#but also like he was canonically 18 so yeah… 32 is older than 18

[pollenallergie]

older!Tom Grant is a lonely, lonely man.

… or at least he was…

before he adopted Haz (short for Harold) the one-year-old English Bulldog from the local animal shelter and Jago the former stray cat (definitely one of those stereotypical orange himbo cats) who just sort of walked into Tom’s place one day and stayed there. together, the three of them are “The Lads.” if you ever hear Tom mention that he’s with “The Lads,” he’s likely talking about his non-human roommates, not his actual mates.

granted, he’s a social guy, so he definitely spends plenty of time with his mates.

[loregoddess]

sooo, because I don't have the Unicorn Overlord art book, I've been searching around to see if anyone's posted scans, or copied over character bio stuff, and found this list of ages, which is...hm! interesting. Mildly unsettling. Josef definitely has the "stress makes you go grey and then white real fast" gene or something, bc like, he's one of the oldest-looking characters (aside from Mordan who is? younger than Josef? what?) and yet he's only 52, which isn't as old as I was expecting him to be based on his design. Anywho, I arranged the characters into groups by age from youngest to oldest below, for viewing ease, so you can contemplate the ages too!

15: Yunifi

16: Chloe, Ridiel

17: Alain, Scarlett, Lex

18: Liza, Celeste

19: Travis, Auch, Nina (Millé is Nina's twin if I recall, so we can assume she's 19 as well), Melisandre, Umerus

20: Kitra, Tatiana, Leah, Gilbert, Govil

21: Sharon, Fran, Virginia

22: Ochlys, Primm, Dinah

23: Selvie, Miriam, Berengaria

24: Hilda, Gammel, Amalia

25: Monica, Aramis, Mandrin, Sanatio

26: Berenice, Adel, Gloucester, Raenys

27: Clive, Aubin, Rolf, Magellan

28: Bruno

29: Nigel

32: Fodoquia

33: Jeremy

34: Ramona

35: Morard

38: Bryce, Ilenia

40: Renault

41: Hodrick

42: Rosalinde, Eltolinde

43: Jerome

45: Colm

46: Bertrand, Gailey

47: Mordon

48: Ithilion

52: Josef

63: Railanor

82: Lhinalagos

85: Galadmir

88: Yahna

154: Alcina

Some interesting things here, it seems? that elves age at about 2.5x that of humans (if you divide any of the elves' ages by 2.5, and round to the nearest whole number, the "adjusted" age seems to match most of the characters as compared to the human characters of the same age, i.e. Rosalinde and Eltolinde would be 16.8 or roughly 17 in human years old which matches with Alain's age group fairly well).

But bestrals, despite the lore implying that owl bestrals live a long time and their shared ancestry with elves, don't...really seem to have spectacular age differences from humans, so perhaps something about the bestral anatomy puts them on an aging scale closer to that of humans.

Angels, unsurprisingly, seem to age at the same rate as humans, which makes sense given that they're just. Humans with wings. That most of them were childhood friends with Scarlett is wild though, there's an 8 year age difference between Scarlett and Sanatio and yet she was outrunning him on that bridge like it was no one's business (and yet Raenys was only a year older and serving as Scarlett's lady-in-waiting, I have so many questions about Albion).

Also I'm losing it at the implications that Ilenia had Alain when she was 19, girl what? Like okay, yeah sure, fantasy vaguely medieval setting, people had kids young, but 19? still seems so young...

Alcina though? Like, she looked that young in the prologue, before she teams up w/ local necromancer Baltro, so like? Did she cast an anti-aging spell on herself at some point? We know Yahna un-ages herself, and that this results in her looking young for the rest of her life, but did Alcina do the same spell? If so how did she manage to survive for...so long? Did Alcina somehow lengthen her own life with magic? From the rapports between Yahna and Rosalinde, we can assume that it's rare for even the most powerful of magic-users to live past a typical human lifespan (if Yahna's anything to go by, a healthy human in Fevrith can live well into their 80s, if not 90s, so we can guess healthy elves live about 200-225 years at their oldest). Alcina is an outlier, and her unhealthy obsession with Gerard does not explain anything about her weirdass aging, except maybe that she preserved herself as best she could so she could meet him again as he would remember her.

Anyhow local army is mostly not made of child soldiers which is, uh, nice compared to other srpgs, but the canon ages are...wild. Can't wait to get my hands on the heights and birthdates.

[daz4i]

wait okay. instead of going to sleep like a normal person. here's how I'd change the ages in bsd (for those that have a canon age), bc no one looks their age/it makes the timeline feel weird, i wanna let at least some major past events breathe a little between one another. possibly controversial takes ahead:

atsushi: i like that he's 18 actually. he looks and feels 16 but no yeah 18 works better. I'd say 20-21 would be nice but that'd reallyyyy throw his backstory's timing off unfortunately

dazai: 25

kunikida: around 27-28

ranpo: 28 also, maybe even 29 (his whole thing is that he looks young for his age anyway)

yosano: 28 as well

tanizaki: like. he does look 18. but also 16 and 21 at the same time. i like him as a bit older than atsushi so let's say 19-20, and naomi as well while we're at it

kenji: why is he 14. it's not that he doesn't look 14 it's that i simply did not expect a child to be the muscle in a detective agency. so please make him like at least 16 which is only just slightly better tbh

kyouka: yeah 14 is chill in her case imo. makes her more tragic 👍

katai: 27-29ish as well

fukuzawa: at least in his 50s. maybe 55ish, or even more. he def looks like it and it fits more with having a son in his 20s

akutagawa: i do want him to be older. but making his age gap with atsushi bigger is weird. so keeping him as a 20 y/o it is, maybe 21 at most

chuuya: 25

kouyou: 30s. early 40s even. she is already so milf coded. finding out she's 26 in canon was straight up offensive i swear. come on.

higuchi: 21

tachihara: 22 or 23 maybe? (the hunting dogs don't have canon ages but i like jouno and tecchou as 26ish so that way he's still like the baby of the group)

hirotsu: how is that man 50. make him 65 at least. jfc. the whole point is he's been with the mafia a long time. ik they keep recruiting teenagers for some reason but give me a break. my dad is pushing 70 and looks younger than him

q: actually my issue with them isn't that they don't look their age (tho they do look a bit younger ig) but that timeline wise?? they're so weird?? why did the mafia have a 6 y/o on deck that's just inconvenient for all parties involved. like i can excuse kyouka at 11ish but come ON. at least make them 10 in fifteen. or just bring them in later bc i just realized the timeline doesn't line up with the dazai and chuuya changes otherwise. man idk

odasaku: girl that man was NOT 23 when he died he should've been like at least 27 then

mori: late 40s or early 50s. keep the few years gap from fukuzawa maybe but he should still be older

ango: 29ish in the current timeline. or even 32. idk why but that number feels right.

francis: 45 at least. how is a 32 y/o man supposed to have a daughter old enough to study abroad...

poe: 29

melville: actually he is the only one aged correctly in this entire manga. bestie 🔥🔥🔥🔥

steinbeck: 24. maybe even older

lucy: 20-21ish. same issue as akutagawa really

louisa: 25 at least please 🙏

nathaniel: 34 maybe.

margaret: also early 30s. how the fuck is she 20. like kouyou this is straight up insulting 😭

mark: ageless for he is the spirit of youth and joy (yeah 22 is chill for him actually. he's like the taylor swift song. he'd love that)

mushitaro: tbh I'd make him more around 29 or even older than 30. like he would be a believable 35 y/o to me if needed.

nikolai: actually him being 26 is chill too. tho i wouldn't mind making him around 28-29ish too since i already aged up most 26 y/os so may as well go all the way.

shibusawa: yeah he can stay 29 too idm. i actually didn't know he had a canon age until now. cool!

i think that's everyone who has a canon age (excluding lns bc i haven't gotten to them yet)? aside from sigma maybe but his age is more of a plot device than a fun fact. and fukuchi is implied to be the same age as fukuzawa so, yeah just make them the same in this case too.

i did mess up the timeline myself with this. so lemme clear it up:

The War and the whole thing with mori and yosano still happened when she was 11, so 17 years before canon. that means mori was still in his 20s back then, no big change

untold origins still happened when ranpo was in his teens, honestly we can keep it 14, so 14 years ago, meaning fukuzawa was in his late 30 or early 40s. again not too big of a change I'd say

fifteen happens when. well. dazai and chuuya are 15. ten years ago. i don't want q there get them out of my sight (for now) let them be a kid for a bit!!!!! but yeah like in canon that means the previous boss's murder was a year before, 11 years ago. also while we're at it, stormbringer is also the same aka a year after 15

now this is where we shake things up just a bit. rather than occuring when dazai is 18, i think we can push the dark era to when he's 20 and still maintain the whole childlike thing he has going on there, it's not that big of a difference imo.

that means, 5 years before canon instead of 4, making akutagawa 15 back then, and ango 27 like odasaku.

also yeah q comes in at some point in the middle between those^ I'd say close to dark era than fifteen.

originally i wanted to make skk 26 but this started stretching things even more. bc now we gotta figure out how long dazai spent in hiding. and ig we can keep it 2 years and just make it so his entrance exam was 3 years before canon. again imo not that big of a stretch 🤔

idk why i said this changes the timeline a lot i think this is p simple. also lets ppl stew in their situation for just a bit longer which i like more.

thank you for reading. you are very brave and strong for pulling through. feel free to disagree with my takes but just be nice about it please. I'm also open to hearing other takes if you have any that i didn't consider 🫡 but again just be nice okay?? 🥹

[figofswords]

u seem like someone who would know the answer to this inane question that I haven't easily found a straight answer to so. like. what is the timeline for robins. like bruce becomes batman at 26, and I've seen sources say dick grayson comes into the picture when bruce is 32 but also that bruce was 36 when jason died which cannot be correct. if u dont know/care about bat family specific timelines that makes perfect sense but if you do know... help me make it make sense please

the timeline is there is no actual timeline. characters in the comics are constantly aging and regressing. that said, here’s the best answers I can give you (off the top of my head so don’t come for me if I misremember something):

- general consensus is that dick comes into the picture fairly early in bruce’s career as batman, maybe around year three or four. comics can’t decide how old dick is at this point: sometimes he’s younger, like 8-9, and sometimes he’s already 11-13. depends on what comic you read.

-post-crisis and pre-flashpoint jason is introduced shortly after dick leaves for college (either because he chose to quit robin or because bruce fired him; he subsequently drops out and goes to join the teen titans as nightwing). dick can be assumed to be 18-19 at this point, and jason isn’t given a canonical age at his original introduction (that I know of) but seems to be 12-13. new 52 + rebirth jason was introduced a little older at age 16. pre-flashpoint jason dies at age 15.

-tim is 13 at his introduction, roughly a year after jason died. he was 3 when he first met the flying graysons. with this math, dick would’ve been 11ish on the night his parents died, which roughly checks out.

-steph is introduced at age 15 and becomes robin presumably a year or two later. she’s older than tim by a year and they’re both still in high school. I want to say he’s 16 and she’s 17 when she becomes robin but I would need to double check.

-damian is I THINK 12 when he comes into the picture and subsequently becomes robin. his age is explicitly stated in canon, but I’m not super confident in my memory of it. tim is 17 when this happens and has stayed stuck at 17 ever since, even though post-flashpoint damian is growing up and time is clearly passing.

-bruce’s age throughout all of this is Adult. alfred is likewise Older Adult. comics can’t have their heroes be middle aged but bruce has clearly been at it for years, and alfred can’t be allowed to age past, like, his 60s or 70s. if bruce is in his early 20s when he becomes batman and mid-20s when he takes in dick, he should be at least late 40s-early 50s by now, but visually I’d usually put him somewhere in his 30s or 40s and emotionally he’s been caught in a constant state of regression for 60 years.

-in general, everything post-flashpoint took an already confusing chronology and made it even worse. some things they fixed with rebirth and some things they did not. what’s canon? who knows. certainly dc doesn’t.

so yeah that’s the best answer I can give! hope that helps.

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

Okay! Time to do Fic Writer Maths!

Crosshair (all of the enhanced clones) in my personal headcanon as featured in Pieces Of The People We Love grow at 3x standard rate. I adopted this to explain how the Batch are a younger generation of clones, but still active and with such a formidable success rate during the Clone Wars.

By the way it still throws me that a galaxy-spanning war was neatly wrapped up in 3 years, it doesn't give us fic writers a lot of time to introduce subsequent generations of clones does it?

I digress.

At the end of Pieces Part 3/the start of the Clone Wars, Crosshair is 6 years old - biologically 18.

The Clone Wars lasts for 3 years - that brings Crosshair to 9, biologically 27. And in Welcome To The Outpost, I mention that Veetch, the baby of the squad posted on Barton IV, was sent almost straight there:-

Veetch was the youngest, barely out of Kamino before the Clone Wars had ended and he had found himself shunted here, to the far end of nowhere.

We also know (from a comment I am sure I have seen in an episode of The Clone Wars but for the life of my cannot remember which one) that towards the end of the war, they couldn't churn out Clone Troopers fast enough... which meant many of them were being deployed at less than 10 years growth/20 biological.

Which means it's not unreasonable to assume that Veetch is also 9 years old - but compared to Crosshair's biological 27, he is only biological 18.

Fast forward a year and a bit from the end of the Clone Wars - Crosshair has been hunting his brothers across the galaxy, he lived through the bombardment of Tipoca City, he was eventually found fit for duty again and assigned first to Cody's squad on Desix, and then to Lieutenant Nolan's contingent coming to retrieve the cargo from Barton IV.

That makes Crosshair about 10 and a half, but biologically he is now early 30s - maybe 31 or 32. Veetch is the same age, but with the body and enthusiasm of a 21 year old who hasn't lived through the war the way the others have.

Now for the others!

Let's assume Mayday is one of the oldest generation of clones. By the time they end up on Barton IV, he's perhaps 14 or 15 years old (assuming he was a little more than 10 when the war started).

So yeah, he's got extra years on Crosshair... but when you account for the difference in 2x vs 3x ageing, it puts them at almost the same place. Although I'm pretty sure it's also canon that clone ageing accelerates as they get older, so perhaps we can eke out Mayday being a little bit older biologically...

But there's not much in it :')

The big difference between Crosshair and Mayday is their life experience. Crosshair was part of a highly specialised unit that, whilst effective, never suffered losses in the war the way the regular clone troopers did.

Mayday's experiences as a reg and as a commander probably aged him prematurely. Even if he and Crosshair are biologically the same age, Mayday acts older, and his leadership experience means he naturally steps into the role of mentor to Crosshair - he knows without being told that Crosshair needs that.

As for the rest of the squad, I only gave a set age to Hexx, who had been deployed about 6 weeks longer than Mayday had. The others were probably a mix of ages; I described the squad like this:-

[They were] the last of their units, dregs of squads slain and fractured during the upheaval as the Republic was re-ordered into the new Galactic Empire.

Ferox is definitely an older clone, not quite as old as Mayday and Hexx but he's jaded. The others had seen at least a year of the war, so none of them were as young as Veetch - probably the rest of them were twelve, thirteen years old? So 24-27ish biological age range for the rest of them.

We'll never know what they would have made of this severe, austere enhanced clone who appeared on Barton IV, because none of them got to meet Crosshair ;_;

But I think within the squad of 12 I created for my fic, their age ranges probably went something like this!

Hexx & Mayday Ferox & Dene Krake & Recon Geo Atlas & Axis & Telmer & Helix Veetch

Aaaanyway it is now late at night and I have probably rambled quite enough (@royallykt I cannot tell you how much it means that you remember all the OC clones I made for Mayday's squad :') <3) I hope this has somewhat answered your question or was it even a question? It invited speculation, for sure, so here are the thoughts it generated ^_^ I hope you enjoyed!

S2E12: the outpost

[pluckyredhead]

No one asked for this, but I felt like writing up how I generally work out DC character ages and the sort of mini-generations I group them into. Canon is super contradictory on this, so this is a combination of cherrypicking what works for my purposes, ignoring what doesn’t, and Vibes.

(Which is to say, please don’t Um Actually this, even though I know people will. It’s just how I think of the characters. You can make Dick a hundred and three in your head if you want, I can’t stop you.)

I’m focusing on “the kids” (roughly Dick’s cohort on down) because quite frankly it’s a lot harder to pin down anyone older. Also let’s be honest, Bruce has got to be pushing 50 by now and DC will never allow that.

32: Babs. I’m pretty sure she’s supposed to be younger than Dick these days, but for decades she was older than him - like, definitely a grownup with a job when he was still in high school - and I stand by that. Honestly by that logic she should probably be even older, but...vibes.

28: Dick, Roy, Donna, Wally, Garth. I have arrived at this number thusly: Dick was stated to be 20 right around the time Jason died at 15, making him 5 years older than Jason. Jason returned to Gotham at 19 (we’re ignoring the 6 months he was dead because I don’t know how to count that), right before Damian debuted at 10. This makes Jason 9 years older than Damian and Dick 14 years older than Damian. Damian is currently canonically 14, thus Dick is 28. YES this is ignoring that the age difference between Dick and Jason was bigger when Jason debuted at 12, YES this is ignoring that Dick had been in college for like a decade by the time Wally started looking at schools so they might not be the same age, YES this is ignoring the time Garth spent aging in another dimension. I do what I want, Thor.

27: Vic, Kori, Raven, Joey. There’s no real indication that they are younger than the OG Titans just because they show up later, but...vibes.

25: Gar, Kyle, the Infinity Inc kids (Jen, Todd, Al, etc.). Gar is canonically 2-3 years younger than the rest of the team during NTT, and Kyle is canonically an unspecified few years younger than Donna but still old enough to have gone to college. (We’re ignoring the issue with his 10 year high school reunion.)

I put the Infinitors here because Jen and Kyle dated for a long time, which doesn’t mean they’re the exact same age - I am not troubled by age gaps - but I had to put them somewhere, and at least when they were still on Earth 2 they were younger than Dick. They’re tricky because most of their parents have been around since WWII, but...we’re just gonna ignore that because I don’t know how to fix it. (Even Al’s Golden Age grandfather is pushing things quite a bit.) Like yeah, you could make the case that they’re all actually in their 70s, but I can’t imagine they’re much older than 25 because of the whole Al/Courtney plotline. This one is entirely vibes, just go with it.

23: Jason, Connor, Koryak. Jason’s math is above. Connor was 19 when Tim was 16 which is the same age difference as Jason and Tim, meaning Connor is Jason’s age. Koryak too, mostly because I feel like it.

21: Tommy. Tommy is old enough to drink beer without any adults protesting, but young enough to be lumped in with the kids who are canonically in high school. So.

19: Grant, Toni. Grant is old enough to be out of high school, but young enough to have been roughly a peer to Tim and Bart (he was canonically 16 when Bart was canonically 14), so I generally place him here. Toni was the other “kid” on the 1999 Titans team so let’s make her the same age as Grant, why not.

18???: Ohhh, Tim. Timothy Jackson Drake, what am I going to do with you? By the math I laid out before, he should actually be 20 if he aged at the same rate as Jason and Damian. He has in fact nudged up against the edge of graduating high school multiple times in canon, only to get bumped back down to Generically Sixteenish. So where do we put him? Do we age him in accordance with everyone else, or do we treat him as Nonspecifically Teen-Shaped the way canon does? I have decided to unhappily split the difference here and make him 18, but I reserve the right to ignore that in specific fics. (Let! Tim! Go! To! College!) Anyway needless to say this thus also applies to Kon, Bart, Cassie, Cissie, Mia, Courtney, Lorena, and like a dozen others. (I mean, Kon is like 4 and Bart is like -996, but...physically.)

17: Jon. Canon as of the most recent issue of his solo book.

16: Wallace, Emiko, Jackson, most of the rest of their Titans lineup. See, this is the mini-generation that should get to be Generically Sixteenish right now! Stop being so selfish, Tim!

14: Damian. Canon as of his current solo series.

8: Lian was introduced right before Jason’s death (she wasn’t born then, but figuring out how old she is at her debut is a nightmare of Men Don’t Understand Childbirth Recovery Periods Or How To Draw Babies, so we’re ignoring that), when Roy was 20, and he’s 28 now. Of course, Lian was aged up by Infinite Frontier, but we’re also ignoring that, except for fics where I want her to be on Damian’s Titans team. Same goes roughly for the West twins, who canonically are all over the place age-wise so I can do whatever I want.

???: Rose. She was in Tim’s peer group from her debut until the New 52 and now she seems to ricochet between Jason and Damian’s ages at will, so...who the hell knows? If I had to pick, I’d put her closer to Jason so that she can be on his imaginary Titans lineup that never was, but...shrug??? ROSE YOU ARE A WOMAN OF MYSTERY.

[captainsimagines]

To Topple A Giant || Chapter Five

Summary: You had made it your mission to destroy even the smallest evils. When the opportunity arises to finally take down your own family after years of gaining their trust, you reach for it. And so does Steve, the man who represents a symbol of everything you hate.

Pairing(s): Steve Rogers x Reader || Avengers x Reader

Part 5 of 10 ~ Mini-Series

Warnings: This story contains mature themes and discussions such as extreme canon violence, strong language, emotional angst, mentions of Endgame deaths and recoveries, sexual situations, and emotional/physical abuse. All trigger warnings will be listed before the chapter. This is purely fanfiction.

Warnings in this Chapter: mentions of male masturbation and boners (lol); strong language; references to suicide, murder, and drug smuggling; abusive parental relationship; mentions of child death in a second flashback; dry humping (smut); 18+ only please!

Word Count: 16,500+

A/N: damn that chapter warning list was a trip to write down lmao

~

Westview, 2023, 1:32 pm

     An uncomfortable silence spread throughout the parked vehicle, daring either of you to take the first step. No one commented on the glares boring into your soul as you drove through the town or how heavily the three of you got patted down by the authorities right outside the state line. You figured it was completely justified - still a little insulting to a bunch of Avengers who literally saved the world three weeks ago. 

With a loud gulp, Bucky was the first to kick open his door and get out of the car. You glanced at Steve from the driver’s seat, biting your lip with a slight quiver as you went over the speech you practiced earlier today. Simple enough, and not too damning. 

Steve’s leg bounced rapidly a few more times before he too kicked open his door, leaving you in silence. You pulled the car keys from the ignition and took in a deep breath. Your legs were numb, the anxiety washing over you in uneven cycles. It was now or never. 

“Wanda, it’s us…”

Her grief seemed to emit from every crack in the sidewalk, every weak beg escaping the townspeople’s throats, every sound from the inanimate objects her powers had continued to turn from gray to red… to green… back to gray. She was crouched on the property, weeds brushing against her black pants and leaving their mark, mascara smudged with each new wet streak. 

Bucky unzipped his jacket, eyes wandering over the deserted plot of land as Wanda tried to control her sobs. She had already caused enough damage, both physical and psychological, the possibility of more government involvement looming over your heads. He carefully walked toward her and wrapped his jacket over her shoulders, all be damned as he held her and began to tear up himself.

“Wanda, you’re okay. You’re safe. We’ll get through this,” Steve sighed, still keeping a respectable distance from her in case she were to run. But you knew her better - she was all out of fight. One fight after another and yet she still lost her love. 

“I did something really bad,” she sobbed, eyes locked on the spot where Vision had just disappeared. Again.

“No, you didn’t know what you were doing,” Steve declared, shocked by the unexpected scoff from Bucky. 

“Save it, Steve. She may not have known in the beginning but she does now. She still did it.”

No one dared correct Bucky or argue with that logic because if anyone knew about causing harm with absolutely no intention, it was obviously him. Taking responsibility - that was the best course of action. 

Once you heard of a radioactive disturbance in a small town just outside the state, the team almost retired completely. So soon after defeating Thanos, so soon after Tony’s death, so soon after Natasha’s death - the team left it up to the proper authorities this time around. 

But the second you watched the broadcast of Wanda’s fantasies, the sitcom her powers were conjuring, her giving birth to her children… all you could do was wait until she opened the barrier. 

“I still did it,” Wanda said, her upper body beginning to rock back and forth as her fingertips brightened with red tendrils of magical grief. 

You shut your eyes and willed yourself not to cry. You had done so much crying these past few years and you were oh, so tired. You couldn’t possibly take another beating. 

“Hey, hey. Look at me,” Bucky spoke, gently turning Wanda’s face and placing both his hands on her cheeks, mindful of the metal appendage he had forgotten to cover with his glove. “You already did it. It can’t be undone. But you can come with us and grieve properly.”

Wanda reached up and placed her hands over his, tears spilling from her eyes faster now. 

“Let us help you grieve.”

This wasn’t an unexpected goodbye. Wanda knew that. She had just voluntarily given up her husband and children - anyone would crumble from that sort of devastation. But now she had been given a proper goodbye, a somewhat proper closure, and the chance to accept it. “Okay.”

You and Steve remained frozen in place even after Bucky helped Wanda stand. Almost as quickly as you thought it, your feet had a mind of their own. You stood next to Steve, taking in the weed infested, rectangular plot of land - the remnants of Wanda’s fantasy still fresh and creating a tiny, refreshing tingle in the middle of your chest. You looked over at Steve and smiled sadly when you saw him inspecting the area as well. 

“They would have had a beautiful life together.”

Steve’s breath hitched as you finished your declaration, looking over at you and nodding slightly. 

“If I had the chance, I would have wanted a nice house with some decent air conditioning. Some weird, front yard garden where I could plant random flowers. A dog that dug them up and acted like it didn’t do it.”

You giggled, thumbnail between your incisors to try and disguise the wider grin forming. Steve kept speaking. 

“Maybe a kid or two. Never actually checked if I could even have kids after the serum.”

You dropped your hand from your face, your attention completely on him now. 

Steve sighed and kicked a rock over to the other side of the property. “I would have wanted a giant, king-sized bed. With ‘his’ and ‘hers’ towels. And every once in a while we would accidentally use the other one’s toothbrush, a secret we would take to the grave.”

Steve wasn’t even looking over at you as he said this. It was like a one-sided confession, rhetorical, not needing an immediate response or expression in return. And you couldn’t believe he was just saying this in front of you - you of all people - the same person who rolled their eyes whenever Steve struggled to comprehend a modern topic or argued with him when he was in one of his moods. He had been distant the last few weeks after returning the stones, only ever noticing you when other people were around to carry a conversation. 

The tingles in your chest were starting to disappear as the plot of land gave its last few magical rumbles. 

“Steve?”

Steve bowed his head, hands in his pockets and breath steady. “Yes, they would have been very happy together.”

You stared at the back of his head as he slowly walked back to the car.  

Present Day, 2025, 8:10 am

     The amount of times you reminded yourself to wake up early as you were drifting off to sleep last night was perhaps more than the number of sheep you had ever counted in your life. A quick reminder here and there as your mind got clogged with pointless information, the number eight behind your eyelids all throughout the night. 

And you did it. In the early hours of the morning, knowing Steve would wake naturally in about twenty minutes, you tip-toed out of bed to use the bathroom. Acting completely normal in case he did in fact hear you before your grand plan - an easy escape route if he decided to repeat his horrible morning ritual on you. But he was such an old man, getting older, losing that serum’s boost. This Steve, Steve who refused to call any movie made after 1945 ‘old’ because he literally didn’t get the chance to see them premiere - yeah, this Steve, was passed out like he had been hit by a truck. 

Bladder empty and teeth brushed, you quietly opened the bathroom door and peeked through. He still lay there on his back, wrapped tightly in his blanket, breathing steadily, and face completely unprotected. 

Could you die? Probably. Would this payback be absolutely satisfying? Hell yeah. 

You grabbed the biggest of your pillows and fisted the corner tightly, twisting it a couple times for a better grip. You signed the cross quickly before lifting the pillow above your head and bringing it down to Steve’s face. 

Steve’s eyes snapped open and he immediately sat up, “WHAT?”

His eyes flew around the room rapidly until they landed on you, angry and challenging.

“Payback!” you yelled, lifting the pillow high again for a second hit. But he reacted quicker, grabbing a pillow himself and swinging it toward you. It slammed you in the torso and practically sent you flying. You landed at the edge of your bed, mouth open in shock and racks of laughter bubbling deep within your chest. You stood quickly and hit him repeatedly, trying your best to also block his counterattack. 

He reached for your hip and pulled you in his bed, rolling the two of you over so he was straddling your hips. He brought the pillow down several more times before accepting your plea of surrender. 

You threw the pillow back to your bed and pouted, “Not a fair fight!”

Steve scoffed, “You caught me off guard! You had all the advantages!”

You shuffled beneath him and froze, hips stuck in a lifted position as you were too embarrassed to move them back down. “Jesus, Steve! How do you even sleep on your stomach with that thing?”

Steve furrowed his eyebrows as he inspected your face and body, looking down at the two of you before he noticed the way he was pressing into your inner thigh. He scrambled off you, a blush spreading from his cheeks and all the way down his chest. He cupped himself and turned away, quickly shuffling for his suitcase and pulling whatever clothes his flustered hands grabbed. He was also repeatedly apologizing. 

“Steve, it’s okay. It just… startled me, is all.”

Steve cleared his throat a couple times before pacing around the room in search of his toiletries. 

You just sat back on your elbows, watching him scurry like a chicken with its head cut off. It was rather amusing. 

“I’m gonna - gonna, take a shower. Uh, I’m sorry again.”

You smirked at the super soldier, “Steve, I’m not mad. It isn’t like I’m new to that kind of thing.”

Steve blushed harder, “But I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

You shrugged your shoulders and dipped lower into his sheets, grabbing and lifting them higher. You snuggled deeper, “Still.”

Steve could feel the speed at which the world rotated and he shut the bathroom door behind him. He leaned against it, breathing deeply until he had all his inhibitions back. 

He didn’t know what was more embarrassing - reacting the way he did or you seeing him react the way he did. It wasn’t like the two of you hadn’t seen each other in awkward situations, some borderline lewd. There were plenty of missions that involved heavy flirting with the targets, undercover work in depraved settings, missions where nasty magic was involved and concocted a multitude of inappropriate visions. Hell, everyone had already seen each other naked. It was completely normal, a trustworthy environment, and sometimes necessary. 

As much as he wanted to give into the feeling and award himself some proper alone time, he refused to act upon it. He would regret it later once the stress pushed down harder than usual, but it just wasn’t appropriate in his right mind to masturbate with you in the other room. 

Why did he have to be such a good and honorable man?

He busied himself with washing his hair and scrubbing away any evidence of sleep from his face. Steve liked sleeping on his stomach, face smooshed in the pillows and arms extended to his sides. It allowed for more comfortable movement, more ways to stretch his hips, just overall comfort for his massive shoulders. Less pressure on the lungs, too. And unlike the enthusiastic yet almost mean accusation that he couldn’t possibly enjoy that position because of his… well, his dick, Steve would choose that position over sleeping on his back any day. But that morning, his body had decided to betray him in more ways than one. One, he was open to attack because he was on his back. And two, whatever dream he was having caused his morning wood to seem larger this morning.

He had washed up quickly, more time spent out of the shower where he fixed his hair and combed his beard. He thought about shaving it for the rehearsal dinner or wedding, but it gave him a more rugged look - like he was all tough and no funny business. As ridiculous as it sounded, the beard allowed him to lean into the criminal act easier, build a fake personality that already had your father eating out of his hand. 

Opening the bathroom door and having to face the music, Steve was almost certain you would continue to tease him. But you were already munching on the breakfast you had ordered, shoveling hash browns in your mouth as you swiped the mouse through pages and pages of intel. You didn’t even look up as he crossed the room to grab a pair of pants he had forgotten to pick up during his quick escape. That settled his nerves almost instantly and he was dressed and settled next to you soon after.

You worked in silent cooperation for a long while, handing each other files and passing phone calls like you had during every other mission before. Except now it was more comfortable, pleasant, and kind - the soft sounds from the television in the corner, the humming of the desktop, the soft hums of recognition whenever you two showed each other something. You didn’t even bother with what happened in the morning, if it really was anything at all, because you honestly found it normal. You were more focused on the conversation you had last night. 

Steve had offered to kill your father if you seriously couldn’t. Just thinking about his offer caused your stomach to turn. Because yes, you wanted him dead. You wanted to snap his neck in ten different places and feed him to scavengers. You wanted to steal his business from under him and tear it apart, bit by bit, and keep him alive long enough to see you do it. You wanted to see the look in his eyes when you revealed that you double-crossed him. And as the day inched closer, the overwhelming feeling of shame pushed down on your shoulders and swallowed your mind. Once your father was dead, you and Steve would never find true peace. His men would always follow you, probably take you down at the local coffee shop you and Peter frequented. 

The thought of dying in front of Peter caused a lump to form in your throat. No, you wouldn’t do that to your friends. You couldn’t do this to Steve. 

But you had to. Because even though your life will never be yours after this mission, you had to save the countless others your father was sure to touch and ruin. 

But was your life ever truly yours?

Steve’s voice pulled you from your clouded mind. 

“Huh?” 

“I asked if you wanted the last piece of fruit.” 

You looked at Steve then at the small piece of watermelon in the bowl, then back at Steve. He had a pen in between his teeth, one eyebrow cocked, and slightly puffy eyes due to the beer heavy sleep he had last night. You looked away as quickly as you could and stared back at the fruit, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. 

Ridiculous, you thought. Just looking at Steve had flustered you, squeezing your stomach in pleasurable pulses you hadn’t felt since high school. “No, no. You can have it,” you said, hoping your voice wouldn’t crack. 

Ridiculous. 

Steve watched you with a funny smile but he took your word and scooped up the last piece for himself. 

No, you thought again, this man will not give me freaking butterflies. 

It wasn’t like it was odd. Steve had you flustered countless times before, but it was never quite as tingly as it was now. You suddenly wanted to facetime Wanda and rant about these weird feelings; you wanted to curl in on yourself and squeal; you wanted to -

    “He’s what?”

You sat on your knees and leaned over the back of the couch, chin resting on your folded arms as you watched Steve pace around the common room. He was tugging at his dress shirt repeatedly, desperately trying to attach cufflinks without additional help. Sam sat right beside you, in the same position, snickering each time Steve cursed under his breath. 

“He’s nervous,” Bucky smirked, arm holding out Steve’s tie for the past five minutes. Steve had paced beside him various times already, completely oblivious. 

Steve groaned and readjusted his collar, snapping his head toward the three of you. “I’m not nervous.”

“You’re sweating buckets, man,” Sam pointed out, one of his hands discreetly opening up his camera and switching to video. 

“What if she doesn’t like me?” 

Bucky threw his head back and cackled, choosing to grab Steve and steady him to finally put that damn tie around his neck. “Same old, Steve. Can’t accept that a dame would ever possibly like you back.”

“Hey, Steve don’t worry about it,” you started, shooting Steve a sympathetic look. Steve glanced back at you, expression swiftly changing due to your kind tone. “... when I was in high school,-”

Steve released a loud grunt, rolling his eyes and stepping away from Bucky’s hands. 

Sam rolled over and clutched his stomach as he laughed, pulling you into him. The two of you shook from your laughs together. 

“Guys,” Bucky warned, reaching for Steve in a ‘grabby’ motion. “Give him a break.”

Steve reluctantly stood beside Bucky again, head tilted upward as he tried wrapping the tie back around his neck. 

None of you heard the entrance of Thor and his brother, too busy with bullying, laughter, or moderating. 

“Did we miss all the fun?”

You shot up from the ground, kicking Sam away as you rushed across the floor and stumbled over the rug. “Thor!”

You rushed into his arms and he gripped you tightly, swinging you around and loud laughter matching yours. 

“Now, why wasn’t I greeted in a similar manner?” Loki questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. 

You pulled your face from Thor’s shoulder, “Oh, you want this too?”

You jumped back onto the floor and were about to jump into Loki’s arms, but he held his own out, stopping you. “It’s too late. It’s not the same.”

“Piss baby,” you quipped, rushing behind Thor for protection when Loki’s mouth dropped in surprise. 

“Can everyone stop what they’re doing real quick and tell Steve his date is going to go well tonight?”

You rolled your eyes at Bucky’s favor, but he just raised his eyebrows, challenging you to disobey the order. 

“The Captain has a date? Are they okay?”

Loki and you shared a comical gasp. 

Steve gaped, “Now, what in the world does that mean, Thor?”

Thor raised his hands in defense, “I’m just asking if she truly knows what she’s getting herself into! Don’t try and tell me she has no idea who you are.”

Steve was back to groaning nonstop. Bucky threw his hands up in the air, “I ask one thing of you guys. One thing.”

You stomped over to Steve and ripped the half-tied tie from his neck and smoothed down his collar. You patted down his shoulders and the front of his shirt, and gripped his shoulders to straighten his back. 

“Now,” you smiled up at him. The breath caught in your throat for a second, the blue of his eyes shining under the ceiling lights and the pink of his cheeks spreading slowly. You let out a tiny sigh, heart fluttering faintly from the small grin he was giving you. He looked so innocent, a renaissance subject created from light oils, signs of true aging showing in his forehead. “Whatever date you got planned, she’s gonna love it.”

Steve relished in the feeling of your palms pressed against his chest for a few moments before he nodded at your declaration. He stepped back and smoothed down his shirt. “Wish me luck?”

A chorus of ‘good luck’s sounded as Steve found his keys and shared a goodnight hug with Sam and Bucky. They both jokingly reminded him to use protection. 

You watched Steve leave, a newfound bounce in his step as he walked away. Your words had been so simple, so cliche, and yet he had dropped any visible nerves as he walked out the door. You weren’t the best motivational speaker, that was for sure, but the proof of at least an ounce of motivation was there. Maybe your words held a hidden meaning. Maybe.

You thought about him picking up this random woman, wine and dining her, kissing her cheek as he said his goodbyes at the end of the night. It was somewhat adorable to think about, but also weird.

Before you could dive more into the strange feeling, Thor’s voice sounded. 

“Should we order pizza or chinese?”

It’s like that snapped you from your trance, because next thing you knew you were back to your playful self, sprinting across the room and into Loki’s arms. 

     You cherished the slight, pleasant churn of your stomach as you watched him happily munch on the fruit. 

Okay, it was normal to have a tiny crush on your mission partner. God knows how many times you wanted to jump Thor’s bones whenever you were undercover together. A crush was normal, completely natural and expected. 

Except you had never gotten so much sane joy from a simple question of whether you wanted the last piece of fruit. 

You blinked a few times and shook off any trace of overthinking devils, grabbing at random files to occupy your mind for a while. After about fifteen more minutes of comfortable silence, you spoke.

“So, we think Ramirez is gonna get straight up murdered?”

Steve snorted, filing through a pile of papers Torres had delivered this morning. “I wouldn’t put it like that, but sure.”

“But it’s just a theory at this point. We can’t just go in guns blazing without enough proof.”

“And if there is proof? Do we protect him? The original mission was to arrest all four men.”

You groaned, “I don’t know. He’s never done me wrong.”

“Personal feelings aside, Y/N.”

“Ugh, fine. But I’m not gonna be happy about it.”

Steve squinted at you with a playful smile. “You’d rather just arrest the bad ones, huh?”

“Obviously what Ramirez is doing is illegal and it’s horrific to think of what might be happening behind the scenes on his side, but either he’s serious or he’s been putting on this good guy act for his whole life.”

“Leaning towards the first option?”

Shrugging, you leaned toward your computer screen and scrolled through the massive list of emails. “It’s what my gut tells me, but ehh.”

There was one random email from Maribel, but random only meant coded. Reading it over a couple times, humming to yourself in concentration, you finally cracked the code she was trying to send. 

“Maribel says Ramirez acquired some land in Mexico… lots of it.”

Steve looked up from the files, “Any significance?”

“It’s probably for growing the products.”

Steve quickly typed key words that would alert him of any new transactions in the past few months.  “Who’s on the title?”

“Just him. And his oldest daughter. My father must know, right?”

Steve leaned back in his chair, releasing a heavy sigh as he thought about what this could mean. “Ramirez acquiring more land means more of Ramirez’s product. A three-way partnership would be split unevenly if he utilizes the land.”

“Make sure Bucky alerts us of any business my father might have with realtors authorized to work in that area.”

It functioned like this for another hour, the two of you sharing bits of information every ten minutes or so. 

“Torres sent us an update on White.”

You rubbed at your strained eyes, “What does he say?”

Steve’s eyebrows raised, “That he’s been in the country for much longer than his passport says.”

You stood from your seat and rushed to look at the same screen Steve was reading from. “He traveling under a fake name?”

“Customs says he returned to Germany,” Steve stated, highlighting a paragraph on the screen for you to easily read. “Four weeks ago.”

It was your turn to snort out a laugh, “Oh, he’s so setting up an alibi.”

Steve nodded in agreement, “Looks like it.”

You slapped his shoulder lightly, voice raising an octave. “Look at us! Piecing together the puzzle!”

“We still got a few more pieces to attach before you go getting all cocky.”

You chuckled and decided to take a break. You speed walked over to your bed and plopped down, the mountain of pillows already relieving your tense muscles. “Hey, has my sister’s plane landed yet?”

Steve glanced at you quickly before pulling up Bucky’s morning emails. “Uh, landed about an hour ago.”

“She at the estate?”

He shrugged, “Torres hasn’t sent an update. Just her profile, hold up.”

You waved him off, a nonverbal way of telling him you seriously couldn’t care less. “I haven’t spoken to her since I joined you guys. You don’t gotta give me her origin story.”

“That long?” Steve questioned. 

You placed a pillow beneath your head, body horizontal and facing Steve. “We were never that close. I’ve got tons of half-siblings. Most of them were adults when I was born, anyway.”

With just a few words exchanged, Steve realized he had just stepped through your metaphorical door of reminiscing. So he stood to lay in his own bed, the simple action of giving you attention enough to keep you talking, he hoped. “Were you alone a lot? Growing up, I mean.”

You watched as Steve also placed a pillow beneath his head, “There were always kids around. Kids of the maids, cousins, neighbors.”

“A full house, sounds like.”

“Yeah,” you mumbled, a small smile forming as you thought about old friends. “I remember this one time, we all ran into Ramirez when we were trying to get to one of the playrooms. But he grabbed me quickly and told me to not go in there.”

“Was it a threat?”

You grinned at his protective tone, “No, it was a warning. There were some really bad men in the other room. It was me and a few other girls. He told us to run back to my room and lock the door until he came to get us.”

Steve couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation as to why Ramirez joined the drug game. Sure, the function and presence of cartels had changed drastically over the last forty years, but it didn’t explain why he remained involved. In the eighties, the drug game was highly televised and spoken about, but the cartel violence was not as strong. Nowadays, and not even you could give a proper explanation, the violence was astronomical and basically advertised as something to expect when visiting certain countries. This was the mob game now, freaking Al Capone or the goddamn Godfather, absolutely meant to frighten whoever dare join or leave. For Ramirez to still be one of the big players even with that many internal changes, to be a good person in the middle of such hell, didn’t make any sense. 

“He protected you.”

You clutched the pillow closer to your chest, the memory a good one even if it was weird. “Oh, yeah. Those guys he was warning us about were no angels.”

Steve gave an awkward smile, “I feel like I know more about your childhood than you know mine.”

“I’m all ears if you wanna tell me about little, asthmatic Steve Rogers.”

He raised his index finger at you, “Hey, I was more than just my asthma.”

“Oh, excuse me. I totally forgot about your scoliosis.” 

The pillow under his head was now flying across the small distance to your face. You shrieked and sent it back. 

“Stop bullying!” Steve laughed.

You shielded your face in case he decided to continue the pillow war. “What? I’ve got my health problems, too! I just don’t have the serum to help me out.”

But he didn’t throw it again. He repositioned himself on his back and placed both hands beneath his head, gracing the ceiling with a grin. “I remember this one time, Bucky and I were around eleven-years old, and I had this really bad asthma attack. Bucky just freaked out. I was choking and he was just holding me, screaming for help -”

You blinked, “This is really depressing, what are you-”

“-and! Bucky threw himself into a full-blown panic attack. So we were both choking on air, but I was starting to laugh at him freaking out, which only made him choke harder. We ended up throwing up.”

You were silent at the end of his short story, mouth open in a wide smile. “I don’t know what else to say other than that was one of the greatest stories I’ve ever heard.”

Steve rolled over, a literal twinkle in his eye. “See? Don’t interrupt me before I get to the good parts.”

This simple moment catapulted the realization that Steve hasn’t spoken to you this much in two years, to the front of your mind. In these past four days, you had spoken like you had never stopped, like it was never awkward, like you two seriously didn’t need another person in the room to simply converse about what you wanted for breakfast. Yet here you were, more words exchanged in the past four days than you ever thought possible. 

After the fallout, you didn’t say one full sentence to him for seven months. Seven months. He hadn’t attempted a conversation with you either, but you actively avoided him like he was infected. Hell, he even moved out of the compound and into his own apartment to get away from you for most of the day. After your forced reconciliation, the awkward apologies, you still didn’t force any open conversation. But it was easier, lighter, and most conversations involved mission information. 

Talking this much now was so easy, so simple, like you didn’t need to force the comfort - there was already full comfort, a sense of community with this man. 

He was so different from when he insulted you while you were packing, annoyed by the fact that you pried too much. And now you were prying into his childhood and him yours without a lick of annoyance on either side. 

“We both had eventful childhoods, didn’t we?”

“What, with both of us in the middle of a war?” Steve asked, a genuine look on his face.

“Guess our wars never really left us, huh?”

There was a knock at the door. You weren’t expecting Torres again today. Steve muttered ‘room service, maybe’ under his breath as you went to open it. You were startled to find Scott standing outside, two massive suitcases in his hand. 

“Oh my god, I forgot you were arriving today!”

Scott scoffed, “Am I not as important as your other friends?”

You laughed and helped him inside, “Stop! You’re one of my favorite bugs!”

“Ha ha. Very funny. I’ll leave right now if you two decide to pile on me instead of each other.” Scott placed one of the suitcases near the door but the other at the edge of your bed. 

“We’ll be nice,” Steve promised, standing to greet Scott with a hug. 

“You better. Catch me up, please?” 

The suitcase contained your outfits for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. Whoever was in charge of costumes definitely went all out, hoping their work would make the big fight the most fashionable. Steve was given a perfectly tailored suit, navy blue and velvet. It was lined with vibranium, inside pockets covered with it. That would certainly be handy if you were forced to walk through metal detectors - vibranium couldn’t be detected. His suit for the rehearsal dinner was a lot simpler, the custom black and white aesthetic, but still protected with vibranium. 

Your clothes were certainly not styled to match Steve’s, giving you a sense of individuality. It was perfect really - it would allow you to leave Steve’s side, if necessary, when the mission called for you to split up. Your rehearsal dinner outfit was two parts: a black, velvet long-sleeved shirt, slight turtleneck, and gold cuffs. It was joined by a long gold skirt, high-waisted, the front shorter than the back and sides more curled than ruffled. You would have to wear tights underneath, but it was beautiful. Vibranium was also stitched in for added protection. Your dress for the actual wedding, however, was a total knockout. Red, spaghetti strap, tight on top but loose once it reached your hips, a long slit on the left side. They were even kind enough to give you a pair of heels to match. 

Yeah, Steve was Captain America and his appearance will shock the guests, but your attire will definitely be the second topic in gossip. 

Scott was filing through the same papers you and Steve had reviewed earlier, a bowl of potato chips at his side. And it was peaceful - you and Steve even had the chance to nap. 

“So, you’re gonna see Jackeline at the rehearsal dinner?”

You wiped the remnants of your nap from your face and groaned as you stretched, “She’ll probably be busy tomorrow when we go for breakfast, so yeah.”

Scott shifted uncomfortably in his seat, eyes practically attached to the computer screen. “And… she’s the one getting married?”

His tone started to worry Steve, “Yes, Scott. You good?”

Scott piled a handful of potato chips in his mouth, finger clicking the mouse every few seconds. His eyes were now wide, blinks forgotten. “Jackeline Vega. Jackeline.”

Steve ignored him now, “Hey, why isn’t your last name Vega?”

As much as you wanted to share about how and why you changed your last name, Scott’s demeanor interested you more. “Changed it when I became an American citizen - Scott, what’s up?”

He let out a tiny squeak, swallowing his snack quickly. “And she’s your father’s favorite?”

You rolled your eyes, “Mmm.”

Scott released a huge huff of air, shoulders falling as he raised his voice and turned the monitor to face you. “Think he knows anything about this?”

The photograph was blurry because it was enhanced, but you could still make out the face of a sister you hadn’t seen in years. Older, still with teenage features obviously, and tossed on what looked like a church alter-

Steve's eyes widened, “Is she…?”

Scott finished his sentence for him, “Fucking a priest?”

You covered your mouth in shock, “Oh my god, she’s fucking a priest!”

Bent on the literal church altar, skirt bunched around her hips, head thrown back in ecstasy and face in full view. And the damned priest, in between her legs and under the eyes of god. 

“That’s why I asked!”

Steve clutched at his chest, head thrown back as he howled, “I think you were wrong about your sister.”

Now your eyes were glued to the screen, “Oh, I was fuck all from correct!”

Scott cleared his throat, “Is the priest… her fiance?”

Steve came down from his laugh attack, “I highly doubt that, Scott.”

“This is actually really damning evidence.”

You grinned at Scott, “For what? Painting her out to look like the most sinful whore? I might just congratulate her.”

Steve stared at you, judging almost. “For fucking a priest?”

“For proving me wrong. She’s not so innocent after all,” you responded, cheeks strained from how wide you were smiling. 

“Clearly. This is… actually badass,” Scott admitted, turning the monitor back to him.

You teased, singing your next words. “Don’t let the Lord and Savior hear that.”

Steve glared, “Y/N.”

You leaned away from him, “What? Anyway, that’s gotta be one the worst sins to commit, right?”

Steve’s expression contorted from annoyance to disbelief. “We’ve literally killed people.”

“Pfft, but we’re not fucking priests. Right?”

Scott answered, nodding quicker than he needed to. “Right.”

“You’re literally asking that?”

You pressed your lips into a fine line and tilted your head at Steve. “Steve?”

He glared at you for a long moment before slowly shaking his head. “I’m not fucking any priests.”

Your response was immediate, “Alright! I gotta hand it to her, though. Who took the photo?”

Scott went back to fishing through the emails. “Some sleazy magazine that never got around to actually printing these out.”

“Someone paid them off. Or killed them.”

“I wonder who,” you replied sarcastically. 

Steve continued, “You honestly think he would support her doing that?”

You shrugged and scurried back over to your unmade bed. “Not my problem.”

Scott interjected, “Okay, okay. How’s tomorrow gonna work?”

Steve answered first, “Well, we’re driving out around eight.”

You hummed in agreement, reaching over to unplug your phone from the charger. “Scott, you’ll just ride on one of our backs as we walk through the estate.”

“I kind of want to ride Y/N’s back this time.”

You snorted, “Now that doesn’t sound sexual at all.”

He hid his face in his hands, “You know, I heard it once I said it.”

“Course you did.”

Steve jumped back into the conversation, Scott’s embarrassment seeming to grow under the weird tension. “Then you’ll hop off and plant the bugs wherever you feel like they’re needed.”

“Easy peasy!” you cheered. 

“Bucky and Sam gonna meet us Friday night?”

Steve nodded, “That’s what they said.” He looked over at you, scrolling through your phone and already smiling at something you found funny. He cleared his throat to get your attention. “You know they can be out here in under an hour if we seriously need them.”

You glanced over at Steve, his sincerity greatly appreciated. “I know. But all my faith is in Scott here.”

Scott moaned quietly, “Oh… no, let’s not put all the faith in me because I can’t handle that responsibility.”

You propped yourself up onto your elbows, “You saying I can’t trust you?”

“No, no! That’s not what I’m saying at all-!”

Steve rolled his eyes and looked at the man, a sheen of nervous sweat starting to form on his forehead. “Scott.” 

Scott lowered his hands from his chest, “O-oh. She’s messing with me, huh?”

You chuckled and laid back down. “You’re so easy.”

The easygoing atmosphere for the next few hours almost had you believing you were on vacation, away from the bad guys and space aliens for just a moment. Almost like you weren’t in the middle of a drug war, a mob business, the literal daughter of a king. Scott had that effect, his personality such a sweet refresher and such a contrast to every soul in the compound. 

Thor and Peter were also sweethearts and fun was always expected when they were around, but Scott had this different vibe. Maybe it was because he was relatively new, or that he had a child, or that he hadn’t suffered the same five years as everyone else did. Like he wasn’t yet tainted.  

“You guys mind if I run a job inside a job?”

Your head snapped up at Scott’s crazy question, “You stealing something?”

To run a job inside a job was risky. There was no exact plan to keep both missions balanced, to somehow rank the other more important. You prayed it wasn’t something insane. 

Scott chuckled under his breath, already grabbing his jacket and suitcase by the door. “No, I’m not stealing something. Hank needs me to speak to some guy he’s doing negotiations with about a space for a new lab headquarters.”

Steve tilted his head, “In Northern California?”

“Nah, the dude is vacationing out here for the time being. The lab will be in San Francisco again.”

You squinted at him, still cautious. “Where you meeting him?”

“Some nice Italian restaurant an hour out.”

Steve spoke before you did, similar thoughts running through his mind. “You check with Torres? We don’t know who might randomly show up there.”

Scott tried his best to reassure you, “Yeah, he said they’re following every car that leaves the premises and travels more than thirty minutes away. None of Ernesto’s men have been spotted further up north.”

You sighed. You didn’t want another member of your team to venture out in this area, let alone this goddamn state, without your eyes on them. You were protective, the proximity of your outside world with the one you had spent ten years building too suffocating of a reality. 

Still, you told Scott goodbye with a steady voice. “Then enjoy your dinner, Scott.”

His voice picked up again, that childish and upbeat feeling wrapping you around his finger. “You guys wanna come with? I’m sure you’re sick of icky hotel food.”

Steve waved him off, “It’s actually not that bad-”

“Breadsticks. Garlic pasta. More breadsticks.”

You laughed, “That sounds nice, Scott but we can stay here-”

“Three-cheese pastas.”

“Scott, you can try all you want but-”

“Unlimited breadsticks.”

You shared a look at Steve, puckering your lips at the suggestion. 

“.... We’ll sit far away from your table, okay?”

Scott opened the hotel door and started sprinting down the hallway. “I knew I could persuade you with that! C’mon!”

     California at night was a death trap. Potholes on every stretch of asphalt, construction halted for who knows how long, random opossums lingering in the shadows just waiting to get hit by tires. It was prettier during the day - less of a ‘lead me into this forest, yes, kill me’ vibe. 

You chilled in the backseat while Scott drove you guys to the restaurant. You had texted Bucky where you were planning to go, the message activating the group text chain. 

Peter: it’s Wednesday! Who died?

Wanda: she’s literally texting us

Peter: Y/N, you won???

Bucky: fuck do I owe the fucking spider money?

Peter: pay up dude

Y/N: tf Bucky? You bet against me?

      “You sure you two are good?”

The restaurant looked quiet considering it was a Wednesday night, but it was still crowded. There was a short line extending out the door and a… bouncer. You sucked in a breath and smacked Scott in the chest once you were out of the car. 

“Thought you said this was a restaurant?”

Scott rubbed his chest, a look of disbelief spreading across his face. “Restaurant slash bar!”

“We eating with the Italian mob now? I can only handle one mob at a time, Scott.”

You nodded rapidly, pointing at Steve. “I agree with him!”

“Not every place has bad guys!”

You groaned and reluctantly stood at the back of line, pulling Steve’s hat lower on his forehead. It wasn’t like people couldn’t take one long, hard look at him and not know who he was, anyway. 

“Can you guys just… enjoy a night out?”

“While on a mission?”

“While living your long lives. God, Y/N, you getting old already?”

Your mouth dropped, “I’m twenty-six and I’m not complaining about a nice dinner, Scott.” You pointed at the bouncer. “I’m worried about the fact that our ID’s are gonna be checked.”

Scott’s mouth formed an ‘O’. “Yeah, that.”

“Next.”

You shot Steve a worried look but handed the bouncer your driver’s license. He just looked at the date of birth and moved you along. “Next.”

Scott handed him his, doing his best to smile proudly while the bouncer scanned him up and down. “Next.”

“See? Wasn’t so hard,” Scott joked, standing next to you in the far corner of the entrance. 

You rolled your eyes, “Wait.”

The bouncer took one look at Steve’s ID and gasped. Steve looked anywhere but the bouncer’s eyes, his bottom lip suffering the abuse of his incisors. 

“Cap-Captain?”

Steve gave a sheepish grin, lowering his cap further. “Uh, yeah.”

“Enjoying your day?”

You pinched your nose. 

“Would like it a lot more if you could lead us to a table with as much privacy as you can offer.”

You had to hand it to Steve for taking advantage of situations like this. 

The bouncer agreed immediately, speaking with the manager and promising discretion. The manager said it was no problem, that it was the least he could do for you guys after you brought his son back to him after those rough five years. 

The restaurant offered a somewhat real Italian setting, awarding their guests with as much real scenery and architecture it could. You could only compare it to the Venetian in Vegas as you had never actually been to Italy, but the live band and garlic smell was enough to transport you. 

The lights were low, older couples enjoying the food and wine, and there was a small bar near the back of the restaurant. It wasn’t really a place for some shady business, but years of experience let you know that wasn’t always the case. It was second nature to eye women reaching into their purses, only to pull out a pack of gum. Second nature to wince at the sound of a loud laugh cutting through the quiet atmosphere. 

As promised, you were led to a more private area of the restaurant, closer to the bar than to the band. 

“Go run the job, Scott. We’ll just be enjoying our unlimited breadsticks,” you said, letting out a heavy and relaxed sigh as you settled into the private booth. 

“That hat isn't really hiding those broad shoulders, Cap,” Scott laughed, slapping Steve on the back.

Steve slid into the same booth, ignoring the completely empty seat across from you. “Thanks, Scott. I’m aware.”

You tried to hide your blush as you squeezed deeper in your seat. Scott noticed though, side eyeing Steve who was none the wiser. “You know, I told him that he should have used those facial changing things SHIELD used to have.”

Steve grabbed the offered utensils and started unwrapping them from their napkins. 

“What are we if not superheroes who think a baseball cap and glasses hide our identities?” you teased, shooting Scott a quick wink. 

Steve answered almost triumphantly, “Uh, Superman?”

You giggled and grabbed the napkin he had unwrapped for you. “I’d argue Thor is more like Superman, but okay.”

“How am I not more like Superman? What-”

“Uh, guys? I see the dude so I’m gonna go. You two enjoy your meal,” Scott interrupted, running off to a booth located toward the middle of the restaurant. 

You sat for a few awkward moments before you squinted and looked at Steve, who was sitting to your left and way too close. “Are we annoying?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, like,” you spoke with your hands, “you and I bicker a lot because we love to annoy each other but you think it gets on other people’s nerves?”

Steve chuckled, rubbing his shoulder with yours. “Do you really care if it does?”

That blush of yours was starting to feel warmer. “No, just wondering if you felt that way.”

He shrugged, “I quite like our relationship.”

“Oh,” you smiled, looking down at your lap.  “I quite liked it more a few years back but you know.” 

He immediately tensed, body leaning away from you as if you were burning him. You shut your eyes and shook your head. “Sorry, that was low.”

He sighed deeply, “No, I deserve it. I’ll always deserve it.”

You took a risk and reached for his hand, squeezing gently. The kind gesture seemed to calm him, and he looked back at you. “I still shouldn’t have said it.”

He accepted that, and handed you the menu. 

The hotel food was grand, it did its job of filling you up and providing the necessary nutrients, but there was just something about the carbs in pasta and bread. It ignited the food critic inside you, because now you were cursing the hotel chef and dreading having to order breakfast in the morning. No, dinner. You were having breakfast with your father tomorrow. 

Scott was busy conducting his own business, bluetooth turned off but still glancing over his shoulder once in a while to check on you guys. Each time he did, he felt butterflies flutter in his breadstick-filled stomach. It was the first time he had seen the two of you so carefree, let alone with each other, and it was the most refreshing thing in the world. 

Steve was in the middle of telling another childhood story, his main plate already finished and practically licked clean. But the unlimited breadsticks were coming out by the pound, a new stick in each of your hands every five minutes. 

“I swear, she loved Bucky more than me!”

You covered your mouth and chewed, careful to not let anything through because of your giggle fit. “Steve! Your mother did not!”

Steve wiped at his under eye, clutching his chest as he continued explaining. “Bucky was always around and my mom would just linger every second she wasn’t working!”

“Bet she loved him.”

“See?”

“No, I mean she must have loved him like her own! Bucky was your best friend, your only friend. She probably thought of him like an angel sent from God!” you clarified. 

Steve smiled wider at your cheesy explanation. They were happy memories, joyful ones that he would often think about while writing or drawing. 

He continued with a soft confession. “I really wish I could see her again.”

You leaned your temple on your palm, “From everything you’ve shared with me, she sounds lovely.”

“She would have loved you.” The blush was back, and so was Steve’s, almost like those words were supposed to be kept in the back of his head. He cleared his throat. “God, she was so destroyed when Bucky first got his orders.”

“Was Bucky scared?”

“Scared? Absolutely fucking terrified. We talked about running away and changing our names so he didn’t have to go.”

The draft was such a horrible practice. The fact that men still had to enlist and hope no ‘necessary’ war was upon them. It was quite reassuring to know most of those men wouldn’t have to see battle today, they were given a choice, and there were agencies that managed people who could, like the Avengers. 

“Steve…”

Steve just hummed softly, “Life in the forties, am I right?

Your voice also got quieter. “Why didn’t you run away?”

Steve huffed out a laugh, swallowing the last of his bread. “We tried. Got all the way to the edge of town before Bucky’s dad wrung us both back to kick our asses.”

Almost out of instinct, you gripped his hand again. You rubbed soothing circles into his knuckles, knuckles that hadn’t seen hand-to-hand combat in so long. There wasn’t much danger in the world nowadays, just small missions here and there. It wasn’t like the team was itching for another alien invasion. But these periods of well needed rest were odd, periods where bruises completely healed up and little pockets of weight were gained. Steve’s knuckles were soft, only having seen the ends of paintbrushes for a long while. 

 “...Where’s your mother?”

His voice snapped you from your thoughts, and you had to repeat the question in your own head a couple times. 

“It’s not a happy story.”

There wasn’t much of a story anyway. 

“But is it a story you need to get off your chest?”

Steve didn’t want to push too hard. The long pause in your relationship definitely didn’t soften this blow, and it only added to the strings of resistance. If you decided not to tell Steve about this, Steve would have to accept it. If anything, this was one of the toughest questions to ask someone when all you’ve been doing is ignoring them for two years. 

“Not really much to get rid of.”

He nodded, only a slight hint of disappointment laced within his words. “You don’t have to tell me.”

Natasha was the only one with any knowledge of your mom. There was never an actual moment in which you freely spoke of her - inserting her likeness, her person, back into some alternate and fucked-up reality - you kept her legacy dead. It was obvious she hadn’t enjoyed this part of her life, no doubt it absolutely killed her to leave you trapped in it, so keeping her dead, even in conversation, was a favor. 

But one drunken night and you were showing Natasha the one photo you had of her, stuffed deep in your wallet and crinkled beyond repair. Her black hair to her shoulders, lip liner a darker shade than her lipstick, hands intertwined behind her back as she arched forward in a playful tilt, shooting the camera a smile that was stuck around the word she was saying as the candid was taken. There was no recorded voice but you had a record of her movement, frozen in time.     

Steve’s sincerity grasped you by the literal roots of your hair, because next thing you knew you were spilling the first thought you had. 

“She was twenty-three. Working as a real estate agent, very beautiful, and she was engaged. To an American.”

Steve chuckled around his champagne glass, “Was that bad?”

You grinned at that, like he was already fully and deeply invested in your story. “Not necessarily. But everyone knew she was taken.”

“And your father?”

“He wanted to buy some houses. Saw her, wanted her, tried persuading her into going on a date. Nothing really worked, she didn’t accept his money or gifts.”

Steve fumbled over his next words. “Did she eventually?”

“No, but her brother did. My father didn’t know it was her brother, so he thought she was accepting them. Got mad when she still refused his advances.”

He was digesting this little by little. Steve had heard horror stories of girls he grew up with, forced to marry at a young age when they were caught in a passionate moment with a man, or when they ended up pregnant. Bucky and his mother had always instructed him to treat women with respect, to never intentionally or accidentally ruin their reputation, to protect and use his voice to stand up for them. And although women weren’t getting frisky with him when he was all but ninety pounds at the ripe age of twenty, that didn’t stop Steve from exchanging a few words and punches with men who had no right.  “How did they end up together?”

You shrugged, reaching over for another breadstick. “No one knows. He invited her to a party one day and she didn’t come back for a whole week. Next thing her family knows she’s engaged to my father and no longer with the love of her life.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah, her family had no choice but to accept that. Her poor fiance, though.” 

“Where is he now?”

Steve had this weird hope that the fiance may still be alive somewhere, waiting for your mother to find him. But that was just the hopeless romantic emerging. 

You sighed deeply, “My father told my mother he killed him. My mother believed him.”

“So, he’s still alive? He didn’t hurt him?”

“Apparently he’s still kicking, yeah. But my mom became severely depressed from that lie.”

The restaurant felt colder and the air became thinner. Steve didn’t want his next thought to be true. “She didn’t...?”

You shook your head quickly, “No, she found out he was alive.” Even if you weren’t witness to it, you could still imagine your mother charting the areas she would have to run and swim through to get away. Wasn’t like it was a heartfelt thought, but the mere fact that she had that much determination to risk her life for love, it was somewhat therapeutic to think about. Like it was genuinely satisfying to imagine her defying your father. Still, your face drooped as you gave Steve the sad conclusion. “She didn’t even make it across the border before he had her killed for betraying him.”

His face fell in time with yours, “Fuck.”

“She left me with Maribel’s mother. But my father found me and told me she had an accident. Didn’t find out the truth until I was thirteen.”

“I’m so sorry.”

You shoved his shoulder with yours, a light chuckle cutting through the sad moment. “Not like you had a hand in this, Steve. It’s just my life.”

You were used to Steve’s generosity, his ability to make any person feel a part of his family - you had been on the receiving end of his sincerity for the past week now. But as you held his gaze, his body seemingly towering over yours, your chest flushed with such warmness, a tranquil promise of safety. He leaned forward, breath hitting your cheeks, hand still gripping yours. 

“Not anymore. We’ll end this, Y/N. I promise you, we’ll end this.”

You took a risk and rested your forehead on his, his continuous promise still causing your stomach to twist pleasurably. “How’d we get so sad all of a sudden?” You pushed away and threw your arms in the air. “We need more breadsticks!”

Steve laughed loudly, the private booth still providing somewhat of a thin curtain to the other diners. “No, we need mints!”

Rolling your eyes, you blew your breath at Steve teasingly. “Weak.”

Steve groaned, “You and Scott are not getting into the car without chewing on a mint.”

“You got a thing against bad breath?”

“Take the mint.”

“I’m gonna fight you if you force the mint on me.”

He was reaching into his jacket and pulling the small case out. He winked at you. “I’ll win.”

He popped open the cap and held it out to you. He didn’t tip it though, as if he was waiting for you to extend your palm. Everything was silent for a minute, eyes challenging one another. 

He could easily lean in. He could easily just tilt his head a little to his left and capture your lips with his. Every damn molecule in his body was telling him to do it, every bubble from that champagne somehow giving him some extra courage. 

Your breath hitched slightly, and he leaned away. I’m such a coward, he thought.

You reacted swiftly, disguising the awkwardness. “You’re right, give me the mint. You should swallow like three.”

Steve snickered, “You ruined the moment.”

But you didn’t ruin the moment. And he just blamed you for it. Like he had already established - he was a coward. 

You grabbed the mints he offered and popped them into your mouth. “What moment? I didn’t see any moment.”

Okay, he could just lean in right now and hope the mint freshness in your mouth would mask the garlic in his. Yeah, he could just lean in and do what he’s been thinking of doing for the last day and a half-

“Hey, you guys finished? Getting dessert?”

Steve almost shot from his seat, “Jesus fucking christ, Scott!”

Scott slid into the seat across from you. “You scare easily. Let’s get dessert!” 

You were too flustered. Fine, okay. You’ll play along. If the gods want to reward you with this fun Steve, the Steve you were closest to years ago, then so be it. You’ll bite. And if he wants to resort back to his bitchy self, his hermit behavior, then you’ll fight him then. 

Scott ordered so much dessert. 

So much. 

The little moment you had with Steve was still fresh, you could sense he was thinking about it too, but you opted to simply enjoy the night out. You were here with two friends, protection was just a phone call away, and you were safe. 

Perhaps Scott had the same effect on Steve that he had on you. Absolutely demolished his ‘Captain’ self and released the guy who simply wanted to enjoy a mini road trip with his friends. 

     You were barely fifteen minutes into your ride home when Scott lowered the windows and turned the radio up high. 

“Woohoo!”

You screamed over the loud roar of the wind, “Scott, it’s fucking freezing!”

Scott yelled back, “We just had three desserts each! Your blood should be running warm!”

You blinked away the dryness, “Dude!”

Steve, surprisingly, agreed with Scott. “Enjoy it!”

Your mouth dropped open and you followed Steve’s movements as he turned the radio higher. 

The music blared and you were about to protest again, the air literally nipping at your sensitive cheeks, but the song that started was a non-skip. 

You would indulge in this childishness once. 

Once. 

You reached around the passenger seat and gripped Steve’s shoulders, shaking him in place. “Ah, California radio giving us the classics!”

Scott leaned over and turned it up higher. 

You swayed in your seat and sang along with Scott. “Bidi bidi bom bom!”

Scott pointed at you and recited the lyrics, “Bidi, bidi!”

Both of you sang, “Bom!”

Even with his eyes on the road, Scott was nailing some good dance moves in his seat. You both sang each lyric with your heart and soul, laughs escaping during the guitar breaks. 

Steve just enjoyed the show. He didn’t know the song, the melody a foreign one for him, but it must have been popular for both you and Scott to know it. He watched you sway in your seat, hands dancing and voice matching the volume of the radio. Just the other night, you had mentioned how you never sang anymore.

But here you were, singing through the most beautiful smile Steve had ever seen. 

He missed the sound of it. He missed hearing you sing in your room, no doubt you were dancing too since he usually heard your feet shuffling against your carpet. He missed the innocence you would casually portray, an invitation for anyone to befriend you. He missed teasing you lightly, and he regretted the roughness of his voice years later. He missed just walking into the common area and finding you there, cooking for yourself and anyone who wanted a plate - that plate usually for him. He missed you. 

You were right here, voice hitting those octaves Steve didn’t think he would ever hear again. You were right here, and he missed you. 

      Scott was staying in a separate room. The dessert and alcohol had run right through him, and he bid you goodnight after he threatened to plop down in your bed if you invited him in. 

The sound of Scott’s retreating footsteps seemed to suck all the air from the vents at once, whispering its song lovingly in your ear. It was both refreshing and terrifying to be left alone because now here you were, standing outside your hotel door with the super soldier you had gone to Hell and back with. 

You inwardly cringed, the tightness in your chest sending your childish ass back to sophomore year of college. A first date, the lost promise of another - a proper teenage reaction to a crush. But this man in front of you wouldn’t let you delete his number from your phone; he wouldn’t avoid eye contact in the dining hall; he wouldn’t sit at the back of the lecture hall just to keep a necessary distance. 

Granted, Elijah - poor, frightened Elijah - had seen you literally kidnap someone off the street under your father’s orders. This being before you went straight and moral, before you had met Fury, before SHIELD training. You were to blame for that sprouting relationship going south pretty quickly. So you avoided him, too - praying Ernesto or Seda could never track him. 

But Steve, beautiful Steve who reloaded your guns when you couldn’t, who jumped in front of stray bullets for you and those he loved, Steve who very quietly asked you for various salsa recipes when he was in the mood to cook. Here he was, eyes also watching Scott walk away, no doubt experiencing the same tight coil within his chest. He hadn’t run, he had worked and fought with and against you, and he wasn’t running away. 

No, Steve Rogers never ran. 

The low beep from the hotel lock snapped you from your thoughts. You sensed his hesitance because when your history was truly reviewed with the most unbiased of minds, there was absolutely no reason to overthink. Hell, when you ran through the halls of Thor’s Asgardian palace with Rocket tailing you, the first joke out your mouth was how Steve would probably instruct you to respect a place like that and speed walk. Your first thought when starting the pilot episode of a new show is to wait for Bucky… and Steve, who would pop the kernels over the stove and add real salt and butter. 

His first thought as he helped load people onto the planes in Sokovia was that your whiny ass better be on one of them. Or when Steve regrouped in the support circle, his first thought before he continued the discussion was that he really hoped you would walk through those doors and join - until one day you did. 

Whether the two of you recognized the severity of your unspoken feelings, they were there. Silent and at a gradual increase. Never rushed, not entirely obvious because of the temporary roadblocks of unnecessary separation. 

Steve was here in front of you, like he always was, and he was wearing the smallest nervous smile you had ever seen.  

And you were here in front of him, like you always were, and he could not entirely read the mixed emotions on your delicate face. 

You shuffled alongside your bed, stopping to shrug out of the heavy jacket you had on. “We should turn in early so we can be well-rested, in case we gotta fight tomorrow.”

Steve nodded in agreement but remained silent, hovering near the coffee table and monitors. Your back was facing him and he just watched you fumble with your boots and belt. It was like your back was on fire, bursting with fueled flames as you could literally feel his gaze boring into you. The overwhelming urge to simply snap and ask him what the hell he was looking at was strong, so in character, but you refrained. It was too intimate, too quiet, but before you could even ask him if he wanted the shower first, the warmth of his chest was near, inches away and calling. 

Your breath hitched, shoulders rising slightly and exactly what Steve needed to witness. It was awkward for him to just stand behind you with no actual intention of touching you first - no, he needed a proper signal. So Steve waited those few precious seconds more until you turned, sun-kissed by the California sun and hair no longer in tight curls, before he glanced down at your glossy lips. You followed his eyesight, all knowing in his intentions, and you glanced at his lips as well. 

A gesture of approval. 

Steve pulled you in, both hands settling on your cheeks, thumbs exploring the corners of your mouth. He watched them dance and how your mouth parted slightly in response. He looked back up, studying the small crease forming in between your eyebrows and the pinch of water filling the inside corners of your eyes.

His thumbs felt like a gentle sigh, a promise of a sweet caress in both the daytime and dead of night. Although all his focus was on you, his own features reacted to the moment. His lips were also parted, sweet breath with the scent of those classic tiramisu’s he had devoured, touching the tip of your nose and equally trembling lips. 

So goddamn intimate that you found yourself internally cursing those sitcoms Wanda had forced you to binge watch. Because the two love interests, albeit they had several months or years of growing tension, rushed into their first kiss for the sake of limited airtime. They didn’t prepare you for practically a ten-year build-up, a relationship that was both heavily work and friend related, the slowness of such a moment fans would most certainly be jumping out of their seats for. No, nothing could have prepared you for the warmth of Steve Rogers. 

Your Captain. 

You registered the soft feeling of his lips as they pressed against yours, overlapped only slightly. Eyes now fully closed in surprise and pleasure, you leaned into it more, hands placed on Steve’s rising chest. The squeeze of his hands cupping your cheeks caused your lips to pucker more, but you were relaxed in his desperate touch. He tilted his head a little to the left, your lips sliding against each other’s and noses bumping. Steve frowned in concentration, pouring whatever emotions he had felt throughout the last few years into this one kiss, and he knew he couldn’t possibly fully portray them. And almost as quickly as you thought about how sweet and innocent of a kiss this was, Steve’s tongue slowly peaked out from behind his teeth and greeted your bottom lip. 

His tongue traced over your bottom lip warmly, welcomed by yours as you followed his lead. God, you would always follow his lead. 

You tried to move in closer, but your elbows were already bent fully against him and his hips were only a few inches from your greedy ones. One tiny step forward and you would be completely flushed against him - but you chose to respect the distance Steve created. 

You let out a quiet whine, body shuddering as Steve applied more pressure. It was as if Steve had never heard such a sound - completely unexpected and causing him to pause momentarily. He leaned away a little, lips still barely kissing yours. He opened his eyes, gaze wandering from your flushed cheeks still squeezed between his palms and to your fluttering eyelids. The crease between his eyebrows deepened as he debated leaning forward again, to be selfish for once and to pass forth the trophy for ‘waiting too long’. But as you opened your eyes, no trace of regret or hate swimming inside your irises, Steve froze. 

You were his friend. His friend who teased him about the paint streaks across his forehead, who followed his lead no matter how ridiculous the order. 

He didn’t want you to inspect him further as well, so he shut his eyes and rested his forehead against yours. It was only then that he felt you settle back down from your tippy-toes. 

You gulped loudly, throat dry and lips instantly craving him again. “Steve…”

Steve let go of your face and dragged his hands lightly down your neck, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He turned his head slightly, his breath now kissing your cheek. Although your cheeks were red, the absence of Steve’s palms made them cold. 

He took a small step back, hands straining to stay on your skin as he reluctantly pulled them away. The absence of any warmth finally woke you from that intense daze and you frowned at Steve as he pulled away altogether. The instinct to reach out was there, and you cursed yourself for being so clingy. 

“Steve?” you called again, voice hoarse but light enough to pinch at Steve’s fast beating heart. 

He looked up and locked eyes with your confused ones. Oh, you’re gonna hate him for this. 

He gave you a small and kind smile, one you had seen plenty of times when he was actually enjoying your company. He backed up to the door, gaze never leaving yours even as he reached for the handle and key card. 

And he wanted to bring his hands back to your face to rub away that wrinkle between your furrowing eyebrows. But he simply opened the door and left you standing near the edge of your bed, flushed with a deep sense of longing and growing confusion. 

Steve already knew the amount of heat he would receive from the moment gossip of the kiss spread. Whether he was first to tell or you were. Bucky’s going to kick his ass, for sure, no doubt about it. No matter his bond with Bucky, it could never excuse leaving you alone to unravel this situation. You had this hold over Bucky, a soft mutual understanding of mental torture, so this inevitable ass kicking would be justified. Plus, after years of being rejected over and over, mostly in the forties, Bucky might just kick his ass for simply being a dumbass. 

But Steve felt calm, an added relaxation due to the whiskey cooling in his hand. If there was anything Steve was an expert in, it was overthinking. You two had that in common - were you overthinking while absentmindedly watching TV? Overthinking while rubbing shampoo into your scalp? Overthinking while angrily stomping your way down to the hotel bar to hand his ass back over to him?

He let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t see you burst through the doors. 

      “Anyone wanna start?”

Steve glanced around the circle of familiar and new faces. The group varied each week. Some people would try, share their anecdotes about lost loved ones, only to never show up for another session. Others often attended and never spoke, but they kept returning. Steve didn’t judge their choices - he couldn’t. No matter how many mornings he wanted to crawl back under the sheets and binge eat packaged foods, he never could. He had been at this job for two years. There was both pain and satisfaction in what he did. Sam would be doing this if he were here. 

And he had to do this for Sam. 

“My divorce was finalized yesterday.”

Steve looked over at the man who spoke first, a long-time member of this particular support group, and grimaced at his confession. The man couldn’t have been more than thirty, no wrinkles or gray hair, and he was ending a two-year marriage. 

“I’m sorry, Michael.”

The man, Michael, shrugged sadly, “We still love each other, man. But seeing your newborn disintegrate in your arms does something to your soul that’s just… we both knew we needed to move on. Even if it was from each other.”

Steve squeezed the small, red stress ball in his hand and tried to offer more condolences and a kind smile, but it came out rather painful. He opted to stay silent in case Michael wanted to continue. Instead, another member decided to comment. 

It went like this for almost an hour with Steve adding in his empathetic words of wisdom whenever he saw appropriate. It was good for everyone to share so openly, to carry the conversation with minimal involvement from Steve. Steve had shared snippets of his story with the group awhile back, careful to not mention the gruesome specifics. He had let out as much as he was able, not as much as he would have liked, but his main job was to facilitate. Besides, Steve went to confession every month to talk to someone - anyone - even if he wasn’t necessarily Catholic. But that’s just the thing - no one knew who they were anymore. 

The sound of a scraping chair leg caught everyone’s attention, and they all turned to the entrance in search of the disruption. You paused in your movements, face scrunched in embarrassment. Opening one eye, you mouthed a quick apology and rushed to carry the chair to the circle. 

“I’m sorry I’m late. Subway was a bitch,” you muttered, your embarrassed smile growing wider. 

For over a year, Steve had subtly urged you to attend one of these meetings. He was witness to your nightmares, your destructive solo missions that even Friday had no records of, and your sudden breakdown last week. You were casually jogging around the outdoor track when you suddenly stopped and fell to your knees, broken sobs seeming to shake the trees around you. You were crouched for a good minute before Steve had seen you wipe your eyes and continue your jog. As if nothing happened. 

To see you here, whether to share or to listen, prompted the proud and erratic beating of Steve’s heart. 

“It’s completely fine. Time’s almost up but we still got time for you.”

You sent Steve a funny smile, amused by his professional tone. “Uh, yeah! A friend convinced me to come. He was pretty persuasive.”

Steve blushed, head tilting downward. 

You introduced yourself and let the group know you were also an Avenger. No one seemed shocked and you were suddenly grateful for this mixture of people. 

Steve sat and listened, his nerves settling. 

“I’m gonna be honest with you all,” you started, thumbs dancing in your lap. “And I’m not sure how you’ll react.”

Steve sat up straight, eyebrows scrunching as he listened intently. 

You sighed, wetting your lips briefly. “The day before the snap, I was supposed to die.”

You wanted to avoid Steve’s gaze until the right moment. You continued, “I went on a mission to Mexico. Alone, which was completely against protocol but hey, we broke a lot more rules than that.”

Steve cleared his throat which earned a chorus of chuckles from the group. 

“And I was technically on house arrest but I found out a way to temporarily disable that ankle monitor,” you added, grinning from the laughs you were receiving. 

“Anyway, all my potential backup was nonexistent. I had friends on the run,” you paused, glancing at Steve with a somber expression. “And other friends literally fighting another battle on their home planet somewhere in space. So, I went alone.”

“While I was bleeding out from a bullet my own father ordered, Tony was already up in space. Loki was already dead.”

You hoped no one commented on Loki’s role in your life. He wasn’t exactly a nice figure to suddenly name drop in New York, but he was important in your grief. 

It was slightly unnerving to be on display here, but you weren’t exactly planning on returning. You just needed to rant. 

“I stitched myself up the best I could in that quinjet - which I almost crashed,” you muttered, smirking at Steve. “Sorry, Cap.”

“This is the first time I've heard you flew. You’re not even authorized to fly,” Steve declared, face scrunched in confusion and astonishment. 

“That’s not important,” you teased. “But the stitches were messy work. Horrible criss-crosses.”

Steve was in a tiny state of shock. He had known what happened to you, but to hear you talk so casually about the day before the world went to shit - it just made it more real. 

You had mentioned before that you never dreamed about the snap, but about everything leading up to it. 

“I woke up, betrayed yet again by my own blood, and Steve was suddenly there after two years. We were gonna fight an outside threat.”

You crossed your arms over your chest and huffed lightly, “I was still healing but I was on the battlefield. Stayed close to Nat most of the time.”

The group was heavily invested in your retelling. “I couldn’t fight him, obviously. But I did see him. I saw how he ripped that stone from my friend’s head.”

A few winces sounded around the circle. 

“I guess I feel immense guilt. Like, I could have done something more even though realistically, I couldn’t. Kinda feels like I sat back and watched my friend’s die.”

No one spoke, but it was obvious everyone had survivor’s guilt. 

“And now, I’m living with the pain of having all three of my best friends stripped from me while also celebrating the fact that the snap took my father.”

Shrugging, you gave your last sad smile to the group. “I feel guilty for what happened while also being grateful it took someone who deserved it.”

After a few seconds of silence, Steve spoke. “You’re here today to tell your story. No one has to agree or disagree with you. It’s your story. Tell it like it is.”

You chuckled, “I could easily bother Steve with this at the compound.” You smiled at the teenager clutching what looked like a stuffed animal in his lap. “But I had nothing else to do tonight. My only friends are gone.”

“You and Steve aren’t friends?”

This time it was Michael that spoke, his eyes bouncing from you to Steve. You turned to Steve for some kind of answer. Was it a yes? Were you more like coworkers than true friends? 

Steve’s eyes softened and his kind smile was back. 

You answered, “I guess. I did come here for him.”

Steve rolled his eyes and kept his light-hearted tone, “I’m really glad you did.” 

Steve backtracked, clearing his throat as he addressed the circle. “I’m really glad all of you did. Same time next week.”

You busied yourself with stacking the chairs and dusting off your pants. Once most of the group had left, Steve gathered his things and walked over to you. “You take the subway?”

Your head shot up at the sound of his voice, and you stacked the final chair high. “I did. You drive?”

Steve hummed in response, “Want a lift?”

You raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re not staying at your place tonight?”

“Nah, I haven’t seen Nat in a week. I should pay her a visit.”

He curled his jacket around your shoulders as you exited the building. You held it tightly, relishing in the comfort. The walk back to the car was quiet but not awkward. After such a heavy night, silence was most definitely needed. And just the comfort of being around someone you trusted added to the relaxation aspect of it all. 

Steve kicked a loose piece of gravel to the street. You watched him for a few seconds before you spoke, voice light and a puff of cold air escaping your lips. 

“Steve?” 

He turned to you and waited for you to continue speaking. 

“You know Sam would be so proud of you doing this, right?”

Steve watched the cold air leave his own lungs as well. He felt the weight of that statement pressing down on his shoulders as he looked up at the dark sky. “I know.”

     Steve knew he was utterly fucked, so fucked that any line that had been established was stepped over and kicked a thousand yards back. His mind was made up, he would not run, he would not succumb to some former mindset 2016 Steve would have fallen victim to. He was a new person, a completely different person than he was out of the ice and after the snap. He deserved to cross the line, he deserved whatever happiness was afforded to him - he deserved comfort in the arms of another after years of denying himself. 

He downed the rest of his drink with a loud gulp, mind made up, and headed back to your room. 

    It was best to just pretend it never happened… no? But did you want to pretend it never did? So many moments over the years where this could have happened, where either of you could have literally just said ‘fuck it’. As overthinking was a specialty, quite a useless skill, you thought about the countless fights you had. 

Red in the face, hands clenched until nails imprinted little crescents, absolutely seething at the mouth. Some of the things you would yell were vile, none at all honest but with the intent to cause pain for only a moment, and mumbled apologies later. You were literally enemies for these past two, long years. Enemies who had to be seated and scolded, tricked into accepting defeat and living as teammates once more. 

Perhaps one of those arguments could have been remedied by simply leaning in like you had tonight, by throwing each other against the wall, by pulling the roots of your hair as he tugged-

Nope. 

Nope. 

No matter how much tension you were now realizing you had for this man, tension that could literally be fucked out, wasn’t it too late to act on it? You couldn’t pinpoint the chance you maybe had and missed. 

Steve walked through the door in the middle of your rapid brainstorming. He just grinned sweetly and slipped into the bathroom. 

As simple as that. 

Now you couldn’t discern between the feelings of wanting to fight him or fuck him. Not being able to differentiate between them ignited a sour mood, and once he stepped out from the shower, you basically pushed him to the side to lock yourself in. 

Even the warm water hitting your body couldn’t alleviate the pressure of overthinking. You disregarded your hair tonight and instead just washed your body. As quick as you could jump back out and go to bed, the better.  

Sucking in a deep breath, you opened the door and shut off the bathroom light. Your eyes landed on Steve’s torso, shirtless and the only thing not covered by the white blanket. He hadn’t shaved his beard either, the length evident when he kissed you earlier. It felt wrong and right at the same time, a battle that you seriously did not want to deal with. To get involved with your mission partner was dangerous - not because Steve himself was dangerous, but because it was a giant distraction. A distraction that you couldn’t afford. 

But as he put down his book and lay it in his lap, looking up to look at you through hooded eyes, sleepy but alert, the ‘danger’ was nothing but enticing. 

You cleared your throat and padded down your pajama shorts absentmindedly, slinging your hair over one shoulder and focusing on plugging your charger into your phone. It was so silent besides your pitter-patter, and god, did Steve find that sound so relaxing, until you climbed into bed. Once your shuffling was done, the slight buzzing of Steve’s desk lamp drowned out all your other senses. And the longer it was heard, the more it sounded like a ticking clock. 

Steve shut the lamp off, the only light now illuminating your figure from outside. He studied your breathing, watching how every so often you would bring your hand up to scratch your cheek or move a stray hair. You looked so gentle, so inviting, so small. 

You were turned away from him and facing the wall, eyes shut as you listened to his movements. There was a small part of you that wanted to stay up all night talking, to lean on his shoulder and simply feel his warmth, to feel that beard against your cheek one more time. As quickly as those thoughts flashed through your mind did you scold yourself, that this was inappropriate and wrong and so dangerous. 

You felt a dip in your bed, heavy and unsure, a lift of your blankets, and it happened so quickly that you could have sworn you dreamt it. Steve wrapped his arm around you, his broad chest pressed tightly against your back and his lips attacked the skin just below your earlobe. Your breath hitched, eyes shot open, and your hands reached up to grip his wrist. Steve stilled. 

“Tell me to stop,” he breathed, lips hovering over your blushing skin and breath practically blistering. You could feel him now, hard and pulsing against your ass and ready to move. You felt dizzy, overcome with such a rush of desire that you couldn’t help but stiffen in his tight grasp. 

“Don’t,” you choked out, feeling his body become rigid and his breath begin to quicken. 

“I’m sorry I-” he began to move away from you, voice no longer a whisper and tainted with panic. 

“No,” you pulled back, tilting your head up to lock eyes with him. You brought your arm up to grasp the back of his head, and you tugged it back to your neck. “Don’t stop.”

Yeah, he was utterly fucked. “Fuck,” he groaned, continuing the attack on your neck. But he gained momentum now, arm squeezing you against him tighter, and voice cracking as he moaned your name. 

“Steve, please do something.”

Your hands found their way back to his arm, gripping it tightly as he fumbled with the waistband of your shorts. He played with it, teasing in his actions, almost as punishment for the years you tormented him with your attitude. His lips pressed harder now, finding each patch of available skin on your neck and flushed cheek, and Steve has never felt so aroused in his life. He wasn’t even inside you, but the quick gasps he heard from you did plenty in aiding the rush of blood from his head to his stiffening cock. 

“Tell me what you want. Please, tell me and I’ll give it to you,” he moaned, the slightest experimental role of the hips causing you to whimper. 

“Touch me,” you practically sobbed, rolling your hips back against him, eyes rolling to the back of your head as you felt all of him.  

And just like that, he gave you what you asked for. He gripped your hip and shoved you closer to him, hot and ready and pressed firmly against you. He rolled his hips into you, little whimpers of his own touching your sensitive ear. He quickened his pace and he found it hard to think straight when the scrunch of pleasure all over your face, making you look so willing, was all he was focused on. He focused on the way you bit your lip, a bite and then a gasp, and then you were back to biting as if you were trying to restrain any higher moan. And even with only the moonlight illuminating the room, he could see the sun-kissed color of your skin and the bruising he was causing. He kept his mouth on you as he rocked himself against you, indulging in a few more selfish seconds of pleasure before becoming his generous self. 

He dipped his hand into your shorts and found the sweet nub that so desperately needed attention. His brain almost short circuited, the feeling of his fingers finally sliding into your wet lips making his throat dry. He drew little but skilled circles, each twirl of his index and middle finger in unison with the grind of his hips. Your mouth fell open by such pleasure, and you braced yourself by placing your left palm on the mattress and pressed down, nails scratching the cotton fabric and alerting Steve of your excitement. You pushed back against him, timed and in perfect harmony. 

You knew the room wasn’t on fire, but even if it was you didn’t think to check. 

“Keep talking to me, Y/N. Keep talking to me,” Steve begged, each rotation of his hips gaining pressure. His eagerness prompted you to reach back up and grab him by the hair, yanking his head to your tilted one and smashing his lips against yours. Steve gasped at the pleasant sting, somewhat surprised with himself that he liked that form of roughness. But who was he to judge his kinks when the tip of your nose was turning redder, the blush in your cheeks mixed with barely visible silver droplets of sweat, and a purple outline was beginning to form on your plump upper lip? 

The kiss was sloppy, uncoordinated, but still beneficial in getting Steve to rut against you even harder. 

He could so easily pull your shorts down and enter you, and if he was anything like he felt, then you knew it would sting. But you craved that sting and stretch, the thought of him inside you causing another gush of desire to leak from you. Steve dipped his finger deeper into you only to accumulate your juices and spread them higher. He went back to rubbing expertly, actions gaining speed to match your whimpers. 

“Fuck, Steve,” you moaned louder, and you swore you felt tears forming in the corner of your eyes. You pressed back harder, his hand rubbing and pressing down on your stomach simultaneously. Your head felt cloudy, the pleasure coursing through your veins and to the very tips of your toes. “Oh, my fuck.”

Steve paused his fingers to trail his hand back up your stomach and to your breasts, pulling your tank top down to spill them. The sounds leaving your throat set him on fire, desire pulsing everywhere - his head, his heart, his aching cock that was pressed so closely against you that he could feel you vibrating. He pinched your nipple and rolled it, closing his eyes in response to your dirty purrs. “Let me make you come, doll.”

“Wasn’t that the point?” you quipped, ass tilting at an angle that caused Steve to choke. He growled from the attitude he couldn’t believe you still fucking had during a moment like this and kissed you roughly, both your broken moans molding into one. His hand returned to your shorts. 

“Do that again,” he begged, hitching his leg up to rest on yours. The angle allowed him to drive his hips even harder. You maneuvered to provide the same tilt, grinning at the pleasurable cries that left your Captain’s mouth. 

“I think I’m gonna make you come first,” you chuckled and took his bottom lip between your teeth. You pulled lightly, concentration still in the circle of your hips. He looked back down at you, determination and undeniable lust in his eyes. He thrust his aching cock against you, sliding himself over your ass. He did it hard but slow, the pressure applied giving the head of his cock such a sweet squeeze as he bumped it against the curve of your lumbar spine. 

The heavy duvet was abandoned now, cold air from the hotel air conditioner failing in cooling you down at all. You both had a thin sheet of sweat on your clothed bodies, goosebumps standing proudly, and lips all plump and red from your harsh kissing. 

Steve held you so close, so tight, and his fingers were drawing such rushed and tiny circles that you swore his wrist had to be cramping up. But the sound of both your whimpers started to mesh together, alerting you of such a sweet climax up ahead. 

“Steve, fuck, fuck, ohh,” you mewled, voice now high pitched and yes, it turned Steve on incredibly but it also fueled you. Your pornographic moans ignited an even deeper desire within you, just the true fact that Steve was touching you, Steve was getting you to make these sounds, Steve is actually hearing these sounds, Steve is making the same exact sounds. 

 “I-, please, come for me,” Steve pleaded, cock twitching with each thrust as he neared his end. “Make me come.”

His begging, his equally high voice, his skilled fingers rubbing rapidly and the slight pain from that, his breath burning your neck, were all too powerful, their combinations causing the fire in your core to explode and make you see white in a flash, black dots later clouding your vision. Your nails dug into his moving arm, crescents branded into him. You clenched around nothing, walls fluttering and thighs shaking as they pressed around his hand and fingers. 

The inappropriate squelching sound of your juices spreading as your thighs clenched around his cramping fingers, the slide so sensual and dirty, had Steve rutting against you one, two, three more times before he came in hard but long spurts. His mouth hung open, breath still fanning your neck, and his eyes were so tightly shut that the force was enough to strain them. 

“Oh, fuuuck, yes, yes!” Steve groaned, his body taking longer than usual to recover. His orgasm was powerful, more powerful than when he got himself off in the shower or in the comfort of his bed at night, and he knew it was because you clouded his senses. Of course, there was an added benefit to getting off with someone else, aiding that person in the same endeavor, but because it was you, it made the climax even more forceful, more intense. The whole situation was both unexpected and calculated, gentle and rough, and Steve’s heart was beating so fast by the thought of what just occurred that he found himself wanting to spill into you all night long, and to apologize for overstepping an unspoken boundary. 

You could feel the wetness of both your own release and Steve’s, head still cloudy from such a sharp orgasm. You hummed in satisfaction, reaching your arm over once again to lift his head up by his hair. He hissed at the pull now, his body all fucked out and satisfied. “You good?”

Steve gave you a lazy smile, chest heaving in unison with yours. “I’m okay. You?”

“I’m good.”

Steve scanned your face for any regret just in case your words held other meaning, but all he could see was your satisfied expression, cheeks still flushed pink, hair tangled, and pupils dilated. He hesitated for a second before he leaned down and connected your lips, molding his with yours slowly and chastely. You both sighed at the feeling, highs now lowering and the coldness from the air conditioner causing a different set of goosebumps to appear. Steve pulled away, giving you one last peck as if testing the waters, and rested his forehead against yours. You both relished your post-orgasm bliss for a few silent minutes before cleaning up. 

You shared playful shoves as you cleaned up. It was almost innocent, a huge contrast to the sinful activities you two had just committed, but there was a genuine feeling of understanding in the room. Your heart clenched at the simple sight of Steve washing his hands, eyes meeting his in the mirror, a soft look in his that startled you. 

You gave him a smile so as to not alert him of your reaction, and exited the bathroom to climb back into bed. You drew the heavy duvet back over your body and cuddled in it deeply, chin hidden underneath and back facing Steve’s bed. It was a few more minutes before Steve came back into the room, shutting the light off, and looking at your resting form. He wanted to climb back in with you and hold you innocently, to have the feeling of your warm back against his broad chest, gentle exhales tickling the arm that would wrap around you. But he just looked back and forth from your bed and his, and he decided to not push the boundary further. He hesitated with this decision, but climbed into his own bed, the feeling of his cold sheets making him immediately regret it. He shuffled silently, his body facing yours. 

You wanted to lay beside him too. But whether you were making a smart decision or an absurd, cowardly one, one thing was certain: you could no longer ignore the stacking of such emotions you had for this man. 

It almost angered you, how much you denied yourself of even a simple crush for literally ten years, and it made you mad at Steve, too. Because if he hadn’t pushed you away, then maybe you could have accepted this sooner. 

~

TAGLIST: @dumb-ass-writer @justab-eautifulmess @supraveng @mycosmicparadise @missnighttigress​

[be-side-my-self]

Okay, first of all I did the math wrong! Kaylee is only four years younger than Caleb, not five. Glad no one pointed it out XDD. I wasn't alone stupid. We're all stupid here. I changed it in the original posting but I want to add to this reblog chain because I like to keep everything in one place... but yeah that effectively would make Caleb 26 and Kaylee 22. But...

@blookitty I heard that the developers did Caleb's birth date math wrong and he's actually 10 years younger. So 16 in the game. Also, the end game screenshots of Silas as a human show him as at least 18 because he's TALL. Laura and Max escaped the afternoon of the full moon so weren't running around for long. Finally, growing up camping doesn't mean you understand how fast hay burns.

(If you still remember where you heard that Caleb was supposed to be 10 years younger feel free to share! if not that is fine too)

That is interesting because that would make Caleb younger than Kaylee which would explain the baby face. But then again it makes me wonder why Chris said that Caleb is working at the scrapyard in off season instead of going to school and that Kaylee still trying to figure out what she is doing, having her whole life in front of her.

Caleb being 16 in 2021 would make his birth year 2005 and we would assume that Amelia died that year instead of 1999, the year Kaylee was born. But that would also mean he would have been 9 years old (to a 15 year old Kaylee) when he started that fire so Kaylee was rescuing Silas.

And that... is... that would paint Kaylee even worse! Little nine year old brother, please start a fire...

Anyway... what would make this whole idea even more interesting is that Kaylee keeping her birthday (1999), Amelia and Chris would have been 26 when they got her. They would have been 32 when they got Caleb, which is both a better age to have children than 22 (canon birth of Caleb) and 26...

(in that case Amelia would have been the same age to have Caleb as Constance was when she got Travis! 22 years old!)

But also if Kaylee is the older one it would explain why Travis feels closer to her, being the oldest one himself and her having a six year gap to her little brother, compared to Travis and the eight year gap to Chris instead of her being the favorite because she is the only girl and the youngest.

But this is all guesswork and what if's there is still the fact that we have the birthdates on the family tree so that is what I am going to assume is canon. But again, everyone can look at it and take the hints the way they want (and fanfic AUs are doing the rest lol).

It would also be interesting if both Caleb and Kaylee were supposed to be like 5 years younger, which would make them 21 (*2000) and 17 (*2004) but also 15 and 11 when they started the fire which is more believable and would also support the photo of them from them visiting the carnival / Harum Scarum.

But in all cases I stay at my point that they should have known about the dangers of fire, even if not the special danger of a hayfire but a fire close to humans and in the middle of the woods. And I even more stay at my point that they should have asked their father or uncle for help!

But I know that is neither here nor there because otherwise we wouldn't have a game xD

Silas... he could be 18 but one theory I really like is the idea of Werewolf blood not only curing injury and basically bring you back from the dead but also keeping you young.

Which would explain why Jed, Travis and Bobby are very agile and strong despite their ages... (well Bobby is only 45 but it could maybe explain parts of his very strong physique too?) because they use werewolf blood on themselves regularly and certainly consume some by mistake... (I think it was Cellar who first had that idea!)

What I want to say is even though Silas might look 18 years old he could still be way older. The old poster from his cage looks like it's from the 80s... so he could be easily way in his 30 close to 40.

Then again, it would be weird if Kaylee would want to rescue a supposedly adult instead of a kid...

Honestly... no matter how we look at it... it does not really make sense ... or I just can't see it right now.

@alicestrange98 think 1999 and 1995 are really when Kaylee and Caleb were born. Caleb most likely had a baby face. I know several men who are twice as old as Caleb and sometimes I can also call them stupid boys. So I do believe that at 20 Caleb was a "stupid kid".

I hadn't planned on reblogging this post once more but since I do I can comment anyway.

This is a valid point! xD

Also Caleb being at least for 6 years a werewolf could also cause some serious baby-face.

I think I got blocked so I will now talk about Silas and post in his tag and you all have to suffer... or you like what I'm going to write.

The white wolf really is such a mysterie which is a pity. Whe know literally nothing but his name and what he kind of looks like.

All we know about him are from very untrustworthy sources.

One is Travis who is telling us what Kaylee told him.

Travis assumes that Eliza is not Silas' real mother. But we don't know that. Eliza looks really old so how likely is it? Well, it can still be true that Eliza is indeed Silas mother since the game is taking place in a world where werewolves, witches and ghosts are real.

But all of this just raises more question and we get literally no answers.

Like how old was/is Silas?

Travis says Kaylee wanted to help the child. this means that Silas was in his human form, right? And Travis also says that even six years later there are sightings of a feral albino child along the coast. Of course if Silas was something like 6 years old when Harum Scarum got destroyed, he could be 12 when he was finally "caught".

That again raises the question if no one ever tried to find him and bring him inside? A naked child in the woods that was seen multiple times?

Anyway let us look at the poster on the cage:

compared to the new flyer, we find all the time, the one from six years ago:

In the first one Eliza looks a lot younger. Of course that could have been the artist of the poster deciding to just pretty her up. But if you look at the design, the first ones looks older... like it could be from decades ago.

But Silas was already a part of the show then. So... how old is Silas really? Is he Elizas son? She sure seems to think so.

"Mommy is coming Silas!"

(Sorry the screenshots I have are bad)

Eliza sees Silas as her son. Why did she put him in a cage? Maybe it wasn't as bad as Kaylee thought it was? It might have been good enough that people thought it is just an act? The cage itself is rather big... Maybe peope thought the feral thing was also just an act?

That would be what I might assume... children who grow up in a circus often help out with the acts.

Either way, Eliza loved Silas enought to stay in the real world as a ghost and to try to kill off a whole family to protect him (and maybe bring him snacks/campers into the woods, who knows).

Anyway talking about age, another thing is that both Kaylee and Caleb are (if we believe the family tree) 21 (*1999) and 26 (*1995)

Not exactly teenagers, even though Chris titles them as such. The developers are just not exact with the ages and all characters are unreliable narrators.

Also Caleb was 20 when he started the fire to help his 15 year old sister to free a child. Instead of asking their cop-uncle to help?

All of this just seems weird. Caleb should have known better. He was already an adult who grew up in the woods and at camp. He should know about the dangers of fire.

Even if they were both only 10 years old they should have known better...

Another thing is that we have to assume is, that Silas was in his human form when he got "rescued". And still he bit Caleb. He is multiple times described as feral (again by Travis who is not a reliable source) but it might still be true.

The fact alone that Silas bit Caleb while probably being human is an indicator for Silas actually being feral. That raises the question of why was Silas like that? Was he like that from the beginning? Or was he just not raised adequately? OR if he really is older than he looks did he become more feral with time?

All of those are valid options.

Another thing that always strikes me as weird is Kaylees letter. The first time I heard it, it sounded like she is not sorry about what happened. It sounds like she is only sorry about how it turned out.

Though, many people died she does not sound like she feels any regret... maybe werewolves really become more feral with time?

Gammy, How long we gonna drag this shit out? I know family is the most important thing, but I wanna know what's outside the forest, outside this damn house and camp, and I sure as hell know that ain't about to happen 'cos of who we are. Maybe we can explain what's goin' on. Fuckin' show people. Then they'll know we got no control over it. I know you just tryin' to protect us, but one day you won't be here no more and right now it feels like we stuck in a dark hole. I can't sleep Gammy. Or if I do I dream about that fuckin' fire. We were just dumbass kids back then. I wish it never happened. Love, K xoxo

Also Kaylee writes that they were just dumbass kids, which might be true for her but not for her brother (again, 15 and 20).

BUT THEN we have this photo:

We don't know when it was made but it could be from six years ago? But Caleb does not look 5 years older than Kaylee... all of this is just one big mysterie.

Anyway I wish we would have learned more about Silas because the things we do learn are not really anything to go with... all we can do is take those and put our own preferred headcanons around them.

[mayybirds]

first of all, i love your fic. the galaxy brain is really jumping out. i already left a comment but i wanted to ask, and it's totally fine if you don't answer, what the ages of the characters are in your fic. namely ethan, claire and sherry. it's been a longgg time since i played the early re games and i really don't care if you change the ages especially since the timeline is kind of confusing. rn in my head ethan is two years older than sherry and claire is five years older than ethan? and i think he's supposed to be something like 32 in re7? another testament to how beloved your fic is, it literally has me doing math. also i wrote about this already but: i love your ocs and i like the prevalence of like... Parenthood/found family (both the choosing of family and the idea of hurting your family) as a theme in the fic so far and including claire and sherry in that makes so much sense. racoon city survivor ethan?? eveline adoption arc?? amazing, spectacular, iconic. knowing you're going to get into the events of village on top of it all just adds to the cake i'm so excited. i can't wait for what you have planned!

aaaa Thank you!! Sorry if I haven't responded to your AO3 comment yet, I'm being very slow about it... (´･o･`)

As for ages, you're more or less correct! The canon timeline is a mess, but I'm doing my best to vaguely adhere to what's on the wiki, at least (though I'm more following the RE2 remake on Claire & Sherry than the original and I have...no clue if they contradict each other tbh?)

Ethan was born in 1984 according to the wiki, making him 13-14 during the events of Raccoon City. I went with 14 in the fic. RE7 is set 19 years later, in 2017, in July, while Raccoon City happened in Sept-Oct. 1984. This makes Ethan either already 33, or 32 going on 33, depending on if his birthday is before or after July. Canon won't give me that so until I figure out a birthday my honest answer is just ~32-33.

I'm also basing Sherry and Claire off a loose use of the wiki, so... Sherry was born in 1986, making her 11-12 during the events of Raccoon City, and roughly two years younger than Ethan. Claire was born in '79, and was 18-19 during Raccoon City. I personally prefer 19 for Claire, so yeah--you got all your math correct! ☆ヾ(´▽｀)ﾉ

I'd say as of current events in the fic--aka the immediate aftermath of RE7--I see Sherry as ~30 and Claire as around ~38, however birthdays fall to make that work haha...

I'm super glad you're enjoying the OCs (didn't mean to get as attached to them as I did, but here we are...) and the found family themes! I love writing found family in general, and especially spontaneous & unconventional parent & child found family dynamics. That definitely motivated my decision to include Claire and Sherry--especially as Claire not keeping custody of Sherry in canon made me very grumpy. I felt like among major RE characters, especially after how much Claire goes through to help Sherry even after she's infected, Claire would be the most likely to be sympathetic to Ethan & Eveline's situation in this fic.

[scatterpatter]

Corren - 1 through 100 - You did this to yourself.

FUCK YOU *UN-IRONICS YOUR ASK*

UNDER THE FUCKING CUT

1. What do they smell like?

Bad. Do you think their party is able to regularly take showers? I thinketh the fuck not. ... Pine and old books when he can self care tho.

2. What is their voice like?

Listen I know Corren, being taller, would be more likely to have a deeper register but you'll tear "tenor Corren" out of my cold dead hands

3. What is their biggest motivator?

Spite.

4. What is their most embarrassing memory?

When he first met his BFF Alondra, he was so antisocial and good at ignoring people that she actually got the impression he might have been hard of hearing. She never let him live that down. (one day I'll finish this fic i promise)

5. How do they deal with/react to pain?

"I will keep all of my pain in here, and one day I'll die." ... Okay but listen he's squishy so he takes like one hit and is bloodied up. Someone get him a healer. Pls.

6. What do they like to wear?

He likes his cloak. Its weighty and soft(well. WAS soft. got a bit of wear and tear these days.) and like. Who doesnt love cloaks.

7. Which of their relationships have impacted them most positively?

Ohhhhh fuuuccck this one's tough. I might have to go with Torvid honestly. While the entire party has had a positive impact on him(and trust me I was this close to picking Alistair), Torvid's been more of the one to call him out on his bullshit and to, oh I don't know, talk about your emotions? Ever??? Yknow BEFORE they become too much to handle and he absolutely breaks down???

8. What’s the weirdest thing they’ve ever eaten?

Alistair's cooking.

9. Describe the way that they sleep.

Good luck finding him NOT cuddled up with at least one dog. Tbh he just enjoys cuddles in general.

10. What is their favorite food/kind of food?

FUCKIN. GIVE HIM A GOOD STEAK. THIS BOY IS MOSTLY CARNIVORISTIC.

11. What do they feel most insecure about?

As tempted as I am to say "His cooking", it's actually his singing.

12. How do they like to dress?

"Comfort over flashiness tbh. I gotta go ADVENTURING in whatever I wear after all."

"... Also don't you DARE perceive me as cishet."

13. How do they react to feelings of guilt?

Call him a genie because he will BOTTLE THAT SHIT UP.

14. How do they react to/deal with betrayal?

Denial :D

15. What is their greatest achievement?

Shrike: Killing his dad

Me: NOOOOOO

EDIT: WAIT THIS WAS ANSWERED IN Q99 WHAT THE HECK

16. What are they like when they’ve gotten too little sleep?

Somehow more of a dick than usual. Snappy and cranky and just. Mrehhh.

17. What are they like when they’re drunk?

Doesn't get drunk often, but when he does I imagine he's actually giggly and a little clingy. It's cute :)

18. What kind of music do they enjoy?

*Opens my Corren playlist* Oh yeah. It's either full edgy alt rock or indie alt "depressed millenial" tracks.

19. Are they right or left handed?

FFFuuhhhhck uhhhh well

Looking over my old art I can't seem to pick a dominant hand(I've even drawn him handling his sniper with either hand???????????) so like oops guess he's ambidextrous.

20. Fears?

The dark, the ocean, dying alone and forgotten, his friends losing their trust of him

21. Favorite kind of weather?

Rain!!!! Especially cool rain like what people often get in fall months.

22. Favorite color?

Indigo!!!

23. Do they collect anything?

Books :3

24. Do they prefer either hot or cold weather more?

Cold weather by far.

25. What is their eye color?

Electric blue!

26. What is their race/ethnicity?

Well his race is a homebrew race known as Marelienth. Uhhh ethnicity? Idk he's from a mountain town way up north *shrugs*

In human aus I imagine him as half-Mongolian half-Norwegian so ayee

27. Hair color?

Black!

28. Are they happy where they are currently?

No :D He loves adventuring with his party don't get me wrong but he still has a lot of trauma to unpack. ... Also he was just possibly broken up with soooo. :/

29. Are they a morning person?

NOPE.

30. Sunrise or sunset?

*motions to above question* Sunset.

31. Are they more messy or more organized?

More organized, actually!

32. Pet peeves?

*unravels a list. It's all shit the party has done. Mostly Alistair.*

33. Do they own any objects of significant personal importance?

HOOUSIDSJFK- HE- Y-YEAH HE SURE DOES

His amethyst pendant used to belong to his brother, Julian, and he gave it to Corren right before they were separated so you BET it's sentimental as shit and he wears it daily.

34. Least favorite food?

Mecha's usually a great cook but one time trolled him with some absurdly spicy curry he couldn't handle and he's never forgiven them.

35. Least favorite color?

Hmmm. Maybe... yellow?

36. Least favorite smell?

He spent a year with his party in a damp cave and no showers, so uh. I'll give you a guess.

37. When was the last time they cried?

Literally last night in our game's timeline :D Full breakdown and everything!

38. Were they with anybody the last time they cried?

Torvid :D He was there to comfort

39. Tell us about one of the times they got injured?

One time they were in combat and Corren took a few hits and was down to about 2hp or so. He had a temporary level thanks to Kieran, which boosted his HP a little bit. When he teleported them to a safe town, though, well... Torvid was waiting for them so that's cool. But uh. Yeah that temporary level wore off then and there, dropping Corn Cob to exactly 0hp and he just- flopped down face first in the snow and started dying then and there KJNDKLFNSLKN

40. Do they have any scars?

:)

Do you want to talk about the scar over his eye from a fight he got in with his dad or like. The scars on his limbs from the time he was literally experimented on.

41. Do they struggle with any mental health issues?

:)

Undiagnosed+Untreated Anxiety, Depression, DPDR, PTSD, just to name a few

42. Do they have any bad habits?

Running away from his problems, definitely.

43. Why might someone dislike them?

He's a pretentious nerd. He can be a dick if he doesn't care about you.

44. Why might someone love them?

He's an adorable nerd! He's a hopeless romantic and oddly enough an optimist. He's passionate and driven too!

45. Do they believe in ghosts?

Well ghosts are like- a canon proven thing in his world sooo. Yeah.

46. Is there anyone they would trust with their lives?

His party. Well- most in his party.

47. Are they romantically interested in anyone?

Nethyl :)

48. Are they dating/married to anyone?

He's dating Nethyl and they're in a happy and healthy relationship :) *politely ignores canon*

49. Do they like surprises?

NO >:(

50. When is their birthday?

Heroya 5th! I think. I don't wanna check, assume it's this.

51. How do they usually celebrate their birthday?

"You guys celebrate your watchdays?"

Jokes aside, he mainly just treats himself to a nice dinner and a new book or something :)

52. Do they have any family?

Two older siblings: Julian and Mila. His parents are Andreas and Fanya!

53. Are they close to their family?

... *Coughs*. He was close with his siblings, but Mila died and he hasn't seen Julian in 30 years. Was close with his dad but last time they saw each other, they fought and Corren might have killed him so. ... Yeah. :/

54. What is their MBTI type?

FUCK uh. I... N... T... J? INTJ. Sure.

55. What is their zodiac sign?

In Sekrezia: The eagle

In our world: Uhhh. Idk. Capricorn????

56. What Hogwarts House would they be in?

Uhhh. Ravenclaw??? I know almost nothing about HP :/

57. What D&D alignment are they?

THIS ONE'S EASY- lawful neutral!

58. Do they ever have nightmares? If so, what about?

:)

Used to have typical nightmares, nothing special. Nowadays though he often dreams of being underwater. Not drowning, though. It's... weird. He doesn't like those.

59. What are their views on death?

He's a necromancer lol.

Death is inevitable, though. It's a necessary part of life. Death is not an entire loss, though. One lives on in the memories others carry of them, in the love they hold in their hearts. Death is complicated, but that's okay.

60. What is something that they’re sure to laugh at?

Alistair :)

61. When bored, how do they pass time?

Dog time :)

62. Do they enjoy being outside?

... Ehhhhhh?

63. Do they have an accent?

Technically??? It's an accent from where he's from but like. I just barely tweak my own voice when I rp him so? Damn Corren I'm sorry you've been cursed with east coast dialect.

64. Upon seeing a slice of chocolate cake, what is their first reaction?

"Damn who's the rich bastard here?" (cake is kinda a delicacy in their world- not like elites only but not NEARLY as common as it is here)

65. If they knew they were going to die, what would they do/say?

Reassurance mode to whomever he's with. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm okay. Remember what I told you, death is a natural part of life, yeah? I don't have any regrets, I'm okay... Just. Thanks. For giving me a chance. Thank you. Thank you."

66. How do they feel about sex?

I SWEAR he's allosexual. I'm just bad at writing allosexuals.

67. What is their sexuality?

He doesn't really know how to pin it down, so he just calls himself "queer". Definitely not straight, that's all he knows.

68. Do they become squeamish at the sight of blood?

AHAHA no. He's hella desensitized

69. Is there anything that they find really gross?

Skulking cyst. Look it up at your own volition. It's. NO.

70. Which TV Trope(s) best describes them?

It's 12:21 in the morning and I'm NOT about to scroll through a bunch of tv tropes just. just. NERD stereotype.

71. Do they enjoy helping people?

Yyyyes? Only really if it's the people he cares about.

72. Are they allergic to anything?

Bullshit.

73. Do they have a pet?

WINGTHARA!! HIS SKELE-DOG!!!

74. Are they quick to anger? What are they like when they loose their temper?

Oh yeah he's all bark and no bite. He usually just throws a little fit and/or yells.

75. How patient are they?

More than he should be :/

76. Are they good at cooking?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

77. Favorite insult? Do they insult people often?

Oh yes he insults the others all the time. No particular favorite, he likes so spice it up.

78. How do they act when they’re particularly happy?

Stim. Stim. Stim. His eyes get all sparkly and he. He.

79. What do they do when they learn about other people’s fears?

He will do everything in his power to assure they won't ever have to deal with their fears alone- You afraid of spiders? It's his job to get the spiders from now on so you won't have to deal with them.

80. Are they trustworthy?

Oh yeah. He's like Rapunzel- doesn't break promises.

81. Do they try to hide their emotions? Are they good at it?

Oh yes he tries to hide it. And yes, he's awful at it.

82. Do they exercise regularly?

Yes and no? No like- exercise regimen, but the amount of travelling and fighting they do is just- a workout in and of itself

83. Are they comfortable with the way they look?

Yeah! He's cute and he knows it baybie!!!

84. What are some physical features that they find attractive on people?

He,,, he likes someone who's physically stong,,, Muscles are,,, aaaaa >///>

85. What kind of personalities do they find attractive?

Someone he can nerd out with :)

86. Do they like sweet foods?

Impartial to it. He won't turn sweets away but he's not crazy about them either.

87. What is their age?

43, the equivalent of- I think someone in their mid 30s?

88. Are they tall or short or somewhere in between?

He's 6'8" :) Which is actually normal for his race

89. Do they wear glasses or contacts?

Sometimes! I like to think he has reading glasses or something like that.

90. Do they consider themselves attractive?

HE'S CUTE AND HE KNOWS IT.

91. What is their sense of humor like?

Julian tainted his sense of humor and now he finds the most dumb shit hilarious. Think very millenial/GenZ humor like "I wish I was Jared, 19"

92. What mood are they most often in?

"I don't get paid enough for this" or Fear.jpg

93. What kinds of things anger them?

People who don't keep their FUCKING WORD. Oh and like. Yknow. Half the shit his party does.

94. Outlook on life?

Again he's??? Oddly an optimist? In the "Things will get better and that is a fucking THREAT" way, but still optimist!

95. What kind of things make them sad/depressed?

Talk about his family :) Or the fact that his boyfriend might want him dead :)

96. What is their greatest weakness?

He's squishy as fuck. He goes down easy.

97. What is their greatest strength?

He's extremely intelligent and great with magic and his sniper!

98. Something that they regret?

Not doing more to stop his brother when he tried to resurrect their sister

99. Biggest accomplishment?

Either convincing an entire town his name is Torren or accidentally convincing some very OP people that he's secretly a dragon.

100. Create your own!

FUCK YOU I SPENT LIKE 2 HOURS ON THIS. NO PROOFREAD. IVE ALREADY DESIGNED CORREN'S AND NETHYL'S HYPOTHETICAL KIDS. ANYWAYS THEY'RE TWIN IRINAGA AND I'VE NAMED THEM AFTER THE DNDADS TWINS: THEIR NAMES ARE LARK AND SPARROW.

[brooklynisher]

Gonna counter you here! Not because I actually disagree with you and much less because I know what I’m doing, but because I’m not gonna get another excuse to talk about this so

[x]

First, Cornelius: Yay

Second, Daisy and Tristan: Now this one I wouldn’t know the chances of being canon, in fact, this is probably entirely headcanon, but I was thinking a lot about how steambots age during my play-through. It was Leeway and Daisy’s talk about frames that made me think they don’t age normally. Instead, what they do is wait until they are a certain age range, and are given a body frame based on this. I’m not sure how they convince people to get old but there’s gotta be some sort of honor attached to it right? Perhaps it’s just looked down upon to refuse to change your frame. Could totally make a dystopian sci-fi movie based on a bunch of steambots who refused to age. I feel like something like that could help establish the importance of aging but I DIGRESS! Essentially I imagine, there’s more frames as they are younger, less when they are older. So newborn (0, no frame, whatever that means), infant (0-1), toddler (1-3), child (4-9), tween (10-12), teen (13-17), young adult (18-32), adult (33-54), elder (55+) Don’t ask me about numbers, I’m just throwing stuff out there. But essentially, with this idea, they don’t grow as naturally. As in it might not be subtle at all. Like aging in The Sims 4, they just change shape drastically. Must make birthdays pretty special if you were to assume this was canon ;P “Okay honey! Let’s go pick out parts for your new frame!” Or however it is they go clothes shopping

Third, Poe: Yay

Fourth, Beacon: Probably a good point to mention that Tristan and Daisy were the only ones I really gave a lengthy explanation to so expect these ones to be shorter. But hey, if you see the world as being mostly Navy run, I wouldn’t doubt that the colleges kind of sucked. Have you seen how stupid the Navy can get, it’s kind of funny. These guys do NOT care about doing things the right way. They just do it how they want to. Only real example of this is Wesley’s school. Nothing really suggests other schools were navy run, especially because his school specifically was focused on fighting, but the Navy seems corrupt enough to do something like that. I’m sure it would’ve been brought up more if this was canon but shhhshshhsh.

Fifth, Chimney: Okay! I have nothing to add to this except that I feel like she’s been this way quite some time. Maybe I see college more as a way of letting out all her excitement but yeah. Checks out!

Sixth, Wesley and Leeway: I feel like I should have more on them considering how fixated I am on these two, but I don’t! (<- Liar apparently, girl what is this, this is longer than the first one) All I can assume is that Wesley appears older than he really is thanks to war aging him. I do feel he’s incredibly strong, healthy, powerful, and ambitious for a war veteran which does make me feel he can’t be that old. You never hear him complain about his age or his frame which I suppose could be discipline, but could be because he’s just not that old. Idk, Wesley being in war sort of explains everything about him, but also creates some conflicting points. Now, I’ve got too many headcanons attached to them knowing each other at a young ages. One of them involves them knowing each other since they were children which I originally thought, there’s no way they go back that far, but I liked the concept so much that now I see it and it’s like whagag. They’ve got to have a well established relationship though considering that before endgame, Wesley’s the only one Leeway doesn’t refer to in a professional manner, that is, by last name. Yeah it could be more actions>time, but I feel like it’s had to be quite a bit of time considering how “good friend” and “my friend” could’ve made perfect sense in place of “old friend”. Maybe word choice doesn’t matter, maybe it does. Anyway, I like to think they knew each other at a young age, went their own paths, Wesley realized he hated the path he was going on (Navy), and decided to join Leeway’s path for headcanony reasons oooo 🌀🌀🌀 That’s at least how I would do that if I wanted to explain why it is Leeway doesn’t know some things about his friend’s experience. Oh god I just remembered Wesley doesn’t LIKE to talk about the war and actively chose not to talk to Leeway about it until way later. That makes me think Leeway knew him at least WHEN he went to war, because that’s how he knows he went to war in the first place despite not knowing any details. I GUESS Wesley could’ve mentioned it offhandedly too butttt

And that thing about the Sola x Crowbar shipping was based on one message I got from my friend, my brother, and one other person, I forgot who.

There’s them, Wesway, Piperbane was it called? And then a secret fourth one that I’m gatekeeping for now. I’ll show you guys laterr

Age headcanons for the steambots Youngest to oldest Let's go

Below are my reasonings. There will be character specific spoilers!

Tristan and Daisy are well established to be kids kind of. The way they're talked to and talked about suggest that they are children. Especially because they talk about their childhoods like it was just a year ago. Tristan is still too young to understand how traumatic his childhood was. Daisy is similar but I think she at least sort of acknowledges that her childhood wasn't the best.

Poe and Beacon just seem younger to me. Poe I feel is very knowing for her age, but I think that's due to being raised to scam people. She probably had to grow up faster than most to be able to see everything as a money making opportunity. And Beacon, well, Beacon seems college student age. I don't remember where they were exactly, but it involved rocket-science level machinery and I can't think of many reasons they'd be there if not college. College deals with those sorts of stuff kind of.

Chimney seems like she graduated college not too long ago. Her affinity for roughhousing and drinking just gives off the vibe of a college party. I mean, where else would she find a group of friends like that?

Quincy and Wesley were hard to decide on. All the dialogue I'm getting from Leeway tells me he is a young adult. He's definitely AN adult, but he's not too old considering how new he is with certain things and the amount of times he said "I wasn't even assembled back then!" He probably would've been younger if it wasn't for Wesley. They're established to be "Old friends" which obviously they knew each other in their younger years. And because it's rather uncommon for kids or teenagers to be friends with people noticeably older than them, I figured they'd have to be in the same age range. Wesley is why they're not younger. Considering that he's been in war, has been in higher education, was there with Leeway both when the Submarine was lost AND found(In fact, he found it), I figured, he should probably have some time to do all that. 27 and 29 isn't that old anyway. Sure, I think they still qualify as young adults.

Sola and Crowbar, I had no idea for Sola, but Crowbar seems to be just a smidgen older considering how many how many crews she's been on. Not too much older because she's quite the fickle. Sola was originally going to be the same age as Leeway bc I can see some nerdy 27 year old working at an aquarium or something, but then I remembered there are like 3 people that ship her with Crowbar, and that's a lot considering the number of ships in this fandom, so I didn't want their age gap to be too crazy even if it's technically not that bad bc they're both over 25 years old.

Judy and Cornelius are both well established to be old. If the gray hair doesn't give it away, then it's the talk about their life experiences. Cornelius apparently used to be a super terrible guy, and he thinks he'll need to spend a lot of time apologizing for this. Also I think he used to serve for the Royalists in SWH?? maybe not I'm not sure. Either way, he's done a lot in his lifetime, and apparently most of it wasn't good. IIRC I don't think he feels redeemed even after defeating the Kraken. And Judy talks about her past experiences all the time. She already was something of a hero before she joined the crew and all her dialogue suggests she's super experienced so I'm giving her time to do all that.

[itscookieoverlordtoyou]

40 Questions — Meme for Fic Writers

Don’t you sometimes see those ask games and wish you could just fkg do them all? On this sunny Saturday, we make our dreams reality lolol

1.  Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Short fic, I usually get a small scene I want written so I write around it, plus I love short stories with interesting punchline.

2.  Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Probably, I don’t know them all ^^’

3.  Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Writing about stuff that disgust me I guess.

4.  How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

Like 5-6? I want to write about a restaurant but set in a world where people have powers I think the combo could be very funny. The main character has the power of insight, the plonge is a giant pool where you swim around cleaning. Backstories of characters with shitty and amazing powers and how they ended up here. Rival to lover character that has the power to see into the future.

5. Share one of your strengths.

Dialogues, subversion, and humor; classmates often said I have a touch to spin a sad story into something positive/happier.

6.  Share one of your weaknesses?

I get tired when I describe something for longer than 4 sentences.

7.  Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“In what kind of trouble have we walked right into?”, I ask my companions as they’re idly fixing their attire. Together, we’ve face many perils and this mission ranks among one of the most dangerous. Yet, the others had been…how should I say it…professional! Rescuing kidnapped princesses, vanquishing terrifying monsters, quests to restore mythical artifacts, save nations from insidious plots. Oddly enough, “Does this dress make me look fat?”, is not the answer I’m looking for.

Ribbon in my hair is the first time I wrote about my knights, I first dreamt about them when I as 18, my boyfriend at the time called my idea stupid and my world building pointless so I only started writing about them when I was 21. Now I write about them a little bit every year :)

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Do you really want your last words to be complaints?”

“I die as I lived.”

“Will we become a fruit tree?”

“I don’t think so, it’s never been the case for my ancestors.”

“I’d love it if we could turn into a banana tree.”

“I’m not from the southern regions, plus I like apples more.”

“Just imagine, our fruits could have been banana flambée”

This death scene was a big finale to a story I wrote for a class in Uni, a story of war between clan of forest and volcano people, of the supposedly brutal death of a Goddess, of a mysterious apple tree whose fruit give vision of the past. I should revisit it.

9.  Which fic as been the hardest to write?

My analysis on D’Artagnan and the figure of the hero. Granted it’s an essay for school but I deeply loved it. I was too afraid to write or ask for help from the professor in charge of me (which made our relationship tense ^^’) but when I did, it was beautiful and I was very proud got 89% :D

10.  Which fic has been the easiest to write?

A play called Adelaide where an old couple reads their old fairytale book about a Prince on a quest to save a Princess. They bicker about the other misreading the story but we finally get to the part where the Prince tosses the princess apart to get a better view of the dragon of which he falls instantly in love. The book is actually their wedding album.

11.  Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

It’s one of my passions, but it’s not something I think I could live on so I delegated it to my hobby.

12.  Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

The wedding scene in Shrek 2, my mind was blown when I saw it in theaters and when I need inspiration to write, I rewatch it.

13.  What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Presentation is important. If trying to read you gives people headaches, they’ll stop. Choose a nice big font, space with paragraphs, be mindful of your spelling and missing words. Read out loud because some things written are bad said.

14.  What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

I must’ve been lucky in this regard, I don’t think I’ve ever received advice that made me go NO, but I did have to listen/read stuff that made me gag.

15.  If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

I would love to the Adelaide acted out, some adjustments would be required because I’m no expert in play writing but I think I’d be great.

16.  If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

Luyenor’a and Taram, names are placeholders as of now but they’re two of my knight, being the “only pairing I’m allow to write about forever” means I’d get more knight shenanigans done.

17.  Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

I’m doing bullets point of what I want to happen and write stuff without much order. Some days I have no inspirations for what goes in the beginning but have loads for a later point. I surf the wave when it presents itself.

18.  Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?

Word on my computer, a notebook in my bag, the note app in my phone.

19. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?

I have little trinkets all around my computer to invite inspiration.

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

Freshly woken up, having eaten, drinking something sugary and sometimes apple cider because the alcohol help lower my inhibition.

21.  How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

I read out loud at least once the whole thing, helps with missing words but dude I reread my stuff on ao3 and always find mistakes still ^^’

22. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).

I’m not going to put here because it’s in French and I don’t want to translate now but I wrote Vision of a world, mine when I was 16 and damn was I already depressed then?

23.  If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

The Princess and the Soldier, some gay fairytale I think my first one, I’m sure I can do better bow

I also have one about a janitor and it’s a murder mystery I could redo

24. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

Once by accident, I was so angry I never rewrote it.

25.  What do you look for in a beta?

I don’t really use beta (beta reader right?) but I guess I’ve had like 3-4 when I was in Uni and had to read people’s wip and they read mine. They’d talk about what they liked, links they noticed, things that seemed weak or to change

26.  Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?

I usually just point out the stuff I like

27.  How do you feel about collaborations?

For a class in college, we had to act out a play we wrote collectively. Ten sketches written in pairs/alone. I made sure I was alone so I wouldn’t be saddled with someone else to write my sketch

28. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

I don’t follow fic writers; I just am in a mood for a ship and read what’s available. I do like my friend @alumort ‘s fics tho ^^

29.  If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

There was a Phineas and Ferb fic focused on Perry I really loved. Their world building was something I’d never seen and they abandoned the story, so I did fanfic of a fic. Never dared to post it anywhere I mean it was their world to begin with.

30.  Do you accept prompts?

Of course, when inspiration is given I accept

31.  Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I don’t care about canon but I do love using it when there are little trivia to enrich the character.

32.  How do you feel about smut?

Love to read it sometimes, would love to write it. Some I’m like………….youveneverhadsexhaveyou…………………

33.  How do you feel about crack?

Love it!!!!!!!! I’m too self-conscious to write it tho. Oh maybe that could be a never before written trope I could try?

34.  What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?

Rape I can’t, dub-con where underlying requited feelings exist but anxiety™ don’t let the characters express them but they’re drunk so it surfaces is okay

35.  Would you ever kill off a canon character?

Hell yeah! I do when/if the death makes sense (I am still pissed at Kishi for Neji)

36.  Which is your favorite site to post fic?

Ao3 is where I post,I used devianart when I had one

37.  Talk about your current wips.

Marry Me for the Love of Cake: God I’m so sorry to the few people who followed it, I said I’d pick it up before the end of 2019 and well……I have the ending in bullet points

Yours, with Love: I hope I’ll finish it…I have most of the ending in bullet points

I guess I’m into rom com at the moment lolol

38.  Talk about a review that made your day.

I made my best friend read All this for a Roll Cake, and she laughed so much at my work, I took a picture I look at from time to time to remain humble.

39.  Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

Thankfully I’ve never received a rude review. My professor once told me it seemed kinda unnatural how unlucky my protagonist was vs. how lucky his love interest was (All this for a Roll Cake) but that was the whole point of the story so I just ignored her.

40.  Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

Writing this I realised I lost my final version of All this for a Roll Cake T^T so I guess I’d rewrite the ending I have of the before the last version I still have.

Well this was fun ^^ got to revisit my works and remember many beloved pieces of fiction I wrote, I look forward to my next projects

[brightmalcolm]

Okay so I know malcolm like 30 but how old are the rest the of the characters cause I feel Malcolm older then Dani but only cause Aurora is 25. Cause Malcolm just seems like the baby of the team

okay I’ll take this as a chance to scream about ages on prodigal son (THE WHITLY’S DO NOT ADD UP) + say  who we have canon ages for my own and what my headcanons are lmao

malcolm: I think given what gil and gabrielle have said, we can be pretty certain malcolm was 11 (probably had just turned that age) in 1998, making him born in 1987 and 32 by the beginning of 2020.

ainsley: she was 5 in 1998, making her born in 1993 and 26 by the beginning of 2020. (halston is also 26)

dani: she’s harder bc you’re right, I was shocked to see how young aurora is, not bc she doesn’t look it but bc tom just looks really young for 37 and he plays malcolm even younger and I always assumed dani was either malcolm’s age or a year or two older. but given aurora’s age and accounting for how much experience she seems to have at the NYPD I’m going to say 28-30.

JT: frank is 40 and I think that’s probably around how old JT is supposed to be, maybe a couple years younger since I think frank looks pretty young for 40 lmao.

edrisa: kieko is 46 which REALLY surprised me. I think like tom she’s playing younger but also it takes 12-14 years to become an ME so I think she’s a bit older than dani and malcolm. probably 36 or 37. 

gil: lou is 57 and although we don’t know hold old gil was in 1998, we do know he wasn’t a detective yet (although I imagine arresting the surgeon might have gotten him that promotion). so I estimate mid to late 30′s in 1998, mid to late 50′s during the show.

jessica: OKAY THIS IS WHERE IT GETS WEIRD. we all know bellamy doesn’t really look old enough to be malcolm’s mom (bellamy is 49 and unlike michael, she doesn’t really play jessica much older). but ya know rich people have money for skin care so we’ll be generous. the main thing I’m going off is jessica’s comment about how she’s been “a whitly much longer than she was a milton” which doesn’t really make much sense tbh. even if she and martin got married when they were 18 and didn’t have malcolm for another 10 years (making her 28 when he was born, 39 in 1998 and 59 in the shows timeline) she still would have only been a “whitly” for 21 years at the time of martin’s arrest, compared to the 18 years she had been a “milton;” longer but not by MUCH. plus jessica went to college so I doubt she got married at 18. all that being said, I’m going to go with a timeline of her and martin getting married when she was 22 (I still think they married young just not THAT young), having malcolm after martin finished medical school/a couple of years of residency at 30, being 41 in 1998 and 61 in the shows timeline...yeah I know bellamy does not look like she’s in her early 60′s but again rich people they have plastic surgeons. 

martin: michael is 50 so basically bellamy’s age but imo he plays martin a lot older (the grey beard helps). I imagine he is also in his early 60′s, so same timeline as jessica probably a year or two older...the only hiccup is him being a world renowned surgeon at 40 is a bit of a stretch considering that it takes about like 14 years to even become a regular cardio surgeon lmao but ya know.      

[helenarasmussen87]

Writing Asks

This the post where I know no one is going to ask me anyway.

1. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Something that is like a “Oh hey, what happens if we do THIS!” and go from there. Usually ends up having loads of emotions, comfort, angst, introspection, loads of kitchen sink dialogues, not too much action. Families, happy endings.

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Fluffy stuff and humourous stuff. I am a little too serious for either one and my humour is drier than the desert and very odd. So no.

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Teacher and Student relationships. Necrophilia, abuse of all sorts, underage. Just not my thing. I’ve gotten unable to stomach a lot of grimdark and super dark stuff as I get older so I won’t write it. But go ahead if that’s your thing.

4. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

Two, since I can’t have more than two on the burner. Learned THAT early on and they’re Terror AU’s One is a fixit, but with health complications and angst. The other is a Modern Day AU which has two professors falling in love after one gets injured and the other worked as an EMT and helps to take care of him and they fall in love.

5. Share one of your strengths.

I can offer insights on what flows and what doesn’t. I can also happily shred my own drafts if they don’t work. 

6. Share one of your weaknesses.

Action. I work at it, but it’s not my favourite. Or war writing. 

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Danny had to turn his head away to hide his smile, because he knew that it was a legitimate concern for Jose. Most of the time, he had jumped into bed with his partners first and then did the mating dance. 

Although extremely smart in other aspects, dating and social interactions were always a bit skewed, because he was always second-guessing himself and nervous as hell.

“That’s actually how things work out in these situations. At least it did for me and my ex and for me and Claude.” Danny explained calmly, making Jose nod and take another pull of his slurpee.

“So what do I do? Like is there a time when I bring up the possibility of us sleeping together?” Jose asked, the words slightly mumbled as he chewed on the straw.

“You don’t bring it up. You’ll just know when the time is right for it to happen. Sex isn’t what a relationship should be built on. Yes, it’s nice and it’s part of it, but it’s not the end all to be all. Trust me on this. It will happen if it’s meant to happen.” Danny explained, hoping that he had put it all in the plainest and simplest terms he could for his friend.

I am proud of this because it was majorly borrowing from life and I can see the difference from earlier writing. 

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Sergio laughed shortly. “I’ve already done enough of that, and look at where it’s gotten you. Yeah, legally I hold claim over you. I could make the club buy out your contract and sit at home all day, having litter after litter.”

Iker’s blood froze at that and he turned to look at Sergio to see if he really meant it, but Sergio’s face gave nothing away.

“Or I could sign your rights to the club and let them sell you wherever or to whomever. Take you out of Spain, or sell you to Getafe or Malaga. All of these things I could do. The club actually did bring it up at that meeting you didn’t show up for.”

Iker blinked, his hands going numb as Sergio’s wickedly honed words hit home.

“I’m not telling you this to hurt you. Or make you feel indebted. I’m telling this to you because you’re this close to losing your spot and that’s the last thing I want for you. But there’s only so much I can do for you.”

He sighed and looked at Iker dead in the eyes.

“I miss him too, Iker. I miss Antonio every fucking day. And I miss you.”

Iker swallowed hard as Sergio abruptly turned and left, slamming the front door and freeing him from the command so suddenly that Iker fell onto the couch and curled up in it.

He had no energy to do anything else. Not when he was all too aware he’d fucked up and fucked up big and needed to fix it.

Borrowed from life again and it was more of a dialogue that needed to be had when you finally realize how much you fucked up and how much you need to stop coasting and make it right. 

9. Which fic has been the hardest to write?

ALL OF THEM! Kidding. I want to say the one I’m working on right now. I was lucky enough I got a ton of help fleshing it out. I can see the end of the 1st chapter and I am having a hell of a time writing Goodsir’s chunk. He’s turned out more emo and romantic than I was expecting. 

10. Which fic has been the easiest to write?

The QuiObi prompts for the prompt week. Took me like two hours to knock them off and post. 

11. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

Its a passion and a hobby. It helped me through a lot of rough patches and keeps me sane. 

12. Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

Mostly music or a change in life. I tend to write when everything is in flux with me.

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Just write. Worry about editing later. Once you have something on the paper, fixing it up becomes easier. 

14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Edit as you write. You don’t get anything done.

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Oooh. I think it’s a toss up between my Qui-Gon/Jango fic in a pastoral setting where they have put their pasts behind and are farmers on Concord Dawn. Or the Werewolf fic I wrote during my RPF phase.

16. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

Bloody hard. I would have to say Fitzier (Commander Fitzjames/Captain Crozier)

17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Depends. Sometimes I go straight from beginning to end and sometimes I end up writing the middle and not figuring it out until later.

18. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?

Outlines. I have notebooks I jot down point form notes about the characters and the plot.

18. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?

Mine is a librarian or an alchemist trying to figure out answers and how things fit in.

19. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

A good playlist. Alone, in my room.

20. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

I revise it along the way when I sit down to write. Then before I post, I give it a once over to make sure it flows and makes sense. 

21. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).

All my old fics are honestly gone so I’m skipping this one. 

22. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

Honestly? The Duo and Heero one I wrote about them being in an abusive relationship where they split up, then got back together again. I was again writing from life, and I have seen couples who did overcome it, but looking back, I think I should have written it that they separated and went their own ways. 

Keep in mind I was very young when I wrote this, and I was in an abusive relationship myself and didn’t realise it at the time. He hit me once, apologised and never did it again. But he did end up manipulating me, gaslighting me, and emotionally abusing me until I finally had enough and left. 

23. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

Yes. Loads of them due to me not wanting to finish them. Or the hosting sites going under. 

24. What do you look for in a beta?

Someone who is honest, someone who knows the way I write, and has suggestions to fix those said things. But someone who is themselves is the best. Because they know what they want. Same here. 

25. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?

I do, simply due to lack of steady betas. Flow and story telling, but I also look for syntax and formatting as well as grammar. I will miss typos, so I run spell-check too. I mostly use a mental rubric. Teacher training.

26. How do you feel about collaborations?

I haven’t had a successful one due to the second person always deciding that they can’t follow through or up and disappearing. So I don’t do them.

27. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Oh my God! I read so much and so many different people that I can’t pinpoint three. I usually end up reading a fic or two, so I can’t say why I read the author.

28. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

I haven’t done that. I do admit to having inspired by fics. I wouldn’t ever presume to do that. It just feels like a snub.

29. Do you accept prompts?

Not really. I can’t tailor write stuff consistently. 

30. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

Oh always! I end up liking the characters that somehow never make it until the end. And in the Terror, unless you want to write angst all the time, you HAVE to ignore canon. And I mean BOTH the book and the show, since the book is nasty. The show is amazing, but oh my god is it depressing.

31. How do you feel about smut?

Yes damned please!

32. How do you feel about crack?

Depends on how well it’s done. Sometimes it is needed. Sometimes it’s like “Why?”

33. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?

A bit tricky. I don’t mind non-con, but it has to be handled well. Dub-con, especially in A/B/O happens within context and it is usually dealt with. So I can tolerate that more than the first. Outright abuse, no.

34. Would you ever kill off a canon character?

Yes. Not often thought. But yes. I usually try and keep as many alive as I can though.

35. Which is your favorite site to post fic?

AO3, its a wild place and I love it for that reason.

36. Talk about your current wips.

It’s an AU where two professors that live in the same building and work in different faculties get thrown together and start to get to know each other. Due to circumstance, one gets injured and the other kind of volunteers to help take care of him, where they fall in love. The others in the vicinity do also. There’s Canadian shenanigans and baking. 

37. Talk about a review that made your day.

That they really liked how I wrote Frank Randall and would like to see more with his son, an OC I created for the story.

38. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

I either delete, or give a generic reply and leave it. I’ve got stuff to do.

40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

Nope. It just doesn’t work for me.

*somewhere I fucked up on the number but here you are*

Whoever wants to do this.

[yuhengbeidou]

hm I was thinking....jiang meng...idk doesn't sound so good

but jiang ziming,,, that's GOOD

Yesterday, 1:11 PM

jiang ziming

you have done something

THAT SREALLY RELALYYGODO

Yesterday, 1:14 PM

ahahah am I still on a good strike?

Yesterday, 1:15 PM

WAH THAT WAS SO GOOD

Yesterday, 1:15 PM

,,,au in which jiang ziming is a THING

1

Yesterday, 1:15 PM

AU in which madam qing told jiang xi about the child and jiang ziming was raised between the two sects

1

Yesterday, 1:15 PM

HOLY FUCK YES PLEASE

please, jiang xi and xzy and madam wang talk and....and :((( aaaaaaaa mengmeng with tWO DADS

amazing

Yesterday, 1:17 PM

MENGMENG WITH TWO DADS

god he would be SO MUCH MORE ARROGANT ahahhahaa but still the core of goodness

1

and his fashion sense would be TOP NOTCH

and maybe he would get a holy weapon for once

1

Yesterday, 1:17 PM

bitch ass desktop twitter keeps refreshing and changing to the ugly blue color I'm gonna qi deviate

1

anyway, please, him wearing maybe, both blue and dark green robes or smt?

1

Yesterday, 1:18 PM

eww no ugly blue please

1

Yesterday, 1:19 PM

his getting more educated in medicine!!!! idk was it ever mentioned in 2ha? if he got anything passed on from madam wang or he was just...study the blade (be gay)?

1

Yesterday, 1:19 PM

ohhh god what if what if he starts wearing jiang xi's ribbon that hao draws

1

but in blue

1

but same style

clipped to the sides of his hair

1

Yesterday, 1:19 PM

i think he was just studying the blade HELP

SO FUCKING GAY

now he gets to play with herbs and be a little less gay

1

jk that's even more gay

Yesterday, 1:20 PM

 madam wang feels a little weird but xzy laughs and pats her back and says "like father like son eh, I least I taught him manners"

1

Yesterday, 1:21 PM

or something :(((

Yesterday, 1:21 PM

Omg xzy the fucking best always

Yesterday, 1:21 PM

and mengmeng,,,,so good with medicine pfff shi mei who

1

Yesterday, 1:21 PM

He’s not at all jealous

1

Yesterday, 1:21 PM

HE'D MAKE FUN OF THEM HELMP "oh, my little peacock came back from the big boss peacock?"

1

Yesterday, 1:22 PM

And Xue Meng would whine “a-die!!!!!!” And run to hug him

Yesterday, 1:22 PM

...are we doing like...a divorced couple type of sharing custody of a child now? because it feels like it

Yesterday, 1:23 PM

He still wouldn’t call Jiang Xi daddy though but maybe something a little friendlier than Jiang Xi

I think so omg

Yesterday, 1:23 PM

adhjsks I LOVE IT

Yesterday, 1:23 PM

It is a shared custody thing

Yesterday, 1:23 PM

hm

how would he call jiang xi...he's very rude now lol going all JIANG XI

probably? jiang yechen or sect leader jiang, keep the formalities but

1

Yesterday, 1:24 PM

I know right how dare he just call jiang Xi like that so rude

Jiang Xi is so indulgent of him honestly

1

I say he can say jiang Yechen though

Jiang Xi doesn’t know how much affection he’s allowed to show Xue Meng

So he just keeps teaching him nonstop and working him to the bone every time Xue Meng visits

1

Yesterday, 1:26 PM

yeah really idk by the end of the blind dates I think jiang xi was like "eh, ,,,let him call whatever Idc"

1

Yesterday, 1:27 PM

Xue Meng needs money and jiang Xi will hand over the entire bank account

1

Yesterday, 1:28 PM

agagahahahaha I CRY but, also xue meng maybe goes too far and he hurts himself and jiang xi sighs and goes "can't you be more careful?" and heals him and then goes off in a 3 hours long lecture about idk, how to be careful, and how not to do that enxt time, and how to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

1

Yesterday, 1:28 PM

oh do you think jiang xi also pays him child support?

THATS MY LOVER AND HER HUSBAND

1WAHH I LOVE IT JIANG XI BEING A CHIDING PARENT

wait... can this be a thing

please god i want a happy AU so bad

jiang xi definitely pays child support. sisheng peak is not super rich but xue meng basically has a trust fund

he has everything he ever wanted

including several ponies

Yesterday, 1:32 PM

agdhsjs YES I WANT IT TOO, the,, the family being such an amazing family like, madam wang MADAM WANG SHE'S THE BEST,, xzy he is THE BEST, jiang xi he is TRYING

1

can you...imagine it tho,,,the entire sisheng peak fire aprty wouldn;t happen,,,jiang xi would step the fuck out he WOULD SO MUCH MORE, that's my SON and the woman I LOVOHFEIEHHSsomethingdik and hER HUSBAND FUCK OFF MU YANGLI BITCH

1

or is it mu yanli? idk

Yesterday, 1:35 PM

yeah mu yanli FUCK OFF

JIANG XI COME PROTECT UR FAM

 hgsnfgfhgjgg except they haven't done anything in 20yrs

1

jiang xi puts gu yue ye's reputation on the line for family

we love to see that

Yesterday, 1:41 PM

MY LOVER AND HER HUSBAND IDK SOUNDS RIGHT

1

Yesterday, 1:44 PM

do you think...................after some time, when xue meng is a little older like idk 10 or so and jiang xi shows that he's a good ish father or....ya know, xzy just talks with madam wang and asks "do you still love him?" and what can she say....he was her first love as far as canon tells us and "I, still care about him yes" so, xzy on a personal adventure to make them talk~ and shit~ sure he wouldn't want her to sleep with him again but..

1

what if he bullies jiang xi into admitting he CARES too it doesnt have to be love but, them meeting at gu yue ye and drinking tea and talking about medicine and she feels like she's back home in her youth and :((

1

Yesterday, 1:46 PM

WHY IS XZY THE ONLY HUSBAND EVER

IM CRY

Yesterday, 1:48 PM

please and....WAIT AND when jiang xi adopts the son,,, of course the sisheng family knows about it and they are all so excited well maybe not xue meng lol he doesn't want to admit it but ya know, COMPETITION is COMPETITION no matter what

1

but in the end things work out and, sometimes the adopted son shows up with jiang xi at sisheng and xue meng spars with him and teaches him things cwn taught him and ufffffffffffff

1

Yesterday, 1:51 PM

BROTHERS

THEY ARE BROTHERS

EXCEPT XING'ER CALLS XUE MENG GE

WHAT IF I CRY

Yesterday, 1:53 PM

GE

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

xue meng bosses him around but xing'er is such a sweetheart he smiles and ENJOYS it then he goes to jiang xi and he's all shining and he can't stop talking about xue meng honestly...that poor guy was probably an orphan so...

1

Yesterday, 1:54 PM

i'm fucking crying about a character with ZERO BACKGROUND lol

1

XING'ER HE IS PRECIOUS

maybe in this AU there is no yifu fuckery just soft daddy son interactions

1

jiang xi puts one hand on xing'er's head and rubs it a little when xing'er tells him about xue meng gege

he is so happy his sons get along

1

Yesterday, 2:01 PM

please this is too sweet for me I'm going to die

1

yes, the entire family!! together!! +ranwan by extension

1

I also love how you just went XING'ER like,,,without a second thought you said XING'ER I LOVE IT

[shadowsong26fic]

yo.

Soooooo yeah. I know I’ve been kinda least-in-sight lately and have a very overdue Precipice chapter in the wings, etc., etc. Uh, basically, my BB got behind and then a little bit away from me. Deadline is not an issue in terms of completeness, but it’s gonna be quite a bit messier than I like at this stage in an event like this. Well, I’m planning to Power Through over the weekend and hopefully I’ll get more tweaking done than I expect? We shall see.

ANYWAY. I don’t know how March will look--more on that in Monday’s Coming Attractions post, of course, but work will get SUPER BUSY, along with other ongoing challenge commitments--but I’m still hoping to start posting my regular fics again? Lol. At least finishing Arc Seven so I can move on to Promises and Preludes because I’m super excited for some of the stuff happening there.

But for now, since I know I haven’t posted much lately, and because I’ve been rereading the Valdemar series so it’s been on my mind, I’ve decided to share some more from my Jedi of Valdemar AU! Specifically, this is the Ginormous Timeline of Doom that covers everything from, like, two years before Anakin gets to Haven to Leia’s kids’ generation getting Chosen, etc. (working in a Blended Canon because that’s how I roll) Obviously, this includes many spoilers for the AU in question--and also, because I like to keep certain plot points/character beats consistent, a few things for other fics. Also, this is an admittedly niche-appeal crossover with a fair amount of self-indulgent stuff in here JSYK.

Let’s see, what else...oh! Those of you who read the Family of Spies AU will recognize some OCs from there. One of them actually technically originated in the Valdemar AU, even. Nikolai and his brothers, who get mentioned here, are OCs of mine who in the regular timeline/galaxy are Kallus’s sister’s sons.

Also, Much Much Credit to Roommate TK for serving as a sounding board/helping with brainstorming/letting me use some of her OCs in this XD

I think that’s all the disclaimers I need so...here we go! Feel free to comment, question, etc., on anything in this post or whatever else you’re curious about!

Valdemar AU Rough Timeline (covering 64 goddamn years; including ages and broken into three arcs because easier to count, etc.):

[ARC ONE]

-3 – Obi-Wan is Chosen (by Hondo) - Obi-Wan is 13; Padme is 11; Anakin is approx. 6; Bail is 15; Breha is 14; Palpatine is 40

-2 – Padme is Chosen (by Sabe) - Obi-Wan is 14; Padme is 12; Anakin is approx. 7; Bail is 16; Breha is 15; Palpatine is 41

-.5 – Padme’s parents and Mace are killed; Bail is Chosen as Queen’s Own; Palps becomes Lord Regent/Lord Protector (I haven't decided which title I like better yet) - Obi-Wan is 15/16; Padme is 13/14; Anakin is approx. 8; Bail is 18; Breha is 17; Palpatine is 42/43

0 – Anakin arrives in Haven after being Chosen by Ahsoka - Obi-Wan is 16; Padme is 14; Anakin is approx. 9; Bail is 18; Breha is 17; Palpatine is 43

2 – Obi-Wan is put into full Whites - Obi-Wan is 18; Padme is 16; Anakin is approx. 11; Bail is 20; Breha is 19; Palpatine is 45

3 – Padme is put into full Whites and Palpatine’s regency ends with a deceptively smooth transition of power - Obi-Wan is 19; Padme is 17; Anakin is approx. 12; Bail is 21; Breha is 20; Palpatine is 46

5 – Bail and Breha marry - Obi-Wan is 21; Padme is 10; Anakin is approx. 14; Bail is 23; Breha is 22; Palpatine is 48

6 or 7 – By now, the OT3 and a select few in their inner circle know that this is a Lifebond situation (not that they’re doing anything about it until Anakin, at minimum, has his Whites/finished his internship/etc., but they’re Aware and planning their futures with that in mind) - Obi-Wan is 22/23; Padme is 20/21; Anakin is approx. 15/16; Bail is 24/25; Breha is 23/24; Palps is 49/50 ((Note - I am going with an OT3 lifebond here for several reasons, including the fact that I don’t think Obi-Wan would be a very good Companion for Anakin (i.e., it would go like canon/Gala and Tylendel and No One Wants That), and this still showcases their extremely tight connection and also I like the OT3.))

8 – Anakin is put into full Whites; Dooku leaves Court and begins stirring up Trouble; discussion of when/who Padme should marry picks up/starts in real earnest. - Obi-Wan is 24; Padme is 22; Anakin is approx. 17; Bail is 26; Breha is 25; Palps is 51

9 – The civil war officially erupts - Obi-Wan is 25; Padme is 23; Anakin is approx. 18; Bail is 27; Breha is 26; Palps is 52

10 – Anakin loses his arm - Obi-Wan is 26; Padme is 24; Anakin is approx. 19; Bail is 28; Breha is 27; Palps is 53

11 – Dooku lays siege to Haven; Anakin and Ahsoka sneak out of the city and kill him - Obi-Wan is 27; Padme is 25; Anakin is approx. 20; Bail is 29; Breha is 28; Palps is 54

11 or 12 – Padme and Anakin marry (and make a similar private vow/commitment to Obi-Wan; Anakin gets the legal title because Obi-Wan emphatically does not want to be King, but doesn’t think he could refuse the responsibility if he was Padme’s legal spouse even if the Council/etc. would let him. Also Anakin becomes Weaponsmaster’s Second somewhere in here, but not 100% sure on exact timing, but almost certainly before the wedding.) - Obi-Wan is 27/28; Padme is 25/26; Anakin is approx. 20/21; Bail is 29/30; Breha is 28/29; Palps is 54/55

14 – Leia is born; her parents are not 100% sure who her biodad is but don’t particularly care. - Obi-Wan is 30; Padme is 28; Anakin is approx. 23; Bail is 32; Breha is 31; Palps is 57 ((Note: Luke is Leia’s Companion, as I’ve posted before, which is why he’s not here :D))

16 – Lavinia is born 2 years after Leia; her mother dies in an accident shortly thereafter - Obi-Wan is 32; Padme is 30; Anakin is approx. 25; Bail is 34; Breha is 33; Palps is 59

[ARC 2]

-4 – Leia is Chosen (by Luke); Lando and Amilyn arrive in Haven as Bardic students - Obi-Wan is 43; Padme is 41; Anakin is approx. 36; Bail is 45; Breha is 44; Palps is 70; Leia is 13; Lavinia is 11; Ezra is 12; Lando is 15; Amilyn is 12; Kanan and Hera are 25ish

-2 – Ezra is Chosen (by Ventress because the Kingdom clearly needed a little Pure Chaos) and joins Leia’s inner circle - Obi-Wan is 45; Padme is 43; Anakin is approx. 38; Bail is 47; Breha is 46; Palps is 72; Leia is 15; Lavinia is 13; Ezra is 14; Lando is 17; Amilyn is 14; Kanan and Hera are 27ish

0 – Kallus defects and comes to Haven with Zeb; Lando goes off on his Journeyman period - Obi-Wan is 47; Padme is 45; Anakin is approx. 40; Bail is 49; Breha is 48; Palps is 74; Leia is 17; Lavinia is 15; Ezra is 16; Lando is 19; Amilyn is 16; Kanan and Hera are 29ish; Zeb and Kallus are 35ish

1 – Pellaeon becomes Lord Marshall; Lavinia is Chosen (by Thrawn) and exposes her father’s crimes; Palpatine flees Valdemar (going West, discovering he has a latent Mage-Gift, and meeting Mother Talzin); Kanan is blinded as Palpatine has his minions try to kill the three people responsible for his downfall (Kanan, Lavinia, and Pellaeon) - Obi-Wan is 48; Padme is 46; Anakin is approx. 41; Bail is 50; Breha is 49; Palps is 75; Leia is 18; Lavinia is 16; Ezra is 17; Lando is 20; Amilyn is 17; Kanan and Hera are 30ish; Zeb and Kallus are 36ish; Pellaeon is 50

2 – Zeb and Kallus get their first kids; Ezra is put into full Whites; Amilyn goes on her Journeyman period - Obi-Wan is 49; Padme is 47; Anakin is approx. 42; Bail is 51; Breha is 50; Palps is 76; Leia is 19; Lavinia is 17; Ezra is 18; Lando is 21; Amilyn is 18; Kanan and Hera are 31ish; Zeb and Kallus are 37ish; Pellaeon is 51; Orryn and Mirah, are approx. 5

3 – Han meets Lando and is Chosen (by Chewie); I’m guessing Jacen is born around now, too? - Obi-Wan is 50; Padme is 48; Anakin is approx. 43; Bail is 52; Breha is 51; Palps is 77; Leia is 20; Lavinia is 18; Ezra is 19; Lando is 22; Amilyn is 19; Kanan and Hera are 32ish; Zeb and Kallus are 38ish; Pellaeon is 52; Han is 22

4 – Zeb and Kallus by now have all five kids probably? - Obi-Wan is 51; Padme is 49; Anakin is approx. 44; Bail is 53; Breha is 52; Palps is 78; Leia is 21; Lavinia is 19; Ezra is 20; Lando is 23; Amilyn is 20; Kanan and Hera are 33ish; Zeb and Kallus are 39ish; Pellaeon is 53; Han is 23; Nikolai is 14/15; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 9ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 7

5 – To the delight of their friends, Han and Leia finally start sleeping together and there is substantially less UST floating around - Obi-Wan is 52; Padme is 50; Anakin is approx. 45; Bail is 54; Breha is 53; Palps is 79; Leia is 22; Lavinia is 20; Ezra is 21; Lando is 24; Amilyn is 21; Kanan and Hera are 34ish; Zeb and Kallus are 40ish; Pellaeon is 54; Han is 24; Nikolai is 15/16; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 10ish; Mirah and Orryn approx. 8

6 – Lando and Lavinia start sleeping together regularly, but it’s Just Casual Let’s Not Make It Weird - Obi-Wan is 53; Padme is 51; Anakin is approx. 46; Bail is 55; Breha is 54; Palps is 80; Leia is 23; Lavinia is 21; Ezra is 22; Lando is 25; Amilyn is 22; Kanan and Hera are 35ish; Zeb and Kallus are 41ish; Pellaeon is 55; Han is 25; Nikolai is 16/17; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 11ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 9

9 – Shamie tells their dads they want to be a Sunpriest, studying with Chirrut in the Haven Temple; if he hasn’t already, Palpatine decides he no longer needs Mother Talzin and kills her; he starts building his power base/collection of client states in earnest - Obi-Wan is 56; Padme is 54; Anakin is approx. 49; Bail is 58; Breha is 57; Palps is 83 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 26; Lavinia is 24; Ezra is 25; Lando is 28; Amilyn is 25; Kanan and Hera are 38ish; Zeb and Kallus are 44ish; Pellaeon is 58; Han is 28; Nikolai is 19/20; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 14ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 12

10 – Leia and Han get married; Lavinia and Lando finally admit that Okay It’s Probably Not Casual - Obi-Wan is 57; Padme is 55; Anakin is approx. 50; Bail is 59; Breha is 58; Palps is 84 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 27; Lavinia is 25; Ezra is 26; Lando is 29; Amilyn is 26; Kanan and Hera are 39ish; Zeb and Kallus are 45ish; Pellaeon is 59; Han is 29; Nikolai is 20/21; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 15ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 13

12 – Jaina is born; Lavinia and Lando probably Officially Get Married or something - Obi-Wan is 59; Padme is 57; Anakin is approx. 52; Bail is 61; Breha is 60; Palps is 86 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 29; Lavinia is 27; Ezra is 28; Lando is 31; Amilyn is 28; Kanan and Hera are 41ish; Zeb and Kallus are 47ish; Pellaeon is 61; Han is 31; Nikolai is 22/23; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 17ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 15

[ARC 3]

-2 – Anakin dies. - Obi-Wan is 62; Padme is 60; Anakin was approx. 55; Bail is 64; Breha is 63; Palps is 89 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 32; Lavinia is 30; Ezra is 31; Lando is 34; Amilyn is 31; Kanan and Hera are 44ish; Zeb and Kallus are 50ish; Pellaeon is 64; Han is 34; Nikolai is 25/26; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 20ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 18; Jaina is 3

-1 – Obi-Wan dies, then Padme; Leia becomes Queen (Han is also technically King at this point, crowned and everything, but this is generally considered Leia’s reign rather than Leia and Han’s reign as Co-Consorts) - Obi-Wan was 63; Padme was 61; Bail is 65; Breha is 64; Palps is 90 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 33; Lavinia is 31; Ezra is 32; Lando is 35; Amilyn is 32; Kanan and Hera are 45ish; Zeb and Kallus are 51ish; Pellaeon is 65; Han is 35; Nikolai is 26/27; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 21ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 19; Jaina is 4

0 – Bail dies; Lavinia becomes Queen’s Own; Thrawn Chooses Pellaeon (who is a little bit What about the whole thing) - Bail was 66; Breha is 65; Palps is 91 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 34; Lavinia is 32; Ezra is 33; Lando is 36; Amilyn is 33; Kanan and Hera are 46ish; Zeb and Kallus are 52ish; Pellaeon is 66; Han is 36; Nikolai is 27/28; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 22ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 20; Jaina is 5

1 – Elena and Alysia are born - Breha is 66; Palps is 92 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 35; Lavinia is 33; Ezra is 34; Lando is 37; Amilyn is 34; Kanan and Hera are 47ish; Zeb and Kallus are 53ish; Pellaeon is 67; Han is 37; Nikolai is 28/29; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 23ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 21; Jaina is 6

2 – Baby Anakin is born - Breha is 67; Palps is 93 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 36; Lavinia is 34; Ezra is 35; Lando is 38; Amilyn is 35; Kanan and Hera are 48ish; Zeb and Kallus are 54ish; Pellaeon is 68; Han is 38; Nikolai is 29/30; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 24ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 22; Jaina is 7; Elena and Alysia are 1

4 – Palpatine starts his real push at the Border and so there is War; Lavinia and Rolan go to work building a network through his client-states; Kallus has probably taken Cassian on has his Second by now - Breha is 69; Palps is 95 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 38; Lavinia is 36; Ezra is 37; Lando is 40; Amilyn is 37; Kanan and Hera are 50ish; Zeb and Kallus are 56ish; Pellaeon is 70; Han is 40; Nikolai is 31/32; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 26ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 24; Jaina is 9; Elena and Alysia are 3; bb!Anakin is 2; Cassian is 35ish (maybe a bit older?)

6 – Jaina is Chosen (by Winter) - Breha is 71; Palps is 97 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 40; Lavinia is 38; Ezra is 39; Lando is 42; Amilyn is 39; Kanan and Hera are 52ish; Zeb and Kallus are 58ish; Pellaeon is 72; Han is 42; Nikolai is 33/34; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 28ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 26; Jaina is 11; Elena and Alysia are 5; bb!Anakin is 4; Cassian is 37ish

6/7 – Final battle with Palpatine; Lavinia’s diplomacy fragments his army; Ezra and Ventress and their Semi-Controlled Chaos carve a path; Leia slays him on the field - Breha is 71/72; Palps was 97/98 (but doesn’t look it because Magic); Leia is 40/41; Lavinia is 38/39; Ezra is 39/40; Lando is 42/43; Amilyn is 39/40; Kanan and Hera are 52/53ish; Zeb and Kallus are 58/59ish; Pellaeon is 72/72; Han is 42/43; Nikolai is 33-35; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 28/29ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 26/27; Jaina is 11/12; Elena and Alysia are 5/6; bb!Anakin is 4/5; Cassian is 37/38ish

8 – Poe is Chosen (by Baby/BB-8) and comes to Haven; Breha has probably passed away by now but I’m not sure exactly when - Leia is 42; Lavinia is 40; Ezra is 41; Lando is 44; Amilyn is 41; Kanan and Hera are 54ish; Zeb and Kallus are 60ish; Pellaeon is 74; Han is 44; Nikolai is 35/36; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 30ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 28; Jaina is 13; Elena and Alysia are 7; bb!Anakin is 6; Cassian is 39ish; Poe is 14

13 – Lavinia dies; Finn and Rey are Chosen (by Shaak-Ti and Rolan, respectively) and come to Haven; Rose comes to Haven and she and bb!Anakin enter Healer’s Collegium at the same time - Leia is 47; Lavinia was 45; Ezra is 46; Lando is 49; Amilyn is 46; Kanan and Hera are 59ish; Zeb and Kallus are 65ish; Pellaeon is 79 (and has Retired by now); Han is 49; Nikolai is 40/41; Julyta probably the same or a bit older(?); Shamie is 35ish; Mirah and Orryn are approx. 33; Jaina is 18; Elena and Alysia are 12; bb!Anakin is 11; Cassian is 44ish; Poe is 19; Finn and Rey are 13; Rose is 11

Not in the timeline because Space (and also too many additional characters/ages to add): - Anatole and Ziya probably get married somewhere around when Leia and Han do (year 10 of part 2); he’s 22/23 and she’s about Nikolai’s age. Pavel goes into the Guard at roughly the same time, at 18/19; serves with distinction during Palpatine’s invasion; transitions to spying/covert ops type stuff somehow, working as an agent for whoever the Herald Spymaster is at this point (maybe Cassian? Doubling as Weaponsmaster (when said position is filled by a Herald) makes a lot more sense than doubling as Monarch’s Own, and those are the two we’ve seen…plus it would make sense with Cassian’s canon backstory.)

- Sergey, Alexsi, and Sofya are probably born in reasonable intervals over the next 10 years; Sergey will eventually be Chosen. Spellings on the boys’ names are still subject to change.

- Irene is still a Healer; though she’s a few years younger than bb!Anakin and Rose, probably 4 or 5 when they enter the Collegium.

- Bodhi and Jyn are still a big ol’ question mark (though I'm leaning towards her being the Companion and him the Herald?).

- Baze and Chirrut are around Kallus and Zeb’s age, maybe 5-10 years older. Chirrut is the Priest in the Haven Temple; Baze is retired Guard and currently a blacksmith.