#THE OUTFIT LOOKS WEIRD ON BUDDY (LOVINGLY)

[iz-nomerants]

Now it will be forever preserved.

MAGICAL BOYS!

[buckys-forgotten-plum]

A Witchy Kinda Love

Pairing: Witch!Bucky x Witch!Reader (Magic!AU)

Prompt: The world you lived in was known to be full of magic and strange, otherworldly things... But you knew true love was just an old witch's tale even if your familiar insisted otherwise...

Warnings: swearing, fluff, Bucky in cute outfits, way too much italicization, and also this thing is long as fuck. (10,410 words...oopsies)

A/N: Okay this got wayyyy outta hand but who the fuck cares? not me. I would love to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to @buckybarney​ who helped a lot in giving me the confidence and drive to finish this fic as well as @smutsonian​ who created this dope as mood board and also helped me edit a lil bit. You guys make me so happy and I love and appreciate you both so much<3

✸ ✴ ✦ 

✸ ✴ ✦ 

“Calcifer will you please come help me with this?” your exasperated voice could be heard from the balcony of your studio apartment as you struggled to balance the hoard of glass bottles in your arms. 

Not a moment later, a small fox came trotting onto the (very overgrown) terrace, “Ya know I have things to do too. I’m not your butler,” 

You scoffed at your familiar's grumbled complaint before handing him a couple bottles to hold in his mouth and wrap his tail around, “I know you’re not my butler Cal. But I got you that essence of toad the other day so the least you could do is help me organize my potion materials for a bit.” 

The fox let out a low growl and walked back into your small apartment while you followed behind him, “You know how hard it is for me to form opposable thumbs lady? It’s gonna take a lot more than essence of toad for me to comply,” 

You glared playfully at the fox before sighing and rolling your eyes, knowing exactly what the sly creature was trying to get you to do, “Calcifer if you want pheasant for dinner just ask,” 

There was no response, just the quiet clinking of bottles rolling to the floor as you and your partner began to sort through everything. You really need to start organizing your stuff better. Last week you mixed up your newt toes with skinks and almost blew up your home, so it’s safe to say that your clutter has hit a breaking point. You left Calcifer to sit on your frameless bed as he sorted your bottles to go back out onto your small terrace, breathing in the scent of all of your plants that had happily covered every inch they possibly could. You figured it was as good a time as any to harvest all the herbs you’d need for the month and bottle them up for safe keeping. Quietly humming to yourself, you went around plucking the healthiest looking leaves, sprigs, and sprouts you could find, setting each pile onto the antique writers desk you had put out there as a space for your potion making. 

“Hey Calcifer do you know where I put my Ever-Writing Quill?” You question, brows furrowing as you dig through the drawers of your desk. 

“You don’t remember? You sat on it last week and snapped it in half!” The fox’s response was followed by a string of cackles and snorts as he laughed to himself about your misfortune. 

You let out a loud groan of frustration, tilting your head to the sky and stomping your foot in a small childish fit. “Why didn’t you put it on my shopping list?” You ask, walking back inside to glare at the creature comfortably sitting on your bed. 

Calcifer smiled widely, his pointy teeth fully on show in a sly grin, “oopsies, my bad!” he raised what would be his paws but are now little hands due to his helpful transfiguration powers, and held them in an innocent shrug. 

You squint your eyes at the reynard but hold your tongue, shoving your feet into a pair of leather boots. “Come on, you’re coming with me to the market so I can get a new quill,” 

It didn’t take too long before you had gathered everything you needed, making sure to grab your sweater as the weather hadn’t gotten much warmer in the past months and you absolutely hated to be cold. It only took a stern glare and a threat to have salad for dinner to convince Calcifer to go with you. Though you didn’t miss the petty and painful nip to your calf as you walked out of your door and into the dank hallway of your apartment building. 

✸ ✴ ✦ 

The sky was colored a dark grey with intimidating clouds, blocking out any chance of sun or warmth as you walked down the streets of your small town. You passed by cute little shops and a restaurant or two as you made your way to the market. Your boots stomped loudly on the cobblestone walkway, echoed by the light clicking of Calcifier’s nails while he trotted beside you. 

Your town didn’t have many witches, but the non-magic residents were still fully supportive of you and all the other witches and warlocks that resided in the small rainy town of Adelaide. You had lived there for years and not once had you come in contact with what your community called “Salamers”, bigoted people who had hate filled vendettas against your kind. Many of your friends who had lived in bigger cities had told you about their horror stories involving bigoted people who had cursed (pun intended) and swore at them. Your friend Peter even told you about a man who had spit on him after finding out he was a witch. 

The thoughts of such hateful actions caused a crease in your brow to form and it didn’t leave until you were at the small stone entrance to Wanda’s Magickal Menagerie, the only entrance to the market for miles. It was one of your favourite things about the magical world. The outside looked like just another building with pretty stone walls and a worn wooden sign displaying the name, but to anyone with a high enough magical presence, it was an entrance to the biggest market in the wiccan world. Hundreds of vendors were beyond that door, hidden away to a different space and time by a carefully constructed spell performed by the most powerful witches in existence. 

You couldn’t help the excited pulse of your heart as you opened the door and stepped into what seemed like an entirely different universe. The hustle and bustle of busy shoppers instantly clouded your vision and ears. The air was warm and lighting low in the crowded alleyway that led to the entrance and exit of the marketplace. You took only a moment to get used to the different surroundings before setting off on your way to the real Wanda’s Magickal Menagerie. 

It only took a few steps before you heard the loud yip of pain from your familiar, instantly making you whip around to see what happened, “I hate it here, Y/n! Everyone steps on my tail, it smells weird, It’s dark, everything is all muted because apparently witches only like the color red and I’m colorblind-” 

“Alright ya baby c’mere,” you interrupted Cal’s whining, bending down and allowing him to jump up and wrap around your shoulders. 

“People have no respect for familiars, it’s so uncool,” he grumbled into your ear, resting his snout on the ridge of your shoulder. 

“I know, buddy. But you know how much I hate going out alone. I really appreciate you coming with me. When we’re done here we can go to the butcher and you can pick out what bird you want for tonight,” Your hand came up to softly scratch your friend behind his ear, soothing his nerves and continuing on your way to your final destination. 

It didn’t take long before you arrived at a small wooden hut, a modest sign with an address hanging out front for advertisement to passersby. You quickly approached the shop and pushed the door open, entering the cozy and familiar atmosphere of Wanda’s business. 

“Hey Y/n! Cally, hi baby!” Your entrance was met immediately with happy greetings from your long time friend. 

“Hey Wanda,” you and Calcifer greet in unison, smiles adorning both your faces. 

The red headed witch skipped towards you, wrapping you in a warm hug and lovingly petting the fox around your shoulders. “How’ve you guys been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,” 

“We’ve been trying to declutter the apartment. Y/n’s become such a hoarder.” Calcifer blurts out, letting one of his signature cackles break free. 

“I am not! I’ve just been experimenting with my potions, so I have a lot more ingredients and supplies right now,” You hurriedly explain, not wanting to have your friend think of you as a crazy old witch with a hoarding problem. 

Wanda lets out a quiet giggle at the pair of friends in front of her, finding the relationship between you and your familiar adorable, “What brings you in today? Did you lose your monkey paw again?” 

You playfully roll your eyes at Wanda, “No, I uh... I broke my Ever-Writing Quill,” you admit, trying to fight the warmth that crept up your neck and cheeks. 

Wanda let out a quick burst of laughter before turning around and leading you through the many shelves and tables of her shop, “Come on, I just got a fresh shipment in,”

✸ ✴ ✦ 

“Thanks Wanda! I’ll see you and Vis for brunch on Sunday,” You smile and give your friend a kiss on the cheek goodbye before exiting her shop. 

“Alright Cal, is there anything else you need before we go? Do you want me to get you more fur oil? Are you good on that incense you like?” 

“Yeah I think I’m okay, at this point I just want food,” He grumbled, lifting his head up from your shoulder and sniffing the air. 

You nodded your head in understanding and began the trip back to where you first entered the marketplace. The walkways were absolutely packed; it was nearly impossible to keep from bumping into other shoppers. Calcifer could be heard grumbling profanities every time someone brushed or bumped against him. You couldn’t blame the poor creature, he was naturally anxious and didn’t like strangers, so making trips like these were never too fun for him. You were trying your best to avoid people, but luck was against you and as you were ducking out of the way of one man who looked exactly like Merlin, you ended up running right into someone else. 

You fell right to the floor, Calcifer tumbling from your shoulder and sliding a few feet away due to the force, “Ah! Calcifer? Cal are you okay?” 

“Shit! are you okay? I didn’t see you, I am so sorry,”

Ignoring the stranger above, you frantically look around for your lost friend and spot him a few feet away from you, curling up into a scared orange ball and shoving his snout under his hind leg to hide. You scramble over to him, scooping his small body into your arms and holding onto him tightly, “Oh Calcifer I’m so sorry! I should have never asked you to come with me, I know you hate it here and now look what happened,” 

You couldn’t help the stress induced tears that welled in your eyes as you pet the shaking fox in your arms, “I’m okay, Y/n. Just a little shaken,” His voice was quiet and you knew he wasn’t being completely honest but you knew getting out of the crowded place was more important at that point. 

A tall figure suddenly shadowed over you, making you cower out of instinct and scoot back a few paces, “Hey are you and your fox okay? Really, I didn’t see you. I should have been paying more attention, let me help you up,” A hand comes down offering to lift you from the dirty concrete. 

With one arm tightly holding onto Calcifer, you use your other hand to grab onto the strangers and lift yourself up. “Thanks,” You mumble out quickly, keeping your head down and immediately walking away, your mind completely focused on getting the hell out of these cursed alleyways. 

Once you had fallen out of the exit and back onto the cobblestone streets of Adelaide, you could finally take a deep breath. Leaning up against the cold stone wall near the entrance, you closed your eyes, sucking in the fresh air and gently petting the creature still firmly gripped in your arms. 

A choked cry escapes you suddenly, “I am so sorry Calcifer,” You absolutely hated that you had caused your friend such a terrible experience. He could’ve gotten hurt, someone could’ve stolen him away from you, the street was so crowded you would’ve never found him again! Calcifer would’ve never forgiven you! Might not even forgive you now! Just the thought of it- 

“Alright calm down kid... I’m perfectly fine. Paw hurts a little bit but, really, I’m okay,” the fox in your arms looked up at you, a small smile on his snout as he nuzzled into your hair. 

“Are you sure? I can take you to the vet-” Before you can continue to worry about the injured animal, a deep voice sounds from above you. 

“Uh hey...” 

You quickly wipe the tears from your cheeks and look up, eyes widening in surprise as you stare into steely iris’s that seemed to have a mission on copying the sky that day. “H-hello,” 

As you stared at the burly looking man in front of you, you couldn’t help but side eye his stature. Adorning all black with little glints of silver rings and buckles here and there, a few tiny scars marking his well-structured jaw and cheek bones, and good god those boots must be so heavy and-is that a metal hand peeking out from the long sleeve of his leather jacket?! This guy is too scary to be this attractive...

“I uh... I was the one to bump into you earlier. It’s totally my fault and I really didn’t mean for you to drop your fox like that-it’s just that my familiar took off and I just wasn’t paying attention and it seemed like a pretty bad fall and you were so focused on protecting your pet-” “He’s not a pet,” you spit out quickly, a stern glare etched into your features. 

“R-right, right sorry-I just-I was-I misspoke...” he trailed awkwardly, roughly dragging a hand through brunette hair and grimacing at his own failure to compose a sensible response. 

“Are you a witch?” you mumble out quietly, your glare softening into a more apprehensive, yet curious, stare. 

“Uh yeah, yeah I’m only entry level though. My friend Sam helped me get into the market so I could get a few things but then...ya know” 

You stood silently, not exactly sure of what this weirdo wanted from you. If he thought you were going to apologize he was very mistaken. What if he planned to rob you? To take Calcifer and run? The thought made your grip on the animal even more secure, if that were even possible. 

“Is your arm okay?” Worried eyes gazed down at your arm and the man took a small step forward. 

“What?” You try to flinch away from the soft grasp of his hand around your bicep, but only end up pushing yourself against the wall. 

The man inspected the inflamed scrape that burned a path along your forearm and up to your elbow, “That looks pretty bad doll, do you want some medicine? I think I might have a little with me. Hey Sibi!” 

“Holy shit!” A sharp intake of breath forced its way into your lungs as you saw a giant white wolf bound up to the man. Your breathing sped up, heartbeat following along with it as you gazed upon the giant beast. 

“Do you mind? I gotta get into my bag,” He asked gently, the wolf immediately turning to give him easy access to a large pack that was slung over her back, “Thanks Sibi, can you go find Sam? Tell him I’ll be a bit longer than expected,” The wolf let out a gruff noise of agreement and nodded it’s head before heading back through the magical entrance. 

The man turned back around and walked towards you once more. You didn’t flinch this time when he reached for your arm, careful to make sure you had a good grip on Cal before opening a bottle of light blue gel and tapping some out onto the palm of his hand, “My name is Bucky, by the way,” 

“Okay,” you mumble out awkwardly, your anxious nature getting the best of you and blocking any form of friendly communication to come across while Bucky covers your wound with the gel.

“Her name is Y/n, I’m Calcifer,” You stare down incredulously at the fox, not expecting him to introduce you to this stranger. 

Bucky smiled up at you and the fox, shiny white teeth on display, “Pretty name for a pretty girl,” 

The comment instantly made your face heat up in embarrassment. “Thank y-you...” 

Bucky straightened up after he was done dressing your wound, thankfully taking a step back to give you some space. Why wasn’t he leaving? Why did he care so much about some rando he ran into at the market? Maybe this was just a front to try and rob you...

“Well uh... I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed real spooked back there and I could tell you hurt your arm so I just wanted to check up on ya,” Bucky’s eyes shined brightly as he explained himself. A pink tint colored his cheeks and neck as he sheepishly stared down at the ground. 

His shy nature made your lips tilt into a small smile of your own and you couldn’t help thinking about how cute he looked like that, “thank you, that’s very kind,” you mumbled out.

There was a beat of silence as you and Bucky avoided each other's eye contact before a familiar patronizing voice interrupted, “Hey kid if you’re done flirtin’ with this guy can we go home? I’m starvin’ right now,” 

“Calcifer!” you scold immediately, the familiar burn of pure embarrassment instantly appearing across your face. 

Bucky, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by the fox’s comment and burst out into a fit of deep chuckles, running his metal hand through the long tresses of rich brown hair. 

“Your fox is cute,” 

The comment made Calcifer let out a gruff murmur of disagreement, making you join Bucky in his laughter, “Yeah, I’m really happy he chose to stay with me. Um... I should probably go. Cal hasn’t eaten since breakfast and I still need to go to the butcher-” “There’s a butcher in this town?” The pure curiosity on Bucky’s face made your smile grow that much more as he finally took in his surroundings. 

“Yeah, it’s about two blocks down from here, it’s Calcifer's favorite place,” You say, backing up a few steps to signal your exit. 

“A-alright! well, uh it was nice meeting you! Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?” The male witch fumbles with his words as he realizes the conversation is ending. 

“Sure, maybe,” you nod in agreement, fully turning around and beginning the walk towards your destination. 

As you walked away you couldn’t help but let the small smile on your face grow. What a dork he was... Almost as awkward as you were, the way he kept messing with his hair- ”He’s still lookin’ at ya... And what was all that stuff you were thinking about getting robbed? Why were you so fixated on gettin’ robbed?” 

“Calcifer for christ’s sake!” Your voice was filled with exasperation, rolling your eyes at the familiar's comments and ignoring the fact that the cute witch was still watching you walk away.

“Are you seriously thinking about how him staring at you is cute? Humans are so weird...” 

“Stop reading my thoughts you creep!” 

✸ ✴ ✦ 

A groan echoed throughout your apartment as a streak of the bright morning sun landed on your eyes and woke you from your slumber. Clapping a hand down onto your eyes to block the light, you roughly slide it down in hopes of wiping the fatigue that plagued you. Slowly but surely, you untangled yourself from your sheets, stretching your waking limbs and yawning with an over dramatic sound. You blindly felt around for your phone that was lying on the floor directly by your mattress. Once you located the small device, you tapped it on and read the time. 10:47 am, Sunday...Fantastic. 

You laid on your mattress for a bit, unaware of anything but your tired bones. The only reason you didn’t fall back asleep right then and there was the light buzz that came from your phone. You lazily picked it back up and stared at the too bright screen, taking a moment to comprehend the text that popped up on your home screen. 

Wanda Maxi: Hey! Are you on your way?

What? On my way...

“OH FUCK” You bolt out of bed, slipping on part of your sheet that was draped onto your wooden flooring and almost face planting. 

“Calcifer wake up we gotta have brunch with Wanda and Vis!” you scream out to nothing specific, unaware of where your familiar was. 

As quickly as possible, you gathered an outfit, shoved a toothbrush into your mouth to brush it a little too harshly, got your hair ready, and threw your clothes on. It’s not until you’re almost done getting ready before you see the bright fox bolt in from the balcony, “How could you forget about brunch? This happens every week for fucks sake!” 

“This isn’t entirely my fault! You knew about it too!” you argue while lathering deodorant onto your underarms, already sweating from the stress of the situation. 

“I’m a fox! You think I keep alarms?” he yells back at you, not bothering to stop and look at you as he gathers your things while you hurriedly tried to shove your foot into a shoe. 

Once your shoes were on and Calcifer had given you everything you’d need, you ran to your door and swung it open, “You wanna run with me or do you want me to carry you?” 

“Oh please you can barely run by yourself. You couldn’t handle the weight,” Calcifer scoffs, running between your legs and out of the apartment. 

You immediately lock your door and run after him, “So rude...” you huff to yourself and catch up to the fox. 

✸ ✴ ✦

It only took you about five minutes to sprint across town and make it to the small clay cottage that your friends had lived in for years now. The mossy dark brown Terracotta roof and grey wooden door that had ivy vining in and out of it gave a lovely natural look to the house and you couldn’t help but admire the wonderful home the couple had built. 

Calcifer’s quiet pants mixed with your wheezing as you stumbled up to the door and knocked loudly to signal your arrival. The door swung open, revealing a smirking Wanda. 

“You woke up late again didn’t you?” 

Still catching your breath, you nodded and followed her into her home. Wanda looked gorgeous, as always, wearing a light and flowing yellow sundress with matching shoes and a pretty white ribbon that was tied into her hair. 

“I’m so sorry Wanda, neither of us set an alarm,” you breathed out, following her towards the kitchen. 

“It’s okay sweetie, we didn’t have to wait or anything, all of us were busy talking about the latest man who was admitted into the Grand Council,” she smiled back at you, warm eyes shining from the sunlight that was coming through the glass doors that led to their garden. 

You tilt your head in confusion when you realize her phrasing, “All of us?” 

Wanda gently put a fist to her temple, her face twisting into a slight grimace, “I’m sorry sweetie I completely forgot to mention I invited some friends today! Don’t worry, they’re both great and I’m sure you’ll get along just fine,” 

You nod your head hesitantly, not entirely believing your friend. You wondered who she had invited... Many times over Wanda and Vision have told stories about their old friends who they had met throughout their lives. From your understanding, they had built a wonderful family together and had helped and cared for each other for years so you had no doubt they would be friendly. 

Before you had time to voice whatever worries you had, you were interrupted by the fall of multiple pairs of footsteps. It didn’t take long for three men to walk into the room, all talking enthusiastically over each other. You automatically recognized the slim man walking over to Wanda as Vision, his bright eyes greeting you as he wrapped his arms around Wanda’s slim waist. 

You turn to the other two guests and are unable to hold in an audible gasp when you recognize one of them. Those chilling eyes copied yours as they widened to an almost comical size. 

“Y/n...” The sound of your name coming from his full, pink lips made your hands clam up. 

He was dressed much more formal today with a navy blue sweater over a button up shirt, dark jeans and the cutest wing-tipped shoes you’d ever seen. He looked like he had just gotten out of church with his grandmother. 

“H-hello..” you mutter back, a heavy cloud of confusion and stress surrounding itself around you. 

“Oh...Do you-do you guys know each other already?” Wanda tilts her head a curious finger flickering between the two of you as her squinting eyes try to find the connection. 

Bucky glances at you, then Wanda, then back at you, as if to ask the question of who would be telling the tale of your meeting. You however settled for staring up at the ceiling, handing that responsibility off to Bucky. 

“We um, bumped into each other at the market the other day,” his answer comes after a slight moment of hesitation. 

You held back a scoff at his choice of words... More like you ran over me and almost killed my familiar. 

“Oh great! So then you’ll only have to meet Sam,” Wanda smiles and gestures to the stranger who had refrained from speaking up until now. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Sam Wilson,” he greets you with a bright smile, a charming gap between his two front teeth and a warm glow emanating from rich brown eyes that winked mischievously. 

He was quite handsome and his automatic charm caused the fog of awkward shyness to thicken in your mind, “Nice to meet you too,” you smile politely and shove your hand out for him to shake. 

A deep chuckle sounds from within his muscular chest as he grasps your hand and gives a firm shake. You quickly tell him your name before stepping back and allowing a new conversation to start. It was hard to focus on what everyone was saying as you felt the obvious gaze of Bucky peering at you from across the kitchen. You found the best way to keep yourself from staring back at him was to focus on the small amount of dirt that you could see hidden underneath your nails. You really needed to get them done again... Although it gets pretty difficult to achieve correct measurements with the long pointy acrylics that seem to be your go-to choice. 

“I dunno man, I just have really bad vibes about that Pierce guy... Steve agrees with me,” Sam’s comment brings you back to the conversation which you had apparently zoned out of. 

“Where is Steven? I thought he said he would be able to attend today?” Vision, always the formal talker, had a questioning glint to his eyes as he switched his focus from Sam to Bucky, then back. 

“Liberty wasn’t feeling too good so he had to take her to a vet,” Bucky was the one to answer.

“Liberty?” a questioning tilt to your head signals your confusion.

Bucky smiles at you before answering, “Yeah, she’s Steve’s pet. Super cute golden retriever that he picked up at the pound a couple years back,”

“Oh... Is he not a witch like you guys?” it surprised you that there was someone amongst their group that wasn’t practicing magic. 

Bucky subconsciously takes a step towards you, his body language changing to signal he was now solely focused on you, “Yeah he tried a few years ago but, it didn’t really go too well,” 

As Bucky answered he held up his metal prosthetic and wiggled his fingers, “Are you serious?! Your friend did that to you?” you gasp in shock, your eyes widening in amazement as you reach out to touch his arm without thinking. 

The metal was smooth and you were so enamored by the new information as well as the mechanical appendage that you failed to notice how tense Bucky got and how multiple pairs of eyes were staring at you. Your fingertips gently ran over the cool ridges of metal sections, “Wow... Did he turn your arm metal or did... did something else happen?” you glance between pretty blue eyes and steely metal. 

Bucky slowly reaches his arm out so you have a better view of what it’s like, “Actually that was kind of a joke,” he stutters, an awkward smile gracing his lips, “The real story is way more depressing,” he mumbles.

You halt your movements and stare up at him, the familiar yet heavy weight of embarrassment settling itself deep within your chest, “O-oh... I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to overstep-” You pull your hands away, folding them tightly against your chest. 

“No it’s okay! Really I’ve had a lot worse interactions,” he chuckles and reassures you once again that you didn’t overstep any boundaries. 

You nod in understanding but inevitably go back into your default of shy silence. Bucky stares down at you with a kind smile in hopes of making you feel a little less like an ass. It doesn’t work. 

After a few moments of deafening silence, Wanda makes a move over to the oven, “Alright everyone, quiche time!” 

“Aren’t you vegan?” Bucky mumbles, walking over to the table and preparing to sit down. As Wanda gives her response and mentions the fake eggs she found at the market, you walk over to the table as well. Bucky pulls out the seat closest to you and gives you a reassuring nod. You give a thankful smile and sit down, allowing him to help you push it back towards the table. 

“Thank you,” your quiet voice has Bucky grinning as he sits down next to you.

“Of course, doll” 

Brunch goes off without any more awkward spells and with the help of Wanda’s amazing skills in the kitchen, you begin to feel yourself relax with each bite you take. The afternoon goes on with the others telling you about how they met, silly stories about their friendly adventures, and at some point the conversation turned to you and what it had been like growing up a witch. It was a unique characteristic that none of your friends, new or old, had experienced. 

“Well, my dad is the one who originally got me into it... He was an aura reader like Wanda, and my mom focused more on spell casting and potions,” a warm grin on your lips signal the fondness your memories bring as you tell about your childhood, everyone was completely invested. 

“especially Bucky” Calcifer pointed out silently, giving you a knowing smirk from where he sat on the floor next to you. 

oh fuck off you stupid fox

✸ ✴ ✦ 

With full stomachs and a few full containers of leftovers, you, Sam, and Bucky stood gathered outside of Wanda’s front door as you all belted out a chorus of goodbye’s and excellent days. 

“It was really nice meeting you Y/n, make sure to keep in touch! I’ll be waiting for a carrier owl,” Sam winks at you as he begins to walk down the path towards the sidewalk, effectively leaving you and Bucky by yourselves. 

“He didn’t even let me say goodbye back...” you mumble out, staring at the confident figure that now waited at the property line by a pretty bush of hydrangeas. 

“Yeah... He’s weird like that,” Bucky agrees, glancing at his friend before fully turning his attention to you, “um so I’ve been meaning to maybe like... um maybe get your contact info? I just... I was maybe thinking we could grab like, tea or something sometime?”

As you take in Bucky’s words, you can’t help but notice the awkward and anxious movements he had started, reminding you of the first day you had met him. It made your lips twitch up just slightly. 

“Oh? like, my phone number?” the dumb answer almost had you on your knees with how hard you cringed. 

Bucky let out a breathy chuckle, “Uh yeah, yeah or like maybe an address? Or ugh that’s probably too personal-” “No! no it’s um it’s not,” you answer a little too quickly, discreetly pinching the skin on the back of your hand as punishment for your blatant lack of social skills. 

After a quick beat of neither of you knowing what to do, you finally speak back up, “You could come over tomorrow if you’d like,” 

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why would he want to come over so- “Yeah I’d love to!” Bucky answers enthusiastically, pulling his phone out from his back pocket and holding it out to you, “Just give me your number and I'll text you, we can figure out the details later, K?” 

You gingerly take the smartphone in your hands and type in your number, forgetting to put a name in for yourself before handing it back to him. Bucky’s hand slightly brushes yours as he takes it back and you’re too busy focusing on the lingering feeling on your hand that you miss the cheeky grin on Bucky’s face as he types in a contact name. 

“Hey tin soldier! You ready yet?” Sam’s smooth voice has you turning around with a start at his unexpected call. 

Bucky nods towards his friend, waving him off and turning back to you, “So I’ll uh, see you tomorrow,” 

“Tomorrow,” You confirm with a nod of your own.

Bucky’s smile grows tenfold and he takes a small step towards you, hesitating for only a moment before he leans in and gives a chaste kiss to the apple of your cheek. He doesn’t wait around to see your reaction, jogging over to Sam and slapping him on the shoulder before walking off down the cobblestone streets. 

Standing with your eyes the size of the moon and your face as hot as the goddamn sun, you don’t fail to catch the string of comments that your sleazy little fox makes. 

“Oh Bucky please just take me away! I’m too shy and socially inept to even speak to you properly, please I just love you sooooo much!” Calcifer’s high pitched mocking made your blood boil as he wheezed with laughter. 

“Shut up you stupid fox!” you yell at him, hooking your foot underneath his belly and pushing up and forward to flip him on his side. 

The reynard continued to cackle hysterically as you walked away from him. You could hear the broken comments he made as Calcifer continued to berate you on the bumpy interactions you always seemed to have with the handsome witch. 

“You’re sleeping outside tonight!” you call back to him, a smug tilt to your lips.

The laughing stopped immediately and was replaced by the clicking of little nails on mossy stone. 

✸ ✴ ✦ 

Calcifer’s eyes were glued to your figure as you made a mad dash around your apartment to make sure everything was clean and properly put away. Your socks allowed you to slide across the wooden floors as you shoved the rest of your freshly cleaned towels into a closet and slam it shut. Quickly turning the other way to sprint then slide the rest of the way to your little kitchenette where an almost comically small oven bakes banana nut muffins. 

“You are a nervous wreck right now kid,” Cal points out, a hint of worry in his mostly humorous tone. 

You look over at him, cringing at the realization that, yeah, you probably do look like a nervous wreck...

“It’s just that... No one has been over in a while and the last person that did come over was Wanda and I know she doesn’t care all that much about my tidiness so it was okay but I have no clue as to how Bucky is going to react and it's not like I don’t want to impress him, I mean I don’t need to impress him like my life doesn’t depend on what he thinks but,” “Christ’s sake kid-” “I mean for gods sake my bed is on the floor! He’ll probably think I’m some broke slob who-” Knock Knock 

“Oh my gods,” you whisper scream, no doubt did your aura radiate pure panic...

You shuffle over to the door, shoving your face up against it to look through the peephole and make sure it was the only person you were expecting. Taking a deep breath, you try and center yourself, then open the door. 

“Good morning, Bucky!” you greet, a bright smile on your face as you take in your guest’s appearance. 

Bucky is looking extra handsome today as he wears a dark grey cardigan over a white shirt, dark fitted jeans and, to your extreme surprise, black Converse.

“Hey, Doll” he smiles back softly at you, quickly taking in your simple outfit of a cute yellow crop top and black shorts, “T-these are for you,”  he mutters quickly and pulls a pretty bouquet of wildflowers out from behind his back. 

You beam at the thoughtful gesture and Calcifer doesn’t miss the sense of pride that Bucky gives off at your excited reaction, “Wow, Bucky these are so cute! I love them, thank you very much,” gingerly taking the bundle of fragrant colors, you invite your guest inside and immediately go to your kitchenette to find a receptacle for them.  

Once you find a nice little vase to put them in you spin back around to find Bucky looking around your small apartment, “Um...It’s not much-but the rent is really good and since it’s just me and Cal it works out pretty nice. If you aren’t comfortable we can always-” “I love it, Y/n. It’s really... you,” he glances back towards you, the look in his eyes warming you from deep within your chest. 

“Hey, tin man” the both of you jump slightly as Calcifer interrupts the thoughtful interaction. 

Bucky crouches down and reaches his hand out to the fox, “Hey... Nice to see you again Calcifer” 

“Where’s your dog?” completely ignoring Bucky’s polite greeting, Calcifer passes by him. 

“Oh uh... Sibi is still in training so I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to bring her into someone else’s home just yet,” the man answers awkwardly, dropping his hand and standing back up to his full height. 

Calcifer be nice you little skeez.

I’m just tryin’ get to know the guy, alright? 

You roll your eyes at the red animal and tell him to go onto the balcony. He thankfully listens, giving you and Bucky some privacy. 

“Sorry about him... He can be a little difficult sometimes,” you apologize quickly, nervously rubbing your clammy hands on the front of your shorts. 

Bucky chuckles and shakes his head, “It’s alright, I understand,” 

You give a questioning look at his phrasing and he quickly moves to elaborate, “Well, uh I guess-Ya know- since you guys are really close... I can understand why he would be protective because um, well since I’m like I’m trying to-” “Trying to what?” 

Bucky’s face was beet red as he tried and failed to explain himself to you, who had absolutely no idea what he was going on about, “In any case, I’m sure he’ll warm up to you soon,” you smile warmly at him and turn towards your oven. 

The embarrassed man watches as you take out the piping hot tray of muffins and set them out on the counter to cool. His stomach growls low as the deliciously sweet smell hits his nostrils. 

“How about we go sit down while those cool off?” you suggest and lead Bucky over to the small sofa that sat against the only free wall. 

You tuck yourself into one corner, folding your legs so they were pressed against your chest as you tried to give Buck as much room as possible. It was quite adorable to see the tall, beefy guy try and squeeze himself onto your small couch. A quiet laugh escapes you and he glances towards you, his cheeks tinged pink, “Guess M’not really made for studio apartment sized things,” he chuckles. 

Glad to see he isn’t upset about the cramped seating arrangement, you relax a little bit and start asking Bucky about his life. The two of you fall into easy conversation, talking about your childhood, past and current friends, how Bucky got into magic, your familiars and anything else that came to your minds. 

By the time there was a slight lull in conversation, it was already mid afternoon and you couldn’t help the growls that sounded from your stomach. 

“Um, do you want me to make us some lunch? I have like, sandwich stuff or mac n cheese?” you ask, swinging your legs off the couch and standing up to stretch. 

“Yeah that sounds good, you want me to help?” Bucky follows your movements and you shake your head. 

“S’okay, if you want you can go onto the balcony and I’ll be right out,” You smile up at him, turning to your little kitchen and focusing on making lunch. 

Bucky makes his way out onto your balcony covered in vining plants and hanging bottles filled with god knows what. Calcifer was asleep on a slightly rusted chair in the corner, his tail and legs curled into his body, making him look like a furry ball of orange. Bucky had never seen a work space quite like it. Sam was more of a trader so there wasn’t much potion making in the home they shared together. As he stared in wonder at all of the bottles covering the antique desk and a good part of the floor, curiosity got the best of him and Bucky couldn’t help but to start picking them up and exploring what was inside. 

Most of the bottles were labelled so he didn’t need to worry about those ones, the curious man was more interested in the unmarked ones. Popping off the cork to a green glass bottle filled with a powder, he brought his nose up to sniff and immediately gagged at the overpowering scent. 

“What is that?” he grumbled quietly to himself, closing that one and picking up a new one. 

This bottle did in fact have a label, but it was chicken scratch and for the life of him, Bucky couldn’t tell what the hell it meant as he picked up the murky glass bottle filled with what seemed to be a bright purple fog and opened it, taking in a quick whiff. 

Almost immediately Bucky felt the effects of the mystery potion and he had to steady himself on the desk so he wouldn’t fall over. Blinking a few times, he gathered his wits and slowly stood straight up. 

“Whaaat are you doing?” Your curious voice from the sliding door made Bucky jump and spin around, hiding the bottle behind his back. 

Your eyes quickly shift from the chilling blue irises of your guest to the suspicious amount of movement happening behind his large frame. Bucky lets out a quick scoff before answering, “What? Nothing, just checkin stuff out ya know,” 

His poor attempt at a casual demeanor was lost on you and it was quite evident in the suspicious squint of your eyes as you continued to stare at the man in front of you. 

“Which bottle did you sniff?” you ask flatly, sticking your hand out expectantly, the other hand making its way onto your hip.

“I-I didn’t sniff any bottle,” Bucky mutters out, metal hand going up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly.

You waited only a moment before he spoke again, seemingly unable to hold back his comment, “That’s a lie I sniffed this bottle,”

He immediately took a bottle out from behind his back and placed it in your still awaiting palm. You knew what it was as soon as you saw the color of the substance inside and began to laugh. It was the hardest you had laughed all day and the resounding noise of your joyous fit surely made its way down to the cobblestone streets below. Your right hand left its initial place on your hip and placed itself over the left side of your chest as you bent over to steady yourself. 

“Y-you just inhaled a shit ton of Truth-Be-Told Smoke” You cackled out loudly. 

Bucky, though entirely confused, couldn’t help the smile that painted itself onto his pink lips as he stared at your beautiful figure shaking from the prettiest laughing fit he had ever heard, “Your laugh is really pretty,” he blurted out, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth afterwards. 

The compliment startled you enough to calm your laughter and straighten your posture back out, “Thank you, Buck. So I’m just gonna assume you’re wondering what’s happening right now,” He answered you by quickly nodding his head.

You giggled and continued on, “Basically, this stuff is used mainly as a partial ingredient in other potions, but by itself, especially undiluted, it’s a high performing truth serum. You won’t be able to say anything except for what comes to your mind for quite some time,” 

“That makes me really nervous,” Bucky’s voice sounds strained as the hand that was covering his mouth moves to wipe down his face in stress.

“Well don’t go sniffin’ a girl’s potions next time!” you giggle out, walking over to return the potion to its proper place. 

“You smell really good,” before you have a chance to react bucky groans in frustration, “Fuck I am so sorry,” 

A light laugh escapes your lips and you look up at Bucky’s grimacing face, “It’s okay, I don’t mind. Plus it’s nice to know I made the right decision on what body wash to buy,” 

You motion Bucky to follow you back inside, ensuring there would be no more accidental roofying. Two sandwiches sit side by side on the small sofa, a little pile of chips next to each one. 

“This is really kind of you, Y/n” Bucky smiles, lifting up both plates of food and waiting for you to get comfy next to him before handing you one. 

“It’s no problem Bucky, you’re my friend now and-” “I don't want to be your friend,” he bursts out, making you frown.

Bucky quickly fixes his mistake, “No sorry- I uhm- I misspoke I-I don’t want to just be your friend.” another grimace makes its way onto his face, “That’s embarrassing for me to say, I’m embarrassed,” 

If you weren’t already sweating nervously, you were now. Clammy hands grip at the paper plate on your lap as you try and will your face to extinguish the fire that has engulfed it. “B-Bucky, I um…” 

“I’m sorry I said that… It probably makes you never want to see me again,” Bucky mutters out, anxiously playing with the small pile of potato chips.

“Actually…” you begin, taking a deep breath and continuing, “It doesn’t bother me at all,”

Bucky lets out a long breath of air, “Holy shit really? That’s fucking awesome because I wasn’t gonna tell ya that today but then I smelt that thing and I’m sweating real bad right now with how nervous I am-I should not have said that, but now that you said what you just said-” 

You put your hand up, signaling for the witch to stop his word vomit and laughed, “Bucky you don’t need to worry… Honestly, I am just as nervous as you,” 

Maybe it was because of the state Bucky was currently in, maybe it was because of something completely unrelated, but it made you feel brave enough to admit more than what you would’ve ever imagined. Bucky somehow willed himself into eating his sandwich, stopping every once in a while to blurt out a random compliment about you, the food, your apartment, anything. He even complimented how adorable it was that your mattress was on the floor, saying it just made everything feel so much comfier and he wished his apartment was like this. You took the comments in stride on the outside, though on the inside you were dying out of embarrassment. No one had ever said such nice things about you, and to the volume that Bucky was going, even if it was against his will, it still shocked you a bit.

By the time you were both done eating, the effects of the smoke seemed to slow down a bit, which allowed the nervous man beside you to withhold all of his thoughts, though it did keep him from lying still. As you stood to clean up the plates and napkins used during lunch, Bucky mimicked you, following you to the kitchen. 

“Today was really nice Bucky...Thank you for coming over,” you smile up at the tall man beside you and try not to swoon when he returns the warm smile.

There wasn’t a beat of hesitation before Bucky responded, “It was my pleasure, sweetheart,”

The term of endearment had your face aflame, something that has become a recurring struggle whenever you were around Bucky and his stupid compliments that always got to you. 

“Ya know, you’re quite the sweet talker when there’s nothing holding you back,” you tease playfully, making Bucky let out a quick bark of laughter. 

“Was I not a sweet talker before? I must have had some kinda skill since ya let me spend the whole day here,” a sly smirk is pulling at the corners of his lips as Bucky leans down closer to you in a mocking way.

You roll your eyes and put a hand to his shoulder, effectively pushing him away and giving yourself some much needed space. If you didn’t breathe properly soon, you were gonna pass out.

Bucky stayed at your place for a bit longer until he got a text from Sam saying that Sibi was getting anxious and that she missed him. You couldn’t help the grin that made its way onto your face when he explained why he had to leave, thinking it was absolutely adorable that Bucky was the only one who was able to calm that gigantic wolf. When it was time for him to go, it became a waiting game of who was going to initiate the final goodbye. 

Standing by your front door, leaning on the trim, you stared into the piercing blue eyes of the man opposite of you, completely unsure of what to say. In all honesty, you didn’t think it’d go this well. For Bucky to spend the entire day cramped up in your apartment with you, eating snacks and joking around as if you had known each other for years… It shocked you a bit when you truly thought about it. 

Bucky sighed, leaning against the opposite frame of the door as he stared back down at you, “So…” a nervous hand came up to subconsciously tangle into the hairs on the nape of his neck, the Truth Be Told must be wearing off, “I um… Today was really great,”

You nod your head in agreement, “Yeah it uh-it was,” your fingers begin to tangle and pull at each other. 

“Do you...Maybe wanna...Do it again? Soon?” he mumbles out, breaking eye contact as he begins to focus on his shoes. 

A little pinch to the back of your hand ensures that what you just heard was real and you nod, “yes, that’d be awesome! I um… Whenever you’re free of course,” 

Y/n and Tin Man sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

You quickly turn around to see Calcifer prancing in a circle in the middle of your apartment, a sly grin on his face. 

Gods what are you Five? Shut up you stupid fox! I’m gonna throw you off the balcony!

“Doll? You okay?” Bucky chuckles lightly as he sees your face scrunched up into a cute little scowl that makes him want to squish your face between his hands. 

Calcifer's annoying cackles were heard echoing in your apartment as you turned back around to face Bucky, “Yeah, yeah no I’m good… You were saying?” 

“Just that I was free on Thursday, if you maybe wanted to get coffee with me… But it’s really no big deal if you don’t want to, I would understa-” “No! Er-I mean yes! Yes. I would love to get coffee with you on Thursday,” You cringe at your awkward response and bite the inside of your lip to keep yourself from screaming in embarrassment. 

The bright smile on Bucky’s face grounds you a little bit and gives you the courage to meet his pretty blue irises, “So Doll, I uh was thinking-” Before he can finish his thought, Bucky’s phone pings loudly, making you jump a little, “Sorry” He murmurs.

Snatching it from the pocket of his jeans, Bucky takes a look then immediately lets out a quiet sigh, “That’s Sam, I really gotta go,” 

Trying not to let the disappointment show, you nod your head and straighten up, silently wishing he could stay longer, “Okay...Um I’ll see you on Thursday then…” 

Bucky’s head tilts to the left as he considers your shy demeanor and he can’t help but reach out with his right hand and lightly grasps yours, “I’ll see you on Thursday, pretty girl,” 

You suck in a breath, feeling Bucky lightly tug on your hand and willingly following his lead. Taking a tiny step forward, which was really all you could take with how close the two of you were all ready, the breath your holding tightens in your chest as Bucky leans down closer to you. You could feel the warmth of his breath on your cheek, the brush of his long eyelashes ghosting over your temples, and the light squeeze on your wrist from his large hand. Bucky’s lips were soft as they pressed against the corner of your mouth in a light kiss that made you feel like you were in the clouds.

It didn’t last as long as you’d like and once he pulled away, you were able to let out the painful breath that stayed in your lungs for way too long. Bucky gave a quick wave before backing up a few paces, turning around, and walked the rest of the way down the hall. Leaving you to stand there breathless with the lingering feeling of his soft touches. 

“You two are gross,” The floaty feeling that had fallen over you evaporated as you heard the familiar’s voice from behind you. 

“I’m gonna hit you so hard,” You yell over your shoulder, turning around and slamming the door behind you. You pick up a slipper by your door and make your way over to the cackling fox. 

“W-wait wait! OW” 

“Stupid fox”

✸ ✴ ✦ 

-3 Months Later-

“Steve c’mon, stop interrogating my girl and come help set the tent up!” Steve turns his attention from you to his best friend, a smile on his face as he gets up to help Bucky set up the large canvas tent. 

“We will continue this later,” the blonde says pointedly before leaving you by yourself at the wooden picnic table. 

It had only been a little over three months since you had met Bucky Barnes, exactly two since he had worked up the courage to officially ask you to be “his girl” as he put it, and two hours since you had properly met Steven Rogers. How you had gone so long without meeting Bucky’s platonic other half was beyond you, but apparently the guy was a busy bee, and since your little potion shop out of your apartment had taken off, you didn’t exactly have much free time on your hands either. Fortunately, with a little luck and a lot of asking around for favors and covers for work, You, Bucky, Steve, Sam, Wanda, Vis, and all of your respective animals were able to take a long weekend to go camping. 

“Are you guys ready to eat? These sandwiches won’t keep for much longer,” Wanda stands up from the green metal cooler, hands full of deli sandwiches that she had made for the trip. 

A chorus of agreeance sounded across the cozy little site you had booked as you all gathered around the redhead. Bucky came up beside you, wrapping his metal arm around your waist and placing a soft kiss to the crown of your hair. 

“You excited for the weekend, doll?” he murmurs into your hair sweetly before placing a few more kisses there. 

You laugh lightly at his endearing behavior and smile up at him, “Of course I am Buck. I may never get the chance to spend this much time outside of my apartment again,” you joke, leaning up on your tiptoes to kiss your boyfriend on the sharp line of his jaw. 

After everyone had gotten a sandwich, along with whatever they wanted to drink or eat with it, you all squeezed onto the benches of the picnic table and began to chow down. Everyone talked animatedly about what the plans were for the rest of the weekend. Swimming, fishing, “Building a bomb ass fire” as Sam gracefully put it, all of it sounded like a blast to you. If you were being honest, you were just excited to be out of your apartment for more than a few hours at a time. 

“So, you’re a potion maker huh?” Steve asks, mouth half full of potato chips. 

Bucky lets out a groan and rolls his eyes, “Stevie let the girl breathe for fucks sake,” 

The group laughs at Bucky’s annoyance, but then looks at you, “Well, uh yeah… I um was taught at a young age, so it’s something I’m really good at and I know it’s not the best job or anything-” ''It’s an awesome job, kid. I think you’re doing real good. Our own little entrepreneurial witch!” Sam interrupts your babbling, a bright smile on his face as he pats your back just a little too forcefully.

“I mean… I’m not a witch so I obviously don’t really get it like everyone else does, but you seem to be doing really well,” Steve assures you, sending a sense of pride into your chest. 

You had managed to impress Steve Rogers… Not bad, Y/n.

The guy is actin’ like he’s Tin Man's father… The hell is that about?

You turn your head over to where Calcifer is curled up on a dark blue camping chair, bright yellow eyes trained on the blonde man who was still stuffing his mouth with food. 

Calcifer they’ve been friends for ages, it’s normal.

The fox lets out a quiet snuff in response before getting up from the chair and trotting over to the table. 

“Cal do you want some of my turkey?” Bucky asks, taking a few pieces of turkey from his sandwich and setting it beside him on the table. 

Calcifer doesn’t answer, just hops up on the bench and silently eats the portion of meat. It’s taken a while for Calcifer to warm up to Bucky… And though progress if few and far between, the two have definitely gotten closer in the past couple of weeks. The biggest issue at first was how crazy Sibi acted around other familiars, but after a while and a good amount of training from you and Bucky, the hyperactive wolf finally settled and was on track to be a wonderful helper for her witch in training. 

“So… Do you guys have any plans of moving in together soon?” Wanda hesitates as she not so sneakily takes a chip from Vis’s plate. 

You and Bucky look to each other for only a moment before responding, “We’ve been looking at places to go. It’s hard cause we wanna stay in Adelaide but without buyin’ a whole house, there aren’t many options for apartments,” Bucky explains, a small shrug to his shoulders. 

“And there’s no way all four of us could fit in my apartment,” you add, copying Bucky’s shrug. 

Neither of you were in too much of a hurry to find a place of your own, as you were both content in the homes you were in now. The idea of living with Bucky was quite appealing but you knew the more realistic thing to do would be to wait, save, and research to make sure you both lived in a comfortable environment. 

“You guys are so cute it makes me wanna die! Who knew you’d be the ultimate witchy power couple?” Wanda’s swooning caused you to laugh a little as Vision looked at her with mock hurt in his eyes as if to say ‘what are we then?’

Before anyone had a chance to add on, an unexpected voice responded, “I did,” 

Your laughter immediately ceased and your attention snapped over to the other side of Bucky’s large frame. Calcifer sat proudly on his haunches as he gazed back at your shocked face. 

“W-what do you mean you knew?” Bucky stuttered, equally as shocked as you were. 

“I just knew. From the first day you guys met, it was obvious it was that true love bullshit you humans talk about,” the fox brushes off both yours and Bucky’s shock as if it was nothing. 

The rest of the group laughs as the pair of you stutter out broken objections to Calcifer’s claim, “A-are you kidding me Cal? That stuff is like… a myth or something,” 

“Yeah, I mean I’m in love with Y/n n’ all but-” “You’re in love with me?” 

All of the banter around the table halts as five pairs of eyes stare at a now tomato faced Bucky Barnes. “U-um, yes. Yeah-I um, yeah I’m in love with you…” Bucky’s voice is quiet and you’re not sure if he actually said what you heard, but that thought is soon wiped from your mind as an eruption of cheers sounds from your friends. 

A grin makes its way onto your face as you stare up at those pretty blue eyes that you really never got tired of looking at, and you can’t help but bring your hand up to run along the stubble of Bucky’s jaw, “I’m in love with you, Buck” 

Bucky lets out a sigh of relief and immediately leans down to press his lips against yours in a passionate kiss, both of his large hands framing each side of your face to pull you closer to him. 

“Told ya so” 

“Shut up you stupid fox!”

[psychosistr]

Meet Me Halfway- Chapter 1

Summary: Dr.Reginald Bushroot, a meek, not-overly-attractive botanist, considers his life fairly boring and lacking of anything noteworthy....well, except for a certain liquid-themed supervillain who seems to take a liking to him- THAT may be a LITTLE noteworthy..

Notes:  So, ages ago I read @sandyferal ‘s story Halfway There on AO3 (go read it, it's SO good xD) and said in the comments that I liked their version of the two meeting with Bushroot mutated and Buddy unmutated, and that if no one else wrote the opposite, then I'd probably do it. Well, here we are xD

Ah, the scenic countryside of Saint Canard: Large open spaces. Fresh air. Trees and uncut green grass as far as the eye could see. It was probably one of the most natural areas around for miles and miles. The only thing that stood out as remotely man-made was the gleaming glass of a small building- and even THAT was full of more lovely, all-natural vegetation and greenery.

Walking up the path to the greenhouse on the hill was a short male duck who looked far too glum for such a lovely backdrop. He had white feathers, but those looked thin and unkempt- similar to the few wispy strands of hair that seemed to only refuse falling out just so they could give him the unfortunate appearance of age even further than his own. He had bright blue eyes, but the eyelids around them were dark with a few bags under his eyes that just made him look exhausted. Even his basic outfit of a yellow shirt, dark tie, blue pants, simple shoes, and a gray overcoat only seemed to make him look both older and more exhausted from how rumpled they looked.

After fishing the keys to the greenhouse out of his pocket, and a brief fumbling with the lock, the duck walked into the greenhouse with a weary sigh. “Hey everyone, sorry I’m late.” He mumbled while taking off his coat and hanging it on a tree branch. “You must be thirsty, huh? This heatwave’s been hard on all of us.” He headed straight for the gardening hose in the corner of the greenhouse while rolling up his sleeves, unsurprised by the lack of a response from the various flora around him.

What he was surprised by, however, was the fact that the hose had come uncoiled since he’d last wrapped it yesterday. Wondering if maybe he’d just forgotten to wind it up properly, the duck took a brief look around the humid building and was surprised to see that the soil around most of the plants looked damp- as if it had just been watered.

“Huh? How the heck did that happen?” He quietly asked nobody in particular. Setting the hose aside, he followed the trail of watered plants and a glistening trail of dew on the grass from one end of the small building to the other.

It certainly looked like someone had been watering his plants, but who could have done such a thing? And why? It’s not like that many people took an interest in botany in this town- most of them worked down at the university with him (and most of that select few were jerks)- and, even if it were one of them, he was the only one with a key to the greenhouse. Maybe it was Rhoda? The two of them had been getting along rather well lately, maybe she-

That thought quickly died and gave way to a million more when he pushed aside a large leaf from one of his bushes and spotted the helpful culprit kneeling down by his cluster of nigella damascena.

It certainly wasn’t Rhoda.

It wasn’t even a duck.

He wasn’t really sure WHAT it was.

Startled by the sight of the oddity in his greenhouse, the duck tried to step back the way he came in hopes of running away without being seen, but his plans were uprooted- by a literal root, no less. “Ah!” He let out a startled yelp when the heel of his shoe snagged the root of a nearby tree and he fell to the ground, landing squarely on his quickly bruising tail feathers. “Ouch! I’ll feel that in the morning..” He mumbled while rubbing his sore backside, momentarily forgetting about the intruder he’d just been avoiding.

“Well now,” A watery voice said as a blue, nearly see-through hand pulled back the very same leaf that the duck himself had been peeking through a moment ago. “Let’s see what’s behind curtain number one!”

With the leaf gone, the duck could now see the creature even more clearly: It was a being made entirely out of water. From its features, it was likely a canine of some kind before…whatever happened to turn it into some weird water monster. It was also taller than the duck (which, honestly, didn’t take much with how short he was), making the way it looked down on him with a taunting smirk and a raised brow even more intimidating.

“I-I was just, uh-!” The smaller man stared up at the unknown water-creature in fear, trying to slide further away from it but wincing when his bruised tail bone hit one of the thicker roots nearby. “Yeowch!”

“In a rush to get away? Experiencing symptoms of fear and anxiety?” The liquid canine sounded like a door-to-door salesman as he extended one of his limbs to pick the smaller duck up by the collar of his shirt. “If so, then you may be dealing with a SUPERVILLAIN!” He flashed that deadly smirk up at the helpless duck once he had him raised high up off the ground. “As part of today’s peeping-tom special, say your last words now and you will meet a swift and painless end- act now, this is a limited time offer!”

The duck was frightened. Obviously. How could he not be? He was dealing with a living body of water that seemed perfectly fine with ending him simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. While he really didn’t want to die, there was one thought that crossed his mind between boring flashes of his life and fits of existential panic-

“C-Can you make sure my plants are watered when I’m gone…?” He stuttered a bit at first, trying in vain to grasp onto the shifting liquid arm currently holding him up in an attempt to feel more stable.

“??” That actually made the aggressive mutant pause, blink twice in surprise, and look up at him with a more baffled expression than his previously sinister one. “Your plants?”

“Well, yeah..” The duck looked around at the variety of lovingly cultivated greenery across the building. “These guys require frequent watering- especially when it’s this hot out! I was worried some of them would start to wilt before I got to it today, but you helped them out a lot. You even got the ratios right for the more temperamental ones, so, thank you.”

The dog still looked confused by the duck’s words. “Wait, wait, wait.” He cocked a brow up at his hostage, though it was more curious than threatening like it was before. “You’re being threatened by a dangerous mutant- one that broke into your building, by the way- and you’re going to compliment and ask favors from him?”

“Um.........yes?” The duck answered hesitantly. “I mean, I’d rather you NOT kill me, but if I’m going to die I’d at least like to know that my plants will be okay and you seem to like them- OW!” He let out a startled yelp that turned into a pained groan when he suddenly fell to the ground. “Owww, did you have to drop me like that?” He whimpered while placing both hands on his sore back, feeling like something had been pulled the wrong way during the fall.

“Oh, not again..” He heard the mutant mutter quietly, his voice almost inaudible.

When the bruised and sore mallard looked back up at the mutant, he was surprised to see that he was missing an arm now- the arm that had been holding him up earlier, to be precise. The aquatic dog was also glaring ruefully down at a small puddle of water on the ground between himself and the duck. He kept glaring at it for a while, but it looked more like he was concentrating. Perhaps he was trying to get the water to do something?

It was then that the duck realized a few other parts of the mutant’s body didn’t look very stable at the moment and were dripping down into a growing puddle where his feet would be.

Despite the fact that mere seconds ago this mutant had been perfectly at peace with ending the duck’s life, he couldn’t help but ask the question on reflex.

“Are you alright?” He carefully got to his feet, using the tree he’d tripped over earlier for balance so as not to further agitate his back.

“Just experiencing some technical difficulties.” The increasingly drippy mass complained as he continued glaring at the puddle that was still growing around him.

“Is there anything I can do?” The duck asked after popping a stiff joint in his back and relieving some of his discomfort. “Do you, I don’t know, need more water or something?”

“Probably..” The mutant muttered absentmindedly. It wasn’t until the duck had walked away and returned after a few moments that he finally looked back at the other man since dropping him, and the sight of him holding a garden hose that was already swelling with the pressure of an unreleased stream made him let out a mildly amused but pitiful chuckle. “You know, nine out of ten doctors would advise against helping dangerous supervillains who just tried to kill you.”

“Then it’s a good thing for you that I’m the tenth doctor.” The duck joked with a nervous smile before twisting the nozzle on the hose to release a steady stream straight at the living puddle.

The extra dose of water seemed to do the trick and soon the watery villain was back to his previous form. After moving and flexing his arms and hands a few times to make sure they were stable again, he looked back to the duck with a tilt of his head. “You know, I could go back to attacking you now.”

“I-I know..” The shorter man turned off the hose when it looked like the taller one no longer needed his help and set it aside. “But…do you really want to?” He offered up that nervous smile again, hoping that would be enough to convince the canine to spare his life.

The dangerous dog stared him down for a good minute before letting out a light huff and shaking his head. “Not really. That was a limited time offer that’s already expired.”

The duck sighed in relief. “Oh, good.” There was an awkward, tense silence for a while between them. A distinctive “What now?” moment weighed heavily between them. What are you supposed to say/do after nearly killing/nearly being killed by a complete stranger and then being saved by/saving said stranger? “So…uh…what’s your name?” The duck tried to break the ice, cringing internally at how forced the politeness sounded.

“Names are still being run through a test audience.” The dog said before leaning back against one of the trees. “But ‘The Liquidator’ seems to be scoring well on the customer surveys.”

“The Liquidator? Wow, that does sound like a cool name for a supervillain.” The duck smiled a bit, still feeling reasonably nervous around the villainous mass of liquid. “My name’s Dr.Bushroot, but you can call me Reginald, if you want.”

The Liquidator gave a light huff of a laugh and smiled back slightly as well. “Dr.Bushroot? Quite a marketable name for a botanist- you should try making your own miracle grow, consumers would go crazy for ‘Dr.Bushroot’s Plant Medicine- just what the doctor ordered’!”

Bushroot laughed as well, his face lighting up with a less nervous smile. “I never thought of that. Then again, I don’t exactly have a good face for TV.”

“Oh, that’s easy enough to fix.” Liquidator reached over and poked at Bushroot’s head. “A little make-up, a decent toupee, and a catchy jingle can sell anything, trust me!” He chuckled before catching himself and glancing away. “Not that I ever needed to wear make-up or a toupee, of course- I’ve always been a top ten contender for ‘best looking men in business’, so I never needed to go to those kinds of lengths…” His eyes shifted back over to Bushroot and narrowed dangerously. “Making any claims otherwise will void the extended-warranty on your life, got it?”

“G-Got it..” Bushroot swallowed nervously before regaining a bit of his earlier expression. “Besides, even if you DID do that-” He quickly held up both hands and shook his head to show he wasn’t suggesting otherwise. “-does it look like I’ve got any room to judge? I’m not exactly a Mr.Corn-Fritters’ pageant finalist..”

“Hmm..maybe not a finalist..” The other man agreed with a slow nod while looking the short bird over slowly from head to toe. Whatever he saw, he seemed to like, however, because the smile he regained had something a bit more..enticing to it than before. “Perhaps a runner up, though.”

“Huh?” Bushroot blinked in surprise before waving the comment off with a short laugh, figuring it for a joke. “Ha-ha, good one.” A beep from his watch made him check his wrist and realize the time. “Oh! I need to finish watering everything so I can get started on the weeding.”

When he went to pick up the hose, however, a cool, wet hand stopped him. He looked up into the crystal-clear face above him and saw that same grin from before, now coupled with a wink. “Why deal with the hassle of clunky dollar-store garden hoses when you’ve got the amazingly mobile and purified-powers of the Liquidator at your disposal?”

“Really?” Bushroot blinked in surprise at the generous offer.

Liquidator’s smile softened slightly at the edges, but he tried to play it off with a casual shrug. “It’s the least I can do after my rude introduction. A good salesman should always show respect for the man of the house, after all!”

“Well, if you’re sure, that would be great. Thanks!” He gave his new acquaintance (possibly friend?) the brightest smile yet before running off to get his gardening gloves from the supply locker in the corner of the room.

“…......” With his back turned to his new intruder-turned-acquaintance, Bushroot missed the stunned look on the mutant’s face that slowly morphed into a fond smile. “No thanks are needed- I pride myself on quality customer service, after all.”

As the two began their individual assignments within the greenhouse, Bushroot decided to get to know his new friend (he was allowed to be hopeful, darn it). “Sooo…a supervillain, huh? What made you want to go into that line of work?” He tried to get the conversation drumming up again with basic small-talk while pulling some weeds that had sprung up around his rose bushes.

Liquidator glanced over his shoulder at the small scientist and gestured to his body with one hand, his other one currently transformed into a facsimile of a watering can as he went about watering the plants he had not gotten to before Bushroot’s arrival. “One look at this one-of-a-kind product should answer all your questions about my new career path.”

“O-Oh, right, sorry…” Bushroot’s face heated up in embarrassment- he supposed that should have been an easy answer to come to, he just hadn’t thought of it before opening his mouth. “I haven’t seen you on the news before, are you new in town?” That one felt a bit safer to talk about.

“New to town in general? No. New to town as the incredible aquatic supervillain known as ‘the Liquidator’? Yes.” Liquidator explained while sprinkling water over a cluster of vines. “I haven’t quite had my big break as a supervillain yet- I’m saving THAT for a special occasion.” He let out an irritated growl when his hand lost its previous watering-can shape and he glared at it for a moment. “And for when this body’s out of beta testing…” That part caught Bushroot’s attention, he wondered ho- “And if you’re about to ask how I became the tall drink of water you see now, I’m afraid that’s going to be voiding a few confidentiality agreements, so save that question for a rainy day.”

Shoot, he really wanted to hear that story…

Wait, he said it could wait for another day? Did that mean he would be seeing him again after today? Did that make them friends??

“Okay…” He tried not to let on how excited and hopeful he felt over that prospect- it had been so long since he’d actually had a friend! “How’d you get in here, anyway?”

“You’re choosing NOW to ask that?” Liquidator chuckled after finally getting his hand back to its previous shape so he could continue his work. “You know, most people would want THAT answer first.” He shook his head with an amused grin before pointing at the gardening hose that Bushroot himself had used to assist him earlier. “I wanted some fresh air, and this was the first exit I found that didn’t smell like bleach or a petting zoo. Like any good salesman, I knocked first, but nobody was home.”

“That’s because I got held up at work.” Bushroot explained with a frustrated frown and roughly pulled out a weed from a different spot in his garden. “The dean keeps calling me in for meetings, wanting to see if I’ve made any new breakthroughs.” His frustration turned to disappointment as he paused in his work. “At this point, I think he’s just calling me in to rub my failures in my face…”

“It’s always hard getting someone to invest in your ideas…” Bushroot’s back was to Liquidator again as he worked, so he missed the sympathetic frown on Liquidator’s face as he looked at the other man. “What sort of research are you working on?” He asked while bringing himself around casually to water the shrub next to the one that Bushroot was currently rescuing from the weeds at its base.

“Oh, it’s nothing special..” The duck said with a sigh that sounded defeated before he even began. “You wouldn’t really want to hear about it….”

“Oh, but I do!” He lowered his form with some difficulty so that his feetless legs were kneeling by Bushroot, putting him at eye-level with the botanist so he could see the grin on the dog’s face. “Hearing out every unusual or impossible theory and business plan was part of what made me a success in my previous line of work. So, please, inquiring minds are eager to know: What brilliant breakthrough is the soon-to-be-famous Dr. Reginald Bushroot working on?”

Bushroot really wanted to dismiss the question altogether. He’d had enough of his coworkers laughing at him, he didn’t need it from anyone else…

…………

But there was just something in the way that Liquidator looked at him that made it hard for him to deny him anything.

“Well..” Bushroot began after a minute, still a bit hesitant but pushing himself past the feelings of doubt and uncertainty he was so used to. “I’ve been conducting research on how to give people the ability to photosynthesize and live off of sunlight and water like plants.”

Liquidator’s eyes widened in surprise, looking genuinely shocked to hear such a thing. “That’s actually possible?”

The way he said it made a warm feeling bloom in Bushroot’s chest: It was a sincere question. The disbelief in his voice came from surprise that someone would be able to make such a thing reality, rather than the mocking disbelief that such a thing would ever be possible- the disbelief that he was used to hearing when he told people about his work. The only other person who had ever shown genuine interest in his theories was Rhoda, and she was a fellow scientist who could look at his findings and research from a logical perspective- not like this stranger who didn’t appear to have a background in botanical research (though he was good at judging how much water his plants needed, so he must have at least worked with them at some point).

“Yes, it is.” He was practically beaming as he turned to fully face his new friend and go more in-depth with his explanation. “We already get a few minerals from drinking water and absorb radiation from the sun to create vitamin D, but plants are able to get all of that plus many other benefits from things like the very air around us. All it should take is the right infusion of plant cells into a person’s body and they should be able to gain the extra nutrients from water and sunlight that plants get- not to mention the ability to breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen would really help cut down on the world’s growing pollution problem. It’s been my life’s work, and I’m very close to a major breakthrough in my research!” He realized towards the end of his explanation that he’d gotten overly excited and had started leaning in closer to the water dog. Quickly becoming embarrassed, he backed off and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously while avoiding eye contact. “Sorry, that was a bit too much, wasn’t it?”

He was surprised by the feeling of a cool, wet hand on his shoulder. When he looked back up to meet the dark blue pools that made up the other’s eyes, he saw a genuine, understanding smile on the mutant’s face. “Not at all. Passion is the driving force behind many great breakthroughs and achievements in life. If you’re not passionate about what you do, how can you expect others to get invested in it?” The hand on Bushroot’s shoulder gave it a firm, reassuring squeeze. “Never give that up, Dr.Bushroot.”

The duck felt his heart skip a beat the same way it did whenever Rhoda stood up for him in front of his colleagues- the same way it did when she smiled at him and listened to him about his research. Maybe he just liked having someone believe in him. Maybe he was just touch-starved and feeling the weight of someone else’s hand on him, even if it was made of water and not quite as warm as one made of flesh and bone, was enough to make him feel a connection with someone.

Or maybe, just maybe, he really was forming a genuine connection with the watery supervillain who had broken into his greenhouse and threatened his life.

“C-Call me Reggie.” He managed to say after swallowing down a lump in his throat and fighting to keep the blush from his cheeks (his thin feathers wouldn’t have done much to hide the change in pigmentation).

“Reggie,” The Liquidator began with a grin that spread quickly across his blue face. “I think this is the beginning of a wonderful new relationship!”

Bushroot hadn’t agreed with anything (or smiled) more in his entire life.

Next Chapter->

End Notes:  So, just a heads up, this is another one of my Halloween "trick or treat" stories, so it's a WIP that may be a while before I fully update ^^"

[deliciousscaloppine]

16. A cruel king asks to marry you. Which three impossible dresses do you ask for in exchange for your hand? (Wen Chao, Wen Xu & Nie Huaisang)

Meng Yao entered the room with small coquettish steps, looking down bashfully.

“You are wanted in the main hall.” he said and shuffling all the way to the closet, he opened it wide and started throwing out in the room his finest evening wear.

“Ah! These are delicate, Meng Yao! Don't toss them like that.” Huaisang said wrestling an outfit out of his hands.

“You have to dress nice, there are two gentlemen to see you tonight.” Meng Yao effortlessly said while grabbing a comb and taking it to Huaisang's hair with all the rancor of a former street urchin who had to use twenty four different products to make his own hair less frizzy.

“Two? What do they want from me?” he said trying to get out of Meng Yao's vindictive ministrations.

“To marry you, silly. What else?”

“Does Da-ge know?”

“He is the one who sent me to fetch you. You see the two gentlemen happen to be lord Wen Ruohan's sons.”

“The Twin Dipshits of Qishan are here to ask my hand in marriage!? And there are still alive!?”

“Well.” Meng Yao said as he brought over the box with his exquisite selection of jade pendants. “As guests, your brother has to honor their request to state their intentions before you, but after that I am pretty sure he is going to behead them both. So don't wear white.”

“Eugh!” Huaisang said as he rummaged for something equally appropriate for both a marriage proposal and a public execution.

“Oh, tell me about it! I tried advising your brother to just slip a little something in their tea, but he grrrrrrr'ed at me. And it was not even a sexy grrrrrrr. It was more like a stop talking now grrrrrr” Meng Yao said with an air of terse exasperation.

“How am I not going to wear white? White is my color.” Huaisang said as he exchanged his little flat coronet, for a bigger one – to look taller of course, life was meaningless without its little vanities after all.

Finally decked in his finest crescent moon, hazy river in the mist pattern robes, and his fringe tastefully brushed with a touch of unkemptness, he and Meng Yao made their way to the main hall, after agreeing that Meng Yao would enter with his head bowed and at least three steps behind him so that Huaisang could appear taller.

The twin dipshits, er, the twin esteemed young lords of Qishan were sitting at a small distance from each other emanating some really cursed vibes, sporting what seemed to be last seasons' red under the falling maple leaves fashions, while Huaisang's own big brother in all of his I grew a moustache when I was fifteen lordly dignity was silently qi deviating on his throne, his knuckles turned completely white as he clutched the armrests of his seat.

When the two lords, Wen Xu and Wen Chao saw him, they elbowed each other for who would sit closer to him. Meng Yao intercepted them both in full bodyguard mode.

“Gentlemen, please. Allow my lord to display his many talents first, then tea. At any given moment, you are not allowed to come within ten paces of him. People's respiration hazes up my lord's complexion.”

Huaisang settled before an elegant study set before the princes, and right below his own brother's dais. He straightened his fringe, did a full profile, three quarters, full face, face posing twice, so the two princes could admire his looks. Having his sleeves arranged elegantly around him on the floor by his beloved manservant Meng Yao, the latter vanished to prepare tea.

Huaisang took out his brush and gave it a lick. Today he was going to do a scroll with a depiction of pines in soft snowfall under the glow of the midwinter moon. And while at it, he would get a good look at those two princes of the Wen, whose eyebrows were doing some weird interpretive dance right now at being told off.  

That Wen Chao was serving evil prince who plans to kill his own father looks, while Wen Xu had that aura of I slay children, but if I had a little sister I would dote on her lovingly.

“So, I heard the two of you, gentlemen, came to ask my hand in marriage.”

“Marry me, lord Huaisang!” Wen Chao said passionately. “My brother Wen Xu barely leaves the house! He is totally under my father's thumb. You'll be locked in every weekend for family dinner.”

“Eugh!” Wen Xu said disgustedly. “Don't marry him, lord Huaisang! He has lost count of his girlfriends. Also he is already married, you wouldn't even be his first!”

“Are you bragging about being a virgin!” Wen Chao yelled.

“At least I don't have twelve different stds. Nor do I trash innocent people's homes and then fall unconscious from doing drugs!”*

Huaisang heard wood splinter. It was his brother's hand slowly digging into the armrest.

“You don't even have a bodyguard. I have Wen Zhuliu. All chicks love Wen Zhuliu. You listen here closely, lord Huaisang, Wen Zhuliu can do benchpresses with you sitting on the bar.” Wen Chao bragged.

“You don't even love him! The only reason you came was because you found out I was interested first. I am going to tell dad!” Wen Xu said shoving his brother. Soon they were locked in what seemed to be a sequence of wrestling headlocks, while Baxia behind him was rattling madly in its stand.

Thankfully right at this moment Meng Yao came in with the tea.

“Stop clenching your jaw.” Huaisang heard Meng Yao whisper to his brother. Mingjue's jaw immediately popped. Since when did the two of them were on such fond terms that his brother did everything Meng Yao said? This was too suspicious.

Meng Yao served him next. “For the love of my mother's bones, please stop licking the brush. It is both gross and unhygienic. Use this cup right over here. I can't believe how anyone would want to marry you!”

“Jealous because you are pressing thirty and no one has ever asked you to marry them?”

Meng Yao silently scoffed and moved on.

“Gentlemen” Huaisang addressed the two evil princes. “Please, settle down. I would love to marry either of you, but Qishan is notorious for its yesterday fashions. So to my great disapointment I can't choose any of you, unless you pledge to do something about the pitiable condition of your clan's fashion state.”

“What are you talking about? Have you seen my designer belt? This is bespoke!” Wen Xu said lifting himself.

“Yes, and it would have greatly impressed me, hadn't it been a KNOCKOFF! Check the decorative hoops at the sides for holding jade pendants. This designer is known for their uniquely constructed ridged hoops. These are plain, not ridged. So do not insult my intelligence. Do you think we are some backwater village up in the mountains we the Qinghe Nie?”

The two princes remained with mouths agape.

“I could be persuaded to choose one of you, if only you abandon your wannabe fashionista who only shops in a bazaar sale ways, and both of you go on a quest to bring me three of the most exclusive, the most discontinued, the most bespoke items in existence!”

“We accept!” Wen Chao said forcefully. “There is no thing Wen money can't buy.”

Huaisang squinted evily. “Oh! Well then, I want each to bring me a semi-cloak cut on a circular pattern, with pleats,  made of the finest fur of Gusu Cold Pond bunnies! And I don't want it in white. I want it in black!”

Wen Chao made a choked sound in his throat. “This is a suicide mission!” he said. “The Lan will skin anyone who tries to skin their bunnies.”

“Only for someone as cowardly as yourself!” Wen Xu said elbowing him.

“Secondly, you must bring me the elegant two fiber fishbone weave stripe pattern sari that Madam Yu Ziyuan head of the Yunmeng Jiang produces and distributes exclusively to her most trusted handmaidens once every season. And I want it to be in the colors of the last fall season! A most tasteful contrast of purple, yellow, red ochra and beige, hemmed with the finest muslin silk money can buy, and a tasteful silver bead trim.”

“Than can be done! I am really close buddies with old Yu.” Wen Chao said.

“You mean after you trashed her place last summer at the pink lotus gala!” Wen Xu said.

“And third! I want a penannular pendant made exclusively from the shell of the Turle of Slaughter, Xuanwu, with its accompanying beads, five of them on each tassel and a sixth in the shape of a buddha sitting on lotus flower design. And I want them to be so finely carved that light passes through them!”

“These things are impossible to make and you know it!” Wen Xu said, chugging some of his tea. “You are just stalling because you can't make a decision. You know what? My father will hear of this. See what he has to say. Come on, brother, we will not be ridiculed in here anymore” Wen Xu continued and lifted his brother, who was also finishing his tea.

The two princes glared at everyone in the hall swearing retribution with their eyes, before sauntering towards the door. But before exiting the hall, they both collapsed on the ground out cold.

“Ooops. I couldn't help myself.” Meng Yao smiled naughtily.

“Meng Yao! These were foreign dignitaries! Brother, tell him something, he killed our esteemed guests. I was going to marry one of them!” Huaisang pouted.

“Meng Yao!” Nie Mingjue finally said after he recovered from his tenth consecutive mini stroke.

“Oh, relax, they are not dead. I just gave them Chifeng-zun’s special relaxing bedtime herbal tea blend.”  Meng Yao said, shuffling towards the snoring suitors to sweep them out of the room.

[dontcare77ghj]

Black & Red

“You know you could just tell them.” Bruce mentioned, for what seemed like the millionth time, without looking up from his work.

“Yeah here’s how that’s going to go down.” You started. “’Hi Buck, hey Wanda, how are you doing today? Oh, that’s good, how about the two of you? Oh, you’re happy together that’s fantastic, you deserve it. I’m going to go now so my desperation doesn’t ruin your happiness. See you later.’” You finished while giving Bruce a ‘really’ look.

“Or you know you could just mention your feelings see what happens.” He muttered. “Look Y/N they like you too.”

“Yeah and have pigs started flying as well?” You questioned sarcastically.

“I smell sarcasm and self-doubt.” Tony stated as he swaggered into the labs. “My favorite morning cocktails.”

“If we’re having drinks I’ll take your strongest.” You responded dropping into a chair.

“Oh, little bird, is someone pining over the witch and tin man again?” Tony half mocked falling into the chair next to you. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder and gave a half-hearted squeeze. “Greenie is right you know, they do like you too.”

“And the two of you know this how?” You questioned skeptically. There was no way they could like you back, you were sure of it.

“Because we have eyes little bird.” Tony stated popping a blueberry in his mouth. “Whenever you’re not looking they look at you like they want to take you right there and then.”

“They also look at you lovingly too, you know just saying.” Bruce said rolling his eyes at Tony. “The point is Y/N it wouldn’t hurt to just talk to them.”

“I don’t think I can. I don’t know how to deal with emotions too well.” You mumbled cheeks turning red.

“Maybe I can help with that.” Tony said with a smirk. Before you could question him he quickly walked out of the room mumbling under his breath.

“He’s a weird dude.” You said turning to Bruce who nodded to you.

 It was three days since your conversation in the labs. The entire team minus Tony was seated in the common room. Wanda and Bucky were lounging on a couch across from you, Bruce was chatting to Nat about something or other and you and the boys were having a conversation about battle wound stories.

“Guys I was literally in World War 2!” Steve exclaimed laughing after Clint regaled you all with the story of his battle with a paper cut.

“That doesn’t mean shit and you know it.” Sam laughed as Steve pouted.

“Hey birdbrain be nice to Stevie, you know he doesn’t like that language.” You said causing everyone bar Steve to burst into laughter.

“Hello all.” Tony said leaning on the doorway of the room. “Are we laughing at capsicle? Why don’t you ever invite me to these things?”

“Tin man!” Clint laughed waving an arm at him. “Take a seat. We’re just stating our worst wounds.”

“Yeah you missed the dramatic tale of Clint’s paper cut.” You told him rolling your eyes. Clint gasped and placed his hand over his heart while gazing sadly at you.

“How dare you mock my suffering?” He asked dramatically. “What kind of sister mocks her brothers suffering? I would never do this to you.” He added pointing a finger at your giggling form. Tony moved from the door and dropped onto the seat next to you, throwing his arm over your shoulder.

“Y/N, you are doing anything tonight?” Tony asked turning to you.

“Apart from wounding Clint, I don’t think so. Why?” You asked the older man.

“I have a date for you.” He announced with a smirk. You could feel Wanda and Bucky’s eyes trained on you, but you ignored it.

“Yeah not that I don’t trust your judgement, but I don’t trust your judgement. Sorry tin man, you’re gonna have to tell your buddy no.”

“Come on Y/N, you need to get out of the tower more.” Natasha spoke from her chair.

“Yeah, I’m good.” You replied leaning back in your seat. “I like being a hermit, and all Tony’s friends are fossils. No offense.”

“Hey! What are you insinuating there, Y/N?” Tony exclaimed with a face of mock indignation.

“Your old tin man.” You said simply, with a smirk.

“If I’m old what the hell are Steve and Bucky?”

“Men who were frozen in time and came out looking fine.” Natasha butted in with a matching smirk. The team laughed bar the super soldiers and Tony who looked like a kicked puppy.

“Don’t worry, Tony.” You said wiping tears from your eyes. “At least, Pepper still loves you no matter your age.”

“I came here to try and get you laid, and instead I am mocked and ridiculed by you. What has the world come to?” Tony muttered in faux disappointment.

“Tony if you can actually find me a date with someone, who’s not a fossil, then I’ll take back everything I’ve ever said about you.”

“Challenge accepted.” Tony said jumping out of his seat, sauntering out of the room.

“That wasn’t really a challenge, it was an empty promise.” You called after the man, who was mumbling to himself. You turned to look at Bruce, who shrugged his shoulders.

“He’s a weird dude.” He said, and you nodded. You turned back to your conversation with the boys but could feel the gaze of Wanda and Bucky burning into the back of your skull.

 “Did I ever tell you, I hate you?” You questioned again as you were led around by Natasha.

“Please you love me.” She teased pulling you forward. “Besides, if your going to hate anyone, hate Tony this is his doing anyway.”

She was right. Apparently, Tony had found you a date and to ensure you went on it, he had enlisted Natasha to help him. Natasha had been waiting for you in your room when you’d gotten back. She had forced you into the bathroom and made you shower and dress into an outfit she had picked. Once you were deemed ready, she’d pulled out a blindfold and was now leading you to your mystery date.

“I really don’t want to do this.” You complained she pulled you through another corridor.

“Because your pining over two certain someone’s?” She teased again. Of course, she knew about your crush, she’s Natasha Romanoff.  “Trust me you’re going to like this date.”

“I don’t know why your having so much fun with my suffering.” You said as she came to a stop, you raised you hand to lift the blindfold, but she pushed it away.

“Uh-huh. It’s not time for that.” She tutted opening a door and pulling you in. “You have to leave it on until it’s time.” Natasha added sitting you on a chair.

“What does that even mean?” You questioned, confused.

“You’ll know when it’s time. Now sit there and look pretty.” She said walking away. “And don’t touch that blindfold.” She added as the door opened and shut.

You don’t know how long you sat there. You wanted to take the blindfold off, but trusted Natasha enough to not touch it. You were tapping your fingers on your knee when you felt fingers run across the back of your neck.

“Whoa, hey buddy, none of that.” You said ripping the blindfold off and turning to look at whoever was in your space. You opened your mouth to continue berating them but lost the words when you saw who was standing behind you.

Bucky and Wanda.

Bucky was dressed in black jeans, and a long sleeve dark red Henley. Wanda stood next to him wearing a casual short, red, long sleeve dress in the same color as Bucky’s shirt. Bucky looked incredibly handsome and Wanda looked unbelievably gorgeous.

“You look stunning doll.” Bucky said with a smile. You only sat there, mouth gaping and a stunned look stuck on your face.

“Cat got your doll, kitten?” Wanda asked with a matching smile. God, why do they both look so gorgeous?

Finally snapping out of your daze you shot up from your chair and stood in front of the two. “What are you doing here?” 

“Isn’t it obvious, gorgeous?” Bucky asked, grabbing your hand. “We’re your date.”

You stammered out a few choked words before getting out a, “What?”

“We’re your date, Y/N.” Wanda repeated. Bucky sat you back down in your chair and took the seat across from you as Wanda took the seat in between the two of you.

“But why? I thought you two were dating. Why are you here?” You asked rapidly.

“Breath, kitten.” Wanda said grabbing your hand and running her thumb over your knuckles. “We’re here because we love you, yes we’re dating but we want you to be with us.”

“We’ve always wanted you, but we didn’t know you wanted us back until Tony tried to set you up a few weeks ago.” Bucky explained, pouring you each a glass of wine.

“I could hear your thoughts, but Tony came up to us later that night and reassured us you did. We’ve been planning this night for weeks.” Wanda added with a smile. “Every last detail, including that number your wearing, kitten.”

Looking down you saw you were wearing a dress like Wanda’s but in black. You blushed as the two looked you over, appreciatively.

“We match.” You said looking at up at the two of them.

“Every last detail, doll.” Bucky reaffirmed. 

‘We look good together.” Wanda added taking a sip of her wine.

“You said you loved me.” You stated, taking a bite of the food in front of you. Y/F/F, they really had planned everything.

“We’ve loved you for a really long time. Everything from the way you laugh, the bad ass way you act on missions, how you smile at us and make us feel like we’re not just monsters.” Bucky said with a soft expression.

“We love everything about you but we didn't think you were interested so we never persuaded anything with you.” Wanda continued.

“I love you two, too. You make me feel complete and as if there’s more to life than just missions and fighting the bad guys. You make me feel like real.” You said grabbing Wanda’s hand and reaching across the table to grab Bucky’s.

The two smiled at you, Wanda gripped your hand tighter and Bucky placed a kiss to your knuckles.

The three of you had a lovely dinner. You talked, laughed, drank and enjoyed each others company. 

“We have to thank Tony for this, don’t we?” You asked at one point. “He gave us the push we needed, didn’t he?”

“Yes I did!” Tony’s voice came through the towers speakers. 

“Tony go away!” Bucky exclaimed as you and Wanda giggled.

“No we don’t.” Wanda replied to you. “He already knows.” She added.

“I’m glad he gave us that push.” You said. “I don’t think I would’ve been able to ever ask you two out.”

“We would’ve come together anyway.” Wanda announced. “I know it.” 

“I’m glad we did, now.” Bucky said. 

“I’m glad you did too.” You smiled as the three of you continued your magnificent night.

Part one of the; Black & Red series

Show feedback. Buy me a coffee.

[itsthejuggernautbitch]

You Look Like Trouble (Morning Glory Wine - Cable/OC

Here’s chapter nine!

We’re almost done, y’all! The final chapter is already written, I’m just working on editing.

Also, I need to include a warning for this chapter. There's an action sequence that's grounded in a domestic situation. It's not graphic, but the situation is present. Please take care of yourself and skip over section three if you need to.

(And as always, not to be that person but if you’ve got the time and the inclination, kudos or a comment would be greatly appreciated.)

Taglist: @this-that-and-every-thing-else  @ptite-shit  @lesbianyondu@chromecutie  @gallifreyangrandtorino  @ra-ra-rasputiin  @akihecko@bigstarlightkingdom  @buckyjefferson  @lenavonschweetz

The front lawn of the mansion was emerald green and perfectly curated, the short blades of grass waving in the breeze. It was early morning; the sun had just peeked over the horizon, casting the lawn in oranges and golds. It was a hot morning, too hot to be comfortable for any amount of clothing, but nevertheless everyone was in full costume and raring to get the day started. 

Vivian stood on the front porch of the X-Mansion, staring out onto the front lawn. She was dressed and ready to head off to her shift at the clinic. She didn’t have to wear scrubs or a white coat anymore unless she just wanted to (she didn’t), so she’d chosen her usual civilian outfit of trousers and blouse. She was pretty sure she'd already sweat through her shirt in the mid-morning heat; the material clung to her back, sticky and wet. 

At that particular moment, Vivian wanted nothing more than to take another shower and just crawl back into bed. She’d stayed in Cable’s room at the mansion for convenience (and booty) that night despite the fact that she still had weeks left on her apartment lease. It was far more comforting to hole up for the night in Cable’s small, cozy room than going home to her empty apartment.

She'd been coming home to a multitude of empty rooms for so long that she'd forgotten how lovely it was to have someone waiting for her when she walked in the door. She was willing to admit (not out loud) that in the few weeks since that first night alone with Cable, it had gotten quite difficult to come home to her empty apartment when all she had to do was drive out to the mansion where, more likely than not, he would be waiting. She'd done her best to balance personal space with her attempts at affection, but even when she chose not to make the drive out to the mansion, more likely than not, he'd be on her doorstep sometime before midnight.

Part of the team Wade had lovingly dubbed the X-Force stood on the front porch with her. Of the three big, scary men waiting to get the day started, Wade was the only one still struggling to gear up. He swatted at the back of his neck, searching for the connecting panel of the velcro strip meant to secure his mask in place. Vivian reached up and smushed the velcro strips together, then patted his neck and stepped back. 

“Looks like you boys are all set,” Vivian said. She crossed her arms. “So who’s driving? Do any of you have a license?”

Colossus looked at his shoes sheepishly. “No need for driver’s license when you can’t fit in car.”

Cable shrugged. “I don’t exist here.”

“Yeah, no, that got taken away a long time ago,” Wade said cheerily, pulling out his phone. “Dopinder it is!”

Such a functional team. They’d get the hang of this X-Force thing eventually, probably. Maybe.

Vivian rolled her eyes. “Did you expect to walk back? You three big, scary dudes plus my skinny kids can’t fit in Dopinder’s taxi. Why don’t you just take the jet?”

“We wanted to go in more discreetly,” Colossus replied. He gleamed orange in the morning light. “But, in this case, perhaps the jet is the better choice.”

“Look, I don’t care how you do it,” Vivian said. “But you do have the access codes and a jet is a hell of a lot more official than rolling up in a taxi.”

Colossus nodded in agreement. “You make a good point. We will take the jet. Gentlemen, if you would follow me...”

Colossus headed out towards the back of the mansion, his skin gleaming brilliantly to the point of blinding everyone staring after him. Vivian shifted and picked at her fingernails before cracking her knuckles until they hurt. If there was anyone she trusted, it was these three, but she still felt nauseated at the thought of not going with them herself. But it had been so long since she'd trained for an active situation, she felt it was ultimately better to let the trained mercenaries handle ut. 

“We’ll handle it,” Cable said, as if sensing her discomfort. Not that he had to sense it, exactly; her skin was ashen and he'd heard her knuckles crack light thunder. He leaned in for Vivian to kiss his cheek. "You have every right to be worried, but we're gonna have them back here before you even get back from your shift."

Vivian shrugged, twisting her hands nervously as she’d been doing all morning. “I’m not worried. Who’s worried?”

“You broke two mugs this morning, reversed it, broke them again, then accidentally reversed the dishes that I washed.”

Vivian sighed. “Alright, I’m worried. I just have a bad feeling.”

Cable had a bad feeling too, but he didn't want to admit that out loud to her.“What do you have a bad feeling about?”

“Jack’s smarter than he looks," Vivian said. "I don’t know, I just have a weird mom feeling.”

Cable placed his hands on her shoulders. He wasn't too much taller than her, but he was just tall enough to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Whatever’s causing the weird mom feeling, we’ll handle it - okay? I’m gonna get them back here.”

“I know, I know. I trust you.”

“I’ll call you when we’ve got them. Just go do what you do best and keep your mind occupied. Don’t stick anybody too hard.”

“Right, right.”

She watched him head out to find Colossus. He'd wrapped a thin scarf around his neck - she couldn't fathom how he could be remotely comfortable with as many layers of clothing as he had on (which, truth be told, wasn't that many, but Vivian was basically always hot). She ultimately presumed it was meant to cover the ropes if tech slowly creeping up the back of his neck, so she didn't mention jt.

As he walked off, Wade leaned into Vivian’s side. “I need a favor.”

Vivian turned to him. He always smelled like sweat and leather. “The undying gratitude can wait until after you get Shelly and Benji.”

“Nothing overly self-indulgent," Wade replied. He was trying to cheer her up, or at least keep her mind occupied. "A buddy of mine is gonna meet you at the clinic. Gunshot wound.”

“Is this one of your “mysterious buddy” situations where I don’t ask the name?”

“Kind of, but if you ask him who he is, he’ll probably tell you.”

“Right. Got it," Vivian said. "Please be careful, Wade.”

"Hey, don't worry about me. I can take a bullet." He poked the tip of her nose. "Now, you go have a great day sticking your fingers into people's wounds. Or whatever you want to stick your fingers. I don't judge."

---

Vivian parked next to the clinic in her usual spot - the one that had her name (misspelled) painted on the cement.  She locked her tiny car behind her and walked into the clinic. The only person there other than the receptionist was a curious figure dressed all in black, holding his shoulder gingerly.

Vivian had seen some of Wade's shadier buddies on multiple occasions, but she was sure she’d never seen this guy before. In fact, she was a little surprised that Wade sent him to the clinic rather than asking her to run by and meet him at Sister Margaret's. But the clinic was in Queens - probably closer for whoever this guy was.

“You Wade’s friend?” Vivian asked.

The guy looked up at her. She could just barely see his eyes through the eyeholes of the ski mask he was wearing. “Yes, ma’am! That’s me.”

Vivian was taken aback. A mercenary calling her ma’am (who wasn’t Cable)? Unheard of. She motioned for him to follow her. “I’m Dr. Sharpe, if you'll follow me. Heard you’ve got a gunshot wound.”

“Following! And yes, ma'am.”

Vivian led him into a back room and closed the door gently behind her. The TV was blaring loudly in the corner - just the local news reporting on something bad, as usual. “Alright, show me whatever’s bleeding.”

He sat down on the exam table. Once again, Vivian was a little shaken by how young he sounded. “Yes, ma’am.” 

The guy took off his shirt and tossed it onto the counter but kept his mask on. There was a bullet wound on his right shoulder with no exit - whatever the bullet’s caliber was enough to take a pretty good plug out of him but not enough to blow through his shoulder.

Vivian peered into the wound. “Well, you’d be in better shape if it was a clean hit. I’m gonna have to poke around a little bit to look, but depending on the location, I may not have to get the shrapnel out. Either way, it’s not going to feel good.”

“Whatever needs to be done. Just - I can pay cash. As long as I don’t put it on my aun- my insurance.”

Vivian laughed. “I’m guessing you’ve never done the backroom-doctor deal before. Don’t worry - Wade’s taking care of it.”

“Okay." Definitely a kid, then. He seemed relieved. "Okay. Good.”

Vivian pulled what she needed out of the cabinets and laid it all out of a tray. The kid shifted nervously, trying not to move his shoulder. There was no way this guy was over 21 - not with the musculature and voice.

She sat down across from him in her rolling chair. “Alright kid, how old are you?”

“What- I-?” The guy (kid) cleared his throat and tried to sound less nervous and squeaky. “I’m old enough, ma’am.”

“You couldn’t be older than sixteen,” Vivian said, staring him dead in the eye. She noted all the scars and marks on his exposed skin. “You've been doing… whatever you've been doing for a while, but haven't taken a real serious hit until now. Wait - are you that Spiderman kid?”

“Seventeen!” the boy said, sighing. “Yeah, yeah, I’m Spiderman. Now can you please get this bullet out of my shoulder? Accelerated healing doesn’t work if there’s still shrapnel.”

“Shit - I thought Wade was joking!” Vivian said. She gently tugged the mask over his head. “How’d you get roped in with Wade? I thought you were an Avenger.”

“Shoulder!”

Vivian rolled her eyes and pulled out a syringe filled with lidocaine. She shot his shoulder full of painkillers and waited for the solution to take effect. “He’s not getting you to do weird shit, is he?”

“No, he took care of something in Queens for me about a year ago. I got shot last night and I didn’t know who to call, so I called him.”

“Well, I’m the best backroom doctor you’ll find,” Vivian replied, checking his shoulder. “Numb enough?”

“Yeah.”

“Hold still. I’m gonna check the wound. Since the shrapnel is in your shoulder, it may not necessarily need to come out. Bad news is, you'll have to heal like a normal human, but I'll give you some antibiotics to help with that.” Vivian peered into the wound and found that she could see the tail end of the bullet close to the skin. “So what happened?”

“Guy shot me point-blank with a .50 cal. My suit absorbed most of it, but it still got through.”

“Must have been a strong suit. A .50 cal. will take your whole arm off.” She took a pair of forceps, took hold of the end of the bullet, and removed it as quickly as she could. The wound leaked, but she could see the skin knitting back together. “I’m going to give you a round of antibiotics anyway just to be safe. Don’t get an MRI without getting an x-ray first. It looks like I got the whole bullet out, but you never know.”

He moved his shoulder gingerly. “Thank you, Dr. Sharpe.”

“Anytime, Spidey.” Vivian placed a patch on his shoulder and taped it down. “Look, you seem like a good kid. Don’t let Wade get you into trouble, okay?”

“I won’t.” He looked up at the TV, face twisted in surprise. “Hey, he’s on TV right now! Oh, that looks bad. I should go help-”

“Wade’s on the TV?” Vivian looked around for the remote and turned the volume back up.

“Authorities have been called to the scene of what seems to be a hostage situation involving an adult male and two children. It appears that a team known as the X-Force have responded to the distress.”

“Where are my fucking kids, Wade?” Vivian asked to no one in particular. 

"Sources have indicated gunfire but no confirmed casualties. No demands have been made yet."

Spiderman looked up at the TV with a certain amount of concern. “I should go help with that!”

Vivian shook her head and patted his back (on the side that hadn't been shot).“No, Spidey, that’s gonna be my job. But I’d appreciate you being on standby for when I murder Wade so you can take his place.”

The poor kid didn’t look like he knew whether to laugh or agree. Being a smart kid, he agreed. “Okay.”

“Take care of yourself, Spidey. I’m gonna go save my kids.”

---

“So, this is not going well,” Wade said, ducking behind a car parked in front of the warehouse.

“Ya think?” Cable yelled, ducking behind the same car. Jack had been firing out the door for some time now. Usually, they’d just barge in were it not for the fact that he had a second gun trained on both kids. “We need a game plan!”

Colossus leaned against the back bumper of the same car, peeking around the side every time the firing stopped. “I’d say wait until he runs out of bullets, but I’m afraid we’d be too late.”

A tiny black car rolled up beside them containing Vivian. She was not in a good mood.

“What the fuck is going on?” Vivian yelled, throwing open the car door. 

“He already had a gun trained on them when we arrived at the house. Apparently something happened earlier and we walked in on it. He fled, we followed.” Colossus explained as gently as he could.

“What has he been saying?” Vivian asked, trying to peer into the half-open front door. The windows were all busted out, but she couldn’t see past the leftover dirty broken glass still attached to the window frames.

“Says no one can have them, if we get close, he’ll shoot, he’ll take care of his mutant kids himself. The works,” Wade replied. “Basic familial hostage situation.”

Vivian groaned. “Anyone got a plan? Hmm? Or are we just gonna stand here until one of those bullets actually makes contact?”

“I’ve got a plan,” Cable said, all-too-calmly. He’d reached the pinnacle of mercenary - cold, calculating, methodical. A perfect antithesis to Wade’s shoot-first method. “Deadpool and Colossus create a distraction and draw fire, since bullets won’t have any effect on them. Colossus may be able to de-escalate, anyway. I’ll sneak around behind the warehouse, go in through the back, and take him out before he hears me coming. Viv, you find a way to get up to the second floor and be on standby in case he fires in a direction we don’t want him to fire. You can put the bullet back in the chamber.”

“Works for me,” Wade said. He holstered both of the pistols in his hands.

Colossus nodded. “Agreed. I will try to talk him down.”

Vivian bit her lip. “There’s an AC unit around the side - should be tall enough for me to climb up onto the ledge to get to the second floor.”

Cable nodded. “I’m heading around back.”

The unit was directly under the end of a ladder that dangled into the open air. Vivian hopped on top of the AC unit with as little clanging and banging as she could manage. The edge of the ladder hung just within reach above the unit. She climbed the ladder and swung up onto the ledge, making a mental note to talk to Colossus about some serious training if they all made it out in one piece. She found a window out of the line of sight and crawled through it.

Jack was on the warehouse floor with Benji and Shelly, guns blazing. He had Benji tied to a column, still in his pajamas. Shelly was braced underneath one of Jack's arms.

Colossus and Wade both braced the door. Wade poked his head in just past the door frame. “Jack - this is ridiculous, just let them go.”

“Get back!”

“Come on, they’re your kids - you don’t want to hurt them.”

“I’d rather kill them myself than hand them over to you.”

“You really don’t want to do that!” Wade called back, poking his head past the door again. Another bullet whizzed by his head.

Vivian caught Cable creeping in the back out of the corner of her eye. He had yet to be seen by anyone else and she was still out of the line of sight. As Cable creeped in, Wade poked his head further past the front door.

“No, you don’t.”

Jack fired the gun trained on Benji. Vivian lashed out, freezing the bullet just before it hit the mark. She held steady just long enough to redirect the force from that distance. “Cable!”

“Send it back now! I’ve got them!”

Cable grabbed Shelly out from under Jack’s arm and shoved him just far enough into the path of the bullet that when Vivian sent it back, it caught him in the knee. He picked Shelly up and kicked the gun out of reach before untying Benji and sending him out the front door with Colossus and Deadpool.

Vivian climbed down the ladder and picked both of Jack’s guns up before leaning down over the man’s head. “None of this was necessary.”

“Get out of my face,” he said, spitting at her. “You took out my fucking knee cap.”

“You’re lucky I don’t take your head off,” Vivian replied, wiping the spit off of her shoe with the sleeve of his shirt.

“You gonna kill me?”

“You deserve it. But no - not in front of them. I’ll leave the cops to deal with you.”

“You can’t just leave me on the ground like this!”

“Watch me.”

Vivian slammed the warehouse door behind her. Colossus was directing the authorities into the building in a show of his usual responsibility. Benji sat on the ground at Wade’s feet, staring blankly at the sky and just letting the man fuss over him. Shelly was still firmly latched to Cable’s side. He stroked her hair and mumbled into her ear that she was okay, that everything was okay. 

As soon as they caught sight of her, they launched themselves into her waiting arms. She let them cry, one on each shoulder, for the better part of two minutes before taking each one under her arm and directing them to her car. 

“Let’s get you two somewhere safe,” Vivian said, motioning for Cable to follow her. Colossus trailed along while Wade caught up. “You’re both going to counseling first thing in the morning.”

Vivian put both of them in the backseat, then reached into the front to crank the car up. She shut the door and turned to Cable before grabbing him in a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you,” she said, unwilling to let him go. 

“Nothing to thank me for,” Cable replied, kissing the top of her head. “We’ll talk about it back at home.”

She grabbed Colossus and Wade in turn as they walked up. They all smelled like sweat and stress - unpleasant in the heat. “I’ll meet you three back there. I’m gonna go get them food.”

“We’re gonna go get their stuff,” Wade replied. “Then we’ll meet you back at the mansion.”

“Don’t case the place,” Vivian said, climbing into the front seat and shutting the door behind her. She rolled down the driver’s window. “On second thought - have fun.”

---

Vivian let herself into Cable’s room after she’d gotten Benji and Shelly settled in their respective rooms. She would stay the night again, and in the morning, she was going to get her stuff and set up her room at the mansion earlier than expected. She suspected she’d be spending more nights in Cable’s room than in her own, but it was far too soon to start piling her shit in his private space.

Cable looked up as she walked in. “How are they doing?”

Vivian flopped down on the bed, beyond exhausted. “They've both got counseling appointments in the morning. Benji seems comfortable enough in his room, but I guarantee Shelly won’t stay in her room tonight. She’ll be banging on the door in the next couple of hours.”

Cable fiddled with a gun over in the corner of a room, wiggling it apart so that he could clean it. A gun manual lay open in front of him on the table. “Maybe not. They could barely stay awake through dinner.”

“I could barely stay awake through dinner. I haven’t done that in years,” Vivian replied, stretching. Her arms were on fire, and she knew she’d be sore tomorrow. She really had to get on Colossus’ training schedule. “I can’t believe you’re not tired.”

He smirked, a rueful smile. “I’m used to it.”

“I know.” Vivian grabbed a pillow and pulled it to her chest. It was the pillow Cable usually slept on. It smelled like him. “What a terrible thing to be used to.”

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed, reattaching the gun parts after swabbing them with a soft cotton pad. “I’ll turn the light off if you want to go to sleep.”

“Please.”

Cable got up and padded over towards the light switch. He took a long look at her before switching off the light. Vivian had changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of pajamas, her hair piled up in a bun on top of her head. The circles under her eyes were worse than ever and it was barely 10PM. He flipped the light switch, leaving the room lit only by his desk lamp. 

Instead of going back over to his desk, he crawled into bed next to her, back leaning against the headboard of the bed, and pulled her into his lap. She maneuvered so that her head rested against his abdomen, arms wrapped around one of his legs. He stroked her hair, nails dragging gently long her neck. She took his wrist and kissed the back of his hand, lips trailing along one of the veins.

“You need sleep,” Cable said. His hand ran across her shoulders, working at the knots of tension that he could find.

“Put me to sleep, then.”

He chuckled in her ear, running his hands up the back of her neck. “How about this: in the morning, after you get a full night’s sleep, I’ll make sure the door is locked and we’ll get the day started right.”

“And then you can take a shower with me.”

“That’s right.”

“Okay,” Vivian yawned, nuzzling into his leg. “Wake me up if they knock.”

“If they knock, I’ll take care of it.”

“That’s asking too much. You literally just met them this morning.”

“Doesn’t matter. If they don’t want me, I’ll come wake you up.”

Vivian didn’t say it, but in the thick haze of exhaustion, she caught herself thinking it. Those words. Those three terrifying words. She didn’t dare let that slip out, though. Not when they’d finally made progress. It was too much, too soon. 

So instead, she went for the safer option. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me by sleeping.”

---

Cable had carefully extricated himself from Vivian’s grip after she’d finally gone to sleep and replaced his leg with a pillow. She didn’t know the difference; she was out like a light. He sat at his desk, tinkering with some weapon and a manual he was trying to interpret (he’d had to relearn a few things about past weapons). True to prediction, at approximately midnight came a soft knock at the door.

When the knock came, he pulled on a shirt and answered the door. On the other side of the wooden frame stood Shelly, hair disheveled from a restless sleep and eyes red. She blinked up at him blearily, her eleven-year-old brain working to comprehend what she was seeing.

“Where’s mom?” she asked, rubbing crusties out of her eyes. She carried a stuffed animal in one hand, obviously old and worn from use. It looked like a rabbit - or that it had once been a rabbit - but it was too old to really tell.

“Asleep,” Cable replied gently, “Like you should be.”

“I tried,” Shelly replied. “Water would help, but I don’t remember where the kitchen is.”

“Come on. I’ll get it for you.”

He guided her downstairs, treading lightly so as not to disturb anyone else. He could hear snores in several different rooms, mostly snores from people he hadn’t seen yet. Most of the other residents were gone during the day, so he didn’t usually run into anyone. He led her into one of the few tiny kitchenettes and grabbed a glass from an overhead cabinet, filling it with tap water. He handed her the glass and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for her to sit at. 

“Thank you, Cable.” Shelly took a sip and stared at him again. She had the same eyes as Vivian - wide and piercing, as if she could make you tell the truth just by staring at you. “Are you my mom’s boyfriend?”

He almost smiled. “We’ll talk about it in the morning, after you’ve slept. Now, finish that so you can go back to bed.”

Shelly drained the rest of her glass and left it on the table. “Just yes or no.”

“Yeah,” Cable replied. He took the glass and put it in the sink, making a mental note to come back and wash it in the morning. “Now, come on. Back to bed.”

[thirium-coffee]

Gift From Eli

Short Snippet from a Convin Roleplay. Summary of Roleplay An AU in which Elijah made Connor specifically for Gavin as an apology for being a horrible brother and that maybe, just maybe, it might mend broken relationships. An excuse Kamski used for the gift, is Gavin's promotion as a Detective.

Detective Fuck Boy: Me Slut Sent By Cyberlife: @detroit-becomeslut

Detective Fuck Boy Here's the thing with Gavin. People thinks he loves sleeping, often seen passed out in his desk at work. When actually, he just has bad sleeping schedule, undiagnosed insomnia, and fucking noisy neighbors that ranges from college students partying to divouring adults that found themselves nearly having a screaming contest each night.

And tonight, after he manages a thirty minute sleep, it was a surprise that greeted him. There weren't awful dub music or shattering glasses that could be heard, what greeted Gavin were the lewd noises of two people moaning and groaning and a shitload amount of dirty talk and the words, he shudders, daddy.

He didn't hesitate to retreat out of his room, and thank fucking god, he was safe now in the living room.

Or so he thought as he was reminded of his Android sleeping peacefully on his couch. There wasn't any amount of guilt in his system as shakes Connor awake. He had work, and Connor can always sleep while he's gone.

"Hey, buddy, wake up. Just- look ya don't even have to leave. Just scoot over a little and let me pass out."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor looked startled and drowsy as he was awoken from stasis, LED turning yellow before he shifted over. Even though he was taller than him, he was quite petite.

He didn’t have as much muscle definition as some other Androids, but he was definitely toned. Connor yawned as he buried the side of his face into the pillows.

Even though he wasn’t human, he moved much like one did when they were tired, waiting for Gavin to join him as his LED turned blue.

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin dropped down beside Connor, not really caring he's practically sleeping beside an Android but if it means he'll get more rest then fuck it, he'll take it.

He did, however, noticed it's odd how they just... fit together perfectly in his little couch. Okay maybe his couch is actually bigger than normal, it's how he bought it, since Gavin knows he'll spend a lot of nights sleeping in it, but still.... it was weird. When he had exes and they sleep here, it never happens, it fails. Just not comfortable yet here he is, actually falling asleep despite the body beside him.

And a third party enters as Lucky settle in between their legs.

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor gave a sleepy giggle as Lucky giggled. He was soon back into stasis, sleeping soundly next to Gavin. His chest moved up and down, a soft breath leaving his nose.

He even breathed like a human even though he didn’t really need the oxygen. Yet another small feature that Kamski added.

Detective FUCK BOY Connor's breathing was settling into a rhythm that slowly lull Gavin to sleep.

He ended up having a dream that didn't involved the smell of blood or a knife going through his neck, instead he had a dream of blue fireflies and a pair of brown eyes, staring rather lovingly at him.

When Gavin stirred awake, blinking his eyes open, he was met with inches away from a person's face.

He screamed, and shoved, and fell. Head hitting the coffee table as his legs got left hanging to the couch.

"Fuck!" he tightly shuts his eyes, rubbing the soreness and fucking hell, that hurt.

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor was startled awake when he was shoved, wincing a little as he got up.

“Detective-“ Connor immediately helped him up and raced to get him pain killers and an ice pack.

Detective FUCK BOY "Hey, no, I'm fine- fuck it." He drops to the couch, sighing. Leaning on his elbows and covering his face with his hands.

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor came back, a worried expression on his face. He crouched neck to him, resting a hand on his knee.

“Detective? I apologize for scaring you-“

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin sighed then leaned on the couch, arms crossing, "Sit down on the couch, let's talk for a minute."

He can't believe he's doing this. He fucking can't believe he's doing this.

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor did as he was told, setting the painkillers and ice pack down.

“Yes, Detective Reed..?” He even sounded nervous as those brown eyes stared up at him.

Detective FUCK BOY Why did Eli had to place him in a situation like this?

"You're right about the fact we should just make this experience a little less shitty, 'cause like it or not. We're stuck together, so hell, let's do it."

He faces Connor, feeling a little like Tyler Durden announcing the rules of Fight Club.

"First of all, don't call me Detective. Gavin's fine. You're inside my fucking apartment not in the precinct. And you're just begging to be bullied. Not exactly a good cop, keep that in mind if you wanna be less hostile with each other.

Second of all," he had to briefly close his eyes, not really wanting to voice it out but... he looks at Connor, "Don't. Just don't. I'm not gonna hurt you... you look fucking pathetic always cowering away and apologizing to me, when- you get it, alright. Just don't.

And third of all, stop babysitting me. I hate it. I really fucking hate it. You don't have to worry or shit or be a maid. Pretend that you're my roommate. Surf the internet, use my Netflix subscription, read my books, I don't care.

Got it?"

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor seemed to lag, like he was buffering and struggling to comprehend what the other said.

“A..Alright Gavin...” The word was foreign and soft on his tongue, like an infant trying to say its first word.

“Though I don’t know what to do with myself. As an Android, I am built to take tasks and do as I am told, not to be free willed. It’s strange to be told to deviate from my specific purpose.”

His eyes flickered up to look at Gavin.

“I know you do not want to be taken care of, but if I am going to be considered like your roommate, may I at least help lessen any stress here? I can at least do minor things like do groceries and cook meals in return for you even keeping me here.”

Detective FUCK BOY "Yeah, sure. If it makes you happy."

Gavin nodded and was about to stand up, when he remembered something, "Oh yeah one last thing. You have any preference in clothing?"

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “I do not have any preference as I am expected to wear my uniform to identify that I am indeed an Android.”

Detective FUCK BOY "Cool..." he said it boredly and just stood up.

It was times like this that Gavin wished he had a best friend to talk to, just to rant about the stupid Android in his house or help him decide what kind of clothing he'd go buy for Connor.

Instead, he was left on his own to deal with this Android and shit fucking shit. He's slowly beginning to realize more why Eli have given him Connor.

When Gavin came back that evening, he dropped the gray hoodie and black sweatpants on the couch, and had to mentally slap himself as he looks at Connor.

"What are you doing?"

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor had been in the middle of playfully pinning Lucky. She was lying on her back with Connor pinning her front legs down while she stretched.

“We were playing.” He said it like it was obvious before letting Lucky go and watching her run off with a soft purr as she returned to her food. Connor got up and dust himself off.

“What are the clothes for, Gavin?”

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin is horrified. Eli had given him a new pet, a dog. It made sense, it's why Lucky likes him.

"It's for you."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “Oh.” He picked the clothes up before examining them. Suddenly, a smile broke out on his face.

“Thank you, Gavin. I rather like these. Would you mind if I change into these now?”

Detective FUCK BOY "What do you think was the purpose of me giving you that shit early?"

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “I see. My apologies.” The faintest of blue could be seen on his cheeks as he entered the bathroom quietly. After a few minutes, he came out in the new clothes, uniform folded neatly in his arms. The clothes were a bit baggy on him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Do they.. look alright?”

Detective FUCK BOY "Fucking better." And Gavin broke into a grin, his hand open, asking for Connor's uniform.

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor took a moment before realizing what he wanted. He handed him the outfit, a confused expression on his face.

Detective FUCK BOY "You're not attach to this, right?" Gavin said as he starts walking to his window, taking the LED band from the uniform.

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “Not entirely, but I still need identification that I am an Android, Gavin-“

Detective FUCK BOY "And goodbye motherfucker!" He says, happily throwing the uniform out the window.

He stands beside Connor, smiling at the flying uniform in the sky, then he looks at the Android, "What?"

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor’s mouth was agape, and his mouth opened and closed as he tried to figure some sort of response.

“G-Gavin— I needed that-“

Detective FUCK BOY "Not anymore."

Gavin tosses the LED band go Connor, smirking, "That's enough identification. Trust me. You don't need that ugly white uniform. Gray suits you well more."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “I..”

Software Instability ^

“..Alright..” He didn’t sound totally convinced as he slid his arm band on. Suddenly, there was an action that no android had done before. A nervous tick of lip biting.

Connor brought his plush, lower lip between his teeth absentmindedly and chewed on it as he tried to fully process what happened.

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin would be lying if he isn't finding this ordeal fun. "So what's for dinner?"

Gavin was staring at the ceiling, feeling the tiredness of his eyes intensifies as the seconds grew, and even though he had brought up music to try and silent the noises from next door, my fucking god was this bitch having a good time did her moans grew louder and louder and, Gavin's a little sad he can't hear Alex Turner's voice anymore.

He decided to grab the comforter this time as he heads into the living room. "Hey."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor was curled up on the catch, cuddling with Lucky. He looked up and tilted his head curiously.

“Hello. What are you doing up so late, Gavin?” He had thought the other had went to bed hours ago, reading his internal clock to see it was 1 AM.

Connor had played something quiet to break the silence, a random movie that he wasn’t really interested in playing in the background.

Detective FUCK BOY "Do you mind scooting over? My neighbors are trying to make a new kid next door, and I need to sleep."

He glances Luck a look of betrayal. So that's why she's not in his room, when normally she cuddles with Gavin. Wow.

Slut Sent By Cyberlife It took Connor a moment to understand what he meant before giving him a quick nod.

“Of course-“ He moved over, Lucky jumping away to curl up on the arm of the couch and watch the two.

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin settled down on the space, wrapping the blanket around him. He turns around, not facing Connor and just starts closing his eyes.

But then he found himself, twisting and turning every few seconds and shit, he's gonna be awake for the next thirty minutes, isn't he?

He exhales, looking back at the ceiling. He needed to waste energy and distract himself, just allow sleep to take over instead of forcing it but the thing is, he forgotten his phone in the bedroom, and he was too lazy to retrieve it.

He probably would never do this fully awake, but right now? His sleep-derived thoughts aren't working anymore, and next thing he knows, he started talking.

"Honestly I don't know who's she's having sex with anymore."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife Connor was surprised Gavin was talking with him, and Connor gave a shrug.

“From what little I know, I assume it must be the young man I’ve seen enter her apartment.”

Detective FUCK BOY "Derek must have been gone for the week then. Could only explain why Annabell's doing the nasty. Derek and Annabell are siblings. Derek's been living in that apartment nearly as long as i've been here. Annabell? About four years ago, after she graduated college.

Don't know much about them but they're nice. Kind of weird, especially Annabell. She's the type that looks prim and conserve but trust me, she likes bad boys." He smirks, looking at Connor, "She actually asked me out once when I was on my motorcycle."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “Ah.” He then furrowed his brows at the comment about her asking him out. A strange feeling blossomed in his chest at that comment.

Software Instability ^

“It’s illogical to assume you are a “bad boy” just because you ride a motorcycle. A fallacy in reality, honestly. You seem like a rather good man to me.”

Detective FUCK BOY "Seem.. like a rather... yeah, giving a lot of confidence that i'm a good guy here, tin can."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “I apologize, but I’ve only known you for a few days. Though, from how well you treat your cat, I can already tell that you are kind.”

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin gazes up above him, on the sleeping Maine Coon, "Fucking traitor."

He then snorts, as he turns to the side, pulling the blanket near him, "Yeah, well, try not to judge people base on their actions to others. I might be nice to my cat, does't mean i'm nice others. Luck's my cat, it would make sense why I should treat her right."

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “But, humans react to animals, much like they would children. I can tell you probably sympathize with children, especially if they’re victims. And you may not like others, but it doesn’t make you horrible.

After all, you don’t really like me, but unlike other humans who don’t like Androids, you’ve never attempted to truly hurt me or intimidate me much.”

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin looked over his shoulder at Connor. How the fuck did this piece of shit managed to look through his layers with just spending two days with him?

When Eli had spend years with him and yet, couldn't even go pass the first layer.

"Don't read too much into it. You'll end up overheating." he looks back ahead,

Slut Sent By Cyberlife “Perhaps I wouldn’t mind overheating if it lets me learn more about you. After all, you’re one of the few fascinating people I’ve met. Everyone else I’ve seen, encountered, they all hold an underlying motive, a front they hide behind.”

He gently brushed fingers with Gavin, though it was unclear if it was an accident or on purpose.

“You’re one of the few who don’t feel the need to hide them self.”

Detective FUCK BOY Gavin didn't dare to look behind him, just kept curling on his blanket, and just muttered a quiet, "Night, Tin Can."

That night, Gavin dreamt of sitting on his motorcycle while a pair of arms were hugging his waist. He couldn't see the person behind him, their brown hair the only thing poking out as their bury their face on Gavin's shoulder, but what struck to him most, where the fabric on his arms.

They were wearing a gray hoodie.

[coldtomyflash]

Something bugging me that I haven't seen much discourse on: the Stein Puppet in the midseason finale. Not so much the puppet itself, but the logistics behind it. Was there a mission where they were all given puppet versions of themselves? Is Leo Snart an expert puppet maker? Did Gideon have an algorithm for it? I NEED ANSWERS DAMMIT.

I’ve decided it was Ray (Palmer’s) puppet. And that he has ones of the entire team.

Remember him being lost in whatever era of dinosaurs that was (jurassic? cretaceous?) and making little versions of his teammates out of rocks and such?

Now imagine that once he was back on the Waverider, he started to miss having those little rock buddies to talk to. It really helped him get out his thoughts and feelings and navigate his emotions about the team to have these little rock versions of them. Not to mention: comfort objects.

So anyway, after returning to that era and showing off those little rock folks he made, he realizes he wants something like them for his room, alright? So he ends up designing and creating puppet/muppet/doll versions of each of the crew members after that? Maybe he does it lovingly by hand or maybe he gives Gideon the designs and uses the fabrication room or maybe he takes his designs to a dollmaker in some era or another that they visit, but one way or another, in the space of about a week he goes from zero stuffed-puppet team members in his room to a full crew’s worth.

And I do mean full crew’s worth. There’s all the current (when he makes them, in S2) Legends so there’s Amaya and Nate alongside Martin and Jax and Mick and Sara and even himself, but then he’s also got ones for original Legends, including Rip (who’s not around or maybe just returning when he makes them), and Kendra and Leonard and even Carter. 

And then the Time Bureau comes along and takes the Waverider and no one has seen these puppets yet and they all see him leaving the ship with them but honestly, no one asks. They don’t want to know.

Okay that’s a lie, Nate totally asks (while everyone else is in the background shaking their heads). Nate’s response to Ray’s happy explanation is just an “uh huh” and a “you need to get out more, buddy.”

(Also he may have acquired a stuffed version of the Waverider because Gideon made a sly comment about like ‘so am I not part of the team, Mr. Palmer?’ and he felt bad, but also maybe she just slipped a puppet version of her human-like avatar out of the fabrication slot one day when he was walking by and he was like “huh? OH! Gideon!” and that was that).

But then, okay, they take the Waverider back from the Time Bureau, pack up their stuff for the trip, and everyone knows he has these weird dolls so he’s way beyond hiding them because sure it’s weird but it’s his team and he loves them all, okay? So he proudly displays them, and whenever anyone goes in his room to say something, they have to see them. 

And seriously, no one quite knows what the hell to make of them. Nate is like “yeah okay it’s kinda cute, I like this little version of me, he’s got cute hair” whereas Amaya uses the word “disturbing” at least once. Jax just stares at the doll-version of himself and shakes his head a little, and when he comments about it to Martin, Martin is like “Mr. Palmer has always been a bit of an… odd duck”. Sara picks hers up and shakes it. “Not enough knives.” Ray promptly gets a fabricated plush knife to go with it. 

Mick sees the dolls, notices that the doll version of him is holding hands with the doll version of Leonard, and grunts without making any verbal comment but doesn’t threaten to punch Ray so Ray takes it as a grunt of approval. And Ray has caught him at least once hanging out in his room rearranging the dolls (talking to the Leonard doll?), though he completely denies it and pretends he was there for something else each time. They remain holding hands each time Ray inspects them though.

And then, of course, Zari boards the ship! And she gets a doll :D And she thinks this is hilarious and no less strange than everything else about the Legends. And her doll, along with 1-2 others each time, has gone mysteriously missing once or twice and Ray has found them in different locations on the ship in a little tableau, like mock-fighting, or in front of the video game console “holding” the controllers, or playing cards. He’s honestly overjoyed that Zari has a sense of humor? And she’s just like “how did you not think of fabricating them new little outfits? Everyone on this ship loves dumb looking outfits” and then it’s just a thing. The dolls get to dress up.

(”No, Sara, I’m fine - I’m not regressing to childhood. This is just… team-building. See, Zari’s having fun?” “Jax is worried about both of you and frankly so am I.” “I got Gideon to fabricate your puppet an outfit with 5 new spots for weapons. “…. okay lemme see that.”)

So when Leo comes about he’s just absolutely thrilled by this and asks Ray to borrow his Martin-puppet for some team grief-therapy and Ray’s now got this conundrum of whether he needs to make a new doll for Leo or whether the original Leonard doll covers both of them….

[sprinkleofhappinessuniverse]

What A Wonderful World - (Dean Winchester x Reader)

Synopsis: You wake up to find youself with a house, kid and your spouse is...Dean? Of course everything is not what is seems. 

Pairing: Dean x Reader 

Warnings: Swearing, Angst, fluff, Canon-Typical Violence, Small Mentions of Violence, My not-so-good writing

Word Count: 3,921

A/N: Okay, so I was talking to @poe-also-bucky last week and she gave me the idea for this Fic and encouraged me to write more Dean so shoutout to her 💙💙💙

As you opened your eyes a bout of dizziness fell upon you. You clenched your eyes shut again and put a hand on your head as you tried to remember the events of the last few moments and regain your consciousness.

You reopened your eyes and was surprised to find yourself lying on a double bed in what appeared to be a...bedroom. Opposite you The Wizard Of Oz was playing on a TV and a vanity table stood in the corner, with an ordinary bedside table to the left of you.

"What the hell?" You thought to yourself. You could have sworn you were on a hunt with Dean not that long ago, though the details of what you were hunting and what town you were even in were hazy. You noticed your clothing was different too. Definitely not the typical attire you wore when hunting. No, the outfit you were donning now was too casual - loungewear. Clothing, ordinary people with an ordinary life wore and you were no ordinary person.

You shifted your body and your leg hit a lump.You let out a startled gasp when it started wriggling. Next to you, you noticed the wriggling lump took form in a 6 year old boy who was peacefully sucking his thumb and humming along to Somewhere Over The Rainbow.  

A sweet aroma wafted in the room, causing your stomach to grumble. The sound of someone scrambling through cupboards let you know that yourself and the boy weren't the only occupants in the house. You moved some more and the boy sat up looking straight at you.

"You're awake!" The boy exclaimed excitedly. "Daddy's making you breakfast, though I'm not s'posed to tell you."

"Your daddy? And he's in the kitchen right now?" You asked. You didn't even know who this boy was or why he was talking so comfortably to you. He nodded. Well, he seemed to have a parent around at least.  

After a few moments of dazed silence he leant against your arm still sucking his thumb.

"I love you mommy." He mumbled.

"What? No, no, no. I'm not your mommy!" You exclaimed.

"You're funny! That's why you and daddy are always laughing in the morning!" He giggled. You couldn't help but smile a little however you were more than confused. This kid thought you were his mom!

You caught a glance at the two of you in the vanity table mirror and that’s when you saw the resemblance. He had your facial shape, eyes and cheeks. He was very much your son. That begged the question: Who was his father? The curvature of his mouth and the way he was humming struck you as familiar, alongside the freckles that decorated his face.

Unsure on what else to to do you stroked his hair gently and he nuzzled closer into to you. A knock at the door broke you away from your thoughts.

You were sure you almost had a heart attack once you saw who was standing at the door. Holding a tray with food on it, dressed in a blue plaid shirt on top of a black t shirt was Dean.

No way, you thought to yourself. Small slithers of your memory was making its way back to you. A kiss. You and Dean had kissed which caused you to both freak out. You could vaguely remember, an argument between the two of you while you were out solving a case and then you left him. Your brain left a foggy blank after that. At least that's what you thought had happened. Dean standing there looking at you like you were god’s gift and the kid nuzzling into you suggested otherwise.

"Dean? Wha-I...you're his dad?" Was all you were able to stumble out. This went way past confusing.

"Unless we're having a Jerry Springer moment, and you shacked up with some other guy, I'm pretty sure I'm his dad, yeah ." He chuckled. "Anyway, I made you breakfast."

"Uh, yeah, he told me." You said nudging the boy, no, your son. It dawned on you that you didn't even know what his name was.

"Theo buddy, we gotta work on your secret keeping skills. You think batman, got as far as he did by telling everyone he was really Bruce Wayne?" Dean playfully chided. Theo, hung his head. Dean turned to you. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

"Sorry daddy. I didn't mean to ruin the surprise." Theo murmured.

"S'okay kiddo." Dean said watching Theo wriggle onto your lap before taking a seat next to you and planting a kiss on your cheek. You turned your focus to the tray that sat in front of you and your stomach grumbled excitedly at the stack of pancakes and bacon that sat on the plate.

"So..." You began, breaking a piece of pancake with your fork, "We're a family, huh."

"Yep. One small, weird but happy family." Dean said smiling at you. You smiled back, shoving a forkful of pancake in your mouth.

"So, um, what about Sam?"

"What about Sam?"

"Like where is he? Isn't he usually with us?" You asked.

"He's in California. He's a hot shot College kid, remember? You were on Skype with him for like three hours yesterday. It's like the two of you were married." Dean leaned over and picked up a piece of bacon with Theo digging into the pancakes.

"Woah," you muttered to yourself. "So we don't go hunting together?"

"I've never been hunting in my life." Dean was now giving you a strange look.

"So what about Cas?"

"Who the hell is Cas?"

"You know, Cas as in Castiel!"

"Castiel? Like the main character of your book?"

"I have a book?" You weren't sure what the hell was going on but it was trippy.

"You've only been talking about it, non-stop, for the last seven years."

"I have?"

"Yeah and it's been your lifelong dream and you're working on a sequel."

"I am?"

"Honey, are you okay? Did you take something? Do the pancakes taste weird at all?" Dean said in a hushed voice. You shook your head. "Okay, good. Your parents will be here soon."

"They are?" As far as you knew your mother was MIA and your father was dead.

"Don't you remember? They're gonna have Theo for the night."

"Yeah I can't wait to see grams and pops!" Theo piped up suddenly, syrup smeared on his cheeks from where he shared your pancakes. "Uncle Sam said it was so you and daddy could have some grownup time with lots of kissing." He scrunched up his tiny face in disgust. You couldn't help but let out laugh.

"And daddy's gonna kick Uncle Sam's ass." Dean muttered. "I think we should get you cleaned up buddy."

Dean got off the bed with Theo clambering behind. He went to take Theo's hand but grimaced slightly once he saw the sticky syrup over his hands. They left the bedroom, leaving you to contemplate your surroundings. You grabbed the breakfast tray and got off the bed. You decided you'd take the tray to the kitchen and check out your so called house and try and make sense of this life, you had no idea you lead.

On your way out of the room you noticed a novel sitting on the bedside table. The title read The Angel Of Thursday by (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N). So you were an author, Dean was your spouse and you had a kid? Although, you were confused as hell, you couldn't deny that it sounded like a pretty sweet life.

Leaving the book on the table, you walked out of the room and began to make your way downstairs to the kitchen, smiling at the sounds of Dean and Theo joking about in the bathroom.

The kitchen looked pretty standard. A couple of drawings and appointment notes. You walked into the living room and your eyes fell upon the mantelpiece where a number of photographs sat. There were a couple of photos of you and Dean, his arms wrapped around you in one, him kissing your cheek and another showing the two of you smiling brightly. There were a few more featuring Theo. One from when Theo was first born and a couple of more recent ones, including a photograph depicting a smiley Theo, front teeth missing dressed in football  gear. You couldn't stop the smile that formed on your face. You really were one happy family.

You scanned the rest of the photos and a lump formed in your throat. There was a photograph of you and your dad, only it seemed to be a recent photograph. You looked not much younger than you were now. That was impossible, your father died when you were eight. Next to it was another photograph, this one of Dean and Mary. Again a recent photograph and again should have been impossible.

The sound of the doorbell made you jump back into reality. You put the photographs back on the mantlepiece before walking to the front door. Upon opening the door, you felt your breath hitch a little. Standing before you were your parents.

Despite Dean telling you they were coming and you seeing the photographs that must have been taken recently, you couldn't help but be surprised and it must have shown on your face because they both raised their eyebrows at you.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Your father spoke first. Afraid you'd start crying you went in for a hug.

"I'm fine. In fact I’m great Dad. I just can't believe that...well you're actually...alive."  You mumbled whilst squeezing his neck.  

"Hey! I may be old but I'm not that old." He chuckled. You let go of him and hugged your mom.

"You've never been this happy to see us. You never hug us. Are you feeling alright?" Your mom said, awkwardly hugging you back. You mumbled something back but it was incomprehensible, even to you, due to the overwhelming amount of emotions bubbling up.

"Grams! Pops!" Theo's voice rang out.  You felt an arm wrap around your middle and you turned to see Dean holding Theo in his arms. Your parents beamed at their grandson and Theo wriggled out of Dean’s grasp and ran into the loving embrace of your mom.

“How’s my favourite troublemaker?” Your mom said to Theo.

“It’s good to see you again Dean.” Your dad said.

“It’s good to see you as well.” Dean replied politely. Both your parents smiled lovingly at Dean - you had always known they would like him.

Across the road a young man caught your eye. His complexion was deathly pale and he was staring at you with a hollowed expression. You felt a tugging feeling at your stomach - a kind of familiarity - and you could have sworn you saw him mouth the words ‘Help Me’.

“Babe?” Dean’s voice broke you out of your trance. You looked to see both your parents and Dean looking at you with an expression of concern. You looked across the road and the man was gone. Shaking your head your head a little you turned back to your family.

“Let's head inside.”

It felt as though Dean had been searching for the Djinn on every street and back alley. There were no signs of an abandoned warehouse or any large building for that matter. To top it all off, you weren't answering your phone.

"Dammit, Y/N." he huffed after trying your cell for the fourth time. He couldn't stop the small bubble of panic.

He didn't rule out the possibility of you giving him the silent treatment and not returning his calls. It wasn't like when the two of you split up to cover more ground, you left on the best of terms. Angry words were exchanged. You had told him "Screw you." After he said the kiss you had shared a few nights prior was a "mistake”. 

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He knew it was no mistake and that more than anything he wanted to be with you. But he was Dean Winchester and if there was one thing Dean Winchester struggled with, was his feelings. 

Despite your heated exchanged he knew you would have at least sent him a text or that you'd have run into each other by now. It felt like he had searched the whole area. He continued down to the end of the street and opposite he spotted a run down house. 

"That's not creepy at all." He muttered to himself as he walked towards it. 

He noticed a gate at the side of the house was open and lead to a backyard that was way to large to be a normal backyard. It stretched out for what seemed to be miles. He inspected the back of the house closer and noticed a grimy window at the bottom just above ground. Crouching down he managed to just about peer in and he saw a vast run down basement that like the backyard seemed to stretch for miles. Squinting he noticed a hazy figure of a boy tied up. He found the Djinn's bat cave. 

He took his phone out of his pocket and tried your number once again. He froze once he heard your ringtone coming from the basement. Shit. 

He ran to the front of the house once he realised the window was too small for him to fit through. He didn't have to much trouble with getting the door open and managed to find the entrance to the basement.  He got out the lamb's blood and silver knife and prepared to gank the Djinn. 

He found you and two other victims tied up and passed out in your fantasy induced coma. He took the liberty of cutting the ropes of the victims first before making his way over to you. 

Before he cold even begin to cut your ropes he felt a strong grip on his arm. The Djinn spun him around, tattoos lighting it up as it placed a hand on his forehead. However, Dean was quick and in one swift movement he stabbed the Djinn right in its heart. 

"Take that, you son of a bitch." He watched as the Djinn was drained of its life and power. 

He heard the stir of movements and could see the other two victims, slowly blinking their way back to reality. He focused his attention on you and broke your ropes but you showed no signs of waking up. Alarmed his quickly dialled Sam's number. 

"Dean, what's up?" Sam said.

 "The Djinn got Y/N." 

"What? How?” 

"I don't know but she's out cold. I managed to find and gank the bastard but she's still not waking up. I don't know what to do Sammy." Dean said unable to hold down the panic in his voice. 

"Okay, okay, calm down we'll figure this out." Sam reassured. Dean rubbed his forehead anxiously as he looked at your limp form. 

"Well we better figure something quick." 

"Okay maybe she's still stuck in her fantasy. Maybe she's still trying to distinguish reality from her fantasy. Remember when you entered Charlie's nightmare?"

 "What and the zombified soldiers? What's that got to do with..." Dean started as the realisation of what Sam was suggesting hit him. 

"African Dream Root." Both boys said in unison.

 "We should have some here. Text me exactly where you are and stay put I'll be there as soon as I can okay?" Sam said. 

"Okay, hurry Sammy." 

You, Dean, Theo and your parents had spent a good couple of hours in the living room chatting happily. While Dean and your mother talked amongst themselves, your dad sat talking about his childhood in the armchair with you on the floor and Theo on your lap eating a sandwich - he definitely got bit yours and Dean’s love for food.

There was something so nice about the current situation and the fact that your dad was alive and talking to you made you happy beyond belief. There was a small part of you that wanted to stay in this life.

After some time you and Dean ended up in the kitchen.

“I can't believe we actually lead this wonderful life.” You said wistfully.

“Yeah, it's pretty great.”

“We have a kid! A kid that we made!”

“Best night of my life.” Dean grinned. You chuckled still half surprised.

“Let's go for a drive.” You said wondering if you still had the impala. Dean raised an eyebrow before shrugging.

“Okay, we’ll grab takeout. Chinese sound good?” You nodded before telling your parents and Theo where you were headed and making your way to the front door.

You smiled when you saw the impala.

“Here she is! Good to see you baby!” You said tapping the Impala’s roof.

“What so are you like Dr Dolittle for cars or something now?” Dean joked, though he was looking at you somewhat strangely.

“Well it is the Impala. Only one of the greatest cars of the last fifty years.”

“Babe, it's just a car.” Dean said. You looked at him as though he grew two heads. Now this was strange. Dean handed you the keys before getting in the passenger’s side.

“Seriously?” You asked. Dean never let you drive the Impala. He only let you once and even then he made some snarky remark about how this wasn't Fast and The Furious and that you need to treat her well, with love. Sure, you found his love for his Car a little weird but now seeing him not love this car at all was so much weirder.

You got in a started up the engine before driving down the street. You drove in peaceful silence while you looked out for a Chinese Takeout shop.

When focused your attention back on the road you saw the apparition of the boy again and this time you were sure you heard him say “Help Me.” You slammed down on the brakes.

“Y/N, What the hell!”Dean shouted.

“The boy! You didn't see him!” You exclaimed, now looking at Dean. You looked back at the road and he was gone. “He was right there and he was asking me to help him!”

“Okay pull over.” Dean said.

“Wha? Why?”

“Just pull over, Y/N.”

You managed to pull over and Dean got out of the car and walked over to yourself.

“Dean what the hell?” You exclaimed.

“You're acting weird. And not normal weird. You're starting to freak me out, I'm driving us both home.”

You were too confused by everything to argue so you obeyed. As he drive the two of you home you bits and pieces of your actual life was starting to come back.

“None of this is real, is it?” You said as the two of you pulled into your driveway and got out.

“What are you talking about? Of course this real!”

“But, we’re hunters. Me, you and Sam.” Memories of your real life was coming back to you. “Not that long ago me and you, we were on a hunt! We had an argument and then...I ended up here?” You were forgetting something but you couldn't quite place it.

“Y/N, look at me.” Dean said grabbing your arm. “You're starting to really freak me out now. All of this is real. You, me, Theo, this house. All very much real.”

You looked at him in disbelief. A knife dipped in lamb’s blood was floating around in your head. You shook your head at him and went in the house headed straight for kitchen ignoring him calling after you. You pulled open the drawers in search for a silver knife, once you found it you opened up the fridge and fortunately for you there was fresh lamb meat wrapped up. You were able to dip the knife in the little blood that was there.

“What the hell are you doing!” Dean exclaimed, running over to you. You noticed that the kitchen had a back door and suddenly it swung open and standing there was...Dean?

Shocked you looked Between The Dean that was standing in front of you and the Dean that was standing in the doorway.

“Y/N, none of this is real. You have to fight this. Or unusual you're gonna die.” Dean standing in the doorway said. You locked eyes and that's when your memories came back to you. You splitting up when hunting the Djinn. The Djinn must've got you. The Djinn.

“Y/N don't listen to him. You don't have to fight this. You can stay here for what will feel like a lifetime. This is what you want isn't it? A normal life, normal family. You can be with your parents. You be with your son. You can be with me. You do want to be with me don't you, Y/N.” “Not-Dean” Dean said.

Even though you knew it wasn't real and just a fantasy you couldn't help the small part of you that wanted this life. So badly. You found yourself nodding and heard the real Dean’s breath hitch. No, you had to fight this.

“You're right I do want to be with you.” You said. “But you're not my Dean.” You pierced the knife through your stomach before everything went black.

You found yourself blinking yourself back into reality and in Dean’s arms in the Djinn’s basement.

“Y/N.” Both Dean and Sam said.

“Sup...losers.” You managed to get out, grinning. You could see the relief on both of their faces.

They helped you up and got you into the Impala. After helping the other two victims they got to the bunker with Sam, leaving you and Dean in your room.

“Thanks for saving me, I owe you.” You said breaking the silence between you.

“What're family for.” Dean muttered back.

“How did you manage to into my dream anyway?” You asked.

“African Dream Root.”

“Well, I'm sorry for the way I acted, y’know before the Djinn Dorothy’d me to Oz.” You said. “But aren't you gonna ask me about it? About why you were there?”

Dean shifted uncomfortably a little before looking toward you.

“I'm not good with the whole...feelings thing.” He bagan. “Truth is, I'm not even sure I've been in love before.”

It was something about the way he said before that gave you some hope.

“What about now Dean?”

“Now...I think I may be in love but to tell you the truth I'm terrified.” Dean said rubbing a hand over his face. You sat up and manoeuvred yourself so you were sitting next to him.

“And you think I'm not? Given our life, I'm terrified. I'm terrified of losing you! But I'm terrified of losing you whether we’re together or not. And quite frankly we’re better together.” You said putting your hand on his arm. “Dean, that fantasy may have just been a fantasy and I know I'd still take hunting with you and Sam over the apple pie life but if there's one thing that's definitely real is that I'm in love with you.”

He looked you and smiled softly. You smiled back and moved closer to him so that your arms were touching.

“Okay we’ll make it work.” He said. You could feel your face light up. “Like you said we’re better together.”

You took his hand into yours and he kissed you on your forehead. There was no place like home.

Tags: @poe-also-bucky @thegenderqueerbatman @mrsdeanfuckingwinchester