#and are old enough and mature enough to DEAL WITH THE REPERCUSSIONS OF KNOWING | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yanderecrazysie · 3 years ago

Note

HELLO i loved tour tsukki fic from the deal witht he devil collab!! i was wondering if you can make a oneshot or a headcannon? about yandere bully! oikawa or tsukki since they both fit the trope.

Thank you so much, I’m so glad you liked my story! Even though Tsukishima is my precious salty beanstalk, I thought it’d be best to write for a character I haven’t written yet (and because I had a good idea, don’t sue me) so I chose your other option: Oikawa! And why not a one-shot, since that’s always more fun? >3<

I’m so sorry this is so late! EEK-

Title: Repercussion

Pairings: Oikawa Tooru x Reader

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, swearing, bullying, name calling/degradation, physical violence to the reader, jealousy, delusional thought processes, referenced future non-consensual touching, Oikawa done screwed up

Summary: The classic childhood love story: boy likes girl, boy is mean to girl because he likes girl, boy matures and realizes being mean to girl is the wrong way to show your love and stops.

Well, maybe Oikawa forgot the whole “stopping” part, and he sure as hell never matured. But he’s starting to think his logic might have been flawed after all. Especially when he sees that your affections are directed to the very person trying to protect you from him.

Part 2: here

repercussion

/noun/

an unintended consequence occurring some time after an event or action, especially an unwelcome one.

“Oh, come on now, don’t cry like that! It makes you look even uglier, you know?”

His comment only spurred your tears to fall faster. You knew you weren’t looking your best right then: runny nose, puffy eyes, quivering lips… but you didn’t think you were the ugliest crier in the world.

But Oikawa Tooru sure as hell made you feel like you were.

You’d known the boy since you were both eight years old, and he hadn’t gotten any nicer. If anything, the years had made the heart grow crueler. When you were eight, the worst thing he’d done was pull on your pigtails a little or call you a “poopy-head”.

That paled in comparison to what he did now.

Third-year-Oikawa preferred to shove you, sic his fangirls on you, spread disgusting rumors about you, hurl insults at you, and just generally make your life a living hell. Why? That’s the problem.

You have no idea why he hates you.

You’re left gingerly rubbing the sore spot in your stomach where the water fountain had dug in deep enough to surely leave a bruise behind. Just another purplish-blue star in the constellation that stretches across your skin. All thanks to Oikawa Tooru.

But your savior came in the form of his best friend.

Iwaizumi was always kind to you. He always gave Oikawa a bruise bigger than yours and chewed him out about his treatment towards you.

So when he punched Oikawa in the stomach, called him “Shittykawa”, and asked you if you were okay, you couldn’t help but smile. You felt your face heating up at his attention and a sudden bashfulness seep into your responses.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see a genuine frown, not from the pain in his stomach, tug at Oikawa’s lips, replacing the sadistic smirk from earlier. You didn’t know why, but you didn’t care.

Especially not when Iwaizumi was brushing your hair behind your ear and telling you that he’d do better in keeping his buddy away from you.

Oikawa didn’t think your crying face was ugly at all. In fact, he thought it was adorable. Every reaction you gave him was precious to him.

But the emotions you never gave him were the positive ones. You never once smiled at his presence, laughed at his witty comments, or blushed at his subtle compliments.

Maybe that’s because he was an asshole to you.

Your cute little blush, your bright smile, your soft giggle… he was seeing it up-close for the first time… but it wasn’t for him. Of course it wasn’t for him…

But to think it was for Iwa-chan? His best friend?

Well, that was a blow to the stomach much worse than Iwa-chan’s fist could ever manage to replicate.

How couldn’t he have realized it before? The fact that you’d never accept him romantically, like his many fans would in a heartbeat. His ego had been too inflated, but now it was deflating with every harsh realization slapping him in the face.

You’d never want him. Never. You winced when you heard his voice, you shrank away when you saw him. You were disgusted by him, angry at him, scared of him.

Suddenly, your little sad expressions weren’t as desirable. Of course, they were still cute as hell… but…

He wanted you to look at him like you just did for Iwa-chan.

And it wasn’t. Fucking. Fair.

The first time he was nice to you, you gave him a suspicious, angry expression and speed-walked away. He’d given you a compliment about your hair, saying it looked extra-nice today.

He tried complimenting your smile (trying to direct your attention from Iwa-chan to him, of course), saying that it looked nice on you. But that sweet little half-grin vanished the moment you looked back at him.

He tried telling you that your uniform looked nice on you, that it complimented your figure. But you apparently mistook it as a perverted comment and you stormed away, looking absolutely disgusted.

While browsing tutorial-like websites and articles about how to get a girl to like you, he came across something known as the “love languages”. Of course! The realization hit him and a buzz of excitement zapped through his body with it. Obviously “words of affirmation” isn’t her love language! I just have to find the right one!

Proud of himself, he hurried off to the shops before they closed for the night, one goal in mind.

“Lovely flowers for a lovely girl!” Oikawa cooed, brandishing a colorful bouquet consisting of what must have been at least 20 different types of flowers. You looked at him with wide eyes filled with confusion and shock. You made no move to take it, so he forced it into your hands before you could react.

“Receiving gifts”. One of the five love languages.

You didn’t look especially pleased, but that didn’t deter Oikawa in the least. Perhaps you just weren’t into flowers! He didn’t exactly get to know you all that well before now, considering you did your best to put so much distance between your bully and yourself.

Teddy bears, chocolates, food, movies, books, blankets, clothing, decorations for your room, keychains, purses, shoes, etc. You reluctantly took (translation: he shoved it into your hands or sneaked it into your bag) each increasingly personal gift with a gaze filled with a mixture of suspicion, fear, and bewilderment.

As he learned what you liked, he did his best to give you those things, but you only looked more spooked as you did so. Oikawa finally gave up. “Receiving gifts” was obviously not your love language.

“Acts of service.”

Oikawa began to insist on carrying your bag and books for you. At first, you panicked, apparently thinking he was trying to steal from you (how rude of you to assume that of him), but he assured you he was just lending a helping, loving hand.

Walking you home when you stayed so late for your club that it was starting to get dark was something you seemed to really dislike. Your distrust was clear to him, and he worried about what you must have gone through in your life to make you so wary of others.

No matter how many times he protected you from the rain with an umbrella he prepared just for you or admonished his fangirls for frightening you, you didn’t seem to appreciate his efforts.

“Acts of service” was crossed off his list. That left two more options. But he already gave you plenty of “quality time”, and you didn’t react positively to that at all!

So, that left one option and he was very experienced with it. You had nothing to worry about anymore, he’d figured it out through trial and error!

He was ready because, now, he knew exactly what your love language was!

“Physical touch.”

#yandere #yandere haikyuu #haikyuu!!#yandere oikawa #oikawa tōru

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jamiedc-they-them · 4 years ago

Text

Sell and Repurchase

Requested Imagine: While trying to look for an old friend, you find her in the most unexpected of places. Even if, for her, it had been a long time coming.

You typed on your keyboard, getting the pop-up from your newest contact. This one is just asking for the contents that you had stolen from a company. Not the biggest one, but one that would have serious repercussions should you have been caught.

You hadn’t been, as you had been taught by (who, to you) was one of the best; Skye.

Saying that name always had a pang in your chest; she was your best friend, one that had helped you learn how to hack and how to do the Rising Tide podcast you had been working on for a few years before…

Well, before it all fell apart.

Now, the Tide was almost over and done with. Or, rather, you were.

You sold the secrets for money, for a chance to run. You didn’t sell it to some big corpo, just some enemies of the Tide and wanted to see it come crashing down.

With that, you went dark. You started anew, here in Denver, not really intent on making friends.

Not when your only one was fuck knows where.

You knew that those who you sold the info to and who you worked for had other intents with the information. You knew that, despite what everyone said, there was always something else going on in the background, something bad they hid in the shadows.

“You really think I do, kid?” Your local checkout guy asked you as you paid for your things, “You think I’m just gonna sell you out like that?”

“Just a matter of time. Plus, I’m helping you out, you help me.”

“Maybe. But, even if you weren’t, I wouldn’t of anyway.” You looked around as he packed your bag, seeing a customer with a hat on picking out a drink. He seemed to always be there, but so did a lot of other customers.

“Sure.” You brushed it off, going back to your van.

Again, you typed, sending the information off. Now, you waited. Waited for the pingback that would get you one step closer to finding out whether or not your best friend was still alive.

However, as the ping went off, the door to your van opened, with a man who wore shades and a smirk greeted you.

“Y/N?” He asked.

“Whose it to?” You replied with, despite already having an idea.

“SHIELD.” With that, a bag went over your head.

Your cuffs kept you to the chair, again, as you tried to pull on it, “Fuck.” You cursed. It wasn’t budging.

The door opened, with that same man walking in, this time without shades, “I’m Phil Coulson, and I’m sure this is really weird right now. But, I have reason to believe you’ve just sold some valuable data to a client that has ties to a very evil corporation.” The man, Coulson, told you as he sat down opposite you.

“I just get it for them. I knew going in it wasn’t exactly going to be nice.” You confessed.

Coulson nodded, “Anything else you want to tell me?” He prompted.

“Nope. I’m sure you SHIELD guys have got a state of the art equipment to find them though, right? I mean, if I can do that from my van….you might need an upgrade.”

Coulson smiled, “Yeah, maybe we do. But, we’ve got one of our best working on that. She’s been eager to talk to you.”

“Despite not being interested, I always had a way with women.” You smirked, trying to hide the small amount of fear you had.

“Yeah, she told us you’d be like that. Managed to make a short file for you.” Ok, now he had your interest. She? There was only one --

The door opened, with the woman you have been trying to find all this time.

“Thanks, AC. Sorry for taking so long, Y/N’s always been good with this type of stuff.” She apologised. She sounded more mature, not the goofy friend you hand known.

“Nothing to apologise for, agent Skye.” Agent? He looked back to you, “Don’t worry, we aren’t going to punish you or anything. You didn’t know. As Skye tells us, you’re a good guy. Just, tell her what we need, then we’ll be on our way.” He vowed, before leaving.

Now it was just the two of you.

She sat down. You could see, in her eyes, that this reunion seemed to carry the same weight as it had to you.

Two best friends. Two siblings by bond coming back together.

“Hi, Y/N.” Her voice was light. She had lost the professionalism to it the moment she spoke to you.

Now, you just had to find out how the fuck she ended up here. Why she had stayed. That was a big one; you had never stayed in more than one location for this long before. Why change now?

“You ready?” She asked, opening a very small file. Inside was your photo. Ah, so she was looking through what SHIELD had on you.

You leaned forward, “Oh yeah, I’m ready.” You answered.

Time to get some answers of your own.

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

There was a man Skye had met, just before Miles. The one who came before. Miles and him were friends, but himself and Skye didn’t become a thing until after. His name was Peter.

“Y/N, born in --”

“You don’t need to read from that, Skye. You know me, just like I know you.” You interrupted with.

Skye looked at you, eyes hiding the emotion that laid behind them, “Or, I want to know how you ended up here. You wanna catch me up?”

She fully closed the file, pushing it to one side, “You wanna tell me who you were working for?” She fired back.

“Share for share. I go, you go.” You ‘offered’.

“You first.” She was waiting.

“No idea who they were. They just offered me something.”

“Money?” She guessed.

“Nah, got gigs for that.” You answered.

“Then what? Give me something, Y/N. Something I can use to help you get out of this.” That’s ironic.

“You. They said they had information on you. Besides, you not give them enough for me to get out this cleanly anyway.” Something happened in her eyes. They widened, for sure, but there seemed to be a bit of fear in them too.

However, she was quick to cover it up, “Tried to hack SHIELD to find anything out on my parents. Tried to find some things on yours, too.” She said, voice delicate.

You looked to the table, before up to her, “Told you, didn’t want to know ‘em --”

“I know...I’m sorry,” You shook your head, telling her to not worry about it, “Anyways, they found me, dragged me into a different room to this. But, same flavour, really: drab colours.” You let out a chuckle at her words. She smiled.

“Guy said it was a shell company. Just wanted some files. I went and got ‘em.” You said, holding up your end of the deal.

Peter was good; he was a kind, gentle, soul. Despite everything he had gone through, he had never lost the gentleness he had that his foster father had deemed as weak.

There was a time when you had a nightmare, and Skye was driving. Peter was there, waking you up and helping you calm down.

“Are they ok?” Skye asked, looking back at you both through the mirror.

You nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, they’re good. They’re good.” He assured his (then) girlfriend.

“I helped them out. I helped them get what they wanted. They wanted Mike, I helped them get him.” She continued to tell you.

“So, you gave him up?” Skye gave you a head tilt and silent glare.

“No, I didn’t. He had powers, and needed to be brought in.” She defended.

“I have powers. And you guys didn’t run at me with guns Or you tell them that from the get go, and that’s why you didn’t come running in with guns?”

“You do. And my intel played a part. Along with other pieces.” Now you looked a bit confused, “Guy who worked in the shop you went to --”

“The cashier?”

“No, a customer.” Shit.

“Fuck.” You cursed, leaning back in your chair.

“I’m sorry, Y/N --” You stopped her.

“Did the cashier know?” She shook her head.

“Guy with the hat that was always there. That was the agent.” You just nodded.

“We stopped Mike, I was made an offer; I was given the chance to be apart of something, Y/N. Be a part of a team. That, and I got the Tide an in.”

“Alright, you ready, little sibling?” Skye asked you as you both set up the mics. You nodded.

She started the broadcast to the rest of the world, telling them what you had found on SHIELD and other organisations like it; the ones who covered things up.

Peter sat in the driver’s seat, playing look out to see if anyone looked suspicious. He looked at you both through the mirror with a soft smile. His phone went off, it was Miles calling.

“Used the same backdoor to the place you showed me how to open.” You said.

“Wait, there was already a back door?” She questioned.

“Yeah, it’s what I used to get into to get the data.”

“You remember the company's name?” You shook your head.

“No, shell company. What for? I do not know. Just know that it existed as a front for something else.”

“I got my in. Started out not really sure of what to make of them. But, as it went on, we actually worked together well. It was -- It was like we were pieces to a puzzle.” At the pause, she seemed to almost have to catch herself.

“What happened there?” You pushed. This might’ve been it, this might be the key.

“There was just… this guy. There was...something about him. A pull, in a way. He was like Peter, at first, then more like Miles. His name was -- his name was Grant Ward. He was -- uh….he wasn’t a good guy. I thought he was...but...”

“I’m sorry.” You were genuine.

Skye shook her head, “Don’t be, my friends got me out. They had my back, even when they found out why I joined.”

She then put a pad on a table, “I’ve been using this to talk to Coulson about hte info you’ve been giving me. It’s notes, don’t worry. Just things for the mission. But...I think you’d be good at this.”

“At what?”

“At being an agent. Working alongside me, helping me. Just like old times.”

Now it was your eyes that widened.

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

“Them? You want me -- you want me to join SHIELD?” You asked, still shocked at the very thought of the offer.

Skye scrunched her eyebrows together, “Yeah. I mean, these people you’re working for aren’t good people, Y/N.”

“Oh, and SHIELD is?”

“SHIELD has done some shitty things, I’ll admit. It’s not perfect. Nothing is. But, it’s trying to do good. We’re actually trying to help people. We’re making a difference.” Skye argued.

“And I’m not?”

“You helped people affiliated with fucking Nazi’s!”

“When?!” You were both getting angry.

She slammed the file down, opening it pointing at the name of one of your clients, “This. It’s a front for a Nazi organisation called HYDRA. You gave them valuable information.”

“What information?”

“On SHIELD agents and their locations. That thing you hacked? That thing with the back door already open? That’s a SHIELD server. You hacked a SHIELD server!”

“I had to find you --”

“You had Peter.”

“Had. Had is the keyword there.” That stopped her.

Miles and Skye darted dating. Nothing bad happened with her and Peter, they just realised they didn’t love each other in that way anymore. He was still a good friend to you both.

“Skye.” Miles said as she stopped the van, “We need to get this new broadcast out.” He said.

“I’m not leaving Y/N behind. I’m not leaving Peter behind. I’m not leaving our friends.” She said, firm toned.

“Look, babe,” he took her hands in his own, “Just think about it, ok? You can, you know.” He was keeping it intentionally vague.

“Meanwhile, you two, you got the blowout job, right?” The ‘blowout’ job was one that had a big paycheck to it.

Part of you should’ve known with the look Miles gave you compared to the one Skye gave you; her’s being one of concern, his being faux-concern.

“Oh my god.” She breathed out, voice shaking, “He...he’s dead?”

You only nodded, “I tried to find you both after, but you had both just...gone. It’s why I took off. I wanted to find you, and Miles wouldn’t take any calls or messages.”

“He ran. He didn’t mention you when I found him, at all.” She said it all coming together for her.

“How long is it until these guys do it to you, too?” That one stopped her cold.

“They won’t.” She said, firm.

“You and I both know they will. We both sold out, just in different directions. At least I’m not fooling myself.” You hated to be harsh, you hated the look of hurt on your best friend’s face. But, you had to be if she was going to see the ‘truth’.

“I gave you up to protect you! What we did was dangerous!” She argued.

“You don’t think I don’t know that, Skye? Now, here we you, with me in handcuffs and you playing in the very role we tried to take down. Except, this time, when it crashes and burns, it’ll be you whose left in the dirt as everyone else runs!”

“Y/N...they aren’t like that.”

“Coulson seems the type. I mean, Miles did it, he has that same look to him.”

“Stop --” She pleaded.

“Did they brainwash you or something? Is that why you’re staying? Skye, I just want to know why. I wanna help you get out.” You were desperate for her to see that it was the whole reason for this.

She leant forward, meeting you in your own movement forward, she had tears in her eyes, “They aren’t like Miles, they aren’t like the nun’s at the orphanage. These are good people, Y/N. They said they’d stay and they stayed. I betrayed them by joining with the intention of taking them down, and they let me stay. I get the hate we used to have for --”

“We? No, just me, Skye. You gave that anarchistic side when you sided with them. Skye, I’m trying to help you out here --”

“And I’m trying to make sure you get out of this without anything bad happening to you.”

“And you think working with a bunch of suits will fix it?”

“You think helping a bunch of Nazi’s kill a bunch of people that want to help is good?”

“Better than selling your soul and your friends, Skye.”

She stood up, not giving a response. If anything, the slamming off the door was the response.

You may have just lost your best friend. Your best friend in the whole world; someone who was akin to a sister figure for you. Someone who was loyal, and was. Someone like Peter.

Someone like --

“I’m gonna unlock your cuffs. We’ve gotten the info we needed. Thank you for that.” Coulson said over the comm in the cell, his voice echoing all around it.

“Sure. Anything for the greater good, right?” There was a sarcastic bite to your words.

“For once? That’s true. We’ll take it and go after the funders. Any intel we can get is useful on them. I’m just sorry that this one came at a cost.” He sounded like he meant it.

Then again, Miles also managed to fool you with that one.

“Skye ever tell you about Peter?” You asked, out loud.

“No.” Was the response from Coulson.

“That was our last gig together; going in for that one last big gig before we’d all run off together. Plan was to start again, buy ourselves a good home and live there, doing what we could for people in need. Then again, some of those people are the same as those at the top, just money hungry. Miles was one of them. And I -- I didn’t see it sooner.” You had no idea why you were confessing to this man who you had only seen once.

Maybe it was the fact that Skye trusted him, looked up to him.

“I get it,” He said, “I get why you’re cautious. I get why you’re defensive of yourself and her. This worlds a scary place, filled with scary people --”

“I’m not six. Plus, Skye can take care of herself. Guess it’s just....” You paused. Coulson didn’t interrupt the whole time, “It was the way we worked, you know? Just us. Just us and the rising tide, doing the podcast and letting the world know about the truth.”

“SHIELD has skeletons in it’s past, I won’t deny that. We’ve done things; covered up things and done even worse things. We aren’t clean. But, that was old SHIELD, this is the new SHIELD.”

“Miles set us up” You admitted, “He sold Peter and me out, then Skye went into SHIELD. I don’t think he planned for her to go in as early, but there were always talks of it. Jesus, that fucker.”

“How long were you on your own for?” Coulson asked.

“Three years. Spent it finding any scrap I could on Skye. Then it led me here, with some dead agents on my hands.”

“They made it out. We managed to warn them just in time. None of them know it’s you. Skye didn’t want you caught in the crossfire. She cares about you.”

“Like you do with her.” You admitted. A DING! Occurred, and your cuffs unlocked. You scoffed as you rubbed your hands, “Might not have the deepest sympathies for you guys, but you do care about her, that means something. You’ve kept her alive so far.”

“You did good yourself. Hard to track down. If only you hadn’t gone into that SHIELD server.” There was a hint of humour in his voice.

You looked at the file she had made on you. Taking it, you opened it up. It was like a biography, with everyone she had known about you. She also had been able to find out some of the jobs you did.

“You know I’m still pissed she sold me out, right?” You asked.

“That’s understandable.” Coulson said.

“Call her back in, think I’ve got something for her.”

The door opened, with Skye walking back in. She took a seat at the table. You sat with your arms in front of you, “You ready, little sibling?” She asked, this time with what - almost - sounded like hope in her voice.

“Ready.”

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

You were taken out of your cell, looking around at the area. What you saw was people at work, some mainly in a lab. Skye just kept her eyes forward, leading you into a living area.

In it, was Coulson and a woman around his age, “Y/N, this is May. She’s like the second in command here, just like you were for when we were in the tide.” Skye nudged you.

You looked at her and scoffed, “I’m not fully a part of this ragtag group yet, Skye.”

“Are you trying to do the right thing for the right reasons?” May asked you.

“Depends on your definition of it.” You challenged.

“Fight for the innocent.” She boiled it down to.

You looked at your best friend before back to the others, “Yeah.”

May nodded, sliding a laptop to the end of the table, “Use that, find us something, we’ll get geared up.” She said, walking passed you. However, as Coulson did, he gave your shoulder a pat in both a ‘thanks’, but also a ‘welcome to the team’.

You looked at your sister figure, she shrugged, “Welcome to SHIELD.”

You both went to the laptops, you went back to the message that got you into this in the first place. You traced it, finding a place that was abandoned. You zoomed in, giving the location to them.

They flew there, with Skye leaving. However, before she did, she gave you a hug before she left.

“Ok, Y/N, we’re here.” She said over the comms. You had live footage of the area.

“Ok, the signal goes here. Just...be careful.” Was all you asked of her.

“Of course.” She assured you, before going in.

You had two newcomers enter the room, two british people; a man and a woman.

“Oh, you must be Y/N. Nice to meet you, even if not under the best of circumstances. I’m Jemma.” She said, holding her hand.

You shook it, before holding it out for the other guy, “Fitz.” He answered the silent question.

“Is that them?” Jemma asked, taking a seat on one side of you, Fitz the other, both staring at the screen.

“Should be.”

“Y/N, we have a problem, it’s empty. The signal just leads to a laptop.” Skye, unfortunately, had to tell you.

“...Shit.” You fell back in your chair, face in hands.

“Pull up the original message again?” Fitz asked. You did just so, “Look at the end,” You, again, did so, “It’s an anagram. Look, if you -- Jemma, help me.” He asked of his friend.

“Oh, I see what you mean, Fitz. Yes, if you rearrange it, you get --” She stopped, looking at you for permission. You nodded.

She typed in the new name you had, getting a ping, “There. They’re there.” She said, pointing to the new place.

“Guys, we got them.” You said into the comms, giving them the new location. You shared a smile with Simmons.

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

You sat with Skye in Coulson’s office. He sat on the opposite side to the table, “Today was a success. And, I want to thank you for it, Y/N. Without that intel, we wouldn’t have found them.” He said with a smile.

“I’m sure you would’ve.”

“They’re just being modest. We appreciate it, Y/N. Really, you came through in the end.” Skye said, putting you on the shoulder.

“Y/N, we’d like to offer you a place here. I understand you don’t agree with everything, and that’s fine. To be honest, I think we need that, now more than ever. It’ll be safer here, you’ll have company and you can do some good as you’ve always wanted to.” Coulson offered.

“Plus, we can work together again. I mean, I’ll be out there sometimes. But...I missed my best friend.” Skye said, sincerely.

You thought about it, the two just waiting for the answer.

You finally looked up;

“Ok.”

#iawaythrown #agents of shield imagine #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d imagine #agents of shield x reader #daisy johnson x reader #daisy johnson imagine

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sxveme-2 · 4 years ago

Text

blueberry pancakes // bucky barnes

Description: A single mother. Juggling being a mom, a full time pediatrician, and a difficult ex who believed now would be the best time to finally be a father. A soldier ripped out of time. Ex-assassin turned superhero. Learning how to balance a new domestic life with handling demons of his past, while facing the trials of the future. a love story began over something as simple as chocolate chip pancakes with hidden blueberries.

Disclaimer: I do not own any original Marvel characters! All canon plots and canon characters belong to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. This is an original work. You may not publish it anywhere else

Status: Edited

Note: Takes place after endgame. I have elected to ignore Tony's death and Steve's leaving. Did not happen. Quick Reminder! My works are only published here, AO3 and on Wattpad, thank you.

Chapter Eight: The One With the Party

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 3083

Now, nothing in Lily's life ever really came easy, quick, or without some sort of repercussion. It was as though the universe had decided that she hadn't been through enough in her fairly young life already. Hence why it didn't surprise her when the communication between her and Bucky fell off, or more so, never really started. The day at the cafe had been nice, they didn't exactly speak and they were at separate tables, but even Rose noticed the shy glances her older sister would send to the man across the way. Which of course lead to teasing and taunting the rest of the night and for a few days.

Three weeks later, she hadn't seen him. It didn't help that the hospital had scheduled Lily for multiple shifts of overtime and staying late. Which resulted in Hunter spending extra days at Scott’s, and Lily not being at the cafe as often as she typically was. Flu season had come around and all parents believed their kid may have something more serious, but it was simply a lot of flu vaccinations, the odd time an appendicitis surgery. Routine procedures, just a lot of work.

On a chilly day at the end of September, for once, Lily could wake up without having to go to work for twelve hours or more. Her son snoring gently beside her after crawling into her bed from a nightmare the night before, and Joey snuggled at the end. Her deep green eyes fluttered open as the phone on her nightstand buzzed like crazy. Rubbing her eyes, Lily's other hand reached out to grab hold of the device, blurry eyes seeing Bucky's contact pop up on the screen.

With a groggy voice and a confused expression, Lily slid her thumb across the screen to answer, "Hello?"

"Lady Lily! It's Thor! Son of Odin!" a booming voice yelled into the phone, startling the young blonde. Her eyes glanced to her right to check to see that Hunter still laid fast asleep, and to ensure it stayed that way, the doctor slipped out of the bed and out into the hallway. When she closed the door, Thor continued his yelling, "I have stolen sergeant Barnes’s cellular device! I have overheard him and Captain Rogers discussing his feelings towards you!"

Lily winced at the loud voice radiating through her ear. She hadn't met Thor officially, just seen him with the others at the table weeks before. Personally, Lily wasn't interested in blondes, but no one could deny an attraction to the god. You could be the largest lesbian in the world and still would not mind getting down and dirty with the son of Odin. But of course, for the most part, Lily had only been staring at Bucky. And it didn't go unnoticed to many, especially the other Avengers

"I'm sorry? His attraction?" Lily muttered, still attempting to wake herself up from the much-needed sleep she had been woken up from. She wrapped one arm around herself while resting the other elbow on her hand, shivering slightly at the cool temperature of her home.

"Yes! This is lady Lily correct? If so, then I have an invitation for you! Sergeant Barnes does not know about this, nor does anyone else. But it is our dear friend Sam Wilson’s birthday!" he continued to boast, resulting in Lily holding the phone an inch or so away from her ear, "and I believe it would make Sergeant Barnes happy if you came. And bring your friend and sister! Sam has a small thing for lady Rose."

Before Lily could even answer, there was a crash on the other end of the line and the call went dead. Lily could only assume that Bucky had noticed the conversation taking place and shut it down, leaving Lily with a possibly life-changing decision on her plate, but she didn't know that yet. All she knew, was that Gen and Rose would go to any lengths to get Lily to attend the party, saying things like 'it'll be good for you' or 'you can see your loverboy again'. And Lily couldn't deny, she'd love to see Bucky again. But she'd be damned if she admitted it out loud.

-----

After walking joey, the three Osborne’s loaded into the car and drove down the busy roads of New York to Gen's cafe. Scott was picking Hunter up for the weekend, which meant that Lily was free for the night anyway, so maybe the party wasn't such a bad idea? But if you could deduce anything about the blonde, it's that she hated large gatherings and commotion. It made her anxious and paranoid about something that could go wrong. Plus, last time there was any real party like this in her life, she had been shown a video of her husband locking lips with a young brunette who looked about half his age.

"Hunt why don't you go see if there are any treats you can bring for Leila in the back," Lily whispered to her son with a gentle smirk on her face, "I have to talk to aunt Rose and auntie Gen for a few minutes." she continued, ruffling the boy’s hair and sending him on his way to the kitchen around the corner.

The two girls that were sitting opposite of Lily looked at her with matching skeptical expressions, both of their left eyebrows perked with interest as Lily sent her son away. Whenever this happened, Lily usually seemed to drop a ball on the two. Whether it was when she announced her pregnancy, being chosen as valedictorian, or when she shared the news of her divorce. Typically things that Hunter wouldn't understand, or wasn't old enough to know or mature enough to hear. But this was mostly so he didn't grow saddened at the idea of his mother hanging around his idols.

"So I was woken up by a strange phone call from Bucky Barnes," Lily began, and the two girls across from her simultaneously dropped their jaws. Lily held her finger up to signal that she wasn't finished with her story and for them not to jump ahead and get crazy ideas, "but on the other end was actually Thor. He invited us to Sam's birthday party tonight."

This caused shit-eating grins to replace the curious smiles on Gen and Rose's faces. Rose clapped her hands together, while Gen just shook her head in disbelief. These two women were Lily's closest companions in life. Rose was her biological sister that she had no choice but to deal with, sure, but their relationship was more than that. It was deeper and held more meaning than a simple sister relationship. They could lean on each other in times of need and never kept secrets, as far as the other knew. Most kids with multiple years between them aren't as close or never really bond, but Rose and Lily always clicked. Mostly because of their opposing personalities, which was the same as Gen. Gen was Lily's sister from another mister. From the moment they met, they were perfect, and things hadn't changed in all those years leading to this.

"Well, obviously we're going!" Rose exclaimed, pulling out her phone, "I will get the best dresses from my agency and ensure we look unclockable!" the younger Osborne sister beamed while excusing herself to make a few calls, to make sure they looked as good as she pictured. Rose seemed to forget that Lily hadn't agreed to go, but deep down, the eldest Osborne knew she didn't ave a choice.

"This is great! It'll give you a chance to see Bucky again," Gen winked, sipping her coffee. This was typically how the cycle of Gen's setups began, sort of. Lily would stumble across a guy that seemed interested in her, and Gen would stop at no end to get the two on a date. Of course, Lily never really seemed to have any interest in the guy that her best friend set her up with, but maybe this time was different. Maybe Bucky was different. And that's what Gen prayed about as well, "Maybe get to know him a little more. You get chatty when you're tipsy."

Lily Osborne drunk was a sight to see. All of the fear and anxiety she felt seemed to melt away with the ice cubes in her cup. That's why it was called liquid courage. One of the main signs of Lily being intoxicated was her desire to sing. for years, Lily sang in the choir, but always turned down solos, despite being one of the most talented singers that her school had ever seen. She was terrified that people would laugh at her, but if she was home alone, she sang like an angel. Her voice was soft and supple, and her ability to harmonize was unrivalled. Both Gen and Rose secretly hoped that the avengers would be able to be blessed with the sound of Lily's voice because it truly was as angelic as she was.

"I don't know if I even want to go. You know I don't do parties, let alone one hosted by the king of parties himself, Tony Stark." Lily sighed, twisting the straw in her lemonade around as she nibbled on her bottom lip. Her eyes glanced up to see Rose beaming out the window of the cafe, saying something to a designer or somebody on her phone. She looked so excited, and Lily didn't want to be the one to take that away.

Not after the past few weeks, Rose has had.

"C'mon, Lil," Gen sighed as if reading her best friend’s mind. the brunette reached her hands out and cupped Lily's frail and nimble ones, a soft and gentle look on her face, "Rose is excited. For the first time in weeks. Plus, nothing will happen. I'll be there, and so will Rose. Plus, I doubt Mr. Winter Soldier would ever let anything happen to you anyways. Buddies totally whipped."

"Mr. Winter Soldier? really?"

-----

After Scott had scooped Hunter up from the cafe, Lily stole the two adult women away from whatever they were doing, leading them to the car. But, Lily apparently wasn't allowed to drive. It was around two now, and Lily had to get back home to take joey out on his afternoon walk. But no matter the protests she gave, the younger sister was the one behind the wheel and had control over where they went either way. Lily accepted her fate and leaned back in her seat, attempting to figure out where Rose was have taking them.

Recognizing upstate new york, Lily glanced over towards the blonde that sat next to her. The young mom had figured out exactly what Rose was planning in that mischievous head of hers. One thing with all Osborne’s is their ability to not only think on their feet but figure out what was happening around them without anyone telling them. the art of deduction, in a way. But not that advanced, just piecing together their surroundings and doing the math. And with where they were, Lily knew that Rose had the genius idea to take the two other girls to a hair salon to get all nice and done up.

"Yeah no, I can do my hair," Lily stated, crossing her arms over her chest and putting her foot down. No way in hell was she letting another person that she didn't know, do her hair. She had a perfectly good hairdresser down in the suburbs of Manhattan and was fine with just going there for when she needed a haircut. And today? She did not.

"Let me check again...Gen?" Rose swivelled in her seat to look at the back where Gen sat, attempting to hold back a laugh, "Which one of us is the doctor and which one is the stylist?"

This caused Gen to let her giggles escape as she rested her velvety hand on Lily's shoulder, leaning forward towards her best friend, "Rose makes a fair point. You specialize in children's health, she specializes in adult fashion. C'mon, it'll be fun."

Once again, despite her protests, Lily was overpowered and dragged into the salon. The moment she was asked what style she was looking for, she answered, beating out her younger sister in deciding what would look best. She requested a simple hairstyle, possibly a ponytail of sorts. The hairdresser nodded along and got to work. Luckily, no hair was cut off or changed, and it was a simple styling appointment for her and the other girls.

Half an hour later, the three were back in the car, this time, with Lily behind the wheel. The three sang along to the radio as they returned to lower Manhattan, where the suburbs laid. Lily had managed to convince Rose to do her makeup instead of a hire professional, claiming Rose had the same talents as they did. It was true, Rose was a wizard with a makeup brush. Plus, it was fun to see her sister so focused on something like this. All of the pain of the past few weeks forgotten as she created a beige smokey eye on Lily, an a darker version of the same thing on Gen.

After she glanced in the mirror, Lily didn't believe it was her. She looked matured and awake, instead of the typical baby-faced ball of stress she was on a day-to-day basis. She stared into the mirror with a shocked yet elated look on her face, enjoying the feeling of confidence that rushed through her. She was Lily Osborne, full-time doctor and mother, older sister to two siblings, and a survivor of a toxic relationship. But it seemed that all of that confidence shattered when Rose pulled in a rack of dresses for Lily to try on. All tight around the hips and bust, made for girls with hourglass figures who hadn't given birth to a baby. Something that Lily wouldn't be caught dead in.

"Not happening. I refuse."

-----

Compromise. that's the lesson of this section. Taking other’s options or opinions and your own, and finding a common ground. That was the foundation of Rose and Lily's relationship. Learning to compromise with each other to keep the peace. And that was the result of their dispute of the dresses Rose had brought in. Most of them were sleek and tight, almost like a second skin. And as pretty as Lily felt all done up, she didn't have near enough confidence to rock one of the body-con dresses her sister had brought.

In the end, she decided on something a bit more classic and Lily-like. A lake blue dress with spaghetti straps holding it up. It had silver lace decals spread all across both the lower plunging neckline and a-line tulle skirt that hit just below Lily's mid thigh. A piece of mesh fabric kept the cleavage that Lily had tucked in, instead of placing it on display like the majority of the cocktail dresses Rose had brought in. The deeper blue helped extenuate the green of Lily's eyes, which was complemented by the light golden shimmer that laid atop of her eyelid. Her lips were a pink nude with a touch of gloss to create a shiny effect, and her hair was pulled into a pony connected by two criss-cross pieces of hair, with two strands falling forward to frame her face. One word to sum it all up, breathtaking. Lily radiated in her outfit, and anyone who saw her would have no choice but to agree. And if they didn't? They were either delusional or lying to themselves because she was stunning.

Rose, on the other hand, was embracing the small window of time she had left without showing the baby bump. She adorned a burgundy lace dress that hugged her curves like a glove and came to a halter top point around her neck. Her golden blonde hair laid across her shoulders in a curly river, with deep red lips to compliment the dress. Her eyes were done a bit darker than both Lily and Gen's, making her forest green eyes stand out as well. Rose and Lily were blessed with the looks of their mother. High cheekbones, plump lips and a perfectly sculpted nose that tends to make most jealous. Although Rose knew her worth and understood her beauty, Lily had a harder time coming to terms with it due to the anxiety that plagued her mind. It created a constant reminder that she just wasn't enough, and to try harder.

Gen stayed true to her out-of-the-box aesthetic and wore a suit jacket dress that reached her mid-thigh, with a pair of bright yellow pumps to create a splash of colour in her outfit. Her braids were pulled into a high ponytail, and a darker smokey eye created a glowing ring around the amber eyes that she was blessed with. Her plush and plump lips were painted a deep maroon, and she looked like a businesswoman who had men falling at her feet. When in reality, she was the most easy-going and relaxed person you would probably ever meet, and would rather die than ever be stuck behind a desk at a corporate job.

The three ladies corralled themselves into Lily's car and began their journey towards the avengers compound a bit before the event started. Rose had instructed Lily to leave at a time that would make them fashionably late, to keep Thor guessing whether or not his invitation was accepted or not. Plus it built up the suspicion of the others around the man. Somehow Rose knew all of this, and Lily guessed it was because of her extensive work in the fashion industry. Having to tell people what will make them look their absolute best. Both fashionably, and socially. And who was Lily to argue?

When they did arrive, Lily let out a shaky breath before turning off the car. There was no turning back now. They had drove all of this way, and Lily knew Rose and Gen would be pissed if she chickened out now. Plus, she doubted that they would even let her. Honestly, the two would drag her in by her toes if they had to. Out of Lily's best interest of course. They wanted her to move on and live her life outside of work and Hunter.

"Come on Lil, let's go get the tinman to fall in love with you."

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inheritorofmemories-archive · 4 years ago

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Nile x Booker and the age gap

Okay so uncomfortable post incoming but I feel that we need to have a discussion about Book of Nile and age (and more precisely the age gap between Nile and Booker).

Putting it under cut.

Because 2 centuries is not nothing.

And yes, Nile is an adult, at least 25 in canon, who had a career (many jobs even in comic canon) and a life and felt grief and many more things. But it doesn’t compare to a man that had a family, a wife and 3 sons, watched all of them die, and then lived about 150 more years through wars and conflicts and I presume had even more jobs than Nile. And I’ve seen too many pieces of media that justify relationships with a big age gap (counted in decades or centuries) by saying it’s magic/they stop growing/they have their mental age locked at x years/whatever excuse they have for pedophilia and creepy fetishes and power fantasies (often with much younger women and not younger men).

But obviously the old guard don’t buy in those concepts. The immortals feel the passage of time like us (they don’t go in hibernation between mission), and maybe a decade doesn’t feel the same for them but they still mature and change and grow and evolve. Two centuries are enough for Booker to have gained insight and knowledge than Nile simply cannot have as a mortal 25yo who just discovered she’ll live forever. Because in two century you make more mistakes, learn more, meet more people, etc. Going to college changed a lot of my perspectives because I got to talk with a lot of different people from many background, and I assume for someone who travel around the world (and for decades) he would have felt something like that too only on a much bigger scale.

And I do like Book of Nile, it’s a ship that has possibility and a lot of attractive aspects (the main one being: Nile in a happy and healthy relationship with an immortal like her, as per the Manifesto). But we need to have some critical thinking and deal with it appropriately. The racism and treatment of Nile, not making Booker the poor sad white man (both subjects that others have talked about already!), but that also means the age gap.

I personally do not want to think about any romantic feelings between them before something like a century. (And obviously Booker’s therapy and redemption arc —that he works for himself and doesn’t have other people do for him, own to your mistakes etc.— and proving he’s worthy of trust again and good enough for Nile.) Because I think that for canon compliant fics we need to give Nile some experiences too, to give her a more equal place and have her experiences the immortal’s pain: going back to her hometown to see it changed completely, finding her brother’s granddaughter has a career now, having pieces of her culture refereed as ancient and old, fighting in war she shouldn’t be a part of much less be alive for, questioning the morality of their actions, that kind of things. We don’t know if she had any relationships before in canon so maybe let her have some too. Just, anything to make her more of an equal to the other guards experiences. It feels really wrong to me to have her be romantically involved with Booker only a few years after meeting him, I’d rather see them being friends then later growing feelings for each other. (Also, the thought of Booker pinning for her immediately when he calls her a “kid” many time in the movie, that’s huh, kinda uncomfortable to me?)

As for the various modern AUs, I think we need to keep this in mind too, to not make Booker 40 and Nile 20 because once again, that is an age gap with lots of implication in media and no matter how carefully you thread with that there will always be some power play between them. Make Booker older but not over a decade (or something like that, I’m not counting the months) and make him decent and not creeping or preying on her or controlling or any of the usual tropes. Write Nile as an adult that already had relationships, that has a stable career and a stable income, friends/healthy support system around her to rely on and get help from and basically anything to prevent the power play that comes with age gap in relationships.

As I said, this is more of a discussion post than me trying to put rules down because that’s clearly not my place to do that. These are just my ideas and how I feel about them, so I really want to see what others might have to say about it. Maybe I’m taking this too seriously (tho I believe that media should be handled carefully because of the repercussion they have irl, so I’d rather be safe than sorry with subjects like that), maybe I’m going at this wrong or have a skewed perspective on it, idk. Just putting my thoughts out there.

#age gap in relationship is huh a subject that's kinda personal for me so i may be harsh but it's important to think about it #book of nile #booker x nile #nile x booker #tog #nile freeman #sebastien le livre #i mentioned it in the comments of one of my fic but i feel that we really need to have a talk about it in the fandom and those who ship it #em speaks

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waterrtribe · 4 years ago

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just here to let u kno i would Love to hear ur thoughts on katara as the mom friend 👉🏻👈🏻

lksdjfklsdfj okay disclaimer: i’m not very articulate so i don’t have a full coherent Thought about this so get ready for some word vomit and a scary glimpse of the disconnected thoughts in my brain. i promise, what i lack in coherency i make up for with my love and passion for this show and for katara herself. also this got long so...bear with me.

i’ll start off by saying that i think about the episode The Runaway a lot. It’s the one where Katara and Toph get into it about how Katara tries to mother them all the time. at one point sokka explains that their mother died when they were so young that in his mind, Katara basically took over Kya’s place. he said something along the lines of, “when i try to picture our mother’s face, i just see katara’s,” a line which still makes me very emotional every time i watch.

anyway, i see katara being The Mom Friend with sokka, with aang, with toph, and it’s very sweet!! i love the Gaang’s dynamics and how much they all love and support each other. still, i can’t help but feel kind of....indignant on katara’s behalf?

i think it’s because i’m older now, so i’m just hyperaware of these characters’ ages. when i was watching this show in 2007 i didn’t understand quite as much. all of the weight of their trauma and responsibility really hits me harder now. so i see the rest of the gaang get to act like their age a lot of the time and just be able to be Kids (as they should!!), but with katara, it seemed to me like she gets to do so less than the rest of the gaang.

i know we can say “well that’s just because she’s the mom friend and it’s part of her personality.” still, i can’t help but focus on the fact that the reason katara is The Mom Friend in the first place is because of a combination of her mother dying at such a young age and her having to step up to fulfill that role plus the general gender roles instilled in her while growing up. i think i’ve seen some posts floating around that mention how sokka and katara ended up adhering to more traditional gender roles because sokka had to fill his father’s shoes after he went off to war and katara had to fill her mother’s after she died. so going off of that, sokka and katara both bear responsibilities and pressures that they shouldn’t have to when they’re just children.

there’s still a difference between the two, however. sokka is still a very goofy, fun-loving character who can make cheesy jokes and get into all sorts of hijinks. he’s allowed to be childish, and it’s fun to watch him be childish. katara, on the other hand, always has to be the mature and levelheaded one. when i think about this contrast, i think about The Desert episode from book 2. they’re wandering the desert and katara is the one keeping them on track. aang, of course, has his own worries about appa being taken, and toph is unable to navigate the desert very well because she’s not used to moving in the sand. that leaves sokka and katara to lead the way. but then, sokka drinks the cactus juice. don’t get me wrong--i’m aware that whole bit was comic relief and adds levity in a very emotionally heavy episode, and i love it a lot! but i still can’t help but notice that sokka is the oldest, and he’s the one whose character arc is about growing into the strong leader that he becomes in book 3. yet, katara is the one leading the way here while sokka’s allowed to check out and be our comic relief. katara’s never really allowed to let loose in the same way.

i can think of two instances where she’s allowed to let loose a little and both of them end up with her facing serious repercussions for them. there’s the part in the first episode when she goes penguin sledding with aang and she’s enjoying herself and she says, “i haven’t done this since i was a kid!” and aang replied, “you still are a kid!” which is so telling (also this reminds me of when aang basically had the same exchange with zuko later but this post is long enough without me talking about zuko lol). katara hasn’t really been able to be a kid since her mom died. and when she allows herself to be one in this scene, she and aang end up accidentally setting off a booby trap from an abandoned fire navy ship which lights up a flare that leads zuko to her village. the other instance is in the episode i mentioned earlier, the Runaway, where katara wants to have fun with Toph and pull a scam with her in an effort to stop being The Mom Friend and just be A Friend, and that ends with them being arrested. even when it was her turn to pick a vacation spot in the library episode, she picked the misty palms oasis because it sounded relaxing, but that didn’t even go the way she wanted it to because the oasis was no longer an oasis. there are so many times where katara wants to just be a kid and relax, and the narrative seems to almost punish her for it.

(quick note: i can think of some moments where katara isn’t necessarily levelheaded and is impulsive and that’s in the cases when she’s actively trying to fight to protect and help people in need, which still kind of proves my point because she’s not impulsive for herself and for the sake of acting her own age; it’s to fight oppression and injustice. and that’s not childish at all.)

this extremely long ramble brings me to my Thought about how katara is a perfect example about how quickly we expect young girls, especially brown girls, to grow up. katara is a kid just like the rest of them. she’s a powerful warrior just like the rest of them. she is a war hero just like the rest of them. but she also has to be the The Mom Friend. and i think, despite the fact that she’s able to fight the gender roles forced on her by becoming a warrior, she’s unable to escape them entirely. this isn’t to say she can’t enjoy being the caretaker and being the mom friend, but that doesn’t change the fact the writers wrote her that way in the first place.

that also leads to my dissatisfaction with katara’s life post-atla. it seemed to me that despite all of katara’s power, her accomplishments, and her drive to fight for what she believes in, ultimately, motherhood prevails. this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. i’m sure katara loves being a mom!! she’d be great at it!! and there is nothing wrong with a woman who wants to be a mother and only a mother!! nonetheless, from a narrative standpoint i can’t help but resent bryke a little for making it so.

i’ve had conversations about this and people have mentioned that the legend of korra is a show that should stand on its own so the less amount of contact with atla characters, the better, and i agree to some extent. but what strikes me is that they brought in zuko to participate in the action at one point. toph shows up as well to help her family. but we get very few interactions with katara as anything other than a healer, a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. that doesn’t sit right with me.

i can’t help but think about the episodes in the legend of korra season 1 when they’re dealing with Yakone, the bloodbender. katara doesn’t really come up at all even though the episode introducing bloodbending, the Puppetmaster, was one of the big katara-centric episodes. at one point toph mentions that katara hasn’t joined in on the action because she’s old and tired, so she’s ready to leave these things to the young ones. but even in the flashbacks to Yakone’s trial, sokka, toph, and aang are all there, and katara isn’t. you would think that when faced with a bloodbending enemy, katara would be there, but she’s nowhere to be seen. that will always bother me.

anyway, my point is that katara is the embodiment of what we want young girls to be. we want them to be mothers. we want them to be caretakers. we want them to act like grown women, and we punish them when they don’t. katara is The Mom Friend because she stopped being a child when her mother died. that’s why katara always talks about her mother’s death and why it had such a huge impact on her. when kya died, katara took over her role as a mother for her entire village and for her friends and later, for her own family. katara became a mother as soon as her own died. kya’s death forced katara into womanhood. kya’s death marked the death of her girlhood. kya’s death is when Katara became the Mom Friend.

i just really wish that the narrative gave katara more chances to be a child again and recover her lost girlhood just for a little while.

so yeah. those are my thoughts on katara as the mom friend. i hope this was satisfying in some way if u managed to get through this whole thing 😭

#atla #atla meta #katara #if this makes even a tiny bit of sense i'll be happy lmao #i did not proofread this at all so if something doesn't make sense lmk and i'll try to clarify #anyone is welcome to add to the discussion by the way #i know there are plenty of more articulate people than me jsjkfsd #also if i am wrong plz tell me bc i am often wrong #maybe i just forgot some episodes where katara can be a kid and i'm just a dumbass #silvermlst #answered

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dailycharacteroption · 4 years ago

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Roleplay Ramblings: General GM Advice part 5

House Rules

One of the things you often see in RPG game books is that at the end of the day, it is your game, and you as the GM and players, have the final say on what, if any, rules that you wish to use.

By extension, you’ll probably be making up house rules to fill in those gaps, or even creating house rules that exist to cover something that the system doesn’t cover in any way at all, or that you consider more exciting than the ones that do exist for it.

Of course, not every table or group needs house rules. Your gothic horror critical hit table that will leave the unlucky maimed horribly is perhaps not required for someone’s first game, for example.

There are a few things I would recommend considering before implementing a house rule, in any case. Firstly, Awareness. You need to make it clear up front to all members of your gaming group, including those that join later, what house rules you’ll be using. This is especially true for new players (both new to your group and/or new to the system you’re using), as generally this will color how the expectations of everyone. If one of your players leaps into a situation thinking they know what they are doing, but then you spring a house rule that makes their decision null and void, that’s not a good feeling for anyone. (for example, the classic house rule of “no critical hit confirmation” makes things like Pathfinder’s Critical Focus feat chain more or less irrelevant, making for one or more dead feats in their character sheet).

Additionally, with certain themed house rules or rule sets, like those with a horror theme, awareness of those rules is part of giving knowing consent to those themes as well. Let people know that you’re using a published or homebrewed sanity system in your horror game, for example.

Secondly, Fairness. Your mileage may vary on this if you’re creating homebrew rules that are meant to make the game harder, but if it wasn’t already obvious: House Rules that are fun for exactly one person, and for nobody else at the table, or that single out one person in the group with a heavy handicap or worse through no fault of their own are not fun. If you’re playing Tabletop RPGs, chances are good that you’re old enough and emotionally mature enough that “I win automatically” rules have gotten boring years ago. There’s no reason to bring them back just because you’re playing a more advanced and complex game of pretend.

When creating a house rule, consider how the presence of this house rule is going to affect how anyone is playing or building their character. If you enact hard survival rules, the spellcaster who doesn’t have the capacity to carry a large amount of water or food might be at a disadvantage without a cart or other carrying advantage, while rules that make summoning dangerous as the creatures you let into this world are not necessarily under your control might make summoner builds outright undesirable unless you give them an offset like making the summons more powerful or something.

Thirdly, consistently use said house rule when appropriate. If you apply it once, but not when a similar situation comes up, it’s less of a house rule and more of a whim. This goes back to my fairness point, but that consistency will help players feel like these are in fact the rules of the fantasy world they’re wandering, rather than the whims of a storyteller that cannot make up their mind.

For example, say you want spellcasting in your game to be risky or outright morally dubious, such as by causing wild magic events or even draining the life force from the world with noticeable immediate repercussions, but then you have the bad guys using their power willy-nilly without any repercussions for them for non-narrative reasons, it feels less like an interesting world quirk and more like “I hate dealing with PC casters, but I don’t wanna outright ban them, so I’ll just make it unappealing as possible so they either avoid those classes like the plague or are punished every second for defying me.” Which is kinda entirely hostile.

Matter of fact, a lot of what I said about consistency and fairness can be traced back to “don’t make house rules from a place of hostility. Sure, limit classes and archetypes based on lack of familiarity or lore reasons, but not because you just hate having to deal with them. You can learn how to deal with them, if you try.

I suppose an important takeaway from this is also that when it comes down to it, sometimes home rules work, and sometimes they don’t. And if they don’t, you should be prepared to inform your players when those rules will be dropped, and help them modify their characters and choices to match whatever you do to replace them.

That about does it for today’s entry and this special, but we’ll be covering more things next week! Have a good weekend!

#tabletop gaming #roleplay ramblings #gm advice

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heresathreebee · 4 years ago

Text

Garrote part 3

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez X Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Word Count: 2,700 words

Warning(s): Rated Mature, language, partying, mentions of sex and drugs. Previous Masterlist Next

AN: I am constantly mere clicks away from releasing everything I have at once but I know if I do I will lose momentum for the plot.

Edit: I. Forgot. The tags again.

@nicke0115 @1zashreena1 @mental-bycatch

The week that followed was heaven and hell. Diego went back to throwing parties nightly, fucking girls coked out of his mind, and in general trying to forgot all about Healy and his pretty bait, but Tommy Eagan was threatening war over a dead partner unless Alicia met his ridiculous demands. Thanks to Tommy's new right hand man, there was an opportunity to gain instead of lose now. All they had to do was wait and see if Dre could pull through.

There were two new numbers in Diego's phone. One unsaved that sent cryptic messages about their deal, and the other marked as an emoji rather than a name. Jazmine's texts seemed forced– like she was reaching out on behalf of Healy's instructions. So of course Diego elected to simply ignore them both. They were buzzkills anyways.

Diego was showing something important on his phone to his sister when Jazmine sent another text.

Remember when you scared off Haagen? I miss that every time I see him.

On the other end of the line, Jazmine felt pathetic sending the text. Healy hadn't even asked her to write this time, she was just so… bored. She hadn't been sleeping well, pulling double shifts involuntarily since her boss found out she closed the store when her coworker didn't show up. She carried her stress in her shoulders– the tightness in her neck caused her daily migraines and there was a new pinching sensation between her shoulder blades to accompany the rest of her pain. In the shower, she massaged whatever she could reach and thought of Diego's big hands doing it for her.

She literally shook herself to clear the thought and pelted the shower curtain with water in the process. Diego Jimenez wasn't some faux bad boy with a secret soft side– he was the leader of a cartel. If he hadn't killed people himself, he definitely had people killed for him. He was beyond dangerous to even fantasize about.

DING-DING.

Her phone called out to her from the bathroom counter and she realized it was past time to get out. Her fingers were pruned to the point of over-sensitivity and there was a rapidly closing window to apply the leave-in conditioner to the best of its use. Still, she wiped her hands on the towel to read the text.

Come out and party. Wear something nice.

Alicia boxed his ear over the last sentence but he brushed her off. Jazmine declined anyways claiming exhaustion and went to bed. There were people to socialize with already– what was the absence of one little minimum wage laborer going to do? Apparently she was important enough to occupy a corner of Diego's head. He was still bent about the way she had reacted to his identity. Who the hell did she think she was? As they discovered in the ungodly hour after the party ended, she was also important enough to drag Healy out of whatever hole he hid in.

"Diego, we need to talk."

Alicia had gone home– Diego expected she would likely never attend another one of her brother's parties as it wasn't her brand of debauchery– and she'd cleared the place out in her disgust, so his penthouse was empty for once.

"What's the matter," Diego poured himself yet another drink, "am I not being a good boyfriend?"

"We don't care what you do when you're not operating," Healy reprimanded. "But we need you to cooperate. Be a presence in Jazmine's fake life. You've been established as a rival for her affections, and you need to become an obstacle standing between the bait and the target. Jazmine walks home from work every single morning by herself. I don't know if you noticed it's been pouring buckets for three days straight."

Healy almost sounded like he was shaming Diego. It wasn't his fault she was poor. She wasn't his real girlfriend and therefore not his real problem. "Please don't make me regret making this deal, Diego. We will never get an opportunity to dismantle Haagen like this again. Need I remind you that you've got a missing child on your hands?"

Diego glared fiercely over the rim of his cup. Healy smoothed his hands down the front of his shirt and returned to his neutral position as righteous commander.

"Schedule more time to spend with Jazmine, especially in public spaces. We have it on good authority that Haagen is going to put a detail out to give him updates on Jazmine in the near future, and he needs to see you in these updates." Healy turned on his heel and reached the elevators, stopping them from closing dramatically and fixing Diego with a stare. "And no more ignoring us."

Jazmine woke up the next morning to one new notification.

I'm coming over.

"Oh shit." The woman threw herself out of bed and looked around. This wasn't fair. Cleaning day was a bi monthly ritual where she took a day off to deep clean the entire apartment, blasting music and stepping around her dog to get things done. Hercules wandered into her bedroom looking chipper as ever. "I guess we better get started then, huh?"

The fucker showed up on her doorstep not ten minutes after she got out of bed– she wasn't even dressed for the day. Her hands nervously tried to cover the broth stain on her jeans as she cleared a space for him to sit and wait while she finished her morning routine. She worried while brushing her teeth that Diego might be a psycho like her last boyfriend. Psycho enough to kick her overly friendly pet, but no sound of yelps filtered through the paper thin walls and when she finally emerged, the pit-bull was settled with her head on his lap.

Diego turned his head at the sound of a huge sigh. Jazmine was gazing at him but quickly turned when she realized she'd been caught. She began to flit about the room, picking up lost things and piling them up until she could figure out what items went where. He watched, making absolutely no move to help other than keeping the dog out of the way. Hercules– as the tag on her collar read– laid as much in his lap as he would allow.

"Buena perro," he muttered, and if she still had a tail, she would have wagged it. Growing bored, Diego rose and stalked over to the fridge. "Do you have anything to eat?"

The white void in the fridge answered for her, but she still called out, "no, it's empty."

"I'm ordering pizza."

"What about Chinese?"

Diego looked at the lonely, days-old Chinese boxes in the fridge and shivered. "I'm getting pizza." She didn't complain. He returned to the couch to do just that. Distractedly, he admired the curve of her spine as she bent over. She wore jeans again and another band shirt, this time it was a baggy Chicago thing. He licked his lips thinking about taking them off her.

Healy’s meddling had repercussions– mainly that it would made taking girls home harder, or at least less frequent. Diego still felt great suspicion towards this Jazmine, but it didn’t stop his body from wanting her under him. Or over him, on him, riding him… he tried to blink the images out of his head.

“What kind of dirt does Healy have on you?,” he found himself asking. “My sister and I have been dying to know.”

Jazmine shrugged, keeping her back to him. “No dirt.”

“So you’re just helping out of the goodness of your heart?” Pizza arrived in time for her not to answer, and they returned to their positions for further interrogation. “Anything to get that creep Haagen away from you for good? Or are you an agent as well?”

“No,” she said. She slipped rubber gloves on to begin maintenance on the tower of dishes piled on the side of the sink. She seemed to live alone– there was no reason to have so many dishes. Maybe he had been wrong in his assessment from earlier? Or maybe she was just a hoarder. “To tell you the truth, I’m about as fond of Healy as I am Haagen. I take that back– Healy’s a step up but not by much.”

“Because you don’t trust him?”

“I don’t know…” That mountain of plates and glasses seemed to disappear quicker than he expected and she began to scrub out the sink and the cleared counters, grunting with effort as she did so. “I trust I know the kind of man Haagen is, more so than I do with Healy. Partnerships like the one I have with Healy– they’re subject to change, and not always for the better. He’ll always do what’s in his best interest. What’s good for him is good for me.”

For Now. The implication that she may harbor the same feelings towards Diego was not lost on him. In fact, he stood up from the couch and approached the windows with their blinds down to peek out at the street. There was nothing quite so conspicuous as a black SUV with a mean mugging thug staring back at him. Even his own protection didn’t roll that sloppily.

Jazmine objected to the windows being opened but Diego insisted. “Need our relationship on display, right? Haagen’s got to know I’m here.”

She relented quickly and threw her gloves aside, plopping her butt on the couch to rest a moment. The leftovers in the box were room temperature but she hardly seemed to mind. God, he wanted to run his hand up her shirt just to see if she was wearing a bra. They twitched in his lap and he realized there was no way she missed the hunger in his gaze as he did.

“Did you bring those beers,” she laughed as she noticed the case on the coffee table for the first time. “Can I have one?”

The beer seemed to quell the tiny tremor in her fingers. She kicked her feet up on the coffee table permitting Diego to do the same. "What the hell are we even doing? Hanging out? What exactly is this accomplishing?"

Jazmine gave it some thought as she took a pull from her drink. "Putting on a show. We need Haagen to think I'm in love with you, like you're no good but I'm not ready to let you go for something 'better.'"

"And Haagen is something," Diego put his fingers up like claws, "better."

"He certainly needs to think he is." She noticed Hercules whining and let her out the door unaccompanied. "We've got his 'gentleman' ego to work with."

Diego followed her to the window and grasped her hips from behind. She half turned, gazing up at him with a question in her eyes. He leaned into her space to whisper into her ear.

"Those eyes Healy thinks Haagen sent to watch you? Well they're watching right now, and they're not being subtle about it."

She doesn't try to look like he expected her to. Instead, she stepped away from him and pointedly crossed her arms. "You don't look very comfortable if you're still wearing that."

She nodded her head at his coat.

"So take it off me."

That startled her. Jazmine's eyebrows lifted, and her feet shuffled when he gave her nothing but a smirk in return. Finally, she did as he suggested. She did not miss the way his hands seemed to brush lightly over her rib cage. These small, fleeting touches that left her breath audible and her stomach warm. He didn't even give her a chance to put the coat on the hangar when he dragged her back against him.

"What are you doing?" She didn't mean to sound breathless, turning her head to the side and exposing more of her neck at the behest of his pushy nose and allowing him to trail kisses on her skin.

"Putting on a show," he said against the shell of her ear.

He felt her stiffen a little against him. The tent on his pants was preventing a lot of important blood from entering his brain, but he was conscience enough to feel how conflicted she was. Diego slipped his hand up her shirt like he wanted, cupping her bare breast and sucking a mark into her neck. She allowed it, but it felt more like compliance than enjoyment. All at once and against the protest of his body, he let her go. He watched her shoulders relax and her hands find a home beneath her armpits.

Jazmine nodded in answer to a question left unasked. She did grab his hand and pull him away from the window, backwards into the tiny hall separating the front room from the bedroom and bathroom. She dropped his hand as soon as they were out of sight of the window.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm," she said. "Just hang out for twenty more minutes and you can leave. I'll text you tomorrow and we can makes plans for another 'show.' You can stay in my room while I clean the bathroom."

Diego sat heavily on her bed. Just as he was about to get comfortable, someone knocked at the front door. Jazmine brushed invisible dirt from her knees as she got up to see who it was. He followed from a distance. The peep hole was almost out of her reach, but she stood on her toes to see outside. Suddenly, the woman looked back at him with wide eyes. It's Haagen, she mouthed. As soon as her head was turned to the task of confronting him, she missed the part where Diego began to undress.

"Hey!" She flung the door open and yelped when Hercules barreled through her legs to get inside. "You... found my dog!"

"Indeed," Haagen said, folding his hands over his heart. "I saw this poor creature wandering and I returned him using the address on its collar. I am astounded to learn that he belongs to you." Nice cover story. The man continued, "since you have the day off, I was wondering–"

Haagen's wondering was cut off by the appearance of a half naked boyfriend. Diego wound his arm around Jazmine and leaned down so he could engulf her clothed nipple with his hot mouth. She gasped, pushing his head away on instinct and he pressed her into his side like a vice.

"Come back to bed, baby," he purred, then pretended to take notice of Haagen watching in the doorway. "Oh, you're that guy, right? James, Jeff, Jebediah or whatever."

"Jeremy," the man hissed through his teeth. "Hello Di-e-go."

"Right right right." An embarrassed Jazmine buried her face into Diego's nude shoulder, acting unconsciously but playing into her role perfectly. "Kinda crazy how I start hearing about you and then all of a sudden you're showing up on my girl's doorstep, isn't it?"

Haagen made a move to defend himself but Jazmine was quicker. "He found the dog, honey! Jeremy was just bringing her home, he didn't know I lived here."

"Right," Haagen cleared this throat.

Diego's smile bordered on a threatening mania-- there were far too many teeth displayed to suggest any sort of friendliness. "Life is so full of strange coincidences…"

No one missed the way he squeezed Jazmine harder. It sent a message to be sure. Vague enough for Haagen to infer whatever he deemed necessary to the story in his head. It was quite brilliant actually.

"Well I ought to," Haagen swallowed, "leave you to it then. I'll see you around the shop, then?"

"Bye–" she barely managed to say before Diego dragged her into the apartment and slammed the door shut. He kept dragging her all the way back to her bedroom, and all the while she protested being treated like a misbehaving child. It wasn't until he'd slammed the door and collected his shirt from the floor that she realized what exactly had transpired.

"Oh." She brushed the frizzing curls invading her eyes, "oh that was perfect. Healy was right to pick you."

Diego rolled his shoulders once his shirt was tucked back into place. "Come over tonight. I'll text you my address and we can capitalize on this. Wear something nice."

She was about to protest his leaving but realized it wouldn't matter. If Haagen expected a fight from the noises he'd heard, he would probably just assume it had ended quickly if he saw Diego storm out alone. He crafted his own version of events. She let the pieces fall where they lie and made arrangements to meet Diego tonight.

#Diego Jimenez x OC #Starz Power #fanfic #Diego Jimenez #Garrote #three bees writing #🐝🐝🐝✏

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technogeekmituna · 5 years ago

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STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE SPOILERS

Pink Diamond Background Analysis

Disclaimer: This post is not a discussion on if Pink Diamond was the worst thing to ever exist, so don't try applying arguments slandering/defending her here. This is a post about, potentially, explaining how she turned into who she was. So enjoy.

Soo... Now that we know Pink Diamond was a bit of a spoiled, temper tantrum throwing, demanding, and violently explosive child-like Diamond and that she expressed her frustrations aggressively, I think a lot of her absence of growth makes sense.

Imagine a child if you will. You know children can be explosive and bratty things sometimes, even if they're raised properly, healthily, and rightly, when they don't get that doll or bike. It just happens. They're growing humans that can't express themselves. They learn and grow, and they eventually learn how to properly process their emotions without having tantrums or breaking things when they get mad.

Now. Imagine a young Pink Diamond raised in an empire based on dictatorships and being in the top ranks with much older Diamonds with a lot of responsibilities and worlds/gems to manage over.

Now compare the two statements. Imagine a four year old sister with her eighteen year old sibling who has all these things that consumes her attention, physical things like make-up, a special keepsake that gets a lot of love, or something new and shiny that is adored and fawned over.

We know how kids are. They want what you have, especially if it takes your attention.

Pink Diamond is basically a child. She wants what the other Diamonds have, and when she can't get it she explodes with her tantrums. Human children can be extremely violent when denied a want: destroying toys, making messes out of anger, ripping things apart, stomping and hitting things, loud yelling, and obnoxious crying/wailing with big crocodile tears. It's awful.

She exhibits almost all of these things. She punches the wall of Yellow's base, she gets stompy and demanding from Stevonnie's POV, she screams when denied things. She broke Pink Pearl.

Now imagine a child all tuckered out from their tantrum. They cry, they're sad. They look around and notice the mess. It's awful, because they were so full of anger, and they didn't know how to express themselves without the violent outburst. Now their toys they love are wrecked and it's their own fault because they caused them to be damaged/broken forever. Now they're miserable.

Pink Diamond was a Diamond that didn't quite fit the quota. She wasn't allowed to have a colony because she doesn't act like a Diamond, she's not fit to run one, she's not mature enough, etc. But she wanted what the others had. She threw her tantrums when denied her wants. She got punished by being locked in a tower, alone, for years, on a lot of occasions.

Child or Diamond, that doesn't teach anything. It only enforces more bad behavior or more backlash of angry emotions. Or being hurt and miserable. Or teaches that you have to act a certain way and to keep your shit to yourself.

Pink Diamond hurt Pink Pearl physically. She also hurt her psychologically to the point P. Pearl's gem couldn't fix her form. Abuse begets more abuse, and even if Pink Diamond didn't mean to, she did it.

She broke and hurt her only friend that she could express herself with, albeit secretly, and White Diamond took the damaged toy away and gave Pink another.

This stage of events changed Pink Diamond. Rather if it was Pink Pearl being damaged and taken away, a fault all due to Pink Diamond, and then Spinel and CG Pearl being given to her to replace her original Pearl or wanting to be seen as mature, this set her to change.

But being a Diamond that was only punished, belittled, mistreated, threatened, abused, ignored, pushed to fit the status quo, told no no no without a follow up as to why or any reasonable explanation to help her understand that she still had to grow up first, made to feel guilty just for herself being more expressive and curious about organic life, shamed, neglected of proper growth and tolerance from the system that made her... fucked Pink Diamond's growth up.

You can only grow and mature so much in an environment that doesn't allow to do too much without repercussions.

Imagine a child wants to do gymnastics. They really want to! They start, they do it, then they don't want to. It could be various reasons, but they don't want to anymore. Yet they are forced to, because it was expensive, because they whined, begged, bothered, and moaned and groaned to do it, so now they gotta. Deal with it.

Pink finally decided she wanted out, so she did what she did. That's the issue of her character. She did bad things, awful things, unforgiving and unforgettably terrible things. She might have been an abuse victim, but she abused others too.

Abuse is a boiling pot word, because when we think of abuse we think violence with bruises and blood, of psychological, emotional, and mental stigmas that limit things because of ptsd flashbacks, child abuse being spanked and yelled at. That the victim is just a victim, and they can't do harm unto others. That's just not how the cycle works.

All situations are different. All reactions are different.

I'm a victim of child abuse. I was physically and verbally abused, but those treatments formed into emotional baggage for years that I'm still working on. I've been a bad friend, a selfish friend, a childish friend, a guilt-tripper, a strain on mental health, I've lied for my own benefit. I've been an abuser. You might not think you are, or maybe you had a self-realization on your actions/behavior, but you have potential to be an abuser too.

It could be a result from my own abuse from my mom, or how she and my grandmother impacted me, or my environment which I suffered in. Or I could just be a bad person. But I understand it's my own problems now and that I have to work on myself. (Probably why I understand/interpret Pink like I do.)

We all try to deal with it, or grow out of it, or ignore it, or whatever to bare with it.

Pink Diamond, despite the HUUUUUGE amounts of problems she left behind, did what she thought was right while dealing with her issues. Keeping her past secret from Pearl, forcing Pearl to keep her identity a secret, not talking about herself, bubbling Bismuth, hiding from the Diamonds-- all her lies and secrets stem from her time on Homeworld. She doesn't understand how to connect to people, like Greg, or she held herself back from getting close to others, like CG Pearl, or how she reflected Garnet's question back at her so she didn't have to talk about herself, or how she fought for a freedom on Earth for a lot of reasons, like maybe her own personal freedom, among her want to save the Earth and its inhabitants.

She tried to protect people by hiding things. She lived and never regretted missing Homeworld, her past life, or the Diamonds. I can almost guarantee you Pink suffered for her actions in the war, regretted the losses. Her actions were her own, and she most likely understood the gravity of the consequences.

They happened though, her mistakes, her guilts, her stemmed problems to Steven, her "running away" from responsibilities, her leaving the Crystal Gems, her detrimental lies coming back to bite everyone, her secrets found by others which ended up ruining their lives, her actions gravely having affects years later... her growth from the life she had.

She was an abuse victim that hurt others too, but she grew all the same from her past and how the Diamonds "raised" and treated her. Her background doesn't entirely define her, but it does define her ability to understand how to properly process/express everything she ever did. It was just unfortunate that a lot of it hurt others she cared about.

She didn't miss the Diamonds. The mere thought of them seemed to irritate her. She can't be compared to them. Because she's not like them. She didn't owe them anything. But she did owe her friends and allies a hella lot.

She's not the worst of the bunch, but she did still come out a bit of a bad, morally gray apple.

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saiilorstars · 4 years ago

Text

Dare To Forget Me

Ch. 22: Repercussions

/ Previous chapters /

Fandom: Law & Order SVU

Pairing: Rafael Barba x Original female character

Warnings: Due to the nature of the series’ plots, I do have to rate this as ‘mature’ for constant mentions of rape.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ` 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: After Montserrat's birthday, there is much to deal with and discuss...if she and Rafael could ever find a way not to end up arguing each time.

When Montserrat finally returned home, it was the morning after her birthday. By that point, many things had happened. She, for one, no longer wore her heels and had no desire to see anything but her bed. Kara, on the other hand, had gotten over her initial anger with Montserrat for leaving her birthday party unannounced. Course Montserrat didn't know that since she was just getting there.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Kara smiled in amusement as she let Montserrat into the apartment. "Doing her walk of shame, I'm assuming?"

"Shut up," Montserrat said, rubbing slightly at her temples. She threw her heels across the living room.

"Bet it's a lot harder to do when you forget your bag at your party, huh?" Kara folded her arms, outright ignoring the look of death Montserrat was sending her way. "Oh don't be looking angry with me. I'm enjoying this and you know what? I'm gonna enjoy this next part because serves you right."

Montserrat rolled her eyes, intending on shutting Kara out for the rest of the weekend until she heard a voice down the hall.

"Okay, seriously, you can't take up all the hot water like that, doll," Sonny emerged from the hallway, clearly wearing the same clothes he had the previous night which only led Montserrat to conclude he'd spent the night here. "Oh, Montse's come back," he said like nothing.

"Noooooo!" the ginger screwed her eyes shut.

Kara smirked. "Told yah!"

"Are you teasing her?" Sonny asked with a frown at the same time Montserrat once again yelled "no!" Sonny gave her a look. "Why are you screaming?"

"Are you seriously asking me that!?" Montserrat scowled. "You're here! From last night!"

"Well, yeah-"

"Shhhh!" she frantically wagged a finger at him. "If I don't see it! It's not real!"

"Oh, it was real," Kara said, walking by and dragging a hand across Sonny's back before smirking up at him. "And it was fantastic." Sonny couldn't help look proud of himself, really.

Montserrat loudly shivered. "Nope! I'm not seeing anything!"

Kara laughed. "Sorry girl, but if you got laid, so did I."

"Would you please stop saying that!" Montserrat turned away with another shiver. "Maybe if I'm lucky, the ground will just swallow me up right now."

"Okay Kara, I think she's suffered enough," Sonny said, though looked fairly amused himself.

"Yeah, alright. That's what she gets for skipping out on a party I planned for a month," Kara moved on and patted Montserrat's arm. "Least she got some action in the end." She made her way to the couch and after a moment so did Sonny.

"Oh my God," Montserrat shook her head. "I did not do anything, Kara. Gosh."

"Then where were you?"

"At Casey's."

"Casey's? What were you doing there?"

"Wallowing in pain." Montserrat blurted the words, still feeling said pain but with even more anger than the previous night. It was a struggle giving Casey some crappy excuse but luckily Casey hadn't asked a lot of questions.

It was then that Kara started noticing Montserrat's demeanor. She looked angry, but there were traces of misery. "Montse, what's wrong?" Montserrat tilted her head to the side, mouth completely shut for the moment. "Did something happen?"

"...you could say that," Montserrat's voice shook and that itself was rare.

Both Kara and Sonny exchanged glances with each other, with the latter believing Montserrat wouldn't talk if he was there.

"Maybe I should go," he resolved and started getting up when Montserrat called for him not to.

"Don't bother. I'm not going to ruin your morning."

"But someone obviously ruined yours," Kara's eyes looked her best friend over. "What happened?"

Montserrat passed a hand down her messy curls and heaved a heavy sigh. "Screw it." She could really use some support and she was sure that Kara would be a good candidate, as well as Sonny. Montserrat walked over to the couch and sat herself in-between Kara and Sonny, now wearing a big pout on her face. "So, as it turns out, you were right Kara."

Kara blinked. "I was? I mean, of course I was. But if you want to be more specific about what I was right about...you could." She looked over Montserrat's head to see Sonny and shrugged in confusion.

Montserrat's shoulders slumped as she sighed again. "I left your party to go have drinks with Rafael."

Kara's eyes blinked rapidly before a smile took over her face. "All is forgiven!"

"No!" Montserrat said flatly, putting a dent into the woman's growing excitement.

"Hey wait a minute," frowned Sonny, shifting on the couch to better face Montserrat, "I called him and he shouted at me that he didn't know where you were because he hadn't even come."

"He's a lawyer; he's a liar," Montserrat said pointedly. "I told him not to say anything."

"Why?" Kara asked.

"Because I wanted to avoid your schoolgirl squeals."

"Well...that's offensive."

"You want to know what's offensive? The rejection I got." Yup, there was the bitterness starting to settle in. Montserrat ignored the looks she was getting because she needed to get this all out in the air once and for all. "He gave me a necklace-" she gestured to the ballerina necklace sitting around her neck.

Kara gawked at it. "Oh that's pretty!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. So I asked him if he could help me put it on…"

"Oh that's sneaky," chuckled Kara. "I do that too."

Now Sonny frowned at that admission. "Hey...you do. That's a trick!?" Kara's smirk was answer enough.

"I didn't mean it to be a trick," Montserrat clarified, getting more frustrated as she retold the story. Just thinking about the ending brought back the rage she felt but even more of despondence that came with it. "I was really only trying to put it on but then...then I don't know. I felt things. I turned around and he was just...he was just there and I...I couldn't help it. I kissed him."

"Go Montse," Kara nudged the ginger on her side.

"Yeah, and then he said it wouldn't work." Montserrat huffed. "It was unprofessional. There's an age difference, the way we behave with each other…"

"What?" came Kara's sharpened snap.

"Yeah!"

"The nerve!"

"Well," Sonny knew what he was getting himself into the moment he spoke up. Both women threw him similar looks. "I mean, a guy like Barba? Yeah. That was bound to happen."

"What?" frowned Montserrat. "He was 'bound' to reject me? I thought you two were hell-bent that we should get together-"

Sonny quickly raised his hands to show he came in peace. "No, wait a minute! That's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?"

Kara's face behind Montserrat was one warning Sonny to be careful.

"I was just saying that, being who Rafael is, he would say something like that. I never said he meant it," Sonny visibly relaxed when he saw Montserrat's glare begin falter. "It's just his natural self to be cautious."

"What, so I'm going to ruin him and his career?" Montserrat's face contorted to offense. this conversation is not making her feel better, unlike what she thought it would.

"No, but maybe he thinks it could ruin yours. Look, bottom line is, you're the only one who was there so you know if he meant whatever happened between you two."

"...when did you become my best friend?" Montserrat asked with a low chuckle. Sonny honestly couldn't answer that, but he had a small laugh himself when Montserrat hugged him.

"Right here guys," Kara said on the side, feigning offense she was being left out.

~0~

The weekend seem to pass by quicker than one would have liked, and before Montserrat knew it she was back at SVU beginning the week with a possible gangrape. Luckily for her, no one except Sonny knew what happened that weekend, so it was pretty much a regular Monday at work.

Their victim was a 16 year old girl found at dawn. After a series of events, they discovered her real identity but at the same time losing her at the hospital. It was clear she didn't want to talk to the police, but that wouldn't stop them from finding her. They searched for the young girl, who turned out to be named Clare Wilson, not Erin Fogarty as they previously believed.

"So, our vic is Clare Wilson. Sixteen. Raped by a VIP guest at the strip club where she works," Nick went over their pinboard they were compiling of the case.

Sonny crossed paths with Nick to come point at a picture of an older man who barely had hair. "But the club owner, Perry Cannavaro, won't give up the rapist's name."

"She's 16," Montserrat read over their details from the table. "How the hell did she get into that job in the first place?"

She was looking over their initial photos of Clare and found the girl reminded her of her niece, Juliana. While Juliana was 15, not 16, the fact was her niece could've ended up in those clutches if the wrong things would've happened. Even the way Clare spoke and acted was that of a normal teenager. The rebellious pink highlights in Clare's hair was proof enough.

"She ran away from her mother's abusive home," Olivia said.

"We're going to bring her into a group home and make sure she's safe there," Amanda after putting down her desk phone. "Just settled everything with the head."

Fin strode into the room looking annoyed and angry. "Just talked to Perry again and, shocker, he's not talking. He definitely knows who the rapist is."

"Shocker," Sonny made a face.

"Alright, Liv, we can move Clare down to the group home today," Amanda got up from her desk, ready to do that.

"Right. You and Novak go move Clare to the group home. See if you can jog her memory about the rapist," Olivia pointed the two women forwards. "The rest of us have our work cut out for us."

~0~

Clare has very little to take with her, but she still ready to go with it. She held her box of clothes and followed Montserrat and Amanda down the blue hallway of the group home.

"Now this guy definitely knew Perry," Amanda was telling the girl. "You sure you can't remember anything about him?"

Clare shook her head. "No."

"Perry thinks that this will all go away," Montserrat rolled her eyes.

"Guess he knows."

Montserrat looked back at the girl with sympathy. It was clear she was used to things going wrong in her life. "Well, we're not dropping this, Clare, okay? We're gonna keep putting pressure on Perry. We don't just go away."

Clare shrugged. "Whatever. I'm out of there." She was led into a small room with one window at the end. "This place- they seem okay."

"You know, Clare, you want to turn your life around, they'll support you here," Amanda hoped Clare would get the message. "Stay clean, stay sober. Make curfew."

"I guess it's time." Clare looked out the window and saw a cherry blossom tree on the other side. "I have a tree outside my window. That's nice."

"We'll check in on you, okay?" Montserrat said just so that Clare knew they wouldn't abandon her out of the blue. And, it could also serve as a reminder that they would be looking in to see if she was making good on her and devar to get clean.

"Clare Wilson?" a woman in an officer's jacket strode into the room, followed by another officer. She held up a badge for them to see. "Hudson County Sheriff Department."

Montserrat exchanged a look with Amanda, neither of them knew what the hell is going on but they were sure it wasn't going to be good.

"Detective Rollins," Amanda introduced herself and showed her badge, prompting over to Montserrat who also raised her badge. "That's Detective Novak. How can we help you?"

The Hudson officer didn't look the least fazed by the detectives. "Arrest warrant for Clare Wilson." She motion to the other officer with her to take Claire into custody and then raised the warrant for Amanda and Montserrat to see.

Monster had snatched the warrant from the woman to look at it herself. "What the hell for?" Her eyes quickly skin the papers to see.

"Credit card fraud and grand larceny."

"New Jersey, though!" Montserrat quickly said.

"She worked in New York. And a Jersey City strip club."

Amanda blocked the officer was trying to take Clare away from them. "Hold up. You got the wrong girl."

Clare, on the other hand, didn't look like she was confused by it. "No, I worked in Perry's other club too. He made me overcharge customers-"

Amanda quickly waved a hand in front of the girl's face to stop her from going any further. "-stop talking, Clare. And ask for a lawyer. Not one word."

All Clare did was shrug her shoulders as they took her away.

~0~

"You know, the fact that Perry has connections with the Hudson Police department does not bode well." Fin sat at his desk with a weariness that was slowly creeping from one detective to the next. Their case was about to get even more difficult, because it wasn't already.

"Whoever this rapist must be top notch for Perry to go through these extents to lock up Clare," Montserrat leaned back in her chair. She had the tip of her pen locked between her teeth in a relentless chewing.

"Whoever he is, Perry thought he could play us so let's give him a good game," Nick resolved and would definitely give the man a good match if given the chance.

"They're back," Sonny pointed towards the door where Amanda and Olivia were crossing through. "You think Barba gave them something good?"

"Gotta be by the looks of her," Fin's comment made Montserrat look back to see Olivia, Amanda, Rafael and a dark-haired woman none of them knew.

Montserrat briefly crossed gazes with Rafael and, despite her efforts, she had to glare. However, Rafael just took it without one of his own. He thought he deserved it. In his mind, he did.

"So, what happened?" Nick curiously eyed the dark-haired woman.

"U.S Assistant Attorney, Connie Rubirosa," the woman introduced herself and held a hand to shake with them. "I'm here to help you with your case."

"I didn't know we needed help from the feds," Sonny said, giving a look to the rest of the squad.

"Well your friend called me over," Rubirosa nodded her head at Rafael. "Lucky he did because we've been looking at Perry Cannavaro for a while now. He's part of a ring that targets runaways. Puts them to work in his clubs, gets them hooked on drugs, and then they owe him."

"And the feds can't shut him down?" asked Fin.

"Well, we're trying to. The problem is that a lot of the vics go back to the life. Disappear, decide not to testify. What can you guys tell me about Clare Wilson?"

"She has had it hard, but has hit rock bottom," Amanda answered. "I think she knows that these clubs are a dead end."

"Will she make a good witness?"

"She wants to turn things around. She's credible," Olivia reassured the woman.

"Maybe that's why Perry pulled some strings and had her arrested."

"She's being arraigned later today in Hudson County. What do you know about Prosecutor Masconi?" Rafael inquired since he knew they'd have to deal with the prosecutor soon.

"Well, he's got a big ego. Bills himself as a reformer," Rubirosa said sourly, as if she'd already had the pleasure of meeting him. "But he's not gonna want to look like he's protecting a sex trafficker. Tell him that Clare is testifying in our grand jury case against Perry. See if that'll hold him off until she does."

"Okay, Benson, you up for a drive to Jersey?" Rafael asked the woman.

"I'm Acting Squad Commander. I can't just get up and leave. These guys might destroy my office," Olivia jerked a thumb at the others.

"Heavy lies the crown."

Olivia rolled her eyes at him then pointed a finger at Sonny. "Carisi can join you. Should make a lovely trip, don't you think?"

Now it was Rafael's turn to roll his eyes. At least he could get amusement somewhere in his life at the moment. he was sure all he needed to do was look at Montserrat for a full minute for her to want to kill him.

"Actually, Sarge," Sonny started getting up from his seat, "I think it would be good for Clare to see someone she originally talked to. Montserrat, for example."

Montserrat's dark eyes snapped up to the man. And if Sonny wasn't in public with her, he would've feared for his life. If there was something Montserrat Novak was good at, it was her death glares.

It seemed Rafael knew that about her because right now he was giving Sonny a 'be careful look'.

"I like it," Olivia agreed. She was blissfully in the blue of everything and it showed.

"But Liv-" Montserrat turned her chair to brunette, "-I think I can stay here and do more digging on Perry and his clubs."

"No, I think Sonny's got the right idea," Olivia shook her head. "Besides, you said Clare reminded you of your niece so who better to offer support than you?"

"...is that what I said?" Montserrat gritted her teeth together. "Damn."

There were only a few things to prepare in order to leave for Hudson County and while Olivia, Rafael and Rubirosa worked it out, Montserrat had her go at Sonny out on the street.

"It's like you and Kara are hell-bent on making my life miserable!" she shouted without a care of who heard her. "First, it was reassuring me that Rafael did indeed have feelings for me and then when that failed-" she said with a spat, "-you move on to make it impossible to avoid being in a room with him? What the hell!?" she frantically pushed Sonny's chest, not that the man would fight back.

"It was not my intention, Montse. I just think avoiding isn't going to get you anywhere," he said, irritatingly calm. "Same for Barba. You need to get it out-"

"-I did!" Montserrat snapped. "That's why I'm here in this awful situation!"

"It's a misunderstanding and I will help even if you hate me for it."

Montserrat's face fell flat. "Oh no, I am going to K-I-double-L you! And the only reason I spelled it out is because we're standing outside a precinct!"

Sonny took it all with a nod. Oh boy, Rafael was in for a ride if this did happen to work out for them. Sonny had come to really like Montserrat but there was no way in hell he could ever date that woman.

"We have 2 hours until Clare is arraigned," Rafael walked up to them, though clearly kept a distance from Montserrat. "You're going to drive with the sirens on, right?"

Sonny nodded. "What did you think? I'll go bring the car around."

"And I will go help," Montserrat attempted to say after Sonny had left, but at this point she didn't care if it was a logical excuse.

"No, Montserrat, wait," Rafael had grabbed her arm but she sent him a glare that immediately made him let go. "Sorry. I feel like we need to talk-"

"-but what about?" she pretended to be confused for a brief moment before returning to her angry state. "I got your message and I'll follow through. Don't worry, I would never want to be a hazard for your job and your career."

"That's never what I said," he frowned.

"How would you know? You walked out on me!"

Point one for Montserrat.

"I didn't mean to, I was just…" Rafael didn't know what it was like being speechless, and much less what to do when he was speechless. He felt incredibly guilty, not to mention hurt himself.

"You were just what?" Montserrat folded her arms over her chest. She waited for him to say something but when he didn't, she shook her head. "I tried to listen to Kara and be understanding but the fact you can't even string three words together is disappointing. And frustrating."

"It's not easy, Montserrat," he snapped. "I don't know what to do, alright? I've never been in a situation like this."

"So you're clueless, what a surprise!"

"Would you stop acting like a child? Maybe if you calmed down we could be civil and have a conversation-"

"-about what!?" Montserrat's snap was loud enough to grab attention from some of the officers passing by. "Sorry," she said in a sarcastically hushed tone, "I'm jeopardizing your job again."

"I did not say anything about that and you damn well know it!" Rafael's snap was on the same level as hers. If they'd been thinking more clearly, they would've noticed that even to argue they were the same. Of course they would clash. "When I talked about our jobs, I meant that they would clash. We would have to disclose to our bosses if we were serious about things. I never meant that you would harm my career. If anything, I would harm yours."

Montserrat wanted to continue being angry, but it became harder to do with that statement. It was the same thing Sonny had told her. "What?"

"I've been at this sort of job for 10 years so believe me I have pissed off more people than I can count. You let them know you're dating me and I guarantee you that you'll encounter obstacles for promotions."

"That's ridiculous-"

"-No it's not," Rafael spoke over her. "You've only been a detective for a couple years, right? No more than five?" Her silence was answer enough. "And it's not just that, Montserrat. There's the age difference-"

Montserrat groaned. "Oh my God, it's not like it's that much. It's literally only 6 years so you can throw that excuse away. You're just piling on excuses. I'm, regrettably now, 30 so you're going to have to take my word when I say I'm a big girl who can say 'yes'."

"How about the way we are, then? You and I...we're too matched. We bicker at least once every time we're in the same room."

"Have you ever thought that the reason we act the way we do with each other is because there's some feelings?"

The way Rafael sighed and looked away told Montserrat he had, but he was choosing to ignore it.

"The reason we're always so frustrated with each other is because we'd rather kiss than argue?" Montserrat waited a minute for him to say, but he just shook his head in rejection. "You know, for someone who's-" she raised her fingers in the air to do quotation marks, "-apparently 'a lot older than me', you're the one acting pretty childish right now."

"Don't do that," he warned but she pointed a finger at him.

"You are the one who's blatantly ignoring everything I'm putting on the table. As much as I hate to admit it, Kara was right. I was desperately trying to ignore the fact that I like you but here's me, acting like an adult, and saying what I feel. I don't understand why you're doing this to me and to yourself."

"I am so sorry, Montserrat. But believe me when I say: you can do a lot better than me," Rafael's soft tone was so uncharacteristic that it froze Montserrat. "I listed the logical facts that would interfere with whatever this would be, but don't even get me started on me."

Montserrat was caught off guard by the sentimental admission. And she would admit it if anyone asked her. Rafael was never one speak about himself, and much less what he thought about himself. Perhaps, she should've addressed that first and avoided a lot of the yelling she did. Who knows, if she could get the chance to talk about it with him...his 'logical reasons' may not even turn out to be the real problem.

But right now, time was up.

Sonny had returned with their car, so it was time to go. They were, after all, on the clock.

~ 0 ~

One day later, SVU was so stumped in their case. Clare had been arraigned and detained for pending trial in the Hudson County.

"How long is the New Jersey trial backlog?" Olivia asked Rubirosa for some type of reference. They were gathered in her office, listening to the failed visit to the county.

Rubirosa crossed her arms and thought about it for a moment. "She could be in for a year and a half."

"The county prosecutor and his wife, the ADA, they went through the motions, but Judge Dolan shut us down, hiding behind the fig leaf of Jersey's stringent anti-fraud statutes," Rafael sourly said, indicating he was still pretty irritated the judge had shut him down first before they began any process.

"They want to claim protocol, I can too," Rubirosa declared, letting her arms fall to her sides. "There's a judge I work with on the task force. I can get him to write up a court order stipulating that we need Clare in New York to testify in a pretrial hearing."

"Meanwhile, where are we with Perry?" Rafael looked at the rest for some answers.

"How do we say 'nowhere' without making it sound bad?" Amanda leaned forward to see the responses from the rest of her co-workers.

"Why don't we make some calls, get the pressure going," suggested Fin.

Olivia seemed to like the idea because she was going back to her desk, directly for her phone. "Let's hit him with an alphabet soup."

"Meanwhile, we'll get started on that writ process," Rubirosa resolved and headed for the door with Rafael. "Might get it done today if we're lucky."

"We can only hope," Rafael muttered behind her.

As they walked out of the office, Montserrat and Sonny were coming into the bullpen. The two were bickering since they'd come from a joint meeting with Kara that, unsurprisingly, turned out to be all about Montserrat.

"You're an idiot and that's final. Kara got it too," Montserrat let her bag drop on her desk. She looked over her shoulder and saw the DAs leaving together and even though she tried - like really tried - she couldn't help feel that ridiculous notion of jealousy. "They're pretty close, huh?"

"Oh, don't do that, Montse," Sonny shook his head. "They're friends. Co-workers."

Montserrat still rolled her eyes even though she knew it was a possibility.

~ 0 ~

Perry was in distress. His entire club had been shut down at 10 o'clock promptly. He had every agency at his doorstep, invading the rooms of his club.

"What the hell is going on!?" he came to stand in front of Olivia, seething with anger.

Olivia was all too happy to answer him. "So far, we have CSU in your VIP lounge and the Health Department and lmmigration going through your kitchen."

"And your sushi bar here..." Fin stopped by to point at a higher floor where a woman laid on a table with sushi placed over her like she was the table, "You better hope they don't find any human contamination on that raw fish." He flashed a smile at Perry then continued on his way.

Olivia raised her fingers to continue listing who else was visiting the building. "On their way is OSHA, New York City Department of Taxation and Finance, ATF."

Now it was Montserrat who stopped by them, and she was smirking as widely as could be. She may or may not be loving the fact she could cause some pain to someone else, and even better when they were actual scum. "You might as well shut this place down and give the girls the weekend off. Scuse me," she continued walking and followed Amanda down the cruddy hallway.

"Excuse me!" Amanda shouted as she ripped open all the room curtains on one side, while Montserrat pulled the other side's. "Scuse me, fellas. These nice folks here are from CSU they're gonna be executing a luminol check for fluids on these couches."

"Any of you been here before?" Montserrat's eyes flickered from one guilty man to the next. Most of them raised their guilty hands. "Yeah, figures. Swab 'em all!" She stepped aside so the group behind her could get started on their work.

Out in the main room, Perry was still complaining. "Well, this is harassment!"

"What, you think you're a big guy, getting your buddies in Jersey to lock up a 16-year-old rape victim?" Nick had the pleasure of standing in front of the man's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Who are you paying off? Masconi? Judge Dolan?"

Perry blinked at him then looked at the rest of the squad's waiting figures. "Wait a minute. Is this all because I didn't give up the name of a patron? Huh? All right, all right. Say I give him up, all right? Is this circus gonna go away?"

Olivia scoffed and turned over a clipboard she'd been holding, listing all the agencies she'd brought with them. "Oh, that's not my call. You see, once these agencies get involved, it really takes on a life of its own. Take Mr. Cannavaro in."

"What?" Perry looked both ways as Sonny and Fin grabbed him from behind. "Hey, call Arnie!"

"Hey Liv," Amanda moved beside the Sergeant, "Rubirosa got the writ expedited for Clare's release. Barba wants to serve the papers to Dolan first thing tomorrow morning, Jersey City, 8:00 AM."

"It is Amanda's turn," Montserrat said before Olivia got any ideas. She didn't feel prepared to face Rafael again without wanting to argue.

"Okay, go with him," Olivia agreed easily. "Make sure that Clare sees a friendly face when she gets out." Amanda nodded her head, but there was something else she was planning on doing tonight first.

#ocappreciation #svu #rafael barba #law and order svu #rafael barba fics #svu fics #rafael barba imagines #svu imagines #oc: Montserrat Novak #fic: dare to forget me

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royallyprincesslilly · 5 years ago

Text

Title: Love, Maybe? {19}

Chris Evans X Reader OFC Vixen Giovanni

Warning: Cursing, Angst, Fluff,

Word Count: 5K

Summary: After a night of drunkenness you wake up next to warm, hot as hell body, a migraine and no memory of the night before. When you come to realize that the hot body belongs to none other than Hollywood’s golden boy Chris Evans you freak out. As events unfold you become even more panicked to find out you got married in your drunken haze. What else is there to do but get it annulled, right? Before walking away, you share one more night of molten kisses and passion. 3 years later you are still living with the repercussions of your brash decisions, but the surprises don’t stop there. The past has a way of coming back and have you questioning is this fate that you’ve been running from, hell could it have been love, maybe?

Note: Italic texts is an inner Vixen thought. Bold Italic texts is an inner Chris thought.

**Slightly Edited/Proofread**

Thank you guys for reading!!!! If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. �� ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 19: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

-Chris-

Dinner. It was simple. A meal. A simple meal. No big deal. If it wasn’t a big deal, he had no idea why he was standing in his closet not moving. He hadn’t moved in near twenty minutes. He had every intention of moving, that was the plan. He came in here to find something to wear for said dinner, and then he thought about what he should wear, and he froze. He didn’t know if he should just go the jeans and a Henley route, or dress pants and a nice polo, or maybe jeans and a nice polo. There was just too much to choose from. Then he wondered what you’d be wearing.

“If she’s dressed up and I go looking like a frat guy it’ll give her the wrong impression. What impression is it I want to give off though? What if I go dressed up and she has on jeans and a tank? I’d look like an idiot.”

He groaned and raked his fingers through his already combed hair. With his hands at the back of his neck, he pounded it as he loudly groaned again.

“Get a fucking grip, Chris! It’s fucking dinner!” He scanned the clothes in the many wardrobe cabinets and tried to focus on the task at hand.

“What do you wear to meet your nearly two-year-old daughter for the first time?”

He snorted and laughed though this was no laughing matter. He was trying. He had to try. He always thought the day he’d meet his daughter would be the day she was born. It was ironic he’d wanted his firstborn to be a daughter. There was something about a father and daughter relationship he envisioned to be so precious, so special. He watched how close his father was to his sisters, watched how much he loved them especially during particular points in their lives such as father-daughter dances at school, dance recitals, their wedding day and things of that sort.

“I have a daughter.” He’d been trying to get used to that fact over the last several weeks, he’d said it out loud to himself now five times, and each time it felt foreign like he were having an out-of-body experience. Each time he said it he felt the nervous ball in his belly tighten.

“What if she doesn’t like me?” With that very real possibility, his hands stopped. He didn’t know what he’d do if she wailed at the top of her lungs every time he got close.

“I’m a stranger.” His phone rang, and he quickly grabbed it off the counter in the center of the room and answered without looking to see who it was.

“It’s been weeks, Chris! are you kidding me!?” Lita’s shrill voice rang out. He held the phone away from his ears and groaned.

“Shit, Lita.”

“What the fuck do you mean “shit, Lita?” Did you forget about me? I can’t believe you right now!” He slowly brought the phone back to his ears and sighed out. He’d been so occupied he’d forgotten all about her. She was no doubt still pissed at him for walking out on her at the restaurant.

“Lita, I’m sorry. I--,”

“Sorry? For what exactly, leaving me in a restaurant to do god knows what? Or not calling me for weeks? I don’t know what the fuck you want Chris. You reached out to me. You said you wanted to try again. You!”

Her voice was getting to him. He knew he made a mistake the minute he sent her that text those months ago. His heart wasn’t in it, and now on top of the mess that was currently his life with you, she was now an added stress. He stood there and allowed her to continue; she didn’t give him an opening to talk anyway. After nearly ten minutes he’d had enough.

“Lita, enough!” Finally, her silence gave him an opening. He sighed before he began. “I’m sorry for running out on you, that was a shitty thing to do, and I have no excuse for the dick move. I’m also sorry for not reaching out; it’s been a crazy few weeks. I have a lot going on right now and no it’s not an excuse, it’s the truth.”

Lita sighed before she began again, “What do you want, Chris? I am getting the feeling it’s not me.” He thought about her words. They were true. He didn’t want her. He hadn’t wanted her in a long, long time, and he really didn’t even know if he ever truly did.

“God, you’re a dick, Chris.”

He rubbed his forehead once he knew he was going to hurt her. “I’m sorry, Lita.” She released a breathy sigh. “Don’t call me again, Chris.” With that she hung up. He dropped his head to the surface and hit it once, then twice.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much; you know it was never going to work.” He looked up and saw Anthony there. “I fucked up.” Anthony crossed the room while nodding. “Yeah, you did. Planning on stopping fucking up?” he rolled his eyes and turned back to his clothes and stared at them again.

“What’re you doing, bruh?”

“I am trying to figure out what to wear to dinner.” Anthony leaned against one of the cabinets. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll probably just go to one of the usuals. I’m sure they picked some steakhouse.” He closed his eyes and shook his head again. He’d forgotten about the plans he’d already made.

“Shit, I can’t make it tonight, Mackie.”

“What do you mean? What dinner are you talking about then?”

“Vixen. We talked, and I’m having dinner with her to meet—Ella,” he explained. Anthony looked surprised.

“Wow. The last time we talked, you sounded furious after the meet at the diner.”

“I was, I am. I’m still furious, but--.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’ve already missed so much time man, so many things.” Anthony nodded.

“I get it. I’m glad you two could be grown-ups, although I didn’t doubt she could be one. I always got the vibe she was a mature one. Not like the birds you see here in LA.” He scoffed, he had to be kidding. You lied to him for damn near three years and hid his child from him. “If you say so, Mackie.” He pulled out a pair of black pants and the white shirt he’d been staring at and walked into his bathroom, deciding a leather jacket would go well.

“Where’s dinner?” Anthony asked from outside. “Her place.”

“Okay. You nervous?”

“Man, I stared at my clothes for almost thirty minutes trying to find the right thing,” he informed before he walked back out fully dressed. “Good choice, not too stuffy. You don’t want her to think you’re too desperate.” He snorted and perused the box he held his jewelry. “I’m not desperate.” Anthony patted his back before he walked out. “Whatever you say, man.”

He stood there second guessing himself for a few moments before he walked back out. “I got a great idea man. I’ll go with you,” Anthony piped up.

“What? Why?”

“I’ll be your moral support during this big moment in your life,” Anthony explained. He saw right through the bullshit though.

“Whatever. You know this is about her sister.” Anthony gasped and gave his best confused look. He rolled his eyes and walked out and downstairs. He had an hour and a half before he was to get there.

“Her sister? Naw man, this is all about being a good friend to you.” He laughed, unable to contain his amusement anymore. “Wow, it’s been a minute since I’ve seen you hypnotized by a woman.”

“Ay man, don’t get it twisted, I’m not hypnotized.” He turned as he was picking up his car keys and looked to Anthony, giving him the “who you bullshitting” look. Anthony tried to give his best poker face, but it was a shit one.

“Fuck, fine, it’s about her sister,” Anthony admitted. “She’s beautiful, stubborn and interesting. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. So, I figured I’ll go with you and maybe while helping you help myself.” He thought about it for a moment; it wasn’t a bad idea. “Fine, but don’t piss her off so she’ll piss Vixen off.” Anthony rose his hands up in surrender.

The two of them piled in the car and drove through the night to the address you’d given him. As the miles decreased, his nerves increased, and anything Mackie was saying went in one ear and out the other. Thankfully he was sure it wasn’t anything important. Traffic wasn’t bad and what would have taken him forty-five minutes only took him thirty. When he parked in front of your house he had close to fifteen minutes to kill. He stared at the outside of the house and wondered how it looked inside. You looked like you kept a nice home like it was neat and smelled like flowers and candy all the time. The thought made a faint smile decorate his lips.

“Do you plan on getting out the car and ringing the bell?” He groaned and shook his head.

“I’m early. I’ll look really desperate if I ring the bell now.” Anthony kissed his teeth, got out the car, and slammed the door extra loud as if to announce himself.

“Mackie, are you kidding me right now?”

“Man get your ass out the car. Sitting there like a little punk.” He hit his head on the steering wheel, then reached in the glove compartment and took out the bottle of wine and the bottle of whiskey and the gift-wrapped package then climbed out. Taking a final breath, he walked around and up the walk path to your front door. Once at the door he just stood there. After a few seconds Anthony looked to him and shook his head as he reached for the bell. He quickly slapped Anthony’s hand away.

“Fuck Mackie, give me a fucking minute.” Anthony raised his hand and stood there quietly. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. This was it. There was no going back, and a lot was riding on tonight. He breathed out and decided he was as ready as he’d ever be. Slowly he rang the bell and said a silent prayer.

~~~~~~~~~~

-Vixen-

“Fuck!” You shouted into the fridge as you heard the doorbell. Nexus snorted loudly and laughed. “Oh my god Vix, what the hell!” You narrowed your eyes at her. Slowly she stopped laughing and walked over to you. Nexus handed you the glass of whiskey she’d just poured for you.

“Here, psycho. Drink it and let it do its job.” Quickly you took the glass and drank down the half glass of whiskey. It burned like a son of a bitch, but it didn’t take long for the burn in your belly to dissolve the nerves.

“Better?” You nodded and took a few breaths.

“It’s just dinner, Vix. One meal. All you have to do is eat and answer any questions he has about Ella. Everything else will be pie.” You nodded and brushed your hands down the front of the dress you wore. “How do I look? Are you sure it’s not too chill?” You looked over yourself in the casual sundress.

“You look good. It’s not too casual,” Nex assured. “Does it show nipple? Is it too short?” Nexus laughed again just as the bell rang again. “Chill out will you. Deep breath.” You took a few deep breathes and tried to calm yourself. “The past is just that, the present is a gift and the future is yet to come. Mold it.” You smiled at Nex reciting your mantra and felt a lot calmer. You walked to the door, and Nexus walked toward Ella’s bedroom. Taking a final breath, you plastered a political smile on your face and opened the door.

“Fuck!” Anthony snorted and covered his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter. You closed your eyes; you didn’t mean to say that out loud. You didn’t expect him to look that good. “Eh-em, sorry about that. What I meant was hi.” Anthony laughed again. “You sure? Fuck sounded a lot better. I’m sure that wasn’t geared to me though. It was for this guy right here.” Anthony patted Chris’s abdomen, and your eyes dropped to where he touched. You remembered what that area looked like. “Then again that is what got you two crazy kids in this situation,” Anthony finished.

“Jesus Anthony,” Chris hissed out before he gave you an apologetic look. He wasn’t wrong. Fucking was what had gotten you here, incredible fucking, mind blowing fucking, hot, sweaty, toe curling, over six orgasms fucking. You had to bite your tongue in order not to moan. Clearing your throat again you smiled again. “What’re you doing here?”

“That’s a damn good question!” Nex stood beside you crossing her arms. Just like that the slick smile on Anthony’s face fell as he stared at her. All eyes fell to him, and he looked to Chris who gave him a look you couldn’t decipher. Anthony cleared his throat. “Nexus, I’m sorry,” he began.

“You said you did nothing wrong? Only people who’ve done wrong apologize,” Nex added. “Yes, I didn’t do anything wrong, but you think I did so I can be man enough and apologize. I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I am sorry that I did.” You looked over to Nex and saw that he was wearing her down. Interesting, you thought. Usually, it would take a lot more. “Thank you for apologizing.” The four of you stood in the doorway in silence for a few moments. You smiled, sort of relieved their drama had given you a reprieve from yours.

“All right, I’m going to go now,” Nex began. “What? Go? Go where? I thought you were staying.” Your panic was evident.

“No, I don’t need to be here. You don’t need a chaperone.” You grabbed her hand when you saw her take a step to walk out. She looked at you and squeezed your hand reassuring you. You slowly let her hand go, and she nodded.

“I will go with you if it’s okay,” Anthony offered. “So much for that support huh.” Anthony shrugged and gave Chris a toothy grin.

“Have a good dinner you two,” Nex said as she walked toward her rental car in the driveway. You and Chris stood there and watched the two of them pile in the car and pull off. Once the headlights disappeared Chris turned back to you. Realizing you were still standing in the open doorway you opened the door wider and waved your hand inside.

“Come in.” He walked inside allowing you to close the door and it was there the two of you stood in the foyer as silent as monks on their vows.

“Oh, here I brought these.” Chris held up his hands, showing you the goodies. “This for you--.” He held out the bottles to you. Smiling, you took them and felt more relief than you should once you saw the whiskey. “This will come in handy.” Chris snorted and nodded.

“And this is for—Ella.” You smiled at the pastel pink wrapped package. As if hearing her name, she came barreling down the hall cutting in front of Chris to crash into your legs. “Mama!” You scrunched down, placed the bottles on the floor and hugged her. “Hey baby. All done cleaning up?” She nodded rubbing her face. “Ah duh.”

Ella turned around, leaning her back against you and looked up to Chris. They stood there staring at each other, him with a look of awe and her just blank assessment. You wondered what she was thinking and if she were confused. She’d never seen you around a man. Never known any other man but your father. You felt guilty.

“Ooh you,” Ella inquired. Chris may not have understood her, but you did. Ella turned to you and pointed to Chris. “Ooh mama, ooh?” You were speechless again. What did you tell her? Did you just blurt it out and hope for the best or ease into it very, very slowly? Chris then sunk down to her height and stared at her small frame. She looked back at him again and took a step to him but stopped. As if asking for permission she looked back to you.

Trying desperately to hold back your tears, you cleared your throat and prepared to breach the topic. “I’m Chris.” You were grateful he took the lead, but you noticed he didn’t call himself her father. “Cwis. Wike me,” Ella added looking to you then back to him. Chris smiled. It was a smile you remembered from back then, a real one. “Like you?” Ella nodded her head and took another step to him. “What’s your name?”

“Cwis Ewa.” The way she said her name made him laugh and that in turn made Ella laugh. They laughed together, and a tear rolled down your cheek. You didn’t realize Chris was looking at you until another tear rolled down. The emotion on his face was evident and it was there the three of you stayed without one word until Ella turned back to you.

“Mama cwy.” She wiped her small hands across your cheeks, and you smiled and wiped the rest of tears away. “Are you hungry baby? She nodded again and clapped her hands. “Come on.” You scooped her up and began walking away toward the dining room where the table was already set.

“Wow, it smells incredible.”

You smiled as you slipped Ella into her highchair. “Thank you.”

What’s for dinner?”

Ella banged her hands on her highchair and squealed, “pagetti.” Chris smiled. “You like spaghetti?” Ella nodded her head in response to Chris’ question. As you shared her food into her toddler plate you watched them. Ella traced patterns on the top of her highchair with her finger, and Chris watched on with an amazed look. You set her plate in front of her, and she clapped before she dug in completely ignoring her fork.

“A little or a lot?”

Chris leaned back and patted his stomach. “Are you kidding? I love Spaghetti, and it’s not every day renowned chefs cook for me so pile it on please.” You snorted, shook your head and scooped the food onto his plate.

“I don’t know about renowned, you’re just exaggerating.” Once you’d plated it you walked over to him and leaned over his shoulder to put his plate in front of him. “Thank you.” You nodded and took your seat next to Ella and served yourself.

Dinner was painfully quiet except for Ella’s babbles and humming and occasional outbursts. The two of you ate in silence and watched her. Every time Ella squealed out or patted the surface of her highchair Chris smiled. He looked completely awestricken. Every time she smiled or did something adorable he smiled, but there were times that even though he smiled he looked sad. You knew you were to blame. You really felt horrible for how everything played out and hoped he knew that. Every once in a while, his eyes met yours before he looked away either back to Ella or his plate or some spot on the table. You wondered what he was thinking because he was next to impossible to read.

After about an hour and a half the bottle of wine was done, and so was the food. You lifted Ella out her highchair and took the top off, ready to bring it to the kitchen. As you walked you heard Ella’s footsteps behind you and the heavy footfalls of Chris behind her. You kept your back to him and focused on cleaning the top. You felt him come up next to you. Looking beside you he held out the two plates.

“Thank you.” You felt Ella’s hands on the backs of your thighs.

“Mama red.” You looked back and at her and saw she still had pasta sauce all over her hands. “Oh no, Ella, tell me you didn’t.” You spun around, trying to get a look at the back fo your dress.

“Ah did,” she said before she laughed. “Uh-oh, she did.” Chris pointed to your dress, and you could see the tiny handprints on you. Groaning you looked to your daughter and scooped her up. You tickled her all over her body. Ella giggled and squealed her delight.

“No mamma no. Top, top.” Her protests fell on deaf ears, and you continued until you finished off with a barrage of kisses all over her face. “Ha, now who did it?” She laughed again, and you nuzzled her cheek. “Mama siwee.” You smiled and looked across to Chris who was leaned against the island with an uneasy smile on his face. He looked like how one would look if they were constipated on a date but tried to put up a good front.

You leaned to the sink and washed Ella’s hands before you put her down. “Oovie Cwis?” He looked to you as if asking for a translation. “She’s asking if you want to watch a movie.” He nodded and smiled back to Ella.

“Yes, movie please.” Ella ran off, and he looked to you. You nodded your head giving your permission for him to proceed. He followed her out the room, and you took the brief moment to take a few breaths.

When you walked into the living room, Ella was digging through the movie cubbie with several choices already sprawled across the floor. Chris was sitting at the edge of the couch just staring at her. “What movie honey?” She held up her choice and ran to you.

Once you looked at the cover you groaned. Fate just wouldn’t give you a break. “Is it a bad one?” You looked to Chris and shook your head. “No, not bad.” You showed him the cover, and his eyes lit up.

“The Little Mermaid.” Ella jumped up and down. “Momaid, momaid!” Chris smiled widely. “That’s my favorite movie.” Butterflies fluttered in your stomach as you looked between him and his tiny replica, both excited for their favorite movie. You scoffed to yourself and put the film in. “My favowit. I wuv wittle momaid.” Chris nodded. “It’s really good,” he agreed.

Once you sat back on the couch, Ella climbed up and onto your lap then moved your arm so she was cocooned in it. You smiled and kissed the top of her head then gently rustled her sandy blond hair. Chancing a look at Chris the butterflies in your belly sped up when you realized he was already watching the two of you. He looked away when the movie started.

Throughout the movie Ella talked to the tv and sang along to the songs as they were being sung. A lot of times she even stood in your lap bringing Chris’s attention and smiles. You wondered if his heart was melting as yours always did when you watched her. Did he feel the connection to her that you did?

From the tv you heard the beginning of “Kiss the girl,” and you fought with everything in you to keep your eyes glued to the tv. You could feel Chris’ eyes on you no doubt remembering your wedding and you walking down the aisle to it. Ella perfectly and on cue imitated the sounds of the animals and you lost your shit at the irony. You busted out laughing and no matter how you tried to stop you couldn’t. Ella laughed too, and it was then you looked at him. He looked amused but as if he were trying to hold it in. When Skuttle squawked again to the tune Ella imitated him, and you buried your face in your hands as your laughing fit ensued. It wasn’t until the scene ended were you able to return to normal.

Once the movie finished, Ella was asleep on the couch. Her head was on your lap, but her legs were stretched toward Chris. The crescendo of the closing credits filled the room, and both of you just stared at her small sleeping body. Neither of you made any moves, so you sat there in silence watching your daughter. After another thirty or so minutes passed, you shifted. Ella flinched but moved a little too close to the edge of the couch. Chris’ hand flew out to shield her from falling at the same time yours did. You looked at your touching arms and moved it back until your fingers grazed his in a slow dance. Your fingertips blazed with an electrical current that traveled up your arm. Chris pulled his hand back and looked away.

“I’m going to put her to bed.” He nodded, and with that, you stood, scooped Ella into your arms and walked toward her room. Once there you undressed her and put her into her jammies and tucked her in. Making sure to turn on the nightlight and take the monitor you closed the door behind you and walked to your bedroom determined to change.

When you returned, the living room was cleaned away, but Chris wasn’t in it. You looked around and saw the back door was open. Deciding a drink was in order, you walked in the kitchen and opened the whiskey bottle. You then grabbed two glasses and filled a small bowl with ice. Stepping outside you saw him sitting on the deck staring out. You approached and sat in the empty seat close to him. “Figured it was time for a real drink,” you joked putting the things you carried down. Chris looked to you and gave a small smile. While you poured drinks for the both of you he watched you. “To Spaghetti, The Little Mermaid and whiskey.” Chris laughed before he hit your glass and took a sip of his drink. You weren’t so modest; you gulped the entire thing down.

“Wow, this I good.” He nodded but looked far away.

“She’s amazing.” You nodded. “Yeah.” He smiled. “So smart and funny and so stinkin’ cute.” He was right on all accounts. “So stinkin’ cute,” you repeated.

“Wow.” Silence. “We made a good one,” you said without thinking. He looked at you again, and he looked like he had so much to say.

“I’ve missed so much. I don’t know anything.” After pouring another, you downed it. “What do you want to know?”

He took a deep breath and tried to wipe the pain off his face. “What were her first words?” You smiled. “Food.” He snorted and laughed. “Hand to God, it was food. Then mama, then yes, then no. After that it was all over she knew all she needed.” Chris laughed again.

It was a sound you were beginning to love again. “Was she a good baby?” You nodded. “She was. She barely cried, ate well from the beginning. She was a happy baby; I lucked out.” Chris nodded and looked away from you. “This hurts Vixen.” Those words broke you, and the dam broke then your tears flowed.

“I know. I’m sorry.” You sniffled and tried to dry the tears, but once you did fresh ones came. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you.” Hearing him say that hurt more than you thought it would. You’d expected it, prepared for it but hearing it was more than you could handle. “She doesn’t know me. She calls me Chris, and I know it was the right move not to go too fast, but it still hurts.” What did you say to take someone’s pain away from something you did to them? How could you ever come back from this?

“I know I can’t give the last two or three years back to you. I can’t fix what I did. Yeah, she doesn’t know you now, but she is so chill, so easy going that it won’t take long for her to know you, or like you. I fucked up; I know that and I’m sorry for it, but I can’t change the past.”

“Would you want to? If you could go back, would you do anything differently?” That was the million dollar question. You knew the outcome of this path, and while it was painful it was still the known versus the unknown. “Who’s to say that if anything would have changed back then if I would have told you when I found out that this situation would have been any different.”

He looked at you incredulously. “Are you kidding me right now, Vixen? We were married. Everything could have been different?” The butterflies began again. “How? Would we have shuffled her between San Fran and LA? Jumped her from your multiple movie sets? Called each of your booty calls auntie?” It was unfair to throw that last one at him you knew it. Chris took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“I am not the same man I was when you knew me. I haven’t been that man for a long time.” Your head flashed to your last night together and the things he’d said. Was that man who would say those things gone?

“I was an asshole, a super dick. That night with us at my house--.” He paused as if trying to find the words. After a few moments, he didn’t speak again, and you decided it was best just to leave it alone. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t know what you’re talking about. It doesn’t matter.” Chris searched your face then looked down and nodded. “How do we do this?”

“One day at a time I guess,” you responded. “I don’t want to take her from you, Vix. I just want to be in her life.” The two of you stared, and you knew he meant what he said, and there was no maliciousness behind his words. Sighing you nodded.

“You will be.” Sitting quietly for a few minutes he snorted and shook his head. “So, for the last three years you’ve been listening to our wedding song on repeat?” You laughed and nodded. “It’s been utter hell and torture; she loves it!” Chris laughed louder, and you joined in.

~~~~~~~~~~~

***If you want to be tagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~

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#love maybe fic #Chris Evans #chris evans fanfiction #Chris Evans X black reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x reader #chris evans smut #angst fanfic #slow burn fanfic

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theangriestpea · 5 years ago

Text

In the Shadows : Eight

Summary: Jughead Jones, resident werewolf, just wants to protect his family and his pack from the incoming doom of The Red Circle. Sweet Pea and Lily join him to help keep the Southside safe from human tyranny. Meanwhile a demon princess named Myra and succubus named Lavender had a plan to bring on the apocalypse. <ao3> <masterlist> <playlist>

Rating: Mature // Explicit

Pairings: Jughead Jones x OC, Sweet Pea x OC, Kurtz x OC

Warnings: None for this chapter

Word Count: 5k+

A/N: This is like my least favorite chapter that I've written thus far and I really apologize for that. It just didn't come out the way that I had hoped, so hopefully it is still enjoyable. I've got a paid writing gig that I'm going to have to divide my time with so updates may slow down a tad (only by a day or so). I'm getting back to requests after this.

Chapter Eight: Soul Bound

The purple haired succubus was sitting on the old couch in the small cottage within the mystical forest. The knowledge of withholding the information of her child's paternal parent was eating at her more and more. Lily had been nothing but kind to her since she realized that the demon could be trusted. Presently she was fixing her a special tea blend to help with her terrible morning sickness. It was getting progressively worse as the days went by.

“Lily, I have a confession to make.” Lav said, her voice not sounding nearly as confident as she had wanted it to. “About...the father of the baby.” She twirled her hair around her finger, needing something to do with her hands while she waited.

The witch was at the kitchen counter, measuring out tea into disposable tea bags for her new friend. She hummed back a nonverbal response for the demon to continue as she concentrated.

“I lied before.” Lav admitted, “and it’s killing me not to tell you the truth. What is really going on. Sweet Pea has this fantasy that he can fix things but I don’t think it is nearly that simple.”

Lily glanced up at her and their eyes caught one another. They held the stare, Lily a bit confused as Lav’s looked sorrowful and sympathetic. “He’s the father. What I said about being forced was true. Myra, she said it had to be him and I had no choice in the matter. I didn’t even want to have a child to begin with but now...Now that I’m pregnant, I can’t lose her. I know you understand as a mother, and even though I’m a demon….I’m human too.”

She went back to measuring carefully. This wasn’t really a surprise. She had a suspicion that Sweet Pea was more involved than he let on. Plus she could sense very strong, very dark magical energy from the child already. Energy that nearly matched her baby daddy’s. “Tell me everything.” Lily said, her voice calm and careful. “I’m not upset. I know how he has no idea what condoms are and besides you mentioned before she gave you a potion to make you conceive. It’s not like you knew him before all of this. I’m just glad you didn’t kill him.”

Lav relaxed against the couch, glad that Sweet Pea was out doing an odd job to get them some extra money. It was hard to be around him when he was off limits. “There is a prophecy.” She continued, “and through decades of decoding it, Asmodeus discovered that the birth of a certain child would be a catalyst in bringing on the apocalypse.”

Lily stopped what she was doing. Her eyes widened as she looked at Lavender again. Was she really talking about the end of the world? This world? The mortal realm on Earth?

“Myra enslaved me by taking my mortal soul when I was in a bad car accident. My neck snapped, I was dead, but my demon half simply took over. I didn’t even know what I was until then. The mother of the child would be a hybrid without a soul. A succubus to be exact. The father would be a purely dark witch, also without a soul. This is a really dumbed down version of this, I don’t know how else to explain it.” Lav said, her heart racing in her chest now from anxiety on how Lily would react.

“Lavender.” Lily said, wanting clarification, “she bred you to bring on the end of the world? With Sweet Pea? Your daughter is going to bring the apocalypse?”

Her voice wasn’t angry, resentful, or hateful. The demon relaxed only slightly at how calm Lily was at this news. “Yes. Myra will take her the second the cord is cut and will unleash hell on Earth. I will never see her again. And Lily, there are very specific reasons why I do not want all of hell’s demons to roam the Earth and most of them are entirely selfish.”

Lily looked back at the tea leaves, taking a deep breathe to calm her hammering heart. “Most of them?” She asked, wondering why they weren’t all entirely selfish.

“I happen to like Earth the way it is.” Lavender said, “And I just want the mortals in my life to be happy. I want Daisy to grow up with both parents. I want you and Sweet Pea to continue to live by her side. I want Sweet Pea to get his soul back because he’s only going to get worse.”

“What did he do to you the other week? When you had to heal yourself.” Lily questioned, needing to know. “Why did you let him?”

Lavender crossed her legs to try and hide her discomfort at the question. “We had sex. It got a little rough, that’s it.”

“So rough that you had to heal yourself? You’re pregnant, Lavender, you can’t let him-”

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Lav quickly interjected. “He has no soul, Lily. I understand you don’t know how people are without one. They’re terrible. It’s frightening, honestly, what a man can do without any real conscience to hold him back. He will only get worse which is why it’s imperative for you to get it back if you want him to be any kind of father to Daisy in the future, you must.”

Lily finished up the last tea bag, sealing it and putting them all into a glass jar. “I know. He’s just getting darker. I expect him to come home covered in blood half the time. His anger was always bad but never like this. I’ll get his soul back and I’ll get yours back too.”

Lav was silent as Lily handed her the jar. The demon dared to look up at her, "I know a way to break the contract." She said in a soft voice, praying that Myra wasn't hiding in some nearby shadow.

Lily smiled faintly, "she can't hear you. I have the house warded. Tell me what you have in mind."

"The vargulf is dying. He only has a few weeks left, tops. I think...I think she's in love with him. Only white magic can heal him. Only you can bring him back from the brink. Cut a deal with her. Heal him in exchange for my freedom and my mortal soul." Lav said, eyes never leaving Lily's face. "It will not protect my child, but she can no longer hurt me without repercussion."

Lily sat down next to her on the couch as Daisy toddled in, having just woken up from her nap. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the demon, "Lavie!" She giggled, running up and holding onto her legs. Lav smiled and placed a gentle hand on her head.

"Would you oppose Sweet Pea staying with you for protection? After I do this?" Lily asked, the sight of her daughter hugging the succubus warmed her heart. Daisy needed more interaction with people that weren't her parents. "He is an asshole but he is a powerful witch. Myra is stronger than you, is she not?"

Lav went quiet once more as she picked up the little girl and set her in her lap. Daisy loved to play with her purple hair, finding it memorizing. "Only if he has his soul back. He's insufferable right now. Her strength is in her age and lineage. My magic would be stronger if I had my soul, but it’s been gone for decades now. There’s not telling what state it is even in. I don’t know where she has been keeping it.”

“I plan on retrieving his soul in a few days. I need to devise a good offering to my matrons before and probably spend another night with Jug...for good measure.” Lily said, a light blush crossing the tops of her cheeks. While Lavender was the one who set them up, it was still a bit embarrassing to talk about.

The demon smirked at her, “try not to get knocked up again.” She teased as Daisy pulled at her hair. She ignored the pain, tolerating it as Daisy twisted it around her fingers in an attempt to braid it, but really she was only knotting it up. “Although you would be stron-”

The witch held up a hand to keep her quiet, “don’t even go there. I’ll only have another one when things are stable and the end of the world isn’t imminent.”

“That’s fair.” Lavender said, shrugging. “Think you can stop it?”

“I won’t know for sure until you get something for me.” Lily said, her tone becoming serious. “It might be easier for you to get a hold of than me. With your limitless access to mortal currency.”

Lav cocked her head to the side, curious. “If you need money, Lily, I can get it for you. I’ve charmed many men out of their 401ks. Do you know how many life insurances I’ve stolen away? It’s easier than it sounds.”

“What does a demon need money for anyway?” Lily asked, a bit exasperated. Money was always an issue for them. Neither could afford childcare and thus only one of them could really keep a steady job. They had decided it would be Sweet Pea but his temper got him fired more often than not. The longest he ever lasted in one place was six weeks.

“I may be a demon but I still live here on Earth so I have to abide by some mortal constructs. Before I knew what I was, when I thought I was just an ordinary human, I loved in a trailer park much like Sunnyside without the rampant flea problem. My father made enough to get by and that was about it. I always dreamed of living in a huge house with a nice car and clothes that weren’t second-hand. Not having to get food from a church pantry because we had to sell our food stamps to pay the light bill. When I learned how to control my power, I used it for my own personal gain until Myra needed me to target some poor sod for whatever reason. Someone owed a debt and their soul needed collecting or whatnot.” She let out a small sigh. “I live where I live because that’s where Myra insists that I stay. I don’t have a choice in what I can really do with the wealth I’ve amassed.”

She glanced at Lily out of the corner of her eye, “Maybe it would be better suited to just...give it to you.”

Lily bit the inside of her cheek, not wanting to even think about suddenly not having to worry about money. “Keep your money, we’re doing fine. Sweet Pea is out making us some money right now.”

Lav shrugged, “If you say so. What is it that you need me to get?”

“This prophecy should be in some kind of book, somewhere on Earth. All good prophecies are. An oracle somewhere has to know about this and they are bound to have written it down. Get me this book, Lavender, and we can find out how to end this for good.” Lily said, confident in her plan.

“A book? I think I can manage that.” She mumbled, mostly to herself. “Give me a week. I’ll see what I can do.” Her eyes moved to look at the little girl, “Alright, Daze, I better go before your jerkoff father gets home.”

Daisy giggled and crawled over onto her mother’s lap. “Bye, bye, Lavie!” She said happily and Lav smiled back as she stood.

“Bye, bye, Daisy.” She patted her on the head once more playfully. “And thanks for the tea, Lily. My stomach will appreciate it in the morning.”

“No problem, let me know if you need anything else.” Lily said as she hugged her daughter. Lav waved as she exited the cottage, glad to have avoided Sweet Pea for the time being.

Or so she thought. The asshole in question was walking up to the door as she was leaving, scowl on his face. “What are you doing here?” He practically hissed at her.

Lav rolled her eyes at him, “Just leaving, troll.” She said as she walked passed him, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her close.

“What did you tell her?” He asked, voice low and angry with an edge of hate.

“The truth. Now let me go or I’ll have Myra smite you where you stand.” Lav said threateningly, though she would never actually do it. Sweet Pea instantly released her and recoiled with a scowl. She watched as he turned and made his way back into the house, noticing that something else was off about him but choosing not to look too far into it.

Three days later, the day after Lily had spent a riveting night with her soulmate, she was ready to perform the spell to get Sweet Pea his soul back. Jughead was there, with Daisy, in the event that something went wrong. The warlock had begun to lash out at the wolf more and more, wishing he’d just stay away but deep down knowing why he couldn’t.

Lavender had not been around since she told Lily the truth about what was going on. Lily had kept it to herself thus far and had been going out of her way to ignore Sweet Pea as it was the easiest way to deal with his meltdowns. He had come home that day with only half the money he was supposed to get. What happened to the other half, she couldn’t get it out of him and was furious.

The oddest thing was when she tried to call the electric company, they informed her that her bill was paid in full. She knew she hadn’t paid it this month and was increasingly worried that there was an error and once they figured it out, they would shut their power off. Unfortunately she didn’t have time to dwell on her growing anxiety over money as there were bigger issues at play. The main one being Sweet Pea’s lack of soul.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Jughead asked, looking between the two witches sitting on the floor. “You’re just going to reach into hell and grab it?”

Lily smiled at him reassuringly. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but yes. I’ve already located it so it won’t be very hard. It will just take a lot of energy. It would have helped if Lavender was here to give me some of hers but...she’s not answering my calls.”

Jughead shifted uneasily, watching Sweet Pea’s eyes darken at what Lily had said. “You haven’t heard from her?” He asked, sounding more annoyed than worried. He didn’t want to let on that he cared at all about the demon. In truth, he didn’t care so much about her right now as he cared about the child growing inside of her.

“She’s fine.” Jughead said, “I checked on her yesterday. Her morning sickness is just getting bad and it’s taking all of her energy just to hunt right now. I guess demon pregnancy is rough.”

“All pregnancy is rough, Jug.” Lily corrected, glancing at Daisy who was playing with her runed blocks on the other side of the room. “Trust me. I’ll go check on her after this. She was supposed to look into something for me.”

Jughead nodded, “alright. Will it be safe to just leave him here?” He asked, motioning to Sweet Pea who was glowering at the two of them for talking as if he wasn’t sitting right there.

Lily turned her head back to look ahead at Sweet Pea, “He’ll be asleep for a while. A day or two, give or take. His soul has been down there for a long time. It’ll take time for it to resettle back into his body. Are you ready, Sweet Pea?” She asked, holding out her hands for him to take.

His large calloused hands grasped hers lightly and they both closed their eyes. Lily was muttering the spell under her breath, barely audible to anyone without supernatural hearing. Jughead didn’t understand Latin so he had no idea what she was saying.

The energy in the room grew so palpable that it was almost unbearable. Daisy stopped playing with her blocks and stared at her mother, somehow acting as if she knew what she was doing despite being so young. Jughead watched her instead of Lily, more interested in her reaction than what his girlfriend was doing.

The five white candles surrounding the two suddenly burst into flame as the temperature in the room climbed to an uncomfortable level. Sweat trailed down Lily’s spine as she brought the blackened soul closer and closer. Her grip on Sweet Pea’s hands were tight and borderline painful. The male witch winced as her nails dug into his flesh.

And then it was over. Sweet Pea’s body went slack and he crumpled forward in a state of unconsciousness. Lily was breathing heavily, feeling dizzy and nauseous all at once. Daisy walked over to her and placed a hand on the side of her face, a faint glow causing the ill sensations to dissipate.

Lily kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks baby.” She said before looking back at Jughead. “Can you help me get him into the bed?”

“Did it work?” Jughead asked, blinking at her. “His soul is back?”

She stood up with his help and rubbed the back of her neck to try and remove the sweat that had collected there. “It’s back but...it’s not in good shape. It’ll take time to heal. He’ll need something I can’t give him.”

Jughead moved around behind Sweet Pea and hoisted the man up awkwardly. Lily helped the best she could in her weakened state to get him into her bedroom. Once there Daisy walked in with a doll that Lily had never seen before.

“Daisy, where did you get that?” She asked, looking at the purple haired doll that had some kind of relaxation charm on it, similar to the one she put on the little girl’s stuffed cat.

“Lavie!” Daisy said as she climbed onto the bed. “Can I nap with daddy?”

Lily’s brow furrowed, unsure when the demon could have given Daisy a gift but appreciating it all the same. “Of course, just don’t wake him up. He’s very tired.”

“I know.” Daisy said as she curled up next to her father, the doll between them.

Jug turned and led Lily out. “If you want to check on Lav, I’ll stay and make sure Daisy is okay.”

A sigh left the witch’s lips as she collapsed on the couch. “I should rest first.” She admitted. “That took way more out of me than I thought it would. I will check on her in the morning. I’ll even take Daze to visit. They seem to enjoy each other’s company.”

Jughead laid down on the couch with his head in her lap so she could play with his hair, knowing it was one of her favorite things to do. “So what was she looking into?” He questioned, closing his eyes as her fingers softly threaded through his thick locks.

“There’s something much bigger going on and I think the four of us are the only ones that can stop it. There’s a book of prophecy she is getting for me. It’ll help us figure a way out of all of this.” Lily said softly, looking down at him with a sad expression that he did not see. Sweet Pea’s soul had been in worse shape than she had imagined it would be. She wasn’t sure what he would be like when he woke up.

The next day, Lavender finally returned the white witch’s phone call to inform her that the book was on its way to her. When asked how she got it, Lav laughed and answered honestly. This book in particular was an original, hand written, very old text that she found on eBay. It’s authenticity was confirmed through a very intensive set of magnified images. Lily wanted to know the price but Lavender refused to tell her, saying it would probably make her faint.

It arrived two days later and before Lavender took it to the cottage in the woods, where the father of her unborn child was finally starting to stir, she decided to take a look at the script herself. What could it hurt? Certainly not much.

Most of it was muddled garbage that made very little sense after the first few paragraphs which outlined her own conception. She finally got to the part about her ill-fated interaction with Sweet Pea and how her daughter was conceived. It aligned almost perfectly with what had happened but there was one line that made her blood run cold. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest as she reread it dozens of times. There was no possible way this could be true. It had to be a mistake. There was no way that Sweet Pea was….he was…

She closed the book and resisted the urge to throw it out of her bedroom window. Instead it sat silently by her side as she sat with her face in her hands, wondering what on earth she was going to do about this. It had been a dream to be free of him once this was over. To disappear somewhere with her daughter, never to have to look upon his handsome face again. If what was written was true, then that would be impossible.

Her phone buzzed and she heard the chirp of a new notification. Lav picked up her phone and saw it was Lily, telling her that it was a good time for her to come over. Sweet Pea was awake and Jughead was on his way. The demon typed back a quick reply that she’d be there in ten.

She slid off the bed slowly, grabbing the book without much care to its delicate condition and left for the cottage.

When she arrived she sat in her car for a moment, weighing her options. She needed Lily’s help but she didn’t want Lily to find out the truth . The truth that Lav wished she didn’t know. She saw Lily’s face appear between the parted curtains of the window. Now that she was caught, Lav had no choice but to go inside.

She exited the car and walked up to the door, Lily opening it before she could even knock. “Did you get it?!” She asked, voice perfectly portraying her excitement.

Lavender swallowed her anxiety thickly. “Yea. Here.” She handed it over, wishing she had blacked that sentence out or done something to alter it. Maybe if no one else knew, then it wouldn’t be real. It was too late for that.

“Are you okay? You look pale.” Lily asked as she led the demon inside of her home. Lav chose not to look through the open bedroom door, knowing that Sweet Pea was laying on the bed. She didn’t think she could stomach looking at him right now, the need to vomit growing in the pit of her stomach.

“Just morning sickness.” She lied. It was three in the afternoon. She was done throwing up for the day. Though morning sickness could be any time of the day, hers typically lasted from early morning to early afternoon. By two she was usually fine enough to go try and collect some food.

Lily ignored the lie, figuring if Lav wanted to tell her what was really bothering her then she would. Jughead walked through the door a second later and her face lit up with a smile. “Juggie, you’re late.”

Jughead smiled, rubbing the back of his head. “My dad had to lecture me about bringing stray cats into the house.” He said, giving Lily a knowing look. “Something about his allergies are bothering him.”

The witch giggled. She often took her feline form when visiting Jughead as it was a safer way for her to travel at night. “Come sit, she brought the book.” She plopped down on the couch and opened it, starting from the beginning.

“Good luck deciphering half of that crap.” Lav said, choose to sit on the floor. “Where is Daisy?”

“She’s trying to heal Sweet Pea.” Lily said quietly. “I don’t have the heart to tell her that her kind of magic isn’t what he needs right now.”

The demon chewed on her lower lip, wanting to ask what the matter was but not wanting to out herself as having any kind of feelings towards him.

Jughead looked between the two, not really understanding the expression Lavender had on her face. “What kind of magic does he need?”

“It’s complicated Jug. Souls can only be healed by their soulmates. We don’t know who his is. If we could find them then this could all be over.” Lily said as she dragged her finger down the spine of the book. “Let’s not worry about that now. Let’s try to see if we can figure this out.”

The three were silent as Lily read the old book aloud. Lav’s teeth drew blood as they dug into her flesh harder and harder. Jughead smelled it and was staring at her, wondering what had her so on edge.

Lily stopped just before the dreaded part. “Does all of this sound right so far? Has all of this happened already?” She looked at Lavender who was staring at the bedroom doorway, distracted.

“Lavender?” She probed. “What is going on?”

“Keep reading.” She mumbled. “You’ll see, just keep reading.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, her gaze sorrowful.

The witch looked back down at the book and went back to reading. “The child shall be born of soulless soulmates. Lost in darkness, two empty halves will be bound to destroy one another once the chosen child is lost to the prince of Hell.” She read, stopping abruptly once the sentence had passed her lips.

A look of realization crossed both Jughead and Lily’s faces as they looked at the demon. Nothing was said for several minutes. The silence was heavy and foreboding.

Lily set the book aside and stood. She approached the demon and crouched down to her level. “We can change this.” She said, “Prophecy is not written in stone. It’s more of a warning of consequence. We’ve already changed the course by getting Pea his soul back. Once we have yours, then the outcome written will be wrong.”

“And, if we keep the baby from getting taken to Hell, then that’ll change too.” Jughead added, trying to help ease the worry.

“I don’t care about my own destruction, that’s more than what I deserve.” Lavender said, her voice soft. “That is not the part bothering me.”

Lily glanced at Jughead before sighing. “He has his soul back now, things will be different. I won’t say that he won’t hurt you again because...he’s an asshole even with a soul. But he won’t do it on purpose. Just give him a chance.”

Lavender huffed, crossing her arms. “Why should I? Do you have any idea how much he’s antagonized me since that night?”

Lily reached out and brushed her hair out of her face. “Yes. I do. This is the man that cheated on me days after I gave birth to his daughter. I understand completely.”

“And that’s another thing! As soon as I have our child he’ll just be out putting his dick in who knows!” Lavender said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “I don’t want to be a notch on his stupid bedpost.”

“Couchpost. He doesn’t have a bed.” Jughead said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Both women shot him a glare and he quickly shut up.

“He did that to me because we weren’t meant to be. One chance, that’s all I’m asking.” Lily said gently, trying to get her to come to reason. “If you don’t then the world could end and I know you don’t want that.”

At the reminder of the impending apocalypse, Lavender sighed in defeat. “Fine. But there’s still the issue of Myra.”

Lily stood up straight again and grinned, “Don’t worry. As soon as Sweet Pea is back on his feet, then we can tackle solving your little enslavement problem. For now, I’m banishing him to your home until this all blows over.”

“For a white witch, you sure come up with some evil plans” Lav grumbled to her. “Being stuck with him might be worse than hell on Earth.”

A devious look crossed Lily’s face, “just throw up next to him. He won’t be able to stand it and he’ll start puking in solidarity. It’s the perfect way to get back at him. He hates it.”

The demon tried not to laugh, “are you sure you’re a white witch?”

“Trust me, I’m sure.” Lily stretched her arms above her head, cracking several vertebrae in her back. “So, who wants to tell him?”

“Is he actually awake?” Lavender asked, looking back at the doorway to the darkened room.

Lily smiled knowingly, “Yes. He’s being a baby and won’t get out of bed. But I’m about to kick him out so he’s going to have to leave sometime.”

Lavender groaned as she stood up from the floor. “You tell him. He’ll just call me a whore or something along those lines and yell until I leave.”

Lily rolled her eyes as she walked into the bedroom and flicked the light on, earning herself a hiss of anger from Sweet Pea. “Get up, we need money and you’re done laying in bed.”

Sweet Pea opened his eyes to look at her, Daisy playing on the bed next to him with the same doll as before. This time she was making it kiss her stuffed cat, much to both Lily and Lav’s amusement.

“And by the way,” Lily added, turning to walk out of the room, “I’m kicking you out. You have a week.”

“You’re what?!” He shouted as both women left the room, only one stealing a glance back at him before disappearing from view..

Tag List: @the-gargoyle-queen, @lilhemmo, @wayward-river, @southside-vixen, @princesweetpea, @redhairdontcare732 (comment/ask/message if you want to be added or subscribe to AO3)

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fmstevie · 5 years ago

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* ╰ waddup y’all ruby’s back 2 annoy u all w a lil british fuckboi action . here’s stevie , inspired by matty healy n thinkin she’s a god among men . i don’t recommend u read on but in case u do i pray u forgive me enough 2 want plots w that like button . 🤡

new york’s very own 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄 ‘ 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘 ’ 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 was spotted on broadway street in doc marten smooth leather chelsea boots . your resemblance to diana silvers is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty - second birthday bash . while living in nyc , you’ve been labeled as being 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐬 , but also 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 . i guess being a cancer explains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be erudite inclinations informed by a god complex , melodrama as your magnum opus , & the world’s most secretive love life . ( i had a secret marriage that lasted 6 months but ended due to my fear of my family’s mafia ties getting in the way . ) & ( cis female & she / her )

𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 : stephanie charlotte greystone 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 : primarily stevie , although her stage name is ‘ grey ‘ which has caught on as a go-to nickname . takes little to nothing else wilingly 𝒂𝒈𝒆 : twenty - two 𝒛𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒄 : cancer 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 : professional musician with a voiceclaim of lorde , on temporary hiatus to write grey3 . casual photographer 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚 / 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔 : cis female / she her hers 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 : pansexual w strong female pref but tbh if u can handle her energy she’ll b down WKERWJER 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 : 5’10 🤤 𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒔 : the hedonist , the aesthete , the opaque , the vainglorious , the prodigy , the intangible concept 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒔 : rhiannon - fleetwood mac / WHAT U CALL THAT - chase atlantic / iceberg - borns / UGH - the 1975 / boss bitch - doja cat / elephant - tame impala / black hole sun - soundgarden / black madonna - cage the elephant / this charming man - the smiths / swim - chase atlantic / 1999 WILDFIRE - brockhampton

tw drug mention

𝒊. 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

there is perhaps no more a formidable surname in the organized crime circuit in all of europe than greystone , a name risen to fame through countless court cases and highly publicized trials . dubbed ‘ el chapo of the old world , ‘ liam greystone makes his reputation known as a ruthless and conniving leader of a million dollar cartel business , distributing to most of the UK and eastern europe . it’s perhaps an even greater shock to find even as public enemy #1 , he takes a welsh wife by the name of marissa and weds her in a lavish and very public ceremony , surmounting crowds not unlike those of the royal weddings . such a decision is a clear power move on his part , flexing the pure influence it would require to have such a public family life with no fear of repercussion from rivals or enemies .

it’s several months following their wedding that james is born , with nicholas taking a few years after . elite prep schools in the most posh london neighborhoods were abuzz with equal parts curiosity and concern to be sharing streets with the most feared mafia family in their whole country , though the elite nature of liam’s new societal presence meant he took to his ‘ dealings ‘ with a but more subtlety than before his rise to power . something of a media frenzy , it’s the talk of the town when marissa falls pregnant another time , nearly a decade after nicholas’s birth , this time with a baby girl , something that’s all the sun and mirror can seem to post about in their celebrity tabloids section for weeks on end . her birth raises questions of immense speculation : what will the world do with a greystone girl ?

as it would result , they’d worship her . stevie found herself raised in a world that sought her out at every turn , cameras pointed towards her at every outing . james and nick , now teens by the time she enters primary and just as big of terrors as their father , view their lavish lifestyle as the result of some bigger destiny for greatness , as their father had always fed to them , something they passed on to their baby sister who took it as her mantra . one of the earliest manifestations of a rather intense personality , stevie takes this to an extreme , turning her unwanted stardom into a fuel for an ever-increasing god complex to develop . the apple of her father’s eye and every bit as quick , her instructors note a dedication to perfection and an obsession with accomplishment , along with a natural intelligence that leads her to blast through her studies with relative ease .

she’s just 16 when she completes her schooling and already has a reputation that will precede her , just as her surname had before . relaxed and observant , her voice never peaks higher than a low alto with her charming londoner drawl , a facade never cracking from her knowing poker face . there’s something about being so above everyone ( even if it is a self-imposed superiority ) that leads stevie all but to the brink of isolation , finding solace only in the words of a self-deluded father and her own scribings in a leather bound notebook . piano lessons since early childhood lend themselves to melodies following melodies , and before she’s even able to legally drink , she’s released her first album under the moniker ‘ grey ’ titling it pure heroine as a cheeky nod to the inevitable accusations of it being her family ties that got her a record deal . but as streams of the melancholy tunes begin to pick up fans worldwide , the album’s themes of isolation , abandonment , and wasted youth hit harder than ever anticipated from the youngest greystone . she leaves home to tour the world with the album reaching #1 in countless countries , forging her own path with a maturity beyond her years and a vision beyond this world .

the tour ends and she’s smitten by the charm of new york , opting to move to continue to pursue her music away from the tangled complications of family life in england . barely 18 and perhaps intoxicated with the loneliness of a life spent in the watching eye of others , the semblance of privacy is something she takes to like an addict , exasperating prying paparazzi with her notorious refusal to comment on details of her personal life . she builds a wall between herself and the world , keeping out prying eyes with a tight - lipped grin . its at this time that she lets the first person into her life perhaps ever , a whirlwind romance so intoxicating it results in a courthouse marriage done in secret . never to be seen together , never a word spoken to anyone else , stevie relishes in the secret which is soon to sour upon the passing of their honeymoon phase . with her brothers expanding their reach into the US for their unsavory dealings , it’s not long after her marriage begins that the conflicts reach a breaking point , an annulment following barely 6 months after they had traded ‘ i do’s . ’

she takes to the studio with a new resentment of the concept of love and even more sequestered heart , producing melodrama which takes the world by storm , snagging her a grammy win for album of the year . fatigued from the constant go-around of keeping her secrets her own except for when they’re taken to radio streams , she does a limited tour for melodrama and lands herself right back in new york at 20 , putting grey3 on the backburner as she takes to all the hedonistic engagements she had indulged herself in during her time on tour . she’s kept herself busy between mindless flings and days-long benders with hobbies such as photography and writing , the former of which is building her a rather impressive reputation in the arts world .

𝒊𝒊. 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 .

if y’all ain’t tired of me yet god bless u . .. . bc i straight up b tired of myself :/

anyways dis is stevie , also accepts grey the same way ppl talk abt lorde n switch between ella n lorde ! she’s not picky :~)

major inspos are matty healy from the 1975 n hayley kiyoko if she was less of a try hard . little bit of kristen stewart in there , big 2016 ruby rose energy n brie larson top me tomfoolery as well !

basically da fuckboi of ur dreams .. .. . lil devilish londoner who stays thinkin she’s the closest thing to a god on this green earth !

notably , she’s incredibly intelligent and profound , tends to take on a rather patronizing and condescending tone bc she straight up b thinkin she’s usually the smartest person in the room ( how annoying )

so laid back n observant , rlly has no need to raise her voice ever bc her arguments b runnin circles around ppl ! imagine the way harry styles talks low n slow n calculated. . . . . cameron from love is blind ,. .. . kristen stewart lowkey sometimes .. .. .. das grey . sexy ass alto monotone 🤤🤤

i dont wanna use chaotic bc she rlly isnt the WILDEST bitch but that god complex means she deadass thinks she can get away w what she wants n she usually does ? less of a chaotic evil n more like a neutral evil lmao she can follow rules just fine she jsut prefers whatever suits her better

on that note — OBSCENELY self obsessed . follows her own natural whims n impulses bc that’s just what appeals to her . is inclined to follow rules if she calculates itll work in her favor bc she also doesn’t like to look sloppy !

super secretive and OBSESSED w her presentation . every movement is calculated n she doesnt want anyone seeing a side of her that she hasn’t designated for them ! she doesn’t care what other ppl think but she DOES care abt what she sees herself doing n her vision . doesnt fit the vision ? will NOT happen in her book .

straight up a WHORRE lmao she likes 2 fill the void left by a lack of human connection w sexual intimacy n then is like nice imma have u leave now love LMAO . does not discriminate and is rlly inclined to follow any sexual impulse

this was implied but her relationships are super messy ? does the leonardo dicaprio thing where she will never fuckin discuss her love life in interviews or anything so ppl just gotta SPECULATE . she lets ppl post all they want abt her but she wont say a WORD abt them JWHEKJWH her socials r basically just abt her n her music we said SELFISH lads . she’s bad @ bein tied down n is probs polyamorous as it stands but im p sure she has cheated on every single person she has ever been with lmao

lowkey a shit friend most of the time lMAO she can b really unreliable bc u guys can have plans n then she takes someone home n misses yalls plans n then texts u 4 hours later after all ur missed calls n is like my bad bruv i got tied up AS IF THAT FIXES IT KWEJKWJEKWE

chain smoker n its nastie but lowkey sexy somehow :/ , will ONLY wear outfits that r equal parts thrifted n designer , always has her hands in her pockets n if her jacket has a hood its UP like a big ole homo , is rlly annoying bc shes good looking n KNOWS it so she uses it to her advantage , wants 2 get her motorcycle license , judges u based off the music u play in the car , judges u on everything tbh.

#wealthyhq:intro #* ╰ . 𝒔 . 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 . › introduction .#sorry 4 dis trash hittin the dash 🥰#just COULD NOT wait n format any longer

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