#he got caught slacking but now he's a baddie

[frogcabbage]

Ed going around slandering Stede right now

[lemonpeter]

Tempting and Teasing

Based off of this post by @im-a-goner-foryou I hope everyone enjoys 💕 this was so much fun to write

Warnings: parent/teacher relationship, age difference, mild daddy kink, smut, top Tony, bottom Peter, definitely nff

3.3K words (whoops)

————

Peter liked to be in contact with all his student’s parents.

But there were some who didn’t handle the school stuff, so he didn’t really get to know them. One of these was Tony Stark. Father of his favorite student (not that he’d admit to it.) And all he knew about the man was that he was an asshole.

But he’d never actually met him. It was just his reputation. Peter didn’t like to judge but he didn’t have reason to think any different.

Until the open house.

Apparently Morgan’s mom couldn’t attend like she typically did with these events. So there Tony was in all his glory.

He looked like the type of guy that would flirt with your wife in front of you. Snarky, acting all cool and mysterious. He wore thousand dollar sunglasses inside during the evening. That kind of guy. It was like he believed he was still the high school baddie in every teen movie.

It instantly annoyed Peter. He didn’t like phony people. And he didn’t like cocky people. And Tony Stark seemed like the best of both worlds.

Except...when he came to the classroom to talk to Peter about Morgan, he was like a completely different person.

They were alone in the room, so apparently he didn’t feel the need to put on his cool persona. He was sweet and dorky and seemed kinda like the best dad ever.

Morgan showed him around the classroom, proudly presenting her class work from the day to him.

And Tony just listened to her, encouraging her and letting her do whatever she wanted. He sat down in one of the tiny plastic chairs at the desks, clearly uncomfortable. But as soon as Morgan started talking again he was completely in tune with her and everything she was telling him.

Peter just watched in silent awe, smiling a little as he leaned against the counter. Maybe he shouldn’t have judged so quickly. Because Tony Stark was clearly just a big softie that didn’t want to be seen.

When Morgan was done with her presenting, Tony stood back up and walked over to Peter. He cleared his throat, raking a hand through his hair.

The teacher watched the action, biting his lip slightly before catching himself. That was highly inappropriate. He couldn’t help his attraction to a nice silver fox, but he could put off the swooning until later when he was home. Not in front of the man himself.

Tony caught the lip bite but didn’t comment, just smirking a little. “I just wanted to thank you for being such a good teacher to Mo. She never stops talking about you at home. She’s one of the only kids I’ve ever known to want to go to school.” He chuckled. “But I guess that’s all thanks to a wonderful teacher.”

Oh, the compliments instantly made Peter feel all warm and fuzzy, melting from the inside out as he listened. “It’s what I love to do, no need to thank me. And she’s a wonderful kid. Don’t tell the other parents, but she’s the best in the class,” he joked lightly.

A softer, more genuine laugh pulled itself from Tony and Peter could feel himself turning to mush. No, that was not how the night was supposed to go. Not at all. He couldn’t get attached.

“I think she’s pretty okay too,” Tony teased, looking down at the girl and ruffling her hair. “But again. Thank you. Don’t stop doing what you’re doing.”

“I don’t plan on it.” The teacher smiled, watching the father and daughter interact.

Tony picked Morgan up, looking back to the younger man after a moment. “Well, I’ll let you go. I’m sure you have other parents and gremlins to meet with. And I’ve gotta drop this little one off with her mom.” He grinned a little. “I hope I’ll see you again soon.”

And then, Peter could have sworn he dreamed it, the man quickly wet his bottom lip with his tongue as he looked over the teacher. Then he left with a wink and Morgan calling over his shoulder about seeing him tomorrow.

An interaction with a parent was not supposed to leave Peter weak at the knees. It was so inappropriate. He couldn’t have thoughts about Tony that were any more than how good of a dad he was.

But of course, that made Peter wonder how good of a daddy he could be as well.

God, what had he done.

———

Of course, the next day had to be the day that Tony began driving Morgan to school.

Pepper typically did it, and she would continue to, but she needed someone for that morning and Tony jumped at the opportunity to see the pretty teacher again.

He was only human, after all. Weak for pretty young men who were kind. Peter’s sweetness made Tony want to ruin him that much more.

So he drove up to the school in his high dollar car, smirking as he watched other parents gawk and mutter among themselves. He parked to take Morgan inside instead of just doing the car line. Made it sure that he would see her teacher.

He walked her to the classroom, hands tucked in his pockets as he walked.

Peter saw him instantly, breath catching in his throat. “H-hey, Mr. Stark.”

“Just call me Tony, it’s alright,” he told the young man with a slight smirk. He loved how instantly flustered Peter was. “Just wanted to make sure that Mo got where she needed to be. She tends to wander.”

The young man nodded quickly. “Of course. Everyone is just playing outside right now, you’re here a bit early. So.” He leaned down, gently taking Morgan’s bag and hanging it on her designated hook. “You, little miss, can go play with Ms. Stacy’s kids that are here so far and the couple from your class. No running, no rough play, be careful,” he told her, running down the rules quickly.

He could feel Tony’s eyes on him and it made him feel hot all over.

Morgan quickly walked to the open door that led to the playground, not even bothering to wave bye to her dad.

Tony chuckled. “I guess whatever is out there is way more interesting than her old man, huh?”

“Oh, she just loves to play. You can’t take it personally.” Peter laughed softly, brushing a hand through his hair shyly. He was suddenly worried about how he looked. Damn the effect Tony had on him.

The older man smiled a little, nodding. “I guess.”

A moment of silence passed before Peter cleared his throat. “So, uh, I guess you can go now. Since she’s settled in and all.”

“Oh, well, she wasn’t the only reason I came,” Tony said smoothly. “I also just couldn’t help myself from seeing a certain teacher again.”

Peter watched him for a moment, clearly trying to work out what he meant. He had been the valedictorian of his high school class but couldn’t figure out that Tony meant him and not another teacher. “Then I guess you’d better go...find them,” he mumbled, a little disappointed. His eyes dropped to the ground in embarrassment.

Tony snorted a laugh. “Already found him, honey.” He stepped a little closer, watching the man.

“Him? Oh!” The teacher looked back up, meeting Tony’s eyes. “So you- me? You wanted to see me?”

“Of course I did, Mr. Parker,” he teased lightly. “I’m not one to deprive myself of the beauties in life.”

The younger man’s cheeks colored. “I’m not- you’re- oh, shut up.”

Tony was a little taken aback by the comment, but laughed. “What, can’t take a compliment?”

“I don’t appreciate teasing, Mr. Stark.”

“Oh that? That isn’t teasing. That’s genuine compliments. But I can tease if you’d like me to. How much time do you have?”

Peter stared at him, cheeks pink. “Mr. Stark- this is highly-“

“You want me to back off, just tell me and I will,” Tony told him boldly. “Just say the word.”

When Peter didn’t say anything, he smirked. “That’s what I thought.” He stepped forward, moving one hand to possessively cup the other man’s cheek. “You can tell me no at any time, alright?”

Peter knew that wouldn’t be happening.

He leaned up, catching Tony in a quick and hard kiss.

The older man eagerly kissed back, using his free hand to pull the teacher flush against his body.

Peter deepened the kiss, nipping at Tony’s bottom lip until the other man parted his lips with a groan, allowing the younger man to slip his tongue inside.

By the time they broke the kiss they were both panting and half hard, clearly not ready to stop anything they were doing.

“Give me one moment,” Peter whispered with a quick kiss pressed to Tony’s lips.

He walked to and opened the door, ducking his head outside.

“Gwen,” he said quickly.

The other teacher was watching her kids closely, slowly tearing her eyes away to look at Peter. “Yes…?”

“I need you to watch my kids for a little bit. Please. It won’t-” he glanced to Tony. “Well, it probably won’t take too long.”

The woman finally focused on him, then turned her eyes to the other man. She immediately knew what was going on and gave her coworker a disapproving look. “Peter, no. You can’t do that.”

“Pleeeease, Gwen. I’ll buy you lunch if you just watch my class. Twenty minutes tops.”

Tony snorted. “You’re definitely lowballing it a bit,” he mumbled. He shut up when the teacher nudged him.

Gwen sighed heavily, but nodded. “Fine. But just this one time, okay?”

“Of course, don’t even worry.”

He slipped back into the classroom, pulling Tony with him and locking the door.

Before he knew what was going on, he was pressed to the wall and lifted into the air as he yelped. “Tony!”

The older man chuckled, hands gripping the teacher’s thighs in order to hold him up. “Yes, honey?”

“A little warning next time would be nice,” Peter breathed before pulling Tony in for a kiss.

“Ooh, next time,” he said teasingly, instantly kissing back. He pressed his hips to Peter’s, allowing the man to feel how hard he was under his dress slacks.

The younger man hummed, rocking his hips weakly from his difficult position. “Is that all for me, Mr. Stark?”

Tony chuckled against his mouth, trailing kisses from his lips down to the collar of his sweater. “All for you, sweetheart. And yours to choose what to do with.”

Peter moved his hips again, working to try and get friction to his clothed cock. “I need you to fuck me, Tony.”

“See, I knew you could have a dirty mouth on you if you wanted,” he teased, gently nipping at a spot on the man’s neck.

The young man keened, mouth falling open around a quiet moan. “That’s not even half of it, sir. Just need to feel you so badly. I’ve thought about it since I saw you last night. Since you winked at me,” he rambled.

“That’s what got you?” Tony murmured, amused. “You’re so cute. Desperate for my cock just because of a wink.”

“And you- you licked your lips. Looking at me,” Peter recalled. “God, that messed with me.”

Tony slowly set Peter down to work on getting his pants off, listening to him with a hum. “Tell me, Mr. Parker, did you get off thinking about me last night? Did my little bit of interest I showed get you all hot and bothered?”

“Y-yes, sir. I had to get off as soon as I got home.”

“Tell me how you did,” the older man murmured, pushing Peter’s pants and tight briefs off. “Tell me how you took care of yourself.”

Peter’s cheeks flushed darker. “I fingered myself first-“

“How many fingers?”

“Th-three. Had to prep myself for a bigger toy.”

Tony hummed softly, nodding as he slid his hands over the teacher’s hips. “Used a toy on yourself?”

“I did. It’s my favorite, nice and thick. Not too long,” he described. He shivered at the way that Tony touched him, leaning up for another quick kiss.

“That sounds good,” the other man murmured. “So you like thick cocks?”

Peter nodded, cheeks burning as he eyed the bulge in the man’s slacks. “I do. Do you have one for me?”

Tony chuckled, unbuckling his belt and leaving it loose around his hips. “I’ll let you decide that for yourself.”

He unbuttoned his pants and unzipped just enough, getting his cock out of his boxers until it was visible.

And oh, it was even better than Peter had hoped.

Even thicker than his favorite toy, just about as long. He couldn’t wait to feel it inside of him. Tony had a gorgeous cock.

Tony grinned a little as he watched the teacher nearly drool over just the sight of him. “Is this acceptable?”

“More than. Way more than. Please, I need that inside of me,” Peter breathed, his own cock twitching as he watched the man start to stroke himself.

“We haven’t even prepped you yet, honey. I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me, Tony, fuck! I just need you,” he whined, hips bucking weakly into the air. “I’ll be fine.”

“Telling me to hurt you,” Tony mused. “That’s dangerous. Dangerous thing to tell me to do.”

“I want it so bad. Please hurt me,” Peter begged, chest rising and falling quickly with each heavy breath. He was so ready for Tony, no matter the discomfort he’d feel later.

The older man chuckled softly, picking Peter up again and pressing his back against the board. “Your wish is my command, honey.”

The teacher marveled at his strength as he used just one arm to hold him up. Then Tony used his free hand to guide his cock to Peter’s hole, pausing after a moment.

Wordlessly, he reached into his back pocket and grabbed a packet of lube that he quickly tore open and drizzled over his cock. “Almost forgot,” he murmured. “Although we both would have remembered quickly.”

Peter stared at him in disbelief for a moment before laughing. “You came prepared. You counted on this happening.”

“I did,” Tony confirmed. “I saw the way you looked at me yesterday. And...well, I was hoping you’d feel the same way as I did.” He grinned. “I just can’t wait sometimes.”

“Obviously.” The teacher laughed softly, hands feeling over the other man’s clothed arms and gripping gently to keep himself steady. And just feeling Tony up was nice too. Blame it on practicality and the sexy muscles he felt were just a bonus. Right. “Are we ready now?”

Tony slid the tip of his cock against Peter’s hole, feeling the tight muscle clench at the movement. “Relax,” he said gently. “Don’t want this to hurt you. Just relax.”

Peter nodded slowly, eyes staying on the man as he wrapped his legs around his waist. “I’m relaxed. Don’t stop, keep going. Please.”

He gasped when the head of Tony’s cock pushed in, the stretch burning slightly but nothing more than he could handle. “Fuck. Yeah, that’s it. Keep going, Tony!”

The older man smiled as he watched him, slowly pressing in until his balls were flush against the teacher’s ass. “Still feeling good?”

Peter’s high moan told him what words couldn’t. The sound told him to keep going. And so did the man’s fingers gently digging into his shoulders out of pleasure. Apparently the lack of preparation only affected him but so much.

So he started moving, hips thrusting forward at an even pace that quickly sped up.

Peter dropped his head back, eyes slipped shut as he groaned in obvious bliss.

The sight of his pale, unblemished neck was welcoming and Tony quickly attached his lips to a spot.

He kissed over the smooth skin at first, gentle in contrast to his harsh thrusts. But then he bit down, just hard enough that he knew there would be bruising later on.

He continued the cycle, kissing sweetly before biting or sucking marks into the teacher’s perfect skin. Peter’s skin had a garden of blooming bruises over his entire neck, more reds and purples showing than the creamy white it originally was.

Each mark pulled a new sound from him, pleasure he didn’t know was possible surging through his body at every dueling sensation.

Tony eventually just rested his lips in the junction of Peter’s shoulder, where his sweater had slipped slightly in their frantic activities. His hips kept up their bruising pace, fucking into the teacher quickly as they both felt their highs approaching.

“Tony,” Peter gasped out, opening his eyes once again to look at the other man. He clenched down hard around the cock inside of him, moaning louder. “Oh fuck, I’m gonna cum. Tony, I’m gonna cum,” he whimpered, breathing hard as his high rapidly got closer.

The only friction to his cock had been the way it had slapped against his stomach with every thrust Tony gave but that combined with the brutal fucking he was on the receiving end of was more than enough to get him to the edge. He felt his balls tightening with every continued movement and he knew it wouldn’t be much longer.

Tony nodded, weakly sucking one more mark onto his neck. “I’m close too,” he murmured, hips not faltering in their actions. “Cum for me, baby, come on. I know you need to, cum for daddy.”

Hearing Tony call himself that name was the last thing Peter needed to send him over the edge.

He cried out as his orgasm hit him, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes at the sheer intensity.

His cock jerked before spurting long ropes of cum in between his and Tony’s bodies. He was vaguely aware that they’d need to clean up but was too lost in his high to truly focus on it.

Tony wasn’t far behind him, thrusts finally stilling as he came. He held Peter close, pressed firmly against the other man as he spilled deep into him.

They came down from their highs together, holding each other more gently than before and working on evening out their breathing.

Peter was the first to speak, words coming out in between soft kisses he pressed to Tony’s jaw. “So this...uh...were you thinking this was like...a one time thing?”

Tony laughed softly, unable to help himself. He was still high on the feeling of everything going on that the event of it never happening again didn’t even occur to him. “No. This was...was way too good to just be once. If that’s alright with you.”

He slowly set the teacher down, softening cock slipping out of him. He grabbed a tissue from Peter’s desk and quickly cleaned himself up and got tucked away in his pants. Then he focused on cleaning up Peter.

As he worked, Peter talked. “I think this was...yes. Amazing.” He laughed a little. “But maybe...not here next time. Maybe my place? Somewhere I won’t get fired?”

Tony chuckled, gently dressing Peter again and nodding. “Somewhere else would be good. Your place, my place. Somewhere,” he agreed.

“Oh, good.”

They managed to get themselves mostly presentable just in time for the starting bell to ring.

Peter unlocked his door and let his students in, whispering a quick thank you to Gwen.

Tony left the building after kissing the teacher quickly, leaving him swooning and giggling. He was put together and smooth, like nothing at all had happened. The only indicator that something happened was the smug smirk on his face.

Peter on the other hand...the teacher looked like he’d been attacked by something. Where he was normally put together and perfect, he was a wreck. Curls wild and sticking up, bruises forming all over his neck, sore and limping, sweater still suspiciously stained (not that the kids would notice.)

But he was thrilled and had a huge smile on his face that wouldn’t leave.

And a certain parent’s number added to a new contact in his phone.

[remys-lucky-franc]

I’m Bringing Sexy Back (To Regency England) - Immortal Heart Society

So this happened because I referred to new series IHS’s baddie Lord Montague as ‘Lord Timberlake’ due to the coiffuring similarities and it made @aquagirl1978 LOL and she made me this:

See how alike they look though?! I’m not crazy.

Literally no one in the world wants this fic, and it’s just stupid, but I had a giggle writing it, so 😆 Also, I genuinely know nothing about JT, if any of you are superfans and I’m way off, it’s just a bit of fun, no ill intent or offence meant 💕

Also it’s just in time for all the good old memes... (At the end if anyone needs a ref point)

Word Count ~3500 (yeah, I’ve gone off)

[MORE] [[MORE]]

In the grandiose but soulless marble bathroom of the Boston penthouse, Justin squeezed his eyes tight-shut, splashing his face with frigid water. He inhaled sharply as the moisture hit his skin, opening his eyes and staring intently at the reflection mirrored back at him. It had been quite a night so far. He’d been courted by ‘The Society’ for a couple of months now and on receiving their latest invite, he had finally acquiesced. Over the course of the evening he’d exchanged pleasantries and mingled with a fusion of intriguing individuals - all very different, very separate people, but all who clearly had gotten the memo: convince him to join. Justin suspected before he arrived, from the exclusive address on the invite alone, the sort of members The Society would have on its roster and he wasn’t surprised - even if most of them were no more than masked silhouettes. Initially when he had exited the elevator and caught sight of all those shaded faces, Justin’s heart stuttered: had he inadvertently accepted an invite to some sort of sexy party? How would he explain this one? ‘Hey Honey - funny story...’ But it didn’t take long to deduce that the disguises were all part of the prestige and served as identity protection rather than a conduit to anyone having any real sort of fun.

The mixer itself had been entertaining enough, but the hushed secrets shared in the drawing room were what had piqued his interested and saw him hiding in the restroom searching his own soul for answers. He’d been trading anecdotes with a handful of members before he was interrupter by a well dressed blonde and ushered through a side door, where he was greeted with a firm handshake by one of the top men within the society (apparently), Richard - Something. Initially Justin had smiled but internally rolled his eyes as he considered how these shady types only ever give out their first names - and how that felt particularly unfair when everyone here knew fine well what his surname was... Richard was perfectly charming and charismatic - in the same faux-caring, calculating way politicians are as they try to snare floating voters. His smile was bright and his words were warm, but his eyes were a stark contrast. The Society’s hoi-polloi were obviously deemed to have played their part in warming him up and now Richard was here to give him the hard-sell: and sell he did.

And at first, it sounded relatively normal. At first. Until Richard started with tall tales of how society members held all of the power in the world through power stones. Initially Justin got to his feet and scoffed - weren’t crystals just for spa days and hippies? This had to be a set up. He scanned the room looking for any clue of a hidden camera, Ashton Kutcher’s sneakers showing from behind a curtain perhaps - but nothing. It all sounded truly ridiculous, but as Richard stood, laying a firm hand on Justin’s shoulder, directing him towards a plush chair, pouring him two fingers of whisky, something held him; fascinated him. Stopped him from barging straight out of the room. Justin observed in silence as Richard thumbed through various documents, showing him photographs, pulling up search data online... Explaining. Convincing. Persuading. Justin didn’t trust the suave smarmy suit as far as he could throw him, but the more Richard divulged of the spiderweb of societal involvement in major global events and current affairs, the more sense it made... And in spite of himself, Justin started to succumb to this strange reality. Every word out of Clever Dick’s mouth was revelational, peeling away one layer after another, after another, until Justin’s mind was blown; his brain hurt the same way it did the first time he watched Inception. He couldn’t bend his mind around why Richard was telling him all this, or why a collective more powerful than The Walt Disney Company would want a musician to join their ranks? Richard shrugged coolly as he continued to play for Justin’s buy in, simply smiling and saying that, as a big pop star, it would be quid pro quo - a very mutually beneficial arrangement. The society had access to the best labels, the best A&R departments, they could get Justin as much airplay, fame and publicity as he wanted.

Justin couldn’t deny it sounded appealing - but what did they want in return? So far it was all ‘quid’ and no ‘quo’. He had to ask. Even the easy, practiced grin on Richard’s face couldn’t offset the glint of ice in his dark eyes and menace in his voice that chilled Justin’s blood.

“Justin, come! Everyone knows that music is what shapes the youth of today! The influence wielded by artists, the loyalty inspired by them, their marketability, it’s simply insurmountable! Think about it, dear boy? If The Society control the music, they control the populace.”

Justin cleared his throat as he sized himself up, readjusting his skinny black tie and squaring his shoulders. Richard must be insane. The Society’s logic was fatally flawed: they couldn’t seriously think that it was possible control the entire world’s population through having a singer in their ranks? It was infeasible. Impossible. But what they were offering him in exchange? Now, that was a very attractive proposition indeed. If he agreed to join, and got all of that out of it, it would be worth it? The Society would surely realise at some point that they couldn’t rule the world through the power of song? Yes, the power of a one-line harmony had already been proven by McDonald’s to sell a shit-tonne of burgers - and while it was a pretty convincing argument, selling fast-food to hungry people was one thing - but full-scale global domination?? That was something else entirely. But if he could ride along on their coat-tails and reap all the benefits until they realised just how crazy that idea had been in the first place...

—- two years later —-

Cash carded his hand through his dark hair, exasperated as he listened to Alana’s latest report, “You all understand that Timberlake is completely out of control, yes?”

Emilio grunted flatly as his head fell into his crossed arms on the table like a five year old ready to play heads-down-thumbs-up, “Yeeeeees.”

Cash bristled further as he looked to Rafe and Kiran for their input, both simply nodding back at him as though to say, ‘yes, we know.’

Alana looked down at her phone, worrying her full bottom lip between her teeth, “It’s worse than you think though, Cash.”

He was instantly on his feet staring at her, Rafe and Kiran leaned forward and Emilio raised one weary brow from his slumped pose, concern evident on all their faces.

Kiran was first to speak, “Alana how can it be worse? Richard’s vanished off the face of the earth. Justin’s last billboard count had him go multi-platinum - again, and his lyrics are becoming...”

Rafe offered flatly, “Odd.” He stood, cracked his neck from side to side and headed towards the small stove, absentmindedly filling a saucepan with water and a packet of instant noodles.

Cash shook his head at Rafe then turned back to glower at the rest of the Inner Circle, “Thank you all for the recap. It’s bleak, we know. Alana?”

Green eyes fixed the room as Alana cleared her throat and mouthed, “One hundred and ninety-four.”

Dumbfounded silence filled the room; jaws hung slack. Until Kiran broke the spell, a spluttering cough turning into an uncomfortable laugh, “One hundred and ninety-four what? Because I know you definitely can’t mean stones. We know the exactly location of over fifty percent of them? They’re safe?”

Rafe, back at the table with his ramen by now, paled as Alana shook her head at a loss for words, red curls bouncing around her shoulders, “How is that possible?”

Alana threw her hands in the air, confessing “I honestly don’t know. But he has ones that we knew the location of, and more besides.”

Cash paced the room, clearly agitated as he cursed and barked,

“That’s every stone in existence, except ours and one other.”

Alana puffed out her cheeks before huffing out the breath sharply, “Correct. He has the lot, excepts ours - and the Garnet.”

Emilio’s hand slid under his shirt, a double-check to be sure his Alexandrite remained firmly on the chain hidden beneath the dark fabric, fiddling with it like a child with a comfort blanket as he spoke, “I- I just don’t understand. How? How did he get so many without us knowing?”

Rafe shrugged as he shovelled a spoonful of noodles into his mouth and chewed thoroughly before answering, “Richard’s protege. His pet project. Nothing surprises me when he’s involved. Everything he touches gets tarnished.”

Alana sighed sadly, “Justin seemed like such a sweet guy when he first joined. I really liked him. I thought he could have been part of our Inner Circle someday.”

Rafe shot her a rueful smile before looking down into the noodles, “Same. He changed. Fast.” Coiling his fork in a thick helping, he swung them into his mouth without ceremony.

Cash pinched the bridge of his nose, stopping pacing for long enough to stare and snap at Rafe,

“What is it with you and those blasted ramen noodles??”

Rafe shook his head silently as though to say, ‘I don’t know’: he wasn’t entirely sure why, but every time someone mentioned Timberlake, he couldn’t stop himself from carb-loading. All he wanted a big bowl of ramen in his belly and he couldn’t think about anything else until he was full of noodley-goodness. He’d eaten more instant ramen in the past couple of years than he did during college, and that was saying something.

Kiran cut through the atmosphere between the two men, venturing, “So how are we going to shut him down?”

—-

Richard had been missing for months, and although all trails had gone cold and no one was one hundred percent clear on what had happened to him, there was very strong suspicion within the group of five that Justin had something to do with it. How else had he managed to acquire almost every power stone in existence? He must have dispensed of Richard and taken them for himself - there really didn’t seem, to be any other explanation. The Inner Circle had been aware that Richard was hoarding stones, but his haul had escalated significantly and quickly with Justin by his side - at the Circle’s last count maybe six to eight months ago, Richard only had sixty-five stones in his custody. The dirty duo had been busy.

Emilio shuddered solemnly as he thought about what must have happened to the rightful owners of those stones. He was at the tower with the Inner Circle, minus Cash. Cash would arrive soon, bringing Justin to the table with him. Creating a rouse of support, and then double-crossing him to recover the power stones had been deemed the only feasible plan. Emilio watched the rest of the group: Rafe stirring at a saucepan at the small kitchen set up, Kiran flipping aimlessly though a fashion magazine and Alana tapping at her cellphone. They were all feeling nervous about this, the stakes had never been so high. He scrubbed his brow as he ran through the various scenarios of what could possibly happen with Cash and Justin arrived.

He didn’t have long to wait as the door opened and laughter reverberated around the room. Cash was manoeuvring Timberlake expertly, and Justin seemed to be lapping up everything he said. A round of smiles and handshakes later everyone sat around the table, eyes expectantly on Cash.

“Justin, firstly, thank you for joining the group here today. As you know, with Richard... Let’s say, elsewhere. I’ve been standing in as the ‘interim leader’. And I’ll be frank, Justin, I always thought it would be for me, but it’s not. And it takes a lot for me to admit that. I can do the decision-making, the negotiations, but what I cannot abide is dealing with attitudes and egos all day long.”

Rafe chortled, “He thinks he should be the only one allowed an attitude and an ego!”

Justin grinned and visibly relaxed within the larger group.

Clearing his throat irately, Cash gestured towards Rafe, “Exactly what I’m talking about. Justin, my calling doesn’t lie in leading The Society. I am more interested in having a less ’public facing position’ shall we say, where I can really put my true talents to use. And that’s why I invited you to sit with us today, Justin.’

Timberlake nodded enthusiastically, “ I see.”

Cash stood, wearing a trail in the carpet as he walked back and forth,

“What are your goals, Justin? We understand you must be distraught about Richard’s disappearance, you two seemed close. Do you have aspirations for The Society’s Leadership? We’ve been observing you for some time, and feel that we could all benefit each other within this little group, everyone here wants to progress and wants ‘more’. And we feel like you may have some ideas that could help us all to achieve just that.”

Justin leaned back in his chair observing the group sat around the table. Of course he knew what his goals were. He’d never really considered leadership of The Society until recently - his mind had been consumed with his plan for ultimate pop domination over the past two years. And he’d progressed so far that it was within his grasp - and that was when he and Richard had begun to clash. Badly. Richard’s vision was so- So limited. He couldn’t see Justin’s potential past being a Society tool used to control the public. Justin knew his worth, he was more than a tool for Richard to implement as he saw fit. He felt the anger bubble inside him as he recalled the final fight with Richard. They could have controlled the entire world together: why couldn’t Richard have seen that? Why couldn’t he have got on board with Justin’s plans? As he sized up the twelve eyes watching him, he thought about the dozens of power stones locked securely in the safe in his apartment: these people could see his strength. His power. His star ascending. He leaned forward, his decision made,

“I have acquired many power stones and my plan is, to use our time-travelling abilities to go back in time and wipe other pop stars from existence, so that I am the single biggest pop star in the world today. Then with my influence, The Society will control everything. We, friends, will control the world.”

Alana and Kiran eyeballed each other as the men nodded at Justin.

Kiran interjected,

“There’s no doubt that The Society would benefit from that sort of influence, but what about all of the damage that would be done to culture and humanity without artists?”

Justin looked confused as he stared at her, “But they’d still have me?”

Kiran chewed the statement over before asking, “And who are you going after? Are we talking about Elvis? The Beatles? Frank Sinatra?”

Justin waved a hand as though he’d practiced this very conversation in the mirror a hundred times, “No, no. Only today’s artists. I can’t disrupt anyone who directly or indirectly influenced my career. Butterfly Effect and all.”

The Inner Circle nodded sagely as Justin continued, “And when my plan is complete, who, I ask you, will be the biggest pop star in the world??”

Alana glanced up grimacing, “I don’t know Justin, I mean Lady Gaga is pretty huge? Iconic, even.”

Emilio shook his head, “Right now, Ariana Grande’s the biggest artist in the world, I read it somewhere.”

Justin fixed them both with an affronted stare, “But think about it, if none of them ever existed... Then who would be the biggest pop star in the world?”

Alana and Emilio exchanged a world-weary glance as Justin cackled, “Guess what? It’s gonna be me.”

Rafe scrunched his nose, confused, speaking through a mouthful of ramen, “May? What? Are the Emmy’s not always in September?”

Cash shotshim a withering glance before grinning at Justin, “You’ve thought a lot about his haven’t you?”

Justin, visibly flattered, shrugged off Cash’s praise, “Just a little.”

Cash leaned towards Justin conspiratorially, “So tell us, what more do you need to make your dreams a reality, and how could we, as a group, facilitate that?”

—-

Over the next few weeks the Inner Circle had planned for two consecutive missions. One intricate scheme with Justin, that involved him travelling back over two hundred years to Regency England to secure the Garnet power stone from a Lady Foxworthy. And their own private secondary mission that involved luring Justin back to Regency England where there was no power stone to be found.

When the day to venture back in time arrived, Justin paraded around the tower preening in the mirror at his era-appropriate garb. Kiran had stitched it to perfection, a beautifully embroidered waistcoat over his cravat, fitted cream pants and a midnight blue, velvet long-tailed coat that really made his eyes pop. Rafe let out a low whistle, winking at Justin’s reflection in the mirror, “Looking sharp! Nice work Kiran.” This look was a definitely a step up from double denim!

Kiran moved around Justin turning him, dusting down his shoulders, “Oh hold up, you have a thread. Let me just get that for you. Can’t have you looking less than perfect!” She reached for her scissors and touched the back of his jacket whilst swiftly clipping a tuft of hair from the back of his head.

The corners of Cash’s mouth quirked upwards at her almost imperceptibly as he spoke, “Very elegant, good Sir. You look quite the part.”

Justin gave Cash a delighted twirl to show off his new threads before performing a low, sweeping bow - completely unaware of his missing locks - speaking in a haughty-sounding English accent, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr Tarkhan, I am Lord Timberlake.”

Alana had to swig at a cup of water to stop herself from bursting into peals of laughter, it was like the only English person he’d ever heard speak before was Queen Elizabeth herself! Cash raised an eyebrow in her direction before addressing Justin, “You’re definitely comfortable travelling back alone, because it would only take Alana here a few minutes to change into something suitable and accompany you?”

Justin waved a hand dismissing the suggestion, quite honestly he didn’t want anyone cramping his style. It wasn’t Justin’s first time in Regency England - when he and Richard had travelled there previously he’d had a ball. He had exactly eight hours to get there, get the Garnet, have some fun in a previous era and get back - and then. Then a whole new era would begin. His era... Leader of the most powerful Society in the world and the biggest pop star in history. Justin grinned as he stepped forward, placing his hands around the ornate pocket watch and beginning the arcane chant to begin his voyage through time. The rest of the Inner Circle joined the chant, turning back the clocks within the tower as Justin’s world started to blur at the edges, drifting backwards through two hundred years of history.

After Justin was gone, a series of stealthy grins were exchanged around the group. Emilio breathed a sigh of relief, “We did it.”

Kiran tossed the little velvet bag with Justin’s hair inside to Cash - their insurance policy, should he need to be dealt with ‘more permanently’ at a later date. Today’s plan didn’t involve the singer being turned into a surprised-looking statue, just giving him an extended stay in Regency England instead... The garnet wasn’t there - in fact, there were no stones left there. It was common knowledge within the Inner Circle where the garnet was: firmly on the finger of Richard’s blissfully unaware and estranged daughter - passed down by his long-missing wife. A point that Timberlake was sadly remiss of: they all had banked on Richard never disclosing a topic so sore as his failure as a father out of pure pride and vanity - and they’d been correct...

Now there was nothing more to do than wind all the clocks back to the correct time, then sit and wait until Justin would try to get back.

—-

Seven and three-quarter hours later, the group within the tower saw a blurry portal loom in the corner of the room. Suddenly alert, they listened intently as Justin’s voice crackled through,

“Rafe, Cash, guys! Are you there? Help me! I can’t... I can’t get back! Alana?? The ritual, it’s not working, I’m not fading back through??”

Cash drawled as he examined his fingernails, looking thoroughly bored,

“Ah, so our little ritual worked then. Good to know.”

The passage through time became narrower and narrow as a sickening realisation suckerpunched Justin, panic rising like bile in his throat, “You... You did this on purpose!! You screwed me over!! You bastards!!!!”

As the portal flickered and shrunk to no more than a pinhole, echoes of the roars of their names reverberated around the room, until the gap sealed itself trapping Lord Timberlake in Regency England for ever more. Silence settled over the tower for a few moments, until Rafe glanced up at the rest of the group thorough his sweeping fringe, a smirk slowly stretching from ear to ear as he shrugs,

“Cry me a river...”

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 49

Embassy of Stories said:Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas indeed! In honor of the bar formerly run by Roy’s foster mother, let’s see the next episode.

Last Time: Madame Christmas went on vacation, Pride got a case of the munchies, and Mrs. Bradley was “rescued” by Roy’s Crew.

Congratulations! You are being rescued. Please do not resist.

Onwards!

Episode 49 - “Filial Affection”

Beard’s trying to wake Al up from his forced nap, while Pride WHOA NELLY his artwork seems a little harsher than I remember and you can definitely tell he’s got the power of two Goths in one package, the Shadow Blades are back with ferocity as he tries to draw Beard out by attacking his other son. Ed’s dodging and weaving yikes!

…

Ha! As much as I’ve been crowing about Ed growing taller, he’s still short enough to duck under Pride’s Shadow Mouth attack that chops the tree he was against. Now it’s Greedling’s turn to backflip to safety, and hoo boy. Lan Fan I know you have a massive crush on your young lord but in the middle of a battle against an upgraded Pride is not the time to demand Greed surrender control of the body. And cripes I’d forgotten about your arm, as much as you want to help now you’re no good if by trying to fight you aggravate your injury and turn yourself into a liability.

See? Ed agrees with me, Lan Fan tries insisting she doesn’t need help right after Ed kicked her away from a Shadow Mouth, as much as I like her she needs to back off until she can help without hurting herself. The other ninja is helping away Lion who’s apologizing for not killing Pride earlier, but Greed brushes it off.

[Greed]: “Heh! Don’t sweat it. Can’t exactly fault you for that one. Even I consider him to be a monster.”

Beams of light? Hey, Al’s back! Poor kids a bit confused on waking up halfway across the country, and understandably upset that Pride hijacked his friggin soul. Beard’s taking an analytical approach to the issue, thinking that as aspects of his own counterpart they’re close-enough “relatives” they can influence Al’s seal through his blood. Cheery!

The genetics lesson’s interrupted by Fu and Lion arriving with news. Good News: they’re down to one Goth. As for the Bad News… Al angsts about getting caught oh poor baby it’s not your fault. This is freaking Pride, the First Goth we’re talking about here. Backed up by Gluttony and with your fainting spells, they’re the ones to blame, not you. Fu reports that Pride’s got plenty of light for shadows with the spreading fire and he’s out of flashbangs. They need to think of something before the villagers oh-so-helpfully show up to put out the fire and get slaughtered by Pride. Time for Beard to show his powers?

Al’s hashing out an idea with Beard, so we cut to Greed and Ed getting batted around by Pride. Unfortunately the Goth’s done a bit of gardening, no more trees to take the hits for our heroes. Lan Fan’s hanging out by the edge of the clearing nope never mind Pride’s got her pinpointed with his enhanced sense of smell… hey, Ed! You got any more dynamite stashed somewhere?

[Greed]: “Ugh… dammit! Hey, you still breathing over there?”

[Ed]: “Does wheezing count?”

Oh neat, Prides calling Greed out on caring for others. And notably Greed didn’t argue against that, say something like “I’m just protecting my possessions” or whatever. He just called Pride a monster. Aw, is Greed getting character development?

Ew ew don’t call yourself Greed’s brother you little gremlin. You don’t get to claim family ties (oooh I just got the title ok then) when you’re getting ready to eat your “sibling”.

[Greed the First]: “Just don’t blame me when I give you a stomachache! You did it to yourself!”

Pride’s sniffing? Adventure Strings? YES. Beard is entering the fray! Show us what you can do, Papa Elric.

Wait what? “The hero always waits until the last second to make his move.” Pffft no. Buddy, if you think you’re the Protagonist of the show then I’ve got some bad news for you. Unless this is just grandstanding for Al’s plan…

But now he’s just standing there, cheerfully saying that he could never possibly fight Pride. Which unnerves the Goth so much he withdraws his Shadow Mouths and focuses all his attention on Beard NOW AL ATTACK FROM BEHIND damnit.

[Pride]: “Are you joking? This was your pathetic plan?”

Uh I kinda have to agree with Pride here, your plan was to charge screaming across the field to try and punch Pride in the face? This can’t be it, but Beard’s holding Ed back and Al’s forced to his knees among Pride’s shadows.

Oh hell no you did not just call Al stupid. Ed, push past your father and kick his-

[ShinyGlasses!Beard]: “That’s crossing a line, Pride. Don’t ever mock my son!”

RED ALERT RED ALERT RED SPARKS BEARD’S IN THE FIGHT NOW HERE WE GO

Hooooly Leto. So while standing completely still, Beard’s tearing up the ground to form a giant dome over Pride and Al, and if the dome blocks all the light and Al’s right there now without any shadows to bind him, then Al can pick up where Lion left off!

Huh. So Al’s plan wasn’t to finish Pride off, but just to trap him? Huh. I mean, there’s no way this is going to stick until the Promised Day is over, you can’t just shove the secondary Protagonist in a cage a dozen episodes before the finale. But what about the comment of Al’s body not needing food or water or air? Is little Selim going to start choking and Good Guy Al will have to decide between breaking the trap or watching an apparent little child suffocate?

Whatever happens the dome is holding for now, and Beard’s explaining that Al told him not to warn Ed, who’s a little upset that his brother’s stuck in a cage with a Goth. Beard goes to put the fires out, while Ed yells through the stone at Al who apologizes for the bad reunion. Sorry kids, hopefully this will blow over soon.

Greed? Greed what are you doing? Why are you leaving the good guys… aw, damnit! Dude come on, I was just complimenting you on your character growth earlier this episode, don’t go and pull a Vegeta on me now!

[Ling]: “Hey Greed! What the hell are you planning?”

[Greed]: “Heh. I’ve told you; I’m planning on ruling the entire world.”

Mid-ep pictures of Pride and Kimblee damnit not this guy again. Uuuuugh. Fine whatever he got mildly competent again after tricking the Drachmans into attacking and dying so I’ll try to cut him some slack.

A couple of hobos are around a bin fire, talking about all the Ishvalans who have moved into the neighborhood. Kind of like that murderer with the distinctive scar on his well look who it is! Scar politely asks for directions, but gets a little upset when he learns that May Chang came back through wait a few weeks ago?! Jeez I keep forgetting there’s been such a large time skip. But where is she? And for that matter, where’s the Goth she was carrying?

Scar also doesn’t like his people being called terrorists and accused of blowing up Bradley’s train. Because they’ve got that whole Honorable Warrior Race thing going on where even Scar justified his killings with the fact that he faced people directly. But soon enough they’ll be seen as allies and heroes of the Amestrians!

...well, other Ishvalans will be seen as allies and heroes. These guys seem to have come down with a case of death, courtesy of someone humming to the Sinister String Music yup it’s Kimblee, skipping over bloody corpses and berating himself for getting his tailor-made suit dirty before the scheduled “fun” starts.

In the Dome, Pride’s trying to tunnel out with a stick before Al tells him it’s pointless. So of course he drops the wood and goes for Al’s discarded metal helmet with the sharp point on it, nice job getting the baddie to upgrade again. Although now Pride’s stopped moving as Al points out the biggest flaw in the Goth’s plan: the humans. They’re needed as “sacrifices”, but the whole thing would have fallen apart if they had just said Fuck It and joined ARMSTRONG SR. and family on the vacation to Xing.

Oooh, but the Goths were banking on the Protagonists to be that selfish and leave them to cause havoc in their wake. Pride even brings up Mrs. Bradley, who once got between Pride and a car crash. She obviously didn’t know the truth, but she still risked her own life to protect what she loved. And the Sacrifices were chosen specifically because they were “a step above that”, with souls so strong they would never turn their backs on those who needed help.

[Pride]: “So explain to me again, how were our plans so sloppy?”

While Pride and Al are debating humanity and compassion, Roy’s visiting Hughes’ grave when Riza comes to check on him.

[Afterlife!Hughes]: “Alright, you guys are going into the final fight. Riza, now’s the time to- wait no Roy stop! Damnit man she was just about to say something but you had to put on your Commander Face and walk right past her! You were going to have a moment dude! Get back here and confess your love, you idiot!”

Alright so Scar’s crew have reached the clearing ooooh no. No no no crap dudes don’t notice the Dome and get close and get tricked into opening it. Whew ok good, the respective Chimeras of the groups have met up and spent so long accusing eachother of still working for Worst Boss Ever that Ed was able to run up and get them to face Shorty as a common annoyance. Later they’re catching up over the campfire-

[Toad]: “Once the sun comes up, things are going to get rough.”

[Gorilla]: “I know. Let’s just hope that everyone makes it through the day alive.”

Welp you’ve signed your death warrant. Nice knowing you, Gorilla.

Fu’s heading off to do some recon in Central, I predict that’ll last right up until he finds Greed pulling a coup and is torn between helping the Protagonists and siding with the Goth inhabiting his charge’s body. In the meantime, you gonna explain your strategy? Nope? Relying on the Unspoken Plan Guarantee? Alright then.

Aw there’s that Red Jacket that got tossed aside a few episodes ago. I’m sorry, I just got really attached to the White Jacket and the character growth that the outfit change symbolized, but I’ll agree that the original look is closely tied to Al’s character. I’ll try to get over it.

[Ed]: “Al’s doing everything possible to keep us safe. The rest of it… That’s up to us!”

End-credit music kicks off as Ed dons his jacket and the sun rises on The Promised Day.

After-credits: A young blonde girl is yelling at her sleepy older brother to get up or he’ll miss the solar eclipse. But Older Brother wakes right up when his younger brother sees smoke, which turns out to be Roy destroying government property. An officer’s getting the update that they know it’s Roy’s group doing the damage but they’ve got Mrs. Bradley as a hostage so they can’t never mind Officer just said they were all expendable except for Roy. Cue troops in berets smashing through windows, even as Riza holds a gun to poor Mrs. Bradley’s head.

[Beret!Officer]: “The only one we need alive is Mustang. Kill the rest.”

Mrs. Bradley is not pleased to hear that.

…

Gunshot?

Gunshots?

…

Well ok then.

[coughmadicine]

Disappointment

Colossus(Piotr Rasputin) x reader

summary: Reader murders a man when they’re on a mission and is arrested. Colossus can’t understand how she could do that. Will the relationship suffer because of her choices? words: 1.5k warnings: mentions of sex trafficking/murder, disappointed Piotr, fluff a/n: aw i cry. I love disappointed Colossus though because I think it shows how vulnerable he is. I don’t really know why I wrote this but like hope you like it:)

A quick rewind. You couldn’t quite recognize at what point the mission had gone so wrong, especially because Wade wasn’t even there to fuck it up. It was simple really. You, Colossus, and Domino had set out to get some baddies, not even the CIA, Homeland, or Avengers could arrest. You were to seize the sex trafficking mafia of dickweeds and take them directly to the feds. But of course, not even Domino’s luck could keep this plan from going awry.

The first problem was when you recognized one of the rotten mafia guys as your friends’ ex. She had disappeared 2 years ago. The time you had spent trying to track her down since then was uncountable. She had vanished without a trace and you were unable to get a hold of her past boyfriend. Funny how that works huh? and now you see him right across from you with a slimy grin on his face.

You wanted to kick his face in. To gouge his eyeballs out and shove them up his asshole and back into his eye sockets internally. Colossus noted the anger coming off you in waves and as a precaution asked to take your weapons. You obliged your boyfriend and passed him the handguns at your thighs and the assault rifle strapped to your back.

Present. You sat in the transport, angrier than hell. You were absolutely seething. After you had got a good punch on the ex-boyfriend/trafficker(Adam), Piotr had handcuffed him and the others. A group of FBI agents was transporting all of you to HQ where they could properly arrest the men and take statements from you, Piotr and Neena.

A fatal mistake was made in the transport though; they didn’t gag and muzzle Adam.

“Y/N she was begging to be put in trafficking. That little whore loved anyone's dick. It’s just too bad she didn’t make it longer. The first guy who bought her really made a mess of her-”

The slimy grin that covered his face was spattered with blood. Your fingers were wrapped tightly around the KA-BAR that was lodged in his jugular. Adam went slack and you spit on his face.

Colossus ripped your hand from the man and an agent sitting across from you slammed the butt of his gun on your head. Colossus grabbed your body from the seat and restrained your hands. You faintly heard him yelling at you, but his words sounded distant. The whole moment seemed surreal. Everything was fuzzy from the gun whacking you upside the head. You turned to focus on your boyfriend’s lips. He was saying ‘why, how could you do this’

How could you not have done it? He deserved everything that had happened to him.

You registered that the truck had stopped, the doors flung open and the men were removed from the van. You were next off the van and you were abruptly pulled away from Colossus’ arms. You were placed in handcuffs and kicked behind the kneecaps by an agent. You knelt to the ground next to the sex traffickers and were read your rights. Colossus was shaking his head and pleading with the lead officer. Neena stood next to Colossus, she looked worried, her head was turned towards the ground and she was cracking her knuckles. You drifted towards blackness after collar was placed around your neck.

-

You awoke slumped in a metal chair alone. The door to your left opened and in walked a woman.

“You’re very lucky your shiny friend has a way with words and is one of Xavier’s best examples of a mutant. You’re to be placed under his custody with a 2-year house arrest. Ankle monitor and all. You will attend a class twice a week on controlling your abilities.”

House arrest. The full weight of what you did suddenly hit you. You murdered an incarcerated man. A defenseless man no matter how disgusting he was. You finally looked at the woman, she was in a blue blazer and a white undershirt.

“Do you have anything to say to me, or at least for your actions?” “Thanks,” you muttered.

She stood you up from the chair and un-cuffed your wrists. You rubbed them with your fingertips, the spot where the cuffs were was slightly raw. You were lead into another room where you saw Piotr waiting. The look on his face crushed you. He was so angry and sad. You offered him a small smile trying to prove to him you were okay and that the situation was okay. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with you.

“Am I allowed to take her now?”

His voice was deep and gruff. You walked towards him ready to embrace him but thought better of it because his arms were folded.

As soon as you were affixed an ankle monitor, you and Colossus left the building.

“I am-“ you started, but were immediately silenced when Piotr grabbed your shoulders and made you face him.

He embraced you in a bone-crushing hug. When he let you go you looked up at him and waited for him to speak.

“I am so disappointed in you Y/N. Because I am in charge of you for the remainder of your sentence we are no longer together.”

His voice was strong as he said the words ‘no longer together’. He must’ve rehearsed it 15 times.

“You’re breaking up with me?” You laughed but there was no humor in it. “You made that choice when you murdered a defenseless man Y/N. I am sorry but I cannot be with you.”

You gulped, tears were falling down your face. The ride to the mansion was silent. The whole trip home had left you fuming, ready to explode. You hadn’t stopped silently crying since you’d left. Piotr got out of the car, not waiting for you. You hurried behind him to catch up. When you caught up with him you grabbed his shirt causing him to turn and face you.

“Listen here you metal meathead, that man signed my best friends death sentence. He kidnapped her and sold her to slavery! Her family didn’t even get her body for the funeral!” You were now sobbing as you screamed at the silent Colossus.

“I - I didn’t even get t-to say goodbye. He did this, I was merely returning the favor. And knowing the aftermath..” you paused worried for what Piotr might say after, “I would’ve done it again.”

“Y/N I am truly sorry but I cannot forgive your actions,” he said after a moment of absorbing your statement.

You were angrier now, he was dumping you for doing the right thing. He was just too prideful and too much of a rule follower to see it.

“I’m not asking you to fucking forgive me,” you stammered before walking away.

- “You know Colossus, you should probably fix that before she jumps off a roof. I’ve killed hundreds of guys before you got mad at me like that,” Wade sighed.

“She did bad thing Wade. She’s never murdered someone like that.”

“Yeah you’re right Fushigi she's never killed like that, which probably means she needs support. Your support to be exact.” “Wade I broke up with her.” “Well, you're a fuc-flipping idiot. You should go fix that.” “I can’t.” “Then maybe you should just go be her big friend for a while,” Wade offered.

Colossus seemed to consider it for a while, before responding to Wade.

“Thank you Wade, this is nicest advice you’ve ever had.” “Don’t expect it often chrome dome,” Wade winked and slapped Colossus’ ass. -

You were startled by a knock at your door. When you didn’t answer it knocked again.

“What do you want Piotr?” “How did you know it is me?” He asked from behind the door. “You’re the only one in this house who respects privacy. Come in.”

Piotr walked into your room, ducking to make it through the door frame.

“What do you want,” you said bitterly. “I want to apologize. I didn’t know your reasoning, I was upset that you are capable of such thing. You were always so kind.” “Am I not anymore?”

Piotr had noticed his poor choice of words and tried to backtrack, “I just mean that I didn’t know you were capable of that.”

“Yeah well you don’t know a lot about me,” you sighed and ruffled your hair. “A boyfriend is supposed to know everything about you.” “Good thing we’re not together anymore huh?”

He deserved that for dumping you. But you smiled when you said it to ease the tension.

“Perhaps I could learn as friend first then, Da?” “I guess,” you mumbled. “May I sit?” “Yes.”

He sat at the edge of your bed and began to ask you questions. Every time you answered you would pause and wait for him to answer his question too. He asked the simple things, everything a friend from home would know, the street you lived on, your favorite store and family member. As he continued to question you, you scooted closer and became more animated. Your hands were gesturing wildly, a big grin covered your face as you were recounting a story from your childhood.

He smiled widely and let his hand touch your shoulder, to calm your erratic movements. He couldn’t help but admire how animated you were. You paused when his open palm touched your shoulder and looked up into his eyes. You felt at ease under his gaze once again, no longer feeling the weight of what you’d done affecting the both of you. You hugged him abruptly. Your hands flew around his torso. He was shocked but his arms wrapped around you moments after.

“I like being your friend,” you said into his chest. “Me too,” he smiled.

[whenyouwriteyouwrite]

the punchline

Word count: 3,407 words

Characters: Nona, Mezuma, Mikla, Oserious

Warnings: Some violence. Blood. Swearing.

First | Previous | Next

Mezuma was lazily flipping through a magazine, laid out comfortably in her pajamas on Nona’s bed. She wasn’t even looking at the contents of the magazine because she was watching her girlfriend trying, and failing, to tie her tie.

“So.. I can’t come to this party because...” she asked, pretending to look at the magazine when Nona looked at her.

“It’s a private gathering of Oserious’s associates. He holds it every year at his home to.. celebrate the growth of his empire.”

“Still doesn’t answer why I can’t go.” she huffed and rolled over onto her side, completely ignoring the magazine now in favor of putting all her focus on Nona in her suit.

“Because, Mezuma...” Nona gave an annoyed sigh after the hundredth failed attempt at this tie, then tossed the fabric onto the floor and went towards the other woman laying on the bed. “You are not an associate.”

“Yeah but, I’m bangin’ the Blue Demon’s biggest baddy.” she grinned at Nona’s eye roll. “Doesn’t count as somethin’?”

“It does not.”

“Well.. can’t I be a plus one?”

“You will not have fun at this event, I promise.” Nona leaned down and gave her girlfriend’s pouty lips a quick kiss. “It is an excuse for old demons to gather and drink and discuss matters I have no interest in hearing. I do not enjoy these events, but I must attempt.”

“I could make it fun.” Mezuma grinned wickedly.

“That’s preciously the reason why you will not be going.” Nona was caught by Mezuma grabbing at the collar of her shirt and bringing her down for a slow kiss. The green haired woman hummed against her mouth and gently bit her bottom lip before pulling away. “The answer is still no.”

“You’re no fun at all.” Mezuma whined and gently shoved Nona away, who was chuckling in amusement at her. “I think you’re afraid of me meeting Oserious.”

“I would very much like the two of you to meet. But I would rather it be during a setting where he isn’t impossibly busy the whole evening.” Nona went to the tie on the floor and picked it up, knowing she would be disappointing Mikla if she didn’t have the tie on to complete the look. “We have been dating two months.”

“Two and a half.” Mezuma rolled off the bed, landed on her feet, and went over to Nona to grab the tie from her. “Professional killer can’t tie a tie.”

“Hush you.” Nona stood still as Mezuma looped the fabric around her neck, tucked it under the collar and started to loop the fabric, easily, into a clean knot. “My only hope for some sanity at this event will be Mikla’s company.”

“You two are friends~” she replied in a sing song tone.

“You tease me for this?”

“Not teasing.” Mezuma finished the tie knot and tucked the fabric within the vast of Nona’s suit. “Just happy you’re finally with the program that you’re a likable person that has friends.”

“Friend. Singular.”

“Baby steps.” she grabbed at the knot and dragged Nona down for another kiss. “Speaking of, when is Mikla pickin’ you up?”

“Should be soon.” Nona made Mezuma jumped out of the way by lightly pinching her hip. “He insists on coming up to show off his outfit.”

“He did tell me photos wouldn’t do it justice, or he would’ve sent me an insane amount of selfies by now.”

“You two often send each other photos of yourselves?”

“Mostly outfits. He likes seein’ the outfits I wear when I perform at the lounge. And I like seein’ what crazy patterned shirt he’s bought. Don’t worry.. I save the good stuff for you.” Mezuma winked at her.

“As much as I appreciate.. the photos.” Nona cleared her throat. “If you could not send them when I am in Mikla’s company or out working a job-”

“That’s the point of nudes, Nona. They’re wonderful surprises for your girlfriend.”

“Yes but.. I would rather Mikla not be present to see how.. flustered I get.”

“I like that I make you flustered.” Mezuma sauntered over to Nona with a smirk on her face. “I can’t wait to take this suit off you tonight.”

“If you’re a good girl, I’ll let you.” Nona cupped Mezuma’s chin in her hand and smirked at the slack jawed, wide eyed reaction she got out of the other woman. Before Mezume could even snap out of it and respond, there was a knock on the apartment door that captured both of their attention.

“Mikla.” Nona greeted when she opened the door.

“You ready to party, Nans?” Mikla entered the apartment, adorned with a fur lined brown leather jacket over a brown and red plaid suit.

“You are an eyesore.” Nona rubbed her forehead with her fingers.

“You kiddin’ me? I make this look good.” Mikla grinned, his gold toothed fangs shinning in the kitchen light. “You look fabulous by the way. I knew this would be a look and you are absolutely KILLIN’ it, Banans.”

“Please stop.” Nona shoved him away to stop him from dancing around her.

“How do we look, Mez?” Mikla immediately struck an over exaggerated pose next to Nona.

“Ready to break some hearts.” she replied with a laugh.

“No heart breakin’ tonight, ladies. Just demons and business.” he clapped his hands and did a slow spin. “Car is awaitin’ Nans, time to blow this joint.” he slipped on sunglasses he pulled from his pocket and shimmied his shoulders as he backed out into the hallway.

“Try not to kill anyone.” Mezuma helped Nona put her jacket on and grabbed her face for one more kiss.

“I can’t make that promise.” Nona quickly kissed her back. “Call me when you are off at the club. I will see if I can leave by then and come get you.”

“Nah, don’t worry. I’m a tough girl, I can make it home on my own.”

“I know.” Nona took her hand from her face and kissed her palm. “Just humor me.”

“I’ll call.” Mezuma promised and blew both of them a kiss as they headed toward the elevator.

~~~

Guests started arriving at the Oserious manor as soon as Nona and Mikla arrived. There were guards at the doors checking each guest to ensure that each demon had invites to the party. It was done to not have another repeat of the sniper assassination attempt on Mikla at the last gathering that was held. Nona was, as usual, hiding in the more hidden areas of the room, preferring to keep an eye on everyone rather than interact with them. But, seeing as Mikla has his own associates at the party, he was very insistent on Nona meeting them.

“Please stop forcing me to interact with demons.” Nona huffed angrily at Mikla after the last demon they spoke to left them to go mingle with the other guests.

“You gotta make nice with my associates, Nona. We’re gonna be workin’ with them to figure out this copy cat situation we’ve got on our hands here.” Mikla nudged her side as he started walking towards one of the long tables covered in food.

“That is why I would rather not ‘make nice’ with any of these demons.” she glanced angrily around the full room. “I do not trust a single demon in this room. Anyone here could be an allie to this ‘copy cat’ organization.

“Nah, I don’t think no one here would be. These are long time friends and partners of Oserious. None of them would even have the balls to even consider turnin’ their backs on him cause they know what he’s capable of.”

“Still.. I do not trust anyone here.”

“You hardly trust anyone anywhere. I could probably name everyone you trust on one hand.”

“You would only need three fingers.”

“Oh? Am I one of those fingers?”

“Please don’t phrase it like that.” Nona glanced over at a small gathering of demons surrounding Oserious. “I haven’t had a moment to speak to Oserious since he’s come back.”

“I did but it was to inform him of the situation and how much more information we’ve gathered from our trigger happy, locked up friend downstairs. Which, unfortunately, ain’t a lot of information. These fellas ain’t talkin’ and it’s really startin’ to frustrate the Hell out of me.” Mikla plucked a grape from the plate on the table and popped it in his mouth. “Poor ol’ man hasn’t had a break. Goin’ from travelin’ for work to hostin’ a party.”

“It use to be worse. He use to do everything on his own before you came into the picture and helped relieve some of his duties.”

“Aw, that sounds like a compliment, Nans.” he looked up at her with a pleased expression and a hand over his heart.

“Please do not make a big deal out of this, Mikla.”

“Alright I wont. I still thing the ol’ man deserves a day or two off tho.” he picked up a small plate and put a few pieces of dessert items from the end of the table on it. “Check it out, Nans, they got that chocolate you like.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, her attention now focused on Mikla.

“Listen, don’t play dumb wifh me, Nona. Despite what you think, I’m an incredibly observant demon. And while you’re very good at hidin’ most of your interests from me, you can’t hid your odd and ridiculous sweet tooth from me, my friend.”

“You are mistaken.”

“Am not.” he set his plate down and picked up a second one to load it with several pieces of chocolate. “Uncle buys the stuff almost as quickly as it runs out in the house. Now, I know he don’t like sweets that much and I never touch the stuff. So who’s the one eatin’ it? Cause I only see the stuff gone whenever you come by round here.”

“You are exaggerating a simple observation.”

“But am I wrong?” he held the plate out to Nona and smiled at her. “I wont tell no one about your little chocolate secret, Nona. Well... maybe Mezzie. She’ll definitely wanna know this.”

“I curse the day you two ever met.” Nona gave him and the plate he was holding a once over before she snatched it from him.

“Cheers! There ya go, Nans. Let loose a little. You don’t always need to be workin’.” he picked up the plate he made for himself and ate a small square of white chocolate.

“My job is to make sure you don’t get into any trouble.”

“And you do your job spectacularly. But I can handle meself, Nans. I’m a big boy now and I’d like to think I ain’t as stupid as I was before.”

“Arguable.”

“Regardless, nothin’s gonna happen here tonight. There’s about 70 plus demons here, presumably on Oserious’s side, and hired guards. These copy cat demons would have to be daft idiots to try and pull somethin’ here, especially with all these armed fellas and you here.”

“We thought the same thing before you were almost assassinated in a similar scenario to this.”

“Yeah but that didn’t turn out well for that demon, did it? He’s still locked up and we’re both still standin’ here. Everythin’ works out. Don’t get yourself up in a tizzy worrin’ about every little thing, Nans.” he patted her check before sending her a quick salute and wondering off into the crowd of demons.

Nona observed from the table for a little while. She was mostly waiting for the opportunity to speak with Oserious without a crowd of other demons around him. But she was keeping on eye on things. Even with how confident Mikla sounded about everything running smoothly here, Nona didn’t want to take that chance, so in her mind everyone here was suspect.

Dinner was finally served some time later. The wait staff carried out trays of food to each of the tables in the dinning area, where most of the demons were starting to gather. Oserious was finally left alone at his table when his food had arrived, so Nona quickly made her way over to him. Hopefully her presence near him would ward off any unwanted interruptions.

“Nona, it’s been too long, my dear.” he greeted her with a warm, yet tired, smile.

“It has, yes.” she set her plate down on the table and sat in the empty seat next to him. “How have your travels been?”

“Eventful in their own way, I suppose. You wouldn’t be at all interested. I am, however, interested in what has been going on in my absence. I’ve heard we’ve been making some headway with this organization that thinks it can copy my weapon designs?”

“Yes.. we’re trying to find the organization but it’s proving difficult. The demon we captured from his failed assassination isn’t giving us any information about who it is he works for and what their overall goal is.”

“I have complete faith that they will be found and stopped. I trust in you and my associates who are undoubtedly working hard. This is a very important matter and stopping whomever these demons are is top priority for us.” he took a couple quick bites of his meal and washed it down with some gulps of water. “Now, there is another matter I wish to discuss with you.”

“That would be..”

“I’ve been informed by my great nephew that you’ve gone and got yourself a girlfriend.”

“Oh well..” Nona shifted a bit in her seat and picked at one of the chocolate’s on her plate. “Yes I have. I mentioned her to you before actually. The woman I had inadvertently rescued during that raid with Kozic.”

“You have mentioned her, yes.. That was some time ago.. two months?”

“Two and a half yes.”

“Must be serious then. I barely hear you with partners to begin with, let alone the same one for more than a week.” Oserious chuckled and sipped some water. “Well go on then, what is she like? What does she do for a living?”

“She’s a singer. She just got a job at this burlesque lounge, Fatal Ecstasy. For now, she works three nights out of the week. But she has been told she could be included in more acts.”

“This girl must be a talented to have Lady Jou hire her. That woman is not an easy demon to please.”

“Mezuma is.. she’s.. wonderful.” Nona sighed with a small smile on her face, it made Oserious chuckle again. “I have only seem her perform a couple times but she’s... amazing.”

“You are quite smitten, my dear.” he nudged an elbow against hers.

“Am I that obvious?”

“Yes. And it’s refreshing seeing you doing things for yourself. I should like to meet this Mezuma one day.”

“That was actually a topic of discussion tonight.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.” Nona laughed a little under her breath. “She wanted very much to attend this party for some reason.”

“Well, obviously she would have been more than welcome, but I hardly want to be here and I’m hosting the bloody thing. I don’t think she would have any sort of fun here.”

“That’s what I told her.” Nona chuckled.

“Besides, I know the unfortunate nature of my associates here.” he gestured at the filled tables of demons with his fork. “You bring a pretty lady here and the topic of conversation will be about her. And I’m sure you will have broken your fair share of wrists by evenings end.”

“I would not harm anyone here.. On purpose.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t.” Oserious humored her with a chuckle and a playful wink. “When I am not weighed down with business and travels, you will bring her here for dinner. I am a little offended that my nephew had the chance to meet her before I did.”

“He was very... persistent on meeting her.”

“Ah yes, in typical Mikla fashion. Did they get along?”

“Terrifyingly well, yes.”

“Mikla has always had a rather trendous gift of getting along with everyone. How he manages to have any sort of entertainment at these gatherings I will never know. Why, he’s probably talking the ear off of some poor demon.”

“I would not be surprised.” Nona glanced around the room, trying her best to focus through all the energies in the room to find out where Mikla was since he wasn’t in eyesight of her. The moment she pinpointed his heartbeat, she heard it stop for a moment longer than it should before stutter back to life.

“Nona?” Oserious gently put a hand on her shoulder, alarmed by the completely out of character expression of shock on her face. Nona looked over at him with wide eyes before roughly shoving her chair out of the way and running from the table.

~~~

Mikla had spent most of the evening working the room and chatting with pretty much every demon invited to the party. When dinner was served, he retired to the balcony to have a moment to himself and have a quick cigarette. He had just lit his cigarette when a dark purple demon approached from his side and leaned up against the railing next to him.

“Mind if I bum one off ya?”

“‘ey Vanee, yeah sure here.” he handed the pack to the other demon and tossed the lighter. “Haven’t seen ya in a while. Whatchu been up to, mate?”

“Boss M’s got me runnin’ errands for him all the time.”  Vanee light his cigarette and blew some smoke out. “Really annoyin’ actually, haven’t had a day off in weeks.”

“I’m sure everyone’s busy with these new copy cats around. Any help is appreciated, mate.” Mikla blew smoke out over the railing. “Still, a party’s a nice break. You enjoyin’ yourself?”

“Buncha rich demons talkin’ about how much money and power they got? Yeah I’m havin’ a grand ol’ time.” Vanee spoke viciously.

“Yeah, these ol’ stiffs do brag about their expenses a lot, but no one here’s braggin’ about power or anythin’ like that.” Mikla looked at the other demon with a slightly confused expression.

“This whole party is a power show, Miky. Only demons gettin’ in here are the ones with the money and the power, you and I both know this.”

“Yeah, they’re powerful, but so is any other gang out there. The demons in here just happen to have agreements and morals that they’re abiding by, Vanee, you know this.”

“Morals, rules, policing, it’s all a human made construct. We’re demons. Why do we need morals?” Vanee flicked his half finished cigarette over the railing. “We ain’t got laws down here, we’re not meant to, so why do we got other demons, thinkin’ they’re better than us, tryin’ to enforce some sort of rules and guidelines on everyone else.”

“This place would be chaos if we weren’t doin’ anythin’, Vanne. Oserious wanted to give us some sort of order to this place, otherwise, demons would be tryin’ to kill each other left and right.”

“So him makin’ a demon killin’ weapon is really the solution to the ‘demons killin’ other demons’ problem.”

“Admittedly it wasn’t a great solution but at the time it was all he had. Unerverse was shit and someone had to do somethin’ before it was too late. But that’s why he’s so careful about who he’s given the weapons to. He makes sure they’re trustworthy and not gonna do anythin’ indecent with ‘em.” Mikla stood up straight so he wasn’t leaning against the balcony anymore. “Where the Hell is all this comin’ from, Vanee?”

“This shit happened in the past, Mikla. Remember The Riot?”

“Yeah I remember The Riot. Some group of demons like 60 some years ago wanted to do what humans do and enforce laws and regulations for all of us to follow. They called themselves.. ‘police force’ or somethin’ like that. They did it so we weren’t eatin’ each other alive.”

“But everyone else didn’t like it. They didn’t like these high and mighty demons actin’ like they run the place just cause they have money and use it to buy power. False power. Makin’ it hard for poor and destitute demons to survive. So they rioted and tore down everythin’ those demons stupidly worked on. Cause they was easily outnumbered.” Vanee’s face twisted in disgust. “We aren’t meant to have rules. Sooner or later, this shit’s gonna happen to you and your Uncle. The worst part is, he gave everyone ammo to take him down.”

“I don’t like the way you’re talkin’, Vanee.” Mikla dropped his cigarette on the ground and snuffed it out with his boot. “You’re talkin’ an awful lot like one of those demons..”

“It’s common sense, you know it’s gonna happen, Mikla. That copy cat group is already workin’ on remakin’ your Uncle’s demon killer weapons. As soon as they do that, they’re comin’ after you and every other snooty demon in this room.”

“I don’t appreciate you comin’ here and bad mouthin’ me and my Uncle.” Mikla grabbed a fist full of the other demon’s shirt and yanked him towards him.  

“I’m speakin’ the truth, Mikla. The Blue Demon is a plague on Unerverse who thinks he’s as righteous as a God. Life thrived before him and it will thrive after him.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s fate.” Vanee grinned maliciously at Mikla.

“You ain’t just bad mouthin’.. it sounds like you-” Mikla felt a sharp pain underneath his ribs. His grip loosened on Vanee’s shirt and he fell to his knees in front of the other demon.

“Look familiar?” Vanee held out a jagged knife to Mikla, covered in his own blue blood. “That’s your Uncle’s symbol, innit?” he pointed at the carving on the base of the knife. “I get you with this again.. you ain’t survivin’.”

“Traitor.” Mikla spat out.

“You know, I was stupidly on your side when Boss M made that deal with your uncle when I joined his crew. But.. this hidden legion of demons showed me the way. Chaos is inevitable. Order will only survive when those in power are still alive. And after you’re gone.. it’s just your Uncle we need to deal with. All those demons in there.. will crumble after you’re both gone.” he lined up the blade against Mikla’s throat, ready to slice into his flesh.

“You’re forgettin’ someone.” Mikla said with a bloodied grin.

“Cocky for someone about to die. Alright, I’ll bite.. who did I forget.” he suddenly stiffened when he felt the cold barrel of a gun against the back of his neck.

“Drop the knife.” Nona growled.

“Heeey Nans.” Mikla fell against the railing of the balcony and shakily pressed his hands to his wound. “Nice of ya to join us.”

I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.” Nona kicked away the knife Vanee dropped and made him stand with his hands in the air.

“Nah, don’t worry much about it. Just a flesh wound.”

“Miklazal!” Oserious burst through the door of the balcony, ran to his nephew on the ground, and knelt down beside him. “What in the Hell happened here?” he demanded.

“This is one Hell of a shindig you’ve thrown here, Uncle.” Mikla chuckled weakly. “Seems Vanee here’s workin’ for this.. what did you call them?”

“Legion of demons.” Vanee spat out as he fought Nona trying to tie his hands up.

“Yeah them.” Mikla wiped away some blood from his mouth, wincing when his uncle put pressure on his wounded side. “Thems the copy cats, I reckon. He’s workin’ for the enemy.”

“Nona, get this demon away from my nephew and locked up somewhere. I will deal with him later.” Oserious pressed a finger to the ear piece in his left ear. “Send help on the balcony.”

~~~

Causing a panic was the last thing Oserious wanted to have happen at this party, so he had a couple of the guards quickly and quietly bring Mikla into the manor and down to one of the medical areas. The guests were unaware of what had happened on the balcony and Oserious made sure they were left in the dark about it. He had to continue to entertain them, which meant he couldn’t be by his nephews side.

“He’s lost a lot of blood. But, the blade doesn’t appear to have pierced any organs.” a greenish blue demon was summoned from the party by one of the guards to look at Mikla. “It was done by an Oserious weapon?”

“Yes.” Nona stood anxiously at Mikla’s other side as he was laid out on top of a metal table to be examined.

“It wont heal properly on it’s own, but it can heal. Unfortunately, it will leave a rather noticeable scar, since it is one of Oserious’s weapons.” the demon went searching through one of the cabinets in the room until he found a package of needles and some flexible wire. “There’s a human made medical concept called ‘stitches’ that could possible help. It keeps the ends of the wound close to together to help the flesh heal.”

“Use to do those growin’ up.” Mikla joked weakly. “Youngin’s liked doin’ human stuff like it was some type a weird fad.”

“We should start to see some improvement when I’m done, given your naturally quickly healing.” the demon threaded the wire through one of the needle holes and started piercing it through Mikla’s skin to sew the wound shut.

“He will be okay?”

“Aw Nans, you do care.” Mikla reached his hand up, slowly, and patted Nona’s face.

“Mikla, please, you’re injured.” she took the blue demon’s hand away from her face but kept a tight hold on it.

“You never hold hands with me anymore, Nona. And how come you never look me in the eye when we make love.”

“Stop speaking, you are delirious and you need to rest.” Nona felt her phone buzz in her pocket before it started ringing.

“Speakin’ of makin’ love.” Mikla giggled at his own joke. “Probably ya girly, eh?”

“Yes.” Nona pulled her phone from her pocket to see the caller ID. “I will... call her back.”

“Nah answer it now. She’s gonna get worried if ya don’t.” Mikla patted her hand with his other hand. “I’ll be here when you get back.. Promise.”

Nona stared at him for a few seconds and squeezed his hand one more time before ducking out of the room to answer her phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey babe, I just got off. How’s the party? Havin’ fun?”

“No. Not really.. I..” Nona breath shook in the phone, a very unfamiliar feeling bubbling up in her chest.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” the concern in Mezuma’s voice made the feeling in Nona’s chest worsen.

“There was.. another attempt at Mikla’s life.. I was.. I was almost too late.”

“Holy shit, Is he okay? Are you okay?”

“He has lost a lot of blood.. a demon from the party is giving him.. ‘stitches’? I believe that’s what he called them.. he told us they would help Mikla heal.”

“Please tell me you caught the demon that did this.”

“I did yes. He’s been locked up. Oserious will handle him at a later time...”

“I hope he tears that guy a new one. Fuckin’ asshole.” Mezuma gritted through the phone.

“I am sorry, I wont be able to get you from work-”

“No, no, no, I completely understand, Nona! You stay with Mikla as long as he needs you. I’ll just go to your apartment and wait for you there, okay?”

“Yes.” Nona took a deep, shaky breath. “Please let me know when you get there. I do not want to worry about you too.”

“I’ve got my gun on me. I’ll be fine. You just.. keep me updated on Mikla okay?”

“I will... Stay safe.”

The call ended and Nona shoved her phone into her pocket as she went back into the room where Mikla was still laying down on the medical table, half awake.

“They seem to be working already.” the demon spoke from Mikla’s injured side. “His body is already starting to heal itself with the stitches’ help.”

“See, Nans? I’ll still be able to play piano, no problem.” Mikla spoke with slow, slurred voice.

“He just needs rest to make up for the amount of blood that he’s lost.” the demon finished up stitching Mikla’s side and started covering the wound with gauze. “Plenty of food and bed rest for the next couple of days should do it. I will go inform Oserious of your condition.” he bowed his head at the two of them and left the room.

Nona looked down at her tired partner and took his hand in hers again. He responded with bringing their joined hands up to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to the top of her hand.

“I wasn’t worried, Nans.. Knew you’d come for me.” he tiredly patted her hand.

“You have too much faith in me, Mikla. I was almost too late..”

“Nah.. came just in time.. ‘m still here, ain’t I?”

“You would not have gotten hurt if I had acted sooner.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten hurt if Vanee wasn’t a traitorous prick, Nona.” Mikla appeared to have sobered up for a moment and made hard eye contact with the taller woman. “He betrayed us. He betrayed.. me. He joined this.. fuckin’ Legion or whatever and he caught me in a moment of weakness when I was unarmed and unguarded. You were right.. before.. I was stupid to think I could put my trust so easily into these demons. I ain’t about to make that mistake again, Nona. You and.. Uncle O are the only ones I’m trustin’ now.”

“You have.. a very calm demeanor for someone who was just stabbed.”

“Ain’t the first. Wont be the last.” Mikla let out a sigh as he relaxed into the table. “’m sorry I didn’t take your concern seriously before, Nans.”

“Now’s not the time. You need to rest.”

“Yeah, probably right.” Mikla sighed again and slowly let his eyes close. By the time Nona had pulled up a chair next to the table Mikla was laying on, he had already fallen into a deep sleep. Nona stayed by his side, focusing on his steady heart beat and nothing else until Oserious finally joined her a couple hours later.

“How is my nephew?”

“Asleep.” Nona didn’t dare look away from the young demon for a second, afraid he would stop breathing the moment she did.

“Nona..” Oserious went over to her to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Go home. It’s been a long evening for all of us. You should rest. I will watch over him.”

“You need rest as well, Oserious. You have not had a break in months.”

“And I will get my rest. But right now my concern is that both of you are well.”

“You needn’t concern yourself with me. I am fine.”

“You are not and that’s quite alright, Nona. It’s hard seeing your family get hurt.” he squeezed her shoulder.

“I imagine it would be difficult seeing your nephew this way-”

“I meant you, Nona.” Oserious ran his hand along the back of Nona’s head with a soft smile. “My dear.. you must know by now that I have considered you family for a while.”

“F-family? Me?”

“Yes and I know my nephew shares my sentiment.” he tucked his hand under Nona’s arm and physically made her stand up from the chair. “Now.. I have a driver ready for you outside to take you home. It would be rude to keep him waiting.”

“But.. I..”

“No arguing.” Oserious pointed a finger at her and took her seat next to Mikla. “Get home. Try to rest. I will keep you informed on Mikla’s condition, should there be any drastic changes. But for now, you must take care of yourself. I’m sure Mezuma is worred and wondering where you are.”

“Mezuma..” Nona automatically went for her phone in her pocket to check it and saw she received a message from the other woman hours ago saying she had arrived home safely. She looked back up at Oserious one last time and he waved her off as she left the room.

~~~

It was around three in the morning when Mezuma heard the door open to the apartment.

“Oh Nona.” she rushed over from the kitchen table and looked over at her girlfriend’s exhausted features and red eyes.

“He’s okay.” Nona spoke through a lump in her throat. “Oserious is.. he’s watching him now. He’s resting..”

“Babe..” Mezuma stepped back for a moment so Nona could removed her jacket, tie, and vest. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.” she answered in a small, quiet voice. “I don’t know what is happening to me.. I.. I’m-”

“It’s okay.” Mezuma gathered the other woman up in her arms and stroked her back. “It’s okay-”

“I heard his heart stop.. for a second I thought.. that he..”

“He’s okay, Nona.” she cupped Nona’s face in her hands, making her look down at her. “You said so yourself.”

“I was almost too late.” Nona felt a tear roll down her cheek and she took a deep breath. “I let my guard down- he was.. stabbed and almost killed because of me.”

“You can’t think like that, Nona. You didn’t hurt him. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I didn’t move fast enough!” Nona backed away from Mezuma and paced around the table in the kitchen. “It is my job to protect him and Oserious. If either one of them gets hurt, it’s my fault!”

“You weren’t the one stabbin’ him, Nona!” Mezuma stopped Nona from pacing with a hand against her chest. “It wasn’t your fault he got hurt!”

“You don’t understand.. If I had not gotten there in time he would be dead. It’s my job to protect him, Mezuma. It’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault! Gods! We are you arguing with me about this?! You didn’t hurt Mikla! This was some random attempt by some murderous freak! Nona.. You saved him! You don’t have to be around him to protect him 24/7 ! You’ve got your own life! He can handle himself and he knows he's got you when things get rough! But it’s not your damn fault he got hurt tonight! Why are you puttin’ so much blame on yourself!”

“Because he’s my family!!” Nona shouted with such emotion that it made her physically reel back at what she said. They stared at each other wide eyed for a long time before Nona’s face crumbled and she sank to her knees on the kitchen floor.

“Oh Nona.” Mezuma knelt down in front of her and wiped away the steady falling tears from her girlfriends cheeks. Nona’s sudden confession made something break in her as well and she felt a little teary eyed. “Sweetheart..”

“Oserious said I was family.. He looked at me.. he said I was family. He said Mikla.. Mikla thinks I’m family... I have a family..” Nona looked up at her with a pinched expression. “That’s why.. I can’t let anything happen to them. They’re all that I have, Mezuma.. I can’t lose them.”

“Babe..” Mezuma brought Nona in for a hug and allowed the taller woman to slump against her. “You poor thing. Nothing’s gonna happen to them, okay? Mikla is one of the toughest demons I know. And Oserious is so powerful, no one would ever mess with him. Tonight was a fluke.. I know they wont let it happen again and I know for damn sure you wont let it happen again.”

“He puts so much trust in me.. I was almost too late.”

“Stop thinkin’ like that, Nona.” Mezuma demanded. “You listen.. Mikla is fine. He’s gonna wake up tomorrow and be back to his old self. And he’s gonna keep puttin’ his trust in you. Because you’re gonna be the reason he’s able to wake up tomorrow. You’ve gotta have hope, Nona.”

“Hope..”

“Yeah.” Mezuma chuckled a little bit. “Not a common thing around these parts. But hope is what lead me to you. And I can’t turn my back on the thing that brought me the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

"Hope.” Nona pulled herself away from Mezuma and sat back on her knees. “I will try.. to have hope then.”

“Okay.” Mezuma wiped away another tear from Nona’s cheek with a small smile. “Let’s get you out of this suit and into some pajamas, yeah?”

“I don’t deserve you.” Nona allowed Mezuma to help her off the floor. “I don’t deserve you taking care of me like this. I’m sorry.. for the way I am acting.”

“I like that I get to do this..” Mezuma confessed as she started to unbutton Nona’s dress shirt. “That I get to take care of you sometimes.. Cause you’re always doin’ things for me and takin’ care of me. And.. I know you said you’d do anythin’ for me and I wouldn’t have to do a single thing in return but.. I would do anythin’ for you too Nona. Cause I want to. Cause I.. I care about you so much.”

Nona was silent and stood patiently for Mezuma to finish unbuttoning her shirt before sliding it off her shoulders. When the shirt was tossed over one of the chairs in the kitchen, Nona backed the other woman up against the wall, crowding her there. Nona stared at her, as if she was planning her next move before she did anything. So Mezuma just waited quietly.

“You make this so easy.” Nona finally said. “Before you, I’ve never felt the things I feel now with anyone else. You’ve made it so easy for me to feel vulnerable and normal.” she leaned into Mezuma, pressing her body along the other woman’s, and resting her forehead against hers. “You’ve made it so easy.. for me to fall in love with you, Mezuma.”

“Yeah?” Mezuma grinned, her eyes filling with tears that she tried to blink away, and brought her hands up to wrap around Nona’s neck. “You mean it? You love me?”

“I do.” Nona looked down at her with a sudden sad expression. “I apologize if it’s too much-”

“You’re an idiot!”

“I-what?” Nona looked at her with confusion.

“I said you’re an idiot.” Mezuma laughed. “Because I’ve been in love with you ever since that first night you spent at my apartment.”

“But you’ve.. you’ve never said anything before.”

“I was afraid of sayin’ somethin’ too soon and scarin’ you off.” Mezuma admitted quietly. “Truth is.. I’m afraid of losin’ you just as much as you’re afraid of losin’ me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good. Neither am I.”

“Good.” Nona ran her hands along Mezuma’s sides. “There’s so many things I want to with you..”

“Later. You’ve been through a lot tonight. I’m exhausted and you must be dead on your feet.” Mezuma pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “We have plenty of time together, Nona.”

“You’re right..” Nona backed away from the other woman’s space and went over to the bed.

“I’m always right.” Mezuma followed her and hopped on top of the bed.

“You are.” Nona fell easily into her girlfriends open arms and curled up half on top of her.

It was quiet for a long time. The first colorful rays of sunshine peaked through the window when Mezuma finally fell asleep. Nona closed her eyes soon after that and fell asleep listening to the steady heart beat of the other woman.

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Resource Management, pt13

Word Count: 2383 Tags: @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso @feelmyroarrrr @anyakinamidala @dirajunara @anotherotter @little-study-bug @rampant-salamander @goodnightwife @samaxraph99 @anotherotter  @outside-the-government @kingarthurscat @coyote-in-space @originalpottervengerlock @dolamrothianlady @curiositywillbethedeathofme @superheroesofbothuniverses @mtriestowrite @wanderingkat77

“I could have sworn you were supposed to be a genius!” I exclaimed, stomping toward Stark with murder in my heart. “Do you have any idea what kind of compromise you have caused? In light of the current situation at SHIELD?”

“In all fairness, there is a method to my madness,” Stark shrugged. I resisted the urge to choke the life out of his smug fucking throat.

“Start talking because I’m feeling a little like I’d like to get in some target practice.” I cocked an eyebrow.

“I guess it’s a good thing I swept for bugs already then.” Stark took a seat. His movements had a careless grace to them that emphasized that he really wasn’t the least bit concerned that I might hurt him. Fury should have started training me years ago. I could feel the rage boiling to the surface, and clenched my jaw.

“You’ve read her personnel file, Stark. Do you want to risk her hitting you?” Phil prompted.

“Right. Here’s the shortest, most condensed version of the story I can give you. SHIELD has been compromised. I want to know by whom. I need to know. And you need to help me.” He stood as he spoke, and walked over to Phil. He poked him. Then squeezed his bicep. Then poked him again.

“Stark.” It was a warning.

“It’s remarkable, Phil. I can’t believe it,” Stark shook his head. “You look so life-like.”

“Mr. Stark,” I cleared my throat. “We know SHIELD is compromised. My data analysis suggests HR was specifically targeted.”

“And why would anyone want that information?” Stark asked.

“You’ve seen how detailed those reports are. You could practically determine what toppings I’m likely to order on my pizza and how often I think about sex from them,” I blurted and immediately blushed.

“Phil looks good. My guess is you think about it a lot,” Stark wiggled his eyebrows at me. I sighed and dropped into my chair.

“Make your point, Stark.” Phil crossed his arms and glared at Tony. Tony made his way back to the chair and with the same practiced grace, dropped back into it.

“What she said. You can determine exactly the type of person each employee is by looking at his or her personnel file. If you were a big terrorist organization, that would be pretty handy information to have. You know, if you were going to recruit within the ranks.” Stark cracked the knuckles on one hand and was about to start on the other. I grabbed his hand to stop him.

“What you’re saying, Tony,” I was too surprised to keep up the formality, “is that anyone could be a traitor based on savvy recruiting tactics incorporating information gleaned from a personnel file.”

“So it would stand to reason that –“

“That we could pinpoint who might be a traitor by scanning personnel files,” I interrupted. “Can your fancy-ass AI get us in the files without using my login information?”

“JARVIS has been able to since about five minutes after I first opened any of the files,” Stark nodded.

“We need to know who might be a traitor,” I was thinking out loud. “We need to scan for debt, or weird past history, and –“

“And what are we going to do with this information once we have it?” Phil broke back into the conversation.

“Forward it to Fury. Let him tell us what to do next,” I shrugged.

“And if Fury is compromised?” Stark asked.

“Are you kidding?” I was pretty much finished with Stark sass for the evening. “Are you abso-fucking-lutely kidding? Fury? Compromised? That would be like saying Captain Rogers doesn’t know the words to the Star-Spangled Banner. If there is anything in the world I am certain about, it’s that Fury is one of the good guys.”

“I’m not,” Phil countered. I spun to stare in surprise.

“Wha –“

“I still don’t know why he saved me. I still don’t know how. I know I wasn’t in Tahiti. I almost know, I almost remember what happened. But Fury won’t give me answers.” Phil’s shoulders were tense. “I don’t know that he’s one of the good guys.”

I dropped into my chair, certainty gone. I was pretty sure that despite my on-again-off-again dislike for Tony Stark, we could trust him. He could buy half the world if he wanted to, so there was no reason for him to covertly become some terrorist superpower. And he was obnoxious enough that he wouldn’t be able to lead a bunch of baddies without them trying to mutiny. I trusted Phil, ironically because he didn’t talk shop despite my advanced security clearance. Well, and the sleeping together relationship thing. You don’t get terribly far in relationships when you don’t trust your sleepover pal. But if Phil could question Fury, then who was trustworthy? I rubbed my fingers across the bridge of my nose, trying to release the tension.

“We can’t be the only three fighting this battle. I’m not even a field agent,” I complained. Phil nodded.

“We need to identify allies, instead of trying to root out traitors,” he agreed.

“Where do we start?” I asked. Stark spun around in his chair.

“We have the Initiative.” He steepled his fingers and narrowed his eyes, thinking. “Cap’s girl is probably safe. I don’t think Cap’s righteousness would surge for a traitor.”

“Jesus, Tony, what are you, twelve?” I snapped. It was gross, but I kind of agreed. I suspected Cap had some sort of trustworthiness detector.

“I love that you use my first name when you’re mad at me. Does she do that to you too, Phil?” Tony smirked. I stretched my hands and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself.

“Don’t think I’ve made her mad yet,” Phil shrugged. “Romanov and Barton are probably safe though, I agree. Thor’s off planet right now. Do you know where Banner is?”

“Yeah, I know where Bruce is.” Tony was playing with his phone. Messaging someone, probably.

“You people mind telling me what the fuck is going on? On a Saturday night? In a restricted building?” Fury walked through my office door. “And why the fuck are the two of you even in the same room?”

He glared at Phil. I glared at Stark, hoping he’d admit to what he’d been up to. Remarkably, he did. In a few minutes, he’d explained everything he’d done to infiltrate SHIELD, admitted to pulling ‘some’ personnel files, and made it clear that I was not at fault. I suspected I was still going to get a dressing down from Fury, but it was the thought that counted.

“Sir, how would you like us to proceed?” I asked when Stark had finally finished his explanation.

“You, particularly, need this.” He handed me a small leather wallet. I gave him a confused look and flipped it open. It was a SHIELD badge.

“Sir?”

“You have level one competencies on the range. Barton confirmed that this morning. You’re at least a level five on your hand-to-hand, but Romanov will assess you on Monday to ascertain how good you are. You’ve proven yourself more than once tactically and strategically. You will wear your sidearm at all times. You will not hesitate to drop anyone you feel is a threat to your own wellbeing, or the safety of your fellow SHIELD agents. This will not be going into your personnel file, as far as anyone who can access the system will be able to tell, you are still an overworked, underpaid HR manager,” Fury explained.

“Except I’m now an overworked, underpaid HR manager who can shoot people who piss me off,” I raised an eyebrow.

“As tempting as it may be, shooting Mr. Stark would be a felony,” Fury smirked.

“How do we know we can trust you, Director?” Phil asked. Fury turned to face him.

“You don’t. But I’ll make this easy for you. Your assignment is to determine who is loyal to SHIELD. I don’t want you sending me reports. Keep that between the three of you. It’s up to you to decide whom you trust. But I’m not going to ask for a list of names. Watch your backs.” As quickly as he’d come in, he headed back out into the night.

I curled into Phil’s side and yawned. It had been a late night. After Fury had left, we’d made it clear to Stark that it was up to Phil to reveal himself to the other Avengers when he felt ready. It had taken a bit of convincing, but Stark finally got on board. The relationship between Stark and Phil wasn’t as tense as I was expecting, but it’s not like they stripped down to compare chest scars either. I think Stark had probably been a thorn in Phil’s side too many times to make him feel really companionable, but Phil’s ‘death’ had definitely changed Stark. I caught him staring at Phil with slack-jawed wonder a couple of times, but more surprisingly, I caught him looking on Phil with a great deal of respect. I thought that would probably come in handy at some point.

Phil wrapped his arm around me and kissed my forehead. If the sun streaming in my window was any indication, it was mid-morning.

“When do you have to head back to your team?” I asked, my voice rough with sleep.

“I should head back soon. We’re still assigned to the cleanup. The preliminary damage report came in on Friday afternoon, and unbelievably, there’s very little structural damage. Again, pointing to an inside job.” He trailed his hand down my shoulder.

“I’m scared, Phil. This is not what I signed up for,” I admitted. He kissed my forehead again.

“Did you really never wish to be outside of HR? Not even once?” He teased.

“Maybe,” I admitted.

“A girl doesn’t get a black belt in every martial art invented and not ponder life as an agent, I suppose.”

“Not every martial art,” I laughed and shimmied up the bed until we were face to face. I kissed him, gently. His free arm came up to my shoulder and he pushed me onto my back, and trailed kisses from my shoulder across my collarbone, and down to the valley between my breasts.

“It’s normal to be scared, Annie,” he spoke between placing his lips against my skin. “Even those of us who did sign up for this feel fear. Sometimes.”

“Do you think we’ll be moving back into the Triskelion?” I was distracted. He was distracting.

“You won’t be. Fury wouldn’t have spent money on that office if he intended to move you back. But they’re talking about putting in new windows this week. Fixing the exterior. Then repurposing the worst damaged areas.” His lips had made it to my hipbone, and his hand was rough on my thigh. He was finished soothing me with words.

“Are you going to bring your team in on this?” I gasped.

“This? Now? No. This is between you and me.”

Stark wanted to meet for dinner. I did not want to meet with him on my own, and Phil had gone back to the bus, so I begged off. I was exhausted from processing all the crap that had changed so quickly in my universe, and I just wanted an enormous cup of tea, trashy television and an early night. He made me promise to meet on Monday, but I hedged on that as well. I was going to have my first training session with Romanov, and I was nervous as hell despite Fury and Phil’s reassurances. The woman was going to kick my ass across the countryside. And then, in all likelihood, back again.

I was just settling in with my tea when I heard a knock at the door. After the lecture I’d received about door safety from Phil, I peeked out the peephole. It was Erin. My stomach dropped. I wanted so desperately to tell her everything, but I didn’t want to put her at risk too. I took a moment to steel my nerves and opened the door. She pushed past me.

“I went out with Matt again. What is wrong with me?”

“Did you go to a rugby game this morning?” I teased. She nodded. I laughed.

“I swear I used to know a girl who looked just like you who swore she would never settle down,” I teased.

“How am I supposed to be the yin to your conventional, commitment-happy yang if I’m going to Sunday morning Rugby games?” She complained from the kitchen. She was already fixing herself a cup of tea.

“That’s definitely a reason to dump his ass before it gets serious,” I deadpanned. “Wait, you went to a rugby game. Totally too late.”

“Shut up!” She complained. “Is that a box of bullets?”

“Yeah, for my sidearm,” I confirmed.

“The fuck? You have a sidearm?”

“Not that I’m particularly effective with it, but yes. I’m getting some remedial learning,” I yawned. It had been a long weekend.

“I will lose my mind if I have to start taking additional training,” Erin complained. Obviously Fury hadn’t spoken to her yet. Well, I wasn’t taking that bullet for him. He could give her the happy news himself.

“It’s not so bad,” I shrugged.

“It is. And it’s bullshit. I think they’re too worried about this attack. I’m sure it was random, and wasn’t targeting us at all.” She pulled the teabag out of the cup and tossed it into my composter. I kept my face neutral, but was troubled by her blasé attitude. She was going to get hurt if she didn’t start taking the threat seriously. But again, I didn’t want to be in the middle of an Erin shitstorm, so I was going to leave that conversation to Fury as well.

I flicked the TV over to some ridiculous comedy, which was Erin’s usual cue to launch into a detailed narrative about her weekend, but even the competition between the TV and Erin’s expressive way of speaking were doing nothing to keep me awake. I finally shut the TV off, and sent Erin home. I needed to be up to run in the morning, and her office was right next door to mine.

[literati42]

Tim Drake Fic: When the Bat is Away

Title: When the Bat is Away Part 1

Rating: PG

Genre: Hurt/comfort, family, angst,

Characters: Tim centric, with Jason, Dick, and Damian. Mentions of Alfred, Julia Pennyworth, and Bruce

Description: When Batman and Alfred are out of town, the Robins--past and present--are left to care for Gotham. All of this would work out fine if Tim was not hiding something...

Prompt request from @fandom-princess-of-awesomeness `: “Tim ends up getting sick while Bruce and Alfred are away and Dick, Jason, and Damian take care of him.”

Note: This is part 1. Part 2 is here

           Tim wiped sweat off his brow with one hand, holding on to one of Gotham’s many gargoyles with the other. It was a cool night according to the weather he checked earlier as part of his pre-mission recon. Tim was never one to leave any loose ends and not factoring in weather into plans was simply amateur hour. Weather could be your greatest foe or your best ally, depending on how well you accounted for it. He explained this to his siblings several dozen times, but of course, that just led to Jason calling him a nerd and Damian going on about how a true warrior is master of the elements rather than a slave to them. Tim rolled his eyes at the memory and took a breath, wiping his forehead again. It was supposed to be cold, and genuinely each breeze seemed to go right through him, regardless of the Red Robin uniform. So why was he sweating? He cursed himself for losing focus, shifting his grip and glancing out to watch for his siblings. He leaned a hand on the net where one of the Riddler’s henchmen hung below the gargoyle Tim was currently perched on. His name was Eric, Tim knew this not just because of his detective abilities. He knew this man’s name because it was time number 7 he caught him during a heist. Eric had worked for every big wig baddie in the city, with the exception of Joker because, and Tim remembered the quote exactly, “that fool is crazy.”

           “You’re not looking so good,” said Eric, frowning through his green costume. “Maybe you should let me go and get some rest. You have a bit of a sheen.” The sad thing, Tim noted, was the man sounded genuinely concerned. “And those bags under your eyes are getting worse.” Tim did not hide his eye roll.

           “You can’t see the bags under my eyes,” he replied.

           “True, but I know they are there,” Eric replied, “I hear it in your voice.” Tim grunted. “Seriously, you’re not even being a smartass. That’s not a good sign from you, I mean it.” Tim grumbled, turning away. It was bad enough to get the overbearing parental treatment at home, but now the actual criminals were joining in? He straightened up to try and work a kink out of his muscles and felt a sharp pang in his side. He hissed and pressed his hand against it. “Kid?” Eric said. Tim waved him off.

           “Hey Babybird,” the signal picked up in his communicator, transmitting the familiar voice of Dick Grayson, resident first Robin and current Nightwing. “We have a situation. You got the Riddler problem handled?”

           “Yeah, it was just Eric again, the big guy himself didn’t make an appearance.”

           “Is that Nightwing?” asked the thug, shifting in the net, “Say hi for me.” Tim glared down at him, but could not respond before Nightwing chirped over the comm.

“Oh hey Eric, didn’t we just lock you up?”

“Didn’t take, what are you going to do? That’s the broken system for ya,” Eric replied.

“If you two are finished playing catch-up, there was a situation?” Tim pressed, massaging his temple. His skin felt clammy. He pulled his hand back and saw it was shaking, just slightly. He needed more coffee.

“Yeah, something going on at the docks. Head down here as soon as you can.” Dick sighed, actually sighed over the comm.“ Something is always going on at the docks, and it’s never anything pleasant.”

“We’ll all go take a picnic down by the polluted Gotham water next time we’re free then,” broke in the voice of Tim’s other older brother, Jason Todd.

“The communicators are for mission relevant conversation,” Damian’s young voice came in now as a low growl, “I expect professionalism from the three of you. Just because father is away doesn’t mean we can slack on discipline.”

The bickering became a steady flow and Tim could not stay focused on the meaning of the words. The pain in his side was magnifying now.

“Hey, Red Robin, maybe it’s not the best idea to be swinging around in your condition,” Eric commented quietly, as Tim shot his grappling hook. He did not respond, just shut off the comm, his head immediately filling with silence in the absence of familial bickering. He closed his eyes for a split second, forced them open, and swung.

_-_-_

           Less than 10 minutes later, Tim was neck deep in thugs. He swung his bow staff, connecting sharply with one’s temple and then spun around to take another out at the knees. Dick was to his right, Jason to his left, and behind him, he could hear Damian. Tim remembered that morning when Dick joked about being bored while Alfred and Bruce were overseas. Of course, Dick had only said that to whine about the fact that the older generations were not sharing the information about where they were going or why. They merely stated that they would be gone and out of communication, and could the four boys please try to work together and keep Gotham in one piece. After having to break up another squabble between Damian and Tim, Bruce had commented that maybe he should call Superman to swing by for a few days. That had Dick straightening up quickly to assure their father they would be okay and would even play nice. After all, what was the worst thing that could happen in a few days?

           Tim rolled his eyes as he ducked to avoid getting shot in the head by a gun that was definitely not street legal. Yes, Dick, what was the worst that could happen? He thought. He saw one of the higher up henchmen ducking out a window. Tim narrowed his eyes and broke free of the fight, jumping onto a surprised thug’s shoulders and using them as a springboard to throw himself out the window. He landed on the other side. It should have been a clean jump, but for some reason, it vibrated through his bones. He cringed and then his hand went back to his side. The pain was sharp. He lifted his glove, but no blood. He concluded he was not shot. Anything else he could worry about later. He took off after the man. The chase took them down a pier toward a boat. This man was clearly a general among the Penguin’s thugs, heading back to the casino to report on the current Robin activity. Tim could not let him get away.

           Red Robin heard the fight behind him spilling out of the warehouse onto the street. His brothers were outside now but too occupied to track him. He heard other thugs running their direction, heading for the boat, but he focused ahead. He launched himself off the pier just as the boat started out, rolling as he landed on the deck. He was up at once, fists up. The world swayed as if from waves, but the water was clear. The thug turned around, his expression going first to fear and then to confusion. Then a look of confidence took over the thugs face. Tim had exactly two seconds to try and untangle that expression before pain rocketed through him from his side. He collapsed to his knees. Suddenly, Tim was hurling onto the deck. The pain in his side was ratcheting up. He felt impossibly hot and terribly cold. He saw the thugs boots in his vision and then hurled directly on them.

           He could just make out the sounds coming over his comm. “Status report,” Dick’s voice commanded.

           “I have West exit covered,” Damian pipped in.

           “Have a pile of them at the East exit,” Jason added.

           “That better be a living pile,” Dick said.

           “Where’s the fun in that?”

           “If father was here…”

           “Red Robin, report,” Dick cut off their younger brother. “Red Robin…report.”

           Tim heard all of this. The familiar sounds of his siblings squabbling, just as a hand roughly hauled him off the deck. He was suddenly face to face with the Penguin’s enforcer. The wicked smile would have been sickening if Tim had not already felt so ill. He leaned in, his voice registering on the comm. He knew. He knew they could hear him. “Sorry, birds, Red Robin is out of commission.” Tim tried to make his body work, but the pain was so intense he was unable even to keep his eyes open. Then he was in the air, thrown like garbage. The waves hit him with their ice, and he gasped. Water filled his lungs. The pain, the growing fever, the water. It all mixed together into a swirl of pain and panic.

_-_-_

           “Sorry, birds, Red Robin is out of commission,” the words hit Red Hood like a punch to the gut. He shot his current opponent, not even checking to see if the wound was fatal and took off back toward the others. The splash registered on the comms, so Tim was near the water. Jason holstered his weapons and dove off the dock into the water; one thought bouncing against his skull like a pool ball. No Robin was going to die here tonight. Not again. He saw the wake of the boat heading off and swam toward it, diving down the moment he reached the place the boat had been tied up. The waves broke the light of the full moon above into fingers reaching into the murky depths. One finger caught on red. Red chest plate, red metallic wings. Jason did not think, merely grabbed and began kicking back to the surface. His little brother’s body was completely still against him. He surfaced, and suddenly there were hands trying to rip Tim from him. He snarled and tried to kick away.

           “Hood, stop,” Dick’s voice snapped. He grabbed Tim and this time Jason let go, letting their older brother draw the kid up onto the dock. Dick laid Tim out and began compressions. Jason pulled himself up, watching. Tim was not respond. At all.

           “You’re doing it wrong,” Damian said, pushing Dick away and taking over. His furious little fists pounding Tim’s sternum. Jason looked up, alert to the danger, but all the henchmen had scattered, using this opportunity to avoid capture. Not a lowlife in Gotham wanted to be around if one of the Bat’s birds died. Jason growled. He would not let himself think that.

           Damian’s fist made a wet thwack, and suddenly Tim was sputtering. He threw up water. Then vomited again. Jason leaned forward, watching the kid’s face, but those familiar eyes remained shut. He hurled one final time and then curled up in a ball. He was shivering, his face contorting in pain. Tim, the tireless. Tim the never-say-never. Tim the boy who would claim he was fine even if have his limbs were laying in a pile on the floor. Jason’s little brother Tim, whimpered in pain. Jason felt sick.

           Then he felt furious.

           “What did they do to you?” he growled. He saw the hand Tim had pressed against his side and began trying to pry it loose. He needed to see the damage. He managed to move Tim’s hand, but there was no visible wound. The kid’s hand though, Tim was burning up.

           “We need to get him back to the cave,” Dick said, his voice sharp, masking the worry with control. Jason grunted in response, dragging the kid up into his arms. He felt Damian fall into step behind him, saw Dick going first. Jason felt Tim trying to curl up again in his arms.

           Someone was going to pay.

----

Part 2 to continue

[kurguardianz]

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season One Rant

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season One Rant

Originally I was just going to measure this season by both its pros and its cons. But then I thought “This show is getting enough praise as it is without my help.” And in all honesty, my analyzing the pros felt half-assed when I really wanted to focus more on the cons. I haven’t seen the 1980s cartoon, so I can’t judge ‘VLD’ as a bad reboot or not. All I’ve seen from the original cartoon is a video on youtube titled ‘Best Voltron Moments’. It looks dated and silly as all hell compared to ‘VLD’. And good god what did they do to Pidge’s voice??? However, I actually had more fun laughing at an eight to nine minute video displaying 80s cheese than I did watching this modernized reboot.

I’m not saying I don’t like ‘VLD’, because I do. I just didn’t love it. Rather than blasting through this season in a matter of hours, it became more of a chore to sit through that it took me days, if not weeks, just to finish it. Is this one of those shows that isn’t for me? Is there something that I’m missing? Or did they just not do a good job at distracting me from its faults? Keep in mind, this is all opinion based, and not everyone is going to like something everyone else loves. Also, I’m aware that there are comics based off of this show. I don’t care. I’m focusing on the cartoon, not the comics. And from what my dearest friend and fan of the show told me, they’re not even that good. With that said, here’s my rant.

“The Galra.” I will admit, the Galra have some pretty menacing designs, chilling voice talent, and they prove to be more of a challenge for the Paladins. But underneath the surface, there’s really nothing to the Galra that we haven’t already seen in terms of an evil empire ruling the world — or in this case, the galaxy. It certainly doesn’t help that almost every villain introduced in this season has about as much character and personality as the gravity in space. I say ‘almost every villain’ because the only two characters that do anything remotely interesting are Haggar and Thace. One is a master druid and most trusted advisor to Emperor Zarkon, and the other helps the Paladins escape in the season finale.

With the exception of those two, everyone else like Sendak or Haxxus is just a cardboard cutout villain that our heroes have to fight. The biggest problem is that the main villain of the show, Zarkon, falls under the same trapping as any other evil ruler, where they have so much power and are not interesting because of it. Yes, he mops the floor with Keith and the red lion. Yes, we learn that he was the former paladin for the black lion. Yes, he is perhaps the most powerful enemy in the entire show already. But what does it matter when the villain himself is so boring to watch? I get their wanting to make him an all powerful baddie, but they should’ve made him captivating as a villain first.

Besides, being all powerful is not what makes a good villain. Take for example The Major from ‘Hellsing Ultimate’. The Major is a marksman for shit and is nowhere near as powerful as Emperor Zarkon. But what The Major lacks in vigor, he makes up for it with charisma. He has such undying passion for war; he has dinner while watching his vampire army wreak havoc; he’s always smiling because he’s having so much fun; and he has such a way with words that they flow like a river. You can argue that he doesn’t know when to shut up, but because he’s so fascinating as a villain, I could watch him give his speech on how much he loves war more than I would Zarkon wailing on the red lion.

While I can take each of them seriously, the Galra are just uninspired with very few of them really doing anything interesting enough that I want to know more about them. It might have something to do with the fact that they introduce six Galra in one season (Zarkon, Haggar, Thace, Sendak, Haxxus and Prorok) without giving a single one of them any time to develop or leave much of an impression on me. Perhaps if they were to make Sendak and Haxxus the main villains of the season while Zarkon was kept in the shadows or background to, you know, properly build him up as this evil tyrant, something might’ve stuck. But with what I was given, I dread who the Paladins are going to fight next.

“Side Characters.” Not only do they try to cram too many bad guys in the first season, but they do the same with side characters. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who watches ‘Game of Thrones’ where its side characters galore. Unlike ‘GoT’ however where they can be interesting or play an actual role in the story, the side characters in ‘VLD’ are pretty much throwaways. Like candy wrappers. Take for example King Alfor. He has about five minutes of screen time — mostly as a hologram — with no real purpose other than to show that he and Allura are father and daughter. And instead of keeping him around for a second season to provide wisdom and such, they kill him off before this one is even over.

Sure, they’ll probably show him during a flashback or two next season, and his saying “Goodbye” to Allura was actually a pretty touching moment. Looking back at it now however, I feel like they could’ve held onto that until I actually, you know, got to know him better as an actual character. But hey, at least his getting killed off wasn’t so much a cheap ploy to get me bawling like it was with Rover. Yes, he was a helpful little drone to the very end, but Rover was no BB-8 or R2-D2. Plus, the execution with Pidge’s reaction was way off. Her shouting “No!” while moving in slow motion felt like something I would see from the 1980s cartoon. Except here it wasn’t unintentionally funny, it was just cliche.

Speaking of Pidge, we all remember her father and brother, Samuel and Matthew Holt, don’t we? I didn’t. It wasn’t until days after watching the season finale that I realized “Oh yeah, they’re still being held prisoner somewhere.” Then again, when given just one minute of screen time in the entire season, how could I not forget these two? Outside of being space explorers, Samuel and Matthew Holt have no actual character outside of their being family members that Pidge has to eventually find and rescue. On a side note, how is it that no one at the Galaxy Garrison looked at Pidge and thought “Hey, doesn’t that kid look an awful lot like Matthew Holt? One of our famous space explorers that went missing?”

Lastly, there’s the alien bounty hunter, Rolo, his partner, Nyma, and their cyber-unit, Breezer. Much like the Galra, their designs and voice work are really the only things they have going for them. Especially when they got Norman Reedus to do the voice for Rolo. Wait a sec, two actors from ‘The Walking Dead’ providing their voices in ‘VLD’??? Whoa. Mind blown. Other than that, I wouldn’t really care to see these characters again. I’d go into a lot of detail with Shay and her dick of a brother, Rax, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again anytime soon, if ever. Even so, I’ve already seen these type of characters before, and I can pretty much say the same for everyone that I’ve listed.

“Taking Flight” Stop me if you heard this one before. The party comes across one or few characters that need help with something and have a sob story to tell. One of the party members however has his doubts about the people they’re helping, but no one else ever listens to him/her and never have their own suspicions. Their inadvisable asses soon get bitten when the people they’ve been helping were lying to them the whole time. Gasp. They then apologize for not listening to said party member and waste a good chunk of time correcting their own mistake. You should know this cliche like the back of your hand, because every other TV show you can think of has beaten this trope to death.

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ wasn’t free from this cliche, neither was ’The Legend of Korra’. And now they’re written it in ‘VLD’ where they follow it paint by number. Not so much a creative angle to be seen anywhere. Be honest, were any of you really caught off guard when Rolo and Nyma stole the blue lion? Were any of you really at the edge of your seat when the Paladins gave chase to get it back? I certainly wasn’t, because I already knew the route they were taking as soon as Hunk had his doubts about Rolo and company. That’s how bad this cliche has gotten — it’s to the point where as soon as you see it you know it’s going to lead you to anything but surprising. Except for ‘Gravity Falls’.

What’s worse is that they threw away a golden opportunity for Lance to not get his lion back until later on in the season. Think about it, without all five lions, the Paladins can’t form Voltron. And without Voltron, the stakes would be much higher from then on as the Paladins would have only four lions to go up against hundreds of fleet ships, and perhaps a Robeast. But no, the blue lion gets stolen and retaken all in the same episode. Wasted opportunity, and a waste of an episode that could’ve been used to develop the characters. If it weren’t for the possibility of Rolo, Nyma and Breezer showing their faces again next season or so, you could literally skip this episode and wouldn’t miss anything crucial.

“Some Assembly Required” Again, stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Our band of heroes need to learn how to work as a team through a series of tests. Their instructor has a huge stick up their ass 24/7 through the ordeal, and almost all of our heroes fail miserably at every single test they’re given. Each test our heroes fail at results in their getting on each other’s nerves, leading to a lot of bickering, more failure, and more scolding from their instructor along the way. Yippee. They FINALLY pass one little test out of the many they failed at, their instructor cuts them some slack, and the heroes are now able to work together as a team from then on.

This cliche has reared its ugly head just about everywhere in any cartoon and TV show you can think of, and it keeps getting worse every single time I see it. It’s not that the Paladins have to learn how to work as a team that annoys me, it’s how they bicker, fight with each other and get scolded by Allura through the majority of the episode. Granted, they throw in a little humor into the mix to try and make this not such a miserable experience to watch — the key word being ‘try” — and once in a while Haggar would show up to create the Gladiator Robeast. But as painfully cliche and predictable ‘Taking Flight’ was, this episode was just painfully cliche, predictable and cringeworthy.

If they want the Paladins learning to work as a team, they should have them actually learn to work as a team! Have them bond with one another; understand one another; interact with one another; poke fun at one another; help out one another; be thankful for one another! But no, we can’t have that, because that would actually be fun and interesting. No, let’s instead have twenty minutes of unnecessary tension between the Paladins and Allura and have it all build up to a food fight. And then let’s have Coran spill a somewhat misogynistic line about how “A man can be driven to do almost anything if a beautiful women is just really, really mean to him.” Seriously, was I the only one not laughing at that?

“Princess Allura.” Before any of you scream bloody murder, I’m all for female characters that are smart and strong, especially princesses since they’ve been given a bad rap. One of my favorite female characters is Princess Leia from “Star Wars”, the first real female commando in film history. Much like Leia, Allura is a princess of a destroyed home planet and leads a team of rebels against an evil galactic empire. One of the major differences however is that Princess Leia didn’t have a nice helping of the “new powers as the plot demands it” trope to get things done or be in control. She didn’t need super strength, shapeshifting, or energy manipulation. All she needed was a blaster or two and her wits.

Plus, Princess Leia wasn’t a strong female character just for the sake of being a strong female character. No. She had a sense of humor; she warmed up to the men around her; she would celebrate; she would comfort; she would interact with friends and newcomers. She felt like an actual person. Princess Allura? She feels like a dull know-it-all by comparison, whose sole purpose is to spout exposition, give generic speeches, and put into action one of the many powers at her disposal. In short, she’s a cross between a plot device and a Mary Sue than an actual character. If you didn’t think of Allura as a Mary Sue, it becomes more apparent after reading the article down below.

http://thefederalist.com/2016/06/16/netflixs-voltron-reboot-the-best-modern-myth-makers-can-do/

Say what you will about Rey from ‘Force Awakens’ being a Mary Sue, but at least I actually felt something for the character and wanted to see more of her. For me, it’s the exact opposite with Allura. They focus too much on what they think makes a strong female character (i.e. lots of power and authority) that they forget to give her human qualities. The only time I really felt anything but apathy for Allura was when she had to say “Goodbye” to her father. Why? Because she was sad; she felt like a real person; and I could actually relate to her given the situation she was in. But that didn’t last long as she pulls another super power out of her ass in the next episode and we’re right back to square one.

A strong female character is welcoming, but making them all powerful is not the way to go. They have to be strong and interesting as an actual character first, otherwise there’s nothing to be emotionally invested in. Plus, not all strength comes from throwing robot guards like they were soft balls. Strength can also come from overcoming your flaws; your fears; your turmoils; personal struggles; and everyday troubles that keep getting in the way of what’s important to you. You can’t have good without evil, and you certainly can’t have strength without weakness. With the exception of that scene I mentioned with King Alfor, Princess Allura is nothing but strength, and ultimately that’s why she is a weak character.

“The Season Finale.” So now that I’ve established Princess Allura is not to my liking, you can imagine my disinterest in the season finale when the Paladins had to go and rescue her from Zarkon. Especially when Allura doesn’t even try to use her super strength to, oh, I don’t know, break out of her cell? Not so much a beating or kicking at the door, just sitting in a corner most of the time. Then there’s the whole song and dance where Coran gets on Shiro’s case for Allura’s capture, just to apologize a few minutes later, because drama. And of course Keith suggests they leave Allura in captivity, but I already know they’re going to rescue her regardless, so it’s just a time waster. Boy are we off to a great start.

Here’s a crazy idea. What if Shiro got captured instead of Allura? Sure, Shiro is borderline Gary Stu, but at least he has some PTSD shit going on for me to actually care about him. Plus, there would be a lot more at stake. Without Shiro to pilot the black lion, the Paladins can’t form Voltron. And without the one thing that can defeat Zarkon, the Paladins would be going on a suicide mission. Or better yet, have Keith pilot the black lion. We saw from the first trailer that they’re building him up for that in the next season. This could’ve been a golden opportunity to show his capabilities of doing so, giving Shiro all the more reason to say “Keith, if something happens to me, I want you to pilot the black lion.”

Would it have been a much better route? Maybe, may not, but chances are it would’ve been a lot less boring than what I was given. The whole time they had Voltron blowing up garrison fleet ships and Zarkon wailing on the red lion, I kept looking to see how much longer the episode was before I could watch something else, like Steven Universe or Gravity Falls. Either the stakes weren’t that high or I just wasn’t interested in ‘VLD’ anymore already, but when five mecha lions and a giant robot blowing shit up is as exciting to watch as a Michael Bay ‘Transformers’ sequel, something’s wrong. Really, the only intense moment in the entire finale was Shiro’s nightmare fuel of a fight with Hagar. Yikes.

And finally there’s the ending, or at least what they thought counts as an ending. Just as the finale actually starts to get interesting with the lions separating in the wormhole, it all cuts to black and the credits start rolling. Seriously? This is how they wanted to leave us hanging? Stopping right in the middle of something does not qualify as a good cliffhanger, or a season finale for that matter. It would’ve been better had they shown one of the Paladins all alone in parts unknown, wondering where everyone else was, and THEN they roll the credits. But no, this finale is pretty much holding me hostage to actually see that in the second season. A second season that, in all honesty, I won’t be watching anytime soon.

“Final Judgement.” I have to give them credit, ‘VLD’ has some of the best animation thus far in a western animated series; likable main characters; a fairly decent sense of humor; some intense action scenes; and I gotta give them extra points for throwing more ethnicity into the mix. But already the show is held back by muddled storytelling; generic villains; forgettable side characters; a boring princess; and an unsatisfying first season finale. I would’ve gone on to talk about the overuse of dialogue and the sloppy pacing, but I’ve already made my point loud and clear, and I’m sure all of you are wanting to decorate your bedroom walls with my blood and guts right about now.

I want to like this show, and I do. I like it enough to make a “VLD” AMV or two. It’s just not really doing anything for me. Granted, this is just the first season, but if I’m not engrossed in what was given to me, chances are I’m not going to be happy what comes next. Maybe the second season will fix some of the problems I’ve listed, maybe not. I still intend to watch the second season just to see where it all leads, I just won’t be in any rush to actually see it. If you still love this show after everything you’ve read, that’s fine by me. It means that you found a joy to “VLD” that I couldn’t, so don’t let my opinion tarnish that. You watch what you love, and I’ll watch what I love.

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Always On My Mind (pt2)

Word Count: 1740 Author’s Note: Gavin is such a blank palette that I’m basically going off what Karl said about him in interviews and stuff to make him a more well-rounded guy. Not such a baddie after all, I guess.

Pt 1

You were surprisingly nervous on Sunday. You slept late, as you always did when you worked at the bar, and rolled out of bed just before noon. You puttered about the house for a while, cleaning the kitchen, ironing your laundry, making things tidier than usual. And then you realized you were doing all those things in anticipation of inviting Gavin in after your date. You nearly dropped a plate when it dawned on you. It didn’t stop you, though, and once your tiny kitchen and living room were spotless, you headed to the shower. He’d seen you in bar clothes, with your hair up, on a Friday when you hadn’t been anticipating handsome customers. Now he needed to see you looking your best, so he knew you weren’t just some girl he’d picked up at a bar, ready to knock boots on a first date. Even if that’s exactly what you were.

You kept thinking about the way his hands felt on you when he’d walked you home, and you were caught between being embarrassed that you were considering inviting him in and feeling empowered by his obvious desire. You shook your head and went back to curling your hair. You’d picked up a fashion magazine on the way to the bar on Saturday night, hoping for some tips on making your hair look a little more current, but you weren’t brave enough to cut the long waves into layers and attempt hair like Farrah’s, and there wasn’t enough spray on the planet to hold your heavy locks into some of the more fashion-forward looks. You settled on smoothing the fly-aways and adding some curl to the ends.

Picking clothes became your second issue. A first date, going out for dinner, required more than just the denim you wore to work at the bar. But your day job required you to dress much more professionally, and there was limited middle ground in your wardrobe. You finally settled on a soft pink angora cardigan over your favourite sundress. You were putting the finishing touches on your make-up when you heard the knock at the door. As you walked toward the door, you pulled your low pumps on. You were still half crouched when you opened the door.

Gavin cleaned up really well. He was wearing what you guessed were his only pair of slacks, and exactly as you’d hoped, his shirtsleeves were rolled up, exposing his strong forearms. He was holding a small bouquet of daisies and other wildflowers. “Damn,” he said. “You’re beautiful.”

“You already knew what I looked like,” you replied, a little confused.

“I was worried that maybe I was wearing beer goggles. None of the boys could tell me anything about you, so it was either beer goggles or you didn’t actually exist,” he admitted. He thrust the flowers at you. “I had to go up to the cut this morning, and I thought you might like these.”

You took them and stepped back, gesturing for him to enter. “They’re lovely,” you replied.

He smiled, and stepped a little closer to you, pointing at the various flowers. “I’m sure you know these are daisies, but this yellow flower is arnica. And this little purple cluster is phlox. These itty bitty pink ones are verbena. This showy red thing is a columbine. These bigger purple ones are asters and that cluster of blue is a lupine.” As he identified each flower, he cupped the petals in his fingers, and the juxtaposition of the delicate flora against his strong hands sent your heart racing.

“You are very surprising,” you admitted. “Let me put these in some water.” He followed you to the kitchen and you trimmed the stems quickly, putting them in a large mason jar with some water before opening the fridge and pulling out a 7-up. You unscrewed the cap and poured a splash into the jar, to his surprise. “Makes the blooms last longer,” you explained.

“I made sure there were no creepy crawlies left in them,” he smiled. “I know how ladies feel about insects.”

You laughed and felt your cheeks heat. “I have to admit, I’m not a fan of spiders.”

Gavin surprised you again with dinner at your favourite diner. Admittedly, there wasn’t much open on a Sunday evening the the small town, and he’d apologized as he held the door open for you. “I guess I wasn’t thinking, asking you out for a Sunday,” he excused, ushering you in. “But the food’s good.”

“I love this place,” you agreed. “When it’s in my budget, I’m in here once a week.”

“You must make good tips at the bar,” he countered as he waited for you to slide into the booth. He slide in across from you after you were seated.

“I only work the bar on weekends,” you admitted. “Help make ends meet.”

“Shit, I mean, uh, -” he paused, losing his thought after inadvertently cussing in front of you. You smirked.

“Gavin, I work in a bar, you don’t have to worry about swearing.” It was a sweet gesture, but you’d heard plenty worse.

“Right now we’re on a date, and you deserve to be treated like a lady,” he argued. “I’ll try to keep it clean.” You couldn’t help but smile. The waitress brought you menus and while Gavin looked his over, you chatted with Flo. She’d been the one to suggest the bar job, when you’d brought your resume into the diner.

“Gary told me you started at Slim’s a couple weeks back,” Flo informed you. “You liking it? Are they treating you good?”

“The TV on the bar has cable, Flo, so I’m caught up on Dukes,” you laughed. “And otherwise it’s okay. Cookie is determined to feed me until my jeans won’t zip. The regulars are sweet old farts who wouldn’t harm a fly.”

“Don’t forget to tell her about the good looking logger you met on Friday,” Gavin interjected with a wink.

“Oh yeah, I’ve also been able to trick a guy into a free meal just by smiling,” you winked back at Gavin, and he held a hand to his heart like he was mortally wounded. You leaned toward Flo conspiratorily. “He’s even kind of cute.” Gavin leaned back in the booth, his chest swelling.

“Well, handsome, have you made up your mind?” Flo picked the menu up from where Gavin had placed it.

“The special sounded great,” he nodded. “And a cup of coffee. Black.”

“And your usual, sweetie?” Flo looked up from her notepad. You nodded.

As much as you expected Gavin to just be a hot lumberjack stereotype, you were surprised at how intelligent he was. More than that, he was just as charming in the environment of the dinner as he had been in the bar, which was probably a little dangerous. You’d been on your own too long, and he looked like a tall glass of water on a too hot day. Despite your attraction to him, you found yourself oddly relaxed. First dates usually consisted of you pushing salad around your plate and drinking spritzer. Gavin had made no bones about putting his elbows on the table to prop up the monster hamburger he’d ordered as he brought it to his mouth. As a result, you didn’t feel the least bit self-conscious about the au jus that dripped off the end of your beef dip, trailing down your pinky and along your wrist. And you were even less worried about biting the end off your fries to let the au jus absorb into the flesh of the potato once you saw the volume of ketchup he’s squeezed onto his plate.

Just when you thought his personality might be overwhelming, and his ego might be a bit much, he would turn the conversation back to you, and bring his full attention to whatever you were saying. By the end of the meal, you couldn’t believe you’d met this well-read, funny, and thoughtful man in a bar.

He walked you back up the path to your front door, and paused below the stoop, just as he had when he’d walked you home from the bar. He was leaving the ball in your corner. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and watch you unlock the door, almost as if he was waiting to make sure you got inside safe. You cracked the door and looked inside before looking back at him.

“I can’t ask you in for long, Gavin,” you began. “But if you’d like to have a cup of tea before you go home?”

He smiled and shook his head, and your heart fell. “I’d really love to, Y/N, but I’ve got to be out to the cut at dawn.” He must have seen your facial expression change because he was up the stairs in a flash. He put a hand on your shoulders, and let it slide down your arm until your fingers were laced together. Stepping a little closer, he brought his other hand to your cheek, forcing you to look up at him.

“I -” You started.

“I don’t want to rush this, Y/N.” His words were softly spoken. “Maybe it would have been different if I’d come in with you on Friday, but I think this might be worth more than one night.” He dipped his head and kissed you softly. He cupped your face between his hands, shifting his weight against you, and you felt yourself tangling your fingers in the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. He pulled back and pressed his forehead against yours, his breathing shallow and rapid.

“Then you should probably go, Gavin, before I make you stay.” You were a little breathless too. He smiled as he kissed you again, and pulled away.

“How about I take you for a picnic tomorrow night?” He asked, lacing his fingers in yours again. He took one step down the porch, and was nearly eye-level with you. You tilted your head in thought and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night, a million stars looking down on you. Promising for tomorrow’s weather.

“You’ll take care of all the food?” You asked. He grinned.

“I make great sandwiches,” he laughed.

“Alright. A picnic tomorrow,” you agreed. He pushed himself back up onto the top stair of the stoop and kissed you one last time.

“Tomorrow then,” he promised.