#but now we know and have an impossible choice. neither choice is nice and both outcomes are horrible

[lindensea]

All time worst day possibly!?!

[girlkisser13]

emily i’m sorry

"emily, forgive me, can we" "make it up as we go along?" "i'm twenty-seven and i don't know who i am" "but i know what i want"

pairings: emily prentiss x fem!reader

warnings/tags: angst with a bit of fluff at the end.

summary: you and emily find your way to each other.

returning to quantico was like stepping into a time capsule. the bau had always been a place of intensity, where minds were stretched to their limits and where you had once spent countless hours. but this time, walking through those familiar halls, you felt a different kind of pressure— the weight of seeing emily again after so many years apart.

the past had a way of creeping up on you, especially in a place like this, where every corner held memories. you had loved emily once, more than you thought possible. but in your pursuit of a career that demanded everything, you had made the impossible decision to walk away. it was mutual, or at least that’s what you both said at the time. there were no harsh words, no accusations— just two people who had to part ways for the sake of their futures.

yet standing here now, you couldn’t help but question that choice.

as you made your way into the bullpen, you were greeted by the team— a group of people you knew by reputation but had never worked with before. penelope garcia was the first to spot you, her eyes lighting up as she made her way over.

"you must be the new liaison!" she exclaimed, her voice as bright as her personality. "i’m penelope garcia, resident genius, and lover of all things tech."

you smiled, accepting the warm handshake. "y/n l/n, nice to meet you, garcia."

"please, call me penelope. we’re all friends here," she said with a wink before turning to the rest of the team. "everyone, meet our new liaison."

you exchanged handshakes and introductions with david rossi, spencer reid, aaron hotchner, and derek morgan. they were all friendly, professional, and welcoming. none of them knew your history with emily, and you weren’t sure if that made things easier or harder.

"prentiss is in her office," rossi mentioned, almost casually. "she’s probably buried in paperwork."

you nodded, trying to keep your expression neutral. "i’ll go introduce myself."

the walk to emily’s office felt longer than it should have, each step heavy with anticipation. you took a deep breath before knocking on the door, trying to steady your nerves.

"come in," came emily’s voice, slightly muffled by the door.

you pushed the door open and stepped inside, your heart skipping a beat as your eyes met hers. emily looked almost exactly as you remembered— poised, strong, with that keen, intelligent gaze that had always drawn you in. but when she saw you, her eyes widened in shock, and she froze, the file she was holding slipping from her fingers and landing on the desk.

"y/n?" her voice was soft, almost disbelieving.

"hey, emily," you said, your voice betraying a hint of the nervousness you felt. "it’s been a while."

she stared at you for a moment, as if trying to convince herself that you were really there. finally, she found her voice. "i didn’t know you were coming back."

"i’m the new liaison,” you explained, stepping further into the office. "i just met the team."

emily blinked, clearly trying to process this new information. "you’re taking jj’s position?"

"yeah," you confirmed. "it feels right. like coming home, in a way."

a long, tense silence stretched between you. the last time you had seen emily, you both had agreed to part ways. you needed to focus on your career, and she had understood. but standing here now, all those old feelings resurfaced, and you realized how much you had missed her.

"i didn’t think i’d see you again," emily finally said, her voice low and laced with emotion.

"neither did i," you admitted. "but life has a funny way of bringing you back to the things you thought you’d left behind."

emily studied you, her expression unreadable. "why did you come back?"

her question was simple, but it hit you like a ton of bricks. you had thought about this moment, about what you would say if you ever saw her again. now that it was here, the words felt heavy in your mouth.

"emily, i’m sorry," you began, your voice cracking slightly. "when we broke up, i thought i was doing the right thing. i thought i needed to focus on my career, and i convinced myself that it was for the best."

she listened, her eyes never leaving yours, but she didn’t say anything.

"i thought i was making the right choice," you continued, your voice filled with regret. "but after all this time, after everything i’ve done, i still don’t know who i am. the only thing i’m sure of is that i still love you. i never stopped."

emily looked down, her expression softening. "you left," she whispered, her voice carrying a weight of hurt. "you chose your career over us."

"i know," you replied, feeling a lump form in your throat. "and i'm sorry for that, more than you can imagine. i thought i was making the right choice, but i was wrong. i've spent all this time trying to figure out who i am, but the only thing i'm sure of is that i still love you."

her breath hitched slightly, and she finally looked up at you, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "you broke my heart, y/n," she said, her voice trembling.

"i know," you whispered, taking a cautious step closer. "and i’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you, if you’ll let me."

for a long moment, emily just looked at you, as if weighing your words. then, slowly, she stepped forward and pulled you into a tight embrace. the warmth of her arms around you, the familiar scent of her hair, it all came rushing back, and you held her close, never wanting to let go.

"i missed you," she murmured against your shoulder, her voice thick with emotion.

"i missed you too," you whispered back, relief flooding through you. "i’m not going anywhere this time, emily. i promise."

she pulled back slightly, just enough to look into your eyes. there was a hint of a smile on her lips, a glimmer of hope in her gaze.

"maybe we could… start over?" she suggested tentatively.

you smiled, your heart feeling lighter than it had in years. "i’d like that."

as you stood there, holding each other, you knew that this was where you were meant to be. not just in the bau, but with emily, in her arms, where you’d always belonged.

and this time, you weren’t going to let her go.

[castleofclouds]

ᴛᴏ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏʏꜱ ɪ'ᴠᴇ ᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅ Nct Dream Alternative Universe OT7.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅ pairings ; ot7 × reader (yn)

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅ disclaimer ; fiction, cursing, 18+ content, kms joke and many more.

Story are by © castleofclouds, do not copy or repost without watermark!

‧₊˚ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖‧₊˚ ⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖‧₊˚ ࣪﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪sumarry : your life was peaceful until your stupid friends start giving you ideas of making thread about ur exes, stirring a whole new problems for you, suddenly one by one of your past start running back to you and opening old books of you and them, how do you act in this situation?

genre : gotta be fluff! texts (sometimes smau) angsty, slowburn, romance, humor, mention of 18+ content.

tag : @bluedbliss, @luvandletter, @1daily2lele7,

To All The Boys I've Dated.

“I'm sorry, can we back to being friends?”

Friends? With Mark? Your first boyfriend in high school? Seems impossible right? You couldn't believe your ears when those words come out of his mouth, like your heart just suddenly stop, every beat was louder than the first, this isn't how you portrayed a valentine day supposed to ended, holding your box of chocolate behind your back, his eyes looking at you seeking for answer, your tears get the hold of you, befriending a guy you wish to stars walk you down the aisle? You couldn't say anything at first, you became stone, you wish you could just erase today traumatic events of your life and send it to void.

“We can't be friends Mark, not after everything.”

Mark Lee > Box Of Chocolate.

“I'm tired of you always picking a fight with me.”

That day was rainy, stormy night yet the two of you instead of sharing a good laugh and have a nice drive to your destination, both of you, Renjun and you, only argue for the whole drive back home, arguing about who is better than the other, anger get the best of him as he start raising his voices just like you do, arguing was nothing knew in your relationship, it wasn't supposed to be, the first 3 months was a blessing, both of you were very understanding of each other, very loving and caring but now? where's the love you search dearly? you swear you see Renjun speeding accros the yellow light, just like how your heart start to slowly flicker losing its feelings.

“Same as me Renjun, I can't continue doing this.”

Huang Renjun > Yellow Light.

“I don't like how you act right now.”

Lately, Jeno touch had been different, it's not pleasing, neither it's fun as the both of you used to do, everything he do seemed force, like he wasn't even supposed to touch you at all, you didn't feel the love, the need, as he used to give you, no more aftercare, no more smile and kisses after sex, none, Jeno is right next to you on the bed, his body faced you yet his eyes were busy at anything else than you, you felt cold to his touch, even your warm blanket felt freezing cold, there's no warmth, no more joys, like it used to be, there's only lust swirling around your body, like it was some sort of machine to fuck only.

“I'm sorry, I won't do it Jeno. Let's stop.”

Lee Jeno > Freezing Blanket.

“This isn't how you supposed to know, I'm sorry.”

You were shaking, you couldn't help but wanting to throw up, you want to just hit him up but you can't. his eyes, that luminous eyes looking at you pleading for your heart to forgives, Haechan lied again. Even after he promised he wouldn't yet here you were, you can't believe he could lie this much even starts to cover a lie with another lie? he was supposed to be your escapes through winter, he is your sun that shined, yet he rained on you again? This time caught kissing someone else? You stand on your ground, the people on the cafe eyed you with pity as you left room.

“I can't tolerate your lie anymore Hyuck, i'm done.”

Lee Donghyuk > Sun In Rain.

“I'm sorry princess, but I can't do this anymore.”

You knew for Jaemin you weren't the only one occupying his heart, heaven knows who stayed there the longest, you knew, you wasn't a choice, but an option, someone he called when in miss, someone he missed dearly, yet where do you stayed when you missed him too? Like some ghost with no soul, Your house was full, He was your home, however how can you stay in a house with two bedrooms? there's three people in here, too cramped. Even for you, you holds your phone close to your chest reading the chat message as you hit send.

“Fine, at least you finally admit it Jaemin, bye.”

Na Jaemin > House With Two Bedrooms.

“Sometimes things were better to let go. Baby..”

You were crying again, Chenle hold you close as he hugs you tight, like he would always do, you can't believe it, another relationship fell short, oddly, no fight, no argument, no lies, yet it still ended, the amount of drink get the best of you, Whiskey really messing your sight, you saw the glass are half empty still you already drunk, he keeps reassuring you in his arms, telling how it wasn't your fault, both of you had your times, like almost will never be enough and times had ticked off, the club light so dim as you close your eyes, letting your feeling pour out, knowing tomorrow he isn't going to be here anymore, He isn't yours anymore.

“I'm sorry Chenle, if only time were much kinder..”

Zhong Chenle > Half-Finished Glass Of Whiskey

“I can't believe you did it, again? This hurts A lot.”

You failed him again. Another failed attempt to get Jisung forgiveness, he saw you with another man, like God just decided to mess with your life and make the man of your life standing not far behind you, in the quiet library where only books can talks, if he could scream, he would, but he keep quiet, you swear you see it, your body just goes limp, as his eyes were wet, tears running down his cheeks, his eyes became empty, is this the time where your chances of being happy with him gonna last? How can you continue your life without him, even your plea echo wasn't enough for him to change his minds.

“Jisung, I'm sorry for everything that I've done.”

Park Jisung > Talking Books.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄┈┈--ˋˏ✄┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄

Masterlist ; Back to Main?

From here! Profile 1 , 2 , 3 .

1. Better Run.

2. 20 Dollars.

3. Jar Of Cookies.

4. Picture Frame.

5. Space In Between.

6. Read The Room.

7. Romcom Drama.

8.

9.

Tba!!!

Secret Route ; Truth To Be Told, I Missed You (Spin-Off) [Coming Soon]

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄┈┈--ˋˏ✄┈┈┈-ˋˏ✄

A/N : I feel sick in my stomach from reading this, gosh I hate angst. Trust me. If there is any body who hates angst in this world it's me, I hated it, gosh I feel so sorry for Chenle tho, like how can I do my baby like that, and JISUNG?! I'm sorry baby, I love you, pretty sure gonna get killed making Jaemin into the bad guy and Haechan too? Gosh. Anybody would love to be in the tag?? Just comment your Usn gonna add them to the list later <3 p. s just to make sure I put 18+ I'm not sure if this story even will have those but let see. I can't write smut for shit. Btw finally a seriess!!

[f4iry-bell]

Stained shirt and two seats for one | part 2

mostly written from graysons pov, from next part it'll from readers pov AND ive decided a name!!! it's Arya!!!! she looks just like you.

← previous part

It has been exactly two days since Grayson landed in London to meet his half sisters. He loved both of his sisters dearly but Grayson Hawthorne is a man who needs some time alone with himself sometimes. He did not care about what people would think, he was too busy to care about how they view him for the things he does. Things like dining alone in a fancy restaurant. And when he is alone, he doesn't just eat and relax, he thinks about his work, he has been working alongside with his aunt in the Hawthorne Foundation and in Hannah, same as forward as backwards. Even though his grandfather has cut him and his brothers off his fortune, Grayson managed to make enough and more money by investing.

Once he was done with his food he was looking at a few paperworks, something that you'd find a person doing in a cafe not at a fancy restaurant. Finally he decided to call the waiter to get the bill but that's when something caught his eyes. Someone across his table, with very familiar wavy hair. That girl. She looked different from the last time he saw her, she was wearing a white shirt layered with a black vest, he couldn't see her bottoms as it was hidden under the table, her hair was pretty much the same except it was neatly done. There was a hint of makeup as well. She was sitting on the table not 8 feet far away from him with someone, a guy. A date? boyfriend? 

Has she been here the whole time? His first thought was that she was stalking Grayson but he erased that thought when he saw her with some random guy and having a serious and professional conversation with the guy. She was using her iPad to show him something, Grayson can't tell what was on the screen but he could see there was a lot of writing. He watched her talk to this unknown guy for a while until the waiter asked him if he was ready to pay. Grayson ordered a cup of coffee and watched her again. He observed her movements, he noticed she speaks while using a lot of hand movements and has a very expressive face, the way her eyes widened every now and then, he even tried to read her lips. He told himself that was the only reason his eyes wandered to her lips.

Finally the guy stood up and shook her hand before leaving the restaurant. Grayson watched her as she did something on her iPad and then kept it inside her bag, his heart skipped a beat when her eyes left her bag and directly met him. She was just as shocked as Grayson when he noticed her presence. And she saw him while he was looking at her, she must think he was a creep, Grayson expected her to scrunch her face in disgust but instead she gave him a closed mouthed smile and a weak wave. Grayson looked back to make sure she was waving at him even though he was 99% sure that she was waving at him. 

With no choice, he waved back. That was how their interaction should have ended but it did not. Just a wave because after all they are still strangers. He doesn't even know her name. Maybe he should ask her name, but why? His legs started moving on its own, something was pulling him towards her table, it was like a magnetic force. 

He was grateful that she spoke first. “Hi.” it was all she said.

“I see you've managed to change to a cleaner attire” He comments.

“I did.” It was a bit awkward. Neither of them knew what to say. “I’m Arya.” So that's her name. Arya. If she is giving him her name, it means she wants to know him, right? 

“Grayson” His tone was neutral yet again, impossible to read.

“If this was our first time meeting, I'd say ‘nice to meet you’ but giving our previous encounter…” She said in a joking manner.

“Once again I'm sorry about that. May I ask, what are you doing here? London is a big city, is it a coincidence that we are seeing eachother again?” He asked. Hoping that it didn't sound weird. 

“Well I had a meeting with a client of mine. Are you suggesting that I'm stalking you?” She asked, he looked for offence in her face but he only found a surprised smile.

“No. I mean, no.” He was quick with his words. “Client? So you're here for work, I see” He quickly changed the topic. 

“Mhmm. What about you?” She asked, dropping the previous topic.

“Family.” Was all he said. 

“That's nice,” She said. There it was the awkward silence yet again. He was still standing.

“What do you do? For work?” He asked out of curiosity and immediately regretted it. She looked like she was ready to leave and he is keeping her here.

“Public relations.” She answers. “Why don't you have a seat?” She motioned towards the seat in front of her. He hesitated but sat anyway. He told himself that he was only engaging in this conversation because he is curious about her.

“That is interesting. You must be good with words.” He told her.

She chuckled, “I’m not that good, giving that I started like 9 months ago” 

“Just 9 months ago? So you got the job as soon as you finished your studies?” He asked with a frown, she looks young she must have just gotten out of university.

“I did an internship last year. For like three agencies.” She said.

“Three? You must really like this field then, at what place are you in now? at your job? ” He asked.

“I'm definitely not the manager given my years of experience, I work with a team. What work do you do?” She asked.

“Family business.” He said and immediately switched back to her life “So where is your team?” He asked.

“In Singapore. Our client wasn't able to make it back to Singapore because of some personal reasons. So one of us had to come here and clear things up.” She told him.

Grayson leaned back “Then you must be really good at what you do”

“Maybe” She shrugged.

There was a moment of silence. “Am I keeping you from something? I'm sorry, you were about to leave” Grayson asked.

“No, it's fine. I actually have nothing to do. My meeting with the client is over. If you weren't here, I would just go back to my hotel and sleep because I'm leaving London tomorrow early in the morning.” She chuckled.

She's leaving that soon?

“Why not explore?” He asked. 

“I didn't think I'd have time, so I didn't prepare what to explore,” She replied.

“This is your first time in London, right?” He asked. 

“Yep”

“And you would like to explore?”

“Yes”

“Then you should let me take you exploring” He offered “I'm a good tour guide.”

She smiled and nodded.

Like he said, he was indeed a good guide, he explained things with its  history. He mostly took her to posh places that he has been, Arya already knew he is rich from his looks, but the places he took her showed her that he is filthy rich. Grayson almost forgot that he was in London to see his sisters and not tour guiding a pretty girl. He actually enjoyed her company. She was polite, humble and even funny in her own way. They talked a lot, mostly about her, Grayson was interested in her before but learning more about her only kept him fascinated. 

There was a feeling that nagged him when it was time for her to get back to her hotel. He dropped her off at her hotel. 

He will never see her again.

next part →

[inkywarden]

This is a long one (fr sorry in advance) but it seems I can't quite put this out of my mind. I've never really listened to One Direction, even if I as a now 32 year old, probably was in the main target audience. I never got the hype, or much more likely, I never attempted to get the hype. I remember seeing them everywhere, and since I do have eyes, I noticed they were good looking boys. I also remember (silently mind you, I was much too edgy for 1D at this point) quickly finding my fav. He looked kind, he had a nice laugh and kind eyes. He was gorgeous, with the kind of smile I fear I will never see again. Tbh I have gone until last week without listening to, or even thinking much about 1d since. I do remember him though, Liam. I've seen him in the news, on social media, and again since I do have eyes, I noticed how the boy with the beautiful smile turned in to a very, very (like extremly??? hello?) handsome man. A man who still had the most genuine, contagious smile. A smile that always spread to his eyes. That was pretty much it for my knowledge of this band, and this man, until last week.

I saw it in the news, and it made no sense to me. How did we go from there to here? I felt.. something, still unsure what exactly. I later saw my old university post a memorial type post about him on facebook. My old university being the University of Wolverhampton, where I graduated as an illustrator in 2015. That's two things, two coincidences that weirdly made me feel more connected to this stranger. The unexplained, undefined feelings I was having suddenly felt heavier. This is when I hyperfixated and consumed just about everything there is to consume about this band, and this man. I'm still not a 1D fan, but I can now, after all these years say I get it. I've seen and read so much about this man and his life now, ups and downs. In the end, tragically, it seemed to be most of the latter in later years.

Most notably, and this actually broke my heart, I noticed how that genuine, beautiful smile that used to spread across his entire face, at some point stopped reaching his eyes. This is sad, it is tragic, and it is infuriating.

The time leading up to, and the aftermath both - the takes i'm seeing out here is wild and lacking in nuance. It feels like everything always is weighed in extremes, and it is neither fair or realistic. I dont know if I feel this way due to my own personal experiences and struggles with mental health, substance and/or alcohol abuse, or if its because this is the field I am soon graduating (career change dw) to work in, and I see many of these issues close up daily. These issues are things I would argue always goes hand in hand, and it is a never a choice one makes. It is a disease. I will never have anything in common with internet people today, and I will never understand this. Whatever the reasons. I will not speculate further. What I choose to believe in and live by is whatever the circumstance, people suffering from these issues deserve some grace. It is hard, constantly, and every day. No one chooses to stay in this illness, and even if they do manage to get out, it is almost impossible to stay out.

Whatever people have done, that is still just an aspect of a whole. A single line on a piece of paper, a small piece of a bigger, much more complex picture. We are more than the worst thing we have ever done. I have to believe this, both for my own sake and for the sake of others. Life is not black and white, it exists in shades of grey.

I am confused about the range of feelings i've experienced over this, and I'm still unsure why I'm affected to this degree but here we are.

I am sad, I am frustrated, I am disappointed and I am angry. Most of all my heart breaks for Liam, who never got the chance to get better, heal, and find his smile again. I also feel actual despair at the thought of this man, that young boy, passing away thinking the world hates him. There's no fixing that now. He is gone. Please, I beg you to be kinder next time. Show some compassion. Give some grace, be kind or at the very least be quiet.

I'm not even sure why I felt the need to post this, as I mentioned before I never had a horse in this race. The only opinion I ever settled on before this last week was that if I, in an alternate universe was a Directioner, I would be a Liam girly. It appears, after all these years, I still am. I dont know what comes when life ends, but I hope you find your smile again. Whatever else, you deserved so much more than this. You were a complex piece, but still so, so beautiful.

You meant so much to so many, and I wish you could have known that in the end.

Rest in peace, Liam. 🎤🎨💙

[saintsenara]

an ask from @spacecadette on this game has, i regret to say, made me go feral... the rest of the answers to your questions are coming in the queue but let's dive into the one i thought deserved its own post:

say something about your ships that you want to say!

so... a musing on the five couples i said i'd play this ask game with - and then, for additional fun, some i didn't - on a crucial question:

are they barbie people or oppenheimer people?

answers under the cut:

bellamort: lord voldemort was definitely not traumatised by the second world war and it's ridiculous to suggest otherwise. they're seeing oppenheimer, and bella only has to hold his hand for about half of it.

riddledore: barbie. absolutely no doubt about it.

snack: they were going to go and see oppenheimer but they had an argument which culminated in them fucking over the kitchen table and missed the showing.

snapemort: they do the double, because it's important to be thorough, and they only have three or four arguments on which film to see first.

tomarry: front of the line for barbie. each of them thinks the other is the ken in their relationship.

-

barty crouch jr/voldemort: oppenheimer.

deamus: dean was the art director for barbie. they're at the premiere. seamus reports back to anyone who'll listen that ryan gosling is an angel.

dramione: they do the double. draco thinks both films are about the dangers of mixing with muggles. they break up for the sixth time that month.

drarry: barbie. draco is assumed to be in costume by the staff at the cinema.

dron: they're both hooked on the fourth test and don't leave the house for four days.

fleurmione: omar el zohairy's feathers, followed by barbie.

flonks: barbie, but they spent the entire time making out.

grindeldore: oppenheimer, obviously.

harmony: are a terrible couple who loathe spending time with each other. oppenheimer.

hinny: barbie. james announces, furiously, that this means he can never go to see it now, because harry loved it so much.

jegulus: i don't know her, sorry.

jily: the vhs of when harry met sally they've had since 1991.

linny: indiana jones, which luna thinks is a documentary.

lucissa: 'we've never heard of a cinema and the implication that you saw us watching gentlemen prefer blondes at the curzon last friday is insulting.'

marge dursley/dolores umbridge: neither, they're at a dog show.

minerva mcgonagall/wilhelmina grubby-plank: they're still recovering at their house on mull from the reeling at filius' wedding.

pavender: do you even need to ask?

poppy pomfrey/pomona sprout: barbie.

prongsfoot: mission impossible.

remadora: they do the double, see barbie first, love it, get bored halfway through oppenheimer, get arrested for public indecency.

romione: initially attempting to be cerebral, they go to see asteroid city, despite the fact that ron truly does not fuck with wes anderson. they come back the next day, bicker over popcorn choices, see barbie, and have a wonderful time.

ronarry: barbie, in matching hot pink tracksuits.

scorbus: they were going to see barbie. they forgot.

snarry: severus mysteriously has potions which need finishing whenever there's a showing of either.

snily: after some spectacular arguing, they do the double, oppenheimer first. severus pretends he didn't like barbie more.

snucius: la traviata at the royal opera house, barbie - separately - the following day.

taco: barbie. in this case both draco and tom understand inherently that draco is the ken.

tombraxas: barbie. abraxas thinks the costuming is exquisite. tom just thinks it's nice the colour saturation means you can see the film.

wolfstar: they are on holiday over opening weekend. they see barbie in spanish. remus cries.

[chae-m30wz]

It’s too Fucking Late for this…

𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟 (ᯓᡣ𐭩) 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐈𝐝𝐨𝐥!𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·

..#｡𖦹°‧𝐀/𝐍: 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅.ᐟ.ᐟ

· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.ᐟ: 𝑪𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈

It was 12:43AM when Momo showed up to your dorm repeatedly knocking on the door. Groggily, you climbed out of bed to find out who in their fucking mind would be knocking on your door this late. You can’t say you were surprised to find out that it was Momo though. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s shown up late for some stupid reason.

Tonight’s reason however, was to go to some abandoned construction site. ‘It’ll be fun! We can see if we find a ghost!’ She’d said. You didn’t know what had gotten into her when she mentioned it. Momo wasn’t the type to like scary things anyways. That was more of your thing than hers really. Still, you accompanied her to this construction site not wanting to leave her alone.

The two of you stood at the entrance awkwardly staring for a few minutes; looking at the building and back at each other.

“Are we meant to be in here?”

“Given the alarming number of warning signs, I highly doubt it. It’s okay though! Come on N/N!!” Your best friend called out before she finally made the first move to go in.

You had no choice but to follow along. It was already too late to turn back anyways. You ran along behind Momo nearly tripping on a hidden concrete slab on the ground. The little moonlight making it barely visible. Momo suddenly stopped in front of what looked like it could have been a door, but was never finished. She didn’t turn around. She didn’t move. She didn’t speak. She simply stared into the distance blankly. It left you confused and yet you didn’t say anything. You only stood next to her trying to figure out what she was looking at, but you gave up, growing impatient.

Hesitantly, you whispered, “Momo?”

No response. Instead, she slowly turned around, her blank gaze now directed at you. You were creeped out at this point. What the fuck. You thought.

“BOO!” She exclaimed successfully scaring you.

“UGH are you fucking serious Momo!? You actually had me worried. Jesus, I swear you were like possessed for a moment, god damn.”

She burst out laughing thinking your reaction was the funniest thing in the world. She found your sudden annoyance amusing, so of course she couldn’t take you seriously. Your eyes however, rolled at her stupid antics as your arms subconsciously crossed.

“Awww you worry about me? That’s a first” Momo taunted.

“Literally shut up, oh my god,” You groaned. A smile slightly tugging at your lips.

Both of you continued to bicker as the two of you walked around the half-completed building. It was dark and dusty. The only light available being the flash on Momo’s phone. Graffiti littered the slightly torn walls leaving messages like ‘TURN BACK’ or ‘____ WAS HERE’. Nothing too surprising; it was probably some dumb teenagers like you guys anyways.

Being here with Momo was pretty fun, you weren’t gonna lie. It was nice to spend some time with her outside of school. You often thought about what life would be like if Momo wasn’t your best friend. It was impossible to picture. So, ‘where would you be without her?’ You thought. But it was interrupted. You and Momo stopped in your tracks abruptly after hearing a loud scratching noise not too far away from where you guys were. Like nails on a chalkboard. Panic struck. The noise getting closer little by little. Instinctively, Momo grabbed your hand and bolted. Where to? Neither of you knew. Hell, you guys had been walking for hours. The entrance was nowhere to be found now. Momo dragged you back to where she first scared you. There was a staircase near the door, so up you two went as fast as your legs could carry. It led to the roof of the building. Quite literally a dead end.

“Shit shit shit. Okay we’re gonna die. OH MY GOD WE’RE GONNA DIE. Y/N I’m so so sorry for dragging you out here. I just thought that you’d might have fun since you’re into these kinds of things, you know? I just like wanted to spend time with you doing something you like, you know? And uh, I uhm, I like you? I don’t know? I didn’t even plan to tell you or anything, BUT OH MY FUCKING GOD WE’RE GONNA DIE SO LIKE I GUESS I MIGHT AS WELL”

You chuckled, forgetting about the noise for a second. Your lips parted to say something in return until you remembered the noise again. It was closer than before. Louder than before. Both your guys' eyes turned to the door horrified for what you might see. Hands trembling. Eyes tearing up. Nothing, but pure fear consuming your souls. You were shaking at Momo’s side, but the noise came to a halt? Out stepped a small four-legged creature. Its eyes big with curiosity as it sat down tilting its head at the both of you.

“Ain’t no way…” You mumbled.

“IT WAS A FUCKING CAT!?”Momo shrieked.

“You know what? After what I just said, Imma just walk off the roof at this point. Ciao!” She spoke again, getting up and walking towards the edge.

A small giggle escaped your lips as you grabbed her by the hood of her white dinosaur hoodie. You pulled her a few feet back wrapping your arms around her waist.

“You said you liked me?” You snickered, this time, taunting her.

“Shut up.”

“Hmmm, I like you would have been a better response.”

She hummed, pausing for a second. “I love you Y/N-ah”

“Ah, see? That’s much much better. I love you too Momorinnn”

“Imagine confessing because you’re scared though. Couldn’t be me.”

“LITERALLY CHOKE AND DIE”

[samijey]

I always wonder about Roman's sudden turn on Sami. Like we know, it was about Roman's paranoia, but I always wonder if it was about Sami/Jeys bond too. Like Roman seemed almost DELIGHTED that Jey didn't like or trust Sami and rubbed Jeys face in the fact that Sami was sticking around. The t-shirt segment, having Sami watch Jey, etc. Like he loved abusing Jey, but at the same time, Jey was clearly his favorite, so the game wasn't fun anymore, and now Jey was happy and paying attention to someone else.

Honestly thats something they really glossed over with this SS match. They made it more about Jimmy, the family and Roman and less about Jey and what Roman did to HIM personally and its probably because it would make the story TOO powerful and we can't have that when they are trying to FF to their new toy.

Seriously, it was ALWAYS about messing with Jey as much as it was about constantly questioning and humiliating Sami - it was a 2 for 1 special and Roman had way too much fun tormenting Jey while at the same time keeping Sami on that edge between acceptance and rejection. But oops, guess what! Sami managed to work his way through the walls Jey put around himself and now they love each other??? Suddenly Jey is ecstatic about having Sami join the family for real??? Time to dash both their hopes by using Kevin as a scapegoat! Oh, what's that??? It didn't work and they're closer than ever?? Time to put Sami on trial! Oh shit, Jey defended him with really solid arguments while having actual tears in his eyes and I had no choice but to find Sami not guilty??? Time to set up a fucked up "test" for Sami at the Rumble!!

This version of Roman was always in the impossible situation of wanting to be loved BUT feared at the same time - a balance that is impossible to achieve without manipulation. He clearly enjoyed having Sami around acknowledging him, taking kicks to the face for him, and trying to prove himself at all times while Roman never quiiiiite really gave him the full validation he wanted. The fact that he was an annoyance to Jey was also a nice bonus.

After WarGames though? When he realized that after fighting it for so long, Jey ended up becoming the biggest Sami fan in the group? When Roman saw neither of them were as focused on respecting/fearing him as they usually were because that was now a burden they were sharing instead of taking on individually? Roman SAW Jey stick his neck out for Sami at the trial - he KNEW Sami disobeyed him the very next week when he showed up on Smackdown to meet Jey in the parking lot and then AGAIN when Roman confronted Sami about it, Jey jumped to defend him again.

His two favorite victims now had a close bond and had become more fearless than ever because of it, disobeying him out in the open and getting away with it because they were now protecting each other and that was NOT something Roman was ever going to allow ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[savi-of-ithaca]

Answer these

🐰- do you believe in soul mates?

💌- diary or journal?

✨- which fictional character (book, show, or movie) do you relate to most?

💕- are you crushing on someone?

💋- kissing in the dark or kissing in the rain?

🐝- describe your aesthetic in emojis

🍼- what is your favorite memory?

🌸- what is your favorite flower?

💖- have you ever been in love?

🍰- strawberry or vanilla?

🍯- describe your favorite smell

🎂- if you had 3 wishes, what would they be?

🍪- cookie dough or cookies?

☕- coffee or tea?

🍃- would you rather live in a sea with mermaids or a forest with fairies?

🍂- what’s your middle name?

💫- what is your sun, moon, and rising sign?

🌧️- favorite thing to do on rainy days?

🍭- how tall are you?

💒- which show would you want to live in?

🎄- what is your favorite holiday?

🍦- what scented candle is your favorite?

🎶- favorite song right now?

💘- 3 ways to win your heart?

🍩- current mood?

❄️- what is your favorite season?

💍- your current relationship status?

📷- a photo of yourself

💅🏻- do you like being spoiled?

🕊️- 3 habits you have?

🦄- how do you perceive yourself?

🦋- how do you think others perceive you?

🌈- things I find attractive in girls/guys

🍓- one secret about yourself

🍒- how do you act when you have a crush?

💔- the reason behind your last breakup?

💬- what your last text message says?

🎥- what show are you currently binging on?

⛅- what is your morning routine?

💗- who do you miss?

🥀- last time you cried?

🎁- when is your birthday?

🔪- scariest/creepiest experience?

🐰- nope! but i do believe in finding people that you just click with and get along with well, with whom all ghe effort you put it into the reltionship is returned and feels worthwhile

💌 - uhhhhh genuinely. do not. know the difference but i guess diary, because everything i do document is accompanied with my own feelings and opinions on the matter

✨ - once you have consumed enough media....it is impossible to choose. charlie spring? nick nelson? charles rowland? the cat king? edwin payne?? kaveh from the hit anime roleplaying videogame genshin impact??? who knows

💕 - do i ever know really

💋 - both don't seem nice, really, because while i think kissing in the rain is more romantic (sigh nick and charlie) I HAVE SENSITIVE EYES. SO REALLY I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO SEE IN EITHER SITUATION

🐝 - 🛌🐕🎮📸🎧📜🏳️‍🌈🏚️...does this. does this work. is this plausible.

🍼 - i have so many and so few at the same time i never can choose favourites it's so hard there are so many good options. choosing favourites suck i cannot for the life of me ever figure it out because HOW. it's not constant, it's based off of current mood, and it could be so easily held against you later!

🌸 - roses. it's boring, it's common, but i would use the word classic. it's a classic, it's romance, it's spilled blood, it's a classic. it's my love of literature in flower form

💖 - yes

🍰 - realllly depends on my mood. sorry choices confound me sometimes strawberry can be overwhelming so vanilla rn

🍯- i have a cold. i have no sense of smell. i crave the smell of garlic and cheese. BECAUSE I CANNOT SMELL THEM RIGHT NOW (no favourite choosing)

🎂 - first, i would wish that the genie wouldn't find any strange loopholes to my wishes and would execute them exactly as i intended them to be. then, i'd wish that noone ever had to struggle just to survive again, that all their basic needs would be met. then maybe it's selfish but i'd wish that me and the people i love all got whatever reasonable things we wanted from life, so that we live happy

🍪 - the thought of cookie dough is making me queasy so cookies it is

☕ - i drink neither but coffee if i had to choose

🍃- there is no indication that i would be a mermaid or fairy aswell so forest. i wouldn't enjoy it and fairies scare me a bit but long time spent in water is not good for the savi

🍂 - gay. no i'm kidding i don't have one but i would like for it to be charles

💫 - hold on let me just google that

...capricorn?? cancer? aquarius??

🌧️ - either go out to swing at the park in the rain with my jacket on or stay in snyggled with a nice tv show and something to do or a good book

🍭 - i'm 161 cm

💒 - ohh. aughh. realistically, definitely heartstopper. maybe dbda if i got to be friends with edwin and charles

🎄 - probably halloween! i love seeing people all dressed up it's the best even if i cannot do it myself

🍦- i cannot even imagine the smell of anything because of my cold. not that i'm rather invested in scented candles anyway BUT I HAVE THIS ONE CANDLE it looks like a mug full of beer and it's very cool

🎶 - rises the moon by liana flores. very comforting

💘 - uhmm, maybe just be yourself. i like people that have no problem sharing their interests no matter how wacky or strange they seem. be understanding, because i ask a lot of questions and sometimes struggle to understand social thingamajigs?? and uhm be patient with me because i have bad days sometimes and a friend that isn't bothered by it really helps

🍩 - cold, sick and slightly anxious like the time is slipping out of my fingers

❄️ - maybe monsoon, or autumn. i love rain, and the feelings where its cold but not freezing

💍- hi i'm silly single savi and that is amazing alliteration

📷 - enjoy

💅 - i like...things? but i don't ask for much

🕊️- i fidget a lot including cracking my knuckles repeatedly or flapping my hands around especially under suspense and i do this thing where i play out the piano intro of sad by bo burnham but on random surfaces. i also regularly forget what i am thinking about or doing but i dont think thats a habit

🦄 - see: the picture above

🦋 - see: the picture above but with more failure and tiredness

🌈 - smiles. i live seeing people smile pr make others smile

🍓 - whenever my mother would yell some terrible thing at me i would go to her room and choose one lipstick, roll it out and smush it by putting the cap back on. slowly i managed to do these to all of them. no waste but made it very difficult for her to use. inconvenience is power

🍒 - i look forward to spending as much time as possible the the person, and try to make it known that i enjoy being around them, and i joke around a lot more, but i am also like that generally with friends so it would be difficult to tell. either ways i haven't had many crushes

💔 - blackmail from homophobic people

🗨️ - uhhhh.

"NO NOT THAT ANYTHING BUT THAT NOT THE PENIS THATS A CRIME YOURE A THIEF"

🎥 - house md. hatecrimes md. malpractice md.

⛅ - get out of bed and suffer

💗 - everyone i love all the time where are you what are you doing i need to spend more time with you in a way that doesn't drain me has someone invented that yet

🥀 - uhh tuesday, i felt so sick and so tired and so overstimulated i just couldn't

🎁 - january 19th

🔪 - my neighbour SA'd a girl and we found out recently? i got harrassed on the metro? just a lot of weirdos i can't remember much else atm

wow that was a doozy this is technically a good intro post

[someillplanetreigns]

Ending thoughts for @sheliesshattered​ and anyone else interested!

Look, it devastated me. And I think that was sort of the point and I do credit them for that - it was almost an impossible task to end a series like this well, and I think coherent and bittersweet were reasonable things to aim for that they attained. That said, here are some more detailed thoughts:

I want Regina to be happy almost as much as Claudia does, and I’m kind of devastated that within the origin world, where she could still have ended up with Aleksander/Boris and still had Bartosz, because neither of them were tied into the Knot in a way that would prevent their existence, she doesn’t get that. I kind of refuse to believe that doesn’t happen, even though everything suggests things play out differently. As we all know I cannot get over the absurdness of Regina and Aleksander’s whole relationship, absolutely love it, and Bartosz is my precious precious baby boy and I just want him to be happy, let him have hugs in the origin world!!

Also very ‘errm...’ about Claudia ending up with Bernd? Like very happy to accept that he is Regina’s dad, but I just can’t see Claudia and Bernd together, I would have kind of preferred it if she’d single mummed it out again, that seemed more in character imo?

I do get choked up every time I think about Peter and Bernadette at the dinner party, and I am so glad they both seem to have gotten to have a really nice life because I want that so much for both of them (also I felt like it clarified silently that Peter wasn’t cheating on Charlotte because he’s not into women, because Berndatte is a woman [though for the love of god can we please stop casting cis men to play trans women!!!], he actually just... wasn’t super happy in the marriage to Charlotte, even though he did love her and very much loved their kids, and would have quite liked to be with Bernadette if they could have just communicated that and made it work).

On a macro level though... It hurts so much to have all of these characters who we cared about through three seasons erased, never to have existed. I get sad every time I think about it.

Less about the show and more about my reaction to it, I interestingly often then think about the awful things that happen in Adam and Eva’s timelines, and think, ‘well, at least that never happened, at least no one had to endure that’... But I’m slightly existentially uncomfortable with the conclusion that the only way to get away from that is for everyone to have never gotten to live at all. THAT SAID, it’s a time-travel narrative! I don’t think applying that kind of... moralistic framework, if it can be called that (maybe I’m being overly harsh on myself Idk), really works in that narrative structure, because it’s always inherent to the structure. If that makes any kind of sense?

I don’t know exactly what I would want a fix-it on my terms to look like. That’s not what I’m writing right now (well, a sort of... partial fix-it? A ‘I can only fix this one little thing but by god I’m doing it!’), though I might be interested if I can get some marathon power into the sprint I’m having right now. I’d just like all those characters who we met and loved in the first few episodes to have happy lives!

So I guess my conclusion is... I was heartbroken, but I credit it as a creative choice? That was a looong response sorry, thank you for reading!!

It's a bit wild seeing you get into Dark. I watched it a few years ago and at this point couldn't give more than the most general high-level description of it, but the gifsets you're reblogging are shaking loose my memories of it. It's been a fun reminder of the show!

Have you finished it yet, btw? I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on the ending. And if you're looking for a show to fill the void once you've watched all of Dark, I highly recommend the SyFy series version of 12 Monkeys (tho I think it's on Hulu now). It's got a few thematic similarities and really tight storytelling, I love it for a lot of the same reasons I enjoyed Dark. The movie Coherence might be another one to look up once you finish Dark. :D

Haha I'm glad you've enjoyed re-living it vicariously through my new obsession! I got into it because I watched 1899, loved it, was devastated by the cancellation, and was thinking about checking out Dark for a Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese actually concluded arc to hopefully soothe my soul. And then my housemate (who is German) told me she prefers Dark and I would love it and should watch it, and suddenly everyone was telling me that so here I am.

I started it before I had to isolate, but finished it whilst having Covid, so I think that's affected how much this has become a Fully Consumed By Blorbo Thoughts thing. I kind of know that once I no longer have to quarantine, it's going to move into a more balanced 'this show is spectacularly made and I love it and will always want to talk about it and reblog the content', but I probably won't be Consumed in the way I am now (if not least because I'll have a lot of other stuff to do!) so I'm frantically trying to write this fic whilst The Urge Is Upon Me haha.

I remember watching the film of 12 Monkeys yeeeeaaars ago, should definitely check out the TV show! And I'd not heard of Coherence, thanks!

All this to say, yes I have finished Dark, and I will do a separate reblog with my thoughts in a read more so I don't bother anyone else with spoilers (all of you need to watch Dark!!)

[holdmecloser-gandydancer]

@taznovembercelebration (start new or repeat)

Lup finds herself in a vast, white space. It feels utterly unfamiliar and like she's always been here, as though she's known nothing but this white space. Slowly, things begin to take shape in front of her; lush crimson curtains begin draping themselves along the wall and she feels her chest tighten.

Almost as if they sensed this, the vibrant hue fades into an iridescent white, somehow softening the starkness of the room. An impossibly large table manifests and Lup idly wonders just how large the trees required to craft something so fine must have been.

And then she hears two sounds; one, the flap of what must be several large flocks of even larger birds, is instantly familiar to her. The other, the sound of metal occasionally clicking together, is less familiar.

She finds herself now standing on a dais in front of the table; it manages to bring her up to eye level with the two figures now in front of her.

"Um. Hello, My Lady," she nods politely towards the Raven Queen. "And hello, Lady Istus. It's nice to finally meet you. Properly, that is."

HELLO MY CHILD, the Raven Queen says, APOLOGIES FOR THE ABRUPT MEETING.

hello lup. i have heard so much about about you. seen so many things. truly, it is an honor to meet you. Istus says. Her voice is such a calming presence in her mind.

"Forgive me, at the risk of sounding rude, what exactly is this?"

There's a pause as the two goddesses in front of Lup regard each other. The Raven Queen gives a small nod and a few feathers go floating down. Istus nods in return and sets her knitting down on the table for a moment.

WE HAVE AN OFFER FOR YOU, MY CHILD.

you see, my dear, the scale of time you find yourself living on is impossibly vast. few individuals have to reckon with the concept of eternity.

WEAKER MINDS THAN YOURS HAVE SUCCUMBED TO THE UNENDING MARCH OF TIME, FOREVER UNRAVELING BEFORE THEM LIKE A WELL LOVED SWEATER.

Lup looks between them and cocks her head. "Is this still about the lich thing?"

it is kind of about the lich thing, yes. you see, you and your dear husband are doing incredible work as Reapers for the Raven Queen.

BUT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING SO FOR SO LONG NOW.

This gives Lup pause. True, she and Barry joined the retinue many years back but certainly not that long ago. But as she counts just how many birthdays she has spent celebrating only with Barry and Kravitz, both time and grief feel as though they've sucked all the air out of the room.

THERE'S A DULL ACHE IN YOUR CHEST, MY CHILD.

there has been this ache for years. countless years. your heart still beats for those who have had to move on.

TO JOIN THE SOUP, AS ONE USED TO SAY.

Lup smiles a little sadly. She misses so terribly joking with him about pushing him into the soup. She still jokes with Barry and Kravitz about pushing them into the soup but the empty threat isn't as funny as it used to be.

so, we are giving you a choice.

YOU COULD JOIN THIS PANTHEON AND START A TRULY NEW LIFE. THE ACHES AND EMPTINESS WILL BE SENT AWAY. A SEAT COULD OPEN FOR YOU, LUP. YOU COULD HAVE DOMAIN OVER LOVE, LOSS, AND FORGIVENESS.

"Or?" She asks quietly. This makes her stomach churn and her head feel as though it could split wide open.

or the cycle repeats and you try again. neither of us are in the business of giving special treatment, dear, but you already know that your family has been a special case. if you do decide to try again, you must know that there are certain immutable facets of your life that are so bound to you that they may never change. small things here and there may change, perhaps you will receive the short end of the allergy stick between you and your brother but these events that make you you will remain.

YOU WILL FIGHT AND YOU WILL LOVE AND YOU WILL LOSE AND BE THE LOSS. BUT YOU WILL WIN AGAIN. YOU MUST SIMPLY ENDURE IT ALL AGAIN.

"Would I remember anything from this life?"

small flashes here and there. sometimes deja vu so powerful it feels like a wave crashing into you at a beach. but your day to day will be as though you've lived it for the first time.

"What happens to everyone else if I choose?" Her mind is racing and she's trying to parse precisely what this all means.

WORRY NOT, CHILD. YOUR CHOICE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.

"Is Barry also getting a choice right now? Because I'm not going anywhere without him."

it's funny. he said the same thing about you. again, the choice is yours and yours alone.

"So I'll still be me. I'll still be on the Starblaster and the Hunger will still destroy our home. And I'll still fall in love with Barry and become a lich. And we'll still all create the relics and I'll still be stuck in the staff for a decade. And Lucy will still erase me from existence. Am I getting this all?"

THAT IS CORRECT.

"But. We'll win again?"

in the life you all have made for yourself, in the loyalties you make and break and reforge, there is not a path where you lose.

"Okay. Okay. So either I become a god or I live this same life again?"

YES.

She nods and weighs her options for what seems like millenia. For all she knows it could be.

"Okay. Let's do it again."

ARE YOU CERTAIN?

She nods again. "Absolutely. Godhood isn't for me, I don't think. But life? My family? That is."

There's another pause as the goddesses regarding each other. She swears she can feel them both smile.

i had a feeling you'd choose this again.

"Really? T-this isn't the first time?"

the fourth. thank you, lup. we'll be seeing you again. sometime.

[dollslayer]

Champagne Problems

Bartender!Bucky x Reader

Summary: When your ex-boyfriend makes a surprise appearance at your sister's wedding you find help from an unexpected source.

W/C: 4,642

Warnings: NO MINORS, Smut, oral sex (f receiving), unprotected sex, swearing, alcohol consumption

A/N: Hey! I know it's been a minute (sorry), I wrote this for @saiyanprincessswanie's writing challenge using the bartender au! If you like this please reblog and comment and check out my other fics!! Cheers!

Main Masterlist

You sighed internally before slapping on a smile for yet another group picture. Your bridesmaid dress was itchy and you already regretted spending the entire night in it, as the reception was just starting. But it was your sister’s day and you decided that if what she really wanted was for you to wear this itchy monstrosity to honor her wedding then damn it, you’d do it. So you leaned in close with the rest of the wedding party and posed some more.

When the photographer had finished with his photos you were ushered to the family table and wedged between your mother and your aunt. You mentally cursed your sister for seating you with them because they were going to spend the entire night trying to set you up with someone while simultaneously lamenting that you’d dumped your boyfriend of 4 years just a month earlier. Your mother wanted grandchildren so badly, you didn’t know why she couldn’t just settle to get them from your sister.

“Sweetheart, you and Steve were so good together though! Remember when he surprised you at Christmas with that puppy? I don’t know how you let a man like that go…” Your mom chided.

You grabbed the attention of a passing server and grabbed the champagne off their tray. If you were going to have this conversation again you needed liquid courage to do so. You downed it in three sips and your mom scoffed at you.

“Mom, we've been over this. I didn’t ask him to do that, we agreed we weren’t ready for a dog. Ugh, oh my god, anyways, we just didn’t work together. Sometimes things don’t work out, Mom. You’ll still get grandkids, just not from me.” You patted her on the shoulder but she just pursed her lips and looked past you to your aunt.

You wanted nothing more than to get wasted but you couldn’t do that to your sister. You wouldn’t get blackout drunk, but you were definitely getting drunk tonight. The reception was being held in a hotel and the wedding party had a block of rooms reserved so it’s not like you had to drive. You just had one thing to do before you did that.

The moment you’d been dreading had finally arrived, the toast. You held your freshly topped-off glass of champagne and brought your fork to it to get everyone’s attention. Someone handed you the mic and you hesitated before taking it and nervously cleared your throat.

By what you assumed could only be the grace of God you managed to deliver the perfect toast about finding the right person and soulmates and anything else you might find in a hallmark card with only minor stumbles. Everyone clapped and your brother-in-law wiped a stray tear and everyone finally dug into dinner. You just hoped that would mean your mother would be quiet about Steve for the next 20 minutes and then you could escape to the open bar.

____

You almost made it through dinner scott-free and sat back to watch your sister’s first dance. Just when you thought you were in the clear it was your aunt that threw a wrench in your plans. She was three glasses of wine deep and had that glassy look in her eye when she grabbed your elbow and pulled you closer. She spoke to you in a low voice while trying not to fumble her words.

“Listen kiddo, I know your mom is hard on you about Stevie but she just wants what’s best for you. What you two had… it was so good even I liked him! I don’t like anybody y’know that. So.. so why don’t you jus’ give ‘im another chance, make your mom happy? Couldn’t be that bad, could it? Maybe he’ll even… surprise you”

You mentally blocked out her words halfway through her speech, hoping neither of you would remember it by the end of the night. Right now you just had to get her to stop so you could get away from the table. You didn’t think you could take one more second of being shamed for leaving Steve.

You smiled sweetly and nodded in understanding towards her words.

“I know, Aunt Linda. I know. Sometimes things happen, I love mom but I’ll find someone else.”

With that you patted her on the shoulder and took off in search of the bar.

There were two bars and you wanted to go to the less crowded one. Looking around you had spotted it just past the dancefloor and made a beeline. Weaving through the now open dance floor and escaping the invitations to join your family you finally made it and leaned heavily against the countertop with a sigh.

“Rough night?” Your eyes follow the gruff yet amused voice and find that it belongs to a very handsome man with a defined jaw, clear blue eyes, and long hair that was tied back.

You smiled and rolled your eyes.

“You don’t know that half of it. Nothing like a wedding to remind you how single you are” You joked.

“Ah. Yeah, that’ll do it. That’s rough. You look like you need a drink, what can I get you?”

“Dealer’s choice. Just no vodka.” You requested.

He smirked and nodded, perusing the lines of bottles that were in front of him. He bit his lip as he concentrated on what to make and you tried not to stare. You watched him get to work on your drink and couldn’t help but notice the way you could see his muscles move underneath his dress shirt.

He turned back around and proudly presented you with something fizzy in a highball glass.

“My own concoction, I even used the non-watered down liquor. Just for you” He says with a wink.

You try your best to hide your shy smile and accept the drink.

“Thank you, how sweet of you.” You tell him.

“It’s nothin’. So how’s a gal like you single? If you don’t mind my asking. Seems pretty impossible to me.”

You're caught somewhere between flattery and embarrassment and just hope it doesn't show on your face. You take a long sip of your drink and gear up to answer him.

“Well, I just got out of a 4 year relationship, actually. He’s really sweet but he always had a tendency to steamroll my needs and just do whatever he was going to do. Eventually that shit adds up.” You sigh.

“Like for example - last year we had talked about getting a dog and I said I wasn’t ready, we’re just both way too busy and then on Christmas day he shows up with this puppy! And then I’m the villain for telling him no! The puppy ended up going to a good home but he did stuff like that all the time. It just became too much. Anyways now my mom won’t get off my ass about leaving him.” You shook your head.

“A puppy? Wow, that’s… intense. That’s a lot, I’m sorry. You finish that drink and I’ll pour us both a shot” He laughed.

You nodded in agreement and downed the rest of the cocktail. He held up two shot glasses and extended one to you.

“A toast, to… wait. I don’t even know your name!”

His shoulders shook as he laughed and he answered you.

“I’m James but you can call me Bucky” You made a face at that.

“What kinda name is Bucky?” You asked before giving him your own name.

“Whatever, I’ve got two shots of tequila, you want one or not?” How could you say no?

“A toast,” You continued, “To you and your weird name, Bucky.”

He laughed and you clinked your glasses together, then against the counter before downing them in one go. You tried your best not to make a face and looked up at Bucky to find him extending you the lime chaser, which you took gratefully.

“Hoo… I could use like, 3 more of those to get through tonight. So, how’d you get into bartending?”

“I needed somethin’ to put me through school and I figured this beats stripping. Though, with some of the customers we get sometimes I’m not so sure”

You laughed at that and Bucky went on to tell you anecdotes of all the crazy people he’s had to serve, disastrous weddings, and the time he got a lapdance from the bride herself. You hadn’t even realized how much time had passed but you were enjoying talking to him, forgetting your mission to be drunk.

The two of you kept swapping stories and were getting to know each other a bit more. He let you vent about Steve and just listened, it was refreshing to talk to someone and not be told what it is that you should be wanting. When you pictured the night you didn’t picture yourself confiding in the bartender tonight but if you were honest you were enjoying yourself. It beat awkwardly dancing with your family and enduring more disappointed remarks from your family.

You had hoped you could hide out at the bar and spend the entire night unscathed when the double doors to the ballroom opened. Your heartbeat in your ears as time slowed down around you as a blond head of hair made its way through the archway. Your laughter died in your throat when Baby blue eyes found you across the room and you froze like a deer in headlights. No. Nononononono this isn’t happening.

Time has somehow come to a halt while simultaneously hurtling forward since you can’t get yourself unstuck from this moment yet fail to realize that Steve is now standing right in front of you. His hair is swept back perfectly and he flashes you that million dollar smile of his that shows off his dimples perfectly. You scold yourself for checking him out but damn did he always clean up nice.

“Hey, sweetheart” he says shyly, as if he’s not crashing your sister’s wedding to get with you.

“What…? What are you doing… here?” You ask quietly, trying to avoid a scene.

Before he can answer you your mom comes up behind Steve and squeezes his shoulders tight, all with a big, bright smile on her face. Of course. How did I not see this coming?

“You made it!” She exclaimed as she leaned up to kiss his cheek.

“Of course, sorry to have missed the ceremony but there’s still plenty to celebrate, right?” He asked with his signature boyish smirk.

Shock was still in full effect on your features as you stood stock still. But that shock was soon giving way to anger as you slowly pieced together everything that was happening. Your mom had brought back Steve to try and get you back together and Steve was steamrolling you again.

“I… I, can’t. I can’t-” You started

“Sweetheart, how many of those have you had? You need some water.” Steve motions to the drink in your hand and you feel the anger running through your veins about to take over. You have to move this out of the room. Now.

“Why don’t we move this to the hall?” You suggested quietly.

You didn’t give him a chance to respond before you started moving towards the exit but you did spare one last panicked glance towards Bucky. He looked confused and his brows were quirked in a way that made him look upset, almost. You sent him a pleading look before turning back around and preparing yourself to deal with this shitshow that had slowly unfolded before you.

Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. Hold. You got this. Your hand begins to push the door open when Steve’s much larger one covers yours and gets the job done. An action that you once would’ve thought was sweet, one that you would’ve made you swoon, even, is currently pissing you off.

You two made your way to the hallway and you looked around before you started in on him.

“Okay, what the hell, Rogers? Crashing my sister’s wedding? Really?! I don’t give a shit if my mom put you up to this I-”

“Sweetheart, please. She thought you might be having second thoughts and maybe us seeing each other would… patch things up. We just want what’s best for you, sweetheart” Steve attempted to console you, reaching out to try and rub your arm but you pulled back.

“No! I am so sick of you running me over! You never listened to me or what I had to say and this is exactly why I broke up with you, Steve! You’re being so fucki-”

“Hey, babe, everything okay out here?” Bucky’s voice surprised you but not as much as his lips pressing a kiss into your hair and his arms wrapping around your waist.

You had to crane your neck to look back and up at him. It took all of two seconds for you to piece together what you’d hoped was the truth. Bucky raised his eyebrows at you as if to say “come on” and in all your desperation you went with it. You supposed that his formal uniform made him pass for a regular guest.

“I, ah, yeah, yes. Steve here was just leaving, right?” You asked him.

Steve raised his eyebrows in a stunned expression, mouth slightly open in disbelief. His hand reached out towards your shoulder but Bucky pulled you back gently.

“Doll, are you serious? Who even is this guy? Does your mom know about this?”

“No, she doesn’t. It’s… new…” You told him.

“Right,” Bucky cuts in, “It’s new so we weren’t telling anyone just yet but she figured I should at least be here for the reception”

“Seriously?” Steve scoffs, “Man bun? What does he have that I don’t? C’mon, you know what you and I have is real.”

“What you and I have is over, Steve. You never listened to me, always pushed me further than I was ready for. We’re done, it’s over. I’m sorry for whatever Mom told you”

Steve took a harsh breath inwards and you watched him try to decide whether he should walk away or blow up. Based off of the veins popping in his forehead, he was opting to blow up.

“Listen, I don’t know what you’re up to but-”

“She said it’s over, punk. Move along” Bucky cut in. He took a protective step in front of you and pushed his shoulders back, squaring up to Steve. Steve seethed quietly and you two exchanged very tense glances.

“I’m telling your mother about this. I doubt she’ll be happy to hear you brought some random person to your sister’s wedding.” Steve spat.

He walked past the two of you and bumped shoulders harshly with Bucky. Bucky’s jaw tensed and his grip on your waist tightened but he didn’t retaliate. Instead he took a step back to get a proper look at you.

“You okay?”

“Why did you do that? You didn’t have to.”

“I know, but you looked like you could really use the help.”

“Well… thank you. I appreciate it, more than you know. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you weren’t there.” You laughed to yourself a little and added, “We’re not even together 5 minutes and you already have all my emotional baggage”

Bucky laughed at that and shook his head.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ve got some crazy exes too. So what now? You going back in?”

You became a little flustered at that but moved past it with a sheepish grin.

“No,” You shook your head, “I think it’s best for everyone if I just go up to my room and avoid a whole scene.”

“Well at least let me walk you up. I wouldn’t put it past that creep to follow you.”

“What about the bar?”

“We’re overstaffed and the party’s winding down anyways. They’ll get on without me”

“Alright then” You accepted and started off towards the elevators.

You two were standing in the elevator waiting for the doors to close when you spotted the doors to the ballroom open. Your mother was looking around, her face a picture of anger. Lucky for you the doors closed before she could look in your direction and you let out a sigh of relief.

“You know as far as fake boyfriends go I’d say you’re pretty good”

“Just good? C’mon I had that guy on the ropes.”

“Yeah alright,” You relented with a grin.

You exited the elevator car and made your way down the hallway until finally you reached your door. You fished your keycard out of your wallet and turned to Bucky.

“Hey… do you wanna… maybe come in? Hang out? I know you’ve got work but if you’re overstaffed maybe…” You trailed off. There was a beat of silence and you felt regret instantly, thinking you’ve asked too much of him. “Y’know what nevermind, you don’t have to, I’m sorry I-”

“I’d love to hang out with you, if you’re okay with that. Plus it’s probably better I wait to get back until the wedding’s over. Can’t really show my face as your boyfriend and then get back behind the bar, can I?” He said with a soft smile.

“Suppose you’re right,” You swiped the card and cracked open the door.

You stepped inside and felt like you could finally breathe again. You kicked off your heels and went to turn on the lights. You reached back to get the zipper of your dress but couldn’t quite get there.

“Will you get my zipper?” You asked Bucky. He nodded and came closer to you.

You could feel his warmth radiating from him when he was this close. Your nostrils filled with the heady scent of his aftershave. He smells so good. He unzipped you halfway and left the rest for you.

You thanked him and grabbed your change of clothes and headed to the bathroom. Relieved to finally be free of the itchy monstrosity of a bridesmaids dress you sighed and put on a tank top and pair of shorts. You realized the tank top showed a little more of your cleavage than intended but you shrugged it off and exited the bathroom.

Bucky’s eyes landed on you and he took a sharp breath in but tried to play it cool. It half worked, you caught him staring a little bit and giggled to yourself. When you looked at him again he was undoing his tie and the first two buttons of his shirt. Wonder what he’d look like if he unbuttoned just a few more… You stopped yourself in that line of thinking and joined him on the couch.

“I think your phone’s gonna zap itself into an early grave with the way it’s been going off” Bucky said as he pointed to your phone on the table.

You picked it up to find you had several missed calls from your mother, one from Steve, and one very long text message from him that was already inducing a headache. You opened it, forgetting you had read receipts on. Oops. You weren’t going to read this now in front of Bucky, so you shut it off and put it aside.

“So how are you feelin’?” He asked.

“Better now that I’m out that damned dress. As for my family, they'll get over themselves. I don’t know why who I’m dating is such a big deal to them anyways.”

“You do look more comfy now that you’ve changed. If you don’t mind me sayin’ you’re just as gorgeous now as you were all dolled up”

You felt heat flood your cheeks instantly and eked out a thank you. You and Bucky talked for an hour more or so and in that time you’d found yourself nodding off with your head on his chest. On instinct he brought your whole body closer to him and put his arm around you. If you were less sleepy you’d be embarrassed but right now you didn’t care.

Bucky had moved slightly and inadvertently jolted you awake. You shot up and realized that you’d cuddled your way into Bucky’s side and now the embarrassment was catching up with you. You instantly scooted back to give him some space.

“Sorry, I uh, didn’t mean to cuddle you” You said while avoiding his gaze.

You felt a hand on your thigh and finally looked up to find him smirking at you.

“I didn’t mind it. It’s getting late though, I should get back.”

You were slightly disappointed but nodded your head. You rose and followed him to the door. He went for the handle but turned around when you grabbed his hand. He stepped away from the door and was in your personal space. You looked up at him with a shaky breath.

“Thank you, again, for what you did. It was really sweet of you.” He smiled down at you and brought one hand to your face. Oh God, I didn’t prepare for this. Your heart was beating just a little harder as you looked into his clear blue eyes.

“For you? Anytime. I had a really fun time with you tonight.”

“Me too.”

With that his other hand came up to cup your face and he kissed you sweetly. It wasn’t until you kissed him back that he pulled away.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I don’t wanna make you uncomf-”

You grabbed him by the shirt collar and brought him in for another kiss. This time more demanding but just as sweet. He let out a small moan and you swear you could’ve melted. His tongue explored your mouth while his hands moved their way down your body and brought you even closer to him. You could feel that he was hard and it only made you want him more.

Without breaking the kiss you started to move backwards towards the bed until finally you were just at the edge of it. You broke apart for air and searched his eyes only to find his pupils blown wide in lust. You cupped him through his pants and he groaned. He was big. Maybe even bigger than Steve.

“We don’t have to do anythin’ you don’t want to do,” He breathed out. You shook your head and kissed him again.

“I want you, I’m sure.” You panted out.

“I don’t have a condom”

“Doesn’ matter, I’m on the pill” You told him. With that his hands were up your tank top and you’d helped him to remove it. He worked on his shirt next and while he fumbled with the buttons you took off the rest of your clothing.

Bucky was every bit as devastating as you’d thought he’d be and you let out a genuine sigh. His toned muscles rippled throughout his arms and torso and you watched him remove his boxers and you’re not entirely sure your jaw hadn’t dropped. He noticed you gawking and chuckled as he leaned down to join you on the bed.

“See somethin’ you like?”

He didn’t give you the chance to answer though, he pushed you backwards onto the bed and kissed you again, this time trailing his kisses all the way down your body. He stopped and took his time to admire each of your breasts, licking and biting your nipples. You’d gasped in surprise and pleasure. He moved his way down finally to your pussy and looked up at you.

“Can I? You could only nod and let out a shaky breath as you sat up on your elbows and watched him get to work. He kissed and caressed your thighs until finally his fingers were prodding at your entrance. He groaned at how wet you were and pushed two fingers in. You let out an obscene moan and your hands went into his locks. His tongue lapped at your clit before he sucked on it, all the while pumping his fingers in and out of you in search of your G-spot.

You’d pulled his hair out of his bun and guided his tongue where he needed to be. Finally getting the right angle you were whimpering in pleasure, back arched almost to a point of pain. He’d finally found the spot he’d been looking for and your eyes shut closed in pleasure.

“Please,” you begged, “Please don’t stop I’m so close”

You pushed his head harder against you and his fingers sped up. It was only a matter of moments until your toes were curling in pleasure and you writhed on the bed in the aftershock of your orgasm. Bucky continued to lap away at you until you pushed him off. He came back up to eye level with you and had a wolfish grin.

“Who knew you’d make such noises? God it was so hot”

You pulled him in for another kiss and reached down to grab his cock. You pumped it a few times before you moved down to return the favor when he stopped you. You looked up at him with brows pinched in concern.

“Don’ worry about me, I just wanna feel you”

He moved you beneath him and you spread your legs apart for him. You were still sensitive in your post-high when his tip brushed your clit but you didn’t mind the bolt of pleasure. He aligned himself with your entrance and looked you in the eye as he pushed all the way inside of you slowly. You let out an involuntary moan, trying to accommodate his full length.

“You good?” He asked.

“I’m good, you’re just...big” He smirked at that.

“Can I move or do you need a second?”

“No, you can move, please move.”

One hand on your hip and the other on your breast he started thrusting in and out of you at a steady pace. You swore you could feel every bump and ridge of him with every inch he put into you. His pace picked up and he kissed the column of your neck, finding the one spot that drove you crazy. Your small mewls turned to full moans and he began fucking you harder.

“‘M not gonna last much longer” He told you. You didn’t say anything in response, just brought him in for another kiss and grabbed a handful of his ass to push him further inside you. He chuckled at that and took the hint.

He was going the hardest he had so far and you were holding on for dear life and loving every minute of it. His panting breaths were heavy in your ears and you reached down to toy with your clit so you’d cum together. His thrusts were getting a little sloppier and your hand moved faster, quickly approaching both your peaks. He let out an almost pornographic moan as he came, He fucked you through his orgasm and not a moment later you came for a second time. Your bodies melded together as you rode out the last waves of each other’s orgasms.

Finally Bucky stopped and held himself with one hand, trying to catch his breath. You were slightly dazed, trying to compute how your night had ended up like this. Bucky rolled over onto the bed and you felt the mess between your thighs. You looked over to him with a hazy smile.

“So, I know we’re doin’ things a little backwards here but, maybe I could take you out some time? If you want?”

Your smile grew even wider and your heart felt so light in this moment.

“I’d like that”

You didn’t know what tomorrow would hold or how to even begin cleaning up the mess with your family. You’d deal with it all in the morning, for now you’d just bask in the afterglow with your fake boyfriend and be grateful for chance meetings.

[marunalu]

Don’t you wish the anti dfo fans could give actual proof of why Izuku dad isn’t AFO so we can have fun debates on interpretation with us being civil and polite? But instead we just have people reeing and saying it’s impossible or how it ruins the story Or just being salty when we say other wise?

I do.

Oh yes anon, I do feel the same way!

Like I already said multible times in the past, I have no problem if people dont like the theory. To some degree I even understand it. A lot of people dont like dfo because to them "villain father and hero son" is such a cliche story plot. The thing is "cliche" DOESNT automatical mean its bad! You cant just say something is badly written, or a bad writing choice, only just because YOU dont personally like it and because its quite often used in storys, when its NOT EVEN WRITTEN YET! We dont know yet HOW dfo will play out! We dont know yet the explaination and story behind it, so why not just wait till hori delivers and THEN built your opinion on it?! I mean, maybe it will turn into a possitive surprise?

The thing is, at least from my personal experience, there is little to no chance to have polite or deeper conversations with most anti dfo people (not saying they are all like that). Everytime I get an anti dfo ask or see an post from one, they give me the feeling as if I killed their dog or some shit! As if I personally insultet or hurtet them! All the anti dfo asks I ever got were from people attacking me FIRST, simply because they didnt like a dfo post of mine. Its just a theory that is fun to me and I like to talk with others about. I made a lot of cool and nice internet friends thanks to the theory. I mean, isnt that something positive and you should be happy about for others?

And the most annoying thing is, when they attacke me or try to get me into a discussion with them how stupid and wrong I am to believe in such a theory, they cant even give good proper arguments WHY the theory wouldnt make sense and Im not able to destroy in just under 5 seconds! Remember anti dfos "strongest" argument they had for the last 3 years? "aLl FoR oNe cAnT bE hISaShI, BeCAuSe HiSAsHi hAs a FirE bReAtHInG qUiRk!" Gosh, I think Im not the only dfo fan here, who still gets a headache and feels terrible triggered, if they remember the most stupid anti dfo argument ever created! Oh the mental pain, that sentence gave me for years! And there are STILL people out there who use it! Seriously, at least they could come up with arguments that make SENSE and can hold up longer then just a few seconds!

And what is their most recent argument now? "AlL fOr OnE cAnT bE hISasHi, bEcAusE aLl FoR oNE DoESnt hAvE frEcKleS!" 🤦‍♀️ Or because, hes not an 100% izuku clone, when I just proofed in one of my newer posts that not ONE of the kids in bnha is a complete copy of one of their parents and that all the kids have traits from both, their father AND mother. Also most of the kids come more after their mothers in appearance (even BAKUGOU of all people), so WHY is izuku not allowed to look more like his mom (only at first glance and if you dont dig deeper), then his dad?!

And then, when we were able to destroy all their very few anti dfo arguments and they realize they dont have any back up comments, they come up with the typical: "BUT IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE!" or "THERE ARE ZERO HINTS AND EVIDENCES!" Like dude, if I hate something so much and close my eyes every fucking time I see it, OF COURSE I wouldnt see all the hints and evidences that have to do with it neither! There are TONS of hints and evidences that back up dfo, but if people choose to hate or ignore it and dont even want to give it a chance in the first place out for personal reasons, then NOTHING in their eyes will ever be good enough. We as fans took our time to analys afos behavior around izuku and other people, the way he speaks, the words he says, the way he acts and were able to realize that he behaves completly different around izuku then other characters. This is backed up with proof! We created a whole damn "dfo bible" with over 50 different kind of hints and effidences, simply because we took our time to study afos behavior around izuku, but anti dfo still turn a blind eye.

Its fine if they dont like the theory, but if they dont even give it a chance or even consider it out of personal dislike, there is no reason to interact with them. Its like talking against a wall!

[voxiiferous]

Vincent nods along with the answer, not quite… understanding, but getting enough of the gist to run with it. Everything had to get its start somewhere— and different as it all is, and it is, there’s something nice in the knowledge that even now he has not abandoned that first spark love for the television. Expanded it and really made it his own, but never moved on to something new.

“Now that’s a good invention— I wouldn’t be where I am without the cinemas, but even I can admit that some nights you really just want to do something quiet at home without having to read.” Which to him meant, most of the time, the radio if he was honest, or one of the TV shows he didn’t work on, because he wants to be adored, but he has less interest dissecting his own performance. “Vox has been busy then, all the new and old things at the click of a button!”

There’s something satisfying in knowing that he helped build television into the medium it is now, as it gets larger still, so to know that not only does Vox keep going, but adds more and more new mediums feels like comfort. That would help explain it all at least, stubborn, the lot of them. One clinging to the classic, the other embracing everything new. Neither seemed like winning tactics; the internet sounds fascinating, but Vox’s apartment is also missing all the charm of physical things. “Seems a downright shame, not the dislike of course, you can’t actually charm everyone despite by best efforts some days, but there’s a lot of good things from after 1933, at least he encountered sliced bread.” Which was convenient if nothing else.

Vincent bites his bottom lip, a bad habit, but one nonetheless. “I might be throwing stones from a glass house,” because it’s not like he knows what ended with him down here, maybe he did kill a man, “but I don’t think that being your creator or not gives him the right to murder you. You seem more than a little sentient, even if sin…. Is not fake if there’s Hell.” Huh… That implied a God… he’ll consider that later. Much later.

Vincent laughs, smiling. “You’re probably right. Seems a poor choice to keep them so near at hand.” It won’t, he thinks, be enough to stop him in all honesty, he’d just make sure to do it, potentially tomorrow, after Vox leaves for work. Just quick, just enough to reassure him that his future wasn’t trappings souls like a terrible spiders web. “And of it’s all on the internet I doubt I’d even know what to look for. I’d be a terrible spy.” But that’s alright, what no one else knows won’t hurt them.

“A… spider? What do you mean cover?" The way Astor speaks about it makes it seem like a magazine, which it isn't. Mostly it's just the word, like womanizer, if which he isn't either. As for the other half of it, he had seen some spider demons on the streets, but none would... consider magazine worthy. He glosses over the Lorax reference, another one from after his time, he assumes. "It seems I have more hobbies than Vox, which is impressive considering I probably spend more time at the network studios than anyone else."

Vincent grins, both pleased for the opportunity to teach it to Astor, and to dance at all. "You needn't worry about that," There's about a foot between them if Vincent had to guess, and he's danced with girls that much shorter than him. Sure, it would mean trying to teach backwards or with a much taller follower, but that's not exactly anything impossible. And okay, maybe he's excited about the idea of being able to dance with a man without fear, sue him. "There's enough room in the living room that we should be able to do it there, music and all. Might as well get some use from the fact that Vox's house is covered in all those little speakers." Or he'd just buy a gramophone, and consider it a gift to his future's personal space.

"I suppose in a city like this, there's bound to be a hierarchy. I guess I'm just surprised the sinners aren't the bottom. Everyone's always talking about how Hell's gonna punish the sinners, and it seems... short of brimstone."

Vincent has never been entirely sure how his heart reacts to stress, but he'd sure it's beating just a little bit faster, as he's sure it's been doing since he would up here! "Ah well, I think my heart's usually slower than it is now. Terrible scientific method you know, not a true control." He says, continuing to run his fingers through Astor's hair, not letting it throw him enough to stop.

[midgardianweasley]

I‘d love to see you write an angsty fanfic with Natasha x reader (male or female is up to you) with a bad ending of your choice.

No pressure of course ✨

as requested Violet!! I hope it's okay<3

How could you do this to me?

Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

Summary: Natasha hasn’t been around recently and Y/N’s been really missing her company, but that changes when some CCTV footage is discovered.

Warnings: Cheating, swearing.

Word Count: 3.6k

there was an attempted proof read, but sorry in advance if i've missed anything!!

message/ask to be added to the taglist<3

Requests are open!

You weren’t surprised when you woke up to an empty bed once again, the space beside you missing a red-head assassin. You’d grown used to the sight of bedsheets spread lazily on your side of the bed, almost completely thrown off of the edge. It wasn’t unusual, however, the feeling of disappointment that lingered in your chest every morning never eased with time.

‘I’m just off to train, baby.’

‘I need to go and see Fury about this next mission, you go back to sleep’

‘I forgot to debrief the team last night, so we need to have a meeting this morning instead.’

‘Off to get some breakfast, my love. I’ll save you some eggs.’

Those were the typical reasons you received whenever you questioned where she was going in such a hurry in the mornings. You knew she was busy, of course you did. But, you missed the mornings when she’d pull you back into her chest, refusing to let you leave until you gave her a few kisses, which never ended up just being kisses, but you always gave in either way.

Now that you think of it, you can’t remember the last time she held you. Not properly. She used to hold you in a death grip, so tight that you could almost feel her heartbeat in your own chest. Nowadays, you were lucky to get more than a few taps on the back, it felt like you were being congratulated for something.

You’d always brushed it off, thinking that you must’ve been selfish for wanting so much of her attention, you had to be more understanding of how demanding her job is. It wasn’t like you never tried, you did, everyday. It would just be nice to feel her love for you a little more, even if it was just a quick peck before she left in the mornings.

“Hey Wan’, Hey Vis” You smiled at the pair as they stood at the kitchen counter, cracking eggs and buttering some toast. They loved cooking together, Wanda always told you how cute it was when Vision was trying to learn, especially after his fiasco with the Paprika.

“Hi Y/N, want something to eat?” Wanda handed you some toast, which you took gratefully, slowly munching on it.

Vision looked up as though to engage in conversation, when he then looked around in confusion. “Where’s Ms. Romanoff?”. You shrugged.

“I’m not sure, I think she’s training, I’ve not heard from her yet.”

You were looking at Vision, but it was near impossible to miss the sympathetic look Wanda was giving you. She knew about how you’d been feeling with Natasha not being around so much, she had tried to help, to hint to Nat that you’d been feeling a bit neglected for a while now, but she hadn’t gotten very far.

“Nat, nat, I just think that maybe you should spend a little more time with Y/N” It was obvious the assassin wasn’t listening to her, shrugging it off and trying to walk past the witch, only to have a hand pressed on her chest to push her backwards.

“Wanda, I need to go, I'm running late.”

“you’re always running somewhere. I'm sure Fury, or Tony or whoever you’re in such a rush to see, can wait. You haven’t seen your girlfriend in forever.”

“I saw her last night.”

“Crawling into bed in the early hours of the morning and sleeping next to her, isn’t seeing her, Nat.”

Her words fell on deaf ears as she watched her friend turn around and walk the other way. She could’ve used her powers to stop her, she didn’t see a point though. She wasn’t listening, and she couldn’t force her to.

“It's fine though, honestly! I can hang out with you guys today if you’re not busy?”

the couple shared a look of awkwardness before looking back towards you.

“Actually, we were going to go into town and do some sightseeing. You’re welcome to join us though!” She smiled, not wanting you to be alone, which you were grateful for, but you couldn’t intrude.

“No no, don’t worry! I think I've got something Tony wanted me to check out in the Lab, now that I think about it.” You didn’t. “You guys have fun though! take pictures!” You winked, knowing full well that your best friend didn’t believe you, she hesitated before nodding her head in agreement and beginning to walk off with Vision in tow.

__________________

An hour or so went by, you still hadn’t seen Natasha at all, or anyone, really. They all seemed to have disappeared to do their own thing, leaving you to find yours. So, you found yourself wandering into your lab, where you found Tony observing the screens with an endless amount of data changing every couple of seconds. You never really understood how he made sense of it all so quickly, but you’d always been intrigued nonetheless.

He must’ve sensed someone was there, as he broke away from his train of thought and glanced over towards you, fully acknowledging how your shoulders were slumped and your eyes lacked your usual sparkle. Tony alway had a soft spot for you, he’d known you for years, taking on a role similar to a father’s. Seeing you look so defeated recently, it’d hurt him a little more than he cared to admit.

Gesturing for you to come in with a gentle smile before moving and adjusting various chunks of metal on the table in the centre of the lab.

“Ah ah!” He tapped the bridge of his nose

“You can’t be serious! Tony I-”

“Nope”

“I’m a grown woman!” You laughed in disbelief at his

“Yes, you are, and I do not plan on taking said grown woman to medical because she got a shot of electricity through her eyeball. Put them on.”

You rolled your eyes, picking up a pair of the obnoxiously large lab goggles and put them over your face. He really took being a ‘father figure’ too seriously sometimes. With your goggles on, you took yourself over to where he stood, hoping to help him out somehow and keep yourself occupied.

You watched him move around blueprints on the screen above. “So, whatcha working on?”

“Well, remember that last mission we went on? How that ended?”

“Well, considering I had to get bullets removed for the last two hours, I’d say I remember pretty well.”

His face cringed slightly “Yeah, that’s the one. I’m basically just trying to layer the suits more, but keep the weight to a minimum so that there’s more protection, but the speed and mobility is almost, if not, the same.” He pondered, mind wandering off again to try and figure out how he could make this work.

Suddenly springing to action, he started assembling some pieces together, chucking some aside and reaching for different tools he required.

Looking towards you, he tilted his head “Can you pass me the-”

His sentence was interrupted. “Hey Tony, hey-” Banner. You didn’t mind Bruce, he was always quite quiet and polite most of the time, a little awkward, but, when you have a literal Hulk inside of you, it’s probably the least of your concerns.

You waved at the Avenger. “Hi Bruce” You gave him a friendly smile, for it to be returned with an awkward gaze, which he tried to quickly shove off.

“Yeah, uh, hi, Y/N. W-what brings you here?”

“Oh, no particular reason, I wanted something to do so I thought I'd come down, just pay a visit.” He nodded, acknowledging your words but appearing a little on edge, almost.

“Hey, you okay?” You asked “You look a little pale?”

“Yeah, yeah n-no I'm fine, just a-a bit tired.” He stuttered before suddenly directing his attention towards the man standing beside you. “How’s it coming along, Ton’?”

“Not bad, I have a wonderful assistant to help me out.” he nudged you playfully.

“Haha, yeah. She’s great. Anyways, you seem to have a good hold on things, so, I’ll leave you to it and come back later.”

Neither of you had managed to get a word out before Banner had walked out and was already out of sight. You turned to face Tony again.

“Was that- did you find that weird at all?”

“I find most of the people in this compound weird.”

It was a serious question, but you couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the millionaire’s response.

“I do pride myself on it.”

“As you should. You’re the weirdest one.”

“Hey!” You slapped his arm. “Rude!”

“I’m kidding! Now, pass me that screwdriver, goggles.”

Chuckling, you threw him the screwdriver and zoned out thinking about Bruce’s weird behaviour. While Tony was right, the majority of us are weird. You couldn’t stop thinking about how unusual it was, even for him. You put it to the back of your mind though, focusing back on what the man beside you was working on. You’re sure it’s fine.

________________________

You thought you were going crazy. First you had Nat, who was disappearing every chance she got, Then you had Bruce who couldn’t look you in the eye and when you finally believed it couldn’t get any weirder, you picked up on some strange vibes from Steve.

“Oh finally! I was beginning to think no one else actually lives here.” You approached Steve who seemed to be walking and talking with Bruce, both taking a step back when they looked towards you.

“Hey Y/N, we were just-”

“We were just about to go and have a shower. Training.” Steve cut in, earning himself a glare and a shake of the head from the scientist beside him, subtle, so you hadn’t noticed, otherwise you would’ve questioned it.

“Oh? You were training too, Bruce?”

“Well, I-” He glanced at Steve. “Yeah. Yeah, I, uh, wanted to get some combat down, just in case I needed it.”

“Considering our last mission, I think we all should.” the super soldier quickly added, sending you an enthusiastic smile, which you had returned. You went to speak again, possibly inquiring as to whether or not they knew where your girlfriend was, but you hadn't had the chance as the pair of them quickly rushed off, muttering something about catching you later, leaving you on your own, once again.

What the hell was going on?

_____________________

Feeling defeated, you trudged your way into your bedroom, just wanting to shower, get into bed and sleep, and hope for some form of normality.

What you hadn’t expected, was to walk in and see the back of a familiar figure sporting the black suit she practically lived in, tying her hair into a low bun and beginning to change into some more comfortable clothes.

You were dating, so it wasn’t new to see Nat changing, but you still thought it would be decent to make her aware of your presence. The small “ahem” was enough to make her spin round and flash you a smile, her pearly white teeth on show.

“Hi babe, i’m just changing for bed. You okay?”

The words felt so unfamiliar to you, having not heard them in what felt like forever. Still, you decided to humour it.

“Yeah, yeah I'm okay. A bit of a weird day is all.”

She laughed, returning to laying out her clothes. “Well, we are surrounded by some weird people.”

“That’s what Tony said.”

There was an atmosphere in the air that you couldn’t quite pinpoint. It had always felt comfortable with Natasha, you would describe her company as being like a safety blanket, enveloping you with warmth and a sense of security. This felt different. It didn’t feel familiar anymore, it was like you were face to face with a stranger and the more you looked at her, the more it upset you.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Natasha put her palms on your cheeks, bringing your Y/E/C eyes to meet her emerald ones in the process. You hadn’t realised that tears had fallen until the pad of her thumbs gently brushed them away.

“I just, it sounds so stupid.”

“Tell me.”

You let out a sigh, eyes beginning to dart around the room. “It just feels like I’ve never seen you, I don’t remember the last time we’ve spoken and it’s, it’s been lonely.” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at your response, lips falling into a frown, but you were quick to speak again.

“It hasn’t just been you though, I understand that work gets in the way, but, it felt like some members of the team were acting differently around me.”

“Really? Like who?”

“Well, I mean, Bruce could barely bring himself to say anything more than a sentence to me and I tried to speak to Steve just before I came here and he rushed off like his life depended on it. I don’t know, maybe I’m just being a bit paranoid.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing, Detka, I wouldn’t worry about it.” She whispered, hands pulling you forward with ease to bring your lips together. You smiled at the contact, you’d missed it.

You were so caught up in it, that you hadn’t noticed you were the only one smiling.

It wasn’t long before the both of you were interrupted by an electronic voice in the room.

“Miss Romanoff, Miss Y/L/N.” It was F.R.I.D.A.Y. “Mr Stark is asking for you both in the conference room.”

“Alright, thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y., we’re on our way.” Your girlfriend replied, rushing away from the kiss and leading you to the door.

Why was everyone in such a rush today?

_______________________

“So, I was messing around with some things in the lab, and I think I've found a solution to our suit issue. It’s still a work in progress because I'll need to tweak some things and then tailor them blah blah blah, but I thought I'd show you guys the latest. JARVIS?”

“Bringing up footage 182.”

While you waited for the video to be up and running, you took note of everyone sitting around you. For the most part, they looked tired, though you don’t blame them, it was pretty late.

Shuffling to your left, you held Natasha’s hand in yours, sending her a loving gaze before resting your head on her shoulder, just content that she was close by. She sat a little straighter at the action, careful not to push you off of her, but not entirely relaxing either.

The large tv screen lit up, a view from the corner of the lab came into sight where you could see Tony installing different wires and pieces of loose metal into the suit, watching it light up as he did so. He was in the middle of explaining what he was doing as the recording went on, when the screen suddenly turned to static, black and white lines taking over the screen.

“JARVIS?”

“Minor technical issue, working on it, Mr Stark.”

You caught Wanda’s eye across the table, a playful smirk plastered onto her face at the mishap, watching the billionaire get stressed over a television. You couldn’t help but laugh at the words flying from his mouth as he started hitting the remote, as if he was someone who didn’t understand technology.

It wasn’t long before an image appeared back on the screen, however, this wasn’t the same recording. This is from the gym. It focused on one of the square mats in the middle of the room where two people were sparring. One of which, you immediately recognised as Natasha.

The other person definitely wasn’t a girl, their hair was short and muscles so big you were worried that one slice would be the end. It zoomed in a little, and from the blonde hair and dark blue outfit, you pieced together who it was.

“Oooh, Black Widow and the SuperSoldier, one vs one. Now this should be interesting.” A previously tired looking Sam clapped his hands and leaned forward, now fully invested in the scene in front of him.

You turned to Nat, who now looked a little paler than she did before.

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost, don’t tell me, you lost this spar?” You joked, expecting her to join in and tease you back. Instead, her face displayed an emotion you weren’t entirely sure of.

Before you could question it, you noticed the room fall silent. Not even a breath could be heard in the room. Your head turned slowly, meeting a mixture of shocked and sympathetic faces. And that was when you saw it.

Nat had kissed Steve, and he didn’t stop her.

If you weren't aware of your heartbeat before, you couldn’t be now, for it felt like it had completely stopped. Your jaw fell as your eyes filled with tears, only worsening the longer you saw the two of them on the screen. It was only turned off when a third person walked into view, not needing to ponder on who it could be, you immediately faced guilty stares. Three of them.

“You- you kissed-” You stuttered, incapable of forming a sentence towards your teammate. “And, you knew?” Your voice broke, tears now beginning to find their way down your cheeks for the second time as Bruce couldn’t bring himself to answer you.

You swiftly rose out of your seat, attempting to keep yourself composed until you could be alone.

“Baby-” Natasha murmured, trying to take hold of your hand, which you snatched back before she could lay a finger on it.

“Don’t.”

“Please-”

“Leave me alone.” You spat, speed walking out of what now felt like an overcrowded room.

You didn’t hear it, you’d left too early, but if you had stayed, you would’ve heard the team give Nat and Steve the scolding of their lives, mainly from Wanda and Tony, telling them how disappointed they were in them both. How they’d be lucky if you were to forgive them for what they did.

________________________

You don’t know how long you’d been sitting on your shared bed for. It could’ve been an hour, it could’ve been a couple of minutes. All you knew, was that you couldn’t stay in this room much longer, looking at the picture frames and the shared wardrobe, it just felt painful.

So, you walked over to your wardrobe and gathered every item of your clothing into your arms, lacking any care for if there were hangers or labels in the way, and chucked them on the bed and started to chuck it all into a suitcase intended for holidays but, you don’t see that happening anytime soon.

The sound of sniffles and rustling was all you could hear in the room, so much so that it was suffocating, and it didn’t help when you heard the door creak open.

“What are you doing?” A voice squeaked. Natasha stood beside the door, fidgeting with her fingers as she anxiously bounced from one foot to the other. You didn’t even bother to look up in her direction, focusing solely on getting out of there as soon as you could.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened, I didn’t mean it.” You scoffed at her attempt at an explanation. “I love you.”

That’s what made you whip your head to see her red and puffy eyes, if this was any other situation, you would’ve rushed over and engulfed her in a hug, tell her that everything would be okay and you’re there for her. Now? All you felt was anger.

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have kissed him.”

“I didn’t know-”

You stood up straight, almost laughing at her choice of words. “You didn’t know? Bullshit. I’m pretty fucking sure everyone is aware when they kiss someone. Did you know when you were kissing me then? Or did you not know that either?”

“I wasn’t thinking.”

“I don’t think I care.”

She tries to step closer to you, only for you to take one back, holding your hand out, indicating for her to stop.

“No. no, you know what Nat, you don’t get to do this. You don’t get to treat me like a stranger for weeks, like I'm sharing a bed with someone I don’t know, for you to then kiss someone else and expect me to forgive you. You have no idea how I've felt these past weeks, blaming myself and thinking I was selfish for wanting your time. It’s funny, really.”

She looked away from you, regret taking over her features, both of you now having tear stains covering your rosy red cheeks.

You broke the silence once again. “Was that the first time?”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Y/N-” She pleaded

“Answer the question, Natasha.” You spoke through gritted teeth.

Silence returned to the four walls.

“Get out.”

“No, no, we-” She stepped forward, only to halt herself when she realised what she was doing.

“There is no ‘we’. We’re done. I’ll have my stuff moved back into my room by tonight, though I'm sure it won’t make much of a difference to you.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Whatever.”

She walked out of the room, hesitating slightly, wondering if it’s worth staying and trying to figure out whatever this is. She shook her head to herself, knowing she’d fucked up. There wasn’t a fight anymore. It was done.

Collapsing on the bed, the feeling washed over you again as the finality of it all set in. You didn’t stop though. You packed your clothes, your perfumes, all of your loose hair ties and left the room with only one thought on your mind.

Natasha won’t even notice the difference.

Taglist: @natashas-favourite-knives @wandaromanova

[krillin-fanfic]

Chestnut Fest 2022 Week 1: For A Friend

Hello again, friends! It's that magical time of year again, and much like Shenron, I have been summoned from my slumber to grant your wishes for new story content once again.

The theme for this story? Comfort Food. Wasn't sure how I could translate that into a written work, but I think I found a way. This entry is set before Krillin and 18 are a couple, while their friendship is still budding. It's more platonic than shippy, but I think it's important to explore the planting of the seeds too! So without further ado, here we go! LINKS: FF.net AO3

It was another lovely day at Kame House. The seas were especially calm today, only light fluffy clouds on the horizon. A gentle breeze blew through, providing just enough respite from the heat of the now-setting sun.

Two figures sat at a table on the strip of beach separating the pink house from the water's edge. A woman, blonde, impossibly attractive, baggy shirt and a pair of shorts, looked at her short, bald companion with some amusement as their conversation had taken a rather unexpected turn.

"Comfort... food? I don't get it."

Krillin's cocked his head slightly. "Huh? What's not to get?"

18 tilted her head. "How is food comfortable? You eat it, you don't use it like furniture or clothing."

He chuckled. "No, not comfortable, comforting. It means foods that give off a sort of comforting or nostalgic vibe." He held up his index finger. "Now some people like to try to put it in a box and say "comfort foods" can only be certain kinds of food, usually fatty or decadent things," he smiled and closed his eyes. "But I happen to be in the camp that thinks that any food that really takes you back to a happy place in life qualifies."

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Sounds weird to me."

"Eh, it's just all tied to memories, I suppose." He looked up at the blue sky. "I still remember the day I found mine. It was after the 21st Budokai. Me and Goku had both lost to this weird Jackie Chun guy that somehow knew all our moves, but Master Roshi still bought us a big ol' meal afterwards for doing so well. A whole buffet right at our table!"

18's brows raised a bit. "...You mean Goku had that much himself, right?"

Krillin scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well... I wish I could say that but, uh... I kinda ate almost as much as he did, being honest." He giggled. "We'd been fighting all day, I got stupid hungry, and the food was so good!" She saw his eyes light up as he remembered. "There was roast pork, lo mein, baozi, duck... I'd never eaten that well in my entire life. They never really gave us more than unseasoned rice and vegetables at Orin, and I didn't have any money when I was on my own, so getting to experience that..." he smiled. "And now, that's sorta become my own comfort food, I guess."

18 fiddled with a loose strand of hair. "Ah. Sounds... nice."

Krillin tapped lightly on the tabletop next to his baseball cap. "So you're saying you don't have any food-related memo-" her eyes shot in his direction and he stopped himself. "Oh. Yeah. I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry..."

"I guess..." she spoke, her voice barely audible over the waves lapping at the beach. "I guess maybe I have... one."

Krillin sat forward in his seat, hands folded on the table in front of him. It was rare to see 18 this quiet. Almost... vulnerable. The least he could do is give her his full attention.

"Yeah? Do you mind sharing, or...?"

"It was when I was with 17 and 16. When we were..." she paused to consider her choice of words. "...traveling together. You know..."

Krillin nodded. That topic was still a bit of an elephant in the room for them, neither entirely sure how to address it yet. "Yeah, I get you."

She twirled the strand of hair a bit harder. "We took a truck then. 17's boneheaded idea. 'Make it fun', he said, 'go on a road trip, see the sights'..." she smiled. "He was always chasing being human again, even as he insisted we were above them now. After 16 cleared it out, we took off on the road and after a while, the raido? Monotonous." She glared. "I swear, if I ever wind up in a place that plays nothing but that annoying guitar twanging all day, I'm ending it right there and then."

He chuckled. "I can relate. Being stuck with only one sort of music can be grating."

"Yeah... anyways... we thought everything had been cleared out, right? All the food? But it turned out 16 found a few loose items that had gotten out and rolled around back there behind the seats. Fruits. Not many, but a couple. Two of them were common enough. An orange and a banana. 17 snatched those up himself. But there was another that 16 gave me." Her brow wrinkled a bit. "It must have been fiarly uncommon, given we had no information about it. It was colorful. Like a deep pink on the outside, with these... leaves almost, coming off the skin. The fruit inside was white, with seeds. I remember it having a very light sort of taste, almost barely there." She smiled. "I remember 17 sitting there with a big wedge of that orange in his mouth, pulling faces at me... 16 smiling in the back..." 18 thinned her lips for a moment. When she next spoke, Krillin could hear the shakiness in her voice. "It... it was the last time it felt like things were almost 'normal' for me. Like we were almost... family." She let go of her hair and covered her face with her palm. "God, that sounds so dumb..."

Krillin shook his head and waved his hands nervously in front of himself. "No, not at all! Believe me. I may not, y'know... 'get it', but I do get it." He sighed. "I'm such a wordsmith. I just mean that... I may not get that exact scenario. I know I haven't been through what you guys have, and I'm not trying to suggest that... but I do know that feeling. It's actually... a lot like the one I felt at that table that day at the Budokai."

18 turned toward him again. "Really now?"

"Yeah. It was like... Like I had friends now. Like a sort of a family. I had people who cared, who were happy for me, proud of me for a change." He put a hand up. "Again, not saying it's the same as your sitch at all. But the feeling is the same. That stays with you."

18 pursed her lips and gazed up at the sky for a bit before letting her head fall back with a groan. "Well, it's not like I'll be experiencing that 'nostalgia' thing any time soon anyways. Even if I bought into the idea." She stood up and pointed at him. "Which, to be clear, I still don't." She brushed stray sand off her legs quickly and started back inside the small house. " Don't even know what that stuff was called anyways..."

Krillin sat at the table, hands folded on its top, deep in thought. When she'd first come here, seeking shelter and answers, he'd promised her he'd help her adjust to human life. Said that he'd help her get back what that sick old man had stolen from her. This? This was part of that. He nodded to himself. 'Right. Let's get it done.'

He stood, put on his cap, took a deep breath, and without a word floated off into the air, headed due north.     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To say Krillin was exhausted was an understatement. He landed a bit hard, panting, next to one of the only 24-hour groceries he could find. For the last six hours, he'd flown around, desperately trying to find a fruit that had matched 18's description, starting up north where that truck had been... acquired. Every stop had been the same answer. "Never heard of a fruit like that." "You sure your friend didn't dream it up?" "That sounds wild, man. Let me know if you find it."

He'd gotten halfway to Satan City before a farmer in one of the shops proved helpful. "Oh, I've heard of that stuff, friend! You're in the wrong place. It grows in more tropical areas down south!"

The tropics. Where he'd started. The irony wasn't lost on Krillin as he caught his breath near the shop entrance. 'I just hope this one actually has what I'm looking for,' he thought to himself. 'I've been all over the region and so far no luck.'

He pushed the door open and was greeted by a portly older man in overalls. "Welcome! How can I help you tonight?"

Krillin gestured back toward the fairly large produce section. "Can you tell me if you carry a certain fruit? It's about the size of my fist, has a deep pink color, what looks like leaves growing out of the skin?"

The shopkeeper blinked a few times before smiling. "Ah, yes! I know the fruit you mean. I believe we sold the last of that on the shelves earlier today." He saw Krillin's face drop and he frowned. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. I can check our stock in the back if you like. It's very popular in the area but we may still have some."

He looked up, hopeful. "Please! It would mean a lot!"

"Very well, hold on." The man strolled from behind the register toward the doors in the back. "Shouldn't take more than a moment!"

It wasn't long before he returned with a small crate and a large smile. "Good news, sir! I believe we do indeed still have five in stock here!"

Krillin beamed. "Oh, thank you so much! How much are they?"

The shopkeeper plopped the crate onto the counter and tapped away at the register. "Hmmm... says here we're looking at 600 Zeni apiece."

Krillin blanched. "D-did you say 600?"

"Yes sir." He smiled. "Each. Dragon fruit don't grow too often and given the popularity..."

"Yeah, yeah. I get-wait..." Krillin raised an eyebrow. "They're called dragon fruit? Seriously?"

"Yessir!" The shopkeeper looked confused. "Is that surprising to you?"

"No... no at this point I almost expect everything in my life to be connected to dragons somehow." He fished the cash out of his wallet. "So... 3000 Zeni, huh?"     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"18! Can you... come down here for... a sec... hooo boy..."

A groggy 18 made her way down the dark stairs at Kame House and found a rather disheveled (and tired Krillin sprawled on the couch, barely visible in the light of the desk lamp. "Hey there... so... don't wanna get your hopes up but-"

"What happened to you?"

"I'm... getting there... hoo." He sat up and held up a bag. "I decided that you needed to catch a rather integral part of the human experience so... I tried to track down that fruit you were talking about."

18 hesitantly reached forward and took the bag. She peered inside it and froze. There it was. That same fruit. The very same one 16 had given her on their trip.

"I'm not... super sure it's the right one... but the guy at the store said it matched the description... so I got some." He smiled, his breath finally evening out. "Would you believe they were actually native to near here after all? Boy, did I ever get off on the wrong track... I think I need... a nap."

She slowly took one from the bag and split it with little effort. There it was, the white flesh dotted with so many seeds, sharply contrasted against the pink skin. She tentatively took a bite.

In that instant, those memories came flooding back, vivid as ever. That feeling she'd felt... it was back, if only for a moment. And suddenly, 18 understood.

"Oh... wow." She looked over at Krillin. "I guess I was-" she was halted by a deep snore. Krillin had passed out there on the couch, out like a light, hat dangling from his foot off the end of it. She smiled and grabbed a coat, using it to cover him up. "You really are a weird little man," she noted, gently rubbing his shoulder. "But I guess you're a really good friend, too."

18 reached over and switched off the lamp before heading upstairs to bed. She'd have to remember to thank him in the morning. But for now... she had a lot to think about.