#i did get the impression that the thought of growing a beard freaked her out (somewhat funny to me) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

anika-ann · 4 years ago

Text

Attached: Words We Don’t Mean

(...and Those We Do)

Type: series, modern-college-professor Steve AU… aka the wrong attachment AU ;)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader Word count: 7950 👀

Summary: Your parents decide to visit for Thanksgiving, which alone is a trial.

The fact that they haven’t met Steve yet and they have no clue who he is… yeah, you better brace yourself for a storm.

A/N: Attached: Words We Don’t Mean (and Those We Do) is a one-shot to the Attached series. Technically, you can read it as a standalone.

A/N: In the Stockings fic, I mentioned that no one in their household talked about (last) Thanksgiving. Here’s why. Also: I named the parents Paul and Jane, it’s enough of a mess to work around with nameless reader; if that offends you, sorry, feel free to move on from this fic.

Warnings: angst, parents-daughter fight, mention of sexual relationhips and of using one’s body to earn money (negative view), mild flashback, emotional H/C, swearing, sprinkles of fluff and Disney

Story masterlist

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

“Sweetheart, please, sit down for just a second,” Steve requested gently; however, there was no mistaking the drop of amusement in his voice.

You hummed in acknowledgement of his words and continued scrubbing the bathtub clean.

Everything had to be perfect. Had to be. You bought the tinniest of the giant turkeys yesterday – just so you wouldn’t have to eat leftovers for a month –, ingredients for the stuffing, potatoes and cranberry sauce. Your mum had promised to stop by somewhere to get four slices of a pumpkin pie. But cooking was on your list later today; first you needed to make sure that the apartment would shine with cleanness.

Not that you considered yourself a neat freak, thank you very much… maybe occasionally. And Steve? Yeah, he was more of a neat freak than you were and now he was telling you to rest and take it easy? Uh-huh, nope.

Nope, because… your parents -- gosh, your parents.

“Honey-“

Your head snapped to him as he bounced off of the doorframe, soft steps leading him right to you.

“Did you just call me honey?” you asked incredulously.

Not that you didn’t like it, it was just-- you were Steve’s sweetheart, his babygirl, his good girl… now honey? That was new and frankly, it might have freaked you out a bit.

Also, your heart skipped a frantic beat upon looking at him.

Damn, you forgot again about what he had done yesterday and it always startled you to see him like that. Too unusual – not bad-looking by any means, just… unusual.

Steve chuckled as he crouched to you, dropping a kiss to the top of your head and cupping your mildly sweaty cheek. He grimaced a bit at your surprised tone.

“Not a fan?”

“I mean, yeah, sure, hun, it’s just that… it’s a bit ominous, the change.”

One corner of his lips rose at your choice of a petname. “That’s because you’re freaking out and I need you to calm down a bit, sweetheart.”

Your eyebrows shot up and you scoffed, rather offended. Mostly because he was right – but also because he was being a damn hypocrite.

“Oh, am I? Me? Did I spend about an hour in front of the mirror yesterday, trying and almost failing to solve the dilemma whether I should or shouldn’t shave off my beard?”

Steve’s face turned entirely sour at your snarky remark.

“Don’t be mean, it’s a valid concern to-- I don’t want them to hate me,” he murmured and dropped his gaze in shame along with his hand, seemingly shrinking into himself, his insecurity returning.

You sighed and mentally cursed yourself for bringing it up again.

You dropped the brush to the tub with a thud and lost one of your gloves, wiping the ew feeling onto your old sweats before you tried to smoothen the worried wrinkle between his eyebrows.

“They’re gonna love you, Steve,” you assured him again, letting you fingers travel over his clean-shaved jaw, lightly pulling at his cheek to make him smile again. “I miss the beard, not gonna lie, but you do have an extremely sweet boy-next-door look now, you are my handsome, funny, smart as hell guy, who’s somehow all grown up and has life stuff figured out and you’re making me happy. You’re the epitome of the guy a girl wants to bring home to meet her parents.”

Despite slightly panting from exertion, you took care to sound as convincing as possible, pushing away your own worries for a bit.

Steve was your perfect guy, perfection incarnated; you weren’t worried about him not making an impression… except for the fact that Steve did have a few years on you and worked at the uni and—well.

Yet, you couldn’t but dread the moment your parents realized that you were everything but perfect since they let you loose on the world. You had never been the daughter to show off like the epitome of everything good and wholesome, but you always tried your best to please them…. Now though? Darting your professor? Even if he wasn’t exactly your professor?

Yeah, you didn’t think that a spotless apartment could make up for that, but it helped to ease your anxiety when you kept lying to yourself that it just might.

Steve grasped your palm in his, planting a tiny kiss there – a gesture to warm your heart, always – his lips once again curled up a fraction as his gaze met yours, his mesmerizing blues kind and hopeful.

“You really think so?”

“Of course.”

And with the way he was looking at you – you finally figured it out. Just a fleeting thought and an answer to an unspoken question you had been failing to grasp at since yesterday; it escaped your lips before you could stop yourself.

“Gosh, you look like a Disney prince!”

Steve’s eyes went comically wide, laughter erupting from his throat and he pulled you to him in one swift motion, falling on his ass with you in his arms in the process and nearly getting crushed by you. Clearly, he did not care one bit as he shook with laughter, kissing your nose, your cheeks and finally your lips despite your protests that you were gross.

“That’s golden! Oh babygirl, you’re the-”

“Tell me I’m Cinderella, I dare you,” you grumbled, but Steve just shook his head and kissed you breathless, fingers of one hand curled around your nape to guide you closer, to breathe you in, while his other hand stayed wrapped around your waist.

You tried your best not to touch him with your gloved hand, having it ridiculously stretched out to nowhere in order not to spot his clothes, but your free hand clutched at his t-shirt with enthusiasm.

His lips left yours only when the world started spinning and your mind turned blank besides the thought of Steve’s mouth being on yours and how much you loved it when he stole all the breath from your lungs – and how much you always missed him when he withdrew.

You stared at him, dumbstruck, as he watched you like you were the eighth wonder of the world, your messy self in baggy clothes, your heart growing three times its size, your insides positively tingly from the heated make-out session.

Steve was smiling again too at last, brushing your nose with his and planting one last soft kiss on your lips.

“Okay, babygirl, now hand over the brush.”

You had to blink several times, your oh so lazy brain taking its time to realize what he said. Huh? Also, did he just said it as if he was asking you were a robber holding a hostage on gunpoint and he was asking you to lay down your weapon?

The thought made you internally snort.

“Why?” you demanded, suspicious.

“Because I’m taking over.”

You instantly shook your head. “No-“

“Yes. I promise I’ll make sure it’s spotless-“

Okay, yeah, that was one of our arguments against him doing the clean-up. However, there was one more. “But you still have papers to grade and lessons to prepare!”

“And you want to cook too and then we’ll have to clean up the kitchen. And you’ll want to take a shower and and and. Papers can wait. Gimme the brush.”

“You make it sound like it’s a weapon of mass destruction… or I am,” you muttered, but you kissed his cheek – such a strange feeling, you truly missed the sensation of his beard scraping your lips – and climbed out of his lap with a meek and cautious thank you. He cackled at your antics, but quickly fished out a new pair of gloves from the bathroom drawer and started working.

You swallowed your smart remark about him being the Cinderella now. Mostly because his gesture was one of the sweetest things and really – seeing Steve scrubbing the bathtub might not be the sexiest thing in the world… but it kinda was.

It pulled at your heartstrings as you imagined that this might be how it would always be; you and Steve, settling together, taking care of the household, then cuddling on the couch—the domesticity you hadn’t always been sure you craved.

Now you were certain of it; but to get to that, you had to survive your parents’ visit first.

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

You had somewhat stayed in touch with your parents, mostly with your mum; you two had been calling on a so-so regular basis, sometimes with video, and both her and your father were obviously aware that you had a boyfriend (gee, that sounded kinda trivial, a boyfriend). In fact, Steve played a huge role in them deciding to purchase their plane tickets… besides wanting to see New York City… and you.

The thing was… you had managed to keep Steve’s identity secret so far; you never used a videocall when he was around, so your mum only had heard his voice, sweet and polite in the most Steve fashion possible, you sort-of danced around his age and his job. Yeah, you found it strange as well that you kept it up so long, a divine intervention even; or maybe your mum simply had a good idea of your dirty secret all along and purposely didn’t probe.

Now, with your parents in the apartment, your dad’s eyes more on Steve than on you (your mum’s eyes wandered too, you noticed, but she had enough decency to show you she missed you first), you felt dread fill every cell in your body. Your heart was pounding in your chest with too much ferocity, your temples pulsing, your palms uncharacteristically sweaty and if it wasn’t for Steve’s warm hand on your lower back, its weight oh so comforting, you might spontaneously combust because of your nerves.

You were suddenly entirely grateful that Steve had shaved off his beard, was giving less of a an incredibly hot (and still very young, thank you very much) professor vibe and looked--- well, kinda like he could be your classmate.

But of course, of course the subject came up. Inevitably, after the small talk about your parents’ flight, about how their job was going and if they picked up a new hobby (…or heard some gossip), you and Steve became the centre of attention.

First, things went smoothly enough; you talked a bit about school, about Penny and some of your classmates and professors, about your part-time job. Steve had been subtly drawing small comforting circles on your thigh whenever he wasn’t eating and he in fact succeeded in lowering your heartbeat so much that you might appear even calm.

And then it oh so predictably went to shit.

Because apparently, your materialistic father had to ask Steve what he was studying and what his plan for his future career was.

“I actually finished my studies,” Steve admitted in an admirably dispassionate manner.

Meanwhile, your own heart started racing again, sending you to the verge of a cardiac arrest; your father’s eyes narrowed slightly, but a hint of a smile played in the corners of his lips in effort to remain polite… for now.

“Oh? Was that recently?”

You deflected that question by bringing up the pie and snatching Steve with you to bring it to the table since you two were the hosts.

The question forgotten, your mum – god bless her, she had caught up enough to know you did not want to discuss Steve’s age, even if it wasn’t that bad – asked about Steve’s field of study.

“History, minoring in pedagogics.”

“Oh? So you are a history teacher?” your dad chimed in and you swallowed as Steve confirmed that claim, walking straight into a death trap. You had seen it coming, you had, but you still winced when your father’s icy tone cut the almost festive atmosphere. “And it wouldn’t be that you’re more of a university professor, would it?”

His hand balled into a fist on the table, your mother’s lightly covering it as she whispered his name; the gesture of comfort, a silent plea for him to stay calm, didn’t quite work.

Steve, to his benefit, looked only a bit sheepish, meeting your dad’s eye with bravery worth of the Disney prince you had called him earlier that day. Also, with the same honesty… why hadn’t you agreed on lying to them again?

“It would, sir.”

“Oh. I don’t suppose then that it is a coincidence that you two met in school?” your dad continued and you sighed, your breathing progressively turning into a more and more of a difficult task with the anticipation of a storm.

“It is not, sir,” Steve replied calmly and you honestly didn’t know whether you should kiss him or punch him, unsure if his attitude made your father madder or not. “However-“

Your father’s gaze snapped to you, sharp and enraged; you felt yourself sink into your chair involuntarily, your mind travelling years back to the moments when he wasn’t pleased with you at all, yelled and sputtered words tasting of venom.

“Do you have any explanation for this inappropriate joke?” you father hissed, not caring he interrupted whatever Steve was about to say to your defence.

Your chest grew heavy, edges of your vision blurring subtly; your eyes burned and suddenly, you weren’t only remembering. You were reliving a memory, feeling like your child-self, like your teenage-self, being scolded for every imperfection; and there had been generous amount of those as you had been growing up.

Steve’s hand somehow slid under the table again, squeezing yours, a gentle wave of attempted comfort washing over you.

But it took one glance at him and you understood that silent support was not the only goal of his when he sought your touch.

His jaw was set tight, his grip a little too strong; he was trying to maintain composure, while not at all impressed with the tone your father was speaking with you.

Yet, Steve’s gesture did provide you with something you hadn’t had whenever you faced your father before; strength and true support, the essential reminder that you had done nothing wrong.

“Dad, this is not a joke,” you said, your voice shaking only slightly as you squeezed Steve’s hand back, “Steve and I are dating. Yes, he is teaching at the same college I study, but-“

A fist hit the table, causing the remaining tableware clank with the force behind the blow and you winced in fright, all muscles tensing in an instant.

“There is no ‘but’ applicable in this case!” your father spitted out, the anger in his voice making your guts twist, the sting in your eyes intensifying. “We help you to pay for school so you could study, not sleep around!”

Several things happened at once; your mother admonished your father, a level-headed whisper of his name. Your voice, too quiet as always when your father reprimanded you, tried to protest, to defend yourself. And Steve’s patience ran out, his outrage at your father’s demeanour showing.

“Paul-“

“That’s not what’s-“

“Don’t talk to her like that!“

“You keep your mouth shut now,” you father snapped at Steve, pointing a finger at him accusingly before turning his rage towards you again, the deep disappointment in his eyes somehow more hurtful than the anger. “Is it that bad with your grades that you have to—to--- Jesus Christ.“

The world stopped for several frantic beats of your heart, everything else in standstill. Multiple sharp breaths were drawn in, but you didn’t think either of them was yours.

Your father’s unfinished sentence echoed in your ears as if from a terrible distance and just like that—just like that, you were thrown several months back to the days before your graduation.

Rogers’ whore

Bet she’ll get the highest score

The icy feeling that froze your bones and crystalized the blood in your veins made for a stark contrast to the few hot tears you were distantly aware of that were running down your cheeks.

Many had thought of you that you were a set of holes to fill for the professor in exchange for passing an exam or two, which was disgusting, deeply insulting and obviously wrong. But those people didn’t know you- they weren’t your blood.

Your own father was now seconds from calling you a whore. The dinner turned into a stone in your stomach as the verbal punch knocked all air from your lungs.

“Paul!” you heard a swift reproach, quickly followed by Steve’s voice, dangerously low in a threat. “I’m sorry, what did you just imply about her?”

“You zip it-“

“Paul!”

It felt like a fucking elephant stomped on your chest, the spiral of pity and despair, mocking voices swirling wildly, tossing you around with a quickening speed as the circles got smaller and smaller, as if you were circling down the drain, your breaths coming shorter and shorter too-

And yet your father still continued, ignorant to all warnings and your inner turmoil.

“That’s over, my dear. I refuse to support such disgusting thing. And you, I don’t see how it’s possible that you still have your job-“

“DAD!” a loud cry cut off the monologue and it took you a moment to realize that it was you who just snapped and yelled, despite the unmistakable addressing.

Your father stared at you in mute shock as you dared to interrupt him; and frankly, with the world spinning, your stomach twisted and your chest constricted with anxiety, you were shocked by your actions too.

It was the fact that he doubted Steve’s position at the uni, flashed through your mind, the way he insulted the man you loved and who deserved all the good things. Or maybe it was his fucking attitude towards Steve and you in general and you just finally reached your limit. You weren’t sure; but shit, this ended now.

The silence that fell on the room granted you a few moments to breathe and calm your frantic mind.

“He is not using me like some f-“ -fuckdoll- “-fling or whatever. And he’s not even my professor, he’s-“

“Like it matters!” you father snapped from his trance, spitting the words, a vein on his temple visibly popping up as he rose to his feet swiftly, nearly sending the chair flying to the ground.

You stared up at him, the coil of despair and rage in your gut burning hot as he literally looked down on you.

You hadn’t been ready for this. You hadn’t been ready for your father to despise you for being in a relationship with a great man, to judge you so harshly without being able to listen for a damn second.

“It DOES. But even if he was-“ you tried to explain again, losing patience and the ground under your feet too as Steve’s hand started practically crushing the bones of yours.

You could physically feel Steve trying to hold back and slowly succumb to his not so nice emotions no doubt swirling in him just like in you.

“How can you not see that’s he’s only looking to get his---” your father gestured wildly towards Steve and rather low and you could hear Steve’s teeth grinding at the implication. Your blood reached the boiling point. How dared he to- “-that he’s only seeking a physical thing-“

“That’s not what this is. I love your daughter-“ Steve emphasized, expression fiery, voice surprisingly measured for a man who you believed was one moment from punching your father.

“Sure you do, son, until something with long legs and tall heels walks by-“

Steve’s chair scrapped against the floor and you quickly laid a palm over his chest to stop him from jumping to his feet and succumb to his righteous anger.

“Steve-“ you whispered soothingly, seeing the light tremble to his hands, tendons dancing under his shirt with the effort to hold back.

“Paul, that’s enough,” your mother interjected, grabbing her husband’s wrist to keep him back as well.

“I do love your daughter, I respect her and I fully intend-“

Steve closed his eyes as he inhaled shakily to compose himself. In the very back of your mind, you spared a single thought to what he was going to say before he shook his head and looked your father dead in the eye again.

“-I am serious about her and I want to and will be with her as long as she’ll have me.”

You had two full seconds to sink into the gentle sentiment behind his words, to cherish how much he did respect your choices and strangely, how he still doubted he could be enough for you, before your father scoffed dismissively.

“Well, I hope you are serious, because if she comes crawling back in few weeks, the door and the account will be closed.” He shot you one disdainful look that made your heart stop before twisting his arm from your mother��s hold and stepping away from the table. “We’re leaving.”

Your eyes slipped shut, a fresh wave of hot tears painting your cheeks, all strength leaving your body, darkness enveloping your mind.

He was cutting you off. He was going to disown you no doubt; that much of a disappointment you were to him.

Your own father hated you.

Dull ringing filled your ears, muffling your mother’s low voice.

“I’m so sorry for his behaviour.” She sounded truly regretful, her voice quivering a bit, you thought. “I’ll talk to him about what he said. Thank you for the dinner, baby. It was nice to meet you, Steve, truly.”

“You too, ma’am,” Steve responded firmly, his voice the only solid thing in the room. “I’ll—I’ll walk you out.”

“That’s not necessary, Steve. But thank you. I’ll call you, sweetheart.”

A low whisper about a promise fell from her lips next as she brushed your shoulder, but you couldn’t hope to understand what she was saying, the buzz of blood in your ears growing louder.

And then you knew she was gone along with your father. You knew because a warm hand touched yours, another gently wiping way the endless waterfall of your tears and then you were pulled to your feet and practically dragged to the couch in Steve’s protective embrace.

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

You wouldn’t be able to tell how long you were drenching Steve’s shirt in tears, sobbing into his chest as he held you firmly and yet tenderly, whispering sweet nothings, words of comfort empty and yet so meaningful.

You couldn’t tell how long it took for the tremble subdue, for the sobs to turn into sniffles and then die out entirely.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so so sorry,” Steve whispered to your hair, caressing your scalp, your back the next, dropping a kiss to the top of your head.

“I know,” you creaked back, gripping the fabric of his shirt for one last time before you gathered your breath and courage to face him; you had to. You might be a mess, but it was vital that he heard you say this: “It’s not your fault.”

You withdrew slightly, meeting his eyes, so big and regretful, a bit watery as if he was the one crying. The corners of his lips, apparently having been turned down the whole time, twitched, his whole face twisting in a grimace; little sad, little defiant, but he didn’t protest even though you were certain that he wanted to.

Perhaps it was a testimony of how well you two fit, how your thoughts worked on the same wavelengths; you understood what he must have been thinking. If you were dating literally anybody else, this wouldn’t have happened.

So you had to assure him that you didn’t blame him; even if he did so himself. You didn’t have the energy to be angry with him for such thing. Mostly because that in a way, there was a tiny bit of truth in him thinking so.

“Don’t do that to yourself. I chose you. Yes, this relationship is on both of us… but we knew the risks and went for it anyway. And—it’s worth it, it’s just… fuck, this is so fucked up. I’m in such a mess now,” you whispered, your voice breaking as fresh tears burned in your eyes.

Steve’s fingers were quick to dry your cheeks, gently stroking, a soft smile tugging at his lips.

“We are, babygirl. We’re in this together. What’s mine is yours,” Steve said, determined. You couldn’t find yourself sharing his optimism, but his eyes locked onto yours, serious as his words. “We’ll figure it out. Find ways of saving more. Hell, if it comes to that, I’ll try to find a job that pays better-”

Your palms landed on his chest, pushing away, putting some distance between you; his hand dropped from your face.

Say WHAT?

“Absolutely not!” you protested instantly, sobering from your despair and letting indignation take over, ignoring entirely the voice in your head sweetly nudging you with the idea of what Steve was willing to give up for you. “I’ll drop off college before I let you give up being a professor, Steve-- you are made-“

“Not an option, sweetheart,” he shot back instantly, expression turning strict. “You leaving college is off the table.”

Mentally, you threw your hands up in the air, growing confused and frustrated by the minute.

“Why? How is that different from you finding a new job, giving up something you worked for so hard?”

“The difference is,” Steve raised his voice slightly, speaking slowly as if he wanted you to remember every word, “-that the chances are that I could come back at some point, that I might only lose a few years. You dropping off, on the other hand, would affect your whole future.”

The same exasperation you felt burned in his eyes now and you gulped, realization hitting you that… yeah, okay, that was a good point. But you hated it anyway.

“…okay, that’s a fair point. But I rather work three jobs and didn’t sleep at all than seeing you leave the university.”

“And work yourself to the ground? I don’t think so, babygirl,” Steve shook his head, just a smidge of patronizing which stung more than you would expect.

Obviously, he was presenting you with more of a feasible option, but you had a feeling that the primal instinct to be the provider played a role in his attitude too – and at any given moment besides this one you would like that; you were completely fine with him wanting to ensure you were secured, taking the larger portion of the burden on his shoulders.

Except now it reminded you of your father in the worst possible way despite knowing that the sentiment was nothing but sweet, no malice in his intentions. It chased tears into your eyes.

Steve’s expression instantly melted, panic flashing in his eyes as he must have figured out that this was not the right thing to say… or not the right way.

His hands were quick to frame you face, tender but unwavering, forcing you to look him straight in the eye.

“Hey, hey, no. It’s just… we’ll work it out, somehow, okay? We can even move out and share an apartment with someone else if we need to. Though you’re forgetting I used to pay this rent and bills on my own.”

Your lower lip quivered, your heart fluttering in fondness for this incredible man, your chest constricted at the idea of taking anything away from him, even if it was comfort. God, the distance he was willing to walk…

“You were living on school cafeteria food and ramen,” you mumbled, corners of your lips twitching upwards for the shortest moment.

Steve’s smile, on the other hand, was almost blinding, tight-lipped but honest, thumbs sweeping at the tears that appeared yet again.

“See, another possibility to save money. Don’t cry, my pretty girl…” he pleaded lowly, kissing your nose before shaking his head lightly. “Or cry if you need to. I’m here, sweetheart, okay? Whatever you need.”

Shit, your heart couldn’t hope to contain this amount of love-

How could anyone ever doubt Steve was the right man for you? The best man? The most wonderful loving human being? How did your father think he was just looking for a mindless fuck?

“I love you,” you whispered hoarsely, smiling through your tears. “Fuck my father. He can’t bully me into being his perfect daughter by cutting me off, can’t make me behave. There’s nothing wrong with me loving you.”

“Or me loving you.”

There was no questioning his honesty; it was written all over his features, his irises bright with emotion. And yet, you worried your teeth over your lower lip, insecurity, your old friend, crawling into your head.

“You do, really? Even with my asshole of a dad?”

You didn’t mean it. Entirely. Though momentarily, your dad was being an asshole, not for the first time.

“Yeah, sweetheart. You’re my everything,” Steve promised, releasing your face in order to tuck messy loose strands of your hair behind your ears.

“That’s the sweetest thing to say, but you can’t exactly sell me to put food to your mouth-“ Oh. Even though… maybe that would be an option? “Well, technically-“

All the gentle warmth radiating from Steve’s expression turned ice cold, smile dropping so fast it startled you.

“Don’t you even-“

“Hey, why not, I mean how much do you think-“

“Stop that right now!” Steve’s voice cut you off, razor sharp voice as if cutting into your skin.

You flinched at the mental blow on instinct, air stuck in your throat, muscles in your back straightening enough to inflict a sharp pounding in your head.

Steve closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling painstakingly slow, as if he got punched in his gut too. His fists on your sides clenched and unclenched, Adam’s apple bobbing. When he looked at you again, it was obvious he realized he had scared you – and that he regretted not keeping his anger in check.

“I’m sorry, babygirl, I didn’t mean for it to come out this harsh.”

You bit the inside of your cheek, focusing on nothing but your breathing and keeping yourself from sobbing again as you were reminded of your father’s yelling. With each long second, you could see Steve’s face twisting and his body sinking into the couch in shame.

Well. As much as you hated him snapping at you, you had to give it to him – it sobered you up. Frankly, you didn’t blame him for being so harsh.

But you were also aware that Steve was a painfully kind and gentle soul and he never wanted to be rough with you… well, except under certain very consensual special circumstances.

“I know,” you forced an unconvincing smile, laying your palm on his cheek, affection Steve was quick to lean into with a sigh – probably both relieved and content. “I’m sorry for talking stupid.”

He covered your hand with his, carefully manipulating it so he could brush his lips over your palm.

“You’re not, not really. Our heads are a mess, rightfully so. I know people still do that, some purely by choice, but—I don’t want that for you, ever. That’s the same level on a will-never-happen scale like you not continuing your masters. Not an option for me. You’re my girl and if someone’s gonna change their habits, it’s gonna be me first.”

The surge of affection at his words filled your stomach with butterflies, wrapping around you like the softest and warmest comforter.

Great, now you wanted to cry for a whole different reason.

“I don’t deserve you,” spilled from your lips before you could think twice. Steve’s sweet smile made its return.

“Other way around, babygirl. Other way around…. Now how does a bath and a bed sound?”

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Steve hadn’t planned on you and him having a bath when making the suggestion. He found a bath-bomb even and few candles so the light wouldn’t have to be on and hurt your previously teary eyes.

But then you looked at him with wide eyes, pleading and so vulnerable, a single look so heartfelt that it would make the devil’s black heart break and the angels weep – and he was done for, sinking into the bath with you even if the bathtub was not meant for more than one person, especially when one of them was of Steve’s built.

He couldn’t tell you no. Less so after the shitstorm the dinner had turned into.

Yes, Steve’s own emotions were running high, anger, disappointment and self-hatred he knew he couldn’t confess to, certainly not at the moment, but you. You were the priority here because he had a feeling that no matter how overwhelmed he felt, he had nothing on you.

The ceramics of the tub was hard against his back and against his knees at the side, but you fit into his arms and between his legs so perfectly and contentedly that he wouldn’t dare to complain. Head in the crook of his neck, your back to his chest, you melted into him, eyes closed, fingers absently and yet affectionately running over his forearms above water, sometimes along his calves.

You didn’t talk much, mostly repeating that it wasn’t his fault, that you loved him – something he found himself echoing every time – and it slipped through your lips too that while you would never change the fact that you picked him… you were sorry for being a disappointment to your father.

At that, something in Steve’s chest cracked and he swore to himself – that he would never ever be the cause of you feeling like a disappointment. And why would he – you were his perfect girl, his best girl. As much as he regretted that he indirectly did have a hand in making you feel like this now, he wouldn’t change who you were to each other and who you were had he had the chance. Never.

What he could do was to hold you tighter after your admission and whisper more sweet nonsense that made perfect sense to him to your ear.

By the time the water got cold, you were practically asleep, completely groggy, pliant. Somehow, you both climbed from the tub without sustaining any injury. He might have been holding you upright a bit as you both brushed your teeth and pulled on a pyjama.

You fell asleep almost instantly, face hidden in Steve’s chest, few stray tears dampening his sleepshirt as you mumbled one more love confession into the fabric.

“I love you, Steve... I’m sorry… you have to put up with such bullshit…” Your words slurred but Steve didn’t need to hear them to understand what you were saying.

He dropped a kiss to the top of your head, pulling you closer to his side, ignoring the sting of guilt in his gut.

“I love you too, sweetheart,” he whispered, earning a hum that might have been a sign of contentment… or you being entirely drained. “Let’s go to sleep now. Clearer head in the morning.”

Another hum and then nothing but your deep slow breathing, the last remnants of tension leaving your body.

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Steve didn’t think he would follow you to the dreamland anytime soon, too agitated, thoughts swirling wildly in his head, but he caught himself snapping back to consciousness at some point, unsure when he fell asleep – and what woke him up.

An intrusive buzzing on your nightstand provided him with the answer, your phone lit up.

Steve spared you one glance as you stirred only to nuzzle deeper into his frame, sighing.

As carefully as he could so he wouldn’t wake you, he stretched over you and checked who was calling.

Blood crystalized in his veins, heart sent into frenzy as he read a simple short word.

Mom.

He squeezed the side button, silencing the vibration as he pondered what to do; and yet, even as his heart jumped to his throat – as if he was a teenager about to face his girlfriend’s parents after he took her virginity – he had already made a decision, accepting the call as you sank into the cushions without him as a pillow.

He slipped from the room as silently and quickly as possible, announcing himself before you mother could say something not meant for his ears.

“Oh. Hello, Steve,” your mother greeted him, clearly surprised – but much to Steve’s relief, not angry.

He could do this, he could talk to your mother even with the lump in his throat; could have been much worse. Could have been your father and Steve wasn’t so sure if he would manage him. For one, he would hate to be reminded, once again, of what the numerous hate letters had told him about being a total perv; for two, Steve feared he might exchange words with your father that couldn’t have been taken back and would seal the damage done to the relationship with your parents .

“I’m sorry, ma’am. She fell asleep and—I can wake her, of course, but-“ He stumbled over his words and was immensely grateful when your mother saved him from his misery; more se when she said what she did.

“-but she had a rough night. We all did. I’m okay to talk to you, Steve.”

“Alright… how can I help, ma’am?”

“Tell me how bad she is, Steve? She stopped crying before she falling asleep?” the woman on the other side asked softly, causing Steve’s heart to squeeze in a painful memory of his own kind mother, God bless her soul.

And perhaps it was that very memory that encouraged him to speak openly, the genuine worry of a mother who cared deeply for her child, her heart full of love.

How such woman could end up with such an asshole and stay with him was beyond Steve’s understanding, but he certainly wasn’t in position to judge the choices of the women in your family – after all, he was your choice and there was a long line of people who looked at the two with disdain.

“For a while,” Steve admitted with a sigh, his gaze automatically flickering towards the bedroom. “She’s—she feels like she disappointed you in a way, she’s scared of the what’s next, but she’s angry too, because she doesn’t think she did anything wrong by being with me.”

And Steve thought the same… to a point. Didn’t matter that sometimes he would find himself in a dark place where he simply awaited the moment you’d change your mind and left him; for someone your age, with better looks, someone smarted, someone funnier, someone who didn’t have to shave off his beard just so your parents made it through the front door without yelling.

Such gloomy images always left him more desperate than he was comfortable admitting and with searing jealousy in his gut.

He needed you. Yes, he’d survive if you left – but he was certain that you’d take his heart with him, leaving him unable to fall in love ever again… or to feel whole, for that matter.

“She wouldn’t leave you to get her financial support back, Steve,” sounded gently on the other end of the line and Steve’s heart skipped a beat in alarm, brief wonder if he had said any of his latest thoughts out loud.

He supposed he didn’t – your mother was just too intuitive, just like his used to be. He gulped against his dry throat, suddenly guilty for – in a way – forcing you to leave them.

“…I suppose not… I’m sorry if-- it was never my intention to steal your daughter from you, but I’m- I’m not gonna pretend I mind that she would rather be with me than had her money.”

“This is not your doing, Steve, don’t you think I don’t know that,” she continued, a subtle smile in her voice, Steve thought. “And it’s good that she’s willing to make this choice. We wouldn’t want the bride to get cold feet, after all.”

Steve’s heart stopped altogether, he was sure of it. Colour him mortified.

How the hell—but- she couldn’t--- he hadn’t proposed yet and he- what?

His stomach twisted in a tight knot. He couldn’t but ask, voice barely above whisper.

“…how did you know?”

“You stopped yourself mid-sentence, Steve. And as cliché as it sounds, you had fire in your eyes, defending my daughter. It is clear to me that you are serious about her, that you love her, and from the little I heard about you, you are the kind of man who would put a ring on it to seal the deal.”

You mother was definitely smiling now and Steve found himself doing the same, even if the lift of his lips turned sour.

“I would have asked for parents’ blessings, but…”

“I give it,” she was quick to assure him and Steve’s breath hitched, his chest puffing with pride, filling with endless relief and joy. Your mother approved of him. Even knowing who he was, how old he was, how—she was willing to give him her blessing! “You seem like a good man, Steve.”

Steve was both embarrassed and ridiculously proud when he realized he was blinking against tears gathering in his eyes, enormous weight falling from his shoulders.

“That, uhm—that means a lot, truly,” he choked out, swiftly clearing his throat, the embarrassment definitely winning now. He had to get it together before he gave out how weak he could be in front of your mother… she had given her blessing; she could easily take it back.

“I like you, Steve. You’re a good blend of an old-fashioned and modern man. Don’t mess it up and keep my daughter happy.”

“I will try my best, ma’am,” he declared in an instant, meaning every word.

A sigh sounded from the speaker. “That’s all I ask for… now the less happy reason to call. I talked to Paul, but he… I’m sorry, Steve, as for now, he still isn’t fond of you.” That didn’t surprise Steve, but it hurt nonetheless. Then again, he was grateful that your mother tried to put in a good word for him; that meant a lot too. “He only agreed to pay for three more months.”

Steve’s free hand balled into fist, the other clutching the phone considerably tighter as hot surge of anger flooded his veins.

Three more payments. As if the relationship with your family was a damn job contract and this was the notice period.

Steve was sure he was going to be sick.

“Thank you. That’s… we appreciate it,” he managed to grit through his teeth, trying his damnest to remember that he wasn’t mad at the sweet woman – only at her husband.

“You really are a good man, Steve. You’re good for her. I’m glad she found you.”

Steve would once again be entirely joyful at being at least your mother’s favour, but he heard you call out his name from the bedroom, low, hoarse and utterly confused and all he could focus on was the idea of you, red-rimmed eyes and messy hair and still adorable, looking for him in the dark room with a pout to your lips.

“Steve?” your mother called out unsurely and Steve snapped from his reverie.

“Sorry, uhm, she’s awake-- do you want me to hand you over or-“ he blurted out swiftly, hoping the answer would be no as he couldn’t wait to crawl back to bed with you.

“No, just tell her I called. I believe you two have things to talk about. Take care of my daughter, Steve. I’ll be in touch.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Jane, Steve,” she offered kindly just as Steve heard the soft patting on your fluffy socks on the floor.

“Yes, Jane,” he corrected himself then, unable to contain the satisfaction as he tested the name on his tongue. “Thank you, really. Goodnight.”

He ended the call as you emerged from the bedroom, squinting to the low light, your eyes instantly finding him – he automatically smiled for you, unsubtly splaying his arms wide. You didn’t hesitate, aiming straight into his embrace even if it was at snail pace.

It was funny and strange and wonderful how Steve still loved simply holding you, his heart calmer the moment he found you melting into his frame. Christ, he loved you… and clearly, your mother noticed; he was so obvious, that-

“You were gone,” you muttered into his chest discontentedly, nuzzling into him and Steve automatically cradled you to him tighter.

“Sorry, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” you admitted bluntly, propping your chin on his torso to look up at him, eyes growing wide and surprisingly soft with emotion. “More so because I was talking stupid and crying into your shirt instead of comforting you after my dad accused you of the things that--- those things that aren’t right.”

Steve felt the painful nudge to his consciousness, because he knew there always would be some truth to ‘those’ words; but you were here to dilute the pain and make it all better. Your care for his well-being served like a shield for the sticks and stones for now at least, when you were the priority. You had it worse at the moment, no matter what his former colleague had accused him of in those hate letters – and now your father.

“Hey, no. Don’t worry about me now.”

You gazed into his eyes, pushing on your tiptoes to peck his lips and the small gesture of affection was like a balm to his soul, much like your words.

“But I do. Always. I love you, Steve… I’m sorry we can’t catch a break… but we’ll… somehow, we’ll push through, right?” you whispered, hopeful and wistfully determined and Steve could only nod, feeling the corners of his lips rising.

“Absolutely, sweetheart. You’re my girl.”

“And you’re my guy. My prince charming,” you hummed, cradling his unusually smooth cheek, irises full of wonder, the sensation was as foreign to you as it was to him. But it was your babble that made him chuckle, the nickname that seemed to catch on; you were too cute for words. “Guess I am Cinderella after all and somehow you accidentally fell in love with me.”

“Damn right I did,” he confirmed, brushing your forehead with his lips before tugging you back to the bedroom. “Not all that glitters is gold.”

“True. Though you might have some glitter from the bathbomb on you.”

“Cheeky girl.”

He didn’t bother pretending to be offended or grumpy; he was simply too happy to see some of your snarky teasing side making its return, that was always a good sign.

“I try… but really, are you okay?”

Steve didn’t respond at first, climbing to the bed, manoeuvring you to his arms where you belonged and fit so naturally. Only when the lights were out and you were both comfortable, he replied, truthfully.

“I will be. I have you. Plus, your mum seems to be okay with me.”

More than okay, apparently.

Steve’s heart fluttered with a bit of nerves as his mind wandered to the ring he kept in the very room you fell asleep every night.

“As she should,” you hummed, sounding very pleased. “She has a nose for good people. And you’re the best.”

“After you at least.”

“Best man, then,” you argued playfully and Steve was perfectly content to have you think that. It would play in his favour when he would finally find the courage to sink to one knee in front of you.

“Well, I’m certainly a lucky one… I have the best woman.”

“Uh-huh. Sure you do. Love you,” you whispered, kissing his chest over the fabric of his sleepshirt and sighing blissfully. “Goodnight, Steve.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you too.”

If you only knew how much…

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

S.R.masterlist

Attached masterlist

Stockings (next in timeline)

⊱-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦ ✉ ◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-◦-⊰

Wink wink. I once again stretched this quite a bit, but hopefully you reached this very end without skipping something ;)

Thank you for reading and extra thanks if you happen to like, reblog and/or comment. Stay safe and happy!

(Also, to American friends: I hope you'll have better Thanksgiving than this ;) )

214 notes · View notes

fan4196 · 4 years ago

Text

Can I Buy You A Coffee?

I'm so sorry this took way too long, but here it is I hope you like it @androgynousprincecloud. It's not exactly what you requested but I tried my best.

Thank you @angry-slytherin again for beta reading :)

Hope you like it. Enjoy!

"Alright are there any questions?" Jo asks happily after the talk she just held at the yearly medical innovations conference about her cancer studies. She had been quite surprised as she received the invite to lecture about her research, but more than happy about the opportunity. She had been really stressed about her presentation and had quite some doubts but now as she looks into hundreds of interested and impressed eyes, she feels really good.

"Yeah I have a question. Can I buy you a coffee, Dr. Wilson?" A voice she knows way to well breaks through the silent audience and Jo's thoughts. She tries to stay as calm as she can right now, trying not to show a hundred people what this voice does to her right now. Her mouth immediately goes dry and her hands begin to sweat as she stares into the audience; she tries to find him but quickly turnes back to her laptop.

"Ahm- thank you all for coming and have a nice remaining conference." She quickly ends her presentation without answering any other questions. She really can't do this right now. She thought that this conference would be a good distraction from everything but now he was here.

The room fills with clapping as the light turns back on and everyone starts to leave.

A few minutes later it's just Jo in the big room, packing her stuff together while she tries to comprehend what just happened.

He's here. And she doesn't really know how to feel about it. As much hurt as his voice roused, it also rouse happiness. Happiness; she hadn't felt it in quite a while. To be exact since the day the stupid letter arrived. On this day something broke inside of her. Something that is still broken, but hearing his stupid voice again after this much time, put a few pieces of this broken thing inside of her back in place.

"I always knew you were a freaking genius."

She shivers a little as soon as she hears his voice again. Turning around she watches him slowly coming down the few stairs of the audience. He didn't change at all. The grey in his beard became a little more, but other than that he's still the man she once fell so deeply in love with. Wearing his signature smirk and a little sparkle in his eyes, which she can't quite pinpoint. He's also wearing this stupid old black jacked she was never able to make him get rid of. With his hands in his pockets he's finally reaching her on the stage.

Even thought she tries to fight against it, her heart immediately starts to beat a little faster as soon as she smells his typical scent and his burning eyes on her do the rest. She never imagined what their first meeting would be like after everything that happened; she wasn't even sure if they would ever meet again but she didn't think that it would be like this. But she for sure had expected to hate him more, she had expected the need to punch him in the face; to hurt him just as much as he hurt her. She would really like to hate him but her body has a completely different plan. And before she even knows it her arms are wrapped around his neck and her face buries itself into his jacket, inhaling his scent, quietly enjoying his presence again after so long.

She feels his arms carefully finding their way on her hips, pulling her a little closer, before he buries his face in her hair.

They stand like this for a few minutes, neither of them speaking, enjoying each other's company, like their did so many times throughout their relationship.

Before she starts unwrapping her arms from around his neck she quietly answers his question.

"Yes. Yes you can buy me a coffee."

It's been almost five month now since their reunion at the medical innovations conference. Five month in which a lot of things happened. Most important, Alex kept his promise and took her out for coffee. And they talked; for hours. Alex talked about his twins, his job, Kansas, even a little about Izzie.

Jo talked about her reactivated research, her newfound love Gus, her puppy and even a little bit about her feelings.

They talked a lot about their feelings, their hurt, the things that they regret and are sorry about; something they never did through out their relationship. Because they were two stubborn human beings that were way to scared that the other one would leave as soon as they had a bigger fight.

But now they are a little bit older and both frequently seeing a therapist, which let them experience their communication on totally different levels. Not that talking had never came easy between the two, because it did, but now they were able to talk differently with each other; without the fear of losing the other one. Not because they didn't have each other anymore, but because they reconnected on more and deeper levels again.

And they started talking more often. They started calling each other on their lunch breaks, which lead to talking every night before they went to sleep.

After another month it turned into facetiming before bed. Jo met the twins over Facetime and they met Jo's puppy Gus. Which lead to Alex and the twins visiting Jo and Gus in Seattle. They spend a whole week together; went to the zoo, the museum, the cinema, did a lot of fun things together and it actually felt really nice.

After their week together the twins were really sad that they had to leave their new bestfriend Jo again, but Alex assured them that they would see her more often from how on.

A few months and a lot of conversations later, Alex started visiting Seattle, with and without kids, more frequently. He stayed with Jo every time he was there. He slept on the couch, they drove to the hospital together and did fun things together just like they used to do when they had been just friends back then. The couch quickly turned into the bed they once shared, and if you know those two at least a little you can imagine that as soon as Alex was sleeping in the bed again there has not been one morning where they didn't wake up in each other's arms. Something both of them secretly missed the most when they weren't with each other. At first they, of course, tried to ignore it but in the end they knew they had to talk about it and what that means for them, so they did. They talked; at first because their talking quickly changed into staring deeply in each other's eyes and then eventually ended with kissing.

Alex had to leave again but the next time he visited they started right where they left off. The kissing became more frequent and soon came as normal as it always has been. And one night kissing wasn't enough anymore and turned into sex. This time they didn't ignore it and immediately talked about what this means for their slowly reforming relationship. They agreed that neither of them could deny it any longer and agreed on trying to make a long distance relationship work.

And they did but soon both of them realized that it was not what they really wanted.

"I miss you."

"I miss you too, Princess. I promise I try to make it this weekend, ok? I know I said that last week too but I promise I'll be there this time." Alex tries to sound as convincing as he could.

"Mmhh. I hope so, I really miss you and I have something to tell you that I don't wanna do over the phone." Jo answers, as she sits on the couch in the loft holding her phone to her ear while she pets Gus, who is contently sleeping on her lap.

"Geez, thanks. Now I really have to keep my promise." Alex jokes sarcastically, which makes Jo laugh.

"That was my intention, jerk." Jo grinnes, knowing that he's wearing a smirk right now too.

Before he can answer their call gets interrupt by a knock against the metall door of the loft.

"Ahm- hang on one second. I think my pizza is here." Jo shares, while she carefully picks Gus up from her lap, which wakes the poor little puppy.

Putting her phone on the coffe table, she quickly takes the change she already laid out and walks to the door, unlocking the locks before she opens it with one strong sweep.

She needs a few seconds to realize who the man in front of her is, but then her shocked face turnes into the biggest grin.

She can't quite believe the sign in front of her. It's Alex with an open pizza carton in his hands, on the top inside of the box you can read 'Homecoming?' in obviously Alex's awfully scrawly handwriting.

As Jo looks from the pizza carton to Alex's face she can see the excitement in his eyes. So he really means what he scribbled on the box.

"Oh my God." Jo gasps, before her already big smile turns even bigger. Without thinking twice and obviously not caring about the open pizza box in Alex hand she gets the one step closer before she jumps into his arms.

They stay like that for a few minutes. As Jo posens her grip around Alex she notices the two big suitcases behind him.

They quickly bring his luggage inside and Alex sits down on the couch. Gus immediately takes up his lap and continues his nap.

"So what's the thing you have to tell me?" Alex asks as Jo puts down plates and something to drink on the coffee table.

Without a word she graps something from her nightstand and places it in Alex's hand as she finally sits down beside him. It's a little grey package with a neatly tied bow on top. Alex carefully undoes the bow, opening the box. A black and white picture with Jo's neatly handwriting on the bottom comes to sign. Alex eyes immediately grow big as he reads the caption under the picture, saying 'Hi daddy!'.

#jolex #jolex fanfiction #jolex fic #jo karev #jo wilson #alex karev #jo x alex #grey's fanfic #fic #fanfic #grey's anatomy fic #fan.4196

37 notes · View notes

swtorpadawan · 4 years ago

Text

Awakenings - Chapter 8 : Small Favors

For one thing, she’d been rescued after spending the last three years imprisoned in carbonite by some Hutt crime lord and a group of thus-far unknown conspirators. She’d been blissfully reunited with Corellan Halcyon after three – technically six – years apart. She’d then found that he’d built an entire world – an Alliance, even – where they didn’t have to hide their relationship anymore. Theron Shan and Lana Beniko – Corellan’s senior advisors – had given them a whole two days to get “reacquainted”, sequestered on their old ship. (They’d both desperately needed it.) Afterwards, she’d made an impressive debut with the Eternal Alliance through her rather public sparring session with Corellan, and aside from her run-in with Xalek – and that freak of a Rattataki mercenary who Doc used to date and who’d tried to get under her skin – her introductions had gone well. She’d been ecstatic to reunite with Teeseven and Rusk; even seeing Seetoo Enntoo again had made her more emotional than she’d ever have expected. She’d reached out to Bela Kiwiiks, relieved that her old Master was still alive and thriving on a remote enclave for Jedi younglings. Kiwiiks had even tacitly approved of Kira’s ‘life choices’ with respect to Corellan and the Alliance. Perhaps most surprisingly, Kira had even made a new best friend. Vette had been fantastic these last few days; showing her around, introducing her to people, helping her redecorate her (and Corellan’s) quarters and generally being supportive. She’d been great.

For once, for maybe the first time ever, almost everything in her life was going great.

He, of course, had been amazing.

Corellan had held her gently when she’d been freed from that damned carbonite slab. She’d never admit to being afraid, but she’d honestly been terrified by the thought that that the Emperor was still within him, somewhere. He’d responded by being incredibly patient with her; letting her feel him out through the Force. Then when her mind and heart and soul had recognized that it was really him and only him, they had kissed and embraced and made love and reaffirmed their connection to each other and in that instant, he was anything but patient with her, and in ways that still brought a soft smile to her lips.

Once they were done, he had told her everything that had happened to him in her absence, and she’d done the same. Their meditations on the Defender – in between further sessions of love-making – had brought understanding. The scars on each other’s souls may never completely fade, but they had started to heal over. She could hardly imagine some of the choices Corellan had made along the way. The choice to bring so many former enemies into the fold of his Alliance. The choice to ally with the Sith Empire. The choice to no longer call himself Jedi. The choice to recruit Arcann. It was still too much to take in just yet.

But she understood.

Corellan did feel different to her in some ways. That was to be expected. No one could go through what he had without changing. But he hadn’t changed in the ways that mattered.

Not to her.

Life wasn’t all peaches and cream, of course. It had its bantha dung patties, as well.

She still didn’t know who Kabbura had been working with when he’d imprisoned her, and with the slimy Hutt dead, tracking them down would be a real challenge. Kira didn’t feel consumed by any kind of revenge, but she felt the need to be the one to close that book herself.

That was one.

She didn’t know if she should still call herself a Jedi. The Jedi in the Alliance had accepted her, and that was something. But the goal of making a place for herself within the Order that had once driven her so badly now seemed like something she should consider setting aside if it no longer suited her, considering her relationship with Corellan.

That was two.

She had still lost three years of her life. She may not have aged in that time, but the galaxy had still gone on without her.

That was three.

Kira squeezed her fingers into a fist, then buried her thoughts as she made her way through the saloon. Her old Jedi training was still useful for that sort of thing at least. As she walked, a few people she had already met perked up and greeted her with a friendly word and a nod, and these she returned. She did notice that other people were apparently still fascinated by the novelty of the Alliance Commander – the ‘invincible Outlander’ – having a ‘significant other’, quietly watching her with appraising looks from afar, sometimes exchanging a hushed whisper with a nearby companion.

She was getting used to that. It had annoyed her at first, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. And it was slowly getting better as people became accustomed to her presence. Her new outfit – this one a black and dark brown full body suit of light armor with plenty of pockets for little ‘surprises’ she could use in combat – suited her as well. She wouldn’t be caught by surprise again like she had by Kabbura on Nar Shaddaa.

Not ever again.

Kira glanced around the cantina, finally catching the hand wave from her quarry for today. He was standing near the bar, looking casual as usual with his snappy red jacket and stylish haircut.

Not that his posture fooled her.

“Hey, there.” She smiled as she approached him.

“Hey, stranger.” Theron Shan returned her smile. “How’s it going?”

“I’m doing pretty good.” Kira answered amicably.

Upon saying the words aloud, she realized that, much to her surprise, she actually was doing pretty good overall. She wouldn’t pretend that she hadn’t experienced hardships the last few years, or that there weren’t things she needed to work on now. But she could recognize those things without being consumed by them.

Ironic that I’m finally reflecting on things like a Jedi now. Kira thought to herself.

“You wanted to meet?” she continued.

Theron nodded, then gestured to catch the eye of the bartender, who was doing a good job pretending not to eavesdrop on them. Vette had introduced him to her earlier; he was a bear of a man with a thick white beard whom everyone seemed to call ‘Captain Rex’. Kira knew he’d been a veteran Republic soldier before joining the Alliance, and after the fighting he’d retired from field duty and started running the cantina. Finally prodded, he gave the duo his full attention.

Kira had taken to him quickly; he seemed an amicable guy who took people as they were and was a good listener. In other words, he was the perfect bartender. She was already on a first name basis with him. Still, even he seemed curious about her meeting with one of the senior advisors.

“Hey, you two.” He gave them a toothy grin. “What can I get you?”

Theron gestured to Kira.

“Go ahead and order. My treat.”

Kira raised an eyebrow at the offer. So it was going to be one of those kinds of talks. She though. But she played along, flashing a dazzling smile to Rex.

“Tatooine Sunset, if you please.”

“No problem, Kira.” Rex exclaimed cheerfully, then turned to Theron. “Agent Shan?”

Theron grimaced just a bit at the formal – and outdated – title. There’s a story there. Kira realized, but kept it to herself.

“That and a bottle of Corellian whiskey.” He added, laying a credit stick down on the bar. “With two glasses. Thanks, Rex.”

“Coming right up.” Rex nodded. He snatched up the credit stick then turned away and began preparing their drinks while Theron turned back to Kira.

“Tatooine Sunset? Really?” he chuckled.

She suppressed a cringe at the memory.

“Really, discovering that drink was the only positive takeaway I had from my time on that rock.”

The Shock Drum – a ground-quake causing superweapon – had almost destroyed the whole planet. Kira and Corellan had been forced to fight a sand demon that stank up their clothes once they’d finally killed it. Master Kiwiiks had been seriously injured and nearly killed. Kira and Corellan had been chased all over the desert by an insane Czerka corporate executive. Finally, they’d had to go head-to-head with an ancient Rakatan intelligence to stop it from breaking free to reign havoc on the galaxy.

Oh, and the sand had gotten everywhere.

“Yeah… I think I read that report.” Theron answered somberly. He let an awkward moment of silence fall between them before Rex returned with their drinks.

“Here we are.” He presented the tray with Kira’s fruity drink, the bottle of whiskey and the two glasses. “Need anything else?”

“Just a quiet corner, Captain. Thanks.”

“Lot of that going around.” The larger man just winked. “The booth in the back corner is open. Go ahead. I’ll keep people clear.”

Theron nodded his thanks and took up the tray in his arms, glancing to Kira. “Shall we?”

Kira rose an eyebrow but followed. The two took their seats at the booth in the corner, sitting opposite of each other. From here, she realized they could look out at the rest of the cantina with relative privacy. Theron took one of the glasses and poured himself a drink while Kira took up her drink.

Theron rose his glass to hers, giving her a slight smile.

“To new beginnings?”

“I’ll drink to that.” Kira smirked, gently clinking her glass against his, then taking a satisfying sip of her drink through her straw.

Ah. Rex knows how to mix these. Kira reflected happily. After savoring the taste, she turned back to Theron expectantly as he set his own drink down.

“So. You wanted to chat?”

“Oh, you know. Just wanted to see how you were adjusting to everything.” Theron gave her a charming, boyish grin, one that had probably beguiled dozens of beings the galaxy over, regardless of their gender or species. “You’ve had a busy week.”

Kira liked Theron. She liked him quite a bit. And she knew Corellan trusted him completely. But growing up on Korriban and then on Nar Shaddaa had taught her when she was being played. Also, he’d bought the whole bottle of whiskey with the two glasses for them both. The Jedi Knight folded her arms, her right eyebrow rising in suspicion.

“Uh-huh. Want to come clean with me, spy guy?”

Theron feigned a hurt expression on his face, then raised his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a portable holo-device and setting it down on the table between them. The former Republic Strategic Information Service (or SIS) agent gave a sideways glance out at the occupants of the cantina – a look that Kira almost missed – and only then, apparently satisfied, simultaneously pressed two buttons on the communicator. It let out a low beep but didn’t seem to do anything else.

“Alright, you caught me. It’s a couple of things, I guess.” He chewed it over before beginning.

“The first is about him. I mean, we’ve been doing this for about a year and even now Lana and I… well, we get worried. I don’t think we always read him correctly. We can’t really tell when he’s pushing himself too hard. Or when something is genuinely bothering him. Or a lot of other things that you’d expect we’d have a feel for by now.”

Kira listened passively as Theron laid out his concerns, then looked down at the holo-device with a scrutinizing look.

“I take it that thing is jamming us?”

Theron nodded in confirmation.

“All electronic surveillance of us is blocked. Everyone trying to listen in from more than three meters out will hear nothing but white noise. And anyone who tries to read our lips will get a minor holo-distortion.”

Kira gave him a look of acknowledgement then sat back and studied Theron, chewing things over. She reminded herself again that Corellan trusted Theron – and Lana Beniko, for that matter – completely. She couldn’t relive all that they had experienced together, but she could acutely feel that connection. She couldn’t know everything, but she could understand what they meant to him.

Most people asking her about Corellan would have gotten promptly blown off. Possibly with a snappy barb, possibly with a drink to the face if they caught her on a bad day.

But she decided she should take Theron seriously. That didn’t mean she had to make it too easy on him.

“I get it. You and Lana have been working with him for all this time, but you still don’t ‘get’ him, do you? He’s an enigma you can’t crack and now you’re hoping I’ll clue you in?”

Theron sighed. “I mean… he’s just so damned heroic, you know?” he leaned towards her conspiratorially. “He always does the ‘noble’ thing, even when it seems stupid. And then he just fights his way out of it if it goes badly. The Sith and the former Imps revere him because of his strength. The former ‘Pubs respect him because he doesn’t get them killed pursuing his own petty goals. Hell, he didn’t want any of us to go with him to help rescue you.” His leaned back. “He’s this paragon to everyone else, and we know that’s not the real story.”

Theron scratched behind his head as he sipped his whiskey.

“It’s been a year, Kira. I knew him before, off and on, back when he was just the Hero of Tython. You were there. But now I’ve been working by his side almost constantly for a year and he still throws me off my game. Lana, too.”

He bit his lip, trying to find the words.

“We just want to know how to help him, because outside of the missions, I don’t think we’re doing a great job at that. And I know this is sensitive stuff. I know that. I’d never ask you to betray him. I was just hoping you could clue us in a bit. And Lana figured you’d be more likely to talk to me than to her.”

Kira nodded slowly. She didn’t dislike Lana Beniko, exactly. But she was Sith. She was a ruthless pragmatist who had once allowed Theron to be captured and tortured by the Revanites. She’d been the head of Sith Intelligence, no doubt ordering things that Kira didn’t want to think about. She had wanted to dissect Master Surro’s mind after that disaster with the Emperor on Ziost.

Then during Kira’s absence, she had found and freed Corellan on Zakuul, had helped him form the Alliance here on Odessen and had been by his side when he had toppled the Eternal Empire.

Best not to think about all that right now. Kira decided.

“How does he seem to be doing to you?” she was genuinely interested in Theron’s assessment. “Right now, I mean?”

“Honestly?” Theron chewed that over. “These last few days since you got here, he actually seems to be doing better than he’s been in ages. Dunno if you knew, but since the war ended, a few of us had been worried about him. He wasn’t angry or even distraught, but he seemed listless. It was like watching the most driven person I’ve ever met just go through the motions. But now? He’s completely re-energized. Driven. He smiles naturally; he even laughs.”

He paused in consideration.

“Really, I’ve never seen him this content before. This… happy.”

Kira gave him a soft grin, sipping her drink in quiet contentment.

“Neither have I.”

Theron blinked and sat back in his seat.

“What, really?”

Kira’s expression now widened into her trademark smirk.

“You know, back when it was just the six of us on the Defender, I remember it felt like there was always something in the way of him just letting go of everything.” Kira explained. “He did occasionally relax when I prodded, and he was always attentive and supportive to each of us with whatever each of us had going on. He never seemed to get too down on himself, but I could tell that some part of him was always thinking about the next challenge. If it wasn’t Vitiate, it was the rest of the Sith. If it wasn’t the Sith, it was the Hutts. If it wasn’t the Hutts, it was the Revanites. And if it wasn’t the Revanites, then it was worrying about your mom finding out about us.”

Kira immediately cringed and shot Theron an apologetic look.

“Uhm. No offense.”

Theron just let out a low groan, pinching the bridge of his nose. Kira had remembered a second too late that the subject of Satele Shan, former Grand Master of the Jedi Order, remained a sore issue for the former SIS agent, her son.

“Ugh. None taken.”

She nodded and pressed on. “Towards the end, before the invasion, I mean, it was starting to get to him. But it’s different now. He’s still driven but he’s… balanced, I guess. More important, like I said, he’s actually happy.”

“That’s a relief.” Theron let out a breath. “I’m thankful you’re willing to tell me that.”

“Well, I know how much Corellan thinks of you.” Kira smirked. “Also, I think you kind of get my personality, so I wouldn’t have to worry too much about saying the wrong thing.”

Theron chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess we’re both kind of used to being the snarkiest people in the room, aren’t we?”

“No surprise there.” Kira beamed. “Corellan’s never been great at sarcasm himself, but as long as I’ve known him, he’s been drawn to those kinds of people. Me. You. Doc. Even Scourge could get a witty line in every now and again.”

As she spoke, a stray memory from years before rose to the surface.

“Come to think of it, Orgus Din was his last Master before he was knighted.” She mused somberly, reflecting on the late Jedi Master, slain more than a decade ago. “If there’s ever been a Jedi on the Council more sarcastic than Master Orgus, I’d definitely want to meet them.”

“Wish I’d known him.” Theron seemed all too aware of what Kira was referring to. “Hey. Know who else is like that? Senya. She seems to have grown pretty close to the Commander.”

Kira pursed her lips. “Arcann’s mother.” She said quietly. “Valkorion’s … wife.” She let a small dose of venom slip into her voice.

“She’s stood by us.” Theron turned his head as he picked up her tone. “Notwithstanding the time she went AWOL to try to save Arcann, no one has fought harder for the Alliance than Senya Tirall. You should give her a chance.”

Kira remembered feeling the affection, respect and even reverence Corellan held for the former Knight of Zakuul. So she just nodded. One step at a time. She let out a breath.

“I will. When I’m ready.”

Theron just nodded in understanding, then pressed on, eager to change the subject.

“But yeah. I felt like a complete idiot when Teeseven showed all of us the holo of the two of you together.” He shook his head. “I missed the signs.”

“Heard about that.” Her eyebrows bumped up in amusement. “I love that droid. But wow. That must have been a fun meeting.”

“You have no idea. I mean… I’d seen the two of you together in person a bunch of times, and even together in action. Especially during that fight with Kael on Yavin.” Theron’s eyes widened and he face-palmed with another groan. “And then that Nar Shaddaa operation with Jonas on Nar Shaddaa! Dammit. I should have seen it. Some spy I turned out to be.”

“Yup. I still have the dress from that Nar Shaddaa trip, by the way.” Kira snickered, sipped her drink, then reached out and patted his shoulder. “Wouldn’t mind busting it out again one of these days.”

“Don’t sweat it, Shan.” She quipped. “We never really told anyone. Even Teeseven only knew because he saw us that one time on Dromund Kaas. Maybe a scarce few people figured it out along the way, but whoever they were seemed to have kept it quiet. We didn’t want to compromise anyone else.”

Theron sat back with an impressed look.

“You even kept it from your crew? For, what, four years?”

“Yeah.” Kira felt a twinge of embarrassment. “I mean, looking back, I would guess that Scourge probably figured it out. I mean, he was a Force-sensitive living in our cargo bay on our ship. Even with his emotions muted, he must have felt… something. But he never said anything. Guess I should have appreciated him more than I did.” She cast her eyes down at the table, surprised at her own emotions.

I miss Scourge. How messed up is that?

“Rusk hasn’t said anything, but I figure he suspected at the very least. Doc was only fooled because he was kind of an idiot and he didn’t see either of us clearly. He thought I was uptight because I turned him down hard, and he figured Corellan was repressed because he wouldn’t be his wingman to some club opening on Coruscant.” She shrugged. “We were discreet. We had a whole system to keep people in the dark. But… well, we were young and in love.” She gave Theron a cheeky look. “We probably weren’t being quite as careful as we thought we were.”

“Must have been tough.” Theron chuckled.

“I do actually miss those days sometimes.” She felt wistful at the remembrance. Force. I am getting sentimental in my old age. “For all our conflicting personalities, for all the fighting and the frantic pace, we eventually became a well-oiled machine. We all knew each other’s rolls and what to do.”

Theron sat up, intrigued.

“I take it a lot of that was from the tactics he setup?”

Kira remembered that Corellan had taken what he’d learn of strategy from his experiences with their old crew – with their diverse capabilities and backgrounds – and had implemented then on an entire para-military organization in the Eternal Alliance. If it had been anyone else, she’d have thought that would be impossible.

“Yeah. It was one of the toughest things to figure out when we first teamed up. He doesn’t really have a distinct fighting style. I mean, yeah, he fights using jar’kai techniques with his twin lightsabers, but he throws in moves from all the major forms.”

She leaned back, her brow furrowing.

“He doesn’t have just one thing going for him, see? He looks at his foes, his allies, the terrain, and the situation, and he just adapts to all of that brilliantly. What are his opponents’ strengths and their weakness? What are his actual goals? I used to hear other Jedi Masters on Tython talk about that sort of thing all the time, but he does it on a level none of them could touch. All instinctively.” She bit her lip. “And if they have a Force bond with you, you find yourself adapting right along with him. It doesn’t feel like they’re controlling you or anything; I’d never go for that. it’s more like they’re leading you while in a dance. And sometimes you’re leading them, too.”

“It took me weeks to figure all of this out, but once I did, it made fighting beside him amazing. It was better than…” A smirk came to her lips, impishly. “Well. I won’t say that because he’s actually really good at that, too.”

Theron rolled his eyes, dramatically. “Okay. Okay. Too much information there, Carsen.”

She let out a chuckle at him.

“Anyway, it’s not just about how he fights. He adapts to everything that way. Every situation he finds himself in. Regardless of whether it’s good for him to adapt. Diplomacy. Military strategy. Ship maintenance. Whatever. He adapts. So when you guys put him in charge of this outfit, all while he still had Valkorion bouncing around in his head, I think he made a lot of decisions on who he needed to become. To win against Zakuul, and against Valkorion. That’s why he’s projected this image of the ‘invincible hero’ to everyone. He thought that’s what they all needed.”

Kira looked up wistfully at Theron.

“Because losing wasn’t an option.”

Theron’s expression fell as his mouth opened to speak, but Kira cut him off, quickly reaching out and pressing a finger to his lips.

“I know. It was all for the greater good.” She sighed sadly, withdrawing her finger from him, and looking down at the table.

“It always is.”

Theron sat dumbstruck, looking at her sympathetically.

“Look, I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He stammered. “I mean, I thought about the strain we were putting on him and I know Koth did, too. But he just bounced back every time he got knocked down, and then he was just standing there, stoic as a duracrete wall. And we needed him. Force knows, we needed him. He once went missing on Dromund Kaas for less than a day, and Saresh was trying to seize control of the Alliance out from under us. We should have known it wasn’t that simple.”

Kira just shrugged helplessly.

“He’s spent his entire life becoming what other people needed him to become. I just want him to be him.” She bit her lip. Dammit. I don’t normally let this get to me. “And he does want this, Theron. The Alliance, I mean. It means so much to him I can’t even tell you. But even I can’t really tell if he wants it for himself, or for everyone else.”

She let that settle in.

“Something to think about, huh? Force, I wish you’d been here with us all this time. This all could have gone differently. We should have found you.” he shook his head. “No, I should have found you. I found your ship right where you left it. With your history, it should have been obvious you’d headed to Nar Shaddaa.” He reached for his glass, looking disgusted with himself.

She looked up at him.

“Don’t sweat it, Theron. I told him the same thing – that I wish I’d been here for this. He told me he was glad I wasn’t.”

Theron nearly coughed out his whiskey.

“What?” he stammered. “Why?”

“The Emperor, Theron.” Kira cringed at the memory. “If he’d ever known about us, he’d have used me against him.”

The former spy cursed. “Dammit.”

Kira’s lips quirked but her eyes remained downcast.

“A thousand-year old demigod living in his mind couldn’t figure out that we’d been together, Theron. Even though he knew perfectly well who I was. Those are the kinds of walls Corellan Halcyon puts up in his mind. So like I said, don’t sweat it too much for not picking up on it. And don’t beat yourself up too much for not finding me.”

It was hard for her to get the words out. But Theron deserved to hear them.

“I’m sorry anyway.” He insisted. “You deserved more, and so did he.”

Kira shook her head.

“He’s not used to relying on people outside of our crew for any length of time. Or at least he wasn’t before. Like I said, most people just want to press on with their lives. And more than one has let him down.”

“Yeah, well. I don’t want to be one of them.” He said determinably.

She eyed him for a moment, biting her lip. This conversation was bringing back more old memories, some best left forgotten. Theron inevitably caught her look; maybe he was learning to read her.

“What is it?”

She took in a long breath. At this point, she was becoming comfortable sharing things with Theron that she’d never shared with anyone.

He deserved the truth. For better and for worse.

“Ziost bothered him.” Kira offered quietly. “I mean, it bothered him a lot.”

Theron visibly cringed at the mention of the doomed Imperial world, where it had all gone so terribly wrong.

“Well, it shook us all up.” He managed. “I mean, even Lana was…”

Kira scowled at Theron in annoyance. His obtuseness grated.

“I don’t mean the planet getting wiped out, you idiot.” She snipped, keeping her voice low. “That was Vitiate. I don’t even mean the damned invasion. That was Saresh. I mean the part where you called in a super-secret Jedi strike team to deal with the damned Emperor when you had the Hero of Tython on speed-dial.”

The look of shock on his face would have been satisfying if she’d been trying to get to hassle him.

“Oh.” Theron fell back in his seat, sullenly.

Kira felt the pings of guilt at his reaction.

“Sorry.” She shivered and placed her hand on his. “Those were bad memories for me, too. I didn’t mean to hassle you about it. I just get defensive of him.”

“He never said anything.” Theron offered, still shaken.

“He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t want to acknowledge that it got to him. He doesn’t want to acknowledge that anything gets to him. And to be fair, not much does. But like I said - he’s been let down by a few allies over the years – Saresh, just to name one – and I think he really didn’t want to add you to that list of people.” She squeezed his hand. “He really does think highly of you, Theron. A lot. Like, we’ve teamed up with a lot of people, and he calls all of them his friend. And for most of them? We take care of their problem, then say our goodbyes, and that’s it. They go on with their lives, and we go on to the next disaster. Maybe they send us a nice thank you note. Beyond that, we probably never hear from them again.”

“Unless, of course, they needed our help again.”

Kira paused, pulling her hand back and sipping her drink before continuing.

“So believe me, Theron. He didn’t look at you like that. He still doesn’t. He thinks the galaxy of you. He’s already told me plenty of stories. You know what he saw when he met you? He saw someone willing to break the rules if it meant doing the right thing. He’s never forgotten that. But you have to understand that some part of him worried that if most people saw beneath the robes – beneath the armor and the ‘hero’ mask – they’d all just take what they needed from him and then walk away.” She paused. “I think he’s figuring out he was wrong about that. Certainly with you, anyway.”

“Thanks.” Theron had finally collected himself by now, giving her a thankful look. Kira just chuckled.

“What I’m saying is, he truly values your friendship. A lot. Even if hasn’t been any good at showing it. So if you ever get an idea in your head that you’ll – I dunno – pretend to betray the Alliance as part of some convoluted plan so you can go undercover and infiltrate some conspiracy… well, please don’t do that. Because then I really would have to beat you up.”

Theron scoffed.

“Oh, come on! I’d never do something that ridiculous!” he blustered indignantly.

“Well, I’d certainly hope not!” she laughed at his reaction. “You’re a good friend to him, Theron.” She bit her lip in consideration, then hastily added. “You and Lana. You just didn’t understand how his mind worked. Hardly anyone does. He still surprises me, and I’ve got a Force bond with him.”

“Yeah.” Theron nodded in understanding. “You know, he spent ten minutes apologizing to us after your debriefing ended. For not trusting us with his relationship with you or that he’d been hurting inside. Then he spent the rest of the day authorizing more Alliance operations than he had in the previous six weeks combined. He’s been on a tear like that ever since. It is stretching our resources a little, but damn if it isn’t good to have him like this. The troops like it, too.”

Kira thought she knew exactly why Corellan Halcyon had suddenly started flexing his operational muscles and what it meant. As her cheeks started burning in a blush, she took another gulp of her drink, eternally grateful to the Force that Theron was apparently too caught in his speech to notice.

“But I’d never want to disappoint him again. Or you, for that matter. That’s why I hope you know you can trust me.” He leaned in, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Both with what you tell me here, and not to tell anyone about your past.”

Kira blinked once hard; her blush forgotten as her blood froze. The Jedi Knight set her glass down as she regarded the Alliance advisor, coolly. To the best of her knowledge, no one outside of the Jedi Council and her old crew knew about her history as a Child of the Emperor, or as a Sith. No one besides the remaining Children, anyway, and they’d been wiped out years ago.

Her eyes narrowed on those of the former Republic agent.

“You pull that little nugget out of my file, spy-guy?” she kept her voice level.

Theron shook his head vigorously.

“It wasn’t in your SIS file.” He said definitively. “I only put it together because of two completely unrelated assignments I worked on. Trant had me close the file on Godera’s errant weapons projects back when I was regulated to desk duty after my ‘trip’ to Hutta. That’s how I found out about Valis on that abandoned mining station. Years later, when we were prepping for the Korriban op, I noticed how Corellan deferred to you a few times when it came to getting around the Sith Academy. Eventually, I put all the pieces together. Never reported it to anyone, though. Not even Lana. I swear.”

He gave her a playful smile. “Your file was thick enough without the extra baggage.”

“Thanks. That’s a relief.” She let out a breath but then caught herself. “Wait, just how big is my SIS file?”

“Oh, it’s not that big. It only got priority at the time because of that resistance group you were running with after Zakuul invaded. Trent and his bosses were paranoid you’d all break the treaty and trigger a new war… which I know must sound rich coming from me considering that’s exactly what I helped do, later.”

Kira suppressed a despondent look at the mention of the resistance group she’d been running with after the defeat on Tython. It was one more wound she had to work through in her own time. Theron, meanwhile, pressed on, apparently oblivious.

“I’m kinda embarrassed that I was able to figure things out about your past but not your relationship. I guess it’s because he looked like a model Jedi otherwise. It was only later I started to see him differently. But genuinely, your file mostly covers jobs you, Corellan and your crew did for us – for the service, I mean, sorry, force of habit there – dating back to Reid Gandon on Coruscant. Nothing from before that, really. Just that you grew up on Nar Shaddaa before Master Kiwiiks recruited you into the Order.”

Kira scrunched up her face in contemplation, trying to remember.

“Reid Gandon. That was that thing with the Justicars, right?”

“That’s the one. Reid’s a good man. We go way back. You know the Justicars’ whole organization collapsed a few weeks after the two of you paid them a visit? I mean, they had other problems. Their supply of weapons from the Empire was cutoff, for one. Also, Illaynah – Major Antilles, I mean – led a Havoc Squad op down there around that same time. That’s two. Regardless, they never recovered.”

“Huh.” Kira shrugged, relieved to be talking about something that hadn’t left a wound. “Well. They were jerks.”

“Yeah, they were. But you and Corellan got that sort of thing a lot, huh? People just coming up to you and asking for help?” Theron mumbled in disbelief. “Has he ever met anyone who wasn’t trying to get something out of him?”

Kira’s memory again stirred at that, like a nexu cat discovering a mouse running past its nose.

“Well, Theron.” she gave him a sharp look, her eyebrows furrowing as her lips tweaked upward. “There was this one time, we were docked at Carrick Station, I actually just told him to go out and make a friend outside of our crew. Outside of the Jedi Order and the Republic military. Just someone who… he could just talk to and who he might share some common interests with. Just, you know, a friend.” She shrugged. “Whatever that means, anyway.”

Theron chuckled at the absurdity of Corellan Halcyon heading into Carrick Station in pursuit of a ‘normal’ friendship.

“Really? How’d that work out?”

Kira eyed him knowingly as she sipped her drink.

“You tell me.”

Several seconds passed before Theron’s eyes widened in realization.

“Oh, blast it. That’s when I met him at the cantina, wasn’t it? And practically the first thing I did was ask him to take on an off-the-books mission that the SIS wanted nothing to do with. And then a year later I was calling you guys in again for the Korriban op.” He turned away guiltily. “Kriff. I’ve used him just like everyone else did.”

Kira reached out and squeezed his hand again.

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. He saves almost everyone he meets, never mind saving the whole galaxy from Vitiate’s ritual.”

Theron turned back to his drink, grumbling as he shook his head.

“Who does he think appointed him the galaxy’s defender, anyway?”

“Who knows?” Kira’s eyes looked towards the ceiling, having considered the same question more than a few times in her life. She withdrew her hand. “The Force. Your mother when she knighted him and named him the ‘Hero of Tython’. Scourge when he told him he was destined to kill the Emperor. Lana when she freed him from carbonite and told him he was the galaxy’s last hope to stop the Eternal Empire.”

Me. She thought to herself with a hint of bitterness. When I told him that I had been a Child of the Emperor and that the Sith would never stop hunting me. Corellan just stood there on our ship, having been a Jedi Knight for all of a month, and told me that he would protect me with his life. Those comforting words had filled Kira with a warmth that grew into a fire. And eventually, an eternal flame.

Was I using him all that time, too?

Kira hastily buried away that unwanted thought, mentally recognizing it as a lingering insecurity and refocusing on Theron.

I am not the lost child anymore.

“The point is, he’s spent his almost his entire adult life with people pleading with him for help, telling him that he was the only one who could save them. Look. He’s saved my life about… five times now, and that’s not counting stuff that happened in the ‘natural’ flow of combat. Believe me, that was a blow to my ego. I don’t like feeling like a damsel in distress. We’re supposed to be partners, dammit.”

She frowned, then looked back up at Theron.

“But if I can get over all that, then so can you.”

Theron looked away sullenly, digesting the bantha-sized heap she’d dumped on him. He finally offered a weak chuckle.

“Want to hear a funny story?”

“Sure.” Kira shrugged. She noted with some trepidation that he still wasn’t look at her.

“These last few weeks – ever since the war ended, really – he’d been… distracted. Like I told you before. He’s felt listless. I’ve caught him a few times looking up into the sky like there was something in the galaxy calling out to him.” He turned away from Kira, eyeing the wall. “I kept remembering the old stories about Revan that Master Zho taught me growing up. After Revan destroyed the Star Forge and saved the galaxy, I mean. He could have settled down with Bastila, they could have raised some kids together and he could have happily lived out the rest of his life. Instead, he couldn’t resist the call of whatever was calling out to him.”

He stared blankly at the table.

“Turned out, of course, that it was the Emperor that the Force was trying to warn Revan about. This was centuries before the Republic even knew the Sith Empire still existed. And following that call cost Revan everything he had, including his sanity.”

Theron’s eyes finally refocused on Kira with a hurt expression, like he was reliving something unpleasant.

“I was worried that the Commander was going to leave us. Like Revan left Bastila. That he’d grab his astromech droid and jump in his ship one day, fly off, and we’d never see him again.”

Theron reached for his drink only to find the glass empty. Before he could react, Kira took up the bottle and refilled it for him. Theron just nodded his thanks.

“I guess we all got lucky, huh?” he hoisted the glass in her direction in a melancholic toast, still with a gloomy look. “Revan was looking to chase down the next threat to the entire galaxy. Corellan was looking for you.”

Kira stared back at him expressively, letting the awkward silence sit.

“Sorry. It doesn’t sound as funny when I say it out loud.”

“Maybe not.” Kira assented. “Alright. While we’re telling jokes that aren’t funny, I have one for you.”

Theron shrugged. “Hit me.”

“I had this thought this one time. That if you had wound up growing up to be the Jedi hero and Corellan had wound up the emotionally repressed spy, you’d both probably both have lived happier lives.”

For the third time that day, Theron let out a pained groan.

“Maybe.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ouch.”

“You know I’m just teasing you, right?” she smiled up at him. “I wouldn’t talk about this to anyone else?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I get that. You’re alright, Kira.” He gave her a smile, shrugging off his fugue. “On that note if I could ask for one more favor. Regarding the Alliance…”

Kira made a face. She’d seen this one coming.

“Uh-oh. This is that second thing you wanted to talk about, right? Is this about that thing with Xalek? Or the one with Kaliyo?”

Theron looked apologetic.

“Well, I know that both were way out of line. But the whole thing did worry us just a little.”

Kira knew by now that by ‘us’ he meant himself and Lana Beniko.

“I’d never take it further than that.” She exhaled. “Look. I’ve been to more than my share of Republic army bases, Theron. I get the whole concept of a ‘General’s spouse’, and all the problems that entails. There’s no way I’m gonna go ‘lord’ anything over anyone, and there’s not a chance I’m not gonna pull my weight around here.”

Theron nodded and sat back in relief.

“Thanks. I didn’t want to give you a hard time about it. The dynamic and identity of this whole operation – what makes the Eternal Alliance what it is – well, it’s still forming. It’s constantly evolving. Morale is high, and I think it’s a good thing overall that people realize the Commander is a person and not some ‘mythic hero’, but it does open up the possibility of people trying to influence him through… backdoor means.” He focused on her intently.

“We kinda need your help making sure things like that don’t happen.”

“I can do that.” Kira nodded in agreement, then gave him a hopeful look. “And you know what? Just as a gesture… I have, in fact, been approached by three different people this past week, asking me if I could ‘have a word’ with the Commander on their behalf. For more resources, or to approve some project or just for some other favor. I very politely told them all to go through you and Lana.”

“Really? Wow.” His eyes widened in surprise. “I mean, I appreciate that. I know Lana will, too.”

Kira studied the former SIS agent closely. She’d almost missed it.

“You already knew, didn’t you?” she smirked. She’d heard that Theron kept an eye on things around the Alliance base, and she believed it.

“Actually no!” Theron’s face turned jovial at the half-hearted protest, chuckling. He had cheered up considerably, and he seemed to be getting used to Kira being able to read him. “I only knew about Oggurobb requesting more funding for his new xenobiology lab and Gault’s little currency exchange scheme. What was the third?”

“The Mandalorians.” Kira grinned. “Khomo Fett talked to me. They were hoping for a larger allotment of recovered Zakuulan equipment.”

“Really?” Theron made a face. “Sheesh. We already gave them ten crates of personal weaponry!”

“They’re Mandos, Theron. They always want more guns.”

Theron rolled his eyes.

“Well, regardless, thanks for telling me. You can always bring these things to me, Kira. I won’t let it get back to anyone.”

“Appreciate that.” She rewarded him with a smirk. There was no sense in developing a reputation as a snitch. “I’m glad we worked this out. And to answer your original question, I’m not gonna tell you he’s doing perfect, Theron. The Emperor… Vitiate… Valkorion… Tenebrae… whatever the hell his name is this week… did a number on him. But yeah, he’s okay. He’s recovering. Honestly.”

Theron’s face suddenly turned in an amused expression as he covered his lips with his fingers. Kira made a face as she reached out and swatted him in the arm, playfully.

“And no. It is NOT just because he’s not sleeping alone anymore.”

That got another chuckle from Theron.

“Sorry. Sorry. It’s just kinda nice to see the both of you happy. You both deserve it.” He let out a breath. “I’m sorry we take up so much of his time. I know that can put a strain on things. It must be tough, even now.”

Kira appreciated Theron’s sentiment. She truly did. But the temptation to have some fun with him was too good to resist, so she smirked across the table at him.

“Theron Shan. Everything else I’ve been going through aside do I look like a woman who’s unsatisfied?”

Theron visibly rolled his eyes at the innuendo. “Alright, alright. Fair enough.”

“All that legendary stamina he has isn’t just for fighting, you know.” She pressed.

“Oh stop it.” Now he was starting to get flustered.

“I can deal with the rest of it knowing that the greatest warrior in the galaxy does this thing with his tongue…” she was getting vicious, now.

“Kira!” Theron barely kept his voice down, looking aghast. She noted with amusement that he had turned red with embarrassment. “I surrender. You’ve made your point.”

“Good, because I was going to start discussing the finesse of his swordplay, next.”

Theron groaned, head falling forward in his arms.

“Force. I need another drink.”

Kira managed to stifle her laugh, just watching him smugly.

“Anyway, Theron, I do appreciate your concern about Corellan. And Lana’s. And everyone else’s, for that matter. But making sure he’s doing okay isn’t your job.”

Her smirk widened as his head rose to look back up at her.

“That’s my job, Theron.”

He sat back, with an impressed look at her resolve. “Fair enough, Kira. I accept all of that, and I trust you. But can you do me the favor of telling us if he ever does need help? If there’s ever anything he needs from us that he’s too stubborn to ask us? Because I dealt with not knowing what he needed for almost two months and I don’t want to do that again.”

Kira looked across the table at Theron and felt trust and affection for how far he’d gone. For the galaxy, the Alliance, and for Corellan.

“I promise.” She vowed quietly, now with complete sincerity.

“Thanks.” Theron smiled like weight of the galaxy had been taken off his shoulders. “Still though. Joking aside, this must be rough. Sharing him with everyone else, I mean.”

Kira didn’t respond right away. She simply withdrew into herself for a long moment as, not for the first time that day, she studied Theron’s features in deep consideration.

Should I really trust him with this?

She gave a quick glance around the cantina. If anyone had been paying attention to them at the start of their talk, that had long since passed. People were going about their business. Finally satisfied that they had a reasonable amount of privacy here, she reached down to her waist and unclipped her lightsaber from her belt.

Theron blinked in surprise as she set the double-bladed weapon down on the table lengthwise, but to his credit, he demonstrated no other concern at being this close to such a lethal device. That done, she took up the hilt again in both hands, ignoring the activation stud. Instead, she carefully twisted both ends of the weapon, triggering a mechanism that allowed a small panel in the middle of the staff to slide out of place.

The hidden chamber revealed within Kira’s hilt was tiny, only a few millimeters wide, and not even as long. But it was large enough for what it contained within.

Kira held out the staff hilt towards Theron, just far enough for him to peer into the chamber.

The former SIS agent’s jaw dropped.

Kira’s lips turned up just a bit in another satisfied smile. She gave him a second, then withdrew the hilt, twisted both ends back into place. The weapon was once again much like any other deactivated double-bladed lightsaber. It clipped neatly to her belt, as she sat back to regard him.

Theron visibly swallowed as he recovered from the surprise. Rather shaken, he sipped his drink.

“How long?” he finally asked, struggling to look Kira in the eyes.

“Since before we met you.” She turned away from him now, looking just over his shoulder. Her expression grew wistful, as she remembered that one skiing adventure on Alderaan.

“And he still…?” he left the question unfinished.

“When I woke up, he said I could take it out and hold him to it whenever I wanted.” Kira answered it anyway. “That it was my choice. But he told me that he hoped that I would wait until I had given this place a chance. When I was totally comfortable here, with this place and these people.”

She closed her eyes and bit her lip.

“I’ve been sharing Corellan Halcyon with the rest of the galaxy for years, Theron Shan. I can share him with you guys for a little longer if it gets all of us all to a better place. A better galaxy.” She sipped the last of her Tatooine Sunset, her deep blue eyes looking up at Theron. “I know that when I… cash this thing in, it won’t be the end of it. And that’s okay! Yeah, part of me wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my life lying on the beach on Rishi, working on my tan while he rubs me down with lotion. Or soaking in a hot spring with him. Or even just laying curled up in bed with him. But I’m an adrenaline junkie. I know I’d get bored of that eventually. I know there will be more missions, and fighting, and lunatics trying to burn down the galaxy. I’d just like to be able to kidnap him for a vacation now and again without worrying that it’ll plunge the galaxy into war.”

“But for now, it’s enough for me to have it, and to know what it means.”

She set the empty glass down.

“So yeah. I can play ball with you. I can objectively tell you when he needs time off. And I can promise to do all I can to help you and Lana keep the Alliance going, and not keep him in bed late into the mornings. But I do need something in return from you. And from Lana, I guess. Someday, I’ll ask the two of you to do something for me.”

Theron tried to keep his face nonplussed at the offer and did a pretty good job of it. No surprise, given that he’d been a professional spy. Playing it cool, he took the second empty glass Rex had given him and filled it, lightly pushing it in Kira’s direction before topping off his own glass.

“Sure. What is it you want?” he asked. Theron’s words were nonchalant, but he couldn’t entirely keep the wariness from his voice.

Kira felt her lips turn upward in a sincere smile. Her eyes drifted over Theron’s shoulder again, as she watched an assortment of Alliance members lingering around the cantina’s dance floor. Nothing particularly remarkable seemed to be going on. Most of them were just talking and laughing. A pair of couples were slowly dancing to that Force-awful Huttese music playing on the jukebox. They were just idly socializing.

They were just living.

She sipped the Corellian whiskey. It was a bit dry for her tastes, but even with her slight buzz going, it took the edge off. And even after her Sunset, she needed that right now.

“Someday I’ll ask for the two of you to tell him that he can finally stop fighting.” Kira’s voice dropped to a murmur. “He’s always been a hero. For as long as I’ve known him, and since long before your mother called him one. But he’s always had to be a hero because no one else could do it. Someday I need for the two of you to tell him that it’s okay. That he’s done enough for the galaxy. That its someone else’s turn to be the hero and get shot at. That he can just… walk off into the sunset.” With me on his arm. She didn’t bother to add. “That he can finally try to find some peace in this lifetime.”

“That he can finally just live.”

Her eyes refocused on Theron’s. He was looking back at her with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

“Don’t you think he deserves that much, Theron?” she pressed quietly, seeking affirmation.

Theron’s eyes turned away from her, regarding his glass. He finally downed the remainder of his drink.

“It… might be awhile before we can do that, Kira. A long while.”

“I know.” She had no illusions regarding the state of the galaxy, or of people’s natures. There’d always be someone causing trouble who needed to be dealt with, just as there’d always be someone out there who needed help.

But maybe – maybe – someone else could be the one to answer the bell when it rang.

“Okay.” Theron nodded. “I promise you: I’ll do everything in my power to find a way to make that future happen.” He looked back at her a bit puzzled. “I do wonder about one thing: What will he become if he’s not the hero?”

Kira bit her lip, then finished off her own drink.

“I dunno. I just know I’ll be there for him when it happens.” She looked down at the last drop of whiskey in her glass, then back up at him.

“Thanks for the drinks.” she offered.

“Well, thank you for the favors.” He smiled, raising his glass to her in a toast.

She grinned, picking up her own glass and clinking it to his for the second time that day.

“What’s a few small favors between friends?”

_________________________________________________

Author’s Notes: For the record, having your girlfriend come back into your life does not magically heal someone of trauma. But sometimes, it does help, especially when you’re the type of person who has a difficult time sharing their issues with others.

For those who’ve missed it, I am diverging dramatically from the storyline post-KOTET. Kira running with a resistance movement during the five-year gap was alluded to in the Master Ranos conversations but was then ignored or abandoned. The ‘Traitor’ arc basically doesn’t happen here with corresponding changes to other events.

More on all this another time.

One of the core themes of my Awakenings series is that while it absolutely sucks being the new kid in school, it can be even trickier if you’re the new kid, and you have no anonymity and the only thing people know about you is you’re dating the quarterback or the prom queen or whatever.

In my head-canon, the Jedi Council were never quite stupid enough to disclose Kira’s background to the SIS or to the Republic military. Since only the Children themselves and a small number of Vitiate’s inner circle seemed to have been aware of her history, it’s still a short list of people who know about it.

I make several references to several other head-canons during this story, some of which are planned for future works. For one, Theron worked with Corellan and his crew prior to the Korriban incursion. Later after Ziost, he brought them in for another quick op on Nar Shaddaa, this one involving Jonas Balkar. (I’ve started writing that one, but it’s been in work-in-process hell.)

I mention Kira’s encounter with Xalek in Awakenings – Chapter 7. I don’t know when I’ll write up the Kaliyo bit yet, even though I kind of like the idea I have. I obviously love Kira and Corellan as a couple, but I can’t emphasize enough that they have very different personalities. Theron is figuring that out here, much to his chagrin.

For more on the referenced ski trip on Alderaan between Corellan and Kira, please check out this piece. (It’s one of my favorites.)

In case it wasn’t clear, Kira is wearing essentially the same outfit she appears wearing beginning in the Onslaught expansion.

Reid Gandon is a mission-giving NPC who Republic characters can meet with on Coruscant. (I like to name drop the little people.)

Kira and Lana are developing an unusual dynamic that I hope to explore more in the future.

Rex from Rebels is a bartender in my head-canon. I do what I want.

Laura Bailey and Troy Baker are friends in real life. I don’t pretend their dynamic is anything like this, but I could see them teasing each other a bit.

The Tatooine Sunset is a real ‘Star Wars’ drink both in Legends and Canon. Kira is obviously drinking the alcoholic version here. Learn to make your own version here.

Finally, Corellan’s fighting approach lends a great deal to Sun-Tzu’s writings. He’s obviously never read Sun-Tzu, but he’d appreciate the underlying principles.

33 notes · View notes

hotchscotchh · 4 years ago

Note

CONGRATULATIONS ON 100 BABES!!! You are so kind and amazing and you deserve so so much, I hope you have many many many more of these to come!!! For your celebration, can I get ✉️ -> “you’re an idiot!” “but you love me” - for moreid (friends-to-loves)? No pressure tho, only if you’re comfortable writing for them!! Ily, I’m proud of you, congratulations! 💓💓💓

Thank you so so so much! This is more of a one shot than a drabble but I had fun hehe

“You’re an idiot!” “But you love me.”

Spencer Reid x Derek Morgan

The words “never wage a practical joke war against an MIT graduate, because we have a history of going nuclear!” were ringing very clear in Derek Morgan’s ears right now. He honestly doesn’t know what he was thinking when he started this. Reid is a genius for god’s sake! In retrospect, he should’ve seen this one coming. Last week he had gone for the classic put-salt-in-the-sugar-shaker bit, but Spencer hadn’t been phased. Apparently, it was something of a regular occurrence for him in college. That gave Morgan the urge to punch several holes through several walls. This man was perfect in his eyes, not that Derek would ever admit it out loud, and he didn’t deserve anything that had happened to him in high school or college. It’s not Spencer’s fault that he’s as smart as he is. He was born that way.

Anyway, this week, Reid got him back. It seemed he had been planning this for a while. He had everyone in the office dressed like Penelope. Even Hotch. He was freaked out. He looked up into the conference room and saw them gathered like normal. Little did he know what was waiting there for him. Penelope was in all black. JJ was wearing a bright pink dress, pink heels, and had a stripe of pink in her hair. Emily had a similar outfit, but hers was purple, her hair too. Hotch had his normal suit, but with a glittery tie and a pair of Penelope’s crazy sunglasses. He hadn’t done anything to his hair, though, much to everyone’s dismay. Rossi had a pink sports jacket and socks to match. He had some pink in his beard. It was Reid that surprised him the most. He’d dyed his whole head of hair pink, found a pink suit jacket, pink dress shirt, a glittery tie, mismatched pink socks, and even pink converse.

“Hey, hot stuff,” Spencer said, looking up as Morgan walked into the room. Morgan hadn’t looked up until then, and stopped when he did, looking like he might fall over. “I- uh, hey… Pretty Boy. I’m going to assume that we don’t have a case, Hotch?” he asked, looking around and taking in his shocking surroundings.

“You would be correct, Morgan,” Hotch told him, and stood to start their usual Monday morning briefing.

It was almost lunch time now, and no one had addressed what was happening yet. It seemed even Anderson and their floor’s temps knew this was happening. Morgan wondered how Spencer had managed to get this to every single person but him. But, like I said earlier, he shouldn’t be surprised. Spencer is a genius, after all. He began thinking of ways he could get Spencer back. He knew if he wanted to do something quickly, he wouldn’t be able to do anything as big as what Spencer had done today. That would take some thinking, and probably some help from Garcia.

So, when lunch time rolled around, Derek made his way over to Spencer’s desk and laid a hand on his desk, as to not startle him too much. “Lunch?” he asked, receiving a nod in response.

Derek hadn’t quite figured out what he was going to do to Spencer’s food yet, but he’d figure it out when they got there.

They found a small diner that was within walking distance of the FBI building. Once they had ordered their food, Spencer excused himself to the bathroom. While he was gone, the soup he ordered as an appetizer came. After the waitress left, Derek made sure Spencer was still in the bathroom and grabbed the cannister of sugar from the side of table, pouring a good amount into the cup of soup and stirring it. He sat back in his seat, folded his hands together, and waited for Spencer to return. Derek knew it wasn’t the best prank, and probably wouldn’t leave a lasting impression, but at least he would get a laugh out of it now.

When Spencer returned, Derek watched intently as he took the first bite of his soup. When he did, he sat back in the booth and glared at Derek, simply swallowing. “You are an idiot, Derek Morgan.” Derek smirked and teased back, “yeah, but you love me.” Spencer nearly choked at that, immediately blushing.

“I-I what?” Spencer looked like he might cry.

Morgan immediately lunged forward and placed his hand over Spencer’s. “Woah, woah, Spence, what’s wrong?”

Spencer didn’t believe he’d heard Derek right. “H-how did you know? I t-thought I was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.”

“Hiding what, Spencer?” Derek was growing increasingly more confused and concerned.

“I- you- you said I loved you. Is that not…” Spencer stopped, thinking quickly. “That’s not what you meant,” he finally got out, letting out a breathy laugh, his cheeks growing redder.

“What did you think I meant?” Derek asked, still feeling lost.

“Heh, I, uh, well I guess now that it’s out there, and you’ll figure it out later even if I don’t tell you, I, um, I have f-feelings for you.”

Derek searched Spencer’s eyes, looking for any hint that the man wasn’t being completely serious and not finding anything. “Well. That’s good, because I have feelings for you too, Pretty Boy.”

Spencer finally looked up at that, the shame-filled expression turning into one of hope. He smiled wide and looked down at their joined hands. Spencer flipped his over to intertwine their fingers. “So, does that make this a date?” he asked.

“I guess it does, Spence, I guess it does.”

#em’s 100 follower celebration #criminal minds #moreid #spencer reid #Derek Morgan #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #david rossi #penelope garcia

13 notes · View notes

supercasey · 5 years ago

Text

TF2 RED Headcanons by an idiot that can’t pay attention well enough to read the comics

Back on my bullshit, because I apparently can’t shut up tonight. This is gonna be a big, possibly in-cohesive mess, and will probably have more focus on Scout, Pyro, Sniper, and Spy since they’re my favs, but I still felt like writing down all my dumb headcanons/ideas regarding everyone’s favorite mercenaries (at the moment at least; I might make another post like this later on, hopefully after I’ve read the comics)! Sorry if any of these seem OOC, I’m just goofin’! (Putting this under a readmore because WOW this got LONG)

Every Sunday afternoon, Scout, Pyro, and eventually Sniper when he tells everyone that he's a trans guy, hold a makeshift “Trans Buddy Club” meeting, which mostly consists of Scout mindlessly rambling about drama on base, Pyro nodding along, and Sniper occasionally adding his two cents/spilling tea as well.

Scout can speak fluent French, on account of his mom making sure to teach it to him so he could have more of a connection to his dad, but no one found out until a little after Spy told Scout he was his dad. It wasn’t long after this that Scout revealed that this entire time, he’s known every single thing that Spy's ever said to him in French, but he didn't say anything because he thought it would be funny to keep the ruse going (also because he really liked being praised in secret). Cue Spy freaking tf out because oh no, now his kid knows that he's secretly a huge softie for not only his son, but his whole team.

Sometimes Spy and Scout talk shit in French right there in front of the team, but no one has any fucking idea what they’re saying and to be honest it’s pissing Soldier off the most, much to the father and son duo’s amusement.

Pyro secretly has a little black rabbit named Lucifer (Lucy for short) in their bedroom, which they only take out to get some fresh air and hop around very early in the morning, before anyone else is awake. The only people who know are Medic, Spy, and surprisingly enough Soldier, whose raccoons became friends with Lucy.

Sniper has a goldfish in his RV, but it died three months after he joined the team; he has no idea though because Miss Pauling replaces it every time one passes away, so now Sniper is convinced he has the world’s oldest goldfish.

Scout and Soldier both really want a dog, but they're not allowed to have one on-base. :(

((Heavy plans on sneaking a dog in next Christmas and no one can stop him. It’s gonna be a Border Collie named Bandit, and it gets the most attached to Scout and Heavy.))

Demo is no longer allowed to make mixed drinks for parties; the last time he did, he got everyone so shitfaced that they had to cancel work for three days in a row in order to recover from it.

Continuing off of that: drunk headcanons.

Demoman: Unassuming drunk. Acts like he usually does, unless he’s gotten particularly shitfaced for a party/event, in which case he’ll be slurring so bad that no one can understand him anymore.

Pyro: Giggly drunk. Is just laughing the whole fucking night at nothing in particular, which scares anyone who’s still sober. If they’re too far gone, they’ll start mumbling something that sounds like it’s in Spanish.

Spy: Party drunk. An absolute fucking mess, he’s trying to impress everyone and keep their attention on him, which usually leads to him standing on tables and dancing until he falls and passes out.

Sniper: Sleepy drunk. Out like a fucking light at the slighest bit of alcohol. If he wakes up and keeps drinking though, he’ll just be slurring like Demo, only with a lot more anger in his voice. Let him sleep, or he’ll fucking stab you to death.

Scout: Clumsy drunk. Bumps into anything and everything; eventually has to be given a sippy cup for his alcohol because he dropped three glasses in a row. Talks even faster than usual, until he accidentally fucking pukes on someone.

Soldier: Calm drunk. Instead of getting loud and aggressive like most would think/fear, he’s just… chillin'. Just watches the shitshow as it happens, not even laughing when people get hurt/fall down. Kinda terrifying if we’re being honest here.

Engineer: Depressed drunk. His depression goes through the roof if he has too much, so he doesn't drink more than a few beers if he can help it. If he does accidentally drink too much, he'll be sobbing his eyes out in no time flat.

Heavy: Cuddly drunk. It’s very, very hard to get him drunk, since he’s really good at holding his liquor, but if you do, he’s gonna be hugging and carrying everyone he can get his hands on; you can expect him to have Medic and/or Pyro on his lap once he’s drunk enough.

Medic: Angry drunk. He wants to start fights with fucking everyone, all his rage coming out once he’s had a few too many; god help anyone who tries to stop him. Luckily for all involved, Heavy is more than capable of holding him still until he tires himself out.

BONUS Miss Pauling: Dumbass drunk. With too many bottles in her, she’s gonna be the one shouting and encouraging Spy to act reckless, while also encouraging Engie to drink more because quitting is for losers. Will pass out within an hour or so of downing her first drink.

BONUS The Administrator: Stereotypical drunk. Slurring, stumbling, she’s got the whole nine yards, but she’ll be damned before she let’s anyone see her that messed up. Secretly sips wine at work.

Okay, back to my rambling.

My personal headcanon names and ages for Scout’s older brothers, going from oldest to youngest: Grant 34, Timothy 32, Jacob 31, Arthur 31, Patrick 30, Malcolm 27, Curtis 26, and Jeremy (Scout) 23.

((Also, I’mma go off on my headcanon personalities for them, which are based off of how I’ve tried portraying them in my "Jeremy" fic.))

Grant - 34 years old - Bisexual - Occupation: Veteran/Construction worker - Personality: the oldest of the bunch, he takes it upon himself to keep his little brothers in line/help Ma out as much as he can. Enlisted in the Air Force after he graduated high school, and still takes a lot of pride in his veteran status after serving overseas three separate times. The family peacemaker.

Timothy - 32 years old - Homosexual - Occuptaion: Cartoonist - Personality: the gentlest of his brothers, he often gets roped into helping Grant keep the pack from running too wild. Bit of a softie; loves his husband and loves his job. Closest relationship is with Scout. Doesn’t approve of Scout being a merc but is too scared to say so. The family heart.

Jacob - 31 years old - Heterosexual - Occupation: Freelance guitarist - Personality: the firstborn of the only set of twins, Jacob is a lot more abrasive and instigating than his twin brother. Can’t grow a beard for shit, which pisses him off. Doesn’t get along well with Timmy, despite them both being talented and devoted artists. The family sword.

Arthur - 31 years old - Pansexual - Occupation: Carpenter - Personality: the second born of the only set of twins, Arthur is far more outgoing and nonchalant than his twin brother. Has a beard and loves it more than life. Secretly has a boyfriend, but is too nervous to come out. Gets along better with Jacob after they’ve become adults. The family shield.

Patrick - 30 years old - Heterosexual - Occupation: Hairdresser - Personality: probably the least social of all of the brothers, he prefers staying out of sight and out of mind tbh. Used to practice cutting everyone’s hair when they were kids. Doesn’t talk to his brothers that much, mostly due to being busy/forgetting to call more. The family shadow.

Malcolm - 27 years old - Heteromantic Asexual - Occupation: Wrestler - Personality: the most aggressive and physically competitive of his brothers, there’s nothing he won’t do to win a fight, save for using weapons/lethal force. Hard to get along with, but he still loves his brothers to bits, and was overprotective of Scout when they were younger. The family instigator.

Curtis - 26 years old - Heterosexual - Occupation: Bartender - Personality: was a total fucking mama’s boy growing up, and constantly got in trouble with his brothers for tattling on them. Still argues with Scout every time they see each other. Wants to make Ma proud, but it’s hard for him to keep a job for very long. The family drifter.

Jeremy - 23 years old - Transmale Pansexual - Occupation: Mercenary - Personality: (This is mostly for how he was as a kid) was constantly following his brothers around (especially Malcolm) in hopes of getting in on the fun. Was always treated as the family baby, so everyone was a bit scared to wrestle/fight with him for fear of getting him hurt. Very close to Timmy and Ma. The family runt.

No one on RED team can fucking drive well, save for MAYBE Sniper, but even he hates doing it. Spy gets so goddamn mad within two seconds of driving, Pyro can't stop swerving, Scout drives like a 16 year old who hasn't realized their own mortality yet, Medic jumps at every little inconsistency on the road, Heavy shouts at other drivers for being too slow/fast, Demo's depth perception is shit, Engie drives like a 90 year old grandmother, and Soldier is fine except he will literally shoot at other drivers for tailgating him/cutting him off.

The whole team has designated “Team Bonding Days” thanks to Miss Pauling, which involves playing board games, card games, and video games (in a slightly more modernized AU) together… this, of course, goes badly sometimes. The worst incident they ever had was a bad game of Monopoly that almost ended Heavy and Medic's friendship.

Uno is forever banned from Team Bonding Days. No explanation is needed.

Off the battlefield and in the base, Miss Pauling had the team set up a chore wheel, which is only occasionally followed. Engie is the most dedicated to following it, while Demo and Sniper try everything in their power to avoid cleaning the base.

Spy sometimes disguises himself as other teammates in order to get out of doing his chores, which has led to a lot of shouting matches that ended in Spy being forced to admit it was his fault.

Spy's favorite teammates to disguise himself as are Engie and Scout. He likes being Engie because he gets to be more affectionate with people without being found out, and he can act as Scout incredibly easily due to knowing him so well (tbh he's so good at masquerading as Scout that it's scary).

For Halloween, everyone put their names in Soldier's hat, then proceeded to pull out other teammates’ names to dress up as for their Halloween party. I dunno exactly who would be who, except that Scout traded around to get Spy, steals one of Spy's suits, and just goes around the party bonking people with a plastic baguette he bought online and speaking in a purposefully bad accent.

Spy: Mon fils, you can speak perfect French and you fucking know it. Please stop making a fool of ton père.

Scout: Hohoho, wee wee, I am a fucking frog that gets pegged by baguettes, hoho!

((Spy is this fucking close to committing filicide.))

Everyone can actually cook pretty well, but only very specific things for each merc: Demo can mix and blend drinks (not just alcoholic ones) like it's nothing, Pyro and Heavy like baking, Medic can barbecue anything, Scout knows how to make a lot of shit from scratch (thanks, Ma), Spy and Engie can grill like the true dads they are, Soldier will deep fry every piece of food he eats, and Sniper makes the best soups and stews imaginable.

In order of least to most messy bedrooms: Spy, Heavy, Engie, Sniper, Pyro, Demoman, Medic, Scout, and Soldier. You'd think Scout's would be the worst, but Soldier's room looks like a literal fucking war-zone.

Even when they're not working but get injured in some way (namely from shenanigans/horseplay), people will straight up kill themselves in order to respawn without the injury. The pettiest thing anyone ever respawned off-duty for was Medic suiciding over a tiny ass paper cut.

Demoman is scarily competent at the weirdest of times. For instance, Engie was once trying to figure out how to fix an issue on one of his turrets, only for Demo to stumble over, completely shitfaced, and point out the problem as well as the solution, before passing out under Engie's worktable. Demo doesn't remember this at all.

The first time Engie swore in front of the team in excess (due to dropping a hammer on his foot while he was tinkering), everyone was absolutely horrified because they had only ever heard him say “fiddlesticks” and the like.

Medic's room may not be the messiest, but goddamn is his office a fucking bomb waiting to go off 90% of the time. No one but Medic can find anything in the mess, which is just fine by him.

Heavy likes to sing (mostly just to Sasha) when he's cleaning her in the locker room. The others try to be within hearing range when he does this, because holy fuck, Heavy is a very good singer! He mostly just sings soft songs/lullabies, so his singing is sometimes used by the team insomniacs to help them get some much needed rest.

Okay, another group one. The mercs during shopping trips together:

Demoman: Sneaks a shit ton of alcohol into the cart when no one's looking. Starts complaining if he has to be at the store for too long; will try and sneak away to go home at least once during the trip. Accidentally bumps into a display case and makes a huge fucking mess.

Pyro: Sits obediently in the cart the whole time, occasionally nabbing candy and stuffed animals off of nearby shelves. Will puppy-dog eyes their way into getting everything they grabbed, no matter how much it is.

Spy: Somehow managed to steal an employee uniform and he pretends to work at the store the whole trip; the other mercs keep accidentally falling for it and asking for his help. This all goes to shit when a Karen starts shouting at him over something he didn't do, and he straight up slaps her.

Sniper: King of forgetting wtf was on the list and just grabs shit on the grounds of “Doc said we needed milk, right?” and other such excuses. Knows where everything is despite never having come here before.

Scout: “Gimme the list, I can get everythin' in, like, ten minutes!” Wants to speedrun grocery shopping due to years of shopping with his mom and brothers. Will run loose if left unsupervised and accidentally bust ass on some spilled milk.

Soldier: The one who spilled the milk that Scout busts his ass on. Insists he knows where he's going, but doesn't. Gets into a fistfight with a soccer mom while everyone's waiting to check out; the soccer mom won.

Engineer: Has a full, printed list of everything the team needs, which is organized by aisle number. Is the one who gives into Pyro's begging. Team Dad; keeps an eye on everyone and stops the soccer mom from murdering Soldier.

Heavy: Pushes the cart the entire time. Spends way too money on stuff in the protein shake aisle. At one point runs the cart down the aisle and let's go because Pyro wanted him to, and it ends up crashing into Demo.

Medic: Argues with the pharmacists at the pharmacy counter. Got lost with Soldier until they found Scout unconscious, so he had to perform CPR in the dairy aisle and a fucking paramedic criticized him the whole time; the paramedic hasn't been seen since.

BONUS Miss Pauling: Tries to more or less chaperone this shitshow of a shopping trip. Starts out cheerful and happy, ends up threatening to put child leashes on every last one of these dumbasses.

After Spy taught him how to dance in Expiration Date, Scout goes to him occasionally for advice, such as how to change a tire, how to cook certain things, how tf to do laundry, etc. Spy secretly loves that Scout does this, and tries to help him as much as he can.

Everyone on the team has called Engie “Dad” at least once, even Spy and Medic. No one comments on it.

Medic has been known to go on hour long tirades about anti-vaxxers, with Engie sometimes joining in.

Heavy buys Pyro stuffed animals during his trips to visit his family, which has started a tradition of everyone buying Pyro stuffed animals/toys when they go somewhere without them. Pyro's room is starting to look like a preschooler’s dream bedroom.

Scout calls his mom every other Friday, and he’ll occasionally let his teammates talk to her. Soldier always goes on and on about how good a soldier Scout has been (Scout cries like a baby), Medic tells her about Scout’s latest injuries (Scout damn near chokes him over it), Sniper is just glad to talk to a mom who won’t scold him for the whole phone call, Pyro hums music while Scout’s Ma sings the lyrics for them, Heavy talks about living in huge families with her, Demo asks her how she’s doing and if he can help her out at all, Engie is polite and also praises Scout, and Spy just tells her he’ll call her later before hanging up (Scout punches him for being rude to his mama).

Spy calls Scout's mom on the Fridays that Scout doesn't, mostly to check on her and sometimes to get into some, uh, “steamy” conversations over the phone. Sniper overheard a conversation between them once and now he can't look Scout or Spy in the eyes anymore.

And that's all I've got for right now! I hope you all liked my stupid headcanons!

166 notes · View notes

mrsfrecklesmarauders · 4 years ago

Text

First Impressions

Summary: The Marauders meet in the train and get sorted into Gryffindor

REMUS P.O.V After that night my life changed forever. The night I was bitten. I don't quite remember much about my life before. But I know for sure my parents were happier. They support me I know. But I can see how my mum suffers and how my dad secretly hates who I am. He knew the Wizarding World better. Dad wanted me to avoid any discrimination. He told me they might lock me up at the Ministry. Therefore I couldn't go out to play, make any friends. Basically stay at home the most time possible. It was only the three of us who knew that secret. My dad made sure nobody else knew.

I had accepted Hogwarts wasn't a possibility for me. Dad didn't like talking about it. He said there was no use talking about Hogwarts if I wasn't going. So he taught me some spells and magic from an early age. But when I turned 11, the most funny thing happened. A man with a long silver beard who wore a tunic and pointy hat, came to visit us one day. He talked with my parents first. I heard them argue. And then the man talked to me.

"Hello Remus" he said smiling "Hello" I said looking at him strangely "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" The man smiled "My name is Albus Dumbledore. Headmaster of Hogwarts" I thought he was gonna tell me I wasn't able to go. I had it coming. But he took a letter from his pocket. It had my name. "Here is your letter" he said giving it to me "Inside you will find the instructions on how to get there and what to buy" "To go where?" I asked "To Hogwarts. The school of Witchcraf and Wizardry" he answered paciently "You would like to go, don't you?" Of course I wanted. But I couldn't. I looked at my parents. Mom had tears on her eyes, but she was smiling at me. Dad had an unreadable expression. "I can't sir" I said looking down "Why is that?" "Because I'm..." I looked at my father again. He nodded "I'm a werewolf" It was the first time I said it out loud. Normaly that word was forbidden at home. "So?" he asked like he knew. Like it was the most normal thing in the world. "I'm a monster" I answered "I could hurt someone" "You won't. We have all the measurements to avoid that to happen Remus. I explained everything to your father" I looked at my dad. He didn't seem happy. "Leave everything to me" he continued "The only question is, would you like to go?" I looked at my parents again. Was this safe? Could I? "You can go sweety" my mother said Dumbledore looked at me intensly. "Yes" I said very quiet "Yes" I repeated more loudly "I would like to go" "Then it's settled" he said smiling "I'll see you on September first Remus"

For the next few days my father was really in a bad mood. He and mom fought a lot. The reason? Me going or not going to Hogwarts. My dad didn't want me to, he said it was dangerous, my mom disagreed. I was tired of being locked up. And I was going, even if they wanted it or not. Mr. Dumbledore said it was safe, didn't he? So my mother took me to buy my school tools. "I'm taking your son to buy what he needs" she said Dad didn't answer. "You have to accept it Lyall and let him grow. He deserves to have a normal life" Mum always supported dad, he knew best about the magical world. But she sounded really angry. Dad didn't respond but directed my mum on how to get there.

I bought my supplies without any complication. Mom said I could get anything, that I shouldn't worry about money. And on September first, I couldn't hide my excitement. "Remus" my dad said waiting for me on the kitchen. "Say goodbye to your mum. I'm taking you to King Cross"

We drove there on a muggle car. Dad said he wanted to talk to me. The first minutes were very silent. I just felt very nervous. "Are you exicted?" my dad finally asked I nodded "And very nervous" He smiled "That is normal. I felt the same way on my first day" I smiled at that "You'll love it though" he said "Hogwarts is the most wonderful place on earth. A big castle. It has a lake and a forest. You can visit the local town Hogsmade. Believe me son. It is beautiful" I got more and more excited. Suddenly my nerves stopped. My dad usually didn't talk about Hogwarts. But I was enjoying how excited he sounded about that place. "What house were you in?" I asked "I was in Ravenclaw" he answered smiling

When we got to King Cross my heart was beating fast. I couldn't wait to see Hogwarts. When we got to Platform 9 & 3/4, I saw the Hogwarts Express. I couldn't be more happier. All of these was real. I almost run into the crowd when my dad stopped me. "Remus" he said. He had tears on his eyes. "I'm gonna miss you. You just be careful okay? And don't let..." "Anyone know about me" I finished "I know dad. Don't worry" My dad hugged me, really tight. "I'm glad you can go" he whispered into my ear. I had tears on my eyes. I was gonna miss my parents so much. They were everyone I knew. My only friends. "I love you dad" And I left very happy. I pushed myself into the crowd and I gazed at my father one last time.

The Platform was crowded with people yelling, saying goodbye, crying. But a certain boy got my attention. He had the most ridiculous hair I've ever seen. It looked like a big net. His mother was trying to contain his messy hair. "James Fleamont Potter" the woman said "this happens when you use magic on your father's hair potion" "Well I looked ridiculous with it" the boy protested "You look ridiculous now" she said trying to use her wand to fix it. Each time it got bigger. "Oi mum" he said avoiding her touch "People are watching". I couldn't avoid laughing. Not only for his hair, and his name Fleamont, but because I'd never been around boys my age. And I was happy. They were just like me. But the boy noticed me. Too late. "What are you laughing at freak?" he asked annoyed "Nothing" I said going red "James..." his mother warned "He was laughing at us" She smiled at me apologizing. I left before getting into a mess. Remember Remus, you can't make friends. It would make everything complicated. Well as things were going I didn't think I could get a friend any time soon. And as I thought that, I stepped into the train.

SIRIUS P.O.V Blah, blah, blah. I couldn't pay attention to my mother anymore. She spoke some nonsense about how I needed to be a good Black, live up to the family name, and how I should get into Slytherin. Befriend all the children of the 'good families', pureblood families. All I wanted was to get into adventures, do as I please without my parents punishing me. I was just smiling at Reggie. He cried the night before because he didn't want me to leave him alone. I had to make sure he knew I was safe, Hogwarts would be amazing and he could join me next year. Suddenly my mother pulled my ear like she used to. It hurt like it used to. "Aaargg" I protested "Are you listening you little prat?" she whispered in my ear. The thing is that when people were around she acted like a loving caring mother. But she wasn't. "You shall act properly and not do any stupid thing. If I get one letter complaining about your behaivor..." She pressed her fingers press into my ear, making it hurt even more. "You will see child" she continued. She let go off me. My ear was red "Have a good year sweetheart" she said smiling evily. I sighed "Goodbye Reggie" I said as I tried to embrace him. He opened his arms but my mother stopped him. "Go, or you will be late child" she said

So I left wondering into the crowd. I was relieved to be apart from my parents, but I already missed Reggie. I was distracted thinking all that when I bumped into someone. "Oi watch it asshole!" he yelled I looked at him and the first thing I noticed about that boy, was his hair. It look like a net. Bunches of hair pointed everywhere. "Ha" I said as he picked his suitcase from the floor. "What?" he said pissed off. "Nothing" "Watch where you are going, looser" he said "Sorry" I said looking amused at his hair "What happened to your hair?" "Are you making fun of my hair? "No. I think is cool" I said wondering what my mother would say if I had a hair like that. "Bloody asshole. I know you are laughing" he said, then he smiled "Bad experiment with my dad's potion. He made a famous hair potion, you know?" "Oh bloody hell" I said surprised "Are you a Potter?" My mother had told me the bloodtraitor Potters. She said I should befriend the purebloods, didn't she? Well, watch me mother. "You have a problem with that?" "No" I said amused "You are now my best friend. Fancy finding a compartment for the two of us?" The Boy looked at me for a while. "Wicked" he said As we started walking he spoke. "I'm James by the way" "Sirius" I said "Sirius Black"

Turned out James and I had too many things in common. We were both rebels. He told me about all the best pranks he had done. I told him mine. We agreed to make some mischief at Hogwarts. "So tell me Sirius" he asked me "You like Quidditch, right? Because if you don't I'll have to kill you and get another friend" I laughed at that "I'm serious" he said "No, I'm Sirius" I joked. He laughed. "But yeah I love Quidditch. But I haven't played it before" "What??" James was very shocked "My parents don't like it when I play" Or I do anything. "My dad was right" he said "The Blacks are weird... Oh, no offense" I smiled "You're right" I said "They are kind of weird" If only he knew...

Somebody entered the compartment. A ginger girl was there. "Hi" she said "Can I seat here?" She was crying James raised his shoulders. And I gestured her to enter. She came in. We looked at her puzzled but she ignored us looking at the window. A boy with a very greasy hair came in a few minutes later. He looked at us with disgust. "Honestly. I thought it would be only us on the compartment" James whispered to me I nodded. "Did you see that kid's hair?" I asked him. We both giggled. It was greasy and stuck to his face. Ten times worse than James'. The kids talked about some Petunia girl, but honestly I tried to ignored them. James and I kept eating sweets from the trolley he had bought and taking about Quidditch.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin?" said James out of the sudden. Apparently he was paying attention to their conversation. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" he asked me. Shit. Slytherin. Everything my family wanted was for me to be in Slytherin. They would kill me if I didn't get there. But James seemed like a nice lad, I didn't want to lose him. "My whole family had been in Slytherin" "Blimey" he said "And I thought you seemed all right" I was! I was better than my family. "Maybe I'll brake the tradition" I said. I really wanted to. "Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?" Maybe I wanted to be in the same house as James. "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, like my father" he said lifting an invisible sword. The boy across them made a disgusting sound. "Got a problem with that?" James asked him "No" the boy answered "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy" What was this kid's problem? I needed to defend my new friend. "Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" I said James laughed at that and I smiled. The girl stood up and looked at us in dislike. "Come on Severus, let's find another compartment" "Oooo..." we imitated her. She was very annoying. "See ya, Snivellus!" I said as we laughed. "Nice one mate" said James "You are funny" "Tell me about it" I said smiling

We talked a bit more for a while. When two boys entered. "Can we sit here?" a chubby boy with blond hair asked. "We were kicked out of the other compartment. Two older students wanted to snog" he made a disgusting expression. As the next boy came in James groaned. "You again?" he asked to the skinny boy with sandy hair and a big sweater. He had a few scars on his face. I thought that was interesting. He looked cool. "You know him?" I asked. "He made fun of me and my mum at the platform" James protested "I didn't" the boy said. "Whatever you say weirdo" said James The boys came in. But James and I tried to ignore them. The chubby boy who introduced himself as Peter talked a lot. I mean like a lot. James glanced at me annoyed by him. I smiled. The other boy who's name was Remus sat very quietly reading a book. In no time, the train stopped. "Holy sweetbeans!" said Peter looking through the window "We are here, we are at Hogwarts!" My heart dropped into my chest. Finally I was home. If only Reggie could be here.

JAMES P.O.V Blimey! I was at Hogwarts. It was even more impressive than my dad had told me. I could see the big castle from the station and I smiled. I really needed glasses though, the castle looked blurry but beautiful. Anyway, all the adventures and mischief I could get into. And the thing I was most excited about, Quidditch. I was going to become a professional Player, so I needed to get on the team. Besides I had my new friend Sirius. Dad had told me bad things about the Blacks, but he was different. I had so much fun with him in a few hours, than any other of my friends.

"Firs' years, firs' years these way" I could see the biggest man I've ever met. A few children gasped when they saw him. "Me name's Rubeus Hagrid, keeper o' keys an' grounds at Hogwarts. Follow me, I'll take ya to the castle" "Wicked" I said. I looked at Sirius who seemed very nervous. But he hided it smiling at me.

Hagrid took us to the side of the lake where little boats were waiting for us. The chubby boy wanted to be near us. What an annoying lad. He thought just talking to us made him our friend. He was wrong.

I watched the boy Snivellus and the whining ginger girl get into a boat. I smiled to myself. "Got an idea" I said to Sirius "I think Snivellus needs a hair wash. Don't you think?" Sirius smirked. He knew what I was thinking about. "Leave it to me" he said "But cover me" he took out his wand and I put myself in front of him. As I did I saw the weird kid from the train looking at us in suspicion. "What are you staring at, looney?" I asked. First he made fun of me and my mum and now he was planning to snitch on us. Lucikly he just looked the other way. Sirius said something under his breath moving his wand. Suddenly the first boat turned around and all the kids inside fell into the water.

Everyone laughed. "Good one" I said to Sirius shaking his hand. "Blimey!" said Hagrid who went to save the kids. He helped them to get to the boat again. They were shivering and coughing. Snivellus looked at us like he knew what we did. "What is so funny?" he asked "What Snivellus? You didn't enjoy your swim?" asked Sirius smirking. I laughed. I was having too much fun already. "Yeah" now said the chubby boy "I-I-I think you scared the giant squid" he said Sirius and I laughed even harder. The boy looked pleased to himself. And in the corner of my eye I saw the looney kid rolling his eyes. "At least I don't have a nest for a hair" Snivellus said shivering. Honestly, it had been a mistake. I wanted to make my hair look cool. "Well I can just fix it with shampoo, do you know what that is? I think you don't" I said. Nailed it. All the kids laughed at my comment. "A'right" said Hagrid "Enough o' that. If ya keep fightin' I'll have ter tell Dumbledore"

As we got into the castle. I got more exicted. Hogwarts was amazing. Even from inside. Me and Sirius pointed everywhere smirking. "Welcome children" said a very tall woman "I'm Professor McGonagall and oh..." she stopped looking at the kids that were wet and shivering. "What in name of Godric Gryffindor happened to you?" "Th-the b-boat t-turned by it-tself!" said a boy I smiled to myself. McGonagall looked shocked. "It's not true!" said the girl from the train "It was bewitched. By them" she pointed at us. "What?" I asked "It's true" said Snivellus. Bloody Snivellus. "I saw them" "How can you say it was us?" said Sirius "We didn't do anything" "Yeah, we didn't" I protested but I was worried watching at the chubby boy and the looney. They saw us. But surprisely they didn't say anything. "Oh please, you laughed" said the ginger girl. Honestly how annoying was she. "Beacuse it was funny" I answered "Or because it was your idea" she said "We are 11 year olds, we don't know any spell" "Maybe you do, you're purebloods" "How do you know that?" "I don't, I'm just guessing"

"Enough!" yelled Professor McGonagall "Don't worry Miss. eh..." "Evans" "Miss Evans" she continued "We will find out the responsables" she glared at Sirius and me through her glasses "In the meantime, you will be sorted in one of the four houses: Gryffindor" I smirked "Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin" I made a disgusting sound. The chubby boy laughed. "Follow me" said the Professor ignoring me.

All the fun I had had with Sirius made me forget about the Sorting and suddenly I was nervous. But I tried to hide it. But my friend looked paler. "Don't worry about it" I said "I'm sure we will get into Gryffindor" "How are so sure about it?" he asked I wasn't "I just am. I'm confident. And... We will make amazing pranks mostly every day" I said smiling. Sirius smiled back. "BLACK, SIRIUS" Mcgonagall yelled. Sirius sat and the hat was placed on him. Please be a Gryffindor. Sirius was so cool. I couldn't stand him being in another house. Finally the hat yelled 'GRYFFINDOR!' There was no clapping or cheering, just pure silence. I saw the Slytherin table. Everyone was shocked or angry. I decided to be the first to clap. Then everyone followed me. Everyone except the Slytherins. As Sirius passed to the table I smiled at him and we hit palms. He was pale. Why? He was in Gryffindor. Many names passed. Evans, the ginger girl got into Gryffindor as well. I could see Snivellus pale expression. "I guess not even your girlfriend stands Slytherin or you" I told him. "Shut up" he responded Few other names passed. I was getting more and more anxious. The looney boy also got into Gryffindor. Really? "Seriously they let anyone in" I commented. The chubby boy laughed awkardly. By the time he got into Gryffindor as well I lost my pacience. Honestly if Snivellus got into my house as well I was gonna get mad. Finally Mcgonagall called my name. As I walked toward the chair, I got a weird sensation. What if I didn't get into Gryffindor? What if I got into Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw or worse Slytherin? People like Evans, or the looney kid or the chubby one could get into Gryffindor but not me? I sat down as my heart beated fast. But the hat nearly touched my head when it yelled 'GRYFFINDOR'. And I smiled like a maniac. "Yes!"

PETER P.O.V I really liked Remus. He was the first person I talked to. And he had been so nice. Then I met James and Sirius. Being their friend would be incredible. And they didn't like Remus. At least James didn't. But they were my dormmates now. And Remus was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he decided Hogwarts was too much for him and decided to leave? I tried not to think too much about it.

James and Sirius were chatting on James' new bed. I decided to join them. "...and honestly did you hear? That Evans girl was going to give us away. What a prig. Maybe we should prank her as well" James was saying "Yeah I know" responded Sirius "Oi, do you think she and Snivellus are dating?" he asked smirking "Argg, disgusting mate" James said and Sirius laughed "Although they would make a great couple, you know? Annoying one and annoying two" Sirius smirked. "Who? The ginger girl?" I asked "Oh she is pretty, right?" They both looked at me. "Speaking of annoying" James whispered to Sirius. Then he looked at me smiling "Mate" he said "What was your name again?" I blushed. "Peter" "Peter" said Sirius "There's your bed. Why don't go to organize your things or something?" James tried to hide his laughter. Oh boy, being friends with them was going to be way more difficult than I thought. "Okay" I said standing up and going to my bed. The boys continued chatting. Suddenly Remus got into the dorm. And everyone looked at him. I smiled. "Hi" I said coming towards him He smiled at me. "Where were you?" I asked "Everyone picked up a bed already. There's yours" I said pointing at the one near the door. "Any bed is fine" he answered smiling. "I was taking to Dumbledore" I stopped listening, looking at his scars. I wanted to ask him what were those for. I've never watched a kid like that before. But I didn't dare to. "So, Looney" said James to Remus "Don't mind me asking, how did you get those scars?" I was shocked at his question. And I admired his confidence. Why couldn't I be like that? Remus looked pale. He didn't answer. "I think those are cool" Sirius said smirking "You're like a rebel. Did you get into fighting on the street?" "He looks like a pirate" I said smiling "Wicked" "Like a what?" Sirius asked. I forgot he was a pureblood. Before I could respond, James spoke. "So? Looney? Are you gonna answer?" Remus sighed. He probably had been asked that many times before. "I fell of my bike, when I was little" he said James and Sirius looked at each other. "What's a bike?" they asked at the same time. I laughed at that. Remus and I smiled at each other. We were the only ones who knew about the muggle world. Remus rolled his eyes and went to his bed closing the curtains.

The next weeks passed too quickly. And I tried to befriend James and Sirius. But they seemed to ignore me. And Remus was trying to ignore them. Hiding in his books. I wish I could tell you Remus and I became best friends. I really liked him, and we talked now and then. But I honestly prefered being with the other boys. They seemed like they had fun. So one day at Potions I overheard them speaking about their next prank. They were planning on painting the slytherins hair pink. "Sounds great" I said "I could help" "Honestly" James said "Who is taking to you?" I ignored him. "Maybe I could be the distraction. You know how much I love to talk" "Or maybe you can shut up" James said a little too loud. "Boys" Professor Slughorn said "Eyes on your potion" "Maybe he's right" whispered Sirius "we do need a distraction, to get the ingredients for the potion" I smiled to Sirius. "Have you gone mad Black?" James asked "Potter! Just imagine our sweet Snivellus with greasy pink hair. He'd be a sensation" We looked at Snivellus sitting two tables away. James smiled. "Fine" he said "But if you spoil this Pettigrew, we'll never speak to you again" "Thank you!" I said. Professor Slughorn glanced at me so I lowered my voice "I promise I won't dissapoint you. I think we are going to have so much fun and then we could..." "Hush" said Sirius And I stopped talking but I was smiling.

The prank was a success. We got detention. But it was worthy. I was part of the group. I felt bad for Remus though, he was lonely. Always reading some book or something. I could tell the boys to include him, but I was scared of losing them. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall paired us up together, that I spoke to him.

"It feel like ages since we've talked" I said to him. "Because now you hang out with your new friends" he said looking at James and Sirius. "I'm sorry I..." "It's fine Pete" he said smiling "I'm not good at friendships anyway" "Why?" I asked him He didn't answer. "Besides, I don't know why you like them. There are both idiots" "They are actually not. They are cool" "Pete, they treat you like shit" I didn't answer. I didn't know what to say. Partially it was true. But I like being around them. I felt powerful.

It wasn't until the end of October that something changed. We were gathered in our dorm. Planning the next prank for Halloween. Dancing skeletons to be placed on each table. "You want some sweets?" I asked Remus who was sitting on his bed reading a book. He looked oddly sick. He said no and continued to ignore us. "I told you he is weird" James whispered. Sirius looked at Remus curiously. "Anyway let's continue" said James "What spell do we know that would make them move?" "Tarantallegra" I suggested "No but we need them to do what we want them to" We all thought for a while. Until Remus sighed "The Locomotion Charm" he said. "Who asked you, Looney?" said James "Wait shh James" said Sirius "What did you say?" Remus sighed again "You can control them with that one" "We could use that one" Sirius suggested to James "What?" James asked But Sirius ignored him at looked at Remus "Can you teach us? We could get you some chocolate or something" Remus was silent for a while, but then he rolled his eyes "Fine" "Okay, Looney" said James "But if doesn't work, you're gonna pay for it"

It worked. The skeletons were a success and we didn't get detention because Dumbledore liked them. He said they were appropiate for the festivities. A few days later as we sat at breakfast, Sirius yelled: "Hey Lupin" Remus looked at him "Come sit with us" "Mate" James protested "Why did call him?" "He is a genius. We could use that kid for future pranks. And he is our dormmate Potter. Grow up" "Shuttit" James protested I couldn't avoid feeling a bit jelaous. And insecure. I really liked Remus, I did. But what if James and Sirius decided he was better or cooler than me? What if I lose them? And end up having not friends at all? "James is right he is kind of annoying" I said "See?" James said pointing at me "I thought you liked him" Sirius said "I do" Remus sat next to me. "What's up?" Sirius smiled at him "How are you Lupin?" "Good" Remus looked at us but no one spoke. "So, what? Do you want me to teach you another spell? Because I would like more chocolate for it" Sirius laughed. "You're funny" He was paying him more attention than he ever payed to me. Don't be jelaous Pete. They are not going to abandond you. Right? "He's not funny" James whispered "That spell you gave us was useful" Sirius continued "Where did you learned it?" "Emm... My dad taught me some spells before coming here" "Wicked" "Why did he tought you spells if you were gonna learn them here?" James asked "Just in case?" "Maybe you could be useful for our next mischief" Sirius continued "Sirius..." James protested "What?" Sirius asked "We all agree he is brilliant" Here we go. Maybe Remus would be better friend than me. Please James say something. "I mean..." said James "Oh please James..." said Sirius making a pout "Agree with me. It is my Birthday" "What?" I asked "It is your Birthday mate? Why didn't you say anything?" James asked "I'm saying it now" "Happy Birthday Sirius" I said "Happy Birthday" Remus said "Thanks" then he looked at James "So?" "Let me ask you something, Lupin" James said looking at Remus "Why did you made fun of me and my mum?" Remus smiled "I wasn't... I mean I kind of was. Your hair was a mess?" Sirius laughed "C'mon mate, your hair looked ridiculous that day" James fumed at Sirius with his glare. "I didn't make fun of you" I said trying to still feel included. "I thought it was cool" "Thanks Pete" said James. I felt relieved James was speaking to me for once in a good tone. "I guess we could give the Loo... Lupin a chance" Sirius smiled. And Remus blushed. "What do you think Pete?" asked Sirius Wait, was he asking my opinion? I felt I wasn't part of the group. That they were only using me. But I was wrong. They were asking for my opinion. Suddenly I felt relieved. I was their friend. The boys looked at me. I smiled "It would be amazing for Remus to join" Remus blushed even more. But he smiled. "So it's settled" said Sirius smiling "Up to plan the next prank boys" "Wait" said Remus "Who said I wanted to be part of your gang?" but he smiled. We all laughed at that.

#harry potter #marauders #marauders era #marauders fanfiction #james potter #sirius black #peter pettigrew #remus lupin #lily evans #severus snape #hogwarts #sorting hat

4 notes · View notes

i-did-not-mean-to · 4 years ago

Text

Back to school - Chapter 3 - Kira

So, my first short AU has turned into a soap opera really fast...

Here's another Kira chapter...❤️👩🏻‍🏫

Fandom : The Hobbit

Characters : Oh everyone

Rating : Gen up to now

Warnings: Turns a bit dark, a tad of crying, histrionics and it's a dilettantish attempt at an AU

Kira watched them walk away, the new kid almost tripping over his own feet trying to catch up with that monstrosity of a teenager stomping away moodily.

She remembered vaguely what it had been like to be this young and to stumble upon a pretty face that hit one unawares like a right hook into the jaw; and, just as she had that thought, one of those faces appeared just above her.

“Miss Kira, I see you’re still hale.” That man had a voice like running rivers, cold and beautiful, Kira thought. As beautiful as her new colleague, Thranduil, was, she distrusted him instinctively. There seemed to be a lack of that kindness in him that she had come to expect in a teacher.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She snapped, exhausted from this first day of work and troubled by all the secrets flitting around and nipping at her skin. “You’ve got the trash class.” He shrugged, his perfectly toned shoulders heaving with disgusting elegance and poise. Why could he not be as ugly as his words? It would make disliking him so much easier!

His freaking son was in that class, Kira thought, for crying out loud. How could anyone be that facetious?

“I’d be ever so grateful if you could refrain from making remarks such as these.” Her tone could grow just as cold and sharp as his, she decided. “Oh, you’ve warmed up to them, have you?”

There was a flash of something behind the obvious mockery; for a moment, Kira thought she had seen a hint of surprised joy, but the spark was gone before she could hold on to it or commit it to memory.

“They have been very nice. Your son has a rare talent for drawing.” She replied, carefully. “He’s a nitwit.”

Bitterness, Kira could taste it on her tongue as if that man in front of her was literally spewing acid. He was disappointed, but whether it was himself or that sweet-tempered boy of his who caused him such distress, Kira could not yet tell.

“He is not and you’re an asshole for saying so.” The words were out of her mouth before she could bite them back.

Wonderful, she had met exactly 3 other adults this far and she had managed to insult one of them to their face within the first day of her arriving at her new post. Kira deserved an award for hasty reactions that would lead to trouble and pain.

One thick eyebrow lifted with agonising slowness until it reached its zenith in a perfectly calm face.

“Strong words.” A drawling snarl, devoid of bite or anger; he seemed rather amused by her outburst that coloured her cheeks a flaming red and made her eyes shine with a ferocious fire. Kira liked to think that she looked intimidating or fierce, but she was old enough to be aware that she actually resembled a young girl running a fever when she got angry.

His eyes shifted into something that was now definitely mournful as he told her that there were many things she didn’t know and, with a sharp sadness, he added: “Maybe, someone with a soft heart like yours should not have come here.”

Bristling, she got up and pushed past him into the school building.

Who was he to tell her where she was to go or not? He knew nothing about her either, or about the things she had done and seen in her life. A soft heart, pfff, indeed.

Making her way through the halls and corridors, and getting turned around only twice, she finally entered the small administration office where a handsome woman with long, black hair was clacking away on her keyboard.

“I am…I have…I am new here and I’d like to see the files of the class I’ve been given.” Kira announced, rather badly, and the woman looked up with a disinterested face. “Which class would that be?”

Damn, she didn’t even know the name of the class, for she was sure that DD was not the official code. “Mister Gandalf’s class? I’ve taken over for Mister Smaug.” She mumbled, hoping that the lady would know which class she was talking about without her having to confess that she was a terrible teacher who had not done a rollcall or learned what the official denomination of her class was.

“You poor dear, how much time do you have?” The woman gave a wry chuckle. “Time?” Kira cocked her head.

“Go through to the library, I’ll bring you the files.” She patted Kira’s hand, lying cramped on the little counter before her. Those treacherous hands, she thought, always clenching without her knowledge, and betraying her inner turmoil.

As she sat in a corner of the library, she thought back on her first day: her colleague was like an ice-king from a fairy tale, cold and beautiful, and her class turned out to be a bunch of grumpy misfits.

Well no, only the two tall boys, the other ones seemed agreeable enough, but Kira was not used to scowling teenagers. It made her feel ill at ease and unwelcome; everything in this place made her feel unwelcome and she had half a mind to go home again and call it a day.

She had tried, but there was no place for her, not here, not anywhere else.

The door opened and the woman from before shoved a document cart piled high with folders in.

“You’re new to the town too, aren’t you?” The woman nodded slowly when Kira admitted that she was. “You and the curly boy, you don’t even know what mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”

Making a non-committal gesture, Kira encouraged her to go on. “You’ve met Dwalin and Thorin, I expect. They’re the local troublemakers. Hmmmm…” The woman pulled out a chair from under a deserted table and leant against it as if she couldn’t bear to sit down for this story.

“Their family, Thorin’s parents to be exact, they had a business. Beautiful it was. It burned down…some say, Smaug, the former teacher was behind it. We don’t know. There was some point of contention between them, but…”

“What about Thranduil?” Kira asked, the question falling from her numb lips.

“Oh…he…it was a beautiful business as I said and there have been important possessions of his lost in the fire. It…it is a time ago now. Thorin’s father has disappeared, you know, and Thranduil thinks he might have taken off with the most valuable parts. I don’t know if that’s true.”

The woman bit her lip, she knew she was gossiping, but she obviously thought that Kira had a right to know those things. Probably, she wanted to chase her away, but with every word, Kira’s faltering resoluteness firmed up again.

“Who is taking care of them? They’re kids.” Kira cried out, horrified by what she was hearing.

“Older cousins; they’re a strange clan. Secretive. Weird. Hostile. Thorin should have graduated, but he sticks around for his sister. Thranduil is her headteacher.” The woman sighed heavily. “We’re all one tangle of resentment and hate here.”

A fire, Kira thought, a future gone up in flames, a legacy fallen to ashes.

“What kind of person was this Smaug?” She then prodded on, curious about her predecessor.

“Smaug? Sly, charming, wickedly smart, very cunning…and dark. Oh, Kira, can I call you Kira? Leave girl, there is nothing here for you. Smaug and Thranduil? They survived here because their hearts have turned to stone a long time ago. The kids will hurt you; destruction is all they know.” She took a deep breath.

“Those children were raised on hatred, they absorbed distrust at their mother’s tit, they suckled on hostility. They will take everything from you if you let them.” The woman tapped the folders on the cart.

“I’m telling you, you don’t need to know. Leave this place. There’s too much death around here.”

Everything in Kira revolted.

“What made people that hard and bitter?” She asked, breathless with shock and pity.

“Loss. If you lose someone you love, you seek for culprits and there are more than enough potential candidates around here.”

Kira thought of young Bilbo’s flush, of Thorin’s shy smile and Legolas’ beautiful drawing, and grabbed the first one of the folders resolutely. “I have nothing to lose.” She whispered and plunged into the heart-breaking life story of one Tauriel; a girl who had impressed her with zealous interest and brave kindness.

The woman left and soon after, the door to the library was shoved open again and Gandalf strolled in, his grey wool cardigan stained with chalk and his beard hiding a sad smile.

“You’ve taken an interest in them, I see.” He said in a low voice, but his presence startled Kira so much that she uttered a frightened yelp. “Yes, yes, I wanted to know what all this talk of hate was about.”

Kira set aside the folder she had been browsing. “You have been crying.” Gandalf said softly, handing her a handkerchief and sitting down on the discarded chair the administrator had left pulled out.

She sniffed; she had just found out that the sweet-tempered blonde boy, son of the imperious colleague with the amazingly beautiful eyes, was semi-orphaned. His report cards said he was dumb, slow to understand and illiterate, but Kira had seen him read. All the notes about him betrayed a sense of impatience and exasperation that must have heightened the pressure on the poor kid, she thought. It was hard enough to be another teacher’s son, did people have to expect so much of a boy his age?

“Come, I’ll invite you to a milkshake, Miss Kira.” Gandalf extended his hand with the same natural friendliness as he had when handing her a handkerchief earlier. “Ah, you’ve kept the worst one for last.” He tapped on the thick folder bearing Thorin’s name.

Kira didn’t want to admit it, but she was frightened. The woman had been partly right and there was a lot of darkness in this town; shady things had happened, and Kira was unable to comprehend how people could burden mere children with past grievances they had not been a part of.

“There’s a little shop just down the main road.” Gandalf was chattering gently, shoving the last file into her satchel, and steering her out of the gloomy library carefully. “It will do you good to get out of this building.”

When she saw the blinking lights, her eyes burned and she wondered how long she had been sitting in the dark library, crying helplessly over the fate of children she had only met today.

“Miss Kira!” A honey-coloured mop of hair appeared in her blurry field of vision, and she was tempted to sling her arms around Bilbo. “Bilbo…” She sighed. “Oh, have you been crying?” Bilbo looked up, alarmed and worried.

“I’m okay, kiddo, it’s all fine.” She lied, she knew it and so did Bilbo.

“Oh, that girl over there, that’s Thorin’s sister.” Gandalf whispered into her ear. Kira looked up only to see the beautiful creature that had been with mopey Dwalin before class. She should have known, Kira thought, now that she saw them together, it was as clear as day that they were related.

“God, they’re such charming children.” Kira sighed under her breath. “Isn’t he just?” Bilbo sighed along, blushing a dark pink under Kira’s gaze that had snapped back to him. Kira didn’t know what this town’s ideas and beliefs were on that kind of crush; she had not been here long enough to gauge how people reacted to single women and same-sex couples, but it was clear that Bilbo himself felt terrible about his own words.

Kira wondered if there was no hairdresser in town, all the haircuts she had seen this far were exceptionally long and flowy, or awful like Ori’s, and the fact that half of all the people she had met this far were cramped into the small ice-cream shop reminded her of the woman’s words. They really were all packed one on top of another, all the time, no wonder there were frictions and animosities.

“Hello, are you the new teacher?” Kira snapped out of her reverie to be confronted with the fresh face of a young girl who looked up at her expectantly. “You sure are pretty.” She went on, which made Kira blush.

“I am Dís, I’ll introduce myself, old Thrandy interrupted me before and…my brother is useless.” She had the most dazzling smile, small dimples to either side of her generous mouth that was so unlike the grim line of her brother’s and eyes like a summer sky. She was the first happy person she had met, Kira realised, and her eyes flew to Thorin who observed them with meticulous sharpness.

His baby sister, of course, he’d throttle me on the spot if I threatened the girl in any way.

“I am…the new teacher. I’m not so sure about the pretty part.” Kira murmured, unsure how to proceed with Bilbo and the girl both now staring up at her as if she owed them some kind of explanation or answer to a question nobody had asked.

“Was Thorin very gruesome?” Dís asked with a mix of morbid pleasure and honest worry. Kira saw Bilbo flinch; so this was how they would handle things, she thought, Bilbo and her would be more or less mockingly warned so as to counteract every single potential disappointment…or expectation.

Squaring her shoulders, Kira lifted her chin and replied: “No, I expect great things of the young man.”

An eerie silence fell over the group and Kira could feel Gandalf stiffen just behind her; he was hovering in the door as if to keep her from retreating. Little did he know that Kira usually met her fears head-on, she would not back out of a shop because she happened upon a group of students; not even when it was obvious that she had been crying.

“Nothing ever happens here, so tell me, what did you think of old Thrandy? He was certainly flushed and a little grumpier than usual…” Dís had an infectious smile, Kira thought as she felt her own lips being pulled up by an unseen and unfathomable force. “Mister Thranduil was…very courteous.” She replied weakly, remembering with painful clarity how she had called him an asshole in the least civil display of discontentment possible, short of shoving him outright.

The idea of shoving someone that tall and strong made her giggle under her breath.

“He doesn’t like us much.” Dís said it off-handedly, but Kira had been a teacher for too long not to notice the tiny quiver that made her smile blur for a second. Once again, Kira wanted to protest and assuage the girl’s pain, but what did she really know? She had only arrived in this clusterfuck of a town.

“Do you think…could you like us? Please?” Her huge eyes shone like headlights. She looked so much like her brother, only softer, more open, and much more vulnerable. It was the age, Kira thought, it was the fact that he had always held his hand over her and, right now, he bulldozed towards them.

“Dís…leave the woman alone.” He gave her an apologetic smile; begging for affection was beneath his dignity apparently, so Kira turned her attention back to the girl and sighed: “I’m doing my utter best.”

“We’re not so bad, really. Don’t…don’t believe what people say.” She tapped her finger against the folder sticking out of Kira’s satchel. Her brother’s name was clearly visible and, unlike Kira, Dís seemed to know exactly what lay between the faded grey layers of cardboard.

“Dís, that is enough. Leave her be.” Thorin repeated, trying to pry his sister away. “Don’t mind her.” He said to Kira.

“Let go of me, you stupid oaf. How many times have you cornered old Thrandy in the hallway on my behalf? Can I not, for once, speak up for you?” Her eyes were flaming with blue fire now, reminding Kira of a copper flame.

“Don’t…don’t believe what people say, I can only ask you to make up your own mind. Both of you…” Dís then addressed both Bilbo and Kira who exchanged a puzzled look. “I don’t know anything about the idle tittle-tattle of the town.” Bilbo puffed up his chest and made a small gesture of dismissal.

Kira, on the other hand, did not know what to say. As a professional, she was bound to put at least some faith in the words of her colleagues and her predecessor; she knew teenagers to be manipulative, potentially mean-spirited, and profoundly selfish beings. It would have been more careful to heed the warnings others had given her.

“So…about your milkshake?” Gandalf prompted her from behind and Kira thought that she needed something stronger than a milkshake tonight to get settled into bed, but she would not get shit-faced in front of the students.

“The strawberry one is good.” Bilbo offered. Her eyes slid over the sign hanging on the wall.

“Chocolate-Mint?” She turned to Gandalf. “Unusual.” He commented. “Nobody likes that much.” He made a face.

“I am not everybody else…and I do.” Kira replied firmly and followed the man to the counter to escape the students.

The whole town seemed strangely informal to her and yet, there were so many things she could not quite understand, as if there was a deeper, darker truth hidden behind every brazen interaction.

“I see Thorin has taken a shine to the new kid.” Gandalf commented in a low voice when he returned with their drinks to the little booth Kira had taken in the meantime, far away from the kids, in a quiet corner. “At this time, he’s usually in the little hardware shop his family keeps.”

Kira could hear that Gandalf was trying to tell her something, but her head was still fuzzy with second-hand pain and first-rate confusion. “You’ll fit right in with us, I think.” Gandalf went on, nodding at her bare hands. No rings. For a woman her age, it was rare, and as her colleague and superior, he of course knew that she had come here alone.

No husband. No children. No emergency contact either.

“Young Bilbo is an orphan.” He murmured on. “There are too many orphans in this town.” Kira replied tonelessly.

“It wasn’t always like that…It won’t be like that forever.” Gandalf said and she had to believe in the faith vibrating strong in his voice. Of course, it wouldn’t stay like that, Kira thought, they would grow up and if this place was not right for them, they would find another one.

She drank her milkshake slowly, eager and reticent at the same time to take a look at that last file in her satchel. Her mind was full of what other people had told her: her colleagues, the administrator, that girl…

When she dared glance over, she saw Bilbo laughing at something Dís had said, and it seemed like the ghost of a smile danced on Thorin’s face. God, there were so many open scowls and just as many aborted smiles in this town.

“Are they…” Kira started to voice her concerns, but relapsed into silence, it was none of her business.

“Are they what, dear? Allowed to flirt? I’d hope so, these things come easier to the younger generation.” Gandalf tapped the side of his nose as if he knew that she was hopeless in the romantic department.

“I don’t need to know.” She said hastily, almost tipping over her empty glass as she got up and grabbed her satchel.

“Kira? You will soon learn that there is no escaping “knowing” in this town. I am so sorry, but you’ll eventually have to choose a side. Will you take the easy path?”

She froze.

“Here, take this. I’ll see you at work. Tomorrow.” He handed her yet another handkerchief, a beautiful, delicate thing that had no business being in the possession of a slightly scatter-brained, decidedly masculine headteacher.

“I bought it in the emporium that once was.” Gandalf said with a sad smile. “Before the fire.” Kira answered tonelessly.

“Thranduil said that someone with my soft heart should not be here.” She felt like telling on the colleague, but the recollection of his words cut deep, and she needed some kind of reassurance.

“Thranduil believes softness to be weakness. Do you have a strong heart, Kira?”

She did not know how to answer that question; it was novel to her, nobody had ever asked her anything remotely as confusing and irrelevant. She had never had any medical problems of the cardiovascular variety, but she doubted that this was the meaning he had been trying to convey.

“We’ll find out soon enough.” He grinned and when the door swung open, he sat back and waited.

“Miss Kira.” Already, she recognised the shy, quiet quality of the voice that reminded her of those wispy curtains her aunt Imelda used to have in her living room and that had ended up torn to shreds by her vicious Siamese cats.

“Legolas.” She turned around, satchel in hand, only to find her face almost pressed into the perfectly starched button-down of someone who has definitely not the nearly translucent boy.

“Mister…” – “If you can call me asshole, you can call me Thranduil.” His voice cut like a well-honed blade, slicing easily and elegantly through her defences…No jagged edges, no serrated indentations…Acid running like water and leaving nothing but burning pain behind.

She was tempted to call him asshole again, but she clenched her teeth before bowing her head slowly.

All the kids eyes were glued to her now; she could feel the prickling heat of their gaze on her neck. “Good evening. I’m on my way home.” She said courteously and tried to push past them.

“Legolas, go sit with your classmates, I’ll walk your teacher home.” Thranduil declared with icy determination.

“Why? What danger could lurk in the shadows for me when clearly, everyone is here?” Kira snapped.

“No, he’s right. It is not safe.” She had not noticed that the students had come up behind her, but she could hear that it pained Thorin to the core of his heart to admit that the hated teacher was, for once, not completely wrong.

“Stay with your classmates, Legolas, I will walk Miss Kira home.” Thranduil repeated and Legolas shuffled his feet for a moment before being pulled away by Bilbo. He didn’t get along with his classmates, Kira knew, but the fact that Thorin had not objected, told her that they all agreed to this plan.

Kira could not fathom what peril could hide in this sleepy, little town other than being smitten by a lightning bolt made of pure contempt and hatred, but when Thranduil held the door open for her, she moved outside readily enough.

For a while, they walked in resentful silence, each one thinking about the angry words that had been uttered between them. “I took…” She started, but he waved her words aside. “I know where you live.”

Of course, he knew. Everyone knew. Maybe, she’d be murdered in her sleep by the cloud of ominous darkness hovering over every square inch of this godforsaken place.

“Lock your door and say your prayers.” He mumbled, looking tired all of a sudden, as if the polish had worn away and washed off and all that was left was a middle-aged man who was alone in the world with a child he could not understand and a bunch of neighbours he didn’t like.

“If you see a fiery red sports car…” he started and waved her past her own building and towards a small corner shop.

“If ever anything feels amiss, you call Gandalf, the school, me…and you come here.” He went on insistently.

“Thranduil.” Another man stepped out, his eyes cautious and guarded as they fell on her tall companion. “Balin, this is Miss Kira. She’s your boys’ new teacher.”

The older cousin then, Kira thought, barely older. Where were the women in this town? Where were the mothers?

“It was mighty good of you to take her home.” Balin nodded slowly, giving Kira an appraising look.

“Now, look here lass, if anything happens, you come here.” – “What should happen?” Kira wanted to laugh, but she remembered: there had been a terrible fire, a man had disappeared, a car had been damaged, mothers had been lost. She was an outsider, and she knew nothing of the things that haunted these people.

“If he comes back.” Balin just replied and Kira was surprised at the grave nod Thranduil gave as a reply.

“Who? Smaug? What kind of guardians are you if you let someone that dangerous be alone with your little ones?” Kira exploded. “Little ones? Have you seen Thorin and Dwalin? They’re hardly little ones.” Balin laughed heartily.

“He held sway, let’s put it like that, and we could not dislodge him against his will.” Thranduil explained suavely.

“Not that you’ve tried really hard.” Balin mumbled into his beard.

“He was a fucking menace; he’s done terrible harm to those children!” Kira could not fathom how they could be so calm about that. “Aye, that’s a grief we all have to live with. I don’t think he’d come back, but if he does…well, we’ll know how to deal with him.” Balin said with pride in his voice.

“I’d rather let him tear me limb from limb than expose any of my students to that monster ever again!” Kira could feel the tears of anger and helpless indignation threaten to dash her brittle voice to pieces.

“You’re a fiery one, lass, I’ll give you that. Maybe, we all need more of this around here.” Balin chuckled and gave her a card. “Oi, Miss Kira, everything alright?” Dwalin came out, his hands covered in dark dust and his face glistening with sweat.

“Yes, I am fine. Suffocating on so much testosterone, but I am alright. One would think some evil power would send ghouls and dragons after me as soon as I step out alone.” She chuckled under her breath.

“Don’t wander around alone too much. I trust Thorin and Dís have taken care of the new kid?” Dwalin nodded when Kira’s eyes widened. They were being herded like sheep. With a tiny nod of the head, Dwalin and, what Kira surmised must have been his older brother, returned to their shop.

“They’re distasteful people, but they can protect you. We’re just up there.” Thranduil accompanied her back to her own suite of flats, pointing at a small rise where a beautiful white mansion peeked out from a patch of dark trees.

“Don’t call them distasteful.” Kira grumbled. “Lady, you call people assholes.” He reminded her.

“I’ll never live that one down.” She said through gritted teeth. “No, you won’t. We have a long memory when it comes to grievances and offenses.” It didn’t sound like a threat, there was no anger or even hurt in his voice; he was merely stating facts.

Rolling her eyes at him, she jangled her keys and made her way into the building. All of this was completely ludicrous, but she locked her door twice and fastened the bolt as well before taking off her shoes and cuddling up on the small sofa.

Kira wished she had someone to talk to, someone who would be interested in her first day at work and who would laugh and groan with her about that absurdly handsome, stuck-up, judgemental, overly sensitive colleague of hers whose eyes made her wish for summer and picnics outside.

Also, she yearned for someone to hold her as she opened the thick file and leafed through records of detentions and disciplinary procedures until she came to a clear line in Thorin’s academic career: he had been a good student, wild and impatient but also diligent and gifted, up to a certain point and only after that had he turned into a teacher’s nightmare.

Kira rubbed her eyes, she could barely believe that those words, “dangerous”, “vicious”, “devious”, “insane”, should be applied to a man that young. Thinking back, she saw a hunched-over youth, uncomfortable in his skin, wary, and definitely traumatised; she had never had the feeling that he had been threatening her in any way though.

One thing was for sure, Mister Smaug had hated the kid and he had not missed a single opportunity to make his life miserable, going as far as scribbling defamatory notes about Thorin’s family into the official records.

Piecing together what she could glimpse by reading between the lines, the family had built an emporium, but the grandfather’s megalomania had attracted the wrong kind of attention, and everything had literally gone up in flames. The father had disappeared, leaving the son to bear the burden of a reputation of being a greedy, thieving beggar – born and bred.

Nobody could see her now, so Kira lay down her head and cried.

It had been only one day, and already, she had no idea what to do and how to go on in this quagmire of secrets and lies.

Her mind wandered back to those fresh faces, to the willingness of Tauriel and Ori to work, to Bilbo’s calling out to her to give her opinion, to Legolas’ pride over a drawing, to Thorin’s and Dwalin’s surprising protectiveness, and she knew that even if Smaug came back and set her ravishing asshole of a colleague on fire in front of her eyes, what really mattered were the children. She would try her best to make a difference…at least for those who might change the fate of the world…in time.

#au #hobbit #fanfiction #thranduil is an ass #dís is the best #enemies to lovers?#gandalf has a lot of handkerchiefs #smaug is a monster #balin is gold

1 note · View note

jbbarnesnnoble · 5 years ago

Text

You’re Beautiful

Summary: You’ve struggled with PCOS and the resulting hirsutism since puberty. It’s one of your biggest insecurities. After being taunted in the gym, Bucky shows you just how beautiful he thinks you are.

Features: Reader with PCOS and hirusuitism; Pure smut; some bullying toward Reader

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader

Notes: Reader has hair long enough to hide her face behind (so at least shoulder length) and a medical condition. This came about after a discussion in the TCC discord re: PCOS. This one is for all y’all out there with PCOS, especially those who struggle with hirsutism (basically means you grow hair where cisgender women typically don’t)

Word Count: 1546

Your alarm started blaring at 6, a full two hours before you had to report for training. Bucky heard it every morning. You’d take a shower, which confused him. If you were going to get sweaty, why shower beforehand? He knew how long you took in the shower, the wall of your bathroom shared with his. 25 minutes, unless you were washing your hair. It always baffled him how you could take so long in the shower when you only needed to wash up. He didn’t question you on it though. He had a feeling that would end with a punch to the face.

You never wore your hair up. If you did, strands of it framed your face, almost as if you were hiding behind it. He couldn’t understand why you would want to hide. You were beautiful. He could spend hours just looking at you. He cringed at how creepy that thought sounded. You also wore makeup, every day. There was nothing wrong with it, but some days he’d hear you complaining to Natasha about how much of a chore it was. He wondered why you wore it if it was such a bother.

You had your hair pulled back in the gym for once that morning. You were partnered with him, something that wasn’t an unusual occurrence. If he didn’t know any better, he’d stay Steve did it intentionally, knowing that he had feelings for you. You had a way of making him feel normal. Other agents looked at him with fear or apprehension, but not you. It was while you were grabbing water that he heard it.

“You’d think with Stark’s money supporting her she’d get laser,” one of the women said, laughing.

“I bet Barnes works out with her out of pity. No way a man like him would be with her, not with that beard she has,” another said, glancing at you. Your shoulders sagged. He frowned.

“I wouldn’t date her. I’m not into women with facial hair. No thanks. If I wanted that, I’d date a guy,” a third said. Bucky clenched and unclenched his fist, looking away from them and toward you. You took a shaky breath and excused yourself, saying something about cramps. Bucky frowned as you fled the gym. He shook his head at the group of women.

“What is wrong with you?” he snapped.

“What?” the blonde asked.

“Saying that about her. I’d be lucky if she said yes to a date with me. Do you get some sort of twisted enjoyment out of tormenting people?” he asked. Natasha walked over from where she had been training with Wanda. Wanda, who had figured out what was happening rather quickly.

“Ladies, looks like you’re training with Wanda and me today,” Natasha said, ending whatever was about to start. Bucky shot her a look, but the gleam in her eye told him they weren’t going to be happy by the end.

“Oh my gosh. Agent Romanoff, you’re serious?” the shorter of the women asked, excited at the prospect of training with Black Widow.

“Yes. Sergeant Barnes, I think you have a meeting,” Natasha said. Bucky nodded.

“Thank you, Ta--Agent Romanoff,” Bucky said before heading out of the gym and straight for your room. He could hear the music thumping faintly from your room. Stark had paid for thick walls, but they weren’t soundproof. He didn’t have to knock. You’d given him access long ago. You were huddled under your covers, body shaking with sobs. He sat down, pulling you toward him.

“Leave me alone, Barnes,” you said.

“Nope. Not happening, Doll. Do you let me sit and wallow on bad days?” he asked.

“Of course not,” you scoffed.

“Then why would I let you? Those women...they’re jealous,” he said. You snorted.

“Jealous of the sideshow freak? Come see the bearded lady. I would’ve fit right in with a circus,” you said.

“Doll, am I a freak?” he asked. You looked at him.

“Of course not. Jesus, Buck, you’re one of the most attractive men I’ve ever…,” you trailed off, your cheeks heating with embarrassment. He chuckled.

“Even with my metal arm? My scars? My past?” he asked, as he ran a hand through your hair.

“Even then. What does that have to do with me, Buck?” you questioned.

“Because, doll. I don’t care if you can grow a beard. You could go three months without shaving and I’d still think you were the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. And you know why? Because you’re kind. You see people for who they are, not what they look like, not what they’ve done. Don’t get me wrong, you’re physically stunning too, but, that’s not what matters to me,” he said.

“Right. Me. Attractive. The one with PCOS. The one who’s body doesn’t work right. Who can grow a goddamn beard because her hormones are out of whack,” you said. He let out a frustrated growl.

“You have no idea. Your eyes, your adorable nose, your incredible smile, your body. Doll, I’d worship at the altar that is you every day if you’d let me,” he said. You couldn’t help the surge of arousal that shot through you.

“Buck,” you said before he cut you off, capturing your lips with his. You were always self-conscious when it came to kissing. Afraid of the stubble, of five o’clock shadow. But thoughts of that flew out the window as he kissed you. He tugged on the hem of your shirt, pulling away from you only to pull it off along with the sports bra you had worn.

You felt a wave of self-consciousness roll over you, questioning if you’d removed all the unsightly hairs that morning in the shower, before Bucky distracted you by kissed down your neck, finding a sensitive spot that caused you to let out a quiet moan as he sucked. You knew there would be a hickey there by the time he was done. He moved down your chest, finding your breasts. One hand came up to cup your right breast while his mouth kissed around your left. You arched into his touch as his tongue swirled around your nipple. You had never been one for having your breasts teased and played with. No, you had always insisted on getting down to it, lights off. But Bucky refused to let your insecurities win out, wanting to prove what he’d said.

As he made his way down, his hand continued to play with your breast, pinching your nipple now and then before massaging you. As he reached your mound, he brought his hand down, light pushing your legs apart. You obliged. He kissed up one thigh and down the other. He was so close to where you wanted him, where you needed him.

“Bucky please,” you whined.

“Please what doll?” he asked.

“Touch me, please,” you begged. He looked up at you with a smirk, settling more comfortably between your thighs. A finger trailed from your clit down to your opening, collecting wetness as it went. He was slow to press his finger in, and you moaned when he did. It still wasn’t enough. As he teased your opening, his tongue traced up to your clit, swirling around the sensitive nerves but never touching it. He added a second finger, hooking the two as they moved. Your hips bucked up as he made contact with your g-spot. You’d never had a partner do that before, be so attentive.

“Bucky,” you said, chanting his name over and over like a prayer. He pulled you over the edge, not letting up until your walls ceased spasming around his fingers. You watched as he brought them to his mouth, licking your juices from them, before palming his hard cock. You had been so lost in it all, you missed when he had stripped down. You took in his impressive length. While he wasn’t monstrously huge, he was bigger than anyone you’d ever been with, in both length and width.

“I’ll go slow,” he murmured before capturing your lips in another kiss. It had been so long since you’d been with anyone. He moved slow as he pressed into you. You moaned at the stretch. Once he was fully seated inside you, he withdrew, setting a slow steady pace, hitting just the right angle to make you cry out as he moved. You could swear you were going to cum without him even touching your clit, something you hadn’t even thought was possible for you to do.

“Bucky, please, more,” you cried out. He slammed into you harder, picking up the pace, keeping you close. It wasn’t long before he drove you over the edge for a second time, before following behind you. He rolled over, laying you on top of him after pulling out, both of you breathless.

“That was...incredible,” you said. He kissed you once more.

“I meant it. I know this is out of order but...would you go on a date with me?” he asked. You giggled before nodding.

“I’d like that. But just so you know, Sarge. I don’t put out on the first date,” you teased, sending him into another round of laughter. You couldn’t bring yourself to dwell on that morning, not anymore.

#bucky barnes #Bucky Barnes Fanfic #bucky barnes/reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes reader insert #marvel fanfic #marvel reader insert #winter soldier #bucky barnes smut #marvel fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfiction #winter soldier fanfiction #bucky barnes/you

81 notes · View notes

dlwritings · 5 years ago

Text

Firecracker Soul | Dean Winchester

Chapter 7 - Full of Surprises

pairing - mob!Dean x teacher!ofc

word count - 3,039

warnings - none

additional notes at the end

(previous)

On the way to Cas and Hannah's, Dean could tell Alice was nervous. Her leg was bouncing, and her grip on the pie tin was tight. When they pulled up to the house, she let out a shaky breath. Dean killed the engine and turned to look at her. "Are you sure this isn't weird?" she asked before he could even open his mouth. "They're not gonna think I'm-" She hesitated, and Dean furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?" he asked.

She sighed. "They're not going to think I'm like, I don't know, the dramatic opposite of a cougar? Or that I'm clingy? Or-"

Dean cut her off by softly kissing her. He felt her relax and put her hand on his cheek. He smiled when her fingers scratched his beard, then pulled away. "Don't overthink it," he said. "They're not going to think any of that. They're really excited to see you. Between me and Lexi, they already know you're great." She blushed and darted her eyes around nervously. "And," he said, holding her chin so she would look at him again, "this is a super relaxed night. These dinners aren't anything other than a scheduled chance for us to hang out."

"Okay," she said, nodding her head. "Sorry."

Dean wished she wouldn't apologize so much, but he could tell it wasn't something she could control. Apologizing was like second nature to her. It was deeply ingrained in her, and he wondered why. And why had him apologizing to her affecting her the way it had? And why did she flinch when he touched her in the car? He had an idea, because he wasn't an idiot, but he didn't want to accept that it was true.

They got out of the car and walked up to the front door of the house. Dean walked in without knocking, and Alice followed behind him. "Where's the party at?" Dean called playfully. They heard a squeal and tiny feet run over to them. Lexi stopped in her tracks.

"Ms. Alice!" she cheered. She completely ignored Dean and ran over to Alice. Alice quickly handed Dean the pie so she could crouch down and catch the girl in a hug.

"Hey, girlie," she said. "How are you?"

"I'm so good," she said. "I can't believe you're here! Are you on a date with Uncle Dean?" Alice laughed and looked up at Dean who rolled his eyes with a grin.

"I think so," she told Lexi. "But I'm glad you're here, because you're way more fun than he is." Lexi giggled and grabbed Alice's hand.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go play."

"Hang on, kiddo," Dean said with a laugh. "Let's let her say hi to the grown ups first." Lexi pouted, and Alice smiled.

"We can play later, okay?" she said. Lexi smiled again and nodded, so the three of them walked into the kitchen. Dean kept a hand on her back which helped her relax.

"You guys know each other, yeah?" Dean said. "I don't need to make introductions?"

"Of course not," Jess said, opening her arms up and pulling Alice in for a hug. "It's good to see you."

"Yeah, you too," she said, hugging everyone before settling at Dean's side again. She looked at Cas and Hannah. "Thanks for having me."

"Of course," Hannah said with a smile. "We're sick of hanging out with Dean anyway." Dean rolled his eyes as Alice giggled.

"Well, I made a pie," she said, motioning to the pie Dean left on the counter.

"We made a pie," Dean pressed.

"Mm," Alice hummed, turning her lips down and shrugging. "He existed in my space while I made it." The others laughed again and Dean threw his hands in the air.

"Why did I invite you again?" he asked.

She smiled up at him with those sweet eyes, and he remembered.

"Alright," Hannah said, clapping her hands together. "We ready to eat?"

They all agreed and gathered around the table. Hannah and Cas had made spaghetti bolognese and homemade garlic bread. "This all looks great," Alice said, folding her napkin on her lap as Dean poured her some of the wine that Sam and Jess had brought.

"It's my first time making it," Hannah said, "so be honest if it stinks. I won't be offended."

Conversation went from Alice talking about her hobbies to everyone sharing stories of family, which led to Alice talking about her car knowledge, impressing Cas and Sam just as she had impressed Dean. They all seemed genuinely interested in getting to know her, and it made her feel so comfortable. Dean's hand resting casually on her thigh definitely helped too. His thumb rubbed soft circles on her skin, and it was making those little butterflies continue swirling around the pit of her stomach.

When everyone finished eating, Alice offered to help Hannah clean up while the others moved to the living room to drink and chat. Jess joined them, helping move the leftovers into some containers and loading the dishwasher. "Where did Dean take you on your date the other day?" Jess asked.

"We went out to his restaurant," she said, "which was crazy, because I had no idea he owned a restaurant." The girls chuckled.

"The man is definitely full of surprises," Hannah said.

"Yeah, like when he asked me to come tonight," Alice said. "That was a surprise too."

"Things must be going well already in his mind," Jess said, "because he hasn't brought someone to dinner since before Lex was born."

"Really?" Alice said. She tried to fight the giddy smile growing on her face as she bit her lip and focused again on the food she was putting into the tupperware. Jess bumped hips with Alice, and Alice couldn't help but giggle.

"Dean doesn't usually move this fast," Jess said. "I'd take that as a good sign."

"You think he'll let me stick around?" Alice joked. The girls both chuckled again.

"I hope so," Hannah said. "I'm sick of single Dean. He was much more fun when he had Lisa around." Alice cocked her head to the side.

"Lisa?" she asked. Hannah's eyes grew wide for a moment as she looked at Jess and cleared her throat.

"Probably shouldn't have brought that up," Hannah said.

"Who's Lisa?" Alice pressed. She didn't want to sound obsessive or nosey. She was just curious.

"Dean dated her for a while," Jess said. "Maybe nine or ten years ago now. It was the last serious relationship he's ever been in."

"Why'd they break up?" she asked. Jess and Hannah looked at each other, silently saying something Alice couldn't understand.

"Maybe have Dean tell you that," Jess said. "He'll probably tell you on his own someday. It's really not a big deal."

"I just wouldn't bring it up," Hannah said. "It's not exactly a second date conversation."

"And it's really not a big deal," Jess said again.

"Yeah," Hannah agreed. "We're just glad he found someone to bring by again. Like Jess said, it's a good sign."

As uncomfortable as this revelation made her, she decided not to dwell. Hannah and Jess said it wasn't a big deal, and that her being there was a good sign. Those details were far more important than the fact that he hadn't been in a serious relationship since he was 31.

When they finished up in the kitchen, they all went back to the living room to sit and chat with the others. As soon as they walked in, Lexi shot up from where she was sitting. "Ms. Alice, will you play now?" she asked. "Look! I brought my favorite Barbies." She showed her a doctor and a princess, which made Alice smile. She opened her mouth to respond, but Dean stopped her.

"Ms. Alice wants to sit with the grown-ups," he said. Lexi pouted, and Dean raised his eyebrows at her. "You think that's gonna work on me?"

"It always works on you," Sam said.

Dean chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Not this time. Ms. Alice can play with you another time."

"You're no fun," Alice said to Dean. He grinned and grabbed her by the waist to pull her onto his lap. She did her best not to spill her wine as she sat down and looked at him with wide eyes. He just grinned and kissed her cheek. He loved how pink her cheeks turned when she was flustered, and it didn't take him long to learn she was so easily flustered.

Dean and Alice didn't end up leaving the house until well after 10:00. "Dinner's at Dean's on Saturday," Hannah said, giving Alice a hug goodbye. "Maybe you can convince him to serve something other than Chinese takeout."

Alice laughed. "If I'm welcomed back, I'll see what I can do."

"You're always welcomed in my mind," Jess said, squeezing Alice's arm. Dean and Alice got into the Impala while Sam, Jess, and Lexi got into their SUV. Alice was trying not to smile like a weirdo as Dean pulled out of the driveway. She jumped a bit when he reached over and grabbed her hand.

"Told ya, sweetheart," he said. "That was nice, right?"

"Yeah," Alice said, looking over at him with a smile. "Thanks for letting me come."

"Course," Dean said. When they were at a stoplight, he looked at her. "So," he said, "how would you feel about coming over to my place tonight?" Her smile dropped as her lips parted slightly. "It's not a big deal," he said, reaching over to cup her cheek in his hand. "Don't freak out." She let out an embarrassed laugh and looked down.

"Am I that transparent?" she asked. He just gave her a soft smile.

"We don't have to do anything," he said. "I just thought I'd show you my place." She met his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "Let's go."

Dean smiled, and the light turned green, so he drove forward. The rest of the drive didn't take very long, but Alice was astonished when they pulled up to one of the nicest apartment complexes in Topeka. She shouldn't have been. Like Hannah said, Dean was full of surprises. They pulled into a parking garage, and Dean jogged around to open her door for her. They walked through the garage and got to the lobby of the complex. She felt out of place and found herself squeezing Dean's hand a little tighter. He let go of her hand to put his arm around her waist and pull her close to his side.

"Good evening Mr. Winchester," the man at the front desk said, giving Dean a smile.

"Evening, Derek," Dean said back. "How's the wife?"

"She's good," he said. "Thanks for asking." Dean just smiled, and he and Alice got into the elevator.

"You own this place too?" she asked. Part of her was joking, but most of her was serious. Dean didn't say anything, just pressed the button that would lead to the penthouse. The elevator doors opened, and Alice's jaw dropped. The great room was gorgeous with white walls and floor to ceiling windows that led out to the terrace. Dean put his hand on her back and led her into the apartment. Out the window, she could see all of Topeka, the city lights sparkling in the night. She hadn't even realized she had walked over to the terrace until she felt the cool night breeze on her face.

Dean walked over to her and stood behind her, putting his arms on the railing on either side of her. He brushed her hair over her shoulder and kissed her neck. "It's beautiful here," she whispered. Dean hummed.

"I like it," he muttered. She turned her head to look at him, and his eyes quickly darted to her lips. She smiled and kissed him, resting her hand on his cheek while one of his hands moved to her waist.

They moved back inside, and Dean gave her a brief tour of the apartment. When they got into the bedroom, she kicked her shoes off and turned to look at Dean. "You mind if I go use the bathroom?" she asked. "I wanna wash my face and stuff."

"Sure," Dean said. "Just around the corner." She nodded and left the room. In the bathroom, she looked at the stuff on Dean's counter and tried to figure out the least painful and most effective way to scrub off her makeup. Using one of his towels -white towels- would stain them and probably do a bit of damage to her skin from excessive scrubbing. He didn't have any face wash, so she had to settle for scrubbing the bar soap on her hands to move to her face. The mascara was a pain, but she managed. She tugged her hair up into a ponytail and left the bathroom.

"Dean?" she asked. He was sitting on the bed on his phone, but he looked up at her instantly. "Do you have anything I can wear to bed? This isn't exactly comfortable for sleeping." He chuckled and nodded, standing up from the bed and going over to his drawers. He pulled out a t-shirt and handed it to her. She thanked him softly and walked to the bathroom to change again.

Dean thought it was somewhat funny that she couldn't change in front of him. He had already seen her without a shirt, and it wasn't like she'd be naked. Still, he didn't say anything about it. She came back out of the bathroom with her clothes in her hand and laid them on the ground. His shirt -a grey Led Zeppelin tee- fell to her thighs. She tugged it awkwardly, and Dean smiled. "You want some shorts or something?" he asked. She shook her head no and walked over to the bed. Dean had already turned down the covers and stripped to his boxers and a t-shirt.

"So," she said, clearing her throat nervously, "this is the kind of music you listen to?" She said, motioning to her shirt. Dean chuckled and nodded.

"Grew up on rock," he said. "Kind of never listened to anything else."

"So I guess my music isn't your cup of tea," she said.

He smiled. "I can get used to it."

She smiled and kissed him softly. When they pulled away, she laid down and snuggled under the covers. "Wow," she breathed out, sinking into the mattress. "This is better than any bed I've ever slept on." Dean smiled as she snuggled up to him, wrapping her arm around his stomach. "I think your room might be bigger than my whole apartment," she said. Her voice was getting quieter, and he could tell she was tired. He kissed the top of her head. "Doesn't it get lonely? Being in this big place all by yourself?" Dean shrugged.

"Sometimes," he said, "but not really."

"Hm," she hummed. "I'd get lonely." Dean was quiet, and his fingers trailed up and down her arm that was around his stomach. Soon enough, her breaths slowed, and Dean knew she was asleep. For whatever reason, he had a hard time crashing. Alice's words kept floating around his brain. He didn't get lonely much, that was true. Then again, he wasn't home that much. Most of his time was spent at the bunker or on a job or out with his family. When he was home, it was just to go to bed. Sure, some nights were lonelier than others, but those were the nights he would call someone to, well, keep him company he could say.

Dean noticed her shiver and pulled the covers farther up her arms. She sighed and snuggled closer to him. Feeling her body heat next to him and her grip tighten on his torso made him relax. He hadn't even known he was tense until she made him aware. In just a few moments, he too was asleep.

Alice needed to be at school at 7:00 on Monday, so she was lucky her internal alarm clock woke her up at 5:00. She had migrated to the other side of the bed over the night, so she rolled over to look at Dean. He was laying on his stomach with his arms under the pillow. His lips were slightly parted, and his eyelashes were resting gently on his cheeks. She realized then how long his eyelashes really were. Was a man allowed to be this beautiful? She really didn't think so.

She got out of bed as slowly as she could, hoping she wouldn't wake Dean up. "Mm," he grumbled, reaching his arm out. "Running out on me?"

"You're a light sleeper," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair. His eyes were still closed as he groaned softly.

"'M always on edge," he mumbled. He propped himself up on his elbows as he blinked his eyes awake. "How were you gonna get home?"

She shrugged. "I was just gonna call an Uber." Dean scoffed and sat up.

"Come on," he said. "I'll give you a ride."

"No, no," she said quickly. "It's barely 5:00."

"Mm, then I've already slept too long," he said, a smile growing on his face. She rolled her eyes and got out of bed, tugging her shorts back up her legs. She slid her shoes on just as Dean pulled on some sweats. They walked through the apartment and headed to the elevator, both a little too sleepy to make good conversation. In the car, Dean pushed a cassette in and played it at a dull hum.

"I know this song," she said, reaching forward to turn the nob up a bit. "Only God knows where I've been. I'm a devil on the run. A six gun lover, a candle in the wind." Dean looked at her with raised eyebrows. "My dads always play the classic rock station at the shop." She was quiet until the chorus hit: "I'm going out in a blaze of glory. Take me now but know the truth. I'm going out in a blaze of glory." Dean chuckled, amused, and she shrugged with a smile. "I can get used to your music too."

----- ----- ----- -----

(next)

series masterlist found here

general masterlist found here

----- ----- ----- -----

add yourself to my TAGLIST

If you want to be taken off the list (or be put on for only certain people) just message me and let me know!

#dean winchester #dean winchester fic #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester x ofc #original female character #ofc #supernatural #supernatural au #mob!dean #mob au #mafia au #dean winchester fluff #supernatural imagine #supernatural fic #firecracker soul

20 notes · View notes

moonlightreal · 4 years ago

Text

Fate Episode One

At long last, it’s tiiiiiime!

First: whitewashing bad. Fact acknowledged. Everybody else has said everything on the subject (ad nauseum...) so no reason to say it all again!

I’m diving in with questions. The main one is “Will there be a good reason for Musa to be a mind fairy rather than a music fairy?” Dunno why that’s what I’m wondering the most, but it is. There’s also “Is Fate!Stella truly an unholy union of Stella and Diaspro?” and “so what makes them fairies not witches/psychics/mutants?” and “So what’s up with Beatrix? We know nothing about her, and as an Umineko fan I’m favorably disposed towards witches named Beatrice!” and also “They’re not really having sex are they?!”

I’m going to try and approach Fate just like I do every season of the cartoon, ready to celebrate the good, snark at the bad, enjoy many headcanons, reference random stuff, and have a good time. Pretending I haven’t had my fannish heart nigh to broken by the state of the fandom and that I’m worried I’ll get hate for even posting this. I’m’a try to start from zero to find my own answer the really big question… “Good, bad, or totally irredeemable?”

So… In which we discover a new world.

We start with… a night scene. Not promising when “too dark can’t see” is one of my pet peeves! An old fella comes out to check on his cute Irish sheep. He passes through the barrier, into the dangerous forest beyond to look for a missing sheep. Yup, he’s gonna be guest victim in the first five minutes.

Oh no! Something has disemboweled a sheep and left it hanging in a tree! Clearly there are leopards in the magical realm!

There is a great roar and an unseen but very large-sounding beast chases our poor shepherd! The guy trips and falls just as he’s about to get through the barrier and is set upon and devoured by the unseen beast! Blood spatters the rocks!

Opening! It’s the wings we’ve sen and some really beautiful music. One point for the music.

Then a gorgeous flying shot of the outside of the barrier and Alfea. Whatever the plot turns out to be, the outdoor setting is beautiful. Music that seems to be both pop and edgy plays as we zoom in on the logo on the gate, and there’s Bloom coming in the gate.

And there’s Terra with her father and a tray full of plants.

And there’s Aisha walking by with her dreads

And there’s Stella taking a selfie with other students.

And there’s Musa leaning on her suitcase, headphones on, looking at her phone. Another girl says something to Musa and she turns and replies and smiles.

And there’s one of the guys twirling a knife. I’ve heard Sky starts out in a pink shirt so this must be Riven. The camera comes back to Bloom as she gives him a doubtful look. In the novelization she’s mentally labeling him an edgelord, and that kinda fits. Any dude showing off his willingness to twirl weapons at a high school probably is best avoided—except the dudes here are training to fight so the weapons rules must be different. I wonder if Bloom knows yet that dudes with swords are normal here.

Bloom gets a text to meet Stella at the gate. She waits.

Camera pan to Sky talking to another guy. Sky looks… Sky-ish. Chris Evans style handsome, blond. I’d’ve made him grow his hair to mimic cartoon Sky’s silly shaggy haircut, but points for making Sky look like Sky! Minus points for not dying Riven maroon. They could’ve made it work!

Sky is indeed wearing a pink shirt. In the novelization Bloom thinks he’s wearing it “because gender roles were for the weak” which is a line I think is funny and intend to use in a story somewhere. There is no obvious hint in the show that Sky thinks gender roles are for the weak

Bloom’s tired of waiting. She heads off. Sky ditches his buddy to go meet her. “Wow, you are so lost. I’m impressed with your confidence in the face of complete ignorance. Issue is, you’re overcomitted. You’re essentially running. And now that I’m here you can’t possibly give me the satisfaction of turning around.” he says, all in one go.

I can’t decide if that’s jerkish or charming. Maybe Bloom shares my weakness for men with accents because she decides on charming.

Bloom says she’s a fairy, giggles because that’s something she never thought she’d say, they’re standing in the courtyard of a college for fairies, Bloom’s from California, not the Otherworld. So we get all that established. Sky is kinda charming here and points out the specialists’ hall and fairy hall.

Sky: “I’d be happy to-”

Bloom: “Mansplain it?”

So the writing team does know some modern issues! Bloom says Sky seems like a mansplainer, which seems like quite a leap since she is new and he is helping her, in a friendly-sarcastic kind of way. She’s giggling, clearly charmed.

Then Riven comes up, and he’s like a foot shorter than Sky, and Bloom escapes for some reason so maybe she wasn’t enjoying the conversation as much as it looked? Or maybe it was just the plot needs to move along. Riven glomp-hugs Sky. He’s got a great accent too.

Bloom must’ve left because she saw Stella, they say hello. Bloom says she got impatient waiting and Stella says, “How very American of you” So American stereotypes are known in magical worlds also?

So, Stella! Blonde, tall, zero Stella vibe. Accent. Long pale coat and a satiny top with big chunky pendant. She gets to her ring quick, “Portal ring, the only thing that keeps me sane in this place is the ability to leave it. Your world may not always be thrilling but it beats this one. There are seven realms in the Otherworld, each a different kind of boring.” All spoken in a jaded monotone. Ugh, what have they done to our Stella!

The girls walk inside while Stella speaks, the school is pale stone and arches and plants. Other students are arriving, hauling suitcases, hugging. At least some of them seem happy to be here!

Cut to the globe! and it’s a magical globe, the water moves and there are lil sailing ships! But the lands are totally blank, so it’s a cheap magic globe Dowling didn’t pay enough for the one with tiny forests too. Alfea is in the realm of Solaria.

Maybe they shouldn’t have made Ireland = Solaria. I’ve only been to England but we did not see the sun the whole trip! Bloom’s in Dowling’s really cool office. She spins the globe but the camera pans away before we see the names of the other realms. Bloom’s talking nervously about seeing people updating their insta stories, expecting Tinkerbells, and the lack of wings.

Dowling: “We had wings in the past. As we’ve evolved, transformation magic has been lost. Tink was an air fairy, you’re a fire fairy.”

Dowling says classes tomorrow, learn to use magic slowly but safely… we establish Bloom is here to learn to control her magic so she can go home and not keen on ‘slow.’ Dowling says, ‘trust the process’ which immediately makes me mistrust her.

Then she gives a great lil speech: “Alfea’s graduates have ruled realms and led armies. They have forged powerful relics and rediscovered long lost relics. They shape the otherworld.”

But Bloom just wants to get done and go home. She says, ‘I'm here because you promised you’d teach me control.” and Dowling says, ‘no, you’re here because you knew you have no other choice.” and Bloom looks betrayed.

Yeah Dowling’s sus.

Next scene: Bloom showing her dorm to her parents over video call! How does that work between dimensions? Her folks look nothing like Mika and Vanessa, dad’s got a beard and silver temples, mom’s got big blonde curls. Neither of them have burn injuries or the sort of freaked out vibe I’d expect from folks whose house was just on fire.

Roommate pan-around! Terra puts potted plants everywhere! Stella preens at the vanity! Musa headphones-and-laptop but smiles at Terra. Aisha comes in with her laundry bag.

Bloom’s parents get suspicious about the timezone thing, they think Bloom’s in the Alps, and Aisha comes and covers for her saying it’s time for lights out.

Aisha intro! She is wearing a pink and brown checkered dress that’s not super fashionable or flattering. I like her blue braids though. Aisha does not seem to have the accent that many Alfeans have.

Bloom explains the “human parents, fairy daughter, I must be a throwback to an ancestor” thing. Aisha looks dubious. Then they mention Harry Potter!

Bloom; ‘Ravenclaw, sometimes Slytherin.’

Aisha; ‘Explains the lies then. Gryffindor.’

Bloom: ‘Explains the judgment.’

Congrats, you both were jerks in three short lines. 9_9 But they’re smiling so I guess it’s friendly sniping.

Bloom goes to see Stella, who’s holding up sparkly tops to herself. She’s also got this weird rainbow skirt that looks like gymnastics clothes not real clothes. Stella’s changing for the party because people have already seen her in her clothes. Bloom asks confused, ‘People expect you to wear multiple outfits?’ and Stella comes back with, ‘people expect me to care how I look.” In the same jaded monotone.

Before Bloom can WTF outta there like a sensible person Stella snaps her fingers and creates a ball of light. Bloom gapes, but not nearly as much as I feel like she should. The magic is beautiful, it’s all rainbowy and sparkly. Bloom just hesitantly asks, ‘Can I ask, how exactly you..?” and Stella shuts her down with an almost kind, “I’m a mentor, not a tutor.”

But she does give a little infodump. “Fairy magic is tied to emotion. God thoughts, bad, hatred, fear, the stronger the emotion the stronger the magic.”

And Bloom says, ‘Do you hate me or fear me? You were looking at me when you did that. And I’m pretty sure you don’t love me.” Smart cookie, Bloom! Points to you! We know it’s because Bloom was talking to sky, and that gives Stellla some emotions.

And points to Stella, she thaws out her voice and talks like a real person, ‘I don’t know you. I’m sure once I do I’ll find something to love.” She sounds rather doubtful about the last bit but yay actual emotion!

Then Stella goes over to Terra for her intro scene and I cringe because the novelization did Terra dirty and I’m not keen to see it on screen. But it works ok. Stella gently calls Terra on the number of houseplants and says the secret garden was better kept secret, Terra responds that wasn’t really the message of the book, Stella looks at her with amused patience and leaves Musa and Terra to continue the scene. And I decide if there’s no infodump about how earth and the Otherworld relate to each other in this show I shall be cross.

Then Terra chatters on about her family and how she grew up at Alfea since her dad works here (she’s holding a 100% fake plant) and drops that Stella is a second year. Musa asks why a second-year is in a first-year suite and Terra says it’s some administrative thing probably best not to mention. But Terra totally knows the secret.

Musa’s eyes glow purple. Magic! But we don’t hear what she hears. She starts putting her headphones on. Terra goes on to say they should all not mention it to Stella, then interrupts another headphones-attempt to offer Musa a succulent, “They’re low maintainence, perfect for you, not that I really know you...’

Musa: ‘If I take it will you stop talking?”

Terra visibly deflates and Musa apologizes and grabs the succulent before finally getting to escape into music.

Aisha leans in to ask Terra if Alfea has a pool. It has a river and Aisha’s been swimming—twice a day every day! Terra says no pool, just the pond where the specialists train but nobody swims there, at least not on purpose.

And we immediately cut out to the pond, which looks pretty mucky, I wouldn’t want to swim there either! Two specialists, a boy and a girl, are whacking away at each other with wooden swords on the shore. They’re all dressed in black pants and tank tops, very Divergent movie poster except with the Alfea logo on the front. There’s a bunch of specialists training all around the pond and one does indeed knock their opponent in with a splash! But we home in on Sky and Riven and I cannot get over how short and skinny Riven is compared to Sky! And the fact that I’ve just been rewatching Lord of the Rings and Riven doesn’t look 100% not like Dominic Monaghan… sorry Riven’s actor, I’m sure in future episodes I’ll stop thinking you’re a hobbit!

Anyway, Riven’s teasing Sky about his crush on Bloom, says Sky always goes for the crazy ones and all redheads are crazy. Sky puts Riven on the mat and Riven says he was getting high all summer and not practicing. Before Sky can give him a “big brother speech” on that riven skedaddled because here comes the teacher with a different speech!

This show’s Codatorta, whose name is Silva and who looks very irish and I like him, does a little speech about how y’all gotta train, singles out a black guy I think is Dane and says, ‘even you will be able to fight like him.” and attacks Sky, who fights back. They spar for a minute.

Infodump: “Sky’s father was Andreas of Eraklyon, that makes him a legacy.” Also, some of these kids are from families of specialists and some were selected by Silva based on their talent for combat and weaponry. “This place will seem like hell until actual hell comes. We are the first line of defense, a certainty when the future is uncertain!’

Then Dane snickers about the whole ‘school full of kids with swords’ and Silva says it must be nice to be so ‘soft’ he can make fun. And Dane drops that the barrier exists ‘to protect the school from Burned Ones.”

As he says it, we cut to Sky going out through the barrier to smoke.

Burned ones are gone. But Silva saw one when he was a kid. His father shot it but was killed by the Burned One’s poison. Burned Ones are inhumanly strong and fast, and have a terrible poison, or disease that kills people who get away.

Sky looks over and sees the shepherd’s body. Yikes!

Cut to the staff arriving to look at the remains. Just three: Dowling, Codatorta, and Terra’s dad. Is that the whole staff? Who teaches? Could’ve been a wolf or a bear… Terra’s dad collects some gunk from the body and I think calls it “char residue.”

Dowling says, “She killed all the Burned Ones.”

She? This world’s Marion/Daphne, likely.

But the adults clean it up so the kids can party! Our girls are gathered around the food, and they’re better dressed! Aisha’s got her hair up and a blue hoodie, Musa’s got a little red coat. Terra has not been blessed by the fashion fairy, she’s in some overalls it looks like, not flattering. Terra is saying hopefully that maybe the shepherd died of old age and Musa’s ‘Yeah, that old age decapitation” is gentle ribbing not cruel.

Aisha’s loading up a stack of cookies, says how much she eats and, ‘If I didn’t swim I’d be massive.” it’s not aimed at Terra , but Terra flinches. Aisha heads off and Terra says something that boils down to, ‘Musa, you’re tuning out me in particular.” which, Terra you’ve known Musa for what, six hours? Way too short a time to take it personal. Musa says, ‘It’s a me thing, it’s not you.” and Terra just flusters and heads away. Musa looks troubled but not sure what to do and puts her headphones on.

This is SO much better than in the book. Not perfect, all the interactions between the girls have been very weird as if they’ve been given a script full of cruel catty lines and instructed to say them in a kind way, but at least they’ve tried for the vibe of “trying to be nice to people we don’t know yet and flubbing it” rather than “we are all terrible people” like I feared.

Terra meets her dad and tries to go to the greenhouse with him but he makes her stay to enjoy the party.

Cut to some grownup dude—Dowling’s secretary? Apparently searching for something in a desk that I presume is outside the headmistress’ office.

Beatrix… or possibly a gothed-up Bloom… comes to see Dowling and when told the headmistress isn’t in says, ‘I’ll just take a water, room temp, thanks love.’ and then when the door opens Beatrix greets Dowling with a simpering ‘I'm your biggest fan, I’m obsessed with Alfea...” and cascading apologies for swearing, with more swearing. Dowling and her secretary are as confused by this as I am but Dowling says Beatrix can study the history of Alfea in the library if she wants to. I assume this is evil Beatrix slyly getting permission to hit the books. Is Beatrix even a student at Alfea?

Cut to Bloom’s notebook, she’s already started taking notes about powers being linked to emotions, love hate and fear. Great initiative Bloom, but are there no textbooks you could be reading ahead in?

We get dumped back to a flashback: Bloom’s mom wants her to go out on a Saturday night, to a party or a movie or whatever teen thing. All Bloom wants to do is go to antique sales apparently. Bloom doesn’t want to be a “basic bitch” like her mom and her mom doesn’t want her daughter to be a “weird loner.”

Pause while I urban dictionary “basic bitch.” Huh. Not a term I ever heard in my circle of nerds.

Bloom and her mom are awful to each other. Back in the present Bloom’s eyes flame up as she remembers. She decides it’s time to go experiment! Right now! Before even one day of magic class or one page of a textbook! The idiot ball has entered play.

Night has fallen because of course it has. Bloom runs into Sky at the party. But she’s not looking to party, she’s looking for a place to be alone outside. Sky directs her to beyond the barrier, because we’re about to have Plot. If it weren’t for Plot I‘m sure Sky could’ve suggested a specialist workout area inside the barrier. Sky says there might be wolves or bears or “maybe something much scarier” and Bloom catches the idiot ball and says, ‘But no people? Perfect!”

Sky offers to go with her but Bloom says no thanks in a “I think you may be flirting and I may be down for that in the future just not right now.” kind of a way. Good character interaction! Except Stella grabs Sky for a chat once Bloom heads out to meet the Plot.

Sky and Stella have an opaque exchange that really just establishes they have a past of some sort that everyone knows about because everyone stares—or at least Stella thinks everyone is staring. I’m starting to feel weirdly sorry for this Stella who has none of her namesake’s sparkle and confidence. Why does she think all the realms are boring? Is she ever enthusiastic?

...wait, it’s still day! Why was it night inside?? This show is weird about lighting. Gosh Ireland is beautiful! Where’s this castle they got to be Alfea? Can I go there? This FOREST! It is a fully magical forest. Aisha is swimming in the river, with goggles and a cap but Bloom heads into the amazing forest. Good music here too! Forests and magic and music, come on Fate you CAN be a good show, I believe in you! Just put down the idiot ball and step away... Bloom goes through the barrier and outside it sees a swirl of orange and white sparkles in the air. She watches it and laughs and then hikes through a little more forest.

Finding a clearing Bloom calls her fire. At first she can’t, then she looks through the pictures on her phone looking for emotion. “Pictures of my sad teenage years are not happy thoughts. Noted.” She says with an angsty little smile. Then there’s a photo of the burned out house. She zooms in and stares at it taking in all the details. And we get flashbacks to the line of fire racing towards her parents’ bed.

Fire! Bloom turns her handful of fire this way and that, delighted, then tries for two hands. This is the scene from the trailer, playing with fire. Good music here. And good that Bloom thought the magic was neat… uuuuntil she realizes she doesn’t know how to put it out. She freaks out and waves her hands around trying to blow out the flames.

Aisha comes to the rescue and says dumb things like, “You’re losing control.” and “If you get angry at me...” and Bloom does get angry and throws lines of fire right at Aisha. Who looks terrified. Sensibly, but also has she never seen fire magic before? She grew up in a magic realm, does she know nothing about how to help someone get control? Is control taught to magical babies so teenagers rarely see someone wigging out? But if magic is emotion then everyone will lose control sometime since we all get upset. How does an emotion=magic society function?

Anyway. aisha pulls water up from the ground and puts out the flames.

Inside Aisha gives Bloom what for about losing control. Including, “Is that American for sorry I almost set you on fire?” Srsly, this show is Irish people and Italians stealth throwing shade at Americans! *Laughs in January 2021* Bloom retorts that she went away from people to experiment for just that reason, and tells Aisha about not having had fairy parents or any magical experience.

Aisha responds with the story of flooding her school including the toilets and having to wade through poo. (I also tend to call it poo, after watching Mike Rowe. I wonder if they watch Dirty Jobs in the Otherworld.)

And Bloom tells her story. Bloom isn’t a cheerleader, she likes antiques and staying home by herself, so she and her mom don’t get along. Her parents removed her door, which is awful! And Bloom got flamey eyes and sent fire straight at her parents while they slept. While Bloom sat on her bed in a rage trance. Understandable level of fury after that fight. And Bloom feels awful, also understandable. And she snuck out to sleep in a creepy warehouse to protect her parents. Her folks didn’t know it was her of course, they don’t know about magic.

Aisha says that beats her flood story, but Aisha is also wondering about something. “You drew on a good deal of magic without even trying. it’s hard to believe you’re from a dormant bloodline. Is there any chance you’re adopted?”

Bloom laughs. Then says she heard the story of her birth a million times, she was a miracle baby diagnosed with a heart defect but then after birth her heart was fine.

Aisha: “Oh god, you’re a changeling!” … ‘It’s barbaric and it barely ever happens anymore….”

Bloom has had enough and just says, “why would you even tell me that?” and leaves. Musa comes over and asks Aisha what she said. Aisha: “The truth. Because someone’s been lying to her.”

Cut to Dowling, lookin’ sus!

This changeling thing had better be fully explained later. Why was it done in the past? Why is it considered barbaric? What happened to the parents’ real kid? I assume she died of the heart condition, but that’s a bigole dangling bit of Plot. In the unlikely event that Fate goes for many seasons that baby will turn up with magic too or as a specialist or something.

Dowling pours tea. Then she telekinetically locks her office door and opens a secret passage! Dowling is sus.

Back at the party, where it again seems to be night. Dane is leaning on a column hangin out when here comes Riven with a flask! He offers, Dane says no thanks, Riven says, ‘There are two types of first-years: pussies and aspiring former pussies.” and pours the entire flask’s worth of booze into Dane’s cup anyway.

Dane says something about, “It feels like less a binary choice and more like a spectrum.” And points for the actor delivering this line like it’s a sarcastic comment on social juscice-ness rather than the large sign saying “Dane is not straight!’ that the writers intended. Dane drinks, makes a face, and Riven bullies him into drinking the rest, tipping the glass so Dane chokes.

Terra rides to the rescue, “Bullying the first-years? Can you be more basic?” and Riven says Dane was into it which he wasn’t.

Terra: “Thinks he’s some badass but you should’ve seen him last year he was just a tragic nerd in disguise.”

Riven: “And she’s just three people in disguise.”

Dane does call Riven out on that bit of nastiness but Terra just does a great lil speech and strangles Riven with vines. Thought I’d hate that but I kinda liked it. Go Terra. Then she introduces herself to Dane, says that wasn’t a great first impression but Dane says he’s about to make an impression by throwing up after a single drink, and Terra hurries him away presumably to the nurse.

Bloom google-imaged changelings! Lotsa woodcuts, someone’s fanart entitled “horror of fairy babies.’ There’s more nuance to it than that… Bloom looks at a family photograph.

There’s Stella, coming to be sympathetic? Nope, she’s coming to conivingly advance the plot! “You know there’s no shame in that, wanting a normal life, wanting to be home...”

When the girls get back Bloom is nowhere to be found. Musa mind-reads that Stella is wracked with guilt, They put it together, Bloom was talking to Sky and now she’s gone. Apparently Stella did something nasty to the last girl who talked to Sky. Terra is kinda straight up badass. Stella confesses, she kindly loaned Bloom the portal ring so she could go back to “the first world” but to use it Bloom has to go deep into the forest outside the barrier to a door in a graveyard.

Portal’s super low special effects, Bloom pushes open a door in a cemetary, the ring glows, and Bloom walks into what must be the warehouse she hid out in.

It’s very dark inside both buildings but away from the cemetary it seems to still be day so we can see a Burned One’s shadow coming towards the portal. Day and night seem to depend on location in this show, and anywhere you need a monster it’s gonna be dark! Bloom seems to leave the magic portal open and we see her step out on the warehouse into a weirdly well-lit night on earth.

Real actual nighttime on earth. Bloom walks to her parents’ house and calls them from outside. Her dad’s surprised she called twice in one day. This call her folks seem just worried and nice, not awful like they were in the flashback. Bloom cries. She can’t ask her parents about the changeling thing. Her mom says very kind, ‘Your path isn’t like mine or your father’s but I can’t wait to see who you become.” Bloom hangs up and cries and watches her parents in their house, then walks back to the warehouse to return to Alfea.

But first we get to see where she was camping! In a little office in the warehouse. She brought a lot of stuff, bedding and pictures for the walls and everything. She opens a notebook and we see that she was experimenting already, discovered she was fireproof, wondered if she had superpowers. Then she senses something and looks out through an interior window into the rest of the warehouse.

Yikes! it’s a Burned One!

Bloom staggers back, trips, and drops Stella’s ring down a grate in the floor.

Bloom’s never heard of Burned Ones at this point but she knows a monster when she sees one. She cowers, back to the wall. The Burned One breaks through the window and tries to grab her!

Bloom escapes into some kind of tunnel, I guess she opened the grate that the ring fell through? It’s not totally clear. There’s the ring, on the other side of a different grate or screen, Bloom can’t reach it, there’s lots of roaring, Bloom runs like hell!

And there’s Dowling! She says, ‘don’t stop now.’ and gestures Bloom through the door back to the cemetery. The door closes behind her. Terra, Musa and Aisha are waiting to make sure Bloom’s ok. Bloom says the Burned One got the ring.

Stella, meanwhile, is on Sky’s bed when he comes out of the shower! Dressed, at least.

Sky is not interested. “You can’t be here, Stell. If Silva finds out-’ Sky goes for his trousers but Stella comes over and snuggles up to his bare back. Sky is still not keen. Seems Stella dumped him then went silent all summer and now she’s jumping in since he talked to Bloom. Stella… comes out and says, “I got jealous. I did something really stupid.” and she says, “I can’t sleep in a room where everybody hates me.” For sending Bloom into danger to get home when that’s what Bloom wanted? Not great, Stella, but hateworthy? Did the girls all tell her they hate her or does Stella just think she’s an awful person? And is Stella actually desperately unhappy or is she just trying to get in Sky’s pants? Not sure what to take away from this. Sky hugs Stella and tells her she’s better than she thinks she is.

The others get back to the dorm and Aisha reassures Bloom that Dowling can take care of the Burned One.

Cut to Beatrix leaving her raid on the library with armfuls of books. She passed Riven, who’s smoking. They say flirty things and Beatrix says she’s been “snorting the midnight adderall” to show that she’s a bad girl. Riven offers her a puff but her hands are full of books so they do this almost-kiss so Riven can blow smoke into her mouth. Erotic, also gross. Is that a real thing people do? Riven asks Beatrix if she’s a first-year and she says “I’m lots of things” and walks off leaving Riven and the room he’s in, which has the most gorgeous arched windows with trees in them. Is this place real? It’s the same place the party was but now it’s night and these windows are glowing green with tree outlines in them. This has gotta be something the filmmakers added.

Pajama scene in the girls’ suite, Terra waters plants, Musa hops in bed with headphones on. Terra does a needy little wave. Musa reluctantly un-headphones. Terra offers a speaker she borrowed from her brother so Musa can have her music without shutting other people out.

And I cringe so hard because just let people tune you out if they want! Communicate by whiteboard! People not wanting to share doesn’t mean they hate you, it means they have their own thoughts they’re busy with! Come on Terra, be better than your novelization self!

Musa calls Terra out on her fake-happy bullshit. Musa can feel all of Terra’s insecurities and anger. Seems like maybe empaths shouldn’t have to share a room! What’s the range on mind reading? How did Musa hit 16 without learning to tune stuff out or going mad? But Musa says, ‘but if you want to know how I really feel...” and switches her music to a speaker, it’s guitar-y and nice.

Up in Dowling’s office, Silva says she should’ve killed the Burned One not left it chained up and knocked out in a shack outside the barrier. Dowling needs to investigate this Burned One, see if there are more of them. Then Dowling spills that Bloom is a changeling, from the time the last Burned One disappeared. And she says, “Rosalind kept so much from us. I’m worried about the students. The Alfea they know is very different from the one we attended.” There’s something very “there was a war before” about the two of them. Dowling may not be sus after all, though that may make her a terrible headmistress depending on how the next episodes go.

Montage of sleeping students. Terra and Dane are texting. Dane accidentally likes one of Riven’s sexy photos. Riven’s pleased. Sky and Stella are sharing a bed but after the last scene I can’t imagine they actually did anything. Sky seemed pretty unseduceable.

And outside a Mysterious Cloaked Figure passes through the barricade, finds the Burned One in the hut, and zaps it awake with lightning. It pushed back its hood… Beatrix! So if she undid her too-tight braids she’d be Stormy? So is Beatrix the villain? I mean obviously she’s a villain but the threat of the Burned Ones feels... bigger than one teenager in Bratz clothes who has not got the presence of even one Trix much less all three wrapped up together. But anyway she’ gets to be a doomful cloaked figure at the end of episode one.

Very pretty ending credits music. Listened to it several times. I can’t understand the lyrics which is probably just as well. Is it in irish or is it just sung in a way to not have clear lyrics? C’mon fate, Irishness is a big thing you’ve got going for you, please milk it for all its worth!

I… I LIKED it! Now my friends say future episodes get worse so I can’t get my hopes too high but this wasn’t awful. None of the girls really had any vibe of their characters, only Bloom and Sky really look like Bloom and Sky. The worldbuilding is lacking, I’m left with more questions than answers.

And oh god one episode was ten pages and about five hours. I… I meant to do this with every episode but I’m not sure I can. There’s so much to comment on it takes forever. Maybe I’ll do each one in parts. Or maybe I’ll abandon the writing and just watch the show like a normal person. It’s a lot of fun to fine-toothed comb each scene but I’m’a be here forever!

#fate the winx saga

4 notes · View notes

neeterloveschenford · 5 years ago

Text

Thoughts on RNM 2x13

Howdy partners! Well here we are at the end of the season. Even though I didn’t have to work today and was able to watch last night, I needed time to process what happened. I also was very interested in all the diverging opinions last night and today over everything that happened with Malex. I am still smiling when I think about all that went down. (And I know I keep harping on this, but I am NOT a positive person outside of this show. Every time I talk about how hopeful I am to my two friends at work who are are fandom junkies, they are like Damn Dawnita, when’d you get so positive! But I digress.) All in all I was very pleased with this episode. And it sure as heck was loads better than last year’s finale. So without further ado, let’s dive in shall we!

Things I Liked:

-Badass science goddess Liz saving the day! She’s amazing. I love her. And Isobel also being a badass containing the fire! That’s my girls!

-Glad Charlie was rescued! At least Helena did something right.

- Gregory Manes is bestest brother to ever brother and I would take a bullet for him. And even thought I really love Trevor St John and thought Jesse was a very compelling villain, I am glad Jesse’s dead. It was time for him to go. He was getting too comic book villain.

- Even though I have some issues with Max, I am glad he’s ok. I did not want to revisit the save Max at all costs storyline.

- Liz getting recognition for her brilliance is nice, But we know Diego shady, so.......

- “Witch serum” made me snort. Also, Maria knows what’s what. I still maintain she’s feeling Michael’s leftover emotions from Alex’s kidnapping now that she’s not wearing the bracelet.

- Well, it took several episodes, but Max finally was supportive of Isobel without making it all about himself. She is pretty amazing and it’s about time he told her.

- Isobel acts all hard and tough, but she wants to find real love so badly!

- They FINALLY faced their trauma from the tool shed! Michael handing Alex that hammer was so symbolic. Alex angry screams. God baby I wanna give you all the hugs!

- Of course there was a dead body! Poor Tripp!

- I am totally loving the brotp of Max and Cam. She gets so much joy dragging him. They make me laugh every time they are together.

- I think the M!luca I love you’s were handled well. I’m not upset that she got an I love you before Alex. I mean haven’t we gotten these epic declarations from Malex over the last two seasons? I’ll take and I never look away, not really over a simple I love you any day of the week. And what’s so wrong with them actually loving each other? Maria KNOWS she’s not Michael’s cosmic love. She realizes that, yes, Michael would have risked his life to save her. But I think he would have gone to the others first and not just dropped everything to save her. And it’s not a bad thing to love someone but know that in the long run they are not the one you’re supposed to spend your life with. I have an ex-boyfriend that I still think is one of the finest people I’ve ever met and I love him dearly. But we just weren’t meant for the long haul. I think this is what Michael and Maria will be to each other. (Ok, enough of that.)

- Tripp and Nora (sigh!) I just love their romance. The fact that Tripp used the word cosmic just melted my heart. And the Malex look when Alex read that. I just died a little. Such a beautiful parallel.

- Drunk acting Jenna is perfection. And she’s right! Women should tell other women when they’re beautiful!

- So what’s wrong with Max’s heart? I want to see that x-ray Kyle.

- I like that Isobel ships Tripp and Nora. Same girl. Tell me more boys.

-”Can we all cowboy up and focus please?” I love it when Isobel sasses. She’s the best. And can we have more bro moments between Max and Michael please? It’s some of the few times Max doesn’t get on my nerves.

-How many times are the Manes/Truman couples going to break my heart? Tripp had to leave her. (SOB) He doesn’t a family without her!

-I really want to know about the date June 14, 1997. Why will they be safer 50 years from then?

-Loved the Jenna/Charlie reunion. Glad Charlie decided to stick around.

- This Echo fight has been too long coming. They have held things back from each other every single time they had any kind of conflict. It was bound to boil over. And they are both right. Liz was taking things too far. Max makes decisions without consulting anyone else. They both needed to be called out on their behaviors.

- I adore the sisters Ortecho. I would watch a whole show just about Liz and Rosa. (With plenty of Arturo moments.)

- Finally some Kylex! It was flawless. It gave us hope for Flint’s redemption and acknowledged how Alex has forgiven Kyle. In Alex’s mind, if Kyle can change, then anyone can. Give me more of them in season 3 please and thank you.

- Alex’s song! It just gutted me. Tyler is so incredibly talented. And the look on Michael’s face when he realized it was Alex singing. Then when Alex saw Michael. These two goobers! Ugh! (Ok I’m going to delve into more of this at the end. I have a lot to say.)

- Rosa telling Helena loves her but she needs to leave them alone was beautiful. This is Rosa growing up. She’s not the angry teenager anymore.

- “We are sick of being pissed at you for being obnoxiously yourself.” Same Michael, same.

- I’m not sure if I like or don’t like Max 1.0. Although I will be obnoxiously saying Howdy partner from now on. And I want to know about him being the stowaway. (Hey, we got an answer to something!)

Things I Didn’t Like:

- Gotta say I didn’t enjoy Crash Con. Glad it was over and done with quick.

- So did anyone wonder what was actually wrong with Maria at the hospital? Michael said she had surgery, but for what? I’m assuming it was for internal bleeding, but most people don’t just spontaneously start bleeding internally.

- Of course Jesse gets to die a hero. But who covered it up? Was it Alex? Is there someone else involved int PS that we don’t know about yet?

- Diego, you are just shady and I don’t like you. I was rooting for you too. Shame.

- Is it bad that I really don’t care about Steph? It is? Guess I’m resigned to just being bad. Cause I just don’t care. Congratulations you didn’t die.

- Max! You couldn’t have just taken everything, or called Liz or even Alex? Wrong move dude. Seriously dude.

- That’s the building you blew up? I am not impressed. That was a waste of f/x.

- No romantic gesture from Max to try to get Liz to stay. Just goes to show how off the deep end Max really is at this point.

- The stowaway’s beard upsets me.

Malex:

Ok here’s where I’m going to dive into the deep end of my Malex feels. First of all, I did not take Alex performing as his big love declaration. He didn’t tell most people that he was going to sing. Even Kyle didn’t know. He had no idea that Michael was going to walk in at that moment. And since it’s been at least a week, maybe more, since Crash Con, I think Alex and Forrest were already seeing each other casually. Obviously, since Forrest at least knew he was singing, they have had some kind of contact. And Michael’s reaction was probably the most Michael thing he’s done all season. Michael sacrifices himself for other people’s happiness. When he looked over and saw the besotted look on Forrest’s face, he knew that Forrest could give Alex something in that moment that Michael couldn’t. Stability. Michael is just now realizing that he can’t blame all of their problems on Alex walking away or the despicable acts of the Manes family. He knows that if he’s going to good for the one person in this world that he wants to be good for, then he’s going to have to work to get there. He can’t hide in his relationship with Maria anymore. He has no choice but to face his problems head on and change for the better. I’ve seen so many people upset that they didn’t have a conversation after the song, but did they need to? They have hashed this out over and over again almost every episode this season. Despite talking in past tense, they know how much they love each other. Michael built a bomb that would kill himself and every alien on the planet just to save Alex. Alex wrote and performed a freaking love song about Michael. Michael knows that he has to deal with his traumas before he can be with Alex. But for the first time in forever he’s confident that they will find their way back to each other. And he would be a complete hypocrite if he asked Alex to wait for him and not get involved with Forrest. Michael wasn’t exactly celibate during the lost years. Also, I don’t think we’re going to get the big love triangle that we got this season. I don’t think Forrest and Alex are going to be a super heavy romance. As far as we know Forrest isn’t looking to lose himself in a relationship like Michael and frankly Maria were. So I’m not worried about them at all. And with a big time jump to deal with Covid-19, they can even have the relationship end organically. Alex could get deployed somewhere and they realize that they are better off as friend. Then Alex can come back and Michael will have worked on being a better person and they can start over again. And it will be glorious, because once those two work it out, that’s it. They are going straight into domestic bliss. They might even start a little dad band!

So that’s all I’ve got for now. I have many more thoughts, but this is probably the longest review yet, so I will be back with more theories and such at a later date. I am planning on a little project for the lengthy hiatus where I write my thoughts on each individual character. Some will be short because they are minor characters without much backstory. Some will be huge and no one will finish it because Dawnita says way too much about certain things! But until then, I hope you all stay safe and healthy. Till later my lovlies!

#roswell new mexico #long post #like really long post #season 2 episode 13 #spoilers #speculations #malex #as always #like seriously #sorry for the long post

15 notes · View notes

chucksbruins · 6 years ago

Text

author’s note: First of all I need to say the biggest thank you to everyone who took the time to read the first part, you all left so many amazingly kind messages and I was absolutely blown away! A special shoutout to @seggstars and @psychospeak-blog for being so encouraging <3 If you ever feel so inclined, I’d love to talk to you guys so feel free to drop into my asks and let me know your favorite lines and any predictions you might have for this fic!!

word count: 2.5k

warnings: drinking, swearing

Part 1

c2. Unexpected and Unprepared

I was completely and utterly exhausted as I slumped onto the now familiar barstool of Pel’s Pub. Five weeks had passed since my first visit to the small bar, whose heavy wooden door served to be a beacon of warmth against the bitter cold nights that settled in Dallas during February. Having grown up in Philly,I thought I was prepared for any sort of weather but Dallas was testing me more than I had expected. The cool nights failed to be accompanied by a familiar white dusting, leaving only barren trees and my breath in front of me with nothing to force me to appreciate the time of year.

I’d found myself frequenting Pel’s at the end of every week, finding comfort in the dim lights and murmured conversations of the other regular patrons. Pel and his wife Alice truly fit the mold of what I’d expected from the South, always greetingher with a welcoming smile and a genuine kindness expressed through long conversations over pitchers of good beer. I’d learned the two had met their sophomore year of college – Pel the school’s football kicker and Alice his quiet but feisty English TA. Pel could talk for hours about how lovely his wife was and the girl couldn’t help but always smile goofily, the warm beer-induced flush extending from her cheeks deep into her heart. It was nice, I thought, to be reminded of what true love looked like – a stark contrast to the definition of love that I had believed in for the past decade.

“You seem tired today hon’, everything alright?” Alice asked, sliding a beer across the counter to rest in front of her.

I let out a heavy sigh, “Just exhausted, I knew teaching fifth grade was going to be a hands-on job I just don’t think I realized how hands on it really was.”

That was the truth – I had wanted to be an elementary school teacher for as long as I could remember, and I knew from my years of interning in classrooms as a teaching assistant that teaching meant way more than just being a glorified babysitter, but nothing could prepare me for what it was like to have a classroom all on your own. The twenty-three kids who lined up outside my classroom door every morning were, in my unbiased opinion, just about the best group of kids a first time teacher could ask for. However, that didn’t mean they didn’t exhaust me with their endless questions and energy, and after five weeks of running after them day after day, I was ready to crawl under the covers and hide there until the only way I was setting foot back into that classroom was if our principal physically dragged her.

There were other parts of teaching that I hadn’t been prepared for either – the complete and utter lack of funding for supplies, let alone decorations meant I had squeezed every extra penny I could find into crayons, stickers, posters and wallpaper to distract from the dismal grey brick walls but the room still resembled a prison cell more than it did a welcoming classroom.

Alice chuckled, “I bet those kids just absolutely adore you, I know I would have loved for our Aiden to end up with you as his teacher – maybe then he’d have liked school a bit more!”

I smiled tiredly and let out a small laugh, “I don’t think I’ll be getting any awards for being a life-changing teacher any time soon”

“Well not with that attitude hon’! I’ll leave ya be, don’t want to sound too much like your mother, I’m sure you get enough of it as is”

I stared wide-eyed at Alice before forcing my face to normalcy, shooting the woman my best attempt at a smile and hoped she hadn’t noticed the momentary freeze, but before I could get too lost in thought I heard the barstool beside me scrape against the floor.

“A teacher, eh?”

Of course. Of freaking course he would show up tonight of all nights when my hair hadn’t been washed in two three days with my face bare and limbs thrown into a pair of leggings and old, ratty Dartmouth t-shirt. Not that I had dressed up all the other times I had dragged myself to Pel’s, but I’d at least made the effort of having showered in the last 24 hours on the off chance that the annoying brunette would make an appearance. I did try to shower daily for reasons other than maybe seeing a boy, but he was definitely at the back of my mind the couple of other times I’d considered showing up to Pel’s a little bit greasy. After five weeks and no reappearance, I figured I was safe and yet here I sat, face-to-face with the bearded not-so-stranger from my first visit to the bar.

“Fifth grade” I responded, hoping short answers would give the boy the hint that I wasn’t in the mood for his flirting tonight.

“Damn, wish I’d had you as my fifth-grade teacher, maybe I wouldn’t have dropped out in middle school if I knew I had you to make proud,” he flashed his eyebrows, shooting me a grin that was growing all too familiar for my liking – as was the feeling in my stomach that occurred every time he flashed it.

“Pretty sure you can’t drop out until high school bud, you must have been a real delinquent if they let you give up that early”

He barked out a laugh, his grin never faltering.

“I’m just kidding, wanted to see if I could get a smile out of you. You’ll be happy to know I never actually dropped out – some might have even called me a star student”

I couldn’t help myself from rolling my eyes, shooting him the most unimpressed look I could muster.

“Let me guess, you slept with all your teachers?”

“Just the hottie in the administrative office who could hack the system and change all my grades.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, a giggle escaping my lips before I could trap my lip in my teeth to stop any more laughter from escaping. He was so obviously a fuckboy it was almost comical, but I had to hand it to him for how easily it seemed to come to him. I’d encountered too many guys to count who were just straight up assholes with such an obvious disregard for the idea of respecting women, but it was clear the man standing in front of me wasn’t like that. He was just a natural smooth talker whose good looks had obviously gotten him through life judging by the expensive watch that adorned his left wrist. Maybe he was a model or something.

“So Eliza Mae, you’re a teacher, I’m guessing you went to Dartmouth which means you’re a real nerd and you like to spend your free time drinking alone in this pub – I’ve heard AA can really change your life, might want to look into it,’ he joked, his grin and gleaming eyes just begging you to get fired up.

“You always insult the girls you’re trying to sleep with?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as my mouth pulled into a smirk.

“Who said I was trying to sleep with you?”

“I’m a female, aren’t I?” I shot back, taking another sip of my beer to hide the flush that had erupted across my cheeks.

He laughed again, this stupid loud belly laugh that caused him to throw his head back before settling his eyes on me once again.

“Touché Eliza Mae, touché”

“It’s just Eliza, and it doesn’t seem fair that you know not only my first and middle name and you haven’t even bothered to tell me yours.”

He looked a little bit surprised at my comment, probably thrown by the fact that I would even care to know what his first name was after my harsh response to his attempts to chat me up.

“It’s Tyler,” he said “Tyler uh, Seguin”

“You sure? You seem a bit hesitant about the last name, sure you’re not just trying to pull a fast one on me?”

He laughed again, “Nope, I promise Eliza Mae that’s my real name, trust me if I was trying to ‘pull a fast one you’ I would not have given you that name.”

“What, are you in witness protection or something?” I asked, slightly confused.

“Witness – no, no” he said before leaning in a bit closer. “I’m a professional hockey player for the Dallas Stars,” he explained, the expression on his face making it clear he expected me to be utterly flabbergasted by this new information. While I had to admit, I definitely respected all the hard work and sacrifice that it took to get to that level, I had never been a huge hockey girl – I was much more inclined to sit in a cold football stadium than I was any hockey rink. It wasn’t that I was unimpressed with the fact that he played hockey, the news just didn’t exactly entice me to drop my pants for him right there – it wasn’t like the guy invented penicillin or anything.

“Oh, that’s cool I guess,” was all that I allowed myself to give him, smirking at how my indifference caused a look of obvious surprise to overtake his dark features.

“It’s not nearly as noble a profession as becoming a teacher, but most girls would think it was pretty impressive that I made it in the league,” he teased, his surprise replaced by his resting state of overconfidence.

“That’s the whole reason for playing though, right? The girls I mean,” I teased right back.

“The girls and the free stuff,” he cracked, his eyes playful as they met my own.

For the second time that night, my only response was to laugh as I took another swig of my beer mug, which was significantly emptier than it had been at the start of my conversation with Tyler. Before I could muster an equally witty response, he opened his mouth to speak again.

“Seriously though, teachers deserve way more credit than they get – I mean all of my school teachers deserve a medal for having to put up with me, your kids are lucky to have you. Although if you’re half as feisty with them as you are with me I bet you’ve scared them all into behaving,” he teased again and I was defenseless against the blush that threatened to creep across my cheeks. After twenty minutes of banter, the contrast of his sincerity made his words just that much more meaningful. No matter how confident they may seem or how many hours they spent shadowing, any new teacher will tell you how terrified they are of messing something up. Eliza believed so strongly in how important a good education was and the last thing I would ever want was to leave my students unprepared and set up to struggle when they moved up to middle school next year, so Tyler’s words warmed my heart – no matter how unfounded they might be.

I muttered a shy ‘thanks’ into my mug as I took another large gulp of my beer, hoping the liquid would wash down the butterflies that had crept into my stomach as a result of his words. Tyler noticed the now almost-empty mug and gestured to Pel to send down two more.

“Oh I really shouldn’t” I protested, “it’s getting pretty late so I should get going.”

The look of disappointment that flashed across his features wasn’t lost on her, although it was probably born more out of the realization he had spent thirty minutes talking to a girl and wasn’t going to get rewarded with sex than anything else.

“Here,” he gestured, “let me follow myself on my Instagram so I can follow you back” he said as he reached for my phone, but I pulled it close to my chest before he could grab it from my hands.

“I don’t have an Instagram,” I explained, shrugging my shoulders with a semi-apologetic look as he dropped his outstretched hand next to my own on the counter. Brushing the tips of his fingers over mine, his eyes darkened and his voice dropped – I recognized it as his attempt to sound sexy and while I wasn’t going to say it didn’t work, it was more amusing than anything else.

“How am I gonna get in touch with you then?” he asked, acting as if he couldn’t walk into any bar in town and instantly get laid by fifty other girls.

“Well funnily enough, Instagram isn’t the only app to exist on your phone – there’s this thing called ‘Messages’ that some people use to text and even a phone app in case you ever, god forbid, need to call somebody. But I don’t like to give out my number to strangers so I guess you’ll just have to wait until next time we see each other to convince me to hand that out”

Taking a final swig of my beer, I stood – slightly more off balance than I’d anticipated, the effect of the beer and adrenaline resulting in me being just a tad more inebriated than I’d planned on getting tonight. As I wobbled his large hand shot out to my waist, gripping through my t-shirt just above my hip bone to steady me.

“Next time, eh Eliza Mae?” he asked, his grip on my waist just barely tightening, squeezing before he dropped his hand back to rest on his knee.

Despite the tangle of flustered thoughts that flooded the lonely horny part of my brain, I forced myself to hold his gaze. Professional fuckboy or not, I was not about to let him know how much his simple touch had affected her.

‘God,’ I thought ‘get it together Eliza.’

My only response was to roll my eyes as I slung my bag over my shoulder and stepped away from him, trying to put as much distance between his hand and the burning skin above my hip.

Giving him one last smile, I strolled away from him until I was leaning against the heavy door preparing myself for the inevitable cold that awaited me outside. Giving Tyler one last look over my shoulder, I couldn’t help but smirk when I found his eyes still staring after her.

“Goodnight, Travis” I called, finally shoving open the door as I pulled the scarf tighter around my neck before stepping out into the cold.

The last thing I heard before the door slammed shut was the deep, melodic laughter that I knew belonged to only one patron of the bar – and suddenly, the warmth that filled my chest made it so that the night air didn’t seem so bitter cold anymore.

#two ghosts #tyler seguin #tyler seguin fic #tyler seguin imagine #dallas stars #dallas stars fic #dallas stars imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine

169 notes · View notes

aworldoffandoms · 6 years ago

Text

In The Land Down Under

Author's Note: Okay, so I got an ask from @ritachacha asking me to write a short fic about what would happen if Liam and Riley went on a diplomatic trip to Australia. Considering she and I are Australian -- I jumped at the chance to write a fic about our country. It’s fun lol. Thank you so much, Rita for all your help! It means a lot. Hope you and the rest enjoy it!

Tagging some fellow aussies who might enjoy this: @cynicalworlds @pb-boeboe @the-everlasting-dream @topsyturvy-dream @shreyamistrys

I’m also using my tag list I use for my story ‘Runaway’ so I hope that you guys like this but please let me know if you’d like to just be notified about ‘Runaway’ or if you’d like to be tagged in any other fics I might post :)

Pairing: Liam x MC [Riley]

Word Count: 3, 779 (oops)

Rating: T

Warnings: Nothing -- just some (hopefully funny) Aussie jokes

Summary: Liam and Riley enjoy their time while on a trip to Australia. What will they get up to?

Tag list: @hopefulmoonobject @annekebbphotography @am-i-invisible777 @blznbaby @khakie4 @lauradowning29 @blackcoffee85 @captain-kingliamsqueen @moneyfordiamonds @super-secret-fandom-blog @jovialyouthmusic @zaffrenotes @ao719 @umccall71 @carabeth @furiousherringoperatortoad @pixieferry @pixelpenny @rainbowsinthestorm @dcbbw @thecordoniandiaries

The clouds parted and the royal jet descended towards its destination. A jolt of excitement raced through Riley as she caught a glance of the Sydney skyline: the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House standing tall against the glittering blue of the ocean.

Riley clapped her hands in overzealous joy. "I can't believe we’re here, Liam! I've wanted to visit Australia for so long! I can't wait to see everything - climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, see the Opera House, go on a ferry ride...oh! We have to go to Taronga Zoo!"

Liam couldn't help but smile at his wife's childlike glee and her plans for the next two weeks while on their diplomatic trip to Australia. Riley liked to believe it was a holiday, but it was also a chance to talk trade and other endeavours with the governing power of the country.

The Prime Minister of Australia officially invited them at the start of the year and the King and Queen of Cordonia finally had a break in their busy schedules to allow an overseas trip.

Liam rested a calming hand on Riley's arm and she eagerly looked out the window as the plane dipped further towards solid ground.

"Sweetheart, while I admire your enthusiasm for this trip, I must remind you of our original goal in being here. It's important that we cinch deals with this country. It'll be in our best interest."

Realisation poured over Riley like a bucket of cold water. Mirth slowly slipped from her face and in its place was a barely controlled disgusted grimace. The anticipation of coming here was almost snuffed out because of her husband's words. Great. Forgot about that.

The only word that escaped to convey her feelings was an, "Oh."

Liam chuckled at the despondent note in that syllable. "We'll have plenty of time to explore Sydney, my love, but for the next few days, it's official business with Prime Minister Morrison and a few royal engagements. You know as well as I do that Cordonia needs to branch out and connect with other foreign counterparts and Australia is a strong ally to have."

Riley was still glancing out of the window as she nodded, a sigh escaping her. "I know. I was just so excited. It's hard to differentiate between queen and excited wanderlust tourist in times like these."

Twenty-four hours on a plane and I still have to shake hands with random men when I could be enjoying my time on Bondi Beach and ‘chilling’ with the locals.

In anticipation of this trip, Riley had the time to research the country and their customs and memorise some key facts, mind you, most of these facts consisted of things she had learned from movies. She was fascinated with Mick in Crocodile Dundee and couldn’t help but swoon at Hugh Jackman as The Drover in Australia. Damn, that man almost rivalled Liam in looks. Maybe she should get Liam to grow some scruff, although, being a King, a beard would likely raise some eyebrows.

By the time they were ready to leave for the Cordonian International Airport, Riley had compiled a list that ended at three pages long. Maxwell was rightfully impressed when she showed him and he expressed his desire to feed, as he said, a ‘fluffy koala who would be a perfect addition to the menagerie’ at her estate in Valtoria. Riley had laughed but her stomach twisted when she read up and realised that they were a vulnerable species and it was illegal to own one anywhere. That made Maxwell deflate although within minutes he had emailed her a follow-up list requesting emus, dingoes, wombats and kangaroos.

Riley scanned her own list. Some facts surprised her while others she thought were a no-brainer. For instance, Australians used slang for nearly everything so a simple word like 'afternoon' was more accepted as 'arvo' and it was definitely not a shrimp but a prawn and they did not put them on a barbie for those wrongly informed individuals. And contrary to popular belief, animals in this country would not kill you. Although, Riley had made a note to steer clear of forests. Drop bears seemed to be plausible.

Liam laughed as he leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek. "I know, Riley. We'll have all of next week to explore."

The royal jet finally landed as the plane whurred to a stop and the engines disengaged. The door separating the back of the plane to the royal couple's seats slid open and Bastien stepped through.

Bastien bowed once he reached them. "Good morning, Your Majesties. I have received word from the Cordonian ambassador that you'll be escorted to the Cordonian embassy as soon as possible. However, before that, you'll be having a photocall with the Prime Minister and Mayor of Sydney."

Liam nodded at Bastien, heaving a quiet sigh. Royal duties never stopped for the lives of monarchs. Liam had half a mind to damn trade talks and alliances to hell and join Riley in her obvious zest to see Sydney's wonders, yet, he knew, that could not come to pass. Cordonia needed all the allies it could gather and Australia could be beneficial for Cordonia's growth and strength as a nation.

Liam glanced over to Riley and found her gnawing at her bottom lip, her fingers drumming against the armrest of her seat.

He reached over and gathered her hand, twining his fingers with hers as she glanced up at the contact. He pressed his lips to her knuckles and gave her a wink.

“You’ll be fine, Riley,” Liam said, naturally understanding her nerves. They’d been married a year and it still surprised her how easily he read her. All those years of body language lessons had paid off.

She gave her husband a nod as she tightened her hold on his arm and followed him out of the plane and into the awaiting fanfare.

****

“Oh my gooosh...look! Look it’s a kangaroo! And a dingo! Is that an emu over there? If Maxwell was here, he’d be freaking!”

The week of trade deals and diplomacy were over for the royals and they now had the all-clear to travel and explore one of Australia’s most famous cities. Currently, they were at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo and being guided through a section of the park that housed Australia’s more famous land creatures.

Liam’s heart swelled as he stared at his wife, his grin spreading when he saw her bouncing on the tips of her toes like an over-excited school girl, her finger pointing to the kangaroo hopping over to them and a dingo perched on a rock face watching them with curious eyes.

“Would you like to feed him, ma’am?” A zookeeper handed over some fresh carrot for the king and queen to take.

Riley squealed at the suggestion. “Would I ever!”

The Zookeeper smiled at her obvious delight and lead her over to a fairly placid looking kangaroo, his kaki fur soft to the touch. It surprised Liam how friendly some of these animals were. It was almost as if this was a daily occurrence for them and considering how popular this zoo was, he thought he was right in his assumption.

“Love, don’t be so loud. You don’t want to scare the poor creature away.”

Riley rolled her eyes at her husband but her smile was still blinding as she turned back to the keeper. In her enthusiasm, she almost snatched the carrots from her fingers.

As she approached the kangaroo, the large mammal quirked its head to the side as if contemplating if it should approach the beaming human nearly skipping over to it.

“Now, Your Majesty, you want to approach the roo as calmly as possible. Although they are friendly, any sudden movements can frighten them and you don’t want one of their claws to snatch 'ya. They'd tear you to shreds.”

Riley faltered at those words, a flash of worry marring her face. The zookeeper saw her hesitance and chucked good-naturedly.

"Not to worry, Your Majesty. These roo’s are more likely to engage in a harmless game of tag with the food than they are to attack. They've had a lot of experience with people."

A barely heard sigh of relief escaped the Queen as she approached the kangaroo. She held out her hand, palm flat, and guided the vegetable to the kangaroo. Riley's eyes widened in joy as she watched the native Australian mammal sniff her hand and gently grab the offering with its claws and nibble it.

Riley stood there, staring, long after the kangaroo has finished, her eyes darting to the enclosure around her.

“This is so cool. Why haven’t we visited sooner?”

Liam chuckled and wrapped an arm around Riley’s waist, pressing a kiss against her temple. “I don’t know, my love. But if seeing all this makes you happy then I must make this venture to Australia more often.”

Riley gave her husband a smirk. “Don’t you mean, ‘The Land Down Under?’”

The last syllable was exaggerated to the point of it being comical as Riley attempted the Australian accent, emphasising the last syllable of ‘under’ so it ended more in as ‘unduh’, yet she failed spectacularly. Liam laughed at her attempt. It was endearing.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say the Australian lifestyle is catching up with you.”

Riley shrugged. “What can I say. This country is fascinating. Their accents too. Whew,” Riley paused to fan herself, pretending to swoon. “Have you heard their accents yet? Hot.”

Liam frowned. “I thought you liked mine?”

Riley laughed, stepping away from him and following in the footsteps of the zookeeper who was taking them to the koala enclosure. “Oh, maybe so, but have you heard the way they say, ‘G-day'? That’s my kind of greeting.”

Liam gave Riley a half-mocking serious look and then his mouth lifted, his eyes glinting in mischief, "If it'd suit you...I can greet you in a way that has proven very popular in the past."

Riley had the good sense to stop and stare at Liam for a minute before giving him a mischievous smirk of her own, ending with a wink for good measure. “Nope. I think I’d rather leave Hugh Jackman to do that for me.”

***

"Can we please go to Bondi now?"

Liam nodded at his wife while trying to finish up his conversation with Olivia who had decided to call while they both were enjoying their morning tangled together between the sheets of their beachfront hotel suite.

Apparently, decisions on the Cordonian Golf Tournament couldn’t wait until next week when both the King and Queen would arrive back, yet Olivia felt it necessary because ‘Neville would surely make it a point to prattle on about how important it was because of its location on Cormery Isle’ and Olivia couldn't stand his voice as she was threatening to stab him in the leg.

Liam advised her that would not be wise and to go ahead with the finishing touches of the marketing and contracts for vendors and finalise the competitors who were scheduled to play.

“Liam! Come on! Bondi can’t wait any longer!” Riley’s voice was loud in his ear as he said his final goodbyes to Olivia and told her to he’d see her next week.

He hung up and glanced over to where his wife was standing and his jaw nearly dropped at what he was seeing.

The swimsuit she had on hugged her curves and revealed her cleavage in a tasteful yet sexy way and the elegant cut-outs at the side of the material made her become exceptionally beautiful than she already was. She was one voluptuous woman and Liam could not take his eyes off her.

Riley glanced up and found Liam’s gaze a little bit south of where it was meant to be. “Hey. Liam. My face is here. You’ve seen these,” she waved to her chest area for emphasis, “...far more times than I can count so I’d get that look off your face. No surprises here.”

At her words, Liam’s jaw snapped shut and he shook his head, grinning at Riley’s words. She was right, of course. Some days he had free reign to worship every spectacular inch of her body and he could spend hours upon hours doing it and she’d gladly let him, yet, now was not the time.

Riley wanted to go to Bondi and so they would go to the beach she so desperately wanted to visit. He could fantasise later.

“Okay. I suppose I can wait till later to appreciate the gift of your body but I suppose we should go to this so-called ‘Bondi’ you are so fond of. I wouldn’t want to make you unhappy.”

Riley jumped up and down, clapping her hands in excitement. “Yay! Hurry! I want to see the lifeguards!”

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she went to the balcony of their suite and looked over to the not too distant horizon to see the white sandy beach that was a notorious spot for people of all ages and ethnicity.

Riley couldn’t help the spring in her step as she stared at the beach that she would soon be visiting, plucking the list of the activities she wanted to do while here and ticked Bondi Beach off her list. The edges of the paper were tattered now from the constant opening and closing of the parchment yet it was still stable enough for her to still be able to cart it around with her.

Riley smiled as she ticked it off and glanced up finding the temperate at a hot 28 degrees already and it was just before 11:30 in the morning.

Jeez. New York can get hot but the Australian sun is murder.

She felt a bead of sweat already gathering at the nape of her neck. As she gathered her stuff that was needed for the beach she called over her shoulder to her husband in the bathroom.

“Don’t forget your thongs, Liam!”

Riley couldn’t help but jump at the voice that bellowed through the door. “Don’t forget what?!”

Liam opened the door and gave his wife an incredulous stare, shocked at hearing the words that came out of her mouth. Surely, she wouldn’t subject him to that kind of humiliation. Yes, he was all for a bit of roleplay now and then but...in public? He was a king. He could not and will not subject himself to that.

“My love, you know that I adore your quirks and your enthusiasm in certain aspects of our travels. And it surprises me even now that some of the words you say still perplex me, after all this time together, but if you subject me to wearing a thong -- I will call Bastien and arrange for the royal jet to take us home to Cordonia immediately.”

Riley stared at her husband in muted silence, her lips quirking up into a smile hearing the words coming out of his mouth. The laugh that had started to bubble up in her throat burst forth after Liam lapsed into silence.

Riley was laughing so hard that she had doubled over, her arms clutching her chest in silent laughter, tears in her eyes. “Oh my...gosh! Liam!” Another burst of rambunctious laughter escaped her and reverberated throughout the suite. Any other time Liam would find her laughter endearing for it was one of his most favourite sounds in the world yet this time he found himself quite irritated at the fact that she was laughing at him. Yes...he was very well aware that she was laughing at him.

Annoyance stirred in his chest and he could not help it seeping into his tone as he said, “Well...by all means laugh at me but I stand by my words, Riley. I will not engage in this sort of behaviour.”

Riley was still laughing as she stood upright, bursts of laughing still spilling out as she made a solid effort to control herself. “Behaviour? What kind of behaviour? Liam--”

She cut herself off and stood up straight, shaking away her mirth as she walked up to Liam and grabbed the swimming trunks that were grasped tightly in his hand at his vexation. She stared up at him with a neutral mask but Liam could see the unsaturated glee behind her eyes. “Honey. I never said anything about a thong. I said, thongs. Plural. These.”

She points to her feet and Liam follows her finger and his eyes widen at seeing what she had on and then his brow furrowed in confusion. “But these are called flip-flops.”

Riley chuckled. “You’d think, right? No. Here they are called thongs. Different use and a very different context here.”

Liam’s eyebrows knitted together as he ran his hand along his jaw, an obvious sign of confused contemplation. “How strange…”

Riley nodded. “Strange indeed but I’ve learned to embrace the strange. I’ve noticed that in the Australian people. They’re more laid back than even I thought I was. It feels freeing to be here than in Cordonia with all those uptight, stuffy nobles.”

Liam lips quirked in a smile. “Yes. Well. I have come to understand why you love seeing new places and I can’t say that I haven’t enjoyed my time here.”

Riley raised her eyebrows at him as she got a pair of thongs for Liam and placed it alongside the beach bag. “Oh, and who was griping at me a week ago at all the trade deals and enquiring about alliances to this country with disdain?”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Yes, but I was simply saying that after a long day of meetings. In the end, Morrison granted us that alliance...did he not?”

He did. Though it was not for a lack of trying for some constituents and other specific requirements for Cordonia to meet with Australia's standards. The Prime Minister asked for a fair amount and Liam, at the end of a very long day and at the end of a very long week decided to grant Morrison his stipulations because not only would it be good for Australia but the added revenue it would bring to Cordonia and its tourism will increase ten-fold. Australia had three times as many citizens as Cordonia and this was an opportunity not to be passed up.

Riley sighed. “Yes, he did but made every opportunity to persuade you to give in at every roadblock that he made. Gosh... that man irked me.”

Liam raised his eyebrows. “And here I thought you said you thought he was a nice ‘bloke’”

Riley grumbled. “Well...I’d rather him be forthcoming and be a little more flexible with his demands rather than railroad my husband into an alliance where we are giving more to them than they are to us.”

Liam’s heart warmed at her care for him and the care that she had for Cordonia, yet, despite her words being right, Liam knew that this was the right thing to do for Cordonia. His country needed all the friends and strength it could get from outside of the realm. Australia was an undeniable force and Liam would be damned if he didn’t take it.

“Morrison might be a bit...direct...but he did make some good points. And we came to an agreement. Now…”

Liam goes over to his wife and wraps his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her neck. “I believe we have someplace to be right now?”

Riley leaned into Liam’s touch and squeezed his forearms that were cinched around her waist. “I believe we do, my king. Get ready to soak up the sun and enjoy all that these Aussies have to offer!”

Liam chuckled and rolled his eyes as his wife left his embrace and grabbed the few last things and waited by the door, bouncing on her toes in her overzealous excitement

“Okay, my love. Let’s see these Aussie locals and the lifeguards you are so desperate to meet.”

“They are called sheila’s and blokes here, Liam. Get it right.”

Liam just chuckled as he followed his wife down the corridor to the elevators to begin their day with sun and sand.

***

“Oh! Can we get this for Hana? She’ll love this! Maybe we could get this for Chance?”

Riley traipsed around an Australian souvenir shop, a spring in her step, as she plucked item after item in their waiting trolley. The knick-knacks she had gathered for their friends included a small plush kangaroo for Hana to add to her collection, a few fridge magnets to adorn their kitchen once they return to the palace, a life-sized koala plush doll for Maxwell, and a few t-shirts for them all. Riley also had a few bottles of Australian whiskey for Drake and a boomerang for Olivia. Riley was sure that a boomerang would come in handy. It wasn’t sharp but it could do some damage to those who wielded it properly. If anything, Riley thought, Olivia would appreciate it. She liked weapons of variety.

Liam watched in admiration at his wife’s constant energy during this whole trip. They were set to leave for Cordonia tomorrow and Riley had suggested a shopping trip. And how could Liam refuse anything his wife desired?

Liam stopped when Riley came to a hat stand, jumping on her feet in excitement as she pulled off an Akubra with strange string hanging from the brim and at the end of said string were corks you’d find in a champagne bottle and it followed around the circumference of the wide-brimmed hat. What in the world…?

A small exclamation of delight escaped her mouth as she admired herself in the mirror. “Liam! Don’t you think this would look good in my hat collection? It’s so unique!”

Liam chuckled as Riley moved her head from side to side, the dangling corks at the end of the string swishing in front of her face. “It certainly looks charming.”

Riley grimaced at his words, turning so that she had her full glower on him, the hat sat firmly on her head, not budging from the quick pivot of her steps to face him. “Charming? You think I just look charming?”

Liam raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms along his chest. “What other words should I have chosen, my love?”

Riley’s grimace transformed into a light-hearted care-free smile. She tipped the hat towards Liam, just like the Drover in Australia as a show of acknowledgement.

“Why, mate! I’m a true-blue Aussie, of course!”

#the royal romance #the royal romance fanfiction #trr fanfic #trr fanfiction #liam x mc #liam x riley #trr #choices #choices fandom #choices stories you play #playchoices #aworldoffandoms

73 notes · View notes

wheremytwinwatches · 5 years ago

Text

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 20

Last time Roy was a badass, Lust bit the dust, and Ed ran into a familiar face. Onwards!

Hey, they show Ed and Papa Elric in a graveyard during the intro! I’d just written that off as a symbolic thing or something. So does that mean we’re gonna have Ed going through the Gate again and the Xing contingent fighting Wrath? I will also take little May Chang zapping some werewolves, please and thank you. We open with Papa Elric and Ed staring at eachother (and a gravestone for a Michael Cusbert, random name or someone connected to the show?). [Papa Elric]: “Hello, Edward… You appear to have grown some.” 1-Will the short jokes never cease? 2-Really, dude? You haven’t seen your son since you ran off who knows how many years ago, and your first words are essentially “Huh, turns out kids grow up over time.” Ah, and he’s spoken with Granny Rockbell, knows that Ed tried Human Transmutation. Ed responds by asking why the heck he’s come back when there’s nothing left for him there. PE just asks why Ed burned down “his” home. So, am I supposed to have any sympathy for this guy? Like, at all? Disregarding my belief that Papa Elric and Father are the same person (seriously, beard), just in terms of being a dad I am finding him sorely lacking. Ed states that they burned it down as a symbol of their reso- [PE]: “No you didn’t. You were hiding the memory. You didn’t want to be reminded of what you’ve done… And thought you could erase the memory by destroying the evidence.” Step off, buddy. [PE]: “You ran away… And you know it.” WOW. Ok, you can just fuck right off, dude. You’re gonna stand on your dead wife’s grave and say that kind of shit to your son? I agree with Ed, you make me sick. [PE]: “He’s exactly like I was when I was his age.” Hahaha NO. You don’t get to compare yourself to the Protagonist, dude. Just… just go. Episode 20 - “Father Before the Grave” That night, Ed’s sleeping at the Rockbell’s when the door opens. So we’ll get Granny’s response to- YOU. Nope nope nope stop looking in on Ed just go away and Flashback to Kid!Ed clutching at PE’s leg with a smile and Baby!Al gazing up. Oh, so NOW you feel remorse for running out on your family. Whoop de friggin doo. PE reaches out to touch the son he ABANDONED before chickening out and leaving. And whadya know, Ed who has been through numerous deathly struggles over the past years was awake the entire time. Downstairs, good dog! The Rockbell’s automailed hound is sitting in a corner and growling at PE as he gives a wry grin, before turning back to Granny and numerous wine bottles. Seems she’s going over photo albums, remarking on how PE looks like he hasn’t aged a day (hmmmmm) and asking why he was gone for so long. PE… asks about the results of the HT the boys attempted. Dude. You know that Ed’s listening in, and you’re gonna make him think that the event that destroyed their lives was even more of a failure? The worst part is that we know he’s right, since Al’s flashback to the Gate ended with him looking at Ed from inside the TC. Still, dude. Dick move. Ok, let’s go away from this awfulness for a bit. Back in Central, Al’s holding up his end of the bargain and telling Ling about his Soul Armor status, who is very impressed. No need to eat or sleep or breathe, as long as his sigil’s kept intact he’s functionally immortal! Except for what Barry mentioned last time, about how a body can’t maintain a foreign soul, and Al thinks that he’s a ticking time bomb. Well ok, hold up. That’s based on an offhand comment by a homicidal maniac, regarding a corpse that had an animal’s soul stuffed in it. I don’t think that’s really comparable to you, Al. At the very least, why don’t we get a more scientific look into the subject than a murderer? And Ling does bring up a good point, if the body can only hold a soul for so long, why not transfer it to a new body periodically? Problem solved, right? Still, as much as I like the transhuman immortality robot idea, I don’t think the guy we’ve seen bumming for free food is really comprehending the isolation of the form, which Winry calls him out on before storming away. Winry’s moping on her bed when Al comes in, and tries lightening the mood by complaining that Ed and Winry are always the ones to lose their tempers, he never gets a chance. Then we get a flashback to Al's first night in his Soul Armor, realising that he can’t (not doesn’t have to, can’t) fall asleep and mentioning that to a younger Winry. Current!Winry cries into a pillow and demands a promise that Al will get his body back. On his own end, looks like Ed’s dreaming, running towards a distant light and demanding that they give Al his body back. Suddenly Truth! [Truth]: “Take it? Do you even know what you’re saying? You’re the one who tossed his body aside and put him in that armor… Aren’t you, alchemist?” And then That Bastard Tucker shows up saying that he and Ed are the saNOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. And then it gets WORSE when a hand reaches out and Ok good Ed’s awake now. Suddenly I’m seeing advantages to Al not having to dream. Meanwhile, Granny’s yelling that Ed needs to wake up, his father’s about to head out. Wait, head out? Where’s PE off to now? Oh hey, it’s the photo wall with PE’s face blocked off. Which PE asks for and takes as it’s the only picture of the entire family. Then he’s already heading to the door (not surprised he’s not even waiting for Ed), but pauses to tell Granny something. [PE]: “Something terrible is going to happen in this country soon… You should escape while you can.” [Granny]: “*shrug* This country’s lousy with terrible things. And I can’t leave. I’ve got other people who need me here in case they want to come home.” [Heartless!PE Who Completely Ignores The Wall Of Cute Kid Pictures]: “I’ve given you my warning.” And like that, Hohenheim is gone, with a comment that he won’t be able to enjoy her cooking anymore… ok, that is either implying that Granny is going to die (NOPE) or Hohenheim is (?). Ed just looks out the window as his father leaves yet again. Now weather’s rolling in as Ed and Granny are walking up a hill, Ed has a shovel… oh no. No no no please tell me you aren’t going to dig it up. This knowledge will not help you, Ed. The rain starts falling and Ed is vomiting from exertion and stress, refuses to go home (as opposed to this pile of burnt rubble) as he won’t be able to move forward until he knows for sure. And because he refuses to let Hohenheim be right about his running away. Please. Please, just stop Ed. You’re constantly heaving, and as tough as Granny is it can’t be good for her either to be out in this rain. Let it go, please. But they keep digging through the rain, and as it finally slows Ed stops digging. Grabs a tuft of hair. Rushes to the bucket to wash it off. And turns to Granny with a stricken face, saying that Mama Elric had chestnut hair. But this hair is blond- wait, black? ...wait, what? It’s not blonde? I mean, maybe it’s burnt black. But I thought it was… They dig up the rest of the remains, Granny declares a femur too long and the pelvis for a male… ok, hold up. You’re basing this off of bone lengths and hair color? Ed, did you not see how deformed and broken that Thing was? That was not an example of a functioning human body, so why would you base this off of damaged parts? Aaargh, but as Granny declares that all the parts from the HT aren’t his mother, Ed laughs brokenly before declaring that it really is impossible to bring the dead back to life. But as Granny tells him to get ahold of himself, Ed says that it’s alright? That this has been a symbol of despair for so long… ok, how is this a symbol of hope, then? [Ed]: “Al can be returned to normal.” …? Um, I am not seeing the logic connection here. The HT remains are reburied, and Ed gives a call to Teacher. Oh dear. That subject. I’m sorry Ed, but that is really something you should not talk about over the phone. Back to the graveyard, Ed and Granny are looking over the Rockbell gravestones as she thanks Ed for telling her about how they helped people. Then they head out, Ed asking if Hohenheim said where he was going and Granny saying she didn’t even bother asking. But then she says she forgot something? A message for Hohenheim from Mama Elric? [Mama Elric]: “I’ll be gone when he returns… Can you tell him something? I need him to know… I couldn’t keep my promise. I died before he did, and I’m so sorry.” A promise to not die before him? Whatever the details, Granny doesn’t know, and asks Ed to pass it on if he runs into Hohenheim again. Ed grumps at being a messenger boy, but agrees. Now, back to Central! Where Ed’s sure that Al is just waiting, annoyed at being cut out of the loop… [Ed]: *eyetwitch* “What the hell?!” Al, rather worse for wear, apologizes to Ed for being so damaged, who then starts freaking out over Xing and the Lady Ninja mooching off room service before he kicks them out. Now, story time! After Ed’s brought up to speed on the Goths and Barry and the speculation that Al’s armor is gonna reject his soul (again, solely based on something Barry said), Al’s patched up. Winry is of course worried and asks if Al can get his old body back, Ed insists he can. Now, Ed’s turn to tell a story. Al is of course shocked at Ed saying he dug up the Resembool body, and more so at the claim that it wasn’t their mother. But this convinces Ed that they can return Al to normal? Explanation, please! But Ed insists before that he needs to know… if Winry remembers them fighting as kids about who’d marry her. Pfft! Winry confirms that she turned them both down ([Ed]: “W-whatever.”), so Ed asks for the reasoning. [Al/Winry]: “I just don’t like men who are shorter than me.” Aw, chin up Ed! It’s the only way you can try to be taller than her! Oh! OH! Confirmation that it really is Al, not just a copy from Ed’s memories! Al remembered something that Ed didn’t know! Thank Leto, this show may be playing fast and loose with dental records and hair remains, but this is sound reasoning! And if we have proof positive that Ed could pull Al’s soul out, then Ed believes that Al’s body is still in the Gate and he can pull it out. Like Barry’s body, separate from… ok, now you’re losing me again. As I understand Armor!Barry was made when his body was killed for murder, not lost in the Gate of Truth. That body did exist separate from the soul, but it wasn’t lost in another dimension or whatever, just stuck in the ground here. Ed asks Al to think back to the Gate, what he saw, and Al says that he grabbed his own hand (that creepy grinning version of Al from the flashback). So Ed’s determined to confront Truth again, and pull Ed’s body out!... but then there’s that last part of the memory. Al looking at Ed from inside the Thing. But while that Thing was Al, his soul didn’t bind. Huh. So good news is that they didn’t harm anyone else’s soul that time. Bad news is that this supports the “foreign body rejects soul” idea. Ergh. Oh, Teacher’s calling back. She and Sig did some research, and confirmed that the Thing that they summoned didn’t share any traits with them. So that’s it, then. Death is permanent. But at least they have closure. And the Elric Brothers have closure too, knowing that their attempt wasn’t a second death for Mama Elric, both of them blaming themselves. But with that closure behind them, they still have their mission: Get Al his body back. We get Al demanding that he share the burden with Ed, saying that he’s gotten by through being treated like a normal person from his friends… and crying that he can’t take the lonely nights anymore. But that’s going to change. The Elric Brothers have a target, and they’re gonna tear right through the Gate and punch Truth until they get that body back! And the Brothers are back at it, that eagerness that they had when first searching for the Philosopher’s Stone. Even Winry is taken back at how broad Ed’s shoulders are in his confidence. Brace yourself, Truth. The Elric Brothers are gunning for you.

#wmtw #where my twin watches #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 20

2 notes · View notes