#I had a brain worm of an idea for a quick one shot that would not leave me alone | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thewordisbanana · 3 months ago

Text

Slow It Down

I was listening to Slow It Down by Charlie Puth and the lyrics wormed themselves into my brain and all I could think of was Johnny so now this exists.

This got away from me a bit and I'm not even sure it's about the song anymore buttttttt uuhhhhh... 4.9k words later we have this

Johnny x f!reader // mdni // p in v sex // smut and fluff yippeee //

He was just supposed to be a simple one night stand. A body to provide a little warmth and a little fun for the night and then be someone you would never have to see again. He didn’t seem to agree though. He had attached himself to you like a leech, wormed his way into your brain and that’s exactly why you’re still sharing a bed three days later.

Your friend was throwing a little birthday party at one of the local pubs and admittedly, you had a few too many drinks. How couldn’t you? It was the first time you had seen her in months after becoming swamped with your new job. The stress from your packed schedule was reason enough to drink, but having a good time with her was a must. She was awfully persuasive, making you take a shot after every song she deemed was her favorite.

After a quick trip to the bathroom to fix yourself up you made your way back to the dance floor. Finally feeling perfectly fuzzy around the edges, you were confident enough to let go and dance in whatever way the music led you too. Surrounded by your friends you found it easy to feel the music, your hips swayed, hands in the air, running the tips of your fingers through your hair. The alcohol buzzing through your system leading you to close your eyes and just experience the beat.

It wasn’t long until you felt a presence behind you. Assuming it was one of your friends, your drunk addled brain led you to step back to dance against them. You were slightly startled when hands found your waist, their rough calloused fingers gently settled on the exposed skin your body suit provided.

“Gonnae give a man ideas dancin’ here like tha,” his breath hit the shell of your ear as he spoke. His deep scottish brogue made your skin tingle. As you tuned your upper half you were met with a dangerously charming smirk and blue eyes that reminded you of the deepest parts of the ocean.

You swallowed, trying to fight the blush creeping up on your cheeks. He was alarmingly handsome, and from the way he seemed to look at you he was also deeply interested. Perhaps some extra stress relief was in the cards for you tonight.

Instead of replying you simply went back to dancing. He grunted quietly as your ass worked itself against his front.

You danced like that for a while and he swayed to the music with you. His hands moved themselves from their firm hold on your hips to be wrapped loosely around your waist.

When the song ended he let you go, freeing you to turn around fully. You did so with a bit of a sway, now able to look at him fully. You caught sight of his broad shoulders first, the way his black shirt hugged his muscles. Eyes tracing up to the way his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, then to his face.

His eyes were making their own way up to your face, he had clearly taken his time looking you over just as you did with him. The corners of his lips quirked up into a slight smirk as he caught you paying attention to his features.

“Ye dance like tha’ on every lad ye meet?” he leaned down towards you, tilting his head as he spoke. He had to raise his voice over the music and chatter around you.

If it wasn’t for the alcohol in your system you weren’t sure you would’ve responded. Hell, if you hadn’t drank tonight you wouldn’t be on the dance floor at all. But with this handsome man paying you attention and your confidence spiking you figured you would see how far you could get with him.

“Only the pretty ones,” you return his smirk, pulling some of your hair behind your ear as if it would help you hear him better.

His eyes fluttered before widening a fraction, his smirk softening into a smile. He held out a hand, putting the other behind his neck as if he had been reduced to nothing but a nervous boy.

“Ah’m Johnny by the way,” he said almost too quietly for you to hear. You knew that he paused to wait for you to give yours, but you had a better idea in mind.

“I’ll give you mine if you get me a drink,” you responded with a slight glint of mischief in your eyes. You set your hand in his, moreso holding it as opposed to going for a shake.

You couldn’t hear, but you could tell from the way his shoulders bobbed that you got a chuckle out of him.

“Cheeky lass,” he shook his head and tightened his grip on your hand before walking off towards the bar with you in tow.

As you walked you realized that this was the first time in a long time that you felt some sense of control. With how crazy your work schedule had gotten, life had been slipping away for a while. This felt nice, oddly calming. You could finally get some sense of relief, and you were also excited from this man who already seemed to be wrapped around your finger.

He walked you up to the bar, finding a spot that had just enough room for the two of you to squeeze in. He flagged down a bartender who’s eyebrows raised and finished off making a drink before heading over to the two of you.

“Ah’ll take whatever lite ye have on tap and for miss…” he trailed off, looking to you for your answer.

Your eyes locked with Johnny. You finally gave him your name, then you turned your gaze to the bartender. “I’ll take a martini, dirty, please,” you gave the bartender a smile before your eyes were brought back to Johnny’s.

He said your name back to you, testing the way it sounded coming from his own vocal cords. “Dirty, aye?” he chuckled at the way you rolled your eyes.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that,” you gave him a small, genuine smile. “You buy drinks for girls often?”

He turned around to rest his back against the bar. “Only the pretty ones,” he said and gave you the same cocky smirk you gave him, earning a snicker from you and a slight blush.

You couldn’t help but find yourself joining him in leaning against the bar. You looked out and watched the crowd, landing on your friends and seeing how they didn’t even seem to notice your absence. You’re not sure when he managed to move his arm around you, but it was there now, gently tugging you towards his chest. You obliged, talking a half step closer to him and leaning into his side.

Once your drinks came you stood like that for a while, taking genuine interest in each other’s lives. You learned that he was on leave from the military, that he was on some elite task force or whatever that meant. He learned about how you were burnt out from work, barely having time to yourself. It was nice, having a genuine conversation with someone outside of work or your parents on the phone.

“Ach, gotta be getting ye tae bed here soon then, huh?” He asked with a teasing head tilt.

You smacked his chest playfully before setting your empty drink on the table. He gave you an opening to ask for what you wanted, and who were you to deny yourself?

You hummed, keeping your eyes on the dance floor before you, “No, too lonely in my bed all by myself,” you uttered with a shrug.

There was a rumble in his chest, you could feel it against your shoulder. His head dipped down, forehead resting against your temple, his nose brushing your cheekbone.

“Ah’d be more than willing tae keep ye company. Cannae have ye getting cold all alone under yer wee covers.”

His response made your breath stumble over itself in your throat. You shifted against the bar, turning to face him, bringing your face close enough that you could see the small freckles on his face and the way his eyes were half lidded while looking at you. Well, they weren’t looking you in your eyes, they were trained on your lips.

“Gonna kiss me, Johnny?” You whispered, part of you was almost nervous to see what he would do. He was practically frozen in time after you asked and you were wondering if he was just going to ignore you and move on or pin you to the bar and consume you whole.

He settled somewhere in the middle, leaning forward that last bit to slot his lips against yours. A quiet grow came from his throat as he took your face in his hand, you could tell by the way his fingers were trembling he was holding back.

You placed one hand on his neck and the other on his bicep before working your lips against his. He shifted forward, pressing you ever so slightly into the bar behind you. The move caused a slight moan to slip out of you, parting your lips just enough for him to slide his tongue past your teeth to get a taste.

Suddenly, he pulled his head back, watching the way your eyes slowly opened as you pouted from his sudden absence.

“Easy lass, go let yer friends know yer headin’ out and then meet me by the door, yeah? Gotta close out my tab.”

You nodded and quickly slipped through the sea of bodies to find your friends right where you left them. You told them your situation, quickly kissing cheeks and hugging before making your way off of the floor as quickly as you could because they started cheering something about you getting laid.

You spotted his mohawk by the door and made your way to him. He held the door open for you as you exited, letting his hand come to rest on the small of your back and guide you out.

“Ye drive?” he asked, turning his head towards you.

You shook your head, “No, took an uber.”

With a nod he switched directions, leading you to the passenger door of a navy blue truck. The color reminded you of the way his eyes shifted when you asked him if he was going to kiss you. Thinking back to that moment made your face warm and your core even warmer.

He opened the door for you, helping you up into the truck. As he slid into the driver's seat he plugged his phone in and handed it to you. “Throw the directions tae yer bed in there for me lass,” he said as he turned his headlights on and started the truck.

You put your address into the GPS and chatted with him on the short drive back to your house. If this wasn’t a one night stand you would think you were with a man you were dating, he made you feel so calm and content.

When you pointed out your place he pulled off to the side and put the truck in park. He got out and opened your door for you, helping you out.

Right after he shut the car door he leaned down once more, pressing his lips to yours with a bit more fervor this time. You took a step back, letting him press you fully to the side of the car. He was certainly not holding back now, his lips moved on yours like you were a meal set to be devoured. His hands found your waist, kneading the flesh beneath his hands as he dipped his tongue in for a taste once more.

You felt like you were going to melt into a puddle right here on the street. It didn’t help that you could feel his hardening cock through his jeans, straining against the fabric as he slotted a knee between your legs.

The sudden pressure made you jerk a bit, a shaky moan escaping your mouth and being fed right into his own. He hummed against your lips, pressing his knee just a little harder against your weeping core before stepping back and pulling a whine from you.

“Sorry, couldnae help myself. So fuckin’ addicting,” he said before licking his lips, trying to remind himself of the taste he just removed himself from.

You slipped your hand into his, leading him down the path to your house. As you fumbled with the keys to the door he leaned down to whisper in your ear, “‘m willin’ tae bet yer pussy’s gonna be just as addicting.” His hand bunched the back of your body suit in his fist before releasing you as you finally got the door open.

You both shuffled in, and you were just able to get the door shut and locked before he was on you again.

Lips were pressed against one another, hands were balled in fabric and hair, and you were sure your body was buzzing enough to be recognized as an electric current.

“Bedroom… is… straight down… mm… the hall” you managed to mutter between increasingly sloppy kisses.

He wasted no time, picking you up by your hips and wrapping your legs around his waist. You pressed hot, wet, opened mouthed kisses down his jaw to his neck. You could have sworn you heard him whine at the sensation.

“Fuckin’ hell lass,” he grunted as he pushed your bedroom door open, walking over to the bed and dropping you down on it unceremoniously.

After your back hit the bed he stripped himself of his shirt. You watched with anticipation as every inch of skin was revealed to you. Corded muscle stacked on top of corded muscle graced your gaze as you explored him with your eyes. His skin was littered with big and small scars. A story for another time you figured, you had business to attend to.

He moved to take off your leggings before pausing and waiting for permission. You nodded and he made quick work of them, slipping them off before hooking his fingers into your flats and pulling them off too. You worked on the buttons of the body suit, quickly undoing them so he could help you pull it off.

He muttered a quiet string of curses as he saw you, clad in nothing but a bra and your panties. His hands found his belt, and as he worked on his pants you got your bra unclasped and tossed to some foreign part of the room. He crawled onto the bed, joining you as you both lay there and nothing but your underwear. The outline of his cock was well pronounced, making itself known against the fabric.

“Not just a pretty face, gorgeous fuckin’ body too. Holy hell,” he mumbled as he returned your kisses from earlier, making a wet trail from your neck down to your pert breasts.

Johnny took one of your nipples into his mouth, sucking and swirling his tongue around it. With the other hand he massaged your other breast, making sure they each got their own love. You watched him with rapt attention, your back slowly arching itself off of the mattress as you thread your hand through the hairs of his mohawk. He moaned when you tightened your grip on the locks after he sucked particularly hard.

He hummed as he made his way down your body, treating it as if you were his personal goddess to be worshipped.

When he was met with the fabric of your panties he looked up at you. “Let me taste her, lass. Ah’m dyin’ tae ken.”

“Please,” you all but whined.

He hooked his fingers under the garment, pulling it down quickly but making sure not to rip it.

“Pretty, pretty pussy,” he murmured, seeming to be saying it to himself more than he was saying it to you.

He shifted himself on the bed, bringing your legs up over his shoulders before licking a slow, languid strip up your slit. Your gasp was like music to his ears and he simply needed to hear more.

Suctioning himself to your clit he started slowly by gently swirling his tongue against it before working you up to where he wanted you. With only a few seconds of this slow teasing and a needy whine from you he moved back to your slit. He prodded your slicked hole first before dipping in for a taste. The sounds that escaped both of you at the feeling were straight out of a porno.

“Holy fuck, Johnny!” you cried as you brought your fingers to his hair once more. He hummed against you before bringing his thumb to your clit, massaging it in tight circles while he worked his tongue against you.

You didn’t have the capacity to be embarrassed about the fact you were already so close. Every single one of his movements sent burst after burst of pleasure through you that you couldn’t focus on anything else.

He pressed a finger against your folds just below where his tongue was working so diligently. “Please bonnie, need tae feel ye cum on my fingers. Ah need tae taste yer sweet cum, bonnie please,” he begged.

How could you deny him when he begged so nicely. He slowly pressed his finger into you, and after a slight curl that coil in your stomach tensed and then snapped, sending you into a cry of pleasure as your orgasm rammed into you.

A few moments of pure, white hot bliss passed by before you had realized he was kissing you again. He was consuming your moans just as you thought he might have consumed you against the bar.

You weren’t sure when he got his boxers off, but you could feel his hard cock pressing against your thigh.

“Please,” you whined against his lips. You wrapped your hands behind his neck, locking your legs around his hips as the head of his cock moved to notch itself at your entrance.

“Please what?” he whispered.

“Please, Johnny, want you to fuck me, please,” you pleaded as you managed to pry your eyes open.

You were met with his darkened blues, the ones that matched the shade of his truck.

With a slight motion forward he pressed into you, introducing a burning stretch that quickly turned to pure pleasure. He worked his way inside you, taking it slow and waiting for you to give him the okay to feed you more.

When he was halfway in his head dipped to your shoulder. “Steamin’ jesus, bonnie. This pretty cunt o’ yer’s is gonna kill me.” And with that he jolted forward, bottoming out and grinding himself against your clit.

“John-Johnny holy shit!” you cried as he hummed against your skin. He pressed a kiss to your neck as he waited for you to adjust after suddenly becoming so full. “Need you to move Johnny. Fuck… please,” you begged.

And Johnny did not disappoint. His body trembled much like how it did when he first kissed you, he was holding back again. You felt as his restraint left him when he moved to kiss you. He began to thrust quickly, a stark contrast to all of his slow movements from before.

The thrusts started shallow at first, he wanted to make sure you were properly adjusted before he gave fully into his own needs. It didn’t take long for his thrusts to become longer and more purposeful.

The sounds he was making in your ear as he rested his forehead against your temple were a combination of low grunts and growls with near needy whines. You met him with your own moans, he was pulling them out of you like a thread gets pulled from its spool.

His thrusts quickly became sloppy and he whined in your ear, “Can Ah cum in ye, please? This cunt’s too good Ah can’t-”

“Yes!” you all but yelled, “I’m on the pill, fuck, yes.” The words came out quick as his thrusts became borderline forceful after your confirmation.

His hips stuttered as he let out a long stream of curses and random mutterings you couldn’t quite pick out due to his grunting. His hips met yours and he stopped, you could feel him twitch in you as he spilled himself within your gooey walls.

“Johnny, Johnny f-fuck!” you cried out as you too were tumbled off the edge partly from his pleasure alone and partly from the way the blunt head of his cock slammed against your walls.

Johnny slowly lowered himself down onto you, bracing himself on shaky elbows so as to not crush you. As you slowly came down from your high you gently ran your fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp idly. He let out a contented hum, the sound was almost purr-like.

The both of you laid there, in blissed out silence for minutes, just enjoying the warmth of another person for as long as you could. You felt him move, opening your eyes to watch him shift back onto his knees and slide out of you with a slick sound.

“Where can Ah find a towel for ye?” he whispered quietly, as if he would startle you by speaking at a normal volume.

You pointed to a closet across the room. “Top shelf,” you murmured before sitting up slightly.

He came back across the room, gently cleaning you with a towel before tossing it somewhere near your hamper. “Ah’ll get it in the mornin’,” he hummed before pulling back your covers and tucking you both in.

He nestled himself right behind you, wrapping an arm around your midsection. You almost wanted to beg him not to leave tomorrow, to stay with you for a while, but honestly neither of you were in the position to sustain something longer than tonight. With that thought creeping itself into your head you shut your eyes, basking in his warmth while you could.

~~~

When you woke to your alarm the next morning the bed was empty, save for you. You leaned up to find all of the clothes that were haphazardly tossed around last night were all cleaned up and in the hamper. With a sigh you tossed your legs over the side of the bed and got up to start your day, the soreness from your shenanigans last night not lost on you.

As you made your way into the kitchen you saw him there, hip notched against the counter and drinking coffee.

His eyes lit up as you came in. “Ah made ye coffee.” He slid a mug across the counter towards you. “Oh, an’ Ah made ye some eggs an’ toast!” He spun around, grabbing a plate and setting it in front of you.

“Johnny, this-”

He cut you off with a wave of his hand. “What, ye think Ah’m just gonna leave ye cold and alone in yer bed? No’ the type of lad Ah am Ah’m afraid,” he said with a wink.

Shaking your head with an almost amazed smile on your face you walked over to the food and coffee. You tried both, and while they were nothing special, the thought alone warmed your heart.

Johnny got closer to you as you ate, eventually settling behind you, caging you against the counter. He rested his chin against your shoulder, watching you eat your food. The food he made you.

As you finished he peppered feather light kisses against your neck. They were cute at first, but you had to start getting ready for work… and he had to go, you couldn’t open up to something that isn’t set up to succeed in the first place.

You tilted your head, pinning it to your chin and nudging his head out of the way. His hands were already gripping the hem of your shirt. He was primed to go again.

You pulled away a bit, turning around in his arms. “Johnny, we can’t”

His brows furrowed and his head tilted to the side like a curious dog, “Why no’?”

“Because I have to go to work, and this-”

He cut you off once again before you had the chance to deny him, “Ah’ll drive ye tae work. That way Ah can pick ye up after.”

The second you went to protest he leaned down, trapping your lips in a searing kiss, one that momentarily made you forget why you were even protesting in the first place.

He hummed, running a hand through your hair before releasing you. “Go on, get ready. Ah’ll get the truck all warmed up.” With that, he pressed a kiss to your temple and walked out the door with his keys.

You met Johnny by the door after you got ready and he held out your jacket for you to slip into. Without a word you let him help you into it before he ushered you out to his truck.

~~~

True to his word he drove you both to work and was waiting outside to pick you up once you were done. He was sweet, syrupy sweet, and you weren’t sure how to feel about it. There was no way in hell you would be able to make something like this work with him being in the military, you’re not sure you could handle that. So why the hell were you sitting in his passenger seat coming up with scenarios in your head about dating a guy you had met not even 24 hours ago?

You were quiet, emotionally distant while in the car with him. This whole predicament was a can of worms you didn’t want to open.

He pulled off to the side out in front of your house again and led you to your door. You turned to look at him after you got it open. “Look, Johnny, I appreciate you doing all of this for me, I really do. But I’m not so sure-”

God. At this point you should honestly start preparing yourself for this. He cut you off once again for the third time today. Once again it was with his lips covering yours. He quickly hoisted you up, shutting your door with his heel before walking you over to your couch.

Setting you down on the plush cushions he broke the seal of your lips with a content growl. He kissed down your jaw before dropping to his knees, slotting himself between your legs without much resistance.

“Been thinkin’ about this pretty little cunt all day, bonnie. Need tae taste ye again,” he said without breaking eye contact with your covered mound. He made quick work of the buttons of your slacks, pulling them down past your knees and letting gravity do the rest of the work.

You would be lying if you said you weren’t thinking about last night all day at work, and as much as you wanted to stop him, to stop this before it became something unmanageable, you couldn’t find it in you to get him to quit.

Johnny hummed at the sight of your dampened panties and he dove right in…

After some reciprocated affection you found yourselves bundled up under a blanket on your couch, eating take out and watching some old comedy movie. You were wrapped up in his arms, barely paying attention to the movie as your mind replayed his grunts and moans over and over again in your head from when you sucked him off earlier. Some deep down part of you thought this was nice, that this was something worth holding on to.

~~~

Johnny picked you up from work once again the next day, insisting that you came over to see his place. Reluctantly, you obliged, packing yourself an overnight bag and leaving it in his truck.

When he brought you to his place it was quite quant. Little sections of memorabilia and trinkets that you could only assume came from his missions. His kitchen was a little cluttered, but you figured he hadn’t been spending much time here over the last two days so who were you to judge?

You got into bed with him, cuddling under the covers until your cuddles became heated touches, then turned into you making out. You sat, straddling his hips as your lips worked with each other in unison. Johnny let out quiet sounds of rugged pleasure as your tongue explored his mouth, making sure to map out every section. He sucked idly on your tongue as his hands found the curve of your ass. Roughly massaging the flesh as his tongue made its way past yours and infiltrated your mouth.

After a while of making out he pulled back. Your lips felt puffy and they buzzed with your pulse. He looked into your eyes and gave you a cheeky grin. “Need tae shower.” He shrugged, sliding you off of him.

“Okay,” you said quietly, confused by his sudden decision to shower right this second.

You sat there for a moment as he got up and started undressing, you figured now was a decent time to tell him that this all should probably stop, that you two shouldn’t continue this fun escapade you’ve both been on the past two days.

Taking a breath, you opened your mouth, and right as you were about to speak he filled the silence, not giving you the chance to speak, “Ye gonna join me? Too lonely in my shower all by myself,” he said with a shit eating grin.

Okay… maybe you could find a way to make this work after all.

~~~

Uhhhhhhhhmmm yeah so there’s my thoughts for the day

#call of duty #cod mw2 #john soap mactavish #soap x reader #soap smut

73 notes · View notes

solarzilla · 4 months ago

Text

Fate brain worms were keeping me up last night so I also had thoughts on how a King Kong heroic spirit could work. Since most Kongs are shorter than godzilla and in-turn shorter than Kingprotea, he could actually have an easier time fitting in Chaldea, with his shortest height being 7.62 meters tall from the 2005 movie. A way to be meta with his look is that he could start out as his actual stop motion model but blown to actual in-universe size, though magecraft would be used to help move like the actual process. Besides the abilities that come from being a giant gorilla, I had thought of him having the ability to shapeshift to other clay-based creatures from the 1933 movie. Kong also shown to have an affinity for electricity, so he doesn't just have to rely on brute force. If in-game ascensions were incorporated, his second form could be his Toho Showa suit or his suitmation look from the 76 film, so you would put my earlier Godzilla idea here but though he could eventually go full "flesh and blood" as like Godzilla, he eventually went full cgi. Feel like he can go from Berserker to Ruler and Avenger. His noble phantasm could either involve the planes that had originally shot him down, this time being turned on a enemy, or signature jaw breaking move.

Some other quick ideas for toku characters being Servants are Godzilla 1998/Zilla, and my first-Class idea for him was Pretender & Alter Ego. An easy one could be that it starts with him being Godzilla and eventually identifying as Zilla as his 98 self and the one used in Final Wars are technically separate characters. Though a more positive spin is that he starts out as the Zilla character but its eventually shown that he is the Godzilla Junior from the Animated series which was much more liked compared to the movie and having more qualities aligned with the Big G. I've also thought of Rhedosaurus having a similar class, as it was the big reptilian monster before Godzilla was a thing and would inspire the creation of the latter & Gamera as well. As for Gamera, he could also have my suit idea though ironically his Showa self is actually taller than Godzilla tho his shortest is 30-35 meters, a bit similar to Kingprotea. Feel like he could be an Avenger or Ruler as he is primarily the guardian of Earth and children, though maybe he can get a Saber classification due to his elbow spikes, as well as Rider since he uses his shell to get around. Feel like his NP can range from his Banishing Fist, Ultimate Plasma, or a Self-Destruct which ironically mirrors Burning Godzilla. Well thats it for now, will try to think of other stuff for guys like Ultra, Rider, and any Rangers

#fate grand order #fate #fate series #fgo

9 notes · View notes

covenofagatha · 2 months ago

Note

miss covenofagathai am so so excited for psych prof! agatha! her talking about the power element + reader ALREADY pining (just like me fr) and going for someone who smelled like her.... oh my goddd. your writing is phenomenal as always and it is SUCH a pleasure to read. agatha's character is always so accurate and the way you describe things without it feeling too wordy,,, you truly are an incredible writer dear 💜

my exam was on the formation of new varieties of english around the world! things like chinglish (mandarin chinese and english), hinglish (hindi and english) etc. pretty sure i flunked it but hey! no time to dwell when i have another exam on the coming tuesday lol.

also DOG! please share photos if you're comfortable, if not please share the breed! im a dog person and i might just keel over at the thought lol. hope you had a wonderful time with your family!

now, questions for you: what's your favourite trope(s)? things like found family, professor trope, jealousy trope, etc etc. these can be for writing or reading, for angst/smut/fluff and the like! also, out of pure curiosity, please would you rank the coven members (rio, billy, agatha, jen, lilia, alice, sharon) 😆 on any metric, it could be how much you'd like to (get) fuck(ed) (by) them, how good you think they would navigate mobile phones, etc. I'd just like to know any headcanons you have <3

of course, do take care of yourself and all the best for your studies! remember to stay hydrated dear 💜

-lots of love, worm anon

THANK YOU 💜 psych prof!agatha has already taken over my brain completely and I am so so excited for this

That sounds so cool! And that's a bit of a quick turnaround so make sure to study

Hmm my favorite tropes are probably professor (I've had a thing for a teacher too many times lol), can't go wrong with jealousy, enemies to lovers (I had an idea for an agatha x reader where one of them works at a religious school and the other opens a sex shop near it and it's like one sided enemies to lovers lol) but I tend to stay away from anything that's too angsty (both or writing and for reading tbh)

Because I can't think of anything else I'll rank them off how many shots I'd have to take to hook up with them (minus Billy)

Sharon: probably like five shots because she's just a sweet old lady

Alice: three shots, she's a cutie and would also be so gentle I think

Jen and Rio: two shots just for confidence because they're a little scary (in a good way)

Lilia: one shot lowkey miss girl can get it

Agatha: stone cold sober

DOG! He's a cavapoo and soooo small and adorable I love him so much here's him sitting like a good boy

Take care of yourself too 😘 lots of love as always

#asks #worm anon

14 notes · View notes

the-firebird69 · 2 years ago

Text

Watch "Sicario: Day of the Soldado: Miguel assassinates Alejandro (HD CLIP)" on YouTube

youtube

In this season they killed Alejandro and that's John remillard, that a boy do it and he hates him and it's not his grandson. Well it is it doesn't care about him but the woman in the car is Lily and they knifter in the spine he revives her. And later is killed by Lily. But you do see Alejandro shoot Sarah but she comes back as does Lily and Jason. There's a moral to the story that's far what we're talking about number one is do not sit on her son and threaten him or you did meat. The second one is don't sit there doing it until your army is gone so your daughter dies fully and you get shot in the head more than anybody's ever been shot in the head before this freaks been shot in the head twice this week. And he's a worm okay this guy is a real disgusting person and we don't want him around. He's a pain in the ass okay and a low life and a loser just nobody who flops around more and loses more stuff from this realm than him he's an amazing loser is sitting next door annoying people it just sit there tolerating this piece of crap. Sylvia gets hit in cesario and then he comes back but he also shot Dan and Dan is in this movie and he shoots Silvio like 50 times and he just keeps coming back the same guy one day he said he's going to finish it Sean look 100 times and they brought him back I mean it's disgusting the guy's brain is gone he's a totally idiot. And this is what's going on all the time here just just a pile of wild cards around our son he will threaten for tons of stuff and it fails. Sarah comes back a few times, but she is eventually killed and in a very bad way in by cannibals. Our son has seen the movie had no idea who she is. It's one of the most repulsive scenes you'll ever witness and you guys play it out quite often and you deserve to do it to each other but this one reason why we don't want you near our son

Thor Freya

The meeting went well afterwards well most of them can't hold anything they're deciding all sorts of things to do about the meeting and the plan and more and are nuts most of them are completely insane the max can't hold their breath anymore and they're saying we need to eradicate them these fools don't care about anything and they're completely gonzo

That's what we're saying they ran home and started forming ranks to try and take over they could have stopped attacking and started populating we probably would have led them but now they have no use what they're doing is just trying to break in and take over everything and bja live the way and I'm really tired of this guy Tommy f what you are sacrilegious f** you suck so bad what you're saying to people is illegal and you look like Anakin by the way and we know what happens to BGA he's playing Luke Skywalker and disappears off skelleg is incinerated instantly and it's for having a friend here walk up the silver mountain

Mac daddy

And a lot of other stuff you're a big mouth bja you're a nasty piece of s*** and you deserve it

Daniel

You're so evil and nasty to him you're such a prick you decide to get the truth out there and now that we saw that you're dead in the movie you guys you freaks just sit there doing whatever you want cuz you say you're dead you end up dead faster. It's almost sad to see you go some of you know you're horrendous and he says it too when you're in the natural form you go on saying it and it's gross you don't have a heart or a memory or you don't have any skill what are you going to do two little girls are going up to him and trying to touch him or something and she moves away quick and they're kind of laughing at him and it says look and moves means he was going to say what are you doing and that kind of stuff you look like you're 10 years old it's disgusting who the hell would fall for something you can't fall for it's really weird you know how about a drink I mean you know let it start there but you're not doing anything like it and he says I have warts. Sign something to see something why don't you look at like the plague and really if you ever had worse they're hard to get rid of and we need to help him with it it's a sickness it's not that bad but a lot of people are afraid of him touching them and he doesn't care at all except for the worst or a pain sometimes they're painful and it's got too many of them and we know the curious you don't let him have it and discuss the assholes

#Youtube

0 notes

helpimhyperfixating · 4 years ago

Text

Mother’s Day - Jotaro x Reader

Is it mother’s day? Absolutely not, but people are nice to me so here is a cute fic

Word Count: 1844

Stretching softly in your barely awake state, you softly reached your hand to your right, only to sleepily open one eye. Your husband wasn't sleeping there where he usually would be.

Shrugging it off, you just rolled onto your right side and curled a little in on yourself, missing the warmth he usually gave you. Did you steal his warmth every day and bully him by putting your freezing cold feet and hands on him? Yes. Did you regret it? No. Did you wish he was here now so you could put your freezing feet under his shirt and on his stomach or back? Absolutely yes.

While musing about your cold feet however, you already slowly drifted off to sleep again. It was Sunday, there was no reason to get up.

- - - -

Tapping on your nose and cheek suddenly brought you out of dreamland, making you groan softly.

"C'mon, Jojo. Wake mommy." You heard that being whispered in the familiar voice of your husband, followed by an attempted hushed giggle. Your cheeks were then grabbed and squished together into a fish face, making you groan once more as you rolled onto your back.

Slowly opening your eyes, you were met with the adorable sight of Jotaro holding Jolyne, his hands on her torso as he held her hovering over you while she held the biggest of smiles, having her hands on your cheeks as she kept smushing them together repeatedly.

A distorted chuckle left your lips and Jolyne was set onto your stomach, making her let go of your cheeks. "Morning." You sleepily drawled. You never really were a morning person.

Jolyne's bubble seemed to be unable to hold and, as she practically vibrated of excitement while she sat on your stomach, it burst. The little girl flung herself forward, practically knocking the wind out of you while wrapping her arms around your neck and burying her head into the pillows behind you, screaming, "Happy Mama Day!"

Shocked, you automatically put your arms back around the girl, hearing Jotaro softly chuckle from besides the bed. "'Mother's Day' Jolyne, it's Mother's Day."

"Oh." Jolyne sat up, now sitting on your chest as she looked down at you. "Happy Mother's Day!" She shouted, shooting her hands high up into the air as if in a 'tadaa and surprise!'

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise and you looked to the left to see Jotaro with a rare soft smile on his face, now holding a tray. Honestly, you had no clue that Mother's Day was even coming, so to say you were surprised was an understatement.

"What's all this?" You asked, the disbelief audible in your voice, making both Jolyne and Jotaro grin a little wider.

"Surprise." Jotaro spoke softly before leaning down and pressing a kiss to your forehead.

Trying to copy her dad, Jolyne put her hands on your windpipe, leaning her full weight on it and cutting off your air supply briefly as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your head too before sitting back up, shuffling her butt a bit to sit comfortably on your chest while beaming a smile.

Despite the brief loss of air, you couldn't help the giant grin that spread on your face.

You opened your mouth to speak something when Jolyne suddenly gasped loudly, putting both of her little hands over your mouth, crossed over one another.

"Daddy! We forgot 'it'!" She whispered loudly while looking at her father; as if the hands over your mouth were supposed to keep you from hearing her speak.

"Go get it then." He encouraged and Jolyne immediately jumped into action, lifting her hands from your face before getting off of your chest as if dismounting a horse, carefully sliding and hanging off the bed until she got onto the floor, immediately taking off and disappearing from the bedroom, leaving you and Jotaro.

Shaking his head, Jotaro got closer and you sat up in response, resting against the headboard so that he could place the tray on your lap.

Once it was situated and he was sure the tea wouldn't spill, he gently took your chin between his forefinger and thumb and tilted your head towards him, pressing a soft and loving kiss on your lips.

"Good morning." He mumbled softly after pulling away a bit, looking into your eyes.

"Morning." You replied, the smile returning to your face.

"You had no idea it was today, did you?" Jotaro spoke, his face still so close to yours.

"Absolutely no clue." You admitted. "But it adds to the surprise!"

"Mommy!" Jolyne shouted as she came sprinting back inside, nearly dive-bombing onto your bed if it wasn't for Jotaro's quick reaction who grabbed her mid-air.

Not even caring that she was grabbed and now hanging in the air, Jolyne was giggling, firmly holding onto a piece of paper and waving it in front of your face, not giving you the opportunity to properly look at it.

"I made this for you!" She called out and you took the drawing from her. As you moved it back from your face a bit so you could properly look at it, Jotaro pulled Jolyne back and just carried her rugby style as he walked to the other side of the bed, putting Jolyne down on the foot of it while he himself lifted the covers and slid back under.

Immediately, Jolyne crawled over to you both, worming her way in between before Jotaro could slide up against you and starting to try and get under the covers with you both.

You giggled softly at her while Jotaro good-naturedly rolled his eyes, helping her lift the covers in the end. Once she was situated, he let the blanket go again, the three of you now sitting underneath it, leaning up against the pillows and headboard of the bed.

"This is already really well made, Jolyne!" You suddenly spoke up and she looked up at you, a large and happy smile on her face. "Can you tell me what I am looking at here, I would love to hear the artists thoughts." You spoke as if you were a reporter, leaning down slightly and tilting the drawing so that all three of you could look at it.

There was a good reason you had subtly asked Jolyne to explain. Because, while the drawing itself was very much appreciated by you, you couldn't exactly make out what your daughter had tried to draw.

"That's you. You're a mermaid." She pointed to the figure with a tail on the middle. That was indeed the one thing you had been able to decipher. "That is me." She then pointed to a red blob with several branch-like lines coming out of it.

"And what are you?"

"I'm an omctopus!" She cheered happily, still unable to pronounce the word correctly, or just flat out refusing to now, despite how often Jotaro had tried to correct her. "Cause I can now be sneaky and grab so many things at once with all my arms!" She smirked evilly, rubbing her hands together as if concocting an evil scheme right then and there.

"Ah, that makes sense." You chuckled a little nervously. "And... this?" You hovered your finger over the last figure on the drawing. You already knew it had to be Jotaro, not only because of process of elimination, but mainly because of the white hat that sat atop the brown crayon mass.

"That's daddy. He's a walrus 'cause he's so big and always warm."

Jolyne held such a cute and innocent look and you couldn't help but just burst out laughing at her statement, absolutely losing at and nearly knocking over the tray with breakfast on your lap as you howled.

Luckily for you, Jotaro was not offended and had the brain to lift the tray away from you, allowing you to move as you wished as you laughed, clutching your stomach.

"You don't like it?" Jolyne asked when you calmed down a little and you immediately turned to her, gently grasping her face while still giggling.

"No, Jolyne, I love it. This is the best Mother's Day gift." You smiled and kissed her nose, making her scrunch it up before happily beaming at you, quickly turning to her dad when you let go of her face.

"Aha! My gift was better!" She boasted, pointing at him.

"Well, I can't compete with a walrus and an octopus now, can I?" Jotaro spoke while holding the most deadpan expression, making you try so hard to stifle your giggling again. Jotaro then huffed a bit in amusement and set the tray back down, one half of it now on your leg and the other half on his own, making it hover over Jolyne's lap - to which she happily took hold as if she was the one to keep it steady and in place. "Here is my inferior gift. Even though it is from both Jolyne and me." Jotaro said as he reached his hand over Jolyne and to you, passing you a small box.

Gently taking the box from his fingers, you sent him a grateful smile. "Thank you." You softly said. This was already way more than you ever could have expected. Hell, you didn't even know it was coming.

Grasping the small box with both hands now, you slowly lifted the top to reveal plush padding. On top, sat a beautiful bracelet; the silver chord holding an intricate pattern while the focal point of the jewellery was undoubtedly the three beads in the centre. All of them see through, two of the beads were a little larger; an aquamarine one and a silver one, the both of them encasing a smaller green bead that sat snuggly between the others.

Your little family.

A soft 'awe' escaped you and you looked up at Jotaro, your eyes a bit glossy. "Thank you." You softly spoke and Jotaro leaned over Jolyne to press a soft kiss to your lips, shielding her eyes with his large hand so she wouldn't see. Once he pulled away and leaned back, removing his hand from Jolyne's eyes, the little girl was pouting grumpily at her father. "I love this so much." You started, eyeing your daughter to see her deflate a bit, the pout turning less angry and more disappointed. "But nothing can compete with me as a mermaid." You spoke and Jolyne lit up again at your words.

"Queen of the mermaids!" She then called out and you raised your brows up.

"Queen even?"

"Mhm!" Jolyne nodded in confirmation. "I made you the queen!"

"Oh, well then definitely nothing can compete with that." You giggled, smirking a little as you glanced at Jotaro who just held a tiny soft smile as he looked at the scene in front of him.

He then noticed your stare and snapped out of it, clearing his throat. "How about breakfast?"

"Oh, well, maybe that can compete with it."

"Nooooo! Mommy!"

#jotaro x reader #jjba #jojo x reader #jojos bizarre adventure #jotaro kujo #jjba x reader #jjba part 4 #jolyne cujoh #fluff #sfw

708 notes · View notes

yougotthat-write · 4 years ago

Text

Tinder (Rafael Barba x Reader)

Word Count: 2,400

Warnings: Female reader, fluff, Rollisi shenanigans, cringey and inappropriate pick-up lines, potential PTSD for former/current users of dating apps and all the awkwardness that ensues from it :)

Summary: Amanda and Sonny try to find the perfect match for their uptight (and while he would never admit it - lonely) A.D.A.

Read on AO3 here!

It had started off as a joke, really.

Rafael Barba would never sign up onto a dating app if it wasn’t against his will. When he heard the snickering of Amanda and Sonny when he stopped by the 16th precinct, his feet couldn’t help themselves but bring him over to the two detectives.

Amanda bit her cheek to settle herself as the ADA’s polished shoes made their way over. Sonny’s ears turned pink at the tips, which gave Rafael the tell-tale sign that Sonny and Amanda were up to no good.

Hands in his pockets, Rafael quipped, “What?”

Amanda and Sonny exchanged glances. The silence between the two was not a normal thing but when Rafael asked a second time - more aggressive - Sonny held out a cell phone to the lawyer. Rafael’s brows went up in question but when Sonny motioned him to take it, Rafael grabbed it. Looking down at the device, the screen lit up and a plethora of information singed itself into his brain.

Rafael Barba, 37

Manhattan, NY

Assistant District Attorney

Oh baby, I’ll give you so much due process, standing will be the only issue.

Rafael’s eyes widened at the dumb pick-up line. His thumb swiped through the photos. One was of an appearance on the news - dressed up in a suit on the steps of the courthouse with a furrowed brow and serious look on his face. One was him at Forlini’s - scowling over the rim of his bourbon while sitting at the bar next to a grinning Sonny. He remembered when Amanda took this picture. It was the day he told Sonny he could be his second chair. Another picture showed him actually smiling - dressed in a Tom Ford tuxedo, champagne flute in one hand while the other was resting on the waist of his date for that night. She was an oil company lobbyist that he hooked up with sometimes when she wasn’t in D.C.

“What is this?” Rafael’s eyes hardened as he looked up at the two detectives. Sonny flinched at Rafael’s tone. Amanda simply blinked at Rafael. She wasn’t one to deal with attitude willingly but given how uptight Rafael could be sometimes, she was letting it slide. Rafael’s eyes went back down to the dating profile and he felt an annoyance bubble within him. “What the hell is this?”

“Calm down,” Amanda said as she grabbed the phone back with a roll of her eyes. “It’s just a dating profile.”

“Of me!” Rafael looked at Amanda like she was speaking some foreign, alien language. “Why does it exist?”

Sonny’s face seemed to become more pink. A hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing it as his mentor for all intents and purposes became more annoyed. “We just thought it would be fun-”

“You thought it would be fun impersonating a Manhattan A.D.A.!” Rafael’s voice was raised. A few passing officers gave some glances to the group. Amanda waved a dismissive hand to one of them, letting them know that Rafael wasn’t someone to worry about when angry. “You’re lucky I don’t have you arrested.”

Amanda snorted, “We were going to tell you about it when we got you a date.”

“Yeah,” Sonny added, “we just thought you were stressed lately and needed someone to... ya know.”

If looks could kill, Rafael Barba would have murdered two very well-liked and very hard working detectives right then and there in a New York police precinct. He would have to tell Olivia that she would be short staffed for god knows how long.

Rafael’s fingers came up to pinch the bridge of his nose, taking a hard breath before looking back at the detectives. “You think I need your help getting laid?”

Sonny’s mouth gaped like a goldfish, trying to find words but nothing seemed to make itself at home in his pretty little head. He looked over at Amanda with wide eyes, hoping for her to smooth over the situation. Amanda simply shrugged her shoulders, “It’s not that we think you can’t get laid, Counselor,” she paused, eyes almost sympathetic and it made Rafael’s nostrils flare, “you just haven’t had… anyone around… long-term, you know?”

“I’m struggling to find where this is any of your concern,” Rafael pointed a finger at the two of them, “or why you would think I would find it on a dating app.” Rafael’s mind was flooding with things to make the lives of these two detectives a living hell. Maybe if he pulled some strings with Olivia, she’d put them on desk duty for a few weeks. “I want it deleted - get rid of it!”

Amanda held the device out of the prosecutor’s reach, giving him a few nods of understanding but she needed to tell him of one important thing, “But before we do that, you should know that there’s someone who matched with you-” Sonny nodded enthusiastically, “and she messaged you - us? - back.”

“It’s why we were laughing,” Sonny’s smile faltered when met with the fiery gaze of Rafael. He cleared his throat before continuing, “we found the dumb pick-up line on the internet and she shot back with one of her own.”

Rafael’s fire was lessened with the mention of a match. And she happened to message him? Amanda stepped closer to Rafael, finger mindlessly swiping from one screen and to another. There Rafael had seen the actual large amount of messages he was getting. “Seems like more than one match.” He muttered under his breath. And while this whole ordeal wasn’t something he necessarily wanted, the temporary boost of his ego made his shoulders straighten and his tongue dart over his lower lip.

“You’re very popular, Counselor,” Amanda’s brows wagged.

“But we like her the most,” Sonny said, “she seems fun!”

Rafael’s eyes rolled, before they settled on Amanda’s phone.

Are you the Court of Appeals because I’m tryna get overturned.

After he read the message, he couldn’t help the snicker. Back in his Harvard days, Rafael had heard just about every dumb pick-up line you could think of that was in the realm of lawyers. He may have even used a few of them but could you blame the guy. Rafael watched Amanda switch over to your profile.

Rafael swallowed. And then he grabbed the phone out of Amanda's hands. She let out a protest but Rafael had taken a few steps away and studied your profile like it was a law book and he had a final the next day.

It stated your name and your age. Then the same location as Rafael - Manhattan, NY. Your job was stated simply as a lawyer. Huh. That certainly piqued Rafael’s interest. In your bio, you had:

What better alibi could you have than spending the night with me?

He swiped through your photos. One was of you at the Central Park Zoo, scowling at a monkey who was seemingly doing the same thing back at you. Another was of you at a bar or a club - one arm thrown over the shoulder of another woman and a fruity drink held in your free hand. Your attention was focused on your drink rather than your friend or the person taking the picture. The last photo was of you at a brunch of some kind. You held up a mimosa with a wide smile and a large sun hat atop your head.

“Did you say anything back?” Rafael asked. Amanda shook her head with a smirk. You were certainly attractive and if you had taken the time to message Rafael on the cursed app then you must have thought that he was attractive too. He went back to the message you sent and swallowed again. “W-what should I say?”

Amanda’s smirk didn’t falter as she stepped over to Rafael, plucking the phone out of his frozen hands. Rafael heard the speedy tapping of the blonde woman’s fingers, tapping out a message quickly. Sonny stepped over, peeking down over Amanda’s shoulder. Rafael watched Sonny’s face as it went from curiosity to what Amanda was writing and to a lopsided smile, essentially giving his approval of the message.

Rafael didn’t like the idea of Sonny approving anything of his - especially if it came to how he got a date but he patiently waited until a swoosh noise came from the phone. Rafael stepped over to see what she had written but Amanda’s fingers were quick with logging out of the app and swiftly deleting it off her phone.

“Hey-” Rafael couldn’t stop the protest from his lips, brows furrowed. Amanda ignored him, grabbing a sticky note and a pen. She scrawled the login information for the account and slapped it onto his chest.

“I don’t want it on my phone if that conversation starts to get dirty,” Amanda said. Sonny chuckled.

“I think it started out pretty fiery.”

Rafael held the sticky note in his fingers. He could feel his phone in his suit pocket. It felt hot and electric against him, even through all the layers of clothes he wore. “Nevertheless, I’m deleting the account,” he looked over the two detectives with a hard gaze, “and you are to never to do this again. Or else I will be put in jail for voluntary manslaughter.” Amanda swiftly ignored Rafael’s threat whereas Sonny seemed to take it more seriously. The lanky man gave a nod before settling himself at his desk.

Rafael stepped away from the detectives’ desks and dug his phone out from his pocket. His fingers twitched and he felt this wave of embarrassment wash over him as he searched the app’s name and watched it download onto his phone. It seemed to take hours for the dumb thing to fully be situated onto his device. He tapped it, used the sticky note information to log in and was greeted with new profiles to swipe across. He ignored them and went to his messages to see what the pesky blonde detective had said. He hoped it wasn’t something too inappropriate. The last thing Rafael needed was headlines of him sexually harassing women over social media.

He hesitated for a second before tapping on the messages with you. He took a deep breath. He felt nervous. Was it because of the potential can of worms that Amanda could have unleashed? Was it because he found you attractive? Was it because the two detectives were right and it had been a while since he’s had anyone around? While Rafael was capable of finding a temporary suitor to share his bed, he couldn’t find anyone to become something more permanent.

His eyes searched the screen, brain trying to quickly decipher the jumble of letters on his screen. “Ay Dios mío,” Rafael muttered under his breath and the grip on his phone tightened. Rafael thought he read the message a dozen times, just over and over again, trying to really see if Amanda truly did send this to you. He tapped various spaces on his phone, trying to see if there was an undo button but to no avail, the message taunted him.

Something something dictum. Sleep with me.

Rafael was caught off guard by Olivia who called his name from her office door. Rafael cleared his throat, slid his phone back into his pocket with one hand and slid the other down his chest, smoothing out any wrinkles in his shirt. Rafael finally remembered why he was there at the precinct. He needed to do his job and watch a line-up be conducted. Olivia had sounded very confident over the phone, so he figured he had a simple day.

He had spent the rest of his day watching various victims come forward to pick out their attacker confidently. When the defense lawyer monotonously asked to speak with his client after the lineups were done, Rafael felt his phone buzz. For a brief moment, Rafael had forgotten the dating app debacle. He wondered if it was Carmen, telling him of more paperwork and messages that needed to be signed and answered.

But no, it wasn’t Carmen.

It was a notification from the stupid app.

You have a new message!

Rafael bit down on his bottom lip, finger hovering over the notification. He took a breath and tapped his phone. God, what is wrong with me? Grow some cojones, Barba. Rafael watched the screen load and then plaster your message into his line of vision.

Ah, this definitely is a catfish account because there’s no way an ADA would use a line like that.

Rafael smirked. Took a moment to think and then started to type.

The DA has very low standards these days.

You messaged back quickly.

If they’re hiring based on looks, then I’d say they have very high standards, Counselor.

Rafael’s hand lifted to scratch at his jaw, a smile breaking across his face. His eyes widened at another message from you.

Does the prosecution want to rest at my place later tonight?

The forwardness from you made Rafael’s smile turn into a smirk. If Olivia or Sonny had seen him, they would even consider to call it a cocky smirk.

Would you want to meet for drinks first or just take this back to chambers?

I suppose I could side-bar for some drinks.

Great!

He paused before sending another message.

Let’s just agree to not use any more lawyer puns.

Objection!

After setting up a time to meet up at a swanky bar later that night, Rafael entered the bullpen again but with an air of confidence about him. Amanda noticed the shift in energy within the counselor. The corner of her mouth ticked up, fingers fiddling with a pen as she leaned back in her chair, side-eyeing Rafael. “Line-up went well?”

Rafael picked a piece of nonexistent lint off his suit jacket. “It went great, Rollins.” She hummed quietly, eyes studying every inch of his face with amusement.

“We’re heading to Forlini’s tonight,” Amanda stated, “would you like to come?” At the mention of Forlini’s, Sonny peeked over at the two of them from his laptop.

Rafael gave one curt shake of his head. “I’m afraid I’m busy tonight.” And with that, Rafael had turned and exited the bullpen and towards the elevator. Even though he hated it in theory of what Amanda and Sonny did, Rafael couldn’t deny that he didn’t not like the outcome of it.

#rafael barba x you #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba fic #rafael barba imagine #rafael barba fluff #rafael barba #raul esparza #raúl esparza #law and order fanfiction #law and order #law and order svu #svu #svu fic #rollisi #amanda rollins #sonny carisi #esparz-uh

191 notes · View notes

slkw · 4 years ago

Text

Anything (Edmund Pevensie x Reader)

summary : While staying at Cair Paravel, y/n receives a letter from her father. The letter states that she is to be wed to a Prince that she has never met. Is Edmund able to prevent this from happening?

I collapsed. Just utterly collapsed; my knees gave way under my body and my hands slammed to the floor in an attempt to catch myself. Sobs racked through body. My brain could not even process my thoughts as I was just so overwhelmed with the sadness that consumed my mind.

I ran up through the gardens, avoiding eye contact with anyone. I jumped up two stairs at a time – I was desperate to reach my room quickly – and hiked up my dress to increase my speed and decrease my chances of falling in my hurry. Pushing through doors and into rooms and corridors, I whipped my head around anytime I saw someone, not wanting them to see my tear-streaked face.

Just as I swiftly darted around a corner, my body collided with somebody else’s. I glanced up to see Edmund, his face sporting a worried look once he saw my eyes brimming with tears. I pushed past him, not wanting to explain myself.

‘Hey, y/n where are you go-,’ Edmund shouted after me, but I had disappeared around the corner before I could hear him finish his sentence.

After my collision with Ed, I changed course and headed for the stables. I knew that if I were to go to my room, he would either follow me or be there waiting.

I rushed so hastily down the front stairs that I thought my legs would not be able to catch up with me. I leapt to reach the reins of my horse and pull myself onto the saddle, however a pair of arms abruptly stopped me in the act. A gasp flew out of mouth in shock. My mind was in disarray and I was desperate to get away from Cair Paravel and the person who had a steady grip on my arms. Edmund, once again, stood in front of me with a look of worry painted across his features. I felt my heart ache at the sight but with the feeling of my brain processing what felt like a thousand different emotions at once, I did not have the time to consider the strain in my chest any further.

‘Where are you going? What’s happened?’ Edmund said to me.

Without any response, I shrugged off his hands and continued to pull myself onto my horse.

‘Hey, y/n, talk to me. Please, where you are going?’

I did not know what to say to him, I just knew I had to leave in an attempt to order my shaken and confounded state. Without a single word falling from my lips, I pulled on the reins and Edmund quickly vanished from my sight as my horse picked up speed. The tears continued to fall, the wind harshly dragging them behind me.

The words written in the letter just played on a constant loop inside my head.

For the benefit of our family, you are to be married to the Prince of Tashbaan.

How was I supposed to avoid this? How could I, all but a mere Lady, worm my way out of an arrangement made by my father?

This news may displease you, but you need to consider how this would provide an advantage to our family and how you would be gifted with security and comfort for the rest of your life.

The words ‘rest of your life’ knocked the air out my lungs once again. A feeling of unbearable confinement continued to run through me even as I rode far from the castle and past the songs that echoed from the Dancing Lawn.

However, just as the feeling began to spread, a sudden idea caused me to pull harshly on the reins and begin to manoeuvre around the woods and back in the direction of Cair Paravel.

I was quick to arrive back at the gates of the castle, although, upon my return I was swiftly informed of the absence of King Edmund. He had followed me.

This meant that he would also soon be returning back to Cair Paravel, which also meant I had little time to execute my plan.

After I had acknowledged this information, I wasted no time in making my way back to my room - which had been provided to me for to my temporary stay – and piling all my belongings into bags that would easily fit onto a saddle. I had to travel fairly light if I were to move fast.

With this, I flung the bags over my shoulder and made a beeline for the stables. However, to my dismay, just as I had set the saddle with all my bags, Edmund came rushing through the golden gates. I did not even have a moment to pull myself up onto my horse before he was beside me, pleading to know what had happened and stating how worried he was.

‘Edmund, I-, I am so sorry, but I need to leave,’ I said, my voice wavering.

‘Why? Whatever it is, am I sure something can be done to solve it,’ he replied.

‘I do not think that that would be possible. Edmund, please, I need to go.’

‘I cannot let you go. Tell me what has happened.’

I struggled to find a way to avoid telling him the truth. I desperately searched his face in attempt to find anything that would allow me to flee this encounter, but nothing was found but a steeled face blanketed with concern.

‘My father is to marry me to the Prince of Tashbaan, I received a letter earlier this morning stating this,’ I blurted out, a sob breaking free.

Tears began to flow freely down my cheeks as I watched a number of emotions flicker through Edmund’s face. Once he had understood what I said, a look of pure rage replaced the steely one, then a look of disbelief, and then finally, his faced soften at the sight of my exhausted and crestfallen self.

‘Y/n,’ he exclaimed and rushed forward, pulling me into him.

His embrace allowed me to stay upright even as my knees buckled with the sheer force of the desolation of my conscience. He rubbed at my back in a comforting manner and whispered sweet words into my hair.

‘I will sort this out, okay? Come on, I will help you take your bags back to your room,’ Edmund stated.

‘How can this be sorted, Ed?’

‘You do not need to worry about that, just trust me on this.’

At this, I allowed a weak smile to form. I was desperate to recognise the small feeling on hope within me, however, I was scared that it would be in vain if I did.

Once Edmund had walked me back to my room, I permitted him to read the letter that my father had sent. A look of disgust washed over his face in reading it and he again assured me that he would resolve it. By then the tears had dried on my face, and Edmund had sent for Lucy to cheer me up. As soon as Lucy arrived, he was gone.

I did not see him again until dinner that evening. He seemed tired but as soon as he saw me at the dining table, he sent a reassuring smile my direction and although he typically sat across from me - next to Susan - he elected to take his place by me.

The rest of the Pevensie siblings filed into the large hall. On evenings, there tended to be additional guests that were either there for political reasons, business opportunities, or just the occasional faun or dryad, however there were no visitors seated at the table. Well, apart from myself. I was staying at Cair Paravel due to the friendship I shared with the Kings and Queens, and the alliance between my father and them. While my father was away on business in Tashbaan, I was to stay with the Pevensies for two weeks. The letter stating my marriage to the Prince was obviously the product of such alleged ‘business’.

The dinner provided a calming atmosphere that shrunk the fear that was gnawing at me; that was until the conversation shifted to me.

Peter, who sat at the head of the table, coughed and shot Edmund a pointed look.

‘Y/n,’ Edmund spoke.

‘Yes.’ I turned towards him.

‘Peter and I have sent an urgent message to your father requesting his presence at Cair Paravel to talk through and then prevent the state of affairs he has organised against your will.’

I nodded my head, ‘Thank you.’

Peter spoke up, ‘If he is to accept the request, then he will be here tomorrow at noon. You do not have to attend the meeting if you do not want to.’

I glanced around the table, everyone looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

‘I will consider it, thank you again,’ my voice was small, ‘if it is okay, I wish to retire to my room now.’

Without another word, I hurriedly left the table.

Once in my room, I closed the door behind me and sunk against it. Pulling my knees tight against me, I pleaded with myself not to cry. I was more than pleased with what Peter and Edmund had done, and with the extent of their kindness, however I had this feeling that their plan would not work and that I would have to marry the Prince of Tashbaan even if I did not wish to. Furthermore, I felt betrayed by my father. He had gone behind my back and set me up for a life I did not long to have. He was more than happy to marry me off to a man I had never met, and for the benefit of himself and himself only. That was what hurt the most.

Just as the tears began to fall, a knock sounded above me. A voice came through the door. It was Edmund. I moved myself away from the base of the door and allowed him to come in. At the image of me seated on the floor, my face tear-stained, he sat himself next to me on the wooden planks and embraced me. And in this moment, I let myself fall apart. I nestled my face into his chest and just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed; and throughout it all, Edmund did not say a word, he just sat there knowing that his presence was enough.

After the rate of my breathing had returned to its usual state, Edmund placed his arms under my legs and around my torso and lifted me from the ground. Carrying me over to my bed, he laid me down atop the covers and kneeled next to the bed.

‘It will be alright, I promise. Even if this meeting does not convince your father enough then I will figure something else out, okay?’ he said gently.

I looked at him and there was something in his eyes that I could not describe. Even without the words to explain it, it made my heart beat just that little bit faster. A grin spread across my face.

‘Edmund, thank you. Seriously, I-, I do not know how to thank you enough.’

‘Do not thank me,’ he spoke, smiling.

‘You need to sleep Ed, you look exhausted.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I will.’

‘Good, goodnight,’ I said.

‘Goodnight.’

He pushed himself off his knees. Yet just as he turned to leave, I caught hold of his hand. His palm was soft, but slightly cold. He looked down at our hands as I turned his in mine to examine the scars that littered the back of his hand. I ran my thumb over the raised skin in awe. I gazed up at him, his lips slightly parted and a smile dancing on his face. I released his hand.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he concluded.

My father arrived as requested, and at exactly noon. I decided to not involve myself in the discussion as I did not wish to get upset while in conversation with him. At noon, I watched my father walk with Edmund and Peter to the Great Hall from my bedroom window. And there I sat until I saw my father leave with the two brothers. Father sported what seemed to be a displeased look and then bid farewell to the Kings.

As soon as I saw my father disappear through the gates, I rushed from my spot by my window to find out what had been said in duration of their meeting.

‘Edmund!’ I shouted as soon as I spotted him with Peter by the Great Hall, ‘what happened?’

‘Your father is to send a letter to Tashbaan stating that you are unable to marry the Prince,’ smiled Edmund.

My jaw dropped in disbelief.

‘But,’ said Peter, ‘he wishes for you to return home.’

My eyebrows knitted together in anger. ‘I will do no such thing, how am I to return home after he tried to pretty much sell me to a man I have never met?’

‘If you do not want to go home, then you do not have to. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you please,’ replied Peter.

I sucked in a deep breath, calming myself.

‘Thank you Pete. I will send a letter to my father. And I know not to outstay my welcome, so when I am able I shall find somewhere else to stay.’

Peter nodded in response and then took his leave.

Once Peter was gone, I flung myself into Edmund’s arms. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ I gushed.

He laughed at my actions. ‘You do not need to thank me, I would do anything for you.’

‘Anything, huh?’ I questioned.

‘Anything,’ he said with a smile.

‘Kiss me.’

For a moment Edmund’s eyes widened at my words but he was quick to recover this as he captured my lips against his own.

Pulling away, I grinned at him.

‘You did say anything.’

‘I suppose I did,’ and at this, he pulled me in by my waist and kissed me again.

148 notes · View notes

spacedikut · 5 years ago

Text

“let me do this for you. please.” ; aaron hotchner

pairing: aaron hotchner (criminal minds) x reader

summary: it’s left to you to help aaron with his injury. taken from this prompt list - 1781 words

a/n: this is kind of shitty trash but i wanted to add to the one hotch fic ive written

Aaron Hotchner, in all his glory, is more often than not described as strict. Maybe even grumpy.

It takes less than one conversation with the unit chief to fully understand this, sometimes all it takes is witnessing the way he walks and holds himself, and he’s become somewhat notorious for it.

However, you know more about Hotch than the average person. More than either of you care to admit. For a while you were certain he hated you, definitely didn’t trust you, despite being highly trained and told again and again by your team that that’s just how Hotch is. Emily, especially, pulled you aside to tell you she was also victim to his cold persona at the beginning.

It takes time, she’d said, but he’ll warm up to you. He won’t be able to resist.

It all changed when he appeared at your apartment door several hours after you’d been discharged from the hospital following a gnarly gunshot wound to your shoulder. He stood there, with his famous furrowed brows, straight-mouth look on his face, cradling a basket. He’d made you a ‘get well soon’ package – your favourite candy (he knew that?), some DVDs (including your favourite – he knew that?), and his favourite book (written by your favourite author). There were fluffy socks and a colouring book, too.

“I couldn’t visit you in the hospital,” He’d said, “So Jack and I made you a gift basket. He chose the colouring book.”

In your stunned silence you didn’t ask any further questions, just took the present and contemplated getting shot again in hopes he would pay another visit, maybe come inside. Maybe fall in love with you. You’re not picky.

That night you realised your unit chief doesn’t hate you and you definitely don’t hate your unit chief.

Now, almost a year later, there’s been some big changes. You’re pushing Aaron onto his bed as he grips the top of his bleeding forearm; he’s mumbling curses under his breath while pouting – yes, pouting, no matter how much he’ll deny it when you tease him about it later. It had taken you raising your voice at him to convince him to let you help at all, let alone clean the cut, so you allow his brooding.

When you sit on your heels of his bedroom floor in front of him, he instinctively opens his mouth to, once again, say something along the lines of, “You don’t have to do this,” or “I can look after myself.”

You interrupt before he can even begin.

“If you refuse to go to the hospital, refuse to let an on-site medic come to you, you’re gonna let me help you, you got that?” You snap, fuelled by worry and frustration.

On the scene he’d refused medical attention, telling the medics to focus on the victims which, fair enough, was valid. But then Rossi had tried to drive him to the hospital, to get stitched up because anyone could see the cut on his arm needed it, and he’d argued and argued to the point where Rossi shoved him into your car and said, “You take him. He’s being a child and I am too old for this.”

He kept telling you to just drop him off home and he’ll be fine, but you couldn’t do that. You have a medical background; you’ve stitched up everyone on the team at least once, excluding Hotch, and you’ll get peace of mind if you do the job and know he’s okay.

You followed him inside, he kept telling you to go home because he’s fully capable, and you kept telling him to shut up. Now you’re here.

Aaron says nothing in return – just stares into your eyes and maintains a tight, strained posture.

You recognise the look in his eyes, then. Everything clicks into place in your head and your heart hurts slightly.

“Let me do this for you. Please.”

Aaron is a leader. A protector. He always has been. He trusts his team with his life, of course he does, but he’s also stubborn. The idea of anyone, let alone the one person who’s somehow wormed their way into his life in a way he hadn’t prepared for, seeing him so vulnerable after a stupid mistake led to an even stupider injury is downright humiliating for him.

He’s embarrassed. He hoped he could sulk home, drink a little too much whiskey as he clumsily cleaned himself up, and move on like nothing happened.

But it’s you, all non-judgemental eyes and worried tone with your caring and reassuring words. You’re too good for him. You’re too good to him.

You work slowly and gently, in a very you way, and Hotch watches closely the entire time. You assume he’s watching so he can do it himself next time, can use this as an excuse for you to not do this ever again, but a part of you wonders if he still doesn’t trust you.

He sits patiently, until he realises how much blood he’s lost and starts to feel woozy. It’s very possible he has a concussion, too, along with the exhaustion from not sleeping for at least twenty four hours. His head feels like it’s swimming and his vision gets a little blurry.

You notice him swaying and stop what you’re doing to hold his biceps to steady him. His eyes almost roll, but he seems to jolt himself out of it. Aaron has this disturbing ability to act as if nothing bad is happening – for example, right now. The blood loss is alarming, he just almost passed out, but it’s like he flicks a switch in his brain that decides nah, let’s not do that.

“You okay?” You ask, voice quiet.

He nods and mumbles, “Yeah. Brain almost collapsed.”

You think that’s an attempt at a joke. You’re too concerned to laugh, even fake it, and slowly move your arms back to the med kit you’re rifling through.

“Brain dumb.” He adds.

“You’ve lost a lot of blood, Hotch.”

“Aaron.”

You look up at him through your eyelashes. Aaron surprises himself by wanting to cry at how beautiful you look.

“My name’s Aaron. You should call me it.”

You laugh quietly – the blood loss is beginning to get to him and he’s losing his professional barrier. The barrier that he lets down rarely, usually only when he’s in the comfort of his home, maybe relaxing with you and Jack. This is a special version of that, amplified by his injury.

“I’ll call you Aaron, then.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s alright, Aaron.”

He goes back to watching you, contentment coming off him in waves.

You’re done a few minutes later, Aaron’s cut all cleaned and stitched up. You wrap it in gauze and move the med kit aside, standing before him and sighing, hands on your hips.

“Alright. Bed time.” You say.

Aaron flops back on his bed, arms spread – it makes you giggle. It reminds you of the one time you had to bring drunk Hotch home.

“Move up, Aaron. Against your headboard.” You command.

As he moves, you grab some of the pillows he doesn’t use and place them under his legs to elevate them. You go to his ensuite and fill a glass of water, placing it on his bedside table, and look at the handsome unit chief seemingly asleep. You lean in closer to get a look at his condition – is he pale, cold, clammy?

His eyes snap open. You jump back in shock.

“Thank you for taking care of me.” His voice is rough, he’d almost fallen asleep, and his dimples begin to show when he smiles at your surprise.

“I’ll always take care of you, Aaron.” You say instantly, trying to fluff the pillow behind his head. You don’t realise what you do to him, he thinks, or what the things you say do to him.

“Let me take care of you, too.”

You smile, ignorant to the way he’s looking at you, “You do take care of me. You take great care of the whole team, A. You’re kind of amazing at it.”

You move to tuck him in, like you’ve watched him do to Jack many times.

“I mean-“ He stops you, large hands holding your wrists, “Let me take care of you. No one else.”

Your brows furrow, “What do you mean?”

“Me, Aaron, take care of you, Y/N.”

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

“I can take care of you.”

“Yeah, I know,” You laugh at the situation, the ridiculousness of how you’re going in circles, “I just told you that you take great care of me.”

He lets out a deep breath in exasperation, “Let me take care of you.”

You raise an eyebrow. “That sounds sexual, sir.”

“Oh. No, I didn’t mean it-“ He cuts himself off, “I mean, yes, but no, at the same time.”

You open your mouth to say What?!

“I’m trying to ask you out, Y/N.”

Oh.

You’re stunned, to say the least, and speechless. There’s nothing more you’d like than to go on a date with him, but he’s… vulnerable right now. Fragile. You’re not sure he’s in the right state of mind for this conversation.

Hotch senses your hesitation before you even register it yourself. He begins to backtrack.

“I’m sorry, I know that’s inappropriate-“

“Aaron.”

“Yes?” Despite the look on your face, filled with doubt, he’s still hopeful.

“I would really like to go on a date with you.” He smiles at that. “But you’ve lost a lot of blood and you’re concussed AND you’re exhausted. I can’t take what you say now as, like, gospel.”

He nod as if he understands, but the concoction of ailments he’s got going on make him incapable of truly recognising what’s going on. All he knows is that you said you’d really like to go out with him, and that’s good enough for him.

“Say this again tomorrow and I promise you I’ll make it worth your while,” You grin, now smoothing his hair away from his face as he blinks slowly at you.

“Make it worth my while, huh?” He sleepily smirks, a teasing lilt to his voice. If he wasn’t on the brink of sleep you’re sure he’d look too good for you to handle, but now he just looks adorable.

“Oh yeah. So worth it.”

“Alright then. Night night. You can kiss me on the forehead, if you feel so inclined,”

You roll your eyes and give a big sigh jokingly, “Only because you’re injured.”

You lean, give a quick peck to his forehead, and his dazed gaze follows you like a magnet.

“See you tomorrow, Hotch.”

“Aaron.”

“See you tomorrow, Aaron.”

#aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner fanfic #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner x y/n #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fanfic #mine #i think i hate this #im not sure

655 notes · View notes

sazc94 · 4 years ago

Text

Pietro and Bunny

HELLO

Here is my second entry for the wonderful @msmarvelwrites 2k Challenge.

This a spin-off from my Bucky fic: The three times Bucky broke your heart. Part 1 linked Here.

It follows the same timeline and explores the relationship of Pietro and Reader (Bunny) More.

Words 6034

Themes. Angst, Suggestions of smut. But mostly lots and lots of fluff. 18+ Because of the smut suggestions.

This has two parts and I will upload part 2 tomorrow.

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲?"

Pietro thought you were pretty cool. He thought you and Bucky made a great couple. He enjoyed hanging out with you when you would all hang out as a group. Pietro wasn’t one for girlfriends. Sure he’d had a few semi-serious flings and would occasionally bring a date to the parties after a game and loved how you would instantly make anyone feel welcome. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he started to think of you as more than a friend. It was sometime during his senior year.

At first, he pushed the idea out of his head. You were Bucky’s girl Y/N! You were the cute shy girl Bucky had brought out of her shell, who was still deep down that adorable musical theatre-loving dork. However, when Bucky started getting defensive around him and Sam about who he was texting, Pietro stopped feeling so bad about liking you of course Pietro would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship with Bucky and his friendships with either of you, but he couldn’t help but feel a tang of jealousy towards Bucky.

2010

“Look at Bucky, can’t go 5 minutes without texting his little cheerleader,” Sam said walking up behind Pietro. Bucky was too engrossed in his phone to pay any attention to the pair of them. Pietro smirked.

“Sam, watch this” Pietro said, before breezing over to Bucky and pulling his phone out of his hands. Bucky instantly shot up trying to grab the phone from Pietro, however, he was too quick throwing the phone to Sam.

“Dear Doll, I love you so much and all thought I only saw you this morning, I am already missing you” Pietro sang in a teasing manner.

“Come on guy’s give it back” Bucky grunted. Sam and Pietro kept throwing the phone between them. Suddenly Sam stopped laughing.

“Hey Buck, who’s Nat and why is she asking if you’re going to be around this summer?” Sam asked his eyebrow shooting up. Bucky’s façade faltered for a second. His usual bright blue eyes deepening with an unfamiliar expression. Pietro’s interest was also piqued, he may have wanted you for himself but that didn’t mean he wanted to see you get hurt.

“Oh, she’s just a friend of Jane’s. I met her at that party after our game in Green Bay last year she’s a cheerleader like Jane and Y/N. Natasha and her boyfriend Clint will be in town the summer and she wants to introduce us apparently her boyfriend was impressed with how we played” Bucky said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal. After that incident, Bucky was on his phone around the football team less and started talking about how much he loved you and couldn’t wait to spend some quality time with you in the summer.

November 2011

By the time graduation rolled around Pietro had put any thoughts about the pair of you out of his mind, chalking it up to wanting a relationship as opposed to you. At least that’s what he kept telling himself. You came along to his graduation ceremony. Well, it was for everyone. Pietro, Sam, Wanda, Jane, and Carol. Bucky came along too. Late. But you were there with Peter Parker who was a freshman, he had talent, but he seemed to prefer being behind a camera as opposed to on the field.

The whole gang hung around the field and bleachers after the ceremony. Goofing off and enjoying the last time the group would all be together like this for a while. Peter took photos of you all. Pietro’s favourite was one where he and Sam had picked you up whilst you were in the middle of talking to Carol and Wanda. The laughter that came out of your mouth as you squealed and shouted for the two footballers to put you down made his heart flutter.

Okay so maybe he wasn’t as over you as he told himself he was. Now he could understand what that Taylor Swift was banging on about in that song of hers.

Have you ever thought just maybe?

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Bucky’s girl,” he said grinning at you. For some stupid reason, probably because Pietro didn’t know what to do with his hands, he ruffled your hair like you were 5 again. He couldn’t help but notice you wince at the old pet name. He mentally kicked himself. Why had he called you that?!

Graduation was the last time he saw you for over a year. Unlike Bucky, Pietro had actually been away at a football camp when Bucky had cheated on you. He didn’t know what had happened. Only knew you two had broken up. Wanda was fiercely protective of her friendship with you and didn’t want to betray you by admitting to those that didn’t know that Bucky had cheated on you. He wasn’t going to lie; he was saddened when you didn’t stay in touch with him after he graduated. But after he started his first year at the University of Michigan, he didn’t have much time to worry about it. He was a Line Backer having secured a football scholarship after college scouts came to see Sam and a few others play, Pietro had caught the eye of the scout from the University of Michigan, all though he was a great player, Pietro didn’t want to play professionally like many of the guys on the team. He was studying Business and Economics.

Since about the age of 15, he and Wanda had always planned on going into business together. Between parties, flirting with the pretty cheerleaders and sorority girls and his studies you became a distant memory to Pietro. That was until one November game in his second year.

The Wolverines were playing the Wisconsin Badgers. Boy did they suck. Not that Pietro minded it allowed him the opportunity to watch the cheerleaders, he knew a few of the girls on the team from various parties, he hadn’t paid much attention to the new girls on the squad. Then out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone who looked familiar to him. Could it be Y/N? Wanda had mentioned something about you getting a scholarship at Uni for your cheerleading, but he’d been in the middle of a game of Mario Kart with Sam at the time.

He tried to rack his brain’s but then the ball came towards him. He smiled to himself. Showtime Pietro. The game was an easy win. Whilst his teammates cheered Pietro made his way to the side-lines, desperate to know if the girl he’d seen earlier was you. His heart skipped a beat when he heard your familiar laugh. He couldn’t believe it. Pietro came jogging up towards you determined to chat.

“It’s just Y/N” or you can call me cutie you said winking at Pietro, he chuckled.

“How about I just call you tomorrow?” he retorted, you felt yourself blush. Pietro may come across as confident but inside he was shaking with nerves. Was he really doing this? What if you said no? You shrugged before pulling out a sharpie from your bag, you wrote down your number on his arm. He cocked his head puzzled.

“I changed it last year after Bucky wouldn’t stop blowing it up with apology texts,” you said simply wrongly presuming Pietro knew what had gone down. Before Pietro could respond you ran off to join the rest of your squad and headed for the changing room. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as your laughter rang in his ears whilst you walked off the pitch.

“Pietro! What’s good? How’d your game go tonight?” Sam asked. He sounded buzzed and Pietro could hear the faint sounds of a party in the background. Excellent he thought to himself. Sam was buzzed enough to have loose lips but not drunk enough to be of no use and if he was lucky Sam might not even remember half the conversation.

Pietro got back to his apartment, he had zero clues about what had gone on with you and Bucky. It was obvious due to your remark about him blowing up your phone with apology texts that he’d done something. He weighed up his options. Wanda or Sam? Wanda was his twin, and he knew deep down if he pulled the twin card she would tell him, but then if nothing came of this, he would be opening a can of worms with his sister over nothing.

Then there was Sam, he was still pretty close with Bucky and liked to chat a lot. But ultimately, he was like a brother to Pietro, and he trusted Sam to keep his mouth shut. Taking a deep breath and raking his hand through his Silver-blonde hair he picked up his phone and dialled Sam.

“So Sam you’ll never guess who I ran into cheering on the side-lines of the game!?” Pietro tried to sound breezy and cool like it was no big deal, despite the fact he was about to ask his friends ex out on a date.

“ I ran into Y/N. You know Bucky’s girl?” Pietro carried on forcing his voice to sound light. Sam choked on his drink down the other end of the line.

“I wouldn’t let her hear you call her that. That boy broke her damn heart, the fool” Sam said, there was an edge to his voice that Pietro almost missed.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Pietro asked genuinely curious.

“Well remember that little party your sister threw that last week of summer whilst you were away at football camp with some of your new teammates?” Sam asked. He didn’t wait for Pietro to respond before he continued.

“Well, Jane brought her friend Nat along” Sam continued. Pietro took a sharp intake of breath. No, Bucky wouldn’t have been stupid enough to kiss her at a party with your mutual friends, would he?

“Well turns out that Clint guy Bucky talked about wasn’t her boyfriend he was just a really good friend. But by the time we found that out Jane realised both Bucky and this Nat chick hadn’t been seen for at least a good 15, 20 minutes. So, she went to go find Nat. Only to walk in on them fucking. Oh yeah, it was on your bed bro”, Sam finished his story like it was no big deal. Other than the telling disdain in his voice.

Pietro stood stunned. No wonder you had winced at the use of your old nickname. Pietro’s heart broke for you at that moment. He vowed at that moment that no matter what happened between you both, he would do everything in his power to ensure you never had to feel heartbreak like that again.

Pietro will never forget that first date with you. He had come up with some lame excuse of showing you the best-hidden beauty spots of the campus. Not that there were any, he just wanted an excuse to spend some time with you. He wore jeans and a jumper with his beat-up converse.

All though it didn’t look like he had put much effort into his outfit he had spent a good hour agonising over it. In the end, he settled for a faded blue jumper hoping it would make his eyes and hair pop. He met you by the school library and the sun was shining, it was still a chilly November mid-morning.

You had turned up with your hair tied up in a messy bun a few stray pieces framing your cheeks, you had opted for a sweater dress. He remembered because it was loose and comfy but sinched inwards in all the right places. It was a silvery colour almost the same shade his hair was. Pietro swore you took his breath away.

Winter Break 2011

“And that right there is where the fraternity pledges had to stand and sing, I’m a little teapot every time someone put 10$ in the bucket. I didn’t truly understand the strange British Nursery Song or whatever it was, but I did like watching the pledges get embarrassed every time they had to sing when the cute cheerleaders walked past. So, I put 40 Bucks in the bucket when I knew the 3rd Years would be heading to practise” Pietro said pointing to the school statue.

You had nearly fallen over laughing at his story. Pietro noticed how you scrunched your nose up when you laughed. Like a rabbit. No like a Bunny. When Pietro walked you back to your dorm, he wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss you, but when you let him hold your hand, he decided at that moment he would regret it more if he didn’t take the plunge.

The moment he knew he was yours and you were his was at a party, he’d taken you on lots of hot chocolate dates, he knew you didn’t like coffee because it tasted bitter to you and that coca was nice, but you preferred the sweet comfort of a creamy hot chocolate.

It was at a party being held by the Ice Hockey team to celebrate their latest string of wins. You didn’t come to parties often preferring the comfort of a book and a cosy night in, but you always tried to attend parties after the football matches. You walked in wearing a red top and black skinny jeans.

The top wasn’t super low cut, but it hinted at your cleavage, you’d left your hair down for a change in loose curls. You’d recently gotten your hair dyed a deep chocolate brown and it brought out your eyes. Pietro nearly lost his damn mind when his Ice-blue eyes met your chocolate brown eyes after he’d drank all of you in. He excused himself from the conversation he was having with Scott Summers and co making his way over to you.

“Bunny, you look good enough to eat,” Pietro said dipping his head down to meet your lips, your lips were always so warm and welcoming a stark comparison to his cool lips.

“Bunny?” You replied scrunching your nose up. This was the first time Pietro had called you a pet name, you felt your heart somersault.

Pietro was messaging his sister on the drive home. He could tell you had something on your mind, but he knew better than to push you.

“So,” you began.

“What’s up Bunny?” Pietro asked snapping his eyes up from his phone.

“Well, I just thought now might be a good time to talk, we’re clearly going to run into a lot of our old friends, and there’s no way Wanda won’t know something is going on here, and I, I saw your lock screen,” you said. Well yeah Pietro thought, was he meant to be keeping you guys a secret? He didn’t want to, and he had just assumed you were a couple. You did couple type things, watching movies together curled up, holding hands when you guys were out together.

“So you were wondering what we are?” Pietro’s couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice. God, you were adorable. He watched your demeanour change and felt a pang of guilt, the determination in your eyes as you tried to not show that you felt embarrassed.

“Hey Bunny, look at me” Pietro grabbed your hand, wanting you to know how much he truly meant the next few words.

“We are a couple. I’m sorry you felt the need to ask, but I adore you, so we are a thing,” he said stroking circles on the back of your hand. You smiled and nodded to yourself. Pietro held on to your hand stroking circles the rest of the traffic. He couldn’t wait to tell Wanda she was wrong about him never getting serious with anyone.

“Hey Wanda, have you got a second?” Pietro and Wanda were heading out to meet up with you and the rest of the old school gang who had made it home for the Winter Break in the local coffee shop.

“Sure brother, what’s up?” she asked shrugging on her red jacket and lacing up her boots.

“So, you know that girl I told you I was seeing?” Pietro asked, you two hadn’t said if you were going to tell people or just let them figure it out, but he at least wanted to give his twin a heads up. Wanda straightened her brown hair falling behind her ears. She impatiently cocked an eyebrow waiting for her twin to continue. They were going to be late at this rate.

“Well, you know her. In Fact, you’re good friends” Pietro continued sucking in his breath.

“If you mean to tell me you’re dating Y/N, I already know brother”, Pietro froze. “I’m happy for you, but if you break her heart like that James did, I will not hesitate to kill you and hide the body” she continued.

“How did you know?” Pietro couldn’t help but ask, you guys hadn’t been a secret, but you hadn’t exactly announced it to the world either.

“I’m good at reading people Pietro” Wanda shrugged before heading out the door.

“You sly dog,” Sam said chuckling. Just then Peter turned up. Sam’s comment hadn’t escaped you, so you simply shot Pietro a quizzical look, one of your eyebrows arched. Pietro gently shook his head. He’d tell you about the phone call later.

It was great hanging out with the old gang, shame about Carol, and Jane being unable to make it back. Bucky was dating that Natasha chick and hadn’t come home from the holidays. Evidently, this wasn’t a surprise to Sam or Wanda. Pietro however was a bit taken back. That was until he heard how his sister had almost killed Bucky when she had run into him last summer. Carol had had to restrain her. Pietro couldn’t lie he was kind of bummed to miss it.

Pietro and Wanda didn’t celebrate Christmas, but they did celebrate being around people they loved and as the four of you sat around waiting for Peter Parker to make an appearance, he couldn’t help but feel his heart swell. You hadn’t even reacted to the mentions of Bucky. The way your brown eyes lit up when you teased Sam about his poor season or crinkled your nose when Wanda complimented your new hair, made Pietro come completely undone. Not being able to restrain himself anymore he leant in and kissed you, a slow soft kiss. The taste of your gingerbread cookie and peppermint hot chocolate lingering on your lips. When Pietro pulled away, he shot Sam a wink, and you promptly turned crimson. Sam just sat there gawking. Pietro watched as Sam tried to piece together his hazy memory from that phone call.

2012

Pietro absolutely adored the photo you had gotten him for Christmas, displaying it on his bedside table proudly. He had brought you a stuffed bunny for Christmas, cheesy but it made you beam at him.

“A Bunny for my Bunny” Pietro said shooting you his signature grin. Your heart constricted; it was an adorable soft fluffy powder blue bunny.

After winter break things got crazy busy. The year also seemed to rush by, between keeping on top, your rehearsals for the play. Pietro’s football practises, football matches, nationals for your cheerleading competition. It felt like you had barely any time to breathe. Pietro always looked forward to football games, not because he loved playing which he did, no it was because when you were cheering your face lit up, you always had his number painted on your cheek. Your brown hair always pulled up in a high ponytail, accentuating your big beautiful brown eyes that always looked for Pietro’s ice-blue eyes on the field. Mostly he loved the looks of jealousy he would get from the other team when players would be checking you out. Pietro would always come over for a kiss for good luck when he wasn’t on the field. You always giggled about how Mr cool; the confident cocky big-time football player was such a dork around you. Pietro was fast, sometimes your eyes couldn’t quite make out his movements, all you would see was a flash of his silver-blonde hair that peeked out under his helmet. You had started calling him Quicksilver, originally as a joke but it had stuck.

“So, move in with me for the summer,” he had said, his heart pounding in his chest. It wasn’t a big deal really but the thought of waking up to you every day for the summer made him practically giddy. Pietro continued to stroke circles on your bare legs. He was watching Grease, but he wasn’t absorbing what was being said.

Pietro loved every single second he got to spend with you, but mostly he loved the summer. College football season had finished, school was winding down and it meant he got to sit in those quiet moments with you. Pietro had no plans to go home for the Summer.

Pietro adored you more than he was willing to admit, hell he loved you which is why he was always never going to push you for anything more than you were comfortable with. He was content just kissing you, steamy make-out sessions. He just liked being close to you breathing in your scent, in the winter you always smelt like Vanilla and crushed Rose Petals. In the summer you changed your body spray, and he hadn’t quite been able to pinpoint the smell, but you smelt like Peaches, sunscreen, and sunshine. Okay, maybe not sunshine but he felt the warmth of your presence every time you were together. Pietro knew you were stressing about summer accommodation so he couldn’t help but offer up his place.

“Okay, I’ll move in for the summer,” you said. You picked up the remote and pressed pause on the DVD Pietro had been so focused on trying to play it cool he hadn’t even heard you the first time you spoke. When you started undressing, Pietro didn’t know where to look. Sure, you’d spent nights together, but Pietro always left you to get changed in his room whilst he went to brush his teeth. His eyes couldn’t help but wander over your body as you walked into your bedroom. Pietro inwardly groaned and felt himself harden. Trying to take his mind off what he had just witnessed he pulled out his phone. That’s when you appeared in the door frame, wearing nothing but his football jersey, when it lifted to show the skin of your bare stomach Pietro nearly lost his damn mind.

“Well, are you coming or not handsome?” Pietro grinned throwing his phone on the sofa and closing the gap between you in seconds, picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder. Pietro was certain that if he didn’t get his way with you right that second, he would combust.

Winter Break 2012

“You love her, don’t you?” Wanda asked Pietro. You were finishing up tech rehearsals, so Wanda and Pietro were enjoying some sibling bonding by cooking Paprikash. Wanda’s eyes narrowed at Pietro who was avoiding eye contact with his sister. He could feel his sisters warm blue eyes boring into him. Eventually, Pietro stopped washing up and turned to face his sister. Wiping his hands on a tea towel he finally lifted his eyes to meet Wanda’s.

“Yes, of course, I do but that’s not a secret, so what are you actually asking Wanda?” Pietro raked a hand through his silver-blonde hair.

“It's obvious you two love each other Pietro, dearly. But you’re in love with her, you would hang the stars for that girl, and when are you going to admit it? You visibly had a thing for her back in high school and you have healed the damage done by James Barnes. So why don’t you let your guard down and tell her how you truly feel?” Wanda asked. Pietro stood there dumbfounded. Had it genuinely been that obvious to people he had liked you back in high school when you were Bucky’s girl? As if reading Pietro’s mind Wanda answered his question.

“You may have fooled everyone else Pietro, but not me” Wanda returned to her cooking and that was the last of the conversation.

“Are you sure your mum doesn’t mind me staying with you guys for winter break?” you asked twiddling your hair nervously. Pietro chuckled lifting your small suitcase into his car.

“Come on then quicksilver, let’s get going before the traffic builds up,” you said shooting him a grin your worries disappearing.

“Yes Bunny, she wouldn’t hear of you staying here alone. Besides, Wanda would rip my arms off if I even thought about coming home without you” he said pressing a kiss to your temple. Pietro had refused to let you drive saying it was his turn as you had driven last year. You still looked unsure tugging at the selves of your red jumper dress as you walked round to the front of his car. Your brown hair fell in loose waves, still slightly damp from your last-minute shower.

Pietro sensed something else was bothering you but didn’t push it. Instead, he hopped up on the bonnet of his car and pulled you between his legs. Pressing his forehead to yours, he uttered a silent promise that his mum would love you and that that the rest of the old gang would be happy for you both like they had all sworn they were. You looked up at him through your big doe eyes and pecked a gentle kiss on his nose.

“So, who did you say was coming tonight again?” you asked. You were standing in Wanda’s room whilst you both got ready for the small hang out Pietro and Wanda were hosting. Pietro had gone out to pick up Sam and Peter Parker and this girl he was bringing, Gwen. Pietro of course had been right about his mum loving you, you’d spent the last four days feeling welcome, included and at home. Wanda and Pietro’s mum had enveloped you into a big hug the moment she met you.

“Sam, Jane, Peter and his girlfriend Gwen. Carol’s coming, I think she said she was bringing her girlfriend. Now put this on” Wanda said handing you a low cut, slim-fitting black sweater dress. You rolled your eyes at Wanda; you were quite happy wearing one of Pietro’s oversized sweaters and your jeans, but you knew better than to argue with her. Just then you heard the door shut.

“It will be great to have so many of the old group back together,” Sam said shrugging off his jacket as he followed Pietro down to the converted basement.

“How are things between you and Y/N?” Sam asked.

“Sam, they’re pretty amazing,” Pietro said, a slight blush forming in his cheeks.

“Okay, that’s good to hear. Did you know Bucky’s in town for the holidays? I text him saying he should come along tonight; I hope that’s okay?” Sam asked. Pietro shrugged, he hadn’t spoken to Bucky since Bucky’s graduation and even then, that had been by phone. It wasn’t that Pietro actively avoided speaking with Bucky, it’s just that Pietro didn’t have anything to say to Bucky.

The pair of you had spoken in great detail about everything that went down between Bucky and yourself last year after winter break, and Pietro could see you still carried the scars from what he had done to when he cheated on yourself. Just then Wanda and you made your way downstairs into the basement. Pietro felt himself harden when he got a good look at what you were wearing. It was going to be a long night whilst Pietro thought the urge to take you upstairs and fuck you senseless. As if reading her brothers thoughts Wanda smirked to herself, a job well done, maybe now her brother would grow some balls and finally tell you exactly how he felt.

“Bunny, you look. Just wow” Pietro said. Sam rolled his eyes, you giggled before walking over to give Pietro a gentle kiss on the lips. You wrapped your arms around him hugging him close before you felt his hardened member. You cocked an eyebrow at him, but Pietro shook his head brushing your hair behind your ears before giving you another gentle kiss.

After about two hours, everyone had relaxed, caught up and were just chilling. Sam hadn’t heard from Bucky, so Pietro hadn’t thought anything more about it, no sense bringing it up to you if he didn’t show.

Sam had also gotten up nudging Pietro, swearing he would beat him next time. Pietro chuckled, that’s when Sam nudged him.

“You sly bastard Parker” Sam practically shouted. The three of them were playing Mario Kart whilst Taylor Swift played in the background, all though he’d never admit to anyone, including no, especially you. Taylor Swift had grown on him over the past year. Mostly because he loved the way you lit up when you sang along to her in the car.

Pietro was so engrossed in his game with the boys he barely registered you getting up off the sofa next to him. Whilst Sam had been busy yelling at Peter for using Banana peels, Pietro had overtaken Sam in the race. Once the game finished Pietro noticed you weren’t next to him. Feeling empty without you snuggled next to him he got up and stretched. He figured you were probably talking to the girls or something.

“Uh, Pietro, you might want to go save your girl from an awkward encounter with her ex” Sam looked pained. He was realising the error of his ways by inviting Bucky along. Pietro just shot him a puzzled look before following Sam’s line of sight. Pietro sucked a breath in.

“Sam, I swear to god if she ends up in tears tonight because of you, I will not hesitate to punch you in the face,” Pietro said before walking off to the fridge where you and Bucky stood.

“Yeah, schools fine thanks Bucky,” you said politely. Pietro’s heart was beating loudly in his chest, he had no concerns about how secure your relationship was, he just wanted to save you from any unnecessary heartbreak when it came to James “Bucky” Barnes.

December 2012 – August 2014

“Hey Bunny,” he said kissing the corner of your head before wrapping his arms around you.

“Hey Buck, long time no see!” Pietro said. Bucky stood frozen for a few seconds processing what he had just witnessed.

“Hey, Pietro Yeah. It's been a hot minute, so you two are a couple? You guys look cute congrats. Oh man, wow is that Peter over there? I barely recognise him I’m going to go say hey. Catch you guys later!” Bucky said practically running over to Peter. You turned around and kissed Pietro.

“Come on Quicksilver, let’s see if I can beat you at Mario Kart,” you said pulling him over to the sofa. Pietro instantly felt himself relax, glad to see that you hadn’t been impacted by Bucky’s sudden appearance. He grinned at you as he let you drag him behind you,

“What?” you said chuckling at his goofy grin.

“I’m just so fucking in love with you Y/N,” he said. Your heart skipped a few beats. Sure, you had both said I love you, but the way Pietro’s ice-blue eye’s shone at you, the way he had phrased it as being in love with you, made your heart squeeze, butterflies erupt in your stomach and all those other cliché metaphors.

“Pietro, I am going to rock you fucking world tonight, because I feel the exact same way”, you whispered in his ear. Pietro’s eyes bulged out of his head. He lent down and gave you a hungry kiss, sending electricity coursing through your body. When you finally broke free from the kiss Pietro, caught sight of Bucky glowering in the corner of the room ignoring whatever it was Peter was wittering on about.

Winter break came and went. Your second year at Uni whizzed past. Pietro even joined you and your family for your annual summer vacation in Miami, your grandparents were getting on a bit, so you decided to skip the summer production of Hairspray. Pietro joined you for two summers of family vacations in Miami. Your Grandma took a liking to him.

“Pietro, so good to see you again,” she said hugging him. “If I was 55 years younger”, she said shooting Pietro a wink. Pietro chuckled and stuck his tongue out at you.

“See I told you that she loved me the most out of all of you,” he said. You rolled your eyes. Pietro was right your grandma did have a soft spot for him. Who could blame her? Pietro was a true gentleman and his muscles stretched out any shirt he wore. His floppy silver-blonde hair and his goody grin. You were truly a lucky girl. He was going to break your grandma’s heart as much as yours when you two ended things this summer.

Saying goodbye to you was going to be one of the hardest things he ever had to do. The pair of you had spent the last week of summer in Florida with Wanda and her boyfriend James also known as Vision. Tomorrow you would both be getting on separate planes and going your separate ways. You were dancing around in the sea not a care in the world.

Pietro loved the way you were in the summer, the stresses of school melted away. You burned easily so your skin always had a very faint sun-kissed glow to it, but the way you were with your family. That was when you truly glowed. The way you blushed when your parents would talk about how proud they were of you. You were an only child, so your cousins were the closest thing to siblings you had.

And boy did your two male cousins pick on you. Teasing you about being smart, your relationship with Pietro. The way you would roll your eyes at them. Pietro’s heart squeezed with adoration when he watched you huddled in the kitchen with your grandma. Oblivious to the fact he was watching your brow would furrow in concentration as your grandma bossed you about in the kitchen whilst the pair of you cooked up some delicious treats.

“You know brother if you asked her to do long distance and wait for you, she would”, Wanda said sitting down next to Pietro. Wanda’s red hair almost looked like fire in the setting sun. Pietro sighed and shook his head.

“I know, but it’s not right or fair on her. She has plans of her own and we will be busy setting up your fashion label in NYC” he said, raking a hand through his hair.

“Besides, She's Cheer Captain, and I'm on the bleachers. She deserves to enjoy her last year, her heart is in Michigan, where her mum and dad are.” Pietro sighed. Just then you came bounding over. Your black bikini just about covering all it needed too. You plopped down on the blanket beside Pietro, your brown hair trying to escape its messy bun. You rested your head in Pietro’s lap. You giggled as he gently bopped your nose. Swallowing down the ache in your chest.

The pair of you stood wrapped in each other’s embrace at the airport, the rest of the world shut out. Pietro breathing in your familiar scent one last time. He didn’t need to hear you to know you were crying. It was taking everything in him not to cry too.

“Be good Bunny, don’t cause too much mischief with Loki and stay in touch. I love you my little Bunny” he said wiping the tears from your eyes. You couldn’t say anything, so you just held him tight and cried. When you finally broke the embrace and Pietro boarded. He wiped away the few tears that had escaped his eyes.

#pietro maximoff #pietro x reader #pietro x you #pietro fluff #bucky x natasha #wanda x vision #msmarvelwrites2k #marvel fanfiction #marvel au #avengers au

35 notes · View notes

tallstars-rewrite · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 34

chapter list / previous / next

Recovery did come, slow as it was. Some days later, Talltail sat by the big glass window. Jake was curled up pressed against his side, snoring loudly. It still felt a bit strange that the kittypet didn’t have even a small qualm about letting a stranger into his home, and treating him as though they were clanmates their whole lives. Talltail certainly didn’t dislike it. It felt safer than sleeping alone, and even if the water the twoleg put down had an unpleasant metallic tang to it, at least he could be sure it wasn’t going to kill him.

Another oddity he’d found in the den was the twoleg sometimes lit a small fire inside at night, in a little stone cavern in the sitting room, and somehow kept it contained. It was more than a little frightening at first, but also incredibly warm. It was his first sight of real fire. Talltail couldn’t help but be mesmerized at the rare opportunity to closely watch such a dangerous unpredictable thing, feared by all the clans, without having to worry.

But that was about where the benefits stopped.

In the couple days he’d been there, he had also suffered getting slobbered on by a dog multiple times, and the twoleg constantly trying to stroke his fur. Once it had made the mistake of trying to pick him up, but Talltail had quickly made it clear that was not going to fly. He also had to deal with letting it take on and off the uncomfortable soft wraps and smearing his cuts with a foul smelling goo. The twolegs paws where clumsy and shaky. It made him long for Briarpaw’s much more gentle touch. I will never complain of the smell of herbs again, Talltail thought. Not that he’d get the chance either way. But however unpleasant it felt, he suffered captivity with as much dignity as he could manage. And his wounds did feel a bit better.

The twoleg came up behind them and crouched down, making strange high pitched noises at Talltail, a sound he noticed the twoleg only made at cats. Talltail ignored it, tail lashing when it had the nerve to start touching his back. He turned slowly with a searing glare.

“You are an ugly hairless lumbering fool. You smell of fox-dung. I’d rather sleep in the dirt place than breathe in your stench.”

The twoleg made a pleased crooning sound and went on stroking his fur.

Talltail continued, “you have a kits’ senses and wouldn’t be able to find your own stupid ugly nose even though it’s attached to your face. You are lower than a worm, and I despise you and everything you stand for. You are too flea-brained to understand a word I’m saying, aren’t you?”

The twoleg meowed back at him. It sounded like garbled nonsense.

Talltail narrowed his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you mocking me?”

The twoleg meowed again.

Talltail bit its paw.

Jake snored himself awake while Talltail still held one of its long digits in his jaws.

“Are you getting along?” he yawned.

Talltail spit out the paw and the twoleg made an amused sound and lumbered away. “We are getting along great,” he said through gritted teeth.

“That’s good. You’ve only bit him five times so far, that’s much better than the last cat he tried to take in,” Jake purred.

“Your twoleg does not take hints very well.” Talltail replied, ears flat in annoyance.

“Well I never claimed he was wise. He’s really very fond of you though.”

“Then he truly isn’t wise at all."

Jake yawned and stretched “How’s your brooding going? Anything go by outside?”

“Nothing more than some birds,” Talltail sighed.

“Oh!” Jake said suddenly. “I forgot to mention...I had an idea about what you can do. My friend Nutmeg has seen lots of strays go through here in the past moons. There’s a chance the cats you're looking for were among them.”

“You forgot to mention that?”

“In my defense, there’s been a lot of other things to think about.”

“In which case,” Talltail stood. “I think I have stayed here long enough. My cuts aren’t bad. I can manage on my own without that terrible goo.

He expected Jake to argue, but instead he nodded. “I’d never expect you to stay in a house like this, even I find it a little cramped sometimes. A promise is a promise. Follow my lead and you can sneak out.”

Jake took a couple paces towards where the twoleg was sitting and let out a very loud yowl.

“Hey! Time to open the door!”

Eventually the twoleg grumbled, stood up slowly on creaking limbs, and shambled over to the side door. He looked down at Talltail and tried to nudge him back with his long hind leg. Talltail let out a small hiss. Who does it think it is, pushing me?

Jake winked at Talltail. “Just be casual. Act like you don’t care.”

Talltail pretended like he was busy grooming his chest fur. As soon as the door was open, Talltail shot out faster than a hare, across the yard, and clammered through a gap in the fence. Jake squeezed after him a heartbeat later. The twoleg made a hooting sound, but Talltail was already out of sight.

He huffed in the fresh air as soon as he set paws on grass. Never had he been so relieved to feel it.

With a contented sigh of relief, he turned to dip his head to Jake. “Thank you for everything. I’ll think of you often for being so kind to me. You’ve more than repaid your debt.”

Jake blinked at him. “It wasn’t just to repay a debt! And I want to go with you.”

Talltail stared. “G-go with me? This could be really dangerous. I may not like your home, but you're safe here. Where I’m going isn’t, and who knows how long it will take. Do you even know how to fight?”

Jake puffed out his chest “I’ve been in a fight! I got into a tussle with an old stray once, sort of by accident, but I held my ground! See this scar on my ear?”

He turned his head to show off the very, very small nick in his right ear.

When Talltail didn’t respond, Jake gave a dramatic sigh of defeat. “Well, all right. I can’t make you take me. But be careful of the neighbor dogs. And the alley cats. And the rude twolegs. And the cars. The paths and alleyways can get really confusing if you don’t follow them all correctly, and you can end up turned around and running nose first into all kinds of danger. You know where to watch out for all of that, right?”

He was giving Talltail a very pointed look as he spoke. Talltail flicked his long tail in annoyance, but couldn't help looking out at the town with unease. This place was unfamiliar and completely strange to him, not anything his warrior training had prepared him for. Obviously, because warriors aren’t supposed to come out this far in the first place.

It was hard to admit to himself after he’d been so determined to do this on his own that weaving through this loud foul smelling town made him nervous, and he didn’t even know where to start.

Jake had an amused glint in his eyes. “I know you’re on a super important mission, but if you want to accept this 'kittypets' help, I'd love to show you around.”

Talltail eventually had no choice but to accept that maybe he did need a guide. For a little while at least.

Jake perked up immediately. “Great! Then I’ll take you to see my friend Nutmeg. You guys seem like you're a similar breed of paranoid, maybe you’ll get along. You can describe those cats to her, and we’ll decide where to go from there.”

Talltail still wasn’t sure about this. He felt deep down that he really did want Jake’s company, remembering a time when it felt like such a relief to go see him. And he didn’t realize until after he left WindClan how empty it would feel to be completely alone for so long. But at least unlike back then, he didn’t have to feel guilty about seeing Jake because it was no longer a simple excuse to get away from his clan duties. But still... I came out this far because I needed to do this on my own, didn’t I? Why should another cat be bogged down with it?

“This could take a while, Jake,” Talltail warned again as they walked. “Are you sure you don’t have anything more important to do?”

Jake’s eyes smiled brightly in the greenleaf sunlight. “I assure you, I have absolutely nothing better to be doing.”

***

Talltail followed Jake, leaping down off the fence into Nutmeg’s yard.

“Wait here, I know how to get her attention,” Jake said, trotting up to a tall glass opening in the nest. He began pawing at the window until a disgruntled looking tortoiseshell poked her head through an opening flap.

Nutmeg pushed her way into the yard and regarded Jake suspiciously. “I haven’t seen you in a couple days. Is that weirdo still in your house?”

“Actually he’s in your garden.” Jake replied.

Nutmeg’s eyes bulged as she had apparently only just noticed Talltail sitting with his tail wrapped tightly around himself, trying not to look awkward.

“Um. Hi.” Talltail said.

The bristling tortoiseshell flicked her gaze from him back to Jake, not hiding her obvious unease. “Ah. I see.”

“I know, I know, you don’t like strangers in your garden, but I promise we’ll be gone quick. We just wanted to ask about the cats you’ve seen.” Jake looked back at Talltail. “Nutmeg keeps tabs on all the cats in the area, she sees everyone that goes by. Spying is like, her main hobby.”

“I am not spying, it’s a matter of safety. When I see dangerous looking strangers, the cats that go outside ought to know.” Nutmeg’s tail lashed and Talltail knew she was clearly still unhappy about him being there. He remembered suddenly, now that he’d caught her scent, that she was almost certainly one of the kittypets he had frightened not long after arriving.

“Right I'm er...sorry for scaring you before, I suppose.” Talltail muttered. Nutmeg simply flicked her tail in vague acknowledgement.

Jake nudged her and she sighed. “Fine, I suppose I'm sorry for calling you weird.” She then added, quieter, “but what exactly am I supposed to think when a big stranger shows up covered in blood and talking to himself?”

“Anyway,” Jake interrupted before Talltail could respond, “his name is Talltail and we’re going on a quest to find a group of strays.”

“‘We’?” Nutmeg stared at Jake. "Why are you going?"

“Yes we, because we’re friends and I’m a good guide.” Jake retorted. Nutmeg looked very doubtful, which made Talltail a bit nervous. He hoped Jake wasn’t exaggerating his navigation knowledge, but it was too late to turn him down now.

“Well…” Nutmeg hesitated, “A lot of strays have passed by here. Who exactly are you looking for?”

Talltail did his best to describe the five cats. “The only one I need to find is the smallest of them, dark brown almost black, sort of long messy fur, one ear tip sliced off. His eyes are two different colors. Looks obnoxiously aloof all the time. It would have been a couple moons ago.”

“A couple moons ago, that’s not encouraging.” Nutmeg said. “But surprisingly, I think I know who you mean. They’d passed by here before. Made themselves very known, weird bunch, too friendly for their own good if you ask me. I remember because it was a little before I met Jake. Before him, they were some of the oddest cats I’d ever seen. And before you I guess. They stopped to talk to Quince, I think they mentioned something about staying in the big wooded park in the center of town. It’s supposed to be a big area with no cars, and there’s lots of food, and apparently housefolk will feed you too if you know the right ones to ask. I overheard them saying were going to stop traveling for a bit, I guess they just had a loss or something. Mind you, that was some moons ago, I don’t know if they’re still there, but that’s what they said last I saw them.”

“Wow you remember all that? You’re positive?” Talltail asked.

Nutmeg sniffed, as if she were offended. “Of course I’m sure! I’m sure of every cat I see, especially weird ones.”

“Alright, alright. Do you know where this park is?” Talltail pressed.

“Um...well no, I have no need to go that far outside my house myself.”

“I think I know!” Jake piped up, “I haven’t been there, but I’ve seen it from a distance. We just have to cut through some alleyways to avoid the cars.”

“If you think it’s safe to do that…” Nutmeg narrowed her eyes, “Not every stray likes you, you know.”

“I’ll be fine. I know exactly where I'm going.” Jake nudged Talltail “See, aren’t you glad you have me?”

“Sure. We should get going though. Thanks for your help. As a reward, I promise never to come into your garden again.”

She snorted. “Actually, as my reward, you can try to keep Jake from doing anything fluff-brained.”

“I never do anything fluff-brained!” Jake purred as he turned with a flick of his tail. “Come on, no time to waste.”

He scampered back up the fence and beckoned Talltail to join him. Jake was far too excited about the grim mission, and Talltail was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable about not giving him all the details. “You’re only going with me a little ways,” Talltail reminded him quickly. “Just to the park. Then I have to continue on my own.”

“Sure, sure, but let's get going! You’ve never seen a town before, I remember how intense it felt the first time I saw it, I’ve got so much to teach you!”

Talltail allowed himself a small purr of amusement. There was still a distance to go. No need to be a drag the entire way when Jake was being so helpful, right? As long as he didn’t slow down.

chapter list / previous / next

#FRU34 #chapter 34

16 notes · View notes

howtosingit · 4 years ago

Text

Fic: i long to hear the sound of you again

Carlos throws himself into work.

A missing moment from 1x09.

1.5K | Also on AO3

- - - - -

When he doesn’t hear from TK, Carlos throws himself into work.

He at least knows the other man is alive; well, better than just alive, actually. He and Paul have been texting a lot recently, and the man had let it slip that TK stopped by the station a few days ago, looking sore but standing tall on two feet. Carlos had read that message with a painful kind of joy, happy that TK was up and moving, but hurt that TK didn’t seem to have an interest in seeing him.

He’s not mad at the guy, considering Carlos was the one who practically ghosted him right before he got shot. And it’s not even that Carlos thought TK’s incident would magically change their relationship, or that they would suddenly be attached at the hip.

It’s just that Carlos wants to see him. He wants to drown in TK’s bright green eyes and stare at his chest as it moves up and down in time with his breathing. He wants to stand close enough to feel TK’s breath on his skin and the gentle press of his fingers in-between his own.

He wants to see the proof of TK’s survival with his own two eyes, if for no other reason than to rid himself of the nightmares that keep haunting him every time he sinks into a fitful sleep.

He doesn’t know how far to push, so he keeps his distance. He sent flowers to the hospital, and left a voicemail for TK to listen to whenever he feels like it. It wasn’t exactly how he imagined apologizing to the other man for his distance before the shooting, but it was a start.

So, now Carlos just waits, throwing himself into his job as a way to distract himself from all of the things outside of his control.

He picks up shifts from co-workers who need the day off, works overtime as much as he can. By the time he gets home from his shifts, he barely has enough energy to shove food into his mouth and take a quick shower before falling into bed. When he’s not working, he runs, pushing himself through his exhaustion until he feels like he’s about to break. It reminds him that he’s alive and here - that TK is too, somewhere out there. It’s all he has, and it’s enough, for now.

Michelle has been laying low for a while, and he can’t really blame her, but he checks in with her every few days to make sure she’s resting and eating and showing up to her shifts. It’s the least he can do, and taking care of someone else comes naturally to him, so he’s glad to have someone else to worry about.

It’s been eight days since he saw TK in the flesh, twelve since they’ve spoken to one another face-to-face. After a solid week of working himself to the bone, Carlos realizes that he needs to do a grocery run, having nearly cleaned out his pantry without even noticing.

He’s scanning the collection of protein bars in front of him, his brain only partially invested in making a decision, when he hears a familiar voice behind him.

“I usually go with the peanut butter banana ones, if you haven’t given those a shot.”

He turns, surprised to find Captain Strand standing behind him, a small smile on his face as he points towards the box of peanut butter banana CLIF bars. Carlos looks between the captain and the box, trying to figure out what to say.

The last time he saw this man, he’d been a crying mess as he stared at his comatose, possibly-dying son. He didn’t know when he expected to see the other man again, having been oddly fortunate not to share any recent calls with the 126, but the protein bar aisle of a Trader Joe’s was not very high on his list.

“Captain Strand, I…” Carlos starts, trailing off when the older man immediately shakes his head, waving his words away.

“Please, Officer Reyes, call me Owen,” he says, his voice firm.

Carlos doesn’t know what to do with that request. He’s not exactly sure how much Owen knew about him and TK before he showed up uninvited to the hospital, and he doesn’t want the man to get the wrong idea. This level of familiarity isn’t really necessary if TK plans to never speak to him again.

Something about his face must give away his inner thoughts because he watches as Owen’s smile drops, the man letting out a sigh as he takes a step closer.

“He hasn’t called you yet, has he?” he asks gently.

Carlos feels his breath catch in his throat, his palms sweating as a heat rises on the back of his neck. The reminder punches him right in the gut, and he wonders if he’s been this obvious to everyone for the past week. He’s tried so hard to mask the hurt.

Owen doesn’t seem interested in waiting for an answer. “Listen, son,” he begins, reaching out to rest a hand on Carlos’s shoulder. “It has nothing to do with you, okay? I promise.”

Carlos knows that isn’t true, now sure that Owen doesn’t know about everything that happened before the shooting.

“Sir, I don’t think that’s true,” he starts, his voice breaking against his will. “Before the accident, I-”

“Carlos,” Owen says, speaking over him. “Sorry, hope you don’t mind me dropping the formalities.”

Carlos just stares at him.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Owen continues. “Listen, I don’t know everything that’s happened between you and my son, and I don’t really need to know. He’s an adult, and even though he’s been through a lot, he’s capable of making his own decisions. I trust him to make the right ones.

“But, I also know that getting shot has left him feeling a little lost,” the man presses on, shifting to make eye contact with Carlos. “His mind’s in a hundred different places right now, and he’s searching for answers. If he hasn’t reached out, it’s not because he doesn’t want to talk to you anymore.

“I think it’s more that he feels like he needs to shield you from all of it,” Owen finishes, looking away. “If there’s one thing I know about my son, it’s that he’ll try to protect anyone from anything, and that includes himself.”

“I don’t want to be protected from him,” Carlos admits, his voice small as he bites down on his bottom lip. “I want to be there for him.”

Owen stares at him for a moment, his eyes wide, before he suddenly moves forward, wrapping his arms around Carlos in a loose hug, patting his back. Though surprised at first, Carlos mirrors the other man after a moment.

“I’m really, really glad to hear that, Carlos,” Owen says, pulling back. “TK needs more people like you in his life.” He pauses, before stepping back with a nod. “There are some answers that he’s gotta find on his own, but he’ll reach out when he’s ready. I know he will.”

Carlos hears the certainty in the older man’s voice, wondering if he can trust it. Not that he has any other choice, under the current circumstances.

“Then I’ll be here,” Carlos assures him, his heart feeling lighter for the first time in over a week. His gaze briefly slides over to Owen’s cart, taking in the contents. “Sir - Owen - do you mind if I say something?” he asks, tone cautionary as turns back to the other man.

“Sure thing, Carlos.”

“You might want to add a few bags of gummy worms to your list,” he says, pointing at the pile of healthy, possibly indigestible snacks that Owen has piled in a corner of his cart. “He likes to shove them in a handful at a time.”

“Oh, Carlos,” Owen scoffs, moving closer to his stash of treats. “Tell me you do not buy a bunch of processed sugar when my son is with you.”

“Well,” Carlos mutters sheepishly, his hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck, a smile pulling at his mouth, “I kind of can’t say no to him.”

Owen laughs, shaking his head as he reaches for the handle of his cart. “You’ve got it so bad, kid.”

Carlos can’t even defend himself, knowing that what Owen says is true. The man takes a few steps away, clearly planning to continue shopping, before he stops, turning back to look at him.

“Where would I find them?” he asks, his eyes practically twinkling.

“Candy’s down aisle five,” Carlos answers, his smile growing as Owen nods before giving him a wave, continuing down the aisle and disappearing out of sight.

The next day, when TK texts him asking to meet up on his next day off, Carlos can’t help but to wonder if the gummy worms factored at all into his decision-making process.

#tarlos #tarlos fic #911 lone star #carlos reyes #owen strand #tk strand #I wrote a thing #tarlos missing moments collection

65 notes · View notes

trafalgarlawsdepression · 4 years ago

Note

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THE SEASON TWO IN YOUR HEAD

OKAY CURRENT PROGRESS ON SOUL EATER SEASON TWO THAT LIVES IN MY HEAD.

hm okay so first of all it takes place a few years after the og series, I'm thinking like six to seven? point is the gang is all split up, maka was offered a teacher position at dwma but turned it down to travel a bit and consider if she's comfortable with working for dwma considering all the secrecy they're doing. soul is with her because that's what he does and crona is with her because Do Not Separate Them. blackstar and tsubaki are also out seeing the world but less to philosophize and more to get stronger because they're tsubaki and blackstar, possibly incorporating tsubaki's cool new forms from the manga. kid is still in death city and basically I think it'd be interesting if he's slowly preparing to take over as death god with full knowledge of what that would entail for lord death, since that would kinda put a new spin on it compared to the manga. also on the side he's also doing his own scheming because I think that would be fun.

anyway, plot stuff is that dwma have been using angela and mifune to get in contact with the witches and there's talk of a truce, once again incorporating stuff from the manga. the plan is to send kid to do some preliminary negotiations with a team to look out for him, and he asks to take maka and blackstar rather than like, stein or someone, partly because friendship and partly because they're more likely to go along if he starts scheming. this is how we reunite the gang, minus crona who would be wildly unsafe going into with territory considering their connection to medusa and because there's a chance the witches might want to study up on the black blood, in which case crona is the best test subject.

before they leave for the negotiations some way or another it comes out that kim is a witch, which the gang promises to keep secret also I think it'd be cute and sweet if the whole b-team knows and are looking out for kim. anyhoo through kim they find out a bit more abt what the current political situation in the witch world is, which angela and mifune had not been let in on since he's a human and she's like ten. basically, as eruka said in the og series mabaa is getting old so they're also prepping for a change in power, and the title of supreme witch or whatever is slated to go to one of three chosen young witches who have been trained from birth. the gang decide to keep this to themselves for now, partly to keep kim safe and partly because of kid's scheming.

(it should also be noted that there needs to be so many heartwarming reunions also also blackstar is still the shortest he's the token manlet of the group)

anyway they get going and eventually meet up with a witch who uses magic to transport them to where mabaa is hanging out, maybe the witches have a cool witch city that's like. a pit or something whatever it is it needs to be dramatic. negotiations start and kid reveals that he's not only interested in a truce, he wants an active partnership, hence the scheming. mabaa at least isn't outright opposed to the idea but notes that the dwma have been hunting witches for ages so the larger community is bound to be at the very least hesitant. the whole witch election is brought up and mabaa agrees to set up meetings with the three witches with the understanding that if the gang so much as lay a hand on them or in any way try to meddle in the process she will personally see to it that the dwma/witch conflicts escalates to an all out war.

after this I'm kinda fuzzy on the plot, but the first one they see is maggot witch, who's not interested in a partnership. she gives the group brain worms which they manage to get through by the power of friendship or something, and which blackstar has a problem with bc he has a hard time asking from help because that's a sign or weakness or whatever, once again I'm unsure on this. around this time is also where crona shows up because they only managed to keep still for like a day before they started worrying abt maka since they have a lot more experience with witches than she has. they've gotten a lot better over the years, they're still very sheltered but their partnership with ragnarok is much more stable and they can make a joke or two I think. I feel like they deserve it.

next they probably take a quick break at some kind of safe house to recover and build character dynamics, after which they go see bee witch. bee witch is a lot more fun to be around, she throws big parties and has a laff, and she says she'd be interested in working with dwma, because she has a personal loss in the conflict. here we find out that a witch she was really close to (maybe her mom idk) was the witch maka's mom killed to make a death scythe, which maka is smart enough to shut up about but which makes the potential alliance a bit shaky since it's one thing to talk abt it in abstract and a whole other thing to have a shot at revenge within arm's reach. they leave not feeling entirely sure and with crona deeply uncomfortable since they had to endure a party scene press f.

last with they see I haven't drawn or developed a whole bunch yet, but she's a dragonfly witch and doesn't really care either way abt working with dwma since she's not interested in the leadership position in the first place. she has a lot of feelings abt being raised for this One Purpose and not getting to be a person, especially with the risk that she's not even going to get to serve that purpose, which hits home with crona. after this I have. no idea what happens but probably something goes wrong, maybe because of kid's scheming since lord death is bound to find out at some point.

additional notes: I think soul and crona should get to bond over being the most introverted, like just seeing them look genuinely comfortable sitting away from the group and not saying a word to each other. maka's mom's achievements kinda coming back to bite maka in the ass I feel like would give some nuance to the way maka idolizes her mother and constantly tries to follow in her footsteps. I think maybe since this is soul eater season two that lives in MY head I should get to sprinkle in some romance who's to say. I could back it up with how it would add to the themes if I wanted to but it's embarassing and this post is already filling up my embarassment quota for the night, so ask me like. tomorrow if you want to know. I cherish you so much for asking me abt this though make no mistake. I dip you like a dancer

#posts that are too long. help. 😔✨#ses2tlimh

21 notes · View notes

phantom-curve · 4 years ago

Note

44 for willex and au of your choice! If you’re still taking prompts

Oop this prompt invaded my brain and ran off into the sunset. I definitely didn’t mean for it to get as long as it did, but here we are! From the gimme a chance AU, I give you 3 times Willie sat on Alex’s lap +1 time Alex sat on Willie’s (these span the time between all the other one-shots I wrote for Willex in this universe!)

#44: sitting on the other’s lap (Rated a heavy T for some adult themes and language. Also available on ao3!)

Willie hardly ever thought about it anymore. When they were out in public, when they were at the studio with Luke and Reggie for band practice, when they were just hanging around one of their apartments, he never really thought about them in terms of dating. He kind of more thought about them in terms of forever. Not that he was rushing anything, but more that there was a kind of aura around Alex, a kind of energy, that had a way of sinking into Willie’s very bones and saying hey, I’m gonna stick around for the rest of your life that made him think in terms of absolutes. Alex was an absolute. Willie was totally a-okay with that.

The thing that bothered him though, was the fact that Alex didn’t seem to get it.

He still waited for Willie to offer his hand to hold. He didn’t kiss him unless Willie made it painfully obvious that he was okay with that. He hadn’t even managed to get him to spend the night yet because Alex always came up with a reason to go home before Willie could even try to extend the invitation.

And it wasn’t that Alex wasn’t into him. He was. He so totally was. Willie knew that. But it was like he was afraid to own up to it. Which Willie could kind of understand. They had talked about their families and while Willie was lucky to be fully accepted for who he was at home, Alex’s parents were a different story.

They weren’t outright cruel, they had still provided the necessities in the form of food, water, and shelter while Alex had been living at home, but they didn’t love any more. They didn’t talk, they didn’t help, they just ghosted along as if they had never been a part of Alex’s life in the first place. It seemed worse than outright hatred, but Alex claimed it was better than nothing. After all, it had meant that they didn’t ask where he had been or where he was going or when he would be home, which had kinda been a dream as a high schooler. Other kids had wished they had that kind of freedom, Alex told him. Not worth complaining about. It had basically been like having roommates, which was great practice for when he moved out and actually had roommates, Alex said, and Willie pretended all of that was normal because he could tell Alex wanted it to be. They didn’t talk about how now that Alex was living on his own his parents had completely dropped all communication with him. Willie just made a note of it and decided he would make up for all that affection Alex had been missing out on.

So, Willie carried on the way he was used to when it came to being interested in someone and in a relationship with them. He complimented Alex, gave him cute little nicknames, and generally tried to see how often he could manage to make the other boy blush. One of the most successful tactics he had found was sitting in Alex’s lap, especially when he least expected it.

Like right now, in the middle of a Sunset Curve practice.

Luke had been getting frustrated with part of the melody of a new song or something, and Reggie had finally told him to just jam it out until he found the notes he was looking for, and Alex had paused his drumming, tucking his sticks into one hand, and reaching down with the other to grab the large water bottle he kept at his feet when he played. He watched the way the light caught on Alex’s hair as he flicked it off his face, turning the blonde strands into spun gold. Found himself mesmerized by the lines of Alex’s jaw and neck as he tipped his head back to rehydrate. His feet moved on their own, pulling him over to his boyfriend’s side like Alex was a magnet and Willie was made of metal.

Alex quirked a brow at him as he lowered the water bottle, but Willie didn’t say anything. Just grinned and plopped himself down right on Alex’s lap, even though he knew the stool was only meant to hold one person’s weight and Alex had grumbled more than once over Luke and Reggie messing with it. Alex didn’t grumble at him though. Especially not when he looped his arms around the other boy’s neck and leaned forward to place a kiss against his temple. Alex’s cheeks blushed Willie’s favorite shade of pink, the one that almost matched the hoodie he always wore.

“You looked a little lonely over here. Thought I’d come say hi.”

“Hi.”

Alex’s lips parted as he breathed out the word, his eyes softening the way they did every time Willie looked into them for a beat too long. Willie felt his smile widen. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the scent of sweaty band boys and fresh linen and Alex’s honey vanilla shampoo. Alex started to slip his own arms around Willie’s waist, his head tilted up as his gaze fell to his lips. And then an extra loud guitar chord rang out through the amps and Alex jumped, nearly dumping Willie on the ground.

“Alright, lovebirds, enough! I figured out what was wrong with the chord progression. I just gotta switch it from a G chord to a...”

Willie tuned out, never fully able to follow along when Luke got going on a musical tangent. Instead, he pressed one quick kiss to Alex’s lips and stood, slipping out from behind the kit to return to his original position on the couch set up across from where the boys stood to play. Alex watched him with a soft smile and starry eyes before giving his head a quick shake and refocusing on Luke, cheeks still tinged that pale pink that made Willie’s heart soar. Willie tucked the memory away with all his other favorite Alex moments and watched the band get back to it, head bobbing along as he watched his boyfriend shine. And if he made sure to keep his gaze firmly focused on Alex, winking every now and then just so he could see that blush creep back in, well no one else had to know about that but him.

Surprisingly, the hardest part of dating a guy like Alex, a guy who was beautiful and effortlessly sexy and regularly doing something that gave literally anybody a free pass to ogle him for as long as his band was up on stage, was the fact that his boyfriend seemed to have no fucking clue just how attractive he was. And he was also shockingly bad at knowing when someone was hitting on him. Willie was pretty sure if he hadn’t asked Alex on a date after running him over, the guy would have never made a move. And that was afterWillie spent 20 minutes openly flirting with him and dropping ten-ton hints as he helped him clean up and bandage his wounds. It was simultaneously adorable and exhausting, because it meant that sometimes Willie had to watch people chat up his boyfriend while Alex awkwardly bumbled his way through what he assumed was a friendly conversation.

Willie, as a rule, did not get jealous. Jealousy was for people who had trust issues, and Willie trusted Alex more than he had ever trusted a single other person before. So, he wasn’t jealous, per se, as he made his way through the crowd, eyes locked on the back of the guy casually leaning over where Alex was sitting alone in a booth against the wall. He was actually a bit concerned because Alex looked uncomfortable, and he hadn’t thought to tell him that he was gonna make it to the show tonight, which had seemed like a romantic idea at the time but obviously wasn’t because Alex was drumming one of his hands against his thighs and tapping his fingers against the back of his phone on the table in front of him with the other.

He was probably waiting for Willie to call him, because that was something Willie had been doing now that he had gone pro and started traveling for competitions on the weekend instead of showing up at Ebbie’s to cheer on the band from the front row. He had been a little late to snag a front row spot this weekend, barely making it for the last couple of songs in the set. But he had made it, because the competition had ended up getting rained out and Willie had braved the hours of Saturday evening traffic back to LA so that he could see his boyfriend in person instead of through a phone screen.

His boyfriend who was now being hit on by a complete stranger in a crowded bar where Luke and Reggie were nowhere to be found. Willie frowned slightly as he watched Alex draw back into the booth a bit more, both hands picking up speed as they continued to mindlessly tap out a rhythm. No, Willie wasn’t jealous. He was mad that this dude wasn’t picking up on Alex’s cues and backing off. So, now that he was only a few steps away, he skipped forward and made his presence known.

“Hey Hotdog, you looked pretty good up there tonight.”

Alex’s face lit up like the 4th of July, his green gaze skipping past the guy invading his space and latching onto Willie like he was seeing the sun for the first time. Willie felt his lips curve into a soft smile. The unknown guy straightened a bit, eyes skipping back and forth between Alex and Willie, brow furrowed. Willie didn’t have the capacity to help the dude connect the dots, because all he could focus on was Alex and how fast his expression had changed upon hearing Willie’s voice.

“Willie.”

Alex’s tone was quiet and awed, like he had conjured Willie up out of thin air. His hands stilled, and Willie couldn’t resist anymore. He slipped past the stranger who was finally starting to back up and step away, hands raised slightly as if to say sorry, bro, didn’t know you had a boyfriend, and wormed his way into the booth, settling himself on Alex’s lap. Alex leaned forward, his head falling to rest in the crook of Willie’s neck, breath stuttering out and sending a wave of goosebumps across his skin.

“I didn’t think you were coming tonight.”

“Comp got cancelled. And I missed you.”

Willie dropped a kiss on the top of Alex’s blonde head, breathing in the distinct honey-vanilla-laundry scent that always got a bit more intense after a show. Alex’s cheeks warmed, Willie delighting in the fact that he could actually feel the blush against his own skin, and his lips moved against the hollow of Willie’s throat.

“I always miss you.”

The words were tempered with gentle kisses and Willie thought he might melt into the floor right there on the spot. He didn’t censor his next words, let the longing bleed through so Alex understood just how badly he wanted to be with him.

“Come home with me tonight then. I think six months of dating is long enough to move into sleepover territory.”

Alex’s arms squeezed around his waist for a brief second, Willie biting his tongue as he listened to Alex’s breath hitch and then pick up a bit faster than before. He pulled his head out of Willie’s neck, mouth open to answer, when the other two-thirds of Sunset Curve suddenly arrived at the table in their typical whirlwind fashion. They called out happy greetings as they clocked Willie’s arrival, slipping into the other side of the booth. Willie smiled and tried to focus on what they were saying so he could beat back the disappointment of not getting an answer. He only startled slightly when Alex’s lips were suddenly at his ear.

“Six months of dating is definitely long enough. Take me home, pretty boy.”

And Willie felt his own cheeks heat, prayed that Luke and Reggie wouldn’t spot the change in the low light as he settled himself further into Alex’s embrace. He kept himself occupied with linking his fingers through Alex’s where they still wrapped around his waist and tried not to think too much about finally getting to sleep next to the guy he was falling more in love with every day as he counted down the minutes to bar close.

He wasn’t even surprised when he woke up in the morning and realized a feeling of homecoming had settled fully and deeply into his heart and soul. At some point in the last six months home and Alex had become synonymous anyway.

The worst part about getting in a car accident and breaking his leg in three places was the fact that Willie couldn’t skate for several months while he recovered and went through physical therapy and all the other bullshit necessary to make sure he was strong enough to compete at a similar level as before. His sponsors had been understanding and Willie was able to do little things here and there to fulfill his contracts, so he wasn’t too worried about any of that for the time being. Mostly he was just bored and fidgety. But it was okay, because the best part about getting in car accident and breaking his leg in three places was having Alex as his caretaker while he recovered.

Alex, who had shown up at the hospital when Willie was still groggy from surgery and climbed into bed with him and kissed his bruises and told him he loved him. Alex, who had come back to the hospital every chance he got for the week Willie was stuck there post-op. Alex, who had practically moved into Willie’s apartment once he was sent home, even though they had both agreed they weren’t ready to live together yet, because Willie needed someone to help him get to and from the bathroom and shower and Alex was obviously his first choice despite the fact that Willie had three capable roommates who had offered to help.

Alex was the best part about his recovery, hands down. Except for the fact that he seemed to think Willie was made of glass now.

They were supposed to be having a movie night at the Sunset Curve apartment. Willie had gotten his cast off and been switched to a walking boot earlier that day, and he had told Alex he would come by after he left the hospital because he needed a break from the same four walls of his bedroom. Luke and Reggie had sent a text that they were picking up a pizza and drinks, so Willie had hoped for maybe a little bit of make-out action on the couch before they got back. Instead, Alex had fretted and fluttered about, forcing Willie to lay down on the couch with his leg elevated while Alex plumped his pillows and asked him a million times if he was feeling okay. Willie had been about ready to tackle Alex just to get him to shut up, still healing leg be damned, when Luke and Reggie came back.

Then it had been an argument over what to watch with Reggie insisting they hadn’t watched Star Wars recently even though they definitely had, and by the time the yellow words were rolling across the screen Willie realized Alex had opted for the floor next to the couch instead of the actual couch itself. He had his arm stretched out along Willie’s hip, but it wasn’t nearly enough contact. So, Willie swung his legs over the edge of the couch and stood, before unceremoniously dropping himself down directly in Alex’s lap. Alex let out an indignant huff, rolling his eyes as Reggie turned to shush him.

“Willie, what the hell? Get back on the couch, you need to rest your leg.”

Willie rolled his own eyes, snuggling further into Alex’s chest, winding his arms around the back of his neck to play with the blonde hair that was a bit overgrown at the back.

“No, I need to cuddle with my boyfriend. You keep acting like you’re gonna hurt me if you touch me and its honestly pretty rude. I’m not that breakable.”

Alex made sound of protest in the back of his throat, his hands waving around and above Willie’s booted leg.

“Obviously you are very breakable!”

“Yeah, in a fight with a car,” Willie snorted, sighing and refusing to budge even an inch. “You could never hurt me. C’mon, baby, please?”

Alex flushed from head to toe. Willie didn’t usually break out the softer pet names unless they were alone because they kind of made Alex blue screen, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Willie pressed a kiss against Alex’s throbbing pulse as well, in for a penny, in for a pound and all that.

“Guys,” Reggie whined, “can you like...take it to the bedroom or shut up? Some of us are trying to watch the Empire strike back here.”

And Alex, sweet, beautiful, perfect Alex, scooped Willie up like he weighed nothing at all, cheeks still pink and eyes unfocused in a way that told Willie his mind had taken a nosedive into the gutter. He couldn’t help but laugh, clinging on so that he wasn’t complete deadweight in Alex’s very capable arms.

“Dude, seriously?” He heard Luke call out, but the sound was muffled quickly behind Alex’s bedroom door as it closed, the lock clicking into place.

“That wasn’t fair.”

Alex’s tone didn’t match his words, his voice going breathless as he snuggled both of them into the bed, his hands sneaking under the hem of Willie’s crop top to skim along his ribs.

“All’s fair in love and war, babe.”

Willie let Alex swallow the sound of his laugh, lips meeting for the much-anticipated make-out session he had been hoping for earlier. Movie night was forgotten. By the time the sun was rising, Willie was pretty sure he had convinced Alex exactly how not breakable he was.

Alex wasn’t usually the one to initiate physical contact. Willie was completely at ease handing out kisses and hugs and linking their fingers together whenever it suited him, but Alex wasn’t quite as uninhibited. He had gotten better over the last year or so of dating, but he still wasn’t quite as casual with it. It was easier when they were alone, Willie’s lingering glances and complimentary words making him feel bold and confident.

It was kind of a running joke between them, the fact that Alex had initiated their first kiss so suddenly only to then spend the rest of their relationship holding himself back a bit. And even though Willie never meant it as more than a tease, Alex had been genuinely trying to change that about himself. He had started therapy and he was doing the work to unpack all of the ways his parents had fucked him up over the years. He was learning and growing, and not just for Willie, but for himself. It was nice.

Okay, it was really fucking hard and stressful. But it was also kind of working. Alex had found himself feeling a lot less anxious, especially when Willie was out of town competing and Alex had flashbacks to the car accident and other minor injuries Willie had sustained while on the road. He had learned some new coping mechanisms, and he had started to be a bit freer with his own physical affection. Which definitely had some very nice side effects.

Side effects like finally being the one to make Willie blush and blank out for once.

It shouldn’t have been a big deal. They had been dating for over a year, they regularly spent the night together, they were fully committed to each other. They had sex for Christ’s sake, so nothing should have felt like too much intimacy wise. And it didn’t. Until they were at some BBQ for one of Willie’s skater friends and Alex started to feel a bit overwhelmed, but instead of taking himself into the bathroom to have a quiet moment and pull it together, he found Willie, sitting next to a fire pit with a beer in hand. He didn’t even think twice before dropping into his lap and snatching the can from Willie’s grasp to steal a sip.

The contact was instantly comforting, and Alex suddenly realized that must be why Willie was constantly crawling into his own lap. It felt cozy and safe in his boyfriend’s arms, every part of him warm and close enough for Alex to inhale the scent of coconut shampoo mixed with cherry Chapstick. It was only when he went to return the beer can to Willie that he realized he had kind of frozen. For one second, Alex let himself panic that he had gone too far, done something wrong that would end up ruining everything, and then he realized Willie was breathing a lot faster than normal, one of his hands finding purchase against Alex’s waist and squeezing. The conversation carried on around them, but time seemed to stand still within their own personal little bubble.

“Alex, you cannot just do that and expect me not to want you six ways to Sunday now.”

Willie’s breath was hot against Alex’s neck, his words coming out fast and furious like he had to say them all now before he couldn’t speak at all. Alex felt his cheeks warm as he turned his head slightly to meet Willie’s eyes. His pupils were wide, cheeks the kind of ruddy dark brown that Alex had learned meant he was definitely blushing too. The fingers on the hand that was clenched around Alex’s hip danced across the thin strip of skin between his pants and his shirt, drawing a series of patterns across Alex’s side that made him shiver. Willie groaned beneath him, the sound breathless and just loud enough for Alex to hear. He smirked, wiggling a little like he was trying to get more comfortable.

“Lex, I swear to God I will make out with you so hard right in front of all these people. It won’t bother me. You gotta stop it unless you’re willing to risk that.”

Alex kinda wanted to risk it. Knowing he made Willie feel that out of control was a huge rush. God, he really should have taken advantage of all this physical stuff a lot earlier, huh?

“You wanna make out with me here, or you wanna make out with me back at your apartment?”

Alex kept his voice hushed, dipping his head so his lips were right next to Willie’s ear. Willie shuddered beneath him and then downed his beer in one long swallow. He nudged Alex to standing, following him but not moving out from his spot slightly behind him as his hand fit itself more snuggly into place along Alex’s waist.

“Gents,” he addressed the other skaters scattered around the fire with a two fingered salute, “Lex and I gotta get going. Got some plans to take care of.”

Alex tried not to snort and blush at the obvious undertone to Willie’s words. The rest of the group had no such qualms, hooting and hollering as Willie practically dragged Alex out of the back yard, hand raising to give them a middle finger when Alex heard Max call out get you some, Stewart! Alex laughed, stepping up close behind Willie as they came around to the front of the house, voice dipping low in a tease.

“Jeez, Wils, who knew sitting in your lap would do it for you?”

Willie turned without warning, catching Alex before he could trip into him and surging forward to connect their lips in a kiss that featured a bit more teeth than usual.

“You do it for me, Alex. It’s all you, all the time. God, I fucking love you.”

Alex didn’t get a chance to respond before Willie was pulling away and ushering Alex into his car. He linked their hands together on the console between the seats, and Alex didn’t even complain once about his speeding. He was too busy thinking up all the other things he could do to make Willie lose it in public like that again. He had a lot of time to make up for, and the rest of their lives to do so.

#mads writes #gimme a chance #jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex #jatp ficlet #willex ficlet #send me prompts for my birthday!#<- literally just tagging that for consistency #alex mercer #willie jatp

25 notes · View notes

themurphyzone · 4 years ago

Text

Nova Ch 10

AN: I think that reunion with Snowball went pretty well!

Ch 10: White Dwarves

AO3 Link, FFN Link

Terran Date 2015.4.26

I’m stuck in a backwater lab with an idiot who believes you can transform a rock into gold by spray painting it. Nothing else worth reporting.

o-o-o-o-o

Pinky winced as Brain slammed his hand against the computer mouse, saving the oddly brief recording to the computer. He didn’t bother with his usual sign-off either. Just buried his face between his hands and growled to himself.

Brain had been in a foul mood ever since the tea party, snapping whenever Pinky tried to ask a question and making messes without bothering to clean up after himself. He wasn’t the only one affected by Snowball suddenly leaving. Madame Daisy was still pretty miffed about Snowball’s lack of etiquette when he didn’t say goodbye to the other guests or say thank you to the host. And Brain hadn’t done those either.

Maybe Pinky should’ve warned them about Madame Daisy being a stickler for tea party etiquette.

But more importantly, the deadline for RSVPing was tomorrow at 8 pm and they still hadn’t called Lamont Manor. More than once, Pinky brought it up in conversation and left post-it notes as reminders, but Brain always shut the topic down and shredded the notes into confetti.

It stung when he did that, but Pinky shook it off and saved the itty-bitty scraps. One never knew when they’d need good confetti.

Pinky’s ears twitched towards the cage at the sound of Brain’s groan. Brain had already drained a full water bottle and was steadily working his way through a second. While Pinky was happy his alien friend had gotten used to water, mostly so they could play Marco Polo and waterski with popsicle sticks, maybe there was such a thing as too much water.

“Brain?” Pinky called, nearly slipping on a puddle. He frowned. There were several puddles and no sign of Brain at least trying to keep this side of the cage neat. “Er, don’t you think that’s enough? Awfully hard to sleep if you have to keep getting up for the bathroom.”

“Just leave me alone,” Brain muttered. He sipped from the tube again without taking his glare off Pinky. Water dribbled down his chin.

No, he was absolutely not leaving Brain alone! Pinky stomped his foot, startling Brain when he tried to sneak another drink.

“That’s it!” Pinky shouted. He tugged his ears and released them with a sharp snap. “I’m gonna give you tough love whether you like it or not, mistah!”

Before Brain could react, Pinky snatched him away from the water bottle and tucked him under one arm like he was cradling a football. Brain kicked and squirmed in his grip, trying to smack him with his tail, but Pinky had a firm hold. With his free hand, he pulled a fedora off the coat rack as he marched out of the cage and over to the stereo.

It was a little worn from age, but it still worked alright.

He dropped Brain, who let out a little oomph when his stomach hit the counter. Smacking the play button with his foot, Pinky kept one hand on his fedora as he counted the beats until the main melody began.

“Just say narf! Just say narf!

Don’t you know to be glad? Just say narf!

Every day is a joy and so-”

The music shut off.

Surprised by the lack of background music, Pinky checked behind him, arms still thrown above his head with the fedora hanging from one hand.

Brain stood in front of the stereo, his hand over the stop button. “Just what in Orion’s belt are you trying to accomplish with this display?” he snapped, crossing his arms.

“You’ve been a grumpasaurus rex ever since the tea party! So I’m cheering you up with one of my favorite songs!” Pinky protested.

“You can’t cheer me up by manhandling me and saying nonsense!” Brain yelled.

“I said narf, not nonsense!”

“They’re synonymous!”

“No, they’re not! They agreed they could date other people and they still have a trusting relationship! And you wanna know what else? They actually clean up after themselves too!”

“GAH!”

“TROZ!”

Their noses were just a few inches apart, chests huffing and puffing like they were about to blow the Three Little Pigs’ houses down. Brain broke away from the staredown first, clasping his hands behind his back as he sulked.

Pinky counted one Mississippi, five Mississippis, and seventeen Mississippi’s, his hand against his racing heart as he breathed in and out to calm down. And why did they only count Mississippi? Why not Alabama, Georgia, or Papua New Guinea?

Brain was a closed book at the best of times, it seemed. One of those heavy textbooks with lots of big words, not a happy, colorful picture book like Pat the Bunny.

But he wasn’t a good actor, though he pretended to be above happiness, fear, and sorrow.

“You know you can talk to me, right? About your feelings or world domination or secret crushes. Anything you want,” Pinky said, wringing his tail in his hands. It looked like a very sad, wiggling worm under his fingers. The smooth surface under his fingers helped a little, but it didn’t replace a full snout hug from Pharfignewton. “I...I was just trying to help.”

“World domination is the only topic worth discussing out of everything you said. Emotions are irrelevant,” Brain said. There was still a bite in his tone, but not much. He rubbed his arm, feet shuffling uncomfortably. “So you were truthful about wanting to...assist during my period of inactivity?”

Pinky tilted his head. “Why would I lie about wanting to help? That would be mean, Brain.”

“Helping is just another way of ensuring someone owes a favor. Or it would be mutually beneficial to all parties involved,” Brain replied. His sharp gaze snapped back to Pinky. “Our deal is just one example out of many.”

“What about helping you cause I wanted you to feel better?”

Didn’t that count? He didn’t know why Brain was making it all so complicated.

“As I stated before, your song was nonsense and your method was invasive.” Brain shot a disdainful glare at the stereo. “But I can’t entirely fault you for your intentions, however misguided, though I suggest having a concrete reward in mind next time.”

Pinky grinned and let go of his tail. “Oh, that’s easy! Lemme grab a chunk of concrete off the street!”

Brain sighed, stomping over to a top drawer, perching on the edge of the counter as he slid it open. “That won’t be necessary, Pinky.”

“Looking for something, Brain?” Pinky asked.

“I can find it on my own!” Brain tried to wave him off, but overbalanced and fell into the open drawer, landing on his stomach with a muffled oomph. He spat a scrap of paper out of his mouth, kicking a red pen aside as he rolled onto his back.

Pinky’s fingers drummed on the counter as he peered down at Brain. A light cherry color coated his sagging cheeks.

“I’d rather direct my focus somewhere else for the time being.” Brain wasn’t making eye contact with Pinky. Which was a shame, because his eyes were the prettiest shade of pink. “I don’t require anything else after you point me to the cleaning supplies.”

Pinky blinked at him in surprise, but they were getting somewhere now! He could do a cartwheel, kiss a cockatoo, and dance the Macarena! Maybe not in that order, or all at once, but there’s a first time for everything!

A smile spread across Pinky’s face, and he couldn’t help but laugh when Brain’s head began to resemble a lumpy tomato.

o-o-o-o-o

Several hours later, Pinky yawned as the first rays of sunlight gently crept across the bed. The distant sounds of cars caught in traffic on the nearby bridge combined with the gentle thrum of lab technology formed the usual background noises, greeting him with a new day. Freeing his legs and tail from the blanket, he dipped into a luxurious, catlike stretch, arching his back and raising his rear end and tail as high as they would go.

“Wakey-wakey, Brain! Narf!” Pinky exclaimed as he shook Brain’s shoulder.

Brain mumbled to himself and buried his head into his pillow, curling into a very tight cocoon to block out the light. If Brain wanted to hatch into a pretty butterfly, he needed all the rest he could get, so Pinky left him alone.

But it was worth a shot, even if Brain wasn’t a morning mouse.

Pinky ate a plateful of food pellets for a quick breakfast, then washed it down with water. The area around the water bottle was puddle-free and mostly clean, save for a stubborn stain on a cage bar by the floor. But that spot gave Pinky plenty of trouble too, so he didn’t hold it against Brain.

He coaxed a drop of water out of the tubing and splashed it on his face, then squeezed through the cage bars, hands behind his back as he strolled over to the cap Snowball had given him.

He’d spent most of his time decorating it with whatever he could find for the past few days. Glittery, colorful letters that spelled Pharfignewton were glued across the brim, give or take a few letters. Her name was so long that it didn’t fit and the ‘ewton’ was on a separate row beneath the rest. Feathers, ribbons, and encouraging messages on sticky notes covered the blue fabric.

It was coming along nicely. Pinky backed up a few steps, sticking out his tongue and placing his fingers together like he was taking a picture.

“Just needs a little something,” Pinky murmured, tapping his chin to get the idea muscle in his head working. It usually worked best after he ate, so coming up with something should be a cinch!

Then he snapped his fingers together, a little lightbulb flickering overhead with a satisfying click. Wait, no, no. That was just the light turning on cause a sleepy scientist trudged in, dragging his feet to the kitchen. He didn’t see Pinky waving good morning to him.

Hopefully the man liked decaf, because they were all out of regular coffee.

Pinky folded red tissue paper into a rose, then repeated the step with purple tissue paper. “Thank you, DIY craft videos on Youtube!” he hummed.

He needed more roses to go all the way around. Kentucky Derby hats were always decked out with pretty roses. Oh, he could arrange the roses into a pretty red-purple-red-purple pattern!

And toss some glitter onto the roses too! Can’t go wrong with glitter!

He dumped a generous amount of pink glitter on his rose and glued it to the hat.

More scientists trickled in, shuffling off to the kitchen in search of coffee and once again ignoring Pinky and his pretty hat. They didn’t seem too keen on coming today. He couldn’t imagine why. Monday was such a lovely day and it never got the appreciation it deserved.

Since they had a bad habit of moving items around so Pinky could never find them, he hid his unfinished hat in the back of a large drawer. Nobody ever looked there anyway.

He hauled himself out of the drawer. As he climbed back to the counter, he paused to admire the calendar picture of Mickey Mouse giving flowers to Minnie. Beneath it, the box for April 27 was circled in glittery blue.

Right, wasn’t there something they were supposed to do today?

RSVP BY 8 PM! NARF!

Right, they still had stuff to do if they were gonna have the best weekend ever! They still had to find costumes for the masquerade ball! Especially the masks! Masks were the most important part!

And they had to call soon, or they wouldn’t be able to go.

“Brain!” Pinky shouted as he ran inside the cage, snatching up the invitation card from the corner. Brain was out of bed and trying to eat a food pellet, though his expression was pinched from the dryness of his breakfast. “Oh, that brand is pretty dry. That’s why I saute it in three-and-one oil first. Anyway, you’re already up?”

Brain scowled and swallowed his morsel with difficulty. “How can I possibly sleep with all this racket?”

A cupboard slammed down the hall, followed by loud profanity that would’ve made Pinky’s grandmother clutch her pearls and faint.

Apparently, nobody wanted decaf.

Pinky held the invitation close to a scowling Brain. “See? We’ve gotta call now or they won’t let us in! Then we won’t be able to swim in the chocolate fountain or admire the ice sculptures!”

Brain shoved the card away from his face. “Heaven forbid we miss those banal activities,” he replied, pressing two hands to his cheeks.

“Exactly!” Pinky’s tail twitched in anticipation. “And we still need fancy outfits and masks!”

Brain took another food pellet, grimaced, and tossed it back into the bowl. Then he sighed and rubbed his temples. “This is a rather asinine plan, Snowball,” he muttered. “Come again?” Pinky asked. He could’ve sworn Brain said Snowball’s name.

Which was weird, because Snowball wasn’t even here. Unless Brain named the food bowl Snowball. That made more sense.

“Never mind, Pinky,” Brain sighed. “Forgive me for my reservations.”

“But we haven’t made those reservations yet,” Pinky said. Brain didn’t reply, too focused on valiantly keeping his breakfast down. Then Brain drank from the water bottle, careful not to splash too much. Once he finished, he headed to the cage door, and Pinky dutifully followed. He hopped from toe to toe as Brain unlocked the door with a bent paper clip. “Can I place the call, Brain?”

“This is a delicate operation, Pinky,” Brain replied. “We must use our given aliases so that we won’t be found out prematurely. I can’t risk you blabbing our true identities, so I’ll speak to our less than gracious host myself. Now, hand over the card.”

It was true.

He wasn’t a good liar at all.

Pinky held out the card, but before Brain could take it, a balding man with a bad combover and rumpled labcoat tried to yank him out of the cage by his crooked tail. The scientist yelped in pain as the orb sparked in his hand, leaving red marks on his skin. Startled, Freed from his grip, Brain leapt forward and tripped over himself. Pinky dropped the card and caught Brain by the shoulders before he could slam nose-first into the metal floor.

The red orbs on Brain’s antennae glowed for several seconds before fading away. Then Brain regained his footing and gave Pinky a brief nod as thanks, quickly pulling away to recollect himself.

The contact ended all too soon.

The man flicked his hand to get rid of the shock, muttering to himself as he pulled on a pair of rubber gloves.

“What’s going on?” Brain snapped. “We have important business to conduct!”

“Don’t worry, Brain. It’s just Maze Monday!” Pinky said, fixing his messy tuft as best he could without a mirror. He had to look his best for maze running! “We’ll call afterward!”

The scientist reached in again. Though Brain defiantly stood in the corner away from him, it was no use and he was pulled out of the cage. He dangled in the scientist’s gloved hand by the tail, grumpy at his current position.

Pinky was next. He swung from the scientist’s other hand as he was lifted into the air, pumping his legs back and forth like he was on an upside down swing. Giggling, he reached out and tried to touch Brain’s ears, though he was several inches short.

With one mouse dangling from each hand, the scientist walked out of the room and carried them down the hallway. They passed the college interns who were more interested in selfies than work, the security guard who was always shouting about evil rodents and their master plan to hoard the world’s entire cheese supply for themselves, and a bored female scientist who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else but here.

The scientist entered a room on his left. Along the wall, several guinea pigs rested in their cages. Pinky waved to them, but since he didn’t have any food, the guinea pigs weren’t interested.

They were dropped at the start of a large cardboard maze. The scientist adjusted the cameras mounted above the maze, then left the room.

Just him and Brain now.

“Your scientists display a disturbing lack of regard for our tails,” Brain grumbled, rubbing the soreness out of one zigzagged bend. “Not that Selenians were any better.”

“But if they hold the tip just right, you can swing around like a little monkey!” Pinky said. “I mean, my rear gets a bit sore too, and sometimes you might crash into a wall, but it’s still loads of fun! Haven’t you ever tried it, Brain?”

“While that activity is suitable for inane creatures, it doesn’t befit a future world emperor to behave in such an embarrassing manner.” Brain dusted off his jumpsuit, though it was recently washed and wasn’t particularly dirty. “But I digress. We must focus on surviving this perilous maze so that we may RSVP to the event in time.”

Perilous?

But he didn’t see any pearls anywhere. It was just cardboard and metal as far as the eye could see. Pearls would’ve brightened this drab maze a lot.

There were four directions to pick from. Pinky scratched his head. Which one?

The left path looked fun, but the one behind and in front were dimly lit. Which left the right path. And since it was right, that meant it was the right way!

“Let’s go! The right path is always right! Zort!” Pinky exclaimed. He walked to the right path, but Brain hauled him back by the elbow.

“Don’t assume the direction and the certainty of success are one and the same, Pinky,” Brain said firmly. “We have to take precautions.”

Pinky didn’t think they had to be careful though. There wasn’t anyone else here. Unless the guinea pigs counted, but they weren’t in the maze.

His usual strategy was to run around silly-willy until he found the snack at the end. But in all his years, he’d never actually found the snack. Usually he just ran into walls and daydreamed about cheese until a nice scientist got him out.

And cheese kept the spookiness away.

“There’s nobody here but us,” Pinky said.

“There’s nobody visible in this maze but us,” Brain corrected. “If we’re not careful, we could fall victim to traps. Enough arguing, Pinky. We’re taking the left fork.”

There weren’t any forks to take, nor anything to eat using a fork, but at least Brain was nice enough to drag Pinky down his second choice instead of the dimly lit paths.

Brain stuck close to the walls, grabbing Pinky’s wrist to ensure he did the same. As they came upon a T-section where they could either turn left or right, Brain carefully held his antennae back with his free hand and poked his head around the corner. Pinky tried to lean over Brain to see what was so interesting, but a sharp nudge kept him back.

“Whatcha looking for?” Pinky asked. “Besides cardboard.”

“Bright, confined areas are the safest,” Brain said. “It’s not a complete guarantee, but you can at least watch for disturbances on the floor or wall. We’ll head right. I can’t see the end of the left corridor from here.”

He let go of Pinky’s wrist, but gave him stern instructions to stay along the wall. It was just like giving the wall a really long hug, and Pinky licked the wall to thank it for hugging back.

Huh. So cardboard tastes like cardboard then. Not bad, but it could definitely use some parsley.

Halfway down the corridor, Brain’s breath suddenly hitched. He stared at the floor in front of them, where one edge of the cardboard was a little higher than the other. The line spanned the entire length between the two walls.

“Don’t get too close,” Brain said, pushing Pinky back before he could step on it. “Remember, strange patterns in the structure might reveal the location of a trap.”

It looked like a normal ledge though. Completely harmless.

But if the trap only worked when they stepped on it...then the trick was to not step on it!

Brain let go of Pinky’s wrist as he pondered their next course of action. Taking his chances, Pinky backed up several paces, keeping his eye on the line he couldn’t touch.

Then he sprinted forward, ignoring Brain’s shout for him to stop.

Pinky leapt as high as he could, easily clearing the line. Though he couldn’t quite stick the landing and toppled forward as soon as he touched the ground.

Still had to work on his weak ankles.

Hopping to his feet, Pinky turned to a flabbergasted Brain. Ha! He loved that word. Flabbergasted! Too bad it was a bit long for a catchphrase.

Instead of being impressed, Brain glared at him.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous your stunt was?” Brain shouted. “You could’ve been severely incapacitated!”

Pinky stretched his legs to test his ankles, but they felt alright. No harm done.

“Narf! But my ankles are fine! See?” Pinky shook his ankles so Brain could see they weren’t hurt.

“And if there was a motion sensor?” Brain snapped. “Did you consider the possibility of spikes, projectiles, or electrocution?”

“Um…”

The scientists wouldn’t be mean enough to put those in a maze. Of course, sometimes they’d forget to take him out when he couldn’t find the exit, and he’d lay in the maze alone and listen to the lab’s scary nighttime noises, but he’d never seen spikes during these tests before.

“Thought so,” Brain said. There was something odd about the way his hand twitched towards his tail.

Like he had personal experience.

“Have you ever been caught in a trap before?” Pinky asked before he could stop himself.

Too much?

Brain folded his arms and lifted his chin, pink eyes narrowing at Pinky. Probably not then. Brain was too smart for that.

And definitely clever enough to find his way to the exit and not get stuck overnight.

Then Brain turned around so Pinky could see all the zigzags in his tail.

“Electrocution trap,” Brain said, his ears lowering. “An overload of electricity can be fatal for my species, though we’re naturally resistant to smaller shocks. I was...less experienced back then.”

There was more. Brain wasn’t telling him how much it hurt.

But Brain tensed, a silent warning not to push any further.

“They didn’t leave you in the maze overnight, did they?” Pinky asked. Brain went dangerously still.

Oh, there he went running his mouth again! Why couldn’t his mouth be good and stay zipped?

“Sorry, Brain. You don’t have to answer. It’s fine, really!” Pinky hastily corrected himself. “But if they did-”

"No, they didn't," Brain said, surprising Pinky with how much he was revealing. "They kept a strict count of all their test subjects, and preserving them was far more preferable to losing a valuable limited resource. Small mercies, I suppose.”

“Oh. Well...that’s good.” Pinky rubbed the back of his neck. He was glad Brain never had to deal with that. He wouldn’t wish it on anybody, not even that stubborn stain he could never rub out from the cage bars. “Poit.”

Brain turned back to Pinky and looked at the line between them. Then he hopped over it, bracing himself for a shock. When no electricity appeared, he seemed surprised, though he immediately tried to school his expression into a neutral one. He walked past Pinky and refused an invitation to hug it out.

They had to turn left at the next intersection since the right led to a dead end. Then they reached an open room with a cardboard path and a metal path. Brain chose the metal path, but stopped where the rough paper met cool metal. Pinky stopped behind him.

“Pinky?” Brain said. He didn’t turn around. “Were you left in a maze overnight?”

“Sometimes,” Pinky admitted. Was he worrying Brain? He didn’t want Brain to worry! “But it’s not so bad when you imagine all the cheese you’ll eat at the end, even if you never reach it. But cheese keeps the ghosts away, you know. They don’t like the smell.”

If he imagined cheese, he wouldn’t imagine long, crooked witch fingers trying to pluck him out. Or the loud air conditioning system which clicked on and off every few minutes, the ghostly breeze echoing down the hallway. Or how he called for his parents and Sis to come share a yummy feast with him, though they never came.

“That’s horribly negligent on the humans’ end.”

And that was all the talk Brain allowed on the matter.

o-o-o-o-o

The maze was a lot longer than they thought. Just when Pinky believed they’d reached the cheese, there was always some new twist that set them back.

What time was it? Though he couldn’t see the clock, it had to be around lunchtime right now. Pinky’s stomach growled, sounding a lot like Brain in one of his moods.

He’d give an arm and a leg for a few food pellets. Or some cheese. Even a leaf.

Brain was tiring out too. His footsteps were heavier and slower. But he kept at it.

Right, focus on the goal. Focus on the yummy cheese.

What kind would they get? Moldy? Blue? Provolone? All of those sounded pretty good, but Pinky thought his stomach was calling for pepperjack. Oh wait, no, maybe it was gorgonzola.

His stomach grumbled again. Okay, it was definitely muenster this time.

They came across a path with a thick sheet of metal on top. So dark that they couldn’t see a thing in front of them. Brain took a deep breath and stuck a hand in the darkness. They only saw his wrist.

His fingers were completely swallowed by the inky, hungry darkness.

Brain took his hand out.

Oh. Not swallowed then. All his fingers were still there.

“We’ve exhausted all our options,” Brain said, pounding his fist into his hand in determination. But even that gesture couldn’t hide how he stuck to the wall like glue. Pinky didn’t blame him. It was awfully dark in there. What if they went in and were never found again? “Taking this path is absolutely necessary if we’re to make it out of this labyrinth in time.”

But they couldn’t see the traps. It wasn’t safe.

Unless…

“Brain, your orbs!” Pinky exclaimed, gently tapping an antenna. “If you make ‘em glow, we won’t get lost or fall into a trap!”

Brain didn’t look so sure. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Not a terrible suggestion for once, Pinky. Unfortunately, it’s not something I have voluntary control over. It’s a hormonal response that occurs when I’m...well, happy.”

“So we’ll just have to make you happy enough for your orbs to glow,” Pinky said.

With what? Brain raised an eyebrow, the silent question obvious.

Then Pinky snapped his fingers. He knew what to do! He'd sing Just Say Narf!

Except he was trying to make Brain happy, not himself.

A no-go then.

Cream cheese and blueberry bagels? Out of reach.

Pinky tapped his chin. This was harder than he thought.

Brain sat against the wall, eyes squeezed shut and hands rubbing circles into his large forehead. “Statues, parades, my jewel-encrusted cummerbund…” he murmured.

He was doing one of those smartypants things. Too smart for Pinky to understand.

Brain growled and opened his eyes in irritation. “Cease your staring at once, Pinky. I’m trying to concentrate.”

“On what?” Pinky asked.

“World domination of course,” Brain said, smacking his ear like he was dumping extra thoughts out of his chubby head. “Accomplishing a goal would naturally bring anyone contentment.”

Pinky zipped his lip and threw away the key, then sat against the wall across from Brain and waited.

Yet Brain’s orbs didn’t glow.

Pinky drummed his fingers against his leg. When he drummed all the songs he knew, he tried to lick his elbow. Except his elbow didn’t want to be licked. He leaned in and stuck his tongue out as far as he could, but it was a very stubborn elbow.

After an eternity, Brain finally spoke, his voice full of cautious hope. “Are they glowing now?”

Pinky shook his head, and Brain slumped against the wall in defeat.

The clock ticked on.

“There’s gotta be other things you like besides world domination,” Pinky said. It made sense to have a lot of likes and favorites, and not just on social media.

“Those ‘other things’ are frivolous at best and distractions at worst,” Brain replied. “Taking over this world would make me happy, so there’s no logical reason as to why it’s not working.”

Maybe it was happy, but they had to think happier. No, they had to think happiest!

Brain said ‘this world’. Right, he was a Selenian. Funny how it seemed like he’d been here forever instead of just a few days.

A Selenian. Brain never revealed much about where he came from. Just that he wanted to leave it all behind. And he only spoke about their technology. But there was more than that, right?

“Narf! It’s funny, Brain,” Pinky said, holding his toes as he rocked back and forth. Brain looked at him, confused. “You’ve gotten to know a lot about this planet, but I don’t know much about yours! There’s gotta be something about New Selene that makes you happy!”

“Nothing about that desolate wasteland sparks any joyful feelings,” Brain retorted. “Snowball and I are much better off here. Terra’s knowledge of space is much less advanced than Selene’s, but once we’re co-rulers that’s a problem easily rectified.”

“But there has to be something you did for fun.”

Brain looked away. “You’re prying. But if you’re truly interested…”

“I am!” Pinky exclaimed, nodding eagerly. “Please tell me!”

Brain’s ear twitched as he listened for signs of anyone coming. But none appeared. “I’m going to regret this...but fine. However, everything I’m about to tell you does not leave this maze. Promise me.”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-ow!” Pinky jabbed his eye a little too hard.

Brain watched him for a moment longer, so Pinky tried to make himself look like a captivated audience. Finally, he gave in with a sigh.

“Selenians have an oral storytelling tradition called Lor Altal. The loose translation to your language is ‘swapping hearts’, and given their predisposition to sordid, melodramatic affairs, I’d say it’s an accurate name,” Brain explained. “On the mother planet, it’s normally performed on the last day of the month. But explorers and scientists, including those of New Selene, often turned it into a weekly session as a way to remind them of home.”

“Didja hear any Lor Altals on New Selene?” Pinky asked. He laid on his stomach, propped his head on his elbows, and kicked his feet in the air.

“...yes.”

Why so hesitant though?

“Snowball and I...we used to sneak out of our cages for the weekly Lor Altal. When we were younger. Before they abandoned New Selene. The ones we’d listened to were...well, they could become very elaborate with song, dance, and costume. New Selene’s were more basic, but interesting.”

“Ooooooh,” Pinky said. This definitely sounded fun fun silly-willy! “You know any good stories, Brain? Can you tell me? Please please please?”

Brain scratched his head. “Well, there’s one that I...no, perhaps I shouldn’t be thinking about these things. Lor Altals don’t matter in the pursuit of world domination.”

“I don’t mind!” Pinky said. Brain was so silly, insisting that he couldn’t like stuff outside his goal. He liked cream cheese and blueberry bagels, didn’t he? “I wanna know your favoritest out of the lot!”

“You do?” Brain asked in surprise. He didn’t seem to believe Pinky.

“Of course!” Pinky grinned.

Brain’s cheeks flushed, but he accepted that they weren’t going anywhere. Besides, if Brain really liked these Lor Altal stories, then his orbs would glow and they wouldn’t have to be scared of the dark!

“...alright. This Lor Altal tale is called Heikro var Silda. It’s one of the most well-known stories, starring Selene’s historical figures,” Brain said, gaining more confidence with every word. “The characters were embellished from real life, but the background is mostly the same.”

There was a spark in Brain’s pink eyes now. It intrigued Pinky.

“Three thousand years ago, before Selene’s industrial and technological revolutions, the entire planet was embroiled in a long and bitter civil war, spearheaded by two rival households, alike in prestige and influence.”

“If they add honey, maybe it wouldn’t be so bitter?” Pinky suggested.

“Try not to interrupt, Pinky. Setting the mood is important in these stories,” Brain said, breaking out of his narrator voice. And boy did he have a lovely narrator voice!

Pinky rezipped his lip and let Brain continue.

“The eastern hemisphere was the domain of the House of Syar'i, of which the fair maiden Silda belonged. The western half was controlled by the House of Alkair, of which the handsome lad Heikro was selected to rule. Caught between the two powerful households, the Selenians were fearful of the violence that ensued whenever they clashed, for both commanded large networks of armies, assassins, and spies. Now, on one fateful day…”

Soon Brain was completely engrossed in the story, just as Pinky was enthralled to hear Brain give the performance of his life. Well, Brain wasn’t the best actor Pinky had ever seen. Sometimes he was a bit flat and sometimes he was a bit hammy, but the passion in his voice made the story absolutely thrilling.

It was the type of passion someone only had when they truly loved something.

Some breaks were necessary for Brain to rest his voice for a few minutes, others so Pinky could get a translation for the Selenian language when Brain accidentally used a different tongue after getting caught up in the story.

Brain’s voice grew softer as he laid out Heikro’s plan to sneak into a banquet thrown by the House of Syar’i to scope out their plans for an invasion of an Akair-controlled port city. And poor Silda, having to marry someone she didn’t love but doing it for the sake of her parents! That poor girl oughta be happy!

Pinky clasped his hands together at the moment Heikro laid eyes on Silda’s beauty and was instantly smitten, forgetting that he needed to report his findings to his council. And Silda was taken in by Heikro’s broad shoulders and sturdy build. It was love at first sight! How romantic!

“Then Silda bid her parents and their guests good night, and retired to her chambers. But Heikro, who longed to see more of the maiden’s ethereal charm, could not bear to stay away for long. Under the cover of darkness, he crept around her residence, where he found a restless Silda on her balcony. She couldn’t slumber peacefully, for her maidservant revealed the man she kissed was none other than an esteemed member of the House of Akair.”

Pinky pounded his fist against his knee. “She needs to elope with him, that’s what! Narf!”

“‘Nova suprhi li ihmin var altal’, he called to her.”

“Oh, there’s that altal word again. He’s saying something about hearts, I think. That’s so sweet!” Pinky exclaimed. Realizing his mistake, he covered his mouth. “Sorry, Brain! Continue!”

But instead of continuing, Brain leaned against the wall. Oh. He must’ve gotten tired.

“I’ll let it pass this time, Pinky,” Brain said as he rubbed his throat. “I might’ve overdone it anyway. Next time, I’ll pick a better stopping point.”

His voice sounded a little raspy. Though Pinky really wanted to know what happened next, keeping Brain’s voice in working order so they could make the phone call was more important.

“What did that last sentence mean?” Pinky asked.

Brain regarded Pinky for a long moment. “It’s a favorite quote among many Selenians. But it’s rather saccharine, I’m afraid.”

“I’m not,” Pinky said.

“If you must know, it means ‘new stars shall be born from our minds and hearts’.” Brain’s voice was so soft, Pinky had to strain to hear it. “As I said, it’s saccharine.”

“It sounds so poetic!” Pinky smiled. And romantic too!

Brain didn’t say anything. His orbs cast a gentle red glow over his shining pink eyes.

Egad, his orbs! They were glowing now! Even the one on his tail!

“Brain, you did it!” Pinky cheered, trying to do a cartwheel. But he landed flat on his face instead, though he popped right back up. “You found what made you happy!”

Brain touched the orbs on his antennae, awed by their appearance. Then he turned towards the dark pathway, gesturing for Pinky to follow.

They didn’t have to worry about traps or getting stuck anymore! Pinky skipped along behind Brain, who walked at a brisk pace.

A soft red glow lit up the metal walls around them as they plunged deeper into the maze. But there were no lefts, rights, or confusing turns. Just straight ahead.

“Thanks for being here with me, Brain. It’s not scary anymore,” Pinky said gratefully, taking Brain’s hand in his own.

“Keep walking, Pinky,” Brain replied, keeping his eyes forward. If anything, the light grew a little brighter. “We should be nearing the end of the maze.”

Pinky sniffed the air. He could’ve sworn he smelled cheese.

Hold the phone! He smelled cheese!

And there was an opening ahead of them!

Pinky’s stomach growled as they stepped into the light, and lo and behold, there were two lumps of cheddar right in front of them!

Even Brain was smiling as he chomped down on the cheese.

Pinky dug in. And it was the best cheese he’d ever tasted in his life!

o-o-o-o-o

It took a long time for the lab to clear out after they finished the maze. The scientists were shocked by Pinky clearing the maze for the first time. He couldn’t blame them.

He astounded himself too.

Brain’s light had dimmed long before the lab closed, annoyed by the constant poking and prodding. They wanted to know who spliced him with butterfly DNA because of his antennae, though multiple people thought he was spliced with a mosquito since he bit any curious fingers that strayed close to his face.

“Those ignorant fools will be bowing to me soon enough, Pinky,” Brain proclaimed as he dialed the number on the invitation. “Hold the card up.”

“Hurry, Brain!” Pinky urged, shooting a fearful glance at the clock. They only had thirty minutes left!

Brain punched the number into the phone, then hit the call button.

“Please work!” Pinky begged the phone as it rang. He wanted to wear fancy clothes and mingle and swim in the chocolate fountain so much!

The phone rang once, twice, then the call finally went through.

“Hello, this is Harold, butler of Lamont Manor,” a voice with a charming British accent said. “May I ask who I’m speaking with?”

Pinky bounced from toe to toe in excitement, though he tried to curb it when Brain held up a hand for him to stop. But he couldn’t help his tail twitchies.

“This is Mr. Clarke,” Brain said, using the name on the card. “My spouse and I will be coming to the ball on Sunday.”

“I see,” Harold said, his tone changing into one of disgust. That was a little odd. “Another new spouse then, Anthony?”

New spouse? Brain mouthed in confusion.

Pinky shrugged.

“Mrs. Clarke is on the invitation. She’s allowed inside too, correct?” Brain asked.

“Assuming she’s still your wife by Sunday, yes,” Harold said. “I’ll put your names on the guest list. Try to do something about that awful rasp of yours, will you? Good night.”

The call ended.

“The real Mr. Clarke sounds like a delightful fellow,” Brain muttered.

“I’m sure it won’t be so bad, Brain!” Pinky grinned. Now all they had to do was find fancy stuff for the ball! “You’re gonna be wearing a mask anyway!”

“I suppose,” Brain sighed.

“No supposing!” Pinky shook his finger at him. “Besides, you haven’t finished your Lor Altal story yet! You know, it’s funny how it reminds me of Romeo and Juliet. With the feuding families and star-crossed lovers and all! Except much happier, cause Reikro and Silda will help bring about peace to the planet of Selene and live happily ever after!”

Brain didn’t make eye contact with Pinky for the next few hours.

My original plan was to have them mistaken for feeder mice after they finished the maze, and they would’ve been plopped into a snake enclosure with a snake named Gladys. Pinky would’ve been caught in the coils (Gladys is nonvenomous and would kill by constricting rather than venom), and Brain would rescue him.

Ultimately, I decided to cut this idea out and have them run a maze instead, which is tedious but not life-threatening. Since the maze is light on danger, I decided to focus more on Pinky and Brain interactions here, and include the Lor Altal oral storytelling tradition, which has been mentioned in previous chapters as an aside. Plus, I believe this story would benefit from Pinky learning more about where Brain came from, since previous chapters have placed the focus on Brain learning about Earth.

The storytelling is an aspect of Selenian culture Brain likes but never got to fully enjoy. Since Brain seems to have a hidden interest in acting and theatre, given the number of his schemes that involve cinema, broadcasting, and in one case, Broadway, I decided to incorporate that bit of his character here.

Brain’s story is just an abridged Romeo and Juliet IN SPACE!

#pinky and the brain #patb nova #patb fanfiction

14 notes · View notes