#if you believe that’s the only option you’re wrong buddy

[mythtakens]

“these characters should be mentally healthy before they get together 😌” ummm no I actually think we should smash their mental illnesses together like clumps of play-doh and see what colors it makes

[i-care-4u]

it’s a tradition ✹ jude bellingham

SOCIAL MEDIA AU

PAIR: JUDE BELLINGHAM X FEMALE!READER

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED | MASTERLIST

A/N: literally decided to post an early birthday fic for jude! 😁

→ INSTAGRAM

2021

judebellingham

Liked by erling.haaland, yourusername, jobebellingham, and 140,002 others

judebellingham I want to say how fortunate I am to know someone like yourusername. I reflect on the memories and experiences we've had, writing about how you've made me laugh and smile. I talk about how you make me feel more alive and how much I value having you in my life. I'll close with a heartfelt wish for you to have a fantastic birthday, bud.

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yourusername Thank you I guess 😓 (Why did you chose this picture out of all the pictures you've took?)

↳ judebellingham yourusername Hey, this one gotta do (This is the most fun you look)

erling.haaland Hey, where's my silly birthday post?

↳ judebellingham erling.haaland See you next year, mate.

user1 Now if you don't bag her Bellingham...

footiefan7 Enough with the girl, give us more football posts

↳ judebe footiefan7 Tell me you’re single without telling us that you’re single

user2 She's so gorgeous

user3 Oh to have a dedicated post on Jude's page

judebellinghamlive I've seen two pretty best friends now

yourusername

Liked by judebellingham, jobebellingham, trentarnold66, and 5,920 others

yourusername Happy birthday to one of my bestest friends in the world! judebellingham You constantly brighten my day with your humor and charm. I also want to congratulate you once again for getting into the Dortmund team, you’re already achieving so much at your young age. I am so proud of you, bestie. Here's to another year of laughter and good times! 🍰

View all 109 comments

judebellingham Who's this cheeky lad you're hanging out with?

↳ yourusername judebellingham I think his name is Joe Birmingham??? Correct me if I'm wrong

yourbestfriend Okay WAG 🥰🥰🥰

↳ yourusername yourbestfriend Nah, is there a FAB option? (Friends And Buddies) 🤗

↳ user1 yourusername You can be like the honorary WAG

2022

judebellingham

Liked by yourusername, jobebellingham, gioareyna, and 402,920 others

judebellingham Happy birthday to the friend who's put up with my bullshit for so many years. I honestly don't know how you do it, but I'm grateful for your questionable (good) taste in friends. You literally deserve a medal for being this loyal after this long. My true ride or die buddy.

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yourusername Ooh, and she got a glow up since her last birthday post! 😍

↳ judebellingham yourusername This is a sign that I'm getting better at taking pictures, right?

gioareyna Do I deserve a loyalty medal too?

↳ judebellingham gioareyna No.

↳ yourusername judebellingham Tell him🤭

user1 She’s so pretty

bellinghammer Happy birthday to the funniest and sweetest girl ever!

user2 I always get excited for these birthday posts

ilobjude I hope Jude realizes how much we fans love Y/n

user3 I refuse to believe that they aren’t together

yourusername

Liked by judebellingham, jobebellingham, gioareyna, and 8,829 others

yourusername Happy birthday, Jude! Today is your big day, and you have an extra reason to celebrate: you have officially made the England team for the World Cup in Qatar! What an incredible achievement! I am quite impressed with all of your hard work and dedication to your football career. You've worked really hard to reach this stage, and the praise could not have come at a better moment. I am convinced that you will represent England honorably and make all of your fans proud. Congratulations bubs!

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judebellingham You finally got something nice to say about me

↳ yourusername judebellingham *And the only time I’ll say something nice to you, sir.

yourbestfriend If I were to be on the England team, would you write me a long ass paragraph too? 😍

↳ yourusername yourbestfriend I’ll write you a novel instead 🥰

↳ judebellingham yourusername I expect the same energy next year 🙄

2023

judebellingham

Liked by yourusername, jobebellingham, camavinga, and 1,503,292 others

judebellingham As another year passes, I can't help but think about all the moments we've made together yourusername. Listening to your late-night chats to creating any last minute plans, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have you in my life. You laugh at all of my idiotic jokes, even when they aren't very amusing. You give me the most honest advice when I need it most, and you always know what to say to make me feel better. When I am among you, I don't have to put up a face or pretend to be someone I am not. You accept me as I am, no matter the flaws. So, for your birthday, I simply wanted you to know how much you mean to me. You're more than a friend; you're a true partner in crime. I would not want to spend my life with anyone else.

View all 4,020 comments

yourusername Awwww (I wrote this)

↳ judebellingham yourusername Selfish much?

camavinga At this point get a room already 🤣

↳ user1 camavinga What are you trying to say here?

↳ user2 user1 I feel like he knows something we don’t

madridistar OH NO WHAT’S HAPPENING….🧍‍♀️…..🐕

jobeyjude I just want to be friends with Y/n, is that too much to ask for?

mbappeswife My favorite time of the year! (Jude’s dedicated post to Y/n)

user3 My [zodiac] queen

modricsfave Happy birthday gorgeous! 🎉🎂🥳

yourusername

Liked by judebellingham, jobebellingham, vinijr, and 20,020 others

yourusername Another year older, and possibly wiser. Happy birthday, Jude! You're more than just a friend to me; you're my confidant, rock, and partner in crime. Our bond is unbreakable, and our relationship is something I treasure deeply. But don't forget that you've joined Real Madrid in addition to being another year older! I can't wait to see your success on that field. You've worked exceptionally hard to get here, and you deserve all the success in the world.

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judebellingham Gracias amiga 🤍

↳ yourusername judebellingham Those Spanish lessons coming in HANDY 🤭

vinijr Happy birthday Jude! 🎉

camavinga Family ☝️

judebells_ We stan a supportive friend like Y/n 🙌

2024

judebellingham

Liked by yourusername, jobebellingham, ardaguler, and 4,901,639 others

judebellingham Today marks as Y/n's birthday, and I just want to say how everything has changed for the better since the past year. You have given me so much love, happiness, and joy in the previous year, and I will be eternally grateful for every moment we've spent together. I still can't believe you're mine and I can call you that. It feels as if a dream has come true and I can't wait to see what's next for us.

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yourusername I love you beautiful 💕

↳ judebellingham yourusername Love you more than anything 🤗

jobebellingham Saw this one coming 🫣

↳ beellinghamm jobebellingham I just want to know how long you’ve been waiting for this moment to happen

user1 It’s official…Y/n is my favorite WAG

halamadridjude You’re such a lucky man

user2 Mama y papa 😇

vinisoulmate I wish I had someone adore me the same way Jude does to Y/n

bellingfanatic I don’t know what’s his biggest win, Champion’s League or finally dating Y/n after so many years

user3 Sending you both lots of love 🫶🫶🫶

yourusername

Liked by judebellingham, jobebellingham, lukamodric10, and 206,385 others

yourusername I can't believe I call this cameraman, judebellingham, "mine." In all seriousness, you know I value you for so much more than just taking my pictures. Happy birthday to the man who I refer to as my partner and best friend, who tries his best to keep me sane throughout the day. Every day, I fall more deeply in love with you. You're like my other half, the missing piece that makes me feel complete. You've witnessed my most raw and vulnerable moments, and you still adore me for who I am. I consider it a privilege to have you at my side, someone who understands and accepts me for who I am, camera or not. Love you lots, bud.

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judebellingham Here's to growing gray hair together!

↳ yourusername judebellingham Okay. Now you're making me feel old.

yourbestfriend Remember the times when I called you a WAG?

↳ yourusername yourbestfriend Yes, you've won…

user1 IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME THEY STARTED DATING

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

SCREAMS

WELCOME BACK

I’VE HAD A WEEEK OF THINKING ABOTU EP 4 NONSTOP AND THE ONLY REASON I’M NOT POSTING ART IS BECAUSE I’M PARANOID ABOUT PEOPLE UNTHINKINGLY SLAPPING SPOILERS IN THE TAGS (its happened before) BUT DADSY HAS MY ENTIRE SOUL ANYWAY

ITS EP 5 TIME AND HECK HECK

MONKIE KID SEASON 4 EPISODE FIVE WE HALFWAY THROUGH BOOOOIIIIIIS

BUCKLE UP I AM NORMAL ALREADY FOLKS

actually to be honest I’ve been pretty chillin until I doodled Pigsy and Mk and now I’m feeling feral THIS SHOW REALLY IS SO GOOD FOR MY BRAIN YELLSSS

OKAY OKAY HERE WE GO COURT OF THE YELLOW ROBED DEMON HECK SOUNDS FUN LETS BOOGIE

continues to be a banger theme song that i will listen to all the way through every time it plays thank you very much

. . .

i need a moment

lays down

Pigsy absolute beloved ;-;

ALSO I’M KINDA WHEEZING AT THE BLUE ISN’T REALLY MY COLOUR

HECK I DIDNT’ APPRECCIATE EP 4 ENOUGH SO YOU BEST BELIEVE I’MA BE CHERISHIGN THE CRAP OUTTA EPISODE FIVE

I’M JUST SO HAPPY PLS BGSL;DKFMSDF

Pigsy washing his clothes in the river, Mk doodling i adore I’m so much and MEI BELOVED BALANCING SWORD ON HER NOSE I’M

THE VIBES ARE SO GOOD I WILL CRY

i had to rewind because i just sat here watching and just ;-; SUCH GOOD VIBES MAN |;A;/

ALSO HECK DIOLOGUE

HECKINGDSFLKMSD

PIGSY CALLING OTHER PIGSY A MONSTER

HMHMHM JOTTING THAT DOWN UR HONOUR

NGL BUT THAT VALIDATES MY OWN LITTLE SELF-INDULGENT FIC I WROTE A WHILE BACK OF TIME TRAVEL AND HIM DISLIKING PAST HIM SORRY I’M JUST GRRGRRRAWRRR BITES /POS

IS PIGSY HAVING TROUBLE ACCEPTING THAT WAS A PAST LIFE?

HECK I’M BITESBITESBITES

THE LAST EP KINDA FELT CONFUSING WHERE TANGS FELT VERY THUROUGH IN WHAT THE BIGGEST REGRET THING WAS BUT

AFTER LITERALLY JUST THAT LINE I’M LIKE OH SO HIS GREATEST REGRET WAS JUST BEING WHO HE WAS HUH FR

I’M LIKE THIRTY SECONDS IN AND ALREADY NORMALGBS;LDFKMA

Tang with the name correction ;-;

PIGSYGBSDFLMWE

DON’T GO COMPARING ME TO THAT DEMON

I’M JUST PLAIN OL PIGSY

|;A;/

I’M FINE IGNORE ME

Pigsy ur so valid for wanting layers on hHNV;LKSMFSD But my good sir no need to apologize for being a hunk smhBG;LSKDFM;WOEF

Mei

Mei absolute beloved

a

s SCREAMS

DRAGON TIME

WE GONNA SEE HIIIMMMMMMM

considering i had so much brainrot about Wukong and Ao Lie brother moments after season 3 if we see him and we get any of his care for his bro i will be emotionally destroyed /pos LIKE I BEEN THINKING ABOUT THEM SM I TELL YOU AAAAAAAA

Mei: oh he must’ve been awesome

you’re right mei he was

just didn’t get much… screen time. book time? time BG;KSADFKMSDF

I WONDER HOW THEY’LL CHRACTERIZE HIM

HECK

AAAAAAA

SO MANY OPTIONS

i am very normal if we see him i’ll cry

Mei’s got some seriously good balance now

MY ANCENSTORGSLDFKMAGNMAWE

.

Okay i wanna laugh over Mei’s I THOUGHT MONKEY KIGN WIAS YOUR DAD! HE’S NOT MY DAD!!!!

I WAS GONNA LAUGH BUT U H

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAS BEEN MENTIONED

MK IS LITERALLY DRAWING A STONE EGG

THE PEBBLE CRACKING IN HIS FLASHBACK

BUDDIES OF MINE SUDDENLY ON THE MK AND WUKONG SIBLING TRAIN

head in hands

so this confirms the theory that smacked me in the face last week this is fine

Mk fr probably a pebble from swk’s rock or something i don’t know TOO MANY FINGERS POINTING IN TAT DIRECTION I DONT’ KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THAT FEEL FREE TO PROVE ME WRONG UNIVERSE I WOULD GLADLY ACCEPT IT

AM I AFRAID TO LEARN ABOUT MK’S BACKSTORY NOW?

YEAH A LITTLE BIT

EVERYHTING IS FINE

TIS IS FINE

A

AH

PLS

SCREAMS

HE SAID IT

SHAKES YOU

GUYS HE SAID IT I’MGNSDFLK;MASDF

THE POINT

AND

PIGSY’S MY DAD

PIGSY SWEATINGBDL;KMASD

PLEASENG;LKSAMF

UR HONOUR

UR HONOUR PLEASE

THIS IS MY SEASON

THIS IS MY SEASON

HECKING

GETTING EVERYTHING I COULD EVER WANT SHUT UUUUPPPPBGS;DFKLMAW;EOIMFE

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

HIS BLEP AND CONTINUES COLOURING

Y’ALL MK MY BELOVED I ADORE THIS DUDE SM

PIGSY BLINDSIDED BY BEING CALLED DAD SO BLATANTLY I’M ON THE FLOOR

MK REALLY JUST

LETS CUT THE CRAP THAT’S MY DAD EVERUYBODY ELSE CAN GO I’MGBSD;FKMASDF

Guys I think i found my favourite episode

no lie this is

everything to me rn

PLEASE

A CONSPIRICY BOARDBG;SLKDMFWE

TANG’S DOODLES

SANDY STILL OFF SCREENGBSD;FKM;WOEF

CAN MEI BECOME A HORSENGKLMFD

GOOD QUESTION ACTUALLY

HECK HECK I FEEL LIKE THIS IS MOVING TO FAST I WANT TO GO BACK AND REWATCH THE WHOLE MONKEY KINGS NOT MY DAD PIGSYS MY DAD UH KID I’M NOT TECNICALLY-

HEKCKMGNDSFMSD

YEAH

I CAN’T BELIEVE

THEY’RE THEORIZING ON SCREEN

ABOTU WHETHER OR NOT MK’S RELATED TO MONKEY KING

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL I FEEL LIKE I’M SCROLLING THORUGH THE FANDOM TAGBGBSDL;KFMSDF

I WILL CRY

HECK THIS IS SO FUNNY SEEING IT ALL SLAPPED OUT LIKE THAT I’VE LITERALLY THOUGHT THAT ALL IN THAT ORDER WE’VE MADE SO MANY THEORIES LIKE THIS I’M WHEEZINGNSDFL;KMSDF

BELOVED MONKEY KING

REAL SWK CONFIRMED

I’M GONNA SCREAM

THEY LEGIT DOING THIS??

FR???

I CAN’T BELEIVE THISGBSD;FKLMOEWF

SO

MK

RELATED TO MONKEY KING SOMEHOW CONFIRMED IG

ALL THAT

PLS

HE’S AT LEAST A STONE MONKEY

I DON’T KNOW HOW THAT WOULD WORK I LIKE MONKEY KING BEING ONE OF A KIND AND ALL THAT NOT SURE ABOUT THAT APPROACH BUT HECK IT WE BALL IG

ALSO PLEASELMGSAOFE

MK JUST LIKE NOOOO NONONONONOOO NO THANK YOU THAT’S CRAAAAZY

ah yess because he’s normally sooooo forthcoming with information

HELPGSDLKF

YEAH

SHE GOT A POINT LAD

SHE DO BE GOT A POINT

poor mk not looking very stoked at this possibility

CURIOUS YOU’D THINK HE’D BE ECSTATIC BUT IG TRUAMA DOES A LOT BGSDL;FKMS

MK COMUNICATING LEGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WELL WHEN WE FIND HIM WE CAN ASK HIM! :D

PLS I JUST LOV EHIM A LOT GUYS

PIGSYGBSD;LKFMWE

PIGSY YOU’VE BEEN HERE FIVE SECONDS WHY ARE YOU ANNOYEDNLGKMMFEEF

I’m telling you now! :D

PLS IT TAKES A SECOND TO FIGURE THESE THINGS OUT

H

HECK

SCREAMS

HECK WAIT

I’M NOT READY

THIS IS SO EARLY IN THE EPISODE WDYM

USUALLY THEY WAIT TILL CLSOER TO THE END TO LULL YOU INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY

WE’RE ONLY TWO MINUTES IN

HELP WAITBG;LSDKMF

also welp ig mk really is stone monkey HOW DOES THAT WORK I DON’T KNOW I’M IN PIECES GO BACKGNS;LKFMWE

i DON’T KNOW IF THAT’S MONKEY KINGS ROCK MK I THINK IT’S YOURS

ALSO UM WHAT THE HECKNVG;LKSDMFBGN;AKFMA;WOEF

MK VERY EAGER TO HAVE MONKEY KING EXPLAIN TO EVERYONE HE’S DEFINITELY NOT HIS DADGBSDF;LKM;SDF

th

heck

okay

so

so

soooo

that sounded

less like monkey kings voice there

and more like

ahem Mk’s

SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

SCREAMS AND SHAKES YOU ALL

I SWEAR IF HE’S A CLONE

OR HECKING

SOMETHING ID ONT’ KNOW

HE HECKING BETTER NOT BE DEAD

IT BETTER NOT BE MONKEY KING ISNT’ ACTUALLY MONKEY KING AND MK’S HIS REINCARNATION AND MONKEY KING IS ACTUALLY JUST A CLONE LEFT BEHIND TO COACH HIS NEXT LIFE THAT STUPID THING I MADE UP I SWEAR I WILL BE CRUSHED PLEASE DONT’ BE THATBG;SDLKFMAWOE I MADE THAT UP FOR ANGST PURPOSES NOT FOR IT TO BE A HTEORY FOR CANON

i am full of fear

HECK THOSE ARE GIANT EYES

SCROLL CURSE

UP

OH NO THEY LOST THE CHEAT SHEET

CHEAT SHEET WAIT THAT’S SO FUNNYGHSBDFLK;MWEF

OH HECK

HECKK

ECK HECK JGSDJLFSJD

MEI

WATCH IT

OH SHE’S FAST NOW

OH RIP

WELP

I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING

SO WE’RE GONNA GET A MEI ARC IN THIS ONE AGAIN HUH

BREAK THE SWORD DISSAPOINTED FAMILY OR SOMETHIGN GOTTA RE-PROVE HERSELF OR SOMETHIGN HECKINGNFDL;KMWE

THAT’S SUCH PRETTY ANIMATION THO HECK EHCK

WE’RE ONLY 2:50 IN WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS SCREAMS

.

THEY BETTER NOT HAVE BEEN ALL BUBBLED TO DIFFERENT PLACES I SWEAR

oh no yup separated

I’M SO SORRY MEI ILY

OH RIP

WELP

YUP EVERYBODY SEPERATED

AWESOME

.

HELPGML;SDFM

CONGRATS TANG LOOOKS ILKE YOU’RE IN THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN

GL WITH THAT

WIAT HELPGNSAOWE

HE FR JUST SCREAMS AND BUBBLES AWAY

HELPGMSLDF

I WAS EXPECTING HIM TO BE THERE LONGER HELPGNSDLFKMSDF

peak comedy there well done lets scream and run away from that chapter so true bG;LKAWEMFAEWFNAWFE

.

Mei.

Mei you

Mei you literally have the fire of Samadhi

you have the Samadhi fire

you don’t need a swordnGL;KMAWFE

OKAY THO MEI EP OR SOEMTHING IG

SHE’S GONNA GO ON A JOURNY OF SELF-DISCOVERY IG

ALSO WHERE THE HECK DID MK GO

WE SAW EVERYBODY ELSE

WER’ES MY BOOOIIIII

OH I HATE HIM

IMMEMDEATLEY

WHO’S THIS CLOWN

FIESTY

EAT MY FIST

WHY IS HE

TALKINGNSDFL;KMWE

KILL  HIM

SUS OLD MAN

OH RIGHT YEAH YOU’RE THIS GUY

OH HE’S A VIBE ACTUALLY

LONG HAIR VIBIN

.

YOU BETTER NOT HTINK MEI IS YOU’RE HEKCING WHATEVER

OR MAYBE YOU WANNA CONSUME HER

OKAY YEAH

FUN

I’LL BE SPICY ALRIGHT

OHH

OKAY CONCERN

BURN HIM ALIVE

COME ON W

oh

not gonna

eat her right away oka

ITS HIM

ITS HIM

ITS HIM HITSBSFBGANFABF;IOAWMEFAWMGFA;LFMAWOIEMFAF

SCREAMS

SCREAMS

ITS HIM

TIS HIM

SHAKES YOU SHAKES YOU ITS HIM

I KNOW IT IS

ITS HIM I TS HIM TBNSLKMGNEEM

ITS HIM

GREEN

GREEN

ITS HIM

SCREAMS IT HE

ITS HIM ITS MY MAAAN

ITS HE

SCREAMS

ITS AO LIE

SHUT I’M UP GONNA CRY ITS HIM RIGHT NOW HE

I’M HAVING A MOMENT HERE GUYS GIVE ME A SECOND I’M GONNA CRY

OH HE’S SO SCRUNGLY

OH HE’S SO

YES

OH THE LONG SLEEVES EXCUSE ME HE’S SO DELIGHTFUL

I IMMEDEATELY ADORE HIM

I am not normal

HE’S BEAUTIFUL

HIS LITTLE HEADTILT

I WILL SOB

HELPGMSDLFKMSDF

TANG JUST ZOOMIN

NOP NOPE NOPE NOPE

THE NEZHA MOMENT

THIS IS ACTUALLY SO MUCH FUN

HECK AO LIE IS SO SCRUNGGLY I WOULD DIE FOR HIM YA’LL

HE’S DRAWN SO NICE

HES’ BEAUTIFUL

MEI GETS TO HANG OUT WITH HER ANCESTOR

SHE’S EITHER GONNA BE ANNOYED BY HIM OR VIBE AND I’M GONNA CRY EITHER WAY

OH NOPPES OUT TANG ET MOVING

YUP NOPE

THAT’S THE WORNG DOOR VERY MUCH

OH HE’S LAUGHIGN AT HER

WHATS SO FUNNY GUY

I LOVE

I LOVE HIM

SISTER

PLS

I ADORE HIM

YOU DONT’ UNDERSTAND I’M IN LOVE WITH HIS DESIGN THE VOICE ACTOR IS SO GOOD

THE :3 FACE THEY’RE GIIVNG HIM

i am actually going to cry YOU GUSY HE’S SO SCRUNGLY

PLEASE

PLEASE HE’S EVERYHTING TO ME

I WANT TO GIVE HIM SNACKS

THE TRIP

PLEASE

HE’S JUST A GOOFY LITTLE GUY

truly this is the youngest sib during the journey truly tis him

i love how i’m just assuming this is Ao Lie when i actually have no proof its just the vibes via the story and the fact he’s beautiful and green and absolutely delightful I WOULD DIE FOR HIM YOU DON’T UNDERSTANDNGLSDMAGNWO;EFM

oh man we’re only halfway through this is gonna be a long post hG;KLSDFJSD

THIS GUY

YUP MILDLY ANNOYED

I LOVE HIM

OH

OH BUDDY NO

BUD

BELOVED

I’M ABOUT TO CRY

BRUH REALLY

JUST VIBIN

WAITING FOR HIS PWOERS TO BE SNATCHED

AND MEI JUST OUTRAGED BY THAT

YEAH

I’M

HECK

HECK GUYS THAT’S HER ANCESTOR I’M GOING TO BURST INTO TEARS THIS IS A THREAT

INACTION IS CARELESS

IN

INTERSTING

MADAM

MEI NOT ALL OF THAT IS CORRECT

OH LETS GO I HOPE THIS IS A BOTH LEARN SOMETHING FROM EACH OTHER ARC I WILL CRY

MEI HECKA PASSIONATE ABOUT HER FRIENDS

HELPGMSDFLMADF

DO NOT SENSE

PLEASE

PLEASE HANG ON THIS IS MOVING SO FAST

THEY WENT FROM LIKE

HI HI

*INTENSE PHYSCOLOGICAL DISCUSSION*

THEY JUST MET PLEASENG;LKMSDFE

IS IT GONNA BE LIKE

GET OUT AND THEN SURPRISE! I’M AO LIE!

ANYWAY IT WAS NICE MEETING YOU BYEEEE

PLS

A SWORD IS POWERLESS WITHOUT THE HAND THAT WEILDS IT

I ADORED IT

MY DUDE WHO IS PROBABLY AO LIE no its’ definitely Ao Lie AO LIE BELOVED I LOVED IT ITS A GREAT BIT OF WISDOM

THEIR LITTLE BANTER IS SO FUNNY PLEASE

MEI’S READY TO BITE HIM HE’S JUST SILLY GOOFY MAN

THEY BOTH GOT GOOD POINTS

man family dinner must be fun if his sister’s anything like Mei bGALK;SMDFAOWEF MAN I LOVE THEM

TANG REALLY GOING THROUGH IT

M

MO??????

MO??????

MO IS THAT YOU???

HECK???

WHERE’D YOU COME FROM???

WHY AREN’T YOU WITH SANDY??

i mean sandy’s probably not sandy rn but MO????

OH HECK

HELLO

AH

LOUDLY

DECLARING THAT HUH

WHATS GOING ON OVER THERE

Y’know hang on before we listen to Wukong’s bros trash talk him i wanna think about the fact that Wukong and Ao Lie probably get along great because they’re so alike

they’re just silly goofy Ao Lie probably reminds Wukong of himself back when he was just goofing off pls

OH??

OH MACAQUE’S THERE LISTENIGN TO THEM TRASH TALK HIS BELOVED FRIEND?? YEAH?? OH I’M INVESTED LETS FREAKING GO

unpredictable sure is a word for WukongnGL;KMEAFWE

CHARERISTICALLY QUIET PLSNG;LSDKMF

oh wow hey

New VA nailing it actually

deeper sounding

more gruff hang on i need a sec

lays down

heck

okay

okay we’re good

lets see if Azure’s vibes continue to be rancid or he says something to bring it back

also my goodness what a good thing to slap in there, Monkey king gone for years at a time sure does make it sketchy i’m biting this

OH HE’S IN THE BIG OL KING SEAT UH

TANG RECIGNIZING HIM FROM THE DOODLE

PLS THAT’S SO SILLY /POS

NO YEAH ME TOO DUDE

HE’S HECKA SUS

HIS VIBES CONTINUE TO BE RANCID

also heck i’m curious as to what they’re gonna do with this

like if Mac goes along with those three and then it’s actually the other way around not Wukong betraying them but them betraying him that’d be WILD considering we’re all so sure its something Wukong did but heck maybe Azure really does do something heck heck

OKAY BACK TO THE FAMBLY

and the excellently designed dude i immediately hated

he and Ao Lie are on opposite sides of the scale for me pleasemKLGASDF Cool design I IMMEDEATELY HATE HIM and COOL DESIGN I ADORE HIM

Whats up greasy ole face weirdo

oh

OH BELOVED

BEAUTY FIRST

DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT

DID HE JUST SAY BEAUTY FIRST OR AM I JUST IN LOVE WITH THE DESIGNGNSDLFKMABGOWEMF

I’M GONNA ASSUEM THAT’S WHAT HE SAID AND CRY OVER THE FACT AO LIE IS PRETTY WE BEEN KNEW

OH MAN MEI’S GREAT

YEAAAHHHHH

SCREAMS

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

is the the DANG DRAGON MOMENT U SEEM MORE FAMILAR ARE WE RELATED MOMENT OR GNSLDK;MFAOWEIM

AAAA

SEH’S SO GOOD I LOVE HER A LOT

GET EM MEI

OH

AYO

MADE HERSELF A SWORD

LETS FREAKING GOOOOOOOOOOO

SHE’S SO GOOD

I LOVE HER

WHITE HORSE DRAGON

HEAR THAT AO LIE??

HEAR THAT???

Its okay i’m fine i’m just losing it

GET EM GURRRLL

SHE’S SO

FREAKING POWERFUL

OH WOW THE DRAMATIC

HAIR SWOOSHY

I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS THE RIGHT DAY TO BE CARELESS

OH

OH FREAKING

HECK

WOW

HE’S

OH WOW

AW

I LOVE

HIM

I LOVE IM I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM

ITS YOU

AO LIE LIKE EH??

VA GO BRRR

I KNEW YOU WERE COOL

OH REALLY YOU THINK SO? :D

HE’S SO SCRUNGGLY

OH THE COOLEST

PLEASE

I WANT MORE OF HIM

I WANT MORE OF HIM SO BADLY

I BEG OF YOU

HE IS EVEYRTING TO ME I GOT CHILLS

HECK

HECK

OH

OH

OH MAN

MAN

AMV TIME HERE I COME THIS SEASON IS SO FREAKING GOOD I’M LOSING IT

I’M GONNA MAKE SO MANY AMVS I SSWEAR

I’M GONNA WATCH THIS EP ON LOOP

AO LIE IS EVERYTHING

I WANT HIM BACK

PLEASE

AAAAAAAAAA

|;A;/

SCREEAAAMMSSS

OKAY

OKAY

MK

OH MY BOY  ARE YOU ALRIGHT?

HECK HE WAS STRAIGHT UP KNOCKED OUT UNLIKE EVERYONE ELSE

GO BACK WHERE’S PIGSY HECK HECK HECK

I WANT MORE DADSY CONTENT WAAAAIT

OHBOY

WHERE ARE THEY

W

OH PUTI

OH

OH

OH

OH ARE WE

WHERE

HECK

HANG ON

SHOOT

HE IS NOT REPLACING SWK IN THIS

I SWEAR

I WILL LOSE MY GOSH DANG MIND IF THEY DO THAT

SWK IS TOO IMPORTANT TO ME DON’T DO THIS TO ME

HECK HECK HECK HECK HECK

SCREAMS

OKAY

OKAY SO MK IS IN

MONKEY KINGS PLACE

HECK

SO CONFIMRED MK STONE MONKEY AT LEAST, LITERLALY SWK’S SON OR SIBLING AT MOST OR LITERALLY SWK, AO LIE IS MY MOST FAVOURITE EVER I WANT HIM AND SWK BEING GOOFY TOGETHER RIGHT FREAKING NOW, ZHU BAJIE’S GREATEST REGRET MIGHT JSUT BE HIM BEING HISMELF, LBD LOOKED RIGHT AT TANG, MEI CAN MAKE HER OWN NEW SWORD NOW, MK MIGHT BE REPLACING MONKEY KING, AZURE’S VIBES CONTINUE TO BE RANCID, THE NEW VA FOR MAC IS DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB OF SOUNDING CLOSE THE TO THE OG (nothing but appreciation for this guy thank you big shoes to fill) AND THEY’RE ALL SEPERATED, TANG FOUND MEI THO, AO LIE WAS READY TO GIVE UP HIS OWN POWERS, THEY CLASHED BOTH HAD GOOD POINTS, TANG BOOKED IT OUT OF THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN, MK DIDN’T KEEP HIS FRIENDS IN THE DARK ABOTU HIS VISIONS FOR LONGER THAN LIKE TWO EPISODES AND IS COMMUNCIATING, SEEMS TO HAVE A PROBLEM THINKING ABOUT SWK AS HIS DAD, PIGSY GOT CALLED DAD PIGSY’S MY DAD, AH HECK HECK THIS EPISODE HAD SO FREAKING MUCH THEY FOUND MO, HOLDS HIM GETNLY, MACAQUEEEEEE AAAAAAAAA I LOVE ALL THESE GUYS SO MUCH

SHUT UP I THINK THIS IS MY FAVOURITE EPISODE NOBODY TOUCH ME I GOT EVERYTHING BUT WUKONG AND I’M ON A HIGH

KNOX OUT I GOTTA GO RUN INTO SOME SNOW

[campgender]

do you have any tips for online cruising? I’m new to kink in general but have lost a lot of mobility recently and my ability to socialize offline has diminished so while I want to amp up my sex/kink life I realize it needs to happen primarily online for now…

ooh what a fun question, i’m honored you asked me❣️ + i hope things are going as smoothly as possible for you in terms of adapting to your new mobility level! i went kind of broad here but you’re more than welcome to ask any other questions 💖

ofc all of this is with the major disclaimer that like, i’m just some faggot, i can only speak to what i’ve experienced + read, what works for you may differ substantially & that’s totally okay! on that note this is at times specific to tumblr or a similar posting platform as i’m not personally familiar with grindr etc

it’s fairly common practice in tumblr cruising spaces to make a notes app list or something similar with selected kinks, boundaries, etc, that way you can send it to a play partner for easy reference without necessarily sharing that information on a blog at large (though some people put similar reference lists in a pinned post, which is fine too!) not a requirement by any means but something you might find useful

consider what types of virtual sex acts you’re interested in / comfortable with (of course, it’s okay if this changes). options include sending and/or receiving photos, videos, or audio; a synchronous audio, two-way video, or one-way video call; and long distance app-controlled toys (eg Lovense)

what kind of check-in would you want afterwards, if anything? this can of course vary depending on the person & activity. at the expense of making a vast generalization, it’s my impression that in-person kink spaces promote norms of checking in a day or two after a scene by default (at least that’s what the texts i’ve read across various decades claim, which are certainly biased towards a positive portrayal of these communities in other ways) whereas in my experience (and to my dismay lol) this isn’t as much of a thing online, like there definitely have been people who’ve checked in with me without me asking but they were the exception

it can also be helpful to think about your feelings about fantasizing about scenarios you can’t physically do for disability reasons. there’s absolutely no right or wrong answer, it’s just another conversation i’ve had to hone over time lol. for probably 3 years i wouldn’t sext about stuff i couldn’t do (kneeling, for example) because it made me feel like shit about myself; then for a long while when “stuff i couldn’t do” almost always included “have sex in person,” i got more flexible about that, to different degrees with different people

you don’t have to talk about your sex life with anyone you don’t want to, but when possible it can be helpful to have a buddy (whether they cruise / have casual sex / whatever themself or not) to talk things out with if you have a negative experience or are worried or confused about something. i am very good at construing any situation to be my fault so if i’m triggering it’s helpful to give one of my housemates the basics of what happened & them be like you didn’t do anything wrong / they shouldn’t have done that / etc. i’m also happy to be a sounding board (as long as any ask/dm has the relevant content warnings) with the caveat that i can’t guarantee a prompt response. sex-positive resources like Scarleteen are also good grounding tools for me in terms of like, other people believe in these consent practices too

one aspect to consider especially with D/s play is the (potential) difference between messaging about a shared fantasy versus one person telling the other what to do in real time (for example, “and then i’d make you shake your tits for me” versus “now shake your tits for me baby,” or whatever).

for a lot of people the latter is a different set of boundaries, including being totally off the table. being told what to do, even without videoing it or otherwise ‘proving it’ to the other person, can be an incredibly intense experience and might create feelings in someone that they weren’t expecting

as an example of a boundary i learned the hard way, someone once told me like “shut up, stop typing. do XYZ” & it made me feel like i couldn’t message to safeword if i wanted to. ig just like, even if it’s not a big deal to you be aware that it could be a big deal to others, you know? & if it is a big deal to you that’s okay

personally i tend to tell play partners i’m fine with casual sexting whenever but need to set aside a dedicated time for a scene (for example, telling someone how to touch themself) which usually means scheduling in advance

it’s absolutely not your fault if someone does something without asking, but if you’re interested in subbing, it could be helpful to have a plan ahead of time for how you want to respond if someone just starts ordering you around. there’s nothing wrong with not responding the way you planned, i just feel less overwhelmed & more in control when i’m less caught off guard

as far as like finding virtual play partners i only know what i do lol

go into relevant tumblr tags for what i’m into, sort by most recent posts, read until i find something i’m into, see if that person is looking for hookups. if so check out their blog based on my, like, cruising criteria or whatever lol; if not maybe follow them if other posts are good. repeat

different like communities & kinks & such have different norms for getting around tumblr censored tags, sometimes making things one word or various positions of periods or slashes. “example k!nk” (that’s an exclamation point instead of an i) is a common format, same with adding “nsft” (not safe for tumblr). if you’re looking for disabled play partners and/or disabled porn the “disabled nsft” tag could be a good place to start!

i look in the notes of posts i think are particularly hot (or my own posts) for tags that are hot, interesting, or well-organized & check out those blogs

same for posts that make points about consent etc that i particularly agree with

so you’ve found somebody whose posts you think are hot who’s looking for / open to new play partners, now what? ofc everybody’s different but some of the stuff i look for when deciding whether to message someone:

do they have a tag or similar for serious posts, such as about consent, stereotypes, communication, etc? do they seem to have compatible views to yours?

can they recognize when they should (or when you’d want them to) drop character? some people’s blog personas are “always on” in a way that’s not compatible with what i need; someone adding an aside at the end of an ask they’ve answered to clarify or provide reassurance goes a long way

i’m not sure how to describe this exactly but like, is there flexibility & room for disagreement in their language? this is again a personal preference but while people taking a firm tone & making (unconscious?) assumptions & whatever can still be hot when i’m jerking off or something, it’s super stylistically incompatible with what i want in practice. the play partners i’ve been most compatible with are the ones who’ve answered asks more like “are you into X? if so i would do Y. or if not that’s totally fine, i’d just do Z 💕”

do they express their boundaries with other people?

i hope some of this is helpful! best of luck to you & have fun❣️

[im--never--happy]

got another snippet from my angsty mako fic if anyone cares

They don’t believe you. They call you in for additional questions that feels like an interrogation. The deputy chief throws down a folder on the desk between you, and your stomach sinks. You know what it is before he even opens it: a file – your file. He leans in close, so what’s a Triple Threat Triad doing trying to join the police force?  He sneers, lips pulled back around flat greying teeth. Trying to protect your buddies from the inside, or are you ‘turning over a new leaf’? The last words drip with so much disdain you can physically taste them. I’m not, you snap, hackles automatically raising despite your better judgement, a triad member, you say more calmly, trying to reel your temper back in to somewhere safer and more manageable. Oh yeah? Rogak leers. Not what this looks like, he nods at the manilla folder on the desk between you, steel grey eyes never leaving your own, boring into you. You know if you look away or look at the folder – your record – he’ll pounce. Any weakness and you’re done for.  You take two quick steadying breaths and remind yourself that the police are only doing their job. This is what they are supposed to do. You’re calm when you answer him, staring evenly into his eyes. The labor age is fifteen. My brother and I were on the streets since I was eight. You want so badly to ask him How the fuck else do you think we’d make money? But you know better. You reveal the bare minimum and nothing else – only what you absolutely need to in order to get by. Anything else is weakness that can be exploited and used against you.  So you keep those words to yourself, and you remain calm. You shut down the part of you that wants to scream and shout and yell we were alone! We had nothing! We had no one! What else was I supposed to do? Let him starve? Watch him die? There were no other options, I did what I had to do to keep him alive when no one else did a single fucking thing! You want to pound your fists into the table and punch fire into the air and burn this whole stupid station to the ground. But you can’t. So you take a deep breath and let go of every hurt angry feeling of indignation and injustice. This is how the world is. Of course they’re questioning you, they’d be crazy not to. Regardless of how you feel and how little choice in the matter you actually had, you have triad ties. You were a Triple Threat Triad member. They’re not wrong. You have a record, and for good reason. You’re not a good person. The police wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they didn’t investigate the backgrounds of prospective officers. You knew of at least two dirty cops before Beifong became chief, back when you were only a Blue Lantern. Back when the worst you’d done had been only cowardice and thievery.

[raptorrm]

My review for Pokémon Scarlett And Violet:

Pokémon scarlet and violet; a let down in AAA gaming. A showcase of what Pokémon could be. Fully open world, 3 separate but intertwined story quests, interesting gym leaders, and diverse content, it shows what gamefreak is capable of. However with their current release of the game, the frame rate is unacceptable, and glitches abundant. However with all the negativity, I still believe Pokémon Scarlett is one of the more enjoyable and diverse Pokémon games I’ve played, with all wrong they do a lot right, however I still sadly rate Pokémon scarlet and Pokémon violet a disappointing 6.5/10

What I believe made this game so fun and what I want to touch on first, the open world:

Now yes open world usually isn’t that big of a deal in other video games especially not for me, with being so easily overwhelmed by too many options I usually don’t find open world too appealing, but with Pokémon it opened so many possibilities. Unlike Legends of Arceus where it promised an open world and you were stuck to certain parts of an area, Scarlet and Violet are true open world games with Pokémon flying, running and digging all around you!! This is where the game shines, there’s no more random battles nor black loading screens from area to area, just wide open area for you to explore with your Pokémon. It kinda felt like I was experiencing playing Pokémon a whole different way and that was exciting enough for me to push through the glitches and abysmal frame rate. And what I found was endless adventure and honestly quite a lot of fun, running into highly over leveled Pokémon or finding a really cool TM location, or even finding a new Pokémon in a weird place! I really think the switch from open area to open world gives this game endless possibilities and just unfiltered fun. With the map size being relatively large, it has plenty to do, with 8 gyms, 5 hideouts 6 titan Pokémon and a wide array of options in the end game to defeat you’re left with a lot to explore and a lot to do. 

The story

In Pokémon the story was usually, you’re a kid from some small town and you’re going to try and beat all the gym leaders and be the very best that no one ever was blah blah blah. But what I love in this game is you have so much to do. With gyms, hideouts to clear out, there’s “titan” Pokémon to defeat, and all along the way it’s all open world. At first I felt too overwhelmed with the options I had at my disposal so I took a quick break from the story, filled my pokedex, explored and I had quite a lot of fun, my original rating was a 5/10 but once I completed all the story Quests just knew it deserved more. For a Pokémon game it touches on some more mature topics, such as bullying, accidental neglect, and getting consumed by your dreams. Having your work become your life and missing out on the memories you could’ve made with the ones you love. Surprisingly the game takes itself quite  seriously in ways that even as a Pokémon fan i could not have expected, of course it’s still a kids game and doesn’t truly dive into its mature content but it truly shows what Pokémon could offer in the future. 

The multiplayer:

Pokémon scarlet and violet not only introduces an open world, something we’ve never seen before in Pokémon but also co-op!! Something I know as a kid I always wanted. Now with co-op available you can trade and battle right in your world, see your friend riding around, catch Pokémon together and even fights gyms with your buddy around! While Nintendo’s online is still quite behind the times, Pokémon makes use of the link codes very often, needing them for trades, battles and even co-op invites. Personally I felt as if the reading and battling were smoother than ever, even with little icons showing what your trading partner is missing for their pokedex! Battles are quite similar to previous gens with you being able to make multiple teams and chose between them before the fight, and also letting you chose some music, but the co-op and Tera battles is where the multiplayer shines, having your friends in your world is just straight up awesome, catching Pokémon together, running around exploring together, something I always wished as a kid and it only took them this long. Tera battles are quite similar to gmax battles with up to 4 players against a giant AI Pokémon, that you can choose to catch or release at the end! I actually found these fights quite difficult at times! But extremely rewarding. The multiplayer is just another step in the right direction.

The good  bad and the ugly.

Well, there’s the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m sure you’ve seen it but the glitches and frame rate in this game are not only abundant but unacceptable. You can’t blame the hardware of the switch, it’s able to run Breath of the wild, links awakening and even Mario odyssey beautifully, it’s no longer a “the switch is just not a performing console” it’s a “let’s release this game way faster than we should to get money quicker.” And that, in my opinion is the most disappointing fact yet.

In conclusion 

Pokémon violet and scarlet are easily the most fun I’ve had in recent Pokémon games in a while. With co-op, better multiplayer, craft able TMs, an open world to explore, multiple stories to finish and an interesting post game, it was shaping up to be one of the best Pokémon games to date, with adding over 5+ new mechanics to the world of Pokémon and are fantastic editions to the Pokémon catalogue.

 I was excited to rate this a bit higher, but with its absolutely disappointing and unacceptable release, with glitches abundant and frame rate unacceptable., I sadly couldn’t. HOWEVER, If you’re able to over look it’s faults, in its core you’ll find a great open world game, with tons to explore, interesting story, a great array of interesting characters and a genuine new look for Pokémon as a whole. Even with its low rating I still had a blast playing this game and I do fully recommend it, with patches and updates I’m sure the game will reach an 8/10.

[rotationalsymmetry]

Reflection Friday

What’s one thing you really want to be doing, but have trouble getting yourself to do it? What’s one thing you can do differently so that it seems exciting?

Possible strategies:

Make believe: eg, pretending you’re a spy on a top secret mission, and doing the thing is important to keeping your cover

Buddy system: eg, joining a book club because you want to read more books

Pairing (spoonful of sugar): eg, listening to music you love while doing the dishes

Gamification: eg, tracking how often you do the thing, with small rewards like stickers

Reframing: eg, thinking of making a phone call you’ve been dreading as an opportunity to practice courage

Self praise: telling yourself you’re doing a good job while doing the thing and congratulating yourself afterwards. (or getting someone else to tell you that.)

Ramp up: for things that are particularly scary or difficult, listening to motivating music or giving yourself a pep talk before doing it, or starting with something smaller and easier that you know you can do to give yourself momentum.

Start small: like ramp up, but with this one the smaller and easier task is the first step of the thing you want to be doing. Sometimes the entire process feels mentally overwhelming but the first step does not.

Remove obstacles: If you can identify something making the thing harder, change things

Brute force: it is also the case that often motivation comes after doing the thing, so sometimes putting more willpower into doing the thing regularly at first means it’s easy to coast later after it’s become a habit. (This is not the only viable strategy and it does not always work — if it is not working for you, that means it is not working, not that something is wrong with you.)

I want to be doing yoga nidra more often — when I do it, it feels good and it helps me clear my mind, plus I’m more consistent about resting (important self care for my CFS) if I have something to “do” while I rest. However, a lot of times in the moment it’ll just feel like too much work, so I don’t. I think part of the problem is I feel like I should really be doing it on the floor, so my spine can be straight, rather than on my bed, which is easier to get onto and off of. One option is I can just decide doing it in bed is ok (removing the obstacle.) Another option is I could develop a small transition routine so that when “doing yoga nidra” seems overwhelming, I can focus on just getting myself lying down first.

[campbluelake]

Better to be Laughed At than Wrong | Thomasin | Re: A Lot

If Tommy was shaking before, she is absolutely vibrating with rage now. She only half registers a lot of the accusations: she doesn’t care that Warrick thinks she’s heartless, but Alice gets a disdained glare. 

“Youuuu….you stupid, thick-skulled little troglodyte! If you’d just dropped dead like I wanted, everything would have been perfect!” 

No one actually buys her innocence, obviously, so she tosses out she attempts at innocence with an aggravated little stomp. 

“Do none of you get why I had all those options in the first place?! The Quantico department, TAPS, Homegrown Haunts, Ms. Tsukizuka, The Fifty-One Club–I get the word to one of them, and I have the dominoes set to get a full-blown investigation sent over here! I’m not gonna just leave it gloating!” 

Ok, she would have gloated a bit. That’s what the Fifty-One club gets for telling her that her photos weren’t concrete enough UFO evidence. 

“And why do you think there were two traps–I’m getting out of here! If they won’t believe a phone call, they can’t deny me coming to them with personal and photo evidence that we’re all here! So not only do I prove that the supernatural exists: I save everybody!” 

She clenches her fists, sweating a little more. 

“I was only doing what we needed to in order to win the game–I couldn’t risk one of the sappy crybabies here wasting the call outside because they miss their mommy…and what are you guys gonna do, anyway? Twiddle your thumbs and wait until Ranger Buddy’s ritual is complete and you all die?” 

She rolls her eyes at Eri. 

“Jo gets what I’m doing–the best thing to put a stop to all this! Don’t try to guilt-trip me just because she likes me better than you, meathead.”

  “Be mad at me all you want, but if you vote for me, you’re preventing me from telling the world that we’re stuck here. You’re basically saying you don’t care if you die or not! Nobody else has the foresight to use this motive like I am!”

[heliads]

Hi! I loved your dating Isaac Lahey headcanons. I actually laughed with the "One of the boys on the lacrosse team starts winking at you during a game? You’d best believe the guy is on the ground, writing in pain within a half second." I was wondering if you could maybe expand on this one? Thanks <3

masterlist

Isaac Lahey is not jealous. Absolutely not. There is no reason why he would possibly be walking the halls of Beacon Hills High School with his hands clenched into fists, hoping against hope that he can keep his claws away long enough to avoid slicing into his palms. It’s not like he would even see the blood, anyway, his vision seems to be a field of red.

That is, of course, if he were jealous, and he’s not. Isaac is perfectly fine, and he is not glaring at a boy down the hall from him. This guy is talking to Y/N L/N, someone who just happens to be Isaac’s girlfriend, and he’s even leaning with one arm against her locker like he’s some kind of teen movie lead. Isaac hates him instantly. Maybe he is jealous after all.

But he can handle it. Isaac has survived hunter shootouts, werewolf pack fights, and dozens of conflicts that usually end in him whipping out his claws and fangs to put an end to things. Needless to say, getting jealous about some boy making eyes at his girlfriend shouldn’t be the worst thing that’s ever happened.

Isaac takes slow breaths in and out. He’s handling this. He’s going to keep walking, and he is not going to charge over there and rip the guy’s head off, although that certainly sounds good to him right now. It would certainly shut him up.

Before he can make any mistakes, a voice comes from Isaac’s left, distracting him from his rather bloodthirsty vision.

“You alright, Isaac? You seem a little tense.”

Isaac glances over and sees Scott McCall pausing next to him, one hand casually tugging on the straps of his backpack. Isaac swallows harshly, trying to pull himself together.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Great. How are you?”

Scott raises an eyebrow. “Perfectly fine, or at least compared to you. Seriously, I think every werewolf within a mile radius can smell your anger.”

Isaac does his best to pretend he’s surprised. “Really? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe I’m just, uh, stressed about an upcoming math quiz.”

Scott widens his eyes in mock confusion. “Is that true? You’re not just, say, upset that Clark Ellis is over there talking to Y/N and trying his hardest to flirt with her?”

Isaac’s mood sours in an instant. “Well, I’m trying not to be upset, but seeing as you brought it up-”

The True Alpha just laughs. “Get used to it, buddy. Y/N’s going to have a lot of people flirting with her, we’re at a high school. It only feels worse because of the whole werewolf thing. Trust me, when I first started dating Allison I felt like I was going to fly off the handle every time someone so much as approached her. One time, Jackson tried talking to her and I made Derek go push him into a wall of lockers.”

Isaac feels intrigued. “I didn’t know making Derek push people into lockers was an option. I think I need to look into that.”

Scott has the audacity to roll his eyes. Clearly, he doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation, which is that Clark Ellis just told a probably awful joke and made Y/N laugh, and even though Isaac knows he doesn’t have a monopoly on making his girlfriend laugh, that is so wrong that-

“Isaac. Dude. Get it together. Your world isn’t going to shut down because some boy from first period talks to Y/N.”

Isaac frowns. “Are we sure about that?”

Scott chuckles. “Very. Now come on, if you’re going to stew about this the whole time I’m going to get sick of it. If you want to do something about it, go talk to her, but for the love of God, if I see any glowing eyes or claws I’m going to drag your werewolf ass right back out of there.”

Isaac grins, although he’s not entirely sure that it’s meant to be a pleasant expression. “Oh, don’t worry. No blood will be seen.”

He starts moving before Scott can tell him what a bad idea that is, walking down the hall towards Y/N. Isaac does his best to school his countenance into a neutral expression, but he’s fairly sure that he failed at that goal, because the second Clark Ellis gets a good look at him, Isaac swears he can see every drop of blood flee the guy’s face. Isaac smirks as the guy trips over himself to say goodbye to Y/N, quickly turning and almost dashing off down the hall. Sometimes, he likes being intimidating.

Y/N looks confused, glancing after Clark, but the second she turns around and sees Isaac she laughs. “You know, I was wondering why he seemed so scared, but I think I get it now. What are you up to?”

Isaac grins. “I’m not being jealous.”

Y/N raises an eyebrow, almost incredulous. “Definitely not.”

Isaac takes one last look at the fleeing Clark, then allows himself to relax again. “Absolutely not. Besides, I wasn’t even going to do anything. We can go back and tell Scott that I was fine. Didn’t even get involved.”

Y/N chuckles. “So Clark taking off as fast as he could wasn’t because of you?”

Isaac shrugs. “If he thought that he was doing something wrong, that was his call. I was just, uh, looking at him.”

Y/N shakes her head slowly, trying to hide a grin. “Sounds about right.” Y/N closes her locker, and the two of you start walking back down the hallway. Isaac makes sure that one of his hands wraps around hers, just to prove a point to anyone watching. He doesn’t take kindly to people trying to flirt with his girl.

As it turns out, Isaac’s got a pretty good way to get out the rest of his irritation. In a few nights, he’s got a lacrosse game, which means that the practices for the last few days and tonight have been nothing short of brutal. Coach wants them ready, and Isaac learned from his first day on the team that Coach Finstock does whatever he wants, which usually means a lot of running. Were he not a werewolf, Isaac would be in misery, but now, he just uses it as an excuse to get his heart pounding.

The day of the game comes up soon enough, and Isaac can’t be more excited. They’re playing Cyprus Coast, one of the best schools in the area bar Beacon Hills High and maybe Devenford Prep. Needless to say, it’s going to be a close match, and those always end the best. Nothing like a chance to prove yourself in front of a crowd of roaring spectators, right?

Isaac meets up with Y/N before he has to join the rest of the team. It’s become a tradition of theirs, where Isaac ducks away from Coach and everyone else to go talk to her in the shadow of the field house. She’s wearing maroon and white in a show of support for the team, her grin electric in the bright lights shining out from the field. Every time, he wishes he could have a little longer to talk to her, but the game calls. It’s time to go win this thing.

Isaac finds himself racing out onto the field with the rest soon enough, taking up a starting position near the front. The game starts with Scott getting the ball, so Isaac charges down the field, easily dodging the few players trying to guard him. He shouts to his friend, and Scott passes the ball. From there, he ducks and spins around the rest of the offensive lineup before slamming the ball directly in the goal. First score, barely five minutes in. It’s a good sign, to say the least.

Isaac can’t help it, but looks back up to Y/N as he walks back to the line. She’s beaming at him, already risen to her feet along with Lydia and the rest of their friends who’d turned out to see the game. He grins at her, feeling the usual rush of adrenaline. Man, he loves this game.

As the minutes progress, however, Isaac notices something unusual. There’s this one player on the Cyprus Coast team, with ‘Wright’ labeled in that familiar block printing on the back of his jersey. Every few plays or so, Wright keeps looking up at the bleachers, but he isn’t facing the away team’s side of the crowds. Instead, he’s glancing towards the Beacon Hills side. In fact, he’s looking directly at Y/N.

Isaac’s first thought is that something is wrong. Could this guy be a hunter, sent to infiltrate the team so he could get close to the McCall pack during a lacrosse game? It wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened. As he watches, though, he doesn’t think the guy’s intentions are malicious. He doesn’t look like he wants to cause problems. In fact, he isn’t treating the few werewolves on the team any differently than the other players. The only person he seems to focus on is Y/N.

The pieces are starting to click together in Isaac’s head, and then he sees it. Cyprus Coast scores a point and the boy turns towards Y/N again, and winks at her. He’s wearing this smug, cheesy grin, like he thinks he’s the world’s gift to humanity all wrapped up in one sweaty lacrosse jersey. Isaac despises him instantly. This kid, Wright, is going to wink at Isaac’s girlfriend? He has no idea what’s coming for him.

As much as he wants to, though, Isaac can’t tear the guy to shreds outright. Scott is already shooting him a warning gaze, evidently picking up on the anger rolling off of Isaac in waves. There are too many people watching to reveal himself as anything other than human.

However, that isn’t to say that Isaac can’t still get his revenge. He bides his time, playing it cool even when he wants to snap. Wright doesn’t seem to stop, can’t tear his gaze from Y/N longer than a few minutes at a time. Isaac almost can’t blame him, Y/N’s gorgeous, but she is still his girlfriend, not this boy’s. The thought that Wright thinks he can swoop in here, get his ass kicked by Beacon Hills’ lacrosse team and still walk away with Y/N’s number makes Isaac want to burst out laughing.

Isaac waits until there’s barely a minute left in the game to make his move. There’s going to be time for one more play. The ref blows his whistle to start, and the ball ends up going to Cyprus Coast. Isaac runs with the rest of the team, blocking off their chance to score, making sure that one boy and one boy alone is open on the opposing team. Finally, Cyprus Coast passes to Wright, and that is when Isaac finally lets himself go.

He slams into the boy with the strength of a truck, forcing him into the ground with a savage sort of joy. The echo of Wright hitting the turf ricochets around the field, not pausing to rest for even a second. The ref blows his whistle, but Isaac can’t find it within himself to care about a potential card. He kneels beside Wright, pretending as if he’s helping the boy up, then whispers something so quietly only he can hear.

“Stop eyeing my girlfriend.”

Wright’s face pales instantly. Obviously, he didn’t know what he was getting himself into, but he knows now. Isaac straightens up, jerking Wright up with a little too much force, leaving the other boy stumbling. Scott is shaking his head through a barely concealed eye roll, but Isaac just grins. Yeah, he likes lacrosse a lot.

Y/N is waiting for him after the game ends. She raises an eyebrow when she sees him approach. “That was a little hard, don’t you think?”

Isaac feigns innocence. “What, that hit back there? I guess I just got really invested in the sport.”

Y/N smirks. “Yeah, I think I can see that. It wasn’t because he was winking at me?”

Isaac stretches his arms, relishing in the pull of his muscles. “He should have known better. I say he got what was coming for him.”

Y/N sighs, although she’s smiling by now. “I think I knew you were going to say that.”

Isaac leans in to kiss her cheek. “Think of it as a declaration of my love. I like you too much to share with anyone else.”

Y/N laughs in spite of herself. “That sounds pretty good to me. I love you too, by the way.”

The words light a fire in Isaac’s heart, burning so bright he almost chokes on the smoke. When he kisses her, he feels every spark, every flare of the flames. He knew he was lucky to have her, but it really hits him sometimes, just how good he has it. The night grows late, but he doesn’t feel tired, not at all. He’s with the girl he loves, and he doesn’t need anything else.

teen wolf tag list: i would also tackle some guy for you @thatfangirl42, @rogueanschel, @lovesanimals0000, @rafecameronswhore

[theminecraftbee]

“Why exactly are we doing this again?” Scar whispers loudly to Grian. It has to be loudly, on account of all the small, furry animals that are following him, Grian, and Pearl. (Mumbo couldn’t make it for… Mumbo reasons, and Impulse, for once, had bowed out, saying something about the goats still not being dealt with and nuclear options they’d been threatened with. Wimp.)

“It’s a guerrilla peace treaty. Believe me, Octagon will love it. They all have friendly names, even!”

“I don’t know. This is an awful lot of cats. Jellie’s already going to get jealous…”

“Relax,” says Pearl. “This won’t even drive away customers. Most customers would love a delivery of fifty cats.” (Pearl has turned several cats upside-down. It does give them away a little, but this whole thing gives them away quite a bit.)

“Also, they took too long to get to back down now,” Grian says.

“If you’re sure,” Scar says, happily pretending not to know that Doc and Ren, creeper and werewolf respectively, have a complicated relationship with cats. It’s their faults for not appreciating the animals for their charm! “Let’s deliver them some furry…”

“REMOVAL!” Pearl says loudly. Scar and Grian scramble to attention. There’s someone else here. They aren’t very visible between the trees around the Octagon’s village, but there’s someone. “Cat removal! We don’t know how you got… so… many…”

There’s a low growling from in front of them. Slowly, Scar pushes the Jellie cats behind them.

“…Ren?” Grian says. “Buddy?”

A warning bark.

“Okay, okay, we’ll stop pranking you, but—are you. Okay?”

In the shadows, Scar sees Ren, and it’s his wolf form. Strange, given that it’s daytime. Stranger still is the expression on his face. Now, Scar is a cat person, not a dog person, but he and Grian have known Ren just long enough to know when a snarl is playing and when a snarl is…

All three of them back up. “Right. Our bad,” Scar says, taking over. “I’ll make a cat shelter to take care of these rescues, and get out of your hair. We here at Boatem do our utmost to make sure our customers and neighbors stay happy. Tell me, how is Doc feeling?” It’s feeling the mood out. Something’s wrong.

There’s a low hiss from behind them. Doc stands there, trident in hand, with the same almost blank, inhuman aggression in his eyes. “Not to worry,” says Scar. “We’re leaving.”

“Oh yeah. Just headed right on out. BYE!” says Grian, flying off well before Pearl or Scar can react. Doc and Ren watch him go.

“…I’m following him,” says Pearl, and Scar can’t help but agree. He leaves without much more fanfare, trusting the magic of all of these cats belonging to them to teleport them.

After finding a shelter for the cats, the three of them sit, feet dangling into the Boatem Hole. “So, that was weird,” Pearl says.

“Do you think it’s the moon?” asks Grian.

“For Ren, sure, but why Doc? The moon can affect hostile mobs, but, as you well know, I’m a hostile mob, and I’m fine,” Scar says.

“…odd,” says Pearl. The void curls around the three of their feet. “Someone should probably check on them, though. Or Jevin. Or everyone, actually. That was super weird.”

“Agreed,” says Grian. “I’ll message Ex-sooma or something. But like, it has to be the moon, right? I mean, nothing else has changed enough to make them that mad over some cats, right?”

Scar looks up, and he sees the moon, which is taking up the whole sky. For a moment, then, Scar feels it. A jolt he normally only feels these days when he’s purposefully wearing the mask. It feels like the color blue. He looks back down at the void and it’s gone.

“Huh.” Scar says. He looks back up at the moon and focuses on the feeling of mansions and woods and Doc’s warning hiss and pillagers. The moon reflects back. He feels a laugh curl up in his chest.

The void practically snaps at his legs. Scar yelps as he almost stumbles in. When his heart stops pounding, the blank cold of the Boatem Hole has settled back into his bones, and he doesn’t feel vex at all. Pearl and Grian are saying something to him in concern. His ears are rushing. Something from the void is holding him, refusing to let him go.

Huh.

“So I have good news and bad news!” Scar says hysterically.

[yelena-bellova]

Instinct: Din Djarin x F!Reader - Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: Old Friends, New Friends

Plot: Mando convinces Y/n that they should take a job with his old partner, Ran. But Y/n's protests soon prove to be valid as they meet the team they'll be working with...

Series Masterlist

Word Count: 5.8k

Warnings: language, violence, violent threats, angst, jealousy jealousy, protective mom instincts over the child, the flames of the slow burn start to burn brighter...

A/N: This is one of the chapters I was looking forward to because there's going to be some major developments in the story (and a certain relationship) that are quite exciting. I'm aiming to have to be caught up to TBOBF's storyline by the time S3 premieres which seems achievable but life always find some way to derail plans so while I have time, I'm trying to get as many chapters out as I can. Hope you enjoy this one!

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“I don’t like this…” “It’s either this or we starve to death. Or we run out of fuel and become sitting ducks for whichever Guild member finds us.” Mando and I were sitting in the cockpit of the Razor Crest, debating our next move. Well, I was debating, he was already convinced that he had the winning idea.

“There’s other places to go,” I argued, though for the first time when we disagreed, I wasn’t aggressive towards him, “Other planets. Hell, I could close my eyes, point to one on the navicomputer and we’d probably end up somewhere better than with your ‘friend.’”

“He’s the only trustworthy contact we’ve got right now,” Mando replied, “He can guarantee us a job with good pay,” he paused, thinking over whatever he was going to next, “If you have a real reason for saying no, tell me what it is.” I couldn’t though. I couldn’t explain why I didn’t like the idea of partnering with an old buddy of Mando’s other than it just didn’t feel right. My gut instinct was never wrong and at the moment, it was sounding every alarm.

“It just…” I sighed, sitting back in my chair, “Call it hunter instincts, something feels off about it.” “I think you’re worrying too much,” Mando stated, his voice calm and unbothered, “Ran’s our only option right now for work. We need to take it.” I threw my head back, staring up at the ceiling and fighting against every voice in my head that was screaming at me to argue the matter further. The fact was we needed work, no matter how or where we got it. “Fine,” I spun around in the chair and headed for the ladder, “Get in contact.”

I climbed down to the main hold and went to the cot, coming to check on the child in the hammock I’d rigged up for him above the bed. He was sleeping peacefully and blissfully unaware of anything that could or could not have been lurking in the shadows ahead of us.

Unable to do anything else at the moment other than sit alone with my thoughts, I fell back onto the cot. I hadn’t been sleeping well since I’d made my…discovery. Finding out that I could move things with some strange energy or will inside of me was eating away at me bit by bit. What caused a person to be able to do such a thing? And why was it only limited to certain people or creatures? The kid and I could do it, but Mando couldn’t. What was the choosing process? Was it something you developed or were you born with such a ability? Questions rolled through my mind faster than I could keep up with and I had no one to give me answers.

I threw my arm over my eyes and groaned. Another shady job, an unknown freak power and the Guild after us. Yep, I thought, this is definitely how I saw my life going…

——————

Mando flew the Crest into the hanger that belonged to his old friend with me sitting behind him holding my breath. I wanted to believe Mando when he said the guy was trustworthy, but after a lifetime of training myself not to trust anybody, it was a difficult thing to do on a continuous basis. Beginning to trust Mando even was a lot for me…

“The kid?” he asked as we landed. “Sleeping,” I answered, hoping it stayed that way.

We climbed out of the cockpit and disembarked down the ramp, an array of different workers greeting us with curious stares and threatening glares. Clearly Mando’s intimidating presence didn’t carry the same weight here that it did most places. We moved through the hanger with purpose, seeking out Mando’s old pal.

“Mando!” a voice called, an older looking man with a heavy salt and pepper beard approached us, “Is that you under that bucket?”

“Ran,” Mando greeted, shaking the man’s hand firmly. “I didn’t really know if I’d ever see you in these parts again,” Ran said, “Good to see you. And who’s this?” I stuck out my hand, “Y/n Y/l/n. I’m a…friend.” “Well, any friend of Mando’s is a friend of mine,” he smiled. No matter the packaging, I still had a feeling the inside wasn’t as sweet. He broke away from me to pat Mando on the shoulder, guiding us further into the heart of the hanger, “You know, to be honest, I was a little surprised when you reached out to me. You know, cause I…I hear things. Like, maybe things between you and the Guild aren’t workin’ out. I hate to think you’ve got this fine young lady roped into it too.” I froze, my hand twitching to reach for my blaster. It wasn’t the mention of me that bothered me, it was the Guild. Was it threatening? Was his pity sincere?

Mando, knowing my fears, reached out and patted me on the back as if telling me I needed to relax. “We’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Ran accepted the answer and didn’t seem to take notice of my anxiety, “Well, you know the policy. No questions. And you, you’re welcome back here anytime. You as well, miss.”

I gave a polite smile and nodded, following alongside the two men as we went further into the hanger. Something’s wrong, something’s wrong, something’s wrong…

“So what’s the job?” Mando asked.

“Yeah, one of our associates ran afoul of some competitors and got himself caught,” Ran explained, “So, I’m puttin’ together a crew to spring him. It’s a five person job, I’ve got four but I’m happy to send six. All I need is the ride and you brought it.” Atop the bridge we’d ended up on, our eyes fell on the Crest, number one of the reasons why my gut had been right… “The ship wasn’t part of the deal,” Mando argued. “Well, the Crest is the only reason why I let you back in here,” Ran replied, earning himself a stare down from Mando, “What’s the look? Is that gratitude? Uh-huh, I think it is…” As the man walked off, I held my hands behind my back and slowly passed by Mando. “He’s a great guy,” I muttered loud enough that only he would hear it. “The job’ll be worth it,” he defended himself as we followed Ran. I reached up to pat his shoulder, “Keep telling yourself that, Tin Can…”

Ran led us to a darker and less crowded part of the hanger, “Hey, Mayfeld! This is Mando, the guy I was tellin’ you about. We used to do jobs way back when. This is his associate, Y/n.” Mayfeld gave Mando and I a once over, scoffing afterwards. “This is the guy?”

“Yeah, we were all young, tryin’ to make a name for ourselves,” Ran explained, chuckling after, “Yeah, but runnin’ with a Mandalorian, that was…that brought us some reputation. I’m sure you know all about that, Miss Y/l/n.” “My reputation was wide enough before I met him,” I said with a silent confidence that you only ever saw women and real men carry.

“Oh yeah?” Mayfeld stepped forward, “Then how come I’ve never heard of you?” I smiled thinly and made eye contact with the man, “I’m known by those who need problems taken care of, not by the problems. I don’t typically let them live long enough to get to know me.” Ran laughed deeply, while Mayfeld raised his eyebrows and smirked, as if I was a little girl he was humoring. “And what about this guy, Ran? What did he get out of your partnership?” “I asked him that one time, you remember what you said, Mando?” Ran looked over at him, before looking back to Mayfeld, “Target practice.” The two men laughed while I stayed silent, I could practically sense the discomfort radiating off of Mando. This was a piece of his past that he hadn’t shared with me… “We did some crazy stuff, didn’t we?” Ran chuckled.

“That was a long time ago,” Mando replied, softly.

The mood shifted, thankfully. “Well, I don’t go out anymore. You understand? So, uh, Mayfeld, he’s gonna run point on this job. If he says it, it’s like it’s comin’ from me,” Ran explained, “You two good with that?” Mando and I both gave Mayfeld a glance, I already knew in my gut that he was a character I didn’t want to know. And now he was going to be ordering us around. Perfect… “You tell me,” Mando replied.

“You haven’t changed one bit,” Ran laughed.

“Yeah, well, things have changed around here,” Mayfeld spoke up, before walking off.

“Yeah, well, Mayfeld…He’s one of the best triggermen I’ve ever seen. Former Imperial sharpshooter.” I raised an eyebrow, my eyes locking onto the man who I now knew with complete certainty was trouble. An ex-Imperial was just as bad as a surviving one. Nobody joined the Empire and had a change of heart, they were rotten at the core.

“And that’s a compliment, how?” I replied, if I couldn’t shoot him, I could still burn him.

“Hey,” Mayfeld turned around to face me, ”I wasn’t a stormtrooper, sweetheart.” I crossed my arms and smirked as he walked away, “So defensive…” “You’d have fit in with perfectly,” Ran commented, patting me on the shoulder, “She’s a firecracker, Mando.”

Then best not to get in my line of fire, I thought. Mando and I accompanied Ran and Mayfeld through the hanger, I stayed close to him the entire time. Something about being in a foreign environment was making me naturally drift towards him, wanting to know that even if something went wrong, at least I had him next to me. It was a far cry from a few months ago when we’d met…

“Razor Crest?” Mayfeld squinted at the ship, “I can’t believe that thing can fly. Looks like a Canto Bight slot machine,” he led us towards a hulking Devaronian carrying a few crates, “Alright, the good-lookin’ fellow there with the horns, that’s Burg. This may surprise you, but he’s our muscle.” Burg approached us, getting far too close to me for comfort. He did the same to Mando, the two of them locking eyes, or eye slits, in a stand off for…nothing, really, until Burg began to circle us. “So this is a Mandalorian,” he stated, coming to stand between Mayfeld and Ran, “I thought they’d be bigger.”

Mayfeld chuckled before introducing us to the next member, a protocol droid. “Droid’s name is Zero.” “I thought you said you had four,” Mando questioned.

“He does,” a female voice came from behind us. I turned to see a Twi’lek approaching us, her gaze focused solely on the man next to me, “Hello, Mando.”

“Xi’an…”

I couldn’t decode his tone, but it was clear he hadn’t expected to see her. The tension between them was unmistakeable, she seemed to be the main character in yet another story that Mando had yet to tell me…

“Tell me why I shouldn’t cut you down where you stand?” she asked, twirling a knife in her hand.

She lunged forward and held the knife in front of his neck, ready to strike. In an instance I had pulled my vibroblade from its gauntlet and met hers. Mando hadn’t moved an inch at her threat.

“Oh,” Xi’an pouted, her gaze flitting between me and Mando, “Have I already been replaced?” “Nice to see you too,” Mando said, not acknowledging the comment about me but lightly grasping my wrist and lowering my weapon.

Xi’an laughed as if this was all a joke, “I’ve missed you,” she tapped her knife against his chest plate, “This is shiny. You wear it well.” With each touch or wag of her blade, I was set further on edge. Just the image of a weapon aimed at Mando that close struck fear in my heart. Whoever Xi’an was to him, her displays of affection were going to end violently if she didn’t stop them soon.

“Do we need to leave the room or something?” Mayfeld asked honestly.

“Well,” Ran explained, “Xi’an’s been a little heartbroken since Mando left our group.” “Aww, you gonna be okay, sweetheart?”

“Oh, I’m all business now,” she answered, pointing her blade once again at Mando’s throat, “Learned from the best.”

Unable to contain myself anymore, I stepped forward. “You touch him, it's going be the last thing you ever do.” I was now in Xi’an’s line of fire, she stepped around me as if it was a dance. “And who’s this? She’s pretty, Mando. But…bit of a step down for your taste, hmm?” I chuckled, not allowing her to see any reaction I may have truly had, “You’re going to have to do better than that, Twi.”

“Alright, lovebirds,” Ran called time of death on the exchange, “Break it up until you get on the ship. Right now we don’t have much time.” Our team walked off towards the Razor Crest, Xi’an turning to give Mando a wink, while Burg stopped in front of Mando. “Tiny,” he growled before leaving.

Mando and I stood there, inches apart as if the confrontation had magnetically drawn us closer together. There were plenty of ways to say ‘I told you so,’ but it wasn’t time for that yet. I simply glared up at Mando through my eyebrows, wishing my stare could burn through beskar.

Zero went aboard the Crest to learn its controls, something I could tell Mando was obviously uncomfortable with, but allowed. Mayfeld circled us up to run through the plan.

“So, the package is being moved on a fortified transport ship,” he pulled up a holo display of the ship we were going to break into, “Now, we got a limited window to board, find our friend, get him out of there before they make their jump.” “Hold on,” I held my hands up, “That’s a New Republic ship.” “A New Republic prison ship,” Mando addended, equally as concerned, “Your man wasn’t taken by a rival syndicate, he was arrested.”

Mayfeld leaned towards Mando and I, “So what?”

“A job is a job,” Ran shrugged. Easy for him to say, he’s not gonna be there… “That’s a max security transport and we,” Mando pointed between the two of us, “Aren’t looking for that kind of heat.” “Well, neither are we,” Ran replied, “So just don’t mess up.” Xi’an stepped forward, “The good news for you is the ship is manned by droids. Still hate the machines, Mando?” I’m going to kill this woman before the day’s up…yep.

“Despite recent modifications,” Zero announced as he stepped off of the Crest, “The ship is still quite a mess. The power lines are leaking, the navigation is intermittent, and the hyperdrive is only operating at 67.3% efficiency. We have much better ships, why are we using this one?”

It wasn’t hard to guess why, I knew the Crest had one irresistible quality that made it an ideal ship for something like this…

“‘Cause the Razor Crest is off the old Imperial and New Republic grid,” Ran answered, “It’s a ghost.”

“Yeah, and we need a ship that can get close enough to jam the New Republic codes,” Mayfeld added, “So when we jump out of hyperspace here, if we immediately bank into this kinda attitude, we should be right in their blind spot. Which will give us just enough time for your ship to scramble our signal.” “It’s not possible,” Mando answered, “Even for the Crest.”

“That’s why he’s flyin’,” Ran nodded to Zero, landing an insult on Mando, “Mando, I know you’re a pretty good pilot, but we need you on the trigger, not the wheel.”

“Don’t worry, Mandalorian. My response time is quicker than organics,” Zero extended a tool from his hand, “And I’m smarter too.”

Ran suggested that the droid board the ship with the others while Mando and I stayed behind with him. “Ran, you must know there’s a huge chance this could go wrong.” He patted my arm, not in a creepy way but one that still made me uncomfortable. “Miss Y/l/n, you may be well known in the better parts of the galaxy, but you still have a lot to learn about getting your hands dirty,” his smile faded until there was little left, just enough to make me feel like I was being lightly threatened, “The plan’s going to work, no matter what.”

“She’s right,” Mando stepped in, “This whole thing is recipe for disaster.” “Well,” Ran clapped his hands together and gestured around us, “I guess you two could leave and take up one of the many other offers you got…” I rolled my eyes and looked to the side, staring at the Crest that was now inhibited by a type of scum I tried not to associate myself with. Mando was right, we didn’t have any other choice…

Without waiting for him, I crossed the space and walked up the landing ramp. I heard his boots thump against the metal behind and I waited for him at the top. “Just like the good old days, Mando, huh?” Ran called, the only response back he got was Mando closing the ramp.

“Don’t say it,” Mando addressed my silence. “Fine,” I smiled, walking past him and pausing at his side, “I’ll wait.”

——————

Turns out, it wasn’t just Mando who was protective of the Crest. The pile of bolts had managed to matter to me as well.

The two of us stood over Zero’s shoulders, watching his every move. If he made any mistakes, I was ready to jump in myself and pilot.

“Calculations complete,” he announced, “Jumping to hyperspace.” Mando and I both held onto each of the chairs as we made the jump, the stars turning to streaks of light. “Feel free to join the others,” Zero suggested, “I will handle it from here.”

We shared a quick glance at each other, there were times where I wish I could make eye contact with Mando just to see if his expression matched mine. Judging by the hesitancy in his steps out of the cockpit, I knew he was just as uncertain as me.

As he hit the ground, I headed down the ladder but stopped one of the last steps. Burg had managed to get the weapons cabinet open and Mando was closing it remotely with his gauntlet. Frustrated, Burg went to mess with the keypad of the hideaway that housed the child. Fear ran cold through me. Before I could get on the ground and stop him, Mando was already pushing his hand away. Burg was displeased, clearly, as he growled and started to back Mando up towards the wall.

“Hey, hey, hey. Okay, okay, I get it,” Mayfeld attempted to diffuse the situation, “I’m a little particular about my personal space too. So, let’s just do this job. We get in, we get out, and you two don’t have to see our faces anymore.” “Fantastic plan,” I said as I strutted past them, settling myself on a crate at the far end of the room.

“Someone tell me why we even need a Mandalorian,” Burg growled, still eyeing Mando.

“Well, apparently,“ Mayfeld began explaining, “They’re the greatest warriors in the galaxy. So they say.” “Then why are they all dead?” Burg quipped, eliciting laughter from our group.

I was silently fuming, I knew how much being a Mandalorian meant to Mando. Listening to people mock his people caused me to do something I’d never done for another person…stand up. “I could say the same thing about the Empire,” I addressed Mayfeld, remembering the relief I felt when the second Death Star was destroyed, “If you all were as powerful as you pretended to be, there wouldn’t be pieces of stormtrooper still floating around the systems.” Xi’an laughed, clearly loving conflict of any kind, while Mayfeld hardened his stare towards me. “And you’re so perfect? You’ve never had shit blow up in your face?” “Plenty of times,” I answered with a chuckle, a supercut of all my mistakes playing in my head, “But they’ve never been as lofty as failing to enslave an entire galaxy. But hey,” I held my hands up and smiled, “That’s just me.” Mayfeld stood to his feet and approached, I held my ground firmly, unable to be intimidated by such a man. “You wanna say something about my past, sweetheart, go ahead,” he muttered.

“That’s enough,” Mando’s voice broke me out of the moment. He stood behind Mayfeld, looking ready to jump in at any moment and defend me. “Gotta jump in when your girl tries to defend you?” Mayfeld turned his attention to Mando, “Feelin’ a little self conscious?,” he looked to Xi’an, “Hey, you flew with him, Xi’an. Is he as good as they say?” Xi’an was preoccupied with balancing her blade on the tip of her finger, “Ask him about the job on Alzoc III.”

“I did what I had to do,” Mando replied stiffly, walking away from me and back to guarding the child’s compartment.

“Oh, but you liked it,” Xi’an laughed, “See, I know who you really are. Or have you told your new friend all your secrets?” Simply by being locked in the Crest with these people, I knew I didn’t know all of Mando’s past. And that was fine with me, but I didn’t appreciate it being brought up continuously. As if I wasn’t worthy of the knowledge or that Mando was so destructive that it was wrong for me to be there.

Okay, maybe I'm not totally fine with it.... “He never takes off the helmet?” Mayfeld asked Xi’an. She laughed again, everything was a joke to her. It was bothersome. She dramatically pressed her fist to her chest and lowered her voice to mimic Mando’s. “This is the way.”

I drew a deep breath, fighting to urge to kill them all, shut down Zero and fly us far away from where we were headed. “Huh. I wonder what you look like under there…” Mayfeld commented, dark eyes locked on Mando’s helmet, “Maybe he’s a Gungan. Is that why yousa don’t want to show your face?” Don’t let him draw you in, I thought, do not let him draw you in…

“You ever see his face?” he asked Xi’an.

The Twi’lek stroked one of her horns, gasping softly. “A lady never tells.”

“What about you, sweetheart?” Mayfeld looked my way, “Late nights in the cockpit, your hands reach for the same control, one thing leads to another and-“ His taunting was cut short by the vibroblade I threw at his head, landing less than an inch away from having pierced it. It lodged in one of the crates behind him. Mando had stepped forward as well, his blaster drawn and aimed at Mayfeld’s face. “That’s,” he paused, his voice thick with steel, “Enough.” Mayfeld laughed, looking from Burg to Xi’an and back to us, “Whoa, whoa, there’s no need to get so touchy. Come on, we all gotta trust each other here, you two gotta show us something.”

Oh, there’s definitely something I could show…

“Come on,” he continued, “Just lift the helmet up. I’m sure your girl here is dying to get a look at those eyes…”

“Or I could carve yours out of your skull,” I threatened, standing up and taking slow steps towards the group.

Mayfeld ignored me and nodded towards Burg, who approached Mando. “I’ll do it.” I snapped into action, spinning around and landing a kick to Burg’s side as Mando took his arm and twisted it, punching him in the jaw after. Mando kneed him in the stomach and he fall back in the hall, holding onto the walls as he went down. Unfortunately, his fingers pressed the keypad and opened the door to the child’s compartment. He stood at the edge, ready to join our party.

“Whoa!” Mayfeld exclaimed, rising to check things out, “What is that? You two get lonely up here?” I stayed at Mando’s side, biting down on my lip in an effort not to scream at him to get away from the child. It would only make things worse. But at a moment’s notice, I was ready to slit throats if his safety was compromised.

“Wait a minute,” Mayfeld turned to Xi’an, standing behind him, “Did you two make that? Huh? What is it, like a pet or somethin’?” “Yeah,” Mando answered, “Something like that.”

“It bites,” I quickly lied, trying to think of anyway to make getting close to the child unattractive.

Xi’an came to stand too close to Mando for my taste, “Didn’t take you for the type. Maybe that code of yours has made you soft…taking on two pets.” “I’d be cautious with how you use your tongue,” I thinly smiled at her, she was bothering me more than I knew what to do with, “So long as you’re onboard this ship with me, you’re in danger of losing it.” The Twi’lek made a point to stick the muscle out as she laughed at me, “Jealousy’s not a flattering color on you, my dear…” Jealous? That was the last thing I was…what did she have that I had to envy?

“Me, I was never really into pets,” Mayfeld spoke up, “Yeah, I didn’t have the temperament. Patience, you know? I mean, I tried, but never worked out.

The child’s eyes gazed up at Mayfeld curiously, I wished with everything in me that he would cry for me or Mando and we’d be forced to take him. Come on, kid, come to me…

“But I’m thinkin’ maybe,” Mayfeld reached forward and took the kid into his arms, “I’ll try again with this little fella. Huh?”

I watched with laser like focus at Mando’s side, sensing he was just as upset as I was. Mayfeld, the comedian, bent his knees and pretended to almost drop the kid. I’d never moved faster in my life, throwing my hands underneath his little green form only to catch air and cause a hearty round of laughter from our teammates. I rose with the knowledge that my threats had just lost all credibility. I felt a gloved finger touch the back of my hand, signaling that Mando felt either sympathy or pity.

“Dropping out of hyperspace now,” Zero announced from the cockpit.

As the ship dropped, we suddenly moved with each maneuver of the ship. I reached out for Mando at the same time he wrapped an arm around my waist, the two of us clinging to one another while I kept a hand underneath the child still in Mayfeld’s grasp.

“Commencing final approach, now. Cloaking signal, now.” The ship lurched harder than before, loosening Mando’s grip on the handle he’d been holding onto. As we fell, both his arms slipped around me protectively. Mayfeld was thrown forward and he let the child go, sending him flying through the air. I threw my hands out as Mando and I slid across the floor, catching him just before he hit the ground and clutching him to my chest. Our skid stopped as Mando’s body, shielding me and the kid from any harm, hit the back wall of the Crest with an ‘oof’ from him. I let out the breath I’d been holding, dropping my head to the floor and feeling Mando’s helmet against the back of it. “Coupling confirmed,” Zero said, “We are down.” “You okay?” I asked Mando. “Yeah,” he answered, his arms still around me, “You?” I nodded, still panting from the adrenaline rush leaving my body. Mando let go, seemingly hesitant as if he thought I was lying, and I sat up, checking the child over for injuries. He let out a squeal, which I didn’t know whether was out of happiness or fear. Either way, I patted his back and accepted Mando’s outstretched hand to help me up.

“Useless droid didn’t even give us a proper countdown,” Xi’an complained. “No,” I said as Mando and I passed her, “But he gave me a good laugh.”

I sat the child back down in his compartment and crouched down to get on eye level with him, “You stay here, okay? We’ll be back soon,” I rose and hit the button that closed the door to it, turning to Mando, “I can only hope he listens this time.” Mayfeld jumped onto his comm, “Z? Are you sure they can’t see us?”

“The Razor Crest is scrambling our signal and I am inside the prison system,” the droid answered, “It’s impressive that this gunship had survived the Empire without being impounded.”

Our team circled up. “Alright, we got a job to do,” Mayfeld declared, “Mando, you’re up.”

Not wanting to be left alone with them, I followed Mando to the hatch that would allow us to drop into the prison ship and kneeled down next to him. He worked to open it while I focused on trying to make out the whispers from a few feet away, Xi’an and Mayfeld were clearly having a private conversation, one that left me with a sick feeling in my stomach.

Once Mando had opened the hatch, the team dropped one by one down into the ship. First a hesitant Mayfeld, then a far-too-confidant Xi’an and finally, Burg. Once we were alone, Mando and I both looked to the compartment housing the child before back to each other. Had we not needed the credits, I’d have suggested we leave our accomplices to their fate and jet. It was either a possible death by their hand or a definite one by the Guild’s. “I’d like to go on record of saying that I’m against this,” I said, hands on hips. “Noted,” he replied.

I sighed and looked down at the hatch, jumping down with little concern for the height. On the list of problems I had, a little fall was the least of my worries…

“Alright,” Mayfeld announced once Mando had landed, “We’re on the clock. When we engage those droids, they’re gonna be all over us.” “I know the drill,” Mando replied, clearly already tired of Mayfeld’s running of the job.

I unholstered my blasters and activated my shield gauntlet, we made our way down the hall cautiously. It was a no brainer that I stuck by Mando, it was the safest place to be given the circumstances. As we passed the curious stares of prisoners, some with an underlying aggression, my stomach twisted further.

“I don’t like this,” Mando admitted, finally… “Oh, really?” I said with fake shock, “You don’t like this? I wish someone would have said something before hand…” Xi’an rolled her eyes, “You always were paranoid.” “Is that true, Mando?” Mayfeld echoed mockingly, “Were you always paranoid?” As he finished his sentence, one of the prisoners lunged towards its cell door and roared, startling Mayfeld. I chuckled to myself, earning a glare in return. “You think that’s funny?” “I’d pay to see it again.”

Zero appeared over the comms, “Approaching control room. Make a left at the next juncture.” Around the corner, Mayfeld carefully poked his head, scanning the area before motioning Mando forward. The two of us fell to the side, taking cover behind a wall and gesturing for the rest of the group to come out. We all went on high alert as the sound of beeping approached, a mouse droid wheeling down the hall. “What?” Burg smiled, “It’s just a little mousey. Come here, little mousey…” “Burg…” Mayfeld warned.

The Devaronian approached carefully, holding his blaster behind his back. As the droid maneuvered itself further away from us, Burg stood to his full height and fired a shot at it. “Are you kidding me?” I yelled through a whisper. “Burg, what are you doin’?” Mayfeld scolded him.

Beside me, Mando reached out with his free hand and tapped against the back of mine twice. Whatever plan he had, it required both of us. In that moment, I trusted him fully.

Like clockwork, a set of security droids marched towards us with guns raised. Mando and I walked backwards as we shot at them, his hand wrapped around my wrist gently pulling me with him. Once we were out of the line of fire, we broke into a jog down the identical white hallways. “You ready to admit I was right?” I asked.

“Can you focus on the problem at hand?” he grunted as we turned a corner. “That is one of the problems at hand,” I shot back, holstering one of my guns and reaching for the vibroblade underneath my gauntlet. Coming up empty, I remembered it was still sticking out of one of our crates from when I’d launched it at Mayfeld. “Fuck!”

As we quietly came up behind the droids, Mando and I got a running start before dropping to our knees and sliding across the floor. He used his knife to slice the leg off of one of them while I fired perfectly aimed shots at two of their chests. I jumped to my feet and narrowly dodged the a punch from one, holding up my shield to avoid a few of the blasts being fired at me. Mando was to the side avoiding a few hits of his own until he was knocked to the ground by one of the droids. Thinking fast, I holstered my second gun and released my whipcord to wrap around his wrist, pulling him out of reach of the droids. He rose and spun around, pressing our backs together as we faced off against our enemies. I landed a kick to one’s stomach, quickly picking up my gun and shooting its head after.

“Two more,” Mando warned, I spun around and watched as his flamethrower made quick work of one’s deaths. As the second one survived, still smoking, he tossed me his knife and I charged towards it. I climbed atop it before it could fire at me and sliced its head off. As its robotic corpse collapsed, my knees hit the ground and I accepted Mando’s outstretched hand to help me stand. I fought to catch my breath, gazing at the wreckage we’d created. We were quickly becoming unstoppable together…

The prisoners around us clamored while Burg, Xi’an and Mayfeld simply stared. “Make sure you two clean up your mess,” Mayfeld commented as he passed us, while Xi’an laughed and Burg simply bumped Mando’s shoulder. As I panted, I watched them head down the hall before glaring at Mando. I sensed he shared my displeasure at their lack of gratitude.

“It seems your presence has been detected,” Zero said through the comms as we resumed our run, “Redirecting security alert away from your position.” “Z, open the door,” Mayfeld called.

“But I’m detecting an organic signature.” My steps slowed, I was the only one who was thinking of the ramifications that came with Zero’s protests.

I can run. Right now. I can get out of here, grab the Crest and get out alive…without Mando.

And that was no longer an option I’d truly consider.

“Yeah, okay, alright,” Mayfeld paid no attention to the warning, “Just open the door!”

The blast doors opened a few feet away from us and a young New Republic officer stood to his feet, a blaster aimed at us. “Stop!”

Things had just gotten so much more complicated…

------------

A/N: We're getting so close to the climax of S1 and I am so excited 😁 Let me know if you'd like to be tagged or what you thought. See you next chapter!

Instinct Taglist: @toribentleyvq @pan-ini @simp-for-corpse @thefandomzoneisdangerous @never-no-locomotive @cozyballofanxiety @miraculousreader @welcomethepedroverse @damerondala @x-judyjude-x @dindjarinsspouse @fishthemenace @aliyryun1401world @that-girl-named-alex

Din Djarin Taglist: @damerondala @x-judyjude-x @dindjarinsspouse @aliyryun1401world

[extasiswings]

“I felt it shelter to speak to you.” for Buddie

This was...not supposed to be this long but all the recent promo content has been...inspiring. Anyway...on ao3 here.

The first attack happens on a Saturday afternoon.

There’s nothing special about the day, nothing strange. Christopher is at a friend’s birthday party, Buck is off somewhere with Taylor, and Eddie is grocery shopping before he’s meant to meet Ana for an early dinner.

His shoulder aches a little—that’s what he notices first—but that’s not too unusual. It happens sometimes. Even as physical therapy has helped him regain strength and mobility in his arm and shoulder, a high caliber sniper round ripping through his upper chest is no minor injury. Plus, while he’s hardly ancient, he’s not even as young as he was when he was shot the first time, and those bullets left behind their own patches of scar tissue and occasional twinges.

So. His shoulder aches. It’s fine. He ignores it and moves on. Goes through the store, checks out, put his bags in the backseat—

There’s a glare off a window in the apartment building across the street.

Eddie reaches for the handle of his door.

Suddenly, his fingers start tingling, uncomfortable pricks of icy numbness traveling up his hands like they’ve fallen asleep, but shaking them out doesn’t help. And then, without warning, pain lances through his chest, sharp and acute, and he can’t breathe properly, as if his torso has been trapped in a vise that’s slowly tightening more and more.

His vision swims. He sways on his feet, grasping at the door handle with clumsy, numb fingers to keep himself upright.

He feels like—he feels—

He feels like he’s dying. It strikes him with sudden clarity. He’s dying. Dying in a random parking lot—he always assumed he was too young to have a heart attack but the symptoms fit and he’s just—

He can’t. He can’t die. Not when he’s survived everything else. This can’t be—

“Sir?” There’s a woman with a station wagon parked in the space next to his truck and she’s looking at him with no small amount of concern. “Are you okay?”

Eddie’s mouth is so dry and his breathing so irregular that it takes him a moment to respond.

“I—I think I need to go to the hospital,” he grits out as another wave of dizziness threatens to send him to his knees.

She calls 911. Eddie spares a moment to be grateful that the paramedics who show up a few minutes later aren’t from the 118.

As it turns out, he’s not dying. And he didn’t have a heart attack.

“A panic attack?” Eddie’s voice is distant to his own ears as he stares at the ER doctor in disbelief, his stomach flipping with a new kind of dread. “Are you sure?”

“Your symptoms resolved on their own and your EKG is normal, Mr. Diaz,” she replies as she flicks through the screens of his chart on her tablet. “And nothing in your prior history or other recent tests indicates that there’s anything physically wrong with you—you were healthy before you were shot and your recovery has progressed smoothly up to this point.”

She pauses and looks back at him. “Have you...spoken to a therapist? I noticed that your treating physician made a referral for counseling when you were originally discharged, but…”

Eddie clears his throat roughly. “Yeah, no, I, uh...with the PT schedule and everything else going on, I never followed up with that. But I’ve been fine. It never seemed necessary.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Diaz,” the doctor says, “you’re in the emergency room because of an acute stress response in which your brain tricked your body into believing you were in danger to such an extent that you thought you were dying. I’m not sure you’re as fine as you think.”

There’s probably some truth to that. Eddie can admit that much. But that doesn’t mean he needs—he’s been shot before. He’s been in a warzone. He didn’t need therapy to move forward from it then and he shouldn’t now. He can—he can handle this. He can make himself get over it.

He’s already spent months leaning heavily on everyone around him. The thought of not being okay, of asking for more help when he’s finally easing back into working, when things are finally getting back to normal, when they all have their own issues to focus on—

God, it makes him want to throw up.

So...no. He’s okay. Because not being okay isn’t an option.

He’s fine. The panic attack was...a fluke.

“I appreciate the advice,” Eddie says finally. “I’ll think about it.”

He can tell the doctor doesn’t believe him when her lips thin.

“You know, more likely than not, the panic attacks will keep happening if you do nothing,” she points out. “Ignoring this won’t make it go away.”

“I understand,” Eddie replies. “If that’s all, does that mean I can get out of here?”

The doctor sighs. “Sure.”

Eddie’s phone rings while he’s in an Uber on the way back to his truck. It’s Ana.

He swears under his breath as he sees the time—he hadn’t called anyone, hadn’t wanted the hospital to call anyone either, but that means he’s now late for a date that he doesn’t really want to keep after everything and further doesn’t leave him with any good excuses for his absence except the truth which...he doesn’t really want to admit.

Before the shooting, Carla told him to make sure he was following his heart. And he’s been too exhausted and focused on his recovery to really think too hard about that. But now—

For a moment, Eddie considers it. Telling Ana the truth. Showing her some of the dark, messy, ugly pieces of himself. Being vulnerable.

The very idea makes him recoil. Not because he thinks she would run away necessarily, but because he just...can’t.

He can’t. Not with her.

And if he’s that uncomfortable with the idea of letting in someone he’s been dating for over half a year, if he can’t imagine himself ever actually being comfortable with that...then what the hell is he doing?

He calls her back when he gets to his truck.

“Hey—I’m so sorry, I had a little emergency—yeah, everything’s fine now, but I’m not sure I’m up for going out. Can I meet you at your place? ...okay, great. See you soon.”

He may know even less about ending a relationship than he does about dating in general, but he figures he at least owes it to her to end things in person.

*

Eddie goes to work on Monday feeling fine. Great, even. He sleeps well the night before, he gets Christopher off to school on time, traffic is light enough that he gets to the station early—

Everything is fine. By all accounts it should be a good day.

At least, that’s what he thinks right up until all of them get different emergency alerts sent to their phones and they find out the city’s systems have been hacked. From that point forward, everything is chaos. Damage control. Twenty-car pile-ups because stoplights are being messed with, an outbreak of animals from the zoo when the electric locks on their enclosures released—

Eddie’s fine though. He’s fine. It’s nothing he can’t handle—in fact, he’s usually great with chaos. He’s focused and sure and capable. Nothing else matters but the work, certainly not himself. When he’s busy, he has no time to think about anything else.

The gradually worsening tension in his shoulders can be ignored. The way he has to clench his hands into fists to keep them from shaking in a way he hasn’t had to do since his earliest days in Afghanistan can be brushed off. He doesn’t have time to think about anything but the jobs in front of him, which means he doesn’t have time to think about his own state.

Brush it off, pick yourself up, keep moving forward. That’s what he knows, that’s what he can do.

Except, then they end up at the hospital and—

A medevac helicopter falls off the roof. Bobby nearly joins it. Buck and Eddie barely manage to get him back.

A cold sweat breaks out on Eddie’s brow as Bobby leans heavily against the wall next to the roof access door to catch his breath. His stomach roils. He doesn’t feel fully connected to his own body, caught somehow between present and past, a rooftop in Los Angeles and a desert in Afghanistan.

He breathes in. He tamps down on the rising panic.

Bobby is fine. The helicopter pilots and their patient are fine.

He’s fine. He’s fine.

“Are you okay?”

Eddie jumps at the question, his head whipping around to find the source. Buck’s brow furrows as he holds up his hands.

“Sorry,” Buck says quietly. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Eddie swallows hard and shakes his head. “You’re fine, don’t worry about it.”

He glances toward the door. “You know, I think I’m going to head back down,” he says, hoping Buck won’t notice the fact that he hasn’t answered the original question. “I want to make sure the pilots are holding up alright.”

“I can come—” Buck starts to offer, only for Eddie to cut him off.

“Someone should stay with Bobby,” he replies. He forces a smile as Buck’s eyes search his face. “I’ll be fine.”

Buck glances at Bobby, then back to Eddie before he finally nods.

“Okay,” he says. “But here, take the radio. If anything happens—”

“I’ll let you know.”

Eddie makes it down one flight of stairs before he decides to take the elevator the rest of the way down. The numbers on the top of the doors tick down, down, down—

And then, abruptly, the elevator lurches to a halt, throwing Eddie off balance and into the wall as the lights go out, plunging him into total darkness.

His ears ring from the impact.

He’s trapped. Trapped in a metal box in the dark. A box that could easily become a coffin if the emergency stop failed and sent it careening down to crash at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

Eddie’s breathing speeds up against his will. His chest starts to hurt.

Not again, he thinks vaguely. Not here, not now, not again.

But. He can’t move. He can’t breathe. Some distant part of his mind recognizes that what he’s feeling isn’t real, that he just needs to calm down, but he can’t—

He’s going to die. He’s going to—

The radio crackles in his belt.

“Eddie? Eddie! Can you hear me?”

Eddie’s mind latches onto the sound of Buck’s voice like a lifeline in an ocean of distress. It takes him a moment to make his trembling hands work through their numbness, to remind his fingers how to work the buttons, but eventually, he lifts the radio to his mouth.

“I’m here,” he says. His voice shakes. “I’m in the elevator. It’s—I don’t know which floor. Or if I’m between floors. I don’t—”

He shudders. His eyes close, not that it really matters given how dark the space is already.

“It’s okay,” Buck replies. “It’s okay, Eddie, we’ll find you. We’ll get you out, don’t worry.”

“I don’t want to die here.” It slips out of him before he can pull it back. Buck takes a sharp breath on the other end of the line.

“That’s not going to happen,” Buck says firmly, although his own voice seems less steady than usual. “I would never let that happen. I’ve got your back, remember? Always.”

A shudder rips down Eddie’s spine and he slides against the wall to sit on the floor. The walls still feel too restricting, like they’re closing in on him more each moment that he looks away.

The radio crackles again.

“Eddie. What can I do? What do you need?” Buck asks.

I don’t know. I don’t—I can’t—

“Eddie.” The fear and desperation in Buck’s voice cuts through the fog in Eddie’s mind.

He never wants Buck to sound like that.

“Keep talking?” Eddie replies. “I—just keep talking to me. Please?”

Don’t go, is what he really means. Stay with me.

He’s never allowed himself to say those things though. Not during the early days of the pandemic when they were sharing a bed in Buck’s loft. Not after he moved back home with Christopher and the other side of his bed felt too empty for sleep to come easily. And certainly not after he started dating Ana.

During his recovery, he never had to ask Buck for anything really. Buck was always just...there. Even though he was with Taylor, he was still there with Eddie and with Christopher whenever Eddie needed him. Like he knew somehow. Or maybe as if he needed to be there as much as Eddie needed him there.

Eddie hasn’t looked too closely at any of that. He’s not ready to. It’s too much, too complicated, too—too—

Dangerous.

“What do you want to talk about?”

Eddie swallows hard as his head rests against the wall. As he allows the sound of Buck’s voice to wrap around him like armor. Like home. Insulating him against the panic and isolation.

“Anything,” he says quietly. “Just keep talking.”

And Buck does. He talks about everything and nothing, random facts and stories from his past that Eddie hasn’t heard before, he talks and talks and talks until his voice grows hoarse in Eddie’s ear and the pressure on Eddie’s lungs eases.

Eddie exhales shakily and takes a few deep breaths as he continues to listen, as his body shifts from hyper-awareness and panic to wrung out exhaustion. When Buck finally cuts off, it’s because there’s an ugly screech of metal as the elevator doors are pried open, as light filters back in.

Eddie’s legs are unsteady as he gets to his feet. He trips on the edge of the elevator door when he exits—

Buck catches him before he can fall. Because of course he does.

“Thank you,” Eddie breathes into Buck’s shoulder as he finds his balance.

Buck shakes his head. “I promised we’d get you out, didn’t I? Besides, I—I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

“I decided—”

“I shouldn’t have let you,” Buck repeats, low but insistent. His eyes meet Eddie’s and Eddie swallows hard.

“You weren’t okay. Were you?” Buck asks. And Eddie—

He wants to lie. Part of him does at least.

But he can’t lie to Buck.

Not to Buck.

“No,” he confesses. It’s half a whisper. “No, I wasn’t.”

Buck bites his lip and nods once.

“Okay,” he says. “We’ll figure it out.”

And somehow, Eddie believes him.

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - Timestuck AU: The Power of Mabel ch.2

While fighting over a time machine so one twin can win a pig or the other can win the heart of a girl, Mabel is left stranded in a snowy forest with no time machine and no brother. Oops.

The BEAUTIFUL art pieces were done by @clownwry and @elishevart ! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 😭❤️💋

ch.1 - ch.3

~~~~~~~~~~

Ford was way more nervous than he was letting on.

She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.

She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.

Ford would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy Mabel’s company, but she was practically a stranger, and keeping a random girl in his house that was located in the middle of the woods was fishy and Ford couldn’t help but feel like it was illegal. But he couldn’t leave her out in the snow and send her on her way to find her home and family, so he decided to keep her warm or healthy, simply because it was the right thing to do.

But then she said she had no parents to call. Only a brother, who was lost, too. Ford can remember the old rule: If you’re lost, stay where you are until you are found. So he then decided that she could stay here until her brother found her, which should be by morning at the latest.

Still, he felt uneasy, so once Mabel was settled in front of the TV, Ford excused himself and went into the kitchen to make a phone call. There was only one man who would have better judgement in this situation than him.

The phone rang a few times. Ford checked his watch to make sure it was a reasonable time to call. It wasn’t Sunday, was it? But then the ringing stopped. “Howdy! This here Fiddleford McGucket.”

“Hey there, buddy.” Ford smiled to himself at hearing that cheerful voice. “How have you been?”

“Stanford Pines! Good t’hear from ya!” Fiddleford cheered. “M’just fine, just fine! How are ya?! Ya haven’t gotten eaten by monsters yet, have ya?” He laughed, making his old friend chuckle along.

“No no, I’m alright.” Ford almost brought up the reason he called, but then he remembered something very important to Fiddleford. “How are Emma-May and Tater?”

“OH! They’re doin’ great! We’re all very happy n’ doin’ well! Ya won’t believe how big Tate’s gotten since ya last saw him! He’s already crawlin’!”

“Wow, that's great to hear.” Ford sat in a chair at the kitchen table. “Has he said his first words yet?”

“No, not quite. Actually, he’s extremely quiet. Not a lot of baby-babble.” Fiddleford chuckled. “The doctor says that’s perfectly normal. Tate’s so smart, he’s reachin’ for specific colors n’ such, n’ ya can tell he’s thinkin’ a lot n’ knows what’s goin’ on, he just got nothin’ t’say.”

“I was very shy when I was young.” Ford commented casually. He didn't feel like mentioning why. “If Tate is anything like either of his parents he’s very intelligent.”

“Oh, he’s so much like both of us it’s scary. Ya know Emma-May, so clever n’ quiet n’ such. Tate’s got all that. But he already looks so much like me! But he’s got his mama’s hair! N’ Santy Claus brought ‘im this fun little fishin’ game where ya fish for plastic fish with a pole with a magnet on it, n’ he loves it! I can’t wait to take ‘im fishin’ when he’s big enough! Ya really outta give yourself a break n’ come down for a visit, he’d move to see his Uncle Ford again.”

Ford’s face felt hot. “Perhaps. Spring is when a lot of anomalies are active and breeding, so i would prefer not to miss that, but maybe I could visit for a weekend before that…”

“Well, no pressure, I won’t assume anythang until ya tell me to, just know there’s always a bed for ya here.”

“Thank you, Fiddleford. The same for you and your family. The clean air will do everyone some good.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” Fiddleford sighed happily and perked up. “So! Whatcha callin’ for? Not that I’m not happy just t’chat, but ya never call.”

Ford laughed and shrugged to himself. “I suppose I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“No need t’be sorry, Stanford, just wanna know what’s up.”

“Well, I was hoping to get your advice on something.”

“Shoot.”

“Um… well…” Ford rubbed the back of his neck, unsure how to tell him this. “I heard some unusual sounds outside today…”

“What kind of unusual sounds?”

“Cracks, like lightning. And some faint yelling.” Ford answered. “I thought it might be a tree branch or a new anomaly to catalogue, but when I opened the door a young girl was standing there in the snow with no coat.”

“Heavens! Is she alright?!”

“She’s okay, no frostbite. She was cold, but after sitting by the fire, drinking some hot chocolate, and changing into some dry clothes, she’s okay now.”

“Well, good.”

“So of course I brought her in. I tried to call her parents, she probably got lost playing…”

“Sure.”

“... but she says she doesn’t have any parents.”

“Oh.” Fiddleford sighed. “Oh. Now, wait, are ya sure she didn’t just say that so ya wouldn’t call?”

Ford chuckled and said, “I first thought that too, but she looked too sad to be lying.”

“Okay, I see. Does she got somebody ya can call?”

“She says she has a brother, but he was out there, too. So he is probably out there looking for her and therefore nowhere near a phone.”

“Fair enough, okay. So, I reckon y’all are waitin’ for him t’come ‘round.”

“Yup.”

“Well sounds to me like you’ve handled this all pretty well.” Fiddleford said confidently.

“You think so?” Ford asked. “I can’t help but feel like I’m doing something wrong. Like I’m missing something. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Nonsense, buddy, you’re doin’ great.” Fiddleford assured. “Look here, ya can’t just leave a young gurl out in the snow t’try t’find her way home...”

“I agree.”

“... so ya really got one option n’ that’s t’keep an eye on her n’ let her in as a guest. N’ ya tried t’call, but nothin’. The best thang ya can do right now is be there for this lil’lady n’ just be kind t’her. N’ if nobody comes for her by mornin’, why don’t ya go into town n’ see if anybody knows her, then they can help y’all out.”

Ford nodded, then remembered that his best friend couldn’t see it, so he said, “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“You’re welcome. N’ hey, are ya okay?” He asked seriously.

“Yes, yes I’m okay. I just want to make sure I do this right.”

“O’course. I understand. Ya want me t’come down there n’ give a hand?”

“No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure Mabel will find her brother in the morning.”

“Mabel, huh? Well, if y’all don’t, please call me. N’ even if ya do find her brother, call me. Keep me updated.”

“I will. Thank you, Fiddleford.”

“Anytime, Stanford.”

~~~~~~~~~~

When Mr. Ford gave Mabel the remote for the old TV and went into the kitchen, she decided to use her awesome detective skills to figure out what year it was. If it was before Grunkle Stan lived here and opened the Mystery Shack, she must be pretty far back in time. But she had no way of knowing if it was 1999 or 2005 or the 50s.

The TV was old, but so was Grunkle Stan’s in her time. So Mr. Ford could have had this TV for a long time and didn’t want to replace it. 

Okay, so when was the TV made? Mabel didn’t know. Dipper would have known.

Okay, Grunkle Stan mentioned watching TV when he was a kid once or twice. So at least Mabel was when Stan was a kid, okay. 

Mabel turned the TV on and it was in color. Okay, so she wasn’t too far back in time. But the TV was playing a commercial for clear skin. The picture was gritty and all the people in it had puffy hair and long socks and oh my god was that woman wearing legwarmers?! Mabel grinned at seeing her favorite fashion on TV, but then her face dropped. When was she?

She tapped her chin and tried to think of how to know the date without being suspicious. She could ask Mr. Ford, but that might be suspicious. Mabel decided to start flicking through channels to try to guess what year she was in based on what was airing. A lot of shows were about cowboys, space, or game shows. Huh. Okay.

All the TV shows were definitely older. Nothing her dad would watch from when he was a kid, so if Mabel had to guess by everyone’s crazy air, the cheesy TV shows, and the music occasionally playing, she was in the 70s.

Huh. Okay. But she needed an exact year. So Mabel turned off the TV, saw an old radio on a desk, and turned it on to listen.

“... cuz it’s cold doesn’t mean you can't boogie, folks! So grab someone you wanna get warm with, turn up the music, and get your bodies warm in the coolest way possible! Here’s Night Fever, by the Bee Gees!”

Mabel grinned at the disco music. Her personal favorite song from these guys was More Than a Woman, but Night Fever would do. For a moment Mabel forgot her mission, jumped off the couch and left the blanket behind, and in the over-sized gray t-shirt Mr. Ford gave her while her clothes were drying, she danced along to the music, singing the chorus since those were the only words she knew.

“When you reach out for me. Yeah, and the feelin' is right,

Then I get night fever, night fever. We know how to do it! Gimme that night fever, night fever. We know how to show it!”

Mabel laughed at herself as she spun around in her socks and tried to do the point-and-hype dance she didn’t know the name to, but everyone did it when a disco song played.

Little did she know that Ford had returned to check on her, and was smiling at her as she shook her hips and waved her hair around and had fun. He leaned against the doorway and planned to let her dance in peace, but when she did a spin and saw him, she grinned and took his hand. “C’mon, Mr. Ford, come dance with me!”

Ford chuckled and shook his head. “No, no! I can’t dance!”

“You got two legs that aren’t broken?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can dance! C’mon!” Mabel encouraged, let him go when they were both in the middle of the room, and she started to dance again. “Don’t make me dance alone!” She even pulled an evil move and gave him puppy eyes. Rude.

Ford smiled slyly at her and hesitantly copied her boogie moves. It was true that Ford never liked to dance, but there was no one around but Mabel, and though he had only known her for an hour or more, he was sure she would never make fun of him.

And he was right.

“Wow! Look at you, Mr. I-Can’t-Dance! Yeah!” Mabel hopped on the couch, standing, and took Ford’s hand. “Here, I’ll spin you!”

Ford laughed and allowed it, doing a single spin, but then scooping her in his arms to dip her and then let her down, making her laugh as they continued to dance. 

“Alright alright, you crazy cats, that was Night Fever by the Bee Gees! It's a snowy day here in the heart of Oregon, with snow flurries coming in harder all night, but it should clear up by morning and be a fun day to go out and play! The date is January 26th, 1978 in case you gotta write a check or mail a thank you note to a friend or family member. I’m still writing letters for Christmas! We’ll be right back with some of your favorites after a word or two from our sponsors, so don’t go anywhere!”

Mabel stared at the radio. “Wow, 1978.” She breathed. Her parents were only kids right now, maybe only six or seven-years-old. Wow.

Ford chuckled. “I know, I’m still in the bad habit of writing ‘77.”

Mabel realized her mistake, but was grateful her host misunderstood her. “Me too.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for dinner. How about some ramen noodles?”

“Yes, please! Can we play a game after we eat?”

“Sure. I don’t have many board games, but I do have a deck of cards.”

“Do you know any card tricks?!”

“A few.” Ford admitted, wiggling his fingers. “There are some advantages to having more fingers than average.”

Mabel grinned up at him and followed him to the kitchen for dinner.

[sacredsorceress]

Secrets (One) || Bucky Barnes

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

summary: when your husband, bucky barnes, leaves to go to work intruders invade your home. although you escort your children to safety, when the intruders find you they have a lot of questions about the “winter soldier”- a name you’ve never heard before.

a/n: finally posting the first chapter! most of at least the first bit of the series is going to be absolute angst so I apologize in advance (if you’re looking for fluff to cleanse the palate you can check out my masterlist linked below)

word count: 2.6k

warnings: kidnapping, violence, angst, swearing

Prologue

masterlist || request || taglist

You woke up to the sound of the alarm clock blaring, darkness still encasing the room. Throwing your arm out to your side you reached for your husband, but before your fingers could feel his chest you felt the cold sting of metal catch your hand midair.

Although the room was dark you smiled, opening one of your eyes to peek at the man beside you.

Your wrist still in his hand, he smiled back at you, leaning down to plant a kiss on your forehead. “Go back to sleep, doll.”

You groaned, pushing yourself up to instead lean on your elbow. “Do you really have to go? It’s Saturday.”

He dropped your wrist from his hands, sighing as he kicked his feet over the side of the bed, silencing the alarm that sat on his night stand.

“I’ll be back before you even notice I’m gone.”

Instead of resting your head on the pillow and allowing yourself to drift back to sleep, you sat up in bed, slowly slinking your arms over Bucky’s shoulders and down his chest. Leaning into the crook of his neck from behind, you left a kiss on his jawline.

“I always notice when you’re gone, baby.” You hummed into his skin. “Gonna leave me all alone with those brats today?”

Even though the Sun hadn’t risen and the only light shining in between your shades was that of moonlight, you could see the tired smile form on his face. He chuckled and you wrapped your arms tighter around him, feeling his chest rumble with his laughter.

As much as you called your children brats playfully to your husband, he knew how much you adored them.

“They like you better anyway.” He said, picking up your hands that had been resting on his chest, leaving a soft peck on each of them before resting them back on the bed.

He pushed himself off of the bed, making his way over to your shared closet, tugging the first t-shirt he grabbed of his over his head and you watched him stretch as you laid back down in your spot, tugging the sheets tighter around you.

“That’s not true, James.” You said. “You have a metal arm! Do you know how cool that is to a four-year old?

You heard him chuckle, making his way towards your side of the bed. You felt him tuck you in tighter under the comforter and lean over, planting a kiss on your temple. “You don’t have to pretend for me, doll.” He whispered. “They’re smart to like you more than me. I know I do.”

You smiled as he pulled away. “Be safe, okay?”

“Always am.”

-

When you woke up hours later, it unfortunately wasn’t to the sound of an alarm clock, your kids shaking you or your husband’s kiss. When you woke up again it was to the sound of a vase shattering downstairs.

At first, you bolt up in your bed, throwing off the sheets prepared to yell at whichever one of your children had irresponsibly broken one of your possessions. When your hand reached the doorknob, however, you heard the sound of men’s voices echoing from downstairs.

You immediately rushed to your bedside, picking up your phone with trembling hands to dial your husband’s phone number. As you waited for Bucky to pick up you carefully opened your door and tiptoed across the hall over to your daughter’s room, praying that your floorboards wouldn’t creak beneath your feet.

When you saw your daughter still sleeping peacefully, sprawled across her toddler bed you breathed a sigh of relief. Tucking your phone between your shoulder and ear, you carefully picked up your daughter, resting your free hand behind her head to allow her to rest in the crook of your neck. Instinctively her tiny hands tugged on your shirt even in her sleep.

“Hello? Y/n? What’s wro-”

“Someone’s-” You paused, eyes widening as you heard two men now loudly arguing downstairs. “Someone’s here. I can- I can hear them downstairs, Buck. There’s someone in the house.”

At first he didn’t say anything and you were afraid he didn’t hear you properly until you heard him cursing on the other line.

“Y/n, listen to me.” You heard him say finally- you weren’t sure if you had ever heard him so serious. “In the basement underneath the rug there’s a door. If you open it up there’s a crawl space over there- take the kids and go hide there until I can get there.”

Even though he couldn’t see you, you nodded, tip-toeing out of your daughter’s room and into your son’s, still hearing shouting downstairs.

“Okay. Okayokayokay.” You whispered into the phone, reassuring yourself that you could get the task done. “Incase anything happens-

“D- don’t say that.” You heard your husband stutter on the other end. “You’re going to be okay, baby. I’m... I’m gonna get there soon, okay?”

“Okay.” You assured him, not really believing it.

Your phone still tucked beneath your ear, you shook your son awake and as soon as he opened his eyes, you placed see your hand over his mouth.

“You have to be quiet.” You whispered, just enough that he could hear. “Can you be quiet for Mama?”

Eyes still wide, you watched as your son nodded his head.

“There’s bad guys in the house, okay?” You said, pulling on his hand to help him out of bed. “So you and me and your sister have to go to the basement and wait for Dad. We have to be super quiet, okay? They can’t hear us.”

“L-like spies?” He asked.

“Yeah, buddy.” You smiled, trying to hold it together for the children in your arms. “Like spies.”

Picking up your phone one last time you told your husband that you loved him and without another word, you hung up on Bucky, slipping the phone into the pocket of your sweatpants. 

Squeezing your son’s hand and being sure to not step too heavily on the wrong floorboards, you peeked around the doorway to make sure no one had made their way upstairs. When the coast was clear, you tip-toed down the hallway to the top of your staircase. Listening, you heard more than two men arguing downstairs. 

You swore to yourself, afraid you wouldn’t be able to make it to the basement without getting caught when you heard the door to your garage swing open and the men’s feet slowly become quieter as they made their way into it.

Thanking God for your chance, you sped down the stairs, your children in tow.

Swinging the door open to your basement you raced down another flight of stairs, unsure of how much time you had left before they realized that you were there.

You moved your daughter out of your arms and into those of your son, pulling the rug off of the floor to unveil a hatch.

Seeing the hatch in the floorboards, a part of you questioned how you had never seen this before. How did you not know about this? What wasn’t your husband telling you, keeping random crawlspaces a secret?

Pulling it open you saw a small crawlspace hiding inside, about three feet deep and four feet wide. The only thing kept inside it was a large safe.

Assessing the situation you realized that you had two options- either attempt to take the safe out of the crawlspace, risking making a loud noise that would alert the intruders in your home to come straight for the basement... or safely hide your children in the spot that was left in the crawlspace.

“Shit.” You swore to yourself, hands trembling at your side.

“What’s wrong, Mama?” Your son asked, behind you.

At the sound of his voice, you spun around to face him.Taking a deep breath to compose yourself and smiling you kneeled in front of him placing your hands on  his shoulders.

“Everything’s okay, baby.” You assured him, smiling. “I just... do you think you can take care of Rebecca for me?”

Not speaking another word, he nodded still holding his sister in his arms.

Holding yourself back from allowing your voice to crack you pulled your daughter out of your son’s arms.

“I knew you could, hon.” You smiled and grabbing his hand you led him into the crawlspace, helping him jump down into the hole.

When he sat down comfortably in the corner of the crawl space, you carefully lowered your daughter into his arms. Fighting back ears in your eyes you pat his hand.

“Keep her quiet, okay?” You said, placing your finger over your lips. “I need you two to stay nice and quiet. I’m going to shut the top and you don’t say anything until your hear Daddy, alright?”

Nodding, your son hugged his sister tighter in his arms. Reaching out your hand to brush your thumb against his cheek you gave him one last smile.

“I love you so, so much- you know that?” You told him, sitting on your heels on the edge of the crawl space looking over them. “Now stay still, okay? I love you so much.”

And with that you shut the hatch, a loud sound ringing throughout not only the basement, but the house as you did.

When you heard multiple footsteps stomping down the staircase, you quickly threw the rug over the hatch and fell onto your back on the floor. Looking up from your spot you found three men standing above you- the one in the center looked older than all the rest and once your eyes met his, he took a step towards you, causing you to scramble backwards towards the wall.

Despite trying to leave his grasp, he leaned down, grabbing your chin in his hand and pulled your face only inches away from his.

“Where’s the Winter Soldier?” He asked, so close you could feel his breath on your face.

To say you were confused was an understatement. When you heard intruders break into your house, you were sure it would be to rob you, but now as this man stood in front of you, all he did was ask you a question you couldn’t even begin to comprehend.

“Who....” You shook your head, your eyes scanning the faces of the other men behind the one in front of you. “What? I... I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

Grasping your chin tighter, you could see the scowl grow on the man’s face.

“Don’t-” He sighed. “I know you know who he is.”

In your mind you ran through the name, but as hard as you tried it didn’t ring any bells. Frustrated and terrified you shook your head.

“I swear.” You told the man in front of you, desperately. “I don’t know who that is. You have the wrong person.”

The still unnamed man released your chin from his grasp before turning his head to look at the frame that hung on the wall beside him. Tearing it off the wall, he shoved the frame in your face.

“So, you don’t know who the winter soldier is?” He asked again. Looking at the picture you saw it was one of you and your husband from years ago when you had first bought your home. Shoving the frame closer to your face, the man pointed at Bucky. “Then who’s this?”

You glanced at the other men in the room before looking back at the man.

“That’s my husband!” You shouted. “Who the fuck is the winter soldier?”

As soon as you shouted the words, the man threw the frame against the wall and you jumped as you heard the glass shatter and fall onto the ground.

“That’s the winter soldier!” The man in charge shouted, pointing to the broken frame now lying on the ground.

You flinched as the man shouted and kicked the glass shards across the basement floor. 

You were so consumed in worry and terror over the situation that you could barely understand what the man was telling you. Who was the winter soldier? What did he want with him? Why was he telling you that it was your husband?

He paced across the basement and you watched as he finally stopped in front of the two men that were still standing above you and faced them.

“Fine. That’s it.” He grunted. “We’ll take her with us.”

Without another word, the man in charge shoved through the other two men and made his way up the staircase. As soon as he ascended the flight of stairs, the two men made their way towards you and as much as you attempted to make your way to your feet and scramble your way out of their grasp, their hands landed on your arms and pulled you towards the stairs.

“Let go of me!” You shouted, kicking your feet on the steps below you as they dragged you up the staircase from the basement. “You have the wrong person!”

The two men said nothing as they continued to drag you out of the first floor of your house and into the front yard where an unfamiliar car was waiting. As one of the men swung open the back door of the vehicle you struggled in the other man’s arms.

“I’m not the person you’re looking for!” You shouted again desperately and helplessly.

As the two men threw you into the backseat of the car, tying your hands behind your back before you could attempt to do anything else, you finally heard the voice of the man in charge once again, sitting in the driver’s seat.

“You’re right.” He told you, meeting your eyes in the rearview mirror. “You’re not the person I’m looking for... but... you’ll bring me the person I want.”

You listened as one of the men who had grabbed you, made his way into the front seat while the other slipped into the backseat of the car beside you, slamming the door shut.

“What are we going to do about the winter soldier?” The man in the passenger seat asked his boss.

“Don’t worry,” The man in charge said, shifting the car into drive. “The winter soldier will come for her... and he’ll pay for his crimes.”

-

As you hung up the phone with the last words leaving your mouth being a shaky “I love you”, Bucky stood in the corner of the room, staring at the phone in his hands, beginning to feel his hands shake and his heart practically beat out of his chest.

“Buck?” Sam asked, laying his hand gently on his friend’s shoulder. “Hey man, you good?”

Staring at the wall in front of him all he could think about was what he had done to you. Those weren’t random intruders- they couldn’t be. He had no doubt in his mind that they were after him, but you- and possibly even your children- were the ones who were dealing with the consequences of his mistakes.

“Barnes?” Natasha asked from her seat at the table, glancing between Bucky and Sam.

Squeezing his shoulder once again, Sam asked. “Who’s Y/n?”

Without turning to face any of them, still staring at the same spot in the wall- he finally spoke.

“My wife.”

You were his wife and you were in trouble all because of him. All because he couldn’t tell you the truth. All because he couldn’t protect you. You didn’t even know what you were getting yourself into.

“I have to go.” He said, brushing off Sam’s hand before leaving the room.

You were his wife and he was going to get you back- whatever it took.

[delimeful]

hold my body down (2)

chapter 2 of this fic!

warnings: arguing, mild violence, cult mentions, mild gore mentions

-

Virgil stared at the man, his mind blank. What?

“That’s-- great?” Roman tried, his voice cracking in the middle with bewilderment. The human beamed, beckoning with his hand. Roman reached out and Virgil slapped his hand back, glowering at him.

“What have I said about accepting help from random friendly men?” he hissed, eyeing the stranger warily. Roman flushed, shoving him slightly, but notably didn’t try to move forward again.

The man-- Patton’s smile didn’t falter, but his hand dropped slightly. Virgil refused to feel bad. For once, he was completely sure that his level of paranoia was necessary for the situation.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Patton said, folding onto his knees to sit on the edge of the bag’s opening. “I can just explain from over here. I would come to sit in the bag with you, but last time I did that I got held hostage and Logan put a ban on interacting with terrified strangers without his direct supervision.”

“That, uh, seems rather fair,” Roman offered, still wildly out of his depth. Virgil rolled his eyes, a hand on the hilt of one of his daggers in case the stranger made any sudden moves.

“Who’s Logan?” He asked, eyes flickering up to what little he could see through the opening.

“Oh, he’s the one who rescued you!” Patton said cheerily. Virgil broke out into a cold sweat immediately.

“Rescued?” Roman echoed in disbelief. “Are you talking about the giant? Because I’m pretty sure he just abducted us against our will.”

“No, no, it’s not like that!” Patton insisted, only confirming Virgil’s theory that he was probably brainwashed and/or had Stockholm syndrome. Or both. Or a variety of other, worse options, such as yet another cult member or another giant in disguise.

“Easy, Virgil.” Roman laid a hand on his shoulder, grounding him. “Uh-- Patton, was it? If we’re not being… y’know… kidnapped and imprisoned, do you think you could back up so we can get out of the bag?”

“Of course!” Patton answered, popping back to his feet. “I’ll be right out here, take your time! I’m sure the last couple of hours have been rough.”

Virgil tried not to snort. Rough was one word for it. His amusement died a quick death when Roman began moving towards the opening. He latched onto the other man’s arm like a steel trap. “I don’t trust this.”

“You don’t trust anything,” Roman retorted automatically before softening. “It’s okay, I’m just checking to see what’s out there. Won’t even get out of the bag, on my honor.”

Virgil reluctantly followed him, grabbing onto him tightly as though he could keep anything out there from hurting him by yanking him back into the bag.

Roman ducked his head back under the cloth a moment later. “Okay. Bad news, there is absolutely a giant still out there. Good news, he’s all the way over across the room, reading a book. He is steadfastly ignoring both us and Patton, who waved at me.”

“What.” Virgil clutched at his hair. “What is going on?”

“I suspect we’ll have to ask Patton that. If we want answers, we’ll have to go get them,” He said, patting Virgil on the back encouragingly. “Don’t worry, my Dark and Stormy Knight, I’ll keep you safe.”

“My job,” Virgil grumbled, not releasing his grip on Roman’s wrist as he led the way out of the bag.

Everything was huge. He should have expected it, seeing as this was a giant’s home, but it still threw him off. They were on a huge table, in a huge living room, and the giant was indeed across the room with a huge book, pretending like they didn’t exist. From this distance, Virgil could actually take in all of him without feeling like he was going to pass out.

Patton was sitting a few feet away, and beamed at their approach. Virgil barely tore his eyes away from the giant long enough to nod distractedly at him. “Hi again! Are you guys okay?”

“We’re… fine,” Roman said, uncertain. “I think we’d just like to know what’s going on?”

“That’s totally understandable!” Patton replied, sympathetic. “I was pretty jittery after Logan first brought me here, too!”

“Oh, great,” Virgil muttered to Roman. “Serial kidnapper.”

Roman shot him a look before turning back to Patton. “He brought you here? Could I ask… why?”

“The same reason he brought you two here! I was in danger.” Patton glanced over to the giant with a fond smile before leaning in secretively. “To be honest, I think he was even more worried than I was! I was sort of stabbed at the time, though, so I guess that makes sense.”

“How were you ‘sort of stabbed’? You’re either stabbed or you’re not!” griped Virgil, who was possibly feeling more snappish than normal after one of the most stressful experiences of his life.

“My goodness, you were stabbed?” asked Roman, who had always been a sucker for a dramatic tale.

Patton tugged up the edge of his shirt, displaying a nasty-looking scar that curved around his side and stomach. In Virgil’s professional opinion, there was nothing ‘sort-of’ about a wound like that; it had been meant to kill. “Yeah, the people you met in town, they’re a cult! And they wanted to do a blood sacrifice for the monsters in the woods, and I wasn’t exactly well-liked, so…,”

“They stabbed you and left you for dead?” Virgil finished, a bit of anger leaking into his voice despite his determination not to sympathize with this guy.

“But I didn’t die!” Patton waved his hands a bit as though in celebration. “All the monsters in the woods had already been scared off when Logan moved here, and so he was the one who found me and helped me recover!”

Roman glanced over at the giant again, a speculative look in his eye that Virgil absolutely did not approve of. He scowled, his grip on Roman’s wrist tightening slightly.

“Right, and he just did this out of the goodness of his heart?” Virgil snorted dubiously. “I wouldn’t believe that from another human, let alone someone with a literally huge advantage over us. If your story is true, why didn’t the cult try to gut us? For that matter, if he’s not into human sacrifices, why wouldn’t your buddy over there just tell them to stop? Or, y’know, not kidnap us in the first place?”

“Well, hold on--,” Patton tried, but Virgil was on a roll.

“How do we know that this isn’t some elaborate setup? If he has the magical capabilities to heal a mortal wound, then wouldn’t it be easy for him to enchant a captive into believing that he’s just doing what’s best for him? Before, you said there were other people brought here-- what happened to them? Do you even know?”

Across the room, there was a sharp clap as the giant firmly snapped his book shut.

“They left,” Logan said firmly, the first words that they’d heard from him. “And if you continue to harangue my housemate, I will ask you to do the same.”

“Logan,” Patton said, a little exasperated.

Virgil felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of those huge, dark eyes locked onto him, but he plastered his best snarl on even as he dragged a protesting Roman partially behind him. “We’d be glad to leave, but someone put us on a table ten times our height!”

“Virgil,” Roman tried, but Virgil didn’t have the luxury of not paying attention to the pissed off giant in front of them.

“There’s a staircase down to your left,” the giant informed him coldly, “so if you are intent on watching your companion die from organ combustion, you have my utmost permission to leave.”

Logan!” Patton chided, a lot exasperated. He turned back to them. “He doesn’t mean it like that, I promise.”

“Really?” Virgil snapped, crowding Roman back further. “Because it sure sounds like he just outright threatened to kill us if we leave.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose before rising easily from his chair and reminding them all just how big he truly was. “This is why I let Patton handle the talking. I don’t know why humans always insist on making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

Virgil’s heart jumped into his throat as the giant approached, a thousand potential ways they were going to die flashing before his eyes. Behind his back, he flashed Roman a hand sign that meant ‘run for it’, and then released his friend’s wrist to draw one of his knives threateningly.

It was a pointless effort, but he’d known since setting out with his prince that one day he’d die for him.

Sure enough, the giant moved with that same uncanny speed he’d shown in the clearing, and simply grabbed Virgil’s forearm between his fingers as easily as one might scruff a cat, preventing any stabbing.

When Virgil immediately went to grab for another knife with his free hand, he found himself abruptly lifted and maneuvered, and couldn’t help letting out a startled yelp. The giant had essentially flipped him onto his front and settled one hand on his back as a weight, leaving him pinned and the giant firmly out of stabbing range.

More concerning was the fact that he could now see Roman, who hadn’t moved more than a few steps, and not just because he was a stupidly loyal, headstrong idiot. The prince seemed almost dazed, his skin shiny with sweat as he glanced between Virgil and Logan. Something was wrong. “Roman--!”

“You’re beginning to feel it, aren’t you?” Logan said, his cold tone thawing slightly as he looked down at Roman. “The cult of that town has only grown more... inventive with every cruel sacrifice they attempt. Rather than physical injuries, they’ve turned to blood curses, which has made my life exceedingly difficult.”

“Blood-- Blood curses?” Roman managed, looking more pallid by the moment.

The giant set a free hand down, palm up in offering. “I can reduce the effects. If you give me sufficient time, I can unravel the curse entirely, though brewing a countercurse will likely necessitate a drop of your blood.”

“Why go to the trouble?” Roman asked haltingly, meeting Virgil’s frantic gaze for only a moment. “What do you want in return?”

Logan sighed. “If you insist on applying such intentions to my actions, you can call it compensation. It is because of my presence that the cult continues to leave ‘offerings’, and thus your current state is my fault.”

“Then why not just do it?” Roman asked, staring at the offered hand with clear suspicion. Virgil was almost proud.

“Patton has gone to great lengths to teach me manners for interacting with smallfolk,” Logan replied dryly. “The first of which being ‘don’t grab.’”

There was a brief moment of silence as they all looked to Virgil, who was still pinned and sorely wishing he was in biting range of Logan’s hand.

“Manners don’t apply if someone is trying to stab me,” Logan added, a beat late.

Patton waved from where he was half-hidden behind Logan’s arm. “It’s true, my lessons did make an exception for stabbing!”

“Let him up,” Roman requested, his voice lacking its usual bravado. He still appeared concerningly ill. “He won’t stab you, right Virgil?”

Virgil grumbled something uncomplimentary under his breath, before sighing and going limp. “All I want is to protect my prince. If you actually mean to help him, I won’t stab you.”

“Now that stabbing is off the table, I’ve gotta say, it’s knife to meet you,” Patton chimed in, his grin audible in his voice.

“Patton, please,” Logan groaned, lifting his hand off Virgil to instead massage his temples in exasperation. “You’re going to disturb our guests.”

“Aw, are you sure? I think my jokes are stabsolutely hilarious!”

Virgil ignored the ridiculous byplay between the two of them to scramble to his feet and hurry to Roman’s side, ignoring the way Logan moved his arm slightly to be between him and Patton. “Roman, are you okay?”

“Are you? You’re the one who just got gently tenderized by Bignoramus over there for the second time today,” Roman countered, matching Virgil’s whisper.

“Fine, stupid question, clearly neither of us are okay. Are we really doing this, though? We could still run.”

“I’m… not sure we can, actually.” Roman’s hand hovered over his chest, face drawn tight with pain. “They definitely did something to me, and I doubt either of us will figure out how to fix it or get aid in time. … Look. This may be my only option, but you don’t have to--”

“Can it, Princey,” Virgil cut in, dragging a hand through Roman’s hair roughly and ignoring his resulting squawk. “Where you go, I go.”

“Even there?” Roman asked, tilting his head toward Logan’s palm somberly.

Virgil looked over to Logan, watching the attentive way he was listening to Patton speak and contributing words of his own. The giant could have done away with any of them at any point, and he hadn’t. That wasn’t enough to really trust him, it could still all be part of some scheme, but... it had to count for something.

If it was the only thing that could help Roman, Virgil could push aside his fear and his anger.

“Even there,” he answered, and led the way onwards.

[diamond-coral]

The Heist (part 3/finale)

Steve x Reader

Chapter summary: Captain’s plan worked. Now you’re in for a lot of trouble after trying to break into his apartment. He’ll have you. Just like he wanted.

Warnings: 18+, explicit sex, dark, rape/non-con, forced orgasm, praise and degradation kink, kidnapping, mentions of strip club, mentioned anal, swearing, mild violence, slight Stockholm

“You wanna be treated like a whore?” he seethed. “Fine. I’ll treat you like a whore.”

Steve wrenched you from the wall and let you fly back toward his bed, your feet tripping over themselves as well as the chain attached to the cuff secured around your ankle before you finally tumbled onto the mattress. Your breathing was heavy as you glared back at his cerulean eyes which were narrowed, daring you to try anything.

And you did. Because fuck if you weren’t going down without a fight.

You darted out to the right, arm reaching out to take grip of the lamp on his nightstand. You grabbed hold of it and pivoted your body around as your arm flung out toward his head. Steve simply intercepted the hit with a firm grasp, and you gritted your teeth as the two of you began an aggressive tug of war for the lamp.

“Stop. This. Now,” Steve scolded as if you were a child before giving a sharp tug, the lamp slipping out of your hand.

“No thanks.” You grinned, catching him off guard, before you grabbed both his shoulders as support and kneed him in the groin. Hard.

Steve let out a pained groan. He dropped the lamp, and you caught it by the handle before using all your strength to swing the base against his head like a baseball bat. He stumbled backwards while his hand reached up near his temple. He pulled it back and inspected the blood. You remained frozen, having hoped that the blow would have at least knocked him out. His broad figure compromised your escape route to the door of his bedroom, so running was not an option.

“We need to fix this fuckin’ attitude of yours,” he grumbled, and while you were lost in your predicament of all escape routes being impossible, he snatched the lamp, this time breaking it in half like a toothpick before tossing both ends over his shoulder to the opposite side of the room. “I wanted a kind and docile housewife. Not some ungrateful bitch.” 

He practically pounced on you, and you fought, pushing against his brick wall of body, before relenting with the knowledge he was far too strong for you.

“Well you’ve got the wrong person, buddy-pal,” you quipped, but your voice trembled in your compromised position..

“No. I don’t. Because I’ve already seen her, you, at the club. And I don’t know why the hell you gotta give me some attitude when I’m trying to save you from the shitshow of a life you’re livin’. Maybe you’re just scared. Scared of letting someone take care of you when you’ve been fighting for yourself for so long, so you put on the unappreciative bitchy exterior.” 

Was this man serious? How delusional did he have to be to think all of that after one encounter?

“Well guess what,” he whispered, face so close to you that his breath fanned over you. “I’ll fucking rip it apart. I’ll break you down. Shatter this pathetic wall you have up until I get back the girl at the club. Might take a couple good fuckings, but I’ll finally get it out of you.” His thumb stroked your cheek, brushing away the tears that had shed at his admissions. “Aww, baby, don’t cry,” he cooed. “This is for the best.”

You let out a small whimper, another round of tears flowing, at the sound of his belt unbuckling and fly coming undone. 

You began pounding against his chest and begged him not to.

You wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Easily holding you down, Steve let out a stuttered moan as he entered you slowly. You begging turned into sounds of agony as he stretched you out and filled you like no other had before. 

“I wanted our first time time to be special. Slow and loving,” he confessed as he stilled inside of you. He slowly pulled out before slamming his hips back in and muffling your shriek with a large hand. “Gotta say, this is still pretty special though. Might just love those big watery doe eyes lookin’ at me a little more than that cute smile of yours. You just look so pretty, all wrecked and crying for me, doll.” He moved his hand slightly aside to lick a strip of your tear stained cheek, letting out a hum of approval.

You thrashed under him, hands lashing out until one of his own came to wrangle both wrists above your head, so you resorted to bucking your hips in hopes of throwing him off. It was hopeless. 

But you wouldn’t go down without a fight.

The hand covering your mouth moved down to hold you hip down in a bruising grip. He just rutted into you harder and faster in response to your outburst.

You couldn’t bring yourself to make a noise. The searing of your walls was slowly melting into pleasure. You feared accidentally letting a moan slip and alerting Steve to your pleasure.

But Steve could tell how you enjoyed it. Although tears flowed freely from your eyes, your pussy squelched, the sound blending in with the clapping of skin each time he drove into you.

“Told you. I’d fuck you. Like a whore,” He managed to get out between thrusts. “And you fuckin’ love it too.” He let out a dark chuckle. “God you’re such a slut.”

You whined as he pulled out when he flipped you over, but he made up for it by beginning to drill into you harder than before. With every brutal thrust, his cock glided against your g-spot before the tip punched against your cervix, and your eyes rolled back into your head.

Steve roped your hair around his palm and yanked your head back. Your back arched painfully to accommodate.

“Tell me you’re a slut. Tell me your my slut. Only mine. Only for me. Not that stupid fuckin’ club. Mine.”

“N-no. No,” you stuttered, barely being able to form words. You wouldn’t let him have his victory. You wouldn’t give it to him and bend to him.

Because you wouldn’t go down without a fight.

He once again yanked your hair, this time using the momentum to bring your body flush against him. His other arm came to wrap around your waist, and he secured your back to him, never once letting up on fucking you. The new angle made your body light on fire, and a moan escaped past your lips.

“Say it. Say you’re my slut and I’ll let you cum.”

You wouldn’t. You still had some dignity left. You’d be strong. You’d-

“Oh fuck, I’m your slut. Please let me cum. Please, please, I need it so bad. I’m your fucking slut! Only yours Steve!” you cry out. Humility and pleasure both burned your body.

“Atta girl,” he grunted, quickening his pace. “Cum now. Cum all over my cock.”

You did just that. Your cunt clenched around his cock while you gushed around him. Pleasure constricted around your entire body like fire. 

“Good little whore. All mine,” Steve chanted, but you barely heard him. All you could think about was Steve and his cock. You shattered. Your mind, your body, your will, all shattered to a million pieces.

________________________________________________________________

You sigh, smoothing down the flowy pink skirt that stopped right about your knees. That was all six months ago but it felt like years. Steve made good on his word. Here you were, the good little docile housewife, waiting for him to return home from a mission that had taken him three days, a home cooked meal sitting on the table. Waiting to be devoured by the ravenous man who would return. Just like you.

You didn’t even attempt to escape this time. The first time you had managed to shatter the living room window with a lamp (ironic, huh?) while Steve was in the bathroom. You had made it down the fire escape before he intercepted you in the alley and dragged you quietly back to the apartment with a gun concealed between your bodies. When you got inside, Steve brutally took your virgin asshole. The second time, you tried the same thing, but Steve caught you before you even stepped foot out the window. After replacing the glass with a new bulletproof material from S.H.I.E.L.D., he starved you for five days, only allowing you water. He still made you cook for him though. It was a cruel joke to him, watching you make him a meal while your stomach was about to eat itself. He’d fuck you hard after, and your body felt like it’d break in half.

The third time was three months after that. You’d managed to gain his trust enough to let him take you for a walk in the park, and after a knee to the groin, you took off and hid yourself in a crowd of people. It wouldn’t be a good image for Captain America to be hunting down an innocent girl on the streets of New York. You managed to be away from him for almost 24 hours, but you couldn’t go to the police. After telling them you were a stripper that broke into Captain America’s apartment, you highly doubt they’d believe the rest of your story.

You were in the grocery store with some stolen cash when Bucky Barnes finally caught you. He muttered a couple words about how pretty Bella was and how he’d hate to put a bullet through her pretty head, and you followed him like a dog back to Steve’s building. Steve, as a thank you to Bucky and a punishment for you, let Bucky fuck you for hours till you passed out with his metal hand around your neck.

You smile to yourself, hoping Steve would be happy that you remained compliant and would be there to greet him as he returned home.

The sound of a lock turning snaps you out of your thought, and your head turns to the door as Steve enters.

“Sweetheart!” you say as you throw yourself on him, hands intertwined behind his neck.

“Hi honey,” he greets, smiling down at you, taking in the sight before he leans down to give you a peck on your painted red lips. You almost frown at your eagerness to return it. Almost. But your interest is directed toward Steve as he reaches into a paper shopping bag. “Got you a little something. Know how much you love to paint.” 

He pulls out a set of brushes, showing them to you, before handing you the entire bag. You look inside and gasp. So many colors and canvases. This was your life before he had trapped you, and here he was, giving you a piece of it back.

“Steve, I don’t even know how to thank you,” you begin. “I-”

Steve cuts you off with a deep kiss.

“Anything for my girl. Besides I figured you could use some practice.”

“For what?” you ask.

“Well, I bought us a house!” he announces, grinning. “That implant of yours will be wearing off in a couple months, and I’d love for you to paint a mural in the nursery. For our baby.”