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reallyhatethiswebsite · 2 months

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wip wednesday

thought i would do this since it's gonna be really hot again over the next few days and heat always makes me super sick (i wouldn't last 5 minutes in avernus lol)

for context it's part of a fic i thought to write since i felt like i didn't fully explore the Raphael-hunts-Tav request i got from a lovely person (and i also wanted to write something dark again since i am not good at it)

welcome to me writing mean and angry raph lol (tbh can't be sure if i will finish this)

thank you laura for labbing raph's dialogue with me ❤️

“Why would a power-hungry magelet with a chip on his shoulder abandon decades of ambition for some little bint he found on the roadside, when he could have hundreds – thousands of warm and willing holes to wet his cock with if he becomes a so-called god? Do you think you’re worth that sacrifice? Does Gale think you are? I’m sure he says lots of sweet things when he’s inside you, just as I’m sure he said the same things to Mystra, and we all know how that worked out…”

“Stop,” Tav begged. Sobbed.

“No,” the devil sneered. Utterly merciless. “It’s high time you faced the reality of your actions. You have doomed a future for the githyanki free from tyranny, you have doomed your friends’ chance to escape the emperor’s machinations, and you have doomed yourself, sweet pet, to reap what you sow – all for the sake of a man who rolled over you because you were the first woman in years to say yes. You wanted to enter my house without permission? Then you’ll stay for eternity.”

“You can’t keep me here!”

“I think you’ll find I can, girl,” Raphael rasped, malicious, quiet. His gaze flayed her alive, peeled away layers of skin and muscle to stare at her very soul. “For in this house, in this pocket of Hell, I am the master, and that means I can do whatever I want.”

A sick, bitter pill to swallow: he was right.

“Fine!” Tav laughed maniacally, the futility of the situation driving her to anger. “Fine, you evil bastard! I suppose you’ll have a pet squid soon, then. Have you always wanted one of those? Was it a boyhood dream, if you were a boy once? I hear ink stains are a bitch to get out of silk rugs.” As soon as she said it, Tav wished she had kept her mouth shut. She’d done everything wrong since entering that portal. Everything. Raphael’s shrewd yellow eyes narrowed as he considered something. Tav watched him raise his fingers, ready to snap, with dawning horror; if he did this, she wouldn’t just be stuck with him forever. She would owe him forever. A fate so much worse. “No! Wait! You don’t – I’m sure I won’t transform! It’s different in Hell, right?!”

“I’d rather not take the chance,” Raphael murmured, enjoying this moment of despair. “I’m not too fond of tentacles, you see. And besides…I promised I could be your saviour, didn’t I? Even though you hardly deserve it, but I’m nothing if not magnanimous, after all.”

CLICK. Such a small sound heralding a monumental, irreversible change.

Agony. The likes of which Tav couldn’t comprehend. Her skull splitting apart, bursting from the inside, her brains chewed up and spat out, eyes and teeth and tongue destroyed, sinuses burning…it only lasted for a few brief seconds, maybe, but the next thing she knew she was on her hands and knees. Frothy blood and bile oozed from her nose and mouth. Her body shook violently. Her head felt like it was full of water. She wasn’t sure, but she might have pissed herself a little bit. She stared up at the devil through bleary wet eyes and saw him watching her. Savouring her suffering. Floating in his palm was her tadpole, sluggish and covered in gore. Covered in her brains.

“Hmmm…I suppose I could have used less force for the extraction,” Raphael mused, unapologetic. He squinted at the ugly cosmic horror larva with disdain. “I was lead to believe these things were near-impossible to remove. Clearly not. Such weak magic. That worthless boy still has a lot to learn.” He curled his fingers inward and the tadpole caught fire, writhing and screaming as it died. Rendered to ash. Then he smiled at Tav, placid, almost business-like, as if he hadn’t just up-ended her entire existence. Her suffering had greatly improved his mood. “There we are. Now you won’t have to worry about those lovely guts of yours dissolving any time soon. Not before I get to sample them, at least.”

“I’d rather be a mind flayer,” Tav slurred quietly. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt hollow. Without that tadpole – as awful as it had been – she couldn’t reach her friends or even the emperor to beg for help. She knew they were pragmatic. They’d realise something went wrong and cut their losses. They wouldn’t risk storming this infernal psycho’s little castle to rescue her, not when the elder brain was so unstable and they were so close to vanquishing the Absolute cult, but at least pretending it was an option would’ve given her something to hold onto.

“And ruin that delightful complexion of yours? Perish the thought.” The devil reached to wrap one big paw around her forearm and tugged her upright. Tav was too weak to pull away. She barely stayed on her feet. The room and everything in it swayed. Until it was forced to stop by his hot clawed hand holding her jaw firm. Raphael’s image swam into focus. He gently turned her head this way and that. He was examining her; examining his new property. “Can’t fault the magelet’s taste. You are a pretty little thing. And now you’re my pretty little thing.”

He pushed his thumb into her mouth. She could taste the sulphur and hellish magic even over the copper sticking to her gums and teeth. She bit him, tried to, but Raphael wasn’t phased. He dug his thumb claw into her tongue instead, pressing until he pierced the muscle, until Tav cried out. Fresh blood welled from the small puncture wound.

“Behave,” the devil simply said, like he was talking to a naughty puppy.

“Never,” Tav spat. Raphael seemed to like that answer, if the sparkle in his eyes and his rich chuckle were any indication.

“Oh, you’ll learn, my little mouse. One way or the other.” He dragged his thumb out of her mouth, smearing blood and spit across her lips. His pupils expanded as he looked upon her. He found this arousing, Tav realised, more repulsed than she’d ever been in her life.

“You make me sick,” she hissed.

“You have no idea just how sick I could truly make you,” he purred around a sinister smile, “but we have all the time in the world for that, don’t we, pet? Thanks to you, I’ve got a lot more work to do now. Plans to tweak, contingencies to set up, that sort of thing. I don’t expect you to understand, but unfortunately it means I won’t be able to break you in quite yet. But fret not, you shan’t be alone. Haarlep can keep an eye on you until I return.”

#baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 raphael #raphael bg3 #raphael the cambion #raphael x tav #wip wednesday #current wip #fanfic #cringe

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arendaes · 12 days

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Tagged by @dujour13, thank you!

Tag game: Give your KC’s first impression and final opinion of each of their companions!

Obv these are for Ariadne :3 I'm also leaving this as an open tag since I'm not sure who all has been tagged. If you played WOTR, I want to see your KCs responses!

First Impressions

Seelah: Really glad she's here. Not only does she look like she can give it as a good as she take it, but she's fun, and the last thing I want is to be stuck down here with a stick in the mud.

Camellia: ...ah, here's the stick in the mud. Still, as long she's willing to point the rapier in that direction of whatever else is down here, she can't be too bad, can she?

Lann: Hm, interesting, and I don't just mean his appearance. There's something about his personality that doesn't feel like something that's been cultivated in the caves. Too bad I'm not sure such a reckless plan is advisable.

Wenduag: On the other end of the scale, we have this one. Cautious and closed-off, almost to a fault...I can't say I blame her, though. She has no more reason to trust me than I do her, but we have to if any of us are going to get through this.

Woljif: Gorgeous...well, someone's certainly trying to sweet talk his way out of that cell. Luckily for him, flattery will get him everywhere...I should probably stop thinking like that.

Ember: Oh, she's a few plums short of a fruit pie, isn't she? Well, that's all right, people think the same thing about me. I can't leave her alone out here, though. She'll just end up in a demon's maw and empathize with it as it chews otherwise.

Nenio: And yet another person of dubious self-preservation, this time all in the sake of science. Good lord...is this what people think I'm like?

Daeran: It is entirely unfair for such horrible things to come out of a mouth so gorgeous...I really need to stop thinking like that.

Ulbrig: The fact he just burst in through the ceiling didn't faze him at all, huh? Heh...time to have some fun. He seems good for it.

Galfrey: Didn't expect to meet the fucking Queen when I got to sent to Mendev. Three years in training, and the Society tells you fuck all about what to do if you meet royalty. I'm panicking, aren't I?

Sosiel: In another time and place I would've been delighted to make his acquaintance. As it is, I can't help but wonder how he's gotten himself tangled up in all this.

Regill: Oh, wonderful. I'm breaking into the mead stash under my bed when we get back to camp. I'll have to, if I'm to reconcile allying myself with this lot.

Arueshalae: Well, this is positively novel! A repentant demon...well, despite what Regill and Lann think, I don't see any reason why it's not possible. And if she turns out to be lying, well...killing demons is what this group's best at.

Greybor: Isn't that the guy who warned me not to do anything rash in the Tower of Estrod? He's bum-rushing a balor? With a dagger? Respect.

Trever: I...I am so glad Sosiel's not here to see his brother like this. We've got to find a way out of here.

Socothbenoth: Oh, hey, it's that guy from the Grey Garrison. He looks much more...slimey than I remember.

Final Opinion

Seelah: My best friend, my rock. I wouldn't have made it throughout this Crusade without you there by my side. Or in front of me, depending on what context we're talking about. I'm sorry for everything this war threw at you, but you came out stronger and more sure of yourself and beliefs for it, and I'm proud to call you my friend.

Camellia: I know I seem like an irresponsible frippet, but I was put in charge of the Crusade and all the people in it. I had a responsibility, and I took it seriously. When one of my companions was revealed to be murdering the people in my care for sport...I'm sorry, but there was no power on the face of Golarion that would have let me let her walk out of that basement a free woman. She made her choice. I hope Horgus Gwerm rots in hell.

Lann: This guy...he really put me through the ringer with that fatalism of his. For a moment there I was frightened he was going to get himself killed because of it. I'm very glad he came out of the other side a changed man, and I can't wait until we can all go sailing on his boat.

Wenduag: I genuinely thought getting out of the caves would help her. I was wrong. I feel...more guilt than I do with Camellia. But not much.

Woljif: Back when we met in that basement, I thought you were just trying to charm your way into my good graces and would abandon me the second things got rough. Which...you did. But you came back, and I can't imagine my life without you now. You and Daeran truly carried me, more than you'll ever know.

Ember: This isn't what expected to happen when I took you in, you know. I'm not sure how much I buy the whole "saint" thing, but I can't deny you're doing good work. I'll try to help as much as I can.

Nenio: I really thought I lost you there for a moment with Areshkagal. You're calling me by my name now, and it's strange. I almost miss just being "girl" to you. But I have to admit, I'm very excited to see your Encyclopaedia finished.

Daeran: There is so much I could say about you, and it wouldn't be enough. I'm glad you came to trust me. I promise I'll never do something like that to you again. I love you too much to risk losing you.

Ulbrig: So, you're a god, huh? Well, that was unexpected. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. I sure as hell couldn't do it.

Galfrey: Holidays and family reunions are going to be interesting from now on, aren't they?

Sosiel: I'm sorry this war broke the rose-colored glasses you used to see the world through, but I think you're better for it. And it wasn't all bad - we got your brother back, and you fell in love! I suspect the road ahead will be hard, but worth it. I'm always down for a wine tasting, if you ever need me.

Regill: I'm almost surprised by you. I had a running theory, you know - I thought being a Hellknight was your own weird way of fighting the Bleaching. And you know what? I don't think I was too far off - I think I bought you a little bit of time, if nothing else.

Arueshalae: Letting you out of that cage was a good decision in the end. I'm glad you found your dream, and I hope it comes true sooner rather than later.

Greybor: Well...I just hope he's happy. Running a guild of assassins in the Abyss seems like it will be no easy feat. Though, given my impending elevation in status, I'm sure it won't hurt to have someone who can keep an ear to the ground for me. Daeran's going to have a hit put out on him eventually, I just know it.

Trever: I hope things get better for you from here on out. I don't blame you for holding yourself apart from me, even if it stings. With your brother at your side, I know you'll be okay.

Socothbenoth: I hope you enjoy spending the rest of your millennia in this form. It suits you much better.

#tag games #oc: ariadne trias-arendae

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valley-of-the-lost · 3 years

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I don't know if you watched BPA, but.. I have a question, that I don't know if you can answer this, but it's been nagging at me (this is a multi-part ask, this will be a quick rundown): A blog that used to be interested in Barbie claimed that BPA has some racist undertones; this is because, as they claimed, due to the antagonist (who has, as they put it, brown skin) tries to take over the kingdom of a white princess/queen. 1/?- Barbie Multiverse Anon

Okay, so, a quick explanation. This ask has been sitting in my inbox for a few days, and I sincerely apologize to Multiverse Anon for making them wait this long for me to weigh in on this. When I received this ask I was neck-deep in part of an art challenge that wore me out and I had not watched BPA (which I assumed was Barbie Princess Adventure) at the time, and I felt that this was the type of ask that I needed to chew on for a couple days and talk to some people before I was certain of my thoughts on it.

Now, I have done some cursory research, watched Barbie Princess Adventure myself, and bounced it off some of my friends for their take as well. Thus I will attempt to answer this to the best of my ability.

I do agree with the unknown blogger in question that Prince Johan is a brown-skinned character, and that the plot has racist implications due to the combination of this, him being the antagonist, and the fact that his kingdom lost a war to Amelia's prior to the plot to drive his motivation hence why Amelia is taking over the rule of both her own and his kingdom. However, I disagree with them that this is an ongoing theme or that there's a pattern of racist undertones in previous Barbie movies. At least from my own knowledge.

(under a read more because I don’t want to clog people’s dashes, this is not a simple topic to unpack + the movie did some weird things I wanted to explain too)

Before I really delve into the meat of why I take this stance, I want to quickly discuss why I had to even assert that I agreed that Johan is a brown-skinned character as its own point on the off-chance someone else encounters the same initial weird impression I did. You can skip this part if you want, I'll put a triple asterisk where this ends (***).

Prior to watching BPA myself, I did some cursory research on the Barbie Movies wiki, prompted by this ask. I put together that Johan was probably the antagonist that was being referred to, but when I was on his page, his wiki picture was just this.

This was all I had to go off of at this point, because he didn't have a screenshot gallery for me to cross-reference him throughout different points in the movie. So the conclusion I drew at the time was "he just looks like a tan white guy". This impression was reinforced by his light eyes and recycled Ken face model. I cross-referenced this with some friends, and we came to the conclusion that at best he looks racially ambiguous, with no reason to think he was a character of color unless there was other indication about his race in the movie itself.

And then I watched the movie. And changed my mind when I saw what he looked like in these scenes.

Johan looks noticeably darker than he did in his single wiki picture, especially when next to other more obviously white characters like Barbie and Amelia. His skin tone is closer to Alphonso whom I would call a brown character pretty confidently in the same movie (I wanted to minimize comparisons across movies to eliminate the possible different variables that would come with it).

While this might not be as noticeable to other people casually watching the movie, I found this a bit jarring myself because I was focusing on his skin tone in particular due to the subject of the ask and my initial impression from the wiki picture when he was arguably at his lightest in the whole movie, as well as when he was introduced he was at his darkest because it was set at night. Also the way the animation team decided to shade him to convey that its nighttime confused me because he looked a lot darker than I thought someone of what I assumed his skin tone would look. And then the next scene with him and Barbie further confused me, because he suddenly got this reddish undertone that really highlighted their difference in skin color.

(Barbie’s hands are on the left and Johan’s are on the right for sake of direct comparison)

Finally, in his last scenes in the movie, Johan's skin tone is most like that of his wiki picture's. Darker than Barbie's when they stand in the same shot but light enough that he could've passed as a tan white guy. What cemented my confusion is that he still looks like this in the throne room, where he was before when dancing with Barbie so it should reasonably have the same lighting and bring out that reddish undertone, but no he still looks like that. So my final conclusion on him was that since he looks like a brown-skinned character in around 2/3s of his scenes and there's a 2D painting of him in the bg when Barbie and Amelia are kidnapped, that he is indeed a brown-skinned character and the animation department probably fucked up their lighting which messed with how uniform his skin tone looked across scenes. ***

Now that I've explained my process of confusion and then final agreement that Johan is indeed brown-skinned, let's discuss how this compounds with other elements to create a rather unfortunate picture. I'm afraid its a bit worse than Anon described.

First off, the added context of the history between Amelia's kingdom of Floravia and his kingdom of Johanistan. Prior to the movie proper, these two countries fought in a war and Johanistan eventually surrendered to Floravia. The two countries signed a treaty that said that after her coronation, Amelia would rule both Floravia and Johanistan.

There is a severe lack of critical details about the war itself, such as what caused it in the first place, which really works to the film’s disadvantage, since the absence of clarity does little to clear up the questionable implications of what is known about the relationship between Floravia and Johanistan.

Amelia’s kingdom is the one that took over Johan’s initially, since they won the war and Johanistan would be ruled by Floravia’s queen, with the implication being that she’d depose Johan’s family, the original ruling family. While the lack of details makes it so it can’t quite be said that Floravia is colonizing Johanistan, it also means that it can’t be said that Floravia is not colonizing Johanistan. What is known about the war is very broadly reminiscent of tactics white people have used to colonize other countries, such as using a war to depose the original royal family for the colonizer’s own gain (the US colonizing Hawaii by staging a coup against their ruling family because the white plantation owners got mad) and putting the other country in a disadvantageous position with a treaty (Opium Wars). This would probably just be viewed as normal Kingdom vs. Kingdom politics if... well Johan wasn’t a character of color.

Combined with viewing this movie through the lens of real-life racial biases (which people are predisposed to do because we're inherently based in reality), the likely conclusion drawn is that this white ruler (Amelia) is effectively ousting a character of color (Johan) and his family out of power and force-assimilating his country, and there's simply not enough clarity about previous events before the movie takes place to dispel it sufficiently.

This also poisons the plot proper because Johan's motivation is to take advantage of the law that the rule of both kingdoms falls to him if Amelia doesn't show up to coronation and regain rule of his own kingdom and Floravia as a nice plus. The intention was probably to show him as greedy for wanting lone rule of Floravia and Johanistan, taken together, it honestly comes across as the movie villianizing a character of color because he wants to regain sovereignty of his own kingdom from a white ruler. Its completely understandable that Amelia wouldn't want to lose her own kingdom especially coming off of war, but also her kingdom is also the one ousting out the previous royal family of Johanistan without giving any good reason why they can't compromise.

The effect would be somewhat mitigated if another character of color had a similarly prominent role as Johan on the side of Barbie, but there's really not. The closest I'd argue would be Alphonso, but he doesn't have equal plot relevance. This does, in my opinion, make Barbie Princess Adventure's plot give off racist vibes like that unknown blogger said. But I do not agree with them that there's a "pattern" of racist undertones in other Barbie movies.

Due to the lack of details of what exactly they meant by a "pattern" of racist undertones, I am assuming they mean a consistent pattern of racism across the movies, for example the movies consistently dipping into anti-Asian sentiments with their villains, or their plots inherently having racist vibes woven into them like I just talked about in BPA.

Despite the Barbie movies occasionally dipping into offensive territory, in my personal experience I have not observed a pattern of racist undertones or consistent racism targeting a specific group. I acknowledge that I could fully be wrong and a lot of things could have slipped past my notice, especially since I have not seen all the movies, but from the ones I have seen I have not observed a pattern with regards to this. However, I will point out the offensive/iffy things in the movies that I know of, with varying degrees of detail depending on how much I can remember. This is by no means a full compendium of all the problematic stuff Barbie films have touched on but these are the ones I am aware of at present.

Barbie of Swan Lake - Antisemitism. There was a TikTok on this somewhere that discussed this more in detail that I can't find but will link if I do, but what I do remember was Rothbart was given an extremely large nose which is reminiscent of the "Jewish nose" ethnic stereotype. Also there was something about his name and Tchaikovsky himself being antisemitic and those views being reflected in his ballet. I don't remember all the details I'm sorry and google wasn't giving me much.

Barbie in the Princess and the Pauper - Antisemitism. Preminger hits a couple of antisemitic stereotypes in the movie, such as having a noticeably larger, hooked nose compared to the other male characters which is reminiscent of the ethnic stereotype of the "Jewish nose" and being greedy and corrupt (literally mining every singe piece of gold out of the mines) which is a stereotype of Jewish people. His name is also of Jewish origin which by itself wouldn’t be a necessarily suspicious thing but combined with those other tropes it does add up.

Barbie Diaries - Tia, a black woman and also the only one with curly hair in the cast, making an iffy comment about "getting the tangles out of her hair". POC with different hair textures have gotten a lot of racist shit for their hair so even though this is a small oneoff comment seeing Tia talk about her hair like this in a negative manner rubbed some of my friends with curly hair wrong.

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 - Polynesian racism. Another friend of mine who is Hawaiian brought this up in Mermaid Tale 2, when Merliah and co decided to have a luau (which is a traditional Hawaiian party or feast usually accompanied by entertainment) in Australia. My friend found it a bit iffy they were doing this when most everyone is white, but what they found worse was when poi was being served in the luau. Poi is a traditional Polynesian dish, but in the movie they claimed it was an Australian and Hawaiian dish, which its not, there’s no Australia in its origin. And then there was a "gag" where the people eating the poi were gagging on it, so essentially this movie was making a joke out of another culture's aesthetics and food.

Barbie Princess Adventure - Reread the above text.

Maybe my sample size isn’t big enough but I’m not seeing a pattern or a trend here, which in my opinion would be a larger cause for concern because for these movies their issues are largely contained to their specific movie, and a pattern would be indication of a wider problem. Maybe you see a pattern I don’t, that would be completely valid.

Now, do I think this means you can’t enjoy Barbie Princess Adventure? No, I’d be a bit of a hypocrite if I said that because I still enjoy some of the Barbie movies I listed above that I just said also have problematic elements (Swan Lake and Princess and the Pauper specifically). But I do think it is good to at the very least be aware of it, hear it out, keep it in mind. At the same time I understand why people would be turned off by this topic because they’re here to have fun riding the serotonin of childhood nostalgia and not delve into discourse.

But I hope I answered your question to your satisfaction Multiverse Anon! I’m going to go take a nap now I’m tired 😭.

#ask of the lost #barbie #barbie princess adventure #tw discussion of racism

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slashingdisneypasta · 3 years

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Damien Dalgaard x Experimenting!Fem!Reader || Drabble

Plot: You want to safely experiment with recreational drugs but Damien wants to keep that from happening so he stretches his power in the world of drug sales to prevent anyone of note from selling to you.

Warnings: References to responsible recreational drug use, drug dealers, slightly controlling/possessive ways. Sexual references, also. Its mostly fluffy though

I stand one bisexual drug dealer

~~~

"Jacob, please. Come on. I have the money, I have my drivers licence- you know me! I don't want anything crazy, just something fun! And safe!" You press your hands together in a 'praying' gesture and set the hulking figure with a pleading gaze. "And I have plans to take it, at home, with my sober mum in the room. Really, I have no precarious plans!"

"I know, I trust you sweetheart. But I just cant sell you anything." He shrugs, turning his body towards the bar exit so he can escape you- but your hand flies from your side and to his forearm, gently, to stop him. He whines. "Come on, Y/N... "

"Jacob... " You fire back, in the same pleading tone. Then an awkward smile slips across your lips and raise an eyebrow in question, crossing your arms over your chest. "Come on," You tilt your head to the side. "What's really going on? You're the 4th person that's refused to sell me anything and I'm running out of notable dealers."

Jacob rubs the back of his thick neck, the skin stretching under his palm, and he grits his teeth together. "Look, I... " Making a frustrated noise, he lets go and shakes his head, avoiding your gaze. "Someone... doesn't seem to uh... be too pleased, at the idea of you... " He tilts his head to one side, then the other. Choosing his words carefully- not that he has to. Understanding is starting to sink in as he speaks, anyway. Finally he drops his arm and sighs out a frustrated sigh. "Buying any drugs."

Damn it.

As Jacob says sorry and slips away from you successfully this time as you sigh and lean back on the pillar behind you. A certain blue eyed devil boy, who was unknowingly to you, keeping an eye on the exchange between you and Jacob from the bar, picks up his drink and slips through the crowd to you. As soon as you see him, you roll your eyes. Of course he's here, on top of everything else!

You refuse to even say hello to your stalker and give him the damn satisfaction, and just glare at up at him from the pillar instead. Although, you're careful not to pout- lest you only cement his juvenile opinion of you.

"Sorry, sunshine. Got to him a few minutes before you got through the door."

You huff. "Damiennnnn." A smirk flickers at the corners of the raven haired dealer's lips, just like any time you would groan out his name; The context be damned. "Why're you doing this?"

"For your own good, baby. You know tha- " Before he can even finish that sentence, you're rolling your eyes and moving to leave him right there in the bar, but he manages to side step you and get in front of you again. His hand curls around your arm, gently. "You wouldn't like it. I know you wouldn't, you're a good kid. I'm just saving you from a bad experience."

"That's not your choice to make." You snap back, gaze meeting his and, for once, being the icier party. "Damien you're not my mum. And you're not my boyfriend- neither of which would change a damn thing about my decision, if you were in fact either of those things to me."

"Well that's just too bad sweetheart, because alert the presses, cuz I seem to have just beat the system." Like the hot douche he tends to be, he makes a show of looking you over, from head to toe. "Because I don't see any fucking drugs, on you."

You growl, and exclaim hopelessly. "I would if you would just sell them to me!"

"Not gonna happen."

"Why!?"

"I told you." Damien moves closer, hunching over you. You can feel his breath on your forehead, but still you stay firm. He's annoying, and frustrating, and a pain in the ass. Your personal brand of sexy, yes, but all those other things first and foremost. "You're a goody-two-shoes, and you wouldn't like what it does to you." Oh, he says it like its scientific fact. And it seriously grates on your nerves. Why is he so insistent??!

You roll your eyes deeply, enough to really feel it before talking again. "I wouldn't or you wouldn't?"

A slow, mischievous grin slips over his face. But its just a show and does little to cover up the unsureness in his eyes. "Sweetheart. Does that distinction really matter that much?"

You cross your arms. "It does if you're thinking like a boyfriend but refuse to act like one, jerk." For a moment he doesn't say anything. His mouth opens a little, like words should come out immediately - a deflection, a denial. Something clean and easy, - but he just... gets stuck. Freezes. Realisation of how real those words you just spat out must truly be slowly dawn on you, and you revert your gaze from his. The anger from before kind of just, slips right out of you. "Cuz... you come to see me a lot. You try to protect me. We're having regular sex, you bring me my (Chosen drink) for no conceivable reason other then to make me happy... " Things start to make sense to you as 2 and 2 come together. Your eyebrows knit together and your gaze flickers up to his, then away again. Then you shrug. "But then again, that cant be it, right? You don't do relationships, right?"

"Right." He replies back, quickly this time. Too quickly.

"Right." You say back, then chew on your bottom lip and look around. You cant see much of the rest of the bar, and the partyers being loud as hell around because Damien's so close and is shielding you from everything, but you don't know quite what else to do, now. He's frozen, and even when he defrosts you're not sure he's going to have anything remotely productive to say and might just brush you off actually which would be sucky, so... Maybe, you should... go???

But just as you move to slip around Damien and leave, he seems to gather his wits and clenches his grip harder down on your arm. "Hold on, wait a moment, there." He looks up and finally meets my eyes again; You raise an eyebrow expectantly. What? He sighs, and leans forward, rests an arm on the pillar above your head - caging you in, - and squeezes his eyes closed for a moment, controlling himself. "Where are you going?" For gods sake.

"Home- there you go thinking like a boyfriend again though! Why do you need to know where I'm gonna be??"

"Why do you answer me, in the first place?" He shoots right back this time, causing you to blanche up at him. A slow smirk spreads across his lips again- this time, real. There's a definite mischievous sparkle in those blue-blue eyes. "Do you want me to be your boyfriend, Y/N?"

Sputtering, mostly to waste time so you can find the right response to a bold question like that, you say nothing. What? What? This is not about you- Why don't you feel violently ill at the concept, though?

Must be just because he's standing so close. He's pretty, that's it. Your own personal, addictive brand of pretty. That's all- "Maybe?"

... what??

For a moment all the mystery, mischief, good old bad-boy energy and just, plain, darkness just leaves him. Its unbelievably endearing and all you can do is stand there like a doll watching Damien laugh, quietly, at your response and probably the fact that you must look like a startled baby bird right now too. Briefly you let yourself dip into that box pushed into the very back of your mind, hiding away all the things that you shouldn't think about regarding Damien, and wonder if that's what he looked like all the time, before. When he was all geeky and book-nose-y. A 'goody-two-shoes' himself. You read about that part of his life on Gossip Girl. He didn't talk about it, for damn sure.

Then you shut that down because its in that box for a reason. Its not appropriate for you to dig that deep, with him.

But also you're totally confused, with where this conversation might be going. Should you pick up that box? Its becoming dangerously close to being appropriate.

"Maybe?" He asks, clearly amused. Like a chameleon, his colours change back again to drug dealing dickhead. You don't mind. You like both.

You tilt your head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "... Well, do you want me to be your girlfriend?"

He rolls his eyes, smirking, and chooses to torture you with his own 'Maybe', making you huff. He's amused by it, before setting you with a serious, questioning look. "If I did, though... What would that mean about your little drug quest you got going, here?"

Oh.

You're back here again.

Wonderful.

"Well," You take a deep breath, and reach up to cautiously hang your arms loosely around his neck; Something you've done plenty of times before but never so intimately. Not this kind intimately, anyway. Absolutely not. This kind, is what makes you nervous. More then when you met him, your first time at a bar on your own. More then any of the times someone dangerous approached you both when you were with him, definitely more then when you had sex - no matter where, - . More then roller coasters and giant swings. "I don't think it would go away totally," You say, carefully. "if I was your girlfriend, or anyone's girlfriend. Then, I think I'd be... too preoccupied, to think about that. For a little while, at least."

After a moment of letting your words sink in, Damien makes a thoughtful 'Hm' sound and wraps both his arms around your waist- gathering you up against him. "Sounds like time that could be used convincing you not to try."

"You could see it that way." You grin, rolling your eyes. But like a light switch, those words seem to ease the whole situation. Damien's hands on you, the feel of him close, isn't anything new to you. But it feels different all the same. Like you're really allowed to like it, now. In all the most innocent ways possible. "But good luck."

"I think I'll take my chances with that option." Damien proclaims, and for a moment you just stand there together. The bar's music blaring in your ears, making them pink and hot, the material of his dark coat cosy to the touch and making you feel enclosed in it and safe despite all the chaos that bars encase, Damien looking around the room; Not assessing possible sales for once or checking for danger. Just... stewing in his satisfaction. The frustration bleeding from the both of you earlier seemingly evaporated like it was nothing, as you grin down to yourself. "Also," He pipes up again coyly after a few minutes, catching your attention by squeezing you a little bit, also. "With you as my girlfriend," Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend- "now, I can do this any time I want."

Then he leans down and presses his lips against yours - less needy then usual. Not looking for anything more. Just kissing you to feel your lips against his, - in a kiss that sends tingles all over your body, and forces you to get up onto the tips of your toes to reciprocate with as much passion.

BONUS:

"Welp, I'm gonna get going now." You exclaim once the kiss is over, or you just cant hold your breath anymore, and reluctantly pull out of his arms, fixing your bag on your shoulder. You flash him a grin, tilting your head to the side. "Probably see you tomorrow?"

"Where are you going?"

"Home!" What does he mean, 'Where are you going?' ??? "I told you. I have cookies there, and my sister will eat all of them if I stay away all night."

Damien just stares back at you, waiting for some punch line, apparently. When no punchline comes after too many moments, he holds up a hand to slow you down- as if you had moved at all, with him staring at you like that. Any dose of those blue eyes are lethal. "Wait, you're really going home?"

"Yep." You pop the 'p', equally confused with him as he is with you. What does he mean, 'Wait, you're really going home'?????? Of course you're going home. That's what you said? Twice?

He just continues to stare at you. "What?? Cookies, Damien."

"I can buy you cookies." He assures, but you shake your head.

Tempting, but- "Mm, not these. I baked them."

"I can buy you ingredients."

"But then I have to wait for them to bake, and cool, when I can just take a 15 minute tram ride home and eat them now."

"Okay- " Damien sighs, kneading his forehead. "Alright, I might be new to the boyfriend thing Y/N, but don't people in relationships traditionally spend a- well, an obscene, amount of time together?" You smirk and giggle, at that. Oh, that's the issue. He thought becoming your boyfriend would be a bigger thing.

Hmm, you look away and wonder how to word this...

"Damien. Heads up, but as far as I'm aware, you've been acting like my boyfriend for months now. We've just labelled it now- not much is gonna change, except maybe I'll use the 'boyfriend card' sometimes with you. Don't sweat." With that, you lean up and peck him on the cheek as he smirks; relieved. Then you step back totally, resigned to not touching him again tonight even if you want to. That was goodbye. "Now, I'll text you later? Have a good night!"

"Night." He chuckles, pocketing his hands and turning to watch you leave.

#Damien Dalgaard #Damien Dalgaard x Reader #Drabble #Gossip Girl #Gossip Girl x Reader #Damien Dalgaard x Reader Drabble #Drabbles

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brasskier · 4 years

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Inspired by @valdomarx, @therogueheart, and that one anon, here’s a post-mountain Deaf!Jaskier story. Read it under the cut below or find it on my ao3 here.

Geralt stumbled upon Jaskier for the first time since the dragon hunt early the next spring, at a crowded market a week or two northeast of Oxenfurt. He'd stopped into town to stock up on supplies and maybe pick up a contract or two before moving along. If asked, he'd insist it was a series of hunts that brought him so close to the Academy, that he might as well follow the coin. And if he happened to run into his bard (ex-bard?), and happened to have the opportunity to apologize, and the bard happened to choose to follow him again? Well, so be it.

He smelled Jaskier before he could see him, head perking up and eyes searching the crowd for the flash of a colorful doublet and that soft brown hair. The market was teeming, thrumming with chatter, and just as vivacious as Jaskier himself.

"You goin' ta buy that or not?" The stall keeper asked, jarring him back to his abandoned transaction. He dropped a few coins on the stall, pocketed the herb, and disappeared without so much as a grunt. Weaving through the throngs of people, he relied on smell - on that familiar chamomile and saffron - until he finally spotted a glint of emerald green, and the strap of a lute. He watched from a distance.

Jaskier's hands were flashing about as dramatic as ever, glancing back and forth between the balding man tending the stall and another man standing beside him. His companion was as flamboyant as he was, dressed in a regal blue and arms waving about just as exaggeratedly. But then Geralt realized he couldn't hear Jaskier, which was unusual, because the bard had never in the two decades he'd known him been able to keep his voice down. The crowd was certainly cacophonous, but not that loud.

"Jaskier?" He drew a little closer and called his name tentatively. The bard didn't seem to react, carrying on with whatever he was doing. He tried again, a little louder, and then a third time, increasingly forcefully. He was getting irritated now - how dare he pretend to not hear me - and was tempted to simply move on. With a heavy sigh, he approached even further, lingering just a few paces behind him. "Jaskier?"

"Think someone's calling you," the stall keeper announced, jerking his head in Geralt's direction, and Jaskier waved his hands again before turning to follow the man's gaze. He blanched when his eyes finally met Geralt's, mouth hung open and hands dropping to his side.

"Geralt?" He squeaked out finally, dragging a hand up to his heart. There was an unusual quality to his voice, Geralt was quick to note. Not hoarse, like he'd heard him after many a late-night performance. Just different.

"Jaskier," he repeated, casting his gaze down to the russet dirt at his feet.

"Gods," Jaskier breathed. "Just - melitele's tits - I just…" He trailed off, wringing his hands together. Geralt couldn’t help but think he looked like one of the stray fawns that would occasionally stumble upon his campsite and linger frozen for a few moments, cast in the firelight and trembling with fear.

"It's okay, I know." He kept his eyes trained at his feet, trying to pin down the bard’s tone. The way Jaskier produced certain sounds, dragged over his vowels, a little bit of its usual edge missing. He must be overwhelmed, Geralt concluded, but he wasn't particularly convinced. "I'm sorry." He waited patiently, uncertainly, for either his acceptance or rejection.

"I need you to look at me," he said instead, surprising Geralt. He did as he was told, lifting his chin to face him. "Can you repeat that?"

"I'm sorry," he reiterated. He felt frustration welling again - he got his apology, does he really need me to repeat it? - but he quickly quashed it.

"Thank you, Geralt." He could see the emotion brimming in Jaskier's eyes. "We have a lot of catching up to do." Jaskier glanced sideways for a moment, fidgeting with one of his rings. "Perhaps we could share a drink? There's a tavern not far from here." He jerked his head to the right. Geralt grunted, and Jaskier raised an expectant eyebrow.

"Sounds good," he clarified. He was becoming increasingly convinced that Jaskier was toying with him for pleasure's sake. He knew full well how to interpret the Witcher's grunts, after all. And yet the expression drawn across his face looked impressively genuine. Humans are weird.

Jaskier uttered his thanks to the stall keeper and turned to face his companion - who'd been waiting patiently behind him - again. He wagged his hands about wordlessly, and it finally dawned on Geralt that this was not his usual theatricality - this was common sign language, and he wondered when exactly Jaskier had picked it up.

Jaskier was quiet most of the way to the tavern but seemed to perk up once they were seated - in the far back corner, Jaskier's choice. Geralt spoke first, determined to get this apology over with and behind him.

"I'm sorry about what happened." Jaskier tilted his head as he listened, chin resting on folded hands. "What I said was wrong. I shouldn't have blamed you, and…" he exhaled sharply, as if apologizing - or, more specifically, being honest and vulnerable - caused him actual pain. "The best blessing life has given me is finding you again." Jaskier's head tilted impossibly further, and then came the tears, and - fuck - did Geralt say the wrong thing?

"That's awfully sweet, Geralt," Jaskier eventually choked out, and he relaxed a little. "I'm sorry, I just--" He dragged a hand across his face. "That was so kind." He sniffled into his sleeve before finally re-righting himself. "I guess I'm just a tad sentimental." Geralt forced the best smile he could manage across his lips. "Gods, it's been so long. Go on, tell me everything you've been up to."

"Not much," he replied between sips of ale. "I'll tell you everything later." He chided himself as soon as the words left his mouth for just assuming there might be a later. "How have you been?"

"Hmm?" He sighed, fighting hard to keep from rolling his eyes.

"How have you been?" Jaskier seemed to spark to life again at this.

"Oh," he said simply, pushing his hair behind his ear and chewing on his lip. "Well, I returned to Oxenfurt, taught for the winter. I just headed out, actually. I've been a bit preoccupied." He leaned in closer, stared past Geralt at the wall behind him. "I, uhh, I got sick, coming down from the mountain." Geralt hummed, drawing a slow sip of his ale. "I mean, I kinda woke up sick, but then there was the dragon and…" He rubbed his thumb against the rough wood of the table. "Well, I was a little distracted. I don't even really remember making it off the mountain, to be honest."

"I'm sorry I didn't notice." Geralt might as well get all his apologies over with at this point, he thought. Jaskier waved a hand to hush him.

"I woke up at a healer's. Apparently someone had found me not far out of town and dragged me in." He let out a shaky exhale. "He said I'd had an infection in… In my brain." Geralt watched him with a sour mix of pity and regret, unable to shake the feeling that he should've been there. The image of Jaskier, waxy pale and slumped unconscious, trembling in a stranger’s arms, burned into his mind. "Anyway, I'm lucky I survived. But my hearing did not." Oh. Fuck. Suddenly the pieces slid into place - the sign language, the strange quality to his voice, the incessant requests for Geralt to repeat himself.

"Fuck, Jask, I'm sorry." He rarely shortened Jaskier's name, but he knew the bard liked the nickname, and it was the least he could do for him. His mind reeled with regret. He should've been there. A random stranger shouldn't have been the one to find him and rescue him. If he'd known, he'd have never - no. No, what he did was wrong outside of the context of what'd happened next, and he was not about to qualify it. Jaskier, for his part, seemed relatively unfazed.

"Nothing you could've done about it, really," he insisted, running his finger along the rim of his glass. "The healer said I just needed to fight it off on my own." This did absolutely fuck all to ease the guilt gnawing in Geralt's gut. Questions swirled in his head - how was Jaskier going to sing or play anymore? Could he still compose even? How was he going to survive; that was how he procured coin, after all? Was he… was he happy? Did he blame Geralt?

"I know, I just… can you still sing?" This question seemed to amuse Jaskier, who laughed heartily.

"Yes, Geralt, I can still deliver my fillingless pie." Geralt couldn't tell if he was serious or not, and while he used to be able to read his voice a little more consistently, he was unsure now and kicking himself for not making a better study of the bard's facial expressions and body language when they'd been together.

"You know I didn't…"

"I know. I know you didn't mean that." They sat in silence for a beat while Geralt wracked his brain for his next question.

"How? Do you sing, I mean, if you can't hear. How are you even talking to me?" He shrunk behind his tankard, suddenly embarrassed by the utter lack of tact that'd never bothered him before.

"Well, one of the perks of teaching at a premier Academy is access to some of the finest physicians this side of Nilfgaard. I'll be honest, it took a lot of work to relearn how to sing and speak; I was mute for most of my travels back to Oxenfurt, mostly out of shame." Geralt's stomach churned, imagining Jaskier entirely and utterly silent. That wasn't the bard he knew. His Jaskier never shut up, mouth constantly running faster than a horse, always a story to tell or a song to share or a joke to crack. And certainly never worried about whether anyone else wanted or needed to hear him. Jaskier was not quiet. "But fortunately I still have a tiny bit of my hearing - on the lower end, mostly, which is good for you. Plus I have decades of muscle memory, so it wasn't so bad. And as for right now? I'm mostly lipreading, though the pitch of your voice is helpful." Geralt couldn't tell whether he was being genuine or just trying to placate him. "It's just different. Have to feel it more than hear it, which if you ask me more musicians should try."

"I'm glad," Geralt gritted out, nodding at the bartender to bring another round of ale. "That you can still sing." Jaskier beamed.

"I knew you always liked my singing," he declared triumphantly, arms folded across his chest.

"Did you already know common sign?" Geralt asked instead of retorting with something snarky; let the bard have his victory.

"A tiny bit, but the language professor at the Academy was fantastic at teaching me." Geralt closed his eyes and tried to envision the odds and ends of common sign he'd picked up over his years of travel. "I made a lot of Deaf friends; they've been so supportive of me." With a sigh, Geralt decided to give it a try.

"I know a little," he signed, tentative and deliberate. Jaskier's eyes lit up.

"You do?" He signed back, eyebrows raised and grin spread across his face.

"Not much. I can…" His hands slowed, wracking his brain for the sign for learn. He sighed again and said it aloud instead. There he goes again, assuming Jaskier will stick around long enough to warrant learning more. Jaskier teared up again, and he cursed inwardly, wondering for what must've been the trillionth time that afternoon if he'd messed up.

"You'd do that? For me?" Jaskier squeaked, pawing at his eyes with a hand tucked in his sleeve.

"Of course." For a moment Jaskier looked like he might fling himself across the table and into his arms, but instead he fidgeted in his seat.

"That's enough about me now, isn't it?" Jaskier asked, always a master at changing the topic when he grew bored with it. "Tell me about your hunts." He leaned over, fished around in his pack, and plucked out his notebook and pen.

"First was an infestation of drowners," Geralt began, taking extra care to face Jaskier as he spoke, and pausing when he went to scribble something in his notes. They spent the next hour like this until, just as Geralt was beginning to wonder if the bard was going to force him to talk all night, Jaskier was tugged to the front of the tavern while excited patrons clamored for a performance. Jaskier obliged, as always, and Geralt watched, as always.

When Jaskier dropped back into his seat, shuffling his lute unceremoniously to the floor beside him, Geralt expected him to bid him a hurried goodnight, get on his way, and leave. Just a nice day catching up shared between two friends (?), and decidedly not the start of their next joint adventure. But instead of any of that, Jaskier called to the bartender for another mug, busied himself fixing his hair and his doublet.

"Told you I could still sing," he said with a wink as the bartender deposited his ale on the table in front of him. "And something to eat, please," he added before returning his attention to Geralt.

"I never doubted you," Geralt's reply came easily. It was, perhaps, the truth.

"Now then, would you say it has more or less filling now?" He leaned forward on his elbows, cheeky grin and narrowed eyes, and even Geralt could recognize the facetiousness of his words. Before Geralt could answer, he waved a hand, as if dismissing himself. "So, where were you? Something about a missing cow?" Geralt nodded, leaning back in his seat.

"So the boy told me his father would pay me, if I could find the cow. So I said, 'how much?'" He continued on with his tales, no matter how excruciatingly mundane they felt to him, until Jaskier's head dips forward and then picks back up for a third time. "Think it might be time for you to get some sleep?" He asked, and Jaskier blinked away the sleep in his eyes.

"Yeah, probably," he muttered, scrubbing at his face with one hand, the other dipping down to reach his lute. "Are you staying overnight?" He asked, and immediately flushed at the confused look he received from Geralt. "I just mean… I don't… you can't leave before I get to say hi to Roach."

"It's too dark now. I'll get a room at the inn." Jaskier’s face lit up, and he followed him in rising to his feet. "Just have to grab Roach first," he said when they finally made it out the door and into the cool early-spring night.

"M'kay," Jaskier hummed with a fond smile. He rested a hand on Geralt's shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning." It was a firm statement, certain and unquestioning.

"See you then," Geralt replied, heading back to the stable where he'd docked Roach so he could bring her closer to the inn. And he, too, was certain.

#the witcher #the witcher fanfic #the witcher fanfiction #geralt #geralt of rivia #jaskier #dandelion #julian alfred pankratz #henry cavill #joey batey #mountain breakup #deaf jaskier #deaf character #fanfiction #the witcher netflix #ao3

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writesowhatnext · 4 years

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semaphore but tastier // cedric diggory

Summary: the reader is Cedric’s best friend and they can read him like an open book

Request: hi! can i request a cedric diggory fic where the reader always bakes him smth and he feels better bc of it? 🥺 thank uu

A/N: I really hope this is okay because for some reason I am totally off my rhythm atm and it is also 1am so context also i love ced so more requests for him when i reopen are welcome

Reader: unspecified

Warnings: Triwizard tournament, injury

Anyone would think that you were conditioning him. For what, exactly, you couldn’t say, but you really couldn’t deny how pleased you were to see that handsome smile on his lips. Cedric was your best friend, though, so of course, you wanted to make him happy; it was only natural. And if you found a way to do that via a means as easy as just baking for him, then why for Merlin’s sake wouldn’t you? That was your story, if anyone asked, and that was what you were sticking to. It was nothing to do with any secret, personal, intimate feelings you had for him and that was that.

The first time, really, it’d been an accident; just a happy little coincidence. You just happened to be holding one of your mum’s home-baked Apple Danishes when you saw Ced looking positively tragic in the library, mourning over his Transfiguration essay. All it took to turn his frown upside down was an eye roll and a carefully deposited pastry in his lap - he was clearly a man of simple taste. It’d always been like that with the two of you, actually: you found that you could read him like a children’s book. A very simple children’s book with very few words and lots of very pretty pictures.

It was because of that that you always knew the one thing that never failed to make his day; one of your mum’s freshly-baked sweet treats. It had even worked when he broke up with his girlfriend, something you were not as ‘unnervingly pleased about’ as your friends had teased, thank you very much. Food was your go-to, though, and it always, always worked. Well, mostly always.

Cedric wasn’t upset often. Somehow, it was as if it went against his very nature to be anything but smiling, anything but quietly confident and wonderfully charming. So, when you strolled towards the Great Hall, spotting him and quickening your steps to fall in line with his steady gait, you were surprised to see him scowling.

“Hello,” you grinned, raising your eyebrows as he turned to you, the wrinkle between his eyebrows ironing out slightly at the sight of your smiling face.

You both stopped to wait for the staircase and his brows sunk again, his jaw clenching.

“Hi,” he said, exhaling out of his nose. You smirked, grabbing his chin gently and pushing his cheeks together, making a face. Your fingers lingered on his chiselled jaw.

“Why do you look so cross, Mr Grumpy Pants?” you asked, letting go of him as you started up the stairs.

A reluctant smile tugged at his lips, but you could tell that despite his amusement, there was still something bothering him, creasing his brow.

“Seriously, Ced,” you said, bumping his shoulder as you walked side-by-side down the corridor. “What’s up?”

He stopped short, looking down at the cobblestone floor. You took a moment to trail your eyes down his profile.

“Do you think I should put my name in the Goblet?”

Your eyes darted to meet his grey gaze, your mouth drying up at his words.

“For the Triwizard Tournament?” he said as if he needed to.

You frowned, opening your mouth before closing it again quickly.

“I might need more than a strudel for this one,” you said, trying to make him laugh. Despite your hesitance at the idea, you were glad to see him chuckle, shaking his head at your little joke.

To say you were nervous would be an understatement. The whole concept of Cedric, your Cedric, being part of the deadliest wizard competition in history was throwing you for a loop and he hadn’t even been selected yet. As you sat in the Great Hall, though, at the Halloween Feast with your heart in your throat and your eyes solidly on Cedric, some part of you knew that no one else could be the Hogwarts Champion. Not if he couldn’t.

“Do you think he’ll be picked?” your friend asked, leaning backwards to get a better look at the already selected Durmstrang and Beauxbatons champions. You didn’t need to ask who she meant.

“Yes,” you said, surprising yourself at how shaky your voice was. “I’m almost certain.”

“Oh, right, because he’s so handsome and brave and smart and kind and wonderful,” she mocked, her voice barely audible over the clapping.

You turned to her, making a face and pretending to mouth what she’d said, earning a slap on the arm. You were too busy squabbling to hear Dumbledore’s preamble, but you sure heard it when he read out the name of the first Hogwarts champion. At the time, though, you weren’t to know there’d be a second. The whole hall erupted at Cedric’s name and despite yourself, you found you were jumping to your feet, cheering and clapping along with everyone else, whistling and finding yourself swept along by the glee of it all, proud actually, of your best friend.

It wasn’t until the dragons that the true fear and nervousness sunk in. You were on autopilot as you crept around the Waiting Tent before the first task, your stomach in knots as you hoped somehow you would find him. Ever since he’d told you that Harry Potter had told him about the dragons, you’d been dreading the day, probably more scared for his safety than he was. You were far too distracted by the thought of something happening to him and the weight of the cream pie heavy in your palm to be completely focused. A rock twisted under your foot and you lost your balance. With a yelp, you ended up pushing through the tent, the fabric separating around your hands as you landed on the floor with a thud. You groaned, officially winded by your own clumsiness.

“Y/N?” a familiar voice said softly, riddled with confusion

You looked up to see Cedric, the man of the hour, with an amused smirk and raised eyebrows.

“You alright, Ced?” you asked casually as if you hadn’t just tripped straight through the wall. Shifting to get up, you were grateful to feel his hands on your arms as he helped you to your feet.

“Better now.”

He grinned at you for a moment, the yellow of his uniform tinting his skin perfectly. You blinked.

“I uh-“ you swallowed, blinking again. “I brought you this.”

You offered him the pastry in your outstretched palm, frowning at how sad it looked, slightly crushed and deformed by your little fall.

Opening your mouth to apologise, you squished the dessert in your grip, surprised as Cedric threw his arms around you, pulling you into him tightly. A grunt left your lips and if you weren’t already disorientated by the hug, the sound of a shutter and a bright camera flash made sure to do the trick. You both pulled away sharply and you would’ve fallen again had Cedric not placed his hand on your back to steady you.

“Wow,” a woman said shrilly. “Isn’t young love beautiful?”

You opened your mouth to correct her, but your words lodged in your throat when you noticed the floating quill beside her head. Your brain connected the dots and you found yourself taking an instant disliking to Rita Skeeter, a journalist Ced had complained about when he first got interviewed.

“That’ll make the front page if today goes poorly,” she mused, pursing her lips and tilting her head to the side. “And what a pretty page that’ll be, a couple like you.”

“Excuse me,” you said indignantly, immediately defensive. You didn’t get to finish before she was accosted by the Durmstrang champion, Krum.

“Sorry about that,” Ced said, his hand leaving your back as you turned to face him, his fingers skimming your arm distracting you entirely.

“Sorry about this,” you replied, lifting up the almost unrecognisable cream pie in your hand, the filling squeezing into the plastic bag around it.

“Don’t be, I think it has a certain charm.”

“I’ll give it to you now in case-“ Your voice broke.

“Hey,” he said, cupping your elbow gently. “I’ll be fine.”

Your vision blurred with tears and even his fingertips brushing your cheek lightly couldn’t salvage the sinking feeling in your stomach.

“Do you not trust me?” he asked a playful grin on his lips. You glared through your tears, pushing against his chest softly.

“You know I do.”

“Then you know that I’ll be fine. It’s just a dragon, what’s the worst that could happen?”

You inhaled, but he’d known you long enough to know the lengthy list of your response and insisted on stopping it in its tracks.

“It’ll be okay. Besides, I have to eat this…” he paused, frowning at the decimated pastry in your hand.

“It was a cream pie.”

“Ah.”

“Champions!” Dumbledore yelled, thundering into the tent and reminding you that you definitely were not supposed to be there. You looked at Cedric as he turned back to you and it was clear that you both reluctantly knew that you had to leave. You stared at him for a moment, brows drawn together, before you shoved the bag you held into his hand and gave it a squeeze. Leaning up, you pecked him on the cheek and immediately stepped away, not quite ready to deal with the aftermath of that particular decision.

“Please be safe, Ced.”

True to his word, he was okay. You’d almost had a heart attack when the Swedish Short-Snout got close to him, but you were beyond happy to see him in the Hufflepuff Common Room, sitting like a king with a mushed-up cream pie in his grasp. You were not at all impressed to see the burn on his face, though, and you were in half a mind to chew him out over it until he spotted you across the room. Immediately, he was stalking over to you and you found yourself doing the same, rushing towards him. You met halfway, throwing your arms around his neck and burrowing your head into his shoulder, breathing in his scent.

“I told you I’d be okay,” he whispered, his free hand rubbing gently up and down your back so lightly you thought you might faint.

He waited until you were there to open the egg and you definitely wished he hadn’t when a horrible screeching noise filled the air. The days that followed as he tried to figure out the contraption, you realised that the Triwizard Tournament had taken over your entire life. For months, what would happen next and more importantly, Ced’s safety had become your first priority and undeniably, that thought scared you. You listened dutifully, as a good friend should when he told you about the advice from Professor Moody to open the golden egg underwater, or when he talked about Harry or the next task, but anyone could tell you were distracted as you tried to imagine what you would do if anything happened to him. Your mind ran away with ideas of something happening to him with you having never told him how you actually felt.

“So,” Cedric said, elbowing you and breaking you out of your reverie one lunchtime. You’d imagined him a lot in the recent days and as you turned to him, your heart stopped a little to see his face in person, as handsome as ever.

“Why are you being strange?”

“I’m not being strange,” you said, though it came out more like a question.

“So, why have you been staring into the distance for the last fifteen minutes, then?” he asked, raising his eyebrows and biting into an apple.

You felt heat rush to your face and you looked down, trying to hide.

“At first I thought you just wanted to let me down gently.”

“Gently about what?”

You shoved the food on your plate around with your fork, desperately unhungry.

“The Yule Ball.”

“What about it?” you asked, frowning as Ced leant over your forearm and placed a strange looking bun on the table in front of you.

“I want you to go with me,” he said softly, his eyes nervous as you made eye contact. Why on Earth would Ced be nervous, you thought, assuming you were mistaken.

“You want to go with me?”

You’d been examining the bun closely when you looked up at him, your fingertips sinking into the delicate white icing as you froze. You couldn’t quite keep up with what was happening and you found yourself blinking far too much, your chest tightening in the process.

“You don’t have to-“

“Don’t you want to go with Cho Chang? Or that Granger girl? Or-“

“Why are trying to talk me out of asking you?”

You looked down, desperately aware of his eyes on you as you peeled your fingers from the sticky icing.

“What’s this?” you asked, nodding to it.

“Something to sweeten the deal,” he said and you could hear the distinct smile in his voice. “Also, you looked sad and you always bake me things with I’m sad.”

“Did you bake this?” you turned to him, frowning, the sound of your heartbeat growing louder in your ears.

“No,” he scoffed, shaking his head and taking another bite of his apple. “I’m just very nice to the house-elves.”

You smiled, huffing a laugh at his pleased expression.

“I don’t think I can go with you, Ced,” you admitted, swallowing gruffly and avoiding his eyes. “To the ball.”

“Why not?”

His voice was small and you wish you hadn’t known him well enough to hear the hurt in it.

“Because to you, it would just be as friends.” You paused, an odd regretful relief flooding through you. “And I like you way more than a friend should.”

“I’m not asking you as a friend,” he said.

You frowned, your eyes lifting up and to the side, before you turned to face him, surprised to see him quietly cocky and not at all like you’d ruined his life by admitting your feelings, as you’d expected you would.

“As a best friend?” you asked, your voice unmistakably hopeful.

You watched a smirk play on his lips and a mischievous glint sparkle in his eye and something you’d never felt before stirred in your chest. He finally broke eye contact, shaking his head and looking down.

“I think you know the answer to that.”

harry potter tag list:

@creator-appreciator

@loveisblindness

@xinyourdreamsx

@brainlesspasta

@hariosborn

@staringmoony

@rexorangecouny

@alittletoomanyobsessions

@peachesandpinks

@yuptha-tsme

@obsessedwithrandomthings

@dreamer821

@iprobablyshipit91

#Harry Potter imagine #harry potter #cedric diggory #cedric diggory imagine #cedric diggory x reader #writing #imagine

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zevzevarainai · 4 years

Note

Hey! You ever end up doing essay on the kazumaji gifs? (I'm highly interested because it's always majima o' clock where I live)

it’s always majima o’clock here too; maybe we live in the same area... but lmao i didnt write the essay on my kazumaji gifs because i didnt think anyone would want to hear it so i meant it more as a per request kind of deal. and you’re requesting. I want you to know you did this to yourself, my friend

below the read more for everyone’s well being. welcome to my first official majima analysis essay

ok so in those tags i said something like majima is softest with kiryu because it is absolutely the truth (unless you count makoto, which i love them too, but majima has moved on or at least is making an effort to. and that was pre-tacky snake skin jacket and pre-mad dog persona.)

the prompt for the gifset was “maybe something about majima being stupid and unhinged but like, in a sweet way” and the whole point of this rambling is that kiryu is really the only one we see who causes the mad-dog persona to slip. kiryu says he can never get a read on majima but just because he is unpredictable doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand that he isn’t just batshit crazy. he trusts majima, and finds comfort in his lack of predictability, keeping kiryu’s life exciting and providing distraction from the insane amount of tragic shit that happens to kiryu. and majima has a similar experience of idolizing the yakuza lifestyle as teens/young adults only to have the yakuza drag them through hell. But this is supposed to be about Majima.

ANYWAY what GETS ME is again that mad-dog vibe slipping around kiryu. the only time we really only see it again is with Saejima when he comes back from jail. i’m gonna talk about that later too. LET’s GET TO THE GIFS i’m going in chronological order not the order i put them in

Ok so as an audience, we don’t really know what happened between Kiryu and Majima between Yakuza Zero and Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami. Yes, we get that tiny ending scene of Majima going KIRYU-CHAN for the first time and Kiryu smiling at him. But we are given nothing as to how they met or why Majima started calling him Kiryu-chan. It is left completely to the audience’s interpretation. Because then it goes straight to the first scene with Majima in Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami after Kiryu gets out of jail. It implies that they already knew each other, and arguably that they were somewhat close -- close enough for Majima to “miss him.” (What was majima doing for those 10 years, i don’t know, but he clearly wasn’t in a great place, missing both kiryu, makoto, and saejima, we ignore y5 lore in this household or make up shit to fill in the giant gaps) You could argue that Majima missing Kiryu is just Majima being “crazy haha woah” but his character is so much deeper than that, and it’s proven in this gif’s scene. Yes he is fighting Kiryu with all his men. But if you are reading this you understand that them fighting physically all the time is a secret love language. They never intend to severely hurt each other. Fighting is how they know that they have an equal, someone else who was modeled into a weapon because of the Tojo Clan.

And yes, “He belongs to me!” is an extremely gay thing to say. He doesn’t even need to say that, though. One of his men didn’t understand that he doesn’t actually want to hurt Kiryu. The guy picked up Majima’s knife and tried to actually hurt Kiryu. Majima willingly gets stabbed so Kiryu doesn’t get hurt. That’s a handful of gay subtext right there. Majima’s first scene in y1 is about how the world is a horrible, shitty place that will chew you up and spit you out if you care. Then he goes and gets stabbed. Self-sacrificially. He cares about Kiryu, even if it hurts.

This one isn’t as deep. It stems of the same concept of them fighting each other as equals. Majima explicitly says more than once that strength is the most admirable trait, Goromi says that it only matters that a man is strong. Kiryu is the only person who presents a challenge to him. He admires him.

(As a disclaimer, I know a lot of people are uncomfortable with Goromi. I’ve also seen a lot of non-binary, gender-fluid, etc. people project on Goromi and Majima, and I feel like that can only be a good thing. Obviously they deserve more and more quality representation. I think the people who dislike Goromi are valid as well, but for the sake of this argument we are going to see Goromi as the people who project on her do and I’m going to use she/her pronouns when talking about Goromi.)

Regardless on your stance on this whole little side quest, the player has the choice to go along with Goromi which creates actually a lot of subtle connecting between the two of them. Even in just talking to her, we see the mad-dog mask slip. She talks about how much she cared about the girls at Club Shine and wonders how they’re doing. Literally says “all part of my tragic-ass backstory.” And Kiryu sympathizes with it. Says he sees through the “i hated it” bullshit and sees Majima/Goromi’s true self, which is that the cabaret job was hard for Majima because he cared about the women and didn’t like using them as a source of income and knew it would be his fault if they got hurt.

Also, Goromi says that "When I’m with a guy, it’s all about if I’m having enough fun. That’s why he’s gotta be strong.” Sound like someone we know? Someone who we are talking about in the last gif with i-just-got-the-shit-beat-out-of-me-and-it-was-awesome bliss on his face?

Anyway, the scene in the gif is near the end of the session. Kiryu is talking about how he’s been in prison for 10 years, and Goromi says that now that he’s out he should try to relax and and a little fun. Arguably, “since you’re so lonely right now, I’m gonna give ya a hand!” is most of Majima’s role in YK1. Kiryu gets out of prison. Majima wants to fight him all the time and says it’s because he’s gone soft and needs to train. Majima Everywhere presents excitement in his life when everything else is hard and shitty and traumatizing. Yes, Majima kidnapped Haruka. But there isn’t a lot of info on that. Majima says he did it so they could fight but it very likely could have been an order from the Tojo Clan or even Nishiki. Until he develops a bond with Haruka, Majima is, in a way, all he has. Nishiki is mean now. Yumi is ???. Kazama is i don’t even remember but he certainly isn’t any emotional support. He’s lonely. Majima is the only person he has from before prison, and quite possibly the only person who understands what he is going through.

YK2, Kiryu has yeeted out of Majima’s life as Kiryu does, but he’s trying to protect haruka so I’ll let it slide. And what does Majima do now that Kiryu’s not there? Leaves the Tojo Clan. Yes it’s because he doesn’t like the 5th chairman’s style and to make up for Kawamura, but the point is he’s bored. The use of “MY Kiryu-chan” is obviously written there because “haha majima he’s crazyyy” but come on. Majima left the Tojo Clan after Kiryu stepped down as the 4th chairman. Because he was bored. Because he couldn’t trust his own men. The only person he considered an equal just wasn’t there anymore and he found it difficult to adjust. (That’s YEARNING, fellas)

So yes, HIS Kiryu-chan came home, but what is home in this context? It clearly isn’t the tojo clan, so I guess it could be Kamurocho in general. But if the clan doesn’t make it home, what does make it home? Perhaps a certain triangle shaped man??

Oh boy silly Majima wants to fight Kiryu again hahaha weeeeeeeee NO listen, LISTEN, he does want to fight kiryu again, because 1) the man has been bored for a year 2) FIGHTING IS THEIR LOVE LANGUAGE 3) Majima is once again surprising Kiryu in a world where nothing surprises him anymore, where kiryu expects people to be vile and only want him for gain. Every single goddamn game it’s “Kiryu plz save the Tojo Clan plz” and Kiryu NEVER gets anything in return unless you count, i don’t know, Daigo and Haruka’s safety? But Majima doesn’t give a shit about any of that. Majima is one of the only people who consistently does things for Kiryu (even if they’re presented in an abnormal way). Majima is really the only one who makes sacrifices for Kiryu. But this fight, it kicks off YK2 of “hey, i missed you but i won’t admit it because we’re manly yakuza, please let me try to make you smile.”

THE kazumaji scene. Going off of Majima being the only one to make sacrifices for Kiryu, here’s a perfect example. Majima first aids the Tojo Clan which he swore to leave literally only because Kiryu asked him to. Then, here, he get beaten within an inch of his life because he promised Kiryu he would protect Kamurocho from Ryuji. Majima does not give a shit about the Tojo Clan at this point. Yes, Majima LOVEEESSSS beating people up, but he’s fatally wounded. This is not a Majima who would die for the Tojo Clan. This is a Majima willing to die for Kiryu. After warning Kiryu about being to trusting, too.

And of course, we get the Majima collapsing on the pavement and Kiryu rushing in to CRADLE him in his arms like a damn fanfic. You’ve even got the “I did it for you” which everyone knows is basically an “I love you.” Look at Majima’s face in the gif. Bless the Kiwami 2 graphics, first of all. He’s looking at Kiryu like he wants him to be the last thing he sees, like he wants him to know that he’s going out for Kiryu, that despite the fact that he’s about to cough up blood he needs Kiryu to have the information he needs to save the clan and Kamurocho. He’s telling Kiryu all this with labored breath because he promised. Kiryu “One-Expression” Kazuma is viably worried as hell, the little nod in the gif kills me because Kiryu needs him to know he’s touched and he’s so grateful. The only reason Kiryu left him was because there was danger elsewhere and he trusts Kaoru enough to take care of him. (Side note: I love Kaoru Sayama, but I still feel like she’s good enough a character on her own and doesn’t need to be a romantic interest for Kiryu. Like it was like oh... she’s Girl so she needs to fall for the Big Strong Male Protag.... If Majima was a cis girl they would have made out in this game, maybe even y1.)

7) Speaking of sacrifices, Yakuza 3, the game where Majima literally joined the Tojo Clan again because Kiryu wanted him to protect Daigo. That’s a huge lifestyle change, Majima.

Yes, this scene is funny because Majima is riding in a Barbie-ass truck like a 15 year old driving on a learner’s permit in a downpour (yet proves he can drive stick seconds later) and thinks he hit Kiryu while he purposely hit everyone else. Look, Majima needs this ok y3 he looks like he’s been crying since kiryu left no one No One is going to hurt Kiryu now

That truck is likely stolen, he’s driving erratically as fast as he can because Kiryu is in danger, how did he even know that Kiryu was in danger is it like some kind of 6th sense... If you didn’t already know, I would take a bullet for Majima’s voice actor; his delivery of “Kiryu-chan! Where are you?!” could have just been like haha oops kiryu did i hit you ;3 but instead it’s this raw cry of genuine panic, like did his actions get kiryu hurt, Majima could not live with himself if he was the reason Kiryu got fatally hurt

8) Ok I’ve hinted at the fact that I have beef with the Hot Mess that is yakuza 5, wasn’t huge on Y4 and Y6 was fine but it was heavily based on the events of Y5. In my head I’ve got an entire fix-it fanfic in which Majima yeets out to Okinawa with Kiryu after Y3 I could write that upon request too ANYWAY here’s another sacrificial majima...

Despite not caring for Y5, THIS SCENE is RAW. Maybe he’s not super “unhinged” in this scene but it’s just so much. Majima, who Kiryu brokedown in his taxi bc he thought he got killed (because Kiryu made him stay in the tojo clan haha we’re out here crying), chooses Kiryu over Saejima. Saejima, Majima’s oath brother, Saejima. We love Saejima, Majima loves Saejima, but 25 years is a long ass time. Majima changed. Saejima changed. For awhile he had Makoto, but then Kiryu was all Majima had for a good chunk of Saejima’s time in prison. This is the man Majima got his eye stabbed out for defending. But the BaD GuYs that arent memorable enough for me to even look up the names of are like look, we want to watch the world burn because we are Bad Guys, so either you are going to fight your brother to the death or we are going to snipe Kiryu’s daughter in the fucking head. Obviously he doesn’t know that Baba is going to betray them, so he has to pick between Saejima and Haruka. He chooses to potentially kill Saejima for Kiryu’s happiness. I’m sure if things didn’t change, Majima would have held back and let Saejima kill him. Majima would rather die than see Kiryu in pain. Majima would rather kill Saejima/let Saejima kill him than let Haruka die. If that’s not a giant declaration of unconditional love and devotion, I don’t know what else to tell you.

Anyway, thanks so much for indulging me and listening to my yakuza opinions if you made it this far you the mvp :’’’’)

#i can't believe i sat down and wrote this monster #thank you so much for the ask #i love talking about majima and i have no one to discuss it with #distinguishedkingdomwolf #ask #kazumaji

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whatareyousearchingfordean · 5 years

Text

Happiness Begins

Part 15

Chapter Summary: The reader confides in a friend and gets a taste of Valentine’s Day with Jensen

Word Count: 3.6K+

Warnings: Language, suggestive comments

Author’s Note: I don't really have much to say here except thank you so much for your continued support. I love reading your reactions and thoughts, it gets me excited to finish writing. Words can't express my gratitude, xo Alex

Catch up with the series masterlist and check out Alexandra’s Library for more works by yours truly!

People were rushing down the street, umbrellas in hand or poncho’s over their coats. The rain was pouring in downtown Manhattan. As she watched them rush to wherever it was they had to be, she was thankful that her company had sent a car for her. It was the little things like no longer needing to ride the subway when in New York that she was still trying to get used to. As her company grew, they had been able to afford more and more of these little assets. Which today meant she didn’t have to rush to her photoshoot in the cold rain. It was a good reminder to count her many blessings in life.

The studio was tucked on the corner, only a simple etching on the window to indicate what lay inside. Her driver rushed out of the car and helped her from the backseat, having somehow procured an umbrella without her noticing in his walk around the hood. He walked her to the door and promised to see her later that afternoon.

“Ah, Miss Padalecki! Good to see you again.” The receptionist greeted her as she entered the industrially decorated studio.

“You as well, Penny.” She nodded as Penny came around the front desk to guide her upstairs. The quiet bubble of the elevator burst into the chaos that was the set. There were people running around setting up computers and lighting. There were others setting up the lush greenery for the backdrop and doing other things she couldn’t quite make out.

“Food table is back there with various snacks and what not. In your dressing room is a mini fridge with water and juices. If you need anything else, just ask Kelsey, she is your assistant for today.” Penny indicated a young brunette over by the food. “Well, I’ll let you get to it.”

Y/n muttered a thank you before disappearing into the large dressing room. There were racks of clothing hung about and lighted vanities on the far wall. She noticed the refrigerator that Penny had told her about. It was all a little overwhelming. This was her first time modeling for her line, hell it was her first time on a photoshoot set. All of the other ones she had just received the final shots to approve with her marketing team.

“Y/n!” The squeal of her name had her spinning around, her eyes meeting a heavily pregnant Ashley.

“Oh, my! Look at you! How are you feeling?” She asked as she embraced the woman.

“Like a whale. Everything is swollen and that pregnancy glow is only obvious to other people. I want to die.” Ashley placed her arm around Y/n’s shoulder and guided her to the couch.

“Well, I think you look as amazing as ever. I know this will be a lot so I thank you for being here.”

Ashley rolled her eyes before grinning at her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Are you excited?”

“I’m nervous, being in front of a real camera is nerve wracking. I’m just glad that I get to have a pro here next to me.” Y/n crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap as she answered honestly. She had done small ‘shoots’ for her instagram, but nothing on this level. Here she had an assistant for christ’s sake. Really, she was struggling to wrap her head around it.

“You’ll kill it, trust me.”

“I hope so.”

****

Her morning started out with wardrobe. They went through a few outfits that had been picked out and made sure everything fit properly. The way the clothes were hugging her curves had her wishing she took everything to a tailor. It would be something she would look into later. Then they were set down for hair and makeup. That was a whole other experience in of itself. She was definitely not used to being on the other side of a makeup brush in this context. In the end, it was a good time, getting pampered for once. She had someone teasing her hair when she got a text.

I forgot how quiet it was around here before you showed up.

Jensen’s message had her smiling to herself. He was such a cornball sometimes. It was surprising to her at first, being one of those things that she didn’t expect from him.

I haven’t even been gone 24 hours and you’re already missing me?

I miss you when I go home at night…

A small chuckle fell from her lips at his reply. Butterflies were fluttering in her chest at the simplest sentence. It was hard to deny to herself how hard she had fallen for him. And they had only been ‘seeing’ each other for about a month. The whole thing was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. So much more than just her emotions were invested in this one.

“Is everything okay over there?” Ashley’s voice from the chair next to her snapped her from her thoughts.

“Hmmm, yeah.” She had little luck controlling the stupid smile on her face and it did not go unnoticed by Ashley.

“Alright,” She adjusted herself in her own chair so her whole body was turned towards Y/n. “Spill.”

“Spill what?” Y/n tried to play it off, but the blood rushing to her cheeks was betraying her.

“About what or who has you grinning like an idiot over there.” Ashley’s gaze flickered to her phone then back to Y/n, her eyebrows raised as she waited for an answer. Y/n’s gaze flitted to the women still messing with her hair and she bit her lip. Ashley followed her gaze and politely asked the women to leave them for a moment.

Y/n took a deep breath, she figured she could trust her secret with Ashley. She knew better than anyone about keeping as much of a private life as you can. Besides, it wasn’t like she would ever have a conversation with her brother. “I’ve been seeing this guy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, and it’s been going well. He treats me great, he’s funny and he’s the biggest cheese ball I’ve ever met.” She explained, her grin growing even wider than it already was. Relief washed over her at being able to express to someone how truly happy she has been.

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.” A look of concern washed of Ashley’s features.

“I just… I can’t really talk to anybody about it, at least not yet. It’s still too new, we are still figuring each other out.” Y/n paused, her lips pursing as she thought about how to word this next part. “If anyone knew, it could be chaostrophic for both of us. There are people I don’t want to hurt if I don’t have to, ya know? If we don’t make it, I don’t want it to affect anyone but us.”

“It can’t be that bad?” She could see the gears turning in Ashley’s mind.

“I don’t know how people are going to react, and if it’s bad, it doesn’t just affect me. It affects him too.” Ashley was silent as she mulled over her words. There really wasn’t anything else she could say to get Ashley to understand where she was without coming right out and telling her. And to be honest, right now, she could use a third party input. “I… I’ve been seeing Jensen.” Y/n squinted as she uttered her secret, bracing herself for Ashley’s reaction.

“Ackles?” Y/n nodded, still timid. “Oh, well now I understand.”

“Are we being completely dumb?” Y/n was practically begging for her opinion at this point.

“No, not completely. It’s obvious how happy you are, and if it’s going that well, then really, you owe it to yourself to be happy.” There was no judgement coming from her friend, which she was thankful for. Ashley’s words made her feel a little better about the path they were down right now. They just needed a little more time.

“Thank you, really.”

“No problem, now let’s go get some shots that’ll have him drooling.” She stood carefully, cradling her bump. Y/n laughed at her sudden change in demeanor. There was now way she would ever be able to repay Ashley for her help today, because to even quantify it would be impossible.

“That’s actually a good idea.” Y/n chewed on the inside of her cheek as the idea brewed inside her head. She had wanted to share a few behind the scenes on her instagram already, so why not take a few extra to send to Jensen.

“Okay, I don’t want to know. I’m just gonna go… somewhere else.” Ashley pointed over her shoulder and out the door before turning and heading out.

Y/n did a few behind the scenes videos and posted them to her stories before heading over to the large mirror. Positioning herself in the light, Y/n draped the robe low on her shoulders and stuck her left leg out of the opening. Just enough skin was showing for Jensen to enjoy, but not enough to make it a full nude photo. She snapped a few photos before picking the best one to send to Jensen, a devilish smile on her lips.

****

Fake car lights continued to pass by behind the boy’s heads even after the director called cut. They were currently adjusting for sound before finishing the boy melodrama scene that would end the episode they were currently filming. Trish had her head stuck into the passenger window as she dabbed Jared’s face for shine. Jensen chuckled to himself as he thought about just how bad Jared tended to sweat, even when it was below freezing outside.

The vibrating of his phone in his pocket stole his attention. He pulled it out and unlocked the screen without reading the notification. The picture filled most of his screen, throwing him off guard. A rough cough forced itself from his throat as his head nearly hit the roof of the impala. Jensen’s fingers flustered to close his messages when both Trish and Jared turned their heads towards him.

“Dude, are you good over there?” Jared’s eyes were narrowed as he questioned him.

“Uh, peachy. I’ll be right back, I’ve gotta hit the head real quick.” Jensen leapt from the car, his phone secure in his fist as he rushed to the nearest bathroom. He was dialing her number before the door closed behind him. Y/n answered on the second ring.

“Hey you.” Her voice was even, without a care in the world.

“That’s all you have to say? ‘Hey you’?” Jensen huffed, running a hand down his face.

“Okay, how about ‘I miss you too’?” She tried and Jensen could almost see the grin on her face. He shuffled around in the bathroom.

“That’s a little better.” Jensen was silent for a moment as he thought. “You know your brother was right next to me right?”

“What? Oh god please tell me he did not see that. That’s probably the worst way he could find out about us.” The facade had dropped and Jensen could hear the sudden panic in her voice.

“No, you’re good.”

“Well Jesus, Jensen, start with that next time.” She whined and Jensen smiled to himself. He had successfully gotten her back.

“Consider it payback for the situation now in my pants that I can’t take care of till tonight.” Jensen absentmindedly adjusted himself in his jeans as he chastised her.

“If only there was someone there who could help you with that.” She purred, her voice dropping. Jensen cursed himself, she was so not helping him right now, but he suspected that was her angle.

“Call you tonight?” He offered. She hummed in agreement. “Okay well I need to get back out there or they’ll think I’m pooping. And you need to get back to your shoot. Bye Lucifer.”

Y/n snorted a laugh, her goodbye coming out between small laughs. “Bye Winchester.”

****

They were officially in the dead of winter. February always brought an interesting twist into the winter weather, this year bringing more snow to the great city of Vancouver than December and January combined. Y/n had officially had her fix. It was pretty to see every now and again, but for the life of her she couldn’t understand how people choose to live in these places. The secret was the natives didn’t know either.

The set was blanketed with the gross kind of snow today too. It was heavy and wet and only there to piss off people heading out for a long Valentine’s weekend. She envied them though, at least they were able to spend time with their significant other. Today, she was stuck at work until late. Stupid night shoots.

Her chin was tucked into her scarf as she headed for the makeup trailer. The heat inside enveloped her body as she entered, causing her to shiver in the sudden temperature change. Trish turned on her when she heard the door open.

“Good morning grumpy.” Trish teased as she took in the frown on the bundled woman’s face.

Y/n frowned even more as she worked off her coat. “Only a few more weeks of this and then I can go home to some goddamn sunshine.”

“That’s the spirit.” A small laugh accompanied Trish’s words before her face split into an even wider grin. “You got something this morning.” Trish tilted her head towards Y/n’s station. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn’t even noticed the large bouquet sitting in front of the mirror. Only it wasn’t your typical Valentine’s arrangement. It was a tiered vase filled with an array of succulents mixed with a little pink and white flowers that she didn’t know the name of. There was a tag hanging from the front that read ‘life would succ without you’. She reached for the card as she finished pulling off her hat and scarf and flipped it over. It had one last handwritten note followed by a drawn tiny heart, ‘To making it count’.

“So, who is sending you flowers?” The look on Trish’s face told Y/n that she thought she was suddenly going to be in on some big secret. Jensen was smart though, making the card inconspicuous enough that she could play it off, while still throwing in a her favorite line from her favorite movie that she had forced him to watch with her. She had gone into one long monologue that night on why she loved that movie so much without meaning to. When she finished she was sure he was going to think she was bat shit crazy, but he was only grinning at her. Jensen told her how much he enjoyed listening to her talk about what she was passionate about. It was not something someone had ever told her before, and she was sure in that moment, no man would ever live up to Jensen Ackles.

“Uh, it’s from Ashley Graham. It’s a little joke from our photo shoot a few weeks ago.” She handed Trish the card and tried to keep her face as neutral as possible as she read it over.

“Oh, that’s really nice.” Trish handed her back the card and Y/n slipped it into her back pocket. “I thought maybe you had a secret boy toy sending you flowers.”

“What?” Y/n nearly dropped her camera that she had begun to unpack. “Why would you think that?”

Trish shrugged, doing little to hide the smirk on her face. “No reason. Well, except for the fact that you’ve been all smiley and happy the past few weeks, so I thought... you know…”

“Yeah, I mean things have been really good with the business and dare I say it, spending time with my brother. I’m just happy.” Y/n hoped that her voice remained even as she tried to explain away her behavior. She hadn’t realized that everyone could see how down she was at the end of the year. And here she thought she had been keeping it together so well.

“Okay…” Trish drew out the word and Y/n wasn’t sure she had her convinced. The door to the trailer popped open as Trish continued. “Are you sure you didn’t get laid?”

“Trish!” Jared and Jensen paused in the doorway, unsure of what they had just walked into. Trish failed in her attempts to hide her laughter as she went back to rifling through the makeup at her station.

“I seriously do not even want to know.” Jared grimaced. He plopped down in his seat at Trish’s station. Jensen narrowed his eyes as Y/n turned, her face red, and went back to setting up her camera. “What’s with the camera, smalls?”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s for my channel. Your fans are greedy little buggers and they want to see what a day in my life on set is like. I got permission from the studio, I just can’t post the video until after this episode airs. Which is fine because it’ll probably take me that long to edit it anyway.” She explained as she hit the record button. Her doing Jensen’s makeup would make for a good montage later. Jensen sat down behind her, this time his one eyebrow raised.

“Hey now, they are not greedy, they are passionate.” He defended the fanbase that they had come to know and love.

“I meant no disrespect. I am one of those passionate fans, I just happen to have an exclusive in and I am choosing to share it with the rest of the family.” Y/n paused and bit her lip. “Before they hunt me down and kill me for it.”

“Y/n, don’t you think that’s dramatic?” Jared was now trying not to laugh from his seat.

“No, I don’t. It’s very easy to find basic public information on the internet, okay? Two seconds on the Travis County website and they can find all three of our addresses.” Mostly, she was kidding, but she wasn’t wrong. Some people didn’t have boundaries, and while she knew that the majority of the fans have much better things to do, she recognized that every tree had a few bad apples.

“Alright, no more internet for you.” Jared teased, the rest of the group in the trailer joining in the laughter.

“Laugh it up, but don’t come crying to me when they show up on your doorstep.” She sang as she began her work. Jared chose to ignore her, instead changing the subject and striking up conversation with Trish.

Trish and Y/n had a little more work to do today than usual, needing to make up Jared and Jensen’s faces for a post fight scene. It meant some fun bruises and a couple of well placed cuts. The crew was bound to be in the holiday spirit today, which would make for some good footage for her video too. She only hoped it would help the day go by quicker. It sucked that it was Valentine’s Day and she couldn’t spend it with Jensen. Sure it was a stupid Hallmark holiday, but that was all part of it’s charm. Being stupid and gooey and love sick with your significant other. But she had to spend the whole day sitting in an uncomfortable chair, waiting for the director to call cut so she could fix Jensen’s makeup every now and then. It was moments like these that she wished that they could just be a normal couple.

“Meet you in wardrobe?” Jared smacked Jensen’s shoulder a little too hard, jumbling the man and causing Y/n to mess up the line she was making.

“Jared, he’s not meeting you anywhere if you keep messing up my work.” Y/n hissed, spinning around to grab a tissue.

“Sorry, smalls.” He flashed his sister a sheepish smile as he followed Trish out of the trailer. Y/n dabbed the tissue into a little bit of water and wiped away the mistake on Jensen’s cheek.

“So,” Y/n jumped as Jensen’s fingers met the inside of her thigh. “You’re… you’re getting laid?” He grinned up at her as his fingers danced further up her thigh.

“Mmm.” Y/n hummed in response, fighting the grin that threatened to split across her face.

“Anyone I should be worried about?”

“Um, probably. According to Trish I’ve been super smiley lately.” She grinned as she finally met his stare.

“Huh… This guy must really know what he’s doing then.” His fingers danced up and down her leg some more as he waited for her answer.

“God, yes.” Y/n moaned, rolling her eyes back in her head for dramatic effect. She made quick work of fixing Jared’s mistake, patting Jensen’s cheek lightly when she finished.

“All done?” He asked.

“Yes sir.” Y/n stepped back as he stood up. He towered over her, pushing her back until her butt hit the counter. His hands came up to cup her jaw, his one thumb tugging her lower lip out.

“Did you like the flowers?” He asked, his voice low.

“I love them, especially since they will last longer than three days.” She giggled. He had chosen well, giving her something that she could keep for a while, so long as she remembered to water them. “Oh, and I got something for you.” Y/n chirped, spinning around to search through her bag. It didn’t take long for her to find what she was looking for and she was back facing Jensen. She held up the large bag in her hand, dangling it in front of his face.

“Holy crap, that has to be the biggest bag I’ve ever seen! Where do you even find one this size?” Jensen chuckled, taking the monstrous bag of gummy bears from her.

“I have my ways.” She assured him, not willing to disclose her secret. Jensen leaned into her, ghosting his lips across hers before kissing her slowly. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s, Jay.”

Part 16

Forevers: @spn-impala @22sarah08 @turtlepad @callmekda @chaldei @hobby27 @casualfestivaltrashpainter @cowboysnwinchesters @tranquility-or-chaos @pikabootoyouchu @dawnie1988 @grease222 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @polina-93 @clarinette07 @moonlight-babeh @suckerforfanfic @witandnargles @sleepylunarwolf @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan @geeksareunique @akshi8278

Et Cetera: @jbbarnesgirl @hillface89 @arses21434 @thevelvetseries @sslater34 @mrsirishboru @smoothdogsgirl @spnfamily-j2 @encounterthepast @facadeformyrealblog @supernatural-bellawinchester @screechingartisancashbailiff @rebeccathefangirl @squirrelnotsam @heartinmyhead1 @1d-killed-me @samsgirl93 @deans-baby-momma @deanmonandnegansbitch @woodworthti666 @supraveng @onethirstyunicorn @heartsaved @know2grow @littlewhiterose @surprisinglysarah @stoneyggirl @carryon-doctor-lock @thebookisbtr @youaremyfiveever @kalesrebellion @lilulo-12 @winchester-fantasies

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remywrites5 · 5 years

Note

James gets jealous of a person trying to flirt with Regulus. Reg is totally unaware of said flirting. Lots of fluff please.

James Potter knows somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind that he is overprotective of Regulus Black. He convinces himself that it’s merely a byproduct of Regulus being his best mate’s little brother. Sirius and Regulus have a tumultuous relationship even on their best days and James wants to be sure that someone is looking out for Reg – you know – for Sirius’ sake.

He’s also keenly aware that he’s lying to himself.

Somewhere around the time that Reg turns sixteen he also turns into a fucking knockout. James is aware of the fact that his best mate is good-looking but he’s never thought about Sirius in that context. Sirius is his brother, has been even before Sirius ran away from home and came to live with him. Besides, he and Sirius are too similar and them being friends is trouble enough.

All this is a long-winded way of saying James Potter is fucking gone on Regulus Black and he fancies him quite a bit. He’s all pale grey eyes and sharp cheekbones with curly dark hair that softens his features just a bit. James imagines what it would be like to get his fingers into those curls and kiss Reg until he’s breathless. He wonders idly if he would be Reg’s first kiss. The idea that Reg might have snogged someone else makes something dark and angry twist in James’ stomach.

Now that Sirius is living with the Potter’s, Reg comes to visit sometimes to see him. James likes to think Reg comes to see him too but he knows the main reason for his visits is Sirius. It doesn’t really matter because the point is that Reg comes over to James’ where James can keep an eye on him.

Reg is over and they’re all playing Super Smash on the Switch. It’s fun and easy being around the two Black brothers in James’ opinion. James and Sirius are so attuned to each other that they can have non-verbal conversations. He knows when they do it drives Reg a little crazy that he’s being left out. James would love to get to that point with Reg but having he doesn’t spend half as much time with Reg as he does Sirius, no matter how much he’d like to.

James and Sirius keep teaming up against Reg, both of them going out of their way to kill him over and over. He can tell Reg is getting annoyed with them and James is trying and failing not to find it adorable. Reg wrinkles his nose in annoyance and his cheeks keep turning red. James would very much like to kiss him to make him feel better.

Reg eventually puts down the controller with a huff. “You two are pricks,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest in a pout. “I’m not playing anymore.”

“Don’t be a sore loser, little bro,” Sirius says, ruffling Reg’s hair.

James can’t help chuckling when Reg makes a face at Sirius. “Fine, what should we do instead?”

“We could head down to the shops!” Sirius says excitedly. He’s already getting to his feet and sliding on his leather jacket despite it being the middle of summer and fairly warm outside. Sirius’ shirt is fashionably ripped along the front and he supposes that offers some kind of breeze.

Reg and James share a knowing look. They both know why Sirius wants to go down to the shops. There’s a secondhand shop where Sirius likes to find clothes while also flirting with the cashier named Remus. He’s so transparent that James is surprised Remus doesn’t hide every time Sirius comes in.

James shoves his feet into his trainers before trying and failing to tame his hair. It doesn’t matter how much he attempts to get it to behave, his hair seems to have a mind of its own. He glances at Reg in the mirror and notices Reg watching him. It makes a pleasing feeling radiate in his chest. He wants to ask Reg if he likes what he sees but Sirius is right there. Despite them being so close, James hasn’t worked up the courage to tell Sirius he’s into his brother. He isn’t sure Sirius will necessarily approve, especially if he knew all the things James has daydreamed about doing with Reg.

Reg catches James eye for a moment and then looks away quickly – more’s the pity – before sitting down on the bed and getting his Doc Martens on. Reg looks good in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a soft grey V-neck t-shirt that James has noticed matches his eyes. The shirt makes it so Reg’s sharp collarbones are on full display and James wants to bite them more than he can say, maybe suck a few lovebites onto Reg’s pale skin.

Clearing his throat, James figures they should get a move on before he does something stupid. “Should we get lunch while we’re out?”

“Good idea!” Sirius says excitedly. “Maybe I can ask Remus to join us if he hasn’t taken his lunch break yet.”

Regulus snorts. “That is if you can manage to ask him without looking like an idiot.”

James chuckles. “What’ll this be then? Attempt number...oh five hundred or so?”

Sirius scoffs indignantly. “None of those other ones count,” he says dismissively, tossing his long dark hair over his shoulder.

James raises an eyebrow. “And why’s that?”

“Because I say so.” Is Sirius’ less than inspired response. James doesn’t push the issue. He knows that after running away from home and moving in with the Potter’s, Sirius has been a bit out of sorts. Finding that shop and the cute cashier that works there have been something like a sanctuary for Sirius. Sometimes going to see Remus is the only thing that makes Sirius happy. Even if his attempts at flirting seem to constantly go over Remus’ head. James is pretty sure Remus just thinks Sirius is extra friendly and doesn’t get that Sirius is chatting him up.

There was one time when Sirius convinced Remus t go get ice cream with him during Remus’ break. It had been the happiest James had seen Sirius in a long time. He knew the “date” had been somewhat ruined by his presence but he’d wanted ice cream too. Besides, Sirius had looked a little lost after Remus had agreed to it. James had mostly gone for moral support.

Sirius goes bounding down the stairs like an overexcited puppy, leaving James and Reg to follow after him. James gestures Reg through the door first and then walks out after him. He resolutely does not look at Reg’s arse in those tight jeans. He’s got enough problems without adding that to the list, especially considering it’s a very nice arse.

It’s about a ten minute walk to the shops and they keep in line with each other, only breaking apart when someone else is on the sidewalk and needs to get by. There’s one moment when James has to put his hand on Reg’s arm to steer him out of the way of an older woman coming in the opposite direction. It’s sad that just touching Reg is enough to make James feel all gooey inside.

They go to the secondhand shop first, Flourish and Blotts, so that Sirius can awkwardly try and chat up Remus and maybe invite him to lunch. The store isn’t exactly busy for a Thursday afternoon. A few other kids around their age are there having been off from school. Sirius’ eyes are already searching the store for Remus.

Reg starts to wander off towards the jeans section and James decides to follow him, hopefully get some time with just the two of them. He pats Sirius on the shoulder. “Good luck,” he tells his best mate before going off to find Reg. “See anything you like?” James murmurs against Reg’s ear, making the younger Black brother jump slightly. He clearly hadn’t heard James approach and James can’t help smirking. Reg turns a delightful shade of pink as he chews on his bottom lip. James wants to offer to do that for him but he manages to hold his tongue.

Reg grabs a pair of red leather trousers and holds them up against himself to see if they’ll fit. James blinks a few times and hears a funny little noise escape the back of his throat without his permission. He’s fairly certain that if Reg buys those trousers they’ll be the death of James Potter. R.I.P.

Reg throws them over his arm and moseys on over to the next rack. James notices that Reg has long fingers, his nails perfect manicured to just reach the ends of his fingers. James feels the overwhelming urge to suck on them.

He follows Reg through another three racks to the point where Regulus now has his arms full of clothes. He looks around for the fitting room and James taps his shoulder, pointing in the direction he knows they are. Reg smiles at him. “You coming?”

James laughs. “I don’t know how good my opinion will be but sure,” he says with a good-natured shrug. He doesn’t exactly have much of a nose for fashion. His wardrobe mainly consists of t-shirts, sweats and jumpers. Most of his clothes are for function instead of fashion. Besides that, he’s pretty sure he would think Reg looked good in just about anything. Christ, he really has a problem.

There’s three fitting rooms, each one with a curtain to cover the occupant. James settles into a chair opposite the one Reg goes into and waits. He’s scrolling through instagram idly on his phone when he hears the curtain being pulled back. Reg steps out in his same skinny jeans but now in a red patterned button down shirt. He’s left the top few buttons undone and those damn collarbones are on display again. Regulus looks ridiculous good in red, the color of it matching his dark hair and features. James swallows thickly. “You look really good,” he manages to say, giving Reg a thumbs up like a moron. Reg smiles in return and does a little twirl. The shirt is pulled tight against his shoulders and damn, James really is in trouble.

When Reg disappears back into the fitting room, James cards his fingers through his hair in an effort to calm down. He’s about twenty degrees warmer than he was just moments ago. He grabs the front of his t-shirt and tugs it a few times to get some airflow against his heated skin.

Reg comes out of the fitting room several more times and each time James struggles to stay in his seat and not ravish the poor bloke. It’s been a few showings so far but Reg has yet to put on those leather trousers. James licks his lips in anticipation and hopes Reg is going to show them off to him. He wants it more than he can say although he’s well aware that it’s going to take every ounce of his self-control not to immediately rip those trousers right back off Reg.

The curtain opens and Reg steps out in the trousers looking like pure sex. James grinds his teeth together to keep his jaw from dropping. They fit Reg like a fucking glove, hugging his thin frame in all the right places. They make his legs look impossibly long until they disappear into his Doc Martens.

Someone wolf whistles behind James and he turns sharply to see who did it. Some bloke who looks to be a few years older than them walks over. He has blond wavy hair and a dopey looking smile on his face. “Those look so good on you,” the stranger says, openly admiring Regulus as if he’s a piece of meat at the deli counter.

James growls lowly and hopes he’s the only one who can hear it. It seems the stranger isn’t done complimenting Reg.

“You have to buy them,” he says, clapping his hands together once excitedly as if he and Reg are old acquaintances. “They look like they were made for you.”

Regulus turns so red he nearly matches the trousers he’s wearing. James finds himself scowling deeply and wishing he could shoot lasers out of his eyes at this guy’s back who is looking at Reg admiringly. “Thanks,” Regulus responds, smiling shyly.

“Not a problem at all,” the guy says, taking a step closer to Reg. “It’s not every day someone finds something so special, is it?”

“No, I guess not,” Regulus says in return. He looks down at the trousers and James knows that Regulus thinks this guy is talking about his clothes. “I’m Regulus, by the way.”

“Gilderoy Lockhart,” the guy says, taking Reg’s hand and tugging him closer so they’re practically chest to chest. “The pleasure is all mine.” This guy has the nerve to bring Reg’s hand to his lips and kiss the back of it like he’s some kind of fourteenth century knight at cout and not some douchebag in a thrift store.

James is out of his chair in an instant and is yanking Reg back. He notices that this Gilderoy guy has dropped Reg’s hand in surprise. “Hey love, you still had more stuff to try on, didn’t you?” James says, keeping his arm around Reg’s middle, pressing them together back to chest with no space between them.

“Uh…” Regulus says slowly as if he’s extremely confused. James can’t say he blames him precisely. This must seem like it’s coming out of nowhere.

“Excuse us, won’t you?” James says icily, guiding Reg into the fitting room and shutting the curtain more forcefully than is strictly necessary.

“Yes of course!” Lockhart says from the other side. James sighs in relief when he hears footsteps walking away from the fitting room.

Regulus turns in James’ arms and stares at him. “James, what are you doing?”

James lets out a whine. “I didn’t like the way he was looking at you,” he tells Reg simply, knowing it’s not really an adequate explanation for his behavior. He’s been acting like a jealous boyfriend and that really isn’t fair. He and Reg aren’t together no matter how much James might want it.

Regulus reaches up and traces James’ lips softly with his fingertips. “He was just complimenting me.”

“I know,” James says, frowning despite the fact that Reg is touching his lips and the intimate gesture makes him shiver with want. “Fucking creep.”

Reg laughs softly. “What do you want, James?”

“I want to bite your clavicle,” James says without thinking, just blurts it out like an idiot.

“Oh,” Regulus says, blinking a few times. “Not what I was expecting but okay.”

James whines again and pulls Reg closer to him. “Fuck Reg, please.”

“Please what?” Regulus asks, his eyes searching James’ for a moment. “Please let you bite me?”

James huffs in frustration. “Let me do everything to you. Kiss you, love you, keep you. Come on Reg, you’ve been driving me fucking mental. I’ll be a full blown nutter if this keeps up.”

Reg smiles and brings his arms up around James’ neck. James has a few good inches on Reg and he finds he enjoys the height difference. “I thought…” Regulus shakes his head once as if to clear it. “I hoped…” Regulus surges up and kisses James softly on the lips. “God yes. Yes to whatever, James. All of it.’”

James can’t help grinning like an idiot. “Was that your first kiss?” he can’t resist asking. He’s sure the answer is yes by how bright red Regulus turns.

“Shut up,” Regulus says, biting his bottom lip.

James extracts his arms from around Reg’s waist so that he can cup Reg’s face in his hands and hold him reverently like he’s something precious. He guides Reg’s face back to his and captures his lips in a much more fulfilling kiss, gently licking his way into Reg’s mouth. He’s going to ruin Reg for anyone else, claim him so completely that no one else will even think he isn’t already spoken for in every conceivable way.

When he finally pulls back from the kiss, Reg is looking slightly dazed. James takes it as a point of pride that Reg seems so effected. There’s plenty more where that came from.

“Come on,” James says, grabbing Reg’s clothes off the wall and draping them over his arm. “If Sirius is finally successful in chatting up Remus we might be able to get some time alone back at my house.”

Regulus chuckles. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

James winks at Reg. “I don’t care if I have to ask Remus out for him. I’m getting that plonker a date.”

Regulus shakes his head. “Are you just trying to facilitate getting some alone time with me or are you being a good friend?”

James shrugs. “I can multitask.” He takes Reg’s hand and leads him out of the fitting room. He nearly breathes a sigh of relief when that git Lockhart is nowhere to be found. They go up to the register where Sirius is standing off to the side, talking animatedly at Remus while Remus watches him with a bemused grin on his face. James can tell by how hard Sirius is working that he still hasn’t gotten the courage up to ask Remus out.

James reluctantly lets go of Reg’s hand in order to put his purchases on the counter. “Oi Remus, Sirius wants to take you to lunch. You interested?”

Remus’ eyes widen and he looks from Sirius to James and then back again. “Um, what?”

James rolls his eyes. “Do you want to have lunch with Sirius because he wants to have lunch with you. He’ll buy.”

Remus glances over at Sirius, as does James, to find his friend glaring daggers at him. “Uh yeah, I’d like that, Sirius. That sounds nice.”

“Good,” James says grinning triumphantly. “That’s all settled then.” He risks another glance at Sirius’ who looks wide-eyed and slightly shocked. Remus rings up Reg’s clothes and James is quick to pay for him because that’s what good boyfriends do. Regulus tries to argue about it but James waves him off.

James takes the bag offered to him by Remus and walks over to Sirius. “Oh, and since you now owe me one it seems like a good time to tell you I’m dating your bother as of about five minutes ago. See you at home!” He claps Sirius on the back and then offers his hand to Reg.

“What the fuck?” Sirius says, his brow furrowing. “Jamie, what the fuck?”

“Enjoy your lunch!” James calls over his shoulder as he gently tugs Reg out of the store. With any luck they’ll have a good half an hour or so alone. James has so many ideas of what to do in that half hour that his mind is racing. Number one goal is to snog Regulus as much as possible just because he can and then maybe just hold him for a while and then love him and keep him and cherish him because he does. He really fucking does and he wants Reg to know just how much.

James notices that Reg is still wearing those leather trousers seeing as he never had an opportunity to change out of them. James starts walking a half a step behind Reg so that he can admire the way Reg walks in them. Regulus seems to know exactly what James is doing but doesn’t say anything, just shooting James a smile over his shoulder. They’re still holding hands but their arms are stretched between them. James can’t help grabbing his phone and taking a picture even though it’s the most cliché Instagram photo imaginable. He posts it anyway just because he can. He captions it with “My boyfriend is smoking fucking hot. Someone call the fire department” because deep down James is a ridiculous human being and he can’t help bragging just a bit. He tags Reg in it and enjoys watching Reg pull out his phone from the notification and looking at the post.

Reg stops walking and turns towards James. “You’re an idiot,” he says fondly, tugging James forward and kissing him.

“It’s official now,” James tells him, grinning against Reg’s lips. “You’re stuck with me.” He kisses along Reg’s jawline and down his neck before nipping playfully as his collarbone. It’s everything James hoped it would be. Reg does a sharp intake of breath and tangles his fingers in James’ hair. “Come on, I want you all to myself.” James links his arm around Reg’s waist and guides him back on the path towards James’ house.

Reg drops his head onto James’ shoulder and sighs contentedly. “Want you more.”

“That is actually impossible,” James informs him, pressing a kiss to Reg’s temple, his cheek, just behind his ear.

Reg laughs breathlessly. “It’s not a competition, James.”

“Well if it was I’d be winning.”

Regulus shakes his head in amusement. “I’m pretty sure this is a win-win scenario.”

“Fine,” James concedes, kissing the corner of Reg’s mouth. The walk home has never felt so long before and all he wants is to be able to kiss Reg properly. He’s got a lot of time to make up for. A lot of daydreams to fulfill. “You’re mine and I’m yours. Deal?”

“Deal.”

#Jegulus #i write things #fluff #jealousy #modern au #long post #anon prompt #James Potter x Regulus Black #background wolfstar

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theres-a-goldensky · 4 years

Text

BL Show Review Series - 2Moons + 2Moons2

The next shows I am going to review come with some confusing context that made me nearly skip it altogether. That would have been a shame, because they quickly became some of my favorites. The shows are 2Moons and its sequel-reboot-thing 2Moons2.

Disclaimer that these are my own opinions, and I don’t know where the BL community as a whole stands on these shows. If I disliked a show you loved or visa versa, no disrespect is intended!

MASTERLIST OF BL SHOW REVIEWS

2Moons Rating: 7.5/10

2Moons2 Rating: 8.5/10

So when I first heard about this series, it was with the caveat that the sequel was better than the original. I also heard that there was a whole different cast, so I was under the mistaken assumption that it was an anthology series similar to the HIStory franchise. When I tried to watch 2Moons2, while I enjoyed the characters and the plot, I was turned off by the pacing. The whole thing felt way too rushed, and I gave up midway through episode three.

Then I tried 2Moons, and you can imagine my confusion when it was a different cast, but the exact same characters and story line. I finally did some research into it and discovered that 2Moons was meant to continue with the original cast, but due to contract disputes or blah blah something who cares, the entire show was re-cast for series two. Then to ease fans of the original into it, the first four episodes tell a condensed version of series one.

So while it’s true that you could just watch 2Moons2 and get the whole story, I believe it’s definitely worth it to watch series one first. The story line, which I felt was so rushed in series two, gets room to breathe in series one. If you enjoy slow burn with lots of pining and sexual tension, you’ll have fun with series one.

The cast in series one is excellent as well. Very different from their replacements, but I found it interesting to see the way that the two sets of actors told the same story.

2Moons

The biggest problem with series one is that, well, there’s no problem. In fact, there’s really no plot at all. It’s a story about Yo, who has a crush on Pha and follows him to university. Then, against the backdrop of the Stars and Moon competition, they get together over 12 episodes. That’s it. Literally nothing else happens.

You might think that the competition itself would create some drama, or at least some plot, but no. Yo rehearses and plans his musical performance, but he never seems particularly bothered about winning, which means that you as a viewer aren’t bothered either. In fact, they telegraph early on who is going to win, and then that person...does. And no one really cares. There’s no conflict at all. The setting is an excuse for the characters to interact and go to the beach.

There aren’t any villains or antagonists either. Yo and Pha each have a rival love interest, but neither of them provoke much more than brief jealousy on an otherwise very smooth road to Yo and Pha getting together.

But this simple love story is still very fun. It’s like cotton candy: sweet and pleasant and so easy to swallow that you don’t even need to chew.

(left: Wayo, right: Phana)

Bas, the actor who plays Wayo, has the sweetest face, something that they comment on several times in the story. Much of the heavy lifting in getting you to care about the main relationship is done by him.

Yo is supposed to have changed so much over his final year of high school that he’s nearly unrecognizable to people who knew him. Then, in both series, they show flashbacks, and it’s just the same cute kid, but with glasses. As I watched, I couldn’t help brainstorming ways they could have made him look different. Braces maybe? A different hair style? Some fake pimples? Whatever, roll with it for the sake of an entertaining story.

The character of Pha is a bit of an empty vessel in series one. He’s needlessly rude for reasons that aren’t at all explained. He is dim enough not to know Yo when he sees him, even though HIS NAME IS YO and he has the same best friend that he did in high school. But shh shh we are rolling with it. It’s fine. He is very handsome and has a great smirk, but his acting isn’t great.

(left: Ming, right: Kit)

Copter and Kimmon made me love the relationship between Ming and Kit. Their spin on it was adorable, and the extra time afforded in series one meant that their dynamic has room to grow. We see more little scenes between them, in addition to the big ones that are included in the series two retelling.

(left: Beam, right: Forth)

Forth and Beam get very little to do in series one. You can see that they were saving that for series two, so we’ll never know about the actors’ chemistry with one another. The actor who plays Forth did a fine job, but he seems a bit miscast. Forth is supposed to be a bad boy character, but they made him look like just a handsome, friendly, helpful guy. But again, he didn’t get a real chance to shine, so there’s no way to tell if he could have pulled off his bigger scenes in series two.

2Moons2

As I previously mentioned, series two suffers in its early episodes due to its breakneck pacing as it speeds through the retelling of series one. However, if you pair this with series one, then your mind can fill in the blanks that those four episodes leave out and let you enjoy watching the new actors tell the story.

But after that, when the series takes on new material, is when it really comes into its own. With Yo and Pha’s story almost complete, the focus shifts to Ming/Kit and Forth/Beam for the last half of the episodes. That’s how this series moves into the top tier for me. All three relationships get equal weight in the plot, and all of them are equally as compelling.

(left: Beam, right: Forth)

Forth and Beam’s plot doesn’t start until episode seven, but when it does, it comes in like a freight train. Despite minimal interaction before that, after episode seven, I was all in on that ship. Phoom, who plays Forth in this iteration, definitely better suits the part. They give him a neck tattoo and the actor looks more like the bad boy that Forth is meant to be.

Dome has the most freedom among any of the cast. Beam had so little to do in series one that he gets a clean slate to make the character his own. His Beam is the most difficult character on the show. He’s stubborn and weirdly prescriptivist in his opinions on relationships. For instance, one of his arguments about why he and Forth can’t be together is that they are the same size? Like, bro, what even?

(left: Ming, right: Kit)

Ming and Kit remain my favorite couple in series two. There is a moment when Ming puts a finger on Kit’s lips that made my heart actually stutter inside of my chest. It doesn’t hurt that Joong, the actor who plays Ming, is a 100% certified dreamboat. His Ming is very classically handsome and effortlessly charming. He follows Kit around like a puppy looking for a pat on the head. Kit never really stands a chance.

And speaking of Kit, Nine’s portrayal of him is as this fierce spitfire who is secretly soft on the inside and afraid to trust Ming’s feelings for him. And he has fantastic hair. Plus, Kit wearing glasses is an absolute mood, and it is a travesty that the show didn’t give us more of it.

(left: Wayo, right: Phana)

Lastly are the main characters of Wayo and Pha. Ben, who plays Pha, is so much better in the role. It might be because he’s given more to do, but his Pha has personality and charisma. It’s easy to see how he would be chosen as the Campus Moon. (Though I can’t imagine what he or Forth did for the talent portion of the competition. Is competitive brooding a thing?)

Earth, the new Wayo, plays up Yo’s naivete and nervousness in a way that made sense considering what his character goes through by the end. It would have been nice to see him stand up for himself a bit though. Instead, he needs Ming, Pha, and the Angel Gang to fight his battles for him. Also, his ability to rock a pink outfit is truly unparalleled.

And the ending? I mean, if the choice is between what happened to Yo or a character being raped (looking at you, Love By Chance), then I’ll pick this option every time. Doesn’t stop it from being a bit silly and over dramatic though.

I would highly recommend both series, and I am very much looking forward to 2Moons3.

And if you’re interested in fanfic, I put together rec lists for multiple BL shows including this one that can be found here and here.

MASTERLIST OF BL SHOW REVIEWS

(Send me an ask if you have a show you’d like me to review - with the understanding that I will be completely honest - or if there’s anything you think I forgot or got wrong in this review.)

#2moons #2moons2 #bl review series #mingkit #forthbeam #phayo #j9 #bl recs

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gyakutengagotoku · 4 years

Text

GS4 vs AJ:AA - Episode 2, Part 5

Here’s the last court segment of this episode! It’s also relatively shorter than the usual posts, but there’s a lot of dialogue I captured for context, so it doesn’t look shorter. There’s not too much deviation between the source and localized after we covered all the changes made to the Kitaki’s previously.

For once I started earlier today and got through it pretty quickly, but for the sake of a consistent posting schedule, I’ll stick with around midnight PST every other day or so. Seems like the best rhythm for me that I can keep up with.

> Court Lobby

６月１７日　午前　９時５２分地方裁判所　被告人第２控え室 June 17, 9:52 AM District Court Defendant Lobby No. 2

<Trucy> いよいよ、ですね！ゆうべはよく眠れましたか？ This is it, the big day! Did you get any sleep?

<Apollo> あ。うん。ゆうべ、１時にはフトンに入ったから。 Yeah, I went to bed at 1:00 AM or so.

<Trucy> で？　今日は何時に起きたんですか？ Oh? What time did you wake up?

<Apollo> 午前３時、かな。 ...3:00 AM.

<Trucy> ‥‥ゼンゼン眠れてませんね。 That's only two hours, Apollo...

でも、大丈夫。みぬきがついてるし。 But, at least you have me!

<Trucy> ボウシくんだって、いつも見てますよ。 ...And the Amazing Mr. Hat!

<Mr. Hat> いつも見てますよ、キミ。 Here's looking at you, kid.

Originally: "Yes, I'm always keeping an eye on you." (It's supposed to sound supportive, I swear.)

<Trucy> ね。パパ！　今日は、どんな証人を用意してるの？　ガリュー検事！ Daddy! Do you know who Prosecutor Gavin's witness is today?

<Phoenix> さあね。当ててごらん。 Take a guess!

<Trucy> んーとね。小梅さんとか！ Hmm... How about Little Plum?

<Phoenix> あっはっはっ。キモっ玉かあさんか。ハズレだよ。 Ah ha ha! That Sherman tank of a mom? Nope, guess again.

<Trucy> うーん、ザンネン。でも。みぬき、思うな。 That's too bad. You know, speaking of moms...

パパも、早く新しいママ、見つけないと！ You need to find me a new mommy one of these days, Daddy!

<Phoenix> お。コイツは朝からイッポン取られちまったな。 It's barely morning and you're at it already, Trucy!

あっはっはっはっは。 Ah ha ha ha ha ha!

<Apollo> （だから、ウソっぽいんだよなあ、　この親子） (OK, see, this is why I don't buy their "father-daughter" relationship.)

I commented previously that Apollo questioned their father-daughter relationship and legitimately forgot that he also says this, and this time it does match what he originally said. So, my bad.

Also, Naruhodou describes her as "キモっ玉" (kimottama), meaning she got "guts" or "pluck" to her. I appreciate the "Sherman tank", though.

> Courtroom

<Judge> 少なくとも、ハッキリわかったことは‥‥ We did find out one thing for certain.

事件が起こったとき。やはり公園には、被告人と被害者、 There were three people in the park at the time of the murder:

‥‥そして目撃者の３人しかいなかった、というコトです。 The witness, the victim, and the defendant.

<Klavier> ‥‥そういうコト。そこで、今日は‥‥ ...Correct, Herr Judge. And today, I'd like to do something a little new age.

あのザンネンな事件を、外側から見てみようと思ってるんだ。 I'd like to look at this horrible crime... from the outside.

<Apollo> “ソトガワ”‥‥ですか？ The "outside"...?

<Klavier> “凶器の入手経路”‥‥ “犯行準備”‥‥ The acquisition of the murder weapon... The preparation for the act...

被告人クン。ウカツにもゼンブ、しゃべっていたんだよ。 Our poor defendant told all, you see.

‥‥フィアンセにね。 ...To his betrothed.

<Judge> ふぃあんせ‥‥？ His... bee trove?

<Klavier> ‥‥婚約者さ。人生の共犯者ってヤツかな。 ...His fiancée, Herr Judge. His partner for life... with no chance for parole.

<Judge> それでは、その‥‥ いいなずけを入廷させてください！ Very well, you may show the erm... "lucky" lady to the stand.

Once again, the judge struggles with words outside of his language, and Kyouya, being the resident English expert, has to explain. That being said, "bee trove" is suspiciously apt as a metaphor to describe her...

<Klavier> ‥‥それじゃ、キミ。名前と、職業を。 ...Your name and occupation, Fräulein.

<Alita> 並奈　美波と申します。今は、花嫁修行中というか‥‥ Alita Tiala. My occupation... is future wife.

<Judge> ふむう‥‥ いいココロがけです。 Ah, traditional values! I respect that.

最近は、温泉タマゴすら作れないムスメさんも多いですからな。 Too many brides these days can't even weave baskets blindfolded... underwater.

しかし‥‥今日は、検察側の証人として出廷したわけですな？ Yet you're here today as a witness for the prosecution?

<Alita> わたし‥‥最初は、証言したくありませんでした。 To be honest, I didn't want to testify at first.

でも、やっぱり。かくしておくことはできなくて。 But... I couldn't hide the truth.

<Judge> ふむう‥‥やはり、リッパなココロがけです。 Hmm. Honesty! Another admirable trait.

Originally, his "underwater blindfolded basket weaving" standards were about soft-boiling eggs so that the yolk hardens while the white remains soft. They're called "onsen tamago" because these eggs were traditionally cooked in a hot spring, but can be cooked in any ol' pot between 70-80°C (158-176°F). It's one of those old-timey signs that a soon-to-be-wed would be a good wife because she could cook. Now, the only time I'd ever see these eggs is when I don't boil them hotly enough.

On that note, nowadays there are underwater basket weaving Olympics. Thanks, Rio 2016. Maybe Tokyo 2020 (2021?) could include a special event category for egg-boiling.

> 1st Witness Testimony, press 3rd statement

<Alita> ちゃんと管理されてるから、フツウの組員じゃムリだと思います。 Not really, I think. There's a system in place to limit access.

でもね。滝太クンはトクベツ。なんたって。アトトリ息子ですから。 But Wocky's a special case, being the next-in-line.

<Klavier> 少し、甘やかされていたところはあったんじゃないかな。 Perhaps his treatment was a bit too special, ja?

<Alita> たしかに、“おぼっちゃん”なトコロはあったかもしれません。 Well, maybe he is a bit spoiled...

誕生日に、スゴいプレゼントをもらったって話もきいてるし。 I hear he got amazing presents for his birthdays.

ガムでできた“ドス”とか、チョコレートの“花札”とか。 Last year was a switchblade made out of chewing gum and a chocolate gravestone!

<Apollo> （アブナイものが好きなのか、　アマいものが好きなのか‥‥） (Sounds like he has a taste for sweets... and danger.)

Originally, they were a rubber dosu and a chocolate hanafuda card. Danger AND gambling, but the kid-friendly kind!

Though, I can accept "chewing-gum switchblade" here because "ガム" (gamu) can also mean that kind of gum or the gum material of rubber.

> Press 5th statement, present Alita, present chart or sandals

<Judge> ちょっと待ちなさい！ Ms. Tiala!

あなたは“被害者とはなんの関係もない”と証言しています！ You testified that you had no connection to the victim!

<Alita> なんの関係もないわよ。 ‥‥今となっては、もう。 And I don't. Now.

<Apollo> 今となっては‥‥？ "Now"...?

<Alita> だって。半年前に、やめたんだから。もう、無関係でしょ。 I quit half a year ago, didn't I? So there's no connection.

‥‥アナタたち、もしかして。 Let me guess, you're the kind of guy...

コイビトのムカシのコト、ぜんぶ聞かないと気がすまないタイプの、 ...who can't rest until he knows every last detail of his girlfriend's past.

ちっぽけなオトコ、なのかしら？ Am I right?

<Judge> そんなコトはないですぞ！私は、その。 Th-That's not true at all! Why, I...

愛しいヒトの、ちょっとした過去もまとめて抱きしめるタイプの、イキ I embrace the ones I love, past flaws and all, no matte--

<Objection!>

<Apollo> “今はもう”無関係‥‥ それは、通らないんですよ。 "There's no connection now" doesn't fly in a court of law.

<Alita> ‥‥どういうこと、かしら？ Doesn't... fly?

<Apollo> （さすが、キモっ玉が座っている） (She's one tough nut.)

（キタキツネ一家にヨメ入りしよう　とするだけのコトはあるな） (She probably feels right at home with the Kitakis!)

Fyi, the judge responded here because she called them all out, not just the defense.

And yep, here it is again: "キモっ玉". So, a Sherman-tank mom and a tough-nut fiancée; no wonder she fits right in. (I still think "bee trove" is more apt, though.)

> Present more evidence to tie her in but present wrongly

<Judge> ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ そうですね。私としては ... Well, I suppose I could see--

<Objection!>

<Klavier> おデコくん。キミのたぐっている糸は、真実につながってない‥‥ Herr Forehead. This trail you think you have found, it doesn't lead to the truth.

ついでに、キミの弁護士生命も断ち切ってあげようか？ Nor to a long career in the legal profession, ja?

<Apollo> け、けっこうです。 Gee, thanks.

<Klavier> じゃあ、かわりに。いつものヤツ、やらせてくれるかな。 Perhaps you will allow me to do the honors?

<Judge> ふむう‥‥ まあ。たまには、よいでしょう。 Hmm... Why not? It might be nice for a change.

<Klavier> ‥‥それじゃ。遠慮なく。Ｌｅｔ’ｓ　Ｒｏｃｋ！ Most excellent... Let's rock!

<Apollo> （なんだか‥‥ 　いつもの何倍もクヤシイ） (I'll take the usual penalty next time, thanks.)

<Judge> それでは、弁護人！　もう一度提示していただきましょう。 Very well, Mr. Justice. Try again.

Look, guys, the JP script does have English letters and it has them for a good reason. Kudos to the loc team for that most excellent reference too.

> 2nd Witness Testimony, present medical chart at 4th statement, Perceive at new (6th) statement, present wrong evidence about the "threat"

<Alita> ‥‥その証拠品が、どうかした？ ...Because of what?

<Apollo> え‥‥ Um...

<Alita> アナタ。目はいいかもしれないケド。アタマはクモの巣が張ってるみたい。 The eyes of a hawk... and the brain of a toad.

<Apollo> （‥‥ここで引っこむ　ワケにはいかない！） (Ribbit! I mean, ack! I can't lose this now!)

（アタマのクモの巣を払え！　もう一度だッ！） (C'mon toad brain, one more try!)

Originally, the metaphor was "brain full of cobwebs". So Odoroki tries dusting his attic.

> Press newer (7th) statement

<Apollo> その証言の“ウソ”は、さっき見抜いたじゃないですか！ We already know you're lying about having no reason!

<Alita> わかってるわよ！エラそうに言わないで！ I know you know! Don't look at me like that!

<Apollo> え‥‥‥ Huh...?

<Alita> ヒトをトンでもない目つきでニラんでくれちゃってさ。 Like I'm some two-bit washed up good-for-nothing...

コワかったじゃないの！ You scared me!

<Klavier> ‥‥たしかにね。 ...I concur.

ぼくですら、そこまでアツい目で見つめられたことはないよ。 Even I am rarely treated to such a... hot gaze.

<Apollo> す。すみません‥‥ S-Sorry...

（‥‥そうとうスゴいカオを　さらしているらしいな、オレ） (Maybe I need to do some face training, too...)

"Hot gaze"... Yeah, sounds about right.

Last line was simply: "(...I guess I made quite the face at her.)"

> Present bullet in safe

<Judge> まさか！　それでは、その財産を狙って、その。婚約をしたと‥‥ Nefarious! So she planned to marry him just to get her hands on this fortune?

<Objection!>

<Wocky> イイカゲンなコトを言い散らかしやがってェ‥‥ You keep talking trash about my Alita...

訴えてやるぞッ！このクサレ弁護士がァッ！ ...and I'll sue you, lawyer-man!

<Apollo> ‥‥えッ！　お、オレですか！ ...Huh? Me!?

<Wocky> アンタ、今、言ったな‥‥ Yeah! You said...

オレのみなみちゃんに‥‥ オレのみなみちゃんに‥‥ You said you'd... You'd...

コクハクするとッ！ You'd abuse my Alita!

<Apollo> いやいやいや！ “コクハツ”ですよッ！ Um, I think you mean "accuse"...!

<Wocky> おんなじコトだッ！みなみちゃんはわたさんぞッ！ Same difference! Well you can't have her! She's mine!

It was "kokuhaku" (confess, usu. love to someone) vs "kokuhatsu" (accuse).

<Alita> ‥‥滝太クンさあ。 ...Wocky.

イイカゲン、現実と向かい合いなさいって。 Wake up and smell reality!

<Wocky> み‥‥ミナミちゃん‥‥？ A... Alita-baby?

<Alita> カルテのサイン‥‥ 退院を待って、婚約‥‥ The signature on the chart, the engagement...

わかるでしょ？　フツー。 I mean, come on! It's so obvious.

いくら、頭のカラッポなお坊ちゃんでも。 Even for a brainless, spoiled brat such as yourself.

<Wocky> みなみちゃん‥‥ Alita...

<Klavier> どうやら‥‥ホンネが聞けそうだね。おじょうさん。 Your honesty is like a breath of foul air, Fräulein.

<Alita> まあ‥‥このぶんじゃ、ね。無傷じゃア、済みそうもないし。 Hey, I wasn't getting out of this clean, anyway.

I think I'd prefer if Klavier here used a sound-based metaphor given how his entire character design is based on music. In the JP, he also used a sound metaphor: "It seems... we now hear your true voice, young lady."

Granted, "honne" also just means "true nature", but I like the hidden pun there.

> 3rd Witness Testimony, press 5th statement, point out "another place", point anywhere within the area of attention (double penalty)

<Apollo> 犯人が被害者を撃ったのは、このポイントです！ This is where the killer shot from!

<Judge> そこから、被害者の右のコメカミが撃てないのは、立証済みです。 But then the killer couldn't have shot his right temple.

<Klavier> ボケるには早すぎるよ。おジイさんじゃないんだから。 So young, and already senile. How unfortunate...

<Judge> 私はボケておりませんぞ！ I'll have you know I'm not senile!

事件が起こった日の朝、何を食べたか、ハッキリと‥‥ Why I remember exactly what I ate the morning of the crime!

‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ ..............................

<Judge> とにかくッ！　ペナルティを与えます！ Ahem! Penalty!

<Apollo> （‥‥ズルいや） (...No fair.)

<Klavier> それじゃあ。もう一度指摘してもらおうかな。 You seem intent on digging your own grave. Here, have a shovel and try again.

Odoroki suddenly dropping in Kansai accent out of the blue caught me off-guard. (It's his last line here.) Man was so devastated by that double penalty he got sent out west.

10/21/20 edit: Whoops, my bad. That wasn’t Kansai accent and wouldn’t have made sense if it was. He’s just sighing to himself, really, and I mistook that last ‘ya’ as a copula.

> Point to noodle stand, present slippers & bowls

<Judge> わかっていると思いますが。現在、この法廷で‥‥ I would like to remind the witness of her current status.

あなたを完全な“潔白”と考えている人間は、おりません。 This court does not consider you entirely innocent.

<Alita> ‥‥完全にまっ白な人間はおとぎ話の中に住んでるものよ。 Show me an innocent... I'll show you a fairy tale.

<Judge> ‥‥とにかく。 ...In any case.

いつのまにか、弁護側は提示してしまったようです。 The defense has, somehow, made its point.

この証人に、宇狩院長を殺害する動機とチャンスがあったことを。 The witness had both a motive and an opportunity to kill Dr. Meraktis.

<Alita> そんな不条理な“逆転”‥‥ おとぎ話でもお目にかかれないわね。 More fairy tales! This whole trial is a fairy tale!

<Judge> 最後に、一度だけ。あなたに説明のチャンスを与えます。 Then please, pull us back down to reality, Ms. Tiala.

証言をおねがいしましょう。 I'm giving you one last chance to explain yourself.

Her last line here: "An absurd 'turnabout' like that... wouldn't even be seen in fairy tales!"

> 4th Witness Testimony, Perceive at 5th statement, point wrongly

<Apollo> 美波さん。‥‥そこだッ！ ...Gotcha, Ms. Tiala!!!

<Alita> 聞こえ��るわよ。大きな声で２回も言わなくても。 I heard you just fine the first time.

なに？　ゴキブリでも出たの？ What, I wasn't aware we were playing paintball.

<Apollo> ‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ ......

<Trucy> きわめて冷静ですね。 ‥‥みなみさん。 She's one cool cucumber, that Alita.

<Apollo> （‥‥どうやら、　ややハズしたみたいだな） (...Hmm. Maybe I spotted the wrong spot.)

Originally, she suggested "Cockroach", which iirc is a playground game with a mix of "Hide'n'Seek" and "Tag". For some reason, I'm struggling to find a source online for this, but I swear I remember looking it up before...

10/21/20 edit: Welp, I guess I was overthinking it. She just asks him if he spotted something icky like a cockroach.

> Point correctly, present lamp

<Judge> それでは！　この証人に対する尋問を終了いたします！ Very well! This finishes the cross-examination of this...

<Objection!>

<Klavier> クッ‥‥クックックッ‥‥ Heh. Heh heh heh.

何を言ってるのかな‥‥ アツいギグは、これからなのに。 Not so fast. This party's just getting started!

Ｌｅｔ’ｓ　ｒｏｃｋ，ｇｕｙｓ！ Now, we rock!

<Apollo> ど。どういうコトですかッ！ W-What!?

<Klavier> やはり‥‥ 弁護士というのは、ツメがアマい。 Those spikes on your head are softer than they look...

なぜ、最後までジジツを追求しようとしないんだい？ Or do you not have the stomach to go all the way?

...Come on, loc team, you had one job and you were doing so well with it up to here. At least dress up that "Now, we rock!" a bit with some German or Eurorock flair.

> Present bowls in clinic again or noodle stand, point out the river

<Apollo> そ。そうか‥‥！ Th-That's right...!

事件の起こった、あの晩。成歩堂さんをハネ飛ばしたのは‥‥ That night, the car that hit Mr. Wright...

宇狩　輝夫のクルマ、だった‥‥ ...was that green sports car!

<Judge> な‥‥なんですと！ Oh, yes! I-I'd nearly forgotten about it!

<Klavier> その後、ガレージに戻ったのだから、クルマには、故障はなかったんだ。 Afterward, he drove it back to that garage. It ran fine.

<Alita> ‥‥そのとおり。それなのに‥‥ ...That's right.

その、自慢のクルマを使わないハズがないでしょ？ So why didn't he use his beloved sports car, hmm?

<Apollo> ぐ‥‥ッ！ Urk...!

<Klavier> このムジュンが、キレイに説明できないかぎり‥‥ A glaring contradiction, to be sure.

きみのスイリは成立しないのさ。 ‥‥おデコくん！ More glaring than your forehead.

<Apollo> そ‥‥‥そんなあああああああッ！ No... Nooooooooooo!

The first time I played this part, I found it a lot funnier than I should have because I thought Apollo was screaming about how his forehead was so "glaring".

That's it. I just wanted to share. The JP lines are just the usual "With that contradiction gone, your conjecture won't stand... Odeko-kun!"

> Select "He couldn't use the car", present Magic Panties

<Apollo> そして、オレはきのう。そのときは気がつかなかったケド‥‥ By the way, I learned something yesterday...

ものすごく重要な“情報”を聞いていたんです。 ...A very important piece of information.

‥‥そう！牙琉検事。あなたからね！ ...And I learned it from you, Prosecutor Gavin!

<Trucy> あの！　捜査ですか？ Um, so you were here investigating?

<Klavier> まあね。帰ろうと思ったんだが‥‥ バイクがイカれちゃってね。 And I was on my way home... when my hog gave up the ghost.

<Apollo> バイクが‥‥？ Your hog...?

<Klavier> エンジンがかからないんだ。排気パイプがつまっちゃって。 My motorcycle won't start. A clogged exhaust pipe...

<Trucy> へえ！高そうなオートバイなのに、 Too bad! It looks like such a nice bike, too.

そんなコトでこわれちゃうんですか？ Hard to believe that it could break just from that!

<Klavier> クルマもバイクもいっしょさ。どんな理由であれ‥‥ Cars, motorbikes, they're all the same.

排気パイプをふさがれると、エンジンがかからなくなる。 Clog the exhaust, and they won't run.

<Alita> エンジンが‥‥かからない‥‥ My, how interesting.

"My, how interesting", indeed. It sounds so out of place that I wonder if this was supposed to be a temporary line that they decided to keep in the final draft. For reference, it was just "The engine... was clogged...!?"

> Court Lobby

同日　午後　４時１２分地方裁判所　被告人第２控え室 June 17, 4:12 PM District Court Defendant Lobby No. 2

<Trucy> やりましたね！　オドロキさん！おめでとうございます！ Great job, Apollo! You did it!

<Apollo> ああ、やったな！ ‥‥なんとか、ね。 Yeah, we did, somehow...

<Trucy> 滝太さんも、無罪になって‥‥ Wocky's off the hook...

キレイな身体で極道の世界へ羽ばたいていくんですねー。 ...free to become the gangster he's always wanted to be!

きっと、オドロキさんにカンシャして‥‥ And he has you to thank...

<???> テメエこのヤロウくそ弁護士がッ！ Hey! Attorney-man!

<Wocky> よくも！　よくもオレの！よくもオレのミナミちゃんをッ！ You're gonna pay for what you did to my Alita, homes!

<Trucy> ‥‥まったく、カンシャされてないみたいですね。 ...Or to blame, I guess.

<Wocky> テメエこのヤロウくそ弁護士がッ！ You give my Alita back!

返してくれよ！オレのミナミちゃんをよおおおお！ Stupid pointy-head attorney with a death-wish!

Ahaha, the full list of punk swears. I wonder if the loc team had the choice to use even more colorful words here, what would they have come up with? I mean, sure, Wocky is super childish in a way, but he totes would be that one kid in CoD screaming expletives and something about Apollo's mom.

<???> コラッ！　滝太ッ！ Enough, Wocky!

<Apollo> あ！　常勝さん‥‥ Ah! Mr. Kitaki...

<BigWins> ‥‥滝太。いいかげんに、目を覚ましたらどうなのだ。 ...It's high time you opened your eyes, Wocky.

<Wocky> テメエこのヤロウくそオヤジがッ！ What do you know, old man!

目を覚ますのはキサマの方だろうが！ I think it's 'bout time you opened yours!

極道のミチ踏みはずして、カネ儲けに走りやがって！ Givin' up the life, tryin' to become some kinda businessman!

<BigWins> 滝太ッ！　オマエはなにもわかっとらんのだッ！ Don't talk about what you don't understand, Wocky!

<Trucy> ‥‥そのうち、つまみ出されますね。この調子だと。 ...I'm afraid the guard is going to throw them both out.

<Apollo> めんどくさい親子だな、マッタク。 ...If not in jail. Wouldn't that be a happy ending.

And then he'd throw the same kind of insults at his dad too, but with less about moms, I'd hope.

<BigWins> オマエをこんな目にあわせたのは、極道という生き方のせいだ。 It was the gangster life that did this to you, Wocky.

‥‥オマエを助けたい。キレイなカネで‥‥な。 ...I want to help you, and I want to do it clean.

わかってくれないか。 ‥‥滝太。 Please understand. Wocky...

<Wocky> オ、オヤジ‥‥ D-Dad...

ば。バカにしやがって‥‥ いつも‥‥いつも、こうだッ！ M-Man, I see how it is, old man! Always you looking out for... out for...

<Trucy> た。滝太さん‥‥？ Wocky...?

<Wocky> いいか、くそオヤジ！オレだって。オレだってなあ！ Listen good, old man! One day... One day...

いつか、きっと！キサマをケリオトしてやるんだ！ I'm gonna take you out! Then we'll see who's the O.G.!

どこの世界に逃げてもな！クビを洗って待っておけッ！ You try to hide in your business suit, I'll find you!

テメエこのヤロウくそオヤジがッ！ Stupid ol' geezer!

<Trucy> あ！　‥‥滝太さん！ My! Wocky!

<BigWins> ‥‥コレでいいのです。 ...No, it's as it should be.

<Apollo> オヤジさん！（その目で見つめないでほしいな） Mr. Kitaki! (I liked him more without the puppy dog eyes.)

...Wocky, ya big tsundere. I love this father-son relationship.

And it's contagious. Even Odoroki here is calling him "Oyaji-san" after all the times he was polite.

<BigWins> アンタたちに会えてよかった。 ‥‥ワシは、コトバがニガテです。 I'm glad... to have met you. I'm not so good with words...

やはり。プロに任せるものだね。 But I know a professional job when I see one. Thank you.

<Apollo> そ。そんな‥‥ Who? Me? I don't think...

<BigWins> ‥‥いつか‥‥ Someday...

新製品・《キタキツネもなか》を持って、お礼にうかがうとしよう。 I'll bake you one of our latest... The Kitaki Lime Pie.

<Apollo> （‥‥お菓子屋さんにでも　落ち着くつもりなのかな） (...He's opening a pie shop!?)

Not just a pie shop; all the sweets you could find, with their specialty "Kitakitsune Wafer"! Technically, it's monaka, which is a wafer cake usually filled with asuki bean jam. It's also among the things you can see in the credits (exclusive to the JP version, anyway) when we see this happy family again.

<Trucy> あ！　そうだ。帰る前に、行かないと！ Oh, that's right! We have to go someplace first!

<Apollo> え？　‥‥どこに？ Huh? Where?

<Trucy> “報酬”ですよ！ムギツラさんの！ Why, to claim our reward from Mr. Eldoon!

<Apollo> ‥‥ああ。しょっぱいラーメンか。もう、屋台は戻ったのかな？ ...Ah, salty noodles. Right. He got his stand back already?

<Trucy> そのあとは、みぬきのステージも見に来るんですからね！ Oh, and after that, you can come see my show!

ぼうしクンスペシャル。みぬきからの“報酬”です！ With a special appearance by the Amazing Mr. Hat!

<Mr. Hat> じつはコレ、めったにやりません。 Oh, it's special alright!

<Apollo> ‥‥だから、もういいよ。それ‥‥ Please... anything but him.

Originally the gentleman said: "It is going to be a rare sight, indeed."

Next up, the most infamous episode of this game for its unintentional earworm... Though honestly, I never really found it all that bad. That said, thank goodness SoJ had a skip button for certain scenes, even if I didn’t mind watching them over and over anyway.

#gsvsaa #gs4 #ajaa #turnabout corner #part 5

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tkemeaway · 5 years

Text

Operation We-Would-Make-a-Great-Mocha

Summary: Bucky and you spend your work days pairing your costumers up. Modern AU.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

A/N: For @buckyofthemyscira, Merry late Christmas and Happy New Year! May 2020 be all you want it to be✨, I hope you enjoy this lil gift😋.

Thanks to @bucky-smiles for organizing this Secret Santa thingy and for being patient, you’re awesome💕.

The gif’s a lil sexy but there’s no sexy times in this fic!

Warnings: Fluff? Pining? A lot of clichés and bad pick up lines. Bickering and stuff. Maybe a couple newbie mistakes because this is my first time writing. Bear with me pls!

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

Mornings were boring, but what else could you expect from a wrong placed Starbucks? The investors overestimated the interest of locals in overpriced coffee. Something about urbanizing the area, attracting more people and eventually creating a central, more commercial zone. That happened a year ago and the reason the shop was still up and functioning was mainly the horde of teenagers coming in the afternoons after school to have a taste of the “city life”. The mornings however, the mornings were a complete different story. There were two regulars, a large black coffee with a muffin at seven thirty and a hot chocolate at nine, and from time to time some clueless visitant who had gotten lost in the nameless streets of the maze-like town and came across the isolated, kind of hidden, coffee shop.

That Monday morning in particular there was a surprising amount of five people in the shop, three being costumers. Black Large had arrived half an hour later than her usual time and Hot Chocolate had apparently decided to start his day earlier than he was accustomed to, both of them taking quite a while to finish their orders. An occurrence that has turned into an usual one after the first time Black Large seemingly slept through her alarms and entered the coffee shop in a hurry to fetch her order and throw some cash on the counter at the same time Hot Chocolate was enjoying some polite small talk with the barista while waiting for his order to be made. An amazing moment happened then when, just like in the romcoms, they glanced at each other casually but their eyes glued to the other’s and for a moment it was just the two of them, until his order was placed in the counter and the world began to turn again. It was fun for the two baristas to watch how, since that day, they started coming to the shop with a bounce to their step, their gaze more alert and the tables they chose to sit in more close to the other’s each day. Fun. Yeah. At least at first.

“Oh my god, this is ridiculous, that was the fifth time in 20 minutes that they smiled at each other!” She told him as she put her hands in the air, making him chuckle. “This is not funny Buck, we gotta help this poor souls!”.

“Remember what happened the last time you helped some poor souls get together?” Bucky crossed his arms and she huffed.

“That’s not fair, how was I supposed to know? They seemed so in love!”

“He took her money and ran away!”

“Okay, okay, not my best work, but I introduced Steve to Peggy and they’re doing amazing. Besides, we know these two, doesn’t she work with your mom? And I’m sure I saw him in that big Christmas party last year. There’s no way either of them is that bad.” She argued and gave him puppy eyes. “Prithee help me help them?”

She knew the answer way before he made up his mind. That’s how it would always go between them. If he was being difficult, she would tell him that nothing happened in that goddamned town and that he was denying her the tiniest amount of fun she could gather from her boring life, that she could be doing drugs and riding motorcycles but she just wanted to be her selfless self and help someone to find love, and he would then comply to whatever she was asking of him. She would think it was because her amazing persuasion skills and excellent arguments, for she was blind to the loving look and affectionate smile she would receive from her coworker.

“Wow there, doll, no need to go shakespearean on me. I’ll do it, but the beers are on you tonight, I’mma need some alcohol after helping you chase away the only two regulars of this fucking place with your plotting.”

She squealed, took his hand in hers and squished it against her heart, “I like you so so much, do you know that?” He gave her a pained smile that she didn’t notice because she was already scheming. “I’m thinking maybe we can put a message in her muffin and say it’s from him?”

He rose an eyebrow playfully. “Do you know how to letter with icing?”

“No, but I do have an amazing, handsome, crafty coworker who does.”

————

“I’m soy into you.”

“You are just the way I like my coffee. Tall, dark and strong.”

“Bean thinking about you a latte.”

“Affogato? Afforgeto where I am when I look at you.”

“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so caramel me maybe?”

“That wouldn’t even fit in there! And it has a sexual innuendo that I’m not sure she would appreciate much.” He said with an amused smile.

“But it’s genius!” She punched his arm as he laughed. “You’re awful at brainstorming.”

“I just don’t know why you’re putting so much effort into this, you don’t even know these people!” He questioned jokingly, and it was just for the sake of it, because he loved how stubborn she could be when she wanted something, and he knew he would do anything he could to help her get whatever she ever wanted.

“I’m projecting onto them the kind of corny as fuck romance my life is lacking.” She deadpanned and then chuckled. “Look, if I can’t have a love story with my guy then I’m gonna help them have theirs.”

Bucky’s heart clenched at her statement but he still joked. “You mean all it would take to win you over would be to throw a lame pick up line at you?” That earned him a glare from her. “You know, someday you’ll have to tell me who this guy you’re always mentioning is,” and he actually, desperately wanted to know who the fuck was this man that had everything he wanted and didn’t do anything about it. Y/N had casually mentioned him a couple times but when Bucky asked about it, she just said that the guy was way out of her league and that she wouldn’t do anything about it anyways so there was no reason to reveal his identity.

It was Tuesday morning and that meant matchmaking time for Bucky and Y/N. It was six thirty and there weren’t any clients to serve as it was expected. She was sitting on the counter with a notebook in her lap while she chewed on a pen pensively, unaware to the effect this little action had on Bucky, who was leaning on his elbows by her side. They were using a notebook to draw a representation of the chocolate muffin that was destined to get the missive across, and trying to find the perfect line to catch the attention of Black Large without it being creepy. It needed to be precise, flirty but appropriate and the correct amount of funny. Bucky seriously doubted that a cheesy pick up line would attract the very professional looking woman, but Y/N was certain that she had to have a playful side to her in between all that business attire, and she was sure that the soft personality and cheery attitude of Hot Chocolate was the perfect combination to bring it out. All of this was on Y/N’s mind when it came to her.

“I got it!” She screeched and jumped off of the counter to scribble something on the paper that she then held in front of her for Bucky to see. There it was, in the middle of the wonky lined muffin. He left his position on the counter to fully face her and stared blankly at the words for a couple seconds only to immediately double over with laughter.

“We would make a great mocha together? Really?”

“I don’t know what you laughing at, this is honestly the finest piece of art my brain ever produced.” She rolled her eyes at him. “You just don’t get it, it’s because she orders a coffee and he has th—”

“Oh no, I do get it.” He continued to laugh and she gave him an offended look, so he put his hands up in surrender. “Okay fine, seeing that you’re the Cupid here and I’m merely one of your arrows, I’m gonna trust your oh so ever magnificent wisdom in the love field. But you owe me for this, specially if it fails and they sue us or something.”

“They can try,” she scoffed, “but since you don’t trust my amazing plan at all let’s make this into a bet, shall we?” She looked at him mischievously while crossing her arms. “If it works, and it will, you have to take my morning shift this Friday. If not, then you win.”

“What do I win exactly? When I win.” He leaned on the counter again and smirked at her. “And please define ‘works’ in this context. I’d feel lucky if she doesn’t start screaming at him or walks out immediately but I don’t think that’d be enough to call you a winner, doll.”

“If you win, you can choose whatever you want, and that’s if they don’t at least exchange numbers.” She extended her hand to him. “You in?”

He shook her hand and sighed, “I am.”

“Amazing! Operation Mocha-Love is on! To the cave!”

————

“Explain to me why is it me who has to do the delivery again?” Bucky asked her.

It was eight in the morning already and it wasn’t long before the subjects arrived. The Glorious Cupid’s Arrow (code for the muffin) was sitting on the back counter behind the display racks where the coffee was made. It was your normal chocolate muffin, except it had the words ‘We would make a great mocha together’ written in small cursive.

Y/N stopped sweeping the floor and leaned on the broomstick with her head over her hands. “You have to buy us a little time in case Hot Chocolate decides he doesn’t want to come early today. If he’s not here when we give her the muffin she will smell the distinct smell of bullshit don’t you think?”

“I get that, but why me?” He suddenly stopped wiping the counter and looked at her. “And what did you just call him?”

“Hot Chocolate? Codename for Carl, because he orders a... well, a hot chocolate? You know?” She hesitated but smiled when she saw that Bucky was grinning at her and continued sweeping. “And about her, I don’t think she likes me that much since the first time she came here and I gave her a cold coffee by accident.”

“She as in... Black Coffee?” He guessed.

“Large Black.” She chuckled.

“Nice, and what’s my codename?”

“Right now and for the sake of this mission you're Icing Arrow and I’m obviously Cupid.” He laughed and they went silent for a while as they finished their tasks.

“By the way, I know what my reward’s gonna be once this fails miserably.” She looked up at him from her new place behind the counter and rose her eyebrow inquisitively. “I want you to tell me who the guy you like is.”

She huffed in annoyance but before she could reply to his request, the sound of someone entering the shop broke her focus on him and put the plan in motion. Her eyes went wide and she silently hurried him to take position, as he was sat at the table in front of her. She got excited and Bucky even started to feel a little nervous. Though surprisingly, it wasn’t who they were expecting to arrive. Carl walked to the counter where Bucky was waiting for him already and ordered his usual, then sat in the table at the center of the place when Y/N handed him his chocolate, just beside Large Black’s table.

Before Bucky had the time to comment on how this was perfect timing, the second subject came in through the doors and started walking towards an awaiting Bucky. Y/N could barely contain her enthusiasm while Bucky told the woman, Amanda, Large Black, that he had a special muffin for her as requested by the only other person present in the shop. Her resolution faltered when Amanda furrowed her brow but it came back stronger when a goofy grin slowly made its appearance in her face as she read the inscription in the sweet treat. She subtly did a victory dance when Amanda went to sit with Carl at his table.

————

Bucky showed up for Y/N’s shift on Friday with a defeated look on his face and dragging his feet. This was his sleeping in day. He worked Fridays in the evening, when no one came by, not even the teens, seeing they were getting ready to go out since it was Friday’s night after all. The cherry on top, he couldn’t even see Y/N like every other day working the early hours because he was covering her shift. With the silence that the morning and the solitude allowed, he indulged in the comfort of daydreaming about her. His coworker. His friend. His everything-but-what-he-wanted-her-to-be.

He kind of disliked her at first. She was clumsy, loud, and didn’t have any boundaries whatsoever. She treated him as a friend since she started working there, a month after him, and his shy reserved self didn’t trust that kind of behaviour coming from a stranger. She would punch him in the arm when laughing at something, call him all sorts of nicknames and rely information on him that he wasn’t sure what to do with (why in hell would he want to know that she could recite all the words to the Kanye West classic Gold Digger or that she could tie her shoelaces in 3 seconds?).

But she slowly grew on him. Her weird impressions and the way she quoted The Simpsons on a daily basis, how she started working in a coffee shop despite the fact that she hated the smell of it just to prove a point still incomprehensible to him, her temporary fixations on stupid things like pairing two strangers together or the Star Wars franchise (which she made Bucky watch with her in one sitting).

He fell for her in between days of playing Alphabet Categories and nights of drunken karaoke.

They were friends. She was in love with someone else. There wasn’t much to it and Bucky didn’t like to sulk in it, so he just thought about what it would be like to kiss her. To be the reason she had a dreamy look on her face. To wake up with her and to hug her whenever he wanted and kiss her when she was funny like he always wanted to. He thought about this often, and that was what he was doing when Amanda entered the shop followed by, much to his surprise, Carl himself.

“Hi buddy,” he greeted Bucky once they reached the counter, “where’s your partner in crime today? Tricking some other pair of fools maybe?”

Bucky’s eyes went wide and he started apologizing, “I’m sorry sir, we meant no harm and...” but he trailed off when he noticed how Amanda was containing her laughter while intertwining her arm with Carl’s. “Wait, you two are— it worked?”

“Let’s say it did.” The woman smiled at Bucky knowingly and took out her wallet to put some cash on the counter. “Charge me our usuals, add a muffin to his and let me return the favour, please tell her you like her.”

Bucky just stared at her dumbfounded and she chuckled, but Carl was the one to continue. “You think you’re the only ones with eyes?” Bucky kept silence now worried about Y/N not being as oblivious as he thought. The man in front of him caught that. “She doesn’t know. A two way street apparently... I think we’ll leave you to it and you can bring us our food when you’re ready.”

And with that, they walked to their table.

————

It was Saturday. Y/N walked into the shop to see a nervous Bucky fidgeting in his seat at one of the tables.

“Sup dork.” He jumped from his seat and stood in front of her. “Wow there, everything alright? You seem a little off.”

“All good, doll. Want some breakfast?” He was already walking behind the counter while she took her backpack and jacket off. “I put extra work into this one, you’re gonna love it, made it myself.”

She scowled but didn’t say anything. She came out of the employees closet with the apron on and leaned on the counter with her elbows supporting her. “Well hit me with it then.”

Y/N saw Bucky falter a little, but he still placed the dessert in front of her and watched her closely while she examined the piece of food.

It was a muffin. A big as fuck muffin, clearly homemade to make the long phrase written on top of it fit, apparently by Bucky, and Y/N’s breath got caught in her throat when she read the words of a beautiful pink color. She thought it was either a joke or maybe another Cupid’s Arrow to light the way of some other lost idiots to love. Though when she looked up at Bucky, the look of utter adoration and hope on his stupidly, impossibly blue eyes left no doubt in her mind. However, she kept her expression as blank as possible. He was desperate already, wondering if he should have said something instead, if he should talk now, but she interrupted his thoughts by saying “You know, it doesn’t work if you already have my number and we’ve known each other for almost a year. I guess it’s fair to tell you who I fancy.” And, before she could actually see his heart breaking, she brought him closer to her by his shirt and kissed him with the counter between them.

————

“You know, you didn’t actually say anything.” She told him while keeping her eyes in the frapuccino she was occupying her hands with.

It was funny, like watching Large Black and Hot Chocolate pining after the other for weeks, how the largest amount of clients in months decided to come to the wrong placed Starbucks just when Bucky was finally able to taste the lips of the woman he wanted for so long. Even before he had time to properly react, the door opened and a procession of seemingly still drunk gals and pals walked in the shop. This happened from time to time, when hungover people would walk in after a busy night to the only coffee shop open so early on a Saturday.

Bucky smiled and turned her around by her hips to face him. “I like you.”

“How much?” And even if he didn’t expect her to ask him to marry her, he wasn’t expecting that answer either. But then she saw the cheeky grin on her face and cackled. “Are you really going to make me say it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She bit her lip to keep her smile from showing.

He laughed and kissed her cheek. “I like you a latte.”

She kissed him again, conveying her answer with the fervency of her lips and the desperation of her hands in his hair. Bucky brought her even closer to him by her waist and slightly bit her lower lip to gain more access to her and— someone clearing their throat from behind the counter. “Do you mind not making out over my cup?” Said the man with an annoyed tone.

They went back to finishing the last orders with big smiles and hearts aching to embrace the other. “Can you pass the coffee and sugar?” She asked from behind him and Bucky dropped the cup he was working on when she walked to him and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, “Because you just made me cream in my pants with that kiss.”

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meretricula · 4 years

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I still have not watched The Untamed. Have some fic recs.

So, for context, I've never actually watched The Untamed or read The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation but I have spent the past several weeks chewing my way through the Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian tag on AO3 (with extensive filters, obviously, I'm not superhuman and I do still have a day job) and I finally got to the end, so: here are the ones I liked the best! I have zero first-hand canon knowledge, so I can recommend them secure in the knowledge that you really don't need to have watched or read canon in order to enjoy them. Have fun!

(For the sake of the experiment, I guess, here is what I think happens in this show: there is a Sunshine One (high French ponytail, mostly wears black) and a Grumpy One (very fancy hairpieces and a ribbon headband, always wears white or pale blue). They are both excruciatingly beautiful. They went to magic school together and the Sunshine One spent a lot of time pulling the Grumpy One's pigtails, but never clued into the fact that the Grumpy One is already very embarrassingly in love with him. Blah blah tragedy, blah blah war crimes, blah blah parting of the ways, Sunshine One adopts an orphan child, continuing tragedy & war crimes, then Sunshine One falls off a cliff while Grumpy One stares in very evocative horror. The .gifsets of this moment are very nice. Grumpy One finds Sunshine One's child, takes him home, and raises him as his own child. Timeskip to when their child is his teens, Sunshine One is resurrected in a different body, identity shenanigans, Grumpy One finally gets to be with the love of his life, there is plot but I don't really care about it, they live happily ever after. I'm supposed to start watching tomorrow so I will finally find out which of my inferences are correct!)

Two vids that I really enjoy and are mostly legible without knowing the show's visual shorthand: NFWMB and a love that won't keep still. Grumpy One's face is truly a work of art.

Some cute modern AUs that really don't demand anything from you in terms of background knowledge: The Simplest Way Forward (they're student musicians in the same orchestra who get green card married so that they can adopt the kid who gets ditched at Sunshine One's door), Window Shopping (they're quarantined in apartments opposite each other and Sunshine One's kid wants to see Grumpy One's pet rabbits), Unstrictly Ballroom (they are ballroom dancers but Sunshine One was unjustly banned from competition years ago and Grumpy One has finally found him working in a strip club; I know it sounds cheesy but it is AGONIZING), A Keen Rabbit Lover (they are both women and grad school students and pining disgustingly for each other when everything gets disrupted by Sunshine One VERY BADLY misinterpreting Grumpy One's drunken confession that she "likes rabbits"), your heartbeat, across the grass (Grumpy One is a soccer superstar and the kid Sunshine One babysits for wants to go to a game; I rec this with the caveat that if you know anything about professional soccer the bits about professional soccer are massively unrealistic), Year Of Night Call (they are extremely codependent trauma surgeons who share an on-call bed), And they were roommates... (they're both women and grad students and wind up living together after Sunshine's family throw her out), Out of the Bin and Into Your Heart (Sunshine comes up with a ridiculous fake-dating scheme to throw off their admirers at the Chinese cultural center; Grumpy plays along for reasons that are blatantly obvious to everyone except Sunshine), "Congratulations, Get Rich" (Sunshine tries to start a tradition of kissing at midnight on Chinese New Year so he'll have an excuse to kiss Grumpy), one good thing (Sunshine is a ghost haunting Grumpy's house and Grumpy just happens to come from a long family line of exorcists), Lifelong Confidant (Sunshine has a happy, normal life as a barista-slash-music-teacher and two roommates he loves, except for the tragic past he never talks about -- which is obviously about to make a dramatic reappearance in the person of Grumpy, one of the judges of a celebrity baking show his roommates watch), how to fall in love with a catfish: a guide by wei wuxian (disaster rat) (college RA and all-around human disaster Sunshine develops an improbable chat relationship with Grumpy, who he assumes is catfishing him by using a moderately famous actor's photos on Tinder but -- obviously -- actually is a moderately famous actor; I don't normally like college AUs but this one is solid and VERY funny); you've ruined my life (by not being mine) (Sunshine and Grumpy met at a summer study abroad program and start texting when they're back in the States but on opposite sides of the country; I also don't normally like high school AUs but this is ADORABLE, if you can stand an excruciatingly slow burn)

Actual canon fic that is pretty easy to follow: my age has never made me wise (Sunshine One wanders off without either of them declaring their feelings and proceeds to pine GROSSLY when he hears gossip that Grumpy One is planning a wedding), A Civil Combpaign (Sunshine One's nephew with whom he has a very tenuous relationship decides he wants to marry Sunshine & Grumpy's only child for "diplomatic reasons"; hilarity ensues; this requires probably the most background knowledge but you'll be able to figure out the relationships from context), Content Warning: Romance (Sunshine One is easily embarrassed by praise, so Grumpy ties him up and tells him how wonderful he is; you will never look at praise kink the same again), the hidden source is the watchful heart (after a year of wandering on his own after the end of the show, Sunshine finally comes home), seldom all they seem (mild canon divergence in which Grumpy and Sunshine are betrothed as children; definitely also read the sequel about Grumpy's beautiful kind-hearted fairy tale prince of a brother and the amoral scheming political mastermind who unfortunately adores him), The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts (their child gets together with his friends and publishes a very popular romance about them in an attempt to rehabilitate Sunshine's reputation, which is not unwelcome but is somewhat puzzling to Sunshine since he is not actually in a relationship with Grumpy), Linger in the Sun (Sunshine joins Grumpy on an educational school field trip investigating a series of hilarious curses, which becomes only slightly less hilarious when Sunshine and Grumpy are the latest victims), come home to my heart (it can have a little bodyswap. as a treat.), anyway, here's wuji (a delightfully over-the-top and melodramatic story about the next generation watching Grumpy and Sunshine eventually get their HEA, and falling in love along the way), hunters seeking solid ground (Sunshine, suffering from years of PTSD nightmares so bad that he may actually be dying of sleep deprivation, finally lets Grumpy give him what he needs and deserves; if you just want to read about someone Suffering, A Lot, so that someone who loves him can make it better, this is the fic and the catharsis is WORTH IT), Grand Pianos Crash Together (uncomplicated post-series get-together fic that's very charming and well done and features an unexpectedly hot first time), My Leaves Reach Ever for the Sun (canon divergence in which Sunshine comes up with a madcap crossdressing scheme in order to attend his nephew's christening and inevitably ropes Grumpy in; this story really needs a beta but there are such sweet and lovely moments in it that I keep coming back to reread it anyway), A Crying Shame (canon divergence in which Sunshine's child cries so much at Grumpy leaving them that he just gives up and stays)

Bonus fics which are not modern AUs but aren't really canon either: all your life you'll dream of this (vaguely canon universe but with some fairy tale elements, specifically Cinderella -- no, really! I swear it's good! Grumpy is Cinderella!), debt of a knife (Grumpy is a warlord who has just claimed Sunshine as his captive bride; the premise sounds kind of dubcon-y but all the sex is consensual), turn towards the sun (Kushiel's Dart AU in which Grumpy and Sunshine are BDSM study buddies)

#fic rec #the untamed

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blakecastillo · 4 years

Text

closed thread with @wesleyevans location: Blake’s house time: September 12, 2020 around 8pm context: Blake had a late night craving for pickles and texted Wes to ask him to bring her some. He came over and while they were going to watch a TV show, Blake apparently had other plans. During the evening, Blake fell asleep on Wesley’s shoulder while they watched Ozark and he carried her to bed; she woke up as he put her in her bed and asked him to stay with her for the night.

blake castillo

Blake has been curled up on the couch and began flipping through Netflix to see if anything caught her eye as she waited for Wes to arrive.

wes evans

Wes brought a whole thing of pickles, figuring that if Blake didn't eat them all, she could save them for later. But he liked bringing her stuff and hanging with her. Walking in, he went to her couch, and sat down, "Do I need to put these on a plate or something?"

blake castillo

She watched was he came in and sat down beside her, a chuckle passing through her lips. “No,” she shook her head and took the jar from his hands, quickly opening it and taking a pickle straight from the jar and taking a bite. When she was finished, she put the lid back on and put them on her coffee table. “Thank you.”

wes evans

"Dude said they were the best in the store," Only the best for Blake, honestly. "What are we watching?" He asked, taking her feet and putting them on his lap. If she wanted a foot rub, he'd give her one no problem.

blake castillo

”You’re so extra,” she said with a chuckle as he pulled her feet into his lap and adjusted necessarily. As she went to speak, she paused as she felt something move in her abdomen. Once, twice, a third time. “Wes,” she exhaled excitedly and quickly straightened up and grabbed his hands, pulling them against her stomach as the baby kicked. “Do you feel that?”

wes evans

Wes smiled at her, "Hey you'd do the same for me," He wasn't sure what she was so excited about but his head immediately turned towards her. When his hands went onto her stomach, he did his best to concentrate. "Not really," He said disappointedly, "Why? What is it?"

blake castillo

Blake moved his hand against her stomach and looked up at him expectantly. “The baby,” she breathed as she guided his hand over where the baby kicked one more time. “Try talking to him.”

wes evans

"Wait, maybe I can see it," That'd be just as cool, "S'up little dude," He said, getting close to her belly, "It's your mom and dad here," He shrugged looking at her, "Maybe you say something too. He probably knows your voice better."

blake castillo

Blake watched the way Wes had interacted with her belly and allowed a smile to tug at the corners of her lips, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears again. “Hey baby,” she greeted quietly. “Your daddy’s here and he’s excited to feel you move, baby. Show him.”

wes evans

Wes pressed down gently, "Yeah lil dude it's just us," He said quietly before looking back at Blake. "What do you think he's thinking about? Like he probably doesn't know what we're saying?"

blake castillo

As Wes pressed, she guided his hand to where she felt another kick and she excitedly looked up at him, raising her eyebrow. “I don’t know,” she said quietly as she looked at him. “Do you feel him?”

wes evans

"Sorta," It was cool, feeling his own kid, "Do you think he liked the pickles? Was that why he's so active?" He asked, not knowing if she had the answers to his questions.

blake castillo

At his question, she gave a shrug of her shoulders. She was unsure why the baby kicked the way they did. “Might’ve been you,” she suggested. “Im glad you were here to feel it.”

wes evans

"Me too. At least we know he'll probably be doin' this from now on," That way they could try to get him to do it, "What movie do you think he'll wanna hear? Like a rom com or a comedy?"

blake castillo

”Yeah, for sure.” Blake said as she straightened up and placed her feet in his lap again, chewing on her bottom lip as she looked at him. “It’s up to you, babe.”

wes evans

"I just wanna pick something he'll enjoy listening to. Do you have anything you wanna watch? You get first dibs," It was the least he could do for her, "Or whatever show. “We'll just have to finish it before he's here."

blake castillo

”I get what you mean,” she said in agreement. “I mean, I heard Ozark is pretty good.” She shrugged her shoulders as she glanced over to the tv screen, flipping to the tv show she mentioned. “We could watch that?”

wes evans

"Lets do it," Hopefully they wouldn't get too distracted watching it, that's what used to happen at least. "So you gonna tell me all your hardships now or am I gonna have to squeeze 'em outta you?"

blake castillo

Blake was going to press play when he asked if she was going to tell him all of her hardships, but instead a chuckle passed through her lips. “I’ve just been having a lot of back pain, honestly, and difficulty sleeping.” Blake shrugged. “Nothing too crazy.”

wes evans

"Is that normal to have that much pain? Cause like he's what? Only a pound?" That may've been a little tactless, but he just wanted to make sure she was all good and as healthy as possible. "I know it's not the same but sometimes I have trouble fallin' asleep."

blake castillo

”Yeah, you better hope I don’t experience any Braxton Hicks anytime soon if this is surprising to you.” She said with a chuckle. “Yeah? How come?”

wes evans

"Braxton who? We're not naming the kid that," Shit, he really needed to start doing more research. Time just got away from him so often these days. "Cause I like to reach for you, but you're not there so it's just weird. Still something I haven't gotten used to."

blake castillo

”Braxton Hicks,” she said with a chuckle. “Just a pregnancy symptom, but apparently, it can feel like labour.” She explained before shrugging her shoulders before listening to him. His words are enough to make her heart ache and instinctually, she reached out to him and rubbed her thumb against his cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

wes evans

Wes shook his head, feeling nervous for a moment. "Oh shit. How will we know the difference?" Were they going to have to get a hospital bag ready at any moment? "Don't be, not your fault," He put his hand on top of hers, rubbing it as well. "I've been thinkin' about stealing one of Benny's stuffed animals though. I figured it's sorta the same thing," His hands went back to rubbing her feet, "Have you looked into anything that could help you sleep more?"

blake castillo

”We’d just go to the hospital and they’d be able to determine pretty quickly if they were Braxton Hicks or actual labour.” She explained and tried to sound as reassuring as she could. “I know,” she sighed. She could help but feel bad, knowing that he was struggling because of her. “Please don’t steal from a baby,” she laughed. “I mean, you could always take the guest bedroom,” she said with wiggle of her brows, relaxing into his touch.

wes evans

"Is that gonna happen a lot?" Should he be prepared to go to the hospital everyday? Shit, he hated hospitals so much but he was gonna have to suck his own shit up. "Stealing's a poor choice of words. He probably doesn't even know he has it," Yeah, he really couldn't do that, could he? "I dunno if that's the best idea for us, Blake. With our track record."

blake castillo

She gave a shake of her head in response before saying, “No, it’ll be fine.” She tried to sound reassuring, even though she wasn’t really sure how frequently that could happened. “It’s still stealing from an infant,” she teased. As he spoke, a look of defeat crossed her features for a moment as she looked at the tv.

wes evans

All of this pregnancy stuff was new for the both of them, he hoped that everything would go smoothly for their sake. "Okay," He didn't want to question it further, knowing that he was asking a lot of questions. "What? You don't think you'll be tempted to sleep with me if I'm like across the hall?"

blake castillo

Blake was glad he dropped it because she was just as scared as he was about all of this, so she wasn’t sure how reassuring she could be. At his question, a scoff passed through her lips as she glanced over at him. “I don’t know,” she huffed. “But it doesn’t make sense for you to rent or buy anything when you’ve been spending most of your time here anyway.”

wes evans

This was all so confusing. She didn't want to be with him but she wanted him around. Why couldn't things just be simple between the two of them? "That's not fair to you, you need your own space," Especially if they weren't in the best place right now, "Like do you really want me breathing up and down your neck?"

blake castillo

She was starting to grow frustrated as he spoke and she just wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. In a swift move, she sat up and leaned over to him and pressed her lips to his in a hasty kiss before pulling away. “I want you here with me,” she said quietly.

wes evans

He wasn't sure what was happening but he wasn't going to stop it. "Well shit," He replied, his lips wanting to linger onto hers, but of course they couldn't. "Why didn't you just say that? I wanna be here with you too. But I dunno, I just need you. It's hard to sleep without you."

blake castillo

”Well, we will figure it out. I just... want you here with me, okay? I’d feel safer if you were here with me.” She said as she sat back against the couch, chewing on her bottom lip as she glanced up at him.

wes evans

He wasn't sure if they'd ever figure it out, honestly. They were complicated as fuck. "Okay," He nodded, "But you just can't leave me hanging with that kiss," He teased, "I'm gonna need some cuddling tonight too. It's only fair."

blake castillo

The teasing tone that he took on caused a chuckle to pass through her lips before leaning over to him again. “I’d never leave you hanging,” she teased back before pressing her lips to his again.

wes evans

He just wanted to hang with her, no matter what capacity it was in. “I thought we were actually gonna watch this show,” He teased, knowing that this was way better. His lips went back onto hers once more, “You’re so hot. Holy shit.”

blake castillo

Blake smiled as he pulled away for a moment and allowed a chuckle to pass through her lips. “I mean, we can.” she teased before pressing her lips to his again and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, losing herself in the moment. “Shut up and kiss me,” she grumble against his lips. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the kiss they had at the gender reveal and this was so much better.

wes evans

He shook his head, fine with the fact that they weren't. Of course he spoke a lot, he was nervous for some reason, talking to her at least seemed to calm his nerves with her ironically. It was nice to know that she wanted to kiss him too. He turned to face her more, his lips staying onto hers. "I miss you."

blake castillo

She knew she was being impulsive, but she didn't care. She missed him and she was allowed to, wasn't she? She never stopped loving him; she was just hurt by his actions, so maybe she was being selfish in this moment. His words pull her up short pausing for a moment as she looked into his eyes. "I miss you too," she said softly.

TIME SKIP TO LATER THAT EVENING

wes evans

Once he realized that she was dead asleep, or at least seemed to be, Wes quietly got off the couch. He tried his best not to wake her up as he put his arms underneath her body and lifted her up. He couldn’t let her sleep on the couch. Going sideways, he went up the stairs, making sure to be extra careful not to hit her head or hurt the baby. That was the last thing she needed. Once he got to her bedroom, he gently placed her down. Looking at her for a moment with a smile before gently placing a kiss on her forehead

blake castillo

She wasn’t sure when she fell asleep curled up against Wes’ shoulder. It was somewhere between the second and third episode at least. But, she didn’t care. She was comfortable. She doesn’t even notice that Wes had carried her to her bedroom and it is his lips pressed against her forehead that cause her eyes to open, though they were still quite heavy. Before she spoke, she reached out and took his hand gently. “Will you stay with me?”

wes evans

He was going to leave before she took his hand. Shit, he must’ve woken her up in the process of getting her to bed. He looked at her, nodding, “Yeah of course,” He wasn’t going to say no, this was exactly what he wanted. “As long as we can spoon. I miss that”

blake castillo

She glanced up at him with sleepy eyes and allowed a lazy chuckle to pass through her lips. “Only if I can be the little spoon,” she said with a smile.

wes evans

He nodded, hopping into bed with her. “I’m sure I got the wingspan to still wrap around you,” He teased, opening his arms up for her. His lips rested near her ears, kissing underneath them gently. “You’re so beautiful.”

blake castillo

”I think you’ll be fine,” she chuckled as she got comfortable in his arms. His touch has an almost instantaneous effect on her and she can’t help but melt into his arms. The feel of his lips against her skin is enough to raise the hairs on her arms. “I miss this,” she hummed. “I miss us.”

wes evans

He closed his eyes, just wanting to take in the moment. Hearing her voice was so calming, "I miss this too," He agreed, though he knew it wasn't like they were going to get back together all of the sudden. Still, one could dream.

#wesleyevans #closed.

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bigskydreaming · 5 years

Text

So I’ve been going through all my old Scrivener files and rounding up all the various fics and updates I’m planning on queuing up to post during the month/however-the-fuck-long I’m bedridden after surgery in a couple weeks. Which includes Teen Wolf as well as Batfics, FYI.

Anyway, came across this old WIP that I never ended up posting because I ultimately thought it felt too similar to both Where Wild Things Are and Lightning Crashes, just in different ways....not enough that any of them were derivative of each other, but enough that I wasn’t super inspired to continue writing it because the vibe I was going for with it, I was already getting from writing those other two fics.

But I still liked it and think there was some good stuff there, so what the hell. Here’s an opening from a never-planning-on-finishing-it Scallison AU, where things diverged from canon right after the Hale fire six years pre-pilot, and there was a different-from-canon McCall pack at war/trying to survive Peter’s pack in its attempts to stamp theirs out.

The Scallison part starts out in the vein of the ABC show Revenge, where Scott’s initially just trying to keep an eye on the hunters in town/figure out where the Argents land in all of this, but then, y’know. The feelings happen.

Anyway, it was chock full of my favorite TW writing tropes - runaway/long lost Scott, pack politics, side characters turned main characters, scheming, double-dealing, Scott Is A Goddamn Genius and No I Do Not Accept Constructive Criticism On This Matter For It Is Wrong....you know, my usuals.

I did have a pretty extensive outline/summary for the rest of the fic and my plans for it, that I can post if there’s any interest in reading that and seeing where this was going. *Shrugs* Just let me know.

WHAT THE FIRES LEFT BEHIND

Scott McCall came home on a Tuesday.

For Allison, that didn’t mean much at first. Her only context for the mass text was the bemused quirking of Lydia’s lips and a rather underwhelming ‘Huh.’ Then a shrug and a flick of her hair, and her best friend by default returned to ruffling through the Macy’s clearance rack with a vengeance.

“Awful. Grotesque. Needs to be set ablaze, immediately - ”

Allison nodded to herself and bore continued witness to Lydia’s evisceration of every hack designer of every fashion atrocity present, though sadly, the novelty of that had long since worn off. It was 7 pm on a school night. They’d been scouring the mall for something to meet Lydia’s approval for three hours already, and Allison did have trigonometry homework she could be torturing herself with instead, so….

Tough call. Hard choices had to be made. Allison steeled herself for battle and called Lydia Martin on her bullshit.

“Why are we here again? You hate Macy’s, and you absolutely despise clearance items.”

“I know that, and you know that.” Lydia emerged from a forest of polyester blouses wearing a look of disdain that had a ph level that would put any acid in the school’s chem lab to shame. “But I’m trying to see if I can find something here to start a trend with anyway. Call it…a social experiment.”

“Hmm.” Allison nodded again thoughtfully. Briefly, she considered mercy. But she had just wasted three hours of her life. And mercy wasn’t really the Argent family way.

She pulled the trigger. “You sure its not called Daddy cut your spending limit?”

Her melodrama-prone friend threw her hands up as if to express the whole world had gone mad and nothing made any sense. “It’s like he’s not even trying to buy my affection anymore!”

Allison coughed into her hand to smother a giggle. Being able to so easily rile up her friend when all others’ attempts dashed themselves harmlessly upon Her Majesty’s porcelain mask of perfection? Still her favorite sport next to archery. But certain social norms must be respected. One didn’t openly mock a friend in such obvious distress. She quickly changed the subject. For Lydia’s sake, really.

“So who’s Scott McCall?”

Lydia paused midway through working herself up to a truly tickets and popcorn-worthy rant, thrown by the sudden segue. “What?”

Allison waved her phone, flashing the mass text Danny had sent out to pretty much everyone in the Beacon County zip code.

“Scott McCall’s back. He just walked into the Sheriff’s Station. Stiles saw him himself,” she read out loud. “Who’s Scott McCall?”

“Oh. That.” Lydia tore her horrified gaze away from a leopard print mini-skirt and shrugged. “He’s this guy from our class who disappeared seven years ago. You know that Dunbar kid’s stepmom, Melissa? It’s her son.”

“Wait, seriously? And he’s our age? How have I never heard about this before?”

“I don’t know, Allison,” Lydia rolled her eyes. “Maybe because normal people don’t talk about things that depress them? It was a long time ago anyway.”

“I can tell it had a real effect on you,” Allison said, with just a touch of acid herself.

“I’m in the midst of a personal financial crisis currently. I’ll care when its over. Besides, its not like anyone has any details yet. Pointless gossip is for the peasants.”

“So what happened anyway?” Allison asked. Lydia shot her a look and she smiled innocently. “What? I’m comfortable with my peasant status. And I’ve lived here almost two years now and never heard a word about this. How can I not be curious?”

“Well this was an utter waste of time,” Lydia said under her breath as she gingerly replaced a sequin-studded monstrosity back on the rack, seemingly preoccupied once more. Or possibly just flat-out ignoring her.

The menace of the malls then raised her eyes to the ceiling as if despairing at the world at large, heaved a sigh that was practically a soliloquy unto itself, and ran her fingers through her hair in some kind of ritual of self-composure.

Once she’d observed the proper formalities for conceding her quest was officially a failure - at least, Allison was pretty sure that’s what she was doing, though she’d rather not commit to that, given that some of the intricacies of her friend’s habits still eluded her grasp - Lydia finally slung her purse over her shoulder and set off towards the exit with an imperious wave of her head.

It was only when her brisk walk stalled out while waiting for the garage elevator that Her Highness deigned to address the lowly commoner’s curiosity.

Allison just sighed internally. She’d long since made her peace with her friend’s little power games. They were entertaining as often as they were exasperating, so it was sort of a pick your battles type situation, and Allison preferred to err on the side of not waking the beast beneath Lydia’s deceptively dainty exterior.

“You know about the Hale fire, right?” Lydia asked.

Allison nodded. It wasn’t an everyday topic of conversation by any means, but it had come up at least once or twice since her family moved to Beacon Hills two years prior. Talk of the tragedy had even made an appearance in her own home, in a couple of muffled shouting matches between her parents that she’d only caught bits and pieces of.

“Yeah, my Aunt Kate actually lived around here back then. That was the fire that killed that whole family, right?”

“Right. So it was pretty much right around that same time. Scott went missing just a few days after. A lot of people even wondered if there might have been a connection, there were rumors the fire was arson, I don’t know. It was a whole thing, and we were only ten at the time, you know? Anyway, Scott’s dad was this hotshot FBI agent. There were search parties for like two months, but they never found a body or anything. Most people eventually figured it probably had something to do with one of his dad’s cases.”

“And now he’s back,” Allison prodded when Lydia lapsed into silence. The smaller girl just chewed on her lower lip, staring at the wall of the garage almost pensively.

“And now he’s back,” she echoed with a distracted nod of her head.

“That’s....interesting,” Allison offered tentatively. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the mood that had fallen over her friend, like a spell had settled upon her the moment she’d actually stopped and reflected on her memories of the events in question.

It seemed somewhat conspicuous to her that Lydia made no mention of who Scott was beyond just the victim of some strange small-town mystery, and so she was uncertain just how cautiously she needed to tread here. Had they been childhood friends? Mere acquaintances? Something else, likely as baffling and unexpected as most things about Lydia Martin tended to be?

But the born and raised Beacon Hills native just shrugged one shoulder listlessly and twirled a strand of strawberry-blond hair around a finger.

“It’s something,” she said at last. The elevator arrived at their level with an almost cheerful-sounding ding that was at odds with the somber mood they stood draped in. Lydia shook herself, a full body kind of motion not unlike a dog drying itself off.

“Are you coming?” She tossed over her shoulder at Allison, sounding almost exasperated, as though she hadn’t been the one just standing there staring at the wall for a good ten seconds after the elevator doors had slid open.

Allison sighed and shook her head, but she held back any retort and instead simply followed her friend down into the lower levels of the garage. Now was not the time to pursue...whatever that whole thing had been, just now.

Lydia Martin had just unwillingly displayed an emotional reaction in front of another person. It was too dangerous to prod for further weak spots in her armor without letting at least a day or two pass first.

The self-styled Queen of Beacon Hills had relieved commoners of their heads for lesser offenses than that.

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