#daniel is buddy this works perfectly i am not taking notes

[desertfangs]

So there's this episode of Community where Jack Black guest stars, and his character wants to join the study group. We learn this character was there in their Spanish class the whole time, he was just in background where the camera never focused on him so we, the audience, did not notice and the Study Group was too self-involved to notice.

Anyhow, this is how I picture Daniel in the last two VC books. He's there, he's reacting to things, he's having conversations with Armand and Marius off on the sidelines, but for whatever reason Lestat is leaving that out of the books. Maybe Daniel bribed him! I don't know. But it's funny as hell to think about it happening this way.

[taeescript]

29+1 (Part One)

𝔰𝔶𝔫𝔬𝔭𝔰𝔦𝔰: In which Seokjin is the Devil from The Devil Wears Prada, Taehyung is your work Jesus and Jimin is your handsome successful brother. 

𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: seokjin x reader (taehyung x reader if you squint real hard) 

𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢: slice of life; ceo!seokjin (diva!seokjin)

𝔴𝔠: 3.6k

𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: heavy use of alcohol as a coping mechanism, a plethora of sarcasm (please don’t be offended) and a sprinkle of softness (is that a warning?). 

𝔞/𝔫: this sat in my unwritten folder since 2017 no lie. I wrote the premise and a singular paragraph at that time, then just gave up. I opened it a few days ago, got inspired again and this word vomit came out (heavily influenced by a midnight Zoom call with my friends). Ngl this was so much fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. This will probably be in three parts.  𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔯: I did not know that DailyHive is an actual online news source when writing. This work is purely fictional and has absolutely nothing to do with the real DailyHive. 

part two

Your friends have a saying: After 29, nobody shares their age until they’ve accomplished something. 

In the past, you didn’t understand it. What’s so bad about saying you’re 30 or you’re 32? That’s still a young age! Sure, you’re not exactly in your prime anymore but you’re not old, right?

So, you continue in your own wondrous world of naïveté until that fateful day at your class reunion. You had simply been walking around, minding your own business when you had been stopped by an old colleague.

“Hey, Y/N, right?” she waves you down. 

You smile kindly, not even bothering to try and remember her name (you sucked at names, what could you say). 

“Hey…you!” you chuckle lightly, “How have you been doing?” 

An everyday question leading to catastrophic effects. 

“Oh you know,” she says and rolls her eyes as if you truly did know, “I’ve just been out and about. Did I tell you though? I got married last year!” She holds out her hand in which a giant diamond adorns her finger. “Wow!” you gasp, feigning interest. It’s not that you aren’t happy for her, but you are reminded of just how single you are currently. When was the last time you felt another human’s touch? Does kissing come back as easily as riding a bicycle? “Hey!” she says suddenly, “I’m actually meeting with a couple of friends from our class. You should come join! I’m sure they’d be happy to see you again!” You want to wave her off, but against your better judgment, you find yourself following in her footsteps and listening to her speak about wedding venues and honeymoon destinations.

“Oh my god!” another female voice filters in.

The “couple of friends” this old classmate had mentioned is in fact a fairly impressive size of twenty. This is also the third time the wedding announcement has been made. 

“Last year?” the female continues, “Weren’t you young?”

Yes, you want to respond. Yes she was young. A full 365 days younger than she is now.

Your classmate, Sooyoung (or Kiko as she insists going by now) titters in front of you. “I mean, you can sort of say I’m a late bloomer. I got married when I was 31.”

Her words unintentionally cut into you. Here you are at 29 without a beau in sight. You take a fast swig of your beer and end up hitting the empty glass with a clink to your teeth. Nobody notices.

“Enough about me, however, how about you?”

“I started my own business actually. It’s been doing really well and it’s been a crazy mind. Imagine me, my own boss at only 33!”

You nervously join them when they suddenly laugh together.  

“Hi, can I get another pint please? Actually add a tequila shot to that,” you whisper the last part to the waitress you had just stopped.

And that was how the rest of the night went. People asking one another what they had accomplished. Any moment in time after 30 would not be mentioned until somebody travelled to Uganda to build houses at 31 or another gave birth at the same age. Below 30, anything would be attributed to luck or in your case…

“What are you doing currently?” somebody asks you, “The little baby of our class.”

Swallowing your third tequila shot of the night, you wonder for the umpteenth time how you had become a part of this giant sharing circle. You wonder if it’s a blessing or a curse that you had graduated a little early and thus was younger than most of your peers.

“Well,” you start, “I’m currently working at DailyHive.”

“Ohh!” a man gushes. You recognize him as the once-upon-a-time science partner you used to cheat notes off of. “I use DailyHive nearly as much as Instagram these days. You guys cover everything from news to sports to fashion.”

You shrug. “Yeah. It’s, uh… it’s a pretty big company!”

“What are you doing there?”

Kiko-ex-Sooyoung hits the man teasingly on the shoulder. “Y/N is probably the Director of Marketing or something. Remember how she used to spend all class doodling in her notebook?”

“Or sleeping!” someone quips.

You don’t join in when they all laugh.

“I’m…an intern,” you say with as much pride as you can in a group of established professionals ranging from dermatologists to that one guy who had flown around the world as a TedTalk guest speaker.

A hushed silence befalls everyone.

“That���s…cool!” the same man encourages you, “Interns are totally rad! Everyone wants an intern spot these days.”

His girlfriend pats your arm, almost empathetically. “Yeah. I know a bunch of people who first start off as interns and then they shoot up the ladder quick enough. As long as you’re no longer an intern at 30, you’re golden!”

Once again, the entire group laughs as if she has said the most hilarious of jokes.

She composes herself and says to you, “Because after that, you should have accomplished something.”

Her words still ring in your ears as you sit at your desk this morning.

Yeah…something. All you need to do is accomplish something in the next three months before you are officially, 29 + 1.

Your fingers tap against your thighs silently while you observe the current debate that is occurring in the conference room. You barely have time to sweep the falling hair back behind your ear as your fingers ferociously fly across the keyboard to keep in track with the meeting.

Fei is arguing that the implement of a new search word system would boost users while Daniel says that it is a waste of resources. Instead, everything should be put into updating the entire system as a whole. You have long since lost track of their words as neither pertain to what you do as an intern.

“Enough,” the CEO of DailyHive holds up a hand. His one word causes the entire room to hush over – truly, the words of a god.

And that might as well be what he is. With his hair swept back and a lone tendril curling perfectly above his brow, Kim Seokjin is legitimately a walking god. Off his broad shoulders hang an expensive white linen suit bought with his pocket change and your yearly salary. A pair of sunglasses hangs in the V of the collared shirt dipping low enough to blur the lines between being fashionably professional and just downright sexy.

The snap of his fingers brings you back to the present.

He dramatically rolls his eyes and accepts that you are an incompetent minute-taker.  

“I have to remember that the world just doesn’t move as fast as I do.”  

                                                            - Quote: Rolling Stones 2019 Kim Seokjin.

Now if only he’d remember he had once said that.

He points at each of them with one finger, then swipes to the left. “Both of you, solve this outside. I don’t want to hear your voices any longer. You two from the marketing team, Ungroomed Stache and Acne Chin, create me a report if we are to implement Ms. Song’s idea. The two of you from…” he takes a pause here clearly having forgotten who his employees are, “The two of you do the same thing but for Mr. Hwang.”

The pair from accounting open their mouth to protest that they are in charge of only numbers, but they are ignored.

“All of you out now. Except you,” he points his finger directly at you, “Stay.”

Nobody utters a single word until they have all left and you are left alone with him. Standing before him with your hands folded nicely in front of you, you blink and wait.

He stares right back at you, picks up his coffee mug and drops it. The clatter of ceramic smashing against the ground causes a pause in the loud buzz outside the room. You know everybody’s focus has been shifted into the room.

“Do you want to kill me?” he drawls.

You take a long inhale. “No,” you say.

“No?” he repeats the word, “Well I think you do. Did you check this coffee before you brought it to me? I tasted cinnamon in it. You know how I’m allergic to cinnamon. Get me a new cup. And this mess, get somebody to clean it. I don’t want the smell of coffee in this room when I have my next meeting here in twenty. I’m taking a smoke a break.”

He stands up and brushes past you without saying anything else.

Nobody can be allergic to cinnamon. Besides if he had actually tasted cinnamon and was that sensitive, he would be dead. And good riddance to that.

Of course, you say none of this and wordlessly begin to pick up the broken ceramic pieces of the dead mug. The bustling outside the meeting room has returned back to its normal state of chaos. Seeing the ugly stain of coffee on the once pristine carpet causes you to swear beneath your breath.

“Who the fuck is allergic to cinnamon?” a new voice says, sliding up beside you.  

The second god in DailyHive; the much nicer and evidently preferred Kim; Taehyung takes the mug pieces from you and drops it into the garbage bin.

Blessed with not only intelligence but devilishly model-like features, he is your desk buddy in the small space allotted for interns and your sole friend in the company.

“Tae,” you sigh with exasperation upon seeing your lifesaver, “What am I going to do about this stain? He’s going to return in fifteen and there’s no way I can get a coffee stain out of this expensive-ass carpet.”

Taehyung taps a long finger to his lips, leaves the room briefly, and returns with a roll of Bounty sheets and a can of Febreze. He promptly blots as much of the coffee off from the carpet then proceeds to pull the meeting table.

“C’mon, Y/N, don’t just stand there. Help me! Time is of the essence!”

You laugh and join him in moving the table so that one of the legs cover the stain 80% of the way. Once he is satisfied, he takes the Febreze and sprays until the whole room smells like “Hawaiian Aloha”.

“You’re welcome.” He gives an extravagant bow, the motion popping open the top button of his shirt to expose a surprisingly chiseled chest.

Fei returns back into the room holding a phone to her ear and a clipboard in her left hand. “What the hell? It smells like a Bath & Body Works in here. Intern, aren’t you supposed to be filing or something? Stop standing around and be useful.” She grips Taehyung’s arm and drags him out of the room. “Button up. This is a professional workplace.”

You give him a tiny wave as Taehyung is steered away by his girlfriend and back to the cubicles.

Taehyung may be your saviour at work, but outside, it cannot be denied that your brother is the true Fountain of Life.

A week has passed since the coffee incident (you suspect a cleaning personnel had found the stain and cleaned up after your improv as aforementioned stain can no longer be found), but Jimin still brings it up.

“I still can’t believe that he said he was allergic to cinnamon. I’ve never heard of such bullshit before,” your brother says over the phone. You can practically hear his eyeroll from across the world.

As a renowned ophthalmologist, you have not seen Jimin for close to a year as he has been initiating his new clinic, a flying eye hospital.

“You should hear his Starbucks order. I always feel like I’m ready to launch my next EP whenever I’m at the counter,” you say.

Jimin laughs. There is the muffled sounds of voices as his never-ending flow of patients have arrived for the day.

“I shouldn’t keep you,” you say upon hearing that, “You’re probably really busy.”

“No,” he says, “I’ve got a few minutes if you’ve got a few. I miss talking to my baby sister.”

“I’m not a baby anymore, Jiminie,” you say using the nickname he hated.

“Oh that’s right. Your birthday’s in a little under three months, right? My baby sister is turning the big three-oh.”

“God, don’t remind me.”

“Want me to come visit you?”

You contemplate the idea once, having not seen Jimin in quite a while.

“Only if you have time. But I feel like Mom and Dad would probably want to see you more. Speaking of which, um… How are Mom and Dad?”

“They’re good. I hear Dad is finally going to retire this year. He’s giving his practice to Kibum, you remember him? Mom will probably start pestering us about what to do for his retirement party.”

There is a pause.

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt to say hi to them once in a while.”

You sigh. “And say what? Hey, it’s me. The child that ran away from home at 18? Yeah, I’m not a doctor like everybody else in the family but a 29 year old intern at a popular app company. Whassuuup?”

“Y/N, that’s not what I – ”

“It’s okay, Jimin. I’ve come to accept that not everybody is cut out to be a doctor. I just wish Mom and Dad could realize that.”

Jimin sighs on your behalf. There is the sound of a crying child coming through the earphone. “Well, your contract expires a few weeks after your birthday, right? Who knows, you might be the next Mark Zuckerberg.”

He has never explicitly inquired about your life plan and you know this is as much as he is willing to push without asking, “What’s next after this intern hiccup?” At least he had the decency to compare you to a controversial Internet entrepreneur.

The child is crying much louder now.

“Again with my birthday. But I’ll let you know,” is the only reply you can come up with at the moment. “Okay, brother, go forth and heal the blind. I bless thee in the name of the Holy Spirit, Son and Ghost.”

There is true laughter that rings from Jimin as he ends the call. “It’s Father, Son and Holy Ghost you dweeb. I love you sis.”

“You too.” You hang up first before he can add anything else.

With that, you enter into the 7am Starbucks queue and prepare yourself in running the first single of your long overdue EP.

Seokjin leans back in his chair, watching you from inside his office. Today he has chosen a black turtleneck and a brazen maroon-nearly purple suit jacket to complete the outfit. For once, there is an empty mug of coffee beside him and his morning headache has been appeased.

He knew he had given you an impossible task.

“Compile all the troubleshooting errors we have received since the launch of DailyHive. Organize it in a manner that allows me to identify the most prominent problem. Run it through whomever you please before giving it to me. I don’t need to waste my time correcting your mistakes.”

There is an amused smile that bubbles beneath his otherwise stoic features. He cannot deny that there is, might he dare say, a cute quality about you as you manually scan through the received concerns on your laptop dating back to the initial beta tests – the ones that were lost in a data crash and only backed up with unintelligible scribblings of previous interns.

The moment you had been introduced as the new intern, you had caught his eye. You are exquisitely mundane, and perhaps the reason you had even caught him the first time was due to solely to the fact that you were older than most interns – himself even. Nevertheless, you continue to present him small surprises in your tenacity and capability to tackle challenges.

“Mr. Kim.”

His intercom comes alive with the voice of his secretary.

Seokjin’s eyes do not leave you as he answers.

“Mr. Hwang is on line two. Would you like me to defer him to a later time if you are currently busy?”

Seokjin cannot help but sigh. Hwang Junho, his co-founder, while a genius in international business is also a notorious chatterbox and gossip. There is seldom a reason for Junho to call him except to relay the cover titles of E!Magazine.

“Did he mention a reason for calling?” Seokjin inquires.

His secretary seems to be reading from a note. “He says it’s to do with the company. Something he read from Cosmopolitan this morning.”

So not E! but another sister celebrity gossip blog. He checks his watch and duly notes that he certainly has no meetings scheduled until later in the afternoon where your report would be needed to run a preliminary analysis.

“Sir?”

“Yes, put him through. But tell him I’ve got only five minutes, so he’s better give me the Cliffnotes version,” Seokjin sighs again.

Before he can be connected, Seokjin quickly says, “What’s the name of that intern again?”

“Who?” his secretary asks, “We’ve hired four since the beginning of the year.”

“The one who keeps wanting to poison me.”

“I’m sorry, Sir?” she sounds concerned.

“The one who keeps forgetting that I despise cinnamon.”

There is no response.

“The older one. Spilled coffee a while ago but still has enough coordination to pull together a decent report.”

“Ah,” she says.

He waits patiently as she searches through the database, eventually giving him your name. He gives a slight pause and then says, “Good. Now patch me with Junho.”

There is a momentary buzz as the call becomes connected in which Seokjin turns over the syllables of your name wordlessly.

“Mr. Kim. The man of the hour. How are you, my brother?” Junho’s baritone fills the office in a manner of seconds.

Despite the little annoying quirks, Seokjin cannot help but smile when hearing the voice of his best friend.

“You’ve got three minutes, Junho.”

Junho grumbles. “That’s not my fault. You were the one still on the line with your secretary. Is it still Yerin? ‘Cuz I won’t blame you if that’s the case. Did I catch you doing some naughty phone sex during office hours?”

“Two.”

“Holy hell. Fine. It’s always business with you. That’s why the tabloids are always writing you as an uptight asshole.”

This shifts Seokjin’s attention to the phone. His name is seldomly mentioned except for the features in business columns. He prefers to stay out of the limelight.

“What?”

“Put your name on Google.”

Seokjin does as he is told.

There are millions of results, but the first few pages share the same headline. He clicks on the first one with a grimace.

“Kim Seokjin. Mr. Worldwide Handsome as noted by his fans, has recently sparked Internet outrage.”

A quick skim of the otherwise trashy article brought to the surface a summary: his last dating scandal had ended badly and the repercussions of blowing off a famous celebrity’s daughter had finally caught up with him. The Internet was calling him arrogant, narrow-minded, and even greedy. “The young Chief Executive Officer of booming social media app DailyHive has been accused of using his relationship with actress XYZ to further his own business. Once he gained recognition from aforementioned relationship, he has cold-heartedly cast her away to pursue his next.” “You’re calling me for this bullshit?” Seokjin scoffs. Junho tuts his tongue loudly. “This is not bullshit. It’s affecting the image of your company. Do you think people want to download and support an app that is run by somebody who is being called cruel and dishonest? You’ve got to address this soon before it gets out of control. You’re lucky I have alerts set for these type of things. I caught it for you just in the nick of time.” Seokjin inhales deeply. “You’re also lucky that I’ve got the perfect solution in mind.” “That is?” “The Silver Gala,” Junho references the prestigious event. The Silver Gala is hosted annually and attended by the largest celebrities as well as other wealthy investors and guests. Those in the social circle shared between Seokjin and Junho often yearned for tickets to attend events such as this, as they serve as excellent networking opportunities. Besides the above, such events are circled by reporters and writers of gossip columns to get the exclusive scoop on any eyebrow-raising rumours. “The solution lies in such an event,” Junho continues, “You know how many people will be there. All you’ve got to do is show up with your average girl-next-door type and it’ll show how you’re actually really humble and down to earth. Kim Seokjin is perfectly capable of dating like any regular human being. He doesn’t use “love” or whatever to further his business. Love is the connection between two souls; two individuals who – ” “Beep. Your time has run out Junho. I’ve got another meeting scheduled right this moment,” Seokjin interrupts. “Dude, seriously. Think about it. You could bring Yerin. Everbody loves a good CEO and his secretary affair. And if that’s too juicy for you, I can introduce you to some girls. Or maybe we could go back to our university days and hit a bar, y’know?” Junho tries his best to persuade. “Fuck!” you swear beneath your breath right as you walk into Kim Seokjin’s office. His door had been open and, in your excitement to show your completed report, you had dropped all the loose papers on the ground. Four hours of organization gone, just like that. You hope that at least Seokjin hasn’t heard or noticed you as he had been engrossed in his phone call. Seokjin had in fact noticed you. He can’t help himself but follow the curvature of your bare shoulder as your bangs escape the hold of your scrunchie and sweep across your skin. “Don’t worry, Junho, I’ve just thought about it,” he says with a smile.

[tinyboxxtink]

"Reunion" A Sam Gardener/Paige Hardaway "Fix It" One Shot *Atypical*

Alright, I should have been working on my series but ya'll I finished ATypical last night and I was FUMING. Actually I still am fuming. So fuming I had to write a "fix it" fic for the ending of the Sam and Page story. It will NOT end at the Olive Garden. I refuse to believe that.

So I spent all day writing this. I don't care if anyone likes or agrees with it, this was for me. In my heart this is how they ended up. Okay? Okay.

------------

“My my my, Sammy you are lookin’ FLY!” Zahid stepped back and admired his work. Sam had reluctantly let him pick out his outfit for tonight. He felt very uncomfortable in the soft cotton t-shirt NOT the regular cotton t-shirt, distressed jeans NOT regular and non-holy, and an unbuttoned dark blue flannel, NOT a normal polo. But he wanted to look a certain way for tonight, something he thought she’d like. He needed tonight to go perfectly, and not because his atypical brain needed it to. His heart needed it to.

“Thank you Zahid, I’m very uncomfortable. That’s how I know I look good to other people,” Sam nodded.

“So true,” Zahid nodded. “Now are you sure you don’t want me to come with you tonight? Be your wing man?”

“No,” He shook his head as he studied himself in the full length mirror. “I need to do do this on my own, no birds necessary,”

“That’s my Sammy Sam,” Zahid beamed. “Always so literal,”

“Well, I’ll see you after the party ends. Probably before,”

“Unless things go well..” Zahid wiggled his eyebrows.

“If they go according to plan I will still come back home, you know this is the one of the only three places I can spend the night. The other two being my childhood home and Antarctica,”

“Yes I do know that,” Zahid nodded. “I am so proud of you for spending two months in that popsicle freezer, by the way,”

“I didn’t see one popsicle while I was in Antarctica, but I appreciate your praise Zahid,”

“Anytime, Sam. Permission to hug?”

“Permission granted. I’d normally say no in fear of wrinkling my clothes, but I’m pretty sure they’re already as wrinkled as they can be,” Sam raised his arms, gesturing to the crinkled flannel and jeans.

“Alright, well go and get her man!” Zahid wrapped Sam in a huge, tight hug.

“I hope so,” Sam nodded before walking out the door and down to his car that he could legally drive now.

-----------

When he arrived at the school, he parked and went inside, He glanced down at the invitation he needed to enter the party:

“REUNITE WITH YOUR FELLOW OWLS! 5 YEAR REUNION FOR THE CLASS OF 2019!”

He couldn’t believe it had been five years since he had walked down these halls. It seemed to go by so fast; from going to Antarctica to graduating from Denton to getting a job at the aquarium as a vendor selling his drawings of Stumpy and the other marine life. He would even take long term commissions or draw guests right there on the spot. He didn’t like doing those so much though.

He approached the table apprehensively, hoping he wouldn’t be met with any of his tormentors from high school. But to his absolute relief and delight, there to greet him was the very person he had come to see. Her blonde hair was missing it’s usual blue streak, but other than that she looked exactly like he had remembered her: Beautiful.

“Sam!!” Her eyes lit up when she saw him walking up. She ran around the table and met him before he even reached it. She almost went for a huge hug, but she wasn’t sure if they were still in that stage where he trusted her enough to do so without permission.

But to her absolute shock, Sam opened his arms and welcomed her embrace unprompted. Tears lined her eyes as she hugged him as tightly as she could.

"Hello Paige," He simply stated as she had her arms around him. Suddenly she was catching something she’d also never thought would happen

“Sam, are you wearing cologne?” She asked him softly in his ear, not wanting to let him go just yet.

“Yes,” He nodded as he pulled back just a little to face her, but still his arms around her. He usually hated soft touch or holding of any kind, but with Paige everything was different.

“But you hate foreign smells, especially on your body,” Paige blinked in disbelief while also mentally noting that Sam was not letting her out of his grip.

“Yes, I do,” He nodded again. “But I read that this cologne produces pheromones for the female human,”

“Sam!” Paige blushed, biting her lip and looking at the floor. “Why would you need that?”

“For the ladies obviously, buddy,” Sam used his line for lying, dropping his arms around her. He couldn’t focus on more than one social skill at a time. “You look very nice tonight by the way, Paige,” He added the compliment to complete the lie.

“Oh,” Paige’s voice fell a little soft and disappointed, but Sam was unable to detect it.

“Are you done with your duties? I’d have some things I’d like to discuss with you,” Sam gestured to the table where two other women were taking “tickets’”.

“Absolutely!” Paige replied over excitedly. “I’ll just tell them I’m taking my break,”

“I don’t want to break anything, Paige. I’d just like to talk,” Sam said in a distressed tone. He didn’t want Paige to think he was going to attack her.

“Oh no no no Sam,” She laughed nervously. She missed how literal Sam was. “I meant a rest from work,”

“Oh, right,” Sam shook his head nervously, picking at his fingers. He should have known that, he knew what a break was. Paige just made his thoughts foggy.

“Shall we?” Paige pointed down the hall. Sam nodded and followed her into an empty classroom where they could talk uninterrupted. She pulled up a chair at a desk while Sam did the same, then she realized where they were.

“Oh my goodness,” She whispered.

“What? Did I do something wrong?”

“No!” She waved her hands dismissively. “Not at all Sam. It’s just--” She paused and looked around. “Do you know where we are?”

Same studied the room for a moment, when his eyes caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.

“We’re in the French Classroom, where I brought you your penguin necklace so you'd be my girlfriend again, and then you kissed me for the first time,” He informed her matter of factly, but with a small smile, a thing he never did for anyone else.

“Yes,” She nodded with a small smile while her cheeks turned red.

“That was a very good day,” Sam nodded while recalling the memory. He would never admit it to anyone, but that was his first kiss.

“Yes, yes it was,” Paige nodded as well.

“That relates to what I’d like to discuss with you, Paige,”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” He nodded while looking at the floor. He was extremely nervous to do this, but he wanted to do it now before he lost his nerve.

“Well, I guess first of all I should ask-- do you have a boyfriend right now?”

“Sam!” She blushed even more; she forgot how blunt and honest Sam was, straight to the point.

“That’s not yes or no,” He stared at her.

“It’s...complicated,” She played with her hair nervously.

“How is it complicated? You either have a boyfriend or you don’t,” Sam was confused.

“Well the short answer is no, I don’t,”

“Okay then,” He started to continue his line of questioning, but Paige put her hands up.

“Wait wait,” She stopped him, trying not to laugh at his eagerness. “Don’t you want to know the long answer?”

“Not really, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me,” Sam shrugged.

“Yes I am,” She agreed as she took a deep breath to explain her story. Sam was not looking forward to a long story, but he loved hearing Paige talk. Also he could block her out at any time if he got bored with her words.

“Well, while I was working in Georgia my managers realized what a great foreman I would make,”

“How can you be four men?” Sam asked quizzically.

“No no,” She giggled. “A FORE-MAN, Sam. It basically means I tell people what to do at the building sites,”

“Oh,” Sam shook his head in understanding. “Well you are good at bossing people around,”

“Thank you,” She half laughed. “So, I moved up and up and now I’m a manager myself,”

“I thought you hated being a manager," Sam's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "That's why you used your magic birds to quit Spud E"s,"

"I did hate it there," She chuckled as she remembered that day. "But just because it was at Spud E's. You can hate or love something depending on your happiness in doing it,"

"Oh," Sam just nodded, even though he didn't understand it.

"Anyway, so while I was working my way up the ladder, I met this guy Daniel," Paige's voice lowered as she said his name, she saw Sam's face turn to distress.

"Oh," Sam looked at the floor. "So Daniel is your complicated boyfriend,"

"No no no!" She wanted to take Sam's eyes to make him look up at her but she didn't want to make him more upset.

"No, we did date for a while. And then last week, after I got the invitation for this thing, Daniel took me to dinner," Paige paused, not wanting to push him further emotionally by saying the next thing.

"And he asked me to marry him," She said softly. To her surprise Sam's head popped back up with an even more distressed face.

"So you don't have a boyfriend you have a husband,"

"No!," She once again started going for his hands instinctively to comfort someone, but she knew it was different with Sam. Everything was different with Sam.

"Sam, will you let me get through the whole story before you ask questions, please?" She knew she had to flat out ask him to follow social cues.

"Yes," He nodded.

"Okay," she put her hands in her lap to finish her story.

"When he asked me to marry him, I sat there and I thought about it. For a long time. And I thought back to that afternoon when I got the invitation to come here. I was so excited to come,"

"You do love it here," Sam nodded. Paige gave him a look. "What? You said no questions, That was an observation."

"Right," she nodded her head with a laugh. "Well, then I realized I was more excited about coming back here than I was about the prospect of marrying him,"

"Oh." Sam simply replied while looking at the floor once again. Paige wondered if he understood what she was trying to tell him. Finally after several seconds, he raised his head and looked her in the eyes.

"Paige, now may I ask you a question?"

"Yes Sam," she nodded.

"Good," he nodded looking back at the floor. He wanted to pick the right words, he knew he had only one chance at this. He was so lost in his head he didn't realize how long the awkward pause was lasting.

"Um Sam," Paige's voice knocked him out of his thoughts.

"Right," He nodded, rubbing his sweating hands together.

"Paige," He took a deep breath. "Did you say no to marrying Daniel because the archaic institution of marriage disgusts you, or did you say no because you didn't want to spend the rest of your life with him?"

Paige's smile grew bigger at the question. He did understand what she was saying.

"I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with him." She smiled.

"Good." He nodded, making Paige softly giggle. He didn't hide his thoughts, that's for sure.

"Paige may I ask another question?"

"Yes, Sam,"

"Good." He nodded. This was it, the big question. If he could survive 54 days in Antarctica, he could survive this.

"Paige, would you say yes to marrying someone if you wanted to spend the rest of your life with that person"

"Yes Sam," she nodded with tears in her eyes. "If the right person asked me, I would definitely say yes"

"Paige," he didn't form the statement as a question this time, the one time she was hoping for a question.

"Yes, Sam?" She asked with a very anxious tone, tears threatening to fall down either way this went.

Once again he looked at the ground, furiously picking at a loose stand in the flannel sleeve. She debated whether to say something this time, she could tell he was thinking very hard about something and she didn't want to throw him off. Finally, he looked up once again with the lightest hint of wet pupils.

"....I'm the right person" He said with a very matter of fact tone. He didn't ask, he spoke it as if it was the truest fact in the whole world. He was never absolutely sure of anything, but this one exception.

Paige couldn't hold it any longer, happy tears dripped her face. To her surprise Sam was holding his hands out for her to take. The one other time this happened their love story was ending. She had said that day that maybe someday, they would pick up where they left off. And that day was here.

She gently placed her hands in Sam's as closed his fingers so they intertwined with hers. She looked at him with the same look of love she had when they parted.

"I think you're the right person too," She answered him with a tear filled smile.

To her delight his face lit up with overwhelming happiness, something very rare for him. Even better, he pulled her up out of her seat with his hands still holding hers and kissed her.

It was very softly at first like she was accustomed to given his apprehension with displays of affection, but to her continual shock that evening she suddenly felt his lips press harder against hers, the hardest they'd ever been in fact.

The surprises continued when his mouth ever so slightly, and his tongue traced the very littlest bit of the inside of her lip.

She went as slow as she could, following his lead. She absolutely did not want to ruin this for either of them, and she knew what a huge and probably terrifying event this was for him.

Sam slipped his tongue into Paige's mouth little bit by bit, as slow as Edison's movements. But as he felt the roof of her mouth against his tongue, he began to panic at the thought of the germs they were trading right now. His instincts wanted to abruptly push her away from him, but he couldn't do that to Paige.

Instead he removed his tongue and his mouth away from her, quickly but as gently as his neurosis would allow. To his relief, Paige was smiling from the encounter.

"Wow, Sam that was--" She tried to find the words. That kiss they had just shared was even more intimate than any time they made love.

"That was amazing,"

"I practiced that from a video I saw on YouTube," He smiled proudly. "And Zahid,"

"Zahid?!" Paige almost laughed at his last statement. "You practiced kissing on Zahid?"

"What?! No?" Sam made a disgusted face. "I'm not Casey, or Magic and Sphen,"

"Who are Magic and Sphen?" Paige asked curiously.

"Gay penguins," Sam informed her.

"Of course," she shook her head with a soft laugh. She had missed his affection for penguins.

"Anyway Zahid just showed me how, with his girlfriend Honey," Sam continued.

"You know we don't have to talk about how you learned it, Sam," She laughed awkwardly. "I'm just curious, did you--- did you practice that for girls in general, or me?"

"You, of course," Sam replied in an obvious tone.

"I've never wanted any other girl's germs in my mouth, but for you I wanted to make an exception. I read that physical affection is important in a relationship, and if we're going to be in one for the rest of our lives I thought I should learn more,"

"Oh that's so sweet!" Paige grinned.

"Yes, I know." Sam nodded proudly once more. "If we both brush our teeth profusely and use the strong mouthwash we can try it again,"

"Oh, well that should be--" Paige started to respond but Sam was busy opening the backpack he brought everywhere.

He soon pulled out two toothbrushes still in the package along with unopened bottles of mouthwash and toothpaste.

"Oh you meant right now," Paige laughed in amusement.

"Of course right now, we're going to be together for a long time, we should start practicing now," He shook his head in an obvious manner.

"Sound logic," She agreed.

"Wait, I almost forgot something Paige," He went back into his backpack. He was so focused on getting through the proposal he forgot the best part.

"Oh?" She tried looking where he was rummaging.

"Yes," he finally pulled out a sparkling rock from the backpack and stood up.

"This is a rock from Stumpy's tank. I work there now. Not in her tank, but the aquarium." He explained.

"Oh thats--"

"Paige, can you wait to ask questions until I finish my story?" He mimicked her question to him like a parrot.

"I--" Paige started to correct him by saying she was making a comment not asking a question, but she thought better of it. "Yes Sam,"

"Good," he shook his head in approval.

"Like I was saying, this is a rock from Stumpy's tank. I made sure it was one none of the penguins would miss, but was also very shiny and pretty." He explained as he presented the rock. She just nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"When a male penguin wants to mate with a female penguin, he searches and searches for the perfect pebble to present the female. I didn't have time to find the "perfect' one, and its not a pebble its a rock--," Sam noticed Paige's start to make the face she'd make when he was over informing her.

"Anyway," He dismissed the rest of his penguins fact buzzing in his head. He was already on the ground when he pulled out the toothbrushes and the rock, but he knew there was a specific way you had to be on the ground to ask this question.

He moved one leg so he was kneeling on one knee. He presented the rock more towards Paige, who was crying once again. Sam had to remind himself that people cried when they were happy as well as being sad, especially females. So he didn't have to worry if she was sad.

"Would you accept this rock?" He asked nervously.

He didn't know why he was nervous she had already said she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but this gesture meant even more to him, given that penguins were his favorite thing. Next to Paige.

"Of course I will Sam," she nodded happily as she took the rock from him.

"Oh also," He pulled a small diamond ring from his pants pocket and held it out to her.

"My mom said its better to give a girl this so they can wear it, but diamonds aren't a rock," He laughed to himself like it was the craziest thing in the world to give a girl a silly mineral opposed to a sturdy rock.

"Oh my god," Paige softly whispered as he slipped the ring on her finger.

He had told his mother he was going to ask her to marry him. He had planned this ahead of time, even though he had no idea what she would say. He loved her so much, and she truly loved him as much in return.

Finally done with everything he had planned to do, Sam got back up off his knees and gave Paige a small peck on the lips.

"I love you, Paige," He smiled.

He had practiced saying those words longer than he had practiced kissing. He started saying it in the mirror at first, then saying it to his mom, then his dad, then Casey.

He had always felt the emotion for them, he just never felt the need to announce it. But he knew it was important to hear for neurotypicals, especially Paige.

When he had said he was in love with her before the lock in, she had needed several minutes to process it. He hoped she wouldn't need minutes processing this, he wanted to practice kissing again.

To his relief she only took about 30 seconds to accept that she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, he had actually said the words out loud to her for the very first time.

"I love you too, Sam," She kept crying from happiness as he gently kissed her once again.

And they did indeed spend the rest of their lives together, just like penguins.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

I am a 12 year old boy, and christian. But lately I've been pretending that i'm a girl, and whenever my parents leave, i put a blanket around my legs and pretend it's like a princess dress. Are these habits normal? I personally don't believe that boys wearing dresses is a sin or anything, but I don't even know if I'm right about that

Hello, buddy!

I’m very sorry that this took so long. Please know that I was not trying to ignore you at all. I have been thinking of the best mature answer to give you. I wanted to take the time to carefully evaluate my words and string them together comfortably. This post was revised a few times due to my opinion being expressed rather than the opposite. What was asked of me was if this was a normal behavior, not my opinion. For this post, I strive to only share logical evaluations and concepts before arriving to a conclusion.

(There will be articles and research data referenced as well, but I’ll put a hyperlink in it as a source and reference it at the end).

I think that what should matter is that what feels the best to you. What matters is how you feel in your heart and mind. If that is what feels comfortable to you, then that is what works best for you. Viewing this as an anthropologist, clothes are not defined with a binary—humans define it by a binary. Meaning that when clothes are made, there isn’t a strict rule as to who and what should wear it. A dress doesn’t come with instructions saying, “dresses are for girls/women only.” Humans, the cultural and social norms that they were raised in, advertise articles of clothing as a norm. In short: yes! It’s becoming normal, especially now (Ipsos 2019, #3-6). Even back when Christianity was just beginning, many wore animal skins, tunics, wool, and a special unisex skirt called a “stola” or similar to. (Wikipedia 2020).

I’ve shared a long time ago that there are at least 52--and counting--genders in the world and 6 different types of biological sex that a person can have (Joshua Kennon 2018). There is no reason, or excuse, to have clothes catered to only two options. We, as a society, hear more about people of multiple genders use clothing as a form of expression. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It seems weird now because we’re becoming, what you youngings say, “woke.” There is nothing wrong with a person who identifies as a male and wears a skirt. Nor is there anything wrong with a person who identifies as a female and wears bow ties. (Weak example, I know, but it’s the most “male” item I can think of for Western Culture). Normalizing a binary as a “non binary” is a bit odd for a hardcore culture to understand, but overtime it can be taught and woven into cultural morals later on.

Here’s an example:

One thing that came to mind while writing this was Schitt’s Creek star, Daniel Levy. In the show, he played a role (David Rose) where his character wore skirts and skorts as a norm. The character also wore a skirt equivalent to his wedding when he wedded his husband.

Recently, the show’s actor and creator wore a skirt while receiving his nineth Emmy award in 2020 (Fernandez, 2020).

I’ve been trying to find my notes and PDF files shared through previous anthropological courses through each semester to share. I don’t want to make any claims without sharing proof... plus it gives you something to read if you’re interested in it. However, in ever class I’ve attended and talked with professionals of specific archaeological and cultural fields, the use of gendered clothing appears to be traced back to when humans began agricultural societies. Agricultural (also referred to as “agrarian” society anthropologically) societies were really the start of just about everything, like governmenting officials, farming, the concepts of relatives and families, gender specific roles (like taking care of kids and gender specific jobs) in a defined group, and religion.

Anthropologist Joanne Eicher studies humans in the now, the contemporary. What she loves to view is cultural standards art, humanities, and the way that people dress as well. She brushes up on this in her published work called “The Anthropology of Dress” from the late 2000s. Give it a read if you’re interested, we can talk further about it if you have questions.

In short, if you really were asking for my opinion about it it’s okay for males to wear skirts, then my answer will be “yes.” I think that it’s perfectly okay and cool beans for males to wear a skirt. I also think that it’s perfectly okay for females to wear male clothing, like suits/tuxedos that give off an alpha vibe and sports gear.

Onto the second portion of your question:

Tackling the first section, “I am a 12 year old boy, and christian. But lately I've been pretending that i'm a girl...” Are you asking me if it’s normal for someone your age to pretend to be a girl?

If you’re asking me if it’s normal for kids in your age group to portray themselves as a different gender, then yes in some cases. It is normal, it’s just deemed as a surreal topic to hear it in public. It is perfectly normal to question the portrayal of yourself, and it’s perfectly okay to explore other possibilities (Mascareille, 2015).

As stated before, what should matter here is what you think and feel is right in your heart/mind. No one can tell you what you can and can’t be. I can’t tell you who and what you should be in life, that’s all up to you. I can’t force you to become something that you’re nots only You know what’s best for you in your heart and mind. What helps is to have that conversation with yourself. Ask yourself who you are and what you strive to be. This is an important part of life—you get to invent the person that you want to be. And the glorious thing about this development is that this is the perfect time where you’re open to all possibilities and emerging into a culture/society where we ask questions. It’s okay to ask questions and try new things (Early Childhood National Centers, n.d).

I’m going to leave two links down below to a couple website that you can read more about. I do not mean to leave you on a short note here and shrug you off. What I’m leaving you with are some other source materials that you are welcomed to brush up on as well. I am very honored that you trust me enough to have this conversation, but I can only provide so much. This means that I can provide you with much information as I can on this topic, but I don’t know what it means to you in your heart and soul. You know better than I do.

KidsHealth.org by Nemours

Human Rights Campaign—Tools for Equality and Inclusion

There is nothing wrong with you at all. None whatsoever. And if you have any questions, or just need someone to talk to about it, you’re always welcomed here. I’ll provide you with the recourses that you need in order to be successful. Stay safe and remember that you’re worthy and matter. I hope that this answers your question, buddy!✨

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 91

Chapter Summary -  Tom returns home and talks to Danielle, they speak about plans and have a small celebration of their recent achievements, which develops into a better celebration when she tells him something more.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog​​ @jessibelle-nerdy-mum​​ @nonsensicalobsessions​​ @damalseer​​ @hiddlesbitch1​​ @winterisakiller​​ @fairlightswiftly​​ @salempoe​​​ @wolfsmom1​​​

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

Tom walked into the house, the takeaway in hand when a fresh fluff ball of downy hair confirming to him that Mac was indeed back. He walked into the kitchen and put the food on the counter. There was no sign of Danielle, but her phone was on the counter, telling him that she was somewhere within the house. Walking into the sitting room, he smiled as he saw the top of her head beside the sofa, indicating that she was sitting on the floor, the reason for which being Mac had his head on her lap.

"Hey," He smiled, to get her attention. Mac looked at him and wagged his tail, but he did not move. "Elle? Are you alright?"

She turned and gave him a little smile which indicated how worn out she was. "Yeah, hey; sorry, I am just exhausted from everything. I decided I needed some cuddles."

"Overgrown fuzzballs are great for that I hear." He sat next to her on the ground. As Danielle leant her head into his shoulder, Mac shimmied his body across Danielle so his chest was on her legs and his head had made it onto Tom's lap, causing both of them to laugh slightly. "Hey buddy, I missed you." He scratched Mac's ear as the dog groaned contently. "I have dinner."

"Just another minute, please." Danielle pleaded, looking at how content Mac was as they sat there.

"Whenever suits you love." Tom kissed her head. "So, can I ask?"

"His name is Lucas Waters, he's an Ozzie in Hollywood, he is in charge of Legendary's behind the scenes stuff, I tore his work asunder and now he wants me to help rebuild it all from scratch, bigger and better." She explained.

"And you can do that from here mostly?"

"Yes, apparently. Since it is theoretical, but I will need to go to meetings and such in LA. He offered to get me an apartment there and stay there for the few months as part of the deal, but I declined when I figured out that I could do most away from the studio."

"Why?"

"Because you said, for the most part, you are taking it easier this year, because I do not want to live in the US and because I just don't want to. I just didn't get the excited buzz in my stomach that I got when I decided I wanted to come to England, when I decided to be a paramedic, then changed studying for this, when I chose the house in Suffolk, when I thought about you, when I think about us, even the day I decided I would keep Mac, I felt this sensation that made me think 'yes, this is good for me'. I didn't get it today when he mentioned that, I felt as though little warning sirens were going off in my head. It's not for me. Visits yes, even a working contract, fine, but no. I am not going there unnecessarily. It doesn't feel right."

"So this is not to do with me?"

"A little, I don't want to be away from you for a non-reason. We will be apart because of contracts, this month we are going to be across the world from one another, but I am okay with it because it will end and we are both doing what we love. If you said to me that you were not working but you were going to stay in the US for a month for no reason, I would feel terrible."

"I could go with you?"

"Do you want to?" She looked at him, his eyes told her that no, not particularly. "Neither do I. I want to be here, in our home, sitting on the hard-ass floor even though there is a perfectly soft couch behind us with our dog, talking about takeaway."

"Our dog?"

"Well, he seems to have decided you are as much his owner as I am. He came in and looked for you and gave the most indignant bark when you did not appear." Danielle informed him. "Look at him now, he is on your lap for scratches, not mine."

"He is across you, technically." Tom pointed out. "How are you after the park?"

"Weirded out in a little way, I mean, that guy took the time to realise that Mac was the dog you were there with, that's a bit creepy. Also, I think people will figure out I am the same girl that went to dinner with you and Diana months ago, I mean, my hair is longer and it was tied back and I had make-up on because I was at lunch talking with Lucas earlier and only changed my clothes, but they'll realise."

"Luke is on it," Tom consoled. "He will inform us of anything." He gently coaxed Mac off his lap, the dog getting up to see what he was doing. "Bed." He ordered, Mac obeyed immediately "Good boy." He held his hand out to help Danielle up. "We'll get some dinner, come on."

"Sophie texted earlier." She informed him as she brushed off the clusters of dog hair from her jeans. "She is getting the same twinges she got before Kit."

"Labour?"

"Not yet, but she thinks it will be within the week."

"That's good. All excitement there so." Tom smiled as he washed his hands. "I might get to see the baby before I go."

"Yeah, that's what Ben is hoping. He thinks it is another boy, apparently, Sophie is identical to last time. His parents say a girl." She smiled brightly. "I am so excited for them."

"Yes, Ben always wanted kids so this is great for him." Tom started portioning out the food. "How many outfits have you bought now?" Danielle looked at him with an attempt of innocence. "That many?"

"I love babies, I have no siblings I can spoil the kids of, Sophie will have to accept it."

"You don’t even know what they are having." Tom laughed.

"I know, so I bought both, someone I know will have the opposite gender in the future, it is mathematically impossible for them not to."

"I'll say nothing, maths was never my strong point." Tom grinned, taking out some wine from the fridge. Danielle eyed it. "No, tonight, we are celebrating. The movie is getting good reviews for the most part and you are after getting an incredible opportunity, and you passed your exams, so we need to celebrate, a bottle will do us no harm."

"We are going to regret this." She forewarned, "Wait and see, I will have a sore head tomorrow." she walked over to the cabinet and took out two wine glasses. Tom chuckled as he opened the bottle.

The dinner was pleasant and quiet, though both Danielle and Tom felt the wine take effect before they finished the bottle.

"It's strong," Danielle commented, looking at the percentage on the side. "It looks expensive."

"About seventy pounds."

"Tom!"

"What, it's nice for special occasions." He brought his plate to the sink and rinsed off the food. "Besides, it is not like we are drinking it like two teenagers trying to get drunk as fast as possible, we had a glass and a half each, and we are not drunk."

"No, but I am starting to be unable to feel my lips, meaning it is having an effect." Danielle scoffed as she did the same with her plate. When she was done, Tom snaked his arms around her, kissing her neck as he did so. "I went to the doctor this afternoon, to see why my bar was not working."

"And?"

"Apparently it can happen when the bar is changed, it is usually nothing to worry about. If it happens again next month, go back."

"Is it safe for us to…"

"Yes, apparently."

"You seem sceptical."

"I won't be happy until I make sure I am not bleeding."

"So..."

"I bought some condoms on the way home. I hate them, but better to be safe."

"I know." Tom agreed, "I am away for a few weeks, so we won't get to use them too often, and when I get back, you should be safe again."

"Exactly." She turned and kissed him. "And…"

"Yes?"

"I am done."

"Please tell me this is you saying we can use one of the said condoms."

"Yep."

Tom's response was to hoist her up onto the countertop and kissed her passionately. "I want you so badly, but after everything, I need to wait until I get you upstairs." He gently placed her on the ground and took her hand to lead her upstairs, but she pulled her hand from his.

"Let Mac out to the bathroom and bring him in again," She instructed. "I'll see you in a moment." She turned and walked out the kitchen door.

For a moment Tom felt as though he should be indignant, but his mind quickly came to the conclusion there was a reason she had asked for a moment, so he gave a small whistle and called Mac.

After he had the dog settled again after his bathroom break, Tom rushed up the stairs, noting that the bedside lamp was all that was on in their bedroom and the door was slightly ajar. Knocking before he entered, he waited for Danielle to respond. When she gave a reply to enter, he did so, looking around and seeing that she was in the ensuite. Swiftly he removed his shirt and undid his pants before taking them off and throwing them onto a chair, noting that yes, she had bought condoms and placed them on his side of the bed and had even opened the packet and taken one out. He smiled, knowing from years long passed that his attempts with another girl in his youth meant he spent too long trying to open the pack when his mind and blood flow were on other matters. Already his boxers were telling of a bulge as he thought of finally getting to be with her again after two weeks and knowing they would soon be separated for longer. He lay back on the bed and waited. Only a moment later, Danielle stepped out of the bathroom, and the semi-hardened appendage within his boxers filled entirely, his mouth falling open. "When…"

"Today," she replied, her meekness subsiding as she felt herself becoming confident due to his reaction.

The tip of Tom's tongue peeked out from between his lips subconsciously as he eyed the black lace underwear Danielle was donning. It was not a set that could be accused of being for sex alone, it covered her breasts and ass in a manner that suggested functionality also, but it was perfectly fitted over her breasts, hugging gently in on them while also showing the curve of her ass. "You are to go around this house wearing only them, forever." He demanded, his eyes still wide.

Danielle giggled at the request. "So, nice?"

"No, not nice, fucking divine." He rose from the bed and rushed over to her, hating how long it was taking for her to come over, immediately his hands went to her breasts as he kissed her passionately. "Bed, now."

"What about delayed gratification?" Danielle joked as she sat back on the bed.

"Not tonight, definitely not tonight." Tom insisted.

[daleisgreat]

WrestleMania 35

As of this writing, WrestleMania 36 is set to air in two days, and due to the fallout from the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, will be airing taped from an empty arena a couple weeks prior, and over two nights. I have been advocating for two night ‘Manias since the WWE Network era of PPVs have caused WrestleManias having bloated cards and lasting nearly SEVEN hours when factoring in the pre-show matches. Since it is WrestleMania week, I am here to continue my annual tradition of watching the previous year’s installment on BluRay and break it all down here. I broke up watching the nine-ish hours of BluRay content over a few days, which lead for a more non-overkill experience, and I ended up enjoying the overall show exponentially more this way as you will soon read on. Now even though the BluRay has around nine hours of content on the disc, the cumulative total of content the BluRay unlocked for me was about 12 hours by including a digital copy of not only the PPV, but also a digital only copy of the Hall of Fame ceremony that preceded WrestleMania a couple days prior. For the second straight WrestleMania BluRay, the Hall of Fame is not included on the disc, and is instead replaced with the following night’s RAW in its entirety, which here is just over two hours when taking out all the ad breaks.

The Hall of Fame ceremony this year saw Jerry Lawler replaced as the host with Corey Graves & Renee Young, complete with grimace-caliber jokes of the stereotypical award show variety. The 2019 ceremony also saw a different setup with a ring in the center of the arena where all the speeches were delivered, and while it provided a nice visual, it also made it easier for an overzealous fan to run in and attack cancer and stroke survivor, Bret Hart during his speech. I recall getting the faintest look at the guy before cameras cut away and at first thinking because of the goofy hair that it was Enzo again up to shenanigans a few months after dancing in the front rows of the crowd at Survivor Series, but was then further perplexed to find out minutes later that Enzo and Cass did a worked shoot run-in at the G1 Supercard concurrently taking place. It turned out it was a fan with mental health issues, and obviously WWE cut out the run-in on the final Hall of Fame video cut, and the only thing apparent of something happening is that after a cut to the crowd, Bret Hart’s hair is suddenly tangled up. If you have not witnessed that brazen fan run-in, click or press here for fan-phone footage of proceeding to get pounced by countless wrestlers almost instantly. Bizarre fan attack aside, it was a much brisker ceremony (only three and a half hours!) thanks in part to no Hillbilly Jim speech this year (which was deservingly poked at this year), and a couple inductees not having inductions either, and the ones that did must have had strict time limits because I do not recall an inductor going longer than five minutes. Honkey Tonk Man set the stage with the fun-gimmick from the Rock ‘n Wrestling years, with a groovy entrance and exit, complete by singing his song on the way out and doing a noticeably better performance than Double J the year prior. Torrie Wilson’s speech felt more of a Ted Talk, but still heartwarming and inspirational and I will give her all the benefit of the doubt considering her father and former on-screen talent and Dawn Marie love interest, Al Wilson passed away two days prior. Also pleasant was seeing Stacy Kiebler break her 13-year WWE absence by inducting her.

The legacy class of 2019 had another ten inductees with brief 20-30 second video pieces on each. Most of them are more classic pre-cable TV era wrestlers, but some are more recently noteworthy and remembered like SD Jones, Bruiser Brody and Luna Vachon and in my opinion more deserving of traditional inductions. I hope if WWE keeps this up they will at least have a family member do a separate video induction and include it on their website for a more proper way to remember these legacy stars. The Hart Foundation was the next inductee, with Natalya accepting for her father, The Anvil. Bret and Naddie gave the successful Rock ‘n Wrestling era tag team a fitting induction, filled with classic stories from their days in one of the most successful periods of tag teams in WWE history. Brutus Beefcake gave a surprisingly good speech for his induction, as did the Hulkster for inducting him as he laid out how he broke Brutus into the business. Kind of surprising it happened considering the recent disparaging comments between the two with Brutus’s tell-all biography from a couple years earlier, but maybe it ‘was all a work brother!’ Props to Brutus for giving the Doctors who saved him from his terrible parasailing accident their kudos, and for calling out Shawn Michaels for still owing him for his barbershop window! The Warrior Award went to Sue Ajtheson, a backstage WWE official who is largely responsible for their Make-a-Wish efforts. Dana Warrior and John Cena gave heartfelt, genuine inductions for her, and Sue was a gem enlightening us about her philanthropic accomplishments.

Harlem Heat got inducted next, and after Booker T gave his brother Stevie Ray an outstanding tribute, it was then time for Stevie Ray sharing several stories of the trials of Harlem Heat breaking in before they finally found success in WCW. D-Generation X headlined the Hall of Fame, and as expected it was lengthy with X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Shawn Michaels and Triple H all giving speeches. They unleashed some vintage DX humor to start off with. Other highlights include giving Chyna her proper acknowledgement, Billy Gunn getting razzed for being with the new competition in AEW, X-Pac getting super jittery in his sea of notes and all of them busting out Super Soakers and dousing their colleagues in the crowd, especially Baron Corbin. Now onto the 16 match WrestleMania 35 card (guys….I am sorry, thank you so much for sticking with me!). If you have yet to watch WrestleMania 35 then before reading this recap, I recommend breaking it up into a two part watch, and give this strong recommendation of preferred matches for each night to make for a better experience that I guarantee you will not struggle to stay awake through: WrestleMania 35 – Day 1 Watch Order: Tony Nese vs Buddy Murphy, WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar, SmackDown Tag Titles Fatal Four Way, Miz vs. Shane McMahon, Triple H vs. Batista, Elias/John Cena ‘Concert’, Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley, Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan WrestleMania 35 – Day 2 Watch Order: Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs. Revival, Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton, Women’s Tag Titles Fatal Four Way, Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre, Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin, Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch Four of those matches were on the pre-show and are included on the BluRay as extras. In a rare move, WWE had the local have a feel good moment with Tony Nese winning the Cruiserweight Title from Buddy Murphy in a nice hybrid of strong style and high-flying that got the crowd hot by the end. In the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, Carmella played the surprise last second sneak-in card to eliminate Sarah Logan and win the ‘prestigious’ hip/leg trophy. In a surprising second feel good hometown hero story, Curt Hawkins snapped his 269 match losing streak when him and his fellow bro-ski, Zack Ryder won the RAW tag titles from The Revival when Hawkins got the surprise inside cradle for the electric pop! In the final pre-show match, Braun Strowman won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by eliminating celebrity entrants, SNL’s Colin Jost & Michael Che. A lot of hype on RAW built up the SNL stars, but the two hid under the ring until the end of the match in their failed efforts to surprise eliminate Braun.

In the official WrestleMania opener, Seth Rollins won the Universal Title from Brock Lesnar. Their follow-up match at SummerSlam is leagues better, because all there is to this is Brock getting an early attack on Seth and brutalizing him outside the ring for a few minutes, and then only a couple minutes into the actual match Seth low blows Brock and hits a few stomps for the victory. Last few years something about Randy Orton has made his stock rise higher for me. I appreciate his ring IQ and psychology that allows matches to breathe, and Orton’s skills blended perfectly with AJ Styles with some convincing sequences before Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm for the win. The first of two four way tag title matches occurred next with the Usos, The Bar, Rusev & Shinske Nakamura and Aleistar Black & Ricochet vying for the SmackDown straps. All four teams brought it, and did not appear they were there for an easy payday with the creative spots they unleashed with an innovative tower of doom spot and Cesaro’s countless swings to the crowd’s approval until the Usos hit their double top turnbuckle splash on Sheamus for the W. I loved the buildup for The Miz and Shane McMahon’s Falls Count Anywhere match. Miz gradually won over Shane’s trust all in the name to win his dad’s precious approval, only to then see Shane turn on Miz and attack Miz’s dad! I was not disappointed with how they got Miz’s dad involved in the match with Shane shaming Miz’s dad’s ability to fight. The two had a pretty solid brawl all over the arena that ultimately saw Miz deliver a suplex from the tech area scaffolding onto a crash pad, but saw Shane conveniently laid out barely over Miz to nudge out a three count for the fluke upset. The newly established Women’s tag titles were on the line with Sasha Banks & Bayley defending against the Iconics, Nia Jax & Tamina and Natalya & Beth Phoenix. A lot of controversy was reported on the champs throwing a tantrum backstage hearing they were losing the titles, which happened when Billie Kay stole a pin with a blind tag on Beth Phoenix after she hit a top rope Glam Slam. Minus a handful of moments, Sasha and Bayley’s main roster runs have been beyond disastrous compared to their rise up the ranks in NXT.

‘KofiMania’ emerged when Kofi Kingston vanquished that vile do-gooder, Daniel Bryan to become the first full blooded African American to win the WWE title in its near 60 year history. There were a couple of extended hold sequences in the front half that overstayed their welcome, but the back half amped up big time with some creative reversals, near-falls and clever use of the New Day and Erik Rowan on the outside. I was just as happy as the WWE locker room shown celebrating for Kofi after he hit the Trouble in Paradise to win the championship. He had a killer half year run as champ….until Brock Lesnar waffled him in seven seconds for the gold and Kofi immediately went right back to the midcard in his happy-go-lucky pancake thrower days of yore and acted like his championship run never happened. Samoa Joe finally got his overdue WrestleMania debut match against a recently returned Rey Mysterio. I presumed the two had an epic match lined up, but Rey got hurt the RAW before and was only capable of performing for about a minute before Joe locked in his trademark Kokina Clutch for the submission victory. Roman Reigns was up next in his first singles match coming back after overcoming a second bout of Leukemia for the heartwarming win against Drew McIntyre. I recall dreading the buildup for this because Drew had a variety of ‘you may have conquered cancer…’ type promos and hyped himself up as deadlier than cancer, when naturally everyone knew Roman was going to win, and that is exactly what we got in a formula Roman match. The read in the ardent fan crowd throughout the match was readily apparent, they were no longer booing Roman out of the building like they normally would, because what kind of person can boo a cancer survivor (please do not answer that)? However, there was no overwhelming crowd going wild reaction either, but more of a tempered, altruistic applause instead. That has primarily been Roman’s reception for coming back since, and that is kind of how I feel too.

Elias performed a one man ‘concert’ next complete with other hologram Elias projections playing in conjunction with him until John Cena interrupted. John came out in throwback Dr. Thugganomics form and laid down some rhymes before hitting a F-U to the crowd’s approval. The presumption going in by most was that Undertaker would make his requisite WrestleMania appearance here, but 2019 marked the first time since 2000 that Undertaker did not appear or wrestle in any form on a WrestleMania. Strangely enough, Undertaker did interrupt another Elias performance the next day on RAW. Triple H and Batista squared off in a No Holds Barred brawl next, and I recall being burnt out by this point in the card and nodding off throughout it. Match held up incredibly better on second viewing with the two busting out a wide variety of weaponry in too many gruesome spots to dissect, other than that grotesque nose ring spot that reverberated throughout everyone in the crowd. The finish saw Triple H hitting probably the slickest looking sledgehammer shot ever with some added trajectory by leaping off the stairs, and following it up with the Pedigree for the pin. Kurt Angle hit the end of the line in a few months of ‘farewell tour’ matches against Baron Corbin here. I was worried for Angle as his previous few matches saw him struggling to go through the motions, but a few weeks of added rest benefitted him here with him looking remarkably better and capable of several of his vintage suplexes and throws, and even busting out an impressive moonsault….that missed and lead him walking into an End of Days that netted Corbin the pinfall. Finn Balor faced Bobby Lashley in the penultimate match of the night, and the two delivered a short, but high energy match to help inject some energy into the understandably deflated crown by this point. Balor hit his Coup de Gras for the pin.

The 16th and final match of the night saw the women headline WrestleMania for the first time ever with the Women’s titles for both RAW and SmackDown on the line in a triple threat between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. All three laid it in strong style in easily one of the hardest hitting women matches I have ever seen. All three were decorated with battle scars, especially Ronda’s leg! However, one significant botch tarnished the match, and unfortunately it happened right at the finish when Lynch countered Rousey’s Piper’s Pit slam with a crucifix for the pin. Rousey inadvertently popped her shoulder up during the pin, and the ref did not restart his count and continued with the controversial three count. Even the announcers did not turn a blind eye to it and questioned the ref’s call, and it turned out the ref was later fined for blowing the call. I am not going to recap the following night’s RAW, but I did watch it and will give a couple key takeaways since the RAW after WrestleManias are notorious for returns, and unpredictable fan reactions suffering from wrestling burnout. Rollins and Kofi teased a winner takes all title match, but it quickly morphed into a tag match after The Bar interfered to the crowd’s rightful disgust! The controversial Lars Sullivan debuted on the main roster, Sami Zayn returned and turned heel after nearly a year away from double rotator cuff surgery. Dana Brooke and Mojo Rawley both deliver bizarre backstage promos. There was the aforementioned Undertaker attack on Elias and finally Dean Ambrose’s final televised WWE match that did not officially get started because he brawled outside the ring with Bobby Lashley before getting sent through a table. There is one last BluRay bonus that has footage from after RAW went off the air, where Rollins called out Roman and Dean and brought them to the ring for one last curtain call from The Shield.

That puts a wrap on the yearly monstrous WrestleMania recap. Once again I give my heartfelt gratitude for sticking with me the whole way through this. It was a chore to get through the whole show live in one shot, but it definitely helped spacing it over a few days this second time around. Again, if there is any upside with WWE having to switch up their WrestleMania plans with the global pandemic currently happening, it is that them having WrestleMania transpire over two days will make it vastly more watchable, and decrease the burnout of trying to watch wrestling for seven hours straight. Throw in the wild cards of the empty arena and undisclosed filming locations for the gimmick matches, and well….check back with me here next year to see how it all played out.

Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story For All Mankind Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Hulk Hogans Unreleased Collectors Series Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT: From Secret to Sensation NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Shawn Michaels: My Journey Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania III: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

[salaciouscrumpet]

Whumptober Day 1

Whumptober Day 1: Prompt “Shaky Hands” + Bonus Prompt “Wake Up”

I know, I know, it’s October 4th, and that’s why this prompt fill is almost 4 pages long and I’m putting it out now with only a cursory editing job. I am not cross-posting to AO3 because I’m using my own original characters, from my own original work in progress (an urban fantasy/horror series set in northern Ontario). The prompt fills will all be original content (i.e., will not feature in the actual finished series), so you get to meet the characters and see the world in a non-canon context because ... I’m effectively writing fanfiction of ... my own ... fiction ...?

Content Warning: Reference to past torture; implications of abusive parent/child relationship; self-harm ideation (with no on-page follow-through); some F-bombs

Characters: Luke, Bear (the dog)

There was a warm, heavy weight on his legs when Luke startled back to wakefulness, and for a brief moment the panic from his nightmare bled over into reality and he thought he was still being pinned down. Before he could start fighting off his would-be attacker he heard a low whine and the weight shifted until he was able to discern individual paws. Massive, incredibly heavy paws – but familiar paws, nonetheless. 

Dazedly he threw one hand out from under the quilt until his fingers sank into Bear’s thick fur. The dog shifted again, moving off of Luke’s legs until he was lying on the bed beside him, his great big head on the pillow and a waft of deadly doggy breath right in Luke’s face. As wake-ups went Luke had had better, but he’d definitely had worse, as well, and he suspected Bear was waking him up because the massive Leonberger had heard him having a nightmare. Bear wasn’t, strictly speaking, a service dog, but he was certainly well-attuned to the humans (and cats) in his life, and whatever qualifications or certifications he lacked he made up for in sheer enthusiasm. His presence had pulled Luke back from a panic attack on more than one occasion, and he served to ground Luke now. 

“Hey, buddy,” Luke rasped out, his voice hoarse in a way that suggested he’d probably been crying out in his sleep. Bear licked his arm, his heavy, fluffy tail thudding on the quilt. Luke thought about reminding the dog that he wasn’t supposed to be up on the bed – three people in a king-sized bed was more than enough, especially considering that he and Charlie were both more than six feet tall (Kate was tiny but somehow managed to take up more than her fair share of space). Toss in three cats and a dog that weighed nearly two hundred pounds and things got a little crazy. He kept the thought to himself, however, because Charlie was picking up an emergency shift at the clinic and Kate was out on patrol, and Luke’s heart was still beating far too hard and far too fast for him to be alone in bed. 

He sat up and Bear let him, although he whined a little. Luke didn’t get out of bed, however. Instead, he shifted into a cross-legged position and cradled his head in his hands, working hard to get his breathing under control. It should have been easy: he’d been trained in focus techniques his entire life, it should have been second nature to drum up a simple breathing exercise to calm himself down. 

It wasn’t easy. He didn’t have the nightmare often, but whenever he did have it, it felt like an eternity before he calmed down. 

Of all the horrible things that had happened to him in his life – and the list was long – the thing that led to his worst nightmares was just a blip on the radar, comparatively speaking. Just one moment, out of an entire thirteen-day period, that came back to haunt his dreams. Technically speaking it wasn’t even the worst moment in that thirteen-day period. The worst moment – the most painful moment, the moment he was certain his life was over – was when his captors had used magic against him. The Scions of the Unforgiven didn’t consider blood magic taboo, unlike literally every other magic-user out there. It was perfectly acceptable to them to use their enemy’s blood against them, or to use their own blood to power their spells. It made them powerful and dangerous, and it served to reinforce to everyone else why blood magic was evil. 

As if anyone needed the reminder. 

It would have made sense, then, for Luke’s worst memory to be the moment he felt his own blood ignite in his veins as his captors used their magic to burn him from the inside-out. It was terrifying, and horrible, and he’d never experienced pain so bad before or since. And that loss of sense of self had made the experience worse, because of course the Scions had started with his right hand, his dominant hand, and along with the pain had come the knowledge that this wound could cripple him for life – assuming he even made it out of there – and then what would he do? There were no retired Knights of Oberon. You either died gloriously in battle or … Well, that was it, there really wasn’t an “or.” 

Luke let out a painful, shuddering breath, dropping his hands into his lap. Bear whined again, licking his fingers, forcing a shaky laugh out of Luke. The bedroom was dark, the blackout curtains doing their job, but he knew the shape of his own flesh well enough that he didn’t need light to know what was there. His left hand, now somewhat wet and sticky with dog spittle, a faint smattering of scars over his knuckles. His right hand, the skin silvery and tight, but the muscle and bone underneath perfectly healed: function over form, and thank all the gods that Charlie was as practical as he was talented, because that injury should have crippled Luke. Even the best surgeons in the world wouldn’t have been able to repair that damage – but Charlie, with his healing magic, had done that, and for a man he had barely known as anything more than his best friend’s mopey boyfriend. 

And thinking about Charlie and Kate in relation to his injuries and captivity brought him back to the crux of his nightmare. The moment he’d woken up bound and gagged in a musty old barn he’d known he wasn’t going home again, especially not when he’d realized who his captors were. The Scions hated the Knights; the only reason they’d taken him was so that they could torture him to death in the hopes of gaining information about his own people, or so that they could try and ransom him back to the Knights – and the Knights of Oberon did not negotiate with the Scions of the Unforgiven. The enmity between their two groups went back centuries, and the Knights were proud and firm in their beliefs. Luke had grown up hearing tales about Knights who had gone bravely to their deaths rather than spill their order’s secrets, and that was exactly what he’d expected to happen to him. 

So no, it wasn’t the mutilated horror of his right hand that kept him up at night, and it wasn’t the beatings, or the damage to his feet, or any of the other painful, humiliating indignities his captors had thought to visit upon him. What haunted his memories was the moment one of the Scions had woken him with a bucket of cold water and a folded scrap of paper. The water had been dumped over Luke’s head. He’d woken, sputtering and freezing, to an angry man urging him to “Wake up, you Fae-blooded bastard!” before thrusting the scrap of paper in Luke’s face. 

Luke’s hands had been bound behind his back – this had been before they’d used blood magic on his arm – so the paper had fluttered into his lap, where the freezing, stagnant bucketful of water made it stick to his torn and bloodied jeans. The paper had managed to land face up, and he’d immediately recognized his father’s handwriting. Of course his father had been the one to reply to the Scions’ demands: he’d been the Knight in charge while the regular commander had been away on business. Just one sentence, in Daniel Kandarian’s familiar, spiky script: There is no Knight Lukas Kandarian. 

Not only had his own people – his own family – written him off, but the Knights of Oberon had also stripped him, in absentia, of his title. He was nothing to them. 

More than a decade ago, and he still had nightmares about that fucking note and his father’s handwriting. 

“Shit,” Luke huffed out, noticing the way his hands were shaking. He was supposed to be calm. He was supposed to be strong. He wasn’t supposed to let a decade-old nightmare mess him up like this, especially when he knew how the story ended: after the Knights of Oberon had literally written him off, Kate had done what Kate does best and came after Luke herself, like the crazy badass wrecking ball she was. The Knights hadn’t wanted him but the Alliance was more than thrilled to have him, and Kate had pulled together a team to rescue him, because she wanted him and Kate just saw “impossible” as a challenge. Luke had been saved, Charlie had healed him, and the Scions of the Unforgiven could go fuck themselves and so could the Knights of Oberon. 

The knowledge that he was far happier with his life now than he ever would have been had he stayed with the Order did little to slow his racing heart or make his hands stop shaking. He kept seeing that piece of paper falling into his lap, only in his mind’s eye his father’s dismissal was written over and over again, the words overlapping until the page was completely covered in harsh, jagged lettering. 

He wasn’t going back to sleep, and he knew himself well enough to know that if he got up and wandered the house alone – even with Bear’s steady, good-natured presence by his side – his mind was going to take him someplace dark. There was an old straight razor hidden away in the bathroom that had his name on it, or failing that there were dozens of knives and other sharp things in the house. His skin crawled and his hands shook with the need to do something, anything, to carve out the pain and frustration those six words had burned into his soul years ago. 

But he’d made a promise to Charlie and Kate. 

Scrubbing his scarred hand over his face, Luke leaned over the dog – who immediately tried licking his chin – and snagged his cellphone off the bedside table. Charlie was at work and since he was covering a shift for a sick co-worker there likely wasn’t anyone else who could cover for him if he needed to get away in an emergency. Kate was out patrolling for literal monsters in the woods. Her team needed her. 

But Luke had made a promise. 

Luke pet Bear with one hand while he texted with the other, the texture of the dog’s thick fur soothing to his rattled nerves but not enough to bring him out of his spiralling headspace. 

I need you to come home. 

A few seconds later – not even a full minute – Luke’s phone buzzed in response. He lifted it to his face and saw Kate’s picture pop up on the phone’s screen. He checked, and sure enough there was a text message reply. 

On my way. 

Luke’s shaking hand clenched in Bear’s fur as he let out another ragged exhalation, the phone dropping to land facedown on his lap. He pet the dog with the hand that wasn’t gripping on to Bear like his life depended on it, and used the slow, steady movement to keep himself from going into the bathroom in search of his straight razor. Kate was on her way.

[justanoutlawfic]

The Virgin: Chapt. 2

Summary: The day that changes their lives forever. Lacey has to break the news to both Regina and Robin about her “mistake”.

Also on AO3

They say you never see a broken heart coming. Robin, on the other hand, had been preparing for his for the past 3 weeks.

He knew the odds, both he and Marian did. They had talked over the procedure extensively before they decided to actually go through it. After he was given a clean bill of health, they at first debated if they would ever use the sample. They were lucky enough to have Roland, he was just over a year old when they got the news that the cancer was gone. For the next three years, they were extremely happy. They had each other, their thriving hotel.

 Even so, Robin couldn’t shake this overwhelming need that something was missing. He had only felt that once before, right after they conceived Roland. It was then he had decided to open his own hotel. It’d be under his father’s branch (along with her family being on the board), but it would still be something that he and Marian would run mostly on their own. The Marbella was their second child, they had put so much blood, sweat and tears in it. Now, he felt that again. Roland was getting older, he and Marian were doing very good. So, after his yearly check-up, he had broached the subject with Marian.

 She was skeptical and rightfully so. The procedure had such a slim chance of working and it was his only sample, his last sample. The doctors had encouraged him to give it prior to his chemotherapy and it had been the right choice. After everything was said and done, there was no way they could conceive another child without that sample. Robin pointed out that it was there for a reason. If it didn’t work, then they could discuss other options. There was no harm in trying, right?

 So, Marian had agreed. She scheduled an appointment with Lacey and had done all the right things after. For once, she delegated her duties with the hotel and heavied her assistant’s workload. She went to bed at a reasonable hour and though she already ate healthy, she was even more on top of it. Robin did whatever he could to make it easier on her.

 They didn’t discuss the possible outcomes over those 3 weeks, they had done that enough. Whether it was good or bad, they didn’t bring it up at all. If it weren’t for the little note in both of their calendars to head to Lacey’s office exactly 3 weeks after the insemination, they may not have ever spoken of it at all.

 The morning of the appointment, things went as normal. Robin woke up to the smell of Marian cooking breakfast. He showered and dressed before making his way into the kitchen part of their suite. They had decided to have a suite built onto the hotel for them while it was in construction, so they would be close if there were any issues. It was like a penthouse, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen. Roland found it cool that he got to live in a hotel, just like the character in his favorite books, Eloise at the Plaza.

 “Morning,” he said, kissing the top of Roland’s head before pecking Marian’s lips.

“You’re having breakfast with us this morning, Papa?” Roland asked from his spot at the table.

“That’s right. Your mama and I have an appointment to head to later.”

“I still get to hang out with Grace, right?”

“Of course.”

Marian turned towards the table, two plates in hand. “I’ve got pancakes for my boys.”

“What would we do without you?” Robin wrapped an arm around her. “What do we say to Mama, Roland?”

“Thank you, Mama!”

 Marian grinned and set them down, before giving Robin another kiss. He let it linger for a moment, wanting to savor the happy moment. She stroked his cheek.

 “No matter what the outcome, we’re going to be okay,” she whispered. “No matter what Lacey says.”

“I know,” Robin said, wishing more than anything his heart would let him believe it.

Regina hated Saturdays. During the week, she had work to keep her busy. On the weekends, all she had was her apartment. Sure, she’d grade papers or go to the store, but those were the days she was reminded most that she was alone.

 Luckily, that particular Saturday, she had been invited to join Emma, Neal and Henry at the zoo. If she could count on anything remotely close to family, it’d be those three. She had met Emma when they were 10 years old. Both had grown up in the foster system, having scarily similar stories. Regina had nearly been adopted by a great foster family when she was 5 years old, but then the foster mother passed away and the father couldn’t afford to keep her, no matter how hard he tried. Emma had been passed by when her long term foster family got pregnant with a biological child and his medical bills meant they could only keep one. While Regina had been left on the steps of the fire station, Emma was abandoned on the side of the road.

 They were both headstrong and determined, a combination that might have made them enemies, if they didn’t love each other so much. Together, they stayed in the same group home until they were 16. That was when faux-leather wearing Emma met equally covered in faux-leather Neal Cassidy. Emma snuck out of the room they shared with 2 other girls every night for 6 months, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when she got pregnant. She emancipated herself and Neal got kicked out of his dad’s, the two managing to find housing together by the time Henry was born. Regina became Henry’s godmother and for the past 8 years, that was the closest she had to family.

 As happy as Emma was at 24, it hadn’t always been easy for her. She struggled to keep up with work and had to drop out of high school, just to be able to take care of Henry. Her and Neal’s relationship had been rocky, including a split once both turned 20. They had only gotten back together a year prior, as they had both grown up some and were ready. Henry was a happy and well-adjusted kid, both his parents loved him. It didn’t mean that both clearly hadn’t had their lives derailed.

 Regina had made a vow after she saw firsthand what Emma had been through. She wasn’t going to have sex until marriage. She was going to college, start her career. One day she’d start a family, but not until she was ready.

 She had come close in college. When she met Daniel at freshmen orientation, it almost felt like fate. They dated for 2 years, getting engaged a year in and planned to marry as soon as she got her teaching certificate. He was perfectly fine with waiting, something most guys weren’t. Regina didn’t believe in fairytales, but it certainly felt like she was living in one.

 Her bubble burst a year into the engagement. Daniel had been walking back to his dorm after a night out to buddies and was hit by a driver that didn’t stop at a red light. They never found who it was and Regina was left devastated. If it weren’t for her academic scholarship, she probably would’ve spent every day in bed. Suddenly, her life became more than just proving she wasn’t the poor foster kid. She had to do it for Daniel. He wouldn’t get to live the rest of his life, so she would live hers for him.

 Regina pulled into the parking lot of the zoo and started heading towards the zoo. She hadn’t been feeling well and hadn’t been able to keep anything down for the past couple of days, but a promise was a promise. Besides, getting a glimpse of the Swan-Cassidy family made it worth it.

“Auntie Regina!” Regina smiled as Henry ran towards her, rosy cheeks and hazel eyes.

“Hey sweetie.” She pulled him into her arms and kissed the top of his head. “You ready to see some animals?”

“Yeah, I was reading up about all the different ones they had. I guess one of the pandas just had a baby. Did you know they weighs less than a pound when they’re born?”

“I didn’t know that,” Regina said, allowing him to take her hand and prattle on about all the panda facts he read.

Emma chuckled, ruffling her son’s hair. “You’re going to talk your aunt’s ear off, aren’t you?”

“At least he’s well read. I wonder who he gets that from, because it certainly wasn’t either of you.”

Neal pretended to look offended. “Just for that, I am so not buying you a pretzel.”

Regina laughed, shaking her head. “That’s fine. I haven’t been able to eat for days now.”

Emma studied her face. “You do look a bit pale. If you’re not up to this, we could always come another day.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. I made the mistake of eating from that deli on the corner, that always messes me up. Come on, let’s buy tickets.”

 Regina kept drinking from her water bottle as they made it around the zoo, but that only seemed to make her feel worse. She plastered a smile on her face, not wanting to ruin it for Henry. They spent a lot of time with the pandas and standing in the shade helped, at least a little bit. When they stopped for lunch, she tried to eat a salad. Halfway through the overpriced Cesar, however, she felt sick to her stomach. Regina raced to the bathroom, unaware that Emma was on her tail.

 “Neal can finish up with Henry here, I’m taking you to the doctor,” she said, standing outside the stall.

Regina groaned, wiping her mouth and flushing. “I’m fine, Emma.”

“No, you’re not. Come on, if you’ve been this sick for days, it has to be more than Al’s.”

Regina felt stupid as she sat on the cot in the emergency room, Emma standing beside her. The doctors were running tests, but couldn’t find anything wrong with her. If it truly was food poisoning, it would’ve been gone by then. At most, it was probably just the stomach flu. In which case, she could’ve avoided a trip to the doctor. Even so, Emma wasn’t backing down.

 The doctor that had taken her vitals came back in. “Well, we have your results. You’re not sick, you’re pregnant.”

Regina laughed. “That’s impossible.”

“I’m afraid it’s very possible. We tested both your urine.”

Emma’s eyes widened and a grin spread across her face. “Did you get some, finally?”

Regina rolled her eyes. “No! I’m a virgin.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “A virgin?”

“Yes, I know it’s hard to believe…”

“It’s very hard to believe, given your test.”

“False positives are a thing.”

“Yes, but normally false negatives are more popular.”

Emma held up her hand, interrupting. “Where did you get your degree? The University of Freaking Dumbass? If my best friend says she’s a virgin, then she’s a virgin. Your test must be faulty or something!”

“Our tests are not…”

“Run the test again.”

The doctor rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Fine. She’ll need to pee again.”

 Regina was given a bottle of water and she downed it, peeing in the cup as soon as she was able to. She stayed standing this time, watching the nurse put the strip in herself.

 “Pink means pregnant.” He pulled the strip up from the cup…revealing the pink.

 Regina had always fucking hated pink.

Robin knew his sister very well. After years of watching her battle sobriety and numerous other bad decisions, he could spot her “I fucked up” face from a mile away. She had it on as soon as she walked into her office the morning that his world was turned on its head.

 “It didn’t work,” he said, bluntly. He could feel Marian squeezing his hand and he returned the gesture. “Just say it.”

Lacey slowly sat down behind her desk. “There’s a bit more to it than that.”

Robin’s mind instantly went to the worst. “Did you pick up something else in the tests?”

“No…not that…it’s just…I didn’t inseminate Marian.”

Marian’s grip tightened on her husband’s as she focused in on her sister-in-law. “What? Yes you did, I was there.”

“I put saline in.”

“Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because I accidentally put Robin’s sperm in another patient.”

 Robin had been angry with Lacey in the past. When they were kids and she broke his favorite action figure because she wanted to play surgeon. When they were teenagers and she stole his prom money to go partying with her friends. The time she missed Roland’s first birthday to go on a vacation with a man she had just met.

 Anger wasn’t the right word in this moment. There was shock, of course, but once that settled…he was left with this bubbling feeling in his stomach.

 “How the hell does that happen?” Marian asked, when she realized Robin wasn’t going to.

“I was stressed out, that was the morning after I found out that Adam was cheating on me…”

Robin finally found his words. “Were you drinking?”

“No.”

The look in her eyes said it all. He gritted his teeth. “So, my one and only sample…our only chance at adding to our family…is out in some random woman? Who will probably never even think that it could be mine? If it even worked.”

“Well, actually, we’re lucky in that regard. It did work…and she’s been calling me for the past hour, because she’s unsure of how it could’ve happened. I guess she hasn’t had sex lately.”

 Robin wasn’t sure whether that made things better or worse. It had worked, he was going to be a father…to another woman’s child. Marian still had a grip on his hand, but it wasn’t tight anymore. Despite sitting so close to her, he had never felt so far away.

Regina sat next to Emma, waiting for Dr. French-Gold to come in. This wasn’t possible, it just couldn’t be. There had to be some hormonal reason behind it, maybe she needed to take pills? She was just lucky that the doctor had agreed to see her on such short notice.

 The door opened and Lacey walked in, looking just as stressed as she had the day Regina had met her. Maybe this woman needed a therapist or pills or yoga. She always looked like she was on the brink of tears.

“Doctor, I think there’s something wrong with me. These pregnancy tests keep coming back possible, but it’s just not possible.”

Lacey cleared her throat, leaning against the cabinets. “I’m afraid it is.”

“Excuse me?”

“I…accidentally inseminated you with a man’s sperm.”

 Regina’s heart began beating heavily in her chest. Emma was yelling at the doctor, but she couldn’t make out the words. This wasn’t supposed to happen, no, it was impossible! She had done everything that she had told herself she would. She hadn’t even had sex with the man that she loved with everything in her. She was supposed to wait until marriage. That was the plan, you can’t get pregnant by being abstinent. It’s the one fool proof way. At least that was what every sex ed class she ever had told her.

 Her hand went over her stomach. A life was growing in there. A life she had created with a man she didn’t even know. That sounded so wrong.

 What was she going to do? She lived in a one-bedroom apartment, she got a teacher’s salary. She barely had her life together, how was she supposed to take care of this one?

 Lacey’s words finally broke through. “The father knows what happened, but I haven’t told him your name.”

Regina looked up at her, her eyes wet with tears. “The father?” She whispered.

“He’s here…if you wanted to meet him.”

“No…no. I need…I need to think.”

Lacey nodded, pulling out a pad and scribbling on it. “This is a prescription, for a pill that would terminate the pregnancy. You have no obligation to talk with him. While it is his sperm, it’s your body. Your choice.”

 Abortion. Regina could get an abortion. Years of fighting for the pro-choice movement and suddenly, she was forced to make it herself.

 “Yeah, because that makes it so much easier,” she mumbled, taking the piece of paper away from her.

“If you do choose to carry forward…”

“She won’t be talking to you,” Emma interrupted. “You should lose your license!”

Lacey let out a deep breath, focusing in on Regina. “I am so sorry, Miss Mills. You have no idea.”

“You’re sorry?” Regina felt her blood boil. “You’re sorry?”

“I never meant for this to happen.”

“Well this is going to be real easy for you, isn’t it? You’re not the one that’s fucking pregnant.”

 She walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Leaning up against the wall, she felt her breathing pick up once again, the tears sliding down her face. Emma stepped out of the room, putting a hand on her arm.

“Let’s go back to my place. I asked Neal to take Henry to Cecelia’s. We can talk…”

“I’m sorry, but that’s the last thing I want to do.”

“You can’t do this alone.”

“I just need to think.” She wiped her eyes, trying to will herself to stop crying. “I’ll drop you off at home.”

“If you’re sure.”

 Regina wasn’t sure of anything. She just knew that if she let Emma coddle her, she was going to break. As they walked out of the office, she found herself looking around the waiting room. There were some men sitting there. Some were clearly waiting on the women in their lives, but one could very well be the father of the baby she was carrying.

 The baby she was under no pressure to carry to term, as the doctor told her.

 Regina had always tried to plan for even what couldn’t be. There was no way she ever could’ve done that this time.

[poison-rat]

My Kingdom for a Flower Crown, Chapter 1

Anonymous asked: 2 and 7,+ Egobang? Please and thank you!

2 + 7 = Royal AU + Florist AU (via this)

I love this combo. Shout out to my gf for helping me with ideas on the drive. I already have a second chapter written so this will actually be updated soon.

♡♡♡

The prince watched as his sister was given a woven crown of daisies and soft green limbs cut from a young tree. The child that handed it over was more than ecstatic to place it atop the princess's head. The child and her companions squealed with delight as it fit perfectly. His sister began complimenting their work and admiring their cute outfits. It was with that the prince took his leave to go back inside.

It wasn't that he was jealous, per se, but he didn't enjoy being left out. He sat just inside a bit, watching and wondering if anyone would call him back. They didn't even notice. He sighed and adjusted his boots where they had begun to slip. It was not uncommon for visitors to claim to be here for both royal children and really only be here for the princess. He was the younger sibling. He was not in line for the throne here. He would most likely never ascend the throne unless his sister went elsewhere, which in itself seemed unlikely as she was adored, so why pay any mind to the second sibling? He turned away from the front door once again with his guard on his heels.

The princess sat with the children for awhile, listening to them talk about whatever was on their minds, until she finally noticed her brother's absence. "Daniel?" She glanced around the courtyard, hoping to see the mass of curls bobbing among the soldiers as usual. She saw none. Pursing her lips, she apologised to the children as she stood and went back inside. "Where has he gone?"

The doors remained open but the children knew better than to follow. They simply watched from the stairs the princess's beautiful gown swishing across the carpet. Finally they turned and linked hands to go back into the town outside of the gates.

The princess huffed as she saw no sign of her brother right away and asked a butler as she passed him if he had seen him. He pointed her towards the main hall before wishing her well and continuing his tasks. She thanked him quietly, almost a second thought to do so.

She followed his lead and found her brother sitting at the large feast table, eating the lunch they had abandoned when told they had visitors. Or, well, that Dana had visitors.

"What are you doing back here already?"

Daniel watched her step up the stairs and move around the table. "Finally done with your little buddies?" He chewed his piece of chicken, sulking behind his following glass of water. He avoided her gaze.

"Not quite, but I noticed you weren't there. Is something the matter?" She sat beside him, holding her arms up for the maid to place a cloth across her lap. "They did come to visit the both of us, you know."

"No, they came to visit you. They looked confused I was there." His sister placed her hand on his, making him pause. Finally, he looked at her. Dana could see something behind his eyes, but he looked away before she could decide what it was. He shook his head and resumed eating, saying, "Forget it, sister," between bites.

Dana watched her brother for a moment more before nodding and turning back to her food. They sat in quiet, Daniel eventually waving a lute player to fill the room. The princess tried to initiate a few small conversations about his studies with the soldiers or his academics. She knew he struggled with some subjects she excelled in and thought if she could get the conversation to such a point, she could offer to tutor him. He did not seem to want to say much more than a sentence or two and Dana eventually dropped it.

The prince finished first and excused himself to go for a walk. He thanked the lute player but asked him to remain for his sister, left his things for the staff to clean up, and trudged down the hall. Dana watched as his guard followed swiftly and her brother turned down a corner, out of her sight. She returned to her own meal with the lute player orchestrating her quiet thoughts.

---

"Brian, why do they like Dana so much more?" he asked as he slowed his pace. He knew Dana couldn't see him now and wasn't worried she would come after him. He smashed down a small bump in the hall carpet, chasing it down a few feet before it finally vanished to the edge.

"Who exactly are you referring to, sir?" His guard watched carefully to ensure Daniel didn't fall. He had a tendency to trip, as he typically walked with the legs of a new deer. "Those children who met you and Princess Dana?"

"Yeah. And everyone else. No one wants to see me. Or if they do they're... guided into being interested in me." His slow pace halted. Brian watched as Daniel looked to the tapestries bearing the family sigil. The young prince was silent before turning on his heel to go another way. "I want a fucking flower crown." Daniel wove through halls with determination to find the special gardens.

"Sir? Why do you-"

"Because I want one, Brian! It can't be that hard to make a flower crown." He found the heavy door that led into the gardens and pushed it open. Brian helped him push it the rest of the way. He made his way past the main garden, past the hedge maze, and to the rose bushes on the outskirts.

The pink rose bushes had been planted to celebrate Dana's birth and were large and beautiful by this point in time. When Daniel had been born, they had chosen a lavender one instead. While it showed love from his parents, the size of the bushes were fairly smaller. Perhaps it was due to the gap in years, but Daniel had begun to think even the gardeners favored his sister.

The prince looked around the bush for a good pink flower to rip off. Brian could see the anger rising in his eyes at the sight and began, "Sir, might I suggest-"

"No! I'm going to use these and I'm gonna... I don't know. Make a great crown, I guess." He huffed as he found his target. Daniel scowled and shoved his hand into the bush, only to jolt back and screech in pain. "Ffff-Fuck!" He looked at the multitude of tiny cuts on his palm and the back of his hand. He then heard the laughter from his guard. "Brian!!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but you know roses have thorns." He held his stomach the more he laughed. "Shall I go fetch a medic?"

"Yes! Go! God, damn it all." He looked at his hand a moment before he watched Brian leave. He looked back at the bush. The green beast hulked over him like a mountain despite his own great height, mocking him almost.

With the slight stinging of his wounds, Daniel felt his anger dissipate. He found a bench and took a seat. "Stupid roses... Stupid Dana... Stupid... me." He hunched over without any fear of anyone reprimanding him on his posture. Daniel was allowed to wallow now in his thoughts, in his shame, in everything plaguing him.

Suddenly there was a rustle of the bush behind him. The prince leapt up and turned to look at the plant. "Who's there?" He ignored his hand a moment to draw the small dagger from his boot. Briefly, he wondered why he didn't use said blade on the rose bushes. More movement drew his mind back to the matter at hand. "Show yourself or I'll be forced to attack!"

From within the bush, a head slowly popped up. Brunet, with a streak of blond on one side. Dark eyes gazed at the prince. The intruder stood slowly, gloved hands up to show he was unarmed at the moment. He wore slightly dusty clothes with an apron with deep pockets. A print of a rose adorned the apron. "I'll leave. Don't attack."

Daniel studied the young man. "Who... are you? How did you get in here?"

The intruder looked past the prince on sudden fear. Brian stepped behind him and said, "Answer him. How did you get in here?" A sword extended towards the teen. "Now!"

"I-I came around the back. There's a gap in the stone, hidden by a pile of crates." He stepped back, tripping over his own foot and stumbling. Brian watched carefully. "I promise, I'll leave!"

"Brian, wait." Daniel had his guard lower his hand. "You're here, unarmed, in a garden. Are you a flower shopkeep?"

"Yes! I-I came here for some clippings. I wanted to try and grow my own roses but mine aren't growing. So I thought I would try the royal variety and see if they work better." Daniel smiled as he realised the florist was nervous. He was just word vomiting and hoping to get away soon. "I didn't intend on being stuck here. You just showed up and frightened me. I thought you had left after hurting your hand."

"No, I sent my guard to get someone. But I take it he heard me yell at you and came running." He gave Brian a look and turned back to the florist. "What is your name?"

"Arin." He lowered his hands finally, sensing he wasn't in as grave danger. "And you're Prince Daniel."

"I am." He studied Arin even more. "Brian, give him an escort back to his shop. And Arin, if you need a flower, from now on you're allowed to call on me. I'll bring you here." He gave him a smile and extended his hand. "In exchange, I would like to come by your shop later and see if you can help me with a project."

Arin looked at his hand, at Daniel's face, at Brian's scowl, and back at the hand. Firmly but still a bit meek, he took it and shook once. "Agreed.

♡♡♡

Author's Note: I know Dan is the eldest but I changed it for this story. Also, Dan would be around 16 in this chapter. Dana would be just turning 19.

Questions? Comments? Want to mash your own tropes together? Send me an ask! My ask box is always open.

[ofdanny]

mmmk so hi !! i’m taylor, i go by she/her pronouns, and i am very very excited to be here. my two muses are danny and todd and i’m not very good at these posts ?? and i also kind of don’t like them so lets just dive right into this, yay !!

HELLO my name is ( DANIEL HARTLEY ). people often mistake me for ( DYLAN O'BRIEN ). i find this very silly but people also tell me i’m ( EASY-GOING ) and ( APATHETIC ). i am born in ( MEDFORD, OREGON ) but i now live in ( SEATTLE, WASHINGTON ). if there’s one song that describes me the most it’d have to be ( WEEKEND by MAC MILLER ). — ( taylor, 19, est, she/her )

to say the least daniel was a surprise to his parents. they had no desire to have kids, but the only plus to him was that he just so happened to be a bouncing baby boy, and his father saw an opportunity to keep the company alive. as a child the only parental guidance he ever received was from his caregiver and homeschool teacher, ana— walking, potty training, puberty, his first kiss… ana was there for him through all of it.

his parents never gave him much attention outside considering they were too busy living their best lives as one of the most well-loved power couples. of course, it hurt him but ana eased the pain. the only time he received any actual attention from his mother was when his father would be working late and little four-year-old danny would walk into his parents room to find his mom. she’d let him brush her long, dark hair, or sing to him when she was in an exceptionally good mood some nights, or listen to him play the piano ( which he was learning at the time ) — those few evenings are engraved in his mind, his love for his mother growing with every short-ended second he spent with her. 

when daniel was thirteen his father told him that he was the heir of the greatest company of all time. to a normal, tween kid this would have sounded like a dream. but daniel loathed even the thought of it.when he was sixteen when his mom left him and his dad without any warning, and the reason for her leaving…? danny has no clue. he wasn’t very involved with his parents when he grew past the age of eight. ana was all he needed to an extent. 

due to his mothers disappearance his father kind of went off the deep end— anger issues, drinking, sleeping with other women. the communications technologies company that his father owned held it’s own for the time being until his father got back on his feet. that’s also when they up and officially settled in new york rather than switching between oregon and new york. all of this would have left danny unphased until his father fired ana out of spite, merely because he saw daniel was fine while he was drowning in sorrow. that’s when things started to go south for hartley. 

he had started to resent his father, his mother, and this posh lifestyle. he started to fight with people in public places, affecting his fathers reputation. he blew off every other new teacher that came in to teach him ( even though, eventually, he finally let up and is learning about business— his fathers wishes, of course. ), and he practically formed an unhealthy habit of spiraling, using booze and alcohol to help drink himself into incoherence. the only thing that helps clear his head is when he plays the piano, and he plays it well considering he mastered it at a young age.

nowadays, his father has him attend meetings and consistently tries to convince him to embrace the wealth and the power he may gain one day, but the discussion always ends in one of them red-faced, steam coming out of their ears. as said before, daniel hates this lifestyle. he never asked for the riches or the power, and he certainly doesn’t want it. you’d think he’d want love and affection, but he’s gone without it for so long that he no longer has a the cravings for it. he has very little for friends, and he prefers to keep to himself. he will purposefully hurt your feelings if you don’t leave him alone when he wants you to, and he won’t think twice about verbally abusing you, hitting your insecurities and things of the sort.

long story short, daniel is 23 years old. he’s very sarcastic, very dead-pan, and if you catch him on a bad day? he’s not nice, and he’s very hard to get along with so good fucking luck loldanny came back to oregon because his father said ‘it’d be good for him to gain some perspective’, but in reality he knew his father just didn’t want to take the time off of work and the thought of coming back to the place where he and his mother were once still together is… catastrophic. daniel didn’t fight against his dad wishes to come to the cabin. although, he also hates how nostalgic the place is. all in all, danny is just here to it in a corner and drink tbh

WANTED CONNECTIONS  ;

long lost friends - he gets to the cabins and runs into someone who looks familiar. turns out it’s his old buddie from when he was just a tot !! and wow you’ve changed kind of and shit daniel you’re still a dick huh lol

drinking buddies - the pair always meet at the same time on the same day, unspokenly, and it slowly grows from causal bar talk from across the counter to them pouring their souls out to each other and laughing until they crY ok how cute i stan

frenemies - the typical banter on these two is expected from everyone around, and at times they may cross the line with their horrid words and degrading insults but in the end they always result to tough love. but, god forbid one of them get’s too mushy with the other… they’d never live it down.

twisted - as toxic as they seem the pair always seem to end up together… in bed… naked. they are so wrong for each other that anybody could take one look at them and know that they wouldn’t last a day. but, somehow, they always manage to sex it out with no strings attached despite the screaming and the infuriating words they say to one another. they are perfectly wrong for each other and they both hate and love it at the same time. but how much longer can they keep this up…?  

HELLO my name is ( TODDERIC TENNER ). people often mistake me for ( THEO JAMES ). i find this very silly but people also tell me i’m ( AFFABLE ) and ( MANIPULATIVE ). i am born in ( MEDFORD, OREGON ) but i now live in ( NAPA, CALIFORNIA ). if there’s one song that describes me the most it’d have to be ( VOICES IN MY HEAD / STICK TO THE PLAN by BIG SEAN ). — ( taylor, 19, est, she/her )

when todd was pretty young he moved from foster house to foster house pretty much until his adopted father found him ( more on that later ). the story is that as a baby, todd was left at child services doorstep so tbh no one has a clUe who his parents are. • his history is the typical sob story of hating every home he moved to bc the people who took him in didn't want him in their home bc he was too problematic  and a "bad influence on their other children". he was just a very angry kid honestly • all that being said, when he was 15 he left the family he was supposed to stay with for another week or so but he honestly couldn't take being around that family anymore so he packed his backpack with the three pieces of clothes he had and left. he didn't know where he was going but when he turned into a dark alley he found two men beating and stomping another man nearly to death. like any kid with the least bit of common sense he turned around and legged it only to run into what felt like a wall but was a man three times his height.

long story short they dragged him back to their headquarters and pondered on whether or not they should just kill him or let him stick around. the man who was three times his height spoke up and they decided to keep him to help with operations.

all in all, Todd was adopted into this huge ass drug industry and was adopted by the super tall man who turned out to be basically this really big drug lord who wanted a son and found one yay !!

so todd basically learned how to lie, scheme, steal, fight, intimidate... pretty much a bunch of negative traits and he was great at it. he didn't like it but he simply did as he was told.

todd's now 27 and on a job that was supposed to be an easy pick up and dip out but it turned out to be a fucked drop bc the feds came and they caught todd and he was immediately put in prison but they soon let him out because they somehow could pin any hard evidence against him so he's now a free man rip

after that whole shabang todd took it upon himself to ditch the whole gang lifestyle and create a life for himself. he got on a bus and hit the road from oregon to california, using the money he made and saved from the past jobs to buy himself a comfortable house in napa and now he sells wine :)

he figured his old gang would come for him but they haven't yet and he isn't going to complain about it either. he's keeling his head low and staying quiet for the time being.

in reference to coming back to oregon is interesting bc after settling down in napa he went on a search for his parents only to find out that his father died in a car crash ten years back and his mother supposedly passed with him too, but they never found the body.

his father had a will written out though and in it stated that there was a house oregon that was left for todd and with it was a note with a simple apology, that hardly explained anything about why they abandoned todd and who they were, and an address that belonged to the cabins

todd is only here to find more information on his parents and history. ( wanted connection: maybe someone who knew his parents ? maybe someone else's parents knew his parents, recognized the name and "i'm so sorry for your loss...."

now his personality? he seems like a typical guy. he keeps to himself most of the time. since he's on a mission to find information he won't be afraid to use someone to get what he wants. if you get in his way he'll find a way around you or a way to move you. simple as that.

WANTED CONNECTIONS ;

roomies - todd and his roommate soon become acquaintances but it’s open for pretty much anything ? todd doesn’t truat anyone so maybe they sOMehow gain his trust and he lets them help find clues or information ? idk lets talk omg

use me - they’re friends but then again they’re not. lovers? yes and no. either way, the sex is great and when either is feeling stressed or sad or whatever the feeling, they text / call each other up and “my place or yours?”

you knew my parents ...?! ( this could potentially include multiple muses !! ) - todd is only here by chance and he is desperate to know who his parents were. one would think finding information would be hard, but the minute he mutters “tenner.” at check-in, some stranger places their hand on his back and whispers “i’m so sorry for your loss...”

  okay !! so this is very general and informal i'm sorry if it wasn't clear ?? if you have any questions or anything of the sort please feel free to ask !! ask me anything pls ill spill my guts to you. also i may be adding more wanted connections over time so please click here just in case i add more mmmk. again, ( i’ll keep saying this ) i’m thrilled to be here h2gkmo

[prettyyoungtragedy]

You and I, Just the two of us - Chapter 4

You and I, just the two of us - (AU!) 4

James (Bucky) x reader,  – Steve x reader

Summary: The reader is reeling from a life changing event; a year later can she finally move on? Or will the past come tumbling down like an avalanche…

 A/N: I love this chapter so much! I hope you all enjoy it too!! Chapter 5 will be posted by tomorrow!

 Word Count: 5874

 Warnings: swearing? Smut.

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 New years came and went, and you had finally decided to take some time off work to dedicate a week to finding a new apartment. Apartment hunting in New York was surprisingly harder than you had anticipated with all the various neighborhoods and different layouts, you had no clue what you were looking for or what you even liked.

Natasha helped when she could but was otherwise preoccupied with work and planning her wedding which was taking up 90% of her time, so Bruce had stepped in to help you find a place. James had been spending more time with Sam now that he had moved back, and you hadn’t seen him in a while, although he had offered you a bedroom in his sprawling 4 bedroom Park Avenue apartment multiple times, to which you had declined several times because it was just weird living with him.

It was a bright Saturday morning; You and Bruce had started the day of apartment hunting early. Seven AM breakfast at Bruce’s favorite Brooklyn bistro Five Leaves, and then the two of you headed out to the various apartment viewings Bruce had set up.

By the 3rd apartment you were getting slightly annoyed with the realtor, she kept showing you apartments that looked exactly like the one you already lived in.

“And it comes with granite top finishes in the kitchen,” The tall, brunette named Sasha said as you and Bruce walked through the apartment. “I’ll let you two look around, you can come find me when you’re ready,” she says then steps out into the hallway.

“Ugh this is so pointless, if see another apartment that looks like this , I am going to throw myself off its balcony.” You groaned, rubbing your face in annoyance

Bruce chuckled, “This is a process Y/N, let’s check out the last one and then we can take a break?” he suggested,

You sighed and agreed, then headed off to the next apartment the realtor seemed excited about this one. She kept going on about how you couldn’t find an apartment in Lower Manhattan for this price and this location. You exchanged a glace with Bruce as he knew you didn’t want to move out of Brooklyn, but he whispered to you to just give it a look before disregarding it.

The moment you pulled up to the building you were already in love with it. The face brick building looked like it had been a warehouse at some point which had been built on, Bruce saw your face and he immediately began asking more questions about the place, much to Sasha’s delight.

She led you to the top floor, the apartment was a loft apartment at the top of the building, and the moment she opened the door, you knew this was your new home.

The space was airy, and sprawling. The floors wooden and polished, there were weight beams across the room and it was open plan, in all the perfect colors. The apartment just screamed buy me. It looked expensive, so you did well to hide your excitement as you walked through the loft.

“So, it’s two bedrooms, two bathrooms and obviously the entire loft space.” Sasha said gesturing to the space, “What do you think?”

You looked at Bruce, and he asked the obvious question on both your minds. “What’s the catch?” He asked,

Sasha looked confused for a moment, “Why is it so cheap?” you asked again,

“Oh, the previous owner put it on the market for this price, he didn’t really state why.” Sasha replied, “I can find out if you ‘d like?”

“Yeah, I’d like to maybe speak to him if you can?” Bruce said, “Get a feel of what we are getting into, ya know?”

Sasha nodded understandingly, but you had already made up your mind on the space. You had to make this your home, and this was perfectly within your budget. In face it was perfect down to the last dollar. You were never one for being impulsive but in this moment, you couldn’t help it,

“I’ll take it!” you say suddenly, much to Bruce and Sasha’s surprise

“You will?” She almost exclaimed, “I mean, of course you will, this place is amazing.”

“Are you sure Y/N?” Bruce asked, trying to be the voice of reason,

“Yes, I am sure. It’s the perfect price range, perfect location for work, and I mean look at it Bruce, even Nat would approve of this!”

Bruce grinned and looked at Sasha, “Well then I guess let’s get this process started,” and Sasha heartily clapped her hands and set off making calls to make this place yours.

__________________________

The moving process happened quicker then you were expecting. The owner of the apartment, whom you still hadn’t met, was eager to get rid of the place. It took all of 3 days to sort out the paperwork, pay and sign the documents before you were handed the keys to your new apartment.

Tony had organized a whole team of people to help you move, much to your delight, so that you could still work on a project for him. Which in a way was selfish but you weren’t complaining because when you walked into your new home, all the furniture had been placed, tidied up and all that was left were the boxes of personal items. Tony even went as far as stocking up the grocery cupboards and the fridge for you, to which you made a mental note to thank him for next time you saw him.

A week after moving in, Natasha and James came through to see your new place.

The doorbell rang multiple times, the impatient buzzer ringing throughout the loft. You tossed the dishcloth in your hands, onto the kitchen counter and headed to open the door for them.

Natasha barely even got a hello out before she started spazzing about the apartment. “Oh my god, Y/N!” She squealed, “This place is stunning!”

“Thanks Nat,” you laughed, as you greeted James with a kiss on the cheek. He handed you two bottles of wine and then followed Natasha in,

“Holy shit, this is nice.” James agreed, flopping down onto the couch

“I can’t believe you got this place, Its such a steal!” Natasha continued as she walked around the apartment,

“Yeah, it’s great isn’t it. I am still getting used to all this space,” You replied handing her a glass of wine and James a beer,

“Yes, when is the house warming party?” James asked,

“I don’t know, when I get a free moment I guess,” you reply, taking a seat next to him on the couch, “Tony has been hard pressed at keeping me busy these days,”

“Does he ever take a break?” Natasha asked, twirling the wine glass in her hand,

“I don’t think he knows how to take a break.” You said,

“Anyway, I invited Sam as well,” James announced, changing the topic, “He should be here soon. “

“I can’t believe the four of us are actually going to hang out together,” Natasha mused, “Last time we spent this much time together we were in college,”

“Yeah and we were all much poorer than we are now,” You added,

“Except Bucky,” Nat pointed out,

“Well I funded our drunken rages, so it’s a good thing you kept me around,” He chuckled, you and Nat were always giving him shit for being a trust fund kid, but he didn’t seemed phased by it. In fact, he wholeheartedly embraced it, James had never been on to shy away from the truth.

Just then the doorbell rang again, it was Sam and you stood up to go and get it.

“Hey Sam,” You greet him cheerily, giving a hug,

“Hello Y/N,” he said, returning your affection as he stepped into the apartment,

He looked around and whistled, handing you a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey, “Holy moly, this place is something else.” He said,

“Thanks Buddy,” you grin, “Come in, Nat and James are already here.”

You led him to the open plan area, where Natasha and James greeted him affectionately and you stood in the kitchen preparing the salad for the dinner you had made. The great thing about the space was how open it was, you could stand in the kitchen and have a full-scale conversation with everyone in the lounge without even raising your voice.

“Dinner is served,” You say, placing the spaghetti bolognaise, and salad on the table, “Nothing fancy, just some good old-fashioned pasta!”

The three of them too their seat around the table, “Smell’s fucking good,” James commented,

“I think I’m just glad to be eating something that doesn’t come out of a takeout box,” Sam said, dishing out some onto his plate, gratefully.

“You should really learn how to cook,” Natasha pointed out, “It’s not good for your health to eat takeout’s,”

You laughed at her comment, “You’re joking right, you’re the least healthiest person I know with the amount you drink,”

This got a laugh of agreement from James and Sam, Natasha rolled her eyes. “Okay first of all, I am done drinking, for a while, secondly, I do eat healthy…sometimes,” she grinned,

The conversation and laughs continued between the four of you throughout the course of dinner, it felt great having them all around you again. It felt like college again. once the dishes were cleared up and dinner was done, the four of you sat on the loft balcony and decided to open the whiskey Sam had brought.

You handed Natasha a glass, but as she took it you saw her wine glass was till full. You could have sworn she did not refill it,

“Nat, why are you not drinking?” You asked her questionably,

She shifted in her seat, acting nonchalant. “I am drinking, what do you mean?”

Both James and Sam now looked at her closely,

“You haven’t finished you glass of wine, since we arrived.” James pointed out,

“And I haven’t seen you refill it once, in fact the bottle is still full,” Sam said,

You looked between Sam, James and her, “Natasha Romanoff,” You said slowly, “Are you fucking pregnant?” ‘

Natasha suddenly sighed deeply, confirming your suspicions. “OHMYGOD NAT!” You screamed excited, startling both James and Sam,

You excitedly jump around giving her a tight hug, and she laughed. “Yes, yes I am pregnant!” she said sound excited finally,

“Congratulations!” Sam said standing up and giving her a hug,

James seemed dumbstruck, he was still in his seat, his face unreadable. You looked down at him, and kicked him in the foot slightly urging him to stand up and give Natasha a hug. He suddenly snapped out of his thought when you did so, and half heartedly congratulated her, then took a seat again.

“So, when did you find out?” You ask her enthusiastically, “And how am I only finding out about this now?!”

“Uhm.. I found out two weeks ago,” She replied,

“Oh my god, and why am I only finding out now?” You demanded,

“I only went to the doctor this week,” Natasha explained,

“How far along are you?”  Sam asked,

“six weeks,” and then Natasha suddenly burst into tears,

And beside you, you left James stiffen at the sight of Natasha crying.

“Hey, Nat what’s wrong?” you say gently, putting an arm around her shoulders,

“My wedding is in 4 weeks and I’m not going to fit into my dress and we can’t tell my family because my mother will have a heart attack if she knows I’m pregnant before marriage.” Natasha said through sobs,

Sam chuckled, “Natasha Romanoff, you are a resourceful, empowered woman. I don’t think you should let this get you down, it’s a silly wedding dress, just rip a few seams and you will be fine!” he said,

And you threw him a grateful glance, because that seemed to cheer Nat up a little.

“See, there’s always a plan, and I’ll help you fit into your dress I swear.” You tell her,

“Yeah, you’re beautiful Nat, either way this is a happy moment for you.” James finally added, as he had been quiet throughout the exchange

Natasha looked around at the three of you and then started crying again, “Why are you still crying Nat?”  you asked confused,

“Because I’m happy to have you all back in my life,” She said through tears and laughter.

You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with her, in her emotional state. But all of them being here made you realize just how much you all needed each other.

______________________

You hadn’t seen Steve in almost a month, you continued to text each other on the regular but every time the two of you made a plan, it seemed to fall apart. So, it came as an utter surprise when you bumped into him at a book store in Manhattan. He was avidly trying to escape something outside when he bumped into you,

“Y/N,” he exclaimed, dragging you into a hug. “Just the person I was looking for,”

“Steve, what, how did you know where to find me?”  You asked confused,

“Natasha said I could find you here on Tuesdays,” he explained, “She kind of has your whole itinerary,”

“I swear to god, that woman needs a busier job,” You chuckled, “But I am glad you found me,” you say smiling up at the handsome blonde, he had grown a small beard in the time you hadn’t seen him. It was incredibly attractive.

“So am I,” Steve mumbled a little awkwardly,

“What can I do for you Steven?” You prompted him when he hadn’t told you why he was here,

“Please don’t think I only want to see you when I am not busy,” Steve began, “I want to see you every day if I could, So here I am hoping you will say yes to going on an actual date with me tonight?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, he had a puppy dog look on his gorgeous face and somehow you couldn’t say no to such an offer. “You tracked me down, just to ask me something you could have done over text?” You laughed,

Steve scratched the back of his, with a shy smile on his face, “This may sound silly, but I wanted to ask you out for the first time in person, doesn’t seem right to do it over text,” He explained,

“Alright, but only if I get to choose the place,” you responded, chuckling at how sweet he was.

“Yes, of course, anything you want!” Steve said enthusiastically,

Just then, there were the sounds of camera’s and flashes going off in the window of the book store and Steve groaned loudly. “Fuck, the found me,” he sighed and then stepped behind a bookshelf taking you with him,

“Paparazzi, I assume?” you say,

Steve nodded, “Can’t escape these guys,”

“Come on,” You say, “I’ll show you an escape route.”

Steve broke out into a grin at your offer and the two of you quietly slipped out the side of the bookstore unbeknownst to the eager paparazzi and fans waiting for him to exit through the front.

That evening, you sat in Natasha’s massive walk in closet as she went through an array of outfits for you to wear on your date with Steve. You had chosen a quiet little restaurant in Brooklyn but Natasha railroaded your plans and managed to organize a private dining dinner at Vaucluse in the upper east side, to which you complained saying you probably couldn’t afford a starter there to begin with.

“So, red or black ?” Nat asked you, holding up the two different dress options,

“Neither, they are so short and way too fancy for just a dinner.” You said shaking your head,

Natasha sighed and tossed the options onto the bed, and then went back to rummaging through the racks of clothes looking for something for you to wear. “You know, this is a 5-star restaurant and I am sure Steve is going to dress in a suit,” she said, holding up another option for you,

“Yes, but I am not making a big deal out of this, who knows if this is even going to work out” you say shaking your head, “And absolutely not, there is barely any coverage on that dress,”

“Can you just pick something, I can’t with you!” Nat exclaimed and then huffed and sat down on one of the chairs, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

You sighed, “Can’t I just wear my own clothes?” You say,

“No, because you dress like you’re in a biker gang,” Nat retorted, and you couldn’t help but laugh, she wasn’t wrong about your style of dress.

“Fine,” you grumbled and then got up, and went to look at the racks of clothing.

After what seemed like an eternity you had finally picked out an outfit, and gotten dressed.

“Ugh, you look like a homeless hippie!” Natasha exclaimed, “Of all the amazing Atelier Versace I have in my closet you choose to dress in an outfit from Topshop!”

“Shut up,” you laughed, “I am comfortable in this, and I think I look great.”

“He’s going to be so disappointed,” She sighed,

“Well he will have to like me for who I am, not what I wear,” you point out, and then take one last look at yourself in the mirror before you leave to go meet Steve at the restaurant.

When you arrived at the restaurant Steve was already there, sitting at the table looking exceedingly handsome, chatting to a waitress. You heart raced a little when you saw him,

As you walked up to the table, Steve immediately gets to his feet with a wide grin on his face,

“Hey you,” He says sweetly, giving you a kiss on the cheek

“Hey Steve,” you respond, smiling at him as he nervously fidgeted with his tie, “You look great,”

“Nothing compared to you,” was his response as the two of you sat down,

You felt yourself blush at his compliment, how was he always so sweet.

“Natasha said I look like a homeless hippie,” you joked,

“Well, then you are definitely the prettiest homeless hippie I have ever met,” Steve laughed,

Just then the waitress appeared again, with a bottle of expensive looking champagne,

“Shall I open it?” She asked you both,

Steve looked at you and you nodded, noting that the bottle was one of your favorite. Steve had obviously asked Natasha what you liked beforehand, and you thought that was so sweet.

After the waitress had taken your orders and left, Steve asked you how your day was,

“It was rather average, worked for most of the day. My boss is really amped about this project we are working on, he wants to make Stark industries a leader in clean energy, so he has us researching and developing around the clock. It’s great for me, because the developments are moving along great, but I have a whole team to manage now and ordering people around isn’t really my strong suit, I’m more of a do it myself type of person,” You stopped yourself, realizing you were rambling a little, “Sorry, I’m rambling,”

“Oh no, don’t apologize, I am enjoying hearing about your work,” Steve smiled,

“You say that now, and then I start speaking about nonmolecular cellular regeneration and you will wish you hadn’t said that,” You chuckled,

Steve grinned, “I could listen to you talk all day, you’re by far the most interesting thing to be around today,”

“I’m a thing?” You joke, feigning offense,

“No no, I mean person, I would never objectify you, I” he rapidly tried to correct himself,

“Steve relax, I’m joking,” You say laughing out loud at his panic,

He relaxed his shoulders and shook his head chuckling with you.

“So, how’s your job?” you asked him, taking a sip of your drink,

“Tiring, I am glad to finally have a break in the new year.” Steve said, “The jet set life can get tedious sometimes,”

“I can imagine, don’t you miss being home?”

He nodded, “All the time, But I can’t complain I am devastatingly lucky in my life, for everything that I have gotten but the fame doesn’t come without its downfalls,”

“Like the paparazzi,” you pointed out,

“Oh yes, they’re the worst, but nothing compared to the gossip websites,” Steve replied, “It’s easy to lose yourself in it all,”

“Well, it’s nice to walk outside and see your face on a billboard outside my apartment,” You jested,

Which earned you a hearty laugh from Steve, “I had to find some way to keep you interested in me.”

The rest of the evening went by faster than you had expected, You and Steve had lost track of time in the restaurant and only realized how late it was when the waitress came through with the bill saying they were closing.

“Is that the time, holy shit,” You half exclaim, it was 1:30 in the morning,

Steve insisted on paying the bill, even though numerous times you said you would pay it. He said it wouldn’t be a date if he made you pay for your dinner and that he wanted to treat you. It was a sweet gesture.

Once the two of you had left the restaurant, he offered to drop you off at home, saying he didn’t feel right letting you take a cab. Which you didn’t dispute. The car ride to your place was quick and as he pulled up to your apartment building, you found yourself wanting to invite him upstairs.

“Would you like to come upstairs?” You ask softly, a surprised look flits across his face

“Yeah, yeah, I would love to,” He replied, flashing his dazzling smile at you.

Steve followed you upstairs wordlessly, the two of you quietly making easy conversation between each other as you were in the lift. When the lift hit the landing and you exited it, you stopped dead in your tracks, your heart dropping to the floor.

Standing at your front door was Luke Charles, your ex-fiancé.

“Luke…” You whispered when you saw him, Luke looked at Steve for a moment then at you,

“What are you doing here?” you asked, your heart thundering in your chest,

“I needed to see you,” He replied, his voice sending a shiver down your spine, you hadn’t heard it in over a year and seeing him here now was like looking at a ghost. “Can we talk in private?”

You looked at Steve, by the look on Steve’s face he knew who Luke was, and you wanted to avoid any kind of drama to night. “I’m sorry Steve,” you apologized,

“No no, its okay, call me tomorrow okay?” he said smiling and then embracing you, you nodded at him, He gave you a kiss on the forehead before he left. For good measure you see him throw Luke a glare and then he left,

Your hands were shaking as you unlocked the front door, Luke stood behind you wordlessly. Once inside, you quickly dropped all your items on the kitchen counter and turned to face Luke, who stood near the door, looking around at your apartment.

You felt so exposed, having him look around at your new home. He still looked as handsome as ever, you averted your gaze as the memories with him came flooding back. You feel hot tears springing to your eyes, and you swallow the lump in your throat.

“Why are you here Luke?” You asked him quietly,

He walked to the kitchen, near where you stood and faced you, arms crossed over his broad chest. “Who’s the guy?” He asked,

“You don’t get to ask me that question,” you responded, trying to remain as aloof as possible,

“Can we sit?” Luke gestures to the chairs, as he takes a seat in one of them,

“I’d rather stand,” you replied, moving yourself behind the island counter, putting space between the two of you.

Luke sighed and then removed his jacket and scarf, he looked at you, observing you. “You changed your hair color,” he noted, “it looks lovely,”

You nervously twirled your hair with your index finger, feeling exposed at his comment, and remained quiet.

“I see you changed the way you dress too, this suits you,” Luke said gesturing to the outfit you had borrowed from Natasha for your date,

“Luke, what do you want? Because I know you didn’t come here to talk about my hair and my clothes,” you snap impatiently, on the outside you were trying to be tough but on the inside you were dying, you wanted to kick and scream and shout at him.

“I just needed to see you, Y/N. I wanted to know if you were okay…” Luke replied huskily, looking at you with intense eyes,

“Why…?” you whispered, pain evident in your voice, “Why after all this time,”

“Because I still love you,” He replied plainly,

The moment the words left his mouth, you felt as if your world was spinning. You had wished, begged, prayed for this moment, when Luke had left you. you spent countless hours sobbing to Natasha over those 3 words, but somehow in this moment it felt like he had just stabbed you in the heart. There was just pain in your chest when you looked at Luke, and you felt like you couldn’t breathe,

Suddenly all the memories and the pain from what he had caused you over the last year came rushing back, and it was like an avalanche of emotions. Mostly rage,

“How fucking dare, you!” You shouted at him, starling him.

Luke looked at you, mouth open in shock,

“How dare you come back to me, and tell me you still love me after everything you have done to me! How dare you think this is okay! How dare you sit there and even for a moment think that this is something you get to do to me!” You were screaming at this point, but you didn’t care, “I was suffering Luke, I was a shell of a person, you broke me! YOU BROKE MY SOUL AND NOW YOU COME TO MY HOME AND THINK YOU CAN JUST PULL THE THREAD THAT I HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO KEEP TIED UP!” You began to throw the plates and glasses at him, they were shattering across the kitchen and living room, Luke ducked out the way to avoid being hit with a plate,

You paused your chest heaving from anger,

“Y/N,” Luke began,

“No, you don’t get to say my name! you don’t have the right to even look at me, not after what you did Luke!” you cried, tears streaming down your face now, “How can you do this to me?! AGAIN?!”

“Baby please, just give me a chance to explain,” Luke begged,

But you cut him off, “No, get the fuck out of my house, get out of my life. I will never forgive you Luke Charles, you left me for another woman and If I ever see you again I will murder you with my bare hands,” you said icily,

Luke just looked at you, a dejected look on his face, he stood up and gathered his things then walked to the door, you followed him to let him out. “I won’t give up on you,” He said turning to you as he exited the apartment,

“You already did,” you replied frostily and then slammed the door in his face.

The moment the door shut, your legs buckled, and you collapsed to the floor, clutching your chest in pain. You couldn’t breathe, you were having a full-scale panic attack. You needed to get out of your apartment, Luke’s cologne clung to the air, and the memories were too painful. There was glass everywhere, and you had cuts on your hands from stray piece of glass that had hit you.

Grabbing your purse and phone, you ran out of the apartment barely locking it behind you in the pouring rain you hailed a cab. There was only one person you needed to see right now.

The cab had barely stopped when you were already jumping out, tossing two 20-dollar bills in the front seat and thanking him. You ran up to the doorman, who already knew who you were, and he politely opened the door for you. seeing your freaked faced he asked if you were okay, and quickly let you in to the elevator.

You pushed the button to the penthouse suite, your panic rising again, you couldn’t breath and your head was spinning. The second the elevator dinged on the landing, James was standing there, in just shorts. The doorman must have alerted him that you were on your way up. you flung yourself into his arms and began sobbing uncontrollably.

“Y/N,” James said, in a panicked voice, “What the fuck happened?!”

You couldn’t get the words out, your body racked with sobs and you held onto James like he was a lifeline.

“Sweetheart, talk to me! What happened?” he repeated holding you against his chest, “You’re bleeding!” he exclaimed,

“L-Luke,” was all you managed to say, and James knew what had happened. He led you inside, and ordered you to sit down in the lounge, while he got on the phone with someone.

You were numb, you sat on the edge of the couch, gazing listlessly at the floor. When James returned to the room, he had a cup of tea in his hand which he placed next to you then he sat beside you. he had pulled on a t-shirt while he was gone.  

“Tell me what he did, doll,” James said, brushing your hair out of your face,

“I came home,” You began, choking up again, “And he was just there, at my door, he didn’t say hello, he didn’t even ask me if I was okay, how I was, how I’d been after what he did. he just said he loved me and still wanted me. It was like he knew how to break me all over again,” a sob escapes your lips as you hear the words Luke had uttered to you, again and again.

“And then what? Did he lay a hand on you?” James asked, evidently angry,

“N-no,” you stuttered, “I threw the plates and the glasses at him,”

James looked at you for a moment, shocked. “I am going to fucking kill him,” James seethed, “Where is he now?”

“I don’t know, I kicked him out and came straight here,” You replied, holding your head in your hands,

James took a deep breath, evidently trying to calm himself down. “Come on sweetheart, Let me sort out those cuts,” he said, standing up and offering you a hand.

You silently followed James to the bathroom, and took a seat on the bathroom counter while he got out the first aid kit and got to work on cleaning bits of glass that were still stuck in the cuts on your arms and hands. When he was done he looked at your face, “You have a cut on your cheekbone,” he mentioned, and took a piece of cotton wool dipping in antiseptic and wiping the blood away.

You hissed as it stung, knowing that would probably leave a mark. “Let’s get you out of those wet clothes,” James said, once he was done applying a plaster to your cheek. You just nodded, not feeling like saying anything in that moment. Seeing Luke again and speaking to him had brought the passed tumbling down on you like an avalanche and you had retreated within yourself.

“I’ll go get you something to wear, do you want to shower?” He asked you,

When you didn’t answer, he walked over to you and cupped your face in his hands, “Y/N, I got you, you’re going to be okay.” He said softly,

“I just want to sleep,” you whispered,

He nodded, “Ok lets get you to sleep,”

James took you to one of the spare bedrooms and gave you a t-shirt to sleep in.

“Will you stay with me please?” you asked him quietly as you got into bed,

“Of course, doll,” He replied, getting into the bed beside you, and embracing you.

You lay in James’ embrace for almost an hour in silence, you were numb. The words Luke had said playing over and over in your head. Your frustration building up the more you thought about it.

“James,” you whispered,

“Hmm..?”

You looked up into his ice blue eyes, his face centimeters from yours and without hesitation you kissed him.

His reaction seemed tense at first but then he leaned into it. You linked your arms around his neck, fervently kissing him. Your mind was numb to what you were doing, all you knew is that you wanted to feel something.

James pulled you closer to him, not breaking the kiss. His arms wrapped tightly around your waist, you moved away slightly and in one swift motion, pulled off the t-shirt you wore. Revealing your naked body.

“Y/N,” James said softly, “You don’t want this,”

“I do,” you replied pulling him towards you,

“You’re upset, you’re going to regret doing this.” He said, as he kissed you,

“Bucky…please…” was all you said, before he was kissing you passionately again,

James took his shirt off, exposing his perfectly muscular body. Your hands roamed across his chiseled chest as he kissed your neck, he pulled back and looked at you, the lust in his eyes igniting a fire inside of you. James got between yours legs, pressing his body against yours. You could feel his arousal, as he pulled his shorts of. Your heart was racing, the adrenaline coursing through your veins made your arousal feel like fire.

His lips crashed against yours again, and he moved down to your neck, kissing, biting and sucking as he went across your bare breasts. A soft moan escaped your lips, and you just wanted to feel, that was it, in this moment you just wanted to feel something.

“need you…in me,” you panted,

And James hesitated for a second, and looked at you. “Protection,” you whispered, and he acknowledged pulling out protection from the drawer beside the bed. Wrapping your legs around his hips, you pull him in. You sighed lustfully at the feel and the fit, not thinking about anything but sex in that moment, you needed to take your mind of Luke. it was torturous.  James began to move languidly above you, setting the rhythm painstakingly slow but passionate.

“Bucky,” you moaned against his chest, feeling your pleasure building and the ecstasy of an orgasm approaching.

A few minutes later, you rake your nails across his back as you came ecstatically. Sighing his name as you did, James followed a few seconds later.

He rested his head on the crook of your neck, both of you gasping in post coital euphoria. James rolled over and lay beside you, and you cover up your nakedness with the bed-sheets. Your mind is calm, even with the calamitous, momentous weight the deed the two of you had just committed.  

Tags: @addictionmarvel @seargantbcky

Hope you all enjoy reading it! chapter was a little long, but i am kind of proud of it! SO LEAVE ME SOME FEEDBACK, I WOULD LOVE THAT!

[yungfuckfacemcgee]

So one night I got drunk and woke up the next morning to find I wrote a WestAllen fanfic

Here's the thing: This is the only fan fiction-ish thing I’ve ever written and I can’t remember writing it really. I edited it for drunk spelling/grammar mistakes so it’s semi-readable but otherwise I left everything in, but basically the first half reads like a drunk stream of consciousness and transitions into an actual story.  Plz enjoy:  ----------

Okay so the general premise - -High key feeling that “best friends in love” vibe cause it’s h e l l a cute 

 Let’s fucking set the scene: Barry and Iris (author’s note: ugh I already feel so gross) are at home on a Saturday night, maybe it’s like 8 or 9pm. It’s the week before their wedding. They’ve decided to not have sex before their wedding night to make it *magical* (author’s note: vom). //Of course// its also an uncharacteristically quiet night in Central City (There’s no metahuman activity for the moment, and Iris finished the story she’s been working on, because there’s not really much else to do, you feel, and already sent it off to her editor). They’re on the couch,  there’s a stupid amount of Chinese take out on the table (like WAY too much for two people), the tv is on in the background playing who knows what. My mans B boogie is wearing a long sleeve waffle t-shirt and black joggers because he is a goddamn sad boi and my mans Iris is wearing some pajama boxer shorts circa every 2011 batmitzvah, a black hoodie, and her hair is up in that Messy Bun™ (but dw chillins, her edges are perpetually laid). You already know both of these bozos are wearing some thicc ass comfy socks because it’s Couch Time™.

 These guys are on the couch. My dude Barry is on top of my girl Iris in the middle of making out my bros.  They are really going at it hard, dudes. Barry is starting to slide his hand up the inside of her thigh (my note: ugh gross but let’s fucking do this) when Iris snaps the fuck out of it.   “O H M Y G O D, Barry!! ¡¡No!!” (A la when he sees her in her wedding dress in that one episode boyz). He flashes off of her and starts pacing back and forth in front of the tv with his hands on the back of his head. All the heat has risen to her face and she’s breathing heavy.

Iris says something like “so this is WAY harder than I thought it would be.” 

 Barry says something like “YUP…. We should control ourselves.” 

 Iris raises her (perfectly shaped, cause she be stuntin’ on the daily) eyebrows and says, “We? You started it, dude.” 

 Barry tries to string together a coherent response but only manages, “What!?…you…What…no…nope…okay, you know what…whatever” (my note: idk but why not, you know.) 

 Iris, ”There’s gotta be something we can do to take our minds off it.” 

 Barry gets a look on his face (cringe) and says, “Wait, I got it”. He flashes off and is back again before Iris’ hair can settle back into place, now holding a stack of board games. 

  Growing up (cause you know I had to bring in that cute kid shit, don’t sleep boy) Iris and Barry played board games all the time. It started when they were kids when Joe wouldn’t let them out to play in the rain, but soon it became a competitive obsession the two shared. 

 Iris, “Yes! This is perfect! Plus, I’m totally gonna kick your ass.”

 Barry, “(my note: I low-key want him to say “yeah okay sure, sweaty” but that’s not gonna fly) I love you but you’re going down, kid.” 

 They fly through the games, only to end up tied: Iris having won at Sorry and Scrabble, and Barry at Uno and Operation. 

 Barry, “I think you and I both know what we have to do now.”

 Iris, “Bring it, Barr.”  

Barry goes into the closet and pulls out Twister: the official tie breaker in the West household. They used to use it all the time to decide who could use the computer first, who got the last brownie, who could take the car…basically any argument was solved by the powers of Twister.  After shaking hands and wishing the other luck (my note: Joe didn’t raise no heathens, boys), they got down to it. 

***

Cut to a wide shot:(OBVIOUSLY THIS IS CORNY AS HELL BUT I LIKE TO IMAGINE THEY’RE LISTENING TO SOME SMOOTH NEW WAVE R&B SHIT LIKE GET YOU BY DANIEL CEASER OR SOME SMOOTH ASS TRACKS FROM SZA BECAUSE IN THIS HOUSE WE SUPPORT SMOOTH BLACK ARTISTS ┏┓   ┃┃╱╲ in this ┃╱╱╲╲  house ╱╱╭╮╲╲  we ▔▏┗┛▕▔    support ╱▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔╲            Black artists ╱╱┏┳┓╭╮┏┳┓ ╲╲ ▔▏┗┻┛┃┃┗┻┛▕▔ )

***

They were about 20 moves in and a tangle of arms and legs. Barry smiled when he noticed Iris’ elbow buckle ever so slightly and asked her, “getting a little tired there, pal?” 

 Iris straightened up, blew a few stray hairs from her face, and replied “Honey, I can go all night.” 

 Barry let out a small laugh before returning back to the wheel to spin for the next turn: LEFT FOOT RED. They situated themselves accordingly, forcing Iris more or less on top of Barry, with her leg in between his, and their faces maybe three inches apart. “Well, well, well” she said, “how are you holding up….buddy” She smirked when she saw him take a quick, silent gulp before answering, “I’m great. Just great.”

//Mostly// motivated by her need to beat him, she moved her face even closer, so that her lips nearly grazed his, and whispered, “You’re going down, Allen.”

 “Not this time, West” he whispered back and, barely avoiding her advances, spun the wheel again, putting the game back into motion.

 Another five moves go by, as well as an unprecedented amount of trash talk, to find Iris in a rather compromising position; this time with Barry on top of her. She shuts her eyes in attempt to suppress the increasing urge to grab her fiancée down to her and resume the evening’s earlier activity (CRINGE). Barry smiles at this and decides it’s his turn to play dirty (LOL GET IT CAUSE SEX). Iris can feel Barry moving closer to her, so she tenses up and shuts her eyes tighter. He plants light kisses on her skin (my note: the goddamn cringiest but Imma fucking commit), one after another, starting at the corner of her mouth and leading around the left side of her face. 

  He pauses to whisper in her ear, “if I’m going down then I’m taking you with me” and lightly kisses the small space between her ear lobe and her jaw bone – which, over the course of their relationship, he has come to discover turns her mind to mush. The contact of his lips (my note: OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GODDAMN CRINGE JEEZ BITCH GET YOU A MANS ALREADY) makes her body go weak. 

 She inhales sharply and, with her eyes still shut, begins repeating to herself, aloud, slow but firm: “I am not going to break I am not going to break I am not going to break”.

 Her concentration is laser sharp and he realizes that he’s going to have to work harder to make her fall. He starts to gently nip at the spot sending a shudder through her, from her shoulders down through her hips.

 It’s impressive how badly she wants to win – she hardly falters from her position. In fact, all of this affection has had the opposite effect, and Barry’s concentration starts to break (my note: you done did it to yourself now you fucking s a d b o i). He backs off and really looks at her, positioned there underneath him, with her eyes still shut tight. He can’t help but smile as he thinks again, for the millionth time that day, how unbelievably lucky he is to be marrying her: his beautiful, ridiculously competitive, trash talking, brilliant best friend.

 Iris finally, slowly, opens her eyes one at a time to see if the coast is clear only to see Barry –the biggest, most adorable, most caring nerd on the planet – staring down at her with nothing but love in his eyes. Then, at the same time, (my note: you know cause they’re best friends and shit and they are some t h I r s t y motherfuckers) they mumble, “fuck it” as he collapses into her and they abandon the game entirely. 

 

*** 

 ***

Basically after they get done doing whatever they’re doing (my note: THEY WAS FUCKING), Barry is holding Iris on top of the Twister mat (because they never did quite make it to the bedroom), mindlessly dragging his fingers over her arms. After a few moments of peaceful silence, she looks up at him and says, “so we’re calling that one a tie, right?” to which he responds, “oh yeah, no, without a doubt.”