#i just saw the “beer and pretzels” tag on my dash and did a severe double take

[littlebigmouse]

People calling the leverage ot3 "beer and pretzels" - I see you, but I need you to understand you're one more word association away from calling the ship "Oktoberfest" and I cannot

[thorne93]

Lost and Found (Part 8)

Prompt: Imagine finding a lost dog, but it’s not just anyone’s lost dog. Who will show up at your door to claim the pup?

Warnings: maybe language, lost dog, dash of angst  

Word Count: 2525

Note: My precious doggie went missing on 6/10 and no one has spotted her or turned her in to the local shelters or anything. I miss her so much, but it inspired this fic. Texts are in italics. Thanks to my darling beta @like-a-bag-of-potatoes​ (I’m sorry for this part)

Tags: @amarvelouswritings​ @blackwidow-romanoff​ @cocosierra94​ @firstgal34​ @harleyquinnandscarletwitch @sebstan01 @camigt1999 @elleatrixlestrange​ @bittersweetunicorm @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You decided to stay friends with Sebastian, and when the time was right, he would ask you out, and if he never did, then you guess it wasn’t meant to be. But you weren’t about to throw away the carefree relationship you had with him.

 The following week, you didn’t hang out as much because you needed to focus on work and you spent some early mornings and late nights there while Sebastian did the same with filming. You respected each other’s responsibilities, promising to hang out as soon as you were both free.

 But when Friday night came, it was just you, some take out and some Netflix. Nothing wrong with that, until a loud banging noise came at the door.

“Y/N, open up! It’s me!” Seb shouted through the door frantically.

 You ran over and let him and Spinee in.

 “Hey, what--” That’s all you got out before he pushed past you, pushed you inside, and slammed the door shut and locked it.

 “Can I crash here for a while?” he suddenly asked, out of breath and looking disheveled.

 “What? Uh...Sure...Yeah. What’s wrong with your place? Not that I mind, but...?” You gestured vaguely, hoping he understood.

 “Uh, nothing. I just need a place to stay. I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to turn.”

 “No, that’s cool, just...Yeah, no it’s fine. My couch is hella uncomfortable though,” you reminded.

 “I don’t care.”

 “Alright, suit yourself. You hungry? I just got takeout but if you need something we can run out.”

 “Nah, I already ate, thanks though. What are you up to?” he wondered as he let Spinee off his leash to roam free.

 “Honestly? Watching you.”

 “What?” he questioned, his face screwing up as if you were stalking him.

 “Not like that, genius. I was watching Once Upon A Time.”

 “Oh! Right.” He laughed and sat down with you. “I loved filming this,” he noted as he sat down and propped his feet up on your coffee table, something he’d done several times.

 “Yeah? I loved you in it. Full disclosure, you as the Mad Hatter. Oh man, I love it. I’m obsessed with all things Alice In Wonderland. So when you came on the screen, I about screamed.”

 He laughed as a twinkle hit his eye. “You never have told me what you have seen me in.”

 You shrugged. “I didn’t want you to think I just knew you as Bucky Barnes or Jefferson,” you informed.

 “I don’t. I know you know me from my characters. So, I’m curious, who all have you seen?”

 “Oh God,” you said, trying to wrack your brain. “Well, all of the Bucky parts, Jefferson, Lance Tucker--”

 He cut you off with a loud laugh and clap. “So you’ve seen my ass!”

 You suddenly remembered what the hell he was talking about. “Oh, yeah. I guess I have. Hah! What do you know?”

 “What do you think of it?”

 “Of your ass?” you questioned, laughing.

 “Yeah. Come on, scale it from 1 to 10.”

 “You’re a complete idiot,” you joked.

 “Please? Humor me.”

 “Fine. An 8.”

 “8? What’s wrong with it?”

 “Nothing? I just...I’m not an ass girl.”

 “Oh? What are you?”

 “Chests, all the way. Then arms.”

 He laughed. “Okay, fair enough. So, what else?”

 “Well, fun fact, the first movie I ever saw you in was the Covenant.”

 “Oh, Jesus, that’s so old, man.”

 “Yeah, it is. But I loved it. I hated you though.”

 “My character or the acting?”

 “Your character. Your acting was fine. In fact, it was so good, I hated you for a few years.”

 “What?! Why?” he demanded.

 “Because you were such a spoiled dick in that movie. You played it so well, I thought, ‘I bet he’s like that in real life.’”

 “And were you right?” he wondered, a serious tone falling over him as the air seemed to change from joking to electrified. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees as he gazed at you, that same magical feeling washing over you.

 “No,” you answered honestly.

 “Good.”

 “Yeah, I saw you in a few other roles and warmed up to you.”

 “Well thank God for that,” he quietly said. “You know,” he started, pulling back and breaking the moment again, “you told me once you had a lot of nerdy stuff, but I’ve never seen it.”

 “And it’s going to stay that way,” you said adamantly.

 “Aww, don’t be like that. Come on, show me. I wanna know just how deep this nerdom goes for you.”

 “Seriously? Why?”

 “So I can fuck with you about it, why else?”

 You rolled your eyes and stood up. “Come on.”

 “Yes!” he cheered as he got up to walk behind you.

 “90% of it is in my bedroom,” you informed as you flicked on the light to expose a few Winter Soldier posters, a Captain America poster, a Spiderman poster, several figurines of him and other Marvel characters, Iron Man sheets and comforter, a few Star Wars objects, and your wall of treasured movies. “So here it is, the cave of nerdiness.”

 “Oh wow. I love it.”

 “Thanks,” you said sarcastically as he walked in and examined everything.

 “No, I mean it. I mean, a lot of this pays my bills. I love when fans get into shit. I mean, I’m a fanboy myself over a lot of this stuff. It’s nice to know other people like it too.”

 You smiled sweetly at him. “Well thanks.”

 “Do you ever cosplay?”

 You laughed abruptly. “No, not any more. I did once or twice like six years ago, but I’m too busy now.”

 “I should take you to a con, you could dress up then.”

 “That would be fun,” you commented.

 “Let me see the rest!” he requested excitedly. You laughed and took his hand and went in your office, where your smaller, more prized possessions lied. It wasn’t much, but it was the more meaningful collection. “This is just...so you,” he informed as he turned and faced you, a dazzling smile on his face. That would never cease to take your breath away.

 “Is that a good thing or…?”

 “Yeah, absolutely. You’re not afraid to be you. Ya know? I know so many people, women mainly, who don’t...They just blend into the crowd. You go in people’s homes and it’s all the same shit. Same neutral colors. Same movies on the wall. Same boring, abstract painting. Everyone is so afraid to be bold. Not you. You don’t dress like a CEO, but that’s okay because it’s your fucking business. Your apartment isn’t boring. When you walk in, it’s a true reflection of you, your interests…It’s refreshing to meet someone who isn’t afraid to be themselves.”

 You looked around the office, shrugging. “I don't know. My parents never raised me to be afraid of anything. My mom told me I could do anything. She believed in me when pretty much no one else did. She is always unapologetically herself, so I suppose I get that from her too. My dad too. They never try to prove themselves to anyone. I guess because my mom’s motto was always ‘You only have yourself to depend on’.”

 “Isn’t that the truth,” he murmured as he gazed around the room.  

 ------------------

 Working out sleeping arrangements was...interesting.

 Seb slept on the couch the first night but Saturday morning, he was so sore, his neck was so stiff. You massaged him and it made it better but ultimately, you said he could have your bed. He was the guest, after all. He protested heavily, stating it was your house and the man should always let the lady have the bed. You told him this wasn’t the 1600’s and he should just take the goddamn bed. Knowing you were more stubborn than him, he obliged. Then, Sunday came around and you were in the situation he was in. You felt like a pretzel and he offered to return the favor of a massage. He wasn’t half bad, especially after you soaked in a lavender bath and he went to work on you just after that. But, you didn’t want either of you to suffer so you offered to sleep in the same bed. He promised to be a perfect gentleman and you prayed he would break that promise.

 Going to sleep next to him was amazing, just as waking up with him was. Sometimes he opted for shirt and boxers, other times he was in just pajama pants, other times it was just boxers. You loved just about every look on him, and meanwhile you slept in shorts and a t-shirt as always. Once or twice you woke up to his arm around you. You didn’t tell him or alert him, because you didn’t want it to be weird but you absolutely loved the feeling of it.

 So maybe being platonic with Seb wasn’t awful….but it did torture you. He was a great friend, sure. But you still had that gnawing of wanting more. You wanted the sweet moments to blossom into passion.

 But it was still fun. You cooked for him, showing off your cooking skills and he was highly impressed. You went shopping together, spent the day out, then at night, you played video games together, laughing, sharing junk food, and competing against each other. A few times at night, once he got back to your apartment and dinner was done, you flopped down together, ate, and he would hold your hand or cuddle you as you laid down to watch something. Then, often times, you lay awake in the dark together just talking, discussing deep topics.

 Living with him was blissful. It’d only been three weeks but he was an amazing roommate and never let anything get too dirty or untidy. He picked up after himself and Spinee. You shared the chores. You were practically a married couple. You were worried you would get on each other’s nerves but it never happened.

 In fact, he was your ray of sunshine when you got home. He went out of his way to make sure you were happy, and you for him. After a long day of shooting, you would rub his feet, get him popcorn, open a beer for him. You were happy to do it and he repaid the favor. He would massage your back after a shitty day, offer to cook, make the bed, or draw you a super frilly bath. But the best day, was when you came home from from a super terrible day.

 “Ugh, fuck,” you had groaned, dropping your purse and heading straight to the kitchen to start dinner.

 “What’s up?” he asked, looking up from his phone on the couch.

 “A shitty day. First, Brad forgot a board meeting so I had to run to it a few blocks over, fifteen minutes late. I’m CEO, that shit can’t happen. Then we had a disaster recovery situation go all wrong with one of the big clients so I spent the greater part of the day dealing with them. I noticed we’re losing about $10,000 a month somewhere so I’m trying to work with the finance team to track that down…” you ranted while you grabbed the veggies and meat to make fajitas.

 But as soon as you placed them on the counter, ready to start cutting, Sebastian was off the couch and hitting play on the stereo, and turning it up. Suddenly one of your absolute faves came over the speakers around your apartment -- Call Me Unreliable. He swept up and grabbed your hand and wrapped his arm around your waist.

 You squealed as you laughed.

 “Seb, what are you doing?!” you had demanded through a chuckle.

 He had ignored you and began to sing along as he grinned, dancing you around the kitchen.

 “Seb!” you said again. “I have to make dinner.”

 “It can wait,” he said as he twirled you out.

 “But--”

 “Shush and just dance with me, okay?” he had ordered gently. He pulled you into his arms, so that your cheek was on his shoulder and he began swaying slowly. You could feel his heartbeat and immediately your day was perfect.

 Of course, Ida didn’t believe you when you said nothing was going on romantically, considering he was sleeping in your bed and living with you. But as much as you wanted it, no, he hadn’t made a move.

 For her, on the other hand, Chris and her were constantly in communication. They were actually dating. He had kissed her at least. She took about an hour telling you all about the detail. While you were thrilled for her, you felt a pang of jealousy as well.

 Having Sebastian in your life really was a blessing. He made your bad days amazing, made your good days perfect, and you couldn’t wait to get home to see him. You couldn’t wait to lie next to him at night. Even your employees had noticed a difference in you, commenting on a glow you’d been giving off. It had dawned on you at some time while he was living with you that he gave you a new purpose in life. Before him, all you had was your work. Ever since you could remember it had been work, work, work. As a child, you pushed yourself to get the best grades, as a teenager you shut out much of a social life to prepare for college, you worked extra hard and diligently to get into a good college, and again you sacrificed many things just to make sure your education and future were secured. When you finally got the jobs you thought you wanted, you worked overtime, went above and beyond, and you do it now with your company. Recently you’d taken some time off and worked from home a little more often now that Seb was around, but before that, it was work from sun up to sun down and then some. You thought you were happy that way, being a workaholic, but Sebastian had shown you there was so much more to life than driving your mental and physical self into the ground to get good numbers. He showed you there was time to stop and smell the roses, there was time to sit and just take in your surroundings, there was time to just be happy. Talking Spinee on walks in the park, going to get a coffee, making brunch on Saturday, these were things you weren’t exactly used to. Often times, Seb had to remind you to just chill out. He could tell you got nervous when you got too far away from work or when you were checking your email on your phone constantly. He eased your worries and would remind you that the company would be fine and would encourage you to just relax. He was making you feel great inside and out, finally taking time for yourself, finally letting you see just how much there was to life.

 You were living in a dream….until the nightmare came, turning your world upside down.