#and i would literally loathe living in a small town so much | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

x688plsloveme · 2 years ago

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I posted 2,540 times in 2022

48 posts created (2%)

2,492 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fanthings

@nukaposting

@its-sixxers

@indoctrinates

@nightingaelic

I tagged 536 of my posts in 2022

#not fallout related - 31 posts

#fallout 3 - 17 posts

#fallout new vegas - 10 posts

#fallout 4 - 9 posts

#my ocs - 8 posts

#👁️👁️ - 6 posts

#james - 5 posts

#oh my gosh - 5 posts

#point lookout - 5 posts

#fallout - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 78 characters

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My Top Posts in 2022:

Replaying fallout 3 for the thousandth time because I'm mentally ill and it be like that sometimes

Anyway so I just got Charon and after he killed Azrukhal, one of the random ghouls said "Jesus Christ....123 years, what's the fucking point....."

So like. Either Azrukhal was 123 years old, or, and this is what I think, Charon was in his "employment" for 123 years. Which is a long time!!! I'd kill him too!!!

41 notes - Posted January 17, 2022

I've seen people who literally want to date Yes Man and I was so confused cause why???? Until my latest playthrough and I started paying more attention to details and...I get it

66 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

Magnolia Headcanons

Used to be a courser for the Institute, and was one of the first synths (not androids) to defect from them, taking a list of names that the Institute had replaced with synths with her

She refused to have her memory wiped, whether it was by the railroad or institute, so she changed her face and hair to look different

The one obvious thing she refused to change was her voice - she always enjoyed singing along to the radio when she was above ground

Wanting to pursue her passion was the final push she needed in leaving

She arrived in Goodneighbor since it seemed like a place where someone would ask the least questions about her past

She tells Hancock the truth about herself, and offers the document of names in exchange for him not immediately killing her. He reads the documents, recognizes a few names and tells her she can stay as long as doctor Amari can take some scans to make sure she isn’t carrying anything that could be relaying info to the Institute

And with that, she is able to live her own life

She takes the odd job for Whitechapel Charlie - waitressing for the most part, but if Hancock needs someone removed as quietly as possible, she’s the one to do it

Eventually, Whitechapel Charlie hears her sing as she’s cleaning up the bar and insists that she finish the song as best she can

He immediately hires her as a full time singer and sure enough, the bar’s profits sail through the roof

The Third Rail becomes the only jazz bar for miles around, and after her songs in Diamond City Radio’s playlist, people from all over come to hear her sing

She writes her songs and learns to compose them from an old woman who came from out of town

Magnolia’s songs truly become all hers then

She is very partial to flowers - she respects anything able to grow so beautiful in such an inhospitable place

Like all synths, she likes snack cakes

She hates any other thing sugary though, not used to such sweetness after living in the institute for so long

Her preferred method of fighting is hand to hand since it can be utilized well in a small bar like hers and hiding weapons in a dress is too much effort

that being said, she does convince Charlie to let her hide several guns throughout the bar in case there’s ever a time they’d be caught unawares

Part of the reason Hancock greets people who are new to Goodneighbor is so he can relay the information to Magnolia so she can sing “I’m The One You’re Looking For” when they get to the bar

They always get a little extra money that way

She also loathes heels, preferring comfortable boots, but Charlie’s complaining grates on her nerves enough that she complies

She gets her dresses specially made in Diamond City, even having some seasonal ones

She’s much happier singing than she ever was hunting down innocent synths for the Institute

80 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

Companions react to Sole having a Just Dance holotape, and making them dance with them.

Here it is! The promised years old ask! I wonder if this anon will actually see this... Well hope you all enjoy!!!

"Oh my gosh, look at this!" Sole's excited yell startled their companion, and when they looked over to where they were excitedly tinkering with what looked like a projector, they became more confused than anything.

Having guessed their question, Sole was happy to tell them exactly what they were so hyped about. "This was a sort of dance-along holo that was really popular before the war. I never thought I'd see this again - some of my favourite songs are in this edition."

While their companion was glad that they looked so happy, the glint in their eye as they looked back at them made them hesitant to go near. Their intuition was correct because not two seconds later and Sole was dragging them in front of a projector, rambling about how they just had to dance together.

Ada: She was aware that she was still lacking in the "human emotions" department, but she couldn't fathom why anyone would try and dance with her as she is not built for such activities, but Sole assured her it was fine. Sole followed the actual moves less to try and incorporate Ada more while she moved around as best she could. She didn't enjoy dancing per see, but spending any time with a friend was valuable time indeed.

Cait: If Sole wasn't her friend, she would have dropped kicked them the moment they tried to drag her in front of that god-awful game, and was not shy about expressing as such to them. Sole just laughed, the bastard. "Just try it! You'll like it!" Cait glared at them. "Doubt it." Sole started picking out a song and with an obvious fake nonchalance, said, "Well if you think you're gonna lose that bad, that's all you had to say." Cait took the bait, like always, and shoved Sole's hand away from their pipboy to pick the song herself. "As if you could ever beat me in anything! There! We'll do that one." Sole tried their hardest to not laugh at her choice - it was an expert-level song. It was definitely too much for a novice like Cait, and she was soon cursing at all the fast-paced motions and the idiotic figures on the screen that seemed to be mocking her. After a few rounds, she got fed up and threw the nearest piece of debris at the screen the projector was on, effectively ending their bet. Sole was now fully laughing and Cait was a tad embarrassed. Didn't regret it though.

Codsworth: "Oh, I remember this one mum/sir!" Sole laughed as they tried to dance with their clunky companion, spinning him around when all else failed. He was more than accustomed to their antics by now, and fondly recalled the other times they had seen them dance. Many times with their departed spouse, both slow and silly dances, but all of them saturated in the love they had for each other. He noticed how often they longed for their old life and how detrimental it was to them to experience such a drastic change along with the death of their loved one, so if dancing with him for a few minutes could bring back their bright smile for even a moment, he would be happy to oblige.

Curie: Being the most inquisitive, she readily followed Sole in front of the screen. She was amazed at all of the colours and designs that the holotape held, and was even more impressed by how fluid the motions were conveyed so one could follow them easily. The pair quickly got into the rhythm of the game and had tons of fun. It was exhilarating. Usually something this physically taxing would just end up with her cursing her sweat glands, but this felt different - she was having fun. Sole eventually broke away from the choreography to grab her hands and spin them around and only when they were both winded and dizzy did they let go, causing both of them to fall to the floor, laughing. Sweating sucked, but Curie was glad that she had a synth body so she could experience all of these new, fun feelings.

Danse: "I've seen this before." That stopped Sole in their tracks and they turned to look at him incredulously. He continued, "The Brotherhood prides itself in collecting all kinds of technology, even something as insignificant as this." A cheshire grin spread across Sole's face, and he was once again plagued by a feeling to get out of there, but it was too late and he had already allowed himself to get dragged along already. They said, "Insignificant, hm? So you've never actually tried it out before?" He sputtered as they went about choosing a song they thought they'd both like. "Of- Of course I haven't! Only the scribes and squires ever have access to them." He crossed his arms indignantly. Sole just kept smiling. "Well, prepared to have that changed today!" They put on an easy song and even though he complained so much, he gave in eventually and stiffly tried to follow the movements being shown on the screen. If he was a lesser man, he would punch them for the number of times they laughed at him for being so terrible at it, but he wasn't. And he was actually starting to have fun himself. He was still horrendous at it, but Sole's joy was infectious, and he found himself not caring so much about acting professional and just focused on enjoying the dumb animations and his great company.

Deacon: He claimed that he had never seen anything like it before, so Sole was very much looking forward to beating him in every song and watching him fumble around. Of course, pride goes before the fall, and if there's any truth to life, it's that Deacon lies with every breath. Despite having years of experience on him, they were quite literally being humiliated with how much better he was than them. He aced even the expert-level songs, much to Sole's detriment. After an hour of trying out every song in hopes that he would be sub-par at the very least to no avail, they were collapsed on the floor, both breathing heavily and smiling wide. Not even Deacon could fake a smile that wide and genuine, so Sole felt like they accomplished something after all.

Dogmeat: Dogmeat didn't really understand everything that was being said to him, but he always loved it when people were excited! While Sole did their best to follow along with the holotape, Dogmeat did his best to weave between their legs, accidentally tripping them. He checked on the fallen Sole, licking their face as an apology, and was happy to see them laughing and not hurt at all. He hoped that they would take the weird light and sound thing since it made them laugh so much.

Gage: "No." His boss almost whined trying to get him to dance with them, but he was adamant and refused over and over again, but his conscious was eating away at him. He thought he'd be relieved to see them give up, but he just couldn't take their overly depressed look as they went to eject the holotape from the projector and shoved them back in front of the screen, gruffly saying to get on with it already. Their mood immediately did a 180 - it was so fast, he wondered if they were just pretending so they could guilt-trip him... Regardless, the song had already started and he'd be damned if he didn't do his best in front of his boss. He followed along as best he could, but between his own awkwardness and his armor, he wasn't accomplishing much other than making his boss laugh.

Hancock: He was on board right away, curious about a piece of Sole's past as well as how it worked in the first place. When it finally booted up, he blinked in surprise. He didn't expect the dance models to look like something straight out of a trip. He liked it. He didn't really follow along to the dance moves though, he just did his own thing like always. As long as they were having a good time, what did it matter anyway?

Longfellow: Lord in heaven help him - he hasn't danced in years. He couldn't even remember a time where he just casually danced just for the hell of it, but cap'n was just too insistent and he was just too old (and soft) to refuse. He did his little old man shuffle while Sole hit nearly every beat that showed up on the screen. Honestly, it was too flashy and fast for his tastes, but if cap'n was having fun, then he'd tolerate it.

MacCready: His first thought at seeing the game was that the kids back home would love it. His second thought was that he knows for a fact that he can't dance to save his life and would really prefer to not be made fun of. He tried to backtrack and leave, but Sole had a surprisingly strong grip when they were determined, so he had no choice but to be apart of what must be a sadistic social experiment on his psyche. His flailing arms and wildly kicking legs were more dangerous than funny though, and Sole found themselves dodging him more than they were actually dancing, which is funny on its own if you thought about it. After getting kicked for the third time on the shin, they finally put an end to it, much to MacCready's relief. Unfortunately for him, they informed him that they'd be doing this more often, using the excuse that he had to get good enough to not injure his son when he played it with him. Dam-. Dang it. Using his son like that was low - he had no choice but to agree.

Piper: She was a bit apprehensive, but her inquisitiveness wouldn't let her leave without experiencing a piece of the pre-war world first-hand. Plus, Blue was very obviously looking forward to playing it, and she knows how boring games could be when done by themselves. She was pleasantly surprised to

Preston: His stumbling around was rather cute, but Sole had to be heartless to not take pity on him eventually and help him out. To be fair, he spends most of his time fighting the good fight, but to have no sense of rhythm at all was almost sad. He was very determined to be half-decent, but let's just say that Sole was glad to be able to take the holotape with them so he could keep trying at home. There was no way he would be able to get this in one sitting.

Strong: He didn't like the sound of it, but after Sole told him it was a sort of training to help them move smoother, he was readily on board. He was very confident that he was doing every move perfectly, and Sole didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise since he looked like he was having so much fun. He was perfect for any overhead twirls though, and while being picked up like a couple of grapes by a giant mutant would terrify them, it was fun when it was Strong who they knew respected them too much to suddenly ragdoll them into a wall. On purpose anyway.

Valentine: He humored Sole for a little while, half-heartedly keeping up with the dancing figures on the screen, just letting them have their fun. His joints were a bit too rusted to do anything complex anyway - they knew that - and it seemed like they appreciated his effort anyway, so he wasn't worried. After they got their excited bout of nostalgia out of their system, he offered to teach them some dances he remembered the original Nick doing. Those songs were much slower, akin to dances like the waltz, but Sole didn't mind the tone change, and gratefully appreciated his lead. They didn't do much of this kind of structured slow dancing with their spouse back in the day since they were both too busy to take classes on it. They weren't particularly good at it, but Valentine lead well, and they found themselves enjoying this just as much as Just Dance. Good company leads to a great time regardless of what happens it seems.

X6-88: He didn't care how much he respected Sole, he would rather die than dance along to a silly little game like that. The bright menu screen seemed to be mocking him with its headache-inducing colours splashed across like a child's failed art project. Sole was a bit dejected, but understood, so they just took it with them. The actual problem arose when they introduced the game to a few settlers and they all had a blast playing it. His eye twitched. He should be the one standing next to Sole no matter what, not some random waster who could hardly do anything worthwhile. His resolve broke rather quickly, and he marched right up to the small group and pushed everyone aside and approached Sole. They looked at him quizzically, but before they could say anything, he remarked, "For someone as good as you ma'am/sir, only the best can stand beside you." They beamed up at him and expressed how happy they were that he was joining them. He would neither confirm nor deny that their response didn't make him feel a tad warm inside, but whether it was true or not, he ignored it in the face of a new mission: Prove That He Wasn't All Talk. He watched them do enough rounds that he had a good grasp on how to move, but if he was anything less than perfect, then he had no choice but to accept that he wasn't good enough to stand beside him. His pride was on the line here, even if no one else realized it. He only cared about Sole's opinion anyway, and as they danced, he noticed that they didn't really care about any mistakes, their own or otherwise. They were having fun with just this. After a while and he had started to work up a sweat, X had to admit that they might have a point with this game being fun - the way he used all of his body to carry out complex moves while the whole ordeal was perfectly harmless was rather enjoyable. Maybe next time, he would join purely because he wanted to.

129 notes - Posted March 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Screw canon. Actually in Fallout 3 at the purifier, instead of LW's companions refusing to start it, they all fight over who gets to do it so LW won't have too

Fawkes owes them a life's debt and he'll repay it (plus he won't die)

Charon wants to repay the person who got him away from that bastard, and showed him kindness he never got before (also he won't die)

Butch wants to make up for all the terrible things he did in the past

Star Paladin Cross has seen far too many young people die in this wasteland

Clover is loyal to a fault

Jericho begrudgingly became fond of the kid, he wants them to have the chance at life he never did

439 notes - Posted April 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #I need to tag more often lol #I'll try and start doing it properly from now on #.....try #Also reading my companion react was so nice I need to go through them and read/reblog em #Im so used to writing angsty things that something wholesome like dancing is a nice break #I really need to do some more of the companion reacts #My break is after next week so maybe I'll get some stuff done then #Fallout

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subjectively-objective · 2 years ago

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Power On! Analyzing Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (Part 1, Intro and overview)

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future was a science fiction television series that aired its last and only 22 episode season in 1987.

As with all children's television series in the 80s, Captain Power had a toy line. I couldn't find much on it (and don't care to), but they appear to just be a couple of action figures and ships. Though, they do have an interesting gimmick where the episodes of the show (or three different VHS tapes, $14.99 each) can interact with the ships, even causing the toy to 'blow up and eject pilots when all points are lost'. Kinda neat, but I'm not here to play with toys. I'm here to watch the commercial for those toys.

And that commercial is an odd one. It's about, well. . . I'll let the intro do the talking.

youtube

Yeah. As you can see, humanity fought in the "Metal Wars" against machines, and "machines won." Now Captain Power and his crew have to use their power suits to fight Lord Dread and his "bio-Dread empire" to save the world.

Besides the (pretty dark) exposition dump, you may also notice a startling amount of, let's call them 'experimental', computer effects.

The late 80s were. . . odd. Computers had permeated throughout society but had yet to singularitize into the Internet (at least, the websitey Internet we know and loathe today). They were powerful enough to create and render digital images, but were far from being able to effectively do so beside real-life footage. Yet this did not deter everyone with a computer, a camera, and a $1 million an episode budget from trying their hardest. Captain Power et al. was one such attempt.

But if you look past the Birdemic-esque CGI, and the Power Rangerian synopsis, does the meat of the series hold up? I've never seen it, so let's dig in.

So, the intro starts and we see our eponymous captain followed by a very 90s explosion. There's some exposition told over backdrops of ruined cities. So far so awesome.

This particular ruined city was odd to me. The other shots were of dense cityscapes, but there are only a few small buildings in this one. Sure they are mostly rubble, but the foundations are still there and none of them could have had more than three floors. The street between them isn't even paved! This brings up a lot of questions. Was this some small town that was destroyed because the machines did a full genocide? Was this a recreation western town that was destroyed because the machines can't tell the difference between a real and fake town? Either way, opening your Saturday Morning children's toy commercial with literal shots of the apocalypse is metal as hell (and probably a bad idea).

Speaking of shots of the war-torn future Earth, the name for that war is the Metal Wars; it's kind of a lame name, but it works.

There's not much else to go on, but I assume it was a war between robots (metal) and humans (fleshal). There's also the issue of "Wars" being plural. Odd that the genocidal machines would sign a peace treaty. Guess they let their Attrition meter get too high. At least Narrator Guy tells us who won in the end; I would never have figured it out otherwise.

After that bit of narration, we get our first non-Power character.

I guess they're a bio-Dread? The toy ad earlier says they are "Sauron, Sky Sentry" (I feel like I recognize that name from somewhere. . .). It looks really cool. Wings, bird head, sassy hip arm pose thing, everything you'd want in your 'monstrous creations that hunt down human survivors and digitize them.'

what

We get a glimpse of what that means in the intro, but it doesn't explain much. Bird-bot shoots a beam, and a lady turns into pixels.

Seems painful, and the scream was a bit frightening for a children's show.

We then get a shot of Volcania which is where our villain lives.

It looks really cool. An industrial wasteland surrounding a giant dome spewing chemical fumes like a volcano. Very robot, much punk.

We also get a shot of Lord Dread.

He looks like a Borg wearing Darth Vader's armor. It's kind of neat but not very original. I know that Lord Dread predates the Borg by about a year, but 'cyborg with one robot eye and one human one' was a concept since Doc Terror in '86 at the earliest. Either way, it wasn't groundbreaking then and it isn't interesting now.

After that we get our first shot of the future soldiers (standing in front of a large explosion of course).

And here they are. The soldiers of the future. The armor looks super toyetic, but it definitely oozes 'f u t u r e'.

It then spins some more exposition on who these people are. Nothing really noteworthy. We have a pilot (Pilot), a spy (Scout), a gun dude (Tank), jetpack guy (Hawk), and 'master of the power suits' (Captain Power).

The flying effect on Hawk is hilariously awful. My man just looks like a toy on a string.

I also have a question about how Scout can do espionage. They are fighting robots. If he disguised himself as one as shown in the intro, they would know because he would have a heartbeat, or not be connected to the system or something, right? Granted, that could be where the 'bio' part of bio-Dread Empire comes in.

Either way, we get one final group shot and title card and the intro is complete.

If I'm being honest, a very strong albeit boring intro. It told me what I need to know about the series, but didn't really make me interested in watching it. There are tons of 80s shows about groups of people using their toys unique powers to fight a bad guy. Though, I am curious to see what the heck digitizing someone means.

Overall, the most noteworthy aspect of the show's concept so far is the fact that the hero's have lost the battle and are on the defensive. Most Saturday morning toy shows at this time had a more equal conflict between two groups (like Transformers, G.I Joe, or Inhumanoids). That and the fact that it is not animated makes it look much darker than its peers. Something that could make it stand out among a sea of mediocrity, or have it form the seabed.

#Youtube #captain power #1980s television #saturday morning tv #vintage television #vintage tv #80s toys #1980s tv #1980s

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bigyikes97 · 2 years ago

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I posted 341 times in 2022

That's 341 more posts than 2021!

75 posts created (22%)

266 posts reblogged (78%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@a-treatise-on-velociraptors

@yuzu-all-the-way

@funnytwittertweets

@curioscurio

@beyoncescock

I tagged 266 of my posts in 2022

Only 22% of my posts had no tags

#yuzuru hanyu - 52 posts

#attack on titan - 19 posts

#me - 15 posts

#omg - 11 posts

#demon slayer - 9 posts

#oof - 9 posts

#shingeki no kyojin - 8 posts

#attack on titan spoilers - 8 posts

#kdrama - 6 posts

#best boy - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#he was so passively going along with everything while also seeming to have an unreasonable grudge against yo han that i couldn't understand

My Top Posts in 2022:

I would re-watch Strangers from Hell because now that I live in a tiny apartment filled with strange people I understand how things progressed the way they did

how easy it is to go crazy when craziness is all you know, how the people who surround you become your world and standard of normalcy, how people can get under your skin and draw out the worst in you while your focus is so hyperfixated on the stew of psychopathic behavior that you can't even see what's wrong anymore, especially when that person seems, at first, to care for and understand you...it's given me food for thought and a hefty impetus towards introspection. I'll definitely be thinking about this show a lot in the future. Bad company truly does corrupt good morals.

HOWEVER,

I ALSO got physically ill at that (human? question mark?) BBQ table scene when the lights were flashing and THIS man was like

It was truly ADVANCED DARKNESS and I got such awful heebie-jeebies i had to drop it then and there. maybe I'll finish it later...or maybe not!!! I think the lesson was great but it was a bit much for me

10 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

wait i figured it out

If eyes are like OuO it is my favorite

See the full post

15 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

Just started Devil Judge because I heard it referenced alongside "The Merciless"

Looove the concept and I think there's a lot that can be said about it, as for the plot, idk what's going on yet but THIS GUY ^^^ is GORGEOUS ^^^ so I'll keep watching~ hehe~ i had a crush on him like 10 years ago from Protect the Boss and holy guacamole he looks the SAME but now EVIL??? Or...NOT??? NOT SURE?? (I drew awful fan art of him as a young kpop teenager before that was a thing!!! It was TVXQ! era in a small town, someone looked at my sketchbook and asked 'why'd you draw an angry Hawai'ian man' and I answered "actually this is Ji Sung he's a Korean actor" and then they're like 'why'd you draw an angry Korean man' I've remembered this interaction for 10 years) First ep was a lil confusing but as per Kdrama rules you must give it at least two eps before drawing a conclusion.

Also everyone keeps saying things like "Lawful husbands" and from the amount of trespassed space bubbles and mysterious stares in the first episode I'm expecting some bromance or maybe ANTI bromance?? bro-loathing?? I guess there will also be a point where I'll say "oh, that's what they meant", we'll see!

20 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

A VERY SPECIFIC CROSSOVER:

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24 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

If the idea of Goncharov's *story* appeals to y'all (like, outside of the meme, if you were like, 'oh, I would watch that movie if it existed'), "The Merciless" should probably be on your watchlist

It's a complicated angsty relationship gangster tension plot-twisting ride of a tragic violent shoot-em-up heartbreak-fest and I have so many feelings about it hhffsdfghhghghhhhhh

(and it got like an 8 minute standing ovation at Cannes if that is convincing to anyone)

ALSO in the running for "existent gangster movies that are literally earth shaking in scope and layers of analyses" is my all-time favorite "A Bittersweet Life"

(100% on Rotten Tomatoes btw)

See the full post

51 notes - Posted November 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #hehehe #for my own reference #lol

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alertarchitect · 4 months ago

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Honestly I understand being done with Halo after Halo Infinite. I personally enjoy it, as the gameplay is some of the best we've seen from 343i in my opinion (never played 5, but I've played every other mainline game. Could never afford a Xbox One when it was big), and mainly play it for the PvP - however, the campaign's story is a perfect example of a franchise backpedaling to its detriment due to listening to its fans too much. Let me do a little infodump on exactly why.

343's first original mainline game was Halo 4. Halo 4 had Issues, mostly pertaining to the gameplay as it was cribbing really hard from Call of Duty at the time with its loadout-based systems in multiplayer, where you'd build a loadout meant to get you to a killstreak that would let you just stomp the shit out of the rest of the lobby for the rest of the match. It pulled back from what made Halo's multiplayer feel unique in comparison to its primary competitors around the time of Halo 3 and Halo Reach's releases - it kept the even start based arena feel of old-school deathmatching from the Boom Shoot days. However, the STORY of Halo 4? Absolutely fantastic. It was like getting to finally see Chief and Cortana as they were portrayed in the Halo novels brought to life in a game. You felt things for everyone involved - you hated Captain Del Rio and his stubborn refusal to do what you so clearly saw as the right move, you feared the Didact and his powerful technological capabilities from being a living Forerunner, you cried at Cortana's sacrifice. Even the much maligned (and rightly, in some respects, due to it being co-op only and having no scaling for single or two-player playthroughs, and not exactly being the best replacement for the Firefight modes of Reach and ODST) Spartan Ops had a very well written, impactful story.

However, rather than looking at Halo 4 for the diamond in the rough that it is, a lot of the Halo fanbase decided they loathed it. The art style was bad, the writing was bad, the gameplay was bad, etc. etc. because it no longer looked and felt how the older games did - and in some respects, I get it. Again, the gameplay had issues... but that doesn't excuse the level of hate for it having the balls to write a death for Cortana. It was, quite frankly, my second favorite story in all of the mainline Halo games - second only to Reach, which is quite frankly one of my top 5 games of all time, possibly my favorite period, and thus high praise for 4's writing. It left behind the quip-based action movie feel of 2 and 3 for something impactful, where you felt that even though you won, something truly meaningful had to be lost.

Then we get to Halo 5. I'm not super informed on Halo 5, having never had the chance to play it, but my understanding of it and its story is that it was where 343 started to make some really bad writing mistakes. The gameplay was there - some competitive players still hail it as the best in the series. But the writing of the story felt... Misleading. We were advertised a deep, meaningful story being told once again, of a cat and mouse chase where Chief may not have even been the one in the right... Only for it to mainly be a story of backpedaling by reviving Cortana, seemingly invalidating her sacrifice in 4... But look! She's a villain now! That's character development, right?? In short, it wasn't great.

And now we get to Infinite - still a better campaign than 5's, but where it feels like 343 once again listened to their fans too much and decided they needed to backpedal on things. They killed Cortana again, this time offscreen, and for poorly justified reasons. They give Chief a new AI, who is literally played as "Younger Cortana" in a lot of respects. They over-rely on making the Banished, which had been played up until now as a fairly small mercenary group, the new big threat in town by having Atriox beat the fucking MASTER CHIEF, one of the most noted badasses in the Halo universe to an insane degree, like its nothing... And then rug pull that by having him be seemingly dead for most of the game, then rug pull the Banished being the big bad guys by having the Endless be the real villains in the last portion, and then rug pull again by showing that Atriox somehow survived Cortana detonating Zeta Halo's control room! Don't get me wrong - some aspects of Infinite's story are pretty damn good. The dynamic between Esparza - the pelican pilot - and Chief develops fantastically over the course of the game, and has great character development towards it. There's even some development from The Weapon, Chief's new AI, and some moments where you realize Chief's machine-like dedication to his mission might be a bad thing before it's invalidated by actually possibly being the right thing to do.

Again, I think Halo Infinite is a fun game, and the campaign's story is definitely better than 5's, but I understand being done with the series now. The main reason I'm still in is because it's one of my major special interests to a pretty heavy degree.

will you ever look at halo again? it sucks worse now and we haven't seen Fred in an Age, but you have good thoughts on many things, if you ever feel like suffering through something else

unfortunately no probably not 😔 halo infinite permakilled my interest in the franchise. I still reminisce about hunt the truth occasionally though. can you believe they got keegan michael key to do all that

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kakyoiniisms · 4 years ago

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my mom reeeeeeally wants to move to some small town after I graduate (not after i move out btw. just after i graduate) and im so very against it but I don’t want to tell her

#theres no way im gonna be able to move out for a good while after ive graduated #and i would literally loathe living in a small town so much #like! I would seriously hate living in an all white town where NOTHING happens #like seriously if im forced to live in a town where literally nothing is going on ever i might go crazy #i love big cities so much. theres a lot to do and lots of people to meet #like why would i move to some shitty small town with a max pop. of 1000 people #when I’m already living in a city with a 1mil population that isnt in the middle of nowhere!#like I love love love cities sorry. I cant live in a small town it’d be so stifling #and especially because im gonna be an artist like??????? small towns are the WORST place to get my name out there wth!#if she really does it im living with my dad i swear #also im not like. panicking over this its just a bit :| to think about #also all my friends are here and i dont think any of them are planning to immediately move so why leave? i have a life here and i love it #ok turns out this town has a population of like. 90k buts thats still small to what im used to

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sqlointypoinky · 2 years ago

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Best friends

pairings: Eddie munson x f!reader

summary: Two long time besties study together and things begin to escalate

warnings: mentions of smoking (?), suggestive themes and making out

literally you all are so awesome thank you so much for all the love you showed on my first post <33 didn't think it'd get that much attention, but here's another much longer post which I'll most likely be making a much more steamy part two for later on so stay tuned for that 😻

You and Eddie had been friends since the beginning of elementary school and, having lived in the same trailer park that helped you two stay close too. Always sneaking out in the middle of the night to sit at the bench near his own trailer, and talk about whatever came to mind as you two would both smoke even though your young lungs rejected it. Those fond memories were still funny to look back at as the years went by. You two were almost inseparable as you were always with one another, attached to each others hip if you will. And middle school changed none of that as you two still stook around with each other, skipping classes or sitting with each other at lunch. Your styles and lifestyle, however, did begin to change as more things came out and your parents got better job opportunities. Eddie having shaped himself into the metal head he was today while you became the 'goody two shoes' you both would make fun of back when you were kids.

Though, now here you were working a small job at your local diner while your geek of a best friend was still stuck in highschool barely passing by with D's in most of his classes. And now part of the infamous Hellfire Club which had unfortunately put a bad title on him and his friends. But you of course still helped him because you didn't want to see him fail again, or as Eddie would put it, because 'you're the sweetest of the bunch and feel pity on my poor soul'. Though with your job and busy schedule helping him out for school wasn't a daily thing, as much as you loathed not being able to see him more often. But despite that you still found your way around that and, you were both able to meet up at your house every few weeks when your parents weren't home. Because lord only knows how they'd feel if they knew the towns 'freak' was in their perfect little daughters bedroom.

You sat with your legs crossed on your bed as you leaned your back against the headboard. Your left hand laid beside you as you leaned your weight on it while the other held a pencil, which pointed towards a paper with scribbles and numbers written all over it. Said paper in front of Eddie who sat on the other end of the bed with his hands occupied with twirling his hair, and his eyes nowhere on the paper but on you instead.

"See, you wrote the right equation and plugged in the right numbers but your solution is incorrect," You furrowed your eyebrows as you looked over the equation. "How about you explain the steps you used to get that answer, and I'll correct- .. what are you looking at?" You cut yourself off as you took notice of Eddie's stare boring into you, and his unusual quietness.

"Hm? Oh, you know. The towns sweetheart as I listen to her speak about numbers and algorithms and blah, blah, blah!" His playful smirk was bright as his hands came up dramatically and flaunted around with his words.

You rolled your eyes at his dramatic actions but couldn't fight the smile that appeared on your face. Your eyes averting from his to the papers that sat between you two, you always loved how hyper and animated he was. Over the years as you two grew more closer a certain, tension had begin to build between you two. And it wasn't until recently that, that tension had slowly crept back with each night you both would be able to meet up or see each other. But no matter how much you chose to ignore it that fluttery feeling in your stomach whenever Eddie was near, said enough for you. And though it felt wrong to have such feelings for your best friend, you couldn't fight it for much longer. And tonight was no different too, as his usual teasing and nicknames were starting to make that butterfly feeling return.

"I mean, seriously, sweetheart do we really have to sit here and talk about math all night? Isn't it boring to have to keep explaining the same equation over, and over again." He leaned in some as his head titled and his hand waved the paper around. "It's not like I'm listening anyway."

"Yes, we really do and it's not that boring you're just─ boring. And that's why I'm trying to help!" You shook your head as you reached forward to snatch the papers from Eddie but stopped as he lifted them out of your reach. "Eddie, come on don't do that we have to get this done!"

"Ah, ah, you're not getting these papers until you tell me I'm not boring and stop being such a party pooper!" His tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth as he focused on keeping the papers aways from you. Amused as you kept trying to get them, persistent in fact in doing so.

The bridge of your nose scrunched up as you stopped suddenly which caused Eddie's arm to falter some, allowing you a chance to quickly pounce up and grab for the paper as he let his guard down. Though with a surprised yelp from you both, you fell forward with him now below you and you straddling his waist. Both of your faces going red as you realized the position you had put yourselves in. Your eyes shot open wide as your mouth opened to blurt out an apology but nothing seemed to come out for a minute, until eventually you began to blabber out a bunch of words too quickly for neither you or Eddie to understand coherently.

"Oh my god- look I─ uh I'm- wow this is- uh─ I'm sorry for─" Your words came out jambled as your hands waved around anxiously. Looking away to avoid eye contact as that would only make things worse.

Meanwhile Eddie, who still was trapped beneath you, was biting his lip as he was fighting to hold back the laughter that was starting to build up in his throat. Only staring up at you as your face continued to grow red from the embarrassment, while he on the other hand was very amused by it all. Though eventually it became too much as he erupted in a laughing fit, his hands gripping your waist to steady himself. And at the sudden sound of his loud barks of laughter you stopped speaking and looked down at him for a moment. Then following suit in his laughing fit and giggling at how ridiculous the whole situation was. After a few minutes of trying to catch your breathes you sighed and wiped the tears that had formed in your eyes, while Eddie stared up at you with a soft smile.

"You know, I miss this." He quietly said after a while of comfortable silence.

"What? Me dying after embarrassing myself over something so dumb." You rolled your eyes as your arms crossed over your chest.

"Us laughing together until our lungs give out, yeah .. and just, you know, seeing you I guess." Eddie shrugged as his tone became more vulnerable almost, hesitant.

His eyes averted from yours to the bottom of your shirt as his fingers played with the fabric. You raised an eyebrow as you mindlessly began to lean down so you were closer to Eddie, your arms falling from their crossed position onto your thighs where Eddie's hands were. Just barely hovering a finger over them as you used one hand to gently grab the metalheads chin, facing him towards you.

You both were silent for a second until you soon broke that, "I miss this too, Eddie. I miss you actually." Your words almost came out as a whisper as your hand finally clasped over his. His hand tightening around yours.

"I never thought I'd be able to see you so up close like this ... in the most platonic way I can say this, you're fucking gorgeous sweetheart." He grinned as his gaze dropped to your lips and quickly back to your eyes. But you caught notice of his stare.

"You're such a dork you know that? If I kissed you now would that shut you up." With a smile your hand released his chin and crept up towards his cheeks as you awaited a response, already moving closer to his face though as you did.

"Oh boy, would it─"

He leaned up and connected both of your lips together, his hand caressing your hip and waist as yours held his face in your palm. Eddie melted into your touch as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss while you did the same. You let go of his hand to bring your own hand up and tangle it into his mess of curls while he occupied his with your thigh. Gently squeezing it and tracing circles as he soon found the confidence to lift you up and switch positions, you now laying beneath him as he hovered above you. A shocked noise erupted from you as you switched, allowing you a moment to separate from the kiss to breathe before going back in. His hands seemed to travel across your skin as to memorize every curze and dip in your body, admiring them and holding you tightly. Though he pulled back after a minute despite your protests as he kissed your cheek and laughed while shaking his head.

"You are something else, Y/N. But don't worry sweetheart, we're just getting started." He grinned as his head dipped down to your neck to leave marks and rough kisses. His hands continuing their travel across your body. And oh were you thankful your parents weren't home, since you knew this was going to be a long night for the both of you.

#eddie munson fic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson oneshot

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gustingirl · 3 years ago

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i don't know you | j.kiszka x reader

“I don’t know you, but you make me wonder who you are”

- in which your life becomes a rom com -

request: 67. "Just pretend to be my date.” with josh

warnings: mentions of anxiety attack, graphic vocabulary of anxiety attack

disclaimer: shoutout to @gretagolden for the idea, ily!

“Welcome to Frankenmuth” was written in the biggest white letters you had ever seen and yet you couldn’t feel happy. You really wanted to enjoy your return to your hometown; you had your whole family in this exact town waiting patiently for your common, isolated returns just to see your face for a couple of days. And you really wanted to feel excited about your comeback to the town that watched you grow, but something inside you wouldn’t find that joy you needed. As you sat on the passenger seat with your sister driving you back home, you looked outside the window distressed, just thinking about the amount of fake smiles you would have to show.

It shouldn’t be this way; one should feel happiness upon going back to the place where everything started. Especially if that place was never the source of a traumatic experience. You loved Frankenmuth so much; you loved just how cozy and fun it was. You knew every single soul walking down the streets, and if you didn’t know them personally, you had heard about them. Like you could spot your childhood’s best friend’s little brother without having once seen his face. And how you knew about the one guy who moved to Russia and married like three different women and became some sort of important chef in a small town of that big country. And how you had heard about the four guys who became quite successful with their little rock band. It was impossible not to know who lived there, and that was the source of your disturbance.

Though your time during middle school was quite fine, you completely despised high school, and you hated how the last two years ruined the entire idea you had of your beloved birth town. You would always curse at yourself for falling for Simon. How dumb could you be? He was the fucking popular kid of your school, how could that story ever end well for someone like you? Hey, don’t get me wrong. There’s literally nothing wrong with you, but you were never the type to seek attention so desperately like Simon did. You never once cared about others’ opinions and you never needed to be surrounded by people who kissed your ass for you to not feel lonely. In fact, you felt lonely several times and it was fine. You didn’t always need to have someone with you to feel nice, but Simon was the complete opposite to you, and it was about time to be your wrecking ball.

He had entered your life with a typical fuckboy charming smile that 16-year-old-you couldn’t reject, and with a couple of dates and a stolen kiss he became your boyfriend. You forgot who you were when you joined his life. Simon introduced you, dragged you, even manipulated you to become someone like him, and you blamed yourself for being so naive. With time and some meditation you came to the conclusion that you weren’t the one who should be punished, as your friends were also not the best companion.

They were nice to you, loving too. But you realized later they could not be trusted. However, graduation was near and all you could was fake your entire personality after a breakup that left you crying in your room for weeks and after realization hit you that you had nobody you could trust.

That was exactly why coming back felt like torture. Yes, you had your family that you missed a lot. But you could live without them. You knew you had to come back eventually, at least once per year. Still, you could barely bring yourself to enjoy time with your family, as you were expecting to run into the entire world you hated so much.

And you, obviously.

The first ones to come visit your home were that little group of friends that you loathed so much. You never could find the courage to push them away from your life. However, you could still fake it a bit around them. So you did, as expected.

They managed to convince you to go shopping with them and all you could do was remain silent as they gossiped about every single soul that went to that high school. They were toxic enough to mention your ex and how hot he looked now, though you rolled your eyes and nodded, throwing a shy ‘I know’ back to them.

You found some peace once you entered the changing room. The girls stayed far away, still chatting away all the drama they have heard of. You could barely hear them, anyways, as the music in the store was loud enough to turn this place into a nightclub.

“He was always hot, though!” you managed to overhear as the song was being changed

“No, girl, he was horrible back then! He was a fucking theatre kid, for the love of God”

That last bit felt like a dagger went through your soul. You were a theatre kid too and your friends had always picked on you for that. Their stupid jokes about virgins being the only idiots to like theatre had never been funny and yet you could only laugh them off, hoping high school would end sooner so you would be able to move far away.

“Shut up, Y/N was also a theatre kid” one of the girls said as they seemed further from before

“Exactly my point” the way they all laughed just made you want to puke right there, embarrassment and anguish mixing up inside your stomach “But she’s ok now”

You were about to roll your eyes once more to ignore their annoying voices when a name popped up, making you stay in your place for a few seconds.

“Well, Joshua now is literally sex with two legs. I would die to be able to fuck him”

Joshua? You barely remembered a Joshua from your class. There was one but he was some freaky who loved engineering a bit too much. There was no way they were talking about him.

And it actually took you a while to remember that name.

“Joshua? Yeah I remember him” your sister said as she ignored your presence at her room’s entrance

“From my class, I mean” you clarified, knowing the name was pretty common and she could be confused

“Yeah, I know, dickhead. He was this short little guy, loved talking and really loved attention too. I remember seeing him walking around the hallways greeting literally every single teacher. God, he was annoying” your sister recalled, sighing before finishing her last line

“The girls said he’s hot now” you commented as you sat on her bed, obviously gaining a small kick on your ass for committing such crime

“I heard he has a band now. Well, his brother has. He’s part of it, I think. He had a twin, remember? Jake was his name. You had Calculus with him”

That name did ring a bell. You suddenly had some images in your head of stupid pair projects you would always be assigned with that Jake.

“He had the emo hair, right?”

“So did I, you asshole, and we looked good” you rolled your eyes at her reply

“I remember him, had no idea they were twins. But wait, they said this Joshua was a theatre kid, shouldn’t I remember him? We went to the same clubs”

You were confused as your sister attempted to reply but was caught off by her loud laughter.

“Don’t you remember playing the oompa loompa? For that Willy Wonka play?”

The new memory made your face turn bright red, while your sister began laughing even louder. Now the name rang a bell.

“Wait….please don’t tell me this Joshua was Wonka”

Your sister really tried to hold it in but she couldn’t do much about it as she replied with a nod. For the sake of your theatre kid phase and your fellow partners, you threw a pillow at your older sister before leaving her room.

That night, you spent it digging up old yearbooks, trying to remember the faces you had spent years erasing from your memories. You found your stupid fake friends all around the book, as they were as much sluts for attention as your ex. It was a bit easy to find the twins as they were obviously put together. You actually ended up finding Joshua all over the place too, and his face still didn’t bring many memories. You didn’t recall one encounter, not even one. But his face was familiar. You did relive that play of Willy Wonka and for how long people clapped at him. It was evident he loved the stage and the applause, so it was no surprise he was in a band now. However, and to nobody’s surprise, you closed the yearbook quickly after finding his face, as soon your curiosity had died.

The following days were all the same, and they were all grey. You had heard from the one who believed was your close friend the supposed reencounter of your class during the festivities, and the little excitement you had for your stay at Frankenmuth was soon gone. Seeing everybody again? Really? You couldn’t even bring yourself to imagine that night. You insisted you didn’t feel like going but there was no chance your friends would let you do it. Eventually they convinced you, and you started believing they had casted some spell on you that had you saying yes with little to no convincing.

The nightmare that reunion was causing you felt like a huge migraine that was haunting your soul. The mere idea of having to dress up to literally face your dark past, the one you had been working hard to forget, was nothing but pain afflicting your heart. Every single activity you did was just a distraction from your future, yet it wouldn’t work. While you showered, you were worried about dressing up in a way that would have everybody’s jaw dropping to the floor. While you were having dinner with your family, you could only think about having to follow your friends around as you greeted every person you didn’t want to see. And even while walking down the street for your “mental health walk”, you were crying inside your head as you were sure you would have to see your ex again.

These stupid worries were constantly attacking your head and you just couldn’t shut them up. Even then, when you went grocery shopping.

You were walking slowly down the drinks alley as you tried winning some alone time. You loved your family but your home was being too noisy and claustrophobic, and so you accepted the task of grocery shopping to be able to be alone with your mind. You weren’t sure how good this was, as your mind was also as torturous as your house. But at least you could listen to music, be at peace with your soul and have the chance of buying the products you liked.

But all peace shall be destroyed by the hands of strangers, you believed. And this little quote I have just made up was the best thing I could use to describe the following events, ones that were so quick and weird that you could still feel dizzy about them.

As your eyes were moving around the snacks in front of you, the sound of shoe soles sliding down the floor made you be a bit more alert. However, you didn’t divert your attention from your target, not until a voice called you. Well, almost.

“Hey, you!” someone yelled, making the four people in that hallway turn their heads around.

You could barely react as this someone stood quickly in front of you, holding you in your place by grabbing your arms tightly.

“We’re dating, ok?” he quickly spitted, quite literally, as you had to remove some saliva from your cheek.

“Huh?” you tried making sense of what he was saying, but all you received was a eye roll

“Just pretend to be my date”

There was an instance that felt like an eternity as this not-so stranger held you close to his face. Yeah, there was not a doubt that this was Joshua. His face features were the same though they were definitely more shaped and more…mature? Would that be the word? You didn’t know, but you couldn’t even think about it, as his eyes were nailed on yours. If there was one thing you remembered about this guy was that his stare was penetrating. You had your sister confirming it, even. People around the school would talk well about him, but everybody would highlight his eyes. They said there was some magic in them that had you looking away in shame, as it was impossible not to blush. You were a victim of it now, though it was the complete opposite, really. You couldn’t stop looking at him.

Had he always been so handsome? Well, you did recall then the little conversation you overheard your friends having days before. As Joshua grabbed your hand and dragged you behind him, you began feeling goosebumps over your body. Your friends were right; he really was hot, you could say even, he literally was sex with two legs. You didn’t believe their words until now. I mean, it was impossible to ignore the way his back and arms muscles flexed as he was determined to take you with him. And those curls, had they always been this way? Didn’t he have like short, straighter hair? It didn’t matter, these curls were just amazing on him. But it was the undercut that had you drooling a bit. You were never a fan of these types of haircuts but it looked so perfect on him.

You were dying to call his name so you could see his face one more time, but all you did was freeze in your place as Joshua made a stop in front of a couple. And definitely not any couple; right in front of your eyes, Simon stood there, holding in his arms a girl of your age.

“Y/N” Simon’s eyes were as wide as yours upon seeing your face. You swallowed as you felt Joshua’s eyes on you, as well as the girl’s.

“Hi” was all you could say, the pressure feeling suffocating

“Had no idea you were back home” he muttered as he scratched his neck. His shy attitude was soon gone as his eyes met this girl’s stare “Um, I thought you were single”

“How did you know that?” it came out as natural, as your intrigue was genuine

“Well, she’s not!” Joshua suddenly spoke, his tone changing the atmosphere quickly.

So many things were happening at the same time, and so many questions were invading your mind. Who was she? Were they dating? Why is Joshua pretending to be your boyfriend? What is he trying to do? Why is Simon looking at you like that? What is going on?

No answers were available, but it didn’t matter. The second you felt Joshua’s arm around your waist, with the hand landing on the side of your hips, everything went blank. No thoughts were visible inside your head, and no heartbeat was like the previous one. A new, pretty weird question appeared in replacement to the questionnaire you were having. What the fuck was Joshua doing to you?

“Well, this is new” the girl suddenly spoke

“How so?” Joshua asked, his eyebrows shifting and making him look even more beautiful than before

“I thought you had taste, darling”

Now your eyebrows shifted as soon as those words came off her mouth. She obviously didn’t know you like you had no idea who she was. The tension was new and it could be cut by a single scissor within seconds. The boys froze in place as her eyes landed on you, checking you out from head to toes. It came to your mind the only possibility left; Joshua needed a date in front of his ex. It was a misfortune that he had to choose his ex girlfriend’s boyfriend’s ex girlfriend (yeah, that was hard to say). But you were determined to show, especially to Simon, that you were no longer the underdog they met at high school.

“Baby, he dated you. Nobody on this earth thought he had taste”

Your words were exactly those scissors I mentioned and Joshua couldn’t stay still. He froze for a few seconds, shock probably taking over him, until he came back to earth to release a small laughter he was trying to drown. Simon reacted too, though still shocked. The girl, the stranger you did not like now, was even more frozen. To your surprise, it was Simon who broke the ice you had created to freeze everybody.

“Um, let’s go, Mel. We’ll see you at the reunion” he basically muttered as he dragged his alleged girlfriend outside the store.

While Joshua watched as the new couple left the place with a huge argument, you felt like the walls were closing on you. You held your throat, feeling like air was not entering your lungs anymore. Your knees suddenly went weak and you struggled to stay on your feet. One leg stopped working and you stumbled in your place. The familiar feeling of an anxiety attack growing inside you was pretty evident and you couldn’t stand. You seeked for something to hold and all your arms found was Joshua. His head turned quickly upon the new touch, and his eyes opened like plates as he noticed your state.

“Woah, you good?” his arms fidgeted in the air as he tried to hold you

“I-I need air” you whispered, as you began feeling your throat closing

“Ok, ok, calm down, I’ll take you out of here”

Poor boy was struggling as he suddenly forgot the way out. It was obvious he had never been in this position before and he looked everywhere for the exit. Once he found the little green sign, he held you in his arms while he made his way outside. You followed right behind as much as you could, though most of your weight was being held by Joshua.

When you managed to put your foot outside the store, you felt the freeze hit your face with violence. The warmth the grocery store had given you this last hour was gone as soon as the winter's cold embraced your body. It wasn’t as bad, anyways. You were used to these winters by now.

Joshua was looking everywhere for the answer but, to his luck, you had been through this before. You found a wall nearby to rest on and, to give your knees a break, you sat down. The pain of not being able to breathe was still around and Joshua noticed. He sat in front of you, unsure of what to do next.

It was his touch that felt like someone had given you your oxygen back. It was random, new, even extraordinary. The way his hands stroked your hair brought you pure peace. It did make you feel like a dog at start, but the action was so reassuring that it only had you feeling understood.

After sensing like air was entering your lungs, you looked up. His eyes soon again found yours but this time, they were being accompanied by a sincere, sweet smile.

“There you are” he spoke much more sweetly than before

“I’m sorry about that” you said after sighing

“No, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have put you in that situation” although it was evident you were feeling good, his hand was still stroking your hair. However, you didn’t want him to stop

“It’s fine, how could you know he was my ex anyways” you tried hard to maintain eye contact but it felt impossible; his eyes were so intense they could see through you

“So he was your ex” there was a silence as Joshua seemed to be thinking “Did we go to the same school?”

For seconds, you thought of lying. But quickly, you could imagine people recognizing you at the reunion and it only sounded stupid to hide such an useless truth.

“Yeah, we did, Joshua” now his curious expression was mixed with confusion

“How do you know my name?” he asked quickly “Were we friends?”

You giggled at how cute his reactions were.

“Aren’t you like, big famous now?” for some reason, it felt wrong to admit you did remember him

“Not big famous!” now it was his time to giggle, though his were softer and even followed by a bit of blush “but leaving Frankenmuth did help eventually”

It was truly surprising how he never once stopped caressing your head. The dearness this single touch was giving you was so overwhelming you were even craving more. But, at some point, this was a total stranger to you.

“Tell me about it” you muttered.

With his help, you managed to stand up. Joshua took care of you quickly, asking small questions to check if everything was ok. Though the day was ending and you actually never did the grocery shopping you were supposed to, something inside you didn’t want to leave him. His presence was so addictive, and you, for the first time, felt happy in your home town.

“So, what now?” you asked, your eyes looking around for witnesses of your ‘almost’ anxiety attack

“I guess we’re dating now” he replied with his characteristic charming smile.

Wow.

Was this really happening?

i may do another version with this prompt btw! thanks for requesting and for reading!!

#greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fics #gvf #.gvftxt #josh kiszka #josh kiszka fic #josh kiszka x reader #greta van fleet x reader

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anonymous-southern-armadillo · 4 years ago

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SOA Headconnon.

(Chibs, Tig, Juice and happy) Opie jax and clay didn't make the cut pardners.

Synopsis: What dating the boys is like. (Chibs, Tig, Juice and happy only, sorry)

Warnings/disclaimers: Language. Non-graphic mentioned NSFW themes. Angsty themes. Fluffy shit fellers. So with that being said “typed”. This is going below the cut!

Chibs Telford

Dating chibs is a blessing and a curse.

A blessing because he can be so sweet, Heart on his sleeve whenever it’s just you and him.

He literally pulls his bike over if he sees wild flowers he knows you would love, picking them and dropping the vibrant flowers off at your home or work.

The boys often tease him for being a softie for you, But he prides himself for it.

The curse part though….

The croweaters absolutely loathe you because the relationship you and chibs have.

You can’t go to the clubhouse without hearing them whispering your name with venom.

But chibs knows how to make you feel loved, The whispers from the other women forgotten whenever he whisks you away for a night alone.

Lot’s of rides on his bike.

Wearing his leather jacket around the clubhouse to show everyone your his.

Expect this man to Shower you in small gifts.

Especially after arguments, That’s when he really pulls out the extra sweet shit.

Such as:

Chibs knew you were beyond pissed whenever he came home and the front door was locked, The windows as well. Luckily he knew how to break in without having to kick the door in. Whenever he walked into the silent living room he could hear the soft footfalls from upstairs, Knowing you were up there probably preparing for for bed. Creeping up the stairs silently, Chibs slowly pushed the door open seeing you pacing the floor. You were still pissed if the scowl on your face was anything to go by. Chibs sighs and leans on the threshold of the door, Watching you with guilt. He knew the argument was his fault, But in the heat of it he was stubborn and refused to admit it. Walking into the room he uttered your name in a hushed tone, Yet you heard him and curse under your breath.

“What do you want chibs?” You don’t look at him, instead you busy yourself with trying to fix the room you destroyed in a fit of rage.

The Scotsman walked over with his hands behind his back, Hiding what he held from you. “I wan' to apologize for being stubborn” He said while grasping your attention. “Also I have you somethin' ” You turn around and glare at him, It wasn’t as harsh as it once was but still cold enough to make him feel bad for the argument. Knowing how pissed he made you.

“Filip if you think you can use whatever gift you got me to mend this argument then you better get the hell out of here now” You huff, Word’s cold but you were still mad at him. That much obvious to chibs.

Sighing, Chibs slowly holds out his hand, The wild flowers of various kinds on display. You were mad at him, But the defeated look on his face and the small boutique of wild flowers helps ease away the anger and soon being replaced with guilt of your own. Smiling at Chibs you let a small giggle escape your lips.

“I swear you make it impossible to stay mad at Filip, Get the fuck over here” You say and pull him into a hug, Forgiving the man then and there.

Chibs wasn’t one to initiate cuddles.

BUT that doesn’t mean he’s opposed to them either.

He usually waits until your asleep until he ever so gently pulls your back flush against his chest, Large arm slung over your waist as his face nuzzles your neck.

Chibs makes it known to almost every in charming that you are, in his words, “His old lady” and he’d be damned if he ever lost you.

Insufferable. Dating this man is insufferable in the best way possible.

He never misses the chance to slap your ass, Whether it be in the privacy of your home or his dorm, Or in the public eye.

Tig trager

He’s not afraid of some PDA, He will make you sit on his lap and leave hickies on your neck just to show whatever man dared look your way that you were his.

Tigs, Although insufferable can be sweet. He makes it his goal to buy you whatever you want, He even surprises you with beautiful pieces of jewelry. He spoils you.

High sex drive. What’s surprising?

He literally takes you for drives on his bike to beautiful private places just so he can sit on his bike, Back against the handle bars with you riding him. Something he loves doing in his free time.

But he also loves binding you over the seat of his bike and taking you from behind, His hand tangled in your hair as you release a string of curses and moans of his name.

He likes spoiling you, Like said before. He buys you all sorts of quite Revealing choices of wear.

Mini skirts, short shorts. Plunging V-necked shirts and tank tops.

He didn’t mind when you showed off your skin, He enjoyed the sight very much.

But he also respected when you chose to wear more decent clothes most of the time, The sleazy ones more like a surprise for him.

Dates with him were spent at either the clubhouse bar or some bar out in town. He would occasionally (after chibs talked him into it) take you to restaurants that you liked, Letting you order whatever you wanted.

His flirtatious behavior though get’s him in more trouble then anyone could count, Leading to some angsty arguments with you two.

The party was in full swing at the clubhouse, Everyone in a particularly good mood after a successful deal made for more guns. Although specific details weren’t handed to you when it came to the business, Something your boyfriend tig would rather keep you out of. Speaking of tig though, you spot him by the bar with chibs and Bobby, talking amongst themselves. Chibs offering some blonde chick standing with them a small smile but warning flashing across his face making you a little curious. Shrugging it off, You smile and decide to join tigs side, The night boring without him pestering you with his constant talking and handsy self. Who would have thought you’d miss all that in a matter of minutes?

Once behind him you noticed that he was talking up the blonde chick, Shamelessly flirting with her. Bobby meets your furious gaze and tries nonverbally telling tigs you were behind him so the fool would hopefully close his trap. Luck wasn’t on tigs side tonight as you angrily placed your hands on your hips, Clearing your throat.

“Having a good time over here boys?” You say and the venom laced in it has chibs downing his beer and bidding the men goodnight. Mumbling something about having to talk with jax about something.

Tigs whips around so fast you fear he got whiplash, Bobby now amused at the horrified look on your boyfriend’s face. “Y/N! Baby, I was just getting you a drink” He tried to lie smoothly but you shake your head and ball your fists by your side. Seeing right through it, You knew he loved you, He showed that every day in small simple ways that you adored, But he always done this. Flirt with other women and shower them in his attention. You didn’t mean to be jealous, It wasn’t really that even. It hurt, Seeing and hearing him show and tell other women how gorgeous they were, It made you feel insecure, As if you weren’t enough for him.

You jab a finger at him when he tried explaining himself, The blonde behind him snickering at the scene. That pissed you off more. “Getting me a drink? By flirting with her?!” You scoff and turn around ready to leave the bar, But his large hand delicately grabbed your wrist and made you spin around.

“Shit I’m sorry babe I – I didn’t mean to” He stuttered out with a look of guilt. But you squirm free from his hold and storm out of the clubhouse with a heavy heart. Tig always causing the dull ache to burn your chest with his carelessness.

But he makes it up to you in the sweetest way possible.

Like trying his best to cook your favorite meal and surprise you with the house candle lit and the table fixed up nicely with your favorite flowers placed in the center of it.

Once all is forgiven, He would let you sit in his lap and curled up against his chest while you watch some old film on TV.

Like jax, He wouldn't initiate cuddles but he secretly loved when you cuddled him, Especially when you ran your fingers through his dark curls.

Juice Ortiz

Despite his flirty behavior and insufferable attitude, You loved tigs and he loved you, Even though he was hesitant to say those words back.

Juice wouldn't open up to you about himself much in the early stages of your relationship, He seemed shy, Nervous.

But after a month of dating, He started to be more open.

Juice seeked relationship advice from chibs, Not sure what he was doing and confused about his feelings for you.

Sweet. Absolutely sweet yet distant.

But chibs guided him through it and juice learned that he was indeed in love with you.

Lot's of sweet calls from him if he goes on a particularly long run, Telling you how much he missed you and loved you. Because he dropped the L bomb early into the relationship.

He doesn't really care for going out in public for dates so most the time it's either a picnic in the middle of nowhere or dinner at your house while binge watching shows.

Juice isn't eager to let you ride his bike with him, Afraid you'd fall off and get hurt.

If he did though, He made sure you were safe.

Making sure the helmet was on tightly. Urging you to hold onto him good enough multiple times before slowly driving you through the town of charming.

Overprotective, Like, Really overprotective.

Doesn't let you do anything if he thinks it's dangerous, The boy doesn't like seeing you get hurt.

With that being said, His overprotectiveness starts small arguments between you both.

More like harmless bickering.

Like:

Standing in the kitchen of your small home, You grab a cutting board and a knife, Preparing to cut some onions for the stirr fry you were cooking for yourself and your boyfriend juice. Tonight rare, No club business to attend. Just you and him, Spending the night together.

As soon as the sound of chopping fills the kitchen, Juice rushes in and quite literally takes the knife from you. Confused you look up into the wide brown eye's of the man you love. “Juice, what the hell are you doing?” You placed a hand on your hip and quirk an eyebrow at him.

He shrugs and starts cutting the onions. “Well I felt bad for making you cook dinner for us both by yourself, Thought I'd come in and help you” He shrugs and avoids your suspicious gaze narrowed onto the back of his head as he turned his back to you.

“So this isn't because you heard me using a knife?” You crossed your arms with a knowing look, This not being the first time you and him have danced this little dance.

Sheepishly peeking at you over his shoulder, Juice continued cutting the rest of the onions. “Maybe...” He trailed off, Your huff of frustration at his overprotective behavior caused him to place the knife down and turn around. Leaning on the counter with his hands resting on the top by his sides. “What? You always end up with cuts on you're fingers or hand whenever you have a knife! I don't like seeing you get hurt babe” He exclaims with those adorable eye's begging for this not to end in a argument.

Scoffing, You un-crossed your arms and fixated a stern stare on him. “Everyone get's hurt sometimes Ortiz, That doesn't mean you have to keep a close eye on me or treat me like I'm a baby!” You told him as he simply sighs and averted his eye's to the floor.

“Maybe I just wanted to help you cook! Maybe I wanted to chop the veggies for you!” He argues back as frustration of his own began to build up inside him.

“Maybe I wanted to do it!” You walked up to him, So close that you stood chest-to-chest. Juice looks down at you with an expression of seriousness, You mirroring his expression. But a small smile tugs at his mouth, a laugh threatening to tumble out. You quirk a brow, Curious as to what was funny.

“If you cut the veggies we would end up at the emergency room because you would end up chopping half you're hand off” He snickers, A full laugh finally rumbling through his chest. You couldn't help it, You began laughing as well. Forehead hitting his chest as you both laughed hysterically at his little joke. Although he was overprotective, He was also right. You couldn't look at a knife without cutting yourself by accident.

But sometimes arguments with you and him could get bad, Like him spending the night in his dorm at the clubhouse bad.

Usually he would be at your doorstep with some form of gift with glossy eye's. Apologies flying from his mouth.

The damned puppy dog eye's of his, He made it hard for you to stay made at him.

happy lowmen

Sweetie, A total sweetheart and you are absolutely privileged to be his old lady.

Dating happy is probably the best thing that could ever happen to you, Not only was he sweet with you, But a secret romantic.

Expect lots of roses to be gifted to you while your at work or simply chilling at him. He makes it a habit of having the red flowers shipped to you almost every day.

Like if he saw a little stuffed animal of your favorite kind, He would get it. just sweet simple things like that.

Date nights are spent at his house where he cooks you a big meal and you both eat outside under the stars.

Just like the other guys he showers you in gifts, But the ones happy gets you are more sentimental then anything.

This man loves cuddles, You can't change my mind about that.

Loves being the little spoon, He likes when you hold him, The feeling of your chest pressed against his back comforting.

But he is always open to being the big spoon himself, Holding you close to him just as comforting.

Happy loves when you ride with him, Your arms tightly wrapped around him as he flies down the road making him feel special that you chose him out of all the guys in charming to be with.

When he introduced you to the son's they all started teasing him about how you were to obviously to gorgeous for the older man.

But you always shut them up with a sassy remark or just plain out mouthing off. Either way the understood that you love happy and seeing him act like a complete lovestruck puppy around you made them ease the teasing some.

Although loving and sweet, It's apparent how much of a clean freak he is. You even nicknamed him Mr clean much to his dismay.

Sometimes you accidentally leave dirty dishes in the sink or throw laundry in a heap on the floor to fold later. Both duties forgotten as many other things keep your mind occupied.

Happy isn't very happy whenever he comes home to such things, He doesn't get mad, But it definitely gets under his skin and irritates him.

He huffs, Ignores you, Angrily doing the small chores you forgot himself. He never once raised his voice at you, Something he refused to do, That's why whenever you accidentally frustrated him he chooses to ignore you.

Like:

You have been struggling with house work and general work, Both things piling up and becoming one big jumbled mess. The morning you woke up for work, You noticed happy was still home and cooked him breakfast before he headed out, You had the dishes neatly stacked on the counter ready to be washed. But time spent with happy flew by faster then you thought, Making you four minutes late for work. Quickly shrugging your coat on and rushing out the door, You completely forgot about the two specific duties that set abandoned in the house.

So whenever you came home, Happy's bike in the driveway. You felt joy flutter inside you at the realization he was home, But whenever you walked inside the house you instantly felt the joy being replaced with guilt and fear of the beginning argument that would soon commence. You saw happy in the kitchen washing the dishes, His back facing you while you shrug your coat off and tossed your keys on the sofa. Walking into the kitchen you wrap your arms around his middle, Placing a kiss between his shoulder blades.

“I was going to do that after we ate breakfast, But I lost track of time and ended up being late for work” You muttered, The silence you received letting you know he was pissed.

“Go sit down and I'll finish it hap, Then I'll order something for dinner” You said while rubbing his belly through his shirt, But he still doesn't move. His muscles tense. “Please... Mr clean” You try and break the very cold ice.

Happy shrugs you off though and starts rinsing the dishes he had washed, Giving you the silent treatment. You step back and watch him for a moment, Guilty for not keeping them clean. You knew he hated whenever the sink was cluttered.

“C'mon happy, It's not the end of the world because a few pans and plates where sitting in the sink” You lean on the table and crossed your arms, “I was going to clean up whenever I got back home from work” Happy scoffs and picks up a dish towel to dry his hands off, Leaning his back on the sink and looking at you with a blank expression.

“Why not do it as soon as the dishes are dirty?” He asks Finally, The words coming out raspy as his frustrated was crystal clear.

“Because I was late for work! I didn't have enough time to do it this morning hap!” You exclaim while motioning towards the sink. Starting to grow irritated by how he was acting. “I mean -- Jesus christ happy what do you want me to do, Call into work and tell them I won't be coming in because I have to wash dishes or else my boyfriend will be a dick all day?” You huff out angrily, Crossing your arms again as you look away from him, Jaw clenched.

“I'd appreciate them to be clean when I come home so I can at least cook my girl some fucking dinner! But y'know what? fuck it -- I'm going outside to fucking calm down!” He yelled while throwing the dish towel down out of pure rage. He then proceeds to storm outside, placing a toothpick between his lips.

You sigh and rub a hand down your face, Hating whenever you and happy argue. But sometimes he could be a dick, A real major dick. Walk over to the sink and finish washing what little dishes he left, Once their dry and put away. You start preparing him and you something for dinner, Just simple macaroni & cheese and chicken strips. It wasn't anything fancy or special, But you wanted to at least make him dinner after pissing him off unintentionally. It didn't take long until it was all done, You scoop some Mac & cheese into Two plates, Soon placing three chicken strips in each plate and walking outside onto your porch. Happy was in a chair looking out over at the yard, You hand him his plate hoping he'd take it. He did but doesn't look at you, Just held his food. You sat down in a chair beside and find yourself poking around your food rather then eating.

“I'm sorry I yelled” He broke the silence, Looking over at you. “I had a rough today and stupidly enough took it out on you... I'm sorry” He whispers and you forgive him the moment the sad glint swims around in his eye's.

“It's okay hap, I'm sorry I didn't clean the kitchen” You decided to slowly munch on the Mac & cheese.

He smiles a small smile and placed a hand on your thigh, Gently rubbing it. “You didn't need to do it, I was the dumbass who made that mess. Although I don't recall piling a bunch of clothes in the bedroom floor” He jokes. You almost choked on your food as you remember the laundry you needed to fold. About ready to get up to do so, He shakes his head in denial. “We can do that tomorrow, Right now we just need to eat this gourmet meal you made and relax” Happy once again jokes and you giggle at how he described the food. You and him sit outside on the porch eating dinner and laughing about random things, The argument forgotten.

IN CONCLUSION:

Happy is always guilty whenever he does raise his voice.

He also felt bad for making you make dinner and surprises you by folding the laundry early the next morning.

Which you rewarded him with some *coughs* early morning head.

Although he wasn't expecting such a reward, He excepted it graciously.

And he returned the favor like a gentleman.

#sons of anarchy fanfiction #sons of anarchy #SOA #filip chibs telford x reader #chibs x reader #chibs telford #juice ortiz #juan carlos #juan carlos ortiz #juice ortiz x reader #tigs trager #tig trager #tig trager x reader #happy lowman #Happ Lowman x reader

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erectionsandtea · 3 years ago

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I was bored so I started trying to line up the IT characters with the ST characters, here's what I figured:

Bill Denbrough

↳ Mike Wheeler

Reasons: The leader. Passionate. Determined. Also a stubborn little bitch. Could be bad if they really tried, lol. In love, but with whom, it's unclear. Also kind of a dumbass. Would die for you, literally, he tried to sacrifice himself at least once. At least bi, if not full-on gay.

↳ Joyce Byers

Reasons: Believer from the start. Will never give up on you. At first, most of her time is spent looking for missing family member.

Stanley Uris

↳ Max Mayfield

Reasons: Sarcastic af. Deadpan sense of humor. Resting bitch face. Could out-sass everyone. Eye-rolling. So done with you.

↳ Lucas Sinclair

Reasons: Realist. "What are we doing?" "Why are we here?" "This is stupid." Didn't believe in any of it at first. Screams like a girl. If any party member was going to be irrationally scared of a painting...I feel like it would be Lucas. Maybe Dustin, lol.

Eddie Kaspbrak

↳ El Hopper

Reasons: Sheltered early life. Lied to and/or misled by an abusive and manipulative parental figure. Eventually stands up to said parent and chooses friends over this so-called "family". "Papa"/"Mama" & "Mommy", 'nuff said. So much emotion/power in such tiny body. Will rage, seriously, they are the scariest and most intimidating person when angry. Shortest in the group. Love interest for the lanky, dark-haired idiot played by Finn Wolfhard.

↳ Will Byers

Reasons: Gay af. Only male in the group who can rock short-shorts and a fanny pack. Raised primarily by mother, due to either dead or absent father. Also the love interest for the lanky, dark-haired idiot played by Finn Wolfhard, whom he loves back for some unknown reason. XD

Richie Tozier

↳ Steve Harrington

Reasons: Doofus. Big hair. Thinks he's smoother with the ladies than he really is. Actually a huge dork. Talks big, but is not as confident as he pretends to be. A little self-deprecating.

↳ Jim Hopper

Reasons: Self-loathing. Comes off as a little bit of an asshole, but is, in actuality, caring, sensitive, and very protective of his loved ones.

Beverly Marsh

↳ Nancy Wheeler

Reasons: Doesn't look all that intimidating, but can and will kick your ass. Obviously the coolest, toughest, and most badass group member. Falsely labeled as a slut. Has a bad father. Is treated badly by other men in town. I see Bev as the loser most likely to know how to fire a gun. Maybe Bill.

↳ Robin Buckley

Reasons: Most upbeat. Most calm in a bad situation, she can keep a clear head. Will affectionately call you names, like "doofus" or "loser." Probably the smartest person in the room, lbr. Has literally looked death/danger in the face and pissed it off-either by laughing, not being intimidated, or just basically being like "fuck you." Definitely a little gay.

Ben Hanscom

↳ Dustin Henderson

Reasons: Will talk about things he knows, at length, if you let him. Likes books and libraries. Thinks science and/or history is cool. Nerd.

↳ Jonathan Byers

Reasons: Quiet. Crushing from afar. Probably awkward at parties, lol. Artistic soul. Good taste in music.

Mike Hanlon

↳ Will Byers

Reasons: Most underdeveloped and underused character in the group. Deserves only good things bc he literally did nothing wrong. Missing at least one parent. Has deeper knowledge and/or connection with the villainous, other-worldly creature. Normally soft-spoken until you piss him off.

↳ Murray Bauman

Reasons: Does a lot of research in his small living space. Actually has a clue about what the fuck is going on in this crazy town and knows the town's history. Smart, can figure out what the bad guys are up to, and how to defeat or just elude them. Has everyone's information, lolll.

Henry Bowers

↳ Billy Hargrove

Reasons: Asshole. Bully. Mullet. Abusive father. Dies a well-deserved death.

Georgie Denbrough

↳ Barb Holland/Benny Hammond/Bob Newby: Superhero

Reasons: Loved by all, hated by none. A bit naïve. Didn't deserve death, only killed off to progress the plot for at least one of the main characters.

Pennywise

↳ Demogorgon/Mind-Flayer

Reasons: Raging interdimensional asshole, consistently defeated by children.

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jodfics · 3 years ago

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Two Men and a Baby

Something silly.

Sam blew a sigh out from his mouth and looked at the man sat opposite him, "This is a mess, you know that, right?" Then, not waiting for a reply, he leaned over the small car seat they had strapped to the side of the carrier plane and frowned when the baby's eyes locked onto his. "Why you gotta look into my soul like that - check out Bucky, girls love ken dolls."

"How am I a ken doll?" Bucky's eyebrows furrowed even further, but he reached out to check the straps over the baby's chest for the nth time in the half an hour they'd been in the air. "If it's because of my arm - it's vibranium, not plastic."

"It's vibranium, blah blah'" Sam mimicked him childishly and sat on the left side of the car seat, "I can't believe this, man. I sent you in to disarm the bad guys, and you come out with a baby!"

Bucky scoffed and shook his head, "C'mon!" He nodded toward the baby, "You sayin' I shoulda left her there? All alone?"

"No, I am not saying that! I am saying, though, that you shouldn't have told the powers that be that we were gonna look after her for the next few days until they can find her parents - there's literally a service for that shit, Buck!"

The baby let out a whine at the same time Bucky sent a glare Sam's way, "Don't swear in fronta the baby... and don't call me 'Buck'. Stop being an asshole - you have nephews. A baby is a piece a cake."

Sam pressed his fingers to his temples and rubbed, Bucky was a constant headache at the best of times, but today he wanted to 'Sparta kick' him off the plane. "I'm not an ass, and for your information - ass is a bad word, don't swear in front of the baby." He waited for an argument, and when none came, Sam continued, "I didn't raise the boys, Sarah did all that, I just got to hold them and hand them back when they got damp. We should have agreed to take the baby to child services, and they would have found her parents - you," he pointed at the other, "You had to mouth off and tell them that we were taking her until further notice."

A squeal came from the tiny human and the start of what was likely going to be wailing; Bucky wasted no time in unstrapping her and holding her to him. She was around six months old with curly hair and a polka-dot dress - small enough to be utterly helpless but big enough that Bucky wasn't too worried about feeding her. Sam watched his 'not' co-worker make a fuss of her, asking her what was wrong in a quiet murmur and feigning shock when she squealed in reply. "Really? Oh, Doll, you are having a bad day, huh?"

"I didn't know you had a babysitting module installed - is that included in the Winter Soldier brainwashing, or is it an add on?" He couldn't help but find the interaction kind of sweet. Same knew how good Bucky was with kids, whether it was his nephews or the neighbour's kids or the kids back in Wakanda; Bucky was a soft touch when it came to them. "Why were you so adamant we take her?"

Bucky's nose scrunched a little when the baby reached out and pat his cheek before going for his nose; he was grateful she was more interested in him than crying. "I don't want her getting lost in child services, they're stretched thin since all the missing parents, and kids suddenly showed up after five years and the guys we saved her from obviously planned to ransom her or worse. So her parents will look for her, and when they do, we can hand her back nice and easy, no lost babies or weird foster parents."

"Dude... you're calling the pot black."

"I'm not a weird foster parent." His tone was even, and Sam blinked at how oblivious the other was. "Here, take her a second." Bucky handed her over, and Sam settled her on his lap whilst he watched him head toward his mission bag. "You got any food in your bag?"

"Not unless babies drink protein shakes," Sam looked down at her and made a curious expression, "Do you want muscles on your muscles? Yeah? You do...? Damn, you're gonna show Bucky up with your miniguns - pow, pow!" He shook her little arms gently and pretended to feel for biceps, "Oh, I think I found a muscle!" She giggled at Sam as he proceeded to poke and tickle her in search of a sixpack; out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bucky glared and snorted, "Uh oh, I think the bionic moron is jealous!"

"No, I'm not!" Came a reply too quick; even Bucky winced at it and cleared his throat to appear calmer, "Put her back in the car seat before you drop her."

"Ooooh, he's so jealous!" Sam pointed at the other, and her eyes followed his direction, but she was too young to understand that Bucky was pouting at them. "Give him the soul stare, Sweetie, see if you can beat him at his own game."

Bucky had moved to Delacroix a few weeks after taking out the flag smashers, and to his surprise, Sam had offered to let him move into a little place he had been checking out. It was a nice place with plenty of space for them to train or have the kids run around in - Sam liked that it had a good road into town and his sister's place. Bucky liked the trees that provided them cover and the view of the dock at sunset. There had been negotiations about the living spaces for both of them. Mostly it boiled down to Sam keeping his baseball trophies and wings out of the shared living area and Bucky agreeing not to turn it into a vintage bar or hide knives in all the crevices he could find.

Sam stood at the kitchen counter, baby on his hip, and checked how his homemade applesauce was doing. It had been his turn to check on her when she cried in the night and to take the 'morning shift' - not that he minded as he rocked her slightly and sang for her. He called for the volume to go up and brought the wooden spoon to his mouth like a microphone, "You ready, Sweetie? Nah, you're not ready for this - here we go! Yeah..." The man nodded his head and joined in on the following line of the song, "'And baby, I can't hold it much longer - It's getting stronger and stronger! When I get that feeling, I want -"

"I want an age-appropriate song!" Bucky interrupted and turned the station over.

"Oh no." Sam pointed the spoon at him, his brown eyes wide in outrage, "You did not just turn off Marvin Gaye." The baby pat his chin, and Sam smiled down at her softly to show he wasn't mad at her, "Don't you worry, I'm gonna wait for your naptime before I kick Uncle Bucky into next, next century." He looked back at the brunette who was slumped at the kitchen table and barely awake, "Why do you hate Marvin so much? Hmm? What did he do to you?"

Bucky sat up and tipped his head back to roll his eyes at the ceiling fan, "I don't -" he looked at Sam, "I don't hate Marvin Gaye. I just don't think that song is appropriate for a little girl, ya know?"

"Mm-hmm... But giving her a little whisky is alright?"

"It wasn't even a thimble full! My Pa used to sneak me more than that to help me sleep when I was a baby."

Sam turned off the cooker and put the pan aside to cool, "I'm pretty sure cocaine and cigarettes were on prescription back then. Besides, she's not yours for another couple of hours."

"I'm not gonna give her cocaine, Sam!" Bucky snapped, and then he lowered his tone, "Gotta start her on the small stuff and work up to cocaine."

"I am applying for full custody, Buck! You can pay child support all you want, but I'm not giving you visitation rights!"

"What," A woman's voice cut in, "Did I just step into."

"Sarah, hi!" The brunette's previous grumpy face brightened in a smile as he gave Sam's Sister a wave and ignored the other man glaring at him. He made to stand up, to be polite, but Sarah motioned for him to stay where he was - her smile matching Bucky's.

Sam adjusted the baby on his hip, "As much as I loathe watching you two make eyes at each other... Bucky, don't you have something else to stare at?"

"I got the best view right here - how's your morning, Sarah."

Watching his sister grin like an idiot and knowing her cheeks were red hot, Sam cleared his throat loudly, "You're setting a bad example for the baby. So what do we owe the pleasure, Sarah?" The girl in his arms made grabby hand at the woman, and Sam passed her over.

"Hey, Honey, are your Dads fighting again?" She was ignored in favour of her necklace, and after making sure it wasn't going to hurt the Baby, Sarah let her play. "The engine in the pickup is playing up, I need to head into town, but I don't trust the darn thing not to break down on me."

Before Bucky could even stand up to offer, Sam rushed in with, "I'll take you. I'm not leaving you two together without a chaperone."

"I can take a look at the engine later for you?" He may have been beaten to offering a lift, but Bucky knew more than one way to impress a woman. "Besides..." his blue eyes landed on the baby as she babbled and played with the necklace, "I need something to do after we drop her off with her parents later."

"Did they pass all your security checks?" Sarah asked, only half-serious as she had made fun of them the day before for insisting the people claiming to be the baby's parents were checked by every security firm they could name. "That's a shame... a baby really suits you, Bucky."

He parted his lips to reply, his ears turning a little red as he tried not to blush; whatever he was going to say was prevented by Sam nearly choking on air and sputtering that they had to go, "There's no such thing as on time, Sarah! Bucky, don't give the baby anything illegal!" He took the baby from his sister and deposited her in Bucky's lap before ushering the woman through the door.

"Bye, Sarah."

"Bye, Bucky~."

#Sam Wilson #Samuel Thomas Wilson #Bucky Barnes #James Buchanan Barnes #Sarah Wilson #drug mentions #babies #fluff #original Post

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moonbelt · 4 years ago

Text

𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬 [ᴍ]

↳ classical mythology au | the story of icarus au

⇢ pairing: chanyeol | reader

⇢ genre: angst + smut + fluff

⇢ word count: 14,101 (this one’s a lil beast)

⇢ description: on the day of the summer solstice a piece of the sun crashes down to earth and perhaps it was fate that led him to you.

⇢ warnings: handjobs, a bit of a size difference kink, small dom/sub undertones, butchering classical mythology to fit the plot.

It felt like the world was burning at your feet.

That was understandable. It was the morning of the longest day of summer after all. But for the ground to be so hot that the heat speared through the soles of your work boots? That bit was new. You were quite sure your town was hitting an all-new high record for the hottest day of the year.

Even as you cooped yourself in your basement workshop, the sun still seemed to boil you to death. You could only imagine how awful it was outside. But you couldn't afford to stall on your invention. It was either now or never. You were a go big or go home type of person.

Today was the big day. The Summer Solstice. And even though you couldn't be bothered by your town's usual theatrics and a false sense of grandeur, this was the one event you loved. The one event in which you got to showcase your creations and earn a bucketload of exclusive offers from neighboring patrons that came to visit.

The longest day of summer was a huge festival. For one night you got to experience the finest things the world had to offer in your small, somewhat average life. And you loved it. For one day the townspeople put away their reservations towards you and your father and for one day, you allowed yourself to dream of flying away from this tightly-knit prison.

Forcing things into being from scraps and the dregs of society was something that gave you purpose. Something that in a tiny way puts you on the map. Fueled your somewhat childish dream of someday crawling your way out of this labyrinth-Esque settlement.

The first time you snuck into your father's workshop hadn't been by accident. Even though your father had cautioned you away from the basement because he was scared you'd interfere with his process or perhaps worse; injure yourself. But at nine years old there was only so much that could keep your mind from wandering away and the townsfolk weren't exactly forthcoming with letting their heirs and next of kins play with you.

Well, to be honest, most of them didn't welcome you at all. Not that you minded. Not that you cared. They called your father a genius to his face but a madman to his back. But that was fine too. There was a fine line between the two. You thought Little Tommy was quite literally the ugliest baby to be born in the whole wide world and when Little Tommy's mother did something you hated like shoo you away from the front of her bakery, you let her know exactly that.

So yeah, no hard feelings.

But your father's workshop had always felt like the hottest place on earth. If not for that fact that you'd been so utterly bored with schoolwork and the fantasy book you'd been able to sneak out of the library, you doubted you'd even have wanted to step foot in the dark, sweltering ass crack of hell. But if you were anything it was determined.

Some might call you stubborn. Some may even call it foolishness on your part. But you know that it was destiny. A reckoning. Fate. Maybe even a homecoming of sorts. Because in there you found your true passion. Something that tied you ephemerally to this world.

In that workshop, you saw your father create things that no one had ever dared or tried to before. But of course, he did. That was the whole reason they called him a madman by night.

In fact, you were quite certain that the townspeople revered and feared him at the same time. After all, there was still a rumor going 'round that he'd been the one to orchestrate and invent the quintessential labyrinth town you lived in. But that was a different story, one you didn't care to tell. And one you believed — at the time — didn't affect you at all.

You've been wrong about many things. Your father had made it a point to let you know in every way of what you lacked and in what you failed in. But also in what you thrived. And building, no, inventing, came easily to you. Like you'd been born for it. More than destiny, more like preordained. You didn't have a choice, didn't even want one. And you'd been helpless to stop it.

But now the workshop was your life. You lived in it, breathed it and in a sense maybe you worshipped it. It gave you a sense of being after all. The whole town could isolate you, and that they did expertly, but they still hammered down your doorstep for your helpful creations that helped ease the way of life.

You both loved and loathed how much they depended on you but it was what it was. You tried not to let it bother you much anymore.

After numerous hours of grinding at your workstation, and perfecting your latest design, you climbed out of the heated workshop basement and welcomed the fresh breeze of the cool air outside.

You'd been working on a new device that would help speed up the process of washing your daily wear. At the moment the mechanics were quite frankly the best they could ever be, but you were tinkering with it for the utmost perfection for tonight. Hell, you'd already picked out an apt name for it: The Washy-Washer. Okay, yes, it did sound a bit silly, a bit ridiculous, but you weren't going to call it the hand-washer. You cringed solely at the thought.

But you needed a break. Your back was killing you and you were quite literally tired of washing all of your socks. Even if the machine did do most of it.

You took a deep breath and fixed your gaze on the sun. It was calm and quiet in this part of town. The outskirts. But the sun was always loud. At least to you. It always felt as if the sun was trying to burn out your eyes and no matter how much you wanted to look away, you couldn't. It demanded your attention. And you gave it because what else could you do?

It wasn't like the sun was especially pretty, or particularly different than any other sun you'd seen in the last early twenty-something years of your life. But it wasn't like the sun was ugly either, so you didn't mind looking at it. Even if it did hurt your eyes.

And just like every other day, you raised a palm to the sky and imagined yourself grasping the burning sun in your hands. You imagined it would feel like a hot coal on your skin, a little bit reinvigorating but with a whole lot of pain. You wondered if it was a good thing that you thought you'd like that.

And like what had become your new normal, you daydreamed of creating wings like the birds you envied. Wings that could take you anywhere you wanted. Wings that could actually fly. The dream had been plaguing you for weeks like a disease. Visions of you donning on misshapen not-even-close-to-sturdy wings and just soaring. You weren't quite sure where you'd fly to. Maybe you'd just go until you were too tired to move.

"You are going to turn into a field of ash," the charismatic yet sarcastic voice of the town's resident homebody (and the only person that responded to your flyer looking for a housemate) yelled from inside the house.

You guess you were getting predictable these days. Too much staring at the sun and getting almost sunburnt and less of hiding in your workshop.

"The weather's trying to murder me out here," you grumbled as you pushed the creaky front door open and tapped the dirt from the bottom of your boots. "And that's how you treat me?"

Kyungsoo looked up from stirring the pot he had on the stove to shoot you an exasperated look. You had half the mind to tell him of how domestic he looked just to mess with him. "I'm preventing you from dying a sudden and painful death."

"I put a roof over your head."

"Well, I pay rent and I feed you."

It wasn't like you could you beat that. You couldn't cook for the life of you. When your father had been alive he had handled all the cooking for fear of you burning water. And when he'd married, his new wife Nau had taken over the role.

Nau was a nice woman. Although you thought sometimes that she treated you a bit too much like you were her biological daughter and not her extended family. It was fine though because at least she talked to you. Plus she told all her townie friends about the stuff you created. And she made a bomb fish-tail soup.

When your father died, she'd resorted to dropping off a weekly supply of cooked meals at your door. But with Kyungsoo around, the need had for it had practically stopped. And even though you would never tell her, Kyungsoo's cooking was way more phenomenal than hers. But you had manners, albeit a little rusty.

"You can't hold food over my head. That's just wrong." You made your way to the sink and washed the grime off your hands and face. "Plus, I gave you a friend discount when I fixed your calculator last week."

"True. But it is easy to get the friend discount when I’m your only friend," he easily replied as he moved and dumped two servings of what looked like and smelled like his signature fried rice.

You smiled to yourself. If only your dad could see you now. Making friends? Well, a friend. Singular. The town wasn't completely shitty. But Kyungsoo wasn't fond of the place either. You weren't exactly sure what caused him to uproot his life from the middle of the town where he was revered as a young chef-like god. But when he'd taken you up on your offer to be housemates to help reduce living costs six months ago, you can't say you minded.

He was a pretty easy going person and all he ever seemed to do was cook.

"So, are you still not going to have your own stall for the solstice?" You asked after you thanked him for the food and the two of you had retreated to the table set for two.

Kyungsoo shrugged, dropping his utensil to run a hand through his cropped short inky hair. "No cooking for large people ever again. They never appreciate it anyway. I'm going to be a normal person at the festival. You know, I hear the fireworks at the end are amazing."

They were. Your father used to be in charge of the mass production of them for the event. "Yeah. They're like big exploding balls of magic."

He smiled ruefully. "Can't wait."

The two of you finished your food in silence and by the time you were done you were already back to absently dreaming about wings and flying. It was abnormal the way you were fixated on it. Building wings won't be easy, heck if they were even remotely doable someone would've done it already. But it felt like an itch on your skin. Almost like you had to at least try.

Perhaps when the party was over you'd dive headfirst into it and start researching how you would even go about it. It wasn't like you had the arm strength to keep flapping your arms like a crazed person through the damn sky.

If Kyungsoo noticed your lack of speaking, he didn't mention it. And when you'd finished washing the dishes and placing them to dry. You turned to find him sifting through a handful of mail on the table. He'd been getting a ton of letters from former customers that begged him to come back and reopen his restaurant. He promptly discarded them in the bin immediately after.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"You'd just ask me anyway, regardless of my answer."

True. But you like you'd said 'manners.' "You ever think about flying?"

He peered up from the littered papers. "Thinking about inventing some kind of flying death trap?"

"Hah hah hah. Jokes on you when I actually do it." You scoffed at him. Did he think you couldn't do it? You'd show him. You weren't sure how but you would. "You'd beg me to make one for you to fly out of this hellhole too."

"Well, when you put it like that I can't, in good conscience, discourage you from it. Even though I know it's a very bad idea."

"A bad idea? Nay, I say. It's the best I've ever had!"

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at your boastful demeanor. "Where would you even fly to?"

You didn't even have to think about it. "The sun."

You'd get up close and personal with the beast that beat down on your skin day in day out. It'd hurt like hell, you knew that. But you didn't care. You weren't planning on kissing the sun or anything. Just somewhere close to it. Maybe it'd cure you off your dreams of having your body floating in a bright, hellish landscape.

Maybe flying close enough to the sun just once would be enough. You'd come back down. It'd be the greatest achievement of your whole life. Your magnum opus. You weren't trying to die but there was a whole world up there that was calling out to you like a siren at sea. And you were going to fly. You swore on it.

Even if it meant you crash-landed from space back to earth.

The Summer Solstice celebrations had already been in full swing for a few hours by the time you and Kyungsoo made it to the heart of the town. The festivals were never all that lavish or even truly a feat of major grandiose but more of a holiday to the small community. The neighboring towns visited annually and it made good to the vineyards when everyone was drunk around the bonfire with golden and russet marigolds braided into their hairs.

Colorful streamers were erected around the sides of the cobblestone roads, the sun was on the precipice of setting with the sky marred in a beautiful match of blue, orange and purple. You watched as little kids you didn’t know and old people you did flocked round in queues at various booths marveling at the creative food options.

You stopped by numerous stalls and stands that piqued your interest. Maybe it was because it was the solstice that made all the snacks taste even more heavenly than normal. Or maybe the bolstering heat had finally fried your head.

You were having fun hauling the Washy-Washer around and having people ask you what the hell it was. You’d packed a bountiful amount of socks for the demonstrations.

And when you walked away with a cold snack in your hand and a customer swearing from here to the moon that they’ll be at the shop tomorrow to pick up an order; a burst of pride swelled in your chest. Big enough for you to join in on the crowd’s summer singing. A while after you’d finished your word-of-mouth promotion, you even sold the very one you’d brought out with you.

Kyungsoo and you watched as hundreds of fellow young adult townsfolk flooded the streets decked out head to toe with the most glitzy, sheer and barely covering cloths available. It was hot and it was a festival, so no one particularly cared.

But you guess you stuck out like a sore thumb in your practical shorts and thin tank. But you weren’t part of the show so it didn’t really matter. Plus the outfits of the solstice attendees were so bizarre that you dressing a tad normal wasn’t cause for alarm. And you guessed Kyungsoo was having fun because he was running his mouth talking about the essence and the umami of a popsicle… He was learned like that.

Pushing through the crowds, you made the most of the festival. It was a bright thing. With paper lanterns floating around and above. People didn’t make an effort to seek you out in conversation but you cracked enough jokes with your friend to forget about that. Later on, Kyungsoo had been rightfully cornered by his old friends and you had given him your permission to go forth and get ultimately wasted. You promised him that you’d get drunk telepathically as well. He’d laughed.

By the time you had made it to the bonfire in the middle of the Town Square, you almost felt as if you were like everyone else. Paying for overpriced solstice marketed booze, your body felt like you were soaring. Free. You got close enough that you felt the flames of the bonfire licking and dancing across your skin and it was almost ironic how homely you felt with it.

And like year after year, the solstice let everyone shed their inhibitions. But just as the night was getting even wilder, you knew it was time for you to head back home. You could tell when you weren’t wanted. And You were pushing it without Kyungsoo by your side. People thought you were a bit mad like your father.

You won’t lie. He had been dedicated to his craft and defied the world at every turn. But he had also been a little insane. Perhaps that was where you got your stubbornness bordering on self-destruction.

You were already busy crocking up ways in which you’d start building your wings on your way back home. It was going to be a long journey to get something even manageable but you’d do it. The closer you got to your house, the less of the bustling town you heard. It was almost as if the bright festival didn’t reach your part of town. Like you were hidden in the ultimate cloak of darkness.

But that was fine. Because one day you’d have wings. One day you’d fly out of here like a bat out of hell.

And just as a droopy smile made its way to your face there came a blinding light followed by a loud and resounding thud. It shook the very core of the earth, all the way up to the enamel of your teeth.

You could swear that the sheer brightness of the light alone burnt your retinas clean off. Before you could even process what was going on, your body felt like it was incinerating from the inside. It was so hot around you that you weren’t just sweating profusely, you were melting. There was no other word for it. You clawed at your arms in a bid to do something, anything, but the mass of slick sweat on it caused your palms to slip and slip.

God, you were going to burn to death. You were screaming before you realized it. It felt like the sun was right next to you. Instead of you flying to it, it had come right down to you. And you were going to go out in a cloud of ashy dust.

But just as quickly as the heat had flamed your skin, it was gone. Leaving only the stinging sensation of your skin and tears cooling on top of your cheekbones. The cool night air caressed your skin like a salve and you whimpered a little.

What in the burning hell was that?

You were afraid. You squeezed your eyes and hugged your body. You hadn’t even realized that you had fallen to your knees. To make matters worse, your heart was beating so loudly in your ears that it overpowered all the weak sobs from falling from your lips.

Gods, you absolutely did not want to open your eyes to whatever was out there. You’d rather run blindly all the way back home.

Maybe you were cursed? Your father had told you that the gods’ anger and wrath were fickle things. Easy to provoke and swift to enact. But what on earth could you have done to deserve it? Ah, maybe if you could just open your eyes a little bit. A tiny fraction. Practically minuscule. You won’t even notice.

But when you finally managed to peel your eyelids open, you were confronted with someone kneeling right in front of you. His frame was so big that it dwarfed you and made you feel even smaller. It was undeniable that this person right in front of you wasn’t from around here. You’d never met him, never even seen him before. You’d know if you had. He had a kind of face people got mesmerized by and subsequently spent years trying to recreate it in all their art or died trying. Dramatic shit like that.

“This was not supposed to happen,” he said, his voice breathless and airy like wind and yet deep and soul bending like rock.

Huh, funny how just as you were finally catching your bearings, the hair on your arms decided to prickle to prim attention like he was inspecting them.

“Yeah?” That’s all you got? A yeah? Gods, someone throw you in a hole. You cleared your throat as you turned your gaze anywhere but his face. “Well, I swear I don’t usually burst out crying on the street like a madwoman.”

“No, no. That would be my fault.” Now that captured your attention with vice-like intensity. “I didn’t anticipate just how much heat I would give off when I reached down. Humans are sensitive. I’m very sorry if I hurt you. It is my first time on land. I’ll do better next time,” he sounded remorseful but your face scrunched up more as his words registered.

Huh. Maybe your hearing was off because what did he mean by literally anything he’d just said… Firstly, him? Hurt you? Sure he was as big as your bed frame back home and yeah, you’d never met him before. And of course, you were wary of strangers but him? He looked like he could barely hurt the ground he walked on. Squinting your eyes at him, you scrutinized his all-white attire.

Frankly, he looked like a prince. With the way, he held himself up with a dignity that just screamed regality. And even his knee that was on the ground didn’t appear to have a single stain on the white slacks. There was no royal court in your town but from the books you’d read, you imagined he was what they dressed like. With pearly white rings adorning his fingers and a tiny strip of an embellished white gold band wrapped around his tanned forehead that was framed by his blondish almost white hair.

You swiped the back of your index finger above your top lip to remove the sweat that had built up there. “There’s going to be a next time?”

He smiled, a wild thing it was because it felt like the sun was beaming straight out from his teeth. Gods, how white were those things? Did he bleach them?

“It depends. If I don’t do anything stupid while I’m here I’m sure Father would allow me to come back. He allows my siblings to fly down all the time.” He sounded almost petulant at the fact and then like he was talking to himself, his voice quieted but perhaps he’d never practiced whispering before because his voice was still way above hearing range. “But I’m sure even they have never almost charred a human down to nothing.”

“You felt that too, didn’t you?” You barely understood what was going on as is, but he was right in front of you. Like he’d been born out of the heat.

His eyes fluttered from the top of your head to your shaking hands to your knees now scuffed from the ground. “Felt what?”

“Oh, you know the blazing inferno that just swept through here.”

“Ha, I do not know of what you speak of.”

“I’m a lot of things… dumb isn’t one of them.” You forced yourself to ignore the stinging in your knees as you rose to your full height. He did the same. “Now, I don’t know what you are and I don’t really care but, did one of the gods send you? I hear Zeus can be a bit of a bitch.”

You were right about one thing, this man towered over you for sure. You always thought you were kind of tall, but he would need to lift you by your armpits to even be on the same eye level. You didn’t know how to feel about that but you weren’t scared.

“No one sends me except Father. Sometimes it is necessary. Like now,” he said not even remotely disturbed by your accusations. “I do not speak ill of Zeus but he can be, how you say bitch but respectfully?”

You gawked at him with half the mind to laugh. Actually, you were pretty sure a few giggles escaped your lips. You? Giggling? This night was only getting trickier and weirder. You blamed the booze. It was the only reasonable culprit in all this. Surely, this man did not just ask you for a more polite version of such a nasty word.

“You’re a funny one.” You tried and failed to keep the amusement out of your voice.

“Or perhaps humans are just easily entertained,” he replied but he was smiling as well. He angled his head and peered around the dark road, almost like he was expecting to see something extraordinary burst out. “I thought tonight is the first day of estival? That is why I chose today to come down.”

“Oh, you mean the solstice festival?” You followed his gaze around the steep and vanishing road behind you. “If you still want to catch the end of it, you’d have to walk a long way deeper.”

There wasn’t much to look at down these parts of town. A scrap metal yard was located a few miles to your right behind another valley. But there was a good number of brick houses milling about. Not everyone could afford to live in the affluent and bustling heart of the town and not everyone even wanted to. Your house was about ten more minutes away but you couldn’t see it from here.

You wondered what this very strange man thought of when he looked around the land especially when the lanterns that outlined the street were few in between and flickering like their lives were one breath away from being completely snuffed out.

He turned his gaze back to you and you felt as his eyes commanded your body to attention. For some reason, he seemed a bit sad. “I see.”

“Well, if you run you could probably still make it. If that’s the reason you came into town then you shouldn’t miss it. The fireworks go on for most of the night. You can see them from here but it’s always better up close.”

“You will not go?” He asked, his head cocking to the side.

You grinned. “Nope. I’ve got to sleep the alcohol out. Tomorrow I start on my magnum opus.”

You weren’t sure if he quite understood what you meant but he nodded his head all the same. And it was then you really realized that even though the night was dark and the lanterns were dim, he seemed to glow. His skin alone appeared to shimmer and bleed light. And although it wasn’t bright enough to burn, it felt to you like he was blazing.

He didn’t say anything in response and when you started to feel the trickle of awkwardness slip down your spine you swiveled your eyes to the side. “I’ll just get going now.”

Quickly, you pivoted on your heel and began the stroll to your house. It wasn’t like you needed to know this mystery man. And you could chock the burning episode your body experienced earlier to the alcohol messing up with your system. Yeah, that was it. Of course, it was! If after a night of fitful rest it came again, then and only then would you make a big deal out of it.

You hummed to yourself on your way back and for some inane reason, you had a bit more pep in your step. Like your talk with the mystery man invigorated you or something. But that couldn’t be true, you’d only just met him and you didn’t even know his name.

Hah, you felt like you could start on your wings project right this second. A clear mind and non-intoxicated emotions be damned. You’d already started preliminary sketches of how you wanted it to look like. Soon, you were going to head out to the scrap yard and sift for materials. Hopefully, you found things good enough.

You were in a good mood. One of the bests since your father died last spring. Your father had been your only companion for a long time. And he’d been your everything. Your role model, your shining light. The one that believed in you more than you believed in yourself. And although you’d admit, he had fueled your stubbornness to the point of annoyance, but he’d been your best friend.

And today, almost a year and a half later it felt like you were finally releasing a breath you’d held in for so long.

But you must have been crazy out of tune with the outside world because you did not realize that there was a second silhouette following closely behind you. It wasn’t until you’d fished your copy of the house keys from your pockets and had already begun the act of shoving them into the keyhole that the presence behind dawned on you.

You flipped around, ready to claw the person’s eyes out with your bare hands if it got down to that only to meet the same brown eyes you’d just left down at the crossroads.

It appeared that this man was getting more tangled with you than you’d anticipated.

“Did you get lost or something?” You sighed as you relaxed your stance a tad. The sleepy part of drinking was quickly catching up to you. “This is really far from the festivities.”

He blinked at you. Once. Twice. And then scanned your old mismatched, creaky door that you’d sworn you’d get changed after your father had died but procrastination got even the best of you. He didn’t seem repulsed by it but you thought it contrasted too deeply against his pristine white clothes. Was it possible for the wood to scuff his fitted embroidered mantle? He stuck out so much in front of your house but he didn’t seem to care about that at all.

“The first person we meet on land is our fatum. I stay with you till I find what I was sent for.” He said in lieu of an explanation. He poked a finger into the sliver of space between his neck and his collared shirt and pulled the garment nervously. “At least that’s what Father and the rest of my brothers said.”

Fatum? You weren’t quite sure what that word meant. But you remembered that he’d spoken about this mission he’d been sent here for. You wondered if he was like you in a way. Perhaps he only had his father and his siblings. Maybe this was his first time leaving his village?

Sure, his sentences were a bit weird and it sounded like you and him were on way two different pages. Because what did any of that have to do with you? You had yet to leave the town. That was probably why you were obsessed with the notion of flying over. But he didn’t look poor or desolate. If anything, he looked like a king surveying over his subjects.

“I still don’t get what you mean by any of that but okay, let’s say I believe you. What were you sent for?”

He cocked his head to the side innocently. “I do not know.”

Gods, you were getting a headache. You suddenly wished you hadn’t partaken in some of the indulgences of the night. Alcohol was definitely not helping your situation right now. You weren’t drunk per se but you could already feel a truck of nausea knocking on your door.

“Then how would you know when you’ve found what you were sent over here for?” Never mind the fact that you couldn’t babysit this man you’d never met. You were going to be super busy fulfilling orders and building wings. “Plus normal people don’t just let random strangers follow them around. I don’t even know your name! Some might even call this stalking.”

“I have many names,” he slid his index finger away from bruising the collar of his shirt, ignoring your first question. “But you may call me Chanyeol. And I will not stalk you for I do not really know what that is.”

“Really?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Truly.”

“Okay then, Chanyeol. How long are you in town for? And just so you know, I still don’t buy whatever it is your selling.”

“I will be here ’til the end of summer.” Looking you up and down like he suddenly questioned your sanity, he added. “I am not selling anything.”

Odd. This man was very odd. But you had no idea why his oddness was causing the corners of your lips to tilt upwards. Maybe it was because of how serious yet endearing he looked. Or maybe the heat did fry your brain and all your sense of self-preservation and reasoning.

“Is this about the house-sharing offer I put up in the community board?” You rolled your eyes as you crossed your arms across your chest. “That was months ago and I already found someone. I’m sure if you ask someone else they’ll let you room and board with them if you’re willing to pay rent.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

You swore on your left boot that you saw a ghost of a smirk dance across his lips. “Would you let me stay with you if I pay rent?”

Hah. You couldn’t tell if the booze was making everything funnier or what. But he really was funny, this Chanyeol. And dazzling. You would’ve thought he was a living, breathing star.

“Maybe.”

And like you were in a trance, you watched as he reached up to his forehead and carefully unclasped the white jeweled crown-like headband. He held it out to you like you’d even know it’s worth. You stretched out a palm and he dropped it gently. The lingering heat from his body slithered up the skin of your arm.

Chanyeol beamed at you as if he’d just solved all the problems. “Would that be enough?”

To be honest, you weren’t sure. It wasn’t like you carried a human gem to a currency calculator in your head. But when you looked at the band closely, you could tell that the gems were at least real. And the gold wasn’t fake either. Maybe you’d take it downtown and get it looked at. Maybe.

Wait, you couldn’t possibly be considering his offer, could you? And what were you going to tell Kyungsoo? That you just upped and got a new housemate on a whim? Plus no one in town even knew him. Or at least you didn’t. You could handle yourself in a fight but you wouldn’t be able able to do anything if he killed you in your sleep.

Gah, you were tired.

“May I ask what Fatum goes by?” Chanyeol was still smiling. Almost like that was his default setting. You wondered if he truly was happy about all this.

Fatum this. Fatum that. What the ever-loving hell did Fatum even mean?

“You mean what’s my name?” You turned back to your front door and kicked it open. After you’d told him, you let him enter your home. “My name is not Fatum.”

Chanyeol’s tall and lithe body made the space inside your home feel that much smaller. In fact, he seemed to make everything next to him appear to shrink. But he looked around your old house like it was a thing of beauty. You were beginning to doubt if he saw the things you saw. Your house wasn’t ugly by any means but it had definitely seen better days.

“Okay, [y/n],” he conceded but you could hear the barely thought Fatum at the end.

Shaking your head you pointed at the longest couch you had that was placed right in front of the window. “You sleep there tonight.”

He nodded and you didn’t wait around to see if he settled in nicely or not. You weren’t going to think about this weird night any more than necessary. Instead, you were going to go pass out and tomorrow you would kick him out. It left an awful taste in your mouth to leave him stranded and abandoned outside in a foreign town. But that was the extent of your generosity.

And it was with great effort that you decided to not crawl up the stairs to where your room was situated. It took, even more, to not fall on your face. Gods, you swore you’d never drink again.

Tomorrow you would hand him his, clearly expensive, headband back and ask him to leave your mundane life in peace.

But there was a thought nagging and poking you incessantly in the back of your mind. That there was something about him that was tied to you. And the just the fact that you’d already accepted his price meant something you couldn’t yet fathom. Like you’d sold your soul to an unknown.

That night you dreamt of flying like you always did. Soaring and nimbly twisting through an orange and purple-hued sky. It was beautiful. But then you’d reach a point where no matter how many times you pushed yourself upwards, your body kept falling. The wind pressure feeling like crushing boulders on your neck as you struggled. Over and over again.

That night you dreamt that the wings you hadn’t even built yet had already broke.

You woke up with a scratchy throat and a light strum in your bones.

Last night felt more like a personal hallucination than reality. There was no way you’d allowed this Chanyeol person to stay in your house. Your brain didn’t even let you dive into dissecting the meanings of his words yesterday.

He was so freaking weird, you thought to yourself as you stifled a yawn and sat up on your tiny bed. Your hair was a mess since you’d been so out of it that you’d forgotten to braid it in for the night. So that meant you spent a good half an hour teasing the strands out of its convoluted mess. It was a torrid and teary affair.

By the time you’d washed up and gotten ready for the day it was already close to noon. You doubted Kyungsoo would’ve come hone already which meant you had to go down and scavenge for something to eat before you headed down to the scrap yard.

Today was going to be great.

Whistling to yourself mindlessly, you took the stairs two at a time. But when you jumped the last step and landed at the foot of the staircase you belatedly realized that two voices were coming from the kitchen. But that couldn’t be right.

Feeling like you were an intruder in your own home, you gingerly crept closer to the open door that led to Kyungsoo’s claimed area only to see the man you’d told yourself was a hallucination and your housemate. And to make matters even more bizarre, Kyungsoo didn’t look like he was even a tiny bit disturbed by his prescience. What?

“If you’re going to stand there and pretend like you can’t see us, breakfast for you goes straight to the dogs.” Kyungsoo was the first to pierce through your confusion.

You stepped into the kitchen, eyes wide as you stared at Chanyeol like he was wrong to be here. You pointed a finger at him. “You.”

The piece of bread that he was about to stuff in his mouth hung idly from his fingers. It bothered you how at home he looked at your house. And now that you looked at him from the glow of the midday sun, he didn’t look as princely as he had last night. What with his white garments traded for a very comfortable blueish loose pants and a baggy shirt. You wondered where the hell he got a change of clothes from.

Chanyeol’s spine went ramrod straight in the dining chair. “Me.”

Your left eye twitched. “You can’t stay here.”

“I-”

“Sure he can,” Kyungsoo interrupted from his seat at the table. “He says you took his rent for three months.”

You gawked at Chanyeol and you almost threw yourself across the table when you noticed how smug his smile looked. This couldn’t be happening. You didn’t even have an extra room.

“I can stay on the couch. I don’t mind,” Chanyeol replied.

You must have posed your question out loud. Gods, you were going insane. And since when did Kyungsoo side with random strangers over you?

“He’s not random.” Kyungsoo didn’t look up from his food as he pointed to the plate he’d fixed for you on the counter. “And you can’t kick him out. You were complaining last month about being short on money. Maybe you should use him. No offense, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol nodded and you almost threw your shoe at the side of his head. “No worries, Land Brother.”

Land brother… yeah, maybe you shouldn’t think too much about all this. ‘Cause the more you tried to rationalize it, the more bizarre the whole situation got. If Kyungsoo was okay with him, maybe he truly was harmless? It was true that you were running low on funds. So many things in the house needed repairs and repairs cost a pretty penny. Plus, he was okay with the shitty couch. He couldn’t be that bad, could he?

Muttering to yourself, you grabbed the plate of eggs and toast. You hated eggs but you could never bring yourself to seem ungrateful. So, you dumped your butt into the third chair and begrudgingly had your first meal of the day.

Chanyeol looked eagerly from you and Kyungsoo and when you couldn’t take it anymore you barked out a “What?”

He cleared his throat. “What do we do we do today, [y/n],” he said your name carefully like it was something delicate.

You scrunched your nose at him. “We do nothing. I, on the other hand, will be going scrapping.”

“Scrapping?” He titled his head to the side. He did that a lot. Like you were the confusing one.

“I’m searching for materials I will need to create a set of wings.” You forced the last bit of eggs into your mouth and swallowed without breathing. “You can do whatever you want.”

You finished the rest of your food in record time before thanking Kyungsoo. Chanyeol thanked him as well. You adjusted the buckles of your overalls. Chanyeol retied the laces of his stretchy pants that you still wondered where they’d come from. You stuck your socked feet into your boots that you’d placed next to the front door. Chanyeol gracefully wore his white shoes from last night.

You pretended he wasn’t right next to you but it was impossible with how broad he was. His height alone blocked the sunlight and cast a shadow upon you. But he was smiling so eagerly like a puppy that was being let out for the first time.

Pushing through the front door, you allowed him to catch up with you. Reluctantly at first, you began pointing out your neighbors’ houses and the few things about your side of town that you thought were interesting enough. But every time you peered you at him for his reaction, he looked amazed. And soon enough, you got into your role as a self-appointed tour guide.

“Over there’s the Old Well. I fell into it when I was a kid and it hurt but it wasn’t too bad. I wasn’t afraid of the water or anything. My father got me out pretty quick too.”

A few of the townspeople had stopped to stare at Chanyeol but you were beginning to understand that he didn’t understand his effect on people. Maybe he was used to it, but you weren’t. The feeling of many eyes leering at you made you feel off.

“You only have your father. Like me.”

“Yeah.”

“Is that why you want to fly?” He halted his steps and although you were the one in the lead, you complied. “This magnum opus of yours. Does it have to do with your father?”

You laughed. “’ Course not. I’m doing this because I want to. Actually, it’s more like a calling. I feel like I can’t rest until I’ve done this.”

“Hmm,” he lifted his palm and laid it on your head. It didn’t feel weird. It felt more comforting and soft than anything. You didn’t breathe. “You and I, we’re more alike than you think.”

“H-how so?” You stammered.

Chanyeol leaned in closer and even though you were already holding your breath, you seized up completely. “Yesterday you asked me how I would know what I was sent for, correct?” He did not wait for an answer. “My mission is like a calling. I feel it and I am helpless to stop it. So, I follow it.”

You understood that. That was the one cryptic thing he’d said in hours that you fully understood. You did not dwell on the implications of that. You were too busy staring at his lips. It looked like clouds and when he smiled, sun rays shine through the gap between them.

He pulled his fingers away from your hair and you almost begged him to put it back. What the hell was wrong with you? You were going mad. Chanyeol clasped his arms behind him and tilted his head to the sky and you watched, mesmerized. Even in regular clothes, doing the most normal of things, he appeared almost godlike.

“You can help,” you found yourself saying. “I need all the help I can get anyway.”

His head snapped to you at a dizzying speed. “I accept.”

Time stood still once you’d made this pact with him. You didn’t hear the birds chirping, you didn’t feel the breeze swaying around the two of you as you stood in the eye of a hurricane. Just his eyes on you. Your eyes on him. Nothing else seemed to matter. And that sense of falling vibrated deep in your bones like a warning.

You did not heed. You did not run or cower. For some reason, you embraced it.

It was unprecedented the way Chanyeol slid into your life like a missing piece you didn't know you were missing.

And it was funny how his presence no longer bothered you because he was everywhere. When you woke up in the mornings and hauled ass downstairs. He was right beside you as you delivered Washy-Washer orders. Most of the time he did all the heavy-lifting of materials you found while scrapping. He truly was everywhere.

The only thing that bothered you was how easy it was with him.

Sometimes you found yourself going throughout the whole day preparing for a singular joke just to simply see your best smile of the day grace his face. He laughed at every and anything, granted. But you felt pride when his loud, deep laughs turned into guffaws that shook through his body. The kind of laughter that made him clap his hands together like a seal.

Chanyeol was thoughtful in a way you’d never experienced before. He was always on your side and you couldn't understand why. Or rather, you’d begun to tell yourself that it didn't matter. Because the more you were around him you realized that you didn't particularly mind.

He didn't mind being in the ass crack of hell, AKA your workshop. And to be honest, you thought that was his favorite place in the entire house. But he was always complaining about having to wear a shirt. And not because it was so hot he wanted to shed his skin. It felt like it was the other way around. Like he fed off the heat.

So, it came as no surprise to you when one month in he walked into your workshop shirtless as the day he was born. You almost smashed your finger with the hammer you held.

“No, get out,” you barely managed to speak. “You have to wear a shirt in here.”

“Says who?” These days he was smugger, bolder, and clearly did not care if you spontaneously erupted in a nosebleed.

You struggled to find apt words as you looked everywhere but his damned face. He was way too beautiful for his own good. And careless about it too. You didn't have the most prolific experiences with the opposite sex. None of them really were all that attractive to you.

But Chanyeol. O gods, Chanyeol. It was like he’d brazenly stepped into the starring role in all your fantasies. His chest resembled the washboard you’d previously used to wash your clothes. And by every will of your body, you wanted to lick it. Ah, you were going insane. He was making you insane.

“No. Nope. I’m not doing this with you.” You threw the hammer down and pretended like the haphazard clump of wood and made feathers was phenomenal work compared to the godlike creature you refused to look at.

You could feel his insolent smirk from a mile away. “Come on. You should do it with me.”

“You want me to get naked?” Gods, you were killing yourself here.

He placed a veiny hand on his waist and chided you. “Well, I meant shirtless but I won’t stop you. You can do whatever you want, I won’t mind.”

Please, you were about to commune with the dead at this rate.

Your whole body was on fire. This wasn't the first exchange like this between the two of you. It was getting more and more unbearable. You were going to kick him out of the house before you dissolved into a puddle of embarrassment.

Chanyeol moved closer to you and you swore his body heat was making you dizzy. He used the tip of his finger to lift your face and when your gazes connected, he let go. You still felt the sizzling pad of his finger on your chin.

“You know, I’ve learned a lot of things while on land,” his voice slithered up and down your spine like a wandering serpent. “You like when I’m shirtless. That’s why I continue to do it.”

You’d also learned that Chanyeol was straightforward like that. He didn't beat around the bush much and you wholeheartedly believed that he could not feel embarrassment. Or anger. He was his own filtered bubble.

“Your face never lies, [y/n],” he laughed like the tempter he was.

You glared at him. “Are you making fun of me right now?”

“Never.” He replied instantaneously as he tried to suppress his snicker. He utterly failed.

Hah. This was a very fine line he was dancing on. You didn't think. You crossed it.

“Yeah?” Your voice was getting huskier. You unhooked the buckles of your overalls and let the top of it fall like one big petal around your waist. “You mean if I take this off right now, you won't mind?”

You needed him to call you crazy. You’d never been forward with anyone before. Hell, you weren’t even sure if you were coming off as sexy or demented. There was a thin line between the two. But Chanyeol gulped, visibly. His Adam's apple bobbled with the action. And there was that unknown feeling again. You wanted to bite it. Actually, no. You wanted to bite all of him.

You had no idea where this day was leading but you thanked foresight for the fact that you hadn't been welding today. Not that you ever thought about doing anything secondary in your workshop. But you didn't want to accidentally burn your ass when you threw your inhibitions out of the window.

“If you take it off, I would try not to mind,” he sighed out. All of a sudden, his breath was fanning your forehead, like oxygen to a flame. “And I would fail, miserably.”

“You should mind then. You should mind a lot.”

And like that was your sign to go, one of his hands slipped around the back of your neck and cradled it. “You know I’ve been reading.” He applied enough pressure to bring your face closer to him until your lips were a breath away. “I think I like you a lot more than I know what to do with. You… you feel like home.”

“What?” You said into the silence.

“A star. You feel like the star at the center of my universe.”

“Like the sun?”

He did not answer. And even though your temperature was raging like an inferno, when his lips landed on yours it felt like a calm before the storm.

It took a millisecond to register before your body was pushing into him. Hot desire dancing alongside your veins like an essential need. He was breathing fire into your body. And you were burning spectacularly.

He groaned and you swore the sound alone woke up every nerve ending in your body like a spell. You demanded more. No, you needed it. So you took it. And he gave it to you. He accepted you like it was only natural. Your tongue dived in callously. His tongue was pliant, weak against yours. There was nothing reserved about the way you kissed him. All those lingering looks as the two of you worked side by side. That yearning ache that had dug a hole in your stomach. He’d felt it too. He kissed you back like a man that wanted to engrave his very being into your soul.

“I really like you,” he said as the two of you caught your breaths. Your bodies were so close. So close that when he jutted out his hips, his hardened cock flattened against you like an iron rod. “And I need to know if you like me too because I believe I’m going insane without knowing.”

Sucking in a long breath, you bring your lips back to him and kiss him again. Impossibly deeper now. You hooked an arm around his neck and pushed his body even closer. You did not care anymore. You had no say over your body. It was a monster that acted on its own accord. It ground against him like it was trying to weld the two of you together.

You didn't say this often but, fuck.

Maybe you were a fool. You wanted to ask him a load of things. What did he like about you? Wasn’t he scared? Where did he even come from? Wasn't this all moving too fast? What if he regrets meeting you later on? What was going on? But looking into his eyes it felt like there was only one thing you could say.

“I like you too. Gods, I like you.”

A slow grin lit across his face and it quieted your demons even more. You decided then and there you’d go anywhere it took to bring that smile on his face. Always. It did something to your chest that made it impossible for you to not smile at him like he was a star. The star. The baddest of them all: the sun.

“As I said: I’ve been reading,” his voice a low beat in your chest as his fingers gripped your waist and clenched. You needed out of these clothes. Now. “I want you.”

Then he was going to have you. Every single part of you.

It’s embarrassing fast how the two of you rushed back into the main house. Bursting through like a dam at full capacity with his hands roaming all over you as you kissed. You were floating and you were pretty sure your eyes were dilated to all hell. The inside of the house was a fast blur as you clasped his hand and led him up the stairs to your room.

It wasn't the first time he’d ever been inside but your room was small. Made for one. Chanyeol made your room look like a hermit’s hole. But that didn't matter. Because as soon as you kicked the door shut, your clothes were flying off your body in between kisses that struck your body bolts of lightning. And before you knew it, your back was slammed into the mattress.

Goosebumps pierced through your skin as his fingers came in touch with your naked skin. The sexual tension between the two of you was going to suffocate you but. You. Did. Not. Care. You were suddenly very thankful for your father’s ex-wife, Nau, and how she’d embarrassingly taught you about contraceptives. You’d been steadily taking a local one to help with your period pains. Thank fuck for that.

With a knee on the bed, Chanyeol’s fingers trailed a path from your thighs to your hips to rest like a featherlike band at your ribcage. Your heart wanted to jump out and devour him.

You reached up and undid the piece of string holding his loose pants to his waist with one hand. The other hand was too busy wandering around his chest. Fuck, you moaned louder than you thought possible when his forehead fell against yours. Chanyeol was burning up. Like you but exponentially.

His head shifted into the crook of your shoulder as you began to pump him softly and he groaned so deep that it ricocheted off the walls and it felt like the whole room shook. “Gods, I’m going to die.” His words were accentuated by one of his hands tentatively brushing against your breasts and like he couldn't help it, he splayed his whole fists against them and squeezed.

“If you die, I’ll bring you back,” you said darkly. “You’re not allowed to die.”

Chanyeol smirked slyly down at you. “An honor it would be if I died for you though.”

And then he lowered his head and sucked one of nipples and rolled the bud between his teeth. You didn't think. You couldn't. Your back arched off the bed like a bow ready to release and he didn't stop. He teased one of your breasts with his mouth as he worked the other with his nimble fingers and then he switched. You weren’t going to let him die for you for he was killing you already.

You wanted to cry when he released your bruised tip from his lips but that was nothing compared to the hand teasingly made its way to your clit and ghosted around almost as if to check if you were wet. You were dripping. It wouldn't shock you if you found out you soaked the bed.

Slowly, his hands retracted from your body and gripped the headboard of your bed so hard you saw the veins in his arms bulge and you swore you heard the wood splinter at his fingers just as he pushed into you. He thrust so deep into you that your eyes closed on impulse and you had to hold your breath.

Fuck, you were being split. He was big. Longer and girthier than you’d expected. Gods, you were going to die. His thrusts were slow. Painstakingly. You couldn't breathe. You couldn’t think. You were falling apart on his dick.

“Open your eyes, fatum,” he demanded and you complied without hesitation. “Look at me.”

You thought he was going to go slow for a bit longer as you caught your breath in pants but just as you were getting used to his pace; he hooked one hand across your hip and flexed. He pulled out, shattering fragments of your very soul with him before he slammed back into you with rougher, deeper, and more possessive strokes. He did not move any faster but his rhythm choked you. The force of him broke you down and demanded you submit. And you did, gladly. Without question. You needed him to breathe you like air. You wanted his lips around your whole body all at once. You needed him to not stop. You were on the verge of going cross-eyed with how hard he was fucking you.

His kisses were like savage beasts as he pushed into you. You clasped your legs around his waist and dug him deeper. You could hear yourself whimpering but that couldn't be you. Since when did you whimper?

“Fuck, fuck, Chanyeol.” You sounded like you were praying.

Chanyeol invaded you like an asteroid crashing and yet it felt like you were receiving a gift.

And then his fingers found your core once more and you saw stars dancing in the moonlight as you cried around him. Your whole body trembling from the impact. And like you undid something in him, his whole body tightened as he leaned forward and swallowed your cries with his lips, groaning as he released inside you.

He collapsed on top of you and for a moment you breathed in his intensity. In the silence, there was only the two of you with hearts pounding and mouths panting.

Your stomach caved in when he finally made a move to pull himself out of you. You couldn't even begin to explain the feeling that sparked and ignited in your chest. You’d always believed that sex was just sex. But this was different. Chanyeol pulled you deep into his chest and held you there like you were a piece of his heart.

You didn't realize teardrops had slipped past the corner of your eyes until Chanyeol turned your face to him frantically.

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” He was so concerned it almost made you want to cry even harder.

“Nothing.” That was the problem.

Maybe you had finally crossed the bridge but somewhere you felt that this, whatever this was with Chanyeol wouldn't last. It felt like you were at the starting and breaking point of everything. You had no idea what you meant and you didn't want to tell him anything.

You wanted to be next to him until you couldn't be anymore. That was all you could do anyway.

“Nothing’s wrong,” You repeated.

“Yeah?” He laughed into your forehead as he leaned into your forehead and kissed it softly.

Yeah.

The three months Chanyeol spent with you felt like three years and then some.

It was almost funny how much time the two of you spent outside in the sun because he absolutely hated being inside. And even though your bed was the tiniest thing, somehow the two of you made it work because he no longer slept on the couch.

But then the end of his stay was rapidly approaching and you weren't exactly sure how to bring up the dilemma that had been poisoning your tongue for weeks. Was he going to just leave you? Did he need to go back home? Couldn't you leave with him? You wanted to leave this hole of a town anyway. Sure you would miss Kyungsoo and Nau but you would send them a carrier pigeon or something. If Chanyeol said the word, you would go anywhere.

However, he wasn't saying anything. In fact, it was as if he’d forgotten that he’d told you that he was only supposed to stay here till the end of summer.

As the two of you tested out your fifth set of redone and recalibrated wings at the large expanse behind your house, you decided to just let it out.

“The last day of summer is soon. Would your father still need you?” Now, why did you sound like a textbook? Gods, this was awkward. Why were you even bringing it up when he didn’t? What were you? A masochist?

Chanyeol stopped helping you fasten the body of the wings to your torso. You couldn't put a finger to the emotions flickering across his face. There were so many of them. For the first time, you saw that he was in turmoil.

“You can tell me anything,” You said, turning your body so you could place a hand on his shoulder. “You know that, right?”

He sucked in his lower lip for a moment before he expelled a long breath. And like he usually did, he fixed his eyes up at the sun. But the sun never seemed to hurt him the same way it did you. “I know it’s just…”

“Come on. I’m here in my wings and you still won’t tell me? What if I fly away from you forever?” You meant for it to be a joke. In fact, you’d already pictured the smile that would grace his beautiful face but you were met with restrained anger.

“Don’t say that,” he spat the words out.

Wait, what? Had you said something wrong? What? This was the first time you’d ever seen Chanyeol angry. You never even knew he had the range. But he looked like what you’d said set him off. He looked furious with his eyebrows drawn so close to the center of his face that it resembled one white block. And if you didn't know any better, you’d say it looked like he was angry… at himself.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” You squeezed his shoulder even tighter as if to remind him that you were there.

Chanyeol’s breathing came out hard but it wasn't from physical exertion. You had no idea what you were supposed to do. “You can’t joke about that. I…” words seemed to fail him because his shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes tightly. “What if I leave you? You know I’m not from around here. What if I leave to a place I can’t come back from? What if I’m never able to come down here again? What if — ”

He cut himself off abruptly and shrugged off your hand. Something ugly and vile twisted in your belly.

“We can go together?” You proposed even though it felt like your gut was being shredded. “If you can't come back here, I’ll just come with you. I can build stuff anywhere. It doesn't have to be here.”

Sorrow. That was the look that washed over Chanyeol’s face like a dark cloud. You couldn't understand what was going on but you were trying to. Where you not allowed where he was from? Maybe it was like a gendered village? That was okay, you could hide or something… You weren't exactly sure what you would do but you were smart. You’d find something. Anything.

“You can’t come.”

“Well, why not?”

“Because you would die, [y/n],” He didn’t, couldn't, look at you. “If you follow me back. You won’t be able to make it because you would die. You can’t die for me. I will not allow it.” His resolve was strong and cutting but he would not look at you.

Your words. He was throwing your words back at you but… “Where is your home, Chanyeol?” You asked the one question you should have asked the first day you met him. Gods, you were so stupid!

“You.”

Funny, a simple word was like a knife being stabbed into your heart. Emotions bubbled up to your lips, so many that you thought you were suffocating. Your heart was begging you to just stop. Ignorance was bliss. Whatever Chanyeol was, it was not peace.

“Where is your home?” You weren't screaming but it felt like your throat was parched and scrubbed raw.

And when he finally looked up from the ground, you thought for the last time that he was a prince. No, a King.

He did not speak but he lifted a hand that you had numerous memories of fitting yours into the sky and pointed to the glaring sun. And you did not understand but you immediately knew and you hated it. And at this very moment in time, you hated him. You wanted to push him and pull him closer to you at the same time.

You looked up at the sun and you had half the heart to spit at it.

“Please tell me I did not fall in love with a piece of the sun.” Your bottom lip quivered and you hated that too. “You’re human. You don’t belong to the gods. I know you, Chanyeol. You're not… you can’t be from there.”

You were holding in your tears like they were the end of the world. To you it was. You won't cry. You dared not to. This wasn't happening. Crying made it real. Crying meant your heart was breaking right unto the sandy floor under your feet in your very own backyard. On your turf.

From your gaze at the ground, you saw as Chanyeol’s bare feet scuffled away from you till he was a good seven feet away. What was up with this stupid distance?

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” There was no way he was crying but was that a hitch you heard in his voice? You raised your head to check and you almost laughed.

The two of you were way too alike for your own good.

There he was; standing prickly straight as he sucked in his breath so much that his chest brazenly prodded his loose shirt. And you couldn't hate him. Not when he was struggling through the same thing as you. He was the only one that understood and he was doing his best to not fall apart in front of you. And you didn’t even need to see them to know that he was holding back his emotions with an iron fist that was cracking.

“Don't apologize. You didn’t lie to me. You were honest. I just didn't understand. You said some very weird things but that was you. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I thought it didn't.”

“But if I go Father…” he tore his gaze to the side but quickly brought it back to you. “I don’t know what he would do. Gods’ are a bit bitchy, you know?” He smiled half wry, half in irony.

You let out a sound in between a cry and a laugh. “That’s fine. We’ll work it out. We’ll — ”

You never got to complete your sentence. Like a novel that did not have an ending, you watched as, in the bright light of noon, Chanyeol was struck with a bolt of light so bright that you had to close your eyes for a second and throw your hands up blindly. The heat was scorching even from this distance. And when you opened your eyes as fast as you possibly could, you realized that the light was from him.

It was then that you understood everything.

Chanyeol was the sun. Not a part of it. Not a piece. It was his being. His core. His very sense of self.

But why did he look so terrified?

“What’s going on?” You screamed at him as he maniacally clawed at his skin like he was on fire. But the sun could not burn, could it?

“I do not know!” He looked at you and his terror became your own.

Something was wrong. Something was happening and you didn't know how to stop it. You wanted to hug him but when you made a move to him, he screamed raw bloody for you to not take a single step. You were in between a rock and a fiery place.

“You can’t come next to me, [y/n].” He was in pain. You felt in from the curl of your hair to the leather of your boots. “I can't control what’s going on. But I’m okay. I don’t know what’s wrong but I’ll be okay, yeah?”

Chanyeol was combusting. He was burning out right in front of you and he wanted you to stand still? Fuck that. Fuck everything. You loved him. You would do anything. You were going to hold him down to this world even if you had to give up your hands that you loved so much.

However, all of a sudden Chanyeol tilted his head and you swore you saw the moment he communicated with whoever was above because he looked furious for one second, and the very next he shot you a calming smile. Like you mattered. Like he was trying to placate you in all this.

You were running before you couldn't think about it.

And your hand was reaching out to him with every breath you had and just as your fingers clutched the fabric of his blazing shirt, you felt the warmth he released close around you. It cradled you through your pain. It felt safe. It felt like you were dying. It felt like forever.

Instantly, there was a loud boom, a bang and then the hottest rush of air that blew past you like a caress.

Your palm was burned. His love burned. You were wailing at the world. You hated everything. You loved him so much. Your palm was bleeding. GODS, EVERYTHING HURT. Make it stop, you were begging. Please. I’d do anything Please. The pain was making you scream like a bitch.

You didn’t know what to do. You wanted to die. You wanted to be reborn. But the world did not give second chances. You were going to pry it out with your scorned hand and strangle your chance out. You were going to beat your destiny with a stick. You vowed it. As you cried out in pain, you promised that you would break every rule. You won't wait. You’ll fly.

Kyungsoo was the one to find you.

Passed out, dehydrated and bruised in more ways than one. But you were a phoenix that was born out of the ashes.

You knew a part of you was gone as Chanyeol was taken from you. Your emotions were all over the place. One minute you were unfeeling and the very next an overwhelming sense of rage inflamed your body. You wanted to burn the very ground you walked on. You rummaged through your room until you found the tiny piece of him you had left. His white gold headband. You made Kyungsoo tie it ‘round your head and you never took it off.

It did not help that your palm took longer than three weeks to heal. It was an ugly scar. But it reminded you of him so, when you slept at night, you gritted through the pain and the memories and held the palm close to your chest. Right over your heart. It was fitting.

And by the time your palm had healed enough, it felt like you’d aged a thousand years. Kyungsoo could not understand what was going on and you refused to talk. If you told him, he would only discourage you. And you would truly lose your mind if someone told you what you could and could not do.

But your friend was right there. He never left. Even when you were mean, he still hoped that one day he won't need to drop food outside of your bedroom door because you would not come downstairs. How where you supposed to sit at that table and not see the ghost of Chanyeol falling over the chair as he laughed like a bear?

Maybe someday you would get better. Today was not that day.

For the first time in ages, you walked into your workshop and inhaled. It was time to work.

You built and rebuilt your wings from scratch. The wooden ones never got off the ground, not even for a second. The metal one almost sawed off your arm completely but you never gave up. You were restless and you couldn’t sleep. When you slept you saw him and your hand burning. You were plagued by it. It hurt, so you did not do it anymore. Sleep only came when you were exhauseted.

The hybrid wings weren’t beautiful. A mismatch of wood and alloy. But when you jumped off the roof of the tiny shed at the back of the house. You flew. Or maybe the right word is floated. You floated for a good thirty seconds before you landed painfully on bloody knees.

“Fuck,” you spat.

Your knees hurt but it took your mind away from the present. You had to come up with something fast, You had to do something before you ran out of gas, before you burned out.

Perhaps that is why from the dregs of your mind you remembered something your father had done when you were younger.

When you were nine, you stepped into your father’s workshop for the first time. It was hot as if the middle of the earth was right there in the basement. And when you walked in, after banal arguments about safety with your father, he let you watch him as he created the greatest thing known to man.

Your father had been creating wings.

He’d never completed it and you’d been so young that it didn’t matter to you that he never did. But now as you rush back down the steps into your basement, you wonder if maybe this is fate. Maybe fate wasn't something spontaneous but rather a series of unfortunate events that we only hoped ended in less pain.

You pushed open the back door within the basement that led to your father’s workshop. You hadn't set foot in here since he’d died. It smelled like him. You wondered if he was watching you right now. You wondered if he thought you were a bit too stupid.

It took a while to find it beneath the layers of dust and junk but when you found it, you sighed in relief. It wasn't made from metal or wood or even a combination from the two. But wax. The frame of the left-wing was nonexistent while the right-wing looked like it had melted. None of that registered and that was how it became your new project.

“You need to eat,” Kyungsoo said as he brought a plate of sandwiches out to you.

Days had passed since you’d started working on the wings and for the first time in a long time, you felt hopeful. Not happy but somewhere in between. You’d poured blood and sweat into molding the wax into the right frame and meticulously preserving the feathers.

You picked one of the sandwiches and bit into it. These days you hated working inside. “Thank you.”

“You'd tell me if you were doing something risky, right?” Kyungsoo eyed the wax suspiciously.

Shrugging, you stuffed the rest of the bread in your mouth. You couldn't give him the answer he wanted so you pretended not to hear. You knew he was angry and you knew it wasn't fair. But you were angrier. Kyungsoo didn't understand. You were going to fly. You had to. You fucking had to get up there.

It took longer than you wanted but when you were done, your wings were perfect.

They looked perfect and you just knew that it wasn't going to let you down. It wasn't going to break. Wax wasn't like wood after all. You were drunk on the feeling of sunshine. It felt like for the first time in months you could breathe. You did not wait for another day.

It was already the middle of Fall. The sun was out but it wouldn't be there for much longer. Sunset was fast approaching.

You climbed up the roof of the shed with the new set of wings attached tightly to your back. You wondered if Chanyeol was looking down at you right now. You wondered if he could see. You hoped he did. You stood on the ledge of the roof and let the wind build and rest before you took a breath.

You prayed and then you jumped.

And like in your dreams, you flew. And it was glorious. It was like the wings were your very arms. Your body — your invention — defied physics, defied the very aspects of anatomy. But you were flying through cloud nine at breakneck speed. You were gliding and nimbly twisting through a bright orange sky. It was so beautiful. You had tears in your eyes.

The wind whipped your face painfully as you pushed your wings up and up and then some more. You couldn't hear anything and to be quite honest, you could not see anything either.

You followed the blinding light in front of you like an addict. You wondered if the townsfolk down below could see you. You didn't care.

You kept flying, even when you got tired. Even when your arms begged you to stop because any more and they would break, you pushed. You pushed yourself until you entered a wave of encompassing heat that instantly reminded of you that day. You were so close. Your heart felt like a match in your chest and as the temperature rose, it struck and lit.

In your drunkenness, you swore you saw Chanyeol. He was right there and you were going to reach him. Tears were falling out of your eyes without pause. You’d been reborn not as a phoenix but as a river.

And just as your body felt the pressures of being burnt alive you suddenly felt nothing. Like you were nothing but a speck in the universe. You were nothing and everything at the same time. You were not sure how long you spent in the state but the next thing you knew, you were falling.

No, plummeting. You were being thrown back to earth in a ball of fire.

You were screaming. Your wings were on fire and… the wax was melting. You’d come so close and you still couldn't make it. Your dream was sifting through your empty hands. You couldn't believe it. You were falling so fast that soon enough all you saw around you was crisped air and shattered reality.

Your body was burned. Physically and mentally. Your soul was leaving your body and you knew that you won't survive this. Who could? You were going to die screaming.

It must have been a second before your body engraved itself into the dirt when you felt hot hands cradle your battered body. You were weak and you were tired but he was like a siren. He called and you answered. You fought and he appeared.

It must have been fate that you had been the first one he’d met. He was your bright and warm star.

“You idiot,” he cried as boiling tears landed like rain on your dried, desert-like face. “I was coming to you. I was coming. I was coming. I was coming.” He held you into his chest, injuries and all be damned, as he cried.

If you could smile you would but it hurt just to wheeze. “Because you love me?”

“More than anything. More than anyone.”

And you loved him back. Love was not guaranteed at all, you knew that, but he was the reflection of your soul. He had a part of you wrapped around his heart like a vice. You won't let go. You tied him ephemerally to this world and he connected you to the largest star of them all. You could feel his soul like it was a breathing thing.

“Then I go wherever you go.”

He pulled you away from his body and through your slitted eyes, you saw the most beautiful man. The man who wore the sun like a coat. The man who reminded you of gods and how weak mortals were next to them. You’d flown into the flames and he was here.

“No, I need you to understand.” Chanyeol’s lips were moving in a way that told you he was serious. But it dawned on you then that in his arms, the burns did not hurt. It was like licks on your skin. “You are the greatest star of my universe. You are all of it.”

You understood. “And I would fall again and again. It’s all or nothing with you, Chanyeol. Do you understand?”

Maybe he did because he hooked his face into your shoulder and let out a laugh. It was rusty. He hadn't laughed in ages but it felt right. His soul had fallen down to earth first, and he had come right after. He had been searching for you for a long time, for such a long time that he had forgotten. To him, you were like the vast space beyond the sun.

You’d flown to him, even if it killed you. Nothing else mattered after that.

“You. I came down for you. I was sent to you. I am sorry, so sorry, that it took me so long to reach back down.”

At first, you did not know what the hell he was talking about. Several minutes passed before you did. And that was when you grinned as tears poured from your eyes.

He finally knew.

a/n: ahh if you made it down here, thank you. im so happy you read this and i hope you enjoyed it, and yes i cried while i wrote this. i have been wanting to do this since i listened to Zayn’s 2018 Icarus Falls album. and i hope i actually did my imagination justice. pls dont hesitate to tell me what you think! :)

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