#everyone say 'thank you Gianni'

[madness-romcom]

Top 10 mr_krinkels stream moments.

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

COME ON MACHINE, FUCK ME LIKE AN ANIMAL.

Audio source

[tyeballz]

SOMEONE IK ON TWITTER COMMISSIONED GIANNI TO DUB MY STUPID JOKE COMIC IM SCREAMING HOWLING

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Already Gone || MV1 {6}

Pairing: Max Verstappen x spy!fem!reader Summary: The brief moment of quiet comes to an end when Ferrari go on the attack for retribution. Warnings: 18+ only, oral, smut, violence WC: 2.7k

F1 Masterlist || One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || Seven

You had fired the warning shot and there was nothing to be done but wait and see how Ferrari would respond to their stocks plummeting.

With no races for the next two weeks you had too much spare time that it left you itching to do something, anything. After years of living life on a whim, moving from place to place faster than Max with his DRS, all this time at home was taking some getting used to.

The house was tidy, the laundry was done, you even started to log into the dark web to see if there were any jobs waiting before realising that it wasn’t your job anymore. You were part of a small team that worked under the very loose term of security but reported directly to Christian. With Ferrari scrambling for sponsors to finance their team, it had been relatively quiet for you in recent weeks.

After pottering around in the kitchen you decided it was five o’clock somewhere in the world and broke out the blender. Armed with two cocktails, and nothing left to keep you busy while Max streamed, you made your way upstairs and decided to watch his race with the rest of the Redline team.

You saw his smile grow in the small box in the corner of his screen when he spotted you pass through the doorway behind him and he risked crashing as he steered with one hand so the other could pull you onto his lap.

“I wondered when you would get bored,” he commented as he continued leading the race. 

“It seemed the perfect excuse for some day drinking,” you said as you held his glass up to his lips so he could take a sip as he steered.

“Oh fuck, that’s strong,” he said with a cough before taking another drink anyway.

The chat box started to go crazy with the amount of comments coming through and you scanned over them until one caught your eye and you snorted a laugh.

user1: Max, I hacked your computer and have your sex tape. Pay me €1m or I’ll release it.

“No one can get past my firewalls, but nice try!” you said before you leant towards the camera and childishly poked your tongue out. 

“Babe, babe,” Max called as he shifted around trying to see the screen before his car crashed and he threw his hands in the air, nearly sending the drinks flying. “Ah, come on." His head dropped to your shoulder with a groan before he placed a quick kiss in the same spot. "Gianni says thanks.”

user2: Uh-oh! Someone’s in trouble now. user3: Y/N coming and ruining it for the rest of us.

“I was just giving the other guys a chance to win,” you said for the chat before turning to Max and kissing his cheek, “so your friends will still want to play with you.”

user4: such a mommy thing to say user5: Did everyone else miss the fact Y/N just confirmed they made a sex tape!

Since Max no longer needed his arms to drive, they curled around your waist as he read the comments with you, answering some questions along the way. 

“No, we haven't…well, not on purpose,” he said as he saw the last comment. “I forget how many security cameras she has set up around the house and there’s always new ones, so it just happens.”

user3: Sounds like Y/N is keeping Max in prison. Blink twice if you need help.

His laugh teased your skin as he rested his chin on your shoulder and unplugged his headphones so you could hear Gianni and Diogo teasing him.

“Alright,” he cut them off with a roll of his eyes when they took things too far as always happened. “That's enough internet for one day, I’m going to go and get drunk with my lovely warden.”

“That’s sarcasm, for those about to call the police,” you pointed out as you held his bored face up to the camera. “I know it’s hard to tell with this stoic, handsome face.”

Max chuckled as he closed the platform and you shifted on his lap to get more comfortable. “Are there any videos?”

“Oh, without a doubt,” you confirmed after finishing your drink while you thought of all the places in the house you had gotten carried away with each other. “I haven’t actually checked though, but now I just might. Maybe I can make a video for when you’re away.”

“For you or for me?” he asked as his hands ran up your thighs slowly.

“I might share with you if you ask me nicely.”

The sim chair went sliding back before Max stood up with you in his arms and he navigated the hall to cage you beneath him on the bed. You could taste the gin on his tongue before he trailed his lips down your neck and across your collarbone.

“Is this you asking?”

He hummed his answer against your skin and his fingers popped the button on your jeans. “Nicely.”

“You certainly know how to get your way,” you praised, lifting your hips so he could drag them down your legs before you sat up just long enough to pull your shirt off.

“I learned from the best,” he teased with a wink before he tugged your body to the edge of the bed and fell to his knees between your spread legs. His breath was warm on your thighs and the short hairs that shadowed his cheeks left you writhing before his lips even made contact.

“Maxxxxx,” you whined as he kissed everywhere except where you needed it most.

“Yes?”

You pushed yourself up on your elbows so you could see the smirk on his lips. “This is not my definition of ‘nicely’.”

“Patience, liefje.”

“Patience was never my strongest virtue,” you warned before you used a move that was meant for close combat and ended with Max on his back on the carpet and you straddling his chest. “I want you.”

“I can see that,” he chuckled as his hands gripped your thighs and pulled you higher up his body, lining your centre with his lips. “Impatient little minx.”

You moaned as his tongue finally found your sweet spot after all the teasing and your hips rolled as you buried your hands in his hair and rode his face.

You had never had a lover like him, one that was more focused on your pleasure than his own. One orgasm wasn’t enough, he wanted you weak and overstimulated, your arousal running down his chin as he held your hips tightly so you couldn’t escape his tongue.

Your body was more than wet enough to take him when he kicked his shorts away and you sunk down his hard length. But your cunt was tight from the orgasms and the air left your lungs as he filled you so deeply it was almost to the point of pain.

“Need a moment?” he asked as his thumb reached between your legs and found your clit.

You did but, as he said, you were impatient and planted your palms on his chest as you slowly started to ease yourself up and down his cock. The sounds of your breathing changed as pleasure began to build and Max grinned as he gripped your hips knowing you were ready for more. He shifted beneath you, his knees bending so he could have the leverage he needed before he slammed up into you.

You cried his name out as your bodies slapped together and his strong hands bounced you in time to his thrusts. Every stroke dragged him along your walls that fluttered around him and you swore in ecstasy as his head hit your cervix.

Sweat beaded on your forehead, your legs trembled uncontrollably and you could barely open your eyes when his hold finally eased. There was no way you were going to be able to make it to the bed as you rolled off his body and collapsed to the carpet beside him

You were just about to open your mouth and ask him to drag the bedsheet down to the floor when your smartwatch lit up on your wrist. The alert was for the silent alarm that had been triggered on the perimeter of the property and all the oxytocin and dopamine released thanks to Max was replaced with adrenaline. Strength flooded back to you as you rose to your feet and grabbed a white shirt of Max’s that was close by.

“Lock the door behind me,” you ordered Max with a whisper as he noticed the change instantly. “And call Christian.”

“What’s going on?” he asked, pulling his shorts up as he made his way to the door too.

“Someone’s in the house.” You grabbed his shoulder as he went to step out of the room and pushed him aside. “Do not leave the room until I’m back. This is my job.”

“You’re my girlfriend, I’m not going to let you go alone.”

“Right now I’m your security,” you hissed quietly as you watched the camera feed in the small device, “and I will knock you out if it means keeping you safe.”

He held his palms up and took a step back into the room until you nodded in satisfaction. “Be safe.”

The worry in his tone brought a small smile to your face. “Always.” The door clicked shut behind you before the lock slid into place and the smile faded. It was time to go hunting.

You swiped across the device on your arm, flipping through all the cameras to determine there were three men in the house. They were still on the ground floor and making their way around each corner with the ease of a group that was used to working together.

Pulling Max’s shirt over your body, you wished you had time to at least put on a pair of panties. That was the last thought you spared before gripping the handrail of the stairs and shutting out everything but the task ahead of you. These men would not make it to the stairs, they would not make it to your bedroom, they would not make it to Max.

You timed it perfectly.

The billowing shirt caught the air as you leapt over the handrail and crashed feet first onto the man who had stepped into your path. He was lucky he didn’t look up because Max would have probably killed him for what be would have seen. Instead your heel connected with his head and he was a crumpled heap on the floor before you had even got back on your feet.

“She’s in here! You, find Verstappen and break his fucking hands.”

You dropped your hips low as you spun to face the voice behind you, tucking your head behind your forearms as a fist tried to kiss your cheek. The blow glanced off your arm but the crunch on knuckles on plastic rendered your smartwatch broken.

“Dick,” you growled as you lost the camera feed, and the position of the third asshole who had broken into your home. Angered even more so, you took the offensive and attacked.

The man was well trained as he dipped and dodged your 1-2 combo but he wasn’t expecting the furious headbutt you threw when he stepped in for a body shot. Light exploded behind your eyes as the man stumbled back with a groan before he stabilised himself with the wall.

“You’re a scrapper, aren’t you?” he laughed as he wiped the blood from his forehead before it ran into his eyes.

“Raised in the streets, sweetcheeks,” you smirked. If it wasn’t for the gin and adrenaline your head would probably be aching beyond belief but you couldn’t feel it just yet. “Who hired you?”

“I’m not going to tell you.”

“Worth a try,” you said with a shrug. “At least I know there’s no reason to leave any of you conscious.”

This time when the man attacked you didn’t try to stop him, you let him shove his weight into you and took him with you to the floor. Your knees caught his gut and when the momentum shifted, you pushed up with all your strength and sent him barreling into the solid oak front door. The wood cracked under the hit it took and you waited a moment to see if the man would rise.

A sound of annoyance rumbled from your throat as he tried to crawl on his knees and you shook your head. “You have one hard head, sweetcheeks.”

“Fuck. You,” he spat back, using the door handle to pull himself up.

“No, thanks,” you swung your knee up and knocked the air out of him, satisfied he wouldn’t be trying to get up again when he slumped to the floor. “I have taste.”

A shadow crossed the floor from the other end of the hall and you spun around to see the last assailant darting from the kitchen to the living room. Aiming to cut him off, you took the other archway into the large room and found him armed with a very expensive vase.

“We weren’t interrupting something, were we?” he asked as he eyed up the length of skin showing beneath Max’s shirt and you pulled the material back into place as you narrowed your eyes at him.

“Lucky for you we had just finished. If not, your friends would be dead.”

The vase was a gift from Max’s mother no less, and the man threw it at your head. You were torn between trying to catch it and self preservation but self preservation won as you slid out of the trajectory and it shattered across the living room floor. Shards went flying and Achilles hissed as he shot off the couch with the fright.

That’s when you saw red.

A sound akin to a warcry erupted from you as you ran and tackled the man around the waist, shoving your shoulder into his ribs as you both went down.

“You.” Your fist splattered blood across the carpet as it broke his nose. “Scared.” The skin on your knuckles split with a hard punch to the man’s side. “My.” Your nose wrinkled at the sound of his ribs cracking. “Cat!” You fell back on your heels panting as the man struggled to breathe.

The rapid thumping of feet running down the stairs had you rushing back to your feet thinking there was a fourth intruder but it was Max who skidded around the corner.

“You’re meant to wait for me,” you said as the fight left you exhausted and you swayed on your feet.

His arms were there to catch you and he scooped you off your feet and he kissed your sweaty forehead. “I heard you scream.”

“They scared Achilles,” you said with a wince at the touch and he pulled back, his eyes widening as he saw the swelling of the bruise beginning.

“You’re hurt.” The living room gave way to the kitchen and Max placed you on the countertop as he grabbed the first aid kit from under the bench.

“I might have a headache.”

“Stop being so tough,” he warned as he cracked the rapid ice pack open and placed it to your head. “Brett’s on his way, so is Christian.”

You bit your lip as he wiped your knuckles with disinfectant and the alcohol burned the cuts before he gently wrapped them with gauze.

“Does this mean we have to move?” he asked as he stepped between your legs and took over holding the ice pack in place. It was almost hard to imagine that on the other side of the wall there were three men unconscious when he stood in such an intimate position.

Your head snapped back to look him in the eyes. “No, this is my home. I’ll be damned if I let anyone take that away from me again.”

He swallowed before nodding in agreement. “Okay, then teach me to fight.”

Your eyebrows shot up your forehead and you winced as it sparked fresh pain. “What?”

“This is our home. I’m not going to let you defend it alone, again.” He pressed a quick kiss to your lips as the doorbell rang and Brett called out. “This is my fight too.”

“Your fight with Ferrari is out on the track.”

“Not anymore.”

Click here for chapter seven.

Tagging: @octaviareina @omgsuperstarg @mvclff1 @alwaysclassyeagle @icantcomeupwithamusicalname-blog @laneyspaulding19 @booknerd2004-blog @mimimarvelingmarvel @chonkybonky @vita-di-moda @formulas-bitch @untitled1279

[mangoshorthand]

Twelve Feet Away from the Mistletoe - Part 2 | Five Hargreeves / F Reader (Angst/Fluff) Words 3k

Requested by @fiannee. I managed to stop myself writing smut through the simple expedient of fading to black. #personalgrowth

<< Read Part 1

On Christmas Eve, he opened the front door looking a million dollars. He stood straight and authoritative in what must have been his best suit. Its clean lines skimmed and accentuated the breadth of his shoulders, his trim waist, and the shape of his legs.

You stared, dumbstruck for a moment, snow settling on the shoulders of your coat. 

Five looked like he’d been dressed by Gianni Versace himself, and you were standing in out in the snow wearing a lumpy sweater featuring candy cane striped arms and a horrified looking gingerbread man with a huge bite out of his head.

“Nice sweater,” he said, apparently too distracted by the small glimpse not obscured by your coat to say anything else.

“Thanks,” you said, embarrassed. 

You looked up at him for a second, there on the Academy steps, laden down by a large bag of Christmas gifts in your hand and a bag of clothes on your back, the cold air at your back rushing into the warmth of the entrance hall. You were suddenly unsure how to proceed. He was smiling welcome, but there was still a moment of uncertainty. 

You’d had no contact with him since that night. How to greet him after what happened? A handshake? A hug? Surely a kiss was too - 

But Five stepped back from the door and gestured you through it. 

“Come in,” he said, “we’re about to order Chinese food.”

“Sounds good,” you said, smiling awkwardly as you maneuvered your lumpy bag of gifts through the door. 

You stood in front of him for a second or so, waiting for the hug or handshake or whatever, but it never came. Instead, he closed the door behind you and went to lead you into the living room where signs of movement made it clear that his siblings sat. 

You hesitated, and it made him notice your bag of gifts for the first time. He looked curiously down into the bag. 

“Are these for-?”

“Just some gifts for you all,” you said, waving a hand to disclaim their importance. “I was just going to go dump them in the room I’m sleeping in and then-”

“Sure, sure,” he nodded towards the stairs, “you go do that. It’s the same one as last time,” he finished, answering your unarticulated question.

***

Alone in the spare room you’d been sleeping in last time you stayed, you looked in the full length mirror. 

With Five looking like he’d fallen from heaven, the sweater suddenly felt like a bad move. Why did you always have to hide behind a veneer of childish humor? Why, when you came here hoping to be swept off your feet, did you dress like an idiot? 

Ever since that kiss, he’d polluted your thoughts. Memories of the sensation of his lips on yours and the occasional touch of his tongue had always been followed by whether you should try to see him before christmas, whether to buy him a gift and exactly how you should pitch that gift. You’d agonized over it until you bought everyone a gift just so that buying him one wouldn’t stand out too much. 

All in all, the last couple of weeks had been a mess of doubt and nerves. 

Mentally shaking yourself, you pushed these thoughts aside. You kissed under the mistletoe once: it was hardly grounds to expect romance. Maybe his invitation to come for Christmas had been friendly, and the kiss was just a bit of fun in the moment. There was mild mutual attraction and there was mistletoe, but outside that little bit of holiday mischief, you were just his brother’s friend.

Fuck it. You liked this sweater and you weren’t going to change it for a man. And you’d be damned if you let yourself get hung up on a man this fickle. Squaring your shoulders, you left the bedroom.

***

“I thought I heard your voice.”

Viktor’s smile from one of the armchairs was one of welcome, but surprise. Luther, Sloane, Klaus, Diego and Lila were watching you too, looking welcoming themselves but oddly expectant somehow. Five was nowhere to be found.

You felt the enquiry in their looks. 

“Uh - am I early? Five said Christmas Eve but he didn’t say when.”

“Huh?” Diego said, uncomprehending. Their eyes on you felt uncomfortable.

“H-he told me to come over on Christmas Eve and stay a couple of nights. Did he not tell-?”

“Wait:” Lila said, loudly, “you’re telling us Five invited you for Christmas?”

“Yes,” you all but whispered, heat rising to your cheeks, “did he not tell you?”

“First I’m hearing of it.” Lila said, amused, “The sly old git.”

Putting two and two together, Viktor stepped in to cover your feeling of intruding on them.

“Sorry, I forgot to mention it to you guys. We invited her to come before she moved into her new place.”

“No problem here,” Klaus said, shrugging and throwing his sequined ankle boots up onto the table, “nice to have a different face to look at.”

After the other inhabitants of the room made sounds of agreement, or stated their welcome, you took a place beside Viktor.

When a bottle of champagne had been popped and poured by Sloane and quiet chat reestablished, Viktor leaned towards you.

“So are you and he-?”

“No.” you said, hurriedly, as a wiggle of Viktor’s eyebrows suggested what you and Five might be up to, “He didn’t really tell you he invited me, did he?”

“No,” he sniggered, But seriously - what’s going on? When did he ask?”

“My last night here,” you began, uncertainly, “you were asleep on the couch and -” you cast around for how to explain it, and then promptly chickened out, “- he asked me then.”

Viktor looked as if he knew this was far from the full story, but made no further comment.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. I’m sorry I didn’t ask you. I should have done.”

You shook your head to indicate that his apology was unnecessary, but were too preoccupied with one question to do more.

“Where did Five go, anyway?”

“Beats me.” Viktor shrugged. “We were about to order dinner but he disappeared.”

Disappeared?” you repeated, surprised into speaking more loudly than you intended. 

This attracted the attention of Klaus, who watched you with interest from over his champagne glass.

Don’t get hung up on him. Don’t. 

“Yeah,” Viktor said, clearly as confused as you, “he blinked away.” 

“And we were just about to order food,” Klaus said, airily, “let’s give him fifteen and if he doesn’t come back, we order without him.”

You gave him an hour. And then you did order without him. And, by the time the meal came, he still wasn’t back. And, another two hours later, the portion of satay and fried rice Viktor had ordered for him was still sitting on the coffee table, completely cold.

You tried not to let it get to you. You tried not to let yourself dwell. You remembered the sensible conclusion you’d come to in your third-floor bedroom but still, a mixture of confusion, hurt and irritation began to fight for the upper hand in your feelings. 

Even as you enjoyed the company of his siblings, joined in with their banter and laughed at their jokes, half your mind was engaged battling over their brother. 

What had you done to make him leave like this? Why invite you over at all if he clearly didn’t want to spend time with you?  Did he take one look at you and regret that kiss? Did you spend days agonizing about whether you should buy him that gift just for him to make other plans as soon as you arrived?

Fuck him. And fuck his mixed signals too.

You looked up at the felt mistletoe above the fireplace. Cheap and fake, just like that kiss apparently.

As the evening wore on, the snow got heavier and heavier outside, until snowflakes were falling in thick, heavy clumps past the windows, melting into slush as they came into contact with damp, dirty sidewalks and tarmac laid with grit.

And Five’s meal was still left uneaten, even when Luther began to campaign hard to get everyone to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. 

“Five would agree with me,” Luther said, earnestly, “he loved it when we were kids.”

“Only because it was the only Christmas video tape we had.” Viktor replied.

“And he was six years old,” Deigo interjected, “you’re the only one who hasn’t matured since then.”

“You guys are grinches,” Luther said, sulkily. And then, face changing to curiosity as soon as the thought occurred: “where the hell is Five, anyway?”

“Search me,” Viktor replied. 

“Should we be worried?” you asked, as Luther lost interest and continued to extol the Muppets’ many adaptational virtues.

“Nah,” Klaus said, “I’m more worried for the folks wherever he is.”

“Does he do this often?” you pressed.

“Oh yes. Cinco’s a little...unpredictable. Probably wanted to avoid being sociable. Probably couldn’t face Luther’s whining about this shitty movie.”

Pleading tiredness, you headed to bed before the movie began, Luther cross-legged in front of the TV accompanied by an equally excited Lila. As you bade them all goodnight, Viktor watched you with a look of mild concern. 

“See you in the morning,” you said, trying to smile at him and put his mind at ease, but unsure if you were successful given that your brain had been a mush of rage and recriminations for the last four hours at least.

His sympathetic smile back was slightly too knowing for you to be comfortable.

So much for not getting hung up on him. 

***

Quite how you woke up in Five’s bed the next morning, you would never know. And, as his warmth shifted beside you ahd he whispered a sleepy: “Merry Christmas,” into your ear, you found that you didn’t much care how it happened, only that it did.

It started with you alone in your room, having changed into your pajamas; still hurt, still angry and even angrier at yourself for being so.

How could you let one kiss do this to you? How could you let this man get under your skin? 

Because how could you forget? How could you go back now, knowing the feel of his hair, the feel of his breath feathering across your lips? How could any kiss ever again live up to the one he’d given you so carelessly?

That bastard. That smooth-skinned, perfect-jawed, green-eyed bastard. 

Muffled above your head, came a sound you nevertheless recognised: the static whoosh that signaled one of Five’s blinks. 

So he’d been up in his room all this time? Perhaps using his powers to avoid you?

No. Fuck that noise. 

As if you yourself had blinked there from your bedroom, you found yourself marching up the attic stairs and knocking insistently on his door.

“Yeah?” came his slightly irritated voice from inside.

That tone was like a red rag to a bull already butting against his confines. You thrust the door open and were over the threshold before he could acknowledge you.

“Why did you invite me here?” you demanded.

Clearly, Five’s response to your knock had not meant that it was fine to come in. He stood there in the center of the room, naked from the waist up, a sopping wet shirt falling from his hands onto the floor. 

You felt your face heat up like a whoosh from a gas furnace. You didn’t stare, but the second or so you looked gave you enough of a glimpse of a firm stomach, subtly toned abdominals, and dusk-rose nipples erect in the chill of the attic room. 

“Sorry,” you said, looking briefly down at your feet to give him a chance to dress himself.

“No problem,” he replied, briskly, though making no move to cover himself.

Eventually you looked back up at his face, careful to avoid your eyes lingering elsewhere. 

“Why are you wet?” you asked, as he brushed away a drip of water running down his nose from his drenched, tousled hair. 

“I’ve been out,” he said, as if this were obvious, “It’s snowing. It’s heavy sleet really. Almost rain by now.”

“Where?” you pressed, embarrassment quickly replaced by the irritation you’d come here with “And why did you invite me over just to fuck off all night?”

His lips tightened, shifting in apparent discomfort.

“I needed to run an errand.” he said, after a short pause.

“An errand?” you said, skepticism dripping from every syllable, “Come on. Don't bullshit me.”

“I needed to run an errand.” he repeated, simply and deliberately, “Take it or leave it.”

He raised his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest in a way that made the veins and muscle definition of his forearms look borderline pornographic. It was just like this asshole, to look so infuriatingly sexy when you were trying to yell at him.

You let out an angry huff of breath through your nostrils.

“Why did you invite me tonight?” you asked, again, more insistently this time.

“Because I wanted to see you for Christmas!” he said, frustratedly, as if this were obvious, “I wanted to see if you and I were going anywhere!”

“What?” you yelped, wrongfooted and jolted unexpectedly out of anger.

He stepped towards you.

“We kissed. I wanted to see if -” he gestured frustratedly between you, as if to indicate a connection in question, “-And when you turned up tonight, with all those gifts, I had to…”

His face worked, chewing his lips.

“I had to buy you a gift too.” he said, reluctantly.

You blinked, and he continued.

“Ever since that night, I’ve been thinking it over. Whether I should get you a gift and show you I’m serious about us trying something together, but I decided not to in case it scared you off. And then, tonight, when I saw a gift to me in your bag, I…”

He tailed off.

You let out a single breath: half laugh and half sigh. You could feel yourself trembling as you smiled at him.

“Viktor and I don’t usually do gifts,” you said, softly. 

He looked confused at this apparent non sequitur, but his eyes crinkled into a smile as you continued, “I only got gifts for him and the others to make it look less weird to get you one. I didn’t want to scare you off.”

A breathy laugh escaped his perfect lips.

“So what have we learned?” he asked, expectantly.

“That we’re both weird and intense?”

“Correct,” he nodded, taking another step forward, and tilting his head insolently. “but it also shows that neither of us scare easy.”

He was effortlessly, devastatingly sexy. 

You took a step towards him in turn. 

“So we can be as weird and intense as we want to be?”

Your voice came out husky, now no more than a foot away from his perfect, half-naked form. 

“Exactly,” he whispered. 

And, leaning forward, he closed the door behind you with a decisive click.

Your mouth was on his before he could react. The whole world was his lips, his warm breath and the smell of his damp skin. Your hands sprang to his freezing torso, feeling gooseflesh as well as muscle beneath your fingers.

“You’re so cold,” you breathed, breaking the kiss.

“Then warm me up,” he growled, a wolfish version of his cocky, know-it-all smile curling his lips.

And you would have obliged him: you would have rushed him and ravished him. You would have pulled his hair and pushed him roughly onto his own bed…

Except he got there first. His nose crashed into yours, resuming the kiss roughly. Groaning low in his throat as you responded in kind. 

All the restraint you’d sensed in his kiss beneath the mistletoe had clearly been abandoned, because now was all teeth, tongue and roaming hands as he steered you towards the bed. 

***

You rolled over, a blissful smile on your face, and came to rest on Five’s shoulder. 

“Happy Christmas,” you replied to his whispered greeting. 

He leaned in for a kiss, a loving one this time, and then sat up in bed. He leaned over to reach for his abandoned, soaked jacket of the previous evening, rummaging around in it on the floor, inelegantly stretched across the rug, half in and half out of bed.

“What are you-”

“There we go,” he said, locating whatever he’d been searching for. He heaved himself back on the bed, a small black box in hand.

“It’s your Christmas gift,” he said, matter-of-factly, “It’s Christmas morning. That’s traditionally when you open gifts.”

Your eyes were fixed on the box.

“Oh god, it’s not jewelry is it?”

“Yes,” he said, eyebrows contracting.

You interpreted his expression correctly and tried to assuage his worry.

“No - no, I mean, I like jewelry, it’s just that - oh, give it here.”

You took the box from him and opened it. Inside was a delicate, gold mistletoe pendant hanging off a matching chain. 

“Fuck,” you said, distractedly.

“So…wrong move?” he said, worriedly.

“No. No. It’s beautiful. It’s gorgeous, Five. It’s just that -” you looked up at him, face the picture of agony, I only got you a bottle of scotch!”

He broke into a broad, relieved smile. 

“Which scotch?” he asked, curiously.

“It seems so stupid now," you moaned, mortified, “but I remembered you talking to Klaus about being in Edinburgh in 1988 and drinking -” “Glen Moray 12?” he asked, eyes lighting up. 

“I didn’t even get the right year!” you whined, oblivious to the pleasure that would have been obvious to anyone else,  “I could only get one bottled in 1987.”

He gave an incredulous, pleased chuckle, smile broadening even more.

“That’s perfect. My god, you’ve been hanging off my every word, haven’t you?”

“Shut up,” you muttered, feeling your face heat up as his smile became slightly smug. 

“That’s pretty weird and intense,” he teased.

“No more weird and intense than buying a gold necklace for a girl you kissed once,” you shot back, finally catching his mood and teasing him in turn.

“Touché.” he conceded, and leaned his forehead affectionately against yours, "But is it acceptable now I've kissed you much more than once?"

"Hm," you said, in mock thought, "I'll reserve judgment."

Request masterlist >> HERE

Tag list: (please comment to be added or removed): @thebearmage, @nevbrooke-555, @fiannee, @abeeabee6969

NOTE: I take Five requests, I'm fairly versatile in what I write (fluff, smut, angst, psychological character study- I'll try it all) but I will consider them on a case by case basis. See masterlist for request status and more.

[bridgeportbritt]

St. Peter's Cathedral | Belomisia, Selvadorada

Gianni somber: Thank you all for coming. I'd like to say a few words.

Gianni: I wish I could stand here today and say what an honorable man my father was. I wish I could say that we had the best relationship and that my siblings and I could say he was someone we looked up to. I really wish I could say those things but unfortunately, that's not our reality.

Gianni: To know my father is to know that he had a lot of faults. I mean, he died in prison after being sentenced to 20 years, for senseless crimes that affected everyone around him. As his son, he made it impossible to stick beside him. It took him finally paying for his crimes to start taking accountability for any of his actions. Talk about frustrating.

Gianni: Even though my dad left behind some complicated relationships with each one of us, I am forever grateful for the brothers he gave me. Grayson was nothing like my dad. Every trait he possessed was good-natured. He was the first of us to forgive him. He's a stand-up man and husband. My younger brother's Guy and Garrett are two of the coolest kids you'll ever meet. Understandably, Guy didn't want to be here today. The way those two stand by their mom, how they excel in school, I'm just really proud.

Gianni: So, when I was asked to speak on behalf of my brothers, I thought about how difficult it would be to talk positively about my dad. But while it's not the cleanest, he does have a pretty great legacy he's leaving behind. While I wish things could've been different, I wouldn't change a thing about who I get to call my family and that's in part to my dad. May he rest in peace.

As usual, here's some gameplay shenanigans as well. Had everyone stay in a Selvadorada Rental while they were in town for the funeral. Gave the girls a chance to get to know the younger brothers!

[d-criss-news]

Ruben V. Nepales: Farewell and thanks for the delicious Filipino food and best of all, for the scintillating conversations, Lem Balagot!

Lemuel “Lem” Lorenzana Balagot

May 3, 1951 - October 17, 2024

We lost a Filipino cuisine pioneer in America and owner of the long-running and everyone's favorite, L A Rose Cafe.

So many memories.

When Darren Criss and his mom organized an intimate breakfast gathering the morning after the 2019 Golden Globes, where else did the mother-son have it but at Darren's favorite LA Pinoy restaurant?

Serendipitously, Darren won the Globe for "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" the night before (becoming the first Filipino American to win a Golden Globe) so it was an extra special celebration over Lem's yummy Pinoy breakfast fare.

When the Globes held a press conference with Paris Hilton, we heard that she loved Filipino food in her Manila visits. So we thought of Lem to cater the event. Paris loved the food so much that she asked to have photos with Lem and his staff.

Janet Susan Rodriguez Nepales and I are also glad that our girls got to know Lem this year. Nikki Bianca Nicole and Ella Rafaella Angelica met Lem when he catered our housewarming in the Valley but they were too young to remember him.

In more recent times, Nikki and Ella got to know Lem as they dined at LA Rose Cafe. Lem sat down with our family when we had lunch at LA Rose before we headed to a wedding mass in summer this year.

Some of Lem's endearing qualities were his affability, wit, humor and intelligence. Our conversations with him were as satisfying as his lunch and dinner staples. We brought Hollywood friends and colleagues to his Fountain Ave. cafe.

Last time we ate at LA Rose, we brought a visiting friend Evita Wise to dinner with our family. Janet and I just told the staff to give our love and hugs to him since he was upstairs, resting from a treatment. The day after, he called to say thanks and ask how the food and service was.

About three weeks before Lem passed away, we had a long phone conversation about many topics, from the recent earthquakes to his health condition. From out of the blue, he spontaneously said some very kind words to Janet and me which we will always treasure.

Paalam, Lem. We will miss you. We will always remember you. Hugs and sincerest sympathies to Lem's partner, Rai, and Lem's family.

LA Rose Cafe will remain open -- if you have not been there, try it one of these days. And to all of Lem's regular patrons and friends, let's keep LA Rose Cafe jumping in loving memory of and in tribute to the wonderful human being Len was.

******

From the family:

An open casket viewing will be held on November 6 from 10 am to 8 pm, followed by a closed casket visitation on November 7 from 10 am to 8 pm at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 9 at 9:00 am at the Church of the Recessional, also at Forest Lawn Glendale with a reception at LA Rose to follow at 12 pm. The family requests that flowers be delivered to Forest Lawn Glendale, located at 1712 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California 91205.

[topguncortez]

Bad Medicine | Chapter 14

previous part | masterlist | next part

synopsis: The wedding between the Seresin mafia and the Santiago mafia has finally arrived. But what's a wedding without a little drama?

word count: 6.2k

warnings: PTSD, trauma, mentions of scars, mentions of murder, mentions of torture, torture, graphic character death, shootings, guns, blood, revenge plot, illusion of suicide, death.

“Rise and shine, cupcake!” 

The dark room was infiltrated with light as the middle Santiago brother ripped the curtains open. Y/N let out a groan as the morning sun hit her directly in the face. Narciso didn’t seem to pay any mind to his sister as he opened the large bay window, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. Y/N turned her face away from the window, finding the spot next to her empty. She frowned and pushed herself up on her elbow finding a note addressed to her and a singular red rose on the bedside. 

“Y/N!” Narciso clapped his hands, getting his sister’s attention. 

“Sorry,” She said and looked over at him, “Actually, I’m not. What the hell are you doing?” 

“I’m your maid of honor, for lack of a better word.” He smiled brightly. 

“Who said that?” 

“Me,” Narciso said, and walked over to her, and flung the rest of the blankets off of her, “I know you would much rather it be Mom and Sophie helping you, but I guess I’m third best. Besides, have you seen the way the other two dress. . . they need more help than us today, sis.” 

“Thank you,” Y/N smiled and hugged her older brother. 

“Any time,” Narcisosaid, wrapping an arm around her and squeezing gently, “Please have this be the last wedding though. I’m not sure if Dad’s pockets can afford another one.” 

“I thought it was known that we marry for money in this family?” Y/N joked. 

Narciso rolled his eyes, and helped her up from her bed. He led her down the hall towards Bob’s room, which was now turned into a makeshift glam room. Narciso had various stylists walking around the room setting up their makeup and hair stations. Y/N beamed brightly at her brother, as a woman came up and grabbed her hand, softly pulling her over to get working on her hair. Narciso smiled to himself and leaned against the door, watching his sister smile. It had been a long time since he had seen a genuine smile on her face. 

 — — — ♱♱♱ — — — ♱♱♱ — — — 

Jake stood in the middle of the backyard as wedding planners were finishing their final touches on the altar and the rows of white chairs. At first, Jake thought that 200 chairs that were in a curved half circle was a bit extreme, but then he saw the final guest list, and suddenly worried if they had enough chairs. Everyone was coming to see the wedding of one of the most notorious mobsters in California. It was hard to believe that Jake Seresin, the ‘Hangman’, was getting married to the Don of Italy’s daughter. 

And not just any Don of Italy’s daughter, Rafael Santiago’s daughter. The wild card. The damaged rose. Everyone thought after what had happened with Francisco, that the Don would’ve hid his daughter away. ‘Sent her to Rome to be a nun’ was the rumor that had floated around for several months until someone spotted her in that strip club back in New York. But now the rumor was that the Santiago girl had settled down, and was ready to be a wife. 

“Care to tell me why I just found a book full of naughty pictures of my sister?” Gianni asked, shoving something against Jake’s chest. The blonde grunted and looked down at the scrapbook in his hands, “She told me to give this to you, didn’t say what it was, and now, I feel like I need to go stab my own eyes out.” 

Jake chuckled and tucked the book under his arm, “Don’t you know not to open things that don’t belong to you?” 

“Shut up, Seresin,” Gianni shoved him as he walked into the house, still grumbling about the photo album in Jake’s hands. 

Jake looked around the backyard, taking in the smiles on everyone’s faces. There was a buzz in the air, the scent of excitement. The wedding wasn’t supposed to start for another four hours, but Jake felt ready to jump out of his skin. He had been woken up early this morning by Emile, and ushered down to his room at the opposite end of the house. Jake looked over his shoulder at the balcony, white curtains covered the french doors so he couldn’t see his bride inside. 

Despite everyone's smiles, there was only one person who didn’t seem to have a joyous expression on their face. Jake had noticed that Bradley had an uneasy look on his face and had avoided looking him in the eye all morning. The mustached man was now wandering around from place to place, trying to find something to keep him busy. Bradley hated not having something to do, he was never the type to just and wait.  

“Emile,” Jake called over to his maid, “Can you take this to my room? And tell the future missus thank you for the gift.” Emile nodded and took the book from him. Jake stuffed his hands into his pocket and walked over to Bradley, who was fiddling with a white bow on the back of one of the chairs, “Do you even know what you are doing?” 

Bradley didn’t look up, but stopped his messing with the bow, “I think-” 

“You’ve been avoiding me.” 

“I have not-” 

“Bradley,” Jake said sincerely. 

Bradley sighed and looked up at the man he considered to be a brother, “I’m sorry.” 

“Why?” Jake asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Bradley stood up from his crouching position and scratched the back of his neck. It is hard to describe Bradley as being small, but as he stood in front of Jake, avoiding his green eyes, Bradley did in fact look “small”.  Jake could see a little boy who looked like he had just gotten caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. 

“I. . . I thought maybe if I stay away from this one, I won’t mess it up.” Bradley mumbled, “I seem to be the angel of death,” Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “I’m sorry for what I-” 

“What happened with Natasha was not your fault,” Jake said, “You can’t help who you love.” Bradley looked up at his friend, “One of the things I will regret until my dying breath, was letting you believe that you are a monster, a killer.” 

It had been one of the darkest times in Bradley’s life after betraying not only Jake, but the family that gave him so much when he had lost his own. Bradley hated that he had been so naive and had fallen in line right where Natasha wanted him. He knew that Jake could’ve killed him right then and there, laying his body out in cold blood like Natasha’s. However, Jake decided to show Bradley mercy. And every day Bradley felt like he had to figure out how to repay him somehow. 

“I was already a monster,” Bradley looked at his hands. His hands were rough and calloused from years of working with his hands, “I don’t think I’ll ever get my happily ever after. No one can love the fucked up monster. I had that and-and I lost it.”  

“Someone out there will,” Jake answered. He put his hand under Bradley’s chin and lifted it up, “I never blamed you for what happened. I just want you to forgive me, Bradley.” 

“I forgave you years ago,” Bradley admitted, “I’m glad you found Y/N. . . or she found us, I guess. It’s been nice to have someone to take care of us. She. . . she reminds me of my mom, in a way.” 

Jake smiled and hugged Bradley. Bradley sighed and melted into the hug, not realizing how much he needed the physical reassurance from the mafia leader. He had spent years watching his every move, careful of what Jake was doing. He always felt like there was a target on his back for a mistake he had made when he was young and stupid. But to have Jake tell him that he forgave him, felt like cinder blocks lifted off his shoulders. 

Rooster pulled back from the hug, “I gotta get going. I want to stop by the hospital before this thing kicks off.”

“Hospital?” Jake asked. 

“Yeah. . . check on Sophie,” A blush filled Bradley’s cheeks and Jake gave a singular nod. 

“Check on her, huh?” A small smirk graced Jake’s lips and Bradley playfully shoved the man, “Alright, alright, give an update to Y/N please. I know she’s worried about Sophie.” 

“I will,” Rooster nodded, and turned to walk in the house. 

“Oh! And send my brother to me.” Rooster gave Jake a thumbs up before disappearing into the labyrinth that is the Seresin Mansion. 

Jake took one last glance around the backyard before looking up at the balcony. He smiled seeing his wife standing in the doorway, looking out at the rose garden. She was wearing a white silk robe and her hair had been pinned back into an updo. She held a glass of champagne in her hands, her face was still makeup free. Jake loved when her face was bare, not hiding her scars from him. He looked at her face, memorizing every single line that adorned it. 

Feeling his stare, Y/N looked from the sparkling white roses to her fiance. She gave him a soft smile and a small wave. He mouthed to her ‘I Love You’, and held his hand on his heart. Y/N nodded and whispered back the same three words. She then sent him a wink, as she turned around, untying her robe, and letting it cascade to the ground. Jake bit back a smirk, as he watched her naked body disappear into their room and the doors to the balcony shut. 

“Some things will never change,” He mumbled to himself, fixing his dress pants. Jake looked over the backyard, looking at the altar, that in just a few moments he’d be standing under, holding hands with his wife. Jake smiled to himself, as he shook his head and looked down at his shoes. He couldn’t wait until he heard the words, ‘You may now kiss your wife’. 

 — — — ♱♱♱ — — — ♱♱♱ — — — 

Y/N’s hands were shaking as she sat at her vanity, looking at herself in the mirror. She had been here before. It was giving her deja vu, sitting looking at herself in nothing but a strapless white lace bra, matching panties, her hair done and pinned back, and makeup done to the nines. Her scars had been covered, as if the past trauma had never happened to her. She could almost believe that her face was without any scarring, but she could still see some remnants of the angry skin left behind. 

A knock at the door and a voice called out to her, snapping her from her warring thoughts, “Can I come in?” 

“Yeah, Gio,” Y/N said, clearing her throat and reaching for her robe. She slipped it on her shoulders as Gianni walked through the door, a smile on his face. 

“How are you doing?” He asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed. 

“Want me to be honest?” She asked and he nodded, “I’m terrified,” Y/N looked up at her brother, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, “I just. . . I keep pinching myself, seeing if this is real. If I really am about to marry a man that I love, or if this is some sick joke.” 

Gianni stood up from the bed and walked to her. He gently lifted her chin with his finger, “This is real. Nothing, and I mean, nothing, is going to hurt you.” Y/N nodded and Gianni’s face softened, “I will never forgive myself for not killing Francisco when I had a chance. I never-” 

“It was on me,” Y/N said and dabbed under her eye, “I begged you to show him mercy. I thought that he would get the hint after what you did to him, but he’s a sick man.” 

“And he’s a dead man, when we find him,” Gianni pulled her into a tight hug, “He will never, ever, hurt you again. You have my word.” 

“Thank you, Gianni,” Y/N said, and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Another knock on the door separated the siblings. Y/N froze for a moment, hoping it wasn’t her soon to be husband trying to steal another look, “Who is it?” 

“Bob,” A smile graced her face and Gianni nodded, turning and heading out the door. He patted Bob on the back, going down the hall to try and find Jake, and hopefully smoke a cigar with him before the wedding kicked off. 

Y/N crossed her arms over her chest and nodded for Bob to come into her room. The blue eyed man quietly shut her bedroom door and walked right to her, not hesitating to give her a tight hug. Y/N let out a small sound, as he squeezed her. Out of all of the boys, Bob had been the only one who hadn’t touched her yet. She let out a sigh and settled into the hug, running her hand up and down his back. 

“Thank you,” Bob mumbled. 

“For what?” Y/N asked. 

Bob pulled away, and she noticed he wasn’t wearing his glasses. She gently touched his cheek, running her thumb over the apple of his skin. He looked strikingly handsome with his ocean blue eyes. Y/N swore that she could even see what looked like waves in his eyes. The more that she looked at him, the more that she could see the similarities between him and Jake. They had the same blonde hair, and striking colored eyes. They also had the same half smile whenever they were trying to hide their blush. 

“For giving me my brother back,” Bob said, “We used to be really close, when we were younger but. . . we grew apart after everything happened. And I am sorry he was so horrible to you when you first got here. I make no excuses for him, and I know he will spend the rest of his life apologizing to you for what he did. . . but he’s just been through so much. The both of you had. I think that’s what makes you two so perfect for each other.” 

Y/N grabbed his hand, and squeezed it, “Thank you, Bob,” her voice cracked as she felt hot tears well up in her eyes. 

“No! Don’t cry, Narciso will kill me,” Bob said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out kleenex, “I’m sorry for making you cry.” 

“You didn’t,” Y/N said, “I always wanted to feel love like this. To be in a family who truly loves each other. You all might not have the perfect relationship, there might be buried skeletons and ghosts, but at the end of the day, you all love each other. And now, I finally get to experience that too.” 

“You’ve always had that, Y/N. Might not have been displayed for the whole world to see, but it’s always been there,” Bob assured her. 

“Excuse me, Mr. Floyd,” Emile said, knocking on the door, holding the white dress in her hand, “We need to get her dressed.” Bob smiled brightly, looking at Y/N. He kissed her cheek, whispering ‘good luck’ before walking out the door. 

— — — ♱♱♱ — — — ♱♱♱ — — — 

Jake was finishing up the final touches on his tux, when he heard a soft knock on the door, followed by his younger brother stepping into the room. He smiled at his brother and took a step back from the mirror and embraced him in a hug. 

“She looks beautiful,” Bob said. 

Jake pulled away from the hug. His smile was so bright he bet that he could power a whole dark city, “You saw her?” 

Bob nodded, and put his hands into his pockets, “Yeah, stopped by her room on the way here. What did you want to see me for?” 

Jake sucked in a breath and fiddled with his hands, “I want to apologize to you, for what I did, taking you away from MIT and forcing you into this family.” 

“Oh, I forgave you for that a long while ago. I knew it was inevitable,” Bob shrugged. 

“I still had no right to do that to you,” Jake said, “You were the one that had a chance at living a normal life, and I ruined that for you.”

Bob smiled shyly, looking down at his black dress shoes. Bob had constant dreams about living that kind of life, except they all ended the same way, with Jake showing up and tearing him away. Jake read his face and put the final touches on his tie, before stepping behind him, so Bob was standing directly in front of the full-length mirror. Jake’s hands went to his shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles and adjusted the tie. 

“You know, out of the four of us, I always thought it was gonna be your wedding we go to first. You were the one who was gonna live that white picket fence life. Kids running around the front yard, and an apple pie on the kitchen table. Dad kinda set you up for all that,” Jake smiled. 

“You know I won’t ever have that. . .” Bob sighed. Jake watched as his brother’s face fell, knowing exactly what he was talking about. It took Jake, his parents, and even Rooster to get Bob to stop searching for his lover. Bob had taken an unhealthy obsession with trying to find a ghost. He took a step away from Jake and walked towards the door, “She’s just gone, Jake, like she never even existed.” 

“If there is anyone on this earth who can find her, it’s you, Bob,” Jake said truthfully. 

“I’ve never stopped looking for her. But she’s just. . . gone, like a ghost.” 

Jake chuckled and shoved his hands into his pockets, “No one just disappears Bobby, have you ever thought that you're over focussing, broaden your mind, you'll find her. Or maybe she'll find you.” 

Bob nodded to himself and walked out of the bedroom door, leaving Jake alone with his thoughts. Jake sighed and sat down on his bed, looking around the room. It was pretty much bare now, all his belongings having been moved into the master bedroom with Y/N. He leaned over towards his bedside table, seeing an envelope addressed to him. He smiled as he picked it up and opened it.  

“To my true soul,” 

 — — — ♱♱♱ — — — ♱♱♱ — — — 

Her breath was in her throat. Everyone was waiting for her, the isles were lined with flowers, the bows on the backs of the chairs had been tied to perfection. The boys had already taken their spots at the altar, each of them wearing black tuxes with white button ups. Jake was the only one wearing an all black suit, as he bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to settle the nerves in his body. Javy couldn’t help but grab his friend's shoulders, shaking them, as a goofy smile spread on his face. 

Y/N looked at herself in the mirror one last time, fixing up some flyaways in her hair. Her dress fit her perfectly, the lace laying on her smooth skin. Her hands were shaky as Emile handed her her flower bouquet. Emile quickly moved around her, fixing some things with her dress and veil. Y/N glanced at the doors in front of her, which were shut and a curtain drawn over them so no one could see her on the other side. Her heart pounded, knowing that right on the other side was her soon to be husband. 

“You look perfect,” She said, fixing the veil on her shoulders, “He’s a lucky man.” 

“I think I am the lucky one,” Y/N answered, as she took in a deep breath. 

Emile smiled, “I always knew that you two would fall in love. Mr. Jacob is rough around the edges when you first meet, but he melts your heart. He melted mine, that’s for sure. Been taking care of all four of them since they were in trainers.” 

“Thank you, Emile,” Y/N said genuinely. Emile nodded and kissed her forehead, as the door opened and her father walked in. Emile excused herself as the Don stepped over to his daughter, “Papa,” 

“Y/N,” The Don responded. He held his hand out to her and she gently placed her hand in his. His hands were rough from years of working with his hands, but they were always warm and gave Y/N a sense of security, just like when she held his hand as a child, “You look perfect. A spitting image of your mother.” 

“I wish she could be here,” Y/N spoke, tears filling her eyes. 

“Oh, tesoro,” Rafael said, wiping her tears softly, “Don’t cry. She’s here, in your heart. She always has been.” Y/N nodded, and gripped her father’s arm tightly, “You ready?” 

“Yeah,” She smiled, “Just don’t. . . don’t let me fall.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” The Don spoke. He nodded to the guards in front of him to open the doors that led to the garden. 

Everyone’s eyes turned and looked at her. Everyone stood up as the pianist started playing the notes to ‘Turning Page’, the song Bob had picked out for them. Her steps faltered for a second, taking in the sight of all the eyes on her, and she squeezed Rafael’s arm. He patted her hand gently, reassuring her that he wasn’t going to fail her, not this time. She looked up at her dad, and Rafael felt a moment of deja vu. She was suddenly the five year old girl going to her first day of school, scared to go run with the other children, and searching for the okay to go. 

“I’ve got you,” Rafael whispered to her, and Y/N nodded, the anxiety melting away. Y/N took a deep breath and looked back down the aisle at her Jake, who’s eyes were blurry with tears.

Jake’s eyes found hers in an instant, looking at her. No one else mattered but her, she was the only person Jake could see. Jake couldn’t help the tears that formed in his eyes as Y/N walked down the aisle towards him. Any anxiety he had about this moment melted away when she smiled at him. Javy gently nudged Jake and smiled at him. Bob had only seen this look in Jake’s eyes once before, and he was worried he’d never see that again. Bob was thanking the stars above that Jake had found his forever. The aisle seemed endlessly long as Y/N had finally made her way to Jake. Jake took a step down off the altar to take her from her father. 

“Jacob,” Rafael whispered, “Take good care of my daughter.” 

“I will protect her with my life,” Jake whispered back. The Don smiled and placed a kiss on Jake’s cheek. He turned to his daughter and placed a kiss on her cheek, before going to join his boys in the front row. Jake moved the veil from Y/N’s face and smiled at her. 

“Hi,” She said softly. 

“Hey,” He whispered back. He took her hand, and gently led her up the steps to stand in front of the priest. She passed her bouquet back to Narciso, and then grabbed both of Jake’s hands. He squeezed them gently, before turning his head towards the Priest. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, you may be seated,” The Priest said, “We are gathered here today to witness the holy union between Y/N Santiago and Jacob Seresin. The love that has been granted upon them is obvious, as it surrounds not only them but all of us as well. If there is anyone who objects to these two being joined in the face of the Lord and become one within one another, please speak now, or forever hold your peace.” 

Jake looked at Y/N and smiled, as they heard silence from the crowd. He grabbed her hand in his, running his thumb over the back of her hand. He opened his mouth to whisper something to her, when someone from the back of the crowd stood up and yelled: 

“I object!” 

Jake’s head snapped towards the sound, his jaw dropping slightly, “Natasha?”

Y/N’s heart was beating erratically as she looked at the woman that had haunted her husband’s dreams. Y/N went to take a step forward when a loud gun shot rang out. Jake quickly grabbed her hand to pull her back to him as screams filled the crowd, but Y/N was frozen in place as she looked down at the growing red spot seeping through her white dress. 

“Y/N. . .” Jake whimpered out, as he helped her down to the ground before she could collapse. 

The single shot was followed by rapid gunfire, as screams and cries filled the air, people immediately running for the quickest cover they could find. Jake looked up to where Natasha was standing, watching her make her way towards him. He felt sick as he looked down at his wife, his hands going to her midsection, standing them with crimson. When he looked back up, Natasha was gone. 

Rafael tried to push through the guards, but they pushed the mafia leader away, trying to get him to safety. He tried his best to fight against them, but he was no match against Paulo and Narciso’s strength as they pushed him towards the house. Rooster and Gianni grabbed the guns from their waist bands and took off, looking for the source of the gunfire. 

“Jake,” Her small voice drew Jake’s attention back to her. He sucked in a breath as the color was gone from her face. Jake looked back up briefly, seeing Natasha standing in front of him, a sick smirk on her face. He blinked a couple times, and again, she was gone. The sound of coughing made Jake look back down at his bride, watching as pink froth left her lips. He adjusted her in his arms, helping her sit up a bit. He knew that gunshot wounds to the stomach were an awful way to die. Slowly, your body positioned itself as the toxins from your intestines leaked into your blood. 

What the fuck, Jacob, he thought, shaking his head again, “Help me!” Jake yelled out to anyone who was near. 

“J-Jake,” Y/N stuttered out, her hands going on top of his as a way to add more pressure to the growing wound. Her body felt searing hot, as she tried to push herself up. Her mind was clouded over with the pain, that nothing made sense. Who could have done this? Why would someone want to hurt us like this?

“I don’t want to die, Jake.” 

Bob and Javy ran in towards the house, both their guns drawn as they frantically looked around. Bob spotted him first, pointing out the man dressed in all black, running towards the front gate. Both the men went running after him, firing their weapons, trying to hit him. Bob was fast, his long legs carrying him towards the perpetrator quickly. He tackled them to the ground, both of them falling with a grunt. Bob took the blunt end of his gun and struck him in the face, making the man grunt. 

“Cease fire!” Bob yelled, “I got him! I got him!” 

The gunfire ceased as Rooster and Gianni both ran in the house towards Bob, to help him gather whoever was the cause of this. Rooster helped Bob stand the perpetrator to his feet, taking his belt and using it as makeshift handcuffs until they could get him into the chamber. Gianni saw nothing but red, as soon as he laid eyes on the perpetrator’s face. Gianni took his fist and struck him in the jaw, making the perp sag a bit in Rooster and Bob’s hold. 

“Fuck!” He grunted, “Nice to see you too, Gianni.” 

“You’re going to fucking burn, Francisco,” 

“Promise?” Francisco smirked. 

“Get him to the fucking chamber,” Javy demanded.

The backyard was silent as the smoke and dust cleared, leaving behind debris in its wake of tipped over chairs, articles of clothing, broken flower vases and bullet shells. Jake slowly rocked Y/N back and forth, holding her close. His hands did the best they could to stop the blood from escaping from her body. Usually the sight of blood didn’t bother him, but there was something about seeing the dark red stain, the perfect white of her dress, that made him sick. 

“J-Jake. . .” Y/N called out to him. Jake laced their fingers together, the blood making their fingers stick together, “I-I don’t want-“

“Shh baby, shh,” Jake cried, wiping the tears from her face, “Help me! Somebody! Help!” She groaned in pain as Jake jolted her slightly. Jake quit moving and kissed her forehead, “It’ll be okay. I promise.” Y/N nodded weakly as Jake held her, “Help!” 

“I-it h-hurts.”

Jake looked down at her, taking in the sight of her. He knew there was nothing anyone could do, and he knew that she knew it too. He held her close and rocked her gently. Her usual tan skin was now pale. The midsection of her dress was almost completely red. Jake hated it. 

“I’m right here, okay. I’m not gonna go anywhere.” 

Her mind was in a limbo of wanting to accept death, accept what was going to happen to her or to fight against it to live. This couldn’t be her ending. Not now, not that she had made amends with those who hurt her. Not when she just found her true love, her true happiness. She had faced death before, and welcomed it before. But now, seeping into that black abyss was terrifying. Going into an undiscovered place, alone, was worse than bleeding out in her lover’s arms. 

“I’m scared, Jake. . . I don’t want to die yet,” She sobbed out, her eyes locked on the sky above her. Jake had made a promise to her to never let her be scared again, not while his heart was still beating in his chest. 

“Don’t be, it’ll be okay, baby, it’ll all be okay,” Jake said softly, “You go, okay. Don’t be scared,  I’ll be right there.” 

Y/N nodded, her body growing weaker and weaker. It was like the pull of a tide, pulling her further and further into a deep abyss. Jake watched her features, watched as her chest rose and fell, and froze. Her eyes, the usual honey brown, grew cold and her face froze in a forever look of fear. Jake looked up at the sky, letting his tears fall, and soft sobs left his pink lips. He looked down at the girl in his arms, and brought a shaky hand to her face to close her eyes. 

“I love you. . . I love you,” Jake said and kissed her cheek. He looked around the whole backyard before bringing her body into his and letting out a loud scream of agony. Javy, Bob and Rooster watched from inside the house as Jake let out his emotions. Bob couldn’t help but shed tears at the anguishing sounds leaving Jake’s lips. They had never seen him like this, not even after Natasha. 

Paulo and Narciso had to physically hold their father up from crashing to the ground. Rafael let out a loud sob, as he watched his only daughter’s life leave her body. Gianni clenched his jaw, looking from the scene, down to his shoes. Gianni was known as The Santiago with no emotion, but he couldn’t help the tears that fell from his eyes. He had devoted much of his adult life to protecting his baby sister, and now he watched as he had failed her yet again. He wiped his tears quickly and turned on his heel walking towards the chamber that had taken Francisco. 

“Stop him,” Rafael said, fearing for what his son was going to do. 

Paulo shook his head, “He’ll be fine. He needs this.” 

Jake gently laid Y/N’s body on the ground and placed her hands on her belly, trying to cover the bullet wound the best he could. He grabbed the discarded bouquet from earlier, placed it in her hands and kissed her before standing up and marching into the house. The three other boys moved out of his way as he walked straight into the chamber. The other boys shared a look before following Jake down to the chamber. 

Gianni was already beating up Francisco when Jake got down there, the man was chained up by his wrists, as Gianni delivered blow after blow to his face. Francisco looked up at Gianni, as he held him by the back of his head, his brass knuckles shining with blood already. 

“I didn’t know you were capable of emotions,” Francisco smiled, as Gianni reeled his fist back and delivered another punch. 

“Enough,” Jake said as he walked in. Gianni nodded, dropping Francisco’s head and stepping away from the battered man. 

“Got what you wanted? A good wedding?” Francisco asked with a smirk. Jake didn’t say anything as he growled, walked over to Francisco, grabbing him by the throat. Jake could feel the crush of his hyoid bone under his hand. Francisco’s neck and face turned red as his air supply was slowly being cut off. 

“You’re fucking sick. Thinking you can get away with shit you’ve done. Killing my wife.” Jake said through a clenched jaw. 

“If I'm sick, what does that make you? You’re not some fucking saint. You hurt her too. Difference is I taught her a lesson. I’m a sinner with a reason.” 

Jake pressed down harder on his neck again, “We’re both going to hell. But I’m going to fucking kill you, and it’s going to be so fucking euphoric to watch you die slowly.” 

“Give it to me. Kill me! SHOW ME WHO THE FUCK HANGMAN REALLY IS!!” Francisco yelled. 

Jake stepped back, and raised his gun and pointed it in between Francisco’s eyes. He cocked it, and then closed his eyes. Images of the early morning he had shared with Y/N filled his mind. Jake closed his eyes, soaking in the vision of her. Her smile as he got down on one knee and finally proposed to her. Her soft voice as she sang to him. And her heartbeat, pumping in her chest, letting the blood flow throughout her body. Now she laid on the concrete, her blood shed and her body cold. 

Jake opened his eyes, letting the tears run down his face. He lowered his gun and handed it to Bob, who stood behind him. Bob looked at him confused as Jake took a step towards Francisco. 

“The reaper had mercy,” Jake whispered, placing a kiss on Francisco’s cheek. 

The men all looked at Jake, unsure of what the mafia leader was doing. Not once had they ever seen Jake back down from killing someone, especially someone who had hurt him like this. Jake walked over to his brothers, and hugged them each starting with Bob. 

“You’ll find her, I know you will,” Jake said to him. He then hugged Javy, “Take care of them when they hear, you’ve always liked you more than me.” He spoke in his best friend's ear. 

When Jake got to Rooster, he held him tightly in his arms. Jake whispered in his ear, and Rooster’s eyes widened. He went to pull back from the hug, but Jake placed his hand on his head, keeping him still until he was done talking. Rooster bit his lip, trying to suppress the sob building in his throat. Jake placed a kiss on his cheek as he pulled away from the hug. 

Jake didn’t say anything else to them but just nodded, before ascending up the stairs. 

“What a fucking puss-” 

The shot that rang out caused Francisco’s head to knock back and then forward, showering brain matter and blood along the walls. Rooster lowered his gun and handed it to Javy, feeling disgusted by what he just did. Rooster instructed the guards to clean the mess up and place Francisco in a shallow grave. 

“Wait,” Gianni said, holding his hand up. He drew the knife from his pocket and walked over to Francisco’s dead body. He leaned his head back, and flicked open the pocket knife. Gianni clenched his jaw as he carved a jagged scar down the dead man’s face, “I hope you rot in hell,” Gianni released Francisco’s head, watching the blood drip from the cut. He took a step back and spit on his corpse. They watched as Gianni walked up the stairs, exiting the chamber to go be with his family. 

The three Seresin family members stood in silence, listening to the blood drop from the dead body. Javy looked around at Bob, who’s eyes were trained on the stairs Jake had just walked up. 

“What do we do now?” Javy asked. Bob opened his mouth to speak when another gunshot went off. He jumped and let out a soft gasp, as he licked his lips and bowed his head. The realization washed over him that he was now head of the family. 

“We drink.” 

Fin.

taglist: @cherrycola27 @seresinsbabe @violyn20 @materialgirl01 @bradleybeachbabe @a-reader-and-a-writer @lt-spork @topnerd03 @3in1shampooconditionerbodywash @bioodforbiood @topguncultleader @ma-fraise @abaker74 @double-j @cm27078 @thedroneranger @khaylin27 @mak-32 @unhinged-btch @wittywhispers @theliterarybeldam @bloosomjoon @chxcxlate-cxxkies @luckyladycreator2 @wellshit6 @harper1666 @phoenix1388 @footprintsinthesxnd @dempy @emma8895eb @bonitanightmxres @love2write2626 @bobbyonboard @some-lovely-day @thenewdaysalreadyhere @cassiemitchellslibrary @ilymoonie @morgensternsblog @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @rintheemolion @tallrock35 @adoringsebstan @xoxabs88xox

note: does it make you feel better if I say that there will be an epilogue AND a sequel??? no??? okay. . .

[bartholomew-junior]

ENDOPARASITIC? THAT HORROR GAME WHERE YOU PLAY AS A GUY WITH 3 OF HIS LIMBS GONE? THAT HAS CHARACTERS OTHER THAN ONE ARM GUY?

yes, and the existence of these three is the basis of nearly all of the endoparasitic fandom (used to be 5 or 6, now just me or maybe another person idk) if you scroll through the fandom tag (#esptc) you’ll see a few others, as well as the main tag, #endoparasitic. i’m gonna go over the existence of these characters in canon, starting with the main character:

CYNTE (one arm guy) CANON:

in the game, he is voiced by gianni matragrano, and we are shown a fair bit of his personality and motive which serves as a catalyst for the plot of the game. as far as we know, he’s got a bucketload of negative character traits, given that he is at least partially to blame for the events of the game. but he is shown as a very determined, ambitious and intelligent character. i strongly, strongly suggest you read the chat logs on the computers in endoparasitic which shows his dialogue and more of his personality, cuz despite his status as one armed protagonist guy, he does have depth which i commend nessa (the writer) for.

and now for the two other characters that are named and (semi) important to the plot. ill start with praví, who is lesser known character when put into comparison with luce and cynte. (i highly suggest you watch a lore video or something)

PRAVÍ CANON:

praví is only seen in a few chat logs and one cutscene (this also applies to luce), so VERY little canon. the things that we do have (where he’s not begging for his life) show him to be levelheaded, an efficient worker, and dare i say laid-back, at least in comparison to cynte. there is something to say about how he ignores luce often, maybe showing less of a concern to people below his station.

LUCE CANON:

she serves as the driving force for the plot, inviting the parasites into the lab and killing everyone because of the manipulation of the nautilus parasites saying that instead of her “”great, smarter, objectively better”” boss, she was chosen to host the parasites. ignored by praví, treated like a child by cynte, she is often portrayed as timid and sentimental, again in comparison to the other two characters. her spiraling into madness was “finding her strength” in a way, and at the end, it is shown that she thinks of cynte as worse than her even though she caused the mass infection, showing her to be just a bit naive and hypocritical.

again, i very strongly urge you to play through the game or check out a lore video if possible. thank you for letting me ramble 👍

[soulstaleask]

Ok question time!

clover: just wanna say, you'll get used to us other clovers eventually.

Frisk: as much as I assume you don't, how do you swing your stick when using it as a weapon

chara: are you from this AU? You look like a storyshift chara.

gianni: where does the name come from?

naomi: what's the deal with axis, he didn't want to do what he did, have you talked to him?

molly: what's in the book?

AJ: when fighting monsters, why don't you just punch the magic?

saqui: I don't have a question, sorry, here's 100 pounds worth of cooking supplies

vessel: *gives a switch*

Everyone:

do humans possess magic in this world? I know clover probably does have the justice magic, like most clovers do, and frisk and/or chara can load?

But other than that it would be interesting to learn,most people assume kindness has barriers, and patience has time magic, and that's how it works in tons of AU, but It could be different here.

Also, if other clover ever wants magic help, I'm around!

(Mod: sorry for all the asks)

Hope yall do well!

(i dont have the motivation to draw shit 4 ALL OF THAT😥 -$)

"Why is that something I have to 'get used to,' though?" -💛

("If I were to attack? Slashing.") -❤️

"Howdy! I'm from this particular universe, but not from the timeline, if that makes sense? There's another version of me running around." -❤️

"Shortening of Giovanni. My old boss called me it, so I decided to use it as a name." -🩵

“Axis? Um, well, no, I haven’t talked to him in quite a while! I hope I can talk to him and make it up to him, though!” -💙

"Here, take a look." *There's a drawing of a giant middle finger scribbled over an actual drawing.* -💜

"Uhhh, I don't know magic?" -🧡

"Thank you! I wonder what I should cook first..." -💚

"grm.. :)" -🩶

(hey spencer here to explain this weve decided that its like deltarune where its a seperate ability FROM uh like magic yk but yea they all kinda have an ability n shit ill drop their abilities frfr -$)

Frisk & Chara (Determination): Saving/Loading

Alex (Bravery): Charge

Clover (Justice): Known as the [Big Shot] or Justice Blast

Saqui (Kindness): Defense (Takes little/less damage)

Gianni (Patience): Casts a blue attack

Naomi (Integrity): Jump (Dodge)

Molly (Perseverance): Restrict enemy movement (Reference to PURPLE SOUL mode)

[msfbgraves]

A Mob idea: Daniel always applies makeup to cover Terry’s blatant love bites (heh). He decides to give Terry a taste of his own medicine, and give him an intense (and highly visible) hickey. See how he likes it! This backfires spectacularly on Daniel, because of course Terry struts around wearing that like a badge of honor. Makeup? Cover this beauty up?? No way!!! He just tells their pups that it’s a bruise, your Mama accidentally did this…but everyone else gets told that it’s a memento from his spicy omega (much to Daniel’s horror and mortification). Haha.

"Alright, Eli, you hold Gianni's hand tight on the way, won't you, caro? And Samantha's taking Anthony's stroller, grazie, mi'angelina, you're a big help, no passerotta, Yasmin, Mama will take Luna, you can hold Robby's hand -"

"I want to hold Daddy's hand!"

Terry strokes her hair. "Do you, still, acushla?" He extends a hand to Robby. "Will you hold my hand, stoírín?" The boy shakes his head, determined, and moves closer to his Mama. Daniel looks up at him, sheepishly, but then he stops.

"Terry, you're not dressed!"

"Oh?" Terry grins. "I'm sorry, mo cuishle, but a tie... it's a bit sore."

"You wore a tie yesterday."

"Looks scary," Robby says matter-of-factly.

Ah, well, at least it's not personal. "You'll have to tell Mama to take more care then, won't you?"

Robby turns around, eyes opened wide. "You did that?"

His mate blushes. "It was an accident," he mumbles.

"I don't like it," Robby says.

"Me neither," Daniel says, like lightening. "Shall we ask Daddy to put it away?"

"Can't, lovelies, it's sore," he says, and Sammy looks at him worriedly. "It'll heal," he says, "but it needs some fresh air for that."

"Terry, this is church," Daniel hisses.

"Yes."

"Kiss it better?" That's Anthony. He lifts him out of the stroller. "Thanks, baby! Oof!" He ruffles his hair. "You're getting too big for this!"

His son gives him a smile. "Carry me?"

Yeah, no, he needs to keep an eye on Eli and Gianni. He puts his youngest boy back, and he nestles in. He does like to take it easy, Anthony does.

Daniel is still frozen in place. "I'll take care with the ... bruise, but please just close your shirt!"

"No."

"A coat, then!"

"It's 80 degrees! No, Danny."

"Well... stay here if you're sick," he says.

"And miss Mass? No, I'm fine."

"You can't go in there like that, you wouldn't let me with my bite out..."

"Come now, don't worry the puppies! Let's go!"

They're joined by other families on the way; more than one mother averts her eyes when seeing the love bite. Daniel keeps staring at Luna, who is blissfully asleep. "You bastard."

Terry grins. Danny holds him back at the entrance to the church. "Please. Terry. Alpha. Please!"

"Suffering is good for the soul, Danny boy," he says, a quick kiss on his head. "Good morning, father!"

[andrew-cunanan-true-crime-blog]

My dear friends and followers! ❤️

First of all, I want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you! My blog hasn't been active and I haven't posted anything new for a long time, but despite that I'm surprised to see that this blog continues to be followed by more and more new people who are interested in the content of this blog. I'm so grateful that you all still show interest in this blog. It means the world to me.

I haven't come in here for a long time because unfortunately I couldn't find anything new about this case so I stopped posting. Despite of that, this case will never leave my mind as my heart goes out to all the victims and at the same time I will always be fascinated by Andrew and his ability to charm and shock at the same time. He was an extraordinary person, so I created this blog several years ago in the hope of trying to understand what was going on in his mind. Did I succeed? No. Because in the end I came to a conclusion that only Andrew Cunanan himself really knew the real Andrew Cunanan. I will never know what went through his mind and why he acted the way he did. But what I know for sure is that he fulfilled his biggest dream and became famous. Because, hey, we're still talking about him here today, almost 27 years later…

Today I rewatched "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" and that's why I came to this blog. Unfortunately I don't have any new photos or information about this case, but I'm glad I started this blog because it brought me together with so many wonderful people, so I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to every follower, everyone who has messaged me, everyone who has asked questions, everyone who has been or still is interested in this blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you all so much! ❤️

M.

[biglisbonnews]

Austin Butler Keeps Making Fans Cringe With His Elvis Voice Austin Butler is still channeling The King, and not everyone is happy about it.On Tuesday evening, the 31-year-old's performance as Elvis in Baz Luhrmann's biopic won him the award for "Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama" at the 2023 Golden Globes, which he accepted in a heartfelt speech thanking the cast, the crew and the Presley family for their support. However, it wasn't Butler's words that had everyone talking, but rather the way he delivered them, seeing as how it was almost identical to his character's signature Southern accent.After all, Butler has spent the past several months making headlines for his in-depth acting approach, which included painstaking amounts of research and not seeing his family for three years. That said, fans have been mostly concerned with the Disney alum's refusal to drop the Elvis accent since finishing the film, which many Golden Globes viewers found super awkward to watch. And the way they dealt with? With jokes, of course."You know when your parents say not to cross your eyes because you could get stuck like that? Austin Butler is the vocal version of that," as one Twitter user wrote, before another said, "Have we checked on the hypnotist that’s holding Austin Butler in a perpetual Elvis voice trance?"You know when your parents say not to cross your eyes because you could get stuck like that? Austin Butler is the vocal version of that.— Chris Schleicher (@cschleichsrun) January 11, 2023 Have we checked on the hypnotist that’s holding Austin Butler in a perpetual Elvis voice trance? #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/rcD4caT30w— Radhika H. ☃️ (@radicalxrad) January 11, 2023 Not only that, but there were also a bunch of people who were openly annoyed with what they believe is the Butler's ongoing schtick, as evidenced by several viral posts featuring irritated reaction GIFs and old clips of the actor talking, with a pretty standard Southern Californian accent. austin butler still talking in that god damn Elvis voice… pic.twitter.com/RAYHOZkDXc— kevy (@bloominonionbby) January 11, 2023 Austin Butler has one more chance to shut the Elvis voice off I swear to god #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/DP0p8bmIJi— Gianni Raisins (@BGaytion) January 11, 2023 AUSTIN BUTLER ENOUGH IS ENOUGH WE KNOW WHAT YOU SOUND LIKE pic.twitter.com/TtjHHz4KN3— Oluwajomiloju (@JomiAdeniran) January 11, 2023 Granted, Butler doesn't seem to understand the fake accent accusations, as he later responded to the hubbub by saying he "didn't even think about" the voice he used."I don't think I sound like him still, but I guess I must, because I hear it all the time," he said during a backstage interview."I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time," Butler continued. "I had three years where that was my only focus, so I'm sure there's pieces of him in my DNA and I will always be linked to him."Photo via Getty / Michael Kovac https://www.papermag.com/austin-butler-elvis-golden-globes-2659180518.html

[theofficersacademy]

                                           Lukas  Caspar  Sara                                       Ayra   Michalis   Diamant                                         Leonardo Arval  Jakob

BLINK [August 18th - August 24th]

Tag: #SVAed2023

Location: Aed Desert [map of Jugdral]

You don't remember the days passing. You don't remember sleeping. You don't remember how you got here. You don't remember when your clothes were changed. It's like you stumbled across a wrinkle in time and lost several weeks. Maybe you're just that exhausted. Your wounds, after all, have not healed.

Stopped at yet another outpost - this one past the border between Aed and Grannvale - Leonardo blinks in and out of consciousness. You feel as if you haven't eaten in days. The ropes that bind you have rubbed red sores around your wrists. And now, as you open your eyes once more, you see something horrifying in front of you: a huge, twisted Crest Beast free from its cage, its claws each a foot long and razor-sharp, its fangs dripping with foam, its fur jet black and... braided. Screams erupt all around the outpost. Lord Padraigh commands his men to attack. Among them, Jakob and Arval.

Caspar and Michalis have spent some days in Phinora, or so it feels. You have managed to sleep well, eat well, find weapons to suit you, and you're ready to take on the world. Gianni comes calling at your inn this morning, saying he's got another job and urges you along.

It's hard to judge time in the tunnels beneath the desert, so Diamant, Lukas, and Sara are unsure how long they've spent with Layla and Fikri. The former members of the Loptr Church are hospitable enough, though Layla keeps your group at arm's length when she's able. Thanks to them, you've managed to scavenge a few things from a body in the desert half-eaten by vultures: a Steel Sword and a Prayer Ring for Diamant. Despite the rest and food, Lukas does not seem to be recovering, and suddenly looks as if he's aged two decades. Though the siblings have their reservations about accompanying you to Phinora - Layla more so than Fikri - they agree to come with you nonetheless.

What you know:

You don't know how much time has passed since you were shipwrecked. How you arrived where you are presently remains a mystery.

Your appearances have changed mysteriously. Leonardo and Lukas look much older now, frailer. Jakob wears the robes of a military official, while Arval sports the heavy robes of the Loptr Church. Diamant and Sara, too, wear robes of the church, given to them by Layla and Fikri, presumably. Caspar and Michalis both sport attire similar to that of the slavers that have taken them in. Ayra - and everyone else in your party - now sees herself as the very monster the soldiers had claimed she was.

You feel... strange. The world looks odd, like the colors are changing before your very eyes. Maybe it's the exhaustion.

What to do:

Each group has a different goal and different circumstances. Choose how you want to go about tackling them, and ping Mod Ree for additional information, decisions, or NPCs interactions. These can be chatplays or threads per preference.

[outsideratheart]

When in New York (Kelley O’ Hara x reader)

Part 2

You had just finished post game media following your game against New York Liberty. You weren’t a huge fan of doing media but it made it easier considering Seattle had won. 

You leave the conference room with Stewie who you had been doing the interview with.

“You seeing your family tonight” You shake your head.

“What about you?” She nods hers.

She bumps her shoulder into yours “Two New Yorkers beat New York in New York. Sounds like something to celebrate to me” She says and maybe she had a point.

You both walk into the locker room, some players have already left and some were still packing up.

“Y/N? Megan texted saying that her and a couple other teammates are at your parents restaurant and asked if we wanted to meet up with them” Sue asks.

Very few people knew about the family restaurant, you wanted to keep it a secret so that it could stay authentic. Your family was Italian and the restaurant was like a little piece of Italy in New York. The only people that knew where your Storm teammates and Megan, the honorary team mom.

You look at sue and she is giving you the look. After signing for the team she had taken you under her wing meaning that the two of you had got quite close.

“Ok, ok. No need to give me that look” You says.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes you leave the area, luckily for you the restaurant is only a few blocks away so you and Sue opted to walk saying that I would be your cool down / recovery.

“You said teammates” you says putting air-quotes around the word teammates “who’s there?” You ask.

“Alex and Kelley” she says which instantly bring a smile to your face.

“I thought that would cheer you up”

“Shut up”

You had a crush on Kelley, both Sue and Megan knew it. You met her last year when to US were playing in Seattle and Megan had invited you to a game. There was something about the defender that you really liked. You wasn’t if it was the fact that on the pitch she is a beast and off she is teddy but always had fun when you were with her.

You both enter the restaurant being greeted by your mom as soon as you come through the door.

“Mrs L/N nice to see you again” Sue says.

“Sue I have told you before, you can call me Maria” You mom says as she hugs you and sue makes her way to your friends.

“buon gioco dolce ragazza” (good game sweet girl) she tells you.

“grazie mamma” you reply kissing her cheek.

Meanwhile sue heads towards to table of soccer players.

She waves at everyone getting a mixture of hi’s and hello’s 

“Hi babe” She says kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. 

“Hi” Megan replies. “Where Y/N?” She asks noticing that you wasn’t behind sue.

“She’s in here somewhere” Sue says. She knew that you would probably been saying hi to your dad in the kitchen but she couldn’t tell them that.

“See Kel, you have a few more moments to get your crush in check” Alex jokes with her friend.

“Shut up!” Kelley replies.

“Hi guys” you say as to approach the table.

You notice Kelley staring at you so you take the opportunity to tease her.

“Like what you see?” You say making the defender blush.

“Have you ordered food yet?” You ask.

“No we were waiting for you. We know we are having though” Alex tells you as she hands you a menu.

“Thanks but I don’t need it” You say handing the menu to Sue who shakes her head letting you know she doesn’t need it either.

“You already know what you’re having?” Kelley asks.

“Not exactly” Sue says which confuses the others.

Looking around the restaurant you catch the attention of one of the waiters.

You let him know you are ready to order. 

Each of the women tell him what they want and then it is your’s and sue’s turn.

You look at sue and she nods her head.

“dì a gianni che avremo quello che consiglia” (tell gianni we will have what he recommends) Sue says 

“Certo” The waiter says.

You look at Sue and smile in approval.

“You getting very good, maybe time for a trip” You say.

“You speak Italian?” Kelley asks Sue.

“Y/N does and she has been teaching me for the past couple of years”

“Who is Gianni?” Alex asks.

“He is the chef here” You explain.

You start talking about the storm game when you mom bring across a bottle of limoncello hand you the bottle and 5 shot glasses.

“Grazie” You say

You pour everyone a glass and hand them out. 

“You get table service here?” Kelley asks.

“No, I asked for it when I came in” You reply.

You raise you class and everyone copies.

“Here to us. We change the game and provide hope for the next generation of female athletes” You say and everyone takes a sip except Kelley who shots it.

“You sip it Kel. If not you’ll be on the floor an hour” Megan says.

“You would know” you tease causing you and the forward to laugh.

“I will pour you another but this here” you say pointing to the bottle “is the real stuff, not something you find in a liquor store. It comes straight from a vineyard in Italy where this restaurant makes it’s wine” 

“You know a lot about this restaurant, the chef’s name and now where it makes it’d alcohol” Alex questions.

“What can I say, I have been coming here since I was a baby” you explain.

“that’s one way to put it” sue says under her breath, no quiet enough though as you send her a glare.

You look at Kelley as she takes a sip.

“Tastes better doesn’t it” She nods her head.

Your food arrives and you all say how nice it looks and smells. 

“Oh.my.god” Kelley says between mouthfuls.

“I agree, this is incredible. Megan how did you find this place? Alex asks.

“Y/N” Megan replies and Alex nods remembering that you said you came here when I was younger.

Conversation is small and simple as you all focus on your food.

You thank the waiter telling him the the food was delicious as he clears the table.

“Y/N can I ask you a question” Kelley asks.

“Only if I can ask you one?” 

“Why Italian and are you fluent” She asks

“I’m Italian so I had to learn in order to talk to family in Sicily”

“Prove it. Tell me something in Italian?” 

“quando ci siamo conosciuti pensavo fossi la persona più bella del mondo”

“Sounds very romantic” Alex says.

“What does it mean?” Kelley asks.

“it means ‘when we met I thought you were the most beautiful person in the world’” You tell her making sure to look her in the eyes when you say it.

Kelley is at a loss for words, what is she suppose to say to that. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable” You say slowly regretting what you said, not that you didn’t mean because you did.

“I’ll go get us some more drinks” you says excusing yourself from the table.

“Kelley” Alex says trying to get her friends attention.

“Does she say that kind of thing to everyone?” Kelley asks sue.

She shakes her head “She isn’t that type of person Kelley”

“You should tell her how you feel” Megan suggests.

Kelley shakes her head “what if she doesn’t feel the same way”

“You honestly think that after hearing what she just said” Alex says not believing her friends blindness.

You walk back to the table with two bottles of red wine.

“Dessert wine anyone?” You say trying to avoid the awkwardness. “trust me, this will be the best you tasted”

“It’s what they make in Italy right?” Alex says, you nod pouring her a glass.

Out of all the woman at the table to knew that Alex was the one that drank wine. You wait eagerly to see If she likes it. 

“Nice right”

Alex nods her head.

You all sip on your wine talking about everything and anything, for a moment you forget that you are all major athletes and it just feels like a group of friends catching up.

Once you are done Alex gets the attention of the waiter for the bill but he tells them that it has been settled.

She looks around the table confused but notices that Megan and Sue and looking directly at you.

“Y/N” 

“What? We don’t do this very often. Let me treat my friends”

“Thank you” Alex and Kelley say at the same time.

You are just about to leave when your mom comes to the table.

“Did you all enjoy your meal?” She asks. 

“It was incredible, I cannot wait to come back” Kelley says.

“I agree, I will definitely come back whenever we are in New York” Alex says.

“I’ll see you two soon ok” she says putting an arm around Sue and Megan. She had met them numerous times when she came to Seattle but her comment stumped the other two.

“Of course, next time your in Seattle you have to show me how to make your lasagne, I always eat the ones you make Y/N” Megan looks at you when you realises what she said.

It looks like your secret was about to get two new keepers.

“Alex, Kelley” your mom says now directed her attention to the other two soccer players “Any friends of my daughters are always welcome here”

“Wait, your daughter?” Kelley says looking at you confused.

“Meet my mom Maria” you say.

“This makes more sense. It is why you know so much about this restaurant” Alex says.

You nod your head.

You all make sure your way our of the restaurant. You had learned that Megan, Alex and Kelley were all staying in the same hotel as you and sue so you walked back together. Sue, Megan and Alex walk ahead leaving you and Kelley alone.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable earlier, it’s just that whenever I am near you I feel this connection and thought maybe you felt it too. I wouldn’t have said what I said if I didn't” you say

“I wasn’t uncomfortable, you caught me of guard. Nobody has every said something like that to me, definitely not in Italian” Kelley explains.

“I find that hard to believe, I mean look at you, you are beautiful” You say.

Kelley blushes again which you find adorable “ You were right before. I feel the connection too but I never did anything about it because we live so far away from each other”

“Can’t we just let ourself be happy even it it’s only a short period of time. We focus so much on the bigger picture that we don’t see what is right in front of us” You tell her.

“What do you have in mind?” She asks and you smile, you had wanted to do this for a quite a while.

“When do you leave New York?”

“Not until the day after tomorrow” 

“Perfect! Have breakfast with me?”

“I would love to” she replies.

Kelley stops walking “for the record, I find you very beautiful too”

You smile holding you hand out and she takes it.

You walk back to the hotel hand in hand, not talking just making the most of each others company whilst you can.

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Haunting 6B

Peter Parker x ghost!reader (platonic)

Summary: Peter moves into the apartment you are stuck in and his spidey senses make him the only person who can sense you. With his help you may finally be able to remember who you were and escape Apt. 6B. Warnings: kidnapping, experimental treatments, no way home spoilers WC: 3824

You couldn’t remember how you got to where you were. Your memories played like a scratched DVD, fragments and blurred images that you couldn’t quite see completely to understand. All you knew was for the past 12 years you had been stuck in Apt. 6B of the Richmond Building, Brooklyn, New York. Dozens of people had come and gone, moving in and moving out, all unaware of your presence.

“Here’s your keys, Peter. Pay on time, don’t be a nuisance.” Mr Fezna growled at the new tenant moving in.

12 years hadn’t softened the landlord in the slightest and he was always mean to everyone he spoke to. Your attention was pulled to the quiet voice that promised he would be good then you heard the door unlock. A young man peeked his head inside before opening it wider and balancing the box he carried on his hip.

“Welcome home.” You said as you leant against the door.

“Thanks.” He said to the retreating Mr Fezna.

“You’re welcome.”

As usual they couldn’t hear you, no one ever heard you. You spent the rest of the day following the man around as he unpacked his belongings and you got to look at photos over his shoulder. He looked sad as he sat on the edge of his bed and held a photo of him and a girl, gently stroking her face as his shoulders slumped.

“Come on, say her name.” You begged as you wanted to know who she was and how she had hurt him.

“I miss you, MJ.”

“That’s a cute name.” You pondered aloud and flopped onto his bed without making a dent, missing having furniture in the place. “You should try to win her back.”

“It’s safer without me.” He murmured and put the photo on the drawer beside his bed.

“Why’s that?” You asked rolling over to see him lay down and stare up at the ceiling, glad to find you’re not the only one that constantly talks to themselves.

“I’m Spider-Man, I have to keep my distance. From everyone.”

“You’re Spider-Man? Wow, I didn't see that coming. Never had a superhero here before. There was one guy who took bath salts and thought he could fly.”

Peter laughed to himself as he tossed a stress ball up and down, never missing it despite not actually watching it. It was mesmerising.

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” He signed. “I have no friends, no family. Sometimes I wonder why I bother.”

“Probably because you have no friends and family, it’s lonely. If I could stop that from happening to other people I would. Maybe not in spandex though.”

“I guess you’re right Karen. Wait, what?”

He shot upright, the ball forgotten about until it smacked him in the face. His head shot left and right fast enough to give you a neck ache and you sat up to face him, waving your hands in front of his face.

“Can you see me?” You asked, excitement flooding you with a hope you hadn’t had in 15 years.

“Who said that?” He looked directly at you, confusion knitting just eyebrows together before he reached out, his fingers slipping through your incorporeal body.

“Holy shit, you can hear me!”

“Woah…” He ran his hand over his arms that were covered with goosebumps after passing through you. “You’re invisible!”

“Kinda comes with being a ghost.” You tried to joke but undertones of your sadness crept into your voice.

“A ghost…you’re dead? Wait, did you die in this apartment?” His pitch increased with each question and he began to pace the room as he brushed his hair back from his face and pointed to a stain on the carpet. “Did you die there?”

“No, that was Vanessa’s cat in 2016? Or was it Gianni’s in 2008?” You mused as you tried to remember what caused that particular stain. “I don’t actually remember where I died or how before you ask. I don’t remember much…”

“Oh, sorry. That must suck.”

“Can’t miss what you can’t remember.” You shrugged and watched his face fall to MJ’s photo and tears well in his eyes.

Six Months Later

“Would you please read faster?” You begged as Peter dawdled through the Daily Bugle while you had already finished the page. “Shouldn’t you be looking for a job anyway? Who cares about the stocks.”

“Stark Industries has dropped again.” He sighed sadly. “Tony would be disappointed if he were here.”

“Well he was one of the lucky ones and got to move on, while I am stuck here with someone who won’t turn the page.”

Peter rolled his eyes but turned the page over and you leant closer to read what job vacancies he could apply for. You were not going to let him risk getting evicted because he couldn’t pay his rent, not since you couldn’t follow him if he left. You were not going back to being alone.

“What about pizza delivery?” You pointed out. “You wouldn’t have to worry about getting stuck in traffic. Just pew pew swing, here’s your pizza.”

“You’re not funny.” He laughed and pointed to the next one. “I could intern at Beta Technologies.”

“Sure you could, let’s just ring up your old teachers and get a character reference. ‘Hello Mr Harrington, what can you tell me about Peter Parker?’ ‘Uh who?’”

“Ok, geez enough of the sarcasm.” He sighed and rubbed his head.

“You’re a genius but I’m the one doing the thinking.” You laughed.

“You could be a genius, you just don’t remember.” He said as he got up and grabbed his laptop. “That reminds me, I think I found something about you.”

You frowned as he typed away on his computer and opened some images for you to look at. It was the Richmond, but not as it was now, it was when half of the building had been blown apart. The caption at the bottom said Battle of New York, 2012.

“I think you might have been in here when it happened.” Peter said. “I couldn’t find any names but it’s a start.”

“I don’t remember aliens, surely I would remember that?” You frowned. “Maybe Mr Fezna knows who owned this apartment back then?”

Peter scoffed. “I don’t think he would just tell me that. He’s not very chatty on the best of days.”

“Thankfully I know this amazing guy who can sneak into places…”

You laughed as Peter screwed his face up before a look of resignation fell into place. “You owe me.”

“You can have my life insurance if you figure out who I am.” You said as he grabbed a black jumper and left the apartment, a haphazard wave thrown over his shoulder.

An hour later Peter returned with a few papers in his hand and an ashen face. He looked around the room before taking a second glance at the couch and walking over to you. He knelt in front of your seat, his hand resting through yours on the arm of the couch and the hairs on his arm raising at the touch.

“You found something?” Your stomach clenched at the sight of his small nod.

“Maybe…maybe it’s better if you don’t know.” He whispered, red rimmed eyes showing you he had already cried over what was in his hand.

“I have to know who I was, Pete.” Your voice trembled with trepidation. “Show me the pages, please.”

Peter stood up and wiped his sleeve over his eyes before placing the papers on the coffee table and stepping away. You leant forward, falling to your knees as you looked at a photo of a missing persons poster, your photo. You touched the youthful face you had 12 years ago and wondered what you looked like now, you couldn’t exactly look in a mirror.

“Y/N Y/L/N.” You said your name aloud to get a feel for it. “It sounds strange to hear that.”

“It’s a nice name.” Peter said quietly from where he stood looking out the window. “You went missing a year before the Battle of New York.”

“A year!” Your voice cracked as you looked at the photo of the innocent girl and assumed the very worst situation. “Who…?”

Peter turned to face you reluctantly, twin wet streaks running down his cheeks, and he took a seat on the floor beside you.

“Do you recognise this name?” He asked as he pointed to the tenancy agreement dated in 2011. “Aldrich Killian?”

Flashes of images shattered your vision and you cried out as the fragments of your memories partially repaired.

“Aldrich worked with my father.” You groaned through the pain. “I remember, I remember everything.”

Liquid fire burned through your veins and you screamed at the torrent of memories igniting the neurotransmitters in your brain. They had experimented on you, used you as a guinea pig for their research in cell regeneration. You remembered them coming in the night, men who wore the uniform that your father wore. You trusted them when they said you had to go with them. You looked at your parents' names on the missing poster, offering rewards for any information on you, never giving up hope.

“I think they kept me sedated.” You said as you tried to remember the year in AIMs possession but it was a haze except for the time you were experimented on. “Can you find my parents? I just need them to know they can stop looking for me.”

Peter nodded with a sniffle and reached out to hug you only to pass through you with a shudder and you wished you could feel that sense of comfort you both needed. He grabbed his phone and the poster, dialling the number at the bottom and hoping it was still connected after all this time. He put it on speaker as it rang and you paced the room until the call clicked and you heard your dad's voice answer.

“Hello, y/d/n speaking.”

“Hi, uh, my name is Peter and I’m not sure how to um even say this but I know your daughter. She’s here with me.”

“You must have the wrong number.” Your dad grumbled. “My daughter is in Brooklyn Hospital.”

The line disconnected and Peter’s mouth gaped open with unformed words and he held the phone like he was unsure what he was meant to do with it now.

“Do I call him back?” He asked.

“Try the hospital.” You said excitedly. “I was a regenerative experiment, they tried to kill me but I healed every time. What if I’m not dead?!”

“Then why would you still be here? Wouldn’t you have just woken up when you healed?”

“I don’t know but maybe something the doctors are doing is stopping me. Just call them.”

You were shaking with excitement as he rang the hospital and waited while they connected him to the right place.

“Oh hi, I’m looking for a patient that might be there. Y/N Y/L/N?” He chewed on his thumb nail as he waited before his eyebrows shot up and he pulled the phone away. “I found you! What? Oh sorry, no that’s great, thank you!” He hung the phone up and ran his hands through his hair in disbelief. “Coma Ward. You were right but how do we…I know just the person. Stay here.”

“Not like I have a choice.”

His laughter as he left the apartment was a stark contrast to how he had entered only an hour earlier and the very air felt lighter in the room. You had no idea where he was going but you trusted him inexplicably. If you had physical feet you were sure you would have burnt tracks in the carpet with your pacing while you waited for Peter to return. It seemed to take him all afternoon for him to return and when he did he wasn’t alone. A stranger with an even stranger costume entered behind Peter and the man seemed to look directly at you.

“You’ve been living with her for six months and only just sought me out?” The man drawled al Peter and you felt the innate need to defend him.

“I thought you were getting help, not a clown.” You huffed to Peter who immediately looked at the older man.

“I’m a sorcerer, not a clown.” The man smiled deceivingly sweetly as he approached you and he drew golden symbols with his fingers before throwing the glowing lights at you.

The wind was knocked from you as they made contact and you stumbled back from the force to knock into the coffee table, shoving it out of the way. You fell to the ground and looked at your hands that had felt the carpet beneath them and touched the paper with your photo on it, picking it up and physically holding it.

“Holy shit.” You gasped and looked at Peter who was seeing you for the first time.

“Woah.” He echoed you with wide eyes. “You, your, uh, real. Not that I thought you weren’t, or that I was crazy but wow.”

“Pete.” You hushed with a smile as you picked yourself off the ground. “Shut up.”

“She’s got a point, you do ramble.” The man said before holding his hand out to you. “Doctor Strange.”

You shook his hand, the first human touch you had felt in 12 years and held on a bit longer than necessary to just feel the warmth of his hand in yours.

“Thank you.” You said as you squeezed his hand and released it so you could run at Peter.

Peter already had his arms open when you crashed into his chest and put every ounce of thank you you had into the hug. You had essentially been roommates and then best friends for 6 whole months without ever touching and you needed him to know how grateful you were to have him.

Thank you, Pete.” You whispered into his neck before looking back at Doctor Strange. “And thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” He gave a tight lipped smile at the two of you before sighing. “We still need to get you back to your body, this is only temporary so you could leave where your astral form has anchored itself.”

You had no idea what he was on about but nodded your head as if you understood and gripped Peter's hand as they led the way out of the Apt. 6B. You froze at the threshold, foot balanced precariously over the edge as the daunting thoughts within you feared this wasn’t real and you would hit the invisible barrier if you moved.

“Hey, I’ll go with you.” Peter said as he stood side by side with you, mirroring your stance. “3, 2, 1, go.”

You took the plunge and found your shoes hit the worn wood of the hall and the breath you were holding expelled with a surprised huff. The second step was far easier to take and soon you were following Doctor Strange towards a glowing golden arch.

“You trust him right?” You asked Peter as the doctor disappeared into the circle.

“Yeah, we were friends. Before I got him to erase me from everyone's memory.”

You should’ve made the connection between the sorcerer and the story Peter had told you about being forgotten by everyone. A tug on your hand reminded you this was a time limited body and you forced your feet to move and walk through the portal. White lights illuminated the empty hall you found yourself in with Doctor Strange and Peter and the earlier was already sticking his head inside a dimly lit room where a body lay on the bed. Monitors beeping and a ventilator pumping air into your lungs were the only sounds to be heard and you looked shocked at your unconscious form. You looked just like you were sleeping.

“Ok, I’m not gonna lie, this is going to hurt.” Doctor Strange said as he raised his fingers.

“What? You didn’t say anything about hurting her!” Peter said as he stepped between you.

“Birth is never painless, Peter, rebirth even more so. Now step out of the way before you find yourself in her body and Freaky Friday this shebang.”

“It’s ok, I’ve been through worse. Plus, it’ll be worth it.” You said as you placed a hand on his shoulder and reassured him to step aside. “Think you can call my dad again? Just in case it doesn’t work.”

“It’s gonna work.”

The goldens symbols were once again glowing from the Doctor’s hands and you braved yourself for the pain as he pushed them towards you. It was almost peaceful as the warmth of the light hit you, like warm water washing over you in waves. Slowly the pressure increased and it was no longer like floating on the ocean but a riptide trying to pull you under. You tumbled back from the force of the last wave and fell into your body, then the pain began.

Everything burned, just like it had when you had been hurt and your body was regenerating to heal itself. Your throat burned as it tried to expel the tube that was breathing for you, your nose burned from NG tube feeding you nutrients and you veins burned from IV sedation they were keeping you unconscious with. It hurt but you couldn’t move.

“Shouldn’t she be awake?” Peter asked, a worried catch in his voice.

“Yes, she should. Let me try this.”

You could hear everything going on around you but you couldn’t open your eyes or get any muscle in your body to listen to you. A sharp sting was replaced with relief and the ache in your arm quickly eased before spreading across your body. Your system was healing itself from the drugs that had been circulating it for over a decade. You were just getting feeling back in your fingertips when your throat gagged and stomach convulsed, air rushing into replace the ventilator tube and you gasped big gulps as you came awake.

“It worked!” Peter shouted before shrugging and giving a sheepish smile. “I mean I totally knew it was going to work.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Could do with water.” You rasped with a hoarse voice. “And a back massage but surprisingly alright.”

“We should go before the next round of nurses come, we can get you a drink once we are out of here. Nurses really don’t like me.”

Another arch was already open as Peter helped you to stand, you felt like you were strong enough but also like you had to relearn how to coordinate yourself. He supported you with an arm around your waist and together you ambled through the arch and into a foyer that housed a huge staircase.

“Welcome to the New York Sanctum. You can wait here until your parents arrive.” The man said before disappearing up the stairs.

You took a seat on a bench near the front door and rested your head on Peter’s shoulder as a drink suddenly appeared beside you.

“I’m never going to get used to magic.” You chuckled after gulping the entire drink in one go and finding it refilled itself back up.

“It’s gonna be weird not having you around.”

You lifted your head to look at his sad eyes and frowned. “I have been in 6B longer than you, you’re brave to think you can get rid of me.”

“You have a family, Y/N. You should be with them.”

“You’re my family too, and my roommate, if you think I’m gonna leave you on your own you are mistaken. You could’ve left me on my own but you didn’t.”

Before he could respond the front door opened by itself and you rose from your seat as you saw two people you never thought you would ever see again. Your mother was clinging to your fathers arm, her legs threatening to collapse as she saw you and her hands covered the cry that fell from her lips.

“My baby.”

Your mom ran forwards, grappling you in a hug as she fell to her knees and pulled you with her. You weren’t as young as you were when you were taken but she still held you like you were, pulling you to her chest and cradling your head.

“I got my baby back.” She cried as she rocked you side to side.

Another pair of arms encased you and you looked up with blurry eyes to see your father holding the both of you in his arms. You couldn’t remember ever seeing him cry but large teardrops were rolling down his cheeks as he touched your face to check you were real.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered through his shuddering breaths. “I didn’t know, I swear, I didn’t know.”

“I know, dad.” You nodded as you clung back just as tight for a few more minutes before pulling away and wiping your eyes. “Mom, dad, this is Peter Parker, it’s a long story but I’m only here because of him.”

Your dad pulled away and held his hand out to Peter who shook it only to be pulled into a hug that rivalled yours.

“Peter, from the phone?” Your dad asked and he nodded. “My family owes you everything for bringing my daughter back. Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“Oh no, that’s not necessary, Mr y/l/n.”

“Actually, I think Peter would be a great intern.” You frowned wondering what had changed in 13 years. “If you still have the laboratory.”

“Your father actually took over AIM when Aldrich died. We only found out it was him that had taken you after you wound up in the hospital, when the building collapsed. There were secret experiments being done right under the board's noses.” Your mom sniffled as she kept a hold of you. “That will never happen again, as long as we are in charge.”

“That’s right.” Your dad agreed. “So what d’ya say, Peter? You can start Monday.”

“Th-that would be great, Mr y/l/n.”

You could see the excitement and gratitude brightening his eyes and you gave him the thumbs up from where you were sitting on the floor.

“Ready to go home?” Your mom asked as she wiped the drying tears from your eyes and you nodded, letting your dad help you up off the ground.

You were already walking with them when you noticed Peter standing at the bench kicking his Nikes across the tiles.

“Hey, are you coming or what?”

His head shot up and he looked behind him before pointing to his chest.

“Yes, nerd, you. Are you coming?” You grinned.

“Are you sure?” His frown deepened by the second.

You sighed and stepped closer so you could grab his hand and tow him behind you. “I told you I’m not leaving you on your own.”