#its barely noon why i am i so hype | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

namjoonchronicles · 4 years ago

Text

impression | yg

↳ genre fluff, domestic, established relationship

↳ words 5.5k

↳ summary many forgot that when you marry someone, you marry their family too, at least that’s how Asian family is like

↳ warning that side of adulthood, lockdown because of pandemic, self-worth, over-sensitivity, pisces dude, married life conflicts

↳ song ariana grande ‘pov’

Just this morning you woke him up with ‘Daechwita’ blasting on his ear drums, dancing and prancing around the home gym in your spandex bra and sweatpants, rapping to every word he wrote, with more swag than ten Yoongis combined. Forehead glistened with sweat, rosy cheeks and more life in you than he ever had. He leaned by the door sill just watching in utter disbelief and renewed admiration to just how much you loved his music. It never gets old. But how the tables have turned, two minutes before midnight.

You’ve locked yourself in the bathroom, him leaning his back on the wall, speaking through the closed door, calling out for you.

“Talk to me. Please… Say something. Anything,” he puts his lips inches away from the door, covering his hand over his mouth to direct the sound towards you, hoping it would get through. Fat chance, but at least he tried.

Must be something in his drink last night for him to hear his own song even when he is sleeping, Yoongi thought. But he didn't drink last night? Yoongi pulled the duvet down his head, contorting his entire face and the blaring boom bass music, rippling through the miniature figure standees of famous baseball players he had lined up on the TV cabinet. The music was so loud, the pictures hung on the walls began rattling at each beat drop. Where is this music coming from??

Two seconds in, and the empty spot next to him spoke volumes. All answers were as clear as day.

Yoongi sat up on the bed, duvets pooled around his waist as he yawns loudly and his bed hair flopping on either side leans towards, some baby strands standing in all directions. He scratches his arms, neck and belly as he comes awake. Face puffy, eyes barely open, and cheeks as circle as they could be. He gathered the duvet to the side and pushed himself off to the edge of the bed while shoving his feet into his indoor slippers. He tried to fetch his phone from the bedside table and saw it vibrating on its own from the loud music.

"Better stop her before the neighbours come complaining…"

He waddles about the room lazily, dragging his feet, his arm reaching for the switch panel before he even arrives to have the curtain open and let the sun in. The automated curtain aligned and folded creases perfectly as it gathered itself to each designated side. The bed, the bed will be made up later after he advises his wife not to deafen the whole neighborhood with his albums and he could finally think.

The teal-colored walls that extended along the hallway of the house, decorated with wedding pictures, family pictures, his signed baseball jerseys, picture of his basketball days (the one he jumps for a slam dunk and especially proud of, you know the one), your graduation picture (with him professionally photoshopped in) and some lovely polaroids of your first unofficial date that he insists was official. More on that later. Yoongi walks pass this memory lane with a stern face, shooting glares ahead, marching in the direction of the music, which seems to be coming from the gym. What he saw was a petite figure, all hyped up, sweaty, holding up a water bottle to your lips like a microphone, mouthing his rap like it was your own. You saw him in the mirror reflection but instead of coiling away, shy, you spat his rap to his face with flaming confidence. Yoongi looks down with a shy smile, eyes turning small and polite, skin blushing pink with second hand embarrassment. His face is hot and your sweaty skin, hair plastered to your neck and forehead, in revealing spandex was not helping. Neither is your swag. He clamped his lips with his teeth while you pulled his arm so he would join you. He protested lazily but didn't resist as hard. He throws his head back, whining dejections but you couldn't care less.

"Are you making your own concert here? Plagiarising my songs?"

You heard him and grinned widely at the mirror. He folded his arms and watched you dance seductively and just as the rap got to the 'my tongue sends boys and girls to China' part, the music stops and he is no longer next to you but by the stereo and turning it off.

"Yoongi! I was working out!" "People are gonna come and complain…" "They know who you are…" "They know my name from you…"

Screaming underneath him, that's what he meant. You rolled your eyes at him. He passed you a face towel with a sheepish smile. Wiping your face with it, you watched Yoongi unplug your phone from the sockets. It reveals several missed calls from your mother in law, Yoongi's mom.

"Mom called…" "Really?"

You moved closer to him to see. Yoongi reads the message she sent you outloud and the colors drained down your face.

"What do I cook? What do I do? What does she usually have for lunch? OMG, I don’t know. Do we even have kimchis left? I hadn't restocked…" "She likes fried dumplings and soy garlic chicken stew… it'll be okay. She said she is coming around noon. It's just a little over 8 am… Go take a shower."

You scurried to the bathroom and did as told. Yoongi made the bed while he waited. He turns the cordless vacuum cleaner on but it beeped soullessly because it wasn't charged. He sighed. You always forget to charge them after using them. He opted for a broom and dustpan instead. Yoongi disappears into his home studio, to take the shampoo he had been using and after-shower lotion for you to use. He twisted the knob, knowing you wouldn't lock them when you shower. Knock on the glass door of the shower and told you to use them. You nodded, passing him a look over your shoulder but he was out as quickly as he entered. That cold, cold steely husband.

You stepped out of the shower wrapped in towels with your hair dripping wet, hurrying to the hairdryer to dry your hair. Yoongi walks in with nothing but a towel around his waist. He passes you a chaste kiss on the shoulder first, then your cheeks before he continues to unravel his briefs and showered as well. The water trickles down his face, neck and shoulders, cascading down his speckless back, over the bum of his ass and wetting his happy trails at the same time. He aggressively rubs water over his face, the tips of his hair appear darker as it gets wet. You dressed up in your oversized hoodie, a pair of jeans and red converse, hair tied up in a bun, grabbing your purse for a quick run to the store. If your mother in law is coming, the least you could do is cook an all korean cuisine, prep nicely on the table so she knows that her son was taken care of nicely. Giving her a lasting good impression was your core priority as of now. And Yoongi would have been more than happy to do the grocery for you but this time, just this once, you want to show him that you are dependable too.

If there is anything you learned from korean cuisine is that food is prepared meticulously like you would, a form of art. Everything is placed neatly on a plate, and wrapped tightly. Taste and looks must be perfect. Everything had a sequence. Tradition and culture shapes the good people of Korea to what it is today. And for Daegu native, Yoongi's deep accent and habits become one of the most significant traits that flags a Daegu representative. You are obsessed with getting it right. Although you mostly don't understand the heavy accents he tends to let slip out once in a while, you were expecting to guess the words as it comes. His accents are one of the things that you loved about him. Daegu dialects are strong, and oozing masculinity. They are often direct and unapologetic so it might be heard as harsh. You couldn't tell apart if he is cursing or if he is just plainly just talking about his day when his friends stop by. He caught you a few times, staring blankly at him when he blurted out dialects out of frustrations, and he laughed them off when you accuse him of lying to you about what the words actually mean.

With his mom stopping by, the dialects are going to be thick and you would probably stare blankly most of the time. Communications are limited and Yoongi had to come back and forth to translate some of them.

Korean cooking is not your forte. Let's put that out there, in the open for everyone to see and understand. You are not familiar with it, and although you love some of it, some just don't fit your taste buds. But Yoongi is a full blown Korean. You make adjustments here and there, but it's not like he is always around for you to cook them often. That's why your korean cooking skills deteriorated. Even simple things like choosing which mushrooms to cook with takes 10 minutes longer than it probably should. You went with your heart and took the one you saw first.

Yoongi came out from the baths to see an empty room. Your perfume wafts over his nostril and it tattles about your whereabouts. Just as he was about to investigate, his phone shrieked a calling tone. It was Jungkook. Asking for a chord. He sounds desperate and bored to death. Being a good friend, Yoongi speds to his home studio after clumsily putting on some white tee on top of a grey shorts, halfway through and sending him several chords the little guy could work with, then pulling the rest of the shirt down as it loads. He swore he didn't take long but he found you already changing your clothes and starting to chop things on the chopping board, sloppily. He knows that it was not you to do things sloppily so he offered to help sharpen the knives.

"Soy garlic stew?"

You chewed your lips at him as he asked and nodded. Anxiety was written all over you. Your hands were already so shaky, and that's why you couldn't hold the knife properly, aside from it being blunt. You turned to the sink and began chopping the scallions with another knife Yoongi handed you.

“There are some potatoes I bought in the paper bags, I brought the mushroom I am familiar with, I am not sure if it's the one used in the stew. What time is it already? Is this enough time to even cook the stew? The chicken hasn’t thaw has it? I am not going to have enough time… She is going to know that the dumpling is store bought and I am putting my pride on the line…” you spoke nonstop, didn’t even hear Yoongi if he was saying anything, which you assumed he was quiet, so you became annoyed and, “Why aren’t answering any questions I have??”

Yoongi stood there, with a blank expression, “You wouldn’t even let me talk…”

You answered your own questions, and he was here listening to everything, opening his mouth and closing it before any word could come out because you bulldozed him with words, as he dug out the potatoes you were talking about, as well as the mushrooms.

“I’m sorry, I watched the youtube video on making the stew on the way to the mart and it seems pretty complicated, but doable… I think that the ginger and garlic goes in first,” you paused and sighed, “It’s been awhile since I cooked a proper meal for myself. I don’t know if I had it in me to even do this anymore…”

That’s right. While Yoongi was always away from the last two years, his work trips extended from 3 months to a whole year, and while studying for your master’s degree, you opt for simpler food, just enough for you to get by the day with a filled stomach. Most of your time is dedicated to your studies and laundry. Stopping by Daegu was hardly done, and if anything, you would just send some gifts her way. It is pretty awkward between you and his mother; language barriers, interests, and principles. You didn’t notice when Yoongi was standing behind you, his hand was on top of yours, soothing over your knuckles and he hijacked the scissors from your hands gently.

And he whispered softly atop of your head, “I got this.”

Just like that, he took over kitchen duties and let you handle the simpler stuff like, putting the pot on the stove, fill water in it, skin the potatoes, chopped them into large cubes, unstub the capsicum, peel the skin off of the chicken, peel the garlic and ginger. Yoongi’s instructions are clear and easy to follow. After all the things are chopped and prepared, he hands the ladle to you.

Your eyes widen. And you shook your head. Stepping back. Yoongi clicked his tongue and chuckled through his nose. Coax you. But no, you stepped farther back. He then took your wrist gently and placed the ladle handle in your palm.

“Trust me?” “I trust you, it’s me I don’t trust.”

“I’ll help you every step. Let’s go. Have confidence!” “You’re the multi billionaire, I’m just the struggling degree student with a part time job.”

“You’re Min Yoongi’s wife.” “I find that hard to believe sometimes…”

With another scolding tut of his tongue, you conceded. With a heavy heart.

The chopped chicken pieces are placed in a boiling water pot, and when its reddish flesh turns white and is cooked, it is drained and washed underneath cold running water to remove impurities. You watched quietly as Yoongi cleans them with his capable hands. His veins protrude, extending well over his forearms. The tip of his fingers were pinker than the rest of his hands, and he smoothes over those nooks and crannies the chicken pieces have. As ridiculous as it may sound, you were quite envious of the fact that those chickens have his full attention now. Next, the carrots.

The carotene source is peeled and chopped in large size. Yoongi helped guide your hands over the handle of the knife, because he is pretty particular on how big he wanted those carrots to be.

“Isn’t that too large?” You asked him in a small voice. They are half the size of your thumb. “No, it’s just nice…” he replied in a low voice, his lips just behind your ear, “It has to be in the same size as the potatoes, so it will cook at the same time.”

Your bottom grazed over his front and he learns to just keep you sandwiched in between the counter and him, so it won’t turn to something else. He is just as anxious as you are with his mom coming. Therefore, the percentage of him turning frisky is zero to none. The onions come next. They are chopped in half and then into fours. Yoongi paused and braced himself for tear gas attacks only there was none. He asks where you bought those onions, and you replied, it was grown in your colleagues garden. They were given for free. And he comments,

“They should sell these, we will be their first loyal customer! It doesn’t sting!”

You laughed as you prepared the fruits you bought. It was rock melon and some papayas. You avoided buying tangerine because you know she will bring some from her hometown, knowing how much Yoongi loves them. Daegu’s tangerines are very sweet and plump. There is nothing like it. Yoongi sliced green onions for the stew and extra hot chili peppers because his mom likes them spicy. Then he prepares the mixture for the broth.

“Now watch,” he instructed you, “Soy sauce, rice wine, red chilli pepper powders, minced garlic, two cups of sugar, red pepper paste, sesame oil, pepper. Mix well.”

Yoongi prepared a pot and placed the cleaned chicken pieces in them, added potatoes, carrots and water with the mixture he made just prior. Then, boil. After the chicken is cooked thoroughly, he adds onions. Then the scallions. Then salt to taste. You prepared the oven and Yoongi carried the pot to it to keep it warm until his mom arrived. Dumplings were pan fried. That one was simple. His mom doesn’t like her beverages too sweet, a simple plain water is enough.

When all the food is done, you turn to him at the same time he did. Sweats rolling down his sideburns and his thin white shirt clinging on his skin like he ran a mile. You approached him with a huge smile, swept his hair back to reveal his forehead and dabbed your inner wrist to wipe away his sweat all around his face. He sniggers through his nose. Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, you can’t help but plant a kiss on them. Nuzzling your face on his neck, you draped your arm around his shoulder and mumbled, “Thank you…”

He leans his cheek on your head and kisses one side of your brain, before exclaiming that you both need another shower after cleaning up the kitchen and turning on the air humidifier to chase away the smell of cooking.

“How was the journey?” you chirped. “The weather is scorching hot, the sun is melting me away before I can meet my son,” Yoongi’s mom complained in a thick Daegu accent, and when she stepped in, she gave you a glance and straight away went looking for her precious son. As expected.

“He was just out of the shower, he will come soon, mother,” you said the last word awkwardly, it doesn’t really roll off your tongue as comfortably as it should. She replied to you with a dejected “Hmm.”

You blinked and cast your eyes downwards, then up again to change the topic, “...Let me take you some cold drink… it must have been a torture, to walk around in such hot weather,” you sped to the kitchen and grabbed her a cold water in a tall glass.

“Hello mom…” Yoongi revealed himself from the hallway, gave his mother a hug that you didn’t receive when she walked in. “It wasn’t torture when I’ve come to see my son!” She suddenly changed her words, now she is all bright and cheerful, and you disappeared from her sight completely unless Yoongi looks over to you and includes you in the conversation. That too, wasn’t permanent. Yoongi learned that his older brother’s wife is carrying a baby and Holly had been snuggling to her tummy at every chance she gets. The sight would have been adorable and they were able to take a picture of it so Yoongi’s mom excitedly showed them to Yoongi. They both are sitting on the sofa while you were in the kitchen scooping up cooked rice into bowls of three.

“This sofa is new isn’t it? I didn’t see it the last time I was here,” his mom asked. “Yes, yes… do you like it?” Yoongi said and said you chose them. Then her enthusiasm dissipates. “I like it better without one. Now it’s too westernized,” his mom’s lips turned lopsided, continuing, “Did you know that hanging your legs down will disrupt the blood flow up to your brain? We better sit down on the floor when we eat, too…”

Yoongi prepared a Japanese folded table and pushed aside the coffee table that was there. Everything you’ve prepared on the dining table was moved to the Japanese one. When everything is set, you and Yoongi wait for his mom to start eating before you both do. It’s tradition. Even between man and wife, the older one begins eating first. Yoongi sips the stew and then you begin scooping the stew into your bowl. You were the only one eating mostly with a spoon instead of chopstick since you aren’t too accustomed to it. Yoongi’s mother said in a joking tone that you should start using the training chopstick used by toddlers.

Why are you extra sensitive today? She was just joking, but smiling is so hard right now. Your cheeks feel heavy and your shoulders stiffened. Yoongi carried the rest of the conversation effortlessly. The deep Daegu accent is already shifting your attention towards the fried dumpling instead. It was just a little over 45 minutes since she arrived, why does it feel like days?

“Dumplings, mother?” You chirped, attempted to use the chopstick and successfully landed them in her bowl.

Then she puts them back where they were, and said, “I don’t eat store-bought dumpling, darling,” before resuming to tell Yoongi the story about her neighbour getting into a real estate feud. You hold your breath in your throat and try not to think about it too much. Although you’ve finished your bowl of rice, Yoongi still hasn’t. He was busy nodding away to what his mother was saying. She barely touched the stew. When she turned to her food, you tapped Yoongi’s knee underneath the table and he looked at you wide eyed, darting at the stew. And Yoongi’s lips turned to the shape of an “O”.

“How do you like the stew, mom?” He asked. “It’s okay…” “My wife made it…” Yoongi said with a smug smile.

You smiled, shyly.

“It tastes exactly how Yoongi would cook it. I thought you cooked it, I know how horrible her korean cooking is, Yoongi… You don’t have to lie to me,” his mom passed.

After bidding her farewell at the door, Yoongi accompanied her to his brother’s incoming vehicle that fetches her. His brother made a promise to stop by when the baby arrives and when the Covid cases reduce a bit. You watched from the window from your bedroom and when the car drove off with Yoongi waving goodbye to his mom, your heart thudded differently.

Your eyes stung, and tears impending to fall as it collected around the brims. As you heard the front door beeping open to Yoongi returning, your feet dashed to the bathroom door, pushing it open as your tears rolled down your face like a dam broke.

Sensitive? Too soft? Was I too emotional? Am I not trying hard enough to be enough?

Yoongi walks in, to an eerily silent house. Ridding his shirt by pulling it over his head as he walks down the dimly lit hallway. His heavy footsteps heard across the floorings and you covered your mouth with your hand to not make any sound. He noticed that the bathroom light was on unlike the rest of the room.

“You’re showering alone? Traitor…” he pouted and wriggled the door knob and noticed it was locked from the inside. “I have a stomach ache,” you hoped you sound convincing. Your voice didn’t sound as shaky and you hope he didn’t catch on. “Okay…” he said, after a long pause. You turned the shower on to reduce the sound of you crying, and went back to sitting on the floor by the door, dug the heels of your palm into your eyes socket, and hugged your knees, sniffling.

“Hey…” his voice muffled through the door. “Hmm?” you replied, through a broken smile.

“Are you okay?”

Another dam broke.

Shit, I’ve started crying again. Why can’t I stop crying?! He is going to find out now… Fuck.

“Talk to me. Please… Say something. Anything,” he puts his lips inches away from the door, covering his hand over his mouth to direct the sound towards you, hoping it would get through.

“Was it mom? She says something you don’t like? You know how mom is, right? She doesn’t mean any of it…” now it’s Yoongi’s turned to bulldoze you with questions he himself answered.

Unable to take it anymore, you had to speak out, even if it means behind closed doors.

“I know she doesn’t like me as a daughter-in-law…” you spoke in broken voices. “Nonsense…” Yoongi passed, nonchalantly.

“No, will you please just listen to me?!” you raised your voice a bit, “I am not like your brother’s wife who cooks great Korean food, who sends her nice homemade desserts to her likings, and now is bearing a grandchild for her. I can’t cook, and had to rely on you a lot. She came over and she didn’t give me a hug like she did you, and the whole she doesn’t even speak to me unless I speak to her first, and even then, she shuts me down so I couldn’t say another word. I can’t even use a damn chopstick or make homemade dumplings she’ll eat!”

It’s Yoongi’s turn to lean his back on the door and hug his knees, then hang his head low.

“Suddenly the sofa is too westernized. And the glass doors letting in too much sunlight when I renovated it the way she wanted. It seems like everything I do is wrong and I just have no place in the Min’s household no matter how hard I try,” you sniffed, and, “To make matters worse she brought up the girlfriends you had in high school and how they cook her favourite food! Girlfriends! Plural! Here I thought you only had one… Jokes on me, I guess… It’s fine, honestly.”

There's nothing more terrifying than the word ‘fine’ you threw when you’re sad and Yoongi knows it. It signifies so many things. It indicates that you’re done, and you’re ready to let go of it, by shoving it under the rug like many other things your mother in law did to you ever since you met her. Yoongi shot his head up when the door opened and his eyes followed you in silence, a little solemn. You dried your hair, sitting on the makeup chair table, running the cool air Dyson hairdryer over the lengths of your hair. Yoongi crawled on all four and knelt behind you to hug your waist, nuzzling his face on your lower back. Then the tears returned, and kept falling.

Your gaze is stuck on the reflection of you in the mirror. What have we become?

It was one of those moments where no words seemed to suffice. Regrets and guilt becomes almost the same thing. Pointing the blame is the last thing on your mind. Choosing sides is difficult when so much is at stake. You may have unclasped his arm from around your waist, heard his wordless gesture and refused to see his face, but so much of him is in you. The fact you held on for so long was because of that man you love and married. Is this going to happen everytime your mother in law stops by?

Even then, you didn't want him to go against his own mother, nor do you want him to side with her… It was such a confusing situation.

Yoongi needs to return to the studio. He packs a few toiletries and clothes for him to wear while he is there. You helped him pack leftover food so you are not burdened to finish everything alone. The conversation shifts to what matters now. You carry your duty as a wife, his partner. You make sure that he is able to provide for this family and even though your emotions are once again neglected for the time being, you were glad that it actually occupied your mind and heart.

At the door, his manager carried his things and instead of leaving along with his manager, Yoongi told him to go first. You already know what comes next. But you aren't sure if you had it in you. One look in your eyes and Yoongi knows that you will rather die than have that conversation all over again. He ran his finger through your hair, lowered his lips to your forehead and stayed like that for awhile, and you said,

“Take care of yourself,” you spoke to his chest, breathing in his musky cologne for the days ahead without him. He stepped back, thumbed your cheek and pinched your chin, tilting your head back. He glanced at your lips while biting his own then backed away, to leave. As the view of his back got smaller and smaller, he exclaimed, “I’m going.” Not once did he turn behind to have one last look. And it was something Yoongi would do. Doesn’t matter if it's at the airport, or at the backstage, he will never look at you after he leaves you, even when he knows you’re right there standing, and looking at him. He says that, if he saw you standing there waiting for him, he will not be able to fight the urge to run to you. So he never looks back. The one thing that he always does before a work trip, is to kiss your forehead. Dr. Laurel Steinberg says, a forehead kiss indicates strong emotional intimacy.

But Yoongi says that a forehead kiss to him signifies a bond that goes beyond lust and love, it was your soul. It is to say, “I might be too far away to hold you, but my soul is yours.” It sends butterflies and confettis your way when he does it. It always feels warm and you always feel protected with a stamp of Yoongi’s lips on your forehead. It feels like a talisman. That no matter what, Yoongi is here.

Recovery. The emotional turmoil, the rollercoaster. You fill your time organizing the photos Yoongi took. With your final exams finished a week ago, you’re given a month off before you begin your final year. Yoongi now lives in his studio office because the album recording session begins and he is in every process. He is in charge of doubling and finalizing the tracks, directing and whatnot. Yoongi sends you a 1 minute 23 seconds video. Scowling at it, your face softened at the sight of him, recording himself in the studio. Dark circles doubled in size and his cheeks sunken. Poor thing hadn't been eating well did he?

“Hey, sweetie…” his familiar guttural voice resonated with your heart strings, “Sorry I haven’t been able to properly give you a call. It’s too late when I’m free, and I’m asleep when you’re awake. So I figured I’ll just send you a damn video, to hell with it.” You chuckled softly as your visions turned blurry.

“I think I will be addressing the recent issue we tucked away for later day. It’s later. You have never been good at fighting for yourself. It was something I don’t really understand because I’ve seen you fight my fight for me,” he glanced to the side and smiled fondly. You were unclear what situation he was talking about but you kept listening.

“You told me that I shouldn’t side with you because that would mean I am against my mother. Here’s what I truly think…” he breathed in and sighed loudly, “I think I should side with you. I spoke to my mom a few days ago, asked her how she is, and I told her several things I don’t like, like bringing up my past ex girlfriend, or how you can’t use the chopstick yet, or how your korean cooking isn’t great yet… how upset it made you and me. She told me that she was just jealous. I left home when I was 16. Come back when I am 20, married at 25. I will always be her son, I let her know that. But I am now someone’s husband, and I happen to cherish this someone, her heart and her wellbeing is my responsibility. I am not stolen from my mom, I consciously chose this person to be with me, to be her husband and built a home with her. And if she can’t respect that, then she cannot return to our house…”

You had to set the phone down and wipe your tears with the back of your hand.

“I’m done being a referee,” Yoongi continued after a long pause, “You’re gonna cry again, and I won’t be able to pass you tissue or give you a hug, I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. I am proud of you and all the little things you do. Daegu dialect is difficult to understand ha? That’s alright. You’re getting your degree, and you help pack my things even though you’re sad as hell the day I left. I couldn’t… I couldn’t ask for a better wife, and I hardly think I deserve you. Until we meet again, soon. Your husband, Min Yoongi.”

The video cuts to him winking.

Another text from him,

[Yoongi, 1.03AM] Impression is never permanent. I hope you give mother another try…

Wife is typing...

[Wife, 1.04AM] Erm. [Wife, 1.04AM] Sends a pic.

[Wife, 1.05AM] How’s this for a lasting impression?

939 notes · View notes

grayintogreen · 2 years ago

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WIP WEDNESDAY

I wanna maintain a little bit of hype for you can't deny high noon, since it won't start being posted until December and since I'm working on it slowly (mostly writing the prologue and first chapter because those have been in my head for AGES and then some other scenes that have ALSO been in my head for ages), I thought for WIP Wednesdays, I'd share bits and bobs that aren't super spoilery, but i also wanna share parts of the prologue for, uh... reasons related to solidifying some things in the minds of whoever is here and planning on reading before the Lucien book fucks me.

So here's a bit from the prologue featuring, ahem, an "original" character and a familiar face!

CALPURNIUS AMABILIA PUBLIC RELATIONS (SPYMASTER)

Cal pressed the tips of the index fingers of his clasped hands to his lips as he listened to the report being given. Over the years, he had cultivated a mask of positive emotions, rarely giving in to the negative because it was unbecoming of a man who once managed the public relations between Cognouza and the other wards, back when they were still allowed to associate with them. Now he used it to keep himself from panicking. It wouldn’t do for the Spymaster to be seen falling apart in front of his best agent even if what she was telling him was troubling.

“So. Avalir is falling as we speak. And you’re sure?”

Bolo narrowed her eyes. “Am I sure? I am very sure. Fiends punch holes in the fabric of Material Plane.” She waved her hand, speaking curtly in her broken Common. Her first language was Draconic and Cal had always had a suspicion of why that might be, but as a man with celestial blood and the corona of a halo around his white-blonde hair to prove it, he didn’t think he had room to judge.

“That’s… not great,” Cal said, very slowly. Underneath his careful facade his heart was racing. He could feel his halo flickering, making the shadows of his office dance in time with its stutter.

“Not great is understatement,” Bolo drawled. “If whatever is happening came to Avalir, it will come here and be worse. You know what they are building in Genesis Ward.”

“And it still isn’t ready?” He finally lowered his hands.

“Not operational in the least. They intended to test it on Lathras, but-“ Again, she waved her hand, dismissively. For someone who had witnessed the beginnings of the fall of Avalir, her calm made his look cheap.

“Augusta’s machine is untested, but she claims it’s ready.” Cal exhaled between his teeth. “I’ll have to make the call.” He moved with grace towards his desk- white marble and full of elegant arcane holograms that activated with a touch of his fingers. He had written this announcement in advance when he and the other eight agreed that one day they would tear themselves away from Aeor proper and be done with this plane and had it all ready on a prompter to be read.

It needed a bit of editing now, but that was fine. He was good at improvising.

His finger hovered above the intercom button that would send his voice throughout Cognouza. “Will you be going with us?”

Bolo snorted and muttered something in Draconic he couldn’t understand. Off his raised eyebrow, she bared her teeth. “I do not know how to say this politely in Common so I will say it blunt- you people are insane and this will never work. I will take my chances as far from Aeor as possible.”

Cal chewed on the inside of his cheek. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, Bolo.” He sank into his chair, finger still poised over the button. “Still, I appreciate the work you’ve done for me. I wish you well.”

She turned on her sharp heels, still dressed smartly for a party. She hadn’t even bothered to change before making her report- that said something about how dire she found the situation, even if her curtness belied it. He’d never known Bolo to not be in uniform when she met with him. “I wish you some sanity, but you have already lost that. The Nine are full of dreams.”

“And that’s where the power is, Bolo,” he sing-songed.

“Bah!” She said over her shoulder. The sliding door opened to meet her as she stepped in front of it and snapped closed behind her.

Cal breathed deeply and pressed the button. “My beloved Cognouza…” He began praising his city for its merits and the loyalty of its people, who stood by its leaders when the rest of Aeor shut them out. They were all the misunderstood dreamers of Exandria and soon they would have their due.

He could hear his voice echoing beyond the door- muffled to him, but to the rest of his ward it would draw their attention, clear and lovely as bells. He may have gone from PR to spycraft, but at least the denizens of Cognouza still treated him as their voice.

His calming platitudes were only a smokescreen to ease them into the poorer news, but his voice remained firm and unwavering even as the tone shifted. “I have just received word that Avalir is falling. The time for us to leave this plane is now. Please report to your designated stations. This is not a drill.”

He paused. This was really happening. They were going home. For good this time, not just in their dreaming. Let the rest of the disillusioned masses of Aeor fall to pieces around them. Let the whole Material Plane fall apart. Let the gods have it if they wanted it so badly.

They were going where anything they wished could be made real. They would be the gods now.

Calpurnius Amabilia loved this city with all of his heart and he would help bring it to the glory that it deserved. A new age of enlightenment birthed from the aether of manifestation.

He leaned forward with a dreamy little smile and said: “Will the Somnovem please report to the Aether Crux for activation.”

#wip wednesday #critical role fic #you can't deny high noon #life in the margins of redemption #bolo from aeor

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syncogon · 7 years ago

Text

[QZGS Prequel TL] Ch 3: Friends from the Start, Opponents for Life

info post and links for the prequel, The Summit of Glory (巅峰荣耀)

summary: December 3, midnight, Glory opens its first server. One month in, there are two people with no losses in the arena: One Autumn Leaf and Desert Dust. The day Ye Xiu meets his greatest rival is also the day he meets his greatest ally.

characters: Ye Xiu, Su Muqiu, Su Mucheng, Han Wenqing, Wu Xuefeng

If you like this, 1) please reblog so more can see it, and 2) please comment your thoughts so I have more motivation ;)

((ps: this is the last time we see su muqiu alive, so enjoy :’) ))

Translated by: Syncogon

December 3rd, Glory!

The logo, two crossed swords and wings spread wide, was grandly displayed almost everywhere you looked – TV screens, computer screens, physical posters and flyers around the city.

“One month? December 3rd, that’s six weeks exactly, 42 days!” Su Muqiu spoke while scrolling through yet another Glory ad that had popped up on the screen. Excitement for this new online game was definitely mounting within the community.

Ka ka ka… The only answer he got was the sound of a keyboard and mouse, light but rhythmic.

Su Muqiu glanced at the one sitting beside him. The screen was currently displaying flashes from attacks and a river of blood, but the player himself wore a bored expression.

“Did you hear what I just said?” Su Muqiu complained. The fight clearly didn’t require his friend’s full attention, so there was no reason for him to be oblivious to the outside world.

“I heard, Glory this, Glory that, my ears are bleeding from hearing that word from your mouth so often can’t you see?” deadpanned Ye Xiu. Ever since Glory had begun its advertising campaign, Su Muqiu had talked about this game almost incessantly. Heaven knew how much he was looking forward to it.

“It hasn’t been announced for too long, but with this kind of explosive momentum, this is enough. This is definitely going to be a successful game,” said Su Muqiu, ignoring Ye Xiu’s apparent disinterest.

“Mm,” Ye Xiu said noncommittally. He really had heard this too many times.

“I heard this game doesn’t use a username and password to log on, you need an account card to swipe.”

“Mm.”

“You need a specific card reader too, for it to work.”

“Mm.”

“But this card reader is still relatively cheap.”

“Mm.”

“But the system requirements for the computer seem to be pretty high!”

“Oh?” This finally got Ye Xiu’s attention – the rhythm of the keyboard got louder for a second, before stabilizing again. He turned to look with a serious expression. “What kind of requirements?”

Su Muqiu didn’t answer. He had two very old computers here; one was in slightly better condition, but even that one barely met the minimum requirements for running Glory. The other didn’t even bear talking about. Ye Xiu was no computer expert, but he’d played on these computers for several months now, and Su Muqiu trusted that he didn’t need to explain.

“It’s time to exchange these,” said Ye Xiu, still with that serious expression. Although he wasn’t as excited for Glory as Su Muqiu was, he still wanted to try out this game. To decide whether a game was good or bad, you had to play it yourself.

“Yeah, it’s time to get new ones, but money’s tight…”

Having lived here for several months, Ye Xiu was of course clear on the living conditions of these two siblings. They were orphans with no relatives, and their entire livelihoods depended on the income Su Muqiu earned from playing games. After Ye Xiu arrived, they now had a second person earning money, so their situation was a little better off. Still, although they didn’t struggle to get basic necessities, it would be a stretch to just pull out the cash for two new computers. Su Muqiu wouldn’t have put up with these two terrible computers if he had had that luxury.

“Looks like we’ll just have to go to internet cafés for now,” said Ye Xiu.

“Yeah,” Su Muqiu nodded.

“You’ve already looked around for a good one?”

“Of course, who do you think I am?”

***

December 3rd, midnight.

This launch time wasn’t very kind to the gamers; most people went to sleep by this time, of course. But for an event like this, plenty of gamers were eager to sacrifice their normal schedules. Glory’s advertising campaign had really succeeded in building up hype for this game, such that no one cared whether it was releasing at noon or midnight.

This night, countless people were gearing up for the launch.

This night, internet cafes in all the major cities turned into lively “nightclubs.”

City H, Excellent Era Internet Café.

Ye Xiu and Su Muqiu had secured two computers in the café early on, and as the launch time approached, they became more focused and alert. Many people gathered in the café, but, seeing that there were no empty computers, became depressed and irritable. Unlike Su Muqiu and Ye Xiu, who went to an internet café because they didn’t have advanced computers at home, most people went to internet cafés just to hang out with other people. Playing games together in one location was often more enjoyable than playing online separately.

As midnight approached, the café was jam-packed, and those that had failed to get a computer could only leave in disappointment. The owner of the café, Tao Xuan, was very satisfied with this turnout. He’d invested a lot into this game, upgrading all the computers as necessary. None of the nearby internet cafes had done the same; they were simply waiting and watching to see how successful the game would be. Although there was a lot of hype surrounding the game, there was still a chance that it would end up flopping – many other games had suffered the same fate in the past.

Of course, Tao Xuan was quite anxious himself. He stared at the clock on the wall, watching the hands inch closer toward midnight. At 11:59, he extinguished the cigarette in his hand and sat down at the computer that he had prepared for himself earlier. As a gamer himself, he wished to try out Glory as well.

Midnight!

The lively internet café suddenly quieted down.

Swipe a card to log on? This was a new mechanism, and people clumsily tried to figure it out.

Then, everyone sank into thought at the next screen. Account name…

“Let me, let me!” Su Mucheng had carried over a stool to sit between Su Muqiu and Ye Xiu. Seeing them reach this screen, she jumped up in excitement.

“And then go straight to bed, got it?” Su Muqiu said sternly.

“I know!” Su Mucheng took Ye Xiu’s keyboard and began typing in a name. She didn’t really play computer games herself, so this was the only way she would participate with Su Muqiu – and now, Ye Xiu as well – in these games.

Quickly, the name appeared on the screen. It seemed that she had prepared beforehand.

“One Autumn Leaf,” Ye Xiu read aloud, as Su Mucheng pressed the confirmation key.

“Alright!” Su Mucheng returned the keyboard to Ye Xiu, before taking over Su Muqiu’s.

“Hurry up,” said Su Muqiu, impatient to get started with the game.

Su Mucheng typed quickly, and the name appeared on the screen soon enough.

“Qiu Mu Su?” Su Muqiu read aloud. “Hey hey, can’t you put a little more effort into this? I’m your blood brother!” This username was simply the characters of his real name in reverse order.

However, when Su Mucheng pressed confirm, the system reported back: This name is already in use.

“Fuck!” Su Muqiu glanced at the time on the computer. It hadn’t even reached 12:01 yet, and this name was already taken? How many people were playing this game at this moment?

Su Mucheng’s hands were fast. One name was taken, so her fingers danced to type another.

“Qiu Mu Su…” Su Muqiu read, again. The only thing different about this username was the second character. Although it was pronounced the same, this new username now meant something like Autumn Tree Revival. Once again, Su Mucheng hit confirm, and this became his new name.

The young girl nodded, revealing a satisfied expression. Su Muqiu could only shake his head, but he was smiling.

“Alright, it’s bedtime for you!” Su Muqiu reminded her. It was getting late, but their home was close by and the siblings were very familiar with the surrounding area. Su Muqiu wasn’t worried about sending his sister home by herself.

“In a minute,” the girl replied cheekily, correctly guessing that her brother wouldn’t want to leave the computer to force her to go home.

“Fine…” Indeed, Su Muqiu relented, and turned back to the screen. “Hey Ye Xiu, what class are you going to play? I thought about it a lot and decided on Sharpshooter. Why don’t you play Sharpshooter as well? I think two could work together really well.”

“I’ll try things out and see how it goes,” Ye Xiu replied.

In Glory, the player didn’t choose a class immediately. At the beginning of the game, characters could learn skills from any of the different classes to give players a taste of what they were like. Only at level 20 would the character settle on one class to specialize in.

Su Muqiu had already decided on playing Sharpshooter based on the data released by the Glory creators. Ye Xiu, on the other hand, planned to experiment in game before deciding. However, at the moment, the two of them faced the same problem.

Too many people!

There were so many people online right now that even just taking a few steps was difficult. Su Mucheng, initially interested in watching the two boys’ progress, found herself beginning to doze off. “I’m going home,” she soon announced.

“Okay, be safe,” said Su Muqiu, with only a glance back, as he was engrossed by the game. Although it was currently impossible to progress in the main game due to the number of people, other features were still available for use, and Su Muqiu had delved into the equipment editor. Apparently it allowed players to create completely customized weapons, and Su Muqiu had looked forward to testing it out since the day it was announced. It was shrouded in mystery, since no other game had a similar feature. Right now, he was already using the editor to take apart and experiment on the equipment that he had automatically received as a new player.

“I’ll go with you,” Ye Xiu said, logging off and standing up. Starting the game a little late wasn’t a big deal.

***

Players discovered quickly that Glory’s mechanics were quite tricky to master, and required a high degree of skill. Not to mention that good equipment was also crucial for victory. The game was shaping up to be quite complex, and something that could hold a player’s interest for a long period of time – there was always more to work towards.

For a game like this, PK was of course one of the most important aspects. Glory had a built-in arena specifically so that players could PK.

GLORY!

The game’s logo appeared onscreen along with that large word – this was the victory screen, displayed after winning a match in the arena. The chat channel on the side was lively with shock and speculation.

One month. It had been one month since Glory opened. And in that time, Ye Xiu’s One Autumn Leaf had become quite renowned in-game. Why? He had a perfect record for individual battles in the arena.

3685 matches. 3685 wins.

Just the number of battles alone was staggering. 3685 matches, that meant that on average, every day he’d have to play over 100 matches. Assuming each battle took around three to five minutes, that meant that he was spending around six to ten hours every day just in the arena.

Playing in the arena didn’t grant too much experience, but One Autumn Leaf was still fairly high leveled compared to the playerbase as a whole – level 32. This meant that aside from all the time he spent in the arena, he still found time to play in the main game as well.

“How much time is he spending on Glory every day?” People in the world channel were discussing this constantly.

In reality, the other players were still underestimating Ye Xiu somewhat. He did spend a lot of time on the game every day, but not as much time in the arena as they thought. After all, he was very skilled to have a perfect win record. Matches rarely lasted three minutes, let alone five. He would usually completely dominate a match and earn victory in under two minutes.

Yes, Ye Xiu was very good. But he wasn’t the best.

On the current leaderboards for the arena, aside from those that only played one or two matches, there was one other person who also had a perfect win record. In fact, this person’s match count was even higher than One Autumn Leaf’s.

Desert Dust.

The one name above One Autumn Leaf.

Desert Dust was also at level 32, but in the arena, he had played 4012 matches. All victorious.

Of course, there were plenty of other extremely skilled players below them, but these were the only two with perfect records. Countless players speculated over which of them would win in a 1v1 battle, and anticipation for their inevitable matchup was high. The arena matched players to opponents based on level, win record in the arena, and other such factors, so the two were bound to meet sooner or later.

“I can’t wait either!” Ye Xiu whispered as he skimmed this discussion. He clicked the confirm button to begin the next match, hoping that this time, he would finally meet this powerful player Desert Dust.

“Hey hey hey, help me clear a dungeon,” said the boy playing on the computer next to him. Ye Xiu sighed – once again, he hadn’t been matched with Desert Dust.

“What dungeon?” Ye Xiu asked as he began the battle with this new opponent.

“Line Canyon, I need the clear record. Well, more accurately, I need the prize that comes with that clear record,” said Su Muqiu.

“One sec,” replied Ye Xiu.

“Hurry,” urged Su Muqiu, but he saw how disinterested Ye Xiu looked while playing, and could tell that this match would end quickly.

Forty seconds later, One Autumn Leaf left the arena, leaving behind a stunned opponent.

This opponent’s win record was 96.1%, quite formidable in his own right. The arena system wouldn’t match anyone to Ye Xiu unless they had a win record of at least 95%. And this person, seeing that he was up against the perfect record One Autumn Leaf, knew to be on guard.

But he was beaten up in forty seconds.

One Autumn Leaf had lost some health, true, but he felt that that was only because One Autumn Leaf wanted to sacrifice some health in order for a faster victory. One Autumn Leaf absolutely had the skill to win this battle at full health.

Was he in a hurry or something? This player felt like crying. With his 96.1% record, he could be considered quite good, but what was he to a god like One Autumn Leaf?

Meanwhile, Ye Xiu reached the entrance of the Line Canyon dungeon. It was a level 31-33 area, and currently filled with people fighting monsters and entering the dungeon.

With Ye Xiu’s skill, if he wanted to fight wild monsters, he would go to higher level areas like Fire Forest or even Sin City. Aside from doing the daily three runs of the Line Canyon dungeon, he rarely came here anymore. But right now, there were plenty of other players who spent a lot of time playing in Line Canyon.

By the time Ye Xiu arrived, he saw that Su Muqiu had already managed to gather a whole team of people, with one space left for him. “You’re pretty fast, huh, getting all these people?” Ye Xiu said to him.

“Of course, who doesn’t want to break a record?” Getting on the leaderboard for a dungeon was one of the most prestigious accomplishments in the PVE scene. Even without the awards that came with it, getting a record was solid proof of one’s skill.

“Even though it was just you here? People believed you?” Ye Xiu said, surprised. One Autumn Leaf’s equipment was quite good, relative to the playerbase – he’d been able to get two incredibly good orange equipment pieces from all his victories in the arena.

But Su Muqiu’s Autumn Tree was much worse off. Never mind orange equipment, he didn’t even have any purple equipment, and only one blue equipment, the rest green. In front of the dungeon entrance, he looked like some newbie waiting for an expert to carry him.

Of course, Su Muqiu was no newbie, and his skill was absolutely top tier. He played the game for about the same amount of time as Ye Xiu. But he was only level 31, he had bad equipment, and his win record in the arena was 67.8% – not a bad score relative to the player base as a whole, but definitely a bad record in his eyes. The reason for this apparent paradox was simply that he focused on different aspects of this game when playing.

Unlike most other gamers that simply played games for enjoyment, Su Muqiu relied on playing games to earn enough money for himself and his sister to survive. So, the moment he entered a game, the first thing he looked for was some area in which there was money to be made.

Selling accounts, selling equipment and materials, powerleveling, even writing external scripts for exploits… In any game, if there had been a market for it, Su Muqiu had done it.

And in Glory, which had obtained an unprecedented level of popularity, Su Muqiu had found a new profitable area: the equipment editor.

As announced by the creators, this feature allowed players to create their own custom equipment for use in game. They summed up the value of self-made equipment in a phrase: self-made equipment isn’t always the best, but the best equipment is always self-made. And the silver equipment that came out of the equipment editor did indeed seem to be a level above the orange equipment, which themselves were already fairly rare.

Thus, from day one, Su Muqiu investigated the equipment editor.

It was quite a complex feature, and Su Muqiu had already filled two notebooks with handwritten notes, in addition to 477 documents on a hard disk. Even so, he had only barely scratched the surface.

The difficulty was high. But the greater the difficulty, the more excited Su Muqiu got. Difficult meant rare, which meant valuable.

“Small investment, huge profit!” he’d say.

And so, all the materials and equipment he earned in game became fodder for experimentation in the editor. Sometimes Ye Xiu would log on and find One Autumn Leaf missing a piece of equipment or two – without asking, he’d know that Su Muqiu had borrowed them for research.

However, investing everything into the equipment editor put a strain on his resources. He quickly realized that he needed a large supply of materials for his research to succeed.

“I can’t go on like this…” Over time, his tone changed from the “small investment, huge profit” attitude earlier. He had to find outside ways to maintain his research, such as setting dungeon records.

“Join team.” Ye Xiu’s One Autumn Leaf was pulled into the dungeon team, and then he heard Su Muqiu talking to the other three players. “How about it? I wasn’t lying to you! This is One Autumn Leaf, right?”

So that’s how he gathered this team. Ye Xiu was speechless.

The other three players were also shocked – they all knew One Autumn Leaf was one of the highest-level players in the game, as evidenced by his 3685 – no, 3686, now – battles and victories in the arena.

The three players crowded around to pay their respects to the expert, but Su Muqiu announced, “Alright, let’s start.”

“What?” This statement surprised the three players out of their hero-worship.

“You’re coming too?” one player exclaimed.

“What about healer? MT?” said another.

“What’s the strategy?”

Su Muqiu responded with three words. “Overwhelm with skill.”

“…Even with an expert…” The three players glanced toward One Autumn Leaf. Was this one expert enough “skill” to get them a dungeon record?”

“Not just one expert,” Su Muqiu said, completely unashamed.

“Who else?”

“Desert Dust?!” one of the players shouted, excited. A player that matched One Autumn Leaf in skill, who else but the other player with a perfect win record in the arena?

“When is he coming?” The third player reached the same conclusion.

“The other expert is right in front of you!” said Su Muqiu over the exclamations of the other players.

“Where? Where?” The three players looked around frantically, but didn’t see Desert Dust’s name anywhere.

“It’s me!” huffed Su Muqiu.

“Who said that?” The three players acted as though Autumn Tree weren’t even there, still looking around for an expert.

“Me!” Su Muqiu directed his character to jump in front of the players’ fields of vision.

“You?” The Glory game allowed players to directly talk to each other with voice chat, but in this moment, the three players needed to use emojis to show their expressions of shock. This Sharpshooter in front of them looked nothing like an expert at all.

“Don’t waste our dungeon run!” One of the players couldn’t help but speak up.

At this, Ye Xiu laughed. “His equipment isn’t great, but his skill is extremely good.”

“What’s his win record in the arena?” This was the most direct method of measuring someone’s skill.

“97.8%.” Ye Xiu answered promptly, without even blinking. Su Muqiu’s win record was only in the 60s, but Ye Xiu just turned the 6 upside down into a 9. Arena records and statistics could only be accessed from within the arena, so here, out in the field, Ye Xiu felt safe in lying about this win record.

In any case, this wasn’t entirely a lie. Su Muqiu was always playing with the equipment editor and testing out crazy combinations of equipment that he cooked up. Often times, he’d stop in the middle of a battle to frantically write something down in his notebook – playing like that, it’d be a surprise if he didn’t lose. If Su Muqiu really cared about victory, Ye Xiu was certain that he’d easily maintain a win record above 97.8%.

“Okay, let’s not waste time, start now, hopefully it’ll only take one try,” said Su Muqiu.

“So what’s our strategy? How are we supposed to play?” One player was still hesitant. Everyone trusted One Autumn Leaf’s assurances that this Autumn Tree player was skilled. But getting a dungeon record required teamwork, right? If they just charged in without discussing plans beforehand, how would they get the record?”

“If you see a monster, kill it. Let’s go.” Su Muqiu’s reply was straightforward, and he entered the dungeon immediately after. Ye Xiu’s One Autumn Leaf followed suit, and the other three, after hesitating for a moment, entered as well.

As soon as they stepped foot in the dungeon, they found that the two players had already charged forward toward the monsters.

“Fuck, didn’t even say anything! This really is ‘if you see a monster kill it’!” someone shouted.

Line Canyon was a level 31-33 dungeon, and players at this level always did their daily three runs of this dungeon. These three players were level 32, and like Ye Xiu, were currently some of the highest-leveled players of the playerbase. They weren’t strangers to this dungeon. But they had never experienced a direct, explosive strategy like the one currently unfolding before them.

“Faster faster faster!” Su Muqiu urged. His Autumn Tree wielded two revolvers, firing peng peng peng without pause. In the blink of an eye, six small monsters were drawn toward the dungeon entrance.

“Damn…” The three players felt weak in their legs. Their arena win records were above 70%, which was fairly good. But pulling six monsters immediately? Normally, even with MT and healer, only two monsters would be pulled at a time, maybe three if the party had particularly good equipment. But now, this guy, dressed as ridiculously as a flower, was pulling six monsters from the start! They’d thought he was a beggar, but he was a legend. You really can’t judge power from appearance.

But how were they supposed to kill these six monsters?

The three players didn’t know where to start, and they weren’t given any directions. In the end, One Autumn Leaf charged over, the spear in his hand flashed, and the six monsters were bunched together and stunned.

“What are you all doing? Output damage!” Su Muqiu yelled, and finally the three players woke from their daze. This is what “overwhelm with skill” meant. Before this, they couldn’t even imagine what the summit of skill looked like.

“These experts with above 90% win record are terrifying,” one of them said.

“Not just above 90%, it’s 100%!” another reminded him.

“I wonder who’s stronger, him or Desert Dust?”

“I’ve seen Desert Dust’s arena battles before, he’s really fierce.”

The three players had been nervous at the beginning, but they gradually discovered that there was absolutely no pressure on them at all. Finding and pulling the monsters, the difficult part of this, One Autumn Leaf and Autumn Tree had that covered. The three of them only needed to output as much damage as they could. They still had to pay attention to some basic things, but the three of them weren’t newbies, so it was a straightforward matter for them.

So as they mindlessly outputted damage, the three of them started chatting. They now thoroughly understood Su Muqiu’s skill as well. His damage wasn’t amazing, but that was only because of his subpar equipment. But his skill was incredible – he had managed to interrupt every single attack that the monsters tried to launch.

Upon reaching the BOSS, Su Muqiu’s performance reached a new height. This BOSS was surrounded by twelve monsters, smaller than the BOSS but considered “elite” monsters. Normal players would cautiously approach, pulling one or two small monsters at a time to kill – this strategy had developed after countless player deaths. Even now, many teams would be wiped out here if they carelessly pulled too many at once.

But Su Muqiu.

Peng peng peng peng peng, rapid fire, twelve bullets delivered like candy to the twelve monsters.

“Are we killing these all at once too?” The three players had thought that nothing could surprise them anymore, but they were wrong. Twelve monsters! Elite ones, at that!

“Leaving it to you guys,” said Su Muqiu.

The three players felt their hands begin sweating. They expected One Autumn Leaf to gather the monsters, but instead saw him charging straight toward the BOSS.

“You’re trying to kill the BOSS right now too?” the players yelled.

They watched Autumn Tree fly past them like a train and continue to fire rapidly at the smaller monsters.

“Do we fight…?” one of the players said with a tremble in his voice.

“Come fight the BOSS!” Ye Xiu’s voice came from the side.

The three players paused, looked again, and realized that Autumn Tree had drawn the twelve small monsters away from the BOSS and was luring them in circles.

With that, they understood. They weren’t going to kill the smaller monsters at all. Autumn Tree would keep them distracted, and the four of them would kill the BOSS?

This was true skill! What use was good equipment? Would having good equipment allow you to pull this off? Keeping control of twelve elite monsters at once without losing any or getting killed?

“Incredible! Too incredible!” They marveled as they charged forward to meet the BOSS.

A short while after, an announcement in the Glory world channel: a new record set for the Line Canyon dungeon.

“One try, not bad!” crowed Su Muqiu.

“Are we going again?” These three players were now thoroughly convinced of his prowess.

“Not now, I have something to do.” Su Muqiu dispersed the team. Before Ye Xiu had arrived, he had already discussed with the three players how to split the reward.

Thus, the three players bid a heartfelt farewell to these two experts. Ye Xiu and Su Muqiu began heading back to the city near Line Canyon, and Su Muqiu once again started talking earnestly about his plans for equipment-making.

All the way up until the two of them found their way blocked by another player.

“One Autumn Leaf, play a match?”

Standing in the center of the path was the Striker, Desert Dust.

The path between the Line Canyon city and the leveling areas and dungeons was frequented by many players. So, even though not many heard the words that Desert Dust spoke, just the sight of the names “Desert Dust” and “One Autumn Leaf” together was enough to make passerby stop in their tracks. These two experts with perfect win records, meeting like this… everyone wanted to know who was stronger.

Ye Xiu didn’t refuse the invitation. Even Su Muqiu, who typically only cared about the equipment editor, began to display excitement.

One Autumn Leaf, Desert Dust.

No one knew then that this meeting would mark the start of over a decade of competition and rivalry between these two characters, these two players.

In this moment, everyone was only curious as to which of the two was about to lose his perfect record.

The battle would take place on the side of the path. As more and more players passed by, those at the back found their view blocked by the crowd, and so they scrambled for higher ground by climbing atop nearby rocks and trees.

The two experts hadn’t wanted to cause a traffic jam, but now, even though they had relocated to the side of the road, congestion was unavoidable.

“Let’s begin!” Desert Dust didn’t say anything more, and rushed forward with a cry.

Ye Xiu answered with his actions. Desert Dust was fast with the attack, but his One Autumn Leaf was faster to meet it.

Step forward.

Dashing Jab!

Dragon Tooth!

Two straight-line attacks, accurately crashing into each other.

Who was stronger? Who was weaker?

The spectators couldn’t even see the results of this clash before the two characters turned and began moving in parallel.

Sky Strike!

One Autumn Leaf’s spear swung upward, a level 30 orange weapon, bladed at both ends, flashing like a Blade Master’s lightsaber. This weapon was a prize for earning a certain number of points in the arena, and every day countless Battle Mages salivated over this glorious prize – very few were able to reach the requirements necessary for unlocking it.

Desert Dust’s weapon wasn’t any less prestigious. Having won more battles, he had more arena points than One Autumn Leaf. Thus, while One Autumn Leaf only had two pieces of orange equipment, Desert Dust actually had three, including an orange weapon – Lava Anger! Desert Dust’s gauntlets – his weapon – were wreathed in flames.

Collapsing Fist!

With this attack, the flames seemed to blaze even brighter.

Clash, another clash.

These two players were the highest of experts, and yet at this moment seemed not to understand technique and adaptation. They were like two newbies, simply throwing attacks at each other.

Desert Dust’s fist landed on One Autumn Leaf’s spear. With the punch thrown, One Autumn Leaf’s body began to shake – Collapsing Fist seemed to be stronger than Sky Strike.

Chance!

All the spectators thought this was the case. Desert Dust didn’t disappoint, quickly following up with his attacks.

Is it, though? The spectating Su Muqiu chuckled to himself. Sky Strike and Collapsing Fist, there was a clear difference in power. How could Ye Xiu ignore that fact? Would he miss something as important as that? Everyone thinking that this is a chance for Desert Dust, aren’t they looking down on the abilities of an expert?

This wasn’t a chance. Or rather, this was a chance, but it was Ye Xiu’s chance, because he purposely exposed this flaw to the opponent.

A shaking body seemed to be the result of the inability to properly counter the Collapsing Fist. But this apparent helplessness and loss of control allowed One Autumn Leaf to cleanly dodge Desert Dust’s follow-up Whirlwind Kick. Immediately after, a gleam of light flew out from behind One Autumn Leaf.

Neutral Chaser!

A Chaser resulting from the clash between Dragon Tooth and Dashing Jab. Unlike most other Battle Mages, he didn’t fire this Chaser immediately, but instead waited until this critical moment, when everyone thought that Desert Dust had the upper hand, to suddenly counterattack.

Light blocked Desert Dust’s field of vision. It wasn’t just an attack on the character, it was more a disruption to the human controller. The spectators couldn’t grasp this point; only Su Muqiu, who often sparred with Ye Xiu, understood.

And Desert Dust was currently experiencing this himself. But even so, he didn’t retreat, or even falter.

The Whirlwind Kick attack was dodged.

His vision was blocked by the light of the Chaser.

One Autumn Leaf was already launching another attack.

But none of this affected Desert Dust’s actions. He wasn’t panicked or hesitant in the slightest. He simply swung his fists as always. As a level 32 character, he only had access to a limited number of skills, so this swinging of his fist was just a simple, direct punch.

But this punch was faster than a special skill, and was as accurate as ever even with blocked vision.

The punch passed the Neutral Chaser – the light damaged Desert Dust, but his movement was unaffected. This ordinary punch connected with One Autumn Leaf’s head.

Peng! A dull sound.

A normal attack couldn’t deal much damage, but this punch successfully disrupted One Autumn Leaf’s rhythm. The spectators were shocked – they weren’t able to follow the intricacies of the situation, so all they saw was that Desert Dust seized the opportunity and gained the upper hand. It figured that the 4012-win Desert Dust would be slightly stronger than the 3686-win One Autumn Leaf.

Su Muqiu was shocked as well, but for a slightly different reason. He knew that Ye Xiu was luring Desert Dust into attacking, but he hadn’t thought that this opponent would use such a coarse method to directly destroy Ye Xiu’s plan.

Desert Dust, like Su Muqiu, had clearly also seen through One Autumn Leaf’s “chance.” But he didn’t retreat because of it, didn’t even display a half-second of wavering – he simply resolutely charged forward.

He knew it was a trap but jumped in anyway. It seemed to be a dumb move. But this Striker, with his courage and determination alone, used this dumb method to slaughter open a path.

Now, Ye Xiu was no longer purposefully retreating or leaving openings. Desert Dust was truly gaining the upper hand, with a relentless stream of attacks. Unlike most others who faced off against an expert like Ye Xiu, Desert Dust didn’t play conservatively. He continued to unleash a barrage of attacks, each more ferocious than the last.

As expected of the perfect-record expert! He truly is powerful!

Seeing the attitudes of these experts, Su Muqiu felt himself getting fired up as well. Up until now, he had been focused on getting revenue from games; if there was no money to be earned from the outcome of a PK, he wasn’t really interested. But in this moment, he suddenly felt the impulse to put aside all else in the pursuit of victory.

Don’t lose!

Initially, he didn’t really care about the outcome of this match, and even somewhat wanted to see what Ye Xiu was like after a loss. But now, he fiercely hoped for Ye Xiu’s victory. The feeling of having a mutual enemy was exceptionally clear.

He turned his head to look at Ye Xiu sitting beside him. He had never seen Ye Xiu this focused before, and yet he was clearly excited as well.

Fated rivals! These were two fated rivals.

One match wouldn’t say much. Su Muqiu suddenly had this feeling, that these two would meet in many more battles to come, each experiencing their share of victories and defeats, fighting until the end.

But who would win the first match? Who would take the lead?

Chance!

Su Muqiu’s eyes lit up.

As someone who relied on games for income, he was excellent at discovering bugs and loopholes, which often led to a considerable revenue breakthrough. Having developed this habit, even his fighting style became very cost-efficient.

Use the smallest cost to get the biggest reward, this was the principle he lived by.

He liked bugs, he was good at finding bugs, he was good at using bugs.

And in that moment, he discovered a bug, and instinctively controlled his Autumn Tree to raise his guns.

But although this conditioned reflex was there, he ultimately did not fire the shot.

Because Ye Xiu’s reaction was faster, and had a more accurate grasp of the timing.

Falling Flower Palm!

The palm flashed forward, toward a tiny gap in Desert Dust’s stream of attacks, a flaw that simply didn’t exist in the eyes of everyone around them.

Su Muqiu saw it.

And when he saw it, Ye Xiu had already started moving, One Autumn Leaf had already interrupted Desert Dust’s attack.

Night Cloak!

Before Desert Dust was sent flying by this Falling Flower Palm, One Autumn Leaf had already waved this Night Cloak to trap him in the air, and then immediately followed up with sprinkling a dispel powder.

One Autumn Leaf began to counterattack.

Like Desert Dust, Ye Xiu didn’t limit himself to Battle Mage skills. At level 32, this would limit a player severely, so everyone would learn a few skills of other classes to bolster their movepool.

Battle Mages were a Mage subclass, and the difference between the various Mage subclasses was quite large. But because of this, Ye Xiu had a wider selection of skills he could learn compared to most players. Even skills that seemed completely unrelated to the fighting style of a Battle Mage could still be used and chained to great effect.

A Summoner’s monster appeared on the battlefield.

An Elementalist’s flames burned on Desert Dust’s body.

The spectators almost forgot what class One Autumn Leaf was in. Only when Chasers were fired did they remember – right, this was a Battle Mage.

“Incredible!”

“Exciting!”

The spectators discussed eagerly amongst themselves. Earlier they had thought Desert Dust was quite fierce, and 4012 wins was better than 3686. But now, they were beginning to favor One Autumn Leaf.

One Autumn Leaf’s attacks continued uninterrupted. But gradually, the situation began to change yet again. Initially, Desert Dust had been suppressed, but he was now slowly evening the playing field.

One Autumn Leaf was attacking, but so was Desert Dust.

No longer was one party attacking while the other defended. Now, they were both using everything they had to attack.

“What a tough guy!” exclaimed Su Muqiu. Desert Dust’s stubborn playstyle was much different from his own, and normally Su Muqiu would have disdained the inelegance of it. But in a way, this strength and stubbornness was inspiring, such that even though Su Muqiu didn’t agree with this way of fighting, it earned his respect and belief.

The health of both parties was falling in tandem. Neither demonstrated a clear advantage; it seemed that victory would be decided in the falling moments.

Collapsing Fist!

Even after a lengthy period of fighting, Desert Dust’s momentum hadn’t wavered one bit. Collapsing Fist, the strongest skill of a Striker at this level, tore towards One Autumn Leaf.

The match would be decided now!

Everyone could see, One Autumn Leaf didn’t have enough health left to live through this Collapsing Fist. Desert Dust ignored all else, didn’t dodge, didn’t pause, just kept moving forward. And One Autumn Leaf’s spear was still extended from a previous attack and couldn’t be brought up to block in time; Falling Flower Palm was in cooldown; his Chasers had all been used up.

No path of retreat, no way to dodge, One Autumn Leaf seemed to be in dire straits. But just at that moment, Desert Dust suddenly jumped.

A jump that seemed to be for no reason at all, but soon enough everyone saw, it wasn’t that Desert Dust wanted to jump, but that he had suffered an attack.

Thorn Vine!

A Summoner’s knock-up skill abruptly came from the ground. Desert Dust couldn’t defend against this, and was lifted into the air.

But he only needed one punch!

Thorn Vine changed Desert Dust’s body position but didn’t interrupt his attack, so the punch continued toward One Autumn Leaf.

But One Autumn Leaf had already knelt down and performed a marvelous echo of the knock-up effect of that Thorn Vine skill, quickly increasing the distance between the two characters. His spear was pulled back before shooting out once again like a stinger.

A spear is long, an arm is short.

Even though Desert Dust began his attack earlier, One Autumn Leaf’s attack landed first. Suspended in the air like that, after eating several attacks from the spear, Desert Dust clearly had no more hope for victory. His fists lowered helplessly.

Victory and defeat were decided!

But One Autumn Leaf didn’t stop. An Ice Chaser shot out and struck Desert Dust.

Kill!

With this hit, Desert Dust’s health dropped to zero, and his body and some of his equipment fell to the ground.

The spectators paused in confusion before remembering – this duel wasn’t in the arena, this was a PK in the wild. If you died in the wild, you’d lose some experience, and some of your equipment would drop as well.

The chance of dropping equipment wasn’t too high, but Desert Dust’s was unlucky – not only did he drop equipment, everyone saw clearly that what had dropped was his weapon – the orange-level gauntlets, Lava Anger.

Wealth moved people, and in this game, what moved people the most was equipment.

In a flash, everyone forgot about that intense battle and their feelings of admiration at these two experts.

Equipment!

Orange equipment!

Orange equipment that could only be obtained with points in the arena!

Immediately, some players charged forward to grab that equipment, even ignoring One Autumn Leaf. Obviously, One Autumn Leaf was closest to the fallen Desert Dust and the dropped gauntlets, but he barely had any health left. Thus, despite One Autumn Leaf’s demonstrated skill, no one viewed him as a threat in this state.

Long-ranged attacks flew toward One Autumn Leaf; the attackers seemed to reach a tacit understanding to take him out first before squabbling for the equipment. But as they soon discovered, One Autumn Leaf wasn’t the only opponent they had to deal with.

“Despicable! Absolutely despicable!” From the crowd burst forth a shouting Qi Master, running toward Ye Xiu’s side while manipulating energy.

Nen Guard!

The Qi Master stopped and activated the defensive skill to cover One Autumn Leaf. This skill created a bubble that could block all incoming attacks.

“Ah!” But the Qi Master hardly had time to relax, for One Autumn Leaf had already charged out of the protection and through the space where attacks were flying everywhere.

“Hey you…” the Qi Master shouted After Nen Guard was cast, it couldn’t be moved. One Autumn Leaf ran outside the shield – did he not see this skill had been cast? But the Qi Master’s shout died in his throat. One Autumn Leaf sprinted toward the fallen Desert Dust, snatched the fallen gauntlets, spun around, and a few steps later was back in the safety of the Nen Guard.

“Thanks,” the Qi Master heard One Autumn Leaf say to him. But the Qi Master’s attention was grabbed by a Sharpshooter standing a distance away, wielding dual pistols. Even though his equipment was terrible, the Qi Master had clearly seen, just now, that this Sharpshooter had used his attacks to deflect and interrupt the various incoming attacks from the other players, allowing One Autumn Leaf to avoid taking damage and grab the gauntlets.

“Another expert…” the Qi Master stared at Autumn Tree for a while longer. Meanwhile, the spectators, seeing that the orange equipment had already been claimed, could only disperse in disappointment.

By this time, Ye Xiu had already directed One Autumn Leaf to drink a potion to restore his health, so he no longer feared any further attacks. He walked toward the Qi Master.

“Thank you for just now,” Ye Xiu reiterated.

The Qi Master laughed. “It was nothing,” he said, glancing at Autumn Tree. In his heart, he knew that his Nen Guard hadn’t really helped much. One Autumn Leaf returning here after grabbing the equipment was simply allowing the Qi Master to save face; he would have been fine without it.

“Do you want these gauntlets?” Ye Xiu asked him.

“Huh? Me? I don’t want them, aren’t you going to return them to that guy?”

“I’ll ask,” Ye Xiu said.

Two seconds later, the Qi Master saw in the world chat:

“Yo Desert Dust do you still want those gauntlets you dropped?” -One Autumn Leaf.

The world chat exploded.

One Autumn Leaf, Desert Dust, two perfect-record experts! And now One Autumn Leaf was calling out Desert Dust, what was going on? Dropped gauntlets, what was that about?

“No.” In the midst of speculation, Desert Dust’s message was short, but it was seen by many, including Ye Xiu.

“He doesn’t want it, you should just take it!” Ye Xiu offered once again.

“I don’t use gauntlets,” the Qi Master still refused.

“Then give it to me!” By this time, Su Muqiu’s Autumn Tree had made his way over. His voice carried not only through the game but also in real life, as he twisted his head to say these words at his friend playing next to him.

This was orange equipment!

As research material, orange equipment was too difficult to get. Even though Su Muqiu had borrowed some of Ye Xiu’s orange equipment to investigate, he could never do any real testing on them – after all, they weren’t his, and he didn’t want to mess them up by accident. That was a line he wouldn’t cross. If he was going to test on those, it would have to wait until Ye Xiu discarded them for better equipment.

“Take it!” Just like that, the orange equipment that so many players dreamed of was just casually tossed to Su Muqiu to become experiment material.

The Qi Master spoke up suddenly. “By the way, just now, you didn’t have to fire that last Ice Chaser at him to kill him, did you?”

“No, it was necessary,” Ye Xiu said. “Otherwise I would’ve been the one killed.”

“Oh?”

“That guy hadn’t given up. He was about to unleash an Eagle Stamp. If I hadn’t launched that Chaser, or even if I’d launched it too slow, then I would’ve died.”

“So that’s how it is…” The Qi Master nodded. “Thank you for the lesson.”

Ye Xiu laughed. “Add me as a friend, then we can play together later.”

“Alright, in the future, let’s meet up.”

And so, on this day, at almost the same time, Ye Xiu met two people who would play significant roles in his life as a Glory player. The one who would become his strongest rival for countless years, and the one who would support him to the summit of Glory in the first three years of his professional career.

Desert Dust.

Qi Breaker.

#quan zhi gao shou #qzgs #the king's avatar #tka #全职高手 #translation #mine #god this ended up so long lmao #and the battle was super tricky but i pulled it off this time #kinda #what to do next hm #but yes please reblog please comment for reasons above #hope you guys enjoy #feel free to comment on translation and writing quality too im always trying to improve #qzgs prequel

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geminimoonbeamx · 7 years ago

Text

Naive: Part 3

A/N: I’m so freaking happy you guys seemed to like the story so far!, I wrote this and a few other chapters up in one night! Hopefully I can get you guys as hyped as I am for this story. Oh and if you couldn’t already tell, the reader IS mixed race. Because there’s a serious lack of mixed race reader inserts. If this offends you or deters you just skim over it I guess??

Word Count: 3k+

Warnings: Just cursing in this chapter because I have the mouth of a sailor. Get ready for it to get smutttayyyyy next chapter tho, my home dogs!

Summary: As the goddaughter of Tony Stark you were no stranger to the Avengers, but when you meet the newest member- you’re a little more then intrigued. Unfortunately for him, Bucky Barnes has caught your eye.

💘💘💘💘💘

It’s honestly insane what a little bit of sleep can do to improve your life.

Well okay, a lot of sleep. You’d slept for like thirty hours straight, thank the mother fuckin’ lord and you felt like a brand new woman.

Especially after you take a couple bong rips.

Wake and baking was a way of life for you, had been since you we’re fifteen years old. There was just nothing like it.

You take a shower, deciding against getting dressed in real clothes and instead you wiggle into a pair of black lace trimmed lounge shorts, and then slip on a wireless bralette. It gives you no support of course, your supple breast sit comfortably and unrestrained. Just the way you liked them to be.

As you sit at your vanity and stare at your reflection in the mirror, your brain cloudy and happy; your eyes slightly red rimmed and low, you feel …numb. But a good numb. The numb you wished you can be forever. You rip the tie from your hair and it tumbles down from the bun it had been in and falls around your shoulders, the silky strands tickling your bare, fresh skin.

Do you think you’re pretty? Fuck yes. Do you think you’re fat? Also, fuck yes.

It was a concept that most people couldn’t seem to understand. How could you admit that you we’re fat and yet still sit and check yourself out in the mirror? Well because to you, fat was just a descriptive word. Not the heinous insult other people thought it was. Yes, you we’re fat. Just like you we’re smart. And fucking hilarious if you do say so yourself… and at the moment, extremely stoned.

Your confidence hadn’t appeared out of thin air, it was something that had been ingrained in you.

Because your mother had never made you question your worth. She didn’t give a shit about the numbers on a scale or cellulite. She didn’t care if your hair was wild and curly, curlier then her, a white woman had known how to handle for years. No- she cared if you we’re kind to others. If you we’re brave enough to go after you wanted and speak up for yourself.

So you had.

You broke away from that fat girls should wear baggy clothes and stay quiet and try to shrink themselves. Nah, fuck that. This fat girl was going to do whatever she wanted.

Did have negative thoughts about yourself sometimes? Duh, you’re a human being. Everyone has ugly thoughts sometimes, but mostly you we’re a little full of yourself.

Like now, as you blend on warm, smoky eyeshadow, carve your brows and contour your face. Drowning yourself in highlighter. Acentuating and defining all of the parts of your face that you loved. You liked primping and pampering yourself, loved all things beauty, really. Eyelash extensions, going for manicures, facials. They we’re all your jam.

When you’re satisfied with yourself, tossing and musing your hair until it falls around your head in a messy way that looks more sexy then homeless you rise, intent on going and finding Wanda or something.

Not wanting to be alone anymore.

You almost walk out of your living room in a bralette- because of comfort reasons but think twice as you pass the mirror by the door.

You really didn’t want to give Tony a coronary on this fine Thursday.

Why couldn’t we all just walk around naked? Everyone would be a lot more comfortable. It would probably bring world peace.

So after throwing on a loose shirt and a cape like McQueen floral kimono you slip into a fluffy pair of slides and start your epic journey to find sustenance, thinking about how human beings greatest down fall was when we made it a systematic norm to have to be clothed… what kind of crazy weed had Jessica sold you?

------

You don’t think it’s attention you like, and you’ve thought about it a lot.

No, it’s affection.

You’d always been a…touchy person, and it had tended to get you into trouble. You understood boundaries, you just hated them. You didn’t know why it was such a taboo to show the people you cared about that you cared. Why was intimacy in friendships so frowned upon? Why couldn’t you wrap your arms around your friends. Kiss them on the cheek? Cuddle with them?

It just had never been a big deal to you. You liked touching, and fuck, did you liked to be touched.

When you walk into the kitchen, you’re surprised to find the gathering there.

Nat, Wanda and Clint stand at the island, cutting up veggies and talking between themselves. Thor and Bruce sit at a table with Steve and Bucky. It all seems so…pleasant. One of those rare quaint, normal moments in the tower. It would make anyone smile.

“Goodmorning, sunshines” You greet them as you walk in.

You steal a piece of tomato from Natasha’s cutting board and plop it into you mouth.

“Y/N you are aware that it’s almost one, right?” She informs you with a smile to which you just shrug.

“Technicalities. It’s still noon-ish so it’s morning…pretty much”

“Flawed way of thinking you got there, squirt” Clint criticized. His eleven year old had better sleeping habits then you.

“Flawed or brilliant?”

“You sound just like Tony” Bruce calls from his place across the room and you pull your head from the fridge.

“Why thanks”

When you cant find anything that catches your eye in the massive fridge, even though its brightly lit with an array of food, you call for FRIDAY and ask her if she could have the chef cook you up some Nutella crepes, “please and thank you!”

“How high are you right now?” Wanda reaches over to whisper to you knowingly and you lean forward to rest your chin on her shoulder, her long dark hair tickling your face pleasantly.

“Super. You have to try this shit that I got from Jessica, it’s crazy” You reply, your breath hot on her ear so that she’s the only one who can hear you.

The both of you break out in to giggles, girlish and young sounding. Wanda missed this, the having a connection like this with someone. Welcoming and relishing another’s touch in a way that was both intimate and utterly innocent.

She’d had it with Pietro…and then he’d gone and left her alone and she thought that was the end of it.

But then you’d gotten close to her, befriended her, and there it was again. Being able to just, melt with someone was something that should be cherished. She cherished her friendship with you. The way you let her lean into you with no resistance. You and your bright eyes and contagious laugh. She felt…she felt more like Wanda when she was with you. Less like Scarlett Witch.

Bucky hadn’t meant to watch you for as long as he had. He’d turned to you when you’d entered the room and hadn’t been able to tear his eyes away, for more then mere moments, since. It was a mixture of the tiny shorts you had on, the way the black lacy material rode up your sumptuous thighs…but mostly it was your interaction with Wanda. He wasn’t particularly close to her(he wasn’t particularly close to anyone except for Steve and Sam…although he’d never admit it) but he’d never seen the girl like this. Like you’d somehow lit her up from the inside.

The two of you we’re whispering and laughing like school girls, carefree and light and it stirred something in his stomach.

His eyes snap away as you approach the table.

“Hello sirs” you salute as you come up and take the seat in between Steve and Thor. It’s comical how intensely the two men dwarf you.

“Hello little woman” Thor squeezes your shoulder, his big palm encompassing the flesh “How was your sleep? It seems like it’s been days since you graced us with your presence”

You cant help bite your lips together to hide a grin. Would you ever get over the regal manner in which Thor talked?

Probably not.

“Yeah, Y/N. How are you feeling today? Less drowsy?” It’s the tone in Bruce’s voice you don’t like, not his words. He’s using his doctor’s voice on you.

Yes, Bruce knew about your…situation. Tony had told him, with your permission, so that he could help monitor the process. You didn’t mind him knowing, you just didn’t want him blowing it and everyone finding out about it. It was a sensitive subject for you and you’d rather keep it quiet. It’s not that you didn’t trust the others its just…you weren’t ready for it to be public knowledge.

You didn’t want to be looked at differently.

“I’m fine” You play it off “My sleeping schedule’s just been off. I just had to reset my internal clock to the eastern time zone. No biggie’”

Bruce wants to ask you more but he’s a smart man, and decides he’d press the issue later in the privacy of the lab. He knew what it was like to want to keep a secret, and he wasn’t about to go making you uncomfortable by blowing yours.

You reach over to steal one of the fries off of Steve’s plate, sticking you tongue out at him “How has you guy’s day been so far? No alien invasions yet?”

You had a way of setting the atmosphere, keeping it light.

You talk with the guys until Bruce leaves, needing to go run some labs or smash some things…okay that was an asshole joke, you chastise yourself. You didn’t like teasing him about his little green problem, Thor follows him. Talking about some meeting he was being “forced unwillingly to attend”

“Good luck, big guy�� You kiss his cheek before he leaves.

“So really, what have you guys been up to today” You ask the two men you’re left with as you cut into your crepes.

“Nothin’ much, it’s been a quiet one so far. Just training. I was thinking about going for a walk later on, maybe Central Park? Get some sketching in while I can” Steve answers.

“You drawing more, Steve? That’s amazing! You’ll have to show me some of your stuff sometime! I remember they were always so good” You urge him excitedly. Since you’d known him, you’d tried to push him to take his art seriously. Fuck knows it was his only release. You had a feeling even Steve Rogers had a breaking point, you also had no desire to ever see it.

Only Steve’s ears turn red, which is actually progress for him “Yeah, I can do that”

“Really? So a pretty girl asks to see your sketchbook and your game, but I, your best friend cant?” Bucky sees an opening and cant help but take it “Whatta’ Jerk”

Okay, where did that come from? You fight to keep the shock off of your face. Pretty girl? Really?

“Well she’s not a crap critic like you are” Steve justifies himself “Last time I showed you somethin’ you told me that I couldn’t draw dog paws for shit”

“Hey, I was just kidding. That was about a year ago, too!” Bucky sounds truly apologetic and you break out into a squawk of laughter.

“You guys are so married, oh my god” You shake your head at the two of them. It’s cute… seeing them together. Both of their guards way down.

“Don’t encourage his behavior, Y/N” Steve’s trying not to chuckle.

You turn your attention to Bucky then, your body literally angling towards him as you focus in. “What about you, Bucky? Any big plans?”

Why? Why does his brain turn off when you look at him like that? Your gleaming eyes looking at nothing but his face.

“Uh- nothing yet, doll”

“Awe if I didn’t have to go shopping I’d say lets have our marathon!”

“Marathon?” Steve wonders, his eyes flashing between the two of you.

“Yeah, I’m going to force Bucky to watch Harry Potter with me. You know, bring his life great enlightenment and fulfilment” You answer him nonchalantly, taking a bite of your food. Letting out a little moan and crossing your eyes “Oh my gosh this is amazing”

Did you mean to look so sexual? The way your pretty lipstick coated lips wrapped around that fork had Bucky tensing.

“No really you guys, who even is this new chef? Is he the second coming of Christ? Taste this!” You encourage as you cut another piece and hold it out to Bucky, your hand under it incase it falls.

He doesn’t know what to do. Does he turn you down? Would that be rude? Would it hurt your feelings?

So he just opens his mouth and allows you to feed him the sweet pastry.

“Amazing, huh?”

“Mmhmm, really good” is all Bucky mumbles, trying to keep the heat from his face.

“Steve try it!” You urge, pouting a little when he doesn’t let you shove your fork in his mouth.

As tempting as the offer was- Nutella and the look on your face- Steve had learned his lesson. What if Tony came in and saw you spoon feeding him? Nope.

“I just ate a burger, I gotta’ watch my physique” He teases and your eyebrows knit together.

“Really, take a bite. I’m sure your physique can handle it. Here” You give him the fork so that he can feed himself.

Since when was Steve weird with you like that? You used to be able to…flow with him. Without even thinking about it?

You shrug it off as pot linked paranoia. Just because he didn’t let you spoon feed him didn’t mean you guys weren’t still close. Right?

“Hey are we still going shopping?” Wanda asks as she comes up “If so I’m going to go change?”

“Yeah! Definitely. I need to find a new backpack before I start school again next week. And yeah, I need to change too, you can come get ready with me in my room if you want” You stand quickly, scooting away from the table “You guys can have the rest of that. See ya’ later, gentleman"

And with that your sashaying out of the room with Wanda.

Steve notices Bucky staring at the sway of your hips.

“Bud…”

“Shut up, Steve”

“I told you. Y/N- She’s- Something else” Steve searches for the words “But the kid’s Tony’s pride and joy and we’re still on thin ice with the guy”

“How old is she anyway?” Bucky completely ignores the Tony part of Steve’s sentence. Why’d everyone call her kid? She looked a little young, with that dimpled smile but she was in college so she couldn’t be AS young as they treated her.

“Twenty three” Steve’s response is curt. Matter of fact.

Twenty three, huh? Bucky thinks. That is a little young…a lot younger then his near century. Not young enough for it to deter him, though.

Bucky doesn’t know what to say for a moment. Neither of them do really. It’s quiet as Steve eats the reminder of the crepes because holy shit you hadn’t been lying they were sent from heaven.

Then, Bucky’s handsome face stretches into a devilish smile. One Steve had seen many a’ time.

“She’s got a nice pair of gams on her, doesn’t she?”

Steve tries to purse his lips, but fails in hiding his own wolfish expression.

“That she does”

———

Because even though Steve is Captain America we all know he’s still that little shit from Brooklyn at heart right? Especially when Bucky’s around. Lesbi-honest here I have the major hots for Wanda and it’s taking all of my will power not to write her as a love interest but I really want to focus on a close, strong female friendship…even though I’m dying to have Y/N get her some Wanda😩

As usual give me some feedback! Going to slow? Too fast? Is Y/N too…touchy? What do you think the pills are for and do you want to be tagged? Tellllll me ya’ll

@devenrenee @skeletoresinthebasement @kendallefire @mellifluousbabe @toniinhere @agentmstark @purplekitten30 @bellaballanda @yslbucky @arabellaaurorabarnes @prinxessofspace @supernaturally-lucky @sngforme @kyritha @18crazybutcutealsopsycho @peaceloveancolor @gabwinchester-dixon

#bucky barnes x plus size reader #Bucky Barnes #Bucky Barnes smut #Tony Stark #tony stark daughter #mcu imagine #marvel #steve rogers #wanda maximoff #plus size reader #poc reader

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