#because i’m clearly not gonna be alone in only watching rage at new year
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danielnelsen · 11 months ago
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the one time of the year i end up sitting here watching rage for a few hours lmao
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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 9 months ago
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started watching the new live action avatar
it’s. It’s pretty ok I guess? But there’s a lot of things I’m not altogether happy about. It feels very. Generic. Which is kind of sad.
I’m only two episodes in though, so I won’t be too harsh. But there are a few things that I really don’t like, and number one was Aang going into the Avatar State in front of Sokka and Katara for the first time when seeing Monk Gyatso instead of when escaping Zuko, and that moment being isolated instead of the moment everyone in the world knew the Avatar had returned
in the original series, Aang goes into the Avatar State when confronted by irrefutable proof in the form of the skeleton of his best friend and mentor - the airbenders really were massacred and he can no longer deny it.
every statue of the Avatar around the globe lights up in a single moment. the legendary figure’s destined return is announced to the world by an overwhelming outpouring of grief and rage from a young child who just discovered that everyone he ever knew and loved is gone. it’s poignant. the Avatar’s return in that moment is not a triumph. that terrifying show of strength and power, enough to light up the world in its glow, is pure emotional anguish from a small twelve year old, who just saw the dead body of his mentor and now believes he is all alone
and Katara and Sokka having seen the Avatar State before means that there is less of the shock and “what is happening” in this pivotal scene (which was the main focus in the live action). of course Sokka is still concerned about them potentially getting flung off the mountain. but both of them know this reaction for what it is - mysterious power, sure, but primarily, they see and recognize his grief.
I just. what happened to “we’re your family now” and “neither of us are gonna let anything happen to you”??? :(
on a side note, I do feel like Katara and Sokka themselves have been heavily (heh) watered down. it’s a shame. Sokka’s my favourite, and I just think that I. Don’t trust writers with Katara now. (Why is her waterbending a secret? The whole reason she didn’t learn was because there was no one to teach her and she couldn’t leave… also where is her instant connection with Aang… where is their silliness… where did it go…)
however! I did like a couple things that were done and I want to be a bit positive so here
love Zuko and Suki’s actors. they did a great job
Sokka and Suki’s training together was cute ☺️ (though I wish he had worn the uniform of the Kyoshi Warriors…)
Aang himself is adorable :) (wish he got to be a little more silly but Netflix adaptations always are more serious for some reason)
I actually kind of enjoyed getting to see some of the scenes from the war’s outbreak. I prefer the way the original show portrays it, with a lot of info being learned reverse chronologically, but it was cool to see Sozin, and some of the airbenders, and a little more of Gyatso (who I also really enjoyed :’) )
Katara bending water at Aang and it reducing to them splashing each other without even trying to bend. Rare sillies!
I thought Kyoshi herself coming to defend her island was pretty sweet!!!
Katara getting flashbacks to her mother’s death on seeing firebending. Well I don’t like this, obviously, but it clearly shows how her mother’s death haunts her, and if they have Katara face off against Zuko again at the North Pole, it’ll be all the more triumphant.
Suki’s mom!!! Damn she was so cool!!!!!!
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sortasirius · 4 years ago
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“Unity” and the Broken Boys
BOY Y’ALL BETTER SIT DOWN BECAUSE THIS IS AS LONG AS CAN BE AND I TOOK OFF WORK TOMORROW SO I’VE GOT TIME
This is....one of the best episodes in the show.  Yeah, in all 325 of them, this is hands down one of the best.
First of all, stan Amara for clear skin.
That silent treatment babey, right out the gate with the Angst.  Tbh Dean deserves it.
“Like I said, killing Amara, Jack dying...that’s the only way.”
“The only way.  Our one shot.  Our Last chance.  You ever get tired of saying stuff like that?”
“We don’t have to like it, alright?  But you and me, we gotta get it done.”
Amara is such a welcome energy in this whole episode.  She’s warm and understanding, whip-smart and probably more powerful than Chuck.  I love her.
Sam is a wonderful, understanding, loving dad.  I love him eternally.  He loves Jack so much, he’s trying so desperately to do what’s right for Jack but also what’s right for the world.  Jack made this choice, but he can’t live with it.  How do you support your child when their life is at stake?
“Come on man.  Blindly following orders, lying to Amara, sending her to her death. Does any of this feel right to you??”
“It doesn’t matter how we feel!  You know what?  Stay.  Stay.  Someone has to be the grown up here.”
“Yeah well someone has to keep fighting for Jack!”
“He knows what he signed up for!”
“Last I checked, we don’t give up on family.”
“Jack’s not family.”
Y’all should have heard the noise I made.  What a fucking line.
“I know how you feel about the kid, I care for him too, I do, but he’s not like you.  He’s not like Cas.  He’s just not.”
“I’m- I’m ready.”
You can see the regret, the heartbreak in Dean’s eyes.  You can see how he wants to take those words back the moment he said them, and for Jack to hear them?  It’s unthinkable.
Sam and Cas I’m just so fucking emo dude.
“Sam, you stayed behind to find another way huh?  I woulda done the same.”
AMARA
First of all, LOVE this structure.
Amara and Chuck have such a fascinating dynamic.  Rob and Emily do a great job (as they have all along) by clearly being siblings but...heightened.  You can just tell they both exude power, and the other is the only one they consider an equal.
“You and Dean had that whole weird...thing.”
“That wasn’t you writing?”
“Ugh, not that part.  Gross.”
What I took away from this is what I’ve suspected all along.  They HAVE free will, just not total free will.  Dean and Amara’s connection wasn’t Chuck, there are parts of the story he didn’t write.  Obviously, this comes into play later. 
I also have a hunch that Chuck doesn’t write romance.  I also think that in particular will come into play.
“Balance.  Something we’ve never tried before.  Creation and destruction, light and dark, brother and sister united again, but on behalf of one world, this world.  True balance.  The way it was always meant to be.  But you can’t.  You only care about your pleasure, your story.  Well, I guess that makes you the villain.”
“Villains get all the best lines.”
We see again and again this season, Chuck is irredeemable.  He doesn’t care about the angels, he doesn’t care about the world, he doesn’t care about anything.  He is a petulant toddler who has broken his toys. And when he realizes he’s trapped, he gets angry, he shouts and screams, completely at odds with Amara’s peace.
“You can’t hold me here forever.”
“I can hold you long enough.”
DEAN
Pain is the name of the game in this section homies.  Because not only are we dealing with Dean’s pain, we’re also dealing with Jack’s.  Jack says he understands why Cas and Sam mean more to Dean, but Dean clearly doesn’t, he, once again, wants to say more, but is stopped, still stopped by his fear: his fear of not beating Chuck.
Alright guys, gals, and non-binary pals.  Let’s talk about Adam and Seraphina.
Adam.  The first man.  And Seraphina.  The angel.
“My old lady.  She’s the only one who could put up with me all these years.”
Yeah okay.  Volume at 100 I get it lmao.
But also: Adam wants God dead not because he and Eve were kicked out of the Garden, but because he went after their sons.  The theme of protecting the children strikes again.
“Killing God is your plan?”
“Yeah, Billie’s been giving us a hand but Sera and me, this is our baby.”
This juxtaposed directly with Dean’s own pain at what he has to do to kill Chuck, to gain his free will: the cost of his child.
Adam’s rib.
And who else might get his ribs hurt, only to be likely healed by an angel?
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It’s fine, that’s fine.  I’m fine with that.
“Jack, I don’t know how to explain it but, when I found out about Chuck, it’s like I wasn’t alive.  Not really.  You know like my whole life I’ve never been free, but like really free.  But now?  Now me and Sam, we got a shot at living a life, without all this crap on our backs.  And that’s, that’s because of you.  So, I want to say, I need to say...thank you, Jack.  Thank you.”
I’m gonna have to do a separate post about just Dean in this episode, because there is so fucking much to talk about, but there are a couple of things that I think are important:  Dean realizes how wrong he was, to say what he said.  He knows that it’s not true, this is the way he’s always coped with loss, by pushing the person to be lost away, but for Jack to hear it?  He can’t stand for that.
And:
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Dean has finally pushed through the barrier.  He won’t be quiet in the face of his doubts anymore.  This is a breakthrough for him, and, of course, there are more to come.
SAM
Sam and Cas, my chaos duo.
The box, the inscription, the door.
Death’s library, filled with dead reapers.
And there it is.  The Empty.
It tells Sam the plan, the plan for Billie to take God’s place.  For everything to go back to the way it’s “supposed to be.”
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This has always been the game, since season 13.  This is the longest of long games.
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Sam fuckin Winchester, lying his way out of a confrontation with the Empty like the legend that he is.
He comes back with a new purpose: to stop Billie’s plan, and here’s where we get to the heart of the episode and maybe the heart of the season.
“You hear that?  Dean, brought to the edge of doubt.  His sense of duty, his rage winning out in the end.  And poor Sam, always gotta know everything.  Can’t leave well enough alone.  This is my ending, my real ending.”
The gun comes out, pointed at Sam.
Hmm...what did I say during 15x05?  Oh yeah, this.
And:
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Dean would never survive killing Sam, but he’s willing to do anything, anything to earn his freedom.  His ending, where one brother kills the other and then kill himself.
Why, you might ask, did Sam not mention that the angels would be sent back to Heaven, why does he not mention Cas?  I’ll tell you why, or rather, Becky will.
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Plus, Dean looks back at Cas IMMEDIATELY when Sam says that, when he mentions Eileen, and THAT’S the first time he hesitates.  He can’t lose Cas.  But at the same time, he’s willing to do anything to have his freedom.
“Sam we don’t have a choice, Jack’s about to blow!”
“We always have a choice!”
You know me, just sitting here thinking about choice, the ability to choose, and how that translates to their free will.
And Sam...I don’t think there will ever be characters I love as much as these.
“I don’t care if Billie gets what she wants!  I don’t man, I’d trade it all, I’d trade em all for Chuck.  In a heartbeat!”
“What about me?”
“You’d trade me?”
“Chuck has to die.  He has to!  Otherwise he’ll keep us tap dancing forever, and I can’t live like that man, I can’t live like that, I won’t!”
“I know you feel like that right now, okay? I know you do, but you gotta trust me.  My entire life, you’ve protected me.  From Dad, from Lucifer, from everything.  I didn’t always like it, you know?  But it’s the one thing in the whole world that I could always count on.  It’s the only thing I’ve ever known that was true.  So please, put the gun away.  Just put it away.  We’ll figure it out, Dean, we’ll find another way, you and me.  We always do.”
Okay I feel like this is going to be one of those scenes that I cry watching for years to come.  Because fuck.  After fifteen years they finally admit that not only did Dean protect Sam from Lucifer, but he protected him from John.  John.  On a par with Lucifer.
Dean and Sam have, for so many years, sacrificed themselves for the other.  Dean’s demon deal, Sam and the trials, every season they have fought to see who can die the quickest for the other.  But this?  This is them fighting to stop the violence, to stop from killing the big bad.  This is them growing, in our eyes, in real time.  Sam has always been able to get through to Dean when no one else had a prayer, but for Dean to listen, for Dean to take his words to heart, to stop the hunt for Sam, for their family, that’s how you know they do have free will.
(Btw Chuck’s eye effect when he dusted Amara was sick as fuck but I’m emo for my boys so.)
Chuck knows it’s a loss, he knows that his story has, once again, been thwarted by the boys making their own choices.  And he’s pissed, but in his anger, we get a bomb dropped on us.
“Spare me your contempt Castiel, the self-hating angel of Thursday.  You know what every other version of you did after “gripping him tight and raising him from perdition”?  They did what they were told.  But not you.  Not the one off the line with a crack in his chassis.”
Are you fucking kidding me?
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Also, just worth bringing up this one as well:
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Every Castiel pulled Dean out of Hell.  Every one told him the same thing.  And yet, immediately, with this Cas and this Dean, something was different.  Because what has everyone seen about Cas, from the moment he met Dean?
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And there’s our endgame people.  Laid out on the line.
But we ain’t done yet, fam.
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We’ve talked about the handprint, but you know:
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So there you have it, our prep into the “monumental” 15x18.  I have spec on that, of course, but I think a novel is long enough for this.
What to take away: Dean’s rage was always Chuck’s plan, they do have free will, their love for each other, for their family, is what will stop Chuck’s control, Death is about to come back with a vengeance, Cas’ deal is at play, and, most importantly, Castiel and Dean Winchester are a blind spot for Chuck, something he has never, not once, controlled.
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pastelwitchling · 3 years ago
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Kyle talks to Michael about Alex.
Kyle had had a strange pain in his chest since he’d accepted the surgeon’s offer, but as he stepped into the Wild Pony and saw Alex at their usual table, looking everywhere at once and tapping his fingers on his beer bottle, clearly uncomfortable with being alone, it was like a window suddenly opened to his heart.
A smile tugged at his lips. Alex saw him and smiled himself, raising a hand in greeting.
As Kyle slid into the booth, he said, “I have a raging headache in four corners of my mind, and only one of them is from my hospital shifts.”
Alex huffed a chuckle. “I get the feeling.”
“Right,” he nodded. “I keep forgetting that you’re in the club, too.”
“The club?”
“The We’re-Pretty-Much-On-Call-All-The-Time-Because-Someone-Always-Needs-Something Club.”
“Ah,” Alex leaned back in his seat, and handed Kyle the second bottle he’d ordered. “That club. It’s not so bad, being useful.”
He raised a brow. “That bad? I thought you liked your new job.”
“‘Liked’ may be a strong a word,” he confessed. “It’s definitely interesting.”
“And your boss?”
He sighed. “I’m still trying to crack him. What about you? Have you heard back from that hospital in California?”
Kyle looked down, and huffed a chuckle. “I think you’re the only one that’s asked me that. Come to think of it, I think you’re the only friend I have that doesn’t just call me for rescue.”
Alex’s smile dimmed. “So you have heard from them.”
He nodded. “And I accepted their offer.”
Alex said nothing, and Kyle looked up, expecting disappointment. But Alex wasn’t looking at him. He was staring off into the crowd of cowboys drinking by the pool table, his lips pursed, his brows furrowed.
“Do you hate me?”
“I’m sad,” he confessed, the corner of his lips tugged up in a soft smile. “I’ll miss you.”
Kyle felt a lump in his throat. For two days, he’d been deliberating his choices, wondering if it was the right thing to do. Everyone here, after all, needed him for one thing or another. He was worried he’d be letting people down. But Alex . . .
“Are you disappointed?”
He shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he hesitated, “I’m the resident alien doctor. What’re are they going to do if I’m not here?”
Alex raised a brow like it was obvious. “Manage.”
“Come on, Alex,” his shoulders fell. “You can’t fool me into thinking that you don’t care what happens to Michael.”
“All I’ve ever cared about is Michael,” he said simply, without doubt or pause. “But they’re not alone. I’m here, Liz is here. And you’ve done enough.”
“But you’ve always advocated for – for friendship, and being there for the people you love!”
“And you have been,” Alex chuckled. “And you will be. You’re moving to another state, not another planet. If it gets really bad, and I really can’t think of anything else, I’ve got your number.”
Kyle clenched his jaw. “But –”
“Kyle,” he leaned in, smiling. His eyes were glassy. “Take it from someone who built a career out of the military, and moved on. It’s time to tap out.”
Kyle didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have another argument, not with Alex’s eyes and words so sincere. Alex shrugged. “It’ll just be Roswell’s loss.”
He stared, searching for any sign of mockery or sugarcoating. But this was Alex. He didn’t lie, not for anyone.
He opened his mouth to speak, found the words lodged in his throat, then tried again. He really hadn’t realized how badly he’d needed Alex’s permission.
“Coming from you, Manes,” he confessed, “that means everything.”
 On his way home that night, and after a hug from Alex and a promise that he would come over the next day to help him start packing, Kyle realized there was one more thing he couldn’t leave without doing. One last duty that he owed his best friend.
So instead of going straight home, he turned a road and into the junkyard. Michael Guerin sat in front of the bonfire with a beer in hand, that stupid hat on his head, and raised a disinterested brow at Kyle as he stepped out.
“Well,” he said, “this is a surprise. The good doctor needs something from little old me?”
“Actually,” Kyle said, “yeah, I do.” Michael just stared, and he shrugged. “More of an order, actually.”
Michael started to smirk and leaned forward on his knees. “You’re gonna give me orders.”
“Just one,” Kyle said, hands in his pockets. He supposed he should’ve been more hesitant, more afraid. Michael, after all, was a dangerous loose wire even when he was sober, and he’d been on edge for whatever reason for the past few days.
But then Kyle remembered the dark circles around Alex’s eyes, the slight twitch of his fingers, the way he seemed to be struggling with the weight of Deep Sky and everything that came with it on his shoulders. And Michael. Always Michael.
“I need you to look after Alex.”
Michael’s smirk faltered. “Pardon me?”
“You heard me, Guerin,” he sighed, not in the mood to play back-and-forth. Not anymore. “Look after Alex. He’s not okay.”
That got Michael’s attention, and his eye twitched. “What’s wrong with him?”
Kyle tilted his head. “Oh I don’t know, why don’t you ask him? Or is it only that Alex is allowed to help you, and never the other way around?”
He stood. “Watch it, Valenti.”
“I have been,” he said. “For the past couple of years, I have been careful around you, Guerin, because part of me knew that whatever you broke in Alex, I can just fix. But I’m leaving town, and honestly? I’m scared for him. He’d never ask for help, but there has to be someone who cares enough about him to offer it anyway.”
Michael clenched his jaw and swallowed. “And you think that’s me?”
“I need it to be,” Kyle admitted, “because Alex doesn’t want anyone else.” Michael’s face fell. “He’s never wanted anyone else. So it’s either you, or I find some way to take him with me.”
Michael’s eyes flared, but Kyle held up a hand to silence him. “I’m not, Guerin, but I would. I can’t leave him here alone knowing he’s just going to keep being used.”
“I don’t use Alex,” he growled.
“No?” Kyle scoffed. “Did you know that he left the Air Force just last week?”
Michael looked like he’d been shot.
“With full honors?” he went on. “Did you know that he’s been recruited by the same secret organization that shot Max and drugged Jenna? Or that he’s already been given a mission? Do you have any idea how exhausted he is?”
When Michael didn’t answer, apparently too consumed with taking in all of this information, Kyle shook his head.
“You wouldn’t, would you? Because it’s all about you, all the time.” He shrugged. “Alex doesn’t mind, so why should you?” He shook his head, already starting to walk back to his car. “He deserves better than that.”
Leaving Michael standing in the desert, Kyle got into his car and drove away, finally feeling like he’d wiped the slate clean with his best friend.
*
Michael didn’t know why he was here. He walked the length of Alex’s porch, waiting for Alex, not having a clue as to where he could be. He realized there’d been a lot of that since that year away dismantling Project Shepherd. He had less and less to do with Alex, and it gave him a headache beyond anything else had.
How could he not know where Alex was? How could he not have asked? How did Kyle know?
Because Kyle pays attention to Alex, a voice in his head scorned. You don’t.
Michael clenched his jaw, still a little tipsy from his self-loathing beers, and ran his fists through his curls. Alex’s porch started to upend itself, the hardwood floors battling against the nails keeping them down, and Michael gasped, settling everything back in its place.
Just then, Michael caught a pair of headlights and squinted only for a second before Alex parked and turned off the car.
His heart started to rattle and his breaths came out quicker at the sight of Alex in his flannel and jeans. He missed him. He had no idea how badly he had until he’d come back, until he got to talk to him that first night a few days ago – drunk then, too – but he missed him. He missed him every second he was away, and somehow missed him more when he was here.
Alex had a brow raised, but Michael was studying his face. He saw it clearly now. The dark shadows under his eyes, his hollow cheeks, his hair sticking up in perfect, messy strands like he’d been running his hands through them all day, his stubble. How could he have not noticed?
“Uh oh,” Alex sighed at the look on his face. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
Michael swallowed. Right, he thought. Because Alex only thought he showed up when he needed something.
He pushed past the ever-present lump in his throat and asked, “Why would something be wrong, Private?” He purposely used the nickname. “Can’t I just come say hi?”
Alex glanced down at the word Private, and back up again. He smiled and moved past Michael to open his door. “Not in my experience. Seriously” – he stood by the door, and nudged Michael inside – “what’s wrong?”
Michael didn’t budge, still smirking though it felt hollow. “Why didn’t you tell me about the Air Force?”
Alex looked startled that Michael knew. Did he really just never expect Michael to care about what was going on with him at all?
He shrugged. “It – uh – it was recent. Who told you? Max?”
Michael stared, then started to chuckle incredulously. “Did everyone but me know?”
Alex was not humoring him. “I told Greg and Kyle. They’ve both been spending time with Maria, and she’s been spending time with Max, I figured one of them must’ve mentioned it to her, and she must’ve mentioned it to him – look, would you please just come inside?”
Michael’s laughter faded and he pressed his lips together. He was still smiling, but his eyes burned. Alex seemed to realize he wouldn’t move on his own, and he gently took Michael’s jacket sleeve, tugging him in.
Once they were both in the living room, Alex set to work on a pot of tea. As he handed Michael a mug, Michael saw the light glimmering off a silver ring on his finger. His brows furrowed.
“That’s new.”
“Oh,” Alex glanced at it. “Yeah. So –”
“Wasn’t that the same ring Long had?”
“Yep.”
Alex was clearly avoiding his eyes. Michael was relentless, a burning in his chest forcing the words out.
“He gave it to you?”
“No,” Alex said. “This one’s mine.”
“Is this about that secret organization you joined?” Michael demanded. “Or was that recent, too?”
Alex smiled as he straightened, understanding dawning. “So Kyle told you. No wonder you’re wound so tight.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning it’s one thing when my own brother knows a secret about me before you do,” Alex said, taking a seat at the end of the couch. “But Kyle knowing it first?” He scoffed and shook his head.
Michael leaned forward, glaring. “So I’m jealous,” he spat. “So what? Why does Kyle get to know more about you than I do?”
“He’s my best friend,” Alex said simply. “We just talk about ourselves around each other.”
“But you don’t talk about yourself to me.”
“Not usually,” Alex agreed.
“Why?” he demanded. “I’m more important?”
“Yes,” he said simply, and Michael clenched his jaw.
“That’s really what you think of me?”
“I think the world of you, Michael,” he said, and Michael faltered. “You’re everything to me.” He smiled. “You think I don’t tell you about what I’m doing because I don’t think you care? I don’t tell you because you’re all I care about. I was going to tell you about the Air Force, I swear, just . . . not yet.” He looked down at his hands, his thumb rubbing the backs of his fingers. “Some of this stuff hurts to talk about, and I just don’t . . . I don’t want to think about it yet.”
Michael’s brows furrowed. “You’re . . . sad about leaving the military?”
He scoffed halfheartedly, slumping against the couch. “My whole life was the military. I had a family. Now I . . . don’t. I just need a minute to adapt.”
Michael tried to consider that, to be sympathetic, but he couldn’t be. For one obvious reason.
“But I’m your family.”
Alex huffed a laugh, and sniffled. He nodded. “I know.” He exhaled shakily, glancing at Michael, then stretched his arms high above his head. Michael was so distracted with his shirt riding up and revealing smooth, delicious skin that he didn’t notice Alex was lying down until his head was on his lap.
Michael froze, not knowing what to do.
“Hold still,” Alex murmured, his eyes already closed. “I haven’t slept in days and I’m exhausted.”
Slowly, Michael set a hand down on Alex’s waist, the other in his hair. His own heart hammered when Alex’s body melted under his touch and he seemed, for the first time since he’d seen him back, relaxed.
He leaned back on the couch, unable and unwilling to look away from Alex. “Then sleep, Private,” he whispered. “I’ll keep you safe.”
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asset35-maya · 3 years ago
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I am sleepy but I gotta make a request before the busy tomorrow so 2 things on my mind! Sleepy and the 'oh my god they were roomates' vine xD with any characters and aus I love everything you write anyways xD Happy timezones and best vibes your way >^<!! 💖💞💕💕
Oh my god, they were roommates…
//
“The rental market in Detroit is absolute shit! How dare these bloodsuckers charge such high rates for the most under-developed properties! This city��s going to the dogs!”
“Uh-huh.”
“You have to pay your own weight in gold just to live in a shoebox for a year. Nonsense!”
“Uh…”
“Are you even listening to me, Tina!
Tina?
Goddamnit Tina!”
Gavin thumped his fist on her desk, but Tina’s eyes barely flicked up from her phone.
“Oh my god, you sound like my grandpa…”
Gavin turned red and his brain buzzed with a thousand colourful retorts. He was just about to pick one when Tina stopped scrolling and turned her phone screen towards him.
CYBERSCALIA @ NEW JERICHO
The suburban paradise for executive androids and humans alike. Located 25 minutes drive from downtown Detroit, with a full amenities.
Gavin’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He balked at her.
“You’re joking? How could I possibly…?”
“Get with the times, boomer…”
Tina lazily skimmed her thumb over the screen. The webpage promised plenty of greenery, good infrastructure and modest but spacious rooms. The extremely reasonable price tag was Gavin’s dream come true. He’d spent weeks apartment hunting in the wake of an early lease termination by his cantankerous landlord. Gavin knew he’d never find a better deal.
“Shit, this is so good, T! Why the phck does it have to be in that- that place!”
His friend arched a sceptical eyebrow.
“What place?”
“The Tincan ghetto!”
Tina smacked him on the arm. None too gently.
“It’s subsided public housing located in an android-friendly estate… because they’re the ones that need it most right now. And frankly, you seem to be in just as much need, so you should really get off that high horse.”
“Fine, fine. You’re right. I should seriously consider this place, even if my neighbours are gonna have more in common with my car than me. But damn, it seems a little too good to be true. There’s probably some fine print, hidden costs that’ll come out later.”
“Hmm… let’s see…”
Tina scrolled further and then let out a half-laugh. She held her phone up again.
“Nothing shady about the rates, but there is something you should know…”
At the risk of being called old again, Gavin squinted at the screen and read aloud.
“Bearing in mind the founding principles of New Jericho, all human occupants may only apply for tenancy in co-habitation with at least one android citizen of the United States of- JESUS PHCKING CHRIST! Absolutely not! I am not going to live with a plastic prick!”
//
Gavin had to get through half a bottle of wine before he could bear to scroll through the rental listings. Unlike other humans who had happily moved into New Jericho with their android friends or partners, he had to find an android who was also looking for a flatmate.
Some listings came from ardent supporters of Markus. These were the androids who wanted to ease the post-revolution transition by reaching out to humans. Some listings were put up by the android equivalent of frat boys. These individuals were clearly looking for someone on the fringes of human society, someone who could show them a good (if not illegal) time.
Other posts came from eccentric androids who craved company but had likely been rejected by their own kind. Gavin felt a strange twisting sensation, almost like pity, when he came across a post written entirely in third person by someone called Ralph.
He had almost given up hope when he came across a simple little listing for a two bedroom apartment in Cyberscalia.
RK900 #313 248 317 - 87: Seeking a neat, self-sufficient co-renter. Human or android, no preference. I spend most of my time working and will be out of your way for the better part of the day. I only ask for silence during my nighttime stasis cycles, timely payment of dues and upkeep of cleanliness.
Gavin sighed in relief.
//
“Your room is the first door on the left, mine is the second. The bathroom, laundry and kitchenette are shared, as is the living room. I scarcely find use for the latter, so you need not worry about my intruding on any of your social gatherings, or vice versa. As long as you adhere to the terms of the agreement, our paths will not cross much.”
The tall, stiff-necked android dropped a set of keys, both mechanical and digital, into Gavin’s open palm.
“Er thanks.. RK… sorry I forgot your full model number…”
“You may call me Nines. Although, I’d rather you didn’t call me much of anything. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
In a swish of black fabric, the android turned on his heel and disappeared into his room. Two rapid clicks indicated the shutting and locking of his door.
Gavin sighed and looked around the open-plan living room. It was nothing fancy, but it was far beyond any of the other properties he’d viewed in weeks of unsuccessful house-hunting.
He sat down on the simple black couch with a huff and contemplated his situation. He’d ended up where he’d truly never expected to go, but objectively speaking, things were good… barring the high-handed manner of his robot flatmate, but who gave a shit about that.
He pulled out his phone to text Tina his thanks.
//
“I can’t! I refuse to! It is a violation of my personal ethics and I will simply not take this assignment any further. Good day to you sir!”
Gavin nearly dropped his bowl of cereal one morning when his roommate burst out of his door and rushed into the open balcony.
He hadn’t seen Nines in days, which was perfectly normal. The android came and went at odd hours and made hardly any noise. It was almost like living alone. The only reminder of Nines’ presence was the sight of several dark shirts and trousers regularly hung out to dry on the rack above the washing machine.
Gavin set his bowl down and watched the android tightly grip the bars of the railing and take several unnecessary breaths to calm down. He’d seen deviant colleagues express emotion many times before, but this was the first time he witnessed such a potent mixture of rage and sorrow from a synthetic being.
Out of empathy, but mostly curiosity, Gavin approached cautiously.
“Hey Nines… is everything alright…?”
There was no response for several moments. Then Nines turned around with a grimace and hands held upwards in a placating gesture.
“I apologise for the disturbance. It was hypocritical of me to disrupt the very peace and quiet I demand of you.”
“Uh… no worries…? Are you okay?”
There was a flash of steel blue eyes.
Gavin kicked himself mentally as he realised too late that he’d broached uncharted territory. Their interactions didn’t extend beyond curt nods on the rare occasion they found each other in the same space. It was almost as if Nines engineered the lack of contact, which wouldn’t surprise Gavin at all if it were the case.
“I’m fine. I merely experienced some frustration with my work.”
Perhaps it was boredom, perhaps it was his usual lack of self-preservative instinct… Gavin threw caution to the winds.
“What do you actually do?”
Nines’ expression remained stoic but his LED went through a spectacular series of colours and flashes. His next words were reluctant.
“I’m a private investigator.”
“Oh shit! I’m actually a cop.”
Gavin pointed dumbly at himself and then let his hand drop when he saw absolutely no surprise cross the android’s face.
“I know. That’s why I let you stay with me.”
“For safety?”
“Certainly not for your fashion sense.”
“Wow okay, I didn’t think I’d be much protection for a big scary droid like you.”
Nines hummed dismissively and started to move out of the balcony, body language fully indicating the end of the conversation.
Unable to help himself for some strange reason, Gavin blurted out another ill-advised question.
“What pissed you off so much?”
Nines paused halfway through side-stepping the human. A thrill went through Gavin at the shards of ice he observed for the first time up close in Nines’ irises.
“If I tell you, will you promise to stop asking pointless questions?”
Gavin nodded earnestly, and frankly… rather foolishly.
“I helped a client gather evidence to initiate divorce proceedings on the grounds of infidelity. I provided ample photo and video evidence for his lawyers to work with. Now they want me to keep following the spouse to capture more details that could gear any future settlement in his favour.”
“So what’s your problem?”
“They’re offering me an incredible amount of cash to follow her 24/7. To stake out her workplace, her gym, her parent’s home. They want me to crouch under the window of the bedroom where her children sleep. I can do a lot of things, but not that. It’s deeply insulting that they even asked. That’s why I was so… pissed.”
Nines slipped past and was nearly back to his bedroom when Gavin spoke.
“I respect that.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“I know, but for real though, I think ethics are important in our line of work. Not just because of we need morals or a sense of right or wrong blablabla, but because we need… clarity.”
Silence floated through the hallway as Nines paused with a hand on his doorframe.
“Clarity?”
“Yeah, like a sense of direction. We don’t just take cases right-left-centre because they make us money. I mean, we could, and people do… but they never become specialists or experts of any kind. You gotta strategise if you want a career. Ethics helps with that. I think…”
Gavin wasn’t sure what made him say any of that. He was neither one for small talk, nor a man of many words… but something about Nines prompted that unusual level of introspective discourse.
“Sorry that was weird. Never mind.”
“That was actually… very astute.”
Their eyes met and Gavin could’ve sworn he saw the hint of a smile.
“It’s good to see that not all humans are as one-dimensional as I thought.”
The door clicked shut, but there was no locking sound.
//
Since the morning of Nines’ uncharacteristic outburst, the frequency of their encounters in the common areas of the apartment increased. Wordless nods became hellos, and hellos eventually became full sentences.
Not that he’d admit it, Gavin actually looked forward to enquiring about the android’s day and the cases he was working on. It was utterly fascinating to hear about legal investigations without the constraints of police procedure.
For his part, Nines would share as much as he had the patience to, before disappearing into the confines of his room. Though the time he spent outside steadily increased every day.
Another morning, while Gavin was making his coffee, Nines emerged from his room, still in his pyjamas and looking as livid as he had the time before. Gavin had never seen him in anything but crisply ironed businesswear. Before he could voice any concern, Nines stiffly asked Gavin to keep a lookout for a homicide suspect.
He nodded and immediately reached for his phone to text the sergeant on duty at his station. By midday, there was an arrest.
That evening, when Gavin settled in front of the TV with his usual glass of wine, he heard the familiar sound of Nines’ door opening. The couch dipped beside him.
“Thank you.”
“Just did my job. I should thank you for the tip.”
“Hmm.”
Gavin chanced a glance at his roommate, and found him looking right back.
“What?”
“Nothing… I just had the realisation that much of my work is impotent without the authority and means to take any kind of action.”
The sitcom began to play and Gavin thumbed the remote to reduce the volume.
“Takes all kinds to keep the streets clean. PIs can do things cops can’t. We rely on guys like you for intel all the time, you know.”
“I know.”
No words were exchanged for a while thereafter. Gavin found himself unable to focus on the TV show with all the brooding energy emanating from his right.
“If you feel like being a private eye doesn’t make enough of a difference, then why didn’t you… um… you know…”
“Join law enforcement?”
“Yup.”
“Plenty of my fellow androids have done so. I know for a fact that my predecessor model chose to remain there. You might know him.”
“Connor? Yes. Very annoying.”
“He is, isn’t he?”
“Totally. But why didn’t you join too? You’d be brilliant on the Force.”
“My skillset is certainly well-suited, but I didn’t want to become another puppet of the state.”
Gavin really didn’t know what to say to that. He nodded uncertainly and looked back at the television. He wasn’t sure why Nines was suddenly this social.
“What are you… watching?”
Androids could scan and detect just about anything in the world, so there had to be something else to the question. Gavin, strangely, was happy to oblige.
//
Nines made an appearance every evening, without fail. He would sit through the TV shows if they were of interest, or he would bring his case material and notes to the coffee table to work in silence beside Gavin.
Sometimes Gavin liked to work on jigsaw puzzles on the dining table. Nines would sit beside him, pretending to read a paperback novel, but actually scanning the puzzle and passing the right pieces over from time to time.
Against all odds, an evening ritual and a tentative friendship developed. It was simple, but it was warm. Comfortable. Like nothing Gavin had ever had before, even with humans.
//
He awoke one morning with a slight crick in his neck but the feeling of being very well-rested.
His eyes flickered open and fell upon the window. Familiar greenery came into view… but wait… had everything slightly shifted to the left? And was that the New Jericho Capitol building? He couldn’t see that from his room! There was a tree in the way! A tree that was now a few feet away from where it used to be.
Gavin sat up in alarm as he realised that he was not in his own bed. His heart flew into his throat as Nines walked through the open doorway. Shirtless and carrying a mug of blue liquid.
“Oh good, you’re up.”
“Wha-what happened!?”
Nines frowned and sat down on the edge of the bed. He set the mug on the floor and pulled on a plain black t-shirt.
“You passed out on the couch last night. I think you finished a whole bottle waiting up for me? Sorry, I was out working later than expected.”
Gavin looked down and sighed in relief as he found all his clothes still on him.
“I didn’t want you to injure yourself sleeping at an odd angle so I brought you here. Your door was locked.”
“You could’ve easily opened it.”
“Yes, but that would’ve been an invasion of privacy. I reserve that for working hours alone.”
Gavin looked deep into the sparkling blue eyes and as usual found no trace of humour.
“Thanks…”
“Don’t mention it. Now get out. You’re ruining my silk sheets.”
//
Against his best efforts, Gavin could not keep the thought of being carried to bed and tucked in safely out of his mind. How many years had it been? Since something like that had been even remotely possible for him?
He knew that Nines was just being kind in his own pragmatic little way… but Gavin found that he wouldn’t mind the prospect of waking up in the android’s bed in a wildly different context.
He realised he had it bad when Tina caught him smiling to himself at work one day.
“Why so happy?”
“Oh… nothing. Just remembered something my roommate did… He’s a… funny guy.”
“Huh. Well, look at you getting along so well with androids.”
“Android. Singular. Just him.”
“Wowwww… he sounds special.”
//
“Who did this?”
“Gavin, the damage is merely superficial-”
“Who phcking did this??!”
He reached forward and gingerly touched Nines’ split cheek. His synth skin was smeared with blue blood and glitching in and out. Nines winced at the contact.
“Shit, sorry. That must hurt like a bitch.”
“Androids do not feel pain.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m merely experiencing a surge in sensory input wherever my chassis is exposed. I’m fine.”
“Shut up and give me your first aid kit or whatever toolbox equivalent you tincans have.”
A shade of embarrassment appeared over the android’s features.
“I… actually don’t have one. I didn’t think I’d ever need it.”
“Didn’t think anyone could kick your ass, huh?”
“No… I didn’t think anyone would ever spot my hiding place.”
“Huh. How’d that happen?”
Nines’ eyes dipped, but as always, he answered the question.
“I was… distracted.”
Something in the air solidified and both of them felt it. Gavin cleared his throat and slapped his knees like an old man about to stand up.
“Right. Let me go check if the neighbours have anything that might help with your face.”
//
“So who’s this dapper young gent you’ve brought to the party, Gavin?”
“Er… he’s my uh… roommate.”
Captain Fowler nodded and winked.
“That’s what they called it in my day too.”
Nines shifted beside Gavin and cleared his throat.
“He’s a PI. But I think he’s wasting his talent taking pictures of cheating spouses. He’s quite interested in police work. Maybe we could get him to assist on a couple cases now and then?”
Fowler put down his drink and extended a warm hand to Nines.
//
“Oh thank RA9!”
Nines came running to the cluster of police cars and enveloped him in a giant hug. Gavin laughed as he patted him weakly on the back.
“Watch the ribs, big guy.”
“I was so worried.”
“Why? Your info was good. No chance of error.”
“I meant about you.”
Gavin pulled back and regarded Nines with confusion. The flashing red and blue lights of the cars made it hard to read his LED.
“Why?”
“I can’t believe you have to ask.”
The android pulled him into a bruising kiss. The officers standing nearby broke into wolf-whistles and applause.
“What the-”
“Oh I take full credit for that, sir.”
Fowler glanced at Tina.
“The case, Chen?”
“Oh of course. I solved the whole thing. But I mean that specifically.”
She waved a hand in Gavin and Nines’ direction. The two held each other tightly and seemed unlikely to come up for air anytime soon.
“Like I helped Gav find an affordable place in New Jericho and then he met this handsome investigator droid and they were roommates.”
“Oh my god, they were roommates…”
“Yeah legit.”
//
\\\
Thanks so much for the request @jude-shotto
This ended up being a lot longer than expected, but I couldn’t help it. Your prompt just took me on a whole journeyyyy <3
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sparkles-and-trash · 3 years ago
Text
The Gaang are Roommates AU ~
note: this is a rewrite and repost of my old roommates au, there was some stuff I wanted to change, and I wanted to make the parts a little longer, so yeah, ta-dah! 
- think modern setting in the canon universe, bending is still a thing 
- the Gaang are all in going to Ba Sing Se University 
- I’m gonna change the ages a bit to make it easier for myself, sorry 
- Zuko, Sokka, Suki and Mai are 20, Katara, Ty Lee and Azula are 19, Aang, Toph and Yue are 18
- so, Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Aang and Toph end up living together in a big loft type apartment 
- Sokka and Aang are old best friends, they met Toph in Middle School, and Katara is a natural part of the group 
- until now Sokka and Katara have both been living in the dorms, and they both hate it intensely 
- but now that Aang and Toph are also in uni, they all decide to move in together!
- …but the only problem is that the only place they find that they like is just out of their price rage (Toph’s parents aren’t supportive of her major so they’re not helping out much)
- enter: ~ Zuko ~
- so, Zuko has been living with his uncle Iroh since his Father, who’s a high up in some big and important company the Fire Nation, disowned him for speaking up against the company’s shifty treatment of workers and ruining a lot of sacred land etc 
- they’re still firebenders and the scar still happened, not in an Agni Kai, but it happened 
- but after Zuko started uni, Iroh really tried to push him to meet some people his own age and make some friends
- the only people Zuko talks to on the regular besides Iroh is Azula, Ty Lee and Mai, and Mai is the only one who is like, his friend yanno?
- the last year the deal was that if Zuko didn’t branch out, Iroh would have him live one year with other students
- it’s his idea of tough love 
- Zuko tried to do some random kid’s homework to have them pretend to be his new friend in front of Iroh so he wouldn’t have to, but Iroh can tell he’s lying so easily 
- so, Zuko ends up hearing about the Gaang through Mai, who heard from Ty Lee, who plays field hockey, Suki, who’s best friends with Sokka
- so, he goes to meet them, and it’s so awkward mY GOD
- Katara is a B I G environmental activist and HATES Ozai and his company, with good reason
- she eases up a tad when Zuko admits to being turned away from as a teen, but she is still suspicious
- Aang loves him right away, ofc, and that makes Katara even more suspicious because she’s pretty protective of Aang
- she claims it’s because he’s so kind and believes everyone but she totally liikeees hiiiim
- Toph is just like, sure, as long as he pays his rent idgaf
- Sokka is weirdly quiet, because he’s had a huge crush on Zuko forever, and the only one who knows is Aang (and Toph but she ain’t no snitch)
- so, ya boy makes the cut, and before they know it, it’s move-in day!
- but, the idiots didn’t think through the facts that it’s only three bedrooms oops
- and Toph is NOT afraid to pull the “I’m blind and I need my space” card
- and nobody’s up to fight her on it, so 
- let’s just say there is A LOT of back and forth, but with Katara refusing to room with her brother again, and Zuko being rightfully scared of Katara, it ends up with Zuko and Sokka sharing a bedroom, and Katara and Aang
- they have separate beds ofc
- but still, tension, man, so much tension
- it takes a while, but the dynamics starts working out really well
- Zuko is good at grocery shopping and likes to clean, and Aang is always happy to help him out
- Sokka loves cooking, so he does that a lot
- Katara is always on top of the others with schoolwork and making sure everyone is okay, and she usually does it in genius, sneaky ways so people doesn’t even notice that she does it
- Toph is clearing the air off bullshit
- like, she will call a bitch out
- but because she cares about said bitch
- so, Aang knows that Sokka has a crush on Zuko because Sokka told him in a weak moment, and Toph knows because she just knows
- Aang is a good friend tho, and he tries to like, ease them together
- but he is so awkward about it, the poor thing, and Zuko doesn’t understand AT ALL
- Toph is just sitting back and sighing a lot
- Katara doesn’t understand either but she just stays out of it (smart girl)
- but okay, we know how oblivious Zuko can be right?
- Sokka can give him googly eyes and blush and stutter around him so much and he still has no clue at all
- Zuko starts thinking Sokka just doesn’t like him at all
- but then one night Zuko has this really intense nightmare
- okay and quick addition, his scar is… handshaped? Like, you can clearly tell what happened to him
- but nobody talks about it, yet
- but then he’s having a terrible nightmare and is talking and begging and pleading in his sleep
- so much that Sokka wakes up
- and he catches on pretty fast, but had no idea what to do
- so he just shuffles over to Zuko’s side of the room and starts tapping his shoulder rapidly
- but nothing happens
- so he just… gently and awkwardly pats his head until Zuko wakes up
- and Zuko is like… wat u doin there bro
- and Sokka is like… just patting ur head to wake you from a nightmare bro
- and they awkwardly just mumble and go back to their beds
- but Zuko is smiling a lot because someone who’s not his family or a family friend really cares about him
- after that, Zuko slowly starts opening up to all of them, but Sokka especially 
- he never really tells them about being cast out and burned tho
- until one day he kinda casually slings it into a convo all fast and awkwardly
- it’s just Toph, Aang and Sokka there
- Toph yells so WHAATTT so loudly and just metalbends the whole fridge into a clump in rage
- Aang cries lmao but he tries to hide to and be supportive and not awkward
- Sokka is kinda quiet, but he carefully asks about it that night when they’re in their beds, and they talk a little about it
- Aang tells Katara (with permission) and she awkwardly, but wholeheartedly tells him that he can always talk to her
- they do that «awkward sibling hug» from Gravity Falls after
- *hugs stiffly* «pat, pat»
- but okay, Toph and metalbending when angry, it happens quite a lot 
- this was the first time it was the fridge, but the toaster, the microwave, and several other appliances have met the same fate
- everyone is kinda used to it now, and she always replaces it
- except Zuko, who’s still kinda new to them all
- but what are you supposed to say when your new friends is so outraged by the abuse you went through that they crush a whole ass fridge?
- it actually reminds him that he’s cared for here, by these people who owe him nothing, and is not related to him, and it makes him a little dizzy to have people care this way
- he casually mentions it to his Uncle Iroh the time he’s in at work, that his new friend is a metalbender and squashed their whole fridge when she was pissed on his behalf
- Iroh is thrilled
- to the point of offering Toph a job lmao
- Toph, desperate to cut of as much ties with her family and be as self-sufficient as possible, agrees
- and now Iroh have two formerly rich kids with no clue about any sort of customer service and basic stuff like that working for him
- Toph is a hard worker tho, and she and Zuko work surprisingly well together
- Katara is a little relived, because the more those two work, the less are the chances of either of them trying to cook or do too many chores around their apartment
- they mean well, or, Zuko does, but he does so much dumb shit when trying to help lmao
- Sokka starts spending a lot of time over at The Jasmine Drago too
- Aang is still trying to keep the fact that Sokka likes Zuko a secret, but he is having trouble
- Katara is his biggest weakness, and now they’re suddenly alone with her a lot
- someone else who could always read Sokka really well is Suki
. whom he used date in high school, but they parted as friends and everything s cool
- but Sokka is a little taken aback when she comes into The Jasmine Dragon one day, hand in hand with Sokka’s childhood crush obsession, Yue
- for the first time in man’s memory, Sokka is a little speechless
- and Suki’s like “lmao dude I haven’t seen you like this since the first time you saw Zu-”
- cue Zuko popping out behind them like “WELCOME TO THE JASMINE DRAGON FRIENDS OF SOKKA :D”
- Sokka is so fucking red, poor boy is just about having an aneurism at this point
- but luckily something happens and Zuko gets distracted
- Suki is having the time of her life tho, Sokka always used to tease her for her crushes before and after they dated, and suddenly, here they are
- at the apartment, Aang decides they need some apartment traditions
- they’ve been living there for almost three months, after all
- so he decides that weekly movie nights are mandatory
- so are pillowforts
- Katara is actually really excited for it, she loves all things cozy and fall-like
- also… she is weak for Aang, y’all, and she loves seeing him all excited
- Zuko barely knows what a pillowfort is, he didn’t think real people actually made it
- but imagine these dorks in a pillowfort with hot chocolate and lot’s of pillows
- Toph claims that she thinks it’s soo dumb, but she will always make sit in the middle of the group all wrapped in her blanket and laughing when the others jump and get spooked from the horror movies Sokka always wants to watch
- and she will make sure the fort is right and perfect lmao
- Zuko is a little awkward about it at first, but he likes it too
- Sokka always manages to plop in next to Zuko lmao
- they haven’t talked about the head patting incident yet, but Zuko is def starting to feel the butterflies
- one time after a movie night Sokka falls asleep on Zuko’s shoulder, after the others have left for the night
- Zuko can’t resist waking him up with awkward head pats similar to the one Sokka used on him
- Sokka thinks he died and went to heaven lmao
- but then he fully wakes and sees Zuko’s shit eating grin and can’t help but laugh at the whole thing
- and Zuko has his “oh no he’s hot beautiful and I really adore him” moment
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soulmate-game · 4 years ago
Text
Useful Part 2
fluff with a little hurt and comfort. If you want answers as to the lack of angst, look through my recent posts for an explanation. 
—* — * — * —* —* 
“Wait, you have a WHAT?” were the first words that the rest of the Gotham-based vigilantes heard when they finally were able to track down where Damian had gone. Dick looked over at Bruce, who was noticeably tense. No surprise there, the man had just found out that he had a second biological child. One who was apparently a superhero already, without his intervention, and also apparently had a tragic background in the League of fucking Assassin Assholes. Not to mention that Damian’s track record with meeting siblings wasn’t great, even if this one wasn’t actually new to him. Nobody had any real fear of Damian relapsing on his no-kill rule, they knew he had matured far too much to be at risk of killing for something as immature as sibling rivalry anymore. 
But there was still fear. Because this new Wayne was an Unknown Factor, and as a rule the Bats hated Unknown Factors. And they had no idea what the relationship between the two had been before they had been separated, or what it would become now. 
“That wasn’t Damian’s voice,” Dick helpfully pointed out the obvious. Bruce only frowned, doing his best (and failing) to hide his anxiety about what they would find. Silently, the group inched forward to the edge of the abandoned building they were on top of so that they could look over at what was happening. What they saw was a girl, presumably the same one who had been in a ladybug onesie and had fearlessly begun to ask them to leave Paris— until she had laid proper eyes on Robin and fled, that was. That girl was sitting down next to an unmasked Damian, who had his arm around her shoulders and let her lean into his side. He even smirked cheerfully at her question before continuing to speak to her. 
“A dragon-bat. I knew you’d love hearing about him, I’ll introduce you when you come visit the Batcave. His name is Goliath,” Damian admitted smugly. Despite the familiar attitude and pride behind his words though, his spying family couldn’t help but notice that he kept periodically rubbing the girl’s (they really needed to find out her name) shoulder in reassurance. None of them missed the tear tracks on both of their faces, or how red the girl’s eyes were. Clearly they had missed something big. 
But nobody wanted to try to figure that out yet. This scene was too precious, too breathtaking for them to interrupt just yet. They had never seen Damian this vulnerable around someone outside of their little circle before, someone from the Time Before Bruce, no less. Most of the time, only Nightwing was able to see this side to Damian. And usually the roles were reversed, with Damian being the one consoled. They had never seen him in the position of the comforter before. The pillar of support. 
It really cemented just how far he had come. 
So they watched silently as the girl flinched, pulling away a bit and hunching in on herself. The laugh she let out was small and overflowing with self-degradation. 
“You make it sound as if the rest of your family actually wants me to visit,” she replied sourly. Damian gently cuffed her over the head, frowning. 
“Two things,” he held up two fingers from his free hand. “One: They will. They accepted me, and I was— well, you remember how I used to be. Once they actually meet you, and process the fact that there’s another Wayne now, they will bombard you with more welcoming than you will know what to do with. Two: It’s Our family, Marinette. Not mine, ours.”
Well, at least they had a name now. But it seems like they had bigger issues now, like Marinette’s clearly damaged sense of self. Jason and Tim traded knowing glances; it wasn’t hard for them to guess where, or how, she might have been damaged enough to think so lowly of herself. 
They watched as Marinette shook her head. 
“I don’t know. It’s one thing to try to… to get to know you again. We used to be close before… everything,” she haltingly argued, voice small and frail and uncertain. But she never once looked away from Damian’s eyes, trying to convey as best as she could what she was feeling. “But they’re different. They don’t have any reason to trust or like me, Dami. And I’m bad at, well everything, but especially,” she waved her hands frantically as if indicating the whole situation they were in. “I mean, listen to me! I can barely articulate right now, and I’m talking to someone I’ve known my whole life! I’m a mess. Nobody wants a mess.” 
It was Damian’s turn to snort, and he pulled her right back into his side. “Please. If anything, that’s exactly the type of child Father goes looking for. We’re all a mess. Especially Father, trust me.” 
“You’re just trying to make me feel better,” she accused suspiciously, but sank into his sideways embrace anyway. Damian chuckled. 
“No, I’m being honest. He’s terrible at emotions, not that I really have much room to talk. We all are pretty bad with them. But he’s the most obvious when it comes to that issue,” Damian smirked over at his sister conspiratorially. “For example. He still tries to tell people that he works alone, and pushes people away because he has this intense desire to protect, but doesn’t know how to say “I don’t want you to get hurt, stop worrying me,” so instead he says “Go away, I don’t need you,” only for us to see through that nonsense and remind him that the amount of people in his team is in the double digits already. He doesn’t want to admit he cares about us and is vulnerable—”
“Sounds familiar,” Marinette teased with a watery grin, startling a short laugh from her twin. He nudged her a little roughly (but not to roughly) and playfully glared at her. Marinette just giggled.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he lied with a grin before waving his free hand in dismissal. “Anyway. Another example. He has no idea how to tell a stranger, “hey, I’m your father and I will not reject you. In fact, I’m completely willing to adopt you right this moment and whisk you away to Gotham and relative safety and hire an entire team of therapists to help you and buy you half the world if you asked for it,” so instead he and the rest of our emotionally constipated family just lurks on the edge of a building in broad daylight eavesdropping on us and expects us not to notice.” 
“Wait what,” Marinette’s gaze instantly whipped up towards the sky, taking only half a second to locate the aforementioned eavesdroppers. Everyone except Bruce at least had the courtesy to duck down and pretend not to be there when they noticed she had seen them, leaving Batman standing seemingly alone on the concrete roof. Marinette blinked once. Twice. Then turned to Damian. “I’m gonna blame the fact that I didn’t notice them on emotional turmoil, because there is no way I’ve gotten THAT rusty.” 
Damian smiled, but didn’t laugh. He knew that was a deflection to try and distract from Marinette’s quickly resurging self-consciousness. Her hands were already trembling again, and the fear from only minutes ago had resurfaced. The insecurity. He could practically see the words “I’m not good enough,” written in her irises. 
“You’ll be fine,” he whispered, standing up and pulling her with him. “If anyone has to worry here, it’s me.” 
“What the hell are you talking about?” Marinette whisper-hissed right back, eyes wide in disbelief and confusion. “You’re— You! Mister Perfect!” 
Damian rolled his eyes, and his self-deprecating smirk matched the laugh Marinette had given just a few minutes earlier. “For the League, maybe,” he shrugged. “Never the Wayne family. Which is why I know you’ll be fine. If they put up with everything I’ve done and still call me one of them, they’ll accept you with barely a second thought.” 
Marinette’s next argument was cut off by the sound of a dozen soft footfalls stirring up dirt not far ahead of them. The BatClan had landed from the rooftop. 
Marinette gulped. 
But if there was one thing— one thing she still remembered from her days as Marie Al-Ghul, it was how to fake pride and confidence. She straightened her shoulders automatically, lifted her chin, and pulled away from Damian’s supporting arm around her shoulder. Damian let her. 
A little bit of old resentment flared up in him as he saw Batman walk up close enough to comfortably talk with them. Resentment that he no longer held onto, but that had haunted him nearly every night of the first two years he spent with his dad. The realization that maybe his twin was the one that was meant to be a Wayne. Marie had the blue eyes, the compassion, the more specifically detective-oriented mind. The calm head. Sometimes. Marie was exactly who he imagined when he thought of a naturally born member of the BatClan. Stubborn, clever, morally just. She had risked immediate death just because she refused to fight him, for crying out loud. Because she didn’t want to hurt the boy who used to be her best friend. The only ally she had ever had, growing up. 
Meanwhile, he still had issues reigning in his anger sometimes. He had too much blood on his hands, he was more of a battlefield tactician than a long-term strategist. Still stubborn, but also completely unaware of the pain he brought others with his words or actions a lot of the time. He used to be such a rage fueled little demon, and thinking about how his sister fit the classic Wayne outline more thoroughly than he did had made him destroy more than a few practice dummies in frustration. 
But now, looking at Marinette trying so hard to appear strong and proud when he knew she was still so shattered inside, relief overpowered the old and dull resentment. This was what she needed, he could sense that easily. She, just like him all those years ago, needed Bruce and the others to start to heal her and reforge what the League had badly molded. 
“... Marinette, I suppose?” Damian nearly facepalmed at his father’s awkward attempt at a conversation starter. Marinette herself was clearly too keyed up and overthinking things to even register any amusement at the lame attempt, merely nodding with an overly serious expression on her face. 
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Monsieur Wayne. Or that’s my name nowadays, that is,” She stumbled a little in her response before clenching her fists and forcing herself to continue as calmly as she could muster up. “My birth name was Marie Al-Ghul.” 
Bruce’s eyebrows visibly furrowed underneath his cowl. “Was?” 
“I…” Marinette finally looked away, shame creeping back onto her face. “I was explicitly told that I was stripped of the Al-Ghul name and would be killed if I ever dared lay claim to it again. So I not-so-legally changed it. And I was later adopted.” 
Several sharp gasps or the hiss of breath through teeth bit through the quiet breeze. Nobody was necessarily surprised, Marinette could see it when she looked through her eyelashes and examined the winces and sympathy on the faces of the vigilantes before her. Batman’s shoulders were stiff, as if someone had paralyzed only his shoulder blades. 
“And the people who adopted you?” Batman pursued. Marinette couldn’t read his tone very well, but it sounded vaguely angry so she quickly raised her hands in a placating gesture and her eyes widened significantly. 
“They’ve been amazing! They don’t know anything about my past, or who raised me, but they are endlessly patient with me. I mean, honestly! Sabine caught me when I was trying to steal one of her gold bracelets in Hong Kong— and I know I’ve never been as good of a combatant as Dami, but I’ve always been better at sleight of hand and stealth so honestly that’s impressive— and she saw my dirty eight-year-old face and for some reason decided, ‘yeah I want this one as my daughter’ and roped Tom right into it and next thing I know they somehow tailed me to my hideout? I still don’t know how the hell they managed that, but Tom had a huge plate of steaming buns and I was so hungry and suddenly it’s two years later and I’m adopted and we’re on a plane to Paris—” Marinette threw up her hands. “I still don’t fully grasp what happened sometimes.” 
She belatedly seemed to realize that she had just gone on an entire breathless rant at the speed of sound, and slapped her hands over her mouth before lunging into a deep bow. “I apologize! I spoke horridly out of turn!” 
To her surprise though, she was met with a soft laugh instead of a scolding. She jerked in surprise, whipping her head up only to see Batman holding a hand over his chin to hide his large grin. It only took another second for the boys behind him to laugh a lot LESS softly. Nightwing strolled over casually and swung an arm around both her and Damian’s shoulders, playfully nudging her brother with his knee. 
“I think she fits right in, don’t you little D?” 
“Of course,” Damian scoffed, though his eyes were playful. “She is a Wayne by blood. She ‘fits in’ more than you strays.” 
“Dami!” Marinette whipped back to him and puffed out her cheeks. “That was uncalled for!” she barked. Damian held his hands up in surrender. 
“Relax,” he said as soothingly as he could manage. “They know I’m joking,” he dropped his hands and a knowing smirk took over his face. “And besides, now you’re relaxed so my plan worked,” Marinette could only blink at that. She… did feel more relaxed, actually. “Also. I told you you’d be accepted easily. They already consider you one of us.” 
“Wha— there’s no way—” she frantically looked at each of the older men around her, but each of them just shot her a smile or grin and a short nod. Her shoulders and jaw both fell, and it broke a little of everyone’s heart. 
Marinette looked so utterly shocked, bewildered to be accepted as if it was still something profoundly foreign to her. And there was that disbelief in her eyes, that distrust that screamed that she expected some sort of lie here. That told that she thought this would all crumble away at any second. If anyone had any reservations about bringing her into their inner circles, it vanished right that moment. She needed support, or she’d crumble away and they all knew it. 
“How about we start by talking about the situation with Hawkmoth?” Red Robin spoke up, walking forward to stand beside Batman. “I assume that’s a little more in your element?” 
Damian silently vowed to thank Tim later for that. In a silent, completely anonymous way of course. Couldn’t have Tim thinking they were friends or something now, could he? Marinette instantly straightened up and nodded, her confidence returning with a little more sincerity this time. 
“Yeah. Yeah, let me transform again. It’ll be easier to explain.” 
—*—*—*—*—*
It was three weeks later, on Marinette’s third now-weekly visit to the Batcave, when the question finally came up. Jason had asked to spar with Marinette for the first time, having seen her in action as Ladybug and wanting to test the girl when she didn’t have superpowers to rely on. Damian hadn’t been down in the cave to warn him, and the result was Jason’s gut sinking as Marinette scrambled as far away from him as she could, eyes wide and chest heaving in the beginnings of a panic attack. 
“Shit,” Jason muttered before he quickly knelt down and did his best to talk her down, to calm her until her breathing slowed and her pupils were back to normal. It wasn’t long afterwards that Marinette started hugging herself, refusing to look at him. But he wasn’t going to just back down, he wanted to solve this issue. If even the mere suggestion of a spar was enough to set her off, he needed to figure out why and fix it. 
So he carefully lowered himself so he was sitting only a foot away from her, resting his arms across his knees casually. 
“Sorry,” he apologized. “Didn’t think it would be a sore subject. That’s on me.” 
Marinette just shrugged, but didn’t answer him. She just buried her face in her arms and took a shaky breath. 
Jason let the silence linger for a while before trying again. “Does this have to do with certain Asshole Assassins?” 
That startled a slightly hysterical bark of laughter from her, and she had to wipe away a few tears when she raised her head and finally turned it in his direction slightly. Not enough for her to be looking at him,  but just a subtle turn to show that she was listening and speaking to him. “Yeah.” 
“You know, you never told us why you got disowned,” Jason tried to make his words as casual as possible, but wasn’t surprised when Marinette still stiffened and took a sharp breath. He didn’t push. The stage was set, and he’d wait until either she took the opportunity to open up or told him to leave well enough alone. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips, and her foot tapped on the ground a bit. Clear signs of her anxiety around the subject, and Jason’s hopes vanished a little. He would probably have to wait longer for her to be ready to share.
But, to his pleasant surprise, he was wrong. She took another few minutes to gather her thoughts, but she did eventually open up to him. 
“I refused to fight Damian,” she admitted. “It was… We were seven. It wasn’t supposed to be a fight to the death, but it was a very important spar. We were using live weaponry, and we were told to fight until we couldn’t anymore. Whoever fell first would be relegated as a mere soldier, and have to fight for status like any other assassin in the League. The winner would officially be named as G— as Ra’s Heir. I didn’t want to fight, because I knew Damian would win but I also knew that it wouldn’t be as easy as Ra’s probably expected if I gave it my all like he wanted. I knew both Damian and I would be heavily injured if I did as he asked, and it wouldn’t be worth it. If I misjudged anything, any single hit, I could have accidentally injured Damian permanently and ruined his worth in Ra’s eyes, and that wasn’t an option. I didn’t care that throwing the fight was as good as giving up my life, because at least I could be sure that Damian kept his. I could make sure that he was treated well, or as well as anyone could hope for in the League anyway. I could, with only a few words, make sure he became indispensable. Ra’s and Talia never liked me as much as Damian anyway, I figured… I figured it was nobody’s loss,” She swallowed heavily, clenching her eyes shut. “I was always just the spare. The extra. Damian was their crown prince, the one with actual value. Even to me. I saw him, and I saw everything I wanted to be. I… I tossed down my weapons and let him stab me, because I figured I owed it to him for being such a failure in comparison to him. That I owed it to him to do everything I could to make things easier for him, since I was just an unnecessary obstacle—” strong arms wrapped around her, and she turned to sob into Jason’s chest as he just silently held her. 
“Idiot,” Damian whispered, making Marinette jump. Her twin sat only a few feet away, though only Jason would have known when exactly he had gotten there with them. He shook his head at her. “I never would have gotten as far as I did without you,” he whispered, looking up at the cave ceiling. “You were the only real rival I had. When you left, everything was either too easy or nearly impossible, nothing was the same as trying my best against someone who was just as good as me. And when I got here and met the others, I didn’t think any of them were worthy of taking your position, you know,” he scoffed a bit as he got lost in his memories. “That’s why I hated Tim for so long, I think. He reminded me of you so much that I wanted nothing more than to punch him for daring to replace you—”
“Heh, the Replacement twice over, huh?” Jason joked. Damian chuckled with a small eye roll. 
“Plus, he just has a really punchable face,” Damian added, trying to distract from the emotion behind everything he had just admitted. “Part of me thought you were dead. The other part refused to believe that. And seeing Tim and how some of his mannerisms were the same as yours,” Damian shrugged a little. “It stung. Especially that second year, when I started to regret that you never had the chance to come here and join them with me. Meet them with me.” 
Marinette sniffled. “... Who are you and what have you done with Dami? He’s never this sappy.” 
Damian flicked a pebble at her head with a good natured glare, successfully diffusing the serious air a little. Marinette wouldn’t ever be normal, and it would take a while before she was no longer fragile, but she could get there. Especially now that her bridges with her brother had been mended, and and a whole new family had cropped up to help support her. 
She was glad Damian had convinced her to try, again.  
573 notes · View notes
atlafan · 4 years ago
Text
And They Were Roommates - Part Two
a/n: I wasn’t quite done with these two, but now I am. I hope you like the second part just as much as the first! Feedback and reblogs are always helpful. (not proofread) part one
Warnings: fluff, smut, a little angst
Words: 8.9K
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Harry was a great friend, but he was an even better boyfriend, which, you’re sad to admit, you were a bit surprised about. You wouldn’t classify him as a player when you were in school, but he certainly have a certain amount of girls on rotation. Maybe he had just grown up a bit since then. He was always a gentleman with you anyways, but he had gone into overdrive with it. Doors were being opened for you, he started cooking more, cleaning more, and he’d even started to offer to help with the laundry. He was doing everything and anything just to see you smile. It didn’t take much for him to make you smile before, but still. It was nice to see him putting in some effort.
You were putting in some effort too. It’s not that either of you needed things to feel different, in fact, a lot of things felt the same, but you wanted him to feel the way he was making you feel. So, you offered up more neck rubs, more cuddles on the couch, and you started going to the coffee shop more since he asked you to.
After a date, his favorite joke to make was, “Mine or yours”, since you were going back to the same place. You’d always giggle because it genuinely was funny to you. You’d roll your eyes at him, decide on his bedroom or yours to get cozy in. Usually if you had sex in one bed, you slept in the other. You and Harry weren’t exactly having vanilla sex, so the sheets would get hot from your sweat. It was kind of nice to be able to shuffle across the hall to sleep in a cool bed.
He had no idea sex with another person could feel so good. Having sex with someone he truly cared about, well, the thought alone was enough to make him hard. Harry liked being the one to decide on the positions, but god did he love it when you’d ride him. He loved watching your face as you’d move up and down his cock. He loved looking down between the two of you and seeing the muscles in your stomach clench, or how your thighs would shake around him. You worked so hard for him, not letting him thrust up into you sometimes, sweat dripping down your spine until you both would come. You wanted to be good for him, and he’d tell you that you didn’t need to work so hard because you’d be exhausted after, but in the back of your head there was this fear that he would get bored with you. Harry got bored with people easily, there were only a few friends in his life that he kept around, you being one of them. You were never worried about it before, but now that he knew you in this way you were a little scared.
Sometimes those fears were put to rest when he’d come through the door from work and get his lips on yours immediately. You knew Harry to be a clingy person with the people he liked. In every class you had together in undergrad he had to sit next to you, it was the same now in your graduate courses, of course. If you could have a meal at the dining hall at the same time, he was right next to you, and when you used to come over for a movie he had you sit on the end of the couch so only he could sit next to you. You supposed when you sat back and thought about some of these things he easily could have had feelings for you then. It made you think if you did. Maybe you did, but maybe you didn’t. It didn’t really matter now, though.
You were roughly two weeks into a relationship with someone you had known almost five years, and was your best friend in the world. Other than school, work, and dates, you hadn’t really left your flat. Harry was much more interested in getting to know the parts of you he hadn’t been privy to before. You had yet to tell your friends what was going on, and they were starting to wonder why the two of you were blowing off plans. You told them it was because of school, but you weren’t sure they believed you. Harry said he was picking up a lot of extra shifts at work and that he was too tired to go out. You both knew you’d have to come clean to all of them soon, but you were having too much fun.
“Are you sure we should just be rolling up on him like this?” Niall asks Louis as they make their way into yours and Harry’s complex.
“He’s been working himself to the bone, the lad needs some fun. What are you, nervous to see Y/N?” Louis smirks at him.
“Course not.” Niall shrugs. “That was just a one-time thing between friends.”
“So, if she offered to do it again, you wouldn’t?”
“Well, I-“
They both stop short at the door because they could have sworn they heard moaning. They did. What started out as a simple cuddle on the couch while you and Harry watched a little TV turned into having his head between your legs with his tongue fucking in and out of you.
“Fucking, Christ, Harry.” You groan, and it makes him moan into you. You tug on his hair as your back arches.
“Must be watching a movie.” Louis shrugs and knocks on the door. “Oi, oi! It’s us, mate!”
“Harry!” You gasp and yank his head up. “What are they doing here?!”
“I have no idea!” He licks his lips and wipes the rest off with the back of his hand. “Shit, and you were just about to come too.” He pouts.
“It’s fine…just…” You get up and pull your sweatpants up. “Figure out what they want.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have to pee, is that alright?”
“All my hard work, down the toilet, literally.”
“You’re…such an idiot.” You roll your eyes and walk down the hall to the bathroom.
He groans and tucks himself as to not expose the raging hard on that he was just rutting against the couch. The guys knock again, and he sucks his teeth.
“I’m coming, chill out!” Harry opens the door in a huff. “I’ve neighbors, you know?”
“He lives!” Niall says with a chuckle as he and Louis enter the flat.
“I don’t believe I invited either of you in.” Harry says, crossing his arms.
“What are we, vampires?” Louis scoffs. “Where you been, mate? You need to have some fun, so we thought we’d bring it to you.”
“I’ve been…working a lot.” Harry rubs the back of his neck and looks in the direction of the bathroom, then back to the guys.
“We totally get that.” Niall says in defense. “But you have to make time for other things. Gotta have a balance.”
“Hi, guys.” You say shyly as you come back into the living room.
“Y/N! Hey, how are you?” Louis says.
“I’m good. Um, did you all have plans tonight?”
“No, I would have told you.” Harry says to you. He clears his throat and looks back at the guys. “Look, uh, we’re staying in tonight to work on this research paper. We were just taking a break.” He points with his thumb to the TV. “M’sorry you came all the way over here…I did say I was busy tonight, though.”
“What kind of research paper?” Niall asks.
“It’s for our social behavior class.” You say. “Lot of psychology involved, which neither of us really shine in, so we’re working on it together.”
“Y/N, are you feeling alright?” Louis asks and steps closer to you. “Your face is all flushed, love.” He says softly.
“I’m fine, thank you. Um, I’m gonna go back to my room. It was nice seeing you both, I’m sure we’ll be able to get together soon.” You smile and turn back down the hall to your room.
“You don’t think she feels awkward because of me, do you?” Niall whispers.
“I can assure you, mate, she’s not thought twice about your little bathroom adventure.” Harry says, rolling his eyes. “We really are busy, so, uh…if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Alright.” Louis sighs. “Well, make time for us soon, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Harry nods and watches them both leave. He lets out a puff of air, and then races down to your room. “Okay, where…what are you doing?”
You were sitting at your desk with some papers and highlighters out, along with your laptop.
“Um, we actually do have a research paper for social behavior so…”
“Come on, Y/N, you were so close and-“
“The moment has passed, I’m afraid.” You chuckle. “You can work with me in here if you like.”
“You…you seriously don’t wanna get back to it?”
“Maybe in a little bit. I’ve switched gears, Har.”
“I’ll go get my laptop.” He sighs, clearly annoyed. He returns shortly and plops down on your bed. “Gotta say, this isn’t great for my ego.” He grumbles.
“When have I ever given a fuck about your ego?” You smirk at him. “Think I’m the only girl in your life to not drop to the ground and kiss your feet.”
“You know, you don’t have a problem praising me when I’m deep inside your little cunt.”
“I could easily lay there and not make any noise, would you like that?”
“Are you saying it’s all an act?”
“No.” You shrug. “I’m just saying, I can easily look at you and not make noise if I really wanted to, so, shut up, and do some homework.”
“You’re mean.” He mutters.
“Shouldn’t be news to you, baby.” You say as you turn back to your notes. You didn’t see it, but Harry was smiling at you fondly.
He was the one to use more of the terms of endearment. They just rolled off his tongue better. He was still getting used to you using them, and he loved it.
“Hey, Y/N?”
“Yeah?”
“These last couple of weeks have been really great, right?”
“Yes, Harry.” Your attention wasn’t fully on him.
“When…uh…when do you think we should tell our friends?” This catches your attention, so you turn to face him again. “I feel weird lying.”
“So do I.” You sigh. “I guess soon. I mean, what are we telling them exactly, that we’re fucking?”
“I hope not because it’s more than that, I mean you’re my girlfriend, aren’t you?”
Your eyebrows raise at that.
“I don’t know, am I?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Is this your way of asking?”
“I just figured it was a given.”
“Why would you figure that? A lot of people wait before putting a label on it.”
“Do you think we’re just fucking?”
“No, I’d say we’re dating.”
“But you don’t think you’re my girlfriend?”
“I never said that.” Your lips curve up in a smile. “Being in a relationship implies that both parties wouldn’t be seeing anyone else. Is that what you want?”
“Obviously.” He mumbles.
“So ask me, then.” You get up from your desk and move to straddle him.
“You’re really gonna make me?”
“Mhm.” You wrap your arms around his neck and grin.
“Y/N?”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to be my girlfriend?”
You giggle and nod as you kiss him. He kisses you back, smiling into it at first. His hands drift to your ass and he gives you a squeeze.
“Wow, Harry Styles with a girlfriend, angels must be crying.” You joke and swats at your bum.
“Be nicer to me.” He whines.
“I’m sitting on you, aren’t I?” You peck his lips again.
“It’s not where I’d like you to be sitting.” He mutters.
“And where would you like me to…no, Harry, I really wanna get some homework done.”
He makes an exasperated noise. He used to do the same thing in undergrad, finding anything to distract the two of you from getting your work done, but usually you could bribe him with coffee or a pastry to get him to focus. You had something much better to bribe him with now, though. You bring your lips to the shell of his ear.
“If you’re good and focus, I’ll ride your face for however long you want me to later.”
“Oh, so you’re done bribing me with cannolis then, I see how it is.” He smirks as you get off of him, and back to your desk chair.  
“If that’s what you’d prefer to lick into, I’d be happy to buy one.” You wink and get back to your work.
He laughs, and starts doing his own work. You sit in a comfortable silence, the only sound in the room coming from the buzz of the TV down the hall for whatever show you hadn’t been watching. After an hour or so, you need a break. Your laptop screen was starting to bother your eyes.
“You know…” You say to him and he looks up from his own laptop. “If there’s a night you wanna go hang out with them, it’s perfectly fine. You don’t have to spend all your free time with me, Harry.”
“I know, I just happen to like spending all my free time with you.” He smiles. “I’ve always felt that way.”
You smile and close your laptop. He sets his own down and holds his arms out for you. You crawl on top of him and rest your head on his chest as you nuzzle in. He wraps his arms around you and kisses the top of your head.
“I’m really glad we get to do this like this.” He says and you look up at him. “No more having to be overly careful, you know?”
“Yeah.” You smile. “No awkwardness if we accidentally touch something we shouldn’t.”
“Not at all.”
You inch up his body a bit and press your lips to his. And just like that you were off again. He got you naked so fast you barely had time to blink. He had you sitting on his face, riding his tongue for nearly thirty minutes. You came twice, and your chest was heaving. You definitely understood why some of the girls he used to hook up would whine when he wasn’t available. He was really good at this. He’d say things to you while he was down there, but it was muffled. It made you moan still because of the vibrations going right up inside you.
“Jesus, ugh, Harry.” You throw your head back as you feel another orgasm bubbling up inside.
He squeezes your ass and moans into you. You cry out, gripping at your headboard and his hair as he works you through it. You slowly lift yourself off of him with wobbly legs, and lay on your back, out of breath. You look up at him and see he’s licking his lips and smiling.
“I’ve never been with a guy who liked doing that so much.” You say, voice a little hoarse.
“Love it.” He says as he looks at you. “Nothing better than making someone else feel good.”
You hum your response and slide your hand over his apparent bulge. You dip your hand into his sweatpants and palm him over his boxers. His breath hitches when you give him a little squeeze. You shuffle between his legs and pull his clothes off. He opens his legs wider for you, and bring your lips down to his tip. It was like you were suddenly addicted to each other. You weren’t sure if it was unhealthy or if you were just in a honeymoon phase of a new relationship. When you wrap your lips around him and suck you lose all will to care. You look up at him and see his head thrown back, and his hips buck up into your mouth. You choke on him for a moment, and he apologizes in a husky grunt.
“Do it again.” You say to him.
“Excuse me?” He sits up on his elbows.
“You can…like move yourself in and out of my mouth if you want.”
“Go put your hair up.” You nod and grab an elastic from your desk. You put it up in a messy bun, and he grips you by the back of the head. “Just slap my leg if it’s too much, and I’ll stop, okay?”
“Okay.”
Harry was big, but you were getting better at relaxing and letting your throat open up as much as possible for him. You open up wide for him, letting your tongue fall out, and he pushes you down on him. You close your eyes and breathe through your nose as his hips rock against you. He moves your head along with his thrusts. You gag for a moment, but you’re okay. You grip the blankets on either side of his hips, and he takes off. He was moving you fast, and hitting the back of your throat repeatedly. But you were okay. It didn’t hurt, he was still being gentle in a way.
“Christ, I’m gonna fucking come, I wish you could see yourself, Y/N.” He groans. “No one’s ever been as good as you, fuck, oh fuck, babe, I’m-“ He’s cut off by the moan he just couldn’t hold back anymore.
You look up at him, tears rimming your eyes, and slowly slide your mouth up his shift so you don’t make a mess. His mouth hangs open as he watches you swallow his come. You stick your tongue out after to show him it’s all gone, and he yanks you to him to kiss you.
This was how things were for a while. Even with your body so tired from him just using his tongue on you, you wanted more of him. You wanted all of him, and he wanted all of you.
//
A week or so later, Harry asked Niall and Louis to come to the coffee shop after their work day. Harry tells his supervisor he’s gonna take his fifteen, and sits down with them.
“Hey, thanks for meeting here.” Harry says as he sits down.
“Course.” Louis says. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything fine. Really great, actually. Um, I haven’t been entirely truthful about why I’ve been so busy lately.”
“No shit, let’s hear it.” Niall says.
“I’m…well, I have a girlfriend.” They both widen their eyes at him. “And it’s Y/N.”
“You’re fucking with us.” Louis says.
“No way you pulled the trigger.” Niall says.
“It’s true! Look.” He takes his phone out and shows them a picture of the two of you. You were laughing while he was kissing your cheek.
“Wow, a cheek kiss.” Louis says. “Big fucking deal.”
“You really don’t believe me?” They both shake their heads no. “How can I-“
You walked in right then, and he smiled. He smiled in a way the boys had never really seen before. You sit down with all of them.
“Hey.” You kiss his cheek. “You tell ‘em?”
“Yeah, but they don’t believe me.”
You turn to them and furrow your eyebrows.
“Why don’t you believe him? Does this help?” You were wearing a scarf, so you move it to the side to show the hickey he had left on your neck.
“He said you were his girlfriend, is that true?” Louis asks. “Like, it’s official?”
“Yup.” You say with a smile. “It happened a few weeks ago.” He puts his hand over yours.
“Well, I think it’s great.” Niall says. “I always thought you two would make a good couple.”
“Thanks.” Harry says and raises your hand to his lips. “I gotta get back to work. I’ll get you some decaf, baby.” He gets up and goes back behind the counter.
“Definitely official, called you baby instead of babe.” Louis smirks.
“He’d call me babydoll and stuff.” You shrug.
“How’s it been going so far? Like, how come you both were staying in so much?” Niall asks and you blush.
“Um…well…we were just sort of busy.” You clear your throat. Harry comes back with your coffee and kisses the top of your head.
“Don’t pester her with questions, yeah?”
“Oi, we weren’t.” Louis says. He looks down at the table as you pull your laptop out. “Seems like you have some work to do, and I had a long day myself, so we’ll head out. But we really are happy for you both.” He stands up and so does Niall.
“Yeah, seriously.” Niall smiles. “Have a good night.”
Harry gets back to work, and you set up shop with your books and laptop. It was nice getting work done for school while Harry was behind the counter. Every once in a while you’d glance at each other, or he’d come over to refill your decaf. The walk home later was cold, but you couldn’t find it in you to care since he had his arm around your shoulders.
//
You told Rachel over lunch one day, and she was absolutely thrilled. She held back from saying it was about time, but you could tell she wanted to say it. Now that all of your immediate friends knew, things wouldn’t be so awkward at Ashley and Kevin’s housewarming party. Okay, it wasn’t a “house” they had gotten a townhome, but still, it was a big step.
“Ugh, m’all bloated.” You groan as you zip up your black jeans.
“Why don’t you wear leggings?” Harry asks from his room as he finishes up getting dressed.
“Because I wanna look adult.” You pout.
“Just because they’re two years older than us doesn’t mean they’re any more mature.” He smirks as he stands in your doorway. “You look cute.”
“Thanks.” You sigh and grab your coat. “Let me just stock my purse up with some extra tampons, you can never be too careful.”
He nods and goes to wait by the front door. Harry was no stranger to your period. He was actually really cool about it from the second you moved in. Your pads and tampons were out on the sink counter in this cute jar he had gotten you because he wanted you to feel comfortable. You did, however, have a conversation with him recently that you didn’t like having sex on your period, and not because it was gross, you didn’t really care about that. The times you had done it you were too worried about making a mess to enjoy it, so you told him the store was closed for the week, and he respected that.
Once you were ready, he takes your hand and your fingers stay intertwined for the entire cab ride to Ashley and Kevin’s. There would be other friends at the party, of course, but the people that knew would be there and it would be fine. Even though Rachel was tickled pink about the two of you, she was sort of shocked to see how affectionate you both were being in front of everyone. Normally at parties you two would stand close to each other, maybe your shoulder would be pressed to his arm, but that was it. This time around his arm was around your shoulders, and he’s lean down to kiss your temple, or his hand would move to rub your back.
Ashley and Kevin were making their way around the room, mingling and saying hello. Ashley’s jaw just about drops when she sees you peck Harry’s lips while refilling your small plates with appetizers.
“Hold up.” She says as she comes over to you both. “What’s going on here?” She was smiling ear to ear. “You weren’t like this at my wedding. Did something that happen that night?!”
“No…but like a week later something happened.” You say, also smiling. “We’re together now.”
“Oh, that’s amazing!” She hugs you both. “I’m so happy for you. I need to hear this story. Kev! Get over here, you’re not gonna believe this. Harry and Y/N are dating!”
“No shit, good for you guys.”
“So, how’d it happen?” She asks again giddily.
“Um, well…” He looks at you. He couldn’t very well say you had taken photos for your Only Fans. “We were just chatting about something, and I sort of blurted out that I wouldn’t mind being more than friends, and um, she felt the same way. Not much more to it than that.” He shrugs.
“Well, did you kiss at least?” Ashley laughs.
“Yes.” You say, giggling. “We kissed, and then some.” You roll your eyes at yourself. “We barely left our flat for three weeks!” You all laugh. Everyone was a tad tipsy from the drinks Ashley and Kevin provided.
You had similar conversations with friends for most of the night. The only time you left Harry’s side was to use the bathroom. When you come back you see him chatting with Nadine, and you frown. They had hooked up back in the day, on several occasions. It didn’t bother you then, but it’s bothering you now. You take a deep breath, and walk confidentially back over to him. You hook your arm right around his waist, and he smiles down at you.
“Hey, Nadine.” You say.
“Hey, Y/N.”
She didn’t like you much either. You were the girl Harry always had to get to or go see. You were the reason he never spent the whole night, and you were the reason she never got to spend the night at his place. You annoyed her to no end.
“Did Harry give you the good news? We’re dating.” You grin.
“I was, um, just getting to that.” He blushes.
“You don’t say?” There was fake delight laced in her words. “Well, good for you two.”
“Yeah, it’s been great, fantastic really.” You take a sip of your drink. “What about you, seeing anyone special?”
“Not at the moment.” The eye contact between you two was intense, and Harry could feel the tension.
“Right, well, it’s getting late, don’t you think?” He says to you. “Might be good to start drinking some water and then head out.”
You nod at him as he slips away to go get some water.
“So, what made you finally decide to hop on his dick, hm? It’s big, isn’t it?” Nadine smirks at you.
“He told me he liked me, wanted to date me, and fuck me. He really made the first move, not me. It was sweet, actually. And yeah, it is big. How nice of you to remember.” You give her a fake smile and she scoffs.
“You think you’re so special, but you’re not. He’ll get bored with you, Y/N. Why do you think he had so many girls on rotation in school? He doesn’t like fucking the same person over and over.”
“Are you sure about that? Because he tells me all the time that he can’t get enough of me. He’s not douchebag anymore, he’s grown up a lot. I don’t need to defend him or myself to you, but just know you’re dead wrong.” She had said your biggest fear to your face, but as she said it you couldn’t help but feel like you wanted to laugh. He could never be bored of you.
“Here.” He says, handing you a water bottle. “It was nice seeing you Nadie. Y/N, come on, our cab’ll be here soon.”
“Nadie.” You scoff under your breath as he leads you out to say goodbye to your other friends.
“Are you mad that she and I were catching up?” He says to you in the back of the cab.
“No, why would I be?”
“Because you’re sitting there with your arms crossed. Think there’s actual steam coming out of you.” He places a finger on your shoulder. “Ow! Scalding hot.”
You look at him slowly, and you can’t help the chuckle that escapes you.
“Idiot.”
“Come on, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing! I just…I don’t know I suddenly remembered that I don’t like her very much, and she sure as shit doesn’t like me.”
“She doesn’t like you because she knows all she ever was to me was a quick fuck, and you were my best friend. She wanted more, I didn’t, case closed.”
“Well, she needs to get over it. There’s no need for her to be nasty towards me.”
“To be fair, you did sort of come over to us like you were claiming your territory.”
“I was.”
“Y/N.” Harry sighs.
“You’re the only one allowed to be jealous?”
“No.” He runs a hand through his hair. “You just…you know, you have nothing to worry about.”
You look at him wide eyed like a puppy. You nod and rest your head on his shoulder for the rest of the cab ride. Once you’re inside and changed, you both go to his room to sleep. He cuddled you nice and close all night, squeezing out any worry you may have had.
//
“It’s shit.” He says to you while working in the library.
“It’s not shit.”
“It is, though. I’m shit at lesson plans, and therefore it’s shit.”
“Harry, I actually really like what you’ve put together. It’s different, and you’re clearly using the multiple intelligences theory here, which is good.” Your eyes scan things over. Harry was hoping to be a year eight English teacher.
“It’s just so hard to keep their attention at that age, so I’m just trying to think of different things, you know?”
“I can see that.” You set the paper down. “This is really good. This is a great UbD.”
“The professor showed us different ways to set the courses up, but I like the UbD the best because I feel like I’m able to flesh out my ideas better.”
“I do the same exact thing, see.” You turn your laptop around to show him. “I’d be lost without it.”
“Thanks, Y/N.”
“You’re gonna be a great teacher, Harry, give yourself some credit.”
“I wish we could student teach again. I feel like I was getting the hang of it, and now we don’t get to do it again until after we graduate.” He sighs.
“I know, it’s frustrating. We’ll get there, though.” You reach across the table and take his hand in yours. “Maybe we’ll even end up in the same school district.”
“We could end up at the same school if someone didn’t need to teach at the high school level.”  
“You’re the one choosing to work with twelve-year-old!” You scoff. “Disgusting. You’re gonna be talking to them more about B.O. than English.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll take that over some sarcastic too cool for school teens any day.” He smirks.
“Let’s just agree that we both have different strengths for dealing with different age groups of students.” You say.
“Deal.” He looks at you as you turn your laptop back to yourself. “Do you feel like going out for dinner tonight? We could get some curry.”
“I’d like that.” You smile. You watch as he scan over his lesson plan again, a smile creeping onto his face. He was gaga over you, and it felt nice.
//
After two months, you both decided to tell your families you were dating. Your parents thought you had lied about even being friends with Harry just so they’d be cool about you moving in with him, but you assured them that wasn’t case. Once they calmed down, they were actually really happy for you. They never had any issues with Harry. Harry’s family was overjoyed because they always liked you too. Everything was working out well…until Harry got mad at you.
You had fought plenty of times as friends. It happened when you were around the same person so much, but usually you could smooth it over by watching Dirty Dancing and having some drinks. You weren’t sure why that particular movie always cheered you both up and brought you back together, but it did. This time, however, he wasn’t having it. Even when you set up the living room all nice.
“You’re seriously still giving me the silent treatment?” You ask him as he walks right by the living room and into his bedroom. “Harry, I don’t even know what I did!”
���Exactly!” He finally shouts at you. “You can be so self-absorbed sometimes!”
“Me?! I’m self-absorbed?!”
“Yeah, you!” He huffs. “You really don’t know why I’m upset?”
“Obviously not!”
“Christ! Fine, you wanna know? Come with me.” He grabs your wrist and yanks you into the kitchen. “I worked three doubles in a row, barely have been here to use anything in this kitchen, however, the sink is full of dishes, the dishwasher needs to be run, and the trash is about ready to overflow. If you’re not at school, you’re home doing nothing! It pisses me off to walk through the door and see a mess like this! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you be so messy in all the time I’ve known you, Y/N! And I shouldn’t have to take care of it, I didn’t make the mess!”
“So you just passive aggressively-“
“Don’t even start, I shouldn’t have to ask you to-“
“Don’t start?! Harry, I’m the one that scrubs down the bathroom, I’m the one that does laundry for the both of us, and-“
“Yeah, because you have the time to do it! You don’t have a real fucking job that leaves you feeling exhausted!” Your jaw drops at that. “Don’t look at me like that. What you do requires no real skill or talent. Anyone can take pictures and sell them on the internet, Y/N. You’re too fucking lazy to do anything else.”
“I…I can’t believe what’s coming out of your mouth right now.” You huff as you start to run the water for the sink.
“Oh, so now you’re cleaning up?!”
“Shut up, Harry!” You seethe as you start scrubbing the dishes. You throw a pod into the dishwasher and let it run. “I knew it bothered you that I had an Only Fans, it was only a matter of time before-“
“It doesn’t bother me that you have one, what bothers me is that you act like it’s back breaking labor when it’s not! You get paid thousands of dollars for what? A picture of you sucking on a lollypop? Big fucking deal!”
“Get away from me.” You say as you continue to wash the dishes and put them in the strainer aggressively.
“You’re gonna break the plates if you do it like that.” He grabs a towel to start drying them.
“Stop! Just stop! Go take a shower or something, I don’t wanna be around you right now. All I did was neglect a few dirty dishes, and you’re acting like it’s the end of the fucking world.” You shake your head. “I’m sorry you don’t think I have a real job. Should I make it real? Should I make it more labor intensive? Maybe I’ll start taking my clothes off and doing lives where I fuck myself, would you prefer that?”
He doesn’t say anything because he knows if he does he’ll be wrong. Maybe he was wrong for blowing up at you, and bringing what you do into this, but he was pissed. He felt disrespected. He busts his ass to live comfortably and to afford school, and there you are a photo here, a video there, and two grand later you’re good to go for a few weeks. Personally, he wouldn’t want you exposing yourself like that on the internet, and he knew you’d never do it, you were way too shy. But if it was something you really wanted to do to make more money, what could he say? He had to support you.
“Do what you want, just pick up after yourself.” He says and walks away.
You sigh heavily and clean up the rest of the kitchen. You did feel bad for neglecting things, you felt awful, actually. You hadn’t even realized how much of a mess you had made. It really wasn’t fair to him. He does a lot of other chores around the flat on top of everything else, you had no excuse. And maybe you didn’t ‘work’ everyday, but you understood his point. He said some things that really weren’t okay, but unfortunately that was Harry when he got to that point of overworked and tired. You just usually weren’t the one to get the brunt of it.
Once the kitchen is spotless, and you’ve taken the trash out, you creep down the hall and stand in front of his open door. He was laying in bed, on top of his covers, scrolling through his phone.
“Hey.” You say softly. “I cleaned everything up. I’ll…I’ll try to be better about not letting things pile up, I’m sorry.” He looks at you now.
“S’okay.”
“That being said…don’t yell at me like that again. You…you said some hurtful things, and I didn’t like it.”
“I did.” He nods. “And I feel terrible, I’m really sorry, Y/N.”
“No, I’m sorry.” You shake your head.
“No, I’m sorry.” He sits up. “What you do is a real job, I-“
“I don’t wanna talk about it anymore if that’s alright.” Your bottom lip quivers. “Can I come in?”
“Of course, baby.”
You pad into his room and knee onto his bed. He lays back down so you can lay on top of him. He rubs your back as you nestle into his chest. You give him little kisses and he sighs. You look up at him and pout.
“I don’t like it when you’re upset with me, I never have.”
“That’s because it happens so rarely.” He smooths some hair away from your face. “Usually I’m the one to make you mad.” He smirks.
“Only because you’re such a brat.” You pout again. “But I guess this time around it was me being the brat.”
“I wouldn’t call you a brat, babe. I didn’t even think dirty dishes would bother me that much. I feel like I know how my mum felt coming home from work and getting mad when we didn’t pull the chicken out of the freezer.” He chuckles. “I really am sorry about what I said to you, I won’t talk to you like that again, no matter how angry I am.”
“How about you talk to me before you even reach that level of anger?”
“Deal.” He smiles and you lean in to kiss him. “You set the movie up, let’s go watch.”
“After.” You shake your head and kiss his neck.
He wraps his arms around you tighter as you mouth at his soft skin. He gets goosebumps from your hands running up and down his bare chest. He rolls the both of you over, and presses his lips to yours. His tongue slides along your bottom lip, and you open up for him. His tongue molds to yours, and he moves to bite and suck on your bottom lip. You moan softly as he does so, and he hooks his fingers into your sweatpants. You lift your hips to help him get them off. He brings your underwear with them, and slides his fingers teasingly through your folds. Your hand goes to the back of his neck to keep his lips on yours as he rubs around your slit. One of your hands dips down to slide inside his sweatpants, and you wrap your hand around his length. He grunts, and slips his middle finger inside you. You pump him slowly as he works his finger in and out of you.
“More, Harry.” You grit your teeth, and he does as you say, adding another finger inside you. He curls them up, and pets against your front wall. “Shit.” Your breath hitches, and he moves further down to get his tongue on your clit while he pumps his fingers in and out of you, thus letting go of his hard dick. “I wanna touch you too.” You whine.
His eyes flick up to yours and he smirks. You watch as he kitten licks your clit, not giving a shit about what you just said. He sucks on your clit harshly and you gasp, gripping at his blankets. He goes back to flicking his tongue back and forth on the small bundle while his fingers rub against your g-spot. You start squirming underneath him, but he holds you in place. Your breathing was getting heavier, and you could feel the beginning of your orgasm approaching already.
“H-Harry, oh my god, I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come, fuck!” All of the air leaves your lungs as you come to your release. He pumps his fingers inside you still, not letting up, prolonging things for you. “Jesus Christ.” You breathe once he pulls away. You watch as he gets his sweatpants off, and sits up against the headboard.
“C’mere.” He says softly.
“Want me on top, baby?”
“Yeah.” He smiles.
You get on top of him, give his cock a few pumps, and then sink down on him. You both sigh with relief, and sit there for a moment. He tugs your shirt off and kisses between your breasts as you move your hips in slow circles on him. His tongue swirls around one of your nipples and then he sucks on it. One of your hands grips his hair, and the other is on his shoulder. His hands move to your hips, and he starts moving you on him. You use your knees to help yourself move up and down as he thrusts up into you.
“Fuck, Y/N.” He moans and you lean down to kiss him. He feels like he could burst now, but he holds back. He expectantly moves you so you’re on your back once again.
“Thought you want me on top?”
“I did…but I don’t wanna come yet.” He pecks your lips and grabs both of your hands, resting them on the pillow on either side of your head. His fingers intertwining with yours. He pulls out almost all the way, and snaps his hips hard back into you.
“Oof!”  You gasp and look at him. “Do that again.”
His lips move to your neck as he pounds into you over and over. It wasn’t difficult for him to make you come again, and with the way you were squeezing his hands, and with how you were clenching around his cock, it was a wonder he hung on for how long he did. He comes inside you, painting your walls and filling you up. He kisses your forehead and gives you three quick kisses to your lips before pulling out. He rests his head on your chest, and you play with his damp curls.
“Could we just watch the movie in your bed?” He breathes. “I think that’ll be cozier.”
“Great idea.” You kiss the top of his head. “So…we’re good?”
“Yeah, babe.” He looks up at you. “We’re good.”
After you’ve both cleaned up, you grab your laptop and get comfy in bed with Harry and Dirty Dancing. Like always, once Hungry Eyes starts playing, you both start singing. You giggle and feel even better once it’s over. You stay cuddled to him and he rubs your back soothingly. He tugs your leg up over waist and he sighs.
“Is this more comfortable?” You giggle.
“Mhm.” He hums as his eyes flutter closed. You lean up to kiss his cheek.
“Goodnight, Harry.”
“Goodnight, Y/N.”
//
First year of grad school down, only one more to go. It was finally summer, and you could relax for a little bit. With classes over it also meant you could do the spring cleaning you neglected to do. Usually you’d go through your clothes once a season to make room for new things, and to donate what you didn’t wear anymore.
“Who gave you the right to be so fucking sexy?” You hear Harry say from behind you in your doorway. You turn to look at him. You look down at yourself. You were wearing a pair of mesh shorts, a tee shirt that had grease stains on it, and your hair was up in a greasy bun.
“Um…sure you’re talking to me?” You chuckle.
“Mhm, when did you take this one?” He turns his phone around and you blush.
You had done a photoshoot recently when Harry worked a double shift. You wore a hot pink short-sleeve crop top and a pair of black lace panties. A lot of the shots were from above, licking a lollypop, to mimic you sucking a dick.
“Like…last week, I think.” Your face was beat red. “I posted them yesterday.”
“I can see that.”
“Harry…you paid fifty dollars for a photo I could have just easily shown you?”
“Wouldn’t be very fair, would it?”
“You give me free food and coffee from the coffee shop all the time.”
“True. Just think of it as me supporting a small local business, yeah? You really do look gorgeous in this.” You make a funny face at him. “I was just looking at your comments and I saw you posted new stuff, okay?”
“Do you ever leave comments?”
“No.” He mutters. “It be too obvious.” He comes in and sits on your bed. “What are you doing in here, anyways?”
“Going through my clothes to see what I can donate.” You watch him look around your space. “What?”
“Whose bed is comfier, mine or yours?”
“Mine.”
“Whose room is bigger?”
“Yours.” You furrow your brows. “What are you cooking up there?”
“I…well…we’ve been sleeping together almost every night now, and we’ve been together for, like, five months…do you wanna just consolidate?”
“Harry.” You grin and come over to straddle him. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“You’re an idiot.” He rolls his eyes and you laugh. “Doesn’t it make sense? We could leave this room as a guest room, or sell my bed and put both of our desks in here as like an office.”
“Could I keep using this closet as my own? We both have so much shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay!” You nearly squeal as you hug him. “Let’s do it!”
“Really, you’re into it?”
“We share every other space, why not the bedroom?”
//
After taking a couple of weeks to rearrange things, Harry’s bedroom soon became your shared bedroom. When you could, you took some long weekends with him to travel and go on small trips. You met up with Louis and Niall at the clubs when you could, and it was always fun. You felt bad sometimes because Harry could over do it with the PDA, especially if he was really sloshed, but the guys didn’t seem to mind. They’d usually get up from the booth to go meet people anyways. Not that Harry noticed because he was too busy keeping his tongue in your mouth. Like tonight.
“Mm, Harry!” You pant and push on his chest. “Let me breathe, yeah?”
“Sorry.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Where’d they go?”
“Probably to go find someone to make out with so they wouldn’t feel so left out.”
“I can’t help it, you’re intoxicating, Y/N.” He noses your cheek and goes to your neck to suck on it. You groan and tug on his hair.
You cling to him as he sucks a fresh mark into your neck. He had one hand on the back of your head, and the other was squeezing your hip. He tugs you onto his lap as discretely as he can, and you roll your hips down onto him. You whimper when you feel his bulge.
“M’not fucking you in the bathroom.” You grunt.
“Wasn’t going to ask you to.” He says into your ear. He shifts you onto one of his thighs. “Don’t really need to go in there to get you off, do I?’ You feel him smirk against you.
“Jesus.” You say and rock back and forth on his thigh. “You better fully take care of me when I get home, this is just going to rile me up.”
“Wouldn’t dream of leaving you hanging, babydoll.”
You groan again at the term of endearment, and kiss him. He moves his leg up so there’s a little more pressure for you. You hide your face in his neck to muffle any noise you make, not that anyone could hear you over the blaring music. Harry looks around briefly to make sure no one was watching, and they weren’t. Everyone was in their own little world, thank god. He loved it when you’d get like this for him. He’d start out as the needy one, and then it would become you who was needy for him.
“Harry.” You gasp when you feel yourself just about there. “Shit.” You cry out into his neck as you come undone. He moves his thigh from side to side to really help you ride it out. You move to look at him and he giggles when he sees your smudged make up.
“Poor thing.” He uses his thumbs to wipe under your eyes.
“Does it look bad?”
“Nah, you’re fine.” He pecks your nose. “Wanna go home?”
“Yeah, I wanna get these jeans off.”
“Mm, me too.”
You suck your teeth and roll your eyes as you climb off of him. You find Niall and Louis to say goodbye, and out the door you go. Your leg was bouncing the entire cab ride back. You were excited to see what Harry had in store for you. Needless to say, he didn’t leave you hanging.
//
Another year of grad school down. It was a year filled with love, a few fights, and a lot of making up. Living together the way you were was still working out great. Both of your families were extremely proud of you on your commencement day. There was just a tough decision you each had to make. You couldn’t find jobs in the same school district at this time, and neither of you wanted to compromise on the year you were teaching.
You each got a couple of job offers in various places. Some closer to each other than others. You couldn’t stop yourself from daydreaming about working at the same place, though. All of the kids would know you and Harry were together, and it was just be the cutest thing ever.
“Hey, look at this. These two schools are only an hour from each other.” He says as you both look over the paperwork for offers. “We could find a flat at a halfway point to live in. We’d still be relatively close to where we are now, so we’d still see our friends. Probably make some new ones.”
“You hate making new friends.” You smirk and use your laptop to look up flats at a halfway point. “I suppose we could make this work…although, I’m really gonna miss this place. It’s like our little love nest.” You pout at him.
“Any place we live will be our love nest, babe, don’t worry.”
“So, now that you have a graduate degree you’re not gonna drop me for someone else?” You joke and he rolls his eyes.
“I should be worried about you doing that. Bet you’ll meet a nice guy at whatever school you’re working at and he’ll try to sweep you off your feet.”
“I don’t quite think so. I’ll probably end up gushing about my boyfriend too much.”
“Shame, if only there was something you could wear so everyone would automatically know you were taken.” He gets up from his seat as you continue to scroll on your laptop.
“Mhm, yeah, if only.”
“Y/N, turn the fuck around, would you?”
You huff and does he says. Your eyes widen when you see him down on one need with a velvet box in his hand.
“Are you serious?” Your eyes start to water.
“Been together nearly two years, known you for nearly seven. You’re my person, Y/N, I don’t wanna be with anyone else.”
“I…I don’t wanna be with anyone else either, Harry.”
“Alright, so…” He opens up the box and you smile at the cutest little ring.
“Once, uh, once I’ve been working a real job for a few years, and we have a wedding paid for, you know if you say yes, we can go to a jewelry store and gets a large diamond, you know, if you want.”
“Oh, Harry…it’s perfect.” You giggle and stick your left hand out.
“You’re really saying yes?!”
“Yes, you idiot, slide it on!”
He beams at you and slides the ring onto your finger. It’s a perfect fit. He stands up and pulls you into his arms. You kiss him over and over. You couldn’t believe it. You start laughing into his chest hysterically.
“What’s so funny, hm?”
“Nothing, it’s just…after we graduated from undergrad…Jenna had asked me to split a flat with her, and I had been mulling it over until you asked me to live with you, and…and if I had said yes to her and not you, I…well…who knows what we’d be right now.”
“Funny how things just work out the way they’re supposed to, huh?”
“Yeah, hilarious.” You throw your arms around his neck to hug him again. Harry was full of surprises, but this had to be the best one yet.
a/n: if you’re able, please consider buying me a coffee, love you all lots, thank you!! 
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hezuart · 3 years ago
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That anaversary aizen looks absolutely fabulous, he looks like a figure skater xd.
I heard along time ago the last arc of the anime was being animated finally bc they pulled a 90s sailor moon were the last season was not either animated or dubbed untill decades later.
I recall near the end of the current 366 episodes there was an episode were the creapy demon ppl woke up in hell and we're all bitter, and there was the other guy who was like, iM cOmEiNg FoR u IChIgO, but then is never mentioned again after and I'm like,why? Why is lt there just plopted randomly into a different arc that seams unrelated.
And locking aizen up underground seems ok, but It deff won't hold, and he will. Escape, and he will kill, you either need that one spell from star, dubbed, the darkest spell of moon the undaunted, a powerfull dark spell that killed immortal beings, that came from best character, eclipsa, the queen of darkness.
We need that.
Or stick him I'm crystal like eclipsa was in star. Is there no one who could trap him in ice or crystal for all eternity.
How about throw him into the centre of a volcano trapped and caged , forverr being killed by heat?
I assume there's space travel, send I'm into a black whole, were a black whole don't fuckin care if your immortal or fat, you will die
:3
Yes, I love anniversary Aizen. His original octopus-butterfly hollow design was ugly so I'm glad he's back to being the fashion icon he is.
Locking Aizen up underground once is one thing, doing it twice after saying he got more powerful by just sitting there, and he escaped to battle the Quincy Soul King God... is another. I think he should have escaped at the end of the Quincy arc. That is the only feasibility.
I heard the anime is coming back for the Quincy arc as well, but because of COVID its probably going to be delayed. (I'm not gonna watch it until the Rain section of the arc then I'm dipping out. I'm only here for Zangetsu)
and funny that you mention that hell scene in the manga :)
-> spoilers for the new BLEACH 73 page anniversary chapter / thoughts/critique on it
So hey you had a premonition! Syazel .... returned? And his hole is outside of his body??? for some reason???
(I didn't understand the explanation or why / how that happens and what that means for the hollow)
And my friend and I were laughing because out of ALL the things. Kubo could do in this anniversary. He gave Syazel his dick back after going to hell. That is iconic. (that's where his hole was located, and now that its not on his body ... well...) This is the funniest thing Kubo has EVER pulled. Kudos to you, sir.
The entire internet is freaking out over Ukitake being in hell. Honestly Kubo has done far worse, and we've established that Soul Society is a corrupt system that hasn't changed, so I'm not surprised he would pull something like this.
At the same time, Kubo 1. cheated his audience. 2. continues to prove me right that he cannot bring himself to kill his characters
1. Hollows who have commit murder in their human life are sent to hell. Syazel and Aaorniero are two of these hollows, and yet, when they are killed, there is NO gates of hell scene. We see them there later in the hell chapter (which was more of a promotion for the fourth movie and I didn't believe it would hold any merit)
But the same goes for Ukitake. We never see the gates of hell take him. What, was hell late? Did hell's gates get lost like an uber before picking him up? It's bull. Withholding such vital information from your audience, not showing the gates of hell when they should pick up this soul IMMEDIATELY is ... I mean its a lie. Kubo lied to his audience.
2. Now we are told powerful shinigami are sent to hell when they die. First of all that sounds like a security threat. Wouldn't shinigami want revenge for that? Or attempt to escape? Why would they still hold loyalty after being sent to a prison of eternal suffering?
Also "Yhwach and Aizen" were the only ones keeping Hell's gates closed is way too convenient and doesn't really make any sense. I feel like Aizen should have deliberately gone to hell to retrieve powerful shinigami / hollows for his army instead of keeping it /closed/.
This is definitely a Kubo-doesn't-know-what-he's-doing-and-is -making- stuff-up-as-he-goes, but it might have a pinch of merit because of previous plot lines.... but either way, there's some big plot holes here, but again, its Kubo, so I expected nothing less.
Again, he can't kill off his characters. He introduced zombification, he introduced immortality through the hougyoku, he has Orihime and Hachigen's reversal / rejection abilities. He brought back Luppi, friggen.... a character who's entire upper half of his body was incinerated. Like.... come on. No. He's dead, you can't bring him back like that. That's a cop out and just weird. You're taking away consequences and grief.
(Also Yamamoto and Unohana deserve to be in hell far over Ukitake, they've done some fcked up stuff in their pasts unlike him)
Also Kubo's favorite character is Mayuri, which.... you're allowed to have a favorite problematic character. But Keeping said character alive and bared from the consequences of abusing his daughter, murdering innocents, and experimenting on your own squad members? Nah. Nope. Kill him, Kubo. Kill this dude.
(his weird attachment to Mayuri is probably why he keeps bringing Syazel back, since Syazel is Mayuri 2.0, but Syazel is the bad guy who does face consequences for his actions while Mayuri is not)
~
Also, I'm certain Kazui and Orihime are going to be THRILLED that their precious husband/dad is going to hell when he dies :)
(I just... Rukia teased Ichigo about leaving Orihime at home. She teased him about having a house wife who he leaves all the chores to. Orihime had two panels. She checks on her son who promised he would be at home and sleep. Kazui fcking breaks his promise like it never mattered to him and JUMPS out the window after pretending to sleep in front of his mother. ... An 8 year old... alone... in the middle of the night.)
Orihime is abandoned. She is not invited to SS, she is not informed of what is going on, her son leaves her.... I...
Orihime is a side character. She doesn't matter anymore. She hasn't mattered for a long, long time.
A part of me is glad she had little screen time, since she tends to waste it, but another part of me is embroiled with rage.
I've even see people try to defend this. "Orihime and Ichigo can't be together ALL the time, that's an unhealthy relationship!" and I'm like guys... that's not the point. The point is Orihime is not part of Ichigo's other life. Any shinigami stuff from now on is none of her business. She's going to stay at home while Kazui and Ichigo go off and save the world. Ichigo is going to be fighting by Rukia and Renji while Orihime watches from the sidelines, or worse, doesn't even know what is going on with her husband and son. Orihime is going to be uninformed and abandoned, because she has not proven she is capable of fighting by their sides(go on, @ me. I will fight this. She's a failure.), and also because she prefers a human life over a dead one. Which is ironic, because she married a dead man. Ichigo is a shinigami, and he will be one forever. god forbid she ever meets his Zanpaktou. She would tremble in fear at the monsters her husband harbors in his soul, especially when she realizes they don't care about her and would rather see her dead. (Zangetsu would absolutely kill Orihime. Not sure about Kazui, but Orihime has not accepted Zangetsu, she does not like either of them, and the feeling is assuredly mutual.) frick now I want to make a comic about this
Also still frustrated over Zangetsu's shikai / bankai regression. Kubo once again lied to his audience. Ichigo has no bankai. How ridiculous is that? The main character of BLEACH doesn't have a bankai. Insulting.
(RIP to Chad. He doesn't exist anymore. He's just gone. No mention, no cameo. Gone.)
Kazui is a demon child. That character from the novels? Hikone? They're the same character. Literally same personality, same power level. Its worse because Kazui is a liar. He constantly goes behind his parents' backs. He can summon creepy fish and creepy eyeballs and open portals like is ANYONE aware of this? How has SS not kidnapped Ichigo's son and experimented on him / locked away his powers yet? All substitute shinigami require a reiatsu controlling / spy badge to keep them in line. Where is Kazui's? Or is he just a weird fullbringer?
I was worried Kubo was gonna try and pull a knock off Boruto but luckily he kept the focus on Ichigo and the others. But that being said, Ichika and Kazui are now just... sort of there? Kazui was kinda just.... having his own adventure that doesn't matter to the plot at hand, and Ichika had some nice characterization at first but she just hid behind her dad the whole time.
I have a feeling Kazui is gonna step in at the last minute or do some major behind the scenes thing that indirectly interferes with the main plot so no one will realize how powerful and dangerous he actually is. Its sad because Ichika is the superior character in personality and likability, but she clearly is not going to have a bigger part in this.
Ichigo having a normal life after everything still feels extremely boring and uncomfortable to me. Everyone's like 'I'm still bLEACH!" but.... BLEACH just... doesn't feel like BLEACH anymore. It hasn't for a while now.
~~~
There's two new shinigami characters. Didn't care for the girl, but the Sign Language kid who talks to animals is adorable ... however... he just reminds me of Chad, and I just... it hurts knowing Chad has essentially been deleted. Chad and Orihime are officially benched. They have chosen the human world, and Orihime has given Ichigo his spawn so she has no more use/purpose to him anymore... ////sigh
~~~
Also. This is claimed to be a new "arc". So is the BLEACH manga coming back? What is happening. I thought Kubo was tired and didn't want to do BLEACH anymore. I thought Shounen Jump cut him off. People made so many excuses for Kubo and why the past two arcs have been so badly written the past 6 years and now almost everything they've attempted to defend him with has been revoked.
BLEACH is going to continue to screw up its plot lines and characters, so Its probably best for it to stay dead but I've seen a lot of Kubo stans drooling over this content, they're desperate for BLEACH's return, but its already given out all its possible revelations. There's really nothing else to top here. It's just going to make things up as it goes along ,and I'm not really here for half-assed writing like that, especially since the damage of rushing the previous manga has already been done. Kubo and Shounen Jump are riding off a money nostalgia. None of this was planned.
Honestly though.... overall feeling of this chapter, not as bad as it could have been.
Syazel stole the spotlight, and he's my friend's favorite character, so that's all that really matters.
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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years ago
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The Voyage So Far: East Blue (Part Two)
east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)
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this is one of my favorite little character beats in east blue. sanji and zeff have an entire conversation and then zeff mentions, “by the way, that kid can’t swim” and sanji is like “WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SOONER!!” and is in the water in like three seconds flat. 
and, of course, zeff’s fond expression once sanji isn’t around to see.
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we don’t see sanji smile like this too often- and when we do, it’s most often related to food in some way (like when he feeds gin, or in his wci flashback when sora says his food is good). it does things to my heart.
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kind of reiterating myself from the last post, here, but usopp really does do a lot of cool things well before his water 7/enies lobby character development, just not as many when compared to his crewmates. which is his problem, really- he can’t stop comparing himself to them long enough to recognize he’s pretty cool by any reasonable metric, he just happens to be on a ship with nine of the most badass people on the planet and so his metric is completely skewed. 
anyways he shoots a fucking bomb into arlong’s face and that’s completely sick as hell.
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zoro left alone in arlong park is so funny. he got nearly cut in half like two days ago, and instead of just leaving like a normal person when nami gives him the chance, he chooses to wipe the floor with all the fishmen around and then hang out on arlong’s throne. also, that shirt isn’t his. he stole it. presumably off one of the guys whose asses he just kicked. 
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there’s really something to be said about nami’s expressions in arlong park. she’s clearly acting to an extent in most of her scenes prior to her breakdown, but at the same time, god, it really doesn’t look like it. nami in this arc is a really great example of reread value- on a reread, all her coldness and cruelty becomes barely-restrained pain and desperation. 
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i really, really love one piece’s sibling relationships. and there might be a little bit of bias here, because i’m a big sister myself, but i love how varied they are, how real they feel, both adopted and biological. nami and nojiko don’t agree on everything, and they come into conflict more than once, but at the same time it’s plain they love each other so so much. 
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bellemere is up there as one of my favorite flashback characters, together with corazon and roger. i love her a lot. 
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i’m not even doing a thorough reread for this post, just skimming through volumes and picking out moments, and genzo telling nami that she’s fought well and there’s nothing more she can do still made me cry. 
nami has been fighting on her own for eight years, with the lives of her entire village and her only remaining family resting on her shoulders, with them unable to do anything but watch as she runs herself into the ground for them. this is where they decide they’d rather all die than have to see her start all over from scratch for them. 
arlong park is an amazingly written arc, and it pummels my heart in a new and different way every time. 
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i really like that zoro, sanji and usopp all follow luffy’s lead in how he chooses to handle the arlong park situation. luffy waits for nami to ask for help, and as soon as she finally does, it cuts around to show that it’s not just luffy there- all four of them were just waiting for her word. it’s the first time the crew is entirely united for a common goal, and it feels really good. 
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i really am never gonna shut up about usopp’s character development, huh. 
i really like the way the scene of him getting up the nerve to face down chuu is constructed- him rehearsing excuses and explanations cut together with memories of his crewmates (and on the next page, later the cocoyashi villagers as well), moments of theirs that he obviously admires. the one that hits me the hardest is him thinking of nami, in the moment she stabbed herself to save his life. that’s how he gets up his courage- from his admiration and respect for his crewmates’ bravery.
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i think about this moment a lot. it’s one of my favorite luffy moments, and also one of the ones i think is most representative of him as a character. he’s such a delightful, laid-back person most of the time, but he loves the people he’s decided are his so much, and god help you if you hurt them. 
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i think about this a lot, too. 
luffy is dumb as rocks in a lot of ways, but he’s pretty damn intuitive when it comes to people. he handles nami’s situation in exactly the right way, by waiting for her to ask for help instead of just barging unasked into the war she’s been fighting alone for years, and he handles this exactly right, too- by destroying what’s effectively her prison cell in a permanent, visible way, where she can see and know that she’ll never have to sit at that desk ever, ever again.
i just- i love luffy, so much. 
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i talked about oda’s use of negative space to emphasize heavy, impactful moments in the last post, and this is maybe the best example of it yet in the story. look at this panel: the future pirate king, the stand where the last one died, and absolutely nothing else but empty space and luffy’s words: this is where the great pirate era began.
the theming of beginnings and endings in loguetown is so, so good, and it could almost be summed up with this panel alone. it’s at once the ending of the story’s east blue prologue and a new beginning- the beginning of the crew’s infamous reputations, of the quest for the one piece proper, of the entire wider story that opens up with the entry into the grand line. the end of roger’s era, and the start of luffy’s.
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i love the atmosphere of loguetown so dearly. the thunder strike at the last moment, maybe a rescue and maybe sheer luck; the raging storm, the vow over the barrel, the declaration of dreams. i’ve said this before- there’s something so romantic about it, in the old-fashioned arthurian sense one piece uses the word. 
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and we’re off for the grand line!
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tofeartheunknown · 4 years ago
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Back to December
Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader
Request by @caritobbg
Not edited.
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I only made the call because I had no other choice. I was relieved to hear Sam's voice on the other end of the line. After all, it's been three years since I've spoken to either of the Winchester boys.
"Hello?" Sam's groggy voice caused an involuntary smile.
"Hey, Sam. It's Y/N." I heard shuffling and assumed, along with the groggy greeting, I woke him up. "Sorry for calling at..." I looked at the alarm clock, "four in the morning. Oh God, sorry, I should call back later." I apologized. I lost track of time after midnight.
"No, no. It's really great to hear from you." I could hear the surprise in his voice. "What- ah, what's going on? Is everything alright?"
I cannot deny that I've missed the brothers. In particular, the one I wanted to avoid calling at all costs. I'm not sure I could have had this conversation with him, if he would have answered the phone, that it.
"Everything's fine. Well, not completely. Listen, I'm in Denver, and there's a Demon in town. I've been here for two weeks and I can't seem to catch him. Bodies keep dropping. I've narrowed down his hunting ground, but I think I need some help here." I bit my lip, awaiting his response. I mean, come on. I was with them for five years before leaving, no phone call, text, email, or letter, then all of a sudden call and ask for help.
"Why didn't you call Dean?" Seriously? That's his response. I couldn't stop the sigh that escaped.
"You know why. Besides, he probably wouldn't pick up the phone." His grunt told me he agreed.
"Alright, tell you what. Text me what motel your staying at and I'll talk to Dean." He sounds more awake now. I hear water running and assume he's making coffee.
I couldn't hold back my shock. "Really?! That's great, thank you!" I stood from the small couch.
Sam let out a small laugh. "Yeah, no problem. We'll be there tomorrow."
"See you then." I hung up after that, hoping to finally get some sleep.
I remember that night as if it just happened. Sam, Dean, and I just finished a hunt the night before. Dean and I decided to celebrate by getting a motel room for just the two of us. Sam understood out need to be alone and assured us he would be fine by himself for the night.
"This is amazing." I mumbled, cuddling closer to Dean on the motel bed. Porky's, Dean and, coincidentally my, favorite movie was playing on the TV.
"Yeah, we haven't had time for this in months." Dean agreed, his hand rubbing my arm that laid across his torso. "Too bad we have to pack up tomorrow."
This was news to me. I didn't think there was already another case. I hoped to spend at least a few more days like this with Dean.
I sat up at looked at him "Why so soon? We just finished here." He didn't seem to notice my disappointment.
"Well, Babe, monster don't take days off." Dean said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You know that. You grew up in this life, just like Sam and me."
My disappointment turned to anger. "Dean, you said it yourself, we haven't had any time to ourselves in months. We can afford to take some time off and relaxe." I stood from the bed, my tank top and jeans lay beside my feet.
"No, we really can't." Dean's raised his voice, not enough to disturbed the rooms next to us, but enough for me to realize an argument is starting.
"Five years, Dean. That's how long we've been together, and nothing's changed! It's the same thing year after year! Is this all I'm gonna get?" I was fuming. He doesn't understand that I want more than he seems to want out of our relationship.
This isn't the first time we've had this argument. But this is the first time I lay it all out.
"What are you talking about?!" Dean asked, now sitting at the edge of the bed.
"I mean, it was fun for a while. Hunting all the time together. But that's all it is now! Sure we get these little nights, but... I need more." It's the first time I've admitted to him. "Let's be honest here, we're falling apart, Dean."
Dean scoffed, clearly oblivious to the issues we've had recently. We've drifted apart, mostly due to the fact that we haven't been on the same page in a while.
"So, what? You wanna get married now?" He asked, his arms spread and an eyebrow raised. It was my turn to scoff while pulling on my jeans.
"No, smartass! I want an actual relationship with you!" I shout, pulling my tank top over my head. I sat on the edge of the bed and shoved my shows on, not bothering with socks or tying them. I was far to upset to care.
"What do you think we've been doing all this time?!" Dean yelled, putting his jeans on, knowing I'm about to leave. " What do you want from me? I got you flowers, got us a room, and took you to dinner? I don't know what else to do!" He sounded utterly desperate for answers, watching me pack my duffle bag.
"I want to feel like I'm not the only one holding us together!" I spun around as I yelled. "It's always one hunt after the other with you! I get that it's what we do, but I can't do just that anymore!" I felt the tears fall before I felt the stinging in my eyes.
Dean followed me out the door, my bag on my shoulder. I didn't even notice Sam step out from him room next to ours.
"Where are you going?" Dean's voice was slightly panicked, our fights have never gone this far before.
"Anywhere but here." I turned back to him. His glossy eyes almost too much to handle. "I love you, but I can't live this life with you anymore. I need more than this, but it seems like you don't. I'm sorry..."
Dean, shaking his head, let his tears fall freely. "Don't do this, Y/N, please." He whispered. His hand came up to cup my cheek. I grabbed it and moved away.
"Goodbye, Dean."
I never spoke to or saw either brother after that night. Walking away has been my biggest regret. But, now I have to get ready to meet them at a diner in town.
The butterflies in my stomach are raging as I parked a few spaced down from the all too familiar impala and the two bodies leaning against it. It's now or never, and though never sounds like a much better choice, I know this has to happen.
I stepped out of my car and pulled my bag over my shoulder. Sam, unsurprisingly, was the first to greet me, walking up with a large smile. Dean wouldn't look up from the ground, knowing it was me. I can't blame him, I could hardly look at him myself.
"Y/N." Sam opened his arms, a bit hesitant, not really knowing where we stood. But I walked right into his arms fully returning this much needed hug. I really did miss this. Sam was like a brother to me, and it hurt walking away from him too. "It's good to see you." He said, pulling away.
"It's good to see you too." I smiled up at him before looking over at Dean. I do my best to control my breathing, ignoring the tightening in my chest. "Both of you." I finished, hoping the green eyes would finally catch mine. Unfortunately, it was a false hope.
"We should get inside" Dean grumbled, then he began making his way to the diner entrance. I frown, pushing against the moisture threatening to gloss over my eyes.
A hand landing on the middle of my back, I looked over to Sam who gave me a sympathetic smile. "Give him time, trust me." He assured me, guiding me through the doors Dean went through.
"The Lexicon bar" I handed Sam my notes while we waited for our food. Dean still hasn't said a word to me, and even though I expected nothing more from him, it still feels like a dumbell is sitting on my chest. Dean glanced over the papers as well, so at least he's taking this seriously. That hasn't seemed to change.
Sam handed the papers back and I slid them in my bag. "OK, so what's the plan?" He asked, shooting the waiter a short nod and thanks when he sat our food in front of us. He picked up his veggie burger, while I picked at a few of my fries and Dean didn't even touch his. If this was under any other circumstance I would be shocked.
"I was thinking I play bait." Sam opened his mouth to object, but I quickly continued speaking. "You two can keep watch and catch us as we leave. All victims were found in the back ally. All female, no specific type. All victims participated in the bars open mic, starting from ten p.m. to one a.m.. I'll go one tonight while you stake out the crowd."
"How are you sure he'll choose you?" It is the first time Dean has actually acknowledged me since they got here. My palms begin to sweat any throat grew dry. I took a gulp of my drink.
"Well I don't exactly, but I do know how I could appeal to him more." I picked at my food more, avoiding eye contact.
Sam and Dean glaced at each other. "After we finish we'll go to the motel and start preping." Sam said before biting into his burger, starting off a very awkward lunch.
"There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about Dean. I messed up. I walked away and it's the biggest mistake I have ever made. Now, seeing him, it brings everything back. I never stopped loving him, and I honestly believe that I will love him for the rest of my life. After the hunt, do you think you can take my room tonight. I need to get him alone, I need to apologize. I need to at least try to get him back. I don't want him to leave without knowing how I feel." I explained to Sam as we waited for Dean to gather the rest of what we needed for the hunt. I'm wearing a knee length (color) dress, my Demon knife strapped in it holster on my thigh.
"He hasn't been the same since you left." Sam started. "You thought he was obsessed before, he's constantly seeking out hunts now." Sam sighed, leaning against Baby's passenger seat. "He won't admit it, but these three years have been absolute he'll for him. I hear him say you name in his sleep at night." He looked at the open motel room door, watching Dean assemble his gun with devil's trap bullets, just in case. "He'd still go to the ends of the earth for you." Sam has absolutely no idea how much that crushes me, but also gives me hope that Dean will hear me out.
I wiped a fallen tear from my cheek just as Dean walked out, closing the door behind him. I've noticed the looks he's given me since I've changed clothes. "Let's get this over with." Dean mumbled while taking off his jacket. He handed it to me, knowing I was getting cold in the fall weather. I stared at it on my hands for a few seconds before pulling it on. Sam was right, he does still care. Before I could thank him he was already in the car. I got in after Sam, who shot me a knowing smile. Dean started the engine and we were on our way to the Lexicon.
Once we stepped inside our plan went into motion. I gave Dean his jacket back and made my way to the open mic sign-in sheet. There was only one other person on the list so far. I put down an alias and the name of the song I was going to perform. I've been thinking about it since we got to the motel earlier. I Taylor Swift's back to December came on the alarm clock radio as I got ready in my room. I realized how insanely similar out situation is to the song lyrics and decided it would be best to portray my feelings to Dean disguised in a song. It felt like it would be easier.
Once I got back to the boys we begin to briefly go over the plan. "Okay, Dean, when open mic starts keep an eye out for anyone talking to the participants after they sing. I'm second on the list." I explained. "Sam your on stand by at the front of the alley way out front. Dean or I will send a text when it's go time." I finished, taking a drink of the water Dean bought me, remembering that I don't like drinking on the job.
"Good luck." Sam advised, patting me on the shoulder before walking out of the bar.
"So, how are you so sure the demon will target you- and why can't we just let wait to see if he walks out to the ally with some else? Dean implored, he seemed concerned cause hope to swell some more in my chest.
"Every victim sang a heart break song of some sort." I answered, avoiding eye contact. Silence falls between us for what feels like forever, although it was about a minute. "Look, can we talk after-" Dean cut me off.
"We probably should be seen talking. It needs to look like you're here alone." Dean proceeded to take a sip of his beer before nodding over to the bar. "I'll be keeping watch at the bar." He stated, turning away and leaving me to watch him walk away. The same thing I did to him three years ago.
"Next up we have Diana Troy." The bar owner announced into the mic, holding out hit hand and helping me onto the right five by seven foot stage. I've spoken to him many times using this alias for the investigation. However, I'm not surprised he doesn't remember me he tends to take his ownership of the bar for granted most nights.
I muttered out a small "thank you," before adjusting the mic stand a bit. I tried not to think of the seventy or so eyes on me as the music started.
"I'm so glad you made time to see me
How's life? Tell me, how's your family?
I haven't seen them in a while
You've been good, busier than ever
We small talk, work and the weather
Your guard is up and I know why"
I see that night replaying in my head exactly how it has almost every night since I left.
"Because the last time you saw me
Is still burned in the back of your mind
You gave me roses and I left them there to die"
I could feel Dean's eyes without even looking for them. When mine found his the power of the chorus hit me hard.
"So this is me swallowin' my pride
Standin' in front of you sayin' I'm sorry for that night
And I go back to December all the time
It turns out freedom ain't nothin' but missin' you
Wishin' I'd realized what I had when you were mine
I'd go back to December, turn around and make it alright
I go back to December all the time."
My eyes never left him until the song ended. I didn't even know I was crying until a tear fell onto my arm. As people clapped I made my way off stage and to the bar. As I was almost to the bar, some one grabbed my arm and spun me towards them. Bingo. We found out guy. Or, rather, out guy found me. Though there is no proof that he is the demon, I just knew it had to be him.
He wore a white dress shirt and black pants, his eye hung a bit loose on his neck. He looked like a working man, and had trusting, kind blue eyes. His short black hair slicked back with a little gel. He had olive skin and a lean figure. He looked harmless. It took restraint for me to not pull my knife on him now. I have to wait to get him outside.
"That was absolutely beautiful." He praised, his hand still on my arm. I sniffled, wiping away the remaining tears.
"Th-thank you." I mumbled, itching to remove his hand.
"My name's Gerard. What's your story?" The Demon asks with a charming smile. My brows furrowed at that.
"What do you mean?" I thought for a moment and decided to guess before he has time to answer. "With the song?"
'Gerard' nodded, leaning against the bar. "I don't mean to pry, but you seem really upset. I can only assume the sing meant something to you." He explained, finally removing his hand from my skin.
"I-uh..." I looked at the floor indecisive of what answer to give him. I could lie and make something up, or I could just tell him the truth. It's not like I'll see him again after tonight, so what harm could it do. "I messed up. A while ago. I left the one person I loved most in my life during a stupid argument." I took a shaky breath. "I don't think I can ever find someone who made me feel as alive as he did." I knew Dean could hear every word I said. He's standing a few feet behind us and it's not like this is a whispered conversation. I need to talk to him, so I need to speed this up. "I should just go." I moved past 'Gerard' only for him to grab my hand.
"Let me at least walk you to your car." His insisted in an innocent, concerned voice. "You never know who could be out there waiting for a vulnerable women to walk past them all alone. There are some real monsters out there" He pushed, the irony gave me chills. I nodded, letting him lead me towards the side exit. I stuck to my naive role and let his guide me without protest.
As soon as the door shut behind us, I was pushed against a wall and 'Gerard's' eyes went black. "Do I look stupid?" He glared at me. I just shrugged the best I could.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" I question with a raised brow. I didn't try to reach for my demon blade yet. I'm just waiting for the distraction.
The Demon put his hand up and made a fist. My throat tightened and my oxygen is cut off. I quickly brought my hands up to my throat, because that's what people do when they can't breath, even though it does absolutely nothing to help. I was beginning to panic until I heard someone yell.
"Let her go!" I was Dean's voice. I looked aver the the demon did and felt relief as oxygen began pouring back into my lungs. Dean's gun pointed towards the demon distracted him enough to let me go.
"Now, it that anyway to treat a lady?" Sam asks, standing next to Dean with his arms folded. I slowly pull the knife from my thigh holster and creep up behind the demon.
"Oh, so it's three humans against one demon I'm so-" I plunge the knife through his back watching it slice through to the other side. He lit up like a Christmas tree for second before going limp. I pulled the knife out and watched him fall onto his side. I quickly rolled him over and opened his shirt. There are four bullet holes in his chest surrounding the stab wound.
"How did you know?" Dean asks from above me. I look up to see him and Sam standing there and looking at the corpse.
"I had a feeling." I mumbled, I've learned to trust my guy over the many years of hunting; I tend to be right. "Let's clean this up." I muttered before helping Sam picked up the body and take it to Baby when Dean pulled up to the curb.
I slipped into the boys' room right after Sam left to get dinner. Dean glanced over, putting down the gun he was cleaning and standing from his chair. "Can we talk, please?" I stared down at the floor, my hands in my pockets.
"Did you mean it?" Dean's question caused me to look up. He must have seen the confusion in my eyes because before I could even respond he continued. "The song you chose. Did you choose it for me?"
I hesitated, swallowing the lump forming in my throat. "Yes. Just hear me out!" I was quick to stop any protests that may come out of his mouth. "I hate myself for walking out on you. It was the biggest mistake I've ever made. An-and if I could go back to that night I would have stayed. Since I left I haven't been sleeping well, I see you when I close my eyes and some night I still cry myself to sleep." I took a shaky breath, not caring to wipe my tears away.
Dean's eyes grew glossy with his own tears. "I wanted to hate you for leaving. But all I could do was hurt. People say it gets easier, but it never did for me. I've tought about you every day for three year, Y/N." His voice cracks and sobs break through my lips.
"I'm so sorry." I cried, covering my face with my hands. I was so distracted by my own pain that I couldn't here Dean making his way over to me. When I felt his arms wrap around my shoulders I just fell into him. I could tell he was crying by the way hid chest shook. I latched my arms around him tight. I never want to let go of him again.
We stood in each other's embrace for a while, feeling as thought we're the only thing keeping each other stable and upright. We we finally pulled apart we sat next to each other on the bed.
Things can't go back to the way they were, but at least now we can start picking up the pieces of one another, one day at a time. I'm never letting Dean Winchester go again.
Note- Not the best ending, I apologize , but I haven't written anything in forever, and this took me such a long time because of that.
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whaleofatjme1920 · 3 years ago
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On Your Bedroom Floor with Her By Your Side (Kate the Chaser X F!Reader)
On Your Bedroom Floor with Her By Your Side
[Kate the Chaser/Kate Milens-Hayes X F!Reader]
[Warnings: slight language, minor violence, none really]
[AN: I started my oneshot book on quotev because I loved Kate that much]
You weren’t supposed to even know she existed. In fact, the way she found you was entirely an accident over winter break your freshman year of college.
Your parents had been out on a well needed vacation and left you home to handle the house. That was fine, you needed the time off and wanted to relax as much as you could before getting back into the swing of school in January. You spent most of your time moving about, pleased that you had the space to branch out and do what you pleased. This included listening to your music without headphones and generally, being weird without anyone to judge you.
A few days into your well needed alone time, you had laid in your bed watching videos on your phone. The house was dark and quiet, easily giving off the appearance that no one was home. On your own, you were naturally pretty silent when night fell over the land.
That’s what led Kate to make her first mistake.
Somehow, she had gotten separated from her group. It was supposed to be a simple clearing, a one and done it kind of deal, but they were essentially ambushed. Masky got shot pretty bad, so Toby’s priority was getting the group leader out and to safety. Hoodie stayed behind with Kate to finish the clearing, but they were swarmed. They had to abandon the operation and return to it later, or perhaps, another group would take it over. Hoodie yelled for Kate to scatter and that he’d get them off her trail. What a selfless guy, always watching out for the proxies in his group. And she obeyed him because he was Masky’s right hand. On her way out, she’d gotten shot. From what she could feel, it wasn’t fatal, but it still hurt like hell.
She stumbled while sprinting through the woods and found her sense of direction totally shot. This was a relatively new area to her and her group; she hadn’t committed it to memory just yet. No matter, she could return to them in the morning. She was probably too far to send out any mental notes to her comrades, but she attempted anyway just so they wouldn’t stay up worrying about her. Kate eventually stumbled upon this empty looking house and quickly deduced that the owners must’ve fled this cold place for somewhere warmer for the winter. Perfect! She’d spend the night there, fix herself, and leave without a trace.
Kate grit her teeth as she trudged through the snow and eventually, dragged herself to the back door. The wound on her side felt like ice, and the freezing temperature was not helping her feel any better. With a slight grimace, she pulled her coat sleeve over her fist and punched through the glass of the door. It shattered surprisingly easily and that alone made her raise her brows. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kate opened the back door and threw most of her caution to the wind as she shut the door behind her. There were no neighbors, so she could turn on the lights and no one would care. Kate flicked on the kitchen lights and began working her ‘in real life magick’ after she shed her coat haphazardly on the counter.
Upstairs, you heard quite a commotion going on downstairs. Immediately alarm bells rang in your head. Your parents weren’t due to come back until much, much later. There was an intruder. You slipped out of bed, phone in hand and began to creep out of your room. From where you stood at the top of the stairs, you could see the lights turned on and someone’s shadow dancing across the floor followed by pained muttering.
You took a tentative step down and immediately panicked when it creaked. Time seemed to slow.
“Shit,” you heard your intruder mumble.
A tense second later and you heard they were running towards your direction. You screeched in surprise when you finally caught a glimpse of them and high tailed it back up the stairs, the image of their mask burned into your skull. After all, there was no way a human looked like that.
They chased you up the stairs when you narrowly made it back to your room, accidentally dropping your phone in the process right when you slammed your bedroom door shut as it acted as the only barrier between you and the intruder.
“What the fuck do you want from me?” You cried out as you locked the door, then quickly worked on piling various things in your room against it.
They didn’t pound on your door, nor did they try to violently enter the room, but the doorknob did jiggle a tad too much for your comfort. “Look,” the feminine voice said. “I’m in a lot of pain right now. I don’t have the time to deal with you. If you stay in there and don’t try running or telling anyone about me, I’ll do what I have to and be out of your hair before the morning.” You heard her tap at the door a few times. “Besides, where are you gonna go in a snowstorm like this? Your phone is out here with me, and as far as I can see, no one is coming for you any time soon. Even if you did have your phone, authorities wouldn’t be able to reach you,” she said as she tried to reason with you. “Don’t do anything stupud, and I’ll be gone before you know it.”
“Don’t even think about taking anything-” you began, eyebrows furrowing in rage. You balled your fists and glared at the door while you attempted to control your breathing.
“There’s nothing here I want but medical supplies,” she waved off, clearly exhausted. “I got shot, princess.”
Your eyes widen slightly. “You got shot?”
“I’m not explaining this to you; I don’t have the time,” she sighed in an exasperated tone. You heard her pad away from your door and to the direction of the upstairs bathroom. “You got first aid in here?” You heard her ask.
You wonder if you should answer her or not-
“Never mind,” she said, effectively cutting you from your thoughts.
An awkward silence falls between the two of you for about half an hour as she works on herself. You’re almost certain she’s ready to leave when you hear your phone ring. You instinctively glanced down at your hand only to remember she still has it.
“It’s your mom,” she said, voice on the other side of your door. “Do you uh, want to answer it or not?”
Of course you wanted to answer it.
“Look, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything. You can literally just stick your arm out and I’ll hand you the phone.”
You find yourself more than apprehensive.
“Tell you what,” she said, verbally looking down at the ringing device. “I give you the phone and you let me leave and I won’t hurt you so long as you don’t tell anyone about me.”
Hesitantly, you found yourself cracking the door open to get a good look at the woman who broke into your house. She’s still wearing that mask, but her eyes are so dark it’s like looking in the recesses of the universe and getting pulled into them. She’s not terribly tall, but she’s still taller than you. She looks tired - her body sags slightly. The shot must’ve taken it out of her.
“Give it to me,” you mumbled.
Without any words, she handed you the device, momentarily stopping you before you answered it. “I’ll be back soon to ensure you’re not talking about me. Have fun talking to your mom,” she nonchalantly stated, then nodded for you to answer it.
You shot her a more than confused look before finally answering your mother’s call.
And that was the start of your very strange relationship with the woman you came to know as Kate the Chaser. Though, she preferred you just called her Kate. Kate was a very odd woman, and she was only like, a year or so older than you. The second time she visited, she still had a mask on - something about privacy. You wondered often why she wore it, but she always claimed she had a reason, just could never tell you.
It was odd to admit how you had grown used to her visits. After the first few rocky visits, the two of you had established a schedule. Kate would only visit on the weekends, and your parents could never know she was here. That was fine - she often climbed up to your bedroom window anyways. Sometimes, the two of you would sit on the roof and star gaze. It became all too apparent that Kate enjoyed spending time with you. And slowly, you found yourself enjoying your time with her as well.
The two of you grew to like each other’s time so much that right at the eve of your graduation, she was the first person to wish you congratulations.
She had come into your room like she normally did, by climbing and knocking on your window with a special knock before you let her in. Truthfully, she could have just lifted the thing herself, but she felt it rude and an invasion of privacy (which you found ironic.) After hoisting herself into your room, she took her spot on your bedroom floor, thankful you had a mug of warm tea waiting for her.
“I graduate tomorrow,” you say with a small smile, plucking your mug up from your desk. “I’d kinda like if you were there.”
“I’d love to be, you know that,” Kate replies before taking an appreciative sip of the liquid. “I… I don’t think my boss or my coworkers would be pleased, though. Besides, I’m kinda nocturnal,” she chuckles, making you giggle in response.
In the back of your mind, you wondered why she couldn’t do so many things with you. Everything had been chalked up to her boss, her coworkers, herself. And any time you tried to pry it out of her, she went tight lipped, like she was afraid of telling you anything relating to her. Still, you knew enough of her. She was sarcastic, had a smile like the stars in the sky. And was incredibly knowledgeable on topics you’d never even thought to consider in your daily life. You knew her work, that much was apparent just by looking at her, but you wondered what type of work it was to keep her from you when the sun was out. You knew it was shady, but in order to keep her, you had to resist pushing. “It would be so much better if you were,” you continue, throwing your best puppy dog eyes.
Kate playfully rolls her eyes before ruffling your hair. “Not this time, princess.”
“I legitimately only graduate once,” you reply with a smirk painting itself onto your lips.
“It’s why I came tonight,” she continues as she gestures to the two of you on the floor. “Thought I’d bring you some little gifts to celebrate.” She slings the backpack off her back and opens the biggest pocket. Her hands rummage for a moment before she procures a medium sized leather book. “Here’s the first thing,” she places it in the space between you. “And the next.” out pops a set of high grade art supplies. “This,” now there’s a small little gift basket full of treats you enjoy. “And this thing.” It is a plush giraffe and is donned with a graduation cap.
You smile widely and look over the objects with fascination, gently holding them. The leather journal fascinates you the most. “Where did you get these?” You ask with that same smile.
“Here and there,” Kate answers, her eyes looking over the things she’s gotten for you.
“Thank you so much,” you say in a grateful tone, closing the gap between you and Kate with a hug.
She quietly giggles and hugs you back, her lips pressing to the side of your head. “I’m proud of you, y’know that?”
The two of you chat for a bit more before finally turning to a streaming service. Your parents thankfully, haven’t heard either of you over the sound of some anime playing on the screen, so you’re able to cuddle next to her on the floor and giggle about the world and its happenings as she holds you in her arms. You stay like this until her gaze goes blank, like she’s getting a message only she can hear.
“Have to go,” she says softly. It’s nearing 4 am.
“So soon?” You whisper back, hand holding hers like she’s the only thing grounding you.
“Yeah, work,” she mumbles, quietly standing up to not make too much noise in the quiet house (save for that anime that’s still playing in the background). “I’ll be back before you know it.” She tries to reassure you, her hand gently cupping your cheek.
Your hand meets hers and gently squeezes before she reluctantly leaves your side, heading towards the window. You stand and pad over to her, arms wrapping around her waist and face burying into her back. She smells like the forest. “No,” you mumble.
“His word is law,” she sighs while attempting to turn around to hold you properly. When she can’t get free of your iron grip, she tries something else. “Hey, first thing, you need to rest before the graduation ceremony and, second, just remembered I wanted to give you this.”
You look up from her chest and see she’s unclasping the necklace that’s captivated your attention since you first met her. Your eyes widen slightly when you realize she’s putting it on you. Your hands instinctively reach to look at the pendant, and with it, she’s able to move.
“Promise I’ll be back, so, take good care of it for me,” Another kiss to the top of your head and she’s out the window faster than you can even look up.
You rush to the windowsill to see her running towards the forest with three figures waiting at its edge for her.
She momentarily turns around, waves to you, then disappears into the woods with them.
You feel a slight pang in your heart, but holding the pendant between your fingertips quells it until she returns.
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kitkatopinions · 4 years ago
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You know, I’m just gonna say it.
I’ve been hearing constantly about how James Ironwood turning into the villain he is now has been planned from the start, and if that’s true, it actually makes me more upset. If they’ve been planning James Ironwood turning evil since the start, then they’ve had seven seasons and what, like six, seven years to realize that it might actually be a harmful representation.
James is a military veteran, coded as a war veteran with clear PTSD, he’s an amputee, a disabled man. The character he was given at the start of the show, of being a brave and compassionate man with only the best intentions, but one who clearly struggled to rely on or trust others and was trying to do everything himself is a great characterization for a long time soldier. And a lot of men struggle with things like feeling like they have to be strong and can’t show much emotion, feeling like they’re alone and have to make all the decisions, and feeling like they’re responsible for all the people around them. A storyline about Ironwood making the wrong calls, and having problems like failing to listen to others and prioritizing what he can save over what he feels is a lost cause would be great in my opinion... If CRWBY had had the point of that arc being that James’s new support system worked, they never went behind his back and they helped him, and worried about him, and he realized that he’s not alone and can rely on and trust others.
Instead of doing that or something like it, CRWBY really said “You know what this disabled military veteran with PTSD needs? To be a destructive, dangerous murderer, who can’t be trusted because he’s super violent, and should definitely not be in any position of power or his crazy is gonna turn him into a full blown dictator. Watch how he’s coded as losing his humanity! Watch him do incredibly dumb things in fits of rage! Watch him shoot a child, murder a helpless civilian, and try to take a young girl’s autonomy away from her!”
I feel like it’s kinda obvious why there are people who are frustrated and even hurt by this portrayal. I feel like CRWBY doesn’t handle a lot of things well and doesn’t think a lot of things through, but they had seven seasons to think twice about this. It even hurts their supposed narrative of trust and hope, and is yet another example of how I feel like CRWBY is putting male victims of trauma in a bad light and treating them with much less sympathy than they should.
This isn’t being mad that a character I like was taken in a direction I didn’t like, even though I am disappointed about that. This isn’t even me saying I don’t think the narrative makes a lot of sense in this arc and the writing is sloppy, even though I think it is. I actually think that it’s a hurtful depiction of a male PTSD victim and a disabled man, that villainizes people like him by making his character (once compassionate and hard working) a murderous, incredibly proud, cruel, compassionless figure who our heroes must warn the world against. Frankly, it’s upsetting. And I have every right to find it upsetting.
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youalexturnermeon · 4 years ago
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Warm Beer and Cold Women Pt. 2 (Johnny Lawrence x Reader)
Click for Part 1
Request: Hi! I absolutely love your work and I was wondering if I could get a Cobra Kai Johnny imagine where the reader is a bartender and starts crushing on him since he’s a regular and he flirts with her all the time and she pretends to hate it but she actually loves it? by Anon
A/N: First part is basically just the request, the second part is more angsty and more heated. Johnny protects the reader from some creeps in the bar and they get finally closer
Warnings: badass reader, drinking, DUI, swearing, violence and sexual harassment
Wordcount: 3174
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Friday nights were busier, much busier than any of the other days of the week. You didn’t know how much busier than the other fancy bars in L.A. but for you it was most certainly busy enough. Mostly, middle-aged men came by, construction workers above all, who decided to celebrate the end of the week by getting black-out drunk. The bar was much noisier and loud music blasted through the old shabby speakers on the walls. You didn’t particularly like the big groups of men. They weren’t the nicest and they were the definition of a patriarchal dick comparison that mostly consisted of hitting on the female barkeepers. They were a huge pain in the ass, but at least, the drunker they got, the better they tipped. And you needed the money. Compared to them Johnny was a literal angel.
You didn’t show much enthusiasm when you walked around with a tray, picking up dirty glasses, taking new orders tipped with a few disgusting comments and bringing new drinks over to the tables. Usually, you liked being behind the counter more. Firstly, because you didn’t have to move much, also you loved making cocktails, and secondly because of Johnny who was always an annoyingly good company, although you were never willing to admit that. However, he seemed off today. He still was full on hitting on you and complimenting your today’s choice of clothing, he said he loved how you looked in your shorts and fishnets, but you could see that someothing was going on with him. He was staring into space more than usual and he didn’t pick fights with the construction workers who accidentally bumped into him from time to time. You wanted to ask him about it, because you genuinely were interested in him but as soon as you walked past him with a new full tray, to bring it to a table with three men, he gave you a dirty wink. And the wish to know something about him just vanished, so you made your way.
“Alright,” you said in your overly nice server’s voice as you started placing down the drinks on the table, trying to ignore the looks on your body. You were used to it, you were attractive and being that whilst working as a barkeeper just came with nasty comments and occasional sexual harassment.
“We have three beers, one dark and two Lager, two Whisky on the rocks and one Vodka soda.” Everyone tried to grab their drink from your hands, which you hated but that was okay, some people just didn’t know better, they thought they were helping out that way. When you were putting down the last of the beers on the table and leaned down, a rough hand suddenly brushed over your chest. You might have imagined it, you thought, that was probably an accident. After all, the man, still in his dirty work clothes, probably just tried to grab his dark beer. Yet you stopped for a second, eyes wide, then you cleared your throat and pulled yourself together.
“You alright, love?” he asked, and you nodded, “Yeah, sure, enjoy!”
The man who did that wasn’t even looking at you, you missed his dirty smirk by seconds. You just shook if off, you had thick skin and turned around to go back to your beloved counter. Yet, the minute you turned your back to the men sitting, you instantly felt it. A hand on your ass, a squeeze and you heard laughter, then - a slap. You snapped back and slammed the tray on their table, glasses clanking.
“Get you fucking hands off me, you asshole!” you yelled, your breath suddenly quicker, anger rising in you. So, you haven’t imagined it, he touched your breasts before. Bad pick-up lines were okay, but this was too far. Groping was the last straw for you.
“Or what?” he retorted immediately and now you were seeing the disgusting grin on his sweaty wrinkled face, full of self-admiration, he was so proud of himself “Are you gonna chop them off with that sharp tongue of yours?”
You let out a hateful laugh, he probably was expecting you to leave it be, after all he was a customer and you’re a simple barkeeper. But not with you.
“No, I’m gonna bite your fucking tiny dick off!”
“Ohhh,”, the men growled together, “That’s a feisty one. Wanna see it? It’s not that tiny. You’ll like it.”, the bald sweaty one said and gestured to his crotch.
“I’m gonna bite your dick off. Then I’m going to go to your house and I’m gonna fuck your wife. And I’m gonna fuck her so good, she’ll leave your sorry dickless, spineless ass!”
Suddenly, your groper was on his feet, he was so close to you, you could smell his boozy breath, although he towered inches above you. He didn’t like being talked to like that. And his glance was full of fury.
“Leave my wife out of that, you slut!” he grunted through his teeth and took another threatening step towards you, nervously fiddling with his wedding ring. You didn’t back off, you were in your bar.
“I’m gonna leave her out of it if you apologize for being a piece of shit to me, you do not fucking touch your server!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t walk around in these tiny shorts of yours, showing off your legs if you don’t want men to appreciate it.”
You took a deep breath, this was not really happening right now. You felt so dirty.
“Is there a problem, (Y/N)?” you heard a familiar voice out of a sudden and felt a hand on your shoulder. And that’s when you understood how tense you were, but the soft touch helped, you relaxed. You didn’t even realize that as soon as you started yelling, Johnny sprung off his seat and rushed over to you.
“I…” you started but you had lost your words. It was the first time he touched you.
“Leave her the fuck alone!” Johnny growled, now shifting his attention from you to the three men who were bothering you. His voice was so ominous that it made you shiver. You had never seen him mad before. Protectively he stood in front of you, shielding you from their gaze, since he, too, was much taller than you. In the back Kenny was making his way to the scene as well.
“You scumbags should really pack your stuff and leave this fucking bar before I kill someone. You better watch how the fuck you are talking to her!”
“And who’s that? Your daddy?”, another spiteful remark from your tormenter. Johnny’s arms started trembling, he clenched his fist and the grip on your shoulder tightened, it almost hurt you. At the same it was calming you down.
“Yeah, and I’m her little brother” you heard yet another to you well-known voice and saw Kenny, who also stood there like a mountain, arms crossed in front of his chest, glaring down on the three construction workers, whilst his leather jacket crackled from where he tensed his muscles. He was fucking scary which made the men on appear so tiny whereas the one standing leapt back a couple steps, clearly intimidated by Kenny’s appearance and Johnny’s rage.
“And you better apologize to this lady before I give you a ban!”
And funnily enough, this helped. They muttered something about how they were sorry. But you didn’t even listen to it anymore, you were already walking back, Johnny following you, Kenny staying. You didn’t want to hear any more of that conversation. You wanted your safe space behind the bar with no one around you at best.
“Are you okay?” Johnny asked, seemingly concerned and took a seat at the other side of the counter. You were avoiding his eyes as you nodded, you didn’t want his pity. You just wanted a drink.
“That happens all the time, don’t worry,” you lied “As someone working here, I have to deal with it every fucking day. And you, my little drunk friend, are also part of the problem.”
“Ouch,” Johnny said and smiled, “At least, I never touched you!” “Seriously Johnny?” you laughed and saw how glad he was that you were able do that after the fight at the table, “The first time you came here, you bumped into me, hard.” “But not too hard.”
“And on purpose!”
“You can’t prove that,” he said grinning, “But it’s nice to hear that you still remember the first time we met. That has to mean something, right? Something like that we’re meant for each other.”
You rolled your eyes and poured yourself a whisky, you drank it and immediately another, “Not now, Johnny.”
“Sorry,” he said apologetically, and you were almost surprised to hear that from him “By the way, I really loved you threatening to fuck this asshole’s wife. That was badass. Just be careful next time, though, okay?”
“Is he bothering you, too?”, Kenny who suddenly appeared asked also pouring himself a whisky but in a much bigger glass than yours and a second in a smaller one.
“If I say yes, are you going to kill him?”
“Not necessarily kill him but cripple him real good.”
You heard Johnny gulp. He wasn’t afraid of three man but of Kenny. But Kenny laughed and placed a Whisky in front of Johnny, “That’s for protecting my (Y/N). After all you’re not as bad as she says.”
For the rest of the night, Kenny has sent you into the office, he wanted you to adjust the schedule for next week. You knew that it was only an excuse to get you out of the bar for a couple of hours, since the shifts you and the others had were always the same for years now. And you didn’t mind, although you wouldn’t have minded staying with Johnny either. Funnily enough, he calmed you down. Nevertheless, he was now making friends with Kenny whom he never really liked, so you knew, he was in good hands. It was around two o’clock in the morning when Kenny finally came in to tell you that you were free to go home if you did him the favour of bringing the garbage out and close the bar. This you didn’t mind as well. You dragged the bags behind you into the backyard where the bins were and that was also when Kenny said his goodbye.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked as he got on his bike and let the motor roar.
“Yeah,” you waved at him “Go home, I’ll be fine.”
And just like that, he was gone. You sighed and heaved the trash into the bins. Before you made your way back inside to get your bag to finally go home and sleep you decided to smoke a cigarette. And maybe that was your mistake.
“Well, well, well, if this isn’t the feisty little bitch,” you suddenly heard a slurring voice behind you, followed by laughter as were about to light a cigarette. You didn’t even have to turn around to know exactly to whom it belonged. This time, there was no anger rising in you, you didn’t dare to say a thing, there was only fear. You dropped your cigarette.
“Where are your friends now?”
“Kenny is still inside,” you answered trying to sound calm but your voice was shaky and so were your hands “And the other one is wai-“
“Bullshit!” exclaimed the man who acted that he was so sorry to have groped you only hours before. He was even drunker now and his thin lips crowned a spiteful grin. You were fucked.
“We just saw the big guy leaving on his motorbike. You’re all alone now.” And they were right. You tried to pull yourself together, to think of a plan to get you out of this situation but everything you could think of was calling the cops and on top of that your phone was still inside. You just have to fight back, your brain kept telling you!
“And what are you going to do? Beat me up? Rape me?” you tried to sound confident, but it was pretty difficult now that you were not in the bar anymore but outside in the backyard between some dumpsters. Your voice was failing you.
“Maybe a little bit of both?” one of the men said amused and shrugged while another one was now far too close to you, so close that he could grab your wrist. His grip was so tight that you cried out in pain and that was when you took all your courage, lashed out and punched him with all your might in the face. Your hand hurt as hell but now you saw blood.
“Shit, this bitch broke my nose!” your victim cried out in pain and now, with two other man leaping towards you, you were done with your plan, you just closed your eyes and…
“What the fuck did I tell you?”, a scream and then a loud thump. When you dared to open your eyes, you could not believe them. Johnny who managed to throw himself between you and the group was now in pretty hardcore fist fight. Although at the second glance you realized that he was not only throwing one strong punch after another but also full-on kicking the kicking the shit out of the assholes who were threatening you. He must’ve known some Martial Arts or something, you thought because this looked like being straight out of an action film. You couldn’t even follow the fight with your eyes that’s how quick Johnny was moving. Yet, some time you saw him being punched as well but it was nothing compared to how he dealt blows. And it that moment, you knew, you could never be not grateful to this man in your life ever again.
It might’ve taken just second or maybe hours but after a while, the men were gone, you didn’t even realize how they fled Johnny, and there were only you two left.
Johnny was panting when he came over to you, where you still stood motionless with your back pressed against the wall.
“Are you okay?”, he asked breathing quickly, holding out his hand to you. Without thinking you grabbed it and let yourself lead to a curb stone where you two sat down. You didn’t answer you just took out another cigarette and lit it, letting the smoke calming your lungs.
“(Y/N)?”
“I’m okay,” you said finally coming back to you and finding your voice, offering him a cigarette as well which he gladly accepted.
“Are you?” you asked while you studied him. He was the only one that had to be asked. Johnny looked rough. His blonde hair was all messy, his clothes now dirty and jeans ripped at the knees, but above all it was his face that concerned you. Blood was dripping from his chin, coming from his burst lip. Also, it already crusted on the cheekbone where a fresh scratch was on top of a purple bruise. And in the dim light you were not completely sure, but you could see a black eye being there tomorrow.
“I mean, you look like shit.” “Thanks, you’re always so kind to me. I can clearly see why I like you so much,” he joked “But yeah, I’m fine. Believe it or not but I always get into fights, this shit kinda follows me.”
“How did you beat them up like that anyways? Was that Krav Maga or something?”
“Karate” Johnny answered proudly and took a relieving drag from his cigarette.
“You never told me you did Karate.”
“You never asked me,” he smiled at you and protectively put and arm around your shoulders. He must’ve noticed how you shivered. And you didn’t object. You weren’t really cold but you just wanted be held by him.
“Well, to be fair, I never ask you anything besides your order. But I’ll guess I’m gonna start from now on. There’s obviously more to you than being a noisy bastard.” “Oh I’m honoured to be the one who finally melted the infamous (Y/N)’s heart.”
“No Johnny, seriously, you didn’t melt my heart, but you saved my ass. Thank you,” you laid your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes “I don’t even wanna know what would’ve happened if you weren’t there.”
“You don’t have to,” Johnny said softly and stroked your hair “Because I was there! And you’re save with me.”
You were, you felt save and you sighed. There was only one thing left to do.
“Now, c’mon, let’s patch you up so we can finally call it a day” you said and stood up.
--
Half an hour later you could finally close the doors to the damn bar, it was relieving. “Do you need a ride?”, Johnny asked when stopped for a second and gestured over to a black car in the distance “Because I’m not leaving you alone here anymore, not today, not ever.”
You rolled your eyes, but you smiled.  After all, it was an amazing feeling to know that Johnny cared about you. That he wasn’t just one freak you liked because he was nice to you but genuinely wanted you to be happy. However, you just couldn’t help yourself but being a sarcastic little shit again.
“No, thank you,” you answered, “I’m not really interested in being involved in DUI again.”
“And there she is, (Y/N) being herself again,” Johnny laughed but he didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he threw his keys at you “You’re driving then.” You clumsily caught but immediately threw them back at him.
“I’m also not driving. I don’t have a license, lost it a few months ago.” “For DUI?”
“For DUI,” you answered. The curse of working in a bar.
“So how are you getting home? Because I’m really not leaving you alone.”
“I called myself an Uber and there it is” you saw the only moving car in the distance and pointed at it.
“Thanks again,” you said when you were walking towards your Uber and Johnny made his way to his.
“No problem”
And something in you told you, that you two weren’t done yet. As you watched him walking you suddenly realized what it was. “Johnny!” you called out and he stopped.
“What is it, (Y/N)?”
“Tomorrow for sure, I’m gonna finally let you buy me that fucking drink. And I want to know everything about your Karate. Is that a deal?”
“You bet!”, he yelled back, and the brightest smile appeared on his face. He finally made it. “See you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow.” You whispered back. And on your face also appeared a smile. Tomorrow would be the day, you thought and finally got in the car.
But Johnny didn’t come tomorrow, and he didn’t come the day after. That was unusual. You were waiting for him, but he didn’t show himself for almost two weeks.
**************************************************************
Part 3
Sooooooo, let me know what you all think about this fuckery
Taglist: @lililolli​
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about-faces · 4 years ago
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The director Joel Schumacher has passed away, and everyone's reactions have boiled down to two topics: 1.) "He was the guy who made the bad Batman films," and 2.) "Hey, he did lots of great films besides the bad Batman films!"
Thing is... I get it. I remember being a teenage comic fan in the 90's. Not just any comics: especially Batman! But ESPECIALLY Bart especially Two-Face. I remember how "Joel Schumacher" was a name that could invoke white-hot rage in myself and everyone in the fandom. He was our modern equivalent of Dr. Fredrick Wertham, the boogyman who had (far as we were concerned) single-handedly destroyed the mainstream credibility of superheroes.
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Look at that picture, and try to imagine that this was the face so loathed and mocked by Batman fanboys in the 90′s.
Never mind that Schumacher didn't WRITE the Batman films. The main credit for that goes to Akiva Goldsman, who has gone on to win an Oscar and continues to find A-list success despite ruining other geek properties like Jonah Hex and Dark Tower. Never mind that Schumacher was at the mercy of producers who wanted the movies to be nothing more than merchandise machines and toy commercials. No, Schumacher was the only name associated with the films, and he was cast at the villain.
The fact that he was openly gay played no small part in making him an easy target.
One year after the disastrous release of the infamous Batman & Robin, the beloved fan-favorite cartoon Batman: The Animated Series (then rebranded as The New Batman Adventures on the WB network) produced an episode that featured a pointed jab at Schumacher. The episode was titled "Legends of the Dark Knight," a reworking of a classic 70's Batman tale where a group of kids share their own ideas of what the mysterious Batman is really like.
Halfway through the episode, the kids are overheard by another kid, who shares his own ideas about Batman. The kid, whose name is Joel, has long dirty-blond hair, and works in front of a store which bear the sign "Shoemaker," despite clearly being a department store. He waxes dreamily about the reasons he loves Batman: "All those muscles, the tight rubber armor and that flashy car. I heard it can drive up walls!"
This last line--a reference to a silly bit in Batman Forever--he says as he flamboyantly tosses a pink fur stole around his neck. To drive home the joke, one of the kids dismisses, "Yeah, sure, Joel."
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At the time, it seemed like a cathartic joke for us REAL Batman fans. Now, it's clearly just cheap and gross. Instead of any actual criticism about the films, Joel Schumacher was just seen--even if just subconsciously--as the fruit who ruined Batman.
Over time, the hatred for Schumacher lessened. Starting with Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man, on through to Batman Begins, Iron Man, and onward, superhero movies became huge mainstream successes, with greater fidelity to the source material than most adaptations we saw up to the time that Schumacher "killed" the superhero movie. There was no point in hating him anymore, if there ever was (again, Goldsman more deserves that ire, if you're gonna be angry about anyone. Why does he still get work?! WHY IS HE NOW WRITING FOR STAR TREK?!?!).
But even still, especially among Millennial and Gen-X fans, Schumacher is still--at best--considered a low point for fandom. Even though the same generations have come to appreciate and love some of his other films, such as The Lost Boys, Phone Booth, and the chillingly-prescient Falling Down, there's still this need for people to dismiss the Batman films as embarrassments that are best forgotten in favor of Schumacher's better films. And if they're to be remembered at all, it's to trash them all over again in a tone suggesting that the films are objectively, irredeemably bad.
Except they're not. Oh sure, if you go in looking for a grim and gritty capital-M "Mature" take on Batman, of course you'll hate them, just like you probably also hate the Adam West Batman show. Remember, that show also used to be hated by decades of Batman fans because of how it didn't take the comics seriously.
... except it did. The show was VERY faithful to the Batman comics of the 50's, which often out-weirded and out-sillied its TV counterpart. If anything, the show made some of those stories even more entertaining with camp value and jokes that added different levels of enjoyment to the adults watching. Comic fans resented how Batman became a pop culture joke, and increasingly fought against anything that was colorful and campy (which makes me wonder if this might also be related to latent homophobia). Whether or not they admitted/realized it, the Batman fans of the 70's and 80's carried a chip on their shoulder about a show that DARED to make Batman FUN.
And really... how is that any different than Schumacher's two films?
You don't have to agree, but I think Schumacher's films are fun. I think Batman Forever is highly entertaining, that Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey are bringing their hammy A-games as much respected actors like Burgess Meredith and Caesar Romero brought to their roles. Same goes for Arnold and especially Uma in Batman and Robin. They KNOW what movies they're in, and they're all having a blast.
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(How many of us remember the exact line Eddie says at this moment? I bet you probably do too, which should tell you something about how memorable this movie is)
Now, BF and particularly B&A are by no means GOOD movies, but you can't tell me that you couldn't have a blast putting the latter on at a party and riffing it with friends. It's not a pretentious, ponderous, self-serious slog like, say, the shit Zack Snyder cranked out (apologies to the one or two cool Snyder fans here, I just find his films interminable). Even besides the many things I could say to defend Schumacher's Batman films (that's a whole other essay), you can't say they were boring. They were entertaining, even if on a level of making fun of the film, and that is NOT as easy as it looks.
Let me put it to you this way: Batman Forever has, objectively, one of the worst takes on Two-Face I've ever seen. He's one-note, he's kind of a rehash of Nicholson's Joker, he gets completely overshadowed by the Riddler, he gets killed by Batman in a way that completely betrays the whole “DON’T KILL HARVEY” arc with Robin, and worst of all, he CHEATS on the coin toss. That alone would be enough for me to condemn this depiction in any other Two-Face story.
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And yet, even I--the most passionate, opinionated, and picky Two-Face fan you will EVER know--still have a soft spot for Tommy Lee Jones' take on ol' Harv. He’s just too fun, too flamboyant, too damn extra not to love. If only all bad takes on Two-Face could be this fun!
But that’s the thing: it’s not because the script was good. Oh god no. I've read the script, and if it were put on the page like a comic, I would have hated it just like any other bad Two-Face comic. I have to imagine that, as director, Joel Schumacher deserves the bulk of the credit for pushing the restrained and laconic Tommy Lee Jones into that oversized performance, and making it a delight to watch despite everything it does wrong.
I'm rare for my generation to have learned how to stop worrying and love Schumacher's Batman. But the younger generation, the up-and-coming Gen-Zs getting into Batman, don't share the same grudges we did. There's a genuine, shame-free enjoyment of those films among The Kids, many of whom are LGBTQA+, who love the jokes, the silliness, the camp, the Freeze puns, the swag of Uma Thurman, and the homoerotic subtext between Two-Face and the Riddler. Maybe it's just a reaction to so much GRIM, SERIOUS shit that DC and their fanboys are trying desperately to push even today.
But comics--especially Batman--have a long history of colorful, stupid, fun shit. Schumacher's films carried on in that tradition, and they should be appreciated on their own merits by those of us who aren't limited by narrow ideas of what Batman "should" be, and who still remember how to have fun.
Schumacher's Batman films should no longer be seen as embarrassments. They didn't ruin superheroes. They didn't ruin Batman. They didn't even ruin Two-Face. Nor should they be disregarded in favor of Falling Down, like losers in a respectability competition. They're fun. They're entertaining. And they didn't pretend to be anything else.
And if you still think they're bad... I mean, objectively, you're not wrong! But be mindful of the reasons WHY you think they're bad, because on another subjective level, you may not be right either. And it's certainly not worth holding a geek-grudge over after twenty-five years.
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free-pool-trash · 4 years ago
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folklore - isaac lahey {9/?}
Hey lovlies ✌🏻💕 sorry this part took so long something wasn’t sitting right with me so I rewrote it like 3 time 😫 but don’t worry I figured it out.
It’s all angst from here I’m afraid crew
👁💧👄💧👁
Pleasssssse let me know what you think, im hanging by a thread here 😭💕
Word count: 5.1K
Warning(s): fluff at the start :), a whole bunch of swearing, blood, mentions of death, let me know if I missed any! <3
Masterlist
taglist (open): @makeusfreefromthisfandom​, @cece-lives-here ​, @chocolate-raspberries​, @belsandthings​, @dancing-tacos-23 , @truly-dionysus​, @britty443​, @tanyaherondale​, @furiouspockettoad​, @yunsh-17 , @random-thoughts-003​, @gloomybrieyxb​​, @linkpk88 ​, @big-galaxy-chaos​ , @im-a-stranger-thing ​​, @its-evita-here , @pad-foots , @sweetpeabellamyblakedracomalfoy , @bookswillfindyouaway ,  @what-the-hap-is-fuckening​, @awkwardnesshabitat​, @pieces-by-me , @wreny24​, @marveloucnco , @babypink224221 , @bookish-bucky @alexa-rae-dreamz , @thebookisbtr , @nxstalgicnxbxdy , @cloudy-zoey , @booknymph02 , @tairisceana let me know if you’d like to be added <3  (i had to remove some because tumblr wont let me tag them 💔)
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The next morning came by all too quickly, you’d barely gotten any sleep. Yourself and Isaac spent the whole night talking, just like you used to before the tone of your lives had changed drastically.
There was so much you needed to get off your chest, and of course Isaac had a lot to say too so that’s what the pair of you did- put everything out on the table.
You did a whole lot of talking, laughed a lot, cried a little and for the first time ever during one of your and Isaac’s late night chats there was an incredible amount of shared kisses. Those little perks of being a couple were something you could definitely get used to.
Your fingers drew circles on Isaac’s chest, the boy laid there, contently looking down at you. Your head was comfortably tucked against his shoulder, turned up at an angle so that you were still face to face.
He noted how your eyes glinted in the morning sun, watery due to lack of sleep. It was crazy to him; the effect that you had. He swore he could be on fire and all it would take to put him out was one of your reassuring smiles pointed even vaguely in his direction.
Realistically, Isaac knew he should’ve been sad- heartbroken, even. His father had just been quite brutally murdered, he should be a mess, but he wasn’t.
Maybe it had something to do with the years of trauma the man had inflicted on him or maybe it was Isaac’s new supernatural status, whatever the reason for it, Isaac wasn’t mourning the death of his father.
Instead, all he could think about was how warm your body felt against his.
“It’s morning time.” He smiled at your murmur, the smile widened when you pressed a soft kiss to his collarbone.
Isaac hummed in acknowledgment and squeezed your leg that you had thrown across his stomach. “Yeah.”
You moved your chin to rest against his chest, eyes looking into his, “We can stay here if you want. We don’t have to go to school.” You suggested but Isaac knew it was more of a plea when he saw the hopeful grin growing on your lips.
“Nah I gotta go in. I have lacrosse practice.” He spoke out, his voice low and grumbly from how tired he was.
You scoffed jokingly, pushing yourself up so your lips were hovering over his, “Lacrosse huh?”
His eyes were hooded now as he glanced down at your lips, his hands moving to grasp your waist, “Mhm.”
With a smirk you ghosted his lips with your own, you could hear his heart beating through his chest and you could feel how badly he wanted to connect his lips to yours.
“Well then I guess we better get a move on.” You whispered against his lips, pulling away abruptly and hoping out of the bed, strutting to the bathroom with a sway in your hips as you knew he was watching.
A look of disbelief was painted across his face as he shouted through the walls, “Out of all the things that have happened this week that was the most fucked up!”
*
You were going to kill Scott when you got your hands on him. Seriously could he have been anymore obvious?
“Scott! What the hell are you doing.” You whispered from the bleachers, knowing he could hear you.
The boy whispered back, determination clear in his voice, “There’s another werewolf. I need to find out who it is.”
He must’ve smelled it off him. So much for keeping it a secret.
“Scott stop, I know who it is.” You panicked, by the time the words left your mouth both Isaac and Scott had sent each other flying through the air.
As you made your way down from your spot on the bleachers to separate the commotion happening between your two baby werewolves, you noticed sheriff Stilinski and a few deputies making their way across the field.
The sheriff’s gaze was set on Isaac and you found your feet matching the older man’s pace in a silent race to get to the boy in question.
Unfortunately, since you were unable to use vamp speed, the sheriff had beaten you in the unspoken race. His hand had wrapped around Isaac’s bicep as he attempted to lead him away.
When you realised what was happening, you threw caution to the wind and began jogging, not even sparing Scott or Stiles a glance when they called out for you to stop.
Once you were close enough you reached out, successfully grabbing Isaac’s wrist and stopping him and the sheriff in their tracks. “What’s going on?” You demanded, looking between Isaac and the sheriff.
“They think I killed my dad.” Isaac told you quietly and you couldn’t stop the look of utter disbelief that appeared on your face as you moved to stand between Isaac and the sheriff.
“Are you kidding me?” The sheriff sighed with exhaustion at your shout. He knew it was going to be a long day when he saw his son and Scott marching toward the already escalating scene.
“Look, kid. He’s a suspect we have to hold him.” Sheriff Stilinski had been making arrests for a long time but he was sure the look you were giving him was the most venomous he’d ever seen.
“A suspect? Why? What’s your proof?” You shot out, eyebrows furrowed and fangs ready to spring from your gums.
Maybe it had something to do with the night of the full moon looming but you were finding it extremely difficult to keep your anger in check. After yesterday, you were almost certain if your rage got out out of hand there’d be no stopping you.
“We, uh, have reason to believe that Isaac had motive to kill his father. That’s all I can tell you.”
You scowled at him, easing up only slightly as you felt Isaac interlocking his fingers with yours from behind you. “That’s bullshit! He couldn’t have killed his dad because he was with me.” You lied smoothly.
The sheriff raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “With you?”
“Mhm. At my place.” You continued, ignoring the squeeze of warning you were getting from Isaac.
“Look, we have an eye witness account saying that Isaac fled his home, followed by his father and your name never came up.”
Letting out a cynical laugh you all but squared up to the man, “Yeah? And where do you think he fled to?” You asked challengingly.
You would’ve said more if Stiles hadn’t shoved himself in between yourself and his father, sporting a fake smile on his face as he started to ramble, “Hey guys! How we all doing? Good? Good. That’s really great to hear. (Y/n) can I borrow you for a second?” Stiles prompted you, nodding his head rather aggressively in an attempt to get you to stand down.
“No.” You and the sheriff spoke simultaneously, shocking Stiles.
“Young lady, I don’t think you understand the seriousness of what you’re saying. Being an accomplice to murder is a serious offence.” He told you sternly, clearly wanting to give you an opportunity to back down and walk away.
“(Y/n) come on.” Scott pleaded from behind you and you could feel the anxiety seeping off of both Stiles and Isaac.
Stiles laughed nervously, also trying to give you a fighting chance of walking away, “She’s not an accomplice! You’re not an accomplice, right?”
He fixed you with a confused look and repeated, “Right?”
“No I’m not an accomplice because Isaac didn’t kill his father!” You rebutted angrily through gritted teeth, the boys surrounding you terrified of the look on your face in that moment.
With a hard look, sheriff Stilinski took your arm in one hand and Isaac’s in the other and pulled the pair of you towards the police car, “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to take you both into holding.”
“Why the hell would you do that?” You heard Scott exclaim desperately from behind you, his voice two octaves higher than usual.
Carefully, you began to whisper quietly under your breath so that only Scott and Isaac would hear you, “Tonight’s the full moon. I’m not letting them put him in a holding cell alone. Call Derek. Come get us out.”
You didn’t glance back at Scott to check if he heard you, you simply kept walking ahead and complied with the sheriff as he placed you into the car, beside Isaac.
*
“Since we’re technically in prison and you’re technically part k9, does that mean you’re my bitch?” You wondered out loud, looking across the holding cell at Isaac who sat (moping) on the bench.
“Don’t make me laugh. I’m mad at you.” He grumbled and you pouted from your spot on the floor.
“It was a serious question.” You whined.
Isaac groaned, completely disregarding your question, “You’re insane? You know that don’t you?”
“Rude.” You complained, leaning your head back against the cold bars of the cell.
“No seriously. You shouldn’t be in here with me.” Isaac grumbled yet again.
“Ok, first of all, you shouldn’t even be in here in the first place because-“ you paused, took a deep breath and looked at the camera adjacent to yourself and Isaac on the wall outside the cell before shouting, “He didn’t fucking do anything!”
You had to force yourself into calming down as you felt your anger causing your heart rate to rise rapidly, you took one more deep breath and then continued what you had been saying.
“Secondly, and in all seriousness, the idea of you being in here on your own makes me feel physically sick, especially since it’s your first full moon and all this crap with the Argents going on… I just wanted to be with you.” You admitted sheepishly, picking at the sleeves of your jumper to avoid his gaze.
Isaac’s heart beat picked up at your words but you couldn’t say anything as yours had too, with a soft sigh he muttered, “You don’t have to protect me.”
“I know. I know you don’t need protection, you never have. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t strength in numbers right now.” Isaac was quiet for a second before speaking up again.
“Hey, babe?” You looked up at the sound of his voice, he was giving you a soft smile that made your heart skip a beat.
“Yeah?” Isaac was shaking his head in disbelief, he let out a short chuckle and made his way across the cement floor and slid down beside you.
You watched him fondly and couldn’t help the roaring laugh that left your mouth when he leaned in close to your ear and whispered, “I’m definitely your bitch.”
*
Before either of you knew it, night had fallen and you’d begun to feel antsy. Your chest grew heavy with each noise or set of passing footsteps. You paced the cell restlessly, wringing your hands together and doing your best to disregard the feeling of dread swelling up inside of you.
It wasn’t long before Isaac was holding his head in his hands, his knee jutting in the same restless manner that you were pacing.
Growls were rising from the back of his throat and you wouldn’t lie, it was making you more than a little nervous.
You slowly approached him, proceeding with extra caution you reached out and tugged on his sleeve, hoping the action would bring him a sense of familiarity and not startle him.
Isaac’s head whipped around, his eyes glowing amber when they landed on you. “What’s happening?” He asked in a growl.
As gently as you possibly could, you moved your hands to Isaac’s cheeks and did your best to ignore his changed features.
“It’s the full moon. How are you feeling?” You kept your voice quiet, again trying to accommodate his heightened senses.
Isaac only screwed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw tightly, “Like I want to rip apart everything I see within a fifty mile radius.”
Your eyes widened and you looked at the holding area door, helplessly wishing Scott would come rushing through the door.
Isaac’s face seemed, for once, not to be comfortable in your hold as he began to growl and attempt to break out of your grip.
“No, no, no. Isaac, hey. Look at me.” The wolf reluctantly stopped wiggling and fixed his gaze on yours. Your eyes were now blazing purple and you felt your own composure slipping from your grasp.
Another gutteral sound left Isaac’s throat, his clawed hands digging into your hips for some kind of leverage. “Just keep looking at me alright… God, I don’t actually know how to do this but, uhm, just think about something that’ll keep you grounded, ok?” You told him frantically, speeding through your words as you heard the approaching footsteps of someone who was definitely not Scott or Derek.
The boy in front of you nodded his head just as the door opened. No, it didn’t open, it was practically pulled off its hinges. Effectively ruining the progress you’d made with your moon crazy boyfriend.
The man who walked in was dressed like a deputy but the gushing wound and arrow sticking out of his leg gave him away as a fake. As well as that, the gun he was pointing at Isaac gave him away as a hunter.
“Oh shit.” It was your turn to growl when Isaac broke out of your grasp. He pulled the cell door clean off, and set off towards the hunter.
Immediately, you ran behind him but before you could stop the two from killing each other, something else caught your eye. And your nose. It had taken over all of your senses, actually…
The blood leaking from his leg had you frozen on the spot, your mouth watering and mind unable to focus.
By now, Isaac had tossed the hunter aside and you weren’t sure when, but at some point Stiles had entered the room and your boyfriend was now attempting to attack your main food source.
“(Y/n)! Little help here?” Stiles cried from the floor and you tried your best to pull yourself together.
It didn’t take too much strength for you to restrain Isaac, you had one arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other around his torso, successfully holding him against your chest.
You hadn’t noticed how hungry you were in the moment, you needed to eat before someone would need to restrain you.
Pushing the hunger away you tried your best to get through to the new wolf struggling against your grip.
“Remember the thing that keeps you grounded! What was it? Tell me about it.” You tried to prompt, however as soon as Isaac attempted to respond a resounding howl filled the room.
The sudden noise had caused Isaac to cower against you. His body shook against yours, reluctantly you released him from your hold, allowing him to curl up in fear against the nearest wall.
Derek stood at the head of the room, his aura screaming for command as he glowered down at Isaac before turning his gaze to you and Stiles.
“I’m the alpha.” The Hale stated pompously.
With a questioning laugh you motioned towards the mess of the room, Isaac in wolf form shaking and whining like a kicked puppy, a mercenary bleeding and unconscious on the tiles and a very rumpled up Stiles.
“What you are is a grade A ass. Where the hell were you?” Derek stiffened at your agitated tone.
The man in question cleared his throat, his authority slipping away in the presence of your glare, “Scott & I went to scope Isaac’s house.”
“And that took you six hours?” You scoffed, kneeling down next to Isaac and running a gentle hand through the scared boy’s hair.
He whimpered at your touch, only quieting down when you transferred as much calming energy as you could manage to conjure up onto him.
It was getting harder to ignore the blood lust you were feeling, the smell of blood and Stiles’ racing pulse were beginning to cloud your mind. It wasn’t the usual hunger, though. It felt far more violent. Almost as if you’d never be able to get enough no matter how much you consumed.
“I need to leave.” You stated, standing from your spot beside Isaac and fixing Derek with a hard look, “Take Isaac somewhere safe.”
“Wait hold on, where are you going?” Derek asked sternly.
“To find some blood before I start ripping people’s throats out.” You responded bluntly, not waiting for his reply, you used your speed to leave the sheriff's station.
You found yourself in the woods. Close to the old Hale house.
There was a certain scent, you couldn’t quite place it though. It was metallic, but unlike the blood you were used to, it smelled stale.
But still, it was captivating your senses and you needed to get to the bottom of it. You couldn’t decide what was more overpowering, your hunger or your curiosity.
Impatiently, you made your way through the darkened tree line, following the scent until it led you to the building you were oh so familiar with.
The Hale house stood before you, menacing as ever and reeking of old blood.
As you walked up the porch steps, the rotten stairs creaked with every shift of weight. When you finally placed your hand on the door you realised your mistake.
What felt like a billion bolts of electricity shot through your body the second your palm met the door knob.
All of your breath left your lungs as your body hit the floor. As your legs and arms seized and convulsed on the forest floor, having rolled down the porch steps with the force of the shock, a voice sounded from out of the shadows.
“Well, well, well. Look what we have here…” The voice was old and scratchy, something like a worn out vinyl, a record that had been played so often that some of the tunes now came out as a painful drawl. “Come on, let’s get her rigged up.” The man demanded and you writhed against the many pairs of hands that began dragging you to what you assumed was some kind of van.
Your vision was blurry as you attempted to get your bearings, sitting up in the van after the doors had been forcefully slammed and you were left alone.
“Le-“ You attempted to heave out words, your attempts were fruitless though as your lungs were still devoid of any oxygen.
Frustration seemed to give you the strength you needed as you finally regained enough control over your body to yell out, a very enraged, “Let me out you bastards!”
A cynical laugh came from the head of the van, “She has a lot of spunk. You’d know she was a L/n.”
“I’m going-“ You rasped yet again, fighting against the shackles that had been placed on your wrists at some point, “To fucking rip your stupid throat out! With my teeth!”
As threatening as your words were, your wheezy, out of breath voice let you down.
“Now, now. No need for that.” He spoke, only for a voice you recognised to cut him off.
“I’m starting to think this wasn’t the best idea.” It was Chris Argent. You forced yourself to move as close to the front of the van as your shackles would allow.
“What exactly do you plan on doing with an innocent seventeen year old, Mr.Argent?” You drawled, the electricity almost completely out of your system, your lungs finally working at their usual capacity again.
When the hunter didn’t grace you with a response, and you figured you couldn’t do much else right in the moment, you decided you’d poke the proverbial bear.
“You tried to kill my boyfriend tonight… it’d be a real shame if I had to retaliate.”
“Shut it.” Chris said, his voice unamused, bordering on nervous.
Bored, you clicked your tongue, “No, I don’t think I will. Anyway, unless you want me to go into graphic detail about how I’m going to disembowel both of you when I get out, tell me why you’re kidnapping me.”
The old man chimed in then, “Because you, little girl, are an abomination.”
“And you, old decrepit asshole, are getting on my last nerve. Give me a straight answer before I make you give me a straight answer.” You tugged violently at the chains, loosening them from the metal wall, to convey your point.
“Brute force will get you nowhere, little wolf.” Wolf? There was your opening. They didn’t have a clue about you.
Deciding you couldn’t give away your only edge, you played into their delusions, “Where was that a few hours ago when you sent a hitman to put down a seventeen year old boy who's never done anything worse than miss an assignment?”
He scoffed then, “No matter how sweet you think you are. You wolves are all the same. You’re all killers.”
A laugh left the back of your throat, “Are you senile or something? Last time I checked you hunter dickheads were the ones killing people.”
“That’s enough, we’re done talking.” Chris asserted, you couldn’t see either of the men you’d been speaking to but you could imagine their clenched jaws at your statement.
With a smirk you kept talking, “You killed, what was it? Oh yes. All of the Hale’s. Cora was only a little older than me at the time, Kate torched the house five years ago so that would have made Cora twelve years old when she was burned alive.”
You paused for a second, allowing your anger to seep off of you and onto them. “Tell me… what monstrosities could a twelve year old girl have committed?”
“This is your last warning.” Chris grumbled and you ignored him yet again.
“All of these broken morals lead me to wonder; what would precious Alison think of all of this? Maybe I’ll ask her at school on Monday.” You tormented the men, readying yourself to make a break for it as you felt the van slow down.
Quietly, or as quietly as you possibly could, you freed your wrists from their shackles. Shakily you stood up and then you waited.
When the door opened you fixed the two men who were looking at you in mild shock with a smirk, “Hi.”
“How did you… those shackles were doused in mistletoe.” At the old man's shock your smirk broadened. It was something you had found out from both Damon Salvatore and Deaton. Mistletoe only weakened wolves, not vampires.
With a coy shrug you shot them a wink, “I’d really love to stay and chat but, I have homework.” With that you began to run, but the older man caught your forearm before you got a clean break.
And normally, his amount of strength wouldn’t have been able to stop you, what was really hindering your movement was the dagger he had logged in your abdomen.
Your eyes were wide and you let out a pathetic squeal of pain when he twisted the knife in your stomach, his voice was menacing as he spoke, “You’re not going anywhere.” He spat out in your face, hand firm on the dagger.
“Yes. I. Am.” You seethed through gritted teeth, containing the blood that was filling your mouth.
Using whatever strength you could muster, you threw the man away from you and took off running, the dagger still lodged in your abdomen.
When you were sure you were far enough away, you fell to your knees.
Taking a shaky breath you looked around the street you’d landed on. You weren’t sure where you were and your phone was lying abandoned on the floor of the woods. It was times like this you wish you had a howl.
Then as if it was some incredible mirage, driving down the street was a light blue jeep. “Stiles!” You screamed at the top of your lungs, dragging yourself to the edge of the road.
“Stiles! Stiles please!” You cried out, letting out a breath of relief when the jeep stopped only a few meters from you.
Within seconds Stiles was sprinting over to you, sliding the rest of the way on his knees and cupping your face with a terrified expression, “Y/n!? What hap- hu- oh dear god!” He tried his best not to gag when he noticed that you were literally impaled.
“Ok. Ok. No what happened? Wait no. Right not important.” The boy rambled and you let him lead you as he picked you up from the dirt and placed you laying down across the back seat of his jeep.
Stiles drove like a madman to the hospital, wincing when you’d whimper and muttering apologies when you’d let out a cry.
“I think you would’ve been really proud of how I handled that situation.” You jested weakly from your spot, Stiles looked at you briefly in disbelief.
“What? By getting stabbed?” He shot back.
You offered him a faint giggle, “Nah, you shoulda heard me, Sty. I was such a snarky bitch.”
“So that’s how the stabbing thing happened. Got it.”
Only a few more minutes passed before you’d arrived at the hospital. Stiles had practically dragged you in and you couldn’t help the mewls of agony you were letting out as he passed you off to Melissa.
“What the hell happened?” She screeched and all you could offer in response was a blood filled cough, causing Melissa to nod her head in understanding, “Right. Questions later.”
*
Aimlessly you looked around for something, anything.
You were in complete darkness, but your body stood tall and seemingly healthy, no sign of any kind of wound.
A dull, yellow light shone in the distance. Cautiously, you took a step forward and it was only then that you knew where you were.
Under your feet, which were devoid of any shoes or socks, wet leaves crunched under your weight and you found yourself, yet again, standing in front of the Hale house.
It looked how it usually did, sad and decolate. However, what was unusual was that dull light shining through one of the partially melted windows.
Humming sounded from the home, hitting your ears in perfect pitch. It brought a wave of calmness over you, tranquilizing your fears as you twisted the knob that had once sent you into a horrific shock.
The rotten hardwood cooled your feet as you shuffled thoughtlessly through the house which you used to view as a home away from home.
“You put up a great fight.” A deep voice spoke from inside the lit room.
The voice was unmistakable, but you knew that there was only one explanation for why you were hearing it. For as long as you could, you wanted to hold onto your naivety.
“Who's there?” You called in response while small steps carried you closer and closer to the room.
The voice let out a chuckle, “I think you already know.”
Finally, you arrived in the room. Confronting the voice you knew all too well.
“Good to see you again, sweetheart.” You saw his face then, standing charred and battered like a fallen angel was Peter Hale.
The sob that fell from you was impossible to stop, you didn’t waste another second, you threw yourself at the man in front of you. A teary smile found your face when he welcomed you with open arms, his arms wrapped tightly around you as you cried into his shoulder.
“Quiet now, no more tears.” He said, pulling away from you, his thumb brushing under your eye gently, sweeping the falling teardrops away.
With a sniffle you looked at your surroundings before returning your gaze to Peter, “Am I dead?” You asked meekly.
Oddly enough, you felt accepting of it. Liked it, almost. It was quiet here- wherever here was.
“Temporarily.” He answered, guiding you further into the room. It had a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and two wooden chairs sat vacant underneath it. “Have a seat.”
Doing as told, you sat down on the chair opposite Peter. “Where are we?” You questioned, the silence, although peaceful, was overwhelming.
Peter gave you a small grin, gesturing to the room around you, “Purgatory.” He answered simply.
He stared at you then, a look in his eyes you recognised but, for the first time since you’d turned, you couldn’t feel it. It was something akin to sadness. It held love too, though.
“The next part is the hardest. When you wake up you won’t have a clue how you got there. You’ll be starving and all you’ll want to do is start tearing people apart.” He explained and your stomach dropped.
You were going to wake up and complete the transition, you’d be a fully fledged vampire and all because of some stupid knife wound.
“I won’t remember being dead?”
Peter shook his head, “You’ll remember this part, not the actual passing over part though.”
A tear slipped from your eye and you forced yourself to take in a shaky breath, “Passing over to where?”
Peter shrugged, “Don’t know. I’ve never gotten that far; too much unfinished business.” He tried to lighten the mood, but he realised there was no use as he noticed your breathing pick up and your eyes fill with tears yet again.
“You’re strong, you’ll be perfectly fine. You are my beta, after all.” He soothed, moving his chair so it would be next to yours.
You let out a croaky laugh at that, “I haven’t been strong. I’ve been drowning ever since you bit me, I haven’t done much other than fight with myself.”
“Not true. I’ve been keeping an eye on you. Keeping Derek under control is a job not everyone is up for, but you’re doing it like it’s nothing. Although, you’d be doing a lot better if I had gotten to you before Derek ripped by throat out.” He muttered the last part, obviously not happy with your trip to Mystic Falls.
“Damon told me you used to drink together.” You recalled with a smile, distracting yourself from the future of impending darkness.
Peter laughed at the memory but didn’t speak.
The dense silence returned, not for long though, distantly you heard shouts. They were more like pleads really. Or were they screams?
“Y/n! Can you hear me? Y/n! Y/n!”
Softly, you turned your head towards the doorway, the hallway light was turned on now too, “Someone’s calling me.”
Peter stood up, a heavy grief filled sigh falling from him as he offered you his hand and pulled you to your feet when you took it. “It’s almost time. But not just yet, there's one last thing you need to do.”
“What is it?” You asked, not sure if you wanted to know the answer.
Peter pulled you close, placed a kiss to the top of your head then began guiding you, arm tightly wrapped around your shoulder.
He answered you solemnly, blue eyes sparkling with unwanted wisdom, “You have to say goodbye.”
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