#maybe 11-13 years if you really stretched it

[virtues-end]

WAITT if the age gap is so big between mc/shea then theres no way they could have been childhood friends and whatnot……..,,,. very intriguign development

The MC is around their late 20s at the youngest, so the age gap is around 5 to 10-ish years.

[moonstruckme]

i seen your post asking for thawing out ideas/requests and i love it so far you’re an amazing writer!! it’s only 2 parts and i’m obsessed haha – maybe reader or sirius falls or something on the ice (nothing serious ofc!) and remus panics a little as a way of thawing the tension between siri and rem? either sirius realizing remus cares about the reader and starting to trust him more or remus realizing he really cares about what happens to sirius/their duo!!

Thank you for your request gorgeous!!

collab with @ellecdc

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14 | part 15 | part 16

cw: modern au, chronic pain, brief and lightly implied past abuse

poly!wolfstar x fem!reader ♡ 2k words

You’re only a few days out from flying to the Olympics when Sirius doesn’t show up to walk you to practice. You call him and wait around with Remus for a while, but eventually you decide to get in whatever training you can without him. It’s far from unheard of for Sirius to sleep through his alarm. 

Remus seems grateful for the extra time with you. He’s been laying it on a little thick since you’d reacted so drastically to his unintentional Peter-ism, praising you for everything from how you stretch to the simplest of jumps, and any criticisms are softened into measly recommendations. You’ve done your best to let him know that you’re not upset with him (you never were, honestly, how could he have known the effect those precise words would have on you?), and now things seem to be more or less normal between the two of you. 

You like Remus more by the day. When he’d first come to coach you and Sirius, you’d been happy to see him, but only because of what he represented. A fresh start, a guiding hand, the possibility of his greatness transmitting to your duo and making you better than you’d ever been. And all of those things have proven true, but as you’ve worked together and learned from each other you’ve grown to appreciate your miracle coach as a man, too. 

Remus is kind. He’s smart, and discerning, but he doesn’t boast about it, and he’s patient with you and Sirius when you can’t always keep up with his reasoning. He’s patient in general, though you know neither of you have made it easy for him and you’ve often wondered if you deserve it. He has a serious manner, but sometimes when you’re joking around with Sirius you’ll see him smiling, tongue pressing into his cheek like he’s trying to repress it. You can tell that, despite years in front of cameras and a well-earned self-assuredness, he’s shy about certain things. Like Sirius, he doesn’t always like to have his kindnesses acknowledged. But there’s a warmth about Remus. Not bright and dazzling, but a soft, steady warmth, like the flicker of a candle or the glow of the moon. 

You can see it now, the faint gleam of approval and something else in his eyes as you land your final jump in the routine on a solid ankle. His lips tilt up as though the accomplishment were his own. 

“That was lovely,” he says as you skate over for feedback. “Really, really good.” 

You beam at him, the praise lighting something in your chest. “But…”

Remus shakes his head. “No buts. I think you’ve got your part of the routine down completely.”

It’s impossible to contain your elation. You want to hug him and so you do, the toes of your skates pressed against the edge of the rink and your arms wound up around his shoulders. 

Remus seems surprised for a moment, but eventually his arms come around you too. Gentle, tentative. You don’t mind; you squeeze him extra hard to make up for it. 

“Now all we need is for Sirius to get the spiral,” Remus says. 

You laugh, your good mood unshakeable. You know Remus has questioned the wisdom of his decision to add the death spiral into your routine over the last few days. After several practices on and off the ice, you’ve made no progress on getting even an inch lower than you were, which isn’t enough to gain full points in competition. You know by now that it’s not because Sirius isn’t strong enough to crouch further down, or that he has his skates in the wrong position. He just won’t do it. It’s frustrating, but there’s nothing left for you or Remus to do. It’s like you under-rotating your jumps when you’d first started practicing; it’s a mental block, something he has to get past on his own.

“He’ll figure it out,” you tell Remus certainly. “Sirius does well under pressure. You’d be surprised what he can pull out at the last minute.” 

And speak of the devil. The door to the rink bangs shut, announcing Sirius’ entrance. He looks about as happy as he always does to be up before sunrise, worse because he’s clearly rushed out of bed to get here. His sweatshirt is on backwards and there’s a pillow crease on his cheek. 

“Sorry,” he mutters, slumping down onto the bench to put his skates on. 

“It’s okay.” You comb your fingers through his sleep-fluffed hair, moving some of the larger pieces away from his face. The look Remus is giving him borders upon fond. “As it turns out, I do much better when you’re not here.” 

“Always knew you would.” He brushes your hand away, using the hair tie on his wrist to pull his hair back into its usual haphazard bun. And as usual, you have to make a concerted effort not to watch how his biceps flex with the motion. 

“Let’s have you do a shortened warm-up today,” says Remus. “Ten minutes, alright?”

“No, I’m good.” Sirius stands, stretching his arms behind his back as he walks towards the ice. “We’ve missed enough time today, let’s get to it.” 

Remus frowns but doesn’t argue, and you know better than to try either. Sirius doesn’t seem grumpy, per se, but he’s never in his best mood when he first wakes up and he’s stubborn at the best of times. 

However half-asleep he may seem, Sirius is still resplendent on the ice. He skates with a lazy grace, the illusion breaking only when he has to tighten his form for jumps and turns. He never wobbles, never falters, every movement as easy and sure as if he’d been born with blades on his feet. 

The death spiral goes the same as it has been. Sirius makes it look like that’s the way it was always meant to be performed, but no matter his bravado any judge will know the difference. Still, you get your practice in with the general movement, and then he’s throwing you into your next spin, then jump after spin, spin after jump, the routine crescendoing in music, pacing, and difficulty. The world whirls around you, Sirius’ hand a home base that you grasp and let go of only to find again, the sounds of your skates on the ice their own rhythm conducted by muscle memory, complex and quickening and so consuming you almost wouldn’t notice Sirius’ had stopped if he didn’t cry out. 

You stop, breathless. Sirius is on his side. He’s no stranger to pain, but he doesn’t like it any more than the next person, and it’s all twisted up in his face now. 

It takes you a beat to move. When you do Remus is already coming out onto the ice, the rubber soles of his shoes slipping until he goes down on his knees to slide the rest of the way to Sirius. 

“What is it?” you ask, though you think you know, your friend’s body curving and hands reaching for his skate. 

Sirius’ breaths are short and pained. “My ankle.” 

“Let me see.” Remus’ fingers are deft and sure as he undoes Sirius’ laces. Your own hand quivers slightly as Sirius sits up and you set it on his shoulder, hoping to anchor him even if you don’t feel very anchored yourself. He inhales sharply as the skate comes off. Remus shushes him, gentle fingers circling his ankle. “Shh, love, you’re alright.” 

“Does it feel broken?” you worry. 

Sirius is watching Remus prod at his ankle with a bemused sort of caution. “No,” he says. “I think maybe just twisted.”

“It could be a sprain,” Remus says. He’s rolled down the top of Sirius’ sock and is turning his ankle over carefully in his grasp. “Bruising might show up later.” 

“It’s fine.” Sirius sits up further, but when Remus doesn’t let go of his ankle he doesn’t pull away. “I just need to stretch it out and it’ll be good.” 

Remus’ eyes flicker up to his, and you see the kind sternness in them. “Whether it’s sprained or not, you can’t just skate it off. We’re done for today. Probably for tomorrow, too.” 

“Don’t be daft.” Sirius reaches for his skate. Remus moves it away. “We don’t have time for me to take a sabbatical.”

“Sirius,” you say, “practicing more won’t mean anything if you can’t compete.” 

Remus nods his agreement. “We’re not risking you injuring yourself no matter how close to comp we are,” he says. “We’re not.” He stands with Sirius’ skate in hand. 

“What’re you doing?” 

“I’m confiscating this,” Remus holds up Sirius’ skate, and you press your lips together to hide a smile, “until you’re cleared to skate again.” 

Sirius is appalled. “But—but it’s mine!” 

“Oh, don’t be a child, Pads.” 

Now you can’t suppress your snicker. Sirius lets out a shocked huff, elbowing you in the ribs. You can see the corner of his mouth twitching unwillingly. 

“Hey.” You pinch the back of his arm in retribution. “Do you want my help getting off the ice or not?” 

You end up finding ice for Sirius in the staff break room and sitting with him for a while as you hold it to his ankle. Remus stays, too, the three of you chatting about banal things that you enjoy immensely nonetheless. The car Sirius had nearly walked right out in front of in his rush to get here this morning, Remus’ mother and how she loves to bang around the house as soon as the sun is up, the new syrup flavor you’ve discovered at the coffee shop. Every sliver of information you can get about Remus feels precious, and though you sometimes feel like you know Sirius inside and out you never tire of hearing his stories either. He has such a fun, vibrant way of telling them, all big gestures and dramatic words, whereas Remus seems almost tentative when he talks about his life, smiling when you laugh along as though it hadn’t occurred to him that humor could be shared. 

When the hockey team shows up Sirius only lets James fret over him for a minute before he’s dragging him and his messed up ankle out the door, forcing you to hurry after so you can act as his crutch. You walk Sirius home, where he vows to stay and rest, before heading back to your own apartment. 

It’s only once you’re alone that your mind, unbidden, begins turning over the way Sirius and Remus had looked at each other today. You’d been too worried about your friend to think of anything else at the time, but there had been a moment, between Remus’ gentle handling of his ankle and his soft, kind placations, where Sirius’ expression had faltered. Surprise, vulnerability, and something else. Something that rings of familiarity, and yet you can’t place. 

It’s clear to you that the dynamic between your partner and your coach has shifted. That while you’ve been feeling closer to Remus’, Sirius has too, and they’ve passed some boundary you missed along the way. Maybe the chemistry between them was always obvious. They’d fought, antagonized each other, but some people enjoy that, don’t they? Maybe you’ve been naive to think that you’ve been working to get them amicable, when really they’ve had this unspoken tension tethering them to each other all along. 

The idea of Sirius and Remus together feels…strange. But that’s probably only because it’s so new to you. Sirius is your best friend, and you’d thought you and Remus were getting close, so it’s odd to imagine the two of them interlocked in this other dynamic together, separate from you. You can see how it might happen. They’re both very attractive, both headstrong in their own ways, and you’ve seen how they can soften for one another when the circumstances call for it. You think they could take care of each other. And you can take care of them both, though in a different way. You can support them, make things easy between the three of you, be a good friend. Nothing has to change in your dynamic with either of them, even if theirs with each other has shifted. 

You could be alright with that, you think. You can be happy for them. You will be.

[snowysosturn]

Speeding Car - Matt Sturniolo Part 11

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29

Pairing : y/n x Matt Sturniolo

Summary : After six years with your boyfriend Alex, you start to mentally check out. At a UCLA party, Alex reconnects with his childhood friend Emily, who proposes a double date with her boyfriend Matt. Your attraction to Matt grows as he pays you the first real attention you've had in years, sparking a complicated emotional journey.

Warnings : MDNI, tension, arguments, mention of physical fight, toxic boyfriend

Matt’s POV

The drive back to my place was suffocating. I could feel the weight of unspoken words pressing down on me. Emily was yapping away next to me, about all the sights she wanted to see in Barcelona. Alex sat in the back, his face stern as he stared out the window, lost in thought. Every now and then, I caught him shifting in his seat, hoping it was unease from regret, but he didn’t say anything about it. I could tell he was still pissed, probably still replaying the argument with Y/n in his head. I couldn’t stop thinking about it either. Her voice, filled with pain, it had left me feeling some sense of guilt. I knew he was like this, but I still didn’t reach out to her at all over the last 4 weeks.

As we pulled into the garage, I noticed the lights were still on inside. Nick and Chris were probably still awake, maybe waiting up for us. I wasn’t sure how this night was going to end, but the air felt thick with unspoken words. I couldn’t wait to get out of the car and break the tension, tension that only I was feeling. We walked into the house, and Nick was the first to greet us. He barely glanced at me before muttering a quick “Hey” and disappearing upstairs to his room. I knew he was still pissed about our argument earlier, and I couldn’t blame him. I hadn’t handled it well. Nick was protective, and when he believed something was wrong, he was like a dog with a bone. I could feel the rift between us.

Chris, on the other hand, was his usual laid back self. He came over, giving Alex a quick nod. “Hey man, you can crash in my room tonight” he said, sounding genuine. “I’ll stay in with Nick.”

“Thanks” Alex mumbled, managing a half hearted smile.

“No problem” Chris gave me a look before heading down the hall to grab his things. I wasn’t sure if he knew what was going on, but his presence was comforting in its own way.

Once Chris was gone, the three of us settled in the living room. We ordered takeout and picked a random movie on Netflix to watch, though I doubt any of us were really paying attention. Emily was curled up next to me, her head resting on my shoulder, but I couldn’t focus on the warmth of her touch. My mind kept drifting back to the argument I had overheard, the way her voice had cracked when she told him how much she had done for him.

Hours passed, and eventually, Emily yawned, stretching her arms above her head. “Think I’m gonna head to bed, we’re up early.” she said softly, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.

“Alright” I replied, kissing the top of her head. “I’ll be in in a bit.”

She nodded, giving Alex a sleepy smile before disappearing down the hallway to my room. As soon as she was out of sight, I turned to Alex, trying to gauge his mood.

“I’ll show you Chris’ room.” I said, standing up. I wanted to talk to him but not here, not with Emily so close by. I needed answers, and I needed to understand what was going on with him and Y/n. The way she sounded earlier, it was like she was at her breaking point.

Alex followed me down the stairs to Chris’ room, his footsteps heavy. The room was a little messy, with clothes scattered here and there, but being honest, Alex didn’t deserve anything more. I closed the door behind us, taking a moment to compose myself before turning to face him.

“So how’s Y/n?” I asked, my voice quieter than I intended. The question hung between us, emotionally charged with everything I wasn’t saying.

Alex snorted, shaking his head dismissively. “She’s.. whatever, man. She’s just being dramatic at the minute. I mean, I get it, she’s pissed off because I’m not spending every waking moment with her, but come on. It’s not like I’m out partying all the time or anything.”

Yeah because you can’t.

“Is she not looking after you in every sense the last few weeks? Do you not think she deserves to be appreciated?” I bit back.

Alex scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh, here we go. You’re blowing this way out of proportion. Y/n likes to take care of things, she’s always been like that. It’s not like I asked her to do all that.

His words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I could feel my fists clenching at my sides. The way he talked about her, like she was just some annoyance, made my blood boil.

“You seriously think that just because you didn’t ask, it means you can take her for granted? She’s doing it because she cares about you Alex, and you’re treating her like she’s disposable. You can’t just brush her off like she’s nothing.”

Alex rolled his eyes, clearly not getting it. “Dude, it’s not like that. She just doesn’t get what it’s like, being on the team, having this pressure. It’s not like she’s doing anything important, she doesn’t even go to college. She’s got all this free time, so yeah, she can help me out.”

Yeah she doesn’t even go to college but is still doing your shitty work for you.

“She’s doing it because she cares about you. The least you could do is show a little appreciation. Instead, you’re acting like she’s a burden.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “You’re being dramatic. Y/n’s fine. She’s not going anywhere. She knows I’m busy. It’s not like she expects me to drop everything for her.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. She’s not going anywhere. I now know he acts like this because he thinks she’ll never leave. If i could have my way right now, this would be Alex’s second physical fight since I’ve known him. I was so lost in my anger, that no words came out.

“She’s not some fragile little thing.” Alex shot back, a defensive edge to his voice. “She knows how it is. I’ve got my own shit to deal with. I can’t do everything she wants at the drop of a hat.”

“You’re missing the point.” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “It’s about being there for her. About showing her that she matters to you. Right now, you’re not doing that.”

Alex narrowed his eyes at me, clearly irritated. “And why do you care so much about what happens between me and Y/n? It’s none of your business, she’s my girlfriend not yours.”

Fuck why do I care so much? Why am I defending her like this to him, we haven’t even spoken in 4 weeks. How do I cover this?

“I care because she’s Emily’s friend.” I lied, hoping it would cover up the intensity of my emotions. Fuck was that the best excuse I could come up with?

“And if Emily knew how you’ve been treating Y/n, she wouldn’t be happy about it. You know that.”

Alex snorted, shaking his head. “Emily’s friend, huh? Is that all this is?”

“Yeah, that’s all it is.” I replied, my jaw tight. I had to tread carefully here. “Emily would be upset if she knew you were blowing Y/n off like this. I care about Emily. You care about Emily. Let’s not upset Emily. Oh my god I’m digging a hole right now… Say something else dumbass.

“I’m just trying to make sure things don’t get worse between you two, you know, keep the friendship group alive.”

Just stop fucking speaking.

Alex’s smirk faded, but he still didn’t look like he was taking any of this seriously. “Look, I’ll talk to Y/n, alright? I’ll smooth things over. She’ll get over it. She always does.”

“Just.. think about what I said, alright?” I muttered, taking a step back. “Before you fuck things up beyond repair.”

For a moment, we just stood there, the tension between us hitting off every wall in the room. I could see the clogs turning in Alex’s head, but instead of admitting he was wrong, he just scoffed again and turned away.

“Whatever, man. I’m tired. Let’s just drop it.”

I wanted to keep going, to make him see how much he was hurting Y/n, but I knew it would be pointless. Alex wasn’t ready to hear it, and pushing him further would only make things worse.

“Fine..” I muttered, stepping back. “Get some sleep.”

As I turned to leave, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of frustration and guilt. I knew Y/n deserved better, but I was powerless to do anything about it. The door creaked slightly as I opened it, and the sound seemed to echo in the quiet room.

Before I could leave, Alex called after me, his voice low and almost reluctant. “Matt.. I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But Y/n and I, we’ll work it out. We always do.”

I paused in the doorway, my back to him. Part of me wanted to believe him, to trust that they could fix whatever was broken between them. But another part of me, the part that had seen Y/n’s tear streaked face, couldn’t shake the feeling that things were already too far gone.

“Just don’t take her for granted” I said finally, not turning around. “She deserves better than that.”

With that, I left the room, the weight of our conversation heavy on my shoulders. Maybe I shouldn’t of said anything, this might get me in trouble. As I climbed back up the stairs, trying to shake off the conversation, I heard quick footsteps echoing down the hallway. Nick was running down the stairs from his room, clearly in a rush.

“Where are you going?” I asked, stopping in my tracks as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

Nick glanced at me, slightly out of breath. “I’m heading over to Y/n’s place. I’m gonna crash there tonight.”

I felt a hit of something..jealousy? worry?..stab at my chest. “Wait, what? Why?”

Nick shrugged, but there was something more behind his casual demeanor. “Just thought I’d check in on her, you know? With everything going on… I figured she could use some company. And honestly, I don’t really feel like staying here tonight.”

His words were like a jab, a reminder of the tension that had been hanging over all of us since earlier. “You don’t think it’s a little... weird? Just showing up at her place?” As if it’s not something I haven’t done before.

Nick gave me a knowing look, one that made my stomach twist uncomfortably. “Weird? Why would it be weird? She’s a friend, Matt. And I think she could use one right now. And besides, we’ve been texting, she knows I’m coming over, she ordered the Uber.”

He wasn’t wrong. After what I’d just heard from Alex, it was clear Y/n needed someone. I just didn’t know how I felt about that someone being Nick. How bad I desperately wanted it to be me.

“You think she’s okay?” I asked, my voice quieter now, remembering Emily is in the next room.

Nick’s expression softened, now bringing his voice to a whisper. “Honestly? I don’t know. She’s been dealing with a lot, and I don’t think Alex is really helping. I just wanna be there for her. Maybe cheer her up, get her mind off things.”

I leaned against the wall, trying to sort through the mess of emotions in my head. “What do you think’s going on with her and Alex?” As if I didn’t already know everything.

Nick hesitated, his gaze shifting slightly. “It’s not really my place to say. But from what I’ve seen, it’s not good. He’s been treating her like she’s some kind of accessory, like she’s just there to make his life easier.”

“Yeah..” I muttered, thinking back to the argument I’d just had with Alex. “He’s a total asshole.”

Nick nodded, his face serious. “Exactly. And that’s why I’m going over there. Someone needs to remind her she’s worth more than that.”

I couldn’t help but feel a sting of guilt. Here I was, tangled up in my own feelings, while Nick was stepping up to be the friend Y/n needed. “You really care about her, huh?”

Nick looked at me, his eyes earnest. “Of course I do. She’s cool, she’s fun to be around, and she’s dealing with all this shit right now. Someone’s gotta be there for her, and I’m not gonna let her go through it alone.”

There was something in the way he said it that made me pause. I realized then that Nick wasn’t just doing this out of obligation or pity, he genuinely cared about Y/n, maybe more than I’d given him credit for.

He started to walk away, but I called out after him, “Nick, wait.”

He turned back, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

I hesitated, then sighed. “Just.. take care of her, okay? I know she doesn’t show it, but she’s probably hurting more than shes letting on.”

Nick’s expression softened, and he nodded. “I will. Don’t worry.”

With that, he turned and headed for the door, leaving me standing there, a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions swirling inside me. I watched as he left, feeling a strange mix of relief and unease.

I walked into my room, Emily fast asleep in the middle of my bed. I tapped her ever so slightly so she would turn over onto her side, so I could get in beside her. The events of tonight replayed over in my head. It was all becoming too much.

Maybe Alex and Emily leaving the country for the next few days is a good thing..

a/n : everyone is still fightinggggg, atleast Emily and Alex are disappearing (kinda) for a bit in the next chapter..

edit: rereading this back as a chapter idk if im the happiest with it but it’ll all make sense as we go along

taglist : @muwapsturniolo @anitahunt @sturnfannn @jayde510 @chrissfavhoe @babyalliah-777 @v33angel @urmom69lol @willowrites @ribread03 @2muchofaslvt @sturnsaver @sleepysturniolo @jcsturniolo11 @jessie-essie @hoeforchrizz @mynbbys @sturniolopanini @mattsturnxoxo @delicatechrry @t77te @sturnsyaper69 @hotdismylife @maggot3647 @ivysturnss @noplaceissafeanymore @mattssgf @yourfavsturniologirl @maethem0nth @sillyponygrl @mattyblover07 @imjusthereforthesturniolosmut @dominicfikeenthusiast @mattsfavbigtitties

[queenlucythevaliant]

under the wings

1. Polly would always always always remember the feeling of falling asleep beneath Fledge's feathered wings.

2. She'd been curled up close to his side with his coverts over her shoulders like a shawl. His pinions had stretched past her to break the night winds. She'd leaned into the crook of his wing, feeling softness on her cheek. When she turned over in the night, feathers brushed her from all sides, whispering against her skin.

3. If Polly could have wished for one thing, at twelve, at twenty, at sixty, it would have been the same: to live in that memory. If she might, she never would have emerged from her place beneath Fledge's tawny wings.

4. She loved her smuggler's cave because it was safe and small and hers. She loved all kinds of nooks and closets, window seats and beds with curtains and covers she could crawl under.

5. Digory never understood it. He himself liked wide open space and covering skies. "It's the same concept though, I think," Polly remarked once. "There's something lovely about the feeling of being underneath."

6. Polly was even, unfathomably, rather partial to certain bomb shelters, though she'd never have admitted it. How pleasant it was to fall asleep underground, curled up in a corner wrapped in a blanket, safe in the knowledge that she was too far down for anything to hurt her.

7. (And when she wasn't in a shelter and the bombs fell anyway, she squeezed her eyes shut and pictured tawny feathers all round her.)

8. Digory wrote her letters and she wrote back. His were full of ditches in the ground and hers of shelters, but they both liked to write about lions and the sky.

9. After the first war, it was easy for a pretty lady to talk her way into flying lessons with one of the hundred wayward pilots left over from the fighting.

10. He was a mechanic by trade, and he didn't mind unconventional women; but he told Polly she had no business in a cockpit if she didn't know her way around an engine. So, two summers after the war ended, she spent her mornings smearing oil across her ruffled blouses and learning how to make things fly.

11. (She would have married him, if ever he'd asked her- but he never did, and maybe it was for the best.)

12. As the years wore past, Polly met other little girls with ribbons in their hair. She told them stories and she taught them her magic, and when they cried she brought them into her hiding places the same way she'd once done with Digory Kirke.

13. They called her Aunt Polly - both those children that she cared for interbellum, and the ones that came after.

14. Once, Polly dreamed that it had been her instead. Aslan told her, you will be the grandmother of all the angels, and feathered wings sprang from her back. Once, Polly dreamed that it had been her instead of Fledge.

15. (She woke with the feeling of feathers still clinging to her shoulders, itching.)

16. During the second war, she worked at an aerodrome. Occasionally she flew with the training crews, but mostly she'd go out onto the tarmac after the sirens were done and stand in the shadows of airplane wings.

17. When Digory told her about the wardrobe, Polly went to his estate, pulled out all the coats, and shut herself in. She didn't have any notions of getting back to Narnia that way-- but she did it all the same.

18. Jill and Eustace made her laugh: Eustace, who hated heights, and Jill, who panicked in small spaces. Oh Lord, thought Polly, save me from the irony. She loved them anyway.

19. In the end, she died in a train crash and opened her eyes to something like fragrant, golden feathers.

20. And suddeny, Polly understood. They're weren't really Fledge's wings at all, were they?

[victorthesilly]

Hi guys this is my new blueberror au that's very cool: Blueberror but he's even more fucked up and is also immortal and is also like cool and is also a god maybe

So like. Yk how error is usually thought out to be like. The god of destruction?? I think blueberror should also get that. Idk what he's the god of. Stars ig?? He's not finished obviously

If you want facts abt him, go under the cut! Remember that this is a VERY rough draft and things are subjected to change.

1. Blueberror is now VERY star-like

2. The stars on his cheek have now turned into actual stars. A gas giant similar to Saturn, a black hole and a red dwarf star.

3. His eye is a black hole that's slowly killing him. His body is deformed due to this, the design doesn't show it well right now.

4. His head is,, kind of like the gas giant? It's difficult to draw. I'll probably change that.

5. His soul is a red dwarf star.

6. He's immortal, but also not. The only thing that can kill him is the black hole that will slowly kill him and likely a good chunk of the multiverse after it consumes him.

7. He's taken care of by Ink due to him being extremely unstable and unable to take care of himself.

8. His body constantly feels like it's being stretched apart, since it. It is.🧍

9. He's like. Covered in stardust. I mean technically he IS made out of stardust because we're all made out of stardust but shut the fuck up die I mean this dust is noticeable

10. If you're near Blueberror/in an AU with Blueberror, you'll feel like you're being pulled towards him. You aren't, it's just. Something that happens. Like a trick on your mind.

11. He's really slow. He was originally gunna be fast BUT considering he technically has so much mass on him I'd think of him as actually really slow.

12. He has REALLY BAD EYESIGHT. OBVIOUSLY. 1 eye is FUCKING GONE while the other is RIGHT NEXT TO A BLACK HOLE so he's practically blind.

13. Do not touch him, you will puke or maybe accidently be pulled into him.

14. He's. Really quiet. He can't talk a lot due to his face morphing so much but also he like. Doesn't make any noise. This is based off how you can't hear anything in space because there's no sound waves. Idk how it works with him since there are sound waves but SHUT UP DIE

15. Remembers next to nothing about his past life, only that he had someone he loved.

16. Do not let him cook this bitch cannot even see how do you expect him to make anything good

17. Wow why did I make him so disabled

18. What

19. Ummmmmmm

20. God I feel bad he's just a sad guy that's gunna die in maybe 10(100 zeros at the end of it) years

[thewatercolours]

1,9,11,13

What was your writing-highlight this year?

I am not going to surprise anyone when I say that I was riding high on that idiotic tollbooth chapter. Both because that chapter really clicked in the process and because people were super kind in their response to it! i had a lot of fun working out the moment-by-moment with my brother. I'd say it's probably one of the better comedic attempts I've made - I hadn't really tried to be funny on the page in a while, and compared to my usual, it worked. And I was also really proud of the way it had a bit of heart, and I managed to make a major tonal shift kind of work without giving mood whiplash at the end of the scene. And @captmickey made an amazing full page comic of the part where No1 calls Graham out, and that was so kind, it knocked my socks off. It's always especially satisfying when a scene you put a lot of care into lands, so - yeah. It wasn't a perfect scene by any stretch, but it did everything it needed too, and that is tremendously satisfying.

9. Create a meme or moodboard that captures your past writing-year!

OK, this isn't going to be a pretty, cohesive moodboard, because I can get perfectionistic. So here's something for every story I worked on in a significant way this year.

"Always at Hand"

"The Snow Moon Temple"

"Priorities"

"Having a Blast"

"With More Heart"

"Pixilation"

"Path of Kingship"

"Popping Corks"

"Pirate Monks"

"Everything Changes"

"The Best Watch"

"The Brilliant Hour"

"Birthday Tradition"

"At a Standstill" (with @gerbiloftriumph)

"The Iron Gate"

"Mind Reading"

"Asleep and Awake"

"Lost"

"Scraps and Patches"

PIRATES!!! (with @gerbiloftriumph)

"Christmas in Morceaux: Charles Bardin"

11. Which scene was harder/easier to write than anticipated?

All the non-KQ ones, and also the Clockett chapter from Path of Kingship.The previous chapters had flowed so well, I thought I was on a real roll! And then everything ground to a halt during that chat in the stable, and I had *many* drafts, and much back and forth with Gerbil (thank you!) Also, evidently, the next chapter of Path of Kingship. I fell off my groove. But the other day my brother came and told me, "I'd really like to see what happens next in Path of Kingship." And I gave him a big hug and said I'd try if he'd talk it over with me. So here's hoping for 2025!

13. How did you change as a writer?

I realized I had stopped caring about publishing, and can share any writing I want without having to worry I'll spoil my chances if anyone can find it online. This is liberating, and will maybe pave the way for good things in the new year.

[jokertrap-ran]

BAD MEDICINE ~Infectious teachers~ [PC GAME] Kashu Remu (Chemistry) Route Translations (Part 16)

MC’s name is retained as the original MC name Kawana Hina.

* Words within ‘   ‘ are spoken in English – *Spoiler free : Translations under cut!

Prologue / Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16

⊳Choice: Go participate in Club Activities

Kashu: Kawana-san. Are you here?

Kashu: I’m only here out of reluctance. I really don’t want to be doing this…

Hina: I see?

Kashu: I was told to conduct interviews, so I didn’t really have much of a choice.

Kashu: I’m the advisor of the Chemistry Club, and you’re the only member.

Hina: Didn’t I send in my letter of resignation…? Never mind, that doesn’t matter.

Hina: (He’s been behaving so strangely after I’ve recovered from my cold that I don’t really care about why I was even mad, or how hurt I felt in the first place.)

Hina: (I don’t think humans were made to be worrying about so many things at once.)

Hina: (I really have to thank Kuzuha-sensei for having pointed out something that I’d never thought to notice…)

Kashu: Letter of resignation? I’ve never seen it, so maybe it never got accepted in the first place.

Kashu: I don’t remember ever submitting anything like that to the academic affairs department. And I don’t remember where it was either~

Kashu: If you want to leave the Club, then why don’t you go submit it yourself?

Hina: Enough alre- never mind. It doesn’t matter anymore, like I said. I’ve decided not to quit.

Kashu: Hmm~ Enough about that, let’s do the survey~ Please answer my questions~ You can treat it as a test of sorts.

Hina: You’re of the irresponsible sort, aren’t you…

Kashu: I’ve told you already, I really don’t wanna do this~ I’m only doing this because they’d get mad if I don’t~

Kashu: I’d be troubled if the Chemistry Club got disbanded~ That would mean that I’d have a lesser budget for my experiments~

Kashu: I’m in a real pickle here~

Kashu: Let’s see… how long have you been in this club? Ah~ I guess I don’t have to ask you that. You haven’t been here for even a year.

Kashu: As for which days club activities are held… We’re on a break right now, so that’s not applicable.

Kashu: Hmm~ I guess I’ll just write that we don’t have a fixed club schedule. That should do, right? Huh, I’m not hearing an answer from you~

Hina: R-Right.

Hina: (Is it really okay for him to be filling in all the answers himself?)

Kashu: Next, we have… Ahh, this is so troublesome~

Kashu: Why don’t you just fill the stuff in on this sheet of paper by yourself~ It would be much easier that way.

Hina: Huh? Wouldn’t it be bad if I just did that by myself?

Kashu: I know it's an interview, but do I really have to ask you every single question? No, I suppose not.

Kashu: Here you go! And please bring it to the staff room once you’re done filling it in!

Hina: I couldn’t possibly…

Kashu: It’ll all work out~ Just pass it to Tojo-sensei. Here!

Hina: O-Okay.

Hina: (He’s irresponsible, alright. Terribly so, in fact…)

Kashu: …Oh.

Hina: (The paper fell to the ground. I’ll have to pick it up.)

Kashu: Aw man~ Why did it fall to the ground~ Why’s a piece of paper running away~

Kashu: There we are.

Hina: (What?)

Kashu: …Huh.

Hina: Ah.

Kashu: Why are you hiding under the desk…?

Hina: (His face is right in front of me!)

Kashu: Were you also gonna pick up the piece of paper?

Hina: Y-Yeah. I mean, you did hand it off to me.

Hina: (Never mind. He’d only get mad if I pick it up now since he’s already here.)

Hina: (Why is my head always filled with thoughts of him?)

Kashu: …Man~ If you were gonna pick it up, then you should have said something before I crouched down to reach for it~

Kashu: Well, never mind ~ My knees would get weak if I don’t stretch and bend them every once in a while.

Kashu: Oh, right. Like I said earlier, you can just fill the paper in whichever way you like.

Kashu: Huh…? Why are you passing it to me? And here I thought I told you to fill it in~

Hina: Well, it’s not like…

Kashu: It’s such a pain. You do it~ Maaan, I don’t have the patience to ask you each and every question, listen to your answer, and record it down.

Kashu: And I don’t want to get any more annoyed than I already am…

Hina: But there’s a warning written here that says that students can’t fill this in.

Kashu: Ehhhh~ Of course, it’s written in big letters that only the Club Advisor can fill this in, but…

Kashu: But, it shouldn’t matter at a time like this…

Kashu: …Fine. FINE.

Hina: Whoa!

Kashu: C’mon, you too~ Get up. How long do you intend to remain crouched down there? Take a seat on one of the chairs!

Hina: (I‘m never getting a break from this, am I… Honestly…)

Kashu: I just have to do this properly, right? I guess it is my job after all since I’m the advisor.

Kashu:  Let’s finish this up quickly since we have to do it anyway! Now then, for the third question…

Hina: Okay…

———————————————

Kashu: …Is this all there is to it? Ahh, we’re finally done!

Kashu: I’m sure you must be relieved to be free of this task as well! See you next time!!!

Hina: And there he goes… I feel like we’re having proper conversations now compared to before.

Hina: He was always mad before, and it felt like he didn’t want to be around me at all, much less talk to me…

Hina: (Hmm, I don’t still don’t understand why he was that mad in the first place…)

Hina: (This is better than being completely ignored, but I hope he wasn’t just doing it because he was in a situation where he couldn’t ignore me…)

Hina: What am I to do about this… I’m so curious…

Hina: (Wasn’t I the one who was ignoring him in the first place? Isn’t it a little weird now that our positions are switched?)

Hina: But… It’s not like there’s anything I can do about it.

Hina: (After all, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.)

What should I do?  ⊳Choice: Go see Kashu-sensei ⊳Choice: Go participate in Club Activities

[dollystuartwrites]

Stray Gods - Chapter 45

Pairing: Gods!OT8 x !F!Reader Genre: romance, friends to lovers, polyamory, mystery, supernatural, angst, fluff, smut Wordcount: 2713 Chapters:  [1] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7] - [8] - [9] - [10] [11] - [12] - [13] - [14] - [15] - [16] - [17] - [18] - [19] - [20] [21] - [22] - [23] - [24] - [25] - [26] - [27] - [28] - [29] - [30] [31] - [32] - [33] - [34] - [35] - [36] - [37] - [38] - [39] - [40] [41] - [42] - [43] - [44] - [45] - [?] MASTERLIST Summary: With no memory of who you were, you wake up in the woods, only to be found by eight unusually handsome men. With no information of the past, the guys decide to take you in and take care of you for the time being. But that time becomes years, and as time passes, you start to notice that there is something different about them... and something different about you... Warnings: angst, praise, thigh riding, kissing, fingering, overstimulation, lovebites, bad/miscommunication, low self-esteem, swearing, name-calling, dry humping, college, degradation, gods, special powers, vaginal sex, oral sex (f&m), mentions of contraception (condoms&thepill), injuries, mentions of death (but no character deaths), virgin!reader, teasing, orgasms, poly relationship, semi-public sex, daddy kink, strength kink, grinding, I've probably forgotten some, so let me know if I did and I will add more as the story progresses. Taglist: @eastleighsblog​​​​ @tangerminie​​​​ @swittyregan​​​​ @septicrebel​​​​ @jiimout​​​​ @zandra-42​​​​​​@julciaqwerty​​​​ @vampcharxter​​​​ @mercurezed​​ @thatgirlangelb​ @cookiemonstermusic258​​ @stayconnecteed​​ @bubblelixie​​ Want to be added or did I miss you? Just send me an ASK or DM

Lots of love and many thanks to my beta’s from wattpad: rocker7898 and sydneye2411. You guys made my writing so much better <3

You yawned as you shuffled sleepily into the living room on Friday morning.

‘Morning cutie,’ Minho said, being the first to notice you. He came over to stroke your hair with his free hand. In his other hand, he was holding a pan with Pajeon in it, which he then brought over to the sleepy faces that were already sitting at the table. Chan’s eyes were barely open as you walked in. You guessed they had been closed until Minho had spoken to you. Hyunjin’s face had been resting in his hands but he looked up as you came in. Changbin was leaning on the chairs’ hindlegs, scrolling through his phone with one hand as his other played with a strand of his dark hair. Jeongin was standing in the kitchen, which was unusual as Minho normally wouldn’t let anyone near him whenever he was cooking. He must’ve been helping cook.

You greeted them all with a yawn and walked over to your favorite spot. Chan had already pulled back his chair, his arms stretched out for you as you crawled onto his lap.

‘Morning sleepyhead,’ he mumbled groggily as he wrapped his arms around you, planting a kiss on the top of your head.

Changbin let his chair back on all fours as Minho handed him his breakfast.

‘So are you ready for your trip?’ He asked, being the most awake of all of them, except for the cooks, maybe. You nodded eagerly, feeling slightly more awake as you thought about it. You had been looking forward to it so much. Not just going back to Jeju, but spending some quality time with Seungmin as well.

Hyunjin shifted in his chair, blinking a few times and sitting upright, suddenly looking more awake.

‘Oh right, that’s today,’ he said, smiling at you. ‘I do recommend you take some stuff with you to entertain yourself. Our starboy can really get a little too nerdy with his work,’ he said, clicking his tongue and pulling a face.

A loud whooshing sound came so unexpectedly and gave you such a start that you swung your arms around Chan’s neck and buried your face between his chest muscles. You could hear Hyunjin let out a shriek and both Changbin and Minho swore loudly.

‘I heard that,’ Seungmin’s voice sounded coldly.

‘For heaven’s sake Seungmin, can you not?’ Chan said angrily.

‘Sorry, y/n,’ Seungmin said, as you turned around to see him, letting go of Chan and ignoring what he said. Immediately, Hyunjin, Minho, and Changbin simultaneously started to lecture him about what they called “indecent” behavior.

‘So are we allowed to teleport whenever and wherever now?’ Jeongin’s voice asked over the tirade of swears the three men were throwing at an unconcerned Seungmin.

‘No, Jeongin, you cannot,’ Chan answered quickly with a stern voice. Jeongin pulled a face before returning to his cooking. Chan only had to look at Minho, Changbin, and Hyunjin for them to shut their mouths again, although they still looked annoyed. Seungmin sat down next to you and Chan.

‘Packed all your bags?’ Seungmin asked as he sat down. You nodded, turning on Chan’s lap to face him. ‘Good, I wanna leave early today, so I’ll have enough time to set up my stuff,’ he stated. ‘Also, as much as I hate to say it,’ Seungmin began, throwing Hyunjin a dirty look, ‘it would probably be wise to bring some extra stuff to do. I’ll be quite busy,’ He said, looking at you apologetically.

‘Breakfast!’ Minho said, as he put a Pajeon on Chan’s plate, working his way around the table. You got up from his lap, giving him some space to eat when Felix came walking in. He greeted the group and sat down next to Hyunjin, who was also eating now.

‘Good morning,’ Han greeted as he shuffled into the kitchen sleepily. The boys all gave their greetings as Han walked around the table, stopping in front of you. ‘Y/n,’ Han said softly. You looked up at him as he planted a short kiss on your lips. For just a second you felt taken aback. Sure you had kissed him before, and more, but none of the boys had ever kissed you on your lips in front of the others. You felt yourself blush instantly as Han withdrew his face with a playful but innocent expression. His sparkling green eyes suddenly seemed to be the only thing that existed in this world. Then a protesting exclamation pulled you back to the real world.

‘Hey man, no fair!’ Changbin growled, jumping up from his chair. Minho, Felix and Chan all let out grumbling protests as well.

‘Can I get one too?’ Hyunjin asked eagerly, also getting up from his chair.

‘Is this how we can greet y/n now?’ Jeongin asked enthusiastically, also running over. You felt a tug at your hand, pulling you from your chair and onto Seungmin’s lap.

‘I thought I had her reserved for the weekend,’ Seungmin spoke coldly as he wrapped his arms around you the way Chan had. Instantly, more protests arose from around the room.

‘Can’t we just share?’ you said with a giggle, looking at all the scowling and eager faces around the table.

‘No. Not this weekend. I’ll allow it after that,’ Seungmin said with a grumble, pulling you in closer and nuzzling his face into your neck. You giggled again as his soft hair tickled your neck.

‘You know she’s a person, right? You can’t just say you’ve reserved her,’ Felix said, clicking his tongue.

‘Boys, please don’t fight,’ you said, trying to hold in your laughter. Never in your life had you imagined being fought over, especially not by all the men you equally loved so much.

‘You reserved her from Friday afternoon. It is now morning, come on, we promised to share,’ Han said in a lecturing kind of voice. He had sat down and was now opening his arms for you, winking at you seductively as if he were trying to lure you in.

‘Again guys, she’s a person,’ Felix sighed, shaking his head as he pressed his lips together in annoyance.

Seungmin withdrew his face from the crook of your neck and for a moment you thought he would protest or even zap Han. But then he made a grumbling sound and let go of you.

‘Come to daddy,’ Han said with a low voice, his arms still open for you. You laughed as you walked over to him to sit on his lap. You could see everyone looking at the two of you sourly as you sat down with him. ‘Such a good girl for me,’ he said softly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. It was clear he was in a teasing sort of mood. You could feel your heart rate rise instantly at his words and you knew your ears were pinking up. Han placed a finger underneath your chin and slowly guided your face closer to his own. For a moment his emerald green eyes enchanted your view before he once again softly put his lips on yours, longer this time. When he withdrew, your stomach was fluttering and your head was spinning.

A sudden clunking sound made you look away from his startled face. Minho had stopped next to the two of you and slammed down one plate with Pajeon. He had his arms folded and looked more than displeased. He wasn’t the only one though. You could easily spot the jealousy dripping from their expressions, many of them even eyeing you lustfully now. You gulped.

‘Where’s my breakfast?’ Han asked as if nothing had happened, looking up at Minho. Blushing fiercely, you quickly drew the plate closer to you to start eating so you didn’t have to see the guy’s wanting eyes anymore.

‘We just ran out of food, sorry,’ Minho said, poorly faking a smile.

Frowning slightly, you walked through the rows of books, searching for the title you needed. Your finger stopped in the place it ought to be, but the book was not there. You clicked your tongue in annoyance. You didn’t feel like asking the librarian whether it was loaned already, as you were sure you had seen several copies before and the woman had never been nice to you. You crinkled your nose and decided to continue searching, hoping someone might have misplaced it. As you wandered the rows of books for a while, a familiar voice caught your attention.

‘Maybe we can ask y/n to host it?’ Sera said softly and thoughtfully. You looked up, peeking through the rows of books. You could see Sera and Adam sitting in the study spot near the window where you often sat. Adam snorted softly.

‘Don’t expect her to,’ he said, pressing his lips together in a grim smile.

‘Why not?’ Sera asked, her voice sounding surprised.

‘Don’t know if you noticed, but y/n isn’t exactly forthcoming…’ Adam said with a look.

‘I thought that was just because I was new to her…’ Sera said, frowning now too.

‘Oh no, she’s actually super welcoming to you,’ Adam said with a nod, ‘But this is probably as far as we’ll get to know her I guess,’ he shrugged.

‘Haven’t you ever been to her house then?’ Sera asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

‘Nope,’ Adam shook his head. ‘I don’t even know where she lives. I just know she has, like, eight roommates, I think?’

‘What? Eight?’ Sera said, raising her voice somewhat in surprise. Adam quickly shushed her, looking around to see if the stern librarian had heard them and quickly continued in a lowered voice.

‘Yeah, and they’re all guys too. Two of them work here actually,’ He said.

‘Two? I thought it was just that Mr. Lee?’ Sera said, raising her brows.

‘No, Mr. Han as well, I think he teaches biology or something? I’m not sure. She doesn’t talk about them a lot,’ he shrugged.

‘Eight guys…’ Sera repeated again thoughtfully. ‘Have you met them though?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, I think I’ve met all of them by now,’ he said, thinking with a frown. ‘Seven of them were there when I woke up after my accident. One of them came to visit me a few times after that as well,’ Adam spoke.

You blinked at this new information.

‘Really? What did you guys talk about?’ Sera asked curiously.

‘Erm, we didn’t talk at all, to be honest,’ Adam admitted, rubbing his neck awkwardly. ‘To be honest, whenever he was there, I always pretended to be asleep. I mean, you have to remember that I used to like her and then I found out she had eight roommates that all look like they’ve been cut out of magazines. I was kinda salty about it for a while, so I didn’t know what to say,’ Adam said with a shrug. Sera clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.

‘But those eight guys, are they family?’ Sera asked eagerly. It was clear she was getting more curious with every word Adam said.

‘What? Her’s or like, each others?’ Adam asked. Sera shrugged and waved her hand for him to answer but Adam hesitated.

‘Look, I’m not sure if this should all come from me, but on the other hand… She does seem kinda awkward talking about it with me. Although, she seems to like you,’ he thought aloud and paused for a moment. After apparently making a decision, he continued to speak. ‘Well, they’re not her family at least. I don’t think they’re related to each other either, because I don’t see a lot of similarities between them. I think they’re just friends,’ he spoke.

‘But how do they know her then?’ Sera asked eagerly. Adam paused a second, thinking. You remembered how you told him how they had simply found you and sort of adopted you into their group.

‘I guess they just kinda found each other, you know,’ he said vaguely, shrugging. Apparently, the answer was satisfactory for Sera because she shook her head slowly and spoke.

‘Living with eight guys… I’d go mad,’ Sera said with a huff, leaning back in her chair.

‘She seems to be fine with it,’ Adam shrugged again. ‘I mean, they are a little overprotective of her, but they seem to be taking good care of her as well. They often take her on days out too I believe, like art shows and stuff,’ he said thoughtfully.

‘Art shows?’ Sera repeated. Adam nodded. She frowned for a moment. Before anything else could be said, the bell rang, making you jump back in surprise. You checked your watch and realized that your next class had already started. For a moment you lingered, peeking through the shelving unit at the two of them. They had stopped talking and were starting to pack up their stuff. For a moment you considered skipping the class and following them, wanting to hear what else they would say, but you decided against it. Not only was the class an important one, but it also felt wrong to listen in on their conversations, even if it had been about you. You quickly hoisted your bag over your shoulder and ran off, hoping they wouldn’t see you exiting the library.

It was somewhat difficult to focus on your next class. Your mind kept wandering off, back to the conversation you had overheard. You weren’t angry that they had talked about you. You knew it was normal to talk about friends, and they hadn’t said anything bad or untruthful about you. But still…

Something felt a bit weird.

Absent-mindedly, you walked out of the classroom towards the exit of the school. Of course, Sera had asked the questions she had, it hadn’t been weird at all. She was just curious about you. And Adam was right, you weren’t very forthcoming about yourself. It wasn’t just because you found it hard to explain that you were a Goddess living with eight Gods with whom you were in a weird sort of relationship with, but that wasn’t much of a helping factor. After all, technically you were only three years old and never had many friends either to practice with.

But the things Sera had said made you frown for some reason. Like you were missing something. Overlooking something.

But what?

‘Y/n,’ a voice called your name and you looked up. You were already standing outside of the college building, a car standing at the kiss and ride with a familiar figure in front of it.

'Seungmin?' You said his name surprised. He was leaning casually with his back against the car, clearly waiting for you. He drew up quite the attention as you heard the other students passing giggling and whispering, catching snippets of remarks about his sky-blue eyes.

You quickly ran over to him, feeling your cheeks flush pink.

‘What are you doing here?’ you asked him, stopping near him and looking around nervously.

‘I didn’t know this area was restricted to Lino and Han,’ he said coolly, but you knew he was teasing. You clicked your tongue in annoyance.

‘Of course, it isn’t,’ you spoke with a pout, noticing a group of girls stopping some distance away and pointing and giggling at the two of you.

‘Then did you forget about our trip already?’ He asked, sounding somewhat concerned. You looked at him and quickly shook your head.

‘Of course not, but… Aren’t we leaving after dinner?’ you asked surprised, staring at the car and trying to look through the darkened windows to see if you could spot any luggage.

‘I told you this morning I wanted to leave early, didn’t I?’ Seungmin spoke, taking a step towards you. You looked up at him.

‘Like, right now?’ You asked, startled. He nodded, stretching out his hand for you. For a split second, your brain seemed to malfunction with all the thoughts that were popping up in protest. But when you looked at his bright blue eyes, the thoughts melted away like snow in the sun. Your insides felt warm as he looked at you, your heart beating steadily and excitedly for him. A breath escaped you and all concern, thoughts, and doubts seemed to leave with it. You were home with him.

Smiling back at him broadly, you took his hand as he took your bag from you and slung it around his own shoulder, freeing his hand so he could open the door for you. You got in, ignoring the people staring at Seungmin and his car with curious glances. Seungmin threw your bag in the trunk before walking around and getting in himself.

‘Don’t forget your seatbelt,’ he said, looking over to you as he sat down. You reached across your body to grab your seatbelt, but Seungmin was faster. He leaned over you and pulled the seatbelt out for you, his face passing yours closely. You could smell his warm summer-like scent as he clicked the seatbelt in. Your eyes locked for a moment and your lips parted with your breath. He grinned and pulled back, fixing his own seatbelt, before driving the two of you off.

W R I T E R S N O T E

Sorry for the long wait ya'll, I know it's not even a long chapter, but writing is becoming increasingly difficult. I won't forsake the story, I promise, but it might take a long time to finish... I hope things will become better soon. Love ya'll! Thank you all so much for your never-ending support and kinds words <3

Lots of Love

Dolly

[femalefemur]

twenty questions for fic writers!

thank you for the tag @stellewriites @gemmahale 💖💖💖

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

Four, I really need to add others to it but I keep forgetting to.

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

4,637

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Call of Duty

4. top five fics by kudos

Well there's only four of them so all of them lmao

5. do you respond to comments?

I try to! I don't think I actually get that many comments on my writing honestly.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh god, I honestly have no idea there's a few, I don't know if this counts but maybe the soulmate au?

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Depends on who's happy lmao, maybe Medicine because I just think it's lovely and sweet.

8. do you get hate on fics?

No, I don't think I ever have.

9. do you write smut?

Occasionally, I'd like to write more so that I become better at it.

10. craziest crossover:

I don't even know, probably something from back when I was a child with Bleach.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

No but I wouldn't mind it.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

What is counting as co-writing but no not that I can think of.

14. all time favorite ship?

I can't just pick one so SuperBat and WinterIron.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

None, I intend to finish them all even it takes me until I'm a hundred years old.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I honestly don't know, I haven't ever sat down and analysed my writing in that way, maybe premises though? I think I come up with good premises.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Everything lmao, probably pacing it, I think I have things happen too quickly and I need to stretch out the pacing of it more.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

It depends really, it definitely has its place. If I were to ever write dialogue in another language though it would be in Latin for the exorcists AU, I don't think I'll have the need to write dialogue in another language apart from that instance.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

One Piece, I was a very small child and writing about being a pirate.

20. favorite fic you've written?

I Would Rip My Teeth Out For You, it was the first fic I wrote for COD and it holds a special place in my heart, I also like the dynamic between Soap and Ghost in it.

no pressure tags 💖:

@tawus @solivagantingrebel @losersimonriley @cordeliawhohung

@pfhwrittes @homicidal-slvt @crashtestbunny

[samuelerssonupdates]

*on opening night

Forwards

1st line: Michkov #39 - Couturier #14 - Foerster #71

Maksim Konstantinov / Len Redkoles / Jason Mowry (header image: Eliot J. Schechter)

Michkov on the first line is the only non-controversial choice here. It was hard to pick between Couturier and Frost, particularly since I believe that Michkov and Frost are going to work really well together this upcoming season. However, I think it's more than likely they want to pair Michkov with a more experienced player, particularly one like Sean Couturier, who is strong on faceoffs - can get Michkov the puck off the faceoff! - and a good defensive forward. Speaking of defensive forwards, I put one of the top defensive wingers in the NHL this season, Tyson Foerster, on the other wing. Foerster is a RW but since the Flyers seem to have completely done away with GAFing about what position wing their forwards play, I put him here and, in this post, will not GAF about L/RW either.

I think Foerster and Konecny would be the only two wingers the Flyers would consider opposite Michkov right now. Konecny for his own strong offensive upside was definitely a plus, but I went with Foerster because I think making sure that their two best defensive forwards are balancing out Michkov's high offense will be a high priority for Tortorella. Foerster also plays a pretty physical game where I don't believe Michkov does...? Someone correct me if I'm wrong there. I think that this top line is a well-balanced line between a vet, a strong winger, and a superstar.

Matvei Michkov, 19-22--41, 47 GP for HK Sochi

Sean Couturier, 11-27--38, 74 GP

Tyson Foerster, 20-13--33, 77 GP

2nd line: Konecny #11 - Frost #48 - Tippett #74

Len Redkoles / Len Redkoles / Dustin Satloff

Purely offensive line. Total fun. Morgan Frost's defensive play is very good, but he's a playmaker at heart and I would love to see this line get some time this season. I do eventually envision Frost and Michkov on a line regularly, as I think (as do many others) Frost's creativity will work well with Michkov's, but as far as opening night goes, I can't see them putting Frost and Michkov together too early.

Otherwise, these three would be fun to watch. In the 23-24 season Konecny assisted on 10 of Tippett's 28 goals, and 8 of Frost's 13 goals were assisted on by one of these two. All three were particularly productive during the Flyers' more dominant period in December 2023 and January 2024.

Travis Konecny, 33-35--68, 76 GP

Morgan Frost, 13-28--41, 71 GP

Owen Tippett, 28-25--53, 78 GP

3rd line: Brink #10 - Laughton #21 - Farabee #86

Randy Litzinger / Len Redkoles / Len Redkoles

Something of a double-veteran presence on this line for Brink, who, while he has NHL experience, spent a multitude of games last year playing for the Phantoms and watching from the press box at the behest of Tortorella. Farabee had a career year in 2023-24 but it didn't seem like it after he went long stretches of time without a goal, and Scott Laughton, the unofficial Flyers locker room DJ, had a much maligned 23-24 season. Not that this is SamuelErssonUpdates's Line for Lost Flyers, but it's a line of guys who you'd love to see do even better. Hoping that each of them move up the lineup at some point in the season, but on opening night this would be a safe bet.

Bobby Brink, 11-12--23, 57 GP

Scott Laughton, 13-26--39, 82 GP

Joel Farabee, 22-28--50, 82 GP

4th line: Cates #27 - Poehling #25 - Hathaway #19

Rich Graessle / Dustin Satloff / Jason Mowry

The easiest decision of the bunch, the Ph(C) line was one of the most cohesive and regular of last season. A solid 4th line of three guys that scored a little and hit a lot, (thank you, Garnet Hathaway) all three are signed to short-term contracts in Philly. It would, however, be nice to see Ryan Poehling Do The Thing again, and if he potentially moves up the lineup this year, maybe we'll see a burst in production from him.

Noah Cates, 6-12--18, 59 GP

Ryan Poehling, 11-17--28, 77 GP

Garnet Hathaway, 7-10--17, 82 GP

Defense

In general, all of these defensive pairings have been pretty well established; they were generally paired together last year, and the Flyers org shows no signs of switching them up unless something surprising happens.

1st pairing: Sanheim #6 - York #8

Len Redkoles / Len Redkoles

These two were the top defensive pairing last year, and they'll be our top defensive pairing this year. York played 82 games and had an average ice time of 22:37 per game; in one stunner of a game against the Canes, he played a whopping 29:01. Sanheim, meanwhile, logged 30% more assists than ever before in his career. These two will be back at it on your TV screen on October 11, I guarantee it.

Travis Sanheim: 10-34--44, 81 GP

Cam York: 10-20--30, 82 GP

2nd pairing: Seeler #24 - Drysdale #9

Jason Mowry / Len Redkoles

Generally considered to be the pairing on which Tortorella will have Drysdale, Seeler's defensive defense will be a solid counterpoint to Drysdale's offensive defense. Literally everyone in the world wants to see Drysdale do well on the Flyers – a healthy, more veteran player like Nick Seeler is probably the best option to round out his play.

Nick Seeler, 1-12--13, 71 GP

Jamie Drysdale, 3-7--10, 34 GP (1-4--5, ANA; 2-3--5, PHI)

3rd pairing: Zamula #5 - Johnson #77

Len Redkoles / Bill Wippert

With the return of Rasmus Ristolainen still unclear, and having seen none of the Flyers' prospects in the preseason, this is my current projected 3rd pairing. Both Zamula and Johnson re-signed short-term deals with the Flyers this offseason, and while Johnson will most likely remain a 7th d-man to be rotated in and out of the lineup, if Zamula makes the team out of camp I expect to see him as a regular fixture on the blue line.

Yegor Zamula, 5-16--21, 66 GP

Erik Johnson, 5-1--6, 67 GP (3-0--3, BUF; 2-1--3, PHI)

Goalies

Starting Goalie: Ersson #33

Len Redkoles

I don't know what anyone wants me to say here. this could not more clearly be my fucking guy. the blog is named after him. I am not taking questions at this ti- Stats? Buckle up, fuckers. I love stats and I'm incapable of being objective.

Sam Ersson is tied for the 4th-most winningest rookie goalie in Flyers history. At 24 years old, he has 5 shutouts in 63 career GP; the goalie he replaced had 6 shutouts in 227 GP. He had 4 this season alone, tying Igor Shesterkin (55 GP) and Pyotr Kochetkov (42 GP). With 23 wins in 51 GP, he won more games than Linus Ullmark (22 W in 40 GP), Alex Lyon (21 W in 44 GP), Tristan Jarry (19 W in 51 GP), and tied Jarry (29 years old with 8 seasons of NHL experience) and Thatcher Demko (28 years old with 7 seasons of NHL experience) for games played on the season. He had a 19-game streak of 3 GA or less where he went 12-4-2 (with one game where he entered in relief) and was one of the best goalies in shootouts in the league. In shootouts, only 4 goalies stopped more shots than him, yet he had a better shootout save percentage than all of them.

He had an .890 save percentage on the season. I don't care. The Flyers played 37 games from January 18th to the end of the season. Ersson played 32 of them, most of them with a backup that wasn't NHL caliber (Cal Petersen - sent down; Felix Sandstrom - sent down and traded in the offseason) or not ready to play in the NHL yet (Ivan Fedotov). Ersson was playing 86% of the Flyers' games at this point; for reference, the top 5 most played goalies in the league played:

Saros, 28 years old, 64 GP; 78% of NSH GP

Georgiev, 27 years old, 63 GP; 77% of COL GP

Hellebuyck, 30 years old, 60 GP; 73% of WPG GP

Skinner, 25 years old, 59 GP; 72% of EDM GP

Bobrovsky, 35 years old, 58 GP; 71% of FLA GP

So to recap, rookie Sam Ersson was starting games at a higher rate than 5 goalies that made the playoffs, including one that won the Stanley Cup, one that went to the Cup finals, and one that won the Vezina trophy. Forgive me if I don't take his .890 save percentage as the word of God and the final statement on his goaltending.

He's the starter next year. Tortorella and Briere have already made it clear; Ersson is their guy. Fortunately, he likes that.

Samuel Ersson, 23-19-7, .890 SV%, 2.82 GAA, 4 SO

Backup: Fedotov #82

Len Redkoles

Ivan Fedotov should be fun to watch this season. He was phenomenal in the KHL for years, and hopefully will be able to bring that this season with more time to get settled in the area, the team, and in his gear. If all goes well would expect to see him start 25-30 games. Like Ersson, his stats on the Flyers tell nothing of the full story, and next season will be a better showing of his capabilities between the pipes.

Flyers, 2023-24: 0-1-1, .811 SV%, 4.95 GAA, 0 SO

CSKA Moscow, 2023-24: 21-22, .914 SV%, 2.37 GAA, 4 SO

[ironychan]

A Little Human (as a Treat)

Part 1/15 - Un Voluntario

Part 2/15 - Un Escursione

Part 3/15 - Una Complicazione

Part 4/15 - Una Famiglia

Part 5/15 - Una Aiutante

Part 6/15 - Una Ricerca

Part 7/15 - Un Confronto

Part 8/15 - Un'Emergenza

Part 9/15 - Una Speranza

Part 10/15 - Una Sera

Part 11/15 - Un'Interruzione

Part 12/15 - Una Fuga (Prima Parte)

Part 13/15 - Una Fuga (Seconda Parte)

Part 14/15 - Una Conseguenza

Part 15/15 - Un Finale

@dysphoria-sweatshirt @writer652 Last chapter! Final word count 76000

There were no clocks under the sea, so Ciccio had no idea what time it was when he woke up. The sun was well up, casting dancing lights through the window and onto the walls and floor of the room where Marco and Vin slept. The two narrow stone shelves covered with seaweed must have been their beds – Ciccio was on the floor in between, on a mat of sponges similar to the ones the Donzellas had given them. His skin was still a little loose on his arms but had mostly shrunk back into place, but his muscles were aching all over, and he was ravenously hungry.

He therefore tried to roll over and get up. The sponge mat came with him, stuck to the spines on his back.

Ciccio reached back to try to peel it off, but was not flexible enough, especially with his shoulders sore from the exertion last night. He was going to have to find somebody to help him, which would be embarrassing. Even more embarrassing, he discovered that somebody had gotten him into a pair of seagrass trousers to replace his ruined shorts. Whose were those? They couldn't belong to the farmhands, they were too skinny. Were they Signor Donzella's? Had they belonged to Arturo and Giordana's father?

He decided he didn't want to know.

Slowly and with gritted teeth, he made his way to the kitchen. Marco and Vin were probably already out doing farm work, but the Trota family were there, cleaning up after breakfast. Ercole must have been goaded into helping, because he was handing shells and bowls to Signora Trota for her to scour out over the hot vent.

“Ha!” he exclaimed when he saw Ciccio. “Yesterday you looked like an hors d'oeuvre – today you're the main course, with your own pla...” at that moment he caught Giordana's baleful eye. She bared her teeth, and Ercole fell silent.

Signora Trota gave Ciccio a big smile. “Here's our hero,” she said cheerfully. “The whole community is talking about you, young man!” Without needing to be told, Arturo and Giordana came to get the sponge mat off Ciccio's spines, while their mother continued to speak. “After we came back here, Silvestro and Niccolò tracked the squid down and finished it off. We're talking about what to do with it now... we've considered eating it, but the Cormorano kids said they tried to eat the last one and found it tasted terrible.”

“There's a Museum of Natural History in Genova,” said Ciccio. “Maybe they'd want it.” He braced himself, expecting the removal of the mat to hurt a bit, but his loose skin meant his spines were not as securely anchored as they'd been the previous morning. The sensation of it stretching and bouncing back as the sponges came away was odd, but not particularly painful.

“What's that mean?” asked Arturo. “Storia naturale?”

“It's a place where they've got all kinds of things from nature for people to look at,” Ciccio explained. He muttered a thanks as Giordana took the mat away, and pulled himself over to the table with his arms because those were less sore than his tail. “Animal skins and skeletons, and fossils, and stuff like that. They don't have a giant squid, or even a really big one... at least, they didn't when I went there on a school trip.” That had been several years ago.

“Oh, that sounds neat!” said Arturo, and turned to his mother, opening his mouth to ask if he could go... then he remembered how upset she'd been last night, and changed his mind.

“Is there any more food?” Ciccio asked. His stomach was gurgling insistently.

“Of course there is. We saved some fore you,” Atinnia assured him. She brought over a few dishes and shells full of whatever sea monsters ate for breakfast – Ciccio couldn't identify any of it, but he didn't care. He was so hungry he tucked right in. Some of the textures were weird, but he didn't let it bother him.

It did make him think of something, though. “Have you eaten anything?” he asked Ercole through a mouthful.

“A little,” Ercole replied. “I know better now than to ask what it is.”

Arturo snickered. “It was shark's eggs.”

“I told you not to tell me!” said Ercole.

“Buongiorno!” somebody called from outside.

“Oh! Good morning, Chiara!” Signora Trota replied, going to greet their guest. “Excellent timing, he's up and eating. I called Signora Zigrino,” she explained to Ciccio. “She's our local erborista and all-around wisewoman. She's got some advice for you.”

Signora Zigrino was yellow-green in colour, with a mottled pattern down her back and fins that were starting to fade to white with age. She set a basket of various herbs and shells on the table.

“Francesco, isn't it?” she said to Ciccio. “Atinnia's told me about you. You're new at this, like Luca's friend Giulia, is that right?”

“Sort of,” said Ciccio. He yawned, then realized he still had food in his mouth. Ercole was looking at him with a revolted expression. “Sorry.”

“Don't apologize,” Signora Zigrino said. She took a shell full of green goo out of her basket. “Puffing is very hard on the body – I remember Atinnia's friend. Marina was her name, I think...” she looked at Signora Zigrino, who nodded. “She would be tired for days after doing that. Even the little fish, afterwards you can see how hard it was on them. Sit still, please.”

Ciccio took another big bite of his breakfast and then tried to sit there quietly as she scooped the green goo out of the shell – it was stiff and jellyish, like panna cotta – and then mushed it up in her hands before slathering it over his back. “This will help the skin firm up again,” she explained, carefully massaging it in between the spines. “I can give you the recipe. It's a good idea to use it every couple of weeks or so, even if you haven't puffed, because it'll help you unpuff without getting all saggy.”

He glanced at his right arm, and the bit of extra skin hanging loose beneath it. “Thank you,” Ciccio said, “but I'm not planning on doing that ever again.” He wasn't sure, at this point, that he ever even wanted to see the ocean again.

“Never say never,” said Signora Zigrino. “You don't know what the future holds.”

“You really don't,” Giordana agreed. She was looking at him adoringly, and Ciccio couldn't help a smile. Okay, maybe he would do this again someday. If Giordana wanted him to, and if Flavia had enough fun that she wanted to do it again. Although, that left the problem of Signora Trota...

Atinnia herself chose that moment to offer Ciccio another plate of roe. “Here. Chiara told me you'll need your protein.”

“Grazie a mille,” said Ciccio, who still felt famished.

Giordana, across from her, must've been thinking similar thoughts about her mother, because her smile melted away as she spoke again. “Well,” she said. “I guess you're going home this morning.”

“Yeah,” said Ciccio, mouth full of roe.

“I dunno when I'm gonna be able to visit again,” she added, with a sideways look at her mother.

“I'll miss you,” Ciccio told her.

“I'll miss you more.” Giordana took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Arturo rolled his eyes and reached to take a few fish eggs from Ciccio's plate. His mother slapped his wrist, then turned her attention to the teenagers.

“There's no need for you children to be so dramatic,” she said. “I'm not going to make you sit at home and pine for each other.”

“You aren't?” Ciccio and Giordana asked, in startled unison.

Atinnia looked a bit embarrassed. “Goodness, don't be so surprised! I am upset with Giordana for lying to me, and she's going to be doing some extra chores as punishment, but I don't intend to be an ogre about it. I quite like Francesco and his father, and now that I'm over the initial shock, I think I can deal with the rest.”

“Does that mean you'll come up on land again and try the cinnamon buns?” Arturo asked eagerly.

“Not necessarily!” his mother replied. “Although... it didn't look so bad up there from what I saw. I'm not going to forbid either of you from going, either, although I intend to lay down a few more rules. For starters,” she met Giordana's eyes, “I will want to know exactly where you're going and what you'll be doing there, so if I want to find you later I don't panic and search the bay in the fear you've been eaten by a shark. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mom,” said Giordana dutifully, but she was having a hard time suppressing a smile.

“I'll make sure she tells you everything,” Ciccio said.

Giordana waited until her mother had turned her back, then let out a little squeal and hugged Ciccio's arm. He beamed back at her, already trying to think of what they could do on their next date. What would Giordana's mother think of a movie, or a football game in Genova? Probably not the latter... she'd think that was too far away. Although, if they could find somebody to take her and Arturo to the Museum of Natural History, that might work.

Ciccio would have loved a cup of espresso, but such things were not available underwater. With the edge finally taken off his hunger, his eyes were threatening to drift shut again when he heard a call from somebody else at the door. This time it was Arturo who answered it, as his mother and Signora Zigrino were busy gossiping. He swam off, and returned a minute or so later with Alberto and Luca.

“Hi!” said Luca. “Are you feeling better?”

“No, not at all,” grumbled Ercole.

“We weren't talking to you,” Alberto informed him, and looked at Ciccio.

“Much better,” Ciccio replied, “yeah, thanks.”

“I've given him some advice,” Signora Zigrino assured them.

Luca nodded. “Flavia's waiting for you,” he told Ciccio. “You can come on up as soon as you're done eating.”

For some reason the first thing that made Ciccio think of was more food. His father's focaccia with olives and herbs, warm from the oven with butter melting over it... that would be heavenly. Hot coffee would be lovely, too, with foam on the top and maybe a little bit of chocolate. Who would have thought that the thing he'd miss most about land was the food?

At least his sore muscles were getting better. Ciccio had been worried about whether he'd even be able to swim back to shore that morning, but it seemed like it would be okay now. He ate every crumb of what Signora Trota had given him, and then the entire group set out for the surface. On the way, Ciccio asked Alberto, “how's your cousin? It sounded like she didn't have a great day.” Even if Ciccio might want to do this again, that would hardly matter if Flavia refused.

“She's fine,” said Alberto.

“It was more good than bad,” Luca agreed. “Although I'm not sure we can ever go back to San Giuseppe again... the people there got kind of upset about us being sea monsters. How are you? Did you have fun, other than the squid?”

“It would have been more fun without Ercole,” said Ciccio.

Ercole snorted. “Are we just going to chit-chat all the way to shore?” he asked. “Or are we going to talk about how we change me back?”

Luca grimaced. “We did look at the spell again in case we missed something,” he said, “but it didn't say anything about other people getting, um... you know, caught in it, I guess.”

“I was hoping last night that he'd just change back when I do,” said Ciccio.

“If he doesn't, I guess we'll have to go back to the Library of the Deep and ask about it,” Luca decided. “Maybe Flavia will want to come this time. The Librarian is nice.”

The water got shallower as they passed over the fields and pastures, and soon they could make out the entrance to the harbour through the sunlit waters ahead. That was where Ercole stopped.

“Wait,” he said. “You're not expecting me to just walk out of the ocean in front of everybody in town, are you?”

Ciccio groaned, having forgotten about that. “Right. Go back to the other bay, and we'll come get you after.”

“Go back to the other bay, he says, as if I've been finding my way underwater every day of my life!” Ercole shook his head. “What if I get lost?”

“You won't,” said Ciccio, who didn't feel like adding anything to that.

“You can't,” Luca said. “Sea monsters can't get lost. I mean... you've been there before, right? So you know where it is if you think about it.”

Ercole frowned, then blinked in surprise.

“Is he right?” asked Alberto.

Since the only alternative was admitting that yes, Luca was correct, Ercole just turned and swam away. He was going in the right direction.

Plenty of people were waiting for them when they reached the beach. There was Giulia and Massimo, Flavia and her father, and Signor Ottonello and Guido, but also plenty of others. Many of these were people from around Portorosso who were interested in the goings-on, but there was also a small group who were total strangers to Ciccio. One was a plump old man with a bushy moustache and several tattoos. Another was a lady with long silver hair, a younger man who looked enough like her to probably be her son, and a little girl with her hair in plaits. When the sea monsters emerged from the water, the older lady gasped and her son wobbled as if he might fall over, but the girl jumped up and down in place, squealing for joy.

“Look at them all!” she said. “Papà! Nonna! Look!”

“I'm looking, dear, I'm looking,” said the older lady, a hand on her chest.

Flavia had been sitting on the steps. Now she ran and got the girl with the braids and led her down to the beach. “This is Ciccio!” she said. “That's his girlfriend Giordana, and her brother Arturo, and that's their mom, Signora Trota. Everybody, this is Perla! I met her in San Giuseppe, and she loaned me her clothes when mine got wet.”

She looked so happy that Ciccio had to smile. So Flavia really did have a good day, at least enough to offset getting lost.

“Wow! They're...” Perla began, then stopped to watch in awe as the sea monsters began transforming. “Oh, that is so cool!” She turned and grabbed Flavia's hands. “I can't wait to see you!”

“How do we switch back?” Flavia asked Luca.

“It's the same as last time,” Luca said. “We don't need to do the other parts of the ritual again. You both stand in the sea and put your palms together, and then you're probably gonna get splashed again.” The spell hadn't said anything about that, but it hadn't said they'd get a big wave the first time, either. “And if you ever want to swap again, you just meet up and do it.”

Flavia nodded and pulled her shoes and socks off. Ciccio was standing in water to his waist, still embarrassed that all he was wearing was a pair of seagrass shorts. That was a little too deep for Flavia, though, so he waded further in to a point where they might not both get sucked under. He held up his hands. Flavia put her palms against his, and they both waited.

Yesterday morning, they'd observed that nothing seemed to be happening, only to immediately have the big wave splash over them both. Now Ciccio stood there, expecting the same thing at any moment, but it didn't seem to come. He looked down just to check, but he was still a sea monster, and Flavia was still human. She looked back up at him with worry on her face.

“What's taking so long?” Ciccio asked. He hoped that once again, drawing attention to it would signify that they'd waited long enough, but it didn't help.

“It doesn't work,” said Flavia. She looked down at her hands, then dunked them in the water in the hope that would do something. It did not.

“Let me get the pages! Maybe we missed something,” said Luca. He turned and ran back into the Pescheria.

Ciccio could only swallow hard and look at the people on the shore. His father was rubbing his forehead, exasperated, as if he'd known this would all go wrong, too, but hadn't liked to say anything. Leonardo Scorfano, who'd been sitting on the stairs, had gotten up and taken a few steps forward, ready to run to Flavia if she needed him. And Flavia herself, she looked like she was going to cry.

Was this Ciccio's fault? Was this happening because he'd stuck Ercole, and now...

“Oh,” he said out loud. “Wait a moment, I know what's missing.” There wasn't any real logical reason why – he just knew in his gut. “I'll be right back.” He waded out into deeper water, and vanished beneath it.

That left everybody else standing around wondering where he thought he was going, but not really able to do anything about it. Flavia stuck her hands under her arms to warm them, as it was early and the water seemed very much colder than it ever had before, and hung her head. She thought of looking in the mirror in Signora Pepitone's bathroom and thinking how the reflection didn't look like her. Was this it? Was she going to be stuck looking at it for the rest of her life? Was she being punished for wanting something she wasn't supposed to have?

The water swished as somebody came closer, and she looked up to see Papa Leo coming to put his arms around her. “It's okay, Angelfish,” he said, stroking her hair. “Whatever happens, we'll make it work, all right?”

Flavia nodded and hugged him. He'd been right – no matter how much fun she'd had yesterday, today she just really wanted to go home.

Luca returned a minute or so later with his handful of papers, and he, Alberto, and Giulia gathered around to pore over them, trying to figure out what they'd missed. It was only after a few seconds of that when Luca looked up and asked, “hey, where'd Ciccio go?”

“He said he knew what was missing, and he left,” said Guido.

“Come on, Angelfish,” said Papa Leo, putting an arm around Flavia's shoulders. “You'll freeze out here.”

Flavia stayed where she was. If she went back to shore it was like she was giving up, and...

“There he is!” exclaimed Giulia.

Flavia turned. Ciccio's head had appeared above the water again, smiling. He waved to everybody, but then he groaned and ducked back under. A few bubbles came up.

“What's going on?” asked Ottonello.

Giulia shrugged, but then her eyebrows rose and she began to giggle. “Oh, no,” she said softly, but she wasn't upset. She looked at Alberto with a big smile on her face, and he nodded and started to snicker, too.

“It's okay! They just need another person!” he told Ottonello.

It seemed to take quite a long time, while Flavia stood there shivering in the water with her father beside her, but Ciccio finally reappeared. He stood up and came closer, dragging a second, scowling sea monster behind him. This individual was taller than Ciccio, with over-long limbs and big hands and feet, and a set of barbels at the end of his bulbous snout. Flavia did not recognize him, but everybody else did.

More people from the town had drifted in to see what was going on, including quite a few who hadn't heard about yesterday morning but had learned later from town gossip that the sea monster kids had performed a magical spell. A lot of them were children – meaning there was a wide assortment of Ercole's previous victims present to see what had happened to him. There were muffled sniggers, whispers, and quickly-suppressed barks of laughter as Ciccio led him over to Flavia.

Giulia did her best to keep a lid on herself, but Alberto grinned openly and exchanged knowing looks with Guido, who was almost choking on the effort of holding it in. Even Concetta and Pinuccia Aragosta, known around town for being dour, were smilig to themselves.

“Here,” said Ciccio. He and Flavia put their hands together, and each then also joined hands with Ercole. “I think it'll work this t...”

He was cut off by the giant wave that rose out of nowhere to soak them. Ercole squawked in surprise and terror as it sucked him under, but both Ciccio and Flavia were prepared and managed to stay standing, though not for long. Both of them found their balance suddenly changed. Flavia sat down hard on her backside, while Ciccio toppled over on top of her.

However, this time it definitely did work. Ciccio scrambled off Flavia and stood there blinking with his wet blond curls falling in his eyes, until Flavia accidentally smacked him in the face with her tail as she got to her feet, yellow scales glittering in the sunlight.

“Flavia!” Leonardo dunked under the water himself and came up to give her another hug. “Good to have you back, Angelfish!”

“I love you, Papa Leo!” she replied, squeezing him tight.

Giordana, Guido, and Signor Ottonello came to help Ciccio up. He was still wearing only sea grass trousers and looked even more embarrassed about it, hanging on to the waist to make sure they stayed in place as he got to his feet. His father hugged him first, and then Giordana threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

“I like you better this way,” she told him.

“You do?” Ciccio asked. He'd been slightly worried, though he hadn't wanted to admit it, that she would prefer him as a sea monster.

“Yes!” she said, hugging him again. “You're much less prickly.”

Ercole came up sputtering, and pulled seaweed out of his hair as he stood. Nobody came running to greet him, and he clearly wouldn't have wanted anybody to. He felt his face and inspected his hands to make absolutely sure he was human, then rudely shoved his way between Ciccio and Giordana as he stomped back onto the beach and headed up the stairs.

There were more giggles from the watching crowd, but nobody said anything, and people moved out of the way as Ercole squelched across the piazza in his bare feet, head down so he wouldn't have to look anybody in the eye. Once he had vanished out of sight up the hill, Alberto burst out laughing again, whacking Luca and Giulia on their backs.

“That was amazing!” he wheezed. “Oh, man! Don't worry, nobody here will ever let him forget it. If only we'd gotten a picture!”

“I did think of that,” said Giulia, “but I doubt he would have stood still for it.” She was grinning, herself.

“I'm going to draw him as soon as we get home,” Alberto promised, “so I can remember this beautiful moment forever.”

That was when Perla could no longer contain herself. Her grandmother had been gripping her shoulders tight as they watched these events unfold, knuckles white and mouth hanging open. Now Perla wiggled free and ran down the steps to approach Flavia as she and Leonardo waded back to shore.

Flavia saw her coming, and stopped short, suddenly wanting to be shy. Perla had thought the idea of sea monsters were cool, but she'd only gotten a quick look at them. What if she thought Flavia was ugly or scary? Or worse, what if she would be like Flavia's cousins, who weren't interested in spending time with somebody who couldn't get out of the water? She'd made friends with Flavia on land, after all.

But Perla ran right up, beaming, and grabbed Flavia's hands. “This is what you really look like?” she asked eagerly.

“Yeah,” said Flavia cautiously. “What do you think?”

“You look so cool,” Perla said. “Yellow is my favourite colour!”

“Really?”

“It is now!” Perla proclaimed, and turned to wave to her father and grandmother, still on the pavement. “Look! Look! It's Flavia!”

“I”m looking, Perla,” said Roberto, shaking his head.

“Oh, my,” said Signora Pepitone. She struggled for words for a moment, then made a visible effort to say something positive. “That is a beautiful colour, isn't it?”

“Do you still want to be pen-pals?” asked Flavia.

“Of course!” Perla said. “I should have brought my swimsuit. I want to be able to tell everybody I went swimming with sea monsters!”

Giulia turned to her father. “Papà, do we still have my old one I outgrew? She could borrow that.”

“I think so,” said Massimo. “Let's look for it.”

Roberto Pepitone came down the steps with a hand out. “Now, Perla,” he said, “we don't know what the currents are like around here, and what's safe for sea monsters might not be for you.”

“Don't worry, Sir,” said Luca. “We'll look after her.”

“I'm the town lifeguard,” Alberto told him. “I'm an expert. Nobody drowns when there's a sea monster looking after them!”

Roberto looked a little worried for a moment, but then he saw Flavia and Perla's pleading eyes, and he relented. “I guess I can't say no, then!”

The girls cheered and hugged each other.

Meanwhile, Ottonello had brought his son some dry clothes, and Ciccio sloshed his way back to shore and took them indoors to get dressed. That left Ottonello alone not far from the Trota family, who were still watching from metre-deep water, Giordana and Arturo too scared of their mother's reaction to go in any shallower. After the previous night's arguments, it was a bit of an awkward situation, one nobody particularly wanted to address. Arturo pretended to be very interested in the clouds just because it gave him somewhere to look, while Giordana repeatedly sank back into the water to keep from transforming.

Finally, it was Atinnia Trota who said, “buongiorno, Vito. What a day yesterday was.”

“It certainly was,” Ottonello agreed. “I hope we don't have another one like it in a hurry.”

There was another long pause. Giordana dipped back under the water again and did not look at Signor Ottonello – Ciccio had told her about the unkind things his father had said. Arturo fidgeted.

“Well,” said Ottonello, “I don't suppose you'd like to have a cup of coffee and some focaccia, would you, Atinnia?”

Signora Trota squared her shoulders, and her children winced in expectation. But she said, “yes, I think I would.”

Giordana gasped in delight and squeezed her mother's arm. Arturo's mouth fell open for a moment, then he grinned. “Can I have cioccolata?” he asked eagerly.

“I'm sure I've got some,” Ottonello said. “Have a seat, I'll bring it out.”

“No,” said Atinnia. “No, I think we'll come in. After all, we're probably all going to be seeing a lot more of each other, aren't we?”

“Yes,” Signor Ottonello agreed. “I think we are.”

-

Three days later, Ercole was settling down with his mother's dogs to watch an afternoon football match on television. He hadn't been back to town since he'd returned from the ocean. Having been forced to walk out of the water and show himself to all of Portorosso as a sea monster, he doubted he was ever going to be able to look anybody in the face again.

“This is my life now,” he told the dogs, as he put his feet up and unwrapped the giant sandwich he intended to eat. “A pariah. A joke! You two are my only friends.”

There was a knock on the door.

“You hear that? Probably somebody here to make fun of me.” Ercole bit into his sandwich.

A few impatient moments later, there was another knock.

“Ercole, dear!” Signora Visconti called from the cellar. “Your father and I are in the middle of something. Can you get that, please?”

“I can't, Mamma!” he shouted back. “I am in exile, remember?” Signor Gammachio from the Ostello had sent his son by the other day to buy wine, and while there hadn't been any comments, Ercole was sure he'd heard snickers.

There was a third knock.

“Ercole!” Signor Visconti shouted. “Just answer the bloody door!”

With a groan, Ercole heaved himself off the sofa. He trudged to the door with the dogs following him, and opened it just a centimetre or so. With the chain still in place so the potential torment couldn't barge its way in, he put an eye up to the crack.

At first he saw nobody. Then he looked down, and found two smiling boys, nine or ten years old. The skinny one had curly hair, including one lock on the left side of his forehead that stood straight up in a cowlick, and was carrying a plate of fig cookies. The pudgy one had straight hair, and was holding a bowl of colourful spherical objects that resembled gumballs but looked far too much like the bugs Ercole had been offered by Signora Donzella. He did not recognize either child.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“We're here for the game,” said the skinny one.

“The game?” Ercole blinked, confused.

“You said if I taught you to swim, you'd let me and Arturo watch football at your house,” the pudgy one clarified.

“Oh,” said Ercole, as the situation became clear. “It's you, squaletto.”

“Aunt Concetta made us cookies,” Arturo said, holding up his plate.

“And I brought isopods!” Silvio agreed.

Ercole wanted to simply shut the door in their smug little faces. Why would he want to sit and watch his football game with a couple of snot-nosed, slimy sea monster children who'd spent a whole day torturing him and were now offering him a bowl of bugs?

For some reason, though, he didn't do that. Maybe it was because Silvio had been with him in that awful cave while the giant squid tried to pry Ciccio out of the doorway and get in. Maybe he was just lonely from his self-imposed isolation. Whatever the reason, he slid the chain out and opened the door to let them enter.

The boys marched inside with smiles on their faces, and settled themselves on the sofa. The dogs came to sniff them and seemed to decide they were acceptable guests. Ercole came and sat between them and scooped up his sandwich.

“You two need to be quiet,” he told them. “I want to be able to hear the announcer.”

“No problem,” said Arturo, taking a bite out of one of his cookies.

Silvio nodded and popped a couple of isopods in his mouth. “You wanna hear a joke?” he asked.

“Porca paletta! I do not!” said Ercole, remember the terrible puns Silvio had inflicted on him underwater.

“What position does the flying fish play on the football team?”

“What did I just say?”

“Wingback!” Silvio grinned.

Ercole turned the volume up on the television.

Silvio was not discouraged. “You know who's the goalie on the same team?”

“I do not,” said Ercole.

“The kipper!”

Silvio and Arturo both laughed helplessly. Ercole rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help a small snort. “Not bad, squaletto. Not bad.”

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Winter Wolf: Part 15

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, angst

Word Count: 4,421

A/N: Finally got the muse to finish this story! YAY!

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14

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

“I want it to look like a plantation house.” You said as you stood in front of what was left of your house between a general contractor, and Bucky as you bounced Ana on your hip, while you looked at another contractor that dealt with historic homes, specifically, and Tony, who was paying for the reconstruction. It had taken him a month of cutting red tape, but on the afternoon of your one year anniversary, he handed you the updated deed and a photo of the new metal arch across your driveway with the real name of your plantation and the real year it was established displayed proudly beneath it.

“I want the same wide wrap around porch, and the balcony on the second floor with all glass French doors. I want the white columns, and my stone fireplace in the parlor, and wood floors throughout. Oh, and I want to see my willow through my bedroom windows. Everything else, you can ask Bucky for. But the kitchen has to be in the back, left corner, and it has to have six bedrooms. Four up, and two down- one on either side of the first floor. Classic.” You finished as you switched Ana on your hip and turned to let her play in the willow tree. “Oh, and bathrooms. Lots of bathrooms. And air conditioning. And a swing in that oak tree over there.”

“Did you want to knock down that old workers house still, doll?” Bucky asked as you put your daughter down, and held on to her hands so she could stretch her legs.

“Yep! Get rid of it.” You called out with a nod. “That’s what we’ll do, Anastasia. When Daddy’s done, we’ll walk back and go look at the little river where you can sit and play in the water. You’d like that, huh? Better than being raised in a tower.” You sighed and sat down in the short grass with a small smile. “We’ve really come full circle here, baby girl.” You said as you shifted her grip on your fingers. “I really hope your mom would like us moving you here. I think she would. You’re gunna have a huge yard to play in, and your own room. And we can start a garden again, and we can plant some more apple and peach trees in the back. And I think I remember how to fish, but maybe Daddy does so he can teach us both. And maybe we can get you a little pool to play in on hot days…” You paused for a moment as you looked over at the distant sound of tires turning into your driveway. “James…”

“Yea…”

“That’s a government car.” You called out as you picked up your daughter, and walked out from under the willow tree to look over at the drive. You stopped half way to the small group as not one, but three black SUV’s with tinted windows and a massive armored car pulled up to stop in the parking lot area. “Shit… take her.”

“Babe…” Bucky said as you took the last few steps over to him and practically shoved your daughter into his arms.

“Take her.” You said as you stepped back away from him as men started to pour out of the vehicles and head toward you quickly.

“Doctor (Y/N) (Y/M/N) Barnes, AKA (Y/N) Scott, née (Y/L/N)…”

“Ross!” Tony yelled as you mentally battled the decision to run for your life or accept your fate.

“You are under arrest for the murders of Howard and Maria Stark, John F. Kennedy, Jasper Sitwell…”

“No, no!” Bucky shouted as you were nearly tackled to the ground by four guys nearly twice your size that were trying to get you into cuffs and shackles as quickly as possible even though you were not resisting what so ever in front of your child.

“Ross, you are making a huge mistake.” Tony said as Ana started to scream for you as some of the men kept your husband and daughter back at gun point.

“Babe, don’t you fucking listen to her!” Bucky roared over everyone as he watched your whole being shift into something he barely recognized when he saw you register the face of the man that had a gun pointing at your innocent one year old. “Don’t give in to her! Stay with Anastasia and me! Stay with us!” You met his eyes for a moment with a look he had only seen in old HYDRA photographs as you were lifted off the ground and unceremoniously thrown into a cube shaped jail cell.

“You’re all gunna fucking pay for that.” You said evenly with an evil smirk as you let them chain you to the chair before they all stepped out of the truck and shut you in with a single pair of heavily armed guards. A dark laugh you normally hated to hear, but that you absolutely welcomed in that moment started to echo in your head as you looked directly at the man who had no idea what was coming to him. “You have no fucking idea how much you’re gunna pay for pointing a gun at my daughter.”

——

You were locked in a room, a half mile below ground at least, in a bulletproof glass and metal box similar to the one you were held in the last time the American government had captured you, and left completely alone in a small room with multiple armed guards keeping watch outside the only door. For an entire month, you were given barely a meal twice a day, and allowed to use the “restroom”, which was really just a bed pan shoved under your ass after two guards held your hips up and yanked your pants down for you, twice daily as well, but you were given no other privileges other than those. You didn’t get to shower or get clean clothes; it was “too risky” to uncuff more than the lower part of your right arm for you to eat and wipe yourself. 

But you couldn’t complain. You didn’t say a word or move a muscle unless you were told to, because every time you did, they shocked you. Everyday for that entire month, you lost just a little more hope that this would one day come to an end, and the Wolf developed her plan of escape just a little bit louder in your head for when the part of you that made you ‘you’ finally gave up. But on the very last day of the month, the entire wall in front of you lifted up and a large group of armed men filed in ten bodies wide, and at least six bodies deep.

“Let’s move her!” The man in charge called out, which made the guards split down the center so a fork lift could be brought in to pick up the cage. You wanted to ask where you were going so badly, but you didn’t dare say a word as you were carted out of the room, on to a massive platform, and brought out of the pit of your own personal hell.

‘You can break out now!’ The Wolf said as you were transported to an armored truck. ‘It’d be easy. You know I can do it. We can go far, far away from here where no one will ever find us again…’

‘I’m not leaving my family.’ You told her as you slowly and carefully closed your eyes and leaned your head back on your chair, despite every other ounce of your being being poised and ready to attack at a moments notice like it had been for weeks. ‘I won’t leave my daughter or my husband.’

‘Weak.’ You mentally agreed with her as the truck stopped, and the back doors were opened so that the cage could be removed. You opened your eyes again and looked up at an impressive federal courthouse in Washington DC. Your guard led you inside and through the halls, and some how, it took you until were just outside the court room to realize what was happening. (Which was probably from lack of sleep, but you weren’t quite sure of that or anything anymore.)

“Oh, my God!” Bucky and Wanda screamed simultaneously as the pair of them, the rest of the Avengers, and a man you assumed had to be your lawyer jumped to their feet the second you were carted into the room.

“What are you doing to her?!” Tony screeched as he looked over at General Ross, who was sitting front and center behind the prosecution with a smug yet straight look on his face.

“Have you even let her change her clothes or shower at all?!” Bucky chimed in as tears welled in his eyes as he searched the dead look in yours.

“Is this the reason you’ve refused to let me see my client?!” A man said as he turned toward the other side and pointed back at you.

“This is inhumane!”

“She’s a mutant.” The prosecutor said with a shake of his head. “And she’s dangerous…”

“Get my wife out of that box…!”

“Alright, order! Order!!” The judge said as she slammed her gavel down and looked over at you. “OK, everybody hold on!” She yelled over your lawyer, and your large family as they all screamed at the government officials responsible for your mistreatment. “Has this been her living conditions since she was arrested?” She asked as she looked over at you, and the Wolf responded before you could stop her.

“I haven’t even used a toothbrush…” You shrieked and seized when the box shocked you once again, and Wanda and Steve instantly leapt over the partition.

“Get her out of that box!” The judge and your lawyer roared as Wanda ripped the front and the side of the box away so Steve could get your restraints off. Everyone in a thirty foot radius recoiled from the smell as Bucky pushed past Steve to pick you up out of the chair as gently as he could.

“She needs a medic!” Steve yelled as your lawyer told the other that he would be filing law suits against every single person responsible for your mistreatment as the judge scrambled to get the jury out of the room.

“I got the jet on the roof ready…” Tony said as he came over with a shake of his head. “Jesus, I didn’t know it was possible for her to be so thin.”

“Court officers…”

“If you so much as think of taking her out of my fucking arms right now, you will see what the Avengers are capable of for one of our own.” Bucky said evenly as he looked up at the woman on the stand.

“Can you please bring in a monitoring bracelet for Dr. Barnes so she can be confined to Sibley Memorial…”

“Can you make that the Four Seasons here in DC?” Tony asked as he tapped the ear piece in his ear to hang up his phone call while Steve ripped your dirty jeans away from your ankle so the monitor could be attached. “My personal physician is already on the way.”

“Fine.” The judge said with a nod as she sat up in her spot. “Dr. Barnes, you are not, under any circumstances, allowed to leave your hotel room once it has been established unless it is to come to court, do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes ma’am.” You nearly whispered as you looked up at her.

“OK then. We will reconvene in one week for trial.” The prosecutor and General Ross both shouted ‘what’ as Bucky hiked you up in his arms to carry you out, which made the judge whip toward them. “As for you? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Mutant or not, you just violated every single one of her civil liberties…”

“Bucky?” You breathed as you reached up with your metal hand and brushed your fingertips across the scruff on his cheek. “Anastasia?”

“She’s at the hotel with Pepper. We’re gunna go see her right now.”

“OK.” You said as you laid your head down on his shoulder where the Wolf finally let you fell asleep in the safety of his arms.

——

“Mama!” Ana screeched when you got out of the shower in your much nicer jail cell after your extensive check up with a doctor that worked for Stark Industries. You stumbled the slightest bit and looked over at your daughter, who toddled toward you all by herself on her impossibly more chunky legs. You stopped in the doorway and Bucky nearly ran over you from behind when you teared up and sat down on the carpet since you had missed her first steps.

“Oh, my baby girl!” You cried as tears filled your eyes when your little angel threw herself into your chest and hugged your throat tightly.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you two were showering.” Pepper said softly, but Bucky shook his head as he held his towel tightly around his waist and stepped past you.

“No, it’s OK.” He said with a glance back at the two halves of his heart. “We all just a little out of sorts right now.”

“I know what you mean.” Pepper said with a nod. “I’m gunna tell Tony to have Michael come and speak with her the day after tomorrow about the case. She needs you and Ana and she needs to eat something first.”

“And we all need some real rest.” He said as he turned a bit to watch you lay down right on the floor to play with the toys Bucky had brought with him to entertain Ana while he was in court. He could see the sheer exhaustion in your eyes as you watched Ana lay down just like you to put her hand on your cheek, and he startled the slightest when Pepper touched his shoulder.

“She’s gunna make it through this.” She said softly with a nod. “You both are. We’re all in this together, OK? And we will make it through this trial…”

“She won’t make it if she gets convicted…”

“She won’t.” Pepper reassured. “Especially after today. The jury saw her get shocked in that box, we can use that to our advantage…”

“Bucky?” You called out softly, which made him whip around toward you. You sighed heavily and looked up at him with a small shake of your head. “If I get convicted, I’m letting the Wolf out, and going to Wakanda. I won’t spend another minute of my life in a box like that again. Just get Anastasia there before I’m sentenced…”

“OK, we’ll worry about that later, doll.” He said as he walked away from Pepper and carefully laid down on Ana’s other side facing you. “Let’s just talk to the lawyer first. He has a pretty good plan for us. We’re all pretty confident anyways, OK?” You nodded your head against your arm and reached out to hold his hand as Pepper left your room for the night.

“I love you, Bucky. You and Ana are the only reasons I didn’t break out already.”

“Well you’re here now.” He said with a small smile. “I love you, (Y/N), and I will never stop doing so. No matter what happens.”

——

“Well you look much, much better than the last time I saw you, Dr. Barnes.” The judge, Stacy Benson said as she took a seat in her chair. “How are you feeling?” You glanced over at your lawyer, Michael Young, almost seeking permission to speak, before looking up at the judge with a small nod.

“Cleaner. But I’m a mother so I think I’ll forever be tired.”

“As the mother of three kids myself, I can tell you that never goes away.” She said with a small laugh as she organized the paperwork for your case. “Now, I assume you’ve had a chance to meet with your lawyer this past week?”

“Yes ma’am, I have. Thank you.”

“And you come to court today understanding all of the charges against you and are prepared for the trial against you to begin?”

“Yes ma’am, I am.” She looked up for the papers for a moment and nodded her head before glancing over at the bailiff.

“Let’s bring in the finalized jury.” You nodded your head, took a deep breath, and glanced back at Pepper, who was one of the only Avengers that wasn’t testifying which meant she was the only one allowed to hear the trial from beginning to end. She gave you a reassuring nod and reminded you to breathe and to sit up a bit more as the jury all took their seats. You turned back around and folded your hands in your lap the way your lawyer had told you so that your metal hand was ‘out of sight and out of mind’ until the ‘perfect moment’. You sat almost perfectly still and started singing the ‘Good Night Moon’ song on repeat in your head the way Bucky had suggested to try to drown out the Wolf as both lawyers started the trial with their opening arguments. 

The prosecution’s was almost stereotypical. Mr. Everett Ross kept his voice raised and his tone angry as he used big hand gestures to make his argument feel much larger than it was. But unfortunately, he was so convincing, hell, you yourself even believed for a moment that you- the normal, pre-brainwashing you was the one who committed the sixteen murders they had proof for out of the ninety-seven actual murders the Winter Wolf had done. When he was finished, even the Wolf sat back in your mind with an agitated huff.

‘Well we’re fucked.’

But then Mike stood up for his turn.

“Ladies and gentleman of the jury, this case is going to be one for the books. I have been practicing law for almost thirty years and I have never in my life seen one like this. Especially because what I am about to say is going to contradict itself completely. My client did commit these murders. She doesn’t deny it, there is plenty of evidence to support it, some of which, I’ll even be bringing up myself. But at the exact same time, my client is completely innocent. And I can prove it.

Over the next few days, you are going to hear plenty of eye witness testimony from witnesses that saw first hand what the Winter Wolf is capable of. You will see videos, and photographs the prosecution as procured to support the fact that the Wolf, which is what I will call the murderer from here on out, is the one that committed these crimes. But then it will be my turn to show you why Dr. Barnes, the woman sitting directly to my left here, is not the same person.

Please know in advance that the images, and testimony will be brutally graphic as we reveal the torture and agony Dr. Barnes went through at the hands of HYDRA from 1939 to 2014 when she was able to escape their control. And yes, my dates are correct because Dr. Barnes is a mutant, and one of her mutations is that she is not capable of dying. Which is also something else I will be able to prove as well. So while you sit here, and listen to the facts, I beg of you to keep an open mind through it all. Look at all of the facts and really see that the Winter Wolf and Dr. (Y/N) Barnes are two different entities in the same body. And prepare yourself now; like I said, this is not going to be pretty.” You looked up at him in awe as he nodded at the jury and came back around the table to sit down as Everett stood up and called his first witness. “Just remember what I said.” Mike said softly as he reached over and pat your back as an elderly man came in and sat down at the witness stand to be sworn in.

“Mr. Jones, how are you today?” Everett started with a smile.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Now Mr. Jones, can you tell me where you were on November 22nd, 1963?” Your mind instantly flashed to that day, and you knew exactly where this man was on that date.

“I was in Dallas, Texas at Dealey Plaza with my late wife to see President John F. Kennedy.”

“And where were you exactly, Mr. Jones?”

“We were sitting on the grassy knoll. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

“Now, refresh my memory.” Everett said almost sarcastically. “You were there, what happened, and what did you see?” You couldn’t stop your mind from following the man’s description as he led up to the moment the shots were fired, but from your point of view. You remembered getting off the way to advanced for its time jet, and heading through the packed streets to get to your mark. You remembered slipping into the shadows of a giant tree behind a picket fence and you could even feel the weight of your gun in your hand as you held it up and pulled the trigger. The faint hum of your daughter’s bed time song caught your attention though as it wasn’t part of the memory, and you shook your head and glanced behind you at Pepper, who simply smiled and nodded as she hummed a few more notes and stopped.

“So you saw the shooter?” Everett asked with a slight tilt of his head. “What can you tell me about her... or him.” He clarified, quickly before Mike could object.

“It was a woman.” Mr. Jones said with a small nod. “Caucasian, roughly five foot five like my wife, dark hair, wearing all black.”

“Anything else?” He asked as he oh so subtly adjusted his watch on his wrist, but Mike immediately jumped on it at the same moment you realized exactly why Tony and Bucky had insisted you wear the shirt you had on under your suit jacket.

“Objection! Leading!”

“Councilor, I will only warn you once.” Judge Benson said as she looked down at him as he raised his hands in innocence.

“Wasn’t leading...”

“She had a metal arm!” Mr. Jones said over him as if he had just remembered the award winning answer on a television game show.

“Your Honor, can you ask council to instruct his client to remove her jacket and roll up her sleeves.”

“Against my better judgement...” She started, but you had already stood up to take off your jacket anyways. The black metal stood out spectacularly against the light pink, sleeveless, backless, collared halter top button down you had on, and nearly the entire room gasped at the sight. You purposely turned around to hang your jacket on the back of your chair so that every single member of the jury could see your scars, and you went out of your way to use both hands to collect your loose hair to pull it over your right soldier so that the jury had no choice but to see what HYDRA did to you.

“A metal arm like that?” Everett asked as he turned back to the witness with a victorious smile, not realizing that every single thing he was doing was just setting himself up for failure.

“Yes, just like that.”

“No further questions.” He said with a nod as he walked back over to his table.

“Mr. Jones, you said you remember that day as if it was yesterday, correct?” Mike asked with a smile as he stood up from his spot.

“Yes, sir. I do.”

“Wonderful. So you can remember if the shooters metal arm was black or silver, correct?” You could see the subtle hesitation in Mr. Jones’ eyes as he glanced at you for a moment before looking back up at your attorney. 

“It was black. Matched her outfit.”

“And, how was the killer wearing her hair?” He continued as he leaned back against the table. “Down like it is now? Up in a pony tail? Do you recall?”

“It was...” He started as he glanced over at his lawyer, who no longer had a smile on his face. “It was pulled back. I’m not sure what the style was called back then.”

“And her outfit. I know you said it was all black, but could you describe it further?” You could see the slight panic in the witnesses eyes, before he jumped to the defensive.

“Are you calling me a liar, sir?!”

“Not at all, sir.” Mike said with a shake of his head as he turned around to grab something from the file he had sitting on the table. “Merely asking for more details. Defense exhibit one, your honor.” He said as he pulled out a stack of paper to give to the judge, to the jury, and to the witness since the prosecution had already been given the photographs. “Now Mr. Jones, would it surprise you in any way to know that up until 2018, Dr. Barnes had a silver metal arm with a giant red star on the shoulder as seen in photographs recovered from leaked HYDRA files from 1932, and 1967, photos from government files from 1974, ‘81, ‘91, ‘96... all the way to personal photos of her in Stark tower up until 2018 when it was exchanged for the current arm she has now?” He paused for a moment so that Mr. Jones had a chance to look through at least some of the photos, before continuing. “And would it also surprise you to know that the uniform she has on in those HYDRA and government photos was the official quote ‘uniform’ for the Winter Wolf, and that it never deviated?”

“Objection!” Everett snapped as he finally got to his feet. “How is he supposed to know that?”

“Just simple questions, that’s all.” Mike said as he took the photos back from the witness and walked back to the table. “No further questions.” As he sat back down at the table beside you, he put the photos back in their file before glancing over at you with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m just getting started.” A smile pulled at the corners of your lips as Everett got up and called his second of fifteen witnesses, realizing at that moment that your lawyer was going to win this case.

Part 16

[stargatebarbie]

Getting to Know You Meme

Tagged by @spurious 😊

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship? Yes! 7 years this November

02) What was your dream growing up? I wanted to be a psychologist for a long time but tbh glad I didn't end up doing that I am not suited to it

03) What talent do you wish you had? It'd be cool to have an idetic memory. Or even just like, a good one. My memory is shot lol

04) If someone bought you a drink what would it be? I could really use a proper coffee rn

05) Favorite vegetable? like good cherry tomatoes. the home grown kind. Or maybe potatoes

06) What was the last book you read? I'm currently reading Dungeon Meshi! I'm really enjoying the anime and decided to pick up the manga, just finished the first volume

07) What zodiac sign are you? Cancer 🦀

08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Yeah ears stretched a little, I think they're only 1cm & septum piercing. I haven't gotten around to getting any tattoos atp, shit's expensive, but I absolutely want them

09) Worst Habit? stealing all the cups and forks in the house

10) What is your favorite sport? not to be a stereotype but I don't really do sport. ig hockey?

11) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude? naturally pessimistic but i really try to like. practice optimism

12) Tell me one weird fact about you. one time I was locked in a bathroom with a goat

13) Do you have any pets? Yes! A cat named Moon :)

14) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? Scary for sure. I blame my mum she hung a clown puppet in my room as a baby

15) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? boy howdy would I love a breast reduction

16) What color eyes do you have? grey/blue

17) Ever been arrested? No but I have been detained for like. safety reasons oop

18) Bottle or can soda? Bottle i suppose? I don't really drink a lot of soft drink though

19) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? probably fund my move out of state

20) What's your favorite place to hang out at? home tbh. or the beach when it's not too crowded or cold

21) Do you believe in ghosts? No, to almost a cartoonish degree. I saw a ghost as a child & I still don't believe in them

22) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? any of my 8 million art/crafts/creative hobbies (currently mostly crochet, tatting, & drawing) & binge watching tv

23) Do you swear a lot? Ohhhh yeah. not only am I Australian, I'm from mining country

24) Biggest pet peeve? People being willfully inconsiderate of others in public spaces. trolley parked across the isle, tiktoks with no headphones on the bus, talking on the phone at the cash register, that sort of garbage

25) In one word, how would you describe yourself? um. weird?

26) Do you believe/appreciate romance? Yeah but like. I suck at it lol

27) Favourite and least favourite food? fave: potato bake & least: sausages

28) Do you believe in God? Nope lifelong athiest

29) What makes you happy: hanging out with my cat, rotating the blorbos in the brain microwave, finishing a project (in theory), and uhhh I'm replaying totk with my gf right now that's pretty great

30) Currently listening/the last thing you listened to: listening to a country & folk playlist, folsom prison blues just came on shuffle

31) Favourite place to spend time: uh yeah home

32) Favourite lyric: truly i hate to choose favourites there are so many um. okay

I'll be the jester as long as you are my queen Make a fool out of me I wanna be the source of your laughter

33) Recommend a film: I almost never watch movies uhhh. I recently forced my gf to watch the Birdcage with me bc she'd never seen it, it's so good

34) Recommend a book: Peter Darling by Austin Chant my beloved. Also I'm reading Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke rn and I'm really enjoying it if you work in an office and have slack or similar then I highly recommend especially

35) Recommend a band, a song, or album: Stick Season by Noah Kahan is just SUCH a good album

36) Recommend a TV show: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - great for lovers of musical theatre and/or the mentally ill 😌

37) Where are you from, and do you still live there? Where have you lived? I'm from Queensland and currently live in Tasmania. I've moved back and forth between QLD and TAS a few times, and plan on moving to Melbourne eventually

38) Do you have any pets or animals in your life? How did you find/get them? The aforementioned cat, I got him from a shelter & they got him from a dumpster <333

39) What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? during a drinking game I once took a shot that included; soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vodka, a warhead (sour lolly), fanta, and probably some other stuff I'm not sure I was very drunk and 18 year olds should not be unsupervised with that much alcohol bc they'll invent the world's worst drinking games

40) How did you 'find' fandom? A friend of mine sat me down in front of her family computer in their bible library (not a joke, whole library of bibles & Christian religious texts) & said hey. have you heard there are people on the internet who write stories about these two guys from this one series kissing? and I was immediately hooked lol

41) Make a list of 5 things that you see without getting up. work laptop (bc I am on the clock oops), personal PC, crochet project, calcifer plush, & my cat glaring at me from my computer tower bc I wouldn't let him sit on my keyboard

42) How do you style your hair? Well it was a mullet but it's super grown out now so it's more of a shag & I mostly just chuck it in a bun or something. I desperately want to shave it but it's so cold, idk maybe I'll just make a few beanies & buzz it anyway

If you want to join in please consider yourself tagged! 💖

[mast3rofnonee]

0:Height- 5'10/11

1:Virgin?- yes

2:Shoe size-11

3:Do you smoke?-no

4:Do you drink?-no

5:Do you take drugs?-no

6:Age you get mistaken for- 18

7:Have tattoos? -yes but no

8:Want any tattoos? -yesssss

9:Got any piercings? -yes (septum)

10:Want any piercings?-eyebrow, nose stud vertical labaret, belly, and my all of my ears

11:Best friend?- yes but not really (i literally fell out with my bestie of four years. Lmk for a storytime)

12:Relationship status- takennn

13:Biggest turn ons- intellectual/intelligence, funny, kinda really mean, big nose(s), and height (ntm tho)

14:Biggest turn offs - disrespectful to women (or anyone but mainly women) in ANY way, too sexual, dumb, immature!!

15:Favorite movie- CMBYN

16:I’ll love you if- you let me do weird stuff with you. like weird esoteric off-putting shit.

17:Someone you miss- My bestie, my man.

18:Most traumatic experience- idek know atp tbh but maybe when i got outted and when my parents thought i was doing drugs.

19:A fact about your personality- i am very goofy and a weirdo <3 (no corny stuff lmao)

20:What I hate most about myself- mouth lol

21:What I love most about myself- face, personality mainly tho

22:What I want to be when I get older- psychiatrist/forensic scientist

23:My relationship with my sibling(s)- good!!

24:My relationship with my parent(s) - fine. (dad), my mother im pretty close to id say.

25:My idea of a perfect date- picnic by a waterfall in a secluded forest in a cute bikini and fresh fruit with a charcuterie board with a speaker playing my music.

26:My biggest pet peeves- chewing with your mouth open, "ALPHA MALE" men, self centered people, being that try and force stuff on you (cough cough), being greedy, MEAN PEOPLE!

27:A description of the girl/boy I like- short king(lmao), curly hair, chubby, nerdy. (my bf)

28:A description of the person I dislike the most- normal height, afro hair, lightskin, crooked teeth, huge boobs.

29:A reason I’ve lied to a friend - she would get mad at the truth ( dont do that anymore idgaf)

30:What I hate the most about work/school - teachers.

31:What your last text message says- idk

32:What words upset me the most- "youre not my _ anymore " idek i have sm

33:What words make me feel the best about myself- youre so beautiful, i can trust you, i love you.

34:What I find attractive in women- basically everything if i find them attractive. but even if not, i still like everything, ( i think women are the most gorgeous creatures on earth)

35:What I find attractive in men - big noses, body hair (hear me out), freckles, messy (long) hair / curly hair, pretty eyes, long eyelashes, thighs, ass, arms/ hands.

36:Where I would like to live- Countrysides in the medteranian (idk if italy counts), UK/ireland/scotland/iceland (idk if italy counts), any big city in western europe, NYC, brasil, or somwhere in washington state!!

37:One of my insecurities- my height sometimes, stretch marks sometimes.

38:My childhood career choice- archaeologist.

39:My favorite ice cream flavor- coffee

40:Who wish I could be- if i had to Zendaya.

41:Where I want to be right now- anywhere i would like to travel to, just anywhere, in a cute outfit with my favorite DILF.

42:The last thing I ate- whole grain crackers.

43:Sexiest person that comes to my mind immediately- Pedro Pascal and then after that one of my DILF teachers (teehee)

44: A random fact about anything- In WWII during the blitz in the UK, they shipped all of the children to the countryside of Britain to protect them.

[4townie]

Road to 4☆TOWN

part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14 | part 15 | part 16

“Thanks for lunch, babe.” Janelle said sweetly. “When are you gonna let me pay you back?” She winked.

Robaire chuckled. “Maybe next time we go out, I’ll let you get dessert.”

“Well, I could do that,” Janelle scooted closer and wrapped her arms around him, “or I could pay you back another way.”

“I mean, I could get my old—…” Robaire paused as he realized what she meant. “Oh. Ahhh—” His phone rang, saving him from the awkwardness. “Oh, I gotta take this. It’s probably important.” He picked up. “Hey, girl, hey.”

Janelle furrowed her brow. “Girl…?”

“Hey, Baby Bear.” Selina greeted him. “So I know it’s kinda short notice, but would you wanna come over and watch a movie tonight? It’s been a while since you’ve come over and Jesse won’t let me out of his sight cuz he’s a little…clingy.”

“It’s not clingy if I’m not following you into the bathroom.” Jesse narrowed his eyes from across the room.

“That sounds nice, Lina, but—”

“Who are you talking to, babe?” Janelle said loudly.

Selina paused. “Are you…with a girl right now?”

“Yeah, I don’t know if J—…if your boyfriend told you, but I started seeing this girl, Janelle. I met her on tour.” Robaire grinned at Janelle. “We kinda already had plans for tonight.”

“Janelle? Why don’t you—” Selina looked over her shoulder when she noticed Jesse frantically shaking his head. “Oh, ummmm…so I guess we’ll take a raincheck then.”

“Yeah, for sure. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Robaire nodded.

“Babe~” Janelle whined, tugging at his shirt a bit. “Pay attention to me now.”

“Ooh, it sounds like you picked a good one.” Selina raised an eyebrow.

“Shut up.” Robaire tried not to laugh. “She’s really sweet. I have to introduce you sometime.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” Selina said. “I’ll let you go now. Somebody’s tugging at my shirt and it’s not the two year old.” She glared at Jesse.

“That’s because he’s too small to reach your shirt.” Jesse rolled his eyes. “Also he’s preoccupied with those strawberries, but whatever. Hang up, I wanna talk to you.”

“And you wanted to poke fun at my girlfriend?” Robaire laughed at Jesse’s childishness.

“UGH, whatever.” Selina shook her head. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Kay, have fun with the boys. Byeee.” Robaire hung up. “Sorry about that. I’m all yours now.”

“So who was that on the phone?” Janelle asked skeptically. “Was it your sister that you told me about?”

“No, my sister, Christine, is married.” Robaire reminded her. “That was my good friend, Selina. She wanted to hang out, but I told her I was with you so no biggie.”

“Selina…was she the one with that really bad overbite?” Janelle smirked a bit. “I think it’s really sweet that you stayed friends with her regardless.”

“Overbite?” Robaire looked at her in confusion. “OH, you must be thinking of my classmate from my highschool yearbook, Cecile Robinson. She got that fixed, by the way.” He shook his head. “Selina’s the one from that photo you asked about last time you were at my house. Y’know, the one we took on the beach last summer?”

“Oh, right. That Selina.” Janelle remembered. “The one with those gross stretch marks on her stomach. And the perfect everything else…” She muttered the last bit.

“Well, she does have a kid so the stretch marks are—” Robaire froze when he processed the rest of her statement. “Wait a second, are you jealous?”

“How can I not be?” Janelle batted her eyelashes sweetly. “You guys sound so close. Besides, I know I can trust you around her, but how do I know she won’t make a move on you? They say you can never trust a woman with a body like that.”

“Selina’s not like that. She’s, like, super duper taken. And very loyal.” Robaire assured her. “Plus, I know her boyfriend. They’re practically married, it’s all good. You have nothing to worry about.”

Janelle was quiet for a moment. She detangled herself from him and scooted away. “I mean, it’s fine really. I was gonna invite you over to my place tonight, but if you’d rather be with your friend—”

“No, wait, Janelle, I told her I was hanging out with you tonight.” Robaire grabbed her hand, but she wouldn’t look at him. “She’s just a close friend, nothing more. I swear.”

“I believe you, but…” Janelle bit her lip as she trailed off.

Robaire sighed. “If it really makes you uncomfortable, I’ll try and distance myself a little. I mean I’m still gonna see her, but just maybe not as often as before. Is…is that okay?”

“Well, I guess it’s a start.” Janelle finally looked at him. “I think it’s really cute that you’re trying though.” She smiled before kissing him.

Robaire gave her a lovesick grin. “So about your place tonight—”

“Oh, I just remembered my dishwasher is broken. The whole kitchen is flooded, it’s so embarrassing. The repair guy won’t be there until tomorrow.” She sighed. “How about a movie instead? We could get cheap tickets to a really empty one and sit in the back.”

“I like the way you think.” Robaire agreed before kissing her again.

———

“Okay, babe, what did you—” Selina froze when she noticed the look on Jesse’s face. “Jesse? Are you good?” She looked him up and down. “You’re making a face that usually means you either want me to put Marcel down for an early nap or you want me to get the prune juice.”

“It’s neither.” Jesse said quietly. “It’s about that Janelle girl. You kinda sounded like you were about to let him bring her over here.”

“Yeah, I was.” Selina shrugged. “I just wanted to get him over here, I kinda miss him.”

“About that.” Jesse averted eye contact. “I don’t like her. I mean, I don’t really know her, it’s not like we’ve ever spoken, but she just gives off bad vibes.”

“Are you telling me this because you’re worried about Robaire?” Selina crossed her arms. “Because he’s an adult, he can make his own decisions. Besides, if you’re really concerned, you can talk to him yourself.”

“No, it’s not that. Well, it kinda is, but I can’t talk to him until I have more than “bad vibes” as evidence.” Jesse shook his head. “My point was that I don’t really trust her with this secret. If it hadn’t been for that legal gag the label put on Beckett, we’d probably already be screwed already, but they can’t really do that to random girls we don’t like.”

Selina was quiet for a moment. “I guess that’s a fair point. We’re doing so well keeping this in our inner circle, we can’t just go trusting our best friend’s new girlfriend right off the bat.” She sighed. “I wanted to trust his judgement, but if you think we shouldn’t, then we won’t.”

“Thanks, Selina.” Jesse said with a bit of relief. “I just don’t think he’s thinking with his brain right now.”

A moment of silence passed between them.

“Mommy, I need more mawbewies.” Marcel called from the other room.

“What’s with this kid and strawberries lately?” Selina rolled her eyes as she opened the fridge. “It’s all he ever wants anymore.”

“You should just be glad he’s not eating crackers anymore.” Jesse shuddered. “I don’t think our couch will ever truly be clean again.”

[silurisanguine]

15 lines of Dialogue game

As ive been away for the weekend, not sure if anyone tagged me with this but saw it open tag so here we go. Tagging @vorchagirl @despicablediet and anyone who'd like to do it! 15 Lines of Dialogue Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well! Since i've written the most with Seren Jones, I shall pick her for this!

1 -"Maybe I am, but there isn’t anything left in this universe worth staying for. Whatever is in the next universe has to be better than this one Barrett, it has to. I can't bare to stay here any more, not without him, not when I could have done it so differently."

2 - "Cora… she was there, saw her dad die…She hated me, blamed me for not saving him. After the funeral, Lillian took her and that was the last I ever saw that wonderful twelve year old. I realised then I had no reason to stay in my universe as everything i loved had been taken from me. I hoped maybe another would give me a second chance. To fix things..to try again…

…That’s why I do this.”

3 - "I came here the first time with no preconception of what I’d find. I was in awe at the location, just as you are now. But what I learned here has guided my hand in relation to how I see the Artifacts, how I see Unity and the Starborn. Anyone who wants to complete the Artifact collection, needs to know the full story for themselves.”

4- "Now you see how dangerous this place is, and this is just the start. The Starborn Guardians here have lost all empathy, all compassion, their humanity in pursuit of their cause. They have nothing left in their existence except to stop anyone else reaching the Temple. …I sometimes wonder what is the point of their existence before I wipe them out of it for good.”

5 -”You washed them clean. I can say one good thing about Lillian in that she gave you the chance to do that. You’re not the same man, Sam.”

6 -”They makes me smile every time I come back here. But I’m not entirely alone, the fish there get a view unlike any other.” She pointed to the couple of little fish swimming in their tanks, sitting right at the edge of the massive view screen. “If you don’t mind taking care of them for me, they’ve been a good little crew, never complained once.”

7 - "I've never met you before. Until today I'd never met a single pirate here." That was the truth, if a little stretched Seren thought.

8 -"All this, this universe is a nightmare. I've been to so many variations and… You… everyone here is so different, so wrong. It’s like Unity decided to show me the worst outcome possible just to make me appreciate who I’d - what I’d lost.”

9 -"Neat trick, have to remember that next time I'm in a hell-hole universe."

10 -"Sorry, Sam, just picturing you over Vlad’s head brought on images of you in ballet tights and…yeah, sorry, I have too much imagination.”

11 - "Yes, justice, Delgado. See that’s behind most things I do now. In this case justice for those your fucking coloured coded Spacers have harmed- have murdered. It’s interesting really how far I got here without anyone realising who I really am... I wondered why no one noticed the SIN of my ship. Even Jess surprisingly. It was a gamble using it of course…But no one ever clocked that I was flying the Razorleaf."

12- “Until I knew for sure you felt the same way I did, I wasn’t sure how to really act around you. But now I know, expect more of this, Sam Coe.”

13 - “You know I would! I mean she called me darlin, you know that makes me melt.”

14 - "…He always said he was bad with words, yet he could say things that were like love poetry to me, that would dazzle me. He was so open with his feelings when he trusted you. Funny, absurd sometimes and he cared deeply and loved passionately. He was an amazing father and I-"

15 - "I've no idea. Being Starborn didn't exactly come with a manual."