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unfgvien · 1 month ago

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Lilly's 5th birthday [rhea ripley]

pairing - mother rhea x reader

summary - Rhea and Yn celebrated Lilly's fifth birthday, reflecting on the journey and the importance of using a surrogate. They found treasures and celebrated Lilly's intelligence, feeling proud and grateful.

word count - 1k

authors note

hey angels!! so I saw a comment from someone about wanting more mother rhea and I loved it, I dont want to tag them incase they dont want to be tagged but I appreciate the comment, im happy to post more mother rhea, as like a series maybe? idk if this is well liked ill make a series <3

Rhea and her wife, Yn, stood in the backyard, watching as their daughter Lilly played with her friends, giggling and running around. The sun was shining brightly, and colorful balloons floated in the gentle breeze. Today was a special day: it was Lilly's fifth birthday.

Rhea, with her dark hair pulled back into a bun, had spent the morning preparing a big birthday celebration. There was a table full of colorful cupcakes, a large birthday cake shaped like a butterfly, and a rainbow of party favors. Yn, with her curly hair falling freely around her shoulders, had set up a small play area where Lilly's friends could explore and play games.

“Look at her go! ” Rhea said, laughter in her voice. Lilly was chasing her friends around the yard, her little pink dress twirling with every spin.

“It’s hard to believe she’s five already,” Yn replied, smiling warmly at her wife. “It feels like just yesterday we were waiting for her to be born. ”

Rhea's smile faded a little as memories washed over her. “Remember how worried we were? ” she said softly. “It wasn’t an easy journey. ”

Yn nodded. “Yeah, it was really complicated. We hoped for so long to have a baby. When we finally decided to use a surrogate, we weren’t sure what to expect. ”

They both walked over to the table and picked up the photo album. As they opened it, the pages fluttered gently. On the first page was a picture of Rhea and Yn holding hands, standing next to their surrogate, a kind woman named Sarah. The sunlight caught the happiness in their eyes.

“In this photo, we were so nervous,” Rhea pointed out. “We had no idea how much our lives were about to change. ”

Yn chuckled lightly. “And look how calm Sarah was. She just smiled and reassured us. We were so focused on everything that could go wrong. ”

“Looking back now,” Rhea said, her voice thoughtful, “Every bit of worry was worth it. Lilly is our whole world. ”

They turned the pages, and each picture told a story. There was a photo of the day Lilly was born, wrapped in a soft pink blanket, with her tiny hands reaching out.

“Oh, look at this one! ” Yn exclaimed as she held the picture closer. “I was so scared when she first cried. I thought something was wrong, but then you held her, and she calmed down. ”

Rhea laughed, remembering that moment. “I thought I might drop her! But when she looked up at me, everything felt right. She was perfect. ”

The memories of Lilly's early days rushed back. They recalled late-night feedings, diaper changes, and the laughter they shared when she took her first steps. Rhea sighed happily.

“Can you believe how smart she is? ” Yn said, glancing back outside. “She’s already counting and trying to write her name. I still remember when she didn’t want to share her toys. ”

Rhea grinned. “And now look at her! She’s making new friends and playing so well. I’m proud of her. ”

The two mothers watched Lilly and her friends. They were playing a game of tag, their laughter echoing in the warm air. Rhea felt a swell of pride looking at her daughter. Lilly was full of energy and joy, just like they had always hoped.

But as they watched, Rhea couldn’t shake off a tinge of sadness. “What if Lilly ever feels different because of how she was born? ” she wondered aloud.

Yn reached out, holding Rhea's hand tight. “We’ll always tell her the truth. She is loved beyond measure, and that’s what counts. She’s our little miracle. ”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Rhea said, taking a deep breath. “It’s just sometimes I worry about how the world will see her. ”

Just then, they heard a commotion as Lilly’s friend Mia accidentally tripped and fell. Rhea and Yn both jumped a little, instinctively concerned.

“Mia, are you okay? ” Rhea shouted, as they rushed over to the kids.

Lilly knelt next to Mia, wiping her tears with a gentle touch. “It’s okay, Mia! You’re a super girl! ” she exclaimed, offering her friend a hand.

Seeing Lilly comfort her friend warmed Rhea’s heart. “Look at her. She really knows how to be there for others. ”

As Mia got up and brushed herself off, the two girls giggled, and soon, they were back to running around, the incident forgotten. Rhea and Yn exchanged smiles, feeling grateful.

Later in the afternoon, it was time for birthday cake. The kids gathered around the table, their eyes wide with excitement as Lilly blew out the candles.

“Make a wish! ” Yn called out, her voice cheerful. Lilly squeezed her eyes tight and made her wish, a huge grin lighting up her face as she opened her eyes.

“What did you wish for? ” Rhea asked, pretending to be serious.

Lilly giggled, “I can't tell! It won’t come true if I do! ”

“All right, sweet pea. But I think I know what it is,” Yn said, winking.

After cake and presents, it was time for the treasure hunt. Rhea and Yn set up clues around the yard, and Lilly led her friends through the searching. The kids screamed with joy upon finding each little treasure.

As the sun began to set, casting a golden glow over everything, Rhea took a moment to observe the scene. Her heart was full, watching Lilly and her friends, laughter ringing in her ears.

She turned to Yn, who caught her gaze. “Today was perfect, wasn’t it? ” Rhea whispered.

Yn nodded, her heart swelling with love. “It truly was. Every moment today reminds me that our family is everything we dreamed of. ”

As they both looked at Lilly, her laughter mixing with the evening breeze, Rhea and Yn knew in their hearts that their journey, though complicated, had brought them a gift beyond measure. Lilly was everything they had ever hoped for, and they were thankful beyond words for every moment they shared as a family.

DO NOT TRANSLATE, COPY PUBLISH OR EDIT MY WORKS, I DO NOT CONSENT TO MY WORKS BEING PUBLISHED ON ANY 3RD PARTY WEBSITE. © bunbun 2025 - 2027🖇️ ₊˚⊹

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steviesmarigold · 1 month ago

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M’s Week on AO3

3/23/25

First Reads

The Good Morrow: 75k words

Every night, Steve falls asleep and finds himself dreaming about a diner, and every night he finds Bucky waiting for him there. But in the waking world, Bucky has disappeared, gone on the run after the fall of the Triskelion and Project Insight, and the strange dream that they share may be the only way that Steve has to bring him home.

Never Like This: 76k words

The Winter Soldier thrashed, drowning. It was taking forever. His mask seemed to be stuck. He pulled on it, struggling to draw breath, sinking and resurfacing, clawing at his face, the panic in his eyes terrible.

Steve's would-be killer. The very worst HYDRA had ever conjured. A symbol of death and everything he stood against. And Steve just couldn't bear it. He was ready to go, but this guy clearly wasn't.

Bait and Switch: 2.6k words

"Post-action tacos?” Tony suggested. “I’m thinking that place by Fordham. BattleBot, you in?”

“Can’t,” the Soldier said, typing something into his phone. “I have a date.”

Tony stopped talking for an entire three seconds. “You. Have a date.”

The Soldier looked up and blinked, clearly nonplussed to find Sam and Tony both staring at him. “Yes.”

“With who?”

“My boyfriend.”

“You have a boyfriend. You have a boyfriend?” Tony looked like he’d just walked into a lamppost, and then the lamppost had handed him a birthday present.

I’m Not Sick (But I’m Not Well): 29k words

Steve Rogers doesn’t meet Bucky Barnes in the 1930’s. Instead, Steve meets him April 17th, 2012.

Well…sort of meets him.

In actuality, Bucky had almost hit him with his truck.

Or: The fic where millennial Bucky Barnes nearly runs over a freshly thawed national treasure, and what Steve Rogers did to adjust to modern NYC during those two weeks before the events of The Avengers.

watch them rolling back: 16k words

Bucky was just here, he was right here. This can’t be all that’s left.

Well, it’s not all that’s left, not quite. There, in the pile of ash that used to be Bucky Barnes, already drifting to scatter across the soil of Wakanda, to dissipate in the air, to be nothing but dust on Steve’s hands and in his gasping mouth and in his lungs—left there, in that ash and dirt, are his gun, and his left arm, gleaming dully in the sunshine.

I Saw You Yesterday: 9k words

Bruce counts down from five, but Steve never reappears on the platform.

And all of a sudden Bucky starts seeing him everywhere.

ReReads

Incredible! 100 Year Old Man Finds Love: 2.4k words

After Steve finds an article poking fun at his internet usage he tracks down the author's Twitter to give him a piece of his mind. Steve Rogers is not a meme and it's imperative Bucky Barnes knows that.

Captain of Death: 105k words

*Discontinued*

They call him the Captain of Death.

That’s because he’s never lost a fight.

Being forced into the ring every week was as shitty a life as any could have, but it was fight or die, and Steve was not going to die. It was his life; earning loads of money from bets, and never seeing any penny himself, getting punched and kicked on the regular, and beating others half to death. A miserable life.

Then enter James Barnes, head of the infamous Sevastyanov family. He’s heard of this fighter they call the Captain, and he’s interested. It’s not the first time some rich asshole showed interest, but Steve can’t help but feel that this is different somehow. He just doesn’t understand why Barnes looks so familiar. Like a friend of his youth he had long forgotten about, or perhaps a part of a future that has not yet been.

Ain’t Gotta Hide This Heart of Mine: 3.8k words

“Uh, so listen, Steve,” Rebecca says. She seems nervous now and she’s biting her lip, “I don’t want to, uh, come across as rude or anything, but I don’t think a relationship between us would work out,” Rebecca fiddles with the straw wrapper from her cranberry juice, “Mr. Stark sort of sprung this on me and I agreed because I was sort of startled,” she makes eye contact with him, “but I’m actually pretty gay, so…”

Steve can’t stop the sigh of relief that makes its way out of his mouth.

...

Steve has been dating Bucky Barnes, an ER nurse, for over a year. None of the Avengers (excluding Sam) know about this. It leads to the Avengers (mainly Tony) trying to set Steve up on dates.

might never be normal again (but who cares): 51k words

The beginnings of a plan took shape in Steve’s mind, as clear and simple as a tactical frontal assault. He’d prove to Bucky that this was it, he was staying: Steve was retired from the fighting game, Steve wasn’t going to let anything keep pulling them apart. Maybe then when Steve finally told him he loved him, Bucky would believe him.

All things considered, Steve thought he’d handled the whole Thanos killing half the universe thing and the ensuing bitter, desperate quest to defeat him pretty well. Sacrificing his super soldier serum to use one of the Infinity Stones wasn't a problem either, not when it meant getting back the half of the universe they'd lost, and especially not when it meant getting Bucky back. But retirement and finally confessing his feelings for Bucky? Those were proving to be more challenging.

This is the Perfect Time to Panic: 8.7k words

James, the golden voice says. We can’t tell you where you are. But we can tell you that you’re dead.

Fuck his entire life. Except he doesn’t have a life to fuck anymore, apparently. So he can’t really do himself any harm by back-talking the Infinity Stones, can he?

“No shit,” he says.

or: Finding the infinity stones and restoring half the universe is the boring part. The fun part comes next.

Endless War: 27k words

There is always something more to lose.

(Which means all is not lost.)

thot through the heart (and you’re to blame): 9.8k words

"You look like shit," Steve says, and that breaks the spell a little because fuck you, Steve, he looks good. Steve's nostrils flare. "Is that—is that blood on your mouth?"

Oh, fuck. Bucky needs to work on not being a sloppy eater. He wipes his mouth hastily, and without thinking, licks his hand clean. Steve stares.

In which Bucky is a baby vampire, a disaster, out to have a good time, and hopelessly in love with his roomate; and in which Steve has a few secrets of his own.

Effects of Obliteration: 25k words

“I watched a documentary on the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima a while ago. In the blast radius, sometimes a… a person blocked the bleaching effect of the radiation. So the person was vaporized, but a shadow was left behind, on a bridge or a wall – their shape, their outline, when they were completely gone," Steve said. "It’s called a nuclear shadow.”

“If you’re implying the Soldier is like a nuclear shadow, then that is seriously fucking dark, man,” Sam said dryly.

Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the Winter Soldier was sent to the American arm of Hydra - only there was a malfunction in the cryo-unit that meant it couldn't be opened, and it was left, powered but abandoned, in an underground base.

25 years later, the Avengers find it.

#m’s week on ao3 #stucky fic recs #stevebucky fic recs #stucky #stucky fics

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bookyeom · 1 year ago

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LESLIE HIII i hope you’re doing okay!! + sorry it’s taken me so long to stop by </3

as a request i wanted to ask abt the prompt “stay there. i’m coming to get you.” from the second prompt list with either minghao or wonwoo if that’s okay!! 🫶🫶

A/N: OKAY SO @wqnwoos I know this was requested forever ago from a prompt game and I'm so sorry it took so long, but I was super inspired yesterday after I saw ur post saying "my heel broke" and I messaged u asking if you were okay because OMG your HEEL broke are you OKAY??? but turns out you meant your shoe broke not your actual heel and, well... here we are. Whatever the heck this is.

Pairing: Wonwoo x Reader Genre: slight crack?, established relationship Rating: PG (only because I think there's a swear?) Word Count: 1.4k Request Prompt: "stay there. i'm coming to get you." Warnings: like one kiss?, I think there's swearing maybe, expensive things being broken if that triggers u, also reader wears heels

You can't believe it.

So many times, you’d gazed longingly at the expensive new shoes you’d splurged on, sitting pretty in their box, wondering when you’d finally pluck up the courage to wear them. You weren’t one for spending big unless it was technology or something you’d use often, but you’d been eyeing these heels for what felt like forever. When your birthday rolled around, you’d finally done it, but then they’d sat in their box for months – until tonight.

You’d only just arrived at the restaurant to meet your friends when you’d taken one wrong step, and the heel on your right shoe had broken completely off. You’d tripped and thankfully been steadied by your friend’s arm, so you’d been left physically unscathed… but you felt the pain elsewhere. In your wallet. How the hell had that happened so quickly?

Your friend managed to fish a pair of flats out from their trunk, so you were grateful for that at least. You tried to laugh and play it off as a joke, as a funny story to remember with your friends in a few years, but truthfully? You were pretty bummed. You’d saved for those shoes for ages. So here you sat, nursing a glass of water as you listened to your friends chat animatedly around you. You were having a good time, you were, but you couldn’t help but wallow in your feelings just a little bit. You really couldn’t believe your luck.

You felt the buzz of your phone from inside your purse, eyeing it as you took another sip of water, before glancing around the table. Your friend group had a rule not to be on your phones very much when you were together, but you figured you were safe to have a quick peek while your friend recapped her many failed dates over the last month.

Wonwoo ❤️: how’s your evening going?

You felt your heart jump a little at the sight of your boyfriend’s name on your screen. You wondered if that would ever change, but you didn’t think so. You adored him. You’d been told the honeymoon phase would pass, but it had been well over a year and the two of you were still going strong. Wonwoo would object if you ever said it to anyone else, but the two of you were just as lovey-dovey as when you’d first started dating.

Exhibit A: him texting you to ask a very obvious question. You’re pretty well-versed in Wonwoo, and you know what his text actually means: it means that he misses you.

YN: not the best, tbh… I broke my heel 😭

The reply comes not even a minute later.

Wonwoo ❤️: are you okay??

YN: I’m so sad 😭

You jump a little when your friend nudges you with their foot, raising their eyebrows pointedly at your phone. You teasingly roll your eyes and oblige, sliding your phone back into your purse and tuning back into your friends’ story. You can’t help but feel a bit better after a couple of texts from Wonwoo, and you aren’t embarrassed about it in the slightest.

Not even a half hour and some entrees later, another friend is in the process of regaling tales about her horrific boss when the door to the restaurant opens, and you spot him. You do a double take as your eyes meet, your eyebrows furrowing in confusion, and he seems to freeze in place for a second.

You take in the sight of your boyfriend: his glasses are askew, his hair disheveled, and you think he must have thrown on whatever hoodie and sweats combo he could find laying around in a hurry. He hovers by the door as he stares at you, blinking, and your mind begins to race. Why is he here? Is everything okay? Wonwoo is never one to draw attention to himself if he can help it – which just makes this whole thing even more confusing.

“Hey,” you interrupt quietly, causing all heads to turn towards you. “Wonwoo’s here. Give me a second?”

Your friends all nod in unison, and you can feel them watching as you stand up and make your way over to the door. As soon as you reach him, your hand is automatically searching for his, gently tugging him through the door and back out into the cold.

“Babe,” you say hastily as soon as you’re around the corner and out of sight. “What’s wrong?” Your hand leaves his so that both of yours can run over his arms, his biceps, his shoulders, giving him a frantic once-over to make sure he’s physically alright. When your hands cup his jaw, he finally moves his hands to cover yours, lowering them down to hold them in between you.

“You’re not hurt?”

Your eyebrows furrow in confusion as you stare back at him. “Huh?”

His eyes wander over your face, brows still furrowed in what you affectionately like to call his Thinking Face, before he moves back to look down at your feet. “You can walk fine?”

You are so confused. “Yes, Wonwoo, what? Babe, did you run here?”

You watch as he tilts his head, still thinking for what feels like forever – and then his lips twitch up at the sides. He suddenly looks embarrassed as his gaze falls from yours, but he’s smiling, a hand leaving one of yours to lift and cover his face.

You are so confused.

“I didn’t run here,” he finally answers, his hand falling away from his face, “but I definitely may have gone over the speed limit to get to you faster.”

“Why?” You ask, incredulous. You still have no idea what’s going on.

“YN," he says, voice laced with amusement. "I texted that I was on my way. You said your heel broke."

You blink once, twice, before it suddenly dawns on you. “Oh my god, Wonwoo –”

“Yeah.” He's smiling so wide that his eyes are crescent moons, and you're smiling, too – and then he begins to laugh.

You can’t help but join in.

He pulls you into his chest, and you can feel him laughing against you. It’s a quiet laughter, but you’re grateful no one can see the two of you where you stand outside the restaurant, because you’re sure you both look insane. You don’t care, though, because all you can think about is how fast he’d tried to get to you because he thought you were hurt.

Your heart swells from its place in your chest, so full of affection for the man in front of you that you can feel it all over. You pull back, your hands finding either side of his jaw to pull him in for a quick kiss, and you can tell he’s pleasantly surprised by the way his cheeks tinge pink. Neither of you really have a thing for PDA, but you couldn't help it, not when you felt like you were so full of affection you could burst.

“You are such a loser,” is what you say, but you know he can translate it. I love you is what you mean, and he knows.

“I panicked,” Wonwoo laughs, running a hand through his hair as he laces his fingers with yours. “Sorry about your shoe, though.”

You wave your free hand in the air as he slowly walks you towards the restaurant door again. “I’ll deal with it later.”

He glances in through the glass when you reach it, giving your hand a squeeze. “How much longer?”

You beam at that, lifting your hand up to gently brush some hair off of his forehead. “Not much, if I can help it. I miss you too much.”

“It’s been like two hours," he says, as though he isn't clinging onto your fingers in his with everything he's got.

“Okay, Mr. I’m-going-to-rush-to-my-girlfriend’s-aid-even-though-she-only-has-a-broken-shoe–”

“Bye,” Wonwoo says abruptly, and you giggle. “Love you,” he murmurs, catching you by surprise, but you don't miss a beat. You simply squeeze his hand, and say the words back.

Later that night when you check your phone, you giggle to yourself as you see the two messages you'd missed from Wonwoo, sent directly after the others at dinner:

Wonwoo ❤️: stay there

Wonwoo ❤️: I’m coming to get you

And another, timestamped an hour later, when he was back home and on your couch:

Wonwoo ❤️: I’d do it again :)

A/N: lmao this is like. super not proofread but it was rlly fun to write so if you enjoy please reblog! remember that reblogs help way more than just likes for writers :') TAGLIST: @dejavernon @minisugakoobies @starsstuddedsky @hopeinthebox @tae-bebe @eoieopda @savventeen

Message me if you want to be added to the permanent taglist!

#jww x reader #seventeen fluff #seventeen x reader #wonwoo x reader #wonwoo x you #seventeen fic #wonwoo fluff #wonwoo fic #my writing #seventeen imagine #jwwficrecs #jwwfic

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ladykailitha · 4 months ago

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King of the Day!

Hello and welcome to my Christmas AUvent Calendar! Every day from now until the 24th I will be posting a ficlet that is 500-1500 from an AU I've done over the years.

All stories will be marked with the tag #12 aus of christmas so you can follow along as I will only be tagging my permanent list for this (it would get too confusing otherwise).

The last one on our list is: Steve is Tattoo Artist verse. You can read the story here. All links will be to the first chapter, but the chapter itself will have links to the rest of the story.

The title comes from the European tradition of if the [insert object here] in the cake you were king for the day (I learned about it in my French three decades ago so if I got wrong sorry!).

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11

Steve was facing the dilemma of topping Eddie’s Christmas from last year. Where his band Corroded Coffin got their first gold record, which had gone platinum earlier this year. But if everything went right and Gareth didn’t forget his present to Eddie then he might just win.

But as it was right at that moment it was a disaster.

“What do you mean you lost my order?” Steve asked through gritted teeth. “I called confirmed it only yesterday and every week for the last three weeks!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you sure you’re spelling ‘Buckley’ correctly? It’s B-U-C-K-L-E-Y. Yes with an E. Thank you!”

“No ma��am, I’m not saying that you’re dumb or anything of the sort,” he continued dryly. “I just wanted to make sure it was going to be here on time. It’s already out for delivery. Thank you!”

He set the receiver gently in its cradle and then picked it back up again. Once he heard the dial tone he slammed it several times for good measure.

“You do know that I’ve done this for the last five years,” Robin snarked from the entrance to tattoo shop, “as my job. I don’t know why you won’t let me do it for this.” She walked into the shop and leaned against the counter. “You’re just stressing yourself out over nothing.”

Steve laid his head on the desk with a sigh, letting the cool surface calm his rage. “I just wanted to make tonight special.”

She scooped up his hands in hers. “It will be special because he loves you. Now, let’s see it.”

He reached into his pocket and handed her a small red velvet box. She opened it and smiled fondly. It was perfect. It was white gold with ruby in the middle and framed by four black spinel gemstones, two large close to the ruby and two smaller stones on the outside.

Then she slipped it into her pocket. “I’ll just hold on to this for safe keeping. So what is the other thing you’re getting Eddie for Christmas? Because I know this is for after the gift giving.”

“Gareth is bringing it,” Steve said with a sigh. “Eddie is like a little kid looking for presents all the time and knows all my hiding spots.”

Robin laughed, because yeah. Steve’s boyfriend was like a kid when it came with presents, something Wayne had to warn him for when his birthday came up.

“I’ve been texting him nonstop reminding him to bring it,” he continued and then he handed her his phone. “Then he sent me this.”

It was a picture of Gareth in his car, a stack of presents in the passenger seat, and he’s giving the camera the middle finger. The caption read underneath, “I’ve got it! Quit your bitching!”

“Am I supposed to guess which one is yours to Eddie?” she asked rolling her eyes as she handed it back to him.

Steve rolled his eyes and jerk his head forward, holding his hands out like it was obvious. “Like the one wrapped differently then all the others?”

“Oh.”

The party was in full swing. Everyone was having fun, the booze was flowing, the food flying off the table and into happy mouths.

“I can’t believe you got me the entire new edition of the D&D manuals,” Eddie huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Like how am I supposed to compete with that?”

Steve kissed his cheek. “It’s not a competition, love. Despite what you and Gareth think.”

“Bah!” Eddie said. Then he got shy. “You did like your present, right?”

Steve tilted his to the side. Eddie had gotten him a custom apron that said, “King of this Castle” for him to wear while he was tattooing. “Of course I did. I loved it, baby. Chrissy is already trying to convince Robin and Vickie to get her and Argyle similar ones.”

Eddie shoved his hair in front of his face. “Yeah?”

Steve gently took the strand from him and tucked it behind his ear. “Yeah, sunshine. I promise.”

Robin gave him a pat on his shoulder as she passed by them.

It was time.

He took a deep breath and then grabbed his hand. “There’s one more present for you.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side and then his eyes went wide. “Oh!”

“Last year when I gave you my grandfather’s ring,” Steve said, cupping Eddie’s cheek, “I promised that I would get you a ring that was all your own.” He lifted his left hand. “There is only room for one more.” He tapped the ring finger.

“Stevie...” he breathed.

Suddenly he was aware that everyone was watching them as Steve got down on one knee.

“Would you do the honor of being my husband?” He pulled out the red velvet box Robin had slipped him when she passed.

Eddie held his hands mouth, too overjoyed to speak and nodded. Steve slipped the ring on his finger. It fit perfectly and perfectly fit the rest of Eddie’s rings as Steve intended.

“I love you.”

Eddie pulled him to his feet and kissed him senseless. “Merry Christmas, Stevie.”

A cheer went up as Steve blushed and pressed their foreheads together. “Merry Christmas, Eds.”

“Does this make me the royal consort?” Eddie asked with a grin.

Steve threw his head back and laughed. He loved this man so deeply. “Yeah, babe. You absolute drama queen!”

Everyone laughed.

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 @a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @cryptid-system @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @genderless-spoon @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

#my writing #stranger things #steddie #ladykailtiha writes #the 12 aus of christmas

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penwieldingdreamer · 11 months ago

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Puppy Issues and Money Problems

Wow, oh my gosh. Thank you everyone for the likes, comments and reblogs. It's been a while since I had so much fun writing and gotten so many notes on a story. This is another one for the Austin thing.

Again, I tried to keep the appearance and description of the reader as vauge as possible, so you guys will be able to come up with your own picture for the reader, only thing I pictured it's a female reader, living in London with her british mother and american father, single mother of two girls Lottie (5) and Millie (3), and two years older than Austin.

Summary: Did Austin start to have feelings for you? Well, he's not too sure, but to you he's a great friend keeping your kids occupied - unfortunately with puppies - and your ex keeps messing up your plans.

Words: 1,9k

Warnings: fluff, some swear words, maybe a few tippos - if so, please let me know

Happy reading and enjoy. And please let me know what you think, if you want to be tagged or taken off the taglist for this.

Tagging: @sqrlgrl22 @buckysteveloki-me @rlinda6 @imusicaddict @fortheloveoffanfic @unicoreads

Aug. 2022

“You like her.”

It wasn't a question, more a statement. He was on a FaceTime call with Kaia, finally having wrapped his day filming when he saw the picture you posted.

It was Lottie's birthday, so he called her while on his break. Austin was in his costume and feared that your eldest was going to scream when she saw him. He had told them that it was only for.the movie and they shouldn't be frightened but he wasn't too sure at first.

And scream she did, “Aus! Mummy look, it's Austin! He looks really cool and scary.”

His blackened teeth showed when he smiled at the screen, happy to see the girls and you again. It had been a few weeks, usually Lottie would take your phone and send pictures or videos of you cooking and dancing to Elvis or when Millie got a new toy dog and wanted to show him.

“Are you taking good care of yourself?” you asked him, seeing the tiredness reflect in his eyes. Even with his costume and great acting, you knew he wasn't completely okay.

Nodding his head, he was glad you were a friend he could talk to as well. “I do, Florence took me around Budapest yesterday.”

You hummed contentedly, your hands brushing Lottie's curls from your eyes and pulling Millie closer to you. “That's good, Aus, I'm glad to hear that. I'll leave you with the girls, I need to get back to work.”

“Don't work too much, I only ever see you working when Lottie's on the phone.”

“That's because usually those two are making sure my phone gets charged regularly.”

Chuckling, Austin shook his head at your joke. You walked out of the screen and he was left with your girls.

Florence, Zendaya and Timothée had found him amidst all the other actors and extras in the mess hall, laughing and talking on the phone.

“You know, it's kind of disturbing seeing him smile while in costume. He's such a cream pie and then he switches to being a psychotic murderer.” Florence told them, her eyebrows scrunched together as they made their way over to their co-star.

“Yo, Aus, what's got you all smiling?” Timothée called his fellow actor as they sat down with him. They could see two little girls on the screen talking animatedly about something or other. He knew Austin didn't have kids so they must have been his sister's kids. “Those your nieces?”

Looking up, he grinned at the three and shook his head. “No, they're my friend's girls. Wanna say hello to my friends, girls?”

He saw them nod eagerly and turned his phone to Zendaya, Florence and Timo. The blonde actress crossed her hands over her heart. “Oh my, you guys are so sweet.”

Lottie and Millie were waving at them, broad grins on their faces. “It's my birthday today.”

A chorus of Happy Birthday sounded from his fellow actors and he couldn't help the warmth spreading in his belly. He knew he was friendzoned and he had a girlfriend back in Los Feliz, but he had to admit that whenever he talked to the girls he hoped to have a few minutes with you as well.

Now Austin was looking at Kaia's face and knew that she wasn't just talking about Lottie. "You know she's just a friend and I adore those girls to bits.”

“I know you do, they are cute and if I didn't have a lot on my plate right now I'd fly over and visit them. But Austin, babe, you got to be honest here.”

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Thank god that bald cap was off for today. “I am, Kaia. We're friends, nothing more.” His voice was low and raspy from tiredness.

“You sure?”

“Yes.” No. “Besides, she's made it clear that I'd have no chance with her, no way in hell. Said she was too old and had two kids.”

Humming, the model leaned back on her couch, watching him closely. “I miss you, babe.”

“Miss you, too. I'll be in London with Baz and then back in LA for the Governor's. I'd love to see you either way. “How's prep for the series going?”

She smiled at him and he saw the giddiness in her eyes. This was why he fell in love with her, her friendly, eager and lovable persona. “It's good, everyone's super nice and giving me tips. I really love working on that show.”

“Great, I'm glad to hear that.” Thinking back on why they actually had that call he was going to stop thinking about you like that. As he had told Kaia, you really were adamant about just being his friend with the girls taking a liking to him. He had a girlfriend he was proud of and hella in love with.

“Mummy? Can we get a puppy?”

So why did the image of your daughters and you send warmth cursing through his system?

It was a repeating cycle with Lottie and Millie constantly begging you for a puppy dog. Ever since they had seen Kaia and Austin with Milo they wanted one as well. You sat at your desk working on a new blog article about a new recipe you had tried not too long ago.

Good thing about your job as a freelancer was, you could work from home. Your oldest was going to start school in a week and Millie was still in Kindergarten so you wanted to focus on them and not be off to work and load those two rascals onto your parents.

You'd get asked to write a blog or articles for a smaller newspaper. The pay was good and you had the time to work on your own blog as well, which you supposed, was more of a hobby blog instead of something super serious. You started out as a family friendly blog then turned it into a Mom blog and now it had everything from your day to day life, talking about food, travel and family.

“Baby, I talked to you about that. We can't have a puppy yet. You need to go to school and I need to work as well.”

Her eyebrows creased and her lips pushed together in a tight line as Lottie fixed you with an angry look. “But Austin said if I'm a good girl I'd get a puppy.”

“No baby, he said if you're a good girl and ask me you might get a puppy. There's a huge difference in that statement.” You breathed out a sigh, getting back to the text you were writing.

She stomped her little feet and crossed her arms over her chest. “But I've been a good girl for years. You always tell me later, later. I want a puppy now.”

God, Butler. Next time I'll kill you.

“We don't have the time for a puppy, Charlotte. That's final.” You hated being the harsh, mean parent but it wasn't going to work out if you started with Well, not right now, after you finished first grade. She was going to keep asking for a puppy for another few weeks.

Wide eyes and a trembling chin were the answer before she ran to her room, feet stomping loudly on the hardwood. “I'm going to call granny and tell her everything!” Her call was followed by the slam of her door.

Great.

Next time you keep talking about a puppy with the girls, you'll be the one dealing with the aftermath. 🫠

You knew he wasn't going to answer, being all around the world and filming Dune: Part 2 but you felt satisfied to give back some of his medicine. The last time Austin had been in London there was no time to meet up, so he sent them both a mini version of Kaia’s dog and promised Lottie and Millie to have her there to show Milo to them. Told them, if they were listening to you and talking with you about it, they might get a real puppy dog. Obviously that one backfired and you got the brunt of it.

Of course Lottie’s tantrum wasn’t the only thing keeping you from writing your article. Just as you thought the day couldn’t get worse.

Had an emergency at work. Don't cash the check.

You've got to be kidding me.

Fuming you instantly dialed Trevor’s number, already feeling your stomach churning from the anger towards your ex partner.

He was making things too fucking difficult for you. The dial tone always had bile rising up at the prospect of talking to him, conditioned like Pavlov's dog.

“Trevor! What the actual hell. You promised this time.”

“I know, but there was something at work and I needed the money.”

Closing your eyes, a deep sigh left your lips. Honestly, it sounded more like a groan than pushing actual air from your mouth. “God damn it. You know it's Lottie's birthday. She wanted to go to football camp this weekend and I already made the payment with the check. How am I supposed to actually pay for that.”

“Well, you could have waited before you started giving out big presents like that.” He mocked, annoyance coloring his voice and you could literally feel the eye roll through the phone.

Your thumb and forefinger pinched the bridge of your nose, trying to remain calm was pretty hard right now and you wondered why you ever gave him the time of the day let alone have two kids with him. “You know what? If you were actually decent at keeping to the schedules we set up and being a good father I wouldn't always have to tell the girls excuses why their dad can't come to any of their FUCKING parties or recitals!

Especially when you're supposed to pay child support because you didn't want them after all and just up and left. It's the third time now in the last two months and I've had it with your excuses.”

“And I fucking told you all the time that those were emerg”

“Work emergencies my arse! Did you fuck your secretary and got her pregnant as well?”

Trevor growled but you could hear a soft gasp. Of course she was there. Alice, his secretary at his office and the reason he left when Millie was only six months. “That's none of your fucking business. You went on dates as well after we broke up, so don't go blaming me if you're frustrated right now. You're blowing this money problem out of fucking proportions. I always paid on time, but I have some financial problems at the moment so you should give me some credit.”

God damn this man.

“I'm not going to give you credit for something you're supposed to do. I'll have my lawyer reach out to you, so you better be able to pay every god damn penny.”

You gave him no chance to answer, hanging up the instant you heard Trevor take a deep breath. “What a fucking tool.”

Told them they needed to talk to you about it. 🙃 Never promised a puppy, but if you want, I can talk to them. A😜

You'd be a lifesaver. They've been little gremlins ever since.

I'll be done before they're off to bed. Call me and I'll talk to them both about the puppy issue.

“MUMMY! Can we get pancakes for dinner?”

Leaning back in your chair, you groaned deeply. You loved your girls but sometimes you just wanted a break - and a dad for them who'd take them off your hands.

Divider: @cafekitsune

#austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler imagine #austin butler #austin butler fluff #austin butler fanfic #rpf #reader insert #fanfic #imagine

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sequinsmile-x · 6 months ago

Text

A Few of My Favourite Things

It's Emily's birthday, and Aaron and Jack seize the opportunity to right some of the wrongs of the past.

-x-

Hi besties,

Nearly four years into my Hotchniss writing career and I finally get to write one of 'those' ao3 author notes.

I know it hasn't been *that* long since I posted a fic, but 5 days is probably the longest it's been without me posting for a couple of years. I had (planned) surgery on one of my lungs on Friday and only got home from the hospital yesterday. I'm still recovering and will be for a few weeks, but I've been working on this on and off for a few days because I always write something for their birthdays <3

I'll absolutely still be posting - writing keeps my mind alive - but probably not quite as often as we're all used to whilst my body remembers how to...breathe properly hahaha

Anyway, here's a belated birthday fic for Emily based on an anon I got <3

As always, let me know what you think!

-x-

Warnings: None, just super super fluffy

Words: 3.5k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“Emmy, can I ask you something?”

She smiles as she looks at Jack, nodding as she sits up to make room for him on the couch, her book already closed and on the coffee table by the time he joins her so he has her full attention. Aaron was still at work, kept behind by paperwork and reports, and she’d offered to pick Jack up from Jessica’s and take him home. Aaron had smiled gratefully at her, his eyes shining with everything he couldn’t say to her whilst they were at work. He glanced towards the window of his office to ensure no one was watching before he stamped a quick kiss against her lips, a tiny moment of them lingering between them before they returned to the professionalism they held as dear as they did their relationship.

It was a fine line they’d walked for months now, the 8 months since their first date some of the best of her life, and she knew eventually they’d have to stop. That as they moved further into this, as they took every next inevitable, wonderful, step into officially living together and marriage and kids, working together would no longer be practical. The blind eye that Strauss and the higher-ups had granted them so far would go away, any prentice of willful ignorance gone with by them submitting an address change form, or the existence of a marriage certificate.

She knew realistically it would be her who would leave the BAU, and she was content with it. If it hadn’t been for Aaron, and by extension Jack, and the love and happiness they’d brought to her life she’s sure she would have left the BAU, and potentially DC, anyway. That she’d have taken the first offer that got her out of here, no matter how far away it took her, because she needed to be who she was now without people looking at her and mourning who she once was. Aaron had helped her through it, had helped her help herself more than anything else, and she finally felt at peace. Like she had a home for the first time in her life, only it wasn’t made out of bricks and mortar but a man, who she would have once called stern, with a dimpled smile that made her stomach flip every time, and his little boy.

She loved Jack so much that it scared her sometimes. At first, she’d doubted her place in his life, never wanting to overstep, the gap his mother had left behind was not one she wanted anyone to think she was trying to fill, but as time went on she got more comfortable with it all. She cared less about what other people may think because it worked for them. She was the one Jack would seek out if he was sick or sad, his face pressed against her neck as she soothed him with soft words, gentle kisses and fierce hugs. He’d bring her paintings he’d done at school with a proud smile as he presented them to her and she’d react as if they should be hung in the Louvre. She loved him, and he loved her, and that was enough. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that when she and Aaron had more children she wouldn’t love them any differently to how she loved him.

He’d taught her that she could be a mom, even if he never ended up calling her that.

“Of course you can, sweet boy. You can ask me anything, you know that,” she says, patting the couch as he joins her, her smile getting wider as he sits next to her and huddles against her side as if on instinct, “Is everything okay?”

He sighs as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulder, “I don’t know what I want to do for my birthday.”

She has to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing, never wanting him to think she was making fun of him, “Your birthday is meant to be fun, kiddo. Let’s think about it together,” she pushes his hair from his forehead and then drops a kiss there before she encourages him further into her embrace, “Have you had any ideas at all?”

He half shrugs against her, “I know I want Daddy’s chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.”

She hums and rests her cheek against the top of his head, “The best birthday breakfast ever.”

“And it would be fun to go to the park. And maybe the arcade?” He muses, his fingers idly playing with the delicate chain of her bracelet, something she’d rarely taken off of her wrist since Aaron gave it to her one date night just because, “I just want to spend the day with you and Daddy.”

Her cheeks ache with the smile that spreads across her face, love for him so overwhelming it briefly makes it hard to breathe, “Well, you’ll get that no matter what we do.”

It’s a promise she knows she can keep because they’d booked two weeks off work so they’d be off for both Jack’s and her birthday, a positive side effect of Strauss’s recent ‘use it or lose it’ policy when it came to the team's leave. Aaron and Emily both had so many vacation days left she’s sure they could have taken a month off and still had time to spare, but they’d settle on this for now, both of them silently agreeing they’d keep the rest banked until the honeymoon they both knew was somewhere not too far away on the horizon.

Jack pulls away and looks up at her, his head tilted slightly to the side, his eyes full of curiosity, “What did you used to do on your birthday?”

“When I was your age?” She asks, something that gets her a nod in response, and she suppresses a sad sigh, “My mom would take me out to eat at a nice restaurant if she wasn’t busy with work.” She runs her fingers through his hair, smiling when it flops back down immediately, partially covering his horrified expression.

“She never took you to the park and pushed you on the swings? Or went to the arcade with you?”

She smiles at that, internally laughing at the image of her mother in an arcade, the red soles of her Louboutins sticking to the soda-covered vinyl floor as her daughter tries to win enough tickets to get a stuffed cat from the prize stand. It wasn’t something Emily had ever really thought about all that much before. Her birthdays had consisted of over the top gifts and very little time with her mother. Any meal they did go out for was in a restaurant designed for adults - fancy dishes created to be paired with wine, nothing for a little girl who wanted pizza, chicken nuggets and ice cream until she fell asleep.

It briefly makes her sad, familiar sorrow for the younger version of herself flickering in her gut, and she promises herself Jack and any siblings he would one day have would never have to feel this way.

“No, sweetie,” she says, “She didn’t, but we’re talking about your birthday,” she says, diverting the conversation back to him, tickling his stomach to draw a laugh about him, “Chocolate chip pancakes, the park, the arcade…anything else?”

He furrows his brow and pauses, deep in thought for a moment, before his eyes go bright and he looks at her, “Ice cream.”

She laughs and nods, tugging him back into a hug, “Ice cream sounds perfect.”

___

The first thing she notices when she wakes up is the smell of pancakes. The second is the sound of Jack giggling followed by Aaron shushing him, his voice low as he tries to stay quiet.

“We need to be quiet, buddy.”

“But we’re about to wake her up anyway.”

She decides to take pity on her boyfriend when she hears his exasperated spy, not that she’s sure she could hide that she’s awake much longer anyway, her smile wide and sleepy as she half presses it into his pillow, and she opens her eyes.

“Lucky for the two of you, I’m already awake,” she says as she sits up, her smile getting wider at the sight of them - matching grins on their faces and splatters of flour in their hair and on their cheeks. She looks at the tray in Aaron’s hands with a huge stack of pancakes on it and a cup of coffee, and then back up at her boyfriend, “What’s all this?”

“Happy birthday, Emily!” They say in unison as Jack scrambles onto the bed, throwing himself into her arms, an embrace she returns just as fiercely.

“Thank you,” she replies, stamping a kiss against his forehead before she turns to Aaron who is now sitting on the edge of the bed, ready to hand her the tray. She gratefully takes it from him and rests it over her and Jack’s laps and cups Aaron’s cheek, tugging him in for a kiss, keeping him in place, chasing the taste of batter and him before he pulls back, “Thank you too.”

He smiles and kisses her quickly, “You’re welcome sweetheart,” he winks at her as he sits back so she has access to the tray, “They’re your favourite.”

She looks down at the pancakes, her smile getting impossibly wider when she realises they are heart-shaped, and she chuckles when she sees the scattering of chocolate throughout them, “Chocolate chip!”

“The best birthday breakfast ever,” Jack says, repeating something she’d said to him weeks ago when he was agonising over what to do for his birthday. They’d ended up doing everything he’d wanted, and he’d fallen asleep on the couch that night as they watched his favourite movie, happy and content and safe between them.

She hums and leans down to kiss his forehead, “Well, there are a lot of pancakes here,” she smiles up at Aaron, “I think you boys are going to have to help me.”

Aaron chuckles and reaches for one of the forks on the tray, “Why do you think we brought three forks up here?”

She laughs and shakes her head at him as he cuts through the soft pancakes with the side of the fork. She leans forward to eat the first bite when he offers his fork to her, and she smiles, “You’ve got it all planned out.”

“Trust me, sweetheart,” he says, winking again, “We’ve got the whole day planned out, don’t we Jack?”

Jack nods enthusiastically, half a pancake in his hands, his fork already abandoned entirely, “We do!”

She narrows her eyes playfully, “You two are lucky I trust you.”

Aaron kisses her cheek, and then the corner of her lips, “Eat your pancakes, Em. All will be revealed.”

After they’ve had breakfast, Aaron insists he’ll clean the kitchen, ignoring their usual rule that if one of them cooked the other cleaned up, and he encourages her towards the shower. He joins her when he’s done in the kitchen, his hands on her hips as he pulls her back under the stream of hot water, whispering he’d distracted Jack with a video game to buy them 30 minutes before he kisses her.

They give her gifts, a framed photo of the three of them from Jack and a necklace from Aaron to match her bracelet, and cards with beautiful things written in them that almost make her cry. Aaron’s warm and comforting hand on her thigh, a gentle squeeze through the material of her jeans, is the only thing that keeps her together. They tell her it’s time to go and she doesn’t even care where they are going because she feels warm and loved and just happy to be with them. Aaron insists they all wear jackets, a hint that wherever they are going they’d be outside, and they get into the car. It’s when they are just over halfway there she realises they are going to the park, a journey they’d made only five days ago for Jack’s birthday, and she smiles curiously at her boyfriend, reaching over the centre console to reach for his hand, his eyes giving nothing away when he turns to look at her.

When they are a safe distance away from the parking lot, Emily and Aaron walking hand in hand just a few paces behind Jack, the little boy takes off at a run, “I’m going to go save the swings for us.”

“Jack, be careful,” Aaron says, “Make sure-”

“I stay where you can see me, I know,” Jack says, rolling his eyes at his father and the warning he always gave him. Aaron chuckles as Jack continues to run towards the swings and he shakes his head lovingly.

“You know, he never used to do that before you,” he says, squeezing her hand, his smile getting wider when she laughs and looks at him, her eyebrow raised, her smile diminishing any attempt to pretend she was annoyed.

“So,” she starts curiously, purposely knocking her shoulder against his, “The park,” she presses her lips together to contain her smile, “Are you going to tell me what you two are up to yet?”

He stops her, turning them so he can talk to her and keep an eye on Jack, “A couple of weeks ago a little bird told me you never got to do any fun things on your birthday like go to the park or the arcade.”

She bites the inside of her cheek and looks over at Jack, the little boy now patiently sitting on one of the swings as he waits for them, and then back at Aaron, “Did he now?”

Aaron nods and squeezes her hips before his hands slip to her lower back, encouraging her closer, “He did, so we decided we’d make sure you got to do all of those fun things on your birthday this year,” he explains, his smile adorably nervous, “We’re going to a pizza place for lunch, then the arcade and then out for ice cream - which I was told was non-negotiable - which will be followed by heading home to order in dinner from a place of your choosing,” he smiles, his dimples carved out into his cheeks, “And then we’ll watch whatever nerdy movie you pick.”

She chuckles and hooks her arms around his neck, her fingers trailing through the short hair there. She feels tears pressing at the back of her eyes, her chest tight with love and everything she’d never been able to find the words for. She’d never been loved like this before. Never been loved so unconditionally or deeply, and there were moments like this when it was overwhelming, something that not all that long ago would have sent her running in the other direction.

These days, she didn’t want to run anywhere other than towards Aaron and Jack, and the future they were building together.

She watches as panic washes over her boyfriend’s face, mistaking her silence for annoyance rather than joyful disbelief, “If this was a bad idea, we can go home,” he says, half stuttering out his words in a way she’d never heard from him before, “I have a backup reservation at that new Italian place this evening-”

She cuts him off with a kiss, her hands on each of his cheeks as she pulls back, “No, this is…” she trails off into a wet chuckle, shaking her head at him, “This is perfect,” she kisses him again, “You’re perfect. I love you so much.”

He smiles, his relief spreading through him in a way she can feel, his body relaxing against hers, “I love you too.”

She leans in to kiss him again but they are cut off by a yell from Jack, his patience finally running out.

“Dad, Emily, hurry up!”

They both laugh and look at him, his hands on his hips as he stands just a few feet away from the swings, and then they look back at each other, wide smiles on both of their faces as they start to walk towards the young boy.

“He never used to do that either.”

“Aaron.”

___

It had without a doubt, been her favourite birthday she’d ever had.

Jack insisted that he had to push her on the swing, his small hands on her back helped along by Aaron’s bigger hands just above them, both of them laughing as she tried to pretend she wasn’t enjoying herself. They’d ordered more food than they could possibly have eaten at the pizza place and then spent more money than she thought possible at the arcade. Hours and hours lost to the three of them moving from game to game, the tickets they’d won stuffed into their pockets as they drank giant sodas and somehow found room for hot dogs and ice cream. She’d handed her tickets over to Aaron when she went to the bathroom, her lips stamped against his as he said they’d meet her at the prize counter, and she expected that she’d find them standing there with some plastic game Jack had picked out for himself.

Instead, she’d found them there with a large stuffed cat in Jack’s arms, his smile wide as he handed it to her and told her they’d chosen it for her. It’s probably the ugliest looking thing she’s ever seen - its black fur looked unevenly distributed, its sewn-on smile was wonky and the stare from its eyes was something close to unnerving - but she loves it. It’s immediately her favourite thing she’s ever been given, and she’s sure she’s never come closer to crying in public. It’s something that would have felt ridiculous in the middle of an arcade filled with screaming children and exasperated parents, so she’d held it together. She’d held the cat close all night, cuddled up against her as they watched Star Wars, a physical manifestation of their love for her that she wasn’t quite ready to let go of yet.

When they get ready for bed, she places it on an armchair in the corner of Aaron’s bedroom and pats it on the head before she walks to the ensuite. She’s just finished with her skincare routine when Aaron joins her, his arms wrapping around her from behind as he smiles at her in the mirror.

“Did you have a good birthday?” He asks, kissing her cheek, making her smile when he shifts down to kiss her neck, his nose nestling against her jawline, his love for her lotion well known.

“I did,” she replies, resting her hands over his on her abdomen, “The best.”

He tilts his head to look down at her, “Are you sure? It was only when we were at the arcade I realised I’d let Jack talk me into the perfect day for a 6-year-old boy.”

She’d laugh, but she wants him to know how much this had meant to her, how this had been infinitely more special to her than a dinner in a restaurant they could eat at any night could ever have been. She turns in his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, letting her thumb stroke back and forth over the patch of skin beneath his hairline.

“Honey, today was perfect,” she says, her eyes boring into his, hoping more than anything that he’d believe her, “You gave me something I didn’t even know I’d been missing,” she smiles when he relaxes, “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had,” her smile turns mischievous as she leans in to kiss him, “If anything, you’ve just made more hard work for yourself next year when you have to try and top it.”

He grins at her, his grip on her tightening, “I look forward to the challenge,” he kisses her, his hands firm on her lower back as he holds her close, his fingers sneaking under the hem of her t-shirt. He starts to lead her towards the bedroom, both of them grasping at each other, their kiss eventually lost as her knees hit the back of the bed and she pulls him down on top of her, “Just one thing though.”

She frowns at him as she tries to catch her breath, “What?”

“We’re not doing this with that fucking cat watching us.”

She laughs as she looks over to the stuffed cat sitting on the armchair in the corner of the room, and she holds Aaron’s head against her chest, his forehead against her collarbone, “Don’t worry honey,” she encourages him to look up at her, her lips stamped against his as she scrapes his hair away from his forehead, “I’m sure we’ll find a permanent place for it.”

18 months later, the cat is one of many stuffed animals lined up in their daughter’s nursery. Its wonky smile a well-loved companion on long sleepless nights as Emily feeds the baby and Aaron holds them both close.

#hotchniss fanfiction #hotchniss fanfic #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner #hotchniss fan fic #aaron hotchner fanfiction #emily prentiss fanfiction #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #hotchniss #aaron x emily

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runningincircl3s · 6 months ago

Text

Nothing Ever After

Noah Sebastian x Reader x Vinny Mauro

Chapter Twelve

chapter warnings: none!

team vinny we are so BACK!! happy friday, happy belated birthday to noah sebastian the man that you are and happy november! it's a week until my birthday and i'm sooo happy about the chapter that'll be coming out that day <3

also if anyone was at apocalypse fest or vin's afterparty dj set i hope you had the best time ever it looked soo fun!!! i've been torn between not wanting to check twitter because of the intense fomo but also wanting to see all the pictures and videos :)

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

You walk into the green room after lunch, carrying your laptop and camera in your arms ready to show Bryan and Matt the pictures you and Noah chose last night to post on the band’s social media accounts. However, as you walked up to the door you could hear Justin talking. You stopped where the guys couldn't see you and listened in on what they were saying.

“I don’t know who was in the hotel room next to me last night, but it sounded like they were having a great time.” Justin laughed. “I don’t think they stopped for almost four hours, I almost had to knock and tell them to shut up.”

"Really?" You heard Ryan scoff, but as he was about to say something else you walked in, greeting the guys and ignored the way Vinny was glaring at you from the couch in the corner, barely looking up from his phone.

“Y/n! Do you have those photos ready?” Matt asked as he sat down, leaving the only space for you between him and Vinny.

“Yep, why don’t you take a look?” You smiled, opening up your laptop and loading the edited pictures.

“So these are the ones Noah chose last night?"

"Yep, it was a tough decision but we decided on these few."

"They look sick! I love that one with Folio in the back." He smiled, clicking through the pictures. "Could you send them to me? I’ll get them posted tonight.”

“Of course.” You said, quickly sending the pictures to your phone.

“Matt, they need you out there, somethings gone wrong with the mic.” Chris chuckled, walking into the room to get another water bottle. “Noah’s pissed.”

“Fuck,” Matt groaned, stretching as he got up, “I better go and see what they’ve fucked up. But thanks, y/n.”

"No problem." You smiled.

As he left, Chris and Ryan shortly followed behind him, leaving you in the room with Justin, Ricky and Vinny. As the others were busy talking about something, you saw Vinny put his phone down on the table, rubbing his eyes.

“So,” you began, not bothering to look up from your phone as you spoke to him, “How's Caitlin?”

“How should I know? She went home yesterday before we went back to the hotel.” He sighed, “So you and Noah had fun last night?”

“What do you mean?” You looked over at him as he shrugged, sitting back on the couch, his legs spread as he rests his hands on his head.

“I know your room is next to Justin’s, and I saw the way you kept looking at him yesterday.” He said, “C'mon, tell me I’m wrong.”

“Vin, what happened to leaving each other alone.” You groaned, running your fingers through your hair. He smirks, seeing how frustrated you were becoming.

“Does he know?”

“Know what?” You asked.

“About us?”

“There isn’t an us, Vinny. There wasn’t an us.”

“So I mean nothing to you? That meant nothing to you?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Vinny, I never said that.”

“I can’t keep doing this with you.” He sighed.

“You’re the one who brought it up!” You argued, trying your best to keep your voice down and stay calm.

“And you’re the one who started it-”

“What are you two arguing about?” Angela laughs, walking into the room and dropping her bag down onto the table.

“He's being a dick, nothing new.” You hissed as you picked up your things and stormed out of the room.

“Woah,” Angela gasps, “What have you done to upset her like that?” She crosses her arms as Vin shakes his head.

“I haven’t done anything, she’s just suffering the consequences of her own actions.” He shrugged, picking his phone back up as Angela rolled her eyes and chased after you, as Rick and Justin looked at Vinny in confusion.

“Y/n? What happened?” Angela asks. Smiling softly as she found you sat on the step outside, your head in your hands.

“Everything’s such a mess,” you frown, looking up at her, “I’ve fucked everything up with Vinny, and now I’m afraid I’m leading Noah on.”

“Wait... Rewind, tell me what’s happened whilst I’ve not been here.” She said, sitting down beside you.

You tell her everything, and watch as she takes it all in, putting everything together in her head as you catch her up on what's happened in the few days she's been away.

“Sounds like Vinny’s just jealous.” She states.

“But it’s my fault.”

“No, honey, you set your boundaries and told him you only want to be casual, no strings, right? And he’s still holding on to this hope you’ll drop Noah for him, because he's mad that Noah now doesn’t have to share you with him.”

“But I don’t want Vinny to hate me,” you frown, feeling your voice begin to crack as you speak, “I really like him, I'd be more than happy to just be friends with him but I don't see that happening, do you?”

“Hey, he doesn’t hate you, y/n. I know Vin and I know for a fact he's upset but he does not hate you.” She reassured you, taking your hand in hers.

“Then how do I stop him from being upset? It's not like I can apologise, there's nothing to apologise for!”

“He’s a guy, buy him food or something- No, I’ve got an idea! Follow me!” She grins suddenly, rising to her feet.

"Angela, what are we-"

"Shh, I have a plan, okay. Trust me!"

Angela pulls you up and you follow her back inside. You follow her through the venue, to where the majority of the guys currently were for soundcheck.

“Y/n’s going to get pizza!” Angela called out, and everyone but Ricky’s face lit up, “I’m sending her and Vin out to get it since they're not really doing anything right now, so if you wanna let her know what you’re getting…”

“What?” You furrow your eyebrows, “But I’ve only just had lunch!”

“Well we haven’t,” you hear Bryan say, “I’ll get pepperoni!”

The guys all told you their orders, and Rick said he’ll order something else in something before the show. As Angela had announced it out loud to all the guys, Vinny couldn't find a way out of this, not wanting to draw any attention to the situation they were all unaware of by causing a scene.

You were expecting the walk to the shop to be unbearable, but it was actually going pretty well. Neither of you spoke a word to each other, both too afraid of saying something wrong and starting another argument as that's all you seem to do at the moment when you're together.

“Is there any reason Rick was the only one of the guys who didn’t want pizza?” You ask, testing the waters and breaking the silence between you.

“He hates pizza,” he said bluntly, before adding, “He’s said before that it’s his kryptonite.”

“No way, who can hate pizza?”

“Well... Rick,” he shrugs, still looking down at the ground with his hands in his pockets, “I know I’m biased because I’m Italian, but I almost fought him on the spot when I found out.”

“I can't believe it." You chuckle, before another thought came to you and you turned to look at him. "Do you ever have sauce with pizza?”

“What kind?”

“Ketchup, mayo-”

“Hell no!” He exclaimed, “That’s an actual disgrace! Mayo is bad enough alone, it makes me feel sick just thinking about it…”

“Exactly! Thank you!” You agreed, “Bryan always eats pizza with mayo and it freaks me out.”

“He’s insane! You will never catch me eating pizza with any sauce, ever!” He chuckles, holding the door to the pizza shop open for you.

You collect the pizzas, and you're thankful the guys decided to share so you only had to carry three boxes, whereas Vinny had to carry 4. You were also thankful it was only a short walk back to the venue, but that didn’t mean Vinny didn’t get stopped by a few passing fans asking for pictures with him, and couldn't say no.

“I’m so sorry, Vinny.” You tell him as you continue to walk back, and he looks at you in surprise.

“For what?”

“Everything, I knew we should’ve just stayed friends but everyhting just happened so-”

“Hey,” he stopped you, “Forget about it, okay? It’s in the past. We need to spend another two and a half months together and the guys will be so confused if we’re just fighting or avoiding each other the whole time.” He smiled.

“I guess,” you frown, looking over at him, “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me y/n, it’s the mature thing to do, right? Let's put everything behind us, I just want to move on.”

“Yeah, me too.” You smile, cursing Angela because whatever her plan here was, it certainly worked.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take another one?” He asks, motioning to the pizza boxes

“No! You’re already carrying 4, Vin. We'll be back in a couple minutes anyway.”

To say you were happy that whatever happened between you and Vin was now resolved was an understatement, because you really loved his company. As you brought the pizzas in, Angela got the door for you two, giving you a look to say ‘I told you so’.

“Vin you’re needed out here!” You hear Justin call out, and Vinny dumps his pizza boxes down on the table in the green room before making his way out.

“So… I see you two haven’t killed each other. Worked things out?” She crossed her arms with a smirk as you went through each box and checked your notes app to find whose was whose.

“I think so,” you said, “I didn’t expect him to just forgive me that easily but he did?”

“Like I told you, he doesn’t hate you, baby. He doesn’t have the ability to.” She chuckled, and some of the guys started to come into the room.

“Ryan, this is yours and… Ruffilo’s. This is Bryan and Noah’s, that one’s Folio's and Justins, this one is Chris’, that one there’s for Matt and Jolly…”

You gave out everyone’s pizzas, and when you sat down pizza-less, Vinny noticed and shuffled over to the spot on the couch next to you.

“Wanna share?” He asked, holding a slice out for you. You weren’t hungry, not after only having your lunch an hour ago, but you took it anyway and thanked him.

“Got any ketchup?” You joked, a slight smirk on his lips as he looked at you in horror.

His face lit up, telling you he had an idea, and before you knew it he was digging through a plastic bag in the corner of the room, walking back with packets of mayo and ketchup, catching the attention of the others.

“You’re not…” You couldn’t finish your sentence as he towered over you, opening the packet of ketchup and putting it on your slice of pizza. “You bitch!” You gasped, putting it back down in the box and snatching one of the packets of mayo from him, covering a slice in it and handing it out to him.

“I will if you will.” He shrugged.

“Vin, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m totally serious, why? Are you scared?”

“No! Are you?”

“Pfft! Of course not, I'm not a pussy!” He shook his head.

"Oh yeah?" You raised an eyebrow.

“How long do you reckon it’ll be until they fuck?” Ryan asked, watching the of you, and Folio and Angela both snorted, earning questionable looks off the others, especially Noah.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Motionless had just finished playing, and as it was Bryan’s day to go out and shoot some photos for Bad Omens so you stayed back in the green room. Through Motionless’s set, you and Nicholas were having a debate on whether Ricky or Vinny was taller, and you both settled on believing it was Rick- but throughout their set, and the hours leading up to it, Noah didn’t speak a word to you. You just assumed it was so nobody suspected anything after last night, but he genuinely seemed pissed off. He didn’t even laugh when you made any jokes, he didn’t even bother to ask you what Matt thought of the pictures.

It wouldn’t have bothered you so much if Angela didn’t also pick up on his behaviour. As the Bad Omens guys left to get ready to go on, she came and sat by you.

“Someone is clearly jealous of you and Vin,” she chuckled, “It’s funny really. He has no idea does he?”

“Who has no idea of what?” You asked, repositioning yourself to sit cross legged on the couch.

“Noah doesn’t know about you and Vin, but Vinny knows everything about you and Noah.”

“Ang, please. Vinny was only telling me to tell Noah this morning, but I don’t see why I have to.”

“Because he hasn’t spoken to you all afternoon, he’s been watching you and Vin eye fuck and he’s jealous.”

“We weren’t-”

“Girl, I saw what I saw. If Noah really meant as much to you as it seems, you would’ve realised too. Ryan certainly did.”

“What did I do?” You heard Ryan ask, setting his mask down on the table and shaking his sweaty hair.

“Nothing.” Angela smiled, as she finished packing her makeup away, “See you guys on Friday!”

You forgot you all had the day off tomorrow, meaning another night in a hotel bed instead of the tour bus, and you were grateful.

“Update!” You heard Vin say, and as you turned around you saw the dreaded sight of Ricky with his camera, and you got up ready to flee, “We literally just got off stage, I went nuts out there, we all went nuts out there... I think I need a shower… Hey y/n, do you think I need a shower?” He was suddenly invading your personal space, his arms wrapping around you in a scarily sweaty hug, and what was left of his body paint was rubbing off on you.

“Vincenzo I swear if you don’t let go of me right now!” You threatened, pushing him away.

“Y/n, give me an update!” Rick smiled behind the camera.

“Update- Is this my first update? Vin stinks, and I’m gonna beat his ass for covering me in sweaty paint!”

“You would never!” You hear him shout from the hallway, presumably on his way to get changed.

“Oh yeah?” You grin, quickly reaching in your bag for your deodorant and chasing him.

“Shit!” He laughs, watching you walk into the dressing room and approach him, “I’m sorry!”

“Oh yeah?” You smirk, ready to spray him, but he reaches out, taking your wrists in his hands, fighting you off. “Vinny!” You laugh as he tackles you.

You end up pushed up against the wall, his hands holding your wrists above your head as you can't help but giggle, ready to surrender.

“Woah!” Justin's eyes widen as he walks in, “Please tell me I’m not interrupting anything!”

“No,” you say as you wiggle out of Vinny’s grasp, “Not at all!”

Justin looks unsure as he looks between the two of you.

“I’d tell you guys to get a room, but you both have one, and I’d much rather you do… Whatever this is there.” He chuckles.

———————————————

@rumoured-whispers @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @lma1986 @thisbicc @dominuslunae @miss570 @miamore0570 @jilliemiw86 @itsyaboinoah

#noah sebastian x reader #vinny mauro x reader #noah sebastian fanfic #vinny mauro fanfic #nothing ever after <3 #bad omens fanfic #motionless in white fanfic

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mangoisms · 2 years ago

Text

circle k (back to you)

summary: in which you're just the graveyard shift employee at circle k bombarded by vigilantes.

━ chapter two: it’s getting late | read chapter one

━ pairing: tim drake x f!reader

━ word count: 4.5k

━ warnings: none

━ masterlist

━ a/n: would be lying if i said this was for tim's birthday tmrw. it was rlly just because the reception to chapter 1 was so lovely and i also did this with my other tim fic—posting chapter 2 early, i mean. but we'll just have to work with this. happy early birthday tim you are annoying and i want to study you under a microscope <3

You expect Red Robin’s appearance to be a one-off thing.

It is not.

Instead, the next day, you get Black Bat.

It jolts you from the phone call you’re having.

“—understand the temptation to tell them to screw off but I really don’t want to get… shot…”

You trail off, watching, wide-eyed as your newest vigilante customer steps into Circle K.

Black Bat cuts an imposing figure, her suit made up mostly of inky black material, with a few accents of gold, the Bat symbol on her chest standing out the most. Her black cape flutters behind her, moving like a shadow. She looks the most like Batman, you think, with the cowl and the pointed ears. Except the eyes of the mask are black and the bottom of her face is completely covered—stitched closed. Considerably more creepy, you think, goosebumps breaking out over your skin. Though that could be the fan you have on, fluttering your hair as it makes a slow rotation.

“Hey, did you die or something?”

“No,” you mutter, watching, your heart starting to pick up as Black Bat comes up to the counter.

You aren’t sure what you expect, but it’s not—

“Do you have Red Bull?” Her voice is low and melodic. Not befitting of her… general aura.

Wordlessly, you point to the refrigerators at the back.

“Thanks,” she says, then she turns and walks away. You can only see the top of her head and the pointed ears of her cowl. A second later, you hear the suction-y sound of the refrigerator door being opened.

A voice calls your name from the other end of the line.

Your best friend, Stephanie Brown, who gave you a call to see how your summer break has been treating you.

“Sorry,” you say, clearing your throat. “Just got distracted by something outside.”

“Something outside? That’s not reassuring. At all.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Like I was saying, I’m not gonna tell them that. It’s tempting but like I said, I don’t want to get arrested or some shit.”

“The charges wouldn’t even hold. It’s a free country. I can tell a cop to fuck off if I want to. That’s my god-given right.”

“I appreciate the spirit, but I don’t think the GCPD would agree with you.”

“Well, the GCPD can kiss my ass.”

“You and me both, Stephie. You and me both. So, how’s, uh, Metropolis?”

“Metropolis is Metropolis. Brainiac nearly took control of the city yesterday but what’s new? Mom’s having a good time, though. Even if things are way overpriced over here. I mean, seriously. Eight bucks for a cup of coffee at this place we went to today. They’re crazy.”

Steph babbles in your ear for a few more minutes. Long enough for Black Bat to reemerge from the aisle, two cans of Red Bull and a bag of Takis and a pack of sour gummy worms in hand. You wonder who the second person is. Red Robin, maybe?

He’d been odd about the hot chocolates. Odd in general. But that’s what you get with these vigilante types.

No matter. You quickly focus on your current situation, giving Black Bat a small, embarrassed smile and pointing at the phone crammed between your shoulder and ear, mouthing Sorry.

You shouldn’t be doing this on the job and you should’ve told Steph you had to go but quite frankly, you need the assurance of another person with you. Even if said person can’t do anything and is across the harbor in Metropolis on a mini-vacation with her mom.

Black Bat shouldn’t give you trouble about it. You hope. She just scares you a little more than Red Robin. Which is silly because he’s a guy and probably more potentially dangerous but. You know. Her suit is just… too similar to Batman’s, and he’s the one who scares you the most.

Still, Black Bat just shrugs and waves a hand. “It’s fine.”

You nod your thanks, then scan everything and bag it. She pulls out a twenty dollar bill from her utility belt and you give her the change, which she promptly puts in the tip jar. A kind gesture, really, considering the twenty is a bit of an overshoot for her total, leaving you with a nice tip.

You guess that if anything else, at least it’s nice that these vigilantes tip.

After dropping the receipt into the bag, she takes it and waves at you.

Mystified, you wave back.

Then she steps out, cape fluttering behind her.

“Anyway,” Steph says on the other end as you focus on her voice again. “It’s pretty fun but I miss home. Can’t wait to be back in the city. We’re hanging out as soon as I do, by the way. How are things with you?”

Oh, you can’t keep it in. You have to tell her.

“I saw the Flash two days ago.”

But she misunderstands.

“Oh, yeah,” she says. “I saw that in the news. ‘Cause of Trickster, right? Bet Batman wasn’t happy about that.”

“No,” you say. “I’m saying I saw him. Here. At Circle K. He dropped in to grab a bite to eat. I know you and Tim absolutely refuse to believe me when I say he visited me and that we’re friends—which, by the way, he totally reaffirmed when I saw him—but he was here.”

“We’re jealous, that’s all,” she says. “Just don’t want you running off with the Flash thinking he’s cooler than we are. Which, to be clear, he isn’t. Not me, anyway. Tim is up for debate.”

“Well, you’re about to be a little more jealous.”

“And why is that?”

“Because since he visited, weird shit has started happening.”

“Weird shit is always happening in Gotham. What is so special about this weird shit in particular?”

“Oh, he said something stupid to Red Robin—Red Robin came in a little while after he did, I guess they were working together to track down Trickster—anyway, he was talking about how I’m… scared of the Bats—”

“Are you scared of the Bats?”

You throw up a hand, though she can’t see it. “I have a healthy amount of fear and respect for them—and on that note, please don’t tell anyone else I’m telling you this.”

“Of course.”

“Right, well, Flash was just ragging him, you know? About how he has a better relationship with me, someone who doesn’t even live in Keystone or Central, than the Bats do.”

“So?”

“So,” you blow out a big breath, “Red Robin showed up yesterday to get some hot chocolate—”

“Hot chocolate?” Steph asks, disbelieving.

“Yeah. He said it was a better alternative to coffee. Guess he’s not into energy drinks. Weirdo. The whole thing about it—weird. Like… I don’t know. He was just acting weird when he was asking if we had any.”

“… That is weird,” she says, an odd note to her voice. She clears her throat. “And then?”

“I knew why he was doing it so I told him he didn’t have to come around ‘cause he and the others obviously need to uphold a specific perception, right? Then he was all, Well, what does a civilian like you know about it? Can you believe they unironically call us that?”

Steph laughs. She laughs hard.

You wait it out, not entirely sure what or why she is laughing so hard but it’s not the first time she’s ever done that, so you can just let it go.

“Okay,” she giggles. “Sorry. Keep going. What else happened?”

“He left. But then, y’wanna guess who just showed up right now?”

“Who? Batman?”

“God, no. It was Black Bat. She was nice enough. Gave me a big tip. Creepy suit, though.”

“What’d she’d get?”

“Two Red Bulls, a bag of Takis and a pack of sour gummy worms. Wonder who that second Red Bull is for. And the snacks. Red Robin realizing hot chocolate in June is weird? Hard to imagine him eating Takis, though. He’s probably like Tim, saying they’re ‘too hot’.”

Steph laughs again for a while.

“Oh, god, you’re killing me,” she gasps out when she calms.

You shake your head, rubbing your finger over a scratch mark in the counter. “I don’t know what is so funny but sure.”

“So, then, what? You think you’re just gonna some more vigilantes? ‘Cause it’s only been two so far.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” you grumble. “But it’s two. When previously, this has never happened.”

“True! Well… any preferences? For who comes next?”

“Anyone but Batman, thanks.”

Your next visitor is not Batman.

It is, in a turn of events that makes a little more sense, the Signal.

A few days after your call with Steph, things are fine, until your manager posts to the team group chat about wanting someone for an afternoon shift, saying someone quit unexpectedly. Not one to say no to some extra cash, you latch onto the opportunity—even if it’s an admittedly questionable idea. You try not to work weekends to let yourself recuperate from sustaining your not-so-great sleep schedule.

Anyway, you feel and look like a zombie, but you get your work done.

“I can help the next person in line,” you call.

A tall, broad-shouldered stocky older man with long blonde hair and blue eyes behind coke-bottle glasses steps up, armed with two large cups of coffee. The scrubs he wears clues you into some kind of healthcare position.

“Hi, did you find everything—”

The door opens, your eyes automatically flickering to the movement, and your voice cuts out sharply as you realize who it is.

The Signal stands there a bit awkwardly for a moment as all of you look—the blonde man at the counter and the other man waiting in line.

“Hey, you!”

You flinch, tensing, already fearing a confrontation as the other man steps forward, pointing at the Signal. The one in question tenses, shoulders rising, like he’s preparing to fight. You hope not. That would be a lot of paperwork for you. It’s the manager’s, technically, to report any damage done by vigilantes, but they always give it to you or the other employees on the floor.

But it is not as you feared. Instead of picking a fight, the man… thanks him?

“You’re the Signal, right? Right? You saved my son a few months ago from some muggers following him home from school. Thank you, man. Seriously, I can’t thank you enough. He wouldn’t be here with me if it weren’t for you,” the man says, holding out a hand.

“Hey, man,” Signal says, reaching out to shake his hand. “It was nothing. I’m glad I was there to help.”

“Are you here to buy something? Let me cover you. Please. It’s the least I can do—”

“Oh, you really don’t need to—”

“That went better than expected.”

The soft-spoken voice brings you out of your thoughts and you belatedly realize you still have a customer to take care of. But when you look at him, he is watching the Signal try to tell the other man that he doesn’t have to pay for him, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“Yeah,” you say. “Good thing. Signal’s a good guy.”

He turns back to you as you scan the cups of coffee, pulling out a wallet.

“He is,” he agrees easily—meaning his words, too, a genuine conviction you don’t hear often associated with the vigilantes of the city.

Signal manages to hold firm on not needing the man to pay, repeating that he was just doing his job, and thankfully, the man accepts it with good graces.

You quickly get your current customer wrapped up while the Signal steps into the chip aisle.

You pass him the receipt. “Thank you, have a good day.”

He sends you a small, handsome smile, picking up the cups of coffee. “Thank you, you, too.”

The one after him steps up to pay, talking jovially with you, spirits still apparently lifted at seeing Signal and being able to thank him. It’s a nice moment, you think, and you make sure to respond in kind.

The door swings shut behind him just as Signal re-emerges from the chip aisle, holding a can of Monster Energy and a bag of chile picante Cornnuts. The combination is… surely something. You let yourself slip with it, too, because you’ve personally heard a lot of good things about him. The fact that he works during the day helps his case, too.

“I need the energy,” Signal says, seeing that thought in your face; he doesn’t sound mad, though, just vaguely amused. His suit is filled with more yellow tones, still intimidating but not as much in the daylight, a helmet of sorts leaving only his mouth exposed.

“It’ll definitely give you… something,” you say, chuckling as you scan both.

He pats his stomach. “I have guts of steel. Don’t worry about it.”

“Not a problem as long as I never have to hear ‘guts of steel’ ever again. Jesus. Is that just a natural thing of your biology or is it evolutionary-based?”

“This life isn’t for the faint of heart or stomach,” he agrees, passing you a five dollar bill. “Adaptation is key.”

“I bet.”

Signal laughs, taking his change and dropping it into the tip jar. You smile, too, shaking your head slightly.

“Have a good day.”

He tips his Red Bull at you. “You, too.”

Guts of steel. You nearly can’t believe it.

You pick up your phone, finding your conversation with Tim. You and Steph are hanging out tomorrow, so you’ll tell her about it, then. She asked him, though, and he said he was busy. Too bad. But that doesn’t mean he gets out of being subjected to those words, either.

no joke signal came in to buy a monster energy and cornnuts (a questionable combo) and when he saw me judging he said he has guts of steel

meta related do you think???

makes sense to me. you have a gene inside you that gives you literal powers i think they shouldn’t be having digestive issues/ibs like us common folk do

Your three texts, sent in quick succession, deliver. You bite the inside of your cheek as you see your previous ones still unanswered. It’s been like that for the past few weeks. Not him ignoring you but a bit of a dry spell going on in your messages that was only broken when you told Steph what happened and decided you had to tell him, too.

It’s not his fault. The dry spell from before or the lack of responses going on now.

You started the first thing. So, it’s more your fault than anything for all of that. Steph’s talked to him, though, and she’s never let up on anything amiss…

You groan quietly, dropping your phone on the counter and burying your face in your hands.

Too complicated. Too much.

It never used to be like that but… things changed recently.

You, mostly.

You met Stephanie Brown your second semester at Gotham University.

Taking your required elective, you chose Intro to Psych. She was doing the same. Though, being a social work major, psychology was practically a cousin to it.

The professor for the class turned out to be a total dud. Rambled during lecture, refused to give out study guides, and while he would give out hints as to what material might show up on exams, his questions were trick ones. When people complained, he said some crap about being in a higher ed setting and needing to do better because of it. Like his class was some 300 or 400 level course and not a literal intro course to a large and burgeoning field of study.

But classes are expensive, so, you couldn’t drop it. Refused to, really, knowing you would face much more difficult classes later on, ones you knew you might need to drop and try again. So, you weren’t going to waste the money on this type of class.

Steph was of the same thought.

She sat next to you in the lecture hall. You two didn’t talk until after the first exam and everyone was upset about their grades, the exams having been handed back at the end of class. Your shared frustration brought you together, mostly as you two were ranting about it, you packed up and wound up leaving class together, the both of you just too caught up in your anger to realize you both needed to go in opposite directions for your next class.

You initially agreed to be study partners, to cover more ground that way. But Steph managed to worm her way to your heart by the end of that semester.

Your astounding lack of friends helped, too. Even if things had been that way since your junior year of high school, even if you wanted things to remain that way to protect what little remained of your heart, the loneliness hit you harder than you thought it would when you started college.

And Steph was nice and funny and listened to you and paid attention to you and you… were so very deprived of those things, so it was nice in the beginning, but then you realized, to your own horror, that you actually wanted her to stick her around, that just as she knew nearly everything about you by the end of the semester, you knew nearly everything about her, too, and you wanted to know more, wanted to be there for her like she always was for you.

You have that and more now and you are so very lucky because of it.

Tim, though?

Tim was something else.

Steph told you she had a friend visiting.

Just that—that she had a friend visiting campus and she ‘hoped he could find his way to the computer workstation on the fourth floor because as soon as I sit down, I’m not leaving for anything other than to use the bathroom or some kind of world-ending event.’

It was a particularly grueling paper she had to churn out—twenty pages, heavily research-based with the kind of statistics that made your head spin.

Working at the front desk of the Martha Kane Library at the time, you humored her. Told her good luck and that you’d keep an eye out. The second part was a joke, of course, because she never said who was visiting her and how could you know if she never said anything?

You and Tim Drake wound up finding each other, anyway.

Well, more like he found you.

It sounds sort of romantic, right?

It’s… well, it’s certainly something.

“I’m just saying,” you’re telling him, totally neglecting your homework and the other duties you have at the front desk (you know this last part is especially true by the way your coworker, also at the front desk, is side-eyeing you but come on, there’s no one in line, so it’s fine!). “It’s a solid movie.”

Tim Drake gives you a comically disbelieving look. “A solid movie? It’s—it’s gaseous.”

“Did… you just make a physics joke? About the three states of matter?”

Tim turns an attractive shade of pink. “It’s four, actually, and, uh… yeah.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Steph is right. You really are a geek. Anyway. Cloverfield still sucks.”

“Your opinion is automatically negated by the fact that you think the Final Destination movies have any kind of substance to them.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that. I just think they’re good ‘cause of Mary Elizabeth Winstead. You probably think the Transformers movies are actually good, don’t you?”

He looks offended. “Don’t insult me. We hate Michael Bay in this house.”

“Sure.”

“But I do think Bumblebee—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Bumblebee is good for a change, we all know it. You’re probably one of those Nolan stans, aren’t you?”

“I don’t think any of what you just said are real words.”

“Oh, they’re real alright. Nolan stans are constantly on his dick, they’re all like, ‘Nolan is so deep and thoughtful and there is no one else like him.’ Wrong. I could find ten of him in the movie industry.”

Tim narrows his eyes accusingly at you. “Steph said Interstellar is your favorite movie.”

“It’s his only good movie.”

“Don’t count out Inception like that.”

“Never seen it.”

“Wow.”

“You know what you sounded like just now? A Nolan stan.”

Tim actually grins at you and your stomach flutters at the sight of it. It’s that that had drawn your eyes to him. The cute but confused looking guy loitering around nearby, systematically checking his phone and glancing around—presumably for a map of the confusing and ancient library. With dark hair, pale skin, and pretty blue eyes that make you feel unbearably seen, Tim Drake is a sight for sore eyes. Your eyes, to be certain.

Of course, you also know he’s here for Steph. That he is the friend she spoke of. And also the ex-boyfriend. That reminder sobers you considerably.

Kind of funny, really.

Much can be said about Tim Drake.

The adoptive son of Bruce Wayne. The kid who snuck into No Man’s Land on a dare and had to be extracted by the US military after his father made a fuss about it. Then later, became controlling shareholder at Wayne Enterprises for whatever reason, boosting him into a very powerful position. Then he got engaged. Then he was shot—he was meant to be killed but obviously, it hadn’t gone that way. All this at seventeen.

But eventually it petered out. He stepped down. Engagement broke off. He recovered. Now? He does some work for WE. That’s all that’s known to the press, anyway.

It’s like you said. Much can be said about Tim Drake.

But most of your impression is from Steph. He plays Warlocks and Warriors sometimes. Is a bit of a computer geek and has built his own PC for gaming. Hits the skatepark every now and then. Likes to spend time tinkering on his car. And… has strong opinions on movies.

Above it all?

He is her ex. A good friend now! But still. That fact remains.

“Anyway,” you say, adjusting your notebook, textbook, and bag of pens just to do something. “You’re here for Steph, right?”

“She told you?”

“Well, she’s obviously told you stuff about me.”

“Steph won’t shut up about you,” he says, seeming more amused than annoyed by that fact. “I can’t imagine it’s the same with me.”

“I know enough.” Like the fact that he is her literal ex-boyfriend. Even if Steph says their relationship wasn’t the greatest, had some very questionable decisions on both their parts, and ended a bit dramatically… he’s still the first person she ever fell in love with. She told you that much. “She’s upstairs on the fourth floor. Hit the elevators over there, then when you get to the fourth floor, turn left, then another left, and the computer workstations are on your right. Can’t miss them.”

“You should watch Inception,” he says, instead of acknowledging literally anything you just said.

You arch an eyebrow challengingly. “You should watch Interstellar.”

He taps a finger on the counter. “We should do both. You, me, and Steph one of these days.”

“I hate to say it, but that sounds like a good idea.”

Steph’s voice scares the shit out of you. You bang your knee on the desk, cursing.

Tim looks unruffled as she comes from the side—the direction of the elevators, joining him at the counter and nudging his shoulder as she goes. He nudges back. They keep the contact.

“Sorry, Stephie,” you say. “We got preoccupied.”

“Arguing,” she corrects, but she doesn’t look upset about it. Instead, her cobalt blue eyes twinkle with something you can’t quite identify as she drops her chin into her palm.

“We weren’t arguing,” Tim says next. “We were lightly debating.”

“Of course. My cute little movie geeks. I think Duckboy’s right, though—” Tim groans slightly and mutters her name in annoyance; she ignores it “—we should get together and see them.”

You scratch your cheek. “I don’t know. Finals—”

“—are not for another month. I say let’s do it.” She looks at Tim and jabs a thumb at you. “She needs more friends.”

“Stephanie, please.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Timothy needs more friends, too. Friends from, say, the other half.” She smiles mischievously, a joke known only by the two of them.

Tim, for his part, rolls his eyes but says nothing in protest.

You don’t need more friends. More friends is actually a very bad idea. Letting one person get close was bad enough. Another person? Hell, no…

But the look on Steph’s face tells you that you, quite frankly, have no say in the matter. And the way you and Tim ‘lightly debated’ movies for a solid half hour tells you, too, that it’ll be too easy for you and he to become friends.

You decide to shelve the issue for now as Steph tugs him away, promising you that she’ll arrange for things.

Maybe it won’t pan out. Maybe he’s actually horribly arrogant and conceited. (Though, if he’s friends with Steph, the likelihood of that is admittedly low.)

You don’t know. All you know is it’s dangerous to let yourself get close to someone else.

But that’s all rather dramatic, isn’t it?

And it didn’t turn out how you wanted—you met Tim in the first semester of your sophomore year; your junior year just ended this May. You’ve been friends with him for a year and half. Steph for two. No end appears to be in sight. But you’ve compartmentalized. It’s just two people. That’s fine.

It’s totally fine.

Even if it’s two people to match the two others you lost when you were fifteen. Like a repayment for the pain.

(Or a way to double it.)

But you lost your parents in the earthquake.

Scientists called that a once-in-a-lifetime event.

There are plenty of things going on in this city that could cost your friends their lives but… it’ll never be as devastating as the earthquake.

The earthquake where you nearly died after a piece of metal pierced your thigh, barely missing your femoral artery, and you spent the entire time from after the earthquake, when they dug your body out of the rubble, and to when they decided to exile the city, in a coma from the infection.

By the time you stabilized, you were on a helicopter to Blüdhaven, the rest of the city in a panic to leave, and your parents were officially gone by that point.

They couldn’t even find their bodies in time.

It took almost three years before they did. The year in which the government turned a blind eye to the city and cast it away, then another two years to rebuild, to sift through the ruin and destruction, to find the bones of the ones left behind since they were decomposed by then, and identifying them was an even more arduous task.

You only managed to receive the catharsis of burying them when you turned eighteen.

You might tempt fate by saying this but even if you lost either of them, the fallout would never beat that. A blessing, in that way.

But even you hate to consider the possibilities of them leaving you. For anything.

They won’t.

Everything will be fine.

It has to be.

reblogs are appreciated!

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#tim drake x reader #red robin x reader #dc comics imagine #tim drake imagine #red robin imagine #tim drake x you #tim drake x y/n #red robin x you #red robin x y/n #batfamily x reader #batfam x reader #batfam x you #batfam x y/n

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livingthedragonlife · 4 months ago

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Rook Plants Ask Game

I decided to answer all the questions in that ask game i reblogged yesterday and im going to post all the answers for fun <3

[the ask game in question]

[my Rook, real name Valonril, also Val, I’ll be using all 3 interchangeably]

🌻 How old is your Rook? How do they feel about celebrating their birthday? What gift has meant the most to them?

Val is 28 and happy about it! There was a time in his life that he didn’t think he would make it this far, so he makes sure to celebrate every year. Mostly alone, doing a special thing for himself, but he isn’t averse to small get-together or gifts.

The best gift he’s ever gotten was from a close friend in the Veil Jumpers—custom archery gloves, when he decided that a bow would be his weapon of choice. For many years, he’s lovingly kept up maintenance of the leather and repaired any damage they receive.

🪻 What is the most painful injury your Rook has received? How has it affected them once it healed/scarred?

Rook is on the list of people who have broken their bones falling off an aravel. He broke his leg, which absolutely fucking sucked while traveling. It wasn’t so bad when they finally set up camp, because being a craftsmaster’s apprentice meant he was sitting down to do most of his work, and didn’t have to go very far when he needed something. It healed mostly without incident, but he can always tell when it’s going to rain when his left leg randomly starts aching.

The rest are under the cut because this is very long!!

🌹 What’s the first genuine fight Rook got in with their love interest about? How was it resolved?

Val romanced Davrin, and they’re kind of the inverse of each other? Rook is a silly, goofy guy to hide his stress and dark thoughts, while Davrin is very serious to hide his gooey caramel center and devastating survivor’s guilt. They can kind of talk past each other in times of emotional distress.

There are times when it seems like Rook really isn’t taking shit seriously, and that upsets Davrin for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, Rook is taking everything so seriously that he’s working overtime trying to make sure nobody notices. Being accused of not caring, of joking around too much to keep some fucking levity in his life, set him off real bad. Davrin doesn’t get why Val can’t just be serious about this, people’s lives are at stake, and Val is like I AM!!! YOU LITERALLY HAVE NO IDEA HOW CAREFULLY I AM CONSIDERING THIS, ON PURPOSE, LET ME HAVE ONE (1) JOKE.

They go cool off and come back to talk about it later. It’s a moment where they get to understand each other better.

🌸 Does your Rook have any siblings or close friends they see as such? Where are they during the events of Veilguard?

No siblings, but he had/has close friends!

Isera was his childhood best friend from his clan, they always talked about being sisters like Andruil and Sylaise, because she was the hunter, and Val was the creative one. Their relationship stumbled when he came out, because they both really leaned hard on that “sisters” thing, and he was worried he’d lost her. When Val explained his connection to June to her, she went, “So we’re not Andruil and Sylaise. Because you’ve been June all along, Sylaise’s husband.” And then he started crying and they hugged it out. She was the first person he talked to about leaving his clan to join the Veil Jumpers. She was sad to see him go, but fully supported his need to move on. He misses her a lot, but they had the most closure of any of his relationships from his clan, and he’s more or less at peace with not having her in his life anymore.

Eloren, another Dalish elf from the Veil Jumpers, was another close friend, and one person he saved during that mission where he lost the map. They were fresh recruits together and bonded over not knowing what the fuck was going on, ever. At a certain point, Val felt comfortable enough to come out and Eloren went “YO ME TOO” so they then instantly bonded over being trans men as well (though Eloren leans more he/they transmasculine). For a very long time, they were inseparable, and they even had a Thing (sexual) for a little while. It was really healing for Val to get to directly talk about his problems with someone who could relate, and give him hope for his transition since Eloren was much farther along when they met than he was (his clan was a lot nicer about it than Val’s, which he was envious of but also glad for—it meant not all clans were like his). Obviously when Rook left with Varric, their relationship paused, but when he came back they picked up right where they left off as besties. Eloren is doing Veil Jumpers things for the duration of the game, and he survives to the end. Because I said so.

🌾 If there was a demon trying to trap/take over Rook, what kind would be the most successful? What would break their hold?

Despair demons have a particular affinity for targeting Val already. He has a lot of baggage from the transphobia he experienced in his clan and after, and ruined his relationship with both his parents about it. It is, unfortunately, very easy to bring him back to that place of despair, living a lie because it makes other people happy, feeling like something’s wrong but nobody believes him, walking on eggshells around people who are supposed to love him. The betrayal from his family and some of his other clanmates, and having to make the heart wrenching choice to leave all of them behind, even the ones who supported him. Every time they fight despair demons, Rook is not having a good time. This is all in addition to how despaired he would be if the demon decided to target his fear of letting down his team/everyone dying because of his actions.

I think a desire demon might get him too, though. Getting access to HRT and top surgery (“surgery”) was hard enough, he’s worried there might never be a way to get him the body he truly desires, outside of blood magic. It would be harder to get him, but if a desire demon promised him magic bottom surgery, and made a convincing enough argument? He would really be at risk of taking that deal.

What would snap him out of it… In the case of the despair demon, reminder that he doesn’t exist to please other people, for sure. He doesn’t exist to serve the whims of people who won’t respect him anyway, and the reminder that he already figured that shit out—it’s why he left his clan, he was sick of stifling himself for the sake of others. And/or being reminded that people love and respect him as a leader, and that he has friends/loved ones who will be there for him if and when something bad happens. Pretty straightforward “your mental illness is wrong” solution.

In the case of the desire demon, that’s a tougher one. It’s harder to get him into the demon’s hold, so it’ll also be harder to get him out—because if it can convince him it has what he wants, he’s really bought in hard. It’s what he’s been chasing for his entire transition, and getting him to “give it up” will be a fight for whoever’s attempting to get him to see reason. I think teasing apart the fact that the demon’s offer is inherently suspicious would loosen the grip at least a little. If demons could do this, it would be happening all over Thedas. Even if they can, making a deal with a demon never goes well. Plus, he always said he wanted to do it without blood magic—how far is he willing to bend his values? Not convincing him that he doesn’t need/shouldn’t want it, per se, but that this isn’t how he wants it, and he knows that deep down. And if you know him particularly well, the reminder that not having his perfect body doesn’t mean he’s not a man, and that the demon is doing exactly what his parents/clanmates did to him: trying to mold him for its own desires for what it thinks he should be, with no regard for his actual wellbeing.

He would be deeply unwell after either of these encounters! <3

🌱 Was Rook involved romantically with anyone before Veilguard? What was their partner like? How did the relationship end?

Val had some short-lived relationships both in his clan—less than 6 months in every case. They were awkward at best, due to in part being a closeted gay trans teenager who didn’t understand why he really liked boys but… not like this. Even after he came out, and very early on HRT, he still felt like he was expected the play the role of a woman/girl even though his partner would call him by the correct words. Especially during sex, he hated sex for a very long time. And that was without the explicitly transphobic stuff he was going through. Pretty much every relationship at this point in his life fizzled out or ended on bad terms.

The Veil Jumpers introduced him to more people in general, and more trans people, including more trans Dalish elves. He did not feel even a little comfortable with a romantic relationship at that point in his life, mid-transition and pre-top surgery, especially considering how poorly the others in his life had been. After top surgery, though, he basically immediately entered his Slut Era, and though he does still have bottom dysphoria, not having boobs really changed the game for him. He was confident enough to enjoy being naked, and uh that really improves one’s sex life! His relationships after that were still pretty short-lived—though he got up to a year and a half once!—but he was much happier during them, and they ended amicably much more often. After Strife told him to get the fuck out, he hadn’t been intimate with anybody in a while and obviously was a little too busy for it while travelling around with Varric and Harding.

🌼 If someone was to ask Spite what Rook smells like, what would he say?

Rook probably smells like the magic herbs from his HRT potion and leather cleaning supplies from when he cares for his armor. So in my best impression of Spite’s words, he smells like, “plants and tallow.”

Making it better: “Plants and tallow. Always cultivating, maintaining, his body and others.”

🌷If Rook needed to get away from their responsibilities for a moment, where would they go? Where is their safe space outside the Lighthouse?

He’d probably go fuck around in the woods honestly. He’d take his puzzle and some snacks and go hike around Arlathan for however long he needs to in order to feel normal again. But really, anywhere quiet with his beloved June’s Knot is his safe space. He wants to be alone with his object.

🥀 What figure from Rook’s personal past would be added to the regret prison?

Rook will always regret leaving his clan at least a little, and a big part of that is because he misses his craftsmaster, Hanarel. The man became his surrogate dad after his actual dad turned out to be a transphobic asshole, and his mom turned out to be too busy hand-wringing over their deteriorating relationship to protect him from it. As Rook was his apprentice, Hanarel would constantly “ask him to work late” (translated: allow him to stay late and do busywork to avoid his family) to make sure he was doing alright, and went out of his way to use proper masculine suffixes for him even before he started HRT or anything, when he still looked like a cis girl and most people would forget (or “forget”). Rook never properly thanked him for giving his young trans self a safe(r) space, and being a positive masculine role model for him. He wishes he would have done it before he left his clan for the Veil Jumpers, but he was so anxious to leave that unsafe environment, he just bounced without thinking about it. It eats at him sometimes.

🪷 Does your Rook have an irrational phobia? (ie spiders or large man-made objects submerged underwater)

Rook is terrified of heights. Every time he uses the ziplines he is praying to gods he’s not even sure he respects anymore. He is forced to climb up so many things in this game and he’s shaking and sweating and sobbing and throwing up the whole time.

🍀 Has Rook had any near-death experiences? What went through their mind during what they thought was going to be their final moments?

It would be hard to go through this whole game and not have a few. During that double blighted dragon fight he absolutely had one.

The first thing he would think, hitting the ground and bleeding out, would be “I failed.” He was supposed to defeat the gods, it was his responsibility, and he fucked it up. So many people are going to suffer now, because of him. He’d think about all the work he’d done, left unfinished. And then he’d think about his clan, his family and friends, the people he hadn’t spoken to in years, even if he was sure some of them never wanted to see him again. He would want to apologize to his team for not being able to lead them, and in this particular scenario of the double dragon fight, he would wish he said something to Davrin while he had the chance.

And then he lives!! Hooray!

💐 What is the relationship Rook has with their faction mentor? What was the moment they sent Rook away like?

Strife and Valonril weren’t, like, adversaries? But it was apparent early on that Val was gonna do his own thing, and they didn’t always see eye to eye. He respects Strife for his knowledge and experience, he would never say the man is stupid or a bad leader. But also, you know, sometimes his orders are wrong and dumb. Strife thinks Rook is this close to being a loose cannon, but he keeps saving lives and being stubbornly determined at all costs and getting people to like him. They respect each other, but different philosophies in leadership make their relationship kinda tense.

The moment Strife sent him away was closer to a “you can’t fire me, I quit!” on Rook’s part tbh. He refused to budge on his conviction that the team’s lives were more important than that stupid ass map, and the argument that ensued from that stubbornness was explosive. Val stomped off, indignant, leaving Strife huffing and puffing with equal rage. When they meet again after Solas’ ritual, they do that thing where they narrow their eyes at each other and quietly decide that they can put the past aside… for now.

🌺 Is there an object from Rook’s childhood they look back on fondly? (ie a favorite stuffed animal, book, or food)

Valonril still carries around a June’s Knot he was given while in his clan. It was his favorite toy as a kid, and became a fidget toy as he grew up. It’s an impossible puzzle, built so it can never be solved, and since the game has never depicted one, I’ve imagined it as a 3D sliding block puzzle. If it could be solved, it would create a smooth surface on all sides, but there’s always at least one block out of place disrupting the shape. He can almost-solve it as many times as he wants, in countless ways, and often uses it to help himself focus or keep his hands busy while doing something else. He takes it literally everywhere.

🌿 Does your Rook have any tattoos? What was the moment when they got them like? If they’re a Crow where is their de Riva brand located? What vallaslin do they have/how did they earn it if they’re Dalish?

Val is Dalish and has some non-culture related tattoos! For fun! If Veilguard was based, he would also have piercings

He has the vallaslin of June, the god of crafts. It’s both a practical meaning, because Rook was the craftsmaster’s apprentice before he left his clan, and a personal one. In the myths about June told by his clan, June “created himself” and as a trans man that story always resonated with him. He got his vallaslin right on time at 18, and picked it for those two reasons.

His other two tattoos are on his chest and right arm. The one on his chest is the little swirly/diamond design, he got it to commemorate his top surgery after it fully healed. The sleeve on his right arm is something he’s just doing for funsies—he started it while in the Veil Jumpers and unfortunately had to stop before the design was complete because Strife told him to fuck all the way off. He plans to finish it at some point!

The “unfinished” part would be that he wanted it to go all the way up and over his shoulder and cover the back of his arm, but as you can see, it is not that way.

🍂 What was it like the first time Rook killed someone? How did they react afterwards?

Oh, he was unwell.

Rook was not a hunter, and hadn’t so much had killed an animal (on purpose, anyway) before joining the Veil Jumpers. He knew the necessity of hunting and saw the hunters in his clan carrying back fresh animals, so doing that didn’t bother him so much. He had to fight sentinels in Arlathan, which was difficult physically, but not emotionally.

Killing a person? Horror unmatched. It was in self-defense, when he and a small group of other Veil Jumpers ran into some thieves who were trying to steal some artifacts and wouldn’t take “please stop” for an answer. But he did not have a good time and it’s a big part of why he’s pretty obsessed with saving people’s lives.

#she speaks #dragon age #ask game #dragon age rook #Valonril Aldwir

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lady-of-imladris · 1 year ago

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CHAPTER 9 - SOMEWHERE IN THE HAZE

Synopsis: Preparations for the imminent battle are made, but when they arrive at Dol Guldur, complications arise.

Word count: 2.1k

Pairings: Thranduil/OC

Warnings: Violence

Additional tags: it's getting angsty over here!

Link to the chapter overview

Lmao sorry I forgot to post this yesterday but what a lucky coincidence because I can now say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY @fenharel-enaste ! You live too far away for me to give you a physical gift so I dedicate this chapter to you my lovely friend <3

It turned into something bigger Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed Your finger on my hair pin triggers - The Great War (Taylor Swift)

The messengers from Imladris and Lothlorien returned fast and with news that was better than the King and Queen had dared to hope. Elrond, Celebrían, Celeborn and Galadriel were on their way. With their armies. Ana could have wept for joy that they would not need to face this threat alone. She had gone over their potential strategies again and again and again, consulting old maps of Amon Lanc, reports from scouting parties, reimmersing herself in battle strategies employed by their enemy. Thranduil was in awe. He had known for quite some time that his wife had been the mind behind some of their most successful assaults on Mordor during the Dagor Dagorlad, but seeing her in action was something entirely different.

The other four elven leaders arrived two days before the agreed-upon date of the attack for some last preparations. In Celebrían’s case, it entailed wrangling the twins, as well as Legolas, Elrond was examining the body of the elven soldier who had been turned into an orc and killed by Queen Anarríma. Celeborn, Galadriel, Ana and Thranduil busied themselves with the upcoming battle. The Lord of Lorien was beaming with pride. His daughter’s strategy was perfect. Their first evening together was celebrated with a family dinner full of laughter and joy. Legolas was beyond excited to have his cousins around and they spent the better part of the evening chasing each other around the halls.

The night before the battle looked different. Everyone was silent and withdrew to their private quarters immediately after dinner. Ana and Thranduil tucked Legolas into bed together that night, wanting to spend every last second with their son. “Nana, Ada?” the little elf asked hesitantly. “Yes, my little leaf?” The Queen sat down on the bed. “Why do you have to go?” Anarríma choked back her tears, and Thranduil sighed deeply. She felt his nails digging into her shoulders. He took over. “Ion-nin, that is a very complicated thing to explain, but we are doing this to protect our people. As King and Queen that is our duty. You will understand it one day.”

When Legolas had finally fallen asleep, Thranduil and Anarríma went to bed, lying next to each other, staring at the ceiling. Her hand found his. “Whatever happens tomorrow-” “Don’t.” Thranduil could not bear to hear it. They would outnumber the orcs. They would win. They had to. “Whatever happens tomorrow,” she tried again, “I love you.” “Please stop,” his voice was shaking. ‘Whatever happens tomorrow, I love you, my son.’ Those had been Oropher’s words the night before his death. The Elvenking was afraid. He could not bear to lose her. His Queen, his wife, the mother of his child.

Neither of them wanted to sleep, so they spent the night exchanging kisses and softly whispered words of love, chatting about entirely unimportant matters. It did not matter what they talked about, they just talked. Anarríma laid her head on her husband’s chest, letting Thranduil play with her hair and enjoying the vibrations of his chest caused by his voice as he told her of his childhood in Doriath, the first time he and Celeborn got drunk, of the day Celeborn first saw Galadriel and knew that he loved her, of Lúthien Tinúviel and her mortal lover, and many other things. In return, she told him about the few memories she had of Gondolin, of her happy childhood in Lorien, the time of the war against Sauron before they met and the battles they had never talked about before. The night passed too quickly.

They got up again before the sun had fully risen, eating a quick breakfast before getting ready for another war. Breakfast was quiet, no one knew what to say, so they just sat in uncomfortable silence. The Queen would have given anything to spend this morning with the soldiers instead. She found her mind going back to the mornings before important battles during the war against Sauron, sitting on the floor of a large tent together with her father and his soldiers, the tension so high it could have cut Mithril, until one of them, an elf who had fought in the War of Wrath made a joke. Anarríma could not recall the joke, but she would always remember the relief she felt when the tent filled with laughter. One look over at her father, who was sitting across from her told her that in his mind, he was there as well.

Fastening the straps of her bracers felt a bit like meeting an old friend and catching up, the Queen realized to her horror. She had not worn a full set of armour since the war. Thranduil was lounging comfortably on a chaise. She had promised to let him braid her hair for her and he was holding her to that promise. Ana smiled to herself as she sat down on the floor in front of him. Thranduil was horrible when it came to braiding hair. It always took him an insane amount of time and the braids often looked messy, even when he did it on her. With his own hair, the King was even more hopeless, hence he kept it loose. Anarríma winced slightly when his fingers tugged on a strand of hair a bit too harshly.

“Goheno nin,” Thranduil chuckled nervously, “and thank you. For putting up with me.” Ana reached up to put her hand on his thigh. “You are getting better at this. Give it another millennium or two.” The King grinned smugly. “Well, I think I did a pretty decent job this time.” Ana got up and walked to the mirror. Decent was an understatement. The two braids over her ears looked perfect and felt secure, as did the long fishtail braid he had created with the rest of her hair. “Thranduil!” Ana turned around and threw her arms around his neck. “How?” “I’ve been secretly practising on our son,” he admitted. Ana hid her laughter. “Thranduil, how could you? The poor child!” “Don’t worry,” he held up his hand in defence, “I bribed him with sweets and he was a very willing test subject.” Ana shook her head in disbelief. “We should finish getting dressed.”

“There’s one last thing missing,” Thranduil said, when Ana stood there, in her full armour, all her weapons secured. She looked at him expectantly as he set a box down on her vanity, taking off the lid to reveal the crown of dragon scales, gleaming in the candlelight like thousands of stars. “I killed a dragon for you, Ana. Let this serve as a reminder that whatever beast we encounter today, I will slay for you as well.” She bowed slightly, letting him put the crown on her head. Ana needn’t have bowed, Thranduil was much taller than her anyway, but at that moment, it felt right to bow to him. He might be her husband, but he was also her King.

Soldiers, servants and courtiers alike bowed and curtsied deeply as their King and Queen walked by, armed and ready for battle. Many had risen early to say their goodbyes, Celebrían among them. “I never understood how you can be comfortable in such a thing.” The Lady of Imladris gestured all over her sister’s ornate armour. Anarríma rolled her eyes. “It’s not designed for comfort, Brí, it’s supposed to protect me.” “By Eru, I hope it does,” Celebrían murmured and hugged her sister tightly.

“Shall we?” Galadriel and Celeborn emerged, armed to their teeth. Try as she might, the Lady of Imladris could not tell who of the four bore the most weapons, each of them carrying multiple blades openly. “Elrond is waiting outside already. Come back to me. All of you,” Celebrían instructed, hugging each of them for a moment longer than expected. “After all,” she continued, “my daughter will need her grandparents and aunt and uncle.” Ana could not believe it. Her sister was pregnant. Again. After a moment of shock, they congratulated her and Galadriel scolded her for dropping such big news on them when they were already running late, but Celebrían merely laughed and sent them off.

The armies advanced through the forest quietly and efficiently. It was almost muscle memory for all of them. Every single soldier who joined them had also fought in the Dagor Dagorlad. None had been keen to fight in another battle, but in the end, all of them had volunteered to keep their kingdoms safe. The journey was smooth and they effortlessly took out any orc scouting troops they came close to. Ana had predicted their general locations almost flawlessly. The armies got into position, surrounding Dol Guldur, remaining hidden in the trees. The King and Queen were no fools. They were well aware that the orcs knew of their coming. The only thing left to do was lure them out.

They looked every bit the warriors they were as they walked over the bridge. Thranduil offered Anarríma his arm as if he were escorting her to a ball. She gracefully accepted. They were halfway across the bridge when the enemy appeared before them. Three orcs, each looking more cruel than the other. “Do you have a death wish, elves?” one of them snarled. “We come to negotiate the terms of surrender,” Thranduil offered politely. The sound of laughter carried far into the forest. “Giving up your forest so easily, elfling?” Thranduil felt Ana’s grip on his arm tighten. His wife was angry. “Get out of this forest or by Eru, I swear we will destroy you.” Thranduil had never heard his wife speak like this. If he were the orc, he would run.

The orc grinned maliciously. “Do you really think we are not prepared? Do you really think we don’t know that you brought the Witch of Loríen and the Half-Elf with you? Maybe you should be the ones to run.” Thranduil shrugged. “I guess that concludes negotiations.” He raised his arm, signalling to his army. The three orcs fell to the ground, dead. The archers of Lasgalen were renowned for their skill. Their army advanced and the orcs started appearing out of nowhere. The King and Queen shared one last look before letting go of each other and drawing their swords. And then there was chaos.

Thranduil and Ana stayed together as long as possible but ended up being driven apart. Thranduil remained where the fighting was thickest, while Ana took her forces to more remote locations, watchtowers, dungeons, hidden passageways to try and drive the enemy towards them. She caught a glimpse of Thranduil when she looked out of a window, dead orcs littering the ground surrounding him. Galadriel and Celeborn had joined him. Galadriel met her daughter’s eyes for just a moment before refocusing her attention on the fighting.

Anarríma continued her raid of the ruins, rounding corner after corner at breakneck speed. She had reached the most remote part of Dol Guldur. The Queen was on her own now, she had left her soldiers behind to deal with the orcs. Something spurred her on, telling her to climb the tower. Her feet were moving of their own volition, carrying her up and up and up the winding staircase. The thought of returning to her soldiers crossed her mind, but was swiftly replaced by the compulsion to climb the stairs. As she walked by another window, she thought that she should go back outside and fight side by side with Thranduil, but when she was about to turn around and walk back down, she could not. Dread filled her entire body as she realized that there was only one way she could go. Up. She took a deep breath and walked up the last flight of stairs, sword clutched tightly and ready to strike as she entered the room at the top of the tower.

“Queen of Lasgalen,” a whisper arose around her. “At last, you have come to me.” She whipped around, trying to locate the source, but she was alone. Trap, it was a trap. She never should have come here. Ana sprinted towards the exit but was blocked by a wall of black smoke. “No escape. Not for you.” The voice was taunting her. “Show yourself, coward,” she demanded, willing her voice to be steady. “As you wish.” The black smoke took shape. It stood before there, towering over her, sword drawn, but Anarríma could feel that it did not need a blade. Whatever the being before her was, it could kill her with half a thought. It was merely toying with its prey.

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