#I also finally got through like all the story I missed (aside from Golden Cheese but I'll get there)

[buttercupshands]

I feel like crk finally became a true teapot (ref to genshin bc I love that place so much) experience

a rample post ahead I cut it bc it's long as hell (tags are their own story LONG AS HELL too!)

Like literally falling asleep while watching how those little ones interact

if I ever make a tier list or something of gacha games that I've played longer than a year AND enjoyed for at least a month it'll be interesting to see the difference

like I love teapot-like mechanics EXPECIALLY if characters in there have a special way of interacting on their own - see hi3 Dorms system

and crk made it its core mechanic to which EVERYTHING loops back to, not arena, events or even the story

genshin has a way to make your teapot as pretty as you want and clipping through objects create fantastic sets (many creator have made at least something fantastic there, and people who don't care - don't care) but character interactions are limited to 2 max and 3 dialogues from lvl of friendship which is... fine but they just stand there while you can look at your pretty decor for years for no reason

I love the process but the end result is like "yeah this is pretty" and leave after 5-10 mins bc I'm bored of it

hsr has some interesting decor interactions in the event for our room that we got a year into the game, which is fine, characters don't visit our room but they're randomly placed so it's a mystery who'll talk tp you now, not to mention some characters leaving due to story reasons, interesting! interactible! but decor doesn't change after we finish the event aside from little things - a bit.. boring but that suits MC! still.

hi3 has Dorms which have chibi versions of character of your choice to put there, it's less like genshin and hsr and closer to crk actually, with chibi characters having a way to interact on their own and you getting at ability to play as them too, pretty fun, but there's like 3 rooms there and only 5 characters per room so it's REALLY not much, when there's so much cool stuff, which is also expensive if you don't play like 24/7 for like 6 years, which is my situation

the interesting thing there is that all characters in the room go to bed when it's bedtime according to your time which is neat and actually super cool

tears of themis system might be my least favorite as it's fully connected to p2w and gathering items for years to fully decorate everything which is... kind of extremely boring when the end result is closer to genshin teapot mixed with hsr placement only on one specific location so it's like a cute miniature that offers you like 3-5 options you can slowly get and like 10+ p2w ones

crk on the other hand has the balanced version of all of it (and of stuff from their other games improved too!) with 100 cookies on the screen ALL doing their own thing at all times including helping with production of stuff important for them to grow so it's like a collaborative effort of growing rather than you just doing tasks over and over by yourself via simply adding characters with animations there so you actually see them working AND their work animations are unique (with weak cookies struggling with hard work and tree-related ones looking uncomfortable in the wood cutting related tasks while some will actually look excited to work on something like that) and show their personality that you've already seen or read about, so it makes sense for the player to see that

while there are games that work similarly aka farm ones this is a gacha farm-like game, like I remember the mlp game that worked similarly, but it didn't have as many tiny details to look at also getting characters was strictly tied to your finances and p2w in some cases which made the game a bit empty when you can't exactly pay to get every character at that moment

gacha aspect of getting the characters combined with the way crk works with soulstones lets you focus on just growing to manage tasks you'd like more - like getting strong to get this or that in the story, or even jsut simply going through the story, which requieres a lot of resources

all of the games I mentioned require you to waste time in them, get characters either through gacha OR paying a lot of money (mlp, but ALSO any gacha when you gon't have enough resourses which requires that you play thing game EVERY DAY) and it's simply up to the player to decide what do they like more at any given time

I personally liked having tiny figures with some cool place to play with (and a dream that never came true to have a doll house for those little ones) as a kid and even looking at the videos of that I never had dolls participate, they're dolls, you just make them pretty and... that's it.

at least kid me never did any cool story stuff with actuall full on dolls, bc mini figures allow your imagination to run wild much like when you have a full model in 3d and a simple 2d pixel thing, second option is preferable for me

so having a ton of small things interact with stuff while I can just silently watch and see the unlikeliest characters getting along fine is the to-go way to just relax for me

and I need that for my brain

[cotncandyboifics]

The Bidding of the Prince Twins: Chapter 2

AO3 Link

Masterpost

Chapter 1 ~

Pairings: (vague/qpr) Loceit, eventual Analoceit

Word count: 2,961

Story summary: Virgil finds himself being held hostage in an unknown location. His two suspected captors seem to care for him more than any strangers should, especially strangers who kidnapped him. But were they really the ones who kidnapped him? That aside, Virgil also can't shake the feeling that there's something familiar about them. He just can't pin-point what it is. As time passes, the layers of lies the three of them are caught in are gradually peeled away, one by one.

General CW: U!Roman, U!Remus, food, kidnapping, implied Stockholm Syndrome, moderate to severe amnesia, swearing, sexual innuendos, graphic descriptions of gore/violence/scarring, minor character d-aths, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, non-graphic descriptions of needles, graphic and non-graphic descriptions of physical pain, (will be added to as I write more)

Chapter CW: Unsympathetic!Roman, Unsympathetic!Remus, food, moderate amnesia, kidnapping hostage, swearing, non-graphic descriptions of physical pain, (let me know if i missed anything please!)

Author Notes: <none>

...

Virgil woke up to an abundance of soft fabric surrounding him. He was groggy as all hell, and immediately felt a small ache coming from his left outer thigh. He grunted to himself as he tried to shift around - turns out his whole body was sore and aching to the bone. He managed to flop himself onto his back, only entangling himself deeper in the lush fabric that was practically engulfing him.

As he felt around him, he came to the ingenious conclusion that he was in a very soft bed. Likely a double, since he had more room to sprawl out than he usually did at home in his twin. He finally decided to try at opening his eyes.

He shied away from the light as he had before, but this time it was far less intense and concentrated on him. In fact, it seemed to be dim and gentle for the express purpose of providing a more docile mood than last time. He was able to turn his head in a wobbling jolt, and found that the only active source of light in the room was a yellow-bulbed lamp that sat cozily on the bedside table to his left.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Virgil recognized J's voice from across the room. He tried to sit up, and was somehow successful in his semi-panicked state, but set his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut as his head pounded in response to his unwanted movement. He cursed under his breath. "I see you slept well," J's voice was as snarky as ever.

When Virgil got his bearings enough to open his eyes, he looked around the room, trying not to move his head too much.

There wasn't much in the room. On the opposite wall was a very large mirror set into the wall - not a very discrete false mirror, Virgil mused to himself. Set in the top corners of the mirror were two rectangular black boxes that appeared to be small speakers. A nice carpet beneath his bed stretched half the length of the room, which then gave way to cement. A metal chair welded to the floor just above a drain was in the middle of the far side, beyond the carpet. In the far right corner, an opaque glass door with a metal frame, and Virgil could see the glint of tiles beneath the raised bottom of the door. On the far side of the left wall, there was a heavy-looking metal door that was bolted shut, with one small window at head height and one at the floor. Just beyond the door, in a fold-out metal chair, sat who Virgil assumed to be J.

He was sitting with his legs crossed, hands folded over one knee. He eyed Virgil from behind light-brown golden bangs that curled around and over the brim of his black bowler hat. Virgil couldn't make out his face well from where he was, but he could see that, while one of his eyes was a deep chocolate brown, the other was a nearly pale-white, and a very long and jagged scar ran vertically up through his eye from the edge of his jawline, along with a few other scars on that same right side of his face that ran across his cheek or down his neck and below his collar.

J stood swiftly, and started stepping toward Virgil cautiously. Virgil scowled, considering hissing at him or trying to get away, but his physical state combined with a strange gentleness he detected in the man's eyes kept him quiet and planted in place.

Janus sat on the edge of the bed, never taking his eyes off Virgil, who quietly gulped at the other man's closeness. "Virgil," J addressed after a momentary staring contest. "Will you answer me something?" J's voice was sweet and silky again, but this time it felt far less forced to Virgil somehow.

"Depends on what it is," he narrowed his eyes at J slightly. J only smirked at that, but any expected condescending tone had dissipated before he spoke again.

J leaned closer to Virgil, searching his eyes, before continuing. "Tell me. Do you recognize me in any way?"

That was certainly not what Virgil had been expecting. He scoffed. "y'know, I think I would remember meeting someone with-" He cut himself off, and J didn't miss how his pupils dilated slightly. "hmm," he hummed after a moment of searching J's face almost feverishly.

"...no?" It almost sounded as though some sort of hope J had been holding onto was dissipated, dissolving into oblivion with that single small word.

"I thought... no. No, I don't." Virgil's tone was unsure as he continued to search J's features like a blind mouse surrounded by the scent of cheese. J pursed his lips and sighed in defeat, looking away.

"That's good, I suppose," J mused, seemingly to himself. Virgil was growing more confused by the second. He knew there was something familiar about this man, but that feeling he was chasing the tail end of seemed to be detached from any memories he may have had of seeing him before. Eventually Virgil gave up, looking down at his lap.

"I thought L said you guys were only coming in together," Virgil's voice came out much smaller than he wanted it to. J opened his mouth to reply, but a sudden static noise shot through Virgil's ears and it felt as though it was scraping the inside of his skull. The sound was gone sooner than it began, before Virgil could cover his ears, and L's voice came through from the two speakers set in the frame of the false mirror, distorted and somewhat spooky.

"Hello Virgil. I am watching through this false mirror. At this time, only J can reveal his physical appearance to you, as it is less likely to jeopardize our assignment." J groaned, throwing his head back, and Virgil wondered if it bothered him that L kept calling it (whatever "it" was) an assignment. "However, you will be... meeting me, face to face, very soon. For now, J and I assumed you'd be more comfortable with a softly lit room, as opposed to pitch darkness." With that, the static sound returned for a moment, and was followed by silence. Virgil trained his eyes on the false mirror, wondering where exactly L was behind it. He scoffed yet again.

"What do you two care if I'm comfortable?" He hissed, glaring from the mirror to J, who was still sitting beside him. He considered his words for a moment, letting his angry expression fall away. He looked from the soft bed to the dim lamp, and realized that J and L clearly did want him to be at least somewhat comfortable.

"This is not meant to be a torturous experience." J's near whisper of a statement coalesced with Virgil's train of thought. he stared forward blankly, and Virgil quietly waited in his surprise to see if he would explain further. "We don't have a choice in this, as much as you don't. We-"

"J, I think that's enough for now," L's voice came through the speakers again, and J's eyes widened as he turned part way to face the mirror.

"Yes, perhaps you are right." Virgil hadn't expected that. Then again, he hadn't expected to get kidnapped by two strangely familiar men that he seemed to be developing some sick and twisted attraction for, despite how he had despised the concept of Stockholm Syndrome his whole life.

J seemed lost in thought, not moving for a long moment. Then he stood, glancing at Virgil with an unbridled sadness, before pacing to the large metal door, undoing the mechanical locks with a very long string of numbers entered into a keypad. There was a buzzing and the door shuddered open, and Janus slipped through quickly before pushing it shut hastily from the other side. The door immediately relocked itself when it was shut.

Virgil almost laughed at the half-assed security that was just displayed, but remembered he could scarcely move his legs, let alone stand or walk. He flopped backward on the bed.

After a short moment alone, there was a sound of scraping metal, though much smaller and more high-pitched than that of the door opening. A small tray of food slid through the opening at the base of the door. Virgil shifted in the bed to try to get up, but quickly gave in again to the aching soreness that was racking his body. He'd get the food later.

...

"Janus, what the hell was that?" Logan hissed through clenched teeth as Janus opened the door to their observation room. He slowly stepped over to the chair nearest to the door and dropped defeatedly into it, staring blankly forward at nothing in particular. A single heavy tear rolled down his cheek from his unblinded eye. Logan sighed frustratedly from the chair beside him in an almost-growl. "We cannot risk allowing our emotions to interfere with-"

"Oh can't we, Logan?" Janus fumed, whipping his head around to stare Logan down. "I could have said the same god damn thing to you yesterday. The way you spoke to him did so little to disguise your empathy for him that I nearly slapped you across the face then and there." Logan breathed a scoff after a moment, mostly amazed that he was being told off by Janus- the two had been in (objectively) much more strenuous situations together in the past, and never, never had Janus actually snapped at him. "I'm sorry having to interrogate him was your breaking point, but having your life-long friend look you in the face and tell you he doesn't recognize you is- is mine."

Logan waited a few beats of silence, trying to discipline the brash tone of his voice into something more manageable and clinical. "Janus. We knew this would happen. The amnesia is a direct side effect of the required doses. Assuming everything is working according to plan, he will not recognize me either when I see him tomorrow."

Janus' jaw was set, and he bit his cheek so hard he tasted blood. "Easier said than experienced, Jackson." Logan cringed at the use of his last name. "See how it makes you feel when he's got those eyes trained on you without a single trace of recognition."

With that, Janus stood, tromping away and gone with a slam of the door.

Logan stared unfocused in the general direction of where Janus had been, pursing his lips in thought. After long enough of that, he turned his attention back to the laptop before him, deciding it would be best to just get back to work.

...

The rest of Virgil's day was extremely uneventful and boring. He gradually mustered the strength to go eat, sitting cross-legged with his back against the wall as he picked at buttered mashed potatoes and some kind of flavorless meat. He took his time, not hungry enough to finish it quickly but bored enough to keep working at the meal. Eventually he was down to just crumbs and little smeared spots of mash. Still, he finished it all, cleaning the entire tray of any organic substance. Although then, he found himself having to search for a new source of entertainment.

He looked around for a while, from where he was sitting on the floor beside the heavy metal door. He noticed some white stuff sticking to certain parts of the metal chair welded to the floor, and assumed they were remnants of the duct tape from his interrogation session yesterday, or whenever that had happened.

From there he started spiraling about how long he'd been in "solitary confinement" as he'd dubbed it, but quickly tried to avert his attention; he knew panicking about something he very clearly could do nothing about would just make things harder for himself. He took a few slow deep breaths.

Opening his eyes again, he searched the room more thoroughly. There were a few visible dust bunnies under the bed, but the exposed carpet looked freshly vacuumed. The lampshade was positively covered in dust. There was a single caged lightbulb that looked very heavy-duty set in the very center of the ceiling, but it looked burnt out. On the other side of the door beside him, Virgil could see the outline of the edge of a light switch that must have been removed. In the far corner of the room, on the opposite side of his bed, a single long crack ran crookedly up the cement wall, just shy of touching the ceiling.

He looked to the glass door in the furthest corner of the room, watching as the tiles visible on the floor past it gleamed. Wait.

If the tiles were reflecting some sort of light- did that mean there was a window?

Virgil scrambled to his feet, dropping the food tray with a few loud clacks on the floor. He winced at the sound, but maintained his attention as he beelined for the door. He yanked it open a little too hard, and felt his shoulder ache slightly.

It was a small box of a room. There was a toilet, sink and shower all lined up uncomfortably close to each other on the wall Virgil faced. There were two cups on the sink, one on either side of the faucet; both looked well-cleaned, and one had a brand-new toothbrush resting in it along with a small tube of toothpaste. Above the sink there were indentations in the wall, as though there'd been a mirror there at one point that got taken down. The shower was really just a showerhead hanging from the ceiling directly above a small circular drain that the tile pattern dipped slightly at. There were two twist knobs on the wall above said drain, one marked with a red H and the other a mostly scratched off blue C. A small white soap bar sat on a little porcelain protrusion in the wall beside the knobs. And of course...

No window. There was just a vent with a cage drilled to the wall surrounding it set high in the corner of one wall, and a single industrial-looking light in the center of the ceiling that looked identical to the one in the main room. Virgil sighed, rubbing his temples.

He didn't know what else to do, and figured this was the only way to get certain privacy. So he pulled his shirt off lazily, shoving his pants and underwear off. He turned to see himself in the mirror, only to be immediately reminded that the only mirror was in fact just an observation tool. He wouldn't be able to really look at himself without feeling his guts whirl unpleasantly until he could get out.

If he ever did.

He twisted the cold nob around once, and didn't touch the hot. The pipes in the wall shook audibly for a moment, and then a surprisingly steady water pressure spilt over his hair and back. The water was cold, as promised, and Virgil fought a shiver as he felt his skin erupt in goosebumps.

After a moment of enjoying the coolness against his previously quite hot skin, he realized that a cold shower would likely hurt more than help his muscle situation. He groaned to himself and turned the hot knob around two and a half times.

The water changed surprisingly quickly, but not suddenly. Virgil adjusted to the gentle heat, relishing the steam that surrounded him and made it easy to keep his dark thoughts from taking over.

...

Remus Prince sat impatiently, leaning forward in the drivers seat to stare down the stoplight above threateningly. He thrummed his fingers on the steering wheel to keep himself from slapping his obnoxious, dramatic excuse for a brother in the passenger seat across the face.

"Yes hello, I'd like an iced Venti Chai Latte with - excuse me, ma'am, are you going- excuse me, will you allow me to finish my sentence?" Roman had always been disrespectful toward service workers, and it had always irked Remus. Though, he knew yelling at his brother now would only make it worse for the employee.

Finally the light changed, and Remus stepped on the gas slightly too fast, jerking Roman forward. He made offended noises as he continued conferring with the Starbucks employee on the other end of the line.

"Yes. Precisely. Thank you." His tone suggested he was anything but thankful, and Remus growled vaguely at him. Roman just side-winked at him, with his stupid smile on full display. "Yes, that'll be for Roman Prince."

Remus couldn't hear very well what the person on the other line had been saying before, but this time he did hear a "...is this a prank call?" after a beat of silence. Roman smirked to himself.

"No, my dear, it is indeed not." With that, Roman hung up.

As Roman set his phone down, Remus' received a notification and lit up. He grunted, non-verbally asking his brother to check it. Roman grabbed the phone lazily, and Remus saw his brother's smirk widen into a sick grin out the corner of his eye. Remus grinned at the road ahead, teeth slightly too sharp to be human sticking out grotesquely in a few too many directions.

"Shall we see how our boys are doing?" Roman connected his brother's phone to the car speaker system, pressing play on the audio file they'd been sent.

There was a slight static fuzz, before a voice could be heard. "Good morning, sleeping beauty." The twins both immediately huffed a laugh as they recognized Janus' voice coming through the car speakers.

"I see you slept well."

[thebookwormfairy]

Daminette/Maribat Fairy Tail Au Part 1

Marinette grew up in a world filled with magic

Although Marinette's own parents weren't wizards, but bakers, she inherited her Gramdfather Fu's magic, celestial magic

She was able to summon spirits to help her with the help of silver and gold gate keys

The silver gate keys are pretty common, as far as gate keys go

The gold keys were a lot more rare as there was only 12 of them

Marinette already had 3, Tikki spiritof creation, Plagg spirit of destruction and Wayzz spirit of protection

They were her Grandfather's keys and he passed them down to her when he retired.

She also had a magic yoyo gifted to her by Tikki after her Grandfather had given her Tikki's key when he started training her

So when Marinette turned 16 she decided to follow in her Grandfather's footsteps and join a boarding guild

She ended up joining the Miraculous Moth guild, a guild that had a large amount of members, but nothing like Justice League, who had almost half the amount of members, but was about 10x more powerful

Their guild stamp was a pointy looking moth

Marinette had decides to get hers on her left shoulder in red

The guild master was Gabriel Agreste

Nobody was really sure what type of magic he had, but there were always a new rumor floating around that said something different.

Some said he had transformation magic

Others said he had solid script magic

Few thought he had absolutely no magic at all

And het there was some who whispered that he was a celestial wizard

Marinette didn't give the rumors much thought

She was too busy getting to know her new guild mates

She made some great friends and even made up a team with Adrien (Gabriel's son), Alya, and Nino

They were a pretty good team

Adrien was an equip mage

He can summon different weapons and armor

Alya was a solid script mage

She can create create materials by writing words out in the air

And finally Nino was a sonic mage

He can produce and control sound waves and use it against enimies

They were called Team Adrien

Marinette joined their team a week after joining the guild

The three had already been a team before hand for a couple of years

So because of this Marinette felt like a stranger looking in sometimes

Either way they made a good team

Though they were a little destructive

Luckily for them Tikki can fix everything with her miraculous ladybug spell

They had a pretty good team for about a year than somebody new joined the guild

Her name was Lila Rossi and she was an illusionist mage

She claimed to be a great independent wizard and even was offered a spot at Justice League

She told stories about saving villages and people from evil wizards and monsters

Everybody was so amazed by her, but Marinette has her doubts

She couldn't explain it, but it was just a gut feeling, but Marinette tried to do her best to push that aside a welcome her with open arms

She even joined Team Adrien

And that's when stuff really went down hill for Marinette

Lila started to make sly remarks about Marinette and celestial wizards in general

Stuff like how she didn't really contribute to fights and instead just let her spirits do all the work

Even though Marinette fights whenever she can using her yoyo

Or how Marinette is the weakest on the team

Even though Marinette could now summon 2 spirits at once something most celestial spirits can't even dream of doing especially with golden keys

She tried to ignore it, but as time went on it hurt more and more

And when her friends started to join in she tried to change that

She started to try and cast star dress

Which would allow her to share her powers with her spirits

And gave her a cute outfit with that

Her team mates didn't seem to understand or appreciate her attempts to gain more strength

They started to leave her behind for missions

They cut her part of the rewards down claiming because she didn't do as much work as the rest if them so she doesn't deserves an equal amount of the reward

Sometimes they were just abandon her to finish a job by herself then demand their part of the reward even though Marinette did all the work

The final straw came after a very dangerous mission

They were going up against a dark wizard who was kidnapping young women and selling them them into the slave trade

They took the job because the reward money was ridiculous and a golden gate key

So the team decided to use Marinette as live bait

Because she would get such a great prize for the mission

Which she was okay with

And she was successful in luring him out and was going to fight him until she realized her yoyo was gone

She then checked her keys and they were gone too

Marinette panicked and tried to hold the dark wizard back the best she can while yelling for her teammates

They didn't show up

In a last ditch effort Marinette tried to use star dress magic

Marinette: STAR DRESS LADYBUG!

Marinette felt a rush of magic fall over her

It had work

She was now wearing a read flowie dress that fell a couple of inches above her knees with a black ribbon tied around her waist and black fingerless gloves

Her hair was now down with a red headband and black flats on her feet with a new red and black pock a dot yoyo

She used her new yoyo to tie the creep up and her team finally showed up

Marinette: WHERE WERE YOU GUYS AND WHO HAS MY KEYS?!?!

Alya: Chill girl Lila pointed out that the wizard wouldn't go after somebody with magic items on them so we just grabbed them before you left

Alya held out Marinette's keys and yoyo and Marinette snatched them out of her hands checking everything over

Marinette: THAT IS SOO STUPID!!! YOU GUYS ALMOST GOT ME KILLED OR WORST

Adrien: Calm down Marinette

Marinette: DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!

Lila *tearing up*: Come on Marinette we weren't that far away

Marinette: I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! I'M SO DONE WITH ALL OF YOU RIGHT NOW!

Alya: Stop being such bitch Marinette you're fine and look you finally did that stupid star dress thing you were trying to do

Nino: Yeah dudette if you're going to be like that maybe Lila should get that gate key instead of you.

Marinette just glared at the group and used Plagg to help her drag the wizard to the Grand Council gourds that were posted in the town

She dropped him off got the reward money and the gate key

It was the Key of Illusion Trixx

When her teammates asked where their shares were Marinette just glared at them again

The whole trip back was her team criticizing her about keeping the money for herself

Marinette remained silent during the whole ride back

When they got back to the guild Lila cried to anybody who would listen about how mean and selfish Marinette was for keeping the money

Marinette ignored her and walked up to Gabriel

Marinette: Sure I would like to resign from this guild

Gabriel: Are you sure Ms. Dupen-Cheng?

Marinette: Yes after today I don't feel welcomed her any more

Gabriel: Well it'll be a shame to lose a wizard with such assets. Are you sure about this?

Grabiel looked down at the keys rested on Marinette's hip before looking back at Marinette's eyes

Marinette: Yes I'm sure

Grabiel snapped his fingers and Natalie, his second in command, removes her guild mark

Marinette walked out of the guild receiving sneers and nasty remarks from her ex-guildmates

She walked out and never looked back

She went to her home town to live with her parents and help out with the backery

She needed a break from guilds and other wizards

So she and sometimes her spirits would help her parents out

Well Tikki, Wayzz and Trixx did Plagg mostly just ate all the cheese pastries

Marinette kept training though she even made it so she can do Dtar dress with Plagg and Wayzz

Her bound with Trixx wasn't strong enough to complete star dress with him yet

After a couple of months Marinette was walking through town when she bumped into 2 boys

Both boys had black hair and looked around the same age

But one had blue eyes and was paler than his partner whi had green eyes

Damian: Sorry miss but you'll have to come with use there's no time to lose

Damian grabbed Marinette's hands and continue running with his partner Jon

Marinette: What's going on?

Jon: We're wizards on a mission to stop a dark guild who's top members are currently chasing us, so we're trying to lead them away from the populated area to avoid casualties

Marinette: Okay there's a short cut to outside of town, This way!

Marinette pulled Damian down an alley with Jon following the 2

Marinette could hear the sounds of crashing at the entrance of the alley assuming it was the dark guild members

They burst out of the alley into the open field next to the town

They made it to the end of the field before they had to face the evil wizards

Marinette looked over the group of eight wizards

Each one looking tougher than the last

Damian: Get out of here miss we can take

Marinette: No way there are way to many people for the just the 2 of you

Jon: what can you do to help?

Hearing that lit a fire in Marinette

Marinette: This! Open gate of creation, Tikki!

Damian and Jon watch with surprise as Tikki appeared in front of them

Tikki: I'm here to help

Marinette: Tikki we're going against a team of dark wizards be ready for anything!

Damian: You're a cestial wizard?

Marinette: Yep and that's not all I can do. Star Dress Black Cat!

Marinette was surrounded by a bright light

When it faded she was wearing black combat boots with neon green thigh high socks

Black shorts with a neon green belt

And a black tank top with a hood attach that had cat ears on it, with the inside of the hood being neon green

Her hair was still in pigtails but now were resting in front of her shoulders

In her hands laid a bo staff

Damian in wonder and Jon a little scared: Wow

With Marinette's celestial magic, Jon's fire God-slaying magic, and Damian shadow dragon slaying magic they were able to take down the wizards with ease and soon all the dark wizards were capture

The group of teens handed over the wizards to the guards before they finally have a proper introduction

Marinette: I'm Marinette by the way, Marinette Dupen-Cheng.

Jon: Nice to meet you Marinette, I'm Jon Kent and this is my partner Damian Wayne

Damian grabbing Marinette's hand and kissing the back of it: It's a honor to meet such a powerful and kind wizard

Marinette blushing: O-oh I don't know about that, I'm not that powerful and anybody would have jumped in

Damian: I'm not so sure about that

Marinette ended up inviting the two back to the backery for a free lunch

They continue to talk just getting to know eachother

And a good amount of flirting went on between Marinette and Damian

They were laughing and joking around and Marinette felt like she gained something she lost when she left her team

They continue their conversation as they make it to the backery

Marinette introduces them to her maman and papa before taking them upstairs to make lunch for all of them

They continue to laugh and joke around and Damian insisted on helping Marinette cook

Jon: But you're an awful cook, you go around eating people's shadows before you cook.

Marinette: Eating shadows?

Damian *blushing*: Yes I'm a shadow dragon slayer, so when I get hungry I can eat shadows or darkness

Marinette: I thought all the dragon slayers were in the Justice League guild

Jon: Yeah that's our guild

Jon pulled down his shirt to show his blue guild mark which looked like a J and L put together with a star in the middle

Damian rolled up his sleeve to show his green guild mark on his left forearm

Marinette: You guys are a part of Justice League?!?! Oh no I must be holding you guys up! I'm so sorry!

Damian: Oh no, not at all! We're really not that busy! Right Jon

Damian gave Jon a pointed look as if it say not to upset the cestial mage

Jon: Right! We have plenty of time especially with the help you gave us today. We thought we would have to be here another week at least, thanks to you we can leave tomorrow

Marinette turning around to continue cooking: Well I'll be sorry to see you go

Damian grabbing Marinette and turning her around holding her by her shoulders: Then why don't you come with us? You said yourself you don't have a guild and you're way too talented just to stay here all your life

Marinette: I don't know I don't think I'm powerful enough to join Justice League

Damian: Are you crazy? You're more than powerful enough!

Jon jumping up: Yeah! And you can be apart of our team! If we stick together nothing can stand on our way!

Marinette still wasn't too sure until she felt her keys warm with encouragement from her spirits

Marinette: Okay I'll join you!

Damian and Jon smiled and Jon raised his hand for a high five, which Damian didn't reciprocate but Marinette did

Marinette turned back to continue cooking as Damian continue to pester her to help

Marinette finally relented and told him to chop the veggies

After lunch the two boys left for their hotel telling Marinette to meet them at the train station tomorrow at 11

That night Marinette told her parents her plans and they were over joyed for her

To them Marinette started to look like a cage bird staying in the bakery longing to spread her wings but start in a small cage

The next day Marinette packed up all her things and met the boys at the train station

The trip was long it felt even longer because poor Damian had motion sickness like all dragon slayers

At one point he ended up resting his head on Marinette's lap which seemed to help him a bit so Marinette's just let him stay there

As soon as the train stopped Damian perked up

They made it to the city of Gotham just in time for dinner

Jon dragged Damian and Marinette down the streets of Gotham determined to get her to join as soon as possible

Damian: Calm down Kent I want her to join just as badly as you do, but I don't think pulling her arm out of her socket will make her move any faster

Jon: I'm just so excited! Just wait until you meet everyone Marinette they'll love you! One of the guild master's mother was a celestial wizard like you, even owned Tikki before

Marinette: Guild Masters?

Damian: Yeah our guild instead of having only 1 master has 5. Because we have so many powerful members they felt it wouldn't be right for 1 person to have so much power, so instead we have 5

Marinette nodded her head in understanding

The rest of the walk to the guild was filled with Jon's babbling about Justice League and what Marinette could expect

When they made it to the front of the guild hall Marinette froze

All the bad memories from her old guild came flooding back

And with that all her worries about being accept came back with

Marinette was spiralling until she felt another hand engulf her smaller one

Marinette looked up to see Damian with a soft look on his face

Damian: Don't worry Angel you'll be great, and no matter what you'll have me and Jon right by your side

Marinette blushed at Damian's nickname for her looking over at Jon when she feels him take her other hand

Jon: He's right Mari you have us, no matter what

Marinette smiled squeezing the boys' hands before letting go of Jon's, but keeping a hold on Damian's hand

Not that he minded or planned on letting her hand go either

They opened the doors to the guild and found utter choas

There seemed to be some sort of brawl going on among the younger members

The guild hall was two stories and as Marinette looked up on the second floor she can see the older members of the guild calmly eating and chatting ignoring the antics of the younger members

Marinette stared as Damian and Jon maneuvered her around the guild pulling her down to avoid the bodies being thrown and Damian lifted her up to avoid one of the guild members who were sent skidding along the floor

They finally made it the bar area were Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Diana Prince stood watching the choas

Damian: Hello Father I have brought a new wizard to join the guild

Dick from across the guild: WHAT?!?!

Tim from another part of the guild: DAMIAN BROUGHT A GIRL HOME!

The members cheered and Marinette and Damian stuttered saying it wasn't like that

But it was too late Damian got pulled into the chaos by his brother loudly protesting and somehow joining in the brawl

Bruce sighed: So you wish to join Justice League Ms...

Marinette: Marinette, Marinette Dupen-Cheng

Jon talking to Clark: And she's really powerful dad, she helped us take down that dark guild we were sent to stop

Diana: And what magic do you wield little one?

Marinette: I'm a celestial wizard and I can also preform star dress with some of my spirits

Diana impressed: And what keys to you have?

Marinette: I have a few silver one, the clock and the cross, and I have 4 golden keys, Tikki, Plagg, Wayzz, and Trixx. I can do star dress with all of the gold ones except Trixx out bond isn't strong enough yet.

Diana: That's very impressive. You know my mother used to hold Tikki's key before she retired and gave it to her dear friend Fu Cheng

Marinette smiling: He's my grandfather, sadly he passed a couple of years back.

Diana: I'm sorry to here about your lost, but if Fu entrusted you with Tikki and his other spirits you must be a powerful wizard. I vote we let her join

Marinette: Thank you

Clark: If my son says she's worthy that's all I need, I say yes to

The two guild masters looked over to Bruce waiting for his answer

Bruce: I can sense a large amount of magic and magic potential in you. It's a yes from me to, and since that makes a majority we are pleased to welcome you into Justice League. As soon as Damian escapes his brothers he can help give you a guild mark

Marinette looked around scanning for Damian giggling when she finds him in a tousle with 3 other boys who she assumes are his brothers

Dick was holding Damian in a headlock as Damian clung to Tim's back pulling his hair as Tim tried to pin Jason to the floor as Jason tried to pull Dick down with him

Jon laughing with her: Yeah those are our dragon slayers. You of course know Damian. Dick is the one putting him in the headlock, he's a light dragon slayer and a great acrobat. Damian probably gets along the best with him out of all his brothers. The boy who's getting his haired pulled out by Damian is Tim he's a lighting dragon slayer, but can also do solid script magic and barely sleeps. I swear one time I saw him eat straight coffee beans. Finally the boy with white streak in his hair trying to pull Dick down with him is Jason. He's a metal dragon slayer who prefers to use his magic to make weapons. He's the only one of the brothers who isn't on a specific team. He usually just tags along with whatever team he feels like or goes on solo missions.

Damian sensing Marinette staring at him looks towards her blushing

He shakes his brothers off him trying to make his way over to Marinette only to be stop by Jason

Jason grabbing Damian's waist: wait a moment Demon Spawn we're not done with you yet!

Damian thrashing around: Release me Todd!

Tim messing with Damian's hair: Aww are we embarrassing you in front of you girlfriend?

Damian: stop it Drake!

Dick stepping in: All right guys that's enough we don't want to ruin Hatchlings (a/n: Get it because they're dragon slayers) chances with his girlfriend

Damian finally breaks away from his brothers rushing over to Marinette and Jon

Damian: Sorry about that my brothers are idiots. How did it go?

Marinette: They said I could join, Mr. Wayne said you could help me with my guild mark

Damian: Of course come with me

Damian grabbed Marinette's hand pulling her towards a side room as Jon went to go talk to his brother Connor

Marinette decided to get a pink guild mark on the top of her right hand

Marinette seemed to fit right in with the rest of the guild

There was no adjustment period like with her old guild she seemed to be able to join in right away

She learned when a brawl was about to start up and how to avoid flung guildmates

Though Damian still insisted on lifting her over skidding bodies

She and Diana formed a close bound that started with Diana telling her stories about her mother and Tikki and it evolved in a mentor/mentee relationship

Marinette also joined Damian Nd Jon's team helping keep them focus on missions and stop the few fights that broke out between them

Sometimes Damian's brothers would "kidnap" Marinette to go on missions with them which usually lead to Damian running after them and Jon following Damian

Marinette became close friends with Dick's girlfriend Kori, Barabra, and Stephanie

They would sometimes go on girl only missions together

When they return they would often find Dick, Tim, and Damian sulking that they were left behind

That's the end of part 1, I hate to do this to you guys, but I learned there is a limited to dots and it's 250. I'll do a part 2 soon because there is still more to tell. Part 2

[real-jaune-isms]

RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 6 Review/Remix

The day finally came, and for some it was far far too late coming. Personally, I think this was a damn good time to get the story we got, but to each their own. It’s time to weave a wicked fairy tale, a twisted Cinderella Story without a happily ever after. Join me, won’t you?~

We open on a sight not terribly unfamiliar this Volume, young Cinder washing and scrubbing a wooden floor in raggedy clothing. A single tear seems to fall among the water, but she continues on. For a split second, we see a woman’s lower half as she walks through this barn setting before getting an exterior shot that yes this is a barn on what looks to be a very sparse farm. We get several quick cuts like this, and from what we see in them it becomes quite clear what sort of life Cinder is living. An orphan ostracized and bullied by other kids, already with a violent streak as she’s shown tackling one of her aggressors rather than passively taking the pain. She’s still fairly weak and starved compared to the others, since she gets pulled off her victim and tossed aside easily, and a closeup of her face shows some gaunt features. All that misery seems like it might turn around when the mystery woman we saw briefly decides she’ll take Cinder. Next thing she or the audience know, Cinder is in Atlas, standing outside a big fancy hotel and staring at the opulence with no small amount of wonder. Immediately, my thoughts shift from Cinderella to little orphan Annie and I gain some small measure of hope. But it cannot last, and the Madame (as she is solely credited despite clearly being our Lady Tremaine in this story) sternly ushers her inside the Glass Unicorn (I’d like to thank the person who helped me read that cursive golden light lettering). Once inside, Cinder is rather awestruck at the lavish lobby and all the happy people she sees within. (Meanwhile I took notice of the sign on the front desk openly declaring that they do not serve Faunus. Hooray for blatant systemic racism...) But she doesn’t have much time to look around, because she’s again brought deeper inside to the kitchen where we meet her new stepsisters. And what a pair, green eyes and light brown hair just like their mother, with devilish smirks of condescension. All Cinder can think about as she’s given her list of grueling chores is the platter of bread and cheese behind the twin devils. Priorities in a palace of plenty like this. You might think to yourself, well now that’s a little harsh for a couple of girls we’re literally just meeting. But don’t worry, they immediately prove how spiteful and cruel they are by laughing at Cinder for asking for food, and laughing even harder when the Madame throws a bread roll for her on the floor she just said was filthy. Great first impressions indeed, and I don’t think there’ll be a direct to DVD sequel to redeem either of them through time travel shenanigans... god I’m old.

We get a montage of Cinder in her new working uniform doing various jobs around the hotel for very little reward or praise. The guests don’t care, her stepsibs give her a slap on the wrist for trying to snack on one of the strawberries she was decorating a cake with... only to turn around and have one of them eat that same strawberry herself right in front of her, and any painful accidents she suffers in the line of duty are met with only disapproval and mocking laughter. She eats guests leftovers, and it seems like she’s the only employee here besides her new family, not that they’re doing much of the work. What really ties this sad montage together is an as of yet unnamed song to that has been serving as Cinder’s leitmotif for years but now has lyrics. Those lyrics, as poor luck would have it, are insults and orders that Cinder must have heard everyday in this life of slavery and misery. “Do your chores, rub my feet, no one said that you could think, no one’s ever loved you, etc.” There’s obviously more of an order and rhyme to them, but I wanted to lay out some of the harshest kickers. We see a particular instance of suffering where she’s cleaning the carpets on the second floor and her sisters start stomping mud right in front of her just to mock her with “You missed a spot~” and give her more work to do. Cinder has taken just about enough now, and her Semblance kicks in for what might be the first time as she starts heating up the wet brush in her hand. She throws it at them in anger and it creates a cloud of steam and possibly smoke depending on how much of that wooden brush she burned. This gets the attention of her stepmother of course, but also that of a mysterious huntsman who had been showing off a new sword in the lobby much to Cinder’s earlier distant amazement. The Madame is none too happy with the scene Cinder has just caused or the fact that she lashed out against her actual daughters. So she gives the poor girl a necklace... with a stone of electric Dust in it. It’s a shock collar, and every time Cinder acts out from this point on, or just doesn’t do well enough for her stepmother’s standards, she will be painfully shocked and forced to apologize with a mantra we’re now all too familiar with. “Without you, I am nothing...”

Next thing we see, Cinder is crawling through a vent into a secret room in the back of the hotel. Based on the tons of furniture covered in sheets back here and the mattress with a couple pillows, I’d say this is what passes as her bedroom with how little fucks her adopted family gives. The Huntsman from earlier is heard being rather pissed that one of his swords is missing, and I get a small amount of sick satisfaction hearing one of the stepsisters panic in the face of his complaints and deliver a trademarked customer service line, “I apologize for the inconvenience”. I hear that every damn day in my day job, and I know how it feels to be where she is. After tormenting Cinder, they deserve to squirm. Naturally, Cinder was the one who took it, but is caught admiring it in her little hideaway by the Huntsman it belongs to himself. In the credits and subtitles his name is revealed to be Rhodes, and the public opinion on him becomes... mixed at best as time goes by. At the very least, here he confronts her without fighting her and disarms her with reassuring words. He knows she’s getting an awful deal here, but hurting these people and running away will solve nothing. She’ll be running for the rest of her life if she did that, never having a place to safely call home. He offers her an alternative, one she seems to pick up on quickly. Becoming a Huntress and gaining her freedom through that official title. But here we get a real sudden kick in the teeth. At this point, Cinder is only 10 years old. No 10 year old should be suffering the way she is, and if I were Rhodes I would try and have the Madame exposed and arrested for her abusive crimes. But we unfortunately don’t know if any child protective services exist that he could go to about this problem, and instead he tries a different approach. He’s not going to be staying here forever, but he’ll be back and forth over the next 7 years, and during that time he’ll train her to be ready for the Huntsman exams. This sounds like a good plan on paper, but then you realize what it means for her. Enduring 7 years of this abuse and pain, on the dangling carrot promise that she can leave one day and finally have some chance at decency. It’s the bare minimum effort on his part, and it makes him feel like a hero without having to actually inconvenience himself and fight for her freedom. She deserves better, but she’s sadly not getting it. Still, she does get training. 

We see time pass, he comes and goes, she keeps getting shocked and her resentment keeps growing. She gets older, her uneven pigtails become a short ponytail, and one day he gifts her the sword she had once stolen. She’s earned it, and in a couple more years she’ll be free to use it for her dream job. Too bad this was entirely the wrong move on his part. Cinder has something nice, and the stepsisters won’t stand for that, especially since it’s a dangerous weapon. They tattle to the Madame, and Cinder’s punishment is soon to come worse than ever before. Or so they would like to think. They go into the back to confront her at 11:40, and Rhodes walks in the front door at 11:56. There’s no one to greet him, not a sound to be heard until he gets to the front desk and picks up a distant crash. He gets to Cinder’s room, all too late. The stepsisters lie dead on the floor while Cinder is choking her stepmother to death with her bare hand. She tries in vain to subdue her with the remote for her shock collar, but the pain is just a stinging motivator she’s grown to tolerate. She may have been made to feel like she is nothing without the opportunities given to her by this woman, but now she is EVERYTHING because of what hell she has been through. Cinder snaps her neck and tosses her aside to be faced with her mortified mentor. The clock is striking midnight, and Cinderella did not use her gifts wisely at the ball. But it’s okay, right? Now her tormentors are gone and she won’t have to run anymore, right? Right, Rhodes??? No. Now he’s decided she’s too far gone and he has to fight her, to arrest her for the triple homicide that was most assuredly a mixture of self defense and cathartic revenge. Cinder realizes that even this man she trusted is her enemy, and with the last chime of the clock the spell of her temporary happiness is broken. The two fight, and seem evenly matched for a time, Cinder countering his Semblance of turning his skin to metal by using her own to heat the metal and still hurt him. I should like to point out that this power of his makes for a great layered pun, as it is similar to the mutant power of the X-Men character Colossus, and there is a famous Greek statue of the sun god Helios known as the Colossus of Rhodes. Back to the fight, Cinder temporarily blinds him by throwing a sandbag that he slices into, and in that confusion swipes his second sword so they can both dual wield since he primarily uses a set of maces. She gets a few clean slices in and takes out his Aura, but he bashes her away to hit a chest and there goes her Aura in return. He assumes the fight is over and goes to collect her unconscious body, but she was playing possum and stabs him in the gut with both swords. In his final moments, he lays a hand on her head as if saying he’s proud of her for growing so much. You may have had good intentions, Rhodes, but you were not a very good person and didn’t do enough to call yourself a Huntsman. I can’t imagine what kind of hell a Chaotic Good huntsman like Qrow would have done if he had been the one to find Cinder, but it probably would have been better than the surface level hero work this guy did. As things stand, we know Cinder is heading down the bad path and takes one last sad moment to finally tear her necklace off and cry a single tear up at the moon. 

We cut back to present as she wakes up in what I assume is her room aboard Monstra. Emerald is happy to see her awake, but Cinder chastises her for bringing them back to Salem emptyhanded. Em tries to assert that she put her concern for her mentor above the mission and its the sole reason they’re free and alive at all, but Mercury comes in to remind her that a repeat failure like Cinder doesn’t deserve that help. Em tries to stand up for her boss, to say that she was right to go attack Amity because the goodie goodies were up to something and they did a lot to stop it, but Mercury lays the heavy truth bomb on her again. Don’t defend Cinder, you’re not gonna win her love and support because she doesn’t give a shit about you. Cinder shuts them both up and dismisses them until she has need of them, much like the dismissive way Salem treated her a few episodes back. But Mercury got promoted, Cinder’s not his supervisor anymore and he doesn’t have to listen to her. Hearing that takes some wind out of Cinder’s sails, and she’s left alone to stew about this turn of events as Merc tells her everyone is needed on the bridge cuz something big is gonna happen.

Shifting to another room, Oscar is lying on the floor with a black eye and some blood on his lip, and probably a bunch of broken bones and internal bleeding. This poor poor kid... He and Oz are having a discussion about who should be the one in the driver’s seat for these beatings. Oscar sure as hell doesn’t deserve it, but since he’s not the one Hazel is mad at he’s not getting roughed up quite as much as if Oz was present. Oz wants to take over, to try and get them a way out of here, but Oscar thinks they have a golden opportunity if they stay. Oz is initially unsure what that means, but Oscar has some solid reasoning. Salem doesn’t do the fighting herself, she turns people to her side and has them fight her battles. Her spies sow seeds of chaos and discourse among her enemies, and now Oscar can do the same. They can try and talk some sense into Hazel or the kids and turn them against Salem. She won’t be beaten, surely, but she’ll be crippled without her eyes ears and devious hands. No time like the present, as Hazel comes back in for round... idk, maybe 10? Oscar gives Oz control again and Hazel is immediately pissed to recognize that tone of voice again. He assumes Oz had been hiding inside Oscar and forcing the kid to endure the pain instead of him, not realizing it was the reverse and Oscar was being selfless. But rather than argue that, Ozcar tries to get Hazel to see the cruel reality of it all. He won’t deny he has done wrong by this man, but how is Salem somehow the better choice? He should be fighting to stop her and her evils. Hazel stops for a moment, reveals his feelings on the matter. She can’t be stopped, he’s seen that himself. She’s an unstoppable force, and Oz is the worse of the two for knowing this and still sending people to try and stop her. Oz argues that someone has to at least try, that yes she actually can be fought and slowed and steered astray. But if she gets what she wants and gathers the relics... well, he doesn’t get a chance to reveal that much because Salem herself enters the room and welcomes her old love back to the grace of her company. It’s time to bring him to his front row seat for the impending show. 

It begins with a show of force and loyalty, all her underlings bowing before her on her throne. Em and Neo are off to the side and Hazel is forcing Oscar to bow too, but Mercury Cinder and Tyrian have all taken a knee right in front of their queen. Good news everyone, Watts presumably got Ironwood’s Scroll working and reported his successful takeover of Penny back to Tyrian and thus to Salem. Both men have proven their value, while Cinder’s rogue stunt has put her worth to the cause in serious question. Just like so many years ago, Cinder starts writhing in agonizing pain, this time inflicted by her own Grimm arm. Good to know Salem’s gift of a new limb was also a way to enforce punishment... But unlike the Madame, Salem claims to blame herself for Cinder’s disobedience. She’s been stifling Cinder’s drive for power and freedom, it’s no wonder she did what she did. She should be giving her chances to grow and rise, and so now she is. Cinder’s new mission is to go free Watts from jail and with his help murder Penny for the Winter Maiden powers. But it will be a challenge to prove herself, because Salem is also sending the Hound for the very same job. Both outcomes will result in Cinder getting the powers and Salem getting the Staff from the Vault, but only one will truly be an earned victory for Cinder and she damn well knows it. Ozcar tries to object, to say getting the Relics will doom them all, but hush now little fool~ You’re too late.

Cutting immediately away from that frightening situation, we get Winter and the Ace Ops flying out over the tundra in search of Penny. Elm is complaining about having to retrieve “broken junk” and how they shouldn’t trust Watts or his technology. Good point about trusting Watts, but we’re well past that problem now. Winter barks at Elm to stop whining and act professional. They pick up a comm signal, and it turns out to be from Jaune warning anyone who can hear it about the Grimm river. They head for the source of the signal, and the two groups cross paths under the most tense of tenses. Jaune gets to business and tries to get these professional huntsmen, public servants of their kingdom, to come deal with this unprecedented threat. But Harriet just wants to know where Penny is and refuses to acknowledge any problem except the one she was sent to deal with, so she blames these three kids who haven’t seen Penny in like 12 hours for whatever danger there is. Thankfully, she shuts up when a tremor rocks all of Mantle. The tremors keep building, even the Grimm take some amount of notice. Then it stops again. Then the biggest one yet hits, and suddenly the riverbed is empty. A geyser of primal Grimm goo blasts up into the side of Atlas, and it’s persistent enough that a big splash of it gets through the Hard Light shields. Out of the goo comes a swarm of centinels, who crawl up to the towers projecting the shield over the Kingdom itself and burrow into the ground around one of these towers. An airship blasts a laser down, but it can only get one target at a time and the rest burrow in. Down plummets one tower, and with it goes the entire shield. It’s like a string of Christmas lights with a single bad bulb, and that’s not a design flaw you want in the first line of defense around a major metropolitan area. As people across the Kingdom, including the team hiding out in Schnee Manor and a for once knocked off kilter General Ironwood, watch on in horror, Salem makes her move. Monstra swoops in and crests beautifully over the edge of Atlas, and then comes crashing down in the midst of the farmlands on the edge of the city with a bellyflop. The colossal aquatic mammal of the air opens its dark maw, and out floods a wave of more grimm sludge. From that primordial ooze arises just about every variety of Grimm we have ever seen with the exception of Kevin, Jim&Randall, Levi, and the Hound. The battle for Atlas has begun, and there are a wardrobe’s worth of white Atlesian military pants to be darkened. And this isn’t even the mid-season finale! So there’s even worse things sure to come! Can’t wait~

[shreddedparchment]

Colocataire Pt.03

The Relationship

07/01/2019

Pairing: Thor x Reader x Steve     Word Count: 10,469

Masterpost     Warnings: Smut, threesome, smidge of angst, mostly fluff, language, polyamorous relationship

A/N: My hands hurt. lol I’ve been typing for hours. I went back and edited once but I’m going cross-eyed so maybe forgive me some editing mistakes? This is the last part to my @cametobuyplums ‘s writing challenge. I had so much fun exploring the way this plays out and where it ends. It ended and came together just as I wanted so I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did. If you happen to reblog, thanks so much for helping me spread my work. xoxo

The sun is very bright. Blinding. Fucking annoying.

You shut your eyes against the glare of it and after struggling underneath something heavy, rush up, tossing your blanket aside as you stumble over the end of your bed.

Note to self: Install blackout blinds.

You shut the dark gray curtains. At least they shield out most of the light.

You groan, reaching to wipe at your face and head back to bed but give a squeak instead as your eyes find a long and very naked male form at the very center. Faced down. With wide, thick massive thighs and beautiful slightly whiter than the rest of his skin ass cheeks; hard, round muscles with the slightest concave on the outer sides.

You shut your eyes as the night flashes by in a flurry of lurid moans, salacious kisses, and dripping wet orgasms.

A nervous chuckle breaks your lips as you realize that last night you’d finally done it. You’d given in and though you might have been happy with a nice passionate kiss for your first romantic encounter with him, Thor had bedded you until the wee hours of the morning.

He’d first pounded you into the mattress, relentless in his desire for you and once the initial excitement of the FINALLY had worn off, he'd been softer. Tender. Emotional.

How many times had he whispered how much he loved you into your ear last night?

Your stomach flutters and with a bite to your bottom lip, you crawl back into bed.

The heavy thing you’d fought with to get up and out of bed had been his arm.

You trace its length from wrist to bicep and he hums under your touch. His long hair, still silky and flowing like golden waves on your pillow. It pools around him as he turns over onto his back to make room for you in his arms.

You settle beside him, resting on his chest as you press your own exposed breasts against his.

Sleepy eyes stare up at you. They twinkle, despite the exhaustion, with bliss.

“Good morning.” He whispers.

“Morning.”

He stares into your eyes for a second before his own wander up to the rest of your head. His sleepy smile widens before he huffs and tries to choke back a chuckle.

“What?” You demand, but before you can reach up, his hands come up and then back down over your head to smooth your hair.

“I didn’t know this was what you look like right when you wake up.” He confesses.

“What? Is it really bad?!” You reach up again but Thor stops you and instead presses your arms in between his chest and yours and wraps his own around you.

He holds you tight, trapping you so that you can’t move.

“You’re beautiful.” He swears.

“You’re not so bad yourself, sizzle-cheeks.” You drag one finger from his temple to his cheeks as he leans towards you, straining his neck for a kiss.

You wiggle as much as you can towards him and give him your lips.

The soft moan that travels between you dies out slowly, then your stomach groans and gurgles.

Thor chuckles and tucks your hair behind your ear.

“Hungry?”

“A little.” You sigh, “We used up a lot of energy last night.”

“That we did.” Thor nods and then follows it up with a yawn.

You scratch the beard of his chin, give him a peck, then pull from his embrace.

“Sleep a little longer. I’ll go get breakfast started.” His hand holds onto you until you’re out of reach, eyes shutting as he watches you go.

You take the dusty pink robe from your armchair and leave the room tying the sash around your waist. You walk in happy, determined that nothing will tarnish your little slice of heaven with Thor but in the back of your mind, something reminds you that something is missing.

His face pops up, demanding acknowledgement and then you look up as you cross through the living room.

The kitchen isn’t empty. Steve stands with the milk in his hand, a bowl of dry cereal on the island counter.

The two of you stand frozen, staring at each other with a million things unsaid. You think of Thor’s words of how much Steve had wanted to stay with you last night but because of duty he’d run off to the party to do his part. His job.

His life is there, with them. With the Avengers. Maybe there isn’t any room for you in Steve’s life? Maybe Thor is the right choice?

As much as you wish you could keep it pure, your happiness is dampened by the slightest sadness. A yearning that still hasn’t been satisfied.

Steve.

“Morning.” You move to the fridge and grab the carton of eggs, determined not to fixate on Steve’s morning look.

Tight white t-shirt and a pair of black sleep pants, low slung, soft cotton to stroke for days. He’s a morning dream and part of you is still confused as to why they decided to come back here.

The mission is over. Why would he and Thor—well, you kinda get it but to live here with you still?

“G’morning.” He replies, voice still deep and gruff from just waking up.

“How was the party?” You ask, pulling a glass bowl from the cabinet over the sink.

You place it and the eggs, mushrooms, uncooked bacon and ham on the island. While you grab the cheese, Steve moves to organize your ingredients, like he always does.

“Boring, without you there.” He admits, and his words send your heart into a frenzy.

You stop to watch him and remember the many times before.

Whenever you’re up early enough to make them breakfast he’s always been there to help you. He puts it all just as you like it and then steps aside, his cereal bowl and milk forgotten.

You take up your station and Steve moves over a little closer.

“I’m sorry. I just—crowds and loud noises? I just couldn’t-”

“I know.” He assures you, reaching over with his hand to stroke the back of your bicep.

His touch sets your skin on fire and you have to focus extra hard on cracking your eggs. He turns around, leaning back against the island as he fiddles with his spoon.

You don’t want his touch to stop but he always pulls it away. Linger grazes that cut and sear all at once. You want more and more.

Give me more, Steve.

You wait. You want him to speak. To tell you what’s on his mind but you’re done with egg beating before he speaks again, and you wonder if maybe it’s just physical with you and Steve.

Even though Thor said that the two of them had agreed to keep their hands to themselves so as not to influence your choice between them, you and Thor have always been able to carry on conversation with ease.

With Steve things are always quieter. The air between you is heavy and you’re not sure if that means things are just that much more serious or that maybe you two aren’t compatible for a real relationship.

There’s no denying the charge between you. You want him. He…once wanted you.

You turn to take the bowl to the stove and put it aside as you cut the bacon and ham into smaller chunks. You cook them together in one pan, allowing the ham to soak up the bacon’s grease. The smell is heaven and you know Thor’ll be up and out of that bed soon because of the smell.

“I was talking to Tony last night.” Steve begins, putting the milk away but leaving the cereal on the island.

You glance at him, watch him shut the door as he stares at your face to see what expression his words might have wrought.

“Don’t you talk to him every day?” You tease, a small smile plays on your lips.

Steve’s face relaxes a little and he moves to stand by the counter beside you.

“He…” He stops, hesitating for some reason. “He told me about you. Things I didn’t know.”

Oh, that’s what he’s getting at. Of course.

“You mean the Red Room Academy? And how I was almost Nat 2.0?” You stir the sizzling meats and toss in the mushrooms.

“Yeah. How you were all set to be enrolled but his parents came and got you. Saved you.” He watches you, searching your face for any small inkling as to what you might be feeling.

“Howard and Maria were very generous with me.” You explain. “Howard and my grandma worked together, during the war. Maybe you knew her? She had my last name. Served in the intel office up until just after the war when she retired.”

Steve shakes his head, brow gathered with thought as he takes in your story.

“She wasn’t exactly in the thick of it, but she helped Howard out a lot and Peggy.” You stop this time, letting the name sit between you.

It does what you thought it would and Steve stiffens beside you.

“Peggy?” He asks, voice tight, sad. Why does it hurt to hear him react to her name? “My Peggy?”

It’s completely ridiculous that you’re jealous of a woman who is no longer living. Maybe it’s because she isn’t just a romantic rival but a powerful one. One that made change and affected the world around her.

You’re nothing but a pencil pusher. Working ads for some conglomerate. No one will ever know your name. You’re no one.

Also, ‘my Peggy'? It shouldn’t bother you but it does. You wanna be Steve's Y/N! Why can’t he fucking call you my Y/N? It stings, like acid. It burns away slowly at the composure you’ve become so good at having around him.

“Yeah.” You push a paper towel into a smaller bowl then dump the sautéed mushroom, ham, and bacon in. “The love of your life, right?”

He seems to come back from whatever memory he’s wandered into at your words, but you look away, unwilling to see what he might be feeling now. You start on the first omelet and watch as the egg hardens.

“Y/N…” Steve whispers, moving closer to you by the stove. You can feel the soft graze of his clothed chest on your shoulder.

He must see your hurt. His voice is so gentle.

Your heart aches, striving to understand the man beside you and what he might be thinking. What he wants. What he wishes for. What he’s still doing here despite the mission being over. Is it guilt because they left you here alone and you were buried in rubble?

Is that why he’s still here?

“So, anyway,” You press on, inhaling deep and exhaling as you speak. “When my parents passed away I moved in with my grandma but a year later she passed away and I’m honestly not even sure of the details myself but somehow KGB got their hands on me and before they could get me in that school Howard and Maria took custody.

“They put me up in a boarding school upstate and I never saw them again. I’d get letters. A gift on my birthday but I was alone really. I mean, I had friends, but I spent my holidays at school. They even paid for my college.” You smile, shaking your head a little as you think about the small trust fund that had long since run out that Howard and Maria had set up for you. Most of it had been your grandma’s money.

“That was nice of them.” Steve says.

“Honestly, I think I would have preferred they keep the money and invited me home on Christmas but…I guess that’s why I want a family of my own. Having lost so many people, you’d think I’d have learned my lesson but I want it. A husband. Kids. Someone who loves me and wants me.” You give him a wide smile and add some meat and cheese to the omelet you’re making before folding it in half so that it’ll seal.

“You want kids?” Steve asks, a small note of regret in his voice.

“I do.” You sigh and set your finished omelet aside. “Didn’t you?”

You hesitate because you don’t want to hear the answer and you don’t want to keep bringing her up but it’s so obvious that you wanting kids seems like a bad thing to him. A deal breaker maybe.

“With Peggy? Didn’t you want kids?” You look up at him this time, intent on seeing what’s in his eyes.

He stares at you, his storm blues full of restraint and confusion and sadness again.

“I-I didn’t think about it.” He lies.

You smile, laughing at his feeble attempt to hide it from you. Why does he care that you’re hurt by it? The fact that he wanted kids with Peggy but now thinks having kids with you wouldn’t be a good idea?

“You’re such a liar.” You tell him and work on the next omelet. “Why did you come back, Steve? The mission is over. You don’t have to live here anymore.”

He doesn’t answer. He lets you stew in the silence.

“It’s not like what happened is your fault. The Late-Night Bomber would have bombed the building regardless of whether you and Thor were living here. You don’t need you to feel bad about what happened.” You plate the omelets and move back to the island and set them in their spots on the other side.

Two are very large, one normal sized for yourself. This one you keep on your side of the island but it’s clear you mean for Thor and Steve to sit on the other side.

Steve follows, stopping beside you again, reaching out to take your hand on the counter.

“Y/N, I’m not here because I feel guilty. I moved in for the mission but I’m staying because I want to be here.” He confesses.

“Why?” You ask, desperate to hear him say the words.

You finally know how Thor feels. He’d just spent all night proving it to you, whispering it into your ear.

Why can’t Steve say it? Why can’t he lower his walls and just let you in? Those longing glances from across the room had been tantalizing but always brief.

The slip up in the bathroom, when he’d touched you and given in a little. Had it been too much to bear by then? What’s changed? Why won’t he touch you again?

His expression is pained as he stares into your eyes. His brow furrowed, mouth opening and closing as he starts to speak then changes his mind.

A minute passes and you give up. You shake your head, his storm blue eyes holding yours as the disappointment floods through you.

“You should eat your omelet before it gets cold.” You whisper, breathless and heartbroken.

You’d been so invested in your conversation with Steve that you hadn’t noticed Thor come in. He moves up behind you, wraps you up in his arms and leans down to kiss your neck.

Your heart soars and then drops as you think about Steve watching Thor kiss you.

“The food smells delicious.” Thor says, his lips still pressed against your skin.

He kisses up towards your chin and then reaches up to slide your hair back to get at your cheek. He uses one hand to turn your face towards him, forcing you to look into his electric blues and you’re grateful. As he places himself between you and Steve, using his large body to shield Steve from view, you’re truly grateful.

His soft expression and genuine happiness at seeing you soothes the ache in your chest.

He leans in and kisses you, slipping his tongue into your mouth to deepen the kiss as he pulls you close. It feels needlessly enthusiastic. Almost as if he’s showing off. For Steve’s benefit maybe? You hadn’t thought Thor the type to throw things in people’s faces. Not this. Not the things that matter.

When he breaks the kiss, his lips smack loudly. He gives you one swift wiggle of his eyebrows before he deliberately slides away from you renewing your sight to Steve.

You don’t get to look at him long. Steve’s large body is pressing down on you. He leans down, hand cupping the back of your head as the other finds your hip, and firmly he presses his lips to yours.

You hear Thor chuckle somewhere to your left, eating his food probably.

That’s what he’d been doing? Coaxing Steve’s jealousy with his sloppy morning kiss?

Your heart is exploding with fireworks. Another FINALLY as Steve gives in.

Steve’s arm wraps around your waist as he slides his tongue along your lips to tease them open.

You shudder at his tenacity and obey, wrapping your arms around his neck as you push yourself up onto your toes to kiss him back eagerly.

Steve’s kiss is slow and churning. His tongue makes long strokes as he memorizes the way you feel pressed against him. Months of pent up emotion pour from his lips into yours and it leaves you gasping for air.

You pull away, to the side because you need to breathe in deep as Steve continues to kiss your chin, your neck. His right hand reaches up to slide your robe aside and kiss your bare shoulder.

That’s when he realizes that you’re naked underneath your robe because he pulls back, surprised. He looks you up and down, staring at your robed figure. Blinking with utter astonishment.

He glances over your shoulder at Thor who you look at too. He’s chewing through his smile. No. It’s a smirk. A challenge. For Steve and Steve alone.

He’s telling him, yes. I fucked her.

Steve’s furrowed gaze finds yours again.

His hands explore the length of your sides, feeling the soft fabric with eager fingers.

“Steve…” You start but a quick flash of his storm blue eyes shuts you up.

They are laced with lust, desire, yearning. Just like Thor’s had been last night. But the slightest bit of anger and regret too.

As he continues to stare at you, Steve’s eyes shift away from the lust. A glimmer shines through and you know in that moment that he owns you. There’s a claiming in Steve’s eyes. All the hesitation from before is gone.

He backs you up against the counter while his hand pulls your sash free. Your robe falls open and your ears burn at your sudden exposure.

With your hands gripping Steve’s forearms, you feel the muscles tense beneath your fingers as he squeezes your hips.

He stares at your nearly exposed chest before he lifts you so suddenly you whimper in surprise. He sits you on the counter and slides his hands along your shoulders, pushing your robe into a puddle around your hips.

Rough hands massage your breasts. He ducks down to nip at the perked pebble of your nipple.

You curl your toes, thighs pressed together to combat the growing slick of your core.

“Steve…” You plead and even you’re not sure what you’re begging for.

For release? For a reprieve from having him do this in front of Thor?

Despite his jealous anger, Steve’s touch is sweet and firm but loving.

He straightens up and then it happens so quickly. Almost like a dream too perfect to be real, you watch him push his pants down, exposing the long swell of his perfect pink cock. He places both hands on your knees and pries them apart.

Without giving you so much as a moment to prepare he’s pushing into you, nudging closer and closer and your legs further and further apart as he stretches your walls to fit him.

You gasp, your knees rising to make room for him. He doesn’t stop pushing into you until he’s right up against you. Chest to chest.

With his arms wrapped around you and you gasping for breath, he leans down and shoves his tongue into your mouth for a dirty wet kiss.

You moan and he moves his hips, pumping into you slowly as he finds his rhythm.

It’s maddening and you can’t think properly. All you can this is a resounding yes! Finally, you have him. He’s inside you, loving you the way you’ve wanted him to.

Does this mean he wants you in all the ways you want him? Or is it physical? Is it just lust?

Steve suddenly stops and you look at him for a reason.

The startled expression on his face gives you pause and you search for what’s bothering him.

Thor stands beside both of you, his hands hooked into the bottom hem of Steve’s shirt.

“Don’t stop.” Thor says, soft but stern.

Steve eyes him up and as Thor lifts his shirt, Steve raises his arms away from you so that Thor can expose his chiseled torso.

You need to help him. Help Thor show Steve that the three of you are together.

You quickly run your hands along Steve’s exposed muscle. You hum in appreciation for his strength and reach down to give his bottom a squeeze.

With him settled within you, not moving, it’s torture.

“Steve…” You beg.

He looks at you, intense and slightly confused gaze burning you up.

“Please…” You plead.

Thor leans in closer, his lips mere inches from Steve’s ear.

“Don’t make her wait.” He says, his electric blue gaze on you again.

He’s enjoying this. He likes watching Steve fuck you.

“Our girl likes it hard.” Thor tells him. “She likes it hard and full of fire. Show her how much we’ve wanted her.”

Steve pulls his hips back then rams them into you hard, shaking your body against his as he renews the closeness of his chest against your breasts.

You moan, startled by his pounding as he gets going again.

Thor leans towards you, fisting your hair to tilt your head back and towards him.

He kisses you hard, then soft. First lust. Then love.

He pulls away as you bounce on the counter with every thrust.

Steve’s grunts get louder, his hands are vices around your hips.

Thor gives your cheek one final caress before he heads for the hallway and you’re sad to see him go. You know however that he’s leaving for Steve’s sake.

Thor had you to himself. Steve deserves the same.

“You’re just as perfect as I thought you’d be.” Steve confesses, a grunt thrown in at the end as he slides his hands down to your ass to squeeze you closer.

You stare into his eyes, each shove of his cock rocking you closer towards insanity.

“Steve…” You moan, but he can hear the question.

“Yeah, baby, tell me. Tell me how you want it.”

No. That’s not it. “Are you gonna break my heart?”

His hips stutter and he stops, squeezing your ass again and again as if he can’t believe you’re really there.

He swallows hard, his breath uneven as the small drops of sweat around his temples finally cascade along his red overheated cheeks.

You can see the gears in his head turning. He’s thinking fast.

“No.” He shakes his head. “No, baby. I won’t break your heart.”

You blink, pushing your tears back because if it’s coming from him you must believe it.

“But you won’t give me babies. Or marry me. Right?”

“What? I-" Steve stops to think again, he watches your growing sorrow until his own expression hardens with determination.

“You want babies, I’ll give you babies.” Steve promises and he rams into you again.

He moves faster, harder, grinding into you roughly.

“I’m gonna fill you up with babies.” He grunts.

You throw your head back and he dips down to suckle at your neck.

He licks there, tasting the salt of your skin as he presses you back further.

He lays you down on the counter and settles over you, pressing down on you as he fucks you.

You wrap your hand around the back of his neck, tickling the soft hairs there as he takes your nipple into his mouth and sucks hard. It hurts for a second before he’s licking circles, soothing the rough.

Everything with Thor and Steve seems to be rough first then soft.

As his pelvis slams into your clit, you feel the coaxing of your climax, a tight pull at your pelvis as he grinds against it.

“Yeah…yeah, Steve…” You mewl.

“Come for me, baby.” He groans. “M'gonna fill you up.”

He grips your shoulder and slams into you, crushing your nub until your body tenses and the explosion of release sends your body into shivers.

Your legs fall open as he continues to thrust into you, sloppy wet sounds of your orgasm filling the room.

You twitch beneath him, a shudder for every thrust that he pounds against your clit.

“Fuck.” He turns to bite into your neck and you cry out as his heat shoots into you and his hands bruise your skin.

Unlike Thor, Steve doesn’t collapse against you. Instead his hands roam the curves of your body. Squeezing your hip, your butt, your thigh, then back up to trace the curves of your side.

He worships your form, finally his.

The two of you bask in your climax for only a minute before Steve finds your lips in a slow, loving kiss.

“I love you.” He whispers against them, brushing them back and forth as he waits for your reply.

He needs to hear it like you did. His storm blue eyes flicker with want and so much love. Your jealousy just s few minutes ago seems silly and part if a different day.

“I love you, Steve. I’ve loved you for so long.” You gush and he’s already pumping into you again.

You gasp and he smothers you with kisses as he fills you up.

You shift on the sofa, adjusting your angle as you try and keep from pulling Thor’s hair. You’ve been braiding this one section for over an hour. You’re not happy with it. You hate it. You suck.

“I can’t get it right.” You whine.

Thor sits between your legs, watching TV. Animal Planet again.

“Look, there you are.” He teases, a laugh in his voice.

You glance up at the TV to see a baby gorilla climbing onto a larger female gorilla’s back. The baby is clearly playing but you understand what Thor’s saying with the way it clings to its mother’s back.

“That’s not me.” You half-laugh.

“Yes, it is.” Thor asserts. “You’re even grooming me.”

He leans his head back to look up at you.

“You’re my little monkey.”

The smile that stretches your lips is one you’ve grown accustomed to. You’re so ridiculously happy that you don’t remember the last time you smiled this much.

“That’s an ape. Not a monkey.” You counter.

Thor screws up his face, neglecting your nitpicking.

“You’re mine.” He reiterates.

Dropping his hair, you cup the sides of his face and lean forward to kiss his forehead, the tip of his nose, and finally his lips.

He wraps his hand behind your head, keeping you in place so that he can give you one, two, three long pecks before releasing you.

“I’ve been thinking.” Thor begins, searching your eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I want to marry you.” He says it, just like that. As if he were thinking of buying a new brand of soap to try.

You blink, stomach in tumbles as you pull back to look at his full expression.

Thor looks as peaceful as ever. Sincere.

“Thor…”

“Not here, of course. There is a planet I know of that we might go and marry. A few of my people have made their home there and among them is a priest who will marry us. You will be my angel, forever.” He strokes his hand further into your hair as you continue to stare at him, dumbfounded.

When you say nothing, that pucker of worry between his brow folds and he lets you go so that he can get up and sit beside you.

“Say something, angel. I-Have I overstepped-?”

“No!” You gasp, reaching out to grab his hands. “No, Thor. I’m just, stunned. This is unexpected.”

“Is it? I would have thought you’d have known from the moment I kissed you that I wanted you to be my wife.” He scoots closer, wrapping his left arm around your waist.

This is good news. Happy news. So why are you apprehensive?

“Are you worried about Steve?” Thor wonders, reading you like a book.

“He’s so-”

“Possessive, yes I know.” Thor chuckles. “I’ve already talked to him.”

He begins to say something but then stops as he thinks better of whatever had been about to slip from his lips.

“He has given me his approval to marry you.” Thor assures you, a chuckle in his voice. “Don’t worry, Y/N. Steve has got his own plans. You are ours. And we aim to make you so in every way possible. Now, what do you say?”

He waits and when you say nothing, he pulls your hands up to kiss your knuckles.

“Will you marry me?” And he waits.

You catch your breath; the starling promise of forever with Thor before you. How can you say anything but, “Yes.”

Thor kisses you stupid. He kisses you until you can’t breathe and then he holds you tight.

The front door opens, a heavy click as it shuts. You hear his stomping feet before you see him as Thor seems unwilling to release you.

“Did you ask her?” Steve wonders, an excitement in his voice.

“I have. She’s said yes.” Thor replies gleefully.

He finally pulls back but only so that Steve can kiss you.

You use the opportunity to stare into his eyes. Searching for a true reaction in this make-believe happiness.

This has always felt like a dream on the vestiges of madness. Wishful thinking. A good dream you’ve trapped yourself in because the reality of your lonely life just isn’t enough.

Maybe you died? What if you were crushed in that rubble and the past three months with your boys has been a literal slice of heaven?

“Don’t worry, Y/N. I’m happy for you and Thor. I mean it.” He promises you, sincerity in his eyes but a small echo of that insecurity you’ve always had with Steve in particular reverberates in your mind.

It pulls dark thoughts forward that make you wonder if he’s happy that you’re marrying Thor because maybe he doesn’t want to marry you himself. What if Steve is grateful for the escape?

Does he not want you forever?

Did he use that wish on someone long ago?

His expression falls pained as he takes in the shift of your utter happiness to questioning apprehension.

“What is it?” He lowers himself down, squatting beside you and Thor as he holds your face between his large, calloused hands.

You don’t want to ruin this moment with Thor. You don’t want to make this about Steve when it should be about your future with Thor but…if you don’t speak it aloud, it’ll fester and bubble, then explode.

Fighting, real fighting where one person hurts the other, is not a part of your life with Steve and Thor. The three of you promised to talk everything through. This is complicated enough with three sets of desires, needs, and preferences. You don’t need to add lack of communication to that mess.

You lick your lips, chapped and dry from kissing Thor all day. Steve had been on mission and your day spent with Thor had been full of love making. They can’t seem to get enough of you…physically.

“I just…” You look at Thor and he’s smiling softly, not offended. Not sad. He gives you an encouraging nod.

You take his hand because you need his strength to speak the words out loud. What if Steve answers exactly as you’re expecting him to?

Thor gives your hand a squeeze. Reassuring you of his support.

“Are you happy about me and Thor because you-you don’t wanna marry me? Are you glad that he’s doing it so that you don’t have to?” Terror like this, even at the threat of bombs and bodily harm, has never existed for you.

Steve’s face relaxes, that boyish, half-smile lights up his face but only slightly assuages your fears.

“What? No. Of course I wanna marry you. You’re it for me, Y/N. Just like you are for Thor. I’m happy because we get to be happy forever. We get to keep you, forever. Together. I love you and I love Thor. Give me some time, baby and I’ll make you mine here on Earth too.” His words wash over you with a golden glory.

You’re warm and fuzzy with your boys here in front of you.

“Really?” You ask, elated.

“Yes.” Steve nods. “We’ll get you and Thor married first and I’ll find my time too. I’m not going anywhere. It’ll be me, you, and Thor until the very end.”

You kiss him, finally satisfied that Steve is in this for the long haul. Then you kiss Thor because you’re gonna marry him and you love them both so damn much.

Thor leaves you first.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He says, trying to cripple the utter agony you’re in.

You’re a mess. You’re in full on sobs as you cling to his chest plate with your weak and useless hands.

There is no strength in them to keep him here. Home. Where your husband belongs. You’ve been married for six months and this is the first time Thor is leaving you behind on Earth.

You’re terrified. What if something happens to him?

“I-I know you have to go.” You cry, pushing yourself up onto your toes to pull him down for another tight hug.

“I would not leave you if I did not have to. I will help win the war on Alfheim and when I come back, we will spend six days in bed and use the seventh to sleep.” He caresses the back of your head, using his words to try and comfort you but nothing will make this easier.

Nothing can ease your worries. It’s your job to worry as his wife.

“Wait for me, angel. I will return.” He whispers.

You pull back to stare into his eyes and give him the nod he needs. He pulls you to him, kissing you hard with his own startling urgency.

He’s worried about you too. Even if he knows you’re well looked after with Steve, being away from you isn’t easy and you realize this now.

He pulls back slowly, resting his forehead against your own until he must let you go.

“I love you.” He tells you as you back away slowly into Steve’s waiting arms.

“I love you.” You cry, tears still heavily streaming along your cheeks. “Please be safe for me, Thor.”

“I will.” He swears, his eyes move over you, above your head. “Take care of our girl, Steve. Keep her safe.”

“Always.” Steve assures him. “Come back soon, Thor. We’ll be waiting.”

That’s the first time Thor leaves you.

He comes back only a week later.

“You’re back!” You gush, leaping into his arms as he struts through your balcony doors.

He catches you and pulls your lips to his mouth. He groans as he kisses you, his bulge big and bursting.

The kiss quickly turns from relieving to lustful, all wet tongues and eager moans.

Steve stands, wide shoulders falling with relief at the sight of Thor back in one piece.

“You’re back so soon.” He says, an observance, not a complaint.

Thor pulls away from your kiss to speak as you continue to trail your own kisses along his jaw, hands wrapped in his long hair, tugging and pulling as you wrap your legs around his waist and grind down against him.

“I didn’t realize how hard it would be to stay away. I’ll have to go back tonight but I needed my princess.” He says, his hands roaming the curve of your back as you rut your hips against his.

“I’m glad you’re safe.” Steve says.

Thor begins to move towards the hallway. His destination? The bedroom of course. It’s been a week. He doesn’t remember the last time he went a whole week without having you.

“I’ll go to the gym. Sam’s been eager to get some sparring in. Give you two some time.” Steve offers and makes to move around your favorite armchair to grab his workout bag from the guest bedroom.

As he passes close to Thor, Thor grabs the front of his shirt and then drags him along as he walks.

“No.” He says. “Together.”

Thor tosses you on the bed, and he loves the way you bounce. He peels off his armor as Steve strips beside him.

Two large, bulky men stand before you. Their gazes loving, their cocks erect.

“Strip my wife.” Thor tells Steve and though Steve is used to giving the orders, he obeys because he wants to see you.

Steve is second in only that he hasn’t married you yet. As he peels off your shirt and shorts, exposing your perked breasts for him and Thor, he slides his hand down the length of your folds, playing with the slick as he spreads and primes you.

You can see it in his eyes as he presses one finger inside of you, that soon he’ll remedy that fact. You won’t only be Thor’s wife for long.

They take you together, Steve gets your engines revved up then he slides up to your mouth where you take his length in one long lick. You suck the head of his cock then reach up to push his tush, urging him to thrust into your mouth.

Thor climbs between your legs and buries himself to the hilt in one smooth slow motion.

Though it isn’t the first time that you’ve had Steve and Thor at the same time, in Thor’s absence, it begins to mean more. To have them both with you is a blessing. One you hope to repeat many times over.

Steve understands that Thor is the only one that’ll feel the clench of your core today. After a week, Steve would want you all to himself too.

Thor comes undone in every position he can get you in. He fills you up over and over while Steve makes a mess of your chest and fills your mouth.

The three of you collapse in bed, spent. Steve makes to leave, as he usually does when the three of you have been together.

“No.” Thor says, an almost panic in his voice. “No. Don’t leave us.”

Steve stares at the God of Thunder, reading the need in his eyes before he settles back into bed behind you. He cuddles up close, holds you tight, while Thor rests his forehead against your own and kisses the tip of your nose.

He mutters, “My princess.” Until he falls asleep.

When you wake up, Thor is gone again. You cry. You turn into Steve’s chest and he holds you tighter as you sob.

“He’ll be back, baby. He’ll stay safe.”

Thor is gone for a long time. After a month, Steve surprises you.

At breakfast, he gets up from his seat across the table and drops down on one knee beside you. You’re not expecting it and it makes you cry.

“Don’t cry, baby. I know it’s been hard without Thor, but I want to make you mine too. Forever. I said I needed time and I think it’s been long enough. I can’t stand you not being my wife anymore.”

“Oh, Steve.” You sob, reaching up to fix your nest of a hairdo. You look terrible. Just woken up.

But Steve’s eyes are full of nothing but love as he reaches into his pocket to pull out a small blue box. He removes the top and holds out a white gold ring, solitaire, with a lone emerald cut diamond. You can tell by the sheen of the band that it’s vintage.

“Y/N? Will you marry me?”

“Of course, I will!” You gasp and throw yourself into his arms.

You and Steve get married at city hall. He wants to wait for Thor to come back before you have a real wedding and you’re grateful. As long as you’re his, that’s all that matters.

After your in-home honeymoon—because both you and Steve refuse to leave in case Thor comes back—Steve starts to take missions again.

He must. There’s no break for the criminals here on Earth and the world needs Captain America. You hate that he leaves you first for only a few hours but during the next month it becomes days. A week.

This time, three months since Thor left, Steve is gone for two weeks. You don’t know what goes on or why he’s gone so long but you know that it’s necessary.

You rush into his arms, cling to him as he walks through the door.

He’s exhausted. He kisses you.

“Too long, Steve.” You complain, sliding your hands through his freshly washed hair.

He always comes home clean for you though you kind of wish he’d come back in uniform. You know that he’s only trying to hide the extent of the danger he puts himself in.

“I know, baby. I’m sorry.” He wraps his left arm around you as he drops his bag by the door.

He’s got his shield in his right still and he plops it by your desk in the living room before hugging you with both arms now that they’re free. The way he cuddles into you, his tired sigh, burying his face into your neck, you know that he’s just dead on his feet.

“Let’s go get some sleep.” You whisper, sliding your fingers further into his hair to maybe nudge him towards unconsciousness.

Truth be told, you haven’t slept much either and all you want is to hold him and feel him there beside you.

You sleep for hours.

~~~~~

“How soon do we need to be there?” Steve can’t believe how fast they found the hideout.

It’s barely been twelve hours and he has to leave you again?

He turns to look at you, sitting in your armchair, a small lonely smile already stretching your lips. You must have heard him talking on the phone and wandered out to see what was happening.

You’re so quiet. So, understanding. Part of him wishes you’d throw a tantrum. Get really upset. You gentle whining at his absence doesn’t even begin to convey the depth of your solitude. He’s sure of it.

He knows how much you worry when he’s gone and how alone you can feel, especially with Thor still off world.

Turning back to the window he sighs, desperate to stay but duty calls.

“The sooner the better. Why? Am I interrupting?” Sam asks, careful in his tone because he knows how much Steve misses you when you’re not together.

“No. No, I just…hate to leave her so soon.” Steve confesses.

He’s already looking for his shield. He has a spare uniform in the jet. He can change on the way.

“I know, man. I’m sorry. We can go without you.” Sam offers and Steve almost accepts but his responsibilities to the innocents that are having their life threatened weight heavy on his shoulders.

His lonely wife weighs heavy on his heart.

He looks in the kitchen. By the desk where he usually puts it. Under the coffee table. And finally, in the dining room cabinet.

Nothing.

“No. No. I’m coming I just gotta find…Y/N? Baby, have you seen my shield?” Steve calls out as he shuts the cabinet.

“Yeah, it’s right here.” You tell him, voice sweet and soft.

He turns to look at you and nearly drops the phone as his jaw goes slack.

You stand at the mouth of the hallway, his shield held out in front of you, covering the sight of your clearly naked body.

“Steve?” Sam calls.

Your angelic smile shifts, turning devious and playful as you bite down on your lower lip. So beautiful. How long has it been since he’s seen that playful glimmer? Thor always brought that out in you more.

“Well?” You ask, “Aren’t you gonna come get it? Duty calls, right?”

Steve swallows hard, the stirring in his pants undeniable and unquenchable.

“Sam? I’m gonna have to sit this one out.”

“What’s wrong?” Sam wonders but Steve doesn’t care to answer as you spin his shield and give him the briefest of flashes of your naked right hip.

It’s a dizzying maneuver that sets his skin to burn. You know what you’re doing. Vixen.

“I gotta…gotta go. Be careful, Sam.” Steve murmurs.

He knows they’ll be safe. It’s a simple scouting mission.

You on the other hand, require hands on attention.

Steve struts towards you, mouth still hanging open at the seductive sight of you, fully exposed behind his red, white, and blue.

“Duty calls, Cap.” You remind him.

He reaches out and yanks the shield from your hands to look your naked body over. In the same move he wraps his arm around your waist and lifts you up, his lips crash against yours.

He moans into you, rolling your purr over his tongue as he drops his shield with a quickly silenced clatter and then takes you back to your room to perform his duty.

“I’m pregnant.” You gasp, staring down at the small white stick.

“What?!” Steve’s astounded voice comes in from the dining room.

You’re frozen, staring at the stick with shock. “I’m…I’m pregnant.”

You smile.

Steve barrels into the bathroom, his hands on your waist as he leans over your shoulder to look at the four different tests you’d taken.

You’d wanted to be sure. This is a big deal and you didn’t want to make any false exclamations.

“You’re pregnant.” Steve repeats, a startling amount of excitement and love in his voice.

“Is it-?” And you know what he’s wondering.

“I don’t know.” You sigh, sad suddenly at the possible daddy on the other side of the universe.

Steve turns you around, cups the sides of your face and leans down to kiss your lips softly. “We’ll go see a doctor tomorrow. We’ll find out.”

The next day, Steve sits beside you, a woman who looks too young to be a doctor slides over on her stool.

“Well, you’re gonna be parents.” She announces proudly.

“No, we know that.” You tell her. “When was the baby conceived?”

“Oh.” She seems surprised by the firm nature with which you’re addressing her, all happiness that usually comes from such an announcement absent.

You look at Steve and he gives you an encouraging smile as he takes your hand and squeezes it.

“It looks like, you’re about eighteen weeks gone.” She says, a smile on her lips again.

You run through the numbers as quickly as you can in your head.

“Eighteen weeks that…that’s four-four and a half months?” Your voice breaks at the last word, realizing with anguish that the baby is more than likely Thor’s.

“That’s about right.” She says, startled by the tears in your eyes.

“Steve…” You look for him and he’s not heartbroken at least. He’s not sad that the baby is probably not his.

He strokes your cheek and thumbs your tears away as they fall.

“This is good, right? Now we have a part of him here with us.” He explains, trying to spin this for the better but all you can think about is the fact that you haven’t heard from Thor in months and now you’ll be having his baby without him.

You sob and Steve pulls you close.

“I’ll give you two a moment.” The doctor says, completely confused.

When she’s gone, Steve pulls back to look into your eyes, instilling them with as much courage as he can.

“You’re going to be a mommy, Y/N. Thor’ll be back soon and we can celebrate. All three of us. Okay?” He asks gently.

“I miss him, so much.” You cry.

“I know, baby.” Steve sighs. “He’ll be back soon.”

The whistling of the air as he plummets to the ground fills him with such satisfaction.

His feet hit the slats of the balcony and the rainbow bridge melts around him as he walks to the sliding doors of his balcony. He opens them and slips inside.

“Hello?” He calls out, strong deep voice yearning for one particular pair of eyes, fit into an excruciatingly pretty face.

The storm blues are desired too. His partner in life along with his wife.

“Y/N?” Thor calls, searching desperately over the living room to see any signs of life.

There are a few dishes in the sink. Signs of lunch. A cup of tea left unfinished at the dining table. A pair of pants slung on your favorite armchair with a book you’ve been reading settled in against the back of the seat.

“Steve?” Thor calls.

“Thor?” Steve’s voice is like music. The deep timber of his voice, higher than normal at the glee he’s feeling.

He rounds the corner of the hallway and stops when he sees him.

The two men exchange a long look before Steve is crossing the room to pull him into a hug.

“You’re finally back.” Steve sighs, relieved. More than relieved. There’s something else there, but Thor can’t guess what it is. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Thor hugs him back, holding him tightly as his homesickness is marginally quelled. Only one person can cure it completely.

He pulls back, holding Steve at arm’s length to look into his eyes. “Where is she? Where’s my wife?”

Steve smiles. “My wife too, actually.”

The surprise that Thor feels as Steve holds up his left hand to show off his wedding band passes quickly.

“We wanted to wait for you to have a real wedding. A big one with everyone but with you gone, we both needed to do it.” Steve looks as if he’s waiting for reproach for his decision to finally marry you.

Thor only feels grateful. He’s happy for you and for Steve. “I’m so glad you finally did it.”

He knows just how much you’ve been wanting Steve to marry you.

“Now our family is complete.” Thor sighs.

Steve’s smile tilts, turning boyish. It’s that grin he gets when he teases you or he tries to keep a secret hidden.

“Speaking of family…” But he’s cut off as a small gasp from the mouth of the hallway turns both their gaze.

Thor’s heart leaps into his throat as he meets your eyes. Those eyes that never left his dreams. Eyes that pulled him through every moment that nearly took him from you.

“Thor?” You gasp, your hand fluttering by your chest.

“I’m here, princess. I’m home.” Thor coos, so eager to have you in his arms that he begins to move around Steve but watches as your hand moves down to rest against your extended belly.

~~~~~

Thor’s smile vanishes. He moves to you with an awed, disbelief on his face. All you want is for him to hold you and kiss you and make love to you, but this must come first.

You caress your tummy once more, stroking the little life growing within you.

“Are you-?” Thor asks.

Silly question. You laugh. “Yes.”

You laugh again and maybe it’s more the sound of your laugh that pulls him out of his shock because his face breaks into a smile as you laugh, and he suddenly leans down to kiss you.

“Mmm.” He whispers, a delicious hunger quenched as he tastes your lips.

It’s a quick kiss because it’s obvious that he wants to keep looking at your tummy.

He looks around and sees Steve already sitting on the far end of the couch. He steers you that way and sits you between them but turns you so that you’re facing him.

Steve sidles up behind you until your back is resting against his chest. He kisses the side of your head.

“Can I?” He asks, curious and eager to get a look at your belly.

“Of course.” You tell him and pull your t-shirt up so that he can look at your growing baby.

“Is it okay if I-?” He gestures with his hands, wanting to touch.

“Yes, Thor! Of course, you can.” You assure him, suddenly realizing that he doesn’t know. Of course, he doesn’t. How can he know? You haven’t told him. “This is your baby.”

“Mine?” He asks, surprised again as his hands rest on the sides of your belly.

You nod.

“We had the baby tested with a few of your samples that Bruce had in his lab. Y/N needed to know, and we were both hoping that the baby was yours.” Steve is so supportive. He’s so great.

You love him and you love Thor and, fuck! You’re crying again.

“Why are you crying?” Thor asks, reaching up to wipe away your tears.

“I cry all the damn time now.” You growl, then laugh.

Your laugh gets Steve to kiss your head again and Thor smiles wide.

“My baby.” He whispers, leaning down to press his lips to your bump.

“Our baby.” You add.

“Our baby.” Thor repeats, looking up at you then at Steve. “Our family.”

“Niki put your brother down.” You sigh, fumbling with the two large plates of waffles.

“Daddy says I pick up my bwudder. To halp mommy.” Niklas counters, his golden blonde hair is only slightly darker than your second baby’s.

Niklas has all his father’s strength, charm, and electric blue eyes. Stevie’s are storm blue.

“Not all the time, honey. Stevie is fine right now. Put him back in his highchair so that I can give you two breakfast. Or did you change your mind? Do you not want waffles for breakfast?” You stop beside the end of the table and wait for Niklas to put Stevie back in his seat.

“No mommy, I want da waffos.” He insists and hurries around to his own booster seat.

He climbs in and settles himself in it then reaches out to grab the table and literally drag himself closer to it.

He’s so strong.

Stevie giggles and babbles in his toddler speak. Drooling a little as he stares at his brother who you can already see is his hero.

Suddenly he screams loudly, yelling something at Niklas that you don’t understand because he’s not actually saying anything.

“Goodness, gracious, you’re both so talkative this morning.” You place Niklas’s waffles before him and drizzle them with syrup before you move over to Stevie, refasten the restraint around his waist and scoot him in towards the table.

You cut up his waffle into small tiny pieces big enough for him to grab but not choke on.

“Dank you, mommy.” Niklas whispers for some reason, then goes to cutting his waffle with his little fork.

You watch them eat for a moment, making sure they’re okay before hurrying back into the kitchen to bring them their sippy cups with milk.

Somewhere in between you pouring their milk and closing their cups, Niklas is on the table, laughing as Stevie screams again in that babbling high pitched instruction that only Niklas understands.

“Niki, get off of the table!” You gasp, and hurry back to the dining room with both cups still unsealed.

“Stevie wants me to dance, mommy! Wet me dance.” Niklas pleads and begins to swing his arms around enthusiastically to the music only he and his brother seem to hear.

Stevie is all giggles and excitement as he fists his waffle and throws the pieces at his brother.

“Baby, no.” You put the cups down and hurry to Stevie to stop his little hands from chucking his food.

A clatter pulls your gaze up to Niklas and you see spilled milk running down along the wooden table towards him and onto the floor.

You hurry to press a nearby towel against the wet as Niklas picks up his own waffle and proceeds to throw small pieces at Stevie, making him sticky with the syrup you’d drizzled.

“Niki, no.” You sigh, defeated because there’s no way you’re winning against these two.

You’re torn between stopping the flow of milk or grabbing Niki and putting him back on the floor.

Luckily, you’re save the choice as two large sun-kissed arms wrap themselves around Niki’s little torso.

He giggles as Thor growls at him, peppering his cheeks and neck with quick, scruffy kisses.

“What kind of terror are you causing your mother?” Thor asks, playfully, lovingly.

You sit down, relieved to see him and completely giving up on the milk. It goes everywhere.

Stevie is still screaming excitedly at the sight of Thor who rushes to the toddler and with a skilled hand, unbinds him and lifts him up into his other arm.

You stare at the three of them, exhausted but so happy. They’re your boys. Your babies. Your life.

“Look. Look at what you’ve done.” Thor asserts. “Niklas, look at the mess you’ve made for your mother. You too, Steven.”

Stevie smacks Thor’s cheeks as he babbles some more, while Niki actually assesses the damage.

He seems to realize that he’s really gone and done something bad because he looks chastised at first then his little lip quivers.

“I’m sowwy, mommy.” He cries and it just about breaks your heart.

You get up and move to him, wiping at his cheeks where he’s gone and splashed some milk.

“Oh, honey, it’s okay. But what have we talked about? What do we do at the table?”

“We sit.” He remembers, then looks up at Thor when he doesn’t seem to remember the second part.

Thor helps him cheat and he leans down to whisper into his ear as Stevie continues to pull on his beard and ear.

“And we eat aww food. We don’t pway wif it.” Niklas recites.

“That’s my good boy.” You tell him, fixing his little blue t-shirt as he relaxes and smiles.

“I’m sorry we were gone so long. We had every intention of being back before the boys woke up but-” Thor is already trying to explain his tardiness, to make up for the mess you now have to deal with.

“It’s okay Thor.” You understand how their job works. “They were fine up until five minutes ago.”

“Still. I’ll clean it up.” He offers.

“While they wreak havoc in another room?” You smile.

“Then, I’ll take them out to the park. Give you a few hours alone.” He counters.

That sounds extremely tempting.

Despite your anxiety from being away from your babies, you know they’ll be safe with Thor and you’re desperate to give the dining room a good clean now.

“How about two hours? Just enough time for me to clean this up and take a shower.” You slip your hand up along Thor’s side, then get distracted by Stevie’s little leg and hold that instead.

“Deal.” Thor agrees, then leans down towards you to meet your lips.

You kiss him, eager for the affection and Niklas giggles while Stevie’s little hand slides into your hair.

You catch his hand and kiss his little palm before leaning up to give Thor another kiss.

“Time for some adventuring, I think, my sons. What do you say?” Thor asks your boys.

Niklas gives a great shout of, “Yeah!” Accompanied by a small fist pump while Stevie simply screams in excitement.

You watch them until they’re out the door but as they pass, Steve slips in kissing Stevie’s cheek as he gives Niklas’s head a caress.

“-the park a few blocks down.” Thor says, informing Steve of his destination.

“If you need help, call me.” Steve offers.

“I am dad extraordinaire.” Thor brags. “Help?”

He laughs animatedly, all to make the boys laugh which they do.

Steve shuts the door as their beautiful giggles fade into the distant hallway.

“Oh, man.” Steve sighs, as he crosses into the dining room. “Niklas?”

“Egged on by Stevie.” You grab the soaked milk towel and try to push as much of the liquid back towards the center of the table so that it doesn’t keep spilling onto the floor.

Steve chuckles. “Next one will be calmer. I promise.”

“Next one?!” You turn to look at him, startled and laughing.

“What?” He asks, sliding over to you slowly as you try and back away.

With the table right behind you, you don’t get far. Steve’s hands are on your hips as you hold your milk dripping hands up and to the sides.

“You asked me for babies, remember? I’ve only given you one.” His stupid smile is seductive, his blue eyes piercing.

That look, that ownership you’d seen when he’d first made love to you, it heats you up. You are his. You know that. His and Thor’s.

“I wasn’t thinking straight.” You deadpan. “One is enough.”

Steve huffs a laugh, his hands sliding up into your shirt to trail circles against your skin.

“Come on, baby. I want a girl.”

“Then you have it.” You challenge.

He dips his head down to your neck and traces long slow circles with his tongue.

Your eyes shut, you sigh, your core clenching and searching for filling.

“Steve…” You plead.

“I’ll take less missions.” He whispers against your throat as his hand slides down into the waistband of your jeans.

He forces them down, exposing your bottom as he grabs it tight and shakes your dripping folds by proxy.

“Liar.” You accuse.

“I will.” He pulls back and look into your eyes, licking his lips as he takes his hand out of your pants.

He rests them on your waist and nods.

“I-I’ve been thinking about retiring.” He admits. “Sam’s pretty familiar with the way things go and Thor will probably still be there for them if they need him and I’m not saying I’ll drop out completely, but this life with you. This is what I’ve been looking for, Y/N.”

He means it. He’s really going to retire and help you raise your babies?

“You’re just trying to get into my pants.” You quip.

Steve smiles and nods. “Damn straight.”

He slumps down to wrap his arms around your waist and lift you up as his lips move against yours.

He turns and heads for the bedroom and you wrap your arms around him, milky hands be damned.

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[rauliskafan]

Enamorado

Time to catch up with the ADA and the Caterer on Valentine’s Day!!! What sensational surprise does Rafael have up his sleeve??? As always, for the amazing @svu-stories!!! Enjoy!!!

“And you're really sure that Lucia doesn't mind?"

Rafael sighed as he tightened the arm already draped around your shoulders. With a silly smile, he leaned close for what you assumed would be a kiss. But he simply nuzzled his nose against yours and let out a little laugh.

"As if she would pass up an evening with her grandson," he said. "Besides, it was partly Zachary's idea."

"It was?" you asked, hating feeling slightly out of the loop. But the last few weeks had run you ragged with a party almost every night. A book launch here, a birthday party there. At one point your eyes had nearly popped out of your head at the opening of a yoga center on the Upper East Side. Your instructions were clear; every member in attendance was a vegan to the nth degree. And then you saw the Swedish meatballs meant for the next afternoon's soiree at an outdated gentlemen’s club. Derek never ran so quickly as when he tried to take the tray back to the van. He missed his chance when the center's owner caught sight of him. Panicked, he tossed the meatballs into the trash. Which saved both of your hides for that moment. Which also meant that you had to stay up all night to make a fresh batch of the appetizers.

Yes. It was all beginning to take a toll.

"He said that he didn't want her to be lonely on Valentine's Day," Rafael continued while you half-listened. "We even not her a card and some of those chocolate covered cherries that she likes so much... mi amor, are you listening to me?"

Snapping out of your reverie, you swiftly met his eyes and saw his smile even as his stare seemed worried.

"I... yes," you started. "Chocolate..." Unable to finish the thought, you felt your cheeks blush, and Rafael ran one large, loving hand down your arm, and the cabbie turned the corner. 

"Glad you're not on one of my juries," he teased. "I'd lose right out of the gate."

"I'm sorry," you sighed, taking his hand and pressing it to your lips. "My mind's on---"

"Crepes and canapes and cold cod," he said with a smirk.

"That's a lot of alliteration in one breath, darling," you laughed back, and he finally gave your cheek a small peck and pushed one lock of fallen hair behind your ear. 

"I know you're stressed," he said.

"And I hate it," you sadly confessed, curling into his chest, hearing the soft crinkle of paper and supposing he got you a card too as you played with the buttons on his vest and the polka dot pattern gracing his tie. 

"I'm supposed to be able to handle it," you whispered.

"You can handle anything," he murmured back.

"So sweet," you said, leaving his supreme sense of style to gaze at the far more stunning sight that was his sapphire stare. "I don't know. Maybe I'm getting old."

"You look younger than the day we met," he swore.

"Sneaking some scotch at work are we?" you teased, but he firmly shook his head.

"It's the truth. You are beautiful." 

"And exhausted," you admitted. "Guess I understand why Zachary would prefer to be with your mother."

"Hey. Don't do that."

He pressed two long fingers under your chin and narrowed his eyes.

"Our little boy loves you with every beat of his heart."

"I know," you said, shifting back in your seat to wipe away the stray tea that slid down your cheek. "But does he love me running late or dropping him off at Hogan Place? Or taking him along to that boutique in Brooklyn?"

"Well... he did say he never knew there were so many cheeses."

That got a laugh out of you, and you slowly turned your head to glance out the window, seeing a few flurries falling from the night sky.

"Still not fair to him," you said.

"What isn't?" he asked.

"His life’s already been scattered enough,” you said. "He needs stability. On all fronts."

"Are you sure you're only talking about Zachary now?" Rafael asked.

Before you could reply one way or the other, the taxi inched to the curb. The street seemed silent given the night, an evening when you expected a collection of couples darting in and out of every restaurant. Paying the fare, Rafael linked his fingers with yours, his smile expanding as you passed by a small market and other shops selling vintage clothing and assorted antiques.

"Not the best night for window shopping," you said.

"But can you imagine all the people on any given afternoon?" Rafael shot back. "Or on a Saturday?"

Stopping in your tracks, you waited on the pavement until he paused and looked into your eyes.

"Since when do you spend your lunch hour looking for lamps?"

He chuckled and softly kissed your forehead, leading you along the sidewalk once more.

"Talking in hypotheticals, mi amor," he said. "Still think it's a pretty accurate assessment."

You started to pose another question when he paused before a dimly lit facade. 

"What's this?" you asked, taking a step closer to the glass and peering inside.

"Valentine's Day dinner," he said. "Come on."

He held the door open, and you stepped inside to see a decent-sized dining room. Hardwood floors gave way to brick walls... leading to a series of windows looking upon a small courtyard at the back of the building.

"Isn't that nice?" Rafael said as he guided to you to a small table set for two just beyond a bar bordered by mirrors. Removing your coat, he pulled out your chair and sat you with another kiss. You quickly glanced at the champagne chilling on the table, but then you looked around, seeing no one else.

"What did you do, Rafael?"

"Whatever do you mean?" he innocently asked, removing his coat and lighting two candles before assuming the seat across from yours. 

"I'm thinking that you rented this whole place out just for us," you said.

"Would you blame me? Maybe I wanted you all to myself."

To that you had no argument, but in your mind you briefly worried about the cost, thinking of all the gigs you'd have to book if, in his excitement, he had overextended himself for this one special night.

"Don't look so worried," he soothed, popping the cork and pouring you a flute of the golden, bubbling liquid. No. This was a not a night for quarrels, and you waited with glass in hand as he lifted his drink in a toast.

"To... stability," he started.

"Stability?" you echoed.

"Yes," he continued. "Never let it be said that I don't listen to you. Because the story you just told... I've heard it many times."

A small part of you wanted to snap at him, to tell him to give parties and potato puffs a try. But not tonight. Not when he had a point. Not when you hated the story as much as he seemed to loathe hearing it.

"I'm sorry," you said. "I know I shouldn't complain. So many things are perfect for us right now."

"But you have every right to ask for more," he said. 

"Do I?" you asked, your voice weary and wavering.

"Absolutely," he said. "So, I... I took the liberty..."

His voice trailed off, and he reached into his pocket for a slim envelope. Sliding it across the table, Rafael's eyes sparkled as he nodded his head to the sealed packet. 

"Open it," he said.

"You're making me a little nervous here," you admitted, setting your glass aside but still doing as he asked. Pulling out a three page of document littered with legalese, your eyes began to glaze over...

...until you focused on the bold print of utmost importance.

"You... what did you... you did this?" you choked out.

"One question at a time, mi amor," he teased, bringing his chair closer to yours so you could peruse the document together.

"I have been listening," he said. "And your point is well made."

"What... what point?" you asked, still struggling to form even the simplest of words.

"I know you hate running around town," he continued. "I know that this is what you've always seen as the endgame."

"But... how can we... I mean now..."

"It's handled," he said, taking your hand again and staring at you intently. "There's no time like the present. The location is perfect. And I want you to have your heart's desire."

"You... you bought me... you’re giving me... a restaurant?"

Waves of worry washed over you. Yes, it was something you had always dreamed of, cooking the food that you loved most for a menu of your own design. And Zachary could have a home away from home. Stability. But were you really cut out for this? What if you flopped? What if the place stayed this empty even on the nights when your sweet husband hadn't planned an intimate dinner for two? 

"Mi amor? You're trembling."

The worry in Rafael's voice seemed to rival your own, and you blinked back a few tears as he reached for your face. 

"Do you not like it?" he asked.

"I... of course I do," you said, your voice barely above a whisper. "I just don't know if I can make it work."

His face relaxed, and he eased you onto his lap.

"You can make it a success and so much more," he said. "You whipped me into shape. And I was a far more complicated project."

Laughing through your tears, you felt his arms surround your waist and rested your head against his. If you closed your eyes, you could almost picture the place teeming with customers, the kitchen awash in activity as you put the finishing touches on each plating, every mouth smiling at the first taste... wanting more of where it came from.

"I'll need some help," you admitted.

"You'll have it," he promised. "Bring Derek on. Hire as many others as you need. And I give you my word that I'll be here, too. Every off hour that I have."

"Seriously?" you asked, leaning back to arch an eyebrow. "You're going to cook?"

"I'll leave that to the expert," he said. "But I'm sure there's other things to be done."

"Like lots," you said with a small sigh. Looking around again, you felt your heart flutter, wishing for just one more dream come true.

"But what... Rafael, if I mess this up, I'll let you down."

"Never," he said quickly, kissing your shoulder. "In no universe is that even remotely possible."

"Screwing this up?" you asked.

"Letting me down," he replied. "You've never done anything but amaze me. I don't see why this should be any different. Why shouldn't the world's best woman, chef..." 

He paused to kiss you, and you smiled against his lips.

"Go on," you said.

"Wife. Mother. Goddess among us mere mortals."

"That's too much," you said.

"Not nearly enough," he argued back. "I won't... I'll never make you do anything that you don't want to."

"I know," you said. "But… but I really want this."

Scooping you into his arms, he stood strong and spun you around the dining room. You clung to his neck, your laughter mingling with his until he gently set you back on the floor.

"Someone's about to launch the hottest restaurant in the city," he said.

"And someone has the sweetest husband," you said. "No one ever got a better valentine."

"Except for me," he said. "Because I have you."

He kissed you again, and you held him for a long time until he pulled back and patted your cheek.

"I did arrange for dinner," he said. "It's waiting in the back."

"Scratch that," he said. "Let's see what we can scrounge up at that market. I want to try out my new kitchen."

And as he smiled and helped you back into your coat...

"Lead the way, enamorado." 

[milliethesillie]

Time for a stupid review rant

Beat Superstar Saga HD..... I’m still stupidly mixed on it. Also spoilers pretty early on in the review because I’m fresh off of it and I’m going on how I feel about stuff

Visuals: at a first glance its gorgeous but theres alot of little things that suffer because of it. Lets take chucklehuck woods for example. The lighting is cool how it peeks through the trees but because of the lighting it makes bean spots harder to see. Then theres alot of attacks that are much harder to dodge because they’re models instead of sprites. 2 examples are the poison clouds fired by the blobs in Jokes end and Cackletta’s soul’s fire attack. They’re prettier but its alot harder to tell where the attack ends and starts. Cackletta’s soul fire is a major offender because its impossible to tell if its even on the ground yet or not so I’m jumping over fire that isn’t there yet. You know the final boss fight is a good summarization of how I feel about the visuals. Cackletta’ Soul is visually terrifying and amazing and i love it but she’s got so many attacks thats near impossible to tell where the are spacially, her fire, to a lesser extent her thunder, and her carousel of arms which used to be one of her starting attacks easier attacks became a Mario Killer because I could not tell when it was going to hit the guy. and apparently alpha dream knew this because its no longer a starting attack and she now only uses it late in the fight. Also I swear everything moves a fraction of a second slower then it did in Superstar Saga. I mean the game looks good i guess but the graphics effect gameplay negatively and the original sprites of everyone just popped out more so.... I was going to say next but I forgot to mention a small number of the unique designed enemies were replaced with typical vanilla Mario enemies and this does fit in visuals so there.... Thats the complaint. and the toads from little fungi town are boring now.

Music: Lets get the easy crap out of the way. All overworld themes sounds just like they did in the GBA cept with more modern instraments and they are good.... However Those aren’t the tracks that I care about. So lets go over the ones I do care about. First the Main battle theme: So apparently all trumpets were brutally murdered right before the development of this game because the trumpety tracks from Superstar Saga features little to no trumpets. Main battle theme being one of them. Technically speaking theres already an HD version of this theme with trumpets from Paper Jam but they messed up some of the notes and for someone who’s played Superstar saga so much its just impossible to listen to that and not notice. Superstar Saga HD’s battle theme got the notes right.... and whatever the instrament they use is ok.... But I still prefer the 8-bit trumpets.... or modern trumpets where they don’t mess up the notes but apparently thats not possible. Ok So next is the Main boss theme: while the original lacked trumpets to be murdered for the remake I’m still iffy on how to feel about the new one. Mainly because I have no idea what the main instrument is. Like I want to say the new one is better but that weird main instrument almost sounds... muffled for lack of a better term. Moving on because thats honestly just taste. Popples Theme: They murdered the trumpets but I still really like this one. First battle theme that I can say is on par with the original no question. Those were the main ones that I was worried about going into the game so the other ones just get a pass in my book. So yeah overall.... Some of them work.... Others not so much but..... eh?

Gameplay Changes: Ugh where to begin on this one. Lets start with out of battle stuff because this will take less time. Mario and Luigi can no longer swap places manually. Now instead you press L or R to swap through a long line of moves and Mario and Luigi will swap places when that move is selected. This means no more annoying the front bro by hitting or handing them before learning the required move which stinks and unless you’re using the touch screen going through your moves is alot more tedious. Invisible Bean spots are now visible so you don’t need to walk around with small mario and look for an exclamation point. THey added blocks that carry cassette tapes that contain the games music both old and new so I can dig that. The Mush badge got nerfed so you can’t cheese the game with it anymore and believe me I tried (99 regular, supers and 80 ultras plus whever 1-ups and goldens I had and I didn’t feel that cheesey).  They probably needed to do that to make sure the game wasn’t impossibly easy.

Difficulty: So lets talk about how the game is easier. So Mario and Luigi’s stats are naturally higher then they were in the original, and they forgot to balance that with the stats of the first two areas, so you’re going to kill the first boss in 2 turns and the mini boss of the next area as well as the dragon atop hoohoo mountain.... Ok fine maybe 4. Queen Bean and Popple and Rookie 1 seemed less fragile but the overworld enemies were still babies, this made me constantly paranoid about if the game was ever going to get hard or make me try because I was missing alot of counters and still wining. It almost balances out... and I know I was never overleveled because of one thing that paper jam started doing that I hated. You see every enemies level.... Why? The game is stupidly easy for the first few areas so you never should feel like you have to grind. Plus enemies always go for you. Mario and Luigi games are designed that if you just kill every enemy that starts a fight with you or whatever gets in your way you will level up enough to fight whatever boss is next. You should never feel underleveled unless you’re speedrunning the game. Oh yeah I forgot to mention some other things. THe basic jump hits twice when done correctly which makes it just plain better then your hammer and hands 87% of the time. Countering hammers can’t be dropped but I mean they were doing that one since Parters in Time... although I didn’t find out till late in Bowsers inside story, but I was hoping they’d keep the old droppy hammers. And then theres your bros attacks. Even on the normal difficulty for the attacks the screen still turns dark and gives you a prompt so practicing isn’t really nessecary especially with the the colored spiky background box prompt being replaced with a circle slowly shrinking to show you when exactly to hit it. The only bros attack I can’t consistently excellent is cyclone bros because apparently I’m not as good at button mashing as I thought. But yeah I could rant forever about how the game is alot easier.... But I was gladly surprised when Cackletta’s soul threw me a curve ball. I might have complained earlier but I still liked this fight alot. It was beating me up and I almost died alot. It was a really fun and sometimes frustrating fight and the first victory I felt like I actually earned. 

Things they added: Welp theres Minion Quest.... which is a non game with a somewhat enjoyable story... Theres amiibo support.... which gives you 3 of each bean and a random piece of equipment that you can already get in game.... Thats it. I was really disappointed when I found out theres no X Bosses in this game. How hard can they be to add? Just buff some stats and boom you’re done! I know exactly where to put it too! The arcade machine in little fungi town with a towel over it! It would be perfect there! But yeah aside from a few minor things theres else nothing major added.

Final Verdict: Idk. I’m willing to admit I’m overly harsh on this game but I don’t see this as better then the original. If you don’t have the original super star Saga  get in on VC or emulator. If you have played it I’d still recommend this. I don’t think its as good but its still a good game. I’d Recommend this over Paper Jam! Heck play Super star saga twice and paper jam 0 times! Its pefect. Whatever I’m tired leave me alone