#TIRED i just wanted to look at Ned Flames shit

[evilneo]

people on tiktok: youre not radical for being in an all white polycule and that means youre bad and deserve to be ridiculed

people in real life: hey man hows it going :]

[patriciasage]

i’ll cover you

Author: Patricia_Sage

Fandom: The Adventure Zone - Amnesty

Pairing: Duck Newton/Indrid Cold

Summary: 

Duck’s not wearing his helmet.

That’s the thought that enters Aubrey’s mind as Duck flies through the air and into the side of the barn. He crashes through the painted wood and lands in a cloud of dust and hay.

[posted in full under the break but you can find me on AO3]

Duck’s not wearing his helmet.

That’s the thought that enters Aubrey’s mind as Duck flies through the air and into the side of the barn. He crashes through the painted wood and lands in a cloud of dust and hay.

“Duck!” Aubrey yells. Her friend answers with a groan and a cough. Aubrey feels a mixture of relief and concern; he’s alive, but he doesn’t sound great.

The abomination, an unsettling beast with many limbs and many, sharp teeth, moves to pounce through the hole in the wall. Aubrey’s about to blast it with flame but something beats her to the magical punch.

The Mothman crashes into the abomination and the two of them break a huge tree trunk in half with their impact. “Timber!” Ned shouts. He and Aubrey avoid the tree as it hits the ground. They make eye contact over the fallen log. “I was under the impression that Indrid would rather not engage in combat,” Ned says. Aubrey shrugs. She spies gleaming red in in the grass nearby and pockets Indrid’s glasses. They run toward the sounds of a monstrous scuffle.

This outing was meant to be reconnaissance only. The Pine Guard trio had brought Indrid just in case his visions could give them some clues. Instead of a peaceful investigation of Mrs. Rahimi’s acreage, they found the source. The abomination is a horrifying approximation of a creature. In the setting sun, they had seen it consuming one of the cows with a huge mouth and way too many limbs. It noticed them before they could retreat.

Indrid had stepped back, alarmed. “I’m not – I didn't see it until - I don’t have a weapon!”

Duck had moved in front of him, Beacon drawn and gnashing for a fight. “S’alright, dear, we gotcha. Hang back.”

Indrid is done hanging back, it seems.

The Mothman is locked in a thrashing embrace with the abomination, slashing with his claws and stabbing with his pincers. His huge, dark wings are fluttering to balance him. The abomination has too many limbs for him to block, though, and he’s taking some hits.

“Shoot it, Ned!” Aubrey commands.

Ned lifts the NARF Blaster with a steady hand. Aubrey can see the apprehension in his eyes, but his mouth is set in a determined line under his beard. He pulls the trigger.

The abomination lets out a guttural sound and twists out of the Mothman’s grip. To everyone’s horror, it begins running toward the barn. “Shit!” Aubrey says, letting out a blast of fire that misses the creature and smoulders in the grass. Ned fires another foam bullet, but it only catches one of its legs. It barely slows.

The realization that Duck hasn’t emerged from the barn yet sits like a stone in Aubrey’s chest. The abomination is coming to finish him off. Aubrey and Ned are sprinting as fast as they can, but they know they won’t be able to catch it.

There’s a thunderous beating of wings as the Mothman swoops down from above and grabs the abomination. As he raises it into the air, it goes limp like a cat that’s been scooped up by its owner. But as they ascend higher it begins to struggle. Aubrey and Ned watch in awe as the Mothman’s huge wings carry the abomination up into the pink sky. “I can’t believe he can carry it,” Aubrey says, catching her breath. Next to her, Ned agrees. They crane their necks and follow the red dots of the Mothman’s eyes as he gets smaller and smaller.

The abomination is dropped from an incredible height. It falls, flailing, until it meets its gruesome end. Aubrey and Ned flinch as the creature is impaled on a nearby fencepost. “Ouch,” Aubrey mutters. The abomination doesn't move.

“Your precision is impressive –” Ned says as the Mothman lands, but he pushes past them without even a glance and dives through the hole in the barn’s wall. Ned and Aubrey follow, avoiding the splintered shards of wood around the opening.

There’s a horrible, suffocating moment when Duck doesn’t move, crumpled in a pile and covered in bloodstained hay. Aubrey nearly rips Ned’s shirtsleeve in her grip. But then the Mothman places a gentle, clawed hand on his hair, and Duck stirs with a groan. “Wha’ happened?” he mumbles.

“Dude, you gotta wear your helmet!” Aubrey says. When she moves forward, the Mothman whirls around, snarling, wings fully extended as a shield. Aubrey freezes, looking up into huge, red eyes and pincers dripping with the abomination’s blood. “H-hey now.”

Ned is at her side again, hands extended placatingly. “Friend Mothman, we mean no harm.”

Aubrey can barely see Duck behind the Mothman’s imposing form, but she hears him hiss in pain as he moves into a seated position. “You don’t gotta talk to him like –” He cuts himself off with a sigh. The Mothman deflates a little and she sees Duck clumsily stroking the feathers of his wings. “He’s still Indrid. He just got scared. But I’m alright.”

“With all due respect, Duck, you don’t look alright,” Ned says. It’s true. Duck is bleeding from a head wound and his shirt is stained red where the abomination pierced him in its grip. He’s holding his ribs gingerly.

“Yeah,” he rasps, “I should probably go to the hospital.” He gives the Mothman a final pat on the back with his free hand. “Come on, ‘Drid. Let them in.”

The Mothman moves aside, allowing Ned to move to Duck’s side. His wings are folded and twitching and he’s wringing his clawed hands together in a very human way. Aubrey attempts to shake off the instinctive fear that rises at the sight of his imposing insectoid form and approaches him. She takes his red glasses out of her pocket and offers them.

He puts his glasses on and he’s Indrid again, tall, skinny, and pale. Tears are streaming down his face. He looks pitiful and Aubrey considers her inability to distinguish fear from anger in his Sylph form.

Duck hears Indrid’s sniffles and turns from where he’s now propped against Ned’s side. “Oh, darlin’, come here,” he says, beckoning with the hand not currently wrapped around his friend. Indrid hurries over and collapses into a cautious but desperate hug. He wraps his long arms around Duck’s broad shoulders and buries his face in his neck.

Ned is an awkward yet sympathetic part of this embrace, and Aubrey nearly laughs at his expression. It’s kind of a strange third-wheel situation. She takes pity on him. “Alright, time to go, boys! We’ll have plenty of time for hugs and tears when Duck is snug in a hospital bed.”

“Yes, I know. I’m sorry,” Indrid says, wiping his nose on his cardigan as he pulls away.

They exit out the front door of the barn. Mrs. Rahimi is nowhere to be seen, thank God, and they make their way across the field to Ned’s car. Aubrey wants to comfort Indrid as they follow closely behind Ned and Duck, but she doesn’t know whether he would want his hand held by her. He’s stopped crying now, watching Duck attentively with a worried and protective expression. She decides to just ask. "Can I hold your hand?"

He starts a little when she speaks. She realizes he must be entirely focused on Duck's futures if he didn't predict her question. He thinks for a second, then answers in his soft-spoken, unsettling way. "Yes."

His hand is cold. They walk in silence for a while. “You did good,” Aubrey says.

He looks down at her for a moment. “I don’t even really remember what happened, if I’m being honest.”

“You made an abomination shish kebab is what happened.”

“Oh.”

The setting sun reflects off of Ned’s car. Aubrey sits in the passenger seat next to Ned while Indrid holds Duck tenderly to his side in the back seat.

Aubrey picks up Duck’s helmet from the floor and hands it to him. He flips her off with a crooked, tired smile. They drive to the hospital.

[moonlit-imagines]

Camping Whenever

Peter Parker x reader

warnings:

a/n: IM WRITING AGAIN SORT OF and tbh i kinda feel bad for not posting as much but HOLY SHIT does life keep kicking my ass

prompt: anonymous: “Hello Lacey! Could I request Peter Parker x female reader with the prompts 34. I just want to cuddle by the fire for a while.” + 47. “I want to look at the stars for a while.”, please? Bonus points: if it’s romantic/fluffy at the end!! ✨ Thanks so much!! x”

So you and your friends snuck out for the night, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was harmless, really. The group of you had a special spot some ways away, Flash had picked it himself...and taken the liberty of driving everyone, even Peter. Maybe he was just trying to get on your good side.

You were on the egde of your seat from start to finish of the car ride.

“Y/N, sit back. The spot’s not going anywhere.” Peter gently placed his hand on your shoulder, easing you back against the seat so he could wrap his arm around you.

“I know,” you mumbled as you leaned onto his shoulder, squishing your cheek, “I just want to get an early start on all the fun.”

“It won’t be much fun with Parker here.” Flash cackled and made the car go silent, he even caught your death-glare when he looked into the rearview mirror.

“Don’t listen to him, babe.” You rolled your eyes and felt Peter plant a kiss on your head.

“Ugh, gross.” MJ growled with the scrunch of her nose.

“Do you really have to do that every time I kiss them?” Peter turned to her and watched a mean smile creep onto her face.

“Yes. Yes, I do.” She turned up her earbuds and stared out the window, then it got quiet again...

“Are we there yet?” Ned asked and everyone groaned. “What? It doesn’t hurt to ask!”

—————

The sun went down and the other stars were out, it was such a beautiful sight to see outside of the city. You couldn’t always take in the full beauty of the sky at night with all those city lights getting in the way.

“Anyone want to tell a spooky story?” Betty asked while flipping on a dim flashlight. How anticlimactic.

“No.” The rest of you replied, killing Betty’s mood. Her frown was almost heartbreaking, but she’d get over it. For now, the six of you would just roast marshmallows, or throw them at each other until one of you accidentally hit MJ and she retaliated. You and Peter ducked out before it could get that far.

“Watch your step, baby.” Peter led you through the brush where twigs and leaves cracked underneath your boots.

“You know, I never get used to you calling me ‘baby.’” You giggled. “It sounds silly.” Not going to lie, Peter was a bit offended, but he simultaneously understood where you were coming from.

“Well, I could keep saying it until it sounds right.” He teasingly suggested, tickling the crook of your neck until you screamed, which didn’t take long. “Alright, alright, I’m done. We’re almost there, anyways.”

“But I just want to cuddle by the fire for a while.” You whined as Peter led you to the clearing near the cold body of water reflecting a luminous moon.

“And I want to look at the stars for a while. Will you stay with me?” Peter crouched onto the grass and reached a hand out as an invitation to join him, his eyes shined just as much as the water.

“Oh, alright.” You caved and joined your hand in his, nearly losing your balance as he tugged you down. You knew he’d always catch you though, so there wasn’t a thing to worry about.

Except for the screams of Flash and Ned?

“Should we go back?” You shot upwards and felt a hand tenderly trace down your arm.

“Don’t go. I’m guessing someone hit MJ with a marshmallow.” Peter got you to calm down some after hearing shocking noise, engulfing you in his sturdy arms from behind. “I don’t think you want to get chased by a flaming marshmallow, do you?” You felt his smile against your scalp after he gave you a few kisses, he sure made you feel loved.

“I suppose we could hold off on that for the night.” You let yourself lean back into Peter and notice the beautifully clear night sky in it’s full effect, tuning out the disturbing screams from your exhausting friends. “I love you, you know?”

“I love you, too.” He whispered back, rocking slowly from side to side while you started feeling more and more tired. “I promise I’ll remember this night forever. Can’t get better than this.”

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartliz07 // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @lokihiddles // @frostedgiantfavs // @emygirl // @lotsoffandomrecs // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @teenwaywardasgardian // @pappydaddy // @captainshazamerica // @freya-xo // @ravenmoore14 // @thisetaernallove // @ofthedewthesunlight // @canarypoint // @zoeyserpentluck //

[lesbiancolumbo]

continuing the burt talk: top five non-SSOS burt roles??

HELLO! this list might cause controversy in the burt community (???) because guys. i do not like westerns. i do not like burt’s westerns. please stop making me watch them. i’m tired.

5. steve thompson, criss cross

guys it’s CRISS CROSS. i’ve already made so many people mad by preferring this to the killers. allow me to double down.... guys, criss cross is good and burt is fantastic in it. what i like about this film is he gets more to do and he has that brutal fucking ending, which plays out mostly on his pretty face. maybe i’m just a sucker for that face but him realizing he’s been double crossed (once again!) by the woman he loves and he just says, in this tone of voice, well i’ll know better next time... knowing damn well there won’t be a next time.... it just gets to me.

4. doc delaney, come back little sheba

okay now i know this is an even more controversial choice but once again hear me out: this is a good movie. burt got so much shit for doing this movie, that he was way too young and wrong for the part, blah blah blah. maybe! maybe he was, and he took this part because this was around the time in his career when he was really smarting from his romantic rival marlon brando getting streetcar and wanted to do more plays and such, but i actually really like the work he does here. he anchors shirley booth’s performance really well, and for me i always saw his spin on it as not being too young for the part but instead a younger man who got involved with an older woman and is dealing with/mourning the sacrifices and choices that came with that. it still works! i don’t care!

3. john malcolm, separate tables

y’all: sydney shut UP about separate tables

me: no

look, only one half of this movie is good and that half is the burt lancaster and rita hayworth half. i would die for john malcolm and ann shankland. i love their storyline because in my heart of hearts i am obsessed with people who were in love once, a long time ago, and it ended (badly or not) and then they meet years later and realize that maybe they’re not good for each other, but those feelings are still there anyway and they’re enough to give it another go. i just love that. i just think burt is good at playing this man who is obviously suffering and tormented by their past relationship (and what he did) and just endlessly in love with this woman he can’t forget no matter how hard he tries!

2. mike ribble, trapeze

TRAPEZE HIVE

this movie is a masterpiece and low key one of burt’s best roles. why?? because his first love was the circus and he is doing all of those fucking stunts himself! his first wife and her sister used to do the trapeze stunts mike and tino do in this movie. it’s very personal for him. i think i’m just ultimately interested in burt as a broken man because that’s once again what he is here, but this movie is like the best of both worlds bc it’s the dramatic range combined with his amazing physical stunts he became known for when he did the flame and the arrow and crimson pirate. also, this is the film that walked so ssos could run - tony begged burt to cast him in the latter and it was only because they’d did the former together (and became really good friends - look for my story about tony climbing up burt’s balcony every night) that he was able to vouch for him. they’re a good team! this movie is fun and colorful and a treat to watch!

1. ned merrill, the swimmer

guysssss the swimmer. THE swimmer. i think this is burt’s best role period. he thought it was his best film, which makes me cry sometimes. i just... it is so strange and surreal, such a mesmerizing performance. the swimmer is truly like a film about class critique and the suburbs and depression and peppering in some gay subtext and voila, you’ve got a fucking movie baby. burt spends the entire movie in swim trunks. he was in his 60s. he LEARNED TO SWIM to make this movie (he was a natural athlete and could do almost everything but swim, which terrified him).

why did he do this??? because he wanted to do it. i think i know why, though i won’t speak for him. but he wanted to do it so badly and i just think it’s an incredible physical performance from a man KNOWN for his brute physicality.

[adventuresloane]

The Million Ways The World Ends

Pairing: Dani/Aubrey

Rating: G

Words: 2.7k+

Raffle prize for @space-unicron !

Summary: "It was like before, when they worked in near-silence and with barely more light than the blue stovetop flame, so as not to wake up anyone else. It might as well have been just the same. Except it wasn't, actually. They'd been in the small kitchen for twenty minutes now, the longest they'd stayed in such a close proximity in weeks."

The world is ending, again. Dani and Aubrey decide to make pancakes about it. (Just some quiet pre-Amnesty finale hurt/comfort because we deserved it. Gift for @space-unicron on tumblr!)

Read on AO3

Aubrey was up at 4 AM and knee-deep in a Wikipedia article about the origin of leap years when the knock jolted her. After taking a moment to reassure herself that it was a person at the door and not a sign of worse to come, she let her breath out. She got off Duck's couch and went to the peephole. 

Technically, it wasn't impossible that she was hallucinating. It had happened before on nights like this--sometimes when she went long enough without sleep, she heard passing police sirens that weren't there, and once when she got her meds mixed up before bed, she thought she could feel the color blue. But standing outside the door, Dani's form looked solid enough. Her heart beat harder than it had been before, stirred up her insides into mush. She unlocked the door. 

"Dani," she said, and then, remembering the others in the apartment, tried more quietly, "Dani." That was all she could think to say. 

Dani, though, only had to look at Aubrey once and then glance away. "Have you slept at all?"

"No."

"You should."

"Well, so should you," Aubrey answered reflexively. 

"You know I don't sleep," she said in a whisper, all the more muffled as she turned her face toward the ground. There might have been a brief, tired smile there, or just a shadow.

Anyway, this, at least, was familiar. They'd had the same pointless conversation many nights, before everything had happened. Though usually, it had happened when one of them was standing in the doorway of the other's room at the lodge. But they weren't at the lodge. Still, this, Aubrey could handle. "Yeah, I know," she sighed. "Apparently I don't either anymore."

"I didn't think you'd be asleep."

She nodded, then waited for more. When Dani didn't give it to her, she scratched the buzzed back of her head and mumbled, "Um, so...do you need something? Everything's okay at Leo's place, right?"

"Yes. Yes, it's definitely fine, I just..." Her arms squeezed more tightly around the brown paper grocery bag, making it crackle. She seemed to remember, at that point, that it was there, and quickly held it straight out to Aubrey as if she were handing her a squawking baby. 

"Oh," Aubrey said a full two seconds before thinking to take the bag from her. She squinted into the darkness to see an egg carton, white bags full of several different kinds of flour, milk in a glinting glass bottle. "Uh...thank you for the groceries?"

Dani had always been quite a bad bluffer. She released the word, "Sure" in a long, heavy breath, not unlike the huff of a sad dog. Something else seemed to come out of her along with it, something that had been buoying her. 

It was getting chilly. "Is that it? Or do you vant to suck my blood?"

That wasn't what Aubrey had meant. She had meant to ask whether she needed anything, again, really. The shitty joke was supposed to have translated, however crudely, into an outstretched hand. But Dani hadn't taken it that way. She jerked as if in reaction to a static shock from the doorknob.

Pancakes, her addled mind put together in that moment. They were ingredients for pancakes.

"No, that's all," she whispered. "Sorry, I...you should keep trying to rest, or..."

"No, hey, hold on." Aubrey reached for her, almost grabbed the sleeve of her sweater, and then pulled her fingers back as if from intense heat. 

This, she realized, had already become a muscle memory. The flinch was her very body not wanting to repeat what had happened yesterday and in previous days.  This past afternoon, when she and Dani and the other Sylphs had made the trek to H2Woah! That Was Fun--the hot springs were closed to them now--they had sat on opposite ends of the backseat, Jake between them. When Aubrey had seen her standing alone over one of the pools and looking straight down, she had thought about it hard, had told herself to let it be, and then regardless had gone over to put a hand on her shoulder. To which Dani had immediately said, Don't, and then, Please. And it was fine, and it made sense that she wasn't ready for that, and it was alright that she was still grieving after Ned and the government and everything, and still of all things that had happened it was this that made Aubrey feel like throwing up into the deep end.

So she wasn't touching Dani now. Dani stopped anyway at her call, hair swinging as she turned her head back towards her. 

Even in her disguised human form, there was a moon-like shine to her eyes. The pupils looked almost glossy.

Aubrey kind of wanted to apologize, though she wasn't sure for what. She swallowed that instinct back hard and said instead, "Do you want to make pancakes?"

For a moment, she said nothing. Then, quietly, but in a voice that sounded more alive than she had in weeks: "You have to invite me in first, you know."

The sun was far from rising still. But the sky held a little more of blue than of black now, to more starkly outline the silhouette of the crater that had been Mt. Kepler. Duck got up at six, out of habit, though since the encroachment of the FBI on the town, his Forest Service duties had been reduced, and he didn't need to head into work as early. They had a couple hours alone. 

It might as well have been like before, in the lodge. They didn't have the stainless steel surfaces of the building's kitchen--stainless steel that they tried not to muck up too much, lest they invoke Barclay's grouchiness--but this was far from the first time they'd made insomniac pancakes in the wee hours. Dani mixed dry ingredients with the sifter. Aubrey whisked the batter hard. Eggs were broken and left a little shining goo on the edge of the granite countertop, which they resolved to clean later. It was like before, when they worked in near-silence and with barely more light than the blue stovetop flame, so as not to wake up anyone else. It might as well have been just the same. 

Except it wasn't, actually. They'd been in the small kitchen for twenty minutes now, the longest they'd stayed in such a close proximity in weeks. Aubrey spoke one or two hushed words at a time, telling her where the pans and utensils were in the unfamiliar kitchen, and sometimes she didn't even speak to do that, just gestured with her spatula or foot at a cupboard door. In the lodge, their quiet had been the quiet of kids at a sleepover after lights-out, warm in the darkness, struggling not to giggle or to look each other in the eye for too long in case their laughing started up again. They had smeared batter on each other's noses. That felt like a long time ago. The only thing they'd had to worry about back then was disturbing Mama, who at that time would either be asleep or up late working on her art, always there somewhere. Mama wasn't anywhere now. Probably nowhere that existed according to the government, anyway.

Aubrey flipped a pancake straight out of the pan and over the back of her head. 

She wheeled around only to find Dani dropping to her knees on the tile. She caught the pancake in her palm just before it hit the ground. Then she intoned, "ow, ow, shit, ow," flipping the hot, floppy thing frantically from hand to hand so as not to let it fall, the harshness of her whispers making up for the lack of volume. 

"Wait, wait, I gotcha, just hold up--" Aubrey brought the pan over, down to her level. Finally, in sailed the offending pancake like a live fish on land. Even in the dim light, she could see Dani's reddened hands. Both froze, crouched on the floor, locked in eye contact while they waited to hear whether anyone had been woken up by all that. No sound came.

Dani cracked first, with a snorting laugh she tried to muffle by hiding her mouth behind her hair like always. Aubrey wasn't far behind, giggling through her teeth until she sounded like a hissing kettle. They alternated laughing and shushing and more barely contained laughing, calming down only to glance at each other again and start right back up, and this went on for maybe a couple minutes before Dani's voice changed and Aubrey looked up to find her crying. 

"Oh, honey..." 

"It's fine," Dani blubbered, scrubbing her eyes. "I'll be fine, I'm sorry."

"It's not fine," she murmured, swallowing the lump in her own throat. She looked out the window. "You can cry it out if you want. The world's falling apart and everything's shit."

"Falling apart?" She almost laughed again, wetly. "It's fallen. Mama's not even..." She choked herself off.

Aubrey gulped hard again. Gulped down her desire to brush the tears away with her thumb. Gulped down how much she wanted to feel the smoothness of Dani's cheek like a balm on her hand. Her fingers twitched. Instead of putting them on Dani's shoulder or knee or face, she stood and then, holding her breath, held her hand out. 

Through her tears, it took Dani a moment to notice the gesture. She took a few more just to blink in surprise. Aubrey felt her chest about to burst.

Then it was her turn to be surprised. Dani, instead of taking her hand, grabbed her upper arm to pull herself off the floor. Aubrey didn't know whether to jolt away from the touch or melt into it. She did neither. She just stayed steady and stiff. Still, Dani kept touching her bicep. First she clung to it. Then, after awhile of her sniffling and struggling to regain her breath, she started to trace the black tattoo on Aubrey's upper arm. There was just enough light from outside now to see it plainly. 

"It's the Black Rabbit of Inlé," Aubrey murmured. "Watership Down was my favorite book as a kid."

"Mm?"

"Yeah," she sighed. While she talked, she felt her own breathing start to regulate again, though she hardly realized she'd been struggling with it before. If she could keep talking, she was still okay. They both were. "I got that after my mom died. He's the rabbit grim reaper, basically, in the characters', uh...weird rabbit mythology. It's cooler than I'm making it sound. Anyway, he's scary, but you find out in the myth towards the end of the book that he can be fair, too, and even kind of merciful."

As she went on, Dani didn't look at her directly, only nodded and "mm"ed occasionally. Early on in their relationship, this was something that had confused and then embarrassed Aubrey. She had assumed that Dani was annoyed by the rambling and simply too polite to say anything. They had had one of their very few fights over it--or, rather, they had come as close to an actual fight as they ever had. When Aubrey, with no small amount of passive-aggression, had said that Dani could leave if she didn't like hearing her talk, Dani had whipped around to look at her with such shock that Aubrey couldn't fathom how her next sentence could be a lie. I do like it, though, she'd said. I just want to hear your voice as much as I can, no matter what you're saying.

Dani wasn't actively crying anymore, just sniffling now and then as snot kept dripping from her nose. "I like Fiver best," she said in a voice that was only a bit hoarse. 

"So you have read it!"

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the way she sometimes did when she grinned. "You mentioned before it was your favorite."

She tried to ignore the familiar surge in her chest, the good ache that almost overwhelmed her. "Figures you'd like the shy, spiritual one. I was always a Bigwig fan myself. Hey, I burnt the hell out of this pancake. You still wanna make more?"

They did. When they were done, they sat on the couch with their plates and ate and watched with parched, tired eyes as golden light peeked over the broken mountain. On the night that the great stone peak was destroyed, it sent up so much debris and powdered rock into the air that the sun looked pale and watery in the gray sky for days afterward. It lent a certain authenticity to the end of the world, a certain movie quality that was almost validating. Now, after the disturbance caused by the destruction of the mountain, the animals were starting to congregate again in the area. The birds in the morning sounded louder in the now quiet town than they ever had. Or maybe they had always been there and were now simply more noticeable. That, too, was to be expected of the end of days.

The pancakes tasted good. While she had a second serving, she tried to keep a running tally of things that still existed, for now, anyway. Birds. 5:18 AM breakfast. Her own encyclopedic knowledge of Watership Down. Presumably, Watership Down itself, assuming the ragged copy in her room hadn't vanished from the shelf. Sunrise.

The woman tucked up against her, having set her plate aside. Dani had always done something to her. For her entire life, Aubrey had tried to get a hold on her perpetually scattered, racing thoughts and wrangle them into order. As it turns out, Dani could quiet them, gently, with just a touch, just the presence of her body. Right now, Aubrey could feel them settling to the bottom of her skull like sand in a slow-flowing river. In the past, no matter what monster she had faced, she could stumble back to find Dani waiting, always waiting at the lodge, steady and calm and content to let Aubrey lean against her as she stretched. That seemed like a very long time ago.

Aubrey almost wanted an apology, though she wasn't sure what for. She pushed the  idea aside. She tried to focus on Dani's cool, soft skin against hers. The sense of familiar calm returned to her, like a loyal pet. Everything, objectively, was shit. Mind-blowingly, deathly awful, actually, if you counted the FBI and the aliens and the distinct possibility of interplanetary war. And it didn't feel that way, just now. It felt like she could evade it all, like the thin girl by her side could hide and shield her from all of it. All the world will be your enemy, Prince of a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you. The still dim, compact living room had the feeling of a den or burrow. The two of them had the feeling of two creatures huddled in the dark, small in the grand scheme of things, but absurdly alive.

"Did you like your apocalypse pancakes?" Aubrey asked.

"Even better than insomnia pancakes."

"Are you scared? About, you know. Everything."

Dani really seemed to think about it before saying, "Kind of...no?"

"That's pretty insane of you, I'm not gonna lie. You're either incredibly metal or you're lying."

"You know I can't lie," she answered wryly. "And, well, I've seen it before, you know. The world ending, I mean. My world ended for the first time when I left Sylvain. I thought I'd die."

Aubrey nodded. She understood. The world had ended on the night her childhood home burnt down. Again when Ned died, when Mama left. Though she was ashamed to admit it, it had even, in some smaller way, ended when Dani seemed to be done with her. She felt that she could lose almost anything else so long as Dani was with her. And here she was, and so, somehow, just in this moment, there was nothing to fear. "Guess the world's always ending, huh?" Aubrey said. "The universe keeps trying to nerf us and we just won't die." 

"It ends all the time in a million little ways." By now, Dani's fingers had worked their way in to weave between Aubrey's. She squeezed. "But you and I won't."

[wlw-imagines-blog]

Just a Blip, Huh? (Michelle Jones x Fem!Reader)

Pairing: Michelle Jones x Reader

Warnings: Far From Home Spoilers

Word Count: 1099 words

Summary: The last night in Prague, and the Reader and MJ sneak out of the Opera to see the festival of Light.

A/N: Uh, I guess Peter’s not into MJ? I might get names and places wrong, because I watched Far from Home once, and I was really tired when i watched it, sorry, bear with me. also, wingman Peter gives me life.

When you stepped into the theatre, you let out a soft gasp. The auditorium was a mixture of velvet and gold paint. The ceiling that stretched above you mimicked the Sistine Chapel, ornate and luxurious. Theatre goers occupied only a few seats here and there. 

“Everyone else must be at the festival,” Betty complained to Ned. “This is so boring.”

Ned was quick to placate his girlfriend. “What? not it isn’t? This is going to be so cool! I bet that no one here has ever been inside a theatre like this!”

You tried not to think too hard about how weird he was acting and weaved around the other students to find M.J. 

M.J. had been your friend since the beginning of high school, and were travel buddies for the school's European trip.

Despite the gorgeous scenery and breath-taking sights, you were constantly anxious whenever M.J. was alone with you.

You had developed a crush on her in Grade 10, and just couldn't shake it.

"I'm an idiot," you had confided to Peter, your friend, after the epiphany. "And I'm in love with M.J.."

He had set down his textbook to look at you. A grin worked it's way to his face. "No. Way."

Peter hadn't even skipped a beat. He was enthusiastic about being your wingman and helping you make a move.

"Okay," he had appeared at your shoulder near the mouth of the theatre's entrance. "Here's the plan; you go and sit with M.J., and make sure that you get a corner seat, and I'll distract Brad."

Ugh, Brad, the guy that was trying to hook up with M.J.

You had nodded, and set off, eventually landing next to her.

"It's beautiful," M.J. said, eyes not leaving the ceiling's artwork.

Kinda like you. You wanted to say, but bit your tongue instead. God, that would have been lame.

She wore a simple floral patterned dress with her black combat boots. M.J. smiled as you sidled up next to her. "You look nice," she hummed.

"Thanks," you grinned, smoothing out your blouse. You wore it with a skirt and your cleanest pair of sneakers. "I didn't know how fancy we were suppose to dress; hopefully this makes the cut."

M.J. let out a soft laugh, and you felt yourself stuttering over your words. "Y-you look nice too!" Yeah, real smooth.

"Therefore I have worth?" She asked mildly.

Oh shit.

You sputtered for an explanation while she snickered. "Hey, I'm kidding, Y/N. Don't worry."

You breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Do you wanna sit together?" You asked, eyeing Brad and Peter at the entrance of the theater. They were giving each other dirty looks while Peter blocked Brad from beeline-ing to M.J..

M.J. shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure. Can we sit in the back?"

You nodded, and she grabbed your hand. Heat flooded your cheeks as M.J. pulled you along to the back row.

Once you were seated, the lights dimmed, and the curtain raised. A hush fell over the already silent theatre as a man in heavy makeup and elaborate costume sauntered onto the stage.

He opened his mouth, and the orchestra swelled into existence. It was magnificent. You felt your chest tighten at his phenomenal voice.

You looked over at M.J., who was equally engrossed in the performance. Her eyes sparkled

It was with a shock that you realized that she had not let go of your hand. Still tightly clasping yours, M.J.'s fingers were intertwined with yours.

Butterflies pleasantly swarmed your stomach as you watched the opera.

The magic of the performance wore off after a few minutes of deep baritones and shaking sopranos. Brad, a few seats in front of you, was yawning every few minutes. You saw Betty and Ned sneak out after a few seconds. Peter didn't even sit for the curtain rise.

You glanced back at M.J.. She had propped her face up with her hand, elbow perched on the arm rest. Her eyes looked like they were about to slide shut any minute.

"Psst," you nudged her. "You wanna get out of here?"

M.J. perked up, still looking glazed. "Definitely."

You stood up, hunching over, pulling her along to the exit. Behind you, M.J. was snickering quietly, trying not to alert your classmates.

You smiled, heart soaring.

The night air was cool, laced with humidity. Every corner of the streets were alight with orange flame and strings of lights. The noise was a congealment of yelling, music, and singing. M.J. led the way through the thick crowd of movement, somehow completely at home in the blur.

At every street corner, there were performers entertaining small crowds. A woman with an elaborate costume twirled fiery batons, while a man on enormous stilts stooped down to spook children. You couldn’t hold back the excited giggles that bubbled.

M.J. led you to a bustling stone bridge, filled with festival goers, all focused on crossing. The two of you stood, arms perched on the railing, watching a massive cathedral sparkle under yellow spotlights.

“This is... it’s so...” the words seemed to escape you.

“Breath-taking,” She finished. 

You and M.J. stood there in silence for a few minutes, watching the crowd. 

Mouth dry, you gently rested a hand on her’s. “Hey, M.J...”

“Yes,” she said, answering a question you didn’t ask. “How about a week from now when we get back? At the coffee shop by my apartment?”

“I... what?” you fumbled. “I never even said anything!”

She turned to you, mouth twitching into a smile. “Peter. He’s terrible at keeping secrets.”

You silently cursed, face burning. “What did he say exactly?”

“He said enough,” M.J. didn’t seem upset, or angry. If anything, she was amused. She noticed your mild panic. “It’s okay, Y/N, I like you too.” 

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“More than Brad?”

She scrunched her nose. “Everyone’s better than Brad.”

You snickered, relief flooding your system. “So, about that date...”

“Next Friday, three p.m.. Meet me at my place. We can go for coffee?” She grinned. 

“Sounds good to me,” you hummed, looking back out to the river, feeling warm and content.

A sudden rattling broke the mood. The sound of twisting metal and explosions grated your ears as flames appeared in the distance. You watched in horror as a beast, much like the one in Venice appeared on the other side of the river.

It howled in rage.

Despite how far away it was, you were compelled to grab M.J. by the hand. She looked you in the eyes, echoing your terror.

Without a word, the two of you raced back to the theatre.

[thank-you-for-the-vampire-money]

GROWN UP CHRISTMAS LIST

link to the sing is HERE

A/N: Last one before Christmas everyone!  Also, I totally forgot Peter Parker is Jewish/Jewish coded and it was too last minute to change so I tried my best to make it work, I’m so sorry >~< please tell me if anything is inaccurate or insensitive and I’ll fix it ASAP

College!Peter Parker x reader

Word count: 1994

Summary: The holiday season is supposed to be joyful and warm!  But Peter can’t feel happy knowing others are suffering.

Warnings: Peter being a bit of a jerk, sadness, mentions of homelessness and illness, a bit of depression/ sadness?

Do you remember me

I sat upon your knee

I wrote to you with childhood fantasies

Well I'm all grown up now

And still need help somehow

I'm not a child but my heart still can dream

  December was a pretty busy season for you and your fiance.  You and Peter had three holidays to plan for that month, sometimes two of them would overlap.  You would both have to go Christmas shopping and prepare for a week of Hanukkah, and of course New Years after that.  It was hectic, but always loads of fun!  This year, you decided to stay with Aunt May over the holidays and celebrate with her and Ned; get the whole gang together!

You rummaged through Aunt May’s decorations, some green and red, others silver and blue, looking for the old holiday pictures of Peter.  It was mandatory you put at least one old picture of Peter up, just to embarrass him.  “Oh my gosh, look at this!” You laughed, calling over Ned and May so they could see.  They looked up from their Christmas-light-untangling to see what you were laughing about.

It was the photo that had been taken a few years ago when you took Peter to see Santa at the mall as a joke.  He was wearing a kippah, an “ugly Hanukkah sweater, and his tallit.  The mall Santa got a kick out of it and both he and Peter looked so happy in the picture.

“I totally forgot about that one!” May cackled, her body moving joyfully as she laughed, “put it on the mantle! That’s too good for people not to see!”.

“Speaking of which, where is Peter?” Ned asked, adjusting his festive Santa hat, “he should have been here by now, it’s been hours,”

“Well he’s got a big grocery list to shop for- two holidays and normal shopping,” you said, putting the picture on the mantle, between the Menorah and Christmas tree, “he was also going to visit MJ,”

  Peter barged into the door, carrying about seven thousand grocery bags, all packed full.  “Little help please?” he demanded, a six pound bag of potatoes balancing on his head.

You and Ned rushed to help him, gathering some of the bags and setting them down on the kitchen floor and counters.  “Are you okay?!” Ned gasped, hoping Peter didn’t hurt himself.

“Yeah, I’m fine!” he snapped, groaning as he rubbed the red marks on his wrists from there the bags were cutting off his circulation.  He pushed past you and stormed to his room, slamming the door.

“... Geez…” Ned hissed, turning back to the groceries to help put them away, “what’s up with him?”.

You narrowed your eyes at Peter’s bedroom door, a little miffed at how poorly he had treated his friend.  “I don’t know… maybe it’s just the holiday shopping- it’s… it’s pretty stressful…”.

 So here's my lifelong wish

My grown-up Christmas list

Not for myself but for a world in need

This is my grown-up Christmas list

  You groaned as you struggled to wrap Peter’s gift- the tape would not cooperate and your wrapping paper kept ripping.  How was it you were being outsmarted by a PS4 that wasn’t even out of its box?  “How do people do this so easily?!” you groaned.

Ned laughed, helping you with the tape, “practice,” he said, handing you a little strip and folding the paper over so it would cover the whole box.

You looked past Ned to see his perfect pile of perfectly wrapped presents.  “Show off…” you muttered, cutting some blue ribbon and tying it into a mediocre-looking bow.

  With soft footsteps, Peter wandered into the kitchen to get himself some eggnog.  That was his favorite part of celebrating both Holidays- he got the best food from both of them.

“Go back to your room! No peeking!” you cried out, shoving his David’s star-shaped stocking under the couch, “we’re wrapping your gifts!”.

He paused mid-sip to cringe.  “Why did you get me gifts?” Peter scoffed, “could’ve spent that money on charity…”.  That last part was said under his breath, but you heard it clear as a bell.

“Hey, you should be grateful!” you spat back, “if you didn’t want anything, you should’ve told me that before!”.  If you were completely honest, Peter had been acting like this since Thanksgiving; bitchy.  You were not going to tolerate it.

He just rolled his eyes and walked back to his room to be alone.

“Don’t worry, (Y/N), I’m sure he’ll apologize once he’s out of this funk,” Ned said, putting a hand on your shoulder.  You wished you could believe that...

 As children, we believe

The grandest sight to see

Was something lovely wrapped beneath the tree

But Heaven only knows

That packages and bows

Can never heal a hurting human soul

  “Turn off the Christmas lights! The Menorah looks so much prettier with them off,” May said, motioning her hand for Ned to switch off the electric lights.

Ned nodded, rushing to turn off all the lights and closing the curtains.  You’re not sure why he decided to do that, it was already dark outside… even though it was only, like, two pm.

May put in the fifth candle in its place, before starting to recite the blessing.  “Baruch atah…. Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam… asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu l’hadlik ner shel Hanukkah…” she recited perfectly, barely even looking at the cheat sheet she printed out.

The cheat sheet was more for you as you tried your very best to speak good Hebrew… you were not very good, definitely butchering the pronunciation.  You looked over at Peter for some guidance, but he wasn’t even trying.

His lips barely moved as he mumbled the blessing, switching his weight from one foot to the other.  His arms were crossed and in his face, he looked… sad.  Overall he just looked uncomfortable.  Peter loved this part of the night!  It was weird enough that he turned down the opportunity to light the candles, but wasn't even participating.  Was he okay?

  May lit the helper candle from the center before taking it from its stand and lighting the other five.  The flame reflected off her glasses as she smiled, so excited to share her family tradition with others.  “Peter, why don- hey… are you okay?” she asked, cupping his squishy face in her hands, “what’s wrong, peanut?”.

Pete looked at her with sad puppy eyes.  He swallowed his feelings, pushing away from her to go back to his room.  “Nothing…” he mumbled, “if you need anything, I’ll be at my desk,”.

 What is this illusion called the innocence of youth

Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

  It was the middle of the night, not a creature was stirring, except for you.  It was cold, it had started to snow, and you only had one blanket, so you were going to the to find another one.  You quietly padded to the living room, only to be startled by the shadowy figure on the couch.

“Holy shit!” you gasped, turning on a lamp, “oh.. Peter… it’s just you…”.

He didn’t even move, he just kept holding the picture he had taken off the mantle, staring at the wall.

  “What are you doing up, darling?” you asked, going to sit down beside him.  He shifted away from you, but it was clear he needed affection, so you gently put a hand on his shoulder.  He let you.  “Peter, you’ve been acting weird, please tell me what’s wrong?” you begged, rubbing his back gently, “I’m worried about you,”.

Peter let out a long, tired sigh, his shoulders sagging.  “What’s the point?” he sniffed, trying not to cry.  Oh, you hated seeing him cry, he always looked so scared and helpless when he cried.  “Why should I enjoy my time during the holidays when there are millions of people suffering?” he sobbed, leaning into your side for comfort, “I tried to visit MJ the other day, but she couldn’t talk because her Aunt is sick, I went shopping and I saw so many homeless people on the street… now that it’s snowing people are freezing!”.

  You heard what he was saying, you really did.  It was hard to enjoy life when you see the world suffer.  But you didn’t understand why this was bothering him now?  He was Spider-Man!  He saved lives, helped people… he was one of the most charitable people you’ve ever known!  “Peter… darling… it’s okay,” you assured him, cupping his face, “you do so much for the world, you can alleviate some of the pain people feel… we can help, we can do something,”.

Tears fell down his cheeks as he looked you in the eyes.  “I know, I know, but…” he sniffed, pulling away from your touch, staring down at the silly Santa picture in his hands.  What happened to him?  He used to be so happy when he was younger… now… he just felt hopeless…  “I can’t stop bad things from happening… an entire galaxy and multiverse of heroes can’t stop bad things… what can I, one man, do?” he ranted, growling in frustration as he stood up to toss the picture back where it belonged.  He sighed again, the wave of anger passing.  “I can’t do anything…” he whispered, slinking back to his room.

 No more lives torn apart

That wars would never start

And time would heal all hearts

And everyone would have a friend

And right would always win

And love would never end

  Christmas Eve, less than twenty-four hours from the most wonderful day of the year, and Peter couldn’t be more depressed.  He drugged up the stairs with his tired feet, exhausted from work.  Damn, why wouldn't maintenance fix that stupid elevator already?  He peeled the red beanie off his head, his curly hair fluffing up from the static electricity as he reached the sixth floor.

“What the hell?” Peter called, seeing the long lines of people in the hall.  All of his neighbor's doors were open, hundreds of strangers were walking from apartment to apartment with plates of food and big glasses of hot cider.  Entire families were sitting on the floor, opening shiny new gifts and little stockings with their kids.

Peter fluidly moved around the crowds of people to get into his apartment, looking for you.  There were still tons of people in his home, lines of people going to the kitchen and back out to the hallway.

“Peter!” you called excitedly, waving your hand above your head from the kitchen, “over here!”. 

He quickly ran over to you, not expecting you to toss an apron onto his head.  “What is going on here?  Who are all these people?” he asked, tying the smock around his waist.

“They're friends,” you smiled, serving latkes to the people coming through the line, “here, take a ladle and serve the beef,”.  He followed orders, still really confused.  “I decided to contact Pepper and your neighbors, do some good this season,” you grinned, yelling over the crowds, “I told them what you said the other day and they wanted to help, so we organized a food and toy drive through Stark industries,”.

A wide smile split Peter’s chapped lips.  “You’re the best, you know that?  You really are,” he shouted, eagerly serving the line.

“Pepper even opened the old Stark tower as public housing!” Ned said, bringing over another pot of potatoes to May so she could continue cooking, “thousands of people will be sleeping and showering there!”

  Peter looked around the room, seeing all the smiling faces coming and going, really experiencing the holidays, possibly for the first time in years. He was so proud of his family, so thankful for them.  This… this is what he truly wanted for Christmas and it was another Hanukkah miracle!

 This is my grown-up Christmas list

This is my only lifelong wish

This is my grown-up Christmas list

____________________

TAGLIST

[dioni5555gaspr]

JAIMELIN AND MADISON

A Short Story By Dionicio Gaspar

CHAPTER 1

It’s the middle of December.

On one evening, two beautiful young women are driving around a snowy highway, just outside of Omaha, Nebraska. These young women are Jaimelin Jensen and Madison Myers.

While driving, the girls are listening to International Feel by Todd Rundgren on the radio as there was no Christmas station to listen to. The girls were not impressed with the song they’re listening to. Madison quickly changes the station once the song was finished. There was nothing to listen to.

“God, I fucking hate old people’s music. Where are the goddamn Christmas stations?”, angered Madison. “Apparently, this is the only station we can find.”, Jaimelin replied. This angered Madison even more, “Are you shitting me?! Fuck!”

The girls continue to drive without any music. There’s nothing but silence.

While driving, the silence is broken as a sound of a siren coming from the distance. It was a police car.

Jaimelin sees the police car from her rear view mirror, “Aww, shit!”

“What?”, Madison takes a peak at the back of the car and sees the police car. She begins to panic, “Aww, fuck!”

CHAPTER 2

As the girls pull over, Madison continues to panic while Jaimelin remains calm. “What do we do? What the fuck are we going to do?!”, Madison screams. Jaimelin slaps Madison to shut her up as she can’t think, “Just shut the fuck up and let me do the talking.”

The State Trooper approaches to the driver seat window. He begins to tap on the glass.

Jaimelin pulls down her window. “Can I help you, Officer?”, Jaimelin asks while still remains calm.

“Mam, I’m going to need to see your license and registration, please.”, the Sate Trooper asks.

“Of course.”, Jaimelin replied. She quickly searches in her purse for her license. Madison helps her to find the registration in the glove compartment.

While searching in the glove compartment, Madison begins to hesitate as she notices a gun in the glove compartment. Jaimelin yells at her to wake her up. Madison quickly grabs the registration and gives it to Jaimelin for the State Trooper.

As Jaimelin gives her things to the State Trooper, he takes a glimpse at them, then to the girls. “You want to why I pulled you two over?”, the State Trooper asks. “Uh... Was I speeding?”, Jaimelin nervously replied. The State Trooper quickly answers, “One of your tail lights are broken.” Jaimelin is quickly relief and begins to go with it, “Oh, no! I totally forgot about that. I promise you, I’ll get those tail lights fix as soon as I can.” The State Trooper believes Jaimelin and gives back her things. “I’ll leave you with a warning. You have a good day, mam.”, the State Trooper walks back to his car. Much to the girls relief.

As the State Trooper walks back to his car, he hears a loud banging noise coming from the trunk of the girls’s car. “Hold it!”, yelled the State Trooper.

As the State Trooper walks back to the girls, Madison quickly panics and grabs the gun out of the glove compartment. The State Trooper approaches to the window, “Mam, I need you to open the- POW!” Madison shoots the State Trooper from her seat. Madison steps out of the car and continues to shoot the State Trooper.

Jaimelin steps out of the car to stop Madison. “What the fuck are you doing?!”, angered Jaimelin.

“This asshole was gonna find out that we kidnapped this little piece of shit and I told him to shut up, but he never fucking did!”, said Madison furiously.

The girls approach to the trunk of the car. Once they open the trunk, a nude male victim jumps out as his hands are tied up behind him and a bag is covering his head, with a muffled voice as his mouth must’ve been taped. The Victim begins to run off to the snowy field.

As the Victim runs off, he keeps tripping and falls to the ground. The girls watch and laugh at his humiliation. The Victim takes one last fall and stays on the ground as he can’t handle the cold. The girls chase after him and brought him back to the trunk.

“Great!”, yelled Jaimelin. “What?”, Madison replied. “What the hell are we gonna do with that guy?”, Jaimelin points at the dead state trooper. “Leave him to me.”, said Madison.

As Madison drags the dead state trooper to his car, she then approach to the police car’s gas tank. She placed a piece of cloth in the gas tank and takes a lighter out and put the cloth in flames. She then quickly ran back to the car with Jaimelin.

“Drive.”, said Madison. “What did you do?”, asked Jaimelin. “Just fucking drive!”, Madison furiously interrupts.

As the girls quickly drove off, the police car explodes into flames.

CHAPTER 3

An hour has past.

The girls kept driving and driving. Until, they found an old house in the middle of the road.

The house belongs to an old man who lives alone.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The sound of the front door is banging. This starts to annoy the Old Man as he walks down the stairs to his front door. “Alright! Alright! I’m coming!”, the Old Man yells to his annoyance. As the Old Man opens the door, he sticks his head out of the door and sees the girls. “What do you want?”, the Old Man asks.

POW! The sound of the gun fires at the Old Man in the belly. It was Madison who shot the old man. Apparently, this made Jaimelin furious, “What the fuck, Maddie?!”

The Old Man groans as he’s still alive. POW! Another shot at the Old Man from Madison, this time at the head. Jaimelin is even more furious.

“Maddie?!”, angered Jaimelin. Madison ignores her. “Give me the gun.”, said Jaimelin. “No!”, Madison replied. “Give me the fucking gun!”, Jaimelin furiously repeats. Madison refuses. Jaimelin punches Madison in the face, she falls to the ground, resulting her to drop the gun in the process. Jaimelin quickly grabs the gun and points it at Madison. “Listen hear, bitch!”, Jaimelin yells, “You’re gonna help me to get Dan’s ass in here and then you’re gonna help me to clean this shit up!” “Fine!”, angered Madison.

As it reveals that the victim was an old classmate of Jaimelin back in high school, Dan, a young Hispanic man, who was also a social outcast. She felt offended after Dan tries to impress her with an emotional YouTube video of him love strucking on her, called Lonely Boy. Dan hoped it would get her affection by referencing the style of Wes Anderson in the video because he was a film buff, but it was the use of her picture in the video that really offended her. This left Dan heartbroken as he realized that Jaimelin doesn’t watch movies. This would later spark a feud between the two in a form of a prank war. Dan would often vandalized Jaimelin’s car by shoving Twinkies in her exhaust pipe, slashing one of her tires, cutting her brakes, and filling her gas tank with chocolate milk. Jaimelin would often put disgusting things in Dan’s locker such as putting a dead raccoon to make it smell bad. She would also find some ways to get him in trouble such as secretly put a realistic toy gun in his backpack causing him to get suspended.

Then one day, for some reason, Dan never came back to school. Jaimelin would’ve been relieved, but she still has a grudge against Dan. In order put an end to this prank war, she must do the unthinkable. By murdering him. She and her best friend Madison, who hates Dan more than Jaimelin, had planned this for a while. It even took after graduation that they need more time to plan. 3 years later, winter came and they finally proceed as planned. Although, no one else, other than Dan, were supposed to get killed.

As if the girls had already messed up, the worst has yet to come.

CHAPTER 4

After the girls disposed the body of the old man and cleaning up his blood, they begin to deal with Dan.

Dan, who is locked up in one of the bedrooms of the house, is tied to a chair. His head still has the bag covering him.

The girls enter the room. Jaimelin takes out a pocket knife.

“Hello, Dan.” Jaimelin slowly approaches to Dan. “I told you to stay the fuck away from me. But you never listen.” Jaimelin grabs the bag from Dan’s head. “And now...”, Jaimelin quickly removes the bag from Dan’s head, “...you’re fucking dead!” As she’s about to stab Dan, only to hesitate as she noticed something unfamiliar with Dan. It’s not Dan.

“Who the fuck is this guy?!”, yelled Jaimelin. “What are you talking about? It’s him.”, Madison replied. “No! No, it’s not him!”, Jaimelin furiously yelled. “Wait, what?!”, Madison yells. Madison takes a closer look on the guy they kidnapped. She sees it’s not Dan.

As the girls remove the tape out the victim’s mouth, he tells them: “I’m not Dan, you stupid bitches! I’m his older brother, Ned!” “WAIT, WHAT?!”, shocked Jaimelin.

Jaimelin was furious. “What the fuck did you do, Maddie?!”, she yelled at Madison. “I did what you fucking said!”, Madison angrily replied. “Did you check it was him!”, Jaimelin continued. “No, we were on a fucking rush!”, Madison replied. “Goddamn it!”, Jaimelin furiously yelled. “But I have to admit, he does look a lot like Dan.”, said Madison. “We get that a lot. It’s so fucking annoying!”, Ned angrily replied.

“And let me ask you something. Did Dan ever tell you about me?”, said Ned. “No, that little shithead never mention anything to me!”, Jaimelin angrily replied. “Did you even bother to ask?!”, Ned angrily said. “Fuck no!”, Jaimelin angrily replied. “Dan was a fucking pussy! He deserves to rot in hell!”, Jaimelin continues, “Even since he got kicked out of school three years ago, it wasn’t enough to get rid of him!” “What do you mean he got kicked out?”, Ned is confused, “He didn’t get kicked out.” “Wait, what?”, Jaimelin is confused. “When was the last time you saw Dan?”, Ned annoyingly asks. “Since May at that time?”, Jaimelin confusingly replied. “Wow, you guys are so fucking pathetic!”, Ned yells. “What the fuck are you talking about?”, asked Madison. “He graduated at that time, you fucking morons!”, Ned yells. “No, he got expelled!”, Jaimelin yells. “He got suspended for a short time and then he went to therapy because he was depressed!”, Ned yells. “So you’re saying Dan was a senior?!”, asked Madison. “Yes! Did you really think he was that young!”, Ned continues to yell. “Wasn’t he like 14? 15? Because he was shorter than us.”, Jaimelin asks. “He turned 18 at that time!”, Ned furiously yelled. The girls are horrified and much to their confusion.

“So where the fuck is Dan anyway?!”, Madison angrily asked. “He went out walking to a nearby store from our house!”, Ned angrily replied.

“Maddie? I want a word with you.”, said Jaimelin. She then takes Madison to another bedroom. They begin to argue, while Ned, still tied to the chair, hears the argument from the other room.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Maddie?!”, Jaimelin yells from the other room. “Hey, none of us knew Dan had brother! I mean, how the fuck are we supposed to know about that!”, Madison yells, “You know, this all your fault! All of this happened is because you wanted to kill Dan for that goddamn YouTube video!”

As the girls continue to argue, Ned tries to escape as he tries to untie himself from the chair. He ends up falling to the ground while trying to escape. This caused a loud noise and the girls immediately check up on him.

“Aww, jeez!”, yelled Jaimelin.

Ned looks up to the girls from the ground and begins to cry. “Look. Whatever Dan did to you guys, I have nothing to do with him. Just let me go. Please.”, Ned begs.

A moment of silence occurs.

The silence breaks when Madison punched Jaimelin in the face and takes the gun away from her and shoots Ned in the head.

Jaimelin is horrified. “What the fuck, Maddie?!”, Jaimelin went furious.

Madison points the gun at Jaimelin. “Shut up! Just the shut the fuck up!”, Madison finally loses it. “I can’t fucking take this shit anymore!”, Madison continues.

“Maddie, just calm down. I know you’re tired...”, said Jaimelin. “Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch!”, Madison angrily interrupts. “I was so excited to that we get to kill Dan. But you never fucking told me that the little piece of shit had a brother! I mean, what the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“I didn’t know!”, Jaimelin replied.

Madison continues pointing the gun at Jaimelin. “You know what your fucking problem is, Jaimelin?! You’re a fucking moron! A fucking cunt! A pathetic little bitch who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but herself! I mean, how stupid are you?!”

Jaimelin sheds a tear.

“You never liked Dan because he was a fucking loser. He always talks about movies that we never even heard of, which is fucking annoying! Yet you don’t know anything else from that little perv!”, Madison angrily continues.

“Maddie, please...”, Jaimelin sobs.

“This is all your fault!”, Madison interrupts. “This whole shit is all your fault! All of this is because of you!”, Madison points the gun closer to Jaimelin’s face, “It would’ve been easier if you just done this by yourself.”

A moment of silence occurs.

Unaware to Madison, Jaimelin slowly takes out her pocket knife from her back pocket and holds it behind her.

“You’re right.”, said Jaimelin. She quickly stabs Madison in the arm. POW! The gun goes off from Madison’s fingers, while she screams in agony. Jaimelin then takes the knife out of Madison’s arm then stabs her in the throat. “I should’ve done this without you, you cunt!”, Jaimelin finally loses it. She removes the knife out of Madison’s throat, causing Madison to fall to the ground as she bleeds to death. Jaimelin continues to stab Madison multiple times as she’s full of rage.

“You bitch! YOU BITCH!”

CHAPTER 5

Unaware to Jaimelin and Madison, two policewomen Donna, a Filipino-American woman, and Malory, a Korean-American woman, went out to search for Dan’s brother.

Donna is happily married and a mother of two children. She’s also seven months pregnant.

Unlike her partner Malory, she’s very hard working and always have Donna’s back.

After the girls broke into Dan’s house and ended up kidnapping Ned instead, the two policewomen were called in as Dan’s sister was also home during the break in. She was hiding in the bathroom. Dan’s sister tries to stop the girls by wrecking their car with a baseball bat, causing her to break the tail lights. She even caught the license plate number from the girls car.

While on the search, the two policewomen discovered the burnt car of the state trooper on the highway that the girls took. They were both horrified.

While on the road, the policewomen found the house that the girls stayed, with their car parked in front.

As they searched around the house, the two policewomen discovered the bodies of the old man, Ned, and Madison all wrapped in bed sheets. The bodies were piled up in front of the house.

While searching in the house, there was no one.

SCREECH! SCREECH! The sound of something metal can be heard from the distance.

Donna and Malory search where the noise was coming from.

It’s coming from the tool shed, next to the house. It was Jaimelin. She’s trying to pull out a wood chipper from the tool shed.

The policewomen pull out and point their guns at Jaimelin.

“Freeze!”, yelled Donna.

Jaimelin slowly turns at the policewomen as she’s just got caught.

“Hands up!”, yelled Malory.

Jaimelin slowly raises her hands... then she runs away.

“Hey! Hey!”, yelled Malory.

The two policewomen starts chasing Jaimelin through an open snowy field behind the old man’s house. Due to Donna’s pregnancy, she’s slowing down. Lucky for her, Malory has her back as she manages to catch up to Jaimelin.

As Malory chases Jaimelin, she fires her gun at Jaimelin. First shot goes off, she misses. Second shot goes off, she miss again. Third shot goes off, it finally hits Jaimelin in the leg and she falls to the ground.

Malory catches up to Jaimelin and begins to handcuff her.

Jaimelin begins to wail as she’s being cuffed. The louder she wails, the sound of her saying that she made the biggest mistake of her life.

After getting handcuffed, Jaimelin gets dragged into the police car with Donna and Malory driving her back to Omaha. She’s completely shattered.

Donna stares at Jaimelin as she begins feels bad for her.

“I assume that was Madison in that pile. Right? Along with Dan’s brother and whoever was living in that house.”

Jaimelin stays quiet.

Donna continues, “I got a chance to talk with Dan yesterday.”

“Will you shut up about Dan!”, Jaimelin interrupts. “He’s a fucking pervert!”

“Hey! Watch your fucking mouth!”, Malory yells at Jaimelin. “Easy, Malory.”, Donna calms Malory down.

“He told me he knew it was you and Madison because of an incident back in high school. A YouTube video, wasn’t it? And you wanted to get back at him. He told me the whole story. About you. The feud. Everything.”

Jaimelin continues to stay quiet.

“He told me he was depressed after that incident. Even after he graduated, he also says that it kept haunting him. He regret that incident because he made a mistake. You want to know what it was? Not knowing you that well. He told me he doesn’t think straight whenever he tries to accomplish something or make a decision. He was scared of everything. He was scared on making friends. He was even scared to try to tell his feelings for you. He never intend to hurt you. All he ever wanted was to make friends. He told me he always wanted a girlfriend. But it’s not always easy. He always second guesses everything and it led him to screw things up.”

There’s only silence.

“Jaimelin, everyone makes mistakes all the time. But what you did was horrible. You got your friend involved and you two made a mess with Dan and his whole family. How would you explain that to him?”

“It’s his fault.”, Jaimelin replied. “He never told me had a brother... or a family.”

“Did you asked?”, said Donna.

“Why does that matter?”, Jaimelin replied. “All he gives a shit about is movies.”

“What’s wrong with watching a movie?”, said Donna. “I watch movies with my husband all the time. Sure movies are enjoyable, but there are movies you can relate to.”

Jaimelin is confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well, a movie is a fantasy. Everyone wants to live in there own fantasies. But this is reality. Whatever you said to Dan back in high school, it must’ve woke him up from his fantasy and back to reality. And I can see he’s completely heartbroken because of you. The way I see it, it could be both of your guys’s fault.”

“What?”, angered Jaimelin.

“I mean, it sounds like he tried to do something good for you, but you rejected him. Which makes things worse for you two.”

Jaimelin begins to look at herself. She finally sees what she has done.

There’s only silence.

“It’s getting quiet.”, said Malory, “Do you mind if I turn on the radio?” “Go ahead.”, Donna replied.

As Malory turns on the radio, Hush by Deep Purple blasts. Jaimelin wakes up to reality as the song continues to blasts.

The three of them continue to drive back to Omaha as another day in a nice Nebraska town turns into hell.

THE END

[xmarveled]

Stressed

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Exam season is coming up and to that you’re stressed would be an understatement. Luckily, everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is there to save the day!

Request: Requested by the lovely @waiting-for-motivation. Heyyy honeyy🌞 I don't know if you write for Peter Parker but could you maybe write an imagine where the reder is really stressed about her exams and breaks down because she think she can't do it and Peter cheers her up? Because I'm soooo afraid of my coming exams and I need fluffy Pete❤ Hope this makes you feel a little less stressed! And dw honey, you’re gonna ace that test!!

Warnings: FLUFF, FLUFF, FLUFFFFF

A/N: Writing this got me all excited for Far From Home again!! If you want to request an Avenger x Reader, feel free to drop an ask, leave a comment below or send me a message! ^^

It’s been 3 hours since you started studying, and you were nowhere close to done. For the last 20 minutes, you’ve been staring at one page in your textbook, looking at the words over and over again until they became jumbled together in your useless brain.

Right now, you were staring at one particular formula that refused to commit itself to your memory. You were getting frustrated, especially since math was NOT your strong suit and you had an exam early tomorrow morning. “God damnit.” You muttered under your breath. “I am sick and tired of trying to find your “x” math. Just accept that she’s gone and move on!!” At that moment, your phone rang and you reached over to pick it up.

“Hello?” You mumble into the phone. “Y/N, where are you?” Came MJ’s voice. In the background, you could hear Ned talking excitedly about something, but you couldn’t make out what it was.

“Oh shit.” You say, suddenly remembering that you were supposed to meet up with the gang at the coffee shop down the street. “Sorry MJ, can’t today. Math is kicking my non-existent ass right now.”

“Oh...” Said MJ and you could almost picture her scrunched up eyebrows. “You sure you can’t make it? You could come later if you want.” You really did want to go down and see her, Ned and of course, Peter, but alas, math beckoned.

“I’d love to, but if I want any chance of passing this exam, I’ve gotta study. I’ll see you at school tomorrow!” You say, before hanging up.

MJ signed as she finished her call, walking back into the room Peter and Ned were in. She could hear them from the hallway and as usual, they were arguing about you.

“C’mon man!” Said Ned, clearly exasperated. “When are you gonna ask her out?”

Although she couldn’t see him, MJ could picture Peter’s face turning pink. “I told you! She doesn’t like me like that.” He said.

“Parker, have you seen the way she looks at you?” Ned demanded. “Ask her out and do it soon, or else some other guy will snatch her up.”

“What!? Who!?” Asked Peter, clearly panicked. “Alright, alright! I’ll ask her when she gets here.”

Before Ned had the chance to respond, MJ stroded into the room. Peter turned and looked at her with hopeful eyes, asking “Is she coming?” MJ shook her head. “She can’t. She has to study for her exam tomorrow.” The cheerful atmosphere in the room was instantly deflated by the news and Peter looked away, trying to conceal his disappointment.

“Oh...” He said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “Did she say what exam she’s studying for?”

“Math I think.” Answered MJ.

“Math?” Said Peter, sitting straight up. “Did she say if she needed help or anything?” He asked, eyes starting to shine again.

“Nope.” Said MJ, propping herself down next to Ned.

Peter started to inch towards the door. “I’m-I’m just gonna go give her a call. See if she needs help. I’ll be right back!” He said before darting out the door, leaving MJ and Ned to exchange knowing smirks.

Half a hour later, you had still barely moved forward though your revision sheets. Finally, accepting that it was going to be a long night, you stood up to make a cup of coffee when your phone rang again. Your heart started racing when you saw that it was Peter and you picked up immediately.

“Hey Y/N!” You heard Peter say with his usual cheerful voice, making a smile appear on your own face despite your exhaustion.

“Hey Pete, what’s up?”

Peter felt his own heart skip a beat when you called him “Pete”, making his cheeks warm up again.

“I uh-, I heard that you were struggling with math.”

You signed, mentally cursing MJ for selling you out.

“Yeah. Math is really not going that great right now. It’s why I couldn’t come with you guys tonight.”

“I um-” stuttered Peter. “Do you um-maybe need some help?”

“Thanks for offering Pete, but it’s fine, if I go down, I prefer to go down alone.” You say, wondering if you were imagining how flustered Peter sounded.

“Oh well um-. It’s kinda too late for that.” He says.

You frown, confused. “What do you mean?” You ask.

“Well... I’m kind of outside your window right now.”

You spin around and see him exactly where he says he is, outside your window on your balcony, one hand holding his phone up to his ear while giving you an awkward wave with the other. You drop your phone and dash to unlock the door.

“Peter! What are you doing here?” You exlaimed.

“I’m your personal math tutor!” He says, laughing at your shock at seeing him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be with MJ and Ned?” You asked.

“You’re more important.” He says, not realizing that he said it out loud before it was too late. Blushing furiously, Peter quickly asked “so what do you need help with?”

“Everything.” You groaned, heading back towards your chair. You felt him come up behind you and pointed at the question that was currently driving you insane. He leaned forward, taking a look at the sheet.

“Alright, so imagine this. Thor has 362 pop tarts. He splits them evenly between himself and his 3 friends and eats 3/4 of the remaining pop tarts. What does Thor have now?”

“Diabetes.” You mutter. Peter laughed, his breath fanning out on your neck, making goosebumps appear. Both of your laughs died down and you’re left staring at each other, noses almost touching. Up close, you could see the freckles dusted across his cheeks and his slender eyelashes that most girls only dream of having. Both of you looked away, cheeks flaming as your hearts pounded.

“This Thor guy must be really big.” Muttered Peter, drawing another laugh from you and he swears, it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard.

2 hours later, you and Peter were sprawled across your bed, both of you exhausted. With his help, you had (unbelievably) finished studying. Looking over at Peter, you whispered “thanks for helping me tonight.”

“No-no problem Y/N.” Peter whispered back, tripping over his words a little.

You gave him a drowsy smile back, closing your eyes as you felt exhaustion take over you. Meanwhile, Peter could only stare at your beautiful, sleepy face as he felt something warm spread through his chest. This close, he could see the little dimple in your cheeks that deepened whenever you smiled, which was often. He could see the birthmark on your forehead that you were so self conscious about, but to him, it didn’t matter. To him, you were perfect. The last of his self-control shattered when you sleepily nuzzled into his chest and he whispered “I like you Y/N, I really, really like you.”

Your steady breathing halted for a second before you looked up at him with glazed eyes. “I really, really like you too Pete.”

His eyes lit up like stars shining in the light sky and slowly, as if giving you time to pull away, he leaned down. You tilted your lips up and after months of shy glances and secret longing, your lips finally touched.

Fireworks exploded between both of your closed eyelids and both of your hearts felt so full that they might burst. Peter pulled you into his chest and you snuggled into him. It felt like coming home after a long day.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He whispered, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“Goodnight Peter.” You whispered and thought that maybe, math tests aren’t so bad after all.

Ahhh!! I think I might have overdone the fluff a little. Hope you guys liked and good luck to those who have exams soon!!💜

Taglist: @xxstarwalker @bxcksdoll @phanoffandoms67 @waiting-for-motivation @bluediamondsevie @antisocial-koala @spider-writer @randomavengersquotes @odinson-barnes @bonemarroww

If you want to be added to the taglist, message me or leave a comment below!! :)

[spideyspoods]

illusions (ffh spoilers)

Pairing: Peter Parker X F!Stark!Reader A/N: tumblr needs to get their act together because this is the SECOND (2nd) time i’ve posted this. i edited the tags and everything on it DISAPPEARED. anyways i hope you like this despite my obvious anguish bc this is one of my favs so far.

Warnings: Mentions of death, manipulation, angst if you look close, and depictions of action sequences.

Word Count: 3k

Masterlist!

Y/N Stark was on a plane to Venice all because of her boyfriend, Peter Parker. She thoroughly convinced herself on not going for the main reason being that she wasn’t sure if she would enjoy it because of everything that came before, including her Father’s death. Peter knew that, but he also knew that she deserved a break. After using the infamous Parker Puppy eyes, she packed a suitcase and chose a window seat next to him. “How was your Spider-Man appearance last night?” she teased with a knowing smile. His Aunt May hosted a charity event and in efforts to gain more awareness, and invited Spider-Man over to say a few words. Peter bit his tongue, remembering how awful it was. “I only said four words but I think I nailed it!” Sadly, Y/N could see through his lies. “It could’ve gone much worse! Oh that reminds me, apparently Nick Fury tried to call me-”

“Wait really? What’d he say?” She shifted in her seat, using Peter’s jacket as a blanket. “I don’t know I didn’t answer it.”

“You’re joking. Peter he’s going to tear up the city looking for you now!”

“I just wanted a relaxing vacation for once!”

“That’s out the window now that you ghosted him are you kidding me?” Y/N knew from personal experience that leaving Fury hanging was the quickest way to death. Peter had a point, but she knew that this was inescapable. Peter frowned, not realizing how much of a big deal it was. “He’s probably going to call me instead. Don’t be shocked if he’s one of the flight attendants, Parker. I warned you.”

--

After eight hours, the group had finally landed in Venice. After setting their bags down in their ‘charming�� hotel, the class had an hour to kill on sightseeing. On the plane, Peter had been memorizing certain Italian phrases to help conversation flow smoothly, but for the most part it made things worse. As they were ordering gelato, he stumbled over his words. Y/N tried to stifle a laugh over his poor pronunciation, before speaking for him. Peter was shocked as Y/N continued taking in the sights.  “You didn’t tell me you speak Italian.”

“I can’t reveal all of my secrets at once,” she winked. Peter looked down, chuckling before shooting his head back up and looking to her. “What? Is it the ‘Peter Tingle’?” Usually he’d make a deal out of it, but this time he just simply nodded and ran towards the canals, Y/N following closely behind.

Water gushed up, raining down as it soaked everyone. “What the hell is that?” Y/N stood up analyzing the scene. “It’s some sort of hydro man? Get everyone out!” she pointed her finger towards safety, leading everyone away from the danger. Ned was one of the last ones to flee, but she stopped him. “Make sure nobody sees me and Peter, got it?” He nodded, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re the definition of power couple?” She rolled her eyes and smirked at the comment before seeing Peter crashing into the bridge. Y/N ran to him, pulling him to his feet. Ready to fight, they saw a trail of green smoke contain the monster.

Left and right, buildings crumbled. Peter was at the bell tower, webbing everything up to minimize the damage while Y/N stood low, scanning for any openings. With one final green blast, the water erupted one more time before disappearing. All of them finally had time to catch their breath. The mysterious man hovered closer to them and spoke, “Thanks for your help. I think we’ll see each other soon.”

--

Once they had dried off, Peter & Y/N took a seat on the stairs of the hotel lobby. On the small TV in the corner, Italian reporters displayed footage of what had happened moments ago. “They’re calling him Mysterio, man of mystery or something.” MJ remarked.

“I’m just trying to wonder why he has a fishbowl on his head and a cape. That’s poor costume design right there,” Ned said making everyone laugh. With a look of disinterest, Flash crossed his arms. “Yeah but he’s no Spider-Man.” Y/N gave a look to Peter who stayed silent, “You’re right. Spider-Man is much cooler.” Flash’s eyes lit up with excitement, as if he were a child again. “You’ve met Spider-Man?!”

“I thought that was a given. The Avengers are practically my family.” she spoke softly, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her.

“No way! What’s he like?”

“He’s great and super funny. Not to mention he’s kind of cute.” Peter coughed, trying to cover the fact he was blushing. Flash on the other hand didn’t buy it, “He can’t be that cute. You’re dating Peter out of all people.” Y/N simply glared, sending a chill down his spine.

--

Ned & Peter resigned to their shared hotel room. Just as they entered, Peter’s best friend was shot down by a tranquilizer dart, crashing to the floor. He jumped, turning to see Nick Fury sitting on the small couch. “You’re a hard man to track, Spider-Man.” Shit. Y/N was right. Then again, when was she not?

After a few disruptions he was taken to an underground base to discuss the threats in private. Y/N stood next to the same man they saw earlier, whose actual name was Quentin Beck. “I told you that he’d find you.” Y/N muttered. Beck continued to explain his dilemma. “I come from earth, just not your earth.” “Are you saying that there’s a multiverse because that’d be insane! Actually impossible, that would change the way we think of time and space as we know it!” Peter continued to ramble, before being met with a bored glare from Agent Hill. Quentin looked at the boy with empathy, “Hey. Don’t apologize for being the smartest one in the room.” Y/N knew that it was true, hell the kid was a brainiac, but something felt off about the man. He had taken an interest to both of them and seemed very enthralled. Despite his backstory, it felt as if it was too coincidental to be true. Essentially the mission was to stop the most powerful Elemental in Prague, but it meant ditching their class. Y/N had her fair share of missions already and insisted on going while Peter was reluctant. Fury stayed silent for the rest of the meeting, handing Peter a glasses case before dismissing both of them.

The next morning, Mr. Harrington gathered all of the students for an announcement. “I know the itinerary says that we’re going to Paris, but the travel agency called and offered us a deal to go to Prague instead!” The class cheered while Peter’s face looked pale. Y/N stood next to him, taking his hand into hers. “We need to get some more rest on the bus, we have a fire monster to kill.”

--

Hours later, Y/N & Peter were in position. They sported their new suits, that were essentially the same thing they were used to but just black to stay incognito. Y/N perched on a tile roof opposite of Peter. There were small crowds of people, mingling amongst the square. Seeping through a metal grate, molten began to pour out. “It’s showtime.” As the lava monster began to form, everyone sprung into action. “Make sure that it doesn’t touch any metal, that’s how it grows!” Y/N eyes darted to the ferris wheel where she spotted Ned & Betty stuck at the top. She stuck her hand out, moving the entire ferris wheel away from the fire elemental. Y/N had telekinesis as a result of a mission gone wrong, and only used it in emergencies.

The monster roared, chasing Peter up the wall as he flipped away. He webbed up a metal pole and jumped, yanking it away from its reach. Quentin took a hit at the monster, only making it even more furious. The battle seemed to have reached a dead end, as it inched closer and closer to the ferris wheel; leaving everything ablaze. “Kid, hold it back!” Y/N put all of her strength into pushing away the elemental, but it was just too strong. She yelled in pain, giving it her all. “That’s it, I’m going in.”

“Beck, what are you doing?” Peter screamed.

“What I should’ve done before!” He ran into the creature, engulfed in flames. The monster tore apart and shattered apart, turning into ashes. Y/N collapsed on the ground at the sudden loss as Peter ran to her, making sure she wasn’t hurt. “Hey hey hey, we did it. Are you alright?” She slowly got to her feet, panting. “I think so? Where’d he go?”

Quentin stirred, before standing back up. “I think I need a drink. Come on, let’s go.” Y/N and Peter looked to each other, “We’re underage.” “What about it?” He continued to walk away, taking his helmet off. Y/N took notice of his face before placing a hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder, “You should go with him, I think I’ll sit this one out, make sure that everyone knows we’re okay.” He squeezed her hand before following after.

--

Y/N peeled off her suit and freshened up. Her legs were covered with cuts and she spent a while recovering. There was a knock at her door to reveal MJ & Ned. She beckoned them in, locking the door. MJ raised a brow to the suit. Y/N never told her, but she trusted her friend enough to see it. “Something just doesn’t add up. I feel like I’ve seen him before.” She tapped her watch to display a hologram. “SID, do we have any files on a Quentin Beck?” SID, or ‘Stark Industries’ Database’ was her father’s final gift to her.

From a young age, Y/N always had an interest in technology and innovation, something she inherited from her father. Even if it were past her bedtime, Tony would sneak her into the lab; projecting constellations onto the ceiling. He would point out each one and tell stories about what they meant. As little Y/N began to nod off to sleep, he would whisper “I love you more than the sun and stars, pumpkin.” Despite being tired, she always had the energy to respond. “But the sun is a star.” As she grew up, it became their inside joke. Smart kid but a smarter mouth, Pepper would say. When her father passed away, he left a note and the watch. On the band, ‘I love you more than the sun and stars’ was engraved in silver letters. Y/N struggled sometimes, but felt at ease once she knew he was always with her.

SID continued to sift through as Ned marveled at the technology. “Y/N that’s why I came here. I found this at the battle. Looks like some piece of a robot, maybe a drone?” MJ handed her the sleek white machine part. Turning it over in her hands, it whirred to life and projected a scene identical to what happened at the battle. “What the hell,” she whispered.

“One match to Quentin Beck, former Stark Industries employee.” SID chimed. It didn’t take long for her to realize what was happening. “We need to get Peter.” Y/N rushed to the door, before hearing her window slide open. Her boyfriend took off his mask, freezing at the sight of MJ. “It’s fine, she knows. Listen, babe, I need to use EDITH real quick.” His mouth hung open as he tried to find the words, “It’s with Quentin.”

“Why the hell does he have it?”

“I gave it to him!”

“Peter Benjamin Parker, you’re going to be the end of me! That was his plan all along!” Y/N rubbed her temples. “What’s going on?” Ned gestured to SID and the drone piece when Peter realized he messed up big time. Y/N slipped into her suit, turning away from anyone. “Wait, where are you going?” Peter held her arms, worried. “I need to tell Fury, he’s in Berlin and we don’t have any time to waste.”

“I’m going with you!”

“You can’t. If he worked with Stark Industries then I’m the one he’s after.”

“That makes no sense, he’ll hurt you,” he frowned as tears started to form in his eyes. He couldn’t lose her too, especially if he knew that it was his fault. Y/N cupped his cheek in her hand, pressing a lingering kiss to his lips. “No. He won’t. MJ and Ned, tell Mr. Harrington I had family matters to attend. Peter, Happy will pick you up to keep you updated.” They all nodded and Y/N grabbed her mask before opening the window. “I love you,” Peter said.

“I love you too.” Just like that, she was out and after Quentin.

--

A few hours later, Y/N arrived to the sleek building where Fury was supposed to be. She was still dressed in her suit, but wasn’t phased. There were bigger problems to face. A black car eased towards her as she stopped in her tracks. The tinted windows rolled down, showing Fury in the driver’s seat. She slipped in as he drove off, beckoning her to stay quiet before she started talking.

As soon as they made it into a conference room, the worried girl started talking at lightning speed catching him up to date along with Maria. “So you’re saying that Mr. Beck isn’t who he says he is? I’ll admit, I had my doubts about him.”

“He’s a total fraud after power and lies. Here I have this as proof!” She slid the drone piece in their direction. “We have to act fast. Let me go after him, I’m the one he wants anyways.” Nick kept his stone cold glare and before either of them speak, their surroundings flickered and disappeared. “He’s here.” A drone threw an explosion in their direction, as Y/N dived to protect him. She seemed to phase through the ground, landing on her back in a concrete warehouse. “Wow, Y/N. Just when I thought we were finally bonding. I knew Fury had to die, but now you’re convincing me that you need to go too.” Y/N spun around, drones appearing out of thin air surrounding her. “Stop hiding, you coward!”

Her surroundings shifted into a pitch black room, Mysterio inching towards her. “You know, you’re just like your Father. That arrogant son of a bitch only did what he thought would help himself.” Y/N threw a punch at him, only to realize that it was a solid concrete pillar. She winced, seeing Morgan standing at the top of Stark Tower, confused. “Y/N what’s happening?” Her head pounded and she couldn’t see straight. “Stop it!” Beck stood behind her little sister, the ground disappearing as they fell. It seemed endless and she couldn’t wrap her head around it until she crumpled on top of a car. Drones whirled over her head, taking her into another vision. She stretched out her arms, desperate to move them away but they only grew closer.

“You hide behind your Father’s lies, thinking that you Starks are so high and mighty. I’m here to show the truth!” Y/N stood upon stone, a statue of Mysterio looming over her. “Mysterio is the truth!” The weathered stone crumbled, suffocating her. Y/N gasped, face covered in dust and blood. “You’re the reason why your father died, don’t deny it.” His voice echoed into a hollow room. In front of her was his tombstone. Her breath hitched in her throat, before a decaying Iron Man suit took her into a chokehold. She had tears in her eyes, but remembered that it wasn’t real. It shifted once more, this time Tony laying against a rock. The light in his eyes were long forgotten. “You failed me. You’ll,” he stammered “never be enough.”

“Dad!” she reached for him, and closed her eyes. “This isn’t real.”

“Oh, but isn’t it?” Y/N stood on a fire escape 100 floors high as Peter gripped to the edge. “Y/N please,” he pleaded. His eyes were bruised and nose bleeding. “Peter!” The floor creaked and her heart thumped. “Y/N help me!” She grunted, pulling him up. “You’re okay,” she whispered pressing her forehead to his. His eyes turned red, “I never needed you.” Peter pushed her back as the illusion dissolved, and into a speeding train.

She tried to yell, but couldn’t bring herself to breathe. Barely clinging on, she had split vision. Slipping through the train door, Y/N slipped into unconsciousness and away from everything.

--

Peter wasn’t able to focus at all the entire day Y/N was gone. Ned tried his best to distract him with Star Wars anecdotes, but even that didn’t work. During lunch, he saw Happy talking to his teachers before motioning him to follow. Peter got into the jet, Happy not taking a single second to waste. “What happened? Where’s Y/N? Is she okay?”

“She’s in Broek op Langedijk-”

“What? Where is that? How close are we?”

“Netherlands. We’re an hour out, but she’s alive don’t worry-” Peter scoffed, pacing in the jet. “How am I not supposed to worry? I love her and she can be on the verge of dying right now-”

“Peter-”

“I knew I should have gone with her-”

“Peter! I’m going as fast as I can, but I need to concentrate. I care about her too, okay? We just need to try to calm down, can you do that for me?”

--

As soon as they touched down in a field of tulips, Peter jumped out. Y/N’s eyes were bloodshot and her arms scratched. There was a red stain on her neon orange shirt that she definitely wasn’t wearing when he last saw her. “Y/N thank god you’re okay-” he took her into a hug, only to be pushed away. “Stop it! Get away from me!” He raised his hands up defensively, and felt sharp pain seep through his heart. He had fought villains and had been on the verge of dying, but even that didn’t hurt as much as this.

“Y/N, please.” She was taken back to the moment Quentin messed with her mind. His voice was exactly the same, making the battle in her mind even more difficult to fight.

“No, no. You’re not real!” He stepped closer to her, reaching for her hands. In his grasp, she made fists; trying to hit him. Y/N’s voice trembled, “Let me go! Come on, Beck! Tell me how I failed everyone I know!” She looked him dead in the eye. This wasn’t the Y/N he knew. Now, she looked so weak; something she had never been before. “I’m not Beck, Y/N I swear. I’m here for you and I want to help you.” His eyes were glossy, the girl he loved didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. “Promise me that you’re not some sort of illusion!”

“Y/N I promise!”

“What’s something only Peter & I would know?” He immediately thought back to their first date a year ago. “Okay on our first date I got you flowers, but I didn’t know you were allergic.” Y/N seemed to ease up as he continued. “After you recovered, we went to the fire escape. I told you I love you, even if it might have seemed to early but I told the truth,” Truth, Quentin’s voice echoed in her mind.  “We kissed and May saw us! Remember, she dropped the snack platter?”

Y/N ran into his arms, sobbing. He kissed her and wiped the tears away. Peter took her face into his hands. He whispered words into her ear, stroking her back. “You’re real. You’re here.” He pressed another kiss to her forehead. 

“Yeah, I’m here. I always will be.”

--

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[boyfriend-cal]

Part Two

Read part one here, this is a continuation of that! This is post far from home (minus that first end credit scene) so spoilers for that if you haven’t seen it.

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word count: 2.3k

++

You think maybe losing your best friend would’ve been a little easier if you didn’t have to see him every day. After trying for days on end to get your parents to let you play hooky, you gave up and dealt with it. 

Peter avoided looking at you in any way possible. You understood, but it still hurt. You wished it all could’ve been different. 

You hear the bell above the door to the sandwich shop you work at ding as you walk in. MJ is already behind the counter. She became your coworker after the infamous summer school trip that you didn’t get to go on. You’d heard that Ned and Betty had a fleeting fling, but Peter and MJ’s was supposed to last. It didn’t. Within two weeks of being back, they reverted to being friends and MJ never really talked about it much. You didn’t meet Peter until after they’d broken up, but over the summer is when you two became closer friends than any of the group. 

MJ could tell you weren’t in a perfect mood from the moment you walked in. She’d been helping Peter with a project for the two weeks that it had been since the accident, so her shifts and time with you had been scarce. “Hey Y/N. It’s been slow today.”

You laugh,” In the ten minutes you’ve been here?”

“Yeah, I was dying without you. I had to make two whole sandwiches.” You roll your eyes as you lift the gate to step behind the counter. You set your bag down and then tie your apron over your head. 

The shop is empty, and you try to refrain from asking her about Peter. The two of you not being linked by the hip wasn’t unnoticed by anyone, but he wouldn’t talk to Ned or MJ about it. You busy yourself by cleaning the countertop and replacing containers of things that don’t necessarily need to be replaced. MJ sits on the counter and watches you.

“Come on, spill the beans. What’s going on between you and Parker?” 

Your body tenses, and it’s a good thing you aren’t facing her. Does she know? You definitely can’t say anything and risk her finding out because of you. That would make this whole situation even worse. 

“Nothing, we just haven’t had time to hang out lately.” You shut the freezer and open the bread racks to make sure everything is organized.

“Pete told me you two had a fight, but I want specifics. I’ve never seen you two apart this much, and I don’t like it.” MJ hops off the counter and pulls your shoulder, so you have to face her. The door to the bread racks shuts behind you.

“Well the reason we fought is that I said something I shouldn’t have and I can’t give you specifics because then I’d just be doing it again. Drop it. He doesn’t trust me anymore, I don’t know if we’ll ever be friends again.” You turn around again, but you’re just facing a bread rack. You can’t really get around her without looking at her. 

“Did you find out that he’s...” In the reflection of the glass, you see her look around the empty shop,” Spider-Man?”

You turn around as fast as you can. “You knew?”

MJ realizes that you might be a little upset that she knows, but she’s good at hiding what she thinks with her facial expressions. “Yeah, a lot of things went down on our summer trip, and I figured it out. Is that how you found out? He’s not very good at hiding it, but he’s very protective of his identity, so I’m sure he flipped out.”

“Not exactly. Spider-Man walked me home after a night shift, and when we got to my apartment, he said “Goodnight, Y/N” and then told me he went to our school but not to tell anyone or look for him. I told Peter and Peter was mad because I could’ve told anyone else and if he weren’t Spider-Man, it would’ve been bad. I get that I betrayed his trust, so I can’t do anything about it. Nothing would make it better besides showing him I’m trustworthy over time, but he won’t even look at me.” You fiddle with your hands because you feel sad all over again. You’d cried the whole walk home after that night. You screamed into your pillow at yourself for being such an idiot. 

MJ sighs and then resumes her spot on the counter. It’s a good thing you two don’t have any customers because that’s probably a health violation. “Peter had a lot of shit go down in Europe, and he was still working through it when we got home. Hallucinations and a lot of stuff that I can’t really explain.” 

“God, I’m so tired of hearing about this summer trip that no one will tell me anything about. It’s like it never happened, but it’s the main source of most of my problems, apparently.” You don’t mean to get angry that fast, but Michelle doesn’t look surprised or mad at you for lashing out. 

“To get his side, you’ll have to ask him.” She shrugs.

“I can’t do that if he’s not speaking to me. Come on, MJ.” You whine. You’d tried to text Peter a couple of times, but it was clear he didn’t want to respond.

“Aaron said I didn’t have to come in tonight because we wouldn’t be busy, I just came to get the scoop. Looks like I gotta go.” MJ smiles sarcastically and hops off of her perch. You open your mouth to protest, but she waves as she’s walking out the door. Classic MJ.

++

The entrance to the shop swings open, rattling the bell with it. Laughter follows, catching your attention. You set your computer to the side and stand up, finally looking at your newest customers. The laughter stops and the shop falls dead silent as you realize its Peter and Ned.

“Hey Y/N.” Ned is cheerful despite Peter looking like he’s seen a ghost.

“Hey, Ned. What can I get for you?” You pull some gloves from a cabinet at your knees and start to slide them over your hands with Peter finally speaks.

“I-Is MJ h-here?” He’s got his backpack slung over just one shoulder, but both hands are gripping the single strap.

“No, went home early because we weren’t busy. Did you need her? I could call her.” You offer, and then you feel stupid because you offered too much to a boy that has ignored you for two weeks.

“I’ll call her in a bit, that’s okay. She’s the one who told us to come by, that’s all.”

You recognize immediately what MJ has done. She set this up. You nod and don’t say anything else to Peter until you’re finished with Ned's sandwich and have to make his. When they’re both done, you push them across the counter and smile.

“They’re both on me, don’t worry about it.” 

“W-What? No. You don’t have to- Won’t y-you be short on supplies at closing?” Peter looks around, there’s not anyone else in there, and he assumes you’ve only had a couple of customers total today. A little bit makes a difference on slow days.

“I can tell Aaron I needed one for lunch tomorrow. I’ll be fine. It’s not a big deal, I promise.” Your cheeks heat up because you’ve wanted to talk to him for two weeks and now you feel awkward in his presence. 

“Okay... If you insist. Thank you.” Peter awkwardly nudges Ned, and they shuffle outside. You sigh. An hour until you get to go home. 

++

Walking home alone again. It feels oddly familiar. You think about the last night shift you’d walked alone from, the night before you opened your big mouth and everything went wrong. The night before you ruined your relationship with your best friend. You thought you could get over it, but then exchanging a few words with him tonight made you want things to go back to normal.

This time, you did put your headphones into your ears. You didn’t feel like being alert tonight. You wanted to get home and go to sleep. Your emotions were all over the place. 

A tap on your shoulder scares you back to reality. You spin on your heel and are faced with Spider-Man. Once again. Your sadness turns to annoyance.

“In the suit? Really, Peter? I’m not talking to you like that.” You turn back around and keep walking. After a few steps, you don’t hear anyone walking with you, so you assume he’s gone. You pop your headphones back in and continue on your way. 

Another two blocks and you’re stopped in the middle of the sidewalk by a sweaty Peter Parker skidding out of an alleyway right in front of you. He’s dressed in the same clothes you saw him in at work earlier. They’re a little crooked as if he’d just finished putting them on. Peter’s shoulders are rising and falling rapidly from his heavy breathing, but his eyes soften as soon as he sees you.

“Y/N. I was hoping we could talk.” Peter coughs.

“Okay.” You nod but keep walking. It doesn’t take long for him to catch up to you.

“So I realize that even though we got really close this summer, I never explained what happened in Europe because you felt like a fresh start. You didn’t know anything about it, so I wanted to try and forget it, but then everything happened, and it dug up a lot of emotions that I put away.” You stop walking to listen. That way, you can make eye contact to let him know you’re paying attention. Peter was getting visibly upset just thinking about whatever it is he’s about to tell you.

You reach forward and take one of his hands. “We can talk about it at my house, so it’s more private if you want.” 

Peter nods, and you’re about to let go of his hand, but he grips tighter. A fire ignites in your stomach, and the flames are tickling your lungs. It’s like the cliche butterfly feeling but more intense. You’re only another block away from your apartment, and soon you two are safely inside, both sitting with your legs crossed and facing each other on the bed. 

“So you probably heard about all of the Mysterio stuff. He had drones, and he really messed with my head. He used projectors to create environments around me that I couldn’t get out of. Some of them were easy to spot as fake, but every feeling that came with them was real. He’d pretend to be someone else to get information out of me, and he walked me into a moving train to kill me.” A shiver runs through Peter’s body, and you reach forward to take both of his hands. You wanted to comfort him in every way you knew how.

He takes in a deep breath to try and compose himself. You take a moment to take in the boy that is your best friend. He’s just that. A boy. A boy who went through so much that you’d never been able to guess. Sure, you saw the news about the crazy storm monsters, but there are obviously things that don’t make it to the press.

“Long story short, I was blamed, beaten, betrayed, and more. Obviously, with Tony Stark as my mentor, I’ve seen what kind of trauma can come with being a superhero. I thought I could avoid it, but that was a big reason MJ, and I fell apart so quickly. I was still grieving Mr. Stark while also trying to comprehend everything that happened to me, and then I met you. You weren’t a reminder of what happened. I didn’t see Mysterio with his hands around your neck hanging off of the Eiffel tower like I did MJ. I should’ve known it was going to catch up with me.” Peter’s voice cracks near the end, and now you’re crying with him.

“Pete, I am so sorry all of this happened to you.” You walk on your knees until you’re sitting beside him. Your hand rubs up and down his back.

“It’s just... Since Mysterio messed with my head, there was a little bit where I thought trusting someone was the scariest thing because I put my trust in him and he completely turned it around on me. I guess when I heard you tell me about Spider-Man I panicked. I know you’re not him, and I know you’d never do that to me, but I couldn’t help that my brain automatically came to that conclusion. And I’m the one that’s sorry for it. Yeah, it could’ve been horrible if you’d told anyone else, but we’re lucky it was just me. It wasn’t near as bad as it could’ve been. I hope you’ll forgive me.” 

You want to lay your head on his shoulder, so you do with little hesitation. Peter seems to relax instantly.

“You don’t have to apologize for things you can’t control, Pete. I understand. I’m sorry you went through it and that I couldn’t help before.” 

Peter shifts so he’s turned toward you a little more. You feel his arms wrap around you in a hug. “I r-really missed you over these l-last two weeks, Y/N.”

“I really missed you too, Peter.”

++

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[goblin-gardens]

It’s after midnight, and the lobby of Amnesty Lodge is only barely less dark than the cloudy night outside. The red glow of the legally-mandated “EXIT” sign above the front door and the faint light from the kitchen don’t do much to illuminate the only person in the room. Aubrey sits cross-legged in a big chair next to the cold fireplace, unusually still.

Not entirely still, of course. Her right hand is in motion– rubbing against the threadbare arm of the chair or the zipper of her vest, twisting at a coil of hair or passing a small red flame absently from thumb to forefinger and back again. In her left hand, she holds her mother’s necklace, and she stares into the gem’s gold-orange depths, looking for answers.

Dani stands in the shadows on the staircase, reluctant to break the silence for a reason she can’t quite name. Aubrey looks small in the old blue chair, her back hunched, her expression hidden by the unsteady light of her flame. Dani should go and comfort her, or turn around and give her privacy, but instead she watches. Things have been strange between them since they placated the Quell. Good– Dani’s never felt such a sense of home and belonging– but strange, punctuated by these sleepless nights and unanswered questions.

The light in the kitchen shuts off and the door swings open. Dani retreats further into the darkness.

“Aubrey?” Barclay looks tired. They all do, these days, though as time goes on it’s a more honest, contented sort of tired. This is the sort of tired a man who cooks for twenty Sylvans, a biker gang, and retired FBI agent should be, and not the sort that looks like he’s wasting away from being cut off from his home, or worn down by the stress of secrets and war. “Why’re you sitting in the dark?”

Aubrey shrugs. Dani grips the banister. Barclay pulls a chair away from a table and sits backwards in it, folding his arms on the top of the back. He waits for Aubrey to speak, and when she doesn’t, he puts a hand gently on her upper arm.

“You know if you’re gonna be up this late, Ned would want you to be watching some crappy horror flick that’s three times as old as you.”

That gets a laugh out of Aubrey, even if it’s a little watery. She lets go of the necklace. It reflects the red light of the EXIT sign, sort of. The warm orange color of it always does strange things to light. It draws Dani’s gaze for a moment, before she looks back to Aubrey’s face. Her eyes are the same color, Dani knows, but far more compelling.

“Can I ask you a weird question?”

“Do you know how to ask another kind?” Aubrey smiles again, then they lapse into silence as she searches for the right words.

Finally, she sighs and leans her elbows on her knees. “What does it feel like to be around me?” she asks Barclay, her voice almost too quiet for Dani to hear. “Is it like… home?”

Upstairs, someone snores loudly, then turns over. Dani recognizes her own words and feels her pulse begin to rush, confusion adding to her mounting fear of discovery.

Barclay rubs the back of his neck. “Well, I’ve always thought of home as somewhere relaxing. Calm, you know? Calm’s a bit hard to get in our line of business, of course, but– a kitchen where there’s always enough of whatever I’m looking for, even if Jake’s been in my cupboards stealing my baking chocolate.”

Dani can’t see Aubrey smile, but she can picture it perfectly. “And I don’t make you feel calm?”

“You’re a great girl, Aubrey, but no, that’s not the first word that comes to mind.” Barclay’s back is mostly towards the stairs, so Dani has to guess his expression from the tone of his voice and the curve of his back. Rueful? Comforting? “Why d’you ask?”

Aubrey fiddles with her mother’s necklace again. “When we went to fight the Quell,” she starts. She stops, and takes a slow, shaky breath. Dani takes an instinctive step downwards, then changes her mind. 

“When we went to fight the Quell, it recognized me. Janelle told me, and I didn’t believe her, not really, until the Quell told me too– my magic, Barclay–” she holds up a new flame, flickering blue and orange. “It’s not just magic, I’m magic. I’m Sylvain.”

“Huh,” says Barclay. “Well don’t that just beat all.”

“And,” Aubrey continues, her words starting to fall over one another, “I’m scared of what that means, because if I’m like, the source of life for all of you, does that mean I have to go live in that castle and bestow blessings on everyone or some shit? Do I have to sit in meetings and wear ceremonial robes and be some big important person? If I’m Sylvain, then it’s my job to take care of everyone, right? And it would be wrong to play favorites, and if everyone needs me, then can I still… is it right for me to stay here? They want me to go back there, you know.”

Dani knows the thoughtful way Barclay scratches his beard very well. “Alright,” he says, “I was going to say you better have a damn good reason to be sitting down here when I know Dani’s gonna be missing you upstairs, but that’s about the best reason I could think of. Still, unless you were tossing and turning so much she kicked you out of bed so she could sleep, this seems like the sort of thing you should be sharing with her, not brooding over in the dark all by yourself.”

When Barclay say’s Dani’s name, Aubrey deflates. “That’s exactly the problem,” she tells him. “How am I supposed to talk to Dani about me being the literal wellspring of life and magic for her and everyone else on her world? How is that fair to her?”

On the steps, in the dark, Dani holds her hands over her mouth, willing her feet to stay still as she wishes desperately that she could rush down into the room and gather Aubrey in her arms the way Barclay is hesitantly starting to do. She can see Aubrey’s shoulders shaking, and hear the trembling hitch in her voice that means she’s about to cry but fighting the tears back– and the only thing worse than standing here and doing nothing would be seeing Aubrey’s accusing face when she realizes that Dani’s been listening this whole time. 

“What if something happens and we get in a fight and I cut her off from Sylvain without meaning to?” Aubrey continues, her voice rising in panic. “Or what if I do mean to? I’ve hurt people before, what if I hurt her somehow? What if my magic is making her care about me, and if I wasn’t Sylvain–” Aubrey’s fully curled into Barclay’s chest now, her voice muffled against his flannel shirt. “What if she only loves me because I’m Sylvain?”

Dani’s cried on Barclay a few times over the years they’ve lived at Amnesty Lodge. It’s always been comforting, but he looks as unprepared for Aubrey’s tears as he’s ever been for Dani’s. He pats her on the back, careful and a little awkward. He doesn’t say “There, there,” but it’s a close call.

“First off,” he says, “I’ve known you for a good while now, Aubrey Little, and the very last thing I can imagine you doing is hurting anyone– especially Dani– to get back at them for a fight.”

“I told Keith I’d burn him alive,” Aubrey mumbles.

“But did you?” Barclay asks. Aubrey shakes her head. “And did you mean it? And wasn’t it to stop him from telling anybody about your magic, and the goatmen, and the gate? I might be biased, but that sounds more like protecting us than using your powers to settle a score.”

“I guess,” Aubrey sniffles.

“And I’ve know Dani even longer,” Barclay continues. “She’s not the sort of person to let a bit of magic boss her feelings around without her knowing.”

Aubrey takes a deep breath and leans back away from Barclay. Her face is turned away from the stairs, but Dani’s hands itch to brush away the tears she knows are there. “Before we opened the gate up, she told me I feel like home. She told me she wanted to stay with me, even if I never went back to Sylvain, because I feel like home. I thought she was just being romantic, but what if– what if the thing that’s her home is Sylvain? Because that’s not me, I mean, I guess it is, but I’m not Sylvain. I’m Aubrey. Dani doesn’t know that I’m both! What if she only loves Sylvain? What if when I tell her, she chooses Sylvain?”

It feels a lot like being shot, Dani imagines, to listen to Aubrey’s desperate whispers. Or like being starved of magic, but colder. She knows that Aubrey doesn’t want her to hear this. She can’t go down to her. She can’t leave. She can’t do nothing, but somehow, that’s what she does.

Aubrey’s crying in earnest again, and Barclay’s rubbing soft circles on her back. He glances up, for just a moment, and Dani holds her breath, terrified that she’s been found out.

“Don’t tell me I just need to talk to her about it,” Aubrey tells Barclay. “Because I know that’s what I need to do but it’s also probably the scariest thing I’ve ever had to do. And I’ve been fighting monsters as a full time job for a year and a half.”

“I won’t,” Barclay says. “But she’s the only one who can answer all those questions for you.”

“Probably.” Aubrey rubs at her face. “Well, I guess– do I feel like home to you, Barclay?”

He glances at the stairs again. Does he see her? Dani wonders. Or is he just thinking about his bed?

In the silence, Dani can hear the buzz of the EXIT sign over the front door.

“No,” Barclay says. “Not like that. You’re part of my home, because you’re part of the Lodge, and I’d be sad if you left, but I’d still have Mama and Jake and the rest. I’d still have the springs. I miss Sylvain sometimes, sure, but this is my home, here at Amnesty, and I wouldn’t follow you back over there.”

Aubrey sniffs loudly and nods. “Thanks, Barclay.” 

He rubs her back a few more times and kisses the top of her head. “You know what else my home has, Aubrey? It’s got my bed in it.”

“Yeah?” Aubrey chuckles. She doesn’t make a move to get up, though.

Carefully, barely daring to breathe, Dani takes a step backwards up the stairs. Barclay looks straight at her then, over the top of Aubrey’s head.

He hadn’t lied to her. After all these years hiding their true selves from the people of Kepler, Dani knows when Barclay’s lying. But the look he gives Dani carries a warning. He wouldn’t follow Aubrey, but he’ll fight for her. He’s spent so long fighting for Sylvain, to protect their home from prying eyes and trouble, it’s hardly a surprise. Dani knows the feeling.

Now that she knows it’s there– yes, there is magic that calls that same protective anger up in her. Faced with Sylvain personified, returned after so long, of course she would fight for her as well. But the magic isn’t everything. She thinks she would be happy to die for Sylvain, but she’s lived without it for long enough. She’d keep living, on either side of the gate, with Aubrey. Just Aubrey. She nods at Barclay.

He nods back. Dani slips back up the stairs into the room she shares with Aubrey almost every night, and turns the light on. She has a lot of questions to answer, and they scare her too, but she knows what she’ll say when Aubrey asks.

[whisperoftheheart1995]

An Unexpected Moment- Chapter 3

(Also posted here)

Weeks pass and Peter can’t seem to avoid Johnny Storm. Suddenly, he’s everywhere Spider-Man is, and Peter stops being surprised when he shows up at a crime scene to find the Fantastic Four already there.

Each time, a new headline appears about how the Fantastic Four are making New York a better place to live. And each time, a new headline accuses him of being a part of the problem.

He and Johnny argue. A lot. It doesn’t seem to matter what about, but every time they see each other, they bicker constantly. The Thing jokes that they sound like an old married couple, but neither of them find it amusing. Johnny threatens to set him on fire. Peter webs his mouth shut, then high fives Johnny. And then they go right back to yelling at each other.

“How’s it going out there, Spider-Man?” Ned’s voice says in his ear.

“So far, so good. Pretty quiet night so far. Thanks for helping me out.”

“Are you kidding me? This is still, like, the coolest thing ever. I should be thanking you for letting me be a part of it.”

Peter grins, even though he knows Ned can’t see him. “You’re the best, Ned.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“I’m gonna keep looking,” he says as he takes off swinging. “Any signs of he who must not be named?”

“Ugh, that was lame, Peter. But no, the Fantastic Four were spotted in Manhattan so the coast is clear.”

“What would I do without my guy in the chair?”

“Shut up,” Ned laughs. “Shit, I’m supposed to meet Abe in, like, ten minutes. Can you take it from here?”

“I think I can handle it,” Peter says lightly. “Have fun on your date.”

“Thanks, man. See you tomorrow?”

“Definitely.”

The rest of the evening goes uneventfully. He saves a cat stuck in a tree, assists a few old ladies crossing the street, and helps a kid from the nearby middle school finish his math homework. It’s a nice change of pace from the life or death situations he’s been dealing with lately.

It’s dark by the time he gets home. Aunt May greets him with a kiss on the top of his head when he walks through the front door. “Hey, kiddo. How was studying?”

That’s right. He’d told her he and Ned were going to study at the coffee shop. He needs to get better at remembering his own cover ups.

“Good,” he lies, feeling the same twinge of guilt he always does.

She ruffles his hair lovingly. “Glad to hear. You should have called me, I would have picked you boys up so you didn't have to walk all the way home.”

Peter shrugs. “It wasn't a big deal.”

“It is a big deal, Peter,” she sighs. “It's not safe out there. I mean, just yesterday I read Spider-Man has been attacking people out on the streets.”

Hearing those words coming from her hurts more than he thought possible. His gaze falls to the floor, the corner of his eyes stinging a bit.

She continues. “I mean, you think you can trust someone and then… Peter, honey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I‘m fine. Just… tired.”

“Are you sure? You can always talk to me if something’s bothering you.”

Oh how he wishes that were true.

She places a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs it off. “No. it’s okay.” He says, giving her a weak smile, but he can tell she isn’t buying it. “I should get to bed. Goodnight.”

“Love you, kid.”

“Love you, too,” he calls as he walks toward his bedroom. He waits until the door shuts behind him before the tears come.

Peter waits until he thinks Aunt May is asleep before sneaking out the window. He couldn't sleep, her words repeating in his head, a constant reminder that the person he wanted to protect most of all doesn't trust him. No one trusts him, not anymore.

Maybe he should just give up, he wonders. After all, why does anyone need him anyway when the Fantastic Four and the Avengers are out there doing so much more than he ever could?

He swings across town until he finds a quiet spot where he can sit and watch the city beneath him. He needs to clear his head, to get away from it all. From where he’s perched on the edge of a roof, he can see all the bright city lights, hear the voices of happy people and their laughter as they go about their evenings.

 His phone buzzes with a text from Aunt May. Where are u?, he reads, then shuts his phone off, ignoring the stab of guilt in his chest. Ned will cover for him anyway. He turns his attention back to the city beneath him.

Sometimes he forgets how beautiful his city is at night. He stares back down at the street below him and pulls his knees to his chest, letting out a long, relieved sigh. From up here, everything is so small. From up here, everything feels so much simpler.

At least, it does until he hears the sound of footsteps behind him.

Peter spins around quickly, readying himself to jump into action if necessary. Johnny Storm holds up his hands. “Easy, there. Just me.”

Peter thinks he would have preferred a supervillain.

“Oh, great.”

“What, not happy to see me?”

It's an easy bait for one of their usual arguments, but Peter is so not in the mood. He doesn't have the energy for their normal back-and-forth right now.

“Ugh,” he groans, sitting back down. Johnny follows, taking a seat next to him, so close their legs brush against one another. Peter ignores the way his heart starts to beat faster. “What do you want, Johnny?”

Johnny leans back and puts a hand to his chest in mock offense. “What makes you think I want something?”

“Johnny, please. Just leave me alone.” His voice gets a little quieter, and Johnny’s expression softens. He doesn’t know if it’s the way his voice breaks, or the simple fact that he didn’t argue back, but whatever biting retort Johnny had at the ready dies on his tongue, and he sits there, just staring at Peter for a moment.

“Alright, get up. You're coming with me.”

“Did you not hear what I just said-”

“I know, but I don’t think being alone is a good idea for you right now. So, come on,” Johnny says, holding out his hand.

Peter doesn’t know what makes him take the other boy’s hand. Maybe it’s the sincerity in his eyes. Maybe he’s taken one too many hits to the head. But he stands up and asks, “Where to?”

Johnny grins at him. “I know just the place.”

“The Statue of Liberty? Really ? Could you have picked somewhere lamer?”

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun! Alright, last one up there buys ice cream!”

“What? We’re going up there?” But Johnny has already taken off, all bright flames and even brighter laughter.

Peter tries not to think about the inevitable headlines he’ll read tomorrow (SPIDER-MAN DEFACES AMERICAN SYMBOL OF FREEDOM, KIDNAPS THE HUMAN TORCH?) as he webs after the other boy, pulling himself on top of a ferry heading toward the statue. When they get close, he shoots another web to the top, where Johnny is already waiting for him.

“No fair, you can literally fly.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” Johnny shrugs. “You still owe me ice cream.”

“Aw, come on! I have, like, thirty cents on me.” Peter pauses, feeling his suit. “Oh, wait. It’s gone.”

“Fine, I’ll pay for the ice cream.” He lets out a sigh. “It’s beautiful up here, isn’t it?”

Peter stares at Johnny, who’s looking out at the city with a small smile. His hair is messier than usual, windblown with pieces of it fallen on his forehead. Peter wants to reach out and touch it.

“Yeah, you are.” His eyes widen. “I mean- shit. I really need to, like, think before I say things out loud.”

Johnny laughs a little. “I guess The Daily Bugle was right about you trying to ‘seduce me to the dark side.’”

“I'm not-” Peter starts to argue but Johnny cuts him off.

“Kidding. I know you’re not trying to seduce me. And I know The Daily Bugle is full of shit. You’re not dark. Not even a little bit.”

The other boy rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “You know, I always thought it was kind of cool how you never let any of that stuff get to you. How you still help people even though half of them talk shit about you.”

“Oh, um- thanks,” Peter says, for lack of better words. He doesn't know if he deserves this praise, considering how close he had been to giving it all up just a few hours ago.

Johnny bites his lip, as though he's contemplating what to say. “How old are you, Spider-Man?”

“I’m sixteen,” Peter admits quietly, staring down at his feet.

“Me too. It's hard, isn't it? Being a superhero and still having to find time to finish your homework? Not to mention having a social life. Sue and Reed and Ben, they try to understand, but they just don’t get it.” He sighs. “Sometimes, I think no one does.”

Peter knows exactly what he means. Sure, his social life mainly consists of building Legos with Ned and the occasional movie night with MJ, but balancing things in his life is still a constant struggle. And even though he has his friends, there are just some things they can’t possibly understand. Mr. Stark never quite understands either, he was already an adult when he became a hero.

But Johnny-

He gets it better than anyone. Peter had always thought they were so different from each other- their backgrounds, their personalities- but in that moment, he sees how alike they truly are.

“Yeah, I- I feel like that all the time.”

“Really?”

Peter nods.

Johnny smiles at him. “Come on. Let's go get some ice cream.”

The lone employee behind the counter’s eyes widen comedically when she sees Spider-Man and the Human Torch walk through the front door of the ice cream shop.

They both order, and Johnny hands the cashier a shiny credit card.

Peter can't resist. “You know, just because you're paying for my food doesn't mean I'm taking my clothes off. I'm not like the rest of your dates.”

Johnny looks amused. “Oh, you think this is a date?”

“What? No. T-that was a joke.” Peter feels his cheeks redden anyway.

“Relax, Webhead, I’m just messing with you.” He hands Peter one of the ice cream cones, then smiles at the cashier, who did her best to pretend to not be listening in on their conversation.

They sit outside, talking and eating until an ungodly hour.

And Peter actually has fun. The most fun he’s had in a while, if he’s honest with himself. It’s almost 3AM when Peter crawls into bed, a content smile on his face.

[spxderman-s]

Video Chats

requested by michaelsmoustache: could you plz do one that's totally platonic, like best friends since day one, share everything and it could just be cute best friend shit cause i honestly need that rn. thank you, have a good day i love yoi

word count: 1099

pairings: peter parker x reader 

warnings: fluffy as hell, y’all 

a/n: okay so it’s not totally platonic, but its still focused on being bffs with peter which is amazing in itself. i’m sorry it took so long, love!! but i love yoi too. and thank you for being so patient with me!! enjoy, darlingssss

not my gif

“I can’t believe you like Star Trek over Star Wars,” you laughed, playfully shoving your best friend with your shoulder as the two of you walked home from school.

“I like the science!”

“Half of it’s fictional science,” you shot back. “At least I know Star Wars isn’t real.”

Peter Parker sputtered in frustration, his cheeks growing an adorable red. “You and Ned both love to gang up on me about liking Star Trek--it’s what I like!”

You couldn’t help but giggle a little at how worked up he was getting. “Alright, Parker, alright. I’ll drop it.” You walked a few more feet in silence, until you leaned over and whispered, “But Darth Vader is more badass than any Star Trek villain.”

Peter groaned, and gently shoved you away with a hidden smile. You knew he loved the banter--and you never went over the top to explicitly insult his hobbies, even if you thought the were super lame.

He stopped in front of his building, and turned towards you to say goodbye. “Coffee tomorrow morning?”

“If I ever say no to that, shoot me--because I’ve been cloned,” you joked, grinning at him. “Say hi to Aunt May for me, Parker.”

“I will.” Reaching out his hand, you both performed your special handshake, and he disappeared through the doors, smiling. You continued down the street, full of happiness, until you went up to your own apartment, saying hi to your mother and collapsing on the couch.

Peter Parker had been your absolute best friend since grade school, because on the first day you defended him on the playground for drawing his own comic book--something the other kids thought was stupid. Young and innocent, you put your tiny hands on your hips in defiance and told little Peter that he should always do what he loved--no matter what anyone said. And from that day forward, the two of you were inseparable.

It was when you both got to middle school you started telling each other everything that was happening in your life. Puberty, right? Can’t escape all that drama. You had some run-ins with the school mean girls, and he stood up for you for all of them. Likewise, he was having issues with bullies, and you actually got a week’s worth of detention for punching one of them in the jaw for him.

“How was school today, love?” your mother asked from her desk, the clacking of her keyboard not faltering.

“It was alright--long,” came your tired reply.

“What’s Peter up to? I need to talk to May about that book she recommended last week--I finished it already.”

“He’s probably doing homework or something.”

She swiveled her chair around to look at you over the tops of her glasses. “Everything alright with you two?”

“School’s just been up our asses all month,” you replied, casually flipping through your notebook. “We’re gonna get coffee tomorrow morning.”

“Language,” she scolded, and went back to work. “I’ll send her an email.”

You spent the rest of the night doing homework, mindlessly watching the clock on the microwave gradually get later and later into the evening until the sun was long gone. Your phone chimed the merry little tune that belonged to Peter only--startling you out of your daze. Looking down at the screen, he wanted to video chat. You accepted the call, and put on the funniest face you could think of while you waited for it to connect.

“Dude, this homework is killing me, have you--holy shit, what kind of face is that?”

You burst into laughter and adjusted the phone so he could see you properly. “I just finished the homework for Chem--is that what you’re talking about?”

His face on the screen twisted in confusion. “We had Chem homework?”

You covered your eyes with your free hand. “Yes, Parker--what were you talking about?”

“The conversations we had to write out in Spanish!”

“That’s not due until next week, dude.”

An audible sigh escaped him as he held up a packet of paper with words scribbled on them. “I just spent the last two hours writing all of this out.”

“Well,” you tried not to laugh at him, “at least now you’re prepared.”

“Yeah, but now I have to do the homework for Chem that I had no idea about,” he ripped a fresh page of paper out of his notebook and began copying equations from the textbook. “What a trade-off.”

“You can look at mine tomorrow if you want,” you offered. “Compare answers before class.”

“You’re a lifesaver, [Y/N].”

“Here, I’m gonna send you this song I found the other day--I thought of you when I heard it.” You tapped quickly onto the screen, sending him the link.

“New music?” He perked up excitedly when his phone vibrated from your text. “I love that you send me new stuff to listen to.”

“Give that album a listen, if you like that song,” you replied, resting your hand on your chin and gazing at him lovingly. “They sounded right up your alley.”

Certain times, like that moment there, you dwelled on the possibility that you were starting to realize Peter wasn’t that kid on the playground anymore. He had grown into his big ears and goofy grin--replaced by a handsome face and a smile that could break hearts. He wasn’t as scrawny anymore, either. You had no idea when he found the time, but you began to notice his defined biceps during gym, the veins in his arms getting more prominent whenever he flexed.

And whenever you looked at him for too long, an odd feeling would rise up in your stomach, and you would force yourself to look away in embarrassment, cheeks flaming pink.

“[Y/N]?” Peter’s voice brought you out of your thoughts.

You rubbed your eyes, looking at your phone. “Sorry, sorry--it’s been a long day.”

“You should probably get some sleep,�� he spoke, concern in his eyes. “Do you still want to get coffee tomorrow?”

You nodded with a shy smile, that odd feeling rising in your stomach again. “Of course, Parker.”

“Call you in the morning then.” Peter grinned, and flashed you Spock’s salute. “Live long and prosper--goodnight, sunshine.”

“Nerd,” you teased, sticking your tongue out at him. “Goodnight, Parker.”

After hitting the end call button, you sat back in your chair in exhaustion, knowing that there’s no possible way you could go to sleep after you finally realized that you had started falling for Peter Parker, at a speed and velocity you didn’t think was possible.

tagging: @tronnoristheotp @nedthegay @i-saved-me @theweirdowithablogo @skymoonandstardust @timemngmtoptimisationproblems @thumper-darling @holywinchesterness @grabyourpolaroidandmyhand @ketterdame @tonight-couldbeforgettable @dimplesandcutesmiles @terrashrone @leorai-lemony-lewa @yoinkpeter 

[ohparkers]

Secrets

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: More teen angst, wow what a surprise coming from me!!

Summary: Seeing Peter so hurt after a fight makes hidden feelings reveal themselves.

A/N: I really don’t like this, but I felt like I needed to post so here you go lolnfdkndk

You sighed, your fuzzy sock-clad feet tucked under you as you sat with your legs crossed on Peter’s bed. He had promised that the two of you could have one of your traditional movie nights, and needless to say, you were beyond excited. It seemed like ages since your last one of these. It was understandable, though, considering how your best friend was Spider-Man himself… yeah, you knew, but most days the thought of him being out there fighting still didn’t sit right with you.

He had told you to come over at 5:30, so you’d arrived at 5:15. When you knocked on the door, May greeted you with a huge smile and a bear hug. After knowing Peter since you were in third grade, you’d also grown to know and love his Aunt. Every time you came over, she always had some sort of baked good prepared for you. She was like your second mother.

Now it was almost 6:00, and there was still no sign of Peter. You sat on his unmade bed, scrolling boredly through your Instagram feed. You knew why he was late, obviously, but you couldn’t help feeling incredibly disappointed nonetheless. Lately, he’d been even more distant. In school, you sat together at lunch with him, Ned and MJ, but during every conversation, it seemed like he wasn’t even really there.

You were about to send him a text when May’s face popped up in the doorway. “Hey, kiddo, I’m sorry about this. Peter has been so flaky recently, and he won’t even tell me why.” She gave you a look of pity and understanding.

“Yeah, it’s okay. Maybe I should head home, I guess.” You meekly smiled, trying not to let the overwhelming dismay leak into your voice. May just nodded. Grabbing your backpack from the ground, you tucked your cell phone into the back pocket of your jeans.

Standing up, you were almost all the way out of the bedroom when you heard the front door open and slam shut. Peter.

You listened intently as you heard May’s footsteps approaching him. She was talking to him, but he was answering in a tone none higher than a whisper. You could barely make out what he was saying. Biting your lip, you dropped your bag back down onto the ground and waited for Peter to come in.

The doorknob turned slowly and then opened to reveal your best friend on the other side. His hair looked disheveled, and your eyes widened as you took in the sight of a huge black eye forming on his face. He was sporting a light gray hoodie and jeans, but you could tell that he’d just thrown the clothes over his suit.

Peter met your gaze, his eyes slightly lighting up. You quickly went over to him, closing the door behind you. “Oh my gosh, Pete, come here.” You led him over to the bed and carefully sat down next to him.

“Hi.” He muttered as you both sat, leaning in to hug you before grimacing in pain.

Now you were really worried. “What the hell happened? It’s not even dinner time and you’re already all beaten up!” Your voice raised slightly, and you had to fight hard to not let tears start pouring from your eyes already. Running your hands through your hair, you squeezed your eyes shut.

“Hey, hey, I’m right here. (Y/N), look, I’m okay.” Peter grabbed your hand, rubbing his thumb over your clenched knuckles soothingly. You let out a deep breath, his touch always had a way of simultaneously calming you down and making you completely lose your train of thought.

Opening your eyes again, you started, “You know, I was really, super worried about you. And I couldn’t even talk to May about it,” You felt yourself succumb to your emotions that were currently on overdrive, droplets of salt water beginning to leak from your tired eyes. “Now, you need to tell me what happened.”

Peter sighed, still holding your hand in his. “Well, there was a bank robbery. I tried to stop it, I almost had them, I really did. But then one of them pulled out this massive gun thing, I swear it was like something from another dimension, it was so insane (Y/N).”

“Oh my god, I’m gonna be sick.” Standing up and pacing back in forth in front of his bed, you shook your head in disbelief. “Peter, you could have died.”

“(Y/N), every time I put on that suit, I run the risk of dying.” He murmured, earning a death glare in his direction from you.

“Gee, thanks, that makes me feel so much better.”  

“(Y/N)! Jeez! I’m fine, I’m here. Why are you suddenly freaking out about this? It’s just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing out of the ordinary.” Peter pleaded, now standing up and facing you directly. You stared at the bruise on his eye that blocked out a cluster of the freckles that dotted his face.

Unfortunately, Peter was significantly taller than you, which meant that whenever you talked, you had to look up at him. This was your current situation, and as much as you were mad at him, the urge to collapse into his arms was still prominent in your mind as ever.

The words were flying out of your mouth before you could even process them. “God, Peter, because I’m in love with you, you dumbass!”

Suddenly you had stopped your pacing. Eyes wide as saucers, heart beating out of your chest, the reality of what you’d just admitted was slowly sinking in. It was your turn to blush profusely that night.

Meanwhile, Peter’s mind was racing at a mile a minute. (Y/N) (Y/L/N), the girl who he’d pined after in secret since he was thirteen, had beaten him to say that he loved her first. The girl who Peter had watched admire other boys in their grade for years upon years. The girl who sat next to him at lunch on his first day being the new kid in their school. The girl who had punched Flash Thompson in the face one day after he’d dumped his lunch tray on him. The girl who he’d practiced confessing to in front of his mirror countless times. Holy shit.

You were staring up at him, your soft eyes wide with anticipation. Don’t mess this up, Peter. He took a single step towards you. He felt time slow down.

The distance between the two of you grew smaller with every passing moment. You felt your heart surge in your chest as Peter’s honey colored eyes scanned yours.

“(Y/N)?”

“Yes?” You choked out, voice barely rising above the volume of a whisper.

“I-I love you too.”

Time froze. You let out a shaky breath of relief, before giving him the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen in his whole life. His eyes sparkled, flecks of light green catching in the light coming from the window.

“I think now’s the moment where you’re supposed to kiss me.” You chuckled, watching as Peter’s cheeks flamed.

“R-right.” He stuttered, taking a final step forward towards you and wrapping his arms around your waist. You smiled again, causing him to almost fall over at how much he loved you.

And then he kissed you, so gently as if you were glass and he didn’t want to break you, and all the years of hidden feelings suddenly came out into the open.

[adventuresloane]

oh god i can't stop thinking about a TAZ Amnesty Moana AU ok please consider:

-Aubrey’s raised to be the chief of her village one day but feels Called to magic and the strange world outside of what she’s always known and even shows an affinity for it

-Aubrey for sure talks to magic and fire the same way Moana talks to the ocean

-But there’s the approaching darkness of the Quell that’s threatening to destroy her home and so it’s Hero’s Journey Time

-Ned takes Grandma Tala’s place as the elder that everyone thinks is crazy and eccentric and who also just so happens to know a shitton about the old legends, although he considers himself to be past the point of believing them

-But it’s all Aubrey has to go on, so she convinces Ned to join her and they go on a quest to awaken an entity called Sylvain and get her to defeat the Quell, since that’s the only way according to the stories

-(There’s also just a small part of that legend that mentions needing an orange pendant to restore the heart of Sylvain in order to awaken her, but Ned just chooses not to tell Aubrey about that one. All these stories are poppycock anyway.)

-But anyway he tells her that in order to get this shit done, they have to find a demigod that no one’s heard from in years

-Turns out that’s because he fucked off to a corner of the deep deep forest and has just been vibing for like decades because he was tired of everyone wanting him to fulfill quests just because he’s buff and godly and shit

-But Aubrey does convince demigod!Duck (who does in fact still resemble Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson) to come with them anyway and they have some battles together and he realizes that he has to face up to his responsibilities, especially because the more the darkness of the Quell spreads, the more vulnerable he becomes

-(Ned is both encouraged and increasingly nervous about how much these old legends are turning out to be prophecies)

-Also Beacon is a giant fish hook in this but otherwise he talks and acts in exactly the same way he does in Amnesty

-Anyway shenanigans ensue, the trio grows closer through all the danger, Aubrey’s skills in magic increase, and it seems like they’re getting closer and closer to finding Sylvain

-But then Ned just disappears as they come to the ritual place or whatever where they’re supposed to awaken Sylvain, and Duck and Aubrey can’t figure out how to do it with just the two of them

-What Ned can’t figure out is how he’s going to tell Aubrey that this whole time, he’s been hiding the magic pendant that’s kept him in good health for all his many years. The one he snatched when she was still a toddler, knowing its powers of eternal life but not just what it was. They’ve had the heart of Sylvain this whole time, among their group.

-He doesn’t have to tell her, though. Aubrey finds him as he’s looking at the thing, as he’s going back and forth. It’s too late for him to explain.

-She tells him to leave.

-She and Duck restore the heart of Sylvain at the ritual place and...nothing. She’s not awakened. Maybe there was never anything to awaken. Maybe she’s dead.

-Meanwhile, Duck’s powers are gone. They’re in the heart of the Quell’s darkness and he’s just a regular human now. He’s sorry. He can’t face this without his abilities.

-And then? Then Aubrey finds that Ned is dead. 

-She’s failed at all of this. She doesn’t want any of it. She’s alone now and she just wants to go home while there’s still a home to go to.

-And then, from the pendant, there’s a light, and an outpouring of the strongest flaming magic she’s ever felt, and in front of her stands someone who could be her sister.

-She meets, for the first time, the goddess who’s been inside her this whole time. Sylvain embraces her. The spirit of Ned is there, too, forgiving and forgiven at last.

-And it’s obvs still a musical so as Aubrey finds herself surrounded by swells of warm bright magic in the dark and feels wholly enveloped in divine love she comes to the climax of her song and sings, “and the call isn’t out there at all, it’s inside me! It’s like the fire, always falling and rising. I will carry you here in my heart. You remind me that come what may, I know the waaaaay!”

-”I AM MOANA SYLVAIN!”

-I cry.

-She meets back up with Duck, who’s had a change of heart and doesn’t care that he doesn’t have his same powers. He’ll do what he can.

-And finally after it’s clear that fighting won’t do it, we see Aubrey walking calmly through a wall of fire as the huge black form and giant red eye of the Quell barrels toward her, destroying everything in its path. She just proceeds, sure in her own magic and relationship with Sylvain.

-And you know what even though I liked the fight against the Quell in Amnesty what we really deserved was Aubrey approaching it in peace and chanting, “They have stolen the heart from inside you, but this does not define you. This is not who you are. You know who you are.”

-I cry, again.

-Also Dr. Bonkers is the cute pig