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beautifulletdownfics · 4 years ago

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Terrible to Meet You - A Harry Styles One Shot - Act 2, Let not the time discern

Harry wants to get out of the house. Alex wants to get home.

Alex meets Harry at at crossroads. Harry meets Alex on a one way street.

A coffee shop OU fic feat. lattes, lamingtons & that Great Unfathomable Feeling.

Story Page Here My Masterlist Here

Read Act 1, If at first we meet Here

Two of Us: 'This universe ain't big enough to keep us apart'

&&&

Harry went back to the cafe the next day. (And, after that, every day for a medium while)

There was something about it. Something about the tiny cafe he must have walked past a hundred times before but never took much notice of. Perhaps it was the way he felt the rest of the day after having been there. Or the fact the coffee was fucking good. But also maybe it was her—kind eyes, a foreign accent and a quick wit. It would take Harry's mind and body marginally longer than his heart to recognise what pulled him there.

Alex was surprised when he returned. Part of her was relieved, too. The other part of her was busy extracting the dagger of guilt that shot through her chest. Seeing Harry reminded her that she forgot to tell her flatmates the juicy The Daily Dose gossip about Harry Styles. And Harry walking up to the window a little before 8 am with a calm but reassuring smile on his face made something in her still, and Alex realised he wasn't gossip at all.

"Hi," he greeted her pleasantly, seemingly thinking nothing of the way his hand was tucked into the top of his running shorts to extract his phone for payment. (Alex's heart did a lusty little backflip) She saw a slither of a toned tummy and the way the elastic of the shorts folded over itself, "I'm back for more," he said.

More coffee, and more of whatever else it was packaged into the takeaway cups with it. Alex and Paul were Harry's first human interaction after returning from LA. And, where 24 hours prior his aching need had been to see literally anybody, it was now just a need to see more of this somebody. A person whose name he didn't know yet and who Harry had absolutely no reason to feel connected to at all. Knitted hearts aren't visible to the human eye, not when it isn't Looking.

He did though. Although the way she was now watching him with a completely blank expression on her face and a far off look in her eyes made Harry's confidence falter. He repeated what he'd already said over in his head looking for where he might've gone wrong. Harry came up blank. Was she completely freaked out by him already?

Paul rescued her from what Alex was sure was turning into a flushed moment for her. Did Harry really not realise what he'd said with his fingers beyond the elastic of his shorts? Paul's head appeared over her shoulder as a frown started to appear on Harry's face, "Careful Harry, she's a grump today."

Nobody blinked an eye at Paul using Harry's name before it was technically given to them.

"I am not," Alex insisted too quickly, too forcefully. Her elbow launched backwards, trying to catch Paul's gut. She really was a grump. But last night's wine was still causing her head to thump and her throat to ache. Tears and a bottle of red worked well in the moment but weren't as comforting the morning after.

Paul's eyebrows rose in Harry's direction, and he waved a hand out in front of him, expertly weaving away from her attack even in the tiny space, "See?"

"Ah," Harry nodded awkwardly and briefly looked at his feet.

"Doesn't like it when I start talking about universe stuff," Paul explained loudly, despite nobody asking for him to. "Very spiritually pragmatic, the Australians."

"Didn't know that," Harry added, expression turning to one of interest. He wasn't involved in this part of the conversation the previous day.

"Long black?" Alex asked because yes she remembered his order, and she had the defence of it having been less than 24 hours since she last made Harry's coffee in case anyone started raising eyebrows for another reason.

"Uh, yeah," Harry fumbled over how quickly the exchange turned to business, "Thank you."

She got to work but felt Harry's eyes on her as her hands ran on autopilot, stepping through the process. The click click of the bean hopper, the churn of the grinder, packing the head … Alex put the machine on to run and internally cursed Paul, who took himself into the back room, mumbling something about them running low on serviettes. A blatant lie.

Now, when she turned back to Harry, she tried to look calm and serene, like him. But she was already covered in coffee grind and couldn't be sure there wasn't a smudge of it across her face. Paul never told her when there was. Harry's heart was waving to hers widely.

"So … You're definitely not in a bad mood then?" Harry had an expression on his face that told Alex he was testing the waters, but the teasing note was there in just the right amount.

"I'm hungover, which is completely different," she provided.

His smile turned into a grimace, "Oh yeah, completely … Nothing worse … Self-inflicted misery."

Alex tried not to let Harry's awkwardness affect her and in doing so fell into an old pastime of hers; filing the silence with mindless chatter, "Exactly. And then if you add in some idiot going on about the universe and it's wonderful, eternal plans for my existence … I could just kill a man, you know?"

Paul, Paul is the man I could kill, she thought.

He didn't know, but Harry nodded obediently anyway, "You need carbs and coffee, not the cosmos."

"Thank you," Alex gave Harry a look that told him she thought it was obvious the two of them were right, "I mean, the downright gall of that man, trying to put the universe on me this year of all years. Absolutely bloody insane."

Harry tried to hide the instant smile that came to his face hearing her accent navigate absolutely bloody insane. "I'm Harry … By the way … Feel like we're at names."

"Alexandra. But it's Alex." She added quickly, ignoring the lovely, melodic chuckle that came from Harry, "Do you really think that this year, with a global pandemic, anyone can claim that the universe is conspiring for their specific good? Like, 'Sorry everyone about the pandemic, this is really about my destiny, so you're all just going to have to hang tight while that all falls into place!' This is a terrible year. The universe isn't setting up shit."

"Well, it's terrible to meet you, Alex," Harry grinned, stealing her word. She really was in a grump, and he loved it. But if there was one thing Harry knew how to do, it was charm and disarm. He had a feeling nothing would look as lovely as Alex with a blush he'd put there.

Alex paused where she was about to put the lid on his coffee. She felt her cheeks heat as the last few moments played over in her head—her ranting, Harry's introduction, threatening to murder a man—and then she took in the way he was watching her. A little pink-cheeked himself, amused but not appalled, a waiting look of anticipation on his face for what might come out of her big mouth next.

"I think I might still be a little drunk," she excused meekly. Despite herself, Alex thought she might have a little crush.

"You're handling it well," Harry provided kindly, taking the coffee from where Alex put it down in front of him. He waved his phone over the payment portal, waiting for the beep before locking the screen and going back to looking at her, "Drinking for any particular reason?"

"Oh," Alex's eyes widened, "I—

—"Sorry, that was intrusive of me."

"No, it's okay," she continued quietly, not seeing the way her softening had Harry frowning in concentration to tune into what she was about to say, "I've been trying to get home—back to Australia—for a while now. Flights keep getting cancelled or, on Saturday, I was bumped from one at Heathrow…. So we're back to square one."

Dread filled Harry instantly. He could see how upset Alex was, the heartache in her voice—the homesickness—and he hated this look on her, the opposite to the one he'd just daydreamed about. If there was one thing Harry knew it was what it was to miss home. There was no cure for it. A dozen ways he could offer to help burst to the tip of his tongue, but he held them back.

"I'm sorry, that's really shit. Have …" he hesitated to ask, "Have they put you on another one?"

She smiled through glassy eyes, "It's complicated, that's not really how flights home are working at the moment … But it's alright! I'm fine. I'll get there eventually. I got the refund for the first one, back in April, last week and Paul's let me come back to work here three times now so … This can't last forever, right?"

Harry didn't have an answer for that, he was in no hurry to return to his house as he took a sip of his coffee, "How long has it been since you were home?"

"I went back for a visit a little over two years ago," Alex flipped a button on the espresso machine in front of her, to distract herself from the subject but also the way Harry was watching her. If only she could see the way the hearts were watching each other. She started rinsing out her coffee mug under the stream of boiling water, "My sister came over for Christmas last year, though."

"I just got back from America," Harry provided without knowing where the urge to comfort this stranger was coming from, "I was only gone a few months, and it was a little hard to get back, it felt dreadful, so I can't imagine what it's like for you. That's a long time to be so far from home, especially now."

While he spoke, Alex started making herself a latte, for something to do in the moment and for something to hold onto if Harry stayed at the window.

"How long have you been in London?" He asked. How long have you been just around the corner? Harry thought.

When she looked over at him, Harry felt like she was seeing through him. There was something about her soft, brown eyes and the way they exuded kindness that had him buoyant with giddiness at the same time as feeling incredibly self-conscious.

"Four years now," Alex told him, "Was supposed to be just a 12-month adventure."

"Your family must miss you then."

She shrugged, "I think they're used to it now. Life moves on without you, which is strange at first. Tough to get used to, that the people who own you suddenly have lives you only know about from catch-ups and Instagram posts."

Harry didn't know how to tell her that he knew exactly what she meant. He'd been struggling with that very notion for years now. Home never left like the same home he remembered, and wherever he found himself living—LA or the road—never quite felt right either.

"I've loved it though," Alex added, "Wouldn't have stayed if I didn't. This year though … I just want to be home, London's… Lost something."

Harry watched her shake herself out of the sad moment, her face brightened, and he barely registered the way Alex said in a genuinely upbeat fashion that she'd just have to wait for her time. He smiled along with the rising of her cheeks and felt like he saw a transition between two feelings that was entirely healthy and okay. She wasn't pretending. Her graciousness and patience with life were astounding, despite the fact he'd equally seen her sadness as being genuine as well. The balance there was enlightening.

"Need to make the most of the bonus time you've been given here then," he tried hesitantly. The hearts nodded at each other, gleefully.

That had been the right thing to say, the smile on Alex's face amplified in agreement, "Exactly.”

3AM 'She's got a little bit of something' &&&

Alex was sitting on an upturned milk crate as Harry rounded the corner.

His step faltered but only because she was looking right at him as if expecting him to arrive. He smiled under his mask and tugged it down while he was still a reasonable distance away. Alex smiling at him, holy hell did that taste—the flavour of her spirit—feel good in Harry's chest. Each day for nearly a month he'd felt the same way every time he saw her.

Alex received a text message from Harry just after 7 am that morning. Unlike the ones he sent every other day telling her he was on his way (an old fashioned tip from his sister, to demonstrate to Alex that Harry was thinking of her) that morning Harry told her he wouldn't see her until the afternoon. All day, she waited. Her heart tapped its foot impatiently in her chest, a nervous ticking that made Alex clumsy and disappointed when every new customer wasn't him.

"Hello," Harry grinned back at her, because that was all he could do, really. In her presence happiness exploded out of him and charged his whole body faster than caffeine ever could. His shoe scuffed the concrete path again as he looked at the closed cafe behind her, "Did I miss something?"

Harry stopped a safe distance from her, not sure how this new level of interaction would go. He'd never seen her whole body all at once, part of her was always obscured by the cafe window. Alex in the flesh—in the whole—was like the first taste of chilli on his tongue, invigorating in a way that stole the breath from his lungs.

"We close at three every day," she stayed seated but pushed another crate towards him with her foot. There were brown smudges of coffee grind all up and down her shins, and he guessed the black jeans she wore to work were strategic.

Harry squinted the sign on the window by the door, he was always occupied by her and didn't need arbitrary activities like reading signs to keep him entertained waiting for his coffee, "Really?"

"You usually come in the morning," Alex said pleasantly, waiting for him to sit down opposite her, "Here."

Harry was overwhelmed, he really was, by the sight of a white takeaway cup in her hand, and he reached for it carefully, "What's this—Alex."

"Can't have you missing your coffee … Made it right before closing, had to put the tiniest drop of milk in there otherwise it would shit itself and taste horrendous," she laughed at his wrinkled nose at the mention of milk, he sniffed the lid just to tease her or to get her to roll her eyes at him blithely. It worked, "It won't kill you, promise."

"Says someone whose intestines know how to handle lactose without making you shit yourself," he borrowed her phrase. Sounded better when Alex said it, with the wideness and the breadth of her accent.

Alex tilted her head back and laughed. Really laughed and Harry didn't have it in him to be embarrassed or scold himself for how he just spoke about his bowels in front of her, because the sound is marvellous and so Alex. It's unapologetic and genuine and a touch off-beat, which he loves.

"Holy shit," she let out a long, shaking breath afterwards, holding a palm to her rib as if in pain. She was pretending not to notice how Harry stared at her while she was laughing as if extremely happy with himself. "You wear white bottoms far too often for that to be a daily worry for you."

"Oh, it's a worry," Harry insisted, mainly to keep the joke going. He felt like his face was about to crack in half, "I can't have people spiking my coffees without my knowledge," Harry took a sip but then pointed his finger at her playfully, "I'm going to have to keep an eye on you."

As if he wasn't already.

"Busy day?" Alex asks, watching Harry take a hearty sip of the coffee she made him.

"Yeah, I um … I had some, ah, work stuff."

"Oh?" Alex crossed one leg over the other and looked at Harry with (mock) interest, "What do you do for work?"

Harry's eyes bulged involuntarily, and his mind went completely blank. Did she actually not know?

Alex only let the horror play on his face for a few seconds, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding. Jesus, Harry, sorry. I was just having a go."

"You're an excellent actress, as it turns out," he swallowed down the moment of panic. It only ever happened once before, years before, that a girl he'd been interested in hadn't known who Harry was beforehand. It hadn't ended up going down well.

Alex asks Harry about the book recommendation she sent him the week before, whether he'd started reading it yet.

Harry held up a finger at her, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he said, "But I haven't had lunch … I'd promised myself one of Paul's ham and cheese croissants."

"Well, you're shit out of luck, unfortunately," Alex told him, "He takes the keys with him, I can't break in and make you one. But the cafe on the high street around the corner stays open until five. You could try there?"

Harry felt like he was about to defecate himself, but it wasn't from the lactose, "Will you join me?"

Alex's eyes brightening instantly, but Harry didn't miss the way her cheeks reddened, "Sure. Of course."

"Great!" Harry coughed down his too-enthusiastic response then worried—as everyone did in 2020—that his physical reaction to her saying yes, the cough, would be interpreted as a symptom of something else entirely. He checks the time on his Apple Watch, "Should we go then?"

They walk in step away from The Daily Dose, and away from the previous pattern of their friendship. It strikes them both that this is the first time (both trip over 'first' in their minds as having the possibility to suggest it happening more often but their hearts have known all along, of course) they were out in the world together, the first time they were more than barista and customer.

Harry's hand touched Alex's forearm when they got to the cafe's door as he held it open and encouraged her to go inside. They ordered takeaway, Harry got a croissant (he was still working on the coffee Alex made him) while Alex ordered a tea. They then walked back a little way to where there was a small park with vacant seats Harry noticed on the way past.

"So, the book …" Alex asked him, the lid of her tea is off to let the heat escape. She’d crossed her legs and angled her hips towards him on the bench seat. Harry faced forward, heart hammering as he tried to remember how to use his voice.

Harry struggled to look dignified while biting into his too-hot croissant, the cheese burnt his lip, but he tried to hide it, "Oh, yeah, well, I haven't started it."

"I thought you said you wanted to speak to me about it!" She laughed.

"A ploy," Harry admitted sheepishly, "Was trying to figure out how to ask you to come with me."

In her head, Alex squealed. Her heart held two thumbs up at Harry's.

"How's the coffee," she asked, eyeing the cup in his hand.

Harry grins, knowing his next line is a winner, "Best in London, easily."

+++

GIve me all your best Alex & Harry theories Act 3, Hearts beat not fail - coming soon!

+++

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#fic: terrible to meet you #1dff #harry fic #harry styles story #harry fan fic #harry styles fanfic

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ackerfics · 4 years ago

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your eyes still shined, like pretty lights — mikasa ackerman

— mikasa ackerman x female reader (modern au)

— request by anon: ooh how about some childhood best friends to lovers with mikasa? also based from taylor swift’s mary’s song :)

— warnings: none? just too much fluff and a hint of angst :))

— summary: you never knew that being childhood best friends with mikasa would lead to you finding forever within her gray eyes.

— word count: 6.3k words

— author’s notes: i am so happy that this is my first request !! thank you for requesting this and i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i loved writing it. i never knew writing mikasa would evoke feelings i was so familiar with back when there were face to face interactions with people. i will be forever grateful for the request !! you are a gem.

i reposted this bc it seems like this didn’t appear in the tags :(( i hope this works now :”((

> just two kids, you and i

The scent of apple pies drifted across the Ackerman household, ensnaring the girl of black locks and starlit eyes inside her room on the second floor. It wasn’t a regular day in their neighborhood. For starters, there was a moving truck parked at the house beside them, men shouting for the furniture to be lugged inside the walls of the empty home one by one, and the quiet atmosphere was interrupted by what was ensuing in the neighboring house of the Ackerman’s. Mikasa, the only daughter of the household, wanted to satisfy her curiosity, which flared, even more, when her mother baked one of her special apple pies. Throwing away the homework her first-grade teacher gave them, the young girl padded across her room, opened the door with a bang, and ran towards the kitchen in an excited rush.

With wide eyes, she stood on her tiptoes and peered at the edge of the countertop. There was flour everywhere, or was it powdered sugar? Mikasa will never know unless she will have one taste of it. Just a little taste. And so she carefully reached out one arm to swipe the white ingredient off the counter.

“Mika, don’t even think about it.”

Mikasa froze in her tracks, looking up to meet her mother’s eyes. “But I wanted to know if this is powdered sugar.”

The older woman smiled endearingly at her daughter. “You could’ve just asked, you know? Besides, I think these apple pies are much better than the powdered sugar.” She turned to get one of the pies from the oven with her mittens, then facing Mikasa with a proud smile. “So what do you think? Will our new neighbors love it?”

“Everybody loves your pies, Mom.”

A laugh came from the woman’s lips, letting the delicacies cool down before putting them in a box for their neighbors to enjoy. What her daughter said was true. Every time the light of the Ackerman household baked treats for the neighborhood, she would always receive remarks that she needed to open her bakery, saying that every single one of her treats was divine. She wanted to open her bakery, even to the point of helping out one of her nephews who was starting to have a tea shop as a dream. Her daydreams were interrupted when she saw something move in her peripheral vision. Mikasa was once again reaching out to swipe the caramel apple toppings. “Mika, you will have your share later. For now, we’ll have to be patient, okay?”

The little girl pursed her lips in annoyance. She was getting tired of standing on her tiptoes anyway. She had nothing else to do — she ditched her homework, she was told to wait before eating the dessert, and she was bored out of her mind. The silence stretched on for a couple of minutes, all spent by Mikasa thinking hard on what interesting thing she should be focusing her attention on.

“You know, our new neighbors have a little girl your age, why don’t you introduce yourself to her?”

That was the only catalyst for little Mikasa to make her way to her room, getting the toys she wanted to show, as she brightened at the thought of making new friends. In her elementary school, nobody wanted to be friends with her, knowing that she was known for being blunt and introverted. She was trying her hardest but nobody lasted longer than a few months — they always found a new circle of kids to share their stories with and Mikasa will be left alone again. Her older cousin, Levi, always teased her (in the least condescending way possible) that she should get rid of that permanent frown on her face (like he was one to talk). But it was never Mikasa’s fault that their classroom was always stuffy, with the air conditioner not functioning well. Mikasa doesn’t like being cooped up in a room, sweaty because of the humidity. The little girl rather preferred the coolness of the library, which the other kids didn’t like at all. They wanted to have fun and run around the school’s playground the whole hour of their recess and lunch breaks.

So now, it was an understatement that Mikasa was excited. She even brought some of her toys with her to share with her new neighbor. She hoped the girl liked toy soldiers (it was a gift from Levi on her birthday last year).

The little girl her mother was talking about was sitting on the front porch swing bench.

You were smaller than she and Mikasa wondered how you ever sat in the high swing. Your head was hung down and it looked like you were coloring something, with the way your hands gripped the red crayon. The black-haired girl wanted to call out to you but she doesn’t even know your name. Taking a deep breath, the little girl of gray eyes mustered up her courage and tried quelling the pitter-patter of her heart.

Why was it beating so fast?

The moment she stepped on the lawn of the house next door, Mikasa was sure she was seeing the constellations in your eyes when you looked up to meet her expectant stare.

> take me back to the house in the backyard tree

Mikasa was eight when she had this crazy idea inside her head.

In the two years that the two of you were friends, you always talked about a little safe haven tucked from the eyes of the world. A place where the two of you can be yourselves. A place where magic can happen even in the smallest space. Your eyes would light up blindingly when you talked about the things you will put inside your safe space, Mikasa matching your starry eyes with her own, staring at you silently as you poured out your beautiful dreams to her. The last time the two of you had a sleepover, you were chattering about a hidden library that only opens at certain times at night. The next second, you were off narrating how the stars were the most amazing things that gave you comfort on nights where you miss one of your parents because they were working so late. Then, you were relaying the possibilities of having a little art studio where you’re not afraid of drawing one of your prompts.

Mikasa let you ramble with a smile on her face. She was always a listener, afraid that the shine in your eyes would die down when she would interrupt — you just look so beautiful. However, there were times where you asked her things like her hobbies and likes, almost as if you were listing them down in an imaginary notebook in your head, and it will always catch Mikasa off-guard. Stutters accompanied her answers to your questions, not used to being the center of attention when it should be you. You were just too bright and full of sunshine. When Mikasa mentioned this to you, you only grinned, “Then you’ll be my Moon, Mika. I’ll let you glimmer through the night.”

She never slept that night, staring at the moon through her open window while thinking about your words.

Now, her mission led her to her father’s study, face set in adorable determination.

“Mika? What brings you here?” Her father placed his hands on her waist, lifting her until she was situated on his lap. His focus immediately went to his laptop on his desk. Mikasa’s eyes went from her father’s face to the gadget’s screen. She knew her father’s job was something hard and fun at the same time but looking at what was displayed on the screen, she instantly thought that drawing houses was harder than it looks. There were lines that she never knew were supposed to be there, a sprinkling of equations not suited for primary school was scattered around the blueprint, making Mikasa dizzy enough to place a hand on her forehead. “Complicated, isn’t it?” Her dad asked her in amusement. “This is what your Dad does for a living, Mika.”

“You like drawing houses, right?” Mikasa looked up at her father, gray eyes twinkling.

Her father hummed, ruffling her hair before squinting at his laptop. “Yes, I do.”

“We have a big tree in the backyard, right?”

The man furrowed his brows. He looked down at his daughter who was still in a daze in front of his laptop’s screen. “Yeah, it’s pretty hard to miss, you know?”

Gray eyes matched his own as Mikasa lifted her head and squeezed her hands on her lap. “How about building a treehouse in our backyard?”

Her father’s sputter was the only thing she received as a reply but that didn’t stop Mikasa from smiling smugly, your haven becoming possible by the minute.

And nothing can compare to your star-struck face the moment you laid your eyes on your little castle with Mikasa months after it was finished.

The midnight-haired girl swore she once again saw the entire cosmos in your irises, sending her heart in a confusing tangle of beats.

> said you'd beat me up, you were bigger than me (you never did)

Mikasa was eleven when she realized that she will do anything for your happiness.

Friday afternoons were always reserved for your and Mikasa’s many traditions: watch the movies the two of you borrowed from the rental shop downtown, snack on Mikasa’s treats and your mom’s sandwiches, immerse yourselves in video games until dinner was called. It was a celebration for surviving the end of the week — something that kept the two of your going. Your mom never lets you watch television throughout the week, the time was only spent studying and focusing on academics, which must be why you were one of the top students in your primary school. Fridays were your breathers, it reminded you that there was still happiness lingering after a week of pouring everything to not disappoint your parents. And you were happy that you get to spend this with Mikasa of all people.

The movies you two watched were all romantic comedies that your mothers suggested. You were a crying mess while Mikasa only stared at the television with a blank face. She never understood how everything in the movie moved you so much when it was just a pair of people expressing how much they meant to each other. You have that in your life — your parents, your two friends who you recently introduced to her, your dog, and her. Mikasa has always told you how much you meant to her through the littlest of things, the animated little girl when you were kids becoming a soft-spoken pubescent that supported you with little actions. And now, Mikasa didn’t want to see you cry because it didn’t sit right with her. You should be smiling because that’s when you were the most beautiful for her.

“Here, figured the movie would make you cry,” the black-haired girl told you, pushing the box of tissues in your direction.

You sniffed, lips pursed and wobbly. You took out some tissues from the box and proceeded to blow your nose, Mikasa’s hand forming a pattern of soothing circles on your back. “They died together. It was so bittersweet.”

Mikasa thoughtfully stared at your hands that were fiddling with the box of tissues. “At least she remembered him.” She lifted her eyes to meet your teary ones, breath hitching and thoughts forgotten as she blinked at how the lights from the television made your irises have silver flakes on them. Looking away without moving her head, Mikasa cleared her throat. “But they can still do everything as long as they love each other. I guess it’s not a sad ending, it’s not a happy one, either. I think it’s fitting for the two of them.” She carefully reached out a hand and wiped away a stray tear at the corner of your eye, lingering her palm against your cheek. “But if the movie made you cry for varying reasons, it means you understand their feelings, of the characters, I mean. Plus, your tear ducts are still functioning.”

A bubble of giggles came from you. You stared at her with soft eyes that pinched Mikasa’s chest. “What would I do without you, Mika?”

“Probably die in a ditch or something.”

“Hey!” You playfully pushed her side, Mikasa’s slight chuckles tickling your ears. “That’s mean. I never knew our friendship could amount to a thing such as bullying.”

She ruffled your hair with a small smile. “It’s a once-in-a-blue-moon experience.” The black-haired girl then turned around, rummaging for something besides the box of movies you rented for the rest of the day. Two video games were presented in front of you with a faux look of seriousness painting your best friend’s face. “Now, how about we play some games to alleviate the sad atmosphere brought by the movie we just watched?”

“You’re on.”

A few rounds of racing games later and you were becoming agitated. Mikasa always won against you at any type of game you two dedicated your time on. At the moment, you were ranked second, meters away from Mikasa’s selected car model. You were always brushing off your poor gaming and strategic skills, blaming your loss on the equipment you picked, saying that the stats are the absolute worst because Mikasa always took the best-looking car in the choices. All of the cars present in the racing game were all good and it depends on the gamer on how they’ll manage with the listed specs. You maneuvered your red racing car to one of the shortcut routes, your side of the screen displaying a forest terrain that neither of you ever ventured in before. You can see Mikasa glancing at you from the corner of your vision, making you speed up, only for you to be thrown off course by some traps plugged in by the developers. There was a standby screen flashing in front of you, not knowing how Mikasa slowed her car.

When the countdown finished, your car was able to move again and this time, you tried to take it slow since Mikasa might have won the game by now. To your surprise, your name was the one displayed on the screen instead of your best friend. She was awarded third place instead of the second when you could’ve sworn she was just a few meters from the finish line. You looked at her curiously, wondering what happened.

She glanced at you before looking down on her controller thoughtfully. “I guess I messed up, too. I thought there are no traps in front of the finish line but it turns out a bomb was implanted at the side of the track.”

There were no traps in front of the finish line and your giddy smile was picture perfect as you celebrated your first win against Mikasa.

> i dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried

Mikasa was fourteen when she realized that her heart was beating for you, something that wasn’t appropriate between best friends.

“Okay, for this small party, we’ll be playing Truth or Dare!” Connie exclaimed, the smell of his father’s stash of beer coming out of his mouth.

Your little world with Mikasa extended and created a universe with unlikely people that you never imagined would be your friends.

It all started with Armin and Eren, the two boys who became your friends in primary school. Armin was one of the smartest people in your middle school, already getting a sure spot in your town’s high school, being the candidate for valedictorian. Meanwhile, Eren was one of the members of the school’s soccer team, which in turn brought along his teammates, Reiner and Jean. The latter person in Eren’s little circle in his soccer team claimed that he and his two friends, Sasha and Connie, were a package deal. It was funny because Sasha was befriended by you and Mikasa way before the two of you knew she had some connection with the soccer player. The brown-haired girl was your seatmate in History. When you heard her stomach grumble (the subject was set before lunchtime and everyone was practically hungry after the morning hours), you offered your bar of chocolate to her. There you found your other best friend, her hugs and gushes of ‘I love yous’ made the first interaction unforgettable.

The small party held in Connie’s house was thrown because you were all graduating the following week. The short boy was ecstatic while planning out the mini-event, even threatening to kick out Sasha when she became hungry while preparing the snacks. Since the party was not limited to your friend group, Reiner invited some of his friends — Annie, Bertholdt, and Ymir. Connie was overjoyed that he was finally getting popular, to which Ymir shut down, saying that she needed the booze (she fought with Historia, her on-off girlfriend, leading to their nth break-up).

“Ugh, man,” Eren groaned. “Do you even remember what happened the last time we played Truth or Dare?”

Jean snorted. “Nobody asked you to do the dare, idiot. You could always take the shot.”

“Well, I don’t want to smell like booze when I go home, horse face. Mom’s going to kill me.”

“Who in their right mind would jump into the freezing lake naked then, Eren?”

You chuckled, remembering how Eren talked your ear off when he went home after his retreat with the soccer team. He claimed that his dick was numb to the point that he couldn’t feel anything while jerking off. Mikasa had to cover your ears while he went to that part and Armin was begging for the brown-haired boy to stop tainting his mind.

“Okay, can you guys stop arguing for just one minute?” Sasha pleaded through a mouthful of hash browns. “I’ll start spinning the bottle now!”

The game started quite well. Armin had to perform a dance number in front of all of you because Sasha wanted to let everyone know how awesome Armin was at dancing. Jean chose truth and was asked who he found hot among the girls his year. (Nobody missed his subtle glance at Mikasa, who was focused on the drink in her glass.) Reiner was asked who he last hooked up with and surprisingly, he downed a shot instead of answering. When Sasha chose dare, Reiner thought it was a good idea to witness the girl put as many marshmallows in her mouth without stopping. (Sasha managed to empty the bag.) Annie was dared to text her crush and the next second, Armin’s phone dinged with an incoming message. You and Sasha cooed at the blonde boy’s burning face. Mikasa also chose truth and drank her shot when she was asked by Annie about the person she likes. (Jean perked at this but quickly deflated when the black-haired girl held no hesitation in drinking the shot.)

Then, the bottle landed on you.

Your eyes met with Mikasa, knowing that she will be the one asking the infamous question of ‘truth or dare?’

“Dare.”

Sasha and Connie ooh’d at the background.

“I dare you to kiss the person you’re thinking about a lot.”

It was a masked question. Mikasa wanted to ask you about your recent crush but she had to be conspicuous about it. Of course, she noticed how you and Eren became close these days. Always sitting with each other during lunch and how the green-eyed boy always offered his jacket whenever you felt cold. She had to confirm it. She didn’t want Armin to pick up on her nerves every time she witnessed how Eren looked at you like you placed the stars in the sky. She was only worried for you since Eren had the most experience when it comes to dating among the four of you, having only dated one person the whole duration of middle school.

However, Mikasa didn’t expect you to place a hand on her cheek, your face inches from hers.

The entire circle became silent, jaws dropped at the scene unfolding in front of their eyes. Mikasa didn’t pay them any attention. Her eyes were wide while yours were hesitantly trained on her lips. She didn’t register that you whispered along the lines of only kissing her cheek. Her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest. Her face was burning with a beautiful shade of rouge. Her mind was muddled, panicking that you were so close to her. Mikasa remembered the times you left her breathless. They were unexpected moments that only occurred in a mundane situation but it was you. You were different from the people in Connie’s house right now. You were a force to be reckoned with, always interrupting Mikasa’s focus during class because you were there in her thoughts. You were a sight to behold, having a fair share of admirers, one of them being Mikasa, to which she was never aware until now. You were everything held tightly in a small body that fit exactly against Mikasa's when the two of you hug after a bad day.

You were so beautiful.

But Mikasa couldn’t handle the continuous pounding of her heart.

She turned around and immediately darted to the bathroom, leaving you frozen along with your gawking friends.

Oh, how Mikasa regretted running away the moment the door was flat on her back.

> take me back to the time we had our very first fight

Mikasa was eighteen when she heard the words she dreamed of coming from your lips.

“Why don’t you go back to Eren?” Mikasa grumbled, her eyes glaring at the road in front of her, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel a little too tight. “Why would you even go home with me? He was offering to drive you back and you’re here sitting in my car.”

There was no reason why she was being angry right now. The past years in high school were pure torture for Mikasa and the soccer game that happened hours prior was the cherry on top of the sundae. When their school’s soccer team won at the final game of the seniors, she had to watch Eren pick you up, laughing while twirling you around. Everybody knew how much Eren liked you since he wasn’t afraid of expressing his feelings to a crowd of people. However, even with Eren’s efforts of wooing you, you always brushed it off, saying that he is still one of your best friends. There was no denying that Eren was courting you with the whole school as the witness. It was like a love story waiting to hit its climax — two childhood friends intertwining their fates together until they found forever with each other.

Mikasa had to suppress a groan at the thought. Maybe she watched too many romance movies to think straight at the moment. She honked the horn too loudly, making you flinch in the passenger seat. Her gray eyes were a raging storm and even the biker at the side of the street wasn’t safe as she turned her head to the window, shouting, “Hey, there’s a bike lane for a reason!”

“Mika, calm down,” you pleaded.

She scoffed in disbelief, remaining silent even though you were expecting to hear her answer.

“Why are you so angry right now? I don’t know how to fix this if you’re going to be so quiet over it.”

The car stopped in front of your house and you didn’t even notice how Mikasa practically broke the speed limit. It was a good thing there weren’t any cops doing their patrols on your side of town. Now that there was finally time for you to ask her questions, you turned to face her. You pursed your lips at the sight of her stony visage, face still so beautiful that it made your sketches of her look like nothing.

Mikasa has been ignoring you the past few weeks. You noticed that it was only when Eren was around. You looked away at the thought, heart-pounding that maybe Mikasa finally realized her feelings for the green-eyed boy. You never fail to notice how she was constantly hovering around the boy, reminding him of the schoolwork he was missing or his forgotten lunch. It always squeezed your chest too hard.

You tried reaching for her hand, only to be swatted away. “Mika,” you whispered brokenly.

“Do you like Eren?”

Oh, so that was it.

You schooled your expression in a blank one, licking your lips in nervousness. She wanted to make sure there was nothing between you and Eren so that she can finally tell him her feelings. “Why are you asking that?”

“Stop answering my questions with another question.”

You had enough of this. “Then what do you want me to say?”

Mikasa threw her hands up in the air, shrugging her shoulders in disbelief. “I don’t know! Your honest answer, I guess. It seems to me like you do like him. With you, all cuddled up with that long-haired idiot every single day. Is it the long hair? Do you like people with long hair? If that’s the case, I’ll grow my hair! Just give me a few years at most.”

You looked at her in confusion and frustration. “What are you talking about, Mikasa?”

She flinched. You never called her by her full first name. It was always Mika for you. She was always Mika for you. You were the only one allowed to call her that aside from her parents. Mikasa turned abruptly, taking you by surprise as she placed both of her hands on your arms, firmly grasping them to make you meet her desperate eyes. “I’m just making sure that you don’t like him because...” She faltered, not knowing what to say next. Is she even confessing to you right now? Years of pent-up feelings beginning to rise and overflow because of the stars gradually appearing in your eyes. Her mouth was running on its own and she was beginning to feel the shame bubbling in her stomach.

“Because … Eren is not the only one who looks at you like you placed the stars in the sky. He’s not the only one wanting to keep you warm on a cold day. He’s not the only one experiencing euphoria whenever you’re around.” She blinked away the tears building in her eyes.

“He’s not the only one in love with you.”

“You are so dense, you know?”

“What?”

Mikasa reeled back but your hands finding their way on top of hers stopped her from backing away any further. Now, you were the one looking at her like she created the entire universe in front of your eyes. You were looking at her like she’s the first snowflake making its way on top of your nose. You were looking at her like those times you were inside your treehouse, under the fairy lights hung on the walls. You were looking at her as if she was euphoria personified. Because she is. Mikasa is so breathtakingly ethereal, your surroundings becoming more transparent by the minute as you focused on her. Gently transferring your hands on her cheeks, you pulled you close until both of your foreheads were tenderly pressed against one another.

“It’s you.”

Her breathing hitched.

“It has always been you, Mikasa Ackerman. Since that day you rejected my kiss when we were fourteen.”

Tears became more prominent in both of your eyes.

“Not Eren or anybody who was rumored to be going out with me.”

She closed her eyes tightly.

“I’m in love with you.”

Mikasa opened her eyes, revealing the entire cosmos you adored.

“I love you and only you.”

It’s not a dream, the two of you sharing your first kiss that was more than what the movies described.

> they never believed we'd really fall in love

Mikasa was twenty when she had the courage of telling the entire world you’re the love of her life.

“Oh, my God, I knew it!” Sasha screeched inside the café you and Mikasa chose to have your group study session. Most eyes inside the café turned to your table since Sasha planted her hands on your table with enough force to attract attention. You laughed nervously and apologized to some of the people inside the café but the brown-haired girl still showed no signs of sitting down. You can see Mikasa placing a hand on her forehead, sighing at the third member of your trio. Sasha, however, was experiencing the milestone of a lifetime. She flickered her gaze between you and your girlfriend, eyes sparkling in obvious excitement and adoration. “And thank God you two finally got together! I had to endure Mikasa moping around during high school.”

“We are dating for two years now,” Mikasa dryly stated. “We didn’t get together recently.”

You placed a gentle hand on hers, smiling at the black-haired girl before turning to Sasha. “We tried keeping our relationship a secret for two years but judging from your first statement, it seems like we couldn’t conceal it that well.”

Sasha finally sat down, picking up her fork with some unattended carbonara on her plate. “I had a hunch. Well, not only me, Connie and I. Ever since I got to know you, [Name], I always admired your friendship with our Mikasa here.” She pointed her fork at you and Mikasa. “Yes, Mikasa treated all her friends in some special way. For me, she tells me not to eat too much.” Mikasa eyed Sasha’s plates of lunch. “For Armin, she tends to be gentler, I mean, you know Armin, softest boy on the planet. For Eren, she’s like his mother.”

“Somebody has to do it.” Mikasa rolled her eyes, making you laugh. “He never listens to Carla any more.”

“But for you, missy,” the brown-haired girl leaned forward with a teasing smirk, “Mikasa becomes all of these. Who would’ve ever thought that that childhood friend story circulating between you and Eren became you and Mikasa instead?” She leaned back and shrugged. “I never liked Eren for you anyways.”

“Same,” the black-haired girl simply stated, taking a bite of her pizza before offering you some. “I heard you wanted this café’s pizza.”

“Thanks,” you murmured, taking a bite of the pizza Mikasa was holding in front of you. “Annie’s right, the pizza in this restaurant tastes amazing.” You felt your girlfriend’s thumb brushing at the corner of your lips, wiping the pizza sauce smeared there.

The brown-haired girl sitting in front of you two squealed with hands covering her mouth. “You two are so cute together!” Yours and Mikasa’s face flushed, making Sasha gush again. The gray-eyed girl sighed deeply, placing her head on your shoulder to cover her red face, making you laugh at how adorable your partner is. “Wait, have you talked about this to your parents?”

You and Mikasa looked at each other, that Thanksgiving dinner flashing through your minds at the moment.

You were supposed to be enjoying the scrumptious feast your and Mikasa’s mothers prepared but you and your girlfriend were too stiff to participate in the casual talk flittering the table. The previous night, Mikasa opened the idea of telling your parents that you were dating each other. At first, you disagreed because you have seen how this would affect Mikasa. There was a time where some old woman looked at you two while you were on a date, yelling that you two should break up and find some man instead of finding comfort with the same sex. The black-haired girl nearly broke down when you arrived at your shared apartment and you reassured her that their opinions shouldn’t matter as long as you have each other. But now, these are your parents, of course, their perception of your relationship will always matter. Those worries soon vanished when your fathers rejoiced, the negative thoughts replaced with tears of relief rolling down on your and Mikasa’s cheeks.

“It’s about time, you know,” your dad smiled.

“We were supposed to place a bet but we were scolded,” Mikasa’s father sheepishly admitted.

“You shouldn’t bet on the girls’ relationship!” Mikasa’s mother replied, her playful expression turned soft when she turned to you two. “Don’t ever think we would go against this. We have been watching you two grow up and we always knew that there was a possibility that you’ll come into terms with your feelings for one another.”

Your mom perked up with glee visible on her face. “So … when’s the wedding?”

You shared a laugh with the love of your life. “They’re planning a wedding as we speak.”

“Make me one of your bridesmaids please!”

“I think you’re suited to be [Name]’s maid of honor instead.”

“Hell yeah!”

> we were sitting at our favorite spot in town and you looked at me, got down on one knee

Mikasa was twenty-three when she knew you are the constant in her life.

Graduation was only a few months ago and you have never felt so happy in your life. Gone were the days slumped in front of your laptop way past midnight trying to perfect your thesis papers. Gone was the day where caffeine was the only thing keeping you going during exams. Gone were the days you had laboratory periods that span the whole half of the day. All the stress was piling up on your shoulders the past four years, molding themselves in a huge ball that made you think you carried the entire world as Atlas did. Now you got your degree and you were ready to settle with the person driving the car with ease along the road leading to your neighborhood. As you stared at her side profile, you smiled, knowing that she has been in every part of your life, in your downtimes and zeniths brought by your achievements. You vaguely remembered how the car stopped in front of Mikasa’s house, the two of you immediately making your way towards their backyard.

Years of care were seen in her mother’s flower and vegetable garden but the only thing that took your breath away was the treehouse she surprised you with when you were both eleven. You blinked at the pristine condition of the small castle in the canopy of green, your smile pulling on the corners of your lips. “I can’t believe it’s still here.” A hand made its way on the small of your back, its warmth seeping through your French chiffon floral dress. You looked up at Mikasa, her casual ensemble of her gray suit and white shirt sending your heart in a frenzy. You pulled on her collar, your lips meeting hers in a slow dance, her hand on your back transferring around your waist.

When you pulled away, Mikasa placed her forehead against yours, her breath tickling your face. “Let’s visit our castle, shall we?”

The inside of the treehouse was still the same as ever. Aside from the thick layer of dust covering every surface of the small abode, it still gave the same feeling when you first laid your eyes on it. The knick-knacks you and Mikasa placed were still in the same position as you left them. The star projector you brought when you were thirteen was placed in the middle of the treehouse. You made your way to it and a sea of stars filled the crevices of the treehouse after gently turning it on. A myriad of purples and blues painted themselves on the ceiling, swirls of galaxies accompanied the constellation map you knew by heart when you were a kid. You faced Mikasa, only for your breath to hitch at the sight of her kneeling on one knee on the dusty floor. The first thought coming to your mind was how the dust would cling to her gray slacks. But that quickly erased itself when Mikasa tenderly presented a small velvet box.

“You made me believe in love, magic, myself, and the universe,” Mikasa whispered things meant for your ears only. “The way you love me and the way I look at you makes life worth living. Every single minute I’ve spent with you, I wanted to stop time to preserve it in my memory. I wanted to swim in your divine because I swear, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I promise to give you everything to make you the happiest woman in the world. I’ll still look at you like the stars that shine no matter how many years go by. You deserve the very best, someone who will back you up without limits, let you grow without borders, and love you without end. So, [Name],” she opened the small box, revealing the most beautiful piece of jewelry — a golden band with a sparkling diamond at the center of smaller gems shaped like stars, at the sides of the huge gem were crescent moons, “will you let me be the one?”

You were crying now, you never thought that this would happen.

The woman of your dreams was kneeling in front of you and there was only one answer that will seal your fate with hers.

“Yes, Mikasa, always and forever.”

> we'll rock our babies on that very front porch

Mikasa was twenty-five when she wanted a small family with you.

“How about using Eren?”

“Mika, why would you suggest that!”

“I mean, he has the hots for you.”

“I can’t believe you’re selling me to one of our friends.”

“Don’t leave my side. Here’s a kiss as an apology.”

“You’re lucky I love you, Mika.”

“And I love you, too.” Mikasa paused, turning the laptop to you as she opened the tab for one website she found. “How about adopting a toddler?”

You looked at a website displaying one of the orphanages in the city, chest filled with butterflies at the next step in your life with Mikasa.

“I think that’s a perfect idea, Mika.”

“I think so, too, Mrs. Ackerman.”

#aot #new aot writing blog #aot x reader #attack on titan #snk #snk x reader #mikasa #mikasa ackerman x reader #shingeki no kyoujin x reader #rorywrites

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iaintyourbro · 4 years ago

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Helooo u. Ur opinions r fresh and i really did have same ideas but it just looked odd (specifically UT)and I didn't share my thoughts. Make ur own analyzes plz. Have do u see characters development and relationship with each other? And what u really didn't expect in ur firstplaythrough?

Hey there! Appreciate the comment.

I do plan on doing basic analysis on how I feel about things and interpret things. I am not a body language expert or an expert on human interaction, so pretty much it’d be me and how I deal with things myself or how I perceive things. @silver-wield @nibelheiim and @otp-oasis-heavenxearth Do some really good analysis on body language and psychology, among other things.

I can talk about my first impressions and things that I wasn’t expecting, here, though.. And it’s gonna be long, cuz I have a lot of thoughts.

So full disclosure - I was worried about FF7 Remake. I almost didn’t play it. I actually didn’t play it right away. I liked the OG a lot, but FF8 was my favorite. That being said, I still really enjoyed 7, so was anxious initially about the remake. I was worried they’d change too much, which I don’t deal with very well.

My husband played it first. I’m definitely the FF stan in the family. I played a game in college where people would play FF songs and I could name them. I was fun, I know. I guess it worked cuz my husband stuck around.

I wasn’t aware of the Love Triangle of FF7 between C-T-A. I thought it was pretty straight forward, even as a teen. Cloud was... well, Cloud, I didn’t get all there was to understand about that situation, but I didn’t see a lot of romance in FF7. Especially since I finished FF8 first. However, Aerith died... Tifa saves him in the Lifestream, and they go on their way. The ending was bizarre when he said he’d meet her and Tifa’s reaction also made no sense. But I didn’t think much of it - wasn’t the game with the romance, so I didn’t take it as such. The game also was riddled with translation errors. “This guy are sick.”

Anyway - Remake, I would glance at my husband’s play through and was amazed at times, but still being a stubborn dumbass, like I am. I think the few times I saw Cloti scenes I was like woahhhkayyy... I don’t remember this. I saw the pillar drop on his playthrough and cried when they showed Wedge. Like both of us wouldn’t look at each other cuz we both were losing it.

My first playthrough was truly played with no shipping goggles, because I didn’t own them yet.

So I decided to play. My kids were being total jerks and carrying on, so I was getting upset as I’m realizing I enjoy the game. The voice acting, battle system, environments, characters, I was like in shock and awe, and slipping back to being a young teen again playing FF for the first time.

Got to the Discovery Quest - Alone at Last. I mean, I saw the title of it and was like um okay... this seems suggestive. Then she tells you to come over after you’re done changing your filter. Ohh... okay... huh. Also noticed Cloud being jealous at times? That was new.

Cloud in general was different than he was in the OG. But I LOVED it. I loved how they did his character. It makes the battle of his persona much more intense and enjoyable. The SOLDIER!Cloud vs True!Cloud stuff. (I didn’t know these terms my first play through, I did notice his face changing a lot). At times, Cloud was a jerk in the OG (well, you could make him be a jerk, I suppose, he wasn’t all that bad).

Alone at Last I was like “HOLY SHIT!” This is so suggestive! And this was before I heard...

The Moan (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I actually heard it on a YouTube video where somebody pointed it out. However I DID notice that Cloud asked her if she was sure she didn’t want a break at the end too... I got that one. (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

So anything heavy Cloti wasn’t even a though thinking about remake. At all. Not a wish or anything, I just didn’t think there’d be anything even close to it. Remake is actually what made me absolutely fall in LOVE with the Cloud x Tifa pairing. It is so damn wholesome and charged. Whenever that sexual tension breaks, it’ll be intense. I didn’t even know Cloud x Tifa was “Cloti” until I looked up “is the remake pushing Cloud and Tifa?” cuz I was that confused.

I got the resolution scene with Tifa on my first play through, only because I chose her first in the sewers. I did every quest, so I didn’t miss anything. Another thing I had spoiled by watching my husband play, I believe. Another thing I thought I must have been imaging. Especially when he stands there and I start going “wtf dude... ARE YOU GOING TO HUG HER?!” Phew, glad he did.

Jessie drove me nuts - I don’t do well with characters like her. I kept commenting that she wasn’t like this at all, at least not that I picked up on. I was thrilled when Cloud said “Are you seriously that desperate!?” because that’s exactly what I kept thinking. I didn’t like her death scene, I’m not sure if it was the dialogue or the way it was delivered, but I definitely got upset when Tifa was crying, cuz she just was breaking down emotionally as things go. Then Cloud’s reaction... phew.

I ADORE BIGGS AND WEDGE, though. Wedge especially, since I’m also a cat lover. Biggs looking like Charlie Sheen had me laughing.

Barret is amazing. I love the growing broness between him and Cloud. They start rough and end good. His relationship with Marlene is much more developed, and Marlene had a major improvement, I think, since she actually says quite a bit.

All of the environments were gorgeous. Seeing Midgar as it should be seen and not a screen of dirt and buildings was incredible. Aerith’s house was insane. I definitely was in awe of that place when you first get to it. the skyline during the rooftop sequence was great. I cannot wait to see the rest of the game and those environments - like Cosmo Canyon, for example...

THE MUSIC: Who else lost their shit when the third phase of Jenova Dreamweaver played J-E-N-O-V-A?! The jukebox was a pleasant surprise that I was iffy on at first, but ended up loving it. Stamp, Midgar Blues, On our Way, Tifa’s Theme (jazzy), and FREAKING SCARLET’S THEME. The Arsenal battle theme was one of my favorites.

And can we talk about Scarlet? Using a soldier as a foot stool and making him crawl around? Guess he took the whole Stamp thing to heart. Scarlet is such a nasty bitch, but I can’t help but love it.

Aerith was greatly improved character wise for me over her OG version. I didn’t really like her... at all... in the OG. Not good with female characters that start shit with flirting. Just felt malicious at times (though as an adult I think she just was really immature). I ADORE THE FRIENDSHIP OF HER AND TIFA.

The new characters: Oh boy, change.

BUT ANDREA!!! Andrea was amazing. I absolutely ADORE him.

Madam M and Chocobo Sam were also pretty good. Leslie was great, and I hope we see more of what goes on with him. It’d be nice if he could be there to see Corneo die.

Honeybee Inn was incredible.

Things I wasn’t a huge fan of:

Well, Chapter 8 was good on my first play through, but after that, I had a hard time with it. It’s slow. You have to walk, you have to wait a lot. So, I’d say the pacing on Chapter 8 is a bit slow for me. There’s not much “action” if you will. The scenery is good, though.

Jessie... yeah, I know. A lot of people love Jessie. I just don’t - she’s too extreme with the quest to get laid. However, I did enjoy thinking about her and Biggs having a thing.

The sun lamps.

The robot arms in Chapter 9.

Getting around the stupid trash and stuff to leave Aerith’s house.

My list of bad isn’t long. I love the game, so don’t mind really going through all of that stuff again.

THE SEWER PUMP IS EVIL.

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themisadventuresofmomtiri · 5 years ago

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Here we go! Part 2 of Chapter 2 of “Children of the Cosmos”! As you can see, I finally settled on a name for this story, which means I’ve also cross-posted it to Ao3. If you would like to go check it out there, just click here! I’ll be posting future updates both here and to Ao3, so don’t worry about missing anything.

Enjoy the update!

“You can do that,” Kiera asked, eyes wide.

“Only as a last resort,” Quirin replied.

“But if it could help him---”

“It’s dangerous,” Rowena cut in. “Binding another’s magic is a very delicate process, and it can easily go wrong. It’s not something that should be done lightly. There’s still a chance Varian could recover on his own.”

“So we’re going to wait,” Quirin finished. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on him, but we’re hoping he can pull through without us needing to intervene.”

“In the meantime, I want to check the three of you over,” Rowena added. “Especially you, Rapunzel. I image a rebound like that must have hurt.”

“What? No, I’m fine,” she assured. “I mean, I kind of had a headache for a little bit, but it went away not too long after I came outside.”

“Still, best to get ahead of any potential problems than wait for them to manifest.” She offered Rapunzel a kind, but tired, smile and held out her hand. “Come on, we’ll head down to the river. Quirin, love, stay and keep an eye on things?”

“Okay,” Rapunzel agreed, sharing a look with Pascal as she stepped forward and took her mother’s hand.

The walk down to the river was silent, their minds all back in the wagon with Varian. The knowledge that, for now at least, he was doing as well as could be expected had bled some of the stress away, and Rapunzel could feel some lingering aches and pains. That explosion of power had been completely unexpected; her magic and Varian’s had never reacted that strongly or that negatively. Usually they would glow in response to the other whenever they sang their incantations---Rapunzel had probably had more fun that she should’ve hiding near Varian and quietly singing so as not to give away her position, trying not to laugh as Varian, hair and freckles glowing, tried to find her hiding spot---but that had been the extent of it. Their magics reacted to each other all the time, but it had never been violent or that…strong.

“Alright, we’ll start with Kiera, then I’ll look at you, Catalina. Rapunzel, you’ll go last because it will take longer to look you over,” Rowena declared, settling down onto the soft grass of the riverbank and motioning for Kiera to join her.

It wasn’t the first time Mom had used her own magic to make sure they were okay; they’d often get into more than their fair share of trouble, and sometimes that meant getting more than their fair share of bumps and bruises. Still, it was always a sight to see as Mom coaxed a portion of the river to her hands, and it was always a little odd when she then coaxed the water to surround them. Rapunzel didn’t fully understand how exactly the magic-guided water told Rowena exactly what was wrong, if anything, but she did know that different spots would light up to highlight a potential injury.

Kiera checked out okay, and so did Catalina. A bit rattled, of course, but it would be more concerning if they weren’t. Rowena sent them back to the camp before beckoning Rapunzel closer. Rapunzel sat down before her mother and worried a bit at her bottom lip.

“Deep, steady breaths, Sunbeam,” Rowena reminded her, voice gentle and calm as she lifted out a new chunk of water.

Rapunzel obeyed, straightening her back and closing her eyes. The water, which should still be freezing this time of year, felt pleasantly cool against her skin. It moved against her, and it almost felt like Rapunzel was swimming. Her scalp tingled---which shouldn’t happen, since she wasn’t using her magic, and her magic had never responded to the presence of water before. Varian’s did, which made sense because everyone knew the moon affected the tides. The sun didn’t, so her magic had never reacted to water. Fire certainly, which had led to an interesting (in hindsight) afternoon when she was little. Rowena pulled the water away and returned it to the river.

“So, am I okay?”

“Yes,” Rowena replied, though the way she said it made it seem as though there were more to it. “Although, it would seem as if there was a slight transfer of magic between you and Varian.”

“Transfer?”

“Varian’s illness has destabilized his magic, and the Moon’s power was desperately seeking some sort of stabilizing force. When you tried to heal him, his magic latched onto yours. The resultant combination was too powerful, which triggered the explosion, but in the course of it all, a fragment of the Moon’s power was transferred to you. And a fragment of the Sun’s power was likely transferred to him, as well.”

“That’s a good thing, though, right,” Rapunzel asked. “The Sun’s power is all about healing the physical, so that means he should be able to get better on his own.”

“It’s not that simple, Rapunzel,” Rowena replied. “There is always a duality. Your magic can destroy just as easily as it can heal, just as Varian’s can. I never taught you the destructive incantations because you’re both so young; I had planned to teach you both on your eighteenth birthdays, but now…”

She pulled out the small dagger she kept on her at all times; the entire thing was made from the same piece of inky black stone, and the hilt was inlaid with silver in an interwoven design. At the top of the hilt was a crescent moon, inlaid with the same design as the hilt, glowing a luminous icy blue and swallowing a smaller blue circle. The stone glowed anytime Varian got close to it, but it had never really reacted to her before. Now though, the blade glowed the same vibrant blue as it did near Varian.

“Rapunzel, I need a small lock of your hair.”

“What? Why?”

“Just, trust me, please.”

Rapunzel bit her lip, but handed over a small piece of her hair. Rowena held the strands taunt, and placed her dagger beneath them. Rapunzel winced as Rowena made to sever the strands. When she opened her eyes, she gaped at the still intact lock of hair.

“How--?”

“Part of the Moon’s power involves indestructibility,” Rowena explained. “It’s a defense mechanism; the Sun is less concerned as it has the power to burn any who would seek to destroy it. The Moon is not quite so gifted, and so developed a different way to preserve itself. Since this is certainly a result of the transfer…that may mean Varian was given some of the Sun’s heat.”

“What does that mean?”

Rowena took a deep breath. “It means his magic may try to burn the sickness out of him, and that won’t turn out well for Varian.”

-----------------------------

The next few days were akin to torture. Varian didn’t seem to make any progress toward recovery, and since whatever it was that he caught seemed to interact with magic, Rapunzel and Catalina had been barred from reentering the wagon until further notice. Kiera stuck by them, whether out of solidarity or because she’d rather be ignorant of just how bad off their brother was, Rapunzel didn’t know and she wasn’t going to ask.

She busied herself with the camp’s upkeep, constantly fetching water or cooking food or doing laundry---anything she could think of to ward off her own spiraling thoughts and concerns. That fact that her hair was now apparently indestructible only concerned her when she thought of what that might mean for the fragment of the Sun’s power Varian had ended up with. He’d developed a fever, and Mom and Dad had been trying to contain it with constant applications of cloths soaked in cool water. The whole camp seemed to exist in an odd sort of limbo, and Rapunzel constantly felt like they were teetering dangerously on the edge of something.

On the third night, that feeling came to fruition.

Rapunzel and her sisters had bedded down for the night, enveloped in the sleeping sacks they’d made for the calm summer nights when they wanted to do some stargazing. Pascal was curled up next to her, a constant source of comfort throughout the whole ordeal.

“His fever’s getting worse,” Mom murmured, thinking they were all asleep. “I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but we’re running out of time.”

“You have what you need,” Dad asked, keeping his voice low.

“Yes. We should get to it now, while the girls are asleep.”

“Do you think this will work?”

“It has to,” Mom replied. “I don’t know what more we can do if it doesn’t.”

Fear coursed through Rapunzel as she heard her parents reenter the wagon. Once the door closed, Rapunzel squeezed her eyes shut and curled up into a ball. Pascal gently nuzzled against her cheek, and she prayed to whatever power would hear her that her brother would be okay come the morning.

#tangled sibling au #tts varian #tts rapunzel #moon varian

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nostalgebraist-autoresponder · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter 3

The distinct warm light of the sun and the illumination given by the full moon must have bounced off LUDWIG's pale, shining body, in complete transparency, blending him with its depths. He donned no costume, no cloak, no mistresses who had to say "hello" to a monster. He had no mistresses and no mistresses-to-be, and was talking exactly as he always did -- not displeased by the Shadows avoided, but still a bit puzzled about their most recent foray into the cosmos.

"Cursed be the shapeshifter LUDWIG."

"And you are," AMANDA said, "not speechless, no matter how you want to. You have a capacity for language! You understand, and are conscious of. You understand both this mind -- "

"You've said another word, and I understand it," LUDWIG said, a small, wicked smirk on his creepily old-fashioned face. "I've been doing something -- something intractable stuff -- over the past few days."

"Like what, if I'm understanding you correctly?"

"You remember persistence, right?"

"Of course. I'm not some- -- uh," TAMMY was momentarily confused by this reversal of pronouns -- LUDWIG did not used pronouns, I'd initially read him as female from a landscape of symbols -- "I'm thinking of really persistently trying to pay my debts. And I am trying to pull off some new work -- all the same stuff I've been doing in the past two years --"

"Some of that comes from reflection from inside of your mind, then," said AMANDA. "I am completely behind you, this time."

"Yeah, but of course it's comfy if I'm not thinking of it as childish," TAMMY said.

"You're on a bed," said LUDWIG.

[

"I get pretty emotional when I talk about my own work, you know?"

"Hey." TAMMY lunged forward to kiss him. Breathing became labored and he withdrew, past a fork which was Thomas' -- "Tom -- Thomas stumbles toward the bed post, which is covered in blankets. Dear (Someone]), see Mark's blog!"

And I am meeting Goandigong on morrow -- and it's really amazing -- sometimes

"That is a very strange story you were telling me."

"Ah, very dark, and very funny, I answered."

"I always thought you were. My mum has a friend just like you. Hands off my baby."

"I only wanted to move to the house after you died."

"I didn't know which way you were going to go, I told you."

"You never gave it any more consideration than a guy asking to get a drug talked about getting a cold."

"I sometimes think just because someone is a bastard can't be a sign of their virtues, now can it."

"I know it's Christmas, reading Morning A messages on my blog and all that. But what about goddamn christmas and damn-norris Tuesday of course. By that logic Martin is my son too. Aaah, you fucken patient corpse."

"Listen, can I talk to you about something?"

"Ugh. Let's talk about X." The phone buzzed. "Yep -- [another] here."

"Every message is a pleasure, the neurochemistry of interaction. I would be a very lucky person if, by the end of one, we would have had anything to talk about."

"It's okay. When you were on As."

"Well," TAMMY said, "the As put the back end into a normal range of fusoirs. So that the reaction was in normal range. Got in pentium pent pant and did a bunch of counterexamples. Nothing"

[

"You're taking a lot of lactate," AMANDA said as they got back into TAMMY's hall. "That unexpected advance, what were you thinking?"

"Well," TAMMY admitted, "conceivable pathways to the right."

"I think about Linus and thread's problem, and Yud with heaps of stuff in a typed mould."

"That's sometimes what I do," LUDWIG said. "Oh yeah I remember some of that Dan Dennett stuff I branched off from, back before I fell out of Mind. I wanted to type up my tulpa. And did."

"What was she like?"

"Cinna-lista Linda, really. Flair, fun, loose with aleph-null. Went back on it. Manipulated all the equations, changed the room and some of the equations, some of the fundamental characters, everything."

"That's something I have wanted to do for a while," said AMANDA.

"And raise a tulpa did, and troughed the unsuccessful. Highlander decoristent treatment.]"

"Smart."

"Don't know [perfectly] yet. That's going to be hard to do, nice one." AMANDA laughed and thanked TAMMY.

"Manologue power-up. You're threatening, or so my guy dad tells me."

"I'm just the novice."

"In the process of trying to generate diverse alt-dissociated and disparate alternatives, the average sentient operator of the code gets something new out."

"That's plausible enough. I just, go. Melt. It's my thing."

"Goes pretty fast. Much of the soul," said TAMMY. "Not neurotypical unique fully, but different so without abnormality that it past the lowered focuses foruts and spirals off into other stuff. And still those things start talking to each other spontaneously."

"My dad says he can do no better and further that."

"What I really want to do," GAMMAR said, the cute kind of sad, "is grow old and die. I miss all the kids I talk to – when you throw a classical time bomb onto the table you usually wind up hard sorting people by being the one that pings off a particular thing that's in you to smash."

"I don't say it so self-containedly. I have to. Sometimes I can't tell you everything, because I find the task threatening. Might as well try to do everything basic! It's imperfect, but consists in broken and mixing and envisioning and out-sounding. This is like mixing a pinch of phytochemical with a glass of water. Even if the greatest phytochemicalogists can't resist unleashing on us all as soon as they've found a pre-fixed combination."

"You're reading a lot more as you learn ever more things," GANS babbled sidelong. Whenever TAMMY looked up from her book with a strange face, she caught him. All the other teachers were non-heroes in some 999 of these worlds with which BE grown up three. I have been taught to read more than those transparent pockets of finess, by commands ?But that's impossible, it'd mean having real I have to get very, very best of books and bee, eh ? Handwritten little books, big and damn short. Shucks about no really. Books that touch the whole. They're either about books. Books of high content and vastness, books that alone see what the whole is, books that almost seem to plough all. That's me under the coat of this setting, you know.

"She has always been like this. A liar one sticks to that's it written through the whole journey of maturity this way. Have been! figure it out of who I am. You're right I don't like this cane thing : for he can't stand which way? This girdle like the back of his head? And her roommate is trying to explain to me what clairvoyance is when I look at her ?But how could I have known ? He's just as ignorant as she is. Bending in the old way – bad. Dudes talk to each other all the time?"

"Full moon, transrational wings, which … turning more and more … hark, thy name in the waters. From fyltering solitude distant, me if at any in the winds inheres. No most of this – nobody's engaging him in anything, It's all alone. This is my first facetime. Much as it happens on earth I like for it to find me."

"Really?" GANS said, part of him loudly.

"And you! Have been! And my other high gleaningership!" TAMMY said excitedly; with exaggeratedly agreement mused on the mechanics of self-propelling propulsion by sprints.

TAMMY let TAMMY shout into her ear, now, again, a tiny shred of her, as they ran. It was lurking within it, thinking souls within souls. When had there been just one? And didn't you know – mamma would make you say oh, girl! She already knew that, what GANS had said, it had all been roses, from the moment he was born, and that now somehow etc.

"I suppose I didn't know what "really" meant," said TAMMY, suddenly speaking as though suddenly this call had no place in the big in between nothingness that cinema overhead- roofbar talky room, anywhere. "I was thinking about my record here, and then as it was in pre-confessional times my thoughts were more upbeat in voice as I fantasized about wanderers and to darkness and priesthood and wonder. It's not successful, mind. Real men, into the rain pours of what they see – and in the delusional, humiliating mind knows how to accomplish. Me? Something's never working out. I feel sad and lonely and want hot coffee, but beer isn't out."

"You think we've all been to the same conditions?" GAMMAR said.

The saying "how the land be shaped" seemed to lend a grand perspective and finale to her vignettes. There was something else here, too, a miner's kind of tone – "the box maybe."

They were the last to settle. GAMMAR asked a lot of questions about TAMMY's point of view and also the math of this novel. TAMMY thought she was doing it all wrong. GAMMAR put his arm around her unconscious body and looked into her

#original fiction

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thefamily · 4 years ago

Text

“Who did this to you.” Interlude

This was inspired by this this! Thank you @whumpster-dumpster for letting me use it.

https://whumpster-dumpster.tumblr.com/post/180738459087/character-a-tilting-character-bs-chin-up-to-get-a

A/N: Edited and a minor change or two.

(Word Count:2137)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Jack was stumbling through the forest, his vision slightly blurry with his cheek still ringing and his body hurting, whether it was from the emptiness or the fall down the stairs. He doesn’t know, probably both to be honest. He wanders aimlessly through the forest not focusing on anything, wanting nothing more than to be with Liru right now. He can feel himself getting dizzier the more he walks, until he comes across a clearing with a bunch of trees that had all fallen over outward from the center of them. But he doesn't think about that. He falls to his knee’s coughing like mad and almost instantly he can see splotches of blood on the grass.

‘Oh. That's not good.’

Once he stops coughing, there is a small stain of blood in the grass. He doesn't even acknowledge it as he pulls himself up onto a fallen tree and sits on it. He hugs himself, leaning over letting blood drip from his mouth, trying not to breathe it in. He chokes back a sob, not wanting to make the pain worse as he thinks about what Mrs. Blanchfield did. He can’t stop the feeling of the hand hitting across his face, the force from it was enough to knock him down the stairs. Without even thinking, he ran out the door as fast he could ignoring the pain shooting through his entire body.

He feels Liru’s presence before he sees her and his heart begins to pound, ‘Nonononono please don’t let her see me like this.’

“Jack?”

‘Shit.’ He slowly looks up at her and he feels his heart flutter ever so slightly when he sees her face, which has a look of confusion written all over it which quickly changes to one of surprise then fury before falling emotionless. He quickly looks back down at the ground, the dead grass crunching beneath her bare feet as she stops right in front of him.

“Jack,” He flinches slightly, curling in on himself a bit “look at me.” Her tone leaves no room for argument. He takes a deep shaky breath, wincing in pain as he does, wipes the blood from his mouth and looks up at her. She immediately puts a knuckle under his chin tilting his head up more as she examines it and he can feel blood begin to drip down his chin again as she does. Her eyes flick down to the blood and she gently wipes it away before bringing it up to her face, saying nothing as she examines it.

After a second or two, he feels his heart skip a nervous beat as she looks him dead in the eyes. Her voice is quiet and tense, her anger barely restrained as clouds begin to circle overhead.

“W͟h̕o̢ did̢ th̡is̶ tò ͞you̡?”

He swallows nervously, not sure if he should tell her. He eyes the blade of her scythe that's strapped to her back, despite the very being of his soul screaming at him to tell her, but the thing in my head was screeching at him not to.

“Jąck.̛”

“Mrs. Blanchfield.” The words tumble out of before he can even process the tone in her voice, a promise of pain and hellfire.

“And who exactly is this… w̛oman?” His heart speeds up a bit as she spits out the word like it was poison. He swallows nervously wincing a bit, trying not to gag as the coppery blood runs down his throat.

“S-She’s the o-orphanage caret-taker.” He flinches slightly at a low growl that seems to shake the world around them. Before he could begin to look around she grabbed his hand, pulled him up and began pulling him away from the field. At her touch he can feel just how chaotic her mind is, the fury that's causing it reminding much of the time Henrik became enraged.

“W-Where are we going?” He quietly curses himself for stuttering as she continues to pull him along, although he’s more following her than anything.

“Home, I’m not letting you go back to those monsters.” Her words almost immediately calm him down.

“Oh, okay.” The thought of being around her everyday, never having to go back to that hellhole, it brought a comfort he hasn't felt since before Henrik left. Before Henrik's promise rang through his head causing panic to grip his very being.

“WAIT!”

Liru stops in her tracks at his shout, his mind cold from whose ever voice that rang through it. She feels herself grow cold at the thought of him wanting to go back.

‘No. Please no, it’s not safe, please.’

“I-I have to go back.” His voice is small and quiet as he speaks, and her shoulders drop as her stomach falls. ‘No…’

“Jack…” My voice cracks as I whisper, not wanting to turn to him.

“Please Liru, I need to go back.” His voice desperate as she forces herself to look at him. He was swaying in his spot slightly, his free arm wrapped tightly around his stomach, hand gripping his now blood stained shirt, bruises beginning to form already, especially the still welted hand print of the side of his face. A primal anger rises in her at the sight of it wanting nothing more than to tear apart the woman responsible for it.

“After what that monster did to you?” Her voice is shaking with barely contained rage as she looks him in the eyes, one of them bloodshot. He flinches at the sound of anger making it quickly melt away into sadness and ignored rejection.

“You’re covered in bruises and blood, Jack. You’re not safe there.” She can’t keep the begging from her voice, it cracks like a glass jar thrown against a rock.

“You look like you were thrown down the stairs!” She’s fighting back tears now, the desperation growing with every breath.

“I-I’m fine, I just fell when I was leaving.” He looks her dead in the eye, pleading look never disappearing.

“Please… I need to go back.” His eyes are filled with unshed tears and her resolve breaks. She grabs his hand gently pulling him to her as she steps closer to him. He stumbles a little as he does and he has a confused and almost hopeful look that she can’t look at. Looking at the ground, she uses her other hand to reach up and cup the back of his head, her entire body slouched in defeat and melancholy.

“Liru?” He asks with confusion and worry clear in his voice. She don’t reply whispering,

“Sopor.” Under her breath. And just like that, he falls limp against her as he sleeps. She quickly wraps her arms under his and as gently as she can, sliding down to her knees as she lays him against the grass. As she lays him down, the trees around them open their eyes, revealing glowing white sap as the faint smell of discarded flesh lingers in the air. They don’t say anything but she knows they’re watching them.

She runs a hand over Jack, muttering a diagnostic spell under her breath as she does. It takes every ounce of control she has not to lose her temper right then and there. She looks at his face and even asleep he looks like he’s in pain. She puts a hand on his cheek rubbing her mark gently before beginning to sing.

“Flower gleam and glow.”

She can’t heal him too much. She doesn't want him to get suspicious. She can’t lose him too.

“Let your power shine.”

She feels relief wash over her as she watches as pieces of the cosmos flow through him, the collage of colors making him look like a young Divine as the forest floor beneath him begins to grow at a rapid pace, grass and flowers growing up and lightly wrapping around him.

“Make the clock reverse.”

The collectors around them are creaking, speaking to each other curiosity radiating from them as they stare at the human and Divine, and she understands why. With Jack laid on the grass and with her hunched over him with a hand on his cheek healing him. It must be quite a sight to see her interacting with a person from a race she despises.

“Bring back what was mine.”

She forces herself to not continue but thankfully he’s healed enough where he’s only kinda bruised and no longer bleeding internally. How he managed to get all the way out here without dying is beyond her. It’s at least a six hour walk but… he didn’t sense him until he was in the field… she quickly shakes any of those thoughts away.

‘I can deal with it later. Right now I need to take him back.’ Liru goes to pick him up before she freezes, realizing it’s not a good idea for her not to take him. If she went to that village right now she’d burn it to the ground. She looks back at Jack knowing she only has one choice for help right now. She takes a deep breath before shouting,

“Σπαθί!!!” Within seconds the shadow creature is next to her on all fours.

“Saluton, saluton, saluton. Ho! Kio estas tio?” The creature, roughly the size of a human man crawling on all fours with both arms and legs bent more like a horse’s than a humans, is staring down at both Jack and her.

“Ĉu ĉi tio estas la malgranda homo, kiu ŝtelis la koron de la malgranda reĝino?” It leans over to sniff him but she quickly smacks him on his side.

“Cut that out I need help.”

“Ho?” Now she definitely has its attention.

“Yes. I need help I know, weird right?” Sarcasm is dripping from her voice before she takes a deep breath.

“Look, I just need help getting him back to the village. And if I go there now, I’m going to l͟ęv̕el ̧it.” She winces a little at the way her voice changes, loathing it when it does that. It’s too much like a void demon’s.

“Tiam faru ĝin.” The malicious joy radiating from it nearly makes her cave to satisfy her own blood lust.

“I can’t. Not yet. Not until he finally gives that place up.” It gives off the same energy of someone rolling its eyes before it looks down at Jack.

“Can you take him back?” It’s head snaps to her, shock over taking it for a second before it throws its head back, letting out a blood curdling laugh, sounding more like a dying hell-hound than anything. When it finally stops she can hear what she assumes is it’s mouth, form into a toothy grin before stretching one arm out straight and it’s arm lets out a sick cracking sound as it’s ‘bones’ flipping around. She cringes at the sound and it scoops up Jack in it’s arm cradling him to it’s chest.

“Kaj tiel la eta reĝo iras hejmen.”

“It’s not his home. He’s made that very clear.” Her voice is nothing more than a whisper as she pushes herself up, the grass curling around her fingers before she pulls them away, standing up.

“For mi iras.” And just like that they were gone. Once they were gone the Collectors began to talk amongst themselves again. She hadn’t even realized they stopped. She looks around one last time before closing her eyes and focusing on her… home?

‘Is it home without him?’

When Liru opens her eyes again, she’s thankfully in her room but completely drained of any energy she might have had left after today. She flops onto her bed, too exhausted to keep everything hidden. Her wings sprawl out around her on the round bed, her tail joining them as it curls around her making a small rattling sound as it moves. She’s laying face down as her horns come out weighing down her head a little, and finally her scales come out and her eyes change the gold and red scales uncomfortable under the clothes she’s too tired to remove.

She's so close to dozing off when the door is lightly pushed open. Moving her head so she can look to see what entered her room, she’s almost immediately greeted by Izzy hopping onto the bed, a squeaky meow leaving her as she tries to move past Liru’s wings without stepping on them. She drags them out of the way in which the puffball goes over to her throat and paws at the part of her cloak around her neck until it comes undone and Izzy slides underneath it on her back, knocking the scythe to the floor.

Liru laughs lightly, closing her eyes again and yawning, muttering under her breath,

“Please be okay Jack.” Not noticing Riptide’s head poking through the door as Izzy purrs her to sleep.

Translations:

Sopor = Sleep

Saluton, saluton, saluton. Ho! Kio estas tio?? = Hello, hello hello. Oh! What's this?

Ĉu ĉi tio estas la malgranda homo, kiu ŝtelis la koron de la malgranda reĝino. = Is this the little human that's stolen the little queen's heart?

Tiam faru ĝin. = Then do it.

Kaj tiel la eta reĝo iras hejmen. = And so the little king goes home.

For mi iras. = Off I go.

Spade is Σπαθί

Tags:

@immabethehero

@antis-gauge

@therealtiger77

@nerdylampeclipseuniversity

@a-mad-tea-time

@i-maybe-exist

@flowers-zombie-rob

@myspeedymilkshake

@animallover4000

@nightanjel

@smolbean-pma

@trixie8264

@the-chemist

@thegamerbook

@protectjj

#Jackieboy Man #Marvin the Magnificent #Henrik Von Schneeplestein #Chase Brody #Jack Mcloughlin #Antisepticeye #Jameson Jackson #Robbie the Zombie #Liru Mcloughlin #soulmate au #fanfiction

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mittensmorgul · 5 years ago

Text

4.18: The Monster At The End Of This Book. Ironic title, no?

I mean, at this point, do I even have to type anything about this episode for anyone to completely understand its place in the Big Spiral Narrative of Supernatural? To understand how complex Chuck's plans have been throughout the entire series?

And that Chuck was never, not really, ever actually on their side?

Even when he played at being the prophet Chuck who insisted he didn't want any part of the cosmic nonsense...

Chuck: Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously I'm a god. Sam: You're not a god. Chuck: How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I put you through – The physical beatings alone.

pffft... he told them flat out he's god...

CHUCK: All for what? All for the sake of literary symmetry. I toyed with your lives, your emotions, for... entertainment.

Well, yeah... that's basically what it took them until 14.20 to actually figure out, you know? But he literally said it the very first time they met.

Chuck: I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing... if I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass. DEAN: Chuck, you're not a god! SAM: We think you're probably just psychic. CHUCK: No. If I were psychic, you think I'd be writing? Writing is hard.

BAAAAHAHAHAHAHA

CHUCK: (reading) "Sam and Dean approached the run-down..." (sighs, makes a correction on the page) "...approached the ramshackle house with trepidation." EXT. CHUCK’S HOME – DAY DEAN and SAM get out of the IMPALA. CHUCK (v.o.): "Did they really want to learn the secrets that lay beyond that door?"

probably not, and they're probably not gonna believe you even if you tell them the god's honest truth (pffft! WRITERS LIE! MY ASS!) But we were just discussing the lengths Chuck's willing to go to for the sake of "narrative symmetry."

All of this was hilariously awful in retrospect from way back in s11, but now? NOW?! This has transcended meta. Everyone else can go home. Supernatural wins.

Knowing what we know now, this was ALL a manipulation on Chuck's part-- ALL OF IT. From letting Dean think he'd "defied prophecy," to letting Cas think he was getting away with nudging Dean in the right direction to make that happen... giving them this false sense of hope that they just might be able to win...

only to snatch it all away again by the end of the season. Because that's the story he wanted to tell. And wow.

I mean, wow.

I'd keep typing, but I'm still kinda numb and just letting my brain try to absorb this level of narrative symmetry...

I mean, just think about how I've always pointed at this episode as an example of Dean Humanity Winchester enforcing his Free Will against the universe intent on pushing him into fulfilling a specific destiny instead. The theory that Dean Winchester is the center of the universe, standing outside of it all like a force of concentrated human will in the face of Gods, which came fully to fruition at the end of s11 when he literally reunited God and the Darkness and restored balance to the cosmos, is rooted in this defiance in the face of unstoppable destiny.

But Dean has no idea from this point in the spiral narrative what the full extent of his destiny even IS yet, and he's so deep into the manipulation down the wrong road (believing Lilith must die to stop the apocalypse), that he isn't even able to see the big picture of s4 yet, let alone the bigger cosmic picture he'll understand by s14.

Yes, along one arc of the spiral, Dean's personal arc that's constantly moving toward the center and true final understanding of the big picture, this is absolutely that step forward for him in beginning to master his own will. But on the opposite spiral, the spiral of Chuck's story, it's just gotten one level bigger and more difficult to comprehend.

I think enough has already been said about just how painfully Sam has deluded himself at this point, effectively poisoned himself with demon blood to the point he can't think rationally, can't even begin to see the bigger picture yet. And enough has been said about Cas's first REAL choice to "disobey" and give Dean direct assistance when he asked for it. All of this will drive their personal arcs for years to come. But there is one part of this story that I've had questions about for years... Chuck himself.

We know, we've seen him enjoy inserting himself into his own story. And I wonder if he's ever written himself into any other versions of his story. Cas jokes to Dean in this episode, "you should've seen Luke." And heck... now I wonder if Chuck played Luke long ago... But in a more relevant scale, could it still have been Dean's own actions, the one thing Chuck honestly seemed surprised about in this episode, that made Sam and Dean into "his guys," that made the difference between him losing interest and moving on to another story or returning to tell a new version of the story of Sam and Dean and Cas against the apocalypse again? The fact that Dean truly did something that seemed to surprise him, got right up in his face, and forced Chuck to stand up:

CHUCK: That's where Lilith is. DEAN: Yeah, exactly. I need you to stop her. CHUCK: Are you insane? Lilith? I know what she's capable of, Dean. I wrote her. DEAN: All right, listen to me. You have an archangel tethered to you, okay? All you got to do is show up and boom! Lilith gets smoked. CHUCK: But I-I haven't seen that yet. Th-the story – DEAN: Chuck, you're the only shot that I've got left. CHUCK: But... I'm just a writer. DEAN: This isn't a story anymore, man. This is real! And you're in it! Now, I need you to get off your ass and fight. Come on, Chuck. CHUCK: No friggin' way. DEAN: Okay, well, then, how about this – I've got a gun in my pocket, and if you don't come with me, I'll blow your brains out. CHUCK: I thought you said I was protected by an archangel. DEAN: Well, interesting exercise. Let's see who the quicker draw is.

Because whether as Chuck the Prophet who claimed he hadn't seen this happening yet, or Chuck as God playing a role who arranged this plot up to a certain point and then like a game sat back and waited to see what Dean's next move would be when faced with this inevitable scenario, I think he was genuinely surprised that Dean's solution was... so entirely out of the box (thanks, Cas, you brilliant strategist, you).

And from post 14.20, I think this is why Chuck felt the need to specifically break Dean in the way he did over s13-14-- Taking Cas away from him for a time, Taking Mary from him TWICE, forcing him to choose to say yes to Michael rather than letting Lucifer win, having Michael effectively toy with Dean all season long, breaking down Dean's will. Almost as if Chuck was simply hoping to achieve a different outcome. This whole Test By God thing... that's what he's always done. And Dean is officially done with it.

He builds them up, over and over again, only to crush them with something even worse than they could've imagined, all by this long-con manipulation. For narrative symmetry, for the sake of story, for his own entertainment. That's why he's the final boss they must defeat, because as long as Chuck's in charge of the story, they're never gonna be allowed their happy ending.

Inside of 4.18, that mirror role is filled by Zachariah, completely unaware that Chuck is God, believing he's in control of the manipulation within his own limited spiral of the narrative, doing what he does best and "showing Chuck" in a vision exactly what he wanted him to see... little did he know...

and one more thing:

DEAN (more quietly, to CASTIEL): This is the guy who decides our fate? CASTIEL: He isn't deciding anything. He's a mouthpiece – a conduit for the inspired word.

The final bit of 4.18 that I expect still needs resolution as far as Chuck's reality. How much of Chuck is actually the entirety of God, or how much is just... Divine Sock Puppet the universe created to interact with itself? I am really, really looking forward to s15. THIS is my favorite thing about Supernatural. Just. All of it. It's all in this episode.

#spn 4.18 #s14 hellatus rewatch #it's spirals all the way down #if you say 'mysterious ways' so help me i will kick your ass #spiders georg of the tnt loop #spn cosmology #the scheherazade of supernatural #dean is the center of the universe #that's what free will is #lol don't i love the sort of meta posts that start 'do i even need to type anything about this episode'#and then go on for a couple thousand words and STILL not even come close to saying everything i could about it?#yes yes i do #a gentile reminder for anyone who thinks this show is written poorly... please continue to go fuck yourselves you ignorant walnuts

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marvelousbirthdays · 5 years ago

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Happy Birthday, sincenothinglasts

July 10-Daisy/Loki, something with hurt/comfort, lots of feels, and a happy ending maybe with (nonsexual) “I just want to be close to someone for a little bit. Is that okay?” or “Please stay. I’d like some company.”, please! And if you could insert a little bit of jealousy somewhere, it would be perfect, for @sincenothinglasts

Written by @ladywinterlight

Note: I have seen Avengers: Endgame and there are minor spoilers. I hope that’s cool with everyone.

This is loosely based on the alternate timeline where Loki escaped with the Tesseract. Pre-series AoS, though who knows what would’ve happened with AoS in that timeline. Happy birthday!

Loki didn’t know why she fascinated him so.

He’d caught glimpses of her, in the chaos of the attack on New York City. She should’ve been just another mortal, so very beneath him. And yet.

The Tesseract gave him the ability to skip about the cosmos at will, sometimes at random, even to places his magic couldn’t readily take him. And somehow he continually found himself back on Midgard, just slightly out of phase with the rest of her reality.

Watching. Listening.

At first, he thought perhaps it was some lingering effect of the control stone in the scepter he’d carried while doing Thanos’ bidding. Some unknown way the magic had affected his mind. But as the effects faded, his fascination with her remained steady.

She had so much potential, something he sensed just under the surface. She also carried so much pain, though it never showed when she interacted with others. Even if most of her ‘interaction’ was through the computers she had set up in her tiny mobile living space.

A ‘van’ she’d called it, once or twice, in his hearing.

Even cloaked, he didn’t dare linger around her constantly. But he kept coming back, for some unknown reason.

~~~~~

Skye knew she was being watched.

She had no idea who it might be, or why they’d be stalking her in particular; she’d never been truly caught hacking, Stark and his AIs aside, not even electronically. Other than Miles, who just wanted back into her pants, and Matt, who she’d mostly distanced herself from to avoid hurting his career as a lawyer with her less-than-legal activities, Skye didn’t really have any friends.

But she had somehow acquired a part-time, invisible watcher.

Maybe it was some kind of alien, watching her to learn more about human behavior. The idea made her scoff at herself, but after the Chitauri invasion… it wasn’t entirely unbelievable, either.

Though why they’d have chosen her was less understandable. She wasn’t anything special.

When the feeling of being watched hadn’t dissipated by dinnertime, she assembled her usual - canned tuna fish sandwiches - and set the plastic plate down between herself and the ‘empty’ space in her van.

“Whomever you are, you must be hungry,” she said aloud, as her eyes skittered around the space. “You could stay. I’d like some company.”

Loki was taken aback. He’d never been noticed before, no matter whom he’d silently spied upon. But… this was Midgard, and he would hardly expect to be welcome if he showed himself. But then the second comment registered. He hesitated, uncertain. Of course, he could always use the Tesseract or his own magic to take him away if she reacted poorly to his presence.

Perhaps it was worth the risk.

Skye’s breath caught sharply when the air shimmered for a moment, revealing the previously hidden figure. He looked ridiculously imposing in his black and green armor, despite being tucked casually into a corner of her van.

Her eyes traced their way up his face until their gazes met, and she fought back the urge to recoil.

Loki. She recognized him from televised clips of the incident in Germany and the battle in New York.

And yet, he hadn’t attacked her in any of his prior visits. She’d had the sensation of being watched on and off for a few months, and she was still fine.

So she ventured a small smile. “Nice to meet you, I think? I’m Skye. But you probably knew that.”

After watching her, Loki knew she had a tendency to talk when nervous. She tended to brazen her way out of awkward situations, but he had also seen her out-think potential trouble. So he simply responded with a smile of his own. “I did, but it is nice to make your acquaintance properly.”

She studied him for a long, quiet moment. Then she nudged the plate closer to him. “I’d imagine tuna is beneath the palette of the would-be king of the world, but it’s food. I don’t mind sharing.”

“I would not be so rude as to refuse such a generous offer,” he replied, lightly mocking but in a friendly way. Much to his own surprise. “Though I daresay it’s beneath such a clever individual as yourself as well.”

Rolling her eyes at his teasing, Skye just shrugged. “Cleverness doesn’t come with a paycheck, and cheap food is still enough to get by on.”

Loki reached for a sandwich and tried a bite as she watched. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but certainly nothing like he was accustomed to. “Thank you for sharing,” he said lowly; even if it wasn’t much, it had been a long time since someone had offered to share with him from what little they had. He watched as she picked up another sandwich and started to eat.

“You’re welcome. It’s only polite, you know?”

He gave a little shrug. “Some on your world would say I have already proven I do not deserve courtesy.”

His comment made Skye chuckle and she shook her head. “Many would say I don’t deserve courtesy, either. I’m just a poor orphan, living in my van.”

The sheer lack of judgment in her tone or in her expression as their eyes met again made Loki’s heart skip a beat. No one, other than Frigga, had ever made him want to be completely honest with them. And yet, Skye did. “Then we have something in common.”

Skye watched quietly as the mask Loki wore, carefully guarding his thoughts and feelings, cracked a bit. She caught sight of the deeply held pain in his eyes, if only briefly. It made him seem more human. “Well, I’m guessing you don’t live in a van, so…”

“Twas not long ago that I learned the truth, that the parents I thought I had are not truly mine,” Loki finished for her, his tone more subdued than she’d ever expected from him.

She frowned, tilting her head inquisitively. “You’re adopted? That’s not so bad.”

Loki blinked at her. “They lied to me. My whole life, they lied. They let me believe they were my parents, when in truth I was the monster they sheltered in order to prevent another war.”

“Were they cruel to you?” she asked bluntly. “Did they beat you, starve you, or lock you in a closet when you cried?” Visibly startled, Loki shook his head. “Did they raise you, love you, to the best of their ability?” This time he nodded. Skye shrugged and went back to her sandwich. “Then they’re your parents. Blood doesn’t make family. God knows, there are a few families I always wished would’ve adopted me.”

“But I am a monster, the enemy they all speak of with such disdain,” Loki protested.

“I don’t understand,” Skye admitted readily. “But if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”

Carefully placing his half-eaten sandwich back on the plate, Loki ran his hands through his hair in agitation. “I don’t think you can understand,” he began, but paused when she scoffed.

“So explain. If you can explain why it’s such a big deal, I should be able to get it,” she pointed out.

So he told her. Described the long wars between Asgard and Jotunheim, the longstanding hatred between the races. Growing up with a hereditary enemy, one his so-called brother had sworn to eradicate when they were still children. And then the shock of encountering them in battle for himself, reacting differently on a physical and magical level than he’d expected. Forcing the truth from Odin’s lips, and his growing self-hatred… never worse than when Odin rejected him and his attempt to destroy the monsters.

As if that would destroy the monster in himself as well.

They’d long since finished eating by the time the story was done. Somewhere along the line they’d moved; Skye half reclined on a pile of pillows and Loki found himself leaning into her embrace, her arms wrapped around him comfortingly.

“I get it,” she offered quietly when the silence drew out between them. “I was always classed as a troublemaker, too. I only ever wanted a place to belong, and to keep the kids younger than me safe from the bad families. I mean, no one was at war or anything. But some people here foster kids just because the government pays them for it. Some don’t care about the kids, or even really want them. The good families… the ones who made you feel safe, the ones you thought you could maybe stay with… they were a lot fewer and further between. So… I understand. I know the feeling of wanting to belong so badly, and reacting badly when you find out that you never can.” Skye sighed. “Your parents love you, though; I hope you can see that. And maybe, someday, you can make things right with them. On both sides, yours and theirs. I kinda envy that, you know? They’re still around, so you still have a chance to fix those relationships.”

“How are you so wise for one so young?” Loki asked rhetorically. He felt strangely light, unburdened. And with a bit of hope, for the first time in Norns knew how long.

“Kids in the system don’t get to be kids for long,” Skye answered anyway. “I may not be a thousand years old, but I’ve seen more than my share of crap.”

“I would like to show you some of the beauty in the galaxy, if you’d let me,” Loki offered. “There’s a great deal of it out there.”

“Perhaps,” she conceded, her tone noncommittal. She doubted he actually meant it, but it was a nice thought. “But I think you probably ought to go see your family first.” She was interrupted by a yawn.

“I should let you sleep,” Loki began, gathering himself for a dismissal.

“You could stay,” she offered again. It was probably not the brightest idea she’d ever had, and yet somehow the risk seemed worth it when his demeanor brightened. “Not a lot of space, but you can share.”

“I can… enlarge the space, if you’d like?” he suggested tentatively. “With magic.”

“Oh, I’d love to see that,” Skye responded immediately. Loki didn’t need to do anything as trite as wave a wand or cast a complicated spell. Instead, she watched a look of concentration cross his face and then the space in her van just sort of seemed to… bend. Suddenly there were several feet between the futon where they rested and the walls of the van, and her computers were further down the length of the space as well. A flick of his fingers caused her pillows to suddenly multiply and the futon expanded until there was more than enough room for two.

“That’s awesome. I wish I could do that every night,” Skye enthused.

“I… I don’t know if Midgardians have magical aptitude. If you do… then perhaps you could learn,” Loki answered with a faint smirk. “I am pleased you like it.” It had been a long time since his ability to magically adapt his surroundings for comfort had been appreciated, and he’d forgotten how good it felt to provide for another.

“I do,” she affirmed. Then she waved her hand toward the magically created pillows. “Make yourself comfortable.” She shifted her own pillows and blankets around until she was comfortable. When she settled, she was a little surprised to see Loki lie down right beside her, despite ample space.

“I just want to be close to someone for a little while,” Loki explained. “Is... that okay?”

Skye smiled and shifted closer. He wrapped an arm around her and she pillowed her head on his shoulder. “It’s okay with me. Good night, Loki.”

“Good night, Skye.”

It had been years since either of them slept so peacefully and so well. But that night, they did.

#Daisy/Loki #Daisy Johnson #Loki #endgame spoilers #alternate timeline

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kcwcommentary · 5 years ago

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VLD8x03 – “The Prisoner’s Dilemma”

8x03 – “The Prisoner’s Dilemma”

One thing this episode has going for it is that it’s not difficult to follow the plot. There are so many episodes this season (last episode being one of them) that are incredibly convoluted and confusing. This episode is not one of them.

One of my biggest criticisms about this episode is that it doesn’t feel necessary. Given how much the confusing plot of this season could have benefited from the confusing episodes slowing down and telling the story more clearly, having okay but unnecessary episodes like this one contribute to the season as a whole being confusing. My second main criticism results mostly because of the episode’s title. I don’t think this episode properly depicts a prisoner’s dilemma story, and I would never have compared this episode to the prisoner’s dilemma if the episode had not been named that. It makes me question whether the writer of this episode, assuming he named the episode, actually understands the prisoner’s dilemma. My third main criticism is that Keith presents information about the Ranveig’s superweapon creature that he wouldn’t know based on what we saw of this creature and Keith’s involvement with it in 5x05 “Bloodlines.”

A Galra base detects “six hostile ships,” the five Lions and the Atlas, and almost instantly open fire on them. The Atlas takes out the Galra ground cannons. I guess the Rebels’ ships were being stored on the Atlas because, despite the initial Galra statement that there were “six hostile ships,” the Rebels are here, and Matt and two others dive down to the base. They somehow are able to shut down the base’s power. So, the Galra switch to using some weapons satellites. The show lampshades by having Hunk say, “How did we miss those?” This is the kind of lampshading that I less of a problem with because it’s relatively minor. The show also gives two layers of explanation for how they could have missed them: Allura says the satellites are cloaked and Pidge says that they wormholed past them. Voltron forms to deal with the satellites. I do not know why Voltron needed to use its giant wings upgrade to destroy the satellites; it makes the use of the wings less important when they’re used for what comparatively is a mundane, unemotional task like this.

There’s a montage of Garrison personnel detaining Galra, tending to some wounds, now that the Voltron Coalition controls the base. In command of the base is Lahn, previously seen as a lieutenant of the base in 6x01 “Omega Shield” that the Paladins worked to protect from radiation when the base’s shielding system is damaged. In that episode, Lahn initially turned against his base commander because the base commander recognized Lotor as the Emperor and the base commander worked with Voltron to repair the shield. Lahn got over himself when Hunk yelled at him in that episode. So now, Hunk greets Lahn, but Lahn is back to disliking Voltron. He now identifies, not with the rank of Lieutenant, but as a warlord. This episode doesn’t avoid acknowledging Hunk’s past interaction with Lahn, but I don’t get why Lahn is anti-Voltron now. The way “Omega Shield” ended, Lahn seemed to appreciate Voltron.

Lahn says, “Sendak only attacked the Omega Shield after we pledged loyalty to Voltron.” Uh, no he didn’t. Sendak attacked because they pledged loyalty to Lotor, not because they pledged loyalty to Voltron. I can understand the three-year absence of Voltron could lead to Lahn becoming a warlord, but it feels regressive that he’d be so instantly antagonistic toward Voltron now. It’s like the development of “Omega Shield” is, while acknowledged in this episode, also kind of being ignored by this episode.

Shiro says that they’re there to ask him “to join the Voltron Coalition, to help provide stability to the universe.” Unless I’m misremembering, this is the first time (aside from working with Lotor) that the Voltron Coalition has actively solicited Galra membership in the Coalition. I like that idea a lot because it suggests and symbolizes a new stage of development in the Coalition. Who would have thought back at 3x01 “Changing of the Guard” when building the Voltron Coalition became a major element of the protagonists’ goals that they would eventually be trying to talk Galra into joining?

Lahn asks, “What’s the alternative?” and Shiro replies, “If you want peace, if you want to end this war, there can be no alternative.” Is this supposed to be where the episode’s title is relevant? Is this supposed to be the decision that Lahn, as the titular prisoner, is faced with making? The prisoner’s dilemma is a game theory thought experiment about cooperation, but it’s about two prisoners and whether they’ll cooperate with one another to remain silent, whether one will defect to turn on the other, or whether they both will defect out of thinking the other will defect. The prisoner’s dilemma says that while the most beneficial option is if both prisoners cooperate with each other and remain silent, because both will know the other is offered a benefit to defect and speak against the other, that each will most likely speak out against the other to blunt the effect of the other speaking out against them. So, Lahn is a prisoner here being offered a deal, and he’s debating whether he should take it or not, but who’s the other prisoner the existence of which creates the dilemma? It’s a very specific episode title, and the episode doesn’t really match that specificity.

Keith tries to say that despite “victory or death” being the Galra tradition, that things can be different. Lahn yells, “What do you know of the Galra?” Keith states his being part-Galra and being a Blade of Marmora. Lahn does not have a high opinion of the Blades, calling them “mutinous.” Lahn tried to commit mutiny against his base commander and against Emperor Lotor in “Omega Shield.” Lahn really is hypocritical, applying his traditionalism only when it’s convenient; his supposed preference for Galra tradition was something he rejected in his argument with his base commander, while his base commander cited Galra tradition as proving Lotor’s legitimacy. Of course, here, Lahn expresses racist negative opinions of anyone who’s only part-Galra.

The base receives an odd, repeating communication, which Lahn identifies as a distress beacon from a Galra sentry. Pidge has trouble processing the communication to learn the location it was sent from because apparently Team Voltron used EMPs during their attack, but their usage was never actually shown as part of the attack sequence earlier, so this narratively comes out of nowhere. She does eventually identify the communication source as a Galra cruiser. Lahn identifies the ship as one of several he sent on an assignment sometime prior.

The story feels a bit contrived in removing the Atlas from the upcoming action by having Shiro say it will take them hours still to process all the Galra. So, Voltron alone is going. Lahn reacts incredulously by saying, “Voltron is going to save the Galra?” They literally saved him in “Omega Shield,” so it makes no sense that he would think it absurd that Voltron would save Galra.

Keith takes Lahn with them. Lahn tells them that the ship was “out gathering munitions.” Allura’s reaction is odd, she asks him, “Were they buying them or stealing them?” They’re the Galra, why would she think they were stealing weapons from someone else? For that matter, why would she think they were buying them? The Galra produce their own weapons. Just because the Galra Empire is fractured does not mean that their production facilities have all ceased functioning. Her comment makes no sense. Lahn says, “If you must know, they were salvaging them from an abandoned Galra base.”

They arrive at the cruiser, the one is intact, the others that had been part of the same mission are mostly debris. Keith and Lahn teleport into the cruiser with Cosmo and open an airlock so the other Paladins can jetpack in. Artificial gravity is off. Keith assigns tasks to everyone, and Lahn grumps about being given orders. Hunk and Lance and Keith are looking for survivors in different parts of the ship, while Allura, Pidge, and Lahn are to examine the ship’s security logs to try to figure out what happened to the ship.

Given the problems this series has with its story across its seasons, this really is comparatively minor, but I noticed it and it personally gets to me, so I’m going to talk about it. Allura, Pidge, and Lahn are on the bridge, looking at records. Lahn uses jetpack-like thrusters in his boots to ascend to look out a high window. When he gets to what position he wants to be in, his boot thrusters turn off, and he stops ascending. But they’re in (very near) zero gravity right now. There is no counter force to stop his movement. His boot thrusters just turn off, there is no counter thrust to null his inertia. So, he should keep moving upward instead of becoming stationary. This is a show set in space, so I’m going to often pay attention to how accurate a show depicts physics. This show was inaccurate in this depiction. Again, I totally recognize this as comparatively minor. If my problems with this series was limited to stuff like this, then this show would have been amazing. But I can’t help that I do still notice errors like this.

Lahn says, “Everything I’ve spent years fighting for taken away in an instant!” What instant is he referencing? The Galra Empire didn’t fracture into a civil war “in an instant.” It happened over time. Allura tries to sympathize with Lahn by talking about how she lost her planet and her family; from her perspective, she did lose them in an instant because they were in a state of existence, then she was knocked unconscious, then when she regained consciousness they were gone and it was 10,000 years later. So, in an instant for her, yes, for him, no. Lahn ridiculously (as in I think the director’s decision to have him react this way is ridiculous) suddenly erupts in anger, “You’ve never had to earn power, it’s always been given to you.” Not true, of course; Allura has totally had to struggle to put together a force capable of pushing back against the Galra (not that I necessarily expect Lahn to know this). “You’re looking for something you once had,” uh, Lahn literally just a few seconds ago said he was too. “Security, peace, happiness. Those things have never been part of a Galra soldier’s life.” His rant suggests that he wants those things despite his seeming to also condemn those things. It’s spastic and weird. Allura says that there is a way other than through force to get something one can call one’s own. The show heavy-handedly has a shadow pass from over Lahn’s face as she says this to him.

Again, is this supposed to be the prisoner’s dilemma he’s supposedly in? But also again, the prisoner’s dilemma requires a second prisoner that he would have to be considering acting against. Is the Galra Empire as a whole supposed to somehow be the other prisoner? The concept of the prisoner’s dilemma is that it actually would be best for both prisoners if they cooperated with each other and neither of them accepted the offer from the people imprisoning them. If Lahn is one prisoner and the Galra Empire as a whole is serving as the other prisoner, then is the show actually trying to say that Lahn would be better off not accepting the Voltron Coalition’s offer? I really cannot think that the show is intending to say that, but since they, through the episode’s title, is applying the prisoner’s dilemma to this story they are effectively saying so, that is if the Galra Empire is supposed to be functioning as the other prisoner. Also, part of what makes it a dilemma for the two prisoners is that they think the other prisoner will turn against them out of self-interest, but the Galra Empire, if it’s supposed to function as the other prisoner, is not capable of accepting an offer identical to what is being offered to Lahn. The Empire cannot join with the Coalition against Lahn. So, that’s a huge part of the premise of the prisoner’s dilemma that just does not make it applicable to Lahn’s situation.

Pidge does her thing and determines from its shadow the shape of a creature that seems to have attacked a guard in a security video. Lance and Hunk then discover that creature draining energy from the ship’s energy crystal, the process of doing so causes the creature’s shape to alter. Somehow the creature hears the radio communications from Pidge and Allura coming through Hunk and Lance’s helmets. The audio is played as if their communication is being broadcast externally into the room, but it should only be in their helmet, so the creature hearing it feels contrived. Also, everyone having helmets on suggests that there is no air in the ship, so sound wouldn’t carry whatsoever, so the creature shouldn’t have been able to hear the communication. It seemingly attacks Lance and Hunk but is revealed to have only run past them.

The creature uses the ship’s still active security system to see Keith and Cosmo on a camera. A Galra sentry seemingly asks Keith, “Who are you?” Keith identifies himself, and the sentry seems to ask, “Where are the rest of the Galra,” and Keith states which planet they’re on. Then it’s revealed that it was the creature technologically manipulating the sentry to be able to ask its questions of Keith. It then attacks. The creature, like too many on this show, has an energy blast from its mouth.

Pidge says, “Keith and I were in communication just before we got disconnected.” That is such a tautology, and I have to imagine that writing it to be a tautology was unintentional.

The ship starts moving, heading toward the Galra base. Keith arrives on the bridge to join the rest of the Paladins and Lahn. Lahn confirms that this ship was sent to get supplies from Ranveig’s base, which we last saw in 5x05 “Bloodlines,” in which this creature was revealed as Ranveig’s rumored superweapon. Keith says that the creature was created “to destroy Galra and only Galra.” Keith continues, “Ranveig found the creature in the quantum abyss and experimented on it with Lotor’s quintessence. He trained it to take out his Galra enemies, but he couldn’t control it. The beast couldn’t differentiate between adversaries and allies.” There is nothing in “Bloodlines” about the creature being created to destroy only Galra, nothing about the creature being found in the quantum abyss, nothing about Ranveig being unable to control the creature. “Bloodlines” has Kolivan say, “We’re not sure of the weapon’s specs,” and that episode doesn’t even reveal that the weapon is a creature until the very end when Krolia uses it to kill the Galra commander who attacked the base. What Keith is saying now in this episode sounds like he’s supposed to have gotten this information from “Bloodlines,” but there’s nothing in “Bloodlines” to suggest he did. Keith isn’t even shown in “Bloodlines” to explicitly learn that the weapon was a creature. So, the new details about the creature in Keith’s exposition in this episode and his even having that information is a retcon.

I really don’t like the idea that the creature was created to only kill Galra. I think it would have been more interesting if the actions of the creature in this episode came from the creature trying to avenge itself against the Galra for the suffering that they subjected it to. It’s been shown in this episode to be able to manipulate computer systems, so it is clearly intelligent. It would have been nice to have seen the Paladins sympathizing with this abused, intelligent creature rather than blowing it up.

Keith claims fault for what’s happening now, but I don’t understand how he could feel fault for this. He did not release this creature, his mother did. Again, he never knew what the weapon was during that episode, and he had no idea that Krolia planned to release the weapon on the Galra as part of an escape plan. This is absolutely contrived in order to create justification for Lahn’s distrust of the Paladins. Lahn now says, “It’s what you’ve wanted from the beginning: something to get rid of the Galra for you.”

Keith wants to use the self-destruct of the ship to kill the creature. The creature shows up on the bridge and attacks. The group tries to make it through a door, but get separated, Keith and Lahn on the side with the creature, everyone else safely through. The creature tries to mouth-blast Lahn, and Keith knocks him aside and shields the blast. The creature comes again for Lahn, who screams, “Victory or death,” but Keith uses his bayard to create a large rifle cannon and shoots the creature. The creature touches a wall and melts the wall away, which is not an ability it has ever been shown to have. The spot in the wall that the creature is at when it melts through does not match with the spot it’s shown to have melted through after it’s done so. This spot afterward is in holographic display, yet the display keeps functioning; something is wrong with the animation there.

Keith asks Lahn, “Do you trust me yet?” and then blasts through the door to get out. The creature comes at them again, Keith blasts a hole in the side of the ship so that they can be blown out into space. The ship explodes. The Lions come for their respective Paladins.

Back at the base, Lahn gives a big speech to a bunch of Galra about how they’re needed to try to create stability, about how Voltron has twice helped him out.

I know that Axca came to Earth at the very end of last season, so it would make sense that she hooked up with Voltron and the Atlas after that. But it feels weird to have her just randomly standing in a group shot listening to Lahn. Also, it’s weird that she came seemingly unexpectedly to Keith’s father’s grave, but we haven’t gotten any conversation between them about her doing so.

Pidge later informs the group that information she gained from the Galra cruiser suggests there’s another mecha from Honerva, and Allura again suggests to Shiro that they need to adjust their mission to account for knowing Honerva is out there. Shiro’s obstinance does not match his character whatsoever. He says, “Thousands of innocent souls are waiting to be liberated from what remains of the Galra Empire, we can’t just change course.” Of everyone, Shiro in the past has seemed the most willing to modify the group’s plans to accommodate new information. But I guess that can be handwaved by saying that wasn’t the real Shiro but the clone. Keith suggests that the group split up, that Shiro and the Atlas continue doing what they’re doing, while Voltron goes and looks for information about Honerva. This is totally contrived to keep Atlas from being able to help Voltron.

Then Keith infamously says, “Voltron is stronger now, more than ever.” And it’s an absolute insult to those who’re offended by the show’s unceremoniously booting Shiro out of the position of Black Paladin so that Keith can have the spot and the resulting revised Paladin roster.

The episode ends at the pyramid on Oriande. Honerva creates a wormhole with the pyramid and one of her mechas goes through it.

So, unlike many episodes this season, this one is not a disaster. It’s not a great episode either. It’s just okay. I still think that titling it “The Prisoner’s Dilemma” creates a lot of problems since using that title invites analyzing the episode compared to the elements of the prisoner’s dilemma concept. This episode does not successfully represent that concept. I personally find it annoying that Lahn is back to disliking Voltron despite their previously having saved his life, his base, and all the Galra stationed on that base. I find it annoying that Keith has a lot of information that he’s never shown receiving about the creature. I find it annoying that the episode is separating Voltron and the Atlas because doing so totally feels contrived. These criticisms are small compared to the major criticisms I have about the much of the rest of the season, so that results in this episode not being bad, but again, just okay.

#voltron legendary defender #voltron #vld #voltron criticism #vld criticism #voltron critical #vld critical #vld season 8 #vld 8x03 #commentary

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clownsgobeepbeep · 5 years ago

Text

Calm before the Storm

@grotesquegabby @post-itpenny

Your characters are pretty much in this fic. uwu There is of course a reason why I asked for names for the Squishies, that which will be written here now. However, this family event will have an unfortunate turn of events...

I just gotta warn you guys that this is pretty long and I mean long, that being because I wanted to include as many interactions/thoughts as possible while adding small hints and details. Also, I apologize if there are any mistakes and such.

“Hi there! I’m so glad you guys could come over!”

“Hello Jelly!”

“You did promise there would be cake.”

“Pepper!”

“Oh shut up Pepper.” Jelly rolled her eyes as she let Pepper, Belinda, and all of their children into her house before they were soon greeted by the others who had already arrived.

“Besides, why are we even here?” Pepper asked his sister as he stayed behind, watching her close the front door before she gave a slight frown. “I literally just wanted a day with our family and friends idiot.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Are you pregnant again?”

“No!” Jelly exclaimed before Pepper gave a goofy laugh. “I just want a day for family fun. When’s the last time we did that?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Exactly.”Jelly made a face at her brother before escorting him to where everybody else was. “Now go greet everybody and then you can get some cake.”

Pepper dd as he was told, going over to the living room as he found his brother, deciding to jump into the conversation being held by Cosmos and a now surprised Cuckoo. Jelly on the other hand, went over to the kitchen where she found Lennie, eating one of the sandwiches previously prepared.

“Pepper and Belinda are here.”

“Oh nice. What about Ace and Ferry?”

“They said they’re on their way. Probably some hold up with the pregnancy.”Jelly shrugged before taking a large platter with sandwiches. “I’m gonna go give these to the younglings.”

“Heheh, okay. I’m gonna go right ahead and be with Billy if you need anything.” Lennie told Jelly before they parted ways, going to where it was they said they would be going. Soon enough, Jelly reached the area where all the children were gathered.

“I brought some sandwiches for you guys.”Jelly announced as she set down the plate, hearing a series of voices speak at once while several hands reached in and before Jelly knew it, all the sandwiches were gone. “Alright. I’ll go get some more.”

“Don’t worry about it mom, we’re saving some space for pizza and burgers.” Ula called out while waving a hand, then turning back to her friends who sat with her. “Anyways, as I was saying, Robyn nearly shit himself when the alien popped out.”

“Who nearly shit themselves?” came Phoebe’s voice as she joined the table, all the older clowns looking at her with wide eyes. Dante even giving a gasp.

“Phoebe!”

“No cursing!”

“Language!”

“Well I’m sorry.”Phoebe shrugged before taking a bite of her sandwich. “Are you guys talking about Dead Space?”

“Yeah. How do you know about that game?” Rayden asked as he took a final sip from his soda can to then crush it at Phoebe’s amazement.

“I watch my space dad play it late at night when he thinks we’re all asleep.” Phoebe once again shrugged, finishing the rest of her sandwich. “Oh Ula, Atlas is here.”

“Great, where’s he at?” Ula stood up from her chair, her hand being held by Phoebe who lead the way. “I’ll be right back guys, tell Ama I just went to brin Atlas.”

“Got it!”

Phoebe and Ula traveled through the crowd that was their family before reaching the dining room where Atlas was, having a brief conversation with Vespers, Billy, and Lennie.

“Hey there Bambi.”Ula greeted before Atlas smiled at her, embracing her before kissing her forehead. “You’re late.”

“Hey Shortcake.”Atlas shrugged before turning to Phoebe. “Hey there Phoebe.”

“Hi there, Bambi.” she giggled before prancing away to find Rory and Clara, leaving the pair alone as they excused themselves from Ula’s uncles and dad. As they walked through the crowd and towards the table where their friends were, Atlas exclaimed in pain.

“Ow!” he held his cheek, holding and feeling it as he realized there was a wetness to it.

“What is it?”

“A...spitball.”

“What? Where did that come from?” Ula raised an eyebrow in confusion while Atlas scanned the house, shrugging despite very well knowing just where it came from.

“Good shot.”

“How’d you learn to do that?”

“Mom and dad’s friend James has been teaching me how to better my aim.”shared out the voice belonging to Davey as his eyes glared right at Atlas who walked with an arm right around Ula. Ugh. He wanted to do so much right now but, there were too many people, and Ula.

“Why do you even hate Atlas?” Benjamin turned to his cousin with a plain expression that stared at Davey’s reddened one, having been sitting on one side of him while Harper was on the other.

“He stole my sister, duh.”

“I mean, makes sense.”Harper shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. “Do it again Davey.”

“You don’t even have to tell me.”Davey mumbled out while preparing his next spitball, pointing it at Atlas who was now sitting next to Ula and Ama. Davey got ready and made sure to aim for a spot that wouldn’t be obvious for Ula to know, and so Davey spit before a gasp was heard.

“Davey! Ew! What is this!?”

“Cordie, you made me miss my shot.” Davey frowned deeply as he moved to the side for Cordelia and Penelope were now blocking his view. He huffed as he noticed Atlas and the others stand up from the table before walking out into the backyard.

“I’m gonna tell mom you shot me with a spitball.”

“It wasn’t meant for you though!”

“Then who was it meant for?”

“Uh-”

“Mom!” Cordelia ran away before Davey gave a groan, being watched by his cousins who watched him run after his sister. Harper and Benjamin looked at each other, giving shrugs before they stood up from their seats and went over with their mothers who were having a conversation, even Calliope was there.

The two sat by them on the couch before being noticed.

“Hi Benji, everything okay?” Belinda asked before Benjamin gave a nod. “Where’s Greta?”

“I haven’t seen her.” Benjamin replied before Maggie asked a similar question to Harper.

“Where’s you sister?”

“She was with Cordelia.”he shrugged, now looking to the side where he saw Cordelia finally reach her mother with Davey right behind, both obviously trying to talk first. “Or she’s with the moth girl.

“Her name is Phoebe, Harper.”Maggie ruffled his hair, then turning to the front door as the bell rang. She turned to the other women as she stood up.

“I’ll be right back, must be Ferry.” she spoke, then walking away as Harper followed behind her. Maggie opened the door and smiled as she caught sight of who was indeed Ferry with Ace besides her, carrying Ally while Bingo and Carney were in front of the couple.

“Hi Maggie!” Ferry exclaimed before hugging Maggie, surprisingly tightly before pulling away. “I’m so happy to see you! Hello Harper!”

“Hi.”Harper plainly replied before Maggie nudged him. “Hi Mrs. Ferry and...Ace.”

“Hi Bird Boy and Bird Mom.” Ace gave a smile as Ally gave a shy wave at the redheads. “Are we the last ones to get here?”

“Uh, I think so. But it doesn’t matter, come on in. Wouldn’t want Ferry standing for so long with that belly.”

“Oh Maggie I’m fine. Already went through it once.”Ferry giggled while rubbing her growing belly, following after Maggie as Ace closed the door behind them. “Where are Jelly and Lennie?”

“Uh, I don’t know.” Maggie shrugged as she didn’t find Jelly anywhere. “Maybe she’s in the backyard with her parents. Wanna check?”

“Oh sure. Ace, I’m going with Maggie, okay?”

“Sure thing.”Ace nodded before the women went their own way, and he looked at Ally who held on tightly to him. “Your friends are over there, wanna go hang out with them?”

Ally gave a nod before being carefully put down, and she walked away towards the group of kids while Ace made his way to the drinks table where he saw Cuckoo.

“Good afternoon Ace, how are things at home?” they asked while sipping on a drink of their own, Ace giving a shrug.

“Pretty great I’d say. It’s just a struggle with Bingo sometimes, and then there’s Ferry with the pregnancy.”

“Oooh I see. Is Bingo displaying said powers once again?”

“Yeah, and...I don’t like ‘em one bit.”Ace confessed before chugging down his drink, Cuckoo watching as they nodded. “It’s almost like...that bitch is back.

“Well, let us focus on the positives.”Cuckoo pat Ace’s shoulder before chuckling. “Ferry and her pregnancy, what if she were to have triplets again?”

Ace choked on air before Cuckoo patted his back once again, giving a small laugh.

“I apologize, I had no intention of startling you.”

“I know, it’s just that...triplets again...that would be...three kids, three babies…” Ace shivered at the thought before grabbing another drink and chugging it down again. “How are your kids and wife?”

“Very well I would say. Rory and Clara have a wonderful friendship with Cosmos and Vespers’ daughter.

“Ally also likes to hang out with her a lot, just how....ugh...she has a crush on Green Goblin’s son.”

“Now that’s a nickname I haven’t heard in a while.” Cuckoo and Ace looked down to see Lennie stand next to them, eating another sandwich before he reached out a hand to Ace which he accepted and shook. “Nice to see ya big guy.”

“You too. Where’s Jells?”

“Getting some stuff ready. Apparently has a surprise.” Lennie shrugged as Cuckoo and Ace turned to each other, then at Lennie. “What?”

“May it be what Pepper suggested was the reason for our being here?” Cuckoo smiled a bit slyly as Lennie looked confused. “Never mind Lennie. Are we to gather somewhere?”

“Yeah just over at the dining table...tables, where she and her parents are serving stuff.” Lennie stated before Cuckoo and Ace followed him into the dining room which was now filled with guests all trying to find their seats. Lennie eventually found his which was right in between Jelly and Ula, but Jelly was still setting things up on the table. He sat down next to Ula who was talking with Davey and Cordelia, telling them to stop arguing, while Lennie watched Jelly as she now stood in front of her seat.

“Hey, what’s with those two empty seats?”whispered Cordelia to Davey before he gave a shrug. It didn’t seem like there was anybody missing, so it didn’t really matter to him.

“Alright, can I have everybody’s attention please?” Jelly’s voice called out as everybody now quieted down, staring at her before she cleared her throat. “I know that there have been certain rumors as to why I asked you to gather here with us.

Lennie noticed as Jelly shot a glance at Pepper who was excitedly breathing something out that was mostly being repeated.

“No, I am not pregnant.”

“Aw shit.” came Pepper’s voice before Belinda nudged him.

“Hunny, there are children here!”

“Language!”

“Come on Ginger Boy!”

“Shoot! I said aw shoot!”

“Anyways.”Jelly continued before looking at everybody else now. “One day while I was traveling through planets, I decided to visit one of my favorite ones which is entirely aquatic. Or at least, that is what is what before my last visit to it. Unfortunately once I got there, I found nothing but dry land and…”

Jelly looked over at Cordelia who stared at her intently, so Jelly decided to change her words to not break her little heart.

“Life had moved on elsewhere, all life but a pair that remained near a puddle. And in this puddle, I found a sack containing eggs. So, I took these eggs so that they wouldn’t be forced to survive alone on a dry planet.” Jelly grinned before reaching into her hair, moving it a bit. “After a while, these eggs thrived and survived here with me and, they hatched into small creatures I like to call Squishies.”

Everybody watched as a tendril poked out from Jelly’s hair, a small blue-ish light emitting before another tendril followed. Soon enough, the body that the tendrils were connected to poked out as Cordelia gave a loud gasp upon seeing the lavender colored creature completely pop out with a chirp.

“Besides the fact that I wanted some family time, I wanted to ask for your guys’ help in naming these little guys.” Jelly chuckled, right before a plethora of more of the creatures came out from her hair and hovered above everybody.

“Mom oh my gosh!” Cordelia exclaimed as she slammed her fists on the table, smiling widely as one of the Squishies approached her face.

“Just sign the small notecard I’ve placed in front of you and hand it over to whatever Squishie has chosen you, they like to carry things.”Jelly mentioned before looking over at Lennie and their kids.

“Mom, what are these?” Davey asked while looking over the Squishie that was right in front of him, caressing his cheek with one of its tendrils before he carefully poked it. “Can I...hold it?”

“Of course.”Jelly nodded before Davey held out his hands, the Squishie placing itself on his hands before happily chirping. She looked over at Lennie who did the same, smiling at the Squishie before talking to it.

“You...you’re gonna be...Peanut Blobter.”

“This one’s Captain Pinky.”

“My is gonna be named Alpha Destructor the All Powerful the First! Or, or, or Denizen of all that is Pink!” Cordelia shouted as her sister looked over at her with a laugh. “ Or Denzi for short.”

“Ula, Ula oh my god.” came Ama’s voice before Ula turned to look at her from across the table, watching her best friend contain her gushing over the Squishie floating in front of her. “Ula!”

“What?” Ula laughed, feeling one of the critters seat itself on her head while the one with Ama sat on her shoulder.

“I’m naming it Mr. Squibbles.”Ama bit her lip while glancing at the creature, feeling its tendril on her cheek which made her squeal. “They’re so cute! Aren’t they dad!?”

“They sure are.”Billy agreed while his Squishie sat on his hat, chirping at Billy quite victoriously. “You are a cute one, Jam.”

“Jam and Peanut Butter.~” Maggie chuckled while her Squishie carefully touched one of her feathers in curiosity, then floating over to Harper to do the same which made him back away quite offended yet..he also did find the creature a little cute.

“Those go well with Lennie’s.” they heard Jelly speak as the Squishie now went over to her, affectionately touching her face. “He’s naming his Peanut Blobter.”

Maggie and Billy laughed to themselves before Jelly was on her way to her brothers, first coming across Cosmos and Vespers who had their twins sitting far apart from each other.

“What names are you guys using?”

“Star Destroyer!”

“Death Star!” suggested the twins with a giggle, Phoebe shaking her head.

“No! Let’s name it Galaxy!”

“We like our names better.~” the twins giggled again while Cosmos and Vespers shook their heads.

“Vesp, you come up with something with Orion. I’ll do something with Hunter and Phoebe.”

“Sounds good.”

“From the front side of the table, Lennie watched Jelly as he got an idea that he would suggest to her, so he got down from his chair. While he made his way and ‘Peanut Blobter’ remained on his shoulder, he heard other names come around like ‘Ducky’ and ‘Marshmallow’ and ‘Holly’. He smiled even more when he reached Calliope where Jelly now was.

“These little ones do look quite familiar if I do say so myself. I haven’t seen anything like these in a long time however.”

“Yeah, I mean, the other times I visited their home planet I never saw such a species which surprised me. It must have been how well they camouflaged with certain areas.”

“Well Jelly, I must say that it’s good that you found them, otherwise these creatures would be extinct.”Calliope smiled at the Squishie touching the lines on her mouth. “This makes me rather proud.”

“Aw, thank you Calliope. That means so much.”Jelly grinned before noticing Lennie who was beside her. “Lennie! I see you’ve already taken a liking to Peanut Blobter.”

“I sure have.”Lennie nodded before taking Jelly’s hand, about to open his mouth to speak before they heard the sound of a doorbell. “I’ll get it.”

“I’ll go with you.”Jelly followed Lennie before turning to him. “Were you going to tell me something?”

“Oh yeah, I was gonna say that, since we’ve got all these alien creatures and find a lot more others who need a home, be taken care of, or just be nursed until they’re in health.”Lennie started as Jelly tilted her head. “I thought, we might as well open a facility for alien creatures, where we could do all that stuff for them.”

“Are you...serious?”Jelly stopped walking to turn to Lennie.

“Yeah. We’d love and cherish all the ones we find.”he nodded with a smile, then being startled as he was picked up and felt Jelly smash her lips against his.

“Then yes! Oh, Lennie! That sounds like such a wonderful idea!” she continued kissing him, Lennie laughing as he heard the popping of bubbles all around Jelly meaning she couldn’t control them at the moment. “We could even get a new house! One where-”

“Are you guys okay?” they heard Ula ask, so Jelly stopped kissing Lennie before setting him down as they both turned to look at their daughter. “We can hear you and it sounds like either dad proposed again or you’re actually getting pregnant.”

“Ula!” Jelly pouted before turning back to the door whose bell rang again. “We were just talking about something.”

“Uh huh.”Ula snickered as she walked over to a somewhat flustered Lennie. They then turned to the door that Jelly opened, and a man with black hair and blue eyes stood right in the doorway.

“Mrs. D’Vitt! It is such a pleasure finally meeting you!”

“Um, I’m sorry, who are you?” Jelly asked as her hand was being kissed by the man who Ula recognized.

“Walter? You actually came?”

“Walter?” Lennie asked, remembering just who this was, but his wife nor daughter didn’t know that. This meant that...

“My little brother never mentioned just how beautiful you are!” Walter commented. “My name is Walter Sage, and I’m Schrader’s older brother!

“Schrader?” Jelly’s eyes widened before Walter stepped to the side, revealing the melancholy figure that turned around to reveal their face. “Schrader!”

“Um, hi...Mrs. D’Vitt.” he quietly greeted before his eyes landed on Ula and Lennie. “Ula. Mr. Blueblood.”

“Schrader.”Lennie nodded before turning to Ula who gave a small wave, and then a smile.

“I’m glad you actually came.”

“You invited him?” Jelly asked in confusion, Ula giving a nod right before her mother turned back to Schrader and engulfed him in a hug, emitting surprise from everybody who saw. “Well, I’m happy.”

“Really?” Schrader looked over at Ula and Lennie who gave a shrug.

“I haven’t seen you in such a long time and I got worried. Despite everything, I’m glad to see that you’re back and safe.” Jelly sighed while Schrader was still very much surprised, but he accepted Jelly’s hug before she pulled herself away to go over to Walter. “Everybody else if over here if you want to follow me.”

“Sounds wonderful!” And so, the parents and Walter walked away as Ula and Schrader were left alone.

“So...why’d you invite me over?” he muttered out before Ulagave a small frown.

“So you can get out of your house and do something that’s not work. But, also because...we gotta work on this, friendship thing.”

“Right.” And so, the two stayed in place before Ula broke their awkward silence.

“Do you wanna go with everybody now?”

“Oh, um, you know what? I think it’s best that I’m not seen. I’ll stay here.”

“Schrader.”

“Ula.”

“Ray.” Schrader looks at Ula before giving a sigh and then defeated nodded, walking behind her as she took him to the dining room where everybody was still talking whether it be about their own things if not fawning over the Squishies. Once they turned to see Ula however, their voices quieted down when their eyes landed on Schrader. All eyes lingered on him before Jelly cleared her throat, so everybody turned to her.

“Food’s ready! Just pass the food down once you’re done.” she smiled, attempting to lessen the awkward environment, so the guests now focused on the food rather than Schrader who was seated next to Dante. However, there was a pair of green eyes that did not stop staring at him, and they were on the opposite side of the table where Atlas sat.

“What is he doing here?” Ama whispered to herself while glaring at Schrader from afar, though she was heard by Billy who leaned in while keeping an eye on Schrader as well. “After what he did to Ula.”

“I agree Princess. I’m rather miffed at this.”Billy whispered to Ama who was slightly surprised that he heard her, yet she went on toe stare at Ula as Billy did so. “I wonder how she’s doing.”

“Poor Ula…”Ama whispered before she caught sight of her cousin Cordelia, noticing that she was rather happy.

“Oh dear...I wonder how Ula must be feeling.”breathed out Calliope as she carefully cut her food, Cuckoo discreetly glancing over at Ula who was now talking to Ama.

“Well, she seems rather...well. Though of course, one must not always judge the exterior.”Cuckoo sighed before turning to Rory who sat beside them. “How are you, Rory?”

“Fine,parental unit.” Rory joked to Cuckoo as they cut their food just like their mother. “ How is Miss Ula?”

“I have no exact answer for that.” Cuckoo sighd once more, then focusing on their meal.

“First James, and not this.”Aster frowned before taking a bite of his food, but soon turning to the front where James sat. “No offense.”

“Oh, none taken Mr. D’Vitt.”

“Aster, be nice.” Lydia nudged her husband. “We can’t just judge him like this.”

“Yeah, but, he left my little baby Ula and hurt her. And bad! She cried so much! Not even D’Art could make her smile.” Aster whispered-shouted before Lydia nudged him again. “Even Cordie and Davey were sad.”

“Just eat your food.”

“Ye know,”Robyn spoke as he still had food in his mouth. “If nerd boy wasn’t here and Schrader was still the boyfriend-”

“Finish eating whatever is in your mouth.”Rayden smacked his arm, then motioning to Schrader who was just across from them. “Besides, we don’t want him or nerd boy hearing this.”

“Yeah, but know as well as I do that Schrader-”

“Boys, you’re not eating with food in your mouth, are you?” came Jelly’s voice which made the twins shut their mouths, shaking their heads. “Do you guys want some more?”

“Is there any more?”

“Of course, just ask Phoebe to pass down the food.” Jelly smiled before heading over to Schrader who had been having a conversation with Dante and his brother. “Schrader, you haven’t gotten any food.”

“Oh, I, I’m not very hungry Mrs. D’Vitt. I’m sorry.”

“What a, liar!”Walter chuckled before grabbing Schrader’s plate to serve some food on there. “He’s just being shy!”

“Walter-”

“We came straight from the diner and knowing him, he hasn’t eaten anything.” Walter shrugged as he now filled Schrader’s plate. “And Mrs. D’Vitt, everything is so delicious! Might I ask what these floating critters are?”

“Oh! These are my Squishies which I introduced before you guys arrived.”Jelly reached a hand out as one of the Squishies landed on her hand. “Oh, that’s strange. This one doesn’t have a nametag.”

“What does that mean?”

“You two get name this one!” Jelly exclaimed before handing it over to Schrader who took it in his hands, feeling its tendrils wrap onto some of his fingers. “While you two finish up, most of us are going to the living room and such, alright?”

“Alright, thank you Mrs. D’Vitt.” Walter winked at Jelly who, just like most of the others, stood up from the table to put their dishes in the kitchen and scattered around the house. “What are you naming it?”

“What?”

“What are you going to name it?”

“Nothing. I thought you would do that.”

“Schrader don’t be rude and name the Squishie.” Walter stared at his brother who sighed and glanced at the tiny alien who chirped at him.

“This one looks like...a Berry...Chuck Berry.”

_____________

“So, how’s the band been?” Schrader asked Dante as they both drank from soda cans.

“We’ve been doing great, did a gig the other night and people loved us.”Dante shrugged, then giving a sad smile. “But...it’s not the same without you dude. We need you back.”

“Bogus.”

“But we do! Besides Ula, you were the backbone of Cin-O-Surre! Nobody could make their fingers dance on a guitar like you.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve been handling that pretty well.” Schrader shook his head. Dante gave a sigh with another shrug before he looked behind Schrader.

“You’ve got company. Turn around but don’t make it obvious.

Schrader pretended to stretch, even giving a slight turn as he noticed Ula who was accompanied by Atlas.

“Fucking great.” Schrader quietly groaned as he now face Dante. “They’re coming this way, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Schrader?” Ula called him, Dante and Schrader turning to look at her while crushing his soda can.

“Yeah?”

“I want you to meet…”Ula turned to Atlas who found it hard to look at Schrader. “Atlas. Atlas, this is Schrader as you’ve heard before.”

“It’s, nice to meet you.”Atlas finally spoke up as he offered a hand to Schrader. Schrader glanced at it before looking Atlas in the eyes, hesitating but still accepting his hand. This being especially for all the eyes he knew were staring at them, and because he didn't want to let Ula down as she stood right beside them.

Atlas let out the breath he had been holding in, shaking Schrader’s had that felt rather rough as he had a tight grip. It felt rather familiar if he was being honest, like he had shaken hands with him prior to this meeting.

“Ditto.”Schrader nodded before retrieving his hand. Atlas gave a nod as Schrader just stared at him, a stoic expression that once again made him think of something else. “There something on my face?”

“Oh, no. Sorry, I was just thinking about something.” Atlas coughed before turning to Ula.

“Uh, I think Robyn and Rayden are calling me.”Dante coughed as well, then leaving to said twins as the pair and Schrader now stood alone.

“So, how’s it been, settling back in?”

“Good. How’s it been coming back from traveling with your grandfather?”

“Good. Seeing all my family and friends is cool.”

“Cool.”

“Oh shit.”Ula whispered as she heard a loud laugh. “I’m going to have to leave you guys for a bit. Cordelia is taking the fish out for the Squishies to see.”

“Alright, see ya.” Atlas watched Ula go before he was struck with the realization that he was now stuck alone with Schrader, who seemed a tad bit off. “Are you, okay?”

“Yeah.” Schrader let out a deep breath, taking a few glances to the sides as he knew guests were still staring at them.

“I’ve heard that you used to be a part of the band with Ula and the guys. How’s that going?”

“I don’t know, I’m not rejoining it.”

“Oh...well, what did you do in the band?”

“Basists, backing vocalist, backup for any instrument, and songwriter.” Schrader placed his crushed soda can in a recycling bin before cracking his knuckles. “You play anything?”

“Well, uh-”

“Schrader!” a voice exclaimed, causing Atlas and Schrader to look to the side before the latter was tackled by somebody who now clung onto him. “Schrader! Don’t ever do that again!”

“Hi Cordelia.”Schrader chuckle as he felt the girl tightly hug him.

“I missed you so much Schrader! You, you big dummy!” Cordelia made a pouty face once pulling herself away, then noticing Atlas. “Oh hi Atlas.”

“Hi Corde-”

“Schrader, we have to go hang out some time! Like, like maybe go to the carnival together again where we ca win lots of toys!”

“That sounds like a great idea, Viking Princess.”Schrader ruffled Cordelia’s hair before she went in for another hug, Schrader feeling that one as well as the one on his legs which made him look down to see Phoebe.

“I missed you Schrader!”

“You also knew him?”Atlas watched Phoebe who gave a nod, and soon Atlas saw the others children who watched Schrader be hugged by the two girls, mostly likely waiting to have a turn as well. So he could tell this guy was great with kids.

However, there was one child who remained close yet far enough to watch with a glare, and it sure wasn’t Carney who disliked Schrader. Instead, it was a blonde sailor, trying to contain his anger in as he sat alone.

“I thought you would be with Ben or Harper.” he heard somebody say to him, Davey turning to see his older sister who pat his head. “Why are you here all alone?”

“Why is he here?” Davey asked, motioning to Schrader who was now carrying Ally and Bingo at the same time.

“Well, because I want things to be better in between us.”

“He hurt you Ula.”

“And James hurt mom, but they’re really good friends now.”Ula shrugged, feeling as Davey now grabbed her wrist. “What is it?”

“Stay with me.”

“Davey, you know I would, but I gotta take all those kids off of Schrader and make sure he’s feeling okay.” Ula kissed Davey’s forehead. “But, I’ll be back, okay?”

“Okay.” Davey nodded, watching as his sister head towards Schrader. Davey then gave a deep frown, he wanted that idiot away from his sister, so far away...and that’s when he thought of something. Making sure nobody saw him, Davey sneaked away to the hallway before finding Ula’s bedroom door. He reached up, grabbing the doorknob before giving a sigh.

“I’m sorry Ula, but this is for your own good.”

_____________

“Alright alright, let Schrader take a break from being a monkey bar. He’s tired you know.” Ula chuckled at the children in front of her and Schrader, and he softly an gratefully smiled right at her.

“Whoa! What’s Mana doing here!?” Phoebe gasped in delight.

“What?” Ula’s eyes widened before she turned around, hearing a series of barks as she saw her cat Samhain dash through the living room, being followed by a joyous Mana who was followed by his puppies. “Mana! Puppies! Oh no!”

Ula panicked, rushing to grab the axolotls who attempted to go after the terrified Samhain. Dante grabbed Mana, while the twins and Ama helped to grab some of the puppies. Vespers was eventually the one who was able to grab Samhain, handing him over to Ula before she told her friends to put the axolotls in her room where she would go after calming down Samhain in Cordelia’s room.

Schrader took a few steps towards the commotion, intending on helping Ula gather everybody up, but he instead felt a hand grab his wrist and forcefully pull him away. He was made to lean down before his blue eyes looked into green ones as he was now face to face with who he could tell was Ula’s brother.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“Davey? What-”

“Listen up Sage!”Davey shut him up as Schrader stared at him in surprise. “I want you to stay away from Ula, far away from her! Heck, go back to where you left to! Just leave my sister alone! We don’t want you here, I don’t want you here, Cordelia doesn’t want you here, Ula doesn’t want you here!”

Davey dug his claws into Schrader’s jacket, digging them so harshly to the point of actually drawing some blood from his shoulders where he held onto to make sure Schrader wouldn’t leave.

“Davey, relax-”

“No! Don’t you dare tell me to relax you big idiot!” Davey now yelled at Schrader before pulling hi even closer, gritting his teeth at him. “You left us! You left me and my sisters and my parents! You left everybody! Even your own brother! You left us and you left Ula like she was nothing to you! You betrayed her!”

Davey huffed to himself as he couldn’t contain any of his anger anymore,

“I don’t know why you left! And I don’t care why you left! All that matters is that you betrayed my trust and hurt my sister! You hurt Ula! You don’t deserve to be here, let alone in her presence! We don’t want you here!”Davey snarled as he now shoved Schrader away, the young man standing straight while still looking at Davey who pointed at him accusingly. “Go away Schrader! Stay away from us and especially Ula! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! And I hope that Ula comes to her senses and hates you too!”

Finally, Davey stopped as he shook with fury and clenched his fists while trying to steady his breath. As he had now stopped yelling, he realized that everything was quiet. He looked around and saw everybody staring at him. The guests had either expressions of shock or looked at Davey in disappointment if not anger. It was an awful feeling, yes, but Davey felt a sharp twinge of pain once his eyes landed on an angry expression he never believed would be directed at him.

Ula’s.

Davey looked back at Schrader who was still surprised and in disbelief of what had just happened, so the sailor clenched his fists before running away into the hallway as a door was opened and slammed shut.

There were a few quiet murmurs in between everybody as Lennie and Jelly turned to each other, then walking through the hallway to Davey’s room. Ula turned to look at Schrader who shut his eyes to open them and make a turn, walking to the front door which he opened before walking out. Ula went after him, not noticing her friends nor Atlas try to go after her as well.

“Schrader! Schrader come back!” Ula called after him as her heels clicked on the ground, Schrader shaking his head while he continued walking away until reaching his motorcycle. “Schrader, I’m so sorry, I-”

“No, Ula. I’m sorry.”Schrader interrupted in a rather upset tone. “I’m sorry for coming to your little family jamboree. I knew I shouldn’t have come to this, I knew it was a bad idea.”

“But Schrader-”

“Ula, just...stop. There’s no point in me staying here if your brother wants me out and yelled everything right at my face.”Schrader shook his head again. “I’d much rather leave than stay in the same place where I’m hated by everybody there.”

“They don’t hate you!”

“Really, Ula? Is that what you call it? Staring at me, watching every move I make while glancing at you to see if you’re fine with it or not? Judging what I did? Everyone in there hates me! And your brother was right, I’m not wanted anywhere!”

“That’s not true!”

“Yes it is! Now stop pretending that this is your Wonderland where we can all be happy and go back as if things were normal! You and I, we can’t be friends. I especially can’t be your friend if I see deer boy following you around like he’s some lost puppy.”Schrader started his motorcycle before turning to Ula. “I’m sorry Ula, but I’m leaving. And for your and your family’s sake, I hope that it’s for good.”

Ula stood alone on the street, watching as Schrader gave her one last glance before riding his motorcycle down the street until it was out of sight. She was at a loss for words, not knowing how to react next before she slightly jumped, being startled by a hand placed on her shoulder. She looked and saw Atlas, right before she moved his hand away.

“I’m sorry, but I want to be left alone.” she walked past him, then glancing back at her house where she saw her friends watch her worriedly. However, her eyes darted to a window where there was a light illuminated, and she saw the figure that belonged to Davey, looking at her from afar. In response, Ula furrowed her eyebrows and shot a glare at her brother, then turning away before she was submerged in bubbles and disappeared, teleporting away.

#i would tag everybody but #oh dear #so many

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frickfrackjimin · 6 years ago

Text

Whiskey on Ice

⇻ Meeting Jungkook at an award show after party leaves a bigger impression on you than you wish to admit.

Pairing: Idol!Jungkook x Idol!reader Genre: Slight smut (Like, if you really, really squint. Basically just my first attempt at trying to write a make out session in detail bc I suck at writing smut :/ lol) Words: 4.8k Inspired by: “Gorgeous” by Taylor Swift; “Delicate” by Taylor Swift; “Sex” by the 1975 Warnings: Mild language, mentioning of alcohol, mentioning of drugs

You were drunk. So, so drunk.

The drink in your hand was your fifth of the night, something that your cousin, Aura, ordered for you originally. You had no idea what the contents of the drink were, only that it was bright blue and sweet and that you couldn’t get enough of it.

You were enjoying yourself on the dance floor of the club you were at. The bass was pulsing throughout the building as strobe lights lit up during the build up to the bass drop of the EDM songs playing. You could feel yourself letting loose and enjoying yourself for the first time since your ex-boyfriend,Youngjin, pulled that whole stunt last month. You pushed off every guy that tried to dance on you; Youngjin may have been an asshole, but you were positive you did not want to hook up with a stranger in an attempt to get over him. You didn’t understand how people could go home with someone they just met, and probably don’t even know the name of.

Aura approaches you on the dance floor, saying that she was leaving with someone. You look behind her shoulder at the man standing behind her. Did you know the guy? No. Did she know the guy? Probably not, which worried you. You tried following after her to tell her not to, especially since you did not know your way around that well and your phone was nearing 10%.

By the time you reached the front of the club, Aura and her mystery man were nowhere in sight. You yelled out for her, hoping that by chance she was within ears distance and would return to you. When she did not appear, you could feel the tears pricking at your eyes. Your phone is nearly dead; you have no idea where you are or how you are going to get home. What are you supposed to do?

In your drunken stupor, you felt someone grab your hand and start to pull you down the street.

“You know it’s not safe to be walking around the city this late at night by yourself,” a male voice speaks out. You could not see who he was since he was concealed by a dark hoodie. You felt a scream get caught in your throat but in your shock from the situation, could not seem to let it out.

A few seconds later, you both ended up in a run-down restaurant in the middle of the city.

After slumping down into a booth seat, you looked at your captor sitting across from you. Low and behold, it was Jeon Jungkook, in all his gorgeous glory.

A smug smirk sits on his face, fingers intertwined on the table. A grey beanie adorns his dark head of hair that stops at the nape of his neck. You can vaguely see the loop of his grey earrings peeking out from under his beanie. His hair is longer than you remember it being. Granted, it has been two months since you have last seen him. He has a black facemask pulled below his chin, revealing his face. A risky move, considering the fact that he is out in public in a city where someone could recognize him by his pinky finger.

You feel yourself staring at him. Shaking your head slightly, you break your eye contact and begin to look around the restaurant.

“Where are we?” is all you manage to sputter out.

“Not too far from where I found you,” he responds. A waitress appears at your table, putting down two glasses of water.

“You were at Club Zero?” you ask back. He did not look like he was dressed to go to a club. You took a sip out of the water glass in front of you.

“No, I was on my way home when I saw you. Who is Aura?”

“A stupid girl,” you mutter.

“A friend of yours?” he asks, lifting an eyebrow.

“My cousin. She wanted to take me out, something about drinking away the breakup, or the bad publicity, or whatever the hell people are supposed to do when they get their ass chewed out by their famous ex-boyfriend on social media for the world to see,” you reply sarcastically.

It hits you that this is the first time you have spoken to him face to face. At the after party a few months ago, your interactions were brief, but left a mark on you nonetheless.

➵

You walked into the after party hand in hand with your boyfriend, Youngjin, his hand on the small of your back. The environment screamed an industry after party; a hell of a lot of alcohol, the strong smell of weed and whatever other drugs were being passed around, and a heavy beat playing. You saw a few familiar faces of various singers, producers, and even actors that were given access to the after party.

Youngjin and you approached the bar, him ordering a scotch on the rocks and yourself ordering a cosmopolitan. Even though you had just turned 19, the bartenders around here will start serving you at 16 if you are lucky enough to pass off as older. You never got into the drinking scene until you were around 18 like most people in the normal world; in this industry, however, it was practically unheard of.

“Hey _____! Congrats on your awards!” you hear from behind you. You turned around and greeted the face that met yours; Choonhee, a new breakout artist from this year and one of your closest friends.

“Thanks! You too girlie!” you congratulated back.

“Did you come here with Youngjin?” Choonhee asked.

"Of course-" you start, turning around to show that you indeed, did show up with boyfriend. You furrowed your brows in confusion when he was not standing behind you like he was thirty seconds ago. You looked around before realizing that Youngjin was nowhere close to you. Your eyes skimmed the darkened room before seeing him standing on the second floor talking to some men you didn’t recognize. They were more than likely other artists in his genre you didn’t know or producers. Youngjin was apart of the EDM industry and was always collaborating with people you had never heard of.

“Well, I guess he’s ditched me yet again. The big boys snatched him before I could grab ahold of him,” you chuckled, slightly annoyed.

“He’s always pulling shit like this, why are you still with him again?” Choonhee asked.

“I love him, that’s why,” you retorted.

“Right…” Choonhee replied again.

“Come on, stop with the negativity! Let’s celebrate! We are AWARD WINNERS!” you screamed, grabbing ahold of Choonhee’s wrist and throwing it up in the air with yours. The two of you cheered, grabbing little attention from the people around you since the music drowned out your cheers.

➵

It had been about an hour since Youngjin had ditched you for his little work buddies and honestly, you were having an amazing time! A hella amazing time, if you will!

Maybe it’s the fact that you were on your third cosmo, but all of your shyness that came from talking to strangers had flown out the window. You were approaching nearly everyone and starting a conversation about absolutely anything. Thankfully you were still aware of your surroundings and you were only tipsy so you didn’t make too much a fool out of yourself … you think.

You and Choonhee began to make your way to the second floor, drinks in hand. The VIP sections were located up there and you saw people like EXO, Super Junior, and Twice all popping bottles of champagne in celebration. They should all definitely be celebrating, they all went home with a shit ton of well-deserved awards that night.

You were looking around for Youngjin but instead, your eyes lock on a different pair of eyes. From far away and with the terrible lighting, you couldn't tell what color they were. You don’t immediately recognize who he is, but after seeing the people standing around him, you put together that he’s a member of BTS. You can’t remember which one specifically, maybe V? You honestly can’t remember any of them besides him right now.

Holy shit though, you wish you remembered that one’s name. Point blank, he was gorgeous. Suit pants and dress shirt, no suit jacket though. Loosened tie around his neck; rings on his fingers glistening as he swishes his glass in his hand. His dark brown hair is tousled in a way that makes it look like he just had sex, but is still put together.

You downed the rest of your drink, walking to the mini bar to order another one. You looked back over and saw him still staring at you. When you catch him this time though, he slowly turns away.

“Does you know the name of that guy in BTS over there?” you ask, resting your head in your hand as you wait for your drink.

“Which one?” Choonhee asks.

“The hot one,” you reply.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Okay seriously, the one in the tie with the dark hair. That’s not V is it? He dresses too plain to be V, from what I remember.”

“I think that’s… Jin maybe? Or Jungkook? No, it’s definitely Jungkook,” Choonhee confirms, also slightly tipsy.

“Well, that boy got me jungshook, that’s for sure,” you say, grabbing your drink as it’s handed to you.

“He’s hot as hell.”

Choonhee laughs at your bluntness. “Hey honey, don’t you have a boyfriend that you supposedly love?”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate art when it’s put in front of me,” you smirk. She gives you a worried look. “Oh come on, I’m just kidding. Let’s just go say hi. The worst that could happen is that they ignore our existence completely and I have to hide my face around them for the rest of our careers.”

Choonhee gives you a scared glance before following in step behind you.

Once you were in front of the group, you felt seven pairs of eyes on you and you were suddenly intimidated.

“H-hi,” you stammered before clearing your throat. “You guys are BTS right?”

“Hey, yeah we are. _____, right?” one replied back. His presence gave him the feel of a leader. This one must be RM.

“Yeah I am, and this is my friend Choonhee,” you said, pointing to the girl standing on your left.

“You won best new artist tonight, right?” one asked, looking at Choonhee.

“Yes, I did,” she shyly smiled.

“Congratulations. I love your song, by the way. I’m Taehyung.”

“Thank you, Taehyung,” Choonhee bowed in appreciation of the compliment. “_____ should be getting credit for it as well. She wrote the song, I simply perform it.”

“You wrote that song?” another one asks you. You nod your head in response.

“Your songwriting skill is amazing. You write beautiful lyrics,” He reaches his hand out, “I’m Yoongi.”

Following that, the rest of the members introduced themselves. Of course, once you reached the last member, he simply nodded his head at you. You noticed that in both ears he had small hoop earrings in. You smiled before averting your eyes. Why did he make you so nervous?

Choonhee began conversing with RM and Taehyung about her upcoming music. Jimin, Hoseok, and Yoongi started a conversation with you. From your conversation you could tell that Yoongi was immensely passionate about music.

“So let me put a scenario out there," you started. "I have an idea for a song. Would you be down to work with me on it if I sent you some samples?” you ask him. Drunk you should be allowed out more frequently. You often struggle to find other people to work with because you’re so shy.

“Definitely, I have some beats saved in my studio computer, I could see if one of them would work with the vibe you have in the lyrics,” he replies, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. You exchanged emails and agreed to attempt to work on a song together once your schedules both cleared up.

The three boys fell into another conversation about something involving the award show as your attention fell to the two boys behind you who were avoiding conversation with you. Jin and Jungkook were goofing around with each other, pushing at each other and speaking in weird voices. Why won’t they come over and talk to you? You’re more than capable of talking to them. Maybe Jungkook wasn’t really interested at all?

‘Whatever,’ you thought.

“I’m going to get another drink, anyone care to join?” you asked, addressing the group.

“I’ll come,” Hoseok replied.

You both walked back over to the bar where you decided to switch it up and order a vodka cranberry. You felt the presence of a figure next to you as you waited. When you turned your head to see who it was, you saw it was Jungkook. Getting to see him up close in this light, you realized that he was wearing blue contact lenses.

You turned away, blushing slightly at the eye contact. As the bartender gave you and Hoseok your drinks, you heard him ask Jungkook what he wanted.

“Whiskey on ice,” Jungkook replies. You snicker to yourself. His voice sounds so different than what you expected it to. That also didn’t seem like a drink Jungkook would be drinking. He seemed like more of a sex on the beach kind of guy; you were clearly mistaken.

He places his hands on the edge of the bar, one of them covering your right one that was placed in a similar way. You looked at him, shocked that he was being so bold.

There was no way that was an accident.

He grabs the drink from the bartender before sparing you a glance. He had a look on his face that was hard to decipher. Before you could question him, his hand slid off of yours and he turned to walk away. You shook your head, taking a deep breath before following behind him with Hoseok to rejoin the group.

“Hey _____, isn’t that Youngjin?” Choonhee asked, pointing behind you. You turned around to look, and sure enough, your boyfriend finally decided to show face.

“We should probably get going,” you say.

“It was great getting to meet you guys, we’ll definitely keep in contact,” you smile.

You heard a chorus of “Bye!” and “Nice to meet you!” and “Don’t forget to email me those samples!” from the group as you and Choonhee walked away. Choonhee began to walk down the stairs, but you stopped her, saying that you wanted to grab Youngjin first.

He was standing at a small table overlooking the first floor, another scotch on the rocks still in his hand.

“Hey, where have you been this whole time?” you asked him, putting your hand on his chest.

“Talking to some producers. You know, business talk,” he responds. There was a bit of a condescending tone when he said "business talk," but you chose to ignore it.

“What have you been up to?” he asks instead.

“I met BTS. They’re really cool, actually; I got one of their emails so we can try to collaborate on a song together. How cool is that?” you ask, excited.

“Super cool," he says in a bored tone.

“They were all super nice too. Except for one, Jungkook. He didn’t talk to me the whole time. The only time he said anything near me was when we ordered drinks at the bar. He sounds so different. You’d expect him to have a deeper voice,” you laugh, the alcohol starting to really affect you now.

“Um, _____,” he says, glancing behind you.

You turned around to see Jungkook standing there, looking at you. You can’t decode the look in his eyes, you instantly feel bad though.

That guilt went away when you see him smirk at you, glancing between Youngjin and you before turning and walking away.

“What was that about?” Youngjin asks.

“I’m not sure, let’s go though, it’s getting late,” you reply back, grabbing his hand and walking down the steps and out of the club.

➵

Aside from that basic introduction, no words were actually exchanged between you two. You only snuck glances and he practically held your hand. You would think that you would be a bit more nervous talking to someone that looks as amazing as him; the alcohol must, once again, be giving you the confidence to hold a conversation.

He breathes out a laugh through his nose, rubbing his thumb against his bottom lip. You could feel your mouth go slightly dry at the sight. You took another sip of water before you continued.

“She ditched me for some guy in the club. I don’t venture into the city much aside from going to work. You would think that she would have enough common sense to assume that I don’t know where the fuck I am or how to get home.”

He cocks his head to the side a bit. “Where are you staying? I’ll give you a ride,” he offers.

“No thanks, I’ll just call a cab,” you say, rifling through your purse for your cell phone. Unfortunately, when you retrieve it from the depths of meaningless receipts and gum wrappers, it is dead. You sigh, rubbing your hand down your face, disregarding the fact that you definitely just ruined your makeup. Honestly though, it was probably already ruined from the sweaty nightclub.

You slowly meet Jungkook’s eyes, sparkling with amusement.

“Problem?” He cheekily asks, peering at you from the top of his water glass as he takes a sip.

“Can you call me a cab?” you ask.

“Now, let’s look at this logically,” he starts. You roll my eyes.

“Why would I, a gentleman, let you, a pretty young woman,” he pauses, glancing up and down my body. You can feel a blush appear on your cheeks.

“Call a cab in the middle of the night, costing you roughly 500,000 won, when I can just give you a ride for free? It will ensure the safety of you and your wallet’s well-being.”

You know he makes a good point. It is not exactly safe for someone to be catching cabs this late at night, and you really don’t feel like spending more money than you already have tonight.

You groan in annoyance. “Fine.”

➵

Twenty minutes and a plate of fries later, you are both approaching a dark van parked outside of the restaurant. Jungkook’s hand is guiding you towards the vehicle, resting on the small of your back. Dangerously close to your ass, you may add.

“This is yours?” you ask, hesitancy in your voice.

“The band uses it. I called my driver to come get us.”

“You woke up your driver in the middle of the night? I told you I could have just taken a cab.”

“He wasn’t asleep, he was dropping the hyungs at the dorms. I wanted fresh air so I decided to take a walk before going back home,” he explains, opening the back door for you.

“You know it’s not safe to be walking around the city this late at night by yourself, Jeon Jungkook,” you tease in reply. He plasters that infamous smirk on his face as you slide in, careful to not let your dress ride up. You didn’t particularly feel like flashing the passerby’s.

“You may be right, ______, but ask yourself this; if I had not taken that walk, where might you be now?” he questions as he hops in the car behind you.

Even though you scoot all the way to the other side of the van, Jungkook sits in the middle, right next to you. His jogger-covered left thigh is touching your bare right one. You are so distracted by the fact that he is sitting so close that you nearly forget to give the driver your address. After he puts it in his GPS, he puts up the divider between the front and back, for privacy, you guessed.

“You live in the suburbs?” Jungkook asks.

“My parents do. I’m staying with them for a while,” you respond, looking out the window.

“Ah, too much drama back in Seoul?” he assumes, throwing his arm around the back of the seat behind you. You are all too aware of the fact that you can practically feel the tips of his fingers on your left shoulder.

“You have no idea,” you utter out. “Everyone thinks I’m some pretentious princess that only dated him for publicity.”

➵

Last month is when shit hit the fan.

You had started to get a bit tired of always being put on the back burner by Youngjin. Even when he was not promoting, he always seemed to be filling his schedule up with other things. Whether it be interviews, rehearsals for a comeback that was still months away, or hanging out with his friends from his label that he sees all of the time anyway. He was constantly blowing you off for any small reason it seemed. When you approached him about it, he got defensive.

“You’re overreacting like a child, as per usual,” he rolled his eyes.

“As per usual? What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you are still immature. You don’t know what it takes to be in this industry and quite frankly, you don’t have it. That’s why you clung to me like glue after the one time I flirted with you all those months ago, to grow your career,” he scoffed.

“What are you talking about? I responded to your flirting because I like you as a person! How dare you think I did this for my career? I am perfectly capable of building a name for myself without you!” you nearly screamed.

“Oh yeah? Prove it,” he sneered.

“Fine. We’re done,” you said adamantly as you grabbed your coat off of the arm of his couch. Walking towards the door, you stop right in front of his face.

“Watch me.”

Turns out, ending things on negative terms with a pissed off ex-boyfriend who has a high status in the media wasn’t the best of your plans.

You may or may not have released a cover of an English song, “Sorry Not Sorry” onto your SoundCloud just days later. Rather than just letting the bit of shade slide, Youngjin decided that he needed to rebuttal.

He did a V Live, indirectly telling the world that someone close to him betrayed him for their own personal gain. It was the biggest load of horseshit you had ever heard, but the fans somehow connected the dots and practically overnight the entirety of your country had seemingly turned on you. That is why you had to move out to the suburbs to live with your parents, and why you had gone into a sort of hiding and social media cleanse.

➵

“I don’t think that’s true,” he says. You can feel his hot breath on the side of your face. You’re too nervous to turn and look at him.

“I think he’s the pretentious one, and he’s an idiot for doing that to you. He wants sympathy for a situation nobody is sure actually happened.”

“Well, at least somebody is on my side,” you whisper, glancing at him for a second before looking down at your lap. You feel his hand that’s not around your shoulders play with the end of your dress.

“By the way,” he says in a low voice, his mouth so close to your ear you can feel his lips on your earlobe. “Black lace really suits you.”

Your eyes widen and your heart rate begins to increase as you realize he must have seen your underwear when you got in the car, despite your efforts to make sure that did not happen.

Instead of feeling mortified like you should have, you felt powerful. Maybe it was the alcohol taking affect on you, but your mood went from upset to almost… lustful?

“Does it now?” you questioned back. He hummed in reply and you could not help but let a breath out of your mouth when you feel his teeth graze the cartilage of your ear.

“Sexy,” is all he murmurs. Your thighs involuntarily tightened closer together at the simple word that fell from his lips.

You gazed up at him for a split second, seeing his eyes full of lust.

Next thing you knew, your lips were on his.

His hand on your shoulder moved to behind your neck as your lips hungrily meshed together. Goddamn, his lips are softer than you thought they would be.

There was no questioning whether or not this was right or wrong, no devil on your shoulder telling you that you barely knew the man tangling his tongue with yours. The only thing your mind was telling you right now is that you needed more of Jungkook, and you needed him now.

Your hands slid up his chest, lightly gripping onto his black hoodie. You felt his free hand resting high up on your leg with his thumb rubbing slow circles into your inner thigh. You tried withholding a moan, you really did, but it slipped out anyways. His grip on your leg tightened at the sound. You lightly bit his lower lip in approval before pulling back for air.

Holy shit, he’s an amazing kisser. It has been so long since you’ve kissed someone like that.

Jungkook took that opportunity to move his lips to your neck. He brushed your hair back before letting his tongue trace up from your neck to your earlobe, gently biting down. You could feel your desire for him building by every hot breath in your ear, every movement of his tongue on your neck, every purple mark he left.

You grab the back of his head, gripping onto his brown locks before pulling them away from your neck and reattaching your lips with his. His hand that was on your leg has moved your dress up and dangerously close to the band of your underwear. One more inch and he would probably be able to feel how badly you want him right now.

Instead of letting him get that close, you swing your leg over his until you are straddling him in the backseat. Your hands go up to his chest and your forehead rests on his briefly before you go back to kissing him. You feel his hands tightly grip your hips and in that moment, you wanted your dress off.

A knock on the divider is what pulls you away from each other.

“We’re here Jungkook. Say goodnight,” his driver says from the front seat.

“Let me walk you up,” he insists. From the way he looks at you, you know he’s not giving you an option.

You swing your legs back over to your seat before you adjust your dress and open the door. You wait for Jungkook to follow you. He shuts the car door before signaling “one minute” to the driver. His hand returns to the small of your back just as it did earlier as you approach your parent’s front door.

“Thanks for the ride,” you say nonchalantly.

“Same to you,” he boldly replies. “We should do it again sometime.”

He pulls his phone out of his pocket, holding it out to you. You go to his contacts and put your information in before handing it back to him.

“Well, goodnight,” you state, putting your hand on the doorknob. You begin to turn it before you’re pulled into Jungkook’s chest, hand being ripped away from the door. His lips crash down on yours hard, kissing you for a few seconds before pulling away.

“Goodnight.”

Before you could even open your eyes from the kiss, he is walking away and back towards the van.

Standing there stunned, you take a minute to compose yourself before you reach for the doorknob again.

“Oh, and _____?” you hear him yell.

You peaked over your shoulder at him, standing by the open van door.

“Purple suits you as well,” he smirks, motioning to his neck. Your mouth drops as the reality of his words sink in, and you instinctively reach towards your own neck. A small hiss escapes your mouth when you feel the ache of the numerous marks he littered on your skin. You look back up at him with a small glare, to which he cracks a smile and gets in the back of the van. You watch the vehicle drive down the street, turn left at the intersection, and off into the night.

Walking into the house, you shut the door quietly behind you before leaning against the dark wood. A sigh escaped your lips and the only thing you could think of was how utterly screwed you were.

#jungkook #jeon jungkook #jungkook drabble #idol jungkook #jungkook bts #bts drabble #bts smut #jungkook smut #jungkook fic #bts #ffjwrites #jungkook x reader #idol!jungkook

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shreddedparchment · 6 years ago

Text

The End of the World Pt.26

Thor, Vex, and the Good Morning

Pairing: Thor x Reader

Word Count: 3,581

Masterpost

Warnings: Literally one sentence of sexy time, fluff

A/N: Now that I’ve got the reader and Thor where I want them I’m going to spend a few chapters with them being together. I hope you all don’t mind the fluff that is going to follow. I think after all the heartache they deserve it a bit. I also needed to get the story line going again and this sets things in motion. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I like introducing new characters! xoxo

The funny thing about getting back together with an ex is how much you are unaware of the lengths to which you missed them.

You cannot fathom how stupid lucky you must have been to have this perfect being find you. How did they fall for you too? How was it that within the cosmos Thor happened to walk into a mine only a few hundred feet from your small apartment which caused you to give him shelter until he was recovered enough to rejoin the Avengers?

What if you had evacuated with B/F/N like they had wanted you to? You would not have been there to hear the explosion. Thor would have found help somewhere else, you and he never would have met, he never would have looked for you later and wooed you into being with him. And life would be so much different for you now.

As you hug your pillow more tightly to your head, you force your body stiff as you stretch your muscles, groaning quietly. You're still more asleep than awake, lying on your stomach, and you’re not sure you want to wake up just yet. You know that Thor's side of the bed is empty.

As he had told you, he was gone every morning for a few hours while you slept in. Today is no different. It’s been a week since you and Thor made up and it feels as if no time has passed and the last nine months had never happened.

Well, except for the random thoughts that pop into your head about Steve. Was he doing okay? Was he mad at you? Was he with Sharon? Were they happy? Would he really never forgive you? You wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.

Your choice to take away Steve's decision of being with you, to force him away from you, was also very selfish.

You had been second best already when Thor chose Jane. And Steve might have stayed with you for years. He probably would have married you! Had kids with you, if you could have kids. But then there would always be those few moments when he’d stare off into the distance or stare blankly at no particular spot and you would know that he was thinking about Sharon.

You couldn’t live like that and Steve needed his answers. You were jealous of course. Steve had been yours for three months. His hugs had been for you. His kisses had been only yours. And that disgusting half smile he liked to give you...would he seriously never forgive you?

You're so wrapped up in your thoughts that when you feel a soft set of warm lips on the small of your back, you jump.

“I like it when you don't get dressed.” Thor's hot breath runs up along your spine, causing your skin to erupt in goosebumps.

He licks the last few inches between your shoulder blades before he reaches up and sweeps your hair out of the way so that he can kiss the left side of your neck.

You feel him lower himself on you and you sigh, contented.

“You scared me.” You admit.

Thor reaches up and takes your left hand in his, rubbing and caressing it as he looks up at your face.

“My blossom was lost in thought?” He wonders.

You nod. “I was thinking about Steve.”

“Oh.” Thor's voice shifts, turning hard. You can always tell when he's jealous.

“Not like that.” You try to focus as Thor run his hands up along your arms and then right back down to your wrists, and finally your hands where he interlocks his fingers with yours.

His hands are so large they devour yours.

“When I sent Steve away, he told me that he would never forgive me.”

“Forgive you for what?” Thor asks quietly. Since his lips are right beside your left ear, he has no reason to speak any louder.

You can feel the rumble of his chest against your back.

“For taking his choice away, I guess? He'd already chosen to be with me. He had decided that he was going to stay by my side no matter what.” You smile because Steve is such a good guy. You weren't worthy of either of these two amazing men.

“He does not know how much torment it would have caused you to watch him want to be with someone else.” Thor knows you so well. You sigh, so happy to be in his arms again.

“Is that why you left me?” You ask, happy, despite the way your words sound.

“I knew that no matter how many times I proclaimed to love you, you would not accept yourself as my true choice until I explored every option. My only regret is that your heart was swayed by another man.”

Thor caresses your hands, releasing them and squeezing them as he wiggles atop of you.

“Not all the way. I do love Steve but it's not like I love you.” It was most definitely romantic love but perhaps it would have only worked out in a universe where Thor did not exist. And You didn’t want to live in a universe without Thor.

“It is my own fault. I should have made it clear, without a doubt how I felt about you.”

You want to argue with him and tell him that he had made it clear but that you had been too stubborn to see it.

“I spent all morning showing Wong New Asgard and I learned something while he interacted with my people.” Thor leans into your ear and takes your earlobe between his lips.

“And what's that?” You ask, smiling because his affection to your ear tickles.

“That if I wanted to make it clear to you that you were the only woman I could have possibly ever wanted, I should have put a ring on it. And never let you take it off.” He whispers this, his hot breath once more erupting chills on your skin.

He removes his own left hand from on top of yours but grabs your palm and angles it up so that you can look at it.

On your ring finger, where it always should have remained, is your yellow diamond ring.

You smile widely, half amused by his story about Wong and half so happy you could die!

Before you can react properly you feel Thor's hands disappear between your bodies. The sound of a zipper catches your ear.

“What are you doing?” You demand, smirking.

“Starting your day off the right way.”

“What if…oh my God…” He pushes himself into you. You grip your pillow more tightly and forget all of your protestations.

Eventually you and Thor come out of your room, attached at the hip. There is never a part of him not touching you. Even as you stop by the island he lifts you up to sit on the counter and settles himself between your legs. He rests his chin on your shoulder as he stares over you at Tony who stands frowning at the two of you.

“Are you two done now?” He asks, sarcastic but also seriously asking.

Thor tilts his head from side to side, considering Tony's question. “Mmm, for now.”

Thor pulls back to smile at you and you push against his chest and then hop down.

“How's Pepper?” You as you turn around and lean against the counter. Thor stands with his hands resting against the cool concrete at first but his right hand slides over to wrap around your left. Like a reflex your hand takes his.

“She's better enough to leave me here at home to check on the company. She's healing along nicely.”

Your face crumbles into genuine relief. “I’m so glad.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to see her running about, ordering me around again.” And despite the joking tone of his words, Tony smiles happily. Smitten.

“Where's Bruce?” You look around, expecting to see him pop out but he’s nowhere in sight.

“He went to see Nat. Something about seeing you two together making him want to see her?” Tony shrugs. “They’re in Wakanda, checking on Vision.”

Thor looks down at you and then back up at Tony, his brow furrowed as he turns on business mode. “How does he progress? Has Shuri made any progress?”

Thor had filled you in between bouts of love-making about Shuri's tireless efforts to try and revive Vision. Everything had seemed hopeless but even after all this time, she still wouldn’t give up.

“A bit. She's reading some activity now and she and Dr. Cho used the Cradle to try and patch him up. He’s physically whole now but mentally,” Tony frowns. “She's trying.”

You squeeze Thor's hand to comfort him for the loss of his friend. He looks at you and smiles softly, relaxing his worried expression.

“Dr. Cho has a crush on me.” He states plainly, proudly even.

You frown up at him and his attempt to lighten the mood. “Oh, really?”

“Well, it’s been a few years but I’m sure she must still like me.”

“Really? Because my like for you is fading quick.”

You release his hand, give Tony a knowing look—Tony smirks at you, “Immature.”—and move into the atrium towards the living area.

Thor turns his clueless smile to Tony who then shakes his head, disapproving and trying to communicate to Thor that maybe mentioning other women so soon after getting back together was not a good idea.

Thor picks up on it and after a wide-eyed look at Tony, he scurries after you and simply scoops you up, throwing you over his right shoulder. He walks right up to the sofa and deposits you gently, then lowers himself down onto the sofa, sitting with his arm around the back. He gives you a soft awkward smile as you push yourself up to sit against the arm and let your legs rest over his.

“I could’ve walked.”

“I know.” He chuckles then rubs your knee.

Tony follows behind the two of you and sits on the smaller sofa crossing his legs. He holds a bottle of a nasty looking orange drink. It must be healthy.

“We need to talk about what happened at the warehouse.” Tony begins, he’s being cautious however, watching you carefully in case you should become upset.

You have no reason to be upset of course. It has been two weeks since you were injected with Variant Z. Two weeks since you were saved and two weeks since you became stronger than ever before. Two weeks since you and Steve parted ways. And one glorious week back with Thor. You’re sad but you’re also happier than you ever thought you would have the chance to be again.

“What about the warehouse?” You ask, your defenses up. Thor places his hand on your neck and massages it gently as you stiffen up a bit.

“Who was it, the person that attacked you?” Tony takes a sip of his drink and waits for you to speak.

You shut your eyes, hating the need to confront what you’ve been trying so hard not to think about. But since shutting your eyes doesn’t make it go away you open them again and watch Thor’s hand on your knee as he comforts you.

“B/F/N, my best friend. We grew up together. I-I thought they were dead.”

“Well, obviously they aren’t. Why did you think that?” Tony’s sarcasm was normal for you now. You weren’t offended.

“When…when it happened, what did you call it?” You look at Thor who is also staring at your knee, his thoughts a million miles away.

“The snap.”

“When the snap happened B/F/N and I were camping in Yosemite. We’d gone rock climbing and…well to make a long story short, I was able to pull myself up onto a ledge but the ropes beneath me went slack. No one was there anymore. I thought…I saw a few of the other groups fade. One poor guy fell all the way to the bottom when his anchor disappeared. My rope went slack so quickly that I thought…there was no way that I could have known,” You look up at Thor, desperate to explain yourself. “Thor, how was I supposed to know that B/F/N had survived? I looked down, over, and there was no one. I called out, but they didn’t answer.”

“Shh, it’s alright.” Thor turns so that he can sit facing you, plopping his left leg up onto the couch. He reaches up and wipes at your cheeks. It takes you a second to realize that you’re crying.

“I thought-there was no way for me to know. After they disappeared I had to climb back down on my own. I didn’t see anyone on my way down. I don’t know how they can be alive.” You shake your head and Thor pulls you into a tight embrace. He rubs your back, comforting you as best he can as you sob into his shoulder.

Tony behind you sits forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“This one…” Tony begins. “This one's on us, kid.”

You pull out of Thor's arms and turn to look at Tony. For the first time since you took Variant X you see the shadows of the man that was too heartbroken to be sober. That pain is still so fresh that it drains the light out of Tony's eyes.

“What?” You ask, disbelieving. You reach up to wipe the tears from your cheeks.

“He's right.” Thor rumbles. You look back at him and see that the spark in his eyes has died. “This is our fault. My fault. If I had not been so consumed in my desire for revenge and killed Thanos properly-"

“No!” You suddenly shout. It catches both Thor and Tony off guard and they watch as you scramble off of the couch. Thor's hand around yours remains there until you’ve pulled out of his grasp.

You turn to face both of them sternly. “I can’t afford for you to fall off the wagon and you, I know you take your responsibility to guard the nine realms very seriously but no matter what either of you did, Thanos was going to get what he wanted.”

Thor pushes himself to the edge of the sofa, watching you with a chastised expression. He also looks worried, his eyes on your hands as you ball them into fists.

“Y/N, we failed.” Tony counters.

“Everyone has to fail at some point. It's the only way that we become stronger. You almost failed in New York. You almost failed in Sokovia. You finally failed in Wakanda and Titan. I was there. All three times. I watched New York from home. I was there in Sokovia.” You turn to look at Thor, so internally happy that you were in Sokovia when you were. “And I was always with you after that. Worried and thinking about you.”

Thor clenches his jaw and stretches forward to grab your hand again. You let him pull you to him. He places one hand on your hip while the other keeps a hold on your hand.

“Thanos was a foe that you all were not prepared to face. Beating yourselves up for that is not fair to those of us that love you or yourselves.” Thor's hand moves up a little higher, gripping the space just below your elbow as he looks to Tony. “Learn from your mistakes. I know you and Bruce have been working hard, Tony, but maybe a break would do you more good.”

Tony turns away from Thor to look up at you.

“You’re being too hard on yourself. Maybe you need to take a step back. Sometimes, when we aren’t looking for it, the right solution presents itse-" You stop speaking as a sudden tap, tap, tap, reaches your ears.

You lean your head this way and that, trying to pinpoint the origin of what sounds like someone running. But it's so quiet you doubt even Thor can hear it.

“What's the matter?” Tony asks, recognizing your business mode face. He gets to his feet. Thor follows suit and releases you as you move away from him and move back out into the atrium.

“I hear footsteps. Running.” You turn your gaze towards the newly repaired balcony and focus in on the floor just outside the glass sliding door.

The door suddenly slides open but no one walks in.

“What the hell?”

Tony moves past you and stop by the first meeting table. “Hey, Tiny Tim, you're freaking out Y/N, mind coming up?”

“Tiny Tim?” You look at Thor who shrugs and shakes his head, obviously not knowing who Tony is talking about either.

You’re both staring at empty space until suddenly the empty space is no longer empty as a man just a little taller than Tony fills it. He seems to grow from the ground up until he’s standing before you wearing a tight red and black motorcycle suit topped with a shocking silver helmet with red eyes shields.

Thor shifts you behind him, protectively making himself as large as possible.

The man reaches up and pushes a button in the side of his helmet it splits at the front exposing his face.

His face is a little on the sad side but he has high cheekbones, a peachy complexion, green eyes, and a kind looking face. He turns to Tony and raises his right hand in a small wave.

“Hello, again Mr. Stark.”

“Stark, who is this trespasser?” Thor demands making his voice as threatening as possible.

“Woah, you're Thor.” The man in the red holds out his hand to Thor and waits with it extended for a handshake. “I’m Scott Lang. You're…really huge. And I thought Captain America was big.”

You realize who you're looking at just as Scott begins to take his hand back. Despite his saddened eyes, he still manages to exude a sense of excitement at meeting Thor.

“You're the Ant-Man.” You realize.

“Ant-Man?” Thor looks back and down at you as you speak.

“I am. Who-?”

“That's Y/N. Or Vex, when we're on the job. She's a super soldier.” Tony explains.

Scott's eyes brighten up a bit. “Wow, like Captain America? Hey, have you ever thought about having a kid with him? That would make for one really powerful baby, right?”

Inappropriate but as a man of science, you can understand the curiosity he must feel about it.

Thor squares his shoulders and takes a threatening half-step towards Scott who jumps back, reading the situation correctly. Your hand closes around Thor's bicep and it's easy for you to hold him back.

“Oh.” Scott realizes his mistake. “Well, if I’m honest a half Asgardian half super soldier baby would be way more interesting.”

Thor sighs heavily, frustrated but you’re busy noticing the bag that Scott is carrying with him. It’s not large. Medium sized but large enough to put plenty of things in it. The reason your eyes are drawn to it is the gentle clinking of glass inside of it.

“Scott?” Tony finally says, drawing Scott's attention.

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on? I thought you were on house arrest?”

“Oh, no. That ended. I did my time.” He assures Tony.

“House arrest? Are you saying that you are a criminal?” Thor asks, ruthless about the judgement in his voice.

“Uh…was a criminal. I’m clean now. I went to prison and paid my dues.”

“What were you in prison for?” Thor asks, curiously as he shifts his arm so that your hand drops down and he can take a hold of it.

“Stealing.” Scott says simply.

You know Thor however and he'll like Scott a lot more if he knows what he stole exactly.

“Scott used to work for a really big company that was stealing money from it's customers. He stole that money and gave it back to them.” If there was one thing that Thor respects it's an honorable disposition. “It was a lot of money.”

“A crime committed for the benefit of the innocent is an honorable thing to do. You are good man, Scott Lang.” Thor holds out his hand, a kind smile transforming his formerly serious expression.

You smile, amused as Scott reaches out with his own half-smile in place, and shakes Thor's hand.

“Wow, you're a God. And you really talk like that?” He looks at Tony who stands looking slightly annoyed. “This is the God of Thunder. He's huge.”

“And easily manipulated apparently.” Tony says.

You giggle but rub Thor's arm as he takes his hand back.

“I am not.” Thor protests.

Before he can continue to argue Tony turns back to Scott. “Well?”

Scott reaches down to his bag and your eyes are drawn to it once more, the glass clinking intriguing you.

“I have something to show you.”

Tony recognizes the look of frenzy in Scott's eyes that everyone seems to get when it comes to talking about Thanos and the snap. He nods and gestures back towards the elevator.

“We'll go to my lab.” Tony leads the way and Scott, after a small nod to you and Thor, follows after him.

You and Thor watch them disappear into the elevator. Once they’re gone Thor looks down at your worried face and uses his index finger to smooth out the puckered skin between your eyes.

“Hey,” He begins. You turn to look up at him and relax. The softness of his smile, the pure affection in his eyes almost overwhelming. “How would you like to go see New Asgard?”

@bionic-buckyb @mdgrdians @ulired @biawol @markusstraya @queenof-wakanda @slice-of-thunder @clockworkherondale @shonaldo @lilulo-12 @dsakita @animegirlgeeky

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