#and 2 raina would have been able to meet her | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

abitscripturient · 1 year ago

Text

Sequence 2-1

Sequence 2-1: Dangerous Ignorance

The plan had been to leave that night but sometimes Mother Nature intervenes. Rainstorms left and right doused Ridgedale and surrounding plantations for a week. It halted work in the field though and for that Raina was grateful because it gave her time to discuss more of the journey with Beau. From what was planned, she and he were going to be accompanied by three other slaves: Simon, a big figured worker in the fields, Gertrude, another house servant, and her teenage sister, Dina.

In a way, Raina is glad that it isn’t just her and Beau but having a teenager could make things harder depending on circumstances. She sits with Beau discussing just that, but Beau waves her worries away as he goes over the supplies.

“Dina will be fine, Raina. Gertie will look after her. We do have a problem though. When Simon checked out the back way, he noticed that there was a slight mudslide near it. We’ll have to see if we can go out in another direction. We need to make it to the meeting point no matter what. You think you can scope another way out from above?” Raina frowns as Beau holds her stare and after a few minutes, she sighs and nods walking out of the house. All through her childhood, Raina had a special connection with birds especially eagles, finding out that she can see through their eyes everything it could see. That was another reason why she wanted freedom so badly. She knew just how beautiful it would be.

The only people that knew about her special skill were Edie and Beau. Edie never really commented on it, but she had to promise Beau he wouldn’t tell anybody; her life was hell as it was. He had agreed, but it was strange that he would ask her to use it out of nowhere. She looked up at a wren in a tree and through her mental link, began to speak to it.

Hello, my friend. I need a favor from you. Can you fly up in the sky for me and look around for an opening near the forest, please?

With a chirp, the wren takes off high up above Ridgedale circling around thanks to Raina’s mental commands. It soars over the slave barracks, around the dampened cotton fields, and over the two-story mansion of Ridgedale. Through their mental bond, Raina's able to find out that there was another hole in the direction they were heading. The wren then returns to the tree, allowing Raina to release the bond and smile up at it.

"Thank you, my friend. Have a good day."

The wren lingers for a moment before flying off as Raina walks back into the cabin to tell Beau what she found out. They discuss the new plans with the three others and finally decide to make their move the following evening as the slaves are doing weigh-in. Raina takes a look at each of the travel companions, weighing her thoughts of them for herself.

Simon seemed strong and capable of making it to his freedom. He'd be essential to their journey. Gertrude was a good seamstress and as Raina keeps thinking about her, she figured that if something needed to be repaired and built, Gertie would be the best to do so. Dina however...

No matter how much she wanted to think otherwise, Raina knows that with the teenager's hot-headedness that there was a chance bad decisions would be made. She just isn't sure which ones and she knows that Gertie won't go unless her sister goes. If Gertrude didn't go, Simon wouldn't go. There was no secret about the feelings he had for her and then...if Simon wouldn't go, Beau would give pause; another male travel companion was a plus. There was no getting around that. Blinking out of her thoughts, Raina excuses herself to get one last night of sleep in the cabin hoping things would go smoothly and that Master Cole wouldn't buy her sooner rather than later.

While brushing her dry yet wavy lengths on her pallet, she notices Edie walking up to her with a worried expression on her face. When Raina had told her of her plan to leave, Edie had been adamant in keeping her home on the plantation. She wanted to keep her promise to keep her safe and while Raina understood, she knew it was time to make her own decisions for her life. She now looked at her caretaker in her eyes with a soft smile.

"There is nothing I can say that will make you stay?" Edie started, her eyes getting misty.

Raina shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

With a sigh, Edie nods saying, "All right then, Rainy. I have done what I can. You are an adult now and can make your way. Just please, please be careful out there."

"I will. You stay safe too."

Raina stares into Edie's eyes searching. Her eyes hold such sadness that Raina can't help but bring her into her arms. Once there Edie starts sobbing out her fear and worries for Raina's wellbeing, Raina shedding a few tears of her own. She knew she would miss the person she had come to know as a second mother. She would have asked Edie to come with her, but old age and loyalty to Ridgedale would have kept her put. The two stick close together for the rest of the night. The next day, Edie makes herself scarce and Raina knows it's because she doesn't want to be there when she leaves her.

The day is the same as any other day, but Raina is still wary. From time to time she would glance over to see Beau or one of the others staring at her, making sure she was still in on the plan, making her nod to keep them reassured.

She nearly gasps when she finally hears one of the overseers yell out "Weigh-in! Bring ya'll bags here!"

Looking side to side, she gathers up her skirts and quickly makes her way to the cabin to grab her bag from under the porch. She had packed a few essentials like food, a bottle for water, a blanket, and her special necklace. She then walks toward the back of the plantation seeing the others making their way over to the overseers to give their bags. Simon soon follows close by her to the back of the house that was surprisingly lacking people. Fate seems to be on their side. Beau had already made it to the opening with Gertrude and Dina and without a moment to think their plan over, the five dive into the security of the forest.

*******

The group warily made their way north, Beau explaining along the way that they were going to go along a path until they met up with another group of slaves from another plantation. Beau had met up with them while doing errands for Carmichael months before. Raina is stunned by just how much planning Beau had put into this and she smiles proudly as he starts tellings stories of what he wishes to do with his freedom. The group walked for a good two days, eating dried fruit and saved pieces of meat to keep up nourishment. For thirst they drank from streams, storing water in bottles for safekeeping.

The sun is just going down when Beau and Simon stop the ladies to make camp. They had made good time without being caught so far, but still cautious, the men go to check around for anything out of place or any kind of sounds. Raina is relieved to take a break, removing her shoes for a little while. Her fingers work to massage her sore soles and toes.

"How much farther do we have to go, Gertie? I'm tired of walking and I'm tired of this nasty food." She hears Dina grouch. It wasn't the first time that she has voiced her discomfort and Raina sighs, already tuning her out.

"Now you cut it out, Dina. You know we have a while to go. Freedom is worth it." Gertrude scolds her younger sister while taking out the so-called nasty food for them to eat before sleep. Her eyes cut over to Raina who can see she is just as tired of her sister's antics as the others.

"Sure doesn't feel like it! I think we were better off at the plantation."

"Then maybe I should have left you there," Gertrude says without a second thought.

Dina stares at her sister incredulously before she huffs, turning her body away and laying on her pallet. Gertrude looks over at Raina again after shaking her head asking her, "You got enough food, Rainy? You need any?"

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry yet. I'm just going to turn in for the night I think."

Gertrude nods before tending to her own hunger as Raina pulled out her blanket for her nightly pallet. She wasn't a fool to believe that they had gotten away scot-free. No, most likely the Master had already put out notices of their escape and probably sent people to find them. But being two days ahead, they probably have the advantage and that was what made her relax more to lay down. Beau and Simon had returned and now everybody was quiet, doing their own things before bed. As they talk quietly, the dark approaching them, Raina turns on her side, removing her necklace from her bag. While she somewhat trusted the group, she didn't trust anybody when it came to her prized possession. As such she started digging in the soft dirt beside her pallet putting it inside of a small hole and covering it. In her mind, that would make it less likely to be stolen from her and when she woke, she would pick it up and replace it in its location.

She turns back over on her back staring up at the sky that was turning from a light blue to a darker one, the dark silhouette of the trees contrasting against the colors. 'It's best to just sleep now..." She thinks to herself before a voice sounds back at her.

'What do you want with freedom, child?'

She blinks and thinks about that, not at all questioning the words in her mind. 'I want...I want to find my mother. That's what I want more than anything right now.'

'You think this is the way to find her?'

She shrugs to herself. 'Sure. It's better than being enslaved and not finding her at all.'

'If there was a different way, would you take it?'

Raina's eyes search the darkness. 'I guess it would depend on what way.'

There is silence then and Raina waited for more. When she doesn't she gives one more sigh before closing her eyes for the night.

*******

"What the hell is going on?! Why is there a campfire here?"

Raina's eyes open at the harsh exclamation coming from Simon and she sits up to see the dim glow of a campfire next to them. Her eyes widen in horror as she looks around for the culprit. She had been asleep the whole time and it looks as if Simon and Gertie had been too. Beau was nowhere to be seen and neither was Dina.

"Where are Beau and your sister?" She asked in a panicked whisper as she rushes to put out the fire with dirt with the other two following her lead. The fire was banked in no time just as a surly voice cried out, "What are you doing? I was going to use that!" Raina turns her head to the right seeing Dina holding a kettle with a scowl on her face. Her mouth drops as well as Gertie's who gets up and runs to her sister gripping her shoulders.

"What do you mean, child? You made this fire?"

"Yes! I was hungry and nobody was awake. How else are we going to eat?"

Gertrude shook her head before shaking her sister hard. "What have you done?!" Dina wrenched out of her sister's grasp and she looked over at Simon who points at her with a low growl.

"Foolish, Dina! We packed food in our bags and you know that. Now you've compromised this whole situation."

Dina rolls her eyes and walks over to where the fire was, teenage ignorance all over her being. "What are you talking about, Simon? What have I done that was so wrong other than supplying us with a warm meal?"

Another voice answers for her. "You've led them right to us, Dina."

Raina and the others turn to see a disappointed Beau walking toward them. "While I was searching for where the meetup point is, I heard a commotion far away and so I went to check it out. Bounty hunters. They have seen the smoke, Dina. They will be here soon."

If she had been scared before, Raina is terrified now. Her worst nightmare was happening. Dina shakes her head, now understanding the severity of her mistake. "I didn't mean to mess things up, Beau! Please believe me." She looks at her sister for support but Gertie avoids her eyes looking at Simon and Raina. "What do we do now?"

Beau looks at Raina asking in a whisper, "How close?" Raina stands with understanding searching for the right conduit in the trees, grasping what she could, a blackbird. Helping it soar in the air and above the trees, the woman gasps seeing a group of four riding horses heading quickly toward their direction. She shut off the connection and looks at Beau frantically. "They're nearly here! We have to go!"

"How do you kn-" Dina started before Gertrude pushed her toward her bag. "Shut up, girl, and get your stuff together! Right now!" She hissed out to her foolish sister, gathering her own things.

Simon is two steps ahead of them already finished with his bag and he takes the time to help them with theirs, his eyes hard on Dina who had the mind to look ashamed. The sounds they made were even louder than was needed and Raina winces looking back at where the bounty hunters had been located. Just then a fleeting yet powerful urge to stay put goes through her body as the voice returned seemingly carried on the wind.

'This is not your destiny, child nor your journey to freedom...let them go.'

Beau looks over at her, seeing her thoughtful expression and her things not packed. "Raina." He calls out bringing her back to reality to look at him. "Pack. We have to get ahead of them!"

"You're right. We do." She takes a deep breath, thinking about the voice and then making her decision. "I...I'm going to give you time. I'm staying behind."

Beau stared deep into her eyes before he steps forward. "Are you crazy, woman? Do you know what they will..."

She did. Raina knows that she was either going to be lashed or even worse, killed. But if it meant that four others would get to freedom...it was worth it. She knew the meetup area was close, she had caught a glimpse of it as she was breaking the connection with the bird earlier. The sounds of horses were getting louder and she trembled with fear. It was now or never. She looks over at Simon and nods. He doesn't have to be told twice and he grabs Gertrude's hand pulling her behind him saying "Come, Gertie! Grab Dina's hand!" The three ran off into the forest, leaving Beau and Raina behind. Raina grows impatient at Beau's stubbornness to leave.

“You have to go! You’re so close!” Raina exclaims, pointing toward the meetup point. Beau glances at it and then at his friend torn between leaving and staying.

“I’m not leaving without you, Raina! Come on!” He grunts as Raina then pushed him forward toward the end of the forest and he scowls at her stubborn will. She shakes her head, hanging on tight to her bag.

“No, Beau! They’ll be here soon and if you’re caught, they’ll hang you for sure! Go on…grab that freedom. I’m sure my capture will keep them off of you for the time being. So please, go!” As the sounds of the hoof beats came closer and closer she smiles with encouragement at her childhood friend seeing their hands pulling back as they starts walking in opposite directions.

“I’ll never forget you, Raina, or your sacrifice. Take care of yourself.” Beau says to her before departing running quite fast through the forest to where the others would meet him.

Raina watches Beau leave, her chance for freedom dashed in order to procure his. Tears blur her vision at the unfairness of it all and she holds back a sob as the sounds of horses come to a stop right behind her, no doubt coming to take her back to where they thought she belonged. Where her punishment awaited.

#story: released rain #writing #story chapter #ac 3 #ac III

0 notes

songtoyou · 4 years ago

Text

Chapter Six: Don’t You Pretend

Would You Call That Love

Pairing: Chris Evans x Raina Morrison (OC)

Rating: PG to PG-13 (Might be 18+ for some chapters)

Description: There was always that one person Chris Evans tended to turn to when he was not in a committed relationship, Raina Morrison. He could confide in her about things going on in his life that he did not feel comfortable talking to his family or close friends about. Chris and Raina were able to establish a way to openly communicate with one another, but also being respectful of the other’s time and needs. It was the only constant “relationship” he had, but without all the nonsense of trying to build a life together. A “friends with benefits” situation. However, what happens when Chris starts rethinking his “relationship” with Raina and if either are willing to pursue something more?

Chapter Rating: PG

Warnings: Mentions the death of a loved one.

Word Count: 1,397

Author’s Note: It has been forever since I have updated this story. I was not sure where I wanted to take it since the I posted the last chapter. For this chapter, I wanted to explore more into Raina’s relationship with her dad and how supportive Chris is. So this chapter is basically Chris being a supportive boyfriend to his girlfriend.

Sadly, I do not know Chris Evans or anyone in his family, and this is just a fictional take on his life. I do not permit this fic to be reposted on other platforms.

Chris and Raina did their best to keep their new relationship quiet. While his mother and siblings knew of the couple’s new relationship status, along with Raina’s father, they wanted to keep it quiet for the time being. Both wanted to enjoy the “honeymoon” stage without the prying eyes of the media and fans.

While Chris dreaded the media intrusion, it was the fans Raina was more worried about. Flashbacks of her time with Tom were making the singer have bouts of PTSD. Raina feared that if the fans found out that she was dating Chris, they (mostly his fans, let’s be honest) would be brutal towards her, just like Tom’s fans.

She asked Chris one night what he would do if his fans outright attacked her via social media. He was stumped at the question at first.

“Like, if you see fans sending me hate though…I don’t know, Twitter, would you respond? Would you say something? Are you comfortable with saying anything if there is hate towards me because I am now dating you?” Raina asked, worried about his answer.

“I mean, yeah, I would say something,” Chris replied, but Raina could detect the unsureness in his voice. “What?” Chris asked when he saw the look you gave him.

“You saw how some of the fans were towards Jenny. They said hateful things about her, and you didn’t do anything to defend her or your relationship. What makes me different?” Raina pushed. She wanted to get it all out—no bullshit between Chris and her.

Chris sighed. “I can fully admit that I fucked up when it came to my relationship with Jenny. I didn’t protect her like I should have when we began dating. It was the first public relationship I had been in a long while. However, that is no excuse. The difference between you and Jenny is that 1.) I love you. I love you so much. So I would never stand for anyone hating on you, and 2.) I know that once the fans see that our relationship is real and not some Hollywood PR bullshit, that they will support us.”

Raina took in a deep breath and let it out. She leaned into Chris, and he wrapped his arms around her and placed a kiss on her head. “I like that you aren’t as pessimistic as me. That is encouraging and helps me to ease my anxiety,” she said to him.

“We got this, Raina. We will make it through the hard part, trust me.”

Three weeks. That was how long Chris and Raina were able to hide their relationship. It was a nice quiet three weeks between the two before the media storm eventually hit. The couple became inundated with calls from the media, whether it be questions about their relationship or begging for an interview. Both PR reps denied requests for interviews or commented on the couple’s relationship.

As Raina expected, the fans were in a tizzy. Once again, Raina’s fans were super supportive of her relationship with Chris; however, some were cautious for her as they worried that Chris’s reputation as a “womanizer” would tarnish her image somewhat. With Chris, his fans were split down the middle, with some showing support, while others proceeded to throw hate towards Raina’s way. Thankfully, her fans (and some fans of Chris) would immediately step in and call out the haters.

Nevertheless, Raina would do her best to ignore the vitriol thrown her way and go about her life. She finally got the man of her dreams, and no one was going to mess that up. She would continue to focus on Moulin Rouge, which was her top priority, and not focus on any negativity.

Also, Raina’s dad was coming into town for his birthday and see the show. She was excited to see him as he mostly stayed up in Long Island. He was not one to venture into the city very often.

After declining Raina’s offer to drive him herself or have her driver bring him, George opted to drive into the city. It was rather odd to Raina, considering that her father hated having to drive on the freeway. But she shrugged it off and deemed it a good thing that her father was getting out of Long Island for a while.

However, Raina could not put it past her that something was off with her dad.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked Raina as he sat on her couch watching television.

Raina sat down next to Chris. He noticed she kept looking down at her cellphone. “My dad just sent a text, saying he will meet us at the restaurant.”

Chris was puzzled. “Yeah, so…”

“So, my dad doesn’t know how to text. He’s not a texter. Texting and George Morrison do not go hand-in-hand. What gives?” Raina wondered in distress. “Did you teach him how to text?”

“No,” Chris responded, trying to hold back his laughter. “Come on, Raina, he was bound to learn how to text sometime. This a good thing. That way, you guys can text each other now.”

Raina merely shrugged her shoulders. “I guess.”

“You’re very cute; you know that, right,” Chris stated, leaning over for a kiss, which she gave willingly.

Unfortunately, two hours later, Raina was back at it with worrying. “Ah-ha! Look at this new text, Chris. Read what it says. Go on, read it!” she ordered and handed Chris the cellphone.

Dad: We made it in safe, but rather late. Now at the hotel. We are going to eat in and call it a night. We’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.

“Oh wow,” was all Chris said.

“We? Who the fuck is this ‘we’ my dad is referring to, huh?”

Chris handed Raina back her phone. “Raina, you know your dad has been dating. He is not Casanova, but he goes out occasionally. I thought you had gotten over your resistance about your dad dating again?”

“I try to, but it is hard. It is hard to imagine him with another woman that isn’t my mom. I know she would want him to be happy and not alone. But…”

When Chris saw Raina begin to cry, he immediately engulfed her into his arms and held her while she cried. Chris could never understand Raina’s pain of losing a parent, but he would do his best to support her in that moment and every moment after.

“I miss her all the time, Chris,” Raina managed to squeak out.

“I know you do, darling. I know,” Chris said while continuing to hold her and stroke her hair tenderly.

“It has been nine years since mom died, and I just can’t get over it. That night was so fucked up. If we had demanded the paramedics take her the first time they came, then she might have…”

“Raina, you can’t do that to yourself. You can’t play the what-ifs game,” Chris consoled. He has had this talk with Raina before. She always replayed that night over and over about what could have been done to save her mom. “I may not have known your mom very well, but I do remember the one time I did talk with her. It was when you sang with the Boston Pop Orchestra back in spring of 2010. Both your mom and dad were there, along with my mom and me. I remember the look on your mom’s face when you began seeing. Marie was in such awe and was crying. She looked so proud, Raina. She told me that no matter what, you would always be her little girl. That goofy little girl who would rather spend time in her room playing the guitar or keyboard and writing down song lyrics. She is with you all the time, Raina. She’s never left you.”

“It still sucks, though,” stated Raina and wiped away the tears with her sleeve. “Okay, I’m tired of crying.” She took a deep breath and retreated to the bathroom to wash her face.

If her dad were dating, then she would be supportive. He deserved to have someone by his side. It was not fair for him to spend the remainder of his life alone. Raina decided to view it as George’s way of honoring his late wife by living his life to the fullest. It is what Marie would have wanted.

#chris evans #chris evans x oc #chris evans x ofc #chris evans x original female character

9 notes · View notes

fieryfantasybooklover · 4 years ago

Text

Scythes And Stories - Chapter 1 - Lady Of Death

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Tagged: @lily-chen-deserves-better @julieandthefandoms @blackthorn-trash @rainbow-sheepofthefamily @brotherhalal-ariahs @mithriel-of-mithlond @hands-dripping-ink @themostawesomehuman @zfoxdraws @insane---chaos @imherongraystairstrash @tessagraycarstairs

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

The sun rose over the sprawling city of Vesperum. It was a city like a double sided coin, as most cities are. Containing the extremes of both darkness and light, Vesperum had long been the shining capital city of the kingdom Solis. In Vesperum, merchants haggled their wares, shouting to the birds winging overhead. Royal caravans toured through the city center, graciously waving and smiling. The sunsets gave way to the star spangled night, and warriors trained with sword and bow, dagger and mace. This was the city full of life, the side most royals and people in power wanted every visitor to see. However, light cannot exist without darkness and darkness cannot exist without light. In the very same city, peasants cry, unable to feed their children. Corrupt members of the government steal money and secrets, hissing lies with uplifted lips. The outlying kingdoms of Luna, Stellae, Caelum laugh, able to see what natives to Solis cannot - their kingdom is dying. And in the dying city, an assassin cleans her blade.

Anna Corvere was cleaning her dagger. Onyx and bone. Approximately 10 inches long. Blade sharp enough to cut steel. She was running the cloth back and forth, back and forth across the blade, methodically and robotically cleansing the blood from her blade. Her hands trembled only slightly, the only tell to her inner turmoil. “Another day, yet another murder.” she thought bitterly as she finished cleaning her dagger and stored it away. I never wanted this to happen, a voice deep inside her whispered. Anna shoved it down, deep into her soul, smothering it and denying it air. “I’m ridding the world of corruption, which is more than most people will ever do. After all, what am I but a weapon to be wielded by the organization.” glancing out the window at the sky, Anna sighed. It was the trademark mix of slate gray and periwinkle blue that signaled the coming of winter. It would likely be snowing tomorrow, and as cold as the empty vastness of space. Today’s target had been a minor government official, one who worked in the currency department. He’d been stealing money, little aware someone had been watching.

Anna worked for the Ravens. They were a society of covert people, composed of black market traders, underground weapon’s manufacturers, smugglers, and assassins. The group had formed over common interests and desire to stay undetected. Undetected to the royal family - King Samuel, Queen Mirabelle, and their daughter Ariadne - and to their advisers. The soldiers of the government hated them, and had done so ever since the Ravens’ leader Midnight tasked herself with eliminating the evil that had seeped into Solis. And had spent the recent years making true on that promise. Anna, now 17 years of age, had been a member for over a decade. One of the recruiters had found her. Hiding in her old bedroom, screaming, her parents dead in the room next door.

That part of her memory was so faded she could barely picture her bed, or her toys, or even what her house looked like from the outside. Nobody ever found her parent’s murders, and Anna knew to this day they were alive and well, somewhere in the world. Anna had trained since she was five, having exhibited at an early age a talent for battle. Now, here she was, 12 years later. One of the most famous amature assassins in the society, known to the public only as the Lady of Death. Shuddering in the ice cold shower she always made herself take after a job.

One hour and an envelope containing her pay later, Anna flopped back on her bed. Her dark hair was thrown into a messy ponytail, and she sighed. “I wonder if I’ll finally catch a fucking break now. That was the quickest job I’ve ever done. Nobody spotted me, all witnesses removed. Will that be enough to please Mr. oh-you-must-do-better-Ms.-Anna-Mason? Will that be enough to earn me just a day to myself? But oh no, I must be ready at all times to leave.” Anna snarked to herself before quickly sobering. “It’s not good to think that way”, she thought, shaking her head to clear it. “After all, where would I be without them?” she thought logically. “It’s no good to allow myself impudence.”

“Ms. Anna!” Wes called from down the hall. “Mason has requested you in the briefing room in 10!” Anna groaned, gathering the strength to toss aside her book and stand. “Thanks Wes!” she shouted back, quickly changing into her gear. Anna grabbed a dagger, strapped it to her thigh, and set off down the hallway of the Ravens’ base. New recruits gawked as she passed, providing more evidence to the rumors that stayed at Anna’s heels wherever she went. “That’s her. That's the Lady of Death!” one gangly teenage boy whispered to his friend. Anna turned to them, slowing to a half and tilting her head slightly. The two froze, eyes widening and darting as if looking for an escape. But Anna merely smiled, dipped her head, and said “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.” saying nothing more, Anna turned and resumed her stroll, a vision in black and shadows. “Woah... Maybe we’ll be like her some day!” the second boy whispered as Anna disappeared down the hall, leaving yet another story behind her.

“Yes Mason? What is it you want?” Anna asked when she arrived in the briefing room. Mason, her supervisor and current head assassin, sighed. Anna surveyed the room quickly, ice blue eyes scanning and cataloging. It didn’t take long for her to realize that the entire Assassin's Council was here - the society’s 10 most esteemed and longest standing assassins. They were all here, seated around the ornate table at the center of the room. The only thing that could mean was this was not just an ordinary meeting. Face betraying nothing, Anna turned back to Mason and raised her eyebrows. “Am I going to assume this meeting is of some importance, or are we just here for tea.” Anna asked, waiting. Raina, one of the council members, heaved a deep breath. “You are correct. This meeting is of importance. Utmost importance actually, so let’s get to it.” Dread rose in Anna then, a feeling unfamiliar to her and entirely unwelcome. It swelled inside her, cold and heavy and malicious. And then, the scythe fell.

“We need you to kill Princess Ariadne."

#anna lightwood #ariadne bridgestock #slowburn #enemies to lovers #fantasy #arianna #shadowhunters #the last hours #megans writing #not angst I swear

9 notes · View notes

eskalations · 5 years ago

Text

Smoke and Gunpowder, Chapter 4

A/N: Below the “read more” since it’s a bit long this time!

Summary: Even now, in the privacy of her room and away from the prying eyes of their government, he stiffened at her proximity. The careful lines drawn between the two of them seemed to blur at times like these when they were alone and out of uniform. In the dim light of her room, it was easy to imagine that they were just a quiet country boy and bold city girl again. (ROYAI GENDERBEND AU)

AO3 | FFN

Tumblr: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Chapter Summary:

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a quiet voice, aware that any of his neighbors could hear the conversation between him and his female commanding officer. Sure, it wouldn't be unusual for a man his age to be entertaining a young woman at this hour – but if anyone saw that the woman in question was the Flame Alchemist herself, they would both be in deep trouble.

"I already told you. I need you to suck my neck."

A/N: Here's another chapter! I think I've decided that, once all this is written out, I will rearrange the chapters so that they are in chronological order. As it is right now, this is just a series of oneshots - but I'm hoping that, in the end, I will have enough chapters that I can go back and make it a little easier to follow. This chapter definitely fits the mood of FMA 03 a bit more than Brotherhood, but follows the Brotherhood timeline. I wanted to go ahead and introduce Mustang's Team - however, they aren't really in this one much. I'm hoping to do a "mission" chapter in the future where we can see their personalities a bit more, so watch out for that!

Also, no I haven't forgotten Maes Hughes...he'll be introduced in due time!

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

East City - Spring of 1913

It was just a typical day in the office.

Raina Mustang was having an interesting morning. The night before, she had met with a few of her "sisters" at the train station and had taken them out for a night on the town. In other words, they had hopped from bar to bar – acquainting themselves with the owners and staking claims on who would get each area.

Though Madame Christmas was stationed in Central, she was well-known amongst the underground information network throughout Amestris. The bar owners knew that any agreement they made with one of Christmas's girls was sure to bring in a hefty amount of cash. Not only were the girls trained in information gathering, but they were trained in other aspects as well. Once men caught word of the sultry vixens that had just arrived in town, the cash would be rolling in, as well as the secrets.

Of course, the night before hadn't been all business. Raina and the girls had plenty of fun catching up. Alice and Madeline remarked on how much healthier and happier she looked this time around as opposed to the last time she had traveled to Central. Helen couldn't help but agree.

"I'm moisturizing more." The girl answered, nursing a glass of gin. She wasn't about to tell them that it was probably from the lack of booze in her daily diet. The last time she had gone to Central, she was still strung out from what had happened in Ishval. She still was – however, a sense of numbness had replaced the once crippling guilt that resided in her heart.

"Where's Ray?" Helen had asked as they made their way to the next bar on their list. Madeline had laid claim to The Broken Bottle, so the next stop was Wicked Whiskey. "It's been so long since I've seen him. I was hoping you would bring him out with you tonight."

"You know that we can't all be seen together." Raina reminded her, pushing a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear as a car whizzed by. The roads were busy for a Tuesday night. "It would look suspicious if he were ever to meet up with you. What would people say then?"

"That three is a better time than two." Raina shoved the girl at the implication, stumbling under her slight buzz. The high heels she had chosen to wear certainly weren't helping her balance either. They all giggled as they entered the next bar, an unspoken agreement amongst them that they would enjoy the rest of their night.

And enjoy they did – if Colonel Mustang's slight hangover wasn't evidence enough – there was a fresh bruise adorning her neck as proof of the good time she had.

So," Havoc drawled from his seat, cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. "You have a good time last night?"

The man sat with feet on top of his desk, pushing his chair back on its hind legs. Lunch was soon approaching and it was obvious that mentally he had already checked out for the day. Beside him, Breda dropped his pen as well – he had been pretending to do work for the past half hour – in favor of listening to what his boss had to say.

Knowing that she had a role to play, the young woman smirked at her comrades.

"I had an excellent time." The blonde soldier sniggered, the suggestion behind her words evident. He grabbed the cigarette from between his teeth and looked like he was going to say something else – however, her next words stopped him. "What about you, Havoc? Did you have any fun last night?"

"Hey!" The man nearly fell out of his chair. From the other side of the room, Hawkeye's lips turned up in a small smirk as he continued his paperwork. At least, someone in her office was working. "I have plenty of fun!"

"Your dating record says otherwise." Breda commented under his breath. This had the Second Lieutenant turning on him, eyes blazing in defense.

"Well, what about yours!"

"What about mine?!"

"It's not like girls are knocking down your door at the opportunity to spend the night with you!"

"How would you know?!"

"I bunked with you at the Academy. Trust me, I know these things!"

As Breda and Havoc continued to squabble, Mustang turned her eyes to the other gentlemen in the room. Falman was sitting at his desk with his nose buried in a book, ignoring the argument that was taking place across from him. The silver haired man usually kept to himself, avoiding involvement in the chaos that seemed to plague the young Colonel's office. Fuery was trying to keep to himself as well – however, the young man's dark eyes darted nervously over to the older men every few minutes as they both teetered back in their chairs.

Hawkeye, per usual, was unaffected – or at least he appeared to be.

Colonel Mustang knew the sniper better than most and couldn't help but notice the faint flush of his cheeks. It was hot in the office, but it wasn't that hot. Besides, his cheeks only seemed to redden whenever he glanced at her – which was every few minutes since he was, in fact, her bodyguard and was supposed to have his eyes on her at all times.

Who was she kidding? She knew exactly why he was blushing.

At the sight of his obvious embarrassment, she could feel the skin of her face warming as well. Turning to face the window, she gazed out at the parade grounds in front of Eastern Command, memories of last night flooding back to her as she watched new cadets cross the yard.

Yes, it was a good night indeed.

"I need you to suck my neck."

If the situation were any different, Raina could have laughed out loud at her adjutant's look of shock. However, she meant business. His amber eyes were nearly bugging out of his head as she stumbled into his apartment. She wasn't drunk per se, but she had consumed several drinks with the girls and was beginning to feel the after effects.

When she entered the living room, she couldn't help but chuckle. Paperwork was spread out on the young man's table, giving her a clear idea of what he had spent his night doing.

"Haven't I told you to stop bringing your work home?" She asked, glancing down at the form in front of her. It wasn't due for another week!

Hawkeye stood at the door, eyes still wide. Once he had gotten over the initial shock of her barging into his apartment, he stepped out into the hall and quickly glanced both ways. When he was satisfied that no one was there, he shut the door before turning to her with a look of disbelief.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?!" The man whisper yelled, crossing the apartment. "Someone could have been following you!"

Raina gave him a smug look. "Who would be dumb enough to trail the Flame Alchemist?"

"I can think of plenty of people who would be 'dumb' enough to try and get whatever dirt they can on you, sir," He was towering over her now, his handsome features hardened by anger. Even his jaw was tense, causing his words to come out as a hiss. "You can't just be showing up here drunk!"

"I'm not drunk." She insisted, though her glassy eyes implied differently. She wasn't up to her usual "depressive" stage of inebriation – however, it was evident that she had had more than just a single glass that night. "If I were drunk, would I have been able to drive myself here?"

"You DROVE?"

Raina plopped down in the dining room chair he had been seated in just a few moments earlier. "No, I'm not that dumb."

"I'm really beginning to wonder!"

"Insubordination!" She picked up the form regarding the Bauer case that lay in front of her and held it in the air, waving it at him in a mock angry fashion. "I should write you up for that."

He reached for the paper. "Before or after you get court-martialed for fraternizing?"

Her reflexes dulled from the booze, he was easily able to pull it from her grasp. This left her pouting. Some colonel she was – acting like a petulant child.

"I told you I wasn't followed." She insisted once again, crossing her arms over chest. Her darks eyes looked up into his – despite the bleary quality to them, he could see her sincerity as well. "I promise, I wasn't."

Ray sighed, placing the paper back on the table. He left the room momentarily in the direction of the kitchen, before returning with a glass of water. Without a word, he handed her the glass. She accepted it gratefully.

"I already told you. I need you to suck my neck."

His night had been going so well – and then happened.

Without waiting for an answer, Raina discarded her long black coat over the back of her chair. He fought the urge to give her a once over as the tight navy number she had been wearing came into view. The ruby red of her lips certainly wasn't helping either. She definitely looked the part of a flirty soldier tonight.

Yes, this would look very bad to any outsider that happened upon them. Her in such sultry attire and him in his casual set of pajamas. If the neighbors caught wind of this, they would be out of the military by morning.

Shaking his head, he realized he had forgotten to respond to her unusual request.

"Why?" There was genuine curiosity in his tone. He sat in the chair next to her, back ramrod straight. This entire situation was incredibly unprofessional. The Colonel on the other hand was unbothered, unclasping the jewelry that circled her slender neck.

"Major Foster saw me walking with our source back from the Wicked Whiskey. The informant told me he had some information for me, so he offered to walk me to my apartment." She took another long sip from her glass before continuing. "I had no idea the Major was a frequent patron of the bar and that he would recognize the man. Apparently, he was a bit suspicious – so he followed us."

"He followed you?!" This information unsettled him greatly. What if the major had seen her come here? What if he figured out that the Colonel's business with the bar hand had been business rather than pleasure? Raina seemed unconcerned though.

"He followed us to my residence, where we made a big flirty display in front of the door before entering." Hawkeye opened his mouth to say something, but she raised a hand to stop him. "I paid the man a hefty amount to go back to the bar and tell them all about his conquest of Colonel Mustang. He stayed about half an hour before leaving. I mused him up a bit before he left so, if the Major saw him on his way out, there would be no question as to what we had been doing behind closed doors.

"How do you know he didn't follow you here?"

"I waited another half hour before coming to you." She leaned back in her chair, stretching her limbs out before her. The Lieutenant pointedly ignored the very high heels on her very long and exposed legs. "If the Major waited around for that long, I would question his intentions completely. He saw what he needed to and moved on – I don't doubt it."

"Then why are you here?" Hawkeye finally asked, still unsure where this story was going. It was already midnight and they both needed to be at work in a couple of hours – well, he needed to be anyways. The Colonel was probably going to trounce in late under the guise of a hangover.

At his question, she leaned forward – one elbow precariously placed on the edge of the table. There was a playful smirk on her dark features.

"Because I will see the Major tomorrow afternoon during the Aerugo talks and I need to look like I spent the night between the sheets." She put it so simply, as though what she was asking was no big deal. For someone who had been drinking earlier that night, her words were strangely sober.

Well, maybe all that stumbling around she had done earlier was because of the heels and not the booze.

Still, this wasn't a good enough explanation for him.

"Why didn't you just have your 'date' do it?" He asked, one brow raised in question. His posture had refused to relax during the entirety of their conversation and he felt as though every nerve in his body was on end. He stamped down the urge to rub a sweaty palm through his hair.

"I'm not going to let a stranger give me neck!" Her voice was a bit loud for his taste, but the incredulity was clear. Once again, he found himself staring at her in disbelief.

"Why not?!" He fought to keep his tone low. He could feel a fine sweat beginning to break out on his forehead. Maybe lighting the fireplace hadn't been such a good idea on a night like this…but how was he to know that his commanding officer would barge in and ask for a hickey?

"What do you mean 'why not'?!" Raina stood, hands firmly on her hips. In this position, she towered over him. "I have standards, you know?!"

"Shhhhh," He warned her, glancing at the thin walls of his dining area. If the elderly woman next door heard them yelling, she no doubt would come and investigate. "Would you keep your voice down?"

The Colonel crossed her arms, eyes narrowed in a glare. Rather than stand down, Hawkeye glared right back.

She knew better than to proposition him like this. She knew exactly what was a stake.

It was bad enough that he kept having to check in on her at night during her brief stint of alcoholism not that long ago, but coming and asking for "favors" of him was a whole other problem entirely.

"I'm asking this of you in a strictly professional sense." Raina promised, shifting her weight from one side to the other. "If I wasn't going to see the Major tomorrow, I wouldn't be so worried. My collar doesn't cover my neck though and I know he's going to be looking for proof of what he saw."

Her pleading eyes were on him and he had to fight back a groan.

Why did she always do this to him?

Raina saw the defeat in his eyes and used this to her advantage. She stepped closer to him, "If you do this for me, I'll finish my paperwork on time for the rest of the week."

Despite the flirty tone of her voice, Hawkeye couldn't hold back a snort.

"You wouldn't finish your paperwork on time if I held my gun to your head."

"It's part of an act." She reminded him, her face inching closer to his. In the soft light of the room, he could see every line in her face. She looked tired – but there was something else there too. It was an apology.

He knew she didn't exactly like the persona she had been given. However, just as Grumman had told her when she had been transferred to Eastern Command, it was a necessary evil for climbing the ranks – especially at her age.

Hawkeye knowing that it took a lot out of her to sacrifice her pride for the sake of their goals, chose to throw her a bone.

"I know." He conceded, his hard features softening. There was a small smile on his face which he reserved only for her. It was a fond smile. "Although there are days…."

"Stop it!" She playfully swatted his shoulder. The air was less tense than before. However, something heavy still lingered between them. Though they usually knew what the other was going to do before they did it – so familiar were they – it was situations like these where they both proved to be unpredictable.

"So will you help me?"

At the pleading look in her eyes, Hawkeye groaned.

"Fine." He surrendered, slouching back in his chair in a very un-Hawkeye like fashion. This girl was going to be the death of him.

She gave him an appreciative smile and he fought the urge to smile back – he didn't want her thinking that he enjoyed the position she had put him in. He was serious when he had told her that this needed to stop happening – they needed to be more careful. Their relationship needed to remain professional, if only for the sake of their goals. It had been what they had agreed upon when he offered to serve under her.

It seemed as time went on though that Raina had begun to regret that decision, always pushing the boundaries to see just how far she could go. He should have known it would be harder for her to keep to the rules they had established – she was still young after all – but he knew in the long run it was what was best for the both of them.

It didn't make it any easier to tell her no, though.

He was broken from his thoughts by Raina planting herself firmly in his lap.

"Hey!" He was embarrassed to hear his voice crack in surprise. Even with her usually flirty nature, this was bold action for her. He supposed it was from the last remnants of liquor running through her veins. Now, he couldn't decide if he preferred the depressive drunk Mustang or the flirty drunk Mustang.

Both had him wanting to pull his hair out.

The sniper couldn't help but stiffen as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her body. The dip of her collar had him fighting the urge to look down as her cleavage pressed flush against his chest. Noticing how tense he had become, the girl laughed.

"You act as though we've never been this close before." She slyly whispered, her breath warm against his ear. Her implication had him tensing further. "Besides, I still need to tell you about the information I received tonight."

"I don't think this is the most professional fashion to do it in, sir." His teeth were clenched as he struggled against the desire to raise his hands to her hips. He could feel his palms sweating as he rested them against the legs of the chair. "Why don't you tell me the information first – from your own chair – and then I'll assist you with your cover story."

"This will be more efficient," She insisted, her lips close to his ear. He could hear the smile in her voice. "Aren't you usually the one getting on to me about efficiency?"

It still felt so wrong to him – to have these kind of feelings for a girl who had once been his father's student. It made him feel…lecherous? Although, on the surface, there was nothing inappropriate about it besides their ranks in the military. They were both adults now, separated by barely four years of age.

But still…

His father had tasked him with protecting her and he imagined this is not what the man had meant. Despite the guilt that still lingered within him though, he could feel his resolve cracking as she hugged him tightly.

Finally, he sighed in defeat. "What did he tell you?"

Raina perked up at his question, victory firmly in her grasp. She pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes, her own dark pair alight with excitement. "It was about General Arnold."

Much like Hakuro, General Arnold was one of Raina Mustang's biggest challengers. Rather than oppose her because of her age though, he chose to target her due to her gender.

As the Colonel began to quietly (albeit excitedly) relay the information she had received about the scandal, he allowed himself to lean forward to nuzzle her neck. He could have laughed at the catch in her breath when his nose came in contact with her skin.

"What?" He asked innocently – his hands now on her hips, drawing her closer to give him better access to her neck. At the low timbre of his voice, he could feel her skin flush against his lips as he grazed the area above her collar. "Isn't this what you asked me to do?"

She hummed in response, tilting her head to the side. "Yes, but you acted so against it that I half expected you to grab a straw and make it look like I had spent the night with the owner of the world's tiniest lips."

Hawkeye couldn't help but snort. "When I receive an order, I typically follow through."

Those words had her pulling back, her eyes immediately drifting to his.

"I'm not giving you an order." Her voice was soft, vulnerable. There was regret in the way she gazed so earnestly at him. Just that look alone had him worrying that she was about to fall victim to a depressive episode. It was the look she usually gave him when they spoke about Flame Alchemy. "I'm asking you to help me as a friend – as a comrade. If you want to stop assisting me at any point, you have that choice. I have taken far too much from you already to ask for anything else."

Ray could feel his gaze soften. She had mentioned on more than one occasion that she felt guilty for keeping him from his dreams – the one's he had before she had stumbled into his life. They were dreams long forgotten, replaced by goals that were the result of his own sins. He didn't know when she had started counting his sins among her own – but she needed to stop.

"You have never asked for something that I was not willing to give." He reminded her, hands tightening on her waist so bring her closer yet again. "My success depends on your's and – if you think this will keep Major Foster off your trail – then I will help in any way I can."

She gave him a soft smile in return.

"Even if it means sucking your neck."

At the dry tone he used, she was laughing again.

Hawkeye figured if he was going to follow her into hell, there were worst ways to go. Raina couldn't help but agree.

"Boss?"

Colonel Mustang was shaken from her thoughts by a meek Sergeant Fuery – who, despite having been on the team for a while now, still seemed to be fairly intimidated by her. 'It's nice to have at least one other person who shows respect around here besides Hawkeye,' The girl couldn't help but think as she turned her chair.

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"Uh…" The boy stuttered, looking down at the papers in his hands. She could see the sweat forming on his hairline. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that we received a receipt of charges on behalf of the Elric Brothers."

The room quieted immediately at the mention of the young boys.

"What?" Her tone was dark, chin coming up to rest on folded hands as she continued to stare Fuery down. The boy was practically quaking in his boots now.

"Well it seems there was some property damage…"

"Property damage?!"

The young man yelped as his commanding officer ripped the paper from his hands – her eyes immediately scanning over its contents. You have got to be kidding!

Only Edward Elric could cause over 10 million cens in property damage.

She could feel her eye begin to twitch. Havoc and Breda immediately turned their attentions back to the paperwork they had been ignoring for hours – lunch break forgotten. Falman was so engrossed in his book that he still had not looked up to see what was going on around him and poor Fuery seemed to be trying to make himself blend into the wall.

The only one left unmoved was First Lieutenant Hawkeye who simply released a sigh and put down his pen, knowing exactly what was coming next.

"Fullmetal!"

Yes, it was a typical day indeed.

#royai #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #fma #fullmetal alchemist #royai fanfiction #royai fanfic #royai fic #fma fanfiction #fma fic #fma fanfic #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #royai genderbend #genderbend au

4 notes · View notes

dat-town · 5 years ago

Text

CODE Z3RO | CODE 01

characters: BTS & Red Velvet genre: thriller, futuristic au warning: none summary: The twelve most ambitious and promising university students are welcomed in Choego, the world’s first entirely artificial intelligence-driven city, to compete for five job contracts that could change their life. But what if something goes wrong? What if they get trapped? What if the city suddenly turns against them? Can they find a way out before the countdown reaches zero? words: 4.4K tagged: @philosopher-of-fandoms

➼ Chapter Index

Smart cities had been prickling people's mind ever since microchip was created and even before. A place with infrastructure so developed you could find everything you need in a 10 minute walk radius, with such top security you wouldn't have to be afraid of letting your child outside, with an air so clear thanks to the green places and lack of cars that you could see stars clearly at night. The city that itself produced all the energy it needed making it sustainable and environmentally friendly. A community that didn't need nor relied on physical workers anymore but had machines to do everything they did. A city like that used to be a dream. Now, after dozens and dozens of failed projects, that city was Choego.

And Jeon Jungkook was there to make a name for himself.

After getting checked by a high tech security system, not to mention the more than 6 months long application and selection process, he was finally here, inside of those enormous gates of the artificial city, in the heart of future, as the second youngest of the twelve candidates to be a part of the real-life simulation, to experience another world, the life as it was and what it could be.

"This is beautiful," a girl with her brown hair in a ponytail, tied by a red ribbon whispered on his right in awe.

Jungkook glanced at her a little disinterested but followed her gaze anyway to marvel at the city built of metal and glass, pretty parks in-between of the human-made constructs and a part of him agreed. The lack of annoying mass of people flooding the streets, the clean roads without litter or stinking smell, the mathematical architecture of this place sure impressed him too.

Even if Choego was more of a ghost town with the lack of people than the dream city presented on ads.

"Sure if you have the taste of a caveman," another girl chimed in sarcastically, flipping her long black hair behind her shoulder, grabbing on her Gucci bag like her life depended on it.

Jungkook scoffed, averting his attention back to the huge projectors welcoming them in the city of future. It was a short movie about the development and building of the town, the fight and struggle of the hundreds of researchers, scientifics, politicians and other powerful people who dreamt a place like this could exist as it was today.

An awkward laugh cut through the murmurs of arrived students as their host descended on the granite stairs.

“Sorry for the advertisement. Our PR team insisted on showing you this,” said the tall, graceful female figure. She had a lab coat over her carmine dress, thick framed glasses on her snub nose and ginger hair so shiny she could have made an appearance in advertisements. She looked gorgeous, no wonder half the boys widened their eyes at the sight. However, the other half turned a blind eye to the welcoming committee, more immersed in the city itself.

Jungkook barely bat an eyelash at her as his mouth rather hang agapé on the enormous computer and server room the city had, a whole new district of wires and chips and machines that keep the city alive, it was basically the heart of its blood circulation. Amazing.

“My name is Han Raina and I’m the lead researcher here,” the woman bowed towards them slightly and being either polite or intimidated, most of the candidates did the same. “It’s my pleasure to greet you all.”

It sounded a bit forced, artificial but everybody anticipated her welcome speech because of the loads of classified information they basically came here in the blinds, not knowing anything about what to expect. Jungkook for one was clueless, and as he looked around, the other candidates had just as curious eyes like him. He was sure in one thing: he won’t go home without getting a job and the foundation of his stable future here.

“First of all, congratulation for passing our tests and being chosen. You are the greatest hope of the next generation and that’s exactly why you are here now. To see and be a part of the future. I would like to remind you that everything you do is recorded on hidden CCTV cameras all around the city because of security reasons and so that we can monitor your reactions.”

“I haven’t seen any cameras,” a pastel-haired boy interrupts as he checks the surroundings. A few follow his lead and he’s right, there are no cameras that can be seen around.

“They are too small to see. Probably micro or nano-sized,” Jungkook muttered and relished in the way every head turned towards him. As an electronic engineer student that was something he knew well.

“That’s right, Mr. Jeon, great thought,” Miss Raina smiles at him fondly and the screen that previously showcased the city’s presentation, was now divided into nine smaller frames, live recording of them from different angles. “But please, don’t pay any mind to them, act natural.”

For those who weren’t overdramatic, it was an easy task since they were aware that each public places had these kind of cameras recording people’s every move even in Seoul. Also, for safety reasons of future it was essential for the city to have eyes everywhere.

“I know all of you are very excited and curious since we left you in the dark but please understand that the simulation will only be realistic if you don’t know the details. However, it’s time to give you a little head-up on the city and about your week here. We can sit down and make ourselves comfortable in our meeting room. Follow me,” she beckoned a finger, inviting them closer and the dozen of university students followed her in unison.

“Sorry,” the earlier, ponytail girl apologized when she bumped into Jungkook on accident. She had pure innocence and childlike wonders in her eyes. Kim Yerim, the boy glanced at the name card hanging in her neck and he made a mental note about this girl not being a real competition.

“Let’s go, Yeri,” an older guy, Kim Seokjin based on his card, nudged her to move forward and there was both familiarity and fondness in his voice as he guided the girl by a hand on the small of her back. What a coincidence for siblings to make it to the top 12. Smartness must run in family or maybe the researchers wanted to add this as a factor to the simulation, who knows?

The group walked along a wall with a huge 3D map of the city into a room on the second floor which had a great view of the park in front of the building. They were merely 2 hours from Seoul yet it felt like another world, fancy, clean, ultramodern and green. Even the chairs in the room were done with utmost care to fit all the health requirements and ergonomic needs.

As soon as everybody was seated, the woman pulled out a high pack of documents and shared one pile of paper with each of them.

“First, we will need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement. You can’t tell anybody what you saw or experienced here. It’s a business know-how we can’t risk. If it’s done we can finally talk freely,” she explained as nobody complained. When they agreed to help this project, it was an evident, understandable condition.

Quickly everybody scribbled their names onto the paper but only a few of them read the contract throughout about the consequences of violating the confidentiality. Jungkook was one of those people.

When all of them handed the papers back to Miss Raina, she clapped happily.

“Okay, so now let’s talk about the city. You probably know a lot about its history, or if you don’t, you can always take our leaflets, so now let’s talk about its design,” she pointed at the map appearing on digital screen. As she was talking about certain parts of it, the map constantly changed, zoomed in or out. “We are now here, in the main research building of the town. Next to us is the laboratory, there’s the hospital, the public offices on the other side of the road. You can see the parks as the green blocks yourself too. Your dorms are located in the residential area, on the western part of the city. So yes, you will be able to see the sea but we do not recommend visiting it. For security reasons we closed off the ports.”

“And the bridge too,” a messy, brown haired guy mumbled as he stared at their cheerful host with cold suspicion. No matter how quiet he was, with that firmness of his voice nobody could not hear what he said and the hidden implication behind it.

Han Raina raised one of her prettily arched brows.

“Sorry but what do you mean by that?”

For a minute, it seemed like the guy was about to leave it with a grimace and careless shrug but then he pointed at the eastern side of the map where the Bridge of Silence, as they called it, connected the artificial island with the mainland.

“This city is totally closed and has only one way in and out with a gate controlled by electronics. Do you have any emergency plans for like terror attacks, or if they hack the gate?” he asked edging on the border of being necessarily polite and an arrogantly know-it-all. However, it was undebatable that the question he stated was an essential element of the security and safety of Choego.

“That’s highly unlikely to happen, Mr. Min but of course, “ the researcher lady nodded and sat down with her elbows resting on the table. She acted like the patient elementary school teacher educating the kids about the basic laws of physics. “Imagine this city as a huge computer. What happens when a computer is attacked?”

“The firewall kicks in,” the apparently tech-educated guy replied without hesitance and earned a satisfied smile from their host. A pang of envy poisoned Jungkook’s veins as he watched their interactions. Wasn’t it unfair for one of them to have a head start like this?

“Correct, it’s the same here too. Though, since our security is so high level any computer control panel has three-factor authentication including a biology one too,” Miss Raina explained and as Jungkook looked around, he wasn't sure everybody understood the concept of three-level protection. That it needed three separated traits to open a door, one knowledge-based like a password, one possession-based like an ID card and one biology-based like a retina scan. Because of the latter it was the most difficult kind of security system to trick without making a scene and the researcher echoed his thoughts:

“It’s impossible to hack our system from the outside. If anybody tries that, they have to be here and then we can pull a Louvre move on them. Does anyone know what happens if the security system detects a theft in the most famous museum of Paris?”

Ah, what is this? A quiz night? Jungkook almost grunted because he had no idea but he was actually surprised that for a long minute, nobody spoke up.

“It will close its doors, seal the endangered zone with bars until the police arrives,” the tall, wide-shouldered guy from earlier, Seokjin said much to the delight of the lady.

“Yes, so if anything like that happens, we plan to trap the intruders inside. The sectors would be switched off the electrical grid one by one until the attacker has no choice but to wait for the authorities right here,” she concluded and turned back to the suspicious guy. “And we have evacuation plans, too. Don’t worry.”

Jungkook wanted to laugh. If they were worried about something that definitely wasn’t terrorist attacks or a tsunami flooding the city. What were the chances of these events to happen right now while they were being evaluated? See? He was more stressed of the possibility of leaving without a contract in his hands, head down in shame.

“Okay, so since we talked about your dorm. Here are your ID cards,” Miss Raina flicked her fingers and at cue, the staff started handing out metal bracelets for each of them. “You can take off the visitor cards you got at the gate earlier since you are going to use these bracelets for identification from now on.”

The accessory’s design was simple, gender-neutral, easy to clamp on and light on the wrist.

“This functions as the prototype of the chips that will be injected into our future residents. It not only stores all the data about you but also monitors your health in case you were in an endangered situation. It also keeps track of your GPS coordinates to locate you and it holds all your authorization to make sure which sectors and offices you can and can’t go in. Your authorization level right now is a common researcher’s so you access most of our buildings including the labors. Once you will work here, of course, it will depend on your job position.”

“Does it have a camera in it, too?” a guy in baseball cap chimed in certainly not impressed by the idea of always being followed around. Not like phones didn’t have the same functions already and millions of people used those voluntarily.

The woman was quick to shake her head, seemingly absolutely horrified at the presumption.

“Of course not, we respect personal space.”

“But you will know when we go to pee,” said the guy as he threw in his visitor card that said Jung Hoseok to the middle of the table and put on the bracelet anyway. Even if this test took the evaluation process a bit too seriously with analyzing all their reactions, none of them wanted to leave. No matter how much doubt or fear they felt, they were too curious or too ambitious.

“What’s more, based on our health factors they will know when we need to go before we do,” a red-haired girl chirped and Jungkook frowned at the bracelet clipsed on his wrist.

“Yes, Miss Son is right, it’s an advanced tool, but keep in mind, it’s for your own good. It’s the future,” the researcher lady reminded them. The ‘future’ seemed to be their magic word solving every problem and being the ultimate answer.

“All in all, you need to have the bracelets on you all the time since it’s the key for your dorm rooms, too. Boys and girls will be separated, of course, but we provide you a common area to socialize where dinner and breakfast will also be served everyday. Based on your daily activities you will have lunch in either the offices’ or labor’s canteen,” she once again points at the map that highlighted the mentioned parts and flashed tomorrow’s menu on the board. Reading about Korean barbeque and pasta salads with salmon made Jungkook hungry as it was almost dinnertime and he hadn’t eaten since morning.

“Ahh it’s excited, isn’t it?” Miss Raina clapped enthusiastic again but nobody joined her. A few forced an awkward smile and some didn’t even care. They didn’t come here to have these chitchats and the middle-aged woman was most likely aware too as she added: “Don’t forget, even though we evaluate you individually, you have to work together in teams to succeed the simulation. Any questions?”

A few candidate exchanged uncertain glances but then a stern looking guy in dress shirt asked the question that had been on all of their mind: “What is the simulation about exactly?”

With his Rolex watch and elegant attire, it was obvious he came from a rich household. The son of Parks, Jungkook had heard about him. It was all in the news, that the child of the right-hand of Seoul's mayor will be a part of this test, one of those who can experience the dream city first hand. Some even thought he came here to spy for his father.

It was an interesting thought. Why would the investors of Choego let a potential rival's son on their land willingly? Or people are just being nosy and making fuss about nothing?

“I can’t tell you, sorry," Miss Raina shook her head and provided a diplomatic answer about her reasons. "It would change your natural reactions and the results of our research would be false.”

It actually made sense but Jungkook still couldn't make anything out about this project. He applied for the promise of bright future but they all basically dove into the unknown as they came here. But he wasn't the only one worrying about being left in the dark.

“And when will we be notified about our daily activities?” An older girl with rounded glasses asked as she was tapping on the glass table rhythmically but the awaited answer was just as vague as the earlier one.

“You will find your schedule for the week in your dorms. If you don’t have more questions, my colleagues will accompany you to there. Rest well, tomorrow will be a long day,” the researcher lady bid her goodbye with a well-practiced smile and two other scientists showed them the way to their temporary residences.

“You were brought here in an environmentally friendly bus but since the city is designed for pedestrians and not for cars you'll have to walk convenient distances like this,” they explained as they headed outside.

Their guides kept talking about the advanced technologies used in certain parts of the cities, the borders of the zones, the buildings' functions but Jungkook's mind wandered off as he stared ahead at the paradise made of glass, metal and money. He would live here one day, he decided and he wouldn't let anybody stop him now that he was finally here.

Kim Yerim had long learnt that in every group of people there was that one who knew the most nasty secrets of everybody and couldn’t shut up. She didn’t have to wait long to realize that among the twelve of them, Park Sooyoung was the gossip queen. No wonder since her whole family came from the tabloids.

“I really don’t get what half of these people even do here. It was in the requirement to have a major that can contribute to the development of the city and yet, here we have a psychologist, a sociologist and even a journalist?” she scoffed pointing at Joohyun, Hoseok and Yerim one by one. She didn’t even try to be discreet about her opinion as she was talking to noone in particular. She just wanted to show off but maybe it wasn’t the best crowd to do so, to outstand from. The mentioned boy didn’t seem to care that he was titled useless while the group’s eldest, Joohyun turned tomato red. It must have been quite offensive to her to be told off by a third-year while she was working on her doctorate.

And Yerim, she quickly turned her gaze away and her brother patted the back of her hand.

“Don’t even listen to her, okay?” Seokjin whispered into her ear and shot a sharp look at the girl in brand designed clothes. He was trying hard not to snap. He might have been a pretty calm person but for his sister, he would have done anything, to any extent.

It definitely wasn’t the hosts’ greatest idea to lock them into one place competing to get those limited job offers while they had to cooperate. They were both rivals and team members. What kind of absurd paradox it was? So when after having their nutritional dinner at their dorm place, they were advised to get to know each other a bit by introducing themselves or at least their name, age and major, it was almost obvious it wouldn’t end well.

“And that shabby kid?” Sooyoung carried on unbothered, pointing her finger at the youngest engineer of the group, Jungkook, if Yerim remembered correctly. “Believe me, he is the charity case here. This dorm is a real glow up from his place. The city creators must have taken pity on him”

“Oh as if you are any better. What the hell are you doing here, little vacation girl?” Jimin snorted and brought his arms onto the table, locking his fingers and looking straight at the Gangnam girl over his hands. From the look of her eyes, it was obvious the two of them had some history together or at least they knew each other, which wasn’t surprising as both of them lived the high life of rich kids. “You are only here because your daddy slipped a big pile of money to the investors.”

“Excuse me,” Sooyoung’s breath hitched and she looked downright offended by the accusation. “Every city needs tourists and that’s why I’m here. It’s just as important as the bullshit you do.”

That said bullshit was actually genetics, an innovative and really fascinating field of engineering. Yerim was actually quite impressed that even genetics were presented by the candidates.

“What did you just say? At least my field makes our lives better and healthier, it makes progress while you are just money-hungry...” the politician’s son kept raising his voice until Jin interrupted him:

“Enough,” he stopped the heated dispute with a single word before it could get even worse. “Haven’t you heard? We will need to work together. Not against each other.”

Maybe it was his Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management masters classes that taught him how to approach these problems but unfortunately, not everybody was so cooperating.

“As if,” somebody mumbled from the back, his lilac hair falling onto his forehead. He looked like he wanted no part in this desperate attempt at staying civilized as he stood up and left without any further goodbye. It stirred up the calming atmosphere again and Yerim couldn’t help but wonder if it was on purpose. Marketing was the keypoint of manipulation after all. That’s why she didn’t blame Sooyoung entirely for stereotyping all of them based on their majors and the information her father provided.

“Watch if I ever team up with these,” Gucci girl’s mouth pulled a grimace and as dramatic as she could be, she walked out the opposite direction Taehyung did, towards the girls’ dorm.

Yerim sighed. It was only their first day here and yet tension was already cuttable in the air. And the couple’s fight didn’t help either…

“Stop being so clingy, Joon,” the red-haired med student snapped at her boyfriend in disbelief. “We are not on a vacation, for god’s sake, let’s be professionals about this.”

“Huh? Now you’re saying we can’t be boyfriend and girlfriend here or what?” The pastel blonde hair guy blinked in confusion and - in Yerim’s opinion - understandable hurt written clearly on his face.

“It’s nothing personal, honey, but it’s basically a very unique job interview and you don’t befriend your rivals,” she said and trotted after Sooyoung.

A heavy sigh left Namjoon’s mouth and Hoseok who sit on his other side patted his back in empathy.

“My girlfriend also applied,” he told the exasperated engineer. “But when I got my letter, she said she was happy she didn’t got in because it would tear us apart. For your sake I hope she was wrong.”

She probably wasn’t, they all knew but nobody said anything and slowly they went on their way dispersing in the building.

Yerim got a good night hug from his brother and waved him off as she scribbled down some notes in her diary about today. Nobody was bothered by her little bit childish antics, nobody cared. The dining room was empty - save from one boy on his phone - when she finished and got up to shower and get ready for tomorrow.

Her assigned roommate was a very quiet girl called Seulgi who learnt some quite fancy named major - Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering as Yerim recalled - and she seemed pretty kind so far. They exchanged a few words before Yerim could actually use the bathroom. By the time she let her sore muscles loose under the hot water and brushed her teeth in front of the foggy mirror, Seulgi was fast asleep. With her nerves, the younger girl wasn’t so lucky, she struggled to close her eyes and let dreamland take her. Even the smallest noises of the ventilating system kept her awake.

After half an hour of tossing and turning in bed, she decided to take a world and have a glass of water so as quietly as she could she left their room. When the door closed behind her the corridor’s lamps automatically turned on much to her relief. She followed the directions she remembered from earlier, occasionally opening doors with her high-tech ID bracelet. Luckily she didn’t take it off for sleeping or else she would have had to go back for it. To her own surprise, she was able to locate and found the common room with kitchen without getting lost.

She filled a glass full of refreshing cold water and gulped it down as quickly as a man on verge of dying. Just as a relieved sigh bubbled up from her throat, she heard it… the clock ticking and hitting another hour. Then a flash of red painted the whole room colourful and Yerim almost dropped the glass as she turned on her heels. Putting it down onto the counter, she took careful steps towards the floor to ceiling glass windows. Her palm fit onto the cold surface nicely as she watched the moon’s reflection on dozens of glass buildings with wide eyes. The red light came from the building vis-á-vis burning carmine and angry. Yerim’s heart skipped a beat when suddenly she heard the unmistakable sounds of sirens.

“Ah I knew you were going to be here. Can’t sleep?” a familiar voice questioned in an amused tone and in her panicked state, the girl turned towards his brother, face breaking into a confused and terrified expression just like hers when they were children and she found a spider in their room.

“I think there’s something very very wrong, Jin,” she whispered in a trembling voice.

The faint distant sound of alarms and the warning red light suddenly stopped and then, all the lights darkened in the sector next to them. Like somebody turned the light switch off right at two o’clock and the border between the zones sparkled with electricity.

“No, it’s okay,” the elder said hurriedly pulling his sister away from the window. Just in time so she couldn’t see that lost bird flying right into the invisible wall and falling down as if it was struck by lightning. “I guess the simulation just started...”

#stories #series: code zero #bts fanfic #red velvet fanfic #bts thriller

5 notes · View notes

purrfectwriting · 5 years ago

Text

11/11/11 tag

@elliswriting questions!

1. What genre do you write?

I mostly write romance, contemporary, or short stories! Although recently, I’ve been trying to get into fanfiction and thrillers

2. Are you a planner, pantser, or planster?

Planster! I mostly just have a general idea and may?? outline a bit, but mostly just roughly write the stories

3. What is your approach to research?

I mostly research using google or looking at pictures, like looking at a park to get an idea of how to write about taking a walk in the park, or I’ll use tumblr to look for writing tips or sometimes it’s 2 am and I’m going down a rabbit hole on wikipedia

4. What POV is your novel? Why are you writing it this way?

Currently, for Compromised, it’s third limited and it alternates between the two of them mostly cause it’s kind of a slow burn and I wanted to be able to experience their love and the scenes through both of them

5. Do you know how your story ends before you start writing?

It depends on the story, like for the wlw romcom wip I’m working on right now and Compromised, I have a solid ending in mind, but sometimes for my other stories, they’re more vague and symbolic so they’re just up in the air

6. When creating characters, what comes first: appearance, backstory, motivation, personality, something else?

I would say the personality comes first, as I love figuring out what a character likes and how they act around those they love and those they don’t, and how that can affect the story I’m telling

7. What trope do you actually like?

o h boy, I love all the tropes, but god my favorite would probably be the enemies to lovers trope cause??? the tension??? the pining??? the falling in love despite the fact that you’re supposed to hate each other??? I live for that

8. How did you come up with your title?

As I’m bi, it’s mostly puns,,, but really it’s just song titles or I’ll try to think of?? what the theme is and go off from there

9. If your WIP had a theme song, what would it be?

For Compromised, it’d be Lucky Strike by Maroon 5

10. How has your MC developed, not within the plot, but since you first created them?

In the beginning when I created Raina and Iskander, they were lowkey based on cheesy tropes of rebellious princess + adoring bodyguard which they are loosely but I’ve developed a more detailed backstory and shifted their personalities to better fit them

11. Your MC faces certain death. What are their last words?

Raina would probably say “Oh fuck” or something dramatic like that while Iskander would just be saying words of adoration to Raina

@starlightinhumanform‘s questions!

1. If your novel got published, what would the dedication say?

“to all those who supported my writing, thank you, i love you”

2. What author has influenced your writing style the most?

Oh I’ve been reading Sabaa Tahir’s and Renee Ahdieh’s writing and they influenced my writing!! Also, Sarah Dessen!

3. If you could meet one of your characters, who would you choose? Why?

I would love to meet this one werewolf oc I made a while ago, mostly just cause she’s very hot,,, and very sweet, i love her!!

4. What is one highly popular character archetype or trope that you can’t stand?

Okay, the asshole with a heart of gold?? I just can’t stand how if a guy says one or two nice words, the girl falls in love and looks past how awfully he treats her like???

5. If the theme of your novel could be condensed down into one word, what would that word be?

Compromised,,, hence the title

6. Would you be comfortable with your family reading your novel? Friends? Coworkers/boss?

I’ve shown my writing to my friends before and they’re so supportive I’d die for them! but I wouldn’t be comfortable showing my writing to my family though mostly cause most of my stories are either very gay or have too many kissing scenes

7. How long have you been working on your current main wip?

Oh, for the ocs I have been developing them for over a year? But I only started writing the wip last month

8. Do you think you would get along well with your characters if they were actual people?

HMMM, I’m honestly not sure, I think my ocs would probably think of me as a wimp dkjshfj

9. Is your main villain (or whatever your antagonist may be) the “love to hate” kind or the type that your audience will fall in love with despite their wrong doing?

Oh, the antagonist, he’s very sneaky and messed up but also very charming when he wants to be, so I think some people could fall in love with him

10. If your novel was ever adapted into a movie, what is the ONE thing you would insist on remaining true to your book?

Oh, if Compromised is adapted, I would want them to keep Raina and Iskander and cast them as people of color, and not whitewash them

11. What is the strangest and/or most suspicious thing you’ve had to research while writing?

Uhhh, once I had to research how fast a person can die after being stabbed in the heart? It was for an angsty scene I wrote djshfkjash

my questions + tagging

1. What type of music do you like to listen to while writing?

2. What’s a common thing you find yourself writing in for most of your wips?

3. Who’s a character you find extremely frustrating to write and why?

4. What’s a genre you wish you could write for, but struggle with?

5. Do you still have a copy of the earliest wip you wrote?

6. What’s a topic you found yourself becoming extremely knowledgeable about while researching for a wip?

7. Are there any stories or tales you draw inspiration from when writing?

8. What do you do when you’re struggling with writer’s block?

9. What would be your dream fancast if your wip was turned into a movie?

10. Which characters of yours would you want to be stuck on a deserted island with?

11. What writing advice do you wish you had learned when you were younger?

i tag @saintramblings , @sleep-deprived-chai, @ohlooksheswriting-wips, @griffins-writing-blog, @sapphoopages, @undiscovered-inc, and anyone else who wants to!!

#tag games #abt me #you dont have to do it if u dont want to!#long post

3 notes · View notes

ladytea19 · 6 years ago

Text

Cold-Hearted (A Bucky Barnes fic) Chapter 2

A/N: Hello again! Chapter 2 of Cold-Hearted is completed as Raina meets her new teammates. One of them being a surprisingly broody super soldier with a metal arm who seems rather... shy towards her. Once again, I don't own any rights to Marvel or its characters. Hope you enjoy the chapter!!!

Here is the link for chapter 1: https://ladytea19.tumblr.com/post/181599499854/cold-hearted-bucky-barnes-fic

Chapter 2

After my encounter with Cap, Widow, and Falcon along with my meeting with Mr. Stark (which went well by the way), I was finally accepted as an official member of the Avengers. Three days later, I packed up my things from my apartment and moved into the Avengers compound. The size of this thing….. it blew my mind. But then again, this is Tony Stark we're talking about. So I didn't really expect nothing less, still it was pretty cool to see.

At the front gate, I buzzed in to hear a woman's voice from the intercom.

“Afternoon, Ms. Montez. I am FRIDAY. Mr. Stark is expecting your arrival. Welcome.”

The gate opened and I drove up the long driveway to the front door of the compound. There I was greeted by Steve, Tony and Natasha which I learned I can call her Nat for short.

“So you made it,” Tony greeted me. “Hope you didn't have trouble finding the place.”

“Well, it is the only giant building with the Avengers logo on the entire block. So it wasn't that hard to miss.” “Seriously, how do you guys not get ambushed every week.”

“Well actually you'd be surprised.” Tony commented. “We've been attacked a couple of times. Repairs were annoying but hey, at least we're still standing.”

“Okay let's not scare the poor girl,” Steve said. “She just got here so let's welcome her with open arms. She's our teammate now.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom” he said sarcastically. “Steven Rogers the noble hero. God, you are annoying sometimes.”

Nat put her arm around me. “Don't mind them. This is an everyday thing around here.”

I chuckled slightly. “I see.”

Steve helped me with my suitcases carrying them all with one arm “Wow, he's stronger than I expected” I thought while we all walked inside to the living room. It was a spacious room with a long couch, a slightly smaller couch, entertainment system (which looked extremely high tech), fireplace, and surrounded by tall glass windows seeing the courtyard from outside with so many flowers in bloom. There I saw Sam and another African American man playing pool in the room adjacent to it.

“Kids, put your toys away. We have a guest!” Tony shouted at them.

Sam and the other man walked out to where we were. “And I was just about to kick this guy's ass for the third time in a row,” the other man said laughing.

“Yeah, whatever” Sam replied rolling his eyes. Then, he turned and saw me. “Raina! So you made the team. I expected nothing less; you were badass the last time I saw you.” He gave me a hug and I smiled.

“Aw thanks Sam,” I said. “That means a lot”

The other man, who looked a bit older than Tony and wore a sort of high tech brace around his legs walked up and greeted me with a smile.

“James Rhodes, but everyone calls me Rhodey. Nice to see a new member of the team be a woman. A black woman at that.” he told me.

I shook his hand. “Thank you, I hope I can be of great service.”

Steve then commented: “We met her while following up on the Arana cartel. She happened to take down the buyer and recovered the weapons and intel back.”

“By yourself?” Rhodey asked me.

“Well, I had help.” I said. “Suarez had reinforcements and I couldn't take all of them alone. Luckily Cap, Nat and Sam were there to help me out.”

“Impressive.” “Can't wait to see what else you can bring.”

Just then, three more people walked into the room: a light brunette woman wearing a red trench coat and black pants, a tall maroon android-esque person with a shiny yellow stone in the middle of his forehead dressed in civilian clothing, and a man with dark brown hair, steel grey eyes, wearing all black combat gear with a metal left arm. My eyes were drawn to them, especially the guy with the metal arm on the far right. Our eyes locked for a split second and then the woman with the red coat spoke.

“You must be Raina,” she greeted me. “Steve told me we were getting a new teammate. I'm Wanda.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you acquaintance Miss Montez,” the maroon person in the middle said to me with a polite accent.

“Vis,” Wanda said chuckling. “I don't think you have to be so formal.”

“Just greeting her is all,” Vision retaliated.

“Wanda and Vision joined the team same time I did,” Sam spoke up. “It was after a mission they had in Sokovia battling a rogue AI called Ultron.”

“I am actually made up with parts of Ultron,” Vision said. “Along with parts of Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, and a former AI called JARVIS. However, I am still my own man.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you both,” I commented. My eyes then turned to the man on the far right with the metal arm. Those steel gray eyes just pierced through me, like lightning striking across the night sky. He had a chiseled jawline, a clean shaven face, and plump pink lips that looked extremely mesmerizing. The thick brown hair on top of his head I just wanted to run my fingers through it. I could feel my face blushing just looking at him. The man looked at me with slightly wide eyes and a small smile barely visible. Then I heard Steve's voice.

“Buck, don't be rude.” he said. “Say something to her.”

“Hi,” he said quietly. Oh his voice… deep, soothing. I was speechless.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Wow, you're hopeless. Raina, this is my best friend Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes. But he goes by Bucky. He's a super soldier like myself who went through a tough time. He was a part of HYDRA for a while because he had control over his mind infamously known as the Winter Soldier. Along with…” Steve glanced at Tony and Rhodey “other scenarios.” “But after some soul searching, mediation, and recommendations from me…”

“You mean begging,” Tony snarked.

“I was able to convince Tony to let him join the Avengers to help him continue going straight.” Steve finished.

I looked back at James…. I mean Bucky. He was still staring at me and I could see a faint blush on his cheeks. He instantly tore his gaze away from me and looked down and the ground.

“He's normally not this quiet,” Steve commented. “But I guess he just needs to get to know you better.”

I gathered my thoughts after staring at the man in front of me. “It's nice to meet you, Bucky.” I said.

He nodded his head and his smile widened a bit.

“Well, now that greetings are out of the way let's get you settled in.” Tony said. “Wanda, will you help show Raina to her room?”

“I'll carry your bags again,” Steve commented. As I walked with Steve and Wanda to my new room, my eyes glanced at Bucky again. He was staring at me with those beautiful eyes of his, and I felt my blush return to my face.

“Oh, this is gonna be an experience” I thought.

Tag List: @tacoshu @gold--gucciempress @wwevampireamongkpop @littledeadrottinghood @nerdlife0612 @the-carter-mob-don @defenseofourdreams6277 @kingslayers-queen @queenofthearchitect and anyone else who would like to read it!

7 notes · View notes

enticingsims · 7 years ago

Photo

I - Calm After The Storm (2) - Previous (1)

Royce was going to wait until the weekend to take Raina to see Noah, but his heart was breaking in pieces for her. He wanted to tell her that he understood, but he didn’t. Not really, anyways. He had a dead beat dad growing up, his mom wasn’t much better, if he was honest with himself. But meeting Raina and her family kept him from turning into the things he feared most. Bennett was his father too and he was coping as best he could.

He cried away from Raina, in the shower or in the car; he was trying so hard to be her rock because he knew Tyson needed one of his parents to be stable and he couldn’t ask that of Raina.

Shortly after their talk, he laid her down, massaged her feet until she fell asleep, the first peaceful sleep he’d seen her have in six months, before he made some calls.

He took care of the house, the dogs and when Tyson woke up, he cared for him until Noah gave him the go ahead to come over. It took a lot of convincing, but he got Raina to agree to leave the house. She reluctantly changed her clothes and he even managed to squeeze a small shower until Tyson opened the door and waltzed in. Royce enjoyed his son, there was never a dull moment with him.

He hoped against hope that Noah would be able to provide her the solace that she needed.

One he couldn’t give her.

The whole drive over Raina kept going over and over in her head what she was going to say to Noah. They barely talked after the series of funerals they had to attend. He was grieving in his own way and Raina didn’t want to intrude on that. But she needed him, as weird as it sounded. She was his older sister and she needed him.

The small talk commenced; Royce and Sade caught up as her nephew Soren raced between the two.

“So he’s walking huh?” Raina asked with a laugh and Noah tugged on his beanie.

“More like running,” He grunted. He leaned down and put his hand on her stomach. “How’s Quiroz number two cooking?”

“I’m ready to serve at this point. We’re a couple weeks away, unfortunately.” She sighed. She didn’t tell him she was a high risk pregnancy, she didn’t want to stress him out. But her mental and emotional health was taking a toll on both her and the baby. “Can I talk to you outside?”

“Yeah, sure,” He shrugged. They went outside into the sticky heat, the desert wasn’t in the mood to be kind to them. He threw his arm around her and smiled. “Alright my sad chicken nugget, what’s up?”

“I’m not sad––” He gave her a look and she stopped. “I’m broken. I miss them, so fucking much. Every single day.”

“I do too, Raina. I need you to understand that it wasn’t your fault.” He insisted. She wicked away a tear and shook her head.

“You, Royce and Mom keep saying that, but she was looking for me.” She reminded. “She was looking for me and she found mom and dad. She thought I was mom and she was going to pull the trigger. She killed our father instead of me. I wish we never went to that stupid fucking maze but I begged everyone to go. Look how that turned out. It should have been me.”

“Dad put himself between that bullet and mom. He loved her... with every fiber of his being. You could see that she was the light of his life and he was the light of hers. She could have killed you and that would have destroyed all of us, especially Royce and Tyson. How can you be so selfish to think that dad wouldn’t take that bullet for you too? Or Royce?” He grew irritated with her. He stared straight ahead as tears fell down his face. “I fucking need you Raina. You’re the only sibling that I have left and I’m not going to lose you too.”

“I–” What could she say? That she was selfish? Not for one second did she think about what her family would lose if they lost her. She never once thought about her own family. She could barely look at him, but she had to say something... anything. “I’m so sorry.”

“And we did everything we could for Cyrus. He made his decision and I fucking hate he left us. We were only nine months apart, he was basically my twin and I sit and I wonder if I was too hard on him, what pushed him, but in the end, Cyrus didn’t believe he could be himself and after his rape, he was never the same. I hate that I couldn’t save him but in the midst of things he left us his only son and Isaac is so precious. He’s all we have of Cyrus. But I know Dad and Cyrus would not want you hurting your baby over them. And you need to start talking to Royce. You married one hell of a guy and I promise you that he is strong enough to help you through it, but you have to be the one to let him in.”

His words hit her in a way that for an instant, soothed her pain. He was right.

“When’d you become the wise one?” She teased. “The wise one with braces, when’re you getting those things off?”

“I’m a husband and a father to an 18 month old, I’m only 20, give me a damn break,” He mentioned with a laugh. “Now let’s get you and Baby Quiroz some pizza and watch a comedy cause I need a good laugh.”

She put her hand on her stomach and the baby kicked eagerly. “I think it’s settled. Let the pizza party commence!”

“Not to kill the mood, or anything, but do you think they’re out there somewhere? Watching us?” He asked. She gazed up at the night sky and offered a small smile.

“They just have to be.”

The Quirozs didn't make it home to until day break. The got Tyson down for an unschedule sleep and settled in on the couch.

“I shouldn’t have had that much pizza.” She groaned at the same time as he said, “I told you not to have so much pizza.”

“Don’t worry little one,” He scooted closer and placed his hand on her stomach. “Tonight we’re going to eat really good. Daddy is taking mommy out to a nice restaurant.”

“Is that so?”

“Mmhm. Be ready to dance all night long Mrs. Quiroz.”

22 notes · View notes

miraclerizuin · 7 years ago

Text

btw I finally finished season 2 of Agents of SHIELD last weekend! here I am four and a half years late to this party with THOUGHTS.

I can't believe I stopped just short of getting to meet Bobbi Morse last time. I love her so much. She means the world to me. I was relieved of some of the pressure of her perilous situation/wondering if she was going to die because I knew they had been trying her & Hunter in a spinoff so I figured they would survive but still, I was so invested.

Speaking of Hunter, I wound up really liking him, but I love that his entire thing is that he exudes untrustworthiness, so every time he goes undercover, the basis of his story is "will sell everyone he knows to satan for the right price".

I hope Mack & Fitz's relationship gets explored more in the future. Mack was a difficult character for me to get into, even though I could get where he was coming from, but his connection with Fitz and the question of trust between them was interesting. (He also deserves some backstory!!!)

But as far as Fitz's relationships are concerned, we gotta talk about Simmons! Those two have such a weird and fascinating dynamic. They had to pull apart to be able to get closer, and there was a really cool moment towards the end of the season, when they were still on the rocks, where the degree to which they were angry with each other was conveyed by the fact that they called each other by first names, in public? These kids... [shakes head fondly]

Pretty much everything Ward did this season was disturbing. Which is fine from a storytelling standpoint, I just would like to stand between him and every member of the team and protect them like "don't talk to her, don't even look at her".

Serious question: did Agent 33 ever know that he got "closure" with his family by literally murdering them?

Alright alright let's talk about Daisy Skye Daisy WHATEVER I love her I love her. Kyle MacLachlan and Dichen Lachman absolutely killed it (pun intended?) as her parents like even after realizing how messed up they both were, they were still incredible to watch.

I do feel like the resolution for Cal's character was a bit lacking something for me. Freeing him from the painful memories of his past seems like a nice idea, but it's weird to me how readily we throw around the idea of using T.A.H.I.T.I. after the mess it caused previously (are we supposed to believe that without the influence of alien DNA, opening up someone's brain and rewriting their memories is a painless and foolproof process???) and it just feels like a cop-out from the consequences, both positive and negative, of his involvement with the Inhumans.

...who were also a little underdeveloped? There were SO MANY THINGS going on at the tail end of this season. I wish we could have seen more of the society & community at Afterlife that Jiaying was so desperate to protect. Maybe we'll explore them more in the future-- especially with Raina's prediction that Skye/Daisy will lead them-- but the season ended with bland-ass Lincoln as the only friendly face to the Inhumans.

This is all minor complaints, though. On the whole I really liked this season and I'm excited to start s3 & find out about the freaky ocean rock that ate Jemma! (True story, after that scene I just started laughing and my roommate was like, "are you ok" and idk when it's midnight and you've just watched 5 crazy episodes in a row and in the final scene of the season a giant blob pops out and eats somebody you just have to laugh. There's nothing else for it.)

Ultimately, I think the award for MVP and just about everything else you can think of has got to go to Melinda May, AS ALWAYS. She had some incredible moments this season, from developing a strong relationship with Skye to finally confronting her trauma and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

also in case ANYONE IS WONDERING

Daisy “Skye” Johnson is my girlfriend & I love her.

#episode feelings #agents of shield

1 note · View note

monsterinamusicbox · 4 years ago

Text

About page

You should already know this from the guidelines but it’s important to repeat it: I’m writing from Jemma’s pov, and Jemma is NOT okay. So how she reads the world is a mix of things that actually happened and how her already struggling mind perceived them, a result of the way they all piled up together: self-hatred, guilt, some actual hostility from the others and misunderstandings. Which leads to changes because this is the AU where she got bitter.

***

NAME: Jemma Anne Simmons BIRTH DATE: September 11, 1987 ETHNICITY: Jewish GENDER: cis female ROMANTIC AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION: demi-hetero-romantic (requires a very strong bond, she has trouble reading her own feelings and distinguishing romantic love from platonic) heterosexual. RELIGION: atheist SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English, British and American Sign Languages, Italian, some Spanish, Latin. (oddly good with accents) RELATIONSHIPS: many hook ups, two failed attempts to see men for more than a couple of times (with Milton it lasted two months, that's her longest relationship). At first neglected by her mother and cared for by her father, once her potential was more clear Jemma was emotionally abused and pushed to her limits by the woman while her father was the one neglecting her due to his work; that's when she developed an exaggerated sense of responsibility/guilt. She raised her little sister, while her older brother hated her due to jealously, and she had a grandmother until 12 and the house staff try to take care of her as much as possible. INTELLIGENCE: canonically a super genius, able to have 2 PHDs when sixteen, to remember engineering-related codes years later even if she’s not an actual engineer, perform surgery and with an incredible memory especially when feelings are involved.

***

Jemma was taught by her father, as a child, to put all her troubles away, inside her music box, and she kept doing so as she grew up. All the traumas, all the anger she didn’t feel she had the right to let out, all the pain, got repressed because there were more important things to think about, because her friends were the ones'really suffering' and not her, and simply because she never learned how to process and deal with it. But the system stopped working and Jemma started feeling like a villain while simultaneously wanting to fight against the people who didn’t help her and, worse, misjudged her and the kind of dangerous person she could be. The more she uses questionable methods and is aggressive to people, the more she convinces herself she’s lost. And the more she convinces herself she’s lost, the more she makes herself do questionable things. She has conflicting feelings about Fitz, she expects Coulson to be against her and is preemptively antagonistic with him, May and Daisy were more or less on her side so she's ready to die for them, Mack and Bobbi were nearly strangers she never got close to but who betrayed her when she already had enough of SHIELD so they are no friends, Hunter is equally a stranger but he never did anything against her or the team so she's not feeling anything special in a good or bad way for him, and she didn't get to meet any new teammate. She doesn't have the healthiest life-style, has mood swings at times, also due to sleep deprivation, and deep down is in desperate need of being told that she's fine the way she is.

So, this is the version of her backstory for who doesn’t need a full recap of the first two seasons of aos. Long but it explains the turns her mind took to get to that darker place, I bolded parts to help you 'skip' the least important bits if you can't read too much at once:

Jemma had PTSD as well as survivor guilt and an already exaggerate sense of guilt in general. Considered herself responsible for Fitz’s brain damage in particular and everything that came with it: for his frustration, when he got angry she took it as a personal failure, she watched him struggle to be better and suffered, she hated when she couldn't finish his sentences but also knew she was slowing down his recovery by doing things for him to keep him from being angry at himself, and felt responsible for not finding a way to make things work. She was falling apart and ran away, undercover, to save him from herself and not for her own health, which instead needed some safe and quiet and not be isolated in enemy territory to avoid getting worse. And after coming back to the base, she finds herself isolated again, and learns that people actually assumed the worst of her, as well as talking about it with the new guys while she was gone. She was already thinking the worst of herself, and finding out that the people who tried to see the good in everyone else believed she’d be capable of abandoning her best friend because he wasn’t 'good enough' was already a bad hit. And not only she couldn’t voice her own reasons and pains because unable to communicate her feelings, but was aware that telling Fitz she had left because his recovery was slower thanks to the pressure he puts on himself to work better with her, and because she made him worse, would make Fitz feel even more guilty and ‘useless’, and do nothing good.

She was mostly alone, once again, even if surrounded by people she knew as opposed to undercover in Hydra, and not a comfortable kind of alone. She overworked and even when repressing her emotions she had to hid to cry often. Skye was facing her own tragedies but did try to show some support and Jemma was thankful for it, but much like May who was equally impartial and close, Jemma didn’t get to see her much anymore; Bobbi was there less than two months before she turned out to be part of another faction, too little time to be nothing but just a friendly acquaintance to Jemma. Her betrayal was still anger-inducing, especially since she brought up Fitz to try to get her out of the locker room, but Jemma wasn’t trusting her with her life before either. The real last straw after all the self-hatred, all the anger she felt for Ward, all the assumptions the others made, the isolation, the inability to fix things with Fitz, and even Trip’s death and watching Raina slaughter her team in Porto Rico with her new powers, was realizing that Fitz had hidden Skye’s powers from her, expecting her to be capable of hurting their friend. It wasn't something she'd hold against Skye, at least not with anger, because she understood Skye was scared out of her mind, but it did make her doubt Skye's trust in her.

Jemma believed she deserved many bad things, she believed she also deserved Fitz’s anger for leaving, for being the cause of his suffering and unable to make it better. But while she’d let anyone berate her over the things she had done, she refused to accept being seen as someone who could hurt one of her best friends, especially because ‘different’. Her concern had always been alien viruses, like the one that had infected her, and Skye’s potential death, not that Skye would be ‘different’. That, and it did start to feel like everyone beside May was closer to Fitz and mostly thought of her as part of the Fitz/Simmons duo.

And that’s what brought the canon divergence, because the music box cracked, and she started feeling all the anger, the need to attack and fight, the need to defend herself, while simultaneously giving up on proving she was worth of their friendship, giving up on trying to be better, to be good, and just start letting out some bitterness, some sarcasm. She started feeling she didn’t have a place in shield anymore, and didn’t get closer to Fitz through gossip and small attempts of reconciliation before and after the attack from the other faction of SHIELD, but kept distance and animosity. She still felt she deserved the anger over being the cause of his brain damage and the suffering after, but nothing else beside that. She was far more aggressive with the other faction of shield, but May voiced her wish to protect her and gave Jemma a bit more will to stay and fight. After all, Skye was still out there and Jemma wasn’t giving up on her either. Upon finding out that Skye’s powers were natural for her, that she was part alien, Jemma was at peace with her change. Later on that day she tried to kill Ward and got Bakshi instead, and even tried to get Ward to shoot her. Fitz, not knowing the details, but with good intentions told her that it was okay if she couldn’t try to kill Ward, he wasn't able to really try kill him even if he wanted to either, it just meant they weren’t like him. And Jemma pointed out that she did try to kill him and was kicking herself for failing, the next bad things Ward did were going to be her responsibility. If anything, Fitz’s comforting words were a reminder that she was, in fact, not at all like Fitz and the rest of the team. At that point, she accepted that she was more than capable of killing and felt nothing about murdering Bakshi. She was different, and if she had stayed in the team it would likely because she could bring that to the table, and dirty her hands so that people like Fitz or Skye wouldn’t have to. Do what was needed, even when technically there were other options. But she didn’t want to stay, because the team, minus May and Skye with their vocal support, and still in Skye’s case with some doubt about Skye’s feelings, felt like a team of strangers now. And she felt she was always going to be the bad guy to them, and worse, the kind of bad guy she actually wasn’t, as opposed to the one she had embraced being.

But just as she meant to leave, she took a curious look at the Monolith and got transported to an alien planet. It was a new kind of hell (and while she had no hold backs, no intention of dating anyone, she wasn't the nicest to Will either so 'getting together' was still sparked by the need for some sort of comfort, only one month before leaving Maveth, and she wasn't in love with himb. But naturally cared enough to want to save him), and when she came back she was surprised to learn that Fitz had fought so hard to rescue her even with the bleak turn their friendship had taken - not so surprised that the others had given up even before finishing to follow all the leads.

At first it was heartwarming, but the disconnection between the two of them, especially with the way she had changed, more to the point, less delicate, too tired to be anything but who she felt, was all too obvious. And the bitterness grew as she realized that the rest of the team seemed to be worrying more about Fitz’s feelings over her relationship with Will and harder personality than about her wellbeing, meaning once again she was seen in terms of how Fitz would be affected by what happened to her. She also expected Fitz to be waiting for his Jemma to come back, the one he fell in love with, and

she was too angry to see things any different, just thinking about wanting to leave a soon as possible and training. But she stayed and fought to get Will back to Earth. Sadly Will had died saving her, as she found out after being tortured by Hydra and watching Fitz almost give his life for her again. And that was all too much, she needed to leave.

Now. And due to her intention of fighting Hydra, she still had her own little reunion with Will/Hive later on.

As soon as Daisy becomes Quake, after leaving SHIELD, Jemma is of course available to have her back if Daisy hasn't been antagonist with her by then. And even if she has, Jemma is likely to try to help her because she understands Daisy's reasons, even if she herself can lose her temper at times and feel frustrated by her former team. She also tried to find them after finding out the base had 'exploded' by the end of season 4, and managed to track down agent Piper eventually, who told her they had been trapped in a virtual reality program, came back, destroyed the bad guy behind it and disappeared again. Jemma knows they can take care of themselves so that was enough to make her walk away.

How and when they meet can change depending on how we plot threads.

Generally speaking, as much as she’s now a vigilante, and she hides behind a mask of 'bad guy trying to do the right thing’, she’s still Jemma Simmons, she still wants to save people, even if it means doing some morally questionable things to do so. May and Skye in particular are family, Fitz is a bittersweet old friend/former friend, and the team can be someone she’s very bitter about. A lot depends on the take rpers have on them. She’ll keep tabs on them and show up even if not thrilled about it to help. Characters from other fandoms can find her vigilanting, training to be even more lethal, using all sort of techs we know to be part of her world to help herself, and being extremely broken and tired of being who she is, but with no idea of where to start changing things, because every time she tries to do good, people suffer or die.

A longer version of her bio, only needed if you want more details about what happened in season 2 of aos and how Jemma took it in this AU, otherwise go ahead and skip it.

season 1

And when she’s out of her element after starting a life of adventure, traveling around the world, and sees people die, is asked to be the medical doctor she doesn’t have the right personality to be, is asked to do things above her abilities or people’s deaths will be on her, watches her new best friend Skye nearly die despite her best attempts to patch her up, is infected by an alien virus and jumps off a plane to die and not take the team down with her and is rescued at the last second, is betrayed by a dear friend who drops her and Fitz in the ocean, where Fitz, her best friend, her other half, confesses is love and then gives her the one last bit oxygen left, almost dying and brought to surface by a Jemma who then learns he suffered of major brain damage over it, she puts everything in the box and keeps trying to help. She’s angry at Ward, homicidally so, and that’s okay because he betrayed them, everyone is.

But everything else is locked up.

season 2

Fitz is in pieces, he’s pushing himself too hard to prove Jemma he’s still good at what he does, but at first he can’t even speak, and Jemma learns very fast that she can’t help him, that everything she does to try to make things better, is making him feel worse. And her heart can’t take this. She’s traumatized, she’s alone in taking care of him because everyone in the team has their duties and they have to rebuild SHIELD, Fitz is frustrated and isn’t healing as fast as he should, possibly because she’s there doing too much for him while simultaneously not bringing him any comfort.

So Jemma leaves, goes undercover in Hydra, something she’s not trained for. Does horrible things, knows she’s helping them hurt people, but is also saving so many by stealing information. And she’s hopefully helping Fitz, whom she’s told is okay.

And then she comes back at the base. She finds out Fitz told people he confessed her love and she bailed for that reason, and maybe that’s not the only version, other seems to have thought, including Fitz himself, that it’s his brain damage that drove her away, the fact that he’s 'useless’ as he puts it. Skye catches her crying and reminds her it’s okay to be angry. May still believes in her. But things with Fitz are fully broken, he felt abandoned and apparently most of the team did too.

And then Skye is mostly gone, facing her own tragedies, Coulson is busy, just like May. Bobbi is new and friendly, but Jemma has problems trusting people. Mack is on Fitz’s side, and Hunter might be too, in a way that paints her as the new, unwanted element. Jemma is a bit jealous and a bit hurt, but also understands it’s all her fault, she hurt Fitz and she has no way to fix this.

Fitz tells her he’s leaving to work with Mack, and then Trip dies. Jemma is alone in Porto Rico while the team is back at the base, dealing with the guilt of not protecting Trip from an alien threat, and watches Raina slaughter her team of scientists and escape, changed by the same alien object that has killed Trip and might have infected Skye. She comes home to check on her, speaks of potential dangers of a virus, of how she should have eradicated alien threats. Doesn’t know Skye was changed too - it would be different with her, of course, she’s a friend, she'sd just want to keep her healthy and safe. But Skye is scared, and Fitz thinks Jemma has changed too much and can’t be trusted, so they agree not to tell her.

When Jemma finds out, when she finds out that the person who knows her so well, and who wanted to believe in Ward until the very end, believed her capable of hurting Skye, her music box cracks. Things truly can’t be fixed between them either, it’s over.

She has so many justifications and reasons for what she’s done and said, but it’s useless as well as impossible to let them out, and the resentment is growing day by day. Jemma wants Skye to know she’s safe with her, but after Skye is gone, to learn how to deal with the changes in her body, soon enough it turns out Bobbi and Mack weren’t really loyal to Coulson and it’s a whole new mess.

Jemma doesn’t start any reconciliation with Fitz, she’s cold and avoids him as much as possible. She still comes up with the plan to protect the toolbox and send it away with Fitz, and after that she’s more actively aggressive against the other SHIELD. May told her she was trying to protect her, and Jemma clings to that, just like she clings to the few friendly interactions she’s still has had with Skye, because everything else just reminds her that she’s different and everyone else can see it too. In the end they are all reunited - Skye is apparently an inhuman, her life is not at risk, and Jemma is relieved and has no more questions about her powers, at least none that are scared for her life - and Jemma tries to kill Ward with a splinter bomb. Fails because Bakshi stopped her and died for it, and tries to push Ward to kill her too. Why not, she failed again and she hates him too much to be scared. Probably sensing her change of mood when she’s back, Fitz, despite their tense relationship, attempts to comfort her reminding her that not being able to push herself to kill Ward is good, he couldn’t do it either, they are not like him. And that, while she recognizes it as the reassurance it is, just reminds Jemma that she’s worlds away from Fitz and people like him. Because she does have it in her to kill. Because she didn’t lose any sleep over murdering Bakshi, her first kill. Because she’s capable of anything to protect her friends, people she wants to keep safe, and out of revenge as well. She tells Fitz she did try to kill Ward, she’s kicking herself she failed. She’s not hiding that part of her, she feels it’s time to accept it, to use it. She gave up on trying to become a better person, it only brings more pain, and she’s now letting all the resentment and the clashing feelings of frustration over unfair treatment and acceptance of her role of bad person come out. She wants to leave, go help people away from the team, go hurt other bad guys like Hydra without having people who look at her like she might kill them next, but her curiosity over the monolith takes over and she’s taken to another planet right before she quits.

While she’s not planning to date Fitz, she’s not exactly the nicest most positive person when on Maveth, and her relationship with Will still doesn’t start until the last month, from her side more of a physical comfort than love; she still cares for him, doesn’t want someone else to die for her. Sadly, once home, while she almost reconnects with Fitz, she has the chance to notice more hurtful things, such as how there were still leads and yet the rest of the team gave up on finding her alive, or how the team is more focused on Fitz’s feelings and reactions over Will and what happened to her than they are about her. She still feels like an outsider, spends her time either trying to open the portal or training even if it’s too soon. She’s then captured by Hydra, tortured, Fitz once again sacrifices himself for her and goes to Maveth; she frees Lash to help herself, finds out he killed innocent inhumans later, then that Will has died to save her, and is officially done with SHIELD. Too many negative feelings and she can tell she’s going to direct them to the team if she doesn’t get out of there.

As much as she’s now a vigilante, and she hides behind a mask of 'bad guy trying to do the right thing’, she’s still Jemma Simmons, she still wants to save people, even if it means doing some morally questionable things to do so. May and Skye in particular are family, Fitz is a bittersweet old friend/former friend, and the team can be someone she’s very bitter about. A lot depends on the take rpers have on them. She’ll keep tabs on them and show up even if not thrilled about it to help. Characters from other fandoms can find her vigilanting, training to be even more lethal, using all sort of techs we know to be part of her world to help herself, and being extremely broken and tired of being who she is, but with no idea of where to start changing things, because every time she tries to do good, people suffer or die.

#about page for mobile #about page

0 notes

songtoyou · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter Two: Never Enough

Would You Call That Love

Pairing: Chris Evans x Raina Morrison (OC)

Rating: PG to PG-13 (Might be 18+ for some chapters)

Description: There was always one person Chris Evans tended to turn to when he was not in a committed relationship, Raina Morrison. He could confide in her about things going on in his life that he did not feel comfortable talking to his family or close friends about. Chris and Raina were able to establish a way to communicate with one another openly but also being respectful of the other’s time and needs. It was the only constant “relationship” he had, but without all the nonsense of trying to build a life together. A “friends with benefits” situation. However, what happens when Chris starts rethinking his “relationship” with Raina and if either is willing to pursue something more?

Chapter Rating: PG with mild swearing

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3,630

Author’s Note: I hoped those who ‘liked’ the previous chapter enjoys this one as well. I went back and made one little change in the first chapter. No longer is Raina a fan of the Seattle Mariners or Seattle Seahawks, but a Mets/Giants fan. Instead of having Raina grow up in Washington State, she grew up in New York on Long Island. It just made more sense location-wise for her to “closer” to Chris. I also changed something that happened during the summer of 2016 that involved another MCU actor. Let me know what you think. Feedback is always welcomed.

Sadly, I do not know Chris Evans or anyone in his family, and this is just a fictional take on his life. I do not permit this fic to be reposted on other platforms.

Thank you to @southerngracela for your support! :)

*Updated for grammar edits.

July 2019

"Christopher Robert Evans! Come here!" yelled his mother, Lisa Evans.

"What, Ma?" Chris asked when he entered her kitchen and replied, "Whatever happened? I assure you that it was Scott who did it."

"Would you stop? You aren't in trouble. Sit down for a sec." Lisa told her oldest son.

Taking a seat at the kitchen table next to his mother, Chris asked, "Why are you on the laptop? You hate using the computer."

"I do, but you need to send Raina some flowers to celebrate her big opening night on Broadway. You were planning on getting her something, right?" inquired Lisa as she turned the laptop over to Chris for him to look through different flower arrangements.

"Uh…I don't know, Ma. I am sure you will pick out something great."

Lisa gave Chris a knowing look and said, "Chris, you spend more time with Raina than the rest of us. You know her likes and dislikes. Now come on, look at the arrangements and pick which one she would like best."

Chris groaned and turned away from his mother to roll his eyes. His mother's behavior was not unusual to always insinuate that Raina was more than a friend to Chris. Well, she was, but that did not mean his mother had to know all of the dirty details. Despite what people might think of the confessed mama's boy, Chris did not always share everything with Lisa.

"Don't get her flowers…" Chris began, but Lisa cut him off.

"Chris! Why not?"

"It would be better to get Raina chocolate, cookies, or brownies. Something edible. Just not cupcakes because she doesn't like them. Call them overrated. Trust me. She'd prefer to have food over flowers," informed Chris.

"Great. You choose something for Raina while I give Carly a call. Choose something good," Lisa ordered as she got up from the table and exited the kitchen.

As Chris perused the website's items, he knew what to get Raina when he saw the object: a personalized gigantic caramel toffee fortune cookie. It was perfect. Not only was it giant, but it was dipped in decadent caramel with fatty toffee bits sprinkled on top and drizzled with dark chocolate. Raina would love it.

"Ma! Come here and look at this! What do you think?"

Lisa entered the kitchen once again. She was still talking on the phone with Carly.

"Chris, whatever you get, Raina, it will be great."

"What should I put on the card since it is from all of us?" asked Chris with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"No. Just have it be from you. Scott and I already picked out a nice flower arrangement from the two of us for Raina," Lisa informed Chris nonchalantly and added, "Carly is wondering if you could watch the kids this weekend?"

Chris was amazed at his mother's crafty scheme. She had that way about her.

"I'll text her that it isn't a problem, and I know what you are doing."

Lisa feigned an innocent look. "What are you talking about?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out an exasperated sigh, Chris said, "Ma, it isn't like that with Raina, okay. We are just friends. Nothing more. We can't be anything more. It would ruin what we have already. Plus, we both don't necessarily want the same things. She has shared with me that she doesn't see herself having kids. I want kids, someday."

Lisa put her hands up in mock defeat. She was not going to press Chris press about his hidden feelings for Raina. He was an adult, after all. However, as a mother, it was hard not to step in and help her children no matter what they were dealing with at the time.

"Just be sure to write something heartfelt and sweet in the gift message," ordered Lisa and got up once again left the kitchen.

Now alone, Chris looked over the textbox space to put his message for Raina's gift. He typed and retyped what to write to her. Taking a deep breath, Chris let his inhibitions go and proceeded to write honestly about how he felt.

Raina,

You bring so much joy and love to my existence. I know it would not be the same If I did not have you in my life. You help keep me centered in this crazy world of ours, and I always know I can count on you if I need anything. I am so proud of you. Your determination, hard work, and motivation in achieving your dreams have always inspired me. Sometimes I wished you could see yourself through my eyes because then you would realize how special you are to me. I hope you know much. I appreciate and love you so much.

Love,

Chris

With the gift now ordered and soon to be on its way, there was no going back.

"1, 2, 3, and 4! Turn! Kick leg up! Cross and dip!" shouted the choreographer and added, "Let's do it again from the top!"

Trying to catch her breath, Raina got back into position next to her co-star, Aaron Tveit. The two have been working on this project for the past three years. It amazed them both how everything started at a workshop lab, to a small theater production in Boston, to debut the show on Broadway. It was a dream come true for everyone involved.

For Raina, it was a check-off on her list of career accomplishments. While Raina had been offered different roles for Broadway productions in the past, she never accepted the offers. She was either too busy promoting and touring for her albums. Or the parts offered merely did not appeal to her. Raina was cautious about particular projects and took her time in making decisions on which to pursue or decline. That would often lead to arguments with people at her record company or management as one or the other would tell Raina that she was not reaching her full potential as a star. But the Long Island native never wanted to be "famous for being famous." She was not the type to freely give out information about her private life to maintain relevancy with the press or fans. She wanted her work to speak for itself.

A child prodigy gifted in music, Raina has set her sights on impacting the world through song. Her parents, George and Marie, often worried about the precocious little girl when she would hold herself up in her room for hours and hours a day practicing on her guitar or keyboard while jotting down lyrics.

When Raina was 14 years old, she was discovered by her first manager, Jerry Sullivan, at the annual New York State Fair. Jerry was taken aback by the young girl's mature voice as she sang Reba McEntire's classic hits, "Why Haven't I Heard from You" and "Fancy." He immediately introduced himself to Raina and her parents.

Although skeptical, both George and Marie agreed to a formal meeting with Jerry to discuss their daughter's future. After all, they did not want their only child to get screwed over by some conman. Thankfully, Jerry turned out to be legit and had been in the music industry for 20 years as an artists and repertoire (A&R) personnel at Columbia Records.

"Not many talented singers I have seen in all my years in the music have what Raina has. She has 'it' and could go far," said Jerry.

"Oh, I don't want to be famous," little Raina spoke up and continued, "I just want to make music."

Jerry just beamed with happiness, "That is a great answer, little one. You have your priorities. That is important in this industry. You don't ever want to lose sight of why you started in the first place."

"Trust me, I won't," replied Raina with a toothy smile.

Unfortunately, it was hard to remain authentic in the music industry. Too many times, someone would try to mold Raina into who they thought she should be. She never wanted to be placed in a box or confined to one style of music. All Raina ever wanted to be was Raina.

"1, 2, 3, and 4! Turn! Kick leg up! Cross and dip!" repeated the choreographer, "Great job, everyone. Let us take a ten-minute break. Raina and Aaron, they need another costume fitting."

"I swear, I am at a point where I could do the choreography in my sleep," Aaron joked as he walked with Raina to the fitting area.

Raina let out a chuckle, "Isn't that the truth."

With rehearsals finally coming to an end for the day, Raina gathered her belongings, said her goodbyes, and headed home. Thankfully, her Tribeca apartment was only 15 minutes away from the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Frank, Raina's driver, greeted her as he opened the black Cadillac Escalade's back door.

"How were rehearsals today, Miss Raina?"

"Not too bad," Raina shared with her driver, "I think once the show is finally open to the public, everything will be…a lot easier to handle."

"You're going to be great. The previews of the show went very well, as you mentioned," Frank reminded Raina and asked, "Who you got coming to see you on opening night? I'm taking my wife and youngest daughter to see it before she heads off to school in late August."

It was not uncommon for Frank and Raina to have an easy rapport with one another. Frank was a talker, while Raina was quieter and preferred to listen to his stories about growing up in Queens or his family that consisted of a loving wife and three daughters. Despite enjoying Frank's company, Raina knew that she still had to keep herself wary and not allow herself to be caught off guard. Sadly, her past experiences when allowing others into her world, both private and public, left her feeling burned. Raina learned how to be a master at changing the subject from herself to the other person prying into her personal life.

"Aw! That is wonderful. Where is Alisha headed off to again? Cornell?" asked Raina while thinking, 'Hook line and sinker.'

"Brown University in Providence. Got a full academic scholarship."

"That's wonderful. At least your daughter won't be too far from home. I kind of wish I went to college but never had the time with everything else going on."

"Oh, come on now. I'd say you turned out well. Not everyone needs to go to college to be successful. With Alisha, she always had her sights on pursuing a career in archaeology. By attending Brown, she will have access to the best research and educators the country has to offer."

"Well, if she is anything like her father, then she's got the charms to take the world by storm."

When Frank finally reached the building of Raina's apartment, he proceeded to step out to open her door, but she stopped him and said, "I got it, Frank."

"You sure?" he questioned.

"Yeah. Tell your wife and daughter I said 'hello.' Bye, Frank. See you tomorrow."

"Okay. Have a nice night, Raina."

Upon entering the apartment building, Raina was greeted by the concierge, Winston.

"Hi, Winston. How are you?" asked Raina to make polite conversation as she strode into the lobby.

"Very well, ma'am. Thank you for asking."

Raina cringed at being referred to as "ma'am" despite being two-decades younger than Winston; however, she knew he was only polite and professional. Stopping by to check her mail at the cluster of mailboxes, there was only advertisements and bills. Closing the mailbox with a loud sigh, Raina walked towards the elevator to head up to her penthouse apartment.

The Tribeca apartment was such a great find as the penthouse had its own intimate and homey feel. The condo's main floor greeted guests with an open space kitchen-living room area with a fireplace and powder room. Floor-to-ceiling arched windows dominated the living room, allowing natural light to seep through in the morning and afternoon. Overall, it was ample space for when Raina wanted to entertain her close friends. She was able to accommodate overnight guest stays with two sky-lighted bedrooms with one main bathroom. One floor up was where the master suite was located with floor-to-ceiling French doors that led to a landscaped terrace that included a hot tub, outdoor kitchen, along with fantastic sunset and nighttime views of the Tribeca skyline.

It was a place where Raina felt at home and safe from the prying eyes of the paparazzi or overzealous admirers. Thankfully, the majority of Raina's fans respected her privacy and knew the importance of boundaries.

Unfortunately, only Raina's name was associated with fellow celebrities that things could get out of hand and overrun with speculations. For instance, in the early years of her friendship with Chris, both fandoms speculated if they were more than friends. Whereas with the media, they were relentless in their prying for more information about the two stars. Luckily, it was a dilemma that the two friends worked hard to overcome. The bond that grew between Chris and Raina was not something either experienced with other people. It was unique in how relatively normal both felt around each other. There were no pretenses the friends had to follow or any egos getting in the way.

Sad that the same could not have been applied to Raina's last relationship. The media scrutiny and the online abuse/harassment from the actor's fanbase became too much for Raina to handle that she eventually had to end the relationship prematurely. It was not something that she wanted to do as she cared for the man very much. He was sweet, charming, handsome, and treated Raina with respect. He became someone Raina could confide in outside of her inner circle. She was lucky to have met him at President Barack Obama's final White House Correspondents' Dinner back in April 2016.

'What might have been? Where would my life be if I had stayed with Tom?' Raina often thought.

After taking a quick shower, Raina changed into baggy sweats and a fitted tank top. Stretching out on the couch, she searched through Netflix and selected season five of Schitt's Creek to watch. It was her go-to show that she liked to watch at the end of the day. The crazy antics of the Rose family always helped her relax and ease her anxious mind.

"Oh, David Rose, you are a precious little bean, wrapped in uncertainty and apprehension about the world, aren't you? I connect with you on a spiritual level," Raina commented to herself.

Chris was a bag of nerves ever since he ordered Raina that gift. It was not so much the gift that was causing him to have anxiety, but the message inside the present.

He let it all out in that gift message and was mostly worried about what Raina would make of his words. For instance, would she read them and express the same sentiment, revealing that Chris's feelings were more profound than mere friends. However, what if Chris's words caused her to be upset and that she would not be able to return his feelings in fear of losing their friendship.

'Or she just doesn't love you the way you might want her to,' thought Chris apprehensively.

Now, Chris was beginning to worry that he might have overstepped his boundaries with Raina. 'Why did you have to go and develop deeper feelings for her. I knew our whole friends with benefits wasn't a good idea.

Nothing good ever comes from that arrangement,' he scolded himself while taking Dodger out for a walk on his property. Chris hoped that the cool night air would help relieve the tension and worry he was feeling. It was either a walk or a cigarette, and he promised both his mother and Raina that he would no longer partake in the nasty habit.

The dynamic of Chris and Raina's friendship was a unique one. She was one of the very few that Chris allowed in his world. Over the years, Raina had become acquainted with his close friends from Massachusetts and individual family members outside of his mother, father, brother, and sisters. It was not unusual for Raina to attend one of his Uncle Mike's campaign rallies. That always got the fans on social media talking and wondering if there was something more than friendship between the two.

Chris and Raina's responses were always the same, "We are just friends." It was their go-to answer for years.

It was not until mid-2014 when they decided to add a new element to their friendship: sex.

What started as a fun hookup turned into a full-fledged agreement. For Chris, it was liberating to be with someone sexually with no strings attached. For Raina, she felt safe and comfortable with Chris. There was genuine respect and trust the two had for one another that when sex added to the mix, it did not cause a lot of complications, surprisingly. They took the time to set guidelines and go over expectations that both could abide by and not ruin the aspect of their friendship.

Their guidelines included:

Be transparent with one another as possible. Be open to compromises.

Be open to communicating with your partner.

Never be judgmental.

Be open about what is off-limits and what is acceptable.

Conversations or decisions cannot be one-sided.

Make sure each partner is on the same page.

Check-in with one another. Ask each other about how things are going and how the individual is feeling about the arrangement.

Develop a PR strategy for when friends or family members ask questions about the status of your relationship.

Ground rules: staying over is optional, breakfast in the morning is acceptable, no booty calls as it demeans the overall friendship, and friend-dates are suitable.

Even when Chris was in a serious relationship with Minka or Jenny, he could revert to his non-sexual friendship with Raina. Chris never quite understood how Raina could adapt so quickly whenever he had a new romantic partner. He honestly would not know how he would react if Raina showed up one day with a boyfriend on her arm.

'Liar! You'd flip your shit!' Chris thought, which he did when Raina was rumored to be dating fellow MCU actor Tom Hiddleston back in 2016. Both had been photographed together numerous times during outings and events.

'Six-months of Hell,' Chris bitterly referred that time.

The crazy thing about that time is that Raina did not share anything with him about her relationship with Tom. She kept it all to herself even after they broke up.

"Why does she keep that part of her life secret from me?" Chris asked himself as he walked up the steps on his front porch with Dodger following suit.

"Because it is none of your business how Raina's relationships go down," a voice spoke up, startling Chris.

"Holy shit, Scott! What the fuck are you doing out here?" yelled Chris as he stood in front of his little brother.

Scott replied with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Just getting some fresh air and enjoying the sunset. What have you been up to?"

"Don't change the subject. Why do you automatically assume I am talking about Raina? For all you know, I could have been referring to Shanna," Chris retorted back defiantly as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the porch railing.

However, Scott was not falling for what his brother was trying to sell. "Don't bullshit a bullshitter, Chris," Scott reprimanded and continued, "I know you and Raina have had a friend with benefits situation going on for the last five years. Of course, only when neither of you was in relationships with other people, that is."

"How the fuck did you know about that?" questioned Chris. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.

"Well, I had my speculations, but your reaction just now confirmed everything. What the fuck were thinking. Nothing good comes out of a friend with benefits relationship. Hell, I could have told you that while also saving you the eventual heartbreak that will eventually happen. So again, I ask, what the fuck were you thinking?"

Letting out a huge sigh, Chris moved to sit next to Scott on the porch swing. "I was thinking…that this is someone who I love and care about, you know. At first, the arrangement was, I don't want to say that it was just for fun. With Raina, it felt like a natural progression for our friendship. I don't know. I guess maybe…"

"You hoped that it could turn into something more down the road," Scott finished for his brother.

"Yeah. I felt we were getting to that point, but Raina kept pulling back, you know. Like, she was too scared to move in that direction with me,' Chris confessed as he leaned back on the porch swing.

Scott continued to stare at Chris as he contemplated what to say next. He felt terrible for his older brother and realized Chris's dilemma.

"I wish I could give you some sage advice, but honestly, I am at a loss on what you should do. Raina is special to you. To all of us. But, no one can deny that she has always had a little hold on your heart. The sad thing is that I don't think the poor thing fully understands the effect she has on you. All I can say is to tread carefully. Don't do anything rash," advised Scott and got up to go into the house.

'Too late.' Chris thought to himself.

"Fuck it! I need a cigarette."

#chris evans #chris evans x ofc #chris evans x original female character

19 notes · View notes

uniquelyme789 · 7 years ago

Text

The Routine Rounds of Greetings (A Wanna One/Aron Fanfic)

Writer’s Note:

So today is Wanna One’s debut stage on MCountdown, and guess who else is there? The one and only Kwak Aron. So like good hoobaes, Wanna One is bound to be making their rounds, giving out their albums and greeting all the seniors at the studio. I started imagining how the interaction between Aron and Wanna One would be like (especially Minhyun), so I decided to pen it down. Hope y’all like it!

“Hyung.... can we go back to the waiting room, I’m tired,” Guanlin whined as the boys rounded up their 5th rehearsal of Energetic. The official rehearsals were over, but Jisung being Jisung wanted to make sure the performance was extra perfect so he was making the boys practice in one of the empty waiting rooms.

“Guanlin arh... I know you’re tired, but we just need to go one more time, we are almost perfect,” a jittery Jisung replied.

“Hyung, chill out. We know you’re nervous, but if we keep practicing like this we won’t even make it on stage. Look at the kids, they’re all worn out,” Daniel chimed as he swung his arm around Jisung’s shoulder. What Daniel said was true, Jisung has been on the edge since this morning, probably due to nerves. It was his first time ever performing on MCountdown, so naturally he was nervous.

“Okay, okay... *breathes* what time is it?” Jisung finally asked after he calmed down a little.

“2pm hyung,” Jinyoung replied, as he tried his sweat with a paper towel.

“2pm? 2 PM?!!! OH MY GOODNESS, WE NEED TO GO GREET THE SUNBAENIMS BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE AND GIVE OUT OUR ALBUMS. YOU GUYS HAVE SIGNED IT ALREADY RIGHT???” Jisung was sent into a flurry, as he began pushing the boys back to their waiting room to get ready to meet the sunbaes.

Under the constant nagging of Jisung-mum, the boys were out in 10 minutes and they began going from room to room to great the seniors. Daniel had fun picking up Woojin, and unofficially adopted the rest of The East Light members. Frankly, even the boys felt weird to be greeting such a young boy group, and especially their baby Woojin as a sunbae, but they had a good laugh about it. The members were stunned by Yongguk and Sihyun’s beauty when they visited their waiting room, and they exchanged kind words of support to each other. The boys went wild when they went into Samuel's waiting room, each of them picking him up in a tight embrace. Samuel expressed his excitement to be meeting them again, and he reassured them that he was doing well. In the N.Flying waiting room, Jaehwan tried to play the electric guitar sitting on the couch, and Hoeseung had fun joking with the boys. And Sungwoon had a nice reunion with his HOTSHOT brothers. They went from waiting room to waiting room, greeting the seniors accordingly. It was a long process, but finally, there was one room left -- one room which one member had insisted on avoiding until the very end -- Raina’s waiting room.

When they got to her door, the boys stopped and peered back at Minhyun. Minhyun was biting his lips, his eyes darted around the room, beads of sweat began trickling down his face. The time has arrived, but he didn’t think he was ready.

“Hyung... are you okay?” Daehwi asked, taking Minhyun’s hands into his own.

“You know if you aren’t comfortable, you can go back to the waiting room first. They’re so many of us I’m sure they won’t notice you missing,” Seongwoo comforted.

“No no no, we can’t do that. We are the hoobaes, we need to greet the sunbaes as a whole group,” Minhyun insisted as he tried to recollect his thoughts.

“True, but if you really can’t do it, don’t push yourself,” Jisung commented.

Minhyun didn’t fully understand why he was so nervous. Maybe because he was meeting his brother as a hoobae? Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been able to talk to the boys all that much so everything just feels weird? Maybe it was the lingering guilt? It could have been many things, but Minhyun couldn’t figure it out. He just felt weird about everything.

“I’m okay *breathe*, let’s do this,” Minhyun finally declared, letting go of Daehwi’s hands.

“Okay,” Jisung replied and knocked onto the door.

The boys entered the waiting room and performed their greeting, “ALL I WANNA DO, WANNA ONE! ANNYEONGHASEYO WANNA ONE IMNIDA!”.

Aron and Raina awkwardly applauded the boys as they stood in the corner of the room. Jisung went on to explain the reason why the boys were there and proceeded to hand the albums out to Raina and Aron. All this time Minhyun avoided eye contact, and stared at his feet. He wanted to get out, it felt so awkward. But just as he was zoning out, he felt a hard knock onto his head.

In pain he looked up to see a smiling Aron who chuckled, “Aigoo, what kind of disrespectful hoobae is this, aren’t you going to greet me properly?”

“Hyung...” Minhyun began.

“Aye, no excuses. You have just made your debut, while I debuted five years ago. Come show some respect yo,” Aron joked as he began pinching Minhyun’s cheeks.

Minhyun giggled in response. Oh how he missed his childish mak-hyung (a/n:combination of maknae and hyung, cause Aron act’s more like a maknae than an oldest). With that Minhyun stood perfectly straight and executed a perfect 90 degree bow and greeted, “Aron sunbaenim, annyeonghaseyo, Wanna One Minhyun imnida.”

“Hahahaha that’s right,” Aron laughed as he embraced Minhyun into a tight hug. “How have you been bro? YMC been treating you good? Or do you need us to burn a few buildings for you? You know we are always on call right?”

Minhyun laughed, as he naturally sat down on the couch next to Aron. “I’m doing very well hyung, they take care of me well don’t worry.” Minhyun and Aron began chatting away. After a while Raina joined in the fun too, as they had a mini Happy Pledis reunion. Minhyun was so engrossed in the conversation that he didn’t notice the rest of the Wanna One members leaving the waiting room. They figured that it was only right to give Minhyun some alone time and privacy, since he hasn’t been able to talk to Aron in such a long time. Touched by this reunion, Sungwoon also ran back to the HOTSHOT waiting room to have a reunion of his own.

Eventually, Raina and Aron was ushered out to rehearsal, and Minhyun followed them all the way to the stage, with his arm tightly snaked around Aron’s. He missed being with his hyung. He missed NU’EST. He missed being in Pledis. But, he was also happy to be in Wanna One. He was happy to see the immense love NU’EST (W) was getting. And he felt especially happy when Aron was greeted by loud screams when he went on stage.

He didn’t want to leave, but alas, he had to. He had his debut stage to prepare for. With reluctance he broke away from Aron, and jogged back to his waiting room. Though the time was short, he felt rejuvenated. He felt re-energized. Seeing Aron again had given him strength, and he was ready for the days ahead.

“Let’s do this!” Minhyun declared as he hyped himself up for his second debut, with his love for NU’EST still burning bright.

#wanna one #nu'est #nu'est w #aron #raina #hwang minhyun

9 notes · View notes

punalavaflow · 7 years ago

Text

Challengers seek incumbent face-time

Challengers in some Hawaii Island political races say the public is missing out on the back-and-forth of debates and candidate forums because the incumbents are no-shows.

The problem — in addition to reluctant incumbents — appears to be a matter of timing, as well as attention being focused closer to the top of the ticket, where two well-known Democrats are vying for the governorship.

Those in local races, such as for the County Council and state House and Senate, are finding scant opportunities for the political bantering that helps define the candidates’ positions.

“There are a number of incumbents on this island that have decided not to participate,” said Raina Whiting, who’s challenging incumbent Rep. Richard Onishi for the District 3 state House seat, representing a wide swath of mauka Puna and Ka‘u from Hilo to Pahala.

“We’re seeing across the nation a number of young people with new ideas that we’re running against long-standing incumbents,” Whiting said. “My opponent is doing very little public outreach. He’s been to no community forums, no community events. … That’s sort of the old approach in participating in politics and a number of young people are questioning that approach.”

Whiting ended up in a hodgepodge Na Leo public access television forum with three other solo candidates, all in different races, when their opponents didn’t show up.

Onishi said he was on the mainland, and he had asked for the forum to be rescheduled. It’s “disappointing” his challenger would make those comments, he said.

“There is no reason for me to duck her,” Onishi said. “I have a record of public service; why would I duck her?”

Jeanne Kapela was another of those solo Na Leo candidates, after House District 5 Rep. Richard Creagan didn’t show up for a face-to-face. Kapela said last week this was the second Creagan no-show.

“I feel like my candidate just doesn’t want to debate,” Kapela said. “I think a debate is about democracy and it brings in transparency. And the reality is, people in our community deserve that.”

Gene “Bucky” Leslie, another challenger in the race, agrees.

“He doesn’t want to participate at all,” Leslie said. “He doesn’t want to be bothered with the forums and the debates.”

Creagan said he recently had surgery and is recovering more slowly than he expected from postoperative complications. He needs to pace himself for a while, he said.

House District 5 is another sprawling district, stretching from Kailua-Kona to Naalehu along the southwest coast of the island.

The incumbent in one race near the top of the ballot has issued a clearer message of nonparticipation.

That’s been especially grating to a Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers rural Oahu and all the neighbor islands.

With almost a month until the Aug. 11 primary, and less than that before early voting locations open July 30, Gabbard has declined to participate in any candidate events. She’d maintained the same stance in 2016, yet won with a commanding 77.6 percent in the Democratic primary.

“She is spending the limited precious time she’s able to be home with her constituents, discussing issues of importance with them, including difficulties they are having due to the recent natural disasters on Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii Island, especially the victims of the Puna lava flow, as well as fulfilling her National Guard service requirements,” said Erika Tsuji, Gabbard’s political director.

Tsuji pointed to Gabbard’s website and social media as sources of information about her platform.

That irks Sherry Alu Campagna, one of two Democrats challenging Gabbard in the primary. Campagna said she’s not disappointed for herself as much as for the voters.

“Voters deserve the opportunity to hear from the candidates in an honest, open and unscripted manner,” Campagna said. “I think ignoring these opportunities is gaming the system that’s in place.”

In some cases, when the incumbent doesn’t participate, no one gets heard.

“When we first decided to hold candidate forums for this election year, we were going to hold two forums,” said Rosemarie Muller, president of the League of Women Voters of Hawaii County. “The June 25 one was going to be for Congressional District 2 and state Senate District 4. The July 31 was going to be for lieutenant governor. Needless to say, we only got a response from one of the candidates to participate in the congressional race. I made many attempts but never got any responses.”

Ultimately, the league settled on one forum on June 25 for the lieutenant governor and state Senate candidates, with all candidates but one participating.

Two other organizations host their candidate events whether or not incumbents agree to show up.

The Waimea Community Association hosts its forums in a “speed dating” format, where candidates travel table to table, meeting with small groups of voters to discuss issues and answer questions. The next one will be from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, with doors opening at 4:30 p.m., at Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Taylor Commons.

The event includes candidates in five races important to North Hawaii, including the congressional race where Campagna probably will participate without the incumbent, said Waimea Community Association President Patti Cook.

Na Leo TV has a similar philosophy about candidates. Major candidates are invited and they get a date and time, said Stacy Higa, president and CEO.

“It’s like herding cats,” Higa said. “If can, can. If cannot, cannot.”

The Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with other local groups, plans a gubernatorial forum July 20 at the Arc of Hilo. It took a little longer than usual to get the forum organized, but that was as much due to the search for a location as it was getting candidates on board, said Executive Officer Miles Yoshioka.

“We haven’t had any candidates refusing to participate,” Yoshioka said. “It’s been more challenging to figure out a schedule for candidates as well as the venue.”

Wendy Laros, executive director of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, said her organization had no problem getting incumbents to participate in the forums for governor and lieutenant governor the chamber hosted June 15.

Two of the notable Kona-area races — state Senate District 3 and County Council District 7 — have no incumbents. The nonprofit Community Forums, in conjunction with the Hawaii County League of Women Voters, is featuring those races.

The Senate forum took place July 3; the council forum is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at County Council chambers in the West Hawaii Civic Center.

Some challengers haven’t seen any problem with incumbent participation. In state Senate District 4, incumbent Sen. Lorraine Inouye and Democratic challenger Heather Kimball have had plenty of one-on-one time at forums.

Koohan Paik-Mander, a Democrat challenging North Hawaii state Rep. Mark Nakashima for the District 1 House seat, said he’s been participating.

Participation is what it’s all about, said Sherry Bracken, who moderates most of the forums on the island.

“I think it’s extremely important for the community that candidates engage in forums and talk stories,” Bracken said, “so the public has a chance to learn who their elected officials are and who their elected officials should be.”

Email Nancy Cook Lauer at [email protected].

The post Challengers seek incumbent face-time appeared first on Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

from Hawaii News – Hawaii Tribune-Herald https://ift.tt/2udEWve

#Hawaii Tribune Herald

0 notes