#about how she hit her head badly while snowboarding

[poppy5991]

Shoto, texting: Heyyy btw I got hit really hard in the head on patrol so they’re taking me to the hospital

Iida, texting back: Omg are you ok? Keep me posted

Shoto, 3 minutes later: Hey I got hit in the head on patrol so I have to go to the hospital. I might be late for dinner fyi

Iida: Did you see the doctor yet???

Shoto, 5 minutes later: Omg I forgot to text you I got hit in the head and have to go to the hospital

Iida: You have a concussion😭

Shoto: How do you know??? They haven’t done the CAT scan yet!

[hangovercurse]

The Things We Can’t Tell Pete About

Pete invites you to meet his friends from The Dirt and makes you promise not to flirt with any of them, which is a lot easier said than done, especially when Colson Baker acts like that.

Request: “Hey so I love all your writing and I just thought you should know that! But also I’d your requests are on still would you mind writing a youre Pete’s little sister but kells got a crush xx”

Colson x reader

Warnings: Drug use, Cursing

A/N: I know, Dom (Yungblud) wrote the song, but also I am the writer and I say that Y/N wrote it :) Anyways, enjoy. This is only part 1 of what is probably going to be a fun, cute lil series. Also thank you to the anon who sent this! You made my day(s)

Word Count: 2411

| ii | iii | iv | v |

masterlist

New York was lonely without your brother. He had been filming in New Orleans for the past three months, leaving you alone. You had some friends, but Pete was your best friend. You were only eight months younger than him and practically attached at the hip. You supposed going through trauma together would do that to people.

He facetimed you all the time from set, updating you on things in his life, showing you cool stuff from the set, and introducing you to his castmates. You had kept him updated on your music, playing him demos of songs you were writing and getting his opinion on them.

Him being away wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it definitely sucked for you. So, when Pete texted you that he was having a few friends from the movie over the night he got back, you were ecstatic.

Before you left your apartment to walk to his, he texted you.

You’re not allowed to flirt with any of my friends

You rolled your eyes as you locked your door, preparing a response.

I’ll try my best

Your phone buzzed seconds later.

I’m serious. I don’t trust any of them with you.

And I don’t need that kind of awkwardness in my life

Like if you date one of my friends and it goes badly

I don’t wanna deal with that shit

You chuckled at his chain of texts.

Don’t flirt with your friends because they’re dicks, got it

Don’t worry bro, I know the sibling code

 You came to find out that that was a lot easier said than done. When you walked into his place, everyone in the room turned to look at you. You recognized most of them from your facetimes with Pete, but you doubted they remembered who you were. One who did remember you was Colson, Pete’s new best friend. He made eye contact with you from across the room, a sly grin on his lips. You sent him a small smile, Pete’s text running through your head briefly.

You found your brother lounging on the couch, a huge grin on his face. He was definitely tripping on mushrooms. “Y/N!” He yelled. “This is my baby sister, everyone.”

You rolled your eyes, walking further into the room, grabbing a drink from the cooler, and taking an empty seat on the opposite couch. “I’m less than a year younger than you, Pete.”

You heard a snicker from the one of the guys, looking over to see Colson covering up the smile on his face. “But you’re still younger than me so it counts.”

Everyone went back to their own conversations, which you were thankful for. “Y/N, you remember Colson, right?” Pete motioned to the blond guy.

“Yeah.” You nodded, looking him up and down. His muscle tank exposed the sleeves of tattoos, which seemed to cover every inch of his skin. “Your hair was different, but yeah I remember you.” You opened the beer on the coffee table, taking a swig.

“You’re the musician, right?” He asked you, leaning back onto the couch.

You nodded, “Aspiring musician but, yeah.”

“Oh, she’s great. You should hear her sometime.” Pete butted in, grinning like an idiot at you.

You rolled your eyes but had a smile on your face. “I work primarily as a songwriter and editor right now, but I’m trying to work on putting out some of my own stuff.”

You felt a little intimidated talking to Machine Gun Kelly about music, seeing as he was one of the best in the industry, but he seemed to be genuinely interested in your work. “Well, if you ever want some help or someone to listen to it, I’d be willing.” He flashed a smile, his bright blue eyes sparkling.

“Thanks, that’s really cool of you.” You bit your lip slightly, trying to hide the fact that you were totally breaking Pete’s rule.

Pete sent a glare your way to which you raised your eyebrow. You weren’t really flirting; you were just… making connections. “Anyways,” he cleared his throat, “I’ve been working on this sketch idea, Y/N, and I need your opinion.”

You nodded, letting him talk. “So, I was thinking like, there’s this guy with posters all over his wall. Like life size posters of a bunch of different people. And he falls asleep while doing homework and he dreams about them coming to life. And it plays out like one of those really bad commercials that encourage kids to stay in school and shit. Like the posters are telling him to study for his test, but then there’s this one poster that’s like, very sexy. And she’s just like, talking about hot dogs and everyone else gets really sick of it and one of the other posters tries to like, tear down her poster or something.”

Throughout his description, you got more and more confused. “Pete, that’s not funny that’s just fuckin weird.” His mouth hung open in shock. “Dude, seriously? The big punchline is the playboy poster girl talking about hot dogs until the other poster people get tired of it?”

“Yes.” Pete said, as if it were obvious. “That’s hilarious.” You glanced at Colson with a questioning look on your face. He seemed as unsure of the joke as you were.

“Pete, man, that’s not your best work.” Colson clapped him on the shoulder and you giggled at Pete’s disappointed expression.

“You guys are mean.” He pouted and you two laughed. “Ok, well, how would you make it funny?”

“I don’t know if you can, bro.” Colson’s laugh was contagious. When he laughed his whole body shook, his feet stomping and everything.

“What are the other posters?” You asked, trying to be supportive but knowing this wouldn’t turn out very good.

“Well, I was thinking maybe one is like a video game character. Like that lady from Wreck-It-Ralph. The mean one. And then like a snowboarder who is definitely high, and someone else, I dunno.” He shrugged, taking a hit from the joint in his hand and passing it to you.

“Okay…” You trailed off, looking at Colson for support. You brought the blunt to your lips, inhaling the smoke and bringing it down, letting the smoke leave your mouth slowly. You passed the joint to Colson, who gladly took it, a smirk on his face.

Pete looked between you two at the small interaction, a frown. “So, the posters,” he brought your attention away from the man again, “they’re all really serious about teaching this dude math. But the hotdog girl just keeps talking about hot dogs in like this really high-pitched voice.”

You watched the smoke fall from Colson’s lips, not fully paying attention to your brother.

“Yeah man, I think that sounds funny.” Colson told Pete, his eyes lingering on you for a little longer than they should have. “It could use some work but if anyone can make it funny, it’s you.” Colson punched your brother on the shoulder, but the look he sent you said the exact opposite.

You held in your giggle, taking another sip of your beer.

The rest of the night followed a similar pattern, you and Colson flirting and Pete trying to get in between you two. At one point, after a few more hits of weed and a couple more drinks, Colson brought out a guitar, insisting you play something for him. Where he got the guitar from, you had no idea, but you didn’t ask questions. Instead, you rolled your eyes, insisting that “if I have to play something, so do you.”

Everyone was too caught up in their own conversations to care about the noise, or too drunk. You started strumming, trying to remember the chords to a song you had started writing a few days ago. “There’s no lyrics yet, just a melody I came up with.” You blushed, feeling very self-conscious suddenly.

“Guess I’ll just free style to it then.” He chuckled as you started to strum, your fingers working the strings like they had your whole life.

The blond man closed his eyes, head nodding as you played and thinking of what to rap.

“Watch me, take a good thing and fuck it all up in one night. Catch me, I’m the one on the run away from the headlights.

No sleep, up all week wastin time with people I don’t like. I think, somethin’s fuckin wrong with me.

You smiled as he sang, watching his expressions change as he tried to think up the next line.

Drown myself in alcohol, that shit never helps at all

I might say some stupid things tonight when you pick up this call

I be hearin silence on the other side for way to long, I can taste it on my tongue, I can tell that somethin’s wrong.”

He opened his eyes, looking rather proud of himself. “I had some of those lyrics already, but I just changed ‘em a little. I really liked that.”

You nodded, “That was impressive.” You smiled, looking back down to the guitar when something hit you.

You began to play the same melody but pitched higher to fit your voice.

“Roll me up, and smoke me love

And we could fly into the night

You take drugs, to let go, and figure it all out on your own

Take drugs, on gravestones, to figure it all out on your own.”

You looked up to Colson, watching his expression change, his eyes wide. Pete had a proud look on his face.

“Pete, you are a sucky hype man. You did her no justice.” Colson hit Pete on the arm.

“Whaddya mean, I told you she was great.”

Colson looked over to you, a stupid smile on his face. “Seriously, that was fucking amazing. Like, we gotta write that shit out some day.”

You bit your lip, trying to stop the blush from reaching your cheeks. “Yeah, that’d be cool.” You were trying your best to keep your cool as Colson kept his gaze on you, but you were completely freaking out on the inside.

A little while later, almost everyone was gone except you, Pete, Colson, and Douglas Booth, who joined your conversation not long after your jam session. Pete let out a yawn, directing your attention to the time.

“Jesus, it’s already 4am?” You asked, a frown on your face.

“Why, you got somewhere to be, darling?” Douglas asked you, your face scrunching up from the nickname.

“I have a writing session at 11 am tomorrow. Or, today, I guess.”

Pete reached out to hit you in the head, playfully, which you dodged. “Go to bed, dummy.”

You shrugged, “I’m gonna be dead at it anyways, might as well keep the party going a little longer.”

Douglas rolled his eyes, patting your shoulder. “Be that as it may, I am ending this party and going home. Goodnight, guys. It was nice meeting you again, Y/N. Good to see you guys.” Douglas and the guys did that little hand slap and hug thing before he left.

“I love you both, but I will also be going to sleep. And you should too.” Pete stood up, stretching his arms out before giving Colson a fist bump and leaving to his bedroom.

Once your older brother left, Colson moved to the couch you were on, his arm falling over your shoulders. You looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. “And how can I help you Mr. Kelly?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m assuming Pete gave us both very similar talking to’s, given the glares you’ve been receiving all night.”

“You mean the “don’t flirt with my friends” talking to or the other one?” You tilted your head, a sly look on your face.

“That’s the one.” Colson laughed through his nose, an adorable smile on his face. You were both considerably high, but you still knew exactly what you were doing.

You moved closer to Colson’s body, “Well then I guess we’d better not do this.” You said quietly, leaning into him. “Or this,” You grabbed his jaw, inches from his face.

“Or this?” He whispered, connecting your lips. You smiled into the kiss, tasting the weed on his tongue. You adjusted your body so you were facing him, his arm that was once around your shoulder now wrapped around your waist.

His other hand grabbed your leg, pulling you up so you were straddling his lap, and your arms wrapped around his neck. His lips seemed to fit perfectly around yours, and you did all you could to keep yourself from moaning into the kiss as his hand began to travel up your leg.

Realization hit you like a brick wall, and you pulled away, your breathing heavy. “Sorry,” you muttered after a few seconds. You climbed off his lap, smoothing out your shirt. “We shouldn’t do that. I shouldn’t have done that.” You smiled awkwardly down at him.

He nodded, the same realization hitting him. “Yeah, that’s not the best idea. Sorry I wasn’t really thinking.”

You shook your head, cheeks still very red. “No, no, no don’t apologize. It was fine, it’s all fine.”

He nodded, looking down awkwardly. “I should get going.” He stood up, landing a little too close to you.

“Why don’t you just sleep here? Pete won’t mind and it’s a lot easier than going home.” You bit your lip awkwardly, taking a few steps back.

Colson scratched the back of his neck. This was a very different demeanor than he had before, and you found it very cute. “Are you sure?”

You nod. “I’ll get you some blankets and pillows.” You moved towards the guest bedroom, a guilty smile on your face. You moved your hand to your lips, feeling where Colson’s lips had graced you minutes before.

You came back to find Colson laying on the couch, one hand behind his head. “We don’t have to tell Pete about that, right?”

You shook your head, a small smile still playing on your lips. You put the pillow behind his head, watching his eyes as he watched your lips. “Stop looking at me like that or I’ll do something else we can’t tell Pete about.” You said quietly, watching him grin. You pulled the blanket over him, leaning down to be level with his face.

“I kind of like the things we can’t tell Pete about.” Colson chuckled, leaning forward to connect your lips again.

[tomboyneedshercoffee]

Thin Ice Pt4 || Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Y/N and Peter spend some alone time and secrets get revealed. 

Word Count: 3.4k

Author’s note: This is literally the fastest I’ve ever uploaded but you guys gave me so much support from the last chapter and honestly it made my day. Thank you guys for being so sweet!!! 

Warnings: Mild swearing 

part one || part two || part three || part four || part five || part six || to be continued 

For the past day, your friends and the rest of the decathlon team were stuck indoors waiting out the blizzard that was supposedly coming your way. However, by some miracle, the resort wasn’t hit too badly and your itinerary had only been pushed back a day. 

Everyone was excited to go skiing more but you had other thoughts on your mind. You weren’t sure what to do about Brad and better yet, you couldn’t stop thinking about Peter. You only got a couple of glances at him between meals and even then, it was like he was avoiding your gaze. 

You wondered if Brad had told Peter that you had kissed and the thought alone made you mad all over again. 

“ You okay Y/N?” Betty asked as you looked down at your plastic fork that was bent from how hard you were gripping it. 

You nodded and inhaled deeply as you put the fork down and started to eat your waffles with your spoon,” I’m really tired. I just want to go back to bed.”

From your dining booth, you could look directly at Peter, eating away with Ned without a care in the world. You watched as Peter laughed so hard, he held his sides in pain. 

Before Peter could catch your gaze, you turned your attention back to your friends and crossed your arms. 

“ You’ve been sleeping for most of the trip. Ever since that night the boys came over you’ve just been in bed. You even missed the huskies that they brought to the lobby!” Cindy said as she felt your forehead,” are you sick? I have dayquil in my bag.”

You swatted her hand away and looked down at your half-finished breakfast,” I’m fine. You guys should just go on ahead and ski without me. I’m not really up for it.”

MJ eyed you suspiciously as Betty and Cindy continued to interrogate you. 

“ But you love snowboarding! What’s up with you cause something is obviously bothering you,” Cindy sighed as she put her hand on your shoulder,” is this about Brad?”

You put your hoodie over your head and rested your head against the table,”Can we please never say that dude’s name again.” 

MJ shook her head and brought out her phone from under the table. Unlike her friends, MJ quickly put the pieces together and came to the conclusion that you needed something to cheer you up. She went to her messages and sent a text to Peter. 

MJ: Something is up with Y/N & it has something to do with brad - u gotta get her out of the hotel room before she throws herself off the side of the mountain 

MJ sent the message and looked over at Peter’s table, waiting for him to get the message. Peter’s phone buzzed and when he went to check, his face dropped and he looked over in your direction. 

Peter: what did he do to her??? Did her hurt her??? 

Peter: I’ve never seen her like this before 

Peter: what if she doesn’t want to hang out with me :(

MJ rolled her eyes and typed out vigorously. 

MJ: This is ur chance to get alone time with her dumbass! Think of something NOW! 

Peter: okokok but what about ned? I can’t leave him alone

MJ: we’ll hang out with him - I’m sure betty wants some action with ned too

Peter put his phone down and looked over in your table’s direction. He watched as Betty poked the side of your head but you didn’t even flinch. 

After you went into the bathroom with Brad alone, Peter thought his chances of winning you over would be finished. That whole night Peter tossed and turned in his bed as he thought of what you two could’ve been doing in there yet at the same time, he tried to get those thoughts out of his mind completely. 

Even though the thoughts pained him,  Peter wanted to find out what happened that night and why you were so upset about it. It made him feel a tad bit better cause you feeling so bummed meant that maybe nothing happened between you and Brad but at the same time, what if Brad did something to you that made you feel this way? 

The thought only made Peter fume silently as he told Ned everything that was going on. Once Ned hesitantly agreed, Peter shot another text to MJ and told her he had a plan. 

MJ looked down at her phone and got up from the booth,” I think we should head out now. You sure you don’t wanna come Y/N?”

You raised your head from off the table and nodded,” I’ll be fine. I’ll catch you guys for lunch.” 

You didn’t bother saying goodbye as you shuffled out of the booth and made your way to the elevators. As you got into the elevator and pushed your floor number, you leaned against the corner and closed your eyes. 

There was so much on your mind and it kept eating away at you. After a lifetime of being friends, Brad sabotaged it and threw all of those great memories away over a stupid kiss. You felt guilty too because maybe you egged him on in a way and that you should’ve told him not to kiss you at all instead of falling for a “cheek kiss.” 

As the elevator doors closed, Peter slipped through at the last second and you opened your eyes. 

“Oh hey, Peter!” You said as you stood up straighter,” I thought you left with everyone else.”

Peter’s heart was racing as he pushed his brown curls off of his forehead,” Y-yeah about that...I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today?”

Your heart skipped a beat and deep down, you knew you had too much going on in your head right now. At the same time, you didn’t mind spending more time with him and you could use a distraction. 

“ Sure, I would love to,” You finally said as Peter smiled nervously,” what did you have in mind?” 

“ There’s this terrain park at the top of the mountain and I thought it would be cool watching people do tricks and stuff,” Peter said as the elevator stopped at your floor,” we would need to take the ski lift up there if that’s okay.” 

Peter followed you out of the elevator as you nodded happily,” Yeah, that sounds like fun. I’ll go get ready but I’ll meet you in the lobby in like...thirty minutes?” 

Peter looked down at his phone to check the time and smiled,” Great. I’ll see you soon then.”

As you both parted ways,  Peter walked slowly to his room so he could make sure you got to your hotel room safely. Once you got into your room, Peter raced to his room on the opposite side so he could get dressed. 

After you got ready, you practically rushed to the lobby to find Peter nervously tapping his fingers against his thigh. When he saw you, he did a double-take before standing up. 

“ Ready?” Peter asked as you nodded. 

The two of you walked side by side out of the lobby and through the shops as you both talked about the trip. While the two of you were talking, your phone buzzed and you casually pulled it out to check to see who it was. 

Brad: We need to talk

“ Have I ever told you that I really like your phone case?” Peter said as he pointed towards it. 

You turned off your phone and stuffed it into your pocket,” Are you making fun of me for liking Spiderman?” 

Peter shook his head and laughed. It was really strange to see merch of himself out there and he never really knew of the impact he had on people until little kids started dressing up as Spiderman for Halloween. 

He felt like a celebrity but the closest comparison he could think of was Hannah Montana. 

“ No I’m not. I’m just surprised you don’t have a Captain America one or an Iron Man on it instead.” 

You and Peter both made it to the line for the ski-lift and while Peter was excited to get some alone time with you, he was nervous that he would ruin things. 

“ Puh-lease. Spiderman is by far the most superior avenger. I used to have a poster hung up in my room but my brother told me it was creepy so I took it down...I understand though. I guess it just reminds my brother of too much.” 

“ What do you mean?” Peter asked as the line moved up. 

“ I don’t really tell people this,” You sighed but figured why not,” but a couple of months ago, my brother and his girlfriend were walking home from the movies and these guys pulled a gun on them. They tried to rob them and they even beat my brother in front of his girlfriend. He thought they were going to kill him but Spiderman came and saved them. He’s thankful for being saved but I don’t think he ever got over how scary it all was.”

Peter felt his heart sink to his chest. He remembered that night vividly because of how hard the girlfriend was crying. He always thought it would get easier and that maybe he would get desensitized over time but he remembered every encounter like it was his last. 

“ I’m sorry... I didn’t know he was your brother,” Peter said as he quickly caught his mistake,” I mean I-I remember hearing about it somehow...but that sounds terrible. Is he doing okay now?” 

You shrugged and let out a puff of air,” He seems fine. I think he’s so stressed about his first year of college that he doesn’t really think about it anymore. It shook me up too. I was never really afraid of crime and all that but I guess when you live in New York, you’re always paranoid about when the next attack will be.” 

You watched Peter’s solemn expression and you nudged him lightly,” I didn’t mean to bring down the mood. I just wanted to defend myself on why I love Spiderman so much. I just wish I could thank him, you know, for everything.” 

Even though you weren’t looking at Peter, he still smiled towards you. 

“ I think he knows. Trust me.” 

Once it was your turn to go on the lift, you and Peter walked over and waited for the seat to come from behind. You both sat down as you moved the bar down to rest against your laps. 

As it brought you further and further into the air, you noticed Peter gripping the bar. 

“ Are you afraid of heights Pete?” You teased as Peter shook his head.

“ I’ve just never been on a ski lift before. I mean, on the bunny slope sure but it was way smaller. This isn’t even that sturdy,” Peter said as he shook the bar softly, causing the lift to creak,” fuck we are really high up.” 

You looked around and you couldn’t help but smile. You loved seeing the whole mountain in fresh powder as Snowboarders glided down effortlessly below you. You felt like you were in your element and even though your cheeks were already rosy from the cold, you felt like you could stay up here forever. 

“ It’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile like that,” Peter said as he tried his best to ignore the height,” it’s nice.” 

For a moment, you had forgotten about all the problems that were lurking in your head and it was all thanks to Peter. You loved how easy carrying a conversation was with him and you would’ve never told anyone about what happened with your brother but something about Peter just made you instantly warm up to him. 

You exhaled deeply as you leaned back in your seat,” I’ve just been going through a rough patch that’s all.” 

Peter moved his legs up and down before turning back to you nervously,” Did Brad do something? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to but I’m here for you if you want to talk.” 

You wanted to tell Peter everything but you couldn’t do that without getting your feelings revealed. Not only that but if Peter did like you and he found out Brad had kissed you, it would change things and you liked the way things were. 

“ Brad and I have just been friends for so long, you know? When you’ve known someone ever since you were in diapers, you start to let things slide.  Maybe that’s why I always make excuses for him and his behavior sometimes,” you sighed as you turned to Peter,” you know, you sometimes remind me of him.”

Peter was quick with a comment as he shifted in his seat carefully,” Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

You playfully rolled your eyes as you tilted your head to the side to get a better look at Peter,” Well maybe what Brad used to be. On mother’s day, he always takes my mom out to brunch because my brother and I can never wake up early. I see that in you, you do things out of the kindness of your heart and you always do what’s right no matter what. You’ve been through a lot these past couple of years and you haven’t let it corrupt you or your heart.” 

Peter shrugged as he tried to cover up his blush,” You got all of that from just a couple of days?” 

“ I know we weren’t close before the trip Pete but I’m not blind. You’re literally the most selfless person I know,” you took a beat and decided to test the waters,” That’s why all the girls like you so much.”

Peter could feel his ears and neck flush as he laughed nervously before sighing quietly,” Girls don’t like guys like me.”

I like you. 

“ That’s not true and you know it. What about Liz and MJ? Plus I heard Vanessa and her friends in gym think you’re hot. You’re funny, super smart, kind, and cute; you’re the whole package. Any girl would be lucky enough to be with you.” 

You didn’t know it, but Peter could sense how fast your heart was beating and even though you tried to hide it, your voice trembled. 

Peter shifted in his seat yet again but this time, his body leaned closer to yours,“ I guess I don’t care about all those girls...There’s only one girl that’s been on my mind.” 

You could feel yourself turn into putty and your heart was racing like never before. You couldn’t believe what was happening and you didn’t even bother to hide the blush that was creeping onto your face. 

You studied his face carefully and for a moment, it was like time had stopped just for the two of you. A rush of adrenaline pumped through your veins as you rested your hand on his thigh before pressing your lips against his. 

Once your lips touched, Peter didn’t hesitate and immediately kissed you back. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that Peter had never felt before. 

Your heart fluttered inside your chest before pulling away. 

“ Just to make sure, I’m the girl that’s been on your mind right?” You teased Peter bit his lip and nodded. 

“ Yes Y/N and I’ll prove it to you,” Peter pulled you closer to him as he kissed you again, smiling against your lips. 

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

“ Thanks again for today, I liked spending time with you,” You smiled sweetly as you and Peter walked hand in hand back to your hotel rooms. 

“ Me too but I’m just glad you had a great time. I know you’ve had a lot on your mind lately. You know I’m here if you need anything,” Peter said as you both stopped in front of your room. 

You looked at Peter one last time before pressing a soft kiss on his cheek. You squeezed his hand before sliding in your room key. 

“ I’ll see you later?” 

Peter hummed a quick mhm and once you closed the door, Peter made a triumphant fist in the air. 

You pressed your back against the hotel door and squealed happily like a schoolgirl. You took off your coat and hung it up as MJ looked up from her book. 

“ I’ve never said this to anyone but wow you’re actually glowing,” MJ grinned as she patted a spot beside her. 

You weren’t planning on telling MJ what went down but you felt like you would burst if you had to keep it in any longer. You told her everything from what happened in the elevator all the way until he walked you to the room. 

MJ listened patiently and after you had finished your story, Cindy stepped out of the bathroom. 

“ Hey Cindy, you’ll never guess what happened!” You beamed as you sat up from the bed. 

Your face dropped when you saw that Cindy’s face was less than excited. 

“ What’s wrong?”

Cindy let in a sharp breath as she held up her phone,” I think you need to see this.” 

You and MJ shared a look before you got up from your seat and came over to Cindy. She hesitated before opening up her most recent message from Brad. 

Your heart plummeted straight into your stomach as you reached for the phone slowly in disbelief. 

It was a picture of you and Brad kissing in the bathroom and from the angle, it looked like you were actually kissing Brad back. That’s why he wanted you to close your eyes, he was setting up the camera. 

“ You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” you whispered as you felt tears welt up in your eyes. Your mind immediately thought of Peter and you started to feel dizzy,” please tell me that he only sent it to you.” 

MJ got up from her spot on the bed and shook her head,” That fucking prick...Y/N...he sent it to the decathlon group chat.” 

@spaghetittiesbcimgay​ @holland-in-disguise​ @yeahimcrying​ @greatpizzascissorstaco​�� @mysticalbanshee​ @weyheyavengers​ @infinityflamesworld​ @fandom-fangirl22​ @peterparkoure​ @crumpets-are-better-with-jam​ @marvel4geeks​ @sad-sagita​ @juliebean247​ @quitepointless​  @bannanasz​ @spideyyeet​ 

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #414

“mirror, mirror, tell me who you see  /  am i you or me?  /  i can never remember”

How many people have you kissed? Four. Ever kissed someone you weren’t dating at the time? No. Of the people you’ve kissed, how many do you regret kissing? Two. Ever been kissed by a legal adult when you were a minor (or vise-versa)? Yeah, with Jason, but it was only a two-year difference. Ever kissed someone on a dare/as part of a game? No. Where’s the most public place you’ve ever made out with someone? Nowhere public. I wouldn't do that. Can you snowboard? Never tried. Have you ever made a mixed cd for someone? No. Do you use recycle bins at your house? Yes. Do you own more than one bathing suit? No. Have you ever kissed someone who smokes weed? Jason did occasionally with his best friend, but he stopped for me. How are you right this second? I'm all right. Last night was pretty rough, so I'm just glad that's over. My body is just tired. Is there anything you disliked about your last birthday? Honestly, I barely remember what I did on my last birthday. I just remember it was fine. Oh wait, actually, on the way home from going out to eat, we had to call the cops while behind a car whose driver was obviously drunk or high OFF. HIS. ASS. He was swerving like crazy and almost hit SO many cars. I was having an absolute panic attack. I pray to God that guy was more than just found and fined. Do you keep a diary or journal (offline or online)? No, unless you count surveys, I guess. What were you like a year ago? I was the unhappily the same. Is someone on your mind right now? Fucking always. Having a warm dream about him last night didn't help. Who was the last person you sat next to? My mom. What do you currently hear right now? My screen is split so I can watch John Wolfe play some indie horror games. What’s something you need to go shopping for? I need to get new bras baaaadly because I'm tired of none fitting properly. What’s the last thing you ate? I had a donut 'cuz Mom stopped at Dunkin' for coffee. Do/did you do good in school? I did up to college. Then I just... sucked. Do you always get along with your siblings? I mean I don't see/talk to them every day or anything, not even very regularly even, but we generally get along fine now as adults. We disagree about shit for sure, but keep our mouths shut. Or probably talk to Mom about it while I'm not present. I don't even think they like me half of the time. Are you frustrated with anything? So much. Why did you fall for the last person romantically? There were/are a lot of factors. Just she as a person is phenomenal. What’s your younger sibling’s name? Nicole. Can you speak in a different language conversationally; if so, which language? A tiny bit of German. Do you ever fear of falling asleep? With my nightmares, I used to dread it. Now, thankfully, my APAP mask has prevented them from happening, mostly; I've only had two in the month that I've had it, and I ordinarily had them every single night. Do you have an idea of what kind of profession you’d like to have? I do, but I honestly doubt I'm going to succeed in even making it a part-time job by this damn point. Which beach would you say is your favorite? I don't have a favorite. I don't even like the beach very much. What kind of cookie is your favorite? Chocolate chip. Have you ever had a churro? Yes. Too crunchy and ridiculously sweet, not a fan. Truth be told, are you more into looks or personalities the most? A good personality beats good looks any day. How is/was your chemistry class in high school? I actually didn't take chemistry; my graduating year, physical science was offered as the alternative, which I took. How does alcohol affect you? I get hot, and my face flushes badly. It'll make me more talkative. Have you ever tried lemon brownies? No, and I don't want to. I don't like lemon-flavored stuff like that. What was the last type of meat you ate? Beef. Have you taken any medication today? I have prescriptions I take every day. Have you ever watched Parks and Recreation? I've seen some of it at Sara's house. What is your favourite kind of pasta? Just spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs, really. I've been on a major chicken pesto kick lately, though. Have you set an alarm today? No. Think of a random person, and give them a message here, no names: Literally just the chance to say "I'm sorry" would be fucking amazing. Just two fucking words. What if there were two of you? Would the world be in trouble? No. That'd be a waste of space, though. Not like I'm contributing much to society. Would you prefer an ice cream sundae or an ice cream cone? I dunno man, it depends on my mood and what I want in the moment. Do you watch movies with the subtitles on? No; I find it to be distracting. Is the last person you kissed yours? I hate this saying. She's her own person that belongs to nobody but herself. But to just go along with it and answer the question, no, we're not together. Do you think you will be married by the time you are 25? Welp, I'm halfway through 25, so. Do you have siblings over the age of 21? All of my siblings are. Do you have a hard time admitting you’re wrong? No. Especially as I've aged, I'd say I'm pretty quick to accept if I've fucked up. Who has the ability to hurt you the most emotionally? Jason will probably always have that power, even if he's not in my life. Would you ever be a stripper? God no, nobody wants to see that. What are your plans for tomorrow? Just get through the day, man. Do you owe anybody money? No. How would your parents describe you? Reserved, shy, a deep thinker, animal lover, uhhhh... What is the most you have ever weighed? Let's not. Would you ever work at McDonald's? No. I'm never working in food service. If you aren't already, would you go vegetarian or vegan? I want to be a vegetarian and being a vegan would be perfectly ideal for me, but I really don't think I can healthily accomplish either. I am FAR too picky to where I'd almost definitely become malnourished. To make it even worse I absolutely cannot "suck it up" if I don't like a food, so it's not like I could choke down stuff I don't like. Not to mention I'd be pretty sad without any yummy food to look forward to, aha. Coolest person you've ever met? Uhhhh I don't know. Do you wear boxers? No. Girls, how old were you when you first learned how to put in a tampon? I don't remember. Would you ever attend a gay pride parade or festival? I would absolutely love to. Did you see Paranormal Activity 2? I think I've seen all of the movies. I liked them, given paranormal horror films are probably my fave. What would you do if an old man grabbed your ass? Kick him in the fucking balls so goddamn fast and probably slap him across the face at the same time. Probably cry later from feeling violated and having my fear of men aggravated. Do you like moustaches? It depends on the person, but I'd say I generally prefer an attached beard and a mustache versus JUST a mustache. Could you hack into someone's computer if you tried hard enough? No. I have no idea how to do that. Have you ever smoked a cigar? No. Do you go out on Black Friday? Hell no. NOT worth fighting people for deals. Do you have curtains in your bedroom? No; I have those blinds that you can close upwards or downwards. Did you like the Spice Girls when you were little? Yeah, I did. Can you sing the entire Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song? I think I can. Do you get heartburn? I'm literally on an antacid prescription, or else I get insane heartburn every day. Are you scared of elevators? To a moderate degree, yes. I'm terrified of it getting stuck. Have you ever seen a dead body in person? Yes, at an open-casket wake. Have you ever seen The Goonies? I have. If you're white, do you ever wish you were black? Or vice versa? I'm fine being Caucasian, but ultimately don't care. Do you bake cookies all the time around Christmas? I don't bake. Do you like your hair pulled? Uhhh... I'm assuming you mean this in a suggestive context, in which case no. Never pull my hair, actually. What kind of jeans do you like? Ripped skinny jeans. What do you think is overrated? Who really cares. Let people enjoy what they enjoy. And what are your goals for the remainder of this year? Lose lots of weight, find a job, get back into old hobbies and develop new ones... Name a city that starts with A in your state/province etc. Asheboro. Name a landmark that starts with M in your state/province etc. I'm blanking right now. When was the last time you gave a horse a carrot? Been years. I think I've only done that once, and I can't even remember where it was. Have you ever had to shovel snow? No. How many seasons is your favorite TV show in so far? MM was just revived for its fifth season! :') Where would you most like to go in your state, etc. that you haven’t been? NC actually has this really old Wizard of Oz theme park! It's on the other end of the state, though, and NC is one wiiiiiide state. What was the last bird you saw? A robin, I think. What color was the last thing you drank? Green. Has a wild animal ever been loose in your house? Besides insects, no. Well wait, scratch that, once or twice we had a small mice problem when we lived in the woods. What’s the name of the bookstores in your city? The only one I know off the top of my head is Books-a-Million. Where do your parents live? I live with my mom, and Dad lives in the same city as us. Have you ever seen or touched an iceberg? No, but that would be cool. What colour are your father’s eyes? Brown. If your ex turned up on your doorstep now, with nowhere else to go, would you let him/her stay? Well one, this isn't my house, so I can't make that decision. My mom being who she is though, she'd let pretty much anyone stay the night. If it was Sara, Mom would let her stay as long as she needed. The last time you cried, was it connected with someone of the opposite sex? Ugh, yes. My PTSD was BAD last night. Delicious warm brownies or a giant cookie? I'll take the brownie. Have you visited a haunted building or area before? No, but damn I'd love to. Have you been to North Carolina? Ayyyyeeeee that's my home.

[justsimplypretty]

goodnight -n- go (n.m.)

Storyline: Lena joins Nick on a winter family vacation while attempting to keep a good image... even after a heated night.

Author’s Note: My submission for chan’s 700 followers writing challenge using line #19! This took me forever to find the time between school and life to write and though it still didn’t turn the way I intended, I’m growing to love it. Enjoy everyone! @temperaryheart​

Warning: smut

Word count: 2.1k

Lena tossed and turned attempting to find any level of comfortable on this cold winter night. The freezing air still nipping at her toes as she struggled to bundle up in the enormous pile of knit blankets sprawled across the bed. The fire place had done her zero good being all too modern and puzzling, making it impossible to turn on. 

It was Nick’s yearly winter family vacation to their lodge cabin in Colorado that viewed just across the frozen over lake. Lena had been dating Nick for a little over a year now, making her officially invited to join the Nick’s family and bandmates on this adventure. And what an adventure it had been. Since Lena was a guest on this trip, she’d decided it would be best if her and Nick stayed in separate rooms for the duration of the vacation. Considering this was her first major impression on the extended family, she strived to make it a good one, being as endearing and charming with any chance she got. Which wasn’t too hard considering that was her typical personality. All the love-able qualities that made Nick fall wildly hard in the first place.

But the sleeping arrangement may have been tougher than she had originally anticipated. Lena and Nick typically spent every single night together wether it be at his place or hers. So the past two nights not having Nick by her side had definitely become an unbearable struggle.

Lena’s thoughts were cut short at the sound of a faint knock. Curious as to who it could be at the late hour, she wrapped one of the larger throws across her shivering body and hurried to the door. Her fingers numbed at the feeling of the frigid metal knob turning in her hand. Eyes in complete shock to find her sneaky boyfriend standing on the other side.

“You have got to be kidding me... have you lost your mind?” Lena quietly shouted as she yanked Nick’s body inside, quickly closing the door behind the two before anyone could catch them. “Are you lost or just intentionally trying to ruin my life?” Lena snapped sarcastically at an attitude filled Nick. His eyes rolling heavily in annoyance at his girlfriends words, having been told a million times this trip of the strict rules she’d made to be followed.

“Relax, I just need to grab the jacket I packed in your suitcase for snowboarding with Brandon and Austin tomo-” Nick assured before the chill of the room bit at his skin, cutting him off mid sentence. “Lena what the hell? It’s freezing in here!” he questioned as he wondered about room.

Lena sighed heavily as she pointed towards the source of all her problems, causing Nick to giggle and head over to tackle the fire place. His fingers began fumbling with the many different buttons as they toggled through settings on the side that Lena had spent hours trying to accomplish on her own. 

She caught herself biting gently on her bottom lip as she watched her boyfriend zero in on the situation. Something about the determination on Nick’s face to solve her dilemma surprisingly caused Lena to become flustered on this late winter night.

“You’re all set baby” Nick announced as flames rose to the tops of the brick trimming. The fire illuminated the dim room, inviting her to see all of Nick’s angelic features that she treasured so deeply. His hair a few shades darker from the dampness still clinging on after showering with the tones of his arms practically begging her to be wrapped in them. She’d be lying to say she wasn’t the slightest bit turned on by his presence. And between the sleeping arrangements and Nick’s prior family obligations, Lena felt as though she’d barely seen her boyfriend this entire vacation. It was rare they ever had a second alone.

It didn’t take long for Nick to catch on either. He knew his girlfriend better than anyone else. The way her legs crossed one in front of the other and how rushed she was to have him exit the room indicated all too well to Nick of her need for him. He even noticed the tiny infinite number of goosebumps that trickled down her arms.

“Cold angel?” Nick spoke as he let his fingers softly graze her shoulder, exposed ever so slightly from matching pajama top. He knew exactly what he was doing from the start. His plan all vacation long. He knew with just enough effort, he’d be able to have Lena right where he needed her.

Lena wanted his touch to linger, but still tried to fight it for awhile longer. “I-I’m fine.. I’ll be fine now that it’s fixed so you can um... head back now” Lena mumbled as she cursed herself mentally for the stutters that she knew would clearly indicate her need for more of him.

“You really want me to leave baby? Be honest now” Nick continued as he stepped behind her, now letting his hands run up either sides of her hips. Thin black sleep pants being the only thing keeping her from experiencing the warm touch she’d been missing so much this trip. Lena nodded her head up and down in reply to the boyfriend that knew she was close to giving in.

“Hmm... is that so...” Nick questioned as he let one hand slip Lena’s front and fall beneath the thin lace material, brushing past her soaked folds “...because it sure doesn’t feel like you want me to leave angel” he continued. He slowly slid two fingers inside of Lena as he watched her back arch against him. “So wet for me... just how I like it” Nick confirmed grinning at her mess. His fingers were soft and warm. Easily the most warm thing she’d felt in days. 

“But I can stop and go back to my room... if that’s what you really want” he went on as he removed himself from filling Lena. 

“N-no, please don’t stop baby” she confessed. “W-we really just can’t get caught though okay?” Lena trailed through muffled whimpers due to the immense pleasure she was feeling.

“Guess we better keep you quit then babygirl” Nick whispered as Lena felt chills roll down her spine.

••••

Lena wasn’t sure how or when things grew so intense, but it wasn’t long before Nick’s tongue was working wonders on her most sensitive area. He was nothing shy of amazing when it came to making her feel good. The way he moved quickly but still lovingly enough to make sure he devoured all the mess he’d caused. Something Lena knew she could never grow tired of. 

Glancing down to see his hooded eyes staring right into hers caused more of the sweet moans Nick treasured to slip from Lena’s lips, now incredibly more plump from the many bites she’d made to her bottom one. All failed attempts in keeping herself silent.

“Sh sh sh... remember baby no getting caught?” Nick reminded as he placed one hand over her mouth, allowing the other to make swift circles at the desperate bundle of nerves. He could always tell when Lena was close from the way her toes curled and eyes shut as she wondered into a complete spell.

“There you go baby, wanna cum for me?” Nick coaxed as he aimed to keep Lena’s body movements under control. She couldn’t have nodded any faster, realizing how badly she needed release only after feeling her boyfriends words vibrate against her. “Go ahead mamas let me have it” he replied as Lena let go for the first time that night. Nick was always delighted in how could he could make his girl feel. Sometimes believing he took more pleasure out of it than she did. Nick went on to strip himself of any remaining clothing, throwing it in the pile of Lena’s next to him. 

“I want you to ride me until you cum... can you do that for me baby?” he whispered sternly in her ear. This was always Lena’s most dominant position. It was rare that she ever took control in the bedroom. Her life was full of consistent decision making and being the most put together in any sea of people. So she greatly enjoyed having Nick take charge over her. But every so often, he indulged in seeing Lena get herself off using him.

Within an instant Lena was straddled on his lap, doing her best to slowly take every inch of him. His length took her by surprise each and every time, but the feeling was always intoxicating. No matter how long the two had been a couple, the love making was just as passionate and intense as their first time together. Their bodies always proving to be utterly made for one another.

Lena’s pace steadily increased as she adjusted to the fulfillment Nick was giving. Her head now arching back allowing Nick perfect access to leave markings all along her neck.

“You’re doing so good for me baby... fuck you always feel so good” Nick mumbled into her skin. Lena was doing everything possible to control the sounds that constantly wanted to break free, only allowing slight whimpers to part from her lips. She couldn’t contain the pleasure any longer as she let her high take over. It was everything she didn’t know she needed this trip.

Nick hardly allowed anytime for Lena to recover before his hips were bucking upward into her, knowing his girlfriends legs were too weak to take the lead any longer. The sensitivity hitting Lena so strongly that she couldn’t help but scream his name out so clearly.

“I c-can’t Nick I can’t keep quit anymore” Lena confessed as another extreme plea of his name escaped. The sound so melodic to Nick that he no longer wanted to keep her cry’s contained.

“I know mamas it’s okay...I know you’re feeling good huh? Does this dick make you feel good?” Nick encouraged as his speed grew. It was clear neither of them cared any longer about who heard or caught them in the act. The only thing that mattered was the sensation they both endured from one another.

“Y-yes daddy FUCK IT’S SO GOOD” Lena screamed before releasing on Nick for the third time that night. Hearing the name echo in the room was enough to bring Nick to his high at the same time, holding Lena in his arms for awhile after. So caught up in the moment, Lena had forgotten all about the fire place that had now warmed the room to comfort. She starred adoringly up at Nick as she lay serenely on his chest.

“I love you... you know that?” she affirmed as Nick gazed into her eyes.

“I love you more baby... so much more” he replied with every being in his body. Lena was everything to him. The way she dropped everything to be on this trip while putting up with weather conditions he knew she despised meant the world to Nick. And he truly knew in that moment that the future he saw with Lena... started with forever.

•••••

The next morning seemed to fly by quickly as the earlier festivities ended and packing for departure began. Nick and Lena made it a point to pack everyone’s bags tightly into the cars as Zion joined them outside.

“Need some help with that daddy?” he joked to Nick letting laughter consume him. 

“Wait don’t tell me you hea-...” Lena trailed, instantly becoming paranoid at who else might have heard the events that transpired between the two last night.

“Trust me, you’re just lucky Edwin and I switched rooms with Nick’s aunt yesterday for the extra space or the whole cabin would know by now about your little late night visit” Zion confirmed as he walked back into the house. Nick and Lena starred at each other in panic before busting out in laughter themselves.

“Hey, at least it was just Zion” Nick implied as Lena playfully shoved his arm. She wasn’t irritated in the slightest as originally predicted by her. She had gotten the best of both worlds, keeping her saint image to the family while also finally having a romantic night with Nick. There was little to complain about after experiencing more joy than she ever knew this trip could bring.

[reellykenzie]

Avalanche

It had come out of nowhere. One minute, it had been peaceful on the mountain as Kenzie road her snowboard down. The next, there was a rumbling and suddenly, the snow was chasing her. While she may know a lot of things about surviving in the wild, she was not exactly trained for avalanches. Not like they had many of those in New York City. She had tried to outrun it, looking for some sort of alcove to bank into before the snow plowed over her and she was buried. There were some larger rocks off to the side that she tried to get to, but the rushing snow was too fast, sweeping her board and legs out from under her as she tried to find cover.

She wasn’t sure if she hit her head really hard or maybe just blacked out from the shock, but she came to a little while later, half-buried in the snow. She had thankfully been thrown towards the rocks, so she wasn’t completely covered. The brunette tried to sit up and was immediately met with pain running up her right arm, making her eyes water. She put her weight on her other arm, sitting up and pulling her obviously broken arm towards her chest. This was not good. Her mind raced as she took a few deep breaths and decided the best thing to do was get her legs free. Using her good arm, she dug her legs out, unlatching her boots from the snowboard. Once she was free, she began to assess herself for damages. Her legs seemed okay, thank god. Her helmet and goggles had kept her head safe as far as she could tell, though she did seem to have a few scrapes on the lower half of her face that wasn’t covered. She couldn’t tell just how bad they were at the moment, but nothing seemed dangerously hurt at the moment.

Mostly, it was her whole right side that hurt. Her arm and shoulder must have taken the brunt of the fall. Her arm was definitely broken, but she wasn’t sure how badly. There was some pain in her side and shoulder too. Honestly, her whole body ached, but she could move and that was the important part. She just needed to stabilize her arm first. She slowly got up, groaning at the soreness in her body and began to look around for some decent sized sticks. Most things were buried in the snow, but she found some eventually and set to work. She set the sticks up to be a splint for her arm before unzipping her jacket and pulling the string from the hood of her jacket, yanking it out of the material to use to tie the whole thing together. Then she made a sling out of her scarf. Hopefully that would keep her arm from getting any more worse and staying out of the way as she tried to figure out a way down.

Standing up, she looked around, surveying the area. It hadn’t been a huge avalanche, but it was enough to put a lot more snow in the area. It would be hard to get through. At least she knew which way the lodge was. Obviously it was down the mountain and since she had seen the sun rise from the lobby several times, she knew heading east was the best option. So she began the long trek down the mountain. She wasn’t sure how long it was. A few hours at least. She was freezing and exhausted from struggling through the snow and her fall, but she couldn’t stop now. Stopping would be the worst option. Just when she felt like she couldn’t go on any more, someone found her. One of the chaperones that had been out looking for the missing students found her and helped her get the rest of the way down. 

Once she was off the mountain, she was rushed to the hospital. Like she had suspected, her arm had been broken. It was broken in two places and she would be stuck in a cast for quite a while. Her helmet had protected her from any concussion and the cuts and scrapes on her face weren’t to bad, though a couple needed stitches. Once she was out of the cold, she could really feel how bruised and beaten her body was. Just about everything was sore and some purple bruises were already forming. And the pain in her side had turned out to be some bruised ribs. Overall, Kenzie knew she was lucky. She had heard that others were injured too and one person had been incredibly injured. She just hoped that the people she cared most about - Isak, Elliot, Caleb, and Teddy - were okay. 

[winryofresembool]

Hockey player Ed x figure skater Winry AU

A/N: Here’s the AU I promised yesterday! This will most likely get continuation at some point because I /do/ want to know what will happen when our favorite dorks actually go to the practice that is mentioned in this fic. Sorry about the possible inaccuracies and lack of figure skating knowledge. If I’m honest I know a whole lot more about hockey which is partially why I made Ed a hockey player. Also, this is the first time I wrote Hughes so he probably sounds OOC. @queenwinry‘s posts inspired me to write this!

Next chapter: [x]

words: 1600ish

genre: idk, humor? A little bit fluff? (no warnings except Ed says one f-bomb)

Edward Elric, the youngest hockey player on team Amestris, had always considered himself a good skater. Ever since learning to skate and starting to play hockey with kids of his age, he was always a couple of steps in front of them. Not even the prosthetic arm he got after a severe accident when he was 11 slowed him down, and he eventually made it to the national team as the youngest skater team Amestris had ever had. Sometimes his brother had to stop him from spending too much time at the ice rinks, though, because he had gotten frost bites more than once in the past, but Ed never complained about them. It was his fault the accident had happened (or so he thought), so he had decided he would carry the consequences without complaints.

Because Ed was so focused on getting forward in his career, he rarely followed other sports or paid attention to other athletes. If he had done so, he would probably have noticed a blonde haired, blue eyed figure skater from his country far before the Olympic games where they both were competing.

One day, after the morning practice, Ed and a couple of his teammates, Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes, were debating what they should do before the lunch that wouldn’t take place for another hour.  Snowboarding had piqued Ed’s interest, but the other two decided they’d like to see figure skating at the nearby arena. Maes’ soon-to-be wife Gracia was on the figure skating team, and Ed knew her friend, a hockey player Riza Hawkeye, would likely be watching her practice too, trying to get some tips. The young man swore Riza and Roy had something going on, even though they never admitted it out loud. They would exchange sneaky looks every once in a while, and a couple of times Ed had seen their fingers brush against each other in a way that looked like it was no accident.

However, when the hockey players made it to figure skating arena, Ed stopped caring about his teammates or their women. On the ice was a young woman, about his age, he estimated, wearing a deep blue, short dress (how the figure skaters could perform in so few clothes, Ed would never understand), her blonde hair on a neat bun aside from the tresses that framed her face. She was beautiful, Ed admitted that much, but to his surprise he realized that he wasn’t fixated on her face, or the small dress, or not even her nicely shaped legs. Instead, he was amazed by her graceful, well practiced moves. How could a girl that small (he cringed at the word his brain had picked) slide on the ice so fast? How could she spin like that without getting her head all messed up? What about those jumps? Turns? Everything? Even her simply skating forward made Ed feel like he still had a lot to learn. She looked so focused and determined, like there was nothing else but the ice in her small world. Ed decided that he needed to meet this girl, even if it was just for some skating lessons.

“Hey? Guys?” He pointed towards the ice. “Who is this girl?”

“What, you don’t know her? She’s only the most talented figure skater Amestris has seen in years! After my Gracia, of course,” Hughes exclaimed, waving his hands in disbelief.

“I can see that she’s good, but who. is. she?” Ed repeated his question angrily.

“Winry Rockbell. Same age as you. Lives in Rush Valley, but I think she has roots in your hometown. She also won the nationals for the third time in a row this winter. I heard from Gracia that she has interesting hobbies, she namely wants to be a mechanic once she’s done with her skating career,” Maes responded and waved to his fiancée who was skating towards the locker room.

“Really? What kind of mechanics, exactly?” Ed found himself interested in this detail.

“I don’t know, all kinds? Although I think Gracia said something about her interest in automails once… Wait a minute, are you thinking…?”

“I’M NOT THINKING ABOUT ANYTHING!” Ed denied immediately. He covered his face in his hands, trying to hide how flustered he was, but his attempt failed badly. Roy snickered at him on the background.

“Uhm. Do you, maybe, think Gracia could introduce us to her?” He asked after a while, embarrassment audible in his voice. “I mean… I’dliketogetsomeskatingtipsfromher!”

“I don’t think that will be an issue! But don’t think about hitting on her, I’m fairly sure she’s seeing someone already,” Maes teased even though he knew that Winry was single. Pushing Ed’s buttons was Roy and his favorite pastime.

“And why exactly would I care about that?” Ed growled, but that made both Hughes and Mustang laugh even more.

“Because I have never seen you look at a girl like that before. I know that expression. It’s the same one I have when I look at my Gracia.”

“Shut up.” Ed turned dramatically to leave, but Gracia decided to show up in that moment, and the young hockey player knew it was too late to back off now.

“My beautiful fiancé! I missed you!” Maes yelled and pulled the woman into an embrace.

“Maes, you can calm down. I saw you yesterday.” Gracia answered, but seemed pretty happy about the attention she got.

“Hey, Edward here wants to meet our future champ!” Hughes let Gracia go, and pointed towards the girl who was still on the ice. “Do you think you could ask her to join us at lunch?”

“I think she’s already doing the final moves of her performance, shouldn’t take her too long to finish. I’ll see what I can do,” Gracia winked at Ed who blushed brightly. The boy turned his attention back to the ice and saw Winry lift her leg above her head from behind and starting to spin. It went on for a long while, and Ed didn’t even realize he was holding his breath until she finally stopped and had her eyes focused on the group. Acknowledging their presence, she waved her hand slightly and continued her routine until she did the final move and bowed to her audience just like she would do in a real situation.

“Hey, Winry!” Gracia yelled at the girl who skated towards her friend, smiling happily. For some reason Ed felt a little bit dizzy watching her smile, as if he had been the one spinning on the ice. He didn’t understand what was wrong with him.

“Gracia! What’s up?” Winry asked curiously.

“I’d like you to meet a couple of friends! This of course is my fiancé, Maes, and here are his teammates Roy Mustang and Edward Elric.”

Winry inhaled sharply when she heard the latter name and saw the golden eyes. Ed found himself interested in his shoes suddenly, so he didn’t notice that her cheeks turned red as she recognized him.

“Edward? I heard that you made it to the national team, but I wasn’t expecting… hi! Do you… do you remember me?”

“What? How would I remember you?” Ed asked, confused.

“We used to play together when we were toddlers! You, me and Al! That was before you guys moved away, and my parents… you know… and then I and Granny moved to Rush Valley because of her business.”

“Oh… Fuck… sorry… I mean… that was you?! I do remember that girl, but I never made the connection… You have grown… quite a bit… since then.” Ed laughed awkwardly, but his laughter made Winry relax and she gave him that bright smile again.

“I could say the same about you. Ever since I heard we’d both be competing at the Olympics I wanted to meet you, but I wasn’t expecting you to walk right here,” she giggled.

Maes decided to push things forward a bit, and commended:

“You know, this Ed here wanted to ask you some skating tips.”

“You do?” Winry asked, her mouth forming a little ‘o’ as she turned her attention back to Ed.

“Uh, yeah.” Ed rubbed the back of his neck and nodded slightly.

“That’s kinda funny because I remember that when we were like 4 and learning to skate together, you were very loud and clear about the fact that you wouldn’t take any advice from me. I guess some things do change!”

“Now that you mention it, I remember that too, and actually, it was only because you pushed me into the snow face forward!”

“Well, /I/ only did it because you and Al had tied my skate laces together, so I fell instantly when I hit the ice!”

“This can’t be anything but a beginning of a beautiful love story,” Maes whispered to Gracia who shook her head.

“Are you so sure about that?” Gracia whispered back.

“Well, just look at them.” Maes gestured towards them.

The two childhood friends were already laughing at their memories when Maes said that.

Eventually Ed gained enough confidence to ask Winry if she could come see the hockey team’s practice the next day and show them how she skated so effortlessly. Winry blushed at the compliment, but even though her face felt hot, she had goosebumps on her arms. She realized she should to go to change into warmer clothes, but she promised she’d meet the others at the lunch after that.

Ed grinned widely all the way to the restaurant, noticing that he was already looking forward to the upcoming practice and the lunch.

[stunudo]

BAU Prep School AU: 2018

Welcome to the Frederick Buchanan Institute located in scenic Quantico, Virginia, a senior high academy that shapes the best and brightest minds. Its motto is “Behavior, Analysis, Unity,” the mascot the Submariners, colloquially “the Unsubs”. The small school supports the most accomplished faculty from across the country. (image link)  2016-2017 school year  Class of 18

Let’s Try This Again

August 21, 2017 12:47pm

The dampness of the air lingered on every blade of perfectly shorn grass. The mud and chalk melded into a homelike aroma, welcoming JJ back, as she strolled from her car in flipflops and oversized sunglasses. She wrinkled her nose; those boys were going to be a smelly mess in this heat. As she crossed the football field, she spotted him taking shots at the goal, bouncing the balls at all angles and doing bicycle kicks and generally goofing around. He was in his element, his grin wide across his features, which was understandable; he still believed himself alone.

JJ burst into a comical round of applause as he hit the turf hard, after an overly ambitious kick forced him into something resembling a snowboarding move.

“Need a hand?” JJ peered down as he lay with his chest heaving.

“Nah, I’m good. The grass will bury me by next week.” Luke Alvez waved off her outstretched hand. “What are you doing here Jareau?”

“Had to make sure my boys were on their best behavior,” She kneeled beside him, now lounging on his side.

“So, you’re not checking up on me?” Luke teased, balancing his forearms on his knees, unable to settle the excitement within himself. “Cuz I’d say you have enough to worry about right now.” She leaned back, rubbing her perfect baby belly affectionately. “What’s the countdown to now?”

“29 days, but who’s counting?” JJ glanced down her nose. “Come on, humor me with some drills. I need to move.”

“Whatever you say, boss.” Luke rolled a nearby ball her way before dramatically flipping back upright.

That’s how the students found them, their new coach playing goalie as their overly pregnant coach kept him dodging for every corner of the box with her pristine aim. The upperclassmen suffered through tryouts before school began each year as their games started the second week of September, freshmen rarely made starter squad anyhow. If the boys wanted to learn something about grit, these were the best teachers they could have asked for. Not that teenagers ask for things so freely given.

Friday September 1 10:32am

It was as if no time had passed, they filed into the Delaney Owens Memorial Library with casual conversation spilling over the meeting’s set start time. The faculty of the Frederick Buchanan Institute gathered for their annual staff pop-wow. Penelope Garcia sat straight backed at Headmaster Hotchner’s left as her boyfriend and football coach, Derek Morgan leaned casually beside her, making small talk with veteran math teacher, Jordan Todd.

“Alright, everyone, let’s make it official. Welcome to the new school year, for those of you unable to attend our little development weekend in July, we have two new staff members this Fall.” Hotch gestured to the middle of the table to his right. “Luke? Would you like to introduce yourself?”

Luke nodded and held up his hand in a short wave, “Luke Alvez, your new Foreign Language teacher and interim soccer coach. Originally from the Bronx, played professionally after college and have been teaching in California and most recently the Carolinas for eight years.”

“Thanks, alright, now the other new face. Matt?” Hotch looked to the far end of the table, the statuesque Asian man smiled slyly with only one cheek.

“I’m Matt Simmons. I’m filling in for Coach Jareau’s classes while she is on leave. I am currently taking a leave of absence, myself, as foreign correspondent for Al Jazeera, but before that I was on the D.C. political scene.”

“Oh, the girls are going to eat you boys up!” Mrs. Todd teased the pair of attractive new teachers.

“Jordan.” Hotch chuckled.

“Oh, who am I kidding, this day and age, everyone is going to love you.” She sighed, spinning back to the headmaster in her seat.

“Right, anyway, welcome, to you both. Penelope?” Hotch kept the meeting succinct.

Ms. Garcia squealed quietly as she spun to address the whole faculty. “Friends, teachers, countrymeh- peoples. Hi!” The meeting continued, Penelope and Hotch covering the new schedules and upcoming events. Something in the air felt more relaxed than years past, as if the summer had yet to release the staff of her transfixing spell. They made their way to the cafeteria, Chef David Rossi’s delights tantalizing their noses from halls away.

“I’ve got to be honest, I am surprised Jareau didn’t make it today,” Luke confided to Emily and Hotch.

“I was surprised I got her to stay home,” Emily deadpanned. “I’m sorry about tryouts, she really doesn’t listen to reason.”

“No, it was fine. Besides, kept the guys on their toes, her shooting past me even with that big belly.” Luke smirked, Hotch sighed as Emily’s face fell.

“She was playing?!”

“What?” Luke froze. “Uh, no, not really.” His face a mask of fear and inability to lie. They had arrived to find their meals waiting. Two tables set equally for seven, saving Luke from the awkward explanation, he quickly followed Spencer, who was chatting with Alex and Stephen animatedly.

“Smooth, Alvez.” Derek patted him on the shoulder as Emily stepped passed them, anxiously checking her phone. Matt Simmons was the last one to join his coworkers, Rossi had already served everyone and had sat himself between Kate and Tara. This left the last free seat next to Alex Blake. He slipped between the Drama and Debate teacher and the ever-bubbly Guidance Counselor. “Ladies, how are we doing this afternoon?”

Alex didn’t respond but held his curious gaze as Penelope began excitedly chippering away to his right.

Tuesday Sept. 5 10am

The summer heat hadn’t relented for two weeks, leaving the players exhausted and desperate after only an hour of running drills. The linemen had the field while the quarterbacks and wide receivers were working through their flexibility drills inside. May Howard never wanted to tackle her own teammates as badly as when they were able to walk back into the airconditioned school.

“Submariners! Positions!” Coach Morgan barked from his perch on the sled. “That means you too, Turner!”

Lucas filled in beside May as their hands and heads fell into line across the turf. Their lungs strained as they waited for the starting whistle. Their coach eyed them, leaving the moment lingering; training their reflexes as much as trying their patience. Then the blast, a jolt of force pushed the large metal framework.

“Don’t stop, get it,” Derek pushed his team. “You go until the play ends. You go until their line breaks and then you take them down!”

May hated being shorter than the guys in moments like this, her legs crossing twice as many steps to keep up with theirs. Lucas laughed as the Coach drew out his ending whistle. Their bodies burning hotter than the midday sun.

“Shower up. We hit the playbook tomorrow. Hard.”

12:57pm

Azalene Curtis could not believe this is where they had been enrolled for the new school year. The place was a freaking castle, she gawked out of the driver’s side as pulled up to the parking lot nearest the Rothschild Auditorium. Her little brother, Jackson, was running late for Freshman Orientation and of course she had to be the one to drop him off. Her hair was braided and wrapped around her head to keep its weight back and off her neck. She helped her brother out of his side of the car and walked him to the doors that had been propped open.

“Lena, you can go now.” Jackson grunted, his elbow crutches easily maneuvered over the lip of the door frame.

“Are you sure? This is an old building, make sure you ask for help if there are too many stairs.” She always worried he would be too pig-headed and miss a class, something their parents tended to ignore when it did happen.

“Are you going to be like this all year?”

“What? Looking out for you? Hell yeah, high school is vicious.”

“You said the same thing about middle school.”

“And I was right, wasn’t I?”

“Whatever, loser, see you later.”

“Have fun, Jax!” Lena turned to descend the slightly inclined walking path. A sleek red convertible came to a screeching halt at the sidewalk. A tiny Hispanic girl nearly jumped from the passenger’s seat as her older brother called from the driver’s side.

“Don’t be rude, Rita. It looks bad on all of us!” Ignacio Cruz reprimanded his freshman sister.

“Go to Hell, Iggy. I’m only rude when you make me late!” And she ran past the Curtis siblings as if they weren’t even there.

Wed. Sept. 6  7:31am

“Good morning everybody. My name is Matt Simmons and I will be filling in for Coach Jareau this fall. I know formality is expected here, but I believe in mutual respect. If you can act in an appropriate manner, you get to call me by my first name.” He stood at the front of his first hour Journalism class in a fresh gray button down matched with a black and white paisley tie. He read the crowd easily, from the overly attentive girl in the front row to the completely disinterested guys in the back.

“You’re actually the Matt Simmons.” Sacha Kane took a quick picture of him. “Best first day of school. Ever.” She read her caption to her Instagram post barely beneath her breath.

“Guys? No pictures, this is a classroom.” Matt sighed. “For those of you who don’t know me, I am a reporter with Al Jazeera. I have a bachelor’s degree from NYU and a master’s from GW.”

“You’re also Hannah’s uncle.” Iggy Cruz added from his perch in the last row, attempting to bring the new teacher down a peg.

“That is correct, Hannah Chang is my sister’s daughter.” Matt smiled easily, arrogant senior guys weren’t really that intimidating after reporting in conflict zones for the past ten years. “And your father is on the Board of Regents and Maya here is Mr. Walker’s daughter. It’s really cozy here at F.B.I., isn’t it?”

“We’re all about getting cozy, handsome.” Sacha leaned back, biting her lip.

“Ms. Kane?” Mr. Simmons raised his eyebrows. “Are we going to have a problem?”

She rolled her eyes and sat up straight, his voice switched from sultry to commanding in an instant. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting from his first day teaching, but this certainly hadn’t been it. Mr. Simmons turned down the lights and began his opening presentation. He left the class with reading assignments and to bring in a print media example of a current events opinion piece for the next day.

“Way to piss off the new teacher, Sacha. Since when do we have homework on the first day?” Jake sassed down at his flirtatious classmate on the way to his second period.

“Jakey, come on. He had that ready before I even snapped a pic.” She grinned confidently. “This semester is going to get me past ten thousand followers.”

10:36am

Luke Alvez’s throat hurt from talking during his morning classes. He started the semester with simple conversations, introductions and asking about the students. Second period was the beginners, but most of the teens had some knowledge of the language as their household staff or nannies may have spoken it around them. There was only one crack about tequila or cerveza, which he chalked up as a win. Now that he was done with his long stretch of classes, he realized how early in the day it was to have lunch.

“I feel like I just had breakfast.” Luke admitted as he grabbed his plate from the cart that Rossi had wheeled in to the staff dining hall, before ducking back to the cafeteria.

“You’re telling me, man. But if you don’t eat now, you’re going to regret it.” Derek shared from experience.

“How’s your first day going, teach?” Kate teased as she dug into her perfectly prepared meal.

“Pretty good, all things considered. I guess Penelope was teaching them at the end of last semester, so I can’t really win any popularity contests.”

“Yeah, don’t sweat it, man. My girl has these kids by the heartstrings and their parents by their wallets, but she was not meant to be teaching. Trust me.” Derek Morgan chuckled.

“We’re just glad you’re here now. Let the craziness of last year be left in the past.” Tara added in her comforting voice.

“Funny the history teacher is talking about leaving things in the past,” Alvez chided.

“Oh, watch out, he’s got the comeback.” Derek egged his coworkers on.

They continued like that up until the bell rattled them back to reality. The easy banter hinting that perhaps this team was going to work out while past line ups had left people slipping between the cracks.

3:42pm

Spencer had been to the principal’s office numerous times over his academic career. Usually as the victim of some sort of bullying, the bruises hidden beneath his oversized clothing. Once it was because he had explained something during a biology lesson and his lab partner thought he was sexually harassing her. And another had been because his history teacher deemed him a distraction to other students and he had to remain in the principal’s office for the remainder of the quarter during that class period. The principal promptly retired the following summer.

These experiences were racing through his thoughts as he knocked on Hotch’s office door after the first day of the new school year. Clammy hands betraying his nerves.

“Come in,” the headmaster’s voice genial. “Reid? Everything okay?”

“You tell me,” Spencer didn’t sit but stood with one hand in his pocket to hide the tension it held. “I have fewer classes on my schedule this year and you gave Sociology to a glorified cameraman.”

“Matt Simmons has an undergraduate degree in Sociology, Reid. He is more than qualified to teach an introductory class on it.”

“As do I. In addition to my three doctorates in other fields.”

Hotch eyed the younger man. “Reid! What is this really about?”

“Do you think I can’t handle the course load? Did I somehow lower the standards with a full schedule?”

“Last year I lost two qualified educators, one to a personal vendetta of a student and one to trauma from the hands of another student. I cannot put my faculty at risk of burn out or exhaustion when the very people we are charged with nurturing could, rather poetically, bite the hand that feeds them.”

“This isn’t about my curriculum?”

“No.”

“Or my attempt at a stargazing club?”

“Not at all, though that really was just asking for kids to sneak off and neck.”

“Neck?” Spencer rubbed his absentmindedly, not getting the reference.

“Spencer,” Hotch leaned on his desk top, signaling the science teacher to sit as well. “I purposely gave you a prep period this year. I don’t want you to work yourself sick. We need to all be on our A game. That means accepting a break, even if we think we’re invincible.”

Spencer’s lips curled into a blushing smirk. “Clever word choice, Hotch. Invincible is late Middle English but has Latinate roots; ‘in’ and ‘vincibilis’ respectably.”

“Reid.”

“Sir?”

“I asked a lot of you, and even more so of Penelope, last term. This is my way of trying to remedy that.”

“Oh.” Spencer caught on. “Well, it was my pleasure. Besides, I kind of owed it to her, too.”

“No, you didn’t, but that’s what makes you a great teacher, Reid. You care so deeply, you take on the burdens of other’s growth. Just make sure you’re taking care of yourself too, yeah?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Friday Sept 8 6:12pm

Maya Walker scrambled through loading the dishwasher, causing both her parents to glance between themselves. She had three different chapters to read, a dozen geometry problems to proof out and a trumpet solo to prepare for seating auditions next week. The pressure was starting to sink in. She gave up snapping Meg Callahan and just called her on speaker.

“This is only the first week of the next four years of my life and I am DROWNING, girl.”

“Hey, Maya.” Meg’s voice sounded overly cheerful.

“Did you just answer the phone at the dinner table? Nu-uh, Kate is going to kill you!”

“Rough week? That sucks,” The line became muffled as Meg clearly played on her aunt’s sympathies to get excused early from the family meal. “Okay, I have ten, twelve minutes tops before she is going to call your mom and check on you.”

“You didn’t have to answer, dork!”

“I couldn’t stand it! Chris was doing light saber noises while trying to convince Kit to eat his Brussel sprouts. They’re Brussel sprouts! It is physically impossible to like them until you’re at least twenty-five!”

“Preach!” Maya filled in. “But seriously, I am dying. Do you have homework? Maybe we can hit the bookstore tomorrow or Sunday. I am going to lose it if I am stuck in my room all weekend.”

“It’s the first week of school, I have like one page of Algebra homework.”

“Which could take hours.”

“Mrrrrrrp. Nope, sorry. I can’t draw it out that long.”

“Please? Because you value me as a friend and person?”

“Maya Walker, don’t go begging now!” Meg cackled. “But seriously, I am sorry you have so much work. And I am slightly terrified for next year. Hey, you said you signed up for Journalism, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Is Mr. Simmons as hot as Kate is saying he is?”

“Whoa, go Kate!” Maya cheered on the nurse’s taste. “Yes, he is built like a Greek god, with all the ageless beauty of his Asian roots.”

“Ugh, I wish my teachers were hot.”

“Dude!”

“Okay, well, like, not our parents, obviously.”

“I should hope so!” Mara shuddered. “But seriously, Journalism is first hour, he already knows my name and who I am. It’s going to be a long year.”

“Still a great view to wake up for every morning.”

“Whatever, traitor. So no study sesh this weekend?”

“Nah, sorry. I am babysitting and then we have something on Sunday.”

“You owe me!”

“Yeah, yeah, well I better scram. Hugs!”

“Thanks, Meg. Talk later.”

“Yep.”

Maya hung up the phone and fell dramatically into the mound of quilts atop her bed. She was procrastinating, but something about two days and four assignments felt daunting. After twenty minutes on her favorite puzzle game, she gave in. She got out her trumpet and got to work.

Next Chapter: Uphill

@mentallydatingspencerreid @dontshootmespence @ultrarebelheart @lyrasilverroseelizabethamanti @cynbx @rikersgirl22 @pllfrommars @wheresthewater  @darknesstoglowing @adropintheocean1234567 @tleighstone12 @unitchiefwives @sam-carter-in-training @prettyboysjello @ddreammcatcher @thegirlinflames  @night--hawk @t25luver @onlyalittleteenwolfobsessed @thismiss02 @unitchiefwives

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

Bah, HumBuck! Plans C and D

Summary: You’re the newest Avenger. Realizing that Bucky plans to spend Christmas alone, you enlist the help of Wanda, your best friend, and Steve, Bucky’s best friend and your mentor. You’re determined to make his Christmas amazing. Plan A Plan B Time for plans C and D! Pairing: Bucky x Female!Powered!Reader Word Count: ~2,618 Warnings: language, fluff A/N: This is for Sam’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree Writing Challenge. My prompt was #16, “’This was a terrible plan.’ ‘This was your plan.’” @lovelynemesis Flame on? Flame on. Was giving Reader the same powers of human torch intentional? Yes. Did I do it because Chris Evans was the human torch? No, but I still love that coincidence. *gifs not mine*

Masterlist // Plan B // Plan E

Fifteen minutes later you were walking out of the med ward, the gash just a faint pink scar on your palm.

“Damn, Doctor Cho really is amazing,” you said as you held your hand in front of your face and studied it closely. Your brain was working in overdrive while you walked; Plan A and B failed, so plan C was next.

Steve let out a long sigh. “You’re just lucky it was a pretty easy fix and that she’s already calibrated her tech for your DNA,” he said, running a hand over his face. “You also need to thank Vision; he’s the only one of us who knew how to work Cho’s machine.”

“Thanks, Viz!” you said, holding your newly-healed hand up for a high five. He looked from your face to your hand in confusion for a moment before he seemed to remember what he was supposed to do. He returned your high five perfectly with a loud smack... and it hurt. You smiled, but as soon as he’d turned away you shook your hand out, wincing at how badly it stung.

Steve let out a sigh. “Now, I think that’s enough excit-”

“We should go sledding!” you said, cutting across Steve with a smile he easily recognized as the “I’m going to do it anyway so you may as well join me” look. He groaned and rubbed his temples.

“Fine,” he said tiredly.

“Do we even have sleds?” Wanda asked, eyebrows raised in question.

“There are sleds purchased specially by Mr. Stark for these occasions,” FRIDAY informed you.

“Awesome! FRIDAY, make sure those make it to the entrance of the building in the next fifteen minutes, please!” you said as you turned to the others. “West Entrance to the compound. Twenty minutes! Bundle up!” you ordered cheerfully as you ran down the hallway. You had a couple things to do and not a whole lot of time to do them.

Nineteen and a half minutes later you were at the base’s West Entrance, bundled up in layers of jackets and panting from running around nonstop. You’d even found your old pair of ski pants, which was nice. Wet pants ruined snowy day fun faster than you could say “hypothermia.” Sure, you could dry them off with your powers, but it was just so much work (and came with risk of setting your pants on fire). You shuffled your backpack around on your back until it was sitting more comfortably and glanced around the foyer for everyone else.

Bucky was sitting quietly on one of the uncomfortable-looking blocky black couches, gazing out the floor-to-ceiling window. Snow was still falling outside, blanketing the entire compound with a layer of cold white fluff.

You were about to go up and talk to him when the elevator dinged open, revealing Wanda, Vision, and Steve.

“I still do not understand why sledding is so appealing when one can fly, but I will make an attempt,” Vision was saying, drawing both your and Bucky’s attention towards him.

“That’s all I’m asking, Viz,” Wanda said kindly, taking his hand in hers as she smiled up at him.

“Are we all ready to go?” you asked all of them, barely contained excitement showing on your face.

“What’s in the backpack?” Steve asked suspiciously, giving it and you the stink eye.

“A surprise! Now, are you ready to go?” you said evasively.

“As we’ll ever be,” Steve said grimly, glancing at the frigid paradise outside.

“Awesome! The sleds are outside; one for each of us!” you informed them, practically skipping for the door. You may have missed the way Bucky was smiling at you, but Steve and Wanda didn’t. They gave each other knowing looks that you, Vision, and Bucky all missed.

You wrenched the door open and the wave of cold air hit you. It wasn’t as though it bothered you much; you didn’t really think you could get cold.

Wanda and Steve were a little more apprehensive. You couldn’t blame Steve; he’d spent 70 years as a popsicle after all. Vision didn’t mind the cold, though, and easily coaxed Wanda outside, Steve following shortly thereafter.

What surprised you, though, was that Bucky seemed hesitant. The Winter Soldier? Afraid of a little snow? Nah. Impossible.

“C’mon, Buck! We’re burning...” you glanced up at the sky and frowned “-cloud light,” you finished lamely.

He snorted at that, small smile on his lips, and your heart soared. He didn’t smile very often so you enjoyed it every time you saw it. He picked up one of the sleds beside the door and fell into step beside you.

The group made their way towards the east side of the compound. There were a few steep hills there. Wanda, Steve, and Vision were chatting animatedly ahead of you and Bucky about something you couldn’t quite hear. After a few minutes of walking in silence with Bucky, he spoke up. “What is in the bag?” he asked curiously, eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Hey! I said it was a surprise! You’ll find out eventually!” you said, paranoid, turning your torso so that the backpack was hidden behind you.

He laughed at that. Actually laughed. As in eye-crinkling, teeth-showing, chest-rumbling laugh.

Your heart tried to kill you when you heard it, it was beating so fast. He had a wonderful laugh. You were used to feeling warm, but the way his laugh made you feel-

Light? Safe? Happy? Maybe... that he might actually enjoy your company?

“Alright, alright. I won’t pry. Promise,” he said, smile still etched into his face.

You tried to memorize it but apparently were being too obvious, because it slid from his face once he realized you were staring.

“Is... is there something on my face?” he asked, suddenly looking a bit alarmed.

Oh no. He noticed me staring. “No! It’s just- I uh-” Think. Come up with an excuse. Any excuse. “I just like your laugh,” you sputtered. Your eyes widened in horror a half second later at your words, but you couldn’t look away from his gaze.

He looked almost as shocked by your words as you did, his pace faltering for a beat. He looked away from you, gaze forward, and didn’t say anything, his face hidden by his hair.

Great. Really great fucking job, (Y/N). You made him uncomfortable, you chastised yourself mentally.

You hung your head and trudged onward, gaze straight ahead, not noticing the shy, pleased smile and blush on Bucky’s face.

Your fun sledding activity quickly devolved into a competition of who could do the coolest tricks. You’d been upset at first, but after Steve pulled off a particularly impressive triple-back-flip-turned-handstand and challenged you to try and one up him, all bets were off.

“Go (Y/N)!” Wanda cheered from the bottom of the hill. She’d wiped out a while ago and decided to stay put until the snow numbed her butt. Vision was sitting with her, discussing the finer points of sledding.

You placed your sled about ten feet back from the point where the hill began to drop and walked even farther back.

Steve and Bucky watched you with interest.

“Watch and learn, boys,” you said, winking salaciously at them.

Steve suddenly look worried and Bucky turned a deep crimson but you’d already looked away.

You took a running start at your sled, gathering your powers in your hands. The moment your feet hit the sled you threw your arms behind you and turned your powers on full blast, giant jets of flame shooting from your palms. You rocketed forward, still going slow enough at first for gravity to pull you down instead of sending you flying off the edge of the hill.

The jump the boys had built, though, was a completely different story. You flew off it, sled leaving your feet as you used your powers to flip yourself midair once, twice, three times, before you plummeted back to earth, landing skillfully on top of your sled, riding it like a snowboard. You let your momentum carry you for a while before you hopped off of the sled...

And immediately fell face-first into the snow. You hadn’t realized how fast you’d been going and weren’t expecting the force of acceleration to be as strong as it was. Your feet hadn’t been able to keep up with how fast the rest of you was moving... and now you had a face full of snow.

You heard the others laughing merrily at your misfortune and your face literally burned with embarrassment, melting the snow under it.

“You alright?” Steve yelled down from the top of the hill, smile obvious in his voice.

You didn’t get up, simply giving him a depressed thumbs up in response, which sent everyone into a fresh fit of laughter.

Yup. You could just die here. That would be preferable to facing the life of teasing this was sure to earn you.

The telltale sound of a sled approaching followed by the crunch of snow beneath feet finally made you look up.

You immediately buried your face back into the snow, not wanting to face him.

“You can’t lay there forever, Doll,” Bucky said kindly, smile clear in his voice.

“I think I can, actually,” you muttered bitterly.

“What was that?” he asked playfully, though he’d clearly heard you.

“I’m going to die. Right here. In this snow bank. Just leave me. Tell my family I love them. Also, tell Tony he’s an asshole,” you said melodramatically.

He laughed at that last bit. “Sorry, that’s not allowed. If you decide to die a slow death out here it means I’d have to spend more time out here in the snow,” he said stubbornly, but you could still hear the smile in his voice.

“What’s wrong with the snow?” you asked curiously, finally turning your head to peek up at him.

He suddenly looked awkward, as though he’d said something he hadn’t meant to. He fidgeted where he stood and picked up his sled. “C’mon, Doll. We can’t let you end on a note like that,” he said, extending his hand down to you.

“Do you not like the snow?” you asked perceptively without taking his hand. You looked at him properly, scrutinizing every movement closely.

He swallowed hard, looking well and truly guilty now. “It’s, uh, not my favorite, no. It reminds me of Siberia and-”

You were up in a flash, throwing your arms around his waist. He dropped his sled in surprise, looking down at you in shock. “I’m sorry! I had no idea! I would never have forced you out here if I’d known!” you said quickly, trying to figure out how to make up for- “Wait here!” you said, letting him go abruptly to run a few feet away before you focused your powers in your hands and feet and quite literally flew back to the top of the hill, leaving a trail of flame in your wake. You landed heavily, staggering a couple steps before you grabbed your backpack.

Steve was staring at you, alarmed. “(Y/N)? What’s going on? Why did you-”

You snatched Steve’s sled from his hands and threw it on the ground in one fluid motion. “Borrowingthisnoweverything’sfinethanksSteve,” you said in the span of a second and a half before you sat down on top of it and pushed yourself off of the edge, this time letting gravity- and not your powers- take you to the bottom.

You got off as soon as the sled started going too slowly for your liking, running the rest of the way to Bucky, pack bouncing against your back.

To his credit, he’d stayed exactly where you’d told him to, though he was looking at you warily.

“Am I about to find out what’s in that bag?” he asked apprehensively.

You made it the last few steps to him, panting softly from the exertion of flying up to the top of the hill and running through snow.

“Yup!” you said merrily, throwing the pack down in front of you. You kneeled down, unzipped it, and pulled out-

“Thermoses?” Bucky asked, looking absolutely confounded as he sat down next to you.

“Yeah! I made some hot cocoa before we left and put it in these. There’s one for each of us!” you said chipperly, handing him a silver and red thermos that reminded you of his arm. You pulled out the cheesy flames-and-black one that you’d decided was yours and looked at him sheepishly.

“I know it’s a bit silly, but... I wanted to give you a good memory. Of snow,” you said, gesturing to the area around the two of you. “God, it sounds so selfish when I put it like that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

You were cut off by him opening the thermos. You looked at him, surprised. The smell of hot chocolate hit you immediately, laced with-

“Oh, I forgot to mention! I also spiked it,” you said, winking mischievously.

“You know I can’t get drunk, right?” he asked, smile playing on his lips as he poured some into the cap cup.

You froze in the middle of opening your own thermos, smile sliding right off of your face.

Fuck. There went plans... wait, what plans were you on again? You thought about it for a second and concluded spiked hot cocoa and sledding were plans D and E, but you weren’t one hundred percent sure. No. C and D. They were plans C and D.

“I totally forgot,” you said, feeling like a complete idiot. You laid back in the snow, thermos forgotten next to your backpack, and wallowed in your own failure.

“Mm, tasty,” Bucky said casually, causing you to look up in surprise. “Baileys?” he asked, taking another sip.

You nodded, sitting up slowly. Maybe it wasn’t a total loss, but you still felt like an insensitive ass. First the snow, then forgetting about how he can’t get drunk or even tipsy.

“Good choice,” he said, smiling at you over his cup of cocoa.

“Did you really make cocoa and not give me some?” asked Wanda from behind you.

You turned to her, startled by her sudden appearance, but you smiled and shook your head.

“Of course not,” you said, snorting dismissively as you pulled out the pure red thermos you’d designated as hers. “It’s generously spiked, so take is slow,” you warned as she took it from you.

“You’re the best!” Wanda said happily as she took a seat next to you, opening her flask excitedly.

“Excuse me, I hate to impose, but-”

“Yeah, I made some for you, too, Viz,” you said, grinning widely at him as you pulled out a thermos that was patterned with tiny red, blue, green, and yellow ones and zeros.

“Thank you, (Y/N),” he said as he took it from you as sat down next to Wanda.

That just left-

“So first you steal my sled and then you don’t tell me about the hot chocolate?” Steve asked, pretend anger in his voice.

“Do you want the hot chocolate or not?” you asked playfully, waving the last untouched thermos in front of him tantalizingly. It was, of course, bespangled.

“Yes please,” he said quickly, sitting down on the other side of Bucky. You tossed him his thermos, grinning, and he caught it easily.

You chatted in the snow, sipping hot chocolate for a while. At some point you conjured a fire in the center of the group and, although the boys might not admit it, you knew they all appreciated it.

Two hours later the five of you trudged back into the residential building (well, Vision was floating gracefully, but he was always graceful). You were talking to Bucky as you walked. Your plan hadn’t been a complete failure, but it still wasn’t good enough.

Time for Plan E.

This is fine! I can do this! Plan E!

This series is finished, but if you want to be tagged in my other fics, check out this post! Sorry, but responses to this post asking to be tagged will be ignored, so send me an ask or like one of the taglist posts!

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[evenstevensranked]

#17: Season 3, Episode 18 - “Stevens’ Manor”

With the house to himself for the weekend, Louis decides to open up a bed and breakfast to afford a snowboarding trip for the gang! What could possibly go wrong?!

I’ve been meaning to tell you guys to ignore any typos in my reviews within the first day or so of them being posted. It takes a few read-throughs for me to catch any/all errors. 

That being said...

This episode opens with the subplot. Although, this is yet another one where the subplot and main plot work together super well. I’ve noticed that this is becoming a theme with these higher-ranked episodes. Huummm. 

It starts off with Ren spying on Ruby breaking up with some random guy Dexter. Her oh so serious, love of her life boyfriend of 4 days. Sounds about right. This show seriously nails how ridiculous middle school ~relationships~ truly are. Ruby is devastated, so Ren presents the idea of turning their upcoming weekend sleepover into girls night complete with nail polish, magazines and ice cream! Yeeee!

Ruby clearly shocked and offended by Dexter’s decision to end it. We don’t actually hear the conversation, so this exaggerated expression really gets the point across.

It cuts to Louis, Twitty, Tawny, and Tom (who I will refer to as “the gang” from this moment forward) discussing how badly they want to go snowboarding at some lodge. Tawny estimates that it’d cost around $200 per-person, and I mean, what 13-year-olds have that sort of money laying around? I’m a grown adult and I can’t even afford Starbucks on some days. So, yeah. To any sane person, the idea would be totally off the table and seem completely farfetched... But not to Louis Stevens!! He’s all “Oh, it’s no problem” as he runs to answer a call on the school’s payphone, which is the millionth thing that closet space next to the stairs has been used for. The call is from someone looking to book a reservation at Stevens’ Manor. I really hope that payphone has a different number than the school and that Louis didn’t give out Lawrence Jr. High’s number as the contact info for “Stevens’ Manor.” I can’t. 

He explains to the gang that Steve and Eileen are going away for their anniversary, Donnie has an away game, and Ren is sleeping at Ruby’s... which means he’s got la casa all to himself. Twitty asks how he’s gonna get his parents to actually let him stay home alone though... and like??? I know that Louis can get a little crazy, but does he really need a freaking babysitter or something? Actually, wait. What am I talking about?! He immediately seized the “home alone” opportunity to turn the house into a bed and breakfast. Here we go again with the give Louis Stevens an inch and he will take 100,000 miles trope, lol. His plan is to fake cry to Eileen about wanting to come with her and Steve and not wanting to stay alone, before deciding to be ~strong~ and stick it out. Steve even calls Louis a “soldier” for it, haha. Okay. Whatever works I guess! I’d like to point out this kinda ugly transition they do of Louis smirking about his plan, to the moment where he’s actually executing it. It’s so weird looking omg. 

That morph tho. I guess the editing job isn’t too bad for 2002... but dang, it’s just slightly unsettling to me lol. 

I like how this episode basically jumps right into the plot asap! We’re only two minutes in at this point and the BnB transformation is already underway! Eileen and Steve ultimately leave and trust Louis to man the fort of course, and the birth of Stevens’ Manor happens the second they’re out the door -- courtesy of a short montage. Louis must’ve been preparing for this bed and breakfast idea for a long while, just waiting around for the opportunity -- because he has shirts embroidered with a fancy “SM” ready to go for him and his friends to wear! He’s even set up the technology to accept credit cards. Louis Stevens does not play! 

The first guests arrive and I’m assuming it’s supposed to be a joke when Louis greets them “Welcome to Stevens’ Manor! You must be the Mannings!” lol. The Mannings are an older couple made up of a “fellow Lou” Louis and his wife Edna. This information is vital for later on. When they’re shown to their room, (which is Louis’ bedroom transformed into the “Lincoln Bedroom” lol) Edna says “This is even cozier than the pictures we saw on the internet!” WOW!!! Louis really did have this planned! He probably whipped out a www.stevensmanor.com domain for this. How did he rearrange and clean his room with enough time to take the photos, post them, and get hits on the website (in 2002, mind you) without his parents noticing though? That stuff took tiiiime back then. Not to mention cleaning that filthy room of his would require the help of a garbage company! Oh, well. That’s an irrelevant detail. I told you he’d been preparing for this moment! 

Where did he get that bust of Lincoln (see 2 photos up) and that painting too? I searched out of curiosity and found this near-exact bust which costs $850!!!!! That thing better be some cheap plastic knock off because something tells me Louis somehow spent more money on making the place look legit than he’ll ever make back from it lol. 

The next guest is a woman named Mrs. Colepepper. What is up with these writers and throwing the word “pepper” into last names? We already have Ryan Zellpepper and now we’ve got this lady lol. I also just realized that both of these characters are black... not that that means anything at all. It’s just randomly sort of interesting imo. 

The last main guests are a pair of twin teenage boys and their parents. Now, Even Stevens is good at not double casting people (a.k.a being weird and having the same actors play two or more different characters throughout the series and hope the audience doesn’t notice) -- But they messed up here and I gotta call it out!! They’re acting like this is the first time we’ve seen these twins, but they actually already made an appearance as LJH students back in Season 2! Their first appearance is literally sooo brief that only a weird superfan like me would notice, but yeah. 

The twins in this episode.

The twins in Season 2! We haven’t covered this episode yet so I feel really weird including a screenshot but.. lol. 

There’s this short scene where Louis introduces Tawny as the Manor’s “human jukebox” because apparently she’s a piano wiz and knows “all kinds of songs” (Also, where’d Louis get the grand piano?! haha) One of the twins sarcastically asks “Does she know ‘I hate it here, we should’ve gone to Hawaii’?” And Tawny adlibs a song “I hate it here, we should’ve gone to Hawaii, where they say Aloha and roast little piggies!” This one line always gets stuck in my head. Always. I’m tempted to continue writing additional lyrics just to give myself more to sing.

There’s also a fantastic bit here of Tom arguing with Mrs. Colepepper about the pulp in her orange juice. I can’t even explain it, all you have to know is that it’s amazing. Also, Louis tells the twins to check out the “Rec Room” and hands them two ping-pong paddles. They’re like “All you have is a ping-pong table?” and Louis says “Yeah... Well... I never said anything about a table. So.” IT ALWAYS GETS ME! It’s such a small line, but I love it. ALSO Beans is the BnB’s “licensed masseuse.” Right.  

At Ren and Ruby’s sleepover, Ruby gets a make up call from Dex and they talk on the phone all giggly for an hour and a half. Ren is fed up and decides to head home. Safe to say Ren was in for a surprise when Mrs. Colepepper was asleep in her bed... 

Louis tries to explain the situation to her and of course, Ren is vehemently against it until she sets her eyes on the ~gorgeous~ twins. As they’ve already stated -- The twins hate it there, so she catches them juuust as they’re about to check out. Ren literally referred to these guys by name in S2. They were some weird names like “Mosh and Stosh”?! lol, Smosh. But now she’s acting like it’s the first time she’s ever seen them in her life and it always bothered meeeeee. 

Something that kills me about this bit is when their father says “The boys just aren’t happy here. I kinda have to agree with them. Your kiddie pool hardly qualifies as an ‘aquatic center’ so...” -- LOUIS REALLY PUT “AQUATIC CENTER” as a selling point knowing that all he had was a kiddie pool.

Imagine showing up to a BnB where this is the advertised “aquatic center.” I am dying of laughter. First the nonexistent Rec Room, now this. I can just hear Gordon Ramsay ripping this place apart on an episode of Hotel Hell.

Ren immediately tries to persuade the twins to stay for obvious reasons by bribing them with lame board games, but they apparently reciprocate her attraction and decide to stay. The fictional board game they pick to play is The Organ Donor Game (sounds like a fun time???) and it’s so suggestive. Ren says “Ooo! You landed on my kidney. That’s gonna cost ya! No cheating and... Hands off my pancreas” in the most sultry voice ever. Like... WHAT?! The doorbell rings while they’re playing and it’s Ruby coming over to apologize, but she too decides to stay at the Stevens’ once she sees the twins. Wow. I love how a fan is always conveniently there to blow Ruby’s hair dramatically whenever she sees a guy she likes.  

It happened the moment she developed a crush on Louis, too. And, uh... Didn’t Ruby JUST GET BACK TOGETHER with Dexter like, an hour ago?  

Meanwhile, Beans is giving Louis Manning a massage by walking on his back in hiking boots??? Beans just further solidifying his place as “The Worst” in my heart. Old Louis (which is what I’ll call him now I guess) gets his back thrown out thanks to their wonderful, 8-year-old, obviously not licensed masseuse. This place is a lawsuit waiting to happen. 

Eileen decides to call home and check in with Louis, which creates one of my favorite situations everrrrrrr in the series. Y’all know I love when shows highlight the comedic side of miscommunication, and this is probably Even Stevens’ best stab at it. Edna is the one who answers Eileen’s call and all hell breaks loose when Eileen asks for Louis. “Louis hurt his back, he’s in a great deal of pain right now.” Edna explains. And Eileen says “You tell him I’ll be there in two hours and that I love him very much!!” Of course, Edna thinks Old Louis is cheating on her with some woman named Eileen and it’s great. 

Louis (Stevens lol) overhears the conversation and starts freaking out because how the hell are they gonna get all of the guests out of the house and revert it back to the way it was when it’s only midnight? That’s when Ren gets the brilliant idea (no seriously, it’s brilliant) to set all of the clocks forward to 7am checkout time! Oh my freaking god. Most of the guests have only been asleep for an hour or so, and suddenly they’re being told breakfast is ready. It’s absolutely hilarious! “Skies will be mostly... dark” Ren informs them of the days’ weather, omg. 

There’s no way they have enough time to serve everyone a full breakfast, so they shove all the food into a blender and give it to the guests as the “Deluxe Breakfast Combo To-Go!” Seriously, Gordon Ramsay would have a field day with this.

They pretty much scream at the guests to “move it!” and get outta the house at midnight while they’re all still in their pajama’s and disoriented. Even if it was 7am, this is some terrible service. At this point, I’d give Stevens’ Manor a generous zero stars on Yelp.  

Amazingly, they get everyone out with enough time to hustle and clean up the house before Steve and Eileen get back! *Whew!* Louis and Ren scramble to explain the whole Enda lady who answered the phone situation and claim that she’s the school nurse. Steve is so confused, “The school nurse made a house call in the middle of the night?!” Honestly, though. Suddenly Edna walks back in the front door “Excuse me, I forgot my umbrella.” Haha. That’s when she and Eileen have their final brush with miscommunication. Eileen is all “Thank you for taking care of Louis!” and Edna says “Well, let me tell you something, Eileen. I have dedicated my entire life to taking care of Louis, so let me give you a little warning... STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” 

Steve: “These school nurses are so protective...” 

Steve and Eileen decide to head upstairs and go to bed immediately, to Louis and Ren’s relief -- which actually made me realize something... Where do Steve and Eileen sleep?! From what we’ve seen of the upstairs it seems to only have a bathroom and Louis, Ren, and Donnie’s rooms! I’ve never seen space or a door for a third bedroom up there! Omg. Maybe they have a secret bedroom in a hidden attic or something? Hey! They had a giant secret cave underneath their house. It’s possible. 

The final minute bit of this episode is great. Steve and Eileen are watching some local news program and Mrs. Colepepper happens to be the host. She shares her experience at Stevens’ Manor and how she’ll never forget it in a strangely positive review segment. The best line is when she says “I don’t normally sleep through the night, but when my head hit the pillow -- the next thing I knew, it was morning!” HAHAHAHA. She makes a point to mention the “hip, young staff” and shows a picture of the gang (see cover photo.) And yeah. Steve blows a gasket. 

THE END!

This is a great episode. I mean, really. It’s super memorable, funny, and it’s an awesome episode for the cast as an ensemble. I cracked up countless times writing this review! It definitely gets a lot of “iconic” points for sure. I just personally prefer episodes that have more of a story to them and focus on the characters. As great as this episode is, it’s definitely one of those wacky plots that could only make sense in crazy Season 3. But I gotta give it to them... This is such a wild and elaborate plot, but they somehow make you believe that Louis could’ve actually pulled this off irl. I’m sure there were some impressionable kids out there who entertained the idea of doing something similar themselves, lol. I want y’all to know that #17 isn’t a “bad” spot by any means. I feel like I say this a lot, but at this point in the countdown, everything seriously is pretty much top notch. I’m simply arranging the best of the best in an order I hope is both personal and objective. It’s a difficult line to straddle, believe me.

To top off the review, I’ve added not one -- but two Stevens’ Manor designs to the Redbubble shop!! AYYYYYYYYY! I got carried away. I’m actually really excited about these, haha! Ya can now get the main “Stevens’ Manor” design and the employee logo design printed on whatevaaa you want. Doing these reproductions of things that exist within the shows’ universe is so fun. I’m really trying my best to get as close to the way they appear on screen as I possibly can (with my limited photoshop skillz)

They’re available in the shop now! Yay!

Thanks for reading!!

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[finiarels]

The Beat of Her Heart - PART 2

End of the year’s holiday special. The story consists of 5 parts + 1 epilogue.

Update every Wednesday and Sunday

Main Pairing: Shiraishi Mai X Wakatsuki Yumi

[read on JPH!P]

Wakatsuki Yumi. She hadn’t even met her until last year, yet she was already familiar with the name for four years. From the time Fukagawa Mai helped her to disclose a classified hospital record, that name has claimed a permanent place in her brain. It wasn’t that hard for the latter to get her hands on the records considering the Fukagawa ownership of the hospital. Back then, just like how Shiraishi was, Fukagawa also believed that maybe knowing the names will help her to move on as losing her best friend was also giving her a difficult time. Well, those names might really give Fukagawa a sense of closure, however, knowing the names didn’t work out that well for Shiraishi. Most of the times, Shiraishi Mai ponders upon how ironic a fate is. How she was betrothed to another girl from she was young, not knowing what the future holds for the girl. How she would be the reason for the girl’s death a decade after that. Some of her peers which also has been promised to another person since they were young are not even in love but somehow- they are still in a lasting relationship up until this point. Yet she- who had fallen head over heels with her fiancé lost her completely. Isn’t that unfair? Scratch that. There are some parts of Sakurai Reika left in this world. Among the many pieces the girl so generously donated, the most important one is left in Wakatsuki Yumi. Shiraishi looks up only to meet Wakatsuki’s face, her eyes are unreadable behind the snow google, her hand held out to Shiraishi as an offer to help. Shiraishi grasp the hand with both of hers, letting the smaller girl pull her up. As she stands up, she leaned as close as possible to the helper. That is her purpose, her goal for the day, to hear the heartbeat of her past lover. To her dismay, Wakatsuki took a step back even though her fingers holding Shiraishi’s arm gently to make sure she doesn’t fall down again. “Thanks,” Shiraishi said, purposely lifting her google so the other girl could recognise her. “S- Shiraishi-san? It’s me- Wakatsuki Yumi,” the girl lifts her snow google as well. “I never thought I will see you here.” Shiraishi raised her gloved hand to her mouth as if she’s not expecting to see the other girl as well, “What a surprise! It’s really nice to see you. Well, my friend is the owner of the Hashimoto ski-resort and she invites me to come over for a couple of nights. How about you?” “My family has a lodge just right below the resort so I am staying there. I’m basically alone though, my sister will come to join me the day after tomorrow, but the rest of my family is basically busy. You are welcome to visit.” “I would love to,” Shiraishi excitedly took the offer, grasping the girl’s hand with hers. “For you to come alone for a ski trip, you must really like the snow, don’t you?” “Ah- that might be because I used to be too ill to play this kind of sports. But ever since I have gotten much better I tried a lot of things that I couldn’t do before, including the snowboard.” Shiraishi smiled a little, seeing Wakatsuki happily talked about something have that effect on her. She’s glad that the donation lands on someone who deserves it. “How about ski? Do you know anything about this?” “Well, I did take a ski lesson so I could give you a view pointer. The way you’re standing now it’s already perfect, just make sure to keep your legs from spreading apart when you’re sliding down and watch your speed. I think the main reason you fell is that you were too fast.” “I admit I was really enjoying the speed rush before,” Shiraishi laughed, somehow that earned a dazed look from Wakatsuki. Shiraishi tilted her head a bit, “Wakatsuki-san?” “Yes, uh- sorry, I was just out of it. By the way, no need to be so polite, calling me with the family name makes me feel like you are talking to my father instead of me.” “Yumi-san then? Or would Yumi-chan works better?” “E-either way is good,” she replied, looking bashful out of the sudden. “Well, I will call you Yumi-chan, then. You also don’t need to use my family name to call me, just so we are even.” Wakatsuki smiled, “Okay, Mai-chan, shall we finish the remaining of this track now? I will help you up if you ever fall again.” Shiraishi was stunned, she didn’t realise that it’s been a long time since someone called her like that. Her friends call her ‘Maiyan’ and her parents always ditch any kind of honorific to call her. She hadn’t noticed it before but Sakurai Reika was the only one who calls her like that. Hearing those words coming out from another mouth that is not hers with a voice that is completely different is bittersweet. She thought of asking the girl to call her something else instead, but somehow, she likes the sounds of Wakatsuki saying that. “Let’s go,” Shiraishi said, snapping out of her train of thought and averted her focus to the ski track ahead of them. About a few meters from where they had started to slide down the slope side by side, Shiraishi felt a bit of pain, she might have splintered her foot a little when she slipped. However, that should be fine, since Wakatsuki is moving in a decent and harmless speed. “Is your foot okay?” She somehow guessed correctly. “It’s fine. We are not going at full speed anyway,” Shiraishi assured her. Wakatsuki nodded, “I sort of fell in a similar way last year. My foot was splintered badly, but that might be because of the ski lesson’s cheap ski boots.” Shiraishi laughed, imagining the non-flexible boots that most of the ski rental offers, “I can imagine.” The two girls move in silence for a moment. Calculating her next move, Shiraishi stole a quick glance at the girl beside her, contemplating whether she should try to achieve her main objective or not. Noticing a bit of a curve ahead of them, she realised that her second chance is coming. She closes her eyes and let her footing shambles, making sure that she lands in the most comfortable way as she does so, letting out a little yelp when she finally hit the ground. Wakatsuki stopped, holding out a hand to help her stand up just like how she did it before. However, this time instead of letting the girl pull her up, Shiraishi pulled down the girl that’s holding her. Furthermore, when the girl loses a little bit of her balance, Shiraishi’s foot plays their part to purposely tripped the girl down. Just like that, Wakatsuki Yumi fell right on top of her. Shiraishi lay still, trying to make out the beat of the girl’s heart, however, their thick jackets prevent that. Sighing, she realised that this petty trick won’t do. Shiraishi turns her head, her eyes meeting Wakatsuki that is looking at her with her eyes widened, totally wasn’t expecting the sudden turn of event. Shiraishi smiled sheepishly, “I’m sorry.” It took Wakatsuki a couple of seconds to pull herself together and rolled off Shiraishi’s body, expression unreadable, “don’t mind it.” This time, Shiraishi helped herself up instead of waiting for the girl, thinking that she had done enough to trouble her by falling. In response, Wakatsuki watches in silence as she readied herself back, only giving her a small nod before continuing the rest of their track. Shiraishi could feel the girl’s eyes checking up on her every now and then as if to make sure that she didn’t hurt herself even more by that second fall. They already did more than half of the track and Shiraishi realised if she still wants to have a chat with the girl furthermore she might need to say something soon.  She remembered requesting a dinner to Hashimoto and took her chance, “Yumi-chan, would you like to join me for dinner tonight? My treat. Consider it my way to pay you back for your help.” Wakatsuki’s movement slowed down, “no need to trouble yourself.” “It’s totally fine, I insist.” Wakatsuki looks at her for a moment, before averting her gaze back to the track. There’s something that bugs her mind for a while and she thinks that this is the right time to find out the truth, “Mai-chan, when you slipped right in front of me. Was it truly an accident?” “What are you talking about? Y-you saw it happened,” Shiraishi tried to defend herself. “From the time where we talked in our first meeting, a lot of people have warned me about you. I decided to brush it off, thinking that there is no way that nice girl who is willing to listen to my boring story instead meeting the other more important people in the gala would do that to me,” Wakatsuki sighed. “Still, I feel the need to make myself clear. Maybe you don’t care about your reputation for sleeping around with different person each night, but I do care. So, if the actual reason for that dinner is so that you can add me to your long list of ‘girl I’ve slept with’. I’m sorry but I can’t and I won’t.” That wasn’t the first time she had been turned down by someone, she had gotten that response a lot especially since her name isn’t exactly untarnished when it comes to love affairs. Somehow, she had built a wall to protect her from hurting from rejection, reminding herself that there are plenty other fishes in the sea. However, this time, for the first time in years, Shiraishi Mai felt like her heart was crushed. “I was a fool to think that you would treat me differently because of the heart that’s beating in you. Well, it was still nice to hang out with you. Have a good day, Yumi-chan.” ~ To Be Continued ~

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Cover You in Oil, pt20

Word Count: 6326 Tags: @outside-the-government, @yourtropegirl @to-pick-ourselves-up-7, @ghostssss, @rampant-salamander, @saysay125, @sistasarah-sallysaidso @shewhorunswithfandoms, @flirtswithdanger @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns 

It was still dark when Sally’s alarm wakened her. She yawned and rolled over, silencing the alarm and pulling her pillow back over her head. A few minutes later, the chime of an incoming text rocked her awake. She groped her hand across the night table and pulled her phone to her face.

“I love you.” Tony. She should have known. She was too preoccupied before bed to think about messaging him, and she’d deliberately avoided video chat because she didn’t want to be caught in a lie about her and Sasha’s plans to leave Latveria.

“Not surprising. I am irresistible, after all.”

“Early morning arrogance, nice. I didn’t think that would be a turn on, but I might need a cold shower. Snowboarding today, right?”

“Yeah. Snowpants are super sexy too. They crinkle and are bulky. Rowr.”

“God, I love it when you describe what you’re wearing. It’s gonna be a long cold shower at this rate.”

“And wool thermal underwear. Sweatpants. Scarf. Oh, this should really get you going, I have a pom-pom on my snow hat.”

“I’m gonna need a photo of that sexiness. Right now.”

Sally laughed and snapped a selfie, lying back on her pillow. Her hair was a tangled mess, and she’d forgotten to wash the make-up off her face before she’d fallen asleep, leaving her with streaking mascara down one side of her face. Her pajama top was pulled off one shoulder, exposing the pale, freckled skin there.

“Enjoy.” She rolled onto her side and pushed herself to sitting, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The phone chimed again.

“You play dirty. That’s not snowboarding gear. Then again, neither is this.” A picture of Tony’s ankle and calf appeared on the screen, causing Sally to cackle.

“What a daring and provocative image!”

“I didn’t want to shock you too much. Your innocence is so beguiling, you know.”

“I mentioned Sasha was built like a tank and is good-looking to boot, didn’t I? Good thing I’m so innocent…” Sally walked across the room and pulled out her thermal underwear, and started getting dressed while she waited for Tony’s response.

“Wait, Sasha is a guy?”

“Ha ha. I have to get ready. The sun will be up soon, and there’s a lot of snow calling to me.”

“Just remember how you felt after last week.”

“I love you, Tony.” She pulled her snowpants out of the closet and tossed them on the bed, wondering what exactly she should pack to take with her. Probably nothing other than her phone and her engagement ring.

“I love you too, princess.”

“Just. Yeah. I love you.” She slipped the ring on her finger and took a deep breath as she looked at it, chest tightening with longing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Victor’s a creep.”

“But you knew that already. So what else?”

“What else does there need to be?”

“Do I need to come over there and pull the answer out of you?”

“I honestly think that would be exceptionally dangerous, if I am completely truthful with you.” It was a calculated risk admitting even that much, but Sally really wanted to curb his impulse to suit up and head over.

“When you say things like that, you make me nervous, princess.”

“Tony, I can handle this. I don’t need you swooping in to rescue me. I’m not a damsel in distress.”

The video messaging link on her laptop chirped, and Sally knew it was just better to talk to him than keep trying to allay his fears by text message. She sat down in front of the computer and accepted the call.

“Seriously, are you safe and unharmed?” Tony cut right to the chase. Sally smiled and let out a little sigh.

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m tired, and I’m overreacting to little things, and I miss you. I didn’t realize how much I would. It’s not like we’ve been together for years.” Sally reassured him.

“All you need to do is say the word. I’m not suggesting you aren’t capable of handling yourself, just that if you want an easy out, I’ll come snatch you away,” Tony assured her.

“Fair. I’ll let you know if I can’t handle it,” Sally nodded. “Remind me again how good the encryption on my laptop, StarkPad and phone are please?”

“It’s a multi-level encryption system, and the base levels are deliberately just hard enough to crack that they seem foolproof. But they’re designed to be hacked with effort. It throws the hacker off the scent of the deeper encryption. Once it’s hacked, everything that is under the higher level of encryption disappears off of the device,” Tony explained.

“So if it got hacked, our text transcripts wouldn’t be available?” Sally asked.

“Right, but your planning app for work would open right up,” Tony nodded.

“Fail safes?” Sally asked.

“How do you mean?” Tony quirked an eyebrow.

“Is there any way for me to shut it down, if I know someone is about to try?”

“Press and hold the home button for three seconds. It’ll default the device into hacked mode, and hide any incoming data messaging,” Tony explained. “If you’re that worried, Sally, you aren’t telling me everything. What is going on? And remember, I am your soulmate. Your fiancé. And soon will be your husband. Lying isn’t going to look good.”

“Like I said, Victor is setting off my warning bells. This is a spooky landscape to begin with, and I’m on edge. I’m probably overreacting, Tony.” Sally could hear her mother chastising her about lying by omission, but she just couldn’t open up and tell the whole tale to him. “I’ve really gotta go though. Snowboarding!”

“I still don’t believe you, but I’ll badger you more about it tonight,” Tony shook his head.

It was overcast, and by the time Sasha and Sally reached the ski lodge, it was snowing heavily, making visibility limited. Sally looked up the mountain, socked in behind dark clouds and looked back at Sasha.

“Really?”

“It’s actually the best weather to get out of here. We’ll be long gone before anyone notices with these flurries blowing around,” he nodded.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Sally asked.

“We’ll do some runs until mid-morning, and then we’ll break to eat. When we take the lift back up to the top, we’ll just head over to the far run, ditch our equipment and start hiking,” Sasha explained. “There’s some caves we should reach by nightfall, and once we get up tomorrow morning, we’re going to have another long day ahead of us, but by tomorrow night, we should be able to alert your fella to where we are, and have him extract us without much fuss.”

Sally nodded and followed Sasha into the lodge. “Reassure me that you won’t murder me or something.”

“I’ve got everything at stake too, Sally. Making the right decision is a lot easier when you know it might help the case against you.” In that moment, Sasha became Bucky Barnes again, and Sally nodded.

“I just,” Sally paused. “After the thing in DC –“

“I’ll never be the same man I was, Sally. But I’ll be damned if all I am remembered for is the Winter Soldier,” he shook his head.

The falling snow didn’t hamper Sally’s enjoyment of the morning at all, once she got past the underlying dread of their plan failing. By the time Sasha signaled her at the bottom of the hill to head in for a snack, she was feeling nearly as free as she did on a surfboard. Just colder.

“You seem less tense,” Sasha commented. Sally nodded.

“Freedom is a heady elixir,” Sally admitted. “And those hard runs feel a lot like flying.”

“One last run before we go eat then,” he laughed. “It’s starting to get crowded, and it looks like the sky is clearing a little.” He directed her back to the lift, and they hopped on a chair. Sasha watched the skiers below them as they headed up the mountain.

“I don’t know how you look down like that,” Sally laughed. “It makes me dizzy.”

“Didn’t you tell me just last week that you like jumping out of planes for fun?” Sasha shot back. “There’s some erratic skiing happening on that run you’ve been favouring this morning. Maybe try a different one this time.”

“I feel confident in my ability to dodge around them,” Sally shrugged. “I barely missed clipping a kid earlier this morning, but I think they’re just out having fun. It’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” Sasha sighed. Sally hopped off the chair and winked.

“I do,” she laughed. “Race you to the bottom, old man. Last one down buys lunch!” She headed toward her run, without looking back.

Partway down the intermediate run, a skier dodged in front of her. She barely missed hitting the man, but was able to redirect herself without falling. A few minutes later, another skier shot across in front of her, and she just wasn’t fast enough to safely avoid hitting him. She knocked him down, and lost her balance, not quite bailing into the snow. When she was able to regain her legs, and straighten up, she looked up just in time to see the tree in front of her as she slammed into it. And then she saw nothing.

“Sally!” A familiar voice called her, from far away. She blinked and looked up into Sasha’s concerned face. “Sally, you’re badly hurt. Where’s your phone?”

“Inside my coat,” she moaned. “What happened?”

��You hit a skier, and lost control. And then you hit a tree,” Sasha explained. “I’m going to call Tony.”

“No, Sasha, just get me help,” Sally breathed. “I hurt everywhere.” She closed her eyes and mercifully, everything went dark again.

Something smelled like trees and antiseptic. Sally drew in a deep breath and yawned, opening her eyes slowly. She was in a narrow bed in a cool, white room. There was a window just far enough away that all she could see was the blue sky beyond her room.

“Iubită, finally, you are back with me.” Sally looked away from the window toward the voice. The man was in a rumpled white shirt, open at the collar. The sleeves were rolled up, and the amount of wrinkles in the shirt suggested he’d been sitting vigil in the chair for a while.

Sally’s mouth was dry, and she licked her lips before trying to speak. “Where am I?”

“The medical centre. You had a skiing accident.” The man didn’t elaborate, but handed her a cup with a straw. Ice water had never tasted so good. She cleared her throat and tried to sit up. The man held his hand up to stop her and pressed a button on the side of the bed, lifting her head.

“What happened?”

“Your femur was broken in three places, so you needed a surgery to repair it,” he explained. “Fortunately, the medical advances we’ve made here allowed the bone to be repaired, possibly stronger than it was before.”

“Three places?” She asked. “How does that get repaired?”

“The femur has a steel rod inside it now. Thanks to our advanced robotics technology, the bone is already repaired,” the man explained.

“Are you the doctor?” She asked.

“No, Iubită,” he laughed, softly, and took her hand in his. “The doctor warned me you’d had a head injury as well, but I didn’t realize he meant you would forget so much.”

“What did I forget?” Sally asked. All she could remember was another man asking her about her phone.

“Iubită, Sara, I am your husband, Victor.” He sat at the edge of the bed, and smoothed her hair off her face. “You are my wife.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember,” Sally shook her head. “My head hurts. And my leg is burning. Are there stitches? Is that why the skin is burning?”

“You have no stitches, my love.” Victor shook his head. “The technology was sufficiently advanced that it completely healed your incision. Look.” He helped her draw back the sheet, and sure enough, when she compared her legs, the only thing that told her which one had been broken was the burning she felt in the affected leg. Otherwise they were a perfect match, completely unmarred. Sally ran her hand down the affected leg, and could feel a twisting ridge of scar tissue under the flesh.

“Why does it feel so odd?” She asked.

“The technology is not perfect, and cannot correct old wounds,” Victor explained.

“I don’t remember another injury,” Sally said. “But my leg feels different now.”

“Sleep, Iubită. You need to regain your strength, or we’ll have to reschedule the coronation -”

“Coronation?” Sally interrupted

Victor chuckled softly. “Yes, my beloved princess. Now that we are wed, you need to be elevated to your station as Empress of Latveria, that you may rule at my side.”

“Empress? Of Latveria?” Sally asked. The words seemed so familiar, but she couldn’t make sense of anything they were speaking about.

“Rest, Sara,” Victor squeezed her hand. “I must see to –“

“I thought I was American?” She interrupted. Victor smiled as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“You are, Sara. You came here to work, and we fell in love. You chose to stay when I proposed.”

“I don’t remember,” Sally shook her head. She felt the press of an invisible weight on her chest, and took a deep, ragged breath.

“The doctor says it will return with time, but while your brain is still swollen, you might have problems with recollection.”

“If we’re married, why don’t I have a ring?” She asked. Her head felt foggy, like she was lost and couldn’t find her way out of a maze.

“It’s right here,” he replied, reaching for the bedside table and slipping a wedding set on her finger. Sally looked at it, and narrowed her eyes. The engagement ring was a round cut pink diamond. That didn’t seem right. “I’ve assigned a guard to watch you tonight, lest you get frightened. I will see you in the morning.” He pressed his lips against her forehead again and turned to leave the room. The guard stepped in and the spoke quietly in the corner for a moment before Victor left. The guard came and sat in the chair Victor had vacated and smiled at her.

“How are you feeling, doll?” He asked. Sally looked at him and blinked slowly.

“You’re the guard who helped me on the ski hill,” she realized. “I can’t remember your name.”

“Bu – “ he started. “Alexandr Vurdalakovich.” His face fell.

“We were friends,” Sally surmised. The guard smiled.

“You called me Sasha,” he nodded. “You were in my charge when you were hurt.”

“Was it your fault?” Sally asked, a teasing lilt to her voice.

“No ma’am,” he shook his head.

“Did I trust you?”

“With your life,” he nodded. His voice was serious, almost hard.

“How long ago was the accident?” Sally asked.

“6 days, 14 hours and 32 minutes ago,” Sasha replied.

“And you’re sure I trust you?” Sally demanded.

“I give my word,” he nodded, the same hard tone back in his voice. Sally looked back at her hand, to the foreign rings on her finger and then looked back at Sasha.

“Why is my engagement ring wrong?”

Sasha stared at her, eyes narrowed and assessing. He huffed a little breath out, but said nothing.

“I – “ he started.

“Sara, I have your pain medication,” a nurse interrupted as she breezed through the door. She lifted the covers just enough that she could see Sally’s leg and pressed on it in a couple of places. “Where is the pain, mostly?”

“Uh, there’s a burning sensation that wraps around my thigh. It seems to follow that band of scar tissue,” Sally offered. The nurse pursed her lips and shot a direct look at Sasha.

“Step outside, please,” she ordered. Sasha shook his head and locked gazes with the nurse.

“I’m under orders from the Emperor to not leave her side,” Sasha refused, unblinking.

“I need to assess her,” the nurse protested.

“It’s okay,” Sally interjected. The nurse turned to look at Sally, narrowing her eyes.

“What is?”

“Sasha, it’s okay. Just stay by the door?” Sally asked. Sasha nodded and stepped just outside the room. She could see the outline of his head through the cloudy window on the door and was reassured this stranger who felt safe wasn’t leaving her. The nurse accessed her IV and injected the medication into the line. Soon, Sally was drifting off again.

The searing, scalding pain in her leg pulled her out of her sleep with a start. From the inside of her thigh, wrapping like a snake around until her knee, the band of scar tissue was on fire. She reached down to rub at it but the skin was hot to the touch, like she was being burned right in the moment. She sat up, pulling back the blankets, and stared at her leg. It looked fine, but the line of scar tissue was a faint pink that was just a tiny bit darker than the rest of her skin.

She dragged in a shaky breath and looked over at the soldier sleeping in the chair by the foot of her bed. He looked uncomfortable in his uniform, beret tucked into a shoulder epaulet, but his gloves still on. She narrowed her eyes at the gloves. There was some sort of significance there that she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but she felt as though if she could just remember that one detail, so many other things would fall into place.

“Sasha?” Sally’s voice was a coarse whisper. He immediately snapped awake.

“Sally?” He pulled his chair closer silently and sat up, leaning forward, arms on his knees.

“Sasha, how did I get here?” She asked.

“You hit another skier,” Sasha started slowly. Sally could tell he was withholding information.

“But how did I wind up in Latveria?” Sally asked. Sasha blanched.

“You really don’t remember?” Sasha asked. “You have no recollection of the weeks leading up to your arrival here?”

“None,” Sally nodded. “The last thing I remember is surfing at Santa Cruz. In April? The water was still a little chilly.”

“Do you remember the last job you worked?” Sasha pressed.

“A charity car? For pancreatic cancer research?” Sally squinted, deep in thought. She knew the answer was wrong, but couldn’t remember what the right answer was. She sighed, a wave of exhaustion washing across her. The pain in her leg was wearing her down emotionally, and nothing the nurse gave her came near to relieving the pain. It was only when she was sedated that she could sleep, and even then she was haunted by dreams of a third dark-haired man, this one with rich chocolate brown eyes with gold highlights. She fell back against her pillow.

“You’re tired,” Sasha observed. Sally nodded. “I’ll get the nurse so you can have something for pain.”

“The pain meds aren’t working,” Sally admitted.

“I’ll let her know that too.” Sasha rose and stepped to the door of her room, gesturing to the nurse. They had a quiet conversation in a language Sally didn’t understand and then Sasha nodded and turned back to Sally. “She’s going to see if she can get an order for something for nerve pain. And she’ll bring something to help you sleep.”

“I feel like maybe you are more than my guard, Sasha,” Sally commented. “You’re my friend too?”

“Very much so,” he nodded, and moved his chair to sit beside her. She reached out for his hand. Surprised, he allowed her to lace her fingers in his. They sat in silence until the nurse came with the next dose of pain medication.

“Did you get something else for pain for me?” Sally asked as the nurse cleaned the saline lock at her wrist.

“We’re trying a medication for nerve pain now,” the nurse nodded as she injected the medication. Sally sighed and nodded.

“And something for sleep?” She asked.

“In about twenty minutes.”

Sally settled back into the bed and closed her eyes. She focussed on breathing slowly and evenly, a vague recollection having read something about breathing and pain control prompting her to try to relax, her fingers still entwined with Sasha’s. She heard the nurse return, quietly working around Sasha to assess her leg and give the sedative medication. She started to relax enough that she could feel herself dropping off to sleep and allowed the dreams to come.

The ocean water was cold and Sally resurfaced, sputtering and laughing, and his lips brushed against hers. She sighed into him and the waves retreated, and suddenly they were in a massive bed, and his lips trailed down her neck and shoulder, following her collarbone to the valley between her breasts. He looked up at her, and she fought to remember him, fought to remember those brown eyes that were so clearly full of love in a way she couldn’t have just created in her imagination. The soft hairs of his carefully manicured goatee dragged across the gentle curve of her belly and she gasped as his lips found the painful band on her inner thigh.

She came awake with a start, his name on her lips. But it was gone before she was fully coherent, and she pulled back into awareness by the concerned furrow on Victor’s brow.

“Iubită, you were having a nightmare.” He smoothed his hand across her forehead, sweeping the hair off her face.

“It didn’t feel like a nightmare,” Sally argued. “I felt like I was trying to remember.”

“Sara, you were crying out in pain and begging for help,” Victor prompted. Sally shook her head and fell silent. She knew she hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have been. The dream was too realistic, and nothing about it felt wrong. Being alone in the cold medical room with Victor felt wrong, but Sally was still so lost in the lack of memories that she couldn’t figure out exactly why.

“The pain medications are not working on my leg,” Sally changed the subject. “I know you said the surgery was state of the art, but I feel like someone has coiled a rope around my leg and keeps pulling it tighter and tighter. It burns all the time.”

The corners of Victor’s mouth turned down and his brow furrowed. “I will see what the doctor has to say.” He rose and before he left, leaned down to kiss Sally’s forehead. Sally tried to control the instinctive flinch, but was left wondering why she recoiled from his touch, if he was her husband. She knew Sasha held the key to what was happening, but they were never alone long enough for her to pull any information out of him. Sasha slipped in as Victor stepped out.

“You’re awake,” he commented.

“Why does he call me Sara?” Sally asked. Sasha drew in a deep breath.

“To put distance between who you were and who he wants you to be,” Sasha admitted truthfully. Sally used the controls on the side of the bed to raise her head and readjusted herself into a more comfortable position.

“And why am I finding moving so easy if my leg was broken in three places? Shouldn’t I be stiff and sore?” She demanded.

“The technology that he has developed for healing the human body is remarkable,” Sasha hedged, his eyes flicking to the camera Sally had just noticed was in the corner of the room monitoring them. Sally suddenly understood why every time she tried to talk to him the nurse would interrupt.

“Should we test this leg out then?” Sally asked, swinging her legs over to the side of the bed. Sasha leaped to his feet and stood in front of her, holding out his hands to catch her.

“What about your pain?” He asked.

“Everyone insists it is nerve pain. So it shouldn’t get any worse with the use of my legs, right?” She shrugged, shuffling herself to the edge of the bed. “Help tie up this gown, would you? I get the impression we’re friends, but not naked-bum-seeing friends.”

Sasha smirked and pulled the gown across her back and tied it at the side of her waist. “We are not naked-anything-seeing friends,” he confirmed. Sally placed her feet on the cold flood tentatively, and shifted her weight to her good leg, slowly easing her balance over to both legs. Just as she’d thought, the pain was no worse once she was standing.

“Where can we go walk? If I was injured skiing, I know it’s not April anymore,” she commented.

“There’s a gym in the former dungeon. For members of the guard,” he started. “I can see no reason why we couldn’t go there.” With a hand across her back, he guided her slowly to the door. They were met by the nurse, who blocked the door.

“And where exactly do you think you are going?” She asked, her accent so thick Sally could barely understand it. She was obviously speaking English for Sally’s benefit.

“Testing the strength and integrity of this bone repair,” Sasha shrugged.

“I don’t have a doctor’s order for activity,” the nurse argued.

“You must have, you were able to take the catheter out yesterday after she woke up,” Sasha shot back. “It would still be there if she wasn’t allowed to get up to the toilet.”

“Toilet privilege is different than free activity,” the nurse snapped. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Well, I don’t understand either. If this is a state-of-the-art repair, I should be able to get up and move around. I should be encouraged to do so,” Sally argued. The nurse shot an angry look at her.

“You need to get back into bed,” she ordered.

“Humour me for a moment, Sasha,” Sally started. “Victor said I was his wife?”

“Yes,” Sasha nodded.

“And this is my wedding band?” Sally pointed at the ring on her left hand.

“Yes.”

“So I’m the wife of the emperor of this country, correct?” She asked, arching an eyebrow.

“That would seem to be the case,” Sasha nodded. Sally rose up, standing as straight as she could manage and stared the nurse in the eye.

“I would strongly advise you to get the fuck out of my way,” Sally smiled, her tone cooler than her words. The nurse sighed heavily and stepped out of the way of the door, allowing them past. Sasha slipped his arm around Sally’s back again and helped her to the elevator. They stood in silence as the elevator descended to the dungeon level, and again, he helped her off the elevator.

“I should have found a wheelchair,” Sasha commented when Sally needed to stop to catch her breath.

“I’m in better shape than this,” Sally took a deep breath, and forced it out slowly. Sasha nodded.

“You’ve been running every morning since you got here. Usually 3 or 4 miles,” he agreed. “But this kind of injury and surgery takes all your reserves and burns through them. Just a few more feet and we’ll be in the gym.”

“I can do that,” Sally pushed herself off the wall, and allowed Sasha to help her again. She had no limp, she noticed, and other than the pain and exhaustion, she would never have known she had been injured. The bone itself felt strong, the muscles powerful. Once they were through the gym, Sasha turned her sharply to the left where the track was. As soon as they were on it, he spoke quietly.

“My guess is that we have less than five minutes before Victor is down here demanding you get back into bed. I disabled the monitoring in this gym months ago, it intermittently does and doesn’t work, but the sound is always far too distorted to understand what is being said,” he explained.

“I keep dreaming of a man with brown eyes.” It was the first thing Sally thought to blurt out. “Every time I am sedated, he returns.”

“Do you remember your soulmark?” Sasha asked.

“My what?” Sally asked, confusion crumpling her features. The words sounded like they meant something, but she couldn’t figure out what.

“Soulmark,” Sasha said the word again. “It’s a sentence or phrase etched into your skin that tells you the first words your soulmate will say to you.”

“Did I think that was a legend?” Sally asked. It seemed to familiar, but she couldn’t imagine buying into it.

“Shit.”

“What?” Sally asked. He nodded in the direction of the doors to the gym, where he saw Victor arguing with the captain of the guard. Victor pointed at them, and the guard stepped out of the way, but Victor had more angry words for the man.

“It’s not a legend,” Sasha spoke quickly. “And when I carried you into the operating suite, I saw your mark. And when you came out of the surgery, your mark was gone. As is half of your memory.”

“Sasha, was Victor ever my lover?” Sally breathed, horror washing over her.

“Never,” Sasha shook his head. “I would argue that he frightened you, to be honest.” Sally looked up and watched as Victor strode toward them.

“Vurdalakovich! What is the meaning of this?” Victor stepped in front of them, impeding their progress around the track.

“Her Grace wanted to walk, to make sure her surgery had been successful.” Sasha was suddenly the perfect soldier. Sally straightened as much as she could. “I didn’t dare argue.”

“Sara,” Victor started. “It is far too soon –“

“It’s been six days,” Sally argued.

“You only woke yesterday,” Victor countered, taking her free hand in his. He disentangled her from Sasha’s side, and took his place, sliding his hand across the small of her back. Unlike when Sasha touched her, her skin crawled, warning her something was very wrong, even if she couldn’t figure out what.

“If the repair was as state-of-the-art as you claim, I should have started physiotherapy yesterday,” Sally argued. “I forced the guard’s hand and demanded he bring me somewhere I could walk.”

“I don’t think it is wise, my love –“

“If you want me to walk at my coronation, it is very wise,” Sally interrupted. Sasha cocked an eyebrow from behind Victor’s shoulder, and Sally smiled, redirecting it at Victor.

“We can argue about this more tomorrow,” Victor set his jaw. “But now let’s get you back to your bed.”

“As I am worn thin, I will agree,” Sally nodded. Victor tilted his head to one side and looked hard at her. He pursed his lips and nodded. Sally took him in, tall, and strong. Handsome. Shrewd intelligence that shone out of his eyes. She realized that most women would find him extremely attractive, but there was something deep inside that repelled her.

“Very well.” Victor scooped her up in his arms, and carried her toward the doors. He turned and levelled his gaze on Sasha. “We will discuss your insubordination later.”

“My insubordination, you mean,” Sally corrected. Victor narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “I demanded, Victor. He followed my orders. Had you given him any orders to suggest he shouldn’t be at my beck and call?”

“No,” Victor barely paused before answering.

“Then it is settled. He remains my guard because I trust him. He is the only thing I come close to remembering about being here,” Sally countered.

“If that is what you wish, Iubită,” Victor nodded.

“It is,” Sally nodded.

“Sally!” The man with the brown eyes screamed, reaching out to her as she was dragged deeper and deeper into a dark abyss. She reached back, his name on her lips, crying out for him. She pain in her chest matched the pain in her leg and she saw words snaking around his bicep in writing she recognized as her own. His fingers entwined in hers, but before either of them could get a firm grip, Sally was tugged away again, her fingers slipping from his.

“No!” She screamed.

She sat up in bed, covered in sweat, breath coming in rapid, shallow gasps. Sasha bolted up from his chair, suddenly alert.

“Are you okay?” His voice floated across the dark room. Sally turned toward the corner it came from.

“That dream I had yesterday,” she began. “It became a nightmare. He was trying to save me and I was pulled away.”

“The doctor came in when you were sleeping. You’ll be leaving medical back to your suite this morning,” Sasha offered, changing the subject deliberately.

“Will you still be expected to guard me?” Sally asked.

“Yes,” Sasha nodded. “Victor is concerned about your safety. He feels the accident was deliberate.”

“Tell me how it happened again,” Sally laid back in the bed, looking at the monitor camera out of the corner of her eye.

“You were honeymooning at the ski lodge,” Sasha started, his voice dull and lifeless. Sally suspected he was sending her a message. “You were on an intermediate run, and someone cut you off. As you tried to avoid them, you changed direction and hit a tree.”

“And my leg was broken?”

“You had a broken leg and a concussion from the accident. Victor ordered the guard and the ski patrol to investigate, and now they have uncovered evidence that it was a set up to destabilize Victor’s government,” Sasha recited. Sally had a flash of recollection about dodging someone on the ski hill and nodded. She knew that much was true, but she suspected the rest of the story was false. Every time she woke from another dream, she found herself able to discern more easily the truth from fiction.

“Is it too late to take me for a walk? I feel restless,” Sally asked.

“I received dispensation while you slept to take you whenever you felt necessary,” Sasha nodded.

“And we’ll be safe?” Sally asked, hoping Sasha caught the double meaning. “It is night, after all.”

“I’ve secured the area myself,” Sasha nodded, and assisted her from the bed. The pain along the scar bit as she stretched herself, but she gritted her teeth and pushed forward. She was never going to regain her strength without forcing herself. And one way or another she needed to be strong for the coming weeks.

When they were halfway through the first lap in the gym, Sally drew in her breath. “I know something is going on, Sasha. I just can’t figure out what.”

“It’s coming back to you, though, I think,” he nodded. “You remembered about the accident?”

“I remember being cut-off,” Sally nodded. “Hitting the tree.”

“Anything else?” Sasha asked. Sally flushed.

“I remember June. I remember being approached to work on a car in New York. I remember being concerned about the contract for some reason, but going anyhow,” Sally admitted.

“And?” Sasha prompted.

“I know I’ve had,” Sally trailed off, and turned redder. “Uh, relations? With someone.”

“You’re in your mid-thirties, Sally –“

“No, I had never done that before New York. There was something stopping me,” she cut him off. “And something about New York changed that. The brown-eyed man? I dream about him constantly.”

“Your soulmate, Sally,” Sasha whispered. Sally felt an icy chill down her back and stopped walking.

“I don’t think I had one?” She replied. Sasha shook his head.

“I was brainwashed. For years. I couldn’t remember anything about my past,” Sasha started. “I saw one of the vials of medication they’ve been giving you. It’s the same drug that was used on me.”

“What?” Sally could feel her heart rate increase.

“For decades, I couldn’t remember who I was, or who was important to me. Until one day, I was ordered to kill a man. And seeing his face, hearing his voice, it woke those memories in me, and I was able to start to claw my way back to the surface. Discover who I really was,” he explained, fiddling with his phone a little as they walked. He handed the phone over and Sally took it, looking down at the photo he’d brought up. It was a pair of men who looked very familiar.

“That’s Captain America,” Sally commented on the handsome blond man on the left of the photo as she recognized him. “My grandfather served with him, you know.”

“Do you know the man he is standing with?” Sasha asked. Sally looked back at the photo and took in the man on the right. When Sasha had first past the phone to her, she hadn’t noticed him at all because of the shield giving away who Captain America was. She took in the sharp angle of the second man’s jaw. His wavy, dark hair. Perfectly groomed goatee. And rich, deep chocolately brown eyes. Sally’s breath caught.

“Tony,” she breathed. She drew in a sharp breath as a wave of memories washed across her, amplifying the pain in her leg until she crumpled against Sasha. The embarrassing soulmark, the contract to work on Clint Barton’s car. The moment when he spoke the words to her, and every subsequent moment. His lips on hers – at Coney Island, the Tower, the gala, the moment he proposed. Her mother’s wedding dress, remade for her because it matched so well with the beautiful hand-me-down engagement ring that had been Tony’s mother’s. “My engagement ring –“

“I have it. And your phone. And no idea how to let Tony know you are safe or alive because your fucking encryption shut down messaging when I tried getting into it,” Sasha slid an arm around her and helped her stand up. “Let’s get you back to your bed.”

“We need to leave,” Sally argued.

“You’re hardly in any shape to be hiking through the Carpathians, Sally,” Sasha argued.

[nojam-secrettime]

Dare [GOT7′s Mark]

Genre: fluff~~

Word Count: 1.6k

Admin: Rianne⭐️

“I dare you to jump.”

You teetered at the edge of the small rectangular wooden board that jutted out of the platform into the ravine. It was like you were sentenced to walk the plank like in all those pirate movies.

But this was a choice, your choice. A series of carefully laid out plans and reckless decisions that had culminated to this singular nerve-wracking point all because of 5 words your best friend/longtime crush had said.

I dare you to jump.

It had only taken Mark that one sentence to convince you to go bungee jumping as the both of you spontaneously got lost in the dirt roads. The road trip had been carefully planned as the both of you decided to travel up and down the West Coast and hit every sightseeing point the both of you had wanted to see.

Disneyland, the Space Needle, snowboarding in Salt Lake, the works. Just the two of you, ultimately it was the best and worst experience of your life. The two of you were attached at the hip the whole trip and while it was literally a dream to go on this trip with him, it was bad for your heart.

You weren’t sure when it happened, sometime in high school, you realized that you didn't like any of his girlfriends and hated them purely out of spite. It had taken some convincing from Moonbyul when you vented to her, but she managed to get you to see that Mark was important to you than just your best friend.

That didn't stop you from dating either but all of them ended badly since you hung out with Mark too much for their liking. The both of you had been crowned Prom King and Queen, thanks to the entire student body teasing the both of you when he nominated you for fun.

Through college, the two of you had kept in touch even though he went to the college across town. He was still your faithful bodyguard when you went clubbing and you were his go-to date when he had family parties. It also helped a lot since his house was still down the street from yours and he came over to study together a lot.

It had taken you a year longer but you had finally graduated and then the road trip you had been planning since you were 8 was finally going to happen. A whole month, the two of you, it surprised your parents’ that you weren't already ripping each other’s throats out.

But the times you both crashed in the hotel or stayed up talking about life made your heart swell. You loved waking up to his sleeping face and sweeping his hair to the side, a fact that you very much kept to yourself.

Today, especially, had started out the same way and the both of you had decided to just drive around to see the scenery. He chose to drive today and you sat shotgun with the windows down.

The wind blew through your hair and you secretly hoped you looked decent, even though your hair was in your face half the time. “You can sleep, _____.” Mark said as you guys drove through the mountains again. The weather had warmed up and you could see the green trees and the constant trees was making you sleepy.

“It's okay.” You said, smiling at him. “I’d feel bad, since you're driving.” You looked back out the window as you passed yet another forest.

Mark smiled back at you, “Do you wanna go on a new adventure?” He asked, nodding to the diverged path through the forest.

You found yourself nodding before you even thought about it, “Whatever you want, Markers.” You said, laughing a little.

He shook his head and chuckled, you stopped yourself from staring at his smile. “I will never live that down with you.” He said sadly.

The car passed a small bridge and he gave you a smirk as he quickly parked the car on the side of the road. It had been a spontaneous decision and you just followed his lead.

The both of you walked to the railing and he grinned as he looked down. Someone had just jumped off the bridge as a bungee jump. “You know that we’ve always wanted to.” He told you.

“Okay, but that was different. Like this is kinda dangerous, Mark. What if the rope breaks or something? We could die.” You said, pointing at how the platform was made wood and on top of that the rope was long enough for some people to graze their fingertips on top of the river.

He rolled his eyes at you, “______, I dare you to jump.” He said, “If you jump, I promise to tell you a secret.” He held out his pinky for you to take and you glared at him.

He was using your biggest weakness against you, he knew you couldn't back down from a dare, especially a dare from him. He was also tapping into your curiosity and that small hopeful part of you that wanted to know what the secret was and if it was about you.

You linked pinky fingers with him and grinned, “You swear to tell me the secret after?” You asked.

“Yes, princess.” He said in a teasing voice. “I pinky promise.”

And that was how you ended up on the tiny platform, harnessed in and attached to a single wire that was supposed to support your weight as you fell 100 feet towards a rushing river. Looking down terrified you, but the mere promise of a secret strengthened your resolve.

“Is the princess scared?” Mark whispered behind you. That was your nickname that he refused to let you live down, especially after you won Prom Court. Being called Queen just made you feel so awkward and embarrassed, but if he could tolerate Markers, then you could live with princess.

“Of course, it's a 100 foot drop.” You said, almost snapping at him. You couldn't believe that he had the gall to ask that question. You hated heights, but what you dreaded more was falling from high places and here you are doing exactly that over a stupid dare.

“You can do it.” Mark said as the instructor gave you the go-ahead. “I'll jump after too.” He assured you.

You sucked in a deep breath and nodded, “Okay, I got this.” You said aloud, mostly for yourself but also so they could hear that you were ready to jump. It had only taken a split second for your entire world to turn upside down and for your fingers to graze the water.

You bounced up once, twice before hanging just above the river. The other instructors got into a boat and they gently lowered you down, pulling you back upright and roping the cord back up for the next person.

“Was it fun?” The instructor asked you and you nodded, unable to speak. The adrenaline still burning through your veins and you were coping through the aftermath of the high.

“Your boyfriend should be coming next if you want to wait for him.”

You immediately shook your head in protest, as you always did, Mark was not your boyfriend no matter how much you wished it. But the instructor merely smiled at you, ���I believe whatever I want.” She said, as they took you to the side and waited for Mark to jump.

He, of course, was fearless and as soon as they strapped him in and told him to go ahead, he was falling towards you. He had a smile on his as he screamed in exhilaration. It didn't them long to get him down and to you.

He threw his arms around you immediately, still grinning, “That was amazing, _____, wasn't it? So much fun, I kinda wanna do it again, but we should probably head back it's getting late.” He blurted out as his adrenaline rush kicked in.

You nodded, leading him back up to the top of the bridge. It took twenty minutes to get back, the hike up was longer than the fall down and a little more strenuous. The both of you were quiet as you concentrated and placing your foot carefully in sturdy dirt rather than slippery rocks.

By the time you both had gotten back to the car, you were pooped. He took your hand and started leading you to your side of the car when you stopped him. “And the secret, Mark?” You asked, not forgetting the promise he had made when he dared you to jump.

He grinned, that big smile that you had fallen in love with. He pulled his hand away from yours and you missed his warmth abruptly but he quickly cupped your cheeks in his hands and yours fell to his waist on instinct.

“I like you, _____. You're my princess. You're mine.” He said, before leaning in. He pressed the gentlest of kisses on your lips before pulling away, forehead resting on yours. “Mine.” He repeated, but waited for your answer this time.

Actions seemed to be a better choice than words and you quickly tiptoed to meet his lips, as the both of you smiled. “Mine.” You replied back.

“All yours.” He said, leading you to the car. The two of you were already causing a scene but the instructors did not need to be privy on the rest of your conversation, nor did he want to continue it in public.

He drove the both of you back to the cabin with his hand over yours.

I hope this is what you wanted. idk, you can always request again and ask another admin if you don’t like it >< And hopefully the inbox is always open :D ~Admin Rianne⭐️

[roslinadama-sinequanon]

Sorry about the last Christmas in Connecticut post. My original “keep reading” post froze so I went to another screen to re-post and forgot to hit the “keep reading” icon. Wish Tumblr had a way to delete a post. But it doesn’t so I’m re-posting. Grr.....

CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT-PART FOUR

“Mmmm…. “Andy gave a soft groan. “You weren’t kidding, this does feel great.”

“I’m surprised you’ve never done it before. “

“No, never. I had no idea you liked this kind of thing. Do you do it a lot?” Even after all this time together there were still things he was learning about Sharon.

“Once or twice a month. But I’ve never done it with anyone, just on my own. It‘s a great way to alleviate stress.”

Certainly better than bottling it up inside. She didn’t make the accusation aloud but the undercurrent was certainly there in her tone. Andy wisely chose not to argue the point.

“You know, “she continued. “Maybe if we do this more often it could even help with your blood pressure.”

“Better than those stupid pills. “

“Andy, you still have to take your pills.”

“I know, I know.”

He hated the little hitch of fear in her voice. His collapse a few months ago, even though it had turned out to be much ado about nothing, had really done a number her.

“Since you’ve never done this before, what made you decide to give it a try?”

“Gavin.”

“My Gavin?”

“Do you really have to call him that?”

His disgruntled response drew a soft laugh from Sharon. Gavin was gay and Andy knew it. He had nothing to worry about on that front. But a jealous Andy Flynn was an adorable Andy Flynn. “You consulted with Gavin?”

“Well, he is one of your best friends. He knows what you like. When I showed him the website of the resort he said I had to book some time in the spa for a massage. The only massage parlors I know anything about are the ones we used to raid back when I was on Vice in the 80‘s.”

Sharon’s hand tensed in his then quickly relaxed.

“What?” he asked, turning his head to look at her. She gave him a little smirk.

“I thought you were going to say the parlors you used to go to.”

Andy snorted. “I have a long list of sins but being serviced at massage parlors is not one of them. Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t know the kinds of things that went on there so if you’d like to do a little role playing---”

”Andy!” she cut him off squeezing his hand hard. “Please remember we are not alone.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry guys.”

Both massage therapists laughed. Andy didn’t really seem very sorry at all.

“Well, anyway, Baker was right. Who would have known that having hot rocks pressed into your back would actually feel good?”

“I thought it sounded strange the first time my massage therapist suggested it too,” Sharon said. “But I’m glad you listened to Gavin. A romantic couple’s massage is the perfect way to spend our afternoon. My muscles could use a break.”

They were both lying side by side holding hands though on separate tables, naked, save for a strategically placed towel over their buttocks. Warm fragrant oils were massaged into their skin, ylang ylang for her and sandalwood for him and hot smooth stones pressed out all the aches and pains in their muscles. Candles created a soft glow and soothing music a sense of calm and peace.

It was just what they needed to cap off three days of nearly constant activity. After day one on the alpine slopes, yesterday had been spent cross country skiing through the woods and open fields surrounding the inn with the rest of the family.  Sharon was in very good shape. She worked out frequently, swam almost every day and took yoga and a body barre class, but her muscles were still protesting the vigorous activity. Cross country looked easy, but it was actually a lot of work, a great cardio vascular exercise.

And after all that, this morning they’d had a big breakfast and the whole family, except for Ricky and Rusty, hit the trail along a bluff of the frozen river to try out some snow shoeing.  

Much to Sharon’s delight Ricky had offered to teach Rusty how to snowboard and Rusty had actually accepted the offer. It had been a rocky beginning between her boys. Rusty had been wary and intimidated by her older, confident and accomplished son and Ricky had been suspicious and jealous of the boy she had come to love and wanted to make her son.

Ricky’s reaction to her adopting Rusty had been appalling to Sharon. She’d always prided herself on having raised two kind and compassionate children. But, with a little manipulation by his jealous father and the protectiveness that came from being the only male with a mother and a sister, Ricky had come off as petty and condescending and worst of all for Sharon, lacking in empathy for a boy who had been raised without all the love and care and material advantages that Ricky took for granted.

But as shocked and upset as she’d been, she’d also known right away that while it was Ricky speaking, the words coming out of his mouth were pure Jack Raydor. Once she’d cut through Jack’s bullshit, laid it all out to Ricky and appealed to his better nature, he had come around as she’d hoped he would.  He’d made an effort with Rusty and offered him an olive branch which, happily, Rusty had accepted. And he’d done it again today with the offer of the snowboarding lesson. Ricky was turning out to be a pretty decent big brother.

++++

“I’m so relaxed, I almost feel like I want a nap.” Andy settled heavily on their bed once they were back in their room at the inn.

It was a beautiful room, very romantic. A king sized canopy bed covered in luxury linens was strategically placed directly across from the fireplace. Thick plush carpeting warmed their feet and French doors opened out to small balcony overlooking the twinkling lights surrounding the frozen pond.

“Mmm…” Sharon hummed. “I can think of something better. How about we try out that Jacuzzi tub?”

“Really? “ Andy’s eyes lit. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

Sharon grinned and shook her head at how quickly that perked him up. She used to think Andy was so unpredictable, but when it came to sex he was very predictable. Predictable and insatiable. Not that she was complaining. Since they’d become lovers Andy had reawakened her libido making her burn in ways she’d never known she could burn. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she’d become quite insatiable herself.

Andy stood and looked at his watch.

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” She asked.

“No…uh…No. I just. I think I‘ll start a fire so the room will be warm when we‘re finished.”

Sharon’s eyes narrowed. She could always tell when Andy wasn‘t being completely truthful. A knot tightened in her stomach. The look on his face was one she unfortunately knew all too well.

No.

She quickly shoved her suspicions aside with a shake of her head. Andy was not Jack. He did not have ulterior motives for bringing her here. He didn’t have a poker game waiting for him or another woman tucked away somewhere.

“Okay, well, I’ll go start the tub then.”

Andy nodded then got to work at the fireplace. He was still working on getting a fire blazing when his cell phone rang. He answered the phone and glanced toward the bathroom at the sound of the female voice on the other end. “Yes…uh…Yes tonight,” he agreed. “But I said I’d call you. Please don’t call me again, my girlfriend is with me. I don’t want her to know what’s going on.”

“Andy…”Sharon called from the bathroom. “What’s taking you so long?”

“I don’t start many fires in LA,” Andy called back. “It’s taking me a while to get it going.”

“Well hurry up, it‘s lonely by myself in this big tub. I think I‘m going to have to get started without you.”

Andy froze at the quick image of Sharon pleasuring herself that flashed into his brain, a shot of desire piercing him right in the groin. No way he wanted to miss that.

Quickly he rushed into the bathroom.

A slow sexy smile curved on Sharon’s lips. “I thought that might get your attention,” she drawled sensuously.

Andy could hardly speak. Sharon was leaning back in the bubbling water, hair piled up on her head. Candles lined the edge of the tub and she teased him by biting the tip of one of the chocolate covered strawberries they’d been given at their massage while her fingertips ran up and down her chest

“Andy?” She questioned when he continued to stare, mesmerized by the finger moving down her breast. “Would you care to join me?”

“What? “

“I said would you care to join me?” Her thumb came dangerously close to her nipple and all the blood rushed from his head into his cock.

“Oh, hell yeah.”

Sharon giggled again watching him tear off his clothes as fast as he could.  Yep, her Andy was extremely predictable.

****

“So, as far as role playing goes, is this the kind of massage you were referring to?”

“Oh Christ, yes.” Andy’s head fell back on a groan when Sharon’s hand closed over him, sliding up and down his rigid length.  “So good Shar.”

“I thought you might like that.” She rose slightly to nuzzle into his neck, giving a surprised gasp of pleasure when one of the jets sent a powerful surge of water between her legs. “Oh God Andy, when we buy a house we have to get a tub like this.”

“Anything you want, sweetheart.”

Through the haze of pleasure her hand was creating between his legs, he let his mind drift with satisfaction at her reference to their house hunting. He was well aware that he’d pushed the matter a bit by making the decision to put his house in Valencia on the market so he could find a place closer to her Los Feliz condo without consulting her first. He‘d figured that if he discussed it with her she might try to talk him out of it. She was trying so hard to keep the last tiny bit of the wall that she’d shielded herself with between them, and he was trying equally hard to tear it down, slowly, brick by brick.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, he knew she did. She was just scared. She’d been let down so badly in the past it was completely understandable that she’d have trouble letting a man, even one she loved, completely into the life she’d so carefully constructed for herself and her children. She’d been very open with him about that and he’d tried to be respectful of her request to take things slow. But because of her reticence he knew that if things were going to move forward in their relationship he would most likely be the one to have to take the initiative. And so he had, by putting his house up for sale and tentatively broaching the idea of moving in together.

Sharon had definitely surprised him with her response. Not only hadn’t she flatly turned him down, she’d suggested going out to dinner to discuss the matter and before their shrimp potsticker appetizer had even arrived she had agreed to start looking for a home they could purchase together. And when his Valencia house had sold more quickly than he’d thought it would Sharon was the one who had suggested that he move in with her, this time into her bedroom, while they continued to look for a place to buy together. A place big enough for the two of them, Rusty, and enough room for their visiting kids. It was everything he’d wanted. Well, almost everything. But he’d also worried that he’d pressured her. He was getting what he wanted, but was she really getting what she wanted?

Those worries had been alleviated after the first house they’d gone to look at together. Sharon had been so excited and enthusiastic as they toured the home, already planning how she was going to decorate it. Ultimately they hadn’t bought the house because it was infested with black mold, but it had shown him that Sharon was just as excited as he was about buying a house together.

“Andy, did I lose you?” She nibbled on his earlobe while gently cupping and stroking his balls.

“No, not all. “ Damn.  When she spoke like that, all sultry, low and throaty, his body responded with liquid lust.   “I was just thinking, maybe we should take this into the bedroom.”

“I think that’s probably a very good idea.”

TBC

[gossipchii]

The one with the snow

Characters: Sora Takenouchi, Yamato Ishida, Taichi Yagami and Takeru Takaishi

Pairing: Sorato, Taiorato

Words: 1800-ish

Notes: This is based on that poster where all the Digidestined are practicing different kind of winter sports. I was thirsty for some Taiorato friendship fic so I decided to write it down myself.

Enjoy!

That cold Saturday from January, Sora decided that she was tired of seeing Yamato and Taichi in front of a screen playing stupid Mario Kart, again. Sure, she sometimes liked to play the game but they had been like that the past three weekends. The day was extremely nice, considering it had finally stopped snowing. That only meant she had a very specific mission to take her boys out and do something different, something fun.

“Yamato,” she said slyly, her blonde boyfriend still had his eyes stuck on the screen.

“Yeah?” he clapped his hands as he defeated Taichi. Sora rolled her eyes.

“Takeru’s coming over today, am I right?” she took a sip of her tea, knowing perfectly fine that Takeru was, in fact, coming to visit Yamato in about 15 minutes. She had just texted him to be absolutely sure.

“I’m not certain – I think he is?” He dropped the control of the Game Cube and looked at Sora. “What do you have in mind?”

The redhead smirked as Taichi, with a very bad face, looked straight at Sora.

“For your information this whole gabbling was the only reason why I lost,” he crossed his arms across his chest. “But the dumbass’ right, what are you planning?”

Saved by the bell, Takeru was just knocking the door, so Sora went straight to open it up. She didn’t even care if the guys had just started another round of the infamous Rainbow Road.

“Sora, my lovely sister!” Takeru winked at her sister in law, sister at last. Sora simply shook her head. Classic Takeru. “So, skiing?”

“Or snowboarding, both of them sound super fun! As long as I can get these dorks out of a house to breathe fresh air.”

“Really, Sora? Fresh air? IN TOKYO?” He widened his eyes.

“You know what I’m talking about!” Takeru laughed, Sora smiled. “Are you going to help me out?”

“You know I’m always on your side.”

They both entered the Ishida residency to find out Taichi had lost, one more time.

“You are totally cheating! This isn’t fair,” he pouted. “Sora, tell him it isn’t fair! Oh hi, Takeru.”

“What wouldn’t be fair would be throwing away another Saturday playing videogames. Who are you guys? Even Koushiro is going out more often!”

“Just because his mother made him join some cooking classes,” Taichi whispered to Yamato as they both chuckled.

“So, I have something super exciting planned for today and I’m not taking a ‘no’ for an answer! Am I right, Takeru?”

“Absolutely right, Sora’s the absolute dictator of the date and has my full support!”

“Whatever hit you, girl.” Joked Taichi, Sora didn’t even fake a smile. “Alright then, where are you taking us?”

“I’m not saying.”

“But, Sora! What if it’s something we’re not into?” Yamato groaned.

“I’m not into video games and you guys didn’t care about it, did you?” she replied with an annoyed tone.

“But you do like videogames!” Taichi added. Both grown-ups were still in the pajamas, Sora and Takeru were the only ones with decent clothes on.

“Alright boyfriends, you can stay here. Takeru and I are going to enjoy the awesome day I had planned for us.”

“Awesome, Sora! I always wanted to have a sibling’s kind of date.” Takeru grabbed Sora’s arm and looked at Yamato with a mischievous smile. “We are going to have so much fun!”

“Oh hell no,” Yamato stood up and turned off the Game Cube. “I am not letting this date happen. I am so going to whatever you have planned, Sora.”

“What about you, Taichi?” Sora had a satisfaction smile on her face as she saw Yamato disappear into his room to get changed.

“I am not staying here alone, am I?”

About half an hour later, they were on the way to take the Joetsu shinkansen. Neither Yamato nor Taichi had any idea of where they were going yet, until Sora told the tickets lady she wanted to get four passes to get to Yuzawa. It was only past 10 in the morning so they still had plenty of time ahead.

“Wait,” said Taichi suspicious. “I know where you’re taking us!”

“Do you?” Sora raised an eyebrow; Yamato was more confused than ever.

“We’re going skiing! You should’ve said that from the beginning, I love skiing!” He straight up hugged Sora, making her uncomfortable. “Thank you for organizing this!”

“Hey! Hands off my girlfriend, ball of hair!” Shoot Yamato, Taichi laughed. “Are we really going skiing, Sora?”

“Yeah,” she was tingling in excitement. “Are you okay with that?”

“I haven’t gone skiing in a while; I’ll probably be a total embarrassment.” He smiled, Sora squeezed his hand discreetly.

“You always are a total embarrassment, brother,” Takeru stuck his tongue out jokingly. “While me? I haven’t gone skiing ever and I’m sure I will kick everyone’s ass!”

“That we’ll see Yamato junior,” Taichi got into the shinkansen with everyone following behind. Oh, how much Takeru hated when Taichi called him Yamato junior.

An hour and a half later they were enjoying the cold air of Yuzawa. Sora wasn’t the kind of person to enjoy cold weather, really, but she was with her favorite boys about to enjoy a different kind of Saturday. And she was excited. When she was little, she used to enjoy skiing with her father. When Toshiko, her mother, had some important meeting during the weekends, she would escape from the city and hop into the first shinkansen to any ski resort. She was, indeed, feeling very nostalgic.

“Sora, you’re totally shaking. Yamato should give you a hug right now,” Takeru mocked, as they were walking the crowded streets of Yuzawa.

“You don’t have to tell me how to treat my girlfriend,” Yamato glared, yet took his jacket off to place it softly on Sora’s shoulders.

“That’s u-unnecessary, Yamato,” she smiled, her teeth shivering because of the cold weather. “I don’t want you to c-catch a cold. Plus, the s-shack is right there!”

In front of them, there was one of the many places where they could rent winter sportswear. Yuzawa was very popular among tourists and people from all over Japan, and since January was considered the best time of the year to enjoy the mountains, the place was packed with people.

“I want the red one!” Taichi yelled as soon as he saw a red jacket with white sleeves. The sales-girl giggled as she handed him the jacket, then turned to Sora.

“Don’t let him know, but that’s a girl’s one,” she whispered.

“No wonder why I liked it,” Sora winked at her as she pointed to an orange jacket. “I’d like that one, please.”

Takeru picked a green jacket and Sora picked for Yamato a blue one, since he wanted to get a black one and Sora thought that was way too boring for a skiing trip. Takeru and Taichi went straight ahead to pick snowboards instead of skis, arguing that they were manlier and would attract more girls.

“I’m not interested in attracting more girls, so skis are totally fine by me,” Sora joked, turning to Yamato. He was biting his inner cheek notably nervous.

“What about you, sir?” wondered the sales-girl.

“Skis as well, I’ve never snowboarded and I think I’ll be less ridiculous with them,” he sighed, Sora held his sleeve.

“It’ll be fun!”

Right afterwards they got into a ropeway, escalating slowly into the mountain. They could see from the windows many people of different ages skiing and snowboarding. Some were extremely good; some would fall and stand up everytime. But what was most notable about everyone down on the mountain, was how happy they were.

They decided to get down at half of the mountain, the intermediate level, no matter how badly Taichi wanted to go all the way up to the advanced one. Sora was telling him non-stop how he wasn’t an expert snowboarding as he was playing soccer, until Tichi agreed to go intermediate, saying he was having pity for the rest of the group.

Soon enough they started going downhill,  and Taichi seemed to have natural talent for it, after all. Takeru easily found a group of tourists to speak to. Yamato, on the other hand, was concentrated not to fall. While it was obvious Taichi was pretty good with the snowboard, overall the best one was Sora. She was making skiing seem as easy as walking, but didn’t like to brag about it, especially not with Yamato so nervous standing next to her.

“You should try and let you get loose,” Sora stopped skiing to get in front of Ishida. “You’re too tight right now, what are you afraid of?” The redhead tiled her head.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” his jaw got tightened. “I am totally having fun.” Sora sighed and kept skiing, until she made herself trip.

The whole group, including random people stopped to make sure she was doing alright. Sora widened her eyes and took off the skiing googles to let out a burst of laughter. Yamato helped her get up, as Sora held tight her sticks.

“You did that on purpose!” Yamato yelled. “You could’ve hurt yourself!”

“I totally did not do that on purpose,” she lied, “and look at me! I’m totally fine.” Sora stuck out her tongue as she kept skiing.

Yamato took a deep breath, as he, for the first time, relaxed. He started to enjoy himself as he was going down the hill smoothly. Sure, he was still scared, but even the first time he fell, he was actually having fun. Soon enough, he was as good as Taichi snowboarding, and Sora couldn’t be prouder.

A few hours later, they were all incredibly exhausted and decided to go have something warm as they were waiting for the next shinkansen to Tokyo to arrive.

“So, was this better than another afternoon wasted playing videogames?” the redhead lifted her eyebrows as she took a sip of her tea.

“Let me tell you Sora, it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it would be.” Taichi winked at her, enjoying his coffee. “I don’t know, we probably could even repeat this soon, with the rest of the gang!”

“Define, soon,” said Takeru. Out of everyone he had been the one to trip the most, totally regretting how he chose the snowboard over the skis.

“You know what?” Said Yamato, arms across his chest. “That sounds like a great idea. Imagine Good ol’ Jou skiing, I’d pay to see that!”

“Oh Yamato, don’t be so harsh,” laughed Sora. “You weren’t very self-confident at the beginning, remember?”

“Yeah, plus who knows, Superior Jou could even be the best one skiing at night!” Taichi joked.

Their laughs filled the small coffee shop as the time to leave Yuzawa finally came. Sora smiled hard as she let herself fall asleep on her boyfriend’s shoulder. In the end, her plan to make her boys have a different kind of weekend had been a complete success.

[remembermemorablememories]

Saturday, February 9, 2019

post #397

Typing this on my phone on sunday february 10 and finishing the draft on my laptop

Main points - Brunch with Jack and Maddie - Chihuly garden - Walk to Kerry park - Uber to Cal Anderson Park - Early dinner at udon - Hang out with Andrea at her apt

Today I: - Woke up around 10am. Maddie texted our group chat she and Jack already went to skillet diner and if we could meet earlier. We were gonna meet at 11am but jwoos and I rushed a bit and got there around 10:30am to meet up with them - I got some classic breakfast stuff "your way" and we hung out and caught up with how things were going. We talked about Amazon, living in Seattle, BU and how everyone seems to be coming here, vlogging, hackathon organizing, and some other random stuff. It was fun meeting up and hanging out with them :) - Jack jwoos and I took an Uber over to Seattle center. Maddie walked back home but Jack was heading that way anyway so we went together. It was still covered in snow outside, quite badly LOL. We got to Seattle center and said goodbye to jack. We went to Chihuly and then explored the glass exhibit and garden. The glass indoors was really cool but felt a bit short. Then the garden outside was also cool and the glass garden things were covered in snow, but also kind of short. We felt like it was a bit overpriced for what you get to see in the exhibit. Still cool though - We tried to figure out what to do and decided to go to Kerry park. It wasn't too far of a walk so we went for a stroll. In the snow covered sidewalks :p it took like 20-30 ish minutes Near the end just as we were getting there walking uphill, we saw these kids sledding down the hill cause the street was shut down LOL. And they started like 4 blocks further uphill. It was wild, and genius. Cause Seattle doesn't have the infrastructure for snow so a lot of roads were still covered in snow. They took a perfect advantage of this opportunity. This one guy was skiing down too, amazing

We got up to Kerry park around 2:30pm and took some pics. Then I flew my drone around the surrounding area. More people were sledding just on the hill below Kerry park, trying to hit a bump and land on the sled. I got some footage from the viewpoint and then brought it back cause the connection faltered a bit and I got scared. Also my hands were getting cold. It was sunny out but still like 30 degrees so i was like freezing

jwoos and I took a break and went to cafe fiore nearby to chill. I got a hot chocolate and some kind of banana bread and jwoos got a latte. i’m unsure of the bread cause I asked the cashier what the bread was was and he said it's some kind of bread but didn't know what it was... It looked good so I got it. It was aight :p

i watched some youtube videos like secret service cat by corridor digital

around 3:30pm, we left the cafe and walked back downhill, calling an uber around 4pm

- we took the uber to cal anderson park cause andrea said she was there, but she was probably kind of busy cause she wasn’t responding to our messages. so we got there and saw the reflecting pool frozen over/covered in snow, some snowmen, a snow dick, people trying to sled/snowboard on a hill, and a dance party. there was someone who put a DJ setup in the corner of the park playing music, which was where andrea just was. after we got the park she told us that she went to ramen danbo. the dance party was interesting, but it was broad daylight and the music was too rave-y. it smelled dank and people were drinking :p 

jwoos and i were hungry so we decided to walk over to U:Don to get some early dinner. it was pretty nice, like chipotle style ordering with udon. i got some beef thingy and it was very wholesome/warming us up. while we were eating we talked about whether we’d want to live in seattle or not and marriage/settling down. i also asked one of the people for the lowfi playlist they were running cause it was dope and he showed me it and it was actually a youtube radio stream

andrea came over around 5:30pm and we met one of her friends, manu. he had to bounce though but just wanted to come say hi. then andrea hung out with us and we talked a bit about NY, the application process and reviewing apps, and andrea and jwoos shared each other apps. i didn’t have mine on me

- we weren’t sure what to do so we walked over to andrea’s apt around 6pm. she made us some boba tea!! it was raspberry chocolate and super good. she gave me a lot of boba though i couldn’t finish :sweat-smile: also we met her roommate sowmya briefly. then we just kind of hung around, singing/playing the ukelele and guitar, sharing magic tricks, learning about some of andrea’s experience moving to seattle/relationships. then we weren’t sure what to do, so andrea was like “let’s call franky!” so we video called him. he was watching naruto kai in his room. we did some more singing, first together, then franky performed a song and andrea performed a song. we just kind of hung out enjoying each other’s company

- around 10pm we called it a night and jwoos and i called a lyft back home. it was rough, there were very few around cause of the snow but we managed to get back around 11pm. then jwoos and i spent some time trying to find transportation options to portland. cause we wanted to rent a car but the rental cars we found didn’t have enough mileage allowance. then maybe buses? but then we found train tickets for $80 round trip. which is super cheap. i’m guessing cause we booked it closer to the date, the prices dropped?

showered and went to sleep around 12am, we had a 7am train to catch tomorrow morning

the end