#gonna be back with vector stuff soon

[decepti-thots]

Sometimes I have to remind myself that a lot of people in fact have not read/skipped the prose stories in IDW, so for what it's worth, I think any discussion of pre-Overlord Drift-Rodimus dynamics needs to consider this specific scene from the post-RiL one. I am passionate enough about this I'm putting it below the cut, though I have the whole story hosted here btw. It establishes a few really important things, IMO:

What I just discussed regarding Rodimus having voluntarily brought Overlord onto the ship, against Drift's wishes

Him attempting to prevent Drift from taking the fall because he knows it's his fault, and Drift being the one to tell him no about this

The revelation Drift was keeping his motivation for putting Rodimus in charge a secret from Rodimus, which he only explains before leaving

Drift being clear he did not take the fall to help Rodimus per se, but because he considers it the necessary thing to do as per his vision, which is ultimately the most important thing to him period

That's a LOT of stuff without which the dynamic does not read at all the same way going forward, IMO. Basically any discussion of those two in s1 should really take it into consideration in terms of both sides' motivations, especially regarding Drift's motivations in keeping Rodimus content and in charge no matter what he said or did, and Rodimus' relative ignorance of said motivations.

****

As Rodimus stepped into his office he shielded his eyes—literally put his hand to his face—to avoid catching sight of the flames he’d had painted around the doorframe. As soon as he’d sorted out the current mess he’d ask Atomizer to help him redecorate. No more fire-rimmed entrances, garish pink walls or self-aggrandizing plaques: just a desk, a chair, some subdued lighting and a memorial to crewmembers killed by sparkeater, Legislator, or Overlord.

Overlord.

When his guard was down—when he wasn’t showing off or doodling or spray-painting—the name made him think of the people who had died or lost loved ones because he’d been too scared to say no to Prowl. Overlord made him think of Pipes and Rewind and Chromedome and Lockstock and Lancet, but one face—Drift’s face—kept crowding out all the others. It had been here, in his office, that they’d had their last proper conversation.

“An inquiry?” Drift stood in the doorway, looking incredulous. “An inquiry?”

Rodimus dragged him inside and locked the door. “I had to do something! People were asking questions! And what do you do if you want to stall things? You launch an inquiry.” He slumped into his chair. “An inquiry into something I’m responsible for. Oh god. Oh god, I feel sick. I’ve messed up big time.”

“I can sort this out, Rodimus. Honestly, I can fix this.”

“This is my fault, not yours. We were standing in Prowl’s office, and he was trying to convince me that bringing Overlord onboard was ‘right and proper’, and you called me an idiot for even considering it.”

“Was I that blunt?”

“I don’t know why he even let you in on those discussions in the first place. It’s not like he trusts you.”

“I’ll tell you exactly why he wanted me there: it was in case something like this happened. Need a scapegoat? Get an ex-Decepticon.”

“Well it’s not gonna happen. I’m taking the fall for this one. Your name doesn’t have to come into it. It’s taken you years to win back people’s trust, and you’re not throwing it all away on my behalf.”

“Rodimus, if you tell the crew what you’ve done, then that’s it. The quest’s over. We’ll never find the Knights.”

“No, it just means someone else will take over. You, maybe? Ratchet? I dunno. Someone.”

“But someone doesn’t take over!” Rodimus looked up sharply. “’Doesn’t’?”

“Won’t.”

“You said ‘doesn’t.’ What d’you mean, ‘doesn’t’?”

“It’s hard to explain what I mean.” Drift unclipped his Great Sword and placed it on the desk. “You remember when I nearly died, back on Cybertron? I was within feet of Vector Sigma.”

“Yes…” said Rodimus slowly, unsure where this was going.

“When I put this sword through my spark, I saw something.”

“What, like a vision?”

“Kind of. More a sense of how things would play out. It was abstract and it was fleeting, and every time I call it to mind it becomes harder to interpret, but something is around the corner, Rodimus—and a year from now, or 50 years from now, that something will arrive, and we won’t be able to stop it unless we find the Knights. And I don’t care if you think, ‘Oh, that’s just Drift being Drift,’ because I’m convinced that you need to remain in charge. People can come and go—they can die—but you have to be here, otherwise we will fail. And so the simple solution—the only solution—is that I take the blame for this.”

“I won’t let you do this for me.”

“I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for everyone else.”

[gamebunny-advance]

Overlays + Logo Experiments 2023 (Kuneho sa Kahon)

This is some old work that I did last year.

I'm not gonna call this stuff "scrapped," because I may still use them someday, it's just that I don't know if or when I'm gonna start streaming again.

I forgot how long ago I actually made these, but I do know that it was during a time when I actually sucked it up and sat down with Inkscape for a while. I've probably forgotten everything I learned since then, but I remember it not being as difficult as I thought it was going to be, so picking it back up again probably won't take too long.

Anyway, the actual notes...

I made 2 versions of the "Game" overlay, 16:9 and 4:3 to accommodate more gaming eras (the games shown are just placeholders). I'd like to have a dual screen overlay too, but it might have to be less "showy" to give the game enough room to actually be seen.~

It's mostly inspired by things like the Windows XP music player, just pinkified to match Kun3h0's aesthetic.

The message box is of course lightly tamagotchi inspired and is supposed to match with Kun3h0's GAB. (Well actually, I designed these overlays first, so it's the GAB that takes after the overlay, even using the same background image for her tummy screen).

There isn't a proper overlay for art streams yet. I'm always accidentally grabbing the edges of my workspace and resizing it, so I don't think a boxed overlay would work that well for it. Maybe just a border and a place to put the alerts would be fine, but I don't really have any ideas for it~

They aren't quite "finished" yet. There are supposed to be icons in the trio of hot pink buttons, but my placeholder ideas for them didn't look great.

(Icons originally from Icons8)

The idea was to bring in some more of that tamagotchi influence by having "care icons" that would allude to some of the features of Kun3h0's game, but I just don't think the icons I chose really work. Plus, I think they're just busy. I should probably just throw some hearts in there and call it a day~

Next are the logos. I actually really like the first one, but it's a little hard to work with.

All the empty space above the title next to the ears creates, well, an empty space when the logo is at the top edge of anything. It's just very ugly to me, but there's not much I could think to do about it.

So, I made the next iteration. It's a lot more rectangular, so it's easier to place in scenes, but I think the layering of the letters is a little off. I love the idea for it, but it's just short of being great. With a few more tweaks, I think it could really work.

But you know, I feel like the problem that almost all my logos have is that they're all bulky. There are just a lot of words in there since I include the English translation, but I figure that maybe I might be able to just condense everything into a single icon: like maybe the GAB Micro is enough of a symbol on its own to work? Maybe throw a couple of K's onto the screen, but otherwise I don't think I actually need much more than that. So, maybe I'll work on something like that soon.

The last thing is just some vector art tests I did. I tried remaking this faux vector art from a while ago. It was just a way to try and get used to the program. I also tried to remake my pictogram 1010s, to varying success.

[brucenorris007]

Knuckles picked up his blinking com; it spoke to Tails’ mind that it still worked after so many years and incidents on Angel Island. Granted, the Chao knew it was important to him and so helped protect it, and only a handful of people even knew he could be contacted with it.

Sonic and Tails, obviously, though the former would much sooner just show up unannounced than call ahead; and the Chaotix.

He tapped the screen and opened the messaging function.

Espio’s recorded voice came through the speakers.

“Knuckles, it’s me.”

.

.

.

“Crud.”

Knuckles glared at the prompt on screen to replay the message, fist clenched. He stood up and paced, mindful that he didn’t carelessly break the com in his frustration. He pivoted toward where he knew the Master Emerald resided, glowering.

He’d never admit it out loud to anyone, and they never lasted long, but even he had moments when he resented his duty.

“Screw it.” He grunted, pulling the com back up and finding the very short list of contacts he’d put on it.

Moments later, a familiar blue face appeared on the screen.

“Hiya Red! What’s up? Didja break something again?”

Knuckles ignored the provocation; he wasn’t in the mood for banter.

“How soon can Tails fly you up here?”

“Hi Sonic, nice to hear your voice too.”

“How. Soon.”

The blue blur blinked; momentarily vanished from sight on Knuckles’ screen and reappeared inside of a second.

“He says what he’s working on can wait; he’s gonna start up the Tornado now. What’s going on?”

Knuckles swallowed his pride.

“I need you to guard the Master Emerald for me,” he said. “Might be for a few days.”

“Whoa, hold up,” Sonic said, raising a hand to point at the screen. “Is a rumble going down? You know I don’t sit out the fun stuff.”

“JUST–!” Knuckles snapped. He caught himself, took a breath, and sighed. “Just get up here.”

Sonic frowned.

“On our way.”

—————

Knuckles tore through the forest, keeping the constant tingle of the Master Emerald’s energy signature directly at his back all the while; the fastest way off the island was a straight line, after all.

Leaving his station, even for good reason, hadn’t really gotten any easier over the years.

(��Chaotix business, huh?”)

If he hadn’t known Sonic, though, it wouldn’t even be possible.

(“Is there anything else we can do to help? I could send out a”

“No. Espio didn’t tell me much, so I don’t know how big this is. But he wouldn’t have called me if it wasn’t important.”

“Okay; keep us in the loop, though!”

“Yeah. You know my track record with the whole ‘sitting still’ thing.”

“I will… Thanks.”)

Knuckles broke through the threshold of trees, sprinting across the short stretch of grass that abruptly dropped away into open sky.

He pitched himself over the edge, flattening his arms to his sides in a nose-first dive; years of practice let him splay out his limbs at the ideal moment to incrementally slow his fall and transition into a glide.

Their paths had diverged ages ago.

“Knuckles, it’s me. Vector’s been hurt, and…I don’t think it was an accident. There are details I’d rather tell you in person. I know you have an obligation to Angel Island, and I normally wouldn’t ask.”

Nevertheless, the Chaotix was still his crew.

“But I could really use your help.”

[montydrawsstuff]

I FORGOT THE PROMPTTTT i am so sorry 😭 younger espio being a bit feral. he bites vector. chews his hand. little beast

ahhh... good idea

how about some feralness from fear, maybe a fresh relationship and broken trust type o deal? let's give this a go

Vector sighed as his vision began to focus.

He didn't mean to fall asleep in his chair, but it was the comfiest place at the moment. Hopefully he could find an old mattress on the roadside or at least a worn out couch sometime soon, so he didnt have to keep sleeping on a stack of flattened cardboard.

There was of course a worse alternative- he looked pointedly at his new roomie who stood in the doorway. The lizard child he had recently taken in was odd, always sleeping while standing bolt upright and waking at any small disturbance. Vector still had no idea where he came from or even how old he was, just that he was desperate... and very small.

"Good mornin to ya!" he called out, grimicing at the kids shocked recoil at first. "Hey, chill. I'm not gonna bite!"

He shook his head, at least the little guy wasn't pointing his knife at him with every word. The food probably helped...

"C'mere! Yea you! Let's talk a second." he rapped his fingers on the desk as the lizard slowly approached at his nod. "C'mon slow poke.. hey there, so now that you're living here, I ought ta ask you some stuff.. like..."

He was a bit put off by how empty those big yellow eyes seemed when looking at him, but pushed on.

"What's your name?" he pointed straight at him, hoping the gesture would help him understand. Empty staring back wasn't the response he was after.

Vector was fine with someone being shell shocked, hell, he knew how rough it could be living on the streets, no one to care for you. But there was a limit to his patience, this kid hadn't said more than a peep for 2 weeks at this point.

"Okay, I'm just gonna assume you just don't got one.. Don't worry, let's just call ya..." he scanned around the room for an idea, landing on the TV "Pana- .. Sonic, let's call ya Sonic... ugh that's garb, we'll get ya a better one later..."

"Sonic" sneered a bit at the name, Vector didn't blame him.

"So... Sonic, Lemme get a good look at ya.. huh, I know lizards can be pretty small but... Eh don't worry, you'll get bigger when you start eatin'..." he noted the little face beginning to tense up "Where did ya come from? I mean you were by the docks.. were you in the city? I don't think I've seen those kinds of shoes in seaside tho..."

Vector felt his patience wear ever thinner as "Sonic" continued to be unresponsive, but he was beginning to understand a bit more about the little guy just from the visual cues.

"Ooohhhh... you got no idea what I'm saying, do ya! You ain't dumb, You're foreign! And if I didn't know better I'd say you were some kinda stow away! Did you hitch a ride on one of those fishing boats? You're Japanese, aren't ya!"

Vector scrambled madly around his desk for anything he could use to help with his new deduction, sliding a newspaper across the desk to where the young lizard could glance at it.

"Oh there's a Japanese section in there! Something about that scientist bozo who's been screwing up the place so he can build... I don't even know... Some guy called... Egg something..."

Vector lifted the paper and turned to the page, hard to make out the article with a large coffee ring stain over it but he smirked at the grainy photo and pointed to it

"Get a loada' this fool! What is he wearing?"

The kid snatched the newspaper and stared at the picture, panic clear in his eyes.

"Hey gimme that, I'll read it to ya"

He recoiled sharply.

"Gimme, ya little shit" he reached for the paper, not waiting for confirmation.

He pulled away as "Sonic" hissed at him.

"Okay that's it, that's not even yours you little bastar-!"

Vector cut himself off with a shriek as teeth dug into his hand.

"WHAT THE- WHAT THE SHIT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" he tugged to get his hand back, but the bite force of this small chameleon was far more formidable than he could have imagined. His gloves were torn and reddened by the time he recovered his hand from the feral creature he, for some reason, let into him home.

They came soon to a stare off, shock and fear echoing in each other as the adrenaline wore out, Vector keeping a tight grip on his wound.

Finally, the small lizard rattled off his first words to Vector. It would have meant a lot to the young croc if he understood a word, but there was no signs of english in any of it. It was strange for someone Vector's size to be afraid of a mere child, but something in how furious the words came out and the rapid succession in which they did was enough for him to get one thing.

This kid had been through... something....

[saint-bestial]

Astral, Ryoga, Mizael for the ask game!

oooh three guys let's see. my zexal rewatch was a while ago so i might be fuzzy on some things. ty for the ask i'm gonna answer as best i can for everyone Sorry if i forget anything!!

Astral!

General opinion: I like him! probably one of my A tier zexal characters. solid character but did not give me a disease. Ship I like: ok so this is probably really off the wall but two of my mutuals wrote this fic with kaito/astral and got me way more invested in that pairing. if there's a ship name for them i forget </3 Non-romantic pairing: i love a good non-romantic reading of astral and yuma. i'm pretty neutral on romantic keyship (like i am with most pairings tbh). NOTP: i don't really have one for him! Headcanon: i'm drawing a blank here :( Fanfic: yeah i need to think about this hm. sorry Something that makes me think of them: kitty. that one scene where his eyes get all big? i think because he tasted food for the first time. yeah that's so kitty to me Ryoga!

General opinion: dude wouldn't it be fucked up if we put a dead guy's soul in a dead kid's body and then had him live a relatively normal life only for him to realize that he was not in fact a middle schooler but actually an alien demon thus destroying his previous personality. wait you Did That? Ship I like: like i've said shipping is not really my main Thing but sharkbait is fine. though there's other yuma ships i like more. Non-romantic pairing: his beef with vector. it's just fun your honor NOTP: hellshark/disqualify. sorry. i'm one of the few IV stans who doesn't like it. it's one of the tiny number of ship tags i actually have blacklisted. this was mostly for self shipping reasons but also i just don't like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Headcanon: i think he can be going to the aquarium Fanfic: can we talk about how weird it would be for him to return to school and shit after the end of zexal like that's clearly a different guy. his middleschoolersona is dead. people would pick up on that no??? i think it has potential. i love you zexal the existential horror card game anime. Something that makes me think of them: sharks, fish, the horrors. you know. typical ryoga stuff. also the c32 card i must've opened dozens of abyss rising blisters to get when i was a kid. Mizael!

General opinion: anon. i've been rubbing my hands together since i saw that you included him. ah. this blond bitch. you know, i was into ygo when zexal was airing. and my little 10-11 year old dragon obsessed brain saw mizael and imprinted on him immediately. oh and you can bet i was sending asks to those character ask blogs to know his opinion on only the most important affairs. and you can definitely bet your ass that i watched the moon duel and cried as soon as the subs came out. takes me back to a simpler time. upon rewatch i did not latch onto him as i had previously. but he still holds a degree of importance to me because of the history. Ship I like: this is another situation where i don't really have one but a lot of galaxymaster art is cute and also involves dragons so. that's cool Non-romantic pairing: him and jinlon. i love human and dragon partnerships what can i say NOTP: don't have one! Headcanon: i think he is a dragonfucker your honor Fanfic: See Above. Something that makes me think of them: my ultimate rare tachyon dragon card from the set it came out in i got as a gift one year and thought i lost but found buried in my dresser still completely intact. it sits safely in the first page of my card binder now with all my other favorites.

[brothershardy]

"As if I'd be dumb enough to do that," Joe shot back. "You twist words all the time, I've read your stuff. So if I went to Professor Dumbledore right now and said you were on the grounds, he'd say that you have full permission to be here?"

Her eye twitched slightly, but she decided that ignoring him was going to be her best bet. Before Joe could do anything to stop Hagrid from speaking, Rita locked onto him, and they agreed to meet later before everyone's eyes. As Rita left, Harry's chagrin was more than expected, and Joe just shook his head.

"She's not even gonna bother asking questions about the skrewts," he said, "but she's gonna twist shit on him anyway. We have to find a way to make sure he doesn't go to that interview." Ron's little joke made him snort. "After this year we'll never see a Blast Ended skrewt ever again."

The rest of the day was thankfully less eventful. Double Divination was almost enjoyable, with Ron and Harry keeping up silly commentary among the three boys, and Trelawney clearly not liking that Harry wasn't taking her predictions of his death very seriously. By the time they left the Tower, Joe was a bit surprised that Harry hadn't dropped the class entirely yet.

"At least we didn't get any homework," Ron said cheerfully. "I hope Hermione got loads from Professor Vector, I love not working when she is."

His words made Joe balk suddenly as he got a flash of memory. "Uh oh."

"What?" Ron looked briefly worried. "What's wrong? Is something bad going to happen?"

"No," Joe said. "But Hermione found the kitchens today. She's gonna ambush us as soon as we get back to the Gryffindor Tower. Brace yourselves."

Sure enough, after dinner, and then a brief respite in the library to work on their assignments while Ron hovered behind the bookshelves almost stalking Viktor Krum as the guy was minding his own business, the boys headed back to the Tower, and Hermione came running for them, her eyes bright with excitement.

"Harry!" she gasped. "Oh you've got to come -- you've absolutely got to come -- the most amazing thing's happened, please--" She grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the hall, leaving Joe and Ron to follow after them through the corridors, and down the stairs into the dungeons again, until they all stopped in front of a massive painting of a fruit in a large silver bowl.

"Oh come on," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "You really did find the kitchen!"

"Well yes, but--!" Hermione huffed a little before turning to the painting. "Just wait and see!" She tickled the pear, it giggled and turned into a doorknob, allowing her to pull it open so that a large hole in the wall would reveal a small hallway leading into the kitchens.

When Ron and Harry looked at Joe, he just grinned and shrugged before gesturing to the hallway. "After you."

Once the egg was closed and everyone’s ears stopped ringing, the merriment resumed as if it hadn’t been interrupted. Joe looked as if he had gotten the confirmation to a question no one else knew, and Harry trusted that expression for what he knew it meant; Joe was sure of the next task. And no doubt he had a plan already, whether it was whatever Harry himself would’ve done in those books, or a variation.

He wouldn’t bother asking. Joe was the Champion now, and he’d manage just fine on his own.

The term wound down, Christmas inching onto the horizon, and cloaks tripled up. The Beauxbatons students finally conceded to borrowing furs from both Hogwarts and Durmstrang, many looking affronted at having to cover their sleek silk uniforms, but it was far better than shivering so hard that their bones were clinking.

Harry laughed when Joe promised to introduce Hermione to his preferred vices. “You think you’re going to convince her to break the law?” he teased. “It’s far more illegal here than in the States. Shame, really, it does sound fun.”

The skrewts continued to be an unpleasant lesson, and Harry wished that he did not love Hagrid so much that he couldn’t even consider joining those hiding in the cabin. It was the four of them, and their four favorite Slytherins, while the rest of the cowards hid behind Crabbe and Goyle and Milicent, peering out through the windows.

It only got worse with Skeeter showing up, utterly unbothered at the reminder that she was not welcome at the school. As Hagrid wrestled down the last skrewt, he moved to stand by Joe, folding his arms in readiness to back him, to do whatever it took to make the bitch go away.

“Don’t be so melodramatic, Joe,” Rita waved him off. “I’m the Prophet’s primary reporter for this Tournament, I’ve got to meander about collecting all the exciting details! If you’re cross over my artistic liberties in the piece on you, well, perhaps next time you’ll give me some more direct quotes of your own, hm?”

“That was meant to be about the whole Tournament, and all four Champions,” Hermione said haughtily. “What you wrote was ridiculous.”

“Oh, you must be the Muggleborn girlfriend,” Rita said brightly. “I’d love a word from you, too, about Joe’s participation in all this!”

Hagrid interrupted then, having finally boxed the skrewt. “Look, uh, ’m sorry, but this is a class,” he told Rita uncertainly. “Gonna need you to let ‘em focus, ye can ask Joe about th'Tournament later.”

Rita glanced pointedly at the eight students in his garden, and the rest hiding inside, but then she merely smiled sharply at him. “Of course! Silly me, so sorry. Tell me, Professor–Hagrid, was it? How long have you been teaching?”

“This is o’ny me second year,” Hagrid replied.

“Lovely…I don’t suppose you’d like to give an interview, would you? Share some of your experience of magical creatures? The Prophet does a zoological column every Wednesday, as I’m sure you know. We could feature these—er—Bang-Ended Scoots.”

“Blast-Ended Skrewts,” Hagrid corrected her eagerly. “Er — yeah, why not?”

Harry had a very bad feeling about this, but there was no way of communicating it to Hagrid without Rita seeing, and he did not want to know what she’d write if he intervened. Hagrid and Rita made arrangements to meet in the Three Broomsticks for a good long interview later that week. Then the bell rang up at the castle, signaling the end of the lesson.

“Well, good-bye, Joe!” Rita called merrily to them. “Harry, others! Until Friday night, then, Hagrid!”

“She’ll twist everything he says,” Harry sighed. "We’ve got to convince him to cancel, or something.”

“Just as long as he didn’t import those skrewts illegally or anything,” Hermione groaned.

“Hagrid’s been in loads of trouble before, and Dumbledore’s never sacked him,” Ron reasoned. “Worst that can happen is Hagrid’ll have to get rid of the skrewts. Sorry…did I say worst? I meant best. Right?” he added to Joe, a touch more uncertainly.

[snake-rot]

(EXCLAIMING)

(ORCHESTRA MUSIC BLARING)

(GROANS)

(WHIMPERS)

(GRUNTING)

(MYSTICAL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(GROANS)

(COUNTRY ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

(COUGHS)

Sweet home Alabama

Where the skies are so blue

WOMAN: Excuse me, sir, is there a commode?

Sweet home Alabama

(GRUNTING)

Lord, I'm coming home to you

(GRUNTS) Justin!

Quick, honey, take my picture. I got the pyramid in my hand.

(CAMERA CLICKING)

Yeah

Justin, you get back here right now!

No, stop!

GUARD 1: No, no, no! Stop him! GUARD 2: Go back! Don't climb!

(JUSTIN IMITATING AIRPLANE WHOOSHING)

Wait, wait.

Hold on. Easy, little boy.

Okay, stop, child! Stop right there. No!

(GASPS)

No, no, no, no, no! Oh! There he goes.

(GASPS)

Justin!

I've got him! I've got him!

(JUSTIN GRUNTS)

(AIR ESCAPING)

Outrage in Egypt tonight as it was discovered

that the Great Pyramid of Giza had been stolen

and replaced by a giant inflatable replica.

There is panic throughout the globe as countries and citizens

try to protect their beloved landmarks.

Law enforcement still has no leads,

leaving everyone to wonder, which of the world's villains

is responsible for this heinous crime?

And where will he strike next?

Gru: Freeze ray! Freeze ray! Freeze ray! [laughs evilly] Fred: Morning, Gru! How you doing? Gru: Hello, Fred. FYI, your dog has been leaving little bombs all over my yard, and I don't appreciate it. Fred: Sorry. You know dogs. They go wherever they wanna go. Gru: Unless they're dead. [laughs] I'm joking! Although, it is true. Anyway, have a good one. Fred: Okay. Yeah. Steamrolling whatever Gru: [groans] You've got to be pulling on my leg! Margo: Hello! Cookies for sale. Gru: Go away. I'm not home. Margo: Uh, yes, you are. I heard you. Gru: [gasps] No, you didn't. This... [monotone] is a recording. Margo: [scoffs] No, it isn't. Gru: Yes, it is. [o.s.] Watch this. Leave a message, beep. [Edith kicks the door] Gru: Ow! Agnes: Goodbye, recorded message. Margo: [o.s.] Agnes, come on. Gru: Huh? [screams] Kyle! Bad dog! No! No, no. Sit. My muffin. Dr. Nefario: Gru! Gru: Ah, Dr. Nefario. Dr. Nefario: I know how you must be feeling. I, too, have encountered great disappointment, but, in my eyes, you will always be one of the greats. Gru: What? What happened? Dr. Nefario: It's all over the news! Some fella just stole a pyramid. They're saying he makes all other villains look... lame. pause Gru: Assemble the minions! [throws Kyle off of his arm] Minions, assemble! Minion: Okay. Okay. Hey! Gru: Looking good, Kevin! How is the family? Good? All right. That's my Billy boy! What up, Larry? Hello, everybody! Yeah, all right! Simmer down. Simmer down! Thank you, okay. Now, I realize that you guys probably heard about this other villain who stole the pyramids. Apparently, it's a big deal. People are calling it the crime of the century and stuff like that. But am I upset? No, I am not! A little, but we have had a pretty good year ourselves, and you guys are all right in my book. Minion: Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Gru: No, no raises! You're not going to get any raises. What did we do? Well, we stole the Times Square JumboTron! Nice! That's how I roll. Yeah, you all like watching football on that, huh? But that's not all. We stole the Statue of Liberty, the small one from Las Vegas. And I won't even mention the Eiffel Tower! Also Vegas. Okay, I wasn't going to tell you about this yet, but I have been working on something very big! Something that will blow this pyramid thing out of the water! And thanks to the efforts of my good friend Dr. Nefario... Dr. Nefario: Thank you! Gru: There he is. He's stylin'. Now, we have located a shrink ray in a secret lab, and once we take this shrink ray, we will have the capability to pull off the 'true crime of the century. We are going to steal... The Minions all pull out their weapons in response. Gru: Wait, wait! I haven't told you what it is yet. One of the Minions, Dave, shoots his rocket launcher at a crowd of Minions. Gru: Hey. Dave, listen up, please! Dave: Ditto. One of the Minions Dave shot walks over to him and punches him on the shoulder. Gru: Next, we are going to steal, pause for effect, the moon! The Minions cheer in response. Gru: And once the moon is mine, the world will give me whatever I want to get it back! And I will be the greatest villain of all time! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout. [picks up his phone] Yes? Dr. Nefario: Hello, Gru? I've been crunching some numbers, and I really don't see how we can afford this. It can't be done. I'm not a miracle worker. Gru:Hey, chillax. I'll just get another loan from the bank. They love me! Margo: Edith, stop it! Edith: What? I'm just walking. Girls: Hi, Miss Hattie. We're back. Miss Hattie: Hello, girls! Agnes: Anybody come to adopt us while we were out? Miss Hattie: Hmm... Let me think. No! Edith immediately puts a mud pie on Miss Hattie's desk, much to her displeasure. Miss Hattie: Edith! What did you put on my desk? Edith: A mud pie. Miss Hattie: [sighs] You're never gonna get adopted, Edith. You know that, don't you? Edith: Yeah, I know. Miss Hattie: Good. So, how did it go, girls? Did we meet our quotas? Margo: Hmm... Sorta. We sold 43 mini-mints, 30 choco-swirlies and 18 coco-nutties. Miss Hattie: [gets up] Okay.

Well, you say that like it's a great sale day. [furious] Look at my face! Do you still think it's a great sale day? Edith rolls her eyes in response. Miss Hattie: [hangs up a portrait] Eighteen coco-nutties. I think we can do a little better than that, don't you? Yeah. We wouldn't want to spend the weekend in the Box of Shame, would we? No. Girls: No, Miss Hattie. Miss Hattie: Okay, good. Off you go. Go clean something of mine. Girls: Hi, Penny. Penny: Hi, guys. Gru: Hello, Mom. Sorry, I meant to call, but... Gru's Mom: I just wanted to congratulate you on stealing the pyramid. [Gru sighs in disgust] That was you, wasn't it? Or was it a villain who's actually successful? [laughs] Gru: Just so you know, Mom, I am about to do something that's very, very big, very important. When you hear about it, you're going to be very proud. Gru's Mom: Ha! [sarcastically] Good luck with that. Okay, I'm outta here. [hangs up the phone before sending her karate instructor flying] Gru: Gru to see Mr Perkins Receptionist: Yes, please have a seat. Neil Armstrong: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Young Gru: Ma, someday I'm going to go to the moon. Gru's Mom: I'm afraid you're too late, Son. NASA isn't sending the monkeys any more. Vector: Hey. I'm applying for a new villain loan. Go by the name of Vector. It's a mathematical term, a quantity represented by an arrow, with both direction and magnitude. Vector! That's me, 'cause I'm committing crimes with both direction and magnitude. Oh, yeah! Check out my new weapon. Piranha gun! Oh, yes! Fires live piranhas. Ever seen one before? No, you haven't. I invented it. Do you want a demonstration? Shoot! So difficult, sometimes, to get the piranha back inside of my... Receptionist: Mr Gru, Mr Perkins will see you now. Gru: So, all I need is money from the bank to build a rocket. And then, the moon is ours. Perkins: Wow! Well, very nice presentation. I'd like to see this shrink ray. Gru: Absolutely! Will do. Soon as I have it. Perkins: You don't have it? And yet you have the audacity to ask the bank for money? Gru: Apparently. Perkins: Do you have any idea of the capital that this bank has invested in you, Gru? With far too few of your sinister plots actually turning a profit. How can I put it? Let's say this apple is you. If we don't start getting our money back... Get the picture? Look, Gru, the point is, there are a lot of new villains out there, younger than you, hungrier than you, younger than you. Like that young fellow out there named Vector. He just stole a pyramid! Gru: I've got it. I've got it. So, as far as getting money for the rocket... Perkins: Get the shrink ray, then we'll talk. Minion: Suckers! Suckers! Gru: We got it! What? Hey! Hey! What! Hey! No, no, no! You! Vectors: Now, maybe you'll think twice before you freeze someone's head! So long, Gru! Gru: Quick! We can't let him get away! Up ahead! Up ahead! Fire! Fire, now! Vector: You missed me! Gru: Come to papa! Take that. Vector: How adorable. Gru: Got you in our sights! Like taking candy from a... What? Vector: Hey, Gru! Try this on for size! Gru: That's weird. What is going... This is claustrophobic! No, no, no! Too small! This is too small for me! [groans] I hate that guy. Margo: ...and please watch over us, and bless that we'll have a good night's sleep. Edith: And bless that while we're sleeping, no bugs will crawl into our ears and lay eggs in our brains. Margo: Great. Thanks for that image, Edith. Agnes: And please bless that someone will adopt us soon, and that the mommy and daddy will be nice and have a pet unicorn. Amen. Margo/Edith: Amen. Agnes: Unicorns, I love them Unicorns, I love them Uni, uni, unicorns I love them Uni, unicorns, I could pet one If they were really real And they are So, I bought one so I could pet it Now it loves me Now I love it Gru: Don't you... What the... Good luck, little girls! Edith: Whoa! Cool. Margo: Hi! We're orphans from Miss Hattie's Home for Girls. Vector: I don't care. Beat it! Margo: Come on! We're selling

cookies so, you know, we can have a better future. Vector: Wait, wait! Do you have coco-nutties? Margo: Yeah. Gru: Light bulb. Dr Nefario! I'm going to need a dozen tiny robots disguised as cookies! Dr. Nefario: What? Gru: Cookie robots! Dr. Nefario: Who is this? - Gru: Oh, forget it. Mrs. Hattie: Well, it appears you have cleared our background check, Dr Gru. And I see you have made a list of some of your personal achievements. Thank you for that. I love reading. And I see you have been given the Medal of Honor and a knighthood. - Minions: Me, me, me. Me, me, me. Minion: Kevin? Mrs. Hattie: You had your own cooking show and you can hold your breath for 30 seconds? It's not that impressive. Minion: Idiot! - Minions: Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Mrs Hattie: What in the name of... What? Gru: Well, here's the dealio. Things have been so lonely since my wife, Debbie, passed on. It's like my heart is a tooth, and it's got a cavity that can only be filled with children. I'm sorry. You are a beautiful woman. Do you speak Spanish? Mrs. Hattie: Do I look like I speak Spanish? Gru: You have a face como un burro. Mrs. Hattie: Well, thank you! Gru: Anyway, can we proceed with this adoption? So, so excited! Mrs. Hattie: Please tell Margo, Edith and Agnes to come to the lobby. Margo: I bet the mom is beautiful! Edith: I bet the daddy's eyes sparkle. Agnes: I bet their house is made of Gummi Bears. [Edith and Margo look at her curiously] I'm just saying it'd be nice. [picks up a Cheeto] Aww. My caterpillar never turned into a butterfly. Edith: That's a Cheeto. Agnes: Oh... [eats said Cheeto, making Edith and Margo recoil in disgust] Miss Hattie: Well, Debbie was a very lucky woman. [pause] Gru: Who's Debbie? Mrs Hattie: Your wife. Hi, girls! Girls, I want you to meet Mr Gru. He's going to adopt you. And he's a dentist! Agnes: Yeah! Margo: Hi. I'm Margo. This is Edith. And that's Agnes. Agnes: [sing-song] I got your leg, I got your leg! Gru: Okay, that is enough, little girl. Let go of my leg. Come on. You can do it. Agnes: Higher! Higher! Gru: Just release your grip. Wow! How do you remove them? Is there a command? Some nonstick spray? Crowbar? [sighs] Okay, girls, let's go. [They drove off in the distance.]Vector: Uh-huh! Oh, yeah! Pretty impressive! What are you looking at? Boo-ya! You got shrunk, tiny mouthwash! Take that! You done been shrunk! (His phone rings) Yello? I got the shrink ray, all right. No, I'm not playing with it. Gru? Don't make me laugh! No. P.S., he is not getting the moon, and P.P.S., by the time I'm done with him, he's gonna be begging for mercy. (Shrinks a toilet) Okay, bye. (Hangs up) Look at you, a little tiny toilet for a little tiny baby to... [The toilet pops out and water sprays him.]Vector: Curse you, tiny toilet! [Gru and the Girls arrive at Gru's Home.] Gru: "Okay, here we are. Home sweet home. Margo: So... This is, like, your house? [realizing] Wait a sec... You're the guy who pretended he was a recorded message! Gru: No, that was someone else. [Margo gives a skeptical look before she, Edith and Agnes enter Gru's house, with Gru following suite.] Agnes: [scared] Can I hold your hand? Gru: Uh... No. Edith: [looks around] When we got adopted by a bald guy, I thought this'd be more like "Annie". Gru: No, hey! [screams] Kyle, these are not treats. These are guests. Girls, this is Kyle, my... Dog. Kyle snarls in anger. Agnes: Ooh! Fluffy doggy! [approaches Kyle before he runs away, much to her disappointment] Margo: What kind of dog is that? Gru: He is a... I don't know. Margo: Do you really think that this is an appropriate place for little kids? 'Cause, uh... It's not. [Edith sees a closet that is sharp and goes in it.] Gru: No! No! Stay away from there! It's frag... [He sees juice spilling on the floor.]Both: (Gasps) Gru: Well, I suppose the plan will work with two. Edith: [muffled] Hey! It's dark in here. [Gru opens the iron maiden, revealing Edith, who spits out a straw]Edith: It poked a hole in my juice box. [They went to the

kitchen.] Gru: As you can see, I have provided everything a child might need. All right. Okay. As I was saying... (Edith knocked a bottle down) Gru: (Cont'd) Hey! Oh. Edith: Somebody broke that. Gru: "Okay, okay. Clearly, we need to set some rules. Rule number one. You will not touch anything. Margo: Uh-huh. What about the floor? Gru: Yes, you may touch the floor. Margo: What about the air? Gru: Yes, you may touch the air! Edith: (Gets out a laser gun) What about this? Gru: (Screams) Where did you get that? Edith: [shrugs] Found it. Gru: Okay. Rule number two. You will not bother me while I'm working. Rule number three. You will not cry or whine or laugh or giggle or sneeze or burp or fart! So, no, no, no annoying sounds. All right? Agnes: Does this count as annoying? [popping] Gru: Very! [sighs] I will see you in six hours. Margo: Okay, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. We're gonna be really happy here. Right? Agnes? Gru: Question. What are these? Dr. Nefario: A dozen boogie robots! Boogie! Look at this. Watch me! Gru: Cookie robots. I said cookie robots. Why are you so old? Dr. Nefario: Okay. I'm on it. Margo: Hello? Agnes: TV! Margo: What is that? Edith: Whoa! That is cool! Come on! Agnes: I don't think he's a dentist.Dr. Nefario: We've been working on this for a while. It's a anti-gravity serum. I meant to close that. He'll be all right, I'm sure. Gru: Do the effects wear off? Dr. Nefario: So far, no. No, they don't. And here, of course, is the new weapon you ordered. Gru: No, no. I said "dart gun," not... Okay. Dr. Nefario: Oh, yes. 'Cause I was wondering under what circumstances would we use this? But, anyway. What I really wanted to show you was this. Gru: Now those are cookie robots! Agnes: La, la, la, la I love unicorns Gru: What are you doing here? I told you to stay in the kitchen! Margo: We got bored. What is this place? Edith: Can I drink this? Dr. Nefario: Do you want to explode? [Edith kicks him in the shin] Dr. Nefario: Gru! Gru: Get back in the kitchen! Agnes: Will you play with us? Gru: No. Agnes: Why? Gru: Because I'm busy. Margo: [scoffs] Doing what? Gru: Umm... Okay, okay, you got me. The dentist thing is more of a hobby. In real life, I am a spy. And it is top secret, and you may not tell anybody, because if you do... Edith: What does this do? [She fires a laser and it hits Agnes's unicorn and it burns to ashes]Gru: Hey! Edith: Whoops. Agnes: My unicorn! You have to fix it. Gru: Fix it? Look, it has been disintegrated. By definition, it cannot be fixed. [Agnes gasps in shock, then starts holding her breath] Gru: That's freaking me out. What is she doing? Margo: She's gonna hold her breath until she gets a new one. Gru: [sighs] It is just a toy. Now stop it! (Agnes faints) Gru: Okay, okay! I'll fix it! Tim! Mark! Phil! This is very important. You have to get the little girl a new unicorn toy. Gru: Hey, hey, hey! A toy! Go, and hurry! What are those? Gru: They are my... Cousins. Jerry! Stuart! Watch them and keep them away from me please. [The three minions put on a disguise and head to the store.]Minions: Wow!- Wow! [Meanwhile the two minions and the girls are tossing toilet paper at each other. Gru comes up and he sees the Girls and the two minions having fun.]Edith: It was your cousin's idea. Jerry: What? Gru: Okay, bedtime. Girls: Aww... Minions: Aww... Gru: Not you two! Minions: Yay. Gru: Okey-dokey. Beddie-bye. All tucked in. Sweet dreams. Margo: Just so you know, you're never gonna be my dad. Gru: I think I can live with that. Edith: Are these beds made out of bombs? Gru: Yes, but they are very old and highly unlikely to blow up. But try not to toss and turn. Edith: "Cool." Agnes: Will you read us a bedtime story?" Gru: No. Agnes: But we can't go to sleep without a bedtime story. Gru: Well, then it's going to be a long night for you, isn't it? So, good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite. Because there are literally thousands of them. And there's probably something in your closet. Margo: He's just kidding, Agnes. Agnes: It's beautiful. Gru: Girls, let's go.

Time to deliver the cookies! Margo: Okay. But first, we're going to dance class. Gru: Actually, we're going to have to skip the dance class today. Margo: Actually, we can't skip the dance class today. We have a big recital coming up. We're doing an excerpt from Swan Lake. Agnes: Yeah, Swan Lake! Gru: That's fantastic. Wonderful. But we're going to deliver cookies! Come on! Margo: No. Gru: No? Margo: We're not going to deliver cookies until we do dance class. Really? Gru: Well, I am not driving you to dance class. So if you want to go, you are going to have to walk yourselves. What are you doing? Margo: Walking to dance class. Gru: Ya? Okay, fine. You just keep walking, because I'm really not driving you! Margo: Okay. Gru: You're going to suffer the wrath of Gru! Seriously, I'm going to count to three! And you had better be in this car! Here we go! One! Two! Teacher: ...three, four and five. And lift, and stretch. And one, and two... Agnes: Here you go. Gru: What is it? Agnes: Your ticket to the dance recital. You are coming, right? Gru: Of course, of course. I have pins and needles that I'm sitting on. Agnes: Pinkie promise? Gru: Oh, yes. My pinkie promises. All right. Our first customer is a man named Vector. Margo: But he's a V. You know, we're supposed to start with the A's. Then we go to the B's. Then we... Gru: Yes, yes! I went to kindergarten. I know how the alphabet works! I was just thinking that it might be nice to deliver Mr Vector's first. That is all. Almost over. It's almost over. Vector: Girls, welcome back to the fortress of Vector-tude! Do you have my cookies for me? Margo: Four boxes of mini-mints, two toffee totes, two caramel clumpies and fifteen boxes of coco-nutties. Vector: Exactly. I'd like to see somebody else order that many cookies. Not likely. Name one person who ordered more cookies than me. Margo: That'll be $52. Vector: Right. Seven, eight, nine... Tic Tacs! Where was I? Seven, eight, nine... Agnes: Why are you wearing pyjamas? Vector: These aren't pyjamas! This is a warm-up suit. Edith: What are you warming up for? Vector: Stuff. Agnes: What sort of stuff? Vector: Super-cool stuff you wouldn't understand. Agnes: Like sleeping? Vector: They are not pyjamas! Here you go, 52 big ones. Bye! Gru: Come on! Vector: What the...? Quiet down, fish. Down, boy!Gru: [laughs] We did it! Come on, girls, let's go! Margo: But what about the other people who ordered cookies? Gru: Life is full of disappointments... For some people. [chuckles ominously] Agnes: (Screams) Gru: Don't do that! Agnes: Super Silly Fun Land! Can we go? Please? Gru: No. Edith: But we've never been. And it's the funnest place on earth! Gru: "Don't care." Girls: Please? Please? We'll never ask for anything else, ever again! Pretty please? Please? Come on! Come on! Gru: "Light bulb." Edith: Come on! Gru: "Goodbye, have fun. [He began to leave. But a attendant of the roller coaster stopped him.]Carnival Ride Worker: Sorry, dude. They can't ride without an adult. Gru: What? [groans] [Soon Gru gets sick from the roller coaster ride.]Agnes: Oh, my gosh! Look at that fluffy unicorn! He's so fluffy, I'm gonna die! Margo: You've gotta let us play for it! Gru: No, no, no. Agnes: Come on! Gru: How much for the fluffy unicorn?Carnival Barker: Well, it is not for sale. But all you gotta do to win it is knock down that little spaceship there. It's easy! Agnes: Yay! Again! Margo: Wait! Edith: Come on. One more time! Agnes: Just one more. I accidentally closed my eyes. I hit it! I hit it! Edith: That was cool. Awww. Gru: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was that? She hit that. I saw that with my own eyes.Carnival Barker: Hey, buddy, let me explain something to you. You see that little tin spaceship? You see how it's not knocked over? Do you know what that means, professor? It means you don't get the unicorn! Somebody's got a frowny face. Boo! Better luck next time! Gru: Okay, my turn. [Gru uses a fire gun and it blows up the whole booth.]Gru: "Knocked over!" Agnes: It's so fluffy! Yeah! Margo: That was

awesome! Edith: You blew up the whole thing! Agnes: Let's go. Let's try another game!Dr. Nefario: Gru, do you mind if I have a quick word? Gru: Okay, girls, go play. I got the shrink ray! Cotton candy! Dr. Nefario: We have 12 days until the moon is in optimum position. We can't afford any distractions! Gru: Get me Perkins. Sorry to bother you, Mr Perkins, but I figured that you would want to see this! Mr. Perkins: What? Well done, Gru. Rather impressive.Gru: Now, the rest of the plan is simple. I fly to the moon. I shrink the moon. I grab the moon. I sit on the toi-let. What? (girls start laughing) Sorry. Sorry! Could you excuse me for just one second? I told you not to touch my things. I told you, I told you. I've told you a thousand times. Margo: Hey, can we order pizza? Gru: Pizza? You just had lunch. Edith: Not now, for dinner. Gru: Dinner? Just... Fine, fine, fine, whatever. Just get back in there! Margo: Can we get stuffed crust? Agnes and Jerry: Stuffed crust!Gru: I'll stuff you all in the crust! Agnes: [giggles] You're funny! Gru: Just don't come out of that room again! All right. Sorry about that. Where were we? Mr. Perkins: You were sitting on the toilet. Gru: No, no, no! No, I'm sorry. It was a little attempt at humor. I know how much you like to laugh... [Mr. Perkins glares at him] Inside. Eh, now, I was saying... [the door suddenly opens] You don't seem terribly focused, Gru. Believe me, I am completely focused. Right? Edith: Hello! Mr. Perkins: What? Edith: That guy is huge! Agnes: Are we on TV? Mr. Perkins: What are those? Children?Gru: What are you doing? I told you to stay out of here! No, no, no! *Agnes: Freeze ray!Mr. Perkins: Mr Gru? Gru: Okay. As I was saying... Mr. Perkins: No need to continue. I've seen quite enough. Gru: But my plan... Mr. Perkins: Is a great plan. I love everything about your plan, except for one thing. You. Young Gru: Look, Mom, I drew a picture of me landing on the moon! Look, Mom, I made a prototype of the rocket out of macaroni! Look, Mom, I made a real rocket based on the macaroni prototype! Gru: I don't understand. Mr. Perkins: Let's face reality, Gru. You've been at this for far too long with far too little success. We're gonna put our faith, our money, into a... Well, a younger villain. Gru: But I... Mr. Perkins: It's over. Goodbye, Gru. Gru: Now, I know there have been some rumours going around that the bank is no longer funding us. Well, I am here to put those rumours to rest. They are true. In terms of money, we have no money. So how will we get to the moon? The answer is clear. We won't. We are doomed. Now would probably be a good time to look for other employment options. I know. I have fired up my resume as I suggest that all of you do, as well. What is it? Can't you see that I am in the middle of a pep talk? Yes! Yes, we will build our own rocket using this and whatever else we can find! Grab everything! Hit the junkyards! Take apart the cars! Who needs the bank? Let's go. Let's go! Mom! What are you doing here? Gru's Mom: And here he is in the bathtub. Look at his little buns. Gru: Mom. Not cool. Gru's Mom: And here, he's all dressed up in his Sunday best. Margo: He looks like a girl! Gru's Mom: Yes, he does. An ugly girl! Agnes: You're funny! Edith: Yes! Mine's shaped like a dead guy! Receptionist: Mr. Perkins, your son is here. Mr. Perkins: Send him in. Vector: Hey, Dad. You wanted to see me? Mr. Perkins: Yes, I did, Victor. - Vector: I am not Victor anymore. Victor was my nerd name. Now I am Vector! Mr. Perkins: Sit down. Do you know where the shrink ray is? Vector: Duh! Back at my place. Mr. Perkins: Oh, is that right? Back at your place? That's cool. I guess Gru must just have one that looks exactly like it! Vector: What the...?! Those girls sold me cookies! Mr. Perkins: Do you have any idea how lucrative this moon heist could be? I give you the opportunity of a lifetime, and you just blow it! Vector: No, I didn't. Mr. Perkins: Oh, really?Vector: You just wait until Gru sees my latest weapon. Squid-launcher! Oh, yeah! Man:

There's a squid on my face!Vector: Don't worry. The moon is as good as ours. Gru: Come on now, it's bedtime. Did you brush your teeth? Let me smell. Let me smell. You did not! Put on your PGs. Hold still. Okay, seriously! Seriously! This is beddie-bye time, right now. I'm not kidding around. I mean it! Edith: But we're not tired! Gru: Well, I am tired. Agnes: Will you read us a bedtime story? [pause] Gru: No. Agnes: Pretty please? Gru: The physical appearance of the "please" makes no difference. It is still no, so go to sleep. Edith: But we can't. We're all hyper! Margo: And without a bedtime story, we'll just keep getting up and bugging you. All night long. Gru: [sighs] Fine. All right, all right. Sleepy Kittens. Sleepy Kittens? What are these? Agnes: Puppets. You use them when you tell the story. Gru: Okay, let's get this over with. "Three little kittens loved to play, they had fun in the sun all day. "Then their mother came out and said, 'Time for kittens to go to bed."' Wow! This is garbage. You actually like this? Agnes: Keep reading! Edith: Come on! Gru: All right, all right, all right. "Three little kittens started to bawl, "'Mommy, we're not tired at all.' "Their mother smiled and said with a purr, "'Fine, but at least you should brush your fur."' Edith: Now you brush the fur. Gru: This is literature? A 2-year-old could have written this. All right. "Three little kittens with fur all brushed "said, 'We can't sleep, we feel too rushed! ' "Their mother replied, with a voice like silk, "'Fine, but at least you should drink your milk."' Agnes: Now make them drink the milk. Gru: I don't like this book. This is going on forever. "Three little kittens, with milk all gone, rubbed their eyes and started to yawn. "'We can't sleep, we can't even try.' Then their mother sang a lullaby. "'Good night kittens, close your eyes. Sleep in peace until you rise. "'Though while you sleep, we are apart, "'your mommy loves you with all her heart."' The end. Okay, good night. Agnes: Wait! Gru: What? Agnes: What about good night kisses? Gru: No, no. There will be no kissing or hugging or kissing. Margo: He is not gonna kiss us good night, Agnes. Agnes: I like him. He's nice.Edith: [turns off her light] But scary. Like Santa! Dr. Nefario: Only 48 hours till the launch, and all systems are go. Gru: About that, I was thinking that maybe we could move the date of the heist. Dr. Nefario: Please tell me this is not as a result of the girls' dance recital, is it? Gru: No, no, no! The recital? Don't... That's stupid! I just think it's kind of weird to do it on a Saturday. I was thinking, maybe a heist is a Tuesday thing, right? Dr. Nefario: Gru, you and I have been working on this for years. It's everything we've dreamed of. Your chance to make history, become the man who stole the moon! But these girls are becoming a major distraction! They need to go. If you don't do something about it, then I will. Gru: I understand. Dr. Nefario: Good. Minion: Butt. Butt. Butt. Gru: All right. Now, when we put our cups together, we will make the "clink" sound with our mouths. Ready? Edith? Gru: and Edith: Clink. Gru: There we go. And now we drink. And Agnes? Gru and Agnes: Clink. Gru: Very good! Excuse me, girls. Girls: Come on! Gru: Don't worry, I'll be back. Keep clinking. - Clink, clink. - Clink, clink.Gru: Miss Hattie, what are you doing here? Miss Hattie: I'm here for the girls. I received a call that you wanted to return them. [Gru gives her a quizzical look] And also, I did purchase a Spanish dictionary. [swats Gru's head with the dictionary] I didn't like what you said. Gru: But... I will get the girls ready. Agnes: Don't let her take us, Mr. Gru! Tell her you wanna keep us. Mrs. Hattie: All right, girls. Come on, let's go. Margo: Goodbye, Mr. Gru. Thanks for everything. Dr. Nefario: I did it for your own good. Come on, let's go get that moon. Gru: Right. What is this for? The recital? I am the greatest criminal mind of the century. I don't go to little girls' dance recitals! Dr. Nefario: Opening launch bay

doors. Commencing launch sequence. And we are good to go in T minus 10 seconds. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six... Vector: Oh, yeah! Gru: Nice work, Doctor. All systems go. Vector: Boo-ya! My flight suit. Oh, yeah! Once again, the mighty... Gru: I've got it! I've got the moon! I've got the moon. I can make it. Dr. Nefario: Wait a minute! Jerry: Kevin! Gru: Come on! Come on! Agnes: He's still not here. Margo: Why would he come? He gave us up. Agnes: But he pinkie promised! Teacher: Girls, girls, places. Edith: No, we can't start yet! We're still expecting someone. Agnes: Can we just wait a few more minutes? Teacher: All right. But just a few more minutes. Margo: He's not coming, guys. Dr. Nefario: Gru! Gru, can you hear me? Quick, we have to warn him, and fast!Gru: Okay, okay. There's the library. That's Third Street. The dance studio... There! There! There it is! Janitor: Sorry, buddy. Show's over.Gru: Over? Gru: Vector, open up! Vector: First give me the moon. Then we'll talk. Agnes: Mr. Gru! Vector: Zip it, Happy Meal. Gru: Now, the girls. Vector: Actually, I think I'll hold on to them a little while longer. Gru: No! Vector: Oh, yeah! Unpredictable! Gru: Listen close, you little punk. When I get in there, you are in for a world of pain! Vector: [laughs sarcastically] I'm really scared. Agnes: He is gonna kick your butt. Vector: What? He punched my shark! Dr. Nefario: There he is! Hang on, Gru. Oh, no! Gru: Vector has the girls. Go! Dr. Nefario: What happened to the ship? It's big again! Not as big as the moon is going to be! Gru: What? Dr. Nefario: The larger the mass of an object, the quicker the effects of the shrink ray wear off! I call it the Nefario Principle. I just came up with it now, actually. Gru: Oh, no! Margo: Did you see that? Girls: Vector! Help! Vector! Over here! Vector: Hey! What are you girls doing back there? Girls: The moon! Watch out! Vector: Ouch! Gru: Get as close in as you can. You got it. Margo: Mr Gru, up here! Agnes and Edith: Mr Gru! Gru: Okay, girls! Girls! You're going to have to jump. Edith: Jump? Are you insane? Gru: Don't worry, I will catch you. Margo: You gave us back! Gru: I know, I know. And it is the worst mistake I ever made. But you have to jump now. Margo: It'll be okay. Gru: Okay, girls. Margo: Jump now! Gru: Margo, I will catch you. And I will never let you go again. Vector: Not so fast! Gru: No! Margo: Let me go! Gru: Margo! I'm coming, Margo. Hang on! I got you.Vector: No! Oh, poop. News Reporter: This time, good triumphs, and the moon has been returned to its rightful place in the sky. But once again, law enforcement is baffled, leaving everyone to wonder, who is this mysterious hero? And what will he do next? Gru: Okay, girls. Time for bed. Edith: Come on! We want a story. Agnes: Three sleepy kittens! Gru: Oh, no! Sorry. That book was accidentally destroyed maliciously. Tonight we are going to read a new book. This one is called One Big Unicorn by... Who wrote this? Me! I wrote it. Look, it's a puppet book! Here, watch this. That's the horn! Agnes: This is gonna be the best book ever! Gru: Not to pat myself on the back, but, yes, it probably will be. Here we go. "One big unicorn, strong and free "thought he was happy as he could be. "Then three little kittens came around "and turned his whole life upside down." Edith: Hey, that one looks like me! Gru: No, what are you talking about? These are kittens! Any relation to persons living or dead is completely coincidental. "They made him laugh. "They made him cry. "He never should have said goodbye. "And now he knows he could never part "from those three little kittens "that changed his heart. "The end." Okay, all right. Good night. Margo: I love you. Gru: I love you, too. No, no! All right. Didn't I get you already? They're very good! Gru's Mom: I'm so proud of you, Son. You've turned out to be a great parent! Just like me. Maybe even better. Gru: No, I'm fine. Go ahead. No, no, no! THE END Hey, Carl! Hey. No, no, no. Me, me, me. John? No, no. Me, me, me. Oh,

poop. Oh, no! Stop! Stop! Hello, I am Gru. Back to work, back to work! Back to…

IS THIS THE ENTIRE FUCKING SCRIPT?

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch22: I Don’t Like People Touching My Stuff

Summary: The Avenger’s search for the sceptre reaches a dramatic conclusion meaning Katie and Steve finally get the breathing place to start planning their future. But when another girl takes a rather obvious shine to Steve, Katie is not particularly pleased…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language, Smut (NSFW) No Under 18.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: And so we head into Part 4 which covers the Age Of Ultron and surrounding time period for Katie and Steve- HENCE THE NEW BANNER!!! And this edit has to be my favourite to date. @angrybirdcr​ you are a genius!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 21

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

 April 2015.

It was apparent when The Avengers landed in the snow-covered forest that this was the heaviest guarded base they had hit in the 6 months they had been searching for Loki’s Sceptre. The guards were positioned a mile out, complete with barbed wire fences and road blocks and the minute Thor, Tony and Katie took off from the back of the jet all hell had broken loose. This was instantly a Code Green, and Banner transformed into the huge Hulk and with his help the group managed to commandeer a jeep and a motorcycle, Natasha driving the jeep supported by Clint and Steve was on the bike, obviously.

One of the HYDRA agents managed to leap up at the side of Steve and he swerved sharply to the left, landing a kick to his chest, knocking him away. The Captain surged the bike forward as another Soldier ran towards him and he leant over and grabbed his leg, dragging him along before tossing him into another approaching hostile, knocking them both unconscious. As he continued he flung his shield forward where it bounced off a tree along with a few more Hydra soldiers before he caught it again and secured it on his back, swerving the bike to avoid another oncoming jeep. The Hulk caught said offending jeep and tossed it aside easily, before continuing on his own rampage

Ahead of Steve, Katie shot downwards so she was 3 feet at most off the snow covered forest floor and spiralled straight into a group of soldiers like a bowling bowl into a set of pins, scattering them across the ground.

“STRRRRIIIKKKEEE!” she heard Tony quip and she laughed as The Avengers began to advance on the barricade that was the only defence left from keeping them out of the base. Steve sped his bike up, propelling himself over the barbed wire after Tony and Katie, Natasha swerved the truck behind him hard to the left and her and Clint jumped out, legs extended, kicking anyone they came into contact with.

“Up high Kiddo…” Tony called and the siblings sped forward, taking out a few more in their path before climbing up towards the base. Katie closed in, but suddenly hit a force field, which reverberated and sent her spiralling off to the side.

“Shit!” She exclaimed, righting herself whilst she looked round

“Language,” Steve reprimanded, the familiar joke telling-off slipping past his lips without him really thinking about it. “JARVIS what’s the view from upstairs?”

“The central building is protected by some kind of, energy shield.” JARVIS responded easily through the communication devices. “Strucker’s technology is well beyond anything of a HYDRA base we’ve taken.”

“Loki’s sceptre must be here,” Thor said as Steve saw him swing his hammer, fighting off more Hydra soldiers. “Strucker couldn’t mount this defence without it. At long last.”

 “At long last is lasting a little long, guys.” Katie’s voice echoed along with the sound of her beams as she aimed them at another bunch of soldiers who were shooting at her and Tony from the top of the fortress.

"Yeah,” Clint scoffed “I think we lost the element of surprise.”

“Wait a second,” Tony interrupted, “Is no one going to deal with the fact that Cap just said ‘language’?”

“I know,” Steve sighed speeding head on in the direction of one of the trucks. He pulled the brakes on the bike, launching himself forwards, his hands on the handlebars throwing the bike over his head watching it crash into the truck. “It just slipped out.” He finished with a sigh. It had been a joke, but he knew full well the joke was going to be on him now.

“Sir, the city is taking fire.” JARVIS informed them as Katie dodged the fire that was being aimed at them from the top of the fortress

“Well we know Strucker isn’t going to worry about civilian casualties,” Tony responded, “Send in the Iron Legion.”

“How do we get this force field down?” Katie asked

“There has to be a source.” Tony mused, as they circled the fortress again. “JARVIS…” “Working on it, Sir.”

“Clint!” Natasha’s frantic shout made both Tony and Katie pause, and that pause cost her as a flash hit the side of her suit and sent her ricocheting to the side, colliding heavily with one of the walls of the fortress. Her suit clanged heavily with the force-field and she once more dinged off the side.

“We have an enhanced in the field.” Steve reported, as Katie shook her head, flying back up after Tony. 

“Clint’s hit.” Natasha spoke again “Somebody wanna’ deal with that bunker?”

Katie looked down, scanning to find where Natasha was referring to but before she could do anything the Hulk gave a mighty roar and she turned to see him crash through it.

“Thank you.” Nat spoke again.

“Stark,” Steve grunted, and Katie turned her head to see he was fighting half a dozen or so agents. She shot towards them, taking two down with her repulsors as Steve’s shield flew from his arm in an arc and connected with another two. “We really need to get inside.”

“I’m closing in.” Tony responded as Katie landed by Steve, shooting at another soldier. More were approaching and as she shot and flew at them, she heard Tony’s triumphant voice in her ear. “Drawbridge is down people.”

Thor landed nearby with a flourish of lightening that took down the last set of soldiers for now. “The enhanced?” He questioned as Katie slid back her face plate.

“He’s a blur,” Steve said as he jogged towards them. “With all the new players we’ve faced I’ve never seen this. In fact, I still haven’t.”

“Clint’s hit pretty back guys,” Natasha’s concerned voice came through coms again, “We’re gonna need evac.”

“I can get Barton to the jet, the sooner we’re gone the better.” Thor glanced around. “You two and Stark secure the sceptre”

“Copy that.” Steve responded.

Katie looked around and suddenly noticed that a line of soldiers were approaching, with a tank directly behind them.

“Errrr boys…”

Thor and Steve both looked around and Thor titled his head to one side, curiously.

“Hmmm looks like they’re lining up.” He said,

“Well they’re excited.” Steve huffed holding up his shield and bracing himself while Katie took a step back and ducked. Thor brought his hammer down on the shield where the force reverberated off and hit the soldiers knocking them all down. A perfectly executed move, fresh from the training room.

“Find the sceptre.” Thor instructed, taking off.

“And for gosh sake’s watch your language.” Tony exclaimed sarcastically into the coms.

“That’s not going away anytime soon.” Steve sighed, looking at Katie. Even though half his face was obscured by his helmet she could see the look of exasperation on his face and grinned.

“Yeah, Tony is gonna bring that up at every opportunity he gets” she shrugged as they began to make their way to the entrance of the building.

**** Katie looked at her brother who was staring at the console of the jet, a faraway look in his eyes.

“You sure you’re alright Tone?” she asked him

“Yeah just you know, little bit relieved it’s done…finally” he said, flicking some more switches. Whilst Katie wasn’t sure she believed him, she knew she wasn’t going to get anything else out of him at the moment so she stood up and made her way over to her fiancée who was now stood with Thor, the pair of them looking at the Sceptre.

“So you think what powers this is a similar force to the tesseract?” Steve asked, breaking the silence between the two men who had, up until that point simply been staring at the thing, unable to believe they had it. He moved his arm gently, as Katie slid comfortably underneath it, dropping a kiss to the side of her head but other than that his attention was fully on Thor.

“Yes.” Thor pondered, his fingers skating over the glass it was encased in. “The power they both give off is immeasurable…”  

“Thor!” came Nat’s voice loudly, and all 3 of them turned to face her “Report on the Hulk.”

“Oh, err the gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims.” Thor smiled, raising his fist triumphantly but dropped it when Nat turned to look at him in disbelief as Katie hit him on the arm. Steve supressed a smile, looking upwards whilst shaking his head, both his hands dropping to his buckle.

“But not the screams of the dead,” Thor spoke again, quickly trying to correct himself as Bruce put his head in his hands and groaned as Nat shot the God another filthy look “Of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and errr gout.”

 “Gout?”  Katie looked at him as Steve shook besides her with supressed mirth. 

“What?” Thor shrugged and was about to open his mouth again but thankfully he was interrupted by Tony.

“Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul.” He cut in from the cockpit. “Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?”

“Yeah, she knows her way around.” Bruce responded quickly.

“Thanks.” Tony told him shortly before going back to the controls on the jet.  He muttered something, before he spoke a bit louder instructing JARVIS to take the wheel.

“Yes sir, approach vector is locked.” The disembodied voice responded as Tony moved to join Katie, Steve and Thor around the sceptre.

“It feels good, yeah?” Tony began placing his hand comfortably in his pockets as he looked at Thor “I mean, you’ve been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven’t enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…” he trailed off.

“But this, this brings it to a close.” Thor finished for him staring proudly down at the sceptre.

“As soon as we find out what else this has been used for.” Steve looked at the sceptre curiously. “I don’t just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?”

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard.” Tony assured glancing at the item then back at Thor “Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the farewell party. You’re staying, right?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Thor looked back to the sceptre, placing one of his hands on the box with a smile “A victory should be honoured with revels.”

“Yeah, who doesn’t love revels?” Tony spoke lightly. “You guys?” He asked looking at Katie and Steve as Steve slid his arm round his girl’s waist. Seeing as they lived at the tower, it was kind of a given they would be there anyway, but Tony had aimed the question at Steve more than his sister, still giving him the chance to avoid a hectic social gathering if he so wished but on this occasion he didn’t. Despite the fact he enjoyed a quiet life on the whole, he also quite enjoyed socialising on occasions too. And Thor was right, this called for a good party.

 "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so…yes, revels.” Steve replied smiling slightly as he used the arm around Katie’s waist to squeeze her hip as Tony turned to speak to Thor, outlining his plans for the Sceptre.

Katie spun her body so she was facing Steve, both his hands locking at the base of her back. “Sooo, Captain America going to let his hair down?” She grinned.

“No, Steve Rogers is.”

“Steve is definitely my favourite.” She nodded, running her hands up his chest, feeling the solid material of his Uniform. “Cap’s an asshole. And a bossy bastard.”

“I know, you tell me this a lot” He quipped, leaning down to give her a peck on the lips.

A few hours later they arrived home. Natasha and Bruce wheeled Clint out first, passing Maria Hill as she walked onto the jet, addressing Tony, moving out of the way as Thor also left, the sceptre tucked under his arm.

“Lab’s all set up, boss” Hill spoke.

Tony pointed at Steve who was crouching down putting a few things back in one of the equipment crates. “Uh, actually, he’s the boss… I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler.”

Katie smiled to herself as Steve sighed; pretending to be irritated, but the shine in his eyes told a different story. He thrived in his role as leader.

“What’s the word on Strucker?” He asked Maria, straightening up.

“NATO’s got him.” She said, pressing something on her tablet.

“What about the two enhanced?” Katie asked, “Anything on them?”

“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins.” She said handing Steve the tablet. He swiped across the screen and the image sprang to life. Katie watched the tablet in Steve’s hands as the two kids were partaking in some kind of demonstration.

“Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia’s had a rough history. It’s nowhere special but it’s on the way to everywhere special.”

Together the three of them strode across the landing pad, leaving Tony behind on the jet doing his usual post flight shut down controls. 

“Their abilities?” Steve quizzed as they headed through the locker area heading towards the elevator at the end.

“He’s got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.”

Steve looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

“He’s fast and she’s weird.” Katie said, rephrasing it for him. Maria let out a small smirk.

“Well, they’re going to show up again.” He said, pressing the button for the elevator.

“Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker’s experiments. Its nuts” Maria said as Katie and Steve stepped in to the elevator and turned to face her. Katie looked down at her feet, smiling before she glanced sideways at Steve who was looking at Maria.

“Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?” His voice was ladled with sarcasm. He knew Hill hadn’t meant it like that but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to jibe her.

Maria realised what she had said and looked at him, taking a deep breath. “We’re not at war, Captain” she responded.

“They are.” He said, and then the lift door shut.

“Turns out Cap is Bossy and sarcastic…” Katie raised an eyebrow, not looking at him.

He paused for a second, smirking, before he turned to her, gently pushing her shoulders to back her into the wall of the elevator as his lips crashed onto hers, body pinning her into place. He kissed her, hard and his hand slid up to grasp her chin, holding her head in position as his tongue tangled easily with hers. It took Katie a second to catch up with what was going on, he’d surprised her slightly, but once she did she kissed him back, hungrily.  The elevator stopped and he stepped back, leaving her breathless and hanging as he exited the lift wearing a huge smirk, tablet still in his hand.

Whilst Steve headed off to find a quiet corner in which to study the tablet some more, Katie, once she had managed to calm her spiking libido, walked into the lab area. Tony was coming down the steps, out of the room Clint was in. Bruce was stood just outside, looking through the window.

“How is he?” Katie asked.

“Well he’s still Barton so…”

“That’s terrible.” Banner shook his head.

“He’s good, he’s thirsty so…” Tony shrugged. Banner smiled and headed into the lab as Katie held back, looking at Tony.

“And you, are you sure you’re alright?” She asked. “You looked a bit peaky before.”

“Just the amount of stuff that was in Strucker’s lab.” Her brother murmured “There was a tonne of it Kiddo, a fuck tonne. We didn’t do as good a job of cleaning up after the battle here as we thought.”

“We did the best we could.” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Yeah maybe, anyway I’m going to go fix a drink so…”

He wandered off and Katie watched him go. Something was telling her that her brother wasn’t being completely honest with what was bothering him, but she knew better than to press him. He’d tell her when he wanted to.

As she walked into the room where Clint was led, Natasha was stood beside him, Dr Cho’s machine working on the wound in his side.

 “So is he going to be okay Doc because pretending to need this guy really keeps the team together” Natasha teased. Clint muttered back a response that Katie didn’t quite catch whilst Banner bent over the kit that was currently mending his wound together, his nose centimetres away from Barton’s side as he studied it, a look of astonishment and awe on his face.

“She’s creating tissue.” He spoke incredulously, looking at Natasha then to Katie.

Helen Cho smiled, and checked the wound and the machine before looking at Banner “If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes.”

“Oh he’s flatlining.” Tony returned to the lab with 7 plastic cups full of his power green smoothie that had become a bit of a post mission ritual. Katie took one from him as he continued to pass them around whilst teasing Clint. “Call it. Time?”

“No, no, no. I’m going to live forever. I���m gonna be made of plastic.” Clint glanced up.

“Here’s your beverage” Tony handed him a cup.

“You’ll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won’t be able to tell the difference.” Dr Cho assured him. 

“Well, I don’t have a girlfriend.” Clint swallowed the mouthful of drink he had taken, sharing a glance with Katie and she smirked.

No, just a wife.

“That I can’t fix.” Helen Cho smiled, before looking at my brother “This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust”.

“Well, that is exactly the plan. And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday.”

“Unlike you, I don’t have a lot of time for parties.” She paused, looking down at her clip board “Will Thor be there?”

“Oh yes…” Katie placed the empty cup on the tray and picking up the remaining two. “He’s a big fan of revels.”

She headed out of the lab and down the steps into the living area to find Thor and Steve, smiling when she spotted them both stood looking out at the City below.

“You would hardly know a battle had occurred at all” Thor was saying as he accepting the cup Katie held out to him as she moved to stand between them both. Thor dropped a large arm round her shoulder in a friendly manner, the two having grown even closer over the last six months as she’d taken it upon herself to help him get to grips with living on Earth as much as she could. “It never ceases to amaze me how you people just carry on.”

“We’re a resilient species.” Steve took the drink Katie offered him, his eyes straying to Thor’s arm. He didn’t mind the God’s protective nature over his girl, he knew there was nothing more to friendship, but he wasn’t overly keen on his tactile nature with her. 

“Yes, just like Ramularts.” Thor’s arm moved from Katie as she looked round at him and he noticed her blank faces “Big, grey animals, huge horns, purple eyes. You don’t have those on Earth?”

“Err no.” Katie shook her head, as this time it was Steve’s arm which curled round her shoulders. “No we don’t.”

“Oh.” Thor said, before shrugging “Well they are hideous. A bit like this green concoction your brother insists we drink”

“It’s good for you…” Katie grinned “Contains Two of your Five a day. I should know, I drank enough of it after my little vacation in Canada”

“Don’t.” Steve sighed, his arm pulling her a little closer. He hated it when she made jokes about her kidnapping.

Thor raised his eyebrow. “Five a day of what?”

“Never mind.” Katie chuckled “If you don’t like it, tip it into the plant pot. He’ll never know.

*****

It was a bit strange the following few days, waking up and knowing there was nothing that needed to be done. Whilst not every single day of the last Six months had been spent running around on or planning missions, even when she was at work in SIP, there had always been that part of Katie’s mind that would not switch off, knowing they had a job to do, not to mention Steve had been like a coiled spring constantly waiting and searching for the next lead.

With SHIELD all but gone to the public and off doing God knows what, the Avengers were more important than ever, and Katie knew that Tony and Steve had been discussing expanding, recruiting a whole team of support staff and scientists. However, that was all to come and for the time being it was pushed to the back of her mind, and Steve’s it appeared. Katie didn’t think she had ever seen him so relaxed. He slept in, lazed around the apartment, was happy to have duvet days. It was, frankly, great and she couldn’t help but hope that this could be the start of a relatively ‘normal’ life for the pair of them.

That particular morning, Thursday, the clock on her bedside table informed her that it was gone 10 am when she woke. Steve wasn’t in the bed besides her, but that wasn’t surprising. She stretched and turned over onto her side, instructing Jarvis to retract the blinds in the bedroom to reveal the large ceiling to floor windows that looked out over the New York Skyline. In her opinion their floor really did have the best view the building could offer, something which made her Super Soldier very happy, as he loved to spend his down time drawing the skyline from the art room she had gotten Tony to convert one of their spare rooms into for him at Christmas.

She also had another surprise for him up her sleeve. Steve had recently been researching into getting a place in Brooklyn for the pair of them, suggesting it would be nice for them to have their own place when they got married. So as a surprise she had made an appointment for later today in the afternoon with a Realtor Tony had recommended to look at a house they had both really liked on the internet. She hadn’t told Steve that yet, it was a surprise and something she was strangely excited about.

Steve heard Jarvis respond to Katie’s request and smiling he got up from where he had been watching the news on the TV, made her a coffee out and headed into the bedroom. He immediately noticed her eyes scan him up and down, grinning to himself as he raised an eyebrow as she took in the fact he was in nothing but a grey pair of sweats that hung off his hips casually as he crossed the grey carpet towards her.

“You know if I looked a woman up and down like that in the street I’d be called a pervert.”

“Yeah well…” She said, pulling herself into a sitting position “We’re not in the street, and you’re my fiancée so I can perve as much as I want.”

He snorted as he set the mug of coffee down on the bedside table and she moved over so he could sit on the edge of the bed.

“Morning, Gorgeous.” He grinned, dropping a kiss gently onto her lips. 

“Been in the gym?” She asked, taking in his hair which was still damp from the shower.

“Running. I popped in to see Tony and Banner on my way back up.”

“They still running tests on the Sceptre?” Katie took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah, I think they’ve been there all night!” he said, running a hand through his damp, tousled hair

“Wouldn’t surprise me. Tony’s relentless once he gets the bit between his teeth”

“So, what do you want to do today?” Steve’s nose buried into her hair. “Fancy heading down to the Pier?”

“Well…” Katie said, setting her mug down and taking his hand in hers, lacing her fingers with his “I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” He asked, raising his eyebrow, a grin spreading across his face.

“mnmmmhmmmm” she said, nodding.

He tried his best to get her to tell him where they were going but Katie didn’t. She had a suspicion he would guess as they made their way there however. But still, it was fun. They set off just after midday and cruised over Brooklyn Bridge, the sun bouncing off the Hudson as they left Manhattan. Katie drove her Camero through the various neighbourhoods, occasionally Steve would point things out from his past, as they came to him, enjoying his little nostalgia trip. And then when she turned left at one particular junction he immediately figured out where they were going.

“You are unbelievable.” He chuckled.

“What?”

“We’re going to see that house, the one in Clinton Hill…” Steve’s eyebrow raised as he shot a glance at her.

“Might be.” Katie smirked.

They carried through the neighbourhood and Katie eventually pulled into a pair of open metal gates which led to a large, red brick three storey with an immaculate garden area to the front and stopped behind a gold, BMW convertible.  To the left of the front door the drive way sloped down under an arch to a large garage and the sprawling grounds at the back. Steve had liked it immediately when he saw it. The architecture inside and outside was quirky enough to appeal to the artist in him, it was in a quiet enough neighbourhood and the location and plot meant they could easily up the security. It all came at a hefty price tag though, not that it mattered to Katie.

“You do know this was the poshest place to live in Brooklyn.” He turned to look at Katie as she undid her seat belt.

“Still is. But then, I’m a very posh kinda woman.” Katie grinned, climbing out of the car. Steve did the same and made his way round to her side, dropping an arm round her shoulders.

 “What do you think?”

“Looks even better in real life.” Steve looked up at the huge, elegant mansion. As they stood looking at the façade of the building, the large oak door opened and outstepped a tall, thin, very good looking woman dressed in an extremely tight grey dress, high Manolas with her blonde hair pulled up into an immaculate bun. 

“Hi.” She was crisp, and business like. “You must be Miss Stark and Captain Rogers?”

“Yeah, sorry, Danny?” Katie frowned. When Tony had set her up with his Real Estator friend Danny, She had assumed it was a man.

“Danni with an I!” She held out her hand, clearly clocking the look of confusion. “I get that a lot.”

She turned to Steve, and looked at him appreciatively, her whole body language changing from one of business to friendship as she shook his hand. Katie rolled her eyes. Steve, as ever, was utterly clueless as he beamed at the woman.

“So the way I normally do this, is I’ll walk you in, show you round, give you a bit of history, then we can have a chat after…” She said, as they followed her up the steps, Steve stopping to allow Katie to go first, his hand gently in the small of her back. They entered into large, wooden floored hall way, which was cool but welcoming. To the right was a huge staircase which swept up and round in a dog leg.

“So the house was impeccably restored in 2007 by the present owners with close attention given to the preservation of historic details.” Dani spoke the sales patter as the pair of them looked up and round. “There are five floors, seven bedrooms, three full baths, three half baths in 3 of the bedrooms, including the master, front and rear gardens, parking, double garage and a pool house.”

She turned round and looked at Katie “And if you’re anything like your brother you’ll appreciate one of the 5 floors is a wine cellar-slash-party room. We all know Tony likes his parties, lord knows I’ve been to enough.”  she winked at Steve and besides him he felt Katie bristle.

Uh-oh.

Katie frowned slightly, unable to decide if she was making a joke or referring to the fact this woman and her brother had once, well, you know. Fixing the woman with her best passive face she smiled.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”  Katie’s voice was thickly sweet “I’m normally pretty good with faces.”

The two women looked at one another, Dani-with-an-I’s face slipped slightly but she recovered and turned to Steve.

“So if you want to follow me…” She beamed, a mouthful of perfect, white teeth.

“Please, lead the way.” Steve smiled at her, ever the gentleman and Katie gave another roll of her eyes as she led them from the room, hips swinging exaggeratedly.

As they walked round, despite the fact she was openly flirting with Steve and completely ignoring the fact Katie was there, it was clear the woman really did know her stuff. She’d obviously researched this house down to the ground as no detail was missed.

Frankly the house was stunning, and as they moved from room to room, taking it all in, Steve noticed the way Katie’s smile grew wider the more they saw. He could tell she’d fallen in love with it already.

“All of the electrical and plumbing was updated and central air-con and heating was installed throughout the house” Dani-with-an-I said as they made their way back down the stairs “And the facade was redone as well as the roof.”

“I’m not going to lie…” Steve nodded as they made their way into the huge kitchen again, “It’s every bit as stunning in real life as it looks on the internet.”

“It’s gorgeous isn’t it Steve.” She flashed those pearly whites at him again as her hand dropped to his forearm, giving it a small squeeze. Katie took a deep breath and grit her teeth. Steve didn’t so much as bat an eyelid although Katie could have sworn he shot her a sideways glance, the glimmer of a smirk playing across his handsome face. But when she looked back his face was utterly passive.

“How big is the land span?” He asked, striding to the back door

“Couple of hundred feet. The pool is roughly 20 by 40 so you can gage it from that.”

 “May I?” He asked, gesturing to the door which led out of the kitchen to the rear.

“Please, go right ahead.” Sh smiled, stepping forward to unlock the rear door. Steve stepped out and strode down the lawn area of the property to inspect the gardens looking for what security improvements they would need to make. They weren’t overlooked either which he really liked. No, he could definitely see them here together, maybe raising a family in a few years…a dog… a smile crossed his face as he looked around. Yeah, he liked it.

Katie watched as Steve looked around the garden, and Dani-with-an-I excused herself and pottered off to answer a phone call. Katie turned her head, nosily listening in and caught one line which instantly pissed her right off.

“Yes, I think he likes it. It’s a good sign… he might yes. I know, right? Captain America…who knew!? And he’s even more gorgeous in real life! Yeah, tell me about it…”

Whoever she was on the call to was clearly speaking back and Dani laughed before saying she needed to go and Katie heard her heels clicking as she walked back to the large kitchen. Katie glanced at Steve who was walking back towards the house, and figuring she had enough time she decided to pull the daft bint up on her attitude.

“And do you think I like it?” Katie asked as Dani walked into the room.

“I’m sorry?” Dani frowned.

“Do you think I like the house?” Katie shrugged “I mean you seem overly concerned about whether Captain America does just curious if my opinion counts?”

Dani floundered for her answer, as Katie continued. “I’ve watched you for the last hour or so eyeing him up.” Katie glared at her.  

“Katie…I didn’t…” “Miss Stark, thank you.” Katie interrupted, not once breaking the eye contract. “And if you touch my fiancee again, I will snap your hand off.”

Dani swallowed nervously and looked away for a split second. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any offence.”

“Everything ok?” Steve asked, stepping back into the kitchen. You could cut the tension between the women with a knife. He couldn’t help but feel slightly sorry for Dani as Katie was utterly frightening when she wanted to be.

“Yes, absolutely, me and Dani were just discussing the price and maybe how she’s going to broker us a good deal with the vendor…” Katie said sweetly, before she turned to Dani, raising an eyebrow. Steve had to bite back his laughter.

“Yes.” Dani cleared her throat, “Absolutely. So it’s currently on the market for offers in the region of 3.3 million, but I think with some good negotiation I’ll get them down to around the flat 3 mark.” 

“Try again.” Katie smiled at her and Dani swallowed again, her smile slipping slightly.

“Miss Stark, this is a very good price for this area…” “I’m not disputing that.” Katie shook her head, her eyes never once leaving the woman in front of her “But we would be cash buyers, with no chain…obviously if you don’t think you can get it any lower I would be happy to handle the negotiations myself.”

Steve bit his lip and became very focussed on examining the ceiling. “I’ll see what I can do.” Dani-with-an-I said after a short pause.

“Thank you.” Katie smiled.

They all exchanged pleasantries, Katie’s handshake was especially firm, and then Steve and her left, exiting down the steps.

“You’re scary when you’re angry” he said into her ear.

“I’m not angry, merely slightly irritated.” Katie snorted “Her attitude left something to be desired. Here, wanna drive home?” she tossed him the keys.

He didn’t say anything else, just expertly caught the keys in his left hand, but the smug look on his face was enough to let Katie know she had been busted. As they drove back down the tree lined avenue towards the main road, their conversation turned to how beautiful the location was and Steve pointing out how far away the area was from where he grew up. As he spoke, however, something in his stomach tightened. It was a really far cry from the life he had known before the war, when he had been lucky just to be able to afford the rent every month in the small four roomed apartment. He’d always dreamed of being able to afford a nice place in his future, keep a roof over his family’s head, but here well it would be a joint effort. And he was surprised to find that he felt a little bit inadequate about that.

 “Do we really need 7 bedrooms?” he asked suddenly.

“Does Tony really need 6 cars?”  Katie shrugged “They don’t all have to be bedrooms. The smaller rooms on the top floor could be an art studio and a cinema room…”

Steve fell completely quiet. Katie glanced sideways at him. There was a solemn look on his face. A look she knew meant he was brooding over something.

“Soldier, what is it?”

“Nothing…”

“You can’t lie for shit. Try again.”

He shifted and looked straight out of the window ahead, biting his bottom lip gently. He took a deep breath and as they stopped at a traffic light he turned to face her.

“It’s a lot of money, I’m just not sure I can afford it…”

“Maybe you can’t, but we can.” Katie waved his comment away. “Plus you’re on the Stark payroll now…”

“That’s not the point…” he sighed

“Then what is?” “I know this sounds old fashioned but I always wanted to provide for my girl, you know.”

Katie watched as he shrugged gently eyes not straying from the road.

“Yeah you’re right…it is old fashioned.” She rolled her eyes. Normally she had a lot of time for his ways but not when it came to things like this. “Does me having a lot of money bother you that much?”

“Of course not…” he said.

“So why are we even having this discussion? We’re going to be married at some point, it doesn’t matter who has what. It’s not an issue.” she took a breath “You know, considering you’re not all that bothered about me taking your name when we get married this seems like an odd thing to get caught up on.” “Hang on, I never said I wasn’t bothered about you not taking my name.” He corrected, shaking his head. “I’d love nothing more than for you to be Mrs Rogers. What I said was that I understand your reasons for being a little bit…hesitant about it, with the business and all.”

“I’m not hesitant.” She shot back, and he looked at her, raising an eyebrow snorting.

“What was it you said?” He looked at her briefly “You can’t imagine not being a Stark especially when your business is called Stark Independent Publishers?”

She stayed silent, looking out of the window.

“I got news for you, Sweetheart, you’ll always be a Stark. Name or not. You’re too much of a pain in my ass not to be.” Steve concluded, shooting her a look. She gave a small smile as he pulled the car up 5th towards the tower.

“And you’ll always be my Soldier. My safe-place, regardless of whether you solely provide for me or not, which by the way is a fucking stupid notion anyway, didn’t your Ma bringing you up alone teach you anything?”

“Wow.” Steve raised both his eyebrows “That’s harsh.”

“But fair.” she countered “Are we arguing now?” He looked at her, the corner of his mouth twitching as he pulled up and waited for the entrance to the underground car park open as it recognised the plate.

“No, I’m just pointing out that you’re being an old fashioned dork about something that really isn’t that big a deal. I want to share my life with you, Steve and that means everything that comes with it.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re right.” He shook his head. “You’re absolutely right, I’m sorry.” he took a deep breath “I suppose since coming out of the ice this is the first time I’ve really had to think about where I’m gonna live and not had it all planned out for me.” He cut the car engine and Katie looked at him, softening slightly as he turned to her, his blue eyes locking onto hers.

“Baby, there’s no rush.” She looked at him, fully understanding what he was saying. “There’s plenty of other property to look at.”

“Yeah, perhaps I should give Danni-with-an-I a call, see what else she has on her books. I mean she did give us a good tour.” Steve nodded, a small smile playing on his face.

Katie narrowed her eyes at him. That’s not all she wanted to give you. She was flirting with you.”

“She probably flirts with everyone”

“She wanted you.”

“Well, she can’t have me.” Steve grinned, raising an eyebrow at her, that annoying smug grin spreading across his face.

“Damned right.” She pushed on his shoulders gently as she clambered over onto his lap. “I don’t take kindly to people touching my stuff…” “Yeah, you really didn’t you learn to share as a child did you?” He teased, his hands sliding up each of her bare thighs, underneath the hem of her jersey dress

“Not when it comes to the important things, no…” She murmured, pressing her lips to his. Her tongue slid into his mouth, tangling easily with his as he flexed his hips up groaning as the growing bulge in his trousers pressed against her spot as she pushed down hard against him, a moan brewing in her throat.

“Baby we’re in the garage.” he said softly, more of a reminder than a protest. 

“I know…” She kissed him again as she began to undo his buckle and then the buttons on his jeans. He tilted his hips slightly so she could manoeuvre his trousers down and he shifted so he was in the right position as she leaned forward again to kiss him, his lips gently trailing down to pepper her neck with soft, warm kisses, as he pushed up against her again and again, his erection pressing at the thin barrier of her underwear. Her hands moved from his chest and she slid the garment to the side and his hands rested on her hips as she pushed down, taking him in. Both of them let out a groan and Katie began to work up and down, rocking her hips.

The darker side of Steve found the risk of someone coming and finding them, all be it pretty minimal, a fucking big turn on and his hands pulled Katie further down as he thrust upwards, fucking her like a greedy, horny teenager. Her head banged against the roof of the car, but Katie didn’t care as his hands crept up the front of her dress, sliding under the cups of her bra. His hands tweaked at her nipples and she groaned louder, the familiar pull in her stomach getting more and more prominent. As she pushed down again he let out a groan and sat up slightly, so his lips were on her neck nipping her skin with his teeth as he thrust upwards, and she let out a cry, tilting her head backwards.

“Stevie, I’m gonna…” she stuttered and as he thrust upwards again, she was gone. Her cries loud as he too let out a loud groan as he shuddered, wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her to him as she rode out wave, after wave, and he emptied himself inside her, laying his head back against the seat, eyes closed in bliss. She fell forward and lay her forehead against his, both of them breathing deeply as their noses began their familiar dance.

“You know…” He chuckled, cracking an eye open as she grinned cheekily. “I’m glad you weren’t taught how to share…”

***** Chapter 23 Part 1

**Original Posting**

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #703: Meditation (Sonic)

1:24 p.m. Outside of the Rabbits and Chaotix's Household.......

Cream: (Happily Runs Out of the House With Cheese Following Her) Charmy! Charmy! You will NOT believe what Cheese and I just made together!

Cheese: Chao Chao Chao Chao! (Shows Charmy What Him and Cream Made)

Charmy: Wooooah.....What are those? Headbands?

Cream: (Smiles Proudly) Flower Headbands. (Puts the One Headband on top of her Head and Then on top of Charmy's Helmet) Mommy helped us make it just all of us to wear! (Turns to Espio) We even made one for you too, Espio!

Espio: (Mediating in Complete Silence and Focus)....................

Cream: Espio?

Charmy: Yeahhhh. I don't think you're gonna get anything out of him for a while. He's medicating. Whatever that is....

Cream: Mediating?.....(Interest Starting to Peak) Ooh! Is this one of his ninja trainings that he usually does on his free time?

Charmy: (Shrugged) Probably. He told it helps him relax and thinking clearly or whatever.

Cream: I wonder what he's thinking about......

Cheese: (Curious About Espio's Meditating Activity) Chao Chao.....

Charmy: (Starts Snickering) He's probably thinking about his future wedding with Blaze and Silver.

Cream: (Immediately Pouts at Charmy) Charmy! Espio made it very clear that we are not allowed to talk about that kind of subject!

Cheese: (Nodded in Agreement) Chao Chao Chao.

'A Bit of Silence'

Cream: Buuuuuuut if he realllly does want to have a wedding with those two in the near future....(Giddying Up with Joy and Excitement) I really hope he makes me the Flower Girl!~ I love that role oh so much!~

Cheese: (Cheers Happily) Chao Chao Chao!~

Charmy: (Smiles Brightly) I'd be pretty rad Ring Bearer myself. (Place her Hand on his Chin While Thinking) Though, I'm not sure where I'm gonna find a bear though......

Cream: (Puts on a Disbelief Look on her Face) I-I... really don't think that's what a Ring Bearer is, Charmy.....

Charmy: Wait. (Raised an Eyebrow in Confusion) Really? How come?

Cream: Well, I mean, you can't just bring an actual bear to a wedding. It could try to hurt everyone if they get angry. The role of a Ring Bearer is someone who make his/her way to the idle and give the two rings to the Bride and the Groom.

Charmy: So all I had to do just bring the rings to the married couple?

Cream: (Happily Nodded) Mmhmm.

Charmy: Huh. That sounds a lot more easier to do than I thought it would be.

Cream: It is pretty easy for the most part. But I'm sure you'll do a wonderful at it.

Cheese: (Happily Nodded in Agreement) Chao Chao.

Charmy: (Smiles Brightly) Thanks, guys! I had no idea you're pretty good at knowing these kinds of stuff, Cream.

Cream: Well....(Giggles Softly) Truth be told, mommy, Cheese and, I used to watch a lot of wedding related movies in past. I've always wanted to be in one someday....Which reminds me, I reallllly hope Mr. Vector ask my mommy to marry him very soon~

Charmy: (Starts Snickering Again) Knowing Vector, he'll probably choke the moment he ask for her hand.

Cream: (Went Back to Pouting at Charmy Again) No he won't! He'll have the courage to ask her one of these days. I just know it! (Turns to Espio) Right, Espio!?

Espio: (Still Mediating in Silence) ..............................

Cream: Oh right. I forgot he's still mediating. He seems really good at it too.

Charmy: I know, right? Not even a sound of our voices can phase him. (Puts On a Evil Smile on his Face) Wanna see who makes the biggest noise on his eardrums?

Cream: No, Charmy. We need to let to let him mediate in peace. Mommy and Vector didn't raise us to rude.

Charmy: ('Sighs in Defeat') Fiiiiiiiiiine. We won't ruin his little mediation or whatever......Wanna sit down with him till he's finish?

Cream: (Smiles Softly) I'd love idea.

Cheese: (Smiles Softly) Chao Chao.

Once Cream slowly and silently place the spare flower headband on top of Espio's head, the duo begins to sit next to the mediating ninja in their respective sides while Cheese sat on Cream's lap.

Cream: ('Sighs Relaxingly') This is nice.....

Charmy: Yeah. Not as exciting as I hope for, but it'll do.

Cheese: Chao Chao.

Espio: (Still Mediating in Silence) ..................................

Cream: (Turns to Charmy) Hey, Charmy?

Charmy: (Turns to Cream) Yeah?

Cream: (Smiles Softly) I'm really glad you and the boys moved in with us.

Charmy: (Eyes Widened in Genuine Surprise) Really? (Chuckles Lightly) I thought you guys would've gotten tired if us by now.

Cream: Never! We enjoy being with you three the moment we started spending time with one another. Mr. Vector is like the daddy I've always wanted and you and Espio are already like brothers to Cheese and I.

Cheese: (Happily Nodded in Agreement) Mmhmm.

Charmy: Awww~ (Smiles Brightly) We like being with you guys too!~ You two are already like a sister and brother to me and your mom is like the BEST mom ever!

Cream: (Giggles Softly) She can be your mom too, you know?

Charmy: I know that! All I'm saying here is that I glad we all became a big family and that.....(Smiles Brightly) I love all you guys a bunch!

Cream: (Heart Begins to Melt into Pure Happiness) We love you too, Charmy~ (Turns to Espio) Espio, I know you're still mediating and all, but...I just want you to know that all of us in this family loves you very much and we'll be there for you no matter what. (Gives Espio a Kiss on the Cheek Before Hugging him and Resting her Head onto his Shoulder) I promise.

Cheese: (Happily Hugs Espio as Well) Chao Chao Chao.

And with that, Espio finally begins to smile softly while he still in the process of meditating.

@keyenuta

@26shann

@lovekittynoir

@caleb13frede

@italian-love-cake

@ma-lemons

@albion-93

@cyber-wildcat

@rechicken-and-waffles

[mayorofcattown]

lol it’s been a while, but finally making an update on the original VN I’ve been (very slowly) working on. I meant to do this like a month ago but wanted to finish up some sketches first and then all of well everything happened and I got distracted oops. planning on just posting most general updates on here tho, there’s not much point putting original stuff behind a paywall atm, I figure the better way to get ppl interested is to talk abt it here

anyway I’ve decided to just jump right into making it rather than trying to make another smaller game, mostly cause I haven’t had any better ideas and also cause the coding was honestly easier than I expected anyway.

Been making some progress on the design/aesthetic stuff (like the logo and sprite/menu roughs above), plus some boring back end stuff setting up some of the mechanics/systems the game is gonna use in renpy, which tbh sounds way fancier than it is... but anyway this will get long so I’m gonna put the rest under the cut

I posted it above, but I made a new logo! I honestly wasn’t planning to at first, I was just making some minor updates to it so I could try out some interface layouts, and then next minute I’d been fussing with it for like four hours, oops. But I like the way it turned out (tho I might fiddle with the i a bit more...) it fits the aesthetic nicely, tho I still need to make an actual like. vector version of it to actually use in things

here’s a comparison of it next to the old one if anyone’s curious (old one is top)

anyway, as for the game itself I’ve mostly just been setting up the different stat systems, and I’ve got a working glossary, stats and friendship system going, though they’re very bare bones at the moment, as you can see below

they weren’t actually as hard to put in as I thought they would be tbh, the glossary was actually harder weirdly enough ha ha. though they’ll probably get more complicated once there’s actual Content to deal with...the actual game itself is still very basic tho

I have been doing some interface designs, all still very rough wireframes tho. most of them honestly were basically illegible to anyone but me, but I do have this nicer looking wireframe of the stats page that I put together. I tried to work as much with the existing renpy layout as possible, as editing the layouts of things in renpy is a Huge Pain compared to just changing colours and slapping nice background art in is lol. the fourth character here is a character who I’m still working on finalising some of the design and story for, so I can’t show her yet, but Soon

one new character I Can show off tho (as you can see from the first sprite art I posted, ignore how messy it is, they were mostly just to rough out the interface) is this guy:

I am very indecisive abt names but I’m like 90% settled on naming him ‘Kai Parata’, he’s a young mechanic working at his family’s mechanic place where he mostly works repairing mechanical pets. He and Trinity become very good friends ;)

On the subject of the story, I haven’t been working on it as actively as the other parts, in the sense that I haven’t written any actual scripts or anything, mostly just spit balling ideas around parts of the story I’ve been struggling with. I’ve had this story idea since I was like, 15, and that’s definitely meant a lot of the writing process has been course correcting Bad Ideas I came up with when I was a teen lol. And the ‘bad idea’ I’d been struggling with lately was the police elements of the setting. I’d been pretty hmm abt it for a year or two now already but these last few months were uhh definitely the nail in the coffin that made me actually commit to changing it. While the story never really framed them as ‘good’, I mean its a dystopia the cops being shitty is basically a genre requirement, and it’s a fairly minor part of the story, I still didn’t feel anyone would be comfortable reading abt it, and I def wasn’t comfortable writing it anymore.

But once I actually dug into it, I realised it wasn’t actually super critical to the story, I’d rly only made a cop character in the first place cause I needed something to contrast a ‘hacker’ and that’s the first thing I thought of, but once I thought abt it there were wayy better options. Turns out making the character guy working in security at the big wig tech firm Skyler hacks into accomplishes literally the exact same beats story wise, fits way better with the story’s themes and world building, and also gave me a tonne of ideas for his backstory which I’d been stuck on for a while. And it isn’t going to make people’s skin crawl anywhere near as much... It’s certainly a much better direction for the story either way.

Anyway, that about wraps up most of what I’ve been working on. Next I’m probably going to start setting up the interface designs in game, and (hopefully) actually plotting out some of the story. I might also do some rough sprites and things too. Also actually design some of the environments too oops... anyway we’ll see.

Currently my plans for actually releasing stuff is probably just work on the game until I’ve got most of the core elements designed/implemented, and then just release a demo of the first few chapters for ppl to play so I can test it/gain interest. I had been considering doing like a mini spinoff first, but I never had any good ideas lol so I’ve just decided to go with a demo version. Who knows how long it’ll be before that happens tho, while the story doesn’t need to be finished I will need a p decent portion of the art done to even release anything. But things are getting there ya know

[tsarisfanfiction]

Desert Sands: Part 3

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family Characters: Scott, John, Alan, Virgil, Gordon, Kayo, EOS

Still here, still not finished with this fic, but here’s another chunk of it to tide things over while I work on new stuff.  Healthy dose of TAG-physics involved here, not gonna lie.

<<<Part 2

“You want to do a three hundred mile HALO drop?” Alan asked, aghast. John rolled his eyes.

“That’s what I said, yes.”

“But that could kill you!  HALO drops aren’t supposed to be anywhere near that, John!”

“I know,” he sighed, checking the mechanical release on his exosuit wings. “If you’ve got another idea, I’d love to hear it.”

Silence answered and a part of John sagged.  He was, as Alan had said many times, a ‘console jockey’.  He dealt with data and holograms, and left the actual plan-plans to the guys on the ground.  While he could, of course, make plans and execute them, experience was the best teacher and even Alan was at least his peer on active participation on rescues.

“In that case-”

“How about the space elevator?” Alan interrupted, and John blinked, started.

“The space elevator?” he asked.  “But Thunderbird Five can’t get here; the other space station’s in the way.”

“Thunderbird Five can’t get here under her own power,” Alan corrected. “But what if we used Thunderbird Three?”

His brother was staring at him in earnest, but John wasn’t sure what the connection was.  All the genius in the world didn’t help decipher the way a teenager’s mind worked, sometimes.

“What about using Thunderbird Three?” he asked, cautiously.

“Thunderbird Five can only move in linear vectors, so she can’t manoeuvre around the other space station, but how about if we use Thunderbird Three to move her?” Alan explained.  “With Thunderbird Five’s thrusters to move, and Thunderbird Three’s thrusters for manoeuvring, we can get her here and then you can take the space elevator down.”

John blinked at him.  He’d never considered that Thunderbird Three would be able to move Thunderbird Five, but considering some of the things the space rocket had moved, it was perfectly a perfectly reasonable assumption.

“Okay,” he said.  It was Alan’s turn to blink.

“Okay?”

“Okay.  It’s a good idea, Alan; we’ll give it a go.”

His brother’s mouth slowly stretched into a grin, while his blue eyes sparked excitedly.

“F.A.B.  Thunderbird Three returning to Thunderbird Five.”

The red rocket rolled around, nose pointing back towards the space station, and then they were off.

“Alan, any progress on dealing with that EMP?” Gordon broke in, making contact with Thunderbird Three.  “Oh, there you are John.  Tell us next time you plan on leaving Thunderbird Five unmanned, maybe?”

The aquanaut looked grumpy, and was clearly piloting.  That meant Virgil was dealing with Kayo, still.

“Sorry,” John allowed.  “We’ve located the EMP and have a plan of action to disable it, which we’ll be commencing shortly.”

“How?” Virgil cut in, apparently linked in from the medical bay.  “We can’t get close.”

“I’ll drop down on it from above using the space elevator and disable it like that,” John informed them.

“John, two problems.  You said you can’t get Thunderbird Five above the Sahara, and the space elevator will also get fried.”  Virgil sounded less than impressed with the plan, and John had a brief idea of just how much the bear would have torn into him if they’d gone with the HALO drop.

He resolved not to let Virgil know about that.  Ever.

“Alan’s creative,” he responded instead.  “Let EOS know once you’ve dropped Thunderbird Shadow back at home.”

“John-”  He ended the transmission, knowing he was going to get complained at later but needing to concentrate on the finer points of the plan.  Using the space elevator was all well and good, but Virgil was right – it would get fried, so even if he had Alan and EOS control it from Thunderbird Five, he couldn’t travel down inside it or he’d be locked in, and he didn’t have the tools to manually get himself out in a hurry.

If no-one was in danger, he’d do it, but Scott had been missing for over an hour and despite his reassurances to Alan the voice of cool logic in the back of his head was reminding him that Scott had been doing Mach 15 before being hit with the EMP.  John had no intentions of taking any longer than necessary.  At absolute best it would be another half an hour before anyone could reach him – fifteen minutes to descend, another fifteen to turn it off and get Thunderbird Three down into the Sahara, despite his earlier declarations that Alan would not be doing that – and with Thunderbird Two having to take Thunderbird Shadow back home, it would be at least another hour before their main land-based equipment was on site.

He was going to have to take a slight risk, and ride on the outside of the space elevator.  Scott and Virgil had both chewed him out for doing that exact thing before, but with a brother’s life potentially on the line John had no qualms about doing it again.

“We’re here,” Alan announced unnecessarily as Thunderbird Three once again locked into the gravity wheel.  “John, set Thunderbird Five’s thrusters to half power.  We just need her to start moving; Thunderbird Three will do the rest.”

“F.A.B.”  There were few occasions when John would take orders from Alan, but Alan was the better pilot and towing Thunderbird Five was going to be a difficult operation.  He slipped through the airlock, not bothering to shed the exosuit when he’d be needing it again later, and engaged the thrusters.

Thunderbird Five was not like her sisters.  She had powerful thrusters, mainly for use in evading meteors and other space hazards, but was not specifically designed for travelling through space.  That was Thunderbird Three’s job, and it was with the knowledge that he was putting his ‘bird almost entirely in Alan’s hands that he set the thrusters to half power and stepped back.  She moved, slowly to start with as she fought with the additional weight attached to her, and then slowly increasing in speed as Thunderbird Three’s boosters ignited, shifting her out of her orbit.

“Thunderbird Three has control,” Alan informed him after another minute. “Cut thrusters, John.”  He did so, hearing his ‘bird’s own engines whine down into silence and finding himself in the very odd situation of his Thunderbird moving under external influence.  If it was anyone other than Alan, he didn’t think he’d be able to stand it – not even Scott, for all that his older brother was a brilliant pilot.

The space station that had caused all this passed by the window at a respectable distance – part of John hoped they weren’t watching Thunderbird Five being towed, or pushed, as the case actually was – and then the coast of Africa was approaching, far below.

“Begin braking manoeuvres,” Alan cautioned and he obeyed, watching Thunderbird Three’s data out of the corner of his eye as Alan matched Thunderbird Five’s breaking with his own retros, bringing the two Thunderbirds to a precise stop above the co-ordinates EOS had calculated for them.

A moment later the airlock hissed as Alan entered, EOS in hand.  “Well done, Alan.”

“It was nothing,” his brother shrugged off, inserting EOS’ drive back into the terminal.  After a moment, the security camera rotated again, a ring of lights reappearing.

“John, I will control the space elevator from here,” the AI said. “Control will reduce to only paying out the cable once you reach the final two hundred and fifty miles, but as that does not require any technology from the space elevator itself I will be able to lower it to the ground safely from here.”

“Thank you, EOS,” he said, once again checking his exosuit.  While the tech itself would be useless, the suit itself would give him additional protection and John wasn’t so desperate he’d launch himself from space without all the protection he could get – if only because Scott would never forgive either of them if he got hurt saving him.

“I’ll scan the area again, with Thunderbird Five this time,” Alan said. “If Scott’s down there, I’ll find him.” John offered him a small smile.

“Let me know what you find,” he said, heading for the airlock.  “EOS, start the descent.”

“The space elevator is away,” she informed him.  “I will hold it at ten feet until you’ve boarded.”

“Be careful!” Alan called out as he left, clinging to the cable and waiting for EOS to continue to lower it.

Alan had relocated Thunderbird Five in a much lower orbit than usual, and as such the two craft were not actually in geostationary orbit.  The vastly reduced distance of only twelve hundred miles, instead of Thunderbird Five’s usual twenty two and a half thousand, meant that the drop would be much shorter, but it also meant they were on a time limit.  Looking up, John could see Thunderbird Three’s boosters firing, Alan and EOS having calculated the exact force she needed to exert on Thunderbird Five to keep her temporarily stationary, but Thunderbird Three only had so much fuel, and there was a much higher traffic level in Low Orbit.

As soon as John was on the ground, they would need to at the least allow Thunderbird Five to orbit, and preferably pull her back to her usual altitude, otherwise they risked a collision with another satellite.

He was quite frankly amazed that no-one was calling him and Alan out on their dangerous relocation, but John wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

His communicator beeped, and he answered to see a very grumpy Virgil glowering at him.

“You had better not be doing what I think you are,” he threatened, and John raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.

“How’s Kayo?” he asked, instead of bothering to respond.  They both knew what he was doing.

“She’ll be fine,” Virgil assured him, although his frustration hadn’t abated a bit.  “Some bruises and a broken leg, but all in all it could have been a lot worse. Thunderbird Two is refuelled and heading back towards the Sahara now.  Gordon and I will be there in an hour.”

“Good to know,” John said.  “I’ll be at the EMP generator in less than fifteen minutes.  With any luck by the time you arrive I’ll have it disabled. Now that Thunderbird Five is overhead, Alan and EOS are working to get Scott’s exact position; they’ll let you know when they find him.”

“How did you get Thunderbird Five overhead?” Virgil asked suspiciously. “You said it wasn’t possible.”

John was saved from explaining his Thunderbird’s new location by an incoming call from Alan.

“I’ve got him!”

“You’ve got eyes on Scott?” Gordon cut in.  “Where?”

“Well, technically I’ve got eyes on Thunderbird One,” Alan amended.  “But there’s a single life sign from inside the cockpit and there’s no sign of anyone leaving her, so that has to be Scott.”

The cool voice of logic in the back of John’s head finally stopped its mantra that there was no way Scott could have survived.

“What’s Thunderbird One’s condition?” Virgil asked.

“Looks like a wing broke off on landing,” Alan reported.  “The other is fully extended but seems to be still attached. She’s a bit banged up, but apart from the wing she looks like she’s all in one piece.”

“Wait,” Gordon interrupted.  “Her wings are extended?  But wasn’t she doing Mach 15?”

“Thunderbird One has a manual override on the wings,” Alan reminded them. “Scott must have tried to use them to slow down.  That mea-”

John didn’t get to hear what that meant, as a tangible shudder ran through the space elevator, and then both his exosuit and space suit.

Two hundred and fifty miles to go, and the failsafes built into the space elevator in case something went wrong on Thunderbird Five’s end, or with the cable itself, were no longer operational.

Still, he had evidence to prove that Scott was still alive.  That was something to hold onto as he descended closer and closer to the sands below.

~~~~~~~~

When John’s data all cut off, leaving him and EOS with nothing except a high resolution camera aimed directly at the top of the space elevator by which to keep an eye on his big brother, reality hit Alan.

It had been easy to supress until then, with John there and grounding him even though they were looking for Scott, but now he was the only Tracy in space – EOS, family as she was, didn’t have a warm body and therefore didn’t count – and with only two of his older brothers in contact, reality came crashing down.

Scott was missing.  Thunderbird One had been hit with an EMP while travelling at Mach 15 and had crashed. Alan had seen ugly scenes of plane crashes from much lower speeds, and the sight of his eldest brother’s Thunderbird with a wing sheared off did nothing to quell the rising horror.  Even at her low altitude, Thunderbird Five couldn’t get any information about the life sign other than the fact that it existed.  All Alan could do was watch the red heart symbol and pray that it stayed there until John disabled the EMP generator and his brothers could reach him.

“Records show that Scott Tracy is resilient,” EOS said suddenly, and Alan spared her a grateful glance.  The AI was still learning human emotions, but he knew her well enough to know that she was attempting to reassure him.

It helped.  A little.

“How’s the space elevator doing?” he asked, and EOS’ rings flashed white.

“John will be in contact with the ground in approximately two minutes and twenty five point three seconds,” she informed him.  “We will need to relocate Thunderbird Five away from this position within nine point five four six minutes.”

“Is something coming?”  Alan had hoped they’d be able to remain above the desert for longer, at least until his brothers were with Scott.

“Yes, a satellite will be in this location in eleven point three minutes and I calculate it will take Thunderbirds Three and Five one point seven minutes to clear the collision zone,” EOS informed him.  “That will also allow Thunderbird Three to conserve enough fuel to return Thunderbird Five to geostationary orbit, land in the Sahara to collect John after he has succeeded in disarming the EMP generator, relaunch to arrive at Thunderbird One’s current location, and then return to Tracy Island.”

Alan hadn’t actually given a thought to how John was going to get out of the desert.  With his communicator now dead, and the space elevator needing retraction, someone was going to have to do it, and Thunderbird Two had to get straight to Scott because that was where their equipment was.  With Thunderbird Shadow also out of commission, that left just Thunderbird Three, and a glance at her fuel reserves warned him that it was going to be tight.

But Alan couldn’t just leave John there.  With his suit also fried, that meant he had no thermal regulation and he hadn’t taken any water with him.  If John had a plan, he hadn’t shared it with Alan, and no matter how much of a genius John was, Alan wasn’t about to trust that he’d had one.  Scott’s crash was messing all of them up, even the supposedly unshakable space monitor.

Part 4>>>

[jimtheviking]

@notasapleasure​​ tagged me in this, so blame her :p

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

1) Untitled Ingrid/Felix/Sylvain fic 1, Fire Emblem: Three Houses - "Where is he? I'm going to kill him!"

2)

Worth the Effort, Marianne/Hilda, Fire Emblem: Three Houses

- “Lady von Edmund? A letter for you from Lady Goneril.”

3) Sunshine, Dedue/Mercedes, Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Sylvain entered the medical tent hesitantly, as if he weren't sure what, exactly, he was supposed to do. His armour was still streaked with ash and mud from the battlefield, and his face was so pale that Mercedes' thought the blood at his waist must be at least partly his.

4) Don’t Hold Back, Claude/Byleth, Fire Emblem: Three Houses (NOTE: This is just smut, so be warned) - It was late, far too late for anyone to be out and about on the monastery grounds, let alone a student, but Claude had never been one for following the rules. Especially when they got in the way of what he wanted. And right now, he wanted - needed - to be in a certain someone's room.

5) Untitled Ingrid/Felix/Sylvain fic 2, Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Sylvain didn't quite know how he'd gotten himself into this situation. Or, rather, he knew how, just not why he was in it in the first place.

6) Untitled between ANH and ESB fic, Han/Leia, Star Wars - A heavy silence hung over Home One's main briefing room, its two inhabitants locked in a battle of wills, silently daring the other the speak first. The guards posted at the door looked at one another nervously; the last exchange they'd heard had been heated, to say the least, and with two of the most mutually antagonistic members of the Alliance inside, it seemed likely that something had gone wrong

7) Untitled pre-TLJ Star Wars fic, Finn/Poe, Star Wars - The smell of cheap tabacc and stale malt assaulted Finn's nose as soon as he entered the cantina. Why he always found himself back on these desert planets was a mystery to him, but at least Tatooine wasn't unbearbly hot like Jakku. He stood at the doorway, his eyes adjusting to the sudden darkness and skin prickling from the relative coolness.

8) Untitled SW:TOR fic, OCs, Star Wars: The Old Republic - Jamaar sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between gloved fingers. He inhaled deeply and centred himself, pushing away the rising frustration inside him. Boraas was his brother, and while he couldn't condone all of his actions, family was still family. Even the Jedi Order acknowledged that. Occasionally.

9) The More Things Change, Wilhelm Reinhardt/Ana Amari, Overwatch - The Beast was massive. Far larger than anything Reinhardt had ever seen or fought before. Save the Titans, of course, but he had an entire Strike Team with him when those monsters rampaged across the battlefield. Its shoulders were humped with snow, and had his armour not shown its heat signature, he would have sworn it was a hill, rather than an Omnic.

10) Relieved, Celes Chere & Kefka Pallazzo, Final Fantasy VI - Celes sat at a thick wooden desk, pouring over a tattered parchment. Haphazard heaps of maps and sheaves of paper were stacked in every corner of the command tent, but the desk itself was free of clutter. A pile of neatly stacked reports sat in the corner, weighted down by a dozen wooden disks and a handful of ornate Figaroan coins. She sighed and let the sheepskin fall to the scarred desktop as she rubbed her eyes, trying to figure out how she would convince the mayor of the city that she had already stretched her supply lines to the limit. This occupation was getting more and more difficult every day, and the lack of resupply from Vector and the sorry state of her army hardly helped matters. She had barely a hundred soldiers available to her that were uninjured and healthy enough to fight - half a thousand, if she counted the walking wounded - and only a dozen suits of Magitek armour in operational condition.

11) Something Pretty, Edgar Figaro, Final Fantasy VI - Edgar stared over the parapet, the desert lit with dozens of tiny points of light. Fires from the camps of the nomadic Firegs who gave the desert, the kingdom, and his family their name. High above, a hundred thousand more points of light filled the sky.

12) Sketches, Relm Arrowny, Final Fantasy VI - There's been a lot a fightin' and stuff around home lately, an' me an Gramps volunteered to fight against the Empire with these rebels callin' themselves the Returners. Silly name, like somethin' outta an Esper-story.

13) Misunderstandings, Edgar Figaro/Terra Branford, Final Fantasy VI - Edgar paced in front of his window, the cool breeze doing nothing to soothe his foul mood. It had been nearly a month since Locke had made his way to South Figaro, and there had still been no word from him. The thief was prone to disappearing for months at a time, off on his treasure-hunting escapades, but this time, something was different. What was even more worrying was that his brother had sent no word as to his whereabouts either. The last time he had seen Sabin, he had been floating the opposite way down the Lethe. While he had made a joke at the time, he couldn't help but feel a pang of concern over his brother's safety.

14) Choices, Edgar Figaro, Final Fantasy VI - The moon hung bright and round as a new-minted coin in the desert sky as a young man paced along a sandstone parapet and stared out into the vast expanse of sand.  He could have nearly anything he wanted, he knew; a word to the right people and any jewel in the world, any food, any song or story, even any woman, would be his.  Anything, but what lay beyond that desert.

15) Untitled Pacific Rim sequel fic, OCs, Pacific Rim - We'd beaten the Kaiju back in 2025.  Everyone knew that, knew about Marshall Pentecost's sacrifice, about how he and Chuck Hansen blew themselves apart in a thermonuclear fireball to clear a path for Marshall Mori and Raleigh Becket to charge a refurbished Mk. III Jaeger through the Breach so that they could overload their reactor and blow 'em all to hell.  Everyone knew that.  That's why we loved them, that's why we were able to repopulate the coastlines, that's why we're not starving half to death in the interiors anymore.  We're starving half to death all across the world now.

I’m just gonna tag some people I know write stuff, you can do this if you want to, or not, whatever!

@swedishwarriorwoman​, @catofthecanals289​ @tarantula-hawk-wasp​, @shouldhavebeenadancer​, @gaygarrusvakarian​, @stunt-lads​

[naivesilver]

Vecpio Week - Day 1: Music

"Hey, Es, what's wrong?"

Espio blinks, looking up from the piece of paper he's been staring at for the past five minutes. Vector is standing in front of him, arms crossed, eyebrows raised, the very picture of perplexity.

"Nothing. Why are you asking?"

Vector shrugs. "You look stressed."

He is, as usual, terribly blunt and not nearly as smooth in his attempts to comfort someone as he thinks he is. It would be hilarious if it didn't send through Espio a spike of irritation that he struggles to quell down. "I'm not stressed" he mutters, crumpling up the notebook page he was trying to do some accounting on and tossing it aside.

That's a lie if he's ever told one, and he's pretty sure Vector knows that, but what they both know is why he's so stressed, and it's hardly something that can be fixed by talking about it.

Espio has always considered himself a level-headed, pragmatic chameleon, so he's not in the habit of lying to himself, and at this point he can't ignore that their situation looks dire, at the very least. They're running out of money, which isn't new per se but is rarely a comforting thing to know, and they haven't had a lead on a case or a new case in ages, so it's improbable that they'll be out of it anytime soon.

And then there's Charmy, who not only sent their expenses through the roof, but also is even more a nuisance than they'd expected him to be. Anything he does, be it eating or playing or screaming for attention, he does it loudly. Even as they speak the bee's trying to stuff something in his mouth, with a sucking, slobbering noise that's grating on Espio's nerves. The only thing he craves more than a new paycheck is a minute of complete silence.

Not that he regrets taking in the kid, or opening the agency, or any of that. If nothing else, they're pretty much the only ideas of Vector he's followed that haven't ended in utter disaster. He's happy. He should be happy.

It's just that, well. He's never had such a hard time keeping his spirits up. There's always a nagging thought at the back of his brain, reminding him of the hundreds of ways things could go to hell if they don't find a solution fast. Even meditating has grown difficult, and not just because it tends to be interrupted by a baby wailing for food. His worries creep in and nothing he does can shake them off, even after all those years he's spent learning how to clear his mind from stuff like that.

He's spaced out again. Great. Now Vector will have yet another reason to believe he's losing his mind and fret and try to solve the issue in some creative and yet decidedly unhelpful way. There might be a valuable lesson to learn there, but Espio is too tired to decide whether it's "let your partner help when you're struggling" or "never let anyone see you lose control ever again", and it's not like one is in the mood for absorbing any kind of lesson when they're making an effort not to freak out, so...

He's snapped out of his reverie once more by the feeling of something being slipped over his ears. For a few moments he's too stunned to say anything, because those are Vector's headphones the crocodile has taken off and given to him, and the thought alone is so confusing that Espio struggles to process it.

It's not that he's never listened to Vector's music. In fact, Espio has heard enough of it for a lifetime and then some, because Vector is nothing if not enthusiastic about sharing his passions. He has yet to understand how anyone might listen to some of those songs willingly, because to him they're nothing but a cacophony of clashing sounds, but it's not as if he's banned it from the house.

He'd thought he'd made it clear, though, that Vector is to keep it for himself (and for Charmy, because whatever genre that stuff ascribes in, it gets the kid to sleep in no time, and while Espio is not above threatening his boyfriend at knifepoint to get him to lower the volume when Charmy's got the headphones on, he's not so stupid as to forbid anything that can knock a toddler bee out for good). The crocodile hasn't tried to force him to listen to that garbage in ages, so why now, of all days?

It seems he's in for a day of surprises, though. Before Espio can protest, Vector fiddles with the tape player and music fills his ears, leaving him shocked once again.

It's...not what Vector usually listens to. It's slower, for a start, quieter, with no voices screaming over one another. Espio can't recognize the instruments, nor the tune, but it flows in a way that catches his attention, almost mesmerizing after what he'd expected to hear in its place. It reminds him, oddly, of a lullaby, or of some tunes from his homeland, from when he was way, way younger.

"Been trying to find something you may like for a while now" Vector says, trying and failing to pretend that whatever's going on is not that big of a deal. "The album says it's supposed to be relaxing music. I don't know if it's your style, but you looked like you needed it."

"It's...it's nice" Espio replies.

To be honest, he's not sure he can judge the quality of the music right now, when there's so much going on behind it. If he were meaner than he is, or even just less exhausted, maybe he'd berate Vector for wasting time on a thing like that when they're supposed to be looking for paying jobs. He should be upset - he should say something more, at the very least.

As it stands, though, the gesture causes something inside him to break. It's as if he were made of clay, only needing the gentlest of pushes to be cracked and let fresh air filter in. His tongue feels like clay too, thick inside his mouth: as much as he wants to, he can't force the words to come out, and he just sits there, dumbfounded, listening to a song he doesn't know the name of roll through his brain.

Vector looks like he knows it, though. He smiles his trademark grin and sits beside Espio, wrapping an arm around the chameleon's shoulders.

"Come on, Esp, it's gonna be alright" he says, barely loud enough to be heard over the music. "We're going through a rough patch, but we'll get out of it, okay? We're a team. That's what we do."

Espio breathes in. Breathes out. He doesn't know if it's Vector, or the physical contact, or the soft chant still filling his ears, but the rumble of thoughts in his mind seems to quiet down a little. Not to the point that he's suddenly bursting with solutions to their problems, but enough to leave space for something slightly less pessimistic and just a tad more hopeful.

Vector goes on. If it's because he senses he's having success, or because he likes the sound of his own voice, Espio doesn't know, but he's not about to complain. He's too grateful for that. "We'll work it out together. You, me, and the little mite. Promise. On my honor as a detective."

Espio snorts at that, and the crocodile lets out an indignant noise, even though he looks clearly pleased by the effect that he's having. "Oh, come on. What will be of this agency, if no one’s respecting its boss?”

But his voice grows softer a moment later, and he tugs Espio closer. "We're gonna make it. We are. Alright?"

"Alright" Espio whispers, closing his eyes and leaning into the embrace. He's not sure he can stop worrying anytime soon, but the warm, cozy feeling of being cradled close to someone else and the lull of the music covering anything that's not Vector's voice form a small, safe bubble, one he's not about to burst until he can face the day head on. For a minute, he can allow himself to relax.

"Thank you."

[sparklingpax]

Yeah!! It is alive!! It was great to see them too, I'd totally swoop up some for me if I wasn't trying to save. I wanted to watch Headmasters really badly back when I had just finished G1 and wanted more-- but then I found out Optimus dies again in there and I didn't want to see that because 🥺😭 THATS MY ROBOT DAD, PLS LET HIM LIVE TAKARA

Gonna put a read more since I started rambling and I’m so sorry aaa my thoughts are so disorganized I just got out of class lmao ^^’’ 

Awww well,,,yeah he does indeed die, and it made no sense to me because Galvatron should have died as well?? They were both thrown into that vector sigma thing,,,but only Optimus dies ajsdksksj perhaps I missed something because that was one chaotic battle anyway,,, it’s also really really early in the series T////T like third or fourth episode early,,,,

I was sad about it too, but as the series went on, I came to the realization that the way it was structured, Optimus would have been a side character anyway....since it tended to focus on either Daniel doing some dumb scrap and almost getting killed o.o or the Headmasters and their battles with the Decepticons.....

Hot Rod and most of the cast from the original G1 series leave after a while; they make appearances and are still in various episodes, but not as main characters. You also don’t see Ultra Magnus for a while either until he comes back for a few episodes and then,,,uh,,,,well if you look at the episode list theres one title that gives away what happens-- 

*cries*

But anyway ^^’’ I totally get not wanting to see that tho,,,,I never watched the 3rd and 4th seasons of G1 for four whole years after finally finishing seasons 1 and 2 (and the movie) because I was so,,,lowkey bitter for a while about how Optimus wasn’t going to be there,,,,but eventually (this year) I realized it was immature of me to be bitter about this so I just decided to just give it a go, and ngl I kinda enjoyed it! It was weird but,,,,,,worth the watch 😹 

lol but I watched Headmasters soon after, not knowing he was gonna die,,,,so it really shocked me when he did,,,,and it was so sad,,,,but as I said before, I eventually came to the conclusion that it might be for the better this series focused on different characters to tell the particular story it was trying to tell :D 

Idk, it’s silly and may be kinda slow paced (?) sometimes, but I enjoyed every second of it, and there were a lot of little funny/cute bits in the show that made me melt u//w//u It’s basically G1 but with different main characters and a similar but also different art style if that makes sense?? Like there were subtle details in the way stuff was drawn and colored that made it much different from G1 but it still had a similar feel...^^’’ 

OH And one more thing, if you ever do decide to watch Headmasters, or the other series that followed (Super God Masterforce and Victory), watch them in the original Japanese (with english subs)

The dubs are golden and hilariously awful, and so it’s very hard to take any of it seriously or focus on the plot if the people speaking all sound bad and everything, even serious moments, are funny. Plus, there are quite a few things that got mistranslated or just,,,the idea wasn’t properly phrased in the dub as it was said in Japanese?? And that makes things about 100x more confusing,,,idk The dub is weird lmfao 😹😹

So anyway.......take your time with it! Maybe someday you’ll just feel like it and go and watch it, or you won’t! And either way is fine and of course up to you :) I’m just here to offer my humble opinion that it was a good series (as were the other two >//w//<) and I recommend them!! ^///^ 

sorry I got carried away there and talked about like,,,everything,,,aaa anyway :)))

-Kuni 😳😅😊💖✨

[bluegamercatlady]

Bouncing blue baby- chapter five

Chapter five

Busy as a bee

Miles thought back to cradling the little hoglet in his arms, throughout the week. He felt a strong protective instinct of the tiny blue infant, not that he didn’t feel protective when he found them and wrapped them up in his Trench coat, to warm them up and keep them dry. No, this was a different kind of protectiveness. It was a parental feeling. A warm bubbly feeling settled in Miles’ chest when he thought about them and a smile tugged at his lips.

 A piece of scrunched up paper smacked him in the forehead and bounced off somewhere, grabbing the fox’s attention. He looked up and almost had a heart attack.

A black and yellow bumblebee Mobian was right in front of his face, only a few inches away. Charmy the bee, his apprentice, grinned at him.

“Hey! Whatcha thinking about?”

 Miles shook his head, exasperated with the bee’s rambunctious enthusiasm. Charmy was only a couple years younger than Miles, but had a really immature attitude and personality compared to him. He had a nasty habit of being in people’s faces and speaking loudly. Although he meant well, it was slightly overwhelming and intimidating at times. Despite that, he lived up to his name with his inextinguishable charisma. Miles had taken him on as a favour to his crocodile neighbour, Vector. Miles felt a little claustrophobic and irritated with Charmy so close. Though the feeling of annoyance rarely lasted long with Charmy giddy grin and Miles chuckled and smiled at the young bee’s shenanigans.

“I was just thinking about something that happened earlier this week.”

“Oh, really? What’s that?”

 “Er…” Miles kinda hesitated about talking to Charmy about anything personal, as the bumblebee was a terrible gossip and relayed everything he would hear back to Vector, who would then come crashing into his apartment to interrogate chat with him about his life choices. Was it really worth it?

Miles thought about it for a moment, then decided it would come up in conversation eventually, when he would be bringing baby stuff home. He’d rather tell Charmy he was going to adopt, then have Vector demanding to know asking about him possibly getting a girlfriend and having a baby.

Vector gate crashing his home is literally smashing through his door and wanting answers. Though that’s to be expected from the boisterous detective.

“I’m actually planning on adopting soon. Uh… Well, fostering for the moment. I’m sure, you’ve heard Cream mention me finding an abandoned hoglet recently. I had considered it before, but after… what happened to Cosmo, I never got around to it.”

“Whoa! Really?!”

“Yes, really.” Miles chuckled.

Charmy buzzed and flew in a circle gleefully. “WOW! THAT’S AWESOME! I GOTTA TELL VECTOR LATER!” He cheered.

 Miles, rubbed the nape of his neck awkwardly, giving an unsure smile. He was a lot more confident than he used to be, but occasionally he would doubt himself and get stuck for words. His smile dropped and he gazed at the floor as anxiety started to rear its ugly head. A knotting pain clutched his stomach, turning it ice cold as intrusive thoughts plagued him. He only snapped out of it when Charmy waved his hand in front of Miles’ eyes, causing him to jolt.

 “Oh. Sorry. Were you talking? I think I spaced out a bit there.”

“Yeah. Had me kinda worried something was wrong. Hey, don’t worry about it. You’ll be a great dad!”

Miles laughed at the bee’s confidence before the bee asks, “So, when you gonna bring him home?”

Miles wasn’t sure. There was still a lot of paperwork and setting up baby furniture. It gave him plenty of time to research. How should he answer that? Miles chooses to answer truthfully.

“I don’t know. I gotta a lot of preparing first.”

“Oh.” Charmy’s antennae drooped and a frown crossed his face. He was probably looking forward to meeting the baby and possibly babysitting. Miles could see that quite easily.

 “I’m sure it won’t be long now. I just need to set up the spare room to accommodate him and finish the checks and paperwork.”

“Great!” Charmy perked up immediately. “Do you need a hand getting the room ready. I’m sure Vector and Espio would want to help you out. Yanno, painting and all that jazz!”

Miles didn’t want to be a burden to his friends, even if they offered and he could use the help. “Are you sure? I don’t want to take too much time out of your day.”

“Nah! It’s fine. Just text when you need our help and we could clear our schedule to fit you in, no prob!”

Miles looked at the floor again, shaking his head, but this time in amusement.

“Thanks, Charmy. I’ll think about it.”

“Alright, cool.”

Now Miles looked up and gave Charmy a stern look. “Right. You’ve had us chatting when we should both be working now. Or… Was that deliberate, so you could slack off on your duties, hm?”

Charmy’s eyes flick away a second before he buzzes, “I think I heard customers! GOTTA GO, BYE!” And with that, the young bee hastily makes his noisy buzzing retreat.

Miles chuckles again. “What am I going to do with that bee?”

Next

Previous

Start

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Banner Ch22: I Don't Like People Touching My Stuff!

Summary: The Avenger’s search for the sceptre reaches a dramatic conclusion meaning Katie and Steve finally get the breathing place to start planning their future. But when another girl takes a rather obvious shine to Steve, Katie is not particularly pleased...

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language, Smut (NSFW) No Under 18.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist

Tag list and requests open! Send me an Ask

  April 2015.

It was apparent when The Avengers landed in the snow-covered forest that this was the heaviest guarded base they had hit in the 6 months they had been searching for Loki’s Sceptre. The guards were positioned a mile out, complete with barbed wire fences and road blocks and the minute Thor, Tony and Katie took off from the back of the jet all hell had broken loose. This was instantly a Code Green, and Banner transformed into the huge Hulk and with his help the group managed to commandeer a jeep and a motorcycle, Natasha driving the jeep supported by Clint and Steve was on the bike, obviously.

One of the Hydra agents managed to leap up at the side of Steve and he swerved sharply to the left, landing a kick to his chest, knocking him away. The Captain surged the bike forward as another Soldier ran towards him and he leant over and grabbed his leg, dragging him along before tossing him into another approaching hostile, knocking them both unconscious. As he continued he flung his shield forward where it bounced off a tree along with a few more Hydra soldiers before he caught it again and secured it on his back, swerving the bike to avoid another oncoming jeep. The Hulk caught said offending jeep and tossed it aside easily, before continuing on his own rampage

Ahead of Steve, Katie shot downwards so she was 3 feet at most off the snow covered forest floor and spiralled straight into a group of soldiers like a bowling bowl into a set of pins, scattering them across the ground.

“STRRRRIIIKKKEEE…” she heard Tony quip and she laughed as The Avengers began to advance on the barricade that was the only defence left from keeping them out of the base. Steve sped his bike up, propelling himself over the barbed wire after Tony and Katie, Natasha swerved the truck behind him hard to the left and her and Clint jumped out, legs extended, kicking anyone they came into contact with.

“Up high Kiddo…” Tony said and the siblings sped forward, taking out a few more in their path before climbing up towards the base. Katie closed in, but suddenly hit a force field, which reverberated and sent her spiralling off to the side.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, righting herself whilst she looked round

"Language," Steve reprimanded, the familiar joke telling-off slipping past his lips without him really thinking about it. "JARVIS what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of, energy shield." JARVIS responded easily through the communication devices. "Strucker's technology is well beyond anything of a HYDRA base we've taken."

"Loki's sceptre must be here," Thor said as Steve saw him swing his hammer, fighting off more Hydra soldiers. "Strucker couldn't mount this defence without it. At long last."

 “At long last is lasting a little long, guys." Katie’s voice echoed along with the sound of her beams as she aimed them at another bunch of soldiers who were shooting at her and Tony from the top of the fortress.

"Yeah," Clint scoffed "I think we lost the element of surprise."

"Wait a second," Tony interrupted, "Is no one going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?"

"I know," Steve sighed speeding head on in the direction of one of the trucks. He pulled the brakes on the bike, launching himself forwards, his hands on the handlebars throwing the bike over his head watching it crash into the truck.

"It just slipped out." he said with a sigh. It had been a joke, but he knew full well the joke was going to be on him now.

"Sir the city is taking fire." JARVIS informed them as Katie dodged the fire that was being aimed at them from the top of the fortress

"Well we know Strucker isn't going to worry about civilian casualties," Tony responded, "Send in the Iron Legion."

“How do we get this force field down?” Katie asked

“There has to be a source…” Tony mused, as they circled the fortress again. “JARVIS…” “Working on it Sir.”

"Clint!" Natasha’s frantic shout made both Tony and Katie pause, and that pause cost her as a flash hit the side of her suit and sent her ricocheting to the side, colliding heavily with one of the walls of the fortress. Her suit clanged heavily with the forcefield and she once more dinged off the side.

"We have an enhanced in the field." Steve reported, as Katie shook her head, flying back up after Tony. 

"Clint's hit." Natasha spoke again “Somebody wanna' deal with that bunker?”

Katie looked down, scanning to find where Natasha was referring to but before she could do anything the Hulk gave a mighty roar and she turned to see him crash through it.

"Thank you." Nat spoke again.

"Stark," Steve grunted, and Katie turned her head to see he was fighting half a dozen or so agents. She shot towards them, taking 2 down with her repulsors as Steve’s shield flew from his arm in an arc and connected with another 2 "We really need to get inside."

"I'm closing in," Tony responded as Katie landed by Steve, shooting at another soldier. More were approaching and as she shot and flew at them, she heard Tony’s voice in her ear.

"Drawbridge is down people." he said triumphantly.

Thor landed nearby with a flourish of lightening that took down the last set of soldiers for now. "The enhanced?" he questioned as Katie slid back her face plate.

"He's a blur," Steve said as he jogged towards them. "With all the new players we've faced I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."

"Clint's hit pretty back guys," Natasha's concerned voice came through coms again, "We're gonna need evac."

"I can get Barton to the jet, the sooner we're gone the better." Thor said, "You two and Stark secure the sceptre"

"Copy that." Steve responded.

Katie looked around and suddenly noticed that a line of soldiers were approaching, with a tank directly behind them.

“Errrr boys…”

Thor and Steve both looked around and Thor titled his head to one side, curiously.

"Hmmm looks like they're lining up." He said,

"Well they're excited." Steve huffed holding up his shield and bracing himself while Katie took a step back and ducked. Thor brought his hammer down on the shield where the force reverberated off and hit the soldiers knocking them all down. A perfectly executed move, fresh from the training room.

"Find the sceptre." Thor said, taking off.

"And for gosh sake's watch your language." Tony exclaimed sarcastically into the coms.

"That's not going away anytime soon." Steve sighed, looking at Katie. Even though half his face was obscured by his helmet she could see the look of exasperation on his face and grinned.

“Yeah, Tony is gonna bring that up at every opportunity he gets” she shrugged as they began to make their way to the entrance of the building.

**** Katie looked at her brother who was staring at the console of the jet, a faraway look in his eyes.

“You sure you’re alright Tone?” she asked him

“Yeah just you know, little bit relieved it’s done…finally” he said, flicking some more switches. Whilst Katie wasn’t sure she believed him, she knew she wasn’t going to get anything else out of him at the moment so she stood up and made her way over to her fiancée who was now stood with Thor, the pair of them looking at the Sceptre.

“So you think what powers this is a similar force to the tesseract?” Steve asked, breaking the silence between the two men who had, up until that point simply been staring at the thing, unable to believe they had it. He moved his arm gently, as Katie slid comfortably underneath it, dropping a kiss to the side of her head but other than that his attention was fully on Thor.

“Yes.” Thor pondered, his fingers skating over the glass it was encased in. “The power they both give off is immeasurable…”  

"Thor!” came Nat’s voice loudly, and all 3 of them turned to face her “Report on the Hulk."

"Oh, err the gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor said smiling and raising his fist triumphantly but dropped it when Nat turned to look at him in disbelief as Katie hit him on the arm. Steve supressed a smile, looking upwards whilst shaking his head, both his hands dropping to his buckle.

"But not the screams of the dead," Thor spoke again, quickly trying to correct himself as Bruce put his head in his hands and groaned as Nat shot the God another filthy look "Of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and errr gout."

 “Gout?”  Katie looked at him as Steve shook besides her with supressed mirth. 

“What?” Thor shrugged and was about to open his mouth again but thankfully he was interrupted by Tony.

"Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul." he cut in from the cockpit. "Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

"Yeah, she knows her way around." Bruce responded quickly.

"Thanks." Tony told him shortly before going back to the controls on the jet.  He muttered something, before he spoke a bit louder instructing Jarvis to take the wheel.

"Yes sir, approach vector is locked." The disembodied voice responded as Tony moved to join Katie, Steve and Thor around the sceptre.

"It feels good, yeah?" Tony began placing his hand comfortably in his pockets as he looked at Thor "I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but…" he trailed off.

"But this, this brings it to a close." Thor finished for him staring proudly down at the sceptre.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for." Steve said, looking at the sceptre curiously. “I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard." Tony assured looking at the sceptre then back at Thor "Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Thor looked back to the sceptre, placing one of his hands on the box with a smile "A victory should be honoured with revels."

"Yeah, who doesn't love revels?" Tony spoke lightly. "You guys?" he asked looking at Katie and Steve as Steve slid his arm round his girl's waist. Seeing as they lived at the tower, it was kind of a given they would be there anyway, but Tony had aimed the question at Steve more than his sister, still giving him the chance to avoid a hectic social gathering if he so wished but he didn’t. Despite the fact he enjoyed a quiet life on the whole, he also quite enjoyed socialising on occasions too. And Thor was right, this called for a good party.

 "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so…yes, revels." Steve replied smiling slightly as he used the arm around Katie’s waist to squeeze her hip as Tony turned to speak to Thor, outlining his plans for the Sceptre.

Katie spun her body so she was facing Steve, both his hands locking at the base of her back. “Sooo, Captain America going to let his hair down?” she grinned.

“No, Steve Rogers is.” he smiled

“Steve is definitely my favourite…” she said, running her hands up his chest, feeling the solid material of his Uniform “Cap’s an asshole. And a bossy bastard.”

“I know, you tell me this a lot” he quipped, leaning down to give her a peck on the lips.

A few hours later they arrived home. Natasha and Bruce wheeled Clint out first, passing Maria Hill as she walked onto the jet, addressing Tony, moving out of the way as Thor also left, the sceptre tucked under his arm.

“Lab's all set up, boss” Hill spoke.

Tony pointed at Steve who was crouching down putting a few things back in one of the equipment crates. “Uh, actually, he's the boss... I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler.”

Katie smiled to herself as Steve sighed; pretending to be irritated, but the shine in his eyes told a different story. He thrived in his role as leader.

“What's the word on Strucker?” he asked Maria, straightening up.

“NATO's got him.” She said, pressing something on her tablet.

“What about the two enhanced?” Katie asked, “Anything on them?”

“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins.” She said handing Steve the tablet. He swiped across the screen and the image sprang to life. Katie watched the tablet in Steve’s hands as the two kids were partaking in some kind of demonstration.

“Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special.”

Together the three of them strode across the landing pad, leaving Tony behind on the jet doing his usual post flight shut down controls. 

“Their abilities?” Steve quizzed as they headed through the locker area heading towards the elevator at the end.

“He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.”

Steve looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

“He's fast and she's weird.” Katie said, rephrasing it for him. Maria let out a small smirk.

“Well, they're going to show up again.” He said, pressing the button for the elevator.

“Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts” Maria said as Katie and Steve stepped in to the elevator and turned to face her. Katie looked down at her feet, smiling before she glanced sideways at Steve who was looking at Maria.

“Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?” his voice was ladled with sarcasm. He knew Hill hadn’t meant it like that but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to jibe her.

Maria realised what she had said and looked at him, taking a deep breath. “We're not at war, Captain” she responded.

“They are.” He said, and then the lift door shut.

“Turns out Cap is Bossy and sarcastic…” Katie said, raising an eyebrow but not looking at him.

He paused for a second, smirking, before he turned to her, gently pushing her shoulders to back her into the wall of the elevator as his lips crashed onto hers, body pinning her into place. He kissed her, hard and his hand slid up to grasp her chin, holding her head in position as his tongue tangled easily with hers. It took Katie a second to catch up with what was going on, he’d surprised her slightly, but once she did she kissed him back, hungrily.  The elevator stopped and he stepped back, leaving her breathless and hanging as he exited the lift wearing a huge smirk, tablet still in his hand.

Whilst Steve headed off to find a quiet corner in which to study the tablet some more Katie, once she had managed to calm her spiking libido, walked into the lab area. Tony was coming down the steps, out of the room Clint was in. Bruce was stood just outside, looking through the window.

“How is he?” Katie asked.

“Well he’s still Barton so…” Tony shrugged.

“That’s terrible…” Banner said, shaking his head.

“He’s good, he’s thirsty so…” Tony shrugged. Banner smiled and headed into the lab as Katie held back, looking at Tony.

“And you, are you sure you’re alright?” she asked, “You looked a bit peaky before.”

“Just the amount of stuff that was in Strucker’s lab…” her brother murmured “There was a tonne of it Kiddo, a fuck tonne. We didn’t do as good a job of cleaning up after the battle here as we thought.”

“We did the best we could.” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Yeah maybe, anyway I’m going to go fix a drink so…”

He wandered off and Katie watched him go. Something was telling her that her brother wasn’t being completely honest with what was bothering him, but she knew better than to press him. He’d tell her when he wanted to.

As she walked into the room where Clint was led, Natasha was stood beside him, Dr Cho’s machine working on the wound in his side.

 “So is he going to be ok Doc because pretending to need this guy really keeps the team together” Natasha teased. Clint muttered back a response that Katie didn’t quite catch whilst Banner bent over the kit that was currently mending his wound together, his nose centimetres away from Barton’s side as he studied it, a look of astonishment and awe on his face.

“She's creating tissue.” He said, incredulously looking at Natasha, then to Katie.

Helen Cho smiled, and checked the wound and the machine before looking at Banner “If you brought him to my lab, the regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty minutes.”

“Oh he's flatlining.” Tony returned to the lab with 7 plastic cups full of his power green smoothie that had become a bit of a post mission ritual. Katie took one from him as he continued to pass them around whilst teasing Clint. “Call it. Time?”

“No, no, no. I'm going to live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic.” Clint said, glancing up.

“Here's your beverage” Tony said, handing him a cup.

“You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference.” Dr Cho assured him. 

“Well, I don't have a girlfriend.” Clint said, swallowing the mouthful of drink he had taken, sharing a glance with Katie and she smirked.

No, just a wife.

“That I can't fix.” Helen Cho smiled, before looking at my brother “This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust”.

“Well, that is exactly the plan. And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday.”

“Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties.” She paused, looking down at her clip board “Will Thor be there?”

“Oh yes…” Katie said, placing the empty cup on the tray and picking up the remaining 2. “He’s a big fan of revels.”

She headed out of the lab and down the steps into the living area to find Thor and Steve, smiling when she spotted them both stood looking out at the City below.

“You would hardly know a battle had occurred at all” Thor was saying as he accepting the cup Katie held out to him as she moved to stand between them both. Thor dropped a large arm round her shoulder in a friendly manner, the 2 having grown even closer over the last 6 months as she’d taken it upon herself to help him get to grips with living on Earth as much as she could. “It never ceases to amaze me how you people just carry on.”

“We’re a resilient species.” Steve said, taking the drink Katie offered him, his eyes straying to Thor’s arm. He didn’t mind the God’s protective nature over his girl, he knew there was nothing more to friendship, but he wasn't overly keen on his tactile nature with her. 

“Yes, just like Ramularts.” Thor said, his arm moving from Katie as she looked round at him and he noticed her blank faces “Big, grey animals, huge horns, purple eyes… you don’t have those on Earth?”

“Err no.” Katie said, as this time it was Steve’s arm which curled round her shoulders. “No we don’t…”

“Oh.” Thor said, before shrugging “Well they are hideous…a bit like this green concoction your brother insists we drink”

“It’s good for you…” Katie grinned “contains 2 of your 5 a day…I should know, I drank enough of it after my little vacation in Canada”

“Don’t.” Steve sighed, his arm pulling her a little closer. He hated it when she made jokes about her kidnapping.

Thor raised his eyebrow. “5 a day of what?”

“Never mind…” Katie chuckled “If you don’t like it, tip it into the plant pot. He’ll never know.

*****

It was a bit strange the following few days, waking up and knowing there was nothing that needed to be done. Whilst not every single day of the last 6 months had been spent running around on or planning missions, even when she was at work in SIP, there had always been that part of Katie’s mind that would not switch off, knowing they had a job to do, not to mention Steve had been like a coiled spring constantly waiting and searching for the next lead.

With SHIELD all but gone to the public and off doing God knows what, the Avengers were more important than ever, and Katie knew that Tony and Steve had been discussing expanding, recruiting a whole team of support staff and scientists. However, that was all to come and for the time being it was pushed to the back of her mind, and Steve’s it appeared. Katie didn’t think she had ever seen him so relaxed. He slept in, lazed around the apartment, was happy to have duvet days. It was, frankly, great and she couldn’t help but hope that this could be the start of a relatively ‘normal’ life for the pair of them.

That particular morning, Thursday, the clock on her bedside table informed her that it was gone 10 am when she woke. Steve wasn’t in the bed besides her, but that wasn’t surprising. She stretched and turned over onto her side, instructing Jarvis to retract the blinds in the bedroom to reveal the large ceiling to floor windows that looked out over the New York Skyline. In her opinion their floor really did have the best view the building could offer, something which made her Super Soldier very happy, as he loved to spend his down time drawing the skyline from the art room she had gotten Tony to convert one of their spare rooms into for him at Christmas.

She also had another surprise for him up her sleeve. Steve had recently been researching into getting a place in Brooklyn for the pair of them, suggesting it would be nice for them to have their own place when they got married. So as a surprise she had made an appointment for later today in the afternoon with a Real Estator Tony had recommended to look at a house they had both really liked on the internet. She hadn’t told Steve that yet, it was a surprise and something she was strangely excited about.

Steve heard Jarvis respond to Katie’s request and smiling he got up from where he had been watching the news on the TV, made her a coffee out and headed into the bedroom. He immediately noticed her eyes scan him up and down, grinning to himself as he raised an eyebrow as she took in the fact he was in nothing but a grey pair of sweats that hung off his hips casually.

“You know if I looked a woman up and down like that in the street I’d be called a pervert.” he said, crossing the grey carpet towards her.

“Yeah well…” she said, pulling herself into a sitting position “We’re not in the street, and you’re my fiancée so I can perve as much as I want.”

He snorted as he set the mug of coffee down on the bedside table and she moved over so he could sit on the edge of the bed.

“Morning gorgeous” he grinned, dropping a kiss gently onto her lips. 

“Been in the gym?” she asked, taking in his hair which was still damp from the shower.

“Running…”he said, “I popped in to see Tony and Banner on my way back up.”

“They still running tests on the Sceptre?” she took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah, I think they’ve been there all night!” he said, running a hand through his damp, tousled hair

“Wouldn’t surprise me. Tony’s relentless once he gets the bit between his teeth”

“So, what do you want to do today?” he asked, his nose burying into her hair. “Fancy heading down to the Pier?”

“Well…” Katie said, setting her mug down and taking his hand in hers, lacing her fingers with his “I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” he asked, raising his eyebrow, a grin spreading across his face.

“mnmmmhmmmm” she said, nodding.

He tried his best to get her to tell him where they were going but Katie didn’t. She had a suspicion he would guess as they made their way there however. But still, it was fun. They set off just after midday and cruised over Brooklyn Bridge, the sun bouncing off the Hudson as they left Manhattan. Katie drove her Camero through the various neighbourhoods, occasionally Steve would point things out from his past, as they came to him, enjoying his little nostalgia trip. And then when she turned left at one particular junction he immediately figured out where they were going.

“You are unbelievable…” he chuckled.

“What?” she feigned innocence.

“We’re going to see that house, the one in Clinton Hill…” he said, his eyebrow raised as he shot a glance at her.

“Might be…” Katie smirked.

They carried through the neighbourhood and Katie eventually pulled into a pair of open metal gates which led to a large, red brick 3 storey with an immaculate garden area to the front and stopped behind a gold, BMW convertible.  To the left of the front door the drive way sloped down under an arch to a large garage and the sprawling grounds at the back. Steve had liked it immediately when he saw it. The architecture inside and outside was quirky enough to appeal to the artist in him, it was in a quiet enough neighbourhood and the location and plot meant they could easily up the security. It all came at a hefty price tag though, not that it mattered to Katie.

“You do know this is the poshest place to live in Brooklyn.” He turned to look at Katie as she undid her seat belt.

“I’m a very posh kinda woman…” she said, climbing out of the car. Steve did the same and made his way round to her side, dropping an arm round her shoulders.

 “What do you think?” she asked.

“Looks even better in real life.” He said, looking up at the huge, elegant mansion. As they stood looking at the façade of the building, the large oak door opened and outstepped a tall, thin, very good looking woman dressed in an extremely tight grey dress, high Manolas with her blonde hair pulled up into an immaculate bun. 

“Hi…” She was crisp, and business like. “You must be Miss Stark and Captain Rogers?”

“Yeah, sorry…Danny?” Katie frowned. When Tony had set her up with his Real Estator friend Danny, She had assumed it was a man.

“Danni with an I!” she held out her hand, clearly clocking the look of confusion. “I get that a lot.”

She turned to Steve, and looked at him appreciatively, her whole body language changing from one of business to friendship as she shook his hand. Katie rolled her eyes. Steve, as ever, was utterly clueless as he beamed at the woman.

“So the way I normally do this, is I’ll walk you in, show you round, give you a bit of history, then we can have a chat after…” She said, as they followed her up the steps, Steve stopping to allow Katie to go first, his hand gently in the small of her back. They entered into large, wooden floored hall way, which was cool but welcoming. To the right was a huge staircase which swept up and round in a dog leg.

“So the house was impeccably restored in 2007 by the present owners with close attention given to the preservation of historic details.” Dani spoke the sales patter as the pair of them looked up and round. “There are five floors, seven bedrooms, three full baths, three half baths in 3 of the bedrooms, including the master, front and rear gardens, parking, double garage and a pool house.”

She turned round and looked at Katie “And if you’re anything like your brother you’ll appreciate one of the 5 floors is a wine cellar-slash-party room. We all know Tony likes his parties, lord knows I’ve been to enough.”  she winked at Steve and besides him he felt Katie bristle.

Uh-oh.

Katie frowned slightly, unable to decide if she was making a joke or referring to the fact this woman and her brother had once, well, you know. Fixing the woman with her best passive face she smiled.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you.”  Katie said, voice thickly sweet “I’m normally pretty good with faces.”

The two women looked at one another, Dani-with-an-I’s face slipped slightly but she recovered and turned to Steve.

“So if you want to follow me…” She beamed, a mouthful of perfect, white teeth.

“Please, lead the way.” Steve smiled at her, ever the gentleman and Katie gave another roll of her eyes as she led them from the room, hips swinging exaggeratedly.

As they walked round, despite the fact she was openly flirting with Steve and completely ignoring the fact Katie was there, it was clear the woman really did know her stuff. She’d obviously researched this house down to the ground as no detail was missed.

She pointed out the wooden floors with inlaid borders, the custom and pedigreed vintage lighting, the exquisite iron doors to the wine cellar, the intricate plaster work on the front parlour ceiling, the stained glass windows, the eat-in kitchen, dramatic curved steel and wood staircase and sky-lit alcove.

Frankly the house was stunning. The Ground floor sported windows on the north, east and west sides of the property and consisted of a formal and an informal living room, a formal dining room and a spectacular eat-in kitchen with a wall of custom curved glass windows overlooking the landscaped garden and pool area. The second level contained the master bedroom, master bath, and an elegant bathing room with a fireplace, stained glass windows, and a the tub centred in the middle of the room which made Katie’s eyes grow wide and Steve chuckled to himself, she had a thing about baths. And so did he if she was in them…

“All of the electrical and plumbing was updated and central air-con and heating was installed throughout the house” Dani-with-an-I said as they made their way back down the stairs “And the facade was redone as well as the roof.”

“I’m not going to lie…” Steve said as they made their way into the huge kitchen again, “It’s every bit as stunning in real life as it looks on the internet.”

“It’s gorgeous isn’t it Steve.” She flashed those pearly whites at him again as her hand dropped to his forearm, giving it a small squeeze. Katie took a deep breath and grit her teeth. Steve didn’t so much as bat an eyelid although Katie could have sworn he shot her a sideways glance, the glimmer of a smirk playing across his handsome face. But when she looked back his face was utterly passive.

“How big is the land span?” He asked, striding to the back door

“Couple of hundred feet.” She said, “The pool is roughly 20 by 40 so you can gage it from that.”

 “May I?” he asked, gesturing to the door which led out of the kitchen to the rear.

“Please, go right ahead…” she smiled, stepping forward to unlock the rear door. Steve stepped out and strode down the lawn area of the property to inspect the gardens looking for what security improvements they would need to make. They weren’t overlooked either which he really liked. No, he could definitely see them here together, maybe raising a family in a few years…a dog… a smile crossed his face as he looked around. Yeah, he liked it.

Katie watched as Steve looked around the garden, and Dani-with-an-I excused herself and pottered off to answer a phone call. Katie turned her head, nosily listening in and caught one line which instantly pissed her right off.

“Yes, I think he likes it. It’s a good sign… he might yes. I know, right? Captain America…who knew!? And he’s even more gorgeous in real life! Yeah, tell me about it…”

Whoever she was on the call to was clearly speaking back and Dani laughed before saying she needed to go and Katie heard her heels clicking as she walked back to the large kitchen. Katie glanced at Steve who was walking back towards the house, and figuring she had enough time she decided to pull the daft bint up on her attitude.

“And do you think I like it?” Katie asked as Dani walked into the room.

“I’m sorry?” Dani frowned.

“Do you think I like the house?” Katie shrugged “I mean you seem overly concerned about whether Captain America does just curious if my opinion counts?”

Dani floundered for her answer, as Katie continued. “I’ve watched you for the last hour or so eyeing him up.” Katie glared at her.  

“Katie…I didn’t…” “You may call me Miss Stark” she interrupted, not once breaking the eye contract  “And if you touch him again, I will snap your hand off.”

Dani swallowed nervously and looked away for a split second.

Bingo. Katie felt herself smirking slightly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any offence.”

“Everything ok?” Steve asked, stepping back into the kitchen. You could cut the tension between the women with a knife. He couldn’t help but feel slightly sorry for Dani as Katie was utterly frightening when she wanted to be.

“Yes, absolutely, me and Dani were just discussing the price and maybe how she’s going to broker us a good deal with the vendor…” Katie said sweetly, before she turned to Dani, raising an eyebrow. Steve had to bite back his laughter.

“Yes.” Dani cleared her throat, “Absolutely. So it’s currently on the market for offers in the region of 3.3 million, but I think with some good negotiation I’ll get them down to around the flat 3 mark.” 

“Try again.” Katie smiled at her and Dani swallowed again, her smile slipping slightly.

“Miss Stark, this is a very good price for this area…” “I’m not disputing that.” Katie said back, her eyes never once leaving the woman in front of her “But we would be cash buyers, with no chain…obviously if you don’t think you can get it any lower I would be happy to handle the negotiations myself.”

Steve bit his lip and became very focussed on examining the ceiling. “I’ll see what I can do.” Dani-with-an-I said after a short pause.

“Thank you.” Katie smiled.

They all exchanged pleasantries, Katie's handshake was especially firm, and then Steve and her left, exiting down the steps.

“You’re scary when you're angry” he said into her ear.

“I’m not angry, merely slightly irritated.” Katie snorted “Her attitude left something to be desired. Here, wanna drive home?” she tossed him the keys.

He didn’t say anything else, just expertly caught the keys in his left hand, but the smug look on his face was enough to let Katie know she had been busted. As they drove back down the tree lined avenue towards the main road, their conversation turned to how beautiful the location was and Steve pointing out how far away the area was from where he grew up. As he spoke, however, something in his stomach tightened. It was a really far cry from the life he had known before the war, when he had been lucky just to be able to afford the rent every month in the small 4 roomed apartment. He’d always dreamed of being able to afford a nice place in his future, keep a roof over his family’s head, but here well it would be a joint effort. And he was surprised to find that he felt a little bit inadequate about that.

 “Do we really need 7 bedrooms?” he asked suddenly.

“Does Tony really need 6 cars?”  Katie shrugged “They don’t all have to be bedrooms. The smaller rooms on the top floor could be an art studio and a cinema room…”

Steve fell completely quiet. Katie glanced sideways at him. There was a solemn look on his face. A look she knew meant he was brooding over something.

“Soldier, what is it?”

“Nothing…”

“You can’t lie for shit.” she said, continuing to look at him “Try again.”

He shifted and looked straight out of the window ahead, biting his bottom lip gently. He took a deep breath and as they stopped at a traffic light he turned to face her.

“It’s a lot of money, I’m just not sure I can afford it…” he said.

“Maybe you can’t, but we can.” Katie waved his comment away “Plus you’re on the Stark payroll now…”

“That’s not the point…” he sighed

“Then what is?” “I know this sounds old fashioned but I always wanted to provide for my girl, you know.”

Katie watched as he shrugged gently eyes not straying from the road.

“Yeah you’re right…it is old fashioned.” she rolled her eyes. Normally she had a lot of time for his ways but not when it came to things like this. “Does me having a lot of money bother you that much?”

“Of course not…” he said.

“So why are we even having this discussion? We’re going to be married at some point, it doesn’t matter who has what. It’s not an issue.” she took a breath “You know, considering you’re not all that bothered about me taking your name when we get married this seems like an odd thing to get caught up on.” “Hang on, I never sad I wasn’t bothered about you not taking my name.” he corrected, shaking his head. “I’d love nothing more than for you to be Mrs Rogers. What I said was that I understand your reasons for being a little bit…hesitant about it, with the business and all.”

“I’m not hesitant.” She said, and he looked at her, raising an eyebrow snorting.

“What was it you said?” he looked at her briefly “You can’t imagine not being a Stark especially when your business is called Stark Independent Publishers?”

She stayed silent, looking out of the window.

“I got news for you sweetheart, you’ll always be a Stark. Name or not. You’re too much of a pain in my ass not to be.” Steve concluded, shooting her a look. She gave a small smile as he pulled the car up 5th towards the tower.

“And you’ll always be my Soldier"  she said, “My safe-place, regardless of whether you solely provide for me or not, which by the way is a fucking stupid notion anyway, didn’t your ma bringing you up alone teach you anything?”

“Wow.” he said, raising both his eyebrows “That’s harsh.”

“But fair.” she countered “Are we arguing now?” he looked at her, the corner of his mouth twitching as he pulled up and waited for the entrance to the underground car park open as it recognised the plate.

“No, I’m just pointing out that you’re being an old fashioned dork about something that really isn’t that big a deal. I want to share my life with you, Steve and that means everything that comes with it.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re right.” He shook his head. “You’re absolutely right, I’m sorry.” he took a deep breath “I suppose since coming out of the ice this is the first time I’ve really had to think about where I’m gonna live and not had it all planned out for me.” He cut the car engine and Katie looked at him, softening slightly as he turned to her, his blue eyes locking onto hers.

“Baby, there’s no rush.” she said to him, fully understanding what he was saying “There’s plenty of other property to look at...”

“Yeah, perhaps I should give Danni-with-an-I a call, see what else she has on her books. I mean she did give us a good tour.” he teased.

Katie narrowed her eyes at him. That’s not all she wanted to give you. She was flirting with you.”

“She probably flirts with everyone”

“She wanted you.”

“Well, she can’t have me…” he said, raising an eyebrow at her, that annoying smug grin spreading across his face.

“Damned right…” she said, pushing on his shoulders gently as she clambered over onto his lap. “I don’t take kindly to people touching my stuff...” “Yeah, you really didn’t you learn to share as a child did you?” he teased, his hands sliding up each of her bare thighs, underneath the hem of her jersey dress

“Not when it comes to the important things, no…” she murmured, pressing her lips to his. Her tongue slid into his mouth, tangling easily with his as he flexed his hips up groaning as the growing bulge in his trousers pressed against her spot as she pushed down hard against him, a moan brewing in her throat.

“Baby we’re in the garage…” he said softly, more of a reminder than a protest. 

“I know…” she kissed him again as she began to undo his buckle and then the buttons on his jeans. He tilted his hips slightly so she could manoeuvre his trousers down and he shifted so he was in the right position as she leaned forward again to kiss him, his lips gently trailing down to pepper her neck with soft, warm kisses, as he pushed up against her again and again, his erection pressing at the thin barrier of her underwear. Her hands moved from his chest and she slid the garment to the side and his hands rested on her hips as she pushed down, taking him in. Both of them let out a groan and Katie began to work up and down, rocking her hips.

The darker side of Steve found the risk of someone coming and finding them, all be it pretty minimal, a fucking big turn on and his hands pulled Katie further down as he thrust upwards, fucking her like a greedy, horny teenager. Her head banged against the roof of the car, but Katie didn’t care as his hands crept up the front of her dress, sliding under the cups of her bra. His hands tweaked at her nipples and she groaned louder, the familiar pull in her stomach getting more and more prominent. As she pushed down again he let out a groan and sat up slightly, so his lips were on her neck nipping her skin with his teeth as he thrust upwards, and she let out a cry, tilting her head backwards.

“Stevie, I’m gonna…” she stuttered and as he thrust upwards again, she was gone. Her cries loud as he too let out a loud groan as he shuddered, wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her to him as she rode out wave, after wave, and he emptied himself inside her, laying his head back against the seat, eyes closed in bliss. She fell forward and lay her forehead against his, both of them breathing deeply as their noses began their familiar dance.

“You know…” he said, cracking an eye open as she grinned cheekily. “I’m glad you weren’t taught how to share…”

Tags

@the-omni-princess​

@momobaby227​

@geekofmanythings16​

@angelofhell-666​

@thewackywriter​