#I mean...it's not *as* colour-coded as Bad Buddy seemed to be | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

prongsmydeer · 3 years ago

Text

Ayesha Liveblogs Bad Buddy S1

If we use 2gether from this network as a benchmark, this street brawl in this opening sequence is absolutely bonkers in comparison

These colour-coded uniforms are actually very helpful for telling who is on which side, all universities should do this

I can’t believe the first interaction between the protagonists of this show involves someone getting drop-kicked in the chest

Hahaha they keep cutting between like, very classical music, polite conversation and good table manners at Pran's house, to Pat's house with a rock guitar riff, and him eating messily and being full of sass

Pran: Good Boy™️, Architecture student, Class President, very organized, doesn't like to fight but is good at it, Strict Family

Pat: Bad Boy™️, Engineering student, Class President, very messy, also doesn't seem to care for fighting but is known for his short temper

I think Bad Buddy is what I thought that Hook was going to be (a Montague and Capulet-esque feud romance)

“Watch your words. This is why no one cares about you.” 10/10 accurate older brother behaviour from Pat lmao

“Since when are you this noble?” “Are you bullying your friend?” I think it's hilarious that Drake Laedeke has established himself as Man Who Loves Causing Trouble in Gay Thai Dramas, what a niche

Pat is rescuing Pran,,,, from Pat's own friends????? Whomst and wherefore

“But if you still care about me, then leave Pran alone,” said Pat's sister Pa, not knowing that Pran and Pat were ‘not going to leave each other alone’ in an entirely different sense soon

I'm not sure what's funnier, that Pat is going to end up dating his sister's crush(?), or the fact that this imaginary ‘love triangle’ has names so close together Pat-Pran-Pa I mean come on

Ahhhh okay the sister’s protectiveness and Pat's mixed feelings abt Pran stem from Pran saving Pat’s sister from nearly drowning as kids, that's a much more sincere connection than I thought there would be

I would strongly like to have a word with whomever did the costuming for this show WHAT ON EARTH IS PAT WEARING WHO SIGNED OFF ON THIS

“If you think you can end this with a sorry, you’re wrong.” No one taught the Engineering students any conflict resolution skills

HAHAHAHA to end the fighting between their two faculties, Pran and Pat agreed to having Wai, the original instigator, apologize, but then the Engineering students were still mad so now Pran and Pat are pretending to fight while their homies actually fight so no one knows they're in kahoots

It’s funny how they both have a specific friend who gets them into fights. Pat getting pulled in by his friend Korn, and Pran getting pulled in by his friend Wai. Every family has one, I guess

Hahahah apparently Pat is no stranger to breaking into Pran's room, he did it when they were children also

The energy of Pran keeping the watch Pat retrieved for him for like 10 years and only conveying his reunion happiness through a post-it notes is certainly something

It appears they now live right across the hall from each other at the dorms, neighbour-and-enemies-to-friends-and-lovers continues

I love the constant cutaways to their different ways of approaching life

“It’s a new era already. No more sex object jokes.” Chang is the only one of Pat’s friends with a brain

Pran and Pat are trying desperately to keep their friends apart so that they don't fight and get their faculties banned from group activities

“Whoever fights here will be banned by seniors.” Pran and Pat are so funny when they lie to their friends

Pran’s soprano humming really took me off-guard I was like ‘who’s that’

“Sorry :( I ate your salad. These drinks are my apologies.” Gesture Juice is back in action baybeeeeeeee

Sidenote for anyone who doesn’t follow this particular form of Thai media: There is a very intentional effort to incorporate sponsors into dialogue and plot in a way that is unrivaled by any other network that I have watched. It’s fucking incredible how many plot lines centre around product placement. Which is why 1/4 of this episode is dedicated to Oishi Green Tea + Vitamin C

Other sidenote: there is absolutely no sense in what that delivery guy did, why wouldn’t he just bring Pat a new salad instead of being like ‘your neighbour has it’ kjghkjgh you can’t give someone a salad someone else might have touched

HAHAHA Pran and Pat keep flirting with notes and gifts on each other's doors, thinking that there is a stranger across the hall interested in them, when in fact they are flirting with each other

Pran's friends say, ‘Go for neighbour man!’ not knowing that he is also Neighbour Frenemy Pat

They keep referring to something Pat is using called a 'male particle' (which is why Pran's friends suspect it's a guy gifter and not a woman) and I have no idea what they mean but it seems it's the box he's putting desserts in??? Does Thailand have To-Go Boxes Just 4 Men??????

Ridiculous Rooftop Rendezvous

“Are you bullying him?” “And are you going to stop him?” “No. I’m supporting him all the way.” I take back what I said about Chang having a brain

Something about the mic set up for this production is not good bc whenever they yell there’s a lot of feedback jkfhkjfhgkjh

Pat’s friends really seem to be the worse of the two groups, bothering Wai at his place of work, coming up to Pran’s door and catcalling assuming it’s a woman like why do u keep them around Pat they suck LMAO

“Stop that toxic behaviour of yours.” Chang PRETENDS to have a brain

“WHERE SHOULD I HIDE?” “ANYWHERE!” How the hell does Pat’s dad NOT hear them yelling inside his dorm??

Rather than explain whatever the hell kinda frenemyship Pran and Pat have going on to Pat's dad, Pran is hiding under Pat's bed lmaoooo

“Don’t talk about them like that, Papa.” Pat’s dad is trash-talking Pran's family while Pat, knowing Pran is right there, asks him to stop

Apparently the reason Pran was suddenly transferred to boarding school in high school was because he and Pat committed the crimes of Being in a Christmas Concert Band Together and Not Hating Each Other with a Fiery Passion

[Ben Wyatt voice] Who hasn't had gay thoughts

LMAO at these cutaways:

Pran and Pat: Having a tickle fight in an elevator

Their friends: Having a street fight at their university bus stop

“Have you not had a secret crush on anyone before?” Weel weel weel

2gether 🤝 Bad Buddy

Cutting up objects to make guitar picks for no reason

More to the point, Pran's high school crime that got him transferred was probably Having a Leetle Gay Crush That He Has Chosen to Suppress for the Past Three Years

Speaking of suppressing things, you can visually see Pat's brain go from 🥰 to 🚨WEE OO WEE OO WEE OO 🚨 as he looks at Pran hahaha

I don't even think Pat is making a conscious decision to flirt with Pran but he is very much doing so; he has bought Pran dinner, raced him to their rooms, and now is telling Pran he doesn't need to knock, just come over when he misses him

There are smiley faces all over Pran's apartment that they keep cutting to whenever Pran is happy about Pat, which is almost always

They are arguing about which of their friends is in the right for the bus stop fight over tin can telephone

Pran said: I'm friendship-dumping you for being an ass to my friend

Pat said: No 🥰

Presented without commentary:

Awww Pat showing up to support Pran while he pitches his project

Two dudes in an empty elevator, 0 feet apart bc they are gay

Dfdskjfh did Pat come armed with an idea or did he just pull this out of his ass on the elevator ride because. Improv King LMAO

“You should learn to see what’s around. You always look at me,” said Pat, while Pran’s smile faded because this assertion was just a little too accurate to be funny to him

[Tiktok Narrator voice] This is Pran. Pran likes his personal space. This is Pat. Pat also likes Pran's personal space.

They're working together to fix up the bus stop that their friends destroyed —or rather, Pran is working on it and Pat is showing up where he is and going 🥰 “I'm helping” 🥰

“Let’s say we’re both hot guys and we’re boyfriends.” They're roleplaying a couple rn; Pat's overtures of friendship are becoming more and more transparent attempts to woo Pran

“Here’s a corpse flower for someone so pretty.” Pran said: Two can play at the Wooing Game

“It’s like giving up our territory.” Pat is tricking his friends into helping the Architecture boys with the bus stop repairs, this is so stupid and so funny

It's also v funny that their friends have somehow not noticed that Pat and Pran hang out with each other basically every day

Pat kept Pran's guitar when he moved away and left it behind!! 🥺 Now Pran's going to use it in the music competition they're in together

Pran 🤝 Pat

Storing a keepsake object from the Frenemy Crush of Your Youth in your cupboard in hopes you might one day reunite

Pat arranging so both Architecture and Engineering can be in the contest without taking credit <3 A socially competent Mr. Darcy

The tricking continues: Now Pran is tricking both of their friend groups into being motivated to finish the bus stop by having them 'compete' against each other to do it

Ah, I see Ink will finally bring some women into their friend group lol

Speaking of tropes, it seems there will also be a Faculty Sports Fight

“I thought you said you liked someone in Architecture.” I can't believe that Pat has already indirectly owned up to his feelings for Pran to his friends kgkjhgkjhg

Hahah I like that Pran is consistently a particular person while Pat is consistently sloppy, it kinda serves the point of love forcing them both out of their comfort zone

Further explanation on Ink: Pat’s high school homie/crush has popped back into their lives, and Pat is being hit by a wave of bisexual turmoil while Pran is being hit by a wave of jealousy

“You can’t be more obvious. Anyone can tell.” How is Pa so clear on what’s going on with Pat and Ink when there is also clearly something going on with Pran that she hasn’t fully clocked yet LOL

Lmao maybe I’m biased but I don’t feel like the sports were a necessary addition to this show, they have enough going on without it

Also it’s clear to me now I have no idea how rugby is played

We stan a transparent visual metaphor

It is so interesting to me how Pat and Pran are BOTH upset that Pat is developing feelings for someone else

Pat said: Sorry for flirting with Ink, it is tender affection time ❤️

Pran said: I forgive you,,,, a little

They’re in a very sweet stage of their relationship of leaning into what they’re feeling but not verbalizing it. Pat is very much like, “I will say all of my flirty thoughts out loud. ❤️” Whereas Pran is very much, “Hahaha ❤️ I’m in danger.”

“Are you afraid people would think I’m flirting with you?” Rugby Romance

“What the hell has gotten into you?” Some people are in love, Korn

Ink from their high school class said: Don't be jealous, Pran, you can also be included in the friendship bracelet club

Also, on a related note, I suspect that Ink is a lesbian, based on nothing but intuition and hope

“Do you like Ink?” Pat got locked out of his apartment so it is Sleepover Talk Time

Also: Pat posits an incredibly loaded sleepover question

Pran said: I outright refuse this attempt to get me to verbally acknowledge my feelings but god I like you so much it's killing me

Relationship dynamic: Who’s annoying (Pat) & who is annoyed (Pran)

“There’s a lovey-dovey aura around you two.” Ink said: Pran and Pat, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g

It should be said that Pat is claiming out loud that he likes Ink (to people other than her), but is doing everything otherwise to indicate that he likes Pran, I do not know how he expects this behaviour to land him with a significant other

Part of the reason I think Ink will be a wlw is that I kind of think she and Pat's sister will end up together

Unbelievable, Pat is having his sister supervise his outing with Ink to see if she likes him lmaooooooooo is this really what he would do on a date

“Sign number two, eyes don’t lie. Look in the eyes.” Pat is now trying to use his sister's Do You Like Me criteria to sort out his feelings for Pran

It has taken Pat four and a half episodes of telling Pran his dimples are cute and how good he smells and wanting to hang out with him all the time to consider that maybe, just maybe, he likes this man

I genuinely thought he knew that by now kjghkjhgg oh you sweet, stupid boy

Of all the things that have happened in this show, that Pran is currently chewing on plain, untoasted bread is the most perplexing???????????????

Pat is now investigating his feelings while interacting with Pran to see if he likes him, as if that were not apparent by everything that Pat's done for like, their entire semester so far

“But your mom doesn’t allow people inside the house.” “Come on. My mom loves Wai so much.” Fhfkjhfk Pat jealous that Pran’s mum likes his other friend better, as if their parents aren’t enemies

“It’s like you’re not sure if it will turn out good or bad. You’re afraid to feel more. You’re hesitating. You want to jump in but you’re afraid to be heartbroken. You want to step back but also to seize the chance.” High School Pran summarizes their entire romantic situation so far in this song lyric brainstorm

“Ink isn’t like any other girls.” That’s because she’s GAYYYYYYYYY

A very accurate musical interlude:

“I don’t feel like that’s a love confession at all. It’s like you’re getting something off of your chest.” Ink has diagnosed Pat with Avoiding Your Feelings Syndrome

It’s funny that they completely skipped over Pat’s contest entry so they didn’t have to deal with a second song hahahaha

“What’s your problem with this guy?” Several years of repressed love

Pat doesn't know how to deal with his emotions, so instead he picked a fight with Pran’s friend Wai, of whom he is romantically jealous

“I hate to see you play [our song] with someone else.” That was a really quick turnaround time, three minutes later and Pat’s ready to deal with his emotions

Well, they're certainly communicating their feelings now

Ahhhhh Pat looks so relieved by the reciprocation when they pull away the second time but Pran looks even more upset

“That night, I have nothing to say about it.” Pran said: That was enough being honest with my feelings for me. I'm going to keep my emotions right here, and then one day, I'll die

“How come your mom hates guitar so much?” Pran said: Well, you see Wai, the guitar is a symbol of all the emotions I have been burying since I was 15—

“Do you want me to say it out loud?” What the hell kind of secret are Pran and Pat’s parents hiding I swear if anyone’s related I’m gonna be so mad I can’t go through what Hook did to me again

“Is your business done here?” Pran's mum is so mean, Pat hasn't done anything except fall in love with her son

“Pran likes Ink too, doesn’t he?” Pa is so close, yet so far from the point

Pat's strategy to get Pran to talk about their kiss is to join the Architecture faculty's volunteer camp at a zero waste community; eco-friendly romance with a vague aroma of garbage

Wai has mistaken Pat's attempts to romance for attempts to provoke, which, to be fair, I think it's a bit of both

“What the hell does he want from us?” Wai, Pat wants nothing from anyone other than Pran

Pat said: My talents include refusing to read the room wherever I go

Pat is making headway against Pran's numerous emotional walls on this farmers market trip

They are gently romancing on the beach while fantasizing about what life would be like if their parents weren’t enemies

The printer advert was well done lmao felt more organic than usual

“Someone so perfect like you won’t stay available for long.” Honestly I forget what this friend’s name is but khgjhgk what a supportive if a little surprising thing to say to your homie, Louis

Pran is getting his friends drunk so as to talk them out of beating up Pat, but because the beer company is not a sponsor, they have been blurred out kjhgkjghjg

Pat has run out of willingness to let Pran put off this conversation lol

Pat said: If we're not talking about our feelings, I think we should be able to write them in the sand

“If you don’t say it, how will I figure it out? How can I possibly understand you?” AHHHHH PAT JUST WANTS TO COMMUNICATE

“It’s so obvious that you like me,” said Pran, as if their make-out session the previous week had not clearly communicated that there were feelings between them already

They are now,,, competing???? To make the other person declare their feelings first,,,, what kinda sillyass approach to flirting kjghkjghghj

“Whoever falls in love first loses.” They are so stupid, and I love them so much

Pat has realized what a win-win situation this is for him

Also, how does NO ONE around them notice Pran putting Pat’s finger in his mouth wjhkkgjhg what kinda selective attention

Pls note: seaweed wins for most organic sponsor integration

“You’re wearing contacts too. How many boys hit on you?” Just one haha

“What if our son brings a boy home?” “So what? His date, not ours. If you’re happy with that person, go ahead.” Honestly I was actually expecting the mum to be homophobic what a pleasant surprise

Pran's mum said: You can date anyone; man, woman, just not the neighbours

Pran, who has been sending flirty texts to Pat this whole meal: 😅

Bold move for Pat to be airdropping his flirty pics to their professor

It's a new school year, Pa is in uni with the rest of them now, and I feel that my wlw intuition was right

I don't know how Pat intends to keep his Neighbourly Flirtationship a secret when his sister is literally sharing a dorm room with him

“Do you like me?” Pat responded to this very casually before promptly running across the hall to scream at his pillow about how much this flirting is getting to him

“Your sophomore friend is husband material.” Hahaha Ink gets the freshman seal of approval from Pa’s friends

The fact that Pat's sister is the same actress who played Pear on 2gether and I didn't realize that until she took off her glasses and put down her hair is really challenging my sense of object permanence and facial recognition

Lmao @ their incredibly public gift exchanges and staring at each other

Pran said: These years of repressed affection weren’t for nothing, I have been waiting my whole life for this

Soda “Sponge Bath”: Creative sponsorship at its finest

Pat and Pran are terrible at hiding their romance, they are lucky Pa does not seem that keen-eyed an observer jkghkgjhkj

“Pat, why are you shirtless?” “I’m doing my side-pack work out.” I mean come on Pa LMAO

Even if Pran weren’t technically seeing someone, Wai kissing his neck in thanks for a favour is still an odd thing to do to your friend

“When did you rehearse the xylophone?” “It’s a secret.” Honestly I don’t understand enough about the xylophone to tell who can play and who can’t

Very reasonable of Ink to get annoyed at Pat for flirting when they’ve already established they don’t have feelings for each other

“But if you can’t help, I may have to forfeit my scholarship. I need to stop playing rugby and focus on the play. And I need to work to pay for the tuition. For that reason, I might need to sleep in class. I won’t be able to complete the assignment. I might not be able to graduate with you guys. But I get you, man. You already have a lot on your hands.” Wai has been taking guilt trip lessons from my mother

“I’m not always playing games with you. I just want to see you.” “If that guy didn’t quit the play, would you still want to see me?” Hahaha Pran called out, Pat has all the Architecture gossip

Incredibly reasonable for Pran not to want to confess his feelings in front of their entire seminar class jkhfkfh not an equal exchange for being in the Architecture play hahaha

“Why did you come? Don’t you want to win?” “If my victory puts my boyfriend in trouble, I’d rather lose.” AWWWWWWWW PAT

“As for me, when I have a lover, I always let my lover win.” “When was I ever your lover?” They’re very cute

Now they are just being very cute trying to make the other get the door by kissing them and going ‘no u get it’

Awwwww Pran cuddling with Pat’s Nong Nao doll as he sleeps

Fdfjkfkhsdkjhfkjhf I love this transition from friendship to romance:

Pat (sweetly): No occasion. I just want to do it for you. Do you like it?

Pran: You’re giving me chills. Just act normally.

Pat (course correcting): Asshole! Just freakin’ eat.

Pran: Too rude!

Pat (laughing): What do you want me do then?

Hahahaha them having sleepovers and holding hands behind Pa truly their efforts at hiding their relationship are dismal

“What the hell are you doing? I told you to work!” They are also not productive at working on this play together bc all they do is flirt kjhgkjgh

“Don’t tell me you have eyes for [Pa] too?” It is funny that Wai and Pran, who are long-time BFFs, have a type that is limited to one family LMAO

Also I'm loving this little InkPa subplot, finally, some ✨women✨

It’s totally fair that Pran is the more nervous of the two to be found out, considering his parents are stricter and have already transferred him once before

“We didn’t expect you to be courting someone in Architecture. I admire that very much!” The rivalry does not apply when it comes to imaginary hot girls apparently

All of the English slogan shirts in this show make absolutely no sense. Pat’s current shirt says, “Proud to be a Noles hater” referencing the football team from Florida State University. Who is the Republican Floridian on their wardrobe staff kjfhkfhgkhgjhkjh

“Why does he always meddle with my life?” asked Wai, as if Pat wanted anything from him other than for him to stop being so touchy with Pran lmao

“[A secret]’s a kind of relationship I always avoid.” LOL Pran has been waiting for an opportunity to vent about the strain of secret dating

I can’t believe Pat is essentially being lectured about being too well-rounded. Like dude helps build a bus stop, participates in music contests, has been in rugby for two years in a row and it’s disappointing to miss some practice for a short-term commitment to the play? Papa pls

“You’re not Nong Nao. But you’re Nong Noo (babygirl).” We are all become babygirl

They are arguing about Pat being a little too public about his feelings, which has resulted in this incredibly strange topless xylophone emotional confrontation

This is the weirdest sequence in this show by far. Just two and a half minutes of staring and aggressive Thai xylophone

“Aren’t you afraid people would find out?” “I am. But I care about you more. I’m your boyfriend. If I can’t handle this little thing, how can we make this relationship work?” They are learning to compromise ❤️

Well, so much for their classmates not knowing they were dating jhgkjhgkjgh

Conveniently, literally all of their friends were in the auditorium at this exact moment, somehow

Oh, are they going to retell this scene from the sound booth’s point of view?? PAT WHY WOULD YOU NOT TURN OFF YOUR MIC... WHERE EVEN IS IT YOUR TIDDIES ARE OUT

DID HE TURN THE MICS UP TOO WAI U VINDICTIVE SHIT

“If I were you, I would tell. You know why? Because you’re my best friend.” Wai’s kekkei genkai is guilt trips

“It really hurts,” said Wai, as if it doesn’t also hurt to be outed in front of your entire faculty

HAHAHAHAH KORN’S ANTAGONISM LASTING ALL OF 30 SECONDS, THIS IS WHAT FRIENDSHIP IS ABOUT

“It’s me you’re talking to here. I can solve any problem for you.” Korn redemption arc for real

Pat and Pran seem both relieved to be able to show PDA and I am glad that Ink and Pa are included in the loop too

“Who knows? One day I might like girls.” “That’s good. It’s so gainful.” Ink is transparently very gay LMAO

“I don’t mind genders. I like them all.” YEAHHHH GO PAT BI ICON

“Can’t I hit on you?” DON’T PLAY ME LIKE THIS INK UR CRUSHING ME AND PA’S DREAMS

Rugby’s only purpose in this show is getting Pran’s friends back LOL

HAHAHAHAHA @ Korn’s ‘y’all fuckin’?’ pause and their “NOT YET”

This white(?) man pulling a gun on Wai is wholly a departure from the level of narrative chillness we’re been witnessing thus far, what a freakshow I hope this guy shoots himself in the dick

HE SHOT PAT IN THE STOMACH OH MY GOD???

PAT’S FRIENDS IMPLYING PAT’S NOT DOING WELL IS NOT A FUNNY JOKE EVEN IF IT ONLY GRAZED HIM THAT COULD TRAUMATIZE PRAN KGJHKGJHG

“We found a gun at the scene. We assume it belongs to you.” WHY WOULD YOU ASSUME IT BELONGS TO THE PERSON WHO WAS SHOT????? THERE ARE SO MANY WITNESSES

First of all, there definitely shouldn’t be a security camera where there are toilets. Second of all, since Wai WAS ALSO A WITNESS TO WHO POSSESSED THE GUN WOULDN’T THAT HAVE ALSO BEEN RELEVANT, SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE ASIDE

“They said that should be enough to get him out of charges.” But they’re not going to charge the guy who SHOT him?????????

“Get well soon. Otherwise my friend will get himself a new lover.” I hope Wai and Pat continue to make fun of each other in a friendly way for the rest of their lives

“You don’t need to call us husband and wife.” Again, I am surprised that they would address this!!! But good!! It’s always kind of raised my hackles that so much Thai media assigns strict masc-femme gender roles to same gender relationships, and I have come to just expect it. BAD BUDDY SHOWING EVERYONE THEY CAN DO BETTER!!

Incredible that this whole day no one has told Pat’s parents he was shot

This comment was made precisely one minute too soon

Smart of Pat to lead with fact that Pran stopped him from getting arrested, very good boyfriend foundation-laying

This Architecture faculty expressing their support sequence is so cute also I cannot believe they just got engaged via fistbump. UR SO STUPID AND I LOVE U SO MUCH

OKAY, ALL THE FIGHTING AND TURMOIL IS WORTH IT FOR THE EMOTIONAL PAY OFF:

“She keeps smiling when messaging that person.” “That’s okay. You still have me.” What’s more delightful here, Ink and Pa’s flourishing romance or Korn and Wai’s flourishing friendship? Both are immaculate

I seriously have no idea who Chai is like does he work for Pran’s parents? Is he a relative? It’s thus far not been made clear

Update from very shortly after: He works for them

Not knowing why the parents hate each other is leaving me in suspense. If this is a Rufus and Lily from Gossip Girl situation I will not be happy about it

Pa’s really got her hands full with sophomores who want to date her

“So your mom and my dad went to the same school?” The Rufus and Lily vibes increase with every passing minute

Pran 🤝 Pat 🤝 Pran’s Mum

Storing a keepsake object of Repressed Memories of Your Youth in your cupboard

Pat immediately alluding to his high school teacher that he and Pran are dating because he loves to tell people they’re in love kjhghg

“The brother couldn’t make it, but the sister can.” If there’s any trope that is silly but fun it’s siblings having the same taste in crushes hahaha for a second I thought Pat was gonna be like, ‘damn, I was relying on you to give our parents grandkids’ LOL

Ink and Pa 😭😭😭 Get you a peer mentor who will become your gf

Ink 🤝 Pran

Developing feelings for someone in Pat’s family in high school and burying it deep inside until the other person confesses their feelings

“Can’t you just call me big bro once?” Pat’s joking is relieving some of my tension in hoping that their parents do not share a lovechild

Pat’s dad believes in the old adage: When the going gets tough, assault your child’s boyfriend in a shopping mall

Pran I think it’s a little unreasonable to be made at Pat for his outburst the boyfriend was already out of the bag at that point

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Chai is a nice man

The soundtrack they’re playing sounds like the Lion King when Mufasa dies this is rough stuff

“Is it even my job to be responsible for your feelings?” God, that hit me hard. No, no it is not, Pran

“Your dad stole my scholarship.” I mean that’s a dick move, but is it worth like twenty years of conflict?? You run a successful business now and could definitely go back and do a degree

“From now on, don’t tell your children to hate the people next door. Because the most disgusting person here is your father.” Idk, Dissaya, you’ve both struck Pran today sooooooo

“But he can’t fix his past, and I must be the one that takes it, right?” Every parent with unprocessed trauma should be forced to watch this episode in therapy

“A zero-waste village.” “Just the place for us.” (“Because our families are garbage,” they said, in the subtext)

“Being with you already feels like freedom.” V romantic also I’m glad they did not throw their sim cards away, that would be excessive

Uncle Tong is a welcome callback, finally an adult who’s understanding

It’s okay Pran and Pat, Junior can also cook better than I can lmao

“You made up with me then. Now it’s my turn, right?” I don’t think it’s unreasonable to not abandon ur hometown for a life by seaside without ur support network

The constant blurred unsponsored beer of this specific green brand makes me think they TRIED to get a beer sponsorship and failed LOL

“But a gangster like you always butts in people’s business and helps them.” That’s a weird way to compliment someone

“Was I good?” They definitely fucked in the beach house hahaha good for them, but unfortunate for Tong. Perils of boarding a couple I guess

“You fight alongside me. That makes me very happy.” PAT ❤️❤️❤️

This serenade and montage was already very very sweet but it’s the cutaways to the other duos that got me

“You asked why I didn’t quit what I’m doing. What I do might not be able to change the whole world. But it surely changes my attitude towards this world.” TONGGGGGGGG ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

TONG’S SPEECH. PAT AND PRAN IMAGINING THEIR FAMILIES EMBRACING THEM AND THEIR LOVE. THE WHOLE MONTAGE OF THEIR ENTIRE LIVES TOGETHER. I’M UPSET. IT’S A VERY GOOD SHOW

FOUR YEARS LATER?????????????????????? HELLO???????? WILD THAT WHAT WE JUST WITNESSED WASN’T THE FINALE

“You even make a living out of the disaster you caused back then.” I am reeling. Seems like Pran and Pat broke up but Wai has remained besties and business partners with the Eng boys. I love that for him but oh my god

“I need to go too. I’m picking up my sweetheart.” Wai and Korn have clearly moved on and found partners after uni but Pat seems firmly in Post Pran-dump Depression

Shout-out to Pa and Ink for being the only couple in this show to stay together from university to working life. Bad Buddy said wlw will go the distance

The Adult Life hair really does not suit Pran as much as it suits Pat

I feel like it IS a little funny for them to have passed four whole years and still be incredibly Not Over It hahahahah

WAIT THEY’RE STILL TOGETHER?? JKHFJDHF WHY BE SO WISTFUL AND ANGSTY THEN??? UR 23 WHAT CAN UR PARENTS DO

Hahahah I was waiting for Wai’s reaction at the fake breakup and didn’t disappoint

Also their parents 100% know! Four years? COME ON

What is perhaps funniest about Bad Buddy is how much it highlights how Sarawat and Tine from 2gether are just like. Batshit insane. Pran and Pat deal with everything so reasonably. They manage their conflicts immediately. They go long distance for a year!!! Sarawat and Tine spend 2 weeks apart and start crying to dolls and hallucinating each other. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sarawat and Tine with all of my heart but they are CRAZY and run with their emotions on 20,000% always. Imagine watching Romeo and Juliet and then watching Big Eden. That’s the contrast here

“I waited for a year. You served me only five minutes. Do you think that’s enough?” “Stop with the insult. I just got a little excited there.” I love that we’ve got to a place where we can make fun of Pat for coming too fast

Wai and Korn even own the bar together now #BusinessBesties LOL

“It’s like we bought this place to make amends.” Wai is right, having to deal with rowdy youth is his and Korn’s karmic retribution hahaha

“Ink, you seem to have lots of work.” “A lot, Papa.” Ink is very solid with the in-laws

“Just leave it to their generation.” Hahahaha Pat’s mum and dad acknowledging what terrible secret keepers they are

The single smile that Dissaya gives is 12 episodes of character growth

I love that the conclusion to this feud is slowly warming up to their sons’ happiness in each other and pretending not to notice they’ve been in love for five years

“The show is just so good.” YEAH IT IS ❤️❤️❤️❤️

It’s great that Pat is still so competitive. Truly great rivals to lovers

I am totally convinced this last scene, like the balcony scenes, was unscripted and the actors were allowed to do whatever they wanted and they decided to chase each other around the apartment shouting and jumping each other would be most in-character:

#ayesha says things #liveblogging #ayesha liveblogs bad buddy #television #thai television #long post #incredibly long post for a very good show

109 notes · View notes

imaginesbymk · 4 years ago

Text

“Something’s Wrong with Mr. Pink.”

Reservoir Dogs One Shot

Summary: There’s been spark between you and Mr. Pink, but he’s one to shield his emotions. He realizes he’s starting to lose you, but he’s out of ways to win your heart. Desperate, he approaches Mr. White for help.

Pairing: Mr. Pink x Fem!Reader

Tags: swearing, sexist remarks, smoking + mentions of drug use (marijuana)

Non Requested

Word Count: 2,054

Author’s Note: as you can tell, quentin tarantino movies have been on my list!!! the reader is codenamed Miss Beige!! i never thought i’d have this much appreciation for steve buscemi until now, he’s such a cool guy :((( also thank you @myriadimagines for checking my title capitalization aksnskdns - leave a like/reblog + feedback!!! <333

MR. BROWN gave Mr. Pink a ride to the next meeting, and the whole trip there, Brown rambled on and on about God knows what. It came through one ear and out the other for Pink. Brown didn’t seem to notice because of his investment of his proven theory of a movie he had seen and wanted to share it with someone.

If he wasn’t listening in silence, Pink would always have something to say. It would usually be a comment, an opinion on something about social life. This one afternoon, he bit his tongue, despite the guys knowing his mind was occupied, even Nice Guy Eddie raised a brow. It didn’t start the day they were all given your colour coded names. It didn’t start the day they reviewed the plan of the heist with each other. It all started when you two were unintentionally left alone at the large dining table, moments after the guys had walked out the restaurant for something.

“Pink’s a pretty colour.” You gave him a reassuring smile, stirring your straw in your milkshake.

“To you.”

“And to anyone else who would want to be codenamed Pink!” you scoff. “Sexist.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re Miss Beige,” he says, his mouth full of his toast.

“And I happen to like my name. It’s a pretty colour,” you paused. “Just like pink.”

Pink huffs, swirling his coffee mug. “I can’t wait to smoke.”

“Lucky.”

“My buddy sets up Thai sticks like it’s one of those model boats in a bottle. It’s so fragile to him, and he saved one for me. Something tells me I owe him a shit ton.”

“You smoke Thai sticks?” you ask. “Your poor lungs.”

“Nah, I gotta smoke outta one anytime after coffee just for me to either black out or jump off the Empire State building by the time we hit Easter.”

You chuckled.

From the windows of the restaurant, you could see the guys standing outside their parked cars including Nice Guy Eddie and Joe, talking to each other about whatever. You could see their mouths moving, Nice Guy Eddie using a lot of hand motions at Mr. White, and Joe calling someone on the phone.

This wasn’t the first time you spent a limited amount of minutes alone with Mr. Pink. At Uncle Bob’s Pancake House, you two did sit close to each other, except Mr. Blue sat in between the both of you, and you had to lean forward to see Mr. Pink if he was speaking or if you two were giving each other looks if someone said something stupid.

If you were that childish, you would've considered the five minutes of alone time with Mr. Pink a first date - without the formal introduction. You two didn’t give each other your names because of Joe, but you wouldn’t mind slipping it out.

Silence, and then-

“I know this really cool café near my apartment. We should check it out sometime,” you blurted out.

Pink was in the midst of swallowing his food. He chokes on his ketchup dipped toast, taking his coffee mug to chase the contents down his throat.

“Wait a minute-” Pink cleared his throat, then cleared it again. “Are you-” he cleared his throat for the final time. “Are you asking me out?”

“Y-yeah,” you sheepishly smile, holding in your breath. “I mean, we can go get coffee, hang out at my place afterwards - it’s just a five minute walk - and sit on my couch, listen to K-Billy’s Super Sounds of the ‘70s, you can smoke your Thai stick, I wouldn’t mind...” By looking at Pink’s face made you trail off your words. You knew where this was going.

“You couldn’t ask Brown or Orange?”

“No, I wanted to ask you. We’ve been talking lately, we seem to get along, thank God, and you’re really cool. Even when you can be an absolute dick almost all the time, you haven’t scared me off. Just one date, it won’t kill us.”

“A date...” he frowns a bit. “With you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” your heart sank.

“Nothing’s wrong with you, Miss Beige. Ya just got the wrong idea. We’re here for a job, not to hook up. If you want to suck someone off, try your luck with Mr. Blonde. Besides, I go for chicks at a bar. I know from experience, they’re always coming in hot - first come, first serve typa’ shit.”

“Right. My bad.” You felt yourself shrinking now, fighting the urge to get up and make a dash outta there, somewhere to scream in embarrassment, whatever emotion it was.

“Excuse me.” Mr. Pink gets up and walks away, just as the rest of the guys start making their return to the large table.

“Where did Mr. Pink go?” Mr. Orange asked.

“Little men’s room, I’m guessing.” You sighed, sliding the milkshake away from you. “I’m full.”

“Something’s wrong with Mr. Pink. Did you guys get in a fight? We were only gone for five minutes,” Mr. Brown laughs.

You sat in silence, staring down.

“Nah, I bet she finally put him in his place and he’s crying like a baby in there,” Mr. Blue said, lighting the cigar in his mouth with a match.

“Most definitely not.” Mr. White shook his head, patting his pockets in search of his lighter. “That man’s a smartass, and smartasses like him know how to shield themselves. He’s fine. If anything, he can walk his ass home.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Pink calmly entered the restroom, placed both hands on each side of the tiny sink, stared at his reflection in the dirty mirror, and screamed in anger.

He jumps when he notices a man had appeared from one of the stalls just a moment ago, staring at him worriedly.

“WHAT?!” Mr. Pink snaps.

If someone treated him like a friend, he goes along with it if they weren’t weird or creepy. If someone told a joke, he’ll laugh if it isn’t corny or cringeworthy. But if someone admitted their feelings to him? Let alone ask him out?

That was the thing: Mr. Pink doesn’t like the idea of vulnerability. He’s aware that it’s unavoidable, it’s human nature - he just chooses not to give into it. Mr. Pink won’t waste a breath giving anyone the impression that he’s easy to get along with and that he’s a kind of guy to not act like a complete jerk half the time, because that’s not true. Not on his behalf, at least.

“Mr. White,” Mr. Pink approaches him in the vacant room at the hideout one day.

He knows people can judge. So he naturally survives on witty remarks, being a sarcastic ass most of the time, and coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Coffee times six.

Mr. White finishes combing his hair in the small mirror, nodding at him as a response. “You all right, son?”

But at the same time, his heart was telling him he wants you all to himself. “I got a problem...”

"SO you want my help?” Mr. White said, a few moments after Mr. Pink had explained the situation he was stuck in. “You’re completely hopeless right now? Gosh, is it my birthday already?”

“You’re full of shit,” Pink mumbled.

“Thought you’re s’posed to be a fuckin’ professional, like you said?” Mr. White chuckled. “I would have thought you would know what to do by now.”

“What am I, the Dalai Lama? I don’t know the answer to everything.”

“I mean... I kinda figured something was goin’ on between you two, I tried to warn her,” White shoots him a blank stare.

“Warn her?” Mr. Pink scowls. “Like I’m some fuckin’ tiger on the loose?”

“I did tell her: Listen, honey,” Mr. White grimaced, as he saw you like a sixteen-year-old teenager not knowing better than to get her heart broken. “Are you one hundred percent sure you like Mr. Pink? He’s a pretty cynical guy. You know he doesn’t tip waitresses?”

You shrug.

“Look, I know I can be very close to myself while very outspoken but,” Mr. Pink sighs. “I mean, c’mon, you’ve seen Miss Beige. Who wouldn’t want her? One time, she called in sick for a job she worked at just to play Super Mario World.”

“You could go there and apologize to her.”

“It’s not that easy, White.”

“How so? Just tell her you freaked out but you had a change of heart.”

“No, man. I could have accepted it right there and then, I could be taking her out somewhere, a place she likes, or that café she was talking about. But no, I turn into the cold piece of shit I always am ‘cause I’m a fucking-” Mr. Pink kicks the rusty chair in anger. “-idiot!” He kicks it again, hurting his foot in the process. He cries out in pain and hops away to the table for balance.

“Mr. Pink, it’s not too late to win her heart. If you really like her, and I can tell you’d take a bullet for her, then brush the professionalism aside for one second and make your move.”

“How?” he chuckles, taking a seat in the chair he had just kicked.

“Well, you can start by introducing yourself.”

“Already done.”

“No I mean, your name.”

“Whoa, whoa whoa. What we’re not gonna do is that.” Mr. Pink ran his fingers through his hair, turning his back to White to therapeutically stare at the light pink tiles on the walls.

“Why not?” White shrugs. “I told her mine. And it’s-”

Mr. Pink turned around. “What?”

Mr. White furrowed his brows. “Huh?”

“You told her your name?” he said. In his mind he prayed Mr. White gave her a fake name on the spot.

“I mean, not just her. Mr. Orange, too. My first name and where I was from, it was a normal conversation.”

“...WHY?!” Pink’s voice echoed in the warehouse.

“Orange asked.”

“You know what Joe said, we’re not supposed to reveal any personal info about ourselves!”

“Joe said this, Joe said that- fucking teacher’s pet,” Mr. White mocks.

“What the hell were you thinking, White?” he shouts.

“How else can you and Miss Beige take a step further if you can’t even tell each other your fuckin’ names? Just introduce yourself, Pink. That’s one way to start,” Mr. White says.

“And what if she doesn’t like my name?” He could only come up with such a question like that.

“What is your name?”

“Fuck you, man.” Mr. Pink stood up from the chair, earning a chuckle from his colleague.

“All right, if you won’t tell me your name, then tell y/n. Y/n should be the only one who can know.”

Mr. Pink turned back to him again. “Y/N?” he says. “That’s her name?”

Mr. White nods. As heated as Mr. Pink was, he knew one day your name would have to fall out of his lips and not a colour, and he wouldn’t mind that. Y/N...

Mr. Pink wouldn’t mind that one bit.

FROM now on, the café near your apartment complex would be your go-to. It was a café not too small but not too big, and no one would bat an eye if you showed up in your pajamas. The following Saturday you went there alone, sipping your coffee and turning to the second page of the morning paper.

What sucked was the fact that after you were turned down, you came to think that Mr. Pink wouldn’t be able to see how cool the interior was. He sure was missing out. Sure his Thai stick won’t be stinking up your living room while throwback songs from the ‘70s play on the radio, but indeed, sucks for him.

“Shit, you were right, y/n. This place is pretty neat.”

The newspaper crinkled when you lowered it down. Standing at the foot of your booth was Mr. Pink. This time he didn’t have on his silly Hawaiian shirt like last time, and no, he didn’t ironically wear pink as a kind gesture. He did look good in a white tee, though.

You had to smile. He knew your name. And you wondered how...

“Oh, Mr. Pink. Morning,” you nodded.

He takes a seat in front of you. “C’mon, we’re not at work. Just call me—”

THE END

—

TAGLIST: @locke-writes

#i wish mr pink actually revealed his name in the movie #but no he’s a ✨professional✨#reservoir dogs imagine #reservoir dogs one shot #reservoir dogs x reader #reservoir dogs fanfic #mr pink x reader #mr pink imagine #mr pink #reservoir dogs #reservoir dogs fanfiction #mr pink one shot #reader insert #one shot #imagine #mk's faves

76 notes · View notes

notachair · 3 years ago

Text

The role of Mobius and reflections of the viewer

Okay so I’ve had this bastard in my draft for forever but since there’s just a few hours left before the Loki series releases I’ve just tried to make this mess of a post a little *less* of a mess just to have the thoughts out there. Since from almost the beginning I had this thought, and I’ve seen others post similar ideas touching upon it since. Also excuse me for all the "we"'s cause that's an assumption I shouldn't make about all. I have no idea what's gonna happen, but here is me trying to explain why I’ve felt uncomfortable about Mobius’ character. Here we go---

Ok so. You know how:

1. Mobius have been referred to as Loki’s biggest fan?

And

2. Mobius is apparently the all-knower of all things Loki?

Also

3. The Loki promos (as far as I watched them and what I’ve gathered from the ones who *have* watched all the promos) seems to be taking TVA’s perspective?

Well, what came to mind is all of this...

That fanfic trope

You know how we in fics often times have other characters learn some about Loki’s past either through actually talking to Loki, by connecting some dots or through a vision, time travel or literally seeing a movie of his life? How we write and read these things cause we see how there are so many things unaddressed and we want the character who’s been so utterly villified (not an excuse for their actions but a commentary about how the hero/villain coding have affected the treatment of the character both in-universe and by the audience/fandom) to be *seen* in their complexity, and have things questioned and not just buy into the coding in the narrative.

We want to explore how in-universe characters would react if they had all that information they’ve been clueless to. It’s one of the reasons at least I assume. Personally I’ve been waiting for someone, just someone that knows or knows of it. Perhaps Thor could bring it up and they could finally have a proper conversation about things that have been mostly brushed over. But there has been no one. Not even one he could truly talk to. Not even one person asking “what happened?”. Personally that’s something I’ve been desiring, and a character with a role like this has been a big trope within the Loki fandom for good reason. Like how do you move forward with the character making meaningful bonds with people and tackling A1 Loki's current issues without *tackling* the past?

We’ve kept seeing Loki being described and moralized through the lenses of someone else. Not through himself (or themself/herself) without the coding taking the side. Someone being able to see these things like as if a movie, is not something in-universe characters have the ability to do. Really that’s the viewers main ability, and here we have a series and a character who’s conviniently been given that ability and power. I feel like that’s the role they’re putting Mobius in. An in-universe character, outside of the Asgardian drama family, who’s very easily gotten access to the same things as us and even more.

The key of this sentence is *more*. Cause that means he’s someone who more or less *knows* all there is to know, he knows more than any other character in the mcu and the audience. And therefore as the Loki-knower, he’ll have the most credibility in his claims. So when we see this character who claims to have studied most of Loki’s life… we see him reacting in ways unexpected and claim things that contradicts what we’ve gathered from people’s hours of dissect and analysis… the negative weight of so many of the interactions I have personally seen... It’s worrying. Since the trailers so far is coloured by Mobius’ lens, this is what the viewer sees, through the coloured lens. He may not feel included to be kind, but marvel should know how the use of that lens is gonna affect people’s views on Loki. It personally feels like I’m being put in my place like «Oh silly, you don’t know Loki as much as you think you do. Mobius is their biggest fan and the all-knower of all things Loki, and he says you’re wrong in your assesment! Loki is really just some shit, even if he’s smart!»

Mobius (/TVA) and Loki

Obviously as humans (?) they won’t feel inclined to be friendly to Loki. Does Mobius think it’s the right way to treat Loki to manipulate him into doing what they/he wants through goading and other means? I don’t believe Loki will feel too inclined to willingly work with people who sees him as untrustworthy, violates and threatens to kill him (deletion, does TVA have the power to like, throw that variant’s paper in the trash and *delete* him from existence that way? I also thought they were earth’s protectors?). But ye I haven’t liked how he’s (and TVA obviously) treated Loki so far and he better change if they’re really supposed to become buddy-cop friends as they say. And referring to him as "the biggest fan" makes one expect more positive takes than the demeaning vibes I had gotten. Their relationship arc was described as «a love story» so that gotta mean they’ll get quite well along in the end won’t they? Btw… they really gotta find other ways to describe those sort of arcs when it’s not actually gonna involve romance…

Also, when I say I don’t like how Mobius talks about Loki, this is not as a “oh no don’t talk bad about my innocent baby;-;-;” and I shouldn’t have to say that. I’m asking for some nuance, something they have afforded others before, but never really seem to allow properly for Loki. I’m asking for the context of the situations to be acknowledged. I mean since the series is gonna take an exploration of self identity and all that, and how they’ve literally been shown to watch moments from Loki’s past (and future in a different time line) and all those papers that had to be signed? I’d expect the past to be addressed in one way in another, and I’m not gonna be happy if context is just fully ignored.

And just a few more thoughts. You know how those papers were everything Loki had ever said? And how that didn’t include what others said or did? I’m wondering in what way Mobius studied most of Loki’s life. Like with both the papers and the Loki cinema, it’s not like he’s actually privy to Loki’s thoughts and motivations? And if Loki didn’t really have any friends or others he felt he could confide in, then :/// to that perspective. Also, do you think Loki’s life is the longest he’s ever had to review before? How long did that take him to view/read *most* of Loki’s life?Even if the TVA is a place out of time, it must have taken him forever! Perhaps it pissed him off so much he idk skipped from the beginning to the most recent stuff.

Apparently the series is gonna be a little bit of a mix between things, and I read a review saying the lense is more neutral? But… yea not trusting some random reviewer.

THIS POST IS A MESS AND I KNOW THAT. BUT I HAD TO GET IT OUT NOW SINCE I’LL SLEEP THROUGH THE RELEASE AND THIS HAS BEEN IN MY DRAFTS FOR MONTHS AND I JUST NEEDED TO GET IT OUT. If you read this far, many kudos to you!

#my rambles #loki series #loki series speculation #loki series apprehension #long post

12 notes · View notes

kikoqueenofrats · 4 years ago

Text

I'm on a role today

only cuz I've already got like, 12 of these chapter written in advance- tbh I'm trying to get all of these out before I get the 13th one done hehe-

ONWARDS! To the rope swing chapter!! @toastraccoon

Dark...

It was dark....

Cel groaned as his consciousness slowly came back to him and tried stretching his aching limbs out.

Only to find that they were tightly tied together.

Cels eyes were slowly beginning to open when the memories of recent events suddenly hit him in the brain.

"Mari!" He gasped, eyes shooting open and beginning to frantically look around, looking for his friend...

His friend....

The friend he had ignored in favour of finding out where his...stupid game was.

"Hey look who's finally awake" a dark voice chuckled, causing Cel to tense up. As his vision finally cleared he managed to spot the stick the dark voice had come from.

They were a dark, stormy, blue coloured stick and the look they were currently giving Cel made him feel unsafe.

The storm blue stick smirked at Cels' fearful expression "Hey boss!" They called behind them, Cel followed their gaze and spotted the dark purple stick from before.

"One of the prisoners woke up, want me to put em back to sleep?" Cel flinched as sparks of electricity crackled across the storm blue sticks hand.

"Nah, he's not gonna cause much trouble, besides I wanna talk to him" the dark purple stick patted their friends shoulder before making their way over to Cel.

"YEAH BOLT! he wants to talk to the prisoner!" A light yellow stick suddenly made themselves known as they got up in Bolt's face. Bolt huffed at the yellow sticks childishness and turned away from them, beginning to walk over to dark purples side.

"Hey!"

Cels eyes snapped towards the dark purple stick now looming over him.

"Ignore her, she's just trying to start up a fight" the purple stick sighed as she began poking Bolts face.

Bolt seemed to be staying strong however and made no move to attack her.

Though it looked like their patience was beginning to run out.

"Now" dark purple clapped their hands together, once again catching Cels attention "back to business...remember when I told you that I knew where your game was?"

Cel nodded almost buzzing in anticipation, though a familiar twinge in his stomach calmed him down a bit.

"I know where it is...because I used to live there" dark purple seemed to scowl at the memory of it, but their expression quickly changed to a muted smirk.

"I can tell you the games name if you want" Bolt and light yellow momentarily paused in their one-sided bickering and stared at dark purple in shock.

"You'll have to do something for us first though" at that the other two sticks went back to their playful fight.

"What do you want?" Cel asked, looking at the stick standing over him suspiciously. As much as he wanted to get back to his home safe and sound; He didn’t want to risk losing too much in order to get there.

For now however he was forced to trust the dark purple stick standing in front of him; maybe they would let something slip.

Dark purples grin grew at that "You know, after bringing in as many sticks as I have to this stickfight-" They pointed towards what looked like an open tab and Cels mind suddenly short-circuited.

Wait...where are we?

Cel began looking around as much as a bound stick could, but before he could figure out if they had moved computers or not dark purples voice caught his attention again.

"...become suspicious, most of the websites around here recognize me and my group as bad news, we need a new face to help us lure in sticks in order for us to meet our quota, because if we don't we'll end up in the ring instead" dark purple looked away and Cel couldn't help but feel sorry for the group.

Cel had heard of stickfight rings from Mari and he honestly did not want to get anywhere near a place like that.

Even if it meant getting back to his home afterwards.

Dark purple knelt down in front of Cel before speaking "so what's it going to be, buddy? Join us? Or end up in the ring with your friend?"

The sound of someone struggling reached Cels ears and he turned, spotting Mari trying to wriggle out of the cuffs clamped around their arms Cel had to stop himself from reaching over to try and calm his friend down.

Cel had a plan...and that plan meant keeping himself as far away emotionally from Mari as possible.

No matter how much it hurt.

"Okay, I'll join you," Cel said, trying to keep as much regret out of his eyes as he could;

Mari stopped struggling at that and looked up at Cel in shock.

Dark purple smirked "well that was easy" they chuckled before reaching into a trouser pocket and pulling out a key. "I thought you'd fight more, does that guy really mean that little to you" Dark purple looked at Cel curiously, still holding the key in their hands.

Cel swallowed down the guilty feeling, putting on his most uncaring look before saying.

"I was only using them to get back home...I don't need them anymore..."

A sob.

Then another.

Cel almost broke at that sound.

He wasn't expecting that...he wasn't expecting Mari to start crying...

Dark purple studied Cels face for a few moments before sighing and throwing the key at him.

They looked disappointed...

Cel didn't have enough time to think when a loud bang echoed through the space. Dark purple turned around to see Light yellow and Bolt fighting with each other.

Looks like both of them had some sort of power...

This was going to be harder than Cel thought it would be.

As soon as Dark purple ran over to separate the two Cel quickly went to work, unlocking the cuffs around his hands before going to untie the ropes tightly wrapped around his legs.

Cel looked up to check if Dark purple was still trying to deal with the fight, they were, before scooting over to Mari.

They looked a mess and it wasn't just because they were desperately trying not to cry. Burn marks stretched across their back, revealing a small patch of red Cel recognized as damaged code.

Cel cringed inwardly before remembering what he had to do, gently grabbing Maris arm he went to work on the lock.

Mari flinched slightly at the touch, looking up in surprise. That surprise only deepened when they saw the person currently setting them free.

They smiled in relief as Cel pulled the now unlocked cuffs off of Maris hands and began working the rope around their legs.

"HEY!"

They both jumped, looking over to see the group of stickfigures had noticed their escape attempt.

Mari quickly tried jumping to their feet, flinching inwardly as their back flared up but quickly ignoring it in favor of grabbing Cels hand and running.

They were quickly followed by the group, who were also yelling at Dark purple for trusting Cel enough to untie him as they pursued.

Mari suddenly stopped, Cel crashing into their back as a result. Mari let out an involuntary gasp of pain at that. Though they quickly regained their composer.

"No time for pain" they thought "their catching up!"

Looking around for a way to get across the floor of code deletion Mari quickly spotted a file hanging just above it.

Smirking they quickly threw their rope at it, after securing it they turned around.

Cel was currently standing in front of Mari, readying himself for the fight that he thought was coming.

Luckily for Cel, Mari had other ideas; They grabbed Cel around his waist pulling him into their chest before stepping back and running forward.

Only just making it into the air before Dark purple could grab them.

Cel screamed, wrapping his arms around Maris neck and keeping his legs as far away from the red floor as much as possible as they swung across the pit.

As Mari was about to let go of the file Cel looked up at Them and a warm feeling suddenly made its way across his cheeks.

This confused Cel for a few moments before realization smacked him right in the face.

"Why now!?!"

Cel thought as he desperately tried to hide how flustered he was in Maris shoulder. Before he could fully process the new emotion Mari landed safely onto the other side.

Looking back one more time to see the other group quickly working on deactivating the code deletion floor Mari quickly made their way towards the WiFi icon.

Still holding onto Cel, Mari Pulled it open and jumped inside, not bothering to look back as they knew the group wouldn't get to them in time.

As they phased into the new computer Mari finally let out the breath they had currently been holding back. Collapsing onto the ground Mari buried their face into Cels shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while, slowly processing the emotions they were currently feeling.

"You...you gave up your game for me..." Mari whispered, head still buried in Cels shoulder.

"Yeah..." Cel whispered back, head also buried in Maris shoulder.

"You're my...my friend...I...I wasn't about to leave you in a place like that"

Mari smiled at that, they used to worry that Cel only hung around them because they were helping him find his game.

Now though they knew Cel actually cared about them.

Now they finally had their first real friend.

#Cel and Mari #animation vs animator #alan becker #stickocs #tw injury #tw kidnapping #tw romance #New Ocs!!#I'll get bios out for them soon!#as in immediately after this post #I've drawn a lot of stuff for this story-

9 notes · View notes

chubbyooo · 4 years ago

Text

The Road to Redemption - A Blurred Lines Spinoff Chapter 5: Forgiveness

hey all this was a fun one to write :D

Senya awakes and has a confrontation with Kyradia as Kavaraa does her best to help Arcann and herself

Kyradia’s fist made a resounding crack as it impacted with Saresh’s face how dare she try to take what Kyradia built, she had every intention of killing her but she wanted her to rot in a cell first

Saresh reeled back “I’ll take that as a yes it doesn’t matter the alliance needs a leader like me” Kyradia sneered did she really want to get hit again “I saw an opportunity and I took it I won’t apologize” Kyradia couldn’t help herself smacking her again with the back of her hand

Lana scowled “we are way beyond apologies” she bent down continuing to scowl at the former chancellor

Theron folded his arms “what do we do with her” this whole experience had renewed Kyradia’s faith in him having them both be gunning for Saresh’s demise the entire time

Saresh scowled back “execution I expect, it’s what Vaylin would do it’s what I would do” Kyradia couldn’t help but smile at the simple idea

Kyradia walked up to Saresh “such a simple form of revenge Saresh you know a more drawn out revenge is always more satisfying you’re going to rot in a Alliance prison well before you die” Kyradia bent down and growled at the former chancellor “and I’ll be there every step of the way” she gave Saresh a swift kick to the stomach and let the guards take her away

Lana folded her arms “Empress Acina is waiting for your call in the war room” Kyradia nodded best get to it…

The call had gone fine it seemed as though they had some new allies Lana spoke up “finally we seem to not be alone in this war, Saresh has been transferred to the prison but while there it seemed as if Senya has woken up” Kyradia felt herself twitch as she heard the name, she’d put Arcann and the Basen’thor to the back of her mind to avoid boiling over

Kyradia clenched her fists “good, I think it’s about time I paid her a visit” Kyradia quickly strode towards the prison she wanted to let her know she’d failed

Soon they let her into the room where Senya sat in the corner quietly humming, after a second she looked up “ah is it time for your revenge then?” she was surprisingly calm considering Kyradia had nearly killed her last time

Kyradia seethed “I just came here to tell you that you failed” Senya nodded still calm this wasn’t what Kyradia was expecting at all

She sighed “maybe you’re right only time will tell but I sense a change in him” Kyradia felt her repressed anger boiling up

Kyradia walked up to her “your faith will betray you, you've only created another problem for the alliance I hope you’re proud” Senya frowned at her finally giving a reaction

Senya stood up “of course I’m proud Kyradia I tried to save my son I know it wasn’t the most ‘strategic move’ but I’m not going to apologize for having a heart even if it kills me” Kyradia gritted her teeth she knew she couldn’t kill her yet not while Arcann still lived

Kyradia growled at her “people don’t change Senya! You can’t make some great gesture and suddenly they’re all better even if he believes he’s ‘getting better’ he will fall back down we all do sooner or later and return to his old ways” Senya gave no sign of emotion as she listened to Kyradia

She sighed “are you really so disillusioned with the world Kyradia, I suppose you wouldn’t understand change every choice in your life has been made for you” Kyradia felt her twinge of anger boil over as she pushed Senya up against the wall

She shouted “how dare you! I took control of my destiny a long time ago I’ve earned everything I got and no one can take that away from me” Senya shook her head as she struggled

She sighed “no don’t you see Kyradia it’s all just part of Valkorions plan, I know you went through his sith academy you are who you are because of him” Kyradia had heard the same words from Valkorion for years

She threw Senya across the room “you don’t know a THING about me you don’t know how I’ve suffered or what it’s like to be me and you certainly don’t understand what I’m willing to do to stop him” she bore down on Senya her anger in full force

Senya looked a little more frightened now “I do know that someone hurt you, it was bad and you’ve never gotten over it” Kyradia stopped some of her anger melting away “I knew it from when I first saw you, you have the same look Vaylin has someone took you and twisted you and that part of you is begging to get out behind all the anger” Kyradia felt herself begin to breath heavily how could she know?

She was frozen for a few seconds before she lifted Senya up the anger returning “you want to know the difference between me and Vaylin I didn’t let it rule me” Senya just shook her head causing Kyradia’s anger to spike “and I don’t have any foolish people trying to save what can’t be saved!” Senya’s frown turned angrier

She shook her head “you would understand if you had children” Kyradia gritted her teeth a headache beginning to brew from that comment

She closed her eyes for a second “then I guess I’ll never understand traitor” she stormed out of the room before Senya could get another word in, how could she have let Senya get to her like that and why did she see through her. Kyradia took a shaky breath before heading back to the war room her anger renewed, she was going to end this war soon…

Kavaraa was watching as Arcann tried to calm a Blerg, it had been a week or so since they arrived at Master Syo’s ranch and things were progressing slowly Arcann was getting easily frustrated but keeping at it. Arcann was trying to get onto the Blerg when it suddenly lost its calm sensibility and bucked him off towards Kavaraa, he landed in the mud next to her and she helped him up.

Kavaraa smiled “hey buddy rough ride?” Arcann was not amused as she helped him up wiping the mud off his face

Arcann sighed “I don’t understand what this has to do with anything!” he was clearly frustrated but still willing to try

Master Syo made his way over “it’s as I said Arcann to calm and animal you yourself must be perfectly calm you musn’t let your grief or regret break that, did it break through?” Kavaraa had actually learnt this lesson from Master Syo when she was training however it was less about grief and more about controlling excitement. Master Yuon and Master Syo had worked together frequently to control Kavaraa’s excitement and rather extreme emotions to teach her to control them but also not lose them.

Arcann reluctantly nodded “yes I did have a moment you’re right but the problem is I’m getting in my own head about it, telling myself not to think about it make me think about it” Master Syo nodded clearly understanding Arcann’s plight

Master Syo smiled “yes once you start thinking that you’ve already lost just try to think of nothing or, something that calms you” he puts a hand on Arcanns shoulder “do you have a moment like that

Arcann nodded “I’m playing with training sticks in the field with… Thexan” he took a long pause

Kavaraa stepped in “Ok maybe not the best example think of something a little less implicating” Arcann nodded trying to think of something else

Master Syo nodded “let’s take a five minute break so you can center yourself” Arcann nodded as Master Syo walked back to the ranch

Kavaraa reassured him “you know this stuff isn’t easy I think you’re doing really well so far” Arcann smiled nodding to himself

Arcann sighed “I know I’m just a little impatient while we’re here Vaylin is out doing the force knows what, I get I need to take the time otherwise the whole process is pointless but it’s just hard at times” Kavaraa nodded she was a little worried too she hadn't heard from Theron in a little bit

Kavaraa smiled “it’s bound to be Arcann but it’s about getting back up when we fall off the Blerg right?” Arcann nodded the metaphor wasn’t perfect but Kavaraa was doing her best

Arcann looked away “thank you Kavaraa I appreciate all you’ve done for me, I’m going to go to the workshop to calm myself” Kavaraa nodded she noticed he’d been spending a lot of time in there

Kavaraa decided to take a walk behind the ranch to the caves, she needed to find her own center, the more time she stayed here the more worried she became about her actions. She had no idea if Nox would ever allow her back into the alliance let alone Arcann and she worried for Senya every day she was incarcerated. But there was really nothing she could do, she was sticking by her code and she could at least be proud of that even if it was getting her into trouble, still it had gotten Theron into trouble. She didn’t know what she’d do if anything happened to Theron she had to tell him how she felt soon before it was too late.

She made her way into the cave illuminated with black and white crystals giving off all manner of glowing colours but in the center of the cave she noticed a blue figure.

As she got closer she recognised the form of her first master Yuon Par she gasped “M-master Yuon how are you here I mean I’ve only read about such things in holocrons but to actually see it I mean amazing” Master Yuon looked as surprised as her

She let out a laugh “Hello Vary I wasn’t expecting you to come and see me” wow she had not heard that nickname in years

Kavaraa was bewildered “I uh wasn’t either what are you doing here?” she hadn’t seen Master Yuon since the brothers attacked she shivered realising what this looked like

Master Yuon smiled “Syo finds it hard to be all alone so sometimes I visit him to help him” Kavaraa sat down next to her not exactly sure what to do

Kavaraa had a million things to say but she had to say something first “I’m so sorry Master Yuon, I uh I let you down” Master Yuon frowned at her as Kavaraa didn't make eye contact

She responded “whatever do you mean Vary what do you have to be sorry for?” Kavaraa didn’t even know how to say it and now she was helping one of the brothers who attacked Tython

Kavaraa swallowed “I wasn’t there on Tython when you were… killed I should’ve been there I was too busy on my stupid quest for artefacts and catching Nox” Master Yuon shook her head as Kavaraa shrunk down

She scoffed “and what you think you could’ve saved me from 30ft worth of rubble” Kavaraa remembered when she had uncovered the body she’d cried for a good hour and then again at the funeral

Kavaraa felt her eyes well up “I dunno maybe I could’ve helped I just I should’ve been there I let you down” Master Yuon turned to her a bright smile on her face

She put a hand on Kavaraa’s face although she couldn’t feel it “Now Vary you could never let me down you exceeded my greatest expectations and I’m so proud of you” Kavaraa smiled but she still felt bad “and besides we all had a role to play in that war I’ve played mine so you can play yours and it seems like you have your hands full” Kavaraa felt tears begin to stream down her face why was she so easy to make cry?

She wiped her eyes “I uh yeah I do, you don’t mind I’m helping Arcann then even after the attack?” Master Yuon shook her head

Master Yuon smiled “don’t be silly Vary I don’t hold a grudge how could I, I just want to make sure you’re ok”

Kavaraa tried to keep her cool “I uh I feel like I messed it all up, I feel like I’m betraying everyone by doing this” she tried her best to wipe her eyes again

Master Yuon comforted her “hey hey come on Kavaraa you’re doing it because you know it’s the right thing to do and if I know anything about you it’s that you’re stubborn” Kavaraa chuckled wiping the last of her tears away “do you remember what you said to me on the first trip to the to Tython” Kavaraa shook her head that was so long ago

Master Yuon smiled “you insisted on being my co-pilot in case anything went wrong” Kavaraa laughed had she really done that “you didn’t even know how to fly” Kavaraa smiled that had cheered her up. “Point is I learned a long time ago if you want to do something you’re going to and you usually will be doing it for the right reasons” Kavaraa nodded she guessed that was true

Kavaraa smiled “thanks Master I really needed that” Master Yuon smiled back clearly happy to help

She chuckled “I think the force did this on purpose” Kavaraa laughed she hoped so “hey where's your lightsaber?” Kavaraa was surprised by the question

Kavaraa stammered “oh well I uh well when I went to save Nox I was captured and Vaylin took it, I kinda don’t have one since i’m not really a Jedi at the moment” Master Yuon frowned at her

She questioned “just because you don’t follow the code to the letter doesn’t mean you’re not a Jedi it just means you’re one of the good ones” Kavaraa laughed Yuon had never been very traditional “either way I think I’d feel safer for you if you had one” Kavaraa nodded

She frowned “but how can I build one I don’t exact…” she trailed off looking around the room “oh right the crystals” Master Yuon laughed

She nodded “choose one, I think Syo has some parts in his workshop” Kavaraa nodded looking around the cave, she decided to choose through the force she closed her eyes and reached out. She could feel the difference between them but after a minute or so she found one that resonated with her and used the force to pull it out of the ground, when she opened her eyes she saw a black crystal with a distinct pink glow.

She was surprised by the colour “oh wow I’m not sure this gives the right message” she didn’t know what that message was

Master Yuon shook her head “I think it does it says you’re more level headed but don’t forget about your emotions” Kavaraa guessed that made sense, she held the crystal in her hand yeah maybe this would work

Kavaraa smiled at her master “thanks Master Yuon, for everything” Yuon nodded before her form dissipated leaving Kavaraa feeling newly invigorated and ready to help Arcann...

15 notes · View notes

what-is-your-plan-today · 5 years ago

Text

Stark Spangled Banner Ch39: The Reunion

Intro: As the remaining Avengers continue their search for Tony, help arrives in the form of an unknown face...and after two agonising years Katie is reunited with her brother.

Warnings: Bad Language words, grief, hellavulotta angst, SMUT (NSFW) NO UNDER 18s.

Pairing:Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

A couple of mornings later, 11 days post the Snap, Nat decided she couldn’t take it anymore and told Steve she wanted to go to Clint’s.

“I have to know.” she said, looking at Steve. He sighed and glanced over her shoulder to Katie who merely shrugged. She knew where Nat was coming from, it was killing her not knowing what had happened to Tony.

“Alright.” he acquiesced, “Let me grab a jacket.”

“I’ll meet you on the jet?” she asked. He nodded and watched her go before he turned to his wife who was studying him over her coffee. "If Barton was alive he would have been here by now.” Steve dragged a hand down over his beard as he dropped onto the sofa next to Katie “I don’t understand why she doesn’t see or get that?”

"Put yourself in her shoes.” Katie sighed as she curled in on herself under a blanket on the sofa as a particularly nasty cramp hit her stomach “You’d do the same thing for Bucky, or Sam, or me.”

"You know that I would." he replied, noticing her shift in position and he frowned but before he could say anything she placed her hand on his bearded cheek.

“Then just go, let her see. Plus, you could be wrong.”

“I suppose it’s happened from time to time.” he quipped and Katie smiled as he leaned over to press their foreheads together.

“Are you feeling ok?”

“Not really” she replied honestly, “But I’ve taken some painkillers, and Dr Kellet is coming over later. Thank fuck she wasn’t snapped.”

“I can ask Thor to go with Nat instead.” Steve looked at his wife who shook her head. “She asked you for a reason.” Katie said gently, “She trusts you. And I think if its bad news, she’s gonna need you.”

“Ok, well, if you’re sure.” he looked at her again and she nodded. “I love you.”

“I know.” she smiled “I love you too. Now go.”

Barton’s farm was deserted. As the two of them walked around, Steve found his attention drawn to the picnic table not too far from where they had landed. It was loaded with condiments, plates, cutlery and scraps of food as a squirrel darted off the top from where it had been routing through whatever other animals had left. Steve couldn’t help but remember the first time he had visited, the normality of Barton’s life outside the Avengers. He had kids, a wife…at the time he’d almost been jealous, wondering if he and Katie could ever get that life. And then he’d gone and caused them both to be on the run, essentially ending that domestic dream.

And if he hadn’t, then Thanos certainly had.

Natasha, meanwhile had stalked straight into the house. Steve, hearing the door snap shut behind her turned and watched as she stalked back out of the farm house and over to the barn at the far side of the yard. Nothing had changed.

“Natasha?” he called.

She didn’t respond. With a sigh Steve jogged after her and followed her into the barn as she dodged round the tractor in the middle to a door at the far side. Steve noticed a key pad at the side and Natasha clearly knew the code as a moment later there was a beep and it swung open to reveal what he supposed could only be referred to as an office of sorts, or as Katie would refer to it a ‘man-cave’. There was a desk and some hi tech coms devices sat on it along with a computer. At the other side was a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall, a small couch, a stereo but none of that was what Natasha was looking at. She’d headed directly to some form of smaller room at the back and opened that to reveal a shelving unit of sorts. On one of them was an empty case that had clearly held a bow and arrow. Natasha then bent over and when she stood up Steve noticed she was holding a government issued ankle bracelet that had obviously at one point been around Clint’s ankle. Not anymore, it was in 2 pieces.

"He's alive," Nat said, her voice cracking “Steve. he’s…he’s alive"

It was good news in a way, but then again, where was he? Surely if he and his family had survived he would have headed to the compound to find the rest of them. But this looked like he had left in a hurry. Alone. Which made Steve think that his family hadn’t been so lucky.

Natasha, satisfied that Clint was alive but clearly nowhere to be found at the farm, suggested they head home and see if they could track him from the compound. Steve hadn’t the heart to tell her that he didn’t think they’d have much of a chance and he knew deep down she probably thought the same thing. Instead he nodded and they headed back over to the jet, which is when the pair of them heard something skulking around the side of the house. Natasha whipped out her gun as they both cautiously approached. As soon as Steve saw who it was he relaxed.

“Hey buddy.” he said, bending down to pet the sandy coloured one-eyed dog

“Clint just left him.” Nat sighed.

“He won’t have been thinking straight, Nat.” Steve said, looking up at her, then around slightly, chewing the inside of his cheek before he made a decision. “We’ll take him home with us.” He stood up and, giving a sharp whistle, he was pleased to find the dog simply trotted behind him, up the ramp and happily curled up in a corner on a fleece blanket Natasha laid out for him.

“Do you know how old he is?” Steve asked, nodding to the dog.

“Well when they found him in 2011 the vets estimated he was about six months old…so seven give or take.” Steve straightened up and he looked around. Clint’s ankle tag had gotten him thinking, there was someone else they should probably check in on as well. He voiced his thoughts to Natasha who nodded, and plugged in the co-ordinates for an airfield in San Francisco which was about thirty miles away from the address Scott Lang had listed on his house arrest details. In little over an hour and 45 minutes later they pulled up outside Lang’s house and told the cab driver to wait.

When no one answered Steve simply kicked the door in and once they were inside they found it had been deserted some time ago. The remnants of a breakfast lay on a plate on the side growing mould and there was a mug and a plate in the sink. Natasha headed up the stairs, as Steve checked around the ground floor to see if there was anything that might give them a clue. The only thing he noticed was a calendar. The date of the Snap was circled, 23rd April, and next to it was written “QR- Research.”

He didn’t have a clue what that meant. As he walked back into the hall Nat came down the stairs and joined him.

“No sign of anything being packed from his closet and his bed wasn’t made.” She shrugged

Steve nodded. “His calendar seems to suggest he had a research date or something but other than that…hang on…”

He stopped by the phone in the hall, the red-light was blinking to show there was a message. Steve hit play and they stood stock still listening to the message.

“Hi daddy” a little girls voice spoke. Steve knew Scott had a daughter, but it struck him then he had never even bothered to ask her name. “I tried your mobile but you’re obviously busy doing cool stuff with Hope and Dr Pymm…Mom said that you should come over tonight for 4pm now your tag is off and it’s your favourite for tea. Oh and I got a new ant farm for you to try out. I love you, byeeeee!”

Scott took 2 years house arrest to be with his family and Steve knew he wouldn’t run out. The only logical explanation was that he too had been turned to dust.

“Think we’ve seen enough?” Nat sighed.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded “Let’s head home.”

***** “Well,” Dr Kellet looked at Katie as she sat up on the bed, “there’s nothing physically wrong. Everything looks ok. I expect the cramps will settle down soon.”

Katie nodded and looked at her hands.

“How are you though?” the Doctor looked at her and Katie sighed.

“I’m okay, I suppose. I mean, I know there’s nothing I can do about it but it doesn’t stop me wondering you know, if I could have done something or-”

“Even in the case with normal miscarriages there’s nothing that anyone can do.” the Doctor spoke softly. “It’s a natural reaction, Mrs Rogers, you’re still in the grief cycle.” the Dr snapped her bag shut. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. Give yourself time.”

“That’s what Steve keeps saying.” Katie said softly

“How has he been?” “Amazing.” Katie smiled instantly “He’s been an absolute rock, I know he’s upset himself but he just…” she trailed off. “It’s good that you have one another.” Dr Kellet smiled as she handed Katie her bag containing her pill. Neither of them spoke much, it was a silent gesture that made them both feel a little strange. They hadn’t even discussed the subject but with everything that was going on Katie had to acknowledge that going forward even the simple things like obtaining medical treatment was going to be much more difficult as they’d lost half the people that kept medical centres open. Doctors, Nurses, receptionists, porters…

“I’m going to be meeting with the Local Authorities.” Dr Kellet looked at Katie as if she had read her mind “All the remaining specialists are, sort of a how we go forward planning session.” “Let me know if we can help in anyway.” Katie said “That’s what we have the Stark Relief fund for.” Dr Kellet nodded. The two exchanged goodbyes and the Ob-Gyn left, leaving Katie alone with her thoughts which were disrupted when she heard her phone going. It was a message from Steve to tell her they were on their way home with good and bad news. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know but she assumed the good news was Clint was alive, the bad news being perhaps the kids or Laura weren’t. Deciding she would rather heat it in person she replied and told him she’d leave some dinner for them both in the communal kitchen and with that she headed off to find something he could cook. Such a normal thing to be thinking about. It felt good.

****

Steve and Natasha landed home at just gone eight in the evening. And, given that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast, they headed straight to the kitchen with Lucky in tow and found the leftovers of Katie’s lasagne. Whilst it was warming up Steve gave Lucky a drink and then found some left over chicken and scraps of vegetables from the roast dinner the night before and placed them down in a dish for him to eat. Lucky wolfed his make shift dinner down, and so did they. Between them they ate the entire lot of left overs, along with a helping of salad and then walked down the dimly lit corridors, dog on their heels. It was completely deserted.

“Feels odd doesn’t it?” Nat remarked “I mean it was always so busy.” “We will fix this Nat.” Steve spoke, and he wasn’t sure where his optimism was coming from, but seeing Clint was alive gave him more hope than he’d had that morning.

“Thank you for coming.” She said as they stopped by the stairs that led to her apartment “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Steve smiled, giving her a hug. “Do you wanna take our guest or should I?” he gestured down to the dog. She shook her head “Katie has a soft spot for that dog, besides, I prefer cats.”

That didn’t surprise him in the slightest. He found himself smiling slightly as he replied, “Alright, see you in the morning.” before he watched her up the steps and was pleased to see some of her usual Black Widow swagger had returned.

“Come on buddy.” he turned to the dog which obediently trotted besides him, tongue lolling, his one eye trained on the super soldier.

Katie was awake in bed, the speakers in the room playing what sounded like the Trouble Man soundtrack as she lay on her side, facing the door, her hands absentmindedly playing with the pillow she had clutched to her chest.

“Hey.” he said as he walked in and she looked up, smiling softly. He leaned over to give her a gentle kiss “You feeling ok?” “Yeah.” she sat up “What did you find?”

“Clint’s alive.” Steve shrugged off his jacket and laying it on the back of the chair by the dressing table. Katie gave a sigh of relief which was short lived as she spotted the look on Steve’s face.

“What is it?”

“There’s no sign of him. He’d bust off his tag and left. I don’t think his family made it.” Katie bowed her head “They’re gone? All of them?”

“I think so yeah.”

“Fuck.” Katie screwed shut her eyes as her head fell back and she looked to the ceiling.

“We do, however have a guest.” Steve added, looking over at her.

“Who?”

“Lucky.” At the sound of his name the dog came pounding into the bedroom and jumped on the bed.

“I couldn’t just leave him there” Steve explained as Katie smiled and leaned over to scratch the dog behind his ears, promptly causing him to lay down, his head in Katie’s lap. She wrinkled up her nose “He stinks!”

“Yeah well he’s been alone since Clint left, God knows what he’s been up to or eating.”

Katie looked down at the dog who rolled over for a belly scratch and she obliged.

“It doesn’t look like Lang made it either.” Steve sighed, watching as Katie tickled the animal.

She shook her head sadly, a tear falling onto the bed as Lucky rolled back over and moved to lick the side of her face before he jumped down on the floor.

“Nat wants to give Barton a few more days to cool off before we look for him but I’m not sure he wants to be found." Steve shook his head, dropping onto the side of the bed and removing his shoes and then his shirt thinking back to what he had seen at Clint’s. He laid his palms flat on the bed and dropped his head gently, letting out a sigh. He heard the sheets rustle as Katie edged her way closer to him, leaning her head on the back of his shoulder, nuzzling her cheek against him.

"How is Nat?" she asked.

"A little bit better now that we know he's alive."

Katie nodded as she dropped a kiss to the back of Steve’s shoulder before he stood up, “I’m gonna take a shower, I won’t be long.”

“Okay. Where’s Lucky gonna sleep?”

“I dunno.” Steve eyed up the dog who was now led on his back on the floor as if he’d been with them all his life “Looks like he’s comfy there.” “Yeah, it does.” Katie smiled.

Whilst Steve was in the shower Katie went into the closet and pulled out one of the old duvets for Lucky to sleep on, folding it up and placing it at the end of the bed. Steve was out of the shower shortly and climbed into bed besides Katie, reaching over and turning off the light before he settled down on his back and Katie cuddled up to him, head on his chest

“So what have you been up to today?” he asked gently, his hand rubbing her back.

“Still trying to get a lock on where Tony is.” she said softly “And then I saw Dr Kellet, made dinner and then I wasn’t feeling great if I’m honest. So I came back here and Thor sat with me for a while, just talking.” He pulled her a little closer, his chest tightening at the thought of her hurting and him not being there “What did Dr Kellet say?” “Nothing much. Says I’m physically alright, any discomfort I’m feeling should be gone soon.” “Do you need anything? Pain relief or…” She shook her head “I’m ok, honestly.”

They both fell silent for a moment, before she broke the silence.

“You now, knowing Clint is alive makes me feel a little more optimistic.”

“Optimistic?”

“Yeah, think about it.” she said, her hand tracing shapes on his bare chest “That’s 6 out of 7 of the original Avengers confirmed alive. Tony has to be as well, it makes sense.” “I’m not following.” Steve frowned. She propped herself up, so that she was leaning on his chest “Thor was talking before about how he thought after Ultron that we had been pawns in someone’s intricate game, that someone we know now to be Thanos. But those stones, they have a magic beyond anything we know. Thor doesn’t believe for a second that who’s left is merely a coincidence and neither do I. It’s happened for a reason. Tony’s out there, I can feel it. We just need to find him.” “Honey, I understand what you’re saying…” Steve started, he wasn’t sure he agreed. He didn’t believe in fate, it was bullshit. But before he could say anything else she cut him off.

“Please don’t.” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t what?”

“Take this hope away from me.” she whispered, her eyes locking onto his in the dim light of the room “Apart from you it’s all I have right now.”

He sighed and nodded, chastising himself. If it made her feel better who was he to try and make her think any differently just because he did? Eventually they would have to face facts but now, well he just wanted her to get through the next few days, one at a time so he bit back his response and kissed her head. “Sorry, you’re right. As long as there’s hope, we have a chance.” She kissed him gently before settling back down, and it wasn’t long before she drifted off. *****

Clint had obviously trained Lucky to chase Raccoons as Rocket spent half his time over the next week dodging the dog’s pounces only to eventually solve the issue by screaming at the canine making him halt dead in his tracks, eyeing the animal in front of him with curiosity.

Thor returned from another scouting trip with no news or sign of his people and this time he set deep into a brooding depression, appearing only for meals. Not even Katie could talk him round. Pepper was keeping herself busy liaising with who was left at Stark Industries, turning her attention onto how they could help after Katie had told her about Dr Kellet and the Health Authorities. It kept Pepper busy and gave her something to focus on.

Steve, Natasha and Rhodey spent most of their time talking to the people who were conducting the census and the authorities, whilst Katie buried herself away with Rocket and Bruce trying to calibrate the scanners to reach further into space, bouncing off the NASA satellites to boost their range. But they continued to get nothing. And every night, Steve and Katie would disappear together, out walking Lucky in the grounds, the two of them just taking a moment to themselves and it fast became the time of day the two of them looked forward to the most.

The elephant in the room was Fury’s pager. In the two weeks they had now had it, no one had managed to get working, not even Rocket, despite his attempts to fix the booster that was attached to it. As the 19th post snap afternoon drew to a close, the Racoon let out a frustrated sigh and downed the small screwdriver he had been using and shook his head.

“Shit.” He said, hanging his head. “If I had the right parts I could sort this easy, but without getting up to Contraxier I wouldn’t know where to start.” “What’s Contraxier?” Katie asked.

“A market-slash-junk-slash-booze hole” Rocket shrugged “can find most stuff there. That’s where I stole Thor’s eye.”

Katie knew better than to ask.

“It’s so goddamned annoying.” Rocket continued. “I mean it’s a simple technology too, they’re ten a credit. All it needs to do is produce a magnetic field across each of these coils and bingo.” Katie looked at Bruce whose head had shot up.

“Say that again?” he said gently. “These coils.” Rocket pointed to the item as Bruce walked over. “Each of them needs a magnetic core. All of the little magnetic forces add together through the core and it powers the…what?” he asked as Bruce looked at Katie and she grinned.

“An electromagnet?” She shook her head, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. “That’s all it is?” “I’ve no idea what you Terrans call it, but if that’s what that does then yeah.” “I can’t believe it.” Bruce picked up the device and slid it under the large magnifying glass Rocket had been using “I took my eye off the ball, I could have sorted this straight away…” “You’re kidding me right?” Rocket sighed “Seriously?”

Bruce rushed around, grabbing various bits of material and settled down at a seat bending over the device, his nose barely an inch away from it.

“I’ll fetch the others.” Rocket sighed, wandering out of the room.

Rocket returned a few moments later, flanked by Natasha, Rhodey and Steve just in time to hear Bruce’s yell of success.

“It was an electromagnet. A god-damned electromagnet.” he said, shaking his head as he stood up and placed the Pager on a plinth inside one of the glass cages used to experiment in. He fiddled around with some wires, muttering to himself before standing back. As they crowded round, the screen on the pager lit up. The word “SENDING” flashed across the screen and they all looked at one another.

Another glimmer of hope…

*****

Their excitement was short lived, as nothing came of the device. It simply continued to send the signal for a good 2 days on end, no one answering and Steve found himself wondering if whoever was on the other side had been dusted too.

“More census results.” Natasha said, tapping a button as Steve walked into the room, coffee in his hand, Katie following.

The 3D globe flashed up, along with numerous digital displays of numbers that kept rolling, and rolling increasing in front of their eyes. He placed his mug down and sighed, leaning over the table so he could get a closer look “God, this is a nightmare.”

“I’ve had better nightmares.” Katie mumbled, her eyes on the ever increasing death tolls.

“Hey.” Rhodey appeared in the door and they all turned to face him. “So that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing.”

Nat, Steve and Katie exchanged a glance before they followed him out of the room.

“What have we got?” Nat asked as they walked into the lab.

“Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out.” Bruce said as they stared through the glass sided container at the pager that had been running for the last few days.

“I thought we by-passed the battery?” Steve spoke from where he stood a few steps behind Katie.

“Well we did.” Rhodey replied “It was still plugged in it just… just stopped.”

Steve looked up to his left before he glanced back at the item and took a deep breath “Re-boot it, send the signal again.”

“We don’t even know what this is…” Bruce began to protest and Katie cut him off, turning to look at him

“Fury did.”

“Katie’s right, just do it please?” Natasha said, as she too turned from the object to look at Bruce. “Tell me the second you get a signal, I wanna know who’s on the other end of that thing.”

She turned to leave the room and Katie followed her with her eyes as she stopped dead due to the presence of a blonde woman she had never seen before in her life. She was dressed in a red and blue combat suit of sorts which had gold shoulder pads which led into three golden stripes across her chest, culminating in a gold nova-style star of some kind. Katie felt a little bit indignant at the sight if she was honest. That star style had been given to her.

Lucky gave a bark as Katie nudged Steve. He looked from the pager, to her, followed her gaze and immediately straightened up, drawing himself taller as he turned to face the woman as she eyeballed Natasha and spoke clearly.

“Where’s Fury?”

“He’s not here.” Steve stepped forward putting himself in between Katie and the newcomer as he eyed her up and down. “I’m sorry, and I don’t mean to be rude but who are you?”

“Name’s Carol, Carol Danvers.”

“Carol Danvers?” Katie frowned, stepping forward as she instantly recognised the name.

“You know her?” Steve asked and Katie turned to face him.

“Kinda. When we took down Hydra at the Triskellion, Fury had the retinal scan we used hidden under that name, Carol Danvers.” Katie turned from Steve to scrutinise the small woman in front of her. “You were important enough for him to page when people started to vanish, and important enough for him to use your name to hide a clearance under.” Katie paused, looking straight at the woman “Who are you to him?”

“A friend” She said, vaguely “We go way back. I gave him that pager so he could reach of me in case of emergency, I haven't heard from him in over twenty years so I’ll ask again, where is he?"

"Dead.” Nat said simply

“Dead?” Carol’s face slipped a little bit. “How?”

“Thanos.” Katie replied simply.

“The mad Titan?”

“You heard of him then?” Rhodey scoffed “Yeah well, he came to Earth wielding his infinity stones and…”

“He’s been chasing Infinity stones.” it was a statement not a question as Carol closed her eyes, her voice almost a groan.

“He ain’t chasing them, he found them.” Steve sighed “He found them and eighteen days ago he used them wiping out, we suspect, fifty percent of the entire Universe.” “With a literal click of his fingers.” Rhodey added.

"Half the universe?" Carol mumbled to herself, "That explains it."

"Explains what?" Katie questioned.

"It's been chaos out there for the past two weeks, I've been getting distress calls from all over the galaxy." She sighed.

“Exactly why did Fury have a pager which connected him to you for emergencies?” Nat asked, her eyes still narrowed slightly.

“I have powers.” Carol spoke and Steve could tell she was picking her words carefully “From an accident”

“Accident?” he frowned “Yes, that occurred during Project Pegasus.”

Nat and Katie exchanged a glance that Steve didn’t miss.

“What the hell was Project Pegasus?” Bruce asked.

“It was a joint initiative between NASA and the Airforce to analyse and study new aircraft engines.” Rhodey answered.

“To the public.” Kate added softly. “In reality it was the cover used for the project to study the Tesseract.”

Steve let out a groan. “Why does everything come back to that damned cube?” “Yeah well that ‘damned cube’ and I had an accident, and I absorbed its power.” Carol sniffed as she rubbed at her temple “Has Fury never mentioned me to you guys? Not even once?” They all shook their heads.

“That’s a bummer. Especially seeing as you’re named after me.”

“Named after you?” Steve frowned

“My pilot tag” Carol smiled slightly as she looked round “I was Captain Carol ‘Avenger’ Danvers, you are the Avengers, right?”

“What’s left of them.” Steve folded his arms across his chest.

“You were Fury’s first Super Hero.” Katie looked at her, cocking her head slightly, studying the woman some more. “You’re what inspired him to put a gang of us together.”

“Apparently so…”

Before they had chance to question her further Rocket walked in.

“Is that a racoon?” Carol frowned, staring at the creature who looked up at her, raising his eyebrow before he sarcastically replied.

“You want a photo or summin?”

Carol stayed that evening and they sat up late into the night as she explained everything about who she was, what had happened between her and Fury in the Nineties and for some reason, Steve and Katie both felt they could trust her. It was a boost, if anything, to have someone else on their side.

The next morning after a rest and food, she was preparing to set off again and had given their spirits somewhat of a lift with her promise of what she could do.

“I’ve got places I can try, favours I can call in, people I can speak to.” She said, scanning a photo of Tony into her device on the wrist. “And then I’ll go wherever the trail leads. If your brother is out there, and your friends, I’ll find them.”

Katie nodded.

“You should be calibrated to our coms.” Bruce looked up as Carol tapped again at her arm and nodded.

“I’ve boosted your scanners and your signals too.” she said.

Silently Natasha, Steve and Katie walked her out of the facility, Steve taking Katie’s hand in his as they rounded the corner that led to the doors. They swung open revealing the now dark sky and Steve noticed Katie glance up, something which had become a habit, almost as if she was hoping to see a sign Tony was there. Which of course she never did.

Suddenly, Natasha gave a gasp whilst Steve jumped backwards, pulling Katie with him as Carol lit up, like she was on fire, but when he looked closer he noticed it was some kind of bright energy that engulfed her as she hovered off the floor and turned to look at them, her eyes full of humour.

“Yeah sorry, should have warned you about my party trick” she chuckled slightly.

This woman had some power, and it made Steve wonder why Fury had never introduced them to her before. But that was a question for another day.

“I’ll be in touch.” She said and with that she was gone, as fast as she had arrived, shooting through the air like a star leaving Lucky jumping up and barking in her wake.

Natasha looked over at Steve and Katie, and rightly reading the situation decided to leave them alone “I’m going to let Pepper know what she said about finding Tony.” She nodded to the couple and wandered back towards the doors as Katie looked back up again.

“Sweetheart?” Steve questioned, and she turned to face him, her eyes full of tears.

“This is it” she shrugged “This is the best chance we’ve had, and probably will have and…” She couldn’t think of the words to explain how she was feeling. She was excited, excited that they had a plan. But then there was also a feeling of dread in her chest. Dread about what it was Carol was going to find, if she found anything. She wrapped her arms tightly round Steve as he pulled her to him, holding her close.

“Keep hold of that hope.” He said gently, his hand stroking through her hair. “Keep hold until we know any different.”

*****

“Titan is a mess.” Carol sighed, her hologram flickered slightly. It was three days since she had left the compound and this was the first they had heard of her since. It wasn’t great news. A lead on Thanos had taken her to his home planet, even though it was assumed destroyed a while back. “There’s clearly been a big fight here but there’s no sign of anyone now. I have a few more potential leads thought, so I’ll follow them up.”

“Sweetheart.” Steve sighed gently, turning to Katie so she could step into his arms and press her face against his chest and simply stay there, the tears dampening his T-shirt as he gently stroked her head. This had been her last hope, that Carol would find something. But they were still none the wiser and every day that past Tony’s chances were getting slimmer, Steve knew that. After a moment or so she pulled back, reaching up to wipe at her eyes and he looked down at her, his handsome face full of concern.

“I’m gonna go back to the apartment.” she said. “Take a shower…”

“Alright.” He nodded and to make sure he understood that she needed space, not from him, but just to be alone with her thoughts, she reached up, gently touched his cheek and stood on her tiptoes to kiss the whiskers that adorned his chin and face. Steve watched her go before he turned back to Natasha who was bent over looking at something on a tablet.

“What you looking at?” he asked and Nat glanced up at him with a sigh.

“Potential sighting of Clint.” she said, turning it to face him. He squinted a little. It looked a bit like Barton, but he couldn’t be sure. “I ran a facial recognition. Got a few hits, but we all look so different now, we all are so different now.”

Something about that line powered home to Steve as he headed back towards their quarters an hour or so later. The arrival of Carol four days ago had galvanised the group into remembering who they were, even if they didn’t feel like it anymore. They were the Avengers. Fury’s greatest plan, and the ones to whom the survivors of the snap were looking to for direction.

Steve had realised recently that shield or no shield, he needed to be Captain America, even if he didn’t want to be. He had to lead this gang from the front lines, just like always, not as a vigilante that fought the bad guys from the shadows, hiding from a government that had declared him the enemy.

He walked into their bedroom and saw Katie was flat out on the bed, Lucky by her side. Gently he worked the covers up around her, flicked on the lamp on the night stand and gave the dog a quick pat before he pulled off his black sweater and moved into the bathroom glancing in the mirror. He scratched at his chin and gave a sigh. As much as Katie loved the facial hair, Captain America didn’t have a beard, but still, she was going to kill him for this...

Katie woke up five or so minutes later and stretched, her feet kicking at the blankets which had been pulled up around her. She blinked and looked around, Steve’s black sweater was tossed over the back of the chair and she could hear running water coming from the en-suite as the door was slightly ajar. Climbing out of bed she strolled over to the bathroom door as the water stopped and she nudged it open further to lean against the frame, just in time to see Steve raise a towel to dry off his face. When he lowered it she could see the reflection of a familiarly clean shaven jawline.

The beard she loved so much was gone.

He locked eyes with her in the reflection of the mirror, almost nervously. Deep down Katie had known this was coming, it was only a matter of time seeing as he’d settled back into his role as leader of the Avengers as easily as he had left it.

“Captain America doesn’t have a beard…”

She smiled and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his toned waist kissing his muscular shoulder which was bare thanks to his white vest. Wanting to be closer to him she pushed up on her toes to nuzzle behind his ear and his eyes closed when she kissed the side of his neck. He shivered a little at the contact, dropped the towel to the sink and turned in her arms loosely wrapping his own around her.

Katie just stared at him for a moment taking in his cleanly shaven face, the familiar sideburns, and sharp jawline. His hair was still longer though, despite the fact she had trimmed it for him a few days ago. He’d wanted to keep it slightly longer on top, pushed back off his face. To be honest she liked it like that, it reminded her of when they had first met. That said she’d also loved his spikey short do and his longer no-mad locks…frankly he was gorgeous either way.

"You know I really loved that beard," she sighed as she looked up at him “Can’t believe you murdered it…”

“Murdered it?” he raised an eyebrow, as she reached up to gently take his smooth jaw in her fingertips.

“Yes, murdered it. But I’ll let you off, because you are ridiculously handsome.”

Steve smiled a little crookedly and leaning down connected their lips in a soft, slow kiss that quickly became heated, when his tongue touched hers. His hands slid down the length of her back, over her ass, his fingers skating the back of her bare thighs which sent a fire coursing through her body, drawing a soft groan from her as he continued to kiss her, hard. They both needed this, needed the contact, needed to fill that gaping hole and emptiness they had both been feeling for the past few weeks. Katie slid her hands down, tugging up his top briefly as he moved his kisses down the side of her neck. Her fingers grazed his hips then hooked into his belt to begin undoing it but his hands gently stopped her.

“Sweetheart.” He swallowed, his breath deep. “I don’t want to hurt you, you know after…”

“You would never hurt me.” she whispered.

He looked down at her once more, and then he knew he was kidding himself. Over three weeks it had been since they’d made love and that was too fucking long for his liking. His lips crashed onto hers but before they could resume where they had been, they were both jolted as suddenly the air was filled with a loud rumbling. Curiously Steve reached out to steady the mirror which was shaking and then the entire building started to rattle and they looked at each other in confusion.

"FRIDAY?" Katie called out.

"Something has entered the atmosphere Mrs Rogers" The AI responded calmly, "A vessel is being brought towards the facility.”

And then there was a banging on their door, but Rhodey didn’t wait for them to answer. Wrenching it open he ran into the living room calling their names. Katie shot out of the bathroom and into the hall, Steve hot on her tails, grabbing his sweater off the chair and pulling it over his head as he headed into the living room.

"It's Danvers.” Rhodey look at Katie who took a deep breath “She found him."

Katie’s chest began to heave, she felt like her heart was going to pound out of her ribcage. Her hand flew to her mouth as Steve dropped a hand to her shoulder.

"Alive?" she managed to whisper.

“He was when she found him.” Rhodey replied gently.

Without a further word Katie set off sprinting through the facility, not waiting for anyone. She burst out onto the lawns, where Pepper was already waiting, staring up at the sky. Steve followed along with Natasha, Bruce and Rhodey, all of them coming to a stop and watching as the massive space ship rounded the corner, carried by Carol who was encased in a golden orb of light. Katie gently took Pepper’s hand in hers and squeezed her fingers, neither of them moving their gaze from the ship, as it made its way to the ground, deposited onto the grass.

With a hiss the ramp dropped and there he was, being supported by a blue woman. He looked weak. He’d lost a lot of weight, needed a shave, a shower and he looked so pale.

But he was alive!

At the same time Katie let out a soft cry, Steve swore as he spotted instantly how bad Tony looked. He sprinted forward, passing Katie who was rooted to the spot and ran up the steps, taking Tony’s weight off the blue woman. Tony gripped his arm and looked at Steve, before turning his head to watch where he was going.

“I couldn’t stop him.” he said quietly.

“Neither could I.” Steve replied.

“I lost the kid.”

“Tony, we lost.” Steve said gently, looking at his brother-in-law, there was guilt and fear plaguing his face in a way that Steve had never seen before. In turn, Tony studied the man in front of him, scared to ask the next question.

“Yeah, is err…” Tony looked up and his eyes fell first on Katie then Pepper who, following a gently nudge in the back from Katie, took the last few steps towards him

"Oh my God!" Pepper exclaimed, looking him up and down quickly, seeing how sickly he looked. Tony visibly sighed when he saw her, feeling like he was seeing the sun for the first time as she gently pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arm around his neck to hold him close as she sobbed against his hollow cheek. Tony breathed deeply, shaking slightly as he pressed a firm kiss on her cheek.

Katie who was watching the reunion covered her mouth with her hands and found herself shaking as the tears fell thick and fast. Eventually Pepper pulled away slightly and Tony placed his arm round her shoulder as Steve supported him on his other side. A couple more strides and he was in front of his sister looking into those green eyes, eyes that belonged to their mother. It had been almost 2 years since he had seen her, and he could tell she was scared, frightened about what he was going to say. But he only had two words for her.

“Hey Kiddo”

The sound of his familiar greeting broke Katie and she let out a loud sob stepping forward. As she gently wrapped her arms round him she cried into his shoulder, babbling her apologies.

“I’m so sorry Tone, I’ve missed you so much.” she sobbed as he brought a hand up, resting it on the back of her head.

“I’m sorry too.” He said, his voice choking slightly “So sorry my beautiful girl, God I missed you.”

*****

“I need a cheeseburger.” Tony grumbled, and Katie’s face split into a grin as Pepper took hold of his hand from where she was sitting by his bed in a chair.

“Maybe in a few days, pal.” Banner smiled as he gently patted Tony’s shoulder. Katie looked up and Bruce jerked his head to the door of the room. She followed him out and the pair of them were joined by Steve and Rhodey who had been hovering at the back of the medic bay.

“He’s lucky.” Banner looked at Katie “The wound in his abdomen missed everything major and he appears to have fought off most of the infection thanks to Nebula, but I’ve given him a course of IV antibiotics to be on the safe side. He’s slightly dehydrated and a little underweight, but other than needing a lot of rest he should be fine.”

“Thank you Bruce.” Katie said, looking back through the window into the room. Tony had his head lay on the pillow, tilted in Pepper’s direction, a smile spreading across his face as they talked.

“I’m gonna stay with him.” She said, looking back to Steve and then to Rhodey. “Can you make sure that Nebula and Carol get some food and a place to stay?”

“Course.” Rhodey said as Steve pressed a kiss to the side of her head

“I’ll be back later to check on him.” Bruce nodded.

Katie watched the three men leave before she walked into the room. Pepper and Tony both looked up at her as she sat on the edge of Tony’s bed.”

“Pep could you give us a minute?” he asked. She nodded and stood up, touching Katie’s shoulder once as she left, the door clicking shut behind her. Katie turned back to her brother who reached out with his cold hand and wrapped it around hers

“Kiddo, I’m so sorry.” “So am I.” she whispered, her tears forming “There hasn’t been a day over the last twp years I haven’t thought about you.” “Same.I wanted to call so bad but…” He trailed off, his voice cracking. “Stubborn ass hole, remember.” “That’s the Starks for you.” She smiled.

“What I said to you, it was unforgivable.” Tony’s brown eyes locked onto hers, shining with tears. “And I know it sounds stupid but I didn’t mean any of it, not really…“

“Rhodey told me why you said it.” she said softly as she looked at her hands, the tears falling onto the sheets “I should have told you about mom and dad.”

“None of that matters now.” Tony shook his head, gently squeezing her hands.

She fell silent again, wiping at her face, before she took a deep breath, steeling herself as she knew she had to tell him what had happened. Because if he found out of someone else…

“Tony, there’s something you need to know, before anyone else tells you.” she looked at him.

“What?” he frowned.

“When Thanos, when he came to Wakanda…” the tears still fell “I was…I was pregnant, but we didn’t know and…” “Was? Oh no.” her brother’s face scrunched up as his hands wrapped even harder round hers. “Kiddo I’m…” “Don’t.” she smiled sadly at him. “Don’t say you’re sorry, please.”

“I am sorry. Sorry I wasn’t there with you.”

“You’re here now” she looked at him. He smiled and opened his arms and she lent down next to him, gently laying her head on his bony chest, closing her eyes and relishing his presence. It was as if the past two years had never happened as she lay there whilst he comforted her, the way he always had done.

“Nice hair by the way.” he quipped, making her chuckle.

“Thanks. Part of my disguise.” “Mmmm doesn’t work, can still see your face.”

“Why do you think Steve grew a beard?” she looked up at him

“Spangles grew a beard? A proper one?” Tony cocked his head to one side, eyebrow arching.

“Yup.” Katie nodded. “It was pretty impressive to be fair. I’ll show you a photo at some point.”

Pepper returned to the room at that point and Katie sat up, moving off Tony’s bed, pulling another chair up from the corner. He lasted approximately twenty more minutes before sleep overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes, out for the count.

“You should go.” Pepper looked over at Katie. Katie started to protest but Pepper cut her off. “I know you think you’re invincible, but you’re not. Maybe Steve won’t put his foot down with you over this but I will. You’ve had an ordeal, we all have, but you especially need to look after yourself. Go to bed.” “Damned.” Katie frowned “When did you get so bossy.”

“Comes from living with him.” she jerked her head at Tony “The amount of times I’ve found him collapsed over a computer.”

Katie smiled fondly before she clocked the stern look Pepper was giving her and stood up, “Fine…but…” “If anything changes I’ll get FRIDAY to call you straight away.” With a deep breath Katie stood up, dropped a kiss to Tony’s head and left. The rubber band that had been wrapped around her chest for so long had slackened but getting Tony back was the tip of the iceberg. She knew that the next step would be to find Thanos, and none of them would rest until they did.

After making sure Carol and Nebula were settled, and thanking them both for what they had done to get Tony back to them, Steve walked back to the apartment, grabbed a beer and headed out through the patio doors into the large garden area to let Lucky have a mooch around. He felt much better than he had in ages, like someone had slotted a large piece of the puzzle back into place. Once Tony was stronger, maybe they had a chance of finding Thanos and reversing all of this. And then, well, maybe then they could have a shot at being a family. He took a pull from his bottle and looked out over the grounds. It wasn’t a bad place to bring up a kid, he supposed. Or maybe they should get their own place, just like they almost had 3 years ago. The more he thought about it, the more he started to think that was the better option. Did he really want a kid surrounded by all of this? More to the point, he found himself wondering if he wanted himself surrounded by this anymore. A year or so ago, he’d jumped at the chance to get back into the thick of it, but now he just felt tired. He’d fought for so long, given so much, maybe it was time to get out, take a back seat like Tony had.

Taking a deep breath he finished his beer, called Lucky back to him and headed back inside. He’d just thrown his empty bottle into the recycling and was contemplating heading back to see how Tony was when the door to the apartment opened and Katie stepped inside. She looked tired, but almost, dare he say it, happy…

“Hey.” He greeted her as she shut the door “How is he?” “Sleeping.” she crossed the hall towards him “He’ll be out until the morning I expect.” “And you?” he asked, opening his arms.

She smiled, stepping into his embrace “I’m ok. What about you?” “Me?” he asked.

“Yeah.” she looked up at him. “Everyone seems hell bent on making sure I’m ok, they seem to forget you.” He took a deep breath, “It’s not important.” “It is to me.” she looked up at him.

“I’ve got you.” he shrugged “And well, as long as I do I’ll be fine baby doll.” “You’ll always have me.” she said gently, and then neither of them knew how but they were kissing again, picking up where they had left off before in the bathroom, the kisses growing violent as they both poured every bit of emotion into one another, both clawing at the other with a desperate touch. Steve fell towards her, pushing her back into the wall which separated the hallway from the kitchen area and pressed himself tightly against her. She slid her hands up beneath his top, her nails digging into his back, stinging his skin enough to elicit a deep, guttural moan. At that noise Katie let out a high pitched moan of her own as his hands skimmed down to the back of her thighs as he gripped tightly, hoisting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and couldn’t help but mutter rapidly into his ear, amid tight, short gasps. “I need you Stevie, I need you, please.”

He dropped his lips to her neck, trailing his teeth along the arch of her shoulder. "I need you too.” his voice was dark and deep which made her moan even more, and he didn’t wait for a response before hoisting her higher and carrying her into the bedroom where he dropped her down onto the bed. His hands gently reached down and they separated long enough for him to remove her top, Katie repaying the favour as she pulled his jumper and vest off in one move before she threw her arms around him as his lips dropped again to her neck. He slipped one of his hands into her shorts and she bucked at his touch as he gently played with the flesh letting out a groan as he found her ready for him, slick and hot.

“Fuck.” he mumbled before his hand moved to the button at the front of her shorts and hers fell to the buckle on his belt, their mouths still tangled together as he kissed her hard, needily before he tugged on her knees, pulling her flat down. Taking her shorts and underwear off in a swift glide down the bed, he shimmied out of his jeans and boxers, Katie taking the chance to hastily remove her bra before he fell onto her once more, using his knees to push hers apart. He propped himself on his elbows and dropped down to kiss her, slamming his teeth into hers in desperation as she was clawing at his back, arching up as she groaned into the kiss, his name falling from her lips as he pulled away slightly.

“You’ll tell me if I hurt you?” he looked at her. She knew he was worried, so she gently reached out, running her finger over his once again smooth jaw line.

“Promise.” she assured him. He swallowed thickly and as he worked into her she let out a soft moan as he started to move slowly at first, almost patiently as she hiked her legs up around him. He wanted to take it slow, he really did, but he found he couldn’t, and she didn’t want him to either. She was urging him on and soon they were fucking with avaricious force, both chasing a gratification they hadn’t felt in weeks, and the more he gave the more she wanted.

Her hips met his with every drive forward he made as she writhed and mewled underneath him and it wasn’t long before she felt herself beginning to go. Steve could read her body signs better than she could herself and as her breath began to go he pressed his mouth back to her neck, groaning himself

“You feel so good, so fucking good.” his mouth nipped at her ear as he spoke “I love you so much, baby..” and that was it, with those words she was undone.

“Stevie.” His name tumbled from her lips, in little more than a squeak as she tightened round him again and again. Then, as the heat burst between her legs and the lights exploded in front of her eyes she let out a short gasp, her nails digging further into his back, smarting the skin as she succumbed. Steve kept thrusting through her orgasm, the coil in his own belly tightening more and more.

“Katie, fuck!” he closed his eyes, his head dropping to her shoulder and he spilled himself into her with a jerk and a moan before his elbows slowly slipped out from under him and he collapsed on top of her, their breathing coming in ragged gasps as they both lay delirious from the utter carnal nature of it all. Katie’s hands gently trailed up his back and into his hair to begin their usual caress, these moments after he loved as much as the act itself. Gently he moved his head to slide his nose against hers before he kissed her softly, tenderly this time as they held each other close.

Skin to skin, soul to soul, the pair of them as together as they could be, each lending the other a soothing reassurance that whilst they were still grieving, and would continue to grieve for however long they needed to, they hadn’t lost everything. They still had one another, and as long as they did, they would be ok in time.

Tags

@the-omni-princess

@momobaby227

@geekofmanythings16

@angelofhell-666

@thewackywriter

@marvelfansworld

@cobalt-gear

@asgardlover75

@jennmurawski13

@jtargaryen18

@saiyanprincessswanie

41 notes · View notes

sidecharacter965 · 5 years ago

Text

~Ruby Chandelle~

~The basics~

“I like capes!”

Name: Ruby Chandelle Kanji: ルービーションデル Age: 17 Birthday: 20th June (Gemini) Year: 2nd Year at Night Raven College Dorm: Pomfiore Species: Human Gender: Female Sexuality: Questioning, she kinda stays away from romantic relationships anyway

~Appearance~ “Hey hey! Look, I can do this spell!”

Height: 162cm, 5’3 Hair colour: Chocolate brown, worn in a low side bunch tied together with a red or purple ribbon Eye colour: Purple Skin Tone: Pale Piercings or tattoos: None Uniform: The Pomfiorre female uniform, blazer unbuttoned, a loose bow tie, knee length black socks and ankle length school boots.

~Personality~ “Why does everyone care so much about who you like? I have no idea who I am, let alone who I like!”

Positive Traits: Quick learner, free spirited, adaptable, energetic Negative Traits: Annoying, mischievous, sneaky, impulsive, attention-seeking

Ruby is one of the troublemakers of the school along with the ranks of Kalim, Ace and Lilia. She possesses the natural inclination to potions that most Pomfiore students possess, but prefers hexing over everything else. As a result, every Pomfiore student now has to check their products twice to make sure they haven’t been swapped or hexed. If Ruby respects the student, the hexing will only go so far. She doesn't want anyone she likes to think she’s a complete gremlin. Unfortunately for everyone else, there’s no telling how far she’ll go if she can get a good reaction out of them.

Backstory and relationships under the cut!

~Background~

“Hey! I’m not all bad! It was one hex after all!”

As a child, Ruby was raised by her helicopter noble parents. They made all of the decisions for her, and raised her to be “A well-rounded member of society”. Ruby didn’t like this at all, and would often find sneaky ways to defy her parents and their strict rules. Don’t like the dress? Don’t wear it until mother makes you, and then spill something on it! Ruby’s ability to defy rules and work her way around them became an integral part of her personality, something she could do with little effort or thinking.

Because Ruby was raised to be a “lady”, she had to sit inside and practice “feminene crafts” and “Proper manners”. Her stitches were huge and wonky, she always dropped her knitting needles. And not to mention she always put her elbows on the table. One day, Ruby’s tutor brought in a book about magic history in the hopes that she would take to it in one last ditch effort to actually teach her something. Absolutely loving it, she asked for more magic lessons. Unfortunately for Ruby, that meant “Bye bye Miss Tutor” whom she had just started warming up to. Her parents made rigorous plans to help get her into Night Raven College, the prestigious magic school. Ruby was very suspicious when her parents started helping her to get into the school, because they had always raised her with the intention that she would marry into a powerful family, minimal spells required. When she asked them about it, they would always reply with: “Never mind that, dear. Just focus on the spell.”

Ruby was sorted into the Pomfiore dorm, along with Rook Hunt, a boy in her year who would become one of her favourite victims for hexes. As expected from a Pomfiore student, she had a natural skill for potions. Her best subject however, was magic history. (It was the first thing taught to her by her magic tutor) Ruby couldn’t care less about physical activity or riding on a broom. (But the idea of flying still seemed pretty cool to her... But I didn’t say that!) So her worst grades aren't even things she’s bad at. They’re just things she doesn't put in the effort for because she doesn’t care.

Her fellow students see her as a mischievous student that you shouldn’t mess with. She does have a sort of moral code which sees her lightening the mood for anyone in any stressful situation. Ruby’s peak prank times are during exam time because of this. She has a wide knowledge of magic and her fellow students know this. Sometimes, they wonder if there's much more to her than she's letting on.

~Relationships~

~Family~

Mother: Ruby isn’t on the best terms with her mother but is thankful yet suspicious for her support in pursuing a career in magic. Ruby finds her compliance with her father annoying and wishes her mother would state her own opinions more often.

Father: Hate is too strong a word for how she feels about her father, but it’s not far from it. Ruby Is suspicious about his intentions for why he supports her “decision” to enroll in NRC.

~Dorm mates~

Vil: Ruby’s an annoyance to Vil. I mean, how can she not resist swapping out a few potions here and there? Her favourite ones to swap out are the hair products. Especially the hair dye. Poor Vil was sporting green locks for a good three days before he found a counterspell. He didn’t even attend school during that time.

Rook: Her most tormented victim. However, it never goes further than making his arrows miss the target or cursing him with a frizzy bedhead. They both have a kind of respect for each other. Besides, Ruby knows that Rook could never get angry at her “Pretty face”.

Epel: Ruby finds Epel a bit boring to play pranks on. He doesn’t outwardly react a lot of the time so she just stopped pranking him. She respects him for being calm and composed, unlike her impulsive self. There may be a little jealousy because of that.

~Friends~

Kalim: Ruby easily gets along with this happy-go-lucky student. They both like to have fun and Kalim causes chaos no matter if he means to or not. Also the rich parents- If it involves Ruby, it’s definitely intentional. She wonders how Kalim is able to create chaos no matter what he does.

Lilia: They’re both powerful in their own right and don’t really bother using their magic seriously. Lilia’s clever sense of humor and wit appeals to her. Prank buddies. And short people club

Ace: Kalim, Lilia and Ruby kind of brought him into the group. They always invite him to help prank students and are more than happy to help him plot more pranks against Riddle and Vil study. They “Recruited” him into the squad when he was bold enough to laugh after they put a hex on Riddle’s tarts. (They sprouted little legs and ran away)

Rook: Again, one of her most tormented victims. The two are more like frenemies, but they really respect each other deep down. Ruby just really needs to control her impulse to hex the arrows. Just one more time… It’ll be the last one. Honest.

Floyd: Same year, laidback individuals just looking for some fun. They met when the Leech brothers appeared to her in the hopes that they could rope her into a contract with Azul. Ruby refused and they left her. Later that day, they had a potions class together and got to pick their partners. Floyd made a beeline for her- asking if she still didn’t want to sign the contract- as a joke. One thing led to another and they became joke buddies. They don’t hang out as much due to their different schedules, but they always crack some kind of inside joke when they pass each other in the halls.

~Enemies~

Riddle: It was one hex. One hex for crying out loud. Now, Ruby’s permanently uninvited from any and all tea parties in Heartslabyul. What did she do? She hexed Riddles (Famous) tarts so they would sprout tiny legs and run away from the tea party. Ruby still owes Trey BIG TIME for getting her out of that mess.

Vil: Well it’s no surprise that Ruby gets on the perfectionist’s nerves. She’s lazy, and impulsive and she had the AUDACITY to replace his hair dye!!!

Jack: The dude just doesn’t have time for her antics and has threatened her on many accounts. She tends to stay away from Savannaclaw anyway because everyone there actually intimidates her. Apart from Ruggie, and that’s only because he’s a fellow member of the short people club.

Sebek: As a joke with the help of Lilia, Ruby organised a party for the whole school and “accidentally” didn't invite Malleus. Lilia took the brunt of his anger and Ruby just suffered a telling off from Sebek and Silver. She retaliated with smart alec replies. Long story short, Sebek low-key hates her now.

Jamil: He does not like the effect she is having on Kalim. There are frequent arguments between the two, but there's an unspoken rule that they never fight when Kalim is around. Gotta protec the cinnamon roll

~Trivia~

- Upon her acceptance into NRC, Ruby’s parents sent her off immediately in a carriage with a trunk full of clothes they had chosen for her. The trunk lies in her dorm cupboard, undisturbed since day one.

- Ruby never speaks of her parents unless specifically asked about them. Even then she disregards them. “They just helped me get here. I don’t really like ‘em.”

- Her favourite person to hex is Rook, and that is the only reason those arrows keep missing the targets in archery practice.

- Ruby’s favourite dessert is raspberry panna cotta, she has a real sweet tooth.

- Chandelle means “Candle” in french.

- She originally had two hair bunches instead of one, but I decided only having one would look sassier and add more interest to her design.

- Because of her helicopter parents, Ruby needs to feel in control of situations. It stems from the frustration and insecurities of never having any choices in her life. Hexing and pranking is one of the ways she does this.

- She experienced a lot of emotional neglect from her parents, so Ruby finds it hard to express herself emotionally. This is the reason she is impulsive and rather vocal.

- Secretly really insecure please give this child a hug she will appreciate it.

- She likes capes. Like, a lot. Also, long hair. Literally anything long and swishy. There is much dramatic cape action with this child.

Oof sorry for kind of being all over the place and really long-

I’m going to bed now...

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #Ruby Chandelle #seriously tho she loves capes #sorry I don't have much art of her yet #what do you think?

14 notes · View notes

gold-from-straw · 6 years ago

Text

Frozen Heart - ch5

Loki has a bad morning, but on the plus side, now Tony is well rested, he's able to recognise some accidental culture clash and resolve their awful misunderstanding! TW for panic attacks, blood, and accidental self-harm caused by a nightmare.

Read from the beginning on AO3 if you prefer! I’m tagging anyone who left a note on the previous chapter here as well, hope that’s OK!

Loki woke with a jolt, his heart pounding, nightmares of a frozen world and evil red eyes lingering in the fringes of his mind. He lifted trembling hands to cover his face, and nearly screamed.

He stumbled out of bed, his heart thumping, trying to get away from the vicious black claws, the blue skin that had haunted his nightmares since his childhood. He scratched at his arm, tore at the pale lines raised in the skin, whimpering and panicking, the quiet, calm voice inside now drowned out by the storm, and he couldn’t find himself, couldn’t dig himself out from under this hellish mask, this curse, this…

“Hey! Hey, Loki, please, calm, will you? Hey, look at me? I’m not going to touch you, alright? I just want you to look at the lights, can you do that? Can you breathe in with the light as it gets brighter? That’s great, keep going… OK, and now out. Like you’re whistling, purse your lips, yeah, just like that. Now in, feel it… feel it filling you up or… yeah, this is good. That’s great, buddy. OK, I’m just gonna… can I see your arms?”

Stark came closer, still holding his hands out in front of him and looking as unthreatening as possible. Logically Loki could see that he was veryunthreatening, a small mortal in soft clothing, hair still sleep-mussed and face pillow-creased, but with his heart still hammering inside his own chest, he couldn’t handle logic at all. He tugged his arms closer to himself, fingers slick with his own blood.

Then he looked down. The blood was indigo. He whimpered and pushed his arms out as far from himself as he could, staggering backwards, his breathing speeding up again.

“Hey, hey, it’s OK! I’ll get them fixed up, no worries.” Stark cupped his hands around Loki’s wrists, making a surprised hum. “Wow, you’re cold.”

Loki let out a burst of hysterical laughter that very nearly turned into a sob. How utterly pathetic. To have been reduced to a scared child, cowering in someone else’s room, terrified of his own appearance after a nightmare… Loki turned his face and closed his eyes. It was almost unbearable.

Stark tugged him gently over to the bed, encouraging him to sit. He left him there, staring down helplessly, hatefully, at his blue, bleeding arms. “Here we go,” Stark said a moment later, setting a bowl of water down by Loki’s feet. He took Loki’s wrist in his hand and started dabbing the blood away, staining the water an inky blue. Loki stared at the colour diffusing through the water and tried not to despair.

“There we go,” Stark said with a grin. Loki looked at his forearms, wrapped in pristine white bandages. He felt emptied out, like his heart had been excavated from his chest, leaving him dull and hollow. Stark’s smile slowly slipped from his face and he bit his lip. “Ah, do you… do you want to talk a bit?”

Loki blinked at him.

“Like, uh… do you maybe want to… were you trying to, um. Were you trying to hurt yourself? Is this, like, a self-harm thing? Because I won’t judge, I just…” He scruffed his hair. “Yeah, I’m not very good at this shit. Are you… OK?” He winced and looked at Loki sideways, almost as if he thought Loki would strike him for his question.

“No, Stark,” said Loki, his voice sounding very distant. “I am not OK.”

“Yeah, I kinda… got that.” Stark sat on his haunches and rubbed his face. “You know what? We need a load of breakfast. I’m thinking pastries and donuts, something that won’t go cold or soggy, and then I think you should tell me all about it. I mean, I can’t promise I’ll be any help.” He winced again. “Honestly, I’ll probably be shit. Like, worse than nothing. I’m not… the best listener. Or the best friend. But…” he shrugged and looked away like he didn’t care at all. “Yeah, croissants! JARVIS, could you order us, eh, I dunno, one of everything from Belle Maison?”

“Of course, Sir,” JARVIS replied.

Loki looked up in the direction of the voice. He had been introduced to JARVIS the night before, but this morning, after a night of somewhat effective sleep, he could cling to the fascination sparking in his chest, distract himself. “Is your companion made of magic?” he asked.

“What, JARV? Nah - or, well, he’s an AI - artificial intelligence. He’s made out of computer code and electronics and… stuff.”

“I blush, Sir,” said JARVIS dryly.

Stark just smirked. “I’ll show you the bots in a minute, it might make a bit more sense then. Assuming you’re still up for a bit of research in a while?”

Loki felt the cold flood through his system once more, ridiculous for a Frost Giant. He had forgotten during Stark’s treatment of him this morning that he was little more than a prisoner here. He was Stark’s research project, and nothing more - this had not been kindness, but a care for one’s tools. Loki summoned up a professional mask and nodded.

Stark blinked, his own smile faltering. “OK… OK, if you’re sure? Anyway. For now, do you want a coffee or something? I need coffee, I’m not human without the first one of the morning.”

Loki narrowed his eyes at him. “Hyperbole?” he asked.

Stark winked at him. “Only just. C’mon, Billy Goat Gruff, let me hook you up with the good stuff.”

Loki had hoped that the distraction of breakfast and coffee would make Stark forget his demand that they talk, but once they’d eaten a couple of the sweet treats, he tapped his fingernails on the polished stone of the high table he called a breakfast bar. “So, Loki-Doki, you wanna tell me your story? How did you end up in a crater on another planet causing snow in the desert?”

Loki closed his eyes for just a moment, put his pastry down on the plate and clenched his hands into fists under the table. “As you wish,” he said, his voice strained.

Stark frowned. “Hey, no, it’s fine if you don’t wanna tell me, you know? I just… thought it might…” He scrubbed his hair again. “I dunno, help? People are always asking me if I want to talk, I just thought it was the done thing, or something. You don’t have to.”

“No, I am yours to command.”

Stark made a face. “Not really, though.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Holy shit. Holy… did I say something? Was there a culture clash here? Have I like… I didn’t sign you up to be my indentured servant or some bullshit, did I?”

Loki peered up at him, surprised at himself that his head had ducked so low, that his shoulders were so hunched over. “You said you would give me sanctuary in exchange for experiments…”

“I did?”

“You did imply something along those lines, Sir,” JARVIS interjected.

Stark pressed his hands to his cheeks. “What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me, JARV?”

“I didn’t realise that Master Loki would take the combination of words in such a literal way. My apologies, Sir. And to Master Loki.”

Loki frowned. “You did not… but why would you take me in if not to-”

“I mean, sure, I wanted to study you,” Stark wailed. “But only if you wanted to find stuff out too, or like, show off… I don’t want you to be here against your will, holy shit, have I kidnapped you? Oh my god, I’m so sorry, shit!”

Loki blinked, shocked. Stark was apologising? To him? And in such distress! But Loki was nothing to him, here he was not even a prince, why would Stark care about whether or not Loki would choose to be with him? “I don’t… you do not have to…”

“I mean, I thought we were just gonna do some cool science together, I had no idea I was dragging you here like some sort of a threat, am I SHIELD in this situation? Oh my god, I’m basically Agent, guh, I’m gonna be sick, JARVIS!” He turned to Loki with wild eyes. “I am really, really sorry.”

Loki stared at him. There was a warmth in his chest, a spreading feeling he barely recognised. When was the last time someone had apologised to him? Someone of consequence, not a servant or a subject - and even then, they would always do so with gritted teeth. Loki knew he was unpopular. He’d never attempted to change that - it had always seemed so immutable a fact. Loki the trickster, don’t trust him, don’t listen, don’t spend any time near him in case he turns you into a goat.

“I would… I would like to stay,” he said, and he tried to hide a wince at how vulnerable his voice sounded. “I am interested in your science. In our differences.”

“Really?” Stark said, freezing in his distressed motions. “Are you sure, though? You’re not just saying that because I’ve, like, activated some hospitality clause I didn’t know about? You’re choosing to--”

“I am choosing, freely,” he said, swallowing and looking up at Stark. “If I am welcome, still?”

Stark’s face broke into a wide grin. “Hell, yeah, you’re welcome!” He let out a long breath. “Phew, god, that was awful!”

Loki’s lip quirked up. “Why was it so awful?”

“Well, I don’t know what life’s like on your planet or whatever, but we humans don’t like coercing other people.” He made a face. “Well, the non-assholes don’t. Yeah, actually, scrap that? I don’t like coercing people. I can’t talk for the rest of them.”

Loki grinned. “Your realm is not so different from mine, in that case. It sounds as if there are plenty of assholes in both.”

“I mean, honestly, I probably count as one of the assholes most of the time.” Tony shrugged. “Hey, do you want to go down to the lab now? I can show you the bots, and we can find out what your alien biology looks like on my holos.”

And just like that, Loki was reminded what he was, his freakish blue skin, the horns, the demonic red of his eyes. He held himself still, trying not to wince, trying not to react, for how could he explain this? He would just have to control his expressions, focus on the science. Because perhaps there would be something in Stark’s ‘lab’ which would help him to find his way back to his old - no, his true form.

But Stark stopped mid-sentence. “No? What? What is it? We won’t do anything you don’t want to,” he said, biting his bottom lip again.

Had he always been this obvious? No-one in Asgard would ever have noticed, but Stark had spotted his reticence at once - and Loki had been actively trying to hide it. Had his masks ever been as strong as he had believed? Or had nobody ever been truly looking? Loki stared at Stark, amazed at the perceptiveness of this small, sparkling mortal. “It’s…”

“I’m serious, Loki, we won’t do anything you don’t want to, OK?” Stark said, holding his gaze. “If there’s anything you don’t like, we’ll stop, no matter how far through the process we are, if there’s anything you don’t even like the look of, we won’t do it. And of course, I’ll put myself through everything you do - like, except for actually doing magic, ‘cause I can’t. Oh, and I can’t go into an MRI because of this,” he added, tapping the centre of his chest over the odd glow. “But you don’t have to do that either.”

Loki searched his face for any hint of a trick, any lie, and found only compassion. He swallowed hard. “I do not look like this,” he said, his voice nothing more than a croak. “I mean… not usually.” He looked down at his hands, clenching them into fists and feeling the sharp, obsidian nails digging into his skin. “I was Aesir - I am Aesir. I must be. But… during my brother’s coronation, I just… this happened. I turned into this… this monster, and now… now my magic is different, cold…” he took a deep, shuddering breath, the fear sending icy tendrils through every nerve. He looked at the table and gasped. Frost swirled out from every contact point with his skin, and he jerked his hands back in horror.

“Hey, hey, it’s OK,” Stark said, holding his hands out, placating the beast once more. “It’s OK.” He took a deep breath. “Hey, I know we said we didn’t have to talk, but do you want to tell me about it? And then… maybe we can get you back to normal?”

Tags from last chapter: @aformingsiren, @sketch953, @massivelandthingdonkey, @angrysockpuppetnoises, @ultra-rare-pegacorn, @redramzi, @senpaiweird, @giggling-breeze, @rarepair-collector, @saturnjuice, @kuree06 <3

#My writing #Frozen Heart #frozen AU #frostiron #tony stark #loki #loki/tony #hurt/comfort

21 notes · View notes

neoclapyourhands-blog · 6 years ago

Text

don’t pick up the phone (yandere!yoongi x reader)

part 1 of my new rules series, inspired by dua lipa’s song & lyrics. this is the first story i wrote based off one of the lines. enjoy!

warning: yandere actions, slightly mature

word count: 4.3k (whew, that’s a lot for my first post on here)

Part 1: don’t pick up the phone

Part 2: don’t let him in

Part 3: don’t be his friend

Part 4: if you’re under him...

He chose you by chance. You had fallen into his trap once, just like the others, but this time, he would close all the gates and keep you locked in there for eternity.

You were always that one person among friends who would preach about how bad hookups are, and brag that you've never had a one night stand.

Yet here you were, sprawled across a stranger's bedsheets and lying across from them, having done exactly what you were against just that night before.

A migraine accompanied the anxiety and confusion building up inside of us as you regained consciousness. The first thing that came to mind was how cold you were, even as you laid under the sheets, but it wasn't much of a surprise since you were fully exposed and naked. The second thing that you thought of was your boyfriend, and that the man sleeping next to you was him. You couldn't tell for sure, since his back was facing you, and the bed sheets were over his entire figure, but you decided to settle on that thought, since it was more comforting than admitting the truth.

Not only had you gone against your own word, but to put the cherry on top of this mess, you were in a relationship with someone else.

After a few moments of getting your thoughts together, the man next to you turned around. The covers slipped off his head and revealed disheveled, platinum blonde hair. A pang of emotions struck you like lightening as he faced you with a gentle smile.

"Good morning, beautiful." His whispers in a deep voice, his brown eyes softening at the sight of your face. He blinks slowly as he takes in your features. His hand reaches out towards your face, letting his knuckles brush your jawline softly. Your shivered at his touch. Your lips parted, as if you wanted to say something, but nothing come out.

"I'll make you breakfast." He says after a few moments, getting up and cleaning up the side of his bed. Surprisingly, he was fully dressed in a shirt and jeans, but you didn't bother to ask why. He rubs his dewy face from the exhaustion, before heading out the room.

You remain motionless, your heart pounding furiously from the sensation of his hand still lingering on your jaw.

"That's not my boyfriend.." You mutter under your breath. A stray tear falls from your watering eyes, and you wipe them away before any more could come spilling out, "what the fuck have I done."

Your shaky hand clamps over your mouth, eyes widening as they stare at the door, dreading for the stranger to come back in. Instead of anticipating for him to come back, you decide it would be much more calming if you got ready and met with him in his kitchen. Reluctantly pulling the sheets off to reveal your bare figure, you hurriedly gather your now wrinkled articles of clothing that were strewn across the floor. You recoil from the putrid scent of sweat that it held, but had no other choice than to suck it up and put it on. After dressing yourself in last night's jeans and t-shirt, you head over to a tall mirror across the room and smooth out the wrinkles from the shirt to appear neat and put together. Since you didn't spot a comb or brush nearby, you decided to use a hairtie that you always carried around your wrist. By the time you finished gathering your hair into a messy bun, you noticed the man was back, and leaning at the doorway with an intimidating smile painted on his lips.

"Were you watching me this whole time?"

The man smirked, his dark eyes lighting up playfully, "What, did you want me to?"

You knew it was a joke, but his cocky, dick-ish comment got on your nerves.

"You're a fucking creep." You glare at him, crossing your arms.

He takes a step back and puts his hands out in front, "Woah there, what's gotten into you? Just last night we were hitting it off."

Your blood boiled at this reminder, and you reprimand yourself in your head, "Did I really sleep with this guy? And this guy, out of all people?"

You exhale heavily and shut your eyes for a few moments. The snow haired man takes a few steps closer towards you, slightly opening up his arms, ready to embrace you. He pauses as soon as you began your harangue.

"Listen, buddy, I don't know who you are or what happened at all. All I know is that we slept together, and that you seem like a douchebag. But what I need from you is to forget this ever happened."

You maintain eye contact with him, bracing yourself for his response. But when his face remains frozen, you break away from the staring to look down at your feet, missing a glimpse of his eye twitch. No, you weren't scared. You felt guilty- a sick, disgusting ball of regret churned in your stomach, and the more you looked at this beautiful man's face, the worse you felt.

You let the silence hang in the air for a few moments, but since he refused to say anything, you assumed you could take your leave. You walked past him towards the door to find the rest of your belongings that might be scattered around his apartment. You ventured around the place for quite a while, getting a bit more anxious as you realised the man lived in a penthouse. When you finally found your purse, it was on the ground in front of a room with a closed door; your bag, however, was wide open. Finding this suspicious, you attempt to open the door, but fail to do so, as it was locked. You sigh in a tired frustration. At this point, you didn't care anymore about what went down last night, or what was really going on with the dude- you just wanted to leave.

You sling your purse strap around your shoulder, finally ready to leave the apartment. Strangely enough, the mysterious man did not bother to come after you or stop you. You passed by the bedroom while on the way towards the front door, and take a quick peek. The man is sitting on the bed, crouched over with a fancy looking device in his hand. His facial expression is hard to read from your distance, but you could see his lips tugged at the corners. You brushed it off, feeling a bit more anxious to leave the place.

Yanking the door open, you exit his apartment without a warning, except for the loud noise as you slam the door behind you. In a hurried pace, you rush out of the complex as fast as possible, keeping your head down and avoiding eye contact with anyone you passed by.

You were on the highest floor of a seemingly prestigious apartment complex, so taking the elevator and going through the lobby without interacting or facing anyone was a difficult task. Chauffeurs and business men in nice suits, ladies in formal dresses, and then there was you, in a t-shirt and pair of jeans. Not only did you appearance attract the attention of those around you as you made your way out of the building, but the lingering scent of perspiration made quite a bad impression.

"Well, it's not like they're going to see me ever again. They don't know who I am." You distract yourself from the embarrassment you refused to face.

When the elevator doors open, another group of class looking business men stand patiently in front. You didn't bother to count how many were there, but they resembled the stranger you had just been with, regarding the fact that they all had unique hair colours, and youthful but intimidating faces. Clothed in suits and lathered with cologne, you take a note of their appearance before hopping off the elevator and rushing through the lobby. Their gaze follows your retreating figure, scurrying out the doors without looking back. They smirk at each other, knowing the deed has been done.

Another spoof call graced your evening, interrupting the relaxation time you had set up for yourself. You and your boyfriend Namjoon just had a date at the mall, and you decided to treat yourself to all the self care goodies you bought while shopping. You wanted to invite Namjoon, but he declined politely, saying he had to check up on his younger brother, who needed some tutoring for a highschool course he was taking.

It was a surprise how you were able to keep your unfaithfulness a secret for so long. By now, it was a month since the incident, but it took days for guilt to subside. You almost felt proud, that you were able to handle the situation and keep Namjoon. But of course, you knew it wouldn't be something you would repeat; just because you were able to get away with it once does not mean you would be willing to do it again.

You were also quite afraid of dealing with any reasons behind your motives that night. Although you only partially remembered it, you didn't want to understand if it was an unconscious vendetta against Namjoon that made you even engage in a conversation with that stranger.

But, now that you were finally in the shoes of a cheater, you did develop some empathy, to a certain extent for fellow cheaters. Before everything, you would reprimand all kinds of cheaters, regardless, even ones influenced by alcohol.

You lift up your phone delicately, cautiously trying to avoid ruining your freshly painted nails as you raised it up to your face. You squinted at the number that called you.

"Again?"

The number had the same area code and prefix as you, but the rest were all different. You always got calls from numbers like these, but it was never the same one. They either left no voicemail, or ones that lasted one to three seconds, with nothing but inaudible sounds that you couldn't even make out at the highest volume. In an impatient manner, you accept the call and place it on speaker mode,

"Stop fucking calling me."

"Y/N, it's so nice of you to finally pick up."

A wave of fear rushed over you. How did this random number know your name?

"If this is some stupid fucking telemarketing scam, I suggest you stop stalking people and trying to threaten them to give you money, else I'll shove my fist up your ass."

"..my, my, my, bold words for someone who only recently let a total stranger shove something up their own ass."

Your hands suddenly began to ache, and you almost dropped your phone. This wasn't funny anymore.

"..what is your name." You reply sternly after a few moments in shock.

"You know, I at least thought you picked up my name from that night. But clearly, you meant it when you wanted both of us to forget everything that happened. Well guess what, I can't, and I won't."

You were too overwhelmed with emotions at this point: anger, fear, frustration, event the dreaded guilt came back, all hurling towards you.

"What the fuck do you want then?" You seethed.

A deep chuckle from the man caused you to grit your teeth in fear.

"I have a little proposal for you," from his tone, you knew it was more of a demand than a proposal that involved your opinion, "Let's continue where we left off, you and me. We don't have to meet all the time, though. You can still be with Namjoon, and spend most of your time with him as his loyal girlfriend."

The irony in his words hurt you, and the complexity of the situation haunted you. How could a simple, one-night stand turn into this?

"Who do you think I am? It was one fucking mistake that I regret and have long forgotten by now." You stomped your foot like a child throwing a tantrum.

"I don't think Namjoon will take too kindly to it, though."

You then realised he knew your boyfriend's name without any context before. But that goes for your number, and literally anything other possible dirt or information he has on you. You assumed it was all things you idiotically opened up about on that wretched night.

"Okay, but he doesn't have to know?? Now can you just leave me alone and find some other girl to sleep with you."

"So you would prefer your leaked sex tape over seeing me? Man, that's harsh haha."

Numb. You couldn't move, and you didn't want to. All you really wanted in the moment was Namjoon.

But you couldn't. You had to be strong and deal with it yourself. This was, afterall, the mess you've created behind his back.

"I'm not even going to question why you recorded that-"

"Great, I wasn't going to answer anyways."

"But fucking promise me that if I meet with you, it'll be the last, and that you will delete whatever footage you have."

"Sweetheart, that wasn't the deal."

Your eye twitches involuntarily, "You better take this deal or I'm suing."

"Oh, relax, I'm basically giving you a shot at fame as the new Kim K."

You fell silent, speechless at the amount of disrespect this man was treating you with.

A deep chuckle erupted suddenly, "Fine, it's a deal, but bring a total of 5 grand with you. I assume you know where I live and such, so I except to see you this Friday. Good luck."

The person hung up, and you slowly brought the phone down from your ear, eyes fixated on the ground.

Good luck with what?

Emotions swirled all throughout you, lurching and twisting, yet you kept repeating the same words in your mind to prevent yourself from going insane:

"I'm fine, I can handle this."

By the time Friday arrived, your anxiety had shot up, leaving you to deal with sleepless nights and turning towards caffeinated beverages to alleviate your tension. The thought of handing over $5,000 to this total stranger didn't even upset you as much. You could easily complete the transaction through online services and it would be fine, as long as you didn't have to face him. But you were too afraid to ask if that was a possibility, and you had a feeling that he based off his original proposition for you, he really just wanted to see you at least once more. You wanted to satisfy him for the last time, so he wouldn't go ahead and make any rash decisions about leaking the recordings.

Namjoon had called you on Thursday, inviting you out for a date to a new cafe he recently discovered. But no matter how much you wanted to accept his invitation and just forget all about the predicament you were stuck in, it terrified you to face him, knowing that the very next day, you would be meeting with the very person you had cheated on him with.

A text from the strange man himself graced your early Friday morning. It woke you up from your daze, one in which you remained motionless in your bed, unblinkingly. While the coffee and teas were partially to blame, the stress you carried had a far greater effect on you and your overall health that week. You lifted yourself up to grab the phone off the nightstand, it's bright screen blinding your strained eyes. You were praying it was just your lovely boyfriend checking up on you. But instead, a cryptic message from none other than the mystery man greeted you:

Unknown: I hope you know that if you don't come over, I'll have no choice but to come get you myself.

You scoff at the threat, "How is he trying to sound intimidating when in reality, he actually knows nothing about me."

You shut off your phone, once again shrouded in the darkness of your bedroom. You decided to get up and prepare for the long day ahead of you.

While your memory was never the sharpest, you were still able to successfully find the fancy apartment in which the man resided in. But this time, you chose to dress business casual, as you were trying not to attract any attention, nor seem especially suspicious. Although it did suddenly feel a bit odd to be dressed so nicely as you stood in front of his door at 9 AM. The door creaks open, and a short male with dark chocolate hair, and soft eyes to match, blinks at you. It takes him a few seconds to register your appearance before his lips break out into a cocky smile.

"What a lovely surprise." He states sarcastically, something you don't catch, as he opens the door a bit wider and signals you to enter.

"Um sorry, is this the residence of.." You pause mid-sentence, realising your stupidity: you never got his name.....or at least, you couldn't remember it if he told you.

"Min Yoongi? Yes, this is his humble abode, welcome back."

You frowned at the last two words, but before you could question him about why he knew you were there, he interrupted you.

"I'm sure you brought the money we asked for?" The man asked gently and almost too sweetly to seem genuine.

"Yes, but I'd really like to know why this is some sort of collaborative effort. The both of you blackmail people?"

The man simply chuckles and bows before extending his hand out towards her, "The name's Park Jimin, Miss."

You push his arm down lightly while scowling at the man and enter the penthouse. As you walk past him, you clutch onto your purse tightly.

The two of you make your way to the living room, and he sits you down on a leather chair. He sits across from you on a couch and hunches forward. His elbows rest on is knee, and he folds his hands together, the two index fingers placed against his lips. His eyes rest on your figure, examining your body language, as you sit there squirming in your seat, alone and anxious.

"Yoongi! Our guest is here." Jimin's eyes remain on you, and he twitches into a sly smirk when he sees you tense up at the name of the person you slept with.

The dreaded man himself finally walks out, rather strangely, you notice. It seemed as though he was in a drunken state, to the point that his intoxication got him high. He stumbles towards the couch where Jimin is and seats himself next to him.

You take note of the two's completely opposite appearances. Jimin's hair was of salon quality, the part in his hair so sharp and sleek. His polished attire, which consisted of a large trenchcoat layered over a turtleneck, along with a dark pair of trousers, made him appear as if he owned the entire complex. As for Yoongi, his wrinkled pajamas and tipsiness made him appear to be a lazy bum, and lacking of any care for manners. You know this because he came up to you, a rather bold move in and of itself, and hung his arm lazily around your shoulders. You cringe at the contact between the two of you, as well as the weight of his arms as he bounced around suddenly.

"Jimin!!! Get me a fountain drink from downstairs, would ya?' The grown man pouts at Jimin, swinging from side to side, to your annoyance.

Jimin shakes his head and gets up from the seat, putting his hands in the pockets of his trouser.

"First, I need what she came here for give."

You quickly nod your head at this, and throw Yoongi's arm off your shoulder. You grab your purse and rummage through it in search for your wallet. Once you find it, you pull out a wad of cash that was held together with a single hairtie, since you couldn't find any rubberbands.

Jimin snatches it from you, which startles you initially. He quickly thumbs through each $100 bill that was in the stack, and finishes faster than you expected.

"Clearly, they have done this before." You think to yourself.

Jimin smiles at you once more, slapping the stack against the palm of his hand, "Thank you, Miss. I'll take my leave now. Do what you want with her, Yoongi. But if there's nothing else to be said, then you are excused. It was nice to meet you, Y/N."

With that, Jimin hides the stack in the hidden pocket on the inner side of the trenchcoat, and exits the penthouse.

Yoongi’s head falls sharply. You decide to ignore Jimins words and leave so you wouldn’t have to face the psycho behind you. But because he was facing the door, you would have to walk past him. But as you do, your wrist is caught by his iron-grip, and you stumble back. The back of your head meets is chest, and he closes in on you into a tight embrace, arms wrapped around your waist. He lets out a deep sigh, as though he had been holding it in.

"This is just right." Yoongi moans.

You cringe at the statement.

"Boy, what the fuck are you saying? Let go of me!"

His eyes flash in anger, his nails digging into your skin.

"I refuse to let another person go after just using me. Why should I be the side man, the rebound, the fuckboy?" Yoongi seethes viciously, ignoring your squeals. He then violently turns you around so you could face his gleaming eyes, his nails continue to claw into your shoulders, as you gaze at him in fear, with a hint of pain.

"It's my turn to use you." He switches between both of your dilated pupils.

"I'LL FUCKING CALL THE POLICE ON YOU IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF ME RIGHT NOW!" You thrash in the harsh hold he has you in and scream at him, spit flying in his face.

Yoongi merely smirks at your weak attempts to scare him. You start to scream at the top of your lungs, to which he only winces at and instinctively covers your mouth with his palm. He grabs you into the same embrace, and walks backwards towards his hallway. You thrash even more the farther away you are from the door, wanting to run towards and out of it with all your might. The sight of the door becomes nonexistent eventually, as Yoongi drags you into the darkest part of the penthouse. You recognise the place where he pauses it: it was at the door in which your purse was placed in front of. You grew terrified at the thought of what might be in there, or what he planned to do to you in there.

As your struggles from is grasp increase, Yoongi nonchalantly pulls out a key from is pockets with one and, and unlocks the door. As soon as it is opened, he throws you into the dark abyss, and stays at the door, blocking the way so you wouldn't escape.

You groan from your fall, and hiss as you bend your body up to face him. Light pours through from behind him, making his features dark and unreadable.

"Why me? I'm nothing special." was all you could muster, before tears start to stream your face.

"Indeed, you're nothing special. But you're mine."

He meant it when he said he didn't see anything special in her. Yoongi's blunt honesty was one of his most notable characteristics, and in this case, he couldn't lie about something this important. All he ever truly desired was attention and love from the women he slept with, even if it was his job, and that he was told to remain distant and professional with his coworkers, or rather, the victims of his group's schemes. However, he couldn't help but feel jealous; most of the men and women he slept with were in a relationship, but whether they just made a slip up or purposefully chose to cheat on their significant other, they would still be able to retreat back to a solid, stable relationship, especially in the cases were they bout into the blackmail.The boy couldn't help but feel envy, as he wanted something substantial to hold onto himself, rather than temporary lust, even if it did provide him his wealth.

Yoongi juggled with the expensive camera in his hand, inspecting it before turning it on to view the videos stored on it. With a look of insanity on his face, he played the last video recorded. He watched the act of infidelity eagerly, his heart beating quicker each time the content of the video escalated. After a few seconds, he paused it and headed towards a room down his hallway. He took out the key that opened the door from his pockets, entering the dark room with camera in hand. He slams the door behind him, then locks it from the inside. Even in the dark, he can spot the very person he is looking for. He walks up to the crouching figure, as they sit on a bed in the middle of the room. Yoongi touches their shoulder and sits next to them, ignoring the silent sobbing, and pushes the camera into their view, forcing them to watch the footage that was playing.

He leans over to their ear and whispers, "Let's reenact this once more. But now this time, since all you have is me, you can only focus and love me."

He rips apart the hands that conceal your face and reaches towards your trembling lips to capture them with his own. He takes pleasure from every moan that escapes your lips meekly, squeezing your waist so you could drop right under him. He gazes at your weak form under him, adrenaline rushing throughout his body as he realised he finally had someone to use for himself, only.

He chose you by chance. You had fallen into his trap once, just like the others, but this time, he would close all the gates and keep you locked in there for eternity.

For his keeping.

For his selfish needs.

For himself.

#bts #bts suga #bts yoongi #yoongi #yoongi x reader #yandere yoongi #yandere suga #yandere bts #yandere kpop #yandere #fanfiction #kpop fanfiction #kpop writing #x reader #oneshot #yandere!yoongi x reader #don't pick up the phone #don't pick up the phone (yandere!yoongi x reader)

80 notes · View notes

imjustthemechanic · 6 years ago

Photo

Natalie Jones and the Golden Ship

Part 1/? - A Meeting at the Palace Part 2/? - Curry Talk Part 3/? - Princess Sitamun Part 4/? - Not At Rest Part 5/? - Dead Men Tell no Tales Part 6/? - Sitamun Rises Again Part 7/? - The Curse of Madame Desrosiers Part 8/? - Sabotage at Guedelon Part 9/? - A Miracle Part 10/? - Desrosiers’ Elixir Part 11/? - Athens in October Part 12/? - The Man in Black Part 13/? - Mr. Neustadt Part 14/? - The Other Side of the Story Part 15/? - A Favour Part 16/? - A Knock on the Window Part 17/? - Sir Stephen and Buckeye Part 18/? - Books of Alchemy Part 19/? - The Answers Part 20/? - A Gift Left Behind Part 21/? - Santorini Part 22/? - What the Doves Found Part 23/? - A Thief in the Night Part 24/? - Healing Part 25/? - Newton’s Code Part 26/? - Montenegro Part 27/? - The Lost Relic Part 28/? - The Homunculinus Part 29/? - The End is Near Part 30/? - The Face of Evil Part 31/? - The Morning After Part 32/? - Next Stop

Okay, so when I said I was too tired to write tonight? I lied. The gang move on to their next destination and try to track down Desrosiers.

There was a lot more spite in Jim’s voice than Nat would have expected – and probably more than Jim himself expected, either, to judge by the long silence that followed. Nat turned to look, and found Jim looking sullenly at the sidewalk at his feet while Sir Stephen, behind him, waited for him to raise his head so he could catch his eye. Jim refused to do so.

“Stop looking at me like that,” said Jim.

“You cannot see me,” Sir Stephen pointed out. “You don’t know how I’m looking at you.”

“Yes, I do,” said Jim, “because it’s the same way you’ve looked at me every time you were leading up to saying Buckeye would have done this or Buckeye would have said that.” He turned and glared at Sir Stephen. “See? There it is! I knew it!”

“It is only that you surprise me sometimes,” said Sir Stephen.

“Because I’m not your old buddy,” Jim said, “and you’re disappointed every time.”

“Well, now you know what it was like for Allen and for Mrs. Francis,” Natasha spoke up.

The two men had been about to start arguing, but Nat’s statement successfully distracted them. They both stopped, and Sharon had to urge them back into motion before she walked right into them. Nat turned to face backwards as they continued up the Jovana Tomaševića.

“When Allen met me,” she reminded them, “he said I looked like his daughter but didn’t act like her. Same with Mrs. Francis talking to Clint when he thought he was Robin Hood. The other person looks like somebody you know but they aren’t, and if Allen and Laura could cope with that, so can you.”

Sir Stephen hadn’t thought of it that way – and now that he did, it seemed he felt rather sheepish. “This is different,” he protested.

“It really isn’t,” said Nat.

“I don’t think it is,” Allen put in.

“Thanks, Dad,” said Nat. He was probably obligated to agree with her, but she didn’t care as long as somebody supported her.

“I wouldn’t know,” Jim said, “since I don’t actually know anybody.”

That seemed to be the end of the conversation between him and Sir Stephen, which was a relief, but there was more discomfort to come. They reached the French Embassy, which was in an aging, tile-walled house, across the street from the stone walls and a row of trees that provided privacy for the people living in the suburb beyond. They told the man at the desk inside why they were there, and he invited them to sit in the little waiting room until a passport official could see them.

Allen sat next to Nat, and while they waited, he leaned over a little to ask softly, “you can’t have children?”

“No,” said Nat. “None of us can.”

“There were more of you?” he asked.

Hadn’t she told him that? Apparently not. “Yeah,” she said. “I was one of twenty-eight to begin with. We got whittled down to ten by the time we were teenagers.”

“Oh.” Allen nodded, frowning. “Well… you can adopt.”

The words were kindly-meant, but Nat rankled. “You do realize I’m not here to be the vessel by which you have grandchildren, right?”

“I didn’t mean that,” he said.

“Then what did you mean?” Nat asked. “This is the twenty-first century. Usually I only have to remind Sir Steve of that, but now apparently you, too.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Ginger Snap!” he repeated.

“Then you should have kept your mouth shut,” Natasha snapped.

She was far too good at reading people, and so she knew right away that hadn’t been fair to Allen. He’d meant to comfort her, because he assumed her infertility upset her – and if she were being honest, it did upset her when she thought about it. That was why she usually didn’t. Motherhood was only one of the possible futures the Red Room had taken from Natasha, but it was one that particularly stung. Perhaps that was because it meant that she, like Jim and like Sir James Buckeye, would leave no legacy. She was the product of four billion years of organisms reproducing, and now this particular genetic line was at a dead end.

“Doctor Jones?” a voice called. The passport official had arrived.

Nat plastered a smile on her face and stood up. “Hi,” she said. “I’ve got Madame Desrosiers’ passport here.”

She followed the official back to his office, where she spun a story about how she knew Desrosiers, how she’d learned her old friend from academia had left her passport behind, and why she was turning it in here instead of there. While she did that, she also kept him distracted while she slipped a USB drive into his laptop, containing a program that would email recently edited files to Fury in London. She retrieved her little drive before waving goodbye, and they trooped back outside.

Within five minutes, Sharon’s phone beeped. She swiped it, and smiled.

“Well?” asked Nat.

“A woman calling herself Helene Desrosiers checked into a hotel in Messina on the island of Sicily, using a French passport as her ID,” said Sharon.

“That’s our next stop, then,” said Natasha. “Text your wife, Clint – time to get a head start on that shopping list.”

Another tourist bus took them back to Tivat, where they got a flight to Messina. Nat did think about flying first class just so they could bill it to the British government, but the flight was so short it didn’t seem worth it. They flew coach. Nat, sitting next to Allen, was quiet for most of it, but she did have something to say. It just took her an hour or so to work herself up to saying it, because it wasn’t something she said very often.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you didn’t mean it that way.”

“I know,” Allen replied. “I’m sorry I… I swear I didn’t just come in and announce it to everybody.”

Nat was relieved to know he was smart enough to realize what she was really upset about. “Oh?” she asked.

“They asked where you were, and I said you and Jim were still in bed,” Allen explained apologetically. “Sam said, what, together? And I couldn’t just lie.” He began twisting his empty airplane pretzel bag in his hands. “I think Sam’s a little jealous… I think he likes you, himself. But we got into this whole weird discussion about whether somebody like Jim could have children, and then you two suddenly arrived and we were worried you’d heard some of it.”

That put the awkwardness – and Sam’s comments – in a very different light, and Nat felt ashamed to have judged everybody so harshly. They weren’t perfect angels, of course, they were human beings who said things they shouldn’t say, but they didn’t disregard Jim’s humanity. The question was, when had she gotten so invested in it that she’d become defensive?

“I’m sorry I embarrassed you,” said Allen. “Next time I’ll lie.”

“What, next time you find me in bed with guy I just met last week?” Nat asked with a raised eyebrow.

Allen turned red. “Is that something that happens often?” he asked, horrified. Apparently the possibility had never occurred to him. He struggled for a moment, then added, “it’s up to you, of course, I mean, you need to do what makes you happy…”

It was only a lifetime of training to hide her emotions that kept Natasha from giggling at his expression. “As a matter of fact, it doesn’t, but it’s nice to hear that you’d support my ambitions no matter what they might be.”

As brief as the flight to Sicily was, they almost didn’t make it. Like Santorini, the island of Sicily had been created by a volcano, and that volcano was not a quiet one. Mount Etna was one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe, and it had been smoking gently for several weeks. Air traffic was being detoured to avoid potentially clogging the engines with volcanic ash, and they had to wait in a holding pattern for nearly two hours before they were finally cleared to land at Messina.

The volcano was nearly fifty kilometres from the city, but it was still possible to see the looming column of smoke, which meandered up for a long way before veering off to the east, blown away by high-altitude winds. It was beautiful to look at it, but also felt ominous. They were chasing a mad alchemist, and here they were, on top of one of the biggest furnaces imaginable.

“That looks bad,” Clint remarked, watching the smoke column nervously as they crossed the airport parking lot. “Are we sure it’s safe to be here?”

“It’s not close,” said Sharon. “If it really erupts, all they’ll get in Messina will be an earthquake.”

“Uh-huh,” Clint said. “You know what? That’s not reassuring.” His phone beeped, and he dug it out of his pocket for a look.

“Now what?” asked Jim.

“Pistachios,” said Clint. “Sounds like Sicily is famous for them.”

Messina was quite a modern town compared to many of the places they’d visited so far. The old city had been utterly destroyed in World War II, so almost everything now in it was less than seventy years old. Where Tivat and Kotor had been dark stone and narrow cobbled lanes, Messina was clean new buildings painted pastel colours, on either side of broad streets lined with orange trees. Across the strait, beyond the pillar of Saint Mary, it was possible to see the tip of Calabria.

Fury’s text message had given the address of the hotel Desrosiers was staying at – the Europa Palace, located in a blocky yellow and green building set well back from the street behind a line of palm trees. From the outside it looked more like a seedy apartment block than anything a person might compare to a palace, but the lobby turned out to be quite nice, with marble floors, burgundy leather armchairs, and glittering chandeliers. Nat paused before approaching the desk and looked at Sharon.

“You or me?” she asked.

“Better be you,” said Sharon. “We’re not here to arrest her.”

Nat therefore went up and rang the bell. The woman who came out of the back office to answer was middle aged, with darkly-tanned skin and bleach-blonde hair.

“Buongiorno,” she said with a friendly smile. “Come posso aiutarti oggi?”

“Buongiorno,” Nat replied. “We’re here to meet a friend, Senora Helene Desrosiers. She told us she would be staying here.”

“The East Asian lady?” asked the clerk. “You’ve already missed her, I’m afraid. She went on to Taormina this morning. She had me call ahead and confirm her reservation there.”

“That’s a shame,” said Nat. “Can you tell us where she’s staying there?”

“I’m afraid not. It would be a breach of privacy,” the clerk said.

Nat wouldn’t press her, then – she had other ways of getting information. “Of course,” she said. “I shouldn’t have asked. One more thing: is the hotel’s restaurant open to non-guests? My friends and I have been on the plane for hours because of the eruption, and we’re all starving.”

“Certainly,” said the clerk. “Please, go ahead.”

“Grazie,” said Natasha, and the others echoed – this being the only word in Italian most of them knew.

“Prego, prego,” the clerk assure her.

#fanfic #natasha romanov #steve rogers #bucky barnes #sharon carter #sam wilson #clint barton

6 notes · View notes

dribs-and-drabbles · 3 years ago

Note

*raises hand hesitantly* I think I'm the 'colour maven' you mean 😊 (I made interpretations about the wardrobe choices in Bad Buddy and Enchante...)

@hunginggrapes I love your interpretation about the colours used in Cutie Pie. I actually have been sitting on my thoughts about this series because I think they're unfolding their colour choices gradually, so I think we'll have to wait for the last episodes to really see the 'patterns' they are using. Having said that, I think it has been clear from the get go that Lian and Kuea are colour-coded as Blue and Red respectively.

This is the first shot after the background preamble and opening credits of ep 1.

And the two plushies which are even named after the two characters - blue for Lian and red for Kuea.

In earlier episodes, It seems they use brighter reds a lot more for Kuea and darker/muted blues for Lian when they're separate from each other...and it's true that, running up to That Kiss on the kitchen worktop, both have worn a lot of neutral colours when together - beiges, browns, muted yellow, black, and white - until they start getting closer, that is.

Once they move in together they start to wear red and blue around each other more, with Kuea also beginning to wear more shades of blue - culminating in the soft (denim?) blue shirt during That Kiss...perhaps as a call-back to the first time Lian cooks breakfast for Kuea when Lian is in a bright blue sports top (Lian's first time in something so bright with Kuea).

I had been holding off properly writing about all this because I had been waiting for them to both wear the bright red and blue together...and we got it - two times! - in ep 9. The first in each other's colour:

And the second in their own, when Kuea is openly wearing his Mechanical Engineering coat, and Lian has a brighter blue suit (he normally has dark navy):

This red and blue colour coding seems to be quite popular at the moment - both Bad Buddy and Enchante used it as well for their main characters - and it could be a coincidence...but I also wonder if it's drawn from the red oni/blue oni trope, which "comes from traditional Japanese folklore where Oni (think troll/ogre) usually came in two flavours, a Red and a Blue. Over time, it's gotten popular to ascribe different qualities and personalities to the two colours."

"This trope is about two individuals (or occasionally, factions or civilizations) that are significantly linked together somehow (such as through a rivalry, friendship, being siblings, co-workers, competitors, etc.) that have differing personalities and, with it, often different approaches to the world in general, especially whatever they might be competing in/for/over. This, of course, gives them something to butt heads about, since their manner of acting may rub each other the wrong way and each is sure that their way of doing things is right."

Maybe these shows have been using these colours to emphasise the rivalries (Bad Buddy, for example) or differences in personalities...

I won't harp on too much more...but I'll also just add, for those that are interested, I think yellow is another interesting colour and I haven't quite worked out what the pattern is with that. This is what I mean by the show slowly unfolding their styling throughout the show - it will only be as the last few episodes air that we will understand what the yellow has represented all along. And then maybe I'll write about it all!

I don't know if anyone said this before but

I like how in cutie pie red is either Kuea's actual favourite colour or chosen as a striking indicator to show the things he hides from his Hia.

Red Bike, Red phone case (it's a private thing), Red shirt under the leather jacket, Red hoodie in the attempt to sneak out, Red engineering uniform, Red drum set and a Red suit for his fantasy date in episode 2.

Meanwhile when he is Hia's cutie it's beige sweaters, white collar shirts and sweaters and maybe a blue secondary colour to the outfit

Again in episode 2, the pile of clothes has minimal red on it but when his friend is like "i tried clothes now it's your turn" Kuea is shown the most red he has ever worn

That's so cool!

I don't actually track the outfits/color signaling but someone I follow here on tumblr does.

Can't remember if they're a moot or not.

but if you are,

IDENTIFY YOURSELF color maven

#cutie pie #bad buddy #enchante #colour coding #red and blue #red oni blue oni #absolutebl #I think I might actually have to wait until I have some time off work #to properly write about all this #because just this response took way too long #I should be in bed and I have a long day tomorrow 😂#but I should emphasise the colour use in cutie pie isn't just with their clothes #but also with objects around them #like the motorbike and drum set #and in background things like paintings and knick-knacks on display #there's so much once you start looking

43 notes · View notes

agentelmo · 7 years ago

Photo

The X-Files MSR Analysis Series: Season 1 Episode 10

“Fallen Angel”

Previous episode analysis - 1x09 Space.

From an MSR angle, Fallen Angel tells the story of Mulder’s personal angel, and how different his life might have been if he had never met her. We see here (and many times in the future) that when Mulder tries to go it alone, he doesn’t get very far. There are parts of this episode which feel like a glimpse into the life Mulder might have led if Scully had never came into his world. A crazy man running around the forest with a gun and a camera, getting nowhere fast and most likely winding up in prison, and/or fired from the FBI. Or living the life of a nomadic hermit, holed up in a tin can clipping away at newspapers and squinting at blurry photographs.

Then perhaps he might have turned to squatching much earlier in life, and you know that 90′s Mulder squatching would have only led to bad things. Very bad.

So the episode starts with Mulder in Wisconsin about to 007 his way into a quarantined area. The news is reporting it as an ecological disaster, but thanks to Grandpa Deep Throat, Mulder knows it is actually a UFO crash site. Papa Throat tells Mulder he has 24 hours tops to get in there and check out this downed UFO before the cleaners break out the military strength Mr. Muscle.

Fuck me, can I please jump into this screencap and suck on that bottom lip? HNNNNNGGGGGG... I feel like I am channelling someone. Is that you @defnotmeyo?

Clearly Mulder has failed to inform Scully of his escapade. At this point in time, Scully is still completely unaware of Deep Throat and the fact Mulder gets a lot of his information from him.

This failure points to the fact that Mulder is still holding off from completely trusting Scully. He can see she has integrity; despite her assignment to the X-Files being a means to an ends - a surreptitious attempt to spy on Mulder - she takes this assignment seriously and applies her scientific rigour to his work honestly and faithfully, and he sees that.

She has supported him steadfastly throughout their short partnership, but he still cannot shake that she was sent to spy on him. He cannot trust her with this greatest of secrets - the knowledge of Deep Throat’s existence.

It’s fair enough really, because as much as he really wants to trust Scully (and he really does want to trust her) he is still uncertain. The way he behaves around her says to me that he has a deep affinity for her.

Superficially he’s definitely low key attracted to her from the word go - she’s a beautiful woman - but deeper than that, they fall into sync with one another almost effortlessly at times, even when they’re at odds yelling at one another, they’re both learning that they can push each other and it will be okay. They will have each others back. The events of Ice taught them that.

But Ice also asked a question that Fallen Angel continues to pose. Can Mulder trust Scully? He desperately wants to trust her, but old habits die hard. Mulder’s motto is trust no one, after all. What if Scully’s entire purpose is to gain his trust and smoke out the insider leaking information to Mulder? While it’s no fun from an MSR angle, it does make sense that Mulder still doesn’t entirely trust Scully - he’s still weighing her up.

So he goes it alone. First mistake. And Mulder decides to go on this jolly jaunt through the forest cosplaying as the Milk Tray Man.

“All because the lady loves...”

Sorry non-Brits, you’ll have to look that one up.

He poodles through the forest trying to look bad ass, but fails spectacularly owing to the fact he has probably the dorkiest run ever. Sorry Mulder, you just can’t look cool running over hill and dale.

We know Mulder can look sexy running - he has a lovely bit of sexy running in season 6′s Milagro, for example.

Phwoooaaaaar, keep running G-Man.

But here, in this episode?

Yeeeeeah, not so much.

Look at him... boing, boing, boing!

What’s actually most surprising about this whole sequence is that he gets away with it! He dangles underneath a military vehicle and very obviously plonks on the floor with a soldier so close by he must have been asleep not to hear it let alone see it.

I think it’s safe to say that Mulder’s knowledge on stealthiness was probably lifted exclusively from Tom Clancy novels.

Either that, or he has stealth cheat codes enabled.

Now I can’t decide if this is Mulder’s “I can’t believe I just got away with that” face, or his “I think I just rolled in badger shit” face. Hmmm...

So Mulder bounds through the forest until he approaches a light in a clearing...

Creepy X-Files forest aesthetic on fleek.

He then reveals his true passion in life, as a photographer for Alien Vogue.

Work it, baby.

Going solo out here turns out to be pretty dangerous, so with no one to watch his back, Mulder finds himself getting butt-stroked.

Wait, what?

Honestly, that’s what getting pummelled in the face with a rifle butt is called! To be honest, I’d butt-stroke Mulder any day of the week. Know what I’m sayin’?

After a serious talk about breaking federal law with the designated bad guy of the piece, Colonel Henderson....

...Mulder is imprisoned.

Divine intervention is unlikely, Mulder.

So quick run down. Mulder gets a hot tip, tells no one about it, runs off without Scully and ends up in military prison. What a thoroughly unsurprising turn of events. When Mulder goes it alone and tries to do anything without Scully, he gets his arse handed to him.

Sorry Mulder, them’s the rules.

But it’s here we are introduced to Mulder’s mirror image. The man Mulder might have become himself had it not been for a lucky sequence of events in his life that led him to having the right people around him at the right times, whereas Max Fenig clearly did not.

Say hi Max.

Nawww... Max is instantly endearing in his overt politeness and kooky appearance. What we come to understand later is that Max recognises Mulder and he’s being such a try hard, wanting to be buddies with Mulder, because from observing his life from afar he feels he knows him. I mean, we can all relate, right?

But Mulder is actually surprisingly dismissive of Max, and I think even somewhat judgemental. He gets one look at Max and thinks he has the measure of him. He ignores his polite invitation to talk and rolls his eyes as he turns away.

I think Mulder might at times think himself above these kinds of people, the crazies who sit in fields on garden furniture holding up colourful “take me to your leader!” signs. I think that’s what Mulder sees when he first looks at Max - the archetypal UFO wackjob. The living embodiment of why his work isn’t taken seriously.

For a moment here, Mulder treats Max with the same dismissive disdain that other people have treated Mulder in the past.

Just to drive home the comparison between Max and Mulder, he utters Mulder’s favourite catchphrase of all time - trust no one. Mulder might not want to admit it now, but despite their personalities being very different, these two men clearly think alike in many ways.

Side note, Max is quite possibly one of the best supporting characters the show ever had. In all 10 seasons.

Mulder continues to roll his eyes ignoring Max, until Max asks if Mulder saw anything. Mulder plays his usual trick, to get information out of others rather than giving up any of his own, by playing the contrarian.

But Max isn’t so easily fooled, it seems.

Notice how Max is rubbing his ear in this moment? What makes him so sure? Well maybe it’s the fact he’s been abducted by these “alieums!” several times already - hint, hint, rub scar. FORESHADOWINGGGGGG!

Now finally, finally. Scully arrives... I mean, it’s only been a good quarter of the flipping episode without her. Geez... so her big dramatic entrance is entirely appropriate.

And glorious.

Imagine a church chorus as she enters, because the symbolism is so heavy handed here. Scully arrives, bathed in bright white light - blinding Mulder with her brilliance - liiiiiike.... an angel perhaps?!

While the crashed UFOs are referred to as fallen angels, Scully is the true angel of the piece. Mulder’s guardian angel. A supposed proxy of his enemies, sent to spy on him to do the bidding of the Syndicate, essentially. But in actuality is the only one truly looking out for him - and him alone.

But of course, Mulder knows he’s about to get a royal roasting. So makes a ill-considered attempt at being charming.

I love that comment though, “I didn’t order room service.” Because when Mulder does order room service, he orders a hot red head in a trench coat? I’m not sure we’re thinking of the same kind of room service here, Mulder. Rawr.

But Scully isn’t interested in banter, she’s here to tell Mulder he’s really done fucked up this time. That the higher ups are using his latest tomfoolery as an excuse to cashier Mulder out of the FBI.

Poor Scully. How frustrating this man must be to her in this moment. She’s trying to save the X-Files here, Mulder, did you miss that? She’s trying to save you too. Without Scully, Mulder is heading for a personal disaster, because he frequently cannot see the forest through the trees. So focused on his present goal he fails to see the larger consequences - or rather sees them, but doesn’t care - the sacrifice is worth it to him. The Truth™ is all that matters.

Only Scully is fighting to pull him back from the edge, and when he seems utterly blasé about the fact the X-Files might be shut down, she loses her cool.

In fact, I think this is the first time we see Scully genuinely pissed off at him – like really furious. She’s been varying levels of irritated, but this time she’s actually livid with his behaviour, and not just because he’s disregarding the rules.

In past episodes Mulder’s lack of respect for protocol saw Scully concerned about her career and what the consequences of being associated with this man and the X-Files would mean for her, but now she’s trying her damnedest to save both.

She’s angry because she cares and not just about their work, it’s established as far back as Conduit that she has more than just a professional interest in Mulder. She cares about him. She sees something in him worth caring about.

Steady on, we’re not quite at that point yet.

She cares about him as a friend and knows the X-Files are important to him - he would later refer to the X-Files as his life’s work - so of course she’s frustrated because she is trying to understand him, but can’t grasp why he would put the X-Files in jeopardy like this. To her, it makes no sense. To a new audience it makes no sense either.

Except that it does. What we will eventually establish with hindsight, is that this kind of behaviour is Fox Mulder all over. For merely a glimpse at the elusive truth, Mulder would risk everything. He is a master of self-sabotage - he is determined to barrel headfirst into self destruction - and the fact Scully is there to save him time and again is such an incredible stroke of fortuitousness on his part that, sometimes, I’d swear the Cigarette Smoking Man chose Scully for this purpose all along.

So moving on, and Mulder is being pretty flippant about Scully’s explanation of what was out in the woods; he mocks her, even. His attitude towards her similar to his dismissal of Max earlier. A slight “you-have-no-idea-what-you’re-dealing-with” smugness.

But is this really fair of Mulder? I mean, this disarming as fuck smile is definitely not fair of Mulder because hot dayum... But yeah - not what I meant.

What I meant is Mulder has information she doesn’t and that puts her at a disadvantage that she cannot overcome as a scientist who works off of evidence - proof.

She only sees Mulder seemingly pull this information out of his arse, so of course she isn’t going to believe him. Like in Ghost in the Machine, he’s not giving her enough to go on. It’s his own fault that she is so resistant to his version of events. His lack of trust in her is what is bringing this all down.

This is when we see why trust is so key to their relationship, as Scully will say much later in season 6′s The Beginning - it has always come down to a matter of trust between them. When they don’t trust each other, they both spin their wheels in frustration.

This is another episode where we see the outline of their working dynamic being drawn. As Scully will poetically put it one day, they are perfect opposites of each other, and as such their relationship only soars when they both trust in each other’s judgement, abilities and dedication to the truth - whatever that might be.

When mistrust, doubt and even resentment seep in, the differences that when perfectly aligned make them so strong, can instead work full force against each other, tearing them apart. Funnily enough, a good example of that is in The Beginning too.

But in this moment, Mulder doesn’t believe Scully puts the truth above protocol and he still isn’t sure if he can trust her not to report everything he tells her to the people he believes work against him. So he continues to hold out about Deep Throat... and, for now at least, they continue to grate against each other.

But hey, don’t worry about it. Any time you start to feel down about how Mulder and Scully are at odds with each other, just remember that one day these two Spooky babies will be having kinky handcuff sex. Canon kinky handcuff sex.

The next little scene with them has it’s MSR charm in a way. Because Scully is effectively Mulder’s jailer (a fact he amusingly references later with a bit of 70′s pop culture). She’s escorting him back to D.C. to face an Office of Professional Responsibility hearing - OPR!

We hear about OPR quite a bit over the coming years with these two, don’t we. Which is why these early brushes with pissing off the higher ups are so interesting to go back and look at, because it’s such a stark reminder of how their love and dedication to one another eventually takes over all reason - for both of them.

We know there will come a time when there will be no lengths to which Scully will not go for Mulder. From being thrown into prison, to sacrificing her job, to going on the run and harbouring him as a criminal fugitive for 6 years. This episode serves to highlight the beginnings of this behaviour in Scully. Her going against the rules for Mulder.

So, knowing she’s been sent there to take him back to D.C., Mulder changes tack, he wants her on board, he values her insight and abilities so he wants her to help him on this now that she’s here. When she’s there, undeniable and in his presence, it’s almost like he can’t help himself but to put his faith in her.

Scully, bless her, does her best to hold on to being angry at him. But Mulder’s incessant charm always screws her over in the end. She can’t resist him - and I don’t mean sexually, I mean just his boyish enthusiasm and unshakeable determination seems to always chip away at her resolve.

It is, after all, as she says much later in I Want To Believe, why she fell in love with him. So it makes sense that in hindsight she often gave in to him like this because she secretly found his stubbornness equally as endearing as she found it exasperating.

The Last Detail, starring Dana Scully! Ha, back in the 90’s you could quote 70’s movie classics and you’d have half a hope in hell anyone knew what you were talking about, Mulder.

So The Last Detail is a movie about a young naval officer being escorted across country to prison. But before his two jailers take him there they decide that, since he will be going away for a long time, he should first get to enjoy what life has to offer. The film stars Jack Nicholson so I think that voice Mulder puts on is his Nicholson impression. Yikes.

So is Scully going to show Mulder what life has to offer before hauling him off to OPR? WINK WINK.

Maybe that’s what Mulder was hoping for ey? Although, for Mulder, the height of what life most has to offer is bumming around Wisconsin looking for downed UFOs. Pfft. Spoil sport.

What I also like about this exchange before they enter Mulder’s motel room, is the fact that not so long ago Mulder was completely at odds with Scully, but Mulder so easily lets their disagreements go and slips straight back into their comfortable bantering.

It’s like whenever he is with her, he is unconsciously trying to charm her - he seems to turn it on whenever they’re alone together - it’s that little bubble they have that we’ve talked about in the past; once they’re in there together they are in a world of their own. While she is still clearly annoyed with him, he’s trying to entice her in to that bubble with a bit of casual flirting and she fights to hold on to her annoyance.

Course, the banter bus is forced to a sudden halt when Mulder and Scully realise someone has broken into and trashed his motel room.

Check out Mulder’s Ken doll pose.

I like how Mulder gets his quip in about how house keeping hasn’t been yet, but when Scully goes to say something in response, Mulder shushes her.

Piss taker.

The way Mulder goes for his gun, forgetting he doesn’t have it anymore - because of course he doesn’t, Mulder losing his gun is like, his favourite thing to do after secretly staring at Scully. His little head shake and her face fully communicating her thoughts on the matter. You don’t need me to translate, just look at that face.

“Soooo um... do you think she’s still mad at me?”

Yes, Mulder. Yes I do.

So the intruder turns out to be Max, and they drag him out of the bathroom so he can explain himself.

The best part of this conversation is when protective!Mulder body checks Max when he attempts to shake Scully’s hand.

Sit the fuck down, son.

It’s the only time Mulder becomes defensive in this whole scene, even though he’s just heard people have been spying on him for years, it’s only when Max makes a move towards Scully that Mulder gets visibly agitated.

Nobody touches bae, Max. No touchie.

There’s an entertaining beat later in this conversation, when Max explains that he read Mulder’s Omni article on the Gulf Breeze UFO sightings. Omni, interestingly enough, was a real magazine that was published in the 70′s through to the mid 90′s. It contained articles on both science, science fiction and the paranormal. Sounds right up Mulder’s passage. What?

Mulder seems to be slightly embarrassed to have this revealed in front of Scully, as his eyes dart to her immediately and he stutters before responding.

That’s his ‘please don’t judge me’ face.

He already knows from The Jersey Devil that Scully thinks he has no life, and so to have his personal pursuits just openly revealed - that in his free time he writes articles for a paranormal magazine under an assumed name, no less. Yeah, he doesn’t want Scully to pity his spartan existence any more than he thinks she already does.

Now I want to take a moment to dissect this phrase Max uses.

“The enigmatic Agent Scully.”

Because where does Max get the notion that Scully is enigmatic? Enigmatic, of course, meaning mysterious, indecipherable, puzzling etc. Max says that he’s been following Mulder’s career – meaning following his cases – through viewing his travel expenses. He would have been able to see where he was going, but not necessarily what he did when he was there. So I wonder if these NICAP groups are actually spying on Mulder and Scully? Do they go and hunt them down, look into what they’re investigating – observe them?

It might then explain why Scully is described as enigmatic – these people, who are clearly believers like Mulder - would find Scully completely inscrutable. A huge sceptic investigating the paranormal? Questioning her partner at every turn? From their perspective Scully would seem a rather enigmatic figure. An oddity. As Max himself says....

Perhaps these people were paying far more attention than Mulder realises.

While Mulder is clearly flattered by the attention, Scully finds it all rather tiresome.

Bless Max, he does not pick up on Scully’s unimpressed tone of voice whatsoever.

Mulder does though, and attempts to appeal to her own vanity.

Although to be entirely precise, Max did say enigmatic agent Scully, so despite apparently having a photographic memory, Mulder couldn’t accurately remember what was said only 2 minutes ago.

Look at the smile on his face though, keep trying to reel her in, Mulder. She’ll crack eventually! Mulder seems quite tickled at the idea of Scully being described as enigmatic. I think Mulder likes to think Scully is actually quite predictable, but she proves him wrong on that count several times as the series progresses. She can certainly keep him guessing.

So Max then invites Mulder and Scully into his trailer home, and Mulder can barely contain himself.

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see Mulder so tickled by something, and the first thing he does is look down at Scully to share the moment with her.

She’s fighting not to smile, look at her face. She still wants to be annoyed at him. But he’s still chipping away at her resolve... chip, chip, chip.

This scene is quite heavily contrasted with Mulder’s first meeting with Max, where he was so dismissive of him. It kind of shows how Mulder’s single-minded focus on seeking the truth can actually dehumanise him. Because now he’s like a kid in the UFO candy store. He’s charmed by the hokeyness of Max’s trailer; in fact, the manner of decor - the haphazardly placed belongings mixed with newspapers clippings, photographs and stacks of books - bears some resemblance to the ordered chaos of Mulder’s basement office at the FBI.

Later, in season 4′s Tempus Fugit, Scully will remark that Max and Mulder are kindred spirits in “a deep, strange way”. That only the two of them could appreciate living like this - the nomadic, frugal life of a UFO hunter. Singularly obsessed, pinning newspaper articles and blurry photographs to every blank surface available.

She didn’t know how right she was, did she.

And that’s the MSR angle here, because I genuinely believe that Mulder could have easily ended up like Max if he hadn’t met Scully. In fact, we see in I Want To Believe how close Mulder is to the Max Fenig lifestyle. Without Scully working by his side, and the FBI to channel his energy, he effectively turns into Max - a recluse who sifts through paranormal paraphernalia by the ton, looking for some kernel of truth to prove the existence of extraterrestrials to the world, all the while slowly disappearing into himself in the process.

We see in season 10 that his home office that once kept his obsession contained - away from the rest of the house - away from the rest of his life, has now expanded out into pretty much everywhere - consuming everything, including his relationship with Scully.

What that says to me is that he really needs Scully to keep him balanced, and that’s what we see the first glimmers of here, in Fallen Angel - a need for someone to balance his obsessive nature, his single-mindedness, his propensity for self-destruction.

Oy... this got depressing.

So Max plays Mulder and Scully a recording he lifted from a police dispatcher radio transmission to a deputy who was the first to respond to the UFO crash - of course not knowing what it was he was dealing with. It sounds like this deputy and a fire crew were attacked. This spurs Mulder on, the look in his eyes as he turns to Scully tells her everything she needs to know - he’s not gonna let this one go.

DUN! DUN! DUUUUUUN!

She’s equally surprised to hear what happened out there, and now Mulder has finally cracked her - she’s on board. Even if she doesn’t believe the truth is “alieums!” she sees there is more going on here than meets the eye, and this is how these two work together so well.

Because even if they don’t agree on what is happening, they can still work together so long as they always share the core goal of finding the truth.

Now we are going to take a side step into Mulder’s Kitchen. Pull up a seat, we’re gonna delve into some mythology stuff for a moment.

So, this episode is a mythology episode before the mythology even existed. So some elements of this episode tally up with what we come to know later of the aliens, but then other things certainly do not. For example, the alien here is clearly incredibly powerful, much more powerful than the aliens we will encounter later - it’s main abilities being that it can turn invisible and PASS THROUGH SOLID OBJECTS. We don’t ever see that again - thank God!

The alien bounty hunters we see later are significantly nerfed - their greatest abilities are shape-shifting and super human strength. So is this alien here something different?

Something infinitely more interesting that this alien does do, is exhibit an ability which reappears in season 10. It’s this high pitched squealing noise that causes damage through the auditory cortex in the brain.

In season 10′s Founder’s Mutation, Dr. Augustus Goldman’s children that were experimented on with alien DNA are also able to exhibit this high pitched frequency which causes a very similar painful reaction. It’s literally the same sound, but a different pitch. Go compare them!

Towards the end of Fallen Angel, Max also hears this sound and he repeats over and over that he’s in pain, clutching at his ear that pours with blood.

Similarly, this ability the children have in Founder’s Mutation causes blood to pour from the ears, nose, mouth and eyes of Dr. Goldman.

I have no idea if this is intentional or not, but it’s shockingly similar. If it is intentional, then will we find that William has this strange ability too?

But that’s getting away from Fallen Angel, and into season 11 speculation territory.. so moving on!

Mulder and Scully visit the hospital to find out what happened to the deputy and the fire crew, and as Scully chats with the Doctor in charge about radiation burns, we discover a fascinating factoid about Scully.

Forensic medicine, ay? I mean, that’s not surprising at all, really, but still... GOOD TO KNOW!

Next we get a Mulder-Scully walk and talk. Hospital corridor too, classic!

Mulder, stop looking at your hot partners lips and concentrate, man!

Mulder is actually positively buzzing; hearing that the deputy and fire crew had severe radiation burns.

Look at how closely they walk together too, they’re bumping shoulders the whole time. Mulder really has no concept of personal space.

I like this scene because it’s Mulder being as excited as a kid at Christmas, and Scully is throwing out an alternative explanation, but he just keeps coming back at her. It’s a very familiar song and dance.

But this is what they do - Scully makes Mulder work for it, and completely opposite to what was intended, she ends up not debunking his work, but makes it stronger - actually gives it more weight, rather than less.

So what happens is that surprisingly, Scully doesn’t outright dismiss what Mulder is saying, but she is still relentlessly focused on keeping Mulder out of trouble, by getting him to the OPR hearing.

Mulder, however, remains pretty indifferent about it. He listens to her, but he’s not really all that concerned. He feels he is so close to catching a glimpse of something here, that he is willing to sacrifice even the X-Files to stick around and follow it through.

But ultimately what he’s doing here is incredibly reckless because he hasn’t actually seen anything. I mean, let’s go back and review. All he’s seen is a mangled crash site which could have been anything - let’s be honest - and some emergency services personnel with reported radiation burns. What it comes down to, is that he’s risking this mainly on the word of Deep Throat.

He needs Scully to remind him of what he needs to do – to think of the bigger picture. But poor Scully is just ignored – again. She’s trying really hard to save his ass, but seems intent on going down in flames.

Ah I do love a good walk and talk though. This is how I like my baby agents. Walking and talking and arguing and Mulder being a little bitch, and Scully exasperatedly trying and failing to get Mulder to see sense. Ah good times!

It’s at this moment, Colonel Henderson arrives with several of his men suffering from more radiation burns. GASP! Mulder tries to reason with Henderson about hunting the alien down, but is thrown out of the hospital, while Scully - she’s a medical doctor don’tcha know - is asked to stick around and help treat the soldiers.

Mulder decides to return to his motel to look for Max - what an irony, the only one with the means to help him continue his search is the UFO wacko.

But Mulder arrives to find Max having an epileptic seizure.

And Mulder is a pretty sweet guy really, right? Taking care of Max. He’s pretty caring when he wants to be.

Holding him through his seizure...

...getting him a glass of water... even if Max looks terrified of glasses of water...

...and tucking him into bed.

Naww… Mulder’s paternal instincts on display here.

Oh...

Oh God.

I need a minute.

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

So after playing daddy to Max, Mulder notices that Max has a scar behind his ear. A rather grim looking scar, too. Eugh.

Mulder has seen this before... in an X-File of course, because everything is in an X-File.

I have bad thoughts looking at those pianist fingers. Seriously. No more fanfic for me.

Mulder has clearly had these documents faxed over to him, but who exactly did that? Who would he trust at the FBI to go through his files, not to mention the fact he’s currently up for disciplinary action right now, so who would OK these documents being sent?

Meh.

Who cares, we have got some hot glasses!Mulder action for you. KAPOW!

SHAZAM!

Mmm, yes. Ring Ring... It’s OPR here! We’ve decided to drop all disciplinary action, Mulder. Just be sure to wear those glasses from time to time and all is forgiven. HNNNNGGG.... Ahem.

Scully arrives back from her voluntary stint at the hospital - I hope she got paid for that. And she’s exhausted and dejected. Mulder has his theories, but wants to know what Scully’s thoughts are.

Nice one. Excellent theory there, Scully. Well thought out; good reasoning.

I kid. I kid.

I like this conversation, because for Mulder’s part, he’s showing that he values and respects her opinion, even when she hasn’t got one ha. Even though Mulder is used to her going against him, he’s willing to hear it - he’s willing to be challenged, and that’s why their dynamic works for him, because he doesn’t take her stance personally. He understands and values where she’s coming from, even when he doesn’t agree.

And the same goes for her, it’s why their dynamic works between them and them alone - because Scully listens to Mulder when most sane people wouldn’t, lets be honest.

But ever the guardian angel, Scully continues to remind Mulder to keep his eye on the ball.

His trust in her is building, because even though he’s aware her primary goal is to get him back to D.C., he trusts her to tell him the truth when he asks her to do him a favour and examine Max’s scar.

In a demonstration of her integrity, and her loyalty to Mulder, when Scully asks...

and Mulder responds by being a fucking tease...

Scully agrees to examine Max, not based on any claim Max is making - Mulder points out that it’s not Max who thinks he’s an abductee.

She agrees to examine Max against her better judgement and only because Mulder asks her to.

Nothing more than that. Which is a pretty big deal. “I do it all for you, Mulder.”

Unfortunately when they go to find Max, he’s missing and they overhear on his radio scanner that someone from Colonel Henderson’s patrol has spotted someone trespassing where they shouldn’t be.

Mulder and Scully both realise this must be Max.

Scully realises first what this means though, that Mulder isn’t going to be catching that flight to D.C.

The frustrated look on her face is the look of someone who knows exactly what’s about to happen... she knows this man well enough by now. He’s not going to do anything he doesn’t want to do - but she will still try to fight him on it. She isn’t going to give up that easily.

Mulder, on the other hand, looks at her with a face that says “I wholeheartedly concur Scully, lets go save Max!”

Wait, what?!

There’s a hint of desperation in Scully’s voice, she really is trying so hard to keep him out of trouble and protect their work - protect him.

He literally ignores every word she says though, and continues to obsessively pursue this lead. I honestly think the only reason he stops and engages Scully, is because he can’t find the damn car keys. I think if he had the keys and she didn’t get in the car, he would have just took off without her, because we all know he’s very capable of that.

But because he knows she has the keys, he takes a moment to explain his thinking.

Mulder’s theory is basically that Max wasn’t chasing the UFO, that it was in fact the other way around. The UFO was there for Max.

I don’t think Scully believes Max is being abducted by aliens - we know she doesn’t believe in that; but what she does know is that she cannot stop Mulder when he’s like this; he’s going with or without her. She knows trying to get through to him will only push him away, so she gives up trying to fight back.

She really should have just clobbered him with one of their FBI issue torches and shipped the stupid fucker back to D.C. in a suitcase.

As it stands, her only course of action is to go with him - to try and stop him doing something he might later regret. So reluctantly, she hands over the keys.

This is a dynamic that plays out again and again from this point onward. Mulder bullheadedly wanting to plough on ahead regardless of the consequences to himself (and frankly to Scully too sometimes) and she trying desperately to pull him back, only to end up being swept along for the ride in the end.

This dynamic is usually balanced out by then Scully serving some pivotal role in being there – usually saving Mulder’s life.

But oddly, not this time.

They find Max who is babbling about the alieums coming to get him, but then Mulder bizarrely sends Scully outside.

His confidence in her ability to hold off a shadowy military clean up crew is sweet, but she had no chance.

She’s grabbed immediately and Colonel Henderson completely ignores all of her protests.

In the end, Scully being there this time served no purpose at all.

But then again, Mulder being there served no purpose either. He wasn’t able to stop Max being abducted and he gets flung across the warehouse by the invisible alien for his trouble.

Mulder is lucky that this alien knows he’s one of the the main characters of this show and didn’t decide to irradiate him to death like every other human being it had encountered thus far.

When Mulder gets up, Max is being abducted, and Mulder cannot do anything to stop it.

The next thing we know, Max is gone and Mulder is left with nothing but his NICAP cap.

I got abducted by alieums and all I got was this lousy cap.

The next scene is of Mulder and Scully finally at the OPR hearing. Somehow Scully managed to get him there on time, it seems. This scene ultimately foreshadows what occurs at the end of season 1 which is the closure of the X-Files.

By rights, it should have happened here – it’s almost like Mulder knew someone would swoop in to save his ass, because he really didn’t give two shits about getting back in time.

We see at the very end of the episode that Section Chief McGrath is on the Syndicate books, and has been working to get rid of of Mulder.

But is saved by Deep Throat.

However, his motives are suddenly cast in shadow. Is Deep Throat on Mulder’s side or not?

What it does reveal is that, without Deep Throat, Mulder and Scully were doomed before they even stepped foot in the OPR hearing.

Scully, again, being the bastion of loyalty and integrity that she is, tries to defend Mulder until the very last. Even when she’s denied permission to make a statement on Mulder’s behalf she does it anyway. Or at least tries to.

She really doesn’t want their work together to end. That’s my greatest take away from this episode. That Scully wants to be out there with Mulder - and she’s willing to fight for it. If she didn’t, then she could have just let this play out, but she fights and fights - until someone shuts her down - to stay by Mulder’s side and continue with him on the X-Files.

You know what I said about Mulder’s charm earlier? He turns it on for Scully, and he’s trying to be charming here - but it’s not working.

When Scully wishes Mulder luck, he banters about how he’s surprised he lasted this long.

This is probably the most touching scene between the two of them in the whole episode, because for the first time, Mulder acknowledges Scully’s feelings when he tells her not to worry. He can see she’s feeling defeated and is concerned for him.

What I think he fails to realise is that she’s not just worried about him for his sake. She doesn’t want to stop working with him too.

The look of utter defeat on her face when she thinks it’s over - it’s almost like she can’t look him in the eye because she thinks she’s failed him in there.

He keeps putting on the brave face though. Trying not to worry her. He looks so sickeningly vulnerable hobbling away on those crutches. And this quip..

Ugh it just hits you in the heart, doesn’t it?!

Maybe he should have been fired here, then he could have asked her on a date because they’re not partners anymore and he’s out of the FBI. Then they might have got married and had babies and AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

No, brain. Stop.

Being serious now... because as disarmingly charming as Mulder is being, isn’t this all a little bit too casual for a man who is about to lose everything?

It’s actually in moments like these that we see how easily Mulder becomes his most reckless and self-destructive. He wants to believe so badly, that all else falls to the wayside when someone dangles a tantalising piece of the whole in front of him. His singular obsessive nature is so easily turned against him in this way.

Which is why he needs Scully to look out for him.

Mulder thinks he’s grasped something huge here, but we know that it’s merely a fragment of the whole, and those greater truths he will discover in the next 9 years would have been utterly lost to him if he didn’t have Scully there to keep him on the right path - keep him grounded.

He seems to have all but given up hope of continuing on the X-Files in this scene. Perhaps that was the reason for his casual attitude all along - he knew they would use this to get rid of him no matter what he did.

Perhaps he’s about ready to jump full blown into Max’s lifestyle – forget procedure and the FBI – that’s all just getting in the way.

Mulder gives an incredible speech here which seems to point to that conclusion, in a way. That the truth will out, regardless of the machinations of the FBI, whomever they serve and whether or not they fire him. He will keep pursuing the truth.

Man, what a mic drop moment.

But if he had been sacked here, Scully would have been reassigned and he would have gone right down the rabbit hole without her. See season 2.

Again, it’s incredibly fortuitous for Mulder that he met Scully. She really did save him from a life of ridicule and obscurity, a life in his season 1 youth he might have embraced in some petulant act of defiance against the world. But that ultimately only he would have suffered from... and Scully.

Mulder was, and always has been, walking a very fine line between obscurity and legitimacy… and while Mulder is indeed a brilliant man with an incredible mind – a beautiful mind as Scully would later describe it in The Sixth Extinction – he is constantly under attack, whether that be from his traumatic past, or the forces within and without the FBI that seek to turn him on himself or on those around him.

In short, he could have very easily fallen off the edge if he had no one to hold him back.

Scully truly is his guardian angel.

Next up... 1x11 - Eve.

#thexfiles #x files #txf gifs #txf meta #txf analysis #x files msr analysis series #dana scully #fox mulder #gillian anderson #david duchovny #chris carter #txf 1x10 #fallen angel #msr

107 notes · View notes

tagsecretsanta · 7 years ago

Text

From wonderavian

to @marsmckie

I do not own this piece of art/fiction. @wonderavian is the original creator and has agreed to this being posted on this blog for Secret Santa 2017.

Of Bad Designs and Holiday Gifts

Christmas Morning. Everyone – and yes, that includes John – was gathered around the Christmas Tree to unwrap Christmas presents.

This year, John was the last to open his stash of gifts. He sat cross-legged on the floor, and gave the thumbs up to say, ‘I’m ready.’

The first one, from Alan, who demanded that John open his first, was a pack of space-themed playing cards, with pictures Alan himself took from post-rescue missions and pictures sent from John’s old NASA buddies. As John flipped through them he realized he recognized some of the missions. A rush of fond sentiment filled him when he reached the last one, a selfie that Alan had asked to take with him on Thunderbird 5 the day Alan was allowed to take monitor duty with John.

John reached over to ruffle Alan’s hair.

“Thank you, Alan. I love it.”

Alan blushed.

“Aw, it was nothing,” he said as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. He quietly busied himself in playing with the new code game John had got him.

Next, from Scott, who handed over a well-wrapped present. Trust Scott to wrap his gifts up so tight it takes almost a minute and a razor to get the gift wrap off.

In the end, Scott had given John a set of guns – Han Solo’s blaster pistol and Spock’s phaser.

Grinning mulishly, John aimed the phaser at Scott and fired. Scott jerked up, pretending to be shot, and fell sideways off his chair.

“Nice, Scott. Thank you,” John smirked playfully.

“You’re welcome,” Scott said from the floor.

Virgil calmly handed his present over, which was nicely wrapped up in design paper that he likely made himself. Inside was a star wheel notebook for John to map out constellations and take notes while stargazing.

John gave Virgil an appreciative smile; the gift was not only aesthetically pleasing and thoughtful, but useful. John may love Thunderbird 5’s data recording functions, but he had a thing for star-mapping by hand.

Virgil winked at him and sat back on his chair.

Kayo gave him a set of novels John had been interested in reading.

Brains gave him a pair of gloves with special magnets set in the fingertips he made himself.

Grandma plonked a handknitted beanie the colour of Thunderbird 5 on his head when he wasn’t not looking.

MAX glided in with two packages in his hands, one from the Creighton Ward Estate and one from the International Space Station.

Lady Penelope had sent John yet more books, probably after catching reading in his little alcove in Thunderbird 5.

Captain Ridley O’Bannon had sent John a miniature version of the ISS with a card that said, ‘I still haven’t forgotten how you saved us. Hopefully that will be the last time we meet under such dire circumstances. Thank you and Merry Christmas – From Ridley and the ISS crew’.

John grinned at the message, shaking his head fondly and slightly exasperatedly at the memories it brought up.

John gently put Ridley’s gift down in his large pile of presents and turned to the last person to present him with a gift with trepidation.

Gordon had been suspiciously quiet during the gift giving, which was very uncharacteristic of him. The family joker was looking at John with something akin to anxiety mixed with poorly disguised impatience on his face. His hands, tightly clasped together only added to his nervous stature.

John dared to raise an eyebrow.

Gordon hastened to hand over his gift.

John carefully took the lumpy parcel from Gordon. It was light in his hands. Unwrapping it slowly, the hastily wrapped present revealed – a tee shirt.

John frowned.

“Uh, Gordon? What is this?” John lifted the shirt up with a questioning look.

“Look at the design.”

John did so and blanched.

‘MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMAL’

“You… you got me…” John said faintly.

“John? What does it say?” Virgil asked, concerned.

John silently turned the shirt around to show his family.

No-one said anything. Alan and Brains looked a little shocked. Kayo, Virgil and Grandma shook their heads. A muscle on Scott’s forehead twitched.

Gordon started to laugh.

John continued to sit there, staring in horror at the hideous, brightly coloured shirt.

Gordon laughed until his face was red and there were tears in his eyes.

“I don’t understand,” John said bluntly.

Gordon fell off his chair.

“Are you going to put it on, John?” Grandma finally asked.

A moment passed where John seemed to argue silently with himself. Then he seemed to shrug, and proceeded to slowly put the shirt on, all the while looking slightly mortified.

“Well?” Kayo asked, smirking.

“It actually fits,” John commented, tugging at it with a curious expression.

Gordon looked endlessly relieved.

Scott, meanwhile, looked like he was about to have a conniption. Whether one of rage or hysterics, it couldn’t be said.

“Well,” Grandma said, standing up with a flourish. “Why don’t we all pack up this mess and have some of my Christmas cooking? I made cookies!”

The rest of the Tracy Island inhabitants looked at each other, smiled painfully, and each bid a hasty retreat.

After more games and lunch, which John had been forced to wear the shirt under Grandma’s watchful eye, John made up and excuse to go to his room – something about fixing his telescope after Alan got his grubby teenager fingerprints on it (“Hey!”) and locked the door and stay there, hiding away from curious stares and Gordon’s irritating cackling.

Once he was in the safety of his room, John took the shirt and just looked at it. It was definitely of good quality and it fit him nicely, the material even felt nice and silky. It was the slogan that put him off.

‘MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMAL’

John stared at it hopelessly.

This slogan wasn’t something he’d say. The shirt wasn’t something he’d usually wear. It was more suited for Gordon himself and maybe Scott would wear it. But John? No. John wearing something as vulgar and as off-putting as this was unheard of.

John was uniform. John was polite. John was so much a stick-to-the-rules kind of guy Gordon sometimes said he had a stick up his ass.

Whether it was a late gift of not, it was certainly done on purpose. And it certainly wasn’t like it was up to the calibre of gifts they usually gave each other, especially the gift John had gotten Gordon this year (a better, upgraded diving suit John had worked on when he was off-shift for six months).

Screw Christmas.

John was more than a little annoyed.

Taking off the shirt and laying it on his barely used dresser, John left the privacy of his room and sneaked over to Alan’s, where he was probably still playing with the code game.

Knocking on the door, John heard Alan gasp quietly before a quick clicking noise was heard. The door opened only slightly, so John could only see one bright blue eye peering out at him in alarm.

“John? What do you want?”

John blinked.

“What are you doing? What was all that about,” John inquired, naturally concerned.

The door opened more so that John could see Alan’s entire face. John shot a look at the computer, but the screen was off. However, Alan’s headphones were lying on the desk.

“I was talking to my friends,” Alan said.

“But you don’t have any friends,” John blurted out before he could stop himself.

Alan’s excited expression instantly shut down.

“Thanks, John,” he said flatly. “What do you want?”

John floundered, flustered.

“I’m sorry, that was stupid of me,” John said in a rush, wincing when Alan muttered angrily, “Damn right it was.”

“I need your help.”

Alan raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah?”

“I need to get back at Gordon, and you’re the only one who won’t tell,” John looked at Alan imploringly.

Alan nodded, lips pursed.

“Well, you’re right there. Except for Kayo maybe. And I AM the best person on this island for ‘getting back’ at people, second again only to Kayo,” Alan said in agreement.

John foolishly allowed himself to feel hope.

“So will you help me?”

Alan pretended to think about it.

“No,” he said, and shut the door in John’s face.

John went to Kayo next.

She took one look at his sad expression, then pushed him in the direction of Gordon’s room.

“Alan told me what happened. Just go talk to Gordon,” she said with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

Scott listened quietly as John explained the situation, face blank save for the occasional downward twitching of the corners of his mouth.

Eventually, Scott just sighed and said, “Look, as much as I hate to admit it, I shouldn’t really be helping you with this. For all we know, Gordon was trying to be genuine with what he got you. You know how he is. Either way, you got yourself into this mess and I have complete confidence that you’ll be able to get yourself out.”

Brains was locked away in his lab. John wouldn’t be expecting any help from him.

John went into the kitchen to get a drink.

Grandma saw him and offered him some eggnog.

John quietly excused himself, saying he had duties to get back to soon, and he couldn’t afford to indulge in such luxuries now.

Grandma smiled sadly at him.

John wished he hadn’t been the cause of such an expression.

And then Grandma asked why he wasn’t wearing Gordon’s shirt, and John remembered his mission.

He barely needed to say anything when Grandma huffed at him, and told him to go see Virgil.

Virgil listened intently to what John had to say. He didn’t interrupt at any point, just let John get it all out. Again. But somehow talking to Virgil made a weight lift from John’s chest.

“I just wish I could understand why he gave me the shirt, Virgil. I mean, as a prank or some kind of joke, but now? At Christmas time? Doesn’t it seem a little rich? Can’t Gordon ever be serious for once? I don’t understand him Virgil, I really don’t.”

Virgil nodded.

“Do you think that is what it really is? A joke?” he asked calmly. “Because I don’t think he meant it maliciously.”

John made a noncommittal noise.

“If it’s a joke, then it’s a bad one. You don’t think this is to get back at me for making him do monitor duty with Alan and EOS when I was at that party with Lady Penelope? I did tell him I didn’t expect EOS to act so childishly. And I did tell him afterwards he did a good job regardless.”

Virgil nodded, then shook his head.

“I get that, but I think you’re missing the point. If that had anything to do with the shirt, then I doubt it would be for that. You know Gordon likes Penelope.”

John blinked.

“Yeah, I do.”

Virgil nodded, continued, “But I don’t think he gave you the shirt because he’s mad with you. Even if he was, he’s not as cruel to do something like that on purpose…”

“Or without an ulterior motive,” John finished for him, his eyes widening in realization.

Virgil raised an eyebrow, questioning. John grinned.

“Thank you Virgil, you’ve been a great help,” John said as ran out the door to his bedroom.

“You’re welcome?” Virgil said to the closing door.

Shaking his head in fond exasperation, Virgil shut the swaying door gently and turned back to his sketchbook.

“Little brothers,” he muttered, rolling his eyes as he reached for a pen.

Dear Brains…

John quietly knocked on Alan’s door and waited tentatively for an answer. When none came, he called out softly, “Alan? It’s me. I’m sorry. I want to talk to you.”

Seconds passed.

John held his breath. After ten seconds he made to turn away.

The creaking of the door opening made him turn back, not daring to allow himself to feel hopeful this time.

Alan’s hurt eyes gazed up at him.

“What do you want,” he said flatly.

“I’m sorry, Alan. What I said was very rude and I wanted to apologize. May I come in?”

Blue eyes stared into light green ones.

“Okay,” he said, and stepped aside to let John in.

Once inside, John nervously rubbed his hands together.

“Look. I’m sorry about what I said. It wasn’t nice and was just plain rude. I’d do anything to take it back.”

Alan scrutinized John, then shrugged and nodded.

“Its okay. I get where you’re coming from,” Alan sighed as he sank into his desk chair. “Its not like I get off the island much anyway.”

John winced at that and sat down on Alan’s bed, facing his brother.

“You know you could just ask.”

Alan made a face.

“I have. Its just never been a good enough time or reason or I get called away or…”

Alan rubbed his face. John silently observed that his baby brother looked more tired than usual. Worn. Resigned.

“Anyway. You said something about getting back at Gordon?”

John let a breath, hung his head.

“I’ve been throwing a hissy fit.”

“Yeah, you kind of have.”

John looked up at Alan.

“I mean, can’t say I blame you, but you haven’t exactly been very mature about this.”

John laughed.

“Someone needs to tell Gordon that.”

Alan smiled.

“So, what do you have in mind?”

In answer, John stood up and walked to the door. He turned to look at Alan.

“I’m going to go see him now. Are you coming?”

“One second.”

Alan turned in his chair and typed in a message explaining what was happening as fast as he could. Then he logged out of discord, shut off his computer and grinned, showing his teeth, and raced to follow John out.

John had to ask.

“So… was those your friends?”

Alan rolled his eyes.

“Yes, John, my friends. You remember Brandon and Conrad right?”

Conrad, John could remember. But Brandon? As in Brandon Berrenger, the kid who drove Scott up the wall?

“Huh,” John said, and led the way out.

John trudged up to Gordon’s room with an air of resigned acceptance. By now he had truly calmed down and was willing to talk it out with his joker of a brother.

Beside him, Alan was tapping his foot on the ground with nervous energy.

John rapped his knuckles on the door, and a voice from inside said, “Come in.”

“Hey Gordon.”

Gordon swung around in his chair, dropping his guitar onto a bean bag.

“Johnny! What a surprise! So, did you like my present in the end?”

John took a deep breath.

“It was… interesting. I can safely say I wasn’t expecting it.”

Gordon clapped his hands together.

“Well that’s good! I trust you’ll put it in your supply bag for when you return to space?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” John muttered. “Look, Gordon, why give me that shirt anyway?”

“Because it’s funny.”

John took a deep breath.

“Right. So, its not because you were hiding something else?”

Gordon looked caught. Alan stepped out from behind John and attempted to lock eyes with him.

“You can let the cat out of the bag now, Gordon.”

Gordon stood up, let out a melodramatic sigh, and rummaged under his bed for something.

Stepping over multiple bundles of clothes, books and models that littered the floor, Gordon deposited a carboard box in John’s hands.

John raised an eyebrow.

“Okay…?” he started to clumsily open the box, balancing it on his knee.

A sudden scuffling noise and a startled mewl came from inside.

John froze.

Gordon gave him a significant look.

“Open it carefully.”

John stared.

Alan’s eyes widened.

John set the box down on the ground. Tentatively, he opened the top of the box.

John clapped a hand to his mouth.

“John? Are you alright? Is it…?” Alan peeked around, trying to see.

John slowly and gently lifted the tiniest kitten either of the two astronauts had ever seen. The tiny fluffy creature had extremely fluffy orange fur and bright green and blue eyes that bore a striking resemblance to John’s own eyes.

Gordon coughed, shuffling his feet, hands in his pockets.

“I would have given you to him earlier, but I wasn’t sure he would be able to handle such a crowd so early. He’s very shy. And you needn’t worry, I had him tested and everything, and he won’t bite you,” Gordon let out in a rush.

Alan looked closely at his fellow astronaut.

“John, are you… crying?”

John lifted the kitten up to eye level and stared into eyes the same colour as his own. John’s eyes may have been watery, but his face was blank.

Thoughts of the kitten being trodden on in the busy house, of John saying, “It can’t stay here,” and “It can’t live on Thunderbird 5,” disappeared when John whispered, “Nice to meet you… Apollo.”

Gordon and Alan shared a look and grinned.

Everything was going to be okay.

#Thunderbirds are go #Tag Team Secret Santa #Secret Santa 2017 #fanfic #all the bros

26 notes · View notes

hailqiqi · 7 years ago

Note

1, 5, 13, 22, 28 I can send them five times so you do each one, but I fear you might hate me for this, so I give you a Chichester ("I give you a choice" but my phone has decided I need to give you some British town, and I'd give you that too! It has a nice gallery, I've been there once)

1 - ‘We’re not just friends, and you fucking know it’Posted to AO3 here.

Who said Prompts have to be answered Promptly?

The market wasbeside one of the most spectacular ice rinks Lance had ever seen.

The ice was ashimmering, silvery white - something about metals in the water making it moresilver than the ice back at Earth - and the rink was surrounded by trees withpale green trunks and baby blue leaves. Lanterns strung between them twinkledlike stars in the night, and what looked like fairies glowed amongst the leavesand zoomed across the rink itself, leaving coloured trails behind them as theyweaved between the skaters (he’d been told they were a type of firefly, butthey looked like fairies so Lance was going to call them fairies and just bedone with it).

Topping it alloff - literally - were the wispy pink clouds that drifted lazily in the nightsky above it, only partially obscuring the view of the magnificent swirlinggalaxy that was host to the Ulippa system.

It was themost breathtakingly romantic sight Lance had ever seen. The rest of theteam had gasped in awe as well, and Pidge had honest-to-goodness squealedwhen she saw it. Lance hadn’t even known she was capable of it.

Tysa, theirguide, smiled gently at them. “I see you like the gliding ring, Paladins.Unfortunately it is only for those who know the fine music of pairdom.”

Aaaaand thereit was. Lance had always hated being single on Valentine’s Day, but that was nothingcompared to how much he was coming to hate being single on Ayurla.

Romantic lovewas celebrated on Ayurla. It was a goal, something that everybody must try andattain, and in order to encourage that it felt like just about every coolactivity on the planet was reserved for couples. Love was the foremost thoughton everybody’s mind and being in love seemed to be the be-all and end-all toeverything. It was like Valentine’s Day 24/7.

Lance couldunderstand it if Ayurlans had soulmates or something, but Tysa had said thatmost Ayurlans had many partners over their lifetimes - and multiple partners atonce wasn’t uncommon, either. He’d also been confused when Hunk had asked aboutmarriage or life-long commitments, seeming surprised that humans were prone to tiethemselves to one person for the rest of their lives.

Lance didn’tget it. What was the point of being in love if it wasn’t going to be forever?

Hunk nudgedhim with his elbow, breaking him out of his reverie. “Maybe we should justcheck out the market, then?”

“Eh, I guess,”Lance replied, stretching his arms over his head. “I’m kinda disappointedthough. I’ve never been ice skating.”

“Well, itdoesn’t look like that’s going to be possible, so we may as well make the bestof it and explore the market.” Typical Shiro, always encouraging them to makethe best out of a bad situation.

Not that itwas a terrible situation. The market really did look cool: there were foodstands selling everything from frozen candies to steaming tie-dyed soups thathad set Hunk bouncing up and down with excitement; Lance had seen glimpses ofjewellery that looked like it was set with starlight and fabrics thatglittered; other stands had been overladen with displays of every kind of techgadget you could imagine (and then some).

Lance reallydid want to check it out, he’d just rather go ice-skating first.

“If you reallywanna go ice-skating, why not just ask Pidge to go with you?” Lance whippedaround to see Matt grinning at him mischievously, but before he could react theolder man doubled over in pain as Pidge’s fist connected with his gut.

“I told youalready, we’re. Just. Friends!” She ground out, emphasising the last twowords with smaller hits. Her cheeks were red, but it could’ve just been thecold - their paladin armour was temperature-controlled but only covered up tothe neck, and nobody had bothered to bring their helmets despite the fallingsnowflakes.

“If you decideto change that, you’d be welcome on the ice,” Tysa chipped in serenely.

Lance felt hisown cheeks heat up in response (to the cold, obviously). “Uh, thanks. We’llkeep that in mind.”

“Sure wewill,” Pidge added, crossing her arms as she looked away from the group. “So,Tysa, can we go explore the market? There were a few stalls that Matt and Iwanted to check out.”

Her cheekswere a deep red now.

Could he stillblame that on the cold?

“Certainly,”the guide answered. “I will be waiting here in case you need any assistance.”

—

Lance ended upwandering the market with Hunk and Allura. The market was as fascinating as ithad looked and his companions kept alternately shoving interesting foods andshiny trinkets in his face, but Lance found himself too distracted to take itin properly.

Pidge had beenblushing around him a lot lately.

She always hadthough, hadn’t she? The light dusting of pink that often coloured her cheekshad been a familiar sight to Lance for as long as he’d known her, even backwhen he’d thought she was a him. She was probably only blushing more oftenlately because her stupid brother had a habit of opening his big mouth andsaying things like he had earlier.

Lance foughtback a wave of irritation at the thought. Stupid Matt and his stupidsuggestions. Pidge and him had a good thing going - they played games in hisroom together, watched movies together, sometimes sat up in the observationdeck together when they couldn’t sleep. He’d help her find bugs in her code andshe’d help him with his hand-to-hand. They had an easy rapport - they spentmost of their time together joking and laughing, and they were comfortableenough with each other that casual hugs and touches and leaning on each otherwere all just part of hanging out.

But then Mattwould make some stupid comment and suddenly they’d be five feet apart, cheeksburning and unable to look at each other. It made conversation stilted andawkward and Lance hated it.

“Look, Hunk,it’s a divining ball! I used to have one of these!” Allura grabbed somethingthat looked like a Magic 8 Ball and held it to her chest, closing her eyes.Hunk said something in reply but Lance tuned it out, running his fingers oversome of the shimmery red love-heart cushions instead.

What made itworse was that he couldn’t figure out why Matt’s comments affected himthe way they did. Him and Pidge were friends, just friends. Sure, she waspretty in her nerdy way (more like beautiful), and he felt like he was just ina constant state of being impressed when he was around her, and then he foundit hard to do anything but smile when he was around her, but that didn’t mean…

Wait.

Lance’s eyeswidened and his fingers stilled as the pieces slot into place.

Oh.

He lookedaround wildly, gaze finally settling on a painting of a pair of Ayurlan loversin a park as he tried to reign his thoughts in.

This wasn’thow it was supposed to happen! When Lance fell in love it there was meant to befireworks and a choir of angels, the whole shebang. He was meant to seerainbows and roses and just know that she was The One the moment he sawher (or at least the moment he realised).

Yet here hewas, very clearly feeling something for Pidge and yet there hadn’t been anyfanfare. He couldn’t even figure out when things had changed, couldn’t pinpointthe moment he fell for her. At some point it had just become as natural asbreathing.

But falling inlove wasn’t supposed to be quiet, was it? It was meant to be somethingthat consumed your whole being, filled you with burning, fiery passion,stopping you from thinking about anything else. At least that’s what all thesongs said.

So did he loveher?

“Hey, Lance! Buddy, are you okay?” Hunk’sconcerned face was suddenly filling his vision, and Lance leaned back to getsome space. “You look out of it.”

Lance blinked,shaking himself out of his stupor before replying. “Uh, yeah, sorry man. Just…”Just what, exactly? Just realised I might be in love with our other bestfriend? “Just got a lot on my mind.”

“Oh, youshould try this then!” Allura smiled enthusiastically as she pushed the silverball at him. “It’s a divining ball!”

“A diviningball?”

“Yes! I usedto have one as a girl. You hold it to your chest and ask for help, and it tellsyou what you most need to hear.”

Lance raisedone eyebrow. “Sounds more like a motivational ball.”

“That’s what Isaid!” Hunk chimed in. “It really works though. It told me I need to stopthinking about things that probably won’t happen, and I have to admit it’s gota point.”

Lance shotthem both a disbelieving look before taking the ball from Allura and holding itin front of his chest. “Like this, then?”

“Yes, justlike that,” Allura confirmed. “Then you close your eyes and ask it inside yourmind for help.”

He closed hiseyes.

I think I’m inlove with someone but I don’t think that’s how love works.

The ball inhis hands grew warm.

“Love exists,whether it is acknowledged or not.”

Lance openedhis eyes. Huh.

That madesense.

“Uh, buddy?What did you ask it?” Hunk and Allura were looking at him, confused expressionson both of their faces.

Lanceshrugged, his cheeks flushing, “Just…things.”

He looked downat the ball again, then held it up to his chest and closed his eyes.

Okay, so if Ilove her, what do I do about it?

He felt warmthspring to life under his palms again, and opened his eyes expectantly.

“Love makessilence golden, but silence can never make love bloom.”

Well. Okaythen.

Confidencebloomed in his chest, and he grinned. This was gonna be great.

“Here Allura,I gotta go,” Lance said, pushing the divining ball back towards Allura. “Thanksfor this!”

“Where are yougoing?” She called after him, confused, but Lance ignored her as he pushed hisway through the crowds.

He just had tolook for a big blue and orange guy with a gap in the crowd next to him. Sheshouldn’t be too hard to find.

—

“Pidge!”

Pidge whirledaround as he made his way towards her, breathless from pushing his way throughthe crowds. He’d had to go all the way to the other side of the rink, but he’dfinally found them.

She frowned athim. “Hey, Lance, what’re you-“

“Do you wannago ice skating with me?”

“What?”Pidge’s eyes blew wide, and that light pink Lance had come to love coloured hercheeks. “Lance, we can’t. Tysa said, remember? It’s not for friends.”

Lance snortedand looked her in the eye. “We’re not just friends, and you fucking know it.”

Pidge’s mouthdropped open.

Lance suddenlyfelt the rush of confidence deflate and took a step back, bringing a hand up tohis neck and looking away nervously. “Uh, that is, if you wanna be. Uh, go.Ice-skating.”

Screwing uphis courage, he looked at her again and held out his hand, patently ignoringMatt cracking up a few steps away.

A warm smile slowly bloomed across Pidge’s face, making her eyes shineand her cheeks flush as she reached out and placed her hand in his. “Okay.”

--> Continued Here

#plance #lidge #pidgance #flirtyrobot #my writing #prompts

75 notes · View notes