#its hard to explain but like as a woman youre made to walk this weird line of like not insecure but not too confident either otherwise | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

m0llygunn · 1 year ago

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good sunday here’s something I wrote a while ago. it’s part of a bigger piece, so there’s references that are foggy, but if I simmer it and reduce it to its essence, it is amateur writer!eddie x amateur writer fem!reader, reader wears a lot of layers and is pretty closed off. I don’t think it needs more explaining for how small this snippet is (1.8k) but if you’re curious about one thing or another, my ask box is always open. (sorry this is out of the blue but I just reread this and I like this part, I don’t think it deserves to die in the docs like all my other wips lol) (this won’t die in the docs but it will die unedited)

18+ only pls this is soft and not horrifically explicit but

“Do you think drugs help with your creative process?”

“Sometimes, dunno,” he shrugs.

Eddie asked if it was okay if you went to his place today. He told you that Friday night was his last chance to make a good chunk of his profits before Christmas and he had things he needed to do in preparation.

You watch as he weighs out little baggies of fuzzy green and brown product.

“Can I help?” you ask.

“You want to help me with this?” he laughs.

“Yeah, s’boring over here,” you say, feeling a tinge of embarrassment for your enthusiasm.

“Must be hard being such a pretty girl that has to sit around waiting, huh?”

You ignore his comment, pushing yourself off the bed and using your own judgment on how to help him. You help by opening the plastic bags and by tying them after he fills them.

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“A woman’s love makes all the difference,” Eddie teases, pressing a kiss to the edge of your face as he puts away all the neatly made bags. “They look good, thank you sweetheart,” he presses another kiss to your skin, this time closer to your inner cheek. He stands and you do the same. While he put his stash away in a drawer for now, you settle back into his bed, sitting cross legged in the middle.

“You ready to go home or wanna stay longer?” he asks, catching your gaze.

“It’s barely been an hour,” you complain with wide eyes as you check the time. Eddie crosses to the bed, laying beside you so his head rests adjacent with one of your folded knees while his hand closes over your other.

“So stay then. I want you to stay,” he smiles.

“Sounds like you’re kicking me out,” you mumble.

“You could stay forever, I’d be happy.”

You scrunch your face and Eddie barks a laugh. His hand grabs further up your leg, getting closer to you as his fingers reach high on your thigh. You push him away with a flattened palm on his chest, fighting his advances just enough to make a point.

“Don’t be weird,” you scold.

“I’m not allowed to kiss you when I want and I can’t be weird? What am I allowed to do then?” He asks, laying on his back in comical defeat.

“Be normal.”

“See, that’s impossible when I’m with you,” he smiles cheekily. He folds both his hands over his chest, severing his ties from you, leaving you with not a single point of contact.

“And that classifies as a weird thing to say,” you say pointedly. You watch as he absentmindedly twirls one of his heavy silver rings around the knuckle it sits under.

“I like you, is that such a crime?”

He continues twirling the ring as he smiles up at you.

His room matches him to a T. Dark colours, hints of deep red that peak out under the clutter of personality that adorns every surface. Music is in your face, with posters that are screaming levels of confronting as soon as you walk in. The quietest part of his room is the novels that stay hidden in plain sight. A tattered book under a beer can, condemned to the life of being a coaster, a short stack just under his bed, they scatter everywhere and don’t demand the attention that everything else does.

When you feel like you understand Eddie it comes in waves like this. Like you have all the puzzle pieces but you need a particular clue to help fit them together. When they click into place it makes your stomach flip and your heart patter in your chest. It surges you forward and you find him. You kiss him to let him know you hear him.

He kisses you back and you hope he understands.

It’s awkward the way you hunch over him. Your knees press into the edge of his stomach and dangerously close to his crotch so you move carefully. He rises to accommodate you until you can sit a little straighter, feeling less of a stretch in your lower back. His hand finds your waist, encouraging you to sit up and uncross your legs while also pulling you into him. His kiss is soft yet firm and once you’ve both comfortable, it’s clear that you’re the driving force here. His hands don’t roam and he doesn’t deepen the kiss, he takes what you give him, as always.

You want more though, you want his hands to roam.

“Touch me,” you breathe into the kiss. With your hands on his forearms you drag them up your sides and he takes over, he feels up and down and he tugs and pulls the clothing barrier with every movement. You let your own hands sit low on his stomach, and it’s unfair the way your hands slip so easily under his thin cotton shirt, pulling it up to feel how the hair just under his belly button grows thinner the higher you go. His mouth stops moving against yours and he pulls back gently.

“Can I take this off?” he asks, searching your eyes while he holds the seam of your most outer layer.

You nod, agreeing quietly. He works slowly, letting his fingers gather the seam before pulling upwards, careful not to disturb the layer that lives underneath.

When it pulls over your head, he folds the material in half, placing it down on the bed beside you both.

He moves in closer to you, eyes landing on your lips but you motion for him to pause.

Finding his hand and placing it on the hem of your next layer, you meet his eyes. “Keep going,” you whisper. He nods, fingers finding their grip.

He could take every layer off at once, tug them over your head in one clump of clothing, but he doesn’t. He takes his time, unwraps you like a gift, paying special attention to the bells and whistles of zippers and buttons. He folds every layer with respect, making a pile of the mismatching fabrics that he’s silently cursed a handful of times for keeping you from him. He doesn’t want to make that mistake now, so he takes his time. When he gets to your second last layer he finds your eyes, making sure it’s okay.

“Go ahead,” you whisper. Inch by inch, the prize of your bare skin is revealed to him as he lifts the ribbed thermal from your hips, your waist, your chest, your shoulders, all the way to your wrists. Your poor thermal gets discarded without a gentle fold but you don’t mind.

Eddie’s eyes dance with lust filled adoration. He sits forward on his bed but doesn’t touch just yet. He traces curves and connects barely visible freckles with his eyes and when he’s looking for longer than you deem necessary, you find his hands again, bringing them to your skin and it feels grounding.

You part your hands from his once they flatten to your sides, giving him permission to roam. He hums appreciatively and his hands glide. They cover places you wouldn’t deem worthy of dwelling on and eventually, they start to squeeze. They feel like they’re molding you, pushing you in, and drawing you out all at the same time. You feel like you’re clay in his hands, but really it's the other way around. He’s learning how his hands fit to you, he’s adding the curves of your body to his lexicon, teaching himself how to speak to you through his touch. It’s a beautiful thing and you could cry.

“Kiss me, please,” you ask, needing him to take the swell of emotions from you. He nods before he meets your eyes, and when he does, he looks like he melts into valleys of softness.

“C’mere, sweet girl,” he whispers, using his new found language to fit his hands against your waist, tugging you forward into him.

He kisses you and it feels like breathing anew. Like words you’ve yet to discover, and dialects of feelings you never knew existed, it makes your heart hum.

It’s not long before his kiss translates every stirred up emotion into pure lust. His hands roam, rough at the fingertips but substantially softer at the palms.

Down to your last layer, he lingers at the equator of your back until it becomes the hottest part. The band burns at his fingers with every grazed touch over and under it. Despite that, he plays with fire, tracing the lace back and forth in quick movements that tell you what he wants. With a giggled approval, you feel the way he beams when he pecks at your lips.

Talented with his fingers, he one handedly releases the tension on your ribcage. Both hands move to the straps on your shoulders and he pulls back from his onslaught of quick kisses with a candyland worthy smile.

His eyes visibly dilate and your chest stutters with the breath that gets stuck in your lungs. He drops your bra to your lap, not letting it go too far just yet and he looks back to your eyes.

“Beautiful. Prettiest girl.” His mouth opens another time to speak but he closes it, mullingly.

“What?” you ask, shifting so your shoulders press inwards, unconsciously making yourself smaller in front of him.

He notices the way you change and brings gentle hands to your shoulders, coaxing you to straighten out. He moves in closer, letting the edge of his head press to yours, cheek meeting cheek.

“I just want to say thank you for sharing yourself with me,” he whispers quietly into your ear. “Not just for this, but for everything. I know it's hard,” he continues.

You nod, but you don’t know what else to say. It leaves you choked, throat swelling with emotions again.

Eddie pulls back to see you, not your body, but you and he smiles adoringly.

“I do like this though, I like it a lot.” His smile switches to a smirk and your choke becomes a sputter of laughter.

He kisses your lips, across your cheek, down your jaw. He kisses your collar bones, up the peaks of your chest and down the crest of each breast. He places a lasting kiss to the center where your ribcage ends and moves back up.

He lavishes you with kisses. Gentle, sweet, appreciative, and when you promise it’s enough for you to feel his purified adoration until next time, he helps you redress, but not without substantial kisses to your lips.

Eddie Munson hasn’t shown you any of his writing yet, but you trust he has perfected the art form because the way he looks at you is with the gaze of a man who’s dedicating more words to you than you’ve ever read, more words than you’ll ever know.

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#eddie munson #eddie munson smut #abandoned wips #eddie munson x fem!reader

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jacksfandomrandom · 2 months ago

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What Do You Mean Farewell?

Summary: Liko has a panic attack after Sprigatito runs off in the episode "Farewell Sprigatito?"

Notes: Might do a part two where it focuses on her injury

Liko waited patiently as Mollie started to wrap up her wrist in a bandage and put a brace on it. It sucked that she ended up spraining it. She wouldn’t be able to lift things for a while and she’d have to deal with the throbbing whenever she’d move it. It wasn’t ideal but she’d make it through. After Mollie gave her a pain med to keep the throbbing down, she was going to grab Sprigatito so she and it could relax in her room. However, when she went to get it from the doorway, Sprigatito was nowhere to be found. That was worrying.

Liko started looking everywhere for it. The kitchen, the storage cargo area, her bedroom, the cockpit, and the common area, but no grass cat could be found. She decided maybe she should ask around for help. So she walked over to Dot’s room and knocked on her door with her good hand.

“Dot? I need your help with something,” She said from behind the door. Dot let her in, a little bit worried. She always was worrying about Liko and wondered what was wrong. But then she saw the brace on Liko’s wrist.

“Woah, what happened?” they asked, gesturing to her wrist.

“Sprigatito accidentally made me fall over… but I'm fine. I was actually looking for it. It seemed down and sad before Mollie treated my wrist and now it’s gone.” Liko explained. Dot hummed as she tried to put the pieces together.

“Maybe it’s hiding someplace?” Dot suggested.

“Oh, good idea! It does like to hide in places up high,” Liko remembered. The two of them walked out of the bedroom and started looking. They checked every nook and cranny, every high surface, and every sunny area, but they still could not find Sprigatito. It was really starting to make Liko panic and worry. She tried really hard not to fidget with her hands to self-soothe.

“It’ll be okay, Liko,” Dot assured her.

“I saw the small thing walking over that way,” Ludlow interrupted, pointing towards a little house in the woods.

“Really?! You saw it?” Liko asked.

“Mhm, it was going towards that house in the woods,” He explained.

“Thanks, Ludlow!” Dot thanked him as Liko dragged her off towards the woods.

They walked through the sandy desert until coming upon the forest just on the outskirts. It was surprisingly nice compared to what they just traversed through. In the forest was a huge house with tons of cat towers out in the front. In the yard was a bunch of cat pokemon. It was really cool to see! Suddenly Liko saw a Sprigatito!

“Sprigatito!” She ran towards it and tried to pet its head but it hissed at her and acted very different from her sprigatito.

Then she saw another one, and another. It was so confusing, she thought she was having some weird nightmare, but then someone got their attention.

“Can I help you two?” A woman asked. Dot immediately went ‘oh fuck’ in her head because she thought they just trespassed onto her property. But luckily, Liko was there to clear things up.

“Yes, I’m looking for my Sprigatito. I believe it ran here? My name is Liko,” She explained.

“Oh Liko! I remember you. Come sit, we can talk,” The woman smiled and led them to the staircase out front. They talked for a bit about how she knew Liko and what the big house was for. Then they started talking about why Sprigatito might be there.

“Usually, when a pokemon returns here, it means the partnership is broken,” The lady explained.

“The partnership…is broken?” Liko repeated, horrified. That couldn’t be! She and Sprigatito got along so well! How could that happen? Was she not good enough for it? Was she being neglectful? All these thoughts and worries flooded Liko’s mind and she stopped paying attention to what the woman was saying. All she could think about was how Sprigatito was feeling about her and all her mistakes that she made that could’ve affected how Sprigatito thought about her. She couldn’t stop feeling like she was an absolute failure as a trainer.

Suddenly, it felt like it was getting harder to breathe. She took short and shallow breaths as she continued to panic about the future, the past, and the present. Everything felt too much and she just wanted Sprigatito back. But what if it didn’t want to come back? Just that thought made everything so much worse.

“E-excuse me,” She quickly got up when she realized the woman and Dot were looking at her with concerned expressions on their faces. Liko ran to the side of the house where she wouldn’t be seen by anyone. She needed some space to process this if it was true and that the partnership was broken. And she needed to try and calm her down. Unfortunately though, Dot followed her.

“Liko, what’s wrong?!” Dot asked. Just that question made her start to panic. Her breathing got faster and she could feel her heart start to race. It was beating rapidly and her lungs were about to explode.

“I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I’m horrible,” She muttered fast as she hyperventilated.

“Hey, no, you are not horrible. Your partnership isn’t broken, there must be another explanation,” Dot told her, squeezing both her hands. Usually, this helped ground her but unfortunately, it aggravated her injury and she hissed through her teeth and tried to pull away.

“Shit, sorry! You’re okay. Everything is going to be okay,” Dot emphasized, cupping her cheeks, “Just take some deep breaths, stim, do whatever you need,”

Liko tried some deep breathing and rocking back and forth, trying to calm down. She tried thinking about her safe space back on the ship, holding her stuffed animal and wrapped in a soft blanket while watching fun pokemon videos. It was starting to help, imagining herself in her safe space. However, it didn’t feel like just imagining it was good enough.

There was a small meow that randomly came from above them. They both looked up, wondering what the noise was, when suddenly, Sprigatito came rushing down the cat tree on the wall and sat at Liko’s feet. The furry friend started rubbing its face against her leg and headbutting her.

Liko was a little bit scared to pet it, afraid that she’d upset it and make things worse, but Sprigatito started encouraging her by sniffing her hand and rubbing its face on it. Liko moved her legs so she sat criss-cross and Sprigatito immediately jumped into her lap. It started purring and making small biscuits on her legs, letting off its comforting scent.

Almost immediately, Liko calmed down. Just having her furry friend cuddle with her while Dot sat with her made her feel a lot better and calmer. She smiled and continued to pet her furry friend until she was back to normal.

“Thank you Sprigatito,” Liko sniffled, almost starting to cry. Sprigatito wasn’t going to leave her after all.

They went back to the lady with Sprigatito in Liko’s arms (Her wrist was in pain but she didn’t care! She wanted to hold her little bean) and explained the situation they had. The lady had suggested that Sprigatito was possibly feeling guilty and shameful for hurting Liko and was pulling away. She then told them the story of Sprigatito and its leafage.

After hearing the story, it made sense why Sprigatito ran away. Liko couldn’t help but feel a little bad, even though she knew it wasn’t her fault. She never knew how relatable her pokemon could be.

Sprigatito was willing to come back with Dot and Liko to the Brave Olivine, so they walked back to the ship as Liko was getting very tired. Post panic attack naps or cuddles were a usual must for Liko.

When they got back to the ship, Dot grabbed Sprigatito and Liko some snacks while they got comfy in their room. She came back with the food and cuddled with Liko since she wanted another human to be around for support. Both girls were a bit of a blushy mess but that didn’t stop them from enjoying the cuddles.

#pokemon fandom #pokemon #pokemon fanfiction #pokémon #pokemon horizons #pkmn #pkmn horizons #likodot #liko x dot #pokemon liko #liko #autistic liko #liko pokemon #pokemon dot #dot pokemon #sprigatito #pokemon sprigatito

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eyeslikewatercoolers · 2 years ago

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WIP Wednesday- Dead Like Me AU

And we're back with some more Vandergerd! This AU idea has been on my mind for a few months, so I decided to give it a shot. It's based on the TV show Dead Like Me. I think this will be more of a CDR3 group fic with Vandergerd at the center point.

CW for Major Character Death (cause that's the whole premise)

Today was going to be the best day of Vivian’s life, she just knew it.

Years of hard work were about to pay off, and her big break in her career was just around the corner. She’s worked at the same city-wide newspaper since graduating college, and today was the day for her first featured article.

The editor-in-chief gave her the main assignment for the week to cover the city’s annual charity gala event. It was one of the most exclusive events that the city held, something that Vivian could only dream of getting a media pass for.

She waited outside the venue for about one hour before the doors opened. Her camera had a full battery, and she made the last check to see if her recorder was still working. Everything was ready to go, but she still couldn’t shake her nerves.

Luckily, the stray cat she made friends with earlier was helping keep her calm. She gave the small black cat a few bites of her sandwich from lunch, and the cat never left the bench she waited on.

“Looks like it’s almost time,” Vivian said to the cat, seeing more people crowd around the entrance to the venue. “Thanks for keeping me company, little guy.” she gave the cat one last chin scratch before standing up and leaving the bench.

A few minutes after finding the line for the media entrance, Vivian was approached by a woman slightly taller than her, with long bleached hair and intense dark eyes.

“Excuse me, but I saw this fall from your camera.” The woman held out the camera battery with her perfectly manicured hand.

Vivian turned her camera around in confusion, and to her surprise, the battery cover was wide open. “That’s weird, that’s never happened before.” she thought to herself before looking back up at the woman.

“Oh, thank you.” she took the battery from the woman’s hand but then felt an intense coolness bloom in her chest when their hands touched. She didn’t know how to explain the feeling, but it only lasted a couple of seconds until she felt normal again.

“No, thank you.” the woman said with a slight smile before walking inside with the line next to her, and Vivian tilted her head in confusion. Maybe it was nerves that were making her question the interaction, so she tried to shrug it off.

She stepped to the side of the line as she tried to get the battery back in her camera. Just as she slid the cover back on, she heard something small fall near her feet. She wasn’t sure how her hearing could pick up something as small as her pen falling over the crowd’s noise.

Looking down she saw her favorite pen, the one with the orange cats printed all over it, sitting on the ground. The pen that she clipped to the printed page of her confirmation page of the event. It was her only way inside the building.

Bending down to graciously pick up the pen, a small flash of black fur came and went, and so did the pen. The pen she could easily deal without, but the paper was the important thing to her.

The cat from earlier stood a few yards away, across the venue’s outdoor courtyard. The cat looked at her with bright green eyes, pen and paper in its mouth.

“Oh no. Come back!” Vivian called after the cat before the cat kept running away.

She started chasing after the cat, her eyes on the paper in its mouth. Briskly avoiding any people standing outside, she tried running as fast as she could to catch up to the cat.

She didn’t notice stepping off the curb and the pavement changing to dark asphalt. The road was quiet at the time of day, except for one lone truck that was making a last-minute delivery to the gala.

Her mind never left the mischievous cat and her ticket into the event. She didn’t pay attention to the people calling out to her, telling her to ‘look out!’. She wasn’t paying attention to the blaring truck horn nearby until it was too late.

SLAM

Vivian squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the impact, but she felt nothing. The noise from the street was gone, all she could hear was voices in the distance.

Slowly opening her eyes, she looked at her surroundings. The blonde was no longer lying in the street like she last remembered. Instead, she was back to sitting alone on the bench.

Vivian looked down to look at herself and was surprised that she looked exactly how she last looked in a mirror. She had no bruises or broken bones, and her clothes looked perfectly intact.

How did she get hit by a truck, but was perfectly fine seconds later? Vivian felt even more confused.

“She’s over there!” she heard someone call from across the courtyard and looked to see a person with yellow dyed hair pointing at her.

A tall blonde woman walked faster to the bench, with the yellow-haired person close behind. Vivian knows she’s never met either of these people before, how did they know who she was?

#vandergerd #wip wednesday #my writing #cdr3 #my fics

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iviarellereads · 6 months ago

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The Shadow Rising, Chapter 6 - Doorways

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(White lion icon) In which someone drops a metaphorical mic.

PERSPECTIVE: Elayne follows Moiraine into the room, angrily. Moiraine is complaining, openly, about how stubborn Rand is. Elayne thinks of her childhood nurse, Lini, saying you could weave silk from pig bristles before you could make a man anything but a man. But that's no excuse.

Egwene asks what Rand did, and Moiraine glares at her. El jumps a little as she realizes Joiya isn't bound, and hopes nobody noticed. She finds it hard to be as brave as the Daughter-Heir should be. Moiraine tells Joiya she's made arrangements for her and Amico to be taken upriver to Tar Valon, and the Traitors' Court. Moiraine clearly intimidates Joiya, who looks away with murder in her eyes. Moiraine undoes Amico's binding, more deftly than any of the wondergirls can manage yet, and El is a little jealous. It's small comfort that they can do some things Moiraine can't.(1)

Moiraine calls in some guards to escort the prisoners back to their cells, with specific instructions about their care. As soon as everyone else is gone, Egg puts an arm over El's shoulder and asks what's wrong. El tries very hard not to cry.

Nyn tells Moiraine off for vanishing and then coming back just to calmly announce she's sending their prisoners away. Moiraine says the Amyrlin may have set them to chase Liandrin and co, but they're still only Accepted, and they need to make a decision at some point about them. Then she turns to El and tells her to pull herself together, and remember that not every land has the customs she was born to.

Egg asks what customs, and El says she knows Berelain was in Rand's bedchamber. Moiraine says she'd have spared Egg if she could, but either way, Rand belongs to the Pattern, to history, not to either of them. Egg tells El she doesn't have those feelings for Rand anymore, she thinks of him and El as brother and sister to her, and wishes them the best.(2) Then she asks Moiraine if she's ever been in love.

The slender woman was not at all taken aback. For a long moment she looked levelly at the pair of them, each with an arm around the other. Finally she said, “I could wager I know the face of the man I will marry better than either of you knows that of your future husband.” Egwene gaped in surprise. “Who?” Elayne gasped. The Aes Sedai appeared regretful of having spoken. “Perhaps I only meant we share an ignorance. Do not read too much into a few words.”(3) She looked at Nynaeve consideringly. “Should I ever choose a man—should, I say—it will not be Lan. That much I will say.”

Nyn gets back to business and says she doesn't like dithering here, but they've walked into too many traps not to be cautious. How do they know if the women are lying, either or both or neither? She's tugging her braid so hard it looks like she wants to use it to strangle Moiraine.

El changes the subject slightly and suggests Nyn might want to know why they were summoned to Rand. He's fine now, Moiraine healed him.(4) Nyn gasps and asks what happened. Moiraine explains about bubbles of evil, and the state of Rand's room, and how she's sure Perrin and Mat also got some weirdness but escaped unharmed.

Tension rises again, and Egg asks what Rand was being stubborn about. Moiraine says he must make a move, but instead he just sits here, and Tear loses its fear of him. The Forsaken will see it as a sign of weakness, and the Pattern is built inherently on movement, only the dead are still. He must act, or die.

Nyn says Moiraine knows what action he has to take, doesn't she? Yes, Moiraine confirms, but she can't risk him going off alone again. The wondergirls ask Moiraine to tell them what she intends, and she agrees with only a little reluctance. She thinks Rand should take Tear to war with Illian, to bring down Sammael.

There's some discussion about the uses of war (few and far between) and El remembers that Moiraine was raised in the Royal Palace in Cairhien, not in the line of succession but related to the ruling family.(5) She understands world politics well. Nyn asks why this war, what makes it better than any other. Moiraine asks El to explain. El says war will come whether Rand is involved or not, the Forsaken won't just stand idly by, and he can't be the only other one who's seized a country's reins. They'll come after Rand eventually, and even the countries who aren't under Forsaken command might well declare him false, the fall of the Stone a lie. One way or another, war will come.

Mo adds that the war she proposes wouldn't be better or cleaner, but it would cement the Tairens to Rand, and bring Illian under his banner. In one swoop, he would establish himself strong enough that only a coalition of every other country in Randland could take him down. He has to be the hammer, not the nail, and he has to move first, but instead he just sits here and reads himself into more trouble.

Nyn and Egg are kinda shaken, so El asks how he can read himself into more trouble. Moiraine says he's been reading the Dragon Prophecies, they're forbidden in Tear but the Chief Librarian had some translations locked up. Rand has them all, now. She pointed out a verse that applies, and he quoted it to her.

"Power of the Shadow made human flesh wakened to turmoil, strife and ruin. The Reborn One, marked and bleeding, dances the sword in dreams and mist, chains the Shadowsworn to his will, from the city, lost and forsaken, leads the spears to war once more, breaks the spears and makes them see, truth long hidden in the ancient dream."

Illian under Sammael could qualify as a forsaken city, if he leads Tear to war and chains Sammael, it could fulfill the verse, but he refuses to see it.(6) He even has a copy in the Old Tongue, though he surely can't read it.

Nyn says he's surely desperate to find his own way. Moiraine says she's desperate too, she's dedicated her life to finding him and ensuring his success. She's almost desperate enough to... she cuts herself off, but El forces her to finish the thought. The Tairens hold a collection of ter'angreal, the Great Holding. There's one particular ter'angreal, a redstone doorframe, slightly twisted. If she can't make him reach a decision, she may have to go through it.

Nyn asks what's through it, and Moiraine says you can gain answers. Three true answers about anything. The wondergirls immediately ask why she didn't tell them before, they could get answers to all the questions before them! Moiraine says they rush to run where a hundred Warders would fear to tread. No one may step through more than once, frivolous questions are punished, and questions touching the Shadow can have dire consequences. And it may not be possible to ask a question about the Dragon that doesn't touch on the Shadow in some way.(7)

Nyn asks how she knows all this, and Moiraine says until about 300 years ago, it was a possession of Mayene, who used its answers to keep Mayene out of Tear's grasp. One of them made a gift of it to the High Lords, in his attempt to do such.

Egg says they're right back where they started. Moiraine invites them to question the prisoners again, they have right up until they're loaded onto their ship. She reminds the wondergirls that they're the hounds the Amyrlin set after the Black Ajah,(8) and they must set the course. then she leaves.

They sit down with some cooled wine and El asks Egg if she really meant it about Rand, and Egg nods. She brings up Min's talk of sharing him and wonders if there was a vision involved. She worries that Rand still loves Egg, and Egg says he'll just have to be set straight. El is still worried that Ber was in his chambers, but Egg says she was looking at Rhuarc two days ago, and in another day she'll be looking at someone else.

El doesn't know what to do. She loves Rand, wants to marry him. She knows exactly what her mother will say about it, but she can't help it. Nyn reminds her of what Rand is, a man who can channel. He might have a year, or two, or only months before he goes mad and worse. El says she knows it should matter, but it doesn't. Nyn smiles and says she had to be sure. So, what do they do about it? Especially about Berelain. El says they've only talked a half dozen times in a whole year, she doesn't have the right to be angry at him OR Ber. Egg suggests there are other ways to make your feelings and intentions known. El thinks about doing it the Mayener way and just saying it, but has to down her whole goblet of wine at the thought.

Elayne looked from one to the other of them. “In truth, I feared you might tell me I was foolish, fretting over a thing like this when we have the Black Ajah to worry about.” A slight flicker of Egwene’s eyes said the thought had occurred to her, but Nynaeve said, “Rand is not the only one who might die next year, or next month, We might, too. Times are not what they were, and we cannot be, either. If you sit and wish for what you want, you may not see it this side of the grave.” It was a chilling sort of reassurance, but Elayne nodded. She was not being silly. If only the Black Ajah could be settled so easily. She pressed her empty silver goblet to her forehead for the coolness. What were they to do?

=====

(1) You gotta walk before you can run, and raw strength is rarely any competition for practiced skill. (2) And I reiterate that I thought this was all settled two books ago, but okay. Like, seriously, the subject takes up about 5 or 6 pages out of the 18 of this chapter in my paperback. There's so much wishy-washing in this series. Some of it is character building, but after a certain point, it's just dragging your feet. (3) That's an awfully sloppy cover-up for a slip of the tongue, ma'am. What do you know? Who is it? How? (Well, we can guess how: Moiraine was the first to know Min. Perhaps Min gave her enough detail about someone Mo already knew to identify them.) (4) I totally don't remember Elayne being there when Moiraine healed Rand, but whatever, my memory's got almost as many holes as Mat's. Especially after a few rounds of covid. Maybe they went back to do it again? (5) Elayne would know: Moiraine is her paternal aunt, Taringail was Mo's half-brother. Not that El ever thinks of her that way, or that anyone ever seems to care up to this point. (6) It's funny how Moiraine goes back and forth between "the prophecy must mean this specific thing I'm assuming it to mean" and "prophecy is vague and often only means anything after the fact" depending on whether it's her making the assumption or someone else. (7) It sounds like it would definitely take someone well trained in all manner of statecraft and linguistics to craft the right questions to get an answer. They could almost be the Fae. (8) I love-hate this implication that the wondergirls are the hounds set after the Black Ajah, because hounds need training and they need to obey as much as they need to do their jobs. It's such a subtle little dig at the wondergirls' impatience.

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #tsr #the shadow rising #wot white lion icon #elayne trakand #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #joiya byir #amico nagoyin #aviendha #moiraine damodred

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ayohee · 2 years ago

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Because this fucking HEATHEN didn't put the questions separate so I could copy paste, I will

Name?

Pronouns and gender?

Sexuality?

Country?

Top 5 fandoms?

What is your Most forbidden snack?

Would you pet a bug?

Share a weird fact/story about yourself with the class.

What does the color blue taste like?

What is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?

Stupidest thing you've seen/heard someone else do/say?

Hyperfixation song?

Is there any meaning behind your profile picture and/or username?

Dream career as a child?

Dream career as an adult?

Thoughts on cilantro?

Have you ever been banned from a location and if so, why?

What is your cursed food combination?

Trans rights?

And with that, I shall answer those questions

Name? Aria

Pronouns and gender? she/her, transfem girl

Sexuality? Asexual, but romance is up in the air right now, I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Country? UK

Top 5 fandoms? Uhhh, Budget Cuts VR (the discord is pretty chill), Rain the comic, The Yogscast, Portal 2, Celeste. No particular order

What is your Most forbidden snack? The really reaaaallly old cheese and bread that come together to make ancient grilled cheese

Would you pet a bug? Absolutely not, bugs are scary

Share a weird fact/story about yourself with the class. I have this weird bump on my shin and I'm pretty sure it's not meant to be there, but it's been there for like, as long as I can remember so I'm reasonably certain that I'm not dying. It's weird though, it's only there on my right shin, not the left. my legs are asymmetrical. If I can explain this further can one of you weirdos tell me whats weird with what I think is my skeleton?

What does the color blue taste like? Cake, specifically fondant icing

What is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Hard to say, but its between the walk along the river I live near and these two really pretty girls in my year at school that I know. The walk pulls out in front I think, but those two are really pretty and I can't get them out of my head. Girls pretty.

What is the stupidest thing you've ever done? Explore my gender. The closet is warm when you don't know it's even there. I could have dealt with vague frustration, but now that I know what the problem is its harder to ignore it

Stupidest thing you've seen/heard someone else do/say? One of my friends is baiting people on discord, so there's that. I could probably have listed something better here, but that's what came to mind. Stupid, but funny.

Hyperfixation song? Varies a lot, but right now we're working with "kitakaze" by six lounge, "duet" from omori, "Why didn't I kiss her?" by ratwyfe and "Line without a hook" by Ricky Montgomery

Is there any meaning behind your profile picture and/or username? A friend of mine made a pun with my name - Aria of effect damage - a couple days after I came out to him as trans. I liked it so much I've used it on pretty much everything since, and changed what I can to match it.

Dream career as a child? "Scientist", but I had a very poor understanding of what that meant

Dream career as an adult? Software engineer/architect, but really just anything I can put my mind to work in. I need to be able to think, and I need to be able to do it well.

Thoughts on cilantro? Vague and ambiguous

Have you ever been banned from a location and if so, why? Not that I recall

What is your cursed food combination? Honestly, most of what I eat is pretty tame on the old cursed/not cursed scale. Nothing weird to report here, trust me I would if it were interesting.

Trans rights? I am the scary trans woman the right have convinced you will end the world, I am the trans rights Anyways I wrote this at 2am so take this with a grain of salt if something is weird.

“I just came from r/196” ask game

Saw another post. I think I should invite y'all to one of our longstanding traditions. Answer the questions then tag 10 (or more) people. I'll go first.

Name? Frankie

Pronouns and gender? he/they/it, transmasc

Sexuality? Lesbian

Country? USA

Top 5 fandoms? Bungou Stray Dogs, Cosmere, All for the Game, Fundiesnark (not a series but I'm too deep in it to not consider it a fandom), .....the tornado fandom? (they're my special interest)

What is your Most forbidden snack? The preserved bones at the Atlanta Bodies Exhibition. They looked so crunchy...

Would you pet a bug? If it's big enough, it is pettable.

Share a weird fact/story about yourself with the class. I like to drive around rural areas and photograph old, sometimes abandoned locations in the dead of night. I have been literally chased out of towns by foot and by car on two separate occasions. The second time this happened, "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus came up on shuffle and that's the soundtrack my friend and I tore out of town to. Also every "guy" I've dated except for my most recent ex (who has big egg energy) is a lesbian now.

What does the color blue taste like? Creme brulee

What is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? The appalachian mountains of Tennessee in the middle of summer. There's kudzu everywhere. On the backroads, there were several old, dilapidated Baptist churches barely hanging to the side of the mountain. I wonder how many of them were still in use.

What is the stupidest thing you've ever done? Short version: my friend's house almost got broken into by this dude who'd been stalking us for months while we were home alone. Instead of calling the cops, we decided to confront him with a bow and arrow (me), a hatchet, and a baseball bat (him). The plan was that if it went badly, we would simply throw his corpse into one of the many lakes in the neighborhood and let the alligators eat his remains (this was Florida). Why? Because we were afraid of having our home-alone privileges revoked. Luckily for us all, the guy fucked off and we never saw him again.

Stupidest thing you've seen/heard someone else do/say? My ex thought that Jackalopes were real. Also, a nurse I was doing rotations with apparently thought that "Witness Protection" was for Jehovah's Witnesses.

Hyperfixation song? Young Enough + Bleach by Charly Bliss

Is there any meaning behind your profile picture and/or username? Profile pic; I'm transmasc and I'm currently obsessed with TriStamp. Username; It was my fake internet name when I was like 13. I won't change it because I want my mutuals to recognize me, and because I do have a viral post associated with this name.

Dream career as a child? Doctor (funnily enough I'm now in nursing school)

Dream career as an adult? Professional Jester. Not a comedian. I just want to be some weird little guy who dresses silly and you can hire me to roast your boss at work parties.

Thoughts on cilantro? Delicious

Have you ever been banned from a location and if so, why? I honestly can't remember? Probably... but in recent memory I've mainly banned people from places.

What is your cursed food combination? Pineapple on a hotdog with grilled onions. It Slaps.

Trans rights? TRANS RIGHTS

Tagging: @rocket-mankoi @mostlymarco @atleast8courics @jazzlike39 @gemsweater72 @limbobilbo @ameliaaltare @redcrane112 @theoneofwhomisblue @twinkenjoyer @theultimatecarp and anyone else who wants to jump on

#196 #trans

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unholyhelbig · 3 years ago

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I need more vampire kate please 😫🙏🙏🙏

[A/N: You've got it! I'm not too impressed with where I've managed to take this story, so I might be ending it soon😭 But that doesn't mean the end of vampire!Kate, just maybe the end of this weird plot]

Summary: Y/N faces the consequences of the night in the parking garage and Kate makes a dangerous last-minute decision.

Masterlist | Request a Prompt | Join my Taglist

Taglist 💕: @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @ohmy-godyes @littlebluestone @kacka84 @143bc @lenam07 @tforjatp @iwishforausername @pianogirl2121

I Don't Bite Pt. 7 | Kate Bishop X Reader

When you walked into Stark Tower, you looked disheveled. Kate had quite literally given you the shirt off her own back and the blazer that you dawned yesterday was only slightly wrinkled. It made sense to hold your head high as you greeted security and walked in like you had every other day of your career- with confidence.

You smelled of motel body wash and your skin felt tight, filmy. You hoped that Pepper wouldn’t’ notice and if Tony had decided to come along for your summons, you knew he would. Your eyes moved to the small camera in the corner ceiling of the elevator. Even here, you couldn't lose your composure, wouldn’t.

The call came early in the morning. It was from Pepper. She never reached out to you directly unless it was a quickly typed email or even the occasional text message. During the night, you had become tangled with Kate, legs draped over legs, your nose tucked against the crook of her neck.

You had pulled apart with fervor, instantly feeling the loss of contact in the cold, stale hotel room. It was a place that you considered staying forever, away from the rest of the world. Away from Jemma and Bobbi, and away from the consequences of this meeting.

After all, you took this same path every single day. Instead of your office, you would go straight to Pepper’s, with its glass door that gave you a view of the entire city and the rough conversations that usually ended in a bottle of scotch and a complimentary ride home. This, you feared, would be much worse.

There was no need to knock, she waved you in from her spot behind her desk. A phone was pressed to her ear, the chord entangled within her fingers. No matter how composed Pepper presented herself, she still had her nervous habits about her.

You glanced around the room and watched as her eyes flicked to the office chair in front of her. She finished up her conversation just as you lowered into the seat, hands folded in your lap, an heir of timidness in the room.

She regarded you carefully. Part of you would have accepted the yelling over this quiet contemplation. She had seen the security tapes, you were sure, of Kate knocking a woman out and the two of you speeding off in an unmarked vehicle. Stark had eyes everywhere, knew things before you even knew them yourself.

“Y/n,”

“I can explain.”

You both spoke at the same time and a sudden heat came to your cheeks. There was immense respect for Pepper that you’d never been able to shake. She had taken a chance on you years ago, allowing you to work your way up the reinks of the company from her assistant to respective colleges.

She lifted a brow, “Explain, then, what FRIDAY alerted me to last night.”

You swallowed hard and shrunk further into your seat. Never in a million years did you believe that taking a few days to recover from an illness would throw you into a complicated web such at this. Then again, you didn’t expect your neighbor to be a vampire, and even more, you hadn’t expected to actually fall for her.

There was a feeling of being called into the principles office to explain away making out in the janitor’s closet. A flash of anger shortly followed, and you frowned. “Do you know what SHIELD is?”

Pepper paled and leaned back into her own chair, pressing her palms against the edge of her desk. There was a thick silence in the air as she waved away an assistant that had produced a stack of paperwork through the glass door.

“Because I don’t and don’t think I want to know. They seem to have a vendetta against someone close to me, and they seem to be violent.” You shuddered at the memory of Bobbi’s cold expression. “I’d be perfectly content to forget all of this.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” She sighed, squeezing the bridge of her nose “Y/N, I like you. I like you a lot. You’re like a daughter to me I just… You have quite the knack for getting yourself into things that shouldn’t be questioned.”

Pepper stood and began to pace the way she did when she had a lot on her mind. She could wear a hole on the floor. You had spent many a night holed up in this office sharing take-out and trying to sort out corporate issues.

“Jemma and Bobbi work for Tony,” She stopped and turned to gauge your reaction “Sort of. They both work for the same company.”

“SHEILD?”

She nodded “All they were supposed to do was get close to your neighbor, to question her. To follow up on the reports of something supernatural. It’s a little out of their scope if I’m being honest. But then you got involved and Bobbi was ordered to give you a little push. She tried the civil way first.”

“Brownies were a nice touch.” You said numbly. “What do they want with her? With Kate?”

Pepper shook her head “I don’t know.”

You believed her, those three words dripping with distress. There was worry in her expression. This was past not on your head, but hers. That sent a chill through you. She flopped back down into the office chair and let out a sigh that was longer than you anticipated.

“I don’t trust them,” She finally murmured “SHIELD is good, for the most part, they’re good. But they tend to exhaust things they don’t understand.”

You had been dismissed for the rest of the day, maybe the rest of the week. Pepper’s loose warning had left you shaken enough to return back to the motel after taking as many side streets as you could, making a few loops, and making sure you weren’t being tailed by any odd unmarked vehicles. You had never considered yourself as paranoid, but then again, you had never been given a reason to fall into this type of habit.

Before you opened the door to the room, you pressed your forehead against the cool surface, mumbling in a soft voice, knowing that Kate could hear you, warning her of the sun that would stream through the room in a matter of moments.

When you did enter the room, it was bathed in darkness, the air conditioning unit sputtering under the window. The bed had been made, nearly undisturbed. A small pad of legal paper dawned with the hotel’s logo had been left in plain sight on the television stand.

With a groan, you picked it up. You had watched enough terrible CW dramas to know that this wasn’t good- nothing about this was good. The Letter was written carefully, the pen pressing hard enough to indent it into a fine brail.

y/n I’m sorry that I put you through all of this. I’ve often been described as selfish when it comes to things that I want. I came to New York to escape a family that had pushed me to a limit I couldn’t return from, not to make new enemies along the way. It was never my intention to put you in danger. I’m going to fix all of this. Don’t try to stop me – Kate.

“Jesus Christ,” You put your face in your palm. Knowing Kate, she was on her way to do something utterly stupid. Something that you were determined to stop her from doing. You knew exactly where she was headed and didn’t’ hesitate to shove the note in your pocket and do exactly the opposite of what she commanded.

#Kate Bishop #kate bishop x reader #Kate Bishop x y/n #Kate Bishop x you #Hawkeye #hawkeye comics #hawkeye disney+#hawkeye show #pepper potts #vampire au

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cjsinkythoughts · 4 years ago

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Rocks, Shoulders, and Ears

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 3501

Warnings: !FATWS SPOILERS!, Cursing, Major Angst in this one, guys, Loads of Feels (sorry not sorry), John Walker being a douche (I really don’t like the guy)

A/N: I’m SO SORRY! I promise I was planning on it being shorter, but I went a little overkill with the angst! There’s just so many feelings and not enough space in my heart and soul, so I had to pour them out here! You get to see more of Reader and Sam’s relationship in this one and there’s major Bucky Feels towards the end (in my defense, this is based on the Couples Therapy half of the episode).

I’m really hoping we get to see Bucky go to Louisiana next episode! I’m holding out for it! I have a few ideas that include Sarah, but I need the episode! Ugh! Now we have to wait a whole ‘nother week! I really shouldn’t write three chapters on one episode in one day. I just couldn’t help myself!

Anyways! Please enjoy this part and thank you so much for all your support! Seriously, it’s meant so much to me, especially after the week I’ve had! If you haven’t checked out the previous parts, my FATWS Series Masterlist is HERE, so please go read those first. Like always, this isn’t beta’d so please excuse any mistakes! Enjoy, babes!

!SPOILERS UNDER CUT!

The last thing you remembered was falling asleep in Bucky’s arms after walking a few miles. And a hospital in DC wasn’t exactly what you preferred waking up to, but it’s what happened. Turned out, not only was your shoulder dislocated and your thigh was strained, but you had a mild concussion. Your arm was in a sling and your palm, which you had completely forgotten about after you wrapped it while on Bucky’s back, was wrapped properly. Luckily, your thigh wasn’t too bad, but they wanted to put you on crutches, which you refused immediately.

You had to get out of that building. You had no idea where the guys went, which was weird because you were sure they’d never leave you alone. Especially in a hospital.

You quickly snuck your way through the halls after grabbing your bag which - thank God - was left on the seat besides your bed and changing into an extra pair of clothes.

You tried calling Bucky’s phone, the one he had specifically for you, which he always always answered. He even made an excuse to go to the bathroom once when you accidentally called in the middle of a therapy session. Nothing. You called the number four times before trying Sam’s phone.

It clicked on the first try.

“Hey. Listen, sorry for leaving-”

“Where the hell are you?”

You heard him sigh. “I was just about to explain, so hang on a second there. You weren’t waking up, probably because that concussion you forgot to mention to us-”

“In my defense, I didn’t know.”

“Sure you didn’t.” You rolled your eyes, throwing your free hand up, exasperated. “Anyways, Bucky wanted me to meet someone, we’ll talk about that when you inevitably get here, put we had a bit of trouble and Bucky was arrested-”

“What?!”

“Chill your pants, Y/L/N. Just listen. We’re in Baltimore. I’ll text you the address. Get here soon and I’ll explain the whole thing. We’ve been here for a couple hours, but there’s people on their way and we’re getting everything situated right now.”

“Okay. Fine. But you’re in trouble.”

“Don’t I know it, babe. Now hurry your cute little ass here. We’ve got stuff to talk about.”

*****************

The ride from DC to Baltimore is usually an hour or so, but you’ve got resources, especially in the nation’s capital, and riding the bike you got, being able to go way over the speed limit? You got there in half the time. Being an Avenger really does have its perks.

The moment you got there, you hopped off the bike, not even bothering to turn it off, and stormed into the precinct. You headed straight over to the desk, but a pair of hands caught you by your uninjured arm before you could make a scene.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Sam spoke softly, squeezing your bicep gently. “He’s okay, alright?”

“Why is he-”

“He missed his court-mandated therapy session.” Sam informed you, pulling you over to where he had been sitting previously. “There was a warrant out for his arrest. They had to bring him in, but it’s fine. His therapist’s been contacted. She should be here any minute to get him out.”

Your head fell back at his words. His therapy. How could you forget? You let Bucky complain to you about it and played along sometimes, but you really did think it was good for him and you tried supporting him. Yet you made him miss it and now he’s in trouble.

“Hey. Y/N. Look at me.” You found Sam’s worried eyes, his hand coming up to hold the side of your neck. “He’s okay. He’ll be out in just a bit. It’s fine.”

“It’s my fault, Sam.”

“No. It’s not. He’s a grown ass man who made the decision to skip.”

You shook your head, holding his wrist for something to anchor you down. “No, Sammy. I brought him along. I should’ve been more responsible-”

“I know we’ve joked around about you being in charge and stuff, but…you know it’s not all on your shoulders, right?” Sam tilted his head slightly, eyebrow pinched in confusion making his eyes narrow.

You turned your head, not wanting to look at him. You didn’t need another set of deep eyes to fall into. “Sammy…I promised him I’d look after you.”

“I know. And that’s fine. But looking after us - looking after him - doesn’t mean you have to be there to hold his hand and take the fall for him. He’s not a child. Hell, he’s a hundred years old. Tell me you understand that.”

Licking your lips, you closed your eyes and shook your head again. “I-I can’t-”

“Is that why you’re obsessed with finding Wanda?”

You frowned at his question, eyes snapping to his. “I’m worried about her, Sam.”

“I am too, but she can handle herself. And if she doesn’t want to be found, you have to let her be. I know the Avengers were your only family. I know how much Steve meant to you-”

“No.” You pulled away rather harshly, digging your nails into your palms, trying not to cry, ignoring the wound you were irritating. “No, you don’t. How could you understand my feelings for Steve when I don’t understand them myself?”

Sam always had this ability to make anyone feel important, just by looking them in the eye. It was something you always admired about him; the way his smile could light up a room, those warm eyes making everyone’s fears go away. They reminded you of hot chocolate. Something that could soothe your worries, comfort you, warm your very soul from the ice tragedy and heartache tend to big on.

You promised yourself you wouldn’t cry in front of people, but with the way he was looking at you, it was hard to keep the tears from slipping.

“You loved him, Y/N. Why is it so hard for you to see that?”

“I didn’t - I wasn’t in love with him, Sam.” You argued, wiping your cheeks aggressively and turning, crossing your arms defensively.

“What do you call it then?”

It was a rhetorical question, Sam copying your movements and sitting straight to watch for Bucky coming out. A rhetorical question that you didn’t know the answer to. Because you weren’t in love with Steve. No. Maybe you had been, but somewhere along the way he passed your heart to Bucky. So why did it hurt so bad?

You refused to dwell on it anymore, clearing your throat and dabbing at your eyes one more time before changing the topic. “Why are we in Baltimore?”

“Bucky wanted me to meet someone. Isaiah. You know him?” Sam turned back to you, his warm eyes shifting into something else. Suspicion? A bit of anger? Annoyance? You couldn’t tell.

“Isaiah? I don’t think I know any Isaiahs. And definitely not here. Why? Who is he?”

Sam shook his head, eyes darting around the lobby. “We’ll talk about it later.”

You nodded, although now your curiosity had peaked and you wondered who this guy was that made Sam so agitated. While you waited, you felt your eyes drooping and you let your head fall onto Sam’s shoulder, who chuckled.

“You’re still tired? You know you slept for, like, twelve hours, right?”

“I haven’t been sleeping much.”

Sam turned his head to kiss yours. “Y/N, I know you want to care for everyone, but you’ve gotta take care of yourself too.”

“I know.”

“Okay.” And with that, the subject dropped, Sam pulling out his phone while you rested your eyes.

It was another ten minutes or so before Sam’s name was called and the both of you stood up to greet the speaker. A woman, Dr. Raynor. Bucky’s infamous therapist.

And speaking of infamous. The moment you heard his voice, you squeezed your eyes shut, hoping it was just your brain malfunctioning. And then he was walking towards you, calling Bucky ‘Bucky’ like they were old pals and he was saving him from something terrible.

Your face scrunched up as Walker talked about stopping Bucky’s regular therapy sessions. “He’s too valuable of an asset to have him tied up-”

“Don’t call him an asset.” You snapped. “He’s a human being with needs, and therapy-”

“He’s a super soldier with skills that we need.” Walker cut in, making you scowl as he turned back to Raynor.

You scoffed in disbelief at his words, turning on your heel and walking away before he did, heading straight for Bucky, who lifted his right arm, wrapping it around your shoulders once you were close enough.

“Are you okay?” You whispered, closing your eyes and trying to relax in his hold, breathing him in.

“Are you? Should you be walking? What did-”

You shook your head. “I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Promise.” You sighed out with a nod, squeezing him once more before pulling back as Raynor stepped forwards, ordering Bucky and Sam to do a session with her. You almost laughed when Sam tried refusing, a little chuckle actually leaving your lips when Bucky slumped, dragging his feet like a kid going to the principal’s office.

You followed, Bucky holding the door open for you. “Thanks, Buck.”

“Of course, doll.” He gave a small smile, before walking in after you, Sam letting out a, “hey!” when Bucky shut the door on him, making you roll your eyes. You let the corners of your mouth tick up slightly in amusement. Yes, they annoyed the hell out of you, but you had to admit it was pretty funny sometimes.

“I believe I asked for James and Sam, Ms. Y/L/N.”

“It’s Agent, actually, and I think I’m gonna sit in.”

Raynor narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think-”

“That wasn’t a request.” You threw her words to Sam back at her, making Sam smirk. You shot him a wink as she relented with a sigh.

“Fine. Just as a spectator. Don't interrupt.”

You raise your hands in surrender, slipping around the table to stand in the corner as your fellas sank down into the seats across the table from her.

A small puff of laughter came from you at the lack of response when she asked one of them to start. She shot you a warning look over her shoulder, but you shrugged. You couldn’t help it; it was like all those times back in grade school when a teacher asked for a volunteer to read in a classroom full of rowdy kids and crickets followed.

Once she mentioned the next exercise was used for couples, you had to laugh, making both men shoot you begging pouts.

“Y/N.” Raynor glared at you, so you controlled yourself, gesturing for her to continue.

Her miracle question did work so well, neither of them cooperating well.

She didn’t even bother with you when you started cackling after she mentioned the “soul-gazing exercise” and Bucky thanked her, Sam commenting that he would like this one. You gave a teasing wolf-whistle when they got close, one of Bucky’s thighs between Sam’s and vice versa.

“Doll.” Bucky whined at you.

“Listen here, smartass-”

Raynor cleared her throat, cutting Sam off from finishing his statement towards you. You leaned back against the wall, crossing your arms with a smirk. After all the bickering and side taking they’ve put her through, letting you enjoy this was the least they could do, and they knew it.

Of course, this exercise didn’t work out either. A staring contest. Children. She was best friends with literal children.

But then something happened. Something you never thought would happen. Raynor asked Bucky why Sam aggravated him, and Bucky looked over to you, his eye growing sad in a way they only did when Steve was involved.

“Steve believed in you.” Bucky told him earnestly. “He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield? That is…that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing. So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me.”

You heard his voice crack a little at the end as he slumped down in his seat, you jaw dropping slightly. You listened to the rest of the conversation, catching the way Sam grew irritated again, something that you didn’t previously think was possible, but was happening more and more now.

Why wasn’t Sam talking to you? Why was he holding all this in suddenly? And why…Bucky…he didn’t tell you that. Why didn’t he say anything? How could he ever feel…

But you knew how he could feel like that. Yes, Steve believed in him so much that he tore the Avengers apart for him…but he was the only one willing to do that for him. Yeah, you and Sam and Wanda and Clint, you all joined their side but, being honest, it wasn’t because you believed in Bucky. It was because you believed in Steve. Of course, it was different now. You believed in Bucky with your entire being, and you believed in Sam with your heart and soul, but…did either of them know that? Did they believe you when you told them? Or did you not tell them enough? This whole time you thought you were doing right by Steve - trying you damn hardest to watch out for them. But it obviously wasn’t enough. And that was on you, no matter what Sam said.

You read people. That’s what you’ve always done, that’s what you’d always do. It was the reason you earned your spot on the team. You read people and situations and could figure your way into their heads in a second. Years and years of undercover work taught you how to do that and how to protect yourself while doing so.

So why? How? How did you miss something this big? How did you miss the way Sam was holding onto something? Why did you ignore the vexation in his tone for the last couple weeks? How did you miss that Bucky was hurting that deeply? Why didn’t you do anything more for him?

You left the room before either of the boys, but you heard Sam standing up as you walked out the door.

You should’ve known you weren’t the only one holding things in. Of course they were. The difference is, you were supposed to be their rock, the thing they could hold onto to ground themselves, the shoulder for them to cry on, and the ear lent to them whenever they needed someone to listen. That was your job. It wasn’t their job. Not for you. Your rock - your shoulder, your ear - he left you. And you thought, after all he did for you, if you just returned the favor for his best friends, you’d…you dunno. You’d be closer to him, maybe.

But you couldn’t. Because you weren’t Steve Rogers. And you knew that from the start, but you had to try. You tried. And it wasn’t working. He made it seem so easy when he did it for you. Clearly you didn’t give him enough credit for dealing with all your shit on top of his own.

“Doll.” You didn’t stop walking, needing to get outside for some fresh air. “Doll, hold on. Wait a minute.”

He grabbed your arm as you made it outside, spinning you to face him. “You didn’t tell me.” You spoke quietly, your voice fragile as you stared at him, confusion and hurt in your eyes. Were you really that bad at doing your job? Did you really already fail him? He asked you to do one thing…

“I didn’t…I didn’t want you to deal with my problems.” You opened your mouth, but he shook his head, holding your face between his hands. “I’m not stupid, Y/N. I know something’s going on with you. You’re good at hiding your nightmares at night, but I’m better. You’re jumpier than usual. Quieter. Every time Wanda’s brought up, you turn away. And the other day? On the truck? You froze. I was watching, doll. It was just a second, but you froze. You never freeze.”

“It’s not your job to worry about me, Buck-”

He frowned, tilting his head. “Not my job? Aren’t we friends? Isn’t that what friends do? Or am I just a job to you? I know you promised him to look after me. Is that all I am to you? A responsibility?”

You shook your head vigorously, holding onto his wrists. “No. No, Bucky, I just-”

“Do you think he was wrong about me?”

Salty diamonds ran down your cheeks as you clenched your eyes shut and shook your head. “No.”

“Did you ever believe in me? Did you ever care or was it all just because Steve? Is Steve the only reason you tolerate me?”

“Don’t say that. God, please don’t say that.” You begged quietly, meeting his gaze again. Every beautiful detail was laced with devastation, eyes imploring her to make him feel better. “Of course I believe in you. I have since Wakanda, you know that. Yes, okay, maybe Steve is why I helped you at first, but-but…I care about you, James. So much so that it hurts sometimes. He wasn’t wrong about you. Or Sammy. You both mean so much to me. Okay?”

You watched his Adam’s Apple bob as he swallowed thickly, nodding slightly. You both simultaneously moved to get closer, him pulling you while you stepped into his chest, arms around his waist. His arms were tight around your shoulder, holding you just as firm as the kiss he planted on your forehead.

Sam came out, planting himself besides you as you pulled away, Bucky wiping your eyes. “I feel better.” He huffed out sarcastically, making you smack him in the arm. “Ow! Yeesh. Women these days.”

The sudden siren of one of the parked police cars made the three of you look over, spotting Walker and Hoskins. You groaned. “Did he see that?”

“Hey,” Bucky caught your jaw between his fingers, shaking his head. “Who cares? It’s between us and us only. Right?” You nodded, making him kiss your forehead again, a whisper of “attagirl” against your skin. You hadn’t heard that from him in a while.

“Gentlemen!” Walker waved them over, nodding at you. “And lady.” The three of you reluctantly walked over, Bucky going to lean on the police car Walker and Hoskins were near and you hopped up to sit on the hood of the police car across from them, Sam besides you.

You got information from Walker, who was once again trying to get you to work with him, but Sam summed it up nicely, explaining that the three of you didn’t have to follow the rules he did. You started to leave, Bucky tucking you under his arms once you slid off the car, when Walker stopped you once more.

“A word of advice, then. Stay the hell out of my way.”

You grumbled under your breath as the faker and his lapdog walked off. “I’m gonna kill him.” You vowed as the three of you started in the other direction. “I swear to God, I’m gonna rip that shield off his back and use it to beat him in that stupid face of his-”

“Down, girl.” Sam jested, flicking your ear. “We need a game plan. What’re we thinking?”

Your eyes narrowed as Bucky piped up, talking about the Isaiah character - who you still didn’t know - before HYDRA entered the equation.

“Absolutely not.” You shook your head, tugging his arm to make him stop once he mentioned Siberia. “Do you remember Siberia? Because if you’re actually suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, we remember Siberia very differently.”

“He’s our best bet-”

“So you’re just going to go sit in a room with this guy?”

Bucky scrunched up his nose. “Ye-yes…”

A beat of silence passed before Sam gave his stamp of approval, but you still disagreed. “There’s no way this’ll end well and I refuse to let you-”

You found your face between Bucky’s hands again. You really wished he’d stop doing that and just ask for your attention. You didn’t mean that, of course. You’d be held by him every second of every day if you could. “Don’t you trust me, doll?”

You licked your lips, looking around the darkened street. This was not a good idea. A bad plan - a terrible plan, really - but, unfortunately, it was the only one you had. “Dammit. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.” You finally sighed, running a hand through your hair after Bucky let go of you, his eyebrow quirking.

“Is that a yes?”

Sam nodded. “We’re gonna go see Zemo.”

You tugged Bucky’s hand when he nodded back and went to walk after Sam, who started walking around the corner, making him stop. “And yes. I do trust you. With everything I have, Buckaroo.”

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dilemmaontwolegs · 3 years ago

Text

Hands That Heal - Ch. 1

Bucky Barnes x mechanic!fem!reader

A few background details before we start as they will come into the story throughout: You are a mechanic, you were blipped, your ex is a biker in a 1% gang, your father served as a marine with Chip and Dale - fraternal twins who are like weird uncles to you.

Summary: Bucky is looking for someone to repair his motorcycle but ends up finding something better. Warnings: 18+ only, canon-typical violence, swearing, fluff, misogyny/degrading comments from some men. Word count: 3266

Chapters: 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 coming soon

The garage was busier than usual and you had barely stopped to take a break all day and it had left you cranky. The banter between the guys had been getting on your nerves, you were working hard and they were just milling about, smoking and cat calling any woman who walked past the open roller doors. Rolling out from under the chassis of a mint green ‘66 Shelby Cobra, you got up off the creeper and grabbed a wing nut that was lying around before tossing it at Chip’s head

“She’s younger than your daughter, you creep.” You chastised as he whistled to a girl in the local high school uniform.

“Old enough to bleed, old enough to butcher.” Dale laughed before holding his fist up to Chip to bump.

A disgusted growl erupted from your throat as you grabbed a torque wrench off the top of your tool box and watched their hands drop. They murmured apologies as they dispersed back to the cars and motorcycles they were meant to be working on. Metal clattered as you tossed the wrench back in your box and grabbed a bottle of water from the small bar fridge that was about 20 years past its prime and probably a fire risk.

You didn’t have time to even run across the street and get a pie from the bakery with the amount of cars that were piling up. Your reputation as the go-to person for high end cars and high spec motorbikes had spread far and wide, with people even flying their cars to your shop in the Bronx for repairs. Ignoring your grumbling tummy you laid back down on the creeper with the parts you had just collected and disappeared beneath the grimey undercarriage.

“Sorry to break it to you but that’s fucked.” You heard Chip laugh before it was abruptly cut off.

“Your sign says you can fix anything.” A dangerously quiet voice drifted across the garage floor. “Are you a liar?”

“Man, if you wanna waste your money on a Honda, be my guest. Over here.”

You watched two pairs of boots cast shadows in your already dim light, one pair far nicer than the steel caps Chip wore for 10 hours a day 5 days a week.

“Oi Jiminy, customer for you.” Chip called out to you.

You took your time as you finished tightening up the fan belt before gripping the concrete with your own boots and wheeling yourself out from under the car.

The first thing you noticed when you escaped the claustrophobic space was the gorgeous man towering over you. His piercing blue eyes were surrounded with thick eyelashes and dark eyebrows that shot up when he realised you were a woman, surprised just like every other man that stepped foot in this garage. He held a hand out for you and you looked at the grease marked palm, wiping it on your overalls before accepting the offer.

“Jiminy?” He asked as he pulled you to your feet and you rolled your eyes at the nickname.

“Like the cricket, because I’m the only one of these fuckers with a conscience.” You explained as you glared at Chip and Dale.

“Right. Pinocchio.” He laughed. “I’m Bucky.”

“Y/N.” You shook his hand that you were still holding and dropped it at the realisation before grabbing a rag and giving them a better clean as you took in every inch of the hottie, including the outline of dog tags beneath his tight shirt. “So what can I help you with, soldier?”

“It’s my bike.” He said, nodding his head to a pick up parked out the front with the crumpled remains of a motorbike resting on the back tray. “She needs a bit of work.”

You snorted at the understatement and made your way over to the wreckage. “She needs a priest. It’ll take a miracle to save her, Bucky. You can get a new Ceeber for 12k, what’s so special about this one?”

“I like the colour.” He shrugged.

The usual Honda red had been painted matt black and it would have looked sleek and sexy in her prime but it had to be more than just the colour. The only people who spent a fortune on an unremarkable item were the sentimental type. You sighed at your inability to say no to people, especially vets, despite Chip running his hand across his throat behind Bucky. You didn’t know what his problem was but you were going to fix the bike.

“Fine. I’ll take her but Chip is an asshole and wants me to say no.” You said pointing to the man making a break for the bathrooms and Bucky looked over his shoulder with a glare. “Can you meet me back here when I get off at 7?”

“Uh, ahem, sure.” He nodded after clearing his throat and licking his lips.

“Relax, soldier.” You teased the suddenly nervous man watching your lips. “I have a garage at home. I can fix her for you there and not get my ass fired for pissing off my boss. So 7?”

He nodded with a growing smile that sent a rush of endorphins flooding your body. “7.”

The mirroring smile on your face didn’t drop until his pick up pulled away and Chip emerged from the bathroom like the slimy weasel he was. He even had the audacity to curl his finger at you like he could summon you at his will. You scoffed and turned back to the Cobra, disappearing into your own world as you kept your hands busy so your mind didn’t wander back to Bucky.

“You’re really going to just show the Winter Soldier where you live?”

You jumped at the sudden sight of Chip as he dropped to the floor and your forehead hit the stabiliser bar above you before groaning and tossing your torch at him. You rolled out from the car once again and rubbed the sore spot furiously as you glared at your boss. At least now you knew why he seemed familiar, you had seen footage of him saving the Global Repatriation Council members. A small part of you wondered if that actually made him the bad guy after the hell they put people through.

“Well, you didn’t want me working on it here.” You complained, brushing your thoughts away. “Besides, the most dangerous bikers on the east coast know where I live. I think I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, well, bikers and heroes are a whole different kettle of fish, Jiminy. You always know where you stand with bikers.”

You rolled your eyes at his ominous tone before rolling yourself back out of sight. Any more interruptions and the simple repair and service would end up lasting another day. Thankfully the guys left you alone for the afternoon and by 6.45pm you were dropping the last tool back in your tool box with a happy sigh. Everyone else had already left for the day, it was only you that opted to work later since you didn’t have a family waiting at home and you preferred the quiet when they left.

Twin headlights illuminated the garage as Bucky’s pick up rolled in but he quickly shut them off as you covered your eyes from the glare. He was already getting out of his truck before you could tell him not to bother and he took the heavy tool box from your hands, carrying it effortlessly in just one of his.

“Where’s your car?” He asked as he looked around the empty staff parking and back at the toolbox in his hands.

“I don’t live far, I usually just walk.” You shrugged as you flicked the light switches off and set the office alarm, missing the look of concern that passed over his face.

You walked out of the garage with your bag and ducked beneath the roller door that was automatically closing to meet Bucky at his truck. He had already dropped your tool box over the side of the tray and was opening the passenger door, daring you to refuse the offer of a lift. You wouldn’t dream of doing that, you were tired and hungry and a hot man was offering you a ride home, yes please.

“Take the first left, then first right. You’ll know it when you see it.” You directed him as the engine turned over but even the diesel motor couldn’t drown out the sound of your stomach begging to be fed.

Bucky frowned at the sound and indicated right at the intersection instead of left and you are about to correct him on his poor listening skills when he turned into the diner a few shops in.

“I have food at home.” You mentioned as he turned the truck off.

“Hey, you’re going out of your way to help me when no one else would. The least I can do is buy you dinner.”

That damn smile of his sent another flood of warmth through you and it only got worse when you agreed. He led the way down the aisle of an old tram turned diner and waited for you to take a seat in a faded red vinyl bench before he sat down opposite.

“Why do you work for that douchebag?” He asked with blunt honesty.

Your laughter caught you by surprise and it had a few heads turning by the handful of patrons dining so you waved your hands in apology.

“Chip served with my father and he made a promise to keep an eye out for me when dad died.” You explained as you fiddled with the salt and pepper shaker. “He used to be sweet and kind but the Blip fucked him up. He hasn’t been the same since I got back.”

A quiet fell over the table but it wasn’t uncomfortable and also didn’t last long as the waitress wandered over and you ordered the first dish that caught your eye on the coffee stained menu. You both reached out to hand the menus back and the back of his hand brushed yours every so slightly and every hair on your arm rose with goosebumps.

“Are you cold?” He asked as he noticed you shiver and begin to shrug himself out of his jacket.

It would have been a lie to say you were cold since you were beginning to feel like the diner was hotter than a sauna but you kept your mouth shut and let him drape the leather over your shoulder. It reminded you of the days you would ride with the local biker gang, the pride you had of wearing a leather jacket very different to this but staked a claim nonetheless. Bucky’s jacket smelt like a woody cologne and raw masculinity, not like the stale smoke and beer that clung to your ex’s. You took another deep breath in through your nose so you could imprint the mouthwatering scent to your memory.

You liked the meal with Bucky, he was quite similar to you in the fact you could both be comfortable in silence and you found his blunt honesty a refreshing change in a man. Your drinks were warm by the time you finished them since neither of you were in any rush to leave but with a reluctant sigh Bucky got up and tossed some notes on the table with a good tip for the waitress. The chivalrous manner of his bygone generation was endearing and you ducked your head to hide your smile as he held the diner door open for you and then the truck door.

“Ok, I see what you mean.” He chuckled as he pulled onto your street and immediately noticed which house was yours.

High wired fences created a barricade between the street and your house but it was what lay between the space that gave it away. Your open garage showed a newly finished rebuild of a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T and scattered around the yard were all the discarded parts you hadn’t had time to get rid of yet. It was vastly different to the family homes that lined the street.

“Yeah, the neighbourhood support group is not too happy with me.” You half-joked before jumping out and unlocked the thick padlock so Bucky could drive through. “Give me a sec, I’ll bring the hoist out.”

Your mouth dropped as Bucky waved it off and just picked up the bike from the back of his truck. He just picked up a 440lb piece of metal with one hand and carried it inside your garage. You couldn’t even talk as you followed him dumbly inside and flicked all the lights on so the room was flooded brightly.

“Can I keep you?” You joked. “I have this jar upstairs that just refuses to open.”

His warm laugh did as much to you as the sight of him flexing and clenching his metal hand. “It has it’s uses I guess.”

“Oh I’m sure it does.” You said with a bit more longing than you had actually intended for him to hear so you busied yourself by wheeling a stool over to the bike and taking a quick inspection. “It’s going to take a while to fix, some of the factories that make the parts still haven’t restarted production but I’m not above scrap diving.”

“How much?” He asked as he crossed his arms and leant back against your workbench.

“As much as it sucked to come back from the Blip, the Avengers repaired a whole lot of broken families. The least I can do is fix this on the house.” You said as you began to pull some of the broken panelling off for a better look.

“You didn’t want to come back?” Bucky asked, voice laced with concern and curiosity.

“I don’t know.” You admitted with a small shrug. “They say five years passed but for me it was a second. One second. One second and my fiance has married my best friend and started a family with her. One second, and my mother has been dead for two years. Maybe…”

You hated to cry in front of anyone, especially a stranger, so you blinked rapidly and tried to stop the droplets from escaping the bounds of your lower lashes. It was only a matter of time before you were due another breakdown, you just hoped it wouldn’t be tonight, in the presence of Bucky.

“Shit.” Bucky swore softly under his breath and pushed off the bench. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

You waved off the apology with a sniffle and walked over to the small fridge you kept in the garage. You were grateful your back was to him as a lone teardrop rolled down your cheek and you quickly swiped it away before grabbing two beers and heading back to the bike and Bucky. He silently accepted the drink and chuckled when you looked around for something to open the bottle before holding his hand out.

“Jars and bottles, I’ve got it covered.” He smirked and pulled the bottle cap off with his metal fingers.

“Thanks.” You said taking a sip of the refreshing drink. “So, why are you so hung up over this anyway? And don’t lie this time.”

“It was a gift.” He stated after releasing his bottom lip he had bit while he debated whether to answer or not. “My best friend gave it to me before he…went away.”

You could read between the lines and accepted his truth with a nod before grabbing a socket wrench and continuing to pull apart the invaluable treasure before you. You worked quietly under the watchful eye of Bucky, the only sounds coming from the ratchet in your hands and the empty beer bottle he placed in your recycling bin. It was peaceful, it was nice to have another person around and even nicer that they didn’t feel the need to talk all the time.

The peaceful feeling was quick to wash away as you heard the throaty growl of the Rottweiler that had sauntered into your property. He was 130lb of pure muscle and right now he was salivating for a taste of the man opposite you. Bucky turned to look at the dog the same time that you did and it took a second to realise Benson was sizing Bucky up as a threat.

“Benny. Here boy.” You called and slapped your leg to get his attention.

The great lug bounded over and practically knocked you to the ground as he tried to lick your face off while you laughed, eventually managing to push him off you so you could stand up. He sat back on his haunches with his tail wagging furiously knowing you would give him a treat and you did just that, reaching behind Bucky to the tin that was reserved just for Benny. Bucky didn’t make any effort to move and your heart raced as your body pressed against his.

“That’s a big dog you have.” Bucky commented as you tossed the treat up and watched Benny easily catch it while baring his long canines for all to see.

“He’s not exactly mine.” You muttered as you scratched Benny’s ear fondly. “Did you slip your leash again?”

Not two seconds later did the deep rumble of a Harley roll down your street and your eyes flicked up to Bucky’s. You straightened up and Benny whined at the loss of your touch before you began to chew on your bottom lip.

“Um, let me grab your number and I’ll keep you updated about your Ceeber.” You rushed as a single motorcycle headlight pulled into your open gates. “You should go.”

“Are you alright?” Bucky frowned and ignored the heavy boots that were crunching their way along the gravel towards you. “Do you need me to deal with this guy?”

“No, no, that’s not necessary.” You whispered. “Just let me handle this.”

You turned to face your ex as he stepped into the light of the garage and immediately his lip curled at the sight of Bucky. He had always been possessive of you and that hadn’t changed with your reappearance from the Blip. Not even having a wife and child stopped him from thinking he still owned you.

“Benny, get home.” Axel growled at the dog you had picked out as a puppy but he had taken care of in your absence.

“This is his home.” You said when he didn’t move from your side. “Just let him stay.”

Axel laughed harshly and scratched his short beard with a heavily tattooed hand before reaching behind his back and pulling out the Beretta Storm he kept in his waistband. You held your hands up in surrender and dropped your head in defeat, he never let anything that belonged to him go.

“Go home Benny.” You commanded your dog with a lump in your throat.

Benny began to walk away slowly with his tail between his legs, stopping every few feet to look back and you had to turn away from his chocolate eyes that were begging you to call him back. Your lips were trembling and you hid them behind your hand, shaking your head at Bucky who looked ready to kill Axel with his bare hands.

“Do I know you?” Axel asked as he pointed the weapon at Bucky. “You look familiar but I know you don’t belong ‘round these parts.”

“Nah.” Bucky smirked, not showing an ounce of fear as he looked down the barrel of the gun. “I’m just here for her hands.”

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

A/N: That's the end of chapter one. How do you think Axel is going to handle Bucky’s dig? I would love some feedback ♡♡♡

Next Chapter

#bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #marvel fanfiction #bucky barnes x poc!reader

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miraculouscontent · 4 years ago

Video

dailymotion

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

#MC's Videos #category: episode summaries #category: salt #salt: adrien agreste #salt: chat noir #salt: alya cesaire #salt: nino lahiffe #video: critique #MC's Renders #render: persona #episode: Rocketear #((I would usually apologize for rambling but you guys seem to like it lol.))#((I could still afford to trim down the summary probably and repeat myself/ramble a BIT less but yeah.))#((I'm also feeling a little more comfortable this time around))#((which might come off in my inflections.))

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tommyspeakycap · 4 years ago

Note

omgg write something about playing or braiding jack’s hair

oh em gee I love this !!!!! I loved his hair braid too omg

Jack had a very specific barber he liked to go to to get the same quality haircut he always got. He trusted that specific barber and his appointments were always made in advance to absolutely ensure he could get it done the way he liked by whom he liked at the right time so it never got overgrown or hard to manage. Jack was very specific about his hair and about keeping it the way he liked it to be. It was part of his image, part of him really. The Brummie boy hated when anyone else touched it. Be that joking team members giving his head a teasing push or his dad ruffling his hair each time he walks in the door, it irks the living daylights right out of him.

So it seems as though it’s Jack’s own personal nightmare now the barbers are shut with absolutely no sign of opening up for at least another month and Jack can’t seem to take one minute more of training with his hair getting all up in his eyes, dropping into his face and blowing wildly in Birmingham wind even with a headband in. It is driving him absolutely insane. It’s all he can think of in this moment.

And that is because he currently has your fingers tangled in it completely absentmindedly as he lays in between with your legs with his legs stretched out along the L section of the L shaped couch. Your eyes are fully focussed on the storyline evolving throughout an old episode of Greys Anatomy. Jack’s arms are around your torso as his head rests comfortably on your lower stomach with his eyes peacefully shut. He would usually engage in the TV with you, but the preseason after an unexpected break that had him doing less exercise than he definitely should have been doing had him absolutely shattered.

It was rare for even you to touch the locks he took so laughably serious, but it felt like the most soothing experience he’d maybe ever had to feel the gentility of your finger massaging over his scalp in the most relaxing manner he’d ever known. Even his sports massages after long matches weren’t this relaxing.

“Mmmhm, feels so good.” He murmurs, his voice ticking your stomach as he speaks against it, the sigh that leaves him making you giggle in response. “So annoyin’ in training.” He adds tiredly, but not lacking in the obvious irritation he feels towards it. Jack tends to feel a lot and often, and even seemingly small things like his hair getting in the way of his play was unimaginably irritating for him.

“I could cut it?” You suggest.

“Yeah,” he snorts, “And end up like the poor dog? I’ll pass love.”

“Aw come on! It wasn’t that bad.” You retort

“He looked like a street rat with curls, sweetheart.” He laughs, despite the disappointment he feels for your hands leaving his hair for the first time since he lay down tonight.

“Cheek.”

“Sorry baby.” He lulls, finally looking up at you for the first time, lifting his face to offer you a smile that strained him. Holding his head up like that was too much for his already tired muscles, so he’s quickly laying his head back to its resting place. You can’t think of anything else to retort with, knowing full and well the incredibly poor state of affairs that occurred in your household three weeks into Lockdown 1 after you attempted to give the dog a haircut out of pure boredom and lack of open dog grooming services. The state of affairs being Jack crawling to the bathroom on his knees and one hand with the other hand holding onto his crotch because he was trying so hard not to wet himself from laughing at the poor pup who looked so confused that his dad hadn’t been able to greet him as normal when he returned from the weekly food shop.

Jack very nearly did piss on your good cream carpet that day, so it was fair for him to not trust your barber skills either. Especially being the way he is about his hair.

“You know the old episodes make me miss Derek.” You announce after a moment of only the television speaking between the two of you.

“He the one with the hair?” Jack mumbles. You snort a laugh.

“They’ve all got hair, Jack. Go on, say it then?”

“Fine,” he huffs indignantly, “The one with the good hair.”

Your giggle makes his heart erupt into butterflies that dance through his stomach and chest just like it does every single time he gets to be lucky enough to hear it. Jack doesn’t like to admit when others have hair he likes. He prefers to live in a world where his hairstyle is simply the best, and truly he usually does. He tends to live in his own world anyway. The world where his hair is fantastic, he gets to do what he loves for a living and come home to you each and every day. That’s his world and fucking hell does he love that world.

In reality though, part of that world is that however fictional Derek Shepherd may be, his hair is fantastic and always looks rather immaculate. Something Jack can’t quite relate to at this current moment in time. “You know this episode is kinda about his hair,” you note softly, hands smoothing back over your boyfriends brown locks. He knows by the tone of your voice that you’re going to go into more detail about the episode currently playing through on Amazon Prime TV. Some people may well have been annoyed listening to their girlfriends recounting entire episodes of TV shows that they weren’t exactly inclined to watch, but Jack was not one of those men. He didn’t care what you were talking about, just the sound of you talking was enough to make him listen intently. He loved to hear you talk, and if that was the only thing that he ever got to hear for the rest of his life then he’d still be happy.

“They adopted a little girl and he hasn’t quite figured her hair out yet but everyone’s shocked ‘cause his hairs pretty good. Like you, a little. You got good hair, just haven’t learned to manage it yet eh?” You explain, weaving your fingers in and out of those stands of hair that make him hum in both understanding and enjoyment. He isn’t sure what you’re doing, but the weaving of stands, pads of your fingers dancing over his scalp carefully, softly feels like what he might imagine heaven to be. “Yeah?” He asks, “And what does he do then?” His voice is filled with genuine interest for what you were saying. It was the first time you’d ever known that in a relationship. He heard you snigger softly to yourself. “He learns from someone who knows a bit more about hair than he does.” You state pointedly, prompting him to roll his eyes even if you can’t see him.

“I’m not letting you cut my hair, (y/n). Not happening, I’m sor-“

“Alright, Jack. I bloody know! That’s not what I meant.” You grumble. Jack can immediately imagine your disgruntled pout already, with those irritated narrowed eyes and the playful scrunch of your nose. “Sorry.” Every time he sees that look on you, he moves to kiss that furrow out of your nose. It makes his heart smile each and every time he sees it. You are simultaneously the most beautiful, more adorable and hottest woman he has ever laid his eyes on. “Sorry baby,” he reiterated, “Go on.”

“I could braid it for you?”

That earns a belly laugh from him that reverberates through your body, jostling with the force of his whole body laughter. “So you will,” he bellows in breaks between the ever comedic gasping from breath after each loud laugh. “Not a chance.”

He pushes himself up to sit back on his knees, trapping your legs between his as he looks down at you with a huge grin still stretching his lips and creasing his eyes, yet they still sparkle in adoration for you. “Oh yeah?” You muse with a giggle to follow despite the firm attempt to seal it behind clenched lips. The giggle sets those dimples into your cheeks, his eyes just drinking you up as you lounge back on the huge couch there in front of him, sinking back into the pillows just like he had been sinking against you in comfort for hours only moments ago. “Yeah.” He repeats firmly, the playful jest of his words not lost on your ears as he leans forward.

With the emission of only a small, surprised yelp from you that turns the head of the dog in his bed for only a moment, Jack has grabbed your legs to tug you down so you were laying flat on your back on the L of the sofa. He leans over you, hands and strong arms keeping him above you with ease. “Realllly?” You tease, one eyebrow quirked. Jack loves it when you do that, mostly because he can’t and he finds it beautifully funny.

Your hands reach up to his face, cupping over the beard on his cheeks to bring his face down to peck his lips before letting him press back up like a simple press up over your body. This was a common occurrence between the pair of you and Jack had always loved to show off. “Not cuttin’ about with a braid in my hair baby, sorry.”

He dips down for another kiss and you break out another giggle that parts your lips from his. “You already are, bub.”

“Ya what?” He pops straight up, sitting again back on his knees. “Not falling over your face now eh?” You taunt with a cheeky grin that makes him furrow his brows. Jack removed his hands from beside you to run one after the other over the top of his hair, a weird mix of a grin and disbelief washing over his face. Your sweetheart smile warms his heart as you lay there looking up at him with tired eyes and a lazy smile, cheeks flushed and one of his old cotton shirts keeping you warm long after his body raises from yours.

“Wait there!” He yells, bounding off the couch to all but leap through the living room until he reaches the mirror in the hall just outside the door. “Babe!” He cheers through the house, appearing back in the doorway of the room. “Nah it’s kinda cool, you fuckin’ smashed that!” You sit up and turn around towards him with your hand covering your mouth in a giggle that makes him stride forward and tug your hand away so he can see that beautiful smile. He jumps back again. “And look; stays in when I move around like-”

An immediate howl of laughter breaks out of your mouth with your head tipped back in hysterics as you watch him run on the spot, jump on the spot and then shake his head around like your puppy when he had a cone on his head. You laugh so hard your laughter looses its noise, simply existing as a elongated wheeze and a sudden gasp for desperate air to aid and allow for only more laughter. “Why you laughing for?” He yells, his words split by his own laughter as he tugs you to your feet, standing taller than him when your on your feet on the couch. Jack wraps one arm around your waist and moves the other down to the bend of your knees to sweep your legs from beneath you, perching you on the edge of the back of the couch.

“It,” kiss, “is,” kiss, “perfect.” Kiss.

“Just like you, baby.” He rumbles lowly, “Perfect just like my girl. Gonna wear it to training. Keep hair out my face, remind me of you, perfect.” He just keeps talking, keeps praising you between kisses while he brings you closer and closer to him until you can wrap your legs around him. Locked in place, he takes your face in his hands.

“So you’ll let me braid it again?” You chime, eyes lighting up. Jack chuckles, thumbs smoothing over your cheeks with a kiss pressed to the tip of your nose. “Course baby. Every day.”

True to his word Jack Grealish is. Every night he comes home from his training, he’s laying on the couch letting you massage the days stresses out of his mind, letting your fingers weave the tension out of his scalp. Jack’s never let anyone take care of him so much. He’s never felt comfortable to be taken care of like this, but you are his exception. His one single exception. And every morning he sits in the floor at the foot of the bed while you sit with a leg on either side of him, fingers weaving the strands into place for the day and tighter for match days. People make comments but Jack doesn’t give even half of a shit. His hair is how he likes it; out of his face so he can concentrate on his game and it gives you more of a reason to actually be up in the morning when he leaves before the sun rises above you. That’s perfect for Jack.

Until his next haircut, the only time that footballer doesn’t have a braid through his hair is when your fingers are tangling in it while he’s between your legs for another very enjoyable reason.

#jack grealish imagines #jack grealish imagine #jack grealish x reader #england national team imagine #england national team #jack grealish #jack grealish blurb #jack grealish prompt #footballer fics

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songmingisthighs · 4 years ago

Text

[4.11] mafia!wooyoung × reader

⇀ you thought he didn't care, he was sure he doesn't, he had said it so himself to you. that was, until he almost lost the chance of being able to care for you.

⇁ tw : running away, mafia life (criminal/illegal acts)

⇁ part 1 / 2 / 3

⇁ disclaimer : the author does not support any and all criminal/illegal acts. the narrative written in this story is purely fiction out of the author's imagination. the things written here does not portray real mafia life nor is the author aware of how the mafia life is like. the author is a hermit loser.

At first, Wooyoung thought you had really ran away from him. After the fight you had the previous night, how could he not ?

"All I ask is a little bit of attention! I know you could spare some for me," you exclaimed, following after Wooyoung into the home office in his mansion. Yes, his, he never once said it was yours too so you treat it as such.

Wooyoung rolled his eyes at you, "and I ask you shut that big trap you called your mouth before I shut it for you, but we can't all get what we wanted now, can we ?" He spat.

You're used to his aggressive words, it used to hurt but now the pain just comes and goes. But you're at your wit's end, he was distant when you both were first forced into engagement but he was still polite so you thought that was just the shock, but now that you're married, things got worse.

"Wooyoung," you called, leaning both of your hands on his desk aa he sit on his office chair, "it's been 8 months since we got married," he glared at you when you said that, so you sighed and change your choice of words, "since we were force into marriage... But I've been trying so hard to make this less of a chore for both of us, I don't know what else I could do! You're not even bothering to hide the fact that you hate my guts to your very core even though it wasn't my fault that we got into this! Heck, you don't even bother to acknowledge that I exist!"

Wooyoung slammed his hands down on the table, standing face to face with you, "that's right," he chuckled darkly, "I don't even bother, you know why? Because you're nothing in my life, I never ask for you, I never wanted you, you're still here because your dad's business fell through with my dad and he used you as mean of escaping because that's all you are, princess," he leaned closer to your face and spoke through gritted teeth, "a worthless burden that people toss around,"

It would've been a lie if you said that his words doesn't affect you whatsoever. Because it does.

Maybe deep down that was one of your biggest fear and having someone confirmed that made you feel sick to your stomach. You recoiled from the table, as if having been struck across your face.

Though Wooyoung had a satisfied smirk on his face, "you should know I've been planning your assasination ever since you said 'I do', I would've made it look like an accident so that my dad wouldn't be up in my ass talking about losing his insurance of control over your dad, maybe I should move the schedule up so I can get rid of you quicker,"

You stared at him for a while, not knowing that he actually hated you that much. All this time you thought it was just petty reluctance of being tied to you, but this just brought things to a whole new level.

"No..." you choked out, trying to hold back tears, "I'll take care of it myself," and with that, you ran out of his office to pack all your belongings with tears streaming down your face.

And that was the last time Wooyoung had seen you. He had heard from one of his butlers that he had seen you running around the house retrieving your things where it supposedly was earlier, you looked frantic and you hadn't even taken a second to take a break.

"And did she got out of the house today?" Wooyoung asked from his position on the couch, loosening all of the buttons on his shirt. "No, master, not that any of us know of," said butler then leaned close to Wooyoung's ears, "the cctv has been cut off, her bodyguards are dismissed, no one has tended to her nor got close to her, and I personally see to it that all windows and doors are unlocked just as you had requested,"

Wooyoung couldn't believe that he's probably a free man now, that YOU had left him so that he wouldn't be in hot water with his father.

With a glass of whiskey in his hand, he decided to look around to see whether or not you had really left while telling his maid to prepare dinner for him.

True to what he expected, he made two laps around the mansion but not once did he find you. Not even in his office with a divorce paper, as dramatic as it sound.

He finally step into his shared bedroom with you to make his final confirmation.

At first he knocked on the door, not really knowing why he did that, but when no sound came from the room he simply opened the door and walked in. He hadn't returned the night before, spending half of his night in his home office before going out with San to a bar, not realizing that it was his guilt that drove him out to drink his memory away.

Looking around the room, he couldn't really tell whether or not you had ran away. The room looked like it had been slept in the night before, he could see the spot where you laid in comparison to his side that's perfectly neat.

When he stepped into the walk-in closet, he was quite surprised at the sheer contrast to the bedroom. Your clothes thrown haphazardly, it seems like you were urgently looking for things to pack, and the more he analyze the items on the floor, the more he realized that you hadn't taken anything that was bought with his money.

But that wasn't the thing that got his attention.

It was your wedding dress that had been taken out of its garment bag, across from it, an empty bottle of wine and a box of tissues with crumpled tissues surrounding it. It looked straight out of a movie.

He walked closer to the dress and trailed a hand down it.

He remembered seeing you wear it on your wedding day. He remembered being too pissed at his father to be able to fully appreciate how ethereal you looked. He remembered how when you looked at him, he could see the redness in your eyes, indicating that you had been crying.

But over all, he remembered how his heart skipped a beat when he saw you walking closer to him. Of course, he would never admit it outwardly.

His train of thought was broken when his butler knocked on his bedroom door, "master, dinner is served," he said.

Wooyoung cleared his throat and straighten out his posture, "yes, of course, I'll be there soon," he called out.

As the footsteps of his butler fade, he carefully zip your wedding dress back into its garment bag, making sure that the dress is stored perfectly.

After that, he went to the dining room to have his dinner.

Usually, you'd be seated in your seat, across from him at the other end of the table that seats 10 people. He'd have to admit that it feels weird not seeing you smile at him after a long day of working, but he forced himself to believe that it was a good kind of weird.

Strangely, as he eat his food he felt that it doesn't match his palate, that something feels off. So he called for his head butler and asked him about it.

"Did we change cooks? Why does today's dinner taste so bland?"

His butler seemed hesitant to answer him, looking at the head maid for a bit. The middle-aged woman stepped forward from her spot, bowing slightly to avoid Wooyoung's eyes, "we did not have any change in staffs, sir, it's just that the mistress used to prepare all of your meals and considering... the circumstances, she had not prepared anything for you," she said, not even bothering to hide her bitterness that he had drove you away.

Considerably, he was shocked that you had never brought the fact up to him. But as usual, he masked his true feelings and just nod at her, continuing with his meal even though he can't seem to enjoy it.

The shock didn't stop there, though.

Over the course of the first 5 days of you leaving him, he began noticing the things that indicate your presence in his house. Or used to indicate your presence.

He never knew that you were the one who always put flowers around the mansion. He noticed this when he passed by a vase of wilting aconite. It almost broke him when he see the maids cleared all flowers, leaving an empty vase that he now associate with your absence.

He never knew that you kept tabs on food he likes and dislikes. After 3 days, he gave up on eating the food his cook made for him, firing the poor man on the spot and resorting to take outs.

He never knew that you were the one who personally arrange his wardrobe. Usually, every morning he'd find his favorite shirts or favorite sets of clothes on the front, ready for him to pick out and wear. Now that you're not here, he had to spend extra time deciding what to wear.

And lastly, he was surprised at the fact that you had never made it to your hometown.

"What do you mean she's not with her parents?" He growled at his henchmen, making them visibly scared. "W-we tried looking for her, even asking around, but no one had seen her," he explained.

All Wooyoung wanted was to hear about how you're happier without him, how you've settled back to your life without him, how he'd be assured with the fact that you leaving him was the best thing that could ever happen to you two.

Feeling that he owed this for the sake of his own closure, he ordered everyone under him to find out your whereabouts.

The desperation suffocated him, he hated the feeling.

So he ran out of his office to his garden, going to the furthest side where it is practically abandoned so that he'd be all alone to calm his mind.

What he hadn't expect to see though, was several pieces of clothes on the ground. At first he just thought that the laundry might have flown away due to the wind, but when he inspected them closer, he recognized them as yours.

"Why would these be here?" He muttered to himself as he began picking up the scattered pieces of clothes one by one. When he picked up the last piece, he noticed your suitcase by the corner of the tall wall that surround his house for protection.

The sight that made his stomach drop was a rather huge hole that could fit a person.

Wooyoung's brain put 2 and 2 together and the only reasonable conclusion made him feel like blowing up.

You had been kidnapped.

#ateez #ateez scenarios #ateez scenario #ateez imagine #ateez imagines #wooyoung #jung wooyoung #ateez wooyoung #ateez au #ateez story #kpop scenario #kpop imagine #kpop imagines #ateez x reader #timestamp #ateez timestamp #kpop timestamps #smt timestamp

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folklorelise · 4 years ago

Text

Squad Leader Mom gets badly injured.

After Kuchel’s birth, Levi and you had an agreement. There would be no expedition until Kuchel had her first birthday. You did not want to leave your new-born either yet. For an entire year, you would move between your parents’ house and the survey corps headquarters. It was tiring, but you quickly got used to this lifestyle.

Kuchel’s first birthday was spent at the survey corps headquarters with your parents and your brother there as well. (it will probably be in another story) When the day of your comeback arrived, your parents came to take care of Kuchel.

“Be careful out there.” your mother told you.

“I will, don’t worry about me!”

Everyone was getting ready, putting on their gear, preparing their horse. You were so excited about this that you were one of the first ones to be ready to leave. Your squad quickly joined you.

“Squad leader Y/N! It’s really great to see you again.”

“It’s good to be back.”

The night before, Levi told you that since it had been a while since you were outside, you would have to stay close to him and his squad.

“I already talked about it with Erwin.” Levi told you after Kuchel fell asleep.

“Levi I–.”

“I just don’t want–.” Levi paused. “I want to be able to protect you if it’s needed. Which I hope it won’t happen.”

“It won’t.”

When the gate opened, and your horse started to gallop, your heart started to race. It had been a year since you went outside the walls. Thankfully, a week before the expedition, Levi made you get used to riding a horse and using your gear which made you more comfortable. However, your mind kept thinking about Kuchel – you were starting to get worried. Fortunately, the situation outside was not a getting too problematic. There were only a few titans. The night came rather quickly since it was winter, so everyone had to set up their tents.

“Mom, Armin and I are going to bring some wood.” Jean screamed before leaving.

“How are you?” Levi asked you once you were both in your tent.

“Mmh… not so great.” you tried to laugh, “I thought it would be easier.”

“I know. Leaving Kuchel the first time was terrible.” Levi admitted to you. “You just have to think about the moment you’re going to get back and hold her again.”

“I like that thought.” you put your head on his shoulder.

“Are you going to stay at home after that?”

“I like my job; I just have to get used to this.”

The rest of the cadets were sitting in circle outside, waiting for Jean and Armin to get back, but after thirty minutes of waiting, they were still not back. Then very soon, Levi and you joined the cadets.

“What if they’re lost?” you asked.

“Maybe we should go and look for them?” Sasha suggested.

“I’ll go.” Mikasa stood up.

“No, sit down.” you said which she did. “I’ll go.”

“I’ll come with you.” Levi said.

“Should we tell Erwin first?” Sasha asked.

“You go and tell Erwin that Levi and I went looking for them and that there is no need for any of you to come after us. If Jean and Armin come back, you just wait for us.” you told them putting on your ODM gear.

“Be careful!” Connie shouted when Levi and you walked away into the thick forest.

As Levi and you took Jean and Armin’s path, you quickly grabbed his hand.

“We should split up. We will find them more quickly.” you said.

“No. I’m not leaving you alone there.”

“Levi it’s fine. I promise.”

“Y/N…” Levi sighed.

“Pinkie promise then?” Levi started at you, but still shook your pinkie with his.

Levi then went to the opposite side of yours. You were screaming their names, but there was no answer. You quickly went on a high tree so you would see better thanks to the full moon. After a few minutes of intense research, you finally found two silhouettes standing on a lower tree. You rested a minute without moving so you could catch your breath. But when you saw a titan rising up from the bottom of their tree, you immediately flew toward them.

Armin and Jean were slightly injured, and they did not have their gear on — they climb the tree when some titans started to show up. As the night came, titans started to disappear, but they were lost so they stayed on their tree. The titan beneath Jean and Armin started to shake the tree, trying to make them fell down – it was an abnormal one. It moved quickly.

When you saw the titan raising its arm toward Armin, you did not think twice and instantly flew where he was and pushed him out of the way – the titan grabbed you instead of Armin.

“MOM!” Armin yelled horrified.

The titan threw you away. Your body was thrown away against a tree, yet you were still awake when your body met the ground. The abnormal titan stared at where your body was, and it suddenly started to run toward you. You could only watch it run to you without moving, so you closed your eyes, ready to go. But nothing happened.

After Levi and you went separate ways, he searched the surroundings swiftly and then went back where you went earlier. When he saw from afar a body being thrown away, he used a lot of his gas to get to there as quickly as possible and killed the titan. Levi looked up on the tree and when he only saw Jean and Armin trying to get down, he knew whose body was lying not too far from he was. Levi dropped his swords and run to you.

You were really glad to see Levi. When he kneeled down, you could see that he was trying to hold back his tears.

“Y/N, hey.” Levi sobbed, putting his hands around your face, “It’s ok, I’m here.”

You wanted to tell him that it was ok too, but the only sound that you could make was coughing.

“Don’t try to talk.” Levi warned you.

“Mom? Mom!” Jean was the first on to arrive.

“I’m so sorry mom.” Armin cried when he saw you.

“Jean, help me get Y/N’s gear off and you’ll take it to get back and get help.” Levi ordered.

“Mom,” Jean kneeled down before leaving, “please don’t leave. I’ll be back really quickly ok?”

When he saw you nodding slightly, he flew off where you and Levi came from. Levi put his cloak around your head which was bleeding. He had put your head on his knees so you would be more comfortable. Armin was holding your hand, still crying. You squeezed his hand as hard as you can before you felt like passing out.

“Mom?” Armin called you when he felt your falling out of his. “Mom! Wake up!”

——————————

When Jean arrived at the spot, he run to where the commander was.

“Commander Erwin! You– you have to follow me!” Jean sobbed.

“Kirstein, Sasha already told–.”

“NO!” Jean yelled.

“Jean! Calm down.” Hange stood up. “Why–.”

“Mom. It’s mom, and she’s…” Jean mumbled.

“What happened to mom?” Eren asked with the rest of the cadets around him.

“She’s hurt… there was a titan and– and he just– he grabbed mom…” Jean explained still crying.

Erwin and Hange put on their gear right away, as well as your squad and the cadets. Jean showed them the way, and when they arrived Hange was the first one to be next to you. They quickly took out the emergency kit and cleaned your wound and sutured it.

“She’s still breathing which is good.” Hange declared out loud. “But we have to bring her back now.” Hange turned their head to face Levi. “You did a great job – putting pressure on her head so she would not bleed out – it was great.”

With the help of Erwin, they all gently put your body on the trolley.

“Are we all going to go back?” Mikasa asked.

“None of you will be able to continue in these conditions.” Erwin stated. “Neither can I so yes, we’re all going back with Y/N.”

On the way home, Levi constantly had his hand on your chest to make sure your heart was beating. The minute the trolley went inside the gates, the medical squad took you in charge.

Levi, Hange, Erwin and the kids were all waiting at the mess hall together. The doctor’s first news was that you had a violent concussion, as well as a few broken ribs. Your left leg was in bad shape — they were still operating.

Your parents were immediately informed about the situation and came with Kuchel as soon as possible. When they arrived, Levi took Kuchel in his arms and hugged her tightly. When Kuchel saw the cadets crying, she started to cry too.

“Ma-ma?” Kuchel cried.

——————————

When you opened your eyes, you found yourself in a house you did not recognise.

“Is there anyone here?” you asked. When you opened the door, it brought you on a vast field full of colourful flowers. You could not find anyone, but after walking around for a bit, you finally found someone sitting on the grass.

You quietly walked toward the person and sat down.

“I have been waiting for you.” the woman told you.

“Do I know you?” you asked.

“We’ve never met.”

“You look familiar though.”

“Do you know why you are here?”

“Mh… I think…”

“You had an accident remember?” the woman tried to help you remember.

“Right. The titan. Wait, am I dead?” you panicked. “I can’t be! I’m not dead right?” you turned to face her, but she only stared at you. “I can’t be!” you repeated yelling.

“Why?”

“I can’t– Levi is probably worried sick now! I can’t leave him. I can’t.” you started to cry. “And then there’s Kuchel and the kids. What am I supposed to do now?”

The woman suddenly stood up and took you in her arms, trying to calm you down.

“I don’t have an answer for you, I’m sorry.” she told you. “Let’s go back to the house, ok?”

Once you were in your bed, you closed your eye for what it seemed like a second, but when you opened your eyes again, it was already morning. The longer you stayed here, the more suspicious you got. That woman who helped you was acting weird around you – always dodging your questions. Instead, she would ask a lot of questions about Levi and Kuchel, without any reasons, but you were glad to talk about it.

As time passed, you felt weaker and weaker. You could not run anymore; you could barely wake up in the morning.

“Am I dying again?” you asked her.

“No, quite the opposite actually.”

“What does that mean?”

“Your body is getting healthier, so you’re going to go back soon.”

“Where?”

“To Levi.”

“So, I’m leaving you?” you asked to be sure.

“Yes.” she smiled.

“Does that mean you’re finally going to tell me who you are? And why you have been obsessed with Levi and–.” you then stopped and realised, “You’re– you’re Levi’s mother, right?” you guessed, “I thought you looked familiar on the first day because you look exactly like Levi.”

“I am.” Kuchel smiled at you.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“You had to rest.”

“But this is all probably just happening in my head.” you said. “Right?” but she did not answer.

“It might be.” she nodded, “I want you to know one thing before you go. I want to thank you for everything you did for my son. Levi was everything to me,” tears appeared in her eyes, “and now that I know he has someone like you, to love him, I can rest in peace.”

You did not know what to answer so you just went and wrapped her around your arms.

“Thank you for taking care of my Levi.” Kuchel thanked you again, “and for naming your child after me. You are just too pure for this world.” she backed away, “There’s someone else who would like to see you if it’s ok with you.”

“Oh. Mh… sure.” You agreed seeing another woman walking toward you.

“This is Eren’s mother.” Kuchel whispered before leaving you alone with her.

“Y/N, it’s really nice to meet you.” Carla greeted you smiling.

“Hi.” you answered timidly. “It’s–.”

“Thank you. I was really worried Eren would have to grew up lonely, without a motherly presence around him, but seeing you with him makes me feel better. I know you have your own child now, but–.”

“I love Eren.” you reassured her. “I love all of them as if they were my own. You don’t have to be worried anymore.”

Then, you suddenly felt your strength leaving you body and collapse on the floor.

——————————

Levi never left you. He would occasionally leave to shower, eat, feed Kuchel and put her to sleep, but as soon as it was over, he would rush back to you.

“Levi you should sleep a little bit.” Erwin said during one of his visits.

“Every time I close my eyes, I see her lying on the ground, with her blood everywhere. Except in my dreams, she is not alive. I can’t sleep like that. I– I can’t sleep without her.” Levi explained.

“I’m sure she’s going to wake up soon.” Erwin tried to comfort Levi.

The cadets were lifeless too. None of them wanted to get up in the morning, a lot of them could not sleep at night either.

“I can’t lose another mom.” Eren told Mikasa one night.

“You won’t. We won’t.”

Armin stayed at the library very often. It was the place where you first talked to each other – where you two bonded together. Jean would just overwork himself, trying not to think about you. Which was not successful – he would secretly visit you every time Levi went to put Kuchel to bed.

“Please wake up soon, because I miss you a lot.” Jean would tell you every night.

Connie would help Sasha taking care of Kuchel when Levi could not. Hange and Erwin stayed with Levi most of the time. Your parents and your brother visited when they could, helping as much as they could, but everyone just wanted you to wake up.

Mikasa tried to be strong for her friends – she would be comforting them if they cried or if they needed to talk. But she did not talk to anyone. Two weeks after the accident, during dinner, Mikasa broke down crying without any reason.

“Mikasa! Are you ok?” Sasha quickly took her outside, with the rest of her friends following them.

No one knew what to do. So, they just all sat around her, waiting for Mikasa to calm down on her own.

“Don’t follow me.” Mikasa said when she stood up.

She rapidly walked to your room and sat next to you.

“I miss you, mom.” Mikasa sobbed quietly. “I really miss you a lot.”

Mikasa stopped her crying when she saw Levi with Kuchel entering the room.

“It’s ok.” Levi said. “You can cry.”

“I’m fine.” Mikasa responded.

“Do you want me to leave you alone for another minute?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Most nights, Levi would just rest his head on your bed, and hold your hand and then talk to you.

“Kuchel comes sometimes to see you because she misses you. I do too. A lot.”

“This week I slept for five hours in total, which is better than last week.”

“Please wake up. I miss your voice, and I feel like I’m going to get crazy talking alone.”

“Please, don’t leave me alone.”

——————————

You spent three weeks without waking up. When you first opened your eyes, it was night. And it was one of those rare nights where Levi would be asleep. You could see how tired Levi was with the dark bags under his eyes. You really wanted to let him sleep but you were also really thirsty.

“Levi.” you grunted which just made him turn his head around. Then you tried to shake him a little, but you did not have any strength in you. Then you suddenly started to cough loudly which immediately woke up Levi.

“Y/N?” Levi asked astonished. “Am I dreaming again?”

“No. Please,” you continued to talk with a low voice, “I want water.”

“Ok. I’ll be right back, just don’t go back to sleep ok.”

“Ok.”

Levi came out of his room and took a deep breath before going to take a glass of water. After drinking water and eating the food you parents recently brought, you felt so much better.

“Do you want some?” you asked Levi.

“I’m ok.”

“You should sleep more, you look tired.” You told him once you were done eating.

“Are you sure you’re fine? I can go and wake up the doctor.” Levi asked you again ignoring your statement.

“Levi, I’m fine. You on the other side–.” but you stopped when you saw Levi started to cry again.

Levi quickly lay down next to you, hiding his face in your chest.

“Let’s sleep and talk in the morning ok?” you said.

In the morning, Levi was the first one to wake up. He thought that he dreamt about last night, but you quickly woke up after he did. Levi helped you take a real shower, and changed you before letting you lay down on your own bed. It was more comfortable than the one in the medical spot.

When Levi went to lay next to you, his bedroom door flew open with Jean out of breath.

“Mom she disappe–.” but stopped instantly after seeing you. “Mom?”

“Jean!” you opened your arms so he could hug you.

“You’re here! You’re– you’re really here, awake, alive!” Jean shouted happily. “I have to go and tell the others!”

“Where’s Kuchel?” you suddenly asked Levi.

“She’s still sleeping, she never wakes up early.”

Your conversation was cut short when all the cadets barged in. There was a lot of crying. Very soon after, Hange and Erwin also came in.

“I’m so glad to see you again.” Hange hugged you.

“It’s good to you too. Erwin come give me a hug too!”

After a morning of catching up with everyone, you and Levi went to see Kuchel. She was already up when you entered the room.

“Hello.” you picked Kuchel up.

“Ma-ma!” Kuchel laughed.

“Oh, I missed you so much.” you hold her tightly.

After seeing Kuchel, you had to leave and meet your doctor to check on you. But Levi decided to bring Kuchel with you because as she saw you leaving, she started to cry.

“She definitely won’t be leaving you any time soon.”

The doctor advised you to continue to rest for another month before going back to any kind of activities. For dinner, the kids insisted on eating with you which you agreed to obviously.

“You should eat more.” Mikasa told you, giving you half of her meal.

“Here, you should take my bread too.” Connie said.

After a lively dinner, the kids spent the evening playing with Kuchel while Levi and you just sat there and watched them.

“Aren’t you tired?” Levi asked you.

“No. Stop worrying about me. I would tell you if I was tired.” you said taking his hand.

“Mom, can we sleep over tonight please?” Eren asked.

“No.” Levi answered.

“Of course you can, just bring your sleeping bags and join us in our bedroom.” You quickly added.

“Why?” Levi complained.

“I can’t say no to them.”

“I can.”

“Just this once, I’m sure it’ll be great.”

At night, everyone fell asleep rather quickly except for you. You tried to close your eyes and sleep, but you could not.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Levi whispered.

“Sorry, I can sleep elsewhere if–.”

“No, if you’re not there I won’t sleep. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t know…”

“Do you want to go and take a walk outside?”

“You should sleep instead of doing this.”

“I won’t be able to sleep now that I know you can’t.”

Levi put on his long coat and you did the same before leaving quietly the room. You both sat down outside on the grass.

“I–.” you started, “I almost died.” you said out loud laughing dryly.

“Y/N, if you want to cry, it’s ok. I’ll be here.”

“N– no.” but then immediately started to cry uncontrollably.

Levi immediately took you in his arms and let you cry for as long as you needed. You calmed down after fifteen minutes of crying but stayed in Levi’s arms.

“Are you feeling better now?” Levi asked you.

“I don’t know…”

“It’s ok too. Do you want to go back and try to sleep?”

“Yes.”

Levi took your hand and you both walked back to your bedroom. Once you were both comfortably set in bed you put your head on his chest.

“I love you Levi Ackerman.” you said looking at him blush slightly.

“I… love you… too.” Levi responded trying to avoid your gaze.

“Ew my parents are being disgustingly in love.” Jean commented looking away.

“Why aren’t you asleep?” Levi asked him.

“I was thirsty but I’m not anymore.”

“Goodnight Jean.” you told him before closing your eyes.

“Goodnight mom.”

After that incident, the kids started to be more and more protective of you outside the walls, by always being behind you. Levi would never be too far away as well. Eren was always ready to transform into a titan to protect you. But nothing too bad happened after this.

—————————

I have a tiny part 2 where Levi gets nightmares about that incident, but never talks about it sigh Y/N. Reader eventually found out and Levi finally talks about it. It would probably be short though.

Have a nice day!! And remember, you are incredible!

MASTERLIST

#attack on titan x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman angst #levi x reader #levi ackerman fluff #levi ackerman #squad leader mom au #eren yaegar #jean kirstein #armin arlet #mikasa ackerman #erwin smith x reader #hange zoe #hope you liked it #and yes there will be more of squad leader mom :)

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polyamorous-elevenv2 · 2 years ago

Text

Summary: Dustin trying to escape from Upside Down, choses the wrong gate and ends up in Hawkins from different universe. What’s even weirder? He meets El and Lucas and finds out that in this world they are dating. Will it remind him about his long-term crush (or even love) on El from his world?

collab with @sebyplays2 🌸

SEBY

Dustin is in the upside down finding El after the fight, while in the middle of searching El, he incounter one gate, he touched it and it look safe he then enter and went inside thinking she is in there.

When he enter the otherside it felt different. The place look like Hawkins but… its not ruined, looks peaceful and more alive, plus the people looks normal like- no "earthquick" happen…

He walk some miles wondering what the fv*k is going on… he finally reach to Lucas house, he knocked on the door, Erika opened it but she looks different, she looks older… Dustin is now more confused… Erika ask him why is he here, he looks at her and ask her; "where is Lucas, i need to talk to him" she let him in and said Lucas is in his room, he enter the house but before he went to the staircase Erika said something, she said "his with his girlfriend right now they probably busy so knocked before you enter, kay"

Dustin looks more confused knowing Lucas and Max broke up, and shes still in coma and Lucas dont have a girlfriend, not that his aware of. He then noded abd go to Lucas room, he knock but notice the door is opened, he enter the room and what he saw left him shock; it was Lucas and El… Lucas hands were around her waist and El's hand are around his neck while they are kissing.

after Dustin saw it, his mind blackout, seeing the woman he love is kissing his bestfriend… all his life, the girl he will always have a crush on will ended up having a crush on Lucas, first there is one back in grade school next was Max and now its El.

El notice Dustin is,there she than pulled away and wave at him and than greet him, Lucas turn at Dustin direction, Lucas also greet him and said; "ibdidnt know your coming here Dust, is there anything i can help with" he smiled but dustin stayed silent… he closed his fist gripping it so hard until his knuckles are white, he looks pale, about to snap.

El notice this she than realized something…Dustin is still in utah, ever since he got a driver licence he always go to utah to visit Suzie… meaning this "Dustin" right infront of them is not their Dustin, but different.

El know this Dustin is about to snap so she step up in the middle and ask this Dustin some question; "how did you get here?" Dustin look at El whos hair started to grow and its curly, he than said how he really got here, El understand it now that this is Dustin alternative version and probably in his universe shes dating him thats why he looks angry when he saw him kissing Lucas.

El explain their are from another universe to Dustin, Dustin is shock and replied; "woah, wait- so how did i got here then and how did this place isnt ruined?" El explain to him that upside down is in between the reality and eternity and nothing is impossible there, she than told Dustin that after killing their vecna she made a wish that what is ruined will be fix and all the gates thar can lead to them to be closed.

WINTER

"Neat. And if you, El-two is able to kill Vecna then my El would be able to do it, too!" Dustin stated, smiling proudly at El, making her smile at her antics.

It was, more than weird, that situation. And it was making him incredibly anxious and maybe a little angry. He wasn't sure how to exactly behave. Logically, he knew that it wasn't his place to say anything. It was a different universe. But at the same time, the urge to say something was huge.

"Man, every El is the best El. Right?" Lucas wiggled his brows and El, and the girl giggled sweetly. And Dustin didn't have to be super smart to realize that it was her behaviour towards the person she romantically loves. This time, his other friend. It hurt more than Vecna's attacks, and yet he couldn't do anything.

"Yeah..." He responded weakly, looking at the little to no space between lover's knees.

El, being older and more mature in this world, realized that right now, Dustin isn't even mad. He's just upset, and as his friend, she cannot bear to see him that sad.

She glanced at Lucas, locking their eyes and telling him with no words that she wants a moment alone with Dustin. It worked. He was the best boyfriend.

"Anyway, I'm going down for so snacks. Be nice, don't look under my pillows or anything." And with that, Lucas left his room, leaving El and Dustin with awkward silence.

"Wanna sit?" El asked, being nice as she always was.

Dustin, still upset, but not wanting El to know that, hopped at the Lucas' previous place, only a little farther than he was, to not make El uncomfortable.

"Funny thing, Lucas' bed from my universe is WAY more comfortable. How can he sleep here?" Dustin babbled something ridiculous, wanting El to stop looking at him with those big doe eyes of hers. It,, it wasn't the right moment.

"Gotta ask him that. I'm not complying." El smiled, but her smile dropped as quickly as Dustin's face changed to a miserable expression.

"Hey, Dustin." El tried again, knowing that this just have to be said. "Are you... Are you dating El from your universe?" She asked softly, noticing how Dustin's expressions keep changing at this simple question, and how he started to fidgeting with his hands.

"Noooooo. I mean, nooooo, why would you think that? She's, She's still with Mike, ya know?" His false smile wasn't even close to his true smiles, and both of them knew it, yet Dustin couldn't make it better.

"So. Do you have a crush on her?" El didn't wait, just asked straight. Because she already knew. Maybe for her younger self it was harder to noticed, but now, as she was older, it was pretty obvious.

But it wasn't her Dustin.

"Pffft, no! Why would I... I, You heard that she's- you are-, my El is dating Mike, right?" He was getting more and more uncomfortable and the need to escape this situation was big.

"Dustin from my universe, used to have a crush on me, you know?" Dustin's eyes widened, hearing that.

"What-"

"Yeah. He told me that, before he left Hawkins. He said that he had a huge crush on me for a few years, and it only disappeared when he met Suzie." She giggled quietly at this memory. It wasn't uncomfortable, just funny, knowing where both of them are right now.

Seeing that Dustin still was comprehending her words, she waited a moment.

"So, maybe you just didn't meet your Suzie yet?" She tried, but one look at his face told her all she needed to know. "Or you did... But it wasn't that, huh?" She said that for him, and he only nodded his head. At this point, he decided that he can be honest with her. For once in his life, he can be honest with someone about his crush. And that person is El from another world, is making it only more bizarre.

"Suzie's a great friend, but we kissed once, and I didn't feel anything, you know. And then I came back from my camp, saw El yelling "welcome home" looking at my face, and all those feelings for her came back. It never disappeared." And it was true.

El from this world, didn't know what to say. How to answer him. How can she even help him. So she thought some more, while Dustin's mind was rewatching his memories with his El.

This El, at some point, thought of something. This Dustin was from another world. And that could mean everything.

And so, she had to try something.

"Hey, Dustin." She tried getting his attention. "I have few questions... If you will?" He nodded.

"Does, does your El always hugs you first when she sees you?" He nodded. "And is she holding your hand where there is danger?" Another nod. "Does she notice all your little changes like..." moment of silence. "...your teeth or new caps?" Dustin nodded, not getting what she's trying to do.

"She does. All of that. Why are you asking that?" His brows furrowed, looking at this El in wonder.

But she just laughed brightly, hiding her smile with her hand.

"Ellll, talk to me! I'm being anxious here! Want to end me??" Dustin dramatised, finally making El calm down, yet still looking at him with a laugh in her eyes.

"Well." She started. "I was like that with Lucas."

"And what does that have- Oh. OH." Dustin finally realized.

That El was behaving like that with Lucas. In a universe when she and Lucas are happily dating together. And his El was doing the same things to him. So that means...

"Oh." He repeated with pink covering his ears and cheeks.

"Yeah." She took one of his hands, and squeezed it. "So, I think that you can have a chance with her. You just have to be patient. And be a good friend. She will need her time, but she will realize."

Dustin squeezed her hand back, and when he wanted to say something back to her, Lucas appeared back in his room with a arms fool of snacks.

" 'm back! Look at this all goodies!"

Dustin and El looked at each other, and burst out laughing. It was light and nice.

It was nice, because Dustin realized that his life maybe won't be as miserable, as he thought.

SEBY

They ate the snacks Lucas gave them and then it was the right time for their next food - pizza.

This pizza taste amazing! who made it? Dustin ask. El smiled at him and said; "Lucas made it last night, i was craving for pizza so He made some" Dustin was shock and said; Lucas can cook!?!?… El laugh and said; "i know, right? i didnt really know that he can cook, until he made me some fish and chips"

Lucas chuckled and said; "but you must admit that dish got you say Yes, right?" El giggle and replied; "actually the fish and chips isnt the reason i say yes, its the chicken and waffles"

the two lover laugh but Dustin look so upset, he knows this is an another universe, but he still hurt seeing El happy with Lucas, kinda wish his Lucas that moment… after the couple laughing, Lucas stand up and look at Dustin and then said; "look, Dust, we have fun hanging out with you but now you need to leave… we cant risk ruining your universe and ours." El nodded and said to Dustin; "so Dustin, you have to tell us where is the Gate, that you come from…" Dustin reply; okay, i kinda remember where is it… Lucas clap his hand and said; GREAT! we can get you back to your own universe, safe and sound!.

Dustin smiled and El did to and reply okay but let me get my outfit. After a minute… she comes back and said shes ready… Lucas smile while holding his Axe, saying how pretty is El (its normal for Lucas reaction because he always see it.), for Dust whos from another universe (first time seeing this… left him nosebleed on the floor)

WINTER

"Bro- u alright?" Lucas asked while El placed her hand on Dustin's shoulder. Somehow, in a minute, she understood what happened.

And Lucas did too.

But he was a good friend and boyfriend, and even though he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable at Dustin's behaviour, he was trying to justify his behaviour. So he just smiled.

"No, I mean, yeah, I'm okay" Dustin replied, wiping blood from his nose. It made him feel like El, and this thought alone was enough to make him smile to himself.

"I know El looks super hot, but come on. Be a gentleman!" Lucas snorted while Dustin punched him lightly on the arm.

"Shithead." He said under his breath, and that made Lucas laugh even louder.

El was only watching their interaction from her side. It was nice, because it was a while since she saw her boys doing silly things together. Right now, they all are in different places, and it's just not the same. In a way, she was a little jealous of Dustin's El and that she will just begin her happiest years of her life.

But the time was running out, and they had to go.

"Boys." She said in an authoritative voice that Dustin never heard before. "It's time."

Her boys just nodded and with Dustin leading the way, they began their little adventure.

They passed houses, friends and strangers, exchanging brief greetings, and it took a good half hour to reach the beginning of the clearing that Dustin saw first after entering this Hawkins.

"Behind this clearing is a cave. The gate is right next to the entrance to this cave. It's hidden behind some larger rocks, but it's easy to get through." Dustin announced to Lucas and El on both his sides.

"So." El started. "Behind that clearing will we see some good old First's monsters?" From her position alone, Dustin could see that she was ready to fight and win. He really, really loved her. Even though she wasn't from his universe.

"I don't think so. But there is always possibility. Numbers don't lie." He said, and with a final look at his both friends from another universe, he led their way again.

#hopclair #henderhop #dustin henderson #el hopper byers #lucas sinclair #sebyplays2 #seby #fanfic collab #stranger things fanfiction

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dirty-brainrot · 4 years ago

Text

(Boingo’s magical book)

Smelly cowboy and French tiddy man time.

Pairing(s) Hol Horse x Reader x Polnareff

You couldn't believe that man. First, he pestered you to no end just to team up with him and defeat some traveling men. After finally getting annoyed enough, you agreed. But this damned bastard says that there wasn't enough power so he decides to kidnap a fucking kid.

You met Hol Horse a while back in your home country where he tried to woo you. Unbeknownst to him, you were also a stand user. So you fought him because he kept on annoying you and successfully defeating him. Who knew you would be friends with him after that.

With a deep sigh, you facepalmed and massaged your temples. "Hol Horse... You fucking kidnapped a child." You whispered with a hiss and pointed at the kid, who laid down in a crawling position and hid behind a small bush. "Don't be like that, doll. With the 3 of us, we can defeat the crusaders and get the rich!" Shaking your head, you kneeled in front of the child stand user. "Hey, your name is Mondatta right?" You asked with a soft tone, unlike what you used to Hol Horse earlier. He stayed quiet and stared at you. "It's useless talking to that ki—" Doing a 180, you glared at Hol Horse making him shut up. Turning back to Mondatta, your face softened. "Hey, I know it's scary being separated from your brother and getting kidnapped by a wannabe cowboy... but you can trust us! I won't let anyone harm you." You gave him a friendly smile and he relaxed... A little bit.

Standing up to your full height, you turned to Hol Horse and grabbed the book. "Does your stand really predicts the future?" You flipped through the pages until you were met with a blank one. "—Or is it just a rumor? If it is then I brought you ere' for nothin'." Hol horse adds on and looks over your shoulder to look at [Tohth]. "Even with it, your brother got blown to high heaven..." He looks at Mondatta and shouts. "Which is it, kid?!" You huff and elbowed his side, muttering "Be nicer to the kid. For god's sake, you kidnapped him—" The empty pages suddenly were getting filled with images out of nowhere! You outstretched your arms and showed it to Hol Horse. "Hm?" He leaned over and read the pages.

Hol Horse introduced Mondatta to Y/N! He thinks that Y/N is really nice and better than Hol Horse.—

Hol Horse grumbles and you snicker.

While the three of them were walking around the outskirts of Cairo, they met a very pretty lady. Then Hol Horse suddenly jump-kicked the lady in the neck! The pretty lady was so happy, she gave Hol Horse her jewels.

Yahoo!! We're rich!!

"What the hell is this?!—" He shouts, taken aback. "A comic book."You replied sarcastically. He ignores your comment and snatches the book off of you. Approaching Mondatta he yells. "You call this a prediction?! There's no way this has to be true!" Mondatta rises up, still hiding behind the bush. "I—I'm telling the truth..." Stuttering and struggling to talk, he continues. "Y-you just—just have to t-trust it... They—they're never wrong! They're...They're right..100% ri-right everytim—"

"Quit messing with me kid! There's no way a lady is gonna—" Hol Horse continues to talk. But you were distracted by the pretty woman walking along with a man, they passed by. 'It looks like it's coming along...' Hol Horse grabs Mondatta and you shot daggers at him, making him put the kid down. Mondatta ran behind your leg. "I'll never hit a woman! See that?!" The man and woman pass by him and he was too far to be able to kick her. (Unless he ran after her.) After a while, he made a weird impatient humming noise and went after the woman. Jump-kicking her like as the book said but apparently, there was a scorpion in her shawl! You clapped and shouted. "Nice going Mr. I respect women!" The woman thanked him and gave him her necklace. You and Mondatta walked after him but once you arrived, he was in the middle of talking.

"—he three of us will be unstoppable!" And there he goes. Excited, he dragged you and Mondatta to Cairo.

★

Hol Horse hid behind a building while Mondatta hid under a crate beside you. "I'm getting sick of those faces... Listen Mondatta!" As he was about to kick the box, he decided against it knowing that you would beat him up if he did. He throws the box away instead, revealing the very introverted child. Mondatta crawls to the box and hid in it. You sigh and kneeled in front of the crate, comforting the kid. "We need to talk about your new prediction... Are you sure it's 100% foolproof?" You rose the box a tad bit to look at Mondatta. "M-my premi—" Hol Horse flicks a small rock at him, in return, you smacked his leg which did not affect him at all "My premonition are 100% accurate" He mocks. "Is that what were you gonna say?"

"Wow! Hol Horse you should be the book of premonition instead!" Hol Horse rolls his eyes. "W-well they are accurate...yes." You slowly let go of the box and stood up to look at the book. "Are you expecting us to believe this load of Bologna?" He re-reads the comic.

"We found them!" Shouted Hol Horse. "Joseph, Jotaro, Polnareff, and Avdol."

"Darn it!" Hol Horse fumed. "They're almost to Master Dio's manor!"

You snicker. "Do you really call him "master"?" He grumbles "We don't have a choice." and continues reading.

"Gosh-darn bafoons. They'll get a bullet between the eyes!" Hol Horse's mind was full of bad thoughts. "You're gonna pay for what you did to my brother!" Mondatta was very furious. But, Hol Horse and Y/N, couldn't use their stands which puts them at a disadvantage.

Because of this, they got caught but Y/N comes up with the greatest plan to make their great escape which includes something intimate!

"It just cuts off from there! Like hell what's this great plan Y/N comes up with?!" He drops the book and impatiently summons his stand. "Why can't I just shoot them with [Emperor]? It'll be much faster that way."

"Geez, it'll come just believe in the stand, Horsey." Now you don't really believe in the stand and the way it added intimate in the sentence was ominous but you have nothing to lose besides half of the money Hol Horse offered you in defeating the crusaders. Mondatta lifts up the box to take a peek. "It's premonition...! Y-you're not gonna-gonna be able to shoot... yes. " He grabs the book and slowly puts down the box. "I-I know from pe-personal experience that if-if you try to go a-against the comic you'll get consequences..! It's fate... Yes." He stutters, repeating "yes" in a couple of sentences. You lean on the wall and watch them talk about the consequences of the book. "Hang on! Your brother nearly died because he followed the comic!" He points at Mondatta. And Mondatta continues to explain the reason behind it.

They look both nervous and distressed about the situation but you were just looking forward to that great idea that the book says. "Then what now..." He grunts and looks at the crusaders. From where you stood, you weren't able to see them but you could see Polnareff approach him— oh— oh no.. This is not good. Mondatta quickly hides under the crate again.

Polnareff comes from behind and places his stand's èpèe¹ on his neck. "Don't move!" He moves it closer to Hol Horse's neck. "Unless you wanna be lanced." Hol Horse bit his cigarette in anxiety and let out a surprised grunt. "Ho—how the hell did you—" His fingers twitched as he tried to summon his stand but Polnareff was quick to notice and struck him from the back with his stand. Hol horse cough out blood as his cigarette fell.

You need to help him quickly.

Then finally it came, the idea, as it said in the premonition. It was absurd but it'll get the job done..... you hope it was right... Sprinting to Polnareff, you pushed him to the wall. Although, it wasn't hard enough to knock the air out of his body but enough to withdraw his stand. With hands still on his chest and standing on your tippy-toes, you kissed him. At first he was shocked but he closes his eyes and kisses back after a while, getting into the kiss. You side glanced at the stunned Hol Horse and smacked him upright in the head with the help of your stand.

Understanding what you meant, he grabbed Mondetta and ran away. You broke the kiss and ran after them. Although you struggled to catch up since the kiss took so long, making you ran out of breath.

The French man stares in the direction you ran, in absolute lovestruck. Ignoring the calls of his friends, he sighs lovingly. "Oh mon Dieu..." He hopes he gets to see you again.

★

"Y/N, What was that?!" You leaned on the wall, catching your breath. It looks like [Tohth] worked its charm. "I- hah- was saving your hah- hide just like the book said." Hol Horse didn't look tired from the running at all. 'He must be used to it.' He grumbles and puts Mondetta down. "And I can't even get a hug from you..." He huffs and grabs a cigarette. Mondetta shuffles away but you stopped him. "What does the comic says next?"

"Oh uhm..." He opens the book and you kneel beside him. Hol Horse loomed behind the two of you looking at the book and totally not at you.

The trio ran away, trying to think of another plan. "Curse that Frenchie!" Hol Horse furiously crosses his arm. He was very jealous that Polnareff got a kiss from Y/N instead of him!

Hol Horse crosses his arm and looks away. You snicker. "Really Horsey? You got jealous of that?!" You burst out laughing and held your stomach. He groans and grabs the book. "Ha- He was- pfft- a really good kisser too." You teased him while he flips the pages of the book, face flushed.

"What's the next premonition?!"

☆☆☆

1. Apparently, Èpèe is the sword that [Silver Chariot] uses.

#jojo #jjba #jojoba #jojo no kimyō na bōken #jojo bizarre adventure #jojo's bizarre adventure stardust crusaders #stardust crusaders #jjba part 3 #jean pierre polnareff #jp polnareff #Hol horse #jjba boingo #x reader #jjba x reader #polnareff x reader #hol horse x reader

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sergiovinazzi · 4 years ago

Text

Stolen - Lando Norris x Reader (Chapter Two)

2.9k words, rated E for everyone :)

Lando’s voice, amplified by the TV speakers, echoes around the humming Red Bull garage. “I’m fine but I’ve been better. I can say that I’m not in perfect condition, I’m not gonna lie. Some work to do mentally of course. I talk about that a lot, and mental health and mental strength is very important. I’ve not been sleeping that great and so on… not ideal and I’m feeling a bit sore, but I’m not the guy in the worst position after Wembley. I’ll work on it, I’ll make sure I’m in the best shape possible, and I feel like I can still go out and focus on what I need to do, and that’s the main thing.”

Your mind races as you listen to the boy plastered across the many screens revisit his experience at Wembley. He sounds awful; something about his cadence making it even more obvious that he is really, truly shaken up. The wavering pitch, awkward pausing, fumbling for words; everything about the way he presents himself is serving as a brutal reminder that being physically unscathed is no indicator that harm was not dealt. Even as the interview moves past the topic of last week’s Euro Final, you notice the shift in demeanor and your heart aches. You worry that bringing the watch to him is a bad idea, that it could prompt unbidden memories and disquieting feelings. You understand how big of an event Silverstone is from your dad’s tangents alone, especially for an English team with an English driver, so you reevaluate whether your decision to come was selfish, one made solely to alleviate your own sentiments of guilt rather than to verily right your believed wrongdoings.

On the journey to Silverstone, your dad had made multiple attempts at lessening your stress, even opting for variations of the if he steps out of line I will put him right back in his place father speech. Unfortunately fruitless, your father’s attempts mean you remain just as anxious as when you had first discovered that you managed to obtain a stolen wristwatch.

You’re not sure whether it’s the crisp morning air or your nerves that sends chills across your flesh, but your attempt to ground yourself subtly doesn’t go unnoticed by your dad as he passes you in the garage.

“Time is ticking,” he informs you, a smirk playing on his lips. “No pun intended.”

You roll your eyes in an attempt to downplay your apprehension, but your voice gives away any and all signs of the false confidence you hope to portray. “Can you do it for me?” you plead.

“I can’t just stroll on over to the McLaren garage without an invitation or proper reason, especially not a couple hours before free practice starts. It doesn’t look good.”

“It’s not like me walking in there instead would look any better,” you retort, gesturing to the Red Bull logo plastered across the chest of your black polo. “Your branding isn’t what I would call subtle.”

“Look, the McLaren team are a good sort. They’ll help you out if you just explain the issue and show them the watch. I’m sure Lando will understand too, he seems like a pretty nice bloke,” your dad reassures you.

Sighing, your eyes meet the floor, fingers intertwined with each other as you fidget incessantly. Before you can speak up in further defiance, however, an additional set of footsteps grow nearer and you freeze at the voice which speaks up.

“Christian, how much longer until our media slot?”

You lose your breath momentarily, locking your gaze onto your shoes as you wait for the person to pass by.

“About five minutes, Max,” your dad replies. “We were just about to head over.”

When you hear the footsteps grow fainter, you risk looking up, thankfully being met with only the observance of your father. You don’t even realize that you’ve tensed your body until your dad points it out.

“Relax,” he says. “He’s not going to say anything here, especially not on a race weekend.”

Nodding, you feel your shoulders ease up but you remain quiet.

“Anyways, like I said, our media briefing and interviews start soon and we’re after McLaren this weekend so they should already be back in their garage,” he says, realizing that you still appear troubled by the task ahead of you. “I promise you, everything will be fine. Just go over there and I’ll meet you back here when we’re done. The quicker you head over, the quicker you’re done with it and we can all move on." With that, your dad walks away and you reluctantly leave the Red Bull garage, adjusting your shirt as you straighten up.

You take a brief glance at your phone, turning it off after you try one last time to keep the picture of the boy imprinted in your mind. Eyes darting rapidly, you attempt to scan the paddock for anyone looking remotely like him while you make your way towards the bright orange and blue indicators of the McLaren garage.

The frequency of orange-clad individuals grows the further you stray from the safety of Red Bull’s garage, and you feel your heartbeat begin to increase. Worried that someone would stop you before you could approach the one person you had traveled all the way to Silverstone for in the first place, you quicken your pace.

You’re mere meters away when you spot him. Pushing past a few people while trying to keep your eyes trained on him, you watch as he turns around to talk briefly with the woman next to him.

Huffing, you muster up the little confidence you have and tap him on the shoulder.

His confusion is evident and the blonde woman next to him does not look pleased to have been interrupted. The silence is palpable as they stare at you, expecting an explanation for the abrupt ending of their conversation.

“Hi,” is all you can deliver. You’re at a loss for words while the woman next to him seems to lose what little patience she has with you. Everything you had rehearsed beforehand, gone. Your mind is foggy and your mouth feels dry as you try to compose yourself. “Um, can I talk to you for a second? It won’t be long, I promise.” Your voice breaks at the end and you wish you had never agreed to get on that stupid red-eye to Silverstone in the first place.

Lando offers a look of sympathy and then turns to the woman next to him. “Charlotte, could you just give us a second?”

Pursing her lips and turning on her heel, the woman walks away, heading towards the mouth of the McLaren garage. She’s far enough away that you’re out of earshot, but close enough that you feel her gaze linger as Lando turns back to face you.

“Hey, don’t worry,” he tells you with a smile. “We can take a picture if you want or I can sign some stuff for you.”

“What? No.” You shake your head, mentally slapping your palm against your forehead and forcing yourself to get a grip. Idiot. “Fuck, sorry, that sounded so rude! It’s just-” you rush to explain.

“Oh no, it’s okay!” he stammers. “I should’ve guessed from the Red Bull shirt anway.”

You both share an awkward laugh before you compose yourself and reach a shaky hand into your bag.

“This is going to sound so weird, but I was online shopping for a new watch the other day because I lost mine, and I’m pretty sure I bought the one that was stolen from you. I didn’t know anything about it, I swear. I just...well, here,” you say, offering the watch and its temporary box to Lando.

He looks at you, taking the box only to go wide-eyed at the contents inside.

“I have all the information that I was able to get, but the ad was taken off of eBay and I really wanted to do the right thing and give it back to you. Please don’t be mad.”

“What the hell?!” he exclaims, earning a few looks from people passing by and catching Charlotte’s attention once more. “Sorry, sorry. How did you get this?”

Amused, you laugh quietly while he studies the watch intently. “That was my dad’s reaction too. Basically there was a listing for it on eBay and it was sort of an impulse buy,” you explain. “I didn’t see the news coverage of what happened until afterwards and I felt awful. I’m really sorry you had to go through that, I genuinely had no idea.”

Shrugging, he plays it off. “Nothing I can’t handle.” It’s hard to miss his sudden change in attitude from the interview you watched moments ago and you can’t help but wonder whether he has your or the watch’s presence to thank.

There is a brief moment of silence between you both before he continues. “How much did you pay for it?”

“It was so cheap, honestly,” you say. “Nothing compared to the original price, I’m sure.”

Charlotte, alerted by Lando’s attention-grabbing reaction to being reunited by his watch, returns to where the two of you are standing. “Oh wow, did you find a replacement watch for him?” she asks you, clearly impressed by the apparent likeness.

“No, Charlotte”, he corrects her. “It’s my one. Look.” He hands the watch to his PR manager, who receives it so gently you think she’s afraid it might shatter in her hands. Flipping the watch between her fingers, she studies the small engraving on the underside of the face.

“Oh my god,” she whispers.

Lando nods. “It’s the exact date it was given to me, there’s no way anyone else could know that and make a copy of it.”

You feel the need to justify yourself to her. “It was listed online and I bought it before I knew anything about the situation. I didn’t even really know who Lando was until I saw what happened on the news, I swear.” You anticipate her anger or disapproval, preparing yourself to withstand the lecture you’re about to receive and mentally promising that, as soon as it’s over, you can run back to your dad and tell him you just want to go home.

But it doesn’t come.

“I can’t believe it!” she exclaims. “We all thought we’d never see it again and you found it on accident.” The smile she gives you sets your mind at ease. “Technically, this is a police matter now, so I’ll have to hand it over to the right people, but this helps us tremendously. Did you get any information about the seller?”

You explain the situation to her, about how the listing was taken offline but you have a printout of the messages and address the seller gave you, which you hand her from your bag. She lets you know that someone may get in touch soon to ask questions but not to worry, that it’s only a formality. Eventually, she asks if you’d like to watch free practice from a spot in the mobile hospitality unit, but you politely decline, explaining that you needed to get back to your dad in the Red Bull garage instead.

Charlotte smiles fondly at Lando and presses the brim of his cap down over his eyes. “Come on, you, we have to go and get ready now anyway.”

He takes off his hat, cheeks flushing as he makes an effort to quickly brush the curls lining his forehead, placing it back on and dismissing Charlotte with a wave of his hand. “Okay, just give me a minute.”

Once the two of you are alone, he pulls out his phone. “Do you have Venmo? I’ll pay you back, it’s not fair that you had to waste your money.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.”

Lando seems unconvinced. “It’s really not a problem.”

“Seriously, it’s all good.”

“Well,” he continues awkwardly. “I have to go, but are you here for the whole weekend or...?”

You shake your head. “Just today. I’m not into Formula 1, I find it a little bit boring.”

“Seriously?! The fastest cars in the world and you’re calling it boring? Why even come to something like Silverstone if it’s so boring?” he feigns offense, doing air quotes as he imitates your apparent disdain for the sport.

Laughing quietly, you shrug. “I have family at Red Bull, so it was basically just luck and convenience that you were in the U.K. this weekend,” you clarify. “I don’t really understand Formula 1, that’s all.”

“Fair enough, it’s not for everyone I suppose,” Lando replies. “So who in your family works at Red–” The end of his question is drowned out by the sound of his name called by an evidently disgruntled, impatient engineer.

He sighs. “I’m sorry, I’ve really gotta go, but, um,” he exhales with a nervous laugh. “I still feel like I need to repay you in some way. Do you want to go get a drink after the race on Sunday? I’m busy for the next few days but Sunday night I’ll be free. Only if you want to, of course, I don’t want to, like, pressure you or anything.”

You laugh, appreciative that the nervousness was shared. “That– Yeah, that sounds fine. I’ll give you my number.”

He types your details into his phone before apologizing once more, thanking you again, and rushing off into the garage.

——

On Sunday, you let your dad believe he’s the one who convinced you to stay for the entire race weekend, but it’s the promise of Lando’s company later that night and the endearing text messages on your phone that prompts the desire to see this weekend through. You had spent the previous nights on your phone, going through driver and team Instagram accounts, as well as the F1 website, to get an idea of what to expect. Typically, it would pain you to look through motorsport news pages, especially with so many of the reports centering around Max and his vie for the championship as of late, but you manage.

You notice almost immediately while settling into your spot at the back of the garage that the energy does not match your own. You are enthusiastic and eager, while the rest of the team is stressed and rushes around you. Presumably, it’s because race day impacts their livelihoods and paycheks whereas it only dictates your family’s dinner topics, but, nevertheless, your excitement refuses to simmer.

Unfortunately, if it was weird for you to be seen at the McLaren garage before the first free practice, it would be infinitely more suspicious for you to be lingering around on race day, so you were not able to catch Lando at all since your initial meeting on Friday. However, you made sure to message him good luck beforehand, to which he thanked you and expressed excitement for your upcoming night.

“If you need anything, just ask. I’ll be on the pitwall,” your dad says, snapping you out of your whirring mind. He notices your obscure behavior, quick to comment on it. “Is it weird? Being here after so long?”

You nod, shrugging. “Unusual, for sure. So much has changed since the last time I came and watched, but I’m excited, though.”

“Well, it’s always good to have you here.”

Reciprocating your dad’s grin, you silently send him on his way. He exits quickly and leaves you to your own devices. Though, your own devices look to consist of impatiently waiting for the race to start and scrolling absentmindedly through your phone. Ironically, your boredom with pre-race antics appears to create quite the dichotomy against the chaos exuding from the garage you find yourself encompassed in.

Regardless, your attention is regained when frequent cuts are made to the drivers in their cars, and you recognise that the race will be starting soon. You are temporarily startled when the cars begin moving without hearing an official announcement, but quickly realisee that it is merely a formation lap and no one else around you seems to be paying all too much mind to it.

When the cars return to their positions on the grid, you watch eagerly as the lights flash and the announcers begin yelling. You keep your eyes trained on the orange car towards the front of the grid, watching Lando so intently that you almost miss what happens to the cars in front of him.

Your eyes go wide as you watch the events unfold: the Red Bull car out front collides with what you identify as a Mercedes, spinning and slamming into the barrier. Gasps chorus across the garage as the screens replay slowed clips of the crash as an announcement states that the safety car has been deployed. They replay it from every conceivable angle, your astonishment at the severity is present upon your first viewing, but it’s only after the sixth clip that it clicks in your head that the person in the car is Max.

“For the second time this season, Hamilton and Verstappen clash and tangle on the opening lap, but, this time, it is ending in dramatic consequences for the championship leader.”

If you had perceived the pre-race behavior in the garage as chaotic, this was a whole new level of absurdity.

People rush around you while orders are shouted and frustrations are verbalised.

Your dad is angry.

The last time you recall him behaving like this was when your younger sister had broken the wine glasses he had bought for your mother on their honeymoon. You, however, ignore his yelling and remain encapsulated by the TV, releasing a breath you didn’t know you were holding as the events unfolding finally, finally register in your brain.

Car number 33 is in the wall and out of the race, and your ex-boyfriend is inside, silent and unmoving.

____________

tag list @lovebynorth @its-astrotea-love

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