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kusagrasskusa · 2 years ago

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Erron Black X Reader - “You’re gonna be a daddy”

Summery: Short little wholesome story where Erron Black comes home from a long bounty, and seeing his woman outside their little home. She looks at him and greets him in a strange way, and whenever he asks about it, he hears something he never expected to here. Read the last paragraph before getting to the story!

TW: Miscarriage

This is something that hits a little closer to home for me. Almost a year ago, I was gonna have a baby sister named Willow. I was at my boyfriend’s house and called my mom for something, but she sounded upset over the phone. When she picked me up later and I asked what it was about, she looked at me and said, “there wasn’t a heartbeat.” She was so depressed for months over it and we eventually discovered she has something called MTHFR, a blood clotting disease that results in pregnancy loss. Oh and just buy the way… My mom is going through a program to help her have one last kid, so the story has a happy ending.

In this story, Y/N has lost her children to this blood cell disease and was thought to never be able to have a family.

—————————————————————————————

The sun was bright and the unearthly birds chirped along with each other as they flew around the heated realm known as Outworld. A cute little deserted farmhouse was stationed quite a bit away from other civilians, but relatively close to the empire which Kotal Kahn resided in. A lovely pond was situated near the farm house and little gardens grew from the pond water. It was surrounded by woods, but a safe part of the forest. A lovely woman would go outside everyday to take care of the animals with her pet Outworlden cat, C/N. It was like a mainecoon and a demon had a baby, but it for the most part had the sweet maincoone personality. The woman had began to wear lovely loose white dresses lately, even in the bright and hot sun. But every single day had been the happiest day in her life ever since two months prior to when this story would take place.

But, she didn’t know this would be the happiest of even the happiest days. At least for now.

“Ooo,” she breathed out, holding onto her back as she sat down on a rock near the pond and garden for a quick break. She breathed in heavily, the morning air refreshing her skin but maybe a little too much so. She gazed over the beautiful own she built with her husband, remembering their dreams of starting a life together the way it felt it should be. Building a lovely little home and marrying there, and although it was just them at the wedding, they would later on find out they would have had another member of the family.

Her eyes gazed over the four tombstones on the other side of the pond. Y/N almost wanted to cry more for each second she looked at them, but those days would finally be behind her. She would always be a mother of those four, buried beneath the ground, and she would soon be a mother of five. Her first baby had died unexpectedly, and when she lost the third one, her husband spoke to his boss about what could possibly be wrong.

He was a blood god, god of war, and god of the sun- and the ruler of her realm. When he first laid on eyes on the girl, he felt pity for her; her gloomed face moving his heart enough to take time out of the day to help her. Each baby had died from high levels of homocysteine levels and eggs not being able to fertilize correctly- and it broke her heart more and more. Even the Kahn was upset for days after the meeting and allowed her husband to stay home for some time.

But, that was a year ago and her husband was off to complete a difficult bounty. Erron had been gone for about 3 months now, and the night before he left had been the night she would conceive her next child. She didn’t know she was pregnant until 2 months ago, and she had been seeing Kotal Kahn every single day for him to use his abilities on her and rejuvenate her. She wanted to badly to have her child- and her baby had lasted longer than any other. This one was going to survive.

C/N meowed as it chased after a bird that soared through the skies. “C/N!” The lady called out for her animal, “you’re gonna step on the flowers!” She huffed as the cat tripped over a watermelon vine- but this was an Outworld watermelon vine, so it was like tripping over a stubborn tree root.

“That cat’s gon’ get us killed one day,” a voice called out from behind her. She whipped her head around, her eyes widening at the sound of that familiar voice.

“Erron!” She called out, standing up and running into her husband’s arms, who chuckled while squeezing her under his loving grip.

“Hey there, baby doll,” he greeted, suppressing just how happy he really was to see her. Those long trips were always painful to go on, but the upside is that he gets more happy to see his girl’s beautiful face. “Y/N, baby, don’t cry,” he chuckled as he released her, grabbing her chin so she looked up at him. Tears flooded down her face more than usual, making her giggle as well.

“Haha, I told myself I wouldn’t cry this time,” she sniffled, brushing her hair out of her face. She instinctually put her hand on her stomach as the adrenaline died down which made her remember that her back was hurting. “Mmm,” she grunting as she backed up into the rock again, sitting down. Her husband followed her and sat down with her, wrapping his larger arm around her.

“Are you okay, suga’ plum?” He asked, glancing over at where she laid her hand. 3 months was still too early for a noticeable bump, but she was heavier than what she used to be if only by a little bit. Y/N sniffled, more tears pouring out as she looked at him.

“You’re gonna be a daddy,” she cried out, wrapping her arms around her husband. “This time, you’ll be holding your son in your arms happily! This one’s gonna make it!” Erron’s eyes widened as he blinked out in shock.

“I’m,” he started, chuckling, “I’m gonna be a daddy?” Y/N laughed, wiping more tears of joy while Erron wanted to hold his in.

“Yes! I already have his room made a-and-“ she stuttered while her breathe hitched. “I’ve been seeing Kotal everyday so he could rejuvenate and tell me what was going on with our boy. He’s as healthy as can be!”

That night, dinner was extra special. Along with whenever they went to bed later that night- they slept in each other’s arms that night, cuddling in their sleep. Little do they know in a few months, they wouldn’t be able to sleep that close together if they could sleep at all. Let’s just say S/N is gonna have his daddy’s fighting spirit.

Especially in his sleep when he kicks and punches his baby limps at those stupid monsters in what most kid’s would call a nightmare. To him, those nightmares are battlegrounds where nothing can escape his wrath.

#mk erron black #erron black x reader #mortal kombat x reader #mk x reader #erron black #mk erron #mkx mortal kombat x #mortal kombat xl #mortal kombat x #mk mortal kombat #mortal kombat #mortal kombat erron black #sad :(#aww cute #sad but happy

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justauthoring · 4 years ago

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hope dwindles.

Request: Girll i have a request for finnick🥺 what if the reader found out she's pregnant and they have to go to the quarter quell hunger games the angst omg Requested by: @vintage-marina

Pairing: Finnick Odair x Reader Word Count: 1,123 Please don’t plagiarize my work!

If you had known, you wouldn’t have volunteered.

It sounded selfish, but you know Finnick would agree with you. In fact, it’s why you’re hesitant to tell him; because there was no way he wasn’t going to lose his mind in worry. There was no going back now, you were here, and nothing could stop the games from happening.

But it wasn’t just your life you were caring for now.

Tucking your chin into yourself, fold your arms around your bent knees, hugging yourself close as you tried to keep a steady breath. Try not to let your mind race, let yourself wonder on all the possibilities of what was to come. Try not to let yourself focus on the fact that going into those games meant you were most likely going to die.

And so was your unborn child. Never even given the chance to live.

But was it a world worth living in?

It was a fair enough question. One that often plagued your mind. You weren’t trying for a child and that thought, that question, was exactly why. To raise a child only to be forced into a world that you were brought up in, a world where your life was laid on the line every year from the age between twelve and eighteen.

If you lived. If you survived.

You should’ve been more careful. Should’ve been more aware. Should’ve been...

You’re pulled from your thoughts at the sound of your door opening. You had no doubt who it was, given that in the back of your mind you knew it was only a matter of time before Finnick sought you out. You’d skipped dinner, retired early from training, and basically spent the entire afternoon and evening huddled up in your respective bedroom, hidden from the others.

Namely, Finnick. But, you knew, you wouldn’t be able to avoid him forever.

And Finnick knew you well, too well even, that even if you isolating yourself hadn’t been enough of a clue, the second Finnick’s eyes fall on your huddled form he just knows something’s wrong. More wrong than normal, you guessed, given that things never really were right. Not in the world you lived in.

He softly shuts the door behind him, and you turn your head back to stare blankly at the wall like you had been, holding your knees closer to yourself as you swallow thickly, feeling as if there was something stuck in the back of your throat. Nerves, that’s what. You were nervous, beyond so, but incredibly in that moment because you had absolutely no idea what Finnick was going to say when you told him the truth.

He takes a seat next to you on the bed, it softly dipping beneath his weight, as his shoulder gently bumps into your own. It’s meant as a simple gesture, something to pull your eyes on him, but you refuse to, eyes twisting shut as you feel as if you might throw up. But by then, you’ve thrown up everything you possibly could.

“What’s wrong?” He whispers, cutting through the silence with his gentle and angelic voice. You ease, almost by instinct, at the sound of his voice, shoulders falling as you let out a light sniffle. “And don’t just say the games, because... because I know it’s more than that. I can tell.”

You might as well just tell him. You couldn’t lie to Finnick, you’ve never been able to, and even though it was your body, this was also his child. And there’s no way you couldn’t tell him.

“I’m... I’m pregnant.”

Your eyes slide to his own as you say the words, your entire body tensing at the way his eyes have widened. That is clearly not what he expected to hear, and he’s promptly shocked behind belief that it’s what you’ve said. Your stomach feels as if it’s doing flips as you impatiently wait for him to say something.

It takes Finnick a minute to find the courage. “You’re...?”

You nod.

He turns his head straight on, eyes dazed. You shuffle on your spot on the bed, reaching out for him. “Finnick?”

“We have to get you of the games,” he sputters, shaking his head desperately. “They--They have to. I mean, you’re pregnant, they can’t just--”

“Katniss and Peeta already tried, remember?” You cut in gently, wide, terrified eyes meeting his own as you frown heavily. “And it didn’t work. They didn’t stop the games, and they didn’t take her out. The only difference is i’m not lying.”

Finnick shakes his head again; “but-but she’s Katniss, President Snow hates her. Maybe, he’ll--”

Your hand falls on his arm, silencing him as you simply shake your head. He knows, as much as you despite his desperate and pleading rambles, that there’s no way you aren’t going in those games.

Silence echoes for a second before Finnick stands, walking to the door. You watch him with furrowed brows, shaking your head as he pulls the door open an inch, peeking out before softly shutting it behind him. He rushes back over to you, taking your hands in his own and squeezing firmly. “There’s a revolution starting,” he says, his voice a hushed whisper. And you blink, not sure if you’d even heard him correctly.

“I was going to talk to you about it tonight. Haymitch approached me, asked if I wanted to join. I said yes, and I said that i’d talk to you.” He nods at you, a soft, weak smile curling on to his lips as he reaches out towards you, brushing back your hair and gently tucking behind your ear. His touch is gentle, soothing, and you can’t help but lean into it instinctively, even if your mind is racing. “The games aren’t going to finish. There’s a plan. I’ll make sure Haymitch knows to get you out. He has to.”

Shaking your head, your lips part, and you fumble for some kind of response. “Finnick, what? I--... There’s no way it’ll work, Snow has too many--”

“The Game-maker?” He whispers, quirking a brow your way as you nod. “He’s on our side. Like I said, there’s a plan. But what matters most to me is getting you out alive.”

“But... But what about you?” You mumble, leaning forward, eyes pleading. “Finnick, I don’t want to raise this child without you.”

“It’ll be okay,” he whispers, leaning his forward against your own, never letting go of your hands as his thumb softly strokes the skin of your palm, in a soothing, slow pattern. “It’ll all be okay. We’ll... We’ll figure it out.”

And even if you didn’t believe it, not completely at least, you didn’t argue. You had...

You had to have some hope.

Let me know what you thought?

#The Hunger Games #The Hunger Games imagine #Hunger Games #Hunger Games imagine #Finnick #Finnick Odiar #Finnick Odair imagine #Finnick Odair x reader #Finnick imagine #Finnick x reader #Sam Claflin #Sam Claflin imagine #The Hunger Games Catching Fire #The Hunger Games Mockingjay #imagine #imagines #my fics

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hatterstan-shameblog · 4 years ago

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Okay so Aguni is sound asleep, just enjoying the few hours of peace he has, when there's a knock on the door. He ignores it, but the person just keeps knocking and knocking.

"Morizono, open the goddamn door!" he hears Takeru call, "This is an emergency!"

He groans to himself before standing up and opening the door.

"What?"

"So, remember that weird chonky cat Niragi found?"

"Yeah... what about it?"

"It's not fat... and is not a cat."

Where Hatter and apparently every other idiot at the Beach mistake a domesticated pregnant genet for a fat exotic cat. And it just gave birth on Hatter's bed.

I have no idea in what direction this is supposed to go lol but hopefully something chaotic.

alright I had to look up what a genet is and DAMN they are CUTE AS HELL and I’m love them v much

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Terminator

Rating: PG-13 for dialogue and like one drug reference

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Aguni Morizono is a simple man who enjoys simple pleasures.

He enjoys a healthy slathering of grape jelly on his toast. He enjoys watching the sunset reflect over the ocean. He enjoys watering his garden and reading the newspaper and taking naps on the sofa on Sunday afternoons after he’s finished his grocery shopping for the week.

What he does not particularly enjoy is being shaken awake by a borderline-frantic Takeru in the middle of the night.

Takeru insists that he has a good reason; that this is an emergency. Aguni reminds him that running out of marijuana does not qualify as an emergency, and pulls the blanket over his head in an attempt to shut the very exuberant man out.

But the aforementioned exuberant man refuses to be shut out, and he references the aforementioned emergency again—this time insisting that it is an actual real emergency and requires immediate attention. Aguni sincerely doubts this and tries his damnedest to fall back to sleep—a truly Herculean task, given Takeru’s incessant talking and the way he’s bouncing on the other side of the mattress like some kind of weird large puppy. Aguni is just about to enter the first misty moments of dozing off as Takeru says words like ‘Niragi’ and ‘cat’ and ‘bed’ and it’s all somewhat possible to ignore until he utters one word that makes Aguni sit straight up.

‘Babies.’

Now, ‘babies’ as a concept does not bother Aguni. He’s actually somewhat fond of them, the way they unabashedly stare at him on the train or in the park, eyes wide and fat little hands waving a clumsy ‘hello’ in his general direction. And if he waves back sometimes, well...that’s his business. (It’s only polite, after all.)

No, the issue here is that ‘babies’ and ‘the Borderlands’ sounds like a terrible, terrible mix. What’s worse is that said babies have, for some reason, been left in Takeru’s care. And, judging from Takeru’s presence in his room, the babies have been left alone.

It takes no time at all for Aguni to throw on a pair of pants and slip into his boots. It takes even less time for him to grab Takeru by the collar of his robe and physically drag him down the hall, the other man switching between heartfelt thank-you’s and desperate pleas for Aguni to be gentle when handling the raw silk of his ensemble.

Now, to those of us on the outside of Aguni’s brain, it may seem like he hasn’t thought this through; that he has tunnel-vision’d his way through the last two paragraphs without a logical thought as to how and why ‘babies’ may be present. That is simply not true. Aguni has considered that ‘babies’ could actually mean a number of things aside from ‘human infants’ and has thus compiled a short list of the three most likely candidates:

The spider plant he had placed on Takeru’s windowsill has propagated—or, as some would call it, ‘had babies.’ This is Aguni’s favorite option of the bunch. It is also the least likely.

Something about the cards. Although Aguni has never Takeru refer to them as ‘his babies,’ it is no secret that he is very protective of his prized collection. Seeing as this may or may not affect the entire Beach, it’s important for him to be aware of the situation.

Takeru is high as a goddamn kite and hallucinating. This is, unfortunately, the most likely scenario.

It is also important to mention that Aguni has taken a good look at his life and his choices throughout this ordeal, particularly when Takeru commented on the state of his biceps and made an off-color insinuation about the right one looking slightly more defined than the left—and then asked if he would like to discuss his love life, with an exaggerated raise of his eyebrows. Aguni chose not to comment. He also chose to push Takeru into the doorframe on the way into his suite, and took a smidge of pleasure when his head collided with the wood with a satisfying clunk-ing sound.

“Look,” Takeru says proudly, pointing a finger at the bed, “babies!”

Nestled in what a bulging nest of fluffy white blankets are...things. Fuzzy things. One big fuzzy thing, with sleepy eyes and what looks to be a long spotted tail wrapped around one, two, three tiny fuzzy things. When Aguni leans in to get a closer look, the big one quirks a corn-chip-shaped ear and gives him a wary glare.

“What,” Aguni asks, “in the goddamn—“

But before Aguni is able to finish his sentence, Takeru is giving him a stinging slap on the arm.

“Aguni Morizono,” he hisses, hands balled into fists and perched on his hips like a mother hen, “I will not have my children exposed to that kind of language.”

There are plenty of things wrong with what Takeru just said, but Aguni is having trouble getting past the idea that these...creatures have somehow been claimed by his very silly friend.

“Think about it,” Takeru continues, swanning his way past a very confused (and tired) Aguni to sit on the edge of the bed just behind the brood of fluffy individuals, “This lovely lady could have given birth on anyone’s bed...but she chose mine. Why do you think that is?”

“Because you leave the sheets all balled up in the middle and it’s the perfect place for an animal to make a nest?”

“Wrong, but I like how confident you sounded when you said it!”

With his hands pressed together and held in front of his lips, Takeru looks almost prayerful as he very seriously explains his theory.

“A woman alone-- heavily pregnant, scared, and lost in these cold and cruel Borderlands. Her thoughts shift to her young. Who will keep them safe? Who will help take care of them? That’s when her instincts took over,” Takeru opens his arms, the silken cuffs of his robe pooling around his elbows, “and, using her superior sense of smell, followed her nose to the den of the nearest alpha male for protection.”

Aguni wishes he could say that this is the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. He also wishes he had a cup of coffee (with a healthy glug of Bailey’s in there for good measure) before this whole event took place.

Takeru has since busied himself with the tiny new mother and her young, watching with gentle fascination as the newborns snuffle and snooze against her with unopened eyes and clumsy paws. When he reaches out a ring-bedecked hand to stroke along the bigger one’s head, she gives him a small growl and a pointed glare—to which he laughs and withdraws his touch, saying something cheeky about “the last time she let a man get too close” and quickly following it up with a promise to talk about it “after the kids are asleep.”

Takeru has just held up his hand for a high-five (which Aguni has decided to not reciprocate) when they hear a crash and then a bang and then the thundering thumpthumpthump of angry booted footsteps rapidly approaching their position in the bedroom. For some reason—a reason he’s not very keen to dwell upon at the current moment—Aguni instantly snaps into defense mode, hands curling into fists and shoulders squaring themselves in anticipation of a coming attack.

“WHERE. IS. TERMINATOR!?”

Niragi bursts into the room like a firework, all noise and flash and fire in his eyes. His knuckles strain around the dark of his rifle, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. Of course, Aguni knows (hopes) he won’t actually resort to filling Takeru full of bullets, but he keeps a close eye on his trigger finger, anyways.

“Ah! There’s my co-parent,” Hatter says with a measure of glee, gesturing with a flourish of his hand towards the cute, hairy pile on his bed, “As you can see, our lovely Terminator is doing very well and—“

“Our? She’s not fucking ours, she’s fucking mine,” Niragi snaps, “and I’m gonna fucking kill you for stealing my cat.”

“Not a cat,” a calm voice says, and Aguni turns to see Last Boss lurking in the doorway, katana sheathed and arms crossed, “She’s a common genet, native to the savanna’s of Africa.”

“Ooh, does that mean the babies have dual citizenship? No, wait,” Hatter claps his hands together with glee, “triple citizenship? Africa, Japan, and the Borderlands?!”

“Africa’s not a country, it’s a continent, dumbass,” Niragi retorts, “and I think we have bigger problems than what’s going to be on their fucking passports.”

It’s probably not the best thing in the world for Aguni to let Takeru and Niragi descend into heated bickering—a back-and-forth of ‘you stole her’ versus ‘no, she chose me’—but Aguni is simply not interested in breaking up their squabbling. Instead he goes to stand by Last Boss, who’s watching the two long-haired men argue like it’s a mildly interesting tennis match.

“So,” Aguni says, “you, uh, seem to know a lot about those things.”

“I did my research when Niragi first brought her back,” Last Boss says calmly, “He’s good with her, but I wanted to make sure we were taking care of her correctly.”

“Did you know she was pregnant?”

“I had my suspicions. Niragi wouldn’t listen, though. Kept telling me she was just fat.”

“Yeah, I thought she was ‘just fat,’” Niragi interjects, his gun no longer pointed at Takeru but a murderous gleam still in his eye, “because this fucking asshole kept feeding her potato chips!”

“Because she loves them,” Takeru shouts back, throwing his arms up in the air, “So shoot me for being a nice guy and sharing my snacks with your weird cat!”

“Don’t,” both Last Boss and Aguni say in unison—which is very uncomfortable for the both of them, but at least it has the desired effect of keeping Niragi from blasting a few dozen holes through Takeru’s person.

With the two of them quickly getting back into their heated back-and-forth, Aguni turns his attention to the creatures on the bed. Somehow, despite all of the noise and excitement, the mother and her babies have curled up and fallen asleep, the rhythmic rise and fall of their bellies a stark contrast to the chaos unfolding around them. Aguni feels jealous, but also, feels bad about feeling jealous because this...Terminator thing has undoubtedly had a rough night, too.

“Luckily,” Last Boss says, “genets are pretty independent creatures. She’ll be fine to take care of the kits on her own, provided that she has access to food and water.”

“So we should just...leave her alone?”

Last Boss shrugs.

“More or less.”

Aguni sighs internally. He sighs externally, too, but the internal sigh is the one that really sums up his thoughts on the whole situation. Just getting one of those hot-headed men to leave those poor animals alone is challenging enough, but both of them? That’s bordering on ‘damn near impossible.’

But, for the sake of those weird fuzzy babies, he has to try.

Takeru jumps when he feels Aguni’s hand on his elbow. He also manages to shut up for a moment, which is a nice bonus. Last Boss has also sprung into action and seems to be talking to Niragi in hushed tones, a hesitant but friendly hand on his shoulder.

“C’mon,” Aguni says, gentle-firm as he guides Takeru into a standing position—much to the other man’s confusion.

“Mori, what—?”

“You’ve had a big night. I’ve had a big night. But do you know whose had the biggest night of us all?” Aguni gestures to the snoozing creatures in front of them, “Terminator. She’s exhausted, and the last thing she needs is the four of us keeping her up. You can stay with me tonight, and we’ll figure the rest out tomorrow.”

“But,” Takeru protests—an iota quieter, now that he’s realized that the pipe on the bed is now a sleeping pile, “we can’t just leave them alone, can we?”

“You’re right. Which is why,” Aguni says, “Last Boss is going to stay with her and keep an eye on things. If he’s okay with that, of course?”

Last Boss offers a solemn nod. Aguni makes a mental note to thank him for this later—maybe he’ll let him pick the music on their next supply run (provided it’s from Aguni’s list of pre-approved artists, of course...)

“You know what? Fucking fine,” Niragi spits, flicking his hair back with a quick jerk of his hand, “it’s too goddamn late to deal with you fucking losers, anyways. I’ll come back to collect my cat and her kittens in the morning.”

Aguni does not risk correcting Niragi on his incorrect terminology regarding his pets—frankly, he’s a little too busy being amazed at how suspiciously easy it was to get him to leave. With a sharp pivot, Niragi is exiting the room in what could be called a ‘brisk saunter,’ no doubt wanting to put as much distance between himself and whatever-the-hell just happened in this room as possible.

Aguni, for once, can relate to Niragi quite well.

With Last Boss keeping vigil over the new little family, Aguni is able to wrangle Takeru away from his room with minimal fuss. It’s probably because the man is very tired—despite multiple claims that he ‘isn’t sleepy yet’ and ‘can stay up for hours.’ This theory is proven when, within a grand total of seven seconds of Takeru flopping face-first onto the middle of Aguni’s bed, he’s managed to slip into what only can be described as a ‘light coma.’

Aguni manages to wrestle a stray pillow away from his sleeping friend’s grasp (he’s a notoriously cuddly sleeper, which has led to some...interesting situations over the course of their friendship) and settles his weary self onto the couch. It’s not quite long enough to accommodate his height, but it’s good enough for what will most likely end up being an extended nap before the sun comes up and he needs to solve whatever other issues have popped up at the Beach overnight.

...But, at least those problems won’t involve babies.

Probably.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Also here is a common genet and DAMN SIS U CUTE AS HELL

#alice in borderland #danma takeru #alice in borderland netflix #aguni morizono #niragi suguru #last boss #writings and such

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angel-tries-to-write · 4 years ago

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No Control (epilogue)

Fandom: Assassin’s Creed Rating: General Pairing: Arno Dorian x fem!reader Word count: 1005 Genre: fluff

A little epilogue set after "Dead Kings DLC".

A few years have passed, you were back in Paris, standing in front of the desk at Assassin's headquarters, leaning heavily onto it and thinking about the next plans. Since you worked as the council's personal assistant, you had to be prepared for every meeting. That meant unfortunately more job and less free time, which was actually a good thing. You haven't heard a word from Arno, no one knew where exactly he was and you didn't have the time to look for him yourself.

Unbeknownst to you, Arno was climbing the stairs in the Assassin's Den just the moment you thought about him. He snuck there unseen by anyone, since there was actually no one. Everyone was busy somewhere else, so the entrance and the path to council's room was rather clear. Therefore, the former assassin used everything he had to sneak into the headquarters of the Brotherhood.

“(Y/n)” he called you softly and you jumped, startled and surprised. You were so busy with your work, that you didn't even hear him coming. “I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you” he gave you a weak smile.

“It is fine, I just did not expect anyone” you said, moving your notes and plans aside. “Come in.”

“I brought you something” Arno approached you and put the sword he was carrying on the desk.

“Is that...”

“The Piece of Eden. Yes. I have found it” he nodded and took his hood off. You could see he didn't look well. He was paler than usual and he had certainly lost some weight, but you were sure he used to look way worse.

“What happened?” you asked, taking his hand. He looked at you with extremely sad eyes. You pulled him lightly towards you and he came closer, lifted you by your hips and sat you on the desk. Then he leaned into a comfortable hug, his head on your shoulder, arms tightly entwined around your chest. You could tell he needed someone's closeness.

“Élise is dead. I failed to save her” he said quietly and you got breathless for a moment. Élise meant the world to him, no wonder he looked this bad. “She didn't listen to me and let Germain kill her. She was blinded by vengeance.”

“I am so sorry” you whispered, caressing his hair and back. You wanted to take some of his pain and help him somehow.

“I wanted to leave France forever, I thought I have nothing left, with her gone. Then some things have happened and I realized I have so much work to do. I need to make sure no one will end up like Élise. I decided to go back and try again to become the Assassin” he pulled away from you to look into your eyes. You gently wiped tears from his cheek, he did the same for you.

“I will speak to the council. They all agree that you are too valuable for us to simply let you go. When they hear that you understood our true mission, I am sure you will be welcomed back” you said, smiling warmly.

“That would be nice.”

“I missed you, Arno” you whispered after a moment of silence.

“I missed you too. I even thought... maybe the world without Élise isn't as terrible as I always thought. Maybe there is hope for me... for us?” he looked at you sheepishly.

“Oh, Arno” you smiled, deeply moved. “I have never stopped waiting for you, if this is what you ask.”

“Then you may stop now. I want to try to move on.”

“That is wonderful. Because I am also ready to move on” you said with a wide smile.

“What do you mean?” he asked and you started undoing your clothes. “Uhhh... are you sure I shall see this?”

“Like you haven't seen already” you smirked. Finally you managed to loose your clothes enough to expose skin. “Here” you said, showing the man your stomach.

“I don't see anything.”

“Lower.”

“Still nothing.”

“Exactly.”

“Wha- wait, you had a nasty scar there, if I remember correctly?” he finally realized what you were trying to tell him.

“Yes, I had” you laughed, fixing your clothes. “I have been quite busy since our last meeting. My mission turned out to be really fast, so I did not come back to Paris right away. I went to Masyaf, the old Assassin's fortress-”

“I know, I did my history homework” Arno interrupted you, only slightly annoyed.

“Sorry. So I went to Masyaf with the help of Turkish Brotherhood. I got access to the Apple of Eden that belonged once to great master assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. I used it to heal my wound. I just wanted to get rid of the pain, but when I undressed to take a bath, I have found out that the scar was gone. And nothing hurt since then. I can finally live and use my full potential. So I spent the time mastering the things I wasn't capable of earlier” you explained.

“How about... the other stuff? I mean, how deeply did it heal you?” he asked hesitantly.

“I assume the missing part is still missing, so getting pregnant is still difficult. But at least it shouldn't kill me.”

“Good thing I already adopted a kid. Though it was more like he adopted me.”

“You adopted a kid? How did that even happen?” you raised your eyebrows with disbelief.

“It's a long and complicated story. But his name is Léon, I brought him to Paris and he wants to be an assassin, so you will meet him soon.”

“You are the most incredible man I have ever met” you smiled, looking at him with shining eyes.

“You are pretty awesome yourself” he answered, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“Shut up and kiss me already” you pulled him by his collar and he gladly obeyed. You had waited way too long to do that, yet you knew it was worth it. You had a whole new future ahead.

#assassin's creed #arno dorian #arno dorian x reader #my fic

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parjiljehavey · 4 years ago

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this isn’t where we intended to be

A/N: Because we don’t know the details of how Boba survived the Sarlacc, I hand waved it. Am I shamelessly blending Legends into this? Yep. Don’t stop me now, I’m having a good time!

I also forgot to mentioned that the titles are lyrics from You Must Love Me. Madonna or Lana Del Rey, both are valid and full of feels.

Tagging: @escapedthesarlacc, @silverfish-kingdom, @shadowfoxey, @fresa-luna

Rating: T for Teen

Content Warnings: Angst, Bad Spy/Military jargon and descriptions, Boba Is Pining, We got some Surprise Appearances at the end.

PREVIOUS // NEXT

ix.

The first thing the Imperials did after setting up their garrison was confiscate any weapons. They searched house by house, apartment by apartment. The only things they didn’t take were the kitchen knives. You were lucky enough that the panic room Boba built was hidden from almost every scanner imaginable, leaving the armory Boba had on this world unseized.

Jekiah had chosen then to wail his little heart out from the bedroom, announcing his anger that his noon meal was being delayed to all who could hear. It took everything in you to not laugh when the stormtroopers and the scrawny little officer with them flinched.

There was a diner around the corner from the apartment that you had started frequenting because you had became obsessed with their milkshakes during your pregnancy. The twi’lek that owned it was an older woman with long lekku she draped around her neck who carried herself in a way that you recognized.

It was Sinya’s diner that the locals gathered in afterhours to discuss the Imperial occupation a month after the weapons has been taken. The blinds were shut, casting the room in near darkness except for the dim green glow of the menu signs.

Jekiah was strapped to your chest, content to sleep against your breast while voices rose when someone in the diner proposed fighting back against the Empire. A raucous arose as all attending agreed.

Sinya spoke up, “We’ll need to run reconnaissance to get a better idea of their numbers and the heat they’re packing.”

You should have kept your mouth shut and your head down, if only for Jekiah’s sake. It’s what Boba would have wanted you to do; with few exceptions, when did you ever do what Boba wanted?

“I can take care of that.” Heads turned and the crowd parted to stare at you, a woman with her baby. Sinya looked at you, and you looked at her. A tattooed brow was raised.

“You sure?” She gestured to Jekiah.

You looked down at your son, rubbing your thumb over his dark downy hair. He nestled his face further against your breast, seeking out your heartbeat.

“Yes. I am.”

He had woken up with the gritty taste of sand in his mouth, his skin burning and itching, and his armor missing. Shab’la Jawas.

It was the Sand People, who had ultimately rescued him and tended to the wounds he’d gained from the Sarlacc. He wasn’t able to translate what they were saying without his buy’ce, but he was able to communicate enough with them with the sign language that any hunter worth their spit learned when they spent enough time chasing targets through the sands of Tatooine.

He was given clothing and weapons once he was well enough to leave, and went on his way to begin the long trek back to Jabba’s palace. He had no doubt that anything that wasn’t nailed down had already been taken after news of the Hutt’s death had spread. Boba was confident that the Slave I was still where he had left it when he arrived.

Sure enough, the Firespray-31 was still there. Usually, he’d lower the ramp through his HUD, however, lacking his armor, Boba had to use the security code. It hadn’t changed in decades; he had it memorized. Accessing the security logs, Boba cursed.

It’d been five months since he left you heavily pregnant in his safehouse.

Fierfek.

xi.

A week after the meeting, you left Jekiah with your neighbor, two older women who had cooed over Jekiah ever since you’d come back from the medical center. Jekiah had learned how to cling to your shirt and had refused to let go, right up until a brightly colored nexu plush entered his field of vision. He’d been entranced with the neon pink toy and had let go easily after that.

The Zabrak grinned, “One of our nephew’s old toys. He won’t miss it.”

Returning to the apartment, you opened the panic room. Weapons lined the wall, far out of reach of a child and a case held your gear. The armorweave long coat and pants you had once worn regularly were a little too tight across your belly and hips, but thankfully, you still had mobility. You could handle this small discomfort; it was nothing compared to the later stages of your pregnancy and Jekiah’s birth.

You attached the stealth generator to your belt, making double sure it’d stay there with tape. Next went on your boots, and then your visor, followed by your gloves and gauntlets.

The gloves had been a gift from Boba; “They’d been outlawed in the Mandalore system for centuries,” he had said, “but I figured you’d appreciate these in your arsenal.”

Another gift had been the heavy, matte black gauntlets. The wristblade had utterly delighted you. You’d asked Boba what they were made of that made them so heavy. His answer had been beskar. It had taken you some time to learn how to fight with them on, something Boba had helped you with. You had ended up with more bruises than he had, some more pleasurable than others.

An ache in your chest came up and a lump formed in your throat. You swallowed around it and pushed on. You had a job to do.

You ran a systems’ check twice, ensuring that your vitals read correctly and the targeting system was accurately linked to your rifle. Happy with the results, you activated the stealth generator, and made your way out of the apartment building entirely. You kept to the shadows of alleyways and near cover.

Following a returning patrol, you infiltrated the Imperial garrison.

xii.

He’d elected to shave off the rest of his hair; most of it was already gone, the Sarlacc’s digestive acid killed the hair follicles. He inspected his wounds; no matter how primitive the Tuskens may be, they’d done a good job at patching him up. The wounds that were still healing he covered with a bacta-patch.

It had been a difficult decision, but, Boba had chosen to pursue his missing armor. He knew you’d understand why he didn’t immediately return; it was his father’s armor. You’d be furious with him, more than likely banish him from bed, but you’d understand.

It didn’t stop the guilt gnawing at his gut.

It didn’t stop him from waking up expecting to feel his arm asleep from you laying on it to curl against his chest or feel your cold feet pressed against his legs.

xiii.

Over the next two weeks, you infiltrated the garrison several more times gathering information on troop movements and supply routes. There was more than one garrison on the planet; as soon as news spread to the others, they’d be swarming like flies on a carcass. This was going to be a hard and dirty fight.

You said as much at the next meeting in Sinya’s.

“If we are going to do this, we're going to need more numbers than what we have.”

A large Nikto stepped forward. “Mercenaries? Lady, we ain’t got the money for that!”

Sinya was watching you from behind the counter. She nodded at you.

“Let me worry about the money. As soon as the mercenaries are planetside, start bringing the people from smaller towns and the farms inside.”

xiv.

Finding Sandcrawlers was easier from the air; it’d take months to traverse Tatooine on foot. He stopped in Mos Eisley, Mos Espa, and Anchorhead intermittently as he needed supplies and fuel. He picked up scrap metals to barter with the Jawas for information. This routine continued until a priority alert came across.

Liberation from Imperial Garrison. Boba’s stomach sunk.

There was no thinking as he plotted a course back to the planet. No other thought as the Slave I gained altitude.

Just you.

xv.

Sinya had had her pegged as a hunter as soon as she had first walked in months ago. She always looked around, noting exits and entries. Standard merc behavior, Sinya remembers doing that before she retired; Goddess, she still did it.

The bump on her belly made Sinya decide she wasn’t a threat. The delight she took in the milkshakes was endearing. Sinya had made sure that every time she saw her on the way in, a milkshake was already being blended. Especially when she started coming in with her baby boy strapped to her chest. That baby was the grumpiest little thing Sinya had ever seen.

It was nice, Sinya decided, once everyone had left after the woman had reported back on her findings and it was decided that they did need mercenaries, to talk shop with someone who knew their stuff. Sinya missed the merc life somedays.

Sinya listed off every large mercenary company that she knew was still in existence. Even Black Sun.

“No,” She shook her head. “If the Imperials offer more, they’d switch sides. Even if they didn’t, it’d be another battle to get them off. We’d be trading one for the other. That’s a risk we can’t afford. We need people who hate the Imperials just as much, if not more then we do.”

Sinya's tattooed brows furrowed. “Who are you thinking of?”

The woman smiled.

bonus

xvi.

He heard a low whistle from somewhere in the Oyu’baat when a priority alert popped up on the bounty board. The bartender fiddled with a control panel, enlarging the alert so it overtook other listings. It got Shysa’s attention, the Mand’alor dropping his feet off his table as he stood up. Noise died down until the only sound was the boloball game.

100,000 credits for every Mandalorian that signed up for the liberation of a small world out in the Outer Rim from the Empire. A 10,000 credit bonus was being offered for every piece of artillery that was brought in. Payment would be given from stocks, proprieties, or cold hard cash, per the contractor’s preference.

Osik. That was a lot of credits for a small world to be offering. He wondered where they were getting that kind of money. And it was specifically requesting Mandalorians.

Shysa clapped his hands together, drawing attention away from the board and to himself. He climbed up on top of his table looking out over the crowd of Mando’ade.

“Well, vode. Who wants to go kick the Imperials shebs again?”

Cheers of Oya rang out and Mird’ika howled as he pulled on his fine, gray gloves.

#boba fett #boba fett x reader #boba fett x you #boba fett x y/n #star wars #star wars fanfic #star wars fanfiction #should i should the surprise?#SHOULD I #yeah i will #jaing skirata #fenn shysa #lord mirdalan #mird #mird'ika #republic commando #series: you must love me

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stellaluna33 · 4 years ago

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The Phone Call

A preview of what’s coming next in my Gilmore fic The Long And Winding Road, as a phone conversation between Jess and Luke. (You now know more than Rory will in the next chapter... No one knows this except Jess and Luke... and you.)

"Hello?"

"Hey, Luke."

"Jess. How's it going?"

"Oh, you know. Just fine. You still in Nantucket?"

"Yeah. Rory and Richie came with, as you probably know. But we also have a, let's say, 'surprise' visitor up here today."

"Reeeeally. Who's that?"

"Oh, none other than the great Logan Huntzberger himself, who finally deigned to see his son because he could pass it off as a polite visit to a family friend while he was 'in the area.'"

"Jeez. He still hasn't told anyone, has he?"

"Apparently not. Claims he's 'waiting for the right moment,' or some kinda bullsh**."

"Bastard."

"You're tellin' me. But why'd you call? You don't usually call this time of day."

"Yeah. Well, I, uh… I got some news today."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"So, I don't know if you remember me talking about that writer's residency program in Argentina last year?"

"Oh yeah, weren't you thinking about applying for that?"

"Yeah. I did apply for it, actually. There was a pretty long waiting list, though."

"Oh, I see. So, d'you hear something about that?"

"Yeah. Today, actually. I, uh… I got in."

"Jess, that is fantastic news! Good for you. That's a really great opportunity for you."

"Yeah. Yeah, it is. I, uh… just… I'm not sure if I wanna take it."

"What?!! Jess, you can't be serious! You've been wanting to do something like this for God knows how long! And now you've got this opportunity and you're just going to let it pass you by?"

"I don't know, it's just… I don't know if it's a good time for me to be leaving the country right now."

"What, you got something goin' on at work?"

"No... No, it's not that, it's… I don't know."

"Well? What is it? What's stopping you?"

"I just… part of me thinks that I should be here, right now. In case… you know, in case a... friend might need me."

"In case a friend might- Oh jeez. Jess. Tell me you're not talking about Rory."

Jess took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily through his nose.

"Are you serious?! Jess! You told me you were over that! Long over, if I remember it correctly."

"Yeah, well, I was over it! At least, I thought I was…"

"Oh, Jess."

"I know! I know. I'm pathetic. I swore I would never end up like you, and yet here I am."

"Hey! Things didn't turn out so bad for me in the end, you know."

"I know. You're right. I'm worse. I already had my chance with Rory, and I screwed it up so badly that she wishes our entire relationship had never happened."

"Jess, you were just a kid. I'm sure that's not true."

"Oh no? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but that's exactly the way she remembers it."

"Ah jeez. She put that in that book she's writing?"

"Yup."

"And you've been reading over it, right?"

"Yup."

"Well, sh**. I'm sorry, Jess."

"Yeah, well, it is what it is, and it's my own damned fault, so I don't really have the right to be put out about it."

"Well, ok, but… that being the case, don't you think it's time to let this go?"

"Past time. But that's the worst part… I've tried. G-d, I've tried. And I thought I was mostly ok with it, you know? There's been occasional relapses of… regret or… moments when I've wished things could've turned out differently, but… I haven't been hoping for anything. I've been trying to move on. I've had relationships."

"You only went on, like, two dates with that last girl, what was her name?"

"Sylvia?"

"Yes, Sylvia! But two dates, Jess! You give up that quickly and you call that trying?"

"That's what I'm getting to, though. This year has been… different. It wasn't so bad when I only saw her for a few minutes every couple years or so, but between the wedding and the book and everything that's been going on with her lately, Rory and I have been talking all the time, and I just… I still like her more than any other woman I've ever met, Luke. And I told myself that she hasn't wanted me for over a decade now. She made her feelings abundantly clear, and I have offered myself up like an idiot over and over and over again, just on the off chance that she might have changed her mind, and she has turned me down every single time. I mean, how many times does she need to say it before I get a clue? 'No means no,' right? I'm done. I'm not doing that again. So, I guess we're friends now. She really likes me as a friend, she says, so I'll be her friend and be grateful I get to spend time with her at all. And I'm doing my best to be ok with that. So I finally asked Sylvia out, and it was nice. She's beautiful and interesting, and maybe it coulda gone somewhere… but then you had to go and tell Rory about it. And she got weird, man. She called me up, and she was comparing me to Mr. Darcy, and-"

"Am I supposed to know who the hell that is?"

"Are you serious? You've lived with Lorelai for, what, ten years now, and she hasn't tied you down and made you watch all six f***ing hours of that BBC monstrosity? Pride and Prejudice? Jane Austen? Lorelai going on and on about Colin Firth emerging from a lake in a wet shirt and breeches? Ring any bells?"

"Ah, maybe. I think I fell asleep about five minutes in."

"Of course you did. Well, all you need to know is that he's the romantic hero of the story, but he's a complete ass for like, two thirds of the book, which is obviously where the resemblance lies. So she's on a roll with that, and hey, I deserve it, but then she throws in the fact that he changes and fixes everything and the heroine can't help falling in love with him in the end. And what the hell am I supposed to do with that? Because last I knew, we were talking about me, and that would imply that… I don't know. All I know is that she got all flustered and started grilling me about my date with Sylvia, that you told her about, thanks so much, and then she starts going on about how she hopes I'll be very happy and how I deserve to be happy and I deserve to be with 'someone who has her life together.' And then she started crying and frickin' hung up on me!"

"Huh."

"Yeah! So, that whole thing kinda threw me, and all of a sudden, I'm not so sure where I stand anymore. I mean, am I crazy? Is that a normal reaction to hearing that a friend is seeing someone?"

"I don't know, Jess. It's weird, I'll give you that… but who knows, with pregnant women…"

"Well, yeah, there's that, too… But I went out with Sylvia again, because I was trying, you know? I owed it to myself and to her to give it an honest shot, but… I couldn't… I couldn't stop thinking about that phone call, Luke. I couldn't stop thinking about her. Because what if this was finally, finally a chance after all these years, and could I really just let that slip away? Could I start a relationship with someone else, knowing that I might be throwing away a shot with Rory? And I've been saying that there wasn't any chemistry with Sylvia and me, but the truth is, I know that's all on me. It was awkward because of me, because I was distracted and I was distant and I wasn't sure I wanted to be there. And Sylvia deserves better than that. It was better to end it before anybody got hurt."

"Ah, jeez, Jess."

"It's true. I'll go ahead and say it: I sabotaged my own attempt at having a happy relationship because I'm still hung up on my highschool girlfriend. And there it is. I'm such a pathetic loser."

"You're not a loser, Jess. You've come a long way. But she's got a baby now."

"I know that. And even if she has changed her mind about me, the timing is so bad... She needs me to be a friend she can depend on right now. The last thing she needs is the stress of fending off yet more unwanted advances from her crazy ex-boyfriend who can't take no for an answer. And I can't go there again, I just can't. So, I'm stuck in this no-man's-land."

"So how is all this stopping you from going to Argentina? Maybe a few months away from all this would be good for you."

"Maybe… maybe. But I just… I broke her trust before by leaving. I made a lot of mistakes, but that? That was the one she couldn't forgive me for. And I want to be there for her, I want her to know that she can count on me now, that if she needs me, I am there. But I can't do that if I'm halfway across the world. I'd be of no more use to her than Logan is, and I… God help me, I want her to think of me as someone who can give her something that he can't. And if I go, I can't do that. And I have this feeling that if I go now, that'll be it for her. The end. Three strikes, I'm out. For good this time."

"Were you planning on leaving without telling her?"

"Well, no, of course I wasn't..."

"'Cause I think that was a big part of the problem last time…"

"Yeah. I get that. But what if she doesn't see it that way?"

"Jess, all I can say is maybe you should talk to Rory about it. See how she feels about it."

"I guess I'll have to."

"For my part, I think you should go. And she won't be alone, Jess. She's got Lorelai, and me, and Lane..."

"You're right. Who'm I kidding? She doesn't need me anyway."

"That wasn't what I meant."

"Yeah, well, it's probably true anyway. But it's good to know that she's got you looking out for her. I'd need you to promise me that, if I'm gonna even consider this."

"You got it."

"Well… thanks for listening. I guess I'd better go. I'm gonna call Rory, like you said."

"I think that'd be a good idea."

"Yeah. Well, talk to you later, Uncle Luke."

"Later, kid. You… you take care of yourself, alright?"

"I always do. But thanks."

Thank you for reading. Please, PLEASE share any comments or ask any questions you’re wondering about! I crave your opinion. What do you think of this? My muse is in desperate need of encouragement so I can finish writing Chapter 9 sooner rather than later!

#Gilmore Girls #Fanfiction #Literati #seriously please talk to me #The Long and Winding Road #this is an exclusive!#It won't be in the next chapter #and I haven't posted this anywhere else!#@tinygothgoblindaydreaming #@lily-of-the-vallies #@blueforest7

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btssmutficslovingfan01 · 4 years ago

Text

Friendly Encounters- Chapter Six

𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎: A friend challenges you to go out of your comfort zone and talk to one of the cute boys at the café. However, after attempting to flirt with one of them, they reveal that they are in a relationship with each other. It’s fine, though, because you’re all friends now!

𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒: Romance

𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔: Smut, Fluff, Angst

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Graphic Depictions of sex, Mature Language, Angst is Yoongi-centered

𝒲𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈: 5k+

𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔: Jimin x Yoongi x Reader

Masterlist

⇤Prev | Next⇥

____________________

Yoongi watches, with his dick in his hand as Jimin wrecks you. Over and over again, your blue haired boyfriend pounds into you, as you continuously convulse around his massive girthy dick. He’s feeding you well.

“Jimin...I c-can’t anymore.”

“It’s okay, baby. I’m almost there...come on babygirl, don’t give up on me now.” You shut your eyes, panting heavily as your final orgasm hits you in a euphoric wave of pleasure, making your muscles tense and you gasp as his dick twitches inside of you from all your clenching.

“Sorry...Yoongi...couldn’t take you too.” Your older boyfriend shakes his head, kissing your forehead lightly as Jimin recovers, pulling out of your sensitive body slowly.

“Don’t be. Seeing you two enjoy yourselves was reward enough.” Yoongi leaves a tender kiss on his boyfriend’s lips before departing to his room. “Take care of her, alright? And wash up, your mom should be home soon.” Yoongi gives you both a stern talking-to before departing with his clothes in hand.

“You okay?” Jimin asks while wiping you down with a washcloth. You nod, sitting up on the bed as your boyfriend brings you a warm towelette for your face. He had an extra one on hand. “Think you can walk?” You shake your head, limping as he helps you up. “Here, get on my back.” You don’t think much of it, as you both saw each other naked and took your relationship to the next level all in one night.

“You’re the best boyfriend ever. Hah...A hot bath was exactly what I needed.” Jimin smiles at you as you lather your body with soapy bubbles.

“Thanks. You know...you’re pretty cool yourself. Able to take me like a pro. Wow, that was some expert level stuff right the-”

“Shut up.” You splash him with water, laughing as you both have a water fight. After you finish bathing (with a lot of water ending up outside the tub, much to your inconvenience), you just end up cuddling with Jimin in your room. Your more bubbly boyfriend texts your older, introverted partner that he’ll be spending the night with you.

You’re not very surprised when Yoongi replies with the response that he is completely okay with it, since he spent a night with Jimin and left you in the dust. You also understand it, they’ve been together for so long that it probably feels weird to adjust now that a third person is a part of the relationship.

You’ve felt like you’re out of place, like the awkward puzzle piece that has the right shape and fits but it just doesn’t fit quite right. Obviously, you won’t express your concern to the gorgeous specimen of a boyfriend in front of you, because you’re worried about upsetting him.

His reaction is predictable though, since you’ve grown used to the barista by your side. He would probably just kiss you and hold you tight, claiming that if he let you go you would fly away like a butterfly, or maybe he would just tell you all of the things you want to hear and more. You’re already deeply in love with him, might as well just get everything out in the open.

Then there’s Yoongi. Your kind, sweet, gummy-smiling boyfriend. You initially thought he was annoyed with your friendship and closeness to Jimin, but he ended up expressing the opposite, and in the end your bond was strengthened even more. You’re afraid of disappointing him, or even worse, making him cry. You know his “tough guy” act is just that. The real Yoongi is frail but you’ve only caught glimpses of his vulnerable side. From everything you’ve seen so far, you can tell he still hasn’t opened up to you. You’re afraid of jeopardizing your relationship and possibly losing one-or two of your boyfriends in one go.

One wrong move and it can possibly be the end of your dream-like romance. You sigh, falling back into Jimin’s arms with one of your hands covering your eyelids and the other on your hip. Your boyfriend just grabs your hips and helps you settle into a comfortable position on the bed. He spoons you, and you’re mostly grateful as the warmth envelops you and lulls you to sleep relatively quickly.

Morning comes early, your alarm waking you up earlier than you expected. You groan, rolling over and finding your boyfriend still asleep and snoring lightly. Jimin looks cute even when he’s sleeping. You try taking care of your appearance, since you want to at least be remembered for dressing well during your last year of high school, but at the same time you dress for yourself. And your boyfriends. When you go downstairs in your short black miniskirt and denim jacket covering your sky blue tee, Yoongi raises an eyebrow at you but most of the time stays quiet. Before you decide to hug him.

When he smells your expensive perfume, he asks, “Going somewhere after school?” You shake your head.

“I was thinking I could head to the café in the evening. I have a lot of busy work. I doubt any of the teachers even know what they’re teaching anymore,” You shake your head, before shuffling through your backpack and then pulling out your phone charger. Finally, after three and a half days of searching you’ve found your old friend! “Ah-ha! I knew I put it in here. Finally, now I can charge my phone during the 3rd period.”

Yoongi watches you scramble around to make breakfast as fast as you can before asking you another question, “Do you want a ride?” Curse your dirty mind for reading that the wrong way!

The car ride is long, and awkward. You and Yoongi had all this pent-up sexual tension possibly from the moment you met, and now that you’ve both seen each other naked, done other nasty things together as a couple and such, the only thing left to do is to fuck.

That’s right, you both just need to let out your feelings, when you’re alone. Like you did with Jimin before Yoongi joined, or rather, watched. You were spending sufficient time alone with each of your boyfriends, but as of late, you need to get down and dirty with Yoongi. As fast as possible, before things get any weirder.

“Thanks.” You say before getting out of the car.

“Hey, um, I know after yesterday things are different but can I please ask you to pretend like it didn’t happen? I was clearly not myself. I’d rather that we do things naturally and let everything happen when they’re supposed to. I apologize if you felt forced to do stuff in any way.”

You almost cry at how gentle he sounds. He talks to you like you’re a princess, literally the kindest man you’ve crossed. Your heart flutters just from hearing him speak, like your eyes have been opened for the first time.

“No, not at all!” You clutch your backpack strap, biting your lips in anxiousness. “I wanted to. I actually hope I can do it with both of you someday. Like actually..the three of us in one bed.” You trail off, realizing what it is that you truly want.

“You okay? You zoned out there for a second.” You nod, smacking yourself internally for spacing out with Yoongi.

“I’ll see you after school, bye.” You share a quick kiss before you run to your first period class.

For some reason, your friends seem busy. No one is eager to talk to you about their lives or even stop for a second to listen to you talk about yours. You understand it, though. Everyone has their own stuff to deal with. You’re sure all the other girls your age are worrying about bigger stuff than boy problems, like possibly being pregnant, or scared that they don’t have enough credits to graduate.

You stay glued to your phone most of the day, as Jimin sends you heart emojis and lengthy passages about how he loves you. He just had to message you during English class, during which your teacher caught you on your phone, and she picked up your phone and when she read your text, it brought her to tears, resulting in her asking you if she could read it out loud to the class.

You insisted it was from your boyfriend and how it was for your eyes only, but she said it demonstrated how simple sentences work well in writing when used correctly and that his use of grammar and vocabulary was that of a college graduate, or at least a professional writer.

She read it aloud, with emotion, and feeling. It made your heart swell up in joy, as you heard his voice through hers. The message behind his words.

“Oh, how you make my heart ache, and in the end it only longs for you. How could a person affect me so much? Come home and hold me, my love, I promise you won’t want to leave,” She finishes reading the long text and after you get your phone back, you bury it deep inside your backpack.

My teacher calls you to her desk after class, and she tells you to cherish your boy with your whole heart, as it’s evident enough that no couple would be crazy enough to send love poems to each other unless they were truly fond of the other. There was no way you wouldn’t treasure him; You already loved him. And Yoongi. You love them both.

༻• Later That Day •༺

“Tell me what’s happening in front of my eyes isn’t really happening right now.” You huff at your blue-haired prince.

“Oh no, you’ve got it right. He’s really doing it.” He drinks his sweet tea with more vigour, sucking the straw harshly.

“This is pathetic. What does he think he can accomplish by upsetting his partners?” Jimin shrugs at your rhetorical question. Honestly, if you had a whip right now, you wouldn’t mind using it on Yoongi.

He actually has the balls to flirt with a regular female customer, a girl you actually caught making goo-goo eyes at him and trying to get his number every time she orders something. He’s not even shrugging her off anymore, but instead encouraging it. Jimin slams his hands down on the table, as he wipes a spot near you, glaring daggers at his boyfriend.

“Okay, I think I really wanna punish him now.” You were joking before, but the flirting has gotten out of hand as of late. He’s been doing this for two weeks already.

“Good, as it should be. Training continues in your room at 6:00 sharp. Be there and be ready, there’s a lot we have to cover before you dip your toe in the dom puddle.” You raise an eyebrow at his terminology. You knew what a dom was, but didn’t think he was serious. There’s no way that you’d actually take control in the bedroom, right?

Images of Jimin naked and whining beneath you flash in your mind, as you imagine all the different ways you could make him a mess. You’ve heard what Yoongi does to him, but imagining what you could do-that could go anywhere.

“Why do we have to wait?” You find yourself growing bolder as you lean forward, innocently sucking the metal straw that Jimin provided to you earlier when you ordered the mango smoothie.

“What are you suggesting, kitten?” You laugh at his nickname, before narrowing your eyes at your incredibly sexy boyfriend.

“Bathroom.” You continue sucking the straw, innocently sipping your drink before getting up and walking to the restroom.

After 5 minutes of waiting, you hear the door open, and heavy footsteps. They were much too heavy to be a woman, for sure.

“Baby!” He hisses right outside of your stall, signaling you to grab him and pull him in.

“I checked. It’s empty. No one can disturb us anyways, not unless they see two pairs of feet underneath.”

“Oh, I have an easy solution to that,” He folds his arms across his chest. “Kneel,” You listen to him, happy to follow his orders like a mindless kitten. “Go ahead, suck.” He has his phone in one hand, recording you as you take him into your mouth.

“Remember who’s boss, baby? You said I’d learn how to be a dom.” He groans lightly as you suck his length, slightly squeezing his testes as well with your free hands.

“Alright. Show me what you’ve got.” His eyes are clouded with lust as he watches you swallow his precum, but you do eventually get you fill, instead opting to let his semen spill to the floor.

“Should I just prep you right here? Finger that beautiful asshole so that Yoongi can fuck you later?” Jimin groans at the thought, and you do too, imagining how his cock would bounce in your face as your older boyfriend fucked him carnally. “Ohhh, look at you taking my fingers. So, so, pretty Jiminie. Hear that? This is what good dick sounds like.” Your panties are drenched, you’re leaking through. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say you were on your period.

“F-fuck me good Y/N.” You smirk, pinching his scrotum, making him shriek in urgency.

“Sorry, bad boys don’t get to cum.” You continue rubbing his shaft, a sloshing sound resounding through the bathroom walls as you give him a moist handjob. He tries his best to stay quiet, with a few whimpers escaping his lips.

“Please, Y/N. I need to cum, please I can’t hold in!” He whines wantonly as you continue pumping his dick, letting his erection peak to the highest point before rubbing him out during his climax. He gets so loud that he has to cover his own mouth with his small hands.

You go on for several minutes after that, or what feels like an eternity, laughing maniacally as Jimin squirts and cums for you. You just did that! You made him feel so good he came.

After you let his cum spill to the floor, you stand up, tucking his dick back into his pants before licking your fingers clean of the savory juices Jimin left behind.

You both wash your hands in the sink and leave the bathroom in turns, so it won’t raise any suspicion.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Jimin gives you a quick peck on the cheek before running off to the counter to grab another order.

“So, I’m guessing you guys spent his entire break together?” Jin asks, wiping your table for the hundredth time again.

“Yes, Jin. We were just talking about the birds.” Jin glares at you, obviously not believing your lie.

“And the bees, I assume?” You clap your hands together, laughing as you sip your mango juice. “It’s no laughing matter for a girl your age. You’re already with two men who are closer to my age than your age. And I’m 27!” You roll your eyes, ignoring him as you get your daily lecture again.

“Jin, you know Jimin and Yoongi are only like 3 or 4 years older than me. And I’m already more mature than lots of girls my age. You can also save the bedroom talk, I know my limits and what I’m comfortable with. I know it’s not the most conventional agreement, but I feel safe with both of them. They treat me like a princess even though I don’t deserve it.” You tell him with a small smile on your face.

“Hm, you really love them, don’t you?” You nod, humming as Jin walks away. “While you’re here, why don’t you help out with these boxes? Just move them to the alleyway. They’re all rotten fruit.” You cringe at that, as Jin hands you a stack of two huge boxes.

“Alright. But if I get mugged I’ll sue you.” You get around to the alleyway, surprised to see that there’s no one there and you actually had a moment of peace without incident.

You weren’t expecting anything anyways, as you know this town is very safe and there’s not much criminal activity happening in this neck of the woods. You were too focused on everything going on in your mind, so in case there was an actual threat, you wouldn’t be too phased.

“Done, now when do I get paid?” You dust your hands, looking up at your boyfriends’ boss. Jin just gives you his signature smile and blows a kiss at you before turning to his office.

“Look, how about I just let you drink for free? For a month?” You nod, folding your arms as you notice the picture on Jin’s desk, a family photo of Jin with a woman.

“Sounds good, hey who’s this?” You ask, pointing at the frame.

“That was my wife. She passed away three years ago…” You suddenly feel like a jerk.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m gonna get going now, it was nice seeing you again, Jin.” You smile sadly at the man before leaving your boys to wrap up with their work. They’ll be taking a leave for a week anyways, so they’re just trying to make this week count.

You know that’s probably why Yoongi was being so friendly with most of the female customers. You hadn’t seen him flirt with any other men apart from Jimin, but he did talk to a lot of girls. Then again, the girls probably approached him themselves.

You try pushing the thoughts out of your head, as you know your ultimate goal is to have angry sex with Yoongi over the fact that he’d been flirting with other people in front of you and Jimin. You channel the anger through your body, as Jimin later presents himself to you that evening, with thoughts of only awakening the lustful dominant inside of you.

“Here are my prized positions, please take good care of me, kitten.” You shake your head, smirking at him as he gives you his box of toys to use on him.

“Want me to ride you, baby?” You ask him as he groans in pain, his bulge painfully tightening in his pants. You can see the area around his pants, the tiny wet spot around his tip.

“I’d love that, kitten,” You shed your clothes, before working on Jimin’s pants first. After the pants come off, you work on his shirt. Both articles of clothing go flying to the ground before the final layer, which is his boxers. The precum stringing from the head of his cock glisten as you gather a good portion of it onto your fingers before slathering it on your stomach. You lick the remaining juices from your fingers before placing both of your legs on either side of him. Jimin is excited. His dick seems to inflate a little as you sit down on him. “Look at you, being ruined by my cock. You aren’t gonna let it control you today, are you kitten?” You shake your head, panting slightly as you struggle to focus on what you were doing.

“I own this cock, got it? This cock is mine!” You finally start moving, making Jimin groan beneath you as he appreciates how much your boobs bounce in his face and how he can see everything as you move on top of him.

“Oh gosh, I’m gonna cum.” You gasp before quickly climbing off him and you resorted to using your mouth to finish the job.

“Um, why did you just stop when you were close?” Jimin asks. You gesture to his unprotected penis.

“You weren’t wearing a condom. I couldn’t let you cum in me and risk getting preggers. I watched Glee, I know all of the downsides.” Your boyfriend just huffs impatiently.

“I could’ve pulled out, but it seems that now I came once but you haven’t cum at all.”

“Jim, who’s in charge?” Your boyfriend is taken aback by the new name you gave him. He just sighs before turning his head to you and looking at you directly in the eyes.

“You are.”

“Great, glad we’re on the same page. Get on your stomach, babe. I wanna peg you.”

“What?!” Jimin’s eyes widen as you grab the lube from your desk drawer.

“Do you not want to do it tonight? I need to practice so Yoongi can-wait, are you telling me that you’re a top?” He blushes before running his hands through his pretty blue hair.

“We’re switches. Although, when we’re alone, hyung is more dominant in nature.” You gasp in awe as Jimin reveals this new information to you.

“That’s great, we’ll make him beg by the end of next week, I’m sure of it. But Jim, I do have a plan for how we go about it…” You quietly adjust the straps of your harness before slathering the dildo with lube. This is softer, so the texture feels like skin.

“Oh gosh, Y/N!” You hum as Jimin makes all kinds of cute noises, mostly from suffocation and feeling smothered. You take a break in between because Jimin declares it ‘too much,’ and after getting a drink of water you presume to prep him gently, so you don’t tear him apart.

Before you know it, just from the stimulation of your fingers on the base of his cock and the fingers in his hole, your man is coming undone, moaning, whining, cursing, begging-all of those things while you pump him with your right hand, as fast as possible. Seeing Jimin come on his stomach was the hottest thing you’ve seen in a long time. You really needed to see that.

“Kitten, wanna cum with me? You made me cum so many times already…” You nod, your face red from excitement. The lewd thoughts just make it worse.

“Jiminie, can we...69?” You ask shyly, but your boyfriend is more than happy to oblige.

“Sure, baby.”

༻• Night •༺

Yoongi gets home late only because Jin had some trouble with the cash register. He wasn’t feeling well as of late, but there was no explanation for his unexplained sadness. He had everything he needed in life, along with two amazing partners. So why was he feeling this way? He knows it’s normal for people to feel down sometimes.

It’s hard for people to be happy all the time, especially when there’s a lot of stress in the environment. Now Yoongi has to prepare to deal with the “break-up” since you and Jimin will share the honor of being in an arranged marriage. Well, it’s more like a trick love-marriage. If your father catches you in bed with the wrong man, there’s no telling what he could do from there.

Yoongi just needs you and Jimin to get married to save you both. Jimin gets to reconnect with his parents who cast their son out because he got a boyfriend, and you would be free from awkward marriage dinners with strangers. Oh, and your father would leave you alone because he’d consider you as “Jimin’s property.”

He knows the type of person he is. He’s dealt with the same type of parents many times over. His family wasn’t even willing to accept him even though he told them he wasn’t completely gay but didn’t agree to being labeled “straight” either.

Now look at you all, everyone is happy together and that’s the way Yoongi wants it to be. Even if he has to be in the background. For your happiness, he would do anything. For you and Jimin.

As he’s about to open the door, a text from your mother catches him off-guard. She was texting that she gets to come home earlier today, so she can spend time with you three and get to know your boyfriends better. Uh-oh, this is bad.

He shuts the door behind him before running upstairs, to look for you and Jimin. Yoongi bursts down the door with force only to find you and Jimin NOT watching iCarly together on Netflix.

“Oh God, I’m sorry!” He shields his eyes, turning around so you could cover up a little bit. Nothing he hasn’t seen before, but he didn’t want to be a pervert. Even though you’d be fine with him looking. He still wants to ask for consent.

You change quickly, Jimin still panting and recovering from his last orgasm. He almost passed out from how good you were with your tongue.

“You can look, you know?” You and Jimin day in sync. The two of you share a look that Yoongi knew was the type of look reserved for two special people. You’ve already bonded, without him. It’s a good thing, even if it kills Yoongi that he's trying to earn extra money so in case you and Jimin do get caught with the plan, you would have a safety net to catch you when you fall and help you up.

Yoongi didn’t inform you or Jimin of this, but recently, he’s been opting for extra hours just to save up money. He’s also been spending some of that money on new equipment to make his producing process a bit easier, but apart from that, he has a large amount of money in his bank account. At least, it’s big in his eyes. He never had much, but now he finally has a reason to do more with his life.

You and Jimin constantly inspire him to make songs all the time, and without realizing it, you’ve changed him for the better.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. But that’s not why I’m here, your mom is coming home, and she wants to spend time with us, since we’re your boyfriends!” Yoongi panics and you find it endearing how the man you once thought to be cold and unkind to now be so comfortable around you that he speaks his mind.

“Thank goodness you walked in when you did, Jimin was about to pass out on top of me.”

“Wait, you bottom for her?” You look back at Jimin to see his reaction. He gawks at his blond boyfriend in shock.

“Yeah, I mean haven’t you seen how she gets when she’s dominant? It’s sexy as hell.” You can’t understand what they’re saying anymore because they are speaking in Korean.

“Oh, I see. Wait until the roles are reversed, I’m sure our kitten will be mewling for you to stop once she feels your lips.” Jimin glances over at you quickly before looking back at his boyfriend.

“Hyung, in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve already done plenty alone.” Your prince-like boyfriend combs his hair to one side, making you giggle as you see Yoongi turn bright pink like a piglet.

“I can see that. Kitten, are you up for a date when we go up to the cabin?” You bite your lip, glancing nervously towards Jimin as he gets dressed with his back to you and looking at Yoongi as he waits patiently for your answer. You were planning to spend time with the two of them, but you know that maintaining the individual relationships with your partners are just as important as the group dynamic. You’ve also been naturally closer with Jimin, as he was your best friend first.

Yoongi deserves a break, and you know that he’s probably noticed that you and Jimin have been spending a lot more time together while he’s been working hard. The vacation is actually for Yoongi, but he doesn’t know that, yet.

“Sure. When do you want to go out?” You ask.

“Hmmm, what about tomorrow? I get off work around 4 tomorrow, so we’ll have a lot of time to spend after that.”

“Sounds like a plan.” You both share a small smile before Jimin interrupts the moment with applause.

“Great! While you guys do that, I’ll be out learning choreography. I need to keep up with my peers from the institute.”

“Wait, you went to a dance school?” Jimin gasps at the realization that he never told you about his dance classes during high school.

“Yep, I was at the top of my class,” Jimin quickly changes the subject. “Anyways, enough about me, you guys need to plan for your date!” He quickly runs out into the hallway, in his boxer shorts with the rest of his clothes in hand, as you uncover yourself and give Yoongi a quick peek before scrambling to find some clean clothes that don’t smell like sex.

“Boys, I assume you know what this meeting is about?” Your mom clasps her hands together on her lap as she basically murders your boyfriends with her eyes.

“I know it’s a weird arrangement, but we both really like your daughter.” Yoongi is the first to speak up, and you find it sweet that he can open up to your mother, since he wasn’t the most socially adept back when you first met him. You assume that’s because you changed him, you and Jimin made him crawl out of his shell and explore the world a bit more. This was mostly good but bad at the same time because he was much better at communicating, and instead of scowling at people or giving them a blank stare, he actually smiles a lot more and makes more eye contact.

Maybe that’s just the jealousy talking, but you genuinely feel that it’s better for Yoongi, in the long run.

“I’ve known you guys for six months now, and in judging you personally, I can tell that you both have excellent characters. You will make her happy, and hopefully someday you three can be more serious.”

“Hey mom, I needed to ask you something about that.” Your boyfriends glance at you anxiously as you ask your mom. “When is dad coming home?” You bite your bottom lip as you do when you get nervous.

“Hmmm, he said he would be gone for half a year. He’ll be back by October, why?” You scratch your head.

“Can’t a girl wonder when her daddy’ll come home?” You don’t even bother looking at your boyfriends as you can tell exactly what their expressions are.

Once your mother is done interrogating your partners, Jimin creeps down the hallway and sneaks into your room.

“Where’s Yoongi?” You ask, as he kisses your collarbone.

“Asleep.” You stop him.

“Look, we left him out earlier so I feel kinda bad. I don’t think we should do any more stuff tonight. We can continue tomorrow.” Jimin’s a gentleman, so he wouldn’t push your boundaries. He just backs away from you and he flops down on your bed.

“You think I’m good...right?”

“What?” Jimin’s sudden words throw you off guard.

“I’m not bad at sex, am I?”

“Jimin, where did you get that idea? Of course you’re amazing in bed, I’m just not in the mood tonight. Besides, my mom’s home.” You sit down next to him, stroking his right arm.

“Thanks. Sometimes I feel like I need validation. My confidence isn’t all what I chalked it up to be.” You just let out a long sigh. You can relate to him, in what happened with Jungkook and Jasmine. Your friendship actually made you lose trust in those closest to you. You were partially afraid of opening up to Jimin in the beginning too, but after you cried it out with him, you felt even closer to him than the people you knew practically your entire life.

Jimin is just easy to get along with, and you know that’s partially the reason why you were able to open up to him so quickly. Considering, yes you were only about three months into your romantic relationship, you needed someone to latch onto. Jimin was still the best friend you ever had, and you learned quickly that this was what a healthy friendship was like.

Unlike Jungkook and Jasmine, Jimin would listen to you, and he’d give you advice about your problems. In turn, you listened to him, just as you had with your past friends. There was something different from the other interactions you had, because it was a take and give type situation.

You weren’t just taking, though. You were applying yourself, and improving who you were as a person. This is what a friendship should be like. Even though you’re dating, it feels comfortable and familiar. You’ve learned not to depend on people as much, only when you need to. Unlike anything you’ve seen in the past, the dynamics of Jimin and Yoongi’s relationship is so free, they don’t pester the other to tell them everything.

Secrets are important in a relationship; That’s another thing you’ve picked up. Obviously you aren’t going to lie, but you feel like you have a safety net.

“Sorry. It’s just hard to always live up to society’s expectations of me.” Everything clicks for you with Jimin’s words. You quickly stand up, blood rushing to your head as you do, making you fall back just as fast. Jimin catches you, luckily, and lowers you down onto the mattress.

“We’re not getting married.” You put your foot down, catching your boyfriend off guard.

“Wh-what do you mean?” You simply stare up at your boyfriend, eyes filled with hope.

#jimin x reader #yoongi x reader #yoonmin x reader #yoongi x jimin x reader #Poly BTS #Poly #bts imagine #coffee shop #throuple #jimin x yoongi #cafeau #Smut

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years ago

Text

with you [chapter four]

Summary: Clementine pops the question, Louis has nightmares, Violet can’t let go of the past, Mitch doesn’t know how to handle gross feelings, Ruby’s a goddamn sweetheart, Willy doesn’t ever remember to knock, Aasim can’t dance, and James is here, too.

Nothing like a wedding to bring this family together.

Note: tbh working on this story at night is the only thing holding my sanity together while I’m taking care of my grams. But also this chapter was a huge pain in the ass to fix and I’m 0.02 seconds away from punching a hole in the wall. But it’s fine because it’s finished and I ran all the way home just to quickly post this.

Anyway, thank you for reading and your constant support. It truly means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy ch4. ❤️

Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4

Read on: AO3

---

The page remains blank.

No matter how much Violet wills the pen to move on its own, to put all thoughts both known and unconscious to paper, it remains beside the open notebook. As outrageous as it sounds, a small part of her hopes one day the pen will magically come to life and solve all of her problems with its problem-solving ink. Then everything will be okay.

Though she has a feeling the walkers will go extinct before her pen develops a sentient personality or therapeutic skills.

And she’ll be dead by then, so it wouldn’t matter anyway.

“It helps if you pick up the pen,” Aasim said, not bothering to look up from his own work. “Just saying.”

She knows even by his deadpan tone that he’s trying to joke with her, even if he’s not good at it. Laying bait for her to bite back with a sarcastic remark of her own.

“But then I’d actually have to write something down.”

“Oh no,” Aasim smirks, paying her a brief glance. “Effort.”

That cracks a small smile out of her, and for a fleeting moment, they’re smiling at each other as if that’s a normal thing. It’s hard to maintain that connection, so damn hard, so Violet hides her smile from him by turning away to look towards the gates.

The very same gates that Clementine, AJ, and Rosie pass through. Back from patrol, if she overheard correctly. Even from a distance, Violet can see the delighted grin Clementine wears, a grin only matched by AJ’s. Far brighter than Violet’s.

AJ hugs her tightly before breaking away and bolting towards Louis, James, and Tenn. Clementine remains, though, arms folded over her chest as she watches the group of boys with such fondness that it damn near makes Violet want to scream.

Shit, just…. Shit .

“Hey,” Aasim reaches over, tapping on the blank page of her journal with his own worn-out pen to grab her attention. “Lucy had her babies this morning. Seven of them. Well, eight, but one of them didn’t make it.”

Violet tears her glare away from Clementine to instead glare at Aasim.

“Who the hell is Lucy?”

“One of the pregnant rabbits, remember? Not the one that had babies last week, the other one.”

“We’re still naming them?” Violet asks. Aasim made it very clear that no names were to be used when they started up the rabbit farm by the greenhouse.

“They’re food, not pets. No names. No attachments.”

That didn’t last long.

“ I didn’t name her,” Aasim corrects. “Willy did, even though I’ve told him again and again not to. Now when it comes time for us to put Lucy down, he’s not going to talk to me for another two weeks, as if I’m the only one at fault. Remember Albert?”

“Ah, Prince Albert,” Violet nods. “He sure was delicious.”

Everyone agreed that the lovely Prince Albert was one of the handsomest rabbits they had with his snow white fur offset by brown feet and ears. They also agreed that he made one of the best rabbit stews Omar’s ever created.

Including Willy. That is until Omar offered him one of Prince Albert’s lucky feet and Willy realized just who he had consumed.

The boy didn’t speak to Aasim or Omar for a week, but Violet believes that he still carries around one of Prince Albert’s feet for good luck, despite everything.

“Yeah, anyway, did you want to come with me to check on them? Ruby’s out there now. Maybe you could stay with her and help out?”

Violet scoffs.

“Look, I’ll take your night shift, too,” Aasim adds. “That way you don’t spend all day out there and then have to do a night shift.”

“I like having the night shift.”

“Every night?”

“Sure.”

“Well,” Aasim taps his pen against the table, thinking loudly to himself. “I’m giving you the night off anyway. Ruby would appreciate your company.”

Oh, would she, now…?

It’s not that Violet minds Ruby. She’s the only girl Violet has left to talk to at this place- the only girl she’s willing to talk to, actually.

Violet would say that she enjoys evenings spent with Ruby… most of the time.

The problem with talking to or spending time with Ruby is she’s a lot. Not in the same way Louis is, but more in an overbearing mother sort of way. Always asking her how she’s feeling, asking about her day, if there’s anything she can do to help Violet out or if she wants to do this or that. She’s far too pushy sometimes, especially when it comes to shit she doesn’t understand.

“Clem’s tryin’, Vi.”

As if Ruby has all the answers to make her happy. She always makes it sound so damn easy.

“Why can’t ya just talk to each other?”

The problem is that Ruby tries to take care of everyone so that she doesn’t have to think about how to make herself happy. Why focus on your problems when you can bury your pains and wishes beneath fairy tales and other people’s problems?

At least, that’s Violet’s assumption.

Maybe Ruby is happy.

Maybe Violet just wishes she wasn’t.

Fucking hell.

Just when she thought she couldn’t be any more fucked...

“My company or yours?” Violet mumbles, finally picking up her pen, putting it to paper.

“What? My company- oh, I see.” Aasim rolls his eyes, dropping his pen in the book before shutting it. “Ha ha, very funny. I get it.”

Violet nearly rolls her eyes, too. Speaking of those who don’t bother with their own shit-

“I was thinking that it’d be good for you to go out there and help her, that’s all,” Aasim says, tucking his notebook under his arm and standing from the table. He means to walk away on that annoying note but hesitates. Then, lowering his voice to one of disquiet, he says, “I’m worried about you. So is everyone else.”

“I’m fine, Aasim.”

“...Right,” he sighs heavily. “Please go help Ruby with the rabbits. I’m only going to be there for a little bit before heading out to check the traps with Louis, and she could really use the help. Please?”

“Fine.”

Aasim lingers, shifting his weight as he gives her a chance to say something more, a chance she refuses.

“Thank you.”

With that, he’s walking away, leaving her by herself to finish a doodle of a pen with curly hair and fire for eyes with a speech bubble.

“Why are ya still here?”

---

“Is my neck supposed to feel this stiff?”

“Yes. It’s a sign of a good, unmoving model.”

“Well, good to hear that my career is off to a good start.”

Louis is still sitting there at the table, cracking jokes and trying his best not to move while James and Tenn draw. James points to various parts of Louis’ face before motioning to Tenn’s paper, something that brings a grin to Clementine’s face.

“Don’t worry, Clem,” says AJ as he hugs her. “I won’t say anything. Can I go draw now?”

“Have fun, kiddo.”

She can safely leave AJ to catch up on art lessons with James. He promised her he wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone- even Tenn- until she had everything all planned out.

Now that Mitch has the measurements, the ring is- hopefully- being taken care of, so all that leaves is how she plans on doing this. Several lingering thoughts follow her as she spends most of the day helping around the school, doing usual repairs to the gate and their walls.

She would’ve checked on Lucy and the other rabbits, but Aasim warned her that Violet was there with Ruby and Louis. She almost pushed him aside and went in anyway, but damn it, she knows better by this point.

Instead, she and AJ help Omar clean out the fire pit and gather fresh wood, briefly considering letting him in on her intentions. Omar’s a trustworthy friend and while she appreciates his opinion, she decides against telling anyone else until she has the ring. She’s found that battling her eagerness to be growing more difficult with every passing day.

So much so that she also considers asking about the progress on said ring when she finds Mitch and James near the library’s entrance, speaking in hushed whispers that she couldn’t make out. All talk stopped when she approached them, and began again when Mitch became snappy with her before dragging James away.

Odd, and not boding well for her, but she firmly believes that if there were any issues she should know about, Mitch would tell her.

When the sky finally turns a lovely mixture of pink and orange, AJ gives her a hug goodnight before making his way over to Tenn’s room for another sleepover.

Before retiring to her dorm for the night, Clementine pokes her head into the music room to find it empty. A slight disappointment falls over her as she hoped Louis would be up for some piano lessons, but that dissipates when she finds Louis kneeling on AJ’s desk with a roll of duct tape hanging from his mouth when she walks in, a stack of drawings placed beside him. He’s taping up one of the portraits of himself on the wall.

“Ey!” He waves at her before spitting the tape out. “Look at these!” He hops off the desk and points at the one he just hung up. “That’s the one James drew. Charming, isn’t it?”

The amount of detail in the portrait is startling, a fully shaded-in head portrait of Louis that seemingly stares right at her. Even the little details, like his freckles and the scar on his chin, are noticeable.

“It’s way weirder than I thought it’d be,” he says, “having someone stare and dissect every part of your face. Did you know I have a very angular jawline?” He tilts his head up to prove his point. “And James said I have a nice eye shape.”

“He did do you justice,” she says, still admiring the picture. “Very handsome.”

His chuckle comes out loud and anxious, not having expected her to say that.

“Hah, yeah, except,” then Louis pushes his jacket back to place his hands on his hips, “uhm, do you think my nose is big?”

“What?”

“James said I have a wider nose. He drew it bigger than it actually is, right?”

“You have a very cute nose.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Clementine giggles. “Your nose is perfectly fine, Louis.”

He eyes the portrait, still uncertain, only to then gasp as if just remembering something.

“Oh, wait though, ready for this?” He searches through the pile before plucking the one he wants out. “ This is the one Tenn drew.” He proudly holds it up.

She can’t say she’s not impressed. It’s nowhere near as proportional or advanced as James’, but Clementine can see the effort and charm within the lines. Definitely Tenn’s work.

“Wow,” Clementine smirks, nudging him. “I see it now. James is right, you do have a big nose.”

“ Hey ,” Louis reaches up and playfully pinches her nose, “big talk from little button nose over here.” Louis sticks Tenn’s portrait on the wall, next to James’. “There! We’re getting quite the art gallery.”

“One’s missing, though.” Clementine grabs Louis’ picture of Rosie off the desk and tapes it up with the others.

“Seriously?” he asks sheepishly.

“Oh yeah. We’re never taking that one down.”

“Terrific.”

Louis continues to look through the rest of the drawings. He hums to himself lightly, a tune she recognizes. He sticks more drawings on the wall; ones that AJ drew of him and Tenn, one he drew of Disco Broccoli.

He pauses when he comes across the one of AJ, Clementine, and him. The one with the beach ball. He smiles fondly at it before sticking it up there with the rest.

She sits on AJ’s bed, leaning against the frame to close her eyes and listen to his cheerful humming.

One of the few things she loves in this world is the comfort she has when he’s around.

It’s a comfort she never thought she’d find again. Before Ericson, she and AJ never had time for comfortable peace. When it was just them, there was always that lurking feeling, that bitterness, that lingered in her thoughts.

Now, they have a place they call home.

Clementine can’t imagine where they would’ve ended up had she not crashed the car. They’d still be out in the world, scavenging every little bit they could to survive. They never would’ve met the people she now considered family.

She and Louis would’ve never met, where she and AJ never met anyone at Ericson.

That’s a really shitty thing to think about.

Finding this place, their home, was the best thing that happened to them. Meeting everyone here- Louis, Violet, Mitch, Ruby, Aasim, everyone - has done so much for them. For years, she worried about her and AJ, about always being on the road in a car that constantly ran on fumes, about running across assholes who wanted to hurt them, about the dead finally getting the best of them. Nowhere to go, no direction. A neverending search.

She sneaks a glance at Louis. He has no idea.

He finishes up, shoving the duct tape in a drawer. Leaning against the desk with arms crossed over his chest, he looks at her with a tired grin, but says nothing.

She raises a brow.

“What?”

He shrugs.

It’s like the weariness of their previous night has caught up to him, like something triggered a sinking reality that weighs him down. The shadows along his face from the setting light do nothing to hide the sadness betraying his eyes.

She slowly approaches him and reaches out to grab his hand, tugging him closer to her.

“Hey,” she murmurs.

“Hey.”

“You feeling any better?”

“Of course.”

“Really?” Clementine locks their fingers together. “It’s been a long time since you’ve had one that bad.”

He keeps his stare focused on their hands. “...It wasn’t that bad.”

“Louis.”

“Clementine.”

“It was about that woman, wasn’t it?”

He says nothing, but she can see the answer clear in his eyes.

Yes, Clem, you know it was. It always is.

The first and only living person Louis ever personally killed, and it was purely accidental. It frustrates her that it still haunts him, and even more so that it’ll always haunt him. Even when he expressed the relief of “having it in him” to protect those he loves, there’s always a suffocating weight that comes with the first. If anyone knew that, it’s Clementine.

That kind of guilt, no matter how irrational, never stops.

“Dorian.”

“Hm?”

Louis closes his eyes and leans forward to press his forehead to hers.

“Her name was Dorian.”

“Lou-”

“I know.” He pulls back, forcing a smile. “I know.”

His gaze falls on her nose. He pinches it again.

“I don’t wanna talk about it right now. Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” she smiles sincerely. “Just… want to make sure you’re alright.”

“You don’t have to worry about me so much, Clem. There are more important ways to spend your time.”

More important?

She supposes that’s a good way to put it.

“Y’know, I was thinking about what you said this morning,” Clementine smiles. “AJ’s having another sleepover with Tenn tonight, so we have the whole room to ourselves.”

Louis raises a brow, a slow smirk spreading across his lips.

“Wanna build a pillow fort?”

“You read my mind.”

Without any hesitation, she kisses him. It’s a quick, soft, comforting peck that catches him off guard.

Another kiss to his lips, and then another. Clementine holds onto the nape of his neck and moves to his chin, his cheek, placing soft, intimate kisses against his warm skin.

He looks at her with lidded eyes before his hands caress her cheeks, his thumb brushing just below her eye.

He kisses her, eager for every press of her mouth. He doesn’t stop kissing her, even when she tightens her grip on his jacket and pulls him back with her. The desk hits her hip and he’s quick to lift her up onto the surface, almost knocking over her venus fly trap plant.

A pleased sigh escapes her lungs as she desperately moves to his jaw, down his neck. Her hands move beneath his jacket, trailing down to the hem of his shirt before bunching the material up. His skin is warm. His breathing is quick, shallow.

“Clem! Clem!”

Louis yanks back, their lips parting quickly with a loud smack as she nearly topples over from the force of him ripping away.

The bedroom door slams open and in barges Willy.

She’s disoriented, lightheaded, blinking rapidly and frantically searching for any sign of danger. All she finds is Louis, who’s now over at AJ’s desk, humming incredibly loud, and Willy hurrying in with a triumphant smile.

“Clem, guess wha-!” The second he sees Louis, he stops and gasps. “Oh no!”

“Oh, look, darling!” Louis stops pretending to look at the pictures and glares at the young boy. “It’s Willy, the boy who doesn’t know how to knock! Nice of you to pop in unannounced this late in the evening !”

Willy’s face flushes a scarlet red as his gaze darts between the two, falling down to Louis’ shirt, which remains lifted to reveal part of his stomach.

Louis yanks the material down, fake coughing.

Willy’s face is reminiscent of a fresh tomato at this point. It seems that even he got the sense of what was happening before he ran in.

Clementine slips down from the desk and tries to casually straighten out her own jacket and adjust her hat with an unfazed face, even though she’s positive that her skin is blotchy and red, too.

“I’m sorry!” Willy blurts out, covering his eyes. “I didn’t see anything! I’ll knock next time! I swear!”

“Uh-huh,” Louis frowns. “Said that last time, didn’t you?”

Now she’s not sure who’s redder, her or Willy.

“Willy, what do you want?’ Clementine sighs. She composes herself and approaches the boy.

His eyes went to Louis before meeting hers. That’s all she needs.

“Is it Mitch?”

Willy nods.

Clementine’s heart flutters. Choosing her words carefully, she asks, “Is he done?”

Willy nods once more.

“Done with what?” Louis asks.

“Uh-”

“Watch,” Clementine interrupts. “I completely forgot that I have watch.”

“Seriously?” Louis asks, confused. “Wait, I thought Ruby had watch tonight.”

“I switched her,” she lies, moving towards Willy and adding, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Willy leaves without another word, staring down at the floor. Clementine holds back an annoyed sigh. The previous mood is completely gone and now she’s made a mess of lies that she’s gotta detangle before Louis gets suspicious.

Damn it, Willy.

Couldn’t have waited until morning.

Louis gives a thoughtful frown.

“I’m a little worried about him,” he says, “about Mitch, I mean.”

“Oh, uh, really?”

"Something weird’s going on with him,” Louis nods. “He’s been down in the basement every day for the past week and- ...Well, I went to check on him this morning before breakfast.”

Panic shoots through her stomach and into her heart.

Louis pauses, unsure if he should continue.

“And?” Clementine presses.

“...Well, when I tried going down the stairs, I think- well, it was probably nothing. I probably didn’t see what I thought I saw because I could’ve sworn I saw James down there, too-”

Clementine’s stomach drops.

“-and I don’t know what they were doing but before I could even get down the stairs, Mitch threw a shoe at me.”

“A shoe?”

Oh, goddamn it, Mitch-

“Yeah, right at my face! He about hit me in my big nose!”

Clementine rolls her eyes. “Again with the nose thing?”

“I’ve accepted its abnormally monstrous size,” he says. “Anyway, then I saw him again on my way to the greenhouse and he wouldn’t even look at me. Not that he’s one for conversation or anything, but it’s like… I don’t know. It felt weird. I don’t know what he’s doing down in the basement or what they’re doing if that really was James I saw. I’m not sure I want to know.”

“I’m sure it was nothing.”

“Probably… I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone shout ‘no!’ and ‘out!’ that many times in a ten-second time frame before hurling shoes at me. It was pretty terrifying.”

“Mitch is…” Clementine’s at a loss. While she’s thankful for Mitch’s ability to think on his feet so quickly, she wasn’t sure if she approved of the shoe method. “...Hard to understand sometimes, and he and James are friends so it’s not that weird that they’re hanging out together.”

Louis considers this, though she can tell he’s not completely convinced.

“...Do you think they’re… I mean, it’s none of my business but if there was something going on between them-”

Oh boy.

Louis then shakes his head, changing his mind.

“Y’know what? I’m sure it was nothing.”

She sighs. So much for not making Louis suspicious of anything. Then again, maybe this is her fault. She did tell James that Mitch was working on fixing the ring, and she should’ve known that would lead to him trying to help.

“He’s working on a project,” she says lamely. “He probably wants a second opinion on it from James. ”

“A bomb project? I didn’t think James was a fan of explosions.”

“Firecrackers work as a great distraction for the walkers,” says Clementine, which isn’t a total lie. Mitch brought up the suggestion to James a while ago. They spent a long time discussing the idea if she remembers correctly.

Well, better not let sweet Ruby know,” Louis says. “She’s still got a personal grudge towards Mitch’s bombs ever since that thing in the greenhouse, you know.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” she smirks. “ ‘A bomb? I will whip his ass!’ ”

Her Ruby impression gets a chuckle out of him. “Hope he knows a shoe won’t be enough to stop her. If anything, that’s just provoking the beast.”

“He’ll have to learn that for himself,” she smiles. Clementine approaches him again, fixing the collar of his jacket and apologizing, “Sorry I can't stay and help you build an amazing, comfortable pillow fort. Will you be okay?”

“Don’t worry about me, darling.” He grabs her hand and kisses her cheek. “We can always build a pillow fort another night, or, uhm, finish what we started. Maybe I’ll go tickle the ivories for a while before bed, so if I don’t see you before your finished or if I’m not awake, goodnight and stay warm.”

She gives him a long kiss goodbye before she leaves.

One the door’s shut, she takes a moment to take a deep breath.

Her face still feels warm after all the excitement. She’s still a little annoyed at the interruption, but if she’s right about what Willy was trying to imply, then she has to hurry. She can only hope that Mitch found a way to fix the ring.

The wait is starting to make her anxious.

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purplesurveys · 4 years ago

Text

1005

Do you live with your parents? Yup. Will probably continue to do so for a while, but that’s the norm here. We don’t really move out by the time we turn 18.

Are there any embarrassing school pictures of you anywhere in your house? Not necessarily here in the house, but I have embarrassing middle school photos floating around the internet for sure. And maybe from high school, too.

Can you do a backflip, or anything else of that sort? Not at all. I liked to try doing handstands as a child but nearly broke an arm at one point, so I wouldn’t fare well with a backflip.

What moment in your life have you been most scared? A few men have lunged at me while I was simply walking in public at night. I always have this grand vision of me slapping a guy or kicking his balls or spitting on his face if one decides to act stupid or harass-y around me, but... you’re never really prepared for when it actually happens. I’ve frozen up in terror every time, unable to defend myself.

Do you have any exes you can't stand anymore? I can’t stand how she handled things, but I’m not capable of hating her.

What happened to cause you to feel that way about them? I don’t feel like getting into the details, sorry. Everything still sucks.

Do you ever make your own surveys, or just take them? I take them. The few questions I manage to come up with have usually already been thought of, so I just like subscribing to survey-makers who are able to come up with new and interesting questions.

What would your parents do if you told them you were pregnant right now? They’d be sorely disappointed and I’m expecting to be heavily interrogated as well. Suffice it to say I’d be unwelcome at home in an instant.

Have you ever actually thought you were pregnant? No.

Were you? I’ve never been pregnant.

Are you more of a phone or a computer person? I’m on my phone for entertainment purposes, and my laptop is for work. I’d say I’m able to strike a good balance with both.

Do you like to cook, or do you prefer when other people cook for you? Well I haven’t learned how to cook well yet, so I don’t really have a choice.

How old do you think you'll be when you move out on your own? Mid- to late 20s, I hope.

Do you have a job? If so, where do you work? If not, do you want one? Currently, I’m an intern at a public relations agency but yes, I’m actively looking for full-time gigs too. I love my work though.

Have you ever ripped your pants in public? I don’t think so.

Do movies such as 'Saw' and 'The Grudge' scare you easily? Sure, but not as much as other horror flicks. It’s the psychological, slow burn ones that really get to me, like Midsommar.

Who do you talk to the most on MSN? I don’t have that.

How many best friends do you have? What are their names? I know I have at least one best friend, Angela. I’m too scared to ask if Gab still considers me as one. How sad is that?

What's the craziest thing you've ever been dared to do? I don’t like dares.

Did you do it?

Do you know anybody who has a birthday today? Hmm November 1...I don’t think so. The only birthday coming to mind is my cousin’s, but that’s not until the 3rd.

When is your birthday? How old will you be? April 21. On my next one, I’ll be 23.

Do you change the radio stations repeatedly in the car? If all the stations seem to be have meh playlists going on, then yes I change it around a lot.

Can you drive? Sure.

Have you ever thought someone was talking to you, but it turned out they were on the phone? Did you play it off? I can’t remember any specific instance at the moment but I’m not ruling it out. What I’ve definitely done is to wave at someone who wasn’t even waving at me.

Do you feel bad for homeless people? Yes, unless they got in that position by being an asshole. But I generally don’t come across that type of situation; and for the overwhelming majority of the time I do feel bad and helpless seeing homeless people, especially homeless kids.

What do you consider to be a good grade? 95 and above (for grade/high school) or 1.00/1.25 (for college).

What do you consider to be a bad grade? 85 and below or 2.00 and above.

Have you ever had a teacher who hated you? So many from my old school did. They were grown adults being pissy with a 12 year old; I will never understand that. They got away with it before but times have changed now, and I’m glad it’s for the better.

Can you remember who your grade 5 teacher was? Did you like them? Yeah. She was just fine, but I remember her having a bit of a temper. She’s mostly forgettable though and doesn’t rank in my favorites.

What's your favourite TV show? Breaking Bad.

In your opinion, who is the best looking celebrity out there at the moment? I’m incredibly out of the loop these days, so I’ll just go with my own biases: Kristen Stewart and Kate Winslet.

Do you like peanut butter cookies? Sure do. I do think there are better snacks that peanut butter can be incorporated in, but I wouldn’t turn down peanut butter cookies.

Do you know anybody that has severe allergies? Yeah, Angela with alcohol and Kate with eggs, fried chicken, and seafood. We feel particularly bad for Kate; those three things are all awesome :’(

Do you have an iPod? How many songs are on it? At the peak of my usage I probably had around 200-300 songs in it.

Who was the last person you slow danced with? I didn’t really do it with Gab a lot but I know she was the last. Kaye’s debut in 2017 if I remember correctly. There was a segment in her debut where couples were given the chance to slow-dance, but Gab and I decided against it because we were for sure going to get some looks, and we didn’t want to steal Kaye’s thunder. But she was so sweet to encourage us herself to go to the dance floor and have our moment amid all the straight couples that were there.

What was the last song you listened to on repeat? It was probably Why We Ever, as always. The lyrics are my entire thought process, so it’s a source of comfort knowing a song that understands me and my current situation so well.

What's your favourite song at the moment? I don’t have one.

Do you prefer headphones or earbuds? Earbuds. Headphones’ quality is great, but wearing them for too long ends up hurting my ears.

Do you ever ride the city bus? How much does it cost you? I don’t ride our buses. Bus drivers here drive like madmen and don’t maintain their vehicles, meaning there’s no AC, it’s super cramped, and the seats are probably nasty as crap; and while I would be willing to ride the more premium bus services that we also have, I never really had a reason to considering I have a car and driving on my own has always been more convenient.

How do you get to school? I rode a school bus from grade school to high school. I drove myself in college.

Speaking of school, do you like it or hate it? Loved it for the most part.

Are you a social person? I mean I don’t think ‘social’ defines me as a person, but I definitely can be it. I like being around people.

Are you reliable? Yes. I don’t like being unable to meet tasks or deadlines or expectations so I always find a way to get a job done.

What person/people of the opposite sex do you trust the most? Not sure if there’s such a guy at the moment.

What person/people of the same sex do you trust the most? My best friend.

Do you say 'like' a lot? Haha yeah, especially verbally.

What is the last book you read? Did you enjoy it? Midnight Sun. It’s great so far but it’s literally just like reading Twilight (because it is literally Twilight except told in Edward’s POV), which I’ve reread a handful of times, so my progress has been painfully slow.

Do you buy CDs anymore, or just download the songs? I stream on Spotify then watch the music video on YouTube, if it has one.

What is your favourite beverage to have in the morning? Coffee. Slowly turning into a morning coffee person, y’all.

Do you scream out the answers will watching game shows on TV? If I know the answer, yeah. I just blurt it out though, not scream.

Who in your life do you care about more than yourself? I can think of one such person but apparently that sentiment is no longer reciprocated, and I’m now also thinking if it ever even was reciprocated to begin with.

Would you ever consider adopting a child with a severe mental illness? At this point, no. That entails so much patience, a lot of commitment, a suitable living situation, and honestly in most cases a lot of money as well...it’s important to acknowledge that not everyone will be capable of having those things and it takes a certain kind of love and home for kids like them to be raised in the best way they could possibly be raised.

Do you have a brother or a sister? If so, are you close with them? Yeah. I’m close with my sister but not in a she’s-my-rock kind of way. We just get along super well.

If you are an only child, do you ever wish you had siblings?

When was the last time you were with all of your best friends? February.

Do you ever go into photobooths? Sure.

Do you waste money on unneccesary things? Hahahahahahaha please don’t remind me

Which wild animal would you most like to have as a pet? No thanks. They can stay in the wild, where they can thrive.

#survey #surveys

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cristinablackthornkingson · 4 years ago

Text

What Might’ve Been, Part 2.

Read Part 1 Here.

“What do you mean my son, what do you mean our son?” Tyger asks Rand in a disbelieving tone of confusion, pushing himself up so that he’s sitting back against the pillows, trying to comprehend what she’s just told him.

Rand sighs and looks down at the baby- Alex- in her arms, running a hand over his mop of dark brown hair. She bites her lip before looking back at Tyger and quietly saying

“It’s a very long story, and you’re probably going to hate me by the end of it.” Tyger’s heart starts to raise with anxiety.

“I can decide that for myself, just tell me what happened and why I’ve just woken up in some weird revival center with no memories of how I got here, with a Scythe by my bed with a kid you’re claiming is not only yours, but mine too.” Tyger tells her, his tone raising in anger and confusion. He just wants some answers.

Over the course of the next few minutes, Rand explains everything to Tyger, from how she trained him as a Scythe in body alone, allowing him to believe he was going to be an ordained Scythe at the end of it all, to how she gleaned him and repurposed his body to revive Goddard, who then became High Blade which is why Alex was conceived in the first place. She tells him how she, in the end, chose her son over Goddard and killed Goddard to keep her son safe, and in turn revived and restored Tyger.

“I know what I did to you was and is totally and completely unforgivable and I do not blame you one bit if you detest me. I can’t say I regret it because had I not done it, chances are I wouldn’t have Alex, and he is the single best and most important thing in this world.

Alex has made me a better person, made me want to continue to be a better person, so I’ve gone off grid. That’s why I cut my hair and why I’m not wearing my robes, so The Scythedom can’t track me down.

It’s also the reason I’m going by my birth name now, so you can call me Olivia, instead of Ayn or Rand.”

Once she has finished her explanation, Olivia/Rand looks at Tyger for a few seconds, before once again looking back down at Alex, smiling at the sight of his sweet little face.

The room is silent for a few minutes, the silence only ever interrupted by Alex’s snuffles and baby noises or the sound of him suckling on his pacifier.

“You should leave now.” Tyger’s tense voice finally breaks the awkward silence a few minutes later.

Olivia/Rand had been prepared for this response, knew it was the most likely response Tyger would give, yet she still finds herself feeling a little bit upset and disappointed. However she simply nods, picks up the bag she brought with her, containing cleans clothes, diapers, etc. for Alex and stands up.

“I left my phone number and address on a piece of paper in your bedside locker, so you can contact me or come visit Alex whenever you want.

I’m going to let you know here and now that I am not willing to split custody with you, not even 50/50, I will not be without my son for half the week especially when he’s hardly a month old. You are, however, more than welcome to come visit all the time and be heavily involved with him, but just know that if you try to mess with us in anyway you’ll hate me for a totally different reason than you do now.”

With that Olivia/Rand strides from the room with her head held high and Alex expertly cradled against her chest, leaving Tyger to try and process everything that happened.

_______________________________________________________________

Olivia/Rand now lives in a 2 bedroom 2 story house just 10 minutes from the off-grid revival center, where she had Tyger revived, so it takes her hardly anytime at all to get home.

Once there she easily settles Alex in his bassinet in the living room, for his afternoon nap. She feels so lucky to have such an easy and laid-back baby who doesn’t fuss much and just loves his sleep, he’s very like Tyger in that way.

As Alex sleeps soundly where Olivia/Rand can see him from any place in the downstairs part of the house, she goes into the storage closet where she has stored away her robes, the ones she was wearing the day Alex was born, they still have bloodstains on them, both from when she gleaned Goddard and moments later when she went into labor.

Despite what some may think, Olivia does not keep her robes for sentimentality or because she has intentions to one day return to being Scythe Ayn Rand, but because if she were to throw them away they would instantly be recognizable and could lead the Scythedom straight to her.

Olivia walks up to her robes and plunges her hand into one of it’s many pockets. She still has a few weapons in here too, but the most important thing is what she pulls out a few seconds later. Her ring.

She’s kept her ring because she’s not sure what to do with it, the Scythedom can’t use it to trace her unless she gleans someone while wearing it, or uses it to grant someone immunity, which she has no intention of doing, Alex automatically has immunity, as her family member so she doesn’t need to have him kiss the ring or anything.

She steps out of the storage space and leans back against the wall, spending a few minutes studying the ring and getting lost in her thoughts. She remembers the day she was ordained, very clearly, it was only 8 years ago after all. What made her happiest about that day was the attention and praise she received from Goddard, at the time she was his only Junior Scythe (Chomsky would join them the following year and Volta wouldn’t even be ordained for several more years.)

All day he told her how very proud he was of her and how she would rise to the very top of the ranks in no time. She adored the attention he lavished on her, she was crushing on him hard, felt like she was totally and utterly in love with him and couldn’t think of anything better than getting to live with him and see him and spend time with him every single day for the foreseeable future.

If someone had told 17 year old Olivia that she would actually end up having Goddard’s baby one day, she would have lost her damn mind, little did she know what a terrible and evil person he was.

She then starts to think about what she should do with the ring, she already knows she’s never going to be a Scythe again, never glean anyone again.(Unless someone tries to hurt Alex in anyway, then she will go full protective mama bear mode.)

When she took Alex to the hospital last week so the doctors could make sure his nanites were working correctly and he was growing properly, she heard people talking about how Scythe Curie had been appointed High Blade in the wake of Goddard’s death. Olivia briefly thinks of approaching Scythe Curie and asking for her help in completely erasing herself from the Scythedom and keeping Alex’s identity as legally Goddard’s son, a secret. However she is far too stubborn and proud to accept help and quickly dismisses the idea.

Instead, Olivia steps into the kitchen and drops her ring down the trash compacter before switching it on and ridding herself of Scythe Ayn Rand, forever.

_______________________________________________________________

That night, at around 3:00 A.M, Olivia is pulled from her peaceful sleep by the familiar sounds of Alex’s high-pitched cry, the cry which she has come to decipher as his ‘I’m hungry’ cry.

Olivia rubs at her eyes before pushing herself up in bed, pushing her hair back from her face.

“Okay buddy I hear you, I got you it’s okay, mama’s got you.” She softly and quietly says, reaching over to the bassinet by her bedside and gently lifting Alex out and into her arms.

As she sits there in the dark, only illuminated by the streetlights outside, nursing her son, Olivia takes the moment to think of how much she really loves her son, and how beyond grateful she is to have him.

“I love you so much Alex, I know I tell you every single day but I want you to know just how loved you are. My parents never told me they loved me, or showed it, it’s probably one of the reasons I became the person I was before I had you.

You changed me Alex, the minute the midwife placed you on my chest I knew I could never go back to the person I was before I got pregnant, before I loved you. You deserve a much better upbringing than I had, or than the one Goddard wanted to give you. I’m not the most maternal person in the world but I’ll do anything for you Alex and I promise I’m going to be the best mom you could ask for.

Before you, I thought myself in love with Goddard, I thought I needed him. When I was younger and slept around a lot it was only ever to make him jealous, I thought if he saw me with other men- and women- he would realize he actually had feelings for me and wanted to be with me, but obviously that never happened. And you know what buddy? Turns out I didn’t need Goddard, what I needed was not just somebody to love me, but somebody for me to love and be responsible for and take care of, and now I have that person, I have you.”

By the time Olivia has poured her heart out, Alex is sound asleep again. She smiles and adjusts her top before kissing her son’s forehead.

“I love you Alexander.”

The next morning, at just a few minutes past 9:00 A.M., just after Alex finishes his first morning feed and Olivia is just about to prepare her own breakfast, there is a knock on the front door.

Olivia freezes when she hears the knock. She hasn’t had any visitors in the month since she moved here and hardly anyone knows she’s here. It could of course easily be a neighbor being friendly, there’s a small chance it could be Tyger wanting to see Alex, but it’s only been a day since his revival, he probably needs a lot more time to think. Or worst of all, it could be a Scythe, either come to glean Olivia or come to confront her for abandoning her position as a Scythe and just disappearing.

Knowing there’s no point in just ignoring the door, Olivia picks Alex up and holds him firmly and tightly against her, in case it is someone from the Scythedom and she has to run. She also slips a sharp knife from the kitchen, up her sleeve, experienced enough with weapons not to cut herself or Alex.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia makes her way over to the door and slowly opens it, her heart racing. However she needn’t have worried at all, as almost right away she can see that it’s Tyger standing there. She lets her shoulders sag with relief, both pleased and surprised to see Tyger standing there.

“Hello Tyger, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.” She calmly says, discretely slipping the knife onto the side table just behind her.

Tyger shrugs.

“I mean... it is what is I guess. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you for what you did to me, but... I don’t wanna be a deadbeat like my dad was, I wanna be involved with my kid, be there for him and let him know I love him and care about him, the opposite of what my dad did for me. So... I’m willing to be civil with you for my kid’s sake... our kid’s sake.” He tells her, doing his best not to let his voice convey his feelings of hurt over how his dad treated him.

“Like I said yesterday, you’re welcome to be in Alex’s life. Do you want to come in?” Olivia quietly asks, stepping back and holding the door open further. Tyger nods and steps into the small house.

“Can I hold him? The baby.... Alex?” Tyger hopefully asks, once settled on the sofa in the living room where Olivia had been sitting just moments ago.

“Sure.” Olivia says, forcing herself to push past her instinct to pull Alex even closer and not let anyone else near him. Tyger is his father, he has every right to hold and get to know Alex, it was the main reason she revived Tyger, so Alex could have his dad in his life, his real dad.

Olivia carefully lowers Alex into Tyger’s arms and almost immediately Alex makes strange, starting to fuss and squirm, letting out a few squawks and cries of protest, making Tyger grow wide-eyed and look up at Olivia, his eyes full of alarm and panic.

“Sorry.” Olivia apologizes, giving Alex his pacifier which always soothes him. “He’s not use to other people being around or being held by someone else, it’s just been the two of us since he was born last month.”

Within a few seconds though, Alex settles down and lets his eyes flutter closed, and he soon dozes back off to sleep, clearly feeling pretty safe and secure with his dad.

Tyger looks down at the baby in his arms in total disbelief, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that this baby is his, his son, his son that had been conceived while he himself was dead and a crazy dictator took over his body and used it to create the baby in his arms right now, who he was going to raise to be another crazy dictator, like some of those downright evil rulers from mortal times, Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump come to mind.

Tyger brushes a hand over Alex’s hair, smiling at how peaceful and happy he looks.

“I can’t believe I’m a dad.” Tyger quietly says.

“I felt like that at first too, even after almost 9 months of pregnancy and a whole month before that knowing that I was going to be pregnant in the near future, I still couldn’t believe I’m a a mom, it took a few days to wrap my head around it but now it feels like he’s always been here.” Olivia replies, hardly able to believe there was indeed a time in her life without Alex.

“He looks just like you.” Tyger says with a small smile, really noticing the likeness between Olivia (or Rand as he still thinks of her) and Alex.

“He has your hair though, the color anyway, hopefully the poor little guy won’t end up with hair so thick the brush gets caught in it, like me.” Olivia responds with a light laugh.

Tyger spends the rest of the day with Olivia and Alex, getting to know his son and letting Olivia fill him in on the details of her pregnancy and birth, and the first month of Alex’s life. He learns to change a diaper, how to wind Alex and calm him down when he cries, he gets to spend an hour just holding his son and bonding with him, while Olivia takes a much needed nap. It’s one of the best days of his life.

Tyger continues to show up at Olivia’s everyday to see Alex, and often spends the night in the guest bedroom, taking Alex during the night when he’s anything but hungry, letting Olivia rest.

He buys Alex any and everything a child could want, and soon falls totally head over heels in love with his son, feeling a love for him stronger than he has ever felt any other emotion, ever. It took a while for them to form that bond, but after lots of quality time together, they’re soon the best of pals.

When Alex says his first word (mama) at 9 months old, Olivia and Tyger are the two proudest parents in the world, Olivia never feeling more happy and secure in her position as a mom, there’s something special about hearing your baby call you ‘mama’ for the first time, it made her fall in love with Alex all over again.

Over the next year the three of them become the solid little family that Olivia had wanted so badly with Goddard. (Though she and Tyger are not together, they’re friends but nothing more, though neither of them know that the other is actually harboring feelings for them.)

They take Alex on all sorts of trips and outings. One of Alex’s favorite things to do is splash his parents in the pool or during bath time, he also likes to run, not walk and loves music of any kind, put on anything with a beat and Alex will enjoy it and find a way to dance to it.

On Alex’s first birthday the two of them decide to just have a small celebration at Olivia’s home with just the 3 of them, Tyger buys Alex a cake with cartoon characters from a mortal age children’s t.v. program, that Alex loves. It’s very extravagant and over the top for a one year old, but Tyger insists on nothing but the best for Alex, even if ti means going over the top, his little boy is more than worth it.

Tyger had wanted to light the candles and have Alex blow them out first thing that morning, when he arrived with the cake and Alex’s present, but Olivia insisted they wait until exactly 3:04 P.M., which is the time that Alex was born.

They spend the morning and most of the afternoon playing with Alex, letting him open his presents and looking back at pictures of him from when he was much smaller.

When 3:04 finally rolls around, after Olivia has given Alex about a million kisses and told him she loves him so much about a million thousand times, Tyger lights the candles on the cake and takes Alex into his arms to help him blow the candles out, while Olivia watches from beside him.

Being a typical toddler Alex almost gives his parents about a million heart attacks when he continuously tries to grab the flames on the candles. In the end, Tyger blows the candles out for him, and is rewarded by the biggest smile he has ever seen Alex give, and the sound of Alex’s infectious giggle. It warms his heart to hear and see his son so happy, and in this moment he doesn’t think he himself could be happier either.

Tyger kisses Alex on the cheek, before turning to smile brightly at Olivia, unbelievably feeling grateful that she of all people, is the mother of his child.

“You okay?” Olivia asks, after Tyger has been staring to her for a few seconds, smiling like an idiot. At this he smiles even wider and lets out a laugh of pure delight.

“I love you.” And then he leans in and kisses her.

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 5 years ago

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The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 20: Is ‘Danger’ really her middle name?*

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Master Post

Last time I established that Mary Jane, whilst a gifted civilian, was not a super hero. This time I am going to examine the extent to which those ‘gifts’ can keep her and others safe. Specifically, I’m going to be examining MJ’s combat record!

Towards the end of AMJ #1 Peter suggests to MJ a dangerous scenario she could find herself in whilst making her movie; namely surrounded by villains. MJ deflates this idea by citing the time she defeated a criminal with a baseball bat and they joke about how that wasn’t an isolated incident.

The point of the scene was to convey that MJ has in fact defeated criminal threats in the past. And so Peter (and by extension the readers) shouldn’t be worried about the fact that MJ really is surrounded by villains.

At face value this seems simple enough right?

MJ is at risk from villains in AMJ. But she’s defeated a super villain(s) before armed with a very simple weapon. Therefore she’ll be fine right?

Well…not exactly no.

Apart from how the conversation doesn’t at all address MJ protecting other people , the circumstances of that encounter were rather different to the situation in AMJ. In fact every circumstance wherein Mary Jane has had to defend herself has been rather different. And that applies to situations where she has physically overpowered or outsmarted her assailants.

To illuminate this point we’re going to dive into some of MJ’s successes in dangerous situations. There are way too many to be definitive about this so I will admit I might’ve missed something, but I’m endeavouring to give you an overview nevertheless.

Hobgoblin

For starters we have ASM #260, where Mary Jane found herself abducted by crooks in the employ of the Rose and the Hobgoblin. The crooks were actually targeting a pregnant Liz Allan Osborn, but MJ was with her when they struck so she was taken too. The crooks had the element of surprise and outnumbered MJ two to one. However, they didn’t use weapons and lacked any super powers.

MJ tried to fight back here, but was ultimately helpless. So, MJ lost to two normal unarmed crooks, albeit they surprised her.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t bode well for her in AMJ.

In ASM #261 Hobgoblin (who has comparable strength to Spider-Man) shows up and threatens Liz, which angers MJ enough to charge at him. He very easily swats her aside.

Hobgoblin’s ability to do this so casually demonstrates just how much more powerful he is than Mary Jane, and the fact that she (at worst) scratched her chin a little also proves how little of his power he was even using in the first place. MJ on on one was never going to beat him even if he refrained from using his extensive arsenal.

Later in the same issue Harry is taken prisoner too. He tries to use a gun to threaten the guard into letting them all go but can’t pull the trigger. MJ knocks the guard out with a shovel whilst he is distracted.

It’s highly unlikely the guard lacked a firearm so even with the shovel Mary Jane wouldn’t have won without the element of surprise on her side.

After escaping the trio are accosted by Hobgoblin, but Spidey is there to intervene. Mary Jane is thankful for his presence, which all but confirms that she believe she or the others could save themselves without him.

In fact, earlier on when Harry first showed up MJ asked him if Peter knew what was going on. Obviously she was hoping he was on his way to help them, further proving how she was aware of how disadvantaged they were.

During the course of the battle Liz goes into labour and she and MJ find themselves surrounded by flames. Mentally MJ is desperate for Peter to find and help them.

Harry comes to help Liz and Mj but soon all three of them are trapped by the inferno and yell for Spider-Man to help them. Mary Jane even says that they will ‘never survive’ without his help.

The adventure demonstrates that whilst MJ is good in a crisis her ability to liberate, protect and rescue herself and others has clear limits.

There is nothing in the story to indicate she had the natural ability to defeat the guard on her own, to defend Liz and Harry from Hobgoblin or get them away from the fire. She does take advantages of resources (like the shovel) and opportunities that come her way, but they occurred purely by chance.

Based upon this experience, Mary Jane would know that if a similar situation occurred she shouldn’t be passive but nor should she presume she could survive off of her own abilities alone. She would be outmatched and it’d be ridiculous to simply presume that there’d be a potential weapon around, that the chance to surprise her opponent would crop up. And if there was a super villain like Hobgoblin involved she’d have no defence beyond relying upon a super hero to intervene.

Basically she was impressive here but her talents could only take her so far, even with luck on her side.

Alastair Smythe

Not too long after the Hobgoblin incident MJ found herself in another tricky spot in ASM Annual #19. The story entailed Alastair Smythe mistakenly believing Mary Jane was Spider-Man. He consequently abducted her and her Aunt Anna with one of his Spider Slayers.

Intelligent, resourceful and quick witted as ever, MJ saved herself and Aunt Anna. However, this relied heavily upon Smythe’s gullibility, luck and Spider-Man’s intervention, something MJ actively sought out.

First she got Aunt Anna out of danger by admitting she was Spider-Man.

Then she convinced Smythe that he ought to record his victory and persuaded him to break into a camera store to that end. She hoped that the store’s alarm would summon help; another example of her relying upon the intervention of others.

Whilst in the store she left a note for people to find before Smythe whisked her off again. At the same time Spidey was independantly on the trail of the Watson women. He found Smythe’s hideout and rescued Anna, overcoming Smythe’s deadly traps in the process.

Taking Anna to a police officer Spidey learns about MJ’s note. It informed the police of Anna’s location and instructed Spidey that she’d try to get Smythe to the Daily Bugle building.

By chance Smythe flew MJ over Peter’s apartment building, which had a skylight. Tricking Smythe into posing for a photograph, MJ removed her boot an dropped it through Peter’s window, hoping he was home and could come rescue her. Once again MJ was desperately banking on luck and reliant upon the help of a third party to save herself.

MJ managed to get Smythe to the Bugle, again hoping that Peter was there. Unfortunately he wasn’t there but the Bugle staff recognized MJ and called the cops.

Tired of her tricks Smythe simply dropped MJ mid-air. Luckily Spidey had caught up with them and rescued her.

Once again, MJ’s victory here couldn’t have occurred without an assist and and a lot of luck; indeed, she was outright banking on the latter. These are things nobody can truly rely upon in any given crisis. The probability of help showing up just in time or miracles occurring at just the right time are very low.

Inferno Demons

Next up we come to the tie-in issues to the (mostly X-Men centric) crossover event Inferno.

Inferno was weird, but all you need to know is that demonic activity throughout New York causes a variety of strange phenomenon. The most common of these involved inanimate objects coming to life and attacking people.

This happened during one of Mary Jane’s modelling shoots where gold jewellery came to life and attacked her and the crew on the shoot. Using quick thinking (and her knowledge of jewellery) MJ remembered that gold was a soft metal and used a fire-axe to chop up the demonic bling, inspiring the crewmembers to do the same.

When we catch up to MJ again it’s implied she’s instructed the others to build a barricade to keep the demon hordes out. She also defends a co-worker by using a makeshift weapon to attacks one of the demons. She orders everyone to rebuild the barricade but privately wonders what they could possibly do next, wishing Peter was there to help.

MJ, using yet more of her impressive smarts, leads the group into the sewers, correctly deducing them to be the safest place in the city. However, that safety is merely relative because the gang are then attacked by demonically possessed water.

Luckily the water is vulnerable to the flash of a camera, which even more luckily went off during the attack. The camera was owned by one of the crewmembers named Hal.

The camera’s battery life is limited though, but thankfully MJ gets a bright idea. Whilst Hal stalls the demons with his camera the other crewmembers break the gas pipes. She then instructs Hal to hold off the demons whilst they all retreat. She proceeds to use the lighter to make a torch, intent on setting the gas alight and hopefully killing the demons.

Her plan doesn’t quite pan out as intended though. She comes across Spidey duelling the Hobgoblin. Instinctively she threw the torch at Hobby to help out Peter, giving him the chance to throw him into the tunnel, inadvertently igniting the gas.

Spidey swings MJ away from the explosion, the art arguably implying that she would’ve been harmed without his help.

The whole adventure is a tour de force for Mary Jane. Her bravery, smarts, resourcefulness and resolve are on full display here.

Nevertheless, for most of the encounter she needed to retreat and get her companions to do the same as they were still grossly outmatched. The times they won fights were against either a singular opponent or against a group of small and comparatively weak opponents their greater strength and numbers could overwhelm. And had Hal not accompanied her, had his camera not gone off and had her opponents not had a very particular weakness they’d have been a goners.

It’s also arguable that had Spider-Man not shown up she might’ve been severely injured as well because he swung her away from the explosion. However, I will admit since her companions were uninjured it’s plausible that she might’ve been fine without him.

Nevertheless, the story showcases that MJ could only win physical encounters and survive dangerous situations when she went up against weaker opponents, had back up and luck was on her side again.

Terrorists

Jumping forward we enter the Clone Saga where there are actually a few dangerous encounters to look at, though we’re just going to focus upon two; one where MJ is more passive and one where she is more assertive.

The first is from Spider-Man Unlimited #8. I don’t exactly believe in trigger warning people, but for the record this might touch a nerve if you were affected by 9/11.

Initially, MJ and her friend Carly are at a restaurant situated in one of the Twin Towers. Suddenly sadistic terrorists in high tech armour break in guns blazing, killing at least one person.

They are so sadistic in fact that one of them needs to restrain the other so that they have live hostages to bargain with. MJ to her credit tells her friend to not rush to the exit as it will get congested, demonstrating smarts in a crisis. She also has the common sense to keep calm so as to not risk the terrorists harming her.

For greater context MJ is unarmed and pregnant at this point and lacks any means of communicating with Spider-Man or anyone else for that matter.

The terrorists are heavily armed. The exact capabilities of their tech is unknown but they can clearly fly, move modestly quickly, have a degree of protection from their armour and have very powerful wrist mounted projectiles that are easy to fire and have plenty of ammunition.

They also seem to have regular firearms too, as evidenced when one of them casually shoots a hostage for annoying him.

MJ tries to help the injured man and even confronts one of the terrorists to provide aid. He dismisses her but equally casually murders his comrade who shot the man.

Mary Jane is unhappy with this but keeps a cool head. She admits that she’s lucky she wasn’t shot herself. When she notices ‘Spider-Man’ (actually Peter’s clone Ben Reilly/the Scarlet Spider) she decides to leave things to him and focus upon helping the wounded man.

Whilst I hesitate to call this ‘luck’ (because it’s more than likely he’d have heard the news regardless) Peter himself learns of the situation over the radio and heads out to deal with it.

Spidey slips into the room where the hostages are and, with MJ’s help, quietly moves them towards the elevators, MJ looking after the wounded man’s son.

The rest of the story is irrelevant for our purposes.

The issue doesn’t paint MJ in the most flattering light. She is much more passive than in any other examples we’ve looked at so far (or indeed will look at going forward). However the story does give her moments that display her intelligence and bravery. More importantly it justifies why Mary Jane’s best bet isn’t to try and engage the aggressors in this situation.

She is an unarmed woman with no super powers and at best rather basic self-defence skills. Even if she had a gun or was a black belt that’d be have little use here. Her opponents’ armour and technology render hand-to-hand fighting basically pointless and a gun would be of very little use as well.

If she had either the most she could do is blindside or even kill maybe one of the terrorists by targeting their eyes (their only really exposed area). This in turn would also have to distract all the other trigger-happy terrorists (which isn’t a guarantee at all) and give the hostages enough time to escape. However it’s also likely MJ would need to spread the word to enough of the hostages ahead of time (which wouldn’t be easy right under the guards’ noses) so they’d be ready to make a break for it.

Between fear, stress and shock it’s not at all a guarantee even one of the hostages will have the instincts to make a run for it, and that’s presuming they are all physically fit enough to do that. Children, elderly, disabled people, etc., might not be in a position to move quickly at all. Not to mention the location of the stairs is never specified meaning the hostages would be reliant upon the elevators showing up quickly and having enough room for them all.

Even if the stairs were nearby, even if the elevators were as merciful as possible…they’re at the top of the World Trade Center!

My research informed me that the closest real life equivalent to the restaurant depicted in the story would have been on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower. Given how the terrorists could fly and had other technology at their disposal they could’ve easily intercepted the hostages on their way down or on the ground floor itself.

We should also consider that were MJ to initiate this hypothetical plan it almost certainly would’ve resulted in her being harmed or killed. Mary Jane is a heroic and self-sacrificing person who understands Peter’s moral message about responsibility.

But she was also pregnant at the time, and very much wished to keep the baby. Regardless on anyone’s views on pregnancy, family planning, abortion, etc., is it really selfish to argue that Mary Jane wouldn’t have engaged in what would likely have been a suicide mission with very slim odds if it also meant the death of her unborn child? Is that truly an act of selfishness, or of irresponsibility that goes against Peter’s underlying mission? I certainly don’t think so.

Basically what I’m getting at is that Mary Jane in this situation lacked the skills and resources to realistically do all that much and trying to do anything would’ve risked the lives of others, including her own child.

Kaine

The second Clone Saga story to look at is in the ‘Mark of Kaine’, where Mary Jane is abducted by Peter’s clone Kaine.

Kaine’s speed and agility are comparable to Spider-Man’s, if not superior. His strength though is a notch greater and as a clone of Peter he is very intelligent, both scientifically and in terms of strategy. He also has years of experience as a mercenary and is in a state of constant agony due to an illness he has. MJ (pregnant and mentally/emotionally distressed at the time anyway) couldn’t prevent her abduction into the sewers.

But MJ was able to briefly get away from him by opening up a high-pressure water pipe whilst Kaine was up close to her and distracted.

Immediately upon escaping the sewers she came across yet another clone of Peter’s (who later went by the name Spidercide). Although she was confused and uncertain she quickly persuaded ‘Spidercide’ to fight Kaine (who was hot on her heels), giving her a chance to get away again.

She managed to make it home where she armed herself with her gun. Initially she confronted the new Peter clone but was unable to shoot him. It is unclear if this was because she missed on purpose or accidentally. The shock of firing the shot caused her to drop the fun in horror.

When Kaine caught up to her though she wasn’t fast enough to get into a position to use it. He very quickly crossed the room, disarmed and consequently abducted her again.

I should note that because Kaine has comparable speed to Spider-Man it’s extremely likely that he is physically capable of moving faster than gunshots. Spider-Man himself is fast enough that he can evade rapid machine gun fire (even without his spider sense), which is obviously much faster than the shots from a revolver like MJ’s. Spider-Man has also been shown to be able to still fight with bullet wounds. Because Spider-Man is capable of these feats then Kaine would be too.

What I am trying to convey is that MJ’s initial escapes from Kaine were once more due to luck and her ability to quickly take advantage of whatever limited resources were around her; be they a water pipe, distraction or someone else she can get to fight for her.

When she was in a situation where she in fact had use a weapon to defend herself from a super powered assailant though she failed. And she would’ve failed even if she were better positioned to use her weapon.

The Chameleon

Now we come to MJ’s most famous battle, the one where she defeated the Chameleon. This is an undeniable victory for Mary Jane, no two ways about it. But it’s important that we fully contextualize the experience.

Putting aside how MJ had had dozens of encounters with villains by this point, this was a rare instance where she was forewarned and forearmed. In Spec #244 Peter returned home and informed Mary Jane that the Chameleon had attacked him and learned his secret identity.

On some level Mary Jane was unnerved by this and frightened that the Russian mercenary might target her in her home, even having nightmares about him. Awaking from one such nightmare Mary Jane arms herself with a baseball bat and goes back to bed, although she prays Peter catches him before he gets anywhere near her.

In the next issue, she is still clearly anxious about the Chameleon, being unable to sleep until Peter catches him.

Chameleon, disguised as Peter, actually does go to the Parker residence, specifically to attack Mary Jane. Mary Jane deduces Chammy’s real identity and lures him to the bedroom, consequently surprising him with the baseball bat and threatening him to leave her alone. Chameleon however advances on her.

When Spider-Man arrives on the scene Chammy is on the floor, having been beaten by MJ.

He escapes minutes later whilst the Parkers are distracted, which could arguably mean he was playing possum. However this doesn’t change the fact that Mary Jane kicked his ass, he even laments his humiliation whilst fleeing.

This is one of MJ’s shining moments and the closest thing to luck she had was that Chameleon wasn’t armed and Peter warned her ahead of time. Personally though I wouldn’t call either of those things luck. Chameleon has at best a sporadic history with using weapons, even whilst fighting super powered beings.

And whilst Peter did warn her ahead of time she already knew about the Chameleon’s existence and has in her time been assaulted by multiple criminals, including those who didn’t know Peter’s identity. Additionally Peter simply informing her is less luck and just more something he’d logically do out of common sense in this or any such similar situation. MJ couldn’t have known Chameleon was definitely going to strike that very same night.

Nevertheless though, she was forewarned and literally forearmed herself so she was definitely prepared to a large degree for anything to go down.

She was also aided by the fact that the Chameleon seriously underestimated her.

More importantly though Chameleon, unlike everyone else we’ve looked at so far, was unarmed and lacked any abilities that gave him greater physical might than a normal human being. Even so MJ’s main goal was to scare him away not subdue him, signifying she was at least unsure if she could defeat him. This is supported by the dialogue from both Peter and herself in the aftermath, which heavily implies that they were both taken aback by her victory.

Basically, MJ was in a position where she was prepared for any tricks that might be pulled. She had immediate access to a resource to increase her power and that resource put her at a physical advantage over her opponent. An opponent who underestimated her and was tricked themself.

Green Goblin

We jump forward again now into Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #11-12, circa 2005.

Mary Jane was taken by surprise by Norman Osborn/the Green Goblin when he showed up at her home and drugged her with knockout gas, consequently abducting her.

MJ knew that Norman might be on the loose that night by the way.

When she awoke she found Spidey and the Goblin were battling atop the Queensboro bridge, with Peter losing. She pulled out her gun (a different one from during the Clone Saga) and fired (what seems to be two rounds) into the Goblin’s chest.

Given the rain, the darkness, the angle and I’m sure the overall stress of the situation this feat is very impressive.

However, the recoil did hurt her to some degree (not seriously) and caused her to lose her balance and fall off the bridge, needing to be saved by Peter.

More poignantly her shots neither defeated the Goblin nor seriously injured him.

For context, the Goblin’s super powers offer him a degree of durability comparable to Spider-Man’s. He also possesses a healing factor that healed a far more severe chest wound and was wearing armour that offered further protection.

As such he attempted to attack the Parkers just a few minutes later.

This incident demonstrates MJ’s toughness, her willingness and ability to attack. But it also showcases her relative inexperience with weapons and how she was still outmatched in this instance. She saved Spider-Man for the moment but it resulted in him needing to save her. And of course, it did not actually deafat the Goblin.

Swarm

We’re jumping forward now to 2006 when Peter’s identity was public knowledge.

As you would expect super villains decided this was the time to target his loved ones. In Sensational Spider-Man v2 #29-30 Swarm (an animated Nazi skeleton covered in bees and wasps under his control) targeted Mary Jane and her co-stars.

In Sen v2 #29 Peter suspects some of his villains might’ve organized a co-ordinated attack on him and his loved ones and asks MJ to return home. MJ refuses, but it should be noted that there were bodyguards protecting the theatre she was rehearsing in.

In the first panel we can see an armoured person with green lights hovering outside of MJ’s theatre.

And in the next issue Aunt May’s bodyguards are also armoured and have green lights.

This implies MJ’s guards have the same arsenal as May’s.

Peter was working closely with Iron Man at this time and the Parkers were living with him. Additionally, the guards are under orders from Iron Man and their armour resembles his Iron Man designs.

As such it can be presumed the guard’s weapons are similar to Iron Man’s. This would at the very least offer them high defences beyond real life body armour. And it’d mean they’d have heavy fire power through repulsor technology. Plus of course they can fly.

These guards might not be super heroes per se but they are in the same league as them in terms of raw power. They aren’t merely muscle men with guns.

Anyway, Swarm infiltrates MJ’s theatre spies on her for a while before initiating his attack.

It should be noted that MJ was unfamiliar with Swarm and his abilities; at least to my knowledge.

MJ orders everyone to run (which they barely do) but one of the actors attacks Swarm and slows him down slightly.

MJ (correctly) presumes Swarm will follow her and leads him towards a curtain that she then uses to further slow him down before activating the sprinklers.

This deals with most of the insects but Swarm’s reanimated skeleton still comes after her.

Thankfully MJ’s co-star smashes its head in saving her. They depart to find MJ’s bodyguards because Swarm is already starting to reconstitute himself.

Unlike most of the other examples we’ve looked at so far, Mary Jane was totally surprised by this attack, had no knowledge about her opponent to draw from, no immediate weapons to use and given little time to react.

Under these circumstances her actions are undeniably remarkable, showcasing her experience, quick wits and resourcefulness.

However she still required assistance from her co-star, bodyguards and was lucky enough to be near enough to useful resources to draw upon. If there was no curtain, no sprinkler system or water she would’ve been unable to fight back successfully.

H.Y.D.R.A.

There are many more instances after this of Mary Jane defending her self and others. Most of them occur in stories that for various reasons are just generally problem riddled and illogical. Although that doesn’t necessarily apply to whenever MJ kicks butt within them.

These range from examples similar to the above, instances where MJ has temporary super powers, access to higher technology (like web-shooters or Iron Man style tech) or contacts within the super hero community she can call upon as back up.

An example of the latter can be found in Invincible Iron Man #600 where MJ and Tony Stark’s mother find themselves invaded by HYDRA soldiers. Mary Jane however had pre-emptively contacted several super heroes to help her. These included Ironheart/Riri Williams and Miles Morales/Spider-Man

I will concede the latter example is a questionable source to cite given how it is not a Spider-Man comic book, To my knowledge, at the time of this writing the events from it have yet to be referenced in any comic book under the control of the Spider-Man editorial office. However at the time it was the title Mary Jane predominantly appeared in, so we could perhaps call it food for thought.

Subway Troll

The other examples from this era are mostly redundant for various reasons so I shall just skip ahead to something more recent.

In Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man v2 #11 MJ has one of her finest hours. The story begins with MJ helping an exhausted and injured Spider-Man to bed, affirming that she will make sure the city won’t need him that day.

This affirms for the readers that whatever unfolds in the issue, Mary Jane is committed to not involving Peter for his own sake.*

Later, whilst riding the subway, MJ recognizes a doctor in her carriage, shortly before the train collides with a literal troll monster; it was something to do with Thor, don’t worry about it.

MJ immediately takes charge. She orders the doctor to tend to injured passengers. She checks on the driver and assesses the danger. She rallies passengers off the train, helps move the injured, guides them to safety in the tunnels and even goes back to try and distract the troll.

Noticeably Mary Jane recognizes her own limitations. She has no delusions about actually defeating the troll, her plan is to simply distract it then hide; she even implies doing anything else would be stupid (see above).

By chance, Miles Morales shows up to fight the troll.

MJ sidesteps one of the troll’s blows, one possibly intended to throw off Miles rather than aimed at her. Seeing the young Spider-Hero smacked around, MJ immediately tries to help him.

Asking him to keep the troll distracted she boards the train again, deduces the troll would be vulnerable to light and then ignites the train’s lamps. She proceeds to yell for Miles to attack whilst it’s blinded. This brings the creature down.

Once the troll is down MJ calls her old boss Tony Stark so he can arrange for the creature to be taken away.

As I said, it’s one of MJ’s finest hours. She’s smart, in control, resourceful, fearless and undeniably a protector figure. A hero for sure.

But not a super powered one.

By her own admission her best bet was to just hide and hope the creature wouldn’t find her. The resolution of the battle was dependent upon the lucky appearance of Miles Morales in tandem with her opponent having a very specific weakness and the presence of resource that happened to work against that weakness.

Limitations

I will admit that maybe I’ve overlooked something, and would be willing to be told otherwise. But it is my contention that between all the above examples we get a strong overview of how MJ can handle situations where she needs to protect herself or others.

And that overview reveals that Mary Jane has a truly heroic soul.

She’s brave, protective and selfless.

But she also has limits.

Whenever she finds herself (or others) under attack the instances where she outright wins are actually very few and far between.

Whilst they exist, instances like her defeat of the Chameleon are in fact the exception not the rule.

The overwhelming majority of the time MJ’s victories are earned via assists. Either she is assisting someone (she defeated Hobgoblin’s guard because Harry held his attention) or more typically she is herself being assisted (see every single time Spider-Man showed up).*

In any situation though Mary Jane’s abilities to protect herself and others is heavily reliant upon a large number of factors. The resources in her vicinity, how her opponent(s) view her, the skillset of the people around her, how many opponents she is up against, the strengths and weaknesses of said opponents and a heaping helping of sheer luck.

These factors are so significant that often in any of the scenarios listed above were any one of them removed or significantly altered against MJ’s favour she (or others) would almost certainly have been seriously harmed.

If Hal didn’t have his camera and it didn’t happen to go off and if the demons didn’t happen to be weak to light she and her companions would have died

If MJ wasn’t armed with the baseball bat she likely wouldn’t have defeated Chameleon.

If Swarm wasn’t vulnerable to a sprinkler system he would’ve likely killed MJ or her co-stars.

If Miles Morales didn’t show up she could never have helped bring down the troll.

Because of this Mary Jane cannot reliably come out on top of most dangerous encounters she might find herself in.

In Spec #245 she defeated someone with (functionally) no enhanced strength, speed, etc. but only when warned of him and armed. However, until given help she couldn’t defeat a regular armed criminal in ASM #261

She subdued a super powered assailant in Sensational v2 #30, but only by using both a nearby resource that happened to exploit his specific weakness, and she still needed an assist. However, with no such weaknesses resources or assistance, she was helpless against a group of normal people with high tech armour and weapons.

In Marvel Knights #12 she temporarily stunned the Green Goblin by surprise attacking him with a gun. However, even when armed, she could do nothing to stop Kaine abducting her

No matter how you slice it Mary Jane cannot justifiably go into the majority of dangerous situations unprepared, or even armed, and presume she will be fine based upon her personal skillset. Her history just doesn’t reflect that at all.

I’m not suggesting MJ is a helpless victim waiting to happen, someone who must be reliant upon luck or other people to save her.

But what I am saying is…she has limits

Limits that common sense and past experience would definitely inform her of.

Limits that in no way shape or form justify her or Peter treating potential threats to her lightly, or presuming she’ll be fine no matter what.

Limits that do not allow her to have a strong probability of keeping herself or anyone else safe in the overwhelming majority of situations.

The more pressing question for this essay series is if her Mysterio and his crew are within her limits?

That’s a question I will be getting to very soon. Because next time I want to take a brief tangent to address a counterpoint you might’ve considered.

Why don’t these limits apply to Spider-Man?

*Whilst this is somewhat reminiscent of ASM #286 (which we looked at in part 17), it should be noted that this time MJ is unaware of any immediate or impending crime/dangerous situation that might unfold.

**I do not care to discuss any social/political implications of this. For example I don’t want to start a debate about Mary Jane’s relationship with the damsel-in-distress trope.

All that is irrelevant in the face of the objective facts of these stories. Of the patterns of behaviour and skills they establish into the canon, and thereby define the characters in question.

Case in point I’d argue it’d be sexist to have She-Hulk fight the Purple Man and lose because he used his powers to compel her to kill herself. Sexist it may be, but that doesn’t change the fact that based upon their established abilities, behaviours and personalities that scenario is both possible and highly likely.

*If you don’t get the reference, MJ once claimed this in MTU #20.

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anotheronechicagobog · 5 years ago

Text

Just Like Old Times Pt. 3 Jay Halstead x Reader

written by @anotheronechicagobog

Warnings: swearing, mature themes, Erin is ooc (I like her character but I’m pissed she just up and left still)

It had been three days and your life was still chaotic. “Calanthe, time for breakfast! You can’t stay in bed all day, sleepypants.”

“But mooooooooom...”

“I made scrambled eggs with chive, but if you don’t want them...”

“No! I want them!” She bolted out of Jay’s guest bed and sprinted towards the kitchen. You chuckled before following your daughter. You leaned on the wall near the kitchen and watched as Jay served Calanthe some eggs and toast. You smiled fondly at the scene before you. “Your mom’s the best cook, isn’t she?”

“Yeah she is!”

“Thanks, guys. So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Let’s go to the aquarium! I wanna see the belugas!”

“Sorry, kiddo, but we need to stay here, it’ll be easier to keep you two safe that way. How about we watch a movie?”

“We did that yesterday. And the day before that.”

“I know, but we have to stay here.”

“But I don’t want to stay here, Jay. It’s boring!”

“Calanthe, how about we build a pillow fort and tell stories?” You intervened, trying to keep everyone from getting upset. Calanthe and Jay seemed to have bonded quite quickly, and you wanted to preserve that. Calanthe held her breath for a moment, visibly thinking about it. “Okay.” You smiled, you knew she’d agree, she couldn’t say ‘no’ to a pillowfort. The three of you collected all the pillows, blankets, and sheets you could find in Jay’s apartment. Once all of you had gotten comfortable inside the pillowfort, Calanthe turned to you. “Mom, you go first!” You chuckled and began weaving a tale about a girl befriending a gargoyle and going on an adventure in the catacombs. Calanthe was beaming, focusing on each word that left your lips. You spared a glance at Jay and almost faltered. The way he was looking at you, heavy and wanting reminded you of what almost was. Your throat went dry and your chest constricted, but you managed to finish your story with a flourish. “And when the sun was about to rise she hugged Hugo one last time before he returned to his position at the base of the tower, facing the much more famous, but much younger, Notre Dame. Or the ruins of it at least. The end.”

“Yes! I loved that one, mom!” Then she turned to Jay, “now it’s your turn!” He looked shell-shocked for a moment. “I don’t know, Calanthe, I’m not very good at making up stories...”

“Then tell a story from your childhood or something.” He sighed heavily before staring to the side, trying to remember something. “Alright, this one time when Will and I were kids we decided to prank our mean next door neighbour...” Jay sat up straight as a wide smile spread across his face, his hands were gesturing wildly, and a true form of excitement you hadn't seen in years radiated from his eyes. “... We were still laughing our asses off on Will’s bed, peeking out the window when we could, and then our dad burst in his face was so red! I’d never seen him that angry before, but for some reason we only found it hilarious! He was stuttering sentences together and his hands were waving around, and then he stepped on a piece of lego! He started jumping around on his one good leg before he was able to walk out of our room. He didn’t speak to Will or I for two weeks! It was fantastic!” You and Calanthe were rolling on your backs laughing. You were starting to feel a stitch in your side and your eyes were watering. Calanthe was tearing up too and started to choke out “Haha-I-can’t-breathe! Hahahahahaha!” Even Jay had succumbed to the relentless onslaught of laughter his story had caused. The laughter began to cease when Jay’s cell phone rang. Doing his best not to laugh like a hyena, he answered the phone. “Halstead.” When his face immediately sobered, you and Calanthe stopped laughing too. You put your arm around her and brought her close. “Are you sure?... Absolutely sure? One hundred and ten percent sure? Okay, okay. I’ll tell them. Thanks, Voight.” He hung up and looked at you. “The team caught them. You guys are safe.” His eyes darted between you and Calanthe. “YES! WE CAN GO HOME NOW! Not that I won’t miss you or that staying with you hasn’t been awesome, but I miss being able to go to the park. WOOHOO! THIS IS AMAZING!” You and Jay looked at each other laughing as you watched your little ball of energy run around Jay’s living room cheering with her arms up. There was a hint of... what you thought was sadness on his face. But that couldn’t be it. Why would he be sad? Suddenly Calanthe stopped running and cheering. “We’ll see Jay again, right?”

“Of course! I mean... if you’re okay with that, Jay...”

“Yes! More than okay with that, actually” Awarm smile spread across his face and you felt your heart skip a beat.

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You were paged to head down to ED for a consult. “Dr. Choi? I’m Dr. Y/L/N, you asked for a consult.”

“Yeah, right in here, patient broke an arm trying to outrun the police during a bust.” You nodded and followed Dr. Choi into a room with police guarding the door while looking at the man’s x-rays. “Well Mr. Andrews it looks like you have a clean break. You’ll need a cast, but you won’t need surgery which is a good thing.” You smiled, you tried to be friendly with all of your patients, understanding that they came from all walks of life and may not have control of the situation they’re in. “I don’t want your help, bitch.” He then spat on you, causing you to recoil as the two officers came in the room to restrain him. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Look, Mr. Andrews, I won’t treat you if you don’t want me to, but I highly recommend treatment.” He tried to lunge off the bed at you, but the officers held him back. “What’s going on here?” A familiar voice boomed into the room. Jay’s eyes were hard and furious, you briefly flashed back to his argument with Sgt. Voight in the Intelligence break room. “Jay, I’m fine, okay? Everything’s fine.” Jay’s gaze cut to you quickly, and softened, then hardened again when he turned his eyes back to Mr. Andrews. You were an ex-female Ranger medic. You were used to sexist and occasionally violent patients. “Well, when will he be discharged so I can take him in for questioning?”

“Well Mr. Andrews refused the only remaining treatment we offered him so he can be discharged now, actually.”

“I changed my mind! I want to get my arm cast!” Jay snorted and rolled his eyes at the man on the hospital bed. “Of course.” His phone buzzed. He took a look at it and sighed, “I have to call Voight, let me know when he can go Y/L/N?”

“Of course Halstead.” As he turned to leave he quietly told the officers “If he threatens her, moves a muscle, puts her in any danger, shoot him.” You heard him shift to look at you, but your back was to him as you’d started getting the necessary equipment together to cast your patient, “Non-lethally.” He finished the order quietly. You heard murmurs of affirmation and he left. You couldn’t tell if he knew you heard or not.

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Calanthe was babbling about her day as you were making dinner. She was excited because Jay was coming over for Saturday night dinners. It had been made a habit after your stint in protective custody. You were making borscht, something you hadn’t made in a while, but Calanthe always loved it. You were hoping Jay would, too. Just as the food was finished there was a knock at the door. You rolled your eyes and went to open the door, because despite the fact that you gave Jay a key he used it scarcely. You opened the door to see two stoney faced detectives. “Detective Dawson, Detective Lindsay, how can I help you?” You frowned, they were wearing their badges and looked like they were here for work. “Y/N, we have some bad news, you might want to sit down.” You nodded numbly and sat on the couch, away from Calanthe who was still seated at the kitchen island. “Hi guys! Are you here for dinner, too?” Calanthe was so young, and couldn’t have possibly read the situation correctly. You looked at Dawson. “I’ll stay with her.” He stood up and went to the kitchen. You looked at Lindsay tears forming in the corners of your eyes. “Please tell me Jay’s not dead. Please.”

“He’s not dead. But he was shot and he’s at MED now, you’re his emergency contact, and Voight thought it’d be better if we told you in person, and one of us staying with Calanthe while you go to the hospital. Presuming you even want to go-”

“Of course I want to go. I want to see him.”

“Alright.” Lindsay sighed and nodded begrudgingly. The ride over was tense. “I get the feeling that you don’t like me. I’m just curious as to why.”

“Y/N can we not talk about this?”

“Alright, fine. I just... You’re Jay’s partner, and Jay is important to me, so I feel like I should get to know you better. But you’re always glaring at me or avoiding me, and I just don’t know what I did to you.” She responded with silence, so you sighed and followed her lead for the rest of the trip.

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You sat in the waiting room with Will and the Intelligence team, minus Dawson because he was with Calanthe. You and Will were sitting side by side, sharing your strength. Across from you Erin had her arms across her chest, glaring at you. You were leaving it alone, but Will couldn’t. “What’s with you lately, Lindsay? Why are you glaring at Y/N?” He was snapping and you knew it had to do with worrying about Jay, so you tried to calm him down. “Will, take a deep breath.”

“No. She’s been glaring at you and fighting with Jay because he’s not in love with her anymore!”

“You’re wrong! Jay still loves me! The only reason we haven’t gotten back together yet is because he found out he got this bitch pregnant and she didn’t tell him!” You were shocked. Is that what everyone thought? “Regardless of whether or not Calanthe is Jay’s daughter, you have no right to treat Y/N like this! You should know how much she means to him!”

“Yeah, and it’s her fault he was even shot in the first place!”

“What?” You choked out. You were responsible for Jay being shot? “Yeah. You heard me. It’s your fault! If Jay hadn’t been so distracted talking about you, he wouldn’t have been shot!” You burst into tears, you felt your heart go cold. You didn’t want to believe it was your fault, but you had to. What Erin said, the way the rest of Intelligence was looking at you, you knew she was right. Jay was in surgery and it was all your fault. You tried to get up and leave, knowing you didn’t belong here, but Will wrapped his arms around your shoulders and kept you in your chair. “No, Y/N, it’s not your fault. Just... stay, until he can see you. Please.”

“Will, I don’t-”

“He’s right, Y/N, it’s not your fault. Plus, Jay will want to see you when he wakes up.”

“But what Erin said, the way you guys looked at me-”

“What Voight just said is true, Y/N. It really isn’t your fault. And what Erin said... she took out of context.” Kevin smiled at you then turned to give Erin a dirty look. You nodded and leaned back in your seat, distressed, worried, and confused.

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Dr. Rhodes told all of you hours ago when Jay was out of surgery, but he still hadn’t woken up yet. You, Will, and Erin were sitting by Jay’s bed. You and Will were on either side, each holding one of his hands. Erin sat near his feet glaring at you both and muttering under her breath. You were trying to ignore her but it was hard when you could hear her saying some nasty things about you.

Suddenly Jay’s eyes fluttered open and his breathing sped up. The three of you stood up. You moved to lean over him, get a better look at his face, but Erin shoved you out of the way and took your place. “Jay, I’m here.” She cooed, her face and voice deceptively soft. “N-no... N oo... Y/... N... Y/N... Y/N...” He was blinking and breathing rapidly, panicking, searching the room, and when his eyes landed on you, he calmed. “Y/N.” He called out to you desperately, trying to wiggle his hand out of Erin’s grasp. “Y/N!” His breaking voice and pleading eyes brought tears to your eyes. You saw Will gesture to come around to the side of the bed where he was, so you did. Jay’s eyes following your form as you went. “Hey Jay, how do you feel?”

“A hell of a lot better now that you’re here.” You laughed, “Jay, that was so cheesy. I’m really glad that you’re okay.” You ran your hands through his hair, his soft eyes taking in your face. He sighed and leaned into your touch. “I love you Y/N.” You stroked his face and hair, making him sleepy. “I love you too, Jay. Get some rest, I’ll be here when you wake up.” Jay smiled, sighed, and let his eyes close and his breathing even out.

#One Chicago #Chicago Fire #Chicago PD #chicago med #jay halstead x reader #hank voight #erin lindsay #kevin atwater x reader #Mouse Gerwitz #Adam Ruzek #Alvin Olinsky #will halstead #hailey upton #kim burgess

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ivy-stjames · 5 years ago

Text

tw : teen pregnancy

IVY ST.JAMES WASN’T THE MOST RESPONSIBLE OF MCKINLEY’S TEENS. that fact was known and it was applicable anywhere from taking accountability for her actions to getting her school work done on time. needless to say, even with her seventeenth birthday on the horizon, ivy’s life thus far had been filled with prioritizing fun and doing what she wanted to do rather than what she probably should do. sure, that approach to life had gotten her into a couple of binds, but she had yet to confront one quite this big.

after the happiest little getaway, ivy naively thought things could only get better. sure, she had felt a little nauseous on the drive back to lima, but ivy chalked it up as a bad combination of the alcohol consumed the night prior and the churning motion of the car. quicker than she would’ve liked, she gave leo a peck on the cheek, grabbed her bag, then jogged into her house and directly into her bathroom. if she was gonna hurl, she wasn’t going to do it in front of leo. had her tolerance really gotten so low?

she quite literally threw her bag on the counter and dropped to her knees, entirely prepared to spill her guts. though the longer she remained on the bathroom floor with her head hung, the more and more that general queasiness seemed to fade. eventually, ivy pulled herself back onto her feet and turned the sink on so to splash some water on her face and ground herself back in the moment.

shortly after recovering from that weird nauseous spell, ivy mindlessly put some music on her phone and began to unpack what belonged in her bathroom from the overnight bag. she didn’t think of herself as an over-packer in any regard, but she needed what she needed and there was no shame in bringing it all. first came her toothbrush, then hair brush, followed by deodorant and body spray. she dug around the bag a little more just to double check she had gotten everything out when her fingertips brushed a flimsy tin and plastic sheet.

fishing it out, ivy looked at it, head tilted in confusion. she hadn’t really remembered throwing her birth control in her bag yesterday, but then again she had packed pretty quickly. more pertinently than that though, she hadn’t remembered getting so far behind on it. the assortment of pills popped out was random and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason in how or when ivy had taken them. the only common strain was that in each of the four rows there were pods with pills in them and pods without. as she examined the packet, it was initially concerning to visualize the sporadic pattern. once she counted up, the brunette felt more assured to see over half were gone. that was close enough, so any unprotected . . . moments with her boyfriend were still protected in a way. she opened her medicine cabinet and placed the sheet inside, trying to push aside any concerns. any that lingered were absolute paranoia not grounded in any logic whatsoever.

ivy turned out the bathroom lights and tried to leave those thoughts behind her as she moved into her room to unpack her clothes. thinking logically wasn’t really her forte, but as she unpacked both her her clothes and jewelry she tried to talk herself down from this irrationality. when was the last time she had a period? like a week before prom? that didn’t sound too great. she too tried to brush that off as a shift in her usual athletic schedule, cycles weren’t always super consistent. when she finished unpacking, she sent leo a text apologizing for her rushed exit and explained that she had just been car sick. was it car sickness, though? morning sickness, maybe? woah, slow down there ivy.

she laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling and trying not to spiral. what if she was pregnant? there was no way. she had been taking birth control for almost two years now and there were only . . . one , two, three, FOUR times they had gone unprotected. there was simply no way. it’s all she could keep repeating to herself. there was just no way. in an attempt to distract herself, she picked up her phone and rolled over on her stomach to give joey a call. maybe they could do something for the day and she’d distract herself from the worry running through her mind. they talked for a little, ivy kicking her legs back and forth and twirling her hair as they did. it was a decent distraction and by the time she was asking if he could hang out she was back to feeling care free. unfortunately though, joey already plans with tracy, which left ivy feeling worried all over again once she no longer had a friend to talk to.

the next thirty minutes were spent rearranging her earrings, shoes, and closet in this lame attempt to preoccupy herself before she finally grappled with the fact that the only thing that was going to get this crazy conspiracy out of her head would be if she actually took a test and saw that negative indicator with her own two eyes. maybe a bit dramatically, she put on a hoodie and some sunglasses, grabbed her car keys, and began her drive to the nearest walgreens. lima was a small town, the last thing she wanted was to be caught buying pregnancy tests, so she’d deal with the hollywood breakdown chic outfit for this brief excursion.

ivy was in and out as fast as she could be, grateful not to have bumped into anyone. no research went into what tests were best for her to get, she just plucked two of the most expensive ones off the shelf and figured they would be of the best quality. with a job, she could buy them with her own money, even if the expense would put a significant dent in her bank account. she wanted to get two just so she could be sure she was sure. purchasing a large thing of water along with the tests, she tried not to make the exchange with the cashier awkward, but ivy was nervous and didn’t have much tact in holding up conversation as she usually did. on her drive home, ivy was sure to chug the water bottle so she could get to seeing that negative sign in high quality as soon as she got home. that plan had done what it intended to do, so much so ivy parked in the driveway to race inside and upstairs back to her bathroom. she read the directions in a hurry, but once she got the gist, she followed the instructions, did both in one sitting, and set the tests on the counter and waited.

never had she felt so nervous for anything, not about a cast list, not about a boy, nothing compared to the way she felt sitting there and tapping her feet. time didn’t seem to pass at all, yet she felt stuck staring at the wall and waiting. forcing herself to stand up and check, ivy stoop cautiously shuffled over to the counter where both tests sat. why was she so nervous? they were gonna be negative. she looked at herself in the mirror, hands on the counter top, in what felt to be a final time before looking down.

an instant shock pulsed through her body that left her feeling both numb and painfully aware of what could be a brick weighing heavily at the bottom of her stomach. at first, she did nothing but blink to make sure she had correctly seen two positive indicators. at the confirmation after her double take, ivy clasped a hand over her mouth and stumbled back into the wall, sinking down slowly once she did. there was no pinpointing when the tears started rolling, just the terrified and lonely feeling of sitting on her cold bathroom tile that set in almost instantly. both hands come to cover her mouth as she tried to muffle any hyperventilation or sobs. leo was going to be so mad. he didn’t want kids, she was painfully aware of the fact. what was she going to do? ivy would love to be a mom, she’d verbally expressed this only a handful of times, but right now? well doing it right now left her with a paralyzing fear.

she couldn’t say how long she sat there crying and deliberating and thinking with her hands pressed fearfully over her mouth and tears grossly coating her cheeks and even down to her neck. ivy tried to figure out what to do, what steps to take, even if they were just to get herself up off the ground, but all she could think about was how terrified she felt and how scary the idea of telling leo seemed to her. completely at a loss, she glanced up at her phone on the counter and had her first thought that wasn’t ‘fuck, what do i do? fuck fuck fuck.’ she could call eli. just the idea of her big sister walking her through what to do and calming her down comforted ivy slightly. wiping her tears, she eventually got herself to her feet and over to her phone on the counter. sniffling, she picked up her phone, unlocked it and pulled up eli’s contact info. starting to cry again, ivy hit the call button and almost instantly regretted it. what was she doing? eli wasn’t going to want to listen. she was mad and refusing to come back home. she didn’t want anything to do with her or their parents anymore. stupid ivy. rapidly, the cancelled the call and desperately tried to wipe her tears again as she looked at herself in the mirror.

for a moment, she felt entirely out of her body. while she remained sniffling, ivy pulled up the hoodie and ran her hands over her still flat stomach. was this real? for a fleeting moment, part of her was hopeful. there was a baby in there. well, kinda. if she could just get leo on the same page, they could keep things quiet until the mamma mia run was over, then start the beginning of the rest of their lives. but that’s all it was. fleeting. still, it was enough to get her to stop crying. even with her tingling arms and legs, ivy went through the motions of throwing the tests back into the boxes, then the boxes into the bag, and gathering her things before heading into her room. ivy stuff the bag with the box into an empty shoe box in her closet, just until she figured out what to do with them.

one thing was for certain, even if she had stopped crying, ivy didn’t feel real right now. the concerns and utter loss for what to do were still there, but this detachment from the real world piloted her into her bed and under the covers where she would stay, staring blankly at herself in her mirrored closet wall for the rest of the morning.

#//tl;dr: ivy is a stupid bitch who doesn't understand how her birth control works so now she's knocked up #tw: teen pregnancy #self para #//TWO MONTHS OF PLOTTING LEADING UP TO THIS?!

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