#except for James who I fully believe would just be a bartender even if he was rich

[here-for-a-good-time-hopefully]

The dish guy at my work gives me such Remus lupin vibes and I can so see Remus working as a dishy, like not having to talk to people, stays late, would suit his hot-but-kinda-strange vibes

Which got me thinking what would the other marauders be

Like James would be a bartender 100% you couldn’t convince me of anything else that man was born to look hot, mix drinks, and flirt with customers

Sirius would def be like the rude/bitchy host he would love the power that comes with being in control of where everyone in the restaurant is and he would def seat rude people with servers he didn’t like

Finally I think Peter would be a food runner/busser (is that what people in the US call it? Idk), like it suits his scurrying vibes, he doesn’t really have to interact with other customers, but he also doesn’t really have to interact with the scary kitchen people either

[jq37]

The Case File – Mice and Murder Ep 2

The Case of the Dismal Dinner

Summary

Welcome back to our flashback/Tisch fight already in progress where we learn what Daisy and Sly’s shared look was about while Rekha and Grant go for the proverbial jugular emotionally. It’s 12 years ago and Sylvester is tracking down a stolen diadem, the very same diadem that he sees Daisy swipe off the thief who has it (a jackal named Roscoe McCoy in case that matters). Sly swipes it back from her and, when she notices, she sniffs it down to his train car where he is sitting in the dark, waiting for her. He doesn’t turn the lights on, opting instead to dramatically strike a match to light his pipe, illuminating himself sitting in a big chair, holding the stolen item.

Daisy tries to bluff like she’s Virginia Chase, the owner of the diadem, but Sly knows that’s not true because he was hired by the real Virginia to track it down. Daisy is usually a better liar than this but she is insta-smitten by this figurative and literal fox and it’s throwing her off her game. But before they can continue their little tete-a-tete, they hear a gunshot ring out from Daisy’s room and know Roscoe and his guys are coming after her. Sly stuffs Daisy in a trunk before the boys show up and they actually seem a little impressed to meet him, him being a famous detective and all, but a Nat 1 deception means they hear Daisy being huffy in the chest and a fight/escape scene that Brennan takes over narration for ensues. 

After that, Sly and Daisy become close really quickly and partners in both senses of the word. Daisy tells him she’s an American PI and they work together on cases, travel the world, and become engaged within the year. But, the day before the wedding, when Sly is alone, he discovers all the documentation proving that Daisy lied about who she is, is actually a criminal, and has been using their partnership to sell information to other criminals.

She shows up and tries to pretend like she’s being set up but he replies, “You being duped is the only lie you’ve told I can’t believe.” He says that being with her changed him. He didn’t think he had it in him to actually love another person. He forgives her. He still wants to get married. Daisy is thrown by this reaction. She tells him she’s not gonna change for him and he might as well leave her. She’s being all unapologetic femme fatale about it but he gets the sense that under her bravado she’s low key pleading with him to give up on her. He doesn’t want to. He can’t. He still shows up the next day in his wedding tux. Daisy is nowhere to be seen. When he goes home, there’s a deerstalker cap on his porch and a note that just reads “-D”.

And we snap back to the present where Daisy is trying to figure out if she can take advantage of Lucretia’s fascination with the occult and all the rich vulnerable people present to make some money. Meanwhile, Sly has been totally rocked by seeing Daisy and is drowning his sorrows at the bar with Ollie, the otter bartender. Squire Badger (which is what I’ll be calling William) shows up and, in not so many words, threatens Sly for having not solved the case and making a fool of him. He says, “You’re not gonna rub my nose in this.” Move your nose then bitch, says Sly on a dirty 20 intimidation check. He’s sad about girl problems, not you! Squire Badger is scared off, but he looks like he knows something that Sly doesn’t. That someone is coming for him. 

Buckster (and Ian too btw) clocked the above conversation and sidles up to Sly at the bar. See, not only does Buckster know about Sly and Daisy’s history, he knew it was happening *while* it was happening. Sly used up all his cool swagger on the Squire so by the time Buckster shows up he’s a whole mess over Daisy. Buckster starts implying that maybe they can help each other out since they both dislike the Squire and with Sly’s Nat 20 Insight, they can totally clock each other’s double meanings perfectly. It’s a very cool game thing where Sly and Buckster are having an innocuous conversation about the weather or whatever but Grant and Sam are just saying what they mean. It’s like they’re having a telepathic conversation. Sly agrees that the enemy of his enemy is his friend and he’ll go along with Buck’s plans as long as he can keep his hands clean, even if he doesn’t really care for Buck himself. 

At the same time Gangie is in the kitchens getting fed (see the notes for a full list of kitchen staffers and other NPCs) and after the staff leaves, Gangie is told by Ambrose Harding (the Squire’s turtle valet) that there’s is business for him to attend to after dinner. 

Buckster talks to Lawrence Longfoot--the rabbit photographer from last ep who we learn runs a trash newspaper. He and Buck bond over being trash and he gets a pic of Sly and Buck together. 

Vicar Ian goes to talk to the Squire and basically tries to (openly) suss out whether the money was a bribe or a setup or what? Like, people are fully there (including the Lady Fawnbrook and her gossipy cat wife Tabitha). They snipe at each other a bit and then the Squire reveals that he’s talked him up to the Cardinal and the Cardinal agreed that he’s such a good vicar, he should be moved to Siberia. The decision has already been made and Ian doesn’t have the pull in the church to do anything about it. Yikes. 

Before dinner, the rat butler catches Buck and asks if he has time to talk to Squire Badger. Buck agrees to go with him and he’s taken to the billiards room where the Squire is along with Harding and James Hawkins, Squire’s Hawk war buddy (a literal war hawk). Buck immediately puts his foot in his mouth by messing up the Squire’s title with his American ignorance of British peerage rules which annoys him, the elitism of it all. The Squire’s friends leave and then Buck starts talking about PR and how this whole situation has been bad PR for the Squire and it would be a shame if his PR got even worse. The suggestion of blackmail sends the Squire into a full honey badger don’t care style rage and he knocks TF out of Buck, flips the pool table, and then catches himself and scurries off. Daisy, Sly, and Gangie all hear this conversation from their positions in the house via the pipes running through the manor. Buck picks himself up and, on a 25, realizes that two of the mouse maids were hiding behind a curtain, hearing the whole thing (specifically, Edwina Thimble and Carolyn Dickory--oh like hickory dickory doc, BRENNAN) . They were playing hooky so he flips them a coin each and they all agree that no one saw or heard anything. “Two blind mice, see how they run,” he quips as they leave (sidenote, what a morbid nursery rhyme to exist in that world--to be fair, it’s pretty morbid as is).

Lucretia decides to turn the séance into a post dinner séance but still brings Daisy and Lars to see her occult room which is full of crap from, as Rekha said, “1800s Party City”. Lucretia does a hilariously vague read on Daisy and says that there’s something happening with her involving a man she knew or maybe still knows but she’s in her feelings about Sly so it kinda shakes her up. She tries to get Lucretia to charge for her “””incredible gift””” (so she can skim off the top of course) but Lucretia thinks it would be a misuse of her ~talents~. She does give Daisy an incredibly broad as to be useless even if magic exists blessing before she leaves. 

Once she does, Daisy scopes out the room (which she realizes must have been retrofitted for Lucretia and wasn’t previously a séance room) and sees that the one thing in the room that doesn’t really match the aesthetic is a giant portrait of one of the previous squire badgers. On a 24 she notices two things: (1) the painting has recently been restored with new paint and (2) the frame is bolted to the wall. She wants to check it out but Lars is right there so she makes a note to check it out later and leaves. 

Lars, being a very ride or die friend for Sly, bounds after her and basically calls her trash and tries to tempt her with garbage so she’ll lose composure and start chowing down. She drools at the sight but keeps it together and leaves. Lars runs off to tell Sly that they were a good good dog and gives him a full play by play. 

Gangie meanwhile is watching a small argument between the butler and Harding in the servant’s quarters hallway and he realizes that he’s being talked about in veiled language. The butler is questioning Gangie’s employment and Harding says that, as servants, they shouldn’t question their master and that Gangie is employed for reasons that Squire Badger is aware of and reasons he is not. Hmm. Gangie realizes that Harding knows about his past which is weird because Gangie’s criminal record doesn’t follow him. There’s no internet. So what reason would this guy have to know about him?

Gangie doesn’t like this and decides to dip and steal some silverware on the way out. Mrs. Molesley (who I’ll be calling Mrs. M from now on) helps him (lol I’m not entirely sure if she didn’t know what he was doing or if she’s just down with stealing) and says that she’s been working there since Squire Badger was in diapers (she was his nanny) and if anyone bullies Gangie, she’ll take care of them. She also offers to make him a sweater so he doesn’t get cold and she’s just so nice that Gangie has to say yes. He looks to make sure no one is around and gives her a dandelion he picked. Cute!!!

And now it’s time for dinner and our very first box of doom roll for the most terrifying encounter of all: how close you have to sit next to your bitter ex! This is of course for Sly and Daisy with higher than a 15 meaning they don’t have to sit next to each other and anything lower meaning they have to sit pretty close. It is the first BOD roll I’ve ever wanted them to fail (mmm, except maybe Adaine’s werewolf roll but that’s a different conversation). 

It’s in the 6-10 bracket which means they’re sitting across from each other (below that would have been them next to each other). Everyone is seated based on how on Squire Badger’s shitlist they are. So you have Ian at the absolute back. Sly to his right and Daisy on his left. The Buckster and Lars to the right and left after that. Then Armond (armadillo lawyer guy) and a snail guy because Brennan is a madman who cannot be stopped. Constance (Squire’s daughter) makes a toast to her dad wishing him well even though they haven’t always seen eye to eye (hmmm).

Buckster fills in Daisy on his confrontation with the Squire quietly enough that no one else hears. Daisy then turns to Sly and says she hopes they can be civil. Sly is like, “Sure Ms. DUMPSTER.” They’re the kind of exes who know exactly how to hurt each other but are also super open to being hurt. Emotional glass cannons is how Brennan describes it. 

Buckster is given a note by Harding from Squire Badger and, once dinner is over, he takes Daisy off to the side to read it. Gangie follows, unseen. Ian, who recently prayed to God and got not super clear results goes to talk to Luecretia to see if maybe ghosts can help him instead. She is, as usual, not super helpful but does rush out to get her very necessary ritual dagger and declares to everyone that if anyone sees a ghost they have to tell her. As she says this, there is a flash of lightning and, through the window, Sylvester sees just for a moment the form of his nemesis, Fletcher Cottonbotton (who is by the docks).

Anyway, Buckster reads the note. It’s a document from the Squire selling his interest in BB Industries (Buck’s oil company) to Hazel Hogswallop who is another small shareholder in BB Industries. But, in doing so, it names Josiah Jackrabbit (one of his competitors) her proxy which means he’ll be able to vote on things (and with a lot of power with all that stock).  The contract was written in fresh ink which means (1) it was probably written after their fight and (2) hasn’t been mailed yet (I smell a heist attempt). Buck rolls insight on the writing (mastermind rogue ability) and with a 27 senses that the Squire has gone off his rocker. This isn’t going to make him any money. Josiah doesn’t have enough liquid cash to pay him what this is worth. And the thing with Hazel would have taken time to set up. This has been in the works for a while and he’s been sitting on it until the time was right. And he senses, like Sly and Gangie did earlier, that someone besides the Squire is pulling the strings. 

Then Gangie suddenly hears Constance’s distressed voice through the pipes from upstairs: “Father you’re possessed! You’re a mad man! This will never work. Speak of this to me never again.” And she slams the door (Buck, Daisy, and Gangie all hear). Constance comes downstairs and Squire Badger follows, looking upset. Mrs. M checks in on him too see if he’s eaten and he kind of gruffly has her follow him (along with Mr. Harding) into the drawing room.

There is a scream. Something drops. Silence. Footsteps. A door opens. Then a voice, “My God!”

Everyone rolls initiative. Ian moves first and, upon hearing all the commotion, gathers everyone together to go towards the sound (interesting choice but sure). Daisy recognizes that the scream heard was Mrs. M but barely knows who she is. She goes towards the commotion anyway. Gangie also goes towards the scream. Buckster grabs his gun (well he says “weapon”, but it’s gotta be a gun, right?) and makes like he’s following her but actually hides. Lars and Sylvester go towards the scream. 

With everyone gathered, Ambrose opens the door. Inside they see Mrs. M, her hands covered in blood (my guess? From trying to stop the bleeding), kneeling on the ground over the dead body of the Squire. The room is a mess and stuff is scattered everywhere. There is a bloody knife in the Squire’s hand and a stab wound over his heart. Ms. M, who is distressed as hell, says there was something wrong with him. There was a flash, and she looked down and he was stabbing himself. Everyone thinks this is suspicious as hell. She was the only one in the room. Everyone looks to Sly, the famous detective who is not in the presence of a murder case in progress. What does Sly say? “Lady Lucretia. I’ve seen a ghost.”

Case Notes

I have to acknowledge how ON FIRE Grant was this episode. Like everyone was. Buck was great with the Squire. Daisy and Lars sniping at each other was fun. But man Grant had so many good lines. The “move your nose”. The heartbreak with Daisy (ugh, so sad!) And that blackout line!!! I am biased towards foxes as you can see from my avatar so I am very here for this great fox rep.

Based on the way their staredown went last ep I kinda thought Daisy was the wronged party but ugh. Slyyyyyyy. He forgave herrrrrrr. And he still went to the alter. Daisy how you could youuuuuuu?

Also, sigh, Fox and the Hound. I keep getting hit with these after the fact. 

I loved Rekha’s “Of the Chase Sapphire’s?” improv.

That racoon/mink line was so sleazy. Weird compliment but Brennan is good at being animal-racist. Sidenote, Daisy makes a comment about being careful being a fox in England which I presume is a ref to fox hunting and like the implication of that are como se dice troubling. 

Here are all the new NPCs for this ep and here’s a full NPC guide that also includes the list of names Gangie gave Buck which Buck shares with Daisy this ep.

And on that topic I can’t get over the concept of a married couple named Millie Molton and Mollie Milton. Like, did they get married solely for the bit???

The best Ian-ism of the ep was him talking about getting rejected from Siberia. Poor guy.

Fave OOC moment was everyone at the table getting aggressively patriotic in response to the Squire being dismissive to Buck. There is nothing funnier than someone singing a purposefully overwrought version of I’m Proud to Be An American. 

“It’s 2020 for us bitch!”

The moment Mrs. M said she was gonna make Gangie a sweater I was scared for her. Sweaters take a long time to get made. I was like oh no. The plot is gonna stop you from making that sweater isn’t it. I’m willing to be proven wrong (Brennan loves his maids with secrets, see: Cathilda) but she seems super sweet and if anything happens to her I’m going to be upset. 

What’s behind the painting Brennan. I know there’s a door. I know this house is full of secret tunnels and revolving bookshelves and all that. Let me see it!

One great little moment was when there was a flash of lightning and the minis for Sly and Lars like stop motion moved to look at it. Just great attention to detail. The work that gets put into this show is incredible.

Edit: A note I forgot to mention. There’s gotta be a secret door in the room where it happened, right? Like, creep in, flash of light to mess up her vision, do some shenanigans, peace out.

[captainjimothycarter]

Prompt 12 for Winterhawk please? :)

We dated in high school but then you moved away but now you’re back in town. Winterhawk.

 My baaaabies.

--

Hey you. It’s Bucky. – JB

I know, weirdly texting you outta the blue after not talking to you for a few years but I’m back in town and I ran into Natasha and she mentioned you. – JB

I was wondering if you wanted to catch up? Go out for a drink or two. Feel free to say no. – JB

Just let me know, don’t leave me hanging. – JB

“What the hell,” Clint breathed, shoving his phone into Natasha’s face with a frustrated look on his. She just raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged her shoulders. Universal language in Natasha-speak for not my problem. “You told him about me?! You know we broke up years ago.”

“He asked about you,” she sighed, leaning back into her chair so it balanced on two legs. “He was curious, fluttering around the subject of you. And, Barton, I know you still pine after him and don’t sit here and lie to me and tell me otherwise.”

Clint grunted as he sat back on his own chair, looking down at the text messages again. His thumbs trembled, hovering over the letters, unsure of what to say. Natasha was right. They’d broken up on mutual terms, so Bucky could go to college in California and be with his family and Clint could stay in Brooklyn and do God knows what.

The thing was, he did still pine after this man. Like really wanted him. He’d tried dating a few guys and gals here and there but nothing felt the same. He wasn’t comparing them to James at all, it just never reached that level of happiness and trust he had with this man.

“Besides, Clint, he still wants you too. I didn’t tell him anything, I left that up to you.”

Somehow, Clint both loved and hated Natasha for that fact. He just looked up at her with soft, blue eyes and sighed, typing back a quick message.

Sounds great. Meet you at Luke’s at 10? - CB

An almost instant reply and one that shouldn’t’ had made his heart leap, but it did. Great. Can’t wait to see you again and tell you about my metal arm. – JB

--

Turns out, they’d both changed over the five years since high school graduation. Bucky had graduated within two years of college and spent the last three in the military. The military wasn’t his top choice and he despised it to a point but it was a constant check he could send back to his baby sister after their parents had died.

Clint sympathized with the man, he really did. He knew how much the man begrudgingly had to swallow his pride in other to join the military to help raise his baby sister. That wasn’t fair on him at all, but that was James alright. One to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done, no matter the cost. Long as the decision was the right one. He was a firm believer in doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

Three years in the military, four tours, and all Sargeant James Barnes got to come home with was a missing metal arm, severe PTSD, a distrust of closed-off spaces and loud noises, and no help from the government what so ever. That’s why he came back to Brooklyn, still just as loud as California but Becca was out here in college, so he could stay with her. And Natasha had taken up the man’s case to get the back pay he was owed for disability.

“Top it off, Nat got in me in contact with the Starks? They’re the leading minds behinds robotic prosthetics and I’m sorta their test dummy.” Bucky picked up his left hand and let the soft lights of the dingy bar shine on it, wiggling his fingers in Clint’s direction. “Works like a charm, if you ask me. Sorta gets stuck sometimes and if it gets wet, I gotta spend a while drying the gears, but for first-timers it’s amazing. Surgery wasn’t that bad either, connecting it to my nerves and all. I can even feel with it, but it's not the same as with my flesh hand, just a metal thing to tell me something is hot or cold.”

Clint was in awe of it, really. He watched the gears move to accommodate the fingers moving, plates shifting one over the other to help the digits move. He reached out to touch it, finding it smooth, all along except for his palm where it was ridged. “Beautiful,” he breathed, his cheeks flushing as he became fully aware he was still holding onto his hand and jerked his hand back. “S-sorry, it looks…good.”

“Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?” Bucky had let his hair grow out, says it made him feel different from before where he had to keep it properly trimmed and off his collar. It felt like breaking the rules that still lingered on his mind, the beard too. Natasha must’ve helped him braid his hair just because there’s no way this man was that elegant with his hair. “So, what about you? What’s happened to you? You’ve…changed. In a good way! Not bad!”

Clint laughed, just because he’d never seen Bucky so flustered before. The man’s cheeks grew a darker red at the laugh, turning to drain the beer before he could say anything else. “Come on, Buck, I know I’m different. I just…uh didn’t know how to say that to you? Or anyone, hell even myself.”

Bucky just cocked his brow and let his eyes roam over the tall, muscular figure that was now Clint Barton. He admired the way the man start to flush the brightest shade of pink. “Well, I’m glad that you did, buddy. You look amazing.”

“Yeah, well when your hate for yourself starts to manifest into an obsession in the gym and bow and arrows…” Clint shrugged, clearing his throat. “The full names Clint Francis Barton now. I got it officially changed last summer, been on hormones for over two years now.”

“Well, I gotta say, you look so much happier now.” His metal arm threw over Clint’s shoulder and squeezed him tightly to his chest. “Like you’ve really blossomed. You’re not hiding yourself or snapping at people. You’ve really come a long way, Clint. I think the name suits you better but not Francis, we’re finding you something better.”

“You are not. Barney helped me pick out that name!” Clint pouted, but still not moving against Bucky’s chest. He was still a good few inches taller than him and yet laying on his chest felt like home. Thankfully Bucky was never one to throw a fit when it came to dating people taller than him.

“Nahhh, who cares what Barney picked out? It doesn’t fit you.” Bucky barely got to move out of the way before Barney, their bartender for the evening threw a soiled rag at his face.

“I do!” The Barton brothers both said at once, making the veteran pause before laughing.

“Alright, alright. The name stays. Geez. Francis.”

This is the first time Clint’s laughed like this in weeks, months even. He’s happier around Bucky, surer, more confident now that he knew Bucky wasn’t going to be against him coming out. Not that the thought he would, but that fear was there, always on the surface. It’s one thing that made him stop talking to Bucky, that what if…

Because Bucky’s opinion, Clint quickly found out as the night waned on and they got deeper into their drinks, the man’s opinion still meant everything to him.

“Wanna go back to my place?” Clint mused, face flushed from the alcohol, and jerking his chin towards the door. “Just moved in. We could break the bed in.”

Bucky snorted behind his hand, rolling his eyes. “You’re so terrible at flirting.”

“Wait is that a yes?” Clint had never looked more adorable to this man then confused, the way his nose scrunched up.

Instead of answering, Bucky leaned closer and just brushed his lips over Clint’s, the blonde smiling against his lips.

That was a yes.

[yikeswtfmate]

Trouvaille

Trouvaille (n.) a valuable discovery, or a lucky find; something lovely discovered by chance

Summary: Bucky stumbles upon a dingy bar in Brooklyn, turning his world upside down.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: swearing

A/N: Super fluffy piece! I’m so excited about this, every second of it has been an absolute pleasure. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it!

masterlist

It’s another Wednesday night that Bucky spends in a seemingly random bar in Brooklyn. But nothing is random about this bar – although, granted, it was at first. Now, James Buchanan Barnes can be found in this bar once a week without fail (which in all honesty should be a miracle considering what his job is), whether it’s a Monday (when only a few sad men swallow their misery in tall glasses of beer), or a Thursday (his favourite, because at 10 o’clock on the dot the bartender plays that song that he used to love so much in another life), or a Saturday (which he hates the most because it’s crowded and he can’t really have a proper conversation). The bar is nothing much – the same floor that however many times it’s cleaned it’s still a little bit sticky, there’s the smell of stale booze that oozes out from the upholstery and the customers only give him a cursory glance when he walks in and takes his usual stool right at the farthest corner of the bar.

He discovered this bar one night when he was tired of wandering the streets of Brooklyn after a long day of restlessness. He couldn’t sit still in the Avengers Tower, and although he tried sparring with Nat, or playing poker with Sam and Tony, or even tried his hand at chess again with Steve, he just couldn’t stop feeling fidgety. So he just up and went for a stroll through the emptying streets until he ended up in Brooklyn. He noticed the neon sign above the door, one of the clover’s leaves flickering on and off in the darkness. He decided to take a seat when he heard the music – low notes of a song long forgotten dancing between whispers and shouts, the singer’s voice too sweet for the rough hands that were clutching their bottles.

He stayed for the most radiant laughter that filled his ears, folding over and around the song. He stayed for the bright eyes that met his when he asked for a beer of his own; for the smile that tugged at delicate lips; for the raised eyebrow that ascertained recognition. He normally would have pulled his baseball cap lower over his eyes, but he didn’t want to obstruct his view. He wanted to see her fully, to bask in the marvel that this woman in front of him was.

The first words she said to him were of mockery, laughing at his weak attempt at a disguise, and after six months of knowing her, he’s still surprised at how easy it is to be around her. How easy it is to banter, to make fun of the other, to always be able to cheer him up, regardless of how deep his rage might be, to not expect anything more than to just be.

Now it’s another night that Bucky spends at the dingy bar, watching Y/N pour shots for the hen party that’s taking place for whatever reason on a Wednesday. He’s been in a foul mood all evening, and she’s been trying to give him some space, but as she wipes her hands on a damp towel, she huffs and saunters over to him.

“Ok, big guy. Tell me what’s up with you today.” Y/N demands, but Bucky doesn’t answer at first. She leans down, trying to catch his eyes as he lowers his gaze towards the bottle he’s been nursing for an hour already. “You know I hate it when I can’t see your pretty smile, baby.” She tries again. “Come on, Sarge, I won’t be seeing you for another week after tonight, give me something to swoon over until next time.”

He finally smiles, even if for a fraction. He looks back up at her and she notices the dark circles under his eyes. She knows he doesn’t usually sleep well, but he seems even more exhausted than last week. There’s something bugging him that’s enough to keep him from flirting and laughing at her stupid jokes, as he would do.

“Penny for your thoughts?” She offers.

“How about a kiss, doll?” Which is definitely more than she could get out of him all night, but still not the full force of the charm that he normally displays.

“My, mister Barnes, you sure know how to bewitch a girl, don’t you?” There’s a pause in their conversation as she goes about serving a man in a suit that must’ve probably just gotten out of a huge fight with his partner, considering the distraught look.

“Come on, Buck. Tell me what’s up. I ain’t leaving until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“You still have two more hours to work.” He points out.

“Which means I’m super dedicated to the cause if I’m willing to not lose my job by just walking out to prove a point.”

He sighs but at least offers her a small smile in return. Shaking his head, he takes a sip of his beer, knowing from experience that although she can give him space whenever he needs it, he always finds that he feels better after sharing his thoughts with her.

“Just been having a shitty week, that’s all, doll. The last mission was rather…challenging.” He says, memories of too many bodies scattered on a cold slaughterhouse floor in front of his eyes. There are not many things he’d shy away from telling her, but sometimes he feels the need to avoid giving her the grimy details.

Y/N nods in silence, and after a few seconds of watching him closely, she places her hand on top of his right one that was resting on the bar top. He moves his palm upwards in order to hold hers, lifting it towards his lips and placing a soft kiss on a knuckle. She squeezes his fingers for a second but doesn’t let go. He needs the contact, of that she is more than certain, and however much she’d like to deny her affection for him, this sullen man sneaked his way around her veins, slipped between the cracks of her ribs, and nestled himself in a corner of her heart, filling her lungs with sunshine and camellias without her even noticing.

“Well, I’d say beer is a good start to drown your sorrows in.” She notes, trying to make light, drawing him out of the dark place he likes to curl into.

She pulls back her hand, all the while Bucky wishing she’d just stay there in front of him, keeping her hand in his and just looking at each other.

“I can also offer you some salted peanuts as well.” She says, disappearing under the bar, throwing food and alcohol on the top as she keeps on talking. “Might find some pretzels as well, if only I can find where Cody keeps putting them under this goddamn – aha!” Another colourful bag surfaces and Bucky tries to catch it without smashing anything in his way. “Oh! I might even find his secret stash of chocolate if I look hard enough!” Her eyes appear over the countertop, a mischievous glint that Bucky enjoys but always treats with caution. “Would that make you feel better?”

“I’ve already told you that a kiss would be enough, baby.” He winks, already feeling some of the tension easing out of his muscles.

“Now, now, James. This is no way of treating a lady. What would the village say if I were to fall into your arms without you properly courting me?”

Bucky tilts his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. She shifts under his gaze, but can admit that it melts her from inside out.

“Is that what you want, doll? A proper courtship?” His voice is low but even with music playing and patrons shouting around them, she feels as if he whispered those words into her ear. She shudders, making his lips slowly tug up at one end.

“Bucky, you’re supposed to tell me what you want so you can feel better.”

“I said I wanted a kiss, but you keep refusing me, baby.” A frown. “So I’ll just settle for walking you home tonight, what do you say?”

“Silly goose.” She laughs, although she’s only half listening to him as she is pouring a draught beer to a customer next to him. “You’ve been walking me home for the past three months, I don’t see how tonight would be any different.”

Bucky smiles softly when she sends him a wink distractedly. There are pauses in their conversation, sentences and questions scattered across two hours as the patrons of the bar order their last drinks and prepare to head home. Midnight comes and goes, and Bucky loses himself in memories of nights spent in the bar, just so he could be in her company, even if for only a few hours. Tonight’s the night, he decides, there have been too many silent queries in her eyes, too many touches that bordered on delicate caresses, too many smiles hiding secrets that could bloom into something else, something more that he so desperately has been longing for.

It was easier to not want more from life before he met her. He was content with just surviving from day to day, never asking for more, never believing he deserved more. The way he saw it, it should have been his atonement for the years of pain and suffering he had inflicted. Never knowing more than completing the missions he was sent on, eradicating as much as possible of the evil that existed in the world, trying to tip the scales at least a fraction before he’d have to finally rest, regardless of how soon that would come. Until Bucky met Y/N, which turned his world upside down. He found himself more careful, less inclined to charge head first into any situation that might bring him certain death. Now he had someone to come back to, someone who would bring him back from the dead just so she could give him a good scolding.

He's been more than careful not to let any of his friends near her, except for Natalia, of course. Y/N mentioned one time her thoughts on the Black Widow being the most amazing woman to ever grace the Earth, so he decided to surprise her one night. It wasn’t a tough choice to make, her ecstatic expression and her giddiness were enough to make him smile all night, although he had to give up her attention completely in favour of the redhead. After that, Nat would sometimes accompany him, having taken a liking to “Barnes’ cute bartender,” but neither of them would give any more to the others, much to their collective chagrin. But Bucky was relentless in refusing to subject her to their teasing and intensity, and he was grateful Nat respected his wish.

One night he asked her to dance with him in the middle of the dingy bar. It was the first time she played that song he loved so much, a soft melody that waved around their bodies as he shifted her closer and closer to him until she finally rested her head on his shoulder. He felt the sigh that escaped her lips and kissed the top of her head with his eyes closed.

Another night he came in bruised and battered after a particularly difficult mission, having escaped from the Med bay as soon as he was allowed, his first thought upon waking up being of her. The moment she saw him, she rounded the bar, inspecting him from head to toe and pinched his ear, which was probably the only part of him that wasn’t hurting at that moment. She shouted at him and cursed him, accusing him of being a “reckless wet sock,” all the while he was laughing at her reaction, even though the worry in her eyes made his heart expand like batter in the oven. That was the first time she made him promise he’ll stop putting himself in danger or she’ll never forgive him, a hand over his purple cheek, her thumb stroking over the tender skin. With a kiss to the inside of her wrist, he promised, having realised he would forever do anything she would ask of him.

While she is closing the bar, Bucky wonders yet again how would his life look like if he would just give up his duties as an Avenger, and follow his heart for once. He wonders whether that would be selfish, throwing away the possibilities unleashed by the serum flowing through his body, turning his back to the injustices of the world without a second thought, just so he could wake up with Y/N in his arms every morning.

“You’re thinking too much again and that only leads to trouble.” Her voice startles him from his musings, a poke to his ribs for good measure.

They start walking in silence for a few blocks, the city asleep around them. Y/N waits for him to speak, knowing from experience that it’s better to give him time until he’s ready to say whatever’s on his mind.

“Do you ever wish to…give everything up and start again?” He asks.

“I guess being a bartender isn’t anyone’s dream job.” She concedes. “I’d love to write more, but that won’t pay my bills. Giving everything up and starting again would just work in theory, wouldn’t it, though? There will always be a part of you that stays with you forever, no matter how much you try to hide it, so in my opinion it’s better to just accept it and move on.” A few more steps in silence. “You should stop blaming yourself, Buck. It wasn’t your fault. Accept it and move on. I’m not judging you for anything you’ve done while you were…you know. You’re here now and I love the person that you are now, so that’s all that matters to me.”

Bucky stops in his tracks, watching her in utter stupor. They’ve discussed what happened, but never at great lengths, because Bucky was too afraid he’ll repulse her into avoiding him. She’s never shared her thoughts on the matter, at least not this openly.

Y/N turns back when she notices he’s not in step with her anymore. She extends her arm, offering her hand and he takes it, interlacing their fingers together.

“You’re kind, and sweet, and funny, and although you’re a fucking idiot who has no sense of self-preservation, I care about you deeply, Buck. And it’s not just the fact that you’re the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met, even though it sure is a big plus to be this easy on the eye.” She laughs. “It’s breaking my heart to see you beating yourself up time and time again for something that is not your fault. I want you to see yourself through my eyes and realise that you deserve all the happiness in the world, and that you’re loved so much – ”

Y/N’s words die in her throat. Hands in her hair, pulling at heart strings, soft caresses of his tongue, the taste of beer, camellias bursting her chest open, arms around his neck, long strands of hair tickling her fingers, a sense of coming home, a sigh escaping lips, the tug of a smile, and foreheads pressed to each other, love weaving in and around their pulsing veins.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a while.” He admits.

“It took you too much for my liking.”

A whisper on his lips as Bucky kisses her again – more, forever, I promise.

[theentiregdtime]

Are you taking prompts beacuse I would love to read about Dennis getting angsty and jelous beacuse Mac is on a date or something(bonus points if he talks to Dee about it, I live for some good ol sibling-bonding) ur writing is wonderful btw💕💕

Mac has a date tonight.

He has a date and Dennis is absolutely livid.

Not that he’s mad about the date itself- no, no, he’s madbecause Mac has been lying to him for the entirety of the past three days.

“Who are you texting?” Dennis had asked him as he typedaway furiously on his phone, completely ignoring the McTiernan film they werewatching. Mac said it was Charlie, but that was suspicious- he was sending fartoo many words for Charlie to read; they almost exclusively communicatedthrough pictures and one-liners. He let it go and ground his teeth, listeningto the maddening sound of Mac’s thumbs tap-tap-tapping against the screen forthe rest of the movie.

The next day, Dennis suggested they try that new Thai place by their apartment for their monthly dinner, and that they should makereservations in advance. He knew Mac didn’t always like to try new restaurants,considering the dinner a holy ritual and not wanting to risk its sanctity, butDennis was floored when he flat-out said he couldn’t come. He’d used thatcautious, sing-song tone, too- and avoided eye contact as he told him he had togo see his mom that night. “It’s the same night every month, Mac, can you notvisit the woman another time? I mean, she doesn’t even like you!” Mac insistedon rescheduling anyways.

And today… today was the apex of it all. Today was thefucking crescendo to the three-day shit symphony. Mac had left his phone in theback office- unattended, for once- and Dennis definitely wasn’t snooping,because he doesn’t care about what Mac gets up to in his spare time. He was simply searching the desk for a marker to prove a point to Charlie about facial symmetry when a text lit up the screen…and it just so happened to catch his eye. It was from someone named Drew with ablack heart next to her name saying their reservation was moved to 7. It allhit Dennis at once- Mac texting nonstop, cancelling their plans, insisting ontaking the night off early- he had a date. He stood up their monthly dinner,their most sacred of traditions, for a goddamn date. He’d slipped out sometime around five-thirty, without somuch as a goodbye, leaving the rest of them to tackle the evening rush understaffed.

Granted, the evening rush consists of about six downtroddenchain smokers and an older couple that frequents to sleep in the booths, butstill!

Dennis leans onto the bar and takes a swig of his beer. Hesnarls in the back of his throat, half because he’s fuming at Mac and halfbecause his drink has gone sickeningly warm.

“Dude, you gotta stop that,” Charlie whines as he cleans chewedgum from underneath the counter, stowing the remnants in his pocket for somereason, “you sound like a dying cat.”

Before he can defend himself, Dee resurfaces with a tray ofempty glasses. She has a couple of crumpled bills sticking out of her pocket,which she uses like seed money, to make it seem as if she’s tippable. It’spathetic.

“Aww,” she teases with a childish sneer on her face, “didsomeone get stood up for their little dinner date?”

Dennis lets a long, exasperated sigh through clenched teeth.“Fuck off, Dee.”

“Whoa,” she replies, still laughing, with mockingly wideeyes. “Someone’s jealous.”

Charlie cuts in. “If you’re, like, lonely or something,Frank and I could come over and watch-”

“No, goddamn it!” Dennis shrieks and throws his hands in theair. “I am not jealous, all right? I do not care with whom Macchooses to consort in his spare time! As a matter of fact, I’m happy to havethe apartment to myself for once. It’s the charades I can’t stand. Theguy comes out of the closet every third Tuesday and goes right back in, gallivantingabout with women like he’s James fucking Bond! I don’t know about you, but Ifor one, am sick and tired of it.”

“Well, maybe it’s not-”

“Why do you care?” Dee talks over Charlie. “If he’shappy straight pride paradin’ around, then I say let him do it.”

“Because it is goddamn ridiculous, Dee!” Dennis counters.He’s been dealing with this for the past twenty years and he’s about reachedhis limit- the bullshit meter is almost to the top of his head- and he has morethan earned the right to be annoyed. “He brings loose women home, flaunts themaround in front of me like I’m to be impressed by his romantic prowess,pretends to enjoy making love to them, and for what? Because he can’t commit tobeing gay? Because a nonexistent god will send lightning down upon him to smitehim? It is absolutely absurd!”

Charlie and Dee share a look, and Dennis doesn’t know what itmeans, but he does know that he wants to hit them both across the facewith one good, honest backhand slap.

“So crash the date! Steal his girl! Ya’ know, cuck him!”Frank, suddenly at the bar and hoisting himself onto a stool, says much tooloudly. Luckily, their weeknight crowd is too busy drowning themselves in theirown sorrows to take notice. “Deandra keeps track of us on her pager.”

“I do not-”

“You stalk our locations, Dee, really?” Dennis questions. “Nowthat is just pathetic.”

“How… How do you do that?” Charlie wonders, starting to patat the back of his neck. “Like, with a chip or…?”

“No, see, what Frank is implying,” he explains, “is thatSweet Dee here watches us on her phone, everywhere we go, so she can livevicariously through us and make believe she has a personal life while she watchesLifetime movies and eats a family-size cheesecake by her lonesome. It’s justsad.”

“Hey, don’t take this out on me, bitch, I’m not the one whostood you up!” Dee yelps in a voice like an irate chihuahua. “Besides, Charlie,I can never see you, anyways.”

“He keeps his phone at home,” Frank says, chewing an oliveopen-mouthed like a horse, “in a bag of rice.”

“Well, maybe if you stopped taking it to the sewers, itwouldn’t get wet,” she suggests.

“Wet? I’m trying to keep it safe! If- If my apartmentgets robbed, they’re not gonna steal a bag of jambalaya!”

“You- You keep it in cooked rice?”

“Would you all shut up?!” Dennis shouts and slams his handsdown on the counter, rattling the empty glasses. He is at his wit’s end, and ifhe has to listen to this conversation a minute longer, his migraine is going topop his eyeballs out of his head. When he speaks again, his voice is level. “Fine.Let’s do it.”

Dee raises an eyebrow. “You want to crash Mac’s date?”

“Yes. Not because I care,” he clarifies, “but becauseI can’t play this game with him anymore. I am going to put a stop to this onceand for all.” Finishing off the last of his beer, he jams a finger in Frank andCharlie’s direction. “You two: no inventions, no possums, no dinner theatre-nothing except bartending and breathing.”

Charlie raises a hand. “What about-”

“No glue-eating contests, either, buddy.”

He puts his arm down with a pout.

“Let’s go, Dee. You’re driving.”

She scoffs in offense. “What? Why am I driving? Whyam I even going?”

“Well, what if they move around? You’re the stalker, I needyou on my team.” Dennis flits a hand around the room, out over their dominionof drunken singles and slumbering elderly. “It’s not as if you’re making tips.”

Besides, he knows she enjoys crap like this. She can pretendshe doesn’t care about the rest of them all she wants, claim she simply wantsto be left alone, but Dennis knows her better than anyone and he knows she likesto be included. He knows she lives for drama.

As expected, she resigns herself with a “fine” and followshim out of the pub.

—–

“Dee, truly, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart…Your music is the goddamn worst.”

They have listened to three Hole songs in a row, all ofwhich are essentially the same song, about scorning men and rejectingthe norms of society- none of which Dee, who bases her self-worth upon ratingsand the male gaze, can relate to in any way. Besides, the guitar sounds likeit’s in a fish tank.

Dennis would have driven himself, but unfortunately, heneeds Dee as his accomplice tonight. 

Plus, it’s good that he doesn’t have to dothis alone. It’s good to have the company… not that he’ll ever say that aloud.

“I’m doing you a favor, you boner,” she replies, but there’sno malice in it. In fact, she kind of sounds like she’s enjoying herself.

Again, Dee is fond of a good revenge plot. What else wouldshe be doing right now, if not for this, anyhow? Impressions of celebrities fortips? A reality TV marathon in her bathrobe? This has to be the height of hersad, lonely, joyless night.

She’s very skilled at the whole vengeance thing, too.Sometimes her schemes shock even Dennis. It’s always been that way, ever sincethey were children. Dee would whip out a notebook and map out a meticulously-plottedrevenge plan while Dennis simply went along for the ride (and chickened out,half of the time, because he didn’t want to upset their mother or get into trouble). That’s something else he won’t tell her out loud, that he’simpressed with- and often disgusted by- her work.

“Well, are we almost there?” he complains, tapping hisfingernail against the door to the growling music and watching pedestriansthrough the window.

Dee glances at her phone. “Chill out, it’s after the nextlight.”

Wait…

Dennis raises his head, casting a suspicious glanceto the GPS, then back to the road in front of them.

“No…” he mutters to himself.

Sure enough, it is.

When they make the turn and pull up outside of therestaurant, it’s the fucking Thai place Dennis told Mac about just yesterday.He stole the idea from him! He’s having dinner, on their night, at a newrestaurant he was fully aware Dennis wanted to try, with some randomfloosy. Dennis should be the floosy! He should be drinking SangSom and eatingcoconut shrimp! He should be there, because it’s their goddamn monthlydinner, it is their night, and Mac wouldn’t have even known this place existedif not for him!

Oh, he is so furious, he could just scratch him…

“That impertinent son of a bitch!”

“Yeah, I kinda thought they’d be at, like, Taco Bell-”

“It’s not that!”

Dennis takes a moment, sighing through pursed lips, steadyinghis rage, then turns to face his sister.

“We were supposed to have dinner here! This wassupposed to be our reservation! Then this Drew woman comes along-”

“Wait, Drew-”

“And soils the entire thing! Our whole rhythm is broken. Wewon’t be able to have a proper dinner for months now, the vibe is all wrong.”

Dee scrunches her face up at him, like she does when he’snot making any sense, but he is making sense, he’s making more sensethan he’s ever made!

“Couldn’t you just do your little bros night out tomorrow?Or the next day?” 

Dennis rolls his eyes. What a ludicrous question.

“It’s not about the schedule, Dee,” he says, waving hishands around wildly, “it’s about the mood. Our dynamic is going to be off untilat least November.”

There’s a moment of silence between them, no sound in thecar but the radio blaring angry chick music.

“So… what if they go on another date?” Dee eventually asks.She looks like she knows she shouldn’t, even before the words leave her mouth.“Like, what if this is a relationship thing?”

Relationship, that’s so ridiculous. This is all alittle scheme to tick Dennis off or get revenge on him for something he’salready forgotten doing, and it’ll be over by the end of the week. He doesn’twish to wait that long, though, so he’s simply ending it tonight. Besides, heshould be the one seeking retribution. He’s the one who was robbed ofhis periodic dining experience.

“This is all a little song-and-dance for Mac to prove onceagain that he’s heterosexual, or perhaps it’s a plot against me, but what it’scertainly not is a relationship.”

Dee’s eyes drift to the crowded restaurant behind him for a beat, then settle on his face, not quite looking directly at him.

“Then why is he here without you, Dennis?”

Because…

Well, perhaps he didn’t expect Dennis to show up duringdinner, but afterwards, he would have surely brought his “date” back to theapartment and made grand theatrics of it.

“Damn it, Dee, I will get to the bottom of this if it takesall night.”

Dennis unbuckles his seatbelt and throws open his door,stomping out onto the sidewalk.

“Yeah, I’m leaving you in an hour, cockmunch.”

—–

Getting past the hostess is easy enough. Dee nearly attemptsto disguise herself as an employee, but that is an awful idea and an absolutewaste of time, so Dennis simply puts on the charm and insists they’re meetingsome business associates. He keeps his head up high and waltzes pastthe booth into the restaurant before the woman can stop him. It’s all about theconfidence. If you look like you know what you’re doing and where you’resupposed to be, no one is sure enough or cares enough about their job to callyou on it.

He keeps a hand on Dee’s shoulder to guide her around beforeshe ends up donning a fake mustache and sneaking in as a waiter. They have toappear as if they know where they’re going, as if they’re with one of thesegroups, so they can’t wander around too much.

Mac will likely be in a booth. Dennis himself preferstables, and always insists they get one (sketchy diners at two in the morningexcluded), but Mac likes booths because he enjoys kicking his feet up andlounging around like he’s on the damned sofa at home. He is a classless savage.

The place isn’t too big, but it’s crowded- it takes them allof six minutes to track Mac down.

And when they do…

“Oh.”

That’s all Dennis can say.

He softens all at once and his shoulders drop, handsstilling at his sides. All of the fight in him goes limp.

Mac…

Mac is on a date.

With a guy.

“Dennis…” Dee says cautiously, reaching out to place a hand onhis back. She’s tentative with him, not like she’s afraid of him or thinks he’llhave an outburst, but like she’s sure if she talks too loudly or touches himtoo solidly, he’ll shatter like breakaway glass. It’s as if she thinks he’s fragile.“I’m sorry.”

Dennis’ unblinking eyes don’t leave Mac’s table. He can’tlook away from the anxious tension in Mac’s shoulders, the playful grin onhis lips, the way his face lights up when he laughs, the way he inches his handacross the table, the way his foot bounces excitedly against the floor…

It’s like watching a horror movie play out in front of him,but instead of a topless woman getting axed in the spine, he’s powerless tostop Mac from falling victim to happiness.

“For what?” he mumbles softly. He’s not sure the words comeout at all.

“I’m sorry that it’s real.”

Real… Please.

He hardly knows this guy. Sure, they’ve been texting backand forth for a couple of days, but that’s nothing compared to twenty years.It’s nothing deserving of standing Dennis up.

It sinks in that Mac cancelled on him for an actual date,and somehow that’s worse than if he’d paid a sex worker to spend the eveningwith him. It feels like a Shakespearean betrayal and stupid Drewbreaking a spring roll in half and passing Mac the rest is the blade against Dennis’ throat.

He tries feeling nothing and it doesn’t work. He triesrage and it doesn’t quite fit, either. He settles on jealousy and it’s like a glove.

A newfound wave of determination washes over him as heremembers himself and turns to Dee.

“I can still ruin this,” he decides, knowing he can still seduceMac’s date if he has to. Oh, no one has any idea how far he’ll go for revenge.

Dee takes a good, long look at the two of them laughingabout something on a chili sauce bottle like they’ve known each other foryears.

“Okay, but… why?”

Dennis tries to find a reason, but they’re all gone now.Everything he preached earlier on how this was about denial and cowardice andstagecraft… It’s all off the table. He racks his brain for a reason why thisburns at him so hotly, why he still wants to crash this, why he still wants todestroy it for Mac right in front of him, and settles on the inconvenience ofit.

“Because it’s going to be even worse. Mac pretending tosleep with a woman for a couple of nights is one thing, but having arelationship? Bringing a date back to our apartment? Letting him use ourshower? Having to hear about this man, day and night? I will not be a part ofthat, Dee.”

“So, just to clarify, Mac is never allowed to have arelationship as long as he lives with you?”

Dennis nods. “That’s the idea.”

“Sure, that’s fine, that’s healthy. That’s a perfectlynormal way for a grown man to think. Nothing weird about that at all.”

“Just shut up and follow me.”

He starts off towards the table before Dee can protest.Thankfully, she falls into step behind him instead of making a scene andblowing the entire thing.

By the time Mac’s date has noticed him, Dennis is faking awide, friendly grin that he’s certain looks charming, and not at alllike an enraged chimp suppressing its rage.

“What a coincidence!” he exclaims, struggling to maintain hishoney-sweet cadence.

Mac jumps at the sound of his voice as if it were arattlesnake’s hiss. His fight or flight response seems to activate before heeven looks at Dennis- muscles tensing, hands squirming, eyes going wide, breathcatching. When he cranes his neck to meet Dennis’ gaze, he’s making a face likehe’s been caught stealing.

It’s fitting, he supposes. He did steal something. Hestole the pleasure of their monthly dinner right out from under Dennis, stolethe music and the dark liquor and the conversation and the rice noodles andoffered it all up to somebody else, to some absolute stranger. He shouldbe mortified.

“I…” is all that escapes his dumb, floundering mouth.

Dennis takes the liberty of explaining for Drew’s sake.

“My sister and I just happened to be having dinner with somefriends,” -he gestures to no table in particular- “and who do we see?” Claspinghis hands together, he turns to Mac with less of a smile than a warning snarl.“Won’t you introduce us, Mac?’

“This is…” -Mac clears his throat, eyes darting between thethree of them, looking for a way out but finding none- “my date.”

“Drew,”’ the man says, clearly confused but holding out hishand regardless.

Dennis takes it and squeezes tight as he shakes, really putshis shoulder into it. A handshake says a lot about a man, a lot about histrustworthiness and virility and how much power he can generate, and Dennis hassomething to prove.

He doesn’t see what all the fuss has been about, these past fewdays. The guy is nothing to text home about. Sure, he’s passable, perhaps evenconventionally attractive, but his smile is too gummy, his jawline is toodefined, his toned arms are all deltoid and no bicep, and what is he wearing? Acheckered shirt? In a Thai restaurant? Any self-respecting man would know thepatterns clash.

“Dennis Reynolds. I own the bar Mac works at, which surely,he’s told you much about.” He rests a hand on Mac’s shoulder, who startles athis touch. “I also own our apartment. And our bank account. And our car. But…”-he chuckles, humorless, and it immediately fades into a straight stare-“mostly the bar.”

“He’s my… roommate,” Mac mumbles sheepishly.

Drew squints at him for a second, then pointsin Dee’s direction. “And you are?”

“Hungry,” she jokes, snorting in laughter at herself,and Dennis boils a little inside. Before he can say anything else, her talonsare in his arm, spinning him in the opposite direction. “We should be gettingback to our meal. You guys enjoy your date, or whatever people say.”

Dennis tries to stand his ground, but Dee’s fingernails inhis flesh are so painful that it takes all of his strength to keep from screaming.She drags him into an empty booth before he can stop her.

“What the hell?” he whispers through gritted teeth. “Whatare you doing, Dee?’

“You’re being a real dick wart, Dennis,” she chastises him.“Look, I know you want to throw your little trust fund fuckboy alpha maletantrum, but you’re freaking Mac out. I mean, look at him.”

Dee gestures towards Mac, who is still watching them acrossthe restaurant, eyes like a deer in the headlights, as his date talks to theside of his head.

“Besides, I thought you were gonna do the cucking thing. Youwere acting like Mac’s husband or some shit.”

“I was not,” Dennis insists and cups his handstogether. “I told no lies. I was simply emasculating Mac in front of his date.I mean, who wants to have dinner with a man who can’t drive himself or controlhis own finances?’

Dee narrows her eyes and rolls her teeth over her lip,analyzing him like she’s not sure he’s serious.

“Um, you?”

“Wh-” He scoffs in disbelief. How incredulous of her, thoseare two completely different types of dinners. “I am not-”

Before he can say something for himself, a waitress is atthe end of their table. She looks perplexed, presumably wondering why theyhaven’t been served yet, but retains the smile on her face.

“Do you guys need anything to drink, or…?”

“Can you not see that we’re having a conversation?!” Dennissnaps.

“Yeah, bitch, we’ll get drinks when we’re good and ready!”Dee backs him up.

The waitress rolls her eyes and walks away.

“I mean, it’s fucking rude.”

“Completely unacceptable.”

“She saw us talkingand she just waltzed right up like she was part of it!”

“I’m sorry, Dee, I had no idea the service here was soterrible.”

Dee frowns and glances at the kitchen door the womandisappeared behind.

“I kinda do want a drink, though,” she says.

“Yeah, I’m pretty thirsty…”

It’s quiet for a minute. There are forks scraping and platesclattering and incessant, mindless chatter all around them, but it’s quiet attheir table. Dee picks at the finishing on the glass with her fingernail,peeling it off. Dennis watches the pieces flick onto the floor and wonders whathe’s going to do if this is a long-term situation, if he has to live inproximity to this weak-handshaked stranger all the time, has to tolerate himday in and day out. The thought of having someone digging through he and Mac’sfridge, using their bathroom, taking up space on their couch… it’s annoying.

The thought of that person sharing a bed with Mac, eatingout of the same bowl of popcorn as him, wrapping a hand thoughtlessly aroundhis waist in the kitchen while he makes coffee, kissing him on the cheek asthey cuddle under a blanket…

Annoying isn’t the right word for the way those things feel.They don’t sting at his nerves and tense his muscles like annoying things do.Instead, the mental image sits at the pit of Dennis’ stomach with everythingelse he’s buried over the course of his life. It’s a different animal entirely.It’s…

He doesn’t know why, but it feels like losing a sure handhe’s bet all his chips on.

“You want me to take you home?”

Dennis observes Mac, who still looks nervous, but has fallenback into the swing of his conversation.

“No,” he mumbles.

Dee lets out a short, resigned sigh.

“You want to be fuck up his date?” she offers.

Drew (stupid name for a guy, by the way, just commit to thefull Andrew) rests a hand on Mac’s arm and Dennis’ stomach collapses intoitself like a house of cards.

“Thought you were doing the high road thing,” he answers, “youknow, like a superior bitch.”

She huffs through her nose like a bull, but the loud, enragedresponse never comes. Instead, her voice is gentle, as if breathing on ahair trigger.

“I didn’t realize what this was about,” she says.

Dennis raises and eyebrow and turns back to her, slowlytrying to process what the hell she’s referring to. He can’t figure it out, andhe can’t think of a way to twist it into an insult, either, so he just stares.

“Don’t look at me like that, you skid mark,” Dee spits,sounding a little more like herself. “I’m not having this fight with you again.Look, here’s what you do…”

—–

Ding ding ding ding!

Dennis taps a knife against a wine glass, both of which he’sswiped from an unobservant old couple, and the tinny sound echoes through therestaurant until everyone in the room falls silent.

Mac is looking at him like he’s got a bomb strapped to hischest. The fear and embarrassment in his eyes is almost humiliating enough torectify this entire situation- almost, but not enough.

He clears his throat.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m standing here tonight because… Imade a mistake. And I want to fix it.”

Dennis smiles at Mac, who gawks nervously at him. He putsthe sweetest, sappiest, cheesiest look on his face that he can muster, justknowing everyone in the room is going to fall for it immediately. He’s got a knackfor manipulating people.

“Mac, baby…”

Mac’s eyebrows shoot up into his hair.

“I know I told you I wanted to see other people, but… I’verealized something, in the last three days. I only want to see you- forthe rest of my life.”

He earns a couple of aww’s and affectionate hums fromthe restaurant patrons. Stupid, stupid, stupid people. They don’t even know himand they’re already convinced he’s in love with Mac. He’s a much better actorthan Dee is, and he would shove that in her face, if she hadn’t been the one tocome up with this plan.

“Look, I know I messed up, but… I’m not afraid anymore, Mac.I know how I feel. And I know you came here with Chad, and I know what you’regonna say, and I know I don’t have a ring…”

Mac’s got his face in his hand, and Drew looks absolutely appalled.No matter what he answers, no matter how this plays out, this date isdefinitely destroyed.

“But I’d marry you with this.”

Dennis snatches a ring-shaped onion slice from a woman’s salad,and she simply sits there and lets him, because she’s that enthralledwith his speech. He makes sure to grind it good and hard between his fingersbefore setting it back down- he’s going to need that.

“Because none of that matters.” He pretends to take amoment, burying his face in his hand and digging his oniony fingers into hiseyes. When he feels them start to tingle, feels a tear drip down his cheek, helowers his hand and sniffles. “What matters is you, man.”

A few more aww’s are whispered, and Dennis feelsquite pleased with his exceptional performance.

“Jesus Christ, Dennis.” Mac turns back to his dateand reaches out for him. “This isn’t-”

“No, you know what? Go ahead.” Drew scoots his chair backand stands to his feet, tossing the napkin from his lap onto the table. “I sawthe way you two looked at each other.”

Clearly, that statement has no basis in fact, but it worksto Dennis’ advantage, so he’ll take it. Before Mac can even stammer out a syllable, his date has abscondedand stormed out of the restaurant.

“Dennis-”

“Mac, listen…”

Dennis crouches down in front of him and takes his hands,all of the tears in his voice gone as he whispers to him.

“They’re going to give us free dessert.”

Mac stops glaring daggers at him, and the tension in hismuscles relaxes. His hands go limp under Dennis’ as he scans him over,observing the streaks of foundation he no doubt has on his cheeks.

“Fine, asshole,” he answers loudly enough for the entiredead-silent restaurant to hear.

A few scattered people begin slow clapping, unsure as towhether or not that’s a positive response. Dennis makes quick work of slickinghis thumb across his eyes and eliciting a few more crocodile tears.

“He said yes!”

The restaurant erupts in applause as Mac shoots him a deathstare so hard he might pop a blood vessel.

—–

“There’s too much coconut.”

“That’s the entire purpose of the cake, Mac. Do you claimthere’s too much chocolate in a brownie, as well?”

“I’m just saying, it’s like suntan lotion.”

Mac swallows and sets his fork down, gaze focused on thetable. He leans onto it and rests his chin in his hand.

Before Dennis can suggest they get a tub of ice cream fromthe store instead, Mac mumbles into his palm.

“I know you’re uncomfortable.”

Dennis is thrown off guard by that.

“Well, I suppose the chair could use a cushion, but otherthan that-”

“No,” he grumbles. “About the date.”

Dennis? Uncomfortable? Over something so banal as Mac datinga guy? To accuse him of that, when he has always been perfectlytolerant, and Mac has been the one pointing fingers and throwing stonesin glass houses and proclaiming his condemnation of gay relationships from the steeples-it’s downright rude.

“I am not-”

“I can tell, dude!” Mac yells, finally sitting up andlooking Dennis in the eyes like a man. “You were uncomfortable earlier and you’reuncomfortable right now.”

Right now? He is merely trying to eat his free pandan cakein peace!

“Mac, I’ve always known you’re-”

“I’m not- I was just- I was trying something outand…” He gives up on whatever moronic protest he was going to attempt and,instead, lets his head fall face-first onto the table. A childish groan bubblesup from his throat. “Why did you follow me here?”

Dennis lets out a long breath and prepares himselfto say what he’s about to say.

“Look, Mac…”

Mac’s still got his head down, but he’s adjusted hisposition to gaze up at Dennis. This would actually probably be easier if heweren’t, though.

“When you cancelled our monthly dinner, I felt like Iwasn’t-”

“Are you done yet?”

Dee’s standing at the end of their table expectantly, tappingher foot and slugging down the last of a beer. “You better be in the car in thenext five minutes or you two shit socks are walking home.”

He glances to Mac and mumbles, “She smells like asock…”

For a second, Mac smiles and snort-laughs, until heremembers he’s supposed to be upset and his face falls again.

Dee’s freakishly strong hands slam the empty bottle down,with enough pressure to put a crack in the tabletop. “You know what? Fine. I’mleaving. You two deserve each other.”

Before she gets even five steps away, Mac shouts after her.

“Yeah, go listen to your stupid music in your dumb car!”

Dennis chuckles under his breath. “Her music isstupid.”

He reminds himself to thank her later, nonetheless. She canbe a half-decent sister on occasion. Sure, he owes her an apartment cleaning inexchange for the engagement idea, but still- nice of her to accompany himtonight.

“Sorry, Dennis, what were you gonna say?”

When you cancelled our monthly dinner, I felt like Iwasn’t as important to you as your date. I felt like you threw away years oftradition for some fool you barely knew. You’ve been on your phone all the timeand movies aren’t as fun without your commentary. You’re my best friend and Ihad to share you and it really sucked. And we don’t have to talk about the gaything if you don’t want to, but if you do, we’ll go get some ice cream and we’lltalk about it.

Dennis chooses to shorten it.

“You want to go get ice cream?”

Mac shrugs and agrees to the idea, on the condition thatthere’s no coconut involved.

The walk home isn’t too long, even with the trip to theconvenience store. They don’t talk much, but it isn’t uncomfortable. Sure, theycan chat for hours if left to their own devices, but when it’s just the two ofthem… it’s perfectly comfortable to say nothing, too.

Mac wraps his coat around Dennis’ shoulders when it getscold.  He buries his hands in thepockets, where an energy bar rustles around in there. He knew Mac would never reallytake a chance on a new restaurant- the guy likes to play it safe.

He reminds himself that this is all for the best, for Mac.He needs Dennis. He relies on him for guidance and money andtransportation (present situation excluded) and basically everything in hislife. It’s good that he didn’t end up putting that pressure on somebody else.It’s good that nobody else is going to watch TV on their couch and eat straightout of their ice cream tub and dangle their legs over Mac’s lap. That wouldhave been annoying.

Yeah, Dennis reassures himself as he watches Maccarry the grocery bags and makes himself comfortable in his jacket, Macneeds him.

[averyrogers83]

When I See You Smile: pt2

Title: When I See You Smile Author: @averyrogers83 Warnings: Angst, fluff, cursing, death Word Count: 2606 Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Author’s Notes: #chelseaswritingchallenge @bvcks 4.2 writing challenge. I am so incredibly sorry that it has taken so long for me to get this part out. I have been struggling on where I wanted to go with this and I decided Bucky needed some attention.  As always a huge thank you to my awesome beta @shield-agent78 for helping me out. Prompt: “I’ve never seen you smile like that” + “I don’t have many reasons to” Prompt will show up in 2nd installment.

About a month on your new job you finally began to feel comfortable with your surroundings and the people you worked with, that is when the big guy decided to make an impromptu visit.  Everyone was suddenly on high alert.  Making sure everything was in order and they looked appropriate as Tony walked through the halls on his was to Pepper’s office.

You tried not to let the thought of Tony being in the same building as you affect your ability to be professional and you just focused on your work.  That is until you had to take the latest reports to Miss Potts.  

“And who might you be?”

Your heart began to race when you realized that Tony was talking to you.

“Tony, this is Y/N is our new Tech Analyst, she’s been her for about a month now.”

“Hi.”  You croaked out, you cleared your throat. “Hi, Mr. Stark, it's an honor to meet you sir.”  

“Please call me Tony, Mr. Stark was my father.”  

“Yes sir, I mean Tony, sorry.  If you’ll excuse me Miss Potts I just wanted to drop off the latest

reports, so if you don’t need anything else from me I’m going to head back to my office.”

“Thank you Y/N.  Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am..I mean Pepper,” you quickly corrected yourself before she could say anything.

You said goodbye to Tony and headed back to your office, smiling to yourself.  That night at home you pour yourself a glass of wine and smiled to yourself as your recalled your first meeting with the man you have admired for a long time.  You were especially thankful that you didn’t do anything to stupid to embarrass yourself.  Over the next few months you worked harder than you have ever worked, which in turn got you fully noticed by Pepper, and not necessarily in a good way.  That means she noticed that you spent way more time in the office then anywhere else.  Often the first one in the office and the last one to leave.   Several times she had to have Happy escort you out to make you leave before five on Fridays.  Happy was a good egg. He was loyal, kind, and caring, you really liked that about him.  Happy was the only other person outside of Pepper that you talked to, so it came as no surprise when Happy was asked to go with you to shop for a nice formal dress to wear to the Tony’s party the next night.  

You really appreciated your boss and the fact that she seemed to take a personal interest in you, but when she made it a requirement for you to attend the party, part of you shut down.  All you wanted to do was go through your weekly routine of going home, getting take out and veggie on the couch watching tv or reading a book.  You didn’t like being around a lot of people other than at work, and in fact would get anxiety attacks in crowded situations, but here you were now, in the elevator on the way up to the penthouse suite where Tony lived and about to partake in your first infamous Stark soiree

Immediately you veered towards the bar, if you had to be there amongst the crowd of people you didn’t know, you were going to make sure you had a good buzz going on first. The bartender had just placed your third glass of wine in front of you when Pepper gently grabbed you by the arm and took you over to meet some of the other guests.  

Your buzz must be hitting because you were calm as a cucumber when you met Captain-Freakin-America, Sam, Natasha, Wanda, and Hawkeye.  Normally you would be freaking out and stammering as you tried to talk, but you were completely fine.  You listened to stories from Thor and Rhodey, watched Pepper and Tony mingle with other guests and Steve and Sam play pool.  You walked back to the bar and watched the Avengers laugh and joke, they were a family and you wish you had that kind of connection, a family.  

“You don’t look like you’re having much fun.” Remarked the man to the right of you.  

You’re not sure how you didn’t notice him earlier, but the moment he spoke you couldn’t take your eyes off him.  Dark hair, broad shoulders, and just the right amount of scruff.  Damn he looked good, but he was an Avenger and way out of your league. The two of you make small talk and you learn that he’s not big on the whole party scene either.  You figured most of that stemmed from what he dealt with in the past before the reprogramming.  

You had stopped drinking hours ago, nursing the last glass of wine that was placed in front of you, as you stifle a yawn and decide that it may be time for you to go.  

“Thank you Sergeant Barnes for keeping me company.  It looks like the party is winding down and I should be going.  It was lovely meeting you.”  

“You as well...I’m sorry I never did catch your name.” The thought of giving your name escaped you, didn’t think you would ever see him again after tonight so you didn’t bother with formalities.  “Y/N...Y/N Y/L/N.  Have a good night Mr. Barnes.”

“Good night Y/N.” He watched as you said goodnight to Pepper and Tony then walked away towards the elevator.  There was something about you intrigued him, and he wanted to get to know you better.  He wanted to know why there was so much sadness in your eyes, why you didn’t smile, and when you did it never actually reached your eyes.  

*****************************************************************************************************

It’s been two months since the party where you met Bucky Barnes and even though you occasionally thought about him you knew it wasn’t going to go anywhere and you emerge yourself back into your work.  Where you were most comfortable, but you didn’t mind.  You were soon back to old routine, with the exception of an occasional lunch or dinner out with the Pepper and when they weren’t out on a mission you’d meet up with Wanda and Nat.  

Bucky’s name came up a couple of times, but nothing more than a brief mention of something that happened during one of their missions or some prank that Sam tried to play on him and you smiled at the thought of how Bucky would retaliate, but it was nothing more than that.  

One weekend that all changed.  You had just finished cleaning out your closets and reorganizing your life.  Something you did at least once or twice a month when there was a knock at the door.  You hadn’t yet ordered your takeout so you had no clue who it could be.  You about passed out when you opened the door to find Sergeant Barnes standing outside your door. Your hair pulled back in a messy bun and you in your faded black pajama shorts and purple tank.  

“Um..Sarg...uh...Bucky..what are you doing here?” You stutter

“Hi…” Bucky stands in the doorway looking down at his feet sheepishly. Bucky clears his throat. “I’m sorry, Y/N...It’s...it’s been two months since we first met and I can’t get you outta my mind.”  

You blushed at his words. You had that kind of affect on anyone, and truth be told after meeting him that night, you couldn’t help but think of him too.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Oh my gosh...Bucky would you like to come in?” You held the door open for him to enter.  “Sorry my place is a bit of a mess, I wasn’t expecting company.”

“Naw, it’s fine.  

“Um, would you like something to drink..beer, wine…me.” The last part you mumbled, forgetting that Bucky had super hearing and he heard you anyway. “The reason why I came over Y/N...was because…”He took a deep breath “Because I wanted to see if you’d like to have dinner with me tomorrow ngiht.”

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Bucky just asked you out.  You’re mind was racing, you were calm on the outside, but inside you were completely freaking out.

“I’ll understand if you don’t want to…” Bucky looks back down at his feet, he’s never had a problem talking to dames before, but now he’s always so unsure of himself and shy.

“What?! NO!...I mean Yes. I’d love to go out with you James. I was just...surprised that’s all.” you stammered.

“Surprised, why?”

“Because” you let out the breath you were holding “because guys don’t...I’ve never had a guy look at me that way.” Tears begin to form and you try to keep them at bay.  Last thing you want to do is scare Bucky away by being emotional.  

Bucky takes two strides and is in front of you, his right hand caressing your cheek while his thumb wipes away the stray tear that was able to escape.  “Hey, please don’t cry. Obviously those other guys were too stupid to see how beautiful and smart you are.  Which, if I’m being honest, I’m happy they were.  Because now I get to be that guy.”

You couldn’t help but blush at his words.  No one had ever made you feel the way Bucky was making you feel right then.  “Um..have you eaten yet?” You can hear a low growl came from his stomach, and it makes you giggle. “How about we order in and you can take me out tomorrow night.”

“Sounds perfect doll.”

“Chinese ok?”

“Sure.”

“Make yourself at home.”

You called your favorite Chinese place around the corner where they knew by name.  You ordered your regular plus a couple other dishes, not quite sure what Bucky liked and grabbed a couple of beers before heading back to the living room and sat next to him on the couch, were the two of you talked about everything and everything from your rough childhood, time in the military to what your favorite movie is.  You had already known what Bucky went through in his life and you didn’t want to dredge up any bad memories, so you let him tell you want he wanted you to know about him and Steve growing up together and how Steve used to be this skinny kid who used to put newspapers in his shoes so they would fit.  

The two of you talked, ate, and talked some more, before you knew what happened it was well past midnight.

Bucky stretched and yawned. “It’s getting late, I should leave...tomorrow say around six?”

“I look forward to it. Thanks Bucky, for stopping by….um, I had fun.”  She leaned in timidly and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Me too.” he said smiling.  

The next night you had changed your outfit ten times and redid you hair and makeup at least twice, you were so nervous and you weren't really sure why.  You had already spent a good amount of time with Bucky the night before so to be nervous now really didn't make much sense, but needless to say you were. You had finally settled on a simple red dress with scooped bateau neckline, half sleeves and flirty skirt, finishing off the look with your black Louis pumps.  You had bought the dress years ago for a date, but the guy never showed up so you stored it in the back of your closet never to be seen again till now.  You started to have second thoughts about your date, part of your fearing that you’d be stood up once again, but Bucky arrived promptly at six o’clock and it was too late to back out.   You weren’t sure what to expect when you opened the door, but a tall, dark, walking sex god, dressed in an all black suit with black dress shirt opened at the top showing just the right amount of chest to make you drool and forget what you were doing, but still covered enough to allow your imagaination to wander.

The two of you  stood there gawking at each other for several minutes before Bucky finally found his ability to speak again and break the awkwardness. “You look, incredible.”

You felt your face heat up from the attention he was giving you, taking a deep breath you finally managed “You pretty good yourself.” Another beat of complete silence and the two of you smiling at each other like a couple of school kids going on your first ever date.  “Shall we go?” You asked? His response was to take your hand in his and head out for your first official date together.

He took you to a nice restaurant where the food was fancier than you were used to, and from the moment the two of you walked in people would look your way.  Bucky was a complete gentleman, pulling out your chair for you, holding open doors. Acts that men you’ve come across before had never mastered.  He made you feel special that way.  Sitting there at the table the two of you talked more about your likes and dislikes, where you grew up, things you hadn’t already discussed, but even though you were happy to be there with Bucky you felt uncomfortable and you could sense that he was as well.

“Bucky” you said timidly, almost in a whisper, as you looked over the menu, you were afraid to voice your thoughts of leaving this snobbish place and going somewhere that would better suit the two of you.

“It’s ok doll, you can tell me anything.” Bucky reached over and took your hand in his.

“Can we go somewhere else?” You blurted out feeling a bit sheepish “It’s not that I don’t want to be in public with you, it’s ju...it’s just I don’t feel like this place is...I feel like this is a place that Tony and Pepper would go.  I’m more of a pizza and beer kind of girl.”

Bucky gently squeezed your hand and laughed so loud people nearby stopped and stared.  “Yeah doll, let’s get out of here.”

They couple quickly exited the restaurant and got into the car driving off to Bucky’s favorite pizza place in Brooklyn, where they shared pizza, beer, and lots of laughs.  It was the best time that Y/N had in a very long time.  Your face and stomach ached from all the smiling and laughing you were doing from hearing all the stories Bucky told you of him and Steve growing up.  You had never felt so at ease with anyone before.  Your breath hitched when Bucky ran the back his hand over your cheek, “I’ve never seen you smile like that.” He looked into your eyes so intently it was like he could see into your soul.

“I don’t have many reasons to”  your eyes began to tear. “Not until now.”

It’s been a year since you and Bucky met and since then so many things have changed.  You still work as Pepper’s Assistant at Stark Industries, you and Bucky found a place and have since moved in together and now the two of you were in negotiations about adopting.  You finally came to an agreement on the chocolate lab puppy that you saw at the pound.  Now the hard part, agreeing on a name for the little guy.

@bvcks @ellaprime68 @chuuulip @dj-lowkey @buckysforeverprincess @hotoffthepressfics @shield-agent78 @littlemarvelfics @bloodiedskirtts @patzammit @drakelover78

[maraudeath]

Gorgeous

Because I only do fics based off of songs apparently and I saw a post saying that someone wanted a Jily fic based off of this song in particular Gorgeous by Taylor Swift 

Everything about the bar on a Thursday night was awful.

Half priced drinks all night brought pretty much everyone from the college out including Lily Evans' group of friends and, due to an alarming amount of peer pressure, Lily Evans herself. Every Thursday since they became legal they'd been there until closing, more often than not with one or two less people than they started out with by the end of the night.

The beat of the music was unfortunately loud and Lily stood with her friends wishing that they could just leave. Benjy had left her almost as soon as they arrived to go with some of his senior friends, Lord knew where he was now or what he was doing.

Usually the place was bearable but something about tonight and the feeling in Lily's stomach that something bad was going to happen overwhelmed any feeling of fun.

"What're you drinking?" The bartender asked her.

"Whiskey on ice," Lily told him.

She'd already had a couple shots with the girls but she needed something even stronger now, mostly to drown whatever this feeling was. Marlene was off talking to someone but Mary and Dorcas were still with her so Lily tried to include herself in whatever they were saying.

"I don't know, I've never seen him before but I've seen his friends," Mary told Dorcas.

"I think he spends most of his time playing sports, I'm pretty sure he has a scholarship or something," Dorcas answered.

"Who?" Lily asked, taking the drink the bartender had set down.

Mary turned to her with an excited look on her face. "Marlene's talking to some guys over there and there's one that we don't know. Normally I wouldn't even bother with someone I hadn't met at least once before but like, just look at him."

As soon as Lily turned to see this guy the feeling in her stomach twisted into something much bigger. She'd never seen this boy, if she had she'd remember it for sure, nothing like him had ever crossed her path before and she was pretty much speechless.

The first thing she noticed was his lopsided smile that would make anyone else look ridiculous but somehow accentuated the fact that he had an unholy jawline. He used his hands a lot when he was talking which just brought her attention to the fact that his body was insanely fit.

Even from the distance they were at she could tell that he had really nice eyes, not even his glasses which were hanging just a little bit crooked could hide that. When he fully smiled, laughing at something his friends had said, Lily could feel her heart tighten.

This wasn't just an average boy you could find anywhere on campus, this boy was something else entirely.

He was gorgeous.

"Lily? Hello?" Dorcas snapped her fingers in front of Lily's face, making her look away from the boy.

"Huh? What?" She asked, clearing her throat and turning away entirely from him.

"I asked you where Benjy was."

Benjy.

She had forgotten about him.

They had been dating for a while now but she barely saw him anymore, this had actually been the first time she had seen him in quite some time and he had ditched her immediately. Everyone knew they shouldn't be together, even they knew it, but for some reason they held onto each other.

"Uh I'm not sure, somewhere over there," she said, pointing to the clubbing area.

Dorcas and Mary exchanged looks but couldn't say anything due to the return of Marlene, who looked equal parts happy and drunk. She had the boys she was talking to in tow and, upon seeing his face again, Lily took a huge swig of her whiskey.

"Guys I want you to meet some people!" Marlene yelled over the music. "This is Sirius, Remus, Peter and James. They're all in our school but I've literally never seen them before."

"Marlene you've met me and Remus like five times before," Sirius said.

"Never seen them before," Marlene repeated.

Mary rolled her eyes at her friend. "Alright let's get you something else to drink, maybe just some water this time though."

Lily watched them walk away and desperately wished that they hadn't. At least with them there a conversation would always be going that she wouldn't have to include herself in.

Now that they were gone though she would have to say something because she actually did know both Remus and Sirius. She had classes with both of them and often sat with them so they would definitely expect her to talk.

"What's up Evans?" Sirius said to her.

Lily smiled, finishing the rest of her drink right after. "Not too much Black, how are you?"

She tried to limit herself on the amount of times she looked over at their friend, James she remembered Marlene had told her. God even his name was gorgeous, she'd always liked that name.

"Can't complain I suppose, have you met James by the way? He doesn't usually come to these because he's always playing football or something but we dragged him out tonight," Sirius said, pulling James over to them.

Up close Lily could see that he was even better looking, everything about this boy was perfect and she couldn't believe it. How could a human be that good looking? It should be physically impossible, maybe even illegal.

"It's nice to meet you," he said.

His voice was downright dreamy and it took everything in her not to pass out right on the bar. It was ridiculously deep to the point that on anyone else it would be unnatural but, of course, it suited him perfectly.

"Likewise," Lily spat out, turning around quickly to the bar again.

She could hear him introducing himself to Dorcas and felt like throwing up from sheer frustration. The bartender took her order of another whiskey and while she waited for it she took a shot of whatever Marlene had ordered before she got pulled away.

Everything hit her very fast and she realized all at once that she was becoming quite drunk. This was the opposite of a problem though as this meant she had quite a bit more freedom than she ever did sober.

With a huge sip of whiskey she turned back to the conversation where everyone was discussing something she had no interest in. All she wanted to do was talk to people, anyone at all in fact except for James.

"Remus my dude, how are you?" She asked.

Remus laughed. "I'm pretty great Lily, how are you? How many drinks have you had?"

"Ah, a good question. I am not sure but I know it's more than one," she answered.

Out of the corner of her eye she could still see him and it bothered her so much that she had to leave. Without saying anything more to Remus she made her way to a group of people she only briefly knew and joined in their conversation.

She made her way around the room, stopping to talk to everyone she saw and tasting quite a few of their drinks as well. At some point she saw Benjy through the crowd with a crowd of girls, one in particular seemed very attached to him. This probably should have bothered her more than it did, she noted to herself as she kept going.

By the time she made her way back to her friends she was quite a bit more drunk than before and could feel the gorgeous boy, who she had made herself forget the name of, watching her with interest. She ordered another drink and waited for it with Mary, leaning her head on her shoulder and watching everyone else talk.

"I didn't know it was physically possible to have a voice that deep," Lily said, quite a bit louder than intended, after she heard him say something. "It kind of sounds like how I imagine a 50 year old CEO of a company would sound."

Everyone burst into laughter but he didn't, he was staring at her with that stupid half smile again. It made her want to slap him.

"Is that so?" He asked, seemingly amused.

She just shrugged, willing herself not to look in his eyes, which were turned the most beautiful shade of blue by the flashing lights. It almost felt wrong to even be in his presence, he was so good looking it could be fatal to her.

It was really quite annoying, he wasn't supposed to be a figurative angel and he certainly wasn't supposed to get her attention but it happened.

So now he had her attention, and she had his too judging by the amount of times he was looking at her per minute, but she couldn't do anything about it. This stupid boy was quite literally ruining her life and she couldn't take it.

Who did he think he was? Coming into her bar on her Thursday night and being that attractive most definitely on purpose? That was just bad manners.

In the end she had no idea why she was getting so worked up in the first place. She couldn't have him anyway and besides, no boy that looked like him was single so why should she care?

But there was also the possibility that he was single and that was even worse. If he was single it meant that she was the only one who couldn't do anything, he was perfectly free to talk to whoever he wanted and that might not even be her.

This was ridiculous, this boy ruined everything and she hated him for it, she didn't hate a lot of people but at that moment she really hated this boy.

As the night went on Lily caught glimpses of her boyfriend talking to other people but she found that it still didn't really bother her. In the grand scheme of thing she was a lot more bothered by James and his ability to make everything he did look flawless.

Throughout the night she had become increasingly interested in him and that just made her anger towards him mount. She knew that she shouldn't be spending so much time thinking about him but there was something drawing her to him and it was incredibly hard to resist.

By the time the bartender made last call Lily was fuming and wanted nothing more than to bring this stupid boy home with her, but she couldn't.

"Okay let's go, everyone's gonna be awful to get around when we try to get out," Dorcas said, prompting everyone to start moving.

Lily had been using Mary as a crutch for the better part of the night so as soon as she moved Lily stumbled. Someone caught her hand and she was about to thank them when she looked up and saw James standing over her, holding her hand.

Without the lights on them she could see that his eyes weren't blue at all but were actually a fantastic shade of hazel. She snatched her hand back and looked away from him, refusing to let herself be sucked in.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Wow," he said. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to speak to me at all tonight."

"Well I debated it but, I don't know," she said, walking towards the exit with him following behind.

She kept moving and was very surprised when she was turned around to face him. On instinct she avoided looking at him, refusing to be weak.

"What's your problem anyway? You've barely so much as looked at me the whole night but definitely talked to everyone else in here. What did I do to offend you?" He asked.

Even confusion looked good on this boy and Lily had had absolutely more than enough. There seemed to be nothing he couldn't pull off and it was just ridiculous, especially because she couldn't dwell on him when she couldn't have him.

She sighed and looked down at the ground, not really knowing what he expected of her to begin with. All she wanted to do now was go home, she would be leaving alone since her friends and her supposed boyfriend had all completely left somewhere else.

Of course, her and Benjy were barely even dating anymore it was all about saving face at this point. He had definitely left with some other girl and what was stopping Lily from having this beautiful boy come over just to hang out? She could always text Benjy and end things like she'd been meaning to for ages.

Finally she looked up into his face and almost immediately regretted it, he was a really beautiful boy.

"You know," she said slowly. "You should actually take all of that as a compliment."

Gorgeous even.

[drinkthehalo]

Shanghai. Again.

So I went to Shanghai again last week.

(I know. Ridiculous.)

A few thoughts... Consider this a sequel to last year's concluding thoughts and guide.

The Show

Some cuts that made me sad; some improvements that made me very happy. I'll do my best not to spoil.

The Porter/Boy Witch story has improved, because they have incorporated moments to replace some of the ones that are missing due to the changed lobby space.

I love one moment where Boy Witch looks at himself in a half-shrouded mirror. If you stand behind him, you see his reflection looking back at him in the mirror, and the Porter, like another reflection, peering at him from behind the curtain to the lobby desk.

And while I still miss the Porter's mirror in "Moonlight Becomes You," I love that if you stand in the right spot, you can watch both him and Lady Macduff, their movements mirroring each other.

Boy Witch has a great moment, coming up from the ballroom dance and after teasing the audience at the lost & found, where he walks through a long dark corridor into the lobby. Following behind him, you walk into the darkness, his shadowed outline slowly becoming apparent as you approach the light of the lobby. It's a powerful moment; Boy Witch in general feels more ominous in Shanghai.

"Witches 1" looks so beautiful. I've never found a reliable place to watch the New York version - some angles are always difficult to see. But in Shanghai, the lobby desk functions like a proscenium stage, and if you stand in the center you can see the whole thing clearly. They use the space so well, the witches spending more time behind and atop the counter, and the symmetry of the spacing and the movements is gorgeous to watch.

The lack of "Is That All There Is?" is still a huge loss. :(

I also adore the moment of the Bride dancing in the trees - not only is it beautiful, but it feels achingly like Wendy in Drowned Man.

I'm sad that they cut the hide and seek between Sexy Witch and the Bride on High Street. It was so much fun, although I'd guess that the logistics were too difficult.

I do love the new scene those two have together, but in general I don't feel like the Bride's story has as compelling of a narrative arc now as it had in December. Her relationship with Sexy Witch also isn't as clear to me now.

I really miss Hecate's fifth floor scene with the Bride, also cut. :( I felt that it incorporated the Bride more clearly into the existing narrative, better clarified her relationship with Hecate, and added emotional resonance to her story.

The Husband has a more developed story now, and I loved the emotional arc of his loop.

Duncan does something totally unexpected and brilliant. Which again, I won't spoil. But I loved it.

I greatly appreciate how much more dynamic and interesting the loops of Duncan, Cunning Man, and Speakeasy Barman have become. I know there are fans who enjoy watching a character sleep, or sew, or scrub cardboard, but to me these just seem like side effects of poorly defined character loops, and I don't mourn the loss. I think it's great that these characters have more to do.

There are new 1:1s. I had some but not others. All of the ones I had impressed me very much. I won't say anything else since it's spoilery, but kudos to Punchdrunk for doing a great job developing these. 

The commercialism of the product tie-ins is a little bit distracting. But I don't think that the integrity of the show itself is compromised. The show is a work of art; I'd rather Budweiser and Kans spend their money on it than on another stupid TV commercial. I think people who criticize forget that art throughout history has been sponsored by those with money.

For the most part, the audience has gotten better since December. The stewarding is great, and one of the Woman in Bar characters actually demonstrates in her lift speech how to give performers space. It helps.

But I did make the mistake of going to the 100th show party, which was by far the worst audience experience I've ever had at a Punchdrunk show. I've honestly never experienced anything like it. People shoving ahead and pushing you behind them like a wild mob. There was no way to win - either you fall behind and can barely see, or you push ahead too, and either way you feel awful. I can't imagine how stressful this must have been for the performers as well. :(

On the plus side, 100th show Follies was delightful. (Only it's not called Follies there, I forget the actual name.) Fun to see such an interesting combination of people on stage - Lily and Sam, Conor and Garth, and several of the local cast.

The Performers

I don't even know where to begin. There are so many brilliant performers doing exceptional work; even in eight shows I didn't have time to follow everyone I wanted to see. A few specific thoughts:

Andrea Carrucciu

Andrea is brilliant. I can't complement his performances enough. He's exceptionally expressive with both his body and his eyes. From Porter to Macbeth he absolutely transforms, from sweet and awkward to intense and terrifying.  His "Moonlight Becomes You" is beautiful, and his Macbeth is convincing both in his monstrousness as a killer and the aching vulnerability of Macbeth as a man who is in way over his head.

Fania Grigoriou

Fania is delightful to follow and brilliant at engaging the audience. She fully embodies her characters in every way. The contemptuous blasphemy of her Bald Witch must be seen to be believed.

The witch combination of Fania, Miranda, and Olly is the best I've ever seen, which is saying a LOT. They have the most amazing energy, pushing each other to the next level, shrieking and cackling and smacking each other, so absolutely delightful and wicked and thrilling. I'm in awe.

Lee Wen Hsin (Debby)

I somehow ended up watching her Dragon Boat scene like five times, and was consistently awed at her performance every time.

Lily Ockwell

In some ways Lily was the star during this visit. Every show she popped up in a surprising role - Lady Macbeth, Bride, Sexy Witch, Lady Macduff, and Nurse.

I never would have expected to see her as Lady Macbeth, but she totally killed it. Lily exudes sympathetic humanity, which made the cruelty of her actions toward Duncan even more painful to watch, and her remorse completely convincing. Her final bathtub scene was heartbreaking.

Also, her Sexy Witch scream in the rave deserves its own credit in the program. I knew it was coming and I still jumped out of my skin.

Liu Yu

His Calloway is charming, handsome, and by the end he remembered the names of everyone in my group. Seems like the entire show might stop running if he ever takes a sick day.

Miranda Mac Letten

Miranda's Sexy Witch is a work of art. Dark and haunting, more layered and mysterious and compelling than I ever thought Sexy Witch could be. Her bar solo seems to defy gravity and move at light speed; it's a stunning accomplishment.

Olly Hornsby-Sayer

Olly has totally come into his own as a performer - he’s very confident and comfortable with the audience, and seems like he enjoys his roles. I had a great time following him. At one point as Boy Witch, he startled me and other audience members so much that we screamed out loud. He's gotten so great at the Boy Witch eye contact and audience interaction. As Speakeasy he was an absolute delight - I found myself laughing multiple times throughout his loop.

Omar Gordon

Some of his dialog as Cunning Man cracked me the fuck up, which I will not quote here because it's spoilery, but omg. Brilliant.

Omar's Banquo is also fabulous, never more so than in the ballroom dance, where his chemistry with Fania's Bald Witch lights up the room.

Sam Booth

Sam is a genius, let's be honest. He took a character that spends half his NY loop sleeping, and made it into one of the most interesting performances in the show. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say this Duncan feels deeply and uniquely human, and his story is absolutely haunting.

Shen Ni

Her Hecate is riveting and terrifying.

Tang Tingting

In both her roles, she is one of the most impressive Punchdrunk performers I've ever seen. She has such presence, and can go from otherworldly and intimidating to profoundly human and sympathetic.

Tim Bartlett

I was very impressed with what I saw of his Taxidermist - didn't get any 1:1s, but even just watching his loop, I loved the intensity of his nervous energy, and the humor in his friendship with Speakeasy.

The Spaces

The Drama Hotel is open - it's Shakespeare-themed, expensive, and not designed by Punchdrunk.  It has an outdoor bar on the ground level, which is more lively than the Manderley after the show.

The eighth floor rooftop has the Cosmos Cafe, which looks like a bland version of Gallow Green, also isn't designed by Punchdrunk, and doesn't serve alcohol. The views are gorgeous.

The seventh floor has both a speakeasy and a restaurant, also not designed by Punchdrunk. I didn't go into the restaurant (it doesn't have vegan options) but I loved the speakeasy. We met a fabulous bartender there named Eddie, who'd traveled the world - his cocktails and conversation rivaled the best bartenders I've met anywhere.

The different bars feature two different cocktails named "Sleep No More" - one absinthe-based and one espresso-based. The espresso one was particularly fabulous (and appropriately named!).

Shanghai

A few updates to the recommendations I shared last time:

* James Turrell "Immersive Light" exhibition at the Long Museum. Fascinating series of artworks created with light; worth spending half a day to take it in.

* M50 Arts District, especially the Island6 gallery and its amazing artworks incorporating video, light, sound, and interactivity.

* Propaganda Poster Museum - incredibly interesting, and sheds so much light on China's historical perspective on the West.

* Huangpu River Cruise at dusk - amazing to watch the futuristic cityscape light up around you as the sun sets.

* Mount Sanqingshan - we took a two-night trip here via high speed train and climbed a beautiful mountain. Thank you @whenwillweawake​ for planning it!

The Drowned Man

I was traveling with a group who were mostly Drowned Man fans, and talking mostly to cast members who'd been in Drowned Man. Everything seemed to bring up memories of it, and we talked about it for hours. It continues to awe me how deeply that show left its impression on our souls.

[agentdagonet]

Echoes, Ch. 9

Find it here on AO3

Find it here on tumblr:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Fic Summary: Feet dangling off the edge of the bed, hands still resting on the earpieces of his glasses, Eggsy opened his eyes.

       And promptly shut them again, screwing them shut like a child who had the distinct misfortune of biting into a raw lemon. Breathing harshly in his nose and out his mouth, trying to stave off whatever delusional panic had befallen him, Eggsy reopened his eyes.

‘Harry?’

Or: The Hologram Story Nobody Asked For

I can’t believe it’s been over a year. I am so bloody sorry for the wait, guys- I obviously got caught up in other projects, and then I got a full time job that’s completely eaten all of my energy. I’m honestly doing not much besides eating, sleeping, and working, but I’ve managed a little bit here and there and now I actually have something to show for it! I hope it was worth the wait :)

         Eggsy started small. He wore his glasses around the house and tried not to flinch every time he saw Harry. It took a while to get used to putting them on every morning- as if he actually needed them to see- and keep himself from tapping on his coms and alerting Merlin to what he was doing. It was a reflex now- glasses on, tap in periodically to make sure everything's going according to plan- it took conscious effort to do otherwise.

         There's a Harry in the kitchen. It follows him through the dining room and to the stairs before turning around. A separate one sitting in the drawing room. One in the Office. Another walking from the front door holds up an arm to gesture to the bathroom Mr. Pickle resides in.

Creepy, but wasn't this entire situation?          Eggsy refused to make contact, didn't speak to them, but their eyes followed the frames of his glasses all the same. Eggsy swore he could feel them watching, despite not really having eyes. He certainly didn't feel like that when at Round Table meetings- or perhaps that was just because he wasn't as hyper-aware of them as he was of Harry.          Yes, even the Holo-Harry seemed to be keyed into the very fibre of his being- now that he knew he was there it was impossible to un-notice him. But he wasn't ready to talk yet.          He struggled with his cast, incredibly annoyed at his inability to function like a normal human being, but adjusted by wearing soft, loose, clothing as opposed to his suits or denims. Who was around to care if he ran about in his trackies and a t-shirt? Holo-Harry certainly wouldn't care- or know, come to think of it. He didn't feel entirely comfortable wandering around topless- he hadn't before the Hologram Incident and he certainly didn't now- even though it would be way more comfortable than pushing his cast through a sleeve every morning.          Eggsy let himself grow used to the odd abundance of Holo-Harrys; able to walk both by and through them without flinching, able to look them in the eye and nod as he went by and watch how they followed his eye-level. Merlin checked in, sometimes- the glasses pinging just long enough for Eggsy to arrange himself inconspicuously before answering.          (And honestly wasn't that a load of shite. He felt like he was hiding in his own (Harry's) home and needed to pretend to be the same as things always had been. Even when they both knew how different they actually were.)

         Eggsy took his forced down time to set up a proper trust for Daisy, and write up his own will (as morbid as that was) just in case. Roxy had come in and left again for another mission in the span of a week, Merlin refused to give him any sort of busywork (I'd rather not have to do it twice, lad) and had little spare time to just chat with Eggsy with his being Merthur and all. He could call up Jamal and Ryan, but none of their schedules really synced up anymore- Ryan had gotten a job at a pub and Jamal was working with a construction company. He'd helped a bit with the rebuilding right after V-Day, and when that slowed down the company decided to keep him. Good work ethic, or something. Ryan's pub job was little more than clearing tables- but he was training to be a bartender, which'd definitely be a step up.

         He called up his mum, stammering his way through an apology he honestly only half felt was deserved (they hadn't seen each other for months and she decided that she was going to pry her way into his mourning? What right did she have?) but necessary. His mum had apologised in turn for pushing too hard, which he accepted, and for treating him like the boy he no longer was (it's hard to remember you're all grown up now, babes) which had resulted in some teasing; they'd hung up on a high note, and Eggsy felt lighter than he'd expected. He had less than a week left with the cast when he decided to bite the bullet and talk to Harry.

         'So what's so important about the kitchen, Haz?' Calling Holo-Harry by something he had never called the actual Harry helped him feel more distanced. 'Why're you in here?'          'Eggsy, if you're seeing this then I'm either dead or severely incapacitated. Or dying, I suppose. All pleasant options, and obviously ideal dinner conversation. Have a seat.' Eggsy did so on autopilot, and was only mildly displeased with himself for giving in so easily. As he pulled out the same chair he'd sat in after the train test, he kept his eyes locked onto Holo-Harry's as he sat. He nodded to himself and turned toward the globe. 'Obviously I can't pour for you, but feel free to get yourself something if you feel you'll need it for this conversation. Well, more of a monologue, but the point remains.' Eggsy couldn't have moved if he'd wanted to, struck by seeing Harry in such casual motion. Riveted as he poured a healthy serving of whisky from an equally holographic decanter before seating himself across from Eggsy.          'A gentleman is known for his manners, Eggsy- it's not about his wealth or his status, but on how he treats his fellow man. I began teaching you the formalities in this very room, but you were already far more gentlemanly than most privileged people- a glance at Mr. Hesketh should be enough to prove my point.' Harry sipped at his glass, tipping it once in Eggsy's direction before setting it back to the table. 'To be perfectly frank, I didn't have much to teach you outside of the airs and graces those who think themselves better seek out in companionship. I gave you the sheep's clothing, as it were, to your already impressive wolf.'

         'I didn't know anythin' about gentlemanly shit, Harry- I just did what I had to do to keep on keepin' on.' Eggsy could feel the flush running up his neck and along the tops of his ears. Hologram or not, Harry's attention was piercing and his words caused something not unlike pride to curl deep within him.          'Eggsy, you continuously kept from violence in the face of cruelty. Yes,' Harry smirked and raised an eyebrow conspiratorially, 'probably not in the best of ways, but you never fought violence with outright violence. You were never intentionally cruel despite every right to be so in your circumstances. Most all of the poor decisions in your file were indirectly or directly caused by your incessant need to help and be there for those you care for. I'd say I was sorry for the way I spoke to you at the pub when we met- but I cannot regret the things that led us to where we are.          'Except, perhaps, whatever circumstances have led to my premature demise. I assume Valentine was involved as he's the only active case I'm working on. I hope that gets sorted.'

'It was, it's over, and now I'm just wondering why the fuck I'm sitting in your kitchen talking at a blue ghost of you drinking.'

         'Do you see that decanter, Eggsy?' The hologram said, apropos of nothing. He gestured with the glass in his hand, eyebrows slightly raised, and Eggsy couldn't help but turn fully in his seat to look, despite knowing exactly the decanter he was gesturing to.

'Yes, Harry.'          'As you surely know by now, when a Knight falls in the line of duty the rest of us gather in whatever way we're able to hold a toast. At the shop, at the Table, there's a decanter of Napoleonic brandy reserved for this purpose. The Lancelot before you-' Eggsy flinched at the sudden reminder that he hadn't disappointed this Harry, 'and James was the first toast I ever participated in. It seems that Lancelot is to be the position we need replacing of most often. Do break that chain now, won't you?          'I'd been Knighted for nearly 16 years before the decanter was opened in my presence, and it certainly didn't seem like enough of a gesture for a man who had done as much as he had. He'd been Percival's mentor, and had certainly been willing to teach me the things he knew, if I asked. But we had no opportunity to retrieve his body, it was deemed unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and there was work to be done.' 'There's always bloody work to be done.' Eggsy muttered, lips pursed, as Harry's hologram chuckled.          'Yes, there's always work to be done- it's the life we lead, my boy. Percival took it upon himself to bring the medal to his wife, who knew some but not all of Kingsman's secrets, and I didn't hear from him for over a week. He came back with tattoos and little memory of how they got there- but he treasures the throwing knives on his wrists the way one covets a priceless artifact.          'The point being, Eggsy, that though Kingsman has a ritual for mourning the loss of a Knight it is not always enough. Not for those who care deeply for their friends and comrades- as I'm sure you do. As I certainly did.' Harry stops for a moment, taking a sip from his glass before looking at it thoughtfully. It reminds Eggsy starkly of his first visit to the tailor shop, after Dean's beating at the start of everything, and he can see clearly the moment the decision is made.          'The decanter behind you is what I drink from for toasts when I can't make it to the shop- call in from the chair at the head of the table and it projects what I'm doing to the Table there. Not much unlike this system I'm using to talk to you now. I've only drunk from that decanter three times- twice for Lancelots, and once in a blatant disregard for tradition between said toasts.' Eggsy was suddenly very unsure if he wanted to be sitting at this table, listening to the things this hologram of his dead mentor had to say.          'The day your father sacrificed himself for the sake of everyone on that team- Merlin, myself, and James- James was knighted there in the field, we cleaned the scene, and I came back here as soon as we touched down. I blew off Arthur's false sympathy, shrugged off Merlin's sincere empathy, congratulated James on his new position, and ran back into my hidey-hole to lick my wounds.          'It was the first time I had personally pulled someone into this lifestyle. It was the first time I had ever presented a candidate, and I had found my colleagues bland and unwilling to adapt and knew we needed new blood and ideas. I had pulled someone unrelated to myself and unconnected to any sort of influence- I had chosen someone I saw as loyal and skilled despite any other circumstance. And I had taken that person away from a life and a family in the interest of offering him the chance at something better- something he certainly deserved- and I had gotten him killed.'          'He made 'is own choices, Harry- he knew what he was doin'. He was in the army, he knew what would happen to everyone and one of the first things they shove into your skull at basic is the needs of the many. The whole tripe about the team being more important than you an' shit to keep 'em from getting big heads. You didn' shove him in the way, he put himself there, an' that makes all the difference. It weren't your fault.' Eggsy interrupted, compelled beyond reason to pull Holo-Harry from his self-deprecation.          'I still blame myself, Eggsy- it's not rational, but it's the truth- so I came back here and poured myself a drink to the Lancelot that should have been.' Harry took a deep breath, placing the glass on the table before locking eyes with Eggsy. Eggsy froze, feeling pinned and vulnerable in a way wholly irrational considering this was a hologram and not the real man. 'I've done a lot of things with my life, Eggsy. Not all of them good, but they were the tasks assigned to me and I take great pride in a job well done. Your father's death has influenced my life in more ways than I probably know or could possibly express. I'm honoured to have known him, and in turn have known you- I can only wish you could have known each other.' Eggsy pushed himself from the table, glancing briefly back at Harry still sitting with his hands clasped together, and ran from the room.

[aion-rsa]

How The First X-Men Movie Changed The Superhero Genre

https://ift.tt/3ipzcpn

Back in the late 1990s, things didn’t look so hot for superhero movies. Warner Bros. Pictures crashed its Batman franchise into the ground with 1997’s disastrous Batman and Robin and showed no signs of resurrecting either that or any of its other DC comics heroes. Meanwhile, with the one bright exception of 1998’s Blade, not a single Marvel Comics character had made it to the big screen in a meaningful way.

All that changed, however, in 2000, when 20th Century Fox released X-Men.

Based on one of Marvel’s most enduring properties, the Bryan Singer-directed film introduced the concept of mutants via well-loved characters like Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Storm (Halle Berry), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Cyclops (James Marsden), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Rogue (Anna Paquin). The story incorporated themes of bigotry, tolerance and family that were present ever since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the original X-Men comics in 1963.

In other words, the movie took the characters and comics seriously and was actually about something. It was also a surprise hit, earning $296 million worldwide against its relatively slim $75 million budget. It proved that even lesser known (to the general public) comic book characters could star in successful movies, paving the way for not just a succession of X-Men sequels and spin-offs but later achievements like the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That first movie, however, took a long and torturous route to the screen. After Fox acquired the rights in 1994 the studio commissioned a series of top shelf screenwriters — including Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven), John Logan (Penny Dreadful), James Schamus (Hulk), Ed Solomon (Men in Black) and Singer collaborator Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) — to whip an X-Men script into shape.

While some elements of all their work made it into the finished film, the man who got sole screenplay credit was David Hayter. A writer, producer and actor who got a job in the X-Men production office, Hayter’s began revising the script well into production based on his knowledge of the comics, working with Singer, producer Tom DeSanto, and a young associate producer named Kevin Feige.

They say success has many fathers (and mothers), and in the case of X-Men, there seemed to be a true collaborative effort — even despite turmoil among some of the filmmakers involved — that helped bring X-Men to the screen and arguably launch the era of the modern superhero movie. One of those fathers was David Hayter, who spoke with us extensively by Zoom about the creation of X-Men — which was released 20 years ago this summer — and his role in it.

Den of Geek: I know this story is out there, but how did you get involved with X-Men? You had made a film that Bryan Singer produced, correct?

David Hayter: Basically, we had produced the film, Burn, and Bryan was the executive producer, and we had a deal with Lakeshore, but it fell through. So then I was a depressed, broke film producer. Bryan was kind enough to give me a job answering the phones on X-Men, and he knew me as a filmmaker. Just lucky enough, I had been a huge X-Men fan in the late ’70s, early ’80s, so I knew the characters very well, and Bryan realized he had a resource right in the office for keeping the X-Men the X-Men. It was just a remarkably lucky confluence of events.

He asked you to help him solve something in the script, liked what you did, and the next thing you knew, you started working on the rest of the script.

Correct. Yeah. He couldn’t figure out how to say the word, “X-Men”, to have a character say it without it sounding ridiculous. That sounds silly now, but at the time, was a great concern. So I suggested a scene where Wolverine walked across the mansion grounds, and he runs into Cyclops. And they have a pick-up basketball game, and Cyclops is saying, “Why don’t you join the team?” And it’s getting more heated, and Wolverine says, “Look, why don’t you and Xavier and all your little X-Men go to hell.” And he pops the ball.

Read more

Movies

The First X-Men Movie Almost Featured Beast in Major Role

By Don Kaye

I said, “That way you get your movie star, your lead, to say it, but he’s sort of making fun of it, so that kind of takes the sting off of it being too grand or too ridiculous.” Bryan said, “Yeah, good. Go write that for me.” I figured he was kidding, but he was not. And then he started having me do rewrites. Every day, he’d come up with ideas, or we’d discuss ideas, and I’d be working on it, and he’d tell me not to tell the studio that I was working on the film. 

By the time they figured it out, I’d already rewritten half the script, so they were forced to make a deal with me, and they paid me $35,000, which was the guild minimum rewrite fee. That’s the lowest anyone’s ever been paid for an $80 million film, I believe, in history, and I was thrilled to get it. I worked on the film for the next 13 months.

What was the script looking like when you started working on it? Did you look at any of the past versions and see what they had done?

Oh, yes. Well, like I say, the studio was not thrilled that their phone answer guy was writing the script, so they made me read everything. They sent me old drafts. I read Andrew Kevin Walker’s draft and Ed Solomon’s draft, and I was working off of Chris McQuarrie’s draft. All of whom are legendary writers. 

What was the difference? Well, there had been a lot of different tacks taken. There was a romance between Wolverine and Storm. There were Sentinels, the Danger Room, Beast. There were all sorts of different things. Andy Kevin Walker’s draft was very good, but Bryan had moved onto the basic story that Ed Solomon had created, which was Rogue comes to the mansion, and we introduce the audience through Rogue and Wolverine’s eyes. 

We had 11 super-powered lead characters that weren’t as well-known as Batman, or Superman, or anything like that. So really, the goal with it was keeping it clear, making sure that people understood the world and the powers, the names, everything. The first movie is really, just all setup and a very simple skeleton of the story.

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Movies

How Marvel’s Kevin Feige Influenced the First X-Men Movie

By Don Kaye

There was a tendency to make fun of comics, take it lightly, and for the studios to sort of make the writers approach it that way. The difference here was that Bryan Singer had never read an X-Men comic, and he just wanted to make a great movie with real characters and real interactions, and I wanted to make a real X-Men movie to replicate the experience I had reading the comics when I was a kid.

So it was like lightning in a bottle. It just kind of worked out as a confluence of all our input. Kevin Feige, who at the time was working for Lauren Shuler Donner, was working on the film, and he came into the scripting process. And obviously, Kevin knows the X-Men and the Marvel characters better than anybody. So he became a big influence, as well with Tom DeSanto, the producer of the film.

I read that Andrew Kevin Walker’s script was the only one that actually featured the original team as a fully-fledged team, like the comics.

I’m not sure what that means, because I know it had Storm. If you’re talking about the original team of Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel and Jean Grey, it’s possible, but it also has the quote-unquote new X-Men, Wolverine, Storm. I don’t really recall. I remember they went to Niagara Falls.

Was it a challenge to kind of balance the old and the new, knowing that you would get people who did read the original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby comics, and then you’d get people who, to them, the X-Men were all about Wolverine?

Well, I’ve said this before. It sounds callous, but I didn’t work on it or write anything with the idea of pleasing the fans. I worked on it from the perspective of, I was very much in love with the Chris Claremont Uncanny X-Men era, and that’s what I was trying to recreate. 

I mean, I love the original Kirby-Stan Lee books as well, but Wolverine was a revelation. Wolverine is what makes the whole thing really come alive. And so, there was never any question for me that it was going to be anything but that relatively new X-Men team.

I was trying to make the movie feel as much to me like X-Men as I thought it should, and I thought, “If I can really get excited about this, a great many fans will also be excited about it.” 

Tom Rothman, who was the head of 20th Century Fox at the time, said, “David, the comic book fans will be done by 10:00 Friday night, and we have to get everyone else.” So that made it clear to me that, yes, engaging the comic book fans and giving them a true experience was important, but more important was creating a world that an additional group of millions of people could appreciate and attach to. That was really the bigger goal, and I felt that the keys to doing that were in the comic books that I love. 

Do you think that working with an $75-80 million budget — which was not a lot for a superhero movie even back then — help you in a way because you had to focus on character?              

I think that’s correct. I had a huge sequence where Jean and Cyclops go to get a mutant who has frozen his entire school, which, of course, is Bobby (Drake. a.k.a Iceman), and it was really cool, but very expensive. And they were like, “It doesn’t drive the narrative, so it doesn’t stay in.”

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So we were forced to focus on more character. But the problem with that was the first cut of the movie was like two hours and 10 minutes long, and we called it, “Woody Allen’s X-Men” because it was just all talk and there wasn’t enough action to sustain the film.

The first cut I saw, I was like, “I think we’re just dead. I guess I’ll go back to bartending or something.” And then Avi Arad, Tom Rothman, and Bryan Singer sat down. And from what I hear, it was Tom Rothman who said, “I think there’s a really good movie in here.” And they cut it down to 93 minutes or 98 minutes, whatever it is. They cut it to the bone, and then it balanced out. It felt like we had so many great character moments, but it was balanced out with the amount of action that we could afford.

It’s interesting to hear you talk about Rothman, because I think among fans, he’s perceived as sort of anti-superhero movie, and that he wanted to kill the X-Men franchise at one point. Is that a misconception?

Yeah. Tom Rothman is an extremely smart guy. He’s an extremely savvy film exec, I mean, one of the most successful that there ever was, and he was committed to the movie. You know when Wolverine pops the one claw and aims it at Cyclops like it’s the finger? The quote we got from one of the executives was, “I don’t think you understand how important the claw finger is to Tom Rothman.” So I would say, my personal experience of him, he was totally committed to it. 

At the same time, he’s trying to balance the needs of the studio and balance the budget. I think that he had a ton of ideas, and some of them went along with what Bryan was looking to do, and some of them didn’t. I would say that when Tom has a really smart director who’s willing to say, “Well, Tom, I love this idea, but that idea I think is going to hurt us,” he’s one of the best executives there ever was.

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I think if he’s got a weaker director who is afraid to stand up to him, they might get rolled over, steamrolled a bit. And just as the editing saved the movie, I think Bryan’s editing of Tom’s ideas produced a really unique combination of brilliance.

So yeah, I think Tom deserves a good amount of credit for creating the Fox X-Men. Whether he wanted to kill it down the road, I have no idea. I was gone after X2, but I certainly learned a lot working with Tom.

The film opens with a scene written by Christopher McQuarrie in which Magneto as a young boy is separated from his parents at Auschwitz — at the time a shocking way to open a comic book movie. Do you feel like that just set a whole different tone and reset the expectations for what this could be?

Absolutely. I mean, there wasn’t any question. Once I read the scene, once Bryan read the scene, there wasn’t any question that it was such a bold and amazing statement. And really, what I’ve always loved about Magneto is, to a great extent, Magneto is right. He’s saying to Charles, “They’re coming to kill us, and we have the power to stop them.”

So not only is it completely relatable, but when you see that Auschwitz scene, and you see his parents taken away, and the fact that he almost was able to stop it, it’s such a brilliant creation of that character. You just understand him for the rest of his existence.

I think for myself, I was like, “There is a coolness and reality in comic books that has not been tapped properly in any of them.” I mean, Richard Donner’s Superman was pretty true to the character, but Superman is very light and breezy. And Tim Burton’s Batman also created a Batman-like world, but at the same time, still, it was like tongue-in-cheek, and it was still weird. 

I was just trying to look at these people as real people. So we knew that that Auschwitz scene not only fit what we were trying to do, but elevated it beyond our hopes. 

I think there is a dual legacy to this movie. Number one, even though Blade sort of paved the way in 1998, X-Men definitely busted the doors open for the superhero genre. And the second legacy is the fact that you had these relevant and timely themes that still hold up today.

Yeah, sadly enough. But yeah, what Blade did was it showed that a non-Batman, non-Superman superhero movie could make $90 million, and it’s a brilliant, kick-ass, action film. Wesley Snipes is amazing. It just shows that you could make a comic book movie that worked. I think we had a little bigger budget. The X-Men were better known than Blade, and I think we did make it a little more real. 

You did work on X2. How much of what you wrote for X2 ended up in that movie, would you say?

A fair bit. I mean, I worked on it for a year, and then I handed it off in February, and they went up to shoot it in March. I wrote the opening Nightcrawler sequence. I mean, I’m not going to go through everything I didn’t write, but my draft was very strongly represented. 

At the same time, Mike Dougherty and Dan Harris came in to do on-set rewrites. And on a Bryan Singer film, you’re doing on-set rewrites constantly, so their voices are also quite prominent in the final draft. But I feel like as opposed to the first movie — first movie, I was trying to replicate Chris McQuarrie’s voice, which is more elevated than me, which is more literarily influenced. And the second movie was a little more my voice, a little more fun, a little more kick-ass, a little more diving into it with your hair on fire. And I think that, that shows.

So you were doing on-set rewrites on X-Men as well?

Yeah, for the first X-Men, I was there for everything. I’d be making up lines and whispering them to Bryan. He’d be telling the crew. I mean, it was insanity. Every day was another set of drafts. It was very cool, and I wish I could’ve done that for X2, but I was committed to shoot a pilot in Australia for Warner Brothers right after I handed in the draft. So unfortunately, I couldn’t be on set.

You wouldn’t have an MCU, I think, without that first X-Men movie.

That’s very kind of you to say. Like I say, it was lightning in a bottle. It was an empowered filmmaker, who wanted to make just a realistic-feeling superhero film, combined with a couple of young Marvel fans, X-Men fans, and teamed with a studio that was willing to take a risk. 

Will it be replicated? I mean, I would argue that the brilliance of Kevin Feige is that you have to be nigh on insane to say, “We’re going to build all this up to 27 movies and then create the Avengers movies.” To conceive of the fact that you’re going to make movies that huge, with those actors, at that level, is so gutsy and so insane, and yet, so much what the comic book fans wanted and were dying for. They wanted the movies to treat the comic books the way the comic books were written.

That means interaction, that means romance, that means scale, that means combos and team-ups and all this stuff. And Kevin was unafraid to do that. So I would say the next iteration of what we did on X-Men happened on The Avengers.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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