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currentfandomkick · 6 months ago

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Also danny conking out immediately afterwards as a Toddler Body after channeling his adult frustration onto the cultists and it being read as a tantrum by Batman…

Who’s shoulders Danny flops on and passes out.

And if you want angsty route? Demon Twins or any variation (hell, Danny can be the younger sibling if you want to switch it up and have him be a year younger than Damian, or have Danny be older and the child Ra’s al Ghul reclaimed after Talia gave her and Bruce’s first born up to keep him safe from her Father and so Bruce would continue to be Batman) Danny was Danyal and died as a toddler in an assassination attempt on the al Ghul family. Damian knows his brother is dead, and finds out in death as a toddler he managed to become the Ghost King (Danny is actually the closest equivalent legally until Pariah chills out. He is Not king as far as he’s concerned, but is legally in charge of liminal, living and ecto-related relations in the realms and for many functions Is the acting king/regent. But is still Baby Ghost to many, and a Halfa to boot.)

Dick? Realizes Damian’s prickliness to calling anyone his brother is combo assassin and culture clash plus personal ‘i saw my brother die as a child in an attempt on the family’ and it mixed poorly with Bruce’s Found Family.

You can see Tim debating if Danny will try to kill him or be obsessed with him as Damian tried to kill him on various occassions (misunderstands that in Gotham contingencies are a necessity to make for one’s friends and family, and showing them said contingency is an act of love that he hadn’t decided he had with Damian at the time). Danny ignores Tim unless he is the only one with food and baby Danny hungers for food that won’t try to eat him back.

Stephanie? Cackling. And crying a little inside but mostly cackling. She is Danny’s favorite to ride on the shoulders of outside of Bruce as she has snacks, smells Not Horrible and will give him Batburger and waffles with little incentive. She also is the easiest to be a kid around and Danny is absolutely doing that while he can.

Jason is just. Calling Constantine and asking how hard it is to yeet the baby back to the Realms. As Bruce should not have children, let alone one that small and powerful. Man’s worried about child soldier, and then danny steals his mac and cheese in his hideout and leaves to play with Stephanie. Now its personal.

Cass and Danny give each other Uncanny Valley. Mutually confused and off-put. Danny can feel ecto and knows he knew her but cannot place her for the life of him. And she moves too ghostly without being a ghost. Cass is convinced Danny just doesnt understand how to human after being dead and is the first person she cannot read. This bothers her.

Duke and Danny vibe. Favorite after Stephanie. Duke and him dodge cops, jump off buildings and yes, get ice cream while the others patrol. Duke is the default ‘watch him’ person while the others patrol and toddler Danny enjoys Duke’s chaos, unhinged tendencies and good intentions. Excellent person, Danny is debating the merits of giving Duke a role in his pseudo-reign later on as This Guy Gets It. He’s debating what title Stephanie would like best, and he’s thinking Queen of Waffles but isnt sure if that one’s taken.

Danny doesnt care for Damian (damian blames himself for the death when they were toddlers and Danny was shot. The Lazarus stole him and never gave him back…) as man has Bad Ecto Smell like Jason and Cass. He hates it and is too exhausted to bother with it. Damian Worries about this and gets another complex Dick is working on with him.

Dick wants to bond with the toddler. The toddler sees Dick as ‘Damian’s’ and is giving him space. Dick tries to bulldoze this but toddler!Danny is Firm. Dick feels like he’s being punished(he isnt) as he wants to spoil the new baby while he can as he knows Jason is trying to have the kid shipped back to the realm the toddler rules and its technically correct but That Is A Toddler On The Throne. Dick has moral objections and a great need to give the baby care (this also makes Damian more insecure so. Play as you please here)

Danny meanwhile is having fun with his favorites (Stephanie and Duke) and keeps calling Bruce Dad as he looks like his dad and figures alternate universe.

Danny was wrong.

Jack is a doppleganger for Bruce (this just Happens sometimes) and Danny thinks Jack and Maddie are his bio parents. Boy remembers nothing about Nanda Param or the Cradle as he was a toddler.

Little Baby Man King

Batman had underestimated the cult. He’d been captured—as Bruce Wayne, no less—and been stripped of all the items on his person before being tied up in a strange device, half-technology and half–magic circle.

And they began to chant.

His hands worked at the bindings. They’d been tied well, and only had a tiny amount of give, but he’d escaped similar binds before. But it could take time. Time he didn’t have, if the increasing fervor of their words and thrumming of the circle gave any indication.

Still, he continued his work.

Suddenly, something seemed to crack and the temperature in the room plummeted. A fissure appeared in the ring, leaking Lazarus-green light. No, that was an understatement. Lazarus Water was just a sickly imitation of the glow emanating from the rift.

Bruce felt the ropes around his wrist finally come loose, but he worried it was too late as the crack expanded to fill the circle with swirling green.

A hand reached out from the depths.

A very small hand.

The figure that emerged was not some towering conqueror. It was a child.

A very cranky child.

“What the hell do you people wan— Dad?!”

what the fuck, did the cult forcibly make him adopt some otherworldly child-entity?

Danny could be forgiven for yelling and mistaking some guy for his father, alright?

He was exhausted! He’d been having a shitty day! Cut him some slack!

First he’d been physically de-aged into a toddler, he deserved to be pissed off about that. He was in college, damn it! How was he supposed to work like this? And to make things worse, some idiots had to go and tear a hole into the Ghost Zone. But not just that—nooo, that’d be too easy—they had to tear a hole right into the middle of Pariah’s Keep and nearly free him. Meaning that Danny, as the Zone’s own Designated Problem Solver Ghost King, has to go fix that.

The sooner he could get home and take a nap, the better.

At least now he has some fruitloops to take out his frustration on.

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp #dpxdc prompt #dp x dc prompt #de aged danny #jack and bruce lookalikes #misassumptions galore #let chaos reign #angst route opened

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tytach · 3 years ago

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Phantom of the Office - Haunted

Haunted

Dwight entered the office, briefcase in hand, his footsteps light. He approached the reception desk, humming absentmindedly Pferdchen lauf Galopp, hung his coat delicately on the hat stand, before heading towards his desk clump.

He stopped dead in his tracks, an expression of outrage replacing the blissful one he had been arboring on his face until that very moment.

"What’s going on with my desk?"

The camera panned to said desk. It was flipped upside down, office supplies neatly arranged on top of it to match their usual disposition.

"I don’t know. It was like that when I arrived," Jim supplied unhelpfully from his very normal desk.

"Haha, very funny," Dwight mocked flatly. "You put it back, right now."

"That’s what I did when I first saw it. But then I went to fetch a coffee and when I came back, it was like that again," Jim explained innocently.

But Dwight wasn’t dupe.

"I’ve seen enough of your stupid pranks to know what to expect from you, idiot. Put it back."

Jim lifted his hands placatingly.

"I swear I have nothing to do with this."

"Yeah, right. Care to tell me who did this then?" Dwight retorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

As if on cue, Danny walked in from the kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee in hand.

"Hey Dwight!" He greeted brightly. "What’s up with the long—," Danny blanched at the sight of the upturned desk. "Oh no. I thought I outran them."

"What? Who?" Dwight asked, suddenly alarmed.

Danny shook his head dejectedly.

"You don’t want to know," he said darkly.

"Who?"

"The ghosts, Dwight," Danny finally relented, staring the salesman straight in the eyes. "The ghosts."

———

"Dwight was quite overdue for a new prank," Jim told the camera. "And Danny here," the camera zoomed back to reveal the smirking young temp sitting right next to him, "brought a whole new range of pranking opportunities. He’s shown great interest in the project from the very moment I suggested the idea to him."

"We brainstormed a few ideas," Danny revealed. "But in the end we chose to go with the ‘haunted’ scenario."

"Lots of potential," Jim nodded approvingly.

Both Jim and Danny looked very proud of themselves.

———

"The other day you said ghosts don't exist," Dwight retorted.

"I was just trying to protect you," Danny said, shaking his head over-dramatically.

The temp resumed his walk back to his desk. Dwight hurried to intercept him, catching him by the upper arm. A bit of coffee sloshed over the rim of the cup.

"What do you mean ‘it’s too late now’?"

"Once they know you know about them, they don’t leave you alone. You should have believed me when I told you they don’t exist," Danny disclosed nonchalantly.

"Make them put my desk back," the salesman ordered.

The temp shook his head.

"I can't. There's nothing I can do anymore."

Danny freed his arm and walked past a stunned Dwight. The salesman was left standing on the spot, scanning his surroundings with suspicion.

———

"I knew Fenton was lying," Dwight told the camera gravely. "Someone from Amity Park can’t just deny the existence of ghosts without a good reason."

There was a knock on the wall somewhere to Dwight’s right. He jumped, turning towards the source of the sound with a German curse word.

———

"Too much?" Danny asked Jim in the interview setting.

"Nah. Just perfect."

———

The open-space was filled with the usual ruffling of paper and phones ringing when Kevin suddenly rose to his feet, almost knocking over his chair in the process.

"Waffle," was all the enthusiastic explanation he gave.

He ran to the kitchen under the confused gaze of most of his co-workers, only for him to come back twenty seconds later, looking distraught.

"I can smell waffles. Why aren’t there any waffles?"

Stanley grunted.

"Kevin, we’re trying to work here, could you— oh," he interrupted himself to take a discreet sniff. "You’re right. It does smell like waffles."

"Yes, that’s exactly what I was saying!" Kevin added, his tone a strange mix of excitement and disappointment.

Meanwhile, from his desk, Dwight was scanning the room.

"Unusual smell that can’t be traced…" he muttered, writing something down in a notepad.

———

Angela stormed out of the kitchen, heading straight towards Oscar.

"How many times do I have to tell you this is an office, not your personal fridge?" She scolded, eyebrows and lips pinched, her petite figure towering over her colleague.

Oscar slammed his pen down and looked up at her.

"What are you even talking about?"

"The thermostat! Why do you keep bringing it down? You know I’m sensitive to the cold!"

Oscar frowned.

"Angela, I haven’t left my chair in hours. Ask Kevin," he argued in a tone that he tried to keep conciliant.

"It’s true," Kevin piped up.

"Then how do you explain why it’s freezing in the women’s bathroom?"

"How would I know? The thermostat here doesn’t even impact the kitchen, let alone the bathrooms!"

Angela looked even more crossed for a second.

"Whatever. Just stop messing with it," she rebuked, turning back towards her seat.

The camera revealed Dwight, standing nearby, listening intently. As soon as the quarrel was seemingly over between the accountants, he strode to the kitchen and entered the women’s bathroom unceremoniously.

The wooden door wasn’t enough to dampen Kelly’s screech.

"Dwight, what the [censored] are you doing here?? Get out!"

The salesman exited the bathroom just as dignified as he was when he went in.

"Unexplainable temperature drop," he stated as he walked by the camera.

———

Alone with Jim in the conference room, Danny raised a fair point as he gesticulated towards the camera.

"Wouldn’t it lose all its magic if we revealed our tricks?"

"The cold in the bathroom was from a CO2 fire extinguisher. Pam did it," Jim disclosed without batting an eye.

Danny looked falsely annoyed.

"Way to go. And while we’re at it, maybe we should also tell them about the waffle we put in the vents?"

"Nah, let’s keep that one a secret."

Both shot big, goofy smiles at the camera.

———

"I have a theory," Dwight revealed. "I think Danny moved here to escape the ghosts haunting him."

He shook his head.

"He should know better, especially with his lineage. Moving 854 miles away is not enough. And now that idiot brought them right here," he sneered.

"Well. I won’t allow my office to be haunted."

Dwight pulled up a weird device that looked haphazardly put together.

"This is a Fenton Ghost Detector." He gave it a shake for emphasis. "First you find the specters with this online-bought device, and then you beat them back to death."

He lowered the detector.

"I wonder what Fenton did to anger them so much that they latched onto him," he said pensively as he turned on the machine.

There was a small lull. Then the radar biped once and chirped jovially:

"There is a ghost 65 feet away from you."

"Huh. Funny," Dwight pondered. He lifted the Fenton Ghost Detector, turning its screen towards the camera. "It says here that there’s only a single ghost in here. A level 8 entity. Not a whole bunch of ghosts like Fenton made it sound like."

Dwight fixated the camera intensely.

He then suddenly rose to his feet and exited the conference room, following the indications of the hand-held radar. The camera’s reaction to Dwight’s sudden departure was a bit delayed, but it did a good job of following in his tracks. The salesman crossed the open space at a brisk pace, lifting his head from the ghost detector only once he had reached Danny’s desk. He observed the vicinity with an acute intensity.

"Dwight, what are you—" Danny blanched when he laid his eyes on the detector. "Where did you get that?"

"Shh. There’s a ghost around. Don’t move," Dwight whispered, his gaze swiping the empty space above the temp.

The ghost detector didn’t have the same consideration for discretion.

"The ghost is right in front of you. You must be an idiot not to see it."

"Hey! I’m not an idiot!" Dwight retorted, offended.

But then he lowered his eyes on Danny, who did a very poor job of hiding his panic.

"Listen. That haunting thing was a joke," Danny stammered. "Those detectors thingies never work, they’re part of the whole Amity hoax. It’s a gadget for tourists, you know? So they tend to latch on people, to give them something to chase. Since actual ghosts don't exist." He added hurriedly.

Dwight frowned, examining Danny for an awkward length of time.

"Alright," the temp said hurriedly. "I'll let you figure this one out."

He rose to his feet, grabbed his empty mug and headed for the kitchen. Dwight's stare never wavered from his prey.

"The ghost is getting away. You really are an idiot," the detector chirped.

"Shut up."

———

Dwight was seated at his desk, thoroughly scrolling fentonworks.com.

"As you may or may not know, Jack and Madeline Fenton are two of the most respected ghost hunters and researchers," he whispered for the camera’s sake. "They also happen to have a website where they share information on their research; including a database of the ghosts they’ve encountered."

He frowned.

"The number of known level 8 ghosts is very limited. But look who we have here."

He pointed at the blurry picture of a ghost teen harboring a very smug expression.

"This is Phantom. I thought he was good at first, especially since he saved me, but listen to this: 'This is one of the most malevolent ghosts we know of. It will do anything to get on the good side of the public opinion, but don't be fooled: it is nothing but a ploy for whatever greater scheme it is preparing in the shadows. No matter how friendly it looks, do not engage’," he read.

Dwight looked back at the camera.

"It also says that the extent of his powers is unknown. Which means he could do literally anything. Including shape-shifting."

The salesman turned his head towards Danny. The young temp was sitting at his own desk, oblivious.

"And who better than the Fenton son to hide as? No one would suspect him."

Dwight looked back at the camera, his expression smug.

"No one."

———

"Attention everyone!" Dwight proclaimed as he climbed on his desk, knocking over part of his office supplies on Jim’s desk in the process.

All of his colleagues turned towards him.

"As you may have noticed, this office is haunted," he announced.

"Dwight, you do know that’s just Jim and Danny messing with you, right?" Phyllis chastised softly.

"That’s what they want you to think," the salesman dismissed disdainfully. "But I’ve uncovered the truth. They said there were many ghosts; but in reality there is just a single one. And that ghost is Danny," he revealed, pointing an accusing finger at the temp.

Eyes were rolled as the entire office let out a collective grumble and went back to work.

"Yes, this isn’t Danny Fenton right here," Dwight raised his voice to be heard over his colleagues’ complaints, "this is Danny Phantom, masquerading as Danny Fenton! Their names even sound the same!"

While no one was paying attention to Dwight anymore, Danny approached, furious.

"What are you doing??" He hissed.

Dwight shrugged, looking down on Danny.

"Exposing you. The real question is what are you doing here in Scranton, ghost?"

"Dwight, this isn’t funny. You could put me in real danger just by saying this in front of cameras." His anger made it hard for him to keep his voice low.

Dwight jumped off the desk.

"Oh, but that's precisely my goal," he said smugly, staring Danny straight in the eyes.

"I don’t understand, what do you have against Phantom all of a sudden? Not that I’m him." Danny defended himself, before turning to the camera. "I’m not a ghost," he repeated louder, pointing a finger at the camera’s lens to mark his point.

"You ask what I have against you, Phantom? Really? When you’re the one coming into my office to haunt it?"

"Come on, that was a joke, you know it!" Danny said between clenched teeth.

Jim rose to his feet.

"Dwight—"

"You didn’t come all the way from Amity Park just to play a joke on us, Phantom," the salesman interrupted, imperturbable, as he reached for the inside of his suit jacket. In one fluid movement, he pulled out a glowing green gun and pointed it at Danny. "So what’s the real reason you’re here?"

The whole office erupted in pandemonium, one half screaming, the other half jumping on Dwight to disarm him.

———

Dwight’s hair was disheveled, his glasses askew and his tie crooked; but it didn’t stop the smile from stretching his lips.

"Well, if that proved one thing, it’s that I’m right. Why would Phantom have reacted that strongly if it wasn’t him?"

His smile dropped.

"It’s a shame everyone else is too blind to see it. It’s also a shame ectoguns are forbidden in the workplace —even though they only maim ghosts."

The sinister smile returned.

"It’s ok. I’m resourceful."

———

"Dammit, I should have seen it coming," Danny whined, his head buried in his hands. "I thought it was ok, that I was far enough from home to pull that kind of prank, but nooo, of course not. I should have known it would backfire. That’s just how the universe works."

He looked up at the camera pleadingly.

"Please, don’t diffuse any of what happened today, that could be really bad for me. Also I’m not a ghost. I swear."

———

"Now this is a development I was not expecting," Jim acknowledged. "I knew Danny was into pranking, but I didn’t think he was that dedicated. Turning the story around to pass for the ghost?" He nodded approvingly. "I’m impressed. Ten out of ten creativity."

His expression grew serious.

"I just wish he would have run the idea by me first. Dwight is never going to get off his back now."

———

"No I’m not," Dwight confirmed.

#danny phantom #phantom of the office #dp fanfic #dp x the office au #my fic

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captaincravatthecapricious · 3 years ago

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After the Circus- Part 3

@janekfan

cw: strained friendships, arguing, fainting, dizziness, trauma, references to Jon's getting covered in lotion, disassociation, food mention, mentions of panic attacks (none in the story), canon typical season three Tim headspace (although he's being less mean!)

After his kidnapping, Jon continues to have a rough time

The next time Jon wakes up, he is actually able to sit up. He’s alone on the cot. For a moment, he almost panics, looking for Martin in the darkened room.

It’s hard to see. The only light is from the hallway, oozing in because the door isn’t entirely closed. He doesn’t have his glasses on. He doesn’t know where those are.

Does he just have to resign himself blurry vision and the headaches? Not as if he doesn’t get enough of those. He sighs. He can’t even remember when he last had them. Did he have them when he was kidnapped? Did he have them when he got back?

He makes out Martin’s blurry form sitting slumped in front of the cot. Leaning against it and the wall. Asleep.

Guilt pools in the bottom of Jon’s empty stomach. He doesn’t know what time it is. But Martin has, presumably, been here for hours. Jon doesn’t know how many, sliping in and out of lucidity too quickly to get a firm sense on space and time. Martin should be at home, forgetting all this supernatural shit as often as he can, for as long as he can. Not worrying about Jon. Christ, certainly not worrying about Jon constantly since Prentiss.

All those times Martin dragged him to lunch, or provided tea when he still treated Martin like shit.

Jon can’t look at him.

He wishes he could get Martin onto the cot and let him get some proper rest, but even in top health, he couldn’t lift Martin, let alone do it without waking him. Best to just drape a blanket over him and let him rest.

Jon… well he needs to get up. Get to the loo, get a jumper, get some water or food if he can manage it. He isn’t sure. There’s still a good chance he’ll just end up on the floor again. Especially without his cane.

At least he doesn’t have to worry about Georgie. He was leaving her place anyhow. She wouldn’t have expected a call. Probably.

Standing isn’t great, but he manages his first two tasks. Leaning on the wall is the best he can manage, but he makes the way to the break room, drowning in an oversized hoodie. And finds Tim.

Tim is on his phone. He looks… tired. He’s still wearing that familiar scowl, but it’s softer. If Jon didn’t know better, he’d say Tim was looking worried. If Jon didn’t know better, he’d think Tim might be worried about him.

He’d think about that more, if his vision wasn’t starting to darken. He takes a rather abrupt seat on the floor, in hopes of staving off another faint.

Jon, essentially slamming into the floor makes Tim look up. There is a long moment where he is caught between sitting still and rushing over. (See if he’s still awake, if he’s hurt himself, if he’s hit his head, get him some salt and a sports drink. The routine still ingrained.) But. He doesn’t know.

He finds himself half standing, phone halfway on the table, screen still on, game chirping at him angrily as he loses.

He finds himself hesitating for a long moment, before he walks over to Jon. Slowly.

Jon’s conscious, but looks he’s contemplating if he’s going to stay that way.

Does Tim want to help?

Does Jon even want his help?

If he touches Jon, will he scream again?

If Jon screams, will Martin wake up?

He does care if Martin wakes up. Martin hasn’t gotten much sleep… in months, but especially not in the last couple days looking after Jon, and making sure Jon got enough water, and any meager amount of sustenance that he can manage.

Tim wouldn’t stay for Jon, but he is staying for Martin.

He stands there, looming over Jon. Jon shrinks away. Instead of making Tim feel vindicated, he just feels empty.

He should help Jon. So Martin doesn’t lose even more sleep making sure Tim doesn’t follow the impulse to yell and kick and argue, or simply run away. That won’t help anything. He’s been fighting the impulse to hurt Jon for a while. But… but he can’t muster that anger, not now.

Not when Jon’s wearing a jumper that Tim left at Jon’s flat back in Research.

Not when Jon looks small and tired and sick and beaten.

And, Tim knows, he’s had his place in this. Much as he wants to blame the circus…

And that’s another thing, isn’t it?

This should bind them together, right? Even more so than the years of friendship before everything went to shit. This shared trauma. Even more so than the worms? That was a one-and-done day, and yeah, there was stuff leading up to it. Yeah, it left a hell of a mark. But it didn’t really change Tim’s life the same way the Circus had. Yeah, there was pain and pt and permanent scars, but the worms didn’t take Jon for a month, they didn’t kill Sasha and Danny.

Fuck, he doesn’t know. It all sucks.

The Worm trauma should have brought the three of them together (four, if Sasha had made it out, but that wasn’t the worms, now was it? Well, if not for the worms, maybe she wouldn’t have been taken. HE DOESN’T KNOW.) The more Tim thinks about this, the more half finished, nonsense bullshit he thinks up for himself.

None of what he’s trying to tell himself makes sense, and the confusion and anger sit heavily in his gut as he just stands there, like a moron.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

He drags his hands through his hair. Greasy and coated in days old gel. He needs some sleep. He needs a shower.

He should get Jon something to eat.

“I’m going to touch you, ‘kay?”

Jon looks too tired to argue. Good. He doesn’t think he can deal with Jon’s waffling or guilt or any of that bullshit. The ‘oh no I’m just grand why am I on the floor? no reason, let me just stalk you it’s fine.’

Not now, Tim.

Too tired for proper anger, and even if he wasn’t… Jon looks just pitiful, and the fight that he’s itching for won’t be satisfying if Jon passes out or cries on him.

Jon mumbles out, “‘kay.”

Good.

Tim scoops him up, just about effortlessly. And Tim doesn’t know if that’s the months of pt and vigorous workouts, or that Jon has dropped maybe 5 kilos that he didn’t have to spare. Or both.

Tim’s gotten his muscle mass back, maybe even more than he had to start with… all that extra rage funneled into gym time. Not particularly healthy, but better than drinking himself into a stupor every morning. Just… you know, most mornings. As you do.

The change of position is enough to knock Jon out the rest of the way. Head lolling against Tim’s chest.

Something flickers deep in Tim’s chest. His first impulse is to crush the feeling, but… he doesn’t. Jon isn’t okay. Tim isn’t okay.

He wants his friend from Research back.

Which… He doesn’t know if that’s possible. Not with broken trust and hair-trigger tempers. But, he’s just so tired.

He dumps Jon on the couch. Not too gently, but he props his feet up and goes to get him some lucozade and heat up a can of soup.

Jon’s starting to come around again by the time he gets back. The soup is… lukewarm at best. They ought to harass Elias into getting them a better microwave… In any case, it’s full of salt and it isn’t cold. So… that’s something. A little more substance than water and lucozade. So. It’s better than nothing. Try to get Jon up to eating an actual meal, but Martin had pointed out that he isn’t sure when Jon last ate solid food, since he was kidnapped by plastic bastards who apparently don’t really know how humans-or vaguely nonhuman monster bosses work and how often to water or feed them, so they should take it easy on Jon’s system for now. Which will make it easier on all of them.

Jon struggles to sit up, and Tim doesn’t know if he wants to help. Instead he holds the food and drink and …looms. Jon sits up and tucks his feet up, so the blood doesn’t pool, Tim’s memory supplies. Not particularly monstrous. …It’s painfully familiar.

“Small sips, then a little bit of soup.”

Jon nods, squinting up at him.

Probably not a good sign that Jon, apparently, couldn’t find the glasses folded on the box next to the cot with another glass of water. One Martin instructed Tim to keep constantly full. Should he be worried that Jon is still so out of it? Maybe?

But he’s heard what the Circus can do to people, and he doesn’t have any clue what they did to Jon. All he knows is, Jon is even more shy about touch than he has been. Not that Tim really noticed. But… he isn’t blind. Jon’s been waking up screaming more often than not when someone touches him. He seems okay when you go slow, or wakes up with Martin holding him, but an unexpected, or sudden, or moving at all hand, starts him into a panic attack.

How much does Jon even remember of those? How many has Martin talked him through? How many did Jon lose consciousness during? A lot of the last variety. But he doesn’t know the numbers.

Jon’s looking dizzy again by the time Martin rushes in. Tim had just helped ease Jon back down. Martin is trailing the blanket that Tim had been pretty sure Jon had been draped in last time Tim had actually been in the room and not playing on his phone. That besotted fool, Jon, must have put it over Martin before getting up.

“Where is he, Tim!”

“Martin, Martin. Stay calm, would you? Keep your voice down.” Tim is not used to being the one trying to deescalate. But Jon looks about half asleep. Barely registers the shouting. “Relax. I didn’t hurt him. Think he got up for the loo or for something, nearly fainted in here. Got him some soup and everything.”

Martin drops heavily into the nearest chair, with what Tim figures must be a hell of an adrenaline crash.

“He’s okay, Martin. Didn’t hurt him. I… I don’t think I want to hurt him. Not sure if I did in the past…I sure wasn’t helping. But I don’t think I do now.”

Martin doesn’t respond.

“He… he looks so… fragile. I… miss him. And I miss you.”

Tim looks down at Jon, and almost wants to tuck his hair back. That frizzy and tangled hair that Jon usually keeps… well not neat. But clean. It’s been scrubbed within an inch of its life. It’s dry and sad, and Tim almost …almost wants to fix it. But he isn’t ready for that.

Christ, he’s tired.

He joins Martin at the table, not quite ready to meet Martin’s eye. Not ready to see what Martin might say in return.

“I miss you too.”

#the magnus archives #tma #jonathan sims #tim stoker #timothy stoker #martin blackwood #whump #hurt/ comfort #jon has pots #cane user jon #cw strained friendships #cw arguing #cw fainting #cw suicidal ideation #cw ptsd #cw dissociation

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atqh16 · 4 years ago

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Take My Hand (Say You Need Me Still)

A Daredevil Fic (Matt/Foggy, Girl!Foggy. Pre-Slash)

Summary : Look, getting shot is just the New York experience. You haven’t lived unless you’ve been held at gunpoint at least once. And if you save someone doing it? Hey, bonus!

First Chapter: AO3

“I had to exist without you”,

Foggy had whispered those words as if in a trance. Face turned towards the sky as if speaking to no one in particular. Her words had been unprompted. They had been simply been enjoying each other’s company that day after a long work week and a chance to relax at a barbeque courtesy of Luke and Claire.

It was a month after Fisk and 7 before the incident at the police station. Matt remembers the both of them lying on a mattress futon and a pile of duvets on the roof of Colleens Dojo. Foggys tone had been soft but Matt was so focused on her that it was enough to drown out the other sounds around them. Luke and Danny laughing where they were manning the barbeque grill. Misty and Karen comparing notes on Jessica’s recent client which she didn’t appreciate but didn’t seem to mind enough to make them stop as she nursed her Jack Daniels on the edge of their conversation. Misty talking sports of all things with Colleen who was wholly and very competitively invested in the New York Yankees.

But they had all turned into peripheral noise to Matt. He had pushed himself up. Fully turned his body towards her. Something Matt didn’t really have to do since there was no visual component in his interactions with the people around him but Foggy had always appreciated the gesture. A sign of assurance from her best friend that his attention was completely and undividedly on her. For her. She’s always been proud of herself for being able garner that kind of reaction from him.

But at that moment Foggy herself had seemed distracted. Even without being able to see it, Matt could tell that her eyes weren’t directed at him. She felt distant. Sounded distant. A mirror of what Matt had been feeling ever since he came back.

He hadn’t really understood why at the time. After all he’d gotten everything he ever wanted. Even more. His firm, his partner, his identity and most importantly his friends. Not just Karen and Foggy. His best friend had made sure of that when she dragged him to Jessica’s place and sat outside her office slash apartment door while Jess tore Matt a new one over what he’d done and proceeded to throw him out with a door slam so hard the glass panel shook.

That night Jessica called his burner later telling him to meet her on a roof top (What is it with roof tops?) because she needed his ears and to quote her “You owe me. Your ass better be here in an hour”.

Matt was there before the hour was up with 20 minutes to spare.

“Fucking Boy scout”, Jess had muttered under her breath but Matt smiled and tossed her a brand-new grey scarf.

“It’s the cheapest one at Walmarts”, he had said but the softness of the material and the tag said otherwise.

Matt hadn’t needed prompting to show up on Luke’s apartment door next and meeting Danny at the Dojo where the millionaire had proceeded to wipe the floor with him in hand to hand.

“I let you win”, Matt had panted, trying to catch his breath.

“Keep telling yourself that”, Danny sniped back, though there was no heat in his words, as he threw him a water bottle.

Matt woke up the next day sore, bruised and unable to wipe the grin off his face when he showed up at the office that morning to an array of extremely expensive looking bouquets congratulating their re-opening and heavily perfumed because Danny Rand is a passive aggressive dick.

But it also came with a 6 digit cheque from Rand Industries so none of them were about to complain. “A gift, from Rand Industries to the Firm of Nelson and Murdock. To hopefully new and better beginnings” was written on the envelope it came with.

Matt wished it had been as easy with Foggy. Not that either of them had given any resistance in efforts of reconciliation. But there were no ‘How To’s’ they could follow telling them exactly how to do that. No guidebooks detailing the steps needed to take to rebuild a bond that had gone through so much. The awkward bubble between them seemed to only grow more and more, stretched thin and fragile and so vulnerable to the slightest touch.

Until that night when after a few bottles of beers and a feeling of relaxed contentment that only came with a full stomach, Foggy whispered her confession as if asking for contrition.

Her words, though morose, held no acrimonious judgment. But the vestige of pain in them was bare and it had twisted Matt’s insides to hear it. It was such a simple phrase but it held so much and he knew instantly that it had been something she’d been keeping quiet. Out of shame, thinking that it was something she didn’t have a right to feel. Afraid that it might make Matt more distant.

But it was an admittance that Matt had realized he needed to hear. An honest fearless truth that was not spoken to condemn but instead a plea for him to understand where she stood. For him to know she was still bearing pain that she herself found difficult to admit. So afraid that Matt would recoil from her for it. But how could he. How could he punish such fearlessness when he knows how much he had taken from Foggy?

Both of them had made mistakes, but Foggy had been so patient. Matt had already taken and asked so much from Foggy who still tried his best to welcome him back with open arms. But Foggy had never been one to tip toe around Matt about anything. A habit that could be aggravating at times but it was always a cost he had been willing to pay for the intimacy that was brought forward from it.

And this was Foggy begging Matt to have that chance for intimacy again. As if she didn’t deserve to ask for it and it was a failure on Matts part that Foggy would harbour such hesitation.

Even through all his secrets and fear, Foggys openness about where she stood in regards to Matt had always been a beacon for him. A guide to teach him how to be a friend. Lessons he’d been deprived off the second his dad died. Matt had cast out the hope of ever achieving such a relationship. Already given up early on at the thought that he could ever receive the kind of easiness that Foggy offered and it was a miracle for him that she did. A miracle that they had met in Columbia and a miracle that through all Foggys annoying habits, that he’d been open to give her a chance. A choice that he would never have made if Foggy had been anything less than who she was. She in of itself was a miracle to him and Matt was deeply torn that he had made Foggy ever feel otherwise.

“I had only ever wanted a friend”

Foggys words from the night of their huge fight came back to him and while it might have been said in less than stellar circumstances, he knows even then that it had rung with truth. Foggy had never asked for anything more. How could he have failed to give her something so simple.

After a while Foggy finally turns her face towards Matt. He tastes salt in the air but doesn’t move to address it because he needs to focus right now. To really listen and conscientious, to what Foggy was trying to say. A lack in communication had after all been their downfall. Too much resentment over kept secrets and rancorous unspoken anger.

But there’s none of that hanging in between them now. Instead, Matt heard what wasn’t spoken loud and clear.

“Don’t leave. Don’t make me go through that again. Stay. Here, with me”

Matt doesn’t think there’s anything he can say that could live up as an answer to that so instead he creeps his hand forward to grasp Foggys in a sincere hope that his own words would ring with the same vulnerable truth that Foggy had offered.

“I’ll try”

Things had gotten better afterward. The honesty Foggy openly shows was an invitation for Matt to do the same. Not a demand and Matt will forever be grateful for that. But even so Matt still walks on eggshells at first. Not knowing what he was allowed to reveal. What was welcomed and what was not. Foggy like always, had put Matt at ease the way she always could.

It starts with an open invite to a home cooked dinner where Foggy made it clear that she wanted to know more about Matt’s abilities.

“If you want that last brownie you’re gonna have to impress me Murdock and for extra motivation, it’s a corner piece”

Matt had laughed, “I’m not sure what you’re asking here Nelson. I’m not sure I want to. The last time you gave me a dare I ended up doing the chicken dance in the college cafeteria”

“Boohoo, you deserved it after that stunt you pulled with the waffle incident. I’ve still got the burn marks to prove it. Now enough excuses and man up Murdock”

The banter might have sounded harsh to a stranger’s ears but it held such a familiarity that Matt rejoiced every second and every word. But despite all that he was still so scared to ruin what they were trying to rebuilt. Scared to run Foggy off with ‘too much’.

Foggy had again, nudged him into it gingerly and with such patience that Matt hadn’t found it in him to deny her.

She asked him to talk about what he could taste in the food she’s cooked. At first Matt was afraid to criticize but Foggy had started doing so herself. Once after a dinner Chicken Paprikash of all things, she asked if Matt sensed the yoghurt that used was close to getting bad. Matt tentatively had noted that it wasn’t rancid but it was definitely way past its prime days. Foggy wasn’t annoyed, instead she breaks the tension and laughing, jabbing about how horrible some parts about Matts senses must be. About the embarrassing things he’s had to endure.

To Matt’s surprise, the topic of his abilities became a favourite thing to talk about whenever they spent time together.

“Are you saying everytime I found you staring into space in your room it was because you got contact high from your stoner neighbour 5 rooms away from your dorm?”

Matt had groaned and dropped his forehead onto his folded arms in embarrassment. It was enough of an answer Foggy needed.

“Oh my God, you turned them in! Matthew Michael Murdock you tattle tale”

“It wouldn’t be such a problem if they didn’t get stoned every night. It was barely a secret anyway. The corridor reeked from it and personally I think I did a public service”

“Did you snitch on me bringing snacks into the library too?”

“No Foggy, that was all the crumbs you didn’t bother cleaning off your dress everytime we passed the librarian. She could probably smell the Cheeto dust on your fingers a mile away”

“I knew it! You threw away my Cheetos stash didn’t you!”

“They’re like cheese dust bombs! They were more chemicals than actual food. I did you a favour”

“And here I was thinking Tanya was stealing them from my bag during civics”

“The girl who sat beside you? Oh, she stole food from you all the time. You left your bag unzipped, it was inevitable”

“And you never told me?!?!”

“Most of the things you had in there were junk food. It’s no wonder you were on a sugar high all the time”

“In my defence, Redbull and Twinkies are a perfectly good way to combat law school stress”

“Oh god the Twinkies!”

“Don’t you dare go after Twinkies!”

Just like that the tension brought from the elephant in the room that was Matts powers was broken. Foggy made a game out of Matt trying to guess all the ingredients she’s used on nights that she cooked. Matt had initially protested on the unfairness of it all but eventually stepped up to the challenge cause he’s a competitive bastard and Foggy knows it.

“How am I supposed to know what kind of nuts you used in the Pad Thai??? I can barely afford anything other than ground nuts”

“Excuses. You haven’t suggested anything else either”

“I know you used Italian basil instead of Thai”

“Whats the difference?”

“Thai basil has a sharper taste”

“And more expensive”

“Authenticity is important. We don’t want to get sued for cultural appropriation and all”

“Oh look at me, I’m Matt Murdock and I can only eat fancy organic Thai Basil”

“It doesn’t matter, I won. Now give me my brownie Nelson!”

“Bite me Murdock!”

Matt won 9 times out of 10. The game was rigged and they both knew it but they usually ended up splitting the last piece of whatever dessert they had for the night anyway so it was never really about winning. Not for either of them anyway. On nights when there were no sugary delicacies waiting for them after their meal, if Matt won, he got to pick what they did after dinner. Watch a show, listen to an audio-book, play games before he had to leave for the night for patrol. Foggy never complained except for an over exaggerated whine or two at Matts predictability.

It’s fun, intimate. They don’t just focus on the fun stuff either. Matt had wanted to get even more intimate. He was tired of carrying all his secrets and for once he was the one who took the leap to trust that foggy wouldn’t run.

So, one night Matt finds himself stumbling into Foggys apartment after patrol. It was closer and he had a concussion. He was surprised when Foggy didn’t freak out like he expected and actually knew how to handle the situation. Like she’d prepared for it. She got some lessons from Claire who owed her for helping Luke. She doesn’t talk about when she started doing it or why. Matt didn’t know if he was ready to hear the answer either.

“You know, I could always keep my window unlocked. If you ever… ya know, need to come over”

“I don’t want to wake you”

“I always sleep late anyway and besides; I’d rather know you have somewhere to go if you need to then........”, Foggy trails off but Matt doesnt need to be a psychic to know where her thoughts had went.

“I don’t want to make thing’s hard for you", he says back and they both know he didnt just mean waking her up late.

“Matt, I want to.”, Foggy had said, firmly as she smoothed the Arnica cream over his newest bruise.

Her heart had beaten with a steady thud of truth, truth, truth.

It was comforting to know that Foggy wasn’t soaked in fear and disapproval the way she used to be before, and he did come over sometimes. Once or twice a week to get his ribs bandaged properly when they were bruised or some cuts stitched. Matt can tell Foggy’s nervous and queasy about the stitching but she soldiers on anyway and it reminds him of Maggie telling him how she had done the same for his dad when they were together and the similitude makes a roll of warmth coil around his insides like a soothing balm. It feels right.

He realizes when he gets home as is drifting off to sleep, that it’s not something he’s ever had with Elektra either.

“Foggy, I need to tell you something”

“Hmmm?”

“About midland circle”

“Matt-”

“I need you to know, why I stayed. Why I didn’t try to come back.”

“Matt, you don’t-“

“Foggy please. I need to do this”

“Ok Matty. Fire away"

“It wasn’t about you, or Karen. Maybe that’s hard to believe. I’m not gonna lie and say it wasn’t selfish of me because it was. I hurt you. You gave me the suit and you trusted me and I let you down. But you have to know Foggy, it wasn’t because of you”

Matt had ducked his head in shame

“Truth is I wasn’t thinking about anything else at that moment. I’m impulsive, we both know that. You’ve always known that. I was so overwhelmed by the fact that she was alive that I-“

He gulped.

“Did I tell you how she died? The first time?”

“No”

“It was because of me. She took a knife to the chest for me and she died in my arms and it was my fault Foggy. It was my fault. The worst part is, she’d told me beforehand that she wanted to stay with me. She wanted to try and she died in my arms because of me. I heard her heartbeat stop and it was because of me and I couldn’t… I couldn’t move Foggy."

He remembers feeling his eyes water, struggling to keep them from flowing into streams down his cheeks. But he couldn’t stop the way his voice choked.

“And I heard her heart beat that day when I found out she was alive. The way she moved, the familiar scent of her and how warm she was whennever she was close. She was so alive and I was desperate to save her this time. When she refused to leave Midland, I couldn’t leave her behind. I couldn’t leave her alone. I couldn’t let her die because I couldn’t save her for the second time. I couldn’t foggy. Everything was falling apart around us but I held her and she was so alive. I couldn’t let that go. I’m sorry Foggy. I’m sorry I hurt you. But I can’t be sorry for staying with her”

“Matt I’m not angry”

He’d perked up at that.

“I mean I was initially. Went through all 5 stages of grief. Thought a lot about beating you up if I ever saw you again. Blamed myself for letting you go. For not giving you a stronger reason to stay-”

“Foggy-”

“I understand why you did it now. But back then all I could think about was how you’d left me. You broke your promise and you left us and I kept having nightmares of how you were probably still alive and had just fucked off to god knows where with her. It took me too long to realize I’d rather you were alive then dead even if you had”

“You had a right to say no when I asked for help. I stole your wallet. I took advantage of you the second I saw you again. It was a dick move on my part”

“Oh, trust me, it definitely was and I’m not gonna let you forget that for a very long time. You owe me so many favors. But I got you back Matt. I’d asked for only one thing ever since I lost you and I got you back. How could I turn my back on that? You’re so good Matt. I know you don’t believe it but you are. Even if I was pissed, I knew you were doing things for a good reason. I knew it was because you were helping people and I’m a damned lowlife if I even thought of turning my back on that. I’m not angry at you Matt. You’re my best friend. I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not gonna stomp off again if we get into another huge fight. But I can promise I’ll always try to come back. Maybe it’s not right for me to ask you to trust that. I know enough about your past to know that’s not an easy thing for you to do……...”

“You’re the one person I trust the most, Foggy”

“Karen-”

“- is a good friend. But she hasn’t stuck around and followed me into making stupid decisions for the past ten years of my life. If there’s anything I regret, it’s not trusting you with my secrets. For hurting you with them. If there’s anything I’d redo it would be that”

“We don’t know if I would’ve been open to accepting that back then. Heck, I don’t even know what I would’ve done if you did tell me. You had good reason to worry”

“After everything, I should’ve taken the chance. There’s no one I trust more in this a world than you Foggy. Maybe that’s hard to believe considering how many promises I’ve broken. But I’m going to do everything I can to keep this one"

“…… Thank you, Matt”

It had taken everything in him to admit it, but after all they’d been through. After all Foggy had given him. Foggy had earned the right to it. That part of him. He expects to feel fragile and small afterwards but instead he feels lighted. Just like before, it felt right. This was the path they were destined to be on. The path they both have worked hard for. Foggy had returned his vulnerable revelation by sidling up to him. Intertwining their fingers and leaning to the side to place a soft peck on his temple. Matt couldn’t find it in him to pull away. They stayed that way in silent comfort until they’d both nodded off. Her head fitted to the crook of his neck and Matt’s own resting on hers.

Matt had woken up first the next morning to Foggys head on his lap. A soft and unladylike snore whistling pass her lips and he remembers how it had annoyed him to no end through their first year of law school, on nights when Foggy had fallen asleep from exhaustion on Matt’s bed after a night of unending studying with him in his room. But after a while it had become a familiar comfort, accompanied by the beating thrum in her chest. An unexpected lullaby especially on nights when both of them were overwhelmed. Matt had a single room and Foggys roommate was never around, preferring to stay at her boyfriend’s place most nights. They switched between each other’s room every other night, more and more often but it never felt invasive.

Matt hopes Foggy knows how important her presence had been for him at the time.

He hadn’t attempted to wake her up that morning from her peaceful slumber even as his legs felt numb from the weight. Instead, and he stupidly hadn’t realized why he’d done it at the time, he found himself gliding his knuckles on her cheek, realizing in that moment how long it had been since they’d been this close. How much he had missed it. Touch starved in a way he hadn’t felt in a long while since they met.

This progress, this newly attained intimacy doesn’t stop. There is a relief in being able to talk to his best friend again about every part of him that he had always feared she wouldn’t accept. Not just about the heavy, things either. Even the small, minute, careless details.

To Foggys credit, she bares herself raw the same way he does.

“How did you get so good at cooking?”

“I take offence to that. I was always a talented cook”

“Pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches maybe.”

“Hardy har. And you can boil an egg, good for you.”

“Seriously, curry noodles? I didn’t think you even knew where the spice section was”

“It was… it was actually after Midland. I couldn’t sleep sometimes and I’d stay up watching cooking channels and I gave in and just started actually making them myself. I started small but I got used to handling things after a while. It was actually… therapeutic”

“Foggy…. I-“

“Matt stop, seriously. I meant what I said. I’d rather have a life with you and all the adrenaline fueled bullshit, then a quiet life without you. Always. So, don’t worry, ok? We’re good. I promise”, Foggy had ended her little speech by reaching out to tap her fingers in a comforting rhythm on his knuckles and Matt had asked himself for the hundredth time since he got back, what he’d done to deserve such loyalty.

“Also you’re washing the dishes and paying for lunch tomorrow”

Matt had let out a burst of laughter, “Haven’t I been paying for lunch anyway?”

“And you’ll keep paying for lunch until further notice. Besides, you’re getting a free home-cooked dinner almost every other night so I’m not going to hear a peep out of you”

He’d raised his hands in a mollifying gesture, “No arguments here”

“And none of that healthy stuff too”

“Damn"

The catholic part of him that latched on to guilt too close, wasn’t satisfied. Not even close. He’d done too much, made too many mistakes. He didn’t deserve what Foggy and even Karen for that matter, were giving him. A step onto green grass that promised him sanity in exchange for something as simple as him pulling down his walls for them. To not push them away. And if that’s what Foggy asked for then Matt was going to teach himself to give it to her, even as he he itched from old habits to pull back behind said walls.

It takes 6 months for them to go through all the unsaid baggage that had been floating in the water like leftovers from crash created by their past mistakes. But at the end of it all, Foggy poked her head into his office again and told him to hurry up if he wanted her to do any actual cooking.

“I feel like I’m being sabotaged”,

“You don’t need me to do that”

“Well, that’s not very helpful”

“I mean, I didn’t tell you to try make dinner rolls from scratch, did I?”, Matt had said with a tone of faux pettiness.

“That was not my fault! I didn’t know cats could smell the yeast all the way from the alley! Ruined a perfectly batch of dough. I spent 20 minutes kneading!”

“I told you to close the window. Fair is fair, I didn’t know cats liked yeast either, I’ll give you that. So, what’s on the menu tonight?”

“Well, you made Italian last week and I’ve been exchanging gossip with Mrs Yong for a while now….”

“Getting tips from your Vietnamese neighbour is cheating”

“Do you want to eat or not?”

“I’m guessing Pad Thai?”

“Couldn’t afford your oh so expensive cashews that you just have to have. Its Pho!! We are having Pho tonight! I spent 6 hours simmering a potful when I was going through the Jenner case last week and now, I’ve got enough frozen pho in my freezer to serve 8! I mean, I did have enough for 8. It’s more like 3 now. Maybe 3 and a half”

“Is that what you were passing to Karen and Mrs Adli yesterday?”

“Karen needs to eat more if she keeps spending her nights consorting with Jessica Jones. God knows what diet Jones is on. I gave Karen extra to pass to her so hopefully she’ll see it as incentive to keep giving us tips. We definitely can’t afford her”

“I’m sure you can charm a few more favours out of her. And Mrs Adli?”

“Oh yeah, her kids sick were with the flu and from what Mrs Yong told me, Pho has magical healing powers that can beat chicken soup any day”

“You didn’t eat the rest, did you?”

“Boo hoo, shame on you. Unlike you, I know how to bribe our friends. I gave some to Claire and Brett. He looked like I was trying to poison him”

“To be fair you did once”

“I was 5! He wanted to play Mommies and Daddies and I might have been overzealous about preparing dinner”

“You know if he finds out you told me he’ll have you thrown in Rykers himself”

“Which is why if you want any of that Pho yourself, you’ll keep yourself quiet you dick”

The air between them had turned so light and easy. Every morning Matt woke up beaming with joy at the simple thought of being able to just be with her so close throughout his day and every night he was lulled to sleep by the memories left from it.

There were no more walls. No more fear or doubt. Not with her. Not anymore.

“I went to see Maggie today.”

“Yeah? How is she? I haven’t met her yet”

“She’s fine. She wanted to wish me Happy Birthday”

“That sounds nice”

“Yeah……. She gave me her ring. The one my dad gave her. It was one of the few things she had from my dad and she wanted me to have it”

Foggy had stayed silent for a moment before responding, “That was nice of her”

“Yeah. It’s nothing fancy. Doesn’t have a diamond or anything. It’s just a smooth gold band. But she said my dad saved up for months to get it. It sounds just like him. She wanted to talk with me a bit longer but I just…. Couldn’t. I think I hurt her feelings when I left”

“You don’t owe her anything Matt.”

“It was rude”

“Matt, hey, I need you to listen ok. I need you to listen to my heart. Are you listening?”

Matt remembered how his throat had tightened so he had just nodded to the question.

“I love you Matt. You’re my best friend. I will always love you. But you need to know, hey, listen buddy. You need to know that you never have to earn that from me. Not from me, not from Maggie, not from Stick, not from anybody”

“I could’ve tried harder”

“You shouldn’t have had to. You were just a kid”

“Didn’t stop them from leaving”

“And it was their fault, not yours. You didn’t deserve any of it.”

“I’d asked them to make it stop.”

“What?”

“It was after Midland. There were two guys, trying to hijack a car. I couldn’t beat them so I asked them to make it stop. To just.. end it.... end me. It was so pathetic Foggy-”

Mat hadn’t realized she’d moved from her seat until her arms were around him. Her grasp was gentle but Matt got the feeling that hell or heaven couldn’t tear her away no matter how hard they tried.

She was on her knees beside him where he was sitting on the couch. One hand pulling his body to her chest and the other caressing the side of his head. Nose buried in his hair, whispering softly, “No Matty, no. Never. God, you’re so good Matt. So brave. So strong. It’s ok to not be sometimes. I’m here. I promise. I’m right here”

For some reason, Matt had let out a startled laugh but he had felt something wet streaming down his face and suddenly he was choking on sobs. His own arms folded around her middle and he lets go. Lets himself sink into her, head buried into her shoulder, not thinking even for a second that it would be enough to cover up how loudly he was crying. But Foggy hadn’t said a word. Once upon a time he might have felt indignant at the idea of being so vulnerable with someone like that. He hadn’t been this open since Elektra and look how that turned out. Elektra herself had been different. He loved her. He still loves her. Loves how comfortable he felt in her presences. Unguarded and free.

But unguarded and comfortable was different than allowing himself to feel and appear weak. To let someone see the broken and jagged pieces that made him who he was and not be afraid to be judged for it. Elektra never made him feel like home. At least not the kind of home his dad had given him as a kid. Safe. At ease.

Loved.

They fell asleep that night like that. Lying on the couch, Foggys arms wrapped around him tights and close. His head tucked in the dip of her clavicles. Curled into her and knowing with absolute certainty that she wouldn’t ever let him go.

Matt woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes and the annoying tap of Foggys fingers on his cheeks.

“Wake up sleepyhead. The pancakes are getting cold and I don’t want to hear you whining about it”

For a second Matt had refused to open his eyes even as the corner of his lips were pulled up.

“Five more minutes mom”

“Very funny. Catch me making you breakfast again you ungrateful prick”

Matt had let out a disgruntled groan but relented to push himself up with an over exaggerated stretch.

“You owe me groceries for this”, Foggy sing songs, pushing a plate stacked with pancakes, dripping with an unhealthy amount of syrup just the way Matt liked it. It’s one of his most unhealthiest guilty pleasures but fuck him if every bite didn’t have him melt with sinful pleasure.

“It’s the least you could do with how you had half my ass hanging off the couch last night”, Foggy continues as she digged into her own stack.

“It’s not my fault your apartment is so warm. I was practically cooking”, Matt had clapped back but was half-hearted and said through a juvenile muffled mouthful of his breakfast.

“Price of being the little spoon my friend”

Matt indulged her with an eye roll but he’s much too distracted with his breakfast to keep up the banter. Foggy sneakily pushes the extra plate pancakes forward followed by the bottle of organic syrup that was way too obscenely expensive for her budget but so very worth it to see Matt light up animatedly with a child-like glee at the taste of it on his delicate taste buds.

They had continued their banter a bit more over a steaming cup of coffee and all the while Matt realizes in that moment that he felt truly and incandescently happy with his life and where he was then compared to how where he was just six months before and a large part of it was because of Foggy. Karens acceptance of him had been great. But foggy knew him more than anyone. It’s Foggy that despite their decade long friendship, he’d disappointed and hurt and let down over and over and the fact that Foggy was still there, a constant unerring affirmation of his worth. That if there was someone in his life that could love and stick around the way foggy had then life was definitely worth living no matter what it threw at him. Foggy who’d given something no one else had. Not even Elektra.

Matt truly and utterly realize that Foggy at that moment, after so much time and effort on both their parts, truly knew him better now, more than anyone ever did. And with it Foggy had given him something he hasn’t felt since his dad died

And its not just the happiness. It’s a deep rooted and affection of what they have. Of what they’ve built through it all. . It’s a fondness. Its an appreciation. It’s a love that has driven right down to his core, so deep that its become part of his being. Its… wait… oh…. OH….. oh shit.

#foggymatt #foggy nelson #matt murdock #Daredevil #mine #my writing

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bert-thefrog · 4 years ago

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Grief - Rafael Aveiro

Content Warning: Character Death, Cheating

Word Count: 1097

Rating: SFW

Rafael Tag List: I have forgotten...

Perma Tag List: @msjpuddleduck @lilyoffandoms @itsbrindleybinch @twin-skltns @theo-oface

Description: Not me appearing like a year and a half after I last wrote anything on this site. This is basically if Sora and Rafael stayed together but PB still killed him. I’ve had this in my drafts for a few months. Please tell me if you remember if you were meant to be on my tag lists or not.

Our love is a river long. The best right and a million wrongs. – ‘Go Solo’, Tom Rosenthal

“It’s alright Casey; it’s going to be alright.” Bryce strokes my hair in a futile attempt at comfort as I cling to him sobbing.

“He’s gone.” I choke, crying harder as a fresh wave of grief washes over me. Bryce doesn’t reply, holding me tighter without another word. There’s nothing anyone could say right now to make the pain go away. Everyone is grieving in their own way. Elijah sits silently by the window, staring at the world outside blankly. Sienna is in the kitchen, distracting herself by baking. But the tears in the mixing bowl weren’t part of the recipe. Jackie, I don’t know. She hasn’t left her room since the news broke.

Aurora called us a few hours ago from Mass Kenmore. Rafael Aveiro is dead. I didn’t hear the rest. I don’t want to know.

“Someone should check in on Sora.” Elijah speaks up. Sora. Shit.

“Oh god. Poor Sora.” Sienna bursts into a fresh flood of tears, but my stomach churns at their words. It’s not that I don’t feel for her, but how do you comfort the grieving girlfriend of the man you were sleeping with and not feel like a complete fraud?

“Casey, you knew them both best. Maybe-“

“No.” I cut Elijah off before he can even finish the sentence.

“Not the best time Elijah.” Bryce shakes his head at him across the room.

“Sorry, I just thought because they were friends...” He trails off.

The word is a punch to the gut. Friends. That’s all anyone knew we were since Sora came back into his life, if they knew the truth they’d be disgusted, furious. Especially since this was all my fault. He was about to tell her the truth, to leave her so we could make a proper go of things. That wouldn’t happen now. None of the plans we’d made would.

…

“Casey are you coming?” Jackie sticks her head around the door, morning of the funeral. She’s already dressed, ready to leave. Meanwhile I’m still buried underneath the covers, same place as I’ve hidden for the last week.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” The bed dips with her weight as she sits down beside me, hand resting on where my shoulder is buried by the duvet.

“I just can’t face it.” I don’t tell her about Sora’s text, warning me she knew, to keep away. It only confirmed my worst fears; that this really had been all my fault. In his decision to leave her for me, I set about a cataclysmic chain of events – starting with a kiss and ending with an upturned car wreckage on the side of the road.

“I hate to be that person, but this isn’t about you Casey. Our friend is dead, and we have a responsibility to show up for him and for Sora.”

“Sora doesn’t want me there! Okay?” I throw the covers off me, sitting up to stare my best friend down until she leaves.

…

“She hasn’t gotten out of bed in days, I know they were close, but this is crazy. Ramsey is worried about her clocking up enough hours to stay in the programme.” I can hear Sienna in the hallway, talking softly to an unknown.

“You don’t think-” Aurora trails off.

“No. No way, Casey would be some secret affair. She’s too good for that.” Sienna leaps to my defence immediately. If only she knew.

“I’m not so sure. You know Sora told her to stay away from the funeral, right?” Jackie interjects.

“What?” Both Sienna and Aurora are stunned by the news.

“That doesn’t mean anything. She’s just grieving. Grief does funny things to us – we all know that.” The voices get quieter as the trio retreat to the living room and I begin to feel guilty, remembering how Sienna lost Danny.

…

“You’re up!” I hear Sienna before I see her, turning around in the kitchen to where she’s standing in the entryway.

“Yeah. I thought I better get back into the hospital at some point. Don’t wanna lose my residency.”

“Ah. You heard us yesterday.” Sienna blushes and I offer her a watery smile.

“It’s okay. You guys were just worried about me.”

“Did…” She struggles to find the right words for a moment. “Did you still love him?”

“I did.” I concede and understanding flashes between us for a moment. “It was after everything with the senator…” She winces, remembering. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Do you want to talk about him? With me I mean?”

“Not yet. I’m not ready yet.”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

…

It was right after everything with the senator, the cannister and Danny. Sora went home for the night, once she knew Raf would pull through. And I, I hovered outside his room, weighing it all up. What I was about to do – was it worth it? We had nearly died, if there was ever a time to risk it all. It was now.

“Casey I know you’re there, come in.”

“Sorry.” I hesitate in the doorway until he pats a space on the bed beside him, inviting me to sit there.

“Don’t be. What is it?” His hand finds mine, stroking the pad of his thumb across my knuckles gently. Here goes nothing.

“I love you. I never stopped loving you and sometimes I don’t think I ever will stop loving you and it hurts Raf. It hurts.” I didn’t want to cry but somehow the tears won’t stop falling, rolling down off my cheeks and onto the blue waffle bedcovers.

“Casey…”

“Please don’t say anything. Please? Just give me one more minute where I can believe you love me too before you break my heart all over again.” I take a deep breath, using my free hand to wipe away the rogue tears still making their way down my face. He holds my other hand tighter, watching me wordlessly.

“You don’t have to stop believing that.” He whispers, watching me with tired eyes.

“What?”

“You don’t have to stop believing that. I love you too.” He repeats, voice a little stronger this time. He tugs the hand holding mine, until I get the hint, lying down beside him and curling into his side, wary of all the wires around us.

“What are we going to do?” I question, letting my eyes open and close drowsily when he kisses the top of my head.

“We’ve got time. We’ll figure that out.”

…

But time is up.

#rafael aveiro #rafael x reader #open heart #choices open heart #choices #open heart fanfiction #fanfiction

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theweepingmonk · 4 years ago

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First line game

Tagged by my lovely friend @rhyslahey

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all! See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!

1) Perihelion | Sc*saac, 9.5k Draft

Monos and Probes are soulmates. That's what everyone says despite how many stories end in tragedy.

2) Swallow The Sun | Sc*saac 6k Draft

It was stupid the way Isaac had been captured.

3) To Rewrite The Stars You Must Have Courage | Haoting/Xigu Half baked idea I'll probably never finish tbh |

Haoting watches as Xigu smiles down at his phone, oblivious to the world around him, and he smiles too, just happy to exist here with him.

4) Can't Spell Never Without Ever | St*lia, 1.4k draft abandoned VDay fic agshsh |

Malia frowns at the giant Valentine’s Dance poster she'd just put up.

5) Home Ec | Sc*saac, 771 word draft, abandoned vday fic

"Isaac, did you set the oven to 450?" Scott asks.

6) Idk | Sc*nny abandoned oneshot, 192 word draft, winter/xmas themed fic |

Danny shivers against the cold as he waits for the bus along with his teammates.

7) idk yet | B*llarke smut fic, 796 word draft supposed to be my 100th fic

Clarke stares out the window of the house given to them by the people of Sanctum.

8) amor vincit omnia | Sc*saac, 4.7k draft, abandoned secret christmas present I was writing for you Rhys agshshs |

Isaac doesn't trust Theo Raeken from the moment he arrives, and it's the only thing - maybe the first thing - him and Stiles agree on.

9) Silver Moon | Allison/Malia fic, 778 word draft, Idk i kinda forgot about this one tbh asfhshd

Allison couldn't stand the returned Hale child from the moment they met.

10) To Walk Amongst The Stars | Trick, 2.9k draft, I started writing this when I was playing ME:A on Insanity and every now and then I remember it exists |

Dreams of a foreign land fill Nick Clark's head as he floats through space towards a new and unknown galaxy.

11) The Black In Our Wool Is From The Ashes Of All We Destroyed | Trick, 6.5k draft |

Nick stares at himself in the mirror, chanting this is me, this is me to himself, gripping the edges of the sink tightly

12) Not Interested | Sc*saac, 724 word draft |

"Not interested, thank you," Isaac said, sliding the keys to Stiles' jeep back across the kitchen counter before taking another bite of his waffle.

13) vamp au | Sc*dia au, 6.3k draft, just a half fic living in my drafts for now |

Lydia takes her fourth shot of the night, determined to numb the hurt her ex had left her, and Allison gives her a worried look.

14) Heat Waves | sc*saac, 1.4k draft |

Isaac stares at the door of his childhood home with a sort of anxiousness typically expected of visiting your family after a long time away, minus the family

15 ) beta!st*les fic | st*lia fic, fix it fic, basically St*les gets turned against his will and it has far reaching consequences. Isaac is there too and so is his fat crush on scott. Idk i come back to this occasionally but never get anywhere |

Stiles follows the pattern the guard walks in with his eyes, wondering why he kept hopping just before he turned.

That's all I'll share. Now all of us have learned that I often write down and play with every little idea in my head and often don't finish them asdddhshdj

I won't tag anyone but feel free to tag me if you want to do this!

#tag games #long post

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kimera20 · 5 years ago

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Fave AU

Dannymay 2020 day 15

Also in AO3 and FF

“Clocky!” a small white haired ghost crashed into the arm of the larger one hugging the limb thigly.

“Hello my young Phantom.Did you have good dreams?” Clockwork the Time Master asked to his charge, a young half ghost of five years of age.

“Yea! I got a dream about space! And Nocty was there we played astunauts!” Danny told his caretaker.

“It’s astronaut” Clockwork corrected, “and I’m glad you had fun. Now what about breakfast”

“Yay! Breakfast! Can we have pancakes?” Danny asked giving the older ghost puppy eyes.

“You know my pancakes are not as good as my waffles” Clockwork said, he is still learning how to do those.

“But I want pancakes” Danny said sadly.

“Oh alright we’ll have pancakes” Clockwork relented, he really couldn't say no to his little halfa.

It's been a few months since Danny started to live with Clockwork. The Time Master had found the half ghost alone in the middle of the barrens in a tiny island crying his eyes out calling for his parents. Curiously Clockwork saw what future the young ghost could have, he saw many things and in most of them he saw a protector, a compassionate ghost and a hero. In the few left he only saw a sad ending. It has been a while since Clockwork found a ghost with a future so bright. It would be interesting to help the child make his way towards it.

He approached the child with intention to help him to go home and become the hero he foresaw. The child was scared at first, which was good, he was a stranger after all, after introductions and telling him they were both ghosts, (yes really really) he offered a ride home and got a response he had not foreseen, the first of many to come. Danny’s parents were ghost hunters, (thing that he already knew) but Danny was afraid. He thought that his parents wouldn't love him anymore because they said ghosts were bad and now that he was a ghost he was bad too.

Clockwork didn't like that reasoning, he told Danny that he wasn't bad, that ghost were like people in that they could be good or bad, or both. Danny didn't understood most of his speech but he got that Clockwork wasn't going to hurt him which made him relax and do the second unexpected thing. He transformed into human.

Clockwork cursed (inside his head of course, there was a five years old in front of him), he knew of only other halfa and he wasn't the best role model, quite the contrary to be honest. Now Clockwork had a dilemma, humans couldn't help a half ghost with all their needs, but ghost were prejudiced about half ghosts thanks to that Plasmius.

His thought track was interrupted by a panicking child going through the small rock island, (right, human now, ghost roks pass through him) acting quickly Clockwork grabbed the child and made sure he wouldn't fall to the endless abyss below. Danny clinged to him and didn't let go, no matter what the older ghost tried. With a resigned sight Clockwork decided on the best course of action that would still bring a bright future, he took the boy towards his lair.

Now with a child Clockwork had to do some modifications to his tower, mostly to make sure Danny wouldn't pass through the floor if he transformed without meaning, which happened more times that he cared to count. He had to make a room for him, it needed decorations but those will come later. he had to acquire both human and ghost food, he only eat for pleasure but a child, even a ghost one, truly needed food. He almost forgets clothes and toys, he knew children needed things but didn’t imagine it would be so many.

Danny was like sponge of knowledge, Clockwork found that out when he started to teach him things, mostly to be able to transform at will and control his powers. He also found that Danny was the biggest space fan he seen, it was adorable to see him look at the stars in a huge mirror Clockwork conjured just for him to see any of the stars in the universe at any given time (except for the very beginning of the universe, it hurt his brain to just see it, much more if he tried to understand it).

The first time he realized that he was the guardian of a child, (parent is still a too strong word for it), was when he had to leave the tower to a meeting with the Observants. Danny, at hearing that he had to go, clinged to him like a koala and didn't let him go, Clockwork had to make a duplicate to go in his place, good thing the eyeballs didn't even notice. That also made him realize that he needed help, someone he trusted to look after Danny and dont hurt him for being a halfa. The face that Nocturne made when he told him he had a child was going to amuse him for the rest of eternity.

“What are we doing today?” Danny asked while eating his pancake, it wasn’t the most pretty but his Clocky had made it for him, beside it was tasty.

“Hmm I don't know. What would you like to do?” Clockwork asked, he had a free day, no plans and totally open to suggestions.

“Let’s go to the park!” Danny said excited.

“The park?” Clockwork asked.

“Yea! With trees and insects and frogs and dogs and swings and slides and-” Danny keep listing other thing one could found in a park trying to explain to Clockwork what a park was.

Clockwork listened to his charge and tried to think a safe place to go. Most of the places with trees and animals in the Ghost Zone was dangerous for a young child. The human parks would be better but Danny couldn't control his transformations yet and he didn't want Danny to feel bad for not controlling it, besides if that happened in the vicinity of humans things would turn badly.

“Does it needs to have swings and slides?” Clockwork asked.

“I dunno” Danny shrugged, he just wanted to go play outside.

“Alright, I think I know where to go” Clockwork said.

“Yay!” Danny cheered.

“But you have to change to clean clothes before we go” Clockwork said.

“Ok Clocky” Danny said before rushing to his room.

After a change of clothes Clockwork took Danny to a island with ghost grass and trees, it wasn't big enough to have dangerous animals around and if any appeared Clockwork has sure he was able to keep them away from them.

Danny played in the grass and between the trees, the child had a lot of imagination and Clockwork joined one or two games, the rest of the time he observed carefully to his charge and the surroundings. It was in between that actions that he lost sight of Danny, Clockwork panicked for a second, took another to look around and five more to find the halfa. And a ghost dog enjoying the pets Danny gave it.

“Clocky look! I found a doggy!” Danny said delighted.

“I see that” Clockwork said watching the dog carefully for any sign of aggression, he found none.

“His name is Cujo” Danny declared.

“Is it? How would you know?” Clockwork asked, he didn't remember having that kind of book around.

“It’s in his collar” Danny said pointing at the tag in the spiked collar.

“It’s a good name” Clockwork commented, he didn’t know what to think of the dog.

“Yea! A good name for a good boy” Danny said while giving belly rubs to Cujo.

“Alright, is time to go home now” Clockwork said, it was near lunch hour and he wasn’t going to let Danny go hungry.

“Aww, already? But I just found Cujo. Can’t we play a little more?” Danny pleaded.

“I’m sorry but it's getting late, maybe you’ll play again when we come back” Clockwork said.

“Can we keep him?” Danny asked.

“Keep him?” Clockwork repeated, he wasn’t sure about that.

“Yea! Like a pet! We don't have a pet” Danny said while making puppy eyes, he had lifted the dog and hugged it to his chest, the dog was also giving him the puppy eyes. Clockwork didn't stand a chance.

They returned to the tower with a new pet, Clockwork was making plans to dog proof his tower.

#Danny Phantom #dannymay2020

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captainofthebrokentides · 5 years ago

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Briefcases and Blood Splatter Chapter 2: Guilty Pleasures and Pool Benny Colon x OC

Thank you everyone who read the first chapter and enjoyed it! it’s always a boost when someone appreciates your work. It makes you work faster to get the next part out!! I hope you all enjoy this one!! let me know! :) 2453 words

The hours had ticked by without Olivia even noticing. The sun was beginning to dip behind the New York skyline, and TAC’s muted windows allowed the little lab to be flooded with a warm orange light. Beeps and whirs came from the temporary machinery, but she paid them no heed, bobbing her head rhythmically along to the music coming through her headphones.

She tapped her pen against the table, her dark eyes searching through the data that her earlier blood and hair analysis tests had provided, hoping to find any new information that had not been in the ‘welcome’ pack she had been given by Marissa.

“Blood-Alcohol level is high. 0.10. High, but not life threatening. Impaired, but not belligerent.” She thought to herself, chewing the cap of her pen, a habit she hadn’t been able to shake since university. “I need to get a test sample of the semen from Alyssa’s body and from the kid. Look and see if there’s blood content mixed in it, or any hallucinogen or toxin.”

She was so involved in the paperwork and her thoughts she hadn’t realised she had company, until he was standing beside her. That delicious smell of sandalwood, leather and citrus engulfed her nose, and she inhaled it happily, closing her eyes for a brief second to savour it.

Benny gently touched her shoulder to get her attention. She looked up at him, and saw his lips moving, but her music drowned out his words. She quickly removed her headphones and smiled up at him apologetically.

“Hey Benny, sorry, I was involved in …”

“The Lion King?” he cut her off with a smirk before she could finish her sentence.

The expression on his face made her mouth dry. Olivia had never been one to get all giggly and shy around men. Even the ones she found attractive. That was her friend Dawn, she normally stayed cool and collected, but there was something about Benny that had struck a cord from the moment the pair of them had made eye contact. It had been completely solidified when Cable and Danny had dropped in to introduce themselves and encouraged her to join them in peeking down into mock court. He oozed confidence while he paced back and forth in front of the jury. He was confident, but not arrogant. His voice full of heat, passion and strength. Olivia was sure she’d never seen someone put so much heart and soul into something that was essentially just an act. He had looked up towards the end of his closing argument and caught her eye. Without missing a beat he’d shot her a dashing smile and a subtle wink.

And in that moment Olivia knew she’d have to keep her wits about her around the lawyer, or she’d become one of those giggly girls she never thought she’d be.

“Sorry?” she said, furrowing her brow in confusion.

“Your headphones, I distinctly heard the opening beats to ‘I just can’t wait to be king’”

Olivia fought the blush that threatened to spider it’s way up her cheeks. She let out a slightly strained laugh instead. “You caught me.” She joked good naturedly “Everywhere I look in my job there’s doom and gloom. Its nice to listen to something light hearted, you know.” She wasn’t sure why she was explaining herself to him, the words just bubbled out of her throat. “So much death, and it’s always blood readings this, urinalysis that, I’m normally up to my elbows is some form of body fluid – and at home, if I’m in the morgue the people I’m working on don’t mind because you know, they’re dead …”

Benny said nothing, but listened to her talk with big smile on his face, showcasing his perfectly straight pearly whites and showing off his boyish dimples. His eyes were alight with amusement, but with no malice.

“I should really shut up, shouldn’t I? Because now I’m babbling at you, and you obviously came in here to ask me something, before I started waffling at you about the merits of Disney soundtracks.” She sighed and bit her lip. She put her pen down and flattened her hands out on the table to mentally and physically ground herself. “I’ll try again. What can I do for you, Benny?”

The lawyer shook his head and laughed. It was a deep, smooth sound that Olivia had instantly come to adore, and she hadn’t spent that long in his company so far. ‘this man is going to be the death of me … but I think I could live with it.’ He gently placed a reassuring hand on top of hers, his fingers curling under her palms and giving the appendage a gentle squeeze.

“If I didn’t already like Disney, you’d have made me a convert.” His deep velvety tones were laced with humour.

“You’re a Disney fan?” the words and their surprised tone had slipped from Olivia’s mouth before she realised they had left her brain.

Benny snorted, “Of course.”

“You’re a dark horse aren’t you? Is the brooding, serious lawyer mask hiding more guilty pleasures?” and now she was flirting. Olivia could barely believe herself. But Benny didn’t seem to have a problem with it, although an intensity took over his dark eyes as he regarded her.

“There’s so much more to me than that, Miss Byrne. I’ll be happy to show you sometime.”

She was sure her ears weren’t deceiving her … was he … flirting back?

She bit her lip again and felt the blush course up her cheeks, unhindered this time. She swore he shifted his weight towards her, closing the gap between them a little more.

The temporary lab door swung open and Marissa wandered in, her head buried in a manilla TAC folder, as usual. Olivia was beginning to realise that was Marissa’s default during the planning stages of a case. Benny almost jumped, as if coming to his senses, and shuffled back to put a bit more space between them. Liv lamented the loss of his warmth by her side.

“Any luck with the blood and hair Liv?” Marissa asked looking up from her folder with a warm smile. She looked at Benny a little shocked. “Oh Benny …”

“I came to ask Olivia here if she’d like to join us at the bar for drinks tonight. Sort of a welcome thing.” He explained deftly. Olivia noted he’d left out any mention of Disney, or what they were really discussing when Marissa had interrupted.

Marissa nodded emphatically, “You should, it’ll be good to get to know you, and you us, a little better.”

Olivia chewed on her bottom lip. It had been a long day, and she’d not yet managed to return to her hotel and unpack her things, but she supposed one drink wouldn’t hurt. She did want to get to know them all, after all. “I really shouldn’t, as I’ve not even unpacked yet. But I want to keep that jet lag at bay. Gotta get myself properly in your time zone. I’ll come for one.”

Marissa grinned happily, and Benny nodded at her, still regarding her with that hot, intense gaze.

“One it is! There will be plenty more times. We’re only just getting started.” The blonde said. “But back to why I’m here. Any luck with the blood and hair?”

Olivia opened her own file and pointed to her results with her pen as she spoke, both Benny and Marissa looking over her shoulders.

“Not much more than you already had. I’ve got the tox and alcohol levels all rated and labelled for you. Is there any way I can get access to the body? I know an autopsy has already been performed, but I’d like to see a few things for myself.”

Marissa nodded, making some notes in her own file. “I will do my best, is there anything else I can do for you?”

Olivia busied herself closing up her notes and packing up her desk. “Yes, I need some semen.”

Benny made an audible choking noise. She glanced at him out the corner of her eye. It was her turn to smirk.

“Semen?” Marissa repeated, checking she was clear.

“Yep, a sample from the girl’s body and a living sample from Brandon so I can compare counts and check for abnormalities … ooh and if you can, a sample of what was on Brandon’s clothing for the night in question. In my experience, teenage boys aren’t exactly brilliantly skilled with their target practice, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

She could see Benny’s shoulders moving as he chuckled under his breath.

“ok … I’m not sure how I’ll broach that subject, but I’ll do what I can. This could get awkward.”

“Yeah, sorry, I’ve got the easy bit this end.” Olivia shrugged apologetically.

“No problem, I’ll get this logged. See you at the bar.”

Benny gave Marissa a minute to exit before he turned to her with a devilish grin. “In your experience, huh?”

She laughed and lightly slapped his arm. She was very pleased to feel the hard sinew of bulging muscle beneath the finely tailored cloth he wore.

“Get your head out the gutter, I’m probably old enough to be his mum.”

“Probably more like a disapproving aunt.” He held his arm out to her like a gentleman when she threw her handbag over her shoulder. “Shall we?”

She willingly accepted his crooked elbow, and let him lead her from the room. “I used to work in a all boys boarding school while I was putting myself through uni. Trust me, there are a few things I wish I could unsee.”

***

“… And a passionfruit daquiri for our newest member of the family. We’re glad you’re here.” Chunk placed the glass of frosted cocktail down in front of her.

Olivia found herself seated around a large round table, sandwiched between Chunk and Cable, with Marissa and Danny opposite them. They were all laughing, joking and learning things about each other, but she always found her eyes straying to the pool table nearby, where Benny and Bull were in the middle of a heated game.

Benny was currently leaning against the bar, with his pool cue tucked safely behind one leg. He had discarded his suit jacket, waistcoat and tie. The collar of his light blue shirt open by a few buttons and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The fabric did a wonderful job of showing off his muscles. He was laughing and baiting Bull, nursing what was left of his scotch. Occasionally his eyes would flicker up and meet hers, and he would smile, a soft smile.

“So where did you say you trained in medicine?” Danny asked jovially, catching Olivia’s attention.

“Oh, Southampton, it’s not a big city or a prestigious university, but it was homely.”

“Southampton …” Chunk tapped his fingers on the table in thought, “Where the Titanic sailed from?”

Olivia nodded, taking a mouthful of her drink and sighing, it was just what she needed, “That’s the place.”

“I’ve only ever seen London, I’d like to go back and travel around, see Cornwall and places like that, I hear they’re beautiful.” Marissa said dreamily.

“Cornwall is gorgeous, have you ever had a proper British cream tea?”

“Shhhh, don’t mention food, Benny has the hearing of a bat when it comes to food.” Danny laughed. Olivia too giggled and watched the subject of their conversation through her eyelashes. He was leaning over the pool table, lining his cue up to take a shot. She tried not to openly ogle his ass too much, she’d barely been in their company a day, she didn’t want a reputation, but she had to admit, it was hard.

“Seriously, I’ve never seen someone eat like he does. I’m surprised he’s not fat.” Chunk held his hands up.

“And he’s like a child if he gets hungry, so if he is, I’d make a break for it Liv, save yourself!!” Cable laughed and made a dramatic hand gesture.

“I’m sure I can handle him.” She laughed too. “I’ll bring you all some if I get a chance to make some scones.”

There was a loud pop as the final ball of the pool game was potted, and Bull whooped in victory. “And that my friend is why you need to keep your head in the game.” He sounded smug, and Benny slumped onto his bar stool in defeat, rubbing the back of his neck.

“How about you, new girl, play pool much?” Bull asked her, looking at her over the top of his glasses.

Liv shook her head. “Not really, a couple of times at uni, and when I was young.”

“Come play the next game with me, I promise I wont clean out your wallet unlike Benny here.”

Everyone was watching her to gauge her reaction, it was Bull’s way of testing her mettle in a friendly manner, to see if she fit in with his little ‘family’.

“I don’t play much, I might need a few pointers.” She excused herself from the group and joined the two men at the pool table, she was determined to show Bull that she could hold her own.

“I’ll help you.” Benny said smoothly, finishing his drink and letting his eyes linger on her with that burning intensity.

“Thank you, Benny.” She said sweetly, taking the cue from his outstretched hand. Their fingers brushed against each other and Liv felt her tummy jingle with butterflies.

“My pleasure.” It was almost a hungry growl, gravelly, low and almost erotic.

“And I will enjoy beating you both.” Bull said loudly destroying the moment between them.

“Take him down a peg, Liv!” cheered Chunk and Cable.

Olivia grinned and gave them a thumbs up.

“Your break” Bull said lining up the balls in their starter positions.

“Ok, so if you line up your cue here …” Benny placed one hand on the table where he was indicating and used his other to guide her to the table, his touch warm and secure on the bottom of her back.

She lined the cue up against his hand and looked down the shaft of wood. “Like this?”

“Mhmm, but a little closer, and lower … like this …” Benny encircled her body with his arms, his chin resting on her shoulder, so he could see. He was warm against her back, and Olivia couldn’t help the big, goofy grin on her face at the contact.

Across the other side of the table Bull smirked, satisfied with himself as he watched the pair of them. He looked at Marissa, who shook her head with a resigned smile.

@reelovesbennycolon

#benny colon x reader #benny colon x oc #benny colon #bull #bull2016 #jason bull #fanfic #imagines #benny colon imagines #freddy rodriguez

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artificialqueens · 5 years ago

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Places Adore & Bianca Were Nearly Caught Having Sex, 1/? (Biadore) - Miss Alyssa Secret

If asked, Roy could name plenty of things they’d done together in fairly risky places over the years.

Chapter One: There’d been countless messy, rushed mutual handjobs crammed into the same bunk during the Battle of the Seasons tour while the others slept just feet away. Later that same tour, Bianca had nearly gotten caught fingering Adore backstage (Manila hadn’t seemed skeptical at their explanation of fixing her tuck).

Smut, humor, and a side order of feelings. Carryover from the events referenced in chapter six of “What Happens at DragCon…”.

Read and comment on AO3.

A/N: I had a few requests to expand on the list of incidents mentioned, so here they are (and a few more). I haven’t set a chapter cap, so please feel free to suggest scenarios :) -MAS

********

Battle of the Seasons

The Battle of the Seasons tour became infinitely more interesting once Roy and Danny started sharing a bed beyond the literal sense. Rooming together had previously been a good way for Bianca to ensure that Adore was ready on time and they’d enjoyed each other’s company. Now, it provided a conveniently innocent excuse to retire for the evening and fuck each other into the mattress with their sisters being none the wiser.

If it had ended there, behind the locked door only, that would have been one thing. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who was asked), it seldom stayed in appropriate places.

********

Danny had been beyond thrilled to learn that the constant stream of jokes aimed at Bianca and Roy about age and libido were as opposite to the facts as possible. As open as the ABCD were, Roy had always been slightly circumspect with regards to his relationships, and almost completely silent about any trade he picked up. He’d expected that Roy would be a devoted lover, but also that he might draw the line at getting off together more than once a day.

Adore might be a bit slow, but he had never been happier to be wrong.

He discovered this when they spent a lazy morning in bed on a day off, indulging in a room service breakfast and no plans until a noon shopping trip. Breakfast was abandoned the moment Roy made a show of licking spilled syrup off his hand, lips pursed around a finger and cheeks hollowed. Seeing the effect of his teasing, he set down his coffee moments before Danny pounced, and breakfast was forgotten in favor of sucking Danny off before reaching his own release between Danny’s round ass cheeks.

Afterwards, plates of now-cold waffles and fruit littered the table, the aforementioned syrup overturned in a puddle on the tray. They finished the interrupted meal and kissed lazily until Danny’s dick began to stir again, encouraged by Roy’s quiet noises of satisfaction. He made a comment about round two, tugging at Roy’s boxers, only to have him chuckle before pushing him out of bed and telling him to shower.

Danny was a bit confused and disappointed, but prepared to take matters into his own hands, so to speak. He’d been certain that Roy wouldn’t object to going again, especially since they had plenty of time before they had to be dressed and out of the hotel. Sighing, he stepped under the spray, rinsing off the remains of their morning activities from his lower back and thighs. His cock hardened further when he thought about how Roy had pinned him facedown to the bed while he was still riding out the aftershocks and used his ass without ever actually dipping inside. Leaning back against the wall, he closed his eyes and began lazily stroking himself with soap-slick fingers, mentally replaying all of the filthy things Roy had whispered in his ear while they fucked.

As he was picking up speed, the curtain snapped open with a rush of cold air. Danny froze, cock still gripped tight in his fist, staring when a very naked Roy joined him under the spray.

“Just couldn’t wait for me, ehh?“ The water streamed down, rivulets dripping from Roy’s hair over his cheeks and lips. (His hair was just long enough to curl, and he would probably start complaining soon about needing to get it cut. Danny didn’t stop to think about how he knew that.)

Danny continued staring as Roy reached past him for the soap, as if showering together was completely normal.

“Uhhhh…”

“Hmmm?“ Turning to rinse his shoulders, Roy’s back was on full display and Danny felt his mouth dropping open. Again. Bianca’s corsets didn’t do his torso justice, concealing the well-defined muscles leading down to a pair of dimples on his lower back ("And my ass,” he’d laughed to Danny during their third or fourth time. “I wasn’t kidding on camera.” “Huh?” “…didn’t you watch our season?” “Yeah, but…oh. Oh!” “You’re lucky you’re cute.”)

Roy nudged the shower off, tossing a towel over Danny’s head.

“C'mon, or don’t you want to do it in the bed?”

Danny trailed him damply out of the bathroom. Roy had apparently been busy tidying their mess while Danny was fantasizing in the shower: all of the scattered dishes were neatly stacked on the tray, spilled coffee wiped off the table, and pillows retrieved from the floor.

“Whuh? I thought you didn’t-”

Danny didn’t get a chance to finish the thought as Roy whipped the towel off and shoved him onto the sheets before climbing on top.

“What? I like to fuck clean, and you had syrup in your hair."

********

Two cities later, the queens were busy bedding down for another night on the road. Danny had grown increasingly sulky as it grew later, thinking about how Roy was so close (his bunk was directly above Danny’s) but they couldn’t mess around in such close quarters.

Again? Couldn’t have been more wrong.

Danny moped down the narrow hallway after brushing his teeth, nearly tripping over Sharon’s shoes. Roy had gone to bed earlier, barely giving him a glance as he passed by downstairs. Danny paused outside his own bunk, debating whether he should peek in and see if he could steal a kiss goodnight.

As he pulled the curtain back, a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him forward.

”Oww!” Danny’s forehead collided painfully with the frame.

”Shhhh!” They both froze, listening for any signs of movement. Luckily, it didn’t seem that anyone had heard.

Roy tugged again. “Get in here.”

”What?”

”Oh my fucking god. Did you hit your head that hard?”

”No?”

Still rubbing his head, Danny slipped into the dark space. Roy had his phone screen on, illuminating his impatient expression where he waited pressed against the wall. His hair was pillow-mussed, and he carefully folded his glasses onto the shelf as Danny closed the curtain again behind him. There was just enough room for them both, Roy’s slender legs tangled with Danny’s.

”I dunno if this is a good idea.”

Danny couldn’t believe he was being the voice of reason.

“Why not?”

”Aren’t you, like, what if someone hears us?”

”With Jinkx snoring? I think we’re safe. And,” Roy leaned forward, molding his body against Danny’s, who swallowed when he felt the erection nudging his hip. “We’re not full on fucking in here.”

“I don’t think I can blow you in here?” Geometry wasn’t Danny’s strong suit, but he was fairly sure he couldn’t scrunch down far enough to reach the interesting parts with his mouth. And even if he could, there wasn’t enough vertical space to, well, fit Roy’s deliciously large cock in his mouth without hitting his head.

Rolling his eyes, Roy settled back against the wall. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He kicked off his boxers and tugged Danny’s down to his knees. Grabbing Danny’s hand, he licked the palm before directing it down to his own dick. “I know you know what to do with that.”

Danny frowned. “I can jerk off by myself.”

The Bianca stare Roy directed at him was distinctly unimpressed.

”All right! All right.” It only took a few strokes for his cock to harden, and he leaned forward for a kiss, confused when Roy planted a hand on his chest to hold him back.

”…uhhh, B?”

”Keep going. Don’t touch me.”

”What about you?”

Roy’s smile was pure sin. “I want to watch.”

Danny’s cock jumped in his hand. They’d done quite a few things, but somehow jerking off in front of Roy when they weren’t otherwise fucking seemed awfully…kinky. Roy’s grin widened the moment he saw it click.

Danny let his eyes fall half closed, watching Roy through his lashes as he gradually sped up the pace of his strokes. It was a bit awkward using the arm he was lying on, but nothing he couldn’t ignore. Glancing down, he could see Roy teasing the head of his own cock, and the sight sent a surge of lust straight to his balls.

The barely-there moan on an exhale made his eyes snap fully open again. He knew that sound. Roy’s lips were parted, breath coming faster. His other hand had disappeared below the neckline of his loose shirt, and Danny would bet that he was playing with his own nipples

Unsure whether exhibition was intended with the voyeurism, Danny decided that putting on a bit of a show wouldn’t be a bad thing. He sucked on the middle and index fingers of his free hand, watching Roy’s pupils blow even wider open. Trailing the wet fingers down his chest, he made a point of pinching both nipples before before rubbing those same fingers over his leaking cock head.

Pleased that he had Roy’s unblinking attention, Danny slid his hand further down, cupping his balls before delving further back. Slowly, he rolled onto his back, knees splayed as wide open as he could manage in the narrow space. Arching up, he circled the slick fingers around his hole before slipping the tip of one inside.

Roy’s panting and hand had both picked up speed, and Danny reveled in the feeling of the stare caressing his body. He rolled his hips with every stroke, thrusting up into his fist and back down again, finger fucking himself. Ass play wasn’t one of his favorite things unless he was in the mood, but it was worth it to watch Roy grow steadily more aroused.

For a few minutes there was nothing but the sensuous sound of skin on skin and choked-off moans.

In the dark enclosed space, everything felt more intimate as they lay close but not touching, breath ghosting over each other’s mouth. Roy’s ridiculous dick-sucking lips were even more swollen than usual, and Danny slowly ran his tongue over his own, flicking the tip out suggestively.

” ‘M close,” he whispered, eyes falling closed. “Fuck, I’m gonna come.”

He barely had time to be surprised when Roy pulled his hand off and replaced it with his own, before orgasm hit and he came in hot spurts over Roy’s fist. Roy stroked him through it, finally bringing their lips together to swallow Danny’s moans and whimpers.

As soon as the aftershocks settled, Danny surged up, rolling Roy onto his back and nearly hitting his head on the low ceiling in the process. Mouths still connected, he wrapped his fingers around Roy’s cock. It only took a few quick strokes before Roy spilled out his own release.

They slowly came down together, breathing returning to normal bit by bit. Danny had just started to wonder how he was going to clean the cum off his hand (licking it was out of the question - that was only sexy straight from the source, so to speak) when Roy produced a towel from under the pillow. As he wiped them both down, Danny yawned, lethargy stealing over him. Roy finished cleaning them up, balled up the towel in a plastic bag (Danny didn’t ask how far ahead he’d planned this), and pulled both of their underwear back on.

Danny felt too drained to move, but he knew he should probably drop into his own bunk before they both fell asleep.

“M’gonna…I should go.”

”I know.” Roy didn’t sound terribly awake himself. “Just stay here a minute, yeah?”

“ ‘Kay.” Danny let Roy gather him close, head pillowed on his shoulder.

”B?”

”…mmm?”

”I should…yeah.”

”Mmmhmmm.”

Roy thanked foresight for getting them both dressed again when Michelle went to wake everyone up the next morning and found Danny still spooning him. He used his carefully pre-planned excuse (“He was probably drunk, you know? I woke up with him here and couldn’t get him to move.”) Michelle seemed more interested in the coffee Alaska had already started and gave him a distracted nod before heading off.

Crisis averted and cuddling.

********

Half an hour to show time, and queens buzzed back and forth in the dressing room doing final touches. Bianca had claimed a corner for herself and Adore (so normal by now that no one commented), and was moving around helping style wigs and contour, her own prep long since completed.

As she finished checking the glue at Alaska’s hairline, Adore’s voice rang out.

”Hey B? Can you come help me with something?”

”What is it now?” Bianca didn’t look up from testing the stability of Alaska’s gravity-defying pouf.

”Just come here!”

”Go on,” Alaska made shooing motions. “Make sure she hasn’t broken anything.”

They shared a laugh, and Bianca headed towards the bathroom. Inside, she found Adore perched on the counter, swinging her legs idly. Her loose dress was tucked up out of the way, fishnets around her ankles, and one hand down the front of her panties.

“Don’t even try to tell me you need help tucking,” Bianca began in a dry tone.

”I dunno B,” Adore winked at her, her wrist moving in a suspicious rhythm. “Like I know my dick should touch my ass, but I can’t when it’s so hard.”

”You,” Bianca kicked the door the rest of the way shut and moved closer, “are insatiable.”

”I’m pretty sure that was you humping my ass this morning.

”I didn’t hear you complaining.”

Bianca stopped between Adore’s spread thighs, resisting only a moment before she ducked down for a kiss.

“Watch the lipstick, bitch,” she muttered without heat when Adore tugged her bottom lip playfully.

“We’ve got time for a quickie.”

“No, we don’t because some of us are wearing four pairs of tights and pads and have our dicks taped down.”

She pressed a few more kisses to Adore’s pouting mouth, moaning quietly when fingers trailed over her painted collarbone.

“I’m so fucking horny, come on, please?”

Bianca straightened the messy wig, checking for stray bobby pins out of habit.

“Not now. Finish getting dressed, behave, and I’ll blow you during intermission.” She leaned closer, lips barely brushing Adore’s ear as she whispered, “I’ll even let you fuck my face.”

Adore whimpered, eyes glazing over.

”I have to change my wig anyway, so you can mess it up.”

“Hey!”

”Best offer you’re gonna get. Otherwise you can wait till after the after party and take the chance that I’ll be too drunk to get it up.”

It was an empty threat, and they both knew it.

“You’re never too drunk to fuck me.”

“…you really want something up your ass that bad?” Bianca’s lips hovered over Adore’s. Up close, her lipstick shimmered with an iridescent oil slick of colors, tongue darting out impishly.

Adore’s eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. Unhooking the fingerloop from her hand, Bianca stared at her while rolling up her sleeve. She shouldn’t have been surprised when Adore reached into her bra and fished out a packet of lube.

”What were you planning to do if that fell out onstage?”

”Tell them I borrowed the bra from you?”

Instead of replying, Bianca pulled Adore’s hand out of her panties, pausing to lick the pre-come off her palm. A gentle shove got Adore to slouch back against the mirror, eyes dark with anticipatory lust. She hooked the black fabric to the side, gave the exposed balls a tickling caress, and pulled Adore’s hand down to hold the elastic out of the way.

Bianca thoroughly coated a couple of fingers with lube, propping the packet up on the edge of the sink (no point in losing track of it and getting it on her gown). Adore shifted on the counter, other hand moving down under her thigh to grip and spread herself wide open.

”You sure?” Bianca stroked the sensitive skin around her hole in slow circles, watching as Adore’s cock twitched inside her panties. “You’re gonna have to perform with lube dripping out of your ass.”

”Shut up and fuck me.”

She didn’t waste any more time with teasing, plunging both fingers in up to the knuckle and slapping her other hand over Adore’s mouth to muffle the moan.

“You,” Bianca’s tone was conversational even as she twisted her fingers just to see Adore’s eyes roll back, “are such a slut.”

Adore hummed in agreement, and Bianca added a third finger.

“We fucked this morning and you still can’t get enough, can you?”

Adore’s head lolled back and forth in agreement.

”I fucked you wide open on my cock.”

Adore got off hard on dirty talk, and she was only too happy to oblige. Bianca felt her tuck growing tight but trusted the tape to hold. They had to be running out of time, and she thrust her fingers in harder and faster, mimicking their activities from the morning. Adore was back to stroking her erection, eyes clenched shut.

”Only for me.” Bianca didn’t know where the assertion came from, tightening her hand over Adore’s mouth as she nodded.

”You’re always so fucking tight. I know you say you’re a top, but look at you begging me to fill your greedy ass. That what you want?”

Adore’s lipstick was going to be smeared all over her palm by the time they were done, mouthing words and broken off moans under the cover of Bianca’s hand.

”I’m gonna tie your hands together so you can’t touch yourself.”

Bianca hoped she wasn’t crossing a line, but they’d have to have that conversation another time. Adore clenched around her fingers as she said it, so it probably wasn’t too much.

“I’ll fuck you for hours like that, angel. See if you can come just from my cock in you. You’d like that?”

She pulled her hand off Adore’s mouth for a reply, watched her forehead crease into the frown that meant she was close to coming.

As she thrust her fingers in as deep as possible, two things happened in rapid succession.

Adore came with a strangled cry, her hole pulsing around Bianca’s fingers, and somehow managing not to get any cum on either of their dresses.

A moment later, the unlocked (Bianca kicked herself. How had she forgotten to lock it?) door opened and Manila popped her head in.

“Hey guys, I thought I heard yelling? Michelle wants us all up in- “ Manila’s voice trailed off, taking in Adore’s flushed face and the position of Bianca’s hands. “Ummm, guys?”

Fuck.

Bianca rapidly schooled her face into an expression of long-suffering patience, simultaneously tugging Adore’s dress down to hide her crotch and knocking the packet of lube into the sink. She turned to face Manila, wet fingers carefully held behind her back. There wasn’t anything she could do about her sleeve, but hopefully Manila wouldn’t notice.

”Delano tried tucking and twisted a nut.” It was a stretch, but Bianca could sell bullshit better than anyone. It had happened to a few queens she knew over the years, and was at least plausible. With luck, Adore’s just-fucked expression might be mistaken for one of agony instead of ecstasy.

Miraculously, Manila seemed to believe the explanation, her own face creasing in pained sympathy.

”Oh fuck, sorry Adore! Should I tell Michelle? Does she need a doctor?”

Bianca didn’t stop to wonder why she didn’t realize that had it actually been the case, Adore would have been in much worse shape.

“No, I think we’re okay now. Tell Michelle we’ll be up as soon as I get pizza party back into her tights?”

Nodding, Manila closed the door again, off to doubtless create a wave of sympathy that she hoped wouldn’t backfire. She was endlessly grateful for the hay fever that meant no one would be able to smell the cum Adore still had clenched in her hand.

Adore looked dazed as Bianca blotted up the evidence with damp paper towels, groaning in protest when she spread her open to wipe up the leftover lube. Bianca boosted her down from the counter, waiting impatiently for her wobbly legs to steady.

Rolling her sleeve back down, she checked for any spots she might have missed, relieved when Adore’s brain came back online and she could hold up her own weight

”You,” she muttered while tucking the now-limp cock back into Adore’s panties and pulling her fishnets up, “are so fucking lucky Manila bought that.”

#rpdr fanfiction #bianca del rio #adore delano #biadore #smut #humor #places adore and bianca were nearly caught having sex #missalyssasecret #submission #canon compliant #tour fic #dragcon

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arashikurobara · 6 years ago

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Albums I Loved This Month — February 2019

I honestly expected to have a lot fewer things to share this month. I spent about half the month coming down with, having, and then getting over the flu, and even though it was a fairly mild case of actual flu it did mean spending a lot of time tired, headachey, or just brain too worn out to tolerate a lot. I spent a lot of time listening to stuff that had quickly become "comfort food" music to me. And a lot of stuff that I liked off my discovery playlists had the full albums just kind of bounce off me.

Somehow even then, I came out of it with a shortlist of ten things, which stayed pretty close to that after giving stuff another listen and culling a couple. Though unlike past months, I haven't taken as much time to go back and try out more from the artists' discographies, so you might not be getting quite as much best of the best (at least to me).

In other musical news, I picked up tickets to see Thank You Scientist play live next month! I did end up waffling on Idles until that show sold out, but unlike that one, this one's actually local and it's on a Friday, so it was going to be a much lower time and effort investment and equally cheap. Should be a lot of fun!

Sons and Daughters, This Gift (2008) [Youtube] - [Spotify]

Is this more post-punk revival? I dunno I think this might be more post-punk revival? Welcome to the "describing things and why I like them is hard but I like this" zone.

She Drew the Gun, Revolution of Mind (2018) [Youtube] - [Spotify]

I want to truly love this album. I like this album, but why don't I love this album? It just doesn't quite click with me personally, somehow. Except for "Resister Reprise" which, if you only listen to one single song off this month's recs, listen to that one.

It's still on this list because I feel like it should be listened to, both because it's still a decent album and because it's laden with the political message of, I guess, radical love and kindness and caring for others in the face of oppression? that I know is going to resonate with most of my friends.

Dream Wife, Dream Wife (2018) [Spotify]

Whereas this works for me in the way I really wish Revolution of Mind did. It's just got the right feel for me, with the sound. And while it's way less political (though absolutely not totally apolitical), more flirty and fun and such, it looks like the band does stuff like having a policy of a ladies-only mosh pit that feels like it's coming from a similar sort of place. Have some fun lady pop punk!

The Apples in Stereo, Travellers in Space and Time (2010) [Spotify]

Did you want some '60s psychedelic pop throwback? Sure you did! This one's just their most recent one and the one Spotify threw a track from onto my discovery list since I haven't had the time to listen to much of their other stuff (they've been around a fairly long while!) but I did get through what was apparently their greatest hits album and that stays true and it seems like they've been a solid band the whole time if you like this and want some more?

Electric Eel Shock, Go USA! (2005) [Youtube] - [Spotify]

Japanese garage rock, little bit metal but really kinda just pure unfiltered rock and roll. Apparently they were one of the first bands (not just Japanese bands, bands period) to do a lot of crowd funding stuff which is kinda neat. (If they consulted for PledgeMusic at one point does that mean I can partially thank them when I finally have that signed CD of Hungry Ghosts I'm waiting on from that OK Go vinyl collection project?)

White Lies, Five (2019) [Youtube] - [Spotify]

This has a really '80s new wave (in the synthpoppy sense) feel to me? While still being a very distinct feel from the very intentionally throwback sound from All Hail the Silence. (I mean it's quite possible that it's equally intentional here, I just only know for sure that it is for AHtS.) In particular "Tokyo" reminds me a lot of "Africa" for some reason.

Heavy Lungs, Straight to CD (2019) [Youtube*] - [Spotify]

(*I've been striving to only link to official or the Youtube-generated playlists for albums; one does exist for this EP but it only has two of the four songs. I figured I'd link it anyway.)

If you listened to the Idles albums on my list last month and want more of that particular strain of punk, might I suggest these guys? They've only got this and one other EP out so far but it's definitely a similar sound, and the bands are friends—"Danny Nedelko" on Joy As an Act of Resistance and "Blood Brother" on here are actually about each other and have even been released as a joint single.

Cake, Comfort Eagle (2001) [Youtube] - [Spotify]

If my college boyfriend who was into Cake had played more off this album I might've actually been into Cake? Though the other few albums I tried after "Commissioning a Symphony in C" from this came up on my discovery list didn't work as well for me for whatever reason. I can absolutely get it if the vocals on their stuff are a dealbreaker but there's a lot of good stuff going on here instrumentally and lyrically, I think.

#music #recommendations #arashirecs

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ask-artsy-oncie · 6 years ago

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The Rabbit Bugs Bunny, the linchpin of the Looney Tunes, has been called everything from "classic" to "perennial" to "an American institution" to "one of our national heroes"--and "wascally wabbit," "long-eared galoot," and a lot of other things besides! But most of us just like to call him Bugs. Now he's starring in Space Jam, Warner Bros.' first original feature film graced by Bugs in a leading role--opposite Michael Jordan, no less! Producer Ivan Reitman and director Joe Pytka head a team of filmmakers including producers Joe Medjuck and Daniel Goldberg, executive producers Ken Ross and David Falk, and screenwriters Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick and Timothy Harris & Herschel Weingrod to bring this ambitious and precedent-setting project to life. Starring with Bugs and Michael Jordan are Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle and the voice of Danny DeVito. Heading the bill in Space Jam with one of the sports world's most entertaining players is a natural opportunity for the venerable Warner Bros. character. After all, Bugs was voted the most popular in the entire short-subject field in the United States and Canada for the year 1945, and then stayed in the Number One spot for the next 16 years straight. Today, in 1996, Bugs continues to draw a crowd--in fact, a recent survey showed him to be the most popular animated character in the world! When Bugs' classic cartoons were being made and regularly released to theaters in the 1940s and 1950s, it was his stardom in short subjects that skyrocketed his studio to prominence in the animation field. Part of Bugs' great achievement had been to establish a strong personality who can exist for 7 minutes at a time, show us a facet of his personality, disappear for weeks, months, maybe years at a time, then reappear and still be recognizeable and entertaining. His possibilities were not exhausted by any single episode. The trick was not to sustain seven minutes, but to live for 50 years. And once you've sustained 56 years of amazing popularity with one generation after another all over the world, it's hardly likely you're going to have much trouble sustaining a 90 minute feature. Michael Maltese, one of Bugs' writers, remembered that in the old days, a theater's marquee had to say no more than "2 Bugs Bunny Cartoons" for people to plunk their money down--forgetting what features or other short subjects were playing, forgetting that the "2 Bugs Bunny Cartoons" would be over in 15 minutes--and, most of all, forgetting their troubles. "After a while, Bugs Bunny was so well loved by the audience that he could do no wrong," said Maltese. "They loved the rabbit, and what he stood for." Friz Freleng, one of the leading directors of Bugs' classic shorts, once remarked, "The cocky characters, for some reason, the public seems to like. They don't like those kinds of people in real life." Mel Blanc, who first provided The Rabbit's voice, believed that "Bugs Bunny appeals to the rebel in all of us. Everybody loves a winner, and Bugs Bunny always wins." There's a moment in A Hare Grows in Manhattan when Bugs dives into a manhole to escape the bulldog pursuing him, and between the time the dog leaps in the air and the time he reaches the manhole, Bugs has managed to resurface, grab the manhole cover, and pull it into place--turning the dog's face into something resembling a waffle. It's a simple enough gag, but the point is that there is a look of such total delight on Bugs' face as he performs the act, that he turns the whole business into something else altogether, a conflict of viewpoints rather than a physical conflict between two animals. Bugs is Puck reborn; he enjoys the scrapes he gets into because he knows he'll win eventually. This goes a long way toward making him the irresistible character he is: he holds out the possibility that the Battle is winnable, that we can vanquish the foe and have fun doing it, that every setback can become another challenge, another excuse for high spirits. This is possibly the critical factor of what we love about Bugs: that he will not only make us laugh but make us feel victorious and triumphant. There are heroes and there are comedians; rarely do the two meet. This made him a difficult character to write for, but it's what gave him that special spark that made him the phenomenon that he has been. From the time he first asked Elmer Fudd "What's up, Doc?" right up to the release of Space Jam, Bugs has been both sophisticated and naive, innocent and guilty, Child of Nature and Street-Tough Smart Guy, fool and hero, one of the most rounded and all-around characters in the history of film, a multi-faceted gem. A Wild Hare and Beyond The hardy hare has been delighting fans of every age, nationality, and persuasion for longer than the majority of his youthful fans probably realize. Most of the current crop of screen heroes were not even born when Bugs first rose casually from his rabbit hole, chewing on a carrot, peering down the barrel of a gun, and cracking a cool "Eh-h-h-h-What's up. Doc?" out of one corner of his mouth, in a cartoon called A Wild Hare, directed by Tex Avery and released by Warner Bros. in July of 1940. Bugs, like most characters, inspires that insistent question, "Who created him?" A simple answer is expected. But no simple answer works. The clearest family line reaches back to Tex Avery, who gave The Rabbit his famous personality. When asked how Bugs came into being, the soft-spoken Texan was laconic. "Oh," he said, "it just came out of a cartoon. We decided he was going to be a smartaleck rabbit, but casual about it, and his opening line in the very first one was `Eh, what's up, Doc?' And, gee, it floored `em! They expected the rabbit to scream, or anything but make a casual remark--here's a guy with a gun in his face! It got such a laugh that we said, `Boy, we'll do that every chance we get.' It became a series of `What's up, Docs?'." "We didn't feel that we had anything until we got it on the screen and it got quite a few laughs," Avery recalled. "When we saw that on the screen, we knew we had a hit character," Freleng remembered. "He was the most timid of animals, yet he had courage and brashness. The whole gimmick was a rabbit so cocky that he wasn't afraid of a guy with a gun who was hunting him." But the new character had no name at first. Jack Rabbit, or Jack E. Rabbit, was the personal choice of Avery himself, since he had spent so much time hunting jackrabbits and since "I thought it would please my Texas friends." But another of the Warner cartoon directors, Ben Hardaway, whose nickname was "Bugs," had already asked designer Charlie Thorsen to create a rabbit for an earlier cartoon, and when Thorsen had submitted the model sheet, he'd labeled it "Bugs' Bunny." Now, with this model sheet circulating the studio, and with a search for a good name underway, publicist Rose Horsely jumped on the label "Bugs Bunny" as "so cute!" It wasn't "cute" to Tex Avery. "That's sissy," he said. "Mine's a rabbit! A tall, lanky, mean rabbit. He isn't a fuzzy little bunny." But Horsely had the ear of Leon Schlesinger, who produced the cartoons for Warner Bros. Schlesinger thought a moment, then said, "O.K. Bugs Bunny. We'll go with it." "We were always very proud of what we were doing there," says Phil Monroe, one of the Warner animators. "We thought our pictures were funnier than anybody else's. We were all geared for humor--the animators would be asked to submit gags for pictures, and a lot of them were used." A new style was developing: most of it was Avery's doing, most of it was taking place right there at Warner Bros., and most of it was focused on The Rabbit. Finally the directors realized you couldn't look down on this character, the way you could with most cartoon clowns. You could only look up to him. It was at that point that Bugs came to life, individually, for each of the directors at Warner Bros., and, better than that, became a focal point for everything they saw as the best in themselves. Almost as soon as they started working with the character, the Bob Clampett unit, with McKimson in the lead, started giving Bugs less of an oval shape than the first model sheets called for, and his face began to look less ratlike. Then they started structuring the nose differently, and the teeth were naturally anchored to the same bone structure, in a more appealing facial design. By the time Clampett made Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid in 1942, he had arrived at what we might call the Classic Bugs Bunny. By late 1944 the same design was reaching the screen in the cartoons of the other units. Once Freleng made Stage Door Cartoon, released near the end of that year, the McKimson look was universal. "Bugs was gradually becoming a more complex character," Chuck Jones remembers. "The writers and directors were all beginning to realize that we had the potential of a brilliant and lasting star on our hands, a rambunctious, unbridled, and often balky baby Bugs that needed now to grow, to smooth out; we must find out how to harness that energy without destroying the spirit and how to guide the child without steering it. Bugs changed because he had to, not because we were brilliant." Bugs, madder than the March Hare and saner than Alice, knows he's in a cartoon. He always had a trick, and he always had the prop that was necessary to pull of that trick. Whatever it was--a sledgehammer, a stick of dynamite, an anvil, a cannon--he needed it, he got it? Where did it come from? Nobody wanted to know, they just wanted to see him pull off his fast one. Bugs was the cartoon version of the loud-mouthed but loveable Brooklynese smart-aleck who turns up in the cockpit, in the barracks, or on the battlefield in every World War II movie, as inevitable as the flag, and, apparently, just as effective in rallying the spirits of a beleaguered nation. The idea that the battle was winnable was a very popular one during World War II. "It was during those war years...that the Bugs Bunny cartoons...passed Disney and MGM for the first time to become the Number One short subject," Bob Clampett recalled. The studio received an offer from the Utah Celery Company of Salt Lake City to keep all staffers well supplied with their product if Bugs would only switch from carrots to their crunchy greens. Later the Broccoli Institute of America strongly urged The Bunny to sample their product once in a while. It never happened. Mel Blanc would have been happy to switch to any of these vegetables, since carrots made his throat muscles tighten and the words couldn't come out, but it was no go. Carrots were Bugs' trademark. The only concession they ever made was to move the carrot-crunching sounds and dialog to the last spot in the recording session. In the 1950s, with the post-war Baby Boom transforming his previous audience from rowdy kids in uniform to mature adults with responsibilities, Bugs found his new audience extended to include those "responsibilities." The nation was filling its nurseries and schools to capacity with children, and they were all becoming Bugs Bunny fans. By 1957 Bugs' perennial popularity had become as much a bewilderment as a source of pride. The theatrical short subject market had gone through a series of drastic changes, Bugs' contemporaries from the early `40s had largely faded from the scene, even Disney had phased out the one-reel cartoon, and television was posing new threats every year. The world of 1940 was becoming history. Didn't matter. Bugs went on being Champ, no matter what he did. © 1996 Warner Bros.

#The rabbit #archer pastry is troll kin

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artdjgblog · 4 years ago

Photo

Innerview: Nathan Reusch / The Record Machine

October 2008

Art: DJG Design

Note: Interview for a series called "Where Are They Now?"

Over the years we have gotten to work with really great creative people. After doing this for five years we want to give you guys some more insight on who has helped be a part of this label and make it what it is today. First off we have an interview with Danny Gibson of DJG Design. Danny has always been behind the scenes at TRM. He has helped create almost all of our logos and helped us with a lot of art direction and design since the begining. He also designed our very first release for Jame Dean Trio. 01) Introduction I was at the historic first official meeting of The Record Machine held at McCoy’s in West Port of Kansas City, MO over half a decade ago. My say didn’t amount to much. I think my mouth was full as I was mostly positioned to eat free cheeseburgers. 02) How have you been spending your days? My days are spent. Creeping on the Crow’s Feet I find that time is more easily measured in flap jack format than ever before. Something big has always been beaming and beating and I find myself blind peeping to see how far back the dogs with prickly sticks in their mouths yip, kick and nip for my heels. I do beat the crickets up at 5 am Monday thru Saturday in order to pinch a bit back. Evenings and weekends find me down slide sliver squeezes as well. I engage in making things and find some peace through all the pieces with my maker in the act of doing so. The handful of women I share space with enlightenment my walk as well…kitties and wife. Walks are good too and Fall time is the best for comfortable living in Kansas City. 03) Where have you been spending your days or evenings? A bounty of selections from my basement is always on the menu. I’m easily entertained hunched over at my good ol’ door desk. In the mean time I appreciate the company of my wife, kitty hair on my clothes, celebrating all movies, well-tailored music that sometimes requires a third ear and high rise stacks of books and comics. For nourishment I scrape every pan and pot my wife cooks in. And I am the dishwasher. In the twilight occasion, a one scoop waffle cone of peanut butter ice cream at Miami Ice just down the street does me correctly. If I’m in need to see the stars or get away, the family farm isn’t too far off. 04) What has been in your ears? I love big chunks of ear wax. While rockin’ to the thunder that Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band brought at Sprint Center here in KC, I had a big chunk of ear gunk fall out and it was heavenly. I’m really tickled by the musical foundations a fellow basement dweller named Micah Buzan of Blue Springs, MO is cranking out. He is only 18 and one to watch. Other Kansas City area highlights include The Tambourine Club and The ACBs, who both not only crank out some great and fresh music, but are genuinely lovely lads and don’t boast at the art of playing “rock star”. Far out of this area…I’m excited to hear more from Empire of the Sun as the single “Walking on a Dream” is some of the best dance pop I’ve heard since Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album. Which, I’ve been rattling the rafters with that ’80s gold as well whenever I tire of the Samey So-So’s of most things current. Though, there are a few great new ones and “Evil Urges” by My Morning Jackets is my favorite album so far in 2008. And I can never get enough Bruce Springsteen in my diet. Every day and sometimes every minute of the day calls for a different selection from The Boss’s healthy catalogue. I’m also into the music of Suicide lately. Oh, and I’m quite convinced that Harry Nilsson is one of our finest song craftsmen as a handful of his albums have really been making sense to me and his range is all over the map. 05) What has been inspiring or refreshing to you lately? The work ethic, ideas, passion and output of singer-songwriters Harry Nilsson and Bruce Springsteen gets me going. I finished reading Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” for the second and one half times and it is gold. I like Michael Chabon’s writing and work ethic a lot too and am spending my second Fall in his books…the same with Flannery O’Connor. In terms of arts and crafts, Saul Steinberg, Henryk Tomaszewski, Eric Carle and Bill Traylor continue to get me to smiling. Oh, and I must hand out an exclamation to fellow maker Ben Chlapek of Neversleeping.com as he is involved with a lot of lovely creations. 06) Earliest Influences that you can think of? Farm Life / Giant Watermelon Patches / Giant Pumpkins / Grandaddy Long Legs / Dead Animals Under Bed / Homemade Stuffed Animals / Taxidermy / Seed Corn Packaging and Farm Implement Logos / Small Town Gas Stations / Uncle Ed’s Horse Drawing Skills / The Seasons / Fireworks / Animals Big and Little / Hunting / Dead Animal Backpack / Grandma Gibson’s Handmade Aesthetics, Checker skills, Sugar Cookies and Salmon Patties / Grandpa Gibson’s Burnt Pancakes and Old Western-Love Story Reading / The Sand Box / Tree Houses and Forts / Popping Asphalt Bubbles in Summertime / Snow Days / Hard Rains / Holidays / Fishing / Camping / Guns and War / Drawing WWII Battles with Dad / Raccoon Wall Paper / Puppets / Anything Jim Henson / Mad Magazine / Mad Balls / Garbage Pail Kids / Dr. Demento / Taping Music Off the Radio / “Live & Let Die” by Paul McCartney & Wings / Mom’s Record Pile / The Beatles / Oldies Music / ‘70s T.V. Theme Tunes / ‘80s Pop Music (Michael Jackson for sure) / Weird Al Yankovic / Ren & Stimpy / Pee-Wee’s Playhouse / Saturday Morning Cartoons / “Gummi Bears” / Comic Books / Tractor Pulls / Big Foot (Creature and Monster Truck) / “Star Wars” / “The Swiss Family Robinson” / “James Bond” / “Indiana Jones” / “Rambo” / “Commando” / “Batman” (Tim Burton) / Going to the Movies / Pizza and Tacos / Soda Pop / Flavored Frozen Pops / Kick Ball / Grandma Dayton’s Spaghetti / Racking Leaves and Riding to the Dump with Grandpa Dayton / Sports (Michael Jordan for sure) / Sports Team Mascots / Sports Stadiums / Collecting Sports Trading Cards / Skyscrapers / Cake and Ice Cream / Late Nights at Best Friend Ean’s Funeral Home House / “…red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” / Being Alone / Cutting and Pasting / Falling Off a Slide, Hitting My Head and Blacking Out in Kindergarten 07) Best thing you have seen on a little or big screen in a while? P.T. Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” is my favorite movie and I just took my 8th dip with it. My favorite 2008 movie and the best rockumentary ever so far is “Young @ Heart” and close behind for top of this year is “Be Kind Rewind” and “Son of Rambow”. This Fall and Winter look to boast one of the finest crops of films…I’m highly anticipating “The Road”, “The Wrestler”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Synecdoche, NY”, “The Changeling” and many others. Other great watches of late (old and new) include “The Tin Drum”, “Hoop Dreams”, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “The Wicker Man” (1973), “Sorry, Haters”, “The Seven Year Itch”, “The Cars That Ate Paris”, “Don’t Look Now”, “Dark Days”, “Rat Catcher”, “The King of Kong”, “Alice”, “Dear Wendy” and “The Band’s Visit”. On the small screen, “Planet Earth” is mind-blowing worship that demands for me to invest in a projector for the future. In T.V. Land this summer I discovered and fell in love with “Beauty & The Geek”. I’m excited for the cool new sci-fi show with cool typography called “Fringe” and another season with the excellent “How I Met Your Mother”. Currently I’m backtracking through the entire series of “Sex & The City” and am absolutely loving it and can’t wait to get the movie! Oh, and the live Broadway production of “The Drowsy Chaperone” is gold genius and made me cry. 08) Last best show you have been to? Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band in Kansas City on August 24, 2008. It is the best show I’ve ever seen, even better than two previous Boss concerts. Sprint Center is now officially called Spring Center. I can’t wait for the Super Bowl half-time… 09) Any links to things you want to pass along? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYwhvD2-fYw 10) The Final Word? (one word only please) GRILLEDCHEESETOMATOSOUP -djg

#innerviews

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evanvanness · 4 years ago

Text

Annotated edition for the June 7, 2020, Week in Ethereum News

Here’s the most clicked for the week:

Here’s the things I’ll highlight for Eth holders who want to keep up to date without getting too far down into the weeds.

Danny Ryan: the state of Eth2

Loopring Pay is live. Free, instant Eth/token transfers on Loopring’s zk rollup

Deversifi went live on mainnet using StarkEx’s engine and offchain data (kept by a consortia) for 18000 transactions per second

Defi will do to banks what the web did to newspapers

Certainly the must read of the week is Danny Ryan’s attempt to communicate the bigger Eth2 picture by writing it down in one place. It’s a great read, though perhaps on the long side if you’re not a hardcore enthusiast - as it also addresses side issues like how Stateless Ethereum fits into Eth2.

As a community, Ethereum needs to improve on communication: one tiny thing we could do is break it up into bite-size chunks and spoonfeed it via Twitter in order for people absorb it all.

[Sidenote: I often think this about podcasts as well. People always say things like “how do I get involved?” One thing to do is simply to listen to podcasts, write down everything you learn into a blog post, and then make a tweet storm out of that blog post.]

Meanwhile, Loopring made it free to transfer on their rollup. Right now, this means you go into their dex and click transfer in order to send it to someone else who is on Loopring’s dex. This was relatively easy for them to do (or so I say from my armchair) because a transfer is just half of a dex trade. For now, the feature is free - so if you have ETH or tokens on Loopring’s rollup, you can transfer back and forth for free as much as you want.

Deversifi went live with “18000 transactions per second” or “9k trades per second” because of the same reason: a trade is 2 transactions. This off-chain data proven with zero knowledge proofs had been called various things (Plasma, rollup, ZK plasma, rollup with offchain data, etc) but now it seems like folks are using the Validium term.

Validium or “Offchain data” means that Deversifi and StarkWare don’t publish any data to the chain, but they also have a committee holding the same data which can publish the STARK proof to the chain if necessary. It’s a big upgrade on a traditional centralized exchange, even though Loopring and Deversifi feel the same as a centralized exchange. It’s important to understand some of the attack models (see layer2 section below) though the attack vectors look much harder than in a centralized exchange.

Finally, DeFi will do to banks what the web did to newspapers. In some number of years, everyone will look back on this as obvious.

I remember reading Gannett’s annual report in the mid 90s, as I was considering investing my meager lawnmowing money ($30 a trade I had to pay for my ~$200 stonk investments. Teenage me was clearly not as good at math and finance as he thought). Gannett seemed like a great business (and it was!), but the fact that newspapers were already for free online just kept me from ever putting money in.

Things start out looking like toys. They’re hard to use, they’re risky, they don’t have many users. Then the next thing you know it, they’re the incumbents.

Eth1

Expectations and limitations of upcoming Turbogeth release

Compilation of the history of account abstraction work

YOLO testnet is live – an ephemeral testnet to try to break EIPs for the upcoming hardfork

Since publication, the Turbogeth post has been updated with some pretty graphs. tldr stats: syncing with Turbogeth should sync in a few days and use just 700 GB of disk space for an archive node.

Account abstraction is the idea of making Ethereum smart contract wallet addresses and “normal” addresses essentially be the same thing. It’s been talked about since the early days, though stuff has always gotten in the way.

Eth2

Danny Ryan: the state of Eth2

Latest Prysmatic client update. Syncing to spec, adding eth1 clients, relaunch testnet plans

Teku: an Eth2 client for enterprise

Stats from crawling Eth2 testnets

More eth2 validator agent based simulations in CadCAD

A guide to testnet staking with Nethermind and Lighthouse

I expect there to be lots more step-by-step guides to staking on testnets as we continue to get closer to launch.

As Danny called out in his post

if there is more than one viable and secure client, it is your duty to run minority client software to promote a healthy distribution of client software on the network.

So test a few clients. Read the audit reports.

Layer2

Deversifi went live on mainnet using StarkEx’s engine and offchain data (kept by a consortia) for 18000 transactions per second

Offchain data with zk proofs is now being called Validium

What is the difference between zk rollup (data onchain) and Deversifi’s Validium (data offchain)?

An attack illustrating Validium trust assumptions

StarkWare demo of onboarding 1.3m Reddit accounts onto Eth using Validium

OMG goes live with their More Viable Plasma implementation (running POA for now); Bitfinex integrated USDT on OMG

Loopring Pay is live. Free, instant Eth/token transfers on Loopring’s zk rollup

As mentioned above, Layer2 was the thrust of the week, and there is more coming soon.

Just in time! Those gas fees continue to be absurd. For the last few weeks, they’d been coming down a bit on Friday and Saturday night (Texas time, of course), but this weekend they did not. Fees go through the roof when demand outstrips supply even by a little bit, so there is some glimmer of hope now that a popular Russian ponzi has apparently died. But still, at the time of writing, you’re looking at a 30gwei fee to get your fee confirmed in the next few minutes.

I’d be up for temporarily bumping the gaslimit. It seems like a reasonable thing to do.

The first layer2 which gets significant liquidity will be a big deal in reducing tx volume. The tech now works, now it’s time to make it happen.

This newsletter is made possible by Celer!

Celer is a coherent layer-2 scaling platform on Ethereum powered by Generalized State Channel Network and Hybrid Rollup technology. Real money games built using Celer’s gaming-focused SDK just reached top #15 ranking in App Store. You can easily set up and join Celer’s growing layer-2 State Channel Network to support Ethereum’s layer-2 scalability. Follow us on twitter, blog, discord and telegram.

Stuff for developers

Solidity v0.6.9 adds SMT-checking to solc-js, allows calldata for all variables and provides a mechanism to specify an import directory.

Testing the effects of a call in Waffle

Buidler v1.3.6 adds Solidity v0.6.x

Sourcify decentralized automated contract verifying service

Covalent’s DeFi SDK for historical data

VS Code extension to write DeFi applications in NodeJS

Using Dapphero for your frontend

How Aragon minimized gas costs for Aragon Court

Loredana’s Taylor lisp-like language is on four testnets

Austin Griffith’s tutorial on building a simple decentralized exchange

Tornado Cash integrates Chainlink gas price oracles for TOR users

Verifying merkle multiproofs in Solidity

Trail of Bits found 20 bugs fuzzing the Solidity compiler

I thought it was pretty neat to use of Chainlink oracles to get around the fact that prices wouldn’t update through TOR

i just realized I spelled it “buidling a simple decentralized exchange” in the original publication. Freudian slip? I fixed it now.

EthPM and Sourcify are both things that should be getting more adoption in our ecosystem but as of yet have not. Coordination problems are real.

Ecosystem

ETHGlobal’s HackMoney finalists and all sponsor prize winners

Receive email notifications to renew your .eth names

1inch releases Chi, an optimized gastoken

If you bought ENS domains when they came out, remember that they expire soon. Go sign up to get an email.

Lots of neat things came out of HackMoney. My judging panel didn’t have any make the final 10, and yet I was very impressed with all the projects that presented to me.

To go with the enterprise section immediately below, I was having a conversation today about how big businesses often can’t hold ETH, much less tokens. Thus what enterprise needs to use mainnet is a relayer that has predictable transaction prices.

Basically someone buys a bunch of 1inch’s Chi gastoken and then can sell an enterprise-friendly relayer so that enterprises can buy $1000 worth of “cloud subscription fees” (ahem, ETH) and then get their transactions relayed at any gas price.

Something like this would probably use any.sender as well to make sure that it got transactions included in the specified timeframe at the lowest cost.

Enterprise

Newly updated client specs for Enterprise Ethereum from the EEA

Federal Reserve Chairman says AMERIBOR (built on a private Eth chain) meets the benchmarks for a reference rate, though “it may not be a natural fit”

There was a boomlet around Chairman Powell mentioning AMERIBOR, but if you actually read the letter, it was a bit less sanguine.

Lots of the crypto media will breathlessly run anything at full hype level.

DAOs and Standards

Democracy Mars: a DAO to fund Mars-related projects

ERC2696: JavaScript ‘request’ method RPC transport

ERC2700: JavaScript Provider Event Emitter

Application layer

Synthetix adds liquidations

Maker adds TUSD and USDC-B (a second set of collateralization parameters for USDC aimed at emergency situations)

Satellite – sign data with your Eth address, with data distribution on IPFS and BitTorrent

Simplified pricing for Nexus Mutual

View keys for Tornado Cash to show origin of funds

Abritrary what % is DeFi? I get 3/5.

A couple people pointed out that I counted wrong last week. A ha! That’s why I always say it’s arbitrary - I could certainly count Tornado Cash as DeFi, but this time I didn’t.

And also because if I count incorrectly then I can just say it was arbitrary.

Tokens/Business/Regulation

Defi will do to banks what the web did to newspapers

Opyn put options as a trading strategy

Kaiko launches historical tick-by-tick order book data for Coinbase, Bitfinex, and Bitstamp

Better backtesting is pretty neat.

General

MyCrypto’s mnemonic phrase explainer

Bobbinthreadbare’s STARK-based VM has more instructions

Multi-scalar multiplication ZK study club video

Haseeb Qureshi’s latest installment of his intro to crypto class

Matic Network is now live

Brave hits 15 million monthly active users and 5m daily

Respect to folks who continue to push out great educational materials like MyCrypto’s mnemonic explainer and Haseeb’s class.

Brave got a bunch of pushback this week when someone discovered that they were adding an affiliate code when you typed binance.us into the url box. They quickly corrected. Despite that, it was impressive how riled up people got over basically nothing.

It was a mistake, they quickly admitted it. Doesn’t make sense to add it into the URL, but it literally costs you nothing as a user. If you lived through the meteoric rise and fall of Netscape in the mid90′s, you know that browsers aren’t a super easy business. People should probably relax a little - and Eth folks should be especially understanding of one of the most mainstream uses of a crypto token.

People often talk about privacy being Brave’s biggest selling point. But by blocking so much JavaScript and autoupgrading you to https, I consider security to be a more important selling point than privacy. And saving me on bandwidth, battery use, CPU cycles, etc etc. I love that.

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I’m going to be announcing a bunch of things soon. Paid annotated version with two tiers, podcast, probably some things in this newsletter as well. Stay tuned.

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Housekeeping

Follow me on Twitter @evan_van_ness to get the annotated edition of this newsletter on Monday or Tuesday. Plus I tweet most of what makes it into the newsletter.

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Permalink: https://weekinethereumnews.com/week-in-ethereum-news-june-7-2020/

Dates of Note

Upcoming dates of note (new/changes in bold):

June 15 – Gitcoin CLR matching grants begins

June 16 – deadline to apply for Gitcoin’s Kernel incubator

Oct 2-Oct 30 – EthOnline hackathon

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