#curious to see what happens next but still trying to calculate where i'll go from here. finale and beyond?

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s7 episode 4 thoughts

hehehehhe. hehe. i have seen The gif from this episode. i am so excited to learn its context!!!

wow... everyone say thank you very much to mulder and scully for preventing y2k ❤️

i have heard much about the concepts behind the proposed y2k collapse, and they have never entirely made perfect sense to me, but i suppose you had to be there. and i was not. 

from reading the episode description, it seems that in this universe, the year 2000 turned people into zombies? hmm. much to ponder there.

the first two episodes of this season were eh, then the third was good but lacked mulder and scully, so i’m curious to see what this one brings, because i have heard a lot of s7 praise. so let’s see what it’s about!!

post-episode thoughts: rejoice!! a banger ep!!! it had zombies!! injured mulder!! scully with cool scars!! skinner worrying about his best agents!! mulder saying creepy stuff!! scully smiling!! and being a math geek!! and the thing that you know i am referring to vaguely!! a good episode, indeed! one that will be important to me, i can tell!

we open on a funeral in florida. i can’t tell if the dialogue is really quiet or if my laptop is malfunctioning. seems to just be quiet- thank goodness.

it doesn’t seem that mr. johnson here has ever met mrs. crouch, but he showed up at mr. crouch's funeral. he says he worked briefly with him. which doesn’t clear up much. and he leaves. so she is alone with the casket. 

oh, some other guy named raymond is here. he says he is at peace. and also it’s christmas, btw. 

why is mr. johnson lurking!!!! in this funeral home!!! he lifts up the lid to the casket and bro inside looks super dead. hey, i don’t like how mr. johnson is quoting the bible while stripping over a dead body. noooo, don’t take the dead guy’s clothes off too.

THE BONES CRACK??? what is he DOING?? STOP CRACKING HIM??? why is he calling someone on the phone………… and then he closes the casket. okay. didn’t like that. dead mr. crouch was really gray. more so than i feel he should be.

so mr. johnson stole the dead guy’s pin and now is watching, 4 days later, at the graveyard. he gets a call… is it the dead guy?? with the phone he gave him?? so he walks out with a shovel!!!!

omfg…. did they coordinate this pre-death… kinda badass, in a way. but also fucked up. because his wife was so sad!!!

intro was very short today!!! damn!! i nearly got whiplash!!

it’s december 30th, and scully is here. if she is in florida, i wonder why she is wearing a jacket. but she’s committed to the look above all else, i suppose. and she lifts the caution tape up herself. for shame! mulder, this is your sacred duty!

pretty scully…….

oh no, raymond the funeral home guy is trying to assure her that he did NOT bury a living man, as the rumors suggest!! also, dead mr. crouch was FBI, it seems? scully is confused LMAO. BAHAHAHAAA, WHAT WAS THAT FACE SHE MADE!! I’M CRYINGGGGG

(scully shouts into the hole) “mulder, have you been spreading rumors?” (mulder pops into frame at the bottom of the hole) “why? you hear any good ones lately?” LMAOOOO 

BAHAHA “not particularly” yeah. allegedly being buried alive does NOT impress her.

AWWW, he wishes her merry christmas, by the way. and she says thank you! and wishes him one as well. bet nothing can top last year, though.

oooo, it looks like someone was trapped in there, trying to get out, and the fingerprints on the casket match those of the dead man! mulder confirms that he is NOT the source of the rumors, but rather, they are coming from the police department. AND the fingerprints are on the headstone!! they're neon. is that an FBI tool used to highlight evidence, or did mr. crouch have nasty neon stuff on his hands when he returned from the dead...?

scully thinks the evidence was faked- she's not sure why, though. but they see what looks like a trail of blood on the grass nearby!!! ewww.

mr. johnson is somewhere else, quoting the bible again. uhhhh. some sort of zombie figure is rising up behind him as he drives into georgia.

hmm. back to the bureau.

agent crouch served for 21 years, retired, and was recently found dead. JESUS, that photo of his dead body was NASTY. y’all did NOT have to show all that... the fuck?!?!?!

skinner is here. and so are some other rando agents. mulder doesn’t think it’s a grave robbery- it was necromancy. the other agents seem uncomfy with this. spooooooky.

he claims the blood they found in the grass was from a goat, and it was used to draw a magic circle- but the rain washed most of it away. ��the blood attracts the spirits of the undead, while the circle focuses the necromancer’s power while protecting him from the spirits that he’s conjuring” <- are y’all writing that down? ✍️ 

this rando dude’s faaaaaace.... he cannot believe what he is hearing 

ah, scully, (mostly) so even-keeled: “obviously, there are clear ritualistic elements to this crime. the question is: why were they directed at raymond crouch?” <- the perfect response!

ohhhh, skinner pulls them aside…. are they in trouble?!

“what if it looked something like this?” he shows them a picture of an ouroboros!!! so they are not in trouble, then!!! he must need them for a special task.

“the alchemists favored it”, mulder declares. sigh. i need that man.

but not as bad as i need scully in a turtleneck. fuuuuck.

skinner says it was the logo for the millennium group- who were former FBI agents who offered consulting services to law enforcement. hmm. that feels like it shouldn't be allowed.

but somehow, they got a bad reputation. maybe they were a cult. which of course, mulder has heard the rumors about!

the group dissolved a couple months ago- a likely time for them to go underground if they were based on the end of the millennium, no? skinner reveals he has info on 3 other grave desecrations!!!! all with former FBI agents!!! and all were recent suicides!! 

this is very SENSITIVE due to their ties to the bureau, so don’t be mean to him, mulder! he tasks them with investigating and keeping a low profile. mulder says he knows where to start.

they go to a psychiatric hospital in virgina. always a good place to begin. they’re here to see a criminal profiler that worked in the department before mulder did- allegedly the greatest they’ve ever produced! he checked himself in for a 30 day stay, but mulder says he used to consult for the millennium group. and later fought to bring them down. HMM… why do i feel like he’s gonna be dead when they get there?

mulder saying good morning to the guy muttering in the hallway…. he is a kind guy sometimes 💗

“single-minded. sounds like someone i know”, scully says <- don’t flirt in the mental hospital, y’all

they meet a guy named frank black, who to me looks like the undertaker from earlier, but maybe a lot of white men look the same in a way. he’s watching football. he does not seem to give a fuck. 

mulder knows his sports teams, though. trust that.

frank says he recognizes the pictures of the men they show him and then does not elaborate. i respect that. he doesn’t wanna chat. but scully must try and get more info, as this is her job.

frank does not want to help- he wants to put his life back together. he says no thank you. but they only have 2 days before the new year and more potential killings!!

“it’s first and ten. just let me watch this game in peace” “it’s THIRD and TEN. notre dame” “happy new year” “same to you” <- is he… saying something in football code?? mulder storms off and scully follows. he was MAD. said something about him being "not what i'd hoped", oooo boy, that's nasty work. frank pissed him off!

in maryland, mr. johnson is pulled over on the side of the road, fixing a flat. a cop stops him. but smells something very gross. and he sees flies…. what’s in the truck? oh, the cop knows something is up. and he starts chanting the same prayer. 

bleh. dead guy reveal! ahhh!! he keeps saying his words and the zombie bites the cop!!! and he was standing in a circle!!! to focus his power, i guess. 

mulder ponders this upon arriving at the crime scene. he found the salt circle. salt, not blood! scully points out this noticeable difference. mulder says it was to protect himself against “whatever it was that did that” (pan over to a lot of blood on the ground) hmm. gross!

a cop flags them over. run, agents! in your billowing coats!!! gag!!! they found a body!! with bite marks!!! 

EWWW... they pull something out of his mouth and the way the lips moved was NASTY. it is a paper with a bible verse written on it, and one of the cops knows exactly which one it is. “book of revelation, chapter one, verse 18” “go fighting irish” <- SO FRANK WAS SPEAKING IN FOOTBALL CODE!!! but to what end?!

they go back to visit frank, who is sipping his milk. “what are you afraid of?” 

HA! scully figures it out- she is so good at figuring things out. he’s in a custody battle and doesn’t want to lose rights to his daughter. they claimed he was an unfit father for being obsessed with conspiracy. he says they were right. so he will do anything they ask, but never mention the millennium group again.

i get his point, but also, they do need him to help out because people are dying, not for some frivolous reason, so maybe if he could make ONE exception, that could be cool.

mulder has gotten him to crack with a promise of secrecy. revelations, heaven and hell, a battle. the four deaths were those who believed, unlike the others in the millennium group, that man must take an active role in bringing about the end times. oooo, the four horsemen…. “it must begin with the dawn of the millennium” or not at all. 

scully seems to be pondering this, in her catholic way.

he proposes that the necromancer is NOT from the millennium group- they hired him. he thinks he’s doing god’s work. hmm. didn’t know you could place an ad in the paper and find one that easily. he seems to be just some guy.

but frank begins to profile him. he talks of a man leading a solitary existence, working with death- and we see mr. johnson working with taxidermy! he did what he could to prevent the deputy from coming back to life. and he’ll return the body. 

they plan to go to the morgue- and mulder says they must track down the not-dead bodies first before locating a murderer. BAHAHA, tell him, scully, about these cultists mangling biblical prophecies. “and besides, 2001 is actually the start of the new millennium” <-NERD! nerd. said while blushing.

LMAOOOOO “nobody likes a math geek, scully” but you do. fucker. him saying that with a smile.... he's down bad

they’re going to split up: scully to the morgue, mulder to find the necromancer. 

and he asks for a favor: PLEASE do not let anyone take out the staples from the deputy’s mouth. “please? just humor me?” <- i like that tactic- saying "please" and asking for her to humor him instead of diving into long explanations of zombie lore. they're in a rush, after all!

BLEAUGHHH, SOMEONE IS TAKING THEM OUT ALREADY. ohhh, it's someone who isn't scully doing an autopsy- this feels very strange. BLEUGH, she opens his mouth, and it is filled with SALT.

scully calls. as the person doing the autopsy removes the salt. noooooooo. please listen to my friend scully! who calls AGAIN. she goes to listen to the message, asking her to please not autopsy the murder victim. BUT IT’S TOO LATE. THE ZOMBIE GOT HER!!!!!!

scully rolls up, drawing her gun as she finds the dead bodies, and the phone ringing off the hook, surrounded by blood. the woman who was doing the autopsy is still alive!!! but the necromancer is here!! as is the undead guy!! and shooting at him in the chest doesn’t prevent him from grabbing scully!!!

unhand her at once, you scoundrel!!!

the woman doing the autopsy is brought into the hospital, which is good. but where is scully?? 

skinner is here looking for her!!! he looks at a dead body… but it’s not her!!! she’s alive, but with scratches on her neck.

omfg..... skinner moved her hair to look at them…. something very intimate about that. he asks how she’s feeling. 

the dead body is the sheriff’s deputy! “he was dead, and then somehow he wasn’t”

i am distracted by the neck scars. sorry. she looks cool as fuck.

and of COURSE she shot the three rounds right into his chest. she knows no other way than perfect aim! but it had no effect.

god. she’s so pretty. sighs wistfully.

the necromancer shot the deputy in the head and saved her!!! but why?? he got away. and did not explain his actions.

skinner wants to talk to mulder… but he isn’t picking up his phone!!! 

he’s busy. got his sunglasses on. checking every single landowner in the area. and he has no service. but he seems to have found the guy! yeah, you also look cool as fuck in your shades, mulder, but not as cool as dramatic neck scar scully. 

he’s going through this guy necromancer mr. johnson's trash…. finds a ton of salt!!!! and puts some in his pockets. hope it’s enough to protect him from evil in the case of emergency.

bro crawls up the fence. okay, spider money!!

mr. johnson is coming home, though!!!

mulder gets inside his house, finding lots and lots of taxidermy. but mr. johnson pulls in, and sees mulder’s car!!!

mulder is breaking into a cellar of some sort. BLEUGH!!! a hand reaches up for him!!! many hands!!!! the zombies are trying to eat him!!! and then mr. johnson shuts the door!!!

he fires a ton of shots!!! but we know they are kind of immune to those unless they hit the head!!! 

scully goes to frank, asking if mulder has stopped by. she needs his help!! she is not going to take no for an answer. she asks if he thinks they can bring about the end times…. “but what if it were true? good and evil… which would prevail?” <- FUCK! scully ruminating on the nature of the universe and the role of god... i will eat it up every time. he still doesn’t want to help. 

oh…. he checks himself out…. maybe he will?

BRO!! THEY HAVE ALMOST EATEN MULDER’S ARM!!! he is trapped in that basement!!! 

frank goes to see the necromancer mr. johnson!!! and necromancer says thank god, we’d almost given up on you.

so frank was either wrong or lying in his profile- this guy was a member of the group, not just someone hired. that is how it seems to me, anyway, because why else would mr. johnson know him? or maybe they hired him before frank left? idk. hard to say. anyway, he says there’s someone in the basement- he’s killed one of the members. yeahhhh, that’s my mulder!!!

“but you’re here. now we’ll have four” LEAVE FRANK ALONE????

they step inside. “you were meant to be the fourth; i’d always known that” <- so that must be why he shot the zombie attacking scully- so frank could be the last horseman. but ohhh, franks’s confessing he sent mulder here!!! frank says he can’t walk the straight and narrow now that he knows they’ve succeeded. hey, what does that mean….? is he telling the truth? will he go along with their apocalyptic schemes?

necromancer mr. johnson says they took frank's daughter from him and murdered his wife over this?! is that true? seems like wild information to reveal in the third act.

and he pulls out a gun… saying there will be justice in the next world. frank says he’s ready. the necromancer starts changing. but frank gets him first!!! 

skinner calls scully. he has news: all four victims received calls from the same number frank had while at the hospital! trace that phone, she demands!

frank is tying up the necromancer, who is begging him not to do this- there is no future in this world, he says; only uncertainty and pain.

frank opens the door to find mulder… no response…. is he okay?!? yes! mulder says he’s down here, and the zombies are all around. frank tosses a flare. they’re hiding from him. he shoots one in the head!!! a frank W!! only two more!! and scully is on the way!!! 

following a map as she drives!!! tracing the route with her finger! that is my beloved!!

bleh!!! mulder had to tie his own arm tourniquet with his tie. a resourceful fellow. but frank gets jumped by a zombie!!! hurry, scully!!! 

she picks the lock instead of climbing the fence, which i think is a fun difference between her and mulder.

aha! mulder gets up and shoots one of the other zombies in the head!! or at least close to the head!! but the last one comes!! and he has no bullets!

YEAHHH, SCULLY GETS THEIR ASS!! and it seems like frank is bleeding from the head but otherwise okay???

the ball….. for new years… soon it shall drop. frank is watching in a hospital waiting room. scully comes to see him!! necromancer mr. johnson has been taken for a psych evaluation!!

scully says someone is here to see him. AWWW, it's his daughter :,) scully smiling as they hug…. someone shoot me.

OH… mulder comes out just then and smiles at them, too… stop. STOP. I’LL SCREAM. his arm is all wrapped up. frank heads out with the girl.

the ball… it drops. it’s 2000!!!! big things happening!!! he looks at her…. THEY KISSSSSSS and smile. “the world didn’t end” “no, it didn’t” OH MY GODDDDD

and they walk out, with his functional arm around her shoulder.

fuck. i gotta watch that again. 

he moved first… he was watching her… and then they both smile…

“the world didn’t end” being more about them actually making a move than it is about the potential threat of y2k. oh, fuck me.

AND SHE LOOKS AWAY as he wraps his arm around her. and he pushes the door ahead of her with his one working arm.

FUCK.

yeah. i had seen the gifs. but it is even better in person. RAAAAH.

and i know their dumbasses will NOT talk about it-

because that’s just what friends do, right? friends sometimes kiss each other on new year’s. and smile at cute children being reunited with their parents. absolutely. entirely platonic. it’s been known to happen 

(- that is my impression of what they were both thinking when they finally got to bed that night and couldn’t fall asleep)

ahhhh….. a kiss. that actually happened! in this universe!!!

so funny that they were going to kiss in FTF, but a bee got in the way, so we had to have a whole season of angst before that could happen. and as much as i would love to think that they’re both going to have an "oh shit, wait, i really liked that, did they like it too? i knew i would, i imagined it for a long time, but shit, shit, shit, it was better than i thought…" type moment, i KNOW they won’t talk about it. LMAO.

unless they prove me wrong!! i would love to be proved wrong!! i invite them to prove me wrong!!

aww. kiss aside, this was a pretty good episode. zombies!!! rawr!!! growl!!! scully gets cool neck scratches!! and saves the day with her sharpshooting!! skinner gives them a top secret task and then worries about his agents!! frank had an emotional arc that was compelling even though we just met the guy!! which is hard to do!! mulder got to say creepy things and climb a fence and use salt magic to keep himself safe!!! and he wanted to kiss her so bad and he did!! and the world didn’t end!!! 

oh…. i would love to read the fic on their internal musings as to what happens next. what they say when they see each other next? meeting in the office. still sleepy. still in pain. still riding that high. blushing. waiting to see who will address it. and neither of them brave enough to do so. 

RAAAAH. YEAHHHHHHH!!!! I LOVE BEING ALIVE IT!!! HAS THESE FICTIONAL LOSERS FOR ME TO THINK ABOUT!!!!

mmm. i shall sleep contentedly this evening.

LMAO, WHAT?? i scrolled down to see what the next episodes said and i saw something about getting trapped in a sexy video game?? HELLO??? WHO WROTE THIS SHIT?? 

and also??? did i see donnie? from irresistible??? are they going to revisit him?? that episode is SO important to scully’s character- i really hope they do it justice. i would have preferred if they didn’t bring pusher back; i felt like his original episode was better. and there is a cops episode??? and scully with a former lover??? people like that episode- 17, right?? and they revisit their very first case in the finale?? but i was told that if i want to stop, i should stop BEFORE requiem. which is the finale. and i probably won’t. but maybe i will? idk. i don’t have a ton of time anymore……. 

hmm. there is SO much to ponder here.

i clicked to peek at the episodes in season 8 and saw a few things. woah…….

yeah. idk what i’ll do! but there’s time. the show isn’t going anywhere. hmm. it’s worth it to know what happens… even just so you know how it should be rewritten in an AU. right?

ohohohoho. the world is lowkey my oyster.

[ill-go-with-that-then]

A NEW ERASERMIC AU I'LL NEVER WRITE!

Imagine Aizawa works at Buzzfeed, and gets the idea to write an article about how Twitch streaming is stupid and pointless (because he’s a video game snob.) He chooses Present Mic’s channel to watch at random, because he’s super popular, but Aizawa immediately goes from undercover reporter to absolute fan. No middle ground. Just “huh, okay i was wrong” and subscribes.

He tunes in to all the live streams, because Mic is very funny and also very good at video games, and it’s cool to watch him play. He has skills, his commentary is A+, and Aizawa develops a little crush. But it’s not a big deal!! Mic is a celeb, Aizawa knows they’ll never meet, it’s harmless.

Sometimes the chat for the stream gets assholes in it, as you’d expect. Mic can’t monitor the chat too much, but Aizawa has no problems telling jerks where to stick it. And once, after a particularly egregious incident where some moron said something crude about women in gaming and Aizawa ripped him a new asshole, Mic sends him a personal message thanking him and asking him if he wants to be a mod, which of course, he does. He doesn’t know how to reply - this is his big chance to talk to Mic!! So of course he just says “sure” - no further conversation.

Aizawa has, of course, zero personal details on his Twitch account. No info, no icon, his screen name is a random string of numbers, he’s a ghost. The Ron Swanson of video game enthusiasts.

So Aizawa is working at Buzzfeed, living his best life writing articles like “10 Video Game Themed Products You Can’t Live Without” because journalism is in shambles and he drinks to forget, and one day his editor is like “hey, we’re gonna do a feature on Twitch streamers. Everybody is gonna go sit and watch a stream in person and get the behind the scenes info. Here’s a list of people who agreed.” And PRESENT MIC IS ON THE LIST

One of his colleagues reaches for Mic’s info sheet, rolling his eyes and sighing. “I can’t believe these are considered celebrities. Have you ever heard of any of them?”

Aizawa practically slaps the paper out of his hand. “Present Mic is a consummate professional and his content is high-quality and entertaining. I wouldn’t expect you to understand it since it involves technology more current than a compact disc.”

The room goes silent. Nobody’s heard Aizawa say anything nice about... maybe anything? Ever? But his editor, Kayama, pounces immediately. “WELL if you like him so much, Aizawa, that can be your interview!!”

Aizawa panics. On the one hand, he wasn’t going to let anyone else take that assignment. But on the other hand, now he’s going to meet Mic IN PERSON. During a LIVE STREAM. Is he supposed to tell him he’s a fan? Is that tacky? Will his crush be obvious? What if Mic sucks in person?? This is a double edged sword.

He only gets more nervous on the day of the interview. He’s tempted to dress up a little, look his best. Mic is a good-looking guy after all, and he’s always well put together when he streams. And even though Aizawa knows, knows he really doesn’t have a chance, he still doesn’t want to embarrass himself.

BUT he also doesn’t want to look like he’s trying too hard. That’s not who he is, and dressing up would be admitting to himself that he DOES want something more than a simple interview, even if it’s as little as Mic’s good opinion or positive attention.

He debates too long. While he’s still thinking about it, the alarm on his phone goes off, alerting him that it’s time to leave. He’s still in his pink sweatpants and he hasn’t shaved, and he realizes, just at that moment, that he probably should have tried harder at least for the sake of professionalism. But it’s too late. He has to go.

Mic actually doesn’t live all that far away. Just a short train ride, less than 20 minutes, and Aizawa is standing in front of his nondescript apartment. It’s a little odd - Mic is a very popular streamer, theoretically with income to match, and his style seems flashy. Aizawa had expected something a little more over the top. But this place is simple. Storing that information away for later, he knocks.

“COMING!!” He hears from inside the apartment, followed by the thud of footsteps. Aizawa just has one moment to brace himself because this is it before the door opens and there he is. Present Mic himself, all smiles. “Come in, come in!! You’re from buzzfeed right? Wow, this is so exciting!!” Mic ushers him in the door, taking his jacket and hustling him into a tidy living room before Aizawa can even respond. And of course, when he finally gets himself together enough to say something, the first words out of his mouth are ���You’re... tall.”

He wants to smack himself. Yes, Mic is taller than Aizawa had realized from the stream, even a little taller than Aizawa himself. But those are thinking words, not speaking words. Certainly not the first words you use to introduce yourself to your celebrity crush. But Aizawa, a champion moment-ruiner, has made his bed, and now he must cry in it.

But Mic just laughs. “Yeah,” he says, bringing a hand to the back of his neck. “I get that a lot. Sorry?” 

“Don’t apologize,” Aizawa says immediately, then wonders if he is, in fact, under some sort of curse. “Shouta Aizawa,” he introduces himself. 

“Hizashi Yamada, also known as Present Mic!” Yamada’s smile is friendly, like Aizawa hasn’t made an absolute fool of himself so far, and Aizawa has to look away from it. He glances around the room, which is tidy and clean, but cluttered with various objects that seem to have no connection to each other. There are books in a variety of languages, musical instruments, shelves of CDs, and an assortment of other things that have nothing to do with video games. 

“Quite a collection you have,” Aizawa says, because it is, and because he’s curious. 

“Yeah! I have too many hobbies but what can you do? Come on, I’m sure you’d rather see my workspace.” It’s not true, Aizawa has seen the office where Yamada streams before, and he’d much rather stay here and poke around, build up his mental picture about who Yamada is outside his Present Mic persona. But he’s not here for that. This is business.

But the streaming room is also not what Aizawa expects. Some things are familiar - the area visible to the camera is the same, set up and ready for tonight’s stream, but the rest of the room, the part that isn’t on screen, is PACKED. There’s a wobbly desk in the corner, covered in neatly stacked papers and binders labeled by month and year. The wall over the desk is a massive whiteboard filled with notes and ideas for upcoming streams. And there, in the lower right corner of the whiteboard, right where it would be even with Hizashi’s eyes as he sits at his desk, is a familiar string of numbers - his own Twitch username. And next to it is a little note - don’t forget. Good dude.

Aizawa sees his username and just - freezes. It hadn’t occurred to him that Mic thought of him at all outside of that one occasion he DM’d him, let alone that he considered Aizawa important enough not to forget. And the idea that Mic thinks he’s a “good dude” makes his face BURN in pleased embarrassment. He wants to say something but what? Is it weird? It’s weird, it’s too weird, and before he can think of how to do it, Mic is talking again.

“Okay, this is where the magic happens!! Actually, it’s more like weeks of frustration and repetition followed by 3-4 hours of intensely stressful streaming, but hey! People seem to like it!!” Aizawa wants to say something here - Mic is being a little too self-deprecating for his taste, but he stops himself. He can’t defend Mic’s honor to Mic himself - can he? The moment passes while he debates.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d want to be on camera or not?” Mic says, tentatively. 

��I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you,” says Aizawa. “I’m more the behind the scenes type.”

“Totally, no problem!” Mic says, gesturing to his desk. “You can sit there, if that’s okay? The only other seat is by me.” 

Aizawa looks at the chair, then back to the small couch where Mic will be streaming from. “I think I’ll have to be closer to get photos for the article, if that’s all right.”

“You’ll be on camera,” Mic bites his lip. “I mean, maybe i could re-angle it, but then the screen-“

“It’s fine,” Aizawa says. “Journalism is about hardship.”

Mic snorts, and Aizawa can’t keep a little smirk off his face, proud that he got a laugh.

The stream goes smoothly - Aizawa likes it even more like this, without the chat to distract him, and close enough to notice things he’s never seen before. Mic’s feet twitch when he’s focusing hard, and his socks have cats on them. It’s adorable. Aizawa takes no notes - he doesn’t really need to, he’s seen enough streams to write this article in his sleep, and anyway, it’s not like he’s going to forget a minute of this.

Afterwards, once they’ve signed off, Mic talks him through his post show routine, everything from calculating how much he made and comparing it to previous weeks in a spreadsheet to going over the chat. “Huh,” Mic’s eyebrows crease as he looks at the chat logs. “Things got a little out of hand tonight.”

“Oh?” Aizawa says, shuffling uncomfortably. He suspects he knows why that is. 

“Yeah, one of my regular mods wasn’t on tonight. I hope he’s all right - it’s not like him to miss.”

“You have a lot of viewers,” Aizawa says, tentative now. “Do you know them all so well?”

Mic shrugs, embarrassed. “No, i wish I did! But this guy’s special, he’s really funny and he keeps all the trolls in line. I’d DM him to see if he’s okay but that’s weird, right? That’s weird. And anyway I tried to talk to him once before but he shot me down.”

“I didn’t-“ Aizawa says before he can stop himself. The curse is real. Mic stares at him, open mouthed, confused at first but then his eyes widen as he realizes what must have happened. Before he can say anything, Aizawa cuts him off. “Sorry. That i couldn’t mod tonight.” He mumbles, hand buried in his hair. He can’t meet Mic’s eyes anymore. “I’ll be back next week.”

Mic opens his mouth to speak, but Aizawa interrupts again, before he can. “And I didn’t - I didn’t shoot you down. I just didn’t think you’d want to talk to me. Why would you?”

Mic blinks, and Aizawa isn’t sure what he’s going to say. Will he be mad? Aizawa kind of lied to him. Is he disappointed? Does Aizawa not look like he expected? Has he been too silent? Too unfriendly? Does Mic not want to get to know him anymore? But when Mic finally speaks, what comes out is

“I can’t believe you made me memorize that stupid fucking username, we’re picking you a new one right now.”

[blackrosesfanfic]

Chapter 235

Gwen

"The boys are sleep for tonight?" Lonnie asks. "Pea?"

"I'm just so angry right now." I blurt out.

Lonnie blows. "What happened? I don't know why you won't let me come. They all hate you but you want to be there alone."

I'm not going to tell him that I wanted to confront Cammie about whether or not he ever tried to touch her. That was obviously my mind trying to make sense of everything. The only thing I could think that would be my fault. But apparently not.

"She is mad at me because I wasn't there for her, Lonnie." I yell.

"Who, Cammie? When were you not there? All that money we paid for her education?"

I suck my teeth. "If you gonna be a dick and talk about money, let me know now."

He sighs. "I'm not. You have always been there for her. Too much, if you ask me."

"Exactly but she isn't asking us Lonnie."

"So I don't know."

I growl. "I don't know either. Lonnie, I'm just so upset with her."

"Want me to come get you?"

"No." I spat.

He sighs again. "Are you going to tell me what happened? So I can be upset too."

"We need a lawyer."

"A lawyer? What will a lawyer do? Family court lawyer? Criminal?"

I exhale. "She... Lonnie!"

"Pea? I don't know what to say to you. You hate when I don't say nothing." It sounds like he stands up. "Okay, I turned the TV off. I'm in the office with my address book. I'm listening."

"She withdrew from me and I didn't even push her to open up. Kendra told me that she was going through something hard but she would have to open up on her own. I've been stressing about this for 6 years or more. I'm so stupid."

Lonnie stays quiet for a few seconds. "Pea, open up about what?"

"Why do you think she stop wanting to go to college?"

"Because she broke up with that sorry butt football player." He says unsure.

I sigh. "Yeah but she was so in love with him. What did he suddenly do so bad? I was just happy that she broke up with him. I didn't care why. She mixed all this up and I'm just so angry at myself. I lost my little girl because I was so into myself and what I wanted for her. We should have just let her go to that dance school."

"In California!" Lonnie spats. "No. Who knows what could have happened to her?"

"But something did happen to her, Lonnie!"

"Huh?"

I jump on a tall half fallen sand castle and slide down on my ass. "Something did happen to her and she didn't even feel comfortable enough to tell me."

I just cry ignoring him and what he was saying. I just feel like shit and I don't know what to do. I don't know how to even forgive myself enough to face my daughter. I don't even know if she wants me to be there for her. I don't know my daughter anymore. It hurts so deep.

"What the hell?" Someone says.

I try to get myself together enough to get up. I'm helped up to my feet. I wipe my eyes then look up at Chris. Seems like he towers over my short self.

"Mama Cammie." He says dusting my dress off. "I'm sure sand and elegance don't go together."

"Gwen?"

I sigh. "I'm here. Thank you, Christopher."

He shrugs. "Do I just ignore you in the sand castle or ask questions?"

"I'm fine, Christopher."

"Okay, so Imma walk away. I'm walking this way so Imma come back by. Stay off the roof of the sand castle."

I narrow my eyes at him. "I said I'm fine."

"Okay." He says walking away like he didn't know me.

"Who was that?"

I blow. "Christopher. I don't know what I watch on TV but these people are nothing like TV. I don't know what I'm pouting about."

"I'm just going to come." He barks. "What happened to Jayla, Gwen?"

"She was drugged, Lonnie. She was drugged and raped. That's why she broken up with him. That's why she... oh my goodness. She was probably having panic attacks and we just forced her out the car to deal with it alone."

"Gwen, you said what!" Lonnie yells. "I'll call you back when I'm headed to the airport."

"Lonnie, I can deal with this myself." I spat.

He sucks his teeth. "I just supposed to do what? Sit here? And do nothing? Who is this guy? The football boyfriend's name was what?"

I sigh. "Lonnie, I'm capable of taking care of myself."

"An hour is enough time to pack. Where is my luggage?"

"Lonnie?"

"I'm flying to California. Family emergency." Lonnie says.

"Lonnie?"

He was not playing attention to me at all.

Alex

"Daddy?" Lexi says.

"Yeah baby." He asks turning around at the door.

She peeks in the room. "Who room is this? Oh Alex. Hi."

"Hi, Beautiful."

"Daddy did you know that Chris Brown was at this house?"

"Yes." He nods.

She puts her hands on her hips. "Daddy, did you know Sevyn Streeter was at this house?"

"Yes."

"Well how you get to this house? You know Chris Brown from TV? How?"

He guides her out of the room. "I know Chris Brown because he knows Trey Songz and Trey Songz is married to Alex's cousin Cammie."

"I know Chris Brown?" She spins back into the room.

"Go play the princess game. I told you I will be back to talk to you after I talk to Alex."

She giggles then I could hear her walking away loudly. "I'm going to ask Chris Brown to play princesses cause I know him."

I laugh. "Did you hear her?"

"No. What did she say?"

"She's going to ask Chris Brown to play with her."

He sighs. "I'm sure he will just ignore her."

I shrug. "Shit face might not ignore her."

"Aye, what's up with you? Why you fucking with Chris knowing he ain't shit with his temper? He doing all this shit and we on his dollar."

"You right."

He frowns. "Huh?"

I stand up. "I'm leaving."

"You are extreme. You not going to open up are you?" He says pushing me back down.

"Open up, Jamaal? You all in my business already. What don't you know about me?"

"How you feel." He nods.

I shrug. "I feel nothing."

He sits down near me. "Talking about feelings don't make you weak."

"I never said it did."

"I can tell something wrong with you. Something been off for a minute now." He says then touch my side. "You need some love? Some loving I should say. Cause you hateful as shit and don't need love. Some dick?"

I chuckle a bit. "Not from you."

"You take care of your mother and your father but who takes care of you? I'm curious. Who raised you?"

"Jamaal really? Get out my face."

He doesn't. He touches my thigh then roughly slides his hand down to my calf. He lifts my leg forcing me to lay back. He massages my calf then brings his hand back up my leg. Okay maybe like... I suck my teeth. This one time I could use some of whatever he got. He takes his hand to my pussy. I don't say anything or even move. He brings himself between my legs.

"No imported furniture or expensive duvets?"

"Don't talk to me."

He chuckles. "Okay, Boss Lady."

When he pulls my shorts down my anxiety kicks in. He didn't have a condom but what does it fucking matter when I'm already pregnant. Fuck I'm pregnant. This shit doesn't even happen in real life. I don't even want to calculate shit. I don't want to know when cause I could easily calculate wrong and be that woman. The one who tells one person they are the father but really doesn't know. For the convenience she never finds out. Jamaal kiss near my ear.

"Relax." He says gently kissing me.

It's not even that simple. He lifts my shirt up to my chest. I sit up a bit for him to take it off. I had on a bikini top that clipped in the front. He takes it off with no hassle like he had already been studying it. Maybe my reality is that I'm just going to have to do this alone. Make like it's not real until I'm unable to hide it.

"I'm getting all types of different vibes from you. Don't know if you wanna be loved on or fucked like a naughty hooker."

I chuckle. He raises his eyebrows then he grabs my hips. He enters me roughly. It sends all sorts of good waves up my spine. I touch his lower stomach so he wouldn't do it again. A motherfucker ain't ready for that while people around. My people here. I can't do that.

"This house too crowded for that."

"Yeah." He chuckles then leans toward.

He couldn't fucking help it. Shit. Maybe it's me that can't handle his dick. Fuck. I mean it brought back memories of the last time we fucked. How good his stroke is. Like... Jamaal is fucking annoying. All my anxiety was gone as he grabs my thigh forcing it high and his dick deeper. I bite my bottom lip trying not to curse loudly but damn it was coming from deep within. I shake my head. Jamaal grabs my face holding it still. He kisses my lips. I keep my lip tucked in as he drives deeper against everything in my fucking chest. He bites my top lip. I go to react but he uses that split second to kiss me. Niggas be trying their best to break you down and some can do it better than others. Jamaal was the wrong person to fuck with. He in my head.

"Fuck!" I say turning my head from his kiss as the orgasm intensifies.

"So you remember to hate me." He says kissing my face not caring where.

I really didn't care to ask what in the hell he talking about. He so fucking cocky. Annoying ass. I cum once again as he press his pelvis against me. Felt like our fucking bones were grinding together. Hope he doesn't think that shit will make me hate anything. He pulls his dick out of me really quick. It was so fast I had to look around to see who walked in. The fuck he doing? The door was shut. I cut my eyes at him. This nigga puts his fucking nut on me. Not just that simple. This motherfucker had nut all on my chest like I had butchered some fucking body. I sigh as my pussy throbbing and leg cramp brings me back to my orgasm.

"I've had worst shit done to me." I say nonchalantly.

"What the fuck?" He snaps.

I'm still the queen of comebacks bitch. I smirk at him. Gotta come stronger than that. Cum on my chest pisses me off yes but I'm not letting arrogance fuck up my nut. I always do shit to him that he ain't ready for. He was just staring at me. Who even fucking cums that much? I look down at my chest. It was all over my stomach.

"Maybe try my face next time."

"Put it in your fucking throat."

Jamaal you really wanna go there? I give him a look. He stares back at me with his arrogant ass. Soft ass. I'm that bitch. Somewhere deep inside I feel like I needed this. Battle of the sexes. I sit up a bit and grab my tittie then lick his cum off. I smirk then reach for him.

"Want me to fuck you now?" I ask.

He didn't know what to do. I laugh then kick him away from me. Fucking bitch. He grabs me as I'm trying to get up. I fight with him. He grabs the back of my neck with his thumb resting on my ear. The shit was paralyzing. He turns my head to him and kisses me. I shake my head. Well in my mind I was shaking my head at myself.

[takaraphoenix]

I really want to drown you in Marvel prompts now xD But I'll try to be nice. How about WinterIronPanther and their punk kids? Maybe Steve walking in and being like "Bucky??? Bu you don't have a kid? Tony has Pete, and T'Challa has Shuri but you don't--" And Bucky just looks at him. Long and hard, waiting for him to realize.

It all started two years ago, when SHIELD fell. When Steve, Natasha and Sam came to Tony, not knowing where else to go. When Steve told Tony about the death of his parents. When the team actually started to grow together, knowing they could only rely on each other.

And then Zemo came along and tried to tear the Avengers apart. Only that that didn’t work. They had been a team for years now, they trusted each other, Tony and Steve led the Avengers together, as a united front. Together, they signed the Accords, with the right reserved to make amendments – because Steve knew they were flawed and so did Tony, but Tony had the lawyers to work on them and Steve knew that and trusted Tony on that. Granted, Zemo framing Bucky tore the Avengers temporarily apart because Steve was blinded and refused to even consider that Bucky might not be innocent – and in the end, he was right and after Tony learned the truth, him and his half of the team joined Steve in Siberia. Zemo’s endgame was to shock Tony by showing him the video of how the Winter Soldier had killed the Starks. Tony knew about that though. He had known that for years and while it hurt to actually see it, he knew that it hadn’t been Bucky Barnes who had killed them and he had come to terms with that. So, instead of playing into Zemo’s hands, Tony, Steve and Bucky went and pummeled Zemo before arresting him.

“Barnes isn’t safe in the US right now”, stated Tony seriously.

T'Challa had his arms crossed over his chest. “I owe him, for trying to take his life in a fit of rage when I thought he had killed my father. I will take him to Wakanda, he will be safe there.”

“Thank you, your highness”, whispered Steve, looking torn.

“Oh, stop it with the sad puppy-dog eyes, Rogers”, grunted Tony and rolled his eyes. “He’ll be safe there, that’s the important thing for now, while my lawyers get onto clearing his name.”

T'Challa looked bemused by the exchange. Over the past few days, he had seen the ups and downs of their dynamic. Steve and Tony bickered like brothers and even when it had gotten physical in Germany, they had been pulling their punches, not wanting to hurt their own team. Now that the truth was out, that the tension about Barnes was resolved, things seemed to be going back to what was considered normal to the Avengers. T'Challa, he was a good man, so he was going to repay his debt to Sargent Barnes. He was going to keep him safe in Wakanda and put his sister onto seeing if she could remove the Winter Soldier programming.

/break\

It was rough, adjusting again after what had happened in Germany. It had not been intentional, what had happened to Rhodey, and Sam was feeling the most guilty about it. Rhodey was still recovering. Wanda had been sent away. Even though Steve had been all for protecting her at first, only seeing her as a child – after he saw the physical evidence of what Wanda had done to Vision over being kept on house-arrest, after Sam sat him down and talked to Steve about it, he saw reason.

She had always been a threat. Not just in Johannesburg, before that. She had willingly joined Hydra, of all people, and allied herself with Ultron until it became inconvenient for her. A part of Steve wanted to see her as an innocent child and had refused the facts. But to see the reminders of the past and to see that she was still out of control… they had sent her away. Professor Charles Xavier owned a school for children with superpowers, where she would not be able to harm others and might learn to properly control herself. Because just sending her to prison was not going to do anything good; at the forefront needed to stand her learning to control herself.

Much had happened in the past months. They were busy adjusting the Accords and they were busy trying to free Bucky of all charges, considering the brainwashing. All the while, Steve played the moping puppy-dog about Bucky being literally on ice in Wakanda.

Tony worked with T'Challa’s sister on restoring Bucky though; BARF proved to be a good foundation for Shuri to build on to remove the Winter Soldier programming, apparently, and with it removed, Barnes got out of cold storage and into some solid therapy.

The Avengers became regular guests in Wakanda after that. After all, Wakanda opened its borders and as a sign of good faith T'Challa had joined the Avengers – on a strict emergencies only base. He was still the king, after all. But he wished for the Avengers to know that if aliens attacked again, they could call Wakanda for backup.

Things… developed, albeit Tony was not entirely sure how. There was a charming, handsome king on one side and an adorable goat-herding former assassin on the other… and Tony in the middle.

Tony and T'Challa had corresponded with each other a lot since Siberia, mostly Tony passing on notes to the princess, or them talking about the Accords and about T'Challa’s specific conditions to joining the Avengers. Steve was… too busy chatting with Bucky to really pay attention, every time it came to Wakanda, or more specifically every time they came to Wakanda. Tony was easily charmed by the king and brilliant king. And it wasn’t like Tony didn’t get to spend his fair share with Barnes too – helping the princess with the adjusted and modified BARF program.

Turned out that in the meantime, the goat-herding former assassin and the charming, handsome king had grown close too, during Bucky’s stay near the palace, his regular visits at Shuri’s.

It started one night, three months into Bucky’s stay in Wakanda, when the Avengers as a whole had come to Wakanda to celebrate together. Celebrate Bucky’s recovery – the last of the triggers had been successfully removed and he was overall doing so much better now. So they threw a party. There was booze, music, dancing, food, laughter. It had been a really fun night.

The morning after however was rather interesting, because Tony didn’t wake up in the guest-room T'Challa had given him. He woke up in an even more luxurious room, a large bed with purple silken sheets… and two handsome, naked men next to him on either side. T'Challa was on his back, one arm on his stomach, the other spread out next to himself. Bucky was curled together and wide-awake, staring over at T'Challa and Tony with curious and calculating eyes.

“Good morning Buckaroo”, drawled Tony slowly, grinning amused.

He turned to face Bucky with a broad grin. Unexpectedly so, he had grown very fond of Bucky. Once the man had recovered enough to be himself, not that empty shell and weapon anymore. Bucky offered one of those charming, sweet, soft little smiles and tilted his head.

“You seem in a good mood. That’s good. I was not sure…”, started Bucky.

“I didn’t touch a drop of alcohol last night, Buckster”, assured Tony, one eyebrow raised.

“But you were all…”, drawled Bucky, motioning awkwardly.

“That is simply Tony’s… personality”, offered T'Challa from the other side, quite amused. “He has taught me that you do need a good sense of humor to deal with politicians on a long run.”

“It keeps boring events fun”, chimed Tony delighted.

“So we were all very sober when all of this happened?”, asked Bucky, looking at the other two.

“I have learned not to drink while my sister is armed with a camera”, replied T'Challa dryly. “And now that, thanks to Tony, she has back-up… I am not risking that.”

Tony laughed delighted at that before leaning over to kiss Bucky briefly. “Don’t look like a startled deer, Buck. We have been flirting for weeks now, haven’t we? I figured we were all so… well-spirited last night, it just all came to the logical next step. Right, kitty-cat?”

“Absolutely. Though the nicknames already make me regret everything”, chuckled T'Challa.

“Aw, you don’t mean that, Simba”, gasped Tony, dramatically touching his arc-reactor.

T'Challa rolled his eyes fondly and wrapped an arm around Tony to pull him into a kiss. “Indeed.”

Tony smirked into the kiss before getting up and startling the other two men. “Well, I for one am absolutely famished. Your enhanced super stamina completely knocked me out. Feed a guy after you fuck him, will you? Or are you just going to stay in bed, staring at me?”

“I mean, I could do that”, nodded Bucky and turned to T'Challa. “You?”

“Most definitely”, agreed T'Challa with a delightful grin, wrapping an arm around Bucky.

Bucky looked pleased as he snuggled against T'Challa. The two looked gorgeous together. Tony felt rather good knowing those were his now. Wiggling his ass, Tony went to T'Challa’s closet to get dressed, throwing clothes at both Bucky and T'Challa too.

“Very well, let me feed the both of you”, sighed T'Challa and unwillingly got out of bed.

“My, our king has manners”, chimed Tony.

T'Challa pulled him into a brief kiss before getting dressed himself. “You too, James.”

Bucky made a displeased sound, but he obeyed. He was still getting used to his new arm – including actual feelings – that Tony had made him. It had been their greatest source of… bonding. Bucky had spent hours in the workshop with Tony calibrating the arm. They had quipped and talked, gotten to know each other. Tony was nothing like Howard, which, apparently was the greatest compliment Bucky could have given Tony.

“What… do we tell others?”, asked Bucky slowly when they exited the king’s quarters.

A couple of Dora Milaje stood in front of it. They acted stoic and didn’t react to the three exiting, but they still very well saw them. T'Challa greeted them before taking Bucky’s flesh-hand in his own and reaching for Tony with his other hand.

“What would you be comfortable telling them, James?”, asked T'Challa gently.

“I…”, started Bucky with a frown. “You’re the king. And this is the Tony Stark.”

“Heh, I like that”, laughed Tony amused. “I mean, we would certainly be quite the scandal couple. But the thing about Wakanda is that while its borders are open, paparazzi haven’t been stupid enough to try anything. They are way too afraid of the Dora Milaje. So, no one’s saying we gotta make a public engagement announcement, Bucky-Bear.”

“What Tony is saying is that we do not have to tell anyone, albeit I suspect most of the Avengers have been onto us for weeks”, offered T'Challa.

“Yeah, Nat knows. Nat knows everything. Rhodey knows, because I told him – hey, a guy’s gotta whine about the two hot guys tempting him”, argued Tony.

“Stevie knows about… uh, my feelings”, tagged Bucky on.

“So, basically, the only Avengers who don’t know are… Clint, Peter and maybe Sam, though Sam is a bright guy and I suspect he has figured it out too”, mused Tony.

“Might as well tell them”, sighed Bucky with a defeated nod. “If there is something to tell.”

“Well, I’m too old for this whole one-night-stand nonsense”, chimed Tony lightly. “And I think we should see where this could be going, mh?”

“We could. We should”, agreed T'Challa with a light smile.

The three of them entered the private kitchen of the royal family together. It was usually where the Avengers ate whenever they stayed over in Wakanda. And while not all Avengers were present, at least some had already found their way here. Steve and Sam were leaning against the counter, discussing something over coffee, while the teenagers were sitting at the table eating pancakes. Shuri, Peter and Ned Leeds – who was not actually an Avenger, but Peter’s best friend and also in on Peter’s secret identity. So while not a regular to go with them, since this was a larger outing of the Avengers, they had invited Peter’s best friend along too. Ned had been over the moon.

“Ah, look at our kids bickering”, chuckled Tony fondly. “It’s hard, raising a teen, isn’t it?”

Peter perked up and smiled at Tony, handing him a coffee. “Good morning, Mister St—Tony.”

“Good boy, he’s learning”, laughed Tony. “Thank you, Peter.”

“Yours at least adore you”, grunted T'Challa with a frown.

“Mister Stark is the best!”, exclaimed Ned enthusiastically.

“You’re just saying that because you’re still trying to butter me up to build an actual Death Star for you”, countered Tony amused and sat down with the teenagers.

“Look at them”, huffed T'Challa, staring at his sister. “How nice they are to Tony.”

“They do not have to live with Tony 24/7”, countered Shuri. “No offense, Tin Man.”

“No, that’s a fair enough argument”, chuckled Tony.

Bucky got them plates with pancakes and sat down next to Tony. “Have you considered how much you stress your brother by living with him 24/7, princess?”

“Oi, what are you accusing me of there, White Wolf?”, asked Shuri offended.

“You’re a little punk. With all due respect”, chuckled Bucky.

“I mean, Petey’s too!”, argued Tony, pointing at Peter.

Peter looked at him like a kicked puppy at this. “Mister Stark-”

“Going after the Vulture all on your own, without the suit or backup, you took ten years off my life!”, exclaimed Tony, running his fingers through his hair. “I had to dye to cover the gray!”

“Mister Sta—ark”, whined Peter, hanging his head low.

“I’m sure Shuri has taken far more years off my life by now”, stated T'Challa dryly.

“Oh, is this a competition now?”, wanted Tony to know, raising one eyebrow.

“You’re both gonna lose if we’re starting a competition about a punk-ass kid who took years off your life”, declared Bucky dead seriously, stirring his coffee.

“Buck? You don’t have a kid”, interjected Steve confused as him and Sam finally joined the table.

The kitchen fell very quiet. Ned and Peter exchanged a pointed look, while the adults all stared at Steve like he had grown a second head. Sam heaved a deep sigh and patted Steve’s back.

“You, you big, blonde oaf”, stated Sam pointedly. “He’s talking about you.”

“What-”, asked Steve surprised, looking around.

“Captain Rogers, sir, we literally learn about that in our history classes”, pointed Peter out.

“Yeah! The adventurous pre-serum times! How you used to be a stick and still chased bullies and had Bucky clean it all up afterward”, agreed Ned, nodding wildly.

“Wait. Why are you learning that in your history class?”, asked Steve flustered.

“It’s the great origin story of the righteous Captain America”, chuckled Tony amused. “Always fighting for the little guy, even when you were a little guy yourself. And judging from everything Buck’s been telling me in the past weeks, the history books were very generous on it all.”

“Punk’s got into a different fight every single week. Sometimes an asthma attack took him out before the bullies could”, grunted Bucky with a deadpan expression. “The number of times I nearly had a heart-attack because of you, Stevie-”

“Oh, come on, Bucky, I never-”, argued Steve.

“You literally signed up for a quite shady secret government program that injected you with an untested drug, all of this without telling Bucky”, pointed Peter out. “…Captain Rogers, sir.”

“Traitor”, muttered Steve beneath his breath, cheeks red.

“There, Parker. You and me aren’t the worst”, declared Shuri pleased.

“Yay to that!”, agreed Peter, high-fiving with Shuri.

Steve sulked and sank deeper in his chair. Sam chuckled and shook his head as he pushed some pancakes down toward Steve, who while still sulking started eating. Tony smiled bemused, resting his chin on his hand and staring at Bucky fondly, who looked rather pleased with himself.

“So, the three of you finally… did something about that cut-able tension?”, asked Sam.

“Yes, we did”, confirmed Bucky and cleared his throat.

“I told you, brother. Modern times. Polyamorous long-distance relationships can work”, declared Shuri pleased, nodding slowly. “You just gotta make them work. And use your words.”

“Yes, yes, if I had listened to you, I could have already wined and dined them both for weeks”, sighed T'Challa with a roll of his eyes. “Alas, it all worked out perfectly well.”

He gave Bucky’s hand a squeeze, earning a nearly shy smile from Bucky. Tony bit his lips at how adorable that was and he leaned in to kiss Bucky’s cheek on impulse.

“So, wait, are we related then?”, asked Peter thoughtfully. “Since my superhero-dad and your brother are together, are we then like in-laws or something?”

“We’re not married and I never adopted you. You need to stop making people believe I’m your father, Peter”, grunted Tony pointedly and a little flustered. “I have had to come to a board-meeting concerning your parentage and who I paid off to keep it quiet, kiddo.”

Peter looked the opposite of apologetic. Bucky grunted amused and shook his head.

“You’d think he’s Stevie’s apprentice”, muttered Bucky beneath his breath.

“Thank you, Sargent”, chimed Peter.

“That was not a compliment, kiddo”, snorted Sam amused.

“Depends on how you interpret it”, countered Peter with an innocent smile.

“You are all menaces in one way or another”, stated T'Challa seriously.

He pointed at Shuri, Peter and Steve equally. Tony laughed and leaned back in his chair.

/break\

“We’ll make this work somehow, even when you leave for New York again, Tony.”

The three of them had decided to take a walk through the palace’s garden together after breakfast – mainly to get away from the team’s teasing. They had come to sit down at a pond together, Tony in the middle, resting a hand on Bucky’s thigh and having one arm around T'Challa’s waist.

“Top notch technology will make it so you won’t even miss me”, assured Tony amused. “Besides, for now I’ll be here for two weeks, so let us make the best of that first, mh?”

“Oh, I believe my mother and sister have already planned at least half a dozen dates for us”, sighed T'Challa a little embarrassed. “They have been trying to be… useful.”

“That’s adorable”, grinned Tony and leaned in to kiss T'Challa’s cheek.

The king looked flustered at that, though also a little pleased. “But you are, of course, right. With Wakandan technology, we can see each other every day despite any distance and you are always welcomed here, Tony. I have a room in the palace for you.”

“I preferred your room, Bagheera”, grinned Tony and kissed him. “What do you say, Buckster?”

“I liked your room too, T'Challa”, agreed Bucky with a grin.

T'Challa laughed, eyes sparkling as he leaned back and looked at his new lovers. “Perfect, then.”

Read this here on FFNet & here on AO3!

[shercockadoodledoo]

Idk man but I'll give $20 and the naming rights of my first born if you wrote a one shot incorporating that one post about dating an actor and getting asked what have they been in so you can reply with ME. Imagine that but with nezushi

fic’s under the cut, anon, pay up. i accept US dollars only, no bill smaller than a five. please shove the cash at your screen and chant my url three times (or is it five? i can never remember the semantics of direct interweb cash transfers). your first born child will be named Pootato (that was not a spelling error i want it to be that exact combination of “poo” and “potato,” no negotiation). enjoy the fic you bastard

oh, and this is the post that the anon is referring to, if you’re curious

Afteronly three months at Shion’s new position as co-director of scientific researchat Tokyo’s Wildlife Conservation Facility, the organization held its annualcharity banquet, and Shion downed six flutes of champagne before Safu was grabbingthe sleeve of his suit.

           “Tell me those empty glasses aren’tyours,” she hissed, jerking Shion’s arm away from the seventh flute he was reachingfor.

           “Hm?” Shion asked, distracted,unsure why he was being pulled away from the champagne.

           “I go to the bathroom for fiveminutes, and you’re already swaying on your feet. You can’t get intoxicated atyour first corporate party! What has gotten into you?” Safu demanded, whileShion tried to focus because he was pretty sure Safu was accusing him of beingdrunk, which was incorrect.

           “That is incorrect,” Shion said,finding it more difficult to speak than usual, which was odd.

            “You can hardly drink a glass of wine withoutbreaking out in song, why would you do this?” Safu groaned, pulling Shionsuddenly. “Quickly, step this way, your co-director is nearby.”

           Shion stumbled but righted himself,feeling Safu’s arm wind around his waist and prop him up.

           “Safu,” he whispered, while Safucontinued to pull him somewhere – he had no idea where, and didn’t much mindone way or the other, as he was having fun, and that was the point of parties,he largely suspected.

           “What?” Safu snapped.

           Shion frowned and blinked so that hecould focus on his friend. She appeared to be unhappy. Not unhappy, exactly.Concerned? No, that wasn’t it. Or was it? The room seemed to be spinning, whichwas a strange phenomenon and rather distracting from his attempts to untanglehis friend’s expression.

           “This is a terrible impression togive your coworkers who after only three months are still forming impressionson you, Shion. Especially seeing as this is your first social corporate function,you should really be making wiser choices,” Safu lectured.

           Shion sighed and let Safu pull himto wherever she was pulling him, which happened to be a round table with awhite tablecloth.

           Safu sat Shion down, then occupied thechair beside his and scooched it closer, her fingers lifting his chin.

           Shion watched his friend’s eyesskating over his features.

           “What’s going on?” he asked mildly.

           “I’m trying to gage your intoxicationlevels to see if it is more or less prudent to allow you to attempt to conversewith your colleagues.”

           Shion sighed again – he felt verytired, suddenly – and rested his elbow on the table, his cheek in his palm. “Imiss Nezumi,” he mumbled.

           Safu stopped peering at him soclosely, straightening up and looking at Shion with some surprise. “Oh. Is thatwhy you got drunk?”

           Shion felt surprised as well. “I’mdrunk?”

           “Yes.”

           “Oh. Whoops,” Shion laughed. What aterrible idea, to get drunk at his first work party.

           “He’s only been filming for a month.And you’re flying out to see him next week, it’ll be fine.”

           “Well, yeah, I know it’ll be fiiiine,” Shion replied, stretching outthe word and almost falling off his palm onto the table, but he caught himselfin time and propped his chin back up onto his hand. His head felt heavier thanusual. “I don’t want fiiiine. I wantNezumi. Who is also fine,” Shion added, with the realization of the word’sdouble meaning, which made him laugh.

           He could be so funny. He wishedNezumi had been around to hear his joke.

           “I have to call him.”

           “What?” Safu asked, as Shion lookedaround the table for his phone.

           “Where’s my phone?”

           “Probably in your pocket. Shion, youshouldn’t call Nezumi. With the time zone difference, it has to be around threein the afternoon in LA, he’ll be in the middle of a shoot.”

           Shion fished around in his pocket,and there, indeed, was his phone. He wondered if Safu had x-ray vision to seeit there.

           He unlocked his phone, glad for thetouch ID unlocking function, as the numbers on his screen were swaying a little,and it might have been difficult to catch them under his fingertips to type inhis code.

           Clumsily, he managed to find Nezumi’sname, while Safu talked at him and said things he couldn’t be bothered to payattention to.

           Shion hummed along with the rings ashe placed his cell to his ear, and then there was Nezumi’s voice.

           “If it’s not an emergency, pretendit is so my director doesn’t kill me, he’s been pretty pissed today and myringing cell at the shoot doesn’t seem to be cheering him up, oddly enough.”

           Shion smiled on hearing Nezumi’svoice, pressed his phone harder to his face. “Hi,” he said happily.

           “Oh, you’re dying are you? Why, that’sterrible, hold on one second – Yeah, I’m gonna have to take this, I need fiveminutes – Hey, he’s dying, just giveme five – Fine! Yeah, go ahead, replace me with Bradley Pooper or whatever hisname is, I don’t give a shit! Asshole.” Nezumi muttered the last bit, and thenthere was a clattering sound, and then there was silence.

           “Uh, Nezumi?” Shion asked,uncertain.

           “Hey, the director wanted to take awater break anyway, I can talk. What’s up? Why does your voice sound weird? Holdon – Aren’t you at your fancy cocktail party for your new job? Should youreally be calling me right now?”

           “Is there really an actor namedBradley Poopy?” Shion asked, then started laughing at the idea. He didn’t knowmuch English, but he’d started picking up a bit of it after Nezumi startedshooting American movies, and he was fairly certain he remembered what the wordpoop meant.

           “Something like that, they’ve gotweird names here. I think it’s a fame tactic, you know, stage names and shit.You sound a little slurry, you’re not drunk, are you? Because that’d be areally terrible idea.”

           “I’m not drunk,” Shion agreed, thenstarted laughing again because if he remembered correctly, he was drunk.

           “Unbelievable. Is Safu there? Shouldn’tyou have someone chaperoning you? Why on earth would you go and get drunk?”

           Shion was so happy to hear Nezumi’svoice, but it hurt at the same time. All he’d gotten from Nezumi the past monthwas his voice. Sometimes an image over a screen if they Facetimed, but Nezumiwas exhausted most nights from filming, and Shion was taking on more work thanhe’d ever had before at his new job, and they were usually too tired with theirconflicting time zones to talk long.

           “If you were here, I’d kiss you,” hetold Nezumi, a promise, a temptation, maybe Nezumi would jump on a plane and comehere, travel back in time because LA was seventeen hours ahead, find Shionyesterday morning and kiss him before Shion had to start missing him so hard ithurt.

           Nezumi was quiet, and then, verysoftly, “I miss you too.”

           There was a shouting behind him, andShion looked over his shoulder before realizing the shouting was coming from thephone.

           “Ah, shit. I gotta go, okay? I’llcall at the usual time, go find Safu and drink water and stay away from anyoneimportant. And Shion, listen to me, this is very important – Do not threaten tobite anyone. Do you hear me? Promise you won’t.”

           “I promise,” Shion said, his eyesburning until he blinked the burning feeling away, and then there was Nezumi’svoice again.

           “Talk to you in the morning, YourMajesty,” Nezumi was saying, and then there was the click of him hanging up,and Shion took his phone from his ear, looked at it helplessly, wondering whyvoices could travel instantly but bodies could not, who invented that anyway,Shion would have given up the ability to hear Nezumi’s voice in order to touchthe man’s cheek in a heartbeat.

           “Who invented phones anyway?” hedemanded angrily to Safu, who was watching him in a wary way.

           “Maybe we should get you home. Youcan make some excuse to your colleagues later, say you got a stomach bug. Yes, Ithink that’s best. Come on, time to get up now,” Safu was saying in a rush,standing and reaching out, so Shion took her hand, remembering Nezumi tellinghim to go to Safu – so he would stick with Safu because he trusted Nezumi, morethan anything, he trusted Nezumi.  

           Halfway across the hall, Shion heardhis name called, and then Safu was cursing under her breath, and then they werenot walking anymore. Shion leaned on Safu because he felt a little drunk – oh yes,he was drunk, he’d forgotten but remembered and felt accomplished forremembering.

           “Shion – Are you all right?”

           Shion blinked at his coworker. Itwas not a woman he’d seen very often, but he knew they’d been introduced. Hetried to remember her name, thought most likely it was also the name of arodent, but no, that was Nezumi, he was thinking about Nezumi again, he triedto concentrate back on the nameless woman even though he would have ratherthought about Nezumi a little more, just a little.

           “What?” he asked, because he knewshe’d asked a question and was trying to appear coherent.

           “He’s fine,” Safu cut in quickly, “hejust – ”

           “Oh, but you’re not Nezumi. We’veall heard about him of course, company gossip,” the woman said, laughing. “Iwas so hoping we’d get to meet him today.”

           She had black hair curled at theends. She wore a red dress. Shion decided he would memorize these details abouther, catalogue them, use some formula to calculate her name in this way, thoughhe didn’t know what the formula was.

           Maybe Safu knew. She was smart. Shetended to know things.

           “Hey, Safu,” Shion whispered,elbowing her, and Safu elbowed him back, hard.

           “No, I’m not, Nezumi couldn’t makeit,” Safu said loudly, giving Shion a sharp look.

           “Oh, is it work, because rumor hasit, he’s – ”

           “Are you talking about Nezumi?”Shion blurted out, catching thread of the conversation. “He’s an actor,” Shiongushed, leaning forward and feeling Safu tug him back.

           The woman brightened. “So it istrue! Is he famous?”

           Shion nodded happily. “Very veryfamous. And beautiful. And talented. And beautiful.”

           “You said that already,” Safumuttered.

           “Oh? What’s he been in?” the womanasked, and Shion thought about it, couldn’t remember a name of any of hismovies or even the plays Nezumi did before he got into movies, but then heremembered that Nezumi was not only in films,he was in much more important things, or rather, one thing in particular thathe hadn’t been in for a month what with their new long distance stint, whichfrankly was getting on Shion’s nerves.

           “Me!” Shion shouted, and then he waslaughing at his own joke and nearly doubled over, felt Safu haul him back up, caughtsight of the woman who did not seem to understand, so he attempted to help herbecause humor, he knew, was not everyone’s strong suit. “You know. Sex,” Shion elaboratedslowly, miming with his fingers the act of it. “This is Nezumi,” Shioncontinued, holding up his forefinger, “and this is me,” he finished, indicatingthe hand where his forefinger and thumb made an “o.”

           “He’s very drunk, I’m so sorry,goodbye,” Safu was saying in a sudden and rushed way, pulling Shion so abruptlyaway that he stumbled over his feet and nearly fell into Safu.

           “Ow, oof, wait, did you hear myjoke? I just made a joke. Did you hear it?” Shion asked.

           “Yes,” Safu said, rather curtly,when she should have been laughing, which made Shion think she was lying abouthearing the joke, maybe to save him the time of having to say it again, butShion didn’t really mind saying it again.

           “So what happened is that lady askedwhat Nezumi did, and I said he was an actor, and she said, ‘Oh, what movies ishe – ’ No wait, that’s not how it went, I messed up the joke, she said – ”

           “Shion, please be quiet now,” Safuinsisted.

           “Nezumi would have liked the joke,”Shion said, sulking.

           Safu didn’t say anything, and thenshe laughed in a breathy, light way, pulling Shion out the banquet hall doorsand into the cool night air. “Yes, I suspect he would have.”

THEEND