#Vanessa definitely can’t explain it either
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chloesimaginationthings · 4 months ago
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Vanny can’t explain everything in the FNAF pizzaplex..
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youcouldmakealife · 9 months ago
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SOTM: Vinny/Tony, Fourniers; one-trick pony
For the prompt: Dying for a Vinny/Anton update!
Thomas never had time for hobbies, not really. As a child, maybe, but the first time he volunteered to play goalie in house league he knew that was what he wanted to do.
He doesn't mean in a ‘with his life’ sort of way, though it was that too. More like every time he wasn’t actually on the ice, in the net, he thinking about it, practicing skills for it, working on his reflexes, his flexibility. Doing a hundred jumping jacks a day after a teammate’s older sibling told him it’d make him taller. He kept it up even after his coach told him that wasn’t how height worked, just in case he was wrong. Anything to get better.
It’s not that Thomas slacked on the rest of his life or anything — when he was at school he was at school, and when he was with friends, he was with friends, though he did make Meg shoot on him more than he probably should have, and when he was camping with his dad, he was in the wilderness.
But he never had enough ice time to satisfy him, never had enough teammates putting shots on him, never had enough time one-on-one with the Sudbury Wolves goalie coach that gave him some sessions as a favour because he was his teammate Zack’s uncle. Because Zack told him that Thomas had ‘it’.
And if Thomas didn’t have ‘it’ before those sessions, he did after, that edge that nobody else his age had. Advice on his blocker hand, sure, but more important things: on eating a clean diet. On prioritizing mobility above everything else. On what he could play through, and what he couldn’t, and if he didn’t know, to take that time just to be safe. That his mental toughness was as important as his physical toughness, and then some.
He had teammates who would sneak time during the long drives to games in the surrounding towns, entertained by Game Boys, books, Pokémon cards, but Thomas had a bad case of motion sickness he didn’t manage to shake until he was in Juniors, and spent so much time on a bus it started to feel stranger not being in motion. Besides, he was already thinking about the game ahead.
But lack of practice or not, Thomas probably should not be doing worse than two fifth graders at Pictionary. Right after he was worse than them at Just Dance — ‘Uncle Vinny, you’re supposed to be an athlete’ was said, and his feelings are still a little hurt. Also worse at baking cookies, apparently, though all three efforts tasted pretty good to him.
“Can’t you do anything other than hockey?” Vanessa said, so offhand he knew it wasn’t meant to sting, but, of course, it stung anyway.
Thomas doesn’t know how to explain being so focused on one thing impoverishes everything else, and he definitely doesn’t know how to do it in an age appropriate way. It’s good, he thinks, that they don’t understand — at their age he’d already started cutting away parts of himself that didn’t, couldn’t fit. He couldn’t join any of the after school clubs, or play any other sport above house league level. No sleepovers, except with teammates, because he had practice first thing on weekend mornings. At a certain point it was just hockey. It had to be.
Vanessa and Olivia can be anything they want to be. Maybe not literally — there was a point he remembers Olivia wanted to be a mermaid, and he doesn’t know how achievable that goal is, though he does know if he ever brings it up Olivia will furiously deny that ever happened and then refuse to speak to him for the rest of the day.
But they have Fourns and Chloe as parents, two of the most supportive people Thomas has ever met, and Fourns had a long, successful NHL career, so money isn’t a barrier either. They can try everything, do what they’re good at, what they enjoy, what they love. Which is dancing to Rihanna, baking cookies, and hurting a poor goalie’s feelings.
That night, Thomas brings his batch of cookies home with him, because the girls didn’t want them, and eats three standing right at the kitchen island. They’re perfectly good cookies. He doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Anton comes downstairs when Thomas is on cookie three, hair damp from the shower.
“Good day?” he asks, then says, “Cookies,” before Thomas can actually answer him, shoving one into his mouth.
“Good cookie,” Anton says, through a mouthful of crumbs, squeezing Thomas’ shoulder on his way to the fridge. He doesn’t even notice Thomas beaming at him, too busy investigating, probably because last time Thomas went to the Fourniers he brought back half a cake and two pizzas. The Fourniers don’t do leftovers.
Thomas doesn’t know if Anton would have even played hockey if he wasn’t Vladimir Petrov’s son. It’s not exactly something that could ever be tested. Anton’s been surrounded by hockey his whole life: he literally sat in the Stanley Cup before he ever got a pair of skates. Hockey wasn’t just an option, it was the option.
Anton loves it, Thomas knows that — he wouldn’t have gotten this far if he didn’t genuinely love hockey. Wouldn’t put up with hearing ‘as the son of the legendary Vladimir Petrov…’ if he didn’t love it, or the teammates he calls immature idiots, like he didn’t get into an elbow-off with Thomas over who got the last pancake just last week.
He definitely wouldn’t put up with the media if he could avoid it, and he likes meeting fans more than he pretends he does, especially when they’re kids, but he likes his privacy more, and nobody gets much of that in Montreal, not if they’re playing for the Habs.
Even Thomas finds it a little overwhelming at times, and he not only gets recognised less than Anton does, he loves meeting fans. It makes it feel real to him, when sometimes the practice-game-flight-repeat lulls him into taking it all for granted. There’s only so much time left before it’s all over, and Thomas doesn’t want to waste it.
He’ll probably need hobbies in retirement. Scratch probably: Thomas gets bored when they go three days between games.
And retirement isn’t that far away, he knows — every contract he’s depending on the Habs still wanting him. The minute they don’t, his choice is going to be retiring or going somewhere else, leaving behind his city, his team. Tony, who’d probably take it pretty personally. And that’s if Thomas could even bring himself to do it. He doesn’t think he could. But without hockey, he doesn’t know where that leaves him. Here, he guesses. Making subpar cookies.
“How were the monsters?” Anton says.
“They said my cookies sucked,” Thomas says.
“What?” Anton says, immediately outraged on Thomas’ behalf. “They’re good cookies!”
“I thought so!” Thomas says.
Anton grabs a second cookie, taking a big bite out of it.
“Good cookie!” he says through another mouthful of crumbs. Thomas doesn’t plaster himself against him right then just because he’s afraid the cookie might choke him. He waits for him to swallow.
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trentonsimblr · 11 months ago
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Previous-beginning-Next
Post 2 of 2 for today!
AN: The dialogue and the poses for this post were a HUGE labor of love by @ardeney-sims . All I can say to her is thank you and you knocked it out of the park!!!
P.S The transcript is below the cut!
B: Um, hey.
V: …
B: Your cousin… she, um… she said you’d be out here. 
V: …
B: Is it okay if I sit beside you?
V: Sure.
V: If you were trying to hurt me or get back at me for ghosting you for a week by ghosting me for a little over a month, you were very successful.
B: I… I wasn't trying to get back at you.
V: Could have fooled me.
B: You could have always messaged me, you know.
V: I had no courage left in me after how we left things. It was all used up when I was trying to explain myself to you.
B: Why would you need to build up the courage to message me?
V: Because you seemed upset with me when you left the call and it made me nervous and scared to reach out.
B: I wasn't upset with you. I just needed some time.
V: When I didn’t hear back from you after you said you’d message me later, it felt like our friendship was just… over.
B: It was never over. Not even for a second.
V: It really felt like it though.
B: Why won't you look at me?
V: I’m overwhelmed and not sure that I'm ready to face the reality of the situation. If I don't see your face and I just listen to your voice, I hear my friend from the forums and that’s comforting to me. But if I see your face and still hear that same voice… I don’t know.
B: I'm still the same person though.
V: I know that, but I just… need a minute.
B: Of course. I’m sorry.
V: Don’t apologize. You haven’t done anything wrong.
B: Haven’t I? I keep doing things that seem to upset you or hurt you or make you sad and I don't like making you sad. There is nothing worse than seeing someone you love in pain while also knowing that you're the reason behind it. 
V: Blaze. Look at me. None of this is on you. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one at fault because it's MY emotional baggage that got us here in the first place. I don't want you to feel bad for things that were entirely out of your control. I was wrong about you and I am so incredibly sorry for how I've treated you both on and offline. I can definitely understand why you were so adamant about not video chatting with me.
B: I’m sorry about that… I know it upset you.
V: It did, I won’t lie. And while I'm sure at first it was in the interest of basic internet safety considering who you are, after my whole tirade about you… I get why you never wanted me finding out. I… I didn't make you feel safe anymore. I can only blame myself for that.
B: I just… I couldn’t risk losing our friendship and then having you hate me even more. I didn’t want to lie to you but I also didn’t know how I could tell you the truth? Because hearing that story and everything you said about me… it hurt a lot. 
V: And I am so incredibly sorry for it all. You didn’t deserve it. I was such a huge bitch who called you all kinds of horrible things and put you in a place where you couldn’t properly defend yourself. I know I can’t take it back but, if I could, I swear I’d do it in a heartbeat. 
B: Do you still see me in that light?
V: Not at all. Remember that conversation we had a few days later where I told you that you were right about my anger clouding my judgment? 
B: Yeah, I remember. 
V: That’s what got me to change my mind. You were the first person who challenged my version of events. Sure, I was a little annoyed at first, but because you’re someone I care about and I care about the things you say, I felt like I should at least try to see it from your point of view. 
B: And when you did? 
V: When I did, I realized that I was 100% keeping this grudge because I could. I’ve been really shitty to you Blaze and I really am sorry for everything. I hope you can forgive me.
B: Of course I do. Honestly, Vanessa, you could punch me in the face and kick me in the chest and I'd still forgive you.
V: Rest assured I won't be trying either. Friends don't give friends black eyes. Or a pneumothorax, for that matter.
B: But drugging and assault is fine?
V: Don’t start with that! Are you ever going to let me live that down?!
B:  Never. 
V: I’ve missed talking to you so much.
B: Likewise.
V: I swear, my therapist is going to have a field day once I tell her about this trip...
B: Therapist? Have you always been seeing a therapist?
V: No, that’s new. And how I got there and how it’s going is a long ass story in and of itself.
B: I mean… we’ve still got time before the party if you want to talk about it. V: And completely deplete my mental and social battery before I have to interact with people????? Hell no.
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crossover-enthusiast · 1 year ago
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Now for some more serious stuff
When the animatronics start acting weird kevin is suspicous
But he can’t really investigate when he suddenly locked in at night with a random young boy and having only Freddy be normal
Streber spends the whole night worrying cause kevin always checks in and he can’t get through to him (phone signals are cut off courtesy of Vanny)
The night ends well of course with robots repaired and pretty minor injuries
Explaining it to jack and john however is interesting
Interesting
I imagine Kevin is working overtime trying to investigate or is just on shift when he spots Gregory on the camera
After failing to reach Vanessa (she put herself as patrol guard), Kevin goes to get the kid himself but is confused when the doors won't open back up. Cue being chased by the animatronics
And after dealing with them Kevin would be a bit hesitant with Freddy at first, but is relieved when Freddy seems completely unaffected
And yeah it would definitely be. Something to explain to the police, especially if this ends in either freeing Vanessa from Glitchtrap (who is equally confused) or dealing with ol Peepaw in the sinkhole
John: And who's kid is this?
Kevin: I, uh... don't know. Kid?
Gregory: *shrugs*
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askamnesiamoonjumper · 2 years ago
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What do you think about Vanessa?
COMING IN TO EDIT THIS BUT I THINK I WAS A BIT HARSH IN THE POST BUT THAT WAS MOSTLY JUST BC I HAD DONE THIS EXACT RANT LIKE A MILLION TIMES BY THIS POINT SO UH SORRY THAT IT KINDA COMES OFF AS MEAN OR ANYTHING anyway vanessa my beloved lets get on with the og post edit over
So this question can be answered in a few different ways but it boils down to Vanessa as a character or as a person
As a character? I LOVE Vanessa I’m very passionate about her and love writing her I love exploring her characterization and getting into her mind and deconstructing and breaking down her thought process she’s like my top favorite characterization from aau
But as a person? I hate her, her actions are horrible, she was an awful manipulator and abuser, and that’s ok because that’s what she’s supposed to be! She’s supposed to be bad and evil and a villain that’s her purpose, does that stop me from liking her as a character? No! Because that’s what her character IS, a villain!
I feel like WAY too many people feel the need to excuse and justify her actions as a person just to like her as a character, which is a really bad mind set to have, you can like a character and still acknowledge they’re messed up people, and van specifically in fanon has a huge characterization issue
You either get people excusing her actions and making her a romanticized yandere owo girlboss OR you get someone going too far the other direction where her character is reduced to just a feral cryptid monster with no personality at all, I think the fans in terms of writing need to remember she’s right down the middle of those, if you go too far in one direction it can kinda mess with her character (ESPECIALLY the UwU AWOOGA pretty lady yandere whatever ones I hate those kinds of characterizations💔) romanticism is a huge issue with her fanon and it sucks that this happens so often I WANT MORE FICS OR AUS THAT EXPLORE HER AS A CHARACTER WITHOUT ROMANTICISING HER ACTIONS DAMMIT I WANT MORE PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO LOVE HER CHARACTER WHO AREN’T WEIRDOS ABOUT HER !!!!
hot take but I feel as though if things where in reverse and PRINCE was the abuser and not Vanessa the fandom would be really different I don’t think anyone would be caught dead simping for prince if he did all the stuff she did, but because ooh she’s so pretty or whatever it’s fine 😐 like bro what the hell, idk I definitely smell an underlying sexism to male abuse victims and hints of some sexualization/infantilism of women i might be looking too deep but like…. there’s SOMETHING going on there man. Also a lot of people use Vanessas mom as a way of excusing her actions which yeah that’s cool it’s based in beta canon I like that but her mom can’t take ALL the blame for what she did, Vanessa still was abusive and possessive and killed an entire kingdom of children might I add, idk I do love the idea of using her mother to explain how she got like THAT as a point A to point B thing I love it but I think it shouldn’t be completely her mom was bad and evil and Vanessa did no harm or anything youknow? This is probably why I haven’t put much thought into her mother in aau I’ve just been reluctant because of how often her mother is used in the fanon it kinda just puts a bad taste in my mouth ig? I dunno I think it’s just how often she’s used to justify her actions I just associate that with her mother instead of thinking about how I could do her character, maybe I will one day though 
But rant aside this is why in aau I make sure to explore her character while not excusing what she did. Hell honestly I make her worse lmao I turn her manipulative tendencies up to 11 and exploring her reactiveness and the not all there aspect of her mindset but am I making her some mindless monster in the process? no! Like I said there needs to be a balance, I feel like Vanessas curse is the best example of her characterization getting to shine I absolutely adore how she’s written in VC
Also again more aus should explore her character instead of just “cast goes to manor and they fight and then they one shot her dead and that’s it the end” it works yeah but ive seen it done so often i kinda wish more ppl spent more time with her, heck this was what I originally did way way back in the first version of the au but thankfully that didn’t happen and I’m so glad it didn’t because I’m so excited for the long manor arc it’s so good man I can’t wait for it
though getting her character down can be REALLY hard, it took me SO long to get her pinned down, it def takes practice with getting abusive characters right because of their more complex nature compared to just plain vanilla villains so i honestly don't blame people for the way she gets characterized in fanon tbh
but uhhhh yeah my Vanessa fanon rant™️ because I’ve said it in discord a bunch but never really talked about it on tumblr minus like in tags or something but yeah rant over bye sorry if this went on really long or dosnt make sense I didn’t bother to read over it I’ve made this rant like a million times already before I’m tired ig lmao 
Tldr a!Vanessa is way sexier and better then all the other Vanessas and I’m the only one who understands her fr (THIS ID A JOKE THIS IS A JOKW THIS IS A JOKE)
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yourdeepestfathoms · 3 years ago
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Ok so, idk if i asked this before or I'm just thinking i did but didn't send?
But like from your au, I'm genuinely curious, and idk if you alreday did answer it before, but like how would mike have reacted with finding out about not only ness being his kid (again u think that was answered before but again i don't really remember 😅) but also being controlled by his dad to do his dirty deeds?
I can imagine it either being in a hurt comfort way of angsty way with this
i definitely did get this ask before, i am just Really Bad at answering things sometimes 😅 sometimes i forget about the stuff in my inbox or don’t know how to answer
but! this!!!
i have headcanons that already explain his reaction to realizing that Vanessa is his kid, but he realizes due to this instinct inside of him. he has no initial proof, but when he sees her for the first time, he just knows she’s his kid. plus, a quick scan tells him that all her health information—blood type and whatnot—matches up with his daughter’s.
he keeps it a secret for awhile. he knows what happened the last time his family interacted with animatronics, and he doesn’t want her to end up like that. he’s so scared of accidentally hurting her. so, he avoids Vanessa. he gets the others to avoid her, too. he’s going to extreme measures to make sure she isn’t harmed by one of them.
meanwhile, Vanessa just thinks the animatronics fucking hate her, which doesn’t bode well for her already-fractured mental health. every time she tries to talk to them, they stop what they’re doing, stare at her for a moment, and then walk away. sometimes they walk away without even looking at her. it’s like she’s not even there.
this goes on for about two weeks, and then something changes. Vanessa is brooding about how not even robots like her and ends up in the Daycare. somehow, the lights get turned off and she meets Moon for the first time.
and Moon scared the ever-loving shit out of Vanessa.
her resulting scream is heard all throughout the Pizzaplex. without even really realizing it, Freddy is running in that direction. Monty and Roxy try to stop him, reminding him about what he said, and he just goes, “i don’t care, i need to HELP HER!”
needless to say, he nearly mauls Moon. who knew Freddy was capable of roaring like an actual bear? Vanessa. Vanessa knows now.
sometime after that, Freddy finally spills his knowledge to Vanessa, who initially laughs and doesn’t believe him At All. but with a bit of prompting, she finds her birth mother, asks her some questions, realizes her dad is a bear, and then throws up.
in response to the second question: Mike feels awful when he finds out. he doesn’t have a stomach when he’s in Freddy, and yet it feels like he’s been stabbed directly in the gut. and it’s his child that holds the knife.
but, like some depictions of Mike towards Vanessa, he doesn’t see her any less than he already did. he understands that she’s being controlled and isn’t doing anything willingly. he’s not mad at her, he’s mad at his father.
Glitchtrap is aware of this fact and he exploits it So Much. he loves to take control of Vanessa and taunt Mike in her voice. he loves that he can do whatever he wants and Mike can’t do anything about it because lashing out would mean hurting Vanessa and you wouldn’t want to hurt your precious baby, would you?
it’s all around a bad time. Mike is caught between a rock and a hard place, while Vanessa is trapped in her grandfather’s hands with no easy way out.
also…i love making Glitchtrap absolutely fucking weird with Vanessa. and by weird i mean that he has groomer tendencies. it’s a super dark headcanon that i’ve mostly kept to myself in fear of how the fandom will react, but i do wanna write stuff with it. just because it’s So Fucked and the angst possibilities are Endless.
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lizzie-is-here · 3 years ago
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acta, non verba
iron man three- part iii
summary: you meet up with tony, and start christmas off with a bang.
wordcount: 4.1k (shits wildin)
warnings: supposed death, violence, cussing, me not being able to write fight scenes
series masterlist
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Under any other circumstances, you would’ve tried to go to the beach. Maybe get blackout drunk and make some questionable decisions.
However, you weren’t in Miami to have fun. You’d swapped out your normal top for a turtleneck halter top, but you were still sweating in the suffocating heat.
You’d agreed to meet Tony a safe distance away from Killian’s mansion, but it was kind of awkward to stand in the street in tactical gear. Wiping sweat from your forehead, you looked around again, wishing to get out of the open. You didn’t feel like standing in the open with guns and knives strapped all over your body.
Not to mention that you’d finally gotten your sword back. It was a bit of work getting it from SHIELD, but you were happy to have your baby back in your hands. Even if it was a bit old-fashioned, the look of shock on peoples’ faces when you unsheathed the blade made the sore arms worth it.
Thankfully, it was Florida, and people had either saluted you or been too inebriated to notice the SHIELD agent. You slipped a knife out of its hilt and twirled it in your hands, rolling it in your fingers and flipping it occasionally.
“Jesus kid, watch where you’re flipping that thing.” Tony had finally turned the corner, dressed in sunglasses and a hoodie, covered in homemade weapons. The contrast between the two of you was hilarious: a shorter woman in tactical gear and a man looking like he was headed to a kids’ paintball game.
“I see you stopped by the local Lowe’s,” you said, stifling a laugh. He deadpanned, and grabbed one of the makeshift weapons.
“See this? Exploding Christmas ornament.” He shook it near your face, causing you to step away from the unstable explosive.
“Festive.”
————————————————————
The two of you snuck towards the house, keeping out of sight of the several guards and avoiding any cameras you saw. You decided to let him have his moment, and trailed behind him as he Mission Impossibled his way through the gardens, occasionally shooting stray guards that got too close.
Stepping into the house, you saw a few women in skimpy bikinis. One was passed out on a ping-pong table, while another was arguing with a guard over the air conditioner. The woman laying on a couch drunkenly winked at you, and you smiled back. She was cute, but this wasn’t the time to get a date.
The two of you ignored the guard that Tony had knocked out on the table and made your way to a room that apparently belonged to the Mandarin. Seeing that Tony had run out of weapons, you grabbed one from the table and passed it to him.
“Can’t I have one of yours?”
“I don’t trust you with my weapons,” you hissed,
Opening the door and stepping inside, you were met with decor, cameras, computers, and… a bed?
“It’s a set. He’s acting,” you whispered, but Tony shook his head.
“We don’t know that. This could just be his broadcasting station.”
Two women were laying on the bed, jumping as Tony yanked back the comforter. He shushed them and backed into the corner, whilst you rolled your eyes and followed him. A toilet flushed from the room over, and you drew your sword from the strap on your back.
“Well, I wouldn’t go in there for 20 minutes.”
Whoever you expected the Mandarin to be, it definitely wasn’t a mild-mannered man with a British accent. You exchanged glances with Tony, who shrugged, gun still in hand.
“Which one of you is Vanessa?” Said woman raised her hand and the actor tossed her a fortune cookie whilst explaining their history, albeit in a much less menacing fashion than he had on television a few days ago.
“There’s two people back there,” one of the girls muttered, but before anything else could be said, Tony had stepped out from behind the curtain and had his gun at the “Mandarin”’s head.
“Bloody hell. Bloody hell.” Could this guy get any more British?
“I’m not moving. You want something? Take it, although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn’t trust me with the real ones,” he said, sounding relatively annoyed.
You, on the other hand, were elated. “I told you he was acting! (Y/N) (L/N), right as usual!”
This only served to irritate Tony further, who ushered the women into the bathroom and began interrogating the man. Eventually, he introduced himself.
“My name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery.”
“What are you? What are you, a decoy? You’re a double, right?”
Trevor was nothing less than insulted and began to blab on about how he was an actor, and about how the Mandarin was a cover-up for Killian’s failed experiments. You decided to look around the room instead and were behind a panel when a guard walked up behind Tony and knocked him out. You were about to go full Avenger on him, but he pointed the gun at Tony’s head.
“Come with me. Or he gets blown to bits.”
Goddammit, Stark. Always the damsel in distress.
————————————————————
When Tony finally came to, he was chained to a stripped mattress frame that’d been set up on one end. You were handcuffed, and your guns had been taken. The only reason you still had your blades was because you threw out some very creative threats when they tried to confiscate them. Something along the lines of eating their children and family.
You could easily break out of the cuffs, but instead decided to let Stark solve this one. If he kept getting into shit you’d have to get him a backpack leash.
When he saw Maya, he let out a frustrated sigh. She grinned and her smile could be heard in her tone, “It’s just like old times, huh? “
“Oh yeah.” Tony said, “With zip ties. It’s a ball.” Ew.
“Please don’t talk about your past sex lives around me, thanks,” you called from where you were chained to a pole.
When they ignored you and started arguing, you took the opportunity to survey the room. Enhanced tech, experimental designs. The place was still trashy, though. You’d figure that a millionaire like Killian would be able to do some home renovation.
Speaking of, you needed to introduce Steve to HGTV-
“You know what my old man used to say to me?” Jesus fucking christ it was this bitch again. “One of his favorite of many sayings… ‘The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.’” Apparently Aldrich Killian and Tony had met before, and apparently, it had not gone very well.
Tony had failed to meet him on the rooftop of a building one New Year’s Eve, and Aldrich had nearly taken his life. Instead, in his desperation, he formed a twisted philosophy that guided him to where he was now. He was a puppeteer.
Killian bent down and rolled three metal beads along the floor. The same ones that he’d used to project the human brain during his meeting with Pepper-
The projection showed the woman, restrained by metal cuffs and glowing. Not in a good way, more of an “I-got-turned-into-a-fire-monster” way. As upsetting as the footage was, you knew you needed to act impartial.
“Now, this is live. I’m not sure if you can tell, but at this moment the body is trying to decide whether to accept EXTREMIS or just give up. And if it gives up, I have to say, the detonation is spectacular. But until that point, it’s really just a lot of pain.” The resignation on Tony’s face stirred something in you, so you decided to tackle the heat off of him for a moment.
“Wow, so you’re like, a HYDRA fanboy?” you asked, gesturing to the projection.
Aldrich whipped his head towards you and stammered for a moment. “What? No? Why would you think I would be a fan of them?”
You shrugged, acting far too casual for a hostage situation. “I don’t know, they do shit like this. Human experimentation? I have to admit that they are better at it, though. One time, I got taken while I was on a mission, and they injected this liquid into me, and I swear I’ve never felt so simultaneously nauseous and horny at the same-���
“Enough! Jesus, you do not have a filter, do you?” he exclaimed, turning away as though disgusted. Maya looked disturbed, and even Tony turned to make a face at you.
You’d bought Stark a few seconds to plan and prepare, but the focus was on him once again. Now Aldrich was proposing that Tony work for him. If proposing was holding someone in a chokehold in your basement dungeon. He was also glowing, meaning that whatever experiments he’d been running, he’d done on himself, too.
“Let him go.” Hansen’s voice rang from the other side of the lab. She had a syringe pointed to her neck, filled with what you assumed to be some form of sedative.
“1200 CCs. A dose half of this size, I’m dead.” She was brave, even if this couldn’t end well for her. “If I die, Killian, what happens to your soldiers? What happens to your product?”
Killian tried to interrupt her and negotiate, but she was having none of it. For every step he took towards her she took two or three back, shoving the needle further into her neck, almost puncturing the skin.
“What happens to you, what happens if you go too hot?
That was the final button, and before you could stop him, Killian had pulled a gun and shot her. The shock on her face was present for just a moment before she keeled over.
Tony was shaking, Maya’s death already settling into his mind along with the others he blamed himself for. You knew he took each one personally, which was probably why SHIELD didn’t want him as an agent. If you got hung up on deaths, you’d just lose more people due to lack of focus.
“You’re a maniac,” he whispered.
Killian shrugged it off. “No, I’m a visionary. But I do own a maniac. And he takes the stage tonight.” With that dramatic closing, he left the room.
You and Tony made eye contact, silently scanning the room for cameras. You didn’t see any, but it was enough of a risk that you decided to whisper.
“Stark, I know this is bad, but we’ve gotta be smart about how we do this,” you murmured, shooting a glance at him. His eyes were fixed on where Maya had fallen, seeing straight through the table to where she lay.
“Is this what you used to do? “Watch people die and move on?” he asked. His tone lacked any hostility, just an ache that settled deep in the bones of anyone who has to watch people die.
You swallowed the lump in your throat and nodded. “I couldn’t stick around while SHIELD treated people like pawns.” He stayed quiet, waiting for you to continue.
“Sometimes, I wonder if they’re any better than HYDRA.”
Before you could dive deeper into the machinations of your moral dilemmas, two guards entered the room. They were burly, probably more for looks than actual defense. You raised an eyebrow, and feigned disinterest.
The room was awkwardly quiet for a while, until a watch on the table began letting off an incessant beeping noise. A guard picked it up. Was that… Dora?
“Careful there,” Tony said, “it’s a limited edition.”
He then turned to the other guard. “Hey, Ponytail Express.” The guard turned, and Tony began enacting his plan. “What’s the mileage count between Tennessee and Miami?” You guessed that he’d ended up in Tennessee after escaping his Malibu home, and wanted to call the suit from wherever it was stashed.
“832 miles,” the man said, not even stopping to think about the number. Tony complimented him as the other guard walked over, still carrying the Dora watch. Ponytail guy glanced at the annoying device before asking if it could be turned off.
“Break it you bought it,” Tony said. The watch was then dropped on the floor and stomped on by the bald guard.
“I think I bought it,” he said. He definitely didn’t. You were sure Tony had snatched it from the kid he stayed with in Tennessee.
Tony sighed, “Okay, that wasn’t mine to give away. That belongs to my friend’s sister. And that’s why I’m gonna kill you first.” The guards were disbelieving as anyone would be in that situation. Tony’s nonchalance should have tipped them off, but they had fallen into his game.
Tony flicked his hands outward, calling the suit with a dramatic pose. You sighed, knowing it could be a minute, and slipped out of your cuffs. No one in the room noticed, occupied by Stark’s continuous countdowns and threats.
“Trust me, you’re gonna be in a puddle of blood on the ground in five, four, three, COME ON! Two…” When silence followed, the two men exchanged glances.
“How did we get this shift?” Mood. These guys would be okay if they weren’t prepared to kill you.
Tony barreled on undeterred. In the meantime, you’d grabbed your guns from where they’d been kept and readied a handgun, preparing for a shootout. The restrained man glanced to the window, and suddenly began another countdown.
“Five, four, three, two, one!” he shouted rapidly. The glove of the Iron Man suit came whizzing through the window and took its place. Tony blasted the guard that was still standing and caught himself on the wall. As Ponytail Guy stood again, you knocked him out with your gun, and stepped over his body as you heard more guards stroming down the hallway.
“Where’s the rest?” Tony asked, glancing around. You guessed he meant his suit, but were interrupted by gunfire.
You began shooting anyone in sight, letting them focus on Tony as you picked them off one by one. They were coming from every entrance, and you started forcing your way up stairs to avoid the open space.
You made it up to the balcony and disarmed one guard as Tony tackled the other. You punched him in the nose and threw a punch to his sternum. Flinging yourself up onto his shoulders, you flipped back and slammed his body front-first into the railing. Standing up and brushing yourself off, you watched as Tony held one of the guards at gunpoint. The man instantly threw up his hands, stepping back.
“Honestly, I hate working here. They are so weird.” Tony only wiggled the fingers of the gauntlet, and the man dropped his gun, booking it down the nearest hallway.
You turned to him, holstering your gun and grabbing a spear point knife from its hilt on your belt. The two of you began making you way down a hall.
“That was easy,” you said, stepping to the side to avoid getting hit by the incoming suit.
“Better late than never. Also, no it was not.” The suit was now forming piece by piece, and the hall opening up to the gardens.
Tony caught the face plate, and with the suit fully assembled, you could finally split up. He went to fly after the plane, which had the Iron Patriot suit onboard, but the thrusters misfired and he stayed firmly on the ground.
“Aw, crap,” he growled. The suit was many things, but all-terrain was not one of them, and you couldn’t help but laugh as he stumbled down the stairs. A call rang in over comms, and Rhodey responded.
He explained that Killian had caught him, and that someone else was in the suit. Tony told him to come to the main house, neglecting to tell him that the suit wasn’t fully operational.
Both of you headed back to the house, intent on finding Trevor. Some guards had run in, hurrying the remaining girls out of the room. Tony blasted one as Rhodey burst through the window, shooting down the other. Trevor had a late reaction, sipping on his beer.
Rhodey was quick to threaten him, and Slattery was just as quick to get himself out of trouble.
“I never thought people had been hurt. They lied to me,” he said, bewildered. Rhodey was confused, but Tony rushed past any questions.
“Here’s how it works, Meryl Streep. You tell him where Pepper is and he’ll stop doing it.”
“Doing what?”
Rhodey then placed the muzzle of the gun on the man’s ear, burning him. He said that while he didn’t know where Pepper was, he knew about whatever plan Killian had formed.
————————————————————
Under Trevor’s instruction, you, Tony, and Rhodey had taken his speedboat and it the water, While you drove, the other two called the vice president and warned him that the Mandarin campaign may try to draw him in, and that the Iron Patriot was being used to get close to the president. The vice president promised that he’d alert security, and the discussion turned to who to save.
“We gotta make a decision. We can either save the president, or Pepper. We can’t do both.” Tony wasn’t taking either option, however, and spoke to Jarvis about clearing the lab of his Malibu home before checking the charge on the suit he was wearing. He unhooked himself from the jumper cables and stepped into the interior of the ship to control the suit remotely.
After infiltrating the plane, he took out one EXTREMIS individual and saved some of the flight attendants that had fallen from the plane. From the wheel, you could hear him screaming about how one of them was a “chunky monkey,” whatever that meant.
Rhodey went to check on him, and you listened in best you could. From the sound of it, he hadn’t been able to get the president, but he wasn’t dead yet. Tony asked JARVIS about it being time for something, and you sped towards your destination.
————————————————————
Once the boat arrived at the a massive ship, you used all of your stealth skill to sneak the speedboat close enough to sneak onto the larger ship. The three of you snuck around shipping containers, peeking around corners and avoiding spotlights.
You turned one corner and spotted a guard, ducking as quick as you could. Turning to Tony, your eyes widened.
“Zip up your fucking hoodie!” you hissed.
Tony looked confused, “What, why?”
“Because you have a giant glowing circle in the middle of your chest, asshat!”
Rhodey had peeked behind the corner and turned back around as Tony begrudgingly zipped his jacket.
“He’s strung up over the oil tanker.” Well, at least the President Ellis wasn’t dead yet. “They’re gonna light him up, man.”
“Viking funeral. Public execution,” Tony whispered. You frowned.
“No, it’s more than that. It’s a fear tactic. Killian will endorse a new president, and with the Mandarin under his control too-”
“He’ll own the war on terror.” Tony finished your thought for you.
Your merry group decided to split up, with you going off on your own to act as backup when shit inevitably hit the fan. You slipped into the shadows, moving without making a sound. Like it or not, this was your specialty.
The two men were much less stealthy, clambering up steps and getting immediately spotted as they stepping into the light. As gunfire opened up, you rolled your eyes. Just as you were about to head in, you saw pinpricks of light approaching. Were those… suits?
Countless prototype Iron Man suits came flying in, firing at the enhanced individuals. One landed close to you, and you grabbed on as it flew you to where Rhodey and Tony were surrounded.
“Merry Christmas, buddy,” Stark said, patting Rhodes on the back. With a flourish, the suits scattered, each using unique skill sets to eliminate any enemies.
“Can I have one of your guns now?” the billionaire asked, holding a hand out expectantly. You tossed one at him, knowing you’d probably never see it again, and watched as he donned another suit and flew away, before another came up to you and Rhodey.
“Can I give you a lift, Colonel? Miss?” came JARVIS’s voice. Rhodey sighed, and let out an embarrassed mumble before embracing the machine.
“No thanks, J. I’ve got it handled.” You refused to do the same, and ascended via grappling hook instead. As cliche as they were, they were some of your favorite tools. While Rhodey ran to help the president, you unsheathed your sword and went to cover for him. Two EXTREMIS individuals were running straight at the two of you, and you took on one as the other followed him down onto a shipping container.
You cracked your neck and flourished the sword, before charging the woman. She made a grab for the blade, but you kept swinging and cut straight through her hand. Even with enhanced healing, she screamed and bent down. You took the opening and stabbed down, kicked her body off of the railing before it could damage your beloved sword.
Rhodey, in the meantime, was swinging himself and the president onto the platform next to you, before asking for the suit back. He turned towards you and threw a look at the sword.
“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it.” You shrugged, “Go ahead, I’ve got it from here.”
As he and the president flew away, you started looking for Tony and Pepper. When you finally saw the man, it was just him and Killian on a walkway. Tony was bent over the railing, but the only thing down there was fire…
Oh no. Pepper.
You ran as fast as you could, completely disregarding your safety at this point. You slid down metal beams and swung along wires, making your way towards the two. They had begun fighting, and Tony’s anger was evident in every attack. He went through suit after suit, avoiding dozens of close calls in a vicious attempt to avenge Pepper.
Just as you made it below them, Tony had entrapped Killian in Mark 42, and detonated the broken suit. You caught him as he slid down, swinging him onto the next platform and avoiding the falling debris. He jumped into a suit as you rappeled down, sprinting down the metal supports as the fire raged behind you.
Once you were both on the ground, you kneeled next to him and placed a hand on his back. He’d won, but it cost him the love of his life. Pepper had grown to be such an important person in your life, and you knew that it would be months, maybe even years before you accepted her loss.
Just as you were about to try and comfort him, the burning metal in front of you groaned. You rose to your feet as a very crispy Aldrich Killian emerged from the fire, limping and crackling.
He began a monologue about how he was the Mandarin, but before he could strike, he was smashed sideways by a metal pole. Or, more accurately, by an unharmed and firey Pepper Potts. You sighed out in relief, while Tony sat awestruck.
Then, shit went sideways. When did it not?
A suit began firing at Pepper, attacking her due to the system targeting EXTREMIS heat signatures. She glared at Tony, before jumping and punching through the suit, deactivating it. She then turned her attention on Killian, backhanding him a good few yards before spotting a missile on the ground.
She kicked it, sending it hurtling towards his head, before shooting it midair. The resulting expolsion singed the hair on your arms, and you took a few large steps back. Pepper took heavy breaths, before looking back at the two of you.
“Oh my God. That was really violent,” she said, somewhat in shock.
“You scared the devil outta me,” Tony started, “I thought you were-”
“I was dead. Why? Because I fell 200 feet?” she quipped. “Who’s the hot mess now?”
“It’s still debatable,” you said, nodding your head towards Tony, who was still sitting on the ground.
He nodded. “She beat me by one second. It’s probably tipping your way a bit. Why don’t you dress like this at home? Hmm?”
You left the two lovebirds to work through this new hiccup, and walked over to the giant Christmas tree. It was made solely of lights, and had somehow survived the explosions. You kicked out the middle pole and grabbed the star before it could smash on the ground, the momentum from the falling decoration spinning you in a circle.
You decided to keep it as a souvenir and tucked it under your arm, yanking the cord and looping it. As Tony and Pepper hugged, he snapped towards you.
“Hey kid, look up.” You did as asked, and were met by the remaining suits self-desctructing. It was reminiscent of fireworks, and even though you were stuck on a boat, in the middle of the ocean, after defeating a global terrorist threat, you couldn’t think of a better way to start Christmas.
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a/n: 4k words 👁👄👁 girl that’s crazy for me. anyway I finished this at like 2am so have fun <3 I finally get to write my favorite movie from the mcu franchise, so expect the catws parts to be longer
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8um8le · 3 years ago
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1. Кто тебе нравиться больше всего из Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach?
2. Как ты относишься к Ванессе?
3. Что думаешь о Грегори?
4. Что можешь сказать о глемрок аниматрониках?
5. Какое мнение об игре в целом?
1. Who do you like the most from Five Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach?
Ooo this is hard for me to answer since I’d hug every single Glamrock, (also Sun & Moon) if I had a chance. If I had to chose though, either Sun or Freddy
2. How do you feel about Vanessa?
I think she’s interesting and pretty mysterious, I’m definitely looking forward towards new theories or videos explaining her story, overall I think she’s really cool UwU.
3. What do you think about Gregory?
Gregory is adorable, I don’t know what I expected for his personality, but the fact that he wasn’t fazed is most situations makes him a funny charming little guy
4. What can you say about the Glamrock Animatronics?
I love their designs! Though they aren’t creepy at all compared to ones in the past games, I still like them. Their personalities are cool too, it makes them appear more alive (?)
5. What do you think about the game as a whole?
I don’t have a PC that could run it, I just binge-watch gameplays, so I can’t say anything about how it runs :P The thing I love most about the Fnaf Franchise is the story / lore~ I was also a fan since the first game, (and it’s one of the only ones I actually completed myself haha) The game’s setting going from a single room to a whole mall makes me all happy inside, I adore the retro 80’s aesthetic it has as well :-))))
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procrastinatorimagines · 4 years ago
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I Want Us Part 8
Fandom: Chicago PD / SVU
Series: I Want Us
Part 1 //  Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Part 10 (Final)
Pairing/s: Sonny Carisi x Intelligence!Reader
Warning/s: tw rape, murder, assault
Word Count: 1,269
Summary: The Intelligence Unit’s last case with Manhattan SVU had them flying out to New York to track down an abducted boy, and had Dectective Y/L/N and Detective Carisi growing close in the process. Now, a string of rape-murders in Chicago has SVU boarding the next flight out, believing the suspect to be the same man responsible for a set of identical crimes 10 years prior. As the case unfolds, Y/N and Carisi are brought back together, reigniting the spark between them.
Tags: @the-baby-bookworm​ // @inlovewith3​ //
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The call came while you were still driving to the address you’d been given on Tate, now your prime suspect - Billy’s alibi for the first murder checked out easily, he was at a track meet with over a dozen witnesses, and there wasn’t exactly any point in checking his alibi for the New York murders, he’d been 7. 
Almost as soon as that call ended, you got a text on your phone. “You mind?” You nodded to your phone, giving Carisi permission to check it as you drove.
“It’s Jay, he says neither families have seen Billy or Tate before,” he relayed, “but that doesn’t mean Tate isn’t our guy, it’d make sense with what we’ve heard so far.”
“Still,” you sighed, turning Tate’s road, his apartment building just up a head, “we’re going to need something more to go on if we’re even going to get into his place, let alone arrest and charge him.”
Carisi couldn’t agree more as you both climbed out the car, making your way towards the building with your badges on hand. They’d get you through the main doors no problem, but getting further...
“Do you have a warrant?” What had you expected, honestly? Standing before the landlord in the main lobby you were greeting with the question you’d seen coming a mile away. 
“Is he here?” Carisi asked anyway, hoping you’d at least find out something useful, even if this turned out to mostly be wasted trip.
“Nah, he hasn’t been back here since yesterday, I’ve got some mail waiting that I need him to take off of my hands,” the landlord explained, sounding bored and impatient with the conversation already. He’d given you something, at least; Tate hadn’t gone home after he’d given his statement to you, he must have somewhere else to lay low - but where?
“You ever seen either of these women before?” Carisi tried, holding up photos of the two Chicago victims on his phone. The landlord shrugged and shook his head.
“Okay, thanks for your time,” you told him, pulling your card out of your pocket, “but if he does come back, at least give us a call?” He grunted in what you couldn’t tell was agreement or not, but he took the card and walked away, which presumably meant you could both see yourselves out.
You grumbled in frustration as soon as you were outside, knowing you’d been this close to your killer and let him slip away, and now you didn’t know where he was. “We’ll post some unis outside in an unmarked car,” Carisi told you, already making the call as you wandered once again back to your car, fresh out of leads to follow.
“Let’s call Benson, see where Tate lived the time of the New York murders, maybe it’ll be enough for a judge to issue a warrant,” you said, casting a glance back at the apartment building. 
“Food?” Carisi suggested once you got to the car. It had been a while, you realised, all this running around you’d been doing hadn’t really left any time for breaks - food was definitely not a bad idea.
“I could eat,” you replied with a smile, dialing Benson’s number as you got back behind the wheel.
“Tell me you have more than we do,” she answered by way of greeting, sounding as frustrated by this case as you. 
You explained the situation as concisely as possible. “Do you think you could find out his old address?”
“Yeah, should only take a moment, stay on the line?” You hummed in agreement and put it on speaker as you heard her place her phone down and begin to type on her keyboard. 
“New York,” Benson confirmed after a moment, “want to try for a warrant?”
“That’s circumstantial at best, I can’t see a judge signing off on that,” Carisi noted, not being happy about saying it though. He was right, but neither of you liked it.
You clicked your tongue, hesitating before saying: “I could ask Voight to maybe-”
“No,” Benson cut in quickly, “we do this by the book, if this is our guy, which I think it is, I don’t want to do anything to jeopardise putting him away for good, understood?”
“Loud and clear Captain,” you promised genuinely.
“Good, Kat and I will look into Tate’s history in New York, maybe we’ll find something we missed now that we know who we’re looking for, we’ll keep you posted,” she informed you both.
“Thanks Cap, we’ll be in touch,” Carisi signed off and you leaned your head back on the seat’s headrest, eyes closed. You only opened them again when you felt Carisi’s hand on your leg.
“Come on, let’s go eat, re-energise and re-focus,” he said, somehow always managing to make you feel instantly better. You nodded and turned on the ignition, knowing exactly where you could grab a quick bite nearby.
You were half way through your sandwich, feeling a bit more self-conscious than usually about how you were eating in the presence of a guy you liked - not that he’d care - when you got yet another phonecall. 
“Hey Kev,” you said, pressing answer with your little finger and hurriedly swallowing what was in your mouth. 
“Hey, Voight asked us to go back through the CCTV from Lily Hamilton’s murder, we’d been looking for the bentley the first time around, but this time we were looking for Tate’s car, just incase.”
“And?” You asked, alert, putting your sandwich down and brushing your hands together as you shared a hopeful look with Carisi.
“We got it,” Kev answered. Was this is? The breakthrough you needed? "Now, the main street cams don’t catch enough, but Vanessa found a private security system set up nearby the cite where her body was discovered. I’ll send you the screen grabs, you tell me how guilty you think this looks.”
Two pings on your phone came a second later, images of a man emerging from Tate’s car carrying a very large bag - definitely large enough for a body. “We got him,” you said triumphantly.
“It gets better,” another voice joined the call from the other end, Hailey’s. “We did some digging into that date the second vic’s sister mentioned and get this, both girls had dates, I’m sending you both the dating profiles and messages we found now-”
Carisi got them up on his phone, showing you briefly and nodding.
“-and it’s pretty damning. They look like different guys at first, but the script is the same, prince charming, true love, you get the picture when you read the messages, anyway, it looks like both girls went to meet up with their mysterious date the nights they went missing.”
“Can we track the IP, see where the messages came from?” You asked, already turning on the ignition yet again, ready to catch this guy once and for all.
“They came from the same location,” she confirmed.
“Tate’s apartment?” Carisi asked hopefully.
“No, a storage facility basically between both the current crime scenes,” she explained, “it’s not under Tate’s name but we called the owner, the man who rents the facitily matches the description, right down to the scar.” 
Another ping on your phones had Carisi showing you the address of the storage facility. “I assume that’s enough for warrants now?” You asked.
“You’ll have everything you need by the time you arrive,” you heard Voight confirm from somewhere else in the room, “I want you and Carisi at the storage facility, Burgess, Dawson and Ruzek will meet you there with Benson and Tamin, the rest of us will head to the apartment.”
“Let’s finish this,” Carisi told you after Voight hung up. You certainly didn’t need to be told twice.
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fullmetalscullyy · 4 years ago
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the way it was - chapter 41
summary: what if riza never went to war? riza hawkeye has just married the man she loves. six months into their marriage, an unexpected surprise stops her from following roy to the military. a canon divergence au that explores what might have happened had riza been unable to join the military. there will be plenty of family fluff, angst, and royai.
rated: m | warnings: graphic depictions of violence (updated)
read on ao3
1915
 and i’ll see you in the high and low
 in the high and low i’ll find you
“Are you ready?”
“Hm?” Roy’s head turned towards her. She’d broken him out of his thoughts. His expression had been miles away as he sat on the edge of his hospital bed in quiet contemplation. Riza was curious about what had taken up so much of his attention but didn’t enquire. If he wanted to share, he would.
“I asked if you were ready to go,” she explained softly.
“Oh, yes.” Roy straightened his spine and placed both hands flat on his thighs. “I’m ready.”
Riza took his hand in hers and angled her body so they were walking side by side. Her other hand rose to grasp his elbow, cradling it within her palm.
“Thank you,” Roy smiled. He gave her hand a tiny nudge with his elbow.
“It’s no problem, Roy. You know that.”
“I know, but you’ve helped me so much and without complaint.”
Riza laughed to herself. “I’m happy to help.”
“How is your neck? And your shoulder? Let me know if you need to stop or sit down.”
“They’re fine, Roy. There’s no pain. And I will, don’t worry.”
Yesterday while they’d been on their first walk out of their room Riza had a sudden bout of light-headedness. They’d been on their way to a payphone to finally call Chris, after a few days of no contact. Breda had appointed himself their liaison and provided her with an update on their current situation, as both Roy and Riza had been on bedrest since their arrival. They were itching to speak to her, and possibly speak to Mia, but it hadn’t come to pass. On their way there Riza had clumsily fallen into a chair as her vision blurred into a solid grey colour, letting go of Roy and frightening him with her abrupt silence. The feeling had passed over her in a slow wave as she clutched at her forehead. It was painless but disorientating. While Roy had frantically called her name, a nurse found them and recognised Riza’s signs. She placated Roy with a quick explanation as Riza was unable to do it herself. All of her focus was on breathing and not passing out, so was unable to formulate any kind of sentence. They both were promptly whisked back to their room after that and it seemed Roy wouldn’t be quick to forget about that incident.
She’d lost a lot of blood, so her body was still trying to recover it, the doctor had explained. Riza started to worry she may be kept in longer than Roy. Of course, she was concerned for herself and her own wellbeing. The sooner she recovered, the sooner her children could come home to her. But, if Roy was discharged by himself… Their home wasn’t equipped for housing someone who was blind. She had to get things organised, rearrange rooms, create paths for him…
And then there was their children to think about as well. She couldn’t take care of them while being so weak. Thankfully, they were still in Xing with Chris and the girls. Riza would love for them to come home, but it wasn’t feasible or practical. If they did they’d have to stay with Chris and both parents knew Mia would be wondering where they were. She’d be constantly asking after them. To save her any worry and stress, they agreed, if it was all right with Chris, to keep them both in Xing until they left the hospital. It saved them giving an explanation to a child who was too young to understand properly what had happened to them.
Breda confirmed Chris had agreed to that plan. She’d been thinking the same thing too. Riza was grateful to have one weight lifted off her mind, but all those thoughts and worries were still threatening to give her a headache.
“What are you thinking about?” Roy’s expression was one of concentration, as if he were listening to something intently. However, she hadn’t said a word or uttered a sound.
One thing that did strike Riza was he could still pick up on a shift in her mood. It may not be the same as before, but it made her smile to know there was still some sort of connection between them.
But that smile quickly fell.
“The future,” Riza replied.
Roy patted her arm in sympathy and understanding. He kept it there too, which was a comfort. He was supporting her, as she was doing the same to him.
“I was thinking about when we’ll be discharged,” she elaborated further. “About whether or not we’ll leave at the same time, or if one of us will go first.”
“I was wondering that too,” Roy admitted. “The doctors are pleased with your progress, but you lost a lot of blood and –” He cut himself off for a moment, swallowing thickly as he stumbled over the memory of their time in the tunnels. “And you need time to recover. It’s a large wound, they tell me.” The pressure on her forearm increased. “They need to keep you in for further observation to ensure it doesn’t get infected.”
Riza knew all of this already but reasoned if it helped Roy to find some semblance of peace to go through everything aloud then she wouldn’t take that away from him.
“My hands are still pretty bad too,” he added. “The surgery went well but there was a lot of damage. I need to be kept in for them, not to mention for rehabilitation as well.”
“I just don’t want you to be sent home without me,” she admitted quietly.
“I know. I don’t particularly want to go home by myself either.” He chuckled to himself, “I would be a walking hazard without you.”
She appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood, however, the worry still weighed heavily on her mind.
“I don’t think they would let me leave without some kind of system of care in place though,” Roy mused.
“Once your hands are better you’ll need to start practicing with your cane.”
He pouted playfully. “But you’re a much preferable guide.”
Riza smirked. “Unfortunately, I can’t be with you every minute of every day.”
Roy hummed. “I don’t know, that does sound pretty wonderful to me.”
“You know what I mean,” she scolded lightly, but let out a light laugh.
“I know, love,” he reassured with a smile. “How do you feel about us potentially training Hayate to help me out around the house?”
Riza bit her lip. “That’s a lot to put on him.”
“I don’t mean full-time. It was mostly for helping me move around.”
“He’s not trained for that though,” she argued.
“It was just a thought.” He lifted a hand in surrender. “Obviously if you’re not happy with it then we won’t. My only thought was he’s such a good dog already and can listen very well. He’s so attentive. He’d probably work very well as a service dog.”
“With the correct training from the correct people, he probably would, yes.”
“I don’t think it would work out anyway,” Roy sighed heavily.
“Why the sudden change of heart?” She was confused.
“Can you imagine me trying to take Mia’s best friend away from her?”
Riza snorted lightly. “They are inseparable,” she agreed.
“No, I couldn’t tear those two apart. That wouldn’t be fair. Who knows,” Roy shrugged, “it may come naturally to us. Anyway, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I can ask for an update and a time estimate from the doctors this afternoon. That may put our minds at rest a little?”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Riza nodded. “It would be nice to know some kind of timeframe, if possible, and find out what we have to work with.”
“And we won’t be without help. The team has already discussed this scenario too, apparently.”
Riza cocked her head towards him in surprise.
“If I was to be discharged first, they offered their assistance at home. Rebecca did too. Although,” Roy smirked, “I think she only wants to make sure I don’t destroy the place on your behalf,” he quipped.
“They really offered?”
Roy nodded. “They’re happy to help out.”
Riza was touched. A fond smile spread across her face as she thought of the men who’d devoted their lives to her husband. She knew they were close but hadn’t realised that would extend to outside their work lives as well. Riza didn’t know why though, she suddenly thought. They already thought of themselves as unofficial uncles to Mia, and now to Maes as well. They’d also already offered such assistance to her when Roy was in the hospital last year. After that realisation, Riza supposed it would be a natural progression. Her smile grew wider.
“They’re a good group of people.”
Roy hummed in agreement. “The best group of people.”
They continued on their walk and reached their destination, a payphone.
“We’re here.”
“Trip number two was a success,” he beamed.
“It was, thankfully,” Riza chuckled. She guided Roy over to a chair beside the phone and sat him down. Rebecca had brought her purse in from home, so Riza rummaged around within for the spare change she needed to make the call.
The phone rang four times before someone answered.
“Hello?” The gruff voice on the other side of the line made Riza smile immediately. It was a welcome sound and a voice she’d missed hearing.
“Chris? It’s Riza.”
She didn’t speak until after a short pause. “Riza?” Before she could open her mouth to confirm, Chris called Vanessa’s name, Riza assumed over her shoulder, holding the receiver away. “Good to finally hear from you, Riza.
“I know. Sorry it’s been a while.”
Chris scoffed. “No need to apologise for that. Breda has kept me up to date. How are you doing?”
We’re okay.” She glanced over at Roy who was trying to listen in to their conversation. “A little beat up, but all right.”
“Beat up?” Her question was short and sharp.
Perhaps Breda hadn’t shared some of the finer details with Chris.
“Yes. I sustained some injuries, but they’re being treated. We’re calling from the hospital.”
“And Roy? How’s he?”
Breda definitely hadn’t shared all of the details.
“Lieutenant Breda only really told me you were alive and would be all right,” Chris continued.
Riza could appreciate that. How does one stranger tell another that their son was now blind and their daughter-in-law suffered life threatening injuries?
She glanced over at Roy, noticing how his lips were pressed into a thin line. He gestured for the phone. It was time for him to break the news of his new condition.
“He wants to tell you himself,” she replied carefully.
Chris was quiet for a second. “All right.” Her words were sombre as she spoke.
“Hi, Chris,” Roy greeted.
Riza silently remained by his side. She placed a hand atop his head as he informed his mother that he was now blind and what had happened to his hands. Her fingers ran through his hair, playing with his dark tresses to try comfort and soothe him.
“Yeah… We won.”
A proud smile spread across Riza’s face as Roy broke their other news.
A chuckle left him as Chris spoke again. “I know, I know,” Roy relented. “There’s a long way to go yet, but yes, we did it. The plan succeeded.”
They spoke back and forth for a few more moments before Roy paused.
“Mia?” Roy’s head turned towards Riza’s body, facing into her stomach. Her fingers froze in his hair as she spotted his expectant look. Riza’s heart leapt into her throat. “Yes, please. If you could put her on.”
There was a sudden movement that disrupted Riza from her thoughts. Roy had felt out the chair next to him and slid over. The one he’d vacated was offered to Riza, and she took it immediately. The cord of the phone was long enough so they could sit with their heads together and place the phone in between them, letting both parents speak to their daughter.
The other line was quiet. Riza held her breath and waited. There was some shuffling then they heard Mia speak in a quiet voice, sounding far away.
“Mia?” Riza’s voice caught in her throat as she spoke her daughter’s name with so much hope and excitement. She was almost overwhelmed with how much she missed her children and couldn’t wait to hear her voice again.
“Mummy?”
Relief like no other flowed through Riza’s veins. She relaxed completely into her chair with her elation. “Mia, hi. It’s Mum. Dad’s here too.”
“Hey, Mia,” he greeted. Roy’s voice sounded thick as he spoke but there was the widest grin on his face.
“Hi!” Her reply was bright and excited, nothing like the shy, tentative tone she’d used to first greet them. “I miss you!”
“I know, sweetie. I know, we miss you too. So much.”
“It’s been a long time since we talked, but Grandma said that’s okay because it means I would have a lot more to tell you when you phoned, and we could talk for longer!”
Both parents laughed together. Riza’s eyes closed as she leaned her head against Roy’s. His arm wrapped around her shoulders tightly.
“We could talk to you forever, Mia,” Roy replied, “and we’d be more than happy to do it. How are you?”
“I’m okay! I’ve been having lots of fun.”
“That’s great,” Roy exclaimed. “I’m so happy that you have.”
“We’ve done loads since we last spoke! We’ve been to the park near the hotel almost every day. We’ve been to Xingese temples too which were so pretty! I want to go back but Grandma says we’ve got lots of other things to visit first before we can –”
Mia went on and on, regaling them of things she’d done since they last spoke. Both parents relaxed against one another, content and happy to let her speak and listen to all of her adventures. Riza had missed hearing about them.
“When will we get to come home?”
“We don’t know yet, Mia,” Riza answered after a brief pause. “You sound like you’re having too much fun to come home,” she quipped.
“I am, but I miss you! Maes does too. And I miss Hayate.”
Riza felt a pang in her chest. “I know you do. We miss you both terribly as well. But, if you hand the phone back to Grandma we can talk about when you might be able to?”
“Okay! She’s right here.”
“Goodbye, Mia Bear. I love you,” Riza added.
“Love you,” Roy chimed in, eager to say it himself.
“Love you too. Bye!”
Riza exhaled and tipped her head back. Roy gave her shoulders a quick squeeze, understanding every emotion she was currently going through, as he was experiencing the same. It was such a relief to hear Mia’s voice again after so long and to know she was happy, healthy, and okay.
“She’s a little whirlwind,” Chris remarked with a chuckle.
“Thank you for giving her the phone,” Roy replied.
“Of course, Roy Boy,” she dismissed, as if it were obvious she was going to do it in the first place. “Plus, she’s been pestering me non-stop for another chance to speak to you both,” Chris chuckled. “She’s taken it well though. There’s not been too many complaints.”
“What do you mean?” Roy was instantly alert. Riza shot him a worried look. He looked similar to how she felt. Was Mia doing okay?
“Relax,” Chris soothed in her gravelly voice. “She’s been fine. She’s a good and patient kid. Very understanding too. She’s missed you, that’s all. A typical kid thing.”
Roy exhaled in relief.
“When do you think you’ll be out of there?”
“We don’t know. I’m going to ask for an estimate this afternoon on when they think we’ll be discharged. Obviously with my blindness we’ll need to figure out the house first and then come up with some kind of plan to tell Mia…” Roy trailed off, realising that it may be even longer before they see their children.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Chris announced firmly. “We’ve got more than enough to do over here to keep the kids occupied. You two focus on making yourselves better, all right? The more you do, the sooner they can come home. Let me know what the doctors say though, then we can take it from there.”
“Okay,” Roy exhaled. His shoulders settled and Roy nodded like all his fears had been alleviated somewhat. Chris’ support was extremely helpful and meant a lot as they tried to adjust to their lives now. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, kid. We’ll get everything figured out and I’ll bring them back to you as soon as I can. Take care of yourselves.” The last part was almost a warning.
“We will. You too. And thank you, Chris.”
They shared a quick goodbye and hung up. Their walk back to the hospital room was quiet as they contemplated their conversation with Chris and Mia. It had been so lovely to hear their voices again. It had been too long, but there wasn’t much they could do about that. The important thing was it had happened, and they’d been able to speak with their daughter.
Once back in the room, Riza had finished helping Roy get settled when there was a knock at the door.
“Sir?”
“Come in, Fuery,” Roy beckoned.
His head popped around the door. He held onto it as he looked inside the room but didn’t take a step further inside. “Sir… Doctor Marcoh has just contacted us.” Fuery shifted and his expression turned hopeful for a second. “He has… a proposition for you. Regarding your eyes.”
Riza’s eyebrows lifted towards her hairline but Fuery didn’t let on anything further. Roy went still as he processed what Fuery had said.
“The stone?” His voice was low, almost reverent. Riza wasn’t sure what they were referring to, however from the way Roy spoke she could discern there was some gravity behind his words.
Fuery nodded. “Yes. He’s on his way in just now and wishes to speak to you, if that’s all right?”
“Yes, of course. Bring him in once he’s arrived.”
“Of course, sir.” Fuery left them in silence, closing the door quietly behind him.
“The stone,” Riza echoed, looking for further clarification.
Roy paused but then nodded. “Yes. It’s… Well, it may be a way for me to get my sight back.”
*      *      *      *      *      *      *       *      *      *      *
“Colonel? Riza?”
Riza looked up from the book on her lap as Breda’s head poked through the door.
“Oh.” Breda lowered his voice suddenly. “I didn’t realise he was asleep. Sorry,” he cringed.
She shot him a smile to placate any worry. “It’s okay,” Riza replied softly. She marked her place in the book with a finger so as not to lose it. “What’s up Breda?”
“Doctor Marcoh has arrived.”
Riza inhaled and nodded, understanding what that announcement meant. Roy would be getting his eyesight back today.
They’d spoken with Doctor Marcoh last week about using the stone. It was decided Havoc would be healed first, then Roy. They had to wait for him to arrive in Central, but Havoc’s procedure to return his ability to walk had been a success a few days ago. He was currently being monitored a few rooms down from them. Now, the Philosopher’s Stone would be used to give Roy his eyesight back.
“I understand,” she replied to Breda. “Thank you for letting us know.”
“There’s also someone else,” he interjected. “General Grumman has come for a visit. He’d like to visit as soon as possible if that’s all right with you both.”
That surprised Riza, however, it made sense if Grumman had been a mentor to Roy for years prior to their move to Central.
“Thank you, Breda. Can you give us ten minutes then send General Grumman in?”
“Will do.”
The door closed quietly behind him and Riza sighed as she stared down at her husband’s sleeping face.
In hospital Riza hadn’t needed to worry too much about Roy’s movements around the room without aid. It was mostly bare, aside from a chair and two beds, so the space was large enough to manoeuvre himself around safely. Regardless of that fact, Riza was always by his side to assist when needed. With the injuries on his hands, he’d been unable to hold a walking cane, but he was improving every day. However, she couldn’t help but run through plans in her mind for what would happen when they returned home. She’d need to reorganise and repurpose rooms. There would need to be clear pathways throughout their home which Roy could use and not hurt himself. Mia and Maes’ toys would need to be moved and placed in designated areas. They didn’t need him tripping over a stray soft bear or sliding on a forgotten pencil. Riza hadn’t had a chance to think about how they’d even begin to tell Mia that their father was blind. Now… She may not have to.
It was a bizarre concept, being able to cure the incurable so easily. She’d been made aware of what went into the Philosopher Stone and it set her on edge. It wasn’t right and Riza could never look at the stone for too long as it made her uncomfortable. However, it was Roy’s decision to use it. He didn’t like the thought of using the stone any more than she did, but it would restart him on a path they thought was lost to him. He’d still be able to remain in the military and work towards what he’d always wanted to do. And Roy was determined;. mMore than determined. As soon as the possibility had been planted inside his mind Riza could see him seriously considering it. Not much would turn him away from the prospect.
Ultimately, using the stone was on his conscience, not hers. But Roy’s was bearing the weight of so much already… However, it was his choice. He had plans, goals, ambitions… All to better this country and stop history from repeating itself. The stone would help, but was the moral cost worth it for him?
“Whatever it takes,” he’d informed her. His tone was determined, but there was a glimmer of grim acceptance in there too.
Riza reached over to gently place her hand on top of Roy’s in the bed. Her thumb swiped over the back of it as she tried to coax him awake. She’d decided sitting by Roy’s bedside in a chair rather than remaining in her own bed was easier to talk to the room and to him. In her own bed she was constantly twisting and turning her head and that was not the best course of action currently.
“Roy?”
He grunted softly in reply, stirring from his slumber.
“Roy, time to wake up.”
A feeble moan left him. His eyes opened briefly but fluttered closed as he quietly sighed and gave into the hold sleep still had on him.
“Roy.” Riza laughed quietly at his sleepy expression. She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. “Doctor Marcoh is here to see you.”
She let that news sink in slowly and eventually he sighed. His eyes batted open groggily. “Okay, I’m up,” he grumbled.
“Did you sleep well?”
His head turned in her direction and he smiled. “I did. I didn’t even realise that I had.”
“You were pretty out of it,” Riza added.
“Your voice is so soothing and comforting to listen to, that’s why,” he grinned as Riza’s cheeks heated up slightly. “Did you keep reading ahead?”
“After you fell asleep I stopped reading aloud and continued on. It’s a good story. I like it.”
“I like it too. I like hearing you read it to me.”
“I can go back,” Riza revealed. “I marked where we finished together. I wouldn’t want you to miss the rest of the story.”
“You’re too good to me.”
Riza stood from her chair and slowly approached him. She placed a hand on his forearm, her touch feather light before increasing the pressure. A finger tapped his skin three times. Recognising her signal Roy inhaled in anticipation. Ever so softly she pressed her lips against his.
She hadn’t wanted to potentially frighten him with sudden touches after the Promised Day. Not while he was blind and not after the beating he’d received at the hands of Father while blind either. Riza had picked up on the fact he jumped whenever someone placed a hand on him without announcing themselves, so she’d come up with a code. With coded messages, they used two taps. With three taps, she announced she would be coming in for a kiss. All of her touches were soft, and she always made sure to announce herself with her voice before initiating contact.
“I love you, Roy.”
He stole another kiss with a grin. “Love you too.”
“Not only is Doctor Marcoh here, but General Grumman is as well. I’ve asked Breda to send him in shortly.”
Roy’s body stilled. “General Grumman?”
“I don’t know why,” Riza shook her head. “Breda only told me he was here to see you.”
With a sigh Roy sat up on his bed. He groaned and grimaced as the movement hit some of his aches and pains. Enough time had passed that their muscles had recovered, but there were still some bruises and stiffness.
Riza’s hand never moved from Roy’s forearm and she slid it slowly up his arm to give him some comfort. Her own injuries were much better. The strength of her painkillers had been reduced dramatically and the injuries were healing nicely. The skin around the one on her neck was pink and healthy, while the one on her shoulder was starting to heal over.
“I suppose I better make myself presentable for the General,” Roy grumbled.
Riza nodded and her hand slid away from his body.
While Roy rubbed his eyes tiredly Riza was struck with how similar he looked to Mia when she awoke in the morning. After their conversation on the phone Riza had made a point to call Chris every day. She couldn’t go that long again without speaking to Mia again. They’d even heard Maes gurgle happily through the receiver. Roy had gently but clumsily wiped away her tears after it. He’d accidentally poked her in the eye, which earned a giggle from them both, cheering Riza up a little. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.
“Colonel,” General Grumman greeted warmly as he entered the room. “Mrs. Mustang.” He bowed his head respectfully towards her.
“General, sir,” Roy welcomed.
“Good day, General,” Riza nodded.
“At ease, Mustang,” Grumman replied, waving Roy off as his hand lifted to salute while sitting up straighter in his bed.
“Understood.”
Riza watched on with interest. It was intriguing to note how much Roy’s voice changed whenever he was talking to a colleague or a superior. It was funny to think about, remembering just how goofy and dorky he could be with her and their family. It was not a bad thing he was acting differently. It was another part of him, and that part had always intrigued and fascinated Riza. She sat back in her chair to observe their conversation quietly.
“How are you doing, Mustang?”
“Well, sir. Just a few aches and pains but nothing major.”
The General lifted an eyebrow in doubt, making Riza wonder if he was already aware of his lost eyesight. She figured that at this point in time it would be common knowledge. Especially to the likes of General Grumman.
“Losing one’s eyesight would be considered major, Colonel.”
“I’m alive,” Roy replied with determination. “That’s enough for me for the moment.”
Riza kept her mouth shut about Doctor Marcoh’s visit. She already felt like she was privy to a conversation she shouldn’t be a part of so let them converse in peace.
“Mrs. Mustang?”
Her head lifted, surprised that the General had anything to say to her.
“If you wouldn’t mind, could I borrow you for a moment?”
Out the corner of her eye, Riza noted how Roy’s brow furrowed in confusion slightly at the request.
“There’s something I wish to discuss with you in private, if that’s all right?”
“Anything you have to say can be said in front of my husband, General,” Riza replied evenly.
In all honesty… She didn’t really want to be left alone with her grandfather. After her sudden phone call and his reaction to it, Riza thought he knew who she was but couldn’t be sure. The question was, did she have the energy to have that family discussion with him? Probably not. Regardless, it was true. She had no secrets to hide from Roy.
Grumman looked stumped for a second before he recovered. “Yes, of course. It’s regarding us.”
Roy tried to hide it but Riza could tell he was becoming even more confused.
“Yes?”
“Our paths have unfortunately never crossed in the past. There were various reasons for that, mostly tied with your parents.”
Roy’s head cocked to the side ever so subtly as he tried to put two and two together.
“I apologise for not coming forward to you sooner. I have my own reasons for that too, but wanted to apologise for not contacting you when I should have.” He looked and sounded sincere enough as he spoke.
“And when would that have been?” Riza was curious as to when he felt he “should” have reached out to her.
“News of your father’s passing reached me months afterwards. I thought that would’ve left you with no one, but I had no way of finding out where you were. Then Mustang breezed in and wouldn’t shut up about his wife and kid,” Grumman chuckled, gesturing towards Roy, who’d gone incredibly still. “And I overheard Lieutenant Catalina on the phone to you and say your name. I caught Mustang showing off a picture of his wife one time and finally recognised you.” He took a deep breath, meeting her gaze. “You look exactly like your mother.”
A lump suddenly formed inside Riza’s throat.
“So, I’ve been aware of you and your tie to Mustang for some time. And I’m sorry for not reaching out sooner.”
“Thank you, sir.” Her reply was even and polite. She held no grudge against this man, but she couldn’t trust him so easily. If he wanted to be a part of her life then he’d have to earn a place in it.
“I hear you have some wonderful children.” He shot her a toothy grin. “Congratulations, Riza. I’m extremely happy for you.”
At the mention of them, Riza’s stomach tightened but slowly loosened. Her expression softened and she nodded. “They are wonderful,” she agreed.
“I expect nothing in return,” Grumman reassured, lifting his hands as if surrendering. “Too much time may have passed, which I completely understand. But since I had the chance, I wanted to see you and speak to you at least once – and properly this time.”
“Thank you for that favour on the Promised Day,” Riza replied. “I really appreciated you trying to get through to Roy.”
“Of course,” he nodded. “It was the least I could do for my granddaughter.”
Finally, Roy clicked. His head had bowed to face the bed in silence but Riza knew his mind was moving a mile a minute, overflowing with questions. He wasn’t the only one, however, Riza had already dwelled on her musings about her grandfather years ago. It brought the questions back up to the surface, but she didn’t have the energy to be angry or upset at him for not contacting her. Like Grumman said, too much time had passed anyway. It was all in the past now.
“I hear Doctor Marcoh is here to see you,” Grumman announced, clearing his throat. “I’ll get going and let him get to work.”
Riza stood and approached her bed without a word. On the table beside it was her purse, which she reached for. Two pictures of their children were extracted from within and Riza turned to face her grandfather.
“Would you like to see your great grandchildren before you leave?”
He looked incredibly surprised by her offer. Riza may not have been able to trust him so easily but he’d reached out to her. He’d made an effort at least. Yes, it was late, and he may have some motive behind this meeting, but Riza would extend him the same courtesy he’d given her. She didn’t entirely trust his motives, but he’d acknowledged they were family and seemed genuine enough while discussing it. The least she could do in return was show him his great grandchildren.
Grumman nodded and Riza walked over to him. She handed the pictures over and heard him gasp. In the corner of his eyes there were tears, but they never fell.
“Mia and Maes,” Riza stated, pointing to each of them.
“They look like wonderful children,” he replied. His tone was respectful but held a hint of awe within it.
“They are,” Riza smiled fondly, gazing down at them.
“Thank you, Mrs. Mustang.” Grumman cleared his throat as he handed the pictures back to her. “I don’t expect anything in return, like I said, but I appreciate you showing these to me.”
Riza nodded and took them back from his outstretched hand.
“If you ever need anything,” he stressed, his sharp eyes meeting hers directly, “anything at all, you can give me a call. All right?”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Please, call me Grumman,” he insisted.
“Thank you, Grumman,” Riza nodded.
“I’ll be on my way. I’ll send Doctor Marcoh in. Take care of yourself, Mustang,” he called over Riza’s shoulder. Then, in a surprising move, he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You too, dear.”
Once he’d left, Riza returned to the chair by Roy’s bedside.
“He’s your grandfather?”
She wondered what Roy’s reaction would be. It seemed he had no clue about it either. His exclamation was incredulous.
“Yes,” Riza confirmed.
“But… How…” Roy floundered as he tried to find the words he needed. “When did you know?”
“I didn’t know for sure. When we were in Central on our little holiday after Mia was born and the staff announced there was a General Grumman on the phone waiting to speak to you, I made the connection with his name then. I’d never seen him before though. Seeing him now, he’s still the spitting image of the picture I glanced at once when I was a child.”
“…And he never contacted you before now?” Roy’s question had an edge to it. He was mildly affronted on her behalf.
Riza shook his head. “Not to my knowledge.”
“He knew your name,” Roy muttered quietly to himself. “I told him. Not your last name, admittedly, but he’d heard your first name and seen your picture. He even pestered me to marry his granddaughter before he knew I was married to you.” His brow furrowed deeper, his expression darkening. “And he still did nothing?”
Riza shrugged. She didn’t know what to say to him. “He said he had his reasons for that. I don’t know what they could possibly be, nor am I interested to find out.”
Roy fell silent for a few moments. “You don’t trust him, do you?”
“I don’t know him, so no. I wish I could, given he’s my last remaining older family member, but I can’t. I don’t trust his motives either. Not after his actions. Despite his genuine tone, there’s something about him that I can’t put my finger on.”
His head bobbed a few times as he absorbed her statement. “I can’t believe he never contacted you.”
Riza grimaced. “My family history is… tricky. From what I remember of it, anyway. It could be to do with that, however, I never held any grudge towards him. I never really knew him and was too young. My parents cut ties when I was a baby.”
There was a sudden pressure on her hand. Roy had placed his atop hers, covering it with his warmth and comfort.
“If he’s holding onto that feud, or whatever it was, after all this time, then I’m not sure I want to waste my time trying with him. If not…” she trailed off, still unsure. “Anyway,” Riza announced, steering the conversation away from her thoughts. “Sorry to burst your bubble about him.”
Roy snorted and scoffed. “He was the one who taught and encouraged me to always work to serve my own agenda. It doesn’t surprise me he was doing it for himself. I’m more concerned about you, though.” His expression looked slightly anxious. “Are you okay about all of this?”
“Grumman acknowledging my existence doesn’t take away anything from my life, nor does it add to it. I don’t know what I will do, or what I want, regarding a relationship with my grandfather. Quite frankly I don’t really want to consider it right now either. There’s more important things due to happen,” she smiled, “like you getting your eyesight back.”
“I know, but… Well, whatever you decide, I will support you. No matter what.”
Riza smiled at him. She tapped the back of his hand with her finger three times and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Roy.”
“Of course,” he replied simply. “You’re welcome, Riza.”
Their conversation ended there as someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Riza called.
Doctor Marcoh poked his head around the door and looked at them expectantly. “Are you ready to begin the procedure, Colonel?”
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scrapyardboyfriends · 3 years ago
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Late watch of the second episode....
Overall I didn’t hate it because like the other day, I liked that things were slowed down a bit more and people actually talked to each other. And not everyone was in their own separate little boxes. I have to praise the small things when I can with this show. Haha. 
The Dingles are obnoxious as hell though. I’m so over Zak and Sam. It really is a pity the pub couldn’t have blown them up. And everyone slagging Aaron off was infuriating. And of course, because Chas has no comprehension of why Aaron left, she can’t defend him. At least Vinny understood enough to explain it to Liv and we had a rare moment of clarity from Liv saying that Vinny didn’t need to be with her just to stop her drinking, which was really important. 
But really, I don’t blame Aaron for not wanting to come back to this lot or to Liv. He left, not only because he was afraid she was guilty, but because he can’t be the only person keeping her from drinking. When they were all going on about how selfish he is and how she’s gonna go straight to a bar, I was just like “why is it up to him to keep her sober?!” It’s not, and that’s the point, because that’s what their toxic relationship had devolved into. Sure it might be nice if he called her or something so they can both have a bit of closure, but I think him staying away is really best for both of them. Not to mention the fact that just because now he knows Liv didn’t kill Ben, doesn’t mean that Ben’s not dead. I mean we may have hated him but Aaron is still technically grieving. And the Dingle mob is not conducive to that and neither is an alcoholic little sister. So...good for Aaron. He’s not selfish to look after his own mental health or to make sure Liv isn’t dependent on him for her sobriety. So the Dingles can fuck off. 
I was a bit surprised at all of the kissing between Liv and Vinny. I mean it’s not like they were full on making out or anything, I just know the last time she kissed someone was Jacob and she seemed really unsure about that. When she said she didn’t expect to do that, I kind of expected a conversation about boundaries again but then they didn’t so I guess we’ll see. Not that ace people can’t kiss. It’s not like I haven’t kissed people. I just find it really boring most of the time but a quick peck is fine I guess. I’ve just never initiated that. 
As for the rest...
I do also wonder if all of this marriage stuff was supposed to be David and Vic. It would have made a lot more sense. But then I don’t know if Billy and Dawn would have happened at all and I’m glad they have because I didn’t like that they broke them up in the first place. Excited for Meena to return though. 
Definitely rolled my eyes at everyone just using the scrapyard to work out their anger issues. 
I swear Charles and Manpreet’s whole conversation was just Robron’s greatest hits in terms of dialogue. “I’ve already almost lost you once” “Just come home with me” “of course I’ll come home with you”. Haha. 
As for the Mack/Charity/Vanessa/Ryan mess...the eulogy was beautiful. Again I want to swap Wendy out for Irene. Do the soap gods bargain? Haha. I just don’t know what to make of this whole Mack and Charity thing. Because it’s clear that Vanity are getting back together. They were both very unconvincing when they said it was over. Charity saying Mack is her future just didn’t ring true at all. I just don’t know what they’re trying to show with this relationship either. You know, Alex may have been terminally boring but I feel like there was a clear story purpose for Aaron’s relationship with him. He needed that confidence boost, to know that someone else besides Robert would want him, that he could tell someone about his scars and not have them run away. He needed that choice to make, narratively, so that he knew he wanted Robert more than anyone. But with Charity, I don’t feel like they’ve put any kind of real purpose into her relationship with Mack. It just feels like biding time and that’s boring and I’d rather spare both of them and us. 
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hotpinkstaples · 4 years ago
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On the Spade Arc & Tabata’s Evasion of His Own Story like They’re Taxes or Some Shit
Since catching up on the manga, I been thinking about why I feel so detached from the story for the past eight or so chapters, even though I was fully invested right up until the actual invasion. As the arc progressed (quickly, I might add), I realized that I was experiencing an onslaught of powerups (cool!) and new characters (also cool!).
But in the process, I once again began to note Tabata’s really awful, no good, barely passable attempt at dropping hints that someone somewhere was committing violent war crimes, and then his evasion of his own goddamn plot points by turning the focus back to cool powerups and two-page spreads. Listen - I LOVE a great character design and sick spread, but Tabata, bro... You can’t sprinkle intrigue into the story once in a while, and then straight up run for the hills when it comes time to elaborate on the plot point. One thing I’ve noticed since I started reading the manga is that much of the story is essentially fill-in-the-blank, which is great fanfiction fuel, but does little to help build on the greater aspects of the story.
One of the reasons why I really loved the Elf Reincarnation Arc, despite its mediocre resolution, was the overarching theme of statehood’s responsibility in the face of historical war crimes. The arcs prior to the elves built up to this one major theme, through Gauche’s tale, through Vanessa’s childhood incarceration, through Finral’s exile, through Zora’s backstory, etc. Black Clover, though still a shounen depicting the common boy’s struggle in a world that’s overwhelmingly against him, was also a story about interspecies racism, poverty, genocide, and love. ERA especially encapsulated all those themes by having our MC face off against a villain who had every right to be a villain because he was a product of state-sponsored violence. ERA highlighted historical revisionism and deification. Lumiere death was historically revised from saving-friend-from-himself to king-saving-kingdom, and he himself was deified into an icon when he was ultimately a victim who died because of Clover’s crimes. The arc, through its many layers and staunch character-building, worked through some pretty intense themes while keeping true to the shounen flare.
And in the same breath, the resolution sucked every bit of intrigue from the gravity of the themes discussed, and pretty much reversed some key moments in order to keep the story as dry and non-problematic as possible. Moments that come to mind are Julius’ fake death, Patolli’s easy shift to the “good” side, Pato/Vetto/Rhya/Fana surviving the true death, etc.
When I started the Spade Arc, I wondered how Tabata was going to be able to balance his editors and his own passion for writing bootleg Berserk, because by the time Baby Julius made an appearance, it was becoming more and more obvious that whatever heavy themes he wanted to depict would need to be watered down in their execution, or risk getting wiped altogether. 
When I saw that Spade started with an attempted rape, I was taken aback, because wasn’t this the same mangaka who pussied out with Julius going six feet under? I let it go, thinking he’d eventually explain what exactly was going down in Spade, but here we are several powerups later, Liebe out of his grimoire and Asta with his Demon Union form, and we still don’t know what the actual fuck is going on in Spade, what the fuck the Dark Triad is actually doing, and how it all ties into the overall themes of love, poverty, racism, genocide, and of course, a state’s responsibility to its citizenry. 
Part of it is because Tabata’s done everything in his power to avoid talking about it all this time. We get tidbits here and there, and then it’s on to the next battle, the next powerup, the next spread, etc. I feel bad for the man, I really do, I’m sure he’s experiencing the same creative restrictions that the mangaka of old have had to go through, but it’s exhausting to flip through battle after battle and not get any insight into why the story’s going down the way it is. Why do Dante and his siblings want to sacrifice their own people to demons, why is Lucifero so quiet, why the Spade Kingdom sitting on two ancient demons, how Patolli and Co. manage to sneak into Spade, and so on and so forth. The threads wouldn’t be such a problem if they made sense on a larger scale, but with the Clover civil war and the continent-wide war arcs looking less and less likely, something’s gotta give.
I feel like Tabata thinks it’s gonna be a big surprise when he drops whatever plot twist it is that he’s cooking up, but the arc’s definitely lost its initial luster and I think part of it is because we didn’t get an elaboration on the circumstances of the Spade situation, like we did with ERA, the Witch Forest Arc, even Gauche’s early arc, etc. We still know next to nothing about the Dark Triad, and now that Asta’s finally on his way to Spade, I kind of feel like Tabata lost sight of his own tale in the midst of slapping together some demon designs. 
The only reason I bring it up is because I worry he’s gonna punk out again. Dante is a canonical creep, and Vanica aint that far behind. Unlike Patolli, who became a terrorist because of Clover and foreign interference (Zagred), I don’t know what Tabata could do to apologize for the Dark Triad. Maybe he won’t. One can only hope. I still worry, because now the kingdom knows Julius is a baby, and Damnatio’s witnessed Asta cutting down the big demon, so like, if Tabata were to punk out, he easily could by making Damnatio eat his words for doubting Asta’s loyalty to Clover. 
I dunno. Something just aint right about this arc. It feels like it could be such a big piece of the story, but there are just so many holes. Feel like we need a Turn Back the Pendulum Arc for Spade just so we could get some goddamn detail. I’m tired of filling in the blanks for this twink. Give me the mcfucking lore Tabata, I’m tired.
tl;dr: Spade Kingdom arc, as a whole, has been incredibly mid. Little lore, even less elaboration on key themes, doesn’t really tie into the greater themes in the story, and a lot of the intensity is downplayed or just straight up ignored. Definitely sense that Tabata and the editors aint on the same page with this one. Arc ending has a potential of going either really well or really bad, and I’m afraid it’s gonna go the bad route especially if Tabata goes the ERA resolution route.
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My mind was plagued with thoughts of the episode where the kids think Perry laid an egg and the comic where Perry saves a baby platypus from Doof, and that got me thinking: what if Perry was actually a dad to a baby platypus? One possibility is that Perry wouldn't want his child to become an agent at such a young age and would rather have his kid decide if they want to do it when they're older, but I believe that either way, the young platypus would inherit Perry's anthropomorphism.
oh my god I’ve never even thought about Dad!Perry before 🥺 I thought his relationship with the Flynn-Fletcher kids was wholesome but that has some real potential to become the superior relationship
obligatory “read more” to save everyone who doesn’t care how I feel about Dad!Perry
Okay first I gotta ask how we think this would happen. Is it the egg from Perry Lays An Egg that hatches, except it really is a baby platypus and Perry ends up taking it in because no one else can? Or is it Perry taking one of Doof’s platybabies home? Or is it trans!Perry laying his own egg? Or Perry has sex with another platypus (that’s such a weird thought lmao) and somehow he becomes the sole guardian of the egg? As the numero uno “Perry is an asexual demibiromantic platypus” stan, I kinda like the first or second one, but I also feel like the platybaby should be related to him? But at the same time Phineas and Ferb is all about how family don’t end in blood so maybe that’s not important?
Anyways onto Dad!Perry because holy shit I’m excited to explore this
I’m gonna start at the end of the ask by saying that I feel like anthropomorphism isn’t genetically inherited; I feel like it’s something that’s taught. It’s kinda a nature vs nurture type thing so I guess it’s more a psychological debate than anything, but if I had to channel my inner English teacher and draw evidence from “the text” (aka the show), I gotta bring up the koi from Attack of the 50 Foot Sister that were just kinda vibin in the neighbors’ pond at the beginning of the episode and then Monogram had to make them agents to avoid a lawsuit and by the end they were saving Perry’s ass? Which is relevant to literally nothing except that I think any baby animal Perry raises, regardless of whether or not they’re related to him by blood (or even by species), will probably turn the lil baby into an anthropomorphic lil platybaby just because of all the human and human-like influences
And now the elephant in the room (cue OWCA Files Agent E joke): how does OWCA react to the news? Which I guess is really a follow-up question to how OWCA finds out in the first place. I think we can all agree that Perry won’t want to tell them. It’s not like he sees the other agents as friends that he wants to invite to the baby shower. But Monogram would want to know if there’s a new player in the Flynn-Fletcher house not that he knows who lives there now; that’s Carl’s area of expertise. Would he have to tell them? Is there a protocol for that? Especially if it’s just an egg he picks up from The Tree™ in the backyard. That’s basically just getting a new pet, right? And sure, Monogram would want to know, but is Perry legally obligated to tell him is the question.
But Monogram has to find out one way or another, and given that Perry is the best of the best, Monogram is going to want his kid in the club. Perry would 100% say no, too, but I don’t know if it would be because he wants his son (yes it’s a boy platybaby no I don��t know why) to have his own say in his future; I think Perry would consider OWCA too dangerous for his son. I mean, we saw what happened when Phineas, Ferb, and Candace got mixed up in his job: they were almost eaten by a goozim and the tri-state area was almost taken over by an evil dictator. He would definitely want to keep his son out of that scene if he could. At least all the dangers at home are Phineas-and-Ferb-sponsored, and unlike OWCA, they would make sure he didn’t get hurt.
Buuuut Monogram is also a dumbass and doesn’t know how to take no for an answer, so he’d keep pushing. It has to be a well-known fact around OWCA that changing Agent P’s mind about anything is not an easy feat, so maybe when Monogram realized it was a lost cause, he’d try to go around Perry’s back? Maybe while Perry was at work, he’d head to the Flynn-Fletchers’ house (or send Carl again like Undercover Carl) to try to get the platybaby alone? He could explain what OWCA is and that he would make a perfect candidate. I doubt Perry would have told his son about OWCA in any detail yet other than the fact that he works there and that’s where he goes every day, so this would all be new and interesting. And then Perry either comes home when Monogram or Carl is talking to his son about OWCA or his son brings it up himself, and Perry is fuming because he made it very clear that he didn’t want OWCA anywhere near his family. 
And now I can’t help but wonder if that would cause bigger problems between him and OWCA? What if that’s his breaking point, and he just flat-out quits because if they can’t respect his very few boundaries, he doesn’t owe them anything? And assuming the platybaby didn’t come from Doof, maybe that’s how they meet? Somehow he finds out that the reason there’s a new agent working his case is that Perry’s out on “permanent paternity leave” or something, and word gets back to Perry somehow (maybe Pinky heard it through the grapevine and told him? idk) that Doof wants to meet him? And Perry’s kinda wary buuuuut at the same time, Doof isn’t his nemesis anymore. If you take OWCA out of the equation, aren’t they just friends? 
WAIT A SECOND
IMAGINE HOW NORM WOULD REACT TO SEEING A BABY PLATYPUS
LIKE
I DON’T KNOW WHY
BUT NORM WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BABY PLATYPUS
and Doof would get kinda annoyed because “He came here so I could meet the baby, you know,” and usually that’s enough to convince Norm that he’s doing something wrong, but this time Norm is just like, “But I love him?” And Doof expects Perry to back him up and he probably should but at the same time, his son looks so happy with Norm? Without OWCA’s training, he still has that platypus aspect to his personality that comes from both his animal instinct and how the Flynn-Fletchers treat him, so he’s just kinda snuggled up in Norm’s lap and Norm is just petting him?
And this is probably after he’s shown some human-like features and Doof knows that he’s about as human as Perry, so he asks, “Does he like being pet?” and Perry nods because duh of course he does and Doof just kinda looks at him for a moment and he’s like, “Do you like to be pet?” and Perry just fuckin decks him because no he does not yes he does and Doof just nods like, “Okay, fair enough.”
AND THEN VANESSA WALKS IN???
and she had absolutely no idea this was happening she’s about to go drop her stuff off in her room for the weekend and Norm’s like, “Look at my new friend!” and Vanessa thinks it’s gonna be something stupid but she walks over and sees the baby platypus and she starts freaking out because holy shit Perry is that yours? and obviously she needs to know literally everything there is to know about him because this is her nephew now and she will not take no for an answer.
And I feel like OWCA really wouldn’t like this? I mean, Perry completely severed ties with them over this platybaby, and now he’s bringing his son over to DEI at least twice a week to see his former nemesis? And idk what they would do about it because I don’t think there’s an actual protocol for this, but Monogram is Very Sensitive™ and he won’t stand for this.
Also and I’m totally just spit-balling here but what if, because the platybaby is kinda also being raised by the Doofenshmirtzes (and the Flynn-Fletchers but idk if that would make much of a difference here bc he has to pretend to be a mindless pet around them like his dad), he gets the best of the human and animal experience all in one, without all the shit Perry had to deal with from OWCA? And what if that somehow leads him to be able to speak? I don’t quite know how that would work, mostly because I don’t really know what prevents Perry from speaking, but we already went into that back in May so I’m not gonna go there again lol
okay I’m pretty sure it’s been over two hours since I started working on this ask but I can’t help it because this is literally such a cute idea fjdshflakfa I don’t even know if I’d be content reading this like I feel like this is just something I want to write. I kinda want to see how Phineas and Ferb would treat him, and if they’d treat Perry any differently now that a) he’s a dad and b) there’s a new platypus for them to love. I also want to see how Candace would handle probably falling in love with the platybaby but still getting annoyed by Perry. I really want to see what Vanessa and Norm’s relationship with the platybaby would turn into. Idk so much about the Doof/platybaby relationship though; I feel like I’d be more interested in how this affects the Doof/Perry dynamic instead. Something about Doof makes me think he wouldn’t be as easily swayed by the platybaby as everyone else, but the fact that Perry would now be a dad just like him would probably make him unreasonably happy. And that’s not even touching upon how different life would be for Perry now that he has a son, and he would obviously adore the little guy with his entire being, but, like, he has a son? How is he supposed to deal with that?
also I really should’ve given the platybaby a name to make this more readable and it’s a little too late for that but I hereby decree that his new temporary name until such time as this fic gets written is Horatio (unless y’all wanna hit me up with your platybaby name ideas because I would love to see them?) so welcome to the Dwampyverse, Horatio :,)
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redheadscribe · 4 years ago
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Fate Winx Saga Review
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This is the Winx Club
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This isn't
Ah Winx Club, I remembering waking up early in the morning to watch it on Saturday, I thought that it was a cool show and my favorite character was Bloom during the first three seasons when it was under 4Kids. I thought that the characters were cool, the setting was pretty awesome as well and overall it was fun. Years later I was pretty shocked that it is still going on though from what I heard it has lost a lot of it’s quality with season eight being a mixed bag and an okay art style. Now Netflix has acquired the rights and there were two separate shows that they produce.
The first being World of Winx, an animated spin off show showing the girls hiding out on earth helping people and dealing with an evil version of Tinkerbell? In all honesty I was a little confused like how was this a spin off? Was it a spin off from season four as Roxy is a supporting character in this universe? That part confused me but overall it was a pretty good show but at this point I don’t think Winx Club fans wouldn’t mind a reboot that got the She-Ra treatment. Needless to say Winx Club is a popular show that was big in Italy and other countries but it is not what it used to be. Especially when we have this show to talk about Fate: A Winx Saga.
When I first saw the trailer I was pretty confused because none of the shots in the trailer reminded me of Winx Club. Also none of the characters were recognizable as they white washed and replaced Flora, and also white washed Musa. The only three characters that were recognizable were Bloom, Stella and Aisha. However there personalities have changed so much that I can’t even say that this is a faithful adaptation. I know in adaptations there has to be certain changes that you have to make because either to budget or they can’t fit it in and some stuff has to be cut. The least the show could do was get the fashion right, I mean the only one who should be wearing red is Musa while Bloom is the one that wears different shades of blue. Then again the fashion overall is a big joke and they really should fire the costume designer as I looked and she has had no experience dressing up teenagers. Rants out of the way lets see how they butchered the characters.
Let’s start with the leading Pyromaniac herself, Bloom. What the hell did they do to my girl? As a fellow redhead myself it is safe to say Bloom was the one I lean towards to the most even though I did see myself in Tecna, and Flora. Bloom is a stuck up bitch in this show and has to make it all about her, which was one of the problems in some of season four and later on. She is also unbelievably gullible and really stupid. She basically believes anything that Beatrix, a psychopath and a known liar about the whole Not Domino city, yeah I don’t care about the name of this said city in other world. She is a problematic Pyromaniac something that cartoon Bloom season 1-3 would be horrified about, and surprisingly bland.
Now, this Bloom could have worked if there were either more episodes or just better writers. Think about it, she is a girl who discovers that she has these unknown powers and when her emotions get the better of her and harm her family she could be a little distant and closed off. She is angry and confused because she doesn’t understand what is happening which can lead her to feeling a lot of emotions. Though I do hate the fact that they ruined Mike and Vanessa but I forgot that this is a teen drama and as a teen drama parents are assholes, it is the law of teen television. There could have been a nice arc of Bloom dealing with the fact that she has been lied to her entire life, feeling angry and betrayed but then going back to the Bloom we love from the first three seasons as she realized that she was the same person, she just now has a place where she can feel at home while also having awesome fire powers. However we got the worst of Bloom that is shown post season five.
Now lets get to Stella, and I will try my best to contain my rage when I am writing this. Did a person who worked on this show really thought that it would be a great idea to change Stella and make her Diaspro? You know we could’ve added Diaspro and Stella in the same show, she and Stella could’ve been friends due to the two girls being royalty, but then both Stella and Sky would realize that she is a toxic person and break away from her. This is not Stella and the cartoon Stella wouldn’t be caught dead in some of the outfits that she was wearing, maybe the last episode outfit but that’s about it. They could’ve done something with her wardrobe, they could have her dress up as a old woman when her mother was around trying to impress her, and then dress up in clothes that the original Stella is known to wear. Stella is a stereotypical mean girl and there is nothing nuanced about her portrayal. This is not Stella this is Diaspro with Stella’s name.
Now let’s get on to Aisha, she is a fine characters but this isn’t Aisha as she has none of Aisha’s personality she is not even a princess of Andros and well she has no story outside of helping her white friend. Aisha was a standout of season two and had one of the best character entrances in the series. She doesn’t get a story of her own and she is relegated to just being the best friend that get’s Bloom out of trouble. The actress Precious Mustapha deserves way better than what they are giving her.
Now it is time for everybody’s favorite white-washed duo Terra/Flora and Musa. There have been videos and posts that are going over how stupid Netflix and Rainbow for doing this. Just to give everybody context, Musa’s appearance is based off of Lucy Liu and Flora is based off of Jennifer Lopez. I think that speaks for itself in how Netflix and Rainbow screwed this up especially when there are plus size Latinix actresses they could have casted. Now let’s get into their character, weirdly enough they are the ones that have the most interesting friendship dynamic, Terra is a fine character but she is not Flora and Musa is a lot more cold hearted and instead of being a fairy of music she is a mind fairy who is an empath. Now music in a way can evoke emotions and connect people on a deep level but her empathic powers are so undefined. Terra is a fine enough character and her family is pretty interesting.
Now lets get into the boys, Sky, Riven, Dane, and Sam. If there is one thing that I could applaud the show is that anyone can be a fairy or a specialist, it’s just a pity that they excluded the witches. Then again the witches do get the short end of the stick even in the cartoon. Sky is bland, and the actor only ever had one expression throughout the whole show. Riven is, well Riven has always been a jerk but cartoon Riven had some more well likable features than TV show Riven. Dane, he’s fine I would have liked him more if he wasn’t taking so many stupid pills when it came to Riven and Beatrix, boy he needs to find a better man to crush on becuase, Riven is not worth it at all, even if I didn’t like his performance I could definitely see him crushing on Sky way more than Riven. Sam is a fun character and I was glad to see a male fairy added to the school but that’s all I can say about him the boys are okay. If there was one thing that I enjoyed about World of Winx is that they didn’t include the boys and there was nothing lost from it, it was just the girls kicking ass and taking names.
There is not much to say about the school staff and Dowling is a fine character that is a lot like Faragonda, only really ever helps Bloom and reassuring her she is special. I wish there was more done with Terra’s father and all but nope any positive family interaction is bad in a teen show. Overall the school staff, I don’t think that we can even call them a school staff they were a joke.
Now let’s get into the villains, if there is one thing that fans of the first four season can agree on is that the villains were always a standout for each season one. That being said the only effective villain is Beatrix, even though they could have just done the Trix. Let me just say this, The Trix were a great villain for the first season and well they went downhill like the whole cartoon show. Also what is the deal with Rosalind and Sky’s father. To be fair Sky’s dad in the cartoon show has always been a jerk but a jerk that raised a psychopath like Beatrix is too much. I am a little nervous about how they will do if they actually introduce The Trix, Lord Darkar, and Valtor or even the Wizard’s of the Black Circle. Needless to say the villains were just bland.
That is if they actually even use the villains from the cartoon show because so far we have the rather bland Rosalind, I just don’t care for her and there is no need for her to be in the show, Daphne does not deserve this. Then there is Sky’s father and I don’t care and Luna and wow does every teen show have to have terrible parents. How is a cartoon show from the early 2000s is more diverse and interesting than this? I just don’t care at all about the villains except for Beatrix.
There is also the fact that the show is only six episodes and that really does hinder the show as the show could’ve used more episodes to flesh things out then maybe just maybe this show would’ve been interesting. I also see that there are some writers and producers from the Vampire Diaries that are attached to this project and well that explains why some aspects of the show seems dated. Overall Fate, is a bland show that definitely does have better writing than Riverdale but that is not saying much. The characters are bad, and the fashion is terrible something that was a main aspect of the show. The world is generic getting rid of the epic sci-fi fantasy world and Rainbow should’ve just rebooted the animated show.
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paranetics · 4 years ago
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hiya could you do a kiadam for 17. and 22.? if your not too busy. thanks !!
17.  “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…” 22.  “I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.”
He’s completely minding his own business, being friendly with his physics textbook, all pressed up against the end of the bookshelf in the library, successfully having a love affair with headache-inducing math equations, when Mira ambushes him.
“Hiya,” she says, suddenly right in his face.
“Aisghls!” he gurgles, in a completely manly way, thank you. She sits back on her heels and laughs at him, loud and mocking. He scowls at her.
Her braces are blue now, matching the streaks in her hair. She looks nice, he decides, all neon green and blue. The loudness of her wardrobe suits her -- she’d be strange to him if she ever tried to tone it down.
“Oh, man, you should’ve seen your face.”
“Fuck you,” Kai snaps, smoothing out the pages of his book. “I am busy learning how to destroy the AP Phys exam. Stop being a distraction.”
She pouts at him. “Come on, you're seriously not still mad at me about the ceramic pig.”
“I’m always going to be mad at you about the ceramic pig,” he says primly. Then he sighs, unable to resist. “What’s up?”
Her smile turns bright, and his heart does that familiar little stutter. Kai has always, always loved her. Sure, she’s Adam’s best friend and has inclinations more Reeve-based, but there’s always going to be something about her that just catches him in the right spot. He’s over it now, and he has erm, other areas of interest, but she’ll always be special.
“Nessa’s having a party--”
“Ugh,” Kai interrupts.
“--with alcohol--”
“Double ugh.”
“And cute boys will be there,” Mira wheedles, whipping out her best puppy-eyes.
“I don’t care,” Kai says, shuffling away from her and looking back at his textbook. The particles will... he reads.
“Adam will be there,” she tries. Obvious trump card. Goddammit.
He cuts his eyes toward her, calculating. She’s grinning, triumphant, confident that she’s got him. He groans internally, because it’s either that he goes to this party and enjoys at least twelve percent of it, or Mira and Adam will wake him up from a dead sleep sometime in the AM, drunk and needy.
Part of his resistance is a lie, he always likes parties. He doesn’t like Vanessa, but she’s Reeve’s friend, and by proxy, Mira’s friend. He can pretend to like her for one night, especially if he gets to hang out with people. What can he say, extroversion. It’s a disease.
It’s just, recently, there’s been this trend. It’s like he’s been cursed.
Kai pretends to think about it.
“Fine,” he grits out.
“Yay!” Mira says, standing up and doing a little celebratory wiggle. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and unlocks it. “I’ll add you to the group text. Also, I want Reeve to drive me so you’re taking Adam alone okay bye.”
“Huh,” Kai says as she speed-walks away from him. “What? Hey!”
But she’s gone, vaguely eucalyptus-scented-shampoo left in her wake. Alone? With Adam? Fuck.
His phone buzzes.
-
Group: party 🎉🥂🥳🎊 time
mirakat added humantorchkai to the group
abeaverdam: Oh he’s coming?
lochnessa: Damn I didn’t know he left his house anymore
mirakat: ya i cornered his ass in th library
mirakat: hes a total slut 4 skool
mirakat: kais my bitch tho lol so ya hes comin
mirakat: dam hes drivin u
abeaverdam: Is that ok kai?
humantorchkai: yeah
humantorchkai: when?
lochnessa: Friday.
-
Kai’s late to first period on Wednesday, which Reeve notices, and bugs him about for ten minutes straight. He rolls in twenty minutes after the bell, wearing the clothes he left on his bedroom floor, all rumpled up and disorganized, and without a note. He drops into his seat and makes it approximately two minutes before Reeve leans over, into his space, and starts the interrogation.
“Oh my God,” Kai says to the ceiling. “For the last time, my alarm didn’t go off.”
“My Spidey-senses tell me you’re a liar,” Reeve says, and seriously, what does Mira see in this complete dork? He’s so nosy.
Kai drags his gaze from the ceiling to stare at him. “I think your janky-ass ‘spider-sense’ needs a psych eval.”
Reeve crosses his arms and sniffs at him. “Rude. I thought we were friends.”
“We are--” Kai scrubs his hands through his hair violently, frustrated. He catches the smirk on Reeve’s face. “Hey! That doesn’t work on me anymore. I’ve evolved.”
The smirk doesn’t leave Reeve’s face.
The truth is, Kai’s late because he had a nightmare. Or a wet dream. Depends on your definition of either thing. It’s been reoccurring pretty consistently, and Kai always wakes up from it breathing hard, adrenaline in his veins, and a hard-on. Today just happened to be shittier, and he couldn’t get back to sleep right away, so he overslept when his alarm went off.
It’s pretty much the worst, been happening for almost a month, and Kai is slowly losing his mind. But. whatever, the important part is this: he’s with Adam, and Adam kisses him. They could be in space, or in a submarine, or whatever Kai’s subconscious feels like cooking up. They could be anything, pirates, elven rebel warriors, it doesn't matter. In every dream, Kai’s with Adam, and at some point Adam leans over, the smell of Hennessy whiskey on his breath, and kisses Kai.
It’s why Kai’s been so rigid lately, avoiding his friends and refusing to go to parties, because of what happened Last Time he’d gone.
Mad Libs! Fill in the blanks, Sherlock.
He’s so totally, totally, totally screwed. And no one is allowed to know, not even Reeve, who knows Adam’s a flirty drunk and that Kai’s pathetic, and hasn’t even told anyone any of Kai’s other secrets, because this? This is world-ending levels of FUCK.
So, when the bell rings, Kai basically sprints out the door to avoid Reeve.
-
Group: party 🎉🥂🥳🎊 time
speedyskeet: should i bring da weed
reever: ohhh shiiiit hell yeah
lochnessa: No LSD though
speedyskeet: :O
speedyskeet: um ok MOM
reever: wtf ness
reever: psychedelic rights!!!
speedyskeet: let me get us fkd up!!
mirakat: wait didnt we hav 2 call an ambulance 4 coop last time u brought more than weed to a party
mirakat: or was tht a different school
speedyskeet: .........
speedyskeet: ok so im assuming edibles and my bong right
-
Kai takes his lunch to Mr Tucker’s room.
Mr Tucker is the APUS history teacher for the senior class, and he is the only non-STEM teacher that Kai likes. Mira is also his favorite student, so he lets them eat lunch in his room. It’s better than fighting for a spot in the crowded cafeteria, and Kai likes hiding from the rest of the student body.
Adam, Reeve, and Mira are sitting at one of the table groups when Kai walks in with his plate of chicken nuggets, Vanessa and Skeet nowhere to be seen. They’re probably getting high in the parking lot.
Mr Tucker is scrolling through youtube, his computer desktop displayed on the projector screen.
“Why’d you look up Nyan cat?” Kai asks, tilting his head as he watches Mr Tucker scroll.
“It’s stuck in his head,” Mira pipes up, helpfully. 
Mr Tucker grunts confirmation and apparently selects the version he likes. Reeve groans when it starts playing, slumping forward over his tuna salad. Mr Tucker picks up his normal vegetable-based salad, his bushy mustache wiggling in that way that means he’s smiling.
Kai sits next to Reeve, across from Adam. Mistake, Kai realizes too late. Big mistake. Because now they have to make eye contact, and Kai’s belly catches fire at the memory of drunkAdamhe’sKISSINGMESOMEONEHELP when he looks down at his plate of chicken nuggets. It’ll be obvious on his face in a few moments, he’s never been able to fight off a blush well, and then there’s going to be Questions. Capital-Q Questions.
But Reeve’s talking about, like, whatever drama majors talk about, and when Kai chances a peek up, Adam’s not looking at him. So.
Kai can’t help it, okay? He’s creepy. Sue him. No wait, that’s not-- ugh.
Kai studies the contours of Adam’s face while he’s not looking. His high cheekbones and his sharp chin. His heavy eyebrows that are shaped perfectly (”Ugh, you’re so fucking gross,” Reeve had said when Kai had voiced this thought aloud. “His eyebrows? I think you need to ask him out. Get it out of your system.”) and his eyes are that warm shade of brown, almost gold, soft and kind.
His hair is longer now, and errant curls flop over his forehead and around his ears. Kai watches the long line of Adam’s throat when he tilts his head back from the force of laughing at something Reeve said. Kai’s transfixed by the inviting stretch of dark skin, entertaining a thought of leaning over and just biting down so it’s not his fault he doesn’t see it coming when Reeve violently jabs him in the rib.
Kai jumps. “Ah! What the fuck?”
“Language,” Mr Tucker says in the toneless inflection of someone who doesn’t really care but responds on reflex. He’s now scrolling through Seasame Street videos.
Reeve shrugs, unrepentant. “You were gone there, dude.”
“Yeah,” Adam agrees, eyebrows raised in polite curiosity. “Planet Zenon gone.”
Kai ducks his head. “I’m, uh, stressed about AP physics?” he tries.
“Uh-huh,” Reeve says, “and are you asking us to confirm that for you?”
“Leave him alone,” Mira interrupts mildly. “Only, like, a hundred people a year get above a three on that exam.”
“Wow, how is that class still funded?” Adam asks.
“Elitism?” Mira guesses. “Maybe it’s like, a torture thing. Like, a test within a test.”
“What,” Reeve says, “like, if you pass you can become a super-secret spy?”
“Or I can, like, do another Chernobyl. Or I’m allowed secret access to government secrets. Ooh, maybe they’ll tell me the moon is a projection into the sky.” Kai says, warming to this idea.
“Then how would they explain waves?” Reeve asks.
“Uh, giant wave pool,” Kai answers.
“Hot take: the world is in a giant wave pool,” Mira grins at him.
Adam blinks almost in slow-motion, the sweep of his eyelashes against his cheeks, a smile growing on his face, and Kai is once again caught like a fly in honey. Just like that, all the saliva is gone from Kai’s mouth, and he’s completely lost the thread of whatever’s happening around him.
Okay, so, recap: totally, totally, totally screwed.
-
adam: U sure you’re ok driving me?
kai: dam i swear its fine
kai: i’d say something if it was a problem
kai: my parents have been trying to kick me out basically every weekend, this’ll make them so fucking happy
adam: Lol
adam: [A stock photo of two white parents sitting on a beach towel in a tropical location, smiling adoringly at each other. In the blurry background, a toddler with similar skin color and hair is being attacked by a seagull.]
-
“There is a PROBLEM!” Kai announces, flopping heavily onto his bed, tossing an arm dramatically over his forehead. Mira doesn’t even look up at him.
“Hm?” she says from the floor, knees drawn up to her chest, eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. She’s looking more at her iPad than at him.
“Oh my God,” Kai groans. “You don’t even care. I’m nothing to you. You enjoy my suffering.”
“Die white man,” Mira says tonelessly. “I’m trying to beat my old high score in Tetris. What’s your damage.”
“I have nothing to wear on Friday,” Kai moans, pained.
“What? Why do you even care? Your regular clothes are fine.”
“Oh my God, Mira! It’s a party,” Kai breathes the word like its holy, a precious thing nestled in the crook of his tongue, not to be defiled by people who wear school clothes to special events. “And I want to get hit on.”
“I’ll hit on you,” Mira promises. The iPad makes a wah-wah-wah sound. She sighs, setting it aside and looking up at him, expression thoroughly unamused, clearly blaming him for her high-score loss.
“I did not do that,” Kai says. The blood’s started rushing to his head, so he sits up and blinks away the black spots as they dance in front of his vision. “I just wanna be hot,” he whines. 
“Okay, so, wear that stupid blue button-up with the tigers on it, and the black skinny jeans. It brings out your eyes,” she elaborates. “And tucked-in button-ups are hot on dudes. Oh, and--”
“If you’re gonna Queer Eye me, I swear to God,” Kai complains.
“Will you just... I was gonna say you should wear a tiny bit of eyeliner. It’s like, accentuating your features or some shit.”
“Why should I trust you?” Kai asks playfully. “I’ve never seen you go anywhere near a make-up in my life.”
Mira shrugs. “I saw it on Instagram. Anyways, Reeve said I have ‘good bone structure’, what does that even mean?”
“That he’s an idiot and I can’t believe you’re into him?” Kai ventures. Mira glares at him, so Kai leans back on the bed, rolling his eyes up to the bedroom ceiling at the glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars that have been there since he was seven. “Okay, okay. He was probably trying to compliment you, but since he’s a robot sent by aliens to infiltrate the earth he did it in a really bizarre way.”
Mira perks up. “You think?”
“He said ‘good’.”
“What should I say back?”
“Erm, that you’ll have his babies?”
Mira throws one of her glittery highlighter pens at him. It bounces off the center of his forehead and onto his lap. He laughs, picking it up and tossing it back.
“I don’t know,” he admits. “Maybe say that you like his bones, too.”
Mira takes out her phone.
-
adam: [A picture of a pina colada sitting on a kitchen counter in a pool of sunlight.]
adam: Winky face
kai: you could just like, use the emoji keyboard instead of typing it out
adam: Don’t make me frowny face
-
Kai spends fifteen minutes messing with his hair in the mirror. He gels it sticking up, twists his mouth critically at his reflection, and wets his hands to wipe it out. Nothing’s working for him today. It’s just one of those things, his clothes seem to hang off him awkwardly, and nothing looks right.
He makes a sound of frustration, and his mom pokes her head into the bathroom.
“Oh,” she says. “I thought you were going to a party?”
“Mom,” he growls. “I’m getting ready!”
“Hm.” 
She pushes the door all the way open, surveys him from head to toe, and reaches over to run a hand through his hair, leaving parts sticking up in her wake. Kai looks in the mirror. Now, instead of awkward ‘trying-too-hard’, he looks artfully tousled. He unbuttons two top buttons of his tiger shirt, and messes with the collar to make it look like someone had grabbed it and reeled him in for a kiss. He grins at himself.
“That’s better, I think,” she says.
“Thanks Mom,” he says, shuffling past her and out to the hallway.
“Limit yourself to three drinks!” she calls as he stuffs his feet into old converse. “If you get too intoxicated to drive, spend the night! Just text! Don’t forget to wear condoms and--”
Kai shuts the door in her face.
His car is a silver Prius, owned five times prior to him. The interior always smells a little bit like shamrock shake and in the winter requires a prayer and three engine turnovers to start. Kai loves it.
He pulls up to Adam’s street and texts without looking that he’s close. He parks in the street, and jogs up to Adam’s front door. He raps his knuckles on Adam’s door, the red one with caterpillar decals, and a blue handprint on the doorknob.
Adam throws open the door. “Gimme a sec, gotta grab my jacket.”
He’s wearing a white shirt and Kai’s favorite jeans of his (do Not judge him, okay, liking your crush’s ass is basically a given and is no longer considered a sin under the New Testament, so really Kai’s not weird for liking this pair of Adam’s jeans because it accentuates his butt.), the ones with rips in the thigh and at both knees, because Adam lives reckless and dies reckless.
He jams his feet into vans and grabs the heavy olive jacket off the coatrack and follows Kai out to the Prius.
“You look nice,” Adam says, offhand. Kai feels how hot his face immediately gets and hopes it isn’t ugly, sometimes his blushes look like a rash.
“Thanks,” he says, rubbing his neck, right hand fumbling for his keys.
They slide into their seats, and Kai is hit with the violent-sense memory of Hennesy whiskey, and dark streetlamps, and Adam’s soft voice and brown puppy-dog eyes imploring Kai, look at me. Look at me, please. And. And.
His phone buzzes.
“Oh, Vanessa wants us to pick up some soda,” Kai says through the rock in his throat.
“Ooh, ooh. Cherry 7-Up, Jarritos Lime, uh like, a ton of Mountain Dew... and Coke! We’ll need Coke,” Adam rambles as Kai pulls away from the street and heads toward the local general store.
-
mira: WHERE
mira: R
mira: U 
mira: 2
mira: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kai frowns at his phone. They’re in the check-out line, waiting for their turn with about three tons of soda on the conveyer. Kai’s got a fifty dollar bill from his parents, because they’re stupidly open-minded, but he’s still gonna make Vanessa pay him back. Adam’s inspecting the tabloids, making comments about all of the covers and whatever he thinks about them.
kai: WE’RE
kai: FUCKING
(Not sent !) kai: GETTING
(Not sent !) kai: DRINKS
mira: FUHDUK WHATTTT!!!?????????
Kai groans.
-
The party’s already alive by the time Adam and Kai get there, music thrumming against the walls of the house, the glass panes of the windows shaking with the vibrations. Weighed down by plastic bags full of drinks, and a little bit anxious, Kai fumbles with the door handle three times until Adam reaches over him and opens it.
The crowd is huge. He didn’t even know that Vanessa and Skeet knew this many people. There’s a wall of heat that hits them when they step inside, the difference between the inside and outside must be a solid ten degrees. Most people are crammed in the living room, near the speakers, where a sort of impromptu dancefloor has evolved. There are plenty of people lining the hallways, sitting on the stairs, and spilling over into the other places of the house. 
Vanessa has changed the lightbulbs to fuschia, cobalt, and teal colors, so the house looks almost like a club from a TV show. There’s this haze over everything - and, yep, definitely Skeet’s weed - that makes it seem smoky and mysterious. Adam kicks the door shut behind them as they begin to navigate the crowd.
Skeet’s leaning against one of the walls, talking to a tiny girl with piercings and too much eyeliner. She tosses her head, her hair flying up like a halo for a moment, luminescent in the multicolored lights of the house, and leans closer to Skeet. She’s holding a red solo cup, Skeet’s holding weed, and Kai’s arms are starting to hurt from all the soda.
“So, your, like, real name is Skeet? What kind of name is that? I mean, like, who does that to their kid?” she’s asking, valley girl accent and everything, even twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
Skeet shrugs, unbothered. “My parents are hippies.” he spots them, then, and lifts his joint in a get over here gesture. Kai and Adam shove some people to stand in front of him. He grins. “Oh, dudes, nice. You got drinks. I wasn’t sure if you would, since Mira told us that you, uh, made a pit stop.” he waggles his eyebrows.
Kai groans, flushing.
“Uh, yeah,” Adam says, lifting up his bags. “for drinks? Hello?”
Skeet leers, grin stretching bigger. Kai scowls. He’s going to eat her one day, all Hannibal-Lecter style.
“Where is Mira, anyway?” he cuts in before Skeet says anything weird. “Where should we put the drinks?”
“Oh, just, you know,” Skeet makes a vague gesture with his hand that doesn’t really mean anything. “I think I saw her in the kitchen?”
“Thanks,” Kai mutters, shoving through the crowd and deeper into the house.
Mira and Vanessa are leaning against the sink, Reeve’s standing at the counter, completely covered in bottles of alcohol, thumb and forefinger at his chin like he’s surveying fine art. 
“Oh! You made it! I hate vodka without coke,” Mira says, striding forward and grabbing the bags from Adam.
Kai followers her back to the counter, and shoves the receipt into Vanessa’s limp hands without looking at her. Together, Kai and Mira start to set up the drink line, stacking up all the empty red cups at the edge of the counter as they try to make sure all the soda and alcohol are equally accessible. How Skeet even gets this stuff... he shudders to think. 
Kai waits until Adam and Reeve have wandered out of earshot to lean into Mira’s space. Vanessa had vacated the premise the moment it looked like any physical work would be happening, so he doesn’t worry about her particular brand of nosiness. He takes his phone out of his pocket and tilts the screen so she can see it.
“My texts didn’t send,” he tells her in a low voice. “We weren’t actually, you know.” he flushes violently.
Mira shoots him a grin. “No, I guessed that something had happened. It was just funny. You look nice.”
He smiles at her, genuinely, which means his gums are probably showing. She looks nice too, in her little black dress with a flared skirt and combat boots. The neon green streaks in her hair glow in the weird light of the house.
“I like your outfit,” he says. The din in the background is starting to grow. More people have probably showed up.
She nods at his jeans. “Cuffed jeans. The true mark of a bisexual.”
Kai nods very seriously. “I can’t leave my house without announcing every aspect of my sexuality to the entire world.”
Adam’s talking to a group of people at the other end of the kitchen, his smile is blindly white in the pink light, skin pitched a shade darker, a stark difference against the glow of his white shirt. Staring, unable to look away, Kai steals Mira’s cup and takes a swig. It’s straight vodka, so Kai coughs immediately when it hits his tongue.
Mira laughs at him.
-
Group: party  🎉🥂🥳🎊 time
speedyskeet: do any of u know anyone named travis montery
mirakat: no
lochnessa: No
abeaverdam: Nope!
humantorchkai: no
reever: nah
speedyskeet: fucking L lmao
speedyskeet: im kicking this fool out then
-
Kai’s wandering around, pleasantly buzzed from two Cherry 7-Ups with a tiny bit of vodka, looking for any familiar face. Mira and Reeve had abandoned him pretty much straight away, he’d left Adam alone in the kitchen, and he’s actively avoiding Vanessa. 
He stumbles around, moving his shoulders a bit in time with the music, his body gone languid and loose from the heat and the alcohol and the atmosphere.
His phone beeps at him again. He really hopes it's not Skeet checking with them before he bounces a guy again. It’s just Mira, he sees, when he’s fumbled his phone out of his back pocket. He has to squint to read in the pink light amid the thrumming bodies of people all around him.
Eventually, he escapes the crowd and heads down the stairs to the “game room” and finds another living room, with a soft white carpet and a couch in front of a big flatscreen. There’s a group of about a dozen kids, plus Kai’s friends, sitting on the carpet in a circle by the couch, with a beer bottle laying on a Monopoly game board. Kai blinks, the lights here aren’t fun colors, and everyone in the circle raises their arms and cheers when they see him.
He walks over to them. Mira grabs his arm and begins to drag him onto the carpet beside her. The group begins to chant.
“Spin the bottle! Spin the bottle!”
Oh, no fuck, Kai thinks, beginning to resist Mira’s grip on his arm. His drink is sloshing about, and Kai holds it away from his shirt and pants as he tries to reverse his crouch and pull his arm back. Skeet reaches up and confiscates the cup, downing the rest of it in one go.
“Spin the bottle! Spin the bottle! Spin the bottle!”
But he’s buzzed and his coordination is spotty, so when Adam reaches out with his hand and spins the beer bottle, Mira tugs once, hard, and Kai crashes onto the carpet, and the bottle spins,
and spins,
and spins.
And points the neck straight at Kai’s disheveled spot in the circle.
So, let’s revisit that cursed theory, shall we?
Kai looks at Adam, and Adam looks at him. He’s got that dopey half-smile on his face, and his pupils are blown wide, iris a thin gold ring around them. Kai knows when Adam’s drunk, or blackout, and he’s tipsy right now, just like Kai. And... oh no. But the kids in the circle are jeering, giggling delightedly.
“Uh,” Kai says.
Adam licks his lips, and Kai tracks the movement of his tongue helplessly. His eyes are moving on Kai’s face, like he’s cataloging everything, like he can’t keep them still. Kai’s mouth is very, very dry, and he misses having the cup in his hand.
“So, uh,” he says, and the tension buzzes even harder. “Is this, like, a kissing thing?”
Skeet grabs him by the arms and manhandles him up. Reeve and Vanessa grab Adam and start frogmarching them down the short hall toward some rooms and closed doors.
“No,” Skeet says, “This is more like a seven minutes in heaven thing.”
“Wait,” Kai says. Skeet reaches past him and opens a door. “Wait.” Skeet pushes him in, and Adam follows behind. “Wait.” The door clicks shut, then there's a clunk, then the sound of something heavy being pushed against the door.
Kai tries the knob, but it's locked. He jiggles it, but his muscles won’t cooperate and yank hard enough. Adam could probably break it open, but Kai has the vague thought of Vanessa’s parents and property damage, and underage drinking.
“Guys!” Adam yells. He pounds on the door with his fist. “Guys! This isn’t funny!”
But they don’t answer.
Evil. Mental note: make sure your friends aren’t evil next time.
“Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while,” Kai sighs, giving up on the door.
They’ll just have to wait out the seven-minute sentence. It’s simultaneously worse and so much better than the alternative. This way, Adam won’t have to kiss Kai if he doesn’t want to. But also: he won’t have to kiss Kai if he doesn’t want to. It’s a testament to how drunk all of them really are.
Kai turns, presses his back against the door, and slides down it, pulling his knees to his chest, wrapping his hands around his shins, and resting his cheek on his knee. He surveys the room. It’s small and dark, Kai doesn’t have the wherewithal to search for the light switch, but from what Kai can see it looks like a guest room no one ever uses and has accumulated with old junk. There’s a tiny window at the opposite wall that leads up to the lawn. Adam groans and drops onto the ground beside Kai.
The night is clear the moonlight is touching the window and peeking into the room. Adam’s shirt is glowing against his skin from the moonlight, his eyes a bright point in the semi-dark of the room. Kai locks eyes with Adam, and the tension from earlier crops back up tenfold.
This situation is... stupidly pointed. Kai’s pretty sure Reeve is the only person in the world who knows Kai thinks Adam is kinda hot, but he’d also have to be massively stupid to ignore the strain in their friend group lately.
Adam’s looking at him the way he does right before he reaches out to touch Kai’s hair, or brush his fingers against Kai’s freckles, or leans over to kiss Kai’s cheek. He’s looking at Kai like a hungry man, like he’s about to make the stupidest decision of his life and never look back. Kai can feel the pull of that look drawing him in, the temptation to run his hands against Adam’s chest, touching his shoulders or his mouth.
So Kai does the only thing he can think of.
“What did you think of that new Hey Arthur episode?”
Adam blinks at him. “Uh. You mean that kids show?”
Kai bites his lip and nods vigorously. 
Totally. Totally. Totally screwed.
-
reeb: [A video of Mira on the dancefloor among a huge throng of teens. The song in the background is completely drowned out by people attempting to sing along drunkenly. She’s grinding against Vanessa, who’s wearing Skeet’s sunglasses and drinking a mimosa with a cocktail umbrella in it.]
(Not sent !) kai: let us out of here!!! its been like 15 mins!!!! guys!!! dam’s phone is dead!!!!!
(Not sent !) kai: goddamn it COME GET US
(Not sent !) kai: NOTHING IS SENDING!!
reeb: lol wya we cant find dam either
(Not sent !) kai: YOU LEFT US IN THE BASEMENT
-
“Ugh,” Kai says, flopping back down onto the pillows beside Adam. At some point during their imprisonment slash debate on the ethics of twenty-three seasons of the same children’s cartoon, they’d moved from the floor to the twin bed. “I’m pretty sure they forgot about us.”
“Well, it’s been like thirty minutes. And they’re drunk.”
Kai’s starting to sober up. He has to pee, and his mouth tastes like cherry coughdrops. He stands up on the bed, bouncing a bit on the mattress. He reaches up and touches the seam of the window and the sill.
“What are you doing?” Adam asks, trepidation in his voice.
“Uh, escaping?” Kai says.
Kai presses his foot onto the upside down elliptical that’s propped precariously against an old wardrobe. He puts some of his weight on it, testing. Satisfied that it won’t give, Kai lifts himself up onto it, closer to the window, and pushes against the glass pane. The window opens out suddenly, making Kai wobble. The wardrobe groans.
“Careful!” Adam barks.
Kai glances back at Adam, his worried eyes watching Kai from the bed, sitting up on his knees in a half crouch. Kai sticks his head out the narrow window, then his shoulders, and manages to drag himself up and out.
He turns back around and offers his hand to Adam.
“Come on,” he says. “I’ll help you out.”
Adam climbs up onto the elliptical like Kai had, reaches his right hand to Kai’s left and uses his left to leverage himself closer to the window. The wardrobe and the elliptical make that sound again, like they’re scraping together.
“Hurry!” Kai says, afraid of the whole makeshift apparatus falling apart. Adam’s left palm slaps against Kai’s right and Kai pulls.
The elliptical falls over as Kai yanks Adam up, a great big crash resounding in the room they just escaped. Kai’s momentum and Adam’s weight makes Kai step back once, then twice, then his footing goes and he sprawls onto his back, Adam on top of him, in one big undignified heap.
Adam looks down at him. He looks more sober, too, like he hasn’t had much to drink. Kai should really be pushing Adam off of him. Or trying to sit up. But his hands are on Adam’s waist, and Adam’s looking at Kai’s face like he can’t quite look at anything else, and Kai cannot, for the life of him, break this moment.
Adam’s hands are on either side of Kai’s face, boxing him in. His breath puffs against Kai’s mouth over and over as he breathes shallowly. His eyes flick all over Kai’s face, and Kai’s thinking kiss me, please so hard he’s pretty sure NASA catches the brainwaves.
“I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice,” he says, voice soft and vulnerable, like Kai has the power to hurt him with whatever Kai says next.
Kai’s hands tighten on Adam’s waist. He’s thought about this a lot. Like, a stupid amount. Who doesn’t daydream about confessing to your crush? But Kai cannot dredge up any words to say. He’s dry, completely dry, and he can only think about how good Adam’s weight feels on him. He dips his eyes to Adam’s mouth and thinks This is where I kiss him, right? and Adam’s eyes slide shut as he leans in, towards Kai, and Kai loses his mind.
The backdoor opens, the sounds of the party spilling out into the night air, pink light washing over them. Adam scrambles off Kai so fast that he’s pretty sure he breaks the world record for speed, and stands up.
Kai props himself onto his elbows and squints at the silhouette in the doorway.
“Vanessa?”
“Oh my God, there you guys are!” she leans back into the house to yell, “Guys! I found Adam and Kai! They were fucking around in the backyard!”
“Hey!” Adam snaps indignantly. “You locked us in the basement! We had to escape!”
Vanessa rolls her eyes at them.
-
adam: hey uh
adam: sorry about what i said when i was drunk lol
adam: i didn’t mean it
-
Kai turns his phone off and stuffs it into his bag, frustrated. He hadn’t meant to not talk to Adam all weekend, he’d just needed to think things through, and then his dad had asked him to help paint the deck, and he’d had to finish up some code for robotics and time had kinda slipped away from him without really meaning to.
He hadn’t meant to ignore everyone else, either, but they weren’t in a Situation with Kai on Friday night, and he’s not in love with them, and they didn’t seem to mind so much. 
Kai had spent all weekend staring at the texts, in between being too busy to answer them, but he can’t figure out what to say back. He’d gotten them Saturday morning after the party, probably because he hadn’t stuck around long enough to be left alone with Adam again.
Kai had left because.
Well, because.
Because he feels played.
Is that it? He can’t tell. He just feels so hollow about it. Adam doesn’t mean to, Kai knows that, but it still feels like he’s being led on. Adam has kissed him once while black out and almost kissed him while tipsy and flirts pretty outrageously, and it’s all too much for Kai’s head, which is designed for building robots and lying to his English teachers.
So at lunch, instead of going to Mr Tucker’s room, he lets Freddie from Calc drag him to the auditorium to help build the drama department’s Spring play set.
He’s not avoiding anyone. He’s just... helping his friends.
Fuck.
-
reeb: ok i give
reeb: wtf is going on
kai: ?
reeb: don’t “?” me mfer
reeb: adam is sulking n shit and u’ve been sorta MIA
kai: i’ve been busy, sorry
kai: i am the captain of a team u know. its not personal. i’ll hang out with you guys soon
reeb: spidey sense says there is something u are not telling me
kai: i really do think your spidey sense is actually overactive bladder syndrome
reeb: [An image of the caveman spongebob meme.]
-
He’s in the library, sitting in his favorite spot nestled in the bookshelves, brow furrowed over The Great Gatsby, his English journal, the notes Hannah lent him, and the Sparknotes page for the novel, surrounded by every color highlighter and pen, just trying to get his homework done, when Adam ambushes him.
“You’re avoiding me,” he says, out of nowhere.
Kai jumps, sending his highlighters and books flying. Adam is standing above him, eyebrows furrowed and his arms crossed. He looks a little bit light a superhero, all righteous indignation at injustice, his muscles buldging slightly. You’re dead. Goodbye. his brain supplies.
“Holy shit,” he says, gathering his stuff back up slowly. “You scared me.”
Adam’s eyes soften. “Sorry,” he murmurs.
Kai shrugs. “Don’t worry about it.”
The silence hangs there as Kai avoids his gaze, reshuffling Hannah’s notes back into their correct order. He’s lost his page in the book, so he opens it to the middle and starts looking for the correct page number. There’s no sound in this corner of the library except for Kai’s over-loud breathing and the turning of pages.
Go away go away go away, Kai prays, wanting the world to end so he won’t ever have to face this moment. He thinks about the echo of Adam’s voice in his memory, Kai, look at me, the feeling of Adam’s weight in his lap, the ache Kai feels when he looks at Adam, and wishes that he could just stand up and run.
Adam clears his throat. “You’ve been avoiding me,” he says again, only this time it comes out more like a question.
Kai keeps his face as blank as possible, schools it into something politely curious unlike the shattered glass mosaic he feels like. “Am I?”
Adam rubs his hand across the back of his neck. “Look, I’m sorry,” he says haltingly, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I shouldn’t have... come on to you like that. It was inappropriate, and we were both drunk. And I didn’t mean it.”
Kai looks at him for a long moment. He can feel it, a rock on his chest, crushing him. He feels the ball in his throat, the hot prickle against the backs of his eyelids. “I know,” he says eventually. His voice comes out steady, even though he feels like he’s falling apart.
“So... we’re cool?”
Kai forces himself to nod. “Okay.”
“Really? Because I still feel like I fucked up somewhere here.” Adam takes his hands out of his pockets to open them, palms up, like he’s pleading. “Tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it.”
And it’s now or never. As much as Kai abhors the idea of talking about his feelings in the school library at 4 PM, as much as he wants to just lie through his teeth and stitch this all back up into one big internal bag of FUCK and pretend like nothing happened, he’d be leaving Adam hanging, and Kai’s not a dick.
He takes a deep breath. Then another one. He tries to channel his internal Reeve, but decides against it because Reeve’s kinda an asshole.
“I just... wish you did,” Kai says eventually. If he wasn’t himself, he’d slap him. Adam stares at Kai like he’d just spoken another language, like he’d just spat out part of a puzzle to piece together.
“Wish I did... what?” he asks slowly.
“Mean it,” Kai grits out, the words dragged from him. He feels ridiculous. This is stupid.
“Mean...?” Adam says, like he’s stupid. Kai scowls at him.
“Do you remember the St Eve’s party?”
Adam shrugs, looking helpless and confused.
“I drove you home that party. I drive you home every party. And every time we’re alone, you say that you like me, that you want me to go inside with you, that you think about me all the time,” Kai’s stomach is churning and Adam looks like he’s about to faint.
“I didn’t...”
Kai can’t hear him say it again. “And I know that you’re just drunk, and that’s just what you’re like when you’re drunk, but I just... I just wanted it to be true so bad. Part of me kept driving you home because I wanted you to be like that with me, part of me just wanted to pretend. But then you kissed me, and I just...” Kai makes a helpless gesture with his hands.
Adam licks his lips. He’s breathing a bit hard.
“...Fell apart,” Kai finishes.
Adam’s looking at him, wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights look, pure panic. Kai’s fucked it up, ruined their friendship, destroyed their friend-group, and will probably be unable to look anyone in the eye for a very long time. 
Adam didn’t want to hear this. Kai should’ve just lied, shut it all up and let himself wither up inside. He should’ve avoided Adam harder, or refrained from falling in love with him in the first place. He should’ve just dated Jesse when she’d asked and made himself get over Adam.
 “How long?”
Kai blinks. “Huh?”
“How long have you wanted...?” he shrugs.
Ah. The million dollar question.
“Officially? Middle of junior year. If I’m honest with myself? Probably since middle school.”
Adam’s mouth opens and closes nonsensically. Kai asks God to strike him down, just so this can end, just so Kai can go back to trying to figure out what the fuck is up with Gatsby and Jay, just so Adam will stop looking at him like that, like Kai’s killed his puppy.
Adam drops to his knees in front of Kai.
“Okay. Since freshman year. And I’m a liar. I did mean it. I kept thinking, you know, maybe you’d like me back, because I could see you looking, but I just couldn’t make myself say anything. And I meant it. I mean it. I do. I want to kiss you.”
Kai swallows. He’s feeling that dangerous thing again, like there are snakes in his chest, or his feelings are in a bucket that’s about to overflow.
“Okay,” he squeaks out.
Adam leans down and fits their mouths together. It’s chaste, and Kai’s lips are a little bit chapped, and he didn’t close his eyes, but when Adam pulls back Kai smiles so hard his mouth hurts. 
And he leans up to kiss Adam, insistent, insistent, tasting Adam without Hennessy whiskey (and he does taste fantastic), and something electric happens to Kai’s spine when their tongues touch. He feels like he’s going to burn up, burst into stars, create a fissure in the earth that goes down to the core, or all three at once.
Adam licks along the roof of Kai’s mouth and yeah - that’s the one thing he’d like to never, ever, ever forget.
He’s about to be totally, totally, totally screwed. 
-
Group: dandilyin hoes MFERsssss!! skeet DONT CHANGE CHAT NAME
mirakat: omfg
mirakat: k & a suckin face in library
mirakat: [A blurry creeper picture of Kai pressed against the bookshelves, Adam leaning over him. Their silhouettes are blacked out against the sunlight streaming in through the window, so they almost look like one body. It’s taken at an angle and half of a wooden shelf is in frame.]
speedyskeet: arent they in this GC too
lochnessa: Lmfaaooooooo
speedyskeet: they r gonna see this.....
reever: WTF ADAM’S INTO KAI???
reever: ?????
lochnessa: What planet do you live on
speedyskeet: fuckin jesus christ reeb
locknessa: Literally no one knew KAI was into Adam. EVERYONE KNEW ADAM WAS INTO KAI
reever: WHY AM I THE LAST ONE TO KNOW STUFF
mirakat: s2g i tld u this whn we were @ fortescue’s u nvr listen 2 me
-
“I hate them all,” Kai announces.
Adam looks up at him from where his head is pillowed on Kai’s thighs, Pride and Prejudice held aloft. 
“Don’t worry, I set all their ringtones to Maroon 5.”
send me a ship + a prompt and i’ll write you a drabble!
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cytusimagines · 4 years ago
Note
How about characters actions when their partner is a diabetic?
This is probably the longest post I’ve made and I’m so sure I may have gotten some things wrong, but here we go!
Cytus Characters With a Diabetic S/O
Aroma/PAFF
-So I like to think that PAFF has probably the best healthcare and will get you on that plan ASAP
Insulin is expensive, that she knows
If she can bring down the costs for you, she’ll do it
Hell she might as well buy your medication She does by the way
-You cannot convince me that Aroma does not have a planner
Inside it is her schedule for meetings, interviews, concerts, etc.
But she always makes time for you
Especially to make sure you’re eating on a consistent schedule and checking your levels
Will move everything around her schedule when you mention that you have a doctor’s appointment coming up
Will also attend said appointments to make you more comfortable
-She is aware of what you can or can’t eat
Sometimes when you have dinner with her and Helena, she helps cook
This is to make sure Helena doesn’t do anything that could make your levels too high or too low
Of course she always asks for your input
-Overall a loving and supportive partner to her S/O
Neko
-Let’s be real, she’s not the best equipped to help
-But as long as you explain to her what she should do, she’ll be fine. Maybe.
-Will hound you about your insulin and levels if she suspects something off
“Don’t lie to me Y/N! Nothing gets past Neko!”
If you thought she was annoying before, she will be even more annoying if you even forget for a nanosecond
Sometimes she forgets though, especially in between streams and making music
-Please help Neko understand it more so she’s not constantly panicking about your health
-Honestly she does her best to help, but you’ll have to give her reminders to relax from time to time
Nora & ROBO_Head
-Nora knows how challenging something like diabetes can be to have
She doesn’t have it, but considering that the Ender virus took her ability to walk, she at least shares the sentiment
-She programs ROBO to have an alarm when it’s time to check your levels and take your insulin
-She can also be pretty strict when it comes to your diet/meal plan
You’re always allowed to give her feedback, but you can also tell her to tone it down if you think it’s too strict
It’ll take some time to adjust, but she will listen to you
-Where Nora is lacking in emotion, ROBO picks up the speed for her
On days where you beat yourself up, he’ll play you some music he made to make you feel better
His screen will show a pixelated heart to let you know that he loves you
Nora understands that it’s hard to keep everything balanced and in check, so she reminds you that there is always tomorrow to do it right
Ivy
-Walking database based on everything she’s been seeing on the cyTus network
-Let’s not forget that she is slowly gaining a “human” side to her as her research went on
She’s protected humans in the past from dangerous situations
So to see that she is protective around you is not surprising
-I think when you two are in private, she knows you can take care of yourself just fine
-It’s when you’re out in public going to a restaurant that she starts to worry
She will make it clear to the staff of any changes you would want to the item you want to eat
She may not be a Karen, but she can probably exert that energy off to the staff
You’ll probably need to talk to her about letting you do the talking when it comes to ordering your food from now on
But be patient, she’s still pretty new to this
Crystal PUNK/Cherry
-Sherri has some family that are diabetic, so she knows what they go through
That doesn’t mean their experiences are the exact same as yours
-She doesn’t hover over you about your diet or when to take your insulin
You should know how to take care of yourself
Will give you small reminders just in case you forget though
-Cooking dates will become a thing
She wants to learn how to make your favorite foods
She also wants to learn more about what you can and can’t eat
Please give her kisses for a good job
-Overall she won’t baby you about it and knows you’re able to take care of yourself
Vanessa
-So let’s say Vanessa survived the final events of the game and Ivy & PAFF were able to fix both her body and core
She’s back to being kind hearted and more stable than she ever has been before
She was also able to escape from A.R.C since they were using her to keep the cyTus network up and running
-Years of knowledge don’t necessarily prepare her to help with diabetes
It may have been around since her time or it may have developed after The Decommission, I don’t have the answers exactly
Regardless, she’s just not prepared
You’ll have to tell her more about it and how it affects you
-Despite being unprepared, she is more than willing to put in the effort and help you live a normal life
As normal as it can be since she’s still recovering from what happened to her
She’ll most likely go to Ivy for help since Ivy has lived upon humans longer than her
-Chances are with time, she will know more based on your experiences and anything she’s researched with the help of Ivy
Xenon
-First thing’s first- teach him about diabetes!
I promise he wants to learn more about it and how it affects you
Is it Type 1? Type 2?
What type of medicine do you take and how many times a day?
Is there any food you can’t eat at all?
Tell him everything please-
-You bet he made a spreadsheet and spent the next few nights researching everything he could find on diabetes
-He can’t go to your doctor appointments most of the time since work keeps him busy, but when he does he asks them multiple questions
Cares so much about your health, even if it sounds like he’s being rude to them
-Will help you with formulating a good diet based off what he knows about diabetes and what the doctor recommends
Obviously you’ll have to give him some input since you know your body the best
-Has a schedule on when you should check your levels in case you forget
ConneR
-Very knowledgeable man, we love that
He has no knowledge of how diabetes works and assumed the worst when you told him
You had to inform him of how it actually works and how it’s affecting you on a daily basis
-Now he doesn’t panic, but he sure was worried for a second there
-You know, he would be extra and write a whole ass song for you
It’s based on your experiences and everything you’ve told him about diabetes
He’ll play it for you when you’re having a bad day or feeling upset about having to deal with it
-Tea time is his favorite time of day with you
He does love a good cake with his tea, but he won’t have it around you
-He’s also not afraid to correct anyone who spreads misinformation about diabetes
Why anyone would do that, he has no clue
He’ll go after them though, that shit is not allowed so long as he lives on the internet
Joe
-My man respects the fuck out of you!
You cannot look in his eyes and not see how much love he has for you!
And you got diabetes? Shit, he doesn’t care- he loves you for you!
-With that being said, he’s stupid and has on occasion slipped up on what you can’t eat when he’s cooking dinner
“Babe, how come you’re avoiding that?”
“Because I can’t eat it.”
“Son of a bi-”
-He is doing his hardest to cook you delicious food while working with your meal plan
I think it calls for good job kisses and cuddles
He definitely deserves it
-Anyone at the bar that decides to make fun of his S/O gets whopped by a pool stick and his foot up their ass
He does not accept anyone talking shit about them just because they have to deal with diabetes
All the regulars know not to fuck with him or his S/O
-He’s always testing out new dishes and drinks that’ll appeal to more customers with diabetes (just like you!)
Feedback is always appreciated! He accepts your critiques very well
Also free lunch? Who doesn’t want that?
Sagar
-You picked either the right or wrong person to date
-Do you love exercise? Do you love healthy meal dates? Do you love feeling like your core is going to explode?
If you said no to any of these questions, too bad! :D
Sagar is ripped for a reason
And he will ensure that you stay on top of your health 100% of the time
-He’s the partner that will get you up at 7 am to go on a run
“But Sagar, it’s too early-”
To him, it’s never too early to stay in shape and keep you healthy
It is too early for you
-However, he does have fears of something bad happening if he doesn’t keep this up for you
The unknown scares him the most, even if he doesn’t show it
The next time you’re cuddling him, give him those gentle smooches and let him know that you’re going to be okay
You’re not going anywhere anytime soon
Now back to exercising
Rin
-She is an absolute sweetheart and her botanical work may pay off!
When she first heard about your condition, she wasn’t sure on what to do
After a long talk, she understood and took notes on what you need when it comes to her support
-She finds a few plants in her greenhouse that can be added to your food depending on your meal plan
Any time you mention you don’t like eating a certain herb, she puts it on her “Do Not Feed” list
-She can’t exactly cook and leaves that up to you. You know what you can and can’t eat, after all
-Will pick up on your schedule when it comes to checking your levels and taking your insulin
-She is your emotional support Rin when you need her
Cuddles are her favorite thing to do when you’re feeling down
This isn’t an easy condition to deal with and she knows that
Dotes on you and calls you cute nicknames to get you to smile and cheer up
She’s a shy kisser, but cheek and forehead kisses are always up to the plate when it comes to you
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