#also she has said that if she finishes it i might be able to convince her on another one of my substack bookclub book audiobooks so

[mysticalspiders]

Good news! I’ve gotten my sister to start reading 20,000 leagues and she’s started listening to it on audiobook. Bad news! She has informed that when she catches up to me with Voyage of the Nautilus she is going to read past me. Good news! She’s really enjoying it. Bad news! She has informed me that she doesn’t ship Nemo and Aronnax. 

[abiatackerman]

Sweet nothings to the baby bump

The master bedroom of the "Ackerman Cottage" is clean as expected. Everything is free from dust and dirt and right now the shiny surfaces are sparkling under the moonlight. The window is open and a sweet calm wind is passing, making the curtains dance in a calm melody.

The room is silent other then the gentle voice of Levi Ackerman who is currently laying beside you and taking with the baby bump of yours. You're laying comfortably, caressing Levi's silky-straight hair as Levi keeps talking.

Levi smiles as he feels your fingers running through his hair which is his most favourite soothing sensation. His eyes are locked on your growing belly, knowing it holds his child, your child. His hand gently placed on the bump, he speaks again as he feels the kid kicking.

"Don't kick too much, brat…Your mother needs to rest as much as she can…"

Levi says softly, a look of affection in his eyes as he speaks and caresses your bump.

"The brat's got your genes.... Of course he loves to kick"

Levi chuckles softly at your comment,  knowing you are right. His child definitely has his genes and is already showing that by being just as restless and energetic.

And by kicking......

"Yeah, I don't think any amount of convincing is going to stop the little shi....."

Before Levi can finish his sentence, you sudden slap lands on his head.

"No cursing in front of the baby."

He winches playfully at the slap, just to make you happy. He loves your occasional "beating". Only you and you have the right.

"Fine. I won't curse in front of the kid."

Levi says, with a hint of humor in his voice. He then leans closer to the bump, his hand remaining on your stomach as he speaks to the growing baby.

"Sorry baby…Papa says too many naughty words, huh?"

Levi continues to speak to the unborn child in a gentle voice, his hand gently rubbing your abdomen. He smiles warmly, his eyes filled with love for the child that is growing inside you.

"Your mama's very protective of you already…But don't you worry, you can kick as much as you want when it's just me."

You laugh at Levi's words and lean down to kiss his forehead making Levi's heart flutter in response. He reaches up, gently wrapping his arms around your waist and pulls you closer to him, wanting you as close as possible. He buries his face against your stomach, his eyes still fixed on your pregnant belly.

"I can't wait to meet our little brat…"

He says softly, his voice filled with excitement and anticipation.

"Same"

You say as you caress your huge baby bump as Levi keeps watching. After a while his hand joins yours, fingers intertwining over the bump. He can feel the occasional kicks and movements from the baby and it never fails to bring a smile to his face. Levi looks up at you, a mixture of love, excitement, and a hint of protectiveness in his gaze.

"You know, this might sound weird, but I kinda wish you'd stay pregnant forever…"

He says jokingly, yet with a hint of seriousness in his tone. You smile with amusement as you flick your forehead.

"You wouldn't have said that if you would have gotten pregnant. It's tough but I'm enjoying my pregnancy. Also anything for the brat."

Levi chuckles at your words, knowing you are right. There is no way in hell he'd ever be able to go through the pregnancy himself. He's a man and he'll never know that pain. Still he's so happy that you're enjoying this period. Both of you are enjoying this together.

"I'd rather not have to deal with all the mood swings, cravings, and discomfort. You're a damn warrior for dealing with all of that, and putting up with me on top of it."

He says with a  genuine appreciation in his voice and you chuckle.

"Just as I said... Anything for the brat. Also I'm enjoying."

Levi smiles and kisses your baby bump and speaks again.

"Yeah, I've seen how much you're willing to endure for this brat. You've even put up with me fussing over you every five minutes like a damn mother hen."

You laugh loudly as Levi compares himself as a "Mother Hen."  Suddenly you can't push away the image of Levi being a hen... It's hilarious.

"I love it when you joke and when you're protective"

Levi grins, feeling warmed by your laughter and words. He can’t deny that he relishes in your reactions to his attempts at humor.

"Well, someone around here has to keep your stubborn ass out of trouble. Can't have you getting into messes and putting yourself and the brat at risk. It's just a bonus that you apparently love when I'm a possessive, overprotective basta....."

You slap Levi's head again.

"No curse words!"

You warn, glaring.

"Alright, alright, I'll watch my language. Can't have the little brat picking up any bad words before it's even born."

He leans back a bit, and sighs.

"Although, I can't promise I won't slip up from time to time. I am Levi Ackerman after all, cursing is kind of my thing."

You nod at his words, understanding.

He's a man who grew up in the underground hearing curses, using them. It'll take time and you don't mind. You'll help him.

"Just not in front of the kid.... Please."

As you speak with a pleading tone, Levi nods, feeling a mix of amusement and affection at your pleading tone.

"Fine. I'll try my best to keep the swearing to a minimum in front of the brat. Can't promise I won't slip up occasionally, but I'll do my best to be a good example for our kid."

He reaches out to gently stroke your cheek, his gaze softening as he looks at you.

"I know you'll be a great father, love"

Levi's heart swells at your words. His face softens more when you kiss the palm of his hand which was caressing your cheek.

Levi can't help but smile at your confident belief in his ability to be a good father. He knows he has a lot to learn and that he'll make mistakes, but having your support makes him feel like he can handle anything that'll come in both of your ways.

"And I know you'll be an amazing mother. You're strong, caring, and have more patience than anyone I've ever known…even me."

You smile at his words and grin cheekily, making Levi smile too. He finally moves away from your bump and lays beside you. You yawn tiredly and hug Levi's waist and rest your head on his chest. Levi starts to caress your hair in order to lull you to sleep.

"The brat's kicking again..... "

You mumble and slowly fall into a slumber and Levi chuckles, kissing your head as he closes his eyes too, falling asleep with you.

You, his wife, the mother of his child.....

[happiest-hotch]

OMG please write about married!Hotch x reader going to a club tearing it up on the dance floor for a BAU night out, and an older Jack happens to be there maybe with his girlfriend and he’s mortified seeing his parents really getting down?

i would dance all over this man

Nights out with the BAU have never gotten less fun. Even as team members changed and through the years you and Aaron were away from the team, first in WITSEC then just to take a break. The plan formulated during your months together in hiding had been to wait until Jack was at college before going back to work

Hanging out at the regular bar was a sign nothing had changed in a decade.

After finishing probably the roughest case you've experienced since you rejoined the team, a team night out was needed, so you happily join Penelope in her mission to drag everyone out.

These days, Aaron doesn't need much convincing. He's more casual after WITSEC, and letting loose a little around the team isn't the worst thing in the world. It probably helps that he's not the boss anymore, and your unit chief also isn't opposed to letting her hair down.

He's only a few drinks in when you're able to convince him to come and dance. Maybe there's some using how much he loves you, but he doesn't protest.

It's hot and sweaty on the dance floor, and you're in a less-than-professional amount of clothing, dancing up on your husband like you're 24.

Aaron keeps his hands firmly on your hips, swaying to the music with you, but what's most sinful is his lips against your neck, very visible to everyone else, and the hard-on in his pants which thankfully remains unnoticed by anyone who's not pressed as hard against him as you are.

Penelope leans over to speak to you, or yell, thanks to how loud the bass is. "He's going to pull a muscle if he keeps dancing like that!" She jokes.

You giggle as you let him spin you around so you're face to face. It's gotten much more heated, and there's no doubt you're grinding provocatively against each other.

You hold his strong forearms, leaning up to whisper something downright filthy in his ear, but he talks first. "Jack."

You chuckle, grimacing. "That's not my idea of dirty talk."

"No." He shakes his head before nodding across the room. "Jack's here."

You pull away from your husband quickly, following his glance across the room before you catch his son. "What's Jack doing here?" You ask in shock. It's definitely a compromising position to be caught in with his dad.

"I don't know," Aaron says, taking hold of your hand and pulling you away from the dance floor and towards his son.

You briefly wonder if it's more or less awkward to acknowledge that he's seen you all over each other. Ignoring it might mean you can possibly look Jack in the eyes again at some point in the next ten years.

There's a girl next to him and you guess it's who he had said he was bringing home to meet you and Aaron during summer vacation. Her dress is probably not what she was expecting to be wearing during a round of meet-the-parents.

"That was awful." Jack deadpans, exactly like his father. "Seriously, I'm not sure how I'm going to burn that out of my memory."

"What are you doing here?" Aaron asks, ignoring the comments that you're struggling not to laugh at.

"Thought you guys were still on a case," Jack explains. "I didn't think I'd catch you dry-humping in a club."

You let out a chuckle while Aaron shakes his head. "Don't say that." He scolds weakly.

"I am so sorry you had to meet them like this." Jack turns to the girl next to him and says.

You offer out your hand to shake hers. "I'm Y/n, and I promise we're not always like this."

Aaron shakes her hand as well, introducing himself. "Yeah, usually our son has far better manners and introduces us to people."

"Usually, my parents aren't engaging in foreplay in the club." Jack teases you both.

You know how to get him back, and you click your tongue. "You don't know that."

It makes both boys' eyes widen while Jack's girlfriend laughs slightly, and the tension is loosened.

"Should we not mention this tomorrow?" She offers, speaking more confidently now that she can read the situation as humorous.

"Deal." You agree for both you and Aaron. "We should go."

"Home to sleep." Jack finishes the sentence for you, raising his eyebrows like a parent would do to their child, rather than the other way around.

Aaron does something you don't expect, frowning. "No promises."

[rantaroamamifuturegf]

Crushing headcanons!!

A/N: Been playing Dr2 again and Fuyuhiko<3, Fuyuhiko’s one is a bit longer than the others so bc I got too into it and yes spelling do exist in this

Plot: Fuyuhiko & Rantaro & Shuichi crushing on GN!Reader

Characters being used: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, Rantaro Amami, Shuichi Saihara

Fuyuhiko

He noticed immediately and started to purposely avoid you for his sake of not making a fool of himself in front of you and If he wasn’t able to avoid you he’ll just act like he doesn’t give a shit about you and would purposely be rude to you

Peko would notice this right away but at the first she just assumed that he didn’t like you in general but once she noticed that he would ignore you and avoid you, she knew something was up

She would question him about it and bro would completely shut her down about the thought and tell her you were just so annoying he wanted to not be near you and he thought she brought the excuse

She didn’t buy it for shit

He finally given up and told her about you and his feelings, she would just tell him to confess but he would tell her it more easier when you say it than do it

He obviously shuts her down about the idea of confessing to you and just says he’ll continue to treat you the same way he usually does until the feelings goes away

It never did, if anything the feelings grew more and more

Peko finally convinced him to at least try talking to you normally and he did but he couldn’t help be still be rude to even if he was just trying to start a simple conversation and you replied with a dry answer or was thinking of what to say did too long

It’s just that feels like he’s making a fool of himself seeing you act so calmly while he’s the one freaking out the inside

It did kind of annoy him how calm you were being like why did it had to be him flipping out on the inside and not you

He complained to Peko about it and she told him to practice talking to you like look in the mirror and pretend talking to you or see her as you and try talking to you

He did try it but got to embarrassed and just straight up stopped but right after that he somehow was able to have a normal conversation with you without getting mad or being rude to you

Peko told him to confess to you since he was now finally able to talk to you but he had to remind her he just befriended you and it would be too fast

plus he didn’t know how to but we ain’t gonna talk abt that

He didn’t really bring you gifts or anything that much of the matter but if you both had different classes, he would def sometimes wait for the bell to ring and pick you up from your class and walk you to your next one

If Kaz said anything about the way how he treated you he’ll quickly shut him up before he can even finish his sentence

Might tell you how he’s unsure if he really wanted to take the yakuza life or not since he trusts you and wants your opinion on his thoughts

Doesn’t try to be too vulnerable around you but also doesn’t try to be too vauge with you either

DEFINITELY FOR SURE keeps Teruteru away from you, last thing he want to hear is bro making the unexpected unnecessary perverted theory about you and doesn’t want to see him flirting with you anyways so if you ever question him about it he’ll just say Teruteru is being more perverted today than he usually is

Once he feels ready and once Peko gives him some confidence and says she believes you feel the same way. he’ll confess to you.

Rantaro

Bro didn’t even noticed that he had feeling for you, like he just thought the feeling were just a feeling of being near someone you really care about as a friend but no it more

He wasn’t really used to feeling that way about someone since he usually treated everyone like their his little siblings or just friends or close friends but when he first started feeling this way about you it just didn’t feel like a friendship or family kind of love

Was really confused about it and didn’t want to immediately just to conclusions and believe he has feelings for you so he just kept believing he saw you as just a closer friend than he does to others

That act went on for a bit til you started being physically affectionate in a platonic way, such as placing a hand on his shoulder and sitting a bit more closer to him than usual he kept his cool on the outside but the inside of him was a mess

After mentally shutting out the thought with all his might, he finally came to the conclusion that he had feelings for you and didn’t know exactly what to do with it

He didn’t want to confess right away and just gave the thought some time so instead he’ll start being you small gifts from his travels

Would definitely ask you if you would like to come along and travel with him, and say he’ll bring you to amazing places across the world or just bring to where you pacifically want to go

He would get awkwardly embarrassed if someone called him or said he looked like a womanizer in front of you since he didn’t want to look bad in front of you

Definitely tells you about his sisters and asks if you would like to help him look for them, he would be really happy if you did say yes to it

He would do lightly teasing and say how his sisters would love you and how his family would love you but in the end would call it light jokes or just teasing

He doesn’t know when or how to confess to you so for right now he’ll just hope you’ll eventually feel the same way and once he’s 100% sure you feel the same he’ll confess to you.

Shuichi

He didn’t notice it right away

Like he just assumed you being so nice and caring towards him just made him feel embarrassed and what not so he just ignored the feelings

But they kept coming back and every time when he’s near you and when you complimented him, he can’t but feel a heart warning feeling in his chest and feel flustered around you

Not for long he came to the conclusion that he liked you in a romantic way but he felt really bad for it, he was insecure about himself and how others viewed him while you were someone that everyone enjoys being around and he felt like him having feelings for you would ruin your friendship

So he kept it to himself as pry that nobody will ever catch on

Kaede and Kaito catch on real fast

Kaede was so excited when she founded out he had feelings for you and would telling him to confess right away and would say that both of you look cute together

He was flustered by the idea of him and you being together but the idea of you two being a cute couple just made him feel even more happy of them though

Unlike Kaede, Kaito didn’t tell him to confess right away but instead would try to give Shuichi some confidence about asking you out and would tell him he shouldn’t feel bad for a having crush on you and would tell him to ask you

Obviously he appreciated both of them trying to help him but he told them he wasn’t mentally ready to ask you out yet

If you and him aren’t that close of friends he’ll definitely admire you from afar, will absolutely hate it if Miu or Kokichi caught him and called him out on it

He would sometimes write little love poems about you but would never give them to you and kept it in a small notebook, Kaede would definitely tell him to give it to you or let her give to you. He obviously shut down the idea

If he gets too into a poem and seems really long, he’ll end up reading it later and cringe at his own love notes for you

Kaito would help him out by trying to get you two to become closer friends and would invite you to workouts with him and Maki and Shuichi

Would convince Maki and then purposely leave you and him alone together, bro was not ready to be alone with you and he felt nervous and excited about it at the same time

After Kaito done that over a couple of times more, both you and him got closer and he was actually starting to feel a bit more comfortable and confident when talking and asking you to hang out

He would die happily if you just started physically touching him in a platonic way, just simple gestures like putting a hand over his or sitting closer would lowkey just make his day lol

He wouldn’t confess to you even if he feels mentally right and has the right confidence and feels that you feel the same way because he’ll still have his doubts and think you deserve better so in the end it’s either you confess or he’ll have it wait til some of his friends actually make him do it

[wosoamazing]

Eventual Answers

Part 3 | Beneath the Surface

Warnings: Endometriosis, Hospitals, Surgery, Mentions of Infertility, talks of emotions surrounding life long conditions (specifically Endo)

Notes: I hope this is okay, I tried to make it accurate, and include some of the emotions one might feel. Let me know if I did anything wrong and I’ll try to fix it up. This is the last official part of this series however if anyone has any one shot or blurb requests for this universe let me know. (Also I hope it's not boring, let me know what you think)

You clutched onto your Mum’s hand for dear life as you sat in the private waiting room, you had positioned yourself between Leah and your Mum, your knees bounced anxiously as you tried to convince yourself you were fine and that everything was going to be okay, however it wasn’t working, and a tear rolled down your cheek as you sniffled slightly.

“Bubs, you’re okay,” your Mum told you as she wiped away your tears, you shook your head in response to her, before she lifted you onto her lap, “what’s going on in that head of yours hey?”

“W-what if it’s all just in my head, and there isn’t anything wrong at all,” you admitted to her

“Bubs, that’s not going to happen, it’s okay to be nervous it’s a big thing, surgery is never easy,”

“C-can you tell me what's going to happen again?”

“Do you want me or Leah to tell you,” your Mum said as she reached a hand out for Leah to hold, who was also clearly nervous, however she seemed to be doing a good job of hiding it from everyone else.

“L-leah,”

“Okay,” Leah said before she took a deep breath, hoping her voice wouldn’t give away how nervous she was to you, Leah explained every single miniscule step to you, including telling you that they were going to use a mask to put you asleep before they did anything so you wouldn’t have to deal with any needles. Just as Leah finished explaining, one of the nurses called out your name and you went back along with both Leah and your Mum, and everything happened exactly as Leah said it would.

“Leah, Maddie,” the doctor greeted them as he came out and sat opposite them, “So, surgery went well, she is in recovery now and after we speak you can go see her, we did find endometriosis, stage 3, we removed serval adhesions and there are none left, we also removed most of the tissue along with two cysts on her right ovary, there is some tissue remaining that we couldn’t remove but hopefully most of her pain is now gone.”

____

“Hey bubs, how do you feel?” your Mum said as she noticed your eyelids flutter open, she gently brushed some of the hair out of your face, before placing a kiss on your forehead.

“Mmm, sore, bit sick, head hurts, tired. Where’s Leah?” you mumbled as your eyes slipped shut again, before you fought to lift your eyelids up.

“She’s just in the bathroom bubs, you can go back to sleep, it’s okay. We’ve got to stay here a bit longer before we can go home,”

“Did it go well?” you asked hesitantly as you tried to get yourself comfortable on the bed, the pain medication slowly wearing off at the same time you found yourself becoming more alert was not the best combination for being able to find comfort. Leah smiled and nodded at you, before she softly lifted up your jumper, revealing your abdomen, where you had 4 separate dressings.

“So it’s real?” you asked.

“Very real, they found you had stage 3, they removed all of the adhesions and most of the tissue and they removed two cysts from your right ovary, the tissue they left behind is mainly in and around your pelvis and there is some on your right ovary, so you’ll most likely still have the pelvis pain at times during your cycle and the back and leg pain during your period but it shouldn’t be as bad, you might also still get some pain will ovulation as well” Leah informed you.

“Thank you,” you said before tears of relief started to fall from your cheeks.

“We couldn’t be prouder of you bubs, and hopefully now this makes life slightly easier,” your Mum told you as she hugged you very carefully, before Leah returned with a big box in her hands, you hadn’t even noticed she left, let alone had enough time to retrieve a box of this size.

“We got this for you,” she said nervously as she placed it on the bed next to you. You opened it up and it was filled with various things you loved. There were some tim tams, shapes and a tin of milo, a new lip balm, and some hair products. There were also a few new card and board games, as well as a new pair of nike trackies and a matching hoodie. Which when you pulled out you looked up to Leah who was smiling back, it was one of the sets you told Leah you liked 2 months ago, and you were surprised she remember, you also had some new white nike socks, they have your initials embroidered on the bottom of them, probably so Leah couldn’t ‘accidently mistake them as hers’ again. Leah and your Mum sat with you until you fell asleep.

The next day Katie and Caitlin came around, at 11 the doorbell rang and as your Mum passed the living room to answer the door, she found you and Leah passed out on the couch, the night having caught up to you both, you were both talking to each other 10 minutes ago. 

“I’m so sorry, they’ve both just fallen asleep, and I don’t really want to wake them because they need it. She was up most the night crying and Leah was trying to calm her down,” your Mum said as she opened the door, both of the women were understanding and didn’t mind.

-

Leah had woken up during the night, however she didn’t really know why, she didn’t often wake up during the night without a reason so she was confused, until she heard a choked sob from your room. She doesn’t think she had ever moved so quickly at 11:00pm before. She opened the door to find you sobbing in your bed, your face was red and your eyes were bloodshot.

“Bubs,” Leah said as she crouched down beside your bed, “bubs,” you looked at her, “what do you need? Does it hurt? Do you feel sick?” Leah’s words came out calm but her head was anything but, her thoughts raced around at a million miles per hour as she tried to figure out what could’ve gone wrong.

“I don’t want this,” you cried out and Leah knew you weren’t physically hurting but mentally. She slipped in beside you and you immediately shifted your position on the bed, lying on your back you placed your head in her lap, burying your face in her stomach, you would’ve preferred a hug however you couldn’t have one so this would have to do.

“Bubs, I need you to take some deep breaths for me,” Leah told you as she started to card her fingers through your hair, which you did, allowing you to calm down slightly, you were no longer sobbing however tears still poured out your eye.

It was a weird feeling, being relieved and angry at the same time. You were glad that it wasn’t all in your head and that it was real but it being real meant a plethora of things. You might never get to have kids of your own, you’ll have to have more surgeries to remove the tissue in the future, you could lose your reproductive organs, you would have to live with a disease that affected your life so much, yet there was so little awareness, so little knowledge, so little research. Your crying continued for most of the night and Leah did nothing but be there for you, silently supporting you.

The following week passed by in a bit of a blur, a mix of emotions, pain, and recovery.

Two days after surgery you posted a photo your Mum had taken of you and Leah when you were having a nap together, you were curled into her side, her arms tightly wrapped around your shoulders, and the clear evidence of recovery surrounded you. The caption had no words, it was just a yellow ribbon emoji, something that people with the same experience would know the meaning of and so too would your close friends and family. You wanted to post about it one day, bring awareness to it and help others however currently you weren’t ready for that, you weren’t ready to tell the whole world, telling the world would make it more real, make the possible infertility struggles real, make the fact you may never be able to be intimate with a partner without pain real, it would somehow make everything just that much more real, something you weren’t quite ready to face yet.

[sankta-wraith]

I’m about halfway through season three, and I’d just like to take a moment and look at how losing Rose has changed the Doctor.

First the obvious things: he’s more serious. During his time with Rose, he was mostly cheerful, funny, and generally quite positive. There were a few darker moments, but for the most part he had a pretty sunny personality, especially when he was with Rose. In season three, while he still tries to maintain his happy personality, he occasionally slips into melancholy and his cheerfulness often feels like a bit of a facade. This isn’t to say that there aren’t moments when he’s genuinely happy, but they seem to be far less frequent than the durst two seasons. He smiles less. He doesn’t have as many quips. He’s barely laughed at all. But that’s to be expected. He just lost someone he loved; it makes sense for him to be more withdrawn and sad.

The thing that struck me the most was how reckless he’s become. He’s always been a bit reckless, but he’s also tried to avoid things that will most likely kill him. He might be constantly getting himself into very dangerous situations, but he (almost) always thinks of some way to not die. (I think it’s because he knows that if he dies the Time Lords die with him, but that’s a different post.) In season three, he’s practically suicidal. So far, he’s allowed himself to come dangerously close to death at least five times, some seemingly without expecting to survive.

First was in episode one, when he let the Plasmavore drink his blood so she wouldn’t register as human on the scanner. He had no companion at the time, so he couldn’t have expected anyone to come for him. Even if someone had found him, they would have needed to do a blood transfusion, and since he’s not human it’s unlikely that human blood would save him. (I’m actually not sure how he survived that. Martha gave him CPR, but that didn’t fix the blood loss issue.) Even knowing all of that, he still allowed the Plasmavore to drain his blood without hesitation. He technically could have regenerated, but that didn’t seem to be part of his plan. I’m still not quite sure how regeneration works, but I’m pretty sure he has to be conscious for it to happen, and he was definitely unconscious when Martha found him.

The second time was when the Carrionite did he voodoo doll thing. This is admittedly a weaker example, since he does have two hearts, but I’m not entirely convince that he knew he’s be able to restart his other heart. He can clearly survive with just one heart (at least for a little bit,) but it significantly weakened him and it’s unclear how long he would have survived it. Had he been unable to get both hearts working, he probably would have died later when his remaining heart gave out under the strain, or been finished off later by the Carrionites and unable to defend himself. And yet he seems remarkably unconcerned, even when he realizes what she going to do. This isn’t to say that he wasn’t worried, but maybe not as worried as he should have been.

Third is when he willingly offers himself up to the Daleks, fully expecting them to kill him. This is one of the best examples, because he is 100% convinced that they are going to kill him. He’s so convinced that it actually comes as a shock when they decide not to kill him on the spot. Sacrificing himself makes sense in this situation, but it was a bit shocking how fast he agreed. I had expected to frantically try to come up with a plan, or at least to try fighting, before he decided to sacrifice himself. I certainly hadn’t expected him to straight up tell them to kill him.

Fourth was when he put himself in the direct path of a lightning strike/gamma ray burst on the off chance that some of his DNA would get transferred. Again this is an excellent example because not only did he put himself in its path, he actually held onto a lightning rod and wouldn’t let go for the duration of the gamma ray burst. There’s also the small fact that said lightning rod was on the top of the Empire State Building, and if the lighting and radiation hadn’t killed him a fall probably could’ve. That is literally the definition of suicidal.

The fifth and (so far) final time was when he, once again, sacrificed himself to the Daleks and demanded they kill him. Yes he knew that the Dalek-humans had some Time Lord DNA in them, but he still couldn’t be sure it would be enough. If you still don’t believe that he’s suicidal, I think seeing him stand in a room full of people with lasers/guns and telling them all to kill him should convince you. If even that doesn’t work, then you should consider the fact that the last three all happen in the same episode.

Let it never be said that losing Rose didn’t affect the Doctor.

[glitter-stained]

I'm always thinking about Jason because fixation so my judgement is biaised because every song I listen to makes me think about at least one of my Jasons, but here are some songs though were definitely written for and about canon Jason Todd, and I will take no criticism (but you are definitely welcome to add your own songs):

-Take me To War, by The Crane Wives

>"But I keep snapping at Goliath hands with all of my tiny might"/ "All of the fire I swallowed, all of the sparks that went down in my guts, I am always burning out"/ "I'll be the sweetest thing to ever scare you"

The Robin -> Red Hood transition is so seamless

-Little Soldiers by the Crane Wives

> "On the broken back of all the words we spared, Like little soldiers in the trenches; It was a march we made towards ruin and despair, But we held hands all the while"

I always rant about how how Jason's character and story is centered around love, this is the song that plays in my head while I'm yapping

-Blue Lips by Regina Spektor

> "He took a step but then felt tired, He said I'll rest a little while; but when he tried to walk again, he wasn't a child"

If you ever wanna be sad about Jason's resurrection, catatonia and stolen childhood, this is the song to listen to

-The Horrors and The Wild by The Amazing Devil

"Think of all the horrors that I promised I'd bring, I promise they'll sing of every Time you passed your fingers through my hair and called me child, Witness me old man I am the Wild"

> If Under The Red Hood has one song it's this one

-The Old Witch Sleep and The Good Man Grace by The Amazing Devil

"There's a fire burning/And I'm learning to be/So much more than my tiredness/ So much more than that old witch sleep wishes/ She kisses my eyelids, and I/Breathe"

> If Red Hood: Lost Days (minus the gross bits) has one song it's this one

-Elsa's song by The Amazing Devil

>"And you'll throw some sage and lillies/ And roses where I'll rot/ Of all the flowers you picked/I knew you would forget/ Forget-me-nots"

idk who Elsa is this is about how Jason was grieved but he wasn't remembered

(Yeah I'm pretty convinced that at least either Madeline Hyland or Joey Batey read Under the Red Hood so many of their songs fit so well I restrained myself to three but there are so many)

-A Burning Hill by Mitski

>"I'm tired of wanting more, I think I'm finally worn/ For you have a way of promising things/ And I've been a forest fire"

Jason admitting loss and giving up on begging Bruce is something that can be so personal actually

-Heaven Knows by The Pretty Reckless

>"Now you're on your knees with your head hung low/ Big Man tell you where to go/ Tell them it's good, tell them okay/Don't do a goddamn thing they say"

Crime Alley united!!! Also, "tell the big guy I said hello" :))) (the God/Batman amalgam in Death in the Family is such an incredible one-liner and works so well for Jason omg)

-For the Departed by Shayfer James

>"Now I must finished what I started/I'll write a symphony for the departed/And I have no time for second chances/ So I survive on bourbon blood and backward glances"

The amount of angst, dramatics and intense devotion to his cause at the cost of his life, the literature references, everything about this song? Jason at his angstiest for sure

-Goodbye by Bo Burnham

> "If I wake up in a house that's full of smoke I'll panic/So call me up and tell me a joke/ When I'm fully irrelevant and totally broken dammit/ Call me up and tell me a joke /Oh shit/ You're really joking at a time like this"

exploded warehouse parallel aside, this song feels like not being able to heal because you're not capable of asking for what you really need, wanting to come back but feeling like you aren't allowed to because it would ruin you or the you that was shaped by other's perception of you and most importantly, begging to matter and to have mattered. So. Jason.

[blainesebastian]

you and me

word count: 4,297 pairing: robby keene x tory nichols rating: R (for triggers such as death of a parent) summary: 6x05 fix it fic. i'm sorry but i find it so hard to believe that robby does not go after tory to check on her when everyone learns about her mother. writers please, what are we doing??? notes: spoilers, obviously, for season 6. some dialogue taken directly from the show *u*

At this point in his life, Robby has gotten a pretty good sense of feeling when the other shoe is gonna drop. He’s used to disappointment, defeat, wears it like a second skin, so familiar to the sensations that he molds it to his skin, wields it like a mask so that when those feelings hit, he can convince everyone that he knows how to deal with it. He’s had plenty of practice.

His mom, his dad, Mr. LaRusso, Sam, Kenny.

While learning and mastering karate has been all about balance for him, about not feeding kindling to emotions like anger, it’s also been about acceptance. About factors, emotions and people he can’t control. Acceptance for himself, so that things in his life don’t live in those eras of disappointment and defeat.

He tries his best not to allow old patterns to drown him.

The other shoe might drop, but that doesn’t mean he has to be defined by it.

--

Robby knows better than anyone that just because you leave Cobra Kai doesn’t always mean it leaves you. There’s this wild look in the depths of his eyes sometimes that he recognizes when he looks in the mirror. Sometimes he convinces himself it’s a trick of the light, gone before he even pins it down.

There’s only a handful of people he thinks will understand that, just the nature of the beast. When you become a monster, it stays with you, lives inside of you, sometimes not as dormant as you want it to be. Just because he’s back at Miyagi-do doesn’t mean that he still doesn’t hear a snake hissing in his ear, a death rattle under his skin.

Sometimes he itches to strike first.

Nowhere does he see that same instinct like he does in Tory’s eyes.

He recognizes it like the back of his hand, it bubbles to the surface sometimes right before she throws a punch, right before she starts an argument (or finishes one).

It’s dangerous and vicious and above all, Robby knows, seductive.

There is nothing quite like the power that slithers through your veins when you embrace Cobra Kai’s model. When you live and breathe the motto. They may have taken the head off the snake, but if he’s learned anything? Cobra Kai is a living and breathing entity—through him. Tory. His dad. Hawk. Kenny. The people’s lives its touched and ruined. No matter how hard it’s buried, sometimes it comes back.

He can feel it grip the bottom of his ribcage when he thinks about second place. When he thinks about losing to Miguel to be team captain.

It’s why he’s working so hard on that acceptance part. That if he does lose, no matter how badly he wants it, he’ll swallow down the urge to do something reckless.

Which is part of the reason he almost amends to Tory what he said earlier—that even though it would be nice to be on that podium together? In front of everyone in the world to see? It doesn’t really matter to him…as long as they’re together.

Let's make a deal, no matter what, we stick together—just you and me.

Robby may not know how to wade through much as he figures out where he fits all over again, but he knows something inside of him recognizes something inside Tory. They see one another, have always seen one another, and he sometimes wonders if that’s the only thing in his life that’s real.

--

He hasn’t been able to get ahold of Tory for almost a full day and it’s at the end of school, while waiting in a park to train with her, that he really starts to worry. Calls, texts, doesn’t matter—they all go unanswered. He knows sometimes that she has her own way of doing things, of preparing, of getting in her head in order to get shit done…but with what she told him about Kreese showing up out of nowhere?

He's worried something has happened to her. He really wouldn’t put it past their old sensei to play dirty, to do something drastic. Has she been taken? Is she hurt? His blood starts to boil under his skin and echo in heartbeats in his ears as he thinks about that night they took Cobra Kai down, at seeing her hand all mangled from an ‘accident while training’.

And while he knows Kreese wasn’t directly involved with that, it’s all the same bullshit. No mercy.

He lets out a breath as her phone goes to voicemail, again.

“Hey, it’s me,” He lets out a long breath through his nose, “I dunno what’s goin’ on, but you’re worrying me.” Robby runs a hand through his hair, “I dunno whether it’s Kreese or something else but…you’re not alone. You and me, remember? Just let me know you’re okay.”

He waits like she might actually answer him before he hangs up, squeezing the phone a bit too tonight.

Robby tells himself that it’s fine, that he doesn’t have to wind himself up for no reason. She’s probably just doing her own thing, training, that she’ll call later with an apology and a request to meet up for midnight milkshakes—something that’s become quite a thing for them.

That he’ll see her tomorrow for the captain competition with a smirk on her full lips and a kiss good luck.

--

Except she doesn’t show up.

And he’s currently getting his ass handed to him because he’s distracted, glancing at the crowd like he might see her.

Robby never knew how much strength he drew from her, how much he depended on seeing her on his side, how much he ached for her nods of encouragement and cheers of excitement. He knows that the four of them are all on the same page again, all working towards the same goal, that there’s no bad blood or ill wishing.

But he’s also not blind to the fact that Sam is very much in Miguel’s corner, just as much as Robby is in Tory’s and vice versa.

He wants to be angry at her for not being here, for ignoring him, and the black shadow of a snake inside of him wants to use that anger behind his punches and barrel into Miguel with brute force and wild, wide strokes.

But deep down, he knows how much of that will be a mistake. Regardless that he’s fucking losing.

The other shoe drops that…it’s not actually anger anyways, but deep-seeded concern—that there’s a reason she’s not here. That something happened. That something is very, very wrong. And that entire emotion wells up inside his chest like the crashing wave of an ocean. It’s all he can think about, his body shaking as he pulls himself up from the mat.

Diaz, 2 points.

Robby drags his hands through his hair and glances towards the crowd, his gaze drawn to movement in the back of the dojo. Tory’s here. He draws in a sharp breath, lungs expanding, probably foolish to admit that it feels like he can actually breathe now. She’s here, she’s okay—and the thoughts of second place are brushed away with a breeze through the backyard and replaced with a singular phrase—

You and me.

The calm he feels is so stark to the panic before that he nearly smiles when Miguel throws his next kick and he blocks it effortlessly. The dance of their fighting moves is like liquid heat, something that kisses his bones and sings in his blood. The score is evened up, it’s anyone’s win.

And by anyone, he means it’s his.

Robby knows almost instantly, before he even squares off with Miguel, that he’s going to win. One look at Tory, one nod from her, and his heart slams into his ribcage.

He’s going to win, there’s no other option.

And he does.

Point. Winner.

He’s almost in a daze for a moment afterwards, he fucking won—the smile pulling his lips almost cracking his face in two.

When Robby makes it down to Tory, he can’t stop himself from reaching for her hand, their fingers interlacing as if it’s always been that way.

“Sorry I was late.” She says and Robby takes one look at her face, her eyes, before it stops him dead in his tracks.

“You came just in time,” He replies but the words aren’t registering, because he was right. Something is wrong.

It’s in the way she’s holding herself, her shoulders slipping forward, it’s in the wildness of her hair and the trembling of her fingers, it’s in the gaze that won’t look at him, eyes wide and glassy.

He knows what he’d see if her eyes met his. It’s the same look he’s seen in his own eyes in the mirror.

“Hey,” Robby says gently, moving to clasp her chin between his fingers, to force her to look at him, “What’s wrong?”

But Tory jerks back from his touch as if she’s been burned, as if she’s finally registered what he’s said. His hand drops but it doesn’t stop him from reaching for her, that same gnawing pit in his stomach beginning all over again at that look in her eyes.

“Tory,” Robby tries but she’s pulling away from him the moment his dad says LaRusso, Nichols to get up on the mat.

His mouth hangs open with unsaid words, his fingers itching to pull her down, away, to talk to him even though she’d throw fists at him the entire way.

Something catches in his chest as the fight begins and it only adds to the aching pit in his stomach that something is very wrong. Robby has watched Tory fight and train countless times, she keeps her body tight and her movements fluid, powerful punches and debilitating kicks.

But there’s too much emotion behind her draws, her footwork is messy, her arms are too wide and wild.

Her eyes are completely feral.

“Dad,” He calls out, tries to get his attention, to get them to stop, but it’s spiraling too fast, Tory advancing on Sam with her fist raised—

Until Mr. LaRusso catches her hand.

Robby lets out a haggard breath, his eyes fluttering to his sensei that he didn’t even see move up onto the mat because he couldn’t take his gaze off his girlfriend.

“The fight’s over.” He says, dropping Tory’s hand and Robby feels himself take an instinctive step towards the mat, the reckless look in her eyes nearly taking over her entire body.

“That’s not fair! That could have been a point.”

He’s not sure whether Mr. LaRusso heard him trying to call out to his dad to intervene or whether something is actually going on—there’s this expression on his sensei’s face, the same one mirrored on his wife, who’s gripping her phone so tight that her knuckles are turning white.

Robby opens his mouth to say something, to ask questions, to try and get Tory’s attention—when his girlfriend suddenly explodes when the arguing continues about her getting a fair fight.

“Because my mother died!”

He stares at her, the dojo slipping into an eerie silence, and he can feel the color draining from his face as all the pieces he was sifting through slip into place.

Holy fuck. Has she been dealing with this this entire time? Why didn’t she call him? Why didn’t she pick up his calls? Robby’s heart clenches in his chest as Tory tries to argue for her chance at this fight, the one she wants to have right the hell now, that she’s not backing down from.

The anguish is so potent he nearly chokes on it, taking a step towards her as she begins to spiral, as she realizes that she will not get what she wants here. He pushes himself up onto the mat, his hands up and in front of him, wanting to touch her but not wanting to spook her any further.

He realizes now how much she feels like a wounded animal, capable of striking out, striking first, baring her teeth. “My mom, she would have wanted this. If I don’t fight—I have to do this, I have to do this for her.”

“Tory, let’s just take a second and breathe—”

“No, Robby, no.” She chokes out.

Tory pushes everyone away, pushes him away and he can see the moment Kreese’s ugly words rear their head, spilling out of her mouth, tossing them into Mrs. LaRusso’s face about her beating her daughter, about how she’d never be first choice when it really mattered.

Second place, second place, second, second—

Robby swallows over a lump in his throat, his hands reaching for her even though she pulls away from his grasp, “Don’t touch me,” She snaps, “You want this fight to be over? Fine! It’s over.” She jumps off the mat, making a b-line for the parking lot.

“Tory, where are you going—” He calls out, her voice edging on the end of his sentence, screaming finality—I’m done.

Robby tails after her so fast that he nearly knocks Hawk over as he spills through the other members of Miyagi-do, not caring about who gets stuck in the crossfire.

“Tory!” He yells, hoping to catch up with her, praying she didn’t manage to somehow leave within those milliseconds she got away from him. He’s also praying that no one is following him, he needs to talk with her alone.

“Tory—” Robby just gets her name out of his mouth as he turns the corner before her fist is flying at his head. He ducks, barely, shifting to the right to avoid another toss of her wrist that he knows is coming.

“Leave me alone,” She spits at him, eyes like liquid fire, tears brimming the edges of her long lashes. “Go back in there, Robby.”

“No,” He says automatically, his voice calm despite the hammering in his chest. He takes a fighting stance, bringing his arms up. “Not without you.”

Robby doesn’t want to fight her but he has a feeling she’s not going to talk to him either. The last thing he’s about to let her do is leave, not how she is right now, not like this. He knows she’s not the first person to open up to someone else, no matter how close they are, but he’s not going to let her go through this alone. He doesn’t care if he has to force his way into her space, to somehow convince her that he’s not going anywhere.

She snaps another punch but it’s sloppy, he gently deflects by pushing her arm in the other direction. “You think I need you?” Tory bites, angry, so angry he feels like he can see steam coming from her ears.

But he takes none of it personally, he knows he’s not the one she’s really mad at. She can throw whatever she wants at him, he can take it.

“You want to fight someone? Fine—fight me. I know you pretend you don’t need anyone,” He tells her, blocking another hit. He’s not going to throw his own punches, just deflect hers. He dances with her in this circle, keeping his body loose, his hands low so he doesn’t do something reactive.

That seems to piss her right off, she throws a kick this time and it lands to his chest. He loses his balance for a moment, backing up into one of the old-fashioned cars Mr. LaRusso keeps outside the dojo, nearly stumbling to avoid another hit that she goes for. He ducks, reflexes fast, and her fist connects with the car window. It doesn’t break, but he hears a crack in the glass, the blood coming away on her knuckles.

She doesn’t even register the pain.

“I know because I’ve been there. I used to do the same thing. But it’s okay to need someone Tory. I’m not going anywhere.” Robby backs up, trying to give her space to move, but she’s coming at him quick—too quick, too feral, looking to hurt as she’s hurting.

He’s distracted for one moment, someone else coming out from the dojo—maybe Sam? Saying his name. Tory cracks her fist along the bottom half of his face, snapping his head to the side. He can feel the moment his teeth split open his lower lip.

And then something happens.

Robby isn’t sure what it is—whether it’s the step he stumbled back from her or the blood he wipes from his lip, but something breaks the spell holding onto Tory. She stares at him, at the cut on his lower lip, with wide, wet eyes, her fingers uncoiling from fists and dropping to her sides.

“I’m sorry,” She says in a whoosh of air, her breathing too fast.

Robby stands up straight, his arms falling as he shakes his head. “It’s okay.”

He barely gets the words out because Tory is also shaking her head, tears spilling down her cheeks, a ghostly look on her face as if she’s realized what she’s done, who she’s hurt. “I’m sorry,” She repeats, over and over, her words beginning to hiccup as she squeezes her eyes shut and tries to turn away from him.

“Hey, hey,” Robby’s voice is calm as he reaches for her, not accepting the space she’s trying to put between them. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her into his chest until she relents. He feels the moment she does, a sob slipping from her lips and practically vibrating his entire body.

He closes his eyes, burying his face in her hair, drawing one hand up to rest on the back of her head as the other smooths wide circles along her spine. When her knees give out, he gently brings them to the ground, keeping her close, pressing a long kiss to her temple as she cries.

She’s been holding this in for a while and he doesn’t try to talk, there’s nothing he can say—he just wants her to feel whatever she needs to. Tory keeps her face hidden in his shoulder, her hands gathering up the fabric of his Gi between her fingers, anchoring herself to him.

Robby glances over his shoulder, glad that the voice of the person that called out to him from the dojo is no longer there. The last thing he wants is for there to be an audience.

He draws in a short breath, threading his fingers through her hair until she pulls back to look up at him. Robby gives her the faintest smile, cupping her cheek, thumbing away a tear track.

“I’m gonna take you home.” He says softly, relieved when she doesn’t put up a fight.

Tory sniffles and nods, seeming utterly exhausted now that the adrenaline has disappeared. Her forehead droops to his shoulder and he squeezes his arms a bit tighter around her.

He meant what he said—he’s not going anywhere.

--

The apartment is unnervingly quiet when they get there. Robby’s changed out of his Gi back at the dojo and he tries to convince Tory to take a shower to soothe her muscles, to unknot some of the tension in her spine, but she outright ignores him. Instead, she makes a b-line for her bedroom to change her clothes and Robby sighs, running a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He's already decided that he’s spending the night here (whether she likes it or not). While he does not understand the pain of losing a parent (even though he can empathize with loss where parents are concerned in a small way), he knows that Tory is walking a very narrow emotional tightrope. He’s not going to leave her side until she’s…functioning better than he saw her today.

Until that look disappears from her eyes.

Robby opens up a few cabinets in the kitchen and checks the fridge for food, texting his dad and Mr. LaRusso so that they know he’s here, that as of right now Tory is okay, or at the very least as okay as she can be. He slips his phone into his back pocket, turning as he hears her come down the hall.

She’s changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt he is ninety-five percent is his and that almost draws a small smile to tug onto his lips. She’s run a brush through her hair, washed her face, color kissing her cheeks pink. He’s never seen her look so small in all the time he’s known her and his fingers itch to gather her in his arms once again.

Tory looks up at him, swallows, “You don’t have to stay.”

Well that’s not going to happen. “You have a first-aid kit?”

She stares at him for a long moment, seeming to understand that he will fight her on this if he has to, even though he doesn’t want to. Her gaze flickers to his mouth before she pulls out the first-aid kit from under the kitchen sink and then reaches into her freezer for a frozen bag of peas.

Wrapping the bag in a washcloth, she turns to look at him, her hand tentatively reaching out to touch his cheek. He can see the remorse all over her face but Robby gently catches her wrist, squeezing the fingers of her uninjured hand,

“Don’t worry about it,” He tells her, “I’m okay. You’ve hit me harder than this before.”

That earns him a ghost of a smile and Robby smiles back, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “Go sit on the couch, I’m gonna check out your hand.”

Tory turns and does as he asks and it’s like the fight has melted right out of her, pressing her into the corner of the couch. He knows that it won’t always be like this, that the rough emotions will come and go like waves. But it’s important that she feels every single one of them and then lets them go.

Whether she knows it or not, Tory has a support system that can help her do that.

Robby opens a drawer for another washcloth, wetting it with warm water and brings the first-aid kit with him to the coffee table in front of the couch. He sits down on the edge of it, his knees bumping into hers as he reaches for her injured hand.

There’s so much he wants to say to her, words hiding underneath his tongue, and yet he doesn’t know how to say any of it. He wants to ask her why she didn’t call him, why she thought she had to go through this alone, but it doesn’t feel right for him to say it. At least not right now. The last thing he wants is for her to feel like he’s attacking her.

Robby just…he cares about her so much and it kills him to think about her in pain, shouldering all of this.

He brushes his thumbs over her knuckles, wincing just a little at the angry redness of them. Only a few cuts that aren’t even bleeding now, no glass anywhere in sight. He figured it wouldn’t be too bad but…

He gently begins cleaning her hand with the wet washcloth, ridding her skin of the dried blood. Robby knows that this is the last thing they should talk about but he also knows how Tory’s mind works, what’s plaguing her thoughts since they left Miyagi-do.

“We can talk to our senseis, reschedule that fight with Sam when you’re ready.”

Tory swallows, shaking her head, her voice is a bit hoarse, “They’ll never let me do that, not after what happened.”

Robby’s eyebrows draw together in slight concentration, “They’ll give you another shot, Tor, you deserve another shot.” He sets the washcloth down and opens up the first-aid box, resting their hands on his leg as he digs through for antiseptic. He tears open the small wipe with his teeth, a soft apology leaving his lips because he knows this will sting.

She winces when he begins cleaning her cuts, padding them dry with a cotton swab. Nothing is split open, so she doesn’t need band-aids but…he does gently wrap her hand with a thin layer of gauze.

“It’s too late for me.” She says and he hates the way her voice shakes, hates that it reaches inside his chest and squeezes.

Robby shakes his head, finishing with her hand. He lifts her knuckles to his lips, pressing a soft kiss as he wraps his fingers around hers. “It’s not too late,” He replies, “Hey,” He whispers, drawing her eyes to his, “It’s not.”

Tory bites down on her lower lip to stop it from wobbling, but he can see her eyes fill with tears again as they draw back and forth over his face, occasionally snagging on his split lip, “What am I going to do, Robby?” She chokes out and he knows they’re not talking about the Sekai Tekai anymore.

Robby cups her cheek, brushing his thumb across the bone as he holds her gaze, “Whatever it is?” He says after a moment, “We’ll figure it out together, okay? You and me.” He repeats the same phrase he told her before.

Tory sniffles, leaning back when Robby stands so he can sit next to her. He tugs her into his arms again, holding her against his body, her face tucking into the crook of his neck. He pulls a blanket down from the back of the couch to wrap around her body, his hand smoothing up and down her arm.

“Deal,” She whispers and for the first time in a long time, Robby feels himself relax.

[xximpressions]

The Duchess (8)

Anthony Bridgerton x Duchess!reader

Series Summary: After coming into a title you did not expect, you have a chance encounter with a handsome rescuer.

Chapter Summary: A plan is hatched

Word Count: 1,161

A/N: Shout out to @urfavnoirette and @itsprashimusic for letting me know I have true fans out there!!! You're the reasons this chapter happened 😊😘

Bridgerton Masterlist

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With confusion clouding your mind at the comment the Lady of the house just made, you were forced to say in order to gain some understanding,

“Forgive me…but how do you mean, your Grace?”

With a hint of coyness still twinkling in her eyes and tone, the last one to speak raised her hand first and said with a kind smile,

“Please, call me Daphne!”

Before she proceeded by saying,

“And I simply meant that if you were to engage in a similar ruse with say, my brother here, then maybe, this pesky brother-in-law of yours will take the hint that his constant attentions are not wanted.”

The casual shrug she added to the end of her sentence was convincing enough that you really believed she was simply making a good suggestion that surely was only made to help you our of your concerning predicament.

But in the mind of the Viscount seated next to you on the couch, he was very aware that this suggestion was anything but innocently said and was failing to keep his mind from racing at such a thought.

And as he struggled, you responded with,

“Well, I suppose I can see how such an idea has merit, but however would we pull it off?”

And luckily, the Duchess seated across from you was only to happy to explain.

“All you would need to do is pretend to form an attachment with my brother then your brother-in-law will realize that you are no longer available and will back off! It is the perfect plan that will surely work for you as it surely did for me.”

And after hearing such a follow-up explanation, you could admit you were intrigued when you responded with,

“But how would such a plan work? My brother-in-law is quite tenacious, so I am not sure how we would be able to convince him to give up his pursuits…?”

You finished hesitatingly, but Anthony was only too happy to reassure you with an idea of his own.

“We could host a ball! Here at Clyvedon!”

He said with excited determination.

“Then he, along with the rest of the ton, can witness our ruse of being romantically involved with one another. That way, this man will stop bothering you, and all the debutantes in polite society will stop bothering me. Daphne is right, it is perfect!”

And though the Viscount understood why he had to hide how hopeful he was that you might accept such an idea, you had to hide the fact that such an idea made you quite giddy on the inside to know it would make you spend more time the presence of this kind and generous person.

So without further thought, you agreed by saying with an accepting and excited smile, 

“Well, I suppose we should get started then!”

By the end of the conversation, all of the details had been finalized amongst you all as you sat around the fireplace. 

By the end of the week, invitations had been sent out in time for guests to be in attendance for a grand gathering at the Clyvedon estate in time for the next weekend.

And by the beginning of the ball, your ruse had also been allowed to start as you stood next to the Viscount and his mother near the entrance in order to help greet your guests as they began to show up.

Though it was the other Duchess who originally suggested you and Anthony pretend to form an attachment specifically for this gathering, it was actually their mother who had the foresight to have you stand with them as the attendees arrived.

“If you want people to think you will soon be an addition to this family, then you must help the ton to believe such an idea by playing your parts correctly.”

She had explained with an encouraging and sly smile as the guests started to show.

And you had to admit, the more time you spent greeting each person along with the Viscount, the Duke, and Daphne, the more you could feel people’s curiosities were growing since no official explanations were offered whenever a person inquired about your particular presence.

“Oh, I am just returning the favor to my generous hosts by assisting them with this magically grand endevour. I hope you enjoy your time here tonight as much as I have!”

Would be the typically vague response you gave if and when someone asked what your role was in this lighthearted event that was actually strategically taking place.

After a while, with the ballroom crowded with various Lords, Ladies, and gentlemen, you mentioned to Anthony that you would be stepping away for a moment just to get something to drink and left to find the refreshment table amongst the throng of people gathered for a night of fun.

Upon reaching it, you allowed a small, private smile to grow on your face as well since you could admit to yourself that this was the most amusement you have had in a while as you neared the table holding a bowl of punch and other light snacks.

But you supposed all good things must come to an end when you heard an unfortunately familiar voice say behind you,

“Well, you certainly look ravishing tonight, your Grace.”

Turning to see your inebriated brother-in-law stood behind you, a shiver of disgust had to be suppressed when his eyes obviously took the time to rake up and down your clothed body in order to take in the exquisite gown you were wearing to match your status as a Duchess.

Continuing his inappropriate ogling, the pathetic excuse for a man went on to say,

“Do me the honor of a dance, your Grace?”

With his hand being the last thing you wanted to touch, you tried to minimize the way you wanted to recoil when he then held it out to you.

Whether it was held out as an invitation or as a demand, you would never know.

Because thankfully, at that exact moment, your official ruse partner came to your rescue once again.

“My apologies, Sir. But you see, the lady has already promised me her first three dances, and the rest are promised to my brothers.”

Gladly taking the Viscount’s extended arm, you were grateful when he disingenuously said,

“But better luck next time!”

Finishing with a false smile, he then led you away from the drunk that was left behind speechless, jealous, and without another word.

That smile remained in place until you were far away enough from your brother-in-law that he could not hear Anthony quietly but determinedly say to you from the side.

“It seems we are going to have to get creative if this is to work properly.”

Before directing a coy but reassuring grin your way.

And upon seeing it, you found it a little easier to smile yourself as you neared the dancefloor for the first time of the night.

Previous | Next

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Taglist:

@itsprashimusic | @urfavnoirette

[angstigone]

«keep up my game» you had muttered to aki before taking the plate of vegetable soup he had slaved onto, and bringing it to the table, where power was comfortably sat with meowy in her lap, waiting to be served.

it took aki a few minutes to realize your 'plan' as he noticed you lay down the plate of soup right in front of power; he thought that you had forgotten that - under no circumstances - power ate vegetables, but he was quick to understand that you remembered, you just had come up with a plan.

«you must have mistaken your rations with my own, dumb human» the pinkhaired fiend commented with her usual crassness, while you retained an almost seraphic serenity.

«no, power, it's your dinner» and stalling the fiend from throwing the plate, you were quick to add «... it's made of a special kind of meat».

power looked like she didn't believe you fully but the fact that she hadn't yet thrown you off was a sign of growth as both aki and denji stared at you from the safe haven of the kitchen counter.

«how dumb does she think power is?» denji simply said albeit he looked onto your efforts quite attentively.

«... is it?» power asked still diffidently but her hand released the plate, clearly not having - for the moment - the intention to throw the plate right in your face «it smells like veggies».

«it doesn't» you were quick to say, although not quick enough to seem suspicious «... it's... a special kind of meat. it does smell like veggie but it's wholly meat».

«meat of what?» power inquired definitely curious.

«duck!» you muttered taking a good luck at the color of the soup «can't you tell from the color? also... duck is a very... esteemed meat. we were lucky to grab some of it at the supermarket!».

that did it, strangely enough, as power's eyes filled with what looked like a deep sense of utter pride and getting up from the low table - almost sending her own plate flying - she declared raising her fist up in the air.

«ahhh, you finally recognized power's true value! and you are rewarding it accordingly!» she then sat down as fast as she had gotten up and pushed her spoon into the soup, with little to no protest at the taste much to denji's and aki's startlement.

they didn't utter anything, worried that power might catch onto and then that'd be a whole mess that neither wished to deal with; still, the pinkhaired fiend quickly finished her whole plate and sent you to get another one praising the taste and insisting that she could feel the blood of the hunted duck.

dinner, hence, fell into a utter bedazzlement as even the usual awkward small talk was avoided, till denji and power moved onto their nightly routine while you and aki went to clean up the dishes.

«how... how did you come up with?» he asked promptly as soon as he regained his ability talk just to make you lightly chuckle.

«I have been observing power and I did realize that she has been lying, most often choosing which foods she might like or not, so I thought that she wouldn't be able to recognize which type of food is which» you explained and aki couldn't help but think that you had put too much thought into this, especially considering that the fiend's health didn't depend onto healthy human habits «... although in all truth, it was something that my mom said about how she convinced me to eat spinach by telling me it was mint ice cream».

«please tell me that you didn't fall into that as power» aki pleaded with a laugh at your offended look.

«I absolutely didn't! I clocked it out at the first taste and required some mint ice cream as compensations» you shot back promptly before joining aki's laugh as well «... still, I thought that it might be easier with soup and meat, especially with the little I gathered... mmh, wonder whether I can use it for something else...».

«we could brainstorm later» aki joked as you took him seriously before realization settled into you «... oh, c'mon, I do have to admit it was ingenious, alright?».

«you don't apprecciate me enough, hayakawa» you turned your back to him, crossing your arms over your chest, obviously pouting your fake displeasure. aki couldn't help but huff, although his heart filled with tenderness and endearment.

there was something downright domestic about the way you bickered with him. with how you cared about denji and power as if they were humans. as if they were your children.

the thought startled aki, as he gently went to hug you from behind, if not to truly ease you to ease his swifly moving mind which pictured a whole other scenario: you were still pouty, with swollen ankles and an heavy belly, blaming him for something that hormones made you feel.

"it's alright, just a few more months, sweetheart" he'd say instead of apologizing for not seeing your brilliant genius.

«you better apprecciate me!».

«I do, sweetling» he said softly, gently kissing the back of your head, as he tried to shun away the thought of you acting this way with children, your children.

you had always agreed that you were better off without children in your professions, neither wanting to leave behind any orphans.

still, it was tickling aki at how well you handled the manchildren that you had been tasked with; it wasn't just forcing them into good habits. it was the way you genuinely cared for those two even though you shouldn't have because they were liabilities.

«mmh, I don't know if I am convinced» but you were smiling, even turned aki can tell yo were smiling and suddenly he thought for a moment of a life where it's your children that you trick into eating vegetables and it brought some pricky feelings to his eyes, not that he'd define them as tears.

no, this isn't a life that he can have.

even with you.

so, he'll have to make this one last.

[once-upon-an-imagine]

This would work for any grumpy x sunshine.

Like sunshine just goes on and on talking about their interests and grumpy listens, from an outside eyes it may look like they don't care but of course they do.

I see a scenario with grumpy!Reader x Eddie. He keeps on talking about his new DnD campaign, and the reader listens, he at some point thinks she's not interested, but wave it off and keeps talking, less enthusiastically though,(he knows she would say something if she wasn't interested at all, but sometime he has a lot of doubts.)

But some time later, she shows up with something she brought for his campaign, and he is just all adoring and hugging.

For a dialogue, you can just write the reader giving Eddie the present, of course.😂

omg yes! this is so cute! 🥰🥰🥰 Warnings: smoking; reader is in a bad mood/grumpy, also I know little to nothing about D&D so sorry for any mistakes about it Disclaimer: I don’t own Stranger Things 😊 gifs aren’t mine 😁

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New Dice

"Dude, what's up with your girlfriend?" Eddie turned to look at Dustin and Lucas who were now beside him at his locker.

"Nothing, why?" he asked, confused. Before either one of them could reply, they all saw you make your way down the hallway, pushing a few people out of your way as you walked to your locker.

"Well... she just... seems a bit... grumpy..." Lucas said, nervously. They all knew better than to talk bad about you in Eddie's presence. "-er than usual" he finished.

"What do you mean, Sinclair?" Eddie asked, confused.

"Look, we know she's not... the most cheerful person, but she's usually pretty chill with us. And today, she even pushed us out of the way" Dustin explained.

"And she didn't answer when we said hello to her, which she always does" Lucas added as they heard you smash your locker's door, louder than usual as one of your least favorite people approached you.

"This is gonna be good" Dustin muttered under his breath.

"Hey, babe-"

Before Andy could even finish, you grabbed his wrist, twirled his arm around, and pushed him against the lockers.

"If you ever touch me again, I will make sure that the only way you are able to eat is through a straw, got it?" you threatened him before letting him go and he nodded cowardly before you made your way through the halls again, pushing a few people out of your way, again.

"Yeah, okay, something might be up" Eddie said, nervously.

Your encounters with Andy were usually just you cursing at him and maybe pushing him away if he got too close. But you were in a bad mood today. And that was not good.

"We just wanted to let you know, dude" Dustin said, patting him on the shoulder before he and Lucas went the other way.

By lunchtime, Eddie was entirely convinced that something was up with you. You had rarely spoken to him, or anyone, really. There was a permanent frown on your face, and right now, you seemed to not be paying attention to what was going on at your table. Granted, whenever you sat with him at the Hellfire table, you rarely participated since you didn't really play D&D. Even if you always listened to Eddie when he talked to you about his character or a new campaign he was working on, deep down, he sometimes feared that you would realize just how different the two of you are and you would basically get bored with him. And today, as he watched you grumpily play with your food instead of eating, while the rest of his friends happily discussed tonight's 'The Cult of Vecna', he definitely felt anxious.

"Hey, princess" he said softly, getting your attention as you lifted your head and smiled wearily at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah" you nodded, looking away from him. "'M fine" you insisted.

You hated that Eddie was probably the person who could best read you, and he would instantly know when something was wrong. You didn't hate that he knew you so well, you hated that he would think you're too moody or get upset about stupid things and wouldn't want to be with you anymore.

"You sure?" he asked, grabbing your hand and stroking the back of it with his thumb. "You've seemed... a bit edgy today" he said, making you chuckle a little. He meant you seemed extremely grumpy today. You had heard everyone else say that. Well, not really the word grumpy but, bitchy.

"Sorry" you murmured, looking down and squeezing Eddie's hand tighter. "I'm a bit nervous about... my Math test" you lied, hoping he would let it go.

"Oh, sweetheart, you shouldn't worry about that" he said, bringing your hand to his lips. "You've studied all week. I'm sure you're gonna do great" he smiled. "Do you want to go over it tonight one last time?"

"No, love. That's okay, you have your Vecna's um... curse thing" you chuckled.

"It's cult, dude" Gareth interrupted, laughing a little. "Is The Cult of Vecna" he corrected.

"That's what I said" you said, rolling your eyes.

"No, you said curse" Jeff laughed.

"Well, it's the same thing!" you snapped at him, getting irritated again. "S-sorry, Jeff" you said, feeling a little guilty. "I need some air" you smiled at Eddie before getting up.

"Is... she okay?" Jeff asked, confused.

"Not really" Eddie sighed, getting up and instantly following you.

He finally made it all the way to the picnic tables past the football field and he found you smoking.

"Thought you said you needed air" he chuckled, when you turned around to look at him, still frowning.

"This is fresh air" you defended yourself.

"Look, sweetheart, I'm sorry" he said, sitting on his side of the picnic table. You frowned at him confused, tossing your cigarette away.

"What? Why are you sorry?" you asked, sitting on the table in front of him.

You hated that your sulky mood may have passed on to him. Eddie was that ray of sunshine that made you want to smile all the time. He looked up at you with his big brown puppy eyes and you felt like someone had just kicked you in the stomach. If there was something that you truly hated, was seeing Eddie upset.

"What's wrong?" you asked, worriedly.

"Look" he said, grabbing your hand in his. "It's just... I know that you don't really like this whole D&D thing and we talk about it non-stop, especially me, telling you about my campaign and all and I just... I'm sorry. I know it can be boring for you and I'm just worried that you realize that we're too different or something and you're just not gonna want to be around me anymore-"

"What? Eddie, love, no" you said, cursing yourself silently. You climbed off the table and sat on the bench next to him, taking a deep breath as you played with his fingers. "You got this all wrong" you muttered. "I'm so sorry I've been in a shitty mood, but I promise it's nothing about that" you insisted, looking up at him. "I love it when you talk about D&D, it's really interesting, and I love how excited you get when you talk about your campaigns" you admitted, feeling your cheeks burning a little.

"Really?" Eddie asked, feeling his heart fluttering and you nodded, with a tiny smile forming on your lips. "So, why have you been in such a bad mood today? And don't say it's your Math test, because I know you're going to do great at that-"

"It's not" you admitted. "I actually had it today and I think I did pretty well" you smiled. "Thanks for helping me study" you added.

"So then, what happened?" he asked, frowning. "I mean, don't get me wrong, seeing you kick Andy's ass was the highlight of my day, but I know that something's bothering you" he insisted.

"You sighed, grabbing your bag from the floor and putting it between the two of you.

"I b-bought you something" you said, looking down.

"You did?" he asked excitedly, but his smile dropped again. "Wait, why did that make you upset?"

"It's just..." you said, getting out a small pouch out of your bag. "Last week, when you were telling me about the whole Vecna campaign, you mentioned you lost your dice" you started. "And so, I wanted to get you new ones, and I did, and I wanted to give them to you today because I knew your campaign was tonight, so I told Gareth and I showed them to him and he said that you had already bought some and that mine were not the right kind because the set only has seven dice and the ones that you use for your campaigns have more" you said, opening the pouch and making the seven dices fall on your palm. Eddie didn't think he could love you more until he saw the dice set. They were black and silver metal dice with blood stains on them. "So, I got upset because when I went to the store, the guy asked me what I needed and he laughed when I didn't really know, and when I asked for dice for D&D he started telling me about all the different types of dice and I just got so confused, and then I saw these and I thought they looked metal, and cool and that you would like them but-"

You were suddenly interrupted when Eddie placed his hands on your cheeks and pulled you to him so he could kiss you intensely. You loved these kinds of kisses from Eddie. They were so full of passion and desire that it made your entire body tingle.

"I love you so fucking much" he said, before he planted another kiss on your lips and he felt a smile on your lips.

"I love you too" you said, unable to stop smiling at the way Eddie was looking at you. He looked so enamored by you.

"Princess, first of all, these are the coolest dice I have ever seen in my entire life and I can't believe that you bought them for me and I love them so much!" he insisted, grabbing the dice from your hand before he carefully placed them on their little pouch again.

"Really?" you asked, feeling a little relieved, but you still felt he was just saying that to make you feel better. "B-but Gareth said-"

"Gareth's an idiot" he said, rolling his eyes.

"He's your best friend!"

"He's still an idiot" Eddie insisted. "Look, sometimes we do use more than seven dice but we always use at least seven" he told you. "Plus, are you kidding? These are so badass! Everyone is going to want to play with them, although I might not let them because they are mine and those idiots lost my last ones so-"

"Eddie" you chuckled.

"Right. My point is, I'm sorry that you were in a bad mood because you thought I wouldn't like them" he told you. "Sweetheart, you could give me a cat and I would love it more than anything-"

"Eddie, you're allergic to cats" you chuckled.

"I know, but it's a gift from you" he said smiling. "I love every single thing you give me and that you do for me" he insisted, grabbing your hands in his.

"Really?" you asked, smiling brightly at him. Eddie loved it when you smiled. Especially because he knew he was the only one who made you smile like this.

"Yes, princess" he said, pulling you again for another kiss. "Thank you for my cool gift" he smiled, putting the small pouch in his bag.

"You're welcome, Eddie" you smiled shyly.

"Also, you're gonna tell me the store that you went to and point at the guy who laughed at you because I'm going to kick his ass!"

"Love, you don't have to do that" you chuckled, giving him another peck on the lips.

"Yes, I do. Nobody laughs at my princess" he pouted before he kissed you again.

The End

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A/N: hope you loves liked it!

[flowerandblood]

Fair Play (1/2)

[modern! • Aemond x short!female • volleyball players]

[warnings: angst, smut, domination]

[description: Anon Request: She wants to join the university volleyball team and compete, but she knows, she's too short. She gets a chance from the coach. In the men's team, there is a player who has always attracted her attention.]

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

This is part one of story: Fair Game

_____

Coach Daemon Targaryen wasn't convinced when she first came to the volleyball club saying that she would like to join the university team. She participated in volleyball faculties, earlier in high school she also practiced this sport intensively. Still, before she could show anything he raised his eyebrows and dismissed her in one sentence.

"You're too short." He said amused. "Your taller friends at the net won't give you any chance. You won't block any ball."

She swallowed softly, looking at him pleadingly. Indeed, she was short and petite, but she could play perfectly and had many assets.

"Good blocking depends on good jumping. Please, allow me to prove myself in at least one training session." She said with hope in her voice, smiling warmly. The man sighed, looking her up and down, and nodded.

She was changing in the locker room with the other girls. She saw that most of them already knew each other well. Some of them looked at her surprised, apparently also noticing the big difference in height between them. She decided not to pay attention to it. They were her team now, and she had to work with them.

When they left for the gym, the men's varsity team had just finished their training. She sometimes went to their games out of curiosity, they had a very good squad and won many national championships. She was very curious about their captain, Aemond. He played without one eye, covered with a blindfold.

It didn't stop him from being the best player on the team. In a way, he was an inspiration and an authority to her. She thought that since his eye didn't prevent him from becoming captain of the volleyball team with such great results, then her height shouldn't be much of a problem. It was thanks to him that she dared to approach the trainer.

She saw that some of the boys, hot after training, sat in the audience drinking water, obviously wanting to see how they were doing. She was nervous to see that Aemond sat there as well, stretching. He was drinking water from a bottle, his hair tied in a loose ponytail. He was sweating all over, his hair stuck to his face. She thought with surprise that despite the scar, he was incredibly well built and handsome.

Her team captain snapped her out of her thoughts. She walked over to her, smiling uncertainly, and held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Ana, the captain of this team. The coach told me that you have a practice today and you want to prove yourself." She said gently. She nodded with a smile.

"Yes, thank you for this chance. I will do my best." She said sincerely, and the girl smiled warmly at her words. She obviously liked what she heard.

"Okay then, Monica, you'll be on reserve today. Let's see what our new friend can do." She said loudly.

She felt embarrassed seeing so many eyes directed her way. Their team split into two parts of six people on either side of the net, playing against each other. The team captain decided that she would start the serve.

She stopped behind the court line, glancing at the coach. She heard a whistle, her heart beating faster with excitement. She ran to the line, tossing the ball, jumped high and hit it flat with all her might.

The ball flew diagonally over the net, hitting the outer line of the court so that none of the girls on the opposite side even managed to reach it. The coach pointed at her team, awarding them a point.

This meant that she had to serve, until one of the girls on defense on the opposing team was able to take her ball and hit it back. She went over the line again, tossing the ball in her hand, waiting for the signal. She heard the whistle, ran over, tossing the ball in the air, jumped up and hit it with all her strenght.

The ball hit the line again, flying low, the girl who was closest even though she fell over to hit the ball, didn't reach her. The coach raised his hand again to award her team a point.

She saw that all eyes were directed at her, conversations suddenly stopped. She felt the pressure. Serving was her favorite activity, her strongest point. She always scored colossal points for her team with them, because she hit the sidelines with such accuracy.

She went over the touchline again and when she heard the whistle, she tossed the ball as she ran, jumped up and hit it with a loud bang. The ball hit where she wanted again, causing even after jumping and falling over, the girl on defense didn't reach her and hit the floor furiously. She heard the boys in the audience laugh at her helplessness and whistle.

"Awesome serves!" Someone shouted, she saw from the corner of her eye that it was some black-haired boy, sitting next to Aemond.

She saw that they were both looking at her expectantly, obviously wanting to see how many serves she could pull. She managed to score a total of eight points for the team before her ball went into the net. Anyway, she got some applause from some of the guys, one of them yelled at her to play with them, not the girls.

"Don't waste your time there with them!"

She smiled slightly, their cheering helped her. Her team captain gave her a thumbs up, which she guess meant she had made a very good impression. It was time for the other team's serve.

After the whistle, the girl hit the ball with incredible force. She ran and hit it from the bottom to midfield, another girl kicked the ball higher, and the captain swung and landed a final flat, diagonal shot that earned them another point. They won the first set in thirty minutes. The coach ordered a five-minute break before switching second set.

She walked to the audience, to one of the chairs with her water on it, and took a sip of it, hot. She was very pleased and saw that the male part of the team was looking at her curiously.

"Hey, little one!" One of them called out, and though she didn't like what he called her, she smiled at him. "You have a strong serving hand. Can you squeeze a cock well with it too?"

He asked loudly, some of his friends laughed. She pursed her lips and looked up at their faces, humiliated. Her heart tightened the most when she saw that Aemond grinned, as if he actually enjoyed it. She lowered her eyelids, screwed the cap on the bottle and walked away from them.

"Hey, don't be offended, it's just a joke!" The boy who gave her this wonderful remark shouted after her, but she didn't look at him. She felt like crying, her legs were shaking slightly, but she decided to pull herself together and finish the match. Daemon walked over to her, looking at her thoughtfully.

"Don't mind what they say. They're such big kids. I'll scold them for it later in private in the locker room. As for you, you're doing really well. You can come to another training session."

Their team won, but she did not feel satisfaction nor happiness. The boy's words and the smile of their team captain haunted her and made her chest tighten. She thought that was unfair. That she was very wrong about him.

She changed quickly in the locker room. Some of her new friends started talking to her. They comforted her, telling her not to worry about what the boys was saying. That they were showing off like cocks, to prove to each other how manly they were.

She thanked them for the words, but they didn't make her feel any better. She left the locker room, slung her gym bag over her shoulder, and walked down the hall toward the exit.

She shuddered as she saw that several of the guys, including the one who had yelled at her and Aemond, were standing on a cigarette. She hoped they wouldn't notice her, but they did.

"Hey, newbie, don't be offended, I was only joking." He said, taking a drag on his cigarette, looking at her kindly.

She pursed her lips, not knowing what to say. She just missed them. She stopped when she heard a second voice.

"Fucking princess."

She turned around, their team captain staring blankly at her. She knew he said it, she'd heard him shouting and talking to his teammates before in games. She felt her lip quiver.

She stepped back and approached him slowly, looking him in the eye. He didn't take his eye off her as he took a drag on his cigarette, arching an eyebrow defiantly. His friends watched, curious as to what would happen.

"You were my inspiration to sign up for the team. I admired you. What a shame." She said in a shaky voice and swallowed softly, looking at him with regret.

She saw him purse his lips suddenly and exhale softly, not expecting such words. She turned and walked away, leaving them completely shocked. It wasn't until she turned down the alley and entered the park that she allowed herself to cry.

For the next training sessions she pretended not to see them, and they didn't bother her anymore. They gave her meaningful glances from time to time, but at least she didn't hear any more snide comments. She began to slowly get along with new friends and find a place in the team. She was a reserve for now, but she was glad that the coach allowed her to play in the upcoming competition.

After training, she stayed to practice her serve. She would take the balls from the big basket and serve them to the other side of the court, practicing a repeatable, powerful move. She felt her shoulder ache and began to move it, sighing heavily. She heard someone enter the gym. She shuddered and turned her head, bending down to pick up the balls when she saw the captain of the men's team.

She thought he must have left something and would be leaving soon. She looked up at him in surprise when she saw him reclining in one of the seats in the audience, looking at her as he drank water from his bottle. His hair was loose and wet, he had changed clothes and had probably just taken a shower.

Resigned, she collected the balls she was hitting and started throwing them into the basket, giving up her exercises. She couldn't focus on it anyway, feeling his stinging, malicious gaze.

"End of training?" He asked low, taking another sip of water from the bottle. She looked at him, frowning as she bent down to pick up another ball.

"Are you still mad at me, my number one fan?" He asked, seeing that she had no intention of talking to him.

She felt herself go hot with fury at his remark, and pressed her lips into a thin line. When she finished cleaning up after herself, she reached into the net to untie it and pull it down. She had trouble reaching the top loop and swore.

She heard him leave the audience and walk slowly towards her. She looked at him resignedly. He stood behind her and untied the knot easily. She pursed her lips, lowering her gaze.

"Thank you." She said quietly, folding the net into several parts in her hands. She thought he was going to leave, but she was surprised to find that he was still standing next to her, looking at her intensely.

"Next time I can wait for you. We'll take a shower together if you want." He spoke calmly as if he were talking about the weather.

Her mouth parted slightly, shocked by his words so much she couldn't believe he had said it out loud. He grinned widely and left her with a look of disbelief on her face as he left the gym.

During the next practice she was the first to leave the gym and the first to change. She didn't want to accidentally bump into him or worse, give him reasons to think that she was interested in his proposal. He was very handsome and he was a talented player, but that wasn't enough to cover up his nasty nature.

She left the locker room, heading for the exit. She shuddered when she saw that he was smoking a cigarette alone in the square in front of the hall, still in sports clothes. He looked at her as she opened the door and smiled maliciously.

"Are you leaving already?" He asked defiantly, measuring her body up and down. She tried to sidestep him, but he grabbed her arm gently with his free hand, stopping her, while he drew on his cigarette with the other.

"Hey. I asked you a question." He grunted low, exhaling smoke through his nose.

"Yes, as you can see. Have a nice day." She said, yanking his arm out of his grip. He pursed his lips at the tone of her voice.

"Wait." He finally said, his tone a little softer. She stopped, frustrated, and looked at him expectantly, frowning. He approached her slowly, looking down at her, taking another drag.

"You play well." He said finally, exhaling smoke through his nose. She stared at him, not knowing what to make of his words. She decided that two out of ten unkind words didn't get anything done.

"Thank you." She said softly, looking at him with raised eyebrows, unsure if that was all he had to say.

"I want to train with you." He said finally.

She blinked at him in disbelief.

"What are you talking about? One hit from you and I'll be booked out of here. I saw your serve." She said, frowning. He chuckled lowly at her words.

"I meant more technical things. I will train blocking with you, and you will train with me serves. Exchange of experiences." He said, as he stubbed out his cigarette in the dumpster and tossed it into the bin. She blinked and swallowed when she realized he was serious. It took her completely by surprise.

"So?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, obviously impatient.

The truth was that blocking was her weakest point. If she could block his hits over the net, blocking another girl's hit shouldn't be a problem. Maybe then she would come from the reserve to the main lineup of the team. She pursed her lips at the thought.

"I agree." She said finally.

_____

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

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[bluegarners]

hi!!

📖 - A story idea you haven’t written yet

🌶️ - A trope you’re loving right now

☄️ - most unpopular opinion about a fandom character

VECH!! my dear friend that has both magnitude and direction...

📖 - A story idea you haven’t written yet

okay so you know this scene from the incredibles?? so so so badly i want to write a fic with batman dick, steph, and damian. anyone else is free to write with this idea if they'd like bc im so strapped for time idk if it'll ever happen, but like in my head it goes like:

dick!bats is on a mission outside of gotham and gets captured by the al ghuls. alfred realizes that dick hasn't returned on time and sends steph and damian after him (stupid stupid man!!! but who else is he gonna tell to go after him? who knows!!). steph and damian take the batplane and barbara as oracle virtually flies them to dick's last known location. however, ra's sends missiles to explode the plane bc he thinks it's just barbara since that's who he hears over the controls. barbara is doing her best to evade the missiles, and dick is horrified that she might die (he doesn't know it's just steph and damian on the plane) and ra's thinks it's funny. talia is also there but hasn't said anything yet (at the moment, she is still grieving bruce and is conflicted about dick being batman. she knows damian is active as robin). eventually, barbara realizes that the batplane is going to get hit by the missiles, which is when she says, "THERE ARE CHILDREN ABOARD THIS PLANE!" and ra's and talia both realize that means damian is on that plane. it's too late to abort though and the batplane takes a direct hit from one of the missiles, exploding. dick is horrified and devastated, raging and screaming, and ra's and talia are both quietly shocked. however, what they don't know, is that steph and damian were successfully able to escape, jumping from the plane at the last minute. dick is transported away from the holding cell he was originally in and thrown into some deep hole (literally), while ra's sends people out to scope the area where the batplane exploded. meanwhile, talia is also searching for the children, trusting that her son wasn't killed. later, it's revealed that damian was struck by some of the debris when the plane exploded, leaving steph to take care of him and get them to relative safety. when talia finds evidence of damian being alive, but not damian himself, she goes back to dick and leaves an escape for him- the action serving as a kind of apology. when she leaves, she tells him to take excellent care of her son and that the only reason dick is currently alive/allowed to leave is because of him. dick responds with something snarky about talia being the one to blow him up in the first place. dick is relieved that everyone is alive and manages to climb out of the hole and go searching for damian and steph

there's more to it, like steph doing a lot of cool stuff like breaking into the secret compound dick was investigating and basically finishing what dick started, and damian having a confrontation with the al ghul's that culminates in him convincing ra's to let everyone leave the island. i think? in my head? he offers to let talia come with them, with the grudging agreement of dick bc he just wants to get off the stupid island, bc damian knows that ra's anger is going to be violent and long lasting after this kind of humiliation, but talia says no and just hugs her son before disappearing. IDK. it's a LOT and SO bright in my head, but i simply don't have the time to make an actual fic of it

🌶️ - A trope you’re loving right now

dick and bruce finding each other in every universe. it's so tasty and so so good. i love their loyalty and devotion!!!!! they are tied together and i love it when authors make that clear and devastating bc wow what an awful yet fulfilling way to live. chained!!!

☄️ - most unpopular opinion about a fandom character

not a character i suppose, but i really don't think dick and barbara make a good couple... they're much more interesting as friends and them as a couple is kind of boring and predictable and watered down. they're both so much more badass and cool when they're just friends and not dating each other. i feel like every iteration of them as a couple just kind of wittles them down to weird stereotypes where barbara has to wrangle dick in from being a womanizer or doing something stupid, and it's just... barbara is not a babysitter!! dick is not some stupid himbo!! let them be better than that!!

[niobiumao3]

Okay so, I wrote the second thing from this post.

Also available in AO3 format.

~*~

It's not that Tech doesn't want to interact with anyone, it's that he's exhausted.

Being reunited with his siblings and finding all of them more or less in one piece (physically if not emotionally) is the only thing he's needed for some time. Now in possession of that, he's ready to sleep for at least ten rotations. Possibly longer. The quality of the surface is negotiable, so long as it's stable. He should eat, though, having not been able to very often since falling from the rail car. Or, so they all convince him. Afterwards he can sleep to his heart's content (and plans to).

Throughout dinner he's quiet, keeps himself present enough to respond if he hears his name or senses the conversation has paused in expectation of a comment. This alone is a struggle, uses up the last of his reserves. Once everyone is clearing off the table and leaving to sleep or otherwise he's ready to crawl into a cramped, uncomfortable rack on the Marauder and pass out.

He does help with cleanup, though, bringing in trays, putting away food. At some point a cup of water appears next to him and he drinks it, continues the chores on a sort of autopilot until Phee settles her hip on the counter and folds her arms.

"You look like you could use some sleep. Maybe, a month or so."

"That will be the minimum I expect," Tech admits. He finishes the water, sets the cup into the sink. A second later he realizes she must have been the one to put it next to him. "Thank you. For the water."

"You're welcome," she says, smiling, warm and tired. There's a strain in her expression he doesn't remember seeing before, isn't sure how to ask about. So he turns to survey the kitchen--hers, sparse and simple since she's on the island so infrequently. There's a bowl of items on the table: a large shell, a feather, a colorful rock, a piece of...

... damaged, tinted transparisteel in a scratched, circular frame...

Tech drifts towards the table, vaguely aware Phee is watching him. She must see what he's noticed, because she says, "Yeah. I...didn't want to get rid of them."

He reaches for the goggles with caution, like they might bite. Here they are, destroyed as he'd expected them to be, left lens smashed, right lens cracked. Dust from the mountainside still coats the band. It's impossible for her to have these. Unless she'd done the unthinkable and gone to Eriadu to look for him?

"Where did you find them," he asks, turning them over in his hands. Somehow the camera housing is still intact. Had they checked it for footage?

"I didn't," she admits, then sighs. "Believe me, I wanted to go to Eriadu, but Shep and Hunter wouldn't let me. Wrecker had them."

Rightfully so, he thinks but doesn't say, because Phee not endangering herself on his behalf is slightly less important than the source of the ugly new dread coalescing in his mind. "Wrecker had these."

"Yeah. They came back with them and--"

Something in her voice has changed. Something he should address. Except there's no time, so he interrupts her. "And where did they get them?"

She blinks, taken aback. "I'm...not sure. They didn't say."

Tech grips them tightly, makes for the door. "We need to talk to them, right now. And Shep."

She follows close on his heels. "Right now?"

"Yes. Immediately."

Her demeanor shifts from uncertain worry to simple determination. "I'll go get Shep."

He registers this vaguely, mind working at a furious pace. Had they really gone back for him? They hadn't said so. But then how had they found the goggles? Chanced across them in a wrecking yard? That seemed unlikely. Bought them off a scavenger?

The Marauder's ramp is still down, the lights on. Omega sits in the entrance, toying with a tablet while their brothers mill around the external storage compartment. This suggests they're trying to sort out sleeping arrangements by putting whatever they can into the compartments. Shep had offered one of the little houses now that lower Pabu was repaired, but Hunter had demured. It's just as well; Tech suspects Crosshair and Omega won't be able to sleep anywhere but on the ship for some time, can't blame them either. It's fortunate either way, as it means they're all still awake.

Omega sees Tech on first, greets him with a tired smile and a wave. Noticing her movement, Wrecker turns, guffaws at Tech. "What, not gonna stay with Phee?"

Tech stops in front of them. It's on the tip of his tongue to ask, "Why would I do that?" but he doesn't have time. None of them do. Just like like when he was dangling from the rail car.

He holds up his broken goggles, which saps the general mood of relaxation from all of them in a moment: Crosshair stares, expression souring; Omega swallows, looks away; Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker all become somber. He'd be sorry if the circumstances were anything but what they are.

"How did you get these?" he asks, searching their faces.

Wrecker grimaces. "Hemlock. He was trying to use them to mess with us." He rubs the back of his neck, murmurs, "Worked pretty well."

The dread hovering in Tech's crystallizes, takes shape. He starts tearing apart the recording device.

Omega slowly stands, walks down the ramp. Hunter watches Tech yank off piece after piece of the device with growing concern. "Tech, what are you--"

"Hemlock," Tech says, interrupting him. He glances up, looks from Wrecker to Hunter for confirmation. "He gave you these."

Echo says, "Yeah." A second later he closes his eyes. "...shit."

"What," Crosshair says, voice gone hard. Omega moves to him, takes one of his hands. Tech hears people approaching; Phee and Shep, he suspects.

He finds it a second later, precisely where he'd expected it to be. It's smaller than the older models he's familiar with, though that's hardly a surprise. Hemlock would have access to the latest equipment.

Tech yanks out the tracking chip, holds it up, throws it to the ground and smashes it under the heel of his boot.

"Fuck," Crosshair says on a sigh.

Phee comes to stand next to Tech, eyes on the fragmented remains. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."

He wishes he could. "It is."

Hesitantly, Shep asks, "What is it?"

"A tracking device," Hunter says. Resignation and defeat darken his features, reminding Tech of leaving Kamino without Crosshair. (That's not happening. Not this time. Not ever again.)

No reactions from the rest of them, not even Shep, just stunned silence. Tech can't stand how no one is moving or speaking, so starts to. "We must evacuate everyone. Immediately."

Phee runs a hand over her face. "Brown Eyes how are we evacuating several hundred people on a moment's notice?" There's a note in her voice he's not heard before: fear, brittle and sharp. It makes him want to...

He's not sure. Do something to fix it, at a minimum. "We'll find a way. We always do."

Echo heads for the ramp. "Well for starters I'll contact Rex. He'll at least have a couple of ships we can load people onto."

"You're sure," Shep says. Tech turns: the despondency in Shep's features is painful to see.

"Yes. That was a low power tracker, but the chances they've not picked up the signal by now are minimal. We must assume they're on their way."

Phee exhales sharply. Just like that, her fear becomes resolve. "Alright. Let's get everyone ready to go. No packing, we just leave." She turns to Shep. "If it doesn't fit in their pockets it has to stay."

Shep sighs, nods. He and Phee take separate exits from the courtyard to round up the various leaders of the refugees for help in spreading the word.

Hunter stares down at the remains of the chip, unmoving. The others watch him with growing worry.

Omega's voice is quiet in the darkening courtyard. "Hunter?"

"What have we done," is all he says.

A sound from within the Marauder catches Tech's attention. One he'd know asleep or half dead, drilled into him via hours of simulator time and countless battles: enemy ships on approach.

Echo leans out of the ship. "They're here."

[rederiswrites]

Gonna expand on my thoughts wrt the Fade 'prison', because there was some good discussion in the replies and I've had more time to think about it.

So right from the start, they said, "This is a prison built for a god" and "locked by regret" and both of those had me perking up my ears. Because the implicit assumption--from both the gods that built it and the god that got you stuck there--is that a prison built for a god would surely hold a mortal forever. But my first thought, and the one intended by the writers, was that a prison built for a god might well be poorly suited to hold a mortal. Imagine a mouse in a bear cage!

To be clear, though I haven't finished the game entirely yet, I'm assuming that whether I stayed trapped was of far less importance to Solas than whether he got out. From his point of view, it was the sensible and even necessary decision. He is a MUCH better opponent for Elgarnan than Rook ever could be. Even as Rook, I think I'd be like...yeah okay he's got me there. As usual, Solas' mistake is not in his intentions, or even really in his plans!

No, the mistake--and this is also implicit in this sequence--is that despite his protestations, he is acting and thinking like a god. Which he is, by most criteria, so, again! Not really a glaring fault!

He tried to mold Rook to be held by this prison. He tried to give them regrets. And it worked about well enough that in that exact moment, when the walls were thin and Rook was at their lowest, he got out and they fit in. But with any time to consider it, a reasonably well-balanced Rook wouldn't be caught.

In my version, Davrin died and I was a fellow Warden. I assume that if you choose Harding to lead the other group, she takes the shot and dies. I actually think that would've been MUCH harder for me, but even so the conclusion is the same. With Davrin, it was sad and hard (and COMPLETELY BULLSHIT THAT ASSAN WENT WITH HIM) but we were Wardens. About the closest thing to a regret my Rook would have was that his wounds were so severe that he probably didn't live the extra twenty seconds to realize that he helped kill a Blighted god. Like, what higher aspiration could a Warden have? What more epic death?! Wardens are meant to die, and this is the most legendary death he could ask for. And Warden Rook understands that. Absolutely No Ragrets. But even if it was Lace, she's a grownup and she knows the stakes.

Ultimately, all of them--they're there because they understand the stakes and the stakes are everything, forever. They're not doing it for Rook, they're doing it because it needs to be done, and there's no sacrifice too great to prevent that. As a normal little mortal among normal little mortals, that's relatively easy for Rook to grasp! All Rook is is someone who's earned their trust to take point. Failing wouldn't mean Rook was responsible for what happened after. Failing would just mean that they were working against almost impossible odds and they didn't win.

But Solas! Solas has With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility wedged sideways in his throat like a bone. Solas has power beyond mortal comprehension, and so Solas thinks he should be able to Make Things Right. He is Wisdom and Pride at once, absolutely confident that his plan is The plan. He also understands the stakes, and realizes that no sacrifice is too great to stop Elgarnan. I don't doubt he'd sacrifice himself if he was sure that was the solution. It's not self-serving. And so since he has such great power, and since he is convinced that he should be able to make it right, he cannot let go of those regrets. He should have found another way, he thinks. A better way.

(He's steeled himself to sacrifice people, but he made those choices for them, because he didn't trust anyone else to see things as clearly as him. Rook's team made their own, fully informed, choices. This is another entire subject.)

The regrets of a god are far stronger locks than the sorrows of a mortal, one who experiences loss as a routine part of being mortal, and so he was trapped-- by things he'd already done and couldn't let go of.

Yeah, every time Solas is directly involved, the writing gets like 400 times better. It's so blatant.

[renegades-garbage]

Admissions

Hey guys I'm back lol. Finding out about the new renegades book inspired me to write for the fandom again! I decided to write a little fic about Adrian and Nova getting back together a few months after the Supernova assuming that they broke up to deal with their mental health and such. This ended up being a lot longer than I intended and I did a shitty job proofreading but I love you all and hope you enjoy it anyway. It's also on ao3 as usual!

PS. I hate writing combat scenes so I simply didn't even though it may have been necessary sorry lol

Adrian watched as Nova examined the broken window. They were out on a call for a home invasion but considering this was the only thing amiss Adrian was beginning to wonder if this was just a prank by some neighborhood kids and not a robbery as the elderly woman inside was so convinced.

Most of Adrian’s team came back to work only a few weeks after the Supernova but Nova had, understandably, taken a bit longer. This was only her first week back on patrols after four months and Adrian would be lying if he said it wasn’t hell. He wouldn’t exactly call their breakup messy but it wasn’t exactly easy, necessary and mutual, but definitely not easy.

Nova was a very valuable asset to their team but she was also extremely strong willed and after a few months without her they all needed to remember how to work together again. That was the only reason he was finding her return difficult. It had nothing to do with the fact that she had been doing a lot of healing and had a new brightness to her skin and eyes, or the fact that she was experimenting with new hairstyles and clothes that suited her much more than what she had before. No, none of that had any impact on him. Breaking up was what was best for both of them and he knew that. He truly believed that. One hundred percent. 

“Sketch? Hello?” Ruby’s voice crackled through the communication band. He hadn’t even realized she’d been talking to him. 

“Sorry what did you say”

“I saaaaaiid” she replied in mock annoyance. “Did you guys find anything on that side of the house, because we’ve got nothing.”

“Just the broken window she was telling us about but it looks more like it got hit with a baseball or something than a home invasion.” Just as he said it Nova shone her flashlight inside.

“Adrian.” her voice shook a bit. “Look”

He peered through the broken glass and sitting on the floor was an orange haired puppet. 

Nova looked up at him concerned. In the weeks past a man impersonating the Puppeteer had been terrorizing homes with small children, and the Renegades hadn’t been able to catch him or even find any clues about his identity. He was all anyone was talking about at HQ and Adrian knew that his dad’s would have sent a more advanced patrol group if they were aware of the perpetrator, especially since Adrian hadn’t yet finished re-tattooing his sentinel abilities, but maybe this could be a good opportunity to prove themselves.

He lifted his wrist to his mouth “Red Assassin, Smokescreen can you guys go inside and check if this lady has any young grand-kids staying here or anything.”

Ruby’s voice flowed back through the band “Um sure but why? Is there something wr-... Wait, did you guys find something? Is it that puppet guy?”

“Ruby. Please just go check. We might have limited time.” 

“Yeah of course. Okay. We're going inside now.”

Nova began reaching her hand inside to grab the puppet. 

“Careful of the glass” Adrian warned though he knew she would be. Nova only nodded and offered a small mhm. 

Though the window was very low to the ground and the puppet was just inside Nova was having a hard time reaching due to the jagged glass. 

Adrian knew she wouldn't ask for help so he simply walked over and grabbed it easily.

“I could have done that.” She mumbled.

“I know”

They both looked down at the creepy thing which was almost an exact replica of Winston Pratt’s infamous puppet Hettie. A note was pinned to the front of the doll which read, It’s time to pay for your betrayal Nightmare. A shiver ran down his spine and Nova’s jaw hardened.

“We don’t have to do this, you know. We can always call for backup if this is too much.” The threat was disconcerting to say the least and even besides that, Adrian knew that Nova’s connection to The Puppeteer was complicated and this may not be the best thing for her mental recovery. 

“I'm fine Sketch.”

She didn’t exactly sound fine, and Adrian wanted to insist that they call someone else, considering Nova was much more important than his desire to prove himself, but before he got the chance they heard Oscar’s voice through his communication band.

“Two kids in the upstairs bedrooms. A boy and a girl. Going to check on them now.”

“I'm going to check the back of the house.” Nova began to walk towards the gate that led to the backyard. 

“I'll come with you, Monarch can check around the other side.” 

“No, everyone else is still inside. It's faster if you go around the front and I go around the back.”

“Nova there’s a note on this thing threatening you.” He said holding up the doll. “I'm not leaving you alone.” 

“Adrian I'm not scared of him and I can handle myself, you know that.” 

In any other situation Adrian would have insisted that they stay together, but there were kids in danger and they needed to find this guy. He didn’t want Nova to be unsafe but he was probably just being paranoid, how much of a threat could this guy be? 

—

Nova’s head was pounding. Her memories of the night were coming back to her in short bursts. The sound of maniacal laughter. A face covered in marionette makeup exactly like that of the Puppeteer. The cold press of a knife to her throat. Her hand fumbling to find bare skin. A stab in her side. Pain. Searing white-hot pain. And then nothing. That’s when she had lost consciousness. And now she was laying in a hospital bed with large bandages wrapped around her midsection. 

‘Miss Artino?” 

Nova opened her eyes and looked up at the man in the white doctor's coat standing next to her bed. An older, balding man with friendly eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

“Um…fine I guess” she replied, testing her voice, and it was true she did feel fine. She had some soreness from the wound in her side but the prodigy doctors at HQ were some of the finest and she was sure it would heal completely within a couple of days.

“Good, the wound was pretty severe but it looks like you’ll make a full recovery. Would you like me to let your friends in? They've been here all night.”

Right. Her friends. Her team. Adrian. Was he okay? 

She shook herself. She should be asking about her whole team. She shouldn’t care any more about Adrian’s safety than the rest of them. And she didn’t. She definitely didn’t.

“Miss Artino?” The doctor looked at her mildly concerned, and Nova didn’t blame him. She probably looked crazy right now.

She cleared her throat “Yeah, yes please let them in.”

The doctor offered a small friendly nod and walked over to the door, exiting the room and letting her team file in. Ruby being the first to burst through the door, followed by Oscar, Danna, and Adrian. He- They all looked tired, drawing some minor scrapes and bruises but they were otherwise unharmed. 

“Oh my stars I am so glad you're okay,” Ruby rushed over to Nova’s bed offering an enthusiastic yet gentle hug, which Nova did her best to return. “You were covered in blood and it looked awful. I mean the doctors told us it wasn’t as bad as it looked but it was terrifying and that guy was so creepy.” Ruby shuttered.

“Oh come on we all knew she would be fine. Nova is the toughest of us all.” Oscar walked over to give her a gentle nudge on the shoulder. “You did have us scared for a second there Artino, but I knew you’d pull through.”

She could tell that Oscar was trying to sound braver than he actually felt, as he so often did. It warmed Nova’s heart a bit to see that her team truly cared, even if they couldn't all fully admit it.

“Well I'm glad you had faith in me.” she said a bit weakly. She was still tired from the battle and her injury. “What happened to the Puppeteer impersonator after I passed out?’

The answer came from Danna “You ended up putting him to sleep right as he got you. We have him in custody.” 

Nova nodded. This was a relief to her. She didn’t want that guy out there impersonating Winston, especially if it meant hurting kids. That, and she didn’t almost die for nothing. 

“I'm really glad you're okay Nova.” Danna sounded sincere when she said these words. Nova didn’t think Danna would want her to die, no matter how rocky their relationship, but the way she said it made it seem like more than that. Like maybe in these past few months she had found friendship and maybe even forgiveness for Nova. 

“Thank you.” Nova offered the brightest smile she could muster up, but it wasn’t great. 

She turned her eyes to Adrian who hadn’t said a single word since they had walked in. He looked like he’d been crying. Maybe that meant he still had feelings for her? No, he was just concerned, as he would be for any of his teammates. She wasn’t special, well, not anymore. And she shouldn’t hope to be anyway. They couldn’t be together. And besides she was over him. Totally. One hundred percent. They just stared at each other. No words came to her, and no words came to him either apparently.

“Weeeeeelll,” Oscar’s voice cut through the tension. “Guess it’s time to get home, maybe grab some food. Long night and all.” He said, gently grabbing his girlfriend's arm and feigning a yawn. Nova just shook her head at him. 

Danna began walking towards the door as well. “Yeah I’m gonna second that.” 

They each said a rushed goodbye, and Nova thanked them for sticking around before they exited the room.  

She looked back at Adrian. She had the striking thought that he looked handsome, even with obvious red eyes from tears, and being awake for many hours, he still looked handsome. She knew she shouldn’t be thinking about that, this wasn’t the time nor the place, and they had been broken up for months. But still, she thought it.

When he finally spoke his words were heavy. “I thought I lost you.” 

Stupidly, Nova relished in the words he chose. Not, ‘I thought you died’ or ‘I didn’t know if you’d be okay’. He didn’t want to lose her and that meant something. To both of them, she hoped. “Nova this is what? The third time you’ve almost died? You have to be more careful.”

This was slightly offensive to Nova considering his track record. “You're the one who’s always saying this job is dangerous, and you're almost more reckless than me.” 

“I know. I know okay.” he sighed. “But you should've let me come with you as back up. Someone else could have checked the rest of the house.”

“Well it’s over now and I’m fine. I survived.”

“No Nova, it's not over now.” He was starting to become angry, well not angry but more…flustered? Nova didn’t understand why he was acting like this. He knew better than anybody about risking his life. “This is our job. This right here.” He made a general gesture to the space around them. Or maybe between them? She couldn’t quite tell. “This is our life.”

“Adrian. I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.” And the truth was she didn’t. Why was he getting so upset?

“Nova I can’t do this okay.” He was almost struggling to get the words out now. “I can’t go into work everyday and watch the person that I love almost die.”

Nova was taken aback. There it was. Plain and simple. His admission that he still loved her. And she wanted to believe him, but he knew they couldn’t be together. This was sleep deprivation and emotion talking. He couldn’t possibly know what he’s saying. 

“Adrian, maybe you should get some sleep, and we can talk about this tomorrow.” It hurt Nova to say these words but she knew she had to. Out of respect for him. 

“No, Nova this past week has been horrible. Ever since the Supernova things have been hard, but having you here, around the team, with me, but not with me. It’s been hell. I know exactly what I’m saying. I love you, Nova Artino.” Nova’s jaw was almost on the floor at this point and she saw the look in his eye as he misread whatever he was seeing on her face. 

He started towards the door. “Um you know what, maybe I should get some rest, and we can just put this behin-”

“Adrian” 

“No, I'm really sorry. You're trying to heal and I’m just-”

“Adrian” She said again, more forcefully this time, stopping him in his tracks. She could practically hear Adrians heart racing, alongside her own. 

“Come here.” Adrian started towards the bed slowly and as soon as he was close enough Novas grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his lips to her own. Adrian made a small noise of surprise but didn’t pull away. He  sat down on the edge of the bed, cupping her face in his hands as the kiss became more intense. 

Nova pulled away gently pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you too Adrian Everheart.” 

He smiled that beautiful smile of his and pressed one final kiss to her lips.

“Do you mind if I stay here tonight? It's pretty late and I told my dads I would stay in one of the rooms we rent out.”

“I would love for you to stay with me.”

Adrian gently maneuvered himself and the blankets so that they could both lay down without hurting her. They laid together in comfortable silence for a few moments, a feeling Nova had missed so much these past months, until Adrian whispered into the darkness. 

“So does this mean we’re back together?”

Nova just laughed and replied “I hope so.”