of connections were the ones that could always be maintained, even in the quiet.

Despite it not being my punishment, Spencer remained fairly quiet the rest of the way home. I wondered if part of that was due to him brewing a plan for what would happen when we got there.

God, I hoped so.

As we pulled up to the nondescript building, I had to admit I was a bit disappointed to find Spencer didn't live in some whimsical fantasy like I'd always envisioned. The building looked like every other one. But, at the same time, I couldn't want to see the inside. If I had to bet, there would be a lot of books and a stark lack of computers.

Walking into Apt #23, I was only a little surprised by what I saw. The warm green tones of his walls were complimented by red and brown accents, and my theory was quickly proven correct.

"Whoa," I mumbled under my breath, "It's like a library."

"You must go to some pretty small libraries, then."

I rolled my eyes. Like his usual attempts at humility, Spencer failed horribly.

I spun around on my heels to face him, but at the same time as I heard the lock flip into place, I felt his hand around my arm. Spencer's movements were quick as he gripped tightly on my wrist and pulled me towards what I could only assume was his bedroom.

Weirdly, I was still trying to take in my surroundings rather than focus on fucking him. It made sense, I figured. I had already experienced two orgasms today, whereas he had none.

Oops. Guess I really was a spoiled brat.

But seriously—I was in his apartment! I wanted to snoop, dammit!

Spencer wasn't going to give me an opportunity, though. He'd even made a point of shutting the door to his room once we were inside. Something told me he would keep a close eye on me as long as he could. That was probably deserved, considering that within the first few hours of interacting with him, I had answered a call from his boss.

In my defense, it had been fucking hilarious.

He led me to stand in front of him, and out of instinct and habit, I moved forward to kiss him. I never made it to his lips, though. Spencer pushed me aside toward the bed, and I laughed as I leaned over it, making a point of flipping up the back of my skirt.

"I've been bad, Professor," I giggled, turning to glance back at him from the position I had happily assumed without being told.

He had that dark fire in his eyes that usually came before a storm.

He looked like he was ready to break me. I was ready to be broken.

"Are you going to teach me another biology lesson?"

When his hands touched me, they were as tender as ever. He caressed my hips where I had turned the skirt up, hooking his fingers around the waistband of the underwear and casually removing them.

"No, I'm afraid not."

He sounded delighted despite the words he spoke.

"This will be a very different kind of lesson."

Oh, I realized all at once.

"A lesson in discipline?" I inquired, swaying my hips underneath his hands and waiting for confirmation.

The loss of his hand on one side caused anticipation to build. I could hear the sound of blood rushing in my ears.

It was hard to tell which happened first. Instantaneously, his hand came down hard on the soft skin of my backside as he responded, "Yes."

The adrenaline that coursed through my veins in response shook any feelings of fatigue I might have sustained throughout the day. I welcomed his body heat against my back as he leaned forward against me, and used his weight to press me down into his bed.

"Unless you've changed your mind."

"No!" I shouted back much too forcefully before gripping onto the sheets in front of me. "I deserve to be punished, Professor Reid."

He withdrew from me and, within seconds, brought his hand down on me again, that time striking the other side. The snapping sound of the contact was enough to elicit a response. I clamped my legs together and gave a soft mewl. Appreciating my vocal response, the next two hits came in rapid succession. I could feel the warmth building in the skin, the breeze from the motions acted as a buffer for the delicious sting.

He roughly grabbed both cheeks in front of him, for no reason other than wanting to. I groaned at the sensation of the tender flesh being handled, which only led him to release one to smack it once more. He followed with the other, appreciating the balance required of this particular punishment. I wasn't going to stop him. I was happy to continue. But something told me that he was breaching the point of comfort in his own conscience.

He was always so worried he would break me. I couldn't say it wasn't endearing. That didn't stop him from giving each side one more forceful blow, however, which earned him a mangled cry from deep in my chest. His body was against mine again, one of his hands reaching around to tilt my head up, despite not being able to see him. I was beginning to think he just enjoyed manipulating my body at will. To see how far I would let him.

"I think you're starting to get it, (y/n)."

"Yes," I responded, not caring if it didn't make much sense in response.

Despite the fact he'd already finished me twice today, I somehow already wanted him again. Maybe it was the allure of finally being able to fuck him in his own bed, or maybe it was the desire to see him fall apart as a reminder that I'm not the only one desperate for the other's touch.

So quickly he returned to the gentle, barely there traces along my skin.

"Punishment looks good on you," he praised, and something about the way he said it filled me with pride.

"You look good on me, too, sir," I slurred as he continued to draw feathery markings on the abused skin. He chuckled, finally moving up along my back before I interrupted his thoughts and appreciation once more.

"Fuck me," I begged. I wanted him and didn't care how I got it. "Let me help you feel good."

The hands that had inflicted pain moments ago were now gently massaging my shoulders through my top. I sighed, relaxing further into his touch. So easily I had become complacent to his desire. I let him do whatever he wanted, trusting that he would never do anything to truly, honestly hurt me.

"Something tells me you're more interested in making yourself feel good," he asserted — quite correctly.

"Can't we have both?"

His silence told me he was considering my words. I knew that he didn't want to, since that would ruin the whole idea that this was a punishment in the first place. Then again, I didn't think he was fully committed to that idea anyway.

Dragging his hands once more down the plane of my back, he stopped to grip my hips and shift me backwards until I was pressed against him.

"You're lucky you look so fucking cute in that skirt," he growled.

I felt dizzy again already, drowning in the way his bed smelled like him.

"Mmm, I wore it just for you," I admitted, rubbing myself gently against his crotch now pressing into my bottom.

"Smart girl," he responded.

It felt like I was in a dream, to be there with him like that. For a long time, I'd thought I'd never see him again, let alone be laying on his bed.

I could hear him stripping behind me, and I peeked over my shoulder with a modest smile.

Time was not moving fast enough, I thought, but it was also moving too fast. Because as badly as I wanted him to ravish me, I was afraid what would happen when it was over.

I couldn't think about that in that moment, though.

Once he reached into his nightstand, I giggled with anticipation. He raised his eyebrows at me, unable to contain his own laughter.

"Oh, you're happy with yourself, huh?"

"A little bit, yeah."

When he returned to me, his hands were still gentle as they pushed my skirt back up where it had fallen. He revealed my body to himself, and I didn't have to be able to see it to know that my arousal spread down my inner thighs. I had, after all, already had two orgasms before now thanks to the man behind me.

"I'm also pretty happy with you," he whispered as he leaned over me.

With no warning, he fully entered me with one swift thrust. I whimpered at the feeling of him hitting against angered skin, mixed with the pleasure of being full once again. I clutched at the sheets and wished that they were him, wishing that I could somehow be even closer to him than I already was.

"We'll see if you still feel like smiling after I'm done with you."

It was the last thing he said before he began to ruthlessly pound into me. I struggled to scream as loudly as I wanted to, but I couldn't make any noise at all. My body seemed to have relented all control to him within seconds; I didn't put up a single battle. Although his grasp held me in place, I still attempted to cant my hips forward to allow him better access.

My chest and face were warm with friction from rubbing against the bed, and my knuckles were blanched from the force exerted to try and remain grounded. Each movement seemed so purposeful, much like the way he thrashed at my skin with his hand.

"Fuck me," were the first words I managed to string together.

With one forceful thrust, he held me down on him as all the moans I couldn't make previously came pouring out of me. I thought I might actually cry from how overstimulated the day was becoming. Seemingly reading my mind, Spencer pulled out of me entirely. I tried to reorient myself, but he stopped me. Using one hand to grab hold of my arm, he flipped me onto my back beneath him.

I hadn't even realized I was still wearing basically all of my clothes until he had to force my skirt back up again. Missing him between my legs, I began to crave him everywhere else, too. I struggled to pull my shirt over my head.

Spencer didn't stop me, just watching while he playfully rubbed his arousal at my entrance.

"Please, sir," I pleaded once I was finally able to lift my legs. I wrapped them around his hips and pulled him closer to me without letting him slip into me just yet.

"Just as impatient and needy as ever, (y/n)."

I chewed on my bottom lip, looking up at him with the puppy dog eyes that had always worked on him up to that point. It must have worked again, because he was sinking back into me before I knew it. My arms spread out across the bed, holding onto whatever I could reach as he set another brutal pace.

Our bodies melding together in a chaotic fusion of skin and fluids, I let myself get lost in the bliss of Spencer Reid laying claim to my body. I threw my head back, my eyes clamped shut as one of his hands came up to caress one of my breasts through my lacy bra.

"With undergarments like this, I have to wonder if you planned this all, young lady," he teased, no doubt referring to the matching underwear now discarded on the floor.

I opened my eyes to meet his, and for a second I was left breathless at the sight of him pumping into me. How I managed to say anything at all is a miracle.

"Never a plan, sir. But always a pleasure."

A flirtatious sparkle in his eyes, he slowed down as he pressed, "Did you wear them for someone else, then?"

The way I arched my back caused him to push even further into me, and I had to pause to moan before I continued.

"Are you jealous?"

His hips snapped forward, producing a simultaneously jolt of pain and pleasure. His voice was breathy as he tried to hold himself together while speaking, "Should I be?"

Our eye contact caused tension so powerful that I was certain it was palpable. A devilish grin and a bit of a snicker was the provocation he needed to drive into me harder once again. I didn't even try to suppress the noises he elicited from me, tightening my grip around him with my legs.

"Take me," I whispered under my breath, almost hoping that he wouldn't hear me.

I couldn't tell if he did, but his hand switched sides of my chest, and our faces grew closer together.

"I'm yours," I slurred. I truthfully hadn't thought about the words when I gifted them to him, but he clearly took note of them. That time, it was his moan that filled the air in the room, and I had never felt so excited by one of his responses. I chased after the feeling, locking eyes with him as both his hands grabbed my hips to begin the race to the finish.

"I'm yours, Spencer."

I didn't stop to wonder if I could play this off as part of the fantasy. I mean, it was part of my fantasy; the fantasy of being his, and him being mine.

He didn't object to my words then, either, and he had definitely heard me that time.

I smiled, barely noticing that he'd placed his fingers back on my heat, swiping frantically at my clit until I lost all composure underneath him. My hips rocked at no apparent rhythm, and distorted versions of his name broke through my mouth.

I hadn't even come down yet when he rammed into me with full force, bottoming out once again. I felt his cock twitch inside of me, followed by my muscles pulling everything out of him that they could.

The view of his satisfied face through my lust-filled daze was angelic. It appeared that he saw the same in me, but I couldn't be sure. Just as quickly as the moment had come, it had passed, his arms giving in to his weight as he collapsed onto my chest.

His hair tickled my collarbones, and I laughed at how incredibly out of shape he was. Especially for an FBI Agent. Even if he did go on the field often, I figured the resident dork didn't need to be totally ripped, anyway.

And, hey, he was strong enough to treat me like a ragdoll, so who was I to judge?

"Tired?" I asked, taking a shaky hand to his head, playing with the soft brown curls damp from sweat.

"You aren't?" he slurred, his words smothered against my skin.

"I am fucking exhausted."

That time, we both laughed. He was clearly pleased that, despite any perceived weakness, he was still able to thoroughly wear me out. When he moved to leave me, I dropped my legs. I was surprised I had managed to hold them until then, honestly.

He fixed his hair that had fallen in his eyes first, and I smiled at the peculiar priority. It was cute, though.

"Do you have to take me home?"

I tried not to let the disappointment bleed into my voice, but it did. He tried not to notice. He didn't answer as he cleaned himself up, and I sat up to look at him — once the world stopped spinning, anyway.

"No."

The butterflies spiraled out of control, spreading through every inch of my soul. I must have been beaming, because he looked so very nervous.

"Thanks."

His response came in the form of an unsure smile, followed by a genuine appreciation.

I briefly wondered if he realized just how transparent he was, but then decided I didn't want to think about it. I excused myself to clean up before bed, taking a long moment to rub my skin with aloe from under the cabinet, only to realize that I had basically nothing clean to wear. I rolled my eyes at the situation, wondering how many red flags it would set off for me to ask Spencer for some of his clothes.

I could just be naked. He seemed to like me that way.

I padded back into the room, expecting him to be waiting up for me. He wasn't. Spencer had passed out on the bed before he even had a chance to get under the covers. I stood at the door for a moment, trying to appreciate the value of this quiet moment while I still could.

Stripping off my clothes as quiet as possible, I was careful not to wake him. However, that also meant I couldn't climb under the covers, either.

It isn't exactly snooping if I'm looking for something innocent, right? That's what I had to tell myself, regardless. Because I was not going to freeze my ass off over a hookup's paranoia. Glancing at the dresser, I almost convinced myself it wouldn't be an invasion of privacy to open it. Luckily, I didn't have to. Directly next to it was a hamper of clean, folded laundry, with a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt on top. While disappointed that I had lost my excuse, I was grateful I had stripped myself of the choice.

He deserved better than me trying to pry into his life like that.

Slipping into his clothes, I stopped to hug myself in the soft fabric. With him asleep, I felt comfortable taking a moment to revel in the position he'd allowed me to exist in. I was in his apartment, in his clothes, and I would soon be back in his arms.

For now.

I chased the inevitable end out of my thoughts, slinking onto the bed and shimmying over to him until his hands found me in his unconscious state. I faced him, my hands pressing softly against his chest to feel his heart happily working under my touch.

His eyes fluttered open for a second, just long enough to see the wonder in my own. A smile crept along his cheeks, and he wrapped a lazy arm around my waist.

I wondered if he recognized his own clothes, or if he even realized this was real. Then again, the alternative was him assuming that it'd all been a dream... and it was a pleasant one, it seemed.

"I'm happy," he confirmed in a hushed tone.

My heart almost stopped, and I peeked up at him, inching up so I could better see his face. His breathing evened back out as I felt the way he relaxed, quickly retreating back to the comfortable embrace of sleep.

"About what?" I whispered back.

Our legs twined together, and a soft sigh left his lips. I waited with bated breath for his response, although I don't think I could have ever been prepared for what followed.

"I'm happy that you're mine."

... What?

—————————————————

| Part 5 |

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid smut #spencer reid imagine #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #smut

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runnyeggsnham · 3 years ago

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“Can we dissect the blanket scene? I feel like there's a lot going on there. The conversation starts with Sylvie talking about Mobius and pointing out, without mockery, that Mobius cares about Loki. And for some reason Loki changes the subject and tries to flirt with her instead.

I wonder if part of him felt Sylvie was safer because he knows himself and potential future rejection is more familiar and less unnerving than someone actively rooting for him to succeed. I mean, aside from Sylvie holding hands with Loki on Lamentis, I don't think there was any point where she sincerely complimented him without either mocking or teasing him. This can be cute, but Loki /hungers/ for validation.”

Okay slight delay but yessss, Anon, let’s dissect it! this got really long btw haha oops.

funny enough, this scene didn’t (and still doesn’t tbh) sell me romance, so at the time I was also like ‘yeah this could go either way; are you flirting or just being awkward, Loki?' lol.

"I feel like there's a lot going on there. The conversation starts with Sylvie talking about Mobius and pointing out, without mockery, that Mobius cares about Loki."

there really is a lot going on, and like...considering everything that comes after, it really does feel like the writers undercut themselves here in the romance. badly. of course, notable is how Sylvie opens up very little in comparison to Loki, expressing her fear of Loki betraying her and then listening to all his reassurances but acting no less comforted and giving no assurances of her own.

but to your points, first off, why does Sylvie mentioned Mobius like this...and at all? she actually brings him up twice this convo, which I'd forgotten: the first is in regards to his character, in a positive way, yet she disputes the nexus event theory of his as a "TVA lie" later. bizarre choice, if the two mentions of Mobius are connected...not necessarily so bizarre, if they aren't. and I don't think they are.

I think Sylvie was considering Mobius in two different contexts: his connection to Loki, and then his theory because she was thinking of her connection with Loki. when she brought up the theory, it fits more neatly that she was thinking about it as part of a greater worry about whether she could let herself really trust Loki enough to be partners and that any trust and care could be mutual in such a powerful, genuine way like what Mobius thought. such an idea is so wholly new to her and it would make her vulnerable to believe it.

(and can we just for a second dwell on how Mobius is responsible for Loki thinking about his feelings for Sylvie AND Sylvie thinking about her feelings for Loki?? I cannot unmake that connection Anon but we can discuss another time, I don't want to get too far distracted from your points, just...yeah that's Something, isn't it?)

another thing, this scene starts off quiet and calm akin to Loki and Mobius' footsie one. but instead of Loki piping up to ask Mobius about his magazine, it's Sylvie piping up to give her perspective about Mobius. so when I said before that she was thinking of Mobius first in context of his connection to Loki, I say that because this sounds like her giving...approval, for lack of a better word, of the friendship?

plus the way it is delivered is purely observation - one she makes while not even looking at Loki, but off into the horizon. It feels wistful, to me, and you're right, there's no mocking. from the first to the last, Sylvie insists her story is not about Loki and she is not like him. so her observing Mobius in the car and then fishing with the "he's not so bad" and, after listening and looking at Loki's reaction, ending, "he cares about you" with such finality, it feels to me like, 'ah yes, you aren't truly alone, not even after suffering from the TVA.' it feels like she's confirmed a suspicion.

which...if that is the case...has several implications in hindsight. I'll try to run through the two that came to mind real quick, Anon! I just think they're neat...

first, I think it further made Loki's finale pleading - specifically the lines of TVA hurting them both but this choice being beyond their experiences and about the universe - fall flat in Sylvie's eyes. because Sylvie may not have been able to believe Loki had been hurt enough to really understand her and therefore she couldn't see him as right enough to sway her from her lifelong plan, yeah? he's misguided because she's experienced worse, so she knows better.

second, on Sylvie maybe confirming her suspicion regarding Mobius and Loki's friendship...this sequence is where Sylvie would then get the idea to send Loki back to the TVA, to Mobius, right?

because it's Sylvie that involves Mobius at all in this convo, and where did Sylvie determine this opinion of Mobius? their car scene, which just further adds layers to this foreshadowing of betrayal, of being unable to trust Loki. Sylvie was surprised that Mobius still believed, with no doubt, that Loki was here in the Void somewhere, surviving, and Sylvie just could not get her hopes up for that. she did not allow herself that. it was all just about them getting out of the Void now. focus on Alioth, focus on the mission.

when Sylvie sets her mind to something, she becomes absolutely fixated, unswayable. the finale pleading from Loki was the closest, but arguably still missed by a mile. and while Mobius was willing to support her here in the Void and go along with that plan, the sadness is all over his face at such a prospect. by the dialogue, I think it makes more sense for him to have just shared the nexus event theory before we see them, so despite believing their connection was timeline shattering, he still has the most hope of the two in Loki...

anyway, off topic. back to Sylvie to wrap up that other implication.

this car ride gives Sylvie that inkling of Mobius' care, and that first dialogue with Loki then confirms it, right? so Sylvie knew that, push come to shove, from betrayal or not, if Loki stops going along on the mission with her then she needs a b-plan to continue on. mission first, always. no hesitation. the hesitation in the finale, to me, read as a shift between her feeling that she had to fight Loki to her willing to acknowledge he isn't "evil Loki", perhaps he isn't after that throne after all as he insists, perhaps it really is all about care for her and the universe...but that's not enough to stop the mission. so she distracts him and sends him back to the TVA. she sends him to where she knows there's someone else who cares about him.

she could have sent him anywhere. but the TVA was best, because he has Mobius. because of what she witnessed and heard between and regarding them in the Void...there's no other scene that would've set up this destination decision, no? and what would be the odds she'd choose a place at random and it was the TVA...? i think it was intentional.

"And for some reason Loki changes the subject and tries to flirt with her instead. I wonder if part of him felt Sylvie was safer because he knows himself and potential future rejection is more familiar and less unnerving than someone actively rooting for him to succeed."

gosh, yeah, that's interesting, right? weird turn to flirting. I feel like...he was initially just trying to get Sylvie to open up so they could explore that nexus event theory. going with Loki's feelings being romantic, I think he's already entertaining or partially convinced himself here about these feelings....which, narratively, just highlights Sylvie's repeated distance until Loki presses the matter by putting the blanket on her shoulders.

you posit a really fascinating idea about Loki's mindset....really interesting. I do think there's something there, because Loki does try to bridge the distance, twice, and Sylvie kind of rejects it, but in ways that Loki is really familiar with and don't really challenge him. it made me think again, about how Loki takes Mobius' tolerance and understanding and tries to apply it to Sylvie, because he does recognize parts of himself in her and her behaviors.

so yeah, I can totally see how that would make Loki feel Sylvie's safe, in this odd way, because he knows her patterns when he looks for them. (it's when he convinces himself that they've made more progress than there is in reality that he gets blindsided by the betrayal....)

here, these are the two bridge the distance moments I mean:

he mentions the cold, but Sylvie just hums and keeps looking away, not really engaging. then, he conjures his blanket and offers to conjure one for her.

and she deflects, commenting about him conjuring her a new outfit because it's so uncomfortable and he wouldn't know that, and Loki just...juts out his jaw, huffs a laugh, and presses his lips together. because...actually, Loki does know how tight leather ensembles feel...but Sylvie doesn't know that about him (writers really shouldn't keep highlighting how little these two know about each other). anyway, it's a Loki style deflection, so he waits. and after a few beats, Sylvie brings up the nexus event, Mobius' theory, and they do their verbal dance of Sylvie's hesitantly expressed fears, Loki's assurances, and Sylvie's responding "maybe" to figuring it all out together.

your thought is just, I'm gonna say it again, so fascinating...because the more I think about it, the more I see how well it applies? like, it may not even necessarily be Loki consciously thinking about himself. I don't know that he was, in these moments? it feels like he threw himself so fully into Sylvie's plan, Sylvie's purpose, Sylvie's recovery...and he took everything he learned from Mobius' treatment of him to do so.

narratively, there is no one else, no other source considering that yeah, this was 2012 Loki before Mobius helped him strip away the illusions and put himself back together. and just...the writers really didn't see what they were doing? amazing.

so your thought, I think it actually kind of compliments what is being said about these two's storyline being indicative of self-love, because in that case, it's Loki looking at a mirror of some parts of himself and learning to love them from an outside perspective...and it's him having to come to terms with the ones that betray/self-sabotage and hurt him, too. like back at Roxxcart, that line, "I would never treat me this way." as he sees in the Void, though...a lot of variants of himself actually would treat him that badly.

so by getting so close to Sylvie, Loki gets a fresh perspective on how different he is now, how he himself, this variant that he alone is, is not destined to repeat those patterns. but that doesn't mean he can save every other variant that he wants to either. they can be close to him, they can be full of a lot of good, but he can't force that same change on them that he went through. they're all different and have to do it, have to choose to do the work, themselves.

but yeah, I agree. with the rejection in these little moments with Sylvie, it's so easy for Loki to dismiss them because it's "less unnerving than someone actively rooting for him to succeed" and add on to that that Loki's approaching her from a very Mobius-influenced perspective, constantly trying to put himself in her perspective and empathize with her, instead...Loki replaces his purpose with well-meaning intentions, at least. but he's giving too much and Sylvie is returning too little. it's not balanced, right from the start, and it never becomes so.

which that, at least, is quite fitting for Loki's growth, right? it's a pendulum swing, and that swing too far to the opposite side toward Sylvie just to get knocked right back...that propels him to come to terms with it all and race to find Mobius. it's another step on him accepting all the good and the bad of himself and Lokis and what it means to try and fail and try again. all so he can find his pendulum's center, his balance.

"I mean, aside from Sylvie holding hands with Loki on Lamentis, I don't think there was any point where she sincerely complimented him without either mocking or teasing him. This can be cute, but Loki /hungers/ for validation."

I haven't rewatched 1-6 straight through yet but...I think you're right. I cannot remember another one without a mock or tease involved. and yeah, Loki has been so deprived of validation, it's like sunlight for him. again why I think maybe he threw himself into the connection with Sylvie so hard: he thought she was innately better, and he wanted to take on that role of supportive partner as a way to shift and find a new, a good, purpose. he was quite selfless...but he shouldn't have to be so much that Sylvie can't eventually meet him in the middle and return the same sentiment.

the closest they really get is that "maybe we can figure it out together" "maybe", I think, and that's just not close enough imo. contrast that with Loki's repeated validations from Mobius, and more importantly, what it says about those validations and that connection that he races to find Mobius, full of relief at the sight and immediately willing to confess, his trust in their relationship not rocked or made insecure by everything that's happened...whew.

I'm so glad you mentioned the blanket scene because I don't think I would have rewatched it anytime soon but your points are so good, really interesting to think about, and there is just soo much going on in this scene that ties beyond. utterly insane that the writers seem to have no idea the full scope of what they were presenting and how often they put these two dynamics in direct contrast when they were doing it lol.

#lokius #wowki #///#////#/////#(very late posting Anon but here you go!#I'm gonna go dream about these scenes from this new perspective now.#super intriguing. these convos are really making my brain whirr and I love it haha.#also song recommendation for lokius: heaven is a place by amber run.#🤗)#tv #anonymous #answer #commentary #m;

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