#I just like when Light was the only one who really fought for Lucio's cause during the red plague (much to Julian's dismay)

[spotlightstudios]

Fun fact! My favorite form of Light (Arcana) is when I think of them as a character and not the apprentice, and then put them into a situationship with Lucio.

[fromthefishbowl]

10 italian songs that are terribly horny

Kind of a sequel of this post I wrote about the three Italian songs every Italian knows without fail, here comes another in the same vein and, as you might guess from the title of the post, they all are horny.

Because there’s absolutely no need to title your fic about Nicky losing his virginity after a Hozier song, when the Italian music scene of the 1970s has already blessed us with Cristiano Malgioglio!

Beware that this list features: threesomes, implied choking, implied masturbation, lengthy descriptions of dicks, and a whole lot of “dying”.

So, if you’re new to the Italian music scene, I bet you now have two questions: who is Malgioglio, and why is that “dying” in between quotes?

Cristiano Malgioglio is an Italian songwriter who has been working in the music industry since the early Seventies. Now known mostly for his flamboyant style and white strand of hair in his otherwise completely black head, he was a close friend of Fabrizio de Andrè, who was actually the one who introduced him to the music world. He has written a lot of songs that are LGBT+ themed and has always been very open about his sexuality, to the point that he has never even felt the need of coming-out. Out of the ten songs here presented, he has written three of them, and one of them is about one of his boyfriends.

As the censorship didn’t allow for song lyrics to be too explicit, songwriters and singers had found a way around it: rather than saying “coming” or “orgasming”, they would go with “dying”, which was a lot more elegant and could be inserted in literally every song without the censors being able to complain. And, trust me, there’s a lot of dying.

Here is the list, from the least horny to the most horny.

Chi Non Lavora (1970), by Adriano Celentano

Link to lyrics and translation here.

Commonly called Autunno Caldo (Hot Autumn), the workers strike that begun in 1969 and dragged itself into the August 1970 greatly influenced this piece (but for all the wrong reasons). Workers were demanding safer working conditions, which had been completely ignored up until that point. As the days went on and the more people joined the protests, the police got more and more violent, to the point that they had begun shooting people on sight. This caused a huge uproar from the protestors, and when the voice that people had been shot and harmed by the law enforcement, even more workers and even students joined the fight. Through a year of strikes, they forced the Italian government to create a new set of laws that would protect both workers and students.

The song mocks this movement: the singer complains about the fact that, since he is on a strike two days out of three, he cannot give his wife enough money and therefore she’s going on a strike too and won’t have sex with him. Basically this song is nothing but the woes of a privileged, extremely wealthy man who thinks that people protesting for the rights of a safe work environment is inopportune and stupid.

The only reason why I included this song is because “Chi non lavora non fa l’amore” (Those who don’t work don’t make love) is still very much used to this day. If you want a piece of media that actually explores the protests and the work environment of the time, I suggest watching La Classe Operaia va in Paradiso (The Working Class goes to Heaven), a movie from 1971.

10 Ragazze per Me (1969), by Lucio Battisti

Link to lyrics and translation here.

Lucio Battisti is a national treasure and if I’ll ever do more of these, he’s surely going to end up in more of them. Whereas De Andrè would write more traditional music and focus on the lyrics, Battisti’s music was a lot more danceable and his lyrics a lot lighter, usually focusing on loneliness and heartbreaks rather than social issues.

In this song, the protagonist is bragging about how he wants ten girls for himself, all for different reasons (one because she knows how to dance, the other because she’s a virgin, that other one because she has been with everybody but him). It is soon revealed, however, that the only reason why he’s doing it is because he’s still thinking about a very specific girl who broke his heart.

Remembering the note above, peep that “And red lips to die upon”.

Gelato al Cioccolato (1979), by Pupo

Link to lyrics and translation here.

First song written by Cristiano Malgioglio and also the one about his ex! And yes, it was sung by another man, but... oh, well. The lyrics are the same.

I feel like the only thing I need to say, about this song, is to quote it directly: “Chocolate ice cream, sweet and a little salty”. And that’s it, because the subtext is right there and it’s impossible to miss what it implies.

What I think should be added is the fact that the singer had absolutely no idea of what the song was about. Like none. It was only in 2007 that Malgioglio told him that he had been inspired to write it after spending a torrid summer in Tunisia, where he had gotten a boyfriend with whom he’d often get ice cream.

Carlo Martello Ritorna dalla Battaglia di Poitiers (1967), by Fabrizio de Andrè

Link to lyrics and translation here.

Translating this song absolutely murdered me: Paolo Villaggio, one of De Andrè’s best friends and an extremely important figure in Italian entertainment history, wrote it to play over Middle Ages sounding music, so the words chosen and the way sentences are structured are reminiscing of that time, and it was incredibly hard to find English words that matched.

This said, it’s possibly one of De Andrè’s most light-hearted songs (probably because he and Villaggio wrote it while their wives were giving birth to their sons), even if it does mention social issues.

King Charles Martel comes home from Poitiers but has lost the key to his wife’s chastity cage, so he doesn’t even go home before looking for another girl that can quench his thirst. He sees a beautiful maiden taking a bath and, seduced, convinces her to have sex with him. It is only when he has finished that she reveals that she’s actually a prostitute and now he has to pay her, but he runs away before doing so (but still after having complained about the rising prices).

The lyrics of this song were censored and fought against by the censorship so much that, even to this day, records with the uncensored version are extremely difficult to find.

Una Carezza in un Pugno (1968), by Adriano Celentano

Lyrics and translation here.

Yes, another Celentano song. I don’t like him either, it’s just that we cannot get rid of him for some reason.

Anyways, here we begin to get into hotter waters, as this song is about a man asking his girlfriend to think of him while she masturbates. Of course, since he cannot be left out of the question, he will think of her while he jerks off too.

Basically, unlike what a first read might make you think, the “fist” he makes while thinking of her is not because he wants to beat her up.

Il Triangolo (1978), by Renato Zero

Lyrics and translation here.

Renato Zero is another extremely flamboyant personality of the Italian music scene, and “Il Triangolo” is one of the songs of his that are best known.

As the title may suggest, this song is about a threesome. The protagonist goes on a date with their boyfriend and finds out that he has brought a second man, with the intention of convincing said protagonist to have a threesome. Although at first they need a little convincing, the protagonist then agrees to it and finds out they enjoy it a lot, to the point of coming to the conclusion that “Geometry is not a crime”!

Kobra (1980), by Donatella Rettore

Lyrics and translation here.

This song is about dicks, there’s no way around it and there’s nothing else to say. The singer sees a certain man and thinks about his dick, getting wet and fantasizing about the many things she could do with said dick. That’s it.

Pensiero Stupendo (1978), by Patty Pravo

Lyrics and translations here.

Second threesome song!

Unlike “Il Triangolo”, this song is a lot more subtle. It’s clear what the singer is talking about, but the lyrics are not as on the nose and leave more to the audience to feel it, rather than hearing it through words.

The song begins with the three people part of the threesome that are already doing it, and are still doing it by the time the song ends. It’s not about the act in and on itself, but more about the sensations it brings.

Ancora ancora ancora (1978), by Mina

Lyrics and translation here.

Second song written by Malgioglio!

Mina is probably one of the best known Italian singers, as her voice is said to be one of the best in recorded history and has an impressive rage of three octaves, so it really says something, the fact that this piece is so difficult that even her voice broke while holding a note (in an incredible way that only gives it character, but still).

The lyrics play with the fact that in Italian the word “ancora” can be translated and understood as “still”, “again”, and “more”. I couldn’t really give it justice in the translation, but it’s as if she was saying “Your hands still”, “Your hands again”, and “More of your hands” at the same time, and this kind of logic is repeated for every “ancora” she sings.

Even if the lyrics are suggestive, what was censored in this case was the video (the one linked with the song), as the close shots of the singer’s face, and especially of her mouth, were considered to be too sensual to be freely aired.

L’importante è Finire (1975), by Mina

Lyrics and translation here.

Third and last piece written by Malgioglio!

The story behind this song is a little nebulous, but I have read that apparently Malgioglio wrote it for Dori Ghezzi, De Andrè’s wife, but that that project never came to life and, in the meantime, he had managed to meet Mina, and had tried to get her to sing it. But... not sure if this story is directly related to the song in question or not.

Anyways, even for this piece it’s impossible to escape it’s meaning, to the point that, even if it didn’t contain any forbidden words, it was censored anyways for weeks, forbidding radios to air it and Mina to sing it on TV. However, people were so eager to listen to it that it still managed to climb the charts and was, eventually, allowed on air.

[juliandev0rak]

Trophy

Cute dogs, sword fighting, mimosas, it’s just a normal day for Stella and Lucio. 

Words: ~1500

Warnings: none 

Notes: Stella x Lucio, finally one of my OCs x their LI for a change lol

“Babe…” a voice calls, pulling her from her sleep. Stella simply turns over and burrows deeper into the pillows, hoping the voice will go away if she just ignores it hard enough.

“Babeeeeee,” the voice grows whinier. She knows exactly who it is but a certain blond ex-count is simply going to have to wait. A hand reaches out to grab her shoulder and she groans and reaches her hand out to slap it away.

“Lucio please it’s like 5 in the morning,” Stella grumbles, still not opening her eyes. 

“Yeah, but you said you’d practice with me this morning,” Lucio says, his tone gone from whining to pouting as he reaches out for her shoulder again. She sighs and lets him rub circles into her shoulder, deciding whether to be nice or give in to her desire to sleep in. 

“I did, you’re right,” She says finally, turning over to face him. He’s closer than she thought, and already dressed in training clothes. “You better not be wearing boots on our bed..” she grumbles, pulling herself into a sitting position. He rolls his eyes a little and scooches a bit off the edge of the bed, letting her know that he was indeed wearing his muddy boots in bed.

“Come on Stells, it’ll be fun!” Lucio pouts, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek, “Or do I need to convince you?” Stella snorts in laughter and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips when he leans closer expectantly.

“I said I’d train with you, I’ll do it.” She says, “Although I’d like to see your idea of convincing.” 

“Another time, dove,” He smiles, “Now go get dressed! It’ll be too hot to train later.” 

She grumbles in Venterrean under her breath but pushes the warm covers off to crawl out of bed. The marble tiles are freezing against her bare feet and she really regrets saying yes to this early morning training. But Stella tries not to break her promises, and she hasn’t practiced her sword fighting in weeks so she knows she’ll be glad for this later.

She emerges from the bathroom a few minutes later in training attire, her curly hair pulled back from her face. Lucio is busy playing with the dogs on the floor and doesn’t notice her return to the bedroom. She watches on with an endearing smile, unable to hold back a laugh as Mercedes topples Lucio over onto the rug. 

“Looks like you’ve already started combat training,” She jokes and Lucio looks up at her from where he’s splayed out on the floor.

“Aren’t you even going to help me up?” He says, and she shakes her head before reaching her hand out to help him up. He grins mischievously and pulls, yanking her down on top of him with a laugh. “Oops.” 

“Lucio!” Stella complains as his arms wrap around her waist to trap her as he rolls so she’s underneath him. She breaks into laughter as his hands reach for her stomach, she’s incredibly ticklish and he’s clearly not above using that to his advantage, “Lucio stop!” she squeals, squirming to get away from him.

“Not until you declare me the winner,” He grins, continuing to tickle her as he narrowly dodges her kneeing him in the face as she thrashes.

“The winner of what? This isn’t a competition,” Stella says, pushing at him to get his hands off of her. 

“You only say that because you’re losing,” Lucio taunts, but the look Stella gives him wipes the smile off of his face.

“I won’t let you shower with me after practice if you keep this up,” Stella frowns and he knows it’s a real threat, so he stands up, finally stopping the barrage of tickling. 

“Fine you win,” He pouts, offering her his hands to help her up. She grabs his hand and pulls, taking him off guard and off balance and bringing him back down to the ground. She stands up triumphantly with her boot pinned to his chest.

“I can’t believe you fell for that. Who’s winning now?” She laughs, and his lips pull into an even more pronounced pout as she removes her foot.

“Ow, Stella, I don’t know what hurts more, the fall or the betrayal,” Lucio says, rubbing his shoulder as he sits up. 

“I think you hurt your ego most of all, but I’m sure that’ll heal the moment you’ve got a sword in hand,” Stella smiles, offering him a hand to help him up. He eyes it warily but decides to take it and she hauls him up, no ulterior motive this time. “Come on, we’re late.” 

Lucio grumbles on the way to the training yard but the moment he steps outside into the crisp autumn air his attitude improves. He’s always loved the outdoors, and Stella loves to watch how he comes alive in the early morning light. He pulls her along and she lets him, enjoying the sounds of birds chirping and the smell of jasmine as they pass through the gardens. When they arrive in the training yard they're greeted by a few palace guards who are busy sparring. 

“We’ll leave,” One of them says as he notices Lucio and Stella approaching. 

“No need,” Lucio grins, “We’d love an audience.” 

Stella rolls her eyes as he makes a show of picking a sword from the rack on the wall, preening in front of the guards who had decided to stick around. She begins to stretch, not wanting to hurt herself since she’s a bit out of practice. By the time she’s done stretching Lucio is done with his warm up performance and has chosen, as expected, his usual sword. She grabs her own favorite, a slightly shorter one that’s less work for her to maneuver.  

The moment the sword is in her hand Lucio lunges forward and she has to quickly block the blow, deflecting his blade to the side. She parries another attack and retaliates, aiming for his unprotected right shoulder. He blocks it just in time and she mutters angrily under her breath as he retreats to the other side of the training yard. 

“Have you given up yet?” He calls, a confident smirk on his face.

“Nope, we’ve only just begun,” Stella replies, shifting into a better stance and adjusting her grip on the sword. 

They continue like that for several minutes, swords barely making contact as they circle around each other. Lucio is better with a sword but Stella is fast, always moving out of the way just in time to avoid a hit. Eventually her footing slips and she can't block him in time. She’s backed up against the wall, his sword at her throat.

“Ha, I knew you were out of practice,” Lucio grins, lowering his sword and leaning in as if to kiss her. Stella isn’t having it, she ducks and rolls to the side away from him as he watches in surprise. He gives advice as they continue to spar, reminding her to watch her feet or to change the angle of her sword. He’s meant to be instructing her but he really can’t resist the urge to show off as he fights.

“Always remember to use your opponent’s weaknesses to your advantage,” Lucio says as he attacks, aiming for her left side which is angled slightly towards him. She turns at the last moment into the shadows of the tree next to them and folds herself into the darkness, disappearing for a moment before she reappears a few feet behind Lucio. 

“Hey! No fair,” Lucio calls as he whirls around to face her.

“You said to use your opponent’s weaknesses against them, and you don’t know magic,” Stella grins, advancing to attack while he’s distracted.

“No more magic, that’s cheating,” He pouts as he blocks her, his enthusiasm for the fight having faded. 

“If I was in a real fight I’d be able to use my magic,” Stella replies and he doesn’t respond right away, knowing she’s right.

“Well as your sword instructor, I say swords only,” Lucio says matter of factly, his voice carrying an edge of authority.

Stella frowns but doesn’t argue, slipping back into the concentration of sparring. An hour later they’re done, having gone through a few drills and fought a few more times. Lucio wants to practice some more so she watches as he spars with the guards, the pace much faster as his new opponents are more evenly matched than she was. 

Lucio manages to win every round and when he returns to where she’s sitting on the sidelines he’s in the mood to brag. “Did you see me out there Stells? I took all of them down and I didn’t even break a sweat.” 

“Congrats, do you want a trophy?” She says sarcastically, she’s tired and all she wants at this point is breakfast. His face falls a little at her dismissal and she sighs, regretting her tone, “You were great out there.”

“You mean it?” He brightens.

“I mean it. Anyone who wants to cross swords with you should watch out,” Stella laughs.

“You were pretty great yourself, you’re improving a lot,” Lucio says encouragingly and she smiles at the praise. He’s still learning how to be nicer to people, but with her it comes so naturally. “You looked hot out there.”

“Yeah, hot as in sweaty,” Stella brushes the compliment off with another laugh as she stands up, sweeping dirt off her pants. His arms immediately wrap around her, his head going to rest on her shoulder.

“No Stella, hot as in hot,” Lucio says into her ear and she fights the urge to give him the flustered reaction he’s looking for.

“Hmm, I’ll choose to believe you even though you’re biased,” She grins, and then her stomach grumbles, causing Lucio to snicker.

“Let’s get breakfast, I want a mimosa,” Lucio suggests, pulling back from the embrace to grab her hand instead.

“You read my mind.”

“See! I do have magic after all.”

Stella just sighs in response, but she can’t suppress the smile on her face.

[starblazerm31]

Main 6 as Retail Workers During Black Thursday/Friday

Continuation of my Main 6 as Retail Workers

That hellish time for all those in retail has come and gone for yet one more year.  In honor of their sacrifice, I give you...

Main 6 as Retail Workers...on Black Thursday/Friday

Asra

He is a blur amongst the crowd; however, almost every single person in the store has been spoken to by him.  "Are you doing alright this evening?"  "Anything I can help you find?"

The other workers find themselves staring at him like he's a freaking alien.  "How is he DOING that?!"

Any worker who is starting to buckle under the pressure will find his hand on their shoulder at some point during the shift.  "You've got this.  It'll be over soon enough."

He worked a 12-hour shift.  Yes.  He did.  And he just doesn't seem phased.

Karens tried to strike, but his service was so impeccable they were usually left standing there with their mouths hanging open...like entitled, confused fish.

The top-listed items are off the shelves super fast, but Asra has them restocked before any customer can really take notice.  If they have to wait for him to restock, they don't have to wait very long at all.

After his shift, he is sitting in his car, feet hanging out of the driver's side window, vaping away.  He's earned this.  Yes, he has.

Nadia

She has fought on the battleground of Black Thursday/Friday for years now.  She dons her uniform, walkie-talkie, and name badge like a four-star general about to go to war.

She is cool and collected during her shift (12 hours...but she goes for 16.  She's just that badass).  She handles everything in an organized manner, and complaints are promptly taken care of.

There are no stampedes when she unlocks those doors.  She stands there right in the way, and instructs customers to be calm and orderly...there is plenty for everyone.  Anyone who gets rowdy gets to go to another store.

You BET that breakroom is stocked with all kinds of good food for her employees.  She's not going to send her team out there exhausted and starving.  Corporate made the store open for Thanksgiving?  Well, they can pay for the mounds of turkey, stuffing, pie, and ALL THE SIDES (including gluten-free alternatives).

She will quickly intervene when she hears raised voices.  If she sees a customer belittling one of her seasonal hires, they get to go somewhere else.  Forcefully, if necessary.

Her store remains the well-oiled machine she has groomed it to be.  The lines run smoothly and efficiently, stock is regularly being brought from the back stockroom to the sales floor, and her employees are being relieved for their scheduled breaks.

She makes a point to personally thank each employee when their shift is over.

Julian

He's in the back stock room a lot, getting stock ready to be put on the floor.  He's got everything on neatly arranged flatbeds, ready to go.

When he's on the floor, he's showing customers exactly where the items they want are.  The quicker they find their stuff, the quicker they can leave.

His insomnia is in full swing, so he works for as long as Nadia will let him (when she leaves, she drags him out with her).

He's in and out the store doors, pushing TVs, trampolines, sound systems, desks, whatever to customers' vehicles.

He's got a case of Monster Javas in the fridge tonight.

He's got a store map in his pocket and it's got cramped scribbles all over it, showing where certain items had to be displayed for ease of shopping.

Asra slips him a 'thank you' present in the employee restroom for when he gets off. (clue: it's green, sticky, and will make him sleep like a baby)

Muriel

His time...has come.  Muriel is a BEAST on Black Thursday/Friday.

Yeah, there's a truck in the back WHILE the sale is happening.  He's got those boxes rolling from that trailer on to pallets like a freaking machine.  His seasonals on truck duty are stacking boxes and rolling out the pallets to be sorted like a whole assembly line.  And whatever you do...do NOT. MAKE. MURIEL. MAD.  Do your freaking job.

He's taught his seasonals his maneuvers with full pallets on the sales floor.  During certain intervals, a few pallets will roll out into the crowd, get promptly put out, and then rolled back to the stockroom.  It's highly organized and fluid.

A big-ticket item is going out to the parking lot.  Muriel gets it out there and into the customer's vehicle with precision and speed.  It is said that Muriel uses his mastery at the game Tetris for this part of his job...but only Asra knows the truth...

Receives Asra's "gift" as well.  Of course he does.

He's still really anxious around the crowds, but since he does know where everything is tonight, he stiffly directs customers to where they need to go.

His 14-hour shift ends right after Asra's.  Asra is waiting for him in his car.  They're gonna go to Asra's place, veg out, and play some vija games.  We. Freaking. Made it.

Portia

Karen-geddon has arrived, but so has the best front-end manager in the history of retail.

The registers are packed with supplies to make tonight run (almost) flawlessly.

She's at the Customer Service desk, handling those immediate buyer's remorse returns and complaints by Karens who refused to read the freaking signs.

"This didn't ring up the price the ad said it was!" "That was a different item, ma'am."

Don't you even THINK of cutting her line.  You'll be out the door before you even know it.

"MC!  It's time for your break, turn off your light and let _____ take your place.  And make sure to try the chicken and dressing I made!!"

"Asra, I have a ton of returns, grab Ilya and get up here."  Those bins don't fill up much, because Portia is ON. IT.

Lucio

This is the only time of the year that Lucio and Nadia are completely in sync.

He takes over when Nadia gets off, so he's on his own.  He doesn't want complications, but he's not taking Karen's bullshit tonight.  No sir/ma'am.  This is the one night he allows himself to tell people just how stupid they are.

And he does.  Oh boy does he.  Expect customer complaints...that will find themselves in the trash, 'cause he was actually right for a change.

Screw commission, we're too swamped to spend a ton of time on just one customer.  Here's your TV, here's the shit you will need for it, the registers are that way, get going.

You want my employee discount? *laughs* Honey, I've got champagne taste and judging by what you're buying, you've got beer money.  You make me lose my job, you can't afford to take care of my fine ass.

On one of his breaks, he trudges out to his huge Hummer to chill out.  He sees Asra waiting in his car for Muriel.  In a very uncharacteristic move, he invites Asra to hang out.  Asra shrugs.  What's he gonna do, kidnap him?  Once Asra climbs in, he isn't prepared for what happens.  Lucio tells him quite candidly how much he appreciates Asra's work ethic and how much the store benefits from him.  He actually apologizes for being such an ass most of the time.

In appreciation, Asra gives Lucio one of his 'gifts.'  They smoke it together.  Lucio's break ends up being a lot longer than he'd expected.  Oh well.  The store's doing fine.  And now Lucio feels much less stress.

Ko-Fi ☕

[siodymph]

Boombox Week Day 5

And here's day 5! I decided to go with a sick fic™ where Junkrat is the one taking care of Lucio. I hope you enjoy! (Also I've been rereading over all my stories and I'm sorry for all the grammar and spelling errors, and in the near future I'm going to go back through and editing it all. Just so you know.)

We're already at the half-way point of the week! It's going by so fast :P But it doesn't have to end on Saturday so I've decided to open up boombox requests until the 22nd. So if there's any story you'd like to see with your favorite DJ and Junker then just send me a request (non-NSFW please)

And as awlays you can read my story under the cut if you like or over on my AO3 if you prefer!

Lucio seldom liked to say he hated things. He always liked to see the best in people, things or ideas. In fact so far there were only four thing’s he’d even admit he actually full-out hated. And they were Vishkar and any other company that thought it was good to enter foreign countries and monopolize their industries, the weird relationship between appropriation and gentrification, people who steal credit for someone else’s art, and lastly getting sick.

And while he had power of helping stop and prevent the first three. There was really nothing he could do when he got sick besides wait it out. And he was a pretty healthy guy, stayed fit and active, ate healthy, made sure he got vaccines whenever he was on tour. It had been three years actually that he’s gone without catching a really nasty, so-bad-you’re-bed-ridden level of sick. But today that three-year streak was being broken.

The team had been traveling a lot in the past few weeks, jumping from one mission straight into another. It had been intense, but nothing Lucio couldn’t handle. But apparently not seeing as now he was stuck in his bedroom with a churning stomach and a migraine throbbing right under his eyebrows. When he’d gone to Mercy for help she thought he simply must have caught a bug while they were traveling and that paired with high stress-levels had finally taken their toll.

Stress? Lucio was probably the most laid back person on the entire team! He never let the pressure get to him. He hadn’t even thought their last few missions had even been that hard, just speed around healing everyone up and avoiding Talon fire. Sure everything had been pretty back to back, their only break being on the jet from one city to the next. And at one point he remembered almost getting shot down by some Talon forces had Hana and Junkrat not come down into the street and protected him. That gave him shivers sometimes still thinking about it. But he was Lucio Correia dos Santos! He rolled with any and all punches! Could brush off anyone, even giant corporations wanting his head on a platter. He didn’t let something like a little pressure knock him down!

But apparently it had because now what had started out as a little headache and the sniffles had transformed in the span of a few days to gross vomiting and sleeping for entire days. Oh well, that three year streak was nice while it lasted. Sure he would of liked avoiding getting sick for the rest of his life. And even though he hated this, he knew that pretty soon he’d be brushing this off and back to his normal self. He’d fought off Talon, and Vishkar, he was certain he could fight off this dumb little bug too.

He counted himself lucky though that Mercy was there to make sure he didn’t get any worse. Gave him some stuff to help keep his white blood cells happy and keep his stomach from completely dissolving itself. But it wasn’t like she could spend all her time taking care of him though, no there were like eight other people who had fallen ill too, not to mention she had her own projects to get done. So when it came to constant care, he had been put in the trusty hand of his boyfriend.

He didn’t understand it. Of all people how did Junkrat not get sick? If anyone he expected Junkrat to be bedridden after all this traveling, not him! Out of everyone here he probably had one of the longer lists of medical problems, a list that included radiation poisoning! Even Roadhog had the sniffles by the time they were back in Gibraltar. He just didn’t get it.

But being one of the few healthy people left standing Junkrat had made it his personal job to look after Lucio. At first he’d sincerely feared Junkrat would kill him on accident. The Junker hardly ever took care of himself, how did he expect to take care of another person?

“Oh come on Froggy!” He’d teased when he first came in. “I can be a healer too! Remember that time I healed Phara in Oasis?”

“That was a glitch! Seriously dude you’re gonna get yourself sick if you keep sitting so close to me.”

But Junkrat ignored his protesting, plopped down in his computer chair and swiveled his way right next to his bed. He didn’t even lean away when a Lucio broke out in a fit of wet coughs. Once he was done Junkrat shoved a box of tissues in his face. “Have a little faith in me, mate!”

While he caught his breath he thought it over. He groaned trying to find the warm spots on his bed he’d been jostled out of in his coughing fit.

Not that he actually had much say in this either way. “Just please don’t kill me.”

“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Froggy! You know I’d never!” He laughed leaning in closer.

“Junkrat no! No! I’m sick!”

Instead of on the lips Junkrat pecked him on the forehead.

“You’re gonna get so sick man.” Lucio groaned, this was going to be a very long week, especially if soon they were both going to be under the weather if this kept up.

Junkrat just giggled and kissed him on the forehead again. “Think I can deal with the consequences mate!”

And once again he found himself being surprised. In the past few days Junkrat had almost never left his side. Pretty much the only reason he’d leave was to get him food. It was all mostly canned crap but still it was keeping him alive. Junkrat had kept most the lights off, only his color-changing lamps, so his migraines didn’t feel even worse. And whenever his stomach got sour Junkrat had held his hair back and softy rubbed his back while he felt like complete utter shit. Somehow he almost always knew what to do.

Near the end of the week when he’d finally gotten his strength back enough to stand and walk around again he decided to ask him while they were in the bathrooms, all the hot water was cranked to their highest settings turning one whole corner of the place into a make-shift steam room.

“Hey Rat? How do you know all this kind of stuff?”

“Wot?” Junkrat mumbled, pulling the towel off of his head so he could see Lucio. Sure enough over the week he’d become slightly congested but nothing like Lucio was going through.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, I love you, but self-care doesn’t really come off as your forte. But you’ve been doing all this stuff like it’s an instinct or something.”

Junkrat shrugged while dropping his towel back over his face. “Eh, kinda gotta learn for survival I guess. Back home if you were bedridden ain’t nobody was there to watch out for you.”

“No one? Not even family?” Lucio asked unsure. He didn’t want to press to far, Junkrat almost never talked about his past and he knew it had to be for some pretty strong reasons.

“Nope, not that I can remember at least.” Junkrat sighed, sitting further back in his spot on a bath tub’s edge. “What I do remember though is if I was sick there was no way I could collect scrap. So I learned fast, picked up any advice I could from old folks who’ld lived before the crisis. Make sure I was never too weak to take protect of me’self. Cause nobody had my back in the whole Outback… besides Hog.”

When he heard that Lucio knew that the sinking feeling in his guts wasn’t from the bug. He couldn’t imagine being a little kid and being so utterly on his own like that. Even as a young adult he’d had his family loving and supporting him as he went into music. “Junkrat, I’m sorry.”

But Junkrat just waved off his apology, “Eh if you ask me I think it turned out alright. Certainly came in handy after me and a few mates got really sick after going into the Omnium. Made sure everyone got back up and running. Made sure I didn’t bleed out or get infected when I got mark I and II here.” He said wiggling his prosthetic arm and leg. Oh god. Did that mean what he thought Junkrat was trying to imply? The thought alone gave him shivers. He almost didn’t hear the last thing Junkrat said.  “And now I’m making sure you get back to your springy self! Lucio? Mate are you feeling- wot?”

Junkrat was at a loss for word when out of the blue Lucio stood up, walked directly up to him and gave him the tightest hug in his life. He could feel his ribs being pressed in Lucio squeezing him like one of those snakes. But it also felt kinda nice, even if he had no idea why Lucio was doing this. So his unsure arms wrapped around Lucio’s frame, trying to reassure him that whatever he was thinking he was fine.

“Junkrat I’m so sorry.” Lucio repeated, sounding even sadder this time.

“Mate don’t worry-“

“No!” Lucio stopped him from brushing off what he obviously wanted to say. He took a deep breath before continuing, still holding him in a tight hug. “I’m sorry you had to grow up like that. Stuff like that isn’t normal, isn’t healthy. And thank you for taking care of me all week but I want you to know that you don’t have to keep looking out for yourself anymore. I have your back. I love you… I can take care of you too.”

Junkrat wasn’t sure what to say to that. The only other person to ever make the promise to him was Roadhog. So instead of saying anything for one of the few moments in his life he stayed silent. Just holding Lucio close, letting him know that he was here, alive and kicking. And that they would always have each other’s backs no matter what.

They would take care of each other.