#Sophia should wear glasses but she doesn’t | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ballorawan740 · 3 years ago

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SCP Scenarios: When their kids swear at them (REQUESTED)

Requested by: @Astro_KeySimp

WARNING: Swearing (sorta)

Ok so I kinda made the reader into the child since don't remember if you wanted the reader to be a child or not, so if it wasn't to your liking, then I'm sorry, but I can make a separate version on where the reader isn't the child

It kinda became more of the SCPs and doctors being dads than their reaction to their kids swearing

SCP 073 (Cain)

Cain was walking around with you since you were bored and there wasn't anything to do

Being unaware of what some of the staff were saying, ye went over to grab you some food for later in case you got hungry

Once you both went back, he watched you play with some Legos and was talking as if it was your Lego friends talking to you

Cain looked away for just 10 seconds and heard you shout out "Wow! He said that her baby's such a bi-" which shocked him as he heard it

Cain looked around and made sure that nobody was around the room and was somewhat surprised that you was the one saying this

Being a good dad he is, Cain explained to you carefuly that you shouldn't say that word because it's bad

And being a sweet shy child, you obliged and stopped saying the word

Til this day, Cain had no idea about where and who you've heard the word from and is very much more self-aware

SCP 076-2 (Abel)

Abel is that type of dad who would teach you all the bad words and encourages you to say them

It's the researchers who had to teach you top not to say those words

One time, Dr Glass came in to examine you and had rewarded you as usual since you were so cooperative

You drew a picture of you and Abel talking in a garden with bright coloured flowers

Simon asked if he could see your drawing and saw that the conversation you and your dad had was those of swearing

This surprised Simon since you knew so many at such a young age but wasn't totally shocked since he knew that you were Abel's child

And knowing him, he wouldn't teach you to be nice, so Simon took the job as a mother hen and taught you to not use those words around people

SCP 999 (Tickle Monster)

Ok, so I'll keep this SCP short since I, again, don't know what I should write for this adorable, squicky, neon-orange, bubby blob

Another SCP who doesn't cuss

This adorable squishy boi here was about to have a heart attack when he heard you swear fir the first time

He had to ask you worryingly where you heard that phrase and you just said some guy wearing a white jacket

999 sighed knowing that you'll grow and couldn't do anything to stop it

He did, however, mention that you should try and avoid saying those things to anyone and that they'd most likely have a heart attack since you were his child and you won the genetic lottery for being the cutest and outgoing child in the world

The only other person who knew of this was Dr Glass (sucks to be him ngl, he do be a mother to everyone) and he had to help poor 999 with teaching you better words

SCP 682 (Hard to Destroy Reptile)

YAY! Another SCP who would teach their kid to swear

682 has such a dirty mouth like 076 and would 100% teach you all the words he knows

Similarly to what happened with Abel, you were taken for an interview with Dr Sophia Light since she was assigned to you

She's such a sweet and kind doctor to be around and would teach you anything and everything you would probably need to know all the while keeping an eye on you in case you become overly aggressive like 682

You were just eating some sweets Lights had given you for good behaviour and overheard some researchers swear

Remembering what your dad had taught you, you just repeated those curse words while clapping at your achievement

This had shocked Sophia and that researcher since you were known to be a moderately shy and quiet child who normally wouldn't say those things despite being 682's child

Sophia had to ask if you understood the meaning of those words and shook your head as an indicator for no

She had to carefully find her words and told you to never speak of those words again and took you back to 682's cell

You went and hugged your dad and told him that you learnt from the doctor that those curse words were bad and neither of you should say them

682 had a headache after that

SCP 049 (Plague Doctor)

I have a hard time thinking that 049 would teach his child to cuss and would avoid swearing in front of them at all cost

Like, he barely swears anyways but he wants to stay classy and sassy for his innocent child

Just like the other day, his kiddo, you, was curious about the whole surgery thingy he does on the dead bodies, so you asked him to teach you and so he did (like the good father we nevah had)

So you learnt some new, yet difficult, words (cuz we all have a nonexistent pea-sized brain) and somehow, you managed to fit in a curse word

This did surprise 049 as he had remembered that he didn't teach you those foul words

He had to give you a talk about using such words and you teared up since you thought that people used them to express their affection to others

Unsurprisingly, 049 took his sweet time looking for the guy who 'taught' you this and wanted to use him as a case study for your future lessons

SCP 035 (Possessive Mask)

Another parent with such an amazing influence on children

035 would teach and enable you to use swearing as a form of expression

So you were free to say whatever you want as long as they aren't directed to our mask here, especially if it's in a negative way

Otherwise, you'd be punished (No not like that! He'll just ground you from your favourite TV show/movie)

The researchers were surprised, not about you swearing, but how you use them through expression

Except for this poor guy who was new to the foundation and bumped into you by accident

This rookie found himself listening to you cursing like a sailor (maybe not that much but more or less on the same level as Samuel L Jackson)

Word got out and everybody laughed at the poor rookie and told him more about your background and how you love to swear (apparently swearing will prolong your life, so you'll basically be immortal here)

035 was impressed by the whole ordeal and rewarded you with more shows to watch whenever you're both free

SCP 105 (Iris)

Iris would accidentally swear in front of you and whenever she realises it, she would tell you to not swear at people since it wasn't very nice

So she would use words to replace the swearing like "oh fudging hell not now" and "no sugar honey ice tea"

The foundation felt that it was slightly unnecessary but went with it anyways

They'd even go as far as saying that it's ridiculous, but who are they to judge?

Iris was your mother and she's a single mum too, so she felt the need to be overly beating but would occasionally let you decide on your own since you were only 12

The foundation members did tell her that you will eventually grow and more of these words will be used but she just hesitates

As a teen, you did begin to use foul words more often and Iris would argue about how you're using them, especially towards her, your own mother

Needless to say, you both felt bad and made up

SCP 106 (Old Man)

Now this old man right here doesn't exactly speak, or at least very rarely

And if he does, he'll most likely be talking to you or the foundation staff if he needed some help finding you

He'll most likely be able to understand what the researchers are saying, even if they aren't speaking English

My own personal hc is that 106 understands English, German, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic and Indonesian and probably many others

Every now and again, somebody would come in and teach you new words and give other lessons like maths and poetry (our favourite)

You came back home to tell him all the things you've learnt as he watched you in awe as he braided your hair

You've even used some new phrases, including swear words while talking and 106 was pretty impressed

I feel that he's quite neutral with swear words since words are words and are used as a form of verbal communication

So I don't think they'll be much change in his behaviour to whether you're swearing or not

SCP 096 (Shy Guy)

Now with 096, all he does is scream

So basically, somebody else would have to teach you some words

It's not to say that 096 is a dumb animalistic creature with no soul and just kills people who look at his face

He isn't stupid since he manages to find anyone who looked at his face from the other side of the globe

And he seems to understand what the researchers are saying, or at least on a more intermediate to moderate level

You'll learn about swear words from the other researchers, whether they'll be teaching it to you intentionally or you've overheard them

The foundation could really care less, but would at least prefer that you chill a bit if you got carried away

096 would act all cheery when you learn more new things as it's not like the foundation would let him out anyway, so he'll be living the outside world life from you (How relatable, but more with babysitting and dating, cuz I'm too pretty for anyone to date XD)

Like with 106, I don't think 096 would have any special reaction towards swearing, but would probably be screaming internally for a bit since he knows that it isn't a nice word

Dr Jack bright

This mf right here is one of those parents who would be kind but firm

Bright would most definitely give in to your curiosity and teach you whatever you want to learn but would warn you of the dangers

Depending on what it is, he would even go as far as giving you your own personal guard who would stay with you and train you

And unfortunately, this guard has such a foul mouth, so you're constantly exposed to such words

Luckily for the both of you, Jack Bright doesn't really care about swearing as long as you're not being extremely inappropriate if you were to work

He would even joke around with you sometimes and would even start the conversation with swearing

For instance, he'd just surprise you with a "Yeet his mf outta my sheithole"

And yes, you did laugh at his antics

Some would even say that you're an exact clone of him but more stable (for now)

Well, Bright is an amazing dad, but I'd say just below Dr Glass

Or maybe even on par with him

Like Bright is a goofy dad that has all the terrible dad jokes and Glass would be the type of dad to look out for his kid

Dr Simon Glass

Dr Glass would most definitely avoid using swear words, especially if you were under 15

Even if you were over 15, he'd still avoid swearing unless he wants to make a joke or 2

So most of the time, you'd learn all the swearing from other people and SCPs

Sometimes you would swear by accident and Glass would just look at you, slightly disappointed

I'd say he doesn't exactly care about you swearing per see, but would rather you avoid it

It's cuz Simon is the best dad a dad could ever dad and nobody could prove me wrong here

He's also one of the top best dads compared to the others on the list

He's basically your best friend so he'd let you vent and its the 1 time he'd let you swear to show your emotions

Simon would 100% know your thoughts and behaviour

He's just that good at reading people, especially you - almost to the point where people would say he's an SCP cuz I swear he's just empathic and telepathic

As mentioned before, Glass would be the type of dad to care for your mental health

It's not that the others don't, it's just that Glass is a top their God of Psychology and would come to you before you even know you have depression

He would even crack a joke sometimes

So every so often, he would shout out "LANGUAGE!!!" from across the room before you could even bat an eye and say anything

Dr Alto Clef

Another top tier dad, but swearing addition

Your godfather would literally be Jack Bright

Then it's Kondraki and Glass

He would let you swear on a daily basis and would join you

Sometimes you be looking at your Oppas/Noonas and be like: "Oh fxxk me!" and Clef, who's in the next room, be like: "Yeah, fxxk me too!" (Yes but no sis! No incest pls!)

Other times, you would be in the same room as Clef and Bright and you'd join them in being chaotic

And poor Kondraki is just there at the back trying to do his work peacefully

One time, Kondraki had to grab a Simon Glass to help stop the chaotic trio

And OML did it end so well

You were easy to manage tbh, with the exception of you swearing

Clef and Bright would most definitely encourage you to swear more

Especially Clef since he does have a twisted sense of humour

Dr Benjamin Kondraki

Kondraki is totally the type of person who would tell their kid to mind their own language

But he secretly doesn't care and his child knows it

His style of parenting is similar to Simon's

And yes, Simon is your #1 godfather/uncle

You'd go to him for emotional support since Kondraki sucks at that

Sometimes you'd swear at him and he'd get mad though

So yeah, running to Glass is a wonderful idea

And we all know that Kondraki doesn't mean what he said

He's just extremely introverted, but he's rather sensible - Usually...

Anyways, he would ask Simon on tips and advice on how to get you to stop swearing so much and he just gave Benjamin a parenting book (Like fr guys, let Glass have some rest, he's tired of babysitting over 100 dozens of pets in the zoo and all the other babies who work in it)

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kareofbears · 4 years ago

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margin of error

Sophia knows a lot, but that does not mean she understands much of anything at all.

Or, Sophia struggles to grasp why Akira and Ryuji don't follow her predictive algorithm.

read on ao3 or below the cut :)

Sophia knows a lot.

She can tell you almost anything in the known world in an instant. Calculate the radius of the sun. Who won Best Picture three years ago. The outfit to wear when you need to 'dress to impress.' Just yesterday, she was able to find them a bath, a takoyaki restaurant, and an overnight camping site within 0.3 milliseconds. That’s not very many seconds.

Sophia knows a lot, but that does not mean she understands much of anything at all.

She’s quiet while she’s propped on the phone stand, watching the rest of them lounge in the RV. There’s a shape to the interior that wasn’t there before—where it had been pristine when they had first gotten it, now it’s littered with crumbs and instant-food packaging despite Makoto’s half-hearted attempts at scolding them for it. Empty surfaces are filled with knick-knacks, stuffies and a plastic ramen bowl rattling gently along with the RV.

There’s a rare lull amongst them, a moment of quiet. Most of them were napping away the road, gently snoring and bodies jostling whenever a pothole hits, oblivious to the scenery that passes by. Only the soft tunes of pop music from the front and the hum of the engine broke the quiet.

Other than Makoto, there were only two people awake: Akira, scribbling in his journal, and Ryuji, watching him do it. They sat across from each other in the booth, with Ryuji’s chin propped against his hand.

Probability and pinpoint accuracy is what she excels at, and being able to apply them to her friends excites her. Not to mention, she hasn’t been wrong yet.

Idly, she runs the numbers—according to the data she’s collected from spending time with them, the silence will be broken by Ryuji within approximately two minutes. Pulling up a time from within Akira’s phone, she waits eagerly.

A minute passes, and then another. And another. Akira is still scribbling in his neat penmanship and Ryuji is still watching him doing it, unspeaking.

Frowning, she double-checks her calculations. No errors that she can see. It seems that he simply does not want to speak. This is surprising, and very unlike him. He is not usually this quiet. In the Metaverse, he is by far the loudest of them; calling on his Persona’s name can often leave her own ears ringing.

The real world does not stray from that data. His voice is clear in crowded areas, helpful in guiding their big group throughout bustling cities. He is often shushed by the girls when they are trying to sleep at night—Futaba even goes as far as to kick the ceiling from her bunk bed.

The data is strong and sure. There should not be a reason that she should be wrong in this assumption unless there’s a confounding variable that she had missed.

Akira looks up and catches his eye. “Am I boring you?” he asks quietly.

Ryuji shakes his head, grinning. “Couldn’t be happier,” he whispers back.

Sophia’s about to ask when Makoto cuts her off.

“Wake up everyone. We’re here.”

—

“Okay,” Akira calls. His voice isn’t raised, despite the crowded street of downtown Sendai, but they all straighten up. “We’re probably not going to spend too much time here, especially once we take over the Jail. Grab what you need now—snacks for the trip. Shopping. Souvenirs. Frozen pineapple. Any questions?” Yusuke raises his hand. “Yes, I’ll pay for you.” The hand falls back down, relieved.

“Cool. How about we meet back here…” he squints at the large clock hanging on the wall, hand blocking out the blaring sun. “In an hour?”

A chorus of agreements rolls through them as they rush out, excited to explore a new city. “Good speech,” Sophia pipes up from his hand. “Do you do them often?”

“I try not to,” he yawns. His thick black hair is even more unruly than usual, glasses barely hiding the light blue that’s beginning to form underneath his eyes. “Most of the time, they can handle themselves fine. All they need is a schedule and some rules to work with.”

When she doesn’t answer, Akira brings his phone up. “What? Did I say something?”

“It’s because she’s worried about you, you moron,” a disgruntled voice says.

Akira’s gaze flickers towards it. “You’re still here?”

“Of course I am,” Ryuji says. “You really think I’d leave without saying goodbye? Glad I didn’t either, cause you look like shit.”

“Thanks.”

“Still pretty, though. No worries about that part.” He shoves his hand deep in his pocket, stray yen clinking against each other as he rummages. After a moment, he throws something at Akira. “Catch.”

He plucks it out from the air with ease. “Car keys?” he asks, surprised.

“Grabbed them from Makoto before she ran off for stationery shopping.” Ryuji reaches forward, gently turning Akira’s head this way and that, frowning. “I told you to quit staying up so late. You’re exhausted.”

“I am not.”

“He is,” Sophia refutes. “Last night, he had approximately four hours of sleep, with only four minutes of that being REM sleep.”

“I told you. She’s even bringing up computer stuff now.”

“I think you are thinking about RAM, Ryuji.”

“Whatever,” he shakes his head. “Look, just head to the RV, get some shut-eye. You can finally sleep in a proper bed that isn’t an overheating tent with three sweaty dudes and a cat. Oh, and trade phones with me.”

He hands it over without hesitation, sliding Ryuji’s phone into his own pocket. “Why?”

“You have the grocery list in here, yeah? Not to mention, I don’t want Sophia getting bored while you nap it up.” He looks down at her. “Hi, by the way.”

“Hi!”

Akira still doesn’t seem convinced. “But I promised Yusuke—”

“Who’s with Ann now, shopping like they’d die if they didn’t get the perfect skirt to fit her next shoot,” he says, uncompromising. “Chill. It’s fine. We’ll survive an hour without Joker keeping an eye on us.”

They stare each other down for a long moment with Sophia watching. She does not need to run the numbers on this one; Akira will not allow himself to go back to the RV.

To her surprise, he relents. “Twenty minutes.”

Ryuji scoffs. “We’ll see about that. You suck at waking up.”

“Shut up.” And then, quieter, “Thank you.”

“You know I got your back.”

He yawns once more, slowly walking back to their car. “Sophia, please make sure that when he gets the Pocky to get the strawberry one. Futaba won’t eat anything else. And also that Haru wanted doilies to make the place look nicer. White, if you can find them.”

“Roger that,” she replies, distracted. How is she wrong again? This is troubling.

“My hoodie’s in my bag if you get cold!” Ryuji calls out. Akira throws him a thumbs up without looking back. “Jeez, that guy. He’s gonna run himself to the ground before he’s thirty, I swear. Like some geezer with a bad back but with really good hairline or something.”

An old man with a thick head of hair shoots him a glare as he passes by them. Ryuji laughs, high-pitched. “Yikes, that was awkward. Let’s get out of here, we need to hit up the grocery store before they run out of carrots.”

Sophia doesn’t answer, too deep in her thoughts and running endless calculations.

—

It’s impossible for her to get a headache, but her code is trying its best to give her one.

Two mistakes now. That isn’t allowed to happen. She’s lucky that they were both relatively small errors, but it can easily become a bigger problem. What can she do?

Luckily, that had a very simple answer.

“Ryuji?”

“Hmm?” He peels his eyes away from scrutinizing the oranges in his hands, the wires from his earphones swaying when he does. After one too many strange looks when he talks to nothing, it was just better to act like he was on a phone call. “Yeah?”

“I have a question.”

“What am I, a teacher?” he snorts. “If you got a question, go ahead. Friends can do that.”

That’s right. They’re friends, and friends have trust in one another. Sophia jotted that down as lesson number forty-eight, thirteen days ago.

“Okay,” she says. Questions float around her, and she picks the one that’s giving her the most stress. “If I was not as useful as you think I am, would we still remain friends?”

The orange tumbles out of his grip, and he rushes to catch it before it hits the ground. “Wha—!” he stutters out. “Duh! Obviously! What the—where the hell did that come from? Did we do something to think that we’d just ditch you like that?” he lifts the phone so that she was eye-level with him. “Be honest,” he says seriously, quickly. “Did I say something to hurt your feelings? I do that sometimes, and I’m working on it, and I know that’s no excuse—”

“You did not say anything to hurt my feelings,” she says before he spirals even further. “In fact, I do not have feelings for you to hurt.”

Relief blooms on his expression, and he sags his body against the fruit display. “Okay, good. Good. Thought I was gonna get a heart attack. I’d be pissed at myself if I did, and I just know Akira would give me so much shit.” He sighs, ridding himself of panic before giving him her full attention. “So what’s up?

“Sir…” an employee shuffles towards them, hands shaking knees knocking against each other. He is afraid, she notes, but of what? “I’m sorry, but it’s against store policy to lean on the product. Please try to understand.”

“Oh, shoot!” Ryuji exclaims, straightening up. “Sorry, man. I didn’t even realize. I think I squished an orange, but I’ll buy it so your boss doesn’t give you hell for that one.”

The employee blinks. “You would?” he says, shocked. “That would be great, actually. Thank you so much!”

“Don’t sweat it,” he waves it off. Tugging the shopping cart, he places Sophia where they’d normally put babies. “Hope he doesn’t get in trouble. I feel kinda bad.”

She thinks for a moment. “Ryuji, why was that man afraid?”

Swiftly, red rushes to his cheeks. “That obvious? Aw, man.”

“I don’t know if it was obvious, but all the signs were there,” she says, watching as he ducks his head, embarrassed. “What is happening? I do not understand.”

“It’s just—” his eyes shift sideways, meeting the eye of a young girl. Immediately, she directs her gaze downwards. “I look really scary to people.”

“You do?” It isn’t in her program to doubt, but she is rather skeptical. During the entire trip, he has been nothing but kind to her. Yes, there are times when he has arguments with others in the group, but more often than not it’s him that’s being teased rather than the other way around. “Why? You aren’t even that tall.”

“Ouch?”

“I’m just saying that you are not scary to me, so I don’t really understand why other people would be.”

He sighs, picking up a box of miso unseeingly. “It’s a combination of a lot of things. My hair’s bleached, and people usually see that as like, punk or whatever. My posture sucks and my voice is loud.” Shrugging, he throws it in the cart. “It doesn’t really bug me though. At least that means strangers usually don’t bother the group, cause they think I’ll kick their ass.”

“And would you?” Sophia crosses off miso. Only bandages are left on the list, but the cart is filled with snacks, sodas, and a small cactus. “‘Kick their ass?’”

“No way. If I did, my mom would kick my ass, and I can’t pull that shit twice in a lifetime.” Pushing the cart, they slowly meander through the aisles, occasionally looking at what’s on sale. Ryuji tosses in rainbow marshmallows, and after a moment, reluctantly puts it back.

“But you know,” he says eventually. “If someone was bothering the group, it’s not as if I’d just let it happen.”

She considers his answer. “You are tough,” she concludes. “But not scary.”

“Uh, yes,” he says, unsure. And then, with more conviction, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Got it. ‘Ryuji is tough, but other people are terrified of him.’ I will make a note of that.” He looks like he wants to say something, but she keeps going. “Synonyms for ‘tough’: robust, stalwart, and strong. Would you say that’s accurate?”

He laughs, disbelieving. “No idea what the first two meant, but the third one isn’t right.”

“Why not? You can fight Shadows. Your muscle ratio is high. One time, when Futaba couldn’t unscrew her water bottle, you did it with no problem.”

“Because, Sophia,” Ryuji picks up gummy worms, and turns to her with pleading eyes. When she shakes her head, he puts it back on the shelf with a grimace. “Strength isn’t always about muscles and who can kill what. It’s more than that.”

It seems as though he doesn’t want to speak about this anymore, but the topic is too interesting to stop here. “Explain, please.”

“It’s...it’s like mental strength,” he says begrudgingly. “Like if someone failed an exam they studied real hard for, mental strength would help them get through a tough situation like that. Like Akira.”

“Akira has high mental strength?”

“Oh, the highest out of all of us without a doubt. The world could explode and he’d be all—” Ryuji lowers his voice by an octave. “‘Here’s what we can do,’ and then fix it somehow. That’s just the kind of guy he is. All plans and no fear.”

All plans and no fear is a good way of describing Joker. “And you aren’t like that?”

“No way. Have you ever seen me have a plan in my life? I’m more of an ‘act before I can talk myself out of it’ person. Usually works out fine in the end. Besides, he does it enough for the both of us.” His eyes light up. “Do you think if I get the panda bandages, it would work better in the Metaverse? Cause of the brain stuff?”

“I think so, as long as it makes people think it works better.”

“Great.” Ryuji tosses it in with the rest. “And I think we got everything! Let’s head out. If we’re lucky, we can grab some ice cream before we meet up with the rest of them.”

“Good job! But you may want to consider removing the orange soda. Makoto is already unhappy with how much junk food you are always eating.”

“Fine. I’m keeping the cactus though.”

It was only when they’re all sleeping back in the RV when she realizes that she never got to ask him her actual question. Actually, she ended up with even more questions than when she began.

Maybe she’ll have better luck asking Akira instead.

—

They, or rather Akira, have their knees buried in a patch of grass in the middle of Sapporo with a small pile of four-leaf clovers by his ankles when she decides it would be appropriate to ask him.

“Akira, can I ask—” she pauses, and tries again. “I have a question.”

His face is so close to the ground that even the dirt would realize that his glasses don’t have prescription, and people are shooting him worried looks that he completely ignores. “Shoot.”

“Actually, I have many questions, and I’m hoping you’ll answer all of them as honestly as you can in order to have the most accurate data possible.”

“Research?”

More often than not, Akira has been giving her information about the world that she does not have access to. Slang terms that Futaba yells out in frustration, Ann’s tendency to jump from one topic to the next with little regard to who she’s talking to. It’s all confusing to Sophia, so she makes sure to memorize all of these instances and bring it to him for clarification.

“Sort of,” she says. “Some of my predictions have been off lately, and I am trying to figure out why.”

“Sure. Oh, another one.” Gently, he plucks it from the soil and gently places it with the others. “For Haru. Apparently, she’s really struggling with economics, so hopefully this helps her out next semester.”

“How many more?”

“Four,” he replies. “Yusuke, Sojiro, Akane, and Ryuji.”

She frowns. “Ryuji already has one.”

“He’s going to need more than one.” Akira turns to her, distressed. “Entrance exams are coming up.”

“Oh.”

“Yup,” he turns back to his task. “Anyway, you had a question?”

“Right,” she says, clearing her throat: a sign of taking a more serious tone. “Why are you scared of Ryuji?”

Akira freezes. Sophia waits patiently. But after a moment, then two, then five, there is still no reaction from him. And then slowly, he faces her with a blank expression.

She has not known Kurusu Akira for very long—only a few weeks in fact. But in that time, she feels that she has come to learn a lot about him. For instance, he does not like pears. He also finds grocery shopping relaxing, and he would die for his friends. Another thing she has learned from him is that he is very quiet; even in the Metaverse, amidst the explosions and gunshots, he does not yell. It is not as if he has nothing to say, but rather he would rather express himself through gestures and the odd comment here and there. He is much happier to let the people around him carry the conversation for him.

Shock racks through her as he bursts out laughing. His shoulders move up and down as laughs pour out of him uncontrollably. “What—?” he tries, pushing his glasses atop his head. It’s almost hidden amongst his thick, black locks. “Did you seriously ask if I was afraid of Ryuji? Sakamoto Ryuji? Blond guy, helps out in the Metaverse? My best friend?”

“Um.” This was not what she was expecting, despite having no expectations to begin with. “Yes.”

He sighs, content. “I really have to thank you, Sophia.” Akira brings his glasses back to his nose, the corners of his mouth quirked up. “That was really good. Haven’t laughed that hard since Yusuke thought Italy was near Mexico.”

She tilts her head sideways. “I was not joking.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He sits up, crossing his legs over each other, giving her his full attention. “Tell me why you thought I was scared of him.” Even as he’s sobered up, he can’t quite finish the sentence without smiling.

“My predictions have been off lately,” she says, a wrinkle between her brows. “This is normal—predictions by their nature cannot always be right. However, I’ve noticed that they’re incorrect more often lately. I ran the data, and these errors are related to two things:” Sophia brings her hand to the screen so that he can see properly. “You and him, as a unit. Individually, there doesn’t seem to be any errors. It is specifically when you are being measured together that creates mistakes. My prognosis on everyone else in the group creates more stable and accurate results.”

Sophia twists her hair in her hands. “The only reason it would be wrong is because of a confounding variable. Maybe there’s something between the two of you that others do not have. So I thought that answer—”

“Was fear,” he finishes. There’s an odd tone in his voice that she doesn’t comprehend. His gray eyes, sharp but never unkind. “I see where you’re coming from. But, and I can swear on this fact—it isn’t fear. I am not, nor will I ever be, afraid of him.”

She deflates. Wrong again. “And he’s not afraid of you?” she asks, out of desperation than anything.

Akira thinks for a moment. “Do you remember when I was cooking, and Ryuji went in to smell the broth, and knocked the whole thing over and onto my suitcase?” She nods. She had taken many pictures of that moment. “He felt really guilty, but he wasn’t scared of my reaction. He was more scared that he had ruined my stuff. You know what I mean?”

“I think I do.”

He bops the top of his phone a few times, an odd resemblance of patting her head. “Cool.”

Sophia stares at the road past their garden of clovers. Cars speed forward, too quick for her to focus on what the driver looks like. It’s hot today, but she doesn’t feel it. She runs her data one more time. “Akira, do you love Ryuji?”

His hands do not pause. “I love all my friends,” he answers simply.

—

At the end of the day, it does not matter if her attempts at predicting the future are fruitless. If she is in fact humanity’s companion, her code makes sure of one thing above all else: to help humanity with any of their endeavors.

That’s a tall order, especially when there are 7,874,965,825 humans within that humanity at this moment. Sophia is only one being, and realism is etched into her. To make things simple, she gave herself a domain of discourse. A sample size. Narrowing what she can do, and who she can help. The entirety of humanity then, at least in Sophia’s mind, falls under the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Sapporo is freezing. Frosty. Crisp. Chilly.

“Fucking cold!” Ryuji shivers, jogging around them in an effort to get warm. “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.”

“Even with the space heaters on, it seems that the winter isn’t interested in going anywhere,” Makoto says. She’s standing uncomfortably close to Ann, trying to leech off of her inherent heat. Actually, she wasn’t the only one—Haru is also inching her way to her. “It should probably get better once we start moving. Good thing we won’t be here long.”

Yusuke nods, unperturbed. “Yes, this should be a quick run. We’re just here to collect a desire gone astray, yes?” It seems that the ice does little to bother him. “Oracle, can you find its location?” No response. “Oracle?”

He glances to the ground, sighing when he finds her on the ground, eyes closed and breathing deeply. “Wake up,” he says, nudging her with his boot. When she doesn’t move, Yusuke throws an exasperated look at Akira.

Reluctantly, he nods. “Yeah, yeah, I got her,” he says, summoning Queen Mab. Instantly, the temperature seems to rise, just a little bit. Scooping her up, Akira shakes her roughly like a particularly malicious sack of flour. “Wake up, your space heater’s here.”

“This may be a quick run,” Haru says. “But it doesn’t mean we should take this any less seriously. Someone’s desire got lost on its way back, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, that sounds—Mona, get off my leg—about right.” Ann squints her eyes along the horizon. “It’s far, right? If we start moving now, we can probably work off the frost on our skin.”

“Yeah, it’s about…” Futaba yawns as Akira sets her on her feet. “Twenty-minute walk? Ten-minute run, but unless you want me slipping and turning the ice red, we’re gonna want to slow down.”

Akira touches his mask. “Agi.” A wave of heat rushes over them, and she sighs, grateful for the respite. “Hopefully that helped a little. But it won’t last long, and we shouldn’t waste energy warming up. Quick recap—someone lost their desire, we’re here to make sure it gets back. Our top priority is getting that desire back as quick as possible. Questions?”

Sophia raises her hand.

“Yup?”

“Did you say top priority?”

“Yes, I did say top priority.”

“Understood!” she chirps, making a note in her head. It was hard to concentrate when she felt like her insides were freezing up.

Another hand shoots up.

“Noir?”

“I don’t have a question. I just think you’re doing a wonderful job.”

“Thank you, Noir. Always a pleasure.” He looks around, nodding. “Alright. If that’s it, then let’s do this thing.”

They all move ahead, wary of their footing. Sophia frowns as she scuttles forward, scared of being left behind. There is no room for error here. If she feels that she is not useful in the real world, then she can at least utilize her talents here. And the first step to doing that is to make sure she is doing two things:

1) Not slow

2) Won’t trip

After a while, she looks up and feels her eyes bulge. How did they get so far already? Sophia can hardly see them anymore, especially with the slight fog that’s beginning to emerge. She has to get there faster.

Failed step number one already. For once, she’s glad she wasn’t hardcoded with emotions, or else humiliation would be overwhelming. Quickening her pace, she’s determined to do this correctly. One foot, then the next. One foot, then the next. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left—

She slips.

With a gasp, she moves to twist her body so that it wasn’t her head that would take the impact, and closes her eyes shut.

Just before she slams into the ice, arms grab her torso, swinging her forward. “Whoa there, shorty!”

Ryuji uses the momentum to swing her onto his back, and she latches around her neck, bewildered. “You okay? Almost got knocked out before any Shadow got to us.”

“Yes,” she replies, breathless. “Thank you for saving me. That would have been bad.”

“No prob!” he marches onward as if he wasn’t carrying an entire human being on his back while treading through sleet.

“...You can settle me down if you’d like.”

“I would not like.” He grins, boots finding matte ice with ease. “I kinda love carrying you like this. Not like I can do this in the real world, can I? ‘Sides, Futaba would chew my head off if I tried it with her.”

“Have you?”

“Maybe.”

She laughs as they finally reconvene with the rest of them. When Akira turns to them, his expression softens with relief. “All good?”

“All good,” Ryuji says. “Nothing Sophie and I can’t handle.” He raises his fist at her, and she bumps it enthusiastically. Lesson twenty-three: never refuse a fist-bump. It’s one of her favorites.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop!” Futaba calls out from beside Ann, arms were linked as if they were strolling through a park, and not a Shadow-infested land. “I said stop!”

“We heard you the first time!” Morgana yowls. “Are we here?”

“We’re close. Kinda weird though.” She smacks the side of her goggles a few times impatiently. “Nothing’s showing up.”

“Lucky!” Ann whoops. “Let’s get this over with and get some gelato!”

Rounding the corner of an empty street, Yusuke points forward to a glowing heart, beating in time to its pulsing light. “That’s it, I take it?”

“I can get it.” Sophia pats Ryuji’s shoulder, and he lets her down. “That way, we can finish this as soon as possible.”

She runs forward, eager.

“Wait—!” Futaba cries out from behind her. “We’re getting ambushed!”

As she says it, footsteps surround them, the clanging of weapons and the grunts of Shadows appearing out of nowhere. She starts to run faster, terrified of slipping but pushes on anyway. She can do this.

“Shit,” Akira hisses. “Sophie, come back here!”

Sophia ignores him, the Desire almost in her reach when she feels it. A cold breeze, impossibly colder than the temperature before, almost seems to pierce through her skin. She did not need to turn around to know what it was—every cell in her body is screaming it for her.

A curse. A strong one that would have no problem wiping her out like fly on the RV’s windshield wiper.

Would she at least be able to save the Desire? Even if she ceases to exist? Would it be worth it then? It should be, since this is what she was made for.

Something solid shoves her from behind, and she gives out a yell before hitting the ground, hard.

“What…?” she mutters, disoriented. Somehow, she isn’t dead, or even near death. Shaking her head, she grasps for the Desire in front of her before turning around.

Instantly, her heart stops. The Desire in her hand continues to pulse steadily as she stares down at Ryuji, collapsed on the ground.

“Skull?” she whispers. Leaning down, she can still hear his breathing, though it’s faint. Her hand reaches out, before she remembers. Top priority. The Desire needs to get to Joker first.

The ground begins to rumble, and Sophia looks up in time to see an arch of glowing white explode. Every Shadow is eviscerated, their ashes scattering violently at the aftershock of wind that follows from the impact. Concrete cracks, snow blows away. Without a doubt, it’s an attack from a Persona user, but she has no idea who it came from.

As the dust settles, stray bits of ice falling from the sky like hail, Akira shoots out from the fog. He’s moving faster than she’s ever seen him, and there’s a desperation to his movements that throws her off-guard. Maybe he didn’t see yet? Sophia steps forward.

“Joker!” she calls out when he gets closer, thrusting her hand forward. “I got the Desire!”

He rushes past her without a blink.

Akira skids to his knees. “Ryuji!” When there’s no answer, he pulls Ryuji to his knees, resting his head on his lap. Akira presses his fingers against the pulse on his neck, concentrating intensely. Then he grits his teeth. “I can work with this.”

More footsteps. Familiar ones. “Dammit, Joker!” Morgana says. “You can’t just throw around attacks like that, especially with such weak enemies. You know how draining that spell is.”

He ignores him. Akira removes Ryuji’s mask with great care, setting it aside, before touching his own. “Aid me, Sarasvati.”

“Joker?” she tries.

A floating woman donned in green with a delicate instrument in her long fingertips appeared from the fibers of his mask, her expression kind and tender.

“Joker.”

Healing power flows through his hands, so potent that it glows green. Sweat pours from his brow, and his wrist begins to tremble with effort.

“Joker!”

“What, Sophie?” he rounds on her, gray eyes intense.

“I got the Desire!” she announces triumphantly.

A beat passes. And then another. It was as if there was never even a deafening battle not one minute prior.

When Akira finally speaks, his voice is low. “Panther, take Sophie away please.”

Her breathing stops. She could not inhale the air even if it was demanded of her. Akira turns back to Ryuji, but Sophia’s eyes stuck to him—like she was hypnotized, cemented to the back of his head, unable to look away. Every inch of her body is numb, but none of it has anything to do with the cold.

Ann gently takes her hand, hot as iron against hers, and takes the Desire in the other. “Come on, Soph. Let’s go for a walk, huh?”

She lets herself be led away, blank and unseeing, a part of her staying wishing to stay behind to...what? She didn’t know. There’s so much she doesn’t know.

They keep walking, rounding street corners, quietly passing underneath frozen lamp posts. Sophia wasn’t sure where they were going, but she didn’t bother to ask. Eventually, they duck underneath a railing, Ann covering her head to make sure she doesn’t accidentally bang her skull against the metal. When they straight up, she blinks.

“A heater?”

“Yeah,” Ann sighs, flopping down on a toppled column as if it were a sofa. “I figured if we were going to talk, you might as well stop shivering during that time.” At her words, Sophia realizes how hard she was shaking. Ann pats the spot beside her. “Sit. Nothing a little girl talk can’t fix.” She does.

At her silence, Ann hums. “Cold, isn’t it? You guys haven’t stopped complaining since we got here. I’m super lucky that Carmen’s here to help me. Warms me up even better than this heater, if you can imagine that. Completely different from the real world, where we feel like we’re going to burst into flames any second.” She yawns. “But god, there’s no one in all of Japan that can run his mouth about the weather like Ryuji.” Sophia clenches her fist, but she keeps going, speaking almost wistfully. “I mean, he’s just so loud, you know? Like, how many times have we driven by cows on this trip, and he’d literally wake us all up just to show us? Not to mention, he eats up all the food and snores like crazy. God, one time I invited everyone over at my place, and he just slept in my bed when he got tired! Who does that?”

Ann sighs. “But man, I’ve never met someone more devoted to his friends than him. Sometimes, he’d even give ‘Kira a run for his money, the way he’d just drop everything and run to where trouble is. Day or night, that idiot would show up on your doorstep the minute you shoot him a text, wearing the most ridiculous pajamas you’ve ever seen,” she scoffs. “He started the Thieves with Akira, you know? All gung ho about justice and stuff, you should’ve seen it. And he had the spine to back it up, too.” She smiles, just a little. “Don’t tell him, but I think he’s really, really cool.”

A drop of water hits Sophia’s wrist. And another. And another, until her vision blurs and her chest is heaving. “I just—” she sobs without restraint. “I was just trying to help. I just want to be useful and do what I was made to do, and Akira said from before that this—this was the top priority, and I even made sure, so I asked, but when I finally got the Desire and I was so sure that I’d finally done something right...” the image of Akira’s cold gaze makes her flinch, hard. “He’s just so mad at me, Ann. And Ryuji—” she chokes on his name like a curse, her tongue tumbling over it as if it were getting caught in a lie. “He protected me from before, but he said he was tough, so I thought it was okay since the Desire was the top priority but he got hurt because of me.”

“I don’t even know what I’m feeling, or why I’m crying, or why you’re being so nice to me even though I know I did something bad! I just—” Sophia buries her face in her hands, muffling her scream. “I just don’t understand anything!”

Warm hands rub her back. “I know,” Ann says quietly. “You’re trying your best. We all get that, and we all think you’re doing an A-plus job.” She pauses. “Sophia, Ryuji didn’t take the hit for you because he was thinking about the Desire. He did it because he didn’t want to see you hurt.”

That makes Sophia peek up. “But that was the top priority, wasn’t it?”

“Uh-huh, but that wasn’t his heart’s top priority.” Ann pokes her temple. “That whole logic and calculation thing you have going on is good and stuff, but the thing about the human heart is that you can’t always choose why you do things, or how you react in certain situations. I bet you anything that he totally forgot that we were even looking for this thing when he pushed you,” she waves the beating heart in her hand, still glowing. “And that’s also why Akira got a little mad at you from before.”

She deflates. “He hates me,” she mumbles, feeling her insides churn uncomfortably.

“That boy doesn’t have the time in his schedule to hate anyone,” Ann reassures her. “He’s just...really, really terrified.”

“But why?” Sophia’s starting to despise that word. “He already knew that he was okay. Why would he still be worried?”

Ann looks up, thinking. “You really love and care about Ryuji, right?”

Love was still a foreign concept to her, but for once the answer came forth with ease. “Yes.”

“Take that feeling, that dense, little ball of love and adoration in your tiny body, and multiply that by about eighteen million. That’s probably about the range of what Akira feels about him.”

She quickly runs the numbers. “Whoa.”

“Yeah. Kinda scary, huh?”

It is scary. With numbers this high, she can only begin to imagine what it felt like for Akira to think that he might be seriously hurt, or even worse, dead. All because of Sophia.

“Hey now, I know that look!” Ann flicks her forehead. “I don’t want you to get all mopey about this. You said it yourself—he’s a tough guy. The toughest there is, but don’t tell him that. It’ll go straight to his empty head.”

She stands with exuberance, stretching. “Alright, I think we’re about done here. How we feeling? You ready to go back?”

No. Her heart speeds up at the thought of going back, her shoulders tensing in on itself, but somehow it would be worse to stay here. “I’m ready.”

“That’s what we like to hear!” Ann cheers. “No chickening out now, okay? You can do this.”

“I can do this.” Sophia repeats, and then, louder: “I can do this!

“Yay! And Sophie?” she looks up in time to see Ann giving her a warm look. “Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean we love you any less. You are allowed to be confused and make mistakes. Do you understand that?”

Sophia smiles wide. “I understand.”

—

They were a block away from the rest of the group when Akira emerged from the fog. With his black attire and dark hair, he could have looked like a picturesque horror movie figure, but somehow his expression ruined that facade the moment she saw it.

“I’m going on ahead,” Ann says when Sophia stops in front of him. “Someone has to make sure Futaba doesn’t sleep on us again.”

“Thanks,” he answers. Then, to Sophia, “Hi.”

“Hi, Joker.” She’s been practicing her speech the entire way back, her points all lined up in her mind, all leading up to the big apology. “I—”

“Pause,” he cuts in, and she shrinks. Is he still mad? She can’t read his expression. He kneels in front of her, squinting, and it suddenly shifts to horror. “Did...did you cry? Did I make you cry?”

“No,” she says quickly, but he doesn’t believe her for even a minute. “Yes. Sorry.”

“Oh god, no, please don’t apologize. Shit,” he rubs the back of his neck, sighing. It’s guilt, she realizes with a shock. “I’m such an asshole. I can’t believe I let myself lash out like that. A thousand apologies won’t even be enough. I was scared out of my mind, but that doesn’t mean I can just treat you like that. I even sent you away, like you’re some sort of kid,” he winces. “I’m really sorry. Can you forgive me?”

She stares at him. “I was supposed to say that stuff.”

He looks taken aback by her words. “No? How could you have known that we would have been ambushed? Ugh, I’m so dumb. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” Akira sends her a pointed look. “Though, you really shouldn’t split off from the group next time. Top priority means important, but above all else is your safety. Put that in your code.”

“I will,” she promises.

“Good. And the second priority is—” he reaches forward and engulfs her in a tight hug. “Is that you won’t ever, ever think that I’d hate you.”

She frowns. “How did you know?”

“A hunch.” Beat. “Also, Ann gave me a look.” He pulls back. “Are we still friends?”

Relief washes into her, crashing like a wave. “Of course,” she says, before hesitating. “Is…?”

“Yeah, he is.” Akira rolls his eyes, but there is no hiding the grin that takes over him. “A little too good, actually. He hasn’t stopped running around since I poured some energy back into him. I kind of think I overdid it, actually. Oh, and he’s excited to see you again.”

“He is?” she asks, hopeful.

“Absolutely. Asked about you the minute he came to.” Akira gets to his feet. “Shall we say hi?”

“Please.”

As they walk back, an epiphany takes over her. “Oh!” she exclaims, making Akira jump. “I get it now.”

“What’s up?”

“You love Ryuji.”

“That’s right,” he raises a brow.

She shakes her head. “You love Ryuji,” she insists. Even accounting for a margin of error, there’s simply no mistaking her results.

Akira stares at her for a long moment, before huffing out a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s right,” he says softly.

The moment Ryuji sees her, she sprints, throwing caution to the wind as she leaps into his arms. He catches her without hesitation. “Glad to see you’re safe, shorty.”

Sophia knows a lot of things, but there’s also a lot she doesn’t understand. But that’s fine. She’ll get there, and her friends will be waiting for her when she does.

#p5 #fic tag #margin of error #mine #ryuji sakamoto #sophia #no p5s spoilers sans the locations #kiss ryuji day #just a quick thing yeah sure 7k is quick #my moon and stars #the leader and his right hand man #big shoutout to pear for holding my hand while i had a breakdown in life and decided to write this #akira kurusu

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veryreallyfuckinbad · 3 years ago

Text

FIRE AND MOSS // Daryl Dixon X Reader// CHAPTER 3

His words hit you like a truck, one going full speed at that. You opened and closed your mouth, trying to process and understand what he meant. Your dizziness didn’t help you put the pieces together. What did he mean he recognized Jake? Was he watching you? You were sure you looked like a complete idiot, but that didn’t matter. ‘Better be careful than be dead’, after all. You tensed and grabbed Jake, pulling him closer to you defensively, glaring at the man in front of you. He must have noticed your confusion because he decided to speak up, albeit with a sigh.

“Remember the bag?”

Then it hit you. This was the stranger that left the gifts for you and Jake. Why would he do that? He certainly didn’t look like the kind of man to help someone who he doesn’t know. Resources were few and far between, the nearest stores were looted and scavenged long ago, and those that weren’t were overrun.

“Was it from you?” You shifted slightly, sitting up properly.

“Yeah” he said lowly, his eyes not leaving you. He didn’t trust you, and he had every reason not to. A few seconds passed before he spoke again, “Found ya in the woods when I was looking for a lost lil’ girl. Ya seen one?” He spoke matter of factly, as if watching a girl from the shadows was a completely normal thing to do.

“No, I haven’t. I’m sorry“ As soon as the words left your mouth, the man’s gaze hardened. He looked at the floor and back up at you, as if afraid that you would spring up and attack him in the few seconds he wasn’t looking at you. You looked into his eyes, squinting a little as you did so. You saw sadness, disappointment and guilt. His eyes were the only expressive part of this man- his body language was unreadable. Suddenly, you felt a pang of guilt hit you, it felt like a slap in the face. He probably only helped you because he hoped you’d have known something about the missing kid. Before you could think, you opened your mouth and spoke.

“I haven’t seen any kids around but…” you trailed off, once again petting Jake and catching the man’s attention “Jake here is quite the tracker” you smiled warmly at him, all of your defensiveness and fear washing away. A group so dedicated to finding a lost child couldn’t hurt you. Somehow, you felt they were good people, even after only meeting one of them.

But the man didn’t say anything, only looking at you with a mix of worry and confusion. You took it as a sign, one that told you that they neither wanted nor needed your help.

“Sorry” you sighed, “I should get going. Thank you for saving my life” you offered him your best smile and politely bowed your head.

Before you could stand up, the door suddenly open and three more people coming in. Two men and one girl. One of the men was clearly older, with white hair, wearing a white button up shirt with suspenders. The other man was younger, but still older than you. He was wearing a sheriffs outfit, you had to bite your tongue as not to yell out a “yeehaw!”. The girl was pretty- with short hair and an olive green tank top. They looked kind, but intimidating. The man who you graciously dubbed ‘cowboy dude’ in your mind walked up to you with a small smile.

“Don’t go yet.” He smiled softly, “I’m Rick, this is Hershel” he gestured over to the older man “and this is Maggie” he added, pointing to the girl. “You remember how you got here?”

You looked over at the man whose name you still didn’t know, as if wordlessly asking whether you should respond or not. Of course, he didn’t understand and simply stared back. You looked at Rick again, deciding to respond.

“Uh… All I remember is old cabin, walker, glass, ouch” you said with a sheepish smile, not really remembering much other than that. There were some flashes of you wandering through the woods aimlessly but you didn’t think you needed to add that.

Maggie chuckled a bit at your simple response, causing you to give her an apologetic grin. Hershel walked closer, almost touching the bed you were laying on with his knees.

“I’m a doctor. I just need to check up on your thigh; your back is mostly okay, although you needed a couple of the wounds stitched. Your thigh is a different story, you were impaled” he sighed and looked at you. His eyes were kind and warm, he reminded you of your grandfather.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it but I really don’t want to waste your stuff or time” you dipped your head and looked up at him, but he insisted.

“Listen, how about this- I’ll let Rick talk to you and then I’ll check up on you.” The man said, motioning over to Rick. You simply nodded. You were nervous. Usually when people wanted to talk to you, it was either important or you were fucke-

“Yeah. Thanks” Rick’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts. Hershel and Maggie made their way to the door, both of them nodding at you as they left.

Jake looked around, clearly confused. You didn’t blame him, you were the only living human he’s met so far, he didn’t know what to do or whether you were in danger or not.

“So...” Rick began and waited, taking a seat on a spare chair in the meantime. Now Rick sat on your right and the other man on your left, causing you to feel surrounded and uncomfortable. You instinctively glanced at the door, looking for potential escape routes, in case one was needed.

“(Y/N)” you finished his sentence.

“Right, (Y/N).” He stuck out his hand and smiled warmly. Before you could extend your arm to shake his hand, Jake snarled and snapped his teeth at Rick. Letting out a small gasp, you touched Jake gently but it didn’t calm him down. He was protecting you from this stranger and while you were grateful to Jake for defending you, you began apologizing to Rick. He let out a small chuckle and retracted his hand.

“It’s okay, really” he assured, “We got used to it, when you passed out and Daryl had to carry you to the house, he almost killed us all. Little guy clearly doesn’t like us touching you. When Hershel was patching you up he kinda calmed down but as soon as someone else tried to touch you, they almost got their hand bitten off” he chuckled, his body less tense than it was before.

“Yeah, he’s smart.” You let out a quiet laugh and continued “I suppose he knew Hershel was trying to help” Rick nodded, “But still, I’m sorry.” You ruffled Jake’s fur, the fox arching his body up into your hand. Rick cleared his throat and leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees. You took note of the fact that the man, Daryl, as Rick called him, still didn’t say anything.

“Daryl found you when we were looking for a lost girl, Sophia. He said you spared your last resources on this fox so he brought you some of ours. Said you got really pissed when he snapped a twig” he laughed under his breath, licking his teeth.

You looked at Daryl and smirked, catching him off guard. You apologized quickly and he mumbled something you couldn’t quite make out. You still wanted to help find the girl but didn’t want to impose yourself.

“I already told Daryl that my friend here is a great tracker, we could help look for the girl- Sophia” you corrected yourself and met Rick’s eyes. “I can also give you my map and show you where I was and be on my way, if you would prefer that” you added. You really didn’t want to go. The group looked really well stocked, they were kind and seemed trustworthy. This seemed like a perfect place to stay.

“Rick” Daryl finally spoke up, “Seen ‘er fight. She’s good. Helped a wild animal too” He added the last part quietly, as if afraid of saying something wrong. You figured Daryl wasn’t really a talker, hardly speaking in full sentences. You glanced up at him with nothing but gratitude and didn’t miss the tiniest, almost unnoticeable smile pulling at the corners of his lips. They looked at each other, as if having a wordless conversation that only they could hear. Jake looked at Daryl, then Rick, trying to figure out what was happening. You did the same. The sight was quite comical, you both looked like confused puppies. Finally, Rick nodded and Daryl relaxed in his chair a little.

“Would you like to join us?”

Your eyes glistened, you couldn’t believe it. You were on your own for so long, always having to look over your shoulder, having no one to look out for you. You became quite good at surviving on your own but having a group again was a dream come true. Unable to speak, you just nodded your head and grinned at the man in front of you.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” he laughed and extracted his hand, about to put it on your shoulder. Before Jake could snap at him, you placed your hand on his head, telling him that it was okay, that he wasn’t going to hurt either of you. The animal seemed to understand as all he did was look at Rick cautiously, never letting the man out of his sight. Rick placed his hand on your shoulder and smiled at you, then at Jake.

“Welcome” he whispered gently. You felt your eyes water a bit, it still felt unreal. Sniffling, you put your hand over the one Rick had on your shoulder.

“Before you can go out to meet everyone, I need Hershel to see if you’re in any condition to walk around, alright?” he asked, his eyes warm. You looked at Daryl, your big smile never leaving your face.

“Of course!” you exclaimed, louder than you wanted “Thank you so, so much”

Hershel deemed you fit to go out, and while you didn’t want to leave the comfort of the soft bed, you would dearly miss it, you knew you couldn’t overstay your welcome. Daryl was by your side the whole time, when Hershel left he offered you a hand and helped you up, not without a growl from Jake.

When you stepped out of the house the sky was already dark. Stars glowed above the beautiful farmhouse- it looked like something out of a dream. The moonlight lit the entire farm, it shone above the old mansion, a barn, the big, tranquil fields.

You noticed tents were set up on the grass, some distance between them and the house. You heard the chatter of people- a sound you didn’t know you missed. People were sitting around a campfire, their smiling faces illuminated by the flames.

You walked up to them, Jake and Daryl by your side. You suddenly felt nervous and a little self-conscious, wanting to make the best possible impression on your new friends. Suddenly, you stopped in your tracks. Daryl quickly stopped and walked up to you with a confused expression on his face, his icy blue eyes piercing through yours.

“I never introduced myself to you” you smiled and extended your hand “I’m (Y/N)”

Daryl looked at you, puzzled. He tried to understand, he already knew your name. Still, he decided to play along.

“Daryl” he said, giving you another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smile

After you were done introducing yourself to the man, you kept walking to the group, not waiting for him to follow. He watched you, still puzzled. He already couldn’t figure you out.

The people around the campfire turned to look at you, most of them smiling, some looking at Jake with curiosity in their eyes.

“Well hello there!” a woman chirped, she had long dark hair and wore a plaid shirt. She stood up to take a closer look and shake your hand. Jake puffed his fur up and growled but stood back when you signaled him that it’s okay. “I’m Lori. I’m guessing you’re (Y/N)?” she grinned. When you cheerfully confirmed, she spoke again, “Rick told us. Come on, take a seat”

Daryl sat on the grass next to an empty seat which you presumed was for you. You motioned for Daryl to sit on the chair while you flopped down on the grass so Jake could lay his head on your lap. Daryl didn’t sit on the chair you offered him, he just shook his head and stayed put. You looked at the people around you. After they all introduced themselves, you took mental notes of their names- T-Dog, Dale, Carl, Carol, Shane, Andrea, Beth and Glenn.

“So? Tell us about yourself! Don’t keep us waiting, we have a little bet going on” Glenn shouted excitedly, causing you to perk up and smile at him.

“What’s the bet, and more importantly, what are the stakes?” you caused the group to burst out into laughter, even Daryl. Even though his laugh was quiet, as if he was trying to suppress it, afraid of anybody hearing it.

“Dale thinks you were a zookeeper,” he motioned towards Jake “but I think you tamed him by random chance”

You chuckled, “First of all, I didn’t ‘tame him’. He’s still wild, he just loves me, and I love him. He’s more of a companion than a pet.” You explained, earning nods from the group. “Second of all, nope, not a zookeeper.” You smiled as Dale groaned, digging around his pocket and pulling out a package of dried jerky and placing it in Glenn’s outstretched hand. Jake’s ears perked up, you smiled as his head jolted up.

“He’s a fan of those” you ruffled his fur affectionately. You looked over at Daryl and added “Not as good as your squirrel, though” you gave him your warmest smile. He stiffened a bit, clearly caught off guard but to your surprise, he didn’t brush you off.

“My squirrel’s the fuckin’ best”

You gave him a toothy smile, he gave you a small smirk in response.

“Anyway, I really wasn’t much before all this started. I went to art school, worked in fast food, the usual stuff you’d expect from someone” you said, your tone was matter of fact. You heard Daryl mumble something unintelligible. He really needed to work on speaking clearly, you thought with a smile.

“Woah, you draw?” Carl smiled and jumped up a bit “Can you teach me?”

“Sure! I’ll even draw you guys once I find a sketchbook” you chirped and laughed when Carol, Lori, Rick, Carl and Glenn began begging you to add them to your ‘to-draw’ list. They all smiled when you reassured them you’ll make portraits of everyone that wants one.

“What’s his name? I’ve never seen a fox up this close before!” Carl said quietly, looking at Jake with pure awe in his eyes.

“That’s Jake. I wouldn’t recommend you pet him just yet though, he’s a little nervous” you grinned when you saw him nod in understanding. A while of comfortable silence and the occasional hushed conversation passed before Rick spoke to you.

“We got you a tent. Tomorrow me and Daryl can go and get your stuff from the woods” you dipped your head with gratitude and thanked him with a huge smile on your face- you missed your knife.

When the campfire died out, so did the conversations. Everyone headed back to their tents, ready to sleep. Dale decided to take watch duty, sitting in a chair on top of his RV, a shotgun in hand. Your tent was close to the others, near Andrea’s. You were about to sit down in the small, grey, one-person tent but you noticed something. Jake was growling and pacing around the entrance, clearly uncomfortable with all the new people around while you both sleep. You sighed and walked out of the tent.

“I get it. Let’s move a little” you said and smiled at the fox. He panted and licked his nose in response, running over to a spot further away. Deciding that he can pick the place to set up your tent, you dragged it over to him. Before you set it down, you saw one stray tent, far away from the others. You immediately knew who it belonged to when you saw another, smaller campfire and some tripwire surrounding it and a man sitting on a log, looking at the flames. Daryl.

Hoping he wouldn’t mind, you dragged your tent near his. He looked up at you, tense but relaxed immediately as soon as he saw it was just you.

“Uh… Could we set up here? Jake really doesn’t want to be near the group for now, he needs time to adjust. He’s kinda like you that way” you blurted out, trying to explain your reasoning, the last part coming out of nowhere and surprising you, “he picked the spot”

“Do I got a choice?” his voice was low but his words carried no weight- he almost smiled, but you didn’t notice this time.

You smirked, “Nope!”

#daryl imagines #daryl dixion imagine #daryl x reader #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl #daryl x y/n #the walking dead #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl x oc

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honeypwark · 4 years ago

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[ Breaking Point ]

↳ Gone Days era

↳ Xiang throws up late one night. Chan finds her. She reaches her breaking point.

NOTE/TRIGGER WARNING: Hey, guys, just a heads up that this chapter deals more heavily in Xiang’s eating disorder and if that is at all triggering to you, please don’t read or proceed with caution. My ask box and messages are always open to anyone who needs someone unbiased to talk to who can relate to you as I’ve worked through an ED in the past myself. Stay safe, stay healthy, wear masks, black lives matter, muah~

m.list

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Hey, Xiang. It's Yeosu."

The bathroom tiles are cold against her legs.

"I just wanted to check in on you."

God, she's so cold. She's always so cold.

"I can't pretend to understand what's going on in your head right now."

She finds enough strength to pull herself up and vomit again, the remnants of the oranges she'd eaten minutes ago finding their way into the toilet.

"All I know is that you're in pain and it hurts to see you like that."

She'd woken up and she was just so hungry.

"You hide it so well. But you don't have to."

She knows that oranges have nine grams of sugar in them but she couldn't help it.

"I don't want to force you to do anything, Xiang, and I know I can't make you but please. Please talk to someone. There are people who will listen and they'll help you if you just-... Please. I'm worried about you. You're so strong, Qi Sophia Xianghao. Please don't let this beat you."

That is the voicemail Yeosu left Xiang after she had rambled about her problems to her that night. In the month it has been since then, Xiang hasn't been able to face the older woman. Bae Yeosu isn't perfect, but she might as well be with all her adoring fans behind her.

Yeosu is constantly criticized and put under a magnifying glass but she’s still so strong-willed and kind. The amount of strength and courage that woman must have to remain as gentle and caring as she always has been is astonishing to Xiang. Yeosu has been doing this for nearly seven years now and is, without a doubt, the most famous Korean woman in the world.

Xiang got through a year and three months before developing an eating disorder. It's pathetic.

She tried to stop on her own after that night, wanting to be strong like Yeosu. She forced herself to eat more no matter how much she screamed at herself to stop. She gained a little weight- which was awful- but she stopped feeling so fatigued all the time. Then she reported her weight to the company. They told her to make sure she wasn't getting heavy again. And she spiraled. She fell right back into the old routine like nothing ever changed.

She's hurting herself by doing this, diminishing her mental and physical state, but what does it matter if everyone wants her to stay skinny and light? God, she's garnered Korean media's attention because of her weight. It's all positive, no one worrying about how thin she's gotten. She's good at hiding it, like Yeosu said, good at pretending like she doesn’t feel like she’s going to pass out, good at hiding it from her members. She'll eat then go into the bathroom, run the water while she throws everything up then shower and no one suspects a thing.

There's a knock at the door, "Hey, who's in there?"

She hadn't done that tonight because it's a quarter after four in the morning and everyone's supposed to be asleep. Apparently, one of her members didn't get the memo that this was supposed to remain a private affair.

"No one," she croaks.

"Sophie? Can I come in?"

The only member who calls her Sophie is Chan. Of course, he would find her like this.

"No."

He comes in anyway. She must look pitiful, forehead resting on her arm on the toilet seat, whole body shivering as cold and weakness dominates her senses. He's by her side in a second, rubbing her back and speaking softly to her like she's not the most hideous thing on Earth.

"You alright?"

No, she wants to say, but she doesn’t.

It's shocking how warm his hand is. It's so warm. She's so cold. It doesn't mix. It doesn't mix.

Xiang's voice comes out in a broken whisper, "Please don't touch me right now."

Chan takes his hand away. God, why is that worse?

Xiang squeezes her eyes shut and can't stop herself from sobbing.

Chan has no clue what to do. His instincts tell him to hug her but she'd just asked him not to touch her. All he can do is watch as Xiang falls against the wall by the toilet, wrapping her arms around herself and crying harder than he's ever seen her cry before. Chan knows he can't panic right now because that is not what Xiang needs but when it comes to Sophie, seeing her in pain and panic flooding his mind go hand in hand.

"I'm so fucked up," Xiang whimpers out, beginning to calm down, "I can't keep doing this.”

"What are you talking about?" Chan asks

"I don't want to do this but I can't stop," she continues weakly, crying and shivering against the wall.

“Sophie, you're scaring me. What don't you want to do?"

Xiang sniffles and turns her head to look at Chan. He's scanning her face for any clues about what she's talking about. He looks so concerned and worried and... It's Chan. She knows she'll never deserve him, but she's safe with him. She's safe with Chan.

Xiang has a moment of clarity amidst her breakdown. Her expression is nearly hopeless as she looks at Chan. She finally says what she should have nine months ago.

"Help me."

Chan doesn't understand anything and he's just so, so concerned, "What?"

Xiang's expression crumbles as tears continue to fall and sobs bubble up from her chest, "Please help me."

"Yes!" Chan says desperately, "Yes, I'll help you."

He's not prepared for Xiang to crawl into his arms and curl into a ball; she's never initiated physical affection with anyone as far as he knows.

“Hey, you’re okay. You’re okay,” he mumbles to her soothingly, wrapping his arms around her.

She seems so small like this. She's not that much shorter than him but she's so thin, so fragile. He feels as if he could touch her too roughly and she'd shatter right in front of him. Yet, he holds her tightly in his arms as she cries, letting the questions running wild in his brain go unanswered for tonight. He gently holds the back of her head, cradling her close to him.

“You’re gonna be okay.”

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jovialyouthmusic · 4 years ago

Text

Two’s Company -Changes

As Lucy continues to help Brad recall their early days, Sophia and Bastien welcome two new arrivals.

Word Count 3918

A/N This is pure fluff, but if you are triggered by issues concerning fertility, pregnancy, medical environments or giving birth, give this chapter a miss. To be truthful, this chapter mostly features Bastien and Sophia, but it foreshadows Lucy’s future...

9 Welcome to the Twins

The band started up in the ballroom, playing background music while the guests arrived and were briefly announced. The Charity Ball at the Palace was under way at last. Lucy had insisted on Brad wearing the suit he’d had for the social season in which they’d met, and he thought he knew why.

‘And why does Drake get to wear his denim shirt at this formal occasion?’ he had quizzed her, just the same. She just smiled enigmatically.

‘If you don’t know you’ll find out in good time. Now go down and wait for the guests. I’ll follow in a little while. Don’t worry if I’m late, it’s all part of the surprise’

So Brad stood greeting the nobles that had attended the social season, the former suitors presenting themselves to him one by one. Madeleine was a little sour faced, but then that wasn’t unusual. Lady Penelope gave him a deep curtsy

‘Ah, Lady Penelope. It’s been a while. How are you – and your poodles? Did you bring them tonight?’ He had no memory of the dogs, but he had been given a set of cards with relevant details to review. He knew that prior to his car accident he had excellent recall on all the members of court, and his father had uncharacteristically praised him for it.

‘Thank you your Majesty, the Queen asked me to leave them behind tonight. Morgan and Morgana were quite upset’

‘I’m so sorry’ he said smoothly ‘Perhaps next time. I’ll make sure to ask her majesty to allow it’

‘Thankyou your Grace’ she inclined her head ‘And many congratulations on your recent…’ she froze for a second, a look of panic spreading across her lovely face, scanning the ballroom, her eye alighting on Drake standing nursing a glass of whiskey at the bar. His denim shirt stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the dinner jackets and ballgowns ‘uhhh marriages’ Penelope squeaked, and moved hurriedly away. Brad noticed Drake was talking to a woman in a red dress with a mask. She looked over and started to walk across the ballroom toward him, and he suddenly felt dizzy.

‘Hello, you’ll have to forgive me, but I don’t think we’ve met’

‘We’ve actually met once before’

‘Surely I would have remembered’

‘I suppose this mask is doing its job’

‘Will you give me a hint?’

‘you were surrounded by your friends…’

‘That’s not much of a clue…’

‘And you owed me a drink’

‘Lucy! I - never thought I’d see you again’ Brad said in a dream as she reached his side. She smiled broadly, taking her mask off.

‘Did it work?’ she asked, and he nodded, swallowing.

‘Yes – I think I need some fresh air’ She turned and waved at the band, and they swooped into a familiar tune – the one they had played when they had first danced together. He held on to her tight as the music swirled around him.

‘I’m a little better at dancing this time’ she smiled ‘and it’s my turn to sweep you off behind the curtains’ Soon he was leaning on the balcony taking lungfuls of air as the memories swirled around him. The dance, sneaking out to the maze – the chase, the kiss. He shook his head and stood tall, turning back to his wife – his Queen.

‘What is it about you, Lucy? Why did you make me want to break all the rules?’ he said softly. She put her hand to his cheek.

‘Because the rules were making you unhappy’ she replied ‘and in return you changed the rules for me and brought the three of us together’ He leaned closer and kissed her tenderly, his hand grazing her belly.

‘Here’s another big change. Life will never be the same again.’ he whispered close to her ear ‘When did we next meet? I remember the maze’

‘Well, I think I can risk it rather than waiting to stage it’ Lucy replied’ It’s a long time to the races’

‘Ah, the races’ he screwed up his forehead, then his face cleared. ‘I lost my bet on the winning horse and paid the usual forfeit – except you sat on my back along with Drake’ She smiled happily

‘How about the lawn party?’ she asked, but he frowned and shook his head.

‘I’m sorry’ he said dejectedly. She caught at his arm and squeezed it.

‘Never mind, not everyone remembers every little thing. I’ve had to rack my brain too. Let’s just leave it for now, enjoy the ball’

-------

In the staff wing, the sounds of the ball were a distant whisper of sound, unheard as the TV showed Sophia’s current bingeworthy period drama. She had stopped nitpicking the historical inaccuracies and dozed, the voices murmuring in the background. She smiled as the scene cut to a Regency ball in full swing.

‘Go on, admit you love her’ she mumbled, briefly surfacing to berate the male lead for not seeing what was under his nose. The female lead smiled, gazing into his eyes as they twirled and dipped. ‘So romantic’ she sniffled and reached for a tissue to dab at her eyes.

‘Hmmm?’ Bastien rumbled as he stirred in his easy chair, leg propped on a footstool as he sat vigil by his very pregnant wife’s side. Sophia laboured to sit up a little, and he got to his feet to help her, leg stiff from inaction.

‘Simon won’t admit he’s madly in love with Daphne’ she told him ‘and she’s so innocent she doesn’t realise he’s the man for her’ she sighed ‘I know, sentimental rubbish, but I can’t get enough’

‘Whatever makes you happy, theà mou’ Bastien smiled. He knelt by her side ‘May I?’ he asked, hand hovering over her bump. She nodded.

‘You had a large part to play in my current state.’ she grumbled ‘One of the tiddlers is using my bladder as a trampoline’ Bastien smiled, smoothing his hand over her belly. A little bump rose to meet his palm.

‘Not long till we meet them in person’ He stroked it, identifying it as a foot. ‘Come on little ones, Papa’s waiting and Mama’s tired’ He looked up at her ‘Shall I help you to the bathroom?’

‘Yes please, just let me pause this’ She pressed the button on the TV remote, and Bastien helped her to her feet. She groaned, hand in her lower back. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again’ she grumbled ‘Remind me not to do this again’ Bastien decided not to comment, as pregnancy hormones made his beloved somewhat cranky and he couldn’t think of an answer that she wouldn’t turn against him right now. She paused, grimacing with pain

‘Damn these Braxton Hicks’ she muttered, and he stroked her belly, feeling it harden under his hand, waiting until it softened again. She had been having contractions for a couple of days but the midwife had assured them it was nothing to worry about.

‘It’s fine, just practice for the real thing’ she had said briskly ‘Even with twins it’s quite normal. If they don’t subside within 48 hours, let me know’ They reached the door of the bathroom, where Sophia waved him away.

‘I can manage from here’ she snapped. He had removed the lock on the door in case of emergencies, and watched anxiously as she closed it behind her. ‘A little privacy please’ she called testily ‘I can hear you breathing’ He sighed and moved a little further away, the faint sound of her urination reaching him still. He knew he shouldn’t be so fearful about her wellbeing, but years of service on the Guard brought back memories of various emergencies involving impending childbirth. The Guard were the first line of assistance before medical staff could get to the Palace, and many other mansions he had served at were some distance from maternity facilities.

One notable example was seared into his brain when a noble lady had gone into labour miles out to sea on the Royal Yacht. He hadn’t been the only one to advise against the trip, but arrogance had won out over prudence and she had almost given birth before the air ambulance had winched her off the yacht. He was thankful the weather had been fair at the time.

He snapped back to the moment as he heard a little gasp. He stood up straight, straining his ears as a wail followed it.

‘Bas’ his wife called out, a hint of panic in her voice ‘Call the hospital – my waters just broke’

-------

At the hospital, Sophia was whisked away to be examined. Bastien was curtly told to wait, and paced the waiting room anxiously, massaging his hand from the pain of his wife clutching it fiercely on the drive over. Drake and Hana arrived to find him muttering curses against the doctors.

‘Calm down, Bas’ Drake had soothed ‘She’s in the best of hands’ Bastien glowered at him and straightened his shoulders.

‘She was supposed to see the midwife in the morning’ he growled ‘The risk with twins is elevated. I knew I should have insisted on an earlier appointment’

‘What exactly happened?’ Hana said, trying to ground him. He paused and ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it out of its usual neat quiff.

‘Her waters broke’ he said ‘The babies each have their own sac but share a placenta and need to be delivered at the same time. If they’re both head down it’s possible to do it without a caesarean’ Before anyone could ask anything else, a nurse appeared.

‘Mr Lykel?’ He stepped forward, placing his hand on her arm.

‘How is she? Can I see her?’

‘She’s very well, considering’ she said, removing his hand ‘You really should have come in earlier. With twins…’ She paled at Bastien’s expression as he glared at her.

‘Our midwife told us all was fine’ he ground out.

‘Well, no matter. She’s in labour and things seem to be moving quickly. Do you have a birth plan?’

‘We do’ he said, massaging his forehead and taking a deep breath ‘it’s filed here. Do you not have it?’ She looked flustered.

‘I think perhaps you should come through, if it’s what you’d planned’

‘It is. Take me to her now…’

Bastien entered the delivery room with trepidation. Sophia was flushed and sweaty, laying back in the bed in a loose hospital gown, her knees drawn up and a sheet covering her modesty. A midwife stood next to her and turned directly to meet him. Sophia lowered her knees and he could see the sensor strapped to the swell of her belly. A machine next to the bed monitored the babies’ heartbeats, and emitted a low whooshing noise.

‘Is this the babies’ father?’ the midwife asked brightly.

‘I am.’ He said curtly, going to Sophia’s side, taking her hand and kissing it.

‘I’m Sandy, and I’ll be looking after Mum and baby – that is, babies’ she smiled

‘Bas’ Sophia said faintly ‘Wherever have you been? You need to call Mum, let her know.’

‘I came in as soon as they said I could. There’s no need to call Edith just yet, she’ll only worry.’ Sophia gasped in pain, squeezing his hand with a deathlike grip and Sandy swiftly handed her a breathing tube.

‘Gas and air – entonox. It’s quite safe’ the midwife assured Bastien. By the time Bastien had nodded, the contraction was almost over, and Sophia collapsed back onto the pillows, her eyes a little glazed.

‘You do realise this is twins?’ Bastien queried ‘Shouldn’t there be more staff?’

‘We are very busy tonight, Mr Lykel. As soon as it’s necessary I’ll call for help’ She went to the end of the bed to examine Sophia.

‘You’re dilating nicely, Mrs Lykel. Not long and we’ll be asking you to push. Babies are doing fine and getting ready to come out and say hello.’

‘How are they positioned?’ Bastien asked.

‘Both are head down, so you can deliver naturally if you’d like, Mrs Lykel’

‘Sophia’ she said testily ‘my name’s Sophia. I’ll do my best but I’m not against pain relief’

‘Of course, Sophia. Do you know the sexes?’

‘Yes’ she smiled, and looked up at Bastien. ‘One of each’

‘Well, it’s hard to tell which one will be making an appearance first, but baby number two won’t be far behind’

‘Bas, can Hana come in?’ Sophia asked ‘We’re may need an extra pair of hands’ He looked at the midwife.

‘As it’s twins, two helpers are allowed in the delivery room as long as all is going smoothly’ At that moment a doctor entered with a clipboard.

‘Mr Lykel – apologies for the delay in finding your birth plan’ she said as Sandy ducked out of the room to fetch Hana. She looked down at the papers she held, scanning swiftly ‘I see you’ve opted for a natural birth if it’s possible, with minimal pain relief’. Sophia made a little moan in answer.

‘Do I have to do this twice?’

‘Don’t worry Mrs Lykel, the first delivery paves the way for the second. You’ll hardly notice baby number two’ Another contraction hit her, and she grabbed the breathing tube, gulping at it greedily. Her head rolled back onto the pillow as the contraction faded and she gazed up at Bastien, eyes glassy from the anaesthetic.

‘I’d like some Ben and Jerry’s right now. Phish food.’ He couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Maybe later, theà mou’ He lifted her hand and kissed it. Hana entered with the midwife and went to her side.

‘Hana, you came’ She smiled beatifically ‘You’ll be Auntie soon’

‘I can’t wait to meet your little ones’ Hana beamed excitedly.

‘Oh Hana, that’s so sweet of you’ Sophia winced as the midwife examined her again.

‘Once we get started, things might happen quite quickly’ she warned ‘After all, baby number two is going to want to catch up. At this point it’s too late for an epidural, but as things are going smoothly, Entonox should be sufficient’ Lucy looked startled

‘No epidural?’ she asked ‘Oh, fuck. Bas, what if it gets worse?’

‘Sophia, gas and air will be fine. Remember, it’s what we discussed, it’s safer in the majority of cases’ he soothed, earning a quizzical look.

‘Stop mansplaining, Bas. I’m thirsty’ she snapped, and the midwife took Bastien aside as Hana handed Sophia a cup of ice chips.

‘Don’t worry, Mr Lykel, Lucy’s going through transition. She��ll get very emotional. She may even get abusive. She’s fully dilated, so I’m going to call for assistance.’ He nodded knowingly. He’d done his research and was fully prepared for her to swear and curse and berate him for ever touching her. He knew it would be the hormones talking. He braced himself and went back to the bedside as the room suddenly became very busy with hospital staff. He focussed on Lucy as another contraction hit and she took great gulps of the gas and air again. This was a long one, and she lay back once it had ebbed away, moaning.

‘Whose idea was this?’ she moaned ‘It’s not natural’ Bastien bit his tongue, desperate to point out that it was in fact the most natural thing in the world to give birth – but he wasn’t the one suffering on the hospital bed. ‘I’m never doing this again’ she panted ‘you can forget sex, I’m staying celibate’ Bastien grinned uncomfortably, trying to avoid eye contact with any of the staff. Hana sniggered behind her hand ‘Is it time to push yet?’

‘Not just yet, Sophia’ Sandra assured her. ‘You’ll know when, but I’m here to help’ Sophia gasped as another contraction hit, and took the anaesthetic again. Bastien worried that she was taking too much as she collapsed back on the pillow, but kept his mouth shut, trusting the medical staff. Sophia turned to speak to him.

‘Bas, do you think we’re having twins because of your enormous – you know?’ she hissed, pointing to his groin in a stage whisper that carried right across the room. Hana giggled and reddened, and Sandy looked amused. Bastien coloured and cleared his throat, his smile turning to a grimace. ‘He does, you know, Sandra’ she said, motioning her closer ‘He’s – you know, very big down there. The sex is great. He’s got fantastic stamina.’ Sandra made a strangled noise.

‘I’ve never come across any corelation in size and fecundity or multiple births, Mrs Lykel’ she assured her, when she was able to speak. She took a calming breath, looking at the monitors. ‘Now, I want you to remember your birthing classes and prepare yourself to push’.

As promised, thing happened very quickly after that. Her next contraction hit hard, and Bastien lead her through her breathing, both elated and scared at the intensity of her experience. She was told to push, and he stayed with her, enduring her tight grip and murmuring words of encouragement. After each bout of pushing she lay back on the pillows, flushed and sweating, swearing that he’d never touch her again.

‘Mr Lykel, would you like to welcome baby? It’s very close now.’ Sandra said at last. He looked briefly at Sophia, torn between staying at her side and being the first to hold their child, but she nodded at him before the next onslaught. He moved down the bed as she strained and cried out with pain and effort, and was just in time to see the baby’s head emerge, followed by its shoulders. Sandra guided his hands so that he caught the warm slippery bundle. He was afraid of letting it slip, but managed to get a firm grip, and the midwife smiled triumphantly. Gazing down at the screwed up indignant face of his child, he felt an overwhelming wave of pure love and adoration unlike anything he had felt before. Time slowed and stopped as he held his own flesh and blood, his face softening into a broad smile. The little mouth opened and let out a roar of protest and rage, limbs flailing.

‘Papa has you, little one’ he crooned soothingly, knowing that first breath showed health and vigour.

‘Congratulations Mr and Mrs Lykel, your first baby is a healthy baby boy’ Sandra announced before handing him the instrument to cut the umbilical cord, and he carefully severed the connection. Briefly she wiped him clean as Bastien maintained his hold, the baby’s yell changing to wails in the unfamiliar environment. He shushed, and the little creature shuddered and quietened a little.

Sophia held out her arms eagerly and Bastien hurried to hand him over to place on her chest, wondering how long she would have before their little girl followed.

‘My little one’ she whispered, tenderly cradling him ‘We’re so thrilled to meet you at last’ She gazed down as the baby fell silent, arms folding over his chest and knees drawing up to meet them, face peaceful and enquiring. Hana sniffled beside her, and Sophia turned to the side. ‘Meet your Aunty Hana’ she breathed, before wincing in pain again. ‘I think your sister wants out’ she gasped, and a nurse swiftly took the baby and whisked him away.

‘Don’t worry, we just need to check him over, but I think he’s absolutely fine’ she assured Bastien.

‘Here’s your little girl’ Sandra called ‘Not long now’, and he went to stand ready, his hands trembling as a second head emerged, Sophia crying out again. She slipped out swiftly, but was safe in her father’s hands in an instant. He was hit by another wave of love and adoration just as intense as the last one, his heart full to bursting. Her cry was reedy and full of complaint and she wailed as he cut the cord, Sandra steadying it for Bastien to juggle his tasks. Both of the babies had seemed tiny in his large hands, both roomy and clumsy all at once.

‘Here, Papa has you safe’ he murmured ‘Come and meet your Mama’ Carefully he relayed her to Sophia. Her face glowed with happiness at holding her daughter, eyes fixed on her as she fussed at the bright light and unfamiliar surroundings.

‘My sweet one’ she crooned, and the baby quietened just as her brother had ‘You’re perfect’. She looked up at her husband ‘Look what we did’ she whispered. He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked down at the newest arrival, tiny fingers waving like starfish, little mouth opening and closing. He kissed the top of Sophia’s head.

‘Theà mou, I love you so much. I’m blessed’ his voice caught, and the nurse returned with the little boy, now wrapped up warmly, and took his sister away to be cleaned and checked. Sophia held her finger out and the baby gaped, little mouth gurning in a half yawn, half smile. Soon his sister was handed back and Sophia cradled one baby in each arm, looking from one to the other in awe. The boy had a shock of black hair like his father’s and his eyes were pale grey. His sister’s hair was black but not as abundant, her pale eyes a shade bluer.

‘How can I ever spend a single second not loving these two?’ she whispered ‘How can I feel so much love for them – and for you?’ Bastien squeezed her shoulder, unable to speak for the lump in his throat. He had never felt so deliriously happy – and scared.

‘Do you have names?’ the nurse asked ‘The babies’ tags just say boy and girl for now. There’s no hurry’ Sophia looked up at Bastien.

‘Theodore?’ she asked. They had a few names picked out but didn’t want to fix them until the babies were born. He nodded in approval, as they had also decided that she should finalise the boy’s name, and he the girl’s.

‘And Beatrice’ he replied, getting a little tilt of his wife’s head in response. He cleared his throat

‘Theodore Costa Lykel and Beatrice Edith Lykel’ he said clearly, the names floating up into the air like a declaration of existence, an acceptance into the world for the two babes. The boy’s second name was that of his foster father’s, the girl’s was Sophia’s mother’s. They could have been Theodore Robert and Beatrice Althea, or the first names might have been different, but as soon as he spoke them aloud they sounded right, and he knew Sophia agreed. She lay propped up, beaming with exhausted happiness as she held her new arrivals. She had never looked more beautiful, her damp hair curling to frame her face, cheeks rosy, and an expression of pure love and joy in her eyes. Sandra cleared her throat.

‘Sophia, we just have to check the placenta, clean you up and make sure all’s well. Perhaps Mr Lykel could take the babies, or we could put them in the cots.’

‘I can help’ Hana piped up, and Sophia nodded. Little Beatrice was closest to Hana, and carefully she took the little bundle, utterly entranced. Bastien took Theodore, making soothing noises as they awkwardly changed over.

‘Can we take them out to the waiting room?’ he asked ‘We’ll come straight back in when you’re ready’

‘Yes, but don’t hand them around’ the midwife answered. ‘New babies are still developing their immune systems, so the less contact with other people outside the family the better’

‘Take care’ Sophia urged ‘I’m not going anywhere’

‘We’ll be back soon, theà mou’ Bastien promised, and he and Hana walked out to the waiting room with his new family.@sirbeepsalot @fluffyfirewhiskey @dcbbw @kingliam2019 @katedrakeohd @texaskitten30

#Two's Company #lucy and brad #sophia x bastien #Bastien x OC #bastien lykel

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mercyparkgirl · 4 years ago

Text

the roommate

Pairing: Logan x MC (implied)

Warnings: angst, ptsd

Word Count: ~1835

Summary: Set after the events of Ride or Die, my MC (Ellie Wheeler) adjusts to her new life, from the perspective of herself and her roomate, Sophie.

Notes: So... this is the first fanfic I’ve ever written! Always been too nervous to post but with @rodappreciationweek I figured why not. Hope you enjoy!

_________________________

sophia.

My roommate’s name was Ellie, from Los Angeles. We only texted a little before move-in day at Langston, and I really hoped we would get along. My older brother had told me horror stories about his freshman roommate, some of which I believed, most which I guessed he made up to scare me. Still, those stories had taken root in my mind and I found myself with a little more than first-day anxiety as mom fussed over the fitted bed sheet and position of the throw pillows in my new room.

“Hi” a soft voice spoke from the door and I turned around quickly to greet the girl in the doorway. Her hair was pulled back and I squealed as I noticed her Langston sweatshirt, gesturing at the identical one I was wearing. She laughed at that, and to her surprise I launched forward to give her a hug. She only tensed for a moment before hugging me back, and with the ice seemingly broken we settled comfortably into unpacking and setting up the room.

I felt definitively uncool as my mom chattered on and on, immediately conscious of the fact that Ellie apparently didn’t need her mom to make her bed for her. I caught her a couple of times smiling softly at my mom with a longing look in her eyes I couldn’t quite place and I wondered what she thought of me.

Ellie certainly didn’t seem to have as much stuff as I did, and certainly not my plant habit that was rapidly turning into an addiction. The only thing she set on her desk was a framed photograph which she removed from a box full of tissue paper with great care, running a hand quickly over the glass before setting it down. I snuck a look at it as I pushed a succulent into her hands, insisting that she have something else to liven up her side of the room.

She and an unusually attractive boy, both dressed in formal attire, stared fiercely into the camera as if daring someone to oppose them, his arm wrapped protectively around her. His eyes were dark and powerful, while hers were full of a righteous fury and passion that seemed both completely out of place and extraordinarily natural on her features.

Ellie and I spent that night and the next few weeks getting to know each other. We bonded over both being from the West Coast, though Tacoma is very different from LA. She was smart, though she had the air of a student who wasn’t used to being surrounded by people at her level. We had no classes together but it was easy to fall into the rhythm of studying together in the library or student union building every night. I was so lucky to have her for the transition to college, and I hoped she felt the same.

She wanted stories about my siblings, my parents, the plays I’d been in during middle school, and I was more than happy to talk without realizing that I was learning very little about her in return. Still, I managed to pick up on some things. She spun her charm bracelet when she got excited about something, and fiddled with some strange object on a chain around her neck when she thought no one was looking, a far-away look on her face.

For a girl who owned so many leather jackets and an apparently very impressive car (The only thing I care about less than cars are the Kardashians and essential oils) she was surprisingly sweet and funny, enough that I was shocked the first time I saw her in short sleeves.

“Is that a real tattoo?” I exclaimed, not giving her time to answer. “That is so cool. I really wanted one when I was 16 and my sister told me she’d poke me with a needle for free. What is it? A wolf? Badass. Do you have a whole pack of them?”

She laughed and pulled a jacket on. “It’s a lone wolf, I’m afraid. Ran away from its pack.”

I’m a light sleeper which I always considered a curse in a house full of noisy siblings, but I was glad of it the first time I woke up in the middle of the night to a scream, sleepily flicking on the light to see her writhing in her bed. I threw back the covers and sat down on her bed, gently shaking her shoulder until she woke up gasping, nails digging into my arm. For just a moment I swore I could see the ghosts of great flames in her eyes, fading back into embers as she realized where she was.

I wrapped my arms around her and she sat still for a few long moments before squeezing my arm and standing up.

“I think… I think I’m going to go for a drive. Thank you Soph.” I wanted to wait up for her but I fell asleep on top of my sheets.

The nightmares happened again, and then again. Some nights she would just curl back into the blankets, or open the window before falling back to sleep.

And some nights she would grab the keys from her nightstand and leave without a word. I’d be asleep before she came home, or maybe she never came back to bed those nights. Maybe she drove until the morning sun stretched her fingers above the horizon and began her slow crawl to the other side.

ellie.

When I left LA, it felt like the ending of a story. The closing of a book. But I’m starting to realize life doesn’t work like that. Nobody gets happy endings or tidy conclusions. Life just… keeps going. And it’s up to us whether we can stay afloat or get lost in the riptide, losing ourselves in the memories and regrets.

Don’t get me wrong, nothing could take away the magic of stepping out of my car at the place I had dreamed about since I was old enough to dream, completely and terrifyingly on my own. No curfew, no explanations needed. I could reinvent myself. It would be a brand new start. But as I subconsciously ran a hand over the smooth hood of my Widow I remembered the first time I had seen her, sleek and dangerous and mine in Kaneko’s shop, how the leather of the seats smelled like home, and I knew forgetting wasn’t an option. And maybe I didn’t want it to be.

I had never shared a room with anyone, unless you count sleepovers with Riya or the week I spent in Logan’s loft above the shop. But Sophia made it feel like I’d been missing out. She was kind and open and welcoming from the moment I stepped in the room. She was brilliant, too, even for Langston standards which were far above what I was used to at Mar Vista Prep. I quickly realized that there would be little time to fully appreciate the lack of parental control given my heavy workload.

I had a couple classes with Ingrid and was surprised by how happy I was to see her. I needed to get out of LA but it would always be the place I was from and she represented a piece of my past. A reminder of a time in my life that I might have convinced myself never really happened if not for her. We were friendly and the fun kind of competitive, but didn’t hang out much outside of class, though I felt that either one of us would be happy to if the other one asked. I made a lot of acquaintances very quickly, a few of which turned tentatively into friends, but I mostly hung out with Soph when I wasn’t in class.

My dad and I talked nearly every day for the first couple weeks, which gradually turned into every weekend. We never talked for long, classes were “going well”, work was “busy”. I loved him, of course, but I found it hard to shake the image of him pointing a gun at the man I loved, face tight with bitter fury.

I knew Colt was still in LA, and I hesitantly tried to inquire about the specifics of my dad’s latest assignments. He must have figured what my real question was because he got quiet for a moment then said “I think it’s best if we don’t talk about that. Best to leave it in the past.”

I didn’t mention it again, or ask about Mona which had been my next idea. But it was hard to leave Logan in the past when I’d spent so much time seeing him as my future. I texted his number a couple times even though I knew he’d no longer have it, pitiful ‘I love you’s when I felt so lonely it was hard to breathe.

At night my fingers would trace the places his had until the memories of his rough hands on my body were blurred with my own and I was no longer sure if he had ever touched me at all. If not for the spark plug I wore around my neck and the picture of us at prom I kept next to a succulent Soph had given me, I wouldn’t be sure he ever existed at all.

I was ok most of the time and on occasion, I wasn’t. I cried sometimes and I didn’t even know why. I grew to fear lying in bed because the thoughts threatened to crush me, my brain forcing myself to relive every moment of that spring and asking me what I should have done differently. And when I finally, finally got to sleep I had nightmares.

Jason looming over me, larger than life, hands reaching out as my feet stuck to the ground, my car nowhere to be seen. Or a blazing inferno on the bridge, Colt’s screams of pain and grief pounding in my ears, his face twisted in an agony I could have prevented. Kaneko’s voice a whisper in my skull “Once you’ve made your choice it is made. You hold true until the end.”

The fire from the explosion spreads, higher and farther than I remember it, the flames taking Jason’s shape, and my father’s, consuming me completely until I wake up, sweating and throat hoarse with Sophia’s soft hands on my shoulder.

Sometimes I can get back to sleep, but sometimes I know I won’t be able to. On those nights I grab my keys and run down to my Widow, no jacket so I can feel the wind on as much of my body as possible. At that hour the streets are sleepy and I can make it to the freeway in 10 minutes. And as the lights passing by turn into stars, spinning above my head, I drive. And in that moment I can hear their laughter, their whoops and cheers. In that moment, as I fly into the night... I’m not alone.

#RoDaw #rod #ride or die #choices rod #rod choices #playchoices #choices #logan x mc #pixelberry #pixelberry choices #fanfic #choices fanfic #fanfiction #choices fanfiction #logan #rod logan

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rae-is-typing · 5 years ago

Text

Scars

Original request from @sorrybutimtrying: Can you do one where Chris Evans or Paul Rudd meets a fan, sees her scars and tries to help her. Or something like that

Description: You win one of those contests where you and some other people get to meet and fraternize with a celebrity. This time, it’s Paul Rudd. He notices something you wished he hadn’t.

Characters: reader, original female and male characters (Sophia the Marvel person, Olivia the other teen girl, and a lot of unnamed men and women), Paul Rudd

Warnings: swearing, implied self-harm, self-harm scars, being sexually harassed at work, mentioned cat calling

Word count: 3.8k

See Ant-Man three weeks early, hang out with the one and only Paul Rudd, play laser tag, and pizza together on an all expenses paid trip to LA! Enter now! 12 lucky fans will be chosen. Entries close in three hours.

You take a moment to stop scrolling. Your heart speeds up; it always does when opportunities arise. You always apply, but you never win. Glancing at the clock, you see you still have ten minutes on break.

What the heck, might as well enter. There's nothing to lose.

Entering takes the rest of your break. You were asked questions, and had to enter your phone number and email address a few times. You submit your entry as soon as your break ended. Sighing, you push yourself to your feet. Back to serving customers and getting yelled at by your manager.

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

Life gets hard and you completely forget that you ever entered in the first place.

You aren't proud of what you do to cope. Hell, you've managed to stop doing it completely for a few months. But sometimes it's so hard. Too hard to do anything else.

You don't show off your scars. By sticking to long sleeve shirts, concealer, and strategically placed bracelets, you can easily make it seems like there are a few birthmarks on your wrists instead anything self-inflicted.

Unfortunately, you can't afford to see a professional. Both you and your mother are working multiple jobs so you can eat and have a place to live. Deep down, you know you should tell her. Deep down, you want to tell her. But you can't bring yourself to. It'll only stress her out. Between two jobs and going back to school to finish her degree, you don’t want to bring her more stress. But your always hopeful for the day where she'd be able to help you through your hard days.

Speaking of hard days, you hate being a waitress. You work in a particularly sleazy part of town where the guys like to call out anything resembling a female body. Walking down the street brings you one cat call after another, and waitressing isn't any better. You get called every pet name under the sun. Sweetie, babe, baby girl, jujubee. Someone even called you, a 16-year-old wearing some of the baggiest clothes imaginable, sugartits. Your manager had fun with him.

After getting home, you flop on your bed and fight the urge to cry. You made a whopping fifteen dollars in tips that night for working 4 hours, a customer yelled at you for giving them iced tea with ice in it, and a guy started following you home until he got bored. It was not a good night.

Then your phone starts to ring. Maroon 5 reverberates in your room, simultaneously annoying you and making you feel a tiny bit better. Without looking at the caller ID, you pick up the phone.

"Hello?" You ask, voice muffled by the pillow your head is still buried in.

"Hi there! I'm looking for a Y/N Y/L/N." A feminine voice chirps through the phone.

"Yeah, that's me." You roll onto your back so you can speak clearer.

"Great. My name is Sophia Ramsey, I'm the one organizing the event with Paul Rudd. I'm so excited to let you know that you won! You will be one of twelve to be flown out to LA to meet with him and spend the day with him."

A huge smile tugs at your lips, so much so your face starts to hurt. "What?" You laugh. "Are you serious?"

"I sure am! Some blank documents have been sent to the email you provided in your entry. I need you to fill them out and either fax them to the number listed on them, mail them to the address listed, or scan them and email them to that same email address."

"I-I can totally do that!"

"Now this event is an all expenses paid, so everything will be provided for you. You'll be flown out the day of and flown back home after it ends. It will be held June seventh."

"Thank you so much!"

She laughs at your enthusiasm. "Of course. Once we get those documents we will be organizing your flights. We will be in touch."

"Awesome, wonderful. Thanks so much!"

"You're so welcome. Bye bye now."

You pull the phone away from your ear, sporting a grin that could rival the Cheshire cat himself. You won! You won you won you won! You're going to meet one of your favorite actors!

You pull up your email on your phone immediately. Spotting the email, you skim through the PDFs quickly. Since you're a minor, there are a lot of things your mom has to sign.

I need to print these. You think, biting your lip. You don't want to wait for the next at school, you want to fill these out now. Grabbing your wallet and apartment keys, you run (yes, run) down to the library that's a few blocks away. A lot of students gather there for studying and the free wifi.

You wave at a few of your classmates, and they nod back. You print the documents off quickly, paying a small fee for the paper, and you run (yes, run) back home.

You bounce into your apartment, still giddy (and sweaty).

"Mom! Mom, you'll never guess what happened!" You exclaim upon seeing your mother sitting on the couch in the living room.

She looks up from the book she was reading with a tired smile. "What happened, sweetie?"

"Remember that thing I entered? That event Marvel was hosting?" You ask, vibrating with excitement.

"I do."

"I won! I won Mom! I get to meet Paul Rudd!"

A grin broke out on your mom's face. "Oh, Y/N, that's awesome."

"I know! I have to fill out these documents. Do we have somewhere we can fax things? Do you know how to fax? I don't know how to fax."

She laughs. "I'll teach you how to fax things, don't you worry."

------

You get everything taken care of the day after. After another call with Sophia, you manage scheduling flights and times for the drivers (you get a driver! how awesome!)

In the weeks leading up to the event, all your extra effort is put into a gift for Paul. You have a knack for art that you don't have much time for anymore. Between school and work, it's also hard to find energy to put into it.

However, you said 'screw school' and began an art project: a hand-drawn collage of all Paul Rudd's characters, including Ant-Man. It takes all the time leading up to the event, but you manage to make it look amazing. Along with the collage, you write him a letter. You don't believe it to be anything very special, but you hope he will appreciate it. You detail your own struggles and how much looking up to him has helped you.

Then the day comes.

You barely sleep at all the night before. Adrenaline and an unhealthy amount of caffeine replace any semblance of rest you may have gotten.

The driver arrives at your apartment at 4:30 AM to take you to the nearest airport. After triple checking your stuff and a quick goodbye with your mom, you're off.

The car is so nice. You have no idea what make or model it is, but you're sure it very expensive. The drive doesn't take a long time; the roads are practically empty and there is little traffic, which is great.

However, you're left on your own in the airport, which is not great. A lot of zombie-esque people are there, a few crying children, and some drug dogs even joined the party. You bite your lip, scratching at your concealed wrists. It's something you always do when you're nervous.

You don't have any bags other than a backpack, so you don't need to check anything. Looking around, you try to spot someone that looks like they know what they're doing. You eventually do, and follow them to security.

The line is long, and after moderate hassle with the agents, you're through and on the way to your gate. Once you get there, you closely examine your ticket. First class. Your eyebrows shoot up. The first time you're flying and you get first class. Damn. Okay, you'll take it.

The flight was good: no babies cried, the flight people were all super nice, and you even got the entire row to yourself.

After the flight, you're off to the venue. You meet your new driver at the exit and get to another very expensive looking car.

LA traffic is everything you've heard and more. The streets are packed, and it takes quite a while for you to get where you're supposed to be. But when you do, it is incredible.

The building is huge. It's wall to wall one way glass. The sun bounces off the silver accents, almost blinding you. Out of pure impulse, you take a picture. You almost don't believe that you're here.

After thanking the driver, you hop out of the car and walk into the glass building. The interior is even prettier.

It's clean, with dark oak floors and chairs and tables lining the wall. A small group of excited people are gathered by a longer table full of stuff. Your anxiety spikes. This is actually happening. You're going to meet one of your heroes and give him some of your art. This cannot be happening. You nails find your wrist again.

After making your way to the small group, they immediately welcome you into the circle. They each introduce themselves for probably the millionth time, and one of them informs you that everyone is here.

After a few minutes of pure small talk, a woman walks into the lobby area.

"Hi everyone!" You all turn to her. She's dressed in a red sleeveless blouse, black slacks and high heels. Her face is done up nicely, as is her hair. She stands proudly with a charismatic smile gracing her face."I'm Sophia, the manager of this event. I'm so excited to get started! First things first, we'll start with the meet and greet. Each one of you will get 15 minutes with Paul. After that, there'll be a few games of laser tag, and finally, the screening of the new Ant-Man movie! We at Marvel ask that you keep all the movie details to yourself so everyone can enjoy the movie when it comes out."

Murmurs of agreement spread through the room.

“If you all follow me, we can get started," Sophia leads the group to a different room. Paul is sitting at a table with an empty chair next to him.

Excitement spreads through you. He looks so much more real in person, as weird as that sounds. You bite your lip, keeping your mouth shut. Excited calls from the other fans make him smile widely.

You keep your place near the back, slowly building up courage and thinking out what you're going to say. You certainly don't want to look like an idiot when you meet one of your heroes.

"Nice bracelets." The voice of a girl pulls you from your thoughts.

"Oh, thank you." You say, turning to see her. She has short black hair, blue eyes and pale skin.

"Yeah. I love Panic! At the Disco. Their music is amazing."

"For real, they're so good!"

The two of you share small talk until it's her turn. For twelve people each getting fifteen minutes, time went by very fast. She talks to him excitedly, something that he reciprocates. Another wave of anxiety comes over you. Your heart speeds up, your hands get a little sweaty. Holy shit! You're actually meeting him.You fight the urge to scratch at your wrist.

Finally, it's your turn.

You go up to the table with an anxious smile on your face. He smiles back.

"Hi there!" He says. "I'm so glad you won."

"Thank you!" You say, sitting down in the chair. "I actually brought something."

"Oh thank you! That's awesome."

You pull out the small framed collage, placing it on the table with the enveloped letter on top. There's a small stack of stuff on the other side of him. He carefully sets the envelope to the side, now examining the poster.

"Wow! This is so good!" He exclaims. "Did you draw this?"

You can only nod shyly.

"This is great, really. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The two of you talk for the rest of the time. He signs a couple of things for you, and you take a few pictures. At the end, you want to take a funny selfie for your instagram. While taking the picture, your bracelets slide up your arm. Your heart stops for a split second when you see a fresher scar. You pull back the bracelets immediately, and play it off as soon as possible.

But it was too late, Paul saw some of the scars. His face falls into something more solemn, concerned almost. He opens his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.

"Alright everyone! It is time to move on to the next event."

Paul put a smile on his face, but he gave you a worried glance at you while he stood up. He walks by Sophia as you're led through the building. The interior continued to take your breath away. Postmodern design flooded your sight as everyone crams into an elevator.

You're taken up a few floors and the elevator opens to a small room with vests and guns attached to said vests. A blank scoreboard hangs proudly above everything. You glance around. Everyone is sporting grins.

"Let's do girls against boys!" Olivia, the girl you were talking to before, exclaims.

"You sure?" One of the guys pipes up. "I think there are more guys than girls,"

"There's like one more guy. We should do at least one battle of the sexes." She grins.

"I'm cool with it," A woman in her mid twenties smirks.

"Me too," You shrug. More murmurs of agreement spread through the group.

“Alright, suit up everyone. Girls will be red and boys will be green." Sophia says.

"I will leave you to Ralph, he is our resident lazer tag expert."

"Alright everyone, your goal is to destroy the other team’s base. You do that by destroying the power supply in the deepest part of the opposing team’s base. It looks like a dinosaur egg off of Jurassic Park, and it lights up. I have a few ground rules. No fighting, no sprinting, no food or drink near the equipment. But most importantly, have fun! There are large towers on each side where you have to charge your gun. Your vest will beep at you when you need to recharge. Good luck. Boys, enter to the left, girls on your right." With Ralph ending his spiel, everyone hustles into the room.

You follow behind one of your teammates to the back of the base. The room is absolutely massive. There's a large structure running through the middle of the floor with at least four sets of stairs. The supporting poles are lit up by green and red lights. You clutch your gun to your chest. It's not the very first time you're playing laser tag, but it is the first time in a long while.

You go off on your own, jogging up the stairs on the large structure. You speed walk quietly, ducking behind large foam covers that were spread sporadically throughout the entire floor when you suspect one of the boys had spotted you.You climb to the top. You hold your gun by your thigh, keeping your finger on the trigger. Slowly walking in circles, you try to spot the egg like power supply that Ralph had described on the ground below.

Suddenly, someone bumped into you. You jump, barely holding back a yelp.

"Oh, my god. I’m so sorry." Olivia quickly apologized. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you just scared the shit out of me though," You laugh.

"I'm sorry... Y/N, right?"

"Yeah yeah yeah, and you're Olivia, right?"

"Mhm, what are you looking for?"

"I'm trying to find the power supply."

"Same girl. I think I saw it over there." She says, gesturing to your left. "But I'm not sure."

"Let's go check it out."

The two of you venture to the left, moving as quickly and quietly as before. Soon enough, you're able to spot the power supply through the guard rails. Only one guy is standing guard. You share a small low-five and split up to attack it.

Olivia jogs down the stairs to ground level and you go to the second floor for better range.

You crouch close to the floor, poking your gun through the guard rails and wait until you see Olivia come up behind the guard and start shooting. You join her immediately, and together you almost destroy it. However, your gun runs out of charge.

Cursing under your breath, you jog as fast as you can (almost running) down to a charging base, where you run into Olivia again.

"Dude, that was fucking crazy." She laughs. "We almost had them."

Laughing breathlessly, you agree. "For real though. We got them this time. Same plan?"

"Hell yeah,"

"What plan?" A new voice cuts in. The woman in her mid twenties pops up out of nowhere.

"We found their supply. I went low and she went to the second floor. If we have one more person, I think we got this. We'll have to hurry though."

A grin spreads on the woman's face. "Let's do it. I'll head to the first floor on the other side."

The three of you jog together back to the same place as before. You show the woman where to go, then you leave to go up one floor.

Once again, you start to shoot when Olivia does. The woman joins in soon after.

You hear the guards frustrated cries as he tries to fend off all three of you at once. A few of the other guys come running back, but it was too late. Girls won!

You laugh, throwing your hands up. "Hell yeah!"

Olivia cheers, and the woman whoops. The lights come on, making you wince.

"Game over. Red team has claimed their victory! Congratulations, ladies!" Ralph's voice comes over intercoms you didn't know were there.

You make your way down to ground level, meeting up with the other women. You congratulate each other.

"Let's do it again! Same team?”

The lot of you end up playing three more games: girls vs. boys, old people vs. young people, and Paul vs. Everyone else. Boys won, young people won, and the last one was a tie. (You and Olivia ended up teaming up with Paul anyways, but no one else needs to know that.)

After that, everyone was crammed into an elevator yet again. This time smelling a lot less pleasant after running and sneaking around.

All of you are lead to another floor. This one resembled a movie theater more than anything else. A huge table of food is set up in front of the door to the screening room.

Everyone begins to get their dinner, most of them being hungry from the hour and a half spent running around in the dark shooting at each other.

Before you could grab a plate, however, someone places a hand on your shoulder. You turn to see Paul standing behind you.

You smile up at him. "Hi."

"Hey. I wanna talk to you, could we step out?" That look of concern from before is etched onto his face.

"Sure," You say, the slightest bit of hesitation seeping into your voice. You step into a smaller, unoccupied corner of the hall. Before you can ask any questions, he starts speaking.

"Look, I don't know your situation, I don't know you, and I don't know what you've been through, but I saw your wrist. I know what it's like to be low, and I just wanted to tell you that it gets better. Everything is going to work the way it's meant to. Everything is going to be okay. And if you need help, don't be afraid to ask. Mental pain is just as serious and debilitating as physical pain is. I hate to see anyone go through this, especially my fans."

Tears prick at you eyes at his words. No one has ever taken you aside and spoken to you like this before. All the anxiety and trepidation leaves your body, and your left with this warmth and reassurance.

You can only bite your lip and nod. He smiles again and opens his arms. You hug briefly before leaving the corner and getting your food.

Everything after that is all smiles and laughter. The food is some of the best you've ever had; they certainly spared no expense.

The movie is incredible. You have no doubt in your mind that you'll save your tips and take your mom to see it one night after it comes out.

Truth be told, you're sad this is over. You want to do more with everyone, but you're so undeniably grateful that you got this opportunity. More pictures are taken, social media is exchanged, and soon you're all on your separate ways home.

When you get home, you pass out on your face, shoes barely kicked off your feet. You never expected to wake up to what you did though.

A DM from Paul Rudd.

Hey Y/N! It was so nice meeting you! I'm so glad you had the opportunity to attend the event. It's always so wonderful to spend time with fans. I wanted to tell you that your collage is amazing! You have a real knack for art. You should definitely keep it up if you can. Thank you for sharing your story in the letter. It really moved me. I also wanted to let you know one last time that things do get better, things do improve. Stay strong for yourself and your future. You got this.

#paul rudd x reader #paul rudd x teen!reader #marvel rpf #paul rudd #teen!reader #marvel #ant-man #ant-man x reader #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfic #avengers cast x teen!reader #avengers cast x reader

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fantasyinvader · 3 years ago

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Kamen Rider Saber: Finale and Series Review

Okay, before I start disemboweling this series I want to give the finale two points of props.

It was nice to see the main trio fight the big bad together rather than it just being the lead Rider.

The ending really feels nostalgic for me. It's like one of those old games or anime that tried to do something like Evangelion, mostly Star Ocean 3 comes to mind.

I was going to add another point: how the ending didn't have to rely on a cosmic retcon to turn things into a happy ending like Build or Zi-o did, leaving those who died dead and having some level of maturity. I was going to give the show that point, even if it felt like it was leading into Touma essentially becoming God, but then the show did it and...I'm going to be honest here, I was saying fuck you at the screen. Multiple times, kinda like when Doctor Who's 50th anniversary where it turns out Gallifrey wasn't destroyed, the Doctor sealed it away and just couldn't remember it. Like, that is the level of bullshit I was calling out, and with Doctor Who I only said it as an “oh fuck you” rather than just “fuck you fuck you fuck you” until I noticed I was doing this and stopped myself.

Got it? Good. Now let's put Kamen Rider Saber on the examination table, rip it open, and see what went wrong with it.

Oh my god, where to begin with this series?

You ever see a show or movie that tries to do too much for it's runtime? Maybe a book that has some ultimately good ideas, but it never fleshed them out properly? That's my biggest feeling with Saber. Individual parts of the story, some arcs and characters are good on paper. Not to mention, Touma has two incredibly sexy upgrades (the Ryuki-inspired Draconic Knight and the berserker Primitive Dragon). But there is just so much in here that, given the proper focus could have carried the show if properly developed. It's a case of quantity over quality.

But the main problem comes to it's central McGufffin, the Omniscient Tome. This book is supposed to have all knowledge and later on all stories contained within it. It's what powers Wonderworld and the Wonder Ridebooks that are the main collectable trinket of the season. But when you stop and think about it, Saber is a world where there is no free will and the antagonists are all rebelling against this in their own way. Kento's dad (former Kamen Rider Calibur) went rogue in the backstory because he was given a vision of the future through his sword, and it led to the former Saber taking up the role of Calibur and going rogue in order to learn the truth. When the other riders are turned against Touma, the argument is over how he's destined to become more powerful, making Touma seem like he's seeking power and could be a future threat. When Kento returns from the dead, he's haunted by visions of the world ending in multiple variations, leading to him trying to seal the Sacred Blades in order to stop it. But then Master Logos is revealed to be buttfucking insane, wanting to rebel against his position in the world. Then it turns out the monster faction's leader, was a former poet who lost hope when he learned that all his creations were already in the Omniscient Tome, so he decided he would end the world his way rather than the predetermined ending. And even then, the world still ended the way it was always fated to end, even with Touma disappearing to nu-Wonderworld if only for a year.

The world wasn't saved, it was destroyed and then rebuilt because Mei wrote an online post that encouraged people to share their stories, which they did in oblivion even though these guys shouldn't have seen the post at all and instead just heard her voice.

Like, maybe the nu-World has free will. I'd buy that. But when applied to the 47 episodes I've spent the last year watching (alongside the Zenkaiger crossover episode), it felt pointless because it ended the way it was foretold in the Omniscient Tome. It didn't matter that Storious was defeated, fate was not averted. It's like, the complaints people have about the MCU post-Loki. It doesn't matter that Tony decided to sacrifice himself, because he didn't have free will. He was always going to sacrifice himself. Thanos was always going to snap away half the universe, and it would always be undone because choices didn't matter before Loki's ending.

And that's not even going into how they final arc reveals that Touma can somehow create stories not present in the Omniscient Tome. That he can somehow, because the personification of Wonderworld choose him as a child, that for some reason he's the only writer in history that can do this. His catchphrase is about how he'll be the one who'll decide how the story ends, but with the idea that everything was set into stone? It's laughable.

Like, my problem with Zero One's ending was the last scene. Aruto had learned a lot about the Humagears and was an advocate for them finding their own dreams as they became self-aware AI. So him trying to treat a new humagear as just an amnesiac Is and try to help her “remember”? That felt like a betrayal of the character and what he stood for. But the post-series movie revealed that Is left a copy of herself in the Zero Two driver, and merged with the non-self aware nu-Is who the movie kept reminding us wasn't the Is we knew. Aruto even had a sobbing scene about what he was doing, lowkey acknowledging what he was doing but without overtly calling him out. It fixed Zero One for me after that last scene left me with a bad taste in my mouth that overshadowed an otherwise excellent show.

You can't fix Saber with a single movie, that's what I'm getting at here.

So, with that out of the way let's go into my thoughts on each character.

Touma: Is one of the blandest main riders in the franchise. His sense of style is probably one of the worst I've ever seen though. Like I know they like to try and give the main riders their own look rather than having them dress like normal people, like Aruto wearing a hoodie under his suit jacket alongside with his very bright shoes, but this wasn't a W or even something like Ghost (where honestly I really liked Takeru's robe-like shirts). What they eventually settled on with Touma was a stupid hat, really baggy pants, and shirts that look like they came out of a stern librarian's closest. You know, the type with her hair in a bun and their horned-framed glasses on a chain.

Rintaro:Is one of those cases where he's meant to be the secondary Rider of the series, but is overshadowed because the writer likes to use someone else more. The idea of him having to turn against the organization that raised him (like a child soldier) could have worked really well if the series had a more free will-direction. But alas.

Kento: Kento's the one character I found I could really like. His arc was more interesting during the first quarter, his return as Calibur, but then he returned to being Espada and, as much as I love that suit, he just became Touma's main cheerleader. Really, I felt like towards the end it was a waste of him, especially since he doesn't get any power ups like Rintaro did to solidify him as one of the main three. He definitely feels like a victim of rewrites or just the writer not knowing what he was doing.

Mei: The female lead. Honestly, I just found her annoying most of the time. A womanchild to match Touma's more manchild moments, with a potential romance with Rintaro thrown in to only be confirmed in a future movie. Really, she should have taken over as Espada after Kento disappeared early on (especially since she's one of the three in the Ending dance while Kento isn't).

Daishinji: I'd say best boy, but he became a background character pretty quick.

Ogami: An older Kamen Rider who is also a father to a young child? Cool, and could even have worked in contrast to Rintaro's raising as essentially a child soldier. But alas, it was not to be.

Ren: OMG. A somewhat psycho younger Rider, idolizing Kento, and his social Darwinist beliefs on strength leading to conflict as Touma gets more powerful, leading to him abandoning the team to train with an enemy monster? HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT NOT WORK! I swear, Ren should have been the secondary Rider of the series, with his changes in beliefs being used more effectively.

Yuri: One of the most competantly written characters in the entire show. One of the original swordsman who became his sword, returning after 2000 years and not only feeling the culture clash of then and now but even how the idea of what makes a hero has changed? Good boy. Also loved him using a shadow body early on during fights.

Sophia: Why are you even here?

Reika: Oh boy, the swordswoman who leads the rest to distrust Touma under the orders of Master Logos, and doesn't sway from this until he's proven to be batshit insane? And even then, reluctant to join the others? Could have been better, especially if her relationship with her brother didn't come across as incesty. Though, could we please return her to Magine in Zenkaiger? Reika hugging her was really cute, in a socially awkward type of way.

Ryoga: Reika's brother. With his powers being something out of Jojo, time manipulation powers which are a bit hard to explain. He starts them and to his opponents things seem like the fight is continuing as normal, but he really exists outside of that and then can attack from a blindspot? Could have been really good with if the series had gone Team Free Will is all I'm saying.

Master Logos: What I mentioned above, but his Rider suit is one I'm in lust with. Just laughs like a madman and you're wondering why Reika and Ryoga don't rebel against him earlier.

The Megid: Two are a waste who I never bothered to learn their names. Fall out of focus for a bit and only return to be beaten, with the sad fact that they were once human. Storious is the exception, but even then I felt he was a little too late to save the series.

Tassel: Bon Lecture! I still hate you you weirdo, even if your death scene made me feel a little sad. The fact that you treated the early parts of the show as a story you were reading? Have you seen my other complaints?

As for the message of what the show tried to say? I don't really mind it. It's encouraging people to love stories, even if they are copies (considering the controversy of Time Paradox Ghostwriter and Cheat Slayer within recent memory, I'm trying not to make jokes about Saber encouraging plagiarism). And I don't think that's a bad thing in itself. Hell, how many stories take stuff from older stories and just tweak elements to make them their own? I love the Elric saga, but that was based on old legends and meant to subvert the likes of Conan the Barbarian, and some other stories I've liked have borrowed elements from it as well. The idea that stories can be used to pass on our hopes, thoughts and dreams to others is pretty nice as well, rather than writing being a form of masturbation on the author's part.

But in the shadow of the Omniscient Tome and it's implications, I really feel the story should have taken another route.

A lot of Riders start of weak, having to introduce the plot as well as the main release of whatever trinket they want kids to gorge themselves on this year. But they usually start getting better towards the end of the first quarter, while maybe stalling a bit towards the end of the second/third. Saber was a series that I felt never really found it's legs. Too many bareboned plot threads on the go, dropping some for a while only to pick them up again after they've been forgotten about. This is not a good series, to be honest I think Zi-O and even Ghost were better, and really feel it would have been better handled in the hands of someone who could actually write.

Not to mention, this gave me flashbacks of Power Rangers Megaforce over how much this series relied on fight scenes. Throw in greenscreen everywhere, lack of civilians...oh god, it is Kamen Rider Megaforce. And it felt like Saber was trying to have a story, unlike Megaforce, but it has the same “it’s a kid’s show, we don’t have to try that hard” energy.

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aion-rsa · 3 years ago

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Marvel’s Loki Episode 3: MCU Easter Eggs and References

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This article contains Marvel’s Loki episode 3 spoilers.

Marvel’s Loki episode 3 is a big one. It’s the first episode of the series to spend the entirety of its runtime outside of the TVA offices, the first where we get to spend a substantial amount of time with the mysterious Sylvie, and the coolest visit to an extraterrestrial location we’ve had in the MCU since Avengers: Endgame.

It’s a big one, and there’s lots of cool MCU things you might have missed, or might not know about from the pages of Marvel Comics…and more!

Here’s what we found in Marvel’s Loki episode 3.

Lamentis

The planet Lamentis was introduced in the pages of Annihilation: Conquest Prologue (the very story that established the modern incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy). It exists on the outer rim of the Kree empire and is filled with scavengers trying to gather scarce resources via force. The Phyla-Vell version of Quasar and Moondragon were there to help keep the peace, mainly protecting a sect of pacifist priests from those who would take their stuff.

But to be clear, the events of Loki episode 3 take place on Lamentis-1, a moon of Lamentis, and it’s the planet itself that is breaking up and crashing into the moon, not the other way around.

Interestingly, while the lighting choices for this episode were most definitely a very specific story choice (more on that in a minute), it’s also in keeping with the way Lamentis was colored in its only comic book appearance.

Sylvie, Lady Loki, The Enchantress

We don’t get a TON of clarity on the nature of Sophia Di Martino’s Loki variant, but despite her “Sylvie” name, the balance is tipping further in the direction of her being a true “Lady Loki” and not strictly the Sylvie Lushton version of Enchantress from Marvel Comics (we wrote more about this confusing distinction here).

That being said, she’s not NOT Sylvie/Enchantress, either! It seems that Sylvie is indeed a variant Loki (recent merchandise reveals have officially shown that she is “Sylvie Laufeydottir” (as opposed to “Loki Laufeyson”) so that’s another sign that she’s truly a variant of our Loki. For some reason (probably a good one) she doesn’t want to be known as a Loki anymore, hence “Sylvie,” and she does use enchantments as a primary power, hence “Enchantress.”

So the answer here is still “yes” to any of these questions, but we’re leaning on the simplest explanation being the correct one: she’s a Loki variant, and in true MCU fashion they’re just mashing up other elements of mythology from the comics to make a cool new character.

There’s also some serious Moonlighting energy between the hedonistic Loki and the more serious and on-mission Sylvie all through this episode, but we’re wondering how many of you are even old enough to remember Moonlighting, and that is depressing.

The Loki/Enchantress-appropriate green tie-dye that Sylvie is rocking in the bar “flashback” is pretty cool, but not an Easter egg. But maybe we should bring tie-dye back this summer.

Loki is Bisexual

The “bisexual lighting” that Lamentis is bathed in throughout the entirety of the episode is no accident, as it’s revealed that both Loki and Sylvie are bisexual. Loki director Kate Herron spoke briefly about this reveal on Twitter, as well:

From the moment I joined @LokiOfficial it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge Loki was bisexual. It is a part of who he is and who I am too. I know this is a small step but I’m happy, and heart is so full, to say that this is now Canon in #mcu #Loki 💗💜💙 pic.twitter.com/lz3KJbewx8

— Kate Herron (@iamkateherron) June 23, 2021

As far as we can tell, in terms of the comics, Loki’s bisexuality first came up in Young Avengers #15. After saving the world and getting a bit of a pep talk from Prodigy, a late-teen incarnation of Loki hit on his teammate for the sake of celebration, but was ultimately turned down.

“My culture doesn’t really share your concept of sexual identity,” Loki said in that issue. “There are sexual acts, that’s it. I’m actually the patron god of certain popular ones, believe it or not.” (some very cursory research fails to confirm that last point, which would really be perfectly in keeping for Loki to lie about)

“Another!”

When partying up on the train, Loki smashes his empty glass and excitedly asks for another. This is exactly what his brother does in the first Thor movie after enjoying a cup of coffee at a diner. It’s an Asgardian custom!

The Songs

The song that opens the episode is “Demons” by Hayley Kiyoko, which also includes some potentially Loki-specific lines as “Please forgive me, I’ve got demons in my head, tryin’ to eat me, tryin’ to feed me lies until I’m dead.”

The song that closes the episode is “Dark Moon,” a 1957 country hit by Bonnie Guitar (there are other versions, including a rare one by Elvis Presley and a really cool one by Chris Isaak for the soundtrack of the very cool and underrated A Perfect World, but the version here is Bonnie’s). It’s a little on-the-nose with the events happening on Lamentis, but also features haunting lyrics that may hint at something more: “Mortals have dreams of love’s perfect schemes, but they don’t realize that love will sometimes bring a…Dark Moon.”

Does anyone know the name of the song that Loki sings while he’s “full?” If so, please let us know in the comments!

The TVA

The mobile devices that TVA agents use to navigate through timelines are given a name in this episode: TemPads.

We get a couple more bits of important TVA context this episode. The first is that apparently the Time Keepers reside at the top floor accessible by a golden elevator in the TVA offices. When Hunter C-20 said she “gave up the location” of the Time Keepers last week, who could have expected the answer to be so simple?

Additionally, Sylvie reveals at episode’s end that all TVA employees had a life prior to joining the TVA. In fact, every TVA worker was at some point a Variant just like Loki and Sylvie. This directly contradicts Miss Minutes’ claim that the TVA employees were created by the Time Keepers to police the Sacred Timeline. This may mean that Mobius was also lying to Loki about the nature of TVA agents…UNLESS…in the comics, Mobius was one of many Mobiuses, because the TVA engaged in “managerial cloning” for their best representatives, while employing “freelancers” for other work. Perhaps Mobius was telling Loki his truth, while Sylvie’s theory about the Variants being conscripted into service as Minutemen is ALSO true.

During the end credits, there’s a collection of TVA file photos on a desk, showing Loki and Sylvie together. Apparently, they’re getting their images from their exploits from Lamentis-1, as one photo is specifically Loki as a train guard. Looks like these two aren’t as hidden from the authorities as they realized.

Miscellaneous Time Variants

Funny enough, the shot of Loki landing after being thrown out of the train is framed to look exactly like when Loki fell out of Doctor Strange’s portal in Thor: Ragnarok.

The two soldiers at the entrance to the train are called Corporal Hicks and Private Hudson which is a neat nod to Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton’s characters in Aliens!

The guards on Lamentis look kind of like they’re wearing Cobra uniforms, don’t they?

There’s a serious Snowpiercer vibe to that “rich folks getting on a train to escape a natural disaster/apocalypse while the poor are left to suffer and die.” Wait, that is actually a real life vibe, too.

If episode 2 was a police procedural, this episode is very much “peak TV,” right down to its use of an obscure needledrop to end the episode coming out of an elaborate “one take” action sequence. Daredevil no longer has a monopoly on those in Marvel TV, it would seem.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Spot something we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post Marvel’s Loki Episode 3: MCU Easter Eggs and References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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lovemesomesurveys · 4 years ago

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When was the last time you wanted to wear something but it was still ‘in the wash’ or ‘not yet dried’? I wanted to wear my Baby Yoda/Grogu Christmas sweatshirt on Christmas, but it didn’t end up getting washed.

Any new subjects for the upcoming school year? I’m not in school anymore.

Last time you got a haircut? Back in February of last year. Almost a year ago now.

Have you ever rode Business Class? No.

Paris, Texas or Paris, France? Paris, France, please.

How much time/percentage is left on your laptop battery? It’s at 100% because it’s plugged in.

Do you like to know how things are made? Yeah, a lot of it is interesting.

Care to post the most recent tagged picture of you on Facebook? No.

HAVE YOU WATCHED BRUNO YET!? I saw the first one. I don’t have any interest in seeing the new one.

Is there any song that’s stuck in your head? Not at the moment.

What does your school bag look like? --

Is it anyone’s birthday today? I’m sure it’s a lot of people’s birthday today, but no one I know.

With your guy friends, are you known as a girl or a buddy? I don’t have any friends.

Do you own a foam finger? No.

Where was the last place you dined in with your friends? It’s been a few years since the last time I did that, so I don’t recall. Yes, I actually used to have friends and I actually used to go out. *gasp*

Name all the websites on your bookmark toolbar here! Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Have you actually ever eaten a wedding cake? Yes.

Gotcher back to school outfit yet? Or do you just don’t care? --

Do you get email updates from Urban Dictionary? No.

Do you think some babies are ugly? Aw, that’s mean.

Don’t you miss Chuck E. Cheese? Aw, those were fun times as a kid.

Do you think Fall Out Boy is gonna be a classic band, like Queen or AC/DC? I don’t know.

Do you love stuff crusted pizza? I don’t eat the crusts, so.

Is Lil Wayne all that he’s cracked up to be? I like some his features and songs.

Who are you usually attracted to in bands, the singer, the guitarist, bassist, or drummer? I wasn’t attracted to many band guys, honestly.

Do you apply lotion after you bathe? No. I should.

What��s your favorite color? Pastels, rose gold, mint green, coral, and yellow.

Who did you have your most amazing kiss with? Joseph.

Have you ever hugged a stranger? No.

What’s a random act of kindness you have done to help a stranger? I’ve given money to homeless people.

Has a Youtube video of yours ever gotten over 10,000 views? Ha, no. What’s a fear you’ve conquered? Hmm. I don’t know.

Have you ever hugged someone for over a minute? Yeah.

Have you ever received a homemade card from someone? Yes.

Would you ever get a tattoo on your collar bone? No.

Do you like Robert Frost poems? I only know one.

Do you go to church every Sunday? Yes. I attend via livestream.

Ever had a drunken night in Mexico or Las Vegas? Nope.

Have you ever been to Arkansas? No.

Where would you go on a road trip with your best friend? There’s so many places I’d love to travel to.

Do you know anyone with Harry Potter glasses? Growing up I had the round frames.

Longest you’ve ever stayed on the phone? Houuuurs. I used to talk to my best friends in elementary and middle school on the phone for-fucking-EVER. I’m not sure of the longest bit of time though. <<< Haha, I actually used to do that, too, which is so shocking because I hate talking on the phone now. I kinda did that in high school the first two years a few times, but after that something switched and I never wanted to talk on the phone. It became just text me or message me online.

Have you ever been in a relationship on and off for more than a year? Joseph and I, whatever it was we had going on, was off and on for a few years. We never were officially together, but we had something going on and it would seem it was going in that direction but then nope.

What about just for a year straight? Like I said, it went on for 3 years.

Do gangs scare you? I mean, yeah...

Have you met a best friend on a cruise before? I’ve never been on a cruise.

How many high schools are in your city/town? Like 4.

If offered, would you want to go to fashion week in Paris? Can I just have the trip to Paris?

If you had to get famous for one of the following, which would you choose: music, acting, writing, modeling? Writing.

What are your thoughts on fake reality television? I’m a sucker for reality TV. *shrug*

Would you want to own your own island? Nah. I’m good with my Animal Crossing Island lol. <<< Ha, same.

Who killed John Bennet Ramsey? Her brother is kinda sus. I could see it being a situation where the family covered up for him because he was just a child. Or, perhaps one of the parents. Again, it being an accidental situation and they just covered it up.

What do you think of girls with huge boobs that don’t wear bras in public? I don’t think about it.

Do you even like politics? I don’t like it, but I try to follow it at least somewhat because it is important and affects all of us. It’s stressful and overwhelming and confusing, though, so I don’t follow it as closely as maybe I should.

Have you ever seen a guy wearing hoop or dangling earrings? Yeah.

What’s it like at raves? I’ve never been. I’ve never had any desire to go to one.

Do you do a nice Scottish accent? I can’t do any accents.

Do you think that all people in England have really bad teeth? No? That’s an awful stereotype.

What is your state nickname (The Golden State, The Cheese State, etc)? The Golden State.

Would you rather lose your best friend or your boyfriend? I’d rather not lose anyone in my life, thanks.

Do you think people who pay hundreds of dollars on perfume are ridiculous? Spend your money on what you want, but I don’t spend that much on perfume. I think it’s crazy how expensive they can be.

What is the last thing you tried on in a store? A jacket. That’s the only thing I ever try on because I can easily just put it on real quick right there and it doesn’t require much. I never try on clothes or anything otherwise.

Do you know who Georgia Nicholson is? Nope.

Do you ever sleep through your alarm? It happens. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened for anything important in a long time, but I sometimes set alarms when I don’t want to sleep in too late or I want to try and get up by a certain time for whatever reason and oftentimes I just end up hitting snooze or turning it off.

What is the dominant color in the room you’re in? There’s a lot of colors going on.

Do you think Sophia Bush is a good actress? I’ve only seen her in a couple things, I think.

When did you realize you are no longer a child? I’m not sure if it was one specific moment.

Is sleeping naked more comfortable then in clothes? Noo, not for me. I don’t feel comfortable naked.

Does your best friend wear makeup? Yeah.

Who is someone you do not understand at all? Myself. What is your morning routine? When I get up, I take my medicine and lie around for awhile checking social media and whatnot before finally dragging myself outta bed for coffee.

Have you already met your true love? No.

Have you ever had a dream in which you were making out, or more, with someone? Yeah.

Do you prefer to fix the problems or just end the relationship? I would want to try and work on things first. I wouldn’t just end a relationship right away because we had a problem. Now, if we had a lot of problems and nothing was getting resolved or it just wasn’t working out even after trying to work on things, then it would be time to end the relationship. But you’re going to experience problems in a relationship, you can’t expect not to. It’s how you go about them.

Have you ever accidentally stepped on a cat tail? Not a cat, but a dog. I always feel like the worst person in the world whenever I’ve accidentally done that with their tail or paw. Gahhh. And my doggo (and my previous doggos) acts like she did something wrong and snuggles up next to me and is all lovey and it’s like, ‘nooo, I’m the evil one here you didn’t do anything wrong you precious angel!’

Did they meow really loud? They let out a yelp.

Do you ever go to Plyrics.com? I’m sure that was one of the sites I used back in the day for lyrics. Nowadays I just quickly Google a song and the lyrics pop right up.

Did you know that when a worm is cut in two both pieces grow again and continue living? Jlkfjkdfjl ew yes I’ve heard that. That gives me the creeps just thinking about it, thanks for ending on that note....

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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commanderrivercc-3628 · 4 years ago

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One Hundred Sixty-Three Years

Words: 2.6k

Warning: some strong language

This was a short story I wrote a year ago. So, yeah... also this has nothing to do with Star Wars

There were eight people on the mission, which is normal as the transport shuttles are made to be large in size to transport more supplies and resources than people. When they were prepared to embark on the mission, the eight entered the large-sized shuttle and were put into one of the larger rooms in the shuttle. The engineers who created the shuttle called it the ‘Eclipse-Sleep Chamber’. Within this room, there were eight Eclipse-Sleep pods, and that’s where the eight stayed for the duration of their travels. Typical travel time is somewhere between one hundred fifty to three hundred days. The travelers weren’t told the exact number, but that’s roughly how long it takes to get to Mars, which is the mission: to transfer humans from the climate change ridden Earth to the new homeworld, Mars.

The shuttle was dark. The round lights that lined the halls were off to preserve power. An occasional window opened up the tight space, showing the empty void that waited outside. Doors led to more rooms and doorways to more halls.

One by one the Eclipse-Sleep pods began to awaken the person inside. The first person that woke up was Marcus. He stood in the center of the room, waiting to help the other eight people. In five minute intervals, the rest of the group began to wake up. Michael was the second to be brought out of Eclipse-Sleep by the automatic wake up system. Marcus stood next to the pod, arms crossed as Michael struggled to climb out. The two glared at each other as Michael left the room.

Chloe was the next to wake up. Marcus offered her a hand which she accepted. She stayed back to wait for the next person to wake up. She looked towards her shoes to avoid any eye contact with Marcus.

Another five minutes later Adam was pulled out of Eclipse-Sleep, grabbed Marcus’s hand for help, and nodded to Chloe as he walked out of the chamber. Adam was different from Marcus. That much you could tell just based on body language. While Marcus stood arms crossed and standoffish, Adam stood warm and inviting with great posture.

Chloe was still waiting with Marcus, not saying a word. Another pod opened revealing Sophia. At the sight of Sophia, Chloe rushed to her and helped her up. The two young women quickly left the room, leaving Marcus alone with the others still in the Eclipse-Sleep pods.

The next two to emerge from Eclipse-Sleep were Julia followed by Dean. The last sleeping crew member was a young woman. She had shoulder-length, curly auburn hair.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.” Marcus sweetly stated.

The woman slowly opened her eyes to see who was talking to her. The chamber was bright… too bright. Her eyes adjusted quickly and soon was able to make out Marcus’ smirking face.

Judging by the look of him, he was older than she was. He had deep green eyes, a five o’clock shadow, and short, dusty brown hair that was beginning to grey on the sides.

“Don’t call me Sleeping Beauty, Marcus.” The young woman said, groaning. Her beautiful amber eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Look, Sweet Heart, it’s really not my fault you overslept.” Marcus laughed as if it were Bobbi’s fault that her Eclipse-Sleep pod woke her up last.

“Don’t call me Sweet Heart either. Where are the others?” Bobbi asked, looking around to find the other six people on the mission.

There were four men, including Marcus, and three women other than Bobbi.

“Well, I’m guessing Michael went to the control room seeing as he’s technically the boss. And Julia probably went there too, since she’s the technology specialist. I’m gonna bet that Dean went to the med bay since he’s the medic. But I don’t know where everyone else went. Oh, and we are here, alone.” Marcus replied.

He winked at Bobbi after that last part. Bobbi rolled her eyes and began fussing with the restraints that fastened her in the pod. Marcus helped Bobbi pull herself out of the pod, which was situated in the wall like a small cave. The end of the pods stuck out with a glass dome that opened, allowing the person inside to get out

Just then, static sounded overhead as the speaker turned on.

“Everyone get to the control room. Now. We have a problem.” It was from Michael. There was a distinct hint of urgency and worry in his voice.

Bobbi and Marcus looked at each other and then took off running out of the chamber and down the hallway.

Dean and Adam were already in the control room, along with Julia and Michael, by the time Marcus and Bobbi arrived. Bobbi looked to each of her fellow crewmates. Michael was standing by a large chair which she identified to be the captain’s seat. Julia was standing to the right-hand side of the room by a large panel. Bobbi assumed this to be the diagnostic equipment. Adam stood opposite of Julia on the left-hand side by another large panel, which she concluded to be the navigation panel.

Sophia and Chloe arrived a few moments later.

“The travel logs,” Michael began. “They say we’ve been in space for 59533 days.”

Confusion washed over the crew’s faces. A few raised their eyebrows. Some put their hands over their mouths. Others just stood there. Chloe was the first to speak up.

“How is that possible?” Chloe asked.

“It shouldn’t be,” Michael stated.

“Well, that’s what it says,” Adam argued. “The navigation logs aren’t wrong.”

“There must be something wrong in the system then.” Bobbi began.

“There’s not.” Adam was now shouting. “No matter how many times you ask me to check the damn travel logs, it won’t change.”

By that time Sophia had walked over to Adam and placed her hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath. Everyone look at each other, the looks of confusion now turning into concern.

“Yeah, look, I hate to point out the obvious,” Marcus stated, “but that’s not near Mars.”

“Jee, Marcus. That was so helpful.” Bobbi said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

Marcus scrunched up his face and stuck his tongue out.

“You’re thirty-nine years old. Act your age.” Bobbi said, her voice grew louder.

“Enough,” Michael yelled. “Adam, is there any way to convert that time to years?”

“Maybe.”

The room was silent. Everyone just looked around at each other. No one made a sound until Michael sighed.

“I’ve tried to recover the log files, but I can’t find anything.” He said.

“I could give it a try,” Julia said.

While Julia began typing very quickly to useful, Adam turned to speak.

“We’re about one hundred sixty-three years away from Earth.”

The room was dead silent again. Chloe turned to step out for a moment as tears filled her eyes. Sophia followed her sister out of the control room to comfort her. Marcus crossed his arms, shaking his head, and pinning his tongue between his back teeth causing his jaw to appear slightly crooked.

Julia had now turned around and pulled up a video. Seeing this Michael had called Sophia and Chloe back into the room.

“Wait, what is that?” Sophia asked.

“No idea,” Julia said. “But it’s dated back to before the launch.”

She looked back over her shoulder to the other. She played the video.

A man, probably about fifty years old, appeared on the screen. He was wearing a white lab coat and safety goggles on the top of his head. There was sweat on his brow, and he kept glancing over his shoulder.

“Isn’t that Dr. Gallagher?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, it is,” Sophia said.

Dr. Gallagher was the head engineer and astronomer back on Earth. He actually designed the Eclipse-Sleep pods, allowing long-distance space travel without aging.

No one spoke as the video played.

“Hello.” The video Dr. Gallagher said. “No doubt by now the eight of you have discovered that you aren’t going to Mars. Recently, I discovered a planet in an unknown galaxy. I believe that it supports life.”

All jaws dropped. Eyes widened. Still, no one spoke. The video played on.

“Now I am aware that none of you were informed of the change in plans, but mission control wasn’t either. The board wouldn’t approve to send anyone to this new planet because it’s ‘too far away’. Ridiculous. Here we are, on a dying planet. And a perfectly good habitable planet is just about one hundred sixty-three years away from Earth. But I showed them. I sent you there anyway.” The doctor paused and took a deep breath. He mumbled something to himself and smiled creepily.

“I will be dead by the time you see this. But none of that matters because I was right. I was able to send you all to Planet 893RF. Now should you succeed and actually make it to the planet, the eight of you will be able to live out the rest of your lives on this new planet. Unfortunately, I was not able to bribe the fuel mechanics into giving you enough fuel to last a four hundred year journey. Meaning, you won’t be able to return to Earth or Mars. I wish all of you luck, and I hope you enjoy your new home. I will continue to try and get a sanctioned mission sent to Planet 893RF so that there will be more of you, however, I doubt it will happen.”

The video shut off. No one spoke. Tears filled the eyes of Julia, Chloe, and Dean.

“Damn it,” Dean screamed. Falling to his knees as the realization he’d never see his wife and daughter again set in.

Marcus’ hands balled into fists. The rest just stood, jaws dropped. The silence was eerie, in the light-filled room. After what felt like years, Bobbi spoke.

“So, we were basically sent on an unauthorized suicide mission to a planet that may, or may not be habitable. Did I get that right?”

“That’s exactly what happened,” Chloe said.

“Shit,” Bobbi said.

“Guys…” Adam said. No one was listening, as Adam slowly made his way towards the large window in the control room.

“This new information doesn’t change the facts that we still have a mission to accomplish,” Michael stated.

Chloe, Julia, and Dean nodded in agreement as they wiped tears from their eyes. Dean stood up.

“What mission, Michael?” Marcus yelled. “We are over one hundred years past the mission. We don’t even know if people are still being sent to Mars.”

Bobbi and Sophia looked at each other then nodded, showing their agreement with Marcus. They stepped forward slightly to stand next to him. Chloe, Julia, and Dean then stepped closer to Michael.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Marcus.” Michael calmly replied, trying to refrain from becoming angry.

“Guys…” Adam said yet again, now standing next to the large window, staring off into space. There was still no one listening.

“What would the point even be to continue the mission? Everyone we’ve ever known is dead. And heading back to Mars would take another, what? One hundred sixty-three years?” He turned to look at Julia, who nodded in response to confirm his number. “How do you know we even have enough full to travel all the way back to the Milky Way?”

Michael didn’t say anything. He just stood expressionless. He only moved to glance towards Julia. Julia nodded in response and began to examine the various gauges and controls until finding the fuel gauge. She turned back around to look at Michael and shook her head.

“See,” Marcus said, motioning his hand towards Julia, who had just proved his point. Upon hearing this, Chloe walked past Michael to stand beside Bobbi and Sophia, clearly now agreeing with Marcus over Michael.

“We have a new mission, don’t we?” Michael said, raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly.

“There is no way in hell I’m going to do what that slimy son of a-”

“Guys,” Adam yelled, causing everyone to turn their heads in his direction. “Come look at this.”

The other seven made their way to the large window. Everyone’s jaw dropped when they look outside. There was a planet, it was Planet 893RF.

“It looks just like Earth, in a way,” Bobbi said.

The planet was primarily water, with some small islands of dense green scattered throughout the ocean. There was an occasional larger island, but the vast majority were smaller by comparison. Small bursts of clouds were scattered throughout the atmosphere.

“I feel like we are obligated to go down there at this point.” Adam calmly stated. Everyone slowly began to nod in response to Adam’s statement. Everyone, that is, except for Marcus.

“We can’t go down there.” He exclaimed.

“And why not?” Sophia asked, turning to look at Marcus while placing her hand on her hip.

“It’s suicide. We have no idea what, or maybe even who is down there.” Marcus replied, flinging his arm in the direction of the window, gesturing towards Planet 893RF.

“That’s exactly why we should go down there. We need to explore and see if it’s actually a habitable planet.” Chloe rebutted.

“If we go down there, Dr. Gallagher will have won. He ruined our lives. It’s his fault we’ll never see our families again.” Marcus expressed.

“Well then what do you propose, Marcus? Stay here on the shuttle?” Dean asked, stepping forward to be more engaged in the conversation.

“Maybe.” Marcus shrugged.

“We can’t stay on the shuttle.” Julia began, using her advanced knowledge of technology and the shuttle itself to get her point across. “The shuttle will eventually run out of fuel. At that point, life support will begin to fail, if not sooner.”

“Marcus, we have no other option but to go down onto the surface of the planet,” Bobbi said, placing her hand on Marcus’ shoulder while smiling at him sweetly.

“Wait. How do we even know if the atmosphere is breathable?” Michael questioned.

Marcus made a smug face and gestured towards Michael. Sophia and Chloe rolled their eyes. Dean pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and middle finger while shaking his head. Adam sighed.

“Once we get closer to the surface of the planet I can run an analysis of the planet’s atmosphere with shuttle’s diagnostic equipment,” Julia stated matter of factly.

“Ugh, fine,” Marcus said, giving up the argument knowing he wouldn’t win. “Now what do we do?”

“Go down to the surface of the planet, obviously,” Sophia stated.

“I mean we’ll have to gather food stores and weapons to defend ourselves. None of that even matters if the atmosphere is toxic to us.” Bobbi rambled.

“Hold on.” Michael began. “Is everyone ready to go to the planet’s surface?”

Everyone nodded almost simultaneously, even Marcus, who still had his arms crossed.

“Alright then. It’s settled. Down to the planet we go.” Michael said, putting his hands on his hips.

He looked everyone over. They were strong and intelligent, some more than others, but nonetheless, still the best of the best.

The eight stood in a circle. No one moved. No one spoke. Despite deciding to make the venture to the surface of Planet 893RF, no one really knew what to do. They didn’t even know if they would be able to land the shuttle. They didn’t know what was to come, and what may be down there, but they all knew they could handle it. As long as they worked together, but the eight were on their own. That’s really what scared them.

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guesswhofern · 5 years ago

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The Surprise Party

911 Lone Star Week, Day 7: Anything Goes

Summary: After a succesful proposal, there's one more surprise in store for TK. AO3

One day late, but here it is - Day 7. This is a continuation to my Day 6 fic. As always you’re the best @qveentasha. @starsignoutofwhack you asked, I delivered, I hope you like it!

“My love, you’re finally here,” Carlos mother, Sofia, says to TK as he steps through the threshold of her house. Ludwig runs a few rounds around Carlos’ mother before racing towards the living room and probably into the garden. The glass door is open,the sun is out, and TK can hear his dog barking, most likely at birds.

She’s wearing a white apron over her red blouse (a present from TK and Carlos last Christmas) most likely because she still baking some sort of dessert.

“I’ve missed seeing your beautiful face,” she tells him during their hug.

“Mum, what about me?” They hear Carlos say, jokingly heartbroken about the fact that his mother’s fawning all over TK and ignoring him. He can’t be angry at her, though. Who could resist TK? He certainly can’t, especially if he turns on his puppy eyes when asking for dinner or special favors in their bedroom.

“I missed you, too, Sofia. We planned to visit your daughter and granddaughter today, but apparently Carlos decided to take a little detour today,” he tells her, breaking the hug.

Before Carlos or his mother answer, Carlos’ sister Emilia joins them with her newborn daughter in the hallway. “It definitely saved you a lot of gas, Titi. No one would have been home.”

His soon-to-be sister-in-law started calling him Titi after her oldest kid mispronounced TK when they first started talking and it stuck.

“Hi! What you doing here? And hello to you, too, baby girl. You look so cute in this tiny dress,” TK coos to the baby, switching her from Emilia’s arms into his.

“You know me, can’t say no to my mum’s cooking.”

Moving towards his fiancé, Carlos wraps one arm around his shoulders and smiles at his sister. “You won’t get her back until we leave, that’s for sure.”

TK looks up at him from where he’s holding his niece safely near his chest. “Speaking of not getting her back - we have a present in the car for you to take home later and, in addition to that, we also offer you an unlimitless voucher of us babysitting when you want to go out,” he tells her.

Carlos’ sister smiles. “Thanks boys. I appreciate this very generous gift, otherwise I know you would never babysit the kids. So glad you thought of that,” she teases them.

They all chuckle. “You’re welcome.” Carlos presses a kiss against TK’s forehead, before whispering into his ear. “Look at mum, she’s very discreetly looking at your hand. Maybe we shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer. She’s too polite to just ask.”

TK smiles and looks at his future mother-in-law. “Do you maybe want to move this into the living room? Do you still have to work in the kitchen? Carlos and I may have something to tell you.”

“I’m done,” Sophia says, turning around to go back into the kitchen to put the apron away, but not before secretly smiling at Carlos who returns her grin happily.

Carlos takes the lead and goes to the living room, smiling at all the people standing in the garden, waiting for their moment to surprise TK (who doesn’t know that this is a surprise proposal party). He still thinks only his dad Owen knows about their engagement, but he's in for a surprise.

His boyfriend is about to sit down on the couch when he looks up from his pretend chat with Emilia’s daughter and looks toward the glass doors.

His mouth opens wide. “What-?”

The glass door opens and Judd is the first one to enter the living room. He hears a joint Surprise from everyone in the garden and begins to smile.

Everyone who is important to him is there. Carlos’ family, including his (if he had a favorite) favorite cousin, Eddie and his son Christopher. His dad is also there, with Zoe and Buttercup, who’s running around with Ludwig. His whole firefighter family - Marjan, Mateo, Paul, Michelle and Judd with Grace.

“Carlos?” TK asks, confused.

Emilia has taken her daughter out of his hands again so he can greet everyone. “Carlos, do these people know why they’re here?”

TK smiles sheepishly and nods. “Yes, they do. I didn’t know Eddie was in Texas, though, so that’s a surprise for me too. And to be upfront with you, I did ask Judd, too. Not just your dad.”

TK turns around after hugging the last person hello and returns to his side. “Thank you,” he tells him and presses a kiss to his lips. “It’s a little overwhelming, but this is great,” he adds and hugs him before stepping back to stand next to him, one arm still around him.

He smiles up at Carlos before looking to all of their friends and family.

“As I was informed, you all know the reason Carlos made you come here,” they hear chuckles from everyone, “Carlos asked me to marry him and as you can see from the ring on my finger, I said yes.”

Everyone claps and hollers with smiles on their faces. Carlos squeezes his waist and looks at TK like he’s the happiest man on earth. The feeling is mutual.

“Food’s ready whenever you are,” Sophia, Carlos’ mother, tells everyone. “Cutlery and plates are in the kitchen and you can eat wherever there’s space.

Everyone says thank you and begins to move into the kitchen, but Eddie stays behind. Carlos didn’t see that Buck tagged along at first, but he said hello before joining Christopher on his way to the kitchen, after squeezing his hand shortly.

“It’s so good to see you both,” Eddie tells them, “you should come back to LA soon, Chris can now skateboard with the help of some special equipment Buck found and he wants to show you. And I bet he misses Ludwig as well,” he adds, chuckling.

TK and Carlos chuckle, promising that they’ll come back soon. “Enough about us,” TK tells Eddie and begins to tease him. “You and Buck finally got your heads out of your asses?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, but blushes. “It’s a long story containing two near-death experiences, but yeah. You could say that.”

Both look shocked, but quickly recover. “We’re happy for you. You deserve happiness and I’m sure Chris is loving it.”

Eddie shakes his head and chuckles. “You can’t imagine how much. Buck has been spending most nights at ours and Chris is taking advantage of it.”

“I want to hear more about it later, but let’s eat now.”

TK and Carlos stay at his mom’s until it gets dark and almost everyone has left. He spent time with everyone and they all had a great time. Sophia’s food was as amazing as always, and thanks to the best future mother-in-law they even got to take something home with them.

Mateo even found some fun engagement games on the internet and they embarrassed themselves a lot, but wouldn't want to change any of it.

They’ve been home for a while now, enjoying the quiet after a long day surrounded by so many people.

“Today was good, wasn’t it?”

TK hums in agreement and snuggles further into his chest on the couch. “Today was perfect, thank you for the surprise.”

“My family was so excited when I told them my plans, they decided they wanted to have this little surprise party.”

“Imagine their excitement when we get married,” TK tells him, laughing.

Carlos sighs. “Our phones won’t stop ringing. Maybe we should just elope.”

“Mmh, I could get behind that, but they would kill us. And more important, I want to have a wedding with all our most important people present.”

“Agreed, I can’t wait until I get to marry you,” Carlos kisses him softly after saying it.

“I love you.”

“I love you. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

#911lonestarweek #911lsweek #tarlos #tk strand x carlos reyes #911ls #carlos reyes #tk strand

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idiot-extraordinaire · 4 years ago

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Date Night, Interrupted

Summary: Brittany and Santana just want a quiet date night at home. Their evenings has other plans.

Part of the Pancakes and Mr Snuggles 'verse.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26035702 https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13677597/1/Date-Night-Interrupted

There are certain things that are just facts of life.

Fact. The earth revolves around the sun.

Fact. A euler brick is a cuboid.

Fact. Friday night is date night.

Both kids are asleep by 8:30 pm. The TV is playing as two glasses of wine sit on the coffee table as “The Proposal” plays on their TV. Brittany’s head rests on Santana’s lap as Sandra Bullock huffs and gets down on one knee in the middle of the street to propose to Ryan Reynolds. Santana rubs circles in Brittany’s back and the blonde hums contentedly.

The blonde pushes her herself up, lifting her head off of Santana’s lap. Santana’s wearing her glasses and Brittany thinks she looks that special combination of super adorable and sexy as hell.

“What?” Santana asks, noticing a glint in her wife’s eye.

“Do you wanna make out?”

She asks it as casually as one would ask someone if they wanted pizza for dinner.

Santana chuckles. “Totally.”

Santana removes her glasses and places them on the coffee table to avoid them getting crushed and pulls Brittany down for a kiss. Brittany’s far too eager to return it and her hands move down south to cop a feel of Santana’s ass through her shorts as the brunette grasps the back of Brittany’s neck to deepen the kiss.

Sometimes it feels like they’re still a couple of horny teenagers.

They’re like that for a while. They remain on the couch, trading kisses as hands and lips roam slowly, like they have all the time in the world.

A phone rings.

Santana whines against the crook of Brittany’s neck in annoyance.

“Is that yours or mine?”

Brittany cranes her neck over to look at the coffee table.

“Mine,” she reaches for the device to see who is interrupting her sweet sweet lady kisses. “It’s Quinn.”

“Call her back, tomorrow.”

Brittany hits the decline button, tosses her phone back on to the table. It made a sound that she’d be more concerned with if she didn’t have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

Speaking of which, Santana’s lips are currently pressed against her neck. Brittany’s fingers graze against her bare hipbone, causing Santana to gasp when she hears another ring.

The pair look over and it’s Santana’s phone this time. Brittany leans over again and retrieves the phone.

“It’s Quinn, again.”

Santana huffs in frustration.

“You should pick it up. It might be urgent if she called us both.”

Santana takes the phone from Brittany and accepts the call, as Brittany starts manoeuvring off her wife and back onto the couch.

“What do you want, Fabray?”

“Good evening to you too, Santana,” she hears Quinn greet on the other line.

“Why are you bothering me and Britts on date night?” she cuts straight to the point.

“Look, sorry if I’m interrupting your sexual escapades-’

“You are.”

“But I’ve turned the house upside down trying to find Lucas’ dinosaur. He can’t sleep without it.”

“And?”

“I can’t find it anywhere, but I think he brought it to your place when the kids had their playdate today. Can you check if he left it there? It’s a little red t-rex.”

Santana sighed and relented. She empathized with Quinn and she did love Lucas. She also knew Mike was out of town on business till tomorrow, so the little boy probably really did need his dinosaur.

“I’ll check. If it’s here, one of us will come by and drop it off.”

“Thanks, S. Call me if you find it.”

Santana ended the call and looked back up at Brittany.

“How is it that we’ve been out of high school forever and Quinn is still cock-blocking me?”

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

The kids had been playing in Sophia’s room earlier in the day, so Santana tip-toes in, making sure not to wake her daughter and trying not to stub her toe on anything.

The star-shaped night light gave her enough vision to look for the lost dinosaur. Most of the toys were in a little toy chest next to the six and a half foot tall, Mr Snuggles. Santana didn’t have to rummage far to find the little red dinosaur, mixed in amongst the other playthings.

Lucas must have left it there during their playdate this afternoon.

Having finished her mission, Santana proceeded to head back out, before noticing Snoopy on the floor next to the bed. She picked up the lost white dog and carefully tucked it in next to Sophia, who was hugging her unicorn, her dolphin also within arms reach.

“Sleep tight, baby girl,” she whispered, placing a light kiss on the little girl’s head.

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

Santana texted Quinn a quick update, advising her friend that she’d found the lost dinosaur and Brittany was headed over to drop it off now.

“Tell her this totally makes us even for the lost binky incident,” Santana said.

Brittany chuckled as she patted down her pockets to make sure she had the car keys, when Santana tossed her a sweatshirt.

“It’s chilly outside.”

Brittany unwrapped the balled up item of clothing to find it was Santana’s NYU sweatshirt. Really, it was only fair at this point, given that Santana had stolen her MIT sweatshirt back when they were on tour with Mercedes and basically claimed it as hers ever since.

“I won’t be long.”

Santana gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll be waiting.”

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

Santana takes the time Brittany’s gone to wash up the glasses and tidy the living room. There’s not much, so she finds herself back in front of the TV when she hears footsteps.

“Mama.”

She finds her son, rubbing his eyes, having wandered out into the living room in his PJs.

“Ollie, baby, it’s past your bedtime,” she approaches him and crouches down to meet him at eye-level. “Are you ok?”

“I woke up,” he says. “Can’t go back to sleep.”

“Aww, sweetheart,” she stands up and gestures back to the hallway. “Come on, I’ll tuck you back in.”

The two of them return to his bedroom, the moon-shaped night light still on over the side of his bed. Santana lifts the covers and helps him get back into bed, where he hugs the little yellow duck he’s had since he was a baby. It takes her a moment, she can barely believe he’s six years old already.

“Comfy?” she asks, as she finishes tucking him in, fluffing the pillow and placing a kiss on his forehead.

He nods. “Mama?”

“Yes, Ollie?”

“Can you read me a story?”

“Sure,” she smiles. “Which one do you want?”

He thinks for a moment. “Cat in the Hat.”

Santana moves over to his bookshelf. It doesn’t take her long to find the book in question, sitting amongst his little collection of Dr Seuss books. They’re his favorite, he likes the rhyming. She then makes herself comfortable on the bed, with only the nightlight and the light coming in from the hallway to let her see. Ollie rolls onto his side, so he can face his mother while she reads to him.

Santana turns the first page.

“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said, ‘how I wish we had something to do!’”

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

Quinn and Mike only lived a fifteen minute drive away, so Brittany managed to get there with no problems (ok she may have grazed the neighbour’s mailbox, but that was nothing).

She rang the doorbell to be greeted by a slightly frazzled looking Quinn.

“Looking for someone?” she asked, holding up the dinosaur.

“Oh thank God, I could kiss you,” Quinn said, letting out a huge sigh of relief, taking the toy from her.

“No thanks, Santana’s waiting for me to get home.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “Well, thanks anyway. He couldn’t sleep without it.”

Brittany looks down, to find a small boy with dark hair and hazel-green eyes materialize next to Quinn.

"Hey, buddy," she grins at him.

“Look who Aunt Brittany found,” Quinn turns to him, holding out the little red dinosaur.

“Rexy!” he grins and hugs the dinosaur tight. He then turns to the woman standing outside the doorway, still clutching his dinosaur, tightly. “Thank you, Aunt Britt.”

Brittany can’t help smile - even if it did interrupt her date night - and affectionately ruffles his hair. “You’re welcome, Lucas. Make sure you don’t forget Rexy next time, okay? Mr Snuggles might decide he wants to adopt him.”

Lucas giggles a little and nods. “Promise.”

“Alright, sweetie, we need to get you back in bed,” Quinn turns to her son. “Say good night, I’ll be in to tuck you in in a minute.”

“Good night, Aunt Britt.”

“Good night, Lucas,” she says, before he wanders off to bed.

“Thanks for bringing it back,” Quinn says standing back up. “ He cried earlier when we couldn’t find Rexy. I think he’s really been missing Mike the last few days.”

“I guess he’s not the only one,” she remarked at her friend’s tone.

Quinn sighed. “Yeah, you could say so.”

“He’ll be home tomorrow, Q. Besides, we try to alternate so the next trip is going to be me.”

“Does that mean I should expect frantic calls from Santana to interrupt my evenings, then?”

Brittany chuckles. “Don’t be surprised. Anyway, she told me to tell you that this officially makes us even for the lost binky incident.”

“Fine, we’ll call it even,” Quinn rolls her eyes, with a laugh. “I’d ask if you wanted to come sit for a while, but I know who’s waiting for you at home.”

“Good call,” Brittany winks, heading back to her car.

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

When Brittany got home, she expected to find Santana waiting for her in bed or perhaps in the living room with another glass of wine.

Instead, she finds both rooms empty, but is guided when she sees the door to Ollie’s room is ajar and peaks in to have a look.

Santana’s sleeping in Ollie’s bed. She’s still in a semi-seated position, with her back against the headboard, still wearing her glasses, Cat in the Hat half open on her lap, but her eyes are closed. One of her arms is wrapped around Ollie, who is fast asleep, clutching his ducky.

The sight of it makes Brittany’s heart melt. It reminds her of the times she’d come home and find Santana asleep with a baby resting on her chest when their kids were infants.

She tiptoes into the room and gently wakes Santana with a kiss on the cheek and a gentle shake.

“Santana, babe,” she whispers.

“Hmmm?” Santana stirs, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and taking in her surroundings and her wife. “You’re back.”

“I am.”

“I must’ve dozed off reading to him.”

“You’re adorable.”

“Adorable wasn’t really what I was going for on date night.”

Brittany wiggles her eyebrows. “Well, you wanna continue what you were going for? Night’s still young.”

Santana grins as she carefully gets out of bed, making sure Ollie doesn’t wake up and placing the book on top of his shelf. She then takes Brittany’s hand as they make their way to their own bedroom.

“Definitely.”

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

Santana’s running her hand under Brittany’s shirt, her fingers grazing past her ribcage, as Brittany leaves kisses on the underside of Santana’s jawline.

“Mmmm, baby,” Brittany lets out a hushed moan, when they both hear a crashing sound from outside and both look up in alarm.

When they hear an echoey meow, Santana is significantly less alarmed and more annoyed, when Brittany sits up and the brunette is forced to move off her wife so that she can get out of bed to investigate.

Santana flops back onto the bed, clearly displeased and stares at the ceiling.

“I hate that cat.”

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

Brittany examines her surroundings and enters the kitchen to find a certain fat cat’s large behind poking out from the kitchen trash can and helps lift him out.

“There’s no tuna in there Tubbs, you should be careful,” she tells the cat, examining him to make sure he’s not been hurt. “You can’t just go sticking your nose into everything. It's dangerous. Besides, it’s date night. Your moms need their lady kisses.”

Tubbs, unharmed, pays little attention to this and waddles off, swishing his tail, while Brittany puts the few pieces of trash that came out during Tubbs’ exploration back in the bin. As she washes her hands in the kitchen sink, she hears a voice sniff.

“Mommy?”

Brittany looks down and finds her three year old daughter, clutching her unicorn and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Soph, what’s wrong, sweetie?” Brittany asks, quickly scooping up the little girl into her arms.

“I had a bad dream,” she whispers into her mom’s ear, not letting go of the unicorn as she wraps her arms around her mother’s neck.

“Oh, sweetie,” Brittany pulls her closer and rubs her back. “It’s ok.”

“Can I sleep with you?”

“Of course, baby girl,” she says, wiping a few tears tracks on her daughter’s face, with her thumb.

Brittany gives Sophia a cup of water to drink before they go to bed. The little girl giggles a little because it’s from her favorite cup, the one with a unicorn holding a soccer ball.

“Someone had a bad dream,” Brittany informs Santana, Sophia still in her arms as they enter through the doorway to the master bedroom.

“Oh no,” Santana pulls back to covers. “Come ‘ere, Princess,” she reaches out her arms as Brittany puts their daughter down on their bed and Sophia scrambles up into the bed to give her mama a hug.

“Do you remember what it was about?” Santana asks, as Brittany climbs back onto her side of the bed.

“No,” Sophia shakes her head and sniffs. “But it was scary.”

“It’s ok, baby girl. You’re safe here,” Brittany kisses Sophia’s cheek, as Santana pulls up the covers so that she’s nestled between her moms.

“All good?”

Sophia nods.

“Try to get some sleep," Santana rubs her back. " Mommy and I are right here.”

They both watch over Sophia as the little girl closes her eyes and seems to have little trouble falling back asleep.

Santana and Brittany share small smiles, though both knowing that date night is definitely over.

“Mike and Quinn are totally babysitting next Friday,” Brittany whispers.

#brittana #brittana fanfic #santana lopez #brittany pierce

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jovialyouthmusic · 4 years ago

Text

Silver Service

The Court visits the Cormery Isles without Lady Olivia. Lucretia makes plans and Anton makes an unpleasant discovery.

Word Count 2964

A/N Apologies for the delay in posting. the chapter is short, but a lot happens. Warning - harm to a major character.

19 We move closer...

‘Excuse me your Grace’ James knocked on the door of Liam’s bedroom, where he was packing for the trip to Cormery.

‘What is it, James?’ He asked, and he entered, standing by the door in the stoic posture of the King’s Guard.

‘I thought you’d like to know Lady Olivia is returning from her meeting with Lucretia, Sir.’

‘Already? I thought she’d be longer. Do we know what entrance she’ll be using? I’d like to meet her straight away’ James pressed a finger to his earpiece, listening intently

‘Follow me sir’ he replied ‘I’ll take you there, her route is being monitored’

Liam was just in time to greet Olivia as she swept in the staff entrance at speed, but she wouldn’t stop. He ran to keep up with her as she made her way to her suite. She refused to speak until she got there, when she seized the nearest object – a heavy vase full of flowers. She picked it up and held it up to hurl it down on the ground, but Liam stopped her, catching hold of her hands and helping her to put it down safely. She pulled away from him abruptly

‘That old bitch’ she stormed ‘She knows’ She went to the desk and swept the papers off the desk. Liam followed her and caught at her wrists before she did any more damage.

‘Knows what, Livvy?’ he asked urgently ‘What does Lucretia know?’ Olivia’s eyes were full of fire and she glared at him for a moment before letting her arms go limp and dropping her head.

‘She knows I’m pregnant’ she said quietly ‘She worked it out, the witch’

‘Calm down Livvy. We can handle this’ Liam said soothingly ‘Take a deep breath’

‘How are we going to keep this quiet?’ She said ‘It’s too soon’

‘It’s okay, she’s under house arrest’ Liam reminded her ‘She has no means of contacting anyone outside the house, it will be fine’ He let her go, and she went over to lean on the desk.

‘We have to up our profile’ she said ‘I hate the idea of going to Cormery, but perhaps I should be seen with you’

‘I think we’re doing alright’ said Liam ‘I’ll make sure you’re mentioned in the press releases. I’ll get Sophia to work on a positive spin on your absence. You need to go home to recharge your batteries. If all goes well, we’ll have found a way to neutralise Anton’s claims, and then we can announce our intentions.’

‘And if he succeeds?’ Olivia said shortly

‘Then we go into exile. I’ll stay with you Livvy, whatever happens’

------

‘This has to be the dullest leg of the tour so far’ murmured Sophia to Riley ‘Standing around watching nobles hit a ball around a golf course isn’t my idea of fun’

‘Quiet please’ came the request from the referee. Yet another ball was hit, sailing off down the green, and the hushed crowd made appreciative noises. There was a low murmur as everyone moved off to the next vantage point, and the three of them trailed at the back of the crowd.

‘Tell me about it’ said Riley ‘Let’s go back to the clubhouse’ Drake snorted in reply ‘What?’ she said ‘At least they have a bar there’

‘You really think they’ll let riff raff like us in? he laughed drily ‘Dream on’ Riley sighed

‘Surely they’ll let us in, we’re official guests’

‘You can try’ grunted Drake ‘Even if they do, the prices are sky high’

‘In any case I think I’d rather drink from a hip flask in Bas’s SUV than traipse round after these blowhards’ she replied.

‘We can’t just cut out’ Sophia pointed out ‘If the press sees us…’

‘Excuse me, we’re not exactly newsworthy guests, all the attention is on the players, and the outfits all the noble ladies are wearing’ Drake pointed out.

‘I’ll ask Bas’ Sophia offered ‘He’ll have some sort of get out’ She tapped away on her phone.

This is dull as ditchwater. How can we bail out?

We?

Me, Riley, Drake

Grin and bear it

Will bribery work?

Don’t distract me

I’ll wear stockings for a week

Wicked woman

You love it

Leave it with me

‘What does Bas say?’ Riley hissed as they reached the hole

‘He’ll bail us out somehow’ At that moment, one of the guards tapped Sophia on the shoulder

‘Miss Turner, there’s an urgent message for you, come with me. You might want some company, I think it’s bad news’

‘Oh’ Sophia said, hand flying to her mouth ‘Riley had better come then’ She turned to Riley and grabbed at her hand. Drake looked alarmed

‘I’d better go with you’ he said ‘For support’ The three of them hurried away, a few of the audience casting a gaze over them as they went. Once they were out of sight of the crowd, the guard spoke.

‘Just for the record, Captain Lykel has asked me to escort you to the staff bar and has requested that you stay there until he contacts you at the end of the tournament. On no account are you to leave except for – and I quote – a life threatening emergency’

‘Anyone would think we were with Maxwell’ muttered Drake.

‘There’s a limited tab for you at the bar, and a buffet’ the guard told Sophia as they approached the clubhouse. ‘Two drinks each, and after that you pay for them yourself. Please be moderate with your quota’ He pressed his earpiece and nodded ‘The Captain says no expensive single malts or bottles of champagne. By the glass only’

Sophia crooked an eyebrow and glanced at Drake. He made a sour face as they reached the building, and the guard lead them to the unimposing bar reserved for staff at the club. A couple of chauffeurs and other aides sat at the tables set out, so Sophia chose somewhere to sit while Drake went to order. He had a whisky, and Sophia and Riley ordered white wine. The barman indicated a buffet table at the side of the room, and as soon as Drake had taken the drinks to the girls he took a plate and started to heap it up.

‘Steady on Drake, leave some for the Guard’ Riley scolded

‘Come on, this is proper food’ Drake complained ‘not the fiddly crab bruschetta and fishy crackers the nobles get’

‘Well I’m not really hungry’ Sophia declared ‘Knock yourself out’

‘Don’t worry Sir, we’ve actually got plenty to go round’ the barman assured him ‘We know the nobles just pick at the food, and the club manager usually adjusts the budget so that most of the allowance is for staff – there’s far more of them than there are nobles anyway. Just go easy on the sauce – a lot of staff don’t drink on duty, so that budget’s limited’ Drake nodded in appreciation

‘Thanks man’ He grinned, and reached into his back pocket, producing a hip flask ‘I always carry this on stuffy noble occasions anyway’

‘So what are your quarters like?’ Sophia asked. She and Bastien had been allocated the best of the staff quarters, and that wasn’t saying much. Lord Delacouer obviously thought luxuries like en suite facilities wasted on mere lackeys, and they had to share a bathroom with Lewis. Altogether, going to the Cormery Isles was like taking a step back a few decades in time. Riley made a face that told Sophia all she needed to know.

‘I think we picked the short straw’ she said ‘We asked for a double room and we got one – or rather, two beds pushed together and just enough room to walk round them. From what Drake tells me, our host doesn’t think much of commoners, so he really scraped the bottom of the barrel for us.’

‘I’m looking forward to moving on to Lythikos’ Sophia said ‘Of course I’ve been there before, but I think Olivia will be more accommodating than our last visit’

‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ said Drake darkly.

‘I’m just glad we won’t be seeing Lucretia’ Riley said with a shudder, obviously remembering the time Anton had kidnapped them and taken them to Lucretia’s stronghold.

‘I wonder what the old bitch is doing now’ Drake said ‘At least she’s somewhere she can’t do any harm’

-------

‘Good afternoon, your Grace’ Lucretia’s lawyer greeted the old woman as she entered her study. The Duchess sat at her desk, writing. She spoke without looking up.

‘I have some information that concerns both claimants to the crown, and I need your advice, Miss Bouvoir’ she said.

‘I’ll do what I can, your Grace’ the younger woman said smoothly, sitting even though she hadn’t been invited to. Lucretia looked up at last, her piercing gaze making her shift uncomfortably.

‘It have a strong conviction that my niece is pregnant’ she said ‘and as she has refused to meet her betrothed, I can only presume that the father of the child is none other than King Liam’

‘That’s an extremely controversial claim, your Grace’ the young lawyer said in shock. Lucretia sniffed.

‘It certainly is, and I’d like you to look into the implications should it be found to be true’

‘It depends whose claim is found to be true of course. If Anton’s claim is proved, Lady Olivia would be guilty of adultery and possible treason.’

‘Surely adultery is not relevant in today’s society’

‘Not where it involves a Royal heir, your Grace. If King Liam’s case is proved, it is possible that Lady Olivia’s child might be taken into Royal custody as heir to the Crown, but as she is a Nevrakis and has a claim to the throne should either Anton or Liam be incapacitated, it makes the whole matter even more complicated. The legalities of all three cases could be argued for years’

‘What would happen to the child if the King were to legitimately marry another woman, who would presumably be crowned Queen, and have another child?’

‘Again your Grace, the matter would be complicated, and more time would be spent arguing which child was the legitimate heir, but a child with both Nevrakis and Rys blood would have a very strong claim.’

‘Humour me please, Miss Bouvior. What if the child were found to be Lord Severus’s?’

‘I – still can’t say for certain. It would have to be decided in a court of Law’ Lucretia rolled her eyes upward and sighed heavily. She folded the paper she had been writing on and placed it in an envelope, writing a name on it with a flourish.

‘Thankyou Miss Bouvoir. I’d be obliged if you would hand this to my housekeeper in person’

‘You know I have to show any communications to the Guard to be vetted, your Grace.’

‘Of course, they’ll only find instructions on how she should continue to run my estate. I still have property that needs to be managed. It’s not sealed’

‘Very well your Grace, I’ll hand it over as soon as possible’

‘You may be gone a day or so to deliver it. I’d like you to return to me with her inevitable reply. Again, I’m sure the Guard will find nothing of concern. You may go’ Miss Bouvoir rose, reached over the desk to take the letter, and left the room to go and report to the guard at the door of the cottage.

------

‘So Lady Olivia declined the invitation to my event’ Neville Delacoeur sniffed haughtily ‘I’ve a mind to decline her invitation to Lythikos’ The golfing event over, all the guests milled around in the clubhouse lounge, picking at the lavish buffet and sipping champagne. He stood looking out over the greens, and Madeleine stood next to him.

‘I wouldn’t do that’ she said drily ‘I need all the help I can get exposing her as the King’s mistress’ Neville scowled

‘I presume if you expose her, you get closer to being Queen yourself’

‘And I’d be able to reward those who aid me’ she smiled

‘Lord Delacouer’ Madeleine turned smoothly at the King’s voice ‘Lady Madeleine’ he gave them both a little bow. Neville almost bent himself double with his own return bow, but Madeleine barely bobbed. ‘The greens are impressive, Neville – I hope you’ve managed to raise an acceptable amount for the Library in the capital’ The young Duke almost fell over himself bowing again to hear the King using his first name.

‘My secretary is calculating the figures right now, Your Majesty’

‘Please Neville, call me Liam. I well recall attending birthday parties in the Isles when we were younger, and I recollect that you visited the Palace on a few such occasions too. We’ve known each other a long time’

‘Indeed your – Liam’ he said obsequiously ‘I’m honoured that you remember’

‘I hope Lady Olivia is managing with the arrangements for the events in her home Duchy’ Madeleine cut in.

‘Yes, such a pity she couldn’t come’ Neville added ‘I had the suite next to yours prepared, just as you asked.’

‘Olivia likes things done properly’ Liam replied ‘I’m sure her staff are more than capable of taking care of things very well, but she feels personally responsible for everyone’s enjoyment of her events’

‘Admirable’ Madeleine said ‘As am I. It distressed me deeply that she demanded to move rooms at Karlingford’

‘I’m afraid that was rather my fault’ Liam replied ‘Something came up and I needed to be able to call on her at a moment’s notice. Her original suite was at the other end of the property’

‘Olivia’s a strong healthy woman’ Madeleine remarked ‘Surely she could have walked…’

‘Your Majesty!’ Neville’s father greeted Liam, leaning heavily on his cane. He was rarely seen at court and travelled even less frequently, relying on his son to take his place at official meetings. ‘I hope you enjoyed the greens. How unfortunate that Landon beat you by a whisker’ Liam turned to the older man.

‘Superb greens your grace’ he smiled ‘and the better man won – my golf skills were rather rusty’

‘You should come more often my boy, get some practice in. It’s a pleasure and an honour to have you here’

‘I fear matters of State may take up a lot more of my time now, your grace, but I’ll bear it in mind.’ He looked across the room ‘if you’ll excuse me, I must go and talk to Landon, eat a little humble pie’ He bowed to the group and turned away.

-------

Anton blinked himself awake in the enormous four poster bed. He had had strange dreams, one of which involved Olivia coming to visit him in the night, sitting on the edge of his bed. She refused to speak to him, and when he went to touch her, she melted away. He had been keeping up to date with the Charity tour, and knew that the Court had left Cormery and was making its way over the next day or so to Lythikos.

There was an envelope on the dressing table. It had not been there when he went to bed. He got out of bed, pulling on his dressing gown and going across to pick it up. The envelope was blank. He opened it, not noticing a faint cloud of dust that flew up into the air from the piece of paper inside. He opened it out, and discovered a single sentence written on the sheet.

Your wife is pregnant with the King’s child. Your attempt at the throne is futile.

His face changed as rage gripped him, but then he realised that his throat felt odd. It started as a tickle, and turned to a burning sensation. He looked at the piece of paper, only now noticing a slight line of white dust in the crease. He dropped it immediately and jumped away, screaming as an acrid smell drifted up to his nostrils. He ran to the door and wrenched it open, shouting out down the hall.

‘Help me – help! Poison! I’m being poisoned’ He clutched at his throat at the burning increased, and before the guard on duty could reach him, he had fallen to the floor, gasping for air.

------

‘How the hell did this happen?’ Bastien stormed. The King and the King’s Guard had returned to the Palace, now declared safe, and was stopping off in order to pack for Lythikos. Parker was accounting for the disaster at the safe house where Anton had been kept.

‘I don’t know, Sir’ Parker said, rigid with shame and dismay ‘We had the manor locked down tight. Everyone was vetted and observed.’

‘Let’s go over the facts again’ Bastien leaned back in his seat, steepling his fingers together. Lewis sat beside him, bleary from being roused from his sleep after a night shift.

‘Very well, Sir. At eight thirty today, Anton came out of his room in some distress shouting out that he’d been poisoned. He collapsed with severe swelling to his throat, and lost consciousness due to his airway being compromised. It was around five minutes before he received medical attention from one of our first aiders, who managed to establish an airway of sorts. The emergency services were called and they sent a helicopter within half an hour. He was airlifted to the hospital in the capital and remains on ventilation and is unconscious.’ He took a breath as Bastien looked at him intently

‘Go on, Parker’

‘On examining the room, a blank envelope was discovered on the floor along with a single sheet of paper. There was evidence of some powder inside which has been sent to our labs for examination.’ He paused ‘There’s something else, Sir’

‘Spit it out, man’

‘The paper had the crest of House Nevrakis printed at the top’

#silver service #sophia x bastien #drake x riley #liam x olivia #protect and serve #anton severus #lucretia nevrakis

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