#couldn't stop chuckling to myself while doodling this...

[nyaaamato]

they do brunch (@. the sakura and kabuto friendship post)

they're not one of the leaf village's most ethically sound brunch duos but extremely funny to imagine regardless

[shinuko]

love to die for (愛してる)

#: established relationship (nanami kento x gn!reader), death, set in jjk-verse but diverges from canon a little bit, pov shift (his to yours), large chunks of italicized text = flashback (intentional use between switching from present and past tense), inspired by the story of a pet cat who hid away from their owner when they knew they were about to pass away tw/cw: death (not described), angst wc: 2.4k

a huge huge huge thank you to @strawberrystepmom for sponsoring this piece for @ficsforgaza and more importantly, for donating to help a family in gaza! praying i did this idea justice ;-; there are 2 more "parts" to this mini anthology, so please consider sponsoring them here! thank you! (and another huge thank you to @planetxiao for letting me bounce around ideas and reading this over for me, this couldn't have been done with you <3 and @itsmiyamore for boosting my ego lol)

Hello, my love. I have 

No. He crumples the piece of paper, tossing it behind him.

Darling, are you doing well? I just wanted

That isn’t right either. Another toss. He winces, hissing as he eases his arm back into a more bearable position. His shirt is hanging loose on his skin, but even then he still felt claustrophobic. The pain was searing. Taking his glasses off, he sets them down and pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. He startles, hearing you shift under the covers, kicking them off, as you mutter his name in your sleep. Smiling softly, he watches as your hand reaches out to his side of the bed, searching for him. When your furrowed brows crease the skin of your forehead, he places his hand on top of yours and you relax, snuggling into it and burrowing in its warmth. He aches now from a different pain, his other hand rubbing subconsciously at his shirt, trying to rid of the clawing feeling in his chest.

Your breathing becomes regular again, steady, a look of peace gracing your features. Carefully sliding his hand out from under you, he returns to the desk and turns off the lamp, before climbing into bed. He pulls the covers over you and wraps his arms around your waist, legs tangling with yours. He buries his nose into the curve of your neck, pulling back slightly when you whine and allowing you to turn onto your back. Your arms find their spot around his shoulders, pulling his head to your chest, and he relaxes, closing his eyes and holding you tighter. 

He still has time.

“Kento, look!” You pulled at his arm, tugging him to look at the stationery with you, “Isn’t this so cute?”

The stationary shop was nearby and you were drawn in on the way home. Gushing, you hurried inside, Nanami following close behind. As you looked at the other items with stars in your eyes, Nanami smiled.

“Should I buy it for you?” He picked it up to inspect it. Though packaged in a thin plastic bag, the textured paper was still visible. Along with the cute minimalistic doodles of animals and plants, it was no wonder you were so attracted to them.

You sighed, pouting, “No, it’s okay. I think it’ll just collect dust because I’d be too afraid to use it.” Your lingering gaze told him otherwise.

He chuckled, “I’ll buy it for myself then.”

“Huh? What would you use it for?” Your fingers were intertwined with his now, and you looked  at him quizzically. 

Nanami looked to the side, trying to find the words to say this. “Hm… maybe we can write little notes to each other. It’ll give us strength when we’re feeling down, don’t you think?”

You ooh-ed, turning your attention to the selection of stickers, feeling inspired, “Then, let’s get stickers too!”

“Okay,” he smiled, “How about these?”

After wandering around the store for a little while longer, you seemed content with the items in your hand. Nanami offered a small basket to hold them in and you obliged gratefully. Standing in line to checkout, he laughed as you clung to his arm but couldn’t stop your eyes from looking around again, head turning in angles he didn’t know was even possible. He tapped his card, and your wandering eyes snapped back to him. “What? Hey! I was going to pay…” 

Nanami grinned, taking your hand and led you to the exit. “It’s okay, you can get it next time.”

Pouting, you furrowed your eyebrows. “That’s what you said last time!”

“Have a good day,” the store manager called as the both of you left, “Come by again!”

Seemingly having forgotten being upset just moments before, you rushed out in front of him, skipping to the bus stop. Nanami caught your hand and pulled you closer to him, a little winded. He only grinned when you looked back at him. “Let’s go together, okay?”

You nodded, beaming—oblivious—and holding his arm close to your side with both of your hands. 

Shoko takes a drag from her cigarette, the smoke adding haze in the fluorescently lit room, throwing shadows onto the tiled walls. “So,” she says, letting out another puff, “What are you gonna do?”

Nanami pulls his shirt over his head, “What do you mean?”

“You have… maybe a couple days more at best,” Shoko sighs. “The curse has spread too much for me to do anymore. I...” Her voice trails off.

“Ah, you mean that. You’ve helped so much, Shoko, I’m grateful to you.” Nanami looks down, the smile on his face telling her that he’s already come to terms with it.

She glares at him. “Don’t talk like that.” 

“And I’m sorry to be leaving you too.” he murmurs, eyes meeting hers. “It’s not how I planned to… you know…” He scratches the back of his head, chuckling. 

“Idiot, I said not to talk like that.” She stubs out her cigarette on the table, tossing it in the ashtray. “Does—”

“No. And I want to keep it that way.” 

She blinks slowly. “Why?”

“I don’t want our last moments together to be with pity,” he answers simply. “It’s pretty selfish, isn’t it?”

Shoko sighs, lighting another cigarette. “You won’t regret it?” 

Nanami is silent, staring down at the floor. The only sound in the room is the quiet buzzing of the fluorescent lights above and Shoko’s soft exhaling of smoke. He lets his head fall back and looks up at the light. “I’m actually not sure.”

Nanami tapped the pen against his chin as he looked at nothing in particular, lost in thought. You looked down at the roses he doodled around the card and giggled, poking at his hand that was flat on the desk, “Nanami-san, are you still with us?”

He blinked, a smile soft on his lips. “Of course. I’m just thinking of what to write.”

“Ah,” you said thoughtfully. “Well, I think you’ve written enough. I mean look at this,” you gestured to the cards stacked in neat piles beside him, “At this rate, if I couldn’t recognize your handwriting, I’d be too ashamed of myself to show my face to you.”

Nanami laughed. “But isn’t this fun? It’s like I’m leaving parts of myself that you get to keep forever.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, “I already have you forever, silly.”

“You’re right,” he said, that same gentle smile on his face, “You are my forever, too.”

Nanami’s eyes lit up, and you tilted your head in confusion. 

“What is it?” you asked, “Did something happen?”

“I just thought of what to write,” he said, smile stretching, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. My love, you’re a genius.”

“Huh? I—” you laughed, still confused, “I didn’t do anything?”

He shook his head, rising from the chair to press a kiss to your temple. “Nonsense.”

-

Nanami bends over, slipping on his shoes, and presses a kiss to your forehead, taking you into his arms. And he stays like that for a while, arms wrapped around your shoulders, nose burying itself in your hair. He inhales and exhales. Inhales. Exhales. He holds you tighter, pressing another kiss to your temple, one to which you giggle, looking up at him with those sweet eyes of yours. “You’ll be late!” you chide, pulling away from him and placing your hands on your hips.

He shrugs his shoulders, smiling at you, “I don’t think they’ll mind today.”

“Oho~? Who are you and what have you done to my Kento?” You raise an eyebrow at him teasingly. And he relishes in it. All of it. The smell of your shampoo as it dances in the air that smells so much like home—his home—and the way your eyes shine so brightly, wrapping him in a warmth that not even the cold hands of death could part him from. Even if you are frowning at him, he wanted to remember it.

“Come back safe,” you kiss him, “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“See you later.”

The pan sizzles, dinner cooking, as you ready the table. You set two plates down and check the clock. It’s almost time for Nanami to return, and you can’t stop grinning. Greeting him home is so much better than seeing him off, you think, and it’s something you can (and will) never get tired of. You can almost hear the turning of the doorknob and his soft I’m home. Wiping your hands on your apron, you turn expectantly to the door. 

It’s still closed.

You strain your ears, trying to hear his footsteps.

You don’t hear anything.

He’s late, you notice, but he must be coming soon. The clock is ticking, counting the seconds that pass as you sit at the table waiting. You scroll through your phone, giggling at a post or two, before swiping through your photo gallery app. Zooming in on Nanami’s face, you set it up so that it stood looking back at you. You lay your cheek on the table and sigh, “Where are you, Nanami-san? I’m here waiting for you.”

Your phone chimes, and you jump, thinking it’s a text from him. But instead it is a notification from one of your games popping on your screen. Grumbling, you tap on it anyway. By the time you look up again, the food has gone cold and an hour passed. Nanami being late is definitely taking its toll on you. You place your food in the microwave and wrap up his as you wait for it to get done. 

Food warm again, you sit on the sofa, and turn on the TV, switching it to the news channel. Take a bite. Chew. Swallow. Take another bite. Chew. Swallow. Your eyes are wide, not missing a single pixel. Volleyball. Delinquent high schoolers. The weather. As the broadcast is finishing, you sigh in relief: no freakish accidents. No cities ravaged to the ground. Good. 

Resisting from the urge to watch another episode of the show you two promised to watch together, you flip through the channels again, bored. Your eyes flit over to the note reading Have you eaten dinner yet? in his handwriting. You smile, I ate dinner, Kento, have you? 

“Hm, where should we put the first one?” Nanami asked, card in one hand and tape in the other. 

You looked around, imagining a new placement in every place you saw. “How about over there? By the TV,” you said, pointing, “Then we’ll definitely see it everyday.” 

Nanami nodded, cutting off a few pieces of tape with his teeth. He positioned the card and turned back to you, “Here?”

You squinted, taking a few steps back to get a better perspective. “A little up? No, sorry, a little down.”

“Here?” Nanami positions the card following your directions.

Giving him a thumbs up, you nodded, “Perfect!”

Once he finished pressing down on the tape more for added security, Nanami made his way to your side, an arm wrapping around your waist as you both looked proudly at the combined effort. 

“By the way, Kento,” you say, turning your head inquisitively.

“Hm?”

“Why does this card ask if I’ve eaten dinner if we always eat dinner together?” 

Nanami smiled, “In case I’m ever late for dinner.”

You startle awake, realizing that you fell asleep on the sofa. Blearily, you check your phone, squinting at the screen. 

5:01 AM

No missed calls, no texts. You stand, stretching your arms over your head, and tiptoe to the bedroom. Gingerly, you turn the doorknob, trying to be careful not to wake Nanami in case he’s inside. The door swings open with a small whine and the bed inside is empty. Which makes sense—he would never let you sleep alone, much less outside on the couch. You return to the living room and pick up your phone. Tapping on the screen, you decide to call him.

It rings. And rings. And rings. 

There’s a click.

“Hello.”

“Kento, when will you be coming home?”

“—I’m currently away. Please leave a message after the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

Beep

You stare at the screen in disbelief, pressing the end call button. You try calling again and to no avail, the beep continuing to ring in your ears. You leave a voicemail at your third try. 

Plopping down on the sofa, you sigh again, deflating. He’s never been this late before. Even with overtime, he’s always come home, melting in your arms and— 

You tap on your screen again a couple more times and press the phone to your ear, biting at your nail as it dialed. After the second dial, there’s a click. 

“Hi, Gojo-san. Kento hasn’t returned home yet and—”

“I’m actually at your door, would you come open it?” 

You pause, “Sorry?”

“The door. Please.”

“Oh! Right, coming.”

You tentatively open the door, peeking out from inside. Gojo is standing there, clad in his jujutsu uniform, and no eye coverings in sight, not even his sunglasses. 

“Your eyes…”

You falter, noticing the tinge of red that colors his under-eyes. “Gojo-san, are you alr—”

“Nanamin wanted me to give you this,” Gojo interrupts you. He couldn’t look you in the eye. A sickening feeling starts to bubble in your stomach as your gaze drops to his outstretched hand. 

“What is…?” Your hand trembles as you reach for it, hesitating in the space between yourself and him. Gojo reaches for your hand, gently placing the paper in your palm, and curls your fingers over it. 

“Time of death, 5:01 AM. Cause of death, a sustained curse specializing in poison. I’m sorry…” He hesitates and you could see the strain, his jaw clenching and unclenching, as he fought for control for his own voice. “He spoke of you until the end,” he says finally, before turning around, hands jammed in his pockets, “He— he said he didn’t want to make you watch him die. So, forgive him, okay?” He turns back again briefly, bowing his head to you, and climbs into the passenger side of a car that was waiting for him.  

Your body goes slack as you close the door, falling against it, and you unfold the piece of paper. It’s in his handwriting, you knew it better than anyone, learned it better than anyone. The notes littered around the house, small notes he said would give the both of you strength, the loops and lines of his letters, it was all the same. You raise a hand to your mouth to stifle a sob. You see the border of roses doodled on the paper. 

愛してる (Aishiteru).

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[lunaroserites]

Art and Ice - Ground Rules

Pairing: Eventual Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Characters: Natasha, Wanda, Pietro, Loki, Bucky, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, a lot of the avengers cast is mentioned.

Summery: Bucky and Doodle spend some quality time together.

This might a 2 or 3 parter (it's gonna be more because cannot help myself). College AU, our boy Bucky is on the hockey team, and reader is an art major (because I love that trope and couldn't help myself)

Warnings: Not beta'd! All mistakes are my own. Friends fluff, swearing, mentions of college students being college students. Bit of friendly harmless flirting between friends. Bucky is a playboy. Flirting. Mentions of not eating or drinking for a hours (ADHD Brain)

Word Court: 2859

Likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated! ❤️

Please do not repost, translate or otherwise copy my work elsewhere, without my express permission, thank you! Lunaroserites on tumblr and ao3

Catch up here: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 ❤️

You didn’t see Barnes the next day, which wasn’t surprising, it was Friday night after a win so celebration extended into the start of the weekend. Saturday was much the same, you toiled away in the art room in front of a large sketch pad trying to get something together while your canvas dried. 

You also had a small piece you were working on for a gallery wall you were doing for a local gallery that was happening once the semester ended. So your plate was full and adding the insistent nagging from your brain to find Barnes, your patience was wearing thin. 

You threw the paint brush at the sink, it sailed in a smooth arche before clattering in the paint covered sink. You ran your hands over your face and groaned as you leaned forward, elbows planted in the table. Your mind is running amuck and making you lose patience. 

“Doodle,” the new brush you were holding snapped in your tense grip as you looked up, startled. Barnes was standing at the door holding a bag that smelled delicious and your stomach growled. You may have forgotten to take a break and eat. 

“Barnes,” you said, your tone tense. His eyebrow quirked up as he walked in and placed the bag down a few feet away. 

“Are you okay,” your hand kinda hurt from snapping the brush a moment ago, and your head was killing you with a raging headache. Which might be because you haven’t eaten in a while or because you were thirsty. You took a deep breath and nodded. 

“Yeah, just a little stressed,” you answered. The smell of the food in the bag makes your mouth water and your stomach twist in an uncomfortable way. “What can I do for you?” 

“You weren’t at practice all weekend. Nat said you were hauled up in the art room,” he said nonchalantly, you just stared at him. “And I figured I would stop by and check on my favourite girl,” he said confidently, and you rolled your eyes in response. Your stomach decided that moment was the best time to make its presence known and grumbled loudly. Your cheeks immediately darkened in embarrassment. 

“And she said you most likely didn’t eat,” the look on his face caught you off guard, he had a look of genuine concern etched on his features. “She knows you well,” he mused, his tongue poked between his teeth as he winked at you. You leaned back against your chair and extended your hand and gestured to the chair across from you, prompting him to sit. He took a seat across from you and smiled. “I hope you like burgers,” he said as he pulled the bag over. 

“I don’t mind them, are they from Gus’s?” You asked, he nodded. 

“I wasn’t sure what you drank so I got water,” he added, pulling a couple water bottles out of his gym bag. You smiled and chuckled a little at how thoughtful he was being. 

“Waters fine,” you accepted the bottle and cracked it open and drank half it one go. He eyed you suspiciously and you gulped down hard. “I get lost in what I’m doing and sometimes forget to eat or drink,” you mumbled under his intense gaze. 

“That’s not healthy,” he muttered, pulling out a burger and handing it to you. You accepted and opened it up, taking a bite and biting back the moan you almost let out. 

“I know, but when I’m in the zone. I just don’t realise how much time passes,” you said softly, he nodded and you two ate the food in a comfortable silence. 

“Thank you,” you said as you threw out the garbage and sat back down. 

“No problem, can’t let ya starve,” he chuckled and rubbed his chin in his hand. “What’s ya working on?” He asked and looked at the few pieces shattered behind you and a shadow box a few feet away from you. 

“Uh, a project for an art exhibit once schools out,” you answered. 

“Mind if I work on some homework? It’s quieter here than my house,” you raised an eyebrow at him, that was unexpected. “What?” he asked. 

“Nothing, don’t mind me,” you said as you looked down to work on the piece for the shadow box. Your eyes drifted up every now and then as you observed him working on what looked to be some kind of science homework. 

His eyes wandered over your frame every now and then as he took in your look of complete concentration as you worked with a small piece of clay. He couldn’t help but appreciate the dedication you had toward your craft. 

“What are you working on?” You asked after some time. 

“Science homework,” he gave you a cheeky smile. You gave him a deadpan expression. “It’s space stuff,” he answered. 

“What about space stuff?” You asked, genuine curiosity laced your tone. 

“I’m learning about stars,” he tilted the book he was reading, it was open to a diagram of a star. 

“Oh neat!” You took a closer look at the diagrams and then looked back at him. He was rubbing his neck with a sheepish look on his face. “I did a project a couple years ago on Saturn,” you pulled your phone out and showed him a picture. 

“Wow, you did a fantastic job,” he took your phone for a moment to get a closer look at it. “Wait, that looks familiar,” he looked up at you again. “That looks like the one in the observatory.”

“That’s because it is,” you chuckled. His eyes widened a little and his smile broadened. 

“I made out with a girl right next to it,” he chuckled and your smile dropped and you busied yourself with another piece of clay. 

“That’s great,” you forced out through the firm line your mouth was now set in. 

“Why do you do that?” He asked suddenly, noticing your immediate change in demeanour. You looked up and your eyes narrowed at him. 

“Do what?” 

“That? Get all closed off when I say something you don’t like,” he asked. 

“Because I really didn’t need to know you made out with a girl next to my art piece,” you stated. “I was told if I have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” 

“I’m not a child, I can handle criticism,” he defended. 

“That’s not the point. Have you ever once sat down and just chatted with a girl without the expectation of sex afterwards?” You asked, your tone very genuine. He sat back in his chair and looked anywhere but your face. 

“No. Not in a long time,” his answer caught you guard. You were expecting some snide comment or a lie. When you looked at his face, he looked completely sincere. You took a deep breath knowing the answer to the question you were about to ask. 

“Is that why you’re here now?” You didn’t recognize the voice that asked the question. It was soft and meek, nothing like your usual cadence. He didn’t answer right away, and based on the look on his face he didn’t really know what to say or how to answer. 

“Honestly,” he took a deep breath and looked at his hands. “Probably. Maybe. I don’t know. At first definitely. The first time I spoke to you it was. But I don’t know,” his rambling gave away how honest he was being. “I still want to,” he paused, “to still sleep with you. I also want to hang out with you. And get to know you.” 

You couldn’t help the slight upturn of your lip as you released a long inhale, “thank you for being honest.” 

“I might be a prick. But at least I’m an honest one,” he tried to joke. His smile dropped when you didn’t laugh. “So where does that leave us now?” 

“I don’t know Barnes. I don’t want to sleep with you. But I don’t want you to take that as a challenge to get me to sleep with you. If you truly want to be friends, and we get to know one another with no ulterior motives, then we can do that,” you didn’t want to sugar coat it. You also didn’t have the balls to admit you had a tiny crush on him because that would go straight to his dick and this conversation would be pointless. 

“Well to start you could start calling me Bucky, Barnes is so detached,” he gave you a small smile. 

“Well that was the point,” you chuckled. “But okay, Bucky.” His smile grew larger and he pumped his fist in the air. 

“I’m still calling you Doodle though,” he said, his tone serious as he stared at you. 

“That’s fine, I guess,” you chuckled while rolling your eyes at him. 

“So how much of my piece is finished?” He asked, you couldn’t help but laugh and pointed over your shoulder to the large canvas behind you. “That’s empty.” 

“I know. I have to get some practice sketches  done first before I paint on the big canvas,” you decided to not mention the two you ruined.

“Can I see the practice sketches?” He asked hopefully. 

“Sure,” you relented and passed the sketch pad over and watched him look at it. 

“How do you do that?” He asked, passing it back a moment later. 

“Draw?” You raised an eyebrow at him. He nodded. “I just do, it takes a lot of practice and effort. I could ask the same of you, how do you skate so effortlessly?” 

He smiled for a moment before answering, “I guess it’s the same. I just get on the ice and go. The moment I lace my skates up and I hit the ice everything else just fades away, it’s just me, my stick and the puck.” 

“For me, I pick up the pen, or brush and just start somewhere and get lost in it. It’s me, the brush and the canvas,” you finished. 

“Hey,” he was serious now, that caught your attention fully as you looked at him, “I wanted to apologise for what I said the other day…”

“Bucky,” you reached out and placed your smaller hand on his gently as you cut him off, “stop, it’s okay. We both said things that weren’t very nice. For what it’s worth.” You looked into his eyes sincerely, “I’m sorry too. It’s behind us now.” 

He smiled and nodded, “okay Doodle.” 

That conversation was the catalyst to your developing and lively friendship with Bucky, when the team wasn’t travelling for the away games over the next week he would sit in the art room and do his homework while you worked on the art projects you had due. 

It was Thursday night, Bucky was just getting to the art studio after practice when he saw you hunched over your sketch pad, your hands in your hair and you were sniffling. He entered and quickly threw his gym bag down and came around the table and crouched down next to you. He placed his hand on your forearm, trying not to startle you too much. You jumped anyway since you didn’t hear him come in, you were too wrapped up in your own thoughts to notice anything else.

“Doodle,” he said softly. “Everything okay?” You shook your head and slumped into his chest, that caught him off guard, he quickly wrapped his arms around you and hugged you back as you cried into his chest. As quickly as you collapsed into him you pulled back and shook your head. 

“I’m sorry,” you blurted out and placed your head in your hands. Bucky was a little stunned at how quickly your demeanour changed. 

“It's okay,” he stood and took his usual seat across from you. “Wanna talk about it?” You let out an exaggerated sigh and sniffled loudly. 

“My art professor is a bitch,” you groaned. “And I have a bunch more projects due and she’s just awful. If I didn’t need this course to graduate I would have dropped it.” You pressed your cheek against the table and closed your eyes. 

“What did she do?” Bucky asked.

“After class she decided to tell me she doesn’t know why I bother trying, and that the school was foolish to offer, a no talent, wannabe one of the only full ride scholarships offered for the arts,” you were crying again. You had spent years honing your craft, and fought tooth and nail for the scholarship that allowed you to attend school here. 

“She’s probably just jealous,” you laughed at that, Nat had said the same thing when you texted her earlier about what happened. 

“I have an appointment with the head of the department tomorrow afternoon. This isn’t the first time she’s been awful to me,” you didn’t see his fist clench and the momentary anger flash across his face as you said that. 

“I wouldn’t listen to her Doodle,” Bucky reached across the table and patted your arm gently. “Your art is awesome, and you’re incredibly talented,” he finished. You smiled against the table and lifted your head up to send him a thankful look.

“Thanks Bucky, that means a lot,” you sighed and whipped your eyes with the back of your hand and rolled your shoulders. “I got some stuff done on your portrait,” you said, your voice still a little coarse, but you felt a lot better. His face lit and his full attention was on the covered canvas behind you. You stood and pulled the cover off and showed him, you had some of the out lining done, the positioning and scale perfect. You felt very proud of it so far. 

“Holy shit Doodle,” Bucky stood and got closer to admire the outlining. “You know, once this is done, you should get them to let you display it in the sports annex,” he had a smug tone as he said this. You chuckled and rolled your eyes. 

“Maybe if you bat your eyelashes at the department head, and ask him really nicely, he’ll let me,” you bumped your hip into his and smirked up at him. He smiled down at you and the softness in his eye made your heart skip a beat, you quickly cleared your throat and moved from him to grab a pencil. 

“I’m going to work my homework, and stay out of your way,” Bucky said softly as he moved from your side to sit down again. You smiled looking down at your feet before you started to do some more outlining. 

His eyes would shift from his homework every so often and they would rove over your body. He knew he didn’t have a shot in hell at getting you to agree to sleeping with him, you made that clear and he was really trying to make sure he kept that at the forefront of his mind when he was around you because he really did want to be friends with you.

But those leggings you wore hugged the curve of your ass so perfectly it was making it difficult. He felt his mouth dry out a little as he watched you rock from side to side as you drew on the canvas, and he involuntarily let a low whistle when you stretched up and exposed some of the soft skin of your back. 

You immediately turned and looked at him with a raised brow and squinted at him, full judgement. “Barnes,” you were warning him, he raised his hands up in surrender. 

“Not my fault you look amazing, it's a crime,” he defended himself with a cocky tone. You couldn’t stop the blush that crawled up your neck and on to your cheeks. 

“You’re insufferable,” you groaned, turning your back to him again, the blush still strong on your cheeks. He laughed loudly, before going back to his homework. You couldn’t keep the little smile off your face, you knew he used that line on countless girls, and it was probably a line he used often to get in their pants, but damn he was such a smooth talker, and he said all the right things in the right tones. You hated that you longed for his compliments. 

It was quiet for a while longer, just the sounds of pencils on paper and canvas filling the air.   

“Hey Doodle,” you hummed in response, not wanting to look away. “There is a final game just before playoffs, it's here, do you think you’ll come?” 

“I thought Nat said you guys were done with the home games now,” you still didn’t look at him, trying to make sure your scale was correct. 

“This one isn’t a regular season game, but I think you’ll really enjoy it,” he was being incredibly cryptic about whatever it is. You turned now, and raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Then what is it?” You asked as you eyed him. 

“Surprise, but I promise you’ll love it,” he sounded so earnest that you couldn’t help but believe him. 

“Okay,” I chuckled. “I’ll go,” you relented, trying to hide your genuine excitement. 

Taglist: @vicmc624, @calwitch, @learisa, @aaqua-tofana

Feel free to send me a message if you have a request or would like more, or would like to be added to the tag list ❤️

[yuri-spike-pit]

quick fix

@kabrox18 doodled a lovely little thing of andromeda holding her wife's hand. i wrote a companion piece to accompany it as thanks; it's about andromeda fixing a kink in silva's hand and sharing an easy moment together in the fabrication lab.

content tags: short fiction, original fiction, sapphic characters, robotics, engineering, repairs

word count: 1.4k

⋆｡°•☁︎ quick fix☁︎•°｡⋆

A firm knock at the doorway pulled Andromeda from her soldering job with a sharp inhale of acrid flux. It wasn't an impatient knock, nor a timid one. But it was a familiarly measured one, which happened when a more casual knock had not managed to get her attention.

"Hey, bee," Andromeda greeted before she turned around. She habitually rolled her neck about with a grunt. "What's up?"

Silva plodded inside in an easy lope. She must've polished herself recently. The black and green accents of her purple paint job were especially glossy as she made her way over to the soldering benches in the lower right of the room, past the robotic arms surrounding the empty building space and under ventilation pipes snaking across the ceiling. The ceiling's the cleanest surface in the shop, and even then, Andromeda could see some smoke stains here, some splotches of lubricant from pressurization fuck-ups there. Silva's pristine job on herself certainly didn't make it look any cleaner.

Andromeda's gaze fell back down over Silva's broad shoulder and towards the doorway. Silva hadn't ducked under it when she came in. She hasn't been ducking for a while, but she did it all the time when she first joined the team's numbers. Something about Tecton's doorways rarely ever accommodating the Bulwarks' mass, despite insisting on having them patrol factories and more secure offices. It was almost as if Bulwarks were anti-tank weaponry and were never intended for urban lifestyles. And the morons kept making them bigger.

"—me out?"

Andromeda blinked. Silva was in front of her now, holding out her right hand. "I—Sorry, I didn't hear anything you just said," she said on a huff of a chuckle. The damp, dingy sponge hissed as she swiped the tip of the iron across it before popping it back into the stand. "What was it?"

Silva's pupils rounded fondly before returning to their usual slits. "It's incredible how quickly you can stop paying attention," she said.

"What can I say? I'm a woman of many talents."

"This is undeniably true. What were you thinking about?"

"Uh…" Andromeda rubbed her chin. "Nothing important. How Tecton keeps making Bulwarks bigger. And how dirty my ceiling is."

Silva cast a bemused glance upward. She always blinked once when she was trying to find a polite way to say something. She didn't used to do that either. Blink. Or be polite. "I'm not sure I understand the association," she admitted after a moment. "A woman of many talents, as you said."

Andromeda grinned and curled her fingers under Silva's extended claws. But as she tugged them down to fold down over her hand, her smile faded and her brow pinched slightly.

"These feel tight."

"You can tell that quickly?"

"Well, yeah. I know what your hand's supposed to feel like."

Her pupils rounded again. This time, they stayed round. "Then I suppose you hardly need me to repeat myself. That's the problem I came to you for. I don't know how exactly it happened, but I closed my hand, and then couldn't get it open without some force. Now I can't close it again. Help would be appreciated if you aren't busy." She shrugged her pauldron towards Andromeda's mess on the workbench.

Andromeda shook her head. "Nah, that's me being bored. Here, let's… take a look… Mind grabbing, let's see… The drill bit with the chisel-shaped end, the battery for the drill, and my screwdriver from my workbench?"

Silva cast a wary glance at the simultaneous morgue, graveyard, and hospital of projects looming in the opposite corner of the room.

"If something falls, that's your fault," she said as she lumbered off.

The dial of the soldering station purred as Andromeda twisted it off. The circuit board she was frankensteining together and holding hostage with a couple of clamps seemed to gleam a little sigh of relief. Silva then returned with the tools (nothing fell, of course, because Silva was far more careful than Andromeda and did not treat her work crudely). Andromeda walked her stool back a little to make more room for her beloved.

"What do you think is wrong?" Silva asked as she set the tools down before Andromeda. The ventilation hummed quietly overhead.

"Mm... Give it here…"

Silva obliged and extended her stiff hand. Andromeda caught her index in the saddle of her thumb and drew her close. As though she were a kite, or a flight of silk, rather than a several thousand-ton war machine, Silva drifted easily to her, even going so far as to kneel at her side. Gently, Andromeda laid her hand palm side up in her lap and tried to curl her claws inward. They didn't budge. She tried again and tilted a pierced, pricked ear towards Silva's hand. No sound of the tiny gears in the micro motors or the actuators, so it probably wasn't the wiring or the electronics, or Silva resisting her…

"Can you try moving them yourself?"

She did with a vague expression of discomfort—narrowed pupils, tightened armor, flatter eyes. Andromeda heard the motors whine, but nothing happened. Okay. Definitely not the electronics.

"Has it been getting tighter over time? Like, past couple weeks or days?"

"Yes, but I was able to manage it." Silva shuffled a bit closer on her knees. Even like this, she was still eye level with Andromeda.

"By upping the torque on your motors?"

Silva paused. Her eyes dimmed into a deeper crimson. A tell-tale sign she was sinking into her diagnostics. They brightened back up a split second before she spoke. "It appears so. I must've been compensating without realizing. "

Andromeda hummed with a bob of her head. "Mm. It happens. I think the screws in your joints got tightened too much. If they're not balanced when I reset them, they can get tightened or loosened naturally over time when you use your hands. So, my bad. But forcing your hand back open is probably what got it stuck."

"I see."

"Yeah, same rule of thumb as sex: if something isn't going when it's supposed to go, don't force it."

Silva stuttered out a staticky bleep of a laugh. "Noted."

Andromeda tittered as she pinned the two free-floating strands of hair dangling in her face back with a couple of bobby pins. Then she took up the drill, undid the chuck to slip the bit in, then redid it. With a series of clicks, she twisted the dial to lower the torque on the drill, then flicked the switch to spin the bit anti-clockwise. It sort of felt like a surgeon snapping on their gloves. In a way, it was.

Gently, she guided Silva's hand to lay as flat as she could get it on the workbench. Then she slotted in the bit, and, with the same delicacy a pâtissier placed their final shavings onto their work, squeezed the trigger until the drill began to hum in her hands. A little more, and there was a moment as it twisted against her, but she remained steady, and the screw spun loose. A pneumatic hiss of relief sighed from Silva's shoulders.

"Much better," she hummed.

Andromeda hurried and freed up the rest of her hand, gave it a quick kiss, and then let Silva relax her claws full against the desk. She gratefully curled her fingers up a few times before stilling again. Hm. She had a few nicks on the paint here and there. Her hands were always amongst the first to start showing signs of wear and tear, preceded only by her feet and foreleg.

"Now we just tighten them properly this time," she said. She picked up the screwdriver, and then paused. Then she set down her screwdriver and looked up at Silva. "Since I fucked it up last time, do you—Woah."

Silva was a good foot closer than she was a moment ago and watching her with a shiny-eyed expression.

“Hey, you,” Andromeda smiled crookedly. “Do you wanna do it?”

“No. It’s difficult for me to use tools that small.” She leaned forward and pressed her chevron to the side of Andromeda’s head. “And I prefer to watch you work.”

Andromeda’s smile grew into a beam. “Yes’m. I’ll do ya proud!” “I know you will.”

[pleaseholdfor5hours]

Random Middle School memories part 4

(Link to part 3)

School dress codes are put into order for a reason. At this age the children can still get easily distracted. The dress codes were fair, more fair then most schools, at least they didn't ban girls from wearing tank tops and were fair about most clothing choices for the students. The school mostly didn't like the students wearing hats, which was easy to follow.

But today Issac had no clue how to address whatever the heck Ikari was wearing today. Would he dress code Ikari? His clothing didn't break any of the rules but it was different than most normal clothing. Issac couldn't even recognize at Ikari first because he looked like someone else.

Ikari sat at his desk, wearing a black wig, some crazy cloak, and purple eye contacts. Issac normally doesn't stare but he couldn't stop starting at Ikari. He was so confused. Was the boy going through a identity crisis? Was this the start of early teenage rebellion? Well now he had to ask because he was a little worried for Ikari.

Issac went up to Ikari's desk, Ikari was busy drawing another anime girl in his notebook again. "Good morning, Ikari. The look seems interesting. What's with the sudden change?" Issac asked nicely, though he was worried on the inside.

Ikari looked up and smiled brightly. "Good morning! This is my cosplay, I'm Lelouch from Code Geass. Cool right? I made the cloak myself! Sure I may have pricked my fingers while sewing but it was so worth it." Ikari said proudly, flipping some of the hair of his wig.

Issac gave a slight sigh of relief, but now he was left with more questions. "Uh, what's a cosplay? Also who's Lelouch?" Issac asked which caused Ikari to gasp.

"You don't know who Lelouch is? Have you never watched Code Geass? Because you should watch it. Best anime as of right now by my standards. Lelouch is the main character, and he's super cool, so I decided to dress like him." Ikari then proceeded to almost go over the whole lore of Code Geass season 1 before Issac had to stop him.

"Woah woah, too much too much information. That doesn't answer my other question. What is a cosplay?" Issac asked again. Ikari gives a disappointed look.

"Old man, cosplay is where cool people like I, dress up in costumes of our favorite pop culture character. We mostly make these costumes ourselves and show them off at a anime conventions. Those places are also cool because you get to buy merch and see art as well." Ikari explained with the proud look still on his face.

It took Issac to process all of this. This what happens when Ikari is the first one to class before school starts in 40 minutes. He gets some 12 year old geeking out over anime, who is probably high on sugar and caffeine. Once Issac had finished processing the whole Code Geass lore he now had to process what Ikari meant by cosplay.

"So.... you dress up like fictional characters and go out like them?......" He asked, unsure if he was right. Ikari nods and gives a thumbs up.

"Bingo. It's for fun!" Issac thought about it before softly smiling and giving a nod.

"Well whatever makes you happy, kid. Just try not to come to school dressed like that all the time, other staff members might not be so lenient on the cloak thing. Also I might accidentally mark you absent since you're not Ikari, but Lelouch now." Issac chuckled as he went along with Ikari's little fun.

Ikari pouts a little. "What? You know it me. I'm not Lelouch, I just so happen to look like him. Don't mark me absent." He continued to pout while Issac laughed a little.

"I'm just messing with ya. Of course, I won't mark you absent." Ikari stopped pouting after that and chuckled as well. He seemed to relax.

The warning bell to hurry to class rang and other students start coming in. Issac goes back to his desk to start the lesson plan and Ikari goes back to doodling in his notebook. What a interesting little start to the morning.

[ronnie-quinn]

Monsters, Monsters Everywhere!

Plot: Jax reads a scary story about monsters to the babies.

Heavily based (and quoted) on a Baby Looney Tunes episode called “Duck! Monster! Duck!”

TADC! Nursery AU belongs to @txttabloid

Paisley and Orchid belong to @nostalgic-woodwind/@nostalgic-doodles

It was nighttime at the Digital Circus, and the babies were playing in the nursery before bed.

Gangle and Orchid were coloring in their coloring books, Paisley, Pomni, and Ragatha were riding on a rocking horse together (with Pomni almost getting nauseous), Zooble was building a block tower, Kinger was playing with his toy insects, and Jax was reading a book about bunnies.

"Uh-huh... interesting..." Jax nodded as he flipped through his book.

"Whatcha doing?" Paisley asked as she walked over to Jax.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm reading this marvelous book!"

"Nuh-uh, you're the youngest out of all of us. You can't read," Ragatha replied as she and Pomni walked over to the pair.

"Yeah, I can," Jax argued.

"No, you can't," Paisley and Ragatha teased in unison.

"Yeah, I can."

"No, you can't."

"Yeah, I can!"

"Oh, yeah? Prove it," Paisley challenged.

"Okay, you're on. I can read this whole book by myself," Jax scoffed.

"Hey, everyone! Jax is gonna read from a real book!" Ragatha called out to everyone while Jax tried to stop her; too little, too late.

"Jax can read? This I gotta see," Zooble said nonchalantly.

The rest of the babies gathered around Jax as he was sweating bullets. If only he kept his big mouth shut.

"Alright, here goes," Jax gulped as he opened the book he was reading. "Once there was a time when-"

"Excuse me, Jax. If I may, but it's actually 'once upon a time'," Kinger pointed out.

"Well, Mr. Know-it-all, I'm reading the book and it says 'once there was a time'. Now, do you want me to read to you or not?"

"Sorry..."

"Anyway... once there was a time when there was... uh... a clown princess, and a..." Jax continued as he flipped through the pages. "And a clown prince. They lived in a beautiful... circus kingdom, where there were a zillion balloon horses and birds in the sky."

"Boring," Zooble sighed.

Zooble wasn't wrong. The babies were incredibly bored by Jax's "story". Even Orchid was falling asleep.

"Uh... horses... birds..." Jax kept going, trying to figure how to spice up his story and prove he can read. "Oh, yeah! There were also monsters in the trees!"

The babies gasped in shock, except for Zooble, who was unamused.

"Yeah, and there were monsters in the kingdom lake," Jax said, causing the babies to gasp again. "And there were monsters that lived next door to the horses' stables!"

"No! Not next to the horses' stables!" Gangle cried out as she hugged Kinger tightly.

"There were so many monsters in this kingdom, that they would sneak into the castle and hide under beds, closests, and even toy boxes."

Caine opened the door. Bubble was carrying a tray of baby bottles on top of his head.

"Okay, kiddos, time for bed," Caine said.

The babies, sans Jax and Zooble, cowered in fear.

"Bubble, I told you not to give the kids sugary snacks before bedtime," Caine muttered to Bubble as he handed the babies their bottles.

"Gee, that was some story, Jax," Zooble said. "However, Caine read from that book before and I haven't heard a thing about monsters in it."

"That because I made it up," Jax smirked.

"I knew you couldn't read."

"What can I say? Why read when you have a big imagination? You should've seen how jumpy I made everyone!"

"Just be careful and make sure that imagination of yours doesn't make you jumpy," Zooble rolled their eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous," Jax scoffed.

Caine was tucking Gangle in when she pointed at the closet.

"Is everything okay, Gangle?" Caine asked.

Gangle shook her head and pointed at the closet again.

"Monster..." Gangle gulped.

Caine flew over to the closet and opened it.

"Silly Gangle, there's no monsters in the closet," Caine chuckled.

"Caine…" Pomni whimpered as she pointed under her crib.

"Do you think there are monsters under your crib, Pomni?" Caine asked.

Pomni nodded as Caine checked under her crib.

"It's okay, Pomni. No monsters under here, either," Caine said confidently.

The ringmaster then went over to Orchid's crib to tuck them in. The stuffed zebra was clutching onto their blankie for dear life as they pointed at the open toy box.

"Everyone can relax. I assure you all that there is no such thing as monsters and there are no monsters in this room," Caine told everyone as he shut the toy box and turned off the lights. "Goodnight, my little superstars."

Caine and Bubble then left the room.

"'Goodnight', Caine says..." Kinger gulped. "I'll be lucky if I can close my eyes."

Kinger managed to close his eyes and fall asleep.

"I hope Caine's right about monsters not being here," Gangle said to herself.

This gave Jax a clever and mischievous idea. He grabbed a flashlight and shined it on the wall that was on the opposite side of the cribs. Jax began making shadow puppets of various monsters, which scared everyone (all except for Zooble). He even made a shadow puppet of a centipede and it frightened Ragatha to death.

"This is gonna be my best one yet," Jax grinned as he made a shadow of a dragon.

"Heh, that's a cool dragon. Not gonna scare me, though," Zooble said as they went to sleep.

“Oh, no! The monsters! They got me!” Jax fake-cried as he climbed out of the crib. He continued fake-screaming as he crawled over to the dress-up chest and opened it, where there were multiple hand puppets inside.

“Do you think Jax will be okay?” Pomni asked Orchid.

“I-I d-d-don’t kn-now,” Orchid stammered, still clutching onto their blanket.

Jax raised a vampire puppet next to Orchid’s crib. He shined the flashlight on the puppet and made a hissing sound. Orchid and Pomni screamed and hid underneath their covers.

The bunny switched puppets and grabbed a witch puppet. He went over to Ragatha’s crib and shined the flashlight on the witch, making a cackling sound. Ragatha shrieked as she crawled behind her pillow.

Jax proceeded to scare Paisley with a werewolf puppet. After that, he went over to Kinger’s crib. Jax did his best to scare the sleeping chess piece with his monster puppets, but to no avail.

“Wow, Hoo-ha’s a sound sleeper,” Jax muttered.

Jax then crept over to Gangle’s crib and shined his flashlight on a Frankenstein puppet. Gangle began crying as the rest of the babies all screamed in terror.

The bunny quietly snickered, thinking that he fooled everyone until the lights were turned on by Zooble.

“Jax!” The babies yelled in unison.

“Okay, what’s going on, Jax?” Zooble glared. “I knew immediately it was you when I woke up to everyone screaming.”

“I got you! You should’ve seen your faces!” Jax laughed.

“Huh, what? Is it time for breakfast?” Kinger yawned as he woke up.

“That was not funny, Jax!” Ragatha scolded.

“We should tell Caine on you,” Paisley angrily added.

“You even made Gangle cry!” Orchid scowled.

“It’s not very nice to be scaring people,” Gangle sniffled.

“Especially when we’re supposed to be sleeping,” Zooble yawned.

“Oh, you guys are no fun,” Jax rolled his eyes as he returned to his crib. “Well, you won’t have to worry about being scared tonight because I’m exhausted.”

Zooble turned off the lights before heading back to their crib.

“Everyone in the circus knows there’s no such thing as monsters,” Jax chuckled to himself as he fell asleep.

———

A Few Hours Later…

Everyone was sound asleep in the nursery when a tapping noise was heard from outside.

Jax woke up to this. He stood up and looked out the window. The tree branches were the cause of the sound, but he didn’t know that. He looked around the nursery and saw scary shadows all around him.

“A space alien!” Jax gasped when he saw one shadow. He then saw another shadow where he thought it was a cyclops. He then saw a sea monster, causing him to scream and hide under his bedsheets. “The monsters are gonna get me! They’re gonna get me for real this time!”

Caine came in the nursery to see what was going on. He turned on the lights, which caused the rest of the babies to wake up.

“Jax, Jax, it’s okay,” Caine said as he went over to Jax’s crib and picked the frightened bunny up. “There’s no monsters in here.”

Jax stopped screaming and looked around.

“Hey, there’s no space alien… no cyclops and no sea monster either,” Jax realized as he laughed with relief.

“See what I said about not letting your imagination make you jumpy?” Zooble remarked.

“Yeah, you’re right. Hey, can someone hand me that storybook?”

Jax pointed at the book he read earlier and Caine handed it to him.

“What do you want it for?” Caine asked as he set Jax back in his crib.

“I’ve got a lot of reading to do,” Jax said as he began flipping through the book. “Maybe one of these more calming stories can help me sleep.”

[shittingtears]

A notebook

Chamber x reader

Drabble head-canon thingy

You are out on a mission that's gonna last for a few days and out of kindness (he actually just misses you) he decides to clean up your room a day before you arrive. As he was cleaning he finds the notebook he gave you a while back. He said 1 page won't hurt but read everything instead.

I didn't know which character to make this with but I decided on Chamber because he was in my dream the other night 😅 apologies for mistakes and quality I'm writing this out of boredom

• He couldn't send you off on your mission because Brimstone suddenly assigned him to a mission.

• Was upset about it, would protest (politely), but you reassured him that it was fine and that you'd be back soon.

• Wanted to go full out and give you flowers before you leave but you had to tell him no, save it for a special occasion.

• Isn't content on you leaving without something from him so he gave you extra kisses the day before you left.

• Drowned himself in work as a distraction from missing you.

• A few days later decided that's enough work and he should do something else.

• That's where he got the idea to clean your room.

• Skilled at cleaning, how else will he keep his room neat?

• He refolded clothes that were tossed on your bed probably from deciding what to wear before you left and did your laundry.

• Dusted your shelves and tidied up the table in your room, even changed your bedsheets.

• When he was done with all that, he went to clean under the bed, that's when he found your notebook.

----

"Ah? What's this?" Chamber picked up the object from under your bed.

'Where have I seen this notebook?' He asked himself , it looked very familiar.

That's when it clicked, he gave this notebook to you.

A peak won't hurt, so he flipped the cover open to reveal the first page.

There was the same note he wrote on it before giving it to you, only difference being a big heart drawn around it and a 'Thank you' written under.

A smile made it's way to his face, you were just too cute for him.

Temptation got to him and he flipped to the next page.

There was a doodle of what looked like to be him, and arrow pointed to that drawing that connected to some writing beneath it;

"Hello book from Vincent, this is the first page I'm going to use."

Under that were a bunch of doodles of some of the other agents.

He flipped to the next page.

"He knows how to cook???? I didn't know!!! He made some bomb ass eggs this morning, who knew a guy making eggs would be this attractive."

He chuckled, so this must be what runs in your head.

As funny as it was, it didn't stop from his heart skipping a beat.

He went to the latest written page.

"Book, I think I really like you, but you know who I really really like? Vincent. I forget we've been together for a pretty long time now. He's so sweet all the time, I bet he doesn't know what he's been doing to my heart.

Sometimes I just wanna go up to him and ask him to be my boyfriend even if he already is, I know it's stupid, but ever since him I've been finding myself doing a lot of stupid things. Not that I mind.

I've gotta thank this man, I don't think I've ever been this happy.

And self reminder I'm running out of pages I need another notebook."

By now his cheeks were probably flaming red.

His heart was thumping and he couldn't help but squeeze his arm and smile hard.

----

The next day, you arrive.

He only realized later on that snooping in your stuff was very bad and he needs to apologize, so as you were chilling in his room, he turned his chair towards you.

"Mon Chéri I have something to confess." He had a frown on his face.

You immediately pushed aside whatever you were doing.

"Yes? What's wrong? What happened?" You questioned worried.

"The other day I cleaned your room before you'd be back... and I looked through your notebook... I apologize."

Although embarrassing because of all the stuff you wrote about him there, you couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh Vincent." You wiped away a tear from laughing too hard.

"It's not like I have anything to hide from you, no need to look so down, but thank you for the apology." You walked up to him and gently held his cheeks, placing a kiss onto his lips.

You felt him smile as he kissed back.

You pulled away and he brushed his fingers against your hair.

"But how many pages did you read..." You raised your eyebrow, praying in your head that he didn't read the more... dirty things.

"Just the first 2 pages and last page."

A sigh of relief escaped you.

"That reaction is telling me you wrote something embarrassing in there?"

Uh oh.

At the end of the day he found out why you reacted like that.

Let's say it was worth having him read it 😉.

----

Extra:

"You needed a new notebook right? Here." He held up two exact copies of the notebook.

"Two? That's a lot of writing."

"The other is for me, when it's all filled out you can read it."

[prismatica-the-strange]

I‘m having such a bad day. I swear my jaw hurts from eating to much shit… I‘m running from A to B like a stressed out squirrel and can’t seem to get anything done.

Can I have some soft Daniel content please? 🥺

I'm sorry you're having a bad day my love 🥺

18+

This isn't much, just SG-1 kinda vibing in true found family fashion and a little Daniel x Gender Neutral reader fluff sprinkled in for flavor 😘💜

"So?" You ask, looking up as Mitchell trudges back to where the team is sat.

"Yeah, I don't think it's letting up anytime soon," he drops to sit across the fire from you. You can faintly hear the wind whipping at the mouth of the cave you were all huddled deep in, "We'll check back in the morning."

"If we don't freeze to death before then," Vala grumbles, sitting closer to the flames, shivering slightly. She glances over at Daniel, "If only there was something we could do to generate a little extra hea-"

"Stop," he snaps, not even looking up from the notebook in his hands.

"You don't even know where I was-"

"No, I think I know exactly where you were going with that," he gives her a sarcastic smile before going back to his writing.

"You're just lucky you have someone as gorgeous as Y/n to snuggle up with. While the rest of us turn into popsicles."

Daniel grins to himself, his arm reaching around your shoulders and pulling you against him.

"Whatever," she huffs, waving him off and turning to Teal'c, "What about you Muscles? You must have body heat to spare, care to warm me up?"

He looks at her, eyebrows raised and she sighs.

"What about either of you?" She pouts, looking at Sam and Mitchell.

Sam chuckles and rolls her eyes, but raises her arm slightly, an invitation to her teammate to get close.

"But only because I'm cold too," the blonde clarifies when Vala scrambles over and cuddles into her, hugging her waist.

"Oh, you love me," Vala laughs Happily.

"What are you working on?" You quietly ask Daniel, leaning closer to look at the notebook that was now leaning on his legs while Cam and the others chat.

"Nothing really," he leans his head on yours and tilts the page so you can see better. It was covered in little doodles of different artifacts he'd seen in the nearby ruins earlier that day, "I am pretty lucky though."

He sets his pen and notebook aside and his hands quickly move just under the hem of your shirt. You jump and let out a small shriek when his cold fingers touch your skin, making him laugh.

"Jesus Daniel!"

"Are you alright Y/f/n Y/l/n?" Teal'c asks at your suddenly outburst.

"I'm fine," you wack Daniel's arm, making him laugh harder.

"I'm sorry Petal, I couldn't help myself," he tries to stifle his laughter, his arms wrapping around you, he all but collapses against you, burying his face into the crook of your neck.

You still feel him giggling against your skin and you flick him in the side of the head.

"You're evil, Daniel Jackson," You growl playfully, having a hard time keeping your own laughs in, the joy in his laughter contagious.

"I love you," He says, looking up at you.

"We could not tell Daniel Jackson," Teal'c comments, making Cameron snort.

Daniel rolls in your arms, laying on your legs and flipping Mitchell off, not taking his eyes off you.

"Yeah, it's not like you say it every other minute or anything," Sam teases.

"Yes," You agree, placing your cold fingers on his cheek, "You're anything but subtle, my dear."

"Wow! E tu Зайчик?" he pouts exaggeratedly, placing his hand over his heart, "I'm wounded! I thought you loved me too."

"Now, wherever did you get an idea like that from?" You ask, leaning down to kiss him. He sits up slightly, meeting you halfway,, humming contentedly against your lips.

"If you're going to be all lovey dovey like that, you can get your own cave," Vala groans jokingly, her head laid on her friend's shoulder.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Daniel Jackson taglist: @mysg1spacemonkey @sgcprometheus @i-am-morrigans-apprentice @malcolm-reeds-pineapple @witching-things @reeseykins @abnormalvampire64 @girl-obsessed-with-things @gatez @just-a-si-fi-nerd @ghostlyfanparadise @mysweetlittledesire @pleasantfankingdom @sun-ni-day @lilyevans1 @witchybitchy-7

[tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar]

Ice Cream Princess

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Reader

Summary: There isn't a day that JJ doesn't come to visit you at work. On the day he doesn't, you decide to visit him at work instead.

Word Count: 1,876

Note: A Stranger Things and Outer banks crossover imagine that no one asked for. Please give me feedback on anything but the title, I'm judging it and laughing at myself because of it. I hope you love it!

An ice-cream parlor opens up across the street of The Wreck. The owner quickly judges all of the teenagers that come in looking for a part-time summer job. Luckily for you, your older cousin Robin sweet talks her way - agrees to watch his daughter- to get Hopper to hire you on the spot.

Your favorite co-worker is Steve. Both of you share stories and talk about anything and everything. You're weren't too surprised to find he hang outs with "lil punks".

He has a childish side that comes out when it's you two in the shop. If a touron gives you a weird feeling and tries to flirt with you, Steve takes over like a protective older brother. You started calling him mom when he bossed you around the first time.

Last night there was a party held by the Pogues at the Boneyard. When Robin's girlfriend texts you saying that she woke up with a hangover, you agree with her that it would be best if you cover her shrift.

When you get to the shop on your bike, you park it next to Steve car and cringe when the annoying front door bell rings as you enter. "I'm surprised to see your face this morning."

"Good or bad surprised, mom?" He rolls his eyes as you walk past him and pat his shoulder.

He yells, "the worst!" As you make your way to the small back room and put your backpack in your locker.

You grab the lanyard Pope gave to you and trace the lil doodles Kiara drew on your nametag.

Clocking in, you wave at Hopper through his open office window. He learns further in his chair, arms across his chest.

"You work too much."

"You don't pay me enough."

Humming to the radio that's connected to the speakers that hang from the ceiling, you look over Steve shoulder to see which Playlist he's playing.

You mutter, "I hate that thing" when the bell rings.

JJ is leading everyone, arms flaring around as he jumps on top of the counter. He bends one knee underneath his other leg to sit more comfortably sideways and grins at you.

"You're ass is going to break that and you'll have to pay for it."

"Are you telling me I have a fat ass?" He puts a hand over his heart and fakes cries. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Princess."

You shove him off, chuckling when he almost doesn't save his fall and trip over his own two feet.

"So dramatic like always and Y/N is still my name." You point down at your nametag. "Y/N. Not Princess."

"What do you guys want today?" Steve asks.

JJ glares at him but smirks when you pick up a scoop. He leans over the counter and says, "I'll like a lick of that."

You tell Pope thank you for slapping JJ in the back of the head, making his gray and red snapback fall off.

He runs his fingers through his hair and you barely catch it when throws it towards you.

"You would look better in it than that." He reaches over to tap on your uniform hat wear.

You blush at the hidden complaint and slap his hand away.

"Stop flirting." John B says as he hands over JJ his ice cream.

Kiara slightly pushes him towards the table, they always sit at.

Steve smirks as he leans against the counter. "Princess?"

In the corner of your eye, you see JJ giving himself whiplash. You know Steve is on a mission to find a nickname for you, especially something that you hate as much as he hates 'mom'.

But JJ doesn't. "It's a long story."

"I'll love to hear it someti-"

JJ claps his hands together as the chair slides across the floor as he stands up. "Once upon a time, little miss Y/N dressed up as a princess one Halloween. There was a picture of proof that her mother gladly showed me. Ever since, I've called her Princess and one day she'll call me her Prince. The end."

Sarah 'awwws' and says, "That's actually really adorable."

"Thank you, I know." JJ says proudly and you both smile at each other.

─────

During your next shift, it's only John B and JJ.

"Well hello there boys."

JJ takes off his sunglasses off slowly and puts his arm on the counter. "Princess."

You try not to pay attention to how good his arms look with his gray tank top.

You're the one who breaks eye contact. You don't miss the little fist pump he does but you miss how his shoulders drop when you look at him after seeing how panic John B looks.

Oh, right.

"We need to get the biggest bowl of Sarah's favorite ice cream. Her monthly came to visit and John B, the sweetheart idiot he is, doesn't remember her flavor."

You make 'o' shape with your mouth. "Got it. It's the end of the world for him. Well lucky for you, I know it."

John B screams out, "I owe you one" as he grabs the cup container from you and runs out to the Van.

JJ puts money in the tip jar. "From future Sarah."

After you watch him put his sunglasses back on and the door bell rings when the door closes, Robin pinches your leg.

"Are you going to start helping me again with this or am I going to have to restock everything myself?"

Blushing, you say, "I'm not Steve."

She stops laughing after a few seconds to say, "I bet you that JJ knows his Princess favorite ice cream flavor."

"Shut up."

─────

Pope, Kiara, and JJ all give you a pointed look when they stop by the shop before seeing a movie. The movie you agreed to go to one minute but then the next you said "wait sorry, I have to work." and hanged up on JJ.

"I'm about to drag you and your cute stubborn ass out of here for once and all, Princess."

Kiara has a hand on her hip, when she says, "You need to take a break."

You close your eyes and throw your head back, annoyed that she's right. "You guys know how much I need this job and the money."

A look of understanding crosses JJ's face but he straightens himself and says in a stern voice, "You are also supposed to have fun with your friends once a while."

"I know that!" He doesn't flinch at you raising your voice.

Thinking he's used to it, your heart and face fall.

"I- I'm sorry. How about we all hangout tomorrow at the Chateau and relax? Or we can do anything you guys want to do. Let John B and Sarah know and-"

JJ strides behind the counter and pulls you in a hug. No one words are needed when you shove your face against his chest and catch your breathing.

Pope puts a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, JJ. We're going to be late."

"You know what? I'm actually in the mood for ice cream not theater popcorn. Go on without me."

Kiara tells you both goodbye and Pope mouths "whipped" and does the wrapped around a finger hand's motion as she pulls him away.

You look up at JJ. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?" His cocky grin becomes bigger when you roll your eyes before helping a costumer. He leaves the counter to sit at the table, hands on the bottom of his chin as he does silly faces from behind the stranger's shoulder.

─────

Steve looks up when he hears the bell ring and watches as JJ loses his step.

Before he can walk away, Steve says, "She will be back shortly. I sent her to the bank real quick for more change."

JJ lets the door close behind him. He takes a big breath in as he turns around. "You trust her that much, huh?"

"Don't you?"

JJ lets out a dark laugh. "It's different. You get payed to see her, I do it because I want to."

That's Steve's breaking point. "Okay, I don't understand why or how you started hating me the first time you met me but I think I can get a wild guess why. A attractive, couple of years older comes into her life. You're jealous over nothing, dude. I see her as annoying little sister. And yeah, I get payed to do this shitty job but when she's working too, she makes it fun."

"Are you done?" JJ is looking at anything but him.

"One more thing, don't waste anymore time."

Steve looks at the clock on the wall and figures you'll be back any minute.

"I have to get to work." JJ looks over his shoulder.

He opens his mouth but changes his mind, and closes it and walks out.

On the other side of the sidewalk, he doesn't stop when you call out his name.

──────

"Funny seeing you're here."

JJ slams his tray down on the table next to yours. "I work here."

He stops wiping it down and gets the sudden urge to squirt you with the cleaning product bottle when he hears you tapping your feet against the chair across on of your table.

When he looks around and notices there aren't a lot of people in the dinner room he sits down and huffs and puffs. "Why are you here?"

"What? You can come visit me at work but I can't?"

When you both notice another bus boy, you let JJ grab the nearest glass pitcher and pull you some water.

"Now you can't walk away and ignore me, like how you did a couple of hours ago."

"I'm sure Steve told you all about it." The biter in his voice makes you lean over the table to grab his hand.

He jumps but doesn't pull away.

"He told me that you came in the shop, you looked like a little lost puppy when you made eye contact with him instead of me. You guys actually had somewhat of a conversation, which, I'm surprised actually happened."

JJ smiles a little as you start spinning one of his rings. "Steve didn't tell me what it was about...at first."

JJ can't sit still.

He stands up and as he talks, he walks in pace. "He, he uh- shit. Fuck, okay. He got in my head. I couldn't talk to you cause I didn't want to say something that would ruin our friendship. I didn't even know how I would say it-to be honest, still don't but you're smart, I think you know where am I going with this-"

He stops talking, mid-sentence when you laugh. "JJ, just say it or I'll crush your ego by saying it first."

"I love you." He says it over and over again in the middle of the kisses after you say it back.

He stops when someone yells his name and tells him to get back to work.

You give him a quick peak and have to put your hands on top of his to move them off of your hips.

"I'll see you later, JJ. We can go watch a movie?"

"Sounds like a date, Princess."

[captainjanegay]

Where I’m Meant to Be | Stucky | Meet-Cute, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, No powers AU | Chapters 7/? | total 29k words | Ao3

Summary: Bucky is a single dad coming back from a work trip with a very bored, very whiney 7-year-old girl. A mysterious stranger with a kind heart and a notebook full of doodles comes to the rescue.

A/N: It's been... so long since I've updated this fic. I'm sorry but life got in the way and I couldn't bring myself to write anything. Here I come with apologies and hopes that you haven't forgotten about the adventures of Bucky, Alex and Steve. I'm gonna treat you with the longest chapter I've ever written (it's like 5.3k). I hope you'll like it, I got a bit carried away and my space-nerdiness is showing every now and then.

The chapters will probably come very irregularly from now on but I'll try my best not to have too long gaps between each update. I love you all and — as always — thank you so, so much for your continuous support. I cherish every single reader, every single like and every single comment you leave here :')

Chapter 7

(5.2k)

When Monday rolls around, Bucky faces New York’s chilly morning as he makes his way to work. It’s been only a few days since he got sick, but he feels significantly better now. His nose might still be stuffed and his throat might feel a bit scratchy, but he is mostly fine. No more coughing fits, no more fever. And it’s not like he could say no when his boss called him to check how he was doing and ask if he’d be able to come by before Christmas to do some required maintenance work.

But it’s fine, since the work at the Institute has slowed down, many people have already taken their days off for the Christmas break. It’s calmer than usual and Bucky can do whatever he’s supposed to do in peace.

It's a bit past noon and Bucky's mindlessly staring at the progress bar on his screen and enjoys his coffee. The peace and quiet — excluding his Christmas playlist playing in the background — is disturbed by the ringing of his phone. Slightly startled, Bucky looks around, searching for the device. After a quick glance at the screen, he answers the call.

"Hi, Buck!" Steve says, his voice soft and warm. "I hope I didn't wake you up or anything. Just wanted to check up on you, see how you're feeling."

"That's very sweet of you," Bucky says, his lips spreading in a smile. "And I'm fine, thank you. Currently waiting for the data backup to finish so you've disrupted my staring contest with the progress bar."

Steve doesn't appreciate the joke. Instead, he asks, "You're at work?" After receiving an affirmative hum, he lets out a slightly annoyed huff. "Why? You should still be in bed! Three days ago you've been barely able to get up for longer than 10 minutes. You should still rest, Buck."

"It's been six days ago, thank you very much," Bucky answers. "And I'm fine, Steve. I promise. I wouldn't come if I was still feeling sick, but the fever's been gone for a few days," two but Steve doesn't have to know that, "and I'm not coughing anymore. I'm as fit as a fiddle."

"I can hear you sniffle."

"It's the allergies," Bucky lies and that makes Steve laugh, although a bit exasperated.

"You're horrible," he says. "Bet you haven't even eaten breakfast or drink enough water or like... didn’t even wear a hat even though you’re sick."

"I did have a toast while I ran to catch the train. And now I'm having coffee for lunch. And it’s not even that cold."

An honest-to-God gasp escapes Steve's mouth after he hears that. Of course he's a Mr. Healthy Lifestyle, Bucky shouldn't even be surprised.

"How are you even functioning? You gotta take care of yourself, Buck."

Bucky's heart skips a bit. It's nice to have someone worry about him. Even if he's being dragged in the meantime. And it was nice when Steve took care of him and Alex back when Bucky was too sick to do this. Of course, he has people who do that. Clint, Tasha, Scott -- he can always count on them. But somehow it feels different with Steve. Steve hasn't been around for years like the others, he's known Bucky for just a few months and he still decided to offer his kindness and care. This thought made Bucky's heart do somersaults in his chest.

So did the fact that Steve had a nickname to Bucky's nickname. And he's been using it a lot. Bucky really likes it.

"I'm functioning very well, thank you. And so is Alex, because I'm not as hopeless in taking care of her, luckily," Bucky chuckles. Before Steve can't say anything, Bucky adds, "Besides, I've been able to survive 28 years like this so don't be overdramatic. No need to go all mother hen on me."

"Oh, you think this is overdramatic?" Steve asks, amused. "You clearly don't know what me being overdramatic is, pal. This is just some simple, friendly check-in."

"Okay, now I'm kinda curious," Bucky says. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much. "Hypothetically, what would one have to do to see what is Steve Rogers's definition of overdramatic?"

It makes Steve let out another laugh. "Careful what you wish for, Buck." It sounds like Steve wants to say something else but there's some noise in the background and his voice becomes distant and inaudible for a moment. When he comes back, he says with a sigh, "Sorry 'bout that. I need to go back to work. I'm glad you're feeling better but eat a proper meal or I'll hunt you down."

"Oh, so no mother hen anymore, were going straight to threats, okay." Bucky nods to himself and Steve huffs out a laugh. "Thanks for the call, Steve. It's very sweet of you. Have a nice day."

"You, too. Say hi to Alex from me."

"I will. Bye, Steve."

.

A small smile is still present on Bucky's face when a few hours later he's picking Alex up from school. It grows bigger when she runs towards him down the stairs, her haphazardly wrapped scarf fluttering behind her. He takes a moment to tuck it properly and then takes Alex's backpack from her.

“How was school today?” Bucky asks as they head home.

“Fine. We played soccer and I scored once!” Alex answers proudly. “Even Adrian didn’t and he’s very good. Maya didn’t want to play ‘cause she says girls shouldn’t play soccer.”

“Jokes on her, because we have a women’s national soccer team and they’re the best. They’re the world champions.”

A gasps escapes Alex’s mouth. “Really? That’s so cool! I want to be a soccer player when I grow up!”

“Not a ballerina, anymore?” Bucky asks, with a small smile.

“No, I’m gonna be a ballerina but I’m gonna play soccer sometimes, too. But that’s after I’ll fly to the moon!”

Bucky only nods and grins at her. He wouldn’t be surprised in the least if she actually pulled that off in the future. There weren’t many things that could stop her since she decided upon something.

“How’s space?” Alex asks, swinging their hands back and forth.

Bucky chuckles. It’s a bit of a tradition at this point. He doesn’t really remember how it started but now she never asks him “how’s work” but it’s always “how’s space?”. Personally, Bucky loves it. It makes him feel like he’s doing much cooler things that he really does.

“Pretty boring, sadly,” he admits. “Didn’t have much to do today and many people are on their breaks so no fun space facts to share today. I chatted on the phone with Steve and he wanted me to say hi to you.”

“Oh, is he coming over today?”

Slightly confused with the question, Bucky shakes his head. “No, he’s not. We just talked on the phone. Why?”

“I don’t know, I thought you liked Steve.”

“Well, I do. I like uncle Scott too but we don’t hang out with him every day, either. Steve has his own life and stuff to do, so we shouldn’t bother him all the time.”

Alex makes a small hum and Bucky’s not sure if it’s a dismissive or an agreeing one. After a moment, she adds, “I bet he wouldn’t mind though. He told me he really likes you.”

“What? When?” The revelation almost makes Bucky stop in the middle of the pavement. The biggest surprise is not that Steve likes him, Bucky has figured out this much after all those times they’ve hung out together. What really takes him aback is that apparently his daughter and Steve are having conversations about him when he’s not there.

“When you were sick and Steve went to ballet class with me. I told him he’s cool and I’m happy you have him so you’re not so lonely. And he said he thinks we’re really cool too and that he likes us a lot.”

This time Bucky slows down and eventually stops. There’s a furrow between his brows when he looks at Alex.

“Why would you think I’m lonely, munchkin? I’m not, I have you and mama, uncle Clint and Scott. And now Steve. I’m more than fine.”

“Well… Okay, maybe I didn’t mean lonely. But sometimes when you have a lot to do and you worry and mama or uncle Clint are busy you do this—” Alex furrows her brows and pouts, apparently imitating a worried Bucky “and you’re quiet and worried. And now you smile even more than you did. You smile all the time when you text Steve.”

For a moment, Bucky only gapes at her, not sure how to react. That’s a lot of information coming at once from his 7-year-old daughter.

“I’m— Well, I’m okay, even if I worry sometimes. And I couldn’t be lonely, having such a sweet little munchkin by my side,” he smiles, bopping her on the nose and getting a smile in return. “But thank you for caring about me, sweetheart. I love you to the moon and back.”

“And I love you to Jupiter!” she answers.

“But not back?” Bucky raises an eyebrow.

“Nah, it’s already so far away, it’s enough.”

The conversation with Alex stays in Bucky’s head for the rest of the day. It’s gnawing at him enough that before he goes to bed, he takes out his phone and calls Natasha.

“How’s my favourite co-parent doing?” she greets.

“Do you have any more co-parents?” Bucky asks instead of answering.

“Nope. That’s what makes you my favourite.” Bucky only sighs so she continues. “Did something happen? You’re usually in the mood for late night conversation when something’s on your mind.”

There’s no point in denying it since Natasha would see right through him. “It’s nothing bad. Apparently Alex thinks I’m lonely.”

“Well, she’s not wrong.”

“What? Tasha, no. I’m not lonely, where did you two get that idea?”

“James, it’s not my fault that you’re an idiot. I know that you have people who love you around. You know that, too. But I know and you also should know — but here’s the ‘idiot’ part — that it might not be enough sometimes. And I’m pretty sure we’ve had a similar conversation like a month ago, so I don’t know why you act all surprised now.”

“Remind me, why did I even call you?”

“Because I am incredible and you value my opinion like no one else’s and also you love me deeply,” Natasha explains dutifully. 

Bucky huffs out a laugh as he sits heavily on the side of his bed. His eyes land on the comic from Steve, still laying on Bucky’s bedside table, propped against the lamp. “Sounds fake, but okay.”

“Did our daughter have any more revelations for you?” Natasha asks.

“Well…,” Bucky hesitates for a moment. “She and Steve gossip about me when I’m not around. And apparently I’ve been smiling more lately. But that’s about it.” 

Natasha hums but even through the phone Bucky can hear that she’s rather amused. 

"What?" Bucky asks.

"I didn't say anything!"

"I can hear you laughing, just say whatever mean thing you're going to say and let's get this over with."

"I'm not gonna say anything mean! I was just wondering when we'd mention Steve in this conversation," she chuckles. "But really. Even your daughter can see that a relationship would be good for you. And that you like Steve a lot. Why not kill two birds with one Steve?"

Bucky sighs. "Because one Steve is also enough to kill this friendship we have."

"Why do you always just automatically assume that things will get fucked? It doesn't have to be the case. I'm serious, you'd better take a grip on yourself and ask him out or I'm back in three days and I'll do this for you. And I'll be as obnoxious and embarrassing for you as I can."

That's actually a pretty horrible threat. She would do that. And it would be both mortifying and horrible to experience for all the involved parties — maybe except Natasha. Bucky laughs, trying to imagine it, but the laugh is short-lived.

"Come on, Nat," Bucky starts after a moment, getting serious. "Steve is great and it's great having him around. But what if I make a move and he's not interested? I don't want to freak him out. Or remember that message I accidentally saw on his computer? He might be seeing someone already or be interested in someone else," Bucky pinches the bridge of his nose. "Plus, I know from experience that no matter how much he might seem to like me, a guy with a kid can turn out to be a bit much for people. I don't want to get hurt. I don't want Alex to get hurt. She adores Steve and I don't know if I can risk it."

"But I'm telling you, nobody's getting hurt anytime soon," Natasha chimes in. "You're overthinking, Yasha. Those are all valid concerns but you know what the counterargument is?" She takes a small break but she's not expecting Bucky to respond. "Steve's a good guy. He likes you. He likes Alex. He came to a primary school dance recital after knowing you for like a week just because you and Alex asked him to. Even if he doesn't want a relationship, it doesn’t mean that your friendship has to end. From all you've told me, he doesn't seem like the kind to trample on your hearts like this. Give yourself some time, but promise me you're gonna think about it, okay? And call me if you work yourself up into an anxious mess again, okay?”

“I will try not to be an anxious mess, but I’ll let you know. And I’ll think about it. Thanks, Tasha.” Bucky says.

“I love you no matter what, you dumbfuck. Bye.”

Bucky barely manages to say it back before she hangs up. He shakes his head with a small smile and retrieves his charger cable from behind the bedside table. As he plugs his phone, he accidentally knocks down the drawing from Steve. He picks it up, staring at the soft lines for who-knows-which time. His thumb gently traces the “Get well soon, Buck! x” scribbled at the bottom.

Looking at it, Bucky imagines the moment when Steve was writing it down. In his mind, he sees both Steve and Alexandra at the kitchen table, both leaning over their respective pieces of paper, focused on whatever they’re drawing. They are smiling, chatting about whatever common interest they’ve currently discovered. It’s a very nice picture. Enough to make Bucky’s heart ache.

Because Natasha is right. This is exactly what Bucky craves and what he’s been ignoring for years. That domesticity, that warm feeling one gets when looking at someone they care about. That happiness. He can almost imagine himself joining the picture he’s created in his head, walking over to that table and dropping a kiss first on Alex’s head and then on Steve’s, before he starts preparing the dinner. It feels right. 

Maybe it’s not usual to imagine this calm, family life with someone he’s not even in a relationship with. Most people probably think of tons of other things, things that are not so… settled. Not as serious. Sometimes they never reach this part. But Bucky has figured a while ago that it doesn’t really work for him. He already has a family. And this family means everything and more to him. If he ever was to date, he has to make sure that the person would fit into his and Alexandra’s life. He has to skip ahead to make sure it’s worth going through the dates and the passion and all the work a relationship requires, without it all ending in a heartbreak. But Steve… 

Steve fits so well into this picture, it scares Bucky a bit. Because this would be even harder to let go, if things didn't work out.

It's pretty clear, now that he allows himself to think about it, that he has some feelings for Steve. Besides the friendliness and sympathy, that is. They're the romantic kind and they're still fresh and shy but they're here. And Bucky has absolutely no clue how to deal with them. It's not even that surprising, he realises. Because how could he not catch feelings for Steve? For the kindest, most thoughtful and most selfless person in the world? For someone with his heart made of gold, who always knows how to make Bucky laugh? Someone who gets so passionate about the things he loves and just as much about the ones he despises? Who cares deeply, laughs with his whole body and who next to all this softness and kindness, is also a stubborn little asshole? Who — and this is the most important of all — adores Alex and whom she adores just as much?

Bucky's heart was a lost cause from the start.

Steve has a lot of qualities that Bucky would fall for if he looked for a partner. And that he accidentally might have fallen for anyway. And that's all without even mentioning that Steve is so ridiculously attractive that it might've skewed Bucky's view on beauty forever. 

The point is — Natasha is right. That this could be a good thing. They could be a good thing. But what they have now is already good and Bucky really values this friendship. He isn't sure if pursuing a hypothetical picture in his head is worth putting it at risk. Because he still can't be sure if Steve's interested. For what Bucky knows, he's kind and caring towards all of his friends. It doesn't mean that Bucky and Alex are special. 

He can almost hear Natasha's voice in his head, calling him an idiot and yelling that he won't know until he tries. Which is right, since Natasha always is. It doesn't help him stop the — partially excited but mostly terrified — somersaults his insides make. With a small sigh, he puts the drawing on its place by the lamp, flicks off the lights and burrows himself under the covers. He doesn't have to have everything figured out straight away. Letting himself even consider it is a big enough step for now, he decides as he drifts off to sleep.

.

The next day is Bucky's last day at work before the Christmas break. He doesn't really have much to do, just finishing some last updates and dealing with whatever paperwork he was putting off earlier. Most of the time, he chats with Scott, who has been wandering aimlessly around the institute for the lack of work and eventually landed in Bucky's tiny office. They've been chatting about their Christmas plans — nothing too elaborate for both of them, just simple time at home with their families — and now they started discussing where they should go to grab some lunch. Just as Bucky almost convinced Scott that they should go to this sushi place down the block instead of the Italian place, there's a knock on the door.

Bucky sends his friend a confused look.

"It wasn't me," Scott raises his hands in defence.

"Come in," Bucky calls after another second passes. It's probably someone having a last-minute computer problem or one of his co-workers wanting to drop by with Christmas wishes.

Except, when the door cracks open, Steve's head pokes in. Its hair is messy, its cheeks reddened from the cold and its lips spread in a smile.

"Hi, Buck. And hi Scott, it's nice to see you again," he says. "I'm not interrupting?"

And because Bucky's brain is still processing the fact that for some reason Steve's come to visit him at work, Scott's the one who says, "Not at all, come in."

Steve hesitates for another second. Bucky's brain finally kicks in and he smiles which is apparently the invitation Steve needed, because he finally fully walks into the office.

"Hi, Steve. I didn't expect you here," Bucky says, his smile growing bigger.

"Well, you should. Because after our talk yesterday, I decided to bring you lunch," Steve says, proudly showing a big paper bag in his hand. "I told you you haven't seen shit, and especially not overdramatic me."

This makes Bucky laugh out loud as he shakes his head in disbelief. How is Steve even real?

Scott is watching them with a slightly confused but endeared smile on his face. Before anyone can say anything, he gets up from the chair, slapping his thighs as he does.

"Okay then, I'll leave you to it," he says, walking towards the door.

"There's plenty to share, if you want to join us," Steve offers, because of course he does. His gold-heartedness wouldn't have it any other way.

But Scott only shakes his head at that. "Nah, I'm in the mood for some sushi today. Thanks, though."

"Asshole," Bucky narrows his eyes at Scott. "I hope you'd choke on it."

His friend only laughs at that, "Enjoy your lunch date! It's been great to see you, Steve. Merry Christmas."

"You too, Scott. Say hi to Hope and Cassie from me."

With one last grin aimed at Bucky — and a very pointed look behind Steve's back — Scott leaves them alone. Bucky tries not to dwell on the fact that Steve didn't even bat an eye when Scott called it a lunch date.

"Why should he choke?" Steve asks with a chuckle.

"I've been trying to talk him into going to that sushi place for almost twenty minutes before you came," Bucky sighs and then notices that Steve is still hovering by the door. "Come on, take your coat off and sit down. I can't believe you've brought me lunch."

Steve shrugs off his coat and leaves it on the hanger by the door, next to Bucky's. Today he's wearing a maroon sweater that really suits him and a pair of dark jeans. He pushes his sleeves up before he digs into the bag and Bucky tries not to stare too obviously.

"Someone's got to make sure you eat, since after yesterday I've gotten an idea you're not good at it yourself," Steve says. "Guess it wasn't necessary. Sadly, I don't have sushi but maybe you're in the mood for Thai?"

"Depends on whether you've brought me the dumplings or not," Bucky answers.

Steve laughs in response and takes out one of the boxes and hands it to Bucky. "I did. I also have green curry for you? I hope I remembered correctly that you like it? If not, I'm sorry, we can switch—"

"Steve." Bucky says solemnly, placing his hand on Steve's forearm, to stop him from fumbling with the food. "You not only brought me food but you remembered my favourite after I mentioned it one time. You are an angel. You should hide it better, because you make us mortals look bad."

He's only half joking. Steve does seem like a higher being of some sorts and it's unfair that Bucky's poor heart is supposed to handle it. It doesn't do a great job. Especially not when Steve laughs, his eyes crinkle so much they turn into thin slits.

"And I am the overdramatic one?" Steve asks, unpacking the last things and finally sitting on the chair across from Bucky. He's still smiling but there's a blush colouring his cheeks and creeping down his neck.

Bucky bites the inside of his cheek to contain a grin but the truth is, he's immensely proud of himself for pulling this reaction out of Steve. To stop himself from saying something stupid, he digs into his food.

"By the way, how did you find me here?" Bucky asks, his tongue sticking out a bit in concentration as he fishes for a dumpling with his chopsticks. 

"Clara let me know where your office is, she was very helpful."

Bucky furrows his brows. The surprise makes him drop his dumpling back into the container. "Clara, as in Clara Oswald, our receptionist? How do you know her?"

"I don't. We've chatted for a few minutes and I explained why I'm here and she told me how to get to you."

"Ah, of course it took you about five minutes to charm her and get into a government building just like that," Bucky chuckles.

"I didn't charm anyone! I just politely asked and she helped!"

If it wasn't Steve, Bucky would take it as fake modesty. But the truth is that Steve really seems to be completely oblivious to the effect he has on people. It’s endearing to see him do this.

"So here's when you do your cool space stuff?" Steve asks, changing the subject.

"Here's when the real scientists come searching for help when there's some IT-related issue," Bucky corrects him. "I don't do anything cool. I make sure all the data is where it's supposed to be and that whatever equipment they need is ready and working properly. Or part of it, Scott's an engineer and he takes care of the rest. I do get to read some space facts first hand, though."

"That's still cool space stuff for me," Steve shrugs with a small smile. "What kinds of things are you researching here? Like some particular aspects of outer space, or—?"

Normally Bucky would just give the shortest answer possible. People usually get bored quickly when he starts talking about it. But something in the genuine interest on Steve's face, the way he is looking around the office — which is nothing special, the only nice things are the sky maps and some spaced themed art  — makes Bucky think that maybe Steve wouldn't mind getting the longer answer.

"Well, we mostly study the weather. Both the Earth's and the one in the solar system, like the solar winds and magnetic storms, stuff like that. We study exoplanets and try to discover or guess as much as we can about them," Bucky says. "I helped to create simulations that predicted how they could look like and develop, to see if there's a possibility to inhabit them. We did it by basically dumping all the data we have into an elaborate computer programme and waiting to see what comes out." Bucky laughs and Steve does too, but he has the look of utter fascination on his face as he listens. "And all this helps with some more down-to-earth stuff — pun not intended. Like, we've done tons of studies in climate change."

"That's—," Steve starts when he makes sure that Bucky's done. "All of this sounds incredible. And you're a part of all those amazing things, how great is that?"

Bucky feels that his cheeks start to burn. There's another reason he usually sticks with the short answer. As much as he's proud to be working here and as much as he loves it, the impostor in him always makes sure that he understands the difference between his work and the actual research, analysis and all the heavy lifting that the astronomers do. He helps, of course he does. He does a great job at it, but there's still a difference. And such praise usually makes him squirm uncomfortably.

"And don't even try to get all modest with me again," Steve warns as if he's been reading Bucky's mind. "You've said that you don't do cool space stuff and then admitted that you've helped to create a program to imagine how exoplanets can look and change. So I know you're full of bullshit."

Steve raises an eyebrow in what's supposed to be an unimpressed look but it's not even close. The smile and the curious, bright eyes that are stating right at Bucky are destroying the effect. The blush on Bucky's cheeks only deepens, especially as Steve adds. "I've been impressed before but— Wow. Really, you guys are doing such incredible things here, I can’t wrap my head around it."

"We really do," Bucky agrees, eventually.

The beaming smile Steve sends him feels like a reward Bucky didn't know he deserves.

"So you've always liked space? Or was it an accident that brought you here?" Steve asks.

"No, I've always loved it. It's just so fascinating and there's always so much more to learn about it," Bucky doesn't even try to hide his excitement. "I've never fully understood all the science behind it but I loved staring at the sky, trying to find all those constellations and planets and galaxies. I've figured a way to somehow connect it to what I was good at and make it my job. Which is amazing. But now I mostly stare at the computer screen instead of the stars. "

He doesn't want to sound ungrateful but he must admit that it does kill some of the fun. But not even the astronomers simply state up at the sky to admire the view.

Steve only nods in response. "Alex mentioned that you guys went on a trip out of town to watch the stars. It must've been great."

"We did! It was like… almost 2 years ago, I think? I borrowed one of those fancy telescopes they have here. I needed to pick Alex up every time, cause she was too small to reach it," Bucky laughs as he brings out the memories. "It was fun, we should do that again, sometime. But I don't have much time now, so it’ll have to wait."

"It does sound great," Steve smiles that soft smile again. "I hope you'd find some time as it gets warm enough for such trips. I bet Alex would be delighted."

"Yeah. I'll let you know if that happens, in case you'd like to join," Bucky says before he can think better of it.

There's more of the childlike excitement on Steve's face as Bucky mentions it so maybe it wasn't that bad of an idea.

An actual bad idea comes out of Bucky's mouth a bit later, just as Steve is getting ready to head out. Bucky's lunch break is long gone and forgotten, because it's been two hours that Steve spent here. He apologises for staying so long and the assurances that Bucky didn't have any more work to do doesn't help.

"I'm sorry for taking your mind away from your responsibilities, but it was great spending time with you," Steve says.

So of course, because Bucky's heart doesn't get any chance to regroup, he doesn't have time to think before he blurts out. "We should have dinner together."

It's certainly not something Steve was expecting to hear. He just stares at Bucky. Before he has a chance to say anything, Bucky continues, "I mean. You should come for dinner. Clint and Nat are always around for a dinner, sometime between Christmas and New Year's. If you don't have any plans, it would be great if you came. But it's okay if you can't or don't want to."

Another moment passes and Bucky tries not to squirm under Steve's gaze. Luckily, Steve finally blinks and smiles as he says, "No, Buck, of course I'd love to come! I don't have any particular plans, will probably hang out with Sam for most of the break but I'll have plenty of time."

"You could take Sam with you," Bucky adds. He desperately tries to regain the control of his own mouth. "It'd be great to finally meet him."

"I'll let him know, I bet he’d be happy to come, too. Thanks again for the invite," Steve smiles as he cracks open the door. With a little wave, he walks out of the office. "Bye, Buck. Have a nice day."

"You too, Steve," Bucky says to the already closing door.

When Steve's gone, Bucky exhales heavily through his mouth as he leans back in his chair. Both of his hands go up to thread through his hair, tugging at it lightly.

Apparently, he has a dinner to prepare.

taglist: @steverrogers​ @till-the-end-of-the-line-punk​ @buckyshappyending

[jacscorner]

Fox McCloud of Kongo Bongo Part 1

Hello, beautiful friends. I'm simul-posting this silly fanfic idea I had for a while now. Cause Fox McCloud X Tiny Kong content doesn't exist except for the content I made myself, so I'm making a fic dedicated to my silly Sword & Planet doodle I did some months back.

With all that said, I hope you all enjoy, and sorry for any spelling and grammar faults. I'll fix them after the post if someone points 'em out to me, but this fic is being written by the seat of my pants and pretty casually.

The Lylat System was quiet. It had been a short year since the return of Andross when Fox McCloud and the Star Fox team had stopped Andross from destroying Corneria and taking over the system. Fox McCloud, leader of Team Star Fox, was piloting his Arwing past Sector X. The strange nebula was once the secret base for Andross and his operations during the First Lylat War, but now the odd cosmic cloud in the shape of a cross was just a quiet landmark through the system. At least, so it should.

[This is Pepper. Come in, Fox.]

Fox gave a tired grunt, losing his concentration and focus as he reached for the communicator strapped to his head and flipped it on. "You're clear, Peppy."

[Are ya seein' anything there, Fox?]

"That's a negative." Fox said as he checked his instruments again. "I'm still getting those weird readings that Slippy picked up, but I'm not seeing anything."

[Ya shoulda waited at the Great Fox like I told ya, Fox.]

Fox gave a roll of his eyes as he said, "Peppy, stop worrying so much." After the return of Andross every low life of the system seemed to go into hiding. True peace was still out of reach, and there was always work for the members of Team Star Fox, but finding any big named criminals who tried to fill the same niche Andross were hard to come by. In a way, Fox didn't like this; as a mercenary, he lived to fight. Was it wrong to think that way? Most certainly; peace in the Lylat System, where no little kid lost their father like he did, was the ultimate goal. But he needed food on the table like anyone else did.

[Wolf O'Donnell is still at large, Fox. He could be setting up a trap for ya.]

Cap'n Wolf O'Donnel, the name rang in Fox's ear. He could still see the burning, red scar on that wolf's face, the yellow of his eyes burning into his own. Out of all the mercenaries Andross hired to take him and Miyu out, Wolf was probably the best. His equal in almost every way and nearly sent him to his doom. It was the most intense fight Fox had ever been in; for the first time in his life, Fox truly feared that he was gonna die.

And yet, ever since then, there's been a hole in his chest that he couldn't quiet fill.

"If Wolf's out there, then I'll be ready for him."

[Fox, you're-]

"End transmission." Fox didn't wait for a reply, turning off his head piece. He wasn't in the mood to keep listening to Peppy badger him over this; besides, if Wolf was out here, then he would've shown his face by now, right? There wasn't anywhere to hide in Sector X, it wasn't anything by burning gas and bright light.

"One more pass around." Fox told himself, initiating another scan. If nothing was here, then he should turn back and head back for the Great Fox. At least, that's what he should do, but he was in no real rush to make it back to Peppy and listen to him nag his ear off. He cruised around Sector X thinking about how he'd rather go to Titania. There's a nice little saloon there, perfect place to refuel his Arwing and drink his problems away. Just the thought of Titania ale was tempting Fox to ditch his mission. It was weird; he wasn't much of a drinker before, by after the first Lylat War, he grew a taste for alcohol.

Suddenly, Fox jerked the controls on his Arwing, suddenly him into a dive just in time to avoid a photon shot. His instincts kicked in just in time, but where the hell did that come from?! He looked on his radar, seeing nothing, but then looked to see an incoming transmission message. He didn't even patch it through or have the chance to reject the message when a scarred face appeared on screen.

"Hello, pup."

"Wolf!" Fox growled as he glanced up, seeing the lone, quad-wing ship cut through the unforgiving void as he rocketed right for the vulpine pilot. Fox bared his fangs, starting to charge right for Wolf like a demented game of chicken. "I knew you were skulking about these parts!"

"And I knew you'd come with the right bait." Wolf chuckled, his shields deflecting Fox's photon shots as he fired back with his own. "And now it's time I pay back the debt I racked up back on Macbeth."

With some expert barrel rolls, Fox was able to deflect Wolf's own shots, the two ships crossing the other's paths.

"Not to mention I'm paying you back for killing the rest of my team." Wolf snarled, spinning his ship around and beginning to chase Fox through space. His ship let out rapid volleys of hot orange shots on Fox's tail, but Fox managed to evade each shot. Fox could feel Wolf gritting his teeth as he managed to evade each shot. It was like Fox had eyes on the back of his head and Wolf couldn't get a clean shot!

[Fox, come in! Fox! Fox, answer me!]

Meanwhile, Fox couldn't shake Wolf from his tail; it was like Wolf was glued on! He tried to perform a somersault, but Wolf was right behind him, gunning for his engines. He felt his air form a lump in his throat; Wolf was giving him no chance to breath or get any space to counter attack.

"Get back here, brat!" Wolf called out, but Fox was too focused to be distracted or baited by the bounty hunter.

[H-hey! F-Fox, can you hear-ribbit?!]

"Want me?! Come and get me!" Fox called back at Wolf. With a well-timed barrel role, he deflected Wolf's volley of shots and slammed the breaks. Wolf flew right past him and was reading right for the burning mass that was Sector X before Fox chased Wolf down. Now that the tables had turned, Fox was going for the kill, charging up a photon shot that he aimed right for Wolf's engine, prepared to finish off his rival once and for-

[HEY GENIUS! WHAT ARE YA DOIN'?! GET OUTTA THERE!]

Falco's shrieking in Fox's ear piece made him release his shot just before the charge was done, nailing Wolf right in the back of his ship, just missing his engine. Wolf started to climb up and get away, but Fox was more focused on the ringing in his ear. It felt like a siren was blaring with how loud it was.

"...Wait, that's not my ear." Fox flinched as he looked at his were going crazy! Before he could decipher what was happening, a sudden, brighter light came from Sector X. In the center of the nebula's glowing cross appeared,a void of purple light that began to swell and open up.

"A Worm Hole!" Fox realized it too late! He tried to pull away, but this Worm Hole was sucking him in! His controls were starting to lock up; try as Fox might, but he couldn't escape the gravity field the Worm Hole was projecting! It was like a hand had grabbed his ship and started to pull him in by force!

"What is this?! I can't get away!" Wolf shouted, doing no better as his ship was being lured right into the vortex as well.

Fox couldn't think; Wolf's screaming and the Arwing blaring were growing more and more distant as they fell closer to the Worm Hole. His life was starting to flash before his eyes; Fox thought that fear would grip his heart, yet he was oddly calm. Life, death; they didn't seem to matter anymore. Or, rather, Fox felt ready to embrace his fate. Day to day life felt more and more like a chore for the mercenary. And while he didn't rush towards death, he wasn't against letting it come to him. As the light began to fade and sound turn to nothingness, Fox felt ready to embrace death like a bride.

And then, nothingness.

This wasn't the first time Fox had entered a Warp Zone, but this was different from the last time.

The last time, back in the first Lylat War, was a constant bombardment of light and sound. Blues and pinks, odd sounds that made Fox think of some odd, old-school music. It was dizzying back then, yet it felt oddly natural. As if nothing was weird at all; or maybe the odd Warp Zone was manipulating him though the protective hull of his Arwing, making him feel relaxed when any sign man would be panicking and screaming, crashing their ship to any and every piece of debris in the void in a misguided attempt to confirm if what they were being subjected to was real or just a dream they couldn't wake up from.

It wasn't like that this time at all; in fact, it was the exact opposite. Fox couldn't see anything, it was all dark. It wasn't black as night or even dark like space. There was no source of any light, not even from his Arwing. He couldn't see his own hand even if it was trembling in front of his own face. He couldn't hear anything either; not Wolf's screaming, not that he could tell if he was or not, not the alarms his Arwing should've been giving off, not even the sound of his own heart.

He couldn't feel anything either. Not the taste of his own spit, not the seat he was sure he was still sitting in, nor the controls his hands wouldn't let go of with his vice-like grip. Fox felt as though he was cramped inside of his cockpit, yet weightless, and his sad attempt to anchor himself in place was useless. Was this what death was like or was this just the odd void he was trapped in.

How long would he be here? Would he die here? Could he die here? And just how long has he been here? At first, he thought it was just five minutes, but at the same time, he felt that he had been floating here for five hours. It was getting so bad that Fox couldn't tell if he was even still in the cockpit. Was he awake? Thinking in his sleep? Were his eyes even open?

CRASH!

Suddenly, all of his senses hit him like a hammer upside the head. A low groan escaped Fox's muzzle; he wanted to feel something, but now it was pain. His body felt sore and stiff; it felt like he had slept all day and hadn't moved a muscle, but somehow worse. Like he was stuck in his cockpit for weeks. His eyes slowly peeled open with a groan as a setting sun's light pierced his retinas like a hot laser.

With a grimace, the fox blindly reached across the console to open the hatch to his cockpit. His ears twitched anxiously with the lack of any cockpit opening sounds. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he tried to press the button again, but noticed how it felt through his leather glove.

Cold.

His console felt ice cold. The Arwing wasn't running. Fox tried to fire it up, but he didn't even catch the sputter of the engine.

"Great. My Arwing's dead..." Fox grunted as he adjusted his seat. With a hard kick of his metallic leg, Fox kicked the glass shielding off of his Arwing before he dragged himself out. Popping his neck and shoulders, Fox looked around. He was on some kind of beach, but this didn't look like any beach he knew. The sand was black as night and gave a beautiful, if not ominous, shine under the setting, red sun. He looked ahead of him, seeing crimson waves push and as high tide began to set in. Behind him, a massive jungle, but there were smoke stacks poking from the tree line. Black clouds of smog began were pouring into the air, obscuring Fox's view from looking beyond the trees.

"Where in Lylat am I...?" Fox mumbled, but he questioned if he was really still in the Lylat System at this point. He reached for his head piece and began to speak. "Fox to the Great Fox, do you hear me guys?" He was met with a chorus of static in his ears. "Great, my Arwing's dead and now I can't even call for help." Just as Fox thought things couldn't get worse, he heard something.

Marching?

Fox pulled out his blaster, turning behind him and preparing to fire a warning shot, but was promptly met with a pair of larger guns pointing at his face. They looked crude and rudimentary as opposed to his own blaster, but they were not only much bigger, but there were five crocodiles pointing what looked like brass-and-steel blunderbusses at Fox's head, florescent tubes sticking out of the sides of their guns.

"Don't even think about it, furball." The croc snarled, his body bulging with muscles covered by mostly green scales. "Drop your blaster and come quietly or your hide will make a nice rug."

"Oh damn..."