#I Messed up the hair and eyes in the first obe

[skydreamplayzz]

-

Had an Idea that sometimes a 'fake' Sebastian room can appear too early, or a second time. It's just nathen disguising himself as sebasitan to eat the expandable. 🧍‍♂️.. Idk tho. Nom Nom

(i wanted to Do this too :'D)..

[grimesproperty]

“ FRIENDS “

part three.

jj maybank x reader

—

JJ's eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat. He had not been expecting that. For a moment — he was speechless, his mind racing to process your confession amidst the adrenaline and confusion of the situation.

You raised your hands in frustration and shook your head slightly before letting them fall back to your sides.

Tears were about to spill from your eyes as you observed the expression on his face, afraid of what he might say next.

JJ watches you, still in shock. The words "I love you" keep replaying in his mind, but he doesn't know how to respond. He's unsure if he heard correctly or if this is just a reaction to the chaos of the moment.

He stands there, his usual confident demeanor replaced by something more vulnerable and open.

Pope, seeing the stunned silence, stepped forward awkwardly breaking the tension. "Well, that was unexpected, " he said to John b who was clearly amused by the turn of events.

JJ, still reeling from your declaration, looks between Pope and John B, his face a mixture of confusion and shock. He glances at you, his usually witty mouth unable to form words.

You took his silence as an answer and glanced back at him one last time before walking away from all of them.

As you walked away, JJ watched you leave, his heart hammering in his chest.

His mind is a whirlwind of emotions — shock, confusion, and a growing sense of hope. He doesn't know how to interpret what you just said, and now you're walking away.

John B and Pope sensing the shift in the atmosphere, exchange a glance, clearly understanding the depth of the situation.

Pope looks at JJ, who's staring after you silently. “JJ? You okay, man?" He asks him.

JJ's gaze remains fixed on your retreating figure. He's uncharacteristically silent for a moment before responding.

"Do I look okay?"

John B lets out a snort of laughter, clearly amused by the situation. "Well, you look like a deer in headlights, if that counts" He jokes.

Pope hits him lightly, giving him a reapproachal look. "Come on, man not the time. He's clearly in shock," he says, John B looks at JJ, and his laughter fades into an empathetic smile. "Dude, I get it. It's a lot to process." John B says to JJ.

JJ finally tears his gaze away from you, turning to face his two best friends. "Yeah, it is... I mean, she just said... I don't even know what to think right now."

John B shrugs his casual carefree demeanor back in place. "Well, how do you feel about it? I mean deep down, how do you really feel about her saying that?"

JJ takes a deep breath, running his hand through his messy blonde hair. "I don't know man. It's just a lot. I never thought she'd actually say those words. It's messing with my head."

Pope, always the voice of reason pipes up. "Maybe you should take some time to process it man, figure out your feelings before you do anything rash."

JJ nods, still processing the emotions swirling inside him. "Yeah, you're right," he replies to Pope. John B gives him a reassuring slap on the back, the familiar twinkle in his eyes. "And hey, if you need a wingman to help you figure things out, we’re here for you."

Pope nods in agreement, a smirk playing on his lips. JJ lets out a huff — a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not just going to sit around and do nothing. But first, I need a joint right now. My head is spinning way too much."

John B grins, his eyes lighting up. "Now you're talking! Let's go, man. We'll find some weed, figure out your love life, and blow off some steam."

Pope rolls his eyes. "Yeah, sure, I'm in. Let's go get high and help JJ sort through his feelings. It's not like we have anything better to do," he says sarcastically.

JJ grins, a flicker of his usual confidence returning. "That's the spirit, Pope! Let's go get high and figure this out. After all, what's a little weed-induced introspection among friends, am I right?" he jokes.

As Kiara and Sarah observed the boys, they looked at them in disbelief, not taking them seriously.

John B noticed the girls' expressions and shrugged sheepishly. "What? It's just a harmless way to unwind and help our boy JJ clear his head."

“Are you serious?! You guys are just going to get high, and JJ, you're just going to let Y/N walk away like that?” Kiara said, her anger evident in her voice.

"I didn't let her walk away," JJ retorted defensively. "She stormed off before I could even process what was happening. Besides, I wasn't going to chase after her when she clearly wanted space."

"What the hell is wrong with you? All of you! You guys completely are oblivious to why she's been distant from us because of you JJ! You're too much of an asshole--

You need to accept your feelings for her instead of taking it out on her because she’s with someone who’s a kook and not you!” Kiara yelled at the three boys.

JJ looked taken aback by Kiara's outburst — he faltered for a moment. "Jealous? You think I’m jealous?" He tried to scoff and dismiss her words, but a hint of vulnerability lingered in his eyes.

"Yes! But you haven't even tried to talk to her since she started dating him. Do you know the real reason she gave him a chance? It was to get over her feelings for you!" Kiara said to him.

His eyes widen at Kiara's revelation. "What? She has feelings for me? But why hasn't she told me all this time?" he says, sounding dumbfounded.

"because like I said.. your too much of an asshole to admit when you love someone," Kiara shook her head, tired of JJ's actions. "I'm heading out," she said and stormed away from the group.

--

A few weeks later, the Pogues were hanging out at their usual spot, the Chateau. The mood was laid-back and friendly. JJ was playing with his lighter, a habit he had developed when he was lost in thought.

The other pogues were lounging on the front porch, chatting and feeling weary after a long day at the beach. You hadn't spoken to any of the pogues in a while, except for Sarah and Kiara, with whom you always kept in touch.

You arrived at John B's house and quietly came onto the front porch. You brought beers and snacks. None of the Pogues had noticed you yet until you spoke up.

“Anyone thirsty?” Their heads snapped up at the voice, seeing you. They exchanged surprised glances, but quickly, grins formed on their faces. Kiara smirked. “Oh, hell yeah. Just what we need right now!”

John B chuckled, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the food and drinks. "You're a lifesaver! We were just debating whether to go out and get something ourselves."

You laughed at John B's words, playfully asking, "Did you miss me?" The group burst into laughter, their smiles growing wider. "Of course we did! Who else would bring us beer and snacks?" John B replied.

JJ — who hasn't said anything yet, has a smirk forming on his face. He is happy to see you and has missed you a lot. He longs to see your face and hear your voice more than he would ever admit.

His eyes are locked on you, taking in every detail of your expression.

"Yeah, we really missed you, Y/n. Life's been boring without you around, sweetheart." JJ says to you.

jj's words hit harder than they did, you just gave him a small smile. The pogues noticed the subtle interaction between you and JJ — their gazes flickering between you both.

John B tried to keep the mood lighthearted, sensing the tension between the two of you. "Yeah, JJ's right. We missed your smart-ass remarks. Life is a lot quieter without them."

You smiled at John B. as you set the remaining beer and food on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "I've just been working a lot—nothing special. I finally ended things with the kook," you said to them.

The pogues exchanged surprised glances at your news. Kiara threw a surprised look at you. "Wait, what? You dropped the kook? What happened there?"

You shrugged. "I just wasn't really feeling it, I don't know if I ever really even liked him," you said, taking a sip of your drink.

John B nodded with a sympathetic expression on his face. "Ah, I see. That's understandable. Sometimes things just don't work out, no matter how much you wish they would."

“I’m glad they didn’t,” you said as you placed your beer down in front of you. At your unexpected response, JJ looked up from toying with his lighter, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. He studied you for a moment — a hint of interest apparent in his gaze.

“Anyway,” you said, eliciting chuckles from the others as they shifted their focus back to the snacks and beers. “Regardless of why you were gone, we’re just glad you’re back with us now,” John B said. JJ, leaning back in his chair, nodded in agreement with John B’s sentiment.

his eyes still on you, a subtle tension in his voice. "Yeah, we really are, sweetheart."

You gazed at JJ for a moment as he looked out at the water by the dock.

You took another swig of your drink as you turned to Kiara, who handed you a snack, raising an eyebrow as she glanced at you and then at JJ.

Kiara looked at you, a chip halfway to her mouth. "So, you’re really done with the kook, huh? No more dating or anything?" You nodded in response. "Yep," you replied, emphasizing the 'p' as you popped it. "Besides, you know why I ended things with him if it wasn’t already obvious to everyone else."

Kiara's expression softened as she leaned in closer. She spoke in a hushed tone, her eyes flickering between the boys and back to you. "Yeah, I guess there was more to it. Your secret is safe with me," she said with a smile.

You return her smile, but it fades quickly. "I just can't get over JJ, no matter how hard I try," you say to her. "He's my best friend."

Kiara nodded with understanding, her expression full of sympathy. Her tone was gentle as she spoke, "I understand. It’s difficult to have feelings for someone who has been a part of your life for so long. When that person is your best friend, it complicates things even more."

Meanwhile, JJ silently observed the conversation between you and Kiara, pretending that he wasn't listening. His expression remained neutral, but his heart pounded in his chest as he overheard the conversation.

he clutched his lighter tightly, his mind racing with a flood of emotions. He had been so close to confessing his feelings to you that night at the Boneyard. But he had chickened out, convincing himself that it was for the better. He tried to push the thoughts away, but he couldn't help but wonder-

Was it too late now?

The conversation continued around you, but JJ found it difficult to pay attention. The realization that you were still not over him tugged at his heat. He glanced at you a mix of hope and insecurity.

He wanted to express his feelings and confess his emotions once and for all. However, the fear of rejection and the potential consequences held him back. He knew he needed to find a moment alone with you to talk, to finally reveal his true feelings.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick, be right back," you said to them as you got up and headed for the bathroom. The Pogues nodded at you.

As you walked to the bathroom, JJ's mind was racing. Should he follow you? Should he wait? Should he say something now? The thoughts swirled through his head. He fidgeted with his lighter, his gaze fixed on the floor, and his heart pounding in his chest.

John B observed JJ and noticed his internal struggle. He nudged him and said, "Go on, dude. Take the chance while you still have it."

For a brief moment, JJ hesitated. But the gentle nudge from John B was the encouragement he needed.

“Yeah, alright,” JJ said with a mix of excitement and nervousness. JJ rose from his seat. The Pogues exchanged knowing glances as JJ headed for the bathroom, his intentions clear.

You were currently inside the bathroom, blissfully unaware of what was happening outside. JJ hesitantly reached for the bathroom door.

He could feel his heart racing, as he gathered the courage to gently knock on the door. "Who is it?" you spoke from against the other side.

jj took a deep breath, his voice slightly shaky. "It's just me, doll. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

JJ gently opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. The room suddenly felt more intimate, and the air was thick with tension. You looked at him while standing in front of the mirror.

JJ leaned back against the wall, his eyes fixed on you. he took a moment to study your face, the way the light caught your features, he let out a shaky exhale, the words he had been wanting to say for so long on the tip of his tongue.

You turned around to face him, placing your hands on the edge of the sink. JJ's heart skipped a beat at the sight of you looking directly at him. The silence that hung between you was thick with expectation, making his nervousness even more intense. He pushed himself off the wall—

and took a step closer to you, the distance between you shortening. His eyes flickered between your eyes and your lips, his heart pounding in his chest. This was the moment he had been waiting for, yet he was terrified of saying the wrong thing and ruining everything.

He took another step forward, closing the space between you even further. The tension between you was palpable, and the air felt electric. jj let out a shaky breath, his voice barely a whisper.

"Can I say something, princess?"

"Anything," you said, maintaining his gaze as he neared you. He paused, searching your eyes for any hint of your reaction. Finally, he spoke.

"i cant stop thinking about you. every day, every night, you occupy my every thought, and I can't seem to shake it off. I've tried , but the truth is — I can't."

He took a deep breath, his gaze unwavering. He continued, his voice growing more vulnerable and sincere with each word.

"I've been afraid to say something, to ruin what we have between us, But standing here, with you in front of me, I realized I can't keep it inside anymore. I need you to know how much you mean to me. I love you… I am in love with you."

The words hung in the air, and his heart beat so violently he thought it might burst out of his chest.

He waited anxiously for your response, his entire being on edge, with the future of your friendship hanging in the balance.

His hands trembled slightly as he clenched them into firsts, his eyes flickering to yours. The silence between you was defeating, and JJ could barely think straight.

His mind raced with a thousand different scenarios. He had just laid his heart out bare.

"I don't know what to say," you said to him. You had longed to hear those words for so long—the words you desired most -- for him to simply tell you that he loves you and that your feelings had been reciprocated all this time.

jj stomach dropped at your response, the three words hitting him like a punch to the gut. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to hide his disappointment.

"It's okay, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. I just... needed to get it out there,” he said, his eyes darting to the ground as his heart felt like it was being squeezed. He had never felt so vulnerable and exposed.

"Other than I love you too... jayj,' you said as you grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. The words hit JJ like a tidal wave, and before he could process them, your hands were on his face, bringing him in for a kiss.

His mind was blank, and all he could focus on was the sensation of your lips against his. He froze momentarily, caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events. Then, all at once, he melted into the kiss, his arms wrapping around you -- pulling you closer.

His lips eagerly responded to yours, his heart still racing in his chest. He couldn't believe this was happening, that you were actually returning his feelings—after all this time, all those unspoken words and suppressed emotions.

You were finally in his arms, kissing him back with the same intensity he longed for.

He ran his fingers through your hair, his body pressed closely against yours. He deepened the kiss, his hands exploring the curves of your body as if trying to commit every inch of you to memory.

He paused the kiss for a moment, pulling away just enough to gaze into your eyes. His eyes were filled with a mix of love and disbelief. His voice was soft, laced with a hint of wonder. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

He leaned in again, his lips finding yours once more in a series of intense — passionate kisses. His hands explored your body, holding you close, his touch both gentle and desperate, as if afraid this moment would slip away any second.

He pressed you against the wall, his body pining for you in place, his kisses growing more urgent and unapologetic. He was drowning in the sensations, in the taste and feel of you.

This is what he had been missing for so long, what he had dreamed of for what felt like an eternity.

"Mmmm.. jayj," you let out a low whispered moan as his lips moved from yours down to your neck, his hands began to roam under your shirt, his touch sending shivers down your spine.

He pressed his body against yours, his breaths heavy and labored, his voice a low murmur against your skin. "Say my name again. I want to hear you say it."

You felt one of his hands trail down your thigh, gripping it in and slowly spreading your legs apart for him to get in between you, earning a small gasp from you, "jj.." you let out a shaky breath.

His teeth grazed your collarbone as you obeyed, and a low growl escaped his throat, the sound almost primal —

He continued to suck on your neck, his body grinding against yours, his hands impatiently tugging at your clothes, desperate to get you closer.

"We should probably get back to the others..." you said to him while placing your hands on his shoulders. JJ groaned in frustration as you pulled him back to reality. He was so caught up in the moment and lost in the feeling of you that he had forgotten where you both were.

“Yeah, you’re right. But the last thing I want is to let you go right now,” he said reluctantly, pulling himself away and running his fingers through his hair to try to compose himself.

He wanted nothing more than to stay in the bathroom with you, to keep kissing you, to keep exploring every inch of you, but he knew you guys had to return to the others.

He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and looked at you. His eyes filled with a mixture of desire. "Alright.. let's go out there before they start sending out a search party."

He stepped back, giving you room to move past him. he ook one last greedy look at you, mentally willing himself to keep his hands o himself.

"right..." you said letting out a heavy breath as you tucked your hair behind your ears. He followed you as you walked back towards the rest of the group, trying to maintain some semblance of composure.

He couldn't resist stealing a few glances at you as you walked side by side, his mind still reeling from what had just happened. The feel of your lips against his, the taste of you, the way your body fit against his... it was all seared into his memory.

As you reached the group, the others looked at you curiously. The pogues picked up on the on subtle change in JJ's demeanor, sending something had occurred in the bathroom. Pope tried to hide a smirk, while John B raised an eyebrow, silently questioning JJ with a knowing look.

jj avoided their gazes, feigning nonchalance. He casually leaned against a wall, trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. His flushed cheeks and disheveled hair betrayed the inner turmoil he was feeling.

Pope, being the perceptive person he is, decided to tease jj a bit. he flashed a sly grin and spoke in a teasing tone. "So, how was the bathroom?"

JJ shot Pope a withering look, a warning in his eyes. He wasn't quite ready to talk about what had gone down in the bathroom, especially not in front of everyone.

"Mind your business, pope," JJ says to him.

part four here

[hunterofartemis7]

Pt. 9

*on friday*

Damian: ready to go beloved?

Raven: yeah, just need to find my hoodie..

Dick: *on the couch* where you two going

Damian: none of your business

Raven: be nice. I’m going to the doctors

Jason: why?

Raven: to help with my vomiting..just to see if i really got a stomach bug or like the flu or something

Jason: have fun

Kori: found your hoodie Raven.

Raven: thank you! 😊

Kori: okay let’s go!

Tim: your going? Why?

Raven:…..

Kori: cause I have ever since raven first joined the titans, and I won’t stop now.

Raven: *mouths* thank you

Tim: okay? We’ll hope you feel better

Damian: hm *walks out with raven*

*at the hospital*

Raven: *nervous as heck*

Damian: *filling out paperwork* *stops to hold her hand* take a breath Beloved. Your okay

Raven:..I know, but I’m still nervous

Kori: any particular reason? Or just pregnancy nervousness in general?

Raven:…I’m worried they’ll tell me something is wrong with the baby….or that I’m already doing something wrong

Damian: Habibti nothing is wrong with the baby, and you haven’t been doing anything wrong.

Raven: how do you know ?

Damian: because I know you. You’d never do anything intentionally or not to hurt the baby, and you can literally sense when someone is hurt.

Raven:……

Damian: you forgot you could do that couldnt you?

Raven: yeah…

Nurse: Rachel Roth. You can come back now hun

*they follow the nurse back and into a room*

Nurse: OB will be here in a second. Go ahead and put the hospital gown on

Raven: okay..

Nurse: *leaves*

Kori: you okay?

Raven: I think…i just got a weird feeling

Kori: *hugs her* it’s just nerves, you and the baby are fine.

Raven: it’s not that…it’s..something else. I can’t put my finger on it

*doctor comes in after a bit*

Asshole Doctor: hello. You Rachel Roth?

Raven: yes, I am

Asshole Doctor: *looks her up and down* aren’t you a bit you to be pregnant?

Raven: I’m 19…

Asshole Doctor: your point?🙄

Damian: her point is you need to mind your business and not talk to my fiancee like that

Asshole Doctor: fiancé? What you propose only cause she’s knocked up?

Kori: okay get out!

Asshole Doctor: what?

Kori: I said get out. You are not going to talk to her like that, and if you won’t be professional then we don’t want you here. So get the fuck out, and get an OB who won’t be an ass

Asshole doctor: whatever 🙄. Don’t want to deal with a teenager who can’t keep her legs closed anyway. *turns to Damian* I pity you. She probably got knocked up for your fucking money *leaves*

Raven:…………😔😣😖😭 *burst into tears*

Kori: *holds her close* shhh..it’s okay. He’s gone. Don’t listen to that asshole

Damain: I’ll be back 🤬

Kori: where are you going?

Damian: you don’t want to know! *leaves*

Raven:😖😭😖😭

Kori: sshhh, it’s okay. It’s okay

Raven: *mumbling* I didn’t do that…I didn’t trap him…

Kori: honey stop. We know you didn’t fucking baby trap him. I know that, Damian knows that, Alfred knows that; and I know damn well you know that. That doctor is an asshole who needs to keep his opinions to himself.

Raven:....i just wanted to make sure the baby was okay..not this…

Kori: *wipes the tears off her face* I know. This shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry

Dick: *knocks* Rae? Kori?

Kori: dick? *opens the door* Dick, Tim, Jason and Duke standing outside*….what are you guys doing here?

Jason: Damian called and said a doctor made raven cry so we sped over to kick his ass

Raven:…are you serious?

Dick: yeah. You don’t mess with our family. So where’s the asshole at?

Damian: *dragging a doctor back by his hair*

Every other nurse or doctor: *turning a blind eye*

Damian: *throws him to the ground* so, are you going to apologize or are we teaching you a fucking lesson on how to treat your patients?

Jason: please pick option two😈

[cheerleaderman]

Alright

Hello moony! ( @moonyasnow ) for the Twst Oc questions

What was your main inspiration behind their design? - All Ocs

Ok most of them are really just vibes or me pulling stuff from the character or object but I’ll say some highlights

Most of my Ocs hair was inspired by Sims 4 cc or cosplay wigs except Rolene their was really based on Rapunzel with the brown and blonde

Yuya’s design was pretty set form the beginning as they were mainly for me to visualize a character there while playing, then I started making them a character because I didn’t like the opinions the game gives us ,so then I started showing their eyes and gave them a cardigan but they didn’t have it during prologue or Book 1.

Lottie’s hair was inspired to have white from the OG Mad hatter and Orange from the live action

Dion is based off of the skull Binky from Hercules so I wanted to give him spikes

Flori went through 3 designs changes the first one was really inspired by Vil.

Months to a year ago during a time I was unhappy with my designs and decided to give Ocs unique eyes- For Astrid falling rose petals, Yuya’s eyes after their OB like the night sky and Iris based on the moral potion with the bubbles

I usually design the character before personality and design could change based off that. Also I wanted to play with changing up the uniform.

The thing is I love character design and a lot were created when I in a massive design hyper fixation. Many I haven’t even posted, abandoned and ones I want to do

This is how I end up with so many Ocs [don’t be like me guys]   

For Lottie - Have they gotten collared by Riddle? For what? How long? How often does it happen? And What’s the worst thing they’ve gotten away with? What’s something they do exclusively in the rose maze in hopes nobody finds out if anything?

Lottie gets collared a lot by his own doing, he’ll find a rule he’ll want to find a loophole through the length of the collaring depends on how well he can defend himself.

The worst thing he got away with was probably accidentally leaving out his experimental teas and someone drinking it. Lottie spends a lot of time in the rose maze in general so something he probably doesn’t want others to see is him losing his cool.

Ignihyde Ocs - Are they an introvert, extrovert, selective social?

Nora and Dion are more extroverted, Iris seems extroverted but he’s selective social along with Elara.

Astrid -What sin do you do you most associate with them?

I would think Lust in a intense longing way as his main desire is for someone to love him and Envy of others having loving families as he was always by himself even if he claims to love his family.

Yuya -Which housewarden does Yuya clash with the most? Who do they relate to the most if any?

I think Yuya would clash with Vil mainly from book 5 and Yuya doesn’t trust any of Vil’s food anymore might risk it for a smoothie.

Who would Yuya relate to Idia- falling into a depression after losing a family member,

Riddle- High expectations from family , forced into a mold and controlling of Food main reason why Yuya learned how to cook.

Maybe Azul in a sense of having power over someone like back with Yuya learning how to cook was the power they had in the house and others learned not to mess with Yuya when it came to that, also doing pretty things to fuck with members who bullied them.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Copycat: Cryptomnesia —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: Pray for me besties I got a throat infection -Danny

Words: 1,610

Phase Five Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘Wonderwall’ -by Oasis

xxi: Comeback

"Is too late to quit?"

"Cat, no one's asking you to fight him."

"I gotta call my mom—"

"Kate, no!" Clint took the phone away. "Take a deep breath, okay? Your mom needs our help. That video is not good, the Kingpin will not take this lightly, he's going to react, and he's gonna do it in a big way."

"This is my mess to clean up, you should go home, you should be with your family. You can still make it in time for Christmas!"

"No one that's faced Kingpin alone has survived," Cat said. "Except for one, and I rather keep him out of this."

"Kate, you're our partner," Clint added. "Your mess is our mess. We're not going anywhere until this is finished."

"I'm not going anywhere, I was joking," Cat approached and took the phone from Clint's hand. "Let's make a plan."

"Got more magnets!" Cat left the items on the table. "Anything else?"

"We'll let you know," Clint said.

Cat watched them work. They moved almost in sync: categorizing the arrows, testing them, and piling them into groups. She must've been looking at them in a funny way, cause Kate spoke to her with a smirk.

"What?"

"I got the weirdest deja vu right now, watching you work... not important, anyway, don't let me distract you."

"So, this, uh, this holiday party tonight, is it a fancy thing?" Clint inquired as a way to distract them from the heaviness of the situation.

"Yeah. Formal." Kate mumbled.

"You know, you don't have to do this. It is part of the job. It's always inconvenient. It's lonely. You will get hurt... Heroes have to make some tough decisions. So, if you're gonna do this... I just wanna know you're ready."

"...when I was younger, aliens invaded," Kate began, "and I was alone. And I was terrified. But then I saw you, fighting aliens with a stick and a string. I saw you jump from that building even though you can't fly, even though you don't have superpowers..."

Cat hadn't thought about it, but it was true. He and Natasha were always ready to fight, even though they had no healing factor. She wondered if hanging out with fully human agents would help her change her outlook.

"You showed me that being a hero isn't just for people who can fly or shoot lasers out of their hands— it's for anyone, who's brave enough to do what's right, no matter the cost. I'm ready."

Clint looked at Cat. "What about you, Heathen?"

Cat had been going for an entire weekend with practically no rest in between, she hadn't felt like this in ages. The mutant remembered why she'd been an Avenger in the first place: to become hope.

She remembered a time when she'd needed to feel hopeful, she thought about Kurt, and how she'd saved his life by showing mercy. She wanted to be like that again, she wanted to be in a safe space. Although she knew that the rules of heroes no longer worked for her, and her justice would come in a different form, the others would need to accept that as well, and she wondered if they would take it well.

"I lied the other day," she admitted. "Black and blue are my favorite colors."

"Cat, where the hell are you?"

"I was getting some things from my apartment— also, I can't resist a dramatic entrance," she stepped into the venue and looked around. "Anything interesting yet?"

"Yes, you!" Kate said. "That dress is yours?"

Cat smiled. "You like it?"

Her silky dress was purple —Kate's favorite color— and matched the brown of her hair and eyes wonderfully. She had curls tied in a braided bun, and she was wearing high heels, which made her taller than Kate and Clint.

Kate had to take a moment when Cat finally got to them, the archer was incapable of forming a sentence.

"I'll take that as a yes," Cat grinned.

"You're wearing heels!"

"This is a fancy party," Cat raised a brow. "Why the tone of surprise? You barely know me, don't take me for granted."

The archer cleared her throat, nodding in agreement. "Right. Obviously. You look great."

"You do too," Cat hummed. "Love the ponytail, it frames your face well."

"Okay, lovebirds, focus," Clint intervened. "We've got work to do."

The evening escalated when a snipper tried to take Clint down. Cat was still in her dress when she and Barton entered an elevator while some of their helpers shut down the lights.

They rushed to the twelfth floor and hid inside a maintenance room, Cat activated M.O.U.S.E, and the mask covered her face. Clint took off his coat and tie and brought out his bow and arrows.

"Hear anything?"

Cat tilted her head, there was a lot of commotion. "Lotta screaming, I can't find the snipper like this."

"We go with the classics, then," Clint opened the window. "Stay out of sight."

"You got it," she replied, going away to take off her dress and get her suit.

Five minutes later, Cat heard a gunshot and rushed out to help Clint, she saw him standing against a wall.

"Stay down!"

He crouched, Cat put on her dark blue goggles, ran to the window, and jumped out of it. Extending the fabric of her cape, Cat glided before swirling around and landing on the ground in a superhero pose.

She stood and addressed Yelena, who'd tried to shoot Clint as she went down the building moments before Cat. "Gotta give it to you, Lena, you really know how to get on my nerves."

"Nice toddler goggles," Yelena smiled. "Don't forget it was you who looked for me first."

A squeal came from above their heads and they looked up: Kate was falling aimlessly from several floors up and she wasn't doing a great job at slowing down.

"Barton, are you seeing this?"

"I'm on my way."

"Don't try anyt—" she realized Yelena was already gone. "Fuck."

Kate reached the ground at last, but safe nonetheless. Cat moved aside so the girl didn't fall on her and watched as she recovered. "You good?"

"I'm fine," Kate panted, clutching her stomach. "Just another Friday night, am I right?"

Cat sighed. "You're in desperate need of better training..."

A truck stopped not so far away, and a couple of tracksuit guys came out of it.

"Look! It's Kate Bishop and the bluebird!"

Cat growled and pulled out her spear. "My name's Copycat!"

She pushed the button to hide the blades, she wasn't going to kill anyone at first, if she could help it. The young women worked together to take down the group, and one of them spoke when Kate twisted his wrist.

"I know it's not the best moment right now— but I want to thank you, you know? For your advice, how I should speak to my girlfriend—"

"Did it work?" Kate asked, Cat had no idea what that was about.

"It worked, bro! We went to Maroon 5 instead."

"That's so great! So, what's with the gun?"

"I'm sorry, but—"

Kate kicked him and he fell at her feet, then she turned around and threw the guy's gun at another guy's face, knocking him out. Cat's expression was hidden behind the goggles and the mask, but her voice was transparent.

"Okay, that and how you disarmed Maya the other night was kinda cool."

The click of a gun brought them back to the present, a man was pointing at her.

"I got you now, bro!"

Jack Duquesne came out of nowhere and hit the guy's wrist with his sword, he then punched him in the face.

"Jack!"

"Hello, sweeties! Who is your friend?"

"Watch out!"

He turned around in time to shield himself, Cat threw her spear at the man that'd tried to shoot him.

"Thank you for that!"

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this," Cat replied, then shrugged. "Or not. I mean, I don't really know you, so you could still be a bad guy—"

"Who are you?"

"This is Copycat, she's uh— she's—"

A mercenary? A mutant? Anti-hero?

"I'm helping them," she stated.

"Another super!" Jack said delightedly. "Are you with Hawkeye?"

Cat retrieved her spear from the ground. "Really not the time to catch up, man..."

"Jack," Kate called. "Jack, I am— I am so sorry my mom got you put in jail. Are you okay?"

"Never been better," he took down two guys without breaking a sweat. "But I'm afraid I've lost track of your mother."

"Yeah. You and me, both."

"Speaking of," Cat grabbed her taser and used it on a man's throat. "Where the hell is Barton?"

Kate pressed her comms. "Clint, where are you?"

A scream caught Cat's attention and she looked up to see their friend fly out of a window and landing inside the Christmas tree behind them.

"Found him," she said.

"Clint, what are you doing up there?" Kate chuckled.

"I'm just hanging out," he grunted. "What do you think?"

"You're so out of shape," Cat kicked someone on the ribs and felt a muscle in her thigh burning. "Ugh! So am I..?"

The larpers had walked out of the building, and they handed Kate a big bag with arrows, she asked for her mom but no one had seen her. A big truck arrived with more tracksuited criminals and they demanded all of their attention. Kate wasn't ready to face so many of them on her own, so she needed to be in a safer position.

"Okay, we need to split," Cat guided Kate away. "Get Clint out of the tree, our backup will get the people out of the street, and I'll handle the bros— Go!"

Kate didn't fight against her orders, the larpers were already working on getting the people to a safer place so she pulled her cape's hood over her head, grabbed her spear with one hand, and her taser with the other.

After a year of feeling misused, there was no power on earth that would stop her from claiming her place.

"Welcome back, C.C.," she muttered, charging against the men.

Next Chapter—>

Taglist.

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[swordsmans]

happy WIP wednesday! i am once again Putting Zoro In Situations. this is gonna be a rework (in the loosest possible sense) of a much, much older abandoned fic of mine that i'm cannibalizing for the bones. it'll be zolu (ob v i o usly) and also have lots of character conversations (MY BRAND), and it's not going to be finished any time soon. However. It has words now, which is better than last week.

text under the cut!

The kid advances, eyes focused completely on him now—like he knows what Zoro’s thinking, or has had enough experience with hostile adults to know the little signs of violence. “Don’t move!” he shouts. At the very least, he has keen observation skills. “What did you do to my little brother?”

Zoro ignores the question but stops, again reaching out with his observation haki looking for someone—but he’s alone, still, save for the kid whose near-invisible haki presence is detectable only now that he’s standing there glaring at him. “I’m only going to ask this once, kid,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “Where are my swords?”

In response, the boy glares and bites out, "And I’m only going to ask this once, old man—what did you do with Luffy?" already assuming a kind of rough, haphazard fighting stance. No formal training, Zoro notes—the kid’s loose and nimble, with a practical mid-low grip on the pipe, but he’s also so sloppy it’s clear he’s been self-taught by survival. It’s unlikely that there are any real fighters nearby, then—

—and then his brain catches up with what the kid’s just said. Zoro sighs.

In one motion he snaps the ropes around him, then steps forward, stretching the stiffness of being tied to a tree for who-knows-how-long out of his arms and back. “Ha, ha,”he enunciates deadpan, scowling down at the brat. “Whatever stupid game you two are playing—who even are you, some friend he made?—don’t mess with my fucking swords.” The kid brandishes his pipe, but Zoro just bats it away—if Luffy’s roped whoever-this-is into something, he can’t be as weak as he looks—and says, “Where are they?”

To his credit, the kid doesn’t back down—he just grits his teeth and holds his ground, even as his eyes widen and Zoro can see his knuckles turn white around the base of his weapon. That does give Zoro pause, then—because even though he’s holding his own, the kid is clearly scared. Which doesn’t bode well if Luffy’s been fucking around with the locals.

Suddenly, a battle cry roars up from the bushes to his left and something leaps up to smash the back of his head, screaming, “Stay the fuck away from my brother!” Zoro pivots in time to catch a second (sloppy, inexperienced) blow from the new kid—not much older than the first, but buzzing with a kind of rage that promises a dirty fight to anyone who tries. While the blond kid looks mostly put-together, this one looks like he’s been raised like a wild animal—shaggy black hair full of sticks and leaves, mud-streaked and torn clothes just a size too big. (He also looks vaguely familiar, and Zoro’s annoyance doubles.)

[lgcgaram]

━━━━━━━━ 𝖂hat's up ? first off, i'm excited to be here w/ you all and i can't wait to get to know your muses ! you can call me nio. i use h/h pronouns, i'm 19+, and i'm here to introduce you to a muse of mine that's fresh outta the oven. as he's so new to me, i'm learning more and more about him as i go, and i'm pumped that all of your muses will become apart of his journey. anyway, his name's chu garam. he's from honolulu, hi, but relocated to korea to train at lgc in the summer of 2021. he's that one punk-ass e-boy/emo kid you remember from middle/high school. y'know, the one who just graduated, paints his nails black, and sketches on the white-parts of his converse? he's also a double scorpio (sun/moon) mess: an overly passionate and emotional soul with rich sensitivity, and equipped with a wicked sense of humor, as well as a gruesome temper. his mom always tells him that he needs a haircut, but he doesn't care. he's not one for following the rules, per se, but he's learning to manage in the company. to learn more, take a peek under the cut. gimme a heart and i'll message you for plots as soon as possible ! 🤘🏼

alright, here's an obligatory link to his profile ! when i finally get around to writing more blurbs on him, i'll reblog this with additional links. i'm a flop, i know. 💀

I. IN THE EYES OF HIS PARENTS.

mom's an ob/gyn, dad's an oncologist. they're very respected in their fields and worked incredibly hard to be as successful as they are. their parents (garam's grandparents, both sides) were extremely hard on them, so they adopted a strong work ethic, but not a lot of emotional intelligence. so, when garam entered their lives, they had no fucking idea what to do. from the jump, he was highly sensitive and reactive. his moods were immense. he was expressive, and wild, and wasn't afraid to argue with them or tell them "no!" when he didn't want to do something. he challenged them in many, many ways, and his attitude carried on (in some form) for the rest of his life. they saw—and still see—a lot of themselves in him, shockingly enough, but the parts that they learned to suppress with all of their might. they're easier on him than their parents were on them, and while they feel a modicum of disappointment and resentment because of this, they're glad to see that he's independent and able to make his own choices.

II. IN THE EYES OF HIS PEERS.

garam was definitely seen as someone odd or quirky in school. the weather is beautiful in honolulu, but he never took advantage of the sun and the waves. not much, at least. in school, he preferred to hole himself up in the corner of a room and either read a book, or read/study people. on the surface, he was quiet; reticent; seemingly intelligent; calculating; mysterious. his teachers always told his parents that they wish he spoke up in class more, but they understood that that wasn't his personality. when he began to express himself more in adolescence, it definitely got him sideways glances. in a superficial sense, kids around him thought of him as the quintessential e-boy/emo-scene kid. his style was eccentric, his hair was messy on purpose, he listened to a lot of alternative styles of music, and he seemed unapologetic about it. he never cared if his self-expression or sexual orientation, etc. upset/bothered people, and to be honest, he still doesn't care. anyway, his friends from back home—the theatre kids tbh—all remember him as a charming, idiosyncratic, protective individual; a person with a fearlessness about him that they all still admire. sure, he gets in his feelings a lot and he can be explosive when he's angry, but that only tells them that he really cares and has immense passion zooming through his veins.

III. IN THE EYES OF HIMSELF.

garam occasionally wonders if he's a bad person, and he still hasn't come up with an answer. he knows that he likes chaos, and that he can be a lot to handle for some people—when he opens up to them, that is—and he knows that it's not fair that he wants to know everyone's deep dark secrets but would never tell them his own. he's also well-aware that his jealousy, possessiveness, and his bad attitude can sometimes get him into trouble, but he doesn't make many strides to alter those "negative" personality traits of his. in a nutshell, he identifies with them and accepts them; able to admit how he is and never apologizing for it. he's stubborn in that sense; fixed in his ways. because he's so introspective, he spends a lot of time psychoanalyzing himself, as well as others. he likes to think he's gotten incredible at reading people and their true motives; like a detective or private investigator with how he studies them. his eyes are intense and fierce, and when they land on someone, his gaze is piercing; somehow a collision both sensitive and sensual. he has a natural magnetism, and he knows it. he uses it to his advantage. however, despite all of the problematic parts of his soul, he's able to recognize that he's a loving person, even if he loves too hard. if you're someone he cares about, he will kill/die for you. though, he views life in a rather black and white way, so if he doesn't love you, he hates you, and similarly to how he goes all out with his loved ones, he'll have no problem doing the same in a detrimental light to those he hates. you slight him, he'll aim to ruin your life. he can hold a mean grudge and believes in getting even instead of forgiving and forgetting. this makes him a troublesome enemy. for the most part, he likes who he is, even if he can be bad. sure, like every human, he has his moments of insecurity and self-doubt—and those often cause him to lash out, unfortunately—but he's living and learning and doesn't want to be/expect to be perfect. all he can hope is that he can make good friends, meet interesting people, and maybe become a singer if he works hard enough at it and doesn't succumb to laziness.

IV. PLOTTING/OOC MESSAGE.

i'm someone who values really deep connections. i love layers, and figuring out what makes them work/not work together, and what makes them tick. those often are my priority when it comes to laying down a good foundation for my muse, and because of that, i prefer to brainstorm instead of explore preset options. if you have any wanted connections that you'd like taken, i have no problem looking through them, of course, but above all, i want us to come up with the best plot possible for our muses. i'm open to any and all ideas, and adore getting into the nitty gritty of everything. platonic relationships, bitter enemies, romances, ex-lovers, friends-turned-enemies, friends-with-benefits... i want it all, so sign me up and don't be afraid to mention anything you have in mind. if you're interested, let me know !

[friskynotebook]

All the Wasted Time Ch. 2

An Obidala GFFA AU slow-burn romance ❤️

CW: age gap

Summary: Obi-Wan gets ready for his not-date, with a little help from his friends ❤️

Also on AO3!

Obi-Wan sighed as he stepped out of the ‘fresher, clad only in an undershirt and boxer briefs. He still wasn’t entirely sure why he agreed to this—he almost commed Padme twice to cancel. But before he could hit the “call” button, he thought of her being miserable as she was hit on by yet another off-world politician and he tucked his comm back in his robes.

It’s just one night to help a friend . . . Surely you can manage that, he told himself. It’s not like you won’t have a good time spending the evening with Padme, even if it is with other politicians.

Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, Obi-Wan heard faint voices outside his quarters as he toweled his hair. Wait, that sounds like—

Quinlan and Anakin barged into his apartment—without knocking, Obi-Wan noted, though at this point he wasn’t exactly surprised.

“Obes!” Quinlan called. “You decent?”

“Does a door mean nothing to you two?” Obi-Wan teased, hanging his towel. 

Anakin had opened Obi-Wan’s conservator, finding a new carton of blue milk. “It opened, did it not?”

“Most beings knock before entering,” Obi-Wan replied crisply, pointedly placing a glass in front of his former padawan. 

“Yeah, but who says we’re most beings?” Quinlan asked.

“Fair enough,” Obi-Wan mused. “What are you two—Quinlan!” Obi-Wan cried out as Quinlan grabbed his arm, dragging him to his bedroom.

“You have to meet Padme in a standard hour, no time to waste!” Quinlan sat him down on a stool while Anakin took his glass and fried tubers and sat himself in a chair, propping his feet up on Obi-Wan’s nightstand.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan sighed.

“I know, I know, ‘feet belong on the floor.’” Anakin rolled his eyes and put his feet back down.

“Where’s your hair product?” Quinlan asked, rummaging through Obi-Wan’s drawers.

“Third drawer on the left,” he replied, knowing there was no point in stopping his friend once he was on a mission.

“Have you thought about changing your part?” Quinlan wondered, running his hands through Obi-Wan’s hair, flopping it back and forth as he frowned.

“Are you kidding Quin? You can’t mess with a classic!” Anakin called back, his mouth full of tubers. “Part the hair on the right side.”

Quinlan nodded, ignoring Obi-Wan’s eye roll. “Right side for maximum hotness, got it.” He reached for the pomade.

“Wait, let him get dressed first!” Anakin suggested. “So it doesn’t get messed up when he puts his robes on.”

“Oh good call, good call,” Quinlan agreed. “Put on your dress robes and I’ll fix your hair after.”

Obi-Wan stood. “You know, I have been dressing myself and fixing my own hair for years now.”

“Yeah, but when was the last time you went on a date?” Anakin teased.

“This is not a date, you said so yourself.”

“So? A guy can dream.”

“Is he dressed yet?” Mace called as he and Cody let themselves into Obi-Wan’s quarters.

“Why do all of you treat my apartment like Coruscant Station?” Obi-Wan lamented, his head stuck in his closet.

Mace ignored him. “Wear the blue dress robes.”

“What? But I usually wear the dark brown ones!”

“The blue ones bring out your eyes.” Mace used the Force to grab a plush tooka Padme had won for Obi-Wan at a Festival of Light years ago and sat on Obi-Wan’s dresser as Cody leaned against the wall beside Anakin.

Obi-Wan sighed and rubbed his beard, his eyes darting between the two sets of robes. After a few moments of contemplation, he grabbed the dark blue ones and left to dress in his bathroom.

“Sit down,” Quinlan ordered when Obi-Wan returned. “We don’t have much time.”

“We have plenty of time,” he protested. “It surely doesn’t take that long to fix my hair.”

“Normal hair, no. But first date hair is a completely different beast.”

“Should I even bother reminding you all this is not a date?” Obi-Wan sighed. “And even if I was, I do know how to act in public.”

“Well, since you brought up dates . . .” Mace grinned.

“Oh no,” Obi-Wan muttered.

“You would know, with your sordid history, Master,” Anakin teased.

“I do not have a sordid—”

“First there was Satine.” Quinlan counted with his free hand as Obi-Wan turned bright red. “A year on the run, young and in love . . .”

“You should have seen him when we ran into her on Mandalore a few years ago,” Anakin grinned. “He tried to play it cool but he was so embarrassed.”

“It had been a long time!” Obi-Wan tried to defend himself.

“Then there was Siri Tachi,” Mace chimed in. “I caught them making out in a training room once.”

“That was years ago and only the one time—”

“Oh, don’t forget me,” Cody laughed. “Remember our one and only date where we stared at each other for twenty minutes then talked about the Ryloth mission for the rest of the dinner?”

“Surely it wasn’t that bad!”

“I had a great time, once we decided we weren’t actually on a date,” Cody grinned as Obi-Wan ran a hand over his face in exasperation.

“And we can’t forget Jango,” Anakin snorted as the others groaned.

“Ah, Jango,” Quinlan sighed. “When the temple gossip became a full-blown soap opera.”

“Yoda kept pestering me for daily updates,” Mace added.

“Oh, come on—”

“Are we talking about Jango?” Bail called, striding into Obi-Wan’s room.

“Does the lock on my door even work?” Obi-Wan asked no one in particular.

“Yes!” Anakin exclaimed, ignoring Obi-Wan. “We’re talking about Obi-Wan’s torrid love affairs.”

“Torrid, Anakin, really—”

“The Jango affair really was a roller coaster of emotions, wasn’t it?” Bail mused, grinning at the beet-red Jedi master.

“Wait, how do you know about Jango?” Obi-Wan asked, fighting his desire to disappear into the floor.

“You can’t spend as much time as I do in the Jedi Temple and not know about Jango, my friend,” Bail teased.

“Bail, I assure you, it wasn’t quite as scandalous as they’re—”

The vice chair held up a hand, laughing. “Relax, Obi-Wan, I didn’t come to add to your bullying—that much. Actually, I wanted to lend you my lucky cape.” He reached for the garment bag he had placed on a table behind him.

“Lucky cape?” Cody furrowed his brow.

“It’s the cape I was wearing when I first met Breha,” he beamed. “It’s also the one I wore when I proposed.”

“Do I need to remind you all this is not a date?” Obi-Wan sighed.

“Put on the cape, Obes.” Quinlan crossed his arms and eyed his friend. Obi-Wan did as Quinlan said, knowing his friends wouldn’t let him off the hook until he did.

“Look at you! It really suits you,” Bail said, adjusting the cape on Obi-Wan’s shoulders.

He blushed. “Thank you, Bail. It is rather nice.”

“A Jedi master masquerading as Alderaani royalty,” Mace grinned. “You look good, Kenobi.”

Before Obi-Wan could reply, a soft knock echoed through his quarters. He smiled, knowing only one person who was polite enough to knock before entering.

“Master Qui-Gon,” Obi-Wan greeted, ushering the aging master into the apartment. Though Qui-Gon Jinn was more or less temple-bound these days, he was still spry and agile, remaining active in teaching and mentoring other members of the Order.

“Obi-Wan.” Qui-Gon’s warm baritone wrapped Obi-Wan in a comforting hug. “You look very dashing tonight.”

He blushed. “Thank you, Master.”

“It’s the cape, right?” Bail chimed in. “That really sells the look.”

Qui-Gon chuckled. “Yes, Bail, the cape looks good.” He turned back to his former padawan. “I just came to wish you well on your evening.”

“Master,” Obi-Wan groaned. “I’m just escorting a dear friend.”

Qui-Gon raised a brow, a knowing twinkle in his eye. “Of course you are, Obi-Wan. All the same, I wanted to see you off . . . and remind you to be home before curfew.”

Obi-Wan turned even more red, if that was possible. 

“Don’t worry, Master,” Anakin laughed. “He’ll be back well before dawn.”

As Obi-Wan was gathering his things to leave, Ahsoka rushed in.

“Skyguy! The temple speeder you modded for Master Kenobi is ready by the west entrance,” she said, not noticing Anakin frantically making a slashing motion across his neck.

Mace set down the plush.

“Skywalker, what did Tano just say?!”

No-pressure tags: @wickedscribbles @obiknights @labyrinth-runner @your-dose-of-obidala @mxster-jocale @cypanache @celestial-alignment @written-musings @alabama-metal-man

[plutoswritingplanet]

Stop, Hammer Time (The Grabber x Female!Reader)

a/n: told y’all i’d do it. reposting because tumblr finally gave me my posting rights back. 

Warnings: Kidnapping (shocking, i know), General Stalker Behavior from the man of the hour, Suggestive Themes, Reader is An ADULT ffs

Summary: Curse your good nature and your winning smile. Curse your anger issues, and the inability to keep your mouth closed. But most importantly, God bless speed bumps. 

There is a slight tremor in your movements, as you try to spread some peanut butter onto a half-burned toast. The knife you've picked up, catches on a stray bag of chips, laying abandoned on the counter. Some of the peanut butter smears onto the packaging. You stare at the messy patch for a second too long, the vein at the side of your head nearly popping then and there. That's enough for you. You place the knife down with enough force to chip away at the tiles.

You take a step back, wrists pressed into your eye sockets. It must've been a long day, and a tiresome one at that.

He likes to watch you, when you're angry.

Your cheeks flare up with a bright blush, eyebrows scrunch together, and your eyes have this magical shine in them. One, even a window and a bit of distance can't stifle. He ducks a bit more out of view, his head of graying hair hiding behind a bush. He's seen you enough times to know, that once you get lost in thought, you tend to look out the kitchen window.

Those are your little intricacies, he has learned by heart. He treasures them, every time he's lucky enough to bear witness. Like the times he's seen you shake your hands after coming home. Every single time you lock your door, you turn towards the house and shake your hands, as if trying to rid yourself of some residue from the outside world.

He knows all this, because there is a beautiful view from the living room window. He can see your entire corridor from there, even reaching the doors to your bathroom. You really should invest in some actual curtains, because those frilly things don't do much. If he doesn't feel like getting out of his van, he can just park it right outside your yard. The patch of land is barely big enough to fit your house, fence almost touching the wall. There, between two bushes, he can lean back into his seat, and watch.

He's not obsessed. He'd never admit it either way. In his mind, he's just looking out for you, for your safety. There are some messed up sickos in the area. He should know, he's one of them. But not for this particular reason. No.

It's getting dark outside, the whole town slowly getting ready to sleep. Not you, however. Never you. Always on the run, always working, putting everyone's needs first, never stopping to take care of yourself. He's tired of seeing it, your slouched silhouette, as you finally come home after days of working. If he had the chance, he'd make you see how much more there is to life, when you have someone to care for you, to protect you. Someone like him.

Now, you, beautiful, angelic you, are making sandwiches for some kid you're meant to babysit tonight. He can barely see the head full of curly hair coming to the kitchen and grabbing a bite out of your hard work. It makes something boil under his skin, that ungrateful brat.

- I was meant to stay until seven - you say to the kid - I have another family to get to in like, five minutes. I have to go.

- That's okay, my dad's probably closing things off at work, I'll tell him you stayed an extra hour.

The man feels his chest come close to exploding at the image of your smile. Teeth on full display, some dimples in your cheeks. So sweet, so pretty, so far away. His hands tighten into fists at his sides, but before he can focus on another wave of anger, you start to walk towards the door.

- See you later Finney, say hi to your sister from me - you wave at the kid, and close the front door behind you.

At the porch, first thing you do is shake your hands. He smiles, as he sees you do it, the view of you partially obscured by a rather large bush. As quietly as he can, for a man of his stature, he begins to tread back to his van, twigs snapping, under his heavy boots.

You get off the porch only when you hear a tell-tale sound of the lock being turned. You'd never leave any kid you're meant to be babysitting all alone in their house, but it's been an hour past your shift. There's another family, that needed a sitter for the night, while the parents went to a birthday party. Or a wedding. You're not entirely sure, never one to meddle into your client's affairs.

So, with a sigh, you begin walking down the road, your destination just a couple of blocks over. That's when you hear a snap coming from the alley, running parallel to Finney's house.

There's a figure crouched over the side of the road, moving from side to side, as if looking for something. A difficult task in the growing darkness. For a moment, you nearly turn away and walk ahead. It would be the safe thing to do, especially since there's a kidnapper on the loose. But then, the crouched man sighs deeply, and moans an "oh no" in such a pathetic voice, you can't imagine him being dangerous in any way. So, like the good citizen you are, you plaster a smile onto your face.

- Sir? Are you okay?

The man nearly trips, as he stands up abruptly, turning to face you. You can barely see his features, as the streetlamps haven't turned on yet. His jawline seems to be sharp, eyes covered by orange sunglasses, a sight, which should've been a screeching red flag at the current time of day. And he's tall. Frighteningly so. His frame is large, towering over you, despite his shy stance. Hands behind his back, head hung low.

- Have you lost something? - you ask again, taking another step closer, caution blowing away alongside the evening's wind.

Finally, the man looks up, his face painted a sickly shade of white. Like a clown, or a magician. Definitely not a normal member of the town, which is why you can't seem to shake the feeling, you've seen this man before.

- Oh! - the man's voice is high and airy, which sounds absolutely strange, coming from someone of his size. - Yes, I dropped my car keys somewhere, and I can't seem to find them. Silly old me.

You rationalize, that it must be his "performer" voice. Sort of like your own special tone, you use only when dealing with customers, during your day job at the café. Perhaps you've seen him there, among dozens of people going in and out. He probably tried the special Sunday pie, and decided to never come back. The image makes you suppress a laugh, but the man catches your huff with a raised eyebrow.

- Sorry, just got reminded of something funny - you mutter, before coming to stand next to the lawn, eyes searching for any key-adjacent shapes.

The man looks at you for a moment longer, as if contemplating something, but you're too embarrassed by your previous hiccup, to hold his gaze.

- Yeah? Want to share with an old geezer like me?

You smile to yourself, as you crouch down next to a patch of wild grass. The man really didn't look that old. Sure, there was at least a gap of twenty-something years between the two of you, but you wouldn't give him more than fifty years. Well, fifty-five at most.

- Ah, it's nothing. - you chuckle - It's just we have this special pie at work...

The rest of your sentence is cut off cruelly, as a sharp pain erupts in the back of your head. Your vision swims with specks of black, and soon, you feel yourself falling. As your face lands on the patch of grass you've previously inspected, you barely register someone's hands grabbing at your shoulders. The last thing you remember, are blue eyes, almost popping out of their sockets, as they look over your face. The feverish, almost child-like wonder in them being your last image before you completely slip into darkness.

Thank God for speed bumps.

You're awakened rudely, as your head jumps up, and hits the metal flooring of a van. It takes you a while to recognize the sound of a working engine. Even more, to realize you're laying down, inside the car. But the most important revelation comes in much later. Your hands aren't tied. Which means your attacker was sure you wouldn't wake up before he got you, wherever he wanted to take you.

The man. A long shiver runs up your spine at the mere memory of his intense gaze. With panicked eyes, you search around the dark van. Looking over your shoulder, you can see the top of his head, peaking over the driver's seat. His back is turned to you, focused on the road ahead. Perfect.

Slowly, you start to move. Uncurling your aching limbs from the uncomfortable position he has put you in. Then, you start to touch around you, hands flailing, as you try to find something, anything you can use to defend yourself. Finally, your fingers brush over a untensil of some sort. The handle is made of wood, and as you begin to map it out further with your hands, you realize what you're holding, is in fact, a hammer. And not any hammer. Judging by the sticky liquid coating the head of the tool, it's the same hammer, the Mystery Kidnapper used to stun you with.

Armed, you hide the weapon under your body, focusing very hard on not throwing up, as the incessant, throbbing pain in the back of your head finally catches up to you. You lay like this for a couple of minutes, listening to the sounds of the van's engine. Sometimes the man would hum under his nose. Some old tune you'd hear on the radio decades ago. His voice is nice, you note, among other delirious thoughts running through your terrified mind.

Finally, the man pulls over. The car is turned off with a rather pathetic sound, that betrays its old age. Then, with cautious eyes, you watch him get out, slamming the door to the driver's side. You hold your breath, squeezing your eyes shut, fingernails digging into the wooden handle of the hammer. You can hear his footsteps, heavy on the gravel road. If you focus hard enough, you imagine, you can hear his breathing, the beating of his heart.

Then, the door to the backside of the van open, metal screeching in protest. You count to three, until he puts his hands on you. Both of them grabbing at your shoulders. That's when you uncurl like a snake, the hammer connecting with the side of his torso, with a sickening, wet sound.

- Fuck! - the man curses loudly, loosing balance for just a moment, giving you time to slide yourself out of the vehicle.

The hit, however unexpected, is not nearly hard enough to sway him. You're not able to take two full steps, before you feel hands grabbing at the back of your shirt. Stitches tear, as the man forcefully yanks you backwards, sending you towards the pavement. You fall like a sack of potatoes, head hitting the cement. A groan erupts from your lips, as another wound forms at the back of your head, but this time, you fight those black spots with all your might.

Pushed by panic alone, you turn on your stomach, crawling away from the van. Again, you don't make it far, before he catches you. Suffocating weight bears down on you, as he all but crushes your body to the pavement with his own. Your head cranes back, trying to look at him, perhaps spit in his face, but one of his hands finds purchase in your hair, tugging at the roots hard enough, to make you bear your teeth at him with a hiss.

His knees pin your legs to the ground, his torso pressing close to your back, impossible heat coming off of him in waves. Other hand makes quick work of capturing your hands and pinning them by the wrists above your head. Your body jerks under him in a futile attempt at throwing him off. That's when his hips press closer to your backside, in a warning you understand all too well. A sickening feeling coils in your stomach, at the sensation of something very obviously hardening against the inside of your thigh.

You freeze, breathing heavily through your teeth. The fact, that you can't see his face angers you to no end. You want to etch it into your memory, so you can imagine it twisted in pain, as you tear his fucking throat out. Perhaps your mother was right, when she told you years ago, you had some anger issues. But you'll be damned if they don't come in handy in this situation.

- Stop fucking moving, or I'll give you a real reason to squirm - he growls in your ear, fixing his hold in your hair.

He waits for a moment. You feel his eyes drilling holes into your face. Your movements stop, muscles tense as you lay pinned to the pavement.

- Good - he praises, his tone of voice changing into something akin to a condoscending chuckle, letting go of your hair in favor of gently patting the crown of your head.

The gesture makes you want to rip his hand clean off.

- Now - his body moves on top of yours, pressure leaving you back slightly, as he changes position, from downright crushing you, to hovering. - You're going to be very quiet, and we'll walk right up to that door there.

You can't see the door he's talking about, all you can see is the veins running up his surprisingly muscular arm, the edges of a black dress shirt. Gritting your teeth, you throw your best venomous look in the direction, you suppose the rest of his body is hidden.

- Fuck yo..

He doesn't let you finish. The hold on your hair tightening momentarily, as he drags our head upwards, and slams it back down. Your chin hits the pavement, the impact reverberating through your entire skull. You groan in pain, as the pressure on your body returns, his head craining around you, so he can whisper into your ear.

- I'm trying to take care of you, sweetheart. The least you can do, is not be a ungrateful fucking whore. - the words are forced out through his teeth, between heavy, panting breaths.

You don't have the strength to fight him, when he shifts to turn you around. Finally, you can see him. Well, part of him. The top half of his face is obscured by some sort of porcelain mask, depicting the frowning eyebrows of a devil. White horns pertrude forwards, and once you get a clear look of this deranged man, that's when fear settles in. Pure, freezing dread spreads out throughout your body like snake's venom.

Tears spring at the corners of your eyes, because, despite the many times you've stated otherwise, you really don't want to die. The alternative also looks grim, if not worse, and the helplessness of the situation wrenches a sob out of your chest.

As if touched by some magic spell, the man halts all his movements. His eyes follow teardrops that fall in heavy streams down your cheeks. Something flickers across those unfeeling blue eyes of his, something akin to guilt, but you don't feel optimistic enough to believe it.

Slowly, his arms sneak around your torso, one hand still placed firmly around your wrists. Your head sways, as he manouvers you around, forcing you into a half-sitting half-kneeling position. Then, his other hand comes up to your face.

- Oh, my poor, sweet thing - he coos, voice so gentle, you almost trust him.

Ignoring the way you flinch away from his touch, his hand wipes at at your tears, rough fingertips dragging across your skin.

- You done got yourself hurt - there's an edge to his voice, and your breathing quickens in anticipation of another outburst.

Instead, his hand wrenches itself underneath your chin, where a new wound is already forming. You watch him with fearful eyes, as his tongue peaks out to wet his lips.

- Let me kiss it better - is all the warning you get, before he dives down, despite your desperate attempts at pulling away.

His tongue presses hard against the scrape at your chin, licking a long stripe across it. The sting makes you squeak, and he soothes his assault with a chaste kiss to the wound. Then, you gasp, as he tugs your body against his chest, the ridiculousness of the position you're in, making your head swim. You stay there for a moment, feeling the rising and falling of his torso. His heartbeat surprisingly calm, considering your little tussle from before.

His true intentions come to light soon enough, however. One of his muscular arms wraps aound your throat. You try to protest, to scream, to do anything, but with one swift move, he cuts away all the oxygen. Your legs kick and flail, but he doesn't let go. The finality of the situation finally rushing down on your mind, This is how you die, this is the end.

You hear him mutter something into the crown of your head, as your conciousness starts to fade away from you once again.

[wind-becomes-lightning]

30th celebration!! ✨✨ umm you know how much I loved the scenes in PT when Tora was learning to kiss - soo what about an obkk where Obito is completely inexperienced and Kakashi teaches him to kiss for the first time? :)

Hello, dear <3 What a wonderful prompt I'm always happy to write some happy boys kissing! <3 You are always a fan of that ahah. Well anyway, I'm sorry that it got so AU'-y and hope you like it anyway!

Fantasy / Royal Au

Very losely based on this fanart by @tbh-logic, which I've seen months ago and since then it has not left my brain. (like seriously i keep going back to look at it, it owns me.)

Hatake Kakashi x Uchiha Obito

2376 words.

Kakashi walked down the marble-stone hallways, his quick paced steps echoing off the wall which every new one he took. He’d been sent out to find one of the princes, who had apparently left the banquet early without explanation. This had not looked well with the Lord of the place, and as such Kakashi was sent out to get the runaway.

Uchiha Obito was always like that, as an orphan he was the lowest of the hierarchy in the castle, just about related enough to the Lord himself to not be pushed out. But he wasn’t any candidate for the throne in any regard and so he often did as he pleased. Not that that was allowed to him.

When he found the room Kakashi knocked once, then another time when there was no reaction, then a third time and still none, so he knocked one fourth and final time before opening the door to step in.

Lord Obito was laying spread out over a red couch in the corner, his blue jacket was lazily put over his eyes as if he was sleeping, but Kakashi could see the way his breath went quickly and he knew that he wasn’t. He stepped in and cleared his throat: “Sir?”

The other man stirred only lightly, but otherwise stayed exactly where he was as if he hadn’t heard Kakashi’s voice. So Kakashi repeated himself: “Sir, I’ve been sent to ask you why you decided to skip dinner.” He paused a second then added: “Lord Madara demands an explanation.”

That finally got a reaction out of him. “Go away, phantom,” Obito said, a name he had given Kakashi personally for the face covering he was wearing. He sat up suddenly, his jacket carelessly falling to the floor below him. “I don’t think I’m a child that needs to eat dinner with my uncle every day”, he spit and ran with his fingers through his black hair. “Especially not when that means…” He didn’t finish the sentence.

Kakashi walked over to pick up the jacket before it collected too much dust. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Obito continuously mumbling over dinner, his uncle, how he wasn’t a child anymore, and all the while pulling out little hairs from his head. He did that when he was nervous or anxious, Kakashi had noticed a long time ago. He wasn’t privy to family secrets so he had no idea what this specific anxiety attack was about.

“I don’t know what you mean with that, sir,” Kakashi said and folded the jacket under his arms. “I’m just here to tell you that Lord Madara wishes an apology and an explanation. You ought to address it to him and the guests.” 

A large delegation of Senju members had arrived by morning and stayed the whole day with the majority of the Uchiha family. Kakashi had been out and about assisting the many princes around, though none of them were as much of a hassle as Obito was. It was not like Kakashi minded cleaning up Obito’s messes. He had done it half his life at this point and never complained. Obito was more likely than any other Uchiha to actually be outspokenly thankful for the work Kakashi was doing.

Obito sighed and threw his head back over the back of the couch: “I don’t want to talk to the guests though, or meet them…” He frowned.

Kakashi knew he was stepping out of line, but he couldn’t help but ask: “Is there something troubling you, sir?”

For the question alone he could have been dismissed and reprimanded by his superior. He wasn’t meant to ask private questions to the royalty around. Obito, however, had never really been like any of the others and so, maybe he wouldn’t be offended. 

“I’m to be engaged”, Obito said, “to some Senju that I’ve never met.” There were the hands in his hair again. “And it’s not like I don’t understand, you know? I have nothing to offer this family as a low standing orphan without specific talents. So I would not be opposed to marrying for peace’s sake. However, I just…. I just don’t think it's very fair to them.”

“Them?” Kakashi asked.

“The partner. The spouse. The one I am to marry. They probably have heard tales of the beautiful, well raised and behaved sons of the Uchiha. Itachi, Sasuke, Shisui, those people who fit that description. They will probably not expect a half troll like me”, Obito gestured to his face.

He’d had an accident when he was small, back before Kakashi had come to serve at the palace, which had left him with scars on the right side of his face and body. It was a miracle that he could still see out of the eye on that side after what had been half a cave collapsing on top of him. Kakashi had heard the stories of Obito’s struggle to fight back to health and always admired that about him. He also didn’t think that Obito looked like a troll with them, he thought Obito was rather handsome anyway.

“On top of that” Obito continued, his face now buried in his hands, “.. I don’t even have anything else to offer them. Like, though I am twenty and four I don’t have any experience in any of these matters. I haven’t even kissed before…”

Kakashi found that hard to believe, but guessing by the desperate way Obito’s voice sounded it seemed very likely to be true. “Maybe you should practise a little before the marriage then, sir” Kakashi suggested and know he was very much reaching a boundary of familiarity that he shouldn’t cross.

“Right, but who would I practise with? Who would want to do it? With someone like me nonetheless”, Obito whined.

“I could.”

The words had slipped out of Kakashi’s mouth before he could stop himself. He stood there frozen, unable to take them back now that they were out in the open like that. He knew he could be fired for this, cast out back on the streets where he’d originally started from. It was too late now to think about the consequences of his reckless words.

Obito lifted his head out of his hands and stared at the other man. He wasn’t blinking. Kakashi took one step back as if he might lash out at him and hit him, which none of the Uchiha princes ever did. In his mind he thought over how to accurately apologise for such a frivolous offering, but it wouldn’t quite come together. 

He finally opened his mouth to speak, but Obito was faster: “Alright. Teach me.” 

Kakashi almost dropped the jacket to the dirty ground again. His mouth swung open just a little. “You mean that, Lord?”

“Well if you have experience and I need experience then, by all means, yes teach me” Obito replied. Kakashi didn’t have too much experience either, not with many partners at least. Sometimes he had kissed the kitchen girl Rin for the fun of it and for a while he had enjoyed the company of the young man who was responsible to look after the palace gardens. It didn’t mean much, but it wasn't nothing.

He walked over slowly and Obito moved to the side of the couch to give him space to sit down. He was still holding the deep purple jacket that the other man had dropped to the floor and, feeling awkward with it still in his hand, put it over the back of the couch. His hands were free in case - well in case he needed them.

“So, how do we go about this?” Obito asked and furrowed his brow. Kakashi had never been so close to him and seen his dark eyes as clearly as this. Obito was a handsome man, his fears that his future spouse would be unhappy with his appearance was totally unfounded, Kakashi concluded. Nobody would ever oppose marrying a guy with a face like that, scars or no scars.

Kakashi squirmed a little and then said: “Maybe you should close your eyes.” 

“Right, you wouldn’t want me to see your face, phantom,” Obito nodded and Kakashi nodded back, though his concern had much more been that looking into Obito’s eyes up close like that made him nervous and he wanted to avoid it. Just like he had suggested Obito closed his eyes and pursed his lips forward as if he was a fat bellied statue of an angel in the palace gardens. 

The view made Kakashi chuckle which led Obito to press out: “Not like that?”

“No, no, you are right, I’m sorry, sir” Kakashi said and shook himself. This was not a free time evening makeout session with Tenzo, he was here for very serious business and needed to behave accordingly. He opened the face covering at his back and let it slide over his chin. He took a breath in, then another, to calm his nerves, and then he leaned forward to kiss Obito.

Rin’s lips were thin and always tasted sweet like the goodies she liked to sneak out of the kitchen and Tenzo’s were always forceful and his body gave off an earthy smell, but Obito’s lips were softer than any of the others Kakashi had had before. Not even the dent at the right side, where the scars circled his face, could change that. He tasted like the wine he had for dinner. He smelled like juniper berries, vetiver and cypress.

Kakashi immediately felt like he wanted to push for more, beg for more, but Obito was not experienced enough and had not given authority. So Kakashi pressed their lips together just like that, just sweet and innocent kissing. Drawing back for a breath and drawing Obito back in, his hands cramped into fists in his lap to squash the desire that flared up in his chest now.

Obito picked it up quickly, moving his head in turn with Kakashi’s drawing breath when he did. Kakashi couldn’t help himself, he opened one of his eyes to see the other man's face. Obito had his eyes closed, but not forcefully but relaxed. There was a slight blush over his nose and cheeks. Kakashi thought he never looked more beautiful.

“Is that it?” Obito asked after a while, a little out of breath, eyes still closed diligently. “Or is there anything else about it? I’m sure I’ve seen people do… other things.”

Not wanting to end this right now either, Kakashi jumped at the opportunity: “No, sir, you are right, there is some more.” His heart beat like a drum against his ribcage. If someone would find him in here with Lord Obito, if someone would see them do this together, Kakashi would be cast out or punished even harder. Technically though, Obito had asked him to help, so he didn’t really have a choice.

“Please, follow my lead like you did so far, sir” Kakashi said and Obito nodded, his brows furrowed again as if he was taking these practice sessions very seriously. He was so cute, Kakashi would eat him for dinner if he could.

He leaned in again, sighing almost inaudibly when he met Obito’s lips again. This time though he parted his lips just slightly, allowing himself to breathe just a little easier. With the tip of his tongue, Kakashi tapped Obito’s lower lip, just graced it a little, to ask for access. Obito did not react at all, so Kakashi, now greedy and impatient, forced his tongue through the scarred lips into the other man's mouth, his hands pulling Obito’s face closer in the process.

First, he traced the outline of teeth on top and bottom, just to tease a little. Obito was breathing hard, his mouth opening wider now, but he stood still. When Kakashi finally did touch his tongue, Obito groaned. The sound was so wonderful to hear, that Kakashi had to hold back the impulse to throw Obito backwards and climb over him. Fire burned in his chest and he wanted more, more.

Obito was quick at adapting once again, swirling his tongue in unison with Kakashi, forcing a blissful sigh or two out of his mouth. He mimicked Kakashi’s movement and put his hand into the other man’s hair and crawled into it when he heard the moan Kakashi let out because of it. He was experimenting, Kakashi thought without judgement. He’d gladly be the experiment.

More. Kakashi thought. A little more. He wanted to push further, his heart loud in his ears and his common sense leaving out of the window. He sat himself up and with his hands on both Obito’s shoulders slightly pressed the Uchiha back into his pillows. Obito didn’t stop him or complain, instead he let himself get guided there. 

Kakashi’s hands found the button’s of the vest Obito was wearing and opened them quickly, Obito’s hands in turn holding his face. “It is also nice.. “ Kakashi heard himself say, “.. if you do this-” He kissed Obitos cheek, the jaw, the underside of the jaw and then the thin layer of skin next to the throat. Obito groaned again, pushed Kakashi’s head up and latched onto his lips again. 

“What else?” Obito pressed between kisses, his fingers running down Kakashi’s back like little spider legs. Kakashi just wanted to pull open even more of Obito’s vest buttons to kiss his chest, but then there was a knock at the door.

“Lord Obito, are you alright in there?” It was the voice of another servant.

Both Kakashi and Obito scooted away from each other in the blink of an eye. Kakashi was good at covering himself up so that people wouldn’t see his face, so he was the phantom again before Obito could really get himself together. 

“Sir, you should fix your hair”, Kakashi said, already halfway towards the door. “I hope this will help in the future, please don’t forget you have to talk to Lord Madara.” 

He opened the door to the clueless other servant and said: “Don’t worry I have everything under control.” And before Obito or someone else could say another word he turned the corner and hurried away the way he had come.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi Raven! If it isn’t much of a bother, what is your opinion on Cheka and Najma in the character bingo? Hope you have a good day and make sure to take care of yourself!

***Standard disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions of the character(s); regardless of what I may think of them, sharing my thoughts is NOT meant to offend or to shame anyone that thinks differently.***

CHEKA WAS THE SAVING GRACE OF THE HOT MESS THAT WAS EPISODE 2 😭 He really just came out of nowhere and stole my heart like that... hey Leona if you don’t like Cheka I can adopt him off your hands for ya, just get Falena to sign off on the release forms--

I don’t think I can say enough just how cute Cheka is????????? His sunny personality and innocence just lights up the whole room, and it contrasts well with how grumpy Leona is. BUAYOFV8ADY8FAASBPI AND HE CALLS LEONA “OJITAN” 😂 (Unca in TWST EN, which is significantly less cute to me, but acceptable)???????? Bruh, that moment of levity was what we really needed to distract from the rest of episode 2 yes I will shit on episode 2 every chance that I get.

It’s so clear that Cheka truly looks up to and adores his uncle. Cheka doesn’t come off as pompous as Simba is (like, remember when Simba just brags to Scar about how he’ll be king of Pride Rock?????), but he shares that same sense of childish obliviousness to the darker things around him. I don’t know, I just find it super endearing how Cheka loves Leona so much and wants to spend time with him despite Leona’s absolute repulsion. Cheka doesn’t let that get to him! He wants Leona to visit him at home, he wants Leona to read his letters, he wants Leona to teach him how to play Magical Shift/Spelldrive! That’s a kind of enthusiasm and pure, unadulterated joy that we don’t get to see often from the main cast of boys.

It’s a shame that we don’t get to see much more of Cheka beyond episode 2 (I think he gets a cameo in the first Halloween event, though it’s just via a phone call), but I get why that’s the case. It’s not like Cheka’s a main character or anything 😔 I just hope that he makes a comeback if/when we have an event where we get to visit the Sunset Savanna.

I’d love to learn more about Cheka and his relationships with the rest of the Kingscholar family, as well as how he deals with his security detail (since Cheka mentions slipping away from them to see Leona) and royal advisors, tutors, and servants (seeing as how Simba saw people like Zazu as a nag). Like, if Leona’s people hate him as much as he says they do (according to his post-OB backstory), then I wonder if Cheka is cognizant of that and if he actively defends his uncle. How does Cheka get along with his dad???? Or maybe we’ll learn why exactly Cheka looks up to Leona so much (besides just Cheka being a wide-eyed kid). I feel like there’s a lot of interesting ground we could cover!

Hey Jamil I’m really into your looks 😎 Think you can introduce me to your sister? Ignore me, it’s a stupid MHYK joke—

Can I just start off saying that I love Najma’s fashion sense???? Her clothes are very reminiscent of the traditional style associated with Silk City (based on what I can see of the Yasmina Silk cards), but has a modern twist to it. The patterns on her hairband and cardigan are absolutely mesmerizing without being too complicated for the eye to process at a glance, and her simple jewelry and mostly solid-colored top and pants don’t distract or compete with those patterns for attention. The turquoise sash at her waist makes the tassels of her shirt look really interesting, and the white flower in her hair is striking against her dark hair. HNNNNGH I just really love how Najma looks! The one thing that kind of throws me off about her is how similar her face is to Jamil’s 😂 which makes sense, because they’re siblings, but they look SO similar (especially their neutral expressions) that it scares me sometimes.

Najma’s interactions with the rest of the cast in the Scalding Sands event were so wholesome, but not in the same way that like... Cheka would be considered wholesome. She still expresses a sense of curiosity about the NRC kids, but she’s much more reserved about it. I also just find it hilarious that she sasses Jamil (like eating his shawarma) and tells embarrassing stories about him to his classmates; it’s very in line with what real life siblings tend to do to get on each other’s nerves. (I’m legally allowed to say that as someone with siblings/j) She’s so cute but in a lowkey shit-eating way...

I love seeing fan content of her; artists get so creative with her drip, and Najma looks good in like. EVERYTHING. My favorite Najma fan content has to be short comics where Najma has heard of some Dumb Shit that Jamil’s been up to and teasing him about it. For example, Jamil was a major part of NRC’s VDC performance; he had a whole rap and dance routine in the middle of it--and I remember seeing so many cute pieces of Najma imitating Jamil’s rap and dance while wearing a smug expression and Jamil getting all annoyed and/or embarrassed about it. IT’S TECHNICALLY NOT CANON, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD HAPPEN, RIGHT?????

I LIVE for Najma and Jamil’s dynamic. Something about all the little things they do and say to each other feels so real and so genuine. Even before we got to meet Najma face-to-face, Jamil would sometimes make remarks like how his little sister said his cooking looks boring (because it was all the same brownish color). Jamil may not exactly care for the act of cooking itself, but he has a lot of pride in his skills, and comments like that clearly get under his skin. AND THEN WHEN NAJMA STARTS TELLING THE GROUP STORIES ABOUT THE STUPID SHIT JAMIL USED TO DO AS A KID AND HE TRIES TO BE ALL COOL AND NONCHALANT ABOUT IT???????? The way they sound kind of exasperated to see each other? The whole “why are you here”, “dad said to come get you, I didn’t want to be here, I wanted to hang out with my friends” exchange???????? That’s so real it hurts 😂

I think that Najma got just enough screen time so as to not overstay her welcome or to overshadow the NRC boys, but I personally wish we got to see more of her (or at least have her make a cameo again in the future). I’m curious about what her relationship with Kalim is like (since it seems she also knows him and played with him in their childhoods)? And I also want to know what Najma’s thoughts are on the Viper family’s history of servitude to the Asims, or if she is or isn’t expected to carry on that legacy since she’s second born. Those would be really cool topics to explore!

[underburningstars]

Wow can't believe l actually finished this one. It's been in my wips for a long time. I have only posted my starker fics so far. So I'm a bit nervous about this one. Hope everyone likes it.

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Pairing : Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Warnings :Canon Divergence, Temporary Character Death, Mpreg, Sentinel AU, mention of deaths, hand wavey science, violence. (Tell me if I need to add something more).

Words : 16K (m'so proud)

on ao3

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Right when the video starts playing, Steve knows that his whole life is about to fall apart.

“Don’t bullshit me Rogers. Did you know?”

Rogers. Not honey or babe. Not even Steve. Rogers.

For a moment he thinks about lying. Saying that he didn’t know. That he’s seeing this for the first time too. But he feels his insides churn even for thinking about lying to Tony again. There’s only one thing left to do now. He just hopes Tony takes it all out in him instead of Bucky.

“Yes.”

The blow that comes is expected. But the amount of strength Tony used wasn’t. Right then standing in front of him wasn’t the man he loves, the one who loved him through everything, not the man he thought he’d one day have a family with. Right in front of him was someone who was on the opposite side of the war, an enemy. An enemy who Steve has to protect Bucky from.

So he hits and keeps hitting. And by the time he brings the shield down, his world is already destroyed.

After that all of Steve’s senses were going haywire. He doesn’t know what he’s feeling. Everything is too overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. He can sense pain, betrayal, hurt and fear. So much fear. But these feelings are not his own.

It hurts.

He looks down and sees his shield plunged deep into Tony’s arc reactor, the familiar whiskey eyes Steve loves so much looking up at him. And it all clicks. Oh, he…he’s scared of me. His blood runs cold. Steve thinks the universe must be laughing at him right now. He destroyed the one thing he should’ve protected with his life.

He gets off Tony, picks Bucky up and leaves the Shield back. He doesn’t deserve it. He feels hollow. Like all his senses have turned off. Not the comfortable calm that Tony brought him every time he got overwhelmed. No, this was different. Like the part of him that was responsible for feeling anything was missing . As if he’s body refuses to feel anything without Tony. His other half.

Steve feels numb. As though everything around him has blurred away. He know he’s sitting in the Quinjet heading towards Wakanda but he feels disconnected with it all. Bucky is sitting right there too. Injured but alive. He wanted to have his friend back for so long. But at what cost?

Everything. It cost me my world.

Right before the Quinjet lands his gaze falls down to his shaking hands. He clenched them hard to stop the tremor. Now that no one’s there to hold them for him.

He doesn’t cry. Not even when he washed the blood off his hands. Tony’s blood his brain helpfully supplies. But when he lies down on the comfortable yet unfamiliar bed at night he can’t help but feel the wrongness of it all. The weight of a head on his chest, mop of unruly brown hair tucked under his chin, the soft glow and buzz of the arc reactor. It all gone. He lost it all.

Forever.

That’s when he finally let’s himself break down.

In the morning he tries to hide the fact that he had cried himself to sleep the previous night. But by the look Bucky gives him, he realizes he didn’t do that good of a job.

He doesn’t let himself think about it. He has friends to break out of jail and plans to make. If he let’s himself think about the whole mess, he in no way will be in the slightest bit of functional. This is something he’ll think about late at night when he’s alone with no one to judge him for his tears.

He breaks the rest of them out of the Raft. Buys a flip phone (which Tony would call ancient disaster if he were there). Writes about a hundred letters – some too obscured with tears – and sends one.

The letter was the absolutely horrible. It didn’t show half the things Steve wanted to tell him. It probably made things even worse. Steve knew that. But he had to let Tony know that no matter what happened between them, he’ll always be there for him. Even if Tony didn’t want him there anymore.

Wakanda treated them extremely well, considering all that happened. They had a place to stay, food to eat and also a space to train. A few days into staying there Natasha joined them too. As much as he is glad to see her he can’t help but wonder that who’s there with Tony.

Bucky is having a hard time. He can see it. Sometimes he looks lost, forgets fragments of his memory, sometimes he takes a long time to recognize Steve. So he isn’t really surprised when he wants to go back to the cryo again. He never liked half-assing anything.

He carries the phone with him all the time. He knows it’s not healthy. But just can’t bear the thought of letting it go out of his sight even for a second. It’s the last bit of connection he has with Tony. He needs to have this.

Wakanda has been nothing but hospitable towards them. But it’s time for them to leave. The reason he didn’t want to sigh the accords was because he wanted to help people without anything binding him and holding him back. That’s exactly what he and the rest of the team are going to do now.

Being on the run isn’t easy. It’s shitty motel rooms, even shittier food and lots of sudden bouts of depression. Although compared to him all the others are coping much better. The only one who can slightly relate to him is Wanda and Clint. But Steve knows she meets Vision sometimes. And Clint regularly talks to his family.

He wishes he could have that.

They are in Germany right now. It was a fairly easy mission considering it was a small HYDRA base without too much security. But for Steve this day is nothing better than hell. His limbs hurt, head pounding, his ears are ringing. He’s surprised he’s not bleeding from his ears, yet. It’s getting harder to breathe, lungs contracting in a way it hadn’t even on his worst asthma attacks.

He knows it’s because of being away for too long from his bonded. It’s been two months since Siberia. The first month he could still distinctly feel bits of Tony’s emotions although Tony did a great job at building a shield around. The soulbond isn’t really that complicated. Just constant contact even just emotional is enough to stay healthy.

But it’s been so long without any kind of proximity with Tony that the bond has started to feel scared and abandoned. Steve thinks it’s ironic as he’s the one who abandoned Tony. But the bond doesn’t understand that. It’s feeling threatened and just wants its mate close. Like Steve wants anything else.

“Are you okay? How are you feeling?” Nat’s voice is uncharacteristically soft. Although she’s also a Sentinel so she at least knows that it can be extremely painful. That’s the reason Scott left and is serving house arrest. At first he wondered how he got off with such a small penalty. But he soon understood that it must’ve been Tony.

He thought Clint would leave too. But he didn’t. He stuck with them even if he missed his family like crazy. In the very least, he got to talk to Laura and the kids regularly. That was good enough.

Sam and Wanda are Guides too. So when Nat feels overwhelmed, they help her. But that doesn’t work for him. He needs his bonded and instantly feels territorial if any other Guide tries to help him, increasing his pain ten fold.

“No. I’m feeling like shit.” Steve is in no condition to filter his words.

“Must be pretty bad if you’re admitting to it and you also cursed.”

“I think my ears will start bleeding if I even move an inch of my head.”

“Go to sleep okay? It’ll make you feel better.” Nat sighs. After a few more hours of pain and restlessness, his body is too exhausted to even feel the pain and falls into an uncomfortable unconsciousness.

That night doesn’t dream. No nightmares haunt him. But he hears a voice. A voice he’d give anything to hear again. But now he only feels dread.

Steve…

Help me, Steve.

Steve. Where are you? Help me. Save me please.

It hurts so much. Hurtshurtshurtshurts…

Steve!

He wake up with a jolt. He can’t breathe. There’s not enough oxygen in his lungs. His body is rigid. His enhanced senses are going erratic, sensing danger.

He suddenly feels nauseous. Bile rising up his throat. He runs to the washroom and throws up in the toilet. By the end his throat his burning and tears are pouring down his eyes. His body still in a defensive and rigid.

The voice was Tony’s. He knows it wasn’t Tony but the voice was. It was his soul searching for his soul mate. They’ve been out of contact for too long and the bond is feeling like it’s mate is in danger.

He can’t feel Tony’s emotions anymore – they have to imprint on each other at least once a month for that – but he can still feel a distant presence. Warm and alive. He’ll have to learn to live with that.

Watching Pepper announcing information what Tony was supposed to inform is a bit disconcerting. The last time Tony was seen on public was two month ago when he saved a ferry that split into two. Steve sometimes thinks of calling. However, he couldn’t gain courage. Even though it has been three months since Siberia.

Steve isn’t sure if he’s hallucinating or not. Maybe his desperate brain just made this up. But the flip phone ringing on his hands feel real. Perhaps Tony is drunk, a simple mistake. Or maybe he called to tell Steve how much he hates him. He’ll take anything he gets.

“Tony?”

“No, Captain. It’s me. Tony doesn’t know I’m calling. But I really need to talk to you.” Colonel Rhodes. Steve didn’t expect to get a call from Tony. But this is even more unexpected. Oh God, is he okay?

“What happened? Is everything alright? How’s Tony?” Okay, so yeah Steve was slightly panicking now. But what had happened that Rhodes needed to call him. That too without Tony’s knowledge.

Right then Natasha entered the room and came to an abrupt halt, eyes widening when she saw Steve talking on the flip phone. ‘Tony’ she mouthed towards the phone. Steve wishes he could say yes, but with a shake of his head he mouthed ‘Rhodes’.

“That’s what I need to talk to you about Cap. This might be a bit hard to hear but I need to stay calm. ” Steve’s heart his racing too fast but his hands have gone completely cold.

“Just spit it out already! What is it?” From the corner of his eyes he could see Natasha’s body going rigid. Worry lines starting to build on her face. Sam and Wanda had entered the room too, concern masking their faces.

“Tony, he-he’s pregnant.”

¦

Tony already knew that his life was huge, horrible sitcom. But this is really something else. At first the whole emotional turmoil about Spencer, then the Accords, finding out that his bonded is actually a lying bastard and said bonded leaving him for his BFF. Steve is the epitome of ‘bros before hoes’.

For cherry on top, he’s pregnant. Voila!

The doctor is talking to him but he actually stopped listening to her after her big announcement. Mr. Stark you’re two weeks pregnant. Congratulations! He doesn’t know if he should actually be congratulated.

Now sitting on a stupid hospital bed he’s caressing his stomach where a little life is growing inside him. “Guess now it’s just you and me now sugarplum.”

Breaking the news to Rhodey and Pepper was surprisingly easy. As much as they looked shocked, they also looked like they expected something like this to happen all along.

The amount of NDAs Pepper has had people sighed in such a short notice is truly amazing. There is no way this news can get to Ross. And Rhodey has taken up full on overprotective little shit mode.

Tony still has to announce shit, show the world his lovely face and help the kid occasionally. But after a month of running around Rhodey has promptly locked him inside the tower. And to add to that, Pepper and Peter are helping him too. Traitors.

The first two months of pregnancy went quite well. He had horrible mood swings and absurd cravings but that happened to him even without the pregnancy. The amount of food he eats everyday worries him at times but the doctor said having twins does that to someone.

The third month, however, isn’t as pleasant. It happens while Peter is with him in his lab, working on his web shooters that Tony suddenly feels the world tilting sideways. If it wasn’t for Peter’s enhanced senses, he would’ve been screwed.

Now he’s laying on the hospital bed again, letting the doctor explain him what is going on.

“Your bonded is going into bond shock due to prolonged separation between the two of you. You would’ve felt the symptoms before but because of the pregnancy you’re health had been much better than most.”

“So what happens now?” Tony’s voice is carefully blank but now he’s feeling increasingly scared. No just for the baby but Steve too. Tony doesn’t know what it feels like. But he has heard enough about how bad bond shocks are. At that the doctor looked hesitant to speak.

“You need at least the minimum amount of connection with him right now. Otherwise, it could be dangerous for both the kinds and you.”

If there is a God then Tony is his biggest entertainment source. Connection the doctor said. But how? Steve left him and he’s trying so hard to live with that. But now even that seems impossible.

Rhodey’s eyes are boring into his head. He knows what Rhodey wants him to do. What he should do. But this isn’t that easy. Tony’s the one who got abandoned. He has to live with that along with all the international problems they are causing all over. He is the pregnant one. His kids are at risk. All because of a stupid super soldier.

He’s taking a big risk. He is used to his life being in danger. But right now it’s not only about him. He knows he can’t stall calling Steve anymore. He’s nearing his fourth month and his condition his not getting any better.

Pepper and Rhodey are constantly fussing over him. Even Peter has started looking worried. Yet, as he takes that ancient phone in his hands, his body weakens a d backs off. One more day. I’ll call him tomorrow. He wonders how long he can tell himself that.

Rhodey called him. That’s it. The cat’s out of the bag. Tony knows that he should be angry. That this is his life and he should’ve made that decision. But right now he just feels relieved that he didn’t have to go through ‘The Phone Call’ – what Peter calls it – himself.

Taking a deep breath he presses the ‘call’ button of the phone. The phone doesn’t even get the chance to ring before Steve picks it up.

“Tony?” Steve sighs, voice hopeful and desperate.

“Rogers.” Tony doesn’t want to fight. He’s too tired for that. But he can’t keep the ice out of his voice after all he went through.

He can hear Steve let out a shuddering breath, maybe from the memory of what happened during their last conversation. The silence stretches until he can’t take it anymore.

“I honestly promised myself that I’ll never use this phone. Do you feel happy, Cap? Now that you’re not alone in the promise breaking trope.”

“Yes, Tony I’m happy. I’m so glad you called. Rhodes…he told that--is it true? You’re—”

“Pregnant? Yeah I am. That’s the reason I’m calling. Since you left me…”

“Tony no—”

“…our bond is now strained and it’s effecting the kids. The doctor said we need the bare minimum contact to keep them healthy.” Tony didn’t let Steve interrupt. He’s had enough of people – Steve – walking all over him. He’s Tony fucking Stark and he’s not letting anyone push him down any longer. Bond or no bond.

“I-I’m…please Tony I’m sorry”

“I know Steve. I got your letter. It was a bit too formal for my taste. Not something you’d usually write to your bonded. I want to yell at you so much. But I can’t hurt the kids more.”

“You keep saying ‘kids’. Are we—you – having twins?” Steve’s voice was filled with an emotion Tony couldn’t decipher. It was unsettling.

“Yes Steve, I’m having twins. The fourth month is coming soon. I even have a medium sized bump now.” His hand automatically went to pet his belly. He never thought of having kids of his own. But now that they’re here, Tony can’t wait to hold them in his arms.

“Oh…” Steve’s voice was surprising small. He sounded more lost than Tony had ever heard him. It hurt to hear his voice so unsure. Steve was always the more emotionally stronger one in their relationship. Oh how the tables have turned. Tony thought sadly.

“I think that was enough for today, Cap. I’ll call again when necessary. Bye Steve.” To be honest, Tony’s proud of himself. He didn’t think he’d be able to have a civil conversation like this with Steve. The call also went longer than he expected.

“Bye Tony. Take care.” Steve sounded a bit dazed. Although he can’t be blamed for that. Too much information in such sort time. He guesses Steve will need some time to posses all this

“I will.” He will. He has to. No matter how much it hurts listening to Steve’s voice, he will do it. For this kids he’d do anything.

¦

Rhodes had hanged up long ago but his words were still ringing clear in his head. Tony’s pregnant. He knows the others are still in the room waiting for an explanation, wanting to know what the call was about. Suddenly Natasha comes and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Steve, what did Rhodes say?” That breaks him out of the daze but he still can’t bring himself to look up at the others.

“It’s…Tony. He-he’s…” He swallows, not being able to say the word. He immediately feels Nat’s body going tense.

“What about Tony?” Nat inquired, her voice tight. “What happened to him Steve?” she demanded, voice low yet penetrating when he still didn’t answer.

“He’s pregnant.” He finally replied, his tone smaller than ever. He could instantly feel the tension in the room risen. Wanda’s eyes were wide and sad on him. Even Sam and Clint looked unsure and jittery. He could feel Nat’s hand tightening on his shoulder.

“Guys, give us a minute.” Nat said and the rest complied silently, leaving him and Nat alone in the room.

“What did Rhodes say? Tell me everything.” And so he did. He told her about Tony being pregnant. Him and the baby having issues because of the disturbed bond. How Tony needs minimal connection with me. How he’d call. Everything he knew he told her.

Through it all Nat was quiet. She heard him rant out everything to her and she didn’t interrupt her once. “The only issue Tony is facing is because of the troubled bond, right? And nothing else?” There was something in her tone that made him pause. Her voice was flat but the implication was heavy. Siberia. She’s talking about Siberia. Oh God, he was going to be sick. I almost killed my own child.

After that everyone left him alone. Sam wasn’t even the slightest bit subtle about wanting to talk to him but Steve wasn’t ready for this conversation at all. Especially, not when the anticipation of Tony’s call was killing him.

Talking to Tony was like drinking water for the first time after a long time in a desert. Tony was still pissed. And rightfully so but their conversation was much more civil than Steve had thought it would be.

It was all still so surreal. Tony’s pregnant. With twins. He was also showing a bump. He has never seen a person pregnant with twins, so he really doesn’t know how big it actually is. He only has the vague idea that it must be bigger than usual.

He wants to be happy. But all this just reminds him more of what he lost. His bonded is pregnant. He’s alone and hurt a d instead of taking care of him he’s miles away from him, living life as a fugitive. He’s going to have kids which he’ll probably never get to meet. His kids won’t know him. He would be the absent parent. The father who hurt their dad and left them on their own.

He misses Tony even more now. Not only Tony, his kids too. He wants to be there. To select the baby names, to buy their stuff, learn everything he needs to, decorate their room. He also wants to handle his random moon swings, to see him eat the most ridiculous things in the world, go through the morning sickness and hold him through the pain. He wants the good and the bad.

But he can’t. His team members came here with him leaving their everything behind too. He’s their leader. They’re dependent on him. He can’t allow himself to be selfish. If the calls are all he gets now, he’ll take them without a second of doubt.

He and Tony talked a few times more. Usually Tony calls him once a week, sometimes twice depending on his health. Their calls were shorter than Steve preferred but he knew he deserved that.

Tony always just told him about his health and about the kids. He never asked about the others or where they were and that they were doing. He never asked anything at all.

Today it was his turn to keep guard at night. They are in Geneva in a run down motel that barely fits them all. He’s sitting on the balcony when the call came and he was quick to pick up.

“Everything okay? You didn’t tell me you’re going to call.”

“Why? Annoyed by my calls already, Rogers.”

“No! That’s not-that's not what I meant Tony. You just always give a heads up text first so I was surprised. I’m glad you called.”

“Hmm. Well, the kids have started kicking inside my stomach. They’re impatient to come out. Thought you should know.”

“Really? Both of them?” he kept his voice carefully neutral not to let Tony know his real feelings. Tony has enough problems already. He doesn’t need to deal with Steve’s guilt now.

“Yeah. Both of them. I can see the outlines of their heads, hands and feet occasionally.” Oh how Steve wanted to be there.

“Does it hurt?”

“Well, yes. Kinda. But it’s bearable. It’s a small price to pay when I can feel their tiny bodies moving around inside. Anyway, that’s why I called you. I thought you’d like to know this sooner than later.” His voice carried a type of uncertainty that breaks Steve’s heart.

“Yea Tony. Thank you so much for telling me.”

“You’re welcome. Bye Cap.”

“Bye Tony. Take care.” And Tony hung up.

He felt like crying and laughing at the same time. He doesn’t understand his emotions these days at all. He might as well be losing his sanity.

Right then Nat came and sat beside him.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked a d she replied with a hum.

“So, the kids started kicking, huh? And no don’t give me that look. You’re sitting on the kitchen balcony and I was making tea.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “The kids started kicking around. He said he can see the outline of their heads and limbs some times.”

“Sounds nice.” Nat said softly as she put her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah it does.” Then they fell into a comfortable silence which Nat broke with a question he really wanted to avoid.

“Why didn’t you tell him? About Barnes.”

After a few quiet moments he started saying. “At first, I didn’t know how to tell him that my supposedly dead best friend killed his parents. At least that’s what I told myself. But now looking back to it, I was just being a coward. I didn’t want to lose him. I was scared he’d drift away from me because of the revelation. That I’d have to choose between staying with him or helping out Bucky.” He let out a bitter chuckle at that. “And that’s exactly what happened. I had to choose and I chose Bucky. I don’t regret helping him. Not at all. But when I thought that if Tony knew about his parents, he’d pull out his tech from finding Buck, I didn’t tell him. Then Ultron happened, Tony retired and the finally the Accords. In the end I hurt him more than anyone ever did. I feel like all this could have been prevented if I was a better man.”

“Even if you had come out clean about Barnes, the issue with the Accords would still be there.” Nat pointed out.

“A lot was going on at that time. Bucky, Peggy, Wanda. I didn’t hear anything about what he’d had to say about the Accords. I just placed my own opinion and ridiculed him for his decisions.”

“Tony…he’s not like us Steve. We didn’t follow the government, so here we are on the run, being fugitives. He’d have to stay and fix our mess. Like always.”

“I know that. I knew that then too. But back then I kept thinking that he was making excuses for his actions regarding Ultron. I was still angry that he hid things from us…me. I’m a hypocrite Nat. I’ve way too many flaws for some who’s supposed to be perfect.” Nat didn’t say anything more and eventually went to sleep leaving him alone with his thoughts and loneliness.

They don’t talk about it again. Sam looks at him like he wants to talk to him but eventually backs off. He sometimes wonders what Sam seen on his face that makes him relent. They’re in Berlin now and just took down a HYDRA base where they were experimenting on children. The kids were all so young that they made him think of his own – still unborn – kids. He feels protective of them but also extremely anxious as he’s away from them.

Anger fills him. He wants to be with them, stay during the pregnancy, see the grow, what they look like when they first open their eyes. He wants to experience being a father. But he can’t. He subconsciously starts blaming Tony. It’s his fault. If he just hadn’t been so stubborn, he had communicated with them properly then the situation would be much better. None of them would suffer like this.

After a moment, when he calms down, he hates himself.

¦

Pregnancy is shit. Tony loves his kids. Really. But he hates the process. It’s been almost six months now and he’s huge. He can’t walk, sit, sleep or tie his shoes. It’s all so hard. But when he feels the kids roll around in his stomach, all his annoyance drains away.

Even before the pregnancy, he’s had his bad days and good days. But those mood swings got nothing on the ones now. Some days he feels elated and over the moon, looks at the world with rose colored glasses but some days they have to physically hold him back to stop from throwing a wrench on the first random person he sees.

Pepper and Rhodey try to help. But they are both Sentinels and their presence doesn’t to much good to his body. Because of his Peter has all but moved into the tower. He’s a Guide too so his body reacts most pleasantly with him around. He let’s Peter play around his – their – workshop and in return Peter pets his bump like he’s a house cat. Everything works out eventually.

It hurts. His chest feels like it’s been cut open. He’s bleeding. He’s cold. And it’s just getting colder. It all hurts so much. There is a figure looming over him. Tony can’t see his face but can tell the figure has blue eyes that are welled with tears and his face is contoured with fear.

There are hands on his face. Hesitant and trembling. The figure is calling him. Saying his name repeatedly. Begging him to wake up, to look at them. But he can’t. He feels frozen. Even when the figure wails on his chest, telling him that he can hate them as much as he wants, that they’ll never show Tony their face, he can’t move. Then he realizes. Dead. He’s dead.

He wakes up gasping. His eyes and throat are burning, he can’t breathe. He quickly drowns the glass of water kept on his bedside table and wills himself to calm down. He’s had nightmares before. Had them regarding this specific topic too. But this is the first time he shared a dream with Steve. He swiftly takes his phone and calls Steve. He can’t even get a word out before Steve’s sob rings through the phone.

“Tony…” he has never heard Steve sound like this. He sobs uncontrollably. Repeatedly saying his name and apologizing. All this time Tony says nothing. He waits for Steve to calm down which takes longer than he anticipated.

“Say so-something please. I-I need to-”

“I’m here. I’m right here Steve. I’m okay.” He hears Steve sigh in relief and they fall silent as Steve collects himself.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to share the dream with you. I’m really sorry Tony.”

“It’s fine Steve. Really. Everything’s good.” It takes a while before Steve speaks up again.

“How are you? All fine? And how are the kids.”

“We’re all fine. Stop worrying so much. The doctor asked again if I wanted to know the gender and I refused. Again. Though I can’t wait for them to come out. I’m so big now that even the simplest works are a hassle now.”

“Don’t work at all, Tony. Please be careful.”

“Yes sir yes. And anyway, the three musketeers are here to keep an eye on me all the time. They don’t let me do anything other than rest and eat. I don’t think the kids are the only reason I’m this huge. Pretty sure at least thirty percent is food.”

“Let them spoil you a bit. You deserve it. I won’t keep you more. Go to sleep. Take care, Tony.”

“I will. Goodnight Steve.”

“Goodnight.”

They don’t talk about the dream ever again.

Tony really, really hates hospitals. It’s nothing new but right now so close to his delivery date with all the doctors fussing over him along with Rhodey, Pep and Peter, it’s the absolute worst. He’s just giving birth. It’s not like he’s dying. After so many near death experiences this shouldn’t be such a big deal for them but apparently it is.

It’s also been a while since he talked with Steve. So he doesn’t really know that Tony’s in hospital, preparing to go into labor. Steve’s in for some real surprise.

Giving birth hurt like a bitch. But now that he is holding his angels in his arms, every pain feels worth it. They are beautiful. A boy and a girl. Harley James Stark and Morgan Maria Stark.

They are the absolute perfection to him. Morgan with her brown eyes and brown hair, looking exactly like him and Harley with his blonde hair and blue eyes reminding him so much of Steve. They are his. His kids. His world.

There is so much yet to be done. He has to tell Steve, make sure that the media doesn’t know about this, keep shit from hitting the fan. And shit will hit the fan. He knows it. But delaying the inevitable is all he can do right now. But those tasks come later. Now it’s just he and his kids and he’s going to enjoy this peace all he can.

Taking care of kids is so much harder than they make it in the YouTube videos. They cry a lot, sleep when they shouldn’t and are wide awake ass o’clock in the morning. They are all the time either hungry or want to poop. Tony can’t feel his hands from constantly making the formula.

Peter helps a lot with them and brings May along once a week as she is the one having most experience with raising children. Tony is extremely grateful for all the tips she has given him. Rhodey comes along too and so does Pepper when she has time off from the company. Even with all the trouble, there is no greater joy than being with his kids.

Steve is still unreachable. He calls him everyday whenever he has time. But every time the call goes to voice mail. Tony figures he could just leave a voice mail but he doesn’t want to inform Steve about his kids through a voice mail, so he doesn’t.

Just before Tony starts considering the worst case scenarios he calls Steve one more time and this time he picks up.

“Hey Cap. It’s been a while.”

“Hey Tony. Yeah, it’s has. I’m sorry I couldn’t pick up your calls for so long. I was in a kind of rough situation.”

Rough situation, huh.

“I see. You good to talk now?”

“Yeah I am. How are you? And what about the kids?”

“That’s actually what I wanted to say today. I gave birth Steve. They are already 5 weeks old.” The line went silent for several minutes. At that time Tony kept quiet, letting Steve process the sudden information.

“So…um…are you okay? Were…were there any complications? And what about the kids? They’re not sick, right?”

“I’m fine, Steve. So are the kids. I checked for every infection or disease we both ever had. They’re both healthy.”

“Two boys? Or two girls?”

“One boy and one girl actually.”

“Oh, I…wow!” He could hear the awed laughter in Steve’s voice. “What did you name them?”

“Morgan Maria Stark and Harley James Stark. Do you like them?”

“Yeah, they’re wonderful.” His replies were all hurried. Voice filled with joy and wonder. “Can you tell me a bit about them?” This question though came out a little bit hesitant.

“…Yeah sure. Morgan actually looks exactly like I did when I was a baby. Same brown eyes and the same hair too. She is slightly underweight but the doctor said it’s common between twins that one of them is born a bit smaller. Nothing to worry about. Harley, on the other hand looks just like you. Sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I can already tell that he’s going to be tall.” Tony could talk about the all day. He never thought he could love someone so much so quickly.

“Sounds like they’re well. Thank you for telling me Tony.” He could hear the smile in Steve’s voice but he could also hear how his voice was slightly chocked up with tears. His voice almost makes Tony feel guilty about the next things he is going to say. Almost.

“Steve, I-I think it’s better if…we don’t talk any more after today.” There he said it. He was also proud that his voice didn’t break. Too much.

“What? What do you mean by that, Tony?” The disbelief was clean in Steve’s voice. All signs of the tentative happiness present before now gone.

“You need to understand. It’s just not about me now. I have to take care of the kids. Keep their identities a secret. I’m already getting enough pressure from Ross. If he knows about the kids or that we are talking it’ll be a huge problem.” Tony tried to reason with him. But if Steve was capable of reasonableness then they wouldn’t to in this situation.

“So that’s it, huh. There is no way I can be aware of how my kids are in any way ever. I don’t get to be a parent. Even from a far.” Steve’s voice was now angry. Tony could tell that he was clenching his jaw hard to stop himself from yelling.

But Tony was nothing but determined. He wouldn’t risk Morgan and Harley’s safety over anything.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking you to do. And from what I remember you’re the one who left me behind. Don’t whine to me about your own big boy decisions Rogers.” Tony heard Steve let out a pained sigh like he was exhausted. To be frank so was Tony.

“Tony I’m sorry. I’m so goddamn sorry for everything. If I had known you were carrying—“

“You what?” Tony interrupted, suddenly even more annoyed. “You wouldn’t have left? It would’ve taken me being knocked up to keep you here?” he asked angrily.

“What? N-no, that’s not what I mea—“

“Well that’s what it sounds like, Steve! I begged you to think it all through, to stop what you were doing, but you didn’t listen! You never listened to one word. It was all about what you thought was right. What you thought was necessary. You never even considered my situation. And yet I came after you to try and help, and you—you just—“

“I’m sorry!” Steve replied, and his voice was pleading. “I fucked up. I messed up so bad, and I know that. Leaving you was the biggest mistake I ever made.”

Tony exhaled slowly, put a hand over his face. Steve admitting he made a mistake was kind of delicious, because he had always been stubborn before, never admitted his faults, but it didn’t make Tony feel any better. Not as much as he thought it would “What the hell does it matter if you’re sorry?” he asked. “You did it, and you can’t take it back.”

“I…I know I can’t take it back. You think…that I don’t know that. It’s all I can think about every single moment.” Steve started. “And I also know I don’t deserve to be in your presence ever again, but…please, please Tony don’t pull away from me. I’ll do anything. Just tell me what I need to do to earn your forgiveness.”

“Earn my forg—? You’re not getting it, Steve! That’s not gonna fix anything! You’re a fucking fugitive, and I’m being watched, and even if—if I could ever bring myself to forgive you, we can’t see each other again! You ruined any chance of that, any chance of a future together!”

“But-but there must be something we can do. Please Tony, I love you. Don’t you miss it? Don’t you miss us? Every time I close my eyes all I can see is the time when we were so happy, planning a future together. I can see you and our children, smiling. And it hurts. It hurts so much thinking about them and realizing that this would never be possible. ” Tony knew his next word would hurt Steve in an unimaginable way. It for once he didn’t want to be the one to be hurt.

“You’re lucky Steve. You dream of good things, even if they won’t come true. You have no idea what I’d give to dream such things. Because every time I close my eyes the only thing I see is you bringing down your Shield on my chest. Maybe I didn’t die on that day in Siberia. But we did.” Then he hung up.

¦

When they were part of The Avengers, some missions were exceptionally difficult. Even with the tech and careful planning, things could get really messy. But now with the missing tech, equipment and members trouble lays heavier than ever on them. Their last mission particularly was both emotionally and physically draining.

Anything related to children were always messy. But this time a terrorist organization was experimenting on small children to turn them into biochemical weapons.

Everyone had roughened up quite a bit during this mission. But Steve took a particularly bad hit and came down with a bad fever. Which was healing albeit very slowly. Natasha had doubts that the innumerable amount of unknown chemicals was causing the slowed healing.

Steve was mostly delirious the whole time. He didn’t know how much time had passed and what happened around him. By the time he could walk without leaning on to someone several weeks had passed.

Tony had called him a lot of times during the first two weeks. But after that there was radio silence which worried him to no end. The could stop thinking if about him and the kids. Wondering if they were okay. The fact that Tony was close to his due date did nothing to quench his worries. Rights when he was contemplating whether he should just call Tony first, the phone rang.

He couldn’t believe it. He was a father. He was the father of a boy and a girl. He was Harley and Morgan’s father. He had kids now. Kids that apparently looked like him and Tony. But even through the thick cloud of happiness sorrow managed to slip in. He would be a father to them but never their papa. He would be the absent parent. The father who had hurt their dad and left them alone. The thought made his heart quiver.

His train of thoughts were cut when he heard Tony speak again. And Steve’s more than sure that he will never be able to forget Tony’s words ever again.

Steve didn’t know how long he sat there with the phone in his hand but after a while his feet carried him to his bag where he pulled out a hoddie – one that Tony wore more than he ever did – that gives him some comfort on his hardest days. As he slipped in to the hoodie and his head hit the pillow, he didn’t bother trying to stop his tears.

Steve knows that the rest of them can feel that something is wrong with him. He isn’t sleeping well and doesn’t have an appetite most of the time. It’s getting to the point where it has started to show on his face. But no one says anything. Especially, since Clint has finally reached his limit and is now going back to his family with T’challa’s (and Tony’s) help.

But they are definitely talking about him when they think he is not listening. (They should stop underestimating how enhanced his hearing is). The side glances they give him and the silent eye contact conversations they have are starting to get unnerving. They’re probably deciding if Sam should or talk him or Nat. He can bet ten bucks that they’re gonna send Nat in the end.

And he was right. He took a tiny victory in that. It was his turn to guard and suddenly Natasha came and sit next to him.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” he asked.

“I hat a lot of chances to tell you that for the past few weeks but I restrained, didn’t I.” Steve huffed and was about to reply but she continued to talk. “What happened, Steve? You’ve been very quiet – well quieter – these days. You’re not even eating or sleeping properly.” He worried tone made him feel guilty. Natasha wasn’t one to show vulnerability often. But such moments slipped in when she was feeling too emotional.

“Tony gave birth. A boy and a girl.” Steve didn’t bother hiding. What was the point. Even if he didn’t tell them, they’d figure out that it was past his due anyway.

“Oh, congrats then. What did he name them?”

“Harley James Stark and Morgan Maria Stark. Apparently they look exactly like us.” Even though his heart was heavy with longing, his mouth curved into a small smile at the thought of his bonded and their kids.

“You’re happy.” She says matter-of-factly but a slight curious tilt to her voice. “Then why the long face all the time?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I want to see them. That I want to be more than just a parent who was never there.” He snaps and instantly all fight leaves his body. The next time he speaks his voice is small and defeated. “I want to see them grow. I want to be there with them. I want to be more than the absent father who lied to their dad for years. Who hurt him and left them all behind.” Natasha just looks at him with her head tilted to the side. An indication that he should continue. “Tony told me that we can’t talk any more. That he is being watched by Ross. Communicating more would put both his and the kids’ safety at risk.”

“You know what he is doing is right. You might want to think that it serves him right for signing the Accords. But he didn’t have any other choice. If he didn’t sign them, he would’ve ended up in jail. And it’s not like he could run with us. People can recognize his face from a mile away. You know all that. So what are you so upset about?”

“Maybe…maybe I’m not upset with him at all. Maybe I’m just disappointed at myself. I hate myself for lying to him. For-for leaving him behind…in Siberia. For everything that happened between us. Right after coming out of the ice, I initially thought that I should’ve just died there, you know. Life was so hard and difficult and lonely. Then I met Tony and I thought that I too had a chance at happiness. Not normalcy but happiness sure. And we were happy. For so long. Even after Ultron happened we managed to find common ground. Then I ruined it all. I don’t know what to do anymore, Nat. Everything is so hard and complicated.”

“You can’t do anything, Steve. None of us can. All we can do is hold on and hope against hope that someday everything will be alright.”

After them none of them say anything. There is nothing left to say.

Even after his short talk with Nat things didn’t automatically become better. Steve was still silent on the good days and downright depressed on the bad ones. He wanted to stop feeling like this. Knows that there is not point. The team had trusted him and followed him to exile. The least he could do is be a good leader. But that’s also proving to be very taxing.

Sometimes Wanda goes out alone and comes back a few hours later. They all know she goes to meet Vision. No one says anything though, as she always comes back a little happier. Steve wishes with all of himself that he could at least have that. But he doesn’t. So he just aches.

Few weeks pass like that. Steve has now once again demoted to staring at the flip phone longingly waiting for a call that won’t come. Then they go to Wakanda for a respite. Out loud they tell each other that it’s for new information. Better weapons. To see how Bucky is doing. But in the privacy of their own minds they can acknowledge to themselves that they are all tired. Tired of fighting for others, for their lives. Tired of hiding from the ones they fight for and the ones they fought together with once.

The King of Wakanda welcomes them warmly. They have warm showers, healthy and delicious food and warm beds. None of them do anything to qualm the emptiness inside them.

A few nights in and Steve has his first nightmare in a very long time. Most would argue that it was a wonderful dream instead. But the overwhelming grief it left him with says otherwise.

He dreamt of a cozy cabin in the woods with a huge lawn. Children running around with pet dogs. That he’s sitting on the porch watching them and there is a hand in his, fingers intertwined, and a head of his shoulder. It’s all he’s ever wanted. And everything he’ll never get to have.

It’s four am in the morning. He should sleep. But after that dream there is no way he can close his eyes again. So he pads over to the lab where Bucky is sleeping in his cryo and sits by him on the floor. Even though they can’t talk Steve feels a sense of stability by being close to him. He’ll never regret saving his friend. Bucky went through more than he ever deserved to and he’d protect him a hundred times over. Steve just wishes he’d been more honest.

The Accords aren’t the reason for their fallout. They could’ve been fixed. Like the way Tony is fixing them now. Placing everything correctly. The problem was that he was too stubborn and too wrapped up in his own problems to consider Tony’s words. Now they’re in this mess and it’s all his fault.

Bucky could’ve had better than this if not for Steve’s mistakes. He could finally stop running and hiding. The rest would be with their family. And even if Tony didn’t forgive him for lying, he’d not have to go through so much trouble from Ross daily. Things could’ve been so much better. If not for him.

“Can’t sleep, Captain?” Princess Shuri’s sudden voice startles him out of his thoughts.

“Uh, no. We have been moving around so much that it’s hard to get comfortable somewhere.”

“I see. You must miss him.” She points her head at Bucky.

“Yes, yes I do.”

“He’ll be fine soon. He is making wonderful progress and we are all confident that he will make a full recovery in no time. So, please be patient for a little bit more.”

“Thank you Princess. I will always be grateful for all that you and your people have done for us.”

“You’re welcome.” With that she left, leaving him alone in this never ending loneliness again.

What Nat said was right. He knows that there’s nothing he can do other than having hope. But even that seems too far fetched considering the situation he has found himself in.

With a sigh he pulls himself up and goes back to his room. He craves the dreams – and nightmares – just as much as he dreads them. Because now dreaming is the only way Steve can ever see him.

¦

His last conversation with Steve was horrible, to say the least. He didn’t want to say anything about his nightmares – no matter how true – but in the heat of the moment it all burst out. He let himself grieve Steve’s renewed absence for a few long minutes before Maria screamed out and hearing her Harley started crying too and he had to run off to take care of them. Taking care of kids is really no walk in the park.

Tony doesn’t know how it is for other parents but for him the kids grew up too fast. It was like he blinked and now they’re two year olds. They can already walk and talk and read. Harley now can take apart his toys and build them up again. Morgan talks about astrophysics with Peter. Sometimes Tony feels dizzy with everything happening around him.

He is extremely thankful to the kid. Without him (and May’s miraculous tips) he’d have fucked this up long ago. Rhodey and Pepper are there tor him too. But they both work away so in the end Peter is the one who gets most of the babysitting duty.

Peter also always looks way too excited to indulge the kids. It’s a win-win situation for all.

When Tony went out in the morning after handing the kids over to Rhodey, he didn’t think that he’d end up meeting a wannabe Voldemort, have a reunion with Bruce, fight stupid aliens and end up in a flying donut with god damn idiots and stowaway spider. This is not what he signed up for when he made that suit.

Tony hates his life.

Tony knew that considering the life he was leading he’d dodged death quite a lot of times. But death by turning into dust and disappearing in thin air feels a bit anticlimactic to him. It doesn’t hurt at all. Just a disturbing feeling from vanishing from existence. He hates that the last thing he sees is Peter’s distressed face. So he tries his best to smile for him. And then he’s gone.

¦

Right when he thinks that he had seen it all, the universe again surprises him. But at least he has learnt not to be phased by them. To he honest, Thor telling him that he copied his beard is more unsettling than greeting a tree.

When Thor lunges at Thanos, Steve thinks that they really have a chance to win but a moment later people around him start to turn to dust and vanish into thin air. He falls to his hands and knees when the ever present feeling of Tony in the back of his mind is…gone. Someone’s calling him. Bucky maybe or Nat. It could be Sam. But no Sam turned to dust. Steve doesn’t know. He can barely make out some words over the ringing of his ears.

“I can’t feel him.” He whispers or maybe he screams. He has no idea what he’s doing right now. All his senses has intensified and numbed at the same time. He thinks someone has hauled him up to his feet and they’re now walking or perhaps he’s laying down. Steve doesn’t know. He doesn’t know anything anymore. Maybe it’s better this way.

When Steve opens his eyes its early in the morning. The date shows that it’s been a week since Thanos. Steve doesn’t remember falling asleep. He doesn’t even remember the whole week passing by. Suddenly with a jolt re senses Tony’s absence and wants to go back to sleep again, preferably forever.

But he can’t because right that moment Nat enters the room. Her face is unreadable as always. However, her eyes are haunted and red rimmed, like she has cried. Steve wants to cry too. He wants to sob and wail and pull his hair out. He wants to scratch his arms bloody and rub his eyes raw. He wants to be in Tony’s arms and feel his heartbeat. He wants to breakdown at the impossibility of it all. But he can’t. Through the whirlwind of his senses and emotions there is absolutely nothing that he can feel.

Nat’s saying something to him. He has possibly agreed to whatever she said. He’s looking at her but he can’t see her. He can’t see anything at all. Steve distantly feels like she’s talking about going home. Though he has no idea where home is anymore. Steve’s body has surely stayed but his heart had turned to dust.

Things are…well, a mess, to say the least. Most of the time Steve doesn’t k ow what he’s doing or who he’s talking to. He doesn’t remember showering or eating yet he knows he has when he finds that his hair is wet or he isn’t feeling hungry. Bucky and Nat are tip toeing around him all the time. He should feel annoyed but isn’t able to bring himself to do that either.

All his thoughts stray back to the same conclusion. ‘Tony’s gone so what’s the point of anything else.’ He knows it’s the because of the bond. But Steve at least has that much sanity left to know that even without the bond his thoughts wouldn’t differ much.

After his senses slowly start coming back to him, panic and grief hits him with full force. It even worse than no feeling at all. Most of the time he’s either crying or somewhere having a panic attack. He thought that Tony is truly gone. Forever. That he won’t ever see him again. Steve mind simply refuses to accept that. He goes through the stages of grief several times but never makes it to acceptance.

After he’s stable enough to form coherent sentences without breaking down he hops on to the Quinjet to the compound. On his way he stupidly wishes that maybe Tony is there. That he’s alright. That Steve can’t feel him because he found a way to break their bond. It’s ironic how merely a few days ago this thought was enough to break him. Yet now, this very thought – as impossible as it might be – keeps him steady, even just for a little while.

Steve isn’t in the mood for conversions. Especially when said conversation is with Secretary Ross. But he says all that needs to be said and leaves the conference room as fast as he could. He’s exhausted from facing loss, from looking at what is left of the world now, from trying not to think about all of what is missing.

When he enters his – their – room he notices that it still smells like Tony. Like he’s just in the shower or in his workshop and will come back to Steve any moment. He won’t. But Steve doesn’t want to think that.

After two years looking at everything he left behind and everything he’ll never get to have again makes it hard to breathe. His throat is closing up and his eyes are burning. The pain in his chest feels like it wants to kill him. For a moment Steve hopes is does.

He should get himself together. From what Rhodes said Pepper will bring the kids to the compound tomorrow. Hopefully try to make them understand why Tony wasn’t ever coming back and also introduce Steve.

Steve wants to meet them, really. He has waited for two years for this moment. To see with his own eyes what they look like. He just wishes that he wasn’t alone. That the kids could have them both together.

He showers and changes into whatever he finds in the closet and sleeps on Tony’s side of the bed.

Next morning he wakes up early showers and shaves and spends three hours talking himself out of any kind of breakdown he could have after seeing the children. He hopes he doesn’t mess this up too.

Tony was right. The kids look absolutely similar to them. Morgan’s brown hair and brown doe eyes, Harley’s sandy blonde locks and blue eyes, looking like the perfect mix of both of them. They’re both taller than average children, most probably due to Steve’s enhanced serum. But the way of their speech, already forming genius level intelligence, is all Tony’s. Seeing them is reliving and hurtful at the same time.

He doesn’t tell them instantly who he is. But he has a feeling that they know. He sees them watching him with such familiar intensity in their eyes that Steve almost flees. This goes on for some days. The kids waiting for him to spill out the truth and Steve delaying the inevitable. In the end Harley’s the one who bites the bullet. Steve is at least ashamed that his two year old kids have to clean up his mess.

“You’re our papa, aren’t you?” The way his voice leaves no place for an argument makes him smile. Hearing the word ‘papa’ also makes his heart flutter. Tony must’ve taught them. As soon as the thought comes, his eyes start burning a bit.

“Yeah, yeah I am.” It’s a relief finally letting it out.

“Aha! We knew it! You look exactly like Harley. Or well Harley looks like you. But we’re right.” Morgan’s is practically vibrating with excitement. Jumping from one place to another. But the same can’t be told for Harley whose face is harder than any two year olds face should be.

“Were you really on a secret mission?” At Steve’s confused face he continues, “Dad told us that you were on a secret mission to save the world. And that you couldn’t talk to us or come back so you could keep us safe. Is it true?” Steve’s heart clenches painfully thing that even after everything he did, Tony painted his image nicely in front of his children. That is such a ‘Tony’ thing to do.

“Yeah…um yes. I was. It was really dangerous so I couldn’t come back earlier. I’m sorry.” Both kids look at him dubiously. Too smart to believe such utter nonsense. But to his great happiness they let him be.

“We can call you papa then?” they’re both looking at him wryly.

“Of course!” he waited so long to hear those words. “I really missed you two.” Suddenly he has an armful of tolders yelling ‘we missed you too’. This is enough to quell the hollowness inside him, even if it’s temporary. Steve smiles and thinks that maybe he can live. If not for himself then for his kids. He has to.

Everyday he wakes up and breathes he feels a bit disappointed. But doesn’t let that feeling linger too long. He exercises, showers, makes breakfast for the kids and spends time with. The kids take his mind off whatever is happening around him by talking about anything and everything. They are both absolute chatterboxes.

He has formed a little support group for people where he encourages people to move on. There are a lot of people like him. Who lost their significant others. He tells them that they should learn to live. For themselves and for who are left. Saying them makes him feel like a hypocrite. But he has acknowledged this character flaw a while back.

Nat is looking for Clint. All his family are dead and now he’s nowhere to be found. All they know is that he’s alive. But Nat’s not someone who easily gives up. So she keeps on looking. Bucky comes with him too to the support groups. He also helps people in re-building whatever is left. He’s trying to find himself. Steve’s happy he’s doing better.

Everyone has found something to cope with. Not all their methods are healthy. But with all that has happened no one can blame them for this. It goes on for three weeks until a glowing woman comes to the compound with a broken spaceship and things mess up a bit more.

The kid Tony went to space with – Peter – is here after three weeks in space. When the blue cyborg lady brings him down he’s barely able to stand. So Steve runs to him to help. Just as he holds him he collapses on him. The kid must’ve seen him looking at the spaceship because he says, “He’s gone. We lost time.” In a rough broken voice before Rhodes takes him inside.

He stays behind even when everyone has left, looking at the sky and waiting for a spark of red and gold to show. He must’ve been standing there longer than he thought – his sense of time is a bit distorted these days – because suddenly Bucky has a hand wrapped around his bicep and is pulling him inside.

It doesn’t take long for spider man to be a fully functional human. But the psychological trauma is a different matter. He was lost in space of weeks and came back to all his family and friends gone. They’ve tried to be respectful and give him some time but Ross is demanding a briefing and if we don’t get it he’ll come here instead. Even Peter won’t be happy with that.

He debriefs everything he knows. Some parts similar to Earth. Like Thanos being a purple twisted and violent maniac. Some parts though are hard to go through. Like Tony getting stabbed and then turning to dust. Steve doesn’t know how close Tony and Peter were. But if the calls two years back were anything to go by, Tony had adored the kid and vice versa.

Nat thinks he should talk to Peter. Steve thinks so too. But he’s pretty sure Peter is avoiding him and then he’s avoiding Peter too and like that three months go by without any conversation. He spends with the kids when Steve is absent, goes out early in the morning and skips breakfast with them. Steve stays away from the common room when Peter watching movies and goes out of way to not go to the gym the same time.

Natasha gives them both disapproving looks but they both pretend they can’t see it. Steve thinks maybe they won’t ever break this extremely unhealthy pattern.

In the end the pattern does break. But in a more horrible way than he could have imagined.

When Pepper comes to the compound, face hard and unreadable, everyone knows something is wrong.

“FRIDAY tell everyone to come to the conference room.” No one wastes a minute.

The tension in the room is so high that he can feel in buzz on his skin. He wants to get over with this but is also dreading the conversation.

“This file in my hand is the official copy of the will of Anthony Edward Stark.” All eyes of the room snap towards her but she doesn’t stop, “I’m going to read it now-

“I, Anthony Edward Stark, being of full age, sound mind and memory, do make, declare and publish this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking and annulling any and all Last Will and Testaments or Codicils at any time heretofore made by me.

ITEM I

I direct that all my funds, authorities and shares belonging in the name of Stark Industries to Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts. She will have full access to all company files and be named the Executive Director of the company.

ITEM II

All of the rest and residue of my property, real and personal, of every kind and description and whosesoever situate, which I may own or have the right to dispose of at the time of my death, I give, devise, and bequeath to my bonded, Steven Grant Rogers. The properties, shares and funds created for my children, Harley James Stark and Morgan Maria Stark, should be handled by him until they are of age.

ITEM III

I direct that the fund named ‘Itsy Bitsy Study Plan’ should be provided to Peter Benjamin Parker each month after he starts his college. The full access to EDITH should also be given to Peter Benjamin Parker.

ITEM IV

The word “Executor” means the same as “Administrator”, “Executrix”, or “Personal

Representative” and refers to the person who is to administer my estate and carry out the terms of this Last Will and Testament. I hereby name, constitute and appoint as my Executor and direct that my Executor shall serve without bond. Should my Executor be unable or unwilling to serve or continue to serve, then I hereby name, constitute and appoint.

Testator: Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts

Witness Initials: James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes.”

With that she snapped the file closed. “All funds and property authorization has been transferred to your name Mr. Rogers, including this compound and the cabin house in Georgia. There are shares of Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Barton in this compound too. All files have been transferred to respective accounts.”

She takes out a sunglass box out of her bag and hands it over to Peter. “This is for you, Peter. The college and other studies fund will be provided to you monthly after you start college. He has secured scholarships and sessions for you in NYU, Columbia and MIT. You can choose any of them. That’s it for all of you. Goodbye.”

Everyone sits in silence for long moments and then Nat gets up and leaves and then so does Rhodes and Thor and Bruce and lastly, Bucky. In the end it’s just him and Peter left sitting there in silence until Peter breaks it.

“He loved you, you know. Even after everything you did and all that he suffered because of you, he kept on loving you.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes! Yes, I do Peter. He-I loved him too. I still love him and I always will. I know I hurt him but-”

“You hurt him?! Is that what you keep thinking? Because from what I know you left him to die in a cold bunker in Siberia.”

“No! I-I didn’t-…”

“No, you listen to me.” Peter was now standing up, eyes wild with rage. “You left him there to die. He was hurting, you shut down his suit and left him there. Without King T’Challa he really would have.

Do you know that there is – was – a huge crescent shaped scar in his chest. Do you happen to know where that is from? It’s from your Shield. You crushed his sternum! How will you explain that?!”

“I know what I did, okay! Do you think I don’t know about the damage I caused. About exactly how much I hurt him! I know all that. But now it’s all pointless.” Steve was so tired. Tired of fighting, of grieving, of trying to be okay.

“Yes, you’re right. It’s all pointless. You knowing what you did wrong won’t change anything. Won’t change that he’s gone, that he’s dead.” Peter’s voice breaks as he chokes down a sob in the last word.

“What did he do wrong? Why did he have to go? Why couldn’t you leave in his place?” His voice is now small and pained. Afraid of facing what he lost even after all this time.

Steve can understand very well how he’s feeling. “You have no idea how many times I have wished for the same thing, Peter.” And he leaves too.

They go on with their lives. Steve takes care of the kids, helps people around with Bucky in support groups, misses Tony and – more often than he’d like to admit – cries himself to sleep. Peter went to NYU to study so he can stay close to the city. And Nat never confirms anything but he knows that she’s still looking for Clint.

Telling the kids about their dad wasn’t easy. They cried and cried until Steve couldn’t hold back his tears. But it was nice to be held instead of being blamed for once.

Thor mourns too. Mourns about his brother, about his kingdom, about his friends. Gets drunk and doesn’t listen when we try to talk to him. None of them know where Bruce is. But it’s most probably better for him to stay away from this kind of environment.

One day Carol Denver comes back and tells us that she has killed Thanos. It should be a victory, but it doesn’t feel like one to him. Doesn’t feel like one to anyone at all. She comes to earth a lot more after that. Helps them with fixing whatever they can. Makes Rhodes smile. Something he hasn’t done in a long time. It’s as good as it can be. For them at least.

Some days Morgan and Harleys behavior is too worrying. One moment they are playing around and smiling and the other they’re looking seconds away from crying. Natasha advices therapy and it helps. Their mental state looks much better. Nay sometimes have a look on her face where she wants to tell Steve to go see a therapist too. Steve ignores her.

Things have been bearable lately. The kids play around and also study well. The Avengers help around whenever and wherever they are needed. Even Peter and he managed to build a civil relationship. For him things are as okay as they could be in a world without Tony. Although Nat and Bucky seem to disagree, he is doing just fine.

Five years after people lost half of their world, Rhodes and Carol get married. It’s a small ceremony. They all look happy, despite that Rhodes’s eyes go downcast whenever he notices the absence of Tony in the best man’s place. This day Steve misses Tony more than he ever did for the last seven years.

He doesn’t stay for the after party. He puts the kids to bed and goes to the room he’d been avoiding like a plague. Tony’s workshop. Here, Tony spent most of his hours and days. Entering the room feels like he’s closer to Tony just as it feels like Steve lost him a bit more.

Before he can fully enter, DUM-E wheels closer to him, making cheerful chirping noises. It makes him smile through hi solemn mood. He pets its claw and sits facing the large floor to ceiling window. He pulls out a small black velvet box out of his pocket. The one thing he avoids more than even talking about Tony.

Inside it sits two identical rings. Their vibranium bands and ruby on the center gleaming because of the moonlight coming from outside. He sits there for long. So lost in his thoughts that doesn’t even notice when he’s no longer alone in the room.

“They are beautiful.” The sudden voice of Bucky coming over his shoulder breaks him from his reverie. Steve instantly shuts the box close.

“Warn a guy a bit next time please.” Steve doesn’t wants to talk about this but also knows Bucky’s not gonna leave him alone now.

“Did you design it on your own?” Bucky asked as he sat down next to Steve.

“Yeah, I did. It was…before all this happened?” The heavy implication of what ‘all this’ isn’t missed by either of them.

“Steve, look…um…there’s something we all wanted to talk to you about.” The words immediately tense Steve. This can’t be anything good.

“What is it?”

“It’s just…it’s been five years Steve.”

“…And?”

“Don’t-don’t you think that it’s time you let him go.” Bucky’s word are hesitant and careful. Like he’s talking to a wounded animal. Well the notion isn’t particularly wrong.

Steve wants to control his anger. He wants to handle this by remaining calm. But dammit how dare they!

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying right now? You want me to what, let-let Tony go. How could even think of saying that?!”

“Steve, calm down – ”

“ – calm down?!”

“…and listen to me!” Steve takes a deep breath and settles down. He nods indicating his friend to continue. “He’s gone. It’s been five years since he’s gone. We all need to move one Steve. Stop hurting by reminding yourself all that went wrong and remember the good.”

Silence falls upon them after that. Steve slowly collects his thoughts and starts talking. “The last time I saw him, I saw fear in his eyes. He was scared. Scared for his life. Scared because he thought I would kill him. So forgive me but there is no way I can think of him with our happy moments only.” His voice is barely a whisper. If he speaks any louder he’ll break. “I ruined the one person I swore to myself I’d protect with my life.” He added.

“He’d want you to move on. He’d not want you to spend your life mourning. He would like it for you to be happy with your kids and build yourself up again. You know he would.” Bucky insisted.

“I do. I really do, Buck. But after I woke up in this time, my life was divided into two parts. One is Captain America, an Avenger. And another is Steve Rogers, Tony Stark’s bonded. None of those parts are really there now.” The thought is really upsetting about how less is left of him. Without the kids he probably wouldn’t have survived so long.

“I don’t know, Buck. I don’t know who I am or where I stand in a world without him. And frankly, I don’t want to. I am fine this way. And I don’t want to be better than fine.” The already exhausting day turned even worse after this conversation. So he did the only thing he does most often these days. He fled to his room.

He cried that night. After a long time he cried, cried and cried. He cried until his eyes stung from dryness and his throat ached. Yet he just couldn’t stop. All while the ring box was clutched close to his heart.

Seeing Natasha look so exhausted Steve wanted to tell her to give up. That she should let Clint go. But then he remembered his last conversation with Bucky and kept quiet.

If Steve was capable of having a heart attack, then he definitely would have had one seeing Scott.

The explanation and solution Scott gave them seemed too good to be true. He didn't even want to imagine everything that could be solved if this actually worked.

Everyone gathered around the table. Dialing up from wherever they were on earth or outer space. Carol's hologram against a blank wall and Thor drowning in self loathing.

"Okay, so you're gonna tell us what's going on?" Rhodey asked as Peter entered the room and Nebula's hologram lit up.

Steve looked around, taking in everyone's expressions, "You guys remember Scott Lang? Otherwise known as ant man?"

"I don't remember." Nebula stated bluntly.

Peter shrugged and explained, “He’s a guy who can turn real small and then real big. That’s all you need to know about him.”

“Sounds useless,” Nebula mused aloud.

“Hey!” Scott protested.

"Anyway." Steve cleared his throat. "Scott here was experimenting on some things and from that he found some ways to help us. Mind explaining, Scott?"

Scott swallowed and responded with only a slight waver in his voice, “When I came out of the quantum tunnel, Mister America, I mean, Captain America said it had been five years since I entered the quantum realm. But for me, it had only been six to seven minutes max.”

“So you got knocked on your head and can’t tell the time now, big whoop. I don’t need a knock on my head to have the same effect,” grumbled Rocket.

Scott had been told ahead of time by Steve about Rocket being a talking raccoon and Nebula being a blue alien, but that didn’t stop Scott from staring like a total rube. It also didn’t stop Scott from responding with snark. “I don’t know about where you come from, but for us humans, we can definitely tell the difference in time between a few years and a few minutes. For one, I wasn’t dead from dehydration and starvation when they pulled me out of the quantum realm.

“He’s right, it’s not something he would get mixed up about,” Steve interjected.

“Where are you going with this?” Thor asked, seemingly to wake up from his sullen silence.

Peter was already shaking his head, meeting Steve's gaze straight on. “No, that’s not possible. It’s a fluke that he even managed to make it out alive, let alone at the right point. You can’t possibly—”

“Can someone translate for those who don’t have telepathy?” Carol interrupted with raised eyebrows.

“They’re talking about time travel,” Rocket jumped in. “Time travel through this quantum realm.”

There was the briefest of silence as everyone who hadn’t caught the clue took in the meaning of this.

Then a pandemonium of questions, demands and suggestions was unleashed.

Steve sighed, rubbing his temples. It was going to be a long night.

The Avengers compound was bustling with energy and people, everyone back in one place and working with an edge of mania towards their final goal. Carol, Rocket and Nebula had all come back to Earth, adding to their numbers.

No one said it, but it was an unspoken thread running between all of them that this whole thing might be a fool’s errand. It might be a complete waste of time and energy. Countless people across the universe might be dead and gone for good, but rather than confront the uncertain nature of their mission, they all worked with frenzied speed, like they could get ahead of the awful possibilities if they just paddled a little faster.

Steve let the kids stay with Pepper for the while. If something went wrong, at least they'd be alright.

Even tthrough the countless uncertainties hope blossomed in Steve's chest. After a long time he slept without any nightmares.

Peter, Bruce and Scott worked day and night to crack time travel. They elwerent seen anywhere other than the lab. Steve or Rhodes sometimes brought them food. But that was all the interaction they had with the outer world.

It was just another day in the compound when Peter burst into the common room, followed by Bruce and Scott. "We solved it!"

Everyone went near them. Desperate for an explanation. "It's done? Really?" Natasha spoke first.

"Yeah, it's-it's done. We really did it!" This was the first time Steve saw Peter smile so bright.

"We need to get the whole team together." Steve said.

“What? The team is together, we’re all standing here together, like a bunch of idiots.” Rocket pointed out.

Steve shook his head. “Not all of us.”He turned to Natasha.

She took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll find him. He’ll come back for this, if he knows there’s hope.”It was time for the Avengers to assemble.

Rocket muttered under his breath, “I hate this cryptic bullshit.”

While Natasha started looking for Clint even harder, the rest of them started practicing with the time travel GPS.

Peter designed a white, red and black suit with nano tech. The design looked a lot like something Tony would do. Looking around he could see in other's eyes that they were thinking of the same thing.

Rhodey wandered over to where Bruce was standing and asked, “If we can do this, go back in time, why don’t we just find baby Thanos, you know, and…” He mimed wrapping something around a small neck and pulled tight on the ends of his imaginary garrote.

Bruce’s horror was written all over his face, and he stared at Rhodey, aghast. “First of all…that’s horrible.”

“It’s Thanos,” Rhodey replied with an eye-roll.

Peter was snickering and even Steve had to bite his lips hard to hide his grin.

“Secondly, time doesn’t work that way,” Bruce continued over Rhodey.

Scott frowned, stopping his sniping with Rocket to pay attention to this conversation instead. “Look, maybe we don’t do that baby Thanos killing part, but we go back and get the Stones before Thanos gets them. Thanos doesn’t get the Stones. Problem solved.”

"It doesn't work like that." Nebula hissed. They continued bickering like that for a long time. Steve tuned out the conversation in the middle. Content with watching his teammates and reminiscing how it was before.

The first thing they did for the trial run was steal more Pym particles. It had given them enough resources to work through their plan.

The next day when he went to the kitchen he found Clint making coffee. Sensing his arrival Clint looked at him with a desperate light in his eyes. So Steve told Clint what he wanted to hear. "We're gonna make this right." He was a bit surprised by how much he believed it.

Rocket and Scott were trying to make more Pym particles. So it left the rest of them to work on the Infinity Stones.

Nat was furiously scribbling on her notebook, not leaving even the tiniest factors. They were retracing where the Infinity Stones had been over large sections of time, to better decide the exact time they should travel to in their goal to collect all the Infinity Stones.

Thor had a bit of a breakdown while discussing the Power Stone and Reality Stone and things got tense when Nebula told them how to get the Soul Stone. They were only vaguely aware of the location the Space stone and Mind Stone. Which only left the Time Stone to search for.

"Strange had it." Bruce said. "The magic guy." Not bothering to hide his distaste at the word 'magic'.

"Didn't he live somewhere in New York?" Peter asked

Bruce thought for a while and replied. "Yeah. Bleaker Street. I think."

Natasha wrote that down to her notebook too. "That's the last one then."

Clint and Thor inspected the dates and locations. "So, we got all of them then."

“When can we go?” Thor asked, face set in grim, determined lines.

“Hold on, Thor, we’ll still need to plan how we want to do this. We’ll each need to time travel three times at least or we’ll need to split into three teams,” Bruce explained.

Peter then spoke up, “What if we didn’t need three teams or to time travel three times.”

Bruce tilted his head thoughtfully. “But there are three different points in time, over here, here and here, which have the Stones.” He gestured at the Space Stone, Mind Stone, and Time Stone in 2012, then at the Power Stone and Soul Stone in 2014, and the Reality Stone in 2013. “I don't see how we have any other choice.”

"What are you thinking of Peter?" All of them were focused on Peter now.

“We’ve tried this before. We tried to get all the Infinity Stones from Thanos, but we were too late because he destroyed them. But being too late isn’t an issue anymore. What if we went earlier this time?” Peter suggested.

“Go to the retirement planet,” Bruce said, with a hint of wonder in his voice. “Let Thanos do our dirty work, and get them all from him. Peter, you’re a genius.” Peter's cheeks flushed at the praise.

They trained themselves for any possible outcome and followed through the plan. When Bruce snapped his fingers the first time, at first nothing happened. But then portals started opening in the planet and all the people they'd lost started fighting along them.

He felt Tony even before he saw him. Steve had forgotten what the thrum of the soulbond felt like. He hadn't feel this alive in a very long time.

He saw Peter and Tony hug somewhere in the middle. He wanted to hug Tony too. But he didn’t have the time now. But he definitely planned on holding Tony later and not let him go again.

Afterwards, Steve found out that he might not have that 'later' at all.

He didn't see Tony snap his fingers. But he saw Thanos's army turn to dust in a painfully familiar way. Then, he looked for Tony. Ready to tell him that they won. That everything was gonna be okay.

He wasn't prepared for the sight that welcomed him.

Half of Tony's body was burned. He was on the ground, leaning against some rock. Steve immediately ran to him, taking off his helmet and kneeling beside him. "Hey, hey. It's-it's gonna be okay. You'll be fine."

Tony looked like he was gonna say something but couldn't get any words out. In the end he gave Steve a week smile.

On Tony's other side, Peter was crying, held back by Rhodes. But Steve didn't look at them. No, he couldn't look at anything but Tony. "Please." he sobbed. "I just-I just go you back." Steve didn’t touch Tony, afraid of what will happen. "Tony please. Please don't leave me. Please, I'm-I'm so sorry." It hurt. It hurt so much to look into his eyes after so so long, only to see life fading from them. "I love you so much."

Right at Tony's last breath, the Stones on his hand started to glow, slowly desolving into him. Steve was pulled backwards by Bucky whe Tony started floating up. He was too shocked by the turn of events to even protest.

Everything that happened next was a huge blur. Suddenly everyone was yelling. Tony was still glowing and floating mid air. Strange was opening a portal to Wakanda.

They didn't even know what kind of medical attention would be needed for Tony. But Strange seemed confident about whatever he was doing. To be honest, Steve was content as long as Tony didn't die.

Steve had somehow managed to fall asleep in the middle of this ruckus. He was stirred awake by Natasha. "So? How..." Steve cleared his throat when his voice cracked. "How is he?"

"He's...better." Steve almost fainted from the immediate relief. "Strange won't tell us what he did. He just said that the Stones have served their purpose. But Tony's alright."

"Is he awake?"

"No, Strange says he'll wake up when it's time. I don't know how long Clint will be able to handle his crypticism before he punches Strange. And honestly, I'm not gonna stop him."

Steve let's out a chuckle and sighs, mood dwindling. "Can I see him?"

"Yeah, that's why I woke you up."

Steve looked up at her with a small but grateful smile. "Thanks."

Tony looked extremely small on the hospital bed of Wakanda, surrounded by white sheets and pillows. Very unlike someone who just saved the whole world. The was plugged with wires and tubes and the beeping EKG machine indicating his pulse rate.

Steve slowly approached him and sat down on the bedside chair. He placed a hand on Tony's and was relieved to feel warmth. Despite being unconscious in a hospital bed Tony looked better than ever.

His skin was glowing a healthy olive tan. The aging lines and scars from years of being Iron man gone from his face and no sign of grey hair. He looked like a man on his early thirties rather than fifties.

Maybe this was a part of the many other things Strange refuses to tell them. But no matter what Tony looks like, Steve feels himself loving him more than ever.

It takes a few weeks for Tony to wake up. Even though Strange has sewed his mouth shut, Shuri says that it's his body recovering the severe strain and also adjusting to the changes.

All through it Steve refuses to move from the bedside. Occasionally, Bucky or Nat or Sam drag him for a shower or to eat but otherwise he stays rooted there. Rhodes and Peter aren't too different. Although Rhodes goes to New York for a few days to take care of whatever he can, Peter doesn't go.

He talks to his aunt and friends but refuses to leave until Tony wakes up.

Steve is grateful for the company.

He talks to Harley and Morgan almost everyday. They keep asking about all the people coming back and Steve says as much as he can. He knows they want to know about Tony. But he refuses to tell them anything before Tony wakes up.

¦

His head hurts. Actually scratch that. Everything hurts. Tony has a feeling that the full body aching is his default now.

He tries to open his eyes and immediately regrets his whole existence. Slowly he tries again and after blinking a few times he gets used to the light. He a weight on his hand and looks to his side. There he sees Steve blissfully asleep on top of his hand.

Tony takes his hand out of Steve's grip and doesn't resist the urge to run his fingers through the blonde hair.

Tony can feel Steve stir under his hand. He sleepily lifts his head up and squints at Tony. Then his eyes wide and he sits up with a jolt. "T-Tony, you're awake!" Steve gasps. "Shit, wait here. We-we need to calm the doctors." and promptly runs out of the room.

It's almost a week later that Tony sees Steve again. After endless fussing of the doctors and a ridiculous conversation with Strange about how the Stones valued his sacrifice and gave him a gift, Tony finally gets to take a breath.

Rhodey, Pepper and Peter coddle (and lecture) him for hours. On any other day, he'd be annoyed. But now he only feels fond. He hears all kinds of stories. About how life was while Tony was wandering along the dust. (Don't say it like that Tony!) How Peter had grown up and went to MIT. (It's so cool Mr. Stark) About Harley and Morgan. (They’re both absolute terrors) About Rhodey’s marriage. (Hey! How could get married without me as your best man?).

He's only a little jealous he didn't get to take part in discovering time travel.

When Steve comes back, he doesn't immediately come to Tony's side. He stands at the door, looking unsure if he's welcome. Tony extends his hands towards him and instantly he has an armful of super soilder crying into his chest.

It takes a while for Steve to calm down. But even after that they don't talk. Just hold each other tight. Talking can come later.

Seeing Morgan and Harley so grown up had Tony desperately trying and horribly failing to hold back tears. They are so tall now. They talk about school and studies and trips when the other day Tony was teaching them how to eat properly.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, the meet up ends with all four of them hugging and in tears. More so, because he never thought there would a way for all four of them together.

He had noticed the changes of his body, of course he had. How he could breathe better. The strains of his body that came with age and years of fighting, gone. But he truly sees them when he looks at the mirror the first time.

He looks a bit too young for his taste. Oh well, no point in complaining now. Tony was pretty sure he had an accelerated healing factor and enhanced senses. Maybe even super strength. He couldn't wait to get out of here and test them all.

The first thing he did after reaching The Compound was get a coffee. Wakanda was truly a beautiful place. But the coffee there sucked.

Missing five years of life was pretty shit. Sim many things had changed and he wasn't there to experience any of them.

Steve and Tony eventually do sit down to talk. Like actual mature adults.

"I'm sorry." Steve starts.

"Stop saying sorry, Steve." Tony sighs.

"But I am sorry. I'm sorry for so many things Tony."

"Start from the first."

So Steve does. He tells him how he found out about his parents. How he wanted to tell him. How he kept delaying thinking that they'd have one more day together before it alm went to shit. How it was too late and Steve lost a thousand chances. How he reacted during the Ultron fiasco and the guilt just piled up.

Tony apologized too. For not being honest during Ultron. For reacting impulsively during the Accords. For trying to kill Barnes.

It ended with them imprinting on each other after seven years and sleeping with bodies held too tight.

Not everything was okay obviously. They had so much to work on. But, baby steps.

They try to fix a world that's too messed up, that doesn't want to be fixed. It's hard and they get hurt a lot in the middle of everything. But they don't stop.How can they?

After all they're the Avengers.

¦

Fifteen years later, when he and Tony were married and enjoying retirement in a white picket fence house in the suburbs, Steve finds an old video on his phone.

As it plays he realizes it's the unedited version of their weeding day. The kids are running around, adults chatting and laughing. Everyone with a bright smile on their faces.

Right when the video stops playing, Steve knows that his whole life is perfect now.

[scara-meow-che]

no thots just e-boy camboy xiao 👀

anon, please, you're gonna feed me xiao brainrot 😩🙏

xiao is definitely moody, not someone you'd expect to see doing streams but he's just full of surprises.

when he was first introduced to being a camboy, he can't help but read all the words being filled in the message box, asking him to do a strip tease out of the blue. but he knew the nature of this work so he did what he had to do at that moment.

a little shy, easily swooned away by praises, our e-boy xiao is indeed ready to become your pretty little boy.

"um..." xiao's face blushed beet red when he removes the first article of clothing covering his lean body, eyes looking at the side yet he can't help but look at the stream of messages being said to him by people he doesn't even know. "am i doing it right?"

yes darling, but try doing it in a slower pace, looking right at the camera.

one of the comments had caught his attention, the blood that was supposedly traveling to his cheeks had went straight down to his dick. he felt stiff, hard inside his tight pants and he hates the feeling of being strained down by tons of clothing.

but he doesn't rush himself, he obeyed what he was told to do, waiting for the same username to order him once more. he doesn't know why he picked that viewer but he needs to focus on one thing from one person only.

xiao lifts his head up and looked at the camera as his fingers hooked on the ends of his sweater, showing more and more of his skin as it rises up his chest. he was slow, taking his time to move it out of his head.

and there he sees your comment once more.

you really know how to obey, you did so good. now do the same thing with your pants.

xiao follow through, standing up and had everyone have a perfect view of his toned chest, aroused and perky nipples, skim beaming with sweat. his hands, everyone loves how slender his hands are, picking up at the buttons of his pants, sliding his fingers on his abdomen all the way to the prominent tent on his pants, just to tease but he let out the prettiest whimper while doing so.

once more, the people didn't hesitate in showering him with compliments. his cock twitched inside the tight cloth hugging his slender figure, reaping a small moan from the pretty boy.

ah, my pretty boy, can you moan for me? once more?

he read that as soon as he finally pulls down his pants, leaving it hanging around his thighs, taking a deep breath before he answered back.

"but how? should i touch myself for you?"

his voice was deep, close to stuttering but still held that deep tone that emphasizes his handsome features. but all you can ever see in him is a pretty boy that will moan as he fuck himself for you.

i would love that, my pretty little boy.

he can never get enough of the name you had given him, blessing him with such needed confidence to pull this through. xiao then peels off the pants, leaving nothing but his underwear to hide the fact how hard he already was.

rub yourself through your pants, rub yourself until you cum.

he nodded, his long hair falling down to his cheeks, framing his face so beautifully. he sits back down on the chair facing the monitor and camera, hands shakingly going down to his crotch, the pads of his fingers making contact with his hot throbbing shaft.

he hisses, painfully suffering from the lack of simulation that it burned him on his core. but he looks at the screen, waiting for another comment from you and he smiles when he sees one.

aw, a poor baby, it must hurt no? now, hurry up and jerk yourself, for me?

xiao then uses his hands to wrap around his clothes cock, whimpering at the feeling of his hand pumping himself in a slow pace. strings of his moans and cries were heard throughout the entire duration of him fucking himself through his clothes, tears pooling in his eyes but that only made him prettier.

it only took him a few minutes before he comes inside his underwear, the tip shooting out his load that thoroughly stained the cotton that it seeped out to his hand.

taste yourself, i bet you taste good baby.

he pulls up his hand, looking at the mess he made of himself and slowly lapped up the slick covering his palm, sucking on his cum-stained fingers.

such a good pretty boy, you deserve tons of rewards from me. i promise to spoil you so damn much.

[bllankett]

Puppet Boy Chapt.2 Sytems Online

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SYSTEMS ONLINE 

ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE

POWER 80%…

POWER 90%...

POWER 100%

PROJECT -. --- --- -.. .-.. . / -... --- -.-- / . -..- .--. . .-. .. -- . -. - / ..... ..---

TURNING ON

A cold air surrounded MK as he woke up, his hair a mess as he never really went to bed with his headband anyway. Though, looking around with hazed vision he quickly realized he wasn’t in his room above Pigsy’s. Instead, he was in a metal bed, surrounded by walls, tools, and fire. Though one thing was familiar to him, Red Son, who was mumbling to himself, too entranced with work on MK’s arm to notice he had woken up.

After a few moments of silence and Red Son being too invested in his work MK finally cleared his throat, “Hi Red Son!”

It took the fiery headed boy a few seconds to process who said what before turning to MK, eyes wide, dumbfounded, mouth agape. “aaaaaahhhhHHHHHH-” Red Son began to scream before gripping Mk's arms and shaking him gently, “it… it worked- ah- hahah-'' a solemn chuckle left his mouth as he put his head on MK’s chest for a few seconds before quickly standing upright once more “I did it…”

Mk, rightfully confused a bit freaked out as he's never seen Red Son act so ecstatic about anything, chuckled along, “youuu did….whaat?...” he muttered.

Red Son was a bit taken back by this, quickly shaking it off quickly and gently grabbing Mk’s hand, “well I- I brought you back. Don’t you remember?” he adjusted his glasses

Mk furrowed his brows, glancing down at his hand in Red Son’s, realizing it wasn’t the usual warmth he had felt. In fact he felt cold. Was he?... MK raised his hand, examining the metal and gentle robotic hums that came from his body whenever he moved, “What… happened?...”

Red Son glanced up at MK before rolling over a chair for himself and gripping MK’s hand tighter “tell me what you remember first. Okay?”

Mk nodded, still a bit confused as he tried to concentrate on his memory, “well… it all started when you opened that portal.”

The sky turned dark as Red Son took a deep breath in, transporting them to Lady Bone Demon’s whereabouts for the final fight, if the plan were to work, Macaque would keep Sun Wukong busy, while Mk got his staff back and finally finished off the horrible demon. Though, deep in his heart Red Son felt uneasy, MK had reassured him earlier that he would be okay but he had a habit of never really speaking about his feelings.

Red Son huffed, putting a hand on MK’s shoulder “wait, noodle boy, before you go… are you really sure this is going to work? What if… something goes wrong, what if I'm not able to get Mei out of-”

“Hey,” Mk put his hand on Red Son's arm before taking off his own jacket and gently handing it folded up to Red Son, “we can do this, YOU can do this. There's no way we’re gonna lose! I can feel it.” he glanced down at the jacket then quickly back up to the fiery headed bull child, “keep it safe. Think of it as a good luck charm! And when we win and re-group, you can give it back to me. That's how I know we won't fail. And hey…” Mk pulled out a small stone immortal peach from his pocket. “I have a backup plan if it all goes south,” with a wink he quickly put the fruit back.

Red Son felt a flush across his face, a light smile forming as he put on MK’s jacket. “Alright, I believe you.”

Macaque flew the back van door open, yelling out, “C’mon kid LETS GO!” before changing into a falcon, Mk trailing right behind him as they flew off to destiny. Macaque scouted the land in front of the staff before signaling for them to land. As they changed back, frost filled the air, with every breath out it quickly formed into small ice crystals, gently turning into mist before their eyes. Mk averted his gaze to the staff cemented in ice “Here… comes. Monkey-”

“KING!” Lady Bone Demon’s voice echoed throughout the battle ground as a possessed Sun Wukong smashed the ground around Mk, making him almost fly off, macaque catching him in the nick of time by his arm.

“Mk The Monkey Kid and The Six Eared Macaque. Here to embrace oblivion.” A grin was plastered on her face.

“The opposite actually,” macaque chuckled, spinning Mk around a few times before putting him down and leaning on his shoulder, “I’m kind of on this whole… living streak right now, so we were hoping… maybe, you could maybe call off this whole… end of the world thing.” he fiddled with his hands before putting one up to his mouth as a fake whisper, “would really help us out.”

“HAH- yeah- what he said.” Mk added.

“NONE of us can alter the course of destiny,” she finally spat.

Macaque got into a battle ready stance, “Yeah… I thought as much.”

Lady Bone Demon readied her knight into place as macaque uttered, “MK! NOW!” with one swift jump Mk launched into battle, reaching for the staff before Monkey King quickly got in his way, going in for a killing blow before Macaque quickly blocked it, sending Mk safely to the ground. “Alright Mk, I hope that staff is worth it!” Macaque and The possessed king flew off into the sky, from the ground it only looked like two odd balls of light crashing into each other.

Mk rushed towards the staff, Lady Bone Demon giving off a delighted chuckle before fixing her gaze on Mk, “No matter what you do, you cannot change the path of destiny.”

Mk glared at the ground, “I don’t know if all this happened because it was destined too,” he began. “But I HAVE to believe I found the staff so I could use it for good. To help people. So that's exactly what I'm gonna do,” he took a step forward, “I’m gonna take MY staff, and protect this world!” As the last word left his mouth and his hand gripped the staff tightly a shot of cold blasted through Mk, ears ringing, he stood in shock for a few seconds before jumping off with his staff towards Lady Bone demon, he couldn’t see anything physically through him, yet there was this sense of dread he hadn’t felt before, something slowing his attacks and dodges.

LBD threw Piercing icicles to Mk, which he responded by quickly shattering some with his staff and dodging others, though some nicked him as he passed, drawing blood. “There are so many great things in the world! I’m sure if you join us, you'll see!”

“HAH! I’ve been around longer than even Sun Wukong himself! This world is only filled with pain and distractions. A simple tool used by the gods to entertain themselves.”

Mk landed on the ground, a sharp pain shooting through his heart, making his knees buckle and go to the ground. He quickly looked back up, Lady Bone Demon now whisking past obstacles and appearing right in his face, “Like I said, pain and distractions.”

“What are you-”

Sun Wukong dashed over to the two gripping Mk by his neck, claws digging into his skin as he was lifted off the ground. A blue spell circle appeared beneath them. ”MONKEY KING! I-I know your still in there!” he yelled, struggling in their grasp. With a gentle hand LBD took off the skull broach from her forehead and placed it on Mk’s chest, in an instant Mk’s ears were ringing once more and the glow of the light blinded him until all sound, smell, and sight went away.

Mk woke in an all white room, on the floor as Lady Bone Demon floated silently above him. Mk grumbled, Lifting himself weakly off the ground, “save your victory speech, this- ach- isn't over-” Mk fell to his knees once more.

“You still think the universe didn’t have a plan for anything you might pull?” LBD chuckled.

“Don’t you?...” Mk muttered.

“I never doubted destiny was on my side…” she replied

“Know this…" He started, "You will never win, this pursuit of yours will only lead to one thing.”

“What? Destiny?” She turned away from Mk,

“No… to pain.”

Mk watched her fade until he was back in the battle field, in Monkey King's arms, a sharp pain growing through his chest as he looked down to see himself bleeding out. His breath wavered.

“KID!! Thank god I-I thought-'' Wukong grabbed the peach from Mk's pocket, holding it up to his mouth. Mk glanced down at it, then back up at Wukong, grabbing Wukongs wrist and pushing the peach away, “If… If I eat that, I'll be immortal.”

“Yes! That's the whole point of the plan bud, what do you mean?”

Mk stared at Monkey King with a gentle shake of his head. “Kid- what… no- no… c’mon…if you don't then…”

“I can’t… live forever… I- I can’t see everyone die…” he started to sob.

Monkey King shook his head, putting the peach up to Mk's mouth once more, which was met by a quick, gentle, push.

his voice stumbled, “thanks for- for training me- while we uh..”

“No no no- don’t don’t say stuff like that,” Wukong spoke, his voice a hushed whisper, “We're gonna get out of this. The back up plan! MK!” Mk glanced down at his chest once more, then back at the peach, shaking his head roughly as his cheeks becoming wet with tears

“No… please just- please just tell the others I'm sorry- and- and- I love them a lot and-” Mk’s declarations were drowned out by Wukong's mutterings of no’s and nervous laughter,

“Please… eat the peach kid…”

Mk chuckled, looking up at his mentor as his vision started to get dark. “Thank you… For everything.” Mk gripped Wukong’s arm before he felt himself start to fade, his body relaxing as a sense of peace washed over him.

“Mk?.. Mk please don’t- please please…” the peach rolled out of his hand as he wrapped his arms around Mk, gripping the back of his shirt as tears streaked down his face. “Mk?”

Mk glanced back up at Red Son, his hands now trembling as well as oil leaked out of the corners of his eyes. “I died.” Red Son looked down, clasping his hands together before standing up and making his way over to his bed, pulling out from under his pillow a neatly wrapped up jacket, Mk’s jacket. “We’ve… re-grouped, haven’t we?” Mk glided his hand over the jacket, a small smile appearing on his lips as he looked up at Red Son, “Now I just need my headband!”

Red Son raised a brow, putting his hand on his face as a chuckle left his mouth, “Still the same Mk…”

Previous         next

[babyboy-cody]

ch. 01 | finding out

summary: after feeling so different for the past week, you decided to go to the doctor in order to find out what was actually wrong with you. the cause of you feeling this way was something you weren’t expecting.

warnings: depictions of early signs of pregnancy, clueless grayson, mentions of sean, implications of smut, mentions of abortion

quick note: okay so this is my first ever grayson series, so hopefully i make you guys proud. some of the pregnancy signs are things that some people don’t go through, so i wanted to make it as realistic as possible. any feedback would be great! <3

word count: 2.6k

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Waking up early in the morning, you never expected to feel like shit. From the position you were laying in, your tender breasts were pressed into the bed, causing you the slightest pain. You groaned and winced as you went to turn. Just from moving, you felt nauseous and dizzy, the blinding light from the sun pouring into the room caused you to squint. Grayson wasn’t in bed beside you as usual. He always woke up at the ass crack of dawn to start his morning routines of breakfast, exercising for two hours, and shower. The rest of his day is spent doing activities, such as woodworking/building, spending time with you, long-boarding, or exercising some more.

A wave of cramps suddenly hit you, causing you to muffle your long moan into your pillow. You tucked your body into the fetal position, tucking your hand under your sweatpants to press down on your lower stomach, hoping that the pressure would ease the aggravating pain. For the past week, you’ve been constantly getting cramps. The breast tenderness happened only a day later. Premature cramps are the usual sign of starting your period. What confuses you is why you woke up with no blood staining your underwear or pants.

Sluggishly grabbing your phone from under your pillow, you opened up your usual period app. The last time you had gotten your period was exactly the same day as last month. Your eyebrows furrow when you see that you should’ve started your period exactly two weeks ago. You hastily sit up, immediately shutting your eyes as a wave of nausea hit you like a tsunami. There was brief commotion coming from the kitchen, followed by Grayson yelling, “Ethaaannn!” You faintly heard Ethan’s boisterous laugh, which only amped up his younger brother’s annoyance.

You swallowed the forming saliva at the back of your mouth. You suddenly felt so exhausted, even though you had a whole ten hour rests with no interruptions or disruptions. Swinging your legs to the side of the bed, you slowly got up, shutting your eyes to avoid feeling dizzy so fast. You desperately craved Grayson’s warm skin against yours in order to make you feel better, especially when his strong arms were wrapped around you, holding you nice and tight against him. As though the universe heard your thoughts, Grayson enters the bedroom, a comfy hoodie adorning his upper body as gray sweats adorn his lower half. He looks so comfy and warm and soft with his messy hair and growing bed and bright smile.

“Look who’s finally awake!” He announced and spread his arms wide, running over to playfully (and gently) tackle you into the bed.

“Gray, Gray, baby, be gentle,” you quickly told him, hands grabbing onto his arm as the room suddenly spun. “I’m not feeling too good today.”

He immediately sat up, using one hand to push his long hair from his face as the other slowly sits you up. His eyes were full of worry as they scan you up and down. You smiled tiredly and gently stroked his jaw, loving the feeling of his scruff on your palm.

“What’ve you been feeling?” He was quick to ask you, desperately wanting to know why you’ve been feeling sick and what could’ve caused it. “Do you think it’s cause E was sick last week?”

“I mean, maybe,” you shrugged. “I’ve been getting cramps and my boobs have been hurting as usual before I get my period.”

“So you’re starting you’re period?” He questioned, thinking that could be the reason.

“I don’t think so, babe. I’m getting symptoms I’ve never gotten before and it’s worrying me,” you quietly told him, your voice holding such worry that he’s never heard before. “I’m so exhausted and dizzy and I can’t even stand without feeling like I’m gonna pass out.” You rubbed your hands over your face, groaning at the uncomfortable churning in your stomach as you suddenly thought about eating. “I can’t even think about food without feeling like I’m gonna throw up everywhere.”

“Baby, you need to make an appointment for the doctor or the GYN to see what’s going on. You don’t know if this could be something serious,” Grayson anxiously tells you, his large hands cupping your cheeks to make eye contact with you, his thumbs lightly stroking your warm skin back and forth.

“I will,” you held onto his wrists. “I promise.”

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After your serious talk with Grayson yesterday, you made an appointment to go to the gynecologist the very next day. Nerves were bubbling in the pit of your stomach, causing you to use the bathroom four times in the past hour. Ethan and Kristina were worried as well, unsure of what to do or say to make you feel at ease and less anxious. If what’s causing your sickness something terminal, they knew that Grayson would quite literally go insane. You were his person. Grayson was a believer of soulmates, and he knew deep in his heart and soul that you were his.

This morning, it was eerily quite. The air was awkward and tense with no one knowing how to break the ice. Grayson’s jaw was clenched and he watched your every move carefully. You were feeling a little better, only eating in small quantities and being forced to drink lots of water (by Grayson). Your appointment wasn’t until 2 in the afternoon, so you had plenty of time to do your morning routine and talk to Grayson. He insisted on staying in the bathroom when you shower and do your skin care.

“Gray, I’m not dying,” you joked lightly.

“Don’t fucking joke like that!” He raised his voice, glaring up at you as he sat on the edge of the top, elbows on his knees with his fingers interlocked. “That’s not fucking funny.” There was anger in his tone, and you realized how insensitive it was of you.

You knelt down in front of him, unlocked his hands and slithering more between his spread knees. He doesn’t look at you as he looks down at the ground between your own knees. “Hey,” you whisper, hands on his broad shoulders, lightly shaking them. “Look at me, please.” When he does, you see the slightest of tears along his waterline. Your heart breaks when his face scrunches up in agony and his eyes shut, his hands immediately covering his face to press the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Grayson…”

He sniffles into his hands, shaking his head frantically. “I can’t lose you,” he weeped so softly, his voice muffled behind the barrier of his hands. “I can’t fuckin’ lose you the same way I lost my dad. I-I just can’t.” You let him pour out his emotions, all the while holding onto his shoulders and gently pushing his hands away from his face to wipe away his warm tears. The area around his eyes and cheeks were tinged red, his beautiful eyes now turning puffy. “You don’t understand h-how broken I’d be without you, Y/N. It’s like… a piece of me might die.”

“Baby,” you whispered brokenly, shaking your head as you hurriedly pull him into your chest. His head buries itself in the crook of your neck. “I am so so sorry for making that joke, alright? Hey, look at me.” You lift his head up, wiping more of his tears with your thumbs. “I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, that everything is okay.” At the sound of your soft whisper, he lets out a quiet and shaky sigh. The thought of now hearing your voice anymore physically hurts his heart. He hesitatingly nods, desperately wanting to believe your words. But looking into your eyes this very moment, seeing the determination and confidence in your face, he has no other choice but to believe you.

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Sitting on the exam table in the cold room that slightly smells of hand sanitizer and wood, you didn’t know what else to think. Your thoughts were a jumbled mess as they tried to unravel itself to form a coherent sentence in your head. Grayson wanted to come in with you, but you had told him to stay in the car, out of fear of him hearing dreadful news. You closed your eyes and breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm the storm that’s beginning to make itself known. What you didn’t hearing was the door opening and the OB-GYN, Dr. Khaleesi, stepping in. She was a lovely Indian woman who was older than you by 20 years. You’ve been coming to her for a year and a half now for your usual STD checkups or any worries you had with your uterus. She was the sweetest woman you’ve come to known and you never felt judged by her.

“Everything alright, Y/N?” She asks as she shuts the door, leaving you both in privacy. She holds the clipboard to her side and sits onto the rolling stool to slide herself closer to you.

“Just nervous,” you laughed awkwardly.

“Well, it’s just me,” she tells you softly, her accent sounding so elegant as she gently pats your knee. “Now, it says on the appointment form that you’re hear for a checkup regarding your period.”

“Yes, um, I’m late on my period - about two weeks now. But I’ve been feeling a lot of cramps and breast tenderness and all the symptoms of starting my period. And I don’t know why,” you sighed and picked at your nails, not sure how to keep still.

“Alright, well, I’m going to be asking you a few simple questions and I want you to answer as honestly as possible,” Dr. Khaleesi tells you. “What day was your last period?”

“The 6th of May.”

“How long does menstrual cycle typically last?”

“Six to seven days, give or take.”

“And are you sexually active?”

You blushed as you thought about Grayson. You hadn’t forgotten the romantic picnic dinner he had set up in the backyard with a large projector hung up. Sitting there under the stars with him, being in such a close proximity to that man always made you feel so nervous. But having his hands on you, his lips on yours, his large and muscular body between your thighs, it made it all worth it. You most certainly didn’t forget how many times he made you orgasm in under an hour. You were thankful that Ethan and Kristina had gone to their own date night for a few hours.

“Y/N?” Dr. Khaleesi’s voice broke you free from your thoughts, causing you to clear your throat out of embarrassment.

“Y-Yes, I’m sexually active,” you softly responded.

Dr. Khaleesi nods and checks off the small YES box beside the question. “And how often do you engage in sexual intercourse?”

“Um, about three to four times a week.” You suddenly burst out into laughter at the surprised look on her face. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she laughs as well. “At least one of us is getting some action, huh?” She laughs again when you cover your face, muffling your small groan. “Back to the questions. When was the last time you were sexually active?”

“I’d say last week, but I’ve been feeling these symptoms for the past two weeks now,” you hesitatingly told her, secretly not wanting to know the cause in order to avoid the dread and heartbreak if something was terminal.

“And what symptoms have you been having?” She asked you, now looking at your expression rather than the clipboard in her hands.

“Um,” you looked up in thought, “Nausea, cramps, breast tenderness, sudden feeling of exhaustion, loss of appetite, and I’ve been peeing a lot more.”

Dr. Khaleesi nods silently, her sudden silence makes you feel incredibly uneasy. You swallow down and exhale a shaky and audible sigh. She gives you a reassuring smile. “Do you mind if I exam your stomach?”

“N-No,” you quietly said and laid back on the cushioned exam table. “Go ahead, please.”

And after hearing your consent, Dr. Khaleesi pulled on some blue latex gloves and hovers her hands over your stomach. You pull up your shirt and pull the cracked skin of your bottom lip with your teeth. She gently presses down in different areas of your stomach, periodically asking, “Does this cause any pain? Discomfort?” And each time, you shook your head. As she was getting to the end of the exam, you went over every single possibility. What if it’s a tumor? What if you’re pregnant? Could it be cancer? Is it internal bleeding? Somehow, you couldn’t find a reason for each possibility to happen. You had no family members with a history of chronic illnesses. And you and Grayson always used protection, never birth control because of the harmful effects to your body. When Dr. Khaleesi was finished with the brief exam, she sighs softly and lays a hand on your shoulder.

“I know why you’re feeling like this, Y/N. And before I tell you, I want you to know that I am here if you ever need advice on how to do this, okay?” She tells you in a reassuring and motherly tone.

“Just tell me,” you whispered, voice cracking as you strong to keep a strong front. But with every second, it slowly disappeared, revealing a vulnerable and terrified woman in front of the doctor. “Please…”

Dr. Khaleesi sighed quietly and licked her red lipstick stained lips. “You’re… pregnant. Presumably one month pregnant.”

If you were standing, you were sure you would’ve dropped to your knees. Your mouth dropped open, trying desperately to form words, but all that came out was a weak squeak. Tears lined your waterline as you shook your head in disbelief.

“N-No, that’s… that’s fucking impossible,” you frantically said, shaking your head even more as you hastily stood up and walked over to the other side of the room. Your hands went to your hair as you paced back and forth. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my, God,” you whispered to yourself, muffling a sob with the back of your hand. “I.. he’s been talking ab-about having kids for-for so long and…” your voice shook between every word. “We’re both so young!”

“We have options, Y/N,” Dr. Khaleesi gently told you as to not scare you if she rose her voice to speak over yours. “There’s abortion-”

“No!” You shouted. “That… That is out of the question. I-I need to talk to him. I need to see where his head is at first, and-and then I can talk to you about… options,” you whispered the last word. You are pro-choice, but you know deep in your heart that you couldn’t terminate this pregnancy. If Grayson thought the opposite, you’re not sure what would happen next.

“Would you like me to schedule your next appointment in one week?” Dr. Khaleesi quietly asks you as she notices the mental battle you’re currently having. “That way you have plenty of time to discuss what you both think, okay?”

You hesitatingly nod and look over at her with an expression that nearly broke her gentle heart. “I-I’m scared, Daksha.”

At the sound of her name exiting your lips, she immediately crosses over and pulls you into a hug. She understands that this may be unprofessional to her bosses and what other patients may see as inappropriate, but she would never let a terrified woman feel alone.

“You are going to be okay, child,” she tells you quietly, one hand wrapped around your shoulders as the other lightly pats the back of your head. “Whatever you decide, I will help you along the way, okay? Do not forget that.”

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CURRENT TAGLIST

@etherealdols @certainaesthetic

[writerpeach]

Expensive

Twice Mina x Male Reader

4179 words

Categories: smut, oral, anal, richgirl!mina

I wrote this in two sittings and spent zero time editing this.

“You'll do nicely."

"Excuse me?"

"I said you'll do nicely. Don't make me repeat myself again."

The words came abruptly from a stunning blonde woman approaching you, wine glass in hand and a blank expression on her soft features. She had on an elegant blue dress with a slit on one side that showed off her long legs. Each step she took her high heels echoed as she stepped closer on the hard wooden floor.

"I'm afraid I don't follow Miss-"

"Myoui. Myoui Mina, but you may refer to me as Mina."

She finished her glass of wine before she placed it on a nearby waiter’s tray before continuing her explanation. The place was packed enough that you felt the need to escape to a nearby corner. Mina seemed to have the same idea.

"Okay, Mina. What can I help you with exactly?"

"I'm looking for companionship."

You furrowed an eyebrow at her words. You had come along to this gathering as a favor to one of your friends who had spent months preparing it, only to not have seen them in the last hour.

"Certainly there's someone better to pick than me?"

Mina huffed.

"There's not, look around. Nothing but boring rich men that can't keep their eyes off me. I'd rather die than spend another minute with any of them and having to hear about their yachts."

"Well, I certainly don't have a yacht to bore you, with Miss Mina."

Mina smiled for the first time of the night since she approached you, giving off a hint of her gummy smile.

"Perfect. Then it's settled. You'll come home with me."

Bluntness was her game here. The more Mina spoke the more intimated you felt.

"I'm sorry? I barely know you, Mina."

"What's to know? I'm lonely, I'm rich, and I think you're attractive. Do you really need anything else?"

Mina didn’t seem like she was used to rejection given what little information you had been given about her.

"No, I guess not."

"Good, then come with me."

It hadn’t been much longer than ten minutes before she had abruptly introduced herself, and yet you found it hard to resist such an offer.

"My driver will be here in ten minutes. Follow me,” she said before you could even answer her, and at this point there was nothing that could compel you to deny the companionship of such a perfect woman.

Mina led you into a more quiet room away from the hustle of the crowd, positioning herself in between two white curtains.

“I don’t like to know anything about the men I’m about to sleep with, but you may ask me three things. No less, no more.”

Mina talking so casually about what was about to happen didn’t match her innocence face, but her confidence was still incredibly appealing. 

“How old are you?”

Mina frowned. “You know better than to ask a woman her age, don’t you?”

You gritted your teeth and cursed yourself for being so dumb. Talking to women wasn’t your strong suit.

“Why are you looking for a companion? A woman like you should be able to get any partner she pleases.”

“I’m not looking for a partner. I’m looking for someone to have fun with. Now that’s one. You have two left.”

“Where are you from?”

Mina hesitated before answering, her flashing an expression of disappointment.

“This isn’t a job interview, make your questions count. I’m from America, but I’m Japanese.”

If Mina wanted a little spice well you were going to be sure to give her some as you knew exactly what to ask her.

“What’s your favorite position in bed?”

Mina smiled again and answered right away. “Doggystyle. I love being on my hands and knees bent over so a man can admire my ass while he’s fucking me,” she said as she grabbed the bottom of your tie and played with it before using it to pull you closer.

You felt her hot breath blowing in your ear before her voice turned into a whisper.

“One minute until my driver gets here. Touch me,” Mina said seductively as she looked into your eyes and you didn’t need to be told twice.

Your hands wrapped around her slender waist as she wrapped an arm around your neck and kissed you. She grabbed your wrist and placed your hand on her bare leg, leading you deeper into the slit of her dress as your lips found the crook of her neck and kissed it in several spots.

You savored Mina’s taste on your lips as your hand slipped further into the slit on her dress, stopping just before you reached her thigh which she didn’t approve of, giving a glaring look that urged you to continue. Your hand traveled towards her crotch, waiting to find the barrier of underwear but never finding any as you felt the soft flesh of her bare pussy, not feeling a single hair.

“Surprised? I never wear underwear, it just gets in the way,” Mina smirked. “Come on, he’s here.”

You followed Mina out of the venue and into an awaiting black sports car, heading into its comfy back seat as you closed the door behind you.

"Where to, Miss Myoui?"

"Take us home. Step on it."

"Right away. I see you've found a new plaything."

"Hey, don't scare him off."

The car sped off as Mina kept her gaze focused on you, her hand caressing your thigh.

"We're going to have a lot of fun tonight."

"Mina, this dress looks so good on you."

"It's going to look even better on the floor. Now no more talking," Mina said and you unexpectedly felt her small hand cupping your crotch as you sat in silence.

"You feel big. Can't wait to feel this inside me."

Mina left the car and led you towards her rather large house, multiple cars out from and a gated entrance surrounded by a beautiful garden.

As soon as you entered Mina pulled you against her small frame against your body, pinning you against the entrance door as her soft sultry lips crashed against your own.

"Bedroom. Now," Mina demanded as she broke the kiss and kicked her heels off, her wide hips swaying as she led the way to the bedroom.

"Undress me."

You ran a hand up Mina's back before finding the zipper of her expensive dress, dragging it down as far as it would go.

Mina did the rest, letting the blue dress fall from her shoulders and fall down onto the ground as it crumpled into a heap. She was right, it did look better on the floor.

You didn’t know much about Mina in the short time you had met her. She was beautiful and elegant and very well off but seeing her this way without a single layer of clothing, completely nude took your breath away.

Mina looked so damn good naked. She gave off a shy smile as your eyes roamed every inch of her, focusing first at her beautiful legs that went on for days and thick creamy thighs. She didn’t even know her name, and yet you wanted her so bad as you saw her incredibly toned abs and immaculate tits. Mina’s perky breasts weren’t huge, but they weren’t small either, they looked like they fit into your hands perfectly.

“Enough staring, strip and get up here. A woman should always be pleasured first, ” Mina said as she climbed the bed, keeping her stoic gaze on you and couldn’t agree anymore. You quickly matched Mina’s state of undress as you removed your clothes, leaving a pile in the middle of the floor as you joined her on the bed.

“You listen well. I might have to keep you around,” Mina said as her lips curled into a smirk again. Her legs spread wide open, giving you the perfect view of her beautiful pussy that was ready to be feasted on.

“Eat me.”

You licked your lips as you laid down flat on your stomach, keeping Mina’s legs spread wide open for you. Before diving in you kissed both of her thighs repeatedly, bringing your face to her center as you licked up and down her slit slowly, earning a moan.

The sweet taste of Mina’s pussy was the best thing that had entered your mouth that night as you licked through her folds, running your tongue aimlessly before teasing and sucking on her swollen clit.

“F-fuck, that’s good. Show me what you can do with that tongue.”

Mina’s moans were music to your ears as you ate her pussy out, licking her pussy with purpose as her thighs closed around your face. The taste that entered your tastebuds was unforgettable as you leaked every drop of honey that dripped out of her leaking pussy, savoring her escaping juices that entered your lips.

“That feels so fucking good,” Mina moaned as her thighs squeezed your head tighter, and she ran her fingers through your hair, trying to force your tongue deeper inside her sensitive delicious pussy. You fucked her hole with your tongue, trying to capture as much of her essence in between your lips as her loud moans filled the room.

“Keep going…” Mina said as you kept your lips sealed around her clit, slurping hungrily as you brought two fingers inside her pussy, feeling her tight walls clenching as you curled them and found her spot with ease.

“Oh..oh f-fuck, I’m close, don’t you dare fucking stop.”

Mina was so delicious that nothing could keep you from eating her pussy, lapping up all her juices as your fingers became drenched in slick. You felt fingers digging into your skull as you did your best to keep your lips tight, barely able to breathe.

“I’m gonna fucking cum on your face, oh f-fuck!”

You kept the pressure on her clit, fingers moving in and out of her tight cunt as they clenched tightly, signaling her impending release. You kept constant eye contact as Mina’s toes curled and her thighs trembled violently around your head, holding you in place as her orgasm took control of her body and she made a mess on your face and screamed out in pleasure.

Mina came so hard the bed shook as you felt your face covered in her nectar, and tried to help her ride out her orgasm as best as she came down from her high, releasing her warm thighs around your face as you slowly pumped in and out of her pussy, cleaning your messy fingers off in front of her.

“Y-you’re good at that,” Mina weakly said, catching her breath.

“Let me return the favor,” Mina said as she got into position, kneeling on the mattress as she pulled her hair into a messy ponytail.

“Stand up and let me suck your cock.”

Whenever Mina gave an order you obeyed it, carefully rising to your feet as Mina eagerly awaited. She ran her tongue over her lips as she looked at your shaft, now hard as a rock and eye level as she gripped it tightly and stroked it, sending the first shocks of pleasure through your body.

“This will do.”

Mina didn’t waste time as she licked every inch of your shaft, keeping her eyes on you as her tongue swirled around your swollen head, collecting everything your leaking slit dripped out. Mina hummed as she rubbed your cock on her cheek, slapping her face with it several times and letting out the biggest grin.

“Are you ready to have the best blowjob of your life?” Mina asked confidently. You didn’t have a chance to answer as Mina’s lips parted, and you felt a sudden rush of wetness and warmth as you entered her mouth.

“Oh fuck…” you moaned out loud and sunk your toes into the mattress at the sharp pleasure, letting out a deep breath.

Mina wasted no time getting to work, wrapping her full red lips around your cock as she bobbed her head up and down, sinking her lips deeper as she took all of you with ease, using her tongue to pleasure the underside of your throbbing shaft.

“Oh my god, Mina…”

Mina kept her soft delicious lips sealed around your shaft as you rested a hand on the back of her head, guiding her movements as she fondled your heavy balls.

“Does that feel good?” Mina asked in that sexy soft voice of hers, running her lips down each side of your hard cock before resuming her blowjob, moaning around your shaft.

“It does, fuck it feels amazing.”

Mina upped her pace in response, looking up as she sucked you off and loving your cock in her mouth as much as you did.

Mina looked like a goddess on a normal occasion, and here she was on her knees, pleasuring you as best as she could and she couldn’t have looked any more beautiful.

“Fuck my face.”

The three words surprised you coming out of Mina’s mouth, such vulgarity coming out of what you perceived as a proper woman was such a striking contrast.

“I really hate repeating myself,” Mina said as your cock slipped from her lips and jerked it off furiously, staring into your soul with her deadly gaze.

Whatever Mina wanted Mina seemed to always get.

You took control of your cock as Mina opened her mouth wide, waiting to accept your gift into between her warm lips, the red color on them almost devilish.

Not wanting to keep Mina waiting you took your cock and pushed it into her wet warm mouth, feeling the tight grip of her lips as they instinctively wrapped around it and thrusted gently, hitting the back of her throat with your initial thrusts.

You waited for gagging sounds that never came, and once you realized that Mina was not struggling one bit you grabbed onto both sides and vigorously began to fuck her pretty mouth as she held onto your thighs, sharply digging her nails into your skin.

Mina looked up the entire time as you used her mouth for your pleasure, feeling her throat tightening as you thrusted carelessly. It only took a matter of seconds until Mina’s round pretty eyes filled with tears as you were mercilessly fucking her mouth, moaning every time your cock struck the back of her warm throat.

Your thoughts filled only with lust as you fucked Mina’s warm mouth, thrusting harshly in a rhythm that only made her muffled moans louder as drool spilled everywhere. You kept this up again and again, holding onto the back of Mina’s head and forcing her as deep against your base for several moments before releasing her.

Mina smiled proudly and gasped for air, spitting her saliva all over your shaft and balls before changing her attitude.

“That’s enough. Fuck me. Now,” Mina said as she laid back down on the bed, spreading her legs wide as she rubbed her pink pussy in anticipation. Positioning yourself in between you took just a moment to rub your shaft through her wet folds, gathering her slick before nudging at her entrance.

“Don’t keep me waiting. Fuck me.”

“Needy are we, Miss Myoui?”

Mina glared back at you and shot an intimidating gaze that sent a shiver up your spine.

"Don't use my family name in the bedroom."

It was a mistake you wouldn’t make twice.

With one slick move your shaft entered the warmth of Mina’s pussy, her tight walls clenching to welcome you in as you both gasped at the initial penetration. Mina was dripping wet as you slowly slid in and out of her hole, her juices making every movement as easy as possible.

“God, you’re so tight...”

“And you feel so big inside me. Shut up and fuck me.”

You used your hips and watched your shaft disappearing in and out of her pussy, hearing Mina’s lustful moans filling the room as her head tilted back in pleasure. Her tight cunt squeezed your cock as you thrusted in and out of her body, filling her up to the hilt.

“Fuck me harder.”

Mina always knew what she wanted and you were going to give her everything she desired. Your pace quickened right away as you pumped your throbbing shaft deep inside Mina, causing her breasts to bounce with every rock of your hips.

“Harder. Pound me.”

Grabbing onto Mina’s slim waist you obliged her right away, driving your cock with such force that the bed began to slam against the wall. Mina’s eyes were full of lust as you gave deep pistoning thrusts into her tightness, feeling every single inch of her warm wet pussy.

“Fuck me just like this. Fuck me until I cum again!”

You didn’t let up, increasing the pace even more as you slammed your cock inside Mina’s cunt with every inch of your throbbing shaft. It felt incredible how tight she was, and fucking her at this relentless pace that she demanded.

Mina felt so good around your cock, so wet and tight around your cock as you pounded her into the mattress, watching her half-lidded eyes and her opened mouth filled with pleasure as you gave into her.

“That’s it. I’m fucking close. I’m gonna cum!”

With every thrust Mina felt even wetter, drowning your cock in her juices as you pounded her, moaning and gasping with every harsh movement.

Your initial meeting with her was a prim and proper girl who screamed elegance, and here she was a lust filled mess in between the sheets, about to make a mess on them.

Mina’s tight pussy pulsated around your shaft as you plunged deep inside her, her long legs wrapped around your waist as she chased her orgasm. Her loud sounds of bliss echoed as you fucked her, and soon after Mina came beautifully all over your cock, toes curling as her back arched high and screamed in pleasure.

You fucked her through every last strong second of pleasure, and her limbs uncoiled as she came down a gasping mess, messy juices leaking down her thighs and spilling onto the bed sheets.

“N-not bad,” Mina said as she tried catching her breath, a sly smirk forming over lips.

“You made me cum twice, so it’s only fair that you get to cum now,” Mina said as her stamina began to recover, running a hand through her soft golden locks.

“I want you to cum inside me,” Mina said casually as pushed herself off your cock, repositioning herself on her stomach as she got into her favorite way to be taken, hands and knees on the mattress. You took your first glimpse at her raised plump round ass, perfectly looking soft cheeks that looked very appetizing.

“But not in my pussy,” Mina said as she shook her round ass, giving each of her cheeks a firm slap.

“There’s lube in the drawer. I assume you know what to do with it.”

Bottle in hand you lined up behind Mina’s beautiful big ass, squeezing her warm buttcheeks and kneading them, digging your fingers into her soft flesh as much as possible.

You quickly realized the bottle of lube she kept had been almost depleted.

“Seems like you’re almost out,” you teased as you shook the bottle several times, watching the clear liquid flowing around inside.

“You caught me. Can you blame a girl for loving anal?”

“Not at all. Especially when you have an ass this perfect,” you said, giving both of her cheeks a quick slap as her flesh rippled. You couldn’t help yourself as you rubbed your face all over Mina’s delicious ass, teasing the rim of her puckered hole with the very tip of your tongue.

“Mmm, fuck,” Mina moaned in satisfaction as you spread her cheeks wide, letting you know she enjoyed having her ass eaten. You licked her hole repeatedly, swirling around it before finding your face being pushed away, a frown on your face forming in response.

“I love that tongue, but I’d rather have your cock inside my ass.”

You were disappointed, but what Mina wanted Mina got as you lubed up your cock up and her puckered hole in preparation, the mutual anticipation at an all time high.

Placing a hand on one of Mina’s wide hips you lined up your lubed shaft with her asshole as she arched her back and looked back impatiently, a sultry look on her eyes.

You knew better than to keep her waiting, slowly pushing your cock into her tight rim and feeling how incredibly tight her ass was as your tip disappeared inside. Mina gasped loudly as her muscles relaxed, allowing you to fill more of her ass.

“Deeper. Fill me with every inch, I can take all of you inside my ass,” Mina demanded, needing no adjustment whatsoever. Her pussy was incredibly tight, but her ass was on a whole different level, hugging your cock firmly. The initial resistance faded, and with the combination of your saliva and lube you were able to penetrate Mina’s ass to the hilt.

“F-fuck, I love that feeling so much. I love feeling so full. Fuck me in the ass.”

Mina’s vulgar words once again contrasted with her elegance and beauty. You felt extreme tightness and heat around your cock as you started moving, thrusting in and out of Mina’s ass at a gentle pace.

“You can do better than that.”

Mina was never easily satisfied it seemed. Grabbing onto her full wide hips you squeezed her flesh tightly as you fucked her ass without any kind of buildup, pumping in and out and stretching out her tight little hole.

“That feels so good...that cock feels so good inside my ass, don’t stop fucking me.”

Soon your thrusts were at the same relentless pace, slamming your cock deep inside Mina’s tight asshole so harshly that her ass jiggled with every deep thrust, your balls slapping against her wet pussy that Mina couldn’t help but give out loud needy moans.

“Oh my god, Mina, your ass feels so good,” you moaned as you felt so much tightness squeezing your shaft. Mina gasped and moaned desperately as her fingers dug into her expensive silk sheets, trying to find an outlet for the intense pleasure you were giving both of your bodies.

“Fuck, you’re so deep. I can’t wait for you to empty your balls inside my ass.”

You never wanted your cock to leave the comfort of Mina’s incredibly tight asshole, fucking into her ass with as much effort as you possibly could, hearing the combined moans filling the room.

The tightness gripping your cock was like nothing you had ever felt before, feeding your animalistic urges as you pounded Mina’s ass as hard as you could as your bodies became covered in sweat, the harsh sounds of flesh on flesh encouraging your merciless pace.

“You like that tight pretty ass being fucked Mina?” you hissed as you pounded her hole with every amount of remaining energy you had, wanting to do nothing but make a mess inside her.

“Y-yes, fuck yes! Keeping fucking me, and don’t stop until you cum!”

You wanted nothing more. You squeezed Mina’s hips hard enough to leave bruises, pistoning your hips uncontrollably as you gave her tight ass the deepest and hardest thrusts, opening her up as much as you could as a tightness formed in your abdomen.

“F-fuck, Mina, i’m gonna cum soon.”

“Do it! Cum inside me, fill my ass with cum!”

You wish you could have stayed in this position for eternity. Mina’s bent over body covered in sweat, her tight perfect ass being pounded into by your shaft was something you never wanted to stop, but it grew to be too much. Each thrust into her asshole grew that tightness in your core even more, and you couldn’t last much longer, you’re not sure if anyone could.

It took only a handful more of thrusts until you were at your limits, burying your cock deep inside Mina’s tight asshole as far as it would go. You moaned her name loudly as you violently throbbed in her ass, sending thick spurts of cum deep into her body. You kept thrusting inside her ass as much as you could, emptying your balls as her hole milked every drop out of you.

You rested inside her as you recovered from one of the best orgasms you’d ever had, running your hands all over Mina’s body as you kissed her shoulders. Slowly pulling out of Mina you exited her body as thick semen slowly dripped out of her freshly fucked gaped asshole, dripping down her thighs and staining her sheets.

With nothing left you crashed next to Mina, trying to catch your breath as she pressed her naked sweaty body against yours.

“Mina, that was amazing…” you said, finding your stamina completely gone as you sank into the mattress.

“You weren’t bad either. Like I said, you would do nicely,” Mina said, flashing one more gummy smile.

“Rest up. You’re going to have a long weekend ahead of you.”