#I am not even joking a shrimp head literally made a joke like that in front of me

[angelfacemjj]

WHOUGH! Finally my last day of class is over. Last week is gon' be my final exams, n once they're over, it's #timeforbreak, because I already passed this year regardless of what y'all ppl say. /nbh

[yhwhsdaughter]

HQ!! Manager being protective when people insult their player

(ft. oikawa, hinata, tanaka, yachi, osamu, kuroo)

Warnings: threats, physical altercations, bullying, public humiliation

I usually don’t condone the usage of violence, but I woke up mad today lmao

OIKAWA

the pretty setter was getting ready to serve, his fangirls screaming in support while the rest of the team took a break.

to the side were a couple of guys staring in jealousy, “heh, his weak ass gets a big ego just because—”

they continued their insults and while they didn’t reach oikawa, his team members certainly heard it all

teasing oikawa was different when it came from them because they genuinely cared about him,, but for someone else to continuously bully the setter without reason?? it was infuriating

before any of them could kick their asses, their manager approached them.

(name) was perhaps the most polite individual they’d met; always patient and kind despite their antics

“ah, i can see the misunderstanding that oikawa is a weakling. he’s got a broken knee and constantly pushes himself despite the excruciating pain.”

the aura surrounding them suddenly turned dark and cold as (name) clutched the shoulder of the main bully with an iron grip

“what about you? shall i break your knee so we can find out if you’re stronger than him?”

at that moment, their gentle mannered manager had the eyes of a beast, unyielding as the guy tried to escape their grip

when they left, the players approached (name) who still glared in that direction. “woah we didn’t know you could be so scary (name)”

now calmer, they replied, “you’re my team, i would kill anyone that tries harm you.”

it was such a matter-of-fact that the males couldn’t help but laugh “haha you’re funny too”

“am i laughing?”

that day they learned their precious manager would deadass commit murder for them

extra: when oikawa found you defended him, he ran with open arms, “(name)-channnnn marry me!” squeezing the life out of you

HINATA

competition hadn’t even started and people were already shit talking karasuno

“flightless crows” blah blah blah

as their third manager, you would be in the benches with yachi, supporting the team

however, hinata had gone to the bathroom and he wasn’t back. daichi had sent you to get him since the game was about to start

you found the team’s sunshine nearly corned by a tall player “aah you’re so short and you’re a middle blocker?? i’ll be looking down on you little shrimp!”

he didn’t get to say more because your leg swiftly hit the back of his knees, falling to the ground harshly.

no one and i mean no one messes with hinata without you getting a few hits in, regardless height

“oh look. you’re below him now”

mans was lucky y’all were in a competition, otherwise he wouldn’t have left unscathed

with that, you steered your baby hinata away from that asshole, throwing him a dirty look in case he wanted to try anything

if he did, you would not hold back. literally on sight

fyi hinata was totally not blushing the entire way back. everytime you approach him now he gets all flustered

everyone else is like ???

TANAKA

the ladies man, tanaka had encountered a group of attractive girls at the arcade so he decided to shoot his shot

when they declined, tanaka was prepared to leave them alone, respectful of a woman’s boundaries, but they decided to verbally attack him

“who’d wanna go out with you?” “yeah you’re so ugly, stupid baldie”

wrong move

unfortunately for them, you were also at the arcade, having heard how the entire conversation went down

you knew tanaka would never use violence against a girl, even if they were rude, but you would.

equal rights equal fights bitch

those girls never saw it coming, you grabbing the leader’s hair roughly and yanking it back, “you’re right, longer hair is much better”

you went feral; simultaneously slapping the others away when they tried to pull you off, your tight grip never faltering.

only when tanaka placed a gentle hand on your arm that you released her

“insult him again and you’ll be the baldie next time”

in short, tanaka now sees you as his personal deity. boy will adore you

YACHI

the third years were gone now

kiyoko had left the team in your and yachi’s hands, with you mainly taking charge as the now-third year manager

the team all sat together for lunch (yes, tsukki too), they were waiting for you since you’d been talking with a teacher

a girl in front of you side-eyed yachi, watching with envy as the blonde sweetheart spoke with the handsome volleyball players

plan brewing in that toxic mind of hers, the girl pretended to trip, spilling her lunch all over yachi. the team didn’t have time to react, watching in shock as food splatted on her lap

sis even had the audacity to say “oh sorry didn’t see you there” as if she didn’t just purposefully throw her food on someone else

worry not, because you returned the favor.

as soon as she gave her faux apology, your food was already making its way down her head to her shoes

there wasn’t a part of her left uncovered

“my bad, i thought you were the trash” you did not look sorry at all

half of the cafeteria watched this unfold—tsukki even making some snide remarks. you grabbed yachi’s hand, guiding her to the restroom to help her clean off

from that moment on, people got the message to never mess with the volleyball team lest they face the wrath of their manager

OSAMU

osamu was your best friend, the reason why you joined inarizaki as their manager

currently, you were in home ed, making the assigned dish but it wasn’t difficult so your movements were lax so much that you couldn’t help but overhear the conversation going on in front of your table

at the mention of osamu, your ears perked up

“he was SUCH a jerk. i kept asking hoping he would grow tired and say yes, but nooooo. apparently osamu thinks he’s better than me”

some of her friends looks uneasy at her inability to take ‘no’ for an answer but the girl continued on her rant

the teacher stepped out for a moment. “HAHAHAHHAHA” the class turned to look at you, laughing like a maniac while you chopped vegetables with scary precision and inhuman strength

“you sure got some nerve, harassing someone like that.. especially my best friend”

that was the moment the grew knew she’d fucked up. she couldn’t even answer back because the teacher was back.

you made a point to ask the teacher if you could be partners with that girl for the next lesson, making her gulp in fear as you ran a finger across your throat

to say the least, she stopped talking for the remainder of the class

KUROO

chemistry?? you and kuroo?? friends?? together in class???

a fucking chaos

just kidding. the two of you were actually really good students. the best, if you had to brag

despite being the teacher’s favorite, you were lowkey about it while kuroo liked to insert as many chem jokes as he could in presentations

it was kinda embarrassing and you subtly teased him, but never with malicious intent

during a lab, you got partnered with a bully. you tried to ignore him and continue working, but it kept getting worse.

the breaking point was dragging in kuroo to all of this. you’d rejected his offers of going on a date and when kuroo made a motion to ask if you were ok, the dude took it as a sign to talk shit

“seriously? him? he’s a fucking nerd. his jokes are lame and has shitty hair—”

your eye twitched. “oi you better stop if you don’t want me to burn your face off”

clueless in class, he didn’t know how to handle the material so you were doing all the work. he didn’t believe you

bringing in the acidic substance near his face is when he finally backed away, at which point you had already called the teacher and told them that he was playing around with dangerous chemicals

although it was the other way around, who do you think the teacher believed, their star student or the school bully??

lmao, bitch could ask his detention buddies out on a date now

kuroo: ??

[staticscreenwriting]

Love like the movies // Bucky Barnes // 6

SIX - GHOST

Trigger warning: Alcohol, food, mention of sex (nothing graphic and no actual smut)

Masterlist

Summary: This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Bucky Barnes, finds himself thrown into a world that seems so different from everything he’s ever known. The girl, (Y/N) knows entirely too much about rom-coms and is quite particular about the way she eats her popcorn. Bucky meets (Y/N) a few months after returning to NYC. He knows almost immediately that becoming her friend is inevitable. This is a story of boy meets girl. This is a story about love. (Bucky Barnes x female!Reader // a few spoilers for TFATWS)

"You held hands?"

"Mmh."

"And then you cuddled."

"We didn't cuddle, I was just kind of - leaning into him. Sort of."

"So you cuddled!"

"Sure. If that's what you wanna call it. We cuddled."

"Then what?" Robin inquires. Smirking at (Y/N) over the rim of her wine glass, like a giddy pre-teen waiting for the kissing scene to come up in a romance movie.

"And nothing. That's it."

"Oh come oooon. You cozied up to each other and then just what - acted like it never happened?"

"Essentially. But that's okay. It's not a big deal. And don't say it like that."

"Like what?" Robin continues to poke and by this point, it's not so much her wanting information than her trying to rile up (Y/N). Though she's very well aware of this, (Y/N) falls for it anyway.

"Cozied up to each other," (Y/N) says and scrunches her nose up in distaste. "Like we had dirty sex or something."

"Do you want to have dirty sex with him? Oh man, imagine what that arm can do."

Holding her hand out to stop her best friend from talking, (Y/N) takes a big gulp of white wine, emptying her glass. This is a conversation that can't be held entirely sober. "First of all, don't say those things about his arm. It's- I don't know. It doesn't sit right with me."

"Sorry yeah that was … not cool" Robin apologizes and by the tone of her voice (Y/N) can tell she means it.

"I'm the first to admit that Bucky is insanely handsome and if things were different, sure. But we're friends and I really enjoy the time spent together and our friendship. I don't wanna do anything to jeopardize it or ruin it by adding unnecessary feelings to it."

"Feelings aren't unnecessary," Robin replies, combing her fingers through her fiery red curls.

"Sometimes they are. The last thing Bucky and I need is broken hearts and ruined friendships."

"What if it doesn't end that way?"

"Relationships never work out well for me, you know that."

Robin places her glass on the countertop. It means whatever talk is gonna follow, it'll be a serious one. There's been very little need for a serious talk between the girls over the time they've been friends but neither of them has ever been afraid to start those conversations and say things as they are. Sometimes that's what friendship is, being blunt even if it's not what your friend wants to hear.

"Look I'm not saying you have to take the relationship to another level. If this is making you happy the way it is, then that's all that matters to me. I just don't want you to give up on something that could be great, because you're scared and because some stupid assholes in the past didn't realize what they had in you."

Where she's only had shit luck with relationships, (Y/N) thinks she's really lucked out in the friend department. Robin is as wonderful as they come. Even if she drives her crazy sometimes.

"They weren't all assholes." (Y/N) chimes up weakly though there's not even enough determination in her voice to convince herself.

"Weren't they? Let's see ...I'm not even gonna talk about Russel. He doesn't count. Who else was there? Pete liked to show you off but he didn't like you. Did he?"

"Not really."

"See? Asshole! Kylie only wanted to be with you so she could be the cool girl who's fucked another girl once and use that as something to brag to the guys about."

"She was figuring herself out."

"She was straight, babe. She was using you and your sexuality as some kind of badge of honor so guys would think she's cool. She only wanted to make out with you at parties and when there were men around to ogle you. I’m the last person to blame anyone for trying to figure out who they are and who they like but that wasn’t the case here. She used you, and what does that make her?"

“ An asshole? “

“ An asshole!”

“ What about Ricky, he wasn’t an asshole! “ (Y/N) chimes in, filling her glass up once more.

“ Okay sure but he was your High School sweetheart and that rarely lasts. I’m not gonna count him. What about Mike —“

“— Okay, you’ve made your point. I have a bad taste in romantic partners, I get it. Doesn’t change anything. Me and Bucky we’re — we’re good as we are. No romance needed.”

“ Just don’t want you to miss out on something great.”

It’s not that the thought has never crossed her mind. In fact, when she’s being really honest to herself, it swirls around her head a lot. When he grants her one of his smiles. The rare ones that make his eyes crinkle. Or when he comes to see her and brings dog treats for Lady, just because he’s that thoughtful. Or when she noticed he put a popcorn and a sun emoji next to her name in his phone. The popcorn, as he said because she liked movies and the sun because she’s always happy and smiling. Or when he held her hand throughout the entire movie. Those are moments when (Y/N) thinks about what it would be like to be more than friends.

“ It’s great as it is now. He’s great.”

“ Then that’s all that matters to me.” Robin smiles. She has one of those smiles that makes you feel at home. Comfortable and soft. Like warm milk with honey a mom makes their child when they can’t sleep.

It’s a while later, when (Y/N) strolls back into the room, another bottle of wine in hand, that a knock sounds on her front door. Her eyes wander to Robin then to the door then back. “I’m not expecting anyone.”

“ Oh, that’s Bucky.” Robin, who’s by now migrated over to (Y/N)’s huge fluffy couch, Lady cuddled onto her lap, says with the most casual of tones (Y/N) has ever heard. As if Bucky and her have been lifelong friends. As if there is nothing strange or peculiar about this situation.

“ How do you know?”

Robin shrugs and goes back to petting Lady’s curly fur. “ He texted you when you were getting the wine. Said he was around and had food. I told him to come join us for movie night. What’s the big deal? “

“ I uh — it’s not I just — you could’ve told me. “

“ That was literally 5 minutes ago babe. I had no time to tell you yet. By the way, this man uses entirely too many emojis.”

A smile pulls on the corners of (Y/N)’s lips. She’s asked him once why he never used any emojis, or smileys as he called them (all of them — even the ones that aren’t faces). He told her he didn’t really understand when to use most of them, like the shrimp or the Hockey stick. (Y/N) told him it’s because they’re fun. Ever since then he uses all kinds of emojis with her. None really relating to his messages. It’s quite endearing if she’s being honest.

“ Are you gonna let him in? “ Robin asks, shaking (Y/N) out of her thoughts.

The smell of Chinese food floods into the apartment as (Y/N) opens her door to Bucky. He looks so effortlessly cool in his leather jacket and boots. With his hair a little longer now, all swoopy and quiffed. Like the bad boy straight from a romance novel. The one with a heart of gold. The one that gets the girl.

(Y/N) is not that girl, the one from the novels, the Hallmark movies. The one that’s quirky but never weird. The one that makes all the boys fall for her. She’s not the main character, at least according to herself. She’s the side character that shows up like twice. The one that helps the main character on their quest to self-discovery or true love. That’s who she is. Not more, not less.

“ I brought food!” Bucky exclaims as he steps inside, waving the bag around before placing it on the kitchen counter, to which Lady jumps up from her position on Robin’s lap.

Lady, (Y/N) has realized a while ago, has somehow fallen head over paws in love with Bucky. Always following him, looking up at him with her big brown puppy eyes. Always looking to be close to him. Maybe, (Y/N) thinks, it’s the treats he always carries around. But maybe it’s Bucky too and his patience and his affection and the way he greets the little dog like she’s the main reason he’s come around.

Moments like this, they come with those little flutters around the heart. People always compare them to butterflies. (Y/N) thinks that’s wrong. Butterflies are gentle, graceful, and soft. This feels like a swarm of bees. Chaotic. Overwhelming. A little bit scary.

“ Man, did you plan on coming here, or did you buy all this for yourself?” Robin asks, eyes wide in surprise at the sheer amount of styrofoam containers Bucky keeps pulling from the bags.

“ I kind of bought it with the intention of sharing, yeah. “

Robin’s eyes meet (Y/N)’s across the room and there's a silent secret there, hidden in her teasing smirk. One shared only with a friend. No words. No sounds. Just the truth and two knowing hearts connecting.

“ Am I intruding? If you guys want me to leave, I can leave. “

While he tries to keep his voice casual, the sad tint doesn’t get lost on (Y/N).

“ Absolutely not, don’t be silly. We’re just drinking wine and watching a movie and you are free to join us in both.”

While he shakes his head at her offer of wine, Bucky helps (Y/N) bring the food over to the couch and plops down in the middle of the couch, Robin to his right and (Y/N) on his left.

“ What are we watching? “ he asks, a dumpling already on the way into his mouth.

“ Well, “ Robin responds filling her glass up once more, “ it was (Y/N)’s turn to chose so —”

“ A rom-com”

“ A rom-com. “

Something about seeing these two interact and joke around inspires a fuzzy feeling to wrap itself around (Y/N)’s heart. Even if they’re making fun of her.

The way Bucky fits in here, as if it’s where he’s always belonged. The way he’s not a stranger imposing but a friend added to the mix. It’s a nice feeling. She hopes he feels it too.

“ Okay, whatever. This isn’t your usual rom-com though, there are ghosts in this one. “

“ Is it ghosts falling in love?” Robin asks and lets her laugh get swallowed by her wine glass.

“ No. Well — uh kinda but not really. They fall in love be — you know what, just start the damn movie! “

There’s an undeniable intimacy in watching your favorite movies with other people. It’s like giving away little pieces of yourself and sharing them with others. No matter how insignificant it may seem to anyone else but you. These are the things that make us who we are. Our passions. For art. For music. For books. For movies. And opening up is always scary. Even if it’s just a teeny tiny bit.

Through the corner of her eye (Y/N) glances at Bucky and Robin, trying to judge their reactions. See if they’re enjoying themselves or not. Bucky displays his ever-present scowl. It’s the default setting. Sometimes she wonders if that has always been the case. If that's just what he looks like or if years of abuse, horror, pain have left their marks on him, on not only his heart but also his face.

Maybe this can be his safe place, she thinks. Maybe she can be. Not someone to fix him, because he’s not broken, just lost. Not to fix but to hold his hand while he heals. Slowly but surely.

For a while, the three sit in comfortable silence. The kind that fills you with this inexplicable calm. Where no words are needed.

And then the beginning chords of unchained melody spill from the tv speakers. It’s a touch there, a kiss here, hands covered in clay. Bodies covered in clay. Gasps and heavy breathing. Hands grasping skin, wandering, loving.

Robin’s presence falls completely to the back of (Y/N)’s mind. Bucky’s however...

“Do you want to have dirty sex with him? “ her friend's words ghost through her head like a particularly annoying jingle for some tv ad. The room feels warm all of a sudden. Not warm — boiling. There’s a heat radiating from her right, from Bucky. So what if he’s attractive. So what if she sometimes lets her mind wander and think about how his hands would feel on her skin or his lips on hers or his — yeah okay you get the point. So what?

Bucky slumps down into the couch a little more with every second of steamy pottery sex that’s fluttering across the tv screen. Is he — nervous? Uncomfortable ? No, she must be imagining it. Projecting, that’s what this is. She’s projecting her own chaotic emotional state onto him. There’s nothing there. (Y/N) has to remind herself. Just secret little thoughts that have to be kept between her and her. As long as no one knows, no one gets hurt. It’s the easy way out. The safe way. The right way.

Right?

“ Sooo, what did you guys think?” (Y/N) asks, turning her body towards her friends and sitting criss-cross on the couch.

“ Didn’t expect all the murder. “ Bucky replies as he takes a sip from his beer. “ And the — “

“ The messy sex! I know.” a visibly intoxicated Robin cuts in.

“ Not where I was going but okay.”

She doesn’t pay his words any attention, instead of launching herself backwards over the arm of the couch, dramatically fanning herself with her perfectly manicured hand. “ I am not going to lie, oh boy that was some hot stuff. Wouldn’t say no to that.”

“Oh please,” (Y/N) chimes in, wine glass clutched in hand and smile on her face. She can clearly feel the alcohol washing through her system bringing her to the place between sober and drunk where everything feels light and your confidence seems to get a little extra boost. “ What do you have to complain about? You’re getting married in two weeks! I’m sure you get enough action as it is. “

Robin doesn’t answer right away, just throws (Y/N) a giddy, boozed-up smile. Though in her eyes, there’s a loved-up glimmer of someone about to marry the love of their life.

“ Yeah, that’s true.”

“See, so you’re not the one that should be complaining. Us, however…”

Her red curls swing around her like a spark of fire as Robin sits up again, pointing her finger at (Y/N).

“ And whose fault is that? You could be getting some if you didn’t get so lost in your romantic fantasies. And him — “ the red-haired girl exclaims before pointing her finger towards Bucky “ don’t even tell me he ain’t getting some. Look at him! Are you sexually active, Bucky? “

“ You don’t have to answer that. Robin, come on.”

“ No, you don’t have to but you should. I’m trying to prove a point. Help me prove a point, Bucky. “

“ You’re making him uncomfortable. “

“ Am I making him uncomfortable or you? “

“ Ooookay, I think it’s time for you to go to bed. “

“ Nooo, we’re having a conversation. “

“ Would you look at that, my drink is empty. I’m just gonna — I’m gonna get another one. Okay? Okay.”

Bucky doesn’t wait for an answer before getting up and rushing out of the living room and into the kitchen, clearly uncomfortable. Clearly embarrassed.

“ See what you did? You scared him off. “

“ I couldn’t scare that man off if I tried. Trust me. “ Robin murmurs, a loud yawn cutting through her argument. There’s a certain determination in her words though. Some truth hidden in there that (Y/N) can’t quite put her finger on. It’s like Robin knows something she doesn’t. And maybe it’s good this way. Maybe she doesn’t need to know.

“ Alright, whatever that’s supposed to mean, Tipsy. I’ll go see what he’s up to. You go the fuck to sleep.”

“ Whatever mom, “ Robin bickers and cuddles closer into the soft couch anyway. “ Oh, don’t forget to invite him! I like him. We’re friends now. “

“ Go to sleep! “ (Y/N) orders again, earning herself a salute from her best friend who starts snoring no more than 2 seconds later.

He feels like a 13-year-old. Actually — no. Things were easier at 13. Situations like this one were easier at 13. Being horny was easier at 13.

It was all new to him then, yes, but it was new for everyone at 13. He’s 106 now, a grown man. He should be able to talk or at least think about these things without turning into a full-blown mess. His hand is clammy, his face is probably the same shade of bright red as Robin’s hair. And by god, his thoughts are a jumbled mess, swirling around all over the place.

Truth be told, he hasn’t had a lot of time to actually think about anything even remotely physical. It was never very high on his list of things to figure out and the opportunity hasn’t really presented itself to him either. Not since the 1940s at least.

Have things changed? Surely not, right? Maybe people got a bit more experimental and for sure they talk more openly about it now but the fundamentals must have stayed the same. He sure hopes so at least.

His thoughts get interrupted as (Y/N) steps into the kitchen. Her eyes are slightly glassed over from the wine though she’s nowhere near as drunk as Robin. She seems happy, then again she always does. For a little moment, he feels jealousy wash over him. About being able to get drunk. It’s damn stupid, he’s well aware. But that doesn’t make his feelings less valid. To just drink and let go and forget, that sounds really nice.

But that’s just one of the things the serum has taken from him. By far not the worst aspect of it all but unpleasant either way.

“ Hey uh — you okay? “ she asks leaning against the kitchen island across from him.

“ Sure. Are you? “

“ I uh — might be a little drunk, “ (Y/N) confesses as she lifts her hand and indicates a tiny space with her fingers.

“ Yeah, I think you might be.” Bucky laughs. Actually laughing comes naturally when she’s around and quite honestly, at first, it made him feel guilty. Guilty about the fact that he got to laugh along with a pretty girl while so many people had to die through his hands.

He tries to push those thoughts away. They aren’t doing anyone any good. Not him and not those people either.

“ Hey, I’m sorry she was making you uncomfortable. She gets — well she has no filter when drunk. Or ever really.”

Bucky shakes his head. His finger nervously trails along the grain of the stone countertop. There are conversations he needs to have, sooner or later, if he wants to live his life. Not just coast along but actually live. But it doesn’t mean those come easy. Not for someone who’s been through all he’s been through. Not for someone who’s grown up the way he has, who’s been raised the way he has.

“ Ah, no. Don’t worry. I uh — I just. It’s been a long time since I had talks like this. “

“ Like what? “

“ Between friends, you know. About — stuff. “

“ About sex? “

“ Mmh. “

“ You don’t have to talk about it with us if you don’t want to. It’s fine. “

“ No, but I do want to talk about sex with you. I mean — not you, you. You both. But not in a weird way. I mean — with friends. “

“ Okay. “

“ It’s just that I was raised in different times and the last time I had a real actual friend that I talked to about intimate things was so long ago. Steve and I talked about everything and even then there used to be reservations. One because I don’t think Steve really wanted details and two because Steve wasn’t — he didn’t have the most experience when it came to women so it was a very one-sided conversation. And I’ve never talked about any of this with a girl. It’s all new to me but I don’t want you to think I don’t trust you. “

(Y/N) regards him with a glimmer of amusement and mischief in her eyes as she munches away on some cold leftover spring rolls.

“ You don’t have to justify yourself to me, Buck. I know you trust me, I hope you know I trust you. “

He does. And he doesn’t hate how it sounds when she calls him Buck.

“ So, Robin and Charlie are getting married in two weeks. I was wondering if you’d like to be my plus one. Back when they announced it I was under the impression Russel and I would be a thing by then but uh — clearly that didn’t happen. It’s in upstate New York. We’re all gonna stay at this gorgeous Inn and well there’s a spot open if you want it.”

“ As a plus one? “

No matter how much he wants to deny it to himself, his heart does a little flutter as she says those words. A plus one sounds like something. He’s not sure what but something, surely.

“ Yeah, as a friend, obviously. “

“ Obviously. “

There goes the flutter.

“ Robin is okay with it by the way. She explicitly told me to ask you.”

“ So Robin wants me there, not you. “

“ No! I want you there! I love spending time with you. Also, Robin’s family is crazy. I need you by my side. I need you there. I want you there. “

“The need to be needed is an individual’s sense of significance rooted in the sense of being part of a community or cause beyond themselves. The need to be needed is one of our fundamental desires. We want to feel significant in the eyes of others, even if it is only one other person. “

Bucky has read those words in one of the many magazines stacked on the little side table in the waiting room of Dr. Raynor's office. They didn’t really make much sense to him then. He always thought he’d be fine by himself.

In that moment he realizes that was all a big pile of absolute bullshit.

The feeling of being wanted, of being needed, even if it’s just one person that needs him, that means everything.

“ Okay, I’ll come. “

“ Yeah? “

And there it is again, the smile that reminds him of the sun. The smile that he’s sure could bring a thousand men to their knees, including himself.

“ Cool. I’m — I’m really happy about that. “

“ Mmh. Me too. “

For a moment they just look at each other, words unspoken swirling in the air between them, neither brave enough to let them slip from their tongue.

It’s not until a particularly loud snore coming from the living room pops the bubble and breaks the spell.

Both of them fall into giggles before Bucky speaks up again.

“ It's late I should probably go. “

“ Yeah and I should go to bed. I’ll have a hangover tomorrow for sure.”

Bucky slips into his leather jacket and places a soft kiss goodbye on Lady’s head before turning back to (Y/N).

“ For the record, I’m not getting any. “

“ I uh — okay. Good. Well not good, “ (Y/N) stumbles over her words “ not good for you. Good for me. I mean. Not that I don’t want you to have sex. But I mean, Robin was taking the piss, and if I don’t get laid it makes me feel better to know you aren’t either. Oh god, this sounds horrible. I’m just gonna stop talking now. “

Bucky smiles the brightest smile she’s ever seen him smile, it almost breaks his face in two. And even though she wants the ground to swallow her whole right then, if it puts a smile like that on his face, she’ll gratefully embarrass herself again.

“ Have a good night, (Y/N). “

“ You too, Bucky”

And with a kiss to her head, he leaves the flat, a smile staying on his lips the entire way home.

“ Why did I have to come again? This is a bachelorette party, I thought men aren’t allowed. “ Bucky grumbles as (Y/N) parks her truck in the parking lot of the convenience store. The pink and blue neon lights reflect on the wet asphalt.

“ It’s a shared party. We’re all friends so it makes sense for the couple to celebrate together. Stop moaning. “ (Y/N) exclaims as her heels create a click-clack sound.

The store is empty as they enter except for the bored-looking teenager leaning against the counter by the cash register.

There’s something about empty stores at night that makes it feel like time stands still. Like for a moment, reality is altered. There’s only you and the outdated music coming from the speakers and the hum of the refrigerators holding the soda cans.

“ I can’t believe Hannah forgot to bake the cake. It’s all she had to do. I did everything else, everything. She had one job. “

Bucky’s learned by now to just let her rant about this topic. It’s all she’s talked about for the last hours since Hannah, public enemy number one that day, has called her to inform her she’s forgotten about the cake. Why there needs to be a cake at this party, Bucky doesn’t know but hey, who is he to question it.

(Y/N) walks straight over to the counter that holds the bakery items only to be met with disappointment.

“ Well great. We can choose between one single cupcake, a box of stale donuts, and a croissant. “

“ What about this one? “ Bucky asks and points towards a bright pink cake decorated with candy roses and white icing.

“ It says Happy Birthday. “

“ Ah, don’t worry we can fix that.”

(Y/N) raises her eyebrows in doubt. “ You sure? “

“ 100%. Trust me. “

She regards him for a moment, uncertainty shining through, before granting him a little smile and a nod. “ Okay then. You get the cake, I’ll be over there for a second. “

Looking through the fridges, (Y/N)’s eyes fall onto a pack of popsicles in the shape of Captain America’s shield.

Ripping open the fridge door she calls out “ Hey Grumpy, would you like thes— “

All she hears is a smack and then Bucky’s voice exclaiming a loud “Fuck!”

And in that moment she doesn’t know what’s more shocking, the fact that she just slammed the door right into his face or hearing him swear.

“ Are you okay? I’m so sorry. “

“ I’ll be fine.”

“ We gotta put ice on it. “

“ No (Y/N) I — “

She’s already on her way to get a pack of frozen peas. And if Bucky is being real honest, his cheek does hurt quite a bit. Super Soldier Serum and all …

“ I am genuinely so sorry. “

Bucky sits on the bed of (Y/N)’s truck, frozen peas pressed to his face and a chuckle falling from his lips as (Y/N) sends yet another apology his way.

“ It’s okay, (Y/N). I told you, I’m fine. “

He pulls the peas away from his face and places them next to him, before picking up the cake and lifting the plastic lid off of the container.

“ Alright, let’s see if I can fix this. “

“ You have a bruise on your cheek. “

Bucky looks up at her with those gorgeous blue eyes of his, that (Y/N) sometimes finds herself drowning in. Calm and story all at once. Like oceans.

“ Does it make me look rough and handsome? “

“ You’re always handsome. But yes, it gives you a roguish charm. “

“ Good. “

(Y/N) feels a heat rush to her face as Bucky focuses back on the cake.

“ Mmmkay. Let me see. What if we — “ Bucky murmurs, more to himself than to (Y/N). He swipes his finger, sans glove, over the white icing letters and while there’s a good intention there, when he lifts his finger back up the cake looks like a downright mess.

“ Ta-da “ he exclaims and turns the cake towards her.

“ It says Happy day now “

“ Is it not a happy day? “ Bucky asks, eyebrows raised in question.

“ Let me rephrase that. It says ‘Happy messy white stain Day’ “

Bucky pulls his lips into a grimace, eyes wandering from (Y/N) down to the cake and back to her. “ Yeah, we can’t bring that “.

Laughter fills the air as they regard the sad mess of a cake before them. If this was a movie, (Y/N) thinks, this would be their moment. The one where they realize. The one that feels like time stops and all that matters is them.

Something wet and sticky against her cheek pulls her from her daydream.

“ What the hell? “

Bucky only grins at her. There’s the boyish charm again. It’s so insanely endearing to see these little moments flare up and push through the perpetual gloom he seems to carry with him. He doesn't hold the weight of 90 years of fighting on his shoulders right then.

“ Oh you didn’t “

Before Bucky can react she grabs a handful of the cake and smashes it against the uninjured side of his face.

“ Is that how you wanna play it? Okay. Fine. “

Cake flies through the air as their laughter rings through the night. Not a thought wasted on pain, on worries, on heartbreak.

The rooftop bar (Y/N) booked specifically for this night is covered in fairy lights and glitter decor. There’s a karaoke machine in one corner and an open bar in the other.

A loud cheer sounds from the crowd as Robin steps out into the open, fingers intertwined with those of a petite brunette with big square glasses sitting on her nose.

They get swallowed by a tidal wave of people, pulled from one hug into another, and while his eyes stay with them, Bucky feels a touch against his metal arm. (Y/N) wraps herself around him leans her head against his shoulder and stares lovingly at the couple before them.

“ I’m so glad she’s happy. I love her so much. “

“ She loves you too. “ he says.

And really how could anyone not?

A little while later, when the crowd has allowed them to breathe again, Robin and the brunette wander towards Bucky and (Y/N), matching smiles on their faces.

“ Buck, this is Charlie, Robin’s fiancee. Charlie, this is my friend Bucky. “

“ It’s so nice to meet you,” Charlie exclaims, a strong English accent dripping from her words. “ What in the world happened to your face? Are you okay? “

While Bucky smirks, (Y/N) flinches at those words and shrinks into herself a little.

“ Oh you know, funny story. Someone here was a little too excited about some red white and blue popsicles. “

Robin lets out a loud laugh “ Now that sounds like someone I know very well. “

“ They were shaped like Cap’s shield, okay. I thought it was funny and fitting. “

Charlie’s eyes move between the 3, a look of confusion settling on her features.

“ Why fitting? “

“ Oh babe, let me catch you up,” Robin says and steers Charlie in the direction of the bar.

The night flies by and for the first time in so long, Bucky doesn’t feel out of place. Not for a single moment. Even being surrounded by people he doesn’t know and while listening to music he doesn’t get. It’s nice, feeling like you belong.

Robin and Charlie have just finished their karaoke rendition of Don’t Stop Believing when a familiar voice echoes from the speakers.

“ Hello guys, my name is (Y/N). You may know me, I’m the maid of honor. I am responsible for this party — you’re welcome. Anyway, I guess it’s my turn to sing tonight but I can’t do this one alone. I’m gonna require my friend, Mr. James Buchanan Barnes up on this very stage with me. “

Oh no. Definitely no. Not in a million years. No w—

“ Because this one’s a duett. “

Her eyes meet his across the way, shining with amusement, mischief, affection. Even across the dimly lit roof, her sunshine smile seems to light up the entire night.

“ I’m not doing it, “ Bucky says and shakes his head as Robin slides up to his side.

“ C’moooon. “

“ Nope. I probably don’t even know the song. “

It’s like the universe wants to make a fool of him as in just that moment Bill Medley’s voice sounds through the night.

“ I know you know this song. “ Robin says and nudges his side “ come on don’t make her do this by herself. “

“ I — “ he looks at (Y/N) again, with her sunshine smile and those expressive eyes and the buttercream stain on her shirt. And he doesn’t see fear or pain or regret. All he ever sees when he looks at her is happiness and fun and laughter.

“ Ugh. Okay. Alright. “

Cheers follow him as he steps on stage and (Y/N) hands him the second mic. Though it’s supposed to be a duett, (Y/N) doesn’t really care and sings both parts with unfiltered joy and unapologetic passion. And while it takes a moment for him to warm up to it, Bucky can’t help but let her enthusiasm light a spark in him too and by the time the pre-chorus hits he joins her in singing their hearts out.

“ You're the one thing I can't get enough of. So I'll tell you something. This could be looooooove “

New York comes alive with the promise of a better tomorrow. One where Bucky feels like he belongs. To a place or a group of friends or a person. A tomorrow where he can laugh with a pretty girl, have food fights in a parking lot, and sing some silly song at the top of his lungs.

Maybe the song isn’t all wrong. Maybe he’s having the time of his life. And maybe, just maybe, he owes it to (Y/N).

Taglist // if you want to be added or taken off just message me :) //:

@zaynyierulez - @je-like-you - @dracoxxyoflam - @jackiehollanderr - @majo240820 - @kay-gilles -@booksb4looksstuff - @jckie94 - @charmed-asylum - @shawnie--jo - @yllwtaxi - @tailsoflightning - @giuliarogers - @mangoogirl - @gerim-1995 - @elen-alambil - @threeminutesoflife - @writeroutoftime - @buckybarn3s - @rosaline-black - @kenziekugler22 - @vghz82

[atlafan]

could u maybe write something ab harry and the reader reuniting after taking a break for a while 🥺 just something a lil angsty and fluffy

a/n: oh wow, I’ve actually been wanting to write something about this for a little bit, let’s see what I can whip up! Less angst in this than I thought, but super fluffy. Hope you liked it! This is an au, so ya boy’s not famous. 

New York to London

It wasn’t easy, but you both decided to take some time apart. You both just graduated from college, and you needed to figure out what you were doing for jobs. If you needed to move somewhere for work, neither of you wanted to hold the other back. You were in love, but you were still so young. If it was meant to be, it would happen, right? 

You ended up in New York. You loved clothes and fashion. Were a marketing major with a minor in art. You found yourself living in a cozy apartment on the upper east side, working remotely for a clothing app. You got to design and select outfits for people. It was sort of like Stitch Fix. Working from home allowed you to fill up your sketch books with design ideas of your own. Sometimes you would go out and work from the local coffee shop, just to have a change of scenery, of course making sure to buy coffee and food in exchange for the free wifi. 

You and Harry agreed not to really talk, or fill each other in what you were doing. Neither of you wanted to fall into the “please, just come move here with me” trap. You weren’t entirely sure what he was doing, or if he had decided to go back to London altogether. You missed him, and it was a good relationship, but it had definitely run its course. You were with him for two years, you did a lot of growing up together, but you were never certain if he was the man of future. 

Six months into your job, you had started making friends in the city. You found time to go out and enjoy the night life when you could. You had even gone on a few dates here and there, a couple of one night stands when you were sick of using your own devices to get off. Things a lot of young, twenty-somethings did. One day, out of the blue, you got a text from your ex-boyfriend. 

Harry: hi love, is it okay if I still call you that? lol...anyways, I’m in NYC for a few days...work thing...would love to see you if you’re up for it...xx

You take a deep breath when you see the text. You hate the way it makes your heart flutter. You ended up dating Harry in the first place because he always had this way of making you nervous, but in a good way. You always had butterflies around him, and you always found it hard to say no. You were genuinely curious to see how he was doing, and what exactly he did for work, so after waiting precisely twenty minutes, you decide to text him back. 

You: hey! course it’s okay ;p I’d love to catch up! dinner and a drink sound good? 

Harry: sounds great, name the time and place

You and Harry decide to meet up at a restaurant near his hotel that Friday night. You didn’t want to go to some tourist trap, but you knew of a nice place near where he was staying. You made sure to look your best, maybe remind him a bit of what he was missing. You knew he’d do the same. You put on your best little black dress, put your hair up into a sleek high pony, and put on some makeup. You grabbed a pair of red pumps for a pop of color, and into your uber you went. 

It was a nice, spring evening. It was getting warmer out, so you only needed a light jacket along with your dress. You wait in the lobby of the restaurant for him. 

“Y/N?” 

You’d know the sound of his voice anywhere. You turn around and smile. He was almost shocked, you had never looked better. He looked nice. Blue pair of slacks, white button up with the first few undone, and a salmon pink sport coat. Classic Harry. 

“Hi!” 

You wrap your arms around his neck and give him a kiss on the cheek. 

“You look great.” He says, blushing slightly. 

“Thanks, so do you. I put a reservation in for us online. Wanna see if the table’s ready?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” 

He puts his hands in his pockets and follows you up to the hostess. She checks you both in and leads you to your table a few minutes later. 

“Come here a lot?” He asks as he sits down.

“Sometimes. Been here with some friends.” 

You take your jacket off and hang it on the back of your chair. He gets a really good eye full of you. He smiles when he sees you wearing the necklace he had gotten you for your last birthday. 

“So, you’re in the city for work?”

“Yup, I’m an admissions counselor for a small school up in New Hampshire. I got hired to do a lot of the traveling, so I’m rarely on campus.” 

“Oh, that’s cool. Where else do you travel to?”

“Mostly the state of New York and Massachusetts.” 

“What made you-”

“Hi folks, I’m Max, I’ll be your server tonight. Can I start either of you off with a drink?” 

“I’d love a glass of pinot noir please.” You smile.

“Just a Corona for me, thanks.”

“Excellent, I’ll be back in a few minutes with those.” He smiles and walks away.

“Anyways, what made you want to become an admissions counselor?”

“I get to travel with all expenses paid. I really had no idea what I wanted to do after I graduated, so this gives me more time to figure it out. I can explore the various places I go to. S’not like I’m tied down, right?” He jokes.

“Right.” 

He clears his throat.

“So, it seems like the city’s treating you well.” 

“Very well!” You chuckle. “I love it so much. I get to work remotely too, so no one really bothers me, which is great. I’m able to work on my sketches in my down time.”

“Yeah, you’re working for like a clothing subscription service?”

“Mhm, it’s awesome. I love getting to know my clients and all that.” 

“You seem happy.”

“I am. I feel really independent.” 

The waiter comes back over with your drinks. You end up ordering a salad with some grilled shrimp, while Harry opts for a veggie burger. You clink your glasses together.

“So, it’s okay that I texted right?” 

“Of course! I think I’d be a little upset if I knew you were so close by and didn’t even think to say hi.”

“I’ve wanted to reach out for a while, but...I know you said you wanted some space.”

“Well, we both agreed on that.” 

“I guess.” He shrugs. 

“Did we not?” 

“No, we did. I guess all I mean is...I don’t know...takin’ a break has just been weird, that’s all.” 

Before you can respond, your food is brought over. The conversation lightens up a bit as you eat. Harry really enjoys the food. Towards the end, he insists that he pays. You eventually agree to just split the bill. 

“Wanna come see my place? I think you’ll like it, it’s cozy.” 

“Sure! Thought I’d have to work a little harder for you to invite me back with you.” He smirks.

“Oh, stop it.” You swat an arm at him. 

The uber ride back to your place is quiet. He was impressed by the building you were in. He couldn’t believe you could afford such a nice place. 

“So, it’s a studio, but it’s not cramped.” You show him inside. “Like, I can stretch out in the shower.” You giggle. “Got really creative with the storage too.”

“View makes it all worth it, huh?” 

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.” You both look out the window together. “Sit, sit. What can I get for you? I have more wine, and some beers int he fridge.”

“Beer’s fine, thanks.” 

He sits down on your small couch while you get the drinks together. You come back over and him a beer.

“Thanks.”

“Sure.” You take a sip of your wine. “So, do you, like, have an apartment in New Hampshire?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a small place to call home when I’m not traveling.”

“That’s good.”

“Mhm.” He takes a sip of his drink. “Can I ask you something...sort of personal?”

“Um, sure.”

“You haven’t been, like, hooking up have you?” 

“What?”

“Because I haven’t.”

“I never told you not to.”

“So, does that mean you have?”

“Harry...we’re not together, we’re broken up.” You frown and so does he. 

“A break is different from a break up, though, right?”

“We agreed to end things so we could go off and find our career paths. I mean, I think about you a lot, but I guess I didn’t really think we’d actually get back together. It’s been six months, Harry.”

“I know...”

“I mean, I’m not seeing anyone. I’ve had a few dates here and there, but nothing serious. I don’t really have time for it.” 

“Me neither...I guess the only difference is I haven’t wanted to even be with anyone else, random or not.” 

“I find that very hard to believe.” You scoff. “If there was a day I couldn’t see you, you’d tell me how touch starved you were.”

“That’s true, but it was your touch I was starved for, no one else’s. You know me, I was never the hook up guy as it was. It’s gross.” He takes another sip of his drink. “Do you always hook up with different people or-”

“No.” 

He nods his head.

“How many have there been?”

“What does it matter?” 

“Just wondering if I need to catch up or something.” He scoffs. 

“Harry, we never agreed on not hooking up with other people, we never even talked about it.”

“Because I just assumed we wouldn’t! Don’t you miss me?” 

“I miss being in college and having zero responsibilities.” You sigh. “I try not to think about what I miss about you too much. And no offense, but I’ve actually begun a career. You’re still figuring things out. It wouldn’t good if we tried to get back together right now. I like living alone, and-”

“Alright, I get it, you’re better off without me.” He rolls his eyes.

“That’s not what I meant.” You put your hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs it away. 

“Do you think I like not being good enough? I’d give you the world if I could, but I literally have zero idea what I’m passionate about. I feel like I wasted four years of my life. Now when I talk with these kids on where they want to go to school and the reasons they want to go...” He shakes his head. 

“You’re a people person, you’ve always been that way. You have a stage presence to you. A room lights up when you walk in.”

“S’not exactly a transferable skill, love.” 

“You’ll figure it out, Harry. I know you will.” 

//

A year or so later you heard from a mutual friend that Harry moved back to London. He had gone off into the world of PR, and he was thriving. Your job had lead you to some opportunities to go to London, they had even asked you if you wanted to relocate there. Many of the clothing lines they had were exported from there, and they wanted you more on the buying team since you had such a great eye. You said you’d consider it and go for a visit to check things out. You and Harry hadn’t talked much since he had seen you in New York, but you wanted to pay him the same courtesy he given you. 

You: Hey, Harry! It’s Y/N...I’m coming to London next week for a work thing. Might even be relocating there! I was wondering if you’d like to get together. Maybe you can tell me how great the city is, lol

You had deleted the text about five times before actually hitting send. Two hours later he got back to you. 

Harry: Did you think I deleted your number?! Of course I know it’s you! That sounds great, let me just check over my schedule with my assistant and I’ll get back to you on when would work. 

You: wow, an assistant, how fancy are you? 

Harry: she keeps my head on straight, that’s for sure

You: well, I’m looking forward to seeing you...it’s been too long!

Harry: I agree

And just like that, you had butterflies in your stomach. You hoped maybe he was single, but you wouldn’t be surprised if he was seeing someone. He was a girlfriend guy, and you had basically told him you weren’t getting back together last time you spoke. 

You were given a wonderful tour of the office you’d potentially be working in. Everyone seemed friendly, and you certainly wouldn’t be the only American working there if you decided to accept. 

Towards the end of the week, Harry invited you over for a dinner at his flat. You were surprised he didn’t want to go out. Maybe you’d be starting at his flat and then go to a club? You were dying to see how the London night life compared to New York’s. You take a cab to his flat and text him when you’re there. He comes downstairs to meet you outside. 

“Harry!” You practically squeal. You wrap your arms around each other for a nice embrace. “It’s so good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too. Driver found the place okay?”

“Mhm.” You smile.

“Come on up. Just got dinner on the table.” 

He leads you upstairs. Your jaw drops when you see how spacious his flat is. It was a one bedroom with a nice open concept. It looked like he entertained quite often. He had a bar set up in the living area. 

“This is beautiful.”

“Thanks. Figured I could afford a nice place, why not have one?” He shrugs. 

You use his hall bath to freshen up. He has you sit down at his dining table. He had made curry. 

“This smells so good, thanks so much for cooking.”

“I figured you’d enjoy a real meal after eating out all week.”

“You figured right, thank you.”

“Oh stop.” He sits down. “Just eat, yeah?” 

You moan after tasting the food.

“This is delicious.”

“Thanks.” He smirks. “So, do you think you really might move here?”

“I might, yeah. It seems like a really big step up for me.”

“No one back in New York to miss you?”

“Nope.” You grin. “Other than the few friends I’ve made.” You shrug. “My family is really supportive too.”

“That’s great. I’m really glad I came home. I feel like once I did the opportunities came flying in. I love PR. I make phone calls, set up events. And I get to meet so many cool people.” 

“And you have an assistant.” You chuckle.

“S’not what you think. She’s not some young thing that’s enthralled with me. She’s like forty years old, has a couple of kids that don’t need her home with them anymore. She’s a great help though. I actually requested someone a little older.”

“Why’s that?”

“Some of the younger girls in the interview, when they actually came to speak with me, I don’t know, I just kept getting this weird vibe.” 

“It’s because you’re so captivating. You’re intimidating, but charming.” You take another bite of food. “Sexy.” 

“Oh, gimme a break.”

“I’m serious! You always made me feel nervous when we first started talking. You would always really sit back and observe the room before talking. You can be quiet sometimes. But that was you then, that’s just a version of you that I know, you could be different now.”

“I’d like to think so. Although, I think I’m just a good listener. I definitely like reading a room before I join a conversation.” 

“I’m so happy to see you doing well.” You take a sip of your drink. “So...any lucky ladies or fellas in your life?” 

“No.” He laughs. “M’way too busy for all that. I mean...I’ve had some fun here and there, I’m not celibate.” He takes a sip of his own drink. “What about you?”

“Nothing serious.” You shrug. “I haven’t minded being focused on my career, you know? I have a good work-life balance, don’t get me wrong, but like if I were in a relationship right now, I may not be making this move.” 

“Tell me, if I didn’t live here would you still consider moving?”

“I don’t know. It’s a huge plus knowing I’d have someone close by, someone I know to show me around. If you had the time of course. You could even tell me what the good neighborhoods to live in are.” 

“You could get a flat here. It’s a really nice building to be in. I bet you’d be able to afford it if I can. They want you to be a buyer?”

“Yeah, my boss thinks I have a great eye, and I always get the highest ratings from my clients.” 

“That’s wonderful. I’m happy for you. I know last time we saw each other it didn’t seem like it, but I was really confused about the direction my life was going. I wasn’t happy.”

“You’re happy now?”

“Very much.”

“Good.” You put your hand over his. “It’s all I ever wanted for you, to be the best version of yourself.” 

“Same here with you.” He rubs his thumb over the back of your hand. “I got some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Wanna move to the sofa?”

“Sure!” 

You both sit down on his large sectional. You dive into the sweet treat. 

“Do you entertain a lot?”

“Sometimes, yeah. I like it better than going to some stuff club. You can be out until four in the morning if you’re not careful.” He laughs. 

“Well, I’d love for you to take me out to a club sometime.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice, love. I’ll take any excuse to dance with you.” His dimple peeks out in his grin, and it makes you melt. “When do you have to give them your decision by?”

“A few days. I’m headed back to New York tomorrow night.” 

“How’s your hotel been?”

“It’s nice...not as cozy as this though.” You lean back into the cushions and look up at him. 

“Yeah, I definitely don’t miss that about working in admissions. Different hotels all the time sounds like fun, but when you just wanna do your laundry and you can’t, it gets old really quick.” 

“I can imagine.” You make a bold move and rest your hand on his knee. This time when you touch him he doesn’t shrug you away. “I think I may move here. I can home here and you can cook for me all the time, or you could bring me to your fancy parties.”

“Is that so?” He scoots a little closer to you. “It would get some people at the company off my back. They’re always askin’ why I never have a date to anything.” 

“And why don’t you?”

“I don’t know, I’m there to work, not bring arm candy with me.” 

“Ah, but that arm candy can help you network. I’m impeccable at networking.”

“Alright, so you’ll be my date then when I need one, is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s what I’m saying.” You smile. 

“What about when there’s no fancy party? Can I call you for a date?” 

“I’d like that.”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?” 

“Can I please kiss you?” 

You nod yes. He leans in, cups your cheeks, and presses his lips to yours. They were soft, just like you remember. He takes them away a little too quickly for your liking though. 

“What’s wrong?” You frown.

“I just don’t wanna, like, rush this, that’s all. I don’t even know what this is, but whatever it is, I don’t wanna mess it up this time.”

“Harry, you never messed anything up. We did the right thing before. I think we’re both in a place where we could have room to be together again. But, I think you’re right, one step at a time. Let me actually accept the job and move here before we dive into anything.”

“Exactly.” He sighs happily. “Okay, I’m gonna kiss you again, and then I’ll drive you to your hotel.” 

You giggle as he smooches you again and again. Harry never really ever stopped loving you, and you could tell. You never really ever stopped loving him either. 

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Meant To Be: Part 10

Pairings: Past Machine Gun Kelly x Reader, Opie x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, drug use, cheating

Word Count: 4,935

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A loud screech directly in front of your face jolted you from your nap, followed by toddler strength slap to your cheek, and a second screech.

“Child, what the actual fuck?” You groaned as you opened your eyes and watched Opie try to wrestle Gage into a diaper while your son continued to screech, laugh his butt off, and squirm with all his might to get away.

“Sorry. He is just not having anything of it...”

“Gage Michael!” You barked as you threw the blanket off of you and sat up. “This is not naked baby time! Naked baby time is after your bath...”

“Oh... um... I kinda had to spray him down?” Opie said hesitantly as he looked up at you. “You were out, and I heard him giggling so I was gunna take him outside to play on the swings so you could sleep a little more, but he was covered in shit, and... well I didn’t really know what to do so I just hosed him off in the bath and used the towel...”

“Then let him go for a bit.” You sighed with a nod. “It’s fine. Saves me a step before bed, but you should have woke me up. You didn’t have to do all that.”

“Yea, well you looked tired as hell.” He said as he set the clean diaper down on the coffee table as you both watched your son take off too push his dump truck popper toy around your living room, as happy as can be in his birthday suit. “And the kid fucking reeked.”

“That happens.” You laughed as you stretched your back out. “Time’s it?”

“Four thirty.” He said as he moved his foot out of the way for the toy. “And I’m just gunna fucking do what I should have done a decade ago and see if I can take you both to dinner tonight. My treat. I know a place by the beach, we can sit, and watch sunset if that’s not to late for him.”

“You don’t care that I literally just got out of a relationship and am currently knocked up?”

“OK one, does it look like I care, and two, can you really call that a relationship or just a toxic partnership?”

“Look, he may be a toxic, cheating, drug addicted scum bag, but he did give me two children and a lot of good memories, too.”

“And I respect that. But let me ask you this. Is the life you had with him the life you really see yourself raising your kids in long term?” He paused for a moment to let that question sink in, before he crossed his feet on the floor and leaned forward to rest his arms on his bent legs. “Look, you know me well enough to know I don’t fuck around with women I’m not serious about. I also know you well enough to know that you don’t like being alone. And I know that if you don’t move on, you’ll go back to him, and I couldn’t live with myself if I waited around for you to see your own self worth only to lose you to him again before that’s happened. So, I’ll ask again. No expectations. You wanna go to dinner tonight?” You groaned and covered your face with both your hands as you fell back into your couch.

“I hate that you know me so well!” You whined as you sat up and looked over at him with a shake of your head. “This better be the best mother fucking restaurant in the fucking world cause I’ll be really fucking pissed if our first date sucks...”

“It’s food truck city. You’ll have plenty of options to pick from and they’re all good.”

“The fuck is food truck city?!”

“It’s by the beach.” He repeated with his eyebrow raised. “How have you not seen it when you go to the beach?”

“Because I don’t go to the beach.” You giggled with a shake of your head. “I had a pool in my back yard...”

“OK, get the fuck up.” He laughed as he got off the floor with a giant smile on his face. “We’re fixing this problem right fucking now. I’m gunna go grab my other shorts from the truck and I’ll help you get your little nudist into a suit after. This is fucking ridiculous.”

“God, just as dramatic as ever!” You called out as you stood up to grab your child. “Come on, bubba. Opie’s gunna show you what the beach is all about.” With surprisingly very little coercing, you got your son in a swim diaper and a bathing suit, packed a small beach bag, and changed into a suit yourself in under twenty minutes. You let Opie drive your car so you didn’t have to move the car seat and so you could cover your kid in sun screen, and just when you were about to ask him about parking, he pulled into a house a couple blocks from the beach.

“Is this your place?” You asked as you leaned forward to look at the stunning house.

“Buddy of mine married a doctor.” He said with a shake of his head. “I use his driveway and save myself the parking fees as payment for photographing his wedding for half what I usually charge.”

“Do you have to go up...?”

“Nah, they’re both at work.” He said as he got out of the car with you and pulled open the back door to get Gage. “I already called him.”

“I got the stroller.” You started as you put the beach bag on your shoulder, but he shook his head.

“I got him.” He said as he shut the back door and moved Gage to his shoulders. “See, that view is much better.” He said over your son’s peels of laughter. “Can you carry my camera.”

“Oh, my God please do not drop my kid!” You laughed as you shouldered his bag and nervously reached up to keep Gage in place.

“Really? You think I’m gunna, what? Drop him on his head or something?” He laughed as he looked over at you, before faking a worried look and lifting Gage’s leg a couple inches. “Whoa... whoa!”

“Harry Winston, don’t even play!”

“She remembers the full name.” He chuckled as he lead you down the street. “Impressive.”

“Shut up.” You huffed as you whacked his arm and glanced up at your son again, who was curiously looking around at his new view of the world. “Wait, stop for a second.” You said as you grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop beside you. “He’s in awe right now.”

“It’s a pretty good view from up here.” He teased as he adjusted his grip on Gage’s legs. “Like right now, I have a killer view of this gorgeous pair of tits.”

“You’re unbelievable.” You laughed as you took a couple pictures of the two of them. “All I get is a beard.”

“That’s cause you’re short.” He pointed out as the three of you kept walking down to the beach. You gasped and fake pouted for a moment as he laughed at his own joke, but when he pouted his bottom lip out at you, your heart skipped a beat.

“Is it bad that I wish you hadn’t listened to my brother?”

“Our worlds would be a lot different, that’s for sure. I never would have moved to this hell hole town.”

“And I wouldn’t be bringing ten tons of emotional baggage with me.” You sighed as you crossed the road beside him.

“I’m not afraid of a little baggage.” He said as you stopped at a corner to cross the main road. “Especially when I know the girl carrying it. Not the girl she’s been trying to be, but the real deal, Southern born and bred, trash talkin’, gun shootin’, hunting in camo instead of going to church on Sunday morning girl.”

“You’re gunna make me start cryin’ again.” You pointed out as you followed him to the first of roughly a half dozen food trucks by the beach.

“Well, you can’t pick out something to eat if you are, so I suggest you stop and pick something.” He said as he took Gage off his shoulders and put him on his hip. “What about you, little man? What sounds good to you tonight? Uh huh. Yea, I think so, too. Uh huh...” A smile spread back across your face as Opie listened and chatted with Gage, pointing out different colorful things for him to look at and talking to him as if he was his best friend and not a one year old.

“Oh, my God. Fried Okra.” You said as you stopped in front of the second to last truck with a shake of your head. “I haven’t had fried okra in years.”

“Fried okra it is.” Opie said with a smile as he stepped over and got in line. “What else you thinking? Their southern mac is pretty spot on, too.”

“He’ll definitely like the mac.” You said with a nod as you stayed close, but far enough away to see the menu on the side. “Fuck, I don’t know. I want a little of everything.”

“Then we split a bunch of shit.” He said with a shrug. “My favorite is their shrimp and grits or their biscuits and gravy...”

“OK, you’re making the pregnant girl even more hungry than she was five minutes ago.” You laughed as you moved back over to his side. “But I’m down to splitting a couple things.”

“We’ll take one of everything for Opie.” He requested the second he walked up to the window. “No kick for the kid on the side of grits. And a beer, a large sweet tea, and what for little man?”

“I’ll do a water and a fruit punch for him. He’ll like that.”

“Alright bud, can you hand her the money?” Opie asked as he handed Gage a fifty, turned him toward the counter, and pointed at the lady. “You gotta share. Can you give it to her?” She ‘aww’ed’ at your son as Opie gently pushed his hand toward the window so the woman at the register could reach it, and he cheered for him when he let go of the payment, which made your pride and joy laugh and clap his hands excitedly.

“He’s adorable.” The woman said as she got Ope’s change.

“He’s his mother’s son in the looks department, that’s for sure.” Opie said with a glance over at you. “Keep the change, hun.”

“Thank you so much! We’ll call your name when it’s ready.” With a nod of his head, he put his hand on the small of your back and led you over to a half empty group of stone picnic tables. He grabbed one closest to the sand, and sat you down on one side of the bench facing the water to hand you Gage.

“Hey.” He said softly before he went back to get the food. You hummed and looked up at him as you situated your son on your lap, and he smiled for a half second before leaning down to kiss you. “Didn’t feel like waiting until the end of the date.”

“You are just trouble, mister.” You said as you reached out and grabbed his shirt before he could walk away. “I like it.”

“Oh, I’ve always been trouble.” He growled as he leaned down to kiss you again. “And you better fucking love it.”

“I do.” You confirmed as he turned and walked back up to the truck to get your food. You set up what you needed for Gage and looked up at Ope as he set the full tray of food down on the table. You both got an absolute kick watching your son fall in love with butter grits, and surprisingly, not the homemade mac and cheese you expected him to love, but you both about died laughing at the horrified look he made when he tried and quickly spit out the okra.

“It’s an acquired taste, bubba.” You laughed as you gave him some more grits to make it all better. Just like Opie had promised, there were no other expectations from the date, other than to just enjoy your evening. He took care of the bags as you helped Gage explore the new environment; snapping a few photos of quick range of emotions the child felt as he stood in sand for the first time, and documenting his sheer joy at the cold waves of the Pacific Ocean. And then his up close presence changed to one from afar as you played as a mother to a little boy, who didn’t also have to keep an eye on your troublesome ex for the first time in a long time.

You took your time building a small sand castle by the shore line just so Gage could smash it all down when you were finished, and you taught him how to chase after the seagulls like all little boys should do. You helped him pick out the best shells to bring to Opie as gifts, who put them all in his pocket as if they were his new prized possessions, and showed him how to gently return a starfish to the water where he lived. You sat in the shallow water with him standing between your thighs to get him to laugh every time a wave washed over your laps, and pointed out the surfers and the setting sun, which he was not that interested in, until he finally just collapsed in your arms in sheer exhaustion and passed out. 

“You wanna take him home?” Opie asked as he sat up and put his camera away when you walked over with Gage fast asleep on your shoulder.

“In a little bit.” You said as you used his shoulder to sit down in the sand beside him. “I haven’t sat and watched the sunset in years.” You glanced over at his nod and took the towel he was handing you to wrap your son up. “Will you stay tonight? I don’t want this night to end yet.”

“Absolutely.” He said with a nod as he draped your towel over your shoulders. “It’d make my day ten times better.”

“Mine, too.” You agreed as you leaned over into his side with a sigh, realizing for the first time that this date didn’t feel forced the way the one and only date with Colson did. “Thank you.”

“Any time, sweetheart.” He said softly as he scooted closer and wrapped his arm around your waist. “Any time.”

——

“Wait, you’re back?!” Your old agent, Shawn, nearly shouted. “Like back, back. Like taking work...”

“I’m back.” You said over him as you made breakfast for you and Opie while Gage babbled incoherently to his French toast stick pieces and cut up grapes. “But tell who ever that I’m sixteen weeks pregnant. But I don’t give a shit if it’s TV or a modeling gig or what, I just need something.”

“OK, you said sixteen weeks pregnant?” He clarified as he took notes, when a phone call beeped in on your other line.

“Yea, just hit four months.” You confirmed with a nod as you looked at Colson’s ID picture. You ignored the call and hit a quick text letting him know you’d call him back, which only made him call you back immediately anyways. “So not super showing yet, but if you squint, you can see it.”

“OK, I know for a fact Inked wants you.” He said as Colson called back yet again, which made Opie reach out to send the call to voicemail for you. “Inked has wanted you for months, I just didn’t know whether you wanted to come back after everything or not.”

“Yea, I wanna be back.” You sighed as you served up breakfast plates while a splash of regret washed over you. “Just don’t wanna think about my past shit anymore. Trying to move on, you know?”

“Right, of course. Well, let me make some calls. I know people have been in touch the past two years to see if you were taking jobs or not, but I gotta see if too much time has passed...”

“Just tell them I’m down for anything but porn.” You said as Colson called back a fourth time. “Keep me posted, I got another call.” You handed Ope his plate and hit answer with an annoyed growl. “Dude, I am on the fucking phone!”

“Yea, well when I see fucking pictures of my son and my girl at the beach with some other guy  first thing when I get off the fucking plane, I’m gunna blow your shit up ‘til I find out what the fuck is going on!”

“I’m not your fucking girl anymore, Kels!” You shouted back as you threw your pan in the sink. “That was your mother fucking choice. And I made a choice based off your stupid fucking choices, too. Now can I eat my breakfast in peace...”

“Where’s my kid?” He demanded over the sound of his car door slamming shut. “I wanna see my kid.”

“He’s eating breakfast, I’ll FaceTime you...”

“Tell me where my Goddamn kid is now, or I will put out a fucking warrant for kidnapping!” He shouted over you, which made Opie jump to his feet when he saw the sheer rage flash in your eyes.

“Mother fucker, I will drag your Goddamn name through the fucking mud if you so much as think of putting a warrant out on me ever again, do you hear me, bitch?! Don’t you fucking dare threaten me...”

“Easy...” Opie breathed in your ear as he stood against your back and took the second frying pan from your hand while Gage started to scream. “Easy, baby girl. You’re pregnant...”

“Tell me where my son is, and I won’t fucking have to!” Colson shouted back as Opie gently grabbed your wrists and crossed them over your stomach. Your whole body started to shake as you fought the conflicting feelings in your mind, and you teared up as you took a shuttering breath to respond.

“555 Whipper Willow Court.”

“I’ll be there in 30.” He barked before hanging up the phone, and you instantly dissolved into tears.

“I hate him.” You sobbed as Ope lowered you to your knees on the vinyl plank wood floor.

“I know, sweetheart.” He said with a nod.

“I need to find a lawyer.” You gasped as you stood up quickly and grabbed your phone. “Fuck, I gotta get ahold of that guy before he does.”

“OK, well I’m gunna head out for a bit...”

“No, please stay.” You said as you looked up at him with a desperate shake of his head. “He’s never hit me before but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t hit walls near me when we’re both going at it.”

“Then I’m not going anywhere.” He stated simply with a single nod. “I’ll clean up little man and take him out back while you call, OK? We got time.”

“Opie...” You said as your phone call to the lawyer that did your custody case with your mom started to ring through on speaker. He paused to turn around to look at you as you started to tear up again. “Thank you.”

“Of course, baby girl. I’d do anything for the three of you.”

“Adam Gracey’s office, Nicole speaking.”

“Nicole, it’s (Y/N) (Y/L/N). I need to schedule an urgent appointment with Mr. Gracey today to file for primary or even full custody...”

“I’m sorry Ms. (Y/L/N), Mr. Gracey is leaving today at...”

“It can’t wait.” You interrupted as you took the call off speaker and put the phone up to your ear with a shaky hand. You took a deep breath, knowing there was no other way than then truth you had tried so hard to manipulate in your favor just a month before in this situation, and exhaled forcefully. “We’re going through a horrible break-up and I don’t trust my ex around me right now, and I’m pregnant with our second. And even though I got clean two years ago, I’m worried he’ll try to use that against me to take my kids into an absolutely toxic environment without me in it to protect them from his lifestyle because he still uses drugs. Please... please, I’m begging you. I need to get the paperwork in before he does. Please. I know how this looks right now, but please...” Nicole stayed silent on the other end of the line for a moment, before you heard your lawyer’s voice faintly in the background.

“I remember them. Call the jet and push it back to four. Tell her to be here at one on the dot, or I’ll have to leave...”

“Oh, thank God.” You gasped as relief washed over you and took a giant weight off your shoulders. “Thank you, I’ll be there on time, I promise. Thank you so much.”

“We’ll see you at one, Ms. (Y/L/N).” Nicole said with a smile in her tone before she hung up to answer the next call.

“Does that smile mean you beat him to the lawyer?” Opie asked as he came out of the downstairs bathroom with your de-syruped son.

“He’s squeezing me in at one.” You said with a nod as you looked over at him. “You got him for a minute?”

“Yep. We’re gunna go out and swing a while, right little man?”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” You said with a nod. After locking the front door so Colson couldn’t just walk right in, you ran upstairs to double check the safety net of cash you had been squirreling away since you found out you were pregnant with Gage. It was small, considering it was mainly just all of your paychecks from working at the farm stand for a few months, some money your dad had secretly gave you when you dropped him off at the airport, and what was left in your savings account when you moved back home, but it was better than nothing since your current bank account didn’t look much better after renting the house you did. 

The weight that had lifted moments before settled right back down on your shoulders as the thought that, even if you were to get custody, you wouldn’t be able to keep your head above water for very long without work crashed down, and made you wonder if it would just be easier to go back to Colson to avoid what was about to come. But that thought was temporarily pushed aside when your ex started to ring the door bell incessantly between his angry pounding.

“Jesus, this man.” You growled to yourself as you put your money back in it’s hiding spot and headed down stairs to get the door.

“Who the fuck is here?” Kels demanded as he walked right by you without a glance.

“Friend from back home.”

“Where is he?”

“Jesus, asshole. Can you fucking chill out for one minute. No stop.” You said as you jumped in front of him before he could go upstairs. “This ain’t your fucking house, Kels. It’s mine. You’re not just helping yourself to roam about my house...”

“Move.” He said as he reached around you to grab the latch of the baby gate, and with your close proximity to it, you got pushed out of the way a couple feet when he swung it open forcefully.

“Hey!” Opie shouted, making your ex freeze as the former handed you your son and moved to stand in front of you. “I don’t fucking think so.”

“You the fucking prick that thinks he can move in on my fucking girl?” Colson asked as he stood up to his full height, which was the exact same as Opie’s. “Yea right.”

“No, I’m the fucking man that’s stepping up to treat her better than you could ever fucking dream of, boy.”

“Oh the fuck you are.” Kels said as he pulled back to knock Opie out in his rage, but your childhood friend grabbed his wrist before he could even come close to connecting with a simple smirk.

“Smile, mother fucker.” Ope said as he gestured to his side at his DSLR camera that you didn’t realize he had set up on the table by the door when you were upstairs. “You’re on candid camera. Judge’s love violence.”

“Wait, what... you filed for fucking custody?!” He shouted as he ripped his hand back and looked at you in total shock. “You’re fucking serious.”

“Colson, I’m not gunna take your kids from you.” You said with a shake of your head as you held Gage tightly to your chest. “But I don’t trust you to be alone with them.”

“Oh, I’ll see you in fucking court then, bitch.” He said with a nod. “All because you think I slept with some girl I didn’t even touch. Looks like you’re the slut here, shackin’ up with some new guy...”

“That’s enough.” Opie said loudly before you could say anything incriminating on camera. “Are you here to see your son or what?”

“No, my son needs to be home where he belongs...”

“Not without a court order.” You said with tears in your eyes and a shake of your head. “Or until you can pass a drug test.”

“Oh, because you have the moral high ground on that one. I’m not the one that overdosed when I was pregnant.”

“And you’re also not the one that’s stayed sober since then either.” You said evenly, hating that you had to use things you were sometimes guilty of yourself against him. “We have a swing set out back. Do you want to spend time with your son...?”

“Nah, I’ll be back with a court order to take him home real soon.” He said as he yanked open your front door. “And a fucking restraining order to keep Lurch here away from my kid.” You jumped when he slammed the door behind him, and Opie instantly reached back and picked up his camera.

“Take this to your lawyer today.” He said as he stopped the video and handed you the whole camera. “Just hit this play button twice and it’ll play back the whole thing. I’m gunna have a buddy of mine that owes me a favor- tech kid, he’ll put up cameras for the next time he comes back...”

“Ope, I can’t ask you to do that...”

“It’s no big deal...”

“It’s no big deal that I can’t afford!” You hissed back as you bounced Gage in your arms to get him to stop crying. “I’m fucked here unless my agent calls back. I will either be able to afford a good lawyer and be homeless by the time Colson finishes dragging this out as long as he can because he knows I’m broke, or I get a shit lawyer I can afford and I lose my kids. So I can’t afford some fancy cameras to make my case, all I have is my word against his so I’m probably just better off dealing with the cheating to keep my kids safe...”

“OK... OK.” He said as he locked the front door and stepped over to you to pull you and Gage both into a hug. “Listen, I’m not fucking around when I say I’m in this. You need help with bills, I can easily move in, because I live in a studio apartment paying month by month, and I hate the place. Shit, I’ll even sleep on the couch if need be. (Y/N), I moved out here to help you years ago. I just... well I lost you for a minute there, but now that I’ve got you back, I’m not letting you or your kids go. 

I’ve known since the day I fucking met you at that stupid middle school dance that we were meant to be, and I don’t give a shit what you’re going through right now, same as I wouldn’t have cared if I had been able to save you when you were using. I’m here for it, just like I should have been years ago when I saw how bad you were with using, and years before that when I saw the start of your down slide at my graduation. I know it’s messy and fucked up, and confusing as hell right now, and even if you just see me as a friend at the end of the day, let me help you. Let me help get you on your feet after everything you have been through until you are able to finally see the woman that I know is hiding under layers of make up, ink, and choices that were made for all the wrong reasons. Let me help you love yourself again. Let me help you be the mother I saw at the beach last night, who is willing to kill herself to make sure her babies are safe and sound. Let me help you, because I know you won’t let anyone else do it for you.”

“Opie.” You cried into his chest, which made him carefully tighten his arms around you in a way that didn’t squish Gage.

“I’m here.” He said with a nod as he leaned down and kissed the top of your head. “I’m not going anywhere. Not for anything.”

Part 11

[homoeroticmisogyny]

MOST RAW HMU QUOTES (and the context that makes them less raw)

LUCY: To what extreme must I give this body? Over and over until it breaks? (being asked to run downstairs and get a book that zoe had accidentally thrown out the window)

PERCY: I have met death and he feared me (tripping and falling face first onto the floor)

WREN: I will not spit-shine the shoes of a cruel and unjust leader who uses them to walk over my chest! (said as a joke when lucy asked her to clean the board)

MAX: What a strange thing, the heart! How it thrums of its own design, man-made machinery! (drank coffee at 10pm and is now awake at 5am, yelling this because he’s having palpitations)

ISSA: I am warm and soft and kind and good, and I will beat that through my own chest until I believe it, in the hopes that you will never change that! (audrey trying to goad her into throwing a paper airplane at elena’s head)

ELENA: If there is a god, a loving god, now even she would turn her back on me in shame (showed up late to a meeting and missed out on lesbian hamlet discourse)

AUDREY: There is little in this world that I love, and you make it difficult to keep the list brief (being kicked in the shins by issa and having a book whiz right past her face during a club meeting)

TAL: There’s evil afoot- I recognize her voice (hearing audrey turn the corner to enter the clubroom)

DIEKE: Acts of divine mercy would be a nuisance to me. I will choose to live in darkness, blissfully ignorant (being told that she doesn’t actually have to eat all of the leftovers from their picnic)

THEO: My love, my light, my dear, my heart, you know that there is nothing I would not give to see you  (sneaking into orlando’s classroom to give it a half-eaten pastry it asked for at breakfast)

ORLANDO: We are the same. There is no conjecture, there is nothing to be confused about. Heart, mind, and body, we are one (defending the fact that it and theo are literally actually clones now)

EMMA: I have undergone a great change: my heart and mind have made a choice without me (the slutrio are sleeping in her dorm room again, said in the middle of bites of an empty hotdog bun with ketchup on it)

MACY: There are things I do not know that I am more than satisfied with not knowing (finding the shrimp tank for the first time and learning that the biggest one is named MILF)

ZOE: You can struggle and wring your hands from my wrists, but I am a force like a gale of wind, and you are a sailboat that will splinter under pressure! (trying to get macy to read “meat pie is a moral imperative”)

JUNE: My silence does not mean my inaction. My head is full but my mouth is shut. Yours is empty and yet you cannot stop speaking nonsense (heard someone say milf gloucester was a bad idea and that since june wasnt talking she must agree)

MAY: I am patient. I can be patient. You are worth being patient for (stumbling over casting in her drama class project, was later cast as patient number 3)

AVA: There is nothing on earth that could move me from where I stand, I will take root here and wait patiently until the ground swallows me up (standing guard in front of the friendship bracelet booth that she and wren had set up)

[dennyyyyette]

surprise! || tsukishima kei x m! reader

//hiya! this is my first ever fanfic after a long time of not writing, so enjoy this m!reader with Tsuki. Hope y’all like it!

It was a normal day in the gymnasium, balls flying everywhere, the squeaks of shoes being heard and groans filling up the room. Everyone was having a practice math with each other to prepare for an upcoming competition. “Toss me!” Hinata shouted as he spiked the ball that got tossed to him. It almost went out of the court, but luckily he got that point. Kageyama and Nishinoya both yelled a small “Yes!” before high fiving the first year. Tsuki, Yamaguchi and Tanaka sighed, but cheered each other up to get the next one. Tsuki sighed as he adjusted his glasses, getting back in position as they started the next match. He got used to the same routine ever since he got in the club, but he was pretty content with it. After beating Shiratorizawa, he was pretty pumped to be able to practice more often for nationals, not that he would admit it loudly though. There’s just one thing he misses.

His boyfriend, M/N L/N.

M/N was his best friend, aside from Yamaguchi. They knew each other since kindergarten and has fallen in love with each other ever since. They even used to call each other husband and wife. He misses his cuddles, his kisses, and his laughs. M/N had to go abroad because his dad’s work, and they’ve been Skyping ever since. M/N would always promise him that he would come back to Japan, but Tsuki never really had high hopes for it. He would that, yes, but he knew M/N was too busy for him.

“One, two, go!” Tsuki timed as he and Tanaka blocked Hinata’s spike, earning themselves a point. A time-out was called, and they all drank their water. “Nice one, Tsuki! You’re finally getting excited about volleyball, huh?” Tanaka pats the taller’s back, almost making Tsuki choke on his water. He beats his chest before replying, “Y-Yeah, I am. It surely feels better now that we are done with Shiratorizawa.” He said, closing off his water bottle to get a towel. He wiped his sweat as Yamaguchi smiled, “Right, Tsuki! This is the time where we actually improve! Nationals is gonna be amazing.” He said enthusiastically, before heading off to Hinata to compliment him on his spike. Tsuki sighed as he looked at the others, thinking deeply about his boyfriend and how he misses him.

‘I want him to come back soon... I really miss him. He would’ve been cheering me on by now if it weren’t for his dad’s job. I hope he’s doing okay.’ He thought, before shaking his head, which only helped him remember a time where they were just at home.

M/N laughed as he tied off a bit of Tsuki’s hair, “You look so cute, Tsuki!” Tsuki pouted, before saying “I’m not cute. Get it off me!” M/N chuckled, “Okay okay, fine! Just know that I will love you even more if you do that often.” He said as he took off the ties, before settling in in between Tsuki’s legs. His back laid against Tsuki’s chest, wrapping the blonde’s arms around his torso. They calmed down, with Tsuki playing with the h/c-ette’s hair. “You know, I love moments like this where we can just chill in your room.” M/N said as he felt Tsuki kiss his cheek, making him blush. Tsuki tightened his grip around M/N’s torso, pulling him closer. “Me too.” He said as he buried his head by the crook of M/N’s neck. M/N smiled, turning his head to Tsuki’s before lifting the blonde’s head, leaning in for a kiss. The blonde happily accepted and kissed back. It was truly a moment of bliss. The kiss got deeper, as their tongues battled for dominance. Tsuki slid his hand up M/N’s—

“...ski! Tsuki!” Yamaguchi called out, waving his hand in front of the tall blond. Tsuki snooks his head, suddenly aware of everyone looking at him. “A-Ah, sorry. I was just thinking.” He said, laughing nervously as he scratched the back of his head. “You really scared us for a second there,” Daichi said, with Asahi and Suga nodding in the back. “You kinda look scary doing that too...” Suga muttered, before going back to practice serves with Asahi. Hinata chuckled before, walking up to him, “Getting nervous, Tsuki? You better be! I’m gonna beat you again in the next match!” He said, boasting before shuddering at Tsuki’s response. “No, you’ll be beaten in a pulp by the end of this round, shrimp.” “Eeek!” Hinata said as he quickly his behind Kageyama, who just laughed at him, “Boke, Hinata!”

A loud creak echoed in the gym as they looked toward the gym door, only to see Kiyoko and Yachi with someone they can’t decipher, a boy with h/c hair. He was tall/short, lean/chubby, and was wearing a hoodie, jeans, sneakers and a mask. “Ah, Tsuki! He was looking for you.” Kiyoko said as the said mail looked up with his e/c colored eyes. His eyes widened as he pulled off the mask, before quickly sprinting to Tsuki with his arms wide open. “TSUKI I MISSED YOU!” He said as he tackled the boy down, almost making the blonde fall.. Tsuki’s eyes widened and laughed as he wrapped his arms around the boy. “M/N! I missed you too. Come here!” He said as he lifted the boy up, spinning him around as his teammates gathered around them. “Yamaguchi, you know him?” Suga asked, in which Yamaguchi nodded. “Ah yes, that’s Tsuki’s—“

Everyone gasped when they both kissed each other on the lips, hugging intensely afterwards. “—boyfriend.”

“. . .”

Silence can be heard in the room, before everyone realized what had just happened. “EHHHHHHHH?!!!” They all screamed at once, terrifying the couple as they looked at each other. M/N laughed, “Awwe babe you never told them about us?” He asked, “I wanted them to meet you first, but I guess we did that part already.” Tsuki chuckled before turning his head towards his teammates. “Guys, this is my boyfriend. M/N L/N.”

M/N took that as a cue to boy and introduce himself, “Hiya! M/N L/N, ( ) years old! Nice to meet you all!” He bowed, smiling cutely as everyone greeted him back. “Tsuki, we didn’t know you had a boyfriend!” Nishinoya exclaimed, shaking his hands with M/N. “Wow, our first year got a boyfriend before us! Just who do you think you are?” Tanaka smirked as he got up all in Tsuki’s face. Tsuki hooked his arm around his lover’s waist protectively, “It’s not my fault that I found love way before you did, senpai.” “Argh! He really had the guts to say that to me!” Tanaka groaned as he was being held back by Suga and Hinata. Yamaguchi then piped in with a question, “M/N-San! It’s been so long, how come you cam here now?” He asked while greeting the said male with a hug, “Oh, we’re on a vacation trip lead by my dad’s company. He said we have a week before going back to (country.) ”

Tsuki got excited, “Really? A week?! Yes!” He excitedly said as he lifted the male once again, spinning him around. “This is the happiest I’ve seen him, it’s kinda freaking me out.” Kageyama muttered, earning a nod from the others. “I know! So when I heard this, I decided to pay you a little visit cause I missed you!” M/N said as he pinched the tall male’s cheeks. “Thanks babe, but we still got some practice to do. Mind if you wait and watch us for a bit?” Tsuki asked, earning a grin from the other, “Sure! I’ll wait by the bench.”

——————————————-——————————————-——————————

“Tsuki, you looked so cool! Like you were blocking the strikes and you went like boom! And then you hit that ball like pow! It was so awesome!” M/M said excitedly as he recalled what happened during the last minutes of practice. Tsuki chuckled that his boyfriend’s enthusiasm. “Come on, I wasn’t that good.” “No, you were! I swear, seeing you do all those moves made me feel like my arm was falling off for you! You are literally the best ever.” The h/c colored male said, hooking his arm around Tsuki’s as they walked back to Tsuki’s house.

They enjoyed the moment of silence as they walked along the streets, looking at the sunset every once in a while. “I’m really glad you’re back, M/N.” Tsuki started, “Even if it was just for a week. I just- I really am so happy.” M/N awwed at his boyfriend, snuggling up against his shoulder. “I am too, since I can finally catch up with you on what’s going on. Not on,y that, I get to have those lips again.” M/N joked, making Tsuki chuckle.

“Ahh, we’re here.” Tsuki said as he walked by the front door with M/N. They both took of their shoes and went in the house, trudging their way up to Tsuki’s room after greeting his mom a hello. After Tsuki changed his clothes, they both went on the bed and snuggled up to each other, giving each other their much needed kisses. It’s been so long, they can’t help themselves!

“Oh yeah i forgot to say this earlier,” M/N said as he sat back up. Tsuki sat up before asking, “What?”

“Surprise!”

“You dork!”

“I’m your dork.”

END

[simp-for-spencer-reid]

Sugar With a Side of Coffee Ch. 15

Chapter 15: Learning to Live With Each Other Series Masterlist

“God damnit!” Cate scoffed when her power went out for the second time this week. It seemed like her apartment had started falling apart since winter started. First, it had been her hot water that would run out too quickly. If the too frequent cold showers weren’t enough, her heat would go out on her floor. And the cherry on top of everything else was her flickering electrical problem. It wasn’t her that was blowing the fuse, but one of her neighbors on her floor and Cate had had enough. After finding her phone on the bathroom countertop in the dark, she texted Marta before fetching her work button up. 

I’m gonna be late, power is out again. Ugh.

The lights flickered, before going off again. Cate felt Shrimp rub against her legs. He darted away when a drop from her wet hair dripped on his head. She collected her shoes and a bag of some overnight items. Cate didn’t know how much longer she could stay in these conditions. It wasn’t fair to Shrimp that she’d been staying at Spencer’s more and more. 

A beanie was tightly pulled over Cate’s wet hair as her winter boots sloshed in the wet snow that covered the sidewalk. Cold air nipped at Cate’s face as she tensed her shoulders to try and hide her face in her winter jacket. Despite having brought her car to Virginia from New Hampshire, it would take less time to walk than to drive and find parking.

She didn’t think she had ever been this happy to see The Empty Mug’s glass doors. Pulling one open, she stood in the entry way on the checkered tile floor. Customers were already lining up at the counter where Marta was taking orders and prepping coffee. Spencer was already inside the cafe, drink in hand. He moved quickly to Cate, pressing a chaste kiss to her cold nose. He scrunched his face at the temperature. He noticed her wet hair peeking out from the beanie.

“Hi,” Cate breathed out, “I have to finish getting ready upstairs.” Cate didn’t want to impose on Marta and her family by inviting him up, but it was about time he would be leaving to head to the FBI office. 

Spencer had gotten the impression that she did not want to talk about why she was late or why she was only half ready for work. She seemed frazzled and definitely disorganized. She had her own version of a go bag over her shoulder. It was hard not to half profile her when their exchanges were short. It helped him get a better idea of what was going through her head. 

“Okay, I’ll see you later?” Spence asked as she reached up and kissed his cheek as a passing greeting. 

“Yeah,” she confirmed, already bounding up the stairs. It was hard for Spencer to keep a respectful gaze on her backside since their trip back to Quantico in her car. He stole glances at her any chance he could get. She distracted him in the best way and after he tore his eyes from the doorway she disappeared through, he checked his watch and decided to get back on his way to work. 

Mondays in the bullpen were spent collected around someone’s desk catching up on everyone’s plans. As Spencer approached the team around Morgan’s desk, he was telling of his latest date, and how he was invited back to her house. JJ rolled her eyes at his story. Emily caught Spencer’s eyes as he walked up. Rossi smiled at him as he approached.

“Morning,” she greeted. “Welcome to Morgan’s Intro to ‘Swag’ lecture,” Emily joked as Morgan feigned being offended.

“Emily, be respectful,” Rossi started, “He doesn’t have ‘swag’, he has ‘game’” he jokingly clarified. 

“Alright alright,” Morgan held his hands up. Hotch walks in, interrupting their catch up. A new case was in. 

JJ sat across from Spencer on the jet, trying hard to stay focused on the file she had in her hands. Spencer could tell something was up by her fidgeting. She looked at him every minute almost on the dot. She wouldn’t meet his eyes if he looked back up at her. Finally, he was going to confront her, but she bit him to it, speaking first.

“How was your holiday?” she asked. It felt like a loaded question. 

“Great, how was yours? Did Henry and Michael get everything on their list to Santa?” Spencer only asked because when JJ addresses their letters, they are sent to his house, and he replies on special christmas themed stationary and he even gets into character with a little help from a special wooden fountain pen that he dips in ink. He tries his best to disguise his handwriting so that he can keep the facade a little longer. 

“Yes, I’m pretty sure they have every dinosaur figurine known to paleontologists across the world. Henry’s room puts the Smithsonian to shame. Michael’s room looks like a dinosaur themed carnival game prize booth exploded inside of it.” JJ laughed, before getting back on track. “Did you go somewhere special?” she asked, picking at the paper clips and brass fasteners on the file. 

And there was the other shoe that dropped. 

“You look like you already know the answer to that,” he replied. Spencer thought back to the holidays. He ran through everything that had gone on during his short vacation. He had flown to Vegas, then he had asked Penelope to get Cate’s home address, then he had flown to New Hampshire…

He asked Penelope to track Cate’s phone to get her home address. 

Of course she must have shared with the team that he was flying to visit Cate’s family for the holidays. 

“Penelope,” both Spencer and JJ spoke her name at the same time.                                                                                                                                                                       

“Things must be getting pretty serious for the two of you?” JJ continued, observing her friend’s face. 

“Yeah, I am taking this seriously. We both are.” Spencer told his friend, “I’m thinking of asking her to move in with me.” he confessed. JJ’s jaw dropped. 

“That’s a big move for you. Are you sure?” she questioned, wanting only the best for her friend.

“Of course. I know it seems quick, but I know her lease is up soon and I figured it’s a good idea for us.” Spencer tried to quickly summarize his decision so they could get back to the case. 

It was dark on the way home from the case on the jet. It was a rare occasion to be back in the same day, but it was a welcomed occurrence. Spencer couldn’t wait to go to Cate’s and be able to go to sleep by her side. His eyes felt heavy, but the short ride back to Quantico wasn’t long enough to be able to get in a good refreshing nap. 

The drive to Cate’s went by slowly and it felt like Spencer was getting stopped by every red light. He played with his tie and pulled his sleeves up to his elbows, trying to focus and stay awake. He could even feel his eyes shutting on his way up to her floor in the elevator.

He was not prepared when she opened the door for him in nothing but one of his work button ups. He felt his heart quicken and he felt the most awake he’s been in the past few hours. 

Giving a quick glance around her apartment, he first noticed the assortment of candles illuminating the space and then the wave of a mixture of all sorts of scents came around. Before he could even greet her, she pulled him by the strap of his satchel and into the doorway, closing it behind him. She swiftly moved one of her hands to his tie and pulled him down to meet her lips, kissing him furiously. 

“What are you doing?” he asked, holding her carefully. He didn’t mind one bit, but it came out of nowhere.

“Trying to warm up; it’s freezing in here,” Cate hushed out. She connected their lips again, but began dragging him back towards her room. 

“Do you think it has anything to do with you not wearing pants?” he panted as she fiddled with his tie and took his bag off his shoulder. 

“Stop talking and shut up,” he placed his hands on her face as he deepened the kiss.

“That’s the same thing,” he mumbled against her lips. 

“Just kiss me,” she pulled on his tie harder towards her. Once in her room, they stumbled their way down onto the bed. Spencer used his muscle memory to undo the buttons of her top while Cate did the same to him. As he slid the fabric off her shoulders, he could feel her weight shift. Then he felt her soft fuzzy fur against his arm. 

Opening his eyes, he gave a small shriek and moved to cover his exposed chest as Shrimp laid down between them, loafing. Cate threw her head back laughing, as she pressed Spencer’s shirt together over her chest.  Spencer watched her. He loved hearing that laugh. The tension between them was broken in the best way. 

Spencer laid on his back, Cate pressed into his side. They had a blanket thrown over them, but Spencer could feel Cate’s skin against him. It was cold in her apartment, he had deduced that the heat must be broken or some sort of malfunction in her building. If anything, it prompted him more to ask her. She shouldn’t be living with no heat in the winter. A wave of confidence surged through him.

“Do you want to move in with me?” He began to play with his fingers. He stared at her ceiling as the silence grew between them. She placed a tentative hand on his.

“Are you serious?” Cate finally answered. 

“I- yeah I am, but I don’t want to pressure you or anything,” Spencer licked his lips, a million thoughts running through his head. 

“You want me to move in with you?” Cate clarified, now sitting up, putting her weight on her elbow to properly look him in the face. 

“Yes,” Spencer breathed out, the million thoughts seemed to stream out of his head when he looked at her, “I want you to live with me.”

“Okay,” Cate couldn’t help the smile growing on her face. “I’ll move in with you.” Spencer grabbed her face in his hands and guided her face to his, kissing her with all of his excitement. 

The next morning, Spencer and Cate went over technicalities of moving in together and a time frame of moving her things to his apartment. Her lease wasn’t up for another two months, but the two wanted to be organized and make the move as smooth as possible. 

It made Spencer look at his apartment in a new light. When he was home, he imagined how some furniture from Cate’s apartment would fit in- both literally and stylistically. He knew the first thing he would get rid of would be that god-awful uncomfortable red thing he called a couch. He really hoped her sectional would fit up the apartment stairs; he hoped he could clear up a corner in his living room for the matching chair. 

And of course, there were discussions on properly acclimating Shrimp to Spencer’s apartment. Cate was adamant on ‘Shrimp proofing’ his apartment before her cat finally made the move. It was decided that Shrimp would be the first to officially move in. Shrimp no longer had to deal with the cold temperatures of the lack of heat and being left alone in Cate’s apartment. 

It was a bit of getting used to on Spencer’s part of living full time with a cat, but he was glad it was with Shrimp. Spencer wasn’t fond of the litter box in his small bathroom, but didn’t want it somewhere like the living room- it was moved to a corner in his office. The grain of the litter that Spencer now found everywhere made it hard to focus. Cat toys littered the floor of his apartment, which was a bit of a contrast to his typically clean area rug.

In Spencer’s small closet of a pantry, he now had to get used to the container of Shrimp’s food. Cate used to keep it in the bag, but Spencer convinced her to put it in an airtight container, spewing facts of keeping it from going stale and such. 

Speaking of his pantry, it had come to get over filled as Cate began to store more food at Spencer’s house. Cate was a notorious snacker and she had plenty of boxes of little crisps and snacks to feed the entire BAU team. It hadn’t really bothered him except for one time:

He had come home from work a bit early and was ready to relax with a good book. The previous case still had a hold on him, consuming his thoughts. Cate wasn’t in the common space of his apartment, her usual spot on the sectional was empty. He could hear her favorite show playing from his bedroom. Normally, he would’ve been distracted by the cute way she laughed as the show played on her phone screen and her hair messily thrown up in a bun. This time, his attention was drawn to the bag of chips laying next to her on the bed.

“What are you doing? You can’t eat on the bed!” Spencer had made a grab for the bag, but Cate held it up. 

“Relax!” she closed the bag, getting out of bed to go put it away. While she was in the kitchen, Spencer was brushing crumbs off the bed.

“Now there’s crumbs all over the bed!” This was the last feeling he wanted: to feel remnants of chips scratching his skin when he was trying to get to unwind. 

“Spence, I’ll get it, don’t worry. I’ll get it.” Cate repeated, coming back to the room and placing a hand on his back to calm him down. “I’ll get the vacuum and I’ll clean it up.” Spencer finally turned to look at her. Cate could tell he was upset, and could tell a case might’ve been a bit rough. 

He wasn’t totally innocent, though. Cate realized he began to shadow her around the apartment. He wasn’t quite used to sharing a space with someone else. If she left her dirty dishes next to the sink, he was right behind her, placing them into the sink. If she was doing laundry and putting towels away, he went in after and folded them to his liking, putting them in the order that he always put them. He was constantly rearranging things behind her, like the throw blanket over the back of the couch, or remaking the bed after her. She had confronted him about it when she had confirmed she wasn’t just making it up in her mind. 

“If you don’t like the way I do things, you can just say so,” Cate told him, circling back into their room after she had made the bed. She watched him re tucking the sheets and fluffing the pillows.

“You don’t do it wrong, but studies show if you make sure the sheets have no creases under the comforter, you’re significantly less likely to get bed bugs. And if you keep the pillows at this angle, they keep their shape better and it’s better for your neck while you sleep,” Spencer spoke, waving his hands animatedly. 

“Okay, so show me how you do it,” Cate asked. That day, Cate and Spencer spent it laughing and making and remaking the bed. Cate would tease him, making up fake specifics as to why she made the bed her way. 

After the first few weeks, they both learned  to live with each other. They started to compliment each other’s ways of living: Cate became more tidy and Spencer became a little less uptight. Spencer grew to love having Shrimp around full time, all of what came with being a pet parent. 

Shrimp would follow Spencer around the apartment like he’d lived there all his life. While Spencer enjoyed his home brew of what Cate took home from The Empty Mug, Shrimp could be found sitting by his ankles. Spencer learned all sorts of cat facts, and would share with Shrimp the difference between a cat’s eyesight and that of a human. Shrimp liked watching Spencer talk, though his focus was often on the doctor’s long hair that framed his face. 

Cate came home one night from The Empty Mug, meeting Spencer and Shrimp in the kitchen. She watched Spencer talk Shrimp through the growing process of kittens and their weekly stages and milestones of development. Shrimp was sitting on the floor, looking up at Spencer. Cate bent down, calling to Shrimp with kissy noises. Shrimp didn’t even break his gaze with Spencer, merely pointing an ear and flicking his tail towards Cate. 

“Traitor,” Cate muttered, walking over to Spencer, wrapping her arms around his middle, “He’s my boyfriend!” Cate said down to her cat. She could feel the rumble of Spencer’s laugh. Spencer pressed his nose to the top of Cate’s head, breathing in the smell of the coffee shop. 

The next morning was something Spencer could get used to waking up to forever. Cate was in his housecoat, singing quietly while making toast, having since given up on trying to cook anything else in fear of setting the smoke alarms off like before. Shrimp was sitting on one of the island stools, watching intently. Cate grabbed two mugs from his cabinet, his favorite navy blue one and her own that she brought from her old apartment- an orange one with a cat's face that resembled Shrimp. 

Cate jumped when she noticed Spencer, leaning against the doorframe to his bedroom, watching her with a smile on his face. 

“Good morning, handsome.” she smiled, handing him a homemade coffee of his usual order from the Empty Mug. “Sugar with a side of coffee for your sweet tooth.” Cate placed a kiss on his lips as she passed the mug to his hands.

[vegalocity]

Mabifica, with 26 from the 76 kisses list?

Kiss prompt meme 

26. Jealous kiss || 76. Top of the head kiss

Fuck Gideon Gleeful.

--

“Well, bless my heart and call me a sinner, if it isn't Mabel Pines?”

Mabel groaned. Of course it would have only been a matter of time before He showed up. Every school year Mabel hoped that Gideon had gotten over her and moved on, and every summer she was met with disappointment and aggravation. She turned and was taken aback to see the fifteen year old version of the little psycho she'd turned down five years ago tower over her. Mabel was hardly a shrimp, she was still taller than Dipper by a fair few centimeters but Gideon had gone from about a half foot shorter than Dipper to at least a head and a half taller than her! She supposed it made sense granted how large Bud Gleeful was, but she'd been unable to bite back her shocked exclamation as she had to crane her neck to glower at her Summer Stalker.

“Gideon...!” She took a step backward to better meet the boy's eye, he smiled that sly grin that was once at home in the tent of telepathy.

“You're gettin' more and more lovely with every year we're apart My lil' grapplin' hook!” He loomed over her, reaching out a meaty hand that could easily encompass her entire face and Wow, Mabel had been creeped out about Gideon since she was a child, but she'd never really processed him as a threat until she found herself staring nervously at the offered hand and wondering if he was about to grab her by the neck of her sweater and throw her into a car.

“Darlin'? What's got you more rustled than a hen in a fox den?” Gideon's grin didn't shake, he knew exactly what he was doing. “Oh I see, You never thought i'd be more than a munchkin peering up at y'all and swearin' revenge!” He chuckled as though it were all a big joke. “Never really sunk in I could grow up too huh? I'm a man now Mabel Pines! Not the same lil' ol' me I used to be!” He apparently gave up on the idea of Mabel shaking his head because instead he reached upward, up near her neck, her head, her hair- he was about to-

“Mabel!” Pacifica's voice was like a lighthouse in the fog. She heaved a sigh when a flutter of blonde hair and brilliant green eyes filled her periphery. “Gleeful.”

“Northwest.” The easy grin looked far less easy now. Gideon's eyes narrowed, but Pacifica didn't falter despite the fact that the younger boy was tall enough and large enough to be able to grab the both of them and physically pry Pacifica away from her.

Pacifica wrapped her arms around Mabel's shoulders and leaned forward until her chin brushed Mabel's shoulder. “Still obsessing over my girlfriend?”

“Still pretendin' your parents won't kick y'all out when they find out?”

Pacifica leaned in and Mabel felt her lips against her cheek, she was sure her glare hadn't left Gideon's.

“Gideon I wasn't interested in you when I was twelve and I'm not interested in you now, no matter how many inches you've grown since then.” She felt that instinctual fear start to fade, now that she wasn't alone, now that her brain had properly reengaged and reminded her that this was the same person Dipper had crashed through the eye of a giant robot to beat up, the same pathetic kid that couldn't get a date with her without emotional blackmail. “But it was nice catching up with you. Now if you'll excuse me-” She reached up and grasped at Pacifica's wrist. “Paz and I are on a date and I'd like to get back to that.”  It wasn't even a full lie, they were gonna meet up right in front of the fountain at the Gravity Falls mall for their date, Gideon had just intercepted her before she'd gotten there.

She pried Pacifica's arms off of her just enough to walk and turned on her heel, waving at Gideon one last time before paying him no more mind. Pacifica still seemed to be stewing though, huffing and puffing and clinging to Mabel's arm like a protective arm bag.

“You okay?”

“Literally since he got that damn growth spurt in October he's been going on and on about how you'd just fall into his arms now that he was 'big enough to lift a truck with his lil' Queen Mabel inside'” She mocked with an exaggerated 'Gideon voice' Mabel chuckled at the impression. “I know better than to think he ever had a chance of course, but it's aggravating.. that he'd think you'd be so easy to change.”

“Awww Fancy heiress Pacifica Northwest jealous of the kid of a used car salesman~” Mabel pressed a kiss to the top of Pacifica's blonde head, ignoring her shrill response of 'I AM NOT JEALOUS OF THAT WHITE HAIRED SOCIOPATH'

--

Send me things! 

[rinas-ninjas]

Wow we're gonna hate all of the bizarros aren't we? Guess it's Bizarro Zane's turn next on Blasty

Not quite, although he does get dragged into Jay’s fun. ;)

Jay jumped as a clang echoed around the workshop. “Geez, Nya, what did the wrench do to you?” He laughed nervously.

Nya huffed and rolled out from under the vehicle she was repairing. “Sorry, Jay.” She paused her work, grabbing a water bottle from their cooler. “It’s just – ugh. Kai’s in a mood.”

Jay made a confused face. “Still?”

She nodded. “Let’s just say getting knocked out did not improve his stellar mood in the slightest.” Jay’s expression matched her own misgivings. “…and Sensei’s making him do grappling training with Cole and Lloyd.” She laughed at Jay’s grimace. “Don’t worry – no matter how mad he is, Kai’d never hurt Lloyd.” She thought for a moment. “But you might want to ask Zane to prep some ice packs for Cole.”

A solid thump shook dust from the ceiling.

“…yeah we should probably go warn Zane.”

On deck, Cole pulled himself to his feet, frowning. “Were you able to catch that, Lloyd?”

The younger ninja’s face was twisted in concentration. He nodded. “I think so.”

Cole turned to Kai, grabbing his arm as the fire elemental sulked. “Hey, I get that you’re still feeling like crap, but can you curb it?”

Kai rolled his eyes. “I did the move, I dunno what you’re so touchy about.”

“Kai,” Cole turned him around. “What’s gotten into you? This isn’t for us, we’re supposed to be training Lloyd – you know that!”

Kai jerked his shoulder out of Cole’s grip. “Don’t tell me what to do! I didn’t sign up to coach some brat.”

“Are you serious?”

Kai scoffed. “He’s like, what, eight? I don’t know. Why is it our job to teach him?” He ignored Cole’s shocked face in favor of continuing his complaints. “Not like he stands a chance against the literal lord of darkness anyway.”

“Geez, dude, wanna say that a little louder?” The two looked up to see Nya frowning, with a hand on her hip and around Lloyd’s shoulders. The blond boy looked like he was fighting back tears – there was no doubt he’d heard Kai’s commentary.

“Whatever. Ask her to do it – maybe a girl won’t hurt you so bad.”

Nya stepped to block his path, only to get knocked by Kai’s shoulder as he stalked back below deck. She immediately rolled up her sleeves, mumbling some choice words and taking a step after him. Cole’s steady hand on her shoulder stopped her rampage.

His expression was disappointed. “Let him go cool off, please.” He offered a joking smile. “You can kill him later, but for now, I really could use another person to teach Green Bean some grappling moves.”

Nya’s frustrated glare turned into a smirk. “Hey Lloyd, wanna see me kick Cole’s butt?”

Lloyd whooped, Kai’s words forgotten.

Cole smiled at the renewed enthusiasm. “And don’t worry about Kai.”

“He’s just having a hard day.”

Miles away, bizarro Zane sulked.

“Did you really have to go that far with him? I was busy.”

Jay just huffed from under the ninja slung over his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, I interrupted your stupid training. Can you just defib him already?”

Zane narrowed red eyes at his teammate. “Why can you not do this?”

Jay flushed. “I can’t control the voltage that well…can’t you just do this?”

Kai barely registered the bickering around him. His head swam, spots danced in his eyes. His shoulders – legs – everything was sore.

His chest hurt. Burns spiderwebbed across his back – he hadn’t felt a burn in so long, he’d forgotten how it lingered, how it seared into the injury. He felt queasy – the unsteady rhythm from being lugged around wasn’t helping. He could hardly think…he felt lightheaded.

Zane gestured to a clean spot on his table. “Lay him there.”

Kai could only whine as he was carelessly slumped onto the table. Zane watched while Jay maneuvered his limbs to lie prone. “And you have to admit, I lasted pretty long this time.”

“The better part of a day is not ‘pretty long’.”

Jay scoffed. “Says you! You don’t have to be precise – you can just pile on the ice as much as you please!”

“Say what you wish.” Zane grumbled. “You should have learned to defibrillate him yourself by now.”

He couldn’t breathe…what were they even talking about now?

“Can you do it or not?”

He just wanted to sleep.

“Yes, you know I can. Now stand back – you may be master of lightning, but Cole will have my head if I accidentally zap you.”

Zane’s hands never crackled like that.

If he got out of this he was never teasing Jay about his voltage meter ever again.

And then Zane pressed his hands to his chest, and he arched off of the table. It hurt – why was he – he couldn’t – Zane would never hurt him –

Jay frowned. “He’s still fibby…”

“I am aware, Jay. Back away.”

And again, hands full of sparks and pain, making him seize and flail in a painful arch.

Bizarro Zane raised an eyebrow as Kai slumped back onto the table. “His vitals are steady again, but you will have to wait until he wakes up to continue.”

Jay let out a groan and draped over the worktable. “That’ll take forever!”

Zane seethed. “You still have twelve hours, if he wakes up you can resume your fun!”

Jay glanced at the exhausted form on the table. “Can I at least leave him there? He’s heavy.”

Zane glared. “Take him.”

“Zaaaaane…”

A slamming door caught their attention. Jay bounded off, trailed by a sulking nindroid.

“Cole!” He greeted. “You’re back…early…”

The bizarro ninja stretched his arms out. “Was just checkin’ in on our firebrand.” He grinned. “They made him train the shrimp.”

Even Zane snorted at the idea of their Kai having to teach Garmadon’s kid.

Cole nodded at Jay. “How about you? You get anything out of Blasty?”

Zane rolled his eyes and talked over Jay’s response. “He sent him into atrial fibrillation. He then interrupted my work,” He glared at Jay’s objection. “To fix it.”

Cole snickered, shaking his head. “As much fun as that sounds,” He wrapped a large arm around Jay’s slight frame. “We need him to actually be alive in order to get info, you know?” He removed his arm, clapping Jay on the back. “Is he still on your table, Icy?”

Zane nodded with folded arms. “I would very much like him removed.”

“Yeah, sure thing. Besides – you’ll have plenty of time with him later, right?”

The nindroid nodded with a shrug. “Provided Jay somehow controls himself, yes.”

Cole grinned. “Good. I’d hate for Blasty to get bored.”

[winterfang53]

Gajevy Week 2020 - Trials

Gajevy Week 2020 Trials!

Gajeel had never thought that their first pregnancy would be so hard.

In the beginning, Levy and Gajeel had kept their surprise a secret from the rest of the Guild, telling only Lily -- at the advice of Porlyusica.

“The first trimester is the most critical,” Porlyusica had explained, “if you’re going to have a miscarriage, it will happen then. You’re not far enough alone to get an ultrasound done, but your vitals look good so you’re fine for now. Just don’t overdo it!”

This had scared him. The thought that the little life the two of them created together could vanish on them was terrifying. While Levy felt fine and so far Porlyusica thought everything was going well, this didn’t stop Gajeel from monitoring Levy closely.

Which he’s forever grateful that he did.

About a month in, Levy developed a sudden and violent case of morning sickness. It was like one moment she felt fine and the next she had her head in the toilet throwing up everything she ate the past 24 hours. Gajeel did the best he could; making sure Levy ate and being there for her when she felt ill but there wasn’t much they could do. It was at this time that they had to tell Wendy about the baby, so she could help monitor Levy’s nutrients.

After almost a month of this -- 2 months in -- Porlyusica finally had an idea of what might be causing Levy to be so sick.

“We don’t have any records of Dragon Slayers having offspring,” she said during one of the Redfox’s appointments, “most women don’t get this sick and based at me and Wendy’s observations, I think the baby might be extracting an abnormally large amount of mineral -- particularly iron -- from Levy. This might indicate that Gajeel’s magic has somehow affected the baby. We’ll need to start you on supplements.”

And the supplements helped! Levy started feeling better, not 100%, but still better -- though not as much as Porlyusica would have liked. Gajeel really couldn’t understand why the supplements weren’t working as they should have, she was taking the right dosage but it was almost like she needed even more!

It started to make sense why near the 3-month mark when Levy suddenly grew a baby bump. It had literally happened overnight, shocking the Redfox family at the size.

“I’m only 3 months!” Levy exclaimed, “how am I already this big?”

Porlyusica, this time, had the answer. “You’re having twins,” she said in relief as she showed the couple the ultrasound screen, “this is why the supplements weren’t working as well as they should have -- you had 2 babies sucking you dry.”

There, on the black and white screen, were 2 tiny babies curled next together. Their little heartbeats fluttering fast as Gajeel rested his head on Levy’s stomach to listen. Gajeel had never felt so much love, for 2 little people he had never met before, in his life.

“Twins will bring their own complications,” Porlyusica explained, “even though you’re past your first trimester, you need to be extra careful. We might need to put you on bed rest in a couple of months.”

The sudden baby bump made it impossible to hide from the Guild any longer, though the looks on their faces when they learned that Gajeel and Levy were expecting twins of all things was pretty funny. 

“You’re having a baby!” wailed Jet and Droy, clutching each other as they cried.

“They’re having twins, you idiots!” Cana cheered, “lets party!”

The party had been short-lived, however, as they discovered that the smell of alcohol makes Levy nauseous, resulting in her almost projectile vomit across the Guildhall. Unfortunately, this prevented Levy from visiting the Guild as much as she would have liked, causing the stressed -- now very emotional -- mother-to-be to sob on a daily basis. 

“Lev, baby don’t cry!” Gajeel pleaded as he held her, stroking her hair gently, “you’ll be able to visit the guild soon! Porlyusica said most mothers get over their nauseousness in the 3rd trimester!” 

“B-but I wanna go today!” Levy wailed, clinging to him tightly, “I wanna see my friends!”

“They can just come here Sweetheart, now come on; you need to eat! You’re eating for 3 now, Lily’s making a big lunch!” Gajeel said trying to pacify her.

Levy looked up at him in horror, making Gajeel immediately regret his choice of words -- though not really understand why he did -- as a fresh batch of tears welled in her eyes. “You think I’m fat!!” Levy sobbed loudly, pushing Gajeel away to cry into her arms which emphasized her baby bump. 

Much to Gajeel’s chagrin, emotional Levy was here for the rest of the pregnancy, which Gajeel learned the hard way was very sensitive about her weight and how big she looked. The nauseousness vanished though at the 5-month mark, only to be replaced with bizarre food cravings that happened at any time.

“Gajeel, honey, wake up!” Levy whispered in his ear one night around 2 AM, “I need you!”

“Wha-” Gajeel awoke, half-dazed, “Wha-what happened? Are you ok?”

Levy shook her head, “no! I need Doritos with strawberry sauce!”

Gajeel could only look at his wife in disbelief, “...you want Doritos with strawberry sauce?” he asked, “at...2 AM Lev?”

Levy looked at him shyly, pulling the covers up to her nose. “I need them,” she said as if she too had no idea why.

Gajeel took a deep breath before swinging his feet out of bed, “what flavor Doritos Shrimp?”

“Cool Ranch!” Levy exclaimed cheerfully.

“Cool Ranch and strawberries…” Gajeel whispered to himself as he rummaged through the cabinets, “the very idea makes me wanna vomit myself.”

By the time they had reached 7 and a half months, Levy looked more baby then Levy. The swell of her stomach grew to a size that made Levy always uncomfortable, making it hard for her to sleep which brought a bought a new round of nausea. Gajeel couldn’t wait for the twins to be born, just so he could ground them for the rest of their lives for this.

“Not even born and they’re already trouble Lily,” Gajeel said one afternoon while Levy was taking a rare nap, “they’re not even here yet and I already feel outnumbered.”

“What did you expect Gajeel?” Lily teased, “they are your children after all.”

“Oi!”

 They didn’t have to wait long, however, because just a week after 8 months, in the middle of the Guildhall, Levy’s water broke; catapulting the Guild into a mass panic. Porlyusica had luckily enough had been at the Guild that day, allowing her and Wendy to take action. 

“She’s going to need a C-section,” Porlyusica had declared after examination, “you need to leave.”

“What!” Gajeel growled, “like Hell I am!”

With the help of Lily, Master, Natsu, and Laxus of all people, Gajeel had been dragged out of the room to wait in the hall. For 1 painstaking hour, Gajeel paced violently outside the clinic door, grumbling and glaring that the offensive wooden door that kept him from his Levy, when he froze stiff at the sudden sound of babies crying. Tears welled in his eyes, almost blurring out the form of Wendy who poked her head out from behind the door.

“Wanna come meet your babies Daddy?” she teased as Gajeel nodded dumbfoundedly.

As he tripped through the door and laid eyes on Levy for the first time, Gajeel couldn’t fight the tears from falling. There, bundled up and resting in her arms, were their babies! The two little bundles were fast asleep, their little head rising and falling with Levy’s breathes. Both of the babies had fine blue hair atop their pink bodies but the baby on the right had a bright pink headband: A boy and a girl!

“Gajeel, they’re perfect!” Levy cried as she held them close to her, the babies nuzzling into their mother’s chest for warmth.

“‘Course they are Lev,” Gajeel choked as he came near, placing his large hand on both the babies heads, stroking their fine blue hair gently, “They’re ours!”

Levy laughed, starling the babes resting slightly before they grumbled and resettled themselves. “Great,” Levy joked, “they have your attitude!”

“Oi! That just means they’ll be great!” Gajeel said, defending himself, “what are we gonna do Lev? A boy and a girl who are already trouble… I say we ground them for the past 8 months!”

This made Levy laugh again, actually waking the babies this time to open beady red eyes to glare at their father. “Oh Gajeel, I would do it all over again,” Levy sighed as she kissed the babies’ heads, “every crappy morning and sleepless night! Oh, I would go through all those trials again for them, I love them so much!”

Gajeel leaned over and kissed Levy, “me too Lev, me too. I’d go through anything for our little trials of love.”

[judgement-free-sideblog]

Ghosts from the rainforest

Captain James Conrad x Reader

Summary: A simple rescue mission will bring him back to a place full of nightmares, and maybe this time he could find redemption. Situated in 1975, 2 years after the events of Skull Island.

Warnings: Violence, blood, wounds, mentions of war, cursing, implied smut, smoking, angst.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

I finally manage to write the end to this tiny fic, I hope you like it, and I'm going to start on my ideas for a Jonathan Pine adventure, but I haven't decide yet.

Chapter 7: Fever [Final]

The helicopter was already on motion, and the rescue crew that Brooks had sent for you were charging everything for the trip. The guys were excited to finally going back home, the Celebes Sea was ahead of you in the military base you were staying, and waiting in the Pacific the majestic USS Constellation  (CV-64) waiting to take all of you home.

Home? A country that had make more damage and taken everything from you, your family, and had force you to live away to mend some of the atrocities they had committed in the name of freedom.

"Not looking so charming today are we?" You said to him once he walked in your room to pick up your bags, you have finally stop the hostilities after he had offered you his shoulder to cry while you mourned Shukri on his funeral and after all the physical torture he had endured so you could safely leave Borneo.

He had been clear about letting you stay if that was what you wanted, and even when the rest of the crew asume you were coming back to USA, he knew you would have to say goodbye sooner or later, so instead of telling him all the things your heart was keeping from him you kept teasing him and pretending the chopper was not waiting for him.

"I have a minor headache love, but it's okay, are you ready to say goodbye?" He said and you noted how his temple had a few wrinkles, he was trying to smile over the pain in his head "It's a shame you don't come with us, I have a lot of things I wanted to show you" he grabbed your hand and all your alarms started to scream.

"Conrad are you okay?" Those words were all you have hoped for, however the radiant heat from his skin told you he was not exactly fine. "Dear God you are burning up" You said touching his head and looking desperately for a thermometer in your belongings.

"I like you too doctor, but why don't we wait until we get to the ship, we can share a bunk bed" He was definitely not himself.

"103° damn it Conrad!" You said, and for some oddly reason remember the night he told you about Randa and how much he complained about mosquitoes while he was dressing "Look at me, I'm not kidding, did you take Chloroquine before we leave Malaysia? I told you guys you had to..."

He nodded negative, and before he could speak he simply throw up in the nearest trash bin, making you suspect of the worst, specially since all the medicine was now gone and the only viable solution now was the aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific waiting for you.

"Also you have perfect legs you know that? I could spend my life sleeping on them." He kept saying things like that while you helped him to the heliport "Come here princess your prince charming needs your love" he said trying to kiss you.

"Later dear, preferably when you're not dying or smelling like vomit" you tried to stop him.

"Well you didn't mind me covered in dirt and sweat" He tried again but he stopped to scream "Reg! I love you man, you are like a son to me" and also tried to kiss the boy on the forehead.

"What happened to the Captain?" Slivko asked concerned once you help him to board the chopper while carrying his luggage and your medical bag.

"I have no idea, but I'm afraid it might be Malaria" you said bluntly and all of them looked concerned at you, while he vomited again "Do you have medical equipment here?" You asked the pilot and he only raised his thumb while you make sure he was steady on the helicopter floor, and almost didn't feel the machine take off while you tried to put an IV on his arm.

After one hour that felt like ten you could no longer see the island, only the immensity of the Pacific, and growing in the horizon the USS Constellation, even when you despised war and everything it represented the enormous carrier was enough to let you speechless, specially when a team of nurses and a doctor was already with a stretcher waiting for him.

"It's going to be ok James" you told him holding his hand while the experts rushed him inside.

"You really like men to die quite literally for you right?" He tried to joke, fighting the impulse of vomiting again, "Hey it's okay, I have to take care of you remember?" He smiled and you hold his hand trying to not get on the way of the medical staff, but he was too weak and fall asleep.

After they had stabilized his temperature, and take samples of his blood to determine the pathogen they let you in, the beds inside the medical bay of the ship were oddly spacious, and you could be sited next to him without any other person listening.

"Y/N?" He asked opening his beautiful eyes, "Hey it's okay love, I'm feeling better" He said and tried to reach for the glass of water on the table.

"Let me" You said and put it closer to him, "I know, once they identify the plasmodium they will know what is the best treatment for you, they take test and interrogate all of us, don't tell him I told you but Reles almost passed out when he saw the needle " He attempt to laugh but was still weak so he only smiled.

"Well is rewarding seen you on my dead bed, I'm quite honored, tears look oddly beautiful on you" He said and a small smile form in your lips.

"And you are still delirious" You said looking for a piece of cloth, and cold water from the sink to put on his head. "Here, try to rest, I'll come see you later" you told him but before your hand could leave his head he hold you still "What?"

"I might be dying, so you owe me at least listening me like adults" He said forcing you to stay next to him.

"You are not dying" you said trying to sound like it didn't matter and failing miserably "you are not, but fine. Let's talk" you concede.

"I'm sorry" he started contrary to what you had expected. "I had no idea how you looked before we met, and i was under no circumstances trying to seduce you to lure you back to America" you blush and regret your decision to stay by his side.

"I'm sorry too" You responded after a while "You have done so much helping me, even when half of the trouble I caused was preventable if I haven't trusted in the wrong people." You said and he hold your hand softly, he didn't want to hear about that, and you knew it so you took all the courage you have to continue. "And I'm sorry I over reacted, I am so used to people coming to me with second intentions that I just pushed you away to avoid getting hurt, and I just end up making other people hurt you"

"I'm sorry I make you come to the ship, I knew you wanted to stay" he said sincerely.

"It's okay, I have to make sure you stay alive, you know for the boys, maybe working at Monarch with you and Brooks won't be so bad"

"Well you can always run away from us in Hawaii, or maybe... we could run away together" He gave you a pleading look, and for moment you could imagine that life, keep running away, by his side, the soldier that never came home, and the idealist doctor, and keep leaving ghosts in every island, trying to find happiness apart from the world, but together. He kissed you, but this time it wasn't a lusty hunger kiss, nor passionate and angry like before, it was reassuring and you knew no matter what your answer was, he was on your side, for the first time you had someone on your side "So what do you say?"

But you couldn't answer because out of nowhere your stomach make you nauseous and you rush to the toilet to empty its content.

"Are you okay dear?" He screamed from the bed "I'm trying bloody hard to not take this as criticism"

"I'm okay, but I'm going to check your tests and start taking the pills before I end up confessing my sins on the fever like you" you said and walked out of the bathroom to saw him "We can talk later" you assure him.

You marched inside the medical office and started to look in the cabinets, when the young doctor that had received Conrad walked in.

"I'm sorry, I start feeling the symptoms and I thought it would be better if I start on the chloroquine before it gets worse" you excuse yourself.

"That would be great, if any of you had Malaria" he said offering you a seat that you take since he speak with a Texan accent and an authoritarian voice that made up from his young face "But we test all of you and what our SAS friend has is more likely a stomach flu from some bad shrimp, I was just on my way to tell him." He said and you sigh in relief, but also concerned about your own symptoms

"Oh that's great, but I start barfing too, and I didn't had the shrimp last night" you said and he took out a small file with your name that the nurses had put together earlier.

"Well it may be motion sickness, we are in a boat after all, or maybe... you told the nurse you didn't remember when was your last period?" He said looking the file.

"Well we have been in the jungle almost a month so I wasn't exactly counting" you tried to joke.

"The change of environment can trigger the vomit, or if you had sex in the past three weeks you might be pregnant" He smiled and all the weight of the world fall into your shoulders instantly. "In any case you should rest and let alone my medical cabinets, go with nurse Matthews she will give you some vitamins" he said but you were not longer listening.

No, it couldn't be that, right? You tried to convince your mind, but deep down you knew it was true, what would he think? He was a soldier, a man of the field, not a father, and you were obviously not a mother, what will happen now? Now that he wanted to run away in the world next to you, a baby had a place on that plan?.

Two days later Conrad was out of the medical bay and trying to approach you, offering you a fresh start from the afternoon you pause all those weeks ago in Malaysia.

But the stolen kisses on the hallways, and his nightly incursions on your cabin only made it harder for you to find a way to come clean about your news, even when the idea had already sink in your mind, because it was a baby, and it was his baby, how could you not be happy and grateful? Yet you haven't say anything to him.

Four days later he had spend the whole day walking on the deck with you, like if the planes and choppers were an appropriate sighting for a date.

"We'll be in Hawaii soon" He started "If you want to go out for a walk in the morning and get lost in the jungle we have to star planning now" he said and you were looking at the ocean trying to make up your mind.

"Maybe... I was wondering about the work you do at Monarch, maybe I will give it a chance" you start not sure how the whole we are having a baby situation will fit in your speech "I mean if you want to travel the world it might help to have a paying job for a while" you were nervously touching your hands.

"Of course, also when the baby comes I would like to have a proper house for him to be... or she, I don't care you know? as long as they're healthy" he said and you nodded yes.

"Yeah of course... what??" You look at him and he had the most radiant smile on his face, and he was clearly holding his laugh and apparently tears, of joy? "How do you know?

"Well nurse Matthews saw us kissing and then she complained about how Children this days keep having children out of wedlock" he said and you hide your face on your hands.

"I was really going to tell you... for real is just..." but you didn't have the words in you, and the tears were running on your face

"I know, it's fine, I mean is a little soon but if I'm honest I'm tired of running, and after all we've been trough I couldn't imagine a single person to share this experience with" He said cleaning the tears from your face.

"You sure?" You asked again, needing to hear it from his mouth.

"I'm sure, I fall in love with you when I saw you scaring local vendors in Malaysia and then fighting guerilla liders in Borneo, I even loved you when you vomit after kissing me for real, I'm completely taken by you Y/N"

"I fall in love with you too James" you said, and his expression got serious for a moment. "What?"

"Nothing, is just that I'm going to miss Prince Charming" he said giving you again the disarming smile that had started all this adventure.

The end

@damalseer

@kinghiddlestonanddixon (I hope you like the end)

[dragonstoravens]

Babylon Vol. 1: A Favor For A Friend

[ID: a blue patterned banner with text reading “BABYLON.” End ID.]

By dragonstoravens and @charlottedotexe​

(In keeping with the plan to post an update every Friday, here’s chapter 5. A lot of these early chapters are a bit shorter, in a sort of anthology style as we get to know the characters. Hope you enjoy!)

5. A Favor For A Friend

Trinity leaned back on his couch with a groan, hovering over the ‘send’ button on his chat screen. This had to be the weirdest last resort ever, but this week had been yet another lesson in how not to have a social life in your 20s, by well known business mogul Trinity Jericho. Sure, he and Azure had been talking for some time now, ever since she fixed his eye, and sure, he was starting to consider her perhaps the closest friend he had, but that didn’t make his request any less strange. Still, it was either this, or pay a literal spy to come with him. His younger sister Adriel had offered, in return for as many juice pouches as she wanted, but that likely would have raised more rumors than it put to rest, and that would defeat the whole purpose of this crazy plan. He sighed, speaking aloud to his empty office. “I can’t send this message.”

A quiet ding from his screen’s voice control. He hadn’t realized it was on. “Message sent.”

“Fuck.”

Azure’s response was nearly instantaneous. 

[Azure] You want me to dress up and go to some fancy shindig with you?

[Azure] Is the theme of the night bad dates with lacking manners? Surely you’ve got better options, dude. No hot supermodels? Cool alien mistresses? Long lost childhood friends you’ve been forlorn about losing since they moved away, but you just saw them at the supermarket and now your whole world is changing?

    A pause.

[Azure] Ignore that last one, that’s the plot of a book I’ve been reading.

Trinity chuckled despite himself. The manners issue had, in fact, been one of his many worries about this whole request. But he couldn’t back out now.

[Hotshot] I’m not going to dignify most of those questions with a response. It was this or pay my 13 year old sister in juice pouches, and that’ll raise more questions than it settles. I promise it’s a one time thing-- I just need the Polinskis to stop throwing their daughter at me.

 He paused, biting the inside of his lip as he debated once more if this was actually a good idea.

[Hotshot] You don’t have to. I know you’re not experienced with this kind of event, or this kind of society.

Azure read the message and sat back in her chair, thinking. She hated fancy parties, they required being stuffy and shoved into dresses that wouldn’t last eight seconds in her lab before getting too dirty to ever wear again, and rich people liked to smell like weird fruit these days along with being judgemental to a degree that gave her hives to think about. But still, Trinity had been growing on her these last few months. Maybe once wouldn’t kill her, if it made his life a little easier. She was nothing if not a giver, and it would give her an excuse to use some fun experimental tech she’d been hoping to test out.

[Azure] Yeah, I'll suffer through it once. You owe me, though. I'll have my brother whip up somethin' for us to wear. You think a MiZara original will sell the ludicrous idea that I'm in any way fancy, or am I gonna have to read up on shrimp forks to pass?

    Trinity couldn’t quite stop himself from sighing in relief. She hadn’t said no.

[Hotshot] You’re right, I owe you. Thanks.

Message sent and one more stressor out of the way, although he still wasn’t sure this wasn’t going to come back to bite him later, possibly in the form of Azzy being… well, herself, in high society. There was a lot he would have to teach her, and not nearly enough time to do it. He read over her message again with a sigh. At least she was taking care of the… dress?

Azure’s screen displayed the message ‘Hotshot is typing’ for 30 seconds. A minute. Two.

Ping.

[Hotshot] Wait, MIZARA?

He could practically hear her peal of laughter at his moment of realization.

[Azure] My last name is Zaraya. I already told you my brother was a designer. I thought you'd’ve put two and two together by now, hotshot, what happened to that mastermind brain of yours?

Trinity shook his head bemusedly as he typed, even though she couldn’t see it. 

[Hotshot] You’re the one who always says I think about nothing except work. Anyway, I have suits, I don’t want to owe you any more than I already do for making you wear a dress.

[Azure] If you think he’s gonna let us go without matching, you’re outta your mind and also you clearly do not know my brother.

 Azure sighed as the message whooshed away. They had a lot of ground to cover if she didn’t want to ruin her buddy’s reputation on sight. Cover stories and false names and back up plans, along with how to walk in heels and other weird things that she was definitely not suited for. 

[Azure] Alright hotshot, tell me everything I need to be a high society girlfriend. Crimson can help me brush up on manners, but we might want a plan. I haven’t been on a date in ages, can’t say I recall how they work.

[Hotshot] I have a plan, don’t worry. But you don’t have to play a *girlfriend.* I’m not going to ask you to closet yourself for this.

[Azure] Nah, it’s cool. If I’m not acting like a whole different person, it won’t stick, and then I’ll do something dumb and ruin the whole thing. Plus the idea of coming out to a whole lot of new people all night gives me hives. Now c’mon, gimme the rules. I have flashcards to make.

Trinity couldn’t blame her for that. For all that he liked to keep his personal life very, well, personal, he had taken a chance and corrected someone as to his sexuality once. To one person. At the next event, half of his contacts were throwing double the children at him, now aware that men and women were both fair game. The other half had mostly made some inane reference to him being a “player” or the obligatory threesome joke, and a few had awkwardly avoided him ever since-- which he honestly couldn’t complain about. He’d honestly prefer more of his acquaintances to be the specific brand of biphobic that meant they’d leave him alone. 

Reading over Azure’s message one more time, he stifled a tiny chuckle. Flashcards, for the rules of dating in society? At least his next event would be entertaining.

Taglist (ask to be added or removed!): @glitterandstarshine @rainbowcoloreddays @the-starlight-chills @erased-in-stone

General: @elywritesbydarkness @residentofthedisc @humour-and-hyperfocus @skyfirewrites

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #306

i’m v talkative today so pardon my jabbering below.

What is the strangest type of candy you have eaten? I think I've had one of those lollipops with a bug in it before as a kid? I don't remember. What would be your most ideal profession? A freelance photographer. But I'm honestly starting to lose hope. Have you tried those coloring books for adults? Yeah; it's funny you mention 'em, 'cuz a family friend got me one for my birthday earlier this month. What is a topic you definitely don't want to talk about with anyone? I don't like talking about my sexual history, doesn't matter who you are. It's just uncomfortable. What was your first gaming console? An Atari. Is there something you're eagerly waiting for? What is it? *SLAMS FISTS ON TABLE* MAY NEEDS TO FUCKIN' HURRY. My tattoo appointment is set then. :''') Do you/have you ever belonged to an organization? If so, which one? I was a Girl Scout when I was young. What is something you're very passionate about? Nature conservation, gay rights (equal rights in general, really), the pro-choice movement, and then there are less "important" things like certain hobbies interests and such. I'm sure there are more big ones that are just slipping my mind right now, considering I feel passionately for a shitload of stuff. What are you studying or what was the last thing you studied? I majored in Art & Design with a focus on Photography in college. But guess who dropped out. What was the last present you gave someone? I don't know... I mention enough that I don't have a source of income where I can really buy anything. I think the last thing I did was a Christmas gift for Mom a year or two back of a drawing I did of our late dog Cali, whom she absolutely adored. Do you enjoy plays? If so, what was the latest one you saw? Not really, no. What was the last thing you achieved? PHP has helped me focus on little victories, so prepare for an underwhelming answer haha, but it's something. I Facebook messaged an old friend I really wanted to catch up with, and everyone in group cheered for me. :') It was really heartwarming. What a shocker that this program is really helping me once again. What is something you would like to achieve at some point in your life? I would love love love to take at least one "famous" or award-winning photograph. It'd be such amazing validation that I'm talented at something I love so much. What is one philosophy you have regarding life/living/purpose? That's... difficult to answer seeing as I'm trying desperately to find my purpose. I do try to live by this old quote a therapist said once: "Deal with life, or life deals with you." I think it holds an incredible amount of depth and meaning in such a short phrase. How would you design the inside of your own home? I don't know the details of it, really, besides that shit is gonna look like a Halloween house year-round. I can imagine wanting black furniture, too, and having loooots of decor expressive of what I love and find comfort in. Gotta make a house feel like a home just for me. What is a band you remember liking from your childhood? Backstreet Boys, duh. Do you ever get mad at people for not having the same opinion as you (i.e. abortion being wrong/right, meat-eating being wrong/right)? Two things: it depends on the topic, and "get mad" is the wrong term for what I feel. It's more disgust; ex., I'm repulsed by anti-gay rights people and want absolutely nothing to do with 'em, but I'm not like, mad at them. Do you edit any of your pictures? In what ways? Oh yeah, and it definitely depends on the raw photograph. I edit depending on the mood it emanates; like if you've seen my roadkill photography versus nature shots, there is an extremely distinct difference in editing style and vibe. I'd say in general though, I tend to like to brighten my photographs and add more vibrance. If you like to take pictures, what is your motivation? God, I could write an essay on this. I just love and am so thankful for the fact we can literally freeze time forever with the click of a button and look back on fantastic sights, beautiful moments, memories... It's just magical to me, and I adore contributing to that art. Would you ever consider living anywhere cold? Well yeah, that's my preference, actually. What is your absolute favorite food? The spicy shrimp fritas from Olive Garden, jfc. Would you ever wear snake-skin pants, or other animal clothing? Fuck to the absolute hell no. What foreign country would you like to go to for a shopping spree? Idk, considering I'm not well-versed in the artistic creations of other countries. Perhaps India? Japan? I dunno. If you met your favorite musician, what would you ask him/her? I'm asking for his fucking autograph and a hug while I smile my face in two AND cry lmao. What do you spend most of your day thinking about? I ain't gonna bullshit nobody, my PTSD. In some way or another, he's lurking in that head of mine through memories, flashbacks, wonders of what could have gone differently... but thank God it's no longer in the forefront of my mind after my first PHP. I've come very, very far, but especially when trying to blank out my mind to fall asleep, parts of PTSD strangle my brain until I'm just finally out. I really hope that changes someday. Where is a busy place you would like to go to? Yikes, nowhere, really. I like to avoid busy locations. Do you think video games cause people to become violent? Absolutely not. You are responsible for the decisions you make; music, games, movies, etc. have no deciding voice in stupid shit you do, and it's bullshit that people blame art and entertainment for such things. Vocabulary: What was the last word you learned? I'm unsure. Have you or could you build your own site? Absolutely not from scratch. The closest I've gotten to that is my photography website, but it was through the assistance of Wix. What's the best thing you can cook yourself? Scrambled eggs, haha. I do make some bomb eggs at least. Are there a lot of graffiti around your neighborhood? No. Do you have a hobby that forces you out of the house? If so, what is it? Nature photography. Would you stop eating meat, if you had to raise and slaughter it yourself? Absolutely. God, I want to go vegetarian again... Besides English, what other languages can you speak? I can speak a very little bit of German. Took four semesters of it in high school and became very good at it, but lack of practice has pretty much ruined that. Besides English, what other languages can you read? I can read German well; as in, I can pronounce most words I see, but that doesn't mean I understand what is written. Do you think you could make it as a chef? Gordon Ramsey would deadass kick me off his show on day one, lmao. What's your favorite kind of tea? It marvels me JUST how many tea and coffee questions are in surveys. Anyway, I don't like tea. I am an embarrassment to NC culture. What thing/person/happening has made you the happiest you've been? lask;dfjal;wekrjwe What's the most freeing thing you've ever done? Stealing my happiness back from someone who had no right to hold it all in its entirety. That shit's mine. Do you think today's kids are really impatient? Most, probably, but in some ways I can understand it - at least, in the sense that with the assistance of modern technology and advancements in satiating our wants so quickly, kids just expect it. I definitely believe that patience is something to try to be deeply instilled in everyone, though. I don't have an ounce of it (in most situations) and wish I did. Have you ever tasted birch sap? No. How about the young buds/shoots of spruce trees? No. Which edible flowers have you tasted? One of my favorite Southern experiences is finding a bunch of honeysuckles and tasting the honey (is it technically even honey??). Tastes amazing. My family's hairdresser lives down a beautiful path that sprouts a massive amount of them, and as kids, my sisters and her two boys would go tasting them while our parents talked for so long, or if we were waiting our turn. Good memories. What has been your worst restaurant experience? I'm not sure, really. What's the most immature, adolescent thing that still makes you laugh? "Inappropriate humor type jokes." <<<< They can get me sometimes, too. Have you ever had a life-threatening condition? If so, what was it? No, thankfully. Have you ever had a custom print done on a shirt? If so, what was it? I don't believe so, no. Besides making a tye-dye one in HS with our school colors. Wasn't my idea and never wore it, haha. Do you ever read other people's survey answers? It depends on the person. If it's a friend, absolutely, because I love learning usually obscure things about them I wouldn't have known otherwise. If it's a user I don't know from wherever I got the survey, sometimes, depending on how short the answer is and my eyes kinda just scroll over it. Do you like daytime or night time better? Why? Daytime, especially mornings. I'm generally happier when there's light around. What's your highest level of education so far? Some college. Describe your ordinary day: My average day is embarrassingly uneventful. It's sitting on the laptop doing shit on various sites, none of which are actually important, and playing WoW, which is also without true substance, save for social interactions with my friends on there. I spray Venus' terrarium everyday multiple times as well to keep the humidity up, and obviously eat and handle that kinda bodily needs stuff. Would you ever have a UV tattoo? Ugh, that'd be so dope. I've seen some awesome ones, but idk if I'd get one, considering when am I actually going to be under UV light?? Like I wanna be able to see my tat. What is the brand and color name of your favorite lipstick? I have one black lipstick, but it comes right off so I don't even like it. I only ever put it on to take pictures. What do you like on your tortilla? Just ham and cheese. How about inside your pita bread? I've never had pita bread, actually. What do you like in your burger? It depends on where I'm getting the burger. My basic is cheese, ketchup, mustard, a bit of mayo, pickles, and a light sprinkle of diced onion, but sometimes I add bacon and take away the onions. How about on your pizza? I have three I tend to pick from: pepperoni, jalapeno, or meat lovers. Do you work better alone or in a group? Alone, definitely. Which body part would you not mind losing? I'ma be extremely honest, with just how horribly weak my legs are, I could live without them, I guess. Not saying I want to by any means, it's just exhausting using them. Ideally, I'd take away something minor, like a finger or something. What common saying people use is absolute BS to you? “'Everything happens for a reason.'” <<<< Fuckin' colossal "same." I won't rag on people who believe it, especially if it gives you courage to keep moving forward, but I don't believe it in the slightest. If it were so, I'd like to talk to whoever is in control of those "reasons," please. What is the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week? I had no idea elephants were pregnant for two years, like holy shit, can you imagine. It was in an article I saw on Facebook about a mother and daughter elephant who are both expecting and doing well. Wonderful to hear. What’s the most useless talent you have? Ha, I'm a master in the arts of catastrophizing and jumping to conclusions involving people hating me in one way or another. What’s something everyone looks stupid doing? I'm one of those people who hate dabbing done by anybody, like you look like you're just smelling your armpit. Which kids’ movie scarred you for life? I wouldn't say "scarred me for life" by any means, but when I was little, I was terrified of the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz and even had nightmares about her. It sucked because my little sister was obsessed with that movie, haha. In one sentence, how would you sum up the Internet? A source of incredible knowledge but also hate and misinformation. What would be the most ridiculous thing for the government to make illegal? I literally dread the idea of Roe vs. Wade being reversed. Banning abortion would kill so many people with operational uteruses and cause absolute pandemonium. How many friends do you have on social media and how many of them do you know for real? On Facebook, I have 124 friends, and I'd say I know most of them "in real life." However, having been on the Internet since I was so young and befriending loads of incredible people, a good chunk are "online friends." Hell, I'm more interested in their lives than most "real" ones. Long-distance friendships are so valid. What fact amazes you every time you think of it? Lots of things, generally regarding the stupidity of humanity. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done? Probably going to the beach w/ my old friend Colleen. We had zero plans of doing it, but she just called me one morning and asked if I wanted to go, and off we went. It was a fun day. What has taken up too much of your life? I'ma be real, WoW. I don't think I'm addicted to it like I once was seeing as I go through spans where I barely want to play it at all and don't, so I truly am capable of not playing it, but rather it's just the most entertaining way to kill time in my life. I just don't like how much time I've invested into a game over six or seven years regardless. Where do you not mind waiting? Uh, nowhere lmao. Is there an app you hate to use, but still use every day? No; why would I use it if that was the case? Who is the funniest person you know? My friend Girt is fucking hysterical. What three words describe you best? Complex, passionate, and creative. What makes you think you’re smart? Lol who says I think I'm smart? Who inspires you? Korean Jesus. Okay on a serious note, not just him, of course, but he's #1 in an entire universe of ways. Do you aspire to be like somebody else? If so, who? No; I want to be my own authentic self. How did you meet your best friend? YouTube, back when it had more social aspects. Which one of your accomplishments are you the most proud of? I want to say my recovery, but like... I wonder a lot if it's "enough" to be proud of with how scarred I still am? I still struggle with a lot and feel like I could be so much better by now if I tried harder. If I'm completely honest with myself, I think it's finishing high school in the top percentile of my graduating class. There was a ceremony for the handful of us and all, and I cherish my plaque probably too much. Reminds me of a time when I knew what the fuck I was doing. What's the strangest thing you ever did as a child? Thinking I had "animal powers" where I could invoke the traits of certain animals at will, like what the actual fuck, Brittany. What did your mother teach you? Christ, a lot. Dad didn't do a lot of the raising, honestly, so much of my core values and whatnot were instilled by my mother. She taught me to care for and be nice to others, respect myself, try my best in everything, and most importantly that she is always there for me and my sisters no matter what and can tell her absolutely anything. She was very serious about us going to college and saving sex for marriage when we were younger, but she diverged from those ideas as absolutely necessary with experience. I'm extremely lucky with who I call my mom, overall. What did your father teach you? Eek... Read above. Not a lot as a kid (save for riding a bike and playing softball); most he's taught me has come following reuniting with him after my parents' divorce. I remember we went to lunch once and talked about my breakup, and he talked to me about sometimes, you just have to let people go in order to be happy, like with him and Mom. He's very serious now about ensuring us girls know that he is always there for us and will help us in any way he's capable. What makes you feel powerful? "Powerful" isn't something I really feel, if I'm being real. What are you ready to let go? It would be inexplicably fantastic if I could let every speck of Jason go in both my head and heart. What is your most bizarre deal-breaker? I don't really find any of my expectations and limits as "bizarre?" They're all valid to me. Well wait, idk if you'd find it strange that I absofuckinglutely would not date someone who hunts, but it's not to me. That's a difference in a very serious value to me. Would you rather be hated or forgotten? Hated. God, I don't want to leave this earth having given just nothing. I can live with some people hating me for whatever reason. What’s the biggest personal change you’ve made? Accepting my bisexuality, probably. That's something that I consider pretty big for two reasons: 1.) I could end up with a woman forever, and especially 2.) I was originally homophobic. I still have difficulty in fathoming how I ever was. What are some of your short-term goals? PHP is finally starting to make me build these again. I want to get better at selfcare, draw, write, and read more, I want to drink a lot more water, exercise way more... Lots of things, really. What is the weirdest thing about you? Uh. I dunno. Probably that I RP meerkats, which is a very obscure RP niche for sure.

[ohwereusingourmadeupnames]

young starker growing up together - maybe their first kiss?

ask prompts 

young starker - a fumbly first kiss

~5.8k words 

It all started in eighth grade. Tony Stark had always been the freaky genius kid. It didn’t take long for the school system to realize that the boy would do nothing but cause trouble anywhere but with people that were close to his mental abilities. At seven, it felt almost neglectful to throw him into the high school crowd – so Tony joined the ranks of eighth graders after a summer spent at space camp. 

He didn’t realize the big deal until he walked into the front doors of the school – this one a little different than the private school he’d been in before. He immediately felt like a shrimp in the bunch and it was obvious that everyone else noticed it, too. The cosmic joke of the day is the top shelf locker – one he has to stand on his very tiptoes to reach. The slam of the damn thing was insanely satisfying, though he didn’t dump his backpack in there like he originally planned. Oh well – what was another thing to carry around? Maybe he could use it as protection when the inevitable bullying came his way.

With the paper schedule clutched between his fingers, Tony walked into his homeroom class – all eyes in the room trained on him. He’d been taught to keep his head held high – his intelligence wasn’t a burden – Tony looked around the room at all the people staring him and immediately noticed a kid that looked almost as small as he was. The boy was amongst the group staring at him – but the look didn’t say disdain, instead, it seemed like he’d finally run into someone that just might be his equal. The only seat was in the corner of the room, a spot that would make seeing the board hard and observing the interesting kid even harder. There wasn’t much time to dwell, though. They immediately started into Algebra II and Tony ducked his head down, completely absorbed in the numbers running through his head.

At lunch, Tony almost chickened out and spent the time spread out on one of the benches he passed on his way into the building earlier that day. The math homework was already done in his backpack, but there were plenty of chapters for him to look over. A thought had him stopping, however – those big doe eyes of the only person Tony saw the entire day that looked remotely close to his age intriguing him. Maybe the lunchroom would be a good place to spot him again.

Reluctantly, Tony steered himself towards where the majority of the classmates he recognized were heading. There wouldn’t be any room at any of the cool tables for Tony – he already knew that. People didn’t like to be outsmarted by someone so young, especially, he found, people that were uncertain of their own intelligence – like most teenagers he was surrounded by. Steeling himself to be the main topic of people’s stares once again, Tony walked into the lunchroom.

Spotting an empty table, Tony took himself to it. It was closer to the back – which meant it probably didn’t attract the people who wanted to be front and center. Maybe, just maybe, he’d picked where that boy sat. A peanut butter sandwich Tony packed himself joined the Sherlock Holmes novel on the table – the boy a master at fading into the background now that he knew how precious anonymity actually was. He was so good in fact, he jumped with surprise when the clatter of a lunch tray sounded next to him. Tony forced his glasses covered eyes up from the page – Watson’s latest quip on hold for a moment. Brown eyes widened when he recognized the messy curls and round nose from class that morning. 

“You’re the only other young person like me I’ve ever seen here,” the boy said, his fingers already working on opening the chocolate milk carton all the way – the chicken nuggets on his plate immediately getting dropped in.

“I am?” Tony asked, his eyes pinching slightly at the corners, his tongue sticking out. “Did you just put chicken nuggets in chocolate milk?” Tony felt exasperated, his stomach and heart in a frenzy. The boy shrugged and shook the carton up. 

“You are. I’m Peter Parker. They said it was weird that a seven-year-old was in eighth grade. So, when I saw you, I figured maybe it’s not so weird after all. And yes – it is chicken nuggets in milk. It’s delicious. You can’t knock it until you try it. Who are you, anyway? How’d you end up here?” Peter – the nameless boy from earlier now affectionately labeled Peter – said without pause, his focus split between the conversation and the chocolate milk-soaked nuggets. The boy spooned one out and placed it on the empty bag that used to house Tony’s sandwich.

Tony eyed the thing for a second before quickly taking a large bite. He figured it would be gross – but then the combined sweet and salty hit his taste buds and he grinned. “That is really good. Gross to look at, but tasty. I’m Tony Stark. I ended up here because I was bored in the school I used to go to. I was getting into too much trouble. I need more – stimulus or something. I guess a room full of teenagers is the perfect amount.” Tony shrugged and finished off the weird chicken nugget, his eyes on Peter.

He hadn’t met anyone so forward before, especially someone that was his own age. “Should we be friends?” Tony asked seriously, his shoulder bumping into the boy next to him. “I used to get beat up a lot at my old school. We could protect each other, or become a tag team.” Tony didn’t really understand the connection he was making in that moment – didn’t quite get that they were creating a lifelong and unbreakable bond. Neither boy did, how could they? How many lunchroom pacts actually manifested into literal lifetimes together?

The boy’s smile widened when Peter nodded his head and looked at him seriously. “Yes, we should. You’re totally right. Sherlock had Watson after all,” Peter replied, his fingers tapping on the cover of Tony’s book. He was smart and knew about Alfred Conan Doyle? He was sure, probably for the first time ever, he’d never met another person like this boy. Tony nodded and held his hand out between them – he remembered his father saying that a deal wasn’t done until there’d been a handshake.

It was satisfying to feel the slightly sticky hand in his own – Tony’s first official friend and fellow comrade. Strength was always greater in numbers – his father told him that, too. Although the man seemed to like to spend more time by himself than with others, Tony figured he had to be right – the instant amount of comfort having Peter agree to be his friend had to mean something.

They spent the rest of that lunch period sharing soggy chicken nuggets and talking about A Study in Scarlett. Tony devoured each of the stories and was making his way what felt like the hundredth time through the book. By then, no one around him wanted to hear him talk about it anymore. Peter did, though – and their conversations easily transitioned into playdates where they’d try to reenact some of the cases. Tony didn’t mind playing Watson, either – which seemed like something he thought he’d never do. When he read the books, he always thought he’d be Sherlock. Yet, when Pete led their investigations, it was just as fun to be the pretend brute force that kept the genius safe. He figured Peter looked better in the old-timey hat, anyway.

Those playdates easily became sleepovers. Late nights together were filled with way too much sugar and hours upon hours of video games – the two staying up so late most weekends that the emptiness of the house on Sundays for Tony was a relief. He got to sleep after Peter’s Aunt May came to pick him up – and then they’d start the cycle all over again. They were quickly getting lost in the magic of online gaming on the state-of-the-art systems Tony’s dad bought when he first heard about his son having a friend over.

The novel concept of online was quickly starting to catch on – and Peter and Tony were avid partakers of it. Most of the time, having a dad that owned a company that was constantly in the news and being talked about for this and that was a little exhausting – but the strength of the internet and the access to all the components of the games they were playing was a definite bonus. Especially when Peter smiled at him while they were playing. A strange feeling settled in the pit of Tony’s stomach every time that happened.

By the end of the year, Peter and Tony were inseparable. When Tony turned eight right before they went into high school together, he and Peter went to Disneyland with the Stark family. He hadn’t been into Disney movies much growing up – they weren’t really anything that interested him. Without explosions or cool cars or really awesome weapons, it was hard to keep Tony’s attention – but Buzz Lightyear in person was pretty hard to not be impressed by. Especially when he took a picture with him and Peter with their arms flexed like strong men – he and his best friend had both puffed up their chests and let out a guttural cry.

Their smiles stayed huge the rest of that day – the two of them playing the horse racing carnival game until they each won one of the little robot stuffed animals. Jeff and Charles (or more affectionately known as Chuck, Tony’s pal couldn’t be *that* stuffy), their newly won friends, rode the rest of the rides with them and when they were sleepily carried back to the hotel, they were nestled safely in the depths of Maria Starks big purse.

Tony kept the robot and a copy of the Buzz Lightyear picture by his bed at night, immediately putting them there when they got home. Any time he got a little scared or couldn’t sleep because there was too much in his head, he’d look over and remember the day they spent wrapped up in the joy of being in the middle of space with a hero – even a made up one.

The next few sleepovers they had after they got back were filled with as many Disney movies as they could get their hands on. Tony’s dad laughed when Tony requested the use of a VCR – but he granted it with ease and watched with a keen sense of interest as the two boys devoured all the classics – Snow White and Sleeping Beauty included. Their play time moved from strictly robots and war planes to include some of the aspects of the great movie plots they watched. Tony wouldn’t admit it, but he liked when Peter played Prince Charming – his friend was perfect for the part, and though Tony didn’t have Cinderella’s life, he never minded playing her. The soft kiss on the cheek Peter took to giving him when he eventually matched Tony’s Nike to his foot was always worth it.

School starting again didn’t feel nearly as daunting for Tony – this year, he’d be entering into it with a buddy by his side – a buddy that was taking all of the same classes as him, a buddy that would be a perfect lab partner and the best person to navigate the high school hallways with. The strange looks they both received when they walked in together were a little easier to handle when Tony could look over his shoulder and see Peter attempting to keep his head held high – maybe if they stuck together, they’d make it out alive.

Tony never felt intimidated outside of the school’s walls – out in the open, people could appreciate intelligence like Tony and Peter both had. After getting back from vacation, Tony’s dad even let them spend time in the Stark Industries labs where they helped a couple of the technicians finish a project they were working on. Those guys seemed to be really impressed by how quickly they worked through the problem – why couldn’t the rest of the world?

Either way, Tony felt more prepared this time around. Though he’d still be the youngest person in their class, the concreteness of Peter’s presence made him feel bigger and stronger than any of the people that might give either of them a hard time.

If Buzz Lightyear approved of them, did anyone else really matter?

----

Things started to change right around the end of high school. For most humans, entering into the adult world happened when a person was an actual adult – but for Tony and thankfully Peter, they were entering into the next step of the world before turning 13. The high school experience was much like the rest of school – pretty boring, quite the time suck, and a little on the terrible side. Tony didn’t spend a lot of time on the receiving end of things that were terrible – he learned early that using his fists was a good way to get people to back down.

Even if the guys were bigger than him, Tony found a way to make sure he was understood. No, most of the terrible stuff happened to Pete and although Tony could throw his fists around for himself, he’d been banned from doing it to protect his best friend. Getting into MIT was the dream and had been since they started high school all that time ago. They already threatened to take back Tony’s acceptance if he had anymore behavioral problems and Peter made it pretty clear that he’d be pretty pissed if he got himself kicked out of MIT before they even got there.

So, Tony did what he could without the use of his fists. Anytime Flash would corner Peter in the hall and start to call him ‘Penis Parker’, Tony swooped in and slipped his arm through Pete’s – the contact with the boy never failed to make him happy, either. “Peter, dear – I think we’re scheduled to blow something up. Shall we?” Tony would joke and Peter always pulled his hand in a little tighter against him. Taking off in the other direction always threw Flash right off. The older boy would taunt and tease until they were out of sight and then they’d take off running down the hall – both boys laughing, the adrenaline of outsmarting someone once again fueling their fire.

Tony’s actions never stopped Peter from getting picked on – he figured he’d have to fix the problem the old Tony Stark way for that to happen. But – Peter always smiled at him gratefully. If only that smile could cure all the things, Tony wouldn’t have to worry about Peter’s safety or how much he wanted Peter to let him take care of it for him. It’d be so easy. No matter how much he wanted to, though – Tony respected Peter. They’d been friends now for what practically felt like their whole lives, he owed him at least that.

One particular event later in their senior year hit the shuffle button on their relationship and fixed the course of where they were going in life together. Up until the mention of prom, Tony hadn’t really thought about feelings. Most kids his age were just stepping into the stage of development where hormones were running rampant – they were set up in a place where exploring those hormones was expected, if not encouraged. Being so young, Tony never paid any of the couples attention in the halls. Sometimes, he and Peter would go down the rows of lockers they knew people were making out against just to point and laugh (because they were pre-teens, after all.)

So, he’d never given much thought to why all of the people around him were always crazed out of their minds, desperate to get their hands on another human being. Until, of course – he saw Peter’s eyes light up across the table from him. For a while, that look gave him the weirdest feeling in the pit of his stomach and he didn’t really understand it. He complained to his mom about it a couple of times – she merely brushed it off as a stomachache and sent him on his way.

Looking over his shoulder to where Peter’s eyes were focused, he understood the feeling a little more. Two guys, the only out couple in their school, were wrapped up in a hug together – one of them, Steve Rogers, was holding a huge balloon and the cheesiest sign Tony figured he’d ever seen. The public prom proposal – a high school cliché. Yet, he felt himself smiling widely, too. Their embrace looked warm from where Tony sat, and their faces depicted so much happiness. That warm feeling in the pit of his stomach came back – his entire core on fire now, not just the middle of it.

Turning back towards Peter, he knocked his hand against the other’s. “They look good together, don’t they?” Tony posed the question casually – though he felt that heat in his insides start to clench, like the answer to this question would be the difference between a complete take over or a total system shut down. Peter’s smile made his toes curl in his shoes – what in the actual heck was happening? And the touch against his arm? He might’ve melted right then and there. 

“Yeah, they do. Prom looks like it might be fun, too.” 

Their eyes met then, and something clicked. Tony sucked in a breath like he’d been knocked on his ass and blinked quickly. “I think so, too.”

And that’s when Tony started to plan.

He still didn’t really understand what the heat he felt every time he looked at Peter meant. They’d been friends since eighth grade and spent most of the days since then together in some way, shape, or form. Getting to spend time with Peter made him happy and when they weren’t together, he anticipated the next time they were. He thought, because that’s what people always called them, that’s what being best friends felt like.

For some reason, though – he couldn’t get the thought of pulling Peter into a hug like Steve and Bucky’s out of his head. They’d given each other tons of hugs before – he’d been there when Peter broke his wrist and cried the entire walk home – Tony hugged him and kept him close the whole time. It didn’t make sense, but – there was a difference. Tony could feel it in his very bones and there weren’t many times his instincts weren’t right. The rotary tool on the front of their robot the previous year had won them the gold at National’s, after all.

Being confused didn’t stop Tony from plotting, though. He used the freedom of having parents that were never around to go through his dad’s lab and collect the necessary tools for his idea. He spent most of his study hall period putting together a rough drawing of the puzzle he was going to build – so the preliminary steps were easy. Over the years, Tony picked up many skills with the welding torch – the puzzle’s manufacturing wasn’t too complicated once he got the pieces put together. He ran into a hitch when one of the pieces wouldn’t open like the rest of them – but he quickly caught the issue in the math and fixed the problem.

The finished product sat before him a few hours after he sat down to put it together, the light from the daytime completely gone – he’d worked the whole day away. Sitting down for the first time in a while, Tony picked up the cube – his eyes roaming over it critically. His confidence in Peter’s intelligence made choosing something like this perfect and he couldn’t wait to see what the other made of it. Tony didn’t really know what this would mean for them, but he liked the way it felt.

It took him a couple of days to work up the courage to break into Peter’s locker and put the cube where he could find it. The first day, he over thought it and almost took the cube apart completely. The next day, he put it in his backpack – and never found an opportune time to actually take it out or do anything productive with it. The turning point came when his mom found him slumped over his porcelain bowl filled with cold Spaghetti-o’s. “Amore, what are you doing?” Maria said, the words startling Tony from his reverie.

He must’ve been sitting there much longer than he figured – his mother didn’t normally get home until well into the evening. The spoon in his hand clattered against the bowl as he turned, his brows creased. “How do you know if something is right, ma? There’s something I want to do, but I can’t decide if I should or not.” The words were out before he could take them back, his face immediately turning red with embarrassment. Did other kids have conversations like this with their mothers? Biting down on his lip, Tony grabbed the spoon again – the metal of it now completely covered in the orangey-red sauce.

“Does it feel right, bambino? If it does, that’s your first clue. You want to do it, so there’s another check off the list. Tony, the fact that you’re so worried about it probably says the most about how right it really is. Take a deep breath and really think. You’ll always do the right thing that way.” She leaned against the counter next to him while she spoke, her critical eyes watching him. For such a smart boy, there was still so much to learn.

Tony met her look for a second and then nodded – his hands pushing him away from the counter before his brain to mouth filter broke down once again. “Thanks, ma. I think that helps.” Before running away, he pressed a kiss to the side of her cheek. Of the two of his parents, Tony could see his mom try the most, so he let her in every now and again. He waited until he was far enough away from the kitchen not to be caught before he let a huge smile slip across his face. Her advice really was helpful after all.

The next day, Tony had Phil drop him off a few minutes earlier than usually. Luckily, Peter’s Aunt May was working the later shift and could take Peter to school – or else his plan would have been a little harder to execute. The need to break into Pete’s locker was moot, they’d been the sole guardian of each other’s lock combinations since they first walked down the Wal Mart aisles and picked them out. He spun the dial in the intricate pattern and let out a little noise of joy when it clicked open – the simple fact that Peter still trusted him was enough to make his decision feel a million times righter.

Placing the cube on the shelf right in Peter’s line of vision, Tony quickly shut it – if he looked at the thing for too long, he might reach back in and pull it out. As fast as the lock was opened, it was once again in place – waiting for Peter to open it himself and find the little prize inside. Sucking in a breath, Tony forced himself to turn and walk the other direction down the hall. He figured Peter would find him in the library like always when he got in for the day.

The door opened not even ten minutes later, and a flustered Peter Parker walked in. “I hate riding in with May, Tony. She’s always running late and makes me eat those super nasty bran muffins. Also, did you put this in my locker?” Peter asked breathlessly, the cube held tightly in his hand. He’d already started working on one of the four side panels – each would open to show the elaborate design he’d etched into the metal. Tony looked up and blinked behind his glasses – the slightly scattered look on his friend making that heat come back, this time with a vengeance.

It felt like a straight punch to the gut and he found himself smiling through it – the wild greatness of it something Tony wanted to get used to. “I told you that Phil and I were in the neighborhood. You know how much riding in with May means to her, though. She’s always complaining about how much she’s working and never getting to see you. And yes, yes, I did. You’ve got to solve all of the puzzles to get it open.” Tony’s smile stretched further, his words making a mischievous look flit through Peter’s eyes.

By lunch time, Tony was bouncing his leg nervously. He made each of the puzzles just hard enough to keep Peter on his toes – and he figured the other would be done with each by now. The small glimpses he could see of the boy across the room made his heart flutter a bit – Peter was hard at work on the second side, a tongue hanging out the edge of his mouth. Their last class right before lunch was the only one they didn’t have together – so Tony was feeling a little antsy. He even stood in the line to buy a gross school lunch to pass the time. They were serving chicken nuggets, though – so he couldn’t be too mad about it. Grabbing an extra chocolate milk for Pete, Tony made his way towards the table they’d been sitting at together for ages – their corner spot always left for them. No one wanted to sit with the weirdo geniuses, anyway. A smile slipped across his face when he looked up on his way over and saw Peter sitting in his normal spot, a Nutella and peanut butter sandwich already securely in his hand.

“Hey Petey,” Tony said in greeting. The other boy looked up at him and grinned, that same look of mischief on his face from before. 

“Hey, Tones. You were pretty clever with that last one. I didn’t get that I needed to press up with the one I solved before to get the final piece to fit. Ms. Russo almost caught me.” Peter’s words were coming a mile a minute, his glasses moving down his nose every time he moved a hand while he spoke. 

Without thought, Tony reached over and pushed them back up Pete’s nose. Whatever was on the boy’s tongue quickly faded away and they were suddenly staring right at each other.

There were a few seconds where they simply looked, Tony’s eyes were roaming all over Pete’s face – the boy desperate to understand what in the actual fuck was happening. Another heartbeat thumped against Tony’s chest, the pulse like the ticking of a clock. “Do you want to?” Tony finally spoke out, his eyes breaking away from Peter’s to glance down at the open cube – the panels each had a couple parts of ‘will you go to prom with me?’ on them, each with a different design he etched into the metal to make the whole thing a cohesive, kind of abstract piece of nerdy art.

Peter picked up the solve puzzle and ran his fingertips gently over it – the touch like one would place upon a small puppy or something that was fragile. That smile that sent warm trails of heat into his core lit up Peter’s face and then the boy was nodding – his cheeks a pink Tony only ever saw when they were in gym class or playing space aliens throughout the SI labs.

“Yeah, I do. I really do. People will probably think it’s weird that we’re there, but I couldn’t imagine going with anyone else. Do you think we could find suits like the ones in Dumb and Dumber?” Tony didn’t try to stop the snort of laughter that bubbled up from his chest – the thought of a powder blue top hat on Peter’s head making his heart ache with that warmth. How the hell could he say no to that? 

“That’ll be the way to be remembered. I’m in. I bet we can get Maria to take us to the tailor. I bet Francisco would have a blast putting those together.”

And when they took pictures together in their powder blue and bright orange tuxedos, Tony couldn’t help but smile his biggest smile. Peter looked ridiculous and totally awesome – he’d let his hair grow a little bit, so it pressed down and curled under the brim of the hat. Together, they looked insane and completely perfect to represent who they’d been throughout their years in high school. The weird kids – the ones that were always together, the ones that no one understood and probably never would. His mom sent him a shot she took on her phone while they lounged in the back of the limo – the sight made him wrap an arm around Peter and shove the phone between them.

“Do we look good, or what?” Tony asked, his stomach filled to the brim with pressure and heat and the slightest bit of pain from laughing too much.  They were back to back, each with a cane in their hand. Their heads were turned towards each other – both boys smiling. Tony could see the brightness in his own eyes, his pupils blown wide from excitement. What surprised him, though, was the same brightness in Pete’s eyes. It was like maybe – well, maybe he wasn’t the only one constantly sitting with a pool of heat in his belly.

The rest of the night together went in typical Peter and Tony fashion. They fucked around with the canes and photo bombed a few too many pictures before settling down and grabbing some punch. Tony took the top hat from his head and wiped at his brow – the thing was cool, but so, so hot. His hair was matted down a little bit and for the first time in probably ever, he worried about whether Peter would mind. Shaking his head, Tony forced himself to focus and downed the punch the other boy handed him.

“Did you see how mad Natasha looked? I hope Clint will send me a copy of the end result of that,” Peter muttered, the noticeable shine in his eye still there, brighter than ever. Tony felt himself laugh; his cheeks irritated from being stuck in a smile for so long. 

“I bet I can get them if he doesn’t. You know as well as I do that the school’s server isn’t very secure. I think we’re lucky we didn’t get our asses kicked, though. Bruce looked like he wanted to punch you in the face but also like he wanted to laugh his ass off.” They were leaned against each other, Peter’s random wandering leading them to the edge of the dance floor into their usual corner.

Of course, the second they started to relax, a slow song started to play. They’d abandoned hats and canes in the corner with their punch glasses and were stupidly dancing to all of the dumb pop songs. Tony couldn’t remember the last time he watched Peter move in any other way than gracefully. He didn’t talk about it much, but Tony knew Peter took dance lessons once a week. A Christmas tradition in the Stark household included watching Peter in The Nutcracker and eating hibachi afterwards to celebrate. Peter looked seamless when he moved, even the choppy way he was slinging his shoulders here and there looked good.

And that’s when it hit him – what the feeling he’d been troubling over actually meant. Peter looked good. He made Tony’s heart race. Tony always felt better in Peter’s presence. All of the sudden, he wanted to lean forward and press his lips against his best friend’s. Tony liked Peter. In the purest of ways, Tony wanted Peter. And, like the stupid person he was, Tony let that sudden realization run straight from his brain out into the open air between them. “I like you, Peter. I really, really like you,” Tony’s voice was a little loud to be heard over the music – but he felt like he shouted those words, like everyone now knew his secret.

Blushing, Tony brought a hand to his forehead and let his fingers run through the sweaty hair there. “I mean – I “ Tony tried to stumble into some sort of explanation, but it was unneeded. 

Peter grabbed the wrist of the hand currently trying to pluck all the hairs out of the front of Tony’s head and held it tightly in his own. “I like you, too. You made me a puzzle. You asked me to prom. I figured it out, Tony. I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t like you, too. You’re my best friend – I’m not going to screw that up.”

Tony’s sweaty palm couldn’t have been comfortable to hold, but Peter didn’t let it go and after a minute or two – Tony nodded, his smile returning. “Want to dance with me, then? I’ll probably step on your toes, though.” 

Peter didn’t answer, he simply pulled Tony’s hands to his waist. “This one is easy, you just kind of shuffle. And hold me close. Don’t forget to do that,” Peter mumbled, his own smaller arms reaching up to wrap around Tony’s neck. They probably looked ridiculous, the insanity of Dumb and Dumber, of young pre-teens in a crowd of soon to be adults – hell, their entire existence was a little ridiculous.

Before the song shifted, Tony leaned forward and let his forehead rest against Peter’s. For now, they were right around the same height – so Peter’s breath brushed against his nose. It smelt like fruit punch and chocolate, a combination of things that were distinctly Peter. The natural way they fell into their first kiss made them both jump back in surprise – Tony’s eyes were wide, and Peter looked comically taken aback. Watching Peter reach up and touch his lip was enough to make it real, though. “Wow,” he mumbled softly, eyes still firmly watching Peter and the many reactions manifesting themselves so prettily.

When they came out of the gym later hand-in-hand, May didn’t say a thing. Tony caught her smiling to herself in the mirror and felt that warmth in his core blossom a little bit. Maybe there was more to that feeling than he first thought.

[stxphxn-strange]

Creating Chaos for the Right Reason | A Shrimp Gremlin Villain!Stephen ficlet

a/n: i finished writing this and decided to post it now that I’m back from hiatus! this is the direct sequel to Looking Forwards, Backwards, Now at You or whatever the prequel to the housewarming party series is called! Stephen basically goes out and puts some people in their place,, and continues the saga of trying to blend shrimp. Also i established that Stephen and Sam have a good rapport bc it’s my story i get to choose the friendships

SoHo, 5:13am

Shrimp Gremlin Lesson #1: Love is great motivation when appropriate. Don’t take this piece of advice out of context.

There was work to be done. Stephen didn’t want to do it, didn’t want to untangle himself from Tony who was finally asleep and at peace. It was probably selfish to leave his partner to wake up alone… but something had to be done and it was better if Tony didn’t know the specifics. He wasn’t opposed to the idea of Stephen getting into fights with some of his coworkers, but that didn’t thrill him either. He didn’t want to cause any conflict but he also never told Stephen *not* to cause a scene. To the Coconut Shrimp Gremlin there was never a bad time to cause a scene where love was involved, and Stephen’s mind was made up: it was time to open a can of whoop ass.

It was time to reluctantly get out of bed and open a can of whoop ass, and hopefully not take too long so that he could surprise Tony with breakfast in bed*. That was the plan. With the mental promise of bagels and relaxation before their housewarming party that night, Stephen reluctantly slid out of bed.

++++

The Avengers’ Compound (Upstate NY), 6:05am

Shrimp Gremlin Lesson #2: If you are going to find your fiancé’s trashy ex, spending forty (40) minutes on looks before you fight him is never a waste of time.

“Colonel Rhodes, if I bribe you with a bagel will you tell me where Rogers is?” Stephen asked.

“I don’t think I need a bribe,” Rhodey replied. “I had a feeling you’d show up sooner or later.”

“I skipped making my shrimp protein shake to get here early… and to avoid waking up Tony. I don’t think frozen shrimp are supposed to go in a Vitamix,” Stephen said. “Alas, here I am.”

Rhodey stared at him for a minute. “Maybe try a NutriBullet. Anyway, Steve is at the park, out for a run with Sam right now, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Stephen nodded and opened a portal. “Thanks Rhodey.”

“If it wasn’t for Tony, I wouldn’t condone whatever you’re about to do,” Rhodey said. “Be careful.”

Stephen nodded and stepped through the portal just as Sam and Steve ran past. Jogging up to Sam, Stephen decided to run backwards and show off a little bit. “Wilson! Good morning.”

“Why are you jogging backwards?” Sam asked. “Should I have gotten you a treadmill with a backwards function as a housewarming present?”

“No… we already have a treadmill,” Stephen replied. “But a gift is required.”

“Don’t go to the party, Sam! He’ll torture you!” Steve “warned.”

Stephen scoffed. “It’s amusing how you can make little torture jokes, as if you didn’t just betray Tony so our mutual enemies would capture and torture him. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong, villain? Tony doesn’t want to be with you anymore because he sees you for what you are?” Steve asked. “Maybe he’ll come crawling back to me, even if I told him I could never love him after what he did.”

Stephen stopped running and flung an arm out to stop Steve and Sam. “Wilson, I need you to let me know when it’s 7:00. I’ll give you a bagel from a good deli in SoHo if you do me this favor.”

“Get an extra for Bucky and we have a deal,” Sam replied.

Stephen nodded, turning his attention to Steve. “Everything Tony did was self defense. You put him in a position where he’d get hurt, and you did so knowingly. I hate to leave him to wake up by himself, but someone had to kick your ass and that someone had to be me. I don’t want you in my house later, I don’t want you at my party but I’m still going to allow you to be in my presence. I won’t, however, let you even try to infringe upon my happiness. Do you understand?”

“Or what?” Steve asked.

“I don’t think you want to know,” Stephen replied. He didn’t want to waste his magic or energy on hurting Rogers, but he didn’t have to know what the sorcerer had planned. Plus, Stephen just found a manuscript of magical pranks that The Ancient One wrote in the 90s, and it was just waiting to be read.

“I don’t think Tony would like the fact that you’re willing to hurt me for him, he still cares about me,” Steve said, obviously trying to get a rise out of Stephen.

“Neither Tony nor I like the fact that you’ll throw him into harm's way for your own benefit. That’s not love—”

“And you know what love is?” Steve interrupted.

Sam, quite literally in the middle of them, was watching the confrontation like a daytime soap opera. The look on his face indicated a longing for popcorn and a cold beverage. He watched, with some trepidation, as Stephen opened his mouth to reply.

“I’m not perfect at love, but I’m trying my best. Do you think I don’t know all of the things you say about me? I don’t think I’m good enough for Tony either, and I tell myself that almost everyday. What’s just happened has made me unsure of myself and my ability to keep him safe, and even though I know how capable he is I just want to protect him from anything that can hurt him. That’s including you and me, by the way, but I’ll be damned if I don’t try to give him the world the way he does for me,” Stephen replied.

An awkward silence stretched out between the three of them, broken by Sam sniffling.

“That was… heartwarming,” he murmured, using Steve’s shirt as a tissue. “You seem like a good guy, Strange, albeit a little… strange.”

“No bagels for you!” Stephen teased. He sighed. “I’m going home. I don’t want to be around Rogers any longer than I have to, and more importantly I want to be with Tony. The dress for the party tonight is smart casual, by the way. Wilson, have FRIDAY order your bagels and breakfast for Rhodey, it’s on me.”

Steve was, blessedly, still silent as Stephen gracefully stepped through a portal into his apartment, a glimpse of Tony’s sleeping face obscured by the closing of the golden circle.

++++

SoHo, 6:42am

Shrimp Gremlin Lesson #3: You don’t have to love someone to feel whole, but the feeling of being loved is quite nice. Stan Tony Stark.

Stephen’s plan was to re-enter quietly and read until Tony woke up, but he blew it by stubbing his toe on the corner of the bed and cursing colorfully.

“What are you doing Steph?” Tony asked sleepily, his head resting against Stephen’s shrimp plush/pillow.

“I stubbed my toe,” Stephen muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed. “How did you sleep?”

“Surprisingly well,” Tony replied, sitting up and snuggling into Stephen’s arms. “What are you up to? Did you try to put shrimp in the blender again?”

“No… but earlier Rhodey suggested a NutriBullet might be the optimal blender for a shrimp protein shake,” Stephen said.

“I’m just going to gloss over the fact that he’s wrong about that for a minute. Did you go upstate?” Tony asked.

Stephen nodded sheepishly. “There were just some things I wanted certain coworkers of yours to know before the party tonight, that’s all. No one got hurt… unless you count Steve’s pride and an under armor workout shirt which Sam used as a tissue.”

“I’m not going to ask about that right now,” Tony muttered. “It’s too early.”

He flopped onto his back again, settling into the nest of pillows on the bed. Stephen quickly changed back into pjs and joined him, pulling Tony close and playing with his hair.

Tony yawned, pressing his head against Stephen’s chest to listen to his heart. “Your heartbeat is good music to sleep to,” he murmured.

Stephen blushed. “You say the sweetest, most nonsensical shit when you’re falling asleep. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Tony replied, tracing a heart on Stephen’s cheek. “You know I love you and trust you with everything that I am and have, right?”

Stephen nodded, even as the motion was a bit awkward with Tony’s hand on his face. His eyes were watering up and he gave Tony a soft kiss. “Yeah, I do.”

“Good,” Tony said, smiling and snuggling closer to Stephen. “One last thing before I go back to sleep: shrimp is not meant to be blended.”

“Says who?” Stephen retorted, giggling to himself. “You’re probably right though.”

“I’m always right,” Tony whispered. “Now shh, I need my beauty rest before the party tonight.”

Stephen smirked. He was about to say something about Tony inventing beauty, but a soft snore indicated that he was gone already and wouldn’t hear it. Not to worry, Stephen planned on shamelessly telling Tony that as soon as they woke up later.

Tags: @stark-strange-love @chocopiggy @dinodaddy65 @ayyy-its-an-idiot

https://ironic-iconic-strange.tumblr.com/post/618044046100873216/looking-forwards-backwards-and-now-at-you-a (read looking forwards, backwards, and now at you here^)