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đ i just love pre serum steve so much that if it were me, this is how i think iâd react. like, i love you but how dare you take that sweet baby boy from me? also not me finding new ways to write about grief all the time bc itâs both therapeutic and fun for hurt/comfort purposes ïżœïżœ
and stoooop, because thisâ
this was actually the direction i was going to take it, with the fic being way longer and more angsty but i changed my mind at the last second. i needed the comfort this weekend đ„ș
ilysm <3
small worlds.
â© read on ao3 â© steven g. rogers masterlist â© forget-me-not creative campaign â© library blog
⣠pairing â 1940s!steve rogers x f!reader
⣠contents â one-shot, hurt/comfort, somewhere between fluff and angst, implied smut, established relationship
⣠summary â all he ever wanted to do was the right thing. it never occurred to him that doing the right thing could possibly hurt someone he loves.
⣠word count â 1.5k
⣠notes â this is my submission for my own creative campaign lmao đ
i just got inspired looking at those prompts again, okay? and these are my missing pre-serum!steve hours đ and after the week iâve had, i need some comfort~
prompts used: â© geranium = returning joy â© plumeria = âwell, this is new.â â© zinnia = mourning your absence
Bucky had been wrong.Â
His best friend predicted that you would be thrilled to see the new him. After all, the girls at the SSR couldnât seem to stay away, nor could the flight nurses out on the frontlines, no matter how many times he told them he had a girl back home and just wasnât interested.Â
Howard was the only one who knew well enough to warn him; given how Steve had left things with you before he took off on his tour across the country, he shouldnât expect everything to be sunshine and rainbows when he got back.Â
The two of you had fought, the biggest one in the history of your relationship, and hadnât spoken to each other in days before he had to leave. His efforts to lie his way into the army was always a source of friction between you, and this, being selected as the subject for Project Rebirth, was just another straw on the camelâs back.Â
Steve knew you were just afraid for him, as anyone who mattered to him would be, but it was something he knew he had to do. Unfortunately he couldnât be convinced, but it didnât mean he wasnât also terrified of facing the consequences.Â
âBe prepared to grovel, Rogers, like youâve never done before,â Howard warned, giving him a grave look before waving him off. âHell hath no fury.âÂ
So, he showed up at your door only days before he had to leave for Italy, holding a bouquet of flowers and shuffling nervously on his feet as he waited. Steve didnât know what to say when you opened the door, feeling a little awkward himself at nearly two feet taller and about a hundred fifty pounds heavier.Â
You stared at him for a moment, almost as if you didnât recognize him.Â
âHi,â he said sheepishly, giving you a hesitant but hopeful smile. You looked like you might reel back and punch him, no doubt still angry about the way things went down and how heâd returned to you looking like an entirely different man, but then your face crumpled.Â
There were downsides to the serum, he realized, as he could smell the salt of your tears before they even reached your lashes. He leaned down, bending at the waist, something he never had to do before, letting you wrap your arms around his widened shoulders. He could taste the relief in your tears as he kissed them away.Â
In the hours that followed, however, you remained distant. He caught you staring thoughtfully at him from across the kitchen, only to quickly avert your eyes when he looked up from the hearty dinner you made him.Â
You pulled away subtly when he reached for your hand or the soft dip of your waist, flinch when he moved to kiss your cheek, and returned all his dumb jokes with tight smiles.Â
âWell, this is new,â he grinned softly as he stepped behind you, his chest firm against your back, grabbing a jar on a high shelf that you were struggling to reach.Â
It took you a few moments too long to turn towards him, your lips curving upwards ever so slightly but it never quite touching the rest of your features.Â
Even when he lay next to you that night, it felt like you were miles away. He was leaving soon, all the way to Italy and then to god knows where else, and he didnât want to leave things this way. He didnât want to go yet, not while he was uncertain about whether youâd welcome him back next time.Â
But as always, itâs like you hear the thoughts in his head without him ever needing to speak them. Itâs why this works; he broods and you see through him, as though you have a map directly to his heart.Â
âIt feels strange,â you confess in hushed tones, the two of you lying in the darkness of your bedroom. When the two of you touch, it feels foreign. You feel guilty, as though you were somehow being unfaithful to a version of him that would never come back.Â
âI know,â he says, reaching for you. His heart sinks when you pull away. He lays there in silence, his enhanced vision capturing you so clearly in the dark, staring up at the ceiling as your bottom lip quivers.Â
âYou took him from me,â you whisper, eyes shining so brightly with anguish in the moonlight. It takes a moment for him to realize what you mean. He can hear the tears sliding down your temples and dripping onto the pillow.Â
All he ever wanted to do was the right thing. It never occurred to him that doing the right thing could possibly hurt someone he loves.Â
âIâm still me,â he murmurs, his fingers desperate to wipe them away, his arms itching to find their place around you once again.Â
âTo everyone else, even to you, he was always just that scrappy little nobody from Brooklyn. But to me?â You are weeping now, your voice thick with grief even though heâs right next to you. âTo me, he was everything. I donât want Captain America. I want Steve. My Steve.âÂ
Steve swallowed hard. You always were the only one who did.Â
âHeâs still here,â he pulls you close and this time, you donât fight him. You fold yourself against him, crying harder when you are met with the hard sharp planes of his new body, instead of his usual soft edges that always seemed to embrace you right back. âIâm right here.âÂ
He lets you cry into his chest until, after what seems like hours, you finally drift off into an uneasy sleep, the front of his shirt still damp with your despair.Â
But it doesnât take much longer to find a new normal.Â
He still smiles at you the same way as the day you met, a little sheepish and a little shy even after all this time.Â
He still does that thing where he intertwines his fingers with yours, his touch a little evasive, teasing you a bit before finally pressing your palms together.Â
He still holds you for as long as you need, always letting you be the first one to pull away.Â
He still quietly fills the pages of sketchbooks that he hides on your bookshelf.Â
He still eats so slowly, taking his time at your dining table because even a slightly bigger portion than normal used to make him sick.Â
He still looks at the most terrible parts of humanity and decides that the world is worth saving.Â
You slowly get used to the fact that he can reach the higher cabinets in your kitchen now, that he no longer falls ill at each turn of the season, and that while you will never get to see your Steve againâeven though you think of him oftenâthis Steve is right: he never really left.Â
And when youâve forgiven him, because there really was no question about it, when youâre ready to give yourself to him again, youâre both a bit nervous and awkward.Â
It takes a little bit of dancing to get used to each otherâs bodies again; youâre much smaller compared to him now, and heâs afraid heâll forget his newfound strength and inadvertently hurt you somehow.Â
But, much like you did before when he was small and inexperienced, he guides you and you eagerly follow. He lets you come to him, allows you to set the pace and boundaries of how far youâre willing to go, and he always looks at you the same. He even says it againâ
âI canât believe youâre here with me,â he croaks, so close you can smell his aftershave.Â
Itâs moments like these when you fully realize that while the serum changed him on the outside, it never touched what was inside. As always, he handles you with the utmost care, pulling you cautiously onto his lap, his hands gently cradling either side of your face as he drinks you in, eyes darting back and forth across your face before he finally leans in to kiss you.Â
His eyes never once leave yours, even as you abandon your dress and undergarments on the bedroom floor. His fingertips slide down your sternum in a featherlight touch, down the valley between your breasts, before turning his hand over to brush his knuckles lightly over your rib cage, raising goosebumps in his wake.Â
You stare into his familiar eyes, the ones that fill your vision with the clearest blueâas if youâre looking into a cloudless summer sky, just like the day you met the boy with a heart ten sizes too big for his chestïżœïżœand you sigh in relief.Â
âThere you are,â you purr against his lips.Â
His lips stretch into a smile, coaxing yours into doing the same. He remembers a promise heâd made to someone else not that long ago, and he promises it againâto you this time.Â
That you will stay who you are.Â
That he will never lose your Steve.Â
fin.
#janie replies đŹ#small worlds#steve rogers x f!reader#nika đ§Ą#intrepidacious <3#reblogging hours
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Can't stop staring at the nika, zoro's three swords, ryuma(?), and luffy doodles on zoro's side of the table... and the nami, bell-mĂšre, and nojiko doodle on nami's sideđđ
#roronoa zoro#nami#sun god nika#monkey d. luffy#shimotsuki ryuma#bell-mĂšre#nojiko#god is it implied zolu/luzo?#also i love nami and her lil family so muchđđ§Ą#one piece
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@shellcrush tagged me to search my name + core on Pinterest and make a moodboard with the results!
ty wisa! that was vvv fun đ I'll now tag some otter besties: @catboyparrish @transcatboymegumi @duvetcoat @asiancatboy @medianaranja @marusyenka @shimamitsu @oasatelematics @pherelpis @byrons @catboykacchan @catboyjosten and anyone else who wants to do it!! go slay legends đ§Ąđ§Ą
#for fun#tag game#i used results from both nika/nica and anna.. v Happy w what i got cats and art and greenery#SO true that IS annacore! đ§Ą#and of course... gkomenakia also đ©ââ€ïžâđâđ©
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3, 15, & 39? đđ
3. 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?
knives out, the princess bride, and can i cheat and say a series bc my third choice is black sails. if not i'll go with pride and prejudice and zombies
15. what do you think of when you hear the word âhomeâ?
my bed :') someplace warm and safe and snuggly!!
39. youtuber youâve been obsessed with and why?
omg i love you i was hoping for this one!! i've been watching christy anne jones' writing routine videos basically nonstop this past week, i adore her content so much <3
questions i think would be fun to be asked
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Not over this and I never will be đ I love these two so much and your writing is like poetry omg
set me free
summary: Once upon a time, a soldier fell from a train. Thankfully, this time, he is found by gentle hands, and a beautiful voice keeps him safe from the cold.
pairing: bucky barnes x nymph!reader
word count: 6.4k
warnings: bucky dealing with the loss of his arm; a pinch of angst for flavour; reader is perceived as female by men in the forties, but what does that really tell us?
please note that my blog is rated 18+. minors dni. ageless/empty blogs will be blocked without warning.
a/n: hi. i really like this one. it combines two of my favourite things, fairy tales and 40s!bucky đ title is from the song her voice from the little mermaid musical <3
masterlist | read on ao3
âThere was a girl.â
Itâs the first thing he says when he wakes up, head wrapped in bandages and his arm ⊠shit, his arm.
He doesnât react when they break it to him, as gently as you can when youâre tearing someoneâs life apart. What could he say?
Steveâs face speaks loud enough for the both of them.
He waits until everyone else has left, until he can drop the act and look at Steve, desperately trying to make him understand that thereâs a voice singing inside of him thatâs not his, that he feels like he lost two very precious things in a single day. âThere was a girl.â
And Steveâs eyes go soft when he tells him, âI know.â
***
There was a story up north, where the waters turned grey with city slick and got forced through ever tightening brick holes, of the nymph that wanted to appeal to reason and got trapped in a barrel where he shrank, shrank until there was nothing left of him but water and vengeance, and who no one ever heard from again after in his last moments, he drowned dozens of them.
Humans.
You hadnât seen one up close in years, not since they built their stinking railroad and stopped taking the time to walk through the lands adjoining your river. Your life got quiet when theirs got fast. You werenât used to them anymore, and the constant buzzing in the camp gave you a headache.
Coming here was the most treacherous thing youâd ever done.
You just wanted to make sure he was alright after youâd pulled him from your waters and dragged him to where his friends would find him, down the river where the remnants of the train still burned. You watched the flames from a distance, the fire throwing eerie shadows across the snow for hours, leaving nothing but vapour.
Heâd finally stopped bleeding, then.
You werenât supposed to leave your river for any long period of time, but you couldnât resist. The thought of the strange soldier with the beautiful face and hair the colour of muddy riverbanks occupied your every waking thought. As if he were calling to you.
Youâre treading dangerous waters, your mother would have warned you, and you probably shouldâve listened. But youâd never felt this way before.
So you left your voice behind to keep your legs for longer and went in search of your soldier.
The camp was dirty, haphazard, stank of human. None of them even seemed to notice. You almost wished for one of their primitive noses that couldnât pick a trout from a pickerel.
You found the blond man first. Eyes like the darkest part of a waterfall and built like the rocks that kept the earth standing. His cries had sounded garbled from where youâd hid just below the surface, but now his voice was calmer, like rain.
âAre you lost?â he asked. It sounded peculiar to you, then, English, but you got used to it quickly.
You shook your head, already starting to move past him when he stepped into your path.
âYouâre not supposed to be here,â he said with a frown.
Yes, you were.
âHow did you even find us?â
It wasnât hard. Nature was screaming their presence. If anyone wasnât supposed to be here, it was them. But that wasnât why youâd come.
âWhatâs your name?â
You were starting to wonder if humans ever got anything done or if they were spending all of their precious few days just standing around asking meaningless questions. Thankfully, one of the others started shouting at that moment, not even bothering to come closer. You cringed at the loud noise.
âSteve! Itâs happening again!â
The blond man cursed under his breath, giving you another appraising look. âStay here,â he ordered sternly, and then he took off.
You followed more slowly, moving past soldiers and nurses who were all in such a hurry to disguise how utterly useless they felt. None of them stopped you, even though you attracted some curious glances; you looked like them, now, but you didnât move like them.
The ice cracked underneath your bare feet, but your steps were silent. The winter air did not chill you, even though your breath came up in small clouds of mist, just like it did for the rest of them, and you watched it evaporate into the grey sky.
A strange thing, they must have thought you. Similar enough, but not the same, somehow.
You found him easily, even though you couldnât see him; it was like he pulled you in with invisible strings. His tug had already started to feel deceivingly familiar.
Another man stood in front of the entrance, holding a flask in his hand. He saw you approach, and he tipped his hat back to stare at you openly. He murmured something in a tongue clearly different from the first, and then he tapped his head and torso in several places, an instinctive, protective gesture.
You smiled at him.
âCâĂ©tait vous?â he asked, and you nodded.
He looked over his shoulder quickly, and then he held the flaps of the tent open to let you in.
The air inside was heavy with the damp smell of sweat and blood. The blond manâs back almost kept him from your view, but you knew immediately that the convulsing body on the cot belonged to your soldier. They were holding him down, trying to keep him still as he was struggling.
He hadnât woken yet.
You took another step closer, and then you saw him again. There he lay, still partially covered by your cloak, and the sight of it made you shiver. The obscenity of it all.
Itâd seemed such a natural thing to do at the time, to shield him from certain death, but now, surrounded by all these other ⊠humans? You could barely keep yourself from gagging.
Youâd sung it into existence to keep him warm, and then youâd kept singing until the bleeding finally slowed.
You were almost done when you heard the others approach, calling out for him, and your head whipped around in shock. So much had you been preoccupied with your work, you hadnât even noticed them until it was almost too late.
Careful, your motherâs voice warned softly in your head. A moment of weakness is how they catch you, pearl.
Your song hadnât been completed, and when you melted back into your waters in haste, keen to get out of their view, you could feel something tear inside you as it got left behind.
It made you feel raw.
You were safe beneath your waters, but youâd left part of yourself with the handsome stranger with the mud-coloured hair, and as they picked him up and carried him back through the woods, the missing thing settled like a pebble in his pocket.
And now âŠ
He was lying right in front of you, so close you might have just reached out and touched his damp forehead, but you didnât quite dare, not with everyone else starting to notice your presence.
âYou can't be in here!â
Oh, but you had to be.
You didnât know what they must have seen in your eyes, but something changed on the blond manâs face, and he did not move when you did. Gently, you leaned over the man on the cot, noticing every shiver and flinch and moan, brushing a strand of hair from his brow. You pulled at the corner of your cloak and wrapped it around his shoulder again, careful not to touch the spattered bandages.
Your soldier sighed, and then his sleep grew dreamless.
The man called Steve let you stay.
***
It took several days before he woke up, and theyâd moved him a few dozen metres uphill, where the trees formed more of a clearing and the air was crisp. Youâd kept to the fringes of the camp, making yourself useful enough so they wouldnât dismiss you, carrying hot water and sweeping snow off tarpaulin.
The sun was setting when you felt the pull again, but different this time, more tentative. You dropped your empty bucket and gathered your skirt, hurrying to see what had happened, what had changed.
âThere was a girl.â
You came to a halt right outside the entrance to the med tent, hands pressed to your chest because suddenly, you felt ill, as if your heart was trying to burst out of your chest. You couldnât make sense of the sudden wetness on your cheeks. Had it started to rain without your notice?
âThere was a girl.â
Youâre not a girl, but it was fine. Humans are so limited, your mother always used to say.
And he remembered your song.
***
The first time your soldier met you, met you properly, theyâd wrapped him in blankets and carried him outside to sit in the sun. Like a wildcat, you thought, but his eyes were glazed over, not really taking in his surroundings.
It was a pity, you thought as you watched him, because the woods were beautiful that time of year, when the sun made the white mountain tops glitter like diamonds.
You only dared to move closer once the others gave up on trying to get him to talk. One slow step closer, than another. Finally, you sat down in the grass next to him, your feet crossing easily underneath you because youâd done it several times before at that point. The air was damp with morning dew.
Several minutes passed before he seemed to acknowledge your presence.
âCome to stare?â he croaked quietly. His voice was rough in places it wasnât supposed to be.
You tilted your head to look at him, shielding your eyes against the sun. He looked magnificent in the light, even though the frown never left his face. You didnât understand his question.
You didnât know, then, that humans couldnât just regrow their limbs like fish could their fins.
But you had no way of asking his meaning, so you just kept sitting next to him in silence, watching life move on in the camp downhill. He didnât tell you to leave.
His name, you learned, was Bucky, and you wished you could try out the sound on your tongue to see how it tasted. He had eyes the colour of the ocean, but you didnât know that until later. Youâd never seen it before.
He stayed propped up in the med tent most of the time. For observation, Steve explained, worry in his voice, but he didnât let you disturb Bucky in there. After all, you were just a stranger who didnât talk or wear shoes, and whose seam was always inexplicably wet, and while you heard the whispers and knew he was smart enough to pick out the kernels of truth, he never told you to leave.
âI saw you that day,â he told you one afternoon, his waterfall eyes keen and focused. âYou saved his life.â
A moment of weakness, you thought. You couldnât help but wish for a lifetime of it.
You snuck in at night, when the nurse had gone to bed, tracing your cool fingertips against Buckyâs burning skin until he sighed in his sleep. In the pale moonlight, he seemed not much older than a boy. Sometimes, he woke up, but he was so delirious he must have mistaken you for an apparition by his bedside.
You silently tucked your cloak closer around him and hoped it was enough.
During the day, you kept close, staying busy by helping the others with the upkeep of the camp or looking for a quiet place to rest for a while. It took a lot out of you, trying to soothe Buckyâs pain, but it was worth it to you.
To him, you were an enigma.
You came out of nowhere into his life, and even though everything he had planned for the rest of it seemed to go up in flames around him and disappear forever, you were determined to stay by his side.
It took a lot of persuasion. You could hear Steve shout at the commanding officers for days, and the wind told you that Bucky heard, too. It spelled out his confusion, and his gratitude. Some part of him sensed your connection to him, even though he couldnât understand it like you did.
Your boy was only human, after all.
In the beginning, in those early days before you even learned his name, youâd wondered if maybe the simple act of pulling Bucky out of your river had been what had somehow entranced you. If, as time went on, this fondness for him would disappear like the shimmer of light on the surface when the sun was rising; beautiful, but temporary.
It kept you seeking him out whenever you could, silently sitting down next to his chair with a bunch of fabrics to darn as the days kept getting warmer. It smelled of spring. Some colour had returned to his cheeks.
âSteve tells me youâre my guardian angel.â He said it like a reproach.
You merely shrugged and kept sewing. Your fingers were clumsy, not used to the tool, but youâd never been one to give up. When you stole a wayward glance at Bucky, he was watching you. He stirred underneath your gaze, and it made you want to jump up and run, run until you reached your river and could sink back beneath the familiar surface, to stop this racing in your chest, your head.
You tucked your legs underneath you.
It was strange, having legs again. You hadnât worn them since ⊠When was it, again, that theyâd invented those terrible steaming machines that sent angry flares of smoke into the air and made it stink of fire and destruction for miles and miles?
You liked the feeling, though. They stood solid.
You were particularly fond of your toes, curiously burying them in the half-frozen ground until they changed colour, and then rubbing them between your stubby humanlike fingers so that the dirt fell off and they were warm once more.
Still, your soldier barely spoke to you.
You could feel his eyes set on you, though, whenever you walked by or sat at his feet. The cloak around his shoulders was drawing him to you, even if he didnât know it. There was nothing else to it but ancient spells and unintentional offers.
You tried not to worry about it too much. The spell would fall off him as soon as he was healed enough, anyway, you knew as much.
But you couldnât help yourself.
You heard his call to you at night, desperate, lonely, searching for some great unknown that he was missing. You felt the tug.
The ache became almost too much for you to bear.
The breeze whispered his name for you, a gentle kiss on his temple, as you lay rolled up in the cot theyâd given you, waiting for dawn to bring an end to his nightmares and your untetheredness.
In the daylight, things were difficult in a different way. Oh, you wanted to talk to him, tell him all the stories youâd picked up over the decades. They all seemed so unreal when you were sitting next to him, as if theyâd happened to someone else entirely.
The wind lashed out at you in moments like this, clashing fallen leaves into your face and pulling at your hair like a petulant child. Nature wasnât angry with you, exactly, but she was mourning. She knew long before you did, and did everything in her power to soften the blow.
âHow come youâre never cold?â Bucky asked when you rubbed your naked feet across the stone.
You laughed, silently, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
âRight. Yes or no only, correct?â
You smiled and nodded. A light blush spread on his cheeks.
âYeah, thatâs not gonna work out.â Your heart dropped, but he looked at you assessingly, his head slightly tilted to the side. âYou donât happen to know how to write, do you?â
You shook your head slowly. You were able to read human alphabets as well as understand the words, but itâd never seemed useful to you to put something in writing yourself. Whoever would you have addressed it to?
âI can teach you. Still got my working arm left, donât I?â
He didnât tell you that he needed this, that he needed to feel like he was still useful in some way, not just a nervous, hollow wreck of a man; he didnât need to. You could read it in his eyes, and the resignation that was starting to fester at the bottom of his ocean eyes terrified you so much, you barely felt the needle slip before it pricked your finger. You flinched.
One, two, three drops of blood fell onto the fabric, staining the gleaming white. You stared at them, but the swirling thoughts in your head came to stop when he moved next to you and touched your hand.
âAre you alright?â Bucky asked, his fingers curling around your wrist. They were so warm. âYou gotta be more careful, angel.â
It was the second time he called you an angel, and though you knew this couldnât be further from the truth, you felt a strange heat rush through you, to your cheeks and every inch of skin he touched. The blankets around his shoulders had slipped down, and you could make out the silvery-blue edge of your cloak underneath. You bit your lip, and dropped your head.
Bucky let go of you, and the wind couldnât quite soothe the loss of his warmth.
âI mean it,â he said after a while. âIâd like to teach you, if you want.â
So you went through your chores quickly the next day, and then headed for his tent with a spring in your step. You only stopped in front of the entrance when you heard voices inside.
âThe notion came with the mail today,â Steve said. âTheyâve made you a captain, Buck. To honour everything youâve done in the line of duty.â
âWell, look at us, Stevie.â Bucky laughed hollowly. âWeâve both got empty titles to match now.â
You could hear Steve sigh. âAnger doesnât suit you, pal.â
âIt was always good enough for you.â
âI was a kid.â
âAnd I lost my arm!â
You couldnât be sure if the cup fell by accident or if it was thrown by design, but it shattered with a spectacular crash, and then there was silence.
It was Steve who left, hands still buried in his hair. He took a moment to notice you, rubbing a palm across his face quickly. âSorry about that,â he said. âYouâre here for your lesson, right?â
You nodded.
âRight.â He coughed uncomfortably. âWell, heâs probably happier to see you than me, so âŠâ He nodded, as if he was hearing an answer you didnât give, and then he turned, stopping himself again to reach into his coat pocket. âYou might need this,â he said, pressing something into your hand before he left.
It was a little red notebook, not much larger than your hand. You stood there, unsure whether you should enter or leave Bucky alone with the churning wave of his grief. In the end, he made the decision for you.
âAre you gonna come in?â
He didnât sound angry anymore, only tired. You put the tiny notebook into your pocket.
When you pulled the tent open, he was sitting on his cot, and the blurry light falling in from the tiny window cast his face in deep shadows. He blinked against the sun in your back, and some weight seemed to fall off him. You took it for yourself.
It hurt, not being able to tell him everything you wanted to.
You set up outside, using some empty crates as a makeshift table as Bucky pulled out a pen and stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him. Its edges were flapping in the wind.
He put the tip of the pen down and made a line, almost ripping a hole into the page. His jaw clenched even more. The paper bunched up underneath his hand, and even you could tell he was gripping the pen too tightly.
Carefully, you reached out and held the edge of the paper down for him.
Bucky closed his eyes for a long second and took a breath. Then, he started again.
***
It took another couple of weeks, but as spring grew into an early summer, Bucky began moving around on his own again. He was still weak from his prolonged bed rest, and his walk was off-balance, but more often than not, he picked you up for a round through the camp before settling down for your writing lesson.
Youâd assumed that once youâd made your way through the entire alphabet, heâd teach you simple sentences, the ones children started with. Your letters didnât look much better than theirs, anyway; they lacked the confidence of years of practice.
Soon, however, he was telling you stories.
Stories of places youâd never heard of, of machinery and grand ideas you could scarcely even imagine. Some of them he surely must have made up; they seemed too fantastical to be real. You were supposed to take notes, but found yourself too enthralled by his words time and time again. Trying to focus on your spelling was like swimming upstream; his tide worked against you.
âItâs fine,â he laughed when heâd deciphered your scribblings while you grimaced. ââSergeantâ is a hard one. You did great, angel.â
He might have made a wonderful teacher, you thought as you watched him write it down correctly. In a different life, or maybe even in this one.
âHave you ever been able to speak?â Bucky asked one day, in a way that told you heâd been thinking about wording this for so long it finally just fell out as bluntly as this.
Your hesitation, to him, seemed answer enough, because he cleared his throat.
âWhat happened? If you donât mind my askinâ.â
This was a new habit of his, one that had developed quickly once your spelling got legible. He kept asking you personal questions, and you never quite knew how to answer.
Itâs complicated, you wrote slowly.
âDid it hurt?â
You met his gaze, again unsure of your response. You underlined your words. Then, you put up a hand before he could say anything else. The tip of your pen was shaking slightly.
I like this. With you.
He blushed so beautifully, like a sunset lowering its head between the treetops, and he stayed silent for a very long while before he spoke again.
âCould you tell me your name?â
You thought about it. Youâd never seen it written down, of course, not in human letters anyway. You werenât even sure it was proper to tell him.
But his eyes, his rainwater eyes focused on you with that gentle spark of curiosity burning brightly, and you put your pen down again.
You tried several ways of how you supposed it might be spelled before you settled on one that you liked.
Bucky read your name, and you huffed a breath of air. You werenât one to still believe in gods, but it sounded almost like a prayer on his lips.
The smile that followed it sealed your fate.
You knew, then, that youâd go anywhere with him, if ever he asked. Youâd stay by his side as long as he allowed you to, no matter how stormy the waters.
Youâd saved his life, but he pulled you to shore.
No nymph was meant to appear a mortal for as long as you had, but you couldnât help it. You couldnât bring yourself to leave his side, not once youâd heard his laugh and read his thoughts and felt his heartbeat underneath your fingertips. You no longer wondered what your name would sound like on his tongue; you wanted to taste it.
What a strange feeling, desire.
How very human of your transformed body to wish for things your nature would never allow, how flawed a concept. But then, why did your heart feel so ⊠heavy?
You noticed details in Bucky you never thought a human capable of, like the way his eyes would grow soft when he watched his friends, or how determination did not just make him harden but also tremble with sheltered trepidation.
Trains did not go by often during your stay in the camp, but when they did, he was the first to notice. You couldnât take those terrors from him, no matter how much you wished for it.
You tried, anyway.
***
Falling in love with Bucky was easy, but falling in love with the human world happened all on its own, and you only caught up when they took you upstream. It was strange to realise; their way of living was so fast, so dirty and hurried and grand. It terrified you, and fascinated you all the same. The city was large, and the people seemed so small against its high buildings and neverending cobbled streets. Tiny, countless pebbles in a river.
You kept tight hold of Buckyâs hand as you made your way through the crowd, your nose twitching. There was an air of excitement amongst soldiers and city people alike, and it only got more jubilant once youâd reached your destination.
You swallowed down your beating heart as you tried to take everything in.
The colours, the smells, so strong you thought you might taste them, the feel of dresses brushing against your skin and the sound of laughter and clinking glasses. And the music. Youâd never heard anything like it, loud and happy and right in front of you.
You were nudged onto a stool in the corner, watching wide-eyed as the musiciansâ fingers moved so fast you could barely keep track, their beat leaving goosebumps all over your skin. All the while, people were dancing in mad circles around them.
You didnât know whether youâd sat there for minutes or hours by the time Steve emerged from the cluster of people that had formed around the bar. âThere you are!â he called over, and even without looking at him, you could feel Bucky smile next to you.
âYouâre saying that like it wasnât you who got side-tracked,â he said, taking another sip of his drink.
âYou should be celebrating, Buck, thatâs the whole point.â
âI like this,â Bucky said, looking at you, but Steve ignored him.
âWhat are you doing at the side of the dance floor, anyway?â he said as if he were settling an old score. He turned to you with a conspiratorial look. âYour man is the best dancer around, and donât let him pretend otherwise.â
Even though he wasnât drunk, the alcohol had left mischief in Steveâs eyes. With his dishevelled hair and reddened cheeks, he looked rather boyish, and it suited him, you thought. You wondered what Bucky would look like with that much ease running through his veins.
âShe doesnât wanna dance with me, knucklehead,â Bucky groaned. âNow piss off and bother someone else.â
Steve winked at you, but did leave you to it. You watched Bucky watch him walk away. His face puzzled you; it looked almost pained.
âWhat?â he said quietly when he caught your stare. You gestured for his hand.
I do, you traced into his palm. His fingers twitched. You didnât let go.
âYou do what?â he asked, carefully.
Your eyes flitted to the dance floor, then back to him. The band still played at a fast pace, something that sent feet stamping and skirts twirling. It looked fun.
Bucky lingered in the same realisation for a moment before he grimaced. âI donât wanna make you look a fool, angel, I donât.â
You pulled him to his feet.
Standing on the dance floor, you quickly realised that watching the other dancers had made the steps and turns look a lot easier than they actually turned out to be in practice. Your limbs didnât want to seem to move in that same weightless, flowing fashion; at least not at that speed.
A tiny smirk formed on Buckyâs lips as he tried guiding your feet with his own, his hand loosely holding your waist. The ever-shifting directions confused you; every time you felt like youâd figured it out, it seemed like the movements changed mid-stream and suddenly went the opposite way. You threw your head back in frustration as you stepped on his foot for the tenth time.
Bucky just chuckled. âHold on,â he told you quietly.
Before you could give him a questioning look, he wrapped his arm around you and pulled you off the ground. With a silent gasp, your hands tightened around his neck, your body pressed closer to his than youâd ever been as he spun you around to the rhythm of the music, your hearts beating in time.
Youâd been floating your entire life, but youâd never felt as weightless and carefree as you did right then, his laugh such a beautiful melody you forgot about the rest of the world around you.
Only when he put you back down did you realise that the song must have changed; indeed, the crowd had dispersed, only a few other couples were still dancing to the slow tune the band was playing now. You brushed a strand of hair out of Buckyâs face and smiled, trying to convey every bit of the happiness you felt on your face.
He closed his eyes and touched his forehead to yours, gently swaying you from side to side. You felt your chest expand with it.
It all seemed so impossible.
For you to be here now, with human legs, in the embrace of this man, this brave, handsome, courteous soldier that you adored more than anyone or anything else; how many drops had to have fallen in the right place at the right time to set your path in stone the way it was supposed to be.
âI like you, you know, I really do,â Bucky said quietly. âIf thingsâd been different, Iâda asked you to be my girl.â
You stopped breathing.
âI mean it,â he said, tugging your chin up. âYouâre beautiful, and kind, and smart, and you saved my life back in that river.â
You shook with his confession, your thoughts swirling. The temptation to give in was almost unbearable when he looked at you like that, like he wanted to explore every last corner of your soul. But he had no idea how deep you ran.
âWhat is it, angel?â
You wanted to tell him that this was everything you wanted, and that that was the problem. You didnât know whether this was him asking, or whether your magic had sunk so deep it confused the very core of him.
On the other hand, if you refused him now and ripped it out all at once, wouldnât that be even worse? What if it took all the good youâd been trying to do away with it as well? No, you couldnât risk that. You had to stay with him until he didnât need you anymore; and whether that took forever or just three more days, youâd have to be fine with it.
Bucky sighed and dragged his hand through his hair, taking half a step back. âIâm being selfish, I know. I just canât help but feel like thereâs something âŠâ
He trailed off, and you put a hand over his heart to urge him on. You could feel it racing underneath his layers. He swallowed heavily.
âIâm being shipped back to the States next week.â
Again, you held your breath, even though this time, his confession was like a bucket of ice water down your spine. You didnât even hear the next couple of sentences, only listening again when he said your name.
ââI canât ask you to come with me, itâd beâIâm not evenââ
You frowned in question. Why not?
He sighed again. âDonât look at me like that.â
Like what?
âLike Iâm worth your pity.â
Your fingers held tightly to the material of his jacket. Bucky didnât meet your eye. You both must have stopped moving at some point, but suddenly, you felt dizzy.
Slowly, you reached for his hand. You werenât sure which one of you was shaking more.
Ask me, you traced into his palm. Bucky shook his head. Ask me, you wrote again, more quickly this time.
âI canât,â he said, wanting. âI shouldnât.â
Let me, you wrote onto his skin, and you could see the moment his doubts, for now, washed away.
âCome home with me.â
***
The evening before you were set to leave, you returned to the river one last time to say goodbye. Your legs melted together as soon as you immersed yourself in the water, its familiar touch caressing your cheeks.
âIâm here to tell you Iâm leaving,â you called out to the fish, but they already knew. You were all part of these waters, and there were no secrets kept.
No matter how much you would miss it, you were sure about your decision. Youâd follow him across the sea, over any mountain, to the ends of the world, if need be, where the waters were raining into the sky; if only heâd permit it.
You settled down at the bottom of the river for a final time, letting its slick brush over you and stick to your hair, committing every stone and plant to memory. It was then you realised youâd been searching for the sea your entire life only to find it in a humanâs eyes.
You were ready to see what else you would find out there.
When you emerged from the water, it was raining, warm and heavy on your skin after the coolness of the river that was no longer yours. You put your head in your neck, your eyes closed as your lungs readjusted to breathing the sweet spring air.
Bucky was waiting for you underneath the shield of your favourite willow tree, his eyes heavy as he watched you. Your neatly folded cloak was hanging over his shoulder.
âIâve heard stories, you know,â he said, his hand slowly following the seam of it, pulling it closer to his frame. You bit the inside of your cheek. âTheyâre not just made up, are they?â
You shook your head slowly.
âWhy did you save me?â
The question surprised you in its desperation. Still, you didnât reach out to him. Even if you had dared, you couldnât; you seemed frozen to the spot. Instead, your hand found its way to your throat.
Waters or not, you were still incomplete.
But your soldier was as smart as he was brave.
He nodded for you to take the last few steps ashore towards him, and then wrapped you in your cloak as best as he could with his single arm. You shivered as it sank into your skin once more. At the scent of him melting into yours. You could almost taste it.
You looked at him, expecting to see the terror they would always warn you about. The hatred. Betrayal. Fury. What you found in his eyes instead mirrored what you could feel leaking from your own: awe.
He gave you your gift back.
You werenât well-versed in the traditions that your kind had upheld for centuries, but this even you knew, even after all these years on your own. After all, youâd dreamed it up so many times, never daring to hope it would become reality.
This meant a proposal.
But he couldnât mean that. No matter what kind of tales heâd heard, he couldnât know. And you werenât about to bind yourself to him without his knowledge.
So you slowly, reluctantly shook your head no.
âDid I get something wrong?â Bucky asked, his voice cracking with concern.
He wasnât supposed to make it this hard. He wasnât supposed to figure out who, what you were, not like this, not for a good time yet. You had meant to take care of him, but how were you going to, now?
A droplet of river water fell off your lashes and he caught it with his thumb before he could seem to stop himself. You pulled his hand away gently.
You donât mean it, you traced onto his arm.
He didnât. It was just the spell, and it would release him any second now.
You couldnât help but wish for your notebook, then, the one filled with his stories and laughter and all the things you could never say. Maybe its familiar pages would help dull this pain.
Your lungs had dried up and your skin grew warm beneath his touch, but his ache was woven into him by outside forces. Yours though ⊠yours was winning.
âIâve said a lot of things in my life that I didnât mean, angel, but this ainât one of them.â
You looked up at him and found his eyes the same. It should be impossible, that beautiful, terrible, hopeful shade of blue. It had been haunting your dreams for as long as you could remember, and it had nothing to do with the spell you wove upon him on that snowy riverbank.
I love you, you thought, and maybe he did the same.
When he kissed you, it tasted of saltwater, the kind of oceanic sadness youâd so often seen in his eyes. It took your breath away, reduced you to a fish on dry land and made you human again. Something settled, then, with his hand on your back and yours cupping his face. It had the taste of finality to it, this transformation.
He didnât seem to want to stop kissing you, as if you were still the only thing breathing life into his lungs. Or maybe he was returning the favour.
âBucky,â you whispered against his lips, and a shudder went through him. âBucky.â
Your voice sounded different to your own ears, but you couldnât tell if it was the air or something else entirely.
He said your name with such reverence your knees almost buckled, mouth seeking out yours again before the echo of your last kiss had left it. His hand trailed up slowly, to your side, your elbow, your cheek, his thumb caressing the soft skin on your temple carefully, adoringly.
There was a gust of wind as the last bit of magic worked its course, but you barely noticed it. Only at the very back of your mind did you come to realise that your toes had gone numb with the cold.
i live for feedback so please donât leave me hanging đ if you want to see more of my writing, check out my masterlist or follow @intrepidacious-fics for update notifications!!
read more about these two in being understood
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Two V's in the Wâïžđđ§Ąđ©”
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Flatline/Nika and Damian art for donor @/DUKESGOTHAM and @/dcforgaza fundraising on Twitter(X)â„ïž
#damian wayne#flatline#nika#dc comics#gotcha for gaza#commission#commission art#dc art#fanart#my art
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â The RVC00N DumpsterđŠ
đšÂ Stinky Racerback Set
For both Masc and Fem V 2 Garments; Top tank and Long sleeves fishnet top Multiple colors each đ Garment Support Enabled đ Dynamic Refits for Angel and Gymfiend đȘ Replacer Refits for VTK Big, VTK Small and Equip. Flat Chest
𧥠Thanks to all the chooms who tested and took pics! Afterdark - Altar - Beanie - DesertPirate77 - GenocidalFetus - GlitchGarden - Halkuonn - Kharonion - Lokiina - Lucky38 - MotherHerbivore - Nika - Quen - RainbowCadenza - Sh00kspeared - Vade - Wilxfyre - Winks
â¶Â On Nexus
#Cyberpunk 2077#Cyberpunk 2077 Mod#Mod#Male V#Female V#Masc V#Fem V#>:O WOOSH - Was fun to work on and I'm happy with the results#Leave a bitter taste in my mouth for others technical reasons but YEAH
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rooting for any team nika roots for 𧥠(i donât know anything about the euro league)
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randomly thought about him today and had to reread as soon as i got off work. yup, i'm still obsessed with him đ«
âąÂ°ââ the expedition ââ°âą
summary: youâre about to make the discovery of a lifetime, so why is it you find yourself more focused on the man youâve hired to keep you alive?
pairing: mercenary!steve rogers x archeologist!female reader
warnings: SMUT (18+, minors DNI), swearing, mention of: torture, blood, death, alcohol, violence, and knives.
length: 6.8k
a/n: written for my 3k celebration, the prompt is bolded. inspired by national treasure, the mummy (1999), and similar adventure films. the premise of this fic is based on fact/real legends, then the rest is the result of my imagination.
âSteve Rogers?â
The man hums in answer, his gaze fixated on the small television mounted above the bar.
Offering your hand, you introduce yourself. âWe spoke on the phone.â
His head leisurely turns, and though theyâre hidden behind dark sunglasses, you feel his eyes as they sweep over you before he accepts your outstretched hand.
âYou want me to take you into the jungle.â
Glancing down at his hand as it engulfs yours, you canât tell if heâs asking a question or stating a fact.
Either way, you respond with âJake said you were the best man for the job.â
Sort of.
[2 DAYS PRIOR]
âAre you crazy?â Jake gawks, âI mean, yes, youâre crazy, but this is like a whole new level for you.â
âIâm not here for your opinion.â You assert, resting your palms on his desk and leaning forward. âI just need someone to take us, someone who knows the area.â
Running a hand through his spiked hair, Jake replies âLook, I know a few guys there but none are gonna buy what youâre selling. Treasure hunters are a dime a dozen in South America.â
âExplorers.â You correct, heaving a sigh. âCâmon, there has to be one guy willing.â
âIâm telling you thereâs not.â
Slapping your hands on his desk, you straighten up. âFine then, weâll go alone.â
âWhat?â Jake splutters, âYou wouldnât, you - fuck, you would.â He groans.
Glaring at you for a moment, Jake shakes his head before rummaging through the papers strewn across his desk.
âDo you have any idea how dangerous Ecuador is? Do you know how many explorers die there each year?â He lectures.
âWhy do you think Iâm here?â You retort.
Muttering under his breath, Jake finds what heâs looking for and meets your unyielding gaze. âIâm not saying heâll do it, but if you have a chance with anyone, itâs Rogers.â
You grab the small piece of paper Jake holds out to you, but his tight grip stops you from taking it.
âHe wonât be cheap.â Jake warns.
âOf course.â
A few seconds pass before he relinquishes the paper to you.
Smiling sweetly, you pocket it. âThank you Jake.â
Huffing, he gestures to the door. âGo.â
Your smile grows at his exasperated demand - which you quickly obey.
Jakeâs voice calls out behind you just as you open his office door.
âDonât tell Rogers what youâre looking for!â
[PRESENT]
Releasing your hand, Steve pushes up from the bar stool.
You have to tilt your head up and up as you watch him reach his full height.
âThat was awfully nice of him.â Steve states dryly, his attention returning to the football game occuring on the television. âYou didnât say why you wanted to go into the jungle.â
Right.
âWell, Iâm an -â
A low whistle interrupts you, drawing both your and Steveâs attention.
âMaxwell.â You greet the approaching man, smiling through gritted teeth.
Ignoring you, Max looks Steve up and down before announcing âPerfect, youâre just the kind of brute we need.â
Heâs not wrong. Steve Rogers is built like a brick shithouse and most definitely suited for the task at hand.
Stopping beside you, Max extends his hand. âYou must be Steve Rogers, Iâm Max.â
Giving a small nod, Steve shakes his hand before aptly reminding you both âI havenât agreed to anything yet.â
You keep your lie brief.
âAs I was saying, weâre here to study specific sections of the Amazon rainforest for a thesis Iâm working on.â
Throwing an arm around your shoulders, Max helpfully - and truthfully, adds âSheâs an archaeologist.â
Steve studies you both, his face expressionless.
Your stomach drops.
He doesnât believe us.
âYouâre treasure hunters.â Steve declares, confirming your fear.
âActually, weâre explorers.â
Continuing on like you hadnât spoken, Steve says âAnd Iâm guessing youâre after the treasure of Llanganates.â
âGood guess.â
Sighing at Max's admission, you try again âWeâre -â
âListen,â Steve cuts off. âThe jungle and mountain ranges here are no joke, and Iâm not risking my life just so you two can come to the same conclusion as every other schmuck thatâs gone looking for that treasure, which is that it doesnât exist.â
Your jaw drops at his words. âIâm no schmuck Mr. Rogers and just because you don't -â
âWeâll pay you well.â Max intervenes, shooting you a wary glance as you glare up at the large man.
Steve places his hands on his hips, his attention still on you while you bite your tongue.
You swear his lips twitch with a smirk.
Asshole.
âHow much?â Steve eventually asks, turning his head to Max.
âHow much do you want?â Max grins.
Silence falls as Steve mulls over the question.
âFive thousand a day.â
Your jaw drops again. âNo way!â
âDone.â
Baffled, you gape at Max. âThatâs an insane amount.â
Lifting his arm from your shoulders, he shrugs âThis is an insane trip.â
All you can do is stare as Max holds his hand out to Steve once more, stipulating âFive thousand a day for you to take us exactly where we want to go and to keep us from dying horrible deaths.â
Nodding, Steve shakes his hand. âDeal.â
You should feel ecstatic.
âWell then, when do we leave?â Max asks, âWeâre currently staying at the Tesoro Inn.â
âFirst I need to know where weâre going.â
Both men turn to look at you.
Reaching into your jean pocket reluctantly, you pull out the map you outlined the beginning of your expedition on and hand it over to Steve.
Unfolding it, he studies the red line. âItâs incomplete.â
Of course, genius.
âYou can see the rest when you get us that far.â Arms crossed, you raise your eyebrows, all but daring him to argue back.
Steve regards you from behind his sunglasses before stating âWeâll meet in front of the inn tomorrow morning at five thirty.â As an afterthought he adds âMake sure you pack light.â
You canât prove it of course, but you just know heâs directing that last comment at you.
Narrowing your eyes, youâre dragged away by Max before you can utter a scathing response.
Steveâs mouth twitches again.
[THE NEXT DAY]
You stand outside the inn, watching as the sun begins to peek above the horizon.
âSo heâs an ass and terrible at keeping time.â You announce in a cheery tone.
Max groans, taking a sip of his coffee.
I suppose after last night heâs probably had enough of me ranting about Steve Rogers.
âDarling, please, just ignore his personality and focus on his good looks.â
You scoff loudly.
âOh, donât even try.â Max laughs, âI know how much of a sucker you are for big arms and hands.â
Whatever.
âGood morning,â A voice you unfortunately recognise calls out.
Looking over your shoulder at Steveâs approaching figure, you use the shield of your sunglasses to properly appraise him for the first time.
Steveâs tall and built, that much you had observed yesterday afternoon.
His hair is dark blond and long, the ends of it curling against the collar of his shirt while some strands fall around his face and over his still present sunglasses. The beard he has is thick and youâll forcibly admit itâs the best youâve ever seen.
You werenât typically one for beards, but he made it work.
Similar to yesterday, Steve wears a long sleeved shirt thatâs rolled up to his elbows and khaki military pants held up by a brown belt. Over one shoulder he carries a backpack while a duffel bag hangs from his left hand.
âMr. Rogers,â You greet with a faux smile. âHow nice of you to finally join us.â
Steve grins, coming to a stop in front of you. âRetract those claws kitten, I had to secure our ride.â
As if on cue, the loud rumble of an engine cuts through the peaceful morning air as an old pickup truck comes coasting around the corner, pulling up before you all.
âThis must be the new Bentley model,â Max quips good-naturedly.
The older man hanging out of the driverâs window gives a rough laugh. âAh, un comediante.â
âSolo medio tiempo.â Max retorts, earning another laugh.
Chucking his bags into the bed of the pickup, Steve grabs yours and Maxâs off the ground and adds them to the pile. Twisting back to you, Steve extends a hand for the satchel slung across your body.
You shake your head, grasping tightly at the brown leather strap.
He raises an eyebrow but makes no further comment, instead gesturing to the bed of the pickup. âAlright you two, hop in.â
While you and Max climb into the back, Steve rounds the pickup and gets in the passenger side.
Max knocks twice on the back of the cab once youâre both seated and the pickup rolls forward with a loud bang, rocking the two of you sideways.
Resting a heavy arm around your shoulders for stability as you each sway with the motion of the pickup on the dirt road, Max states âI love riding in the bed of trucks, reminds me of -â
âArizona.â You finish with a soft smile.
âYep,â Max pops the p. âWhere we found nothing but rock.â
âAnd got burnt to a crisp for our efforts.â You recall, looking up at him as he laughs.
âLetâs pray this expedition proves more fruitful.â
âIt will.â You answer without a second thought, clutching your satchel again. âThis time is different.â
Arizona had been a spur of the moment idea, something to do for fun and experience - nothing more. Thereâd been no prior research, no maps, no coordinates.
Humming, Max leans forward and grabs the rolled up sleeping bag from his backpack, placing it between the cab and his head before closing his eyes. âTell me about it again.â
Settling against his chest, you recite the story you know by heart.
âIn 1532, Spanish conquistadores captured an Inca Emperor named Atahualpa who promised them a room full of gold and twice as much silver in exchange for his life. The conquistadores agreed and soon treasures from across the region were being brought to them. However, the conquistadoresâ fear of a re-energised Inca military led them to kill the Emperor before the ransom was fulfilled.â
âAn Inca General named Rumiñahui had been en route with an enormous amount of treasure for the Emperorâs ransom when he learnt that Atahualpa had been killed. In response Rumiñahui ordered his men to take the ransom into the uninhabited land of Llanganates and hide it.â
"Rumiñahui continued to haul even more treasure, such as gold, silver, jewels, and Inca artefacts to hide in Llanganates until he was captured by the Spanish. They tortured him for the treasureâs location, but he refused to tell them.â
âHeâs a better man than me,â Max mumbles.
âIn 1603 a Spaniard named Valverde married an Inca woman and he claimed that her family showed him the treasure. Before his death, he wrote out the treasureâs location and even drew a map to guide others to it. People have used and improved Valverdeâs map for centuries trying to find the treasure and the last person to have claimed finding it was Barth Blake in 1886. In a letter he detailed his discovery of gold, silver, emeralds and other treasures and stated that he, nor a thousand men could remove all that he had found.â
âSo in over a century no-one has claimed to have found even a piece of the treasure?â Max questions, opening his eyes and looking down at you.
Lifting your head from his chest, you shake it. âA man named Mark Honigsbaum tried to find the treasure and wrote a book about it in 2004. He concluded that either the Incans retrieved the treasure centuries ago or itâs been lost forever in the mountains.â
âYou believe itâs still in the mountains, right?â
âYes, in its original hiding spot, just not where itâs marked on Valverdeâs map.â
Max shakes his head, âWhy canât they just say âgo to this place, hereâs the treasure, spend it wiselyâ?â
You chuckle, but both you and Max know you donât - canât agree with his sentiment.
Finding the location of this treasure has been your sole purpose for years. Youâve lived and breathed this lost piece of history for so long that you almost felt a part of it.
To be able to find something that you couldnât simply be given a map to was everything to you. Youâve earned the coordinates sitting in your satchel through your own hard work and time - so much time.Â
Succeeding at this would be your lifeâs greatest achievement.
As well as your greatest honour. The artefacts, like tiles from the Temple of the Sun, stowed away with that gold and silver were invaluable pieces of lost Inca culture that deserved to be returned to the people and shared with the world.
âHow much is it all worth?â Max asks with a whimsical smile.
Sighing, you give him the answer he already knows, but just likes hearing. âThirty-seven billion dollars, at least. However its historical significance is priceless."
Max squeezes his arm around your shoulders, pulling you even further into his side. "Well seeing how youâre in it for the history, I guess youâll have no qualms with me taking ninety percent.â
âNinety?â You repeat, shocked. âThatâs generous of you, I expected you to take at least ninety-nine.â
Pressing his mouth to the top of your head with a loud smack, Max states âYou underestimate my love for you.â
[SOME HOURS LATER]
âLooks like weâve reached the end of the road.â Max announces once the pickup has slowed to a stop.
You wouldnât exactly call what youâve been driving on for the past few hours âroadâ.
A door creaks open before being slammed shut.
âAlright kids,â Steve appears to your right, reaching for the bags. âThis is our stop.â
Your legs wobble when you stand and your ass is completely numb from sitting so long.
Gingerly, you lower yourself out of the back of the pickup and walk over to Steve, Max ambling behind you.
Collecting your backpack off the ground, you straighten up as the pickup rolls forward with its signature loud bang and makes a u-turn.
âBuena suerte!â The driver calls out as he passes, raising a hand.
âGracias!â You and Max return, waving back.
Sliding your sunglasses up onto your head, you turn around to face the famed Amazon rainforest and take a deep breath.
This is it.
âPlease, after you.â Max smiles at Steve, sweeping his arm out towards the mass of green.
Dutifully, Steve pulls out a machete from the holder around his thigh and steps forward into the awaiting wilderness.
[SOME HOURS LATER]
The first few hours of the trek are completed in silence.
You listen to the soundtrack of the Amazon, admiring the nature around you while getting tripped up by it more often than not.
Itâs thick - and humbling.
There are trees that stretch up so high they must almost touch the sky, and their trunks are so wide that you can see nothing else when standing in front of them.
Unfortunately, none of it can distract you from the heat.
The humidity is like nothing youâve ever experienced and the sun isnât even at its highest point yet - not that you can see it.
You removed your long sleeved shirt a while ago, stuffing it into your backpack with your sunglasses. This left you in a dark green tank top and brown hiking pants.
âWeâll take a break here.â Steve declares, breaking the long silence.
Pushing your backpack off your shoulders, you take a seat on it and pull out your water bottle, taking a greedy gulp.
âI miss the truck.â Max sighs forlornly, collapsing beside you.
His skin is shiny with sweat, just like yours.
You pat his back sympathetically.
âI thought you were looking for the treasure of Llanganates.â Steve says suddenly, sitting on a fallen tree across from the two of you.
You think itâs a question, but his tone makes it sound like a statement.
He likes doing that.
âWe are.â You retort.
âYour map doesnât follow Valverdeâs.â
Surprised, your eyebrows rise. âYouâre familiar with Valverdeâs map?â
âDo you really think you two are the first Iâve taken on this wild goose chase?â
Raising your chin defiantly, you assert âWeâll be the first to find it.â
Steve smiles at your confidence. âGuess weâll just have to wait and see kitten, but Iâll keep my bet on you going home empty-handed.â
âOh, I like a good bet, what are we waging?â Max pipes in.
You roll your eyes while Steveâs sunglasses continue to hide his.
After a moment your guide decides âIf we find the treasure, my services will be rendered free.â
Max scoffs a laugh âHow kind, and what percentage of the treasure will you be asking for?â
Steve smirks, âNothing absurd, just one percent.â
Which would only work out to about three hundred and seventy million dollars.
Yeah, nothing absurd.
To Max, itâs a bargain.
âI knew I liked you for a reason." He grins, picking himself up and walking over to Steve to shake on their bet.
âWhen we find the treasure we will be donating it.â You deadpan.
âIgnore her.â Resting his hands on his hips, Max says âShe doesnât understand greed like the rest of us simpletons.â
Steve hums in agreement, âYouâve got finderâs fee written all over you kitten.â
âWould you not call me that?â You glare.
His mouth twitches.
âI thought it was fitting.â Max mumbles from where he stands.
âAnd yes Mr. Rogers, we will be donating the treasure and accepting whatever finderâs fee weâre offered.â
Standing up, you put your backpack on again, deciding for the group that the rest period is over.
As you stride away, you hear Max mutter to Steve âDonât worry, we can fill our bags with goodies before the museum stiffs show up.â
[THAT NIGHT]
You sit in front of the small campfire Steve built earlier as a light source.
Heat isnât something youâre in short supply of.
Max is lying in his sleeping bag on the ground beside you while Steve sits across from you both, on the other side of the fire.
Heâs finally removed his sunglasses, but the night hides Steveâs eyes just as well as his shades. Instead of colour, all you see in his eyes is the reflection of the flickering flames between you.
âI was thinking -â
âUh-oh.â
âShut up.â Max sighs, lifting his hand to slap your closest arm. âI was thinking about what you said about that Blake guy, the one who wrote the letter saying he found the treasure.â
âHmm?â You prompt.
âWell, it sounded like he really found it, so why didnât he take it?â
âBlake took what he could carry, planning on -â
âReturning with more men and supplies to retrieve the rest, but on his way to New York from Ecuador he disappeared overboard. Most believe he was deliberately pushed to keep the treasure safe.â
Your head snaps towards Steve and he smirks at your reaction.
âOnce again, not my first goose chase kitten.â
Youâre about to tell him once again not to call you that, but Max speaks first, clearly trying to avoid another back and forth.
âWhatâs your deal anyway? Howâd you end up in this hot ass country?â
Steveâs smirk fades as he shrugs, his expression hardening.
You side-eye Max.
Good one idiot.
âThereâs not much to it.â Steve states. âI used to be in the military, now Iâm not. Now I choose what jobs I do, which is usually anything that pays well.â
The fire crackles.
âWhat about you two?â Steve retorts. âRich kids with nothing better to do? I canât tell if youâre related or dating -â
âEw.â You groan, pulling a face.
âWe are not related, nor are we dating.â Max informs.
âAnd heâs the rich kid.â You add, gesturing down at Max.
âYep, she just mooches off of me and I mooch off my dad.â
That earns a chuckle from Steve.
âHis dad is the director of one of the most respected museums in the world.â You elaborate. âI interned there while completing my degree, which is how we met.â
Itâs hard to believe that was almost three years ago. When you first met Max you certainly had no idea how important heâd become in your life.
Youâll never forget the first thing he ever said to you.
âSo, do you consciously dress yourself like Rachel Weisz in âThe Mummyâ or is that just an odd coincidence?â
[THE NEXT DAY]
âI take back my complaints about the jungle.â Max mutters, observing the swamp.
Midday has just passed and so has the first and shortest section of your expedition - the rainforest.
Now the wetland awaits you all. You estimate that itâll take roughly three days to get through.
Three days of mud, stench, and the feeling of being constantly wet.
âStaring at it isnât gonna get us through it any faster.â Steve asserts, taking the first step into the green water.
Everyone has tucked the ends of their pants into their thick socks to try and limit as much contact with the water as possible.
You follow after Steve, Max trailing behind you with a reluctant sigh.
Itâs slow-going, trying to avoid branches and rocks hidden beneath the waterâs surface that Steve finds with the long stick in his hand. The same stick he uses to avoid deceivingly deep puddles.
However, you soon miss the relative easiness of trekking through the water once youâve reached the mud.
Loud suction sounds are all that can be heard as the three of you trudge through the mud that swallows your feet and then some with every step, a dark line on your pants indicating the highest itâs reached - halfway up your calves.
It takes all of your strength to free yourself, just so you can do it all over again.
âMy legs are going to be ripped after this.â Max pants.
You can only huff a breath in response, too focused on pulling your feet from the mud. The suction is so strong youâre worried you might lose a boot - or two.
It also doesnât help that your backpack feels like itâs full of bricks.
âOh thank god, solid ground.â Max announces gratefully.
You look up - not to see if heâs telling the truth, but to see why he sounds so far away.
Wasnât he just beside me?
âShit.â You mutter to yourself.
Both men have made better progress than you. Max has spotted the solid ground because Steve now stands on it.
Staring back down at your engulfed feet, you grit your teeth and use every bit of strength you have left to try and quicken your pace. Every hour of daylight was precious and there wasnât much left of todayâs.
Maybe itâs their longer legs or strength - Max isnât that much stronger than me, or maybe their backpacks simply donât weigh a million tonnes -
God my legs are burning.
Then suddenly, itâs like a weight is lifted.
Because it is.
Your backpack is pulled from your shoulders before Steve places it over his own, his bags deserted on the hard ground ahead.
âOh.â You squeak, startled by his presence. âUh, thank you - wait, what - put me down!â You demand as youâre lifted from the mud with an echoing pop.
Steveâs hands grasp your hips as he pulls you out with what seems to be little effort, his arms bulging with the action. Then youâre upside down, thrown over one of his broad shoulders.
âAre you a caveman? You canât just manhandle me!â You protest, affronted.
You brace your hands on his lower back, trying to hold yourself up so your face doesnât bump into his back.
Is he just all muscle?
Heâs rock solid underneath your hands.
Steve chuckles, âI just did kitten.â
âWould you -â
âTime is valuable out here, we canât wait around for you to finish playing in the mud.â
Glaring at the mud beneath you, you insist âPut me down or Iâll fire you.â
Itâs a very weak threat since you and Max kind of need him, but itâs all youâve got.
Also⊠maybe you kind of donât want him to put you down.Â
Maybe.
Another chuckle. âYou didnât hire me, nor are you the one paying me.â
âYou know what -â
âQuit whining!â Max calls out, sounding close. âI told him to go get you, I want out of here.â
âSee? Iâm just doing what the boss asked.â
âHow noble of you Mr. Rogers.â You mumble.
âWell itâs a nice change of scenery kitten.â
It takes a moment for you to understand his meaning, but itâs obvious when you do, your sharp inhale of air audible as you open your mouth to tell him to go -
You squeak again as youâre abruptly dropped onto your feet.
âAnd stop with the Mr. Rogers talk.â Steve says, shrugging off your backpack and hooking it over your left shoulder before you can snatch it from him. Dropping his head so that heâs looking into your eyes - his are still hidden behind those damn sunglasses, Steve purrs âBut if you insist on being so formal, sir will do just fine.â
Your mouth falls open and Steve moves out of the way with a chuckle when you attempt to swing your backpack at him.
The absolute -
Max appears beside you and grabs your arm lightly, urging you forward as Steve continues trekking ahead.
âPlease remember we need him alive.â Max implores.
[THAT NIGHT]
âNow will you admit to me that heâs hot?â
âShut up.â You snap at Max, shooting him a glare.
âJust look at his -â
Covering his mouth with your hand, you raise your eyebrows in warning.
Youâre sitting on a log in front of the campfire not admiring Steve in the distance, illuminated by the torch on the ground beside him, as he changes shirts for the night and -
Max snorts against your hand, making you drop it as your gaze quickly shifts to the fire while Steve changes into a different pair of pants.
Canât he do that somewhere more private?
âOh darling, youâd love his thighs, have a look -â
âWould you shut up?â You hiss.
âToo bad itâs dark,â Max carries on. âI canât really see what his underwear is hiding - ow!â
Whack. âShut.â Whack. âUp.â Whack.
âAlright, alright.â He surrenders, rubbing his arm. âJesus, youâre in one of your violent moods today.âÂ
Then, as if he canât resist - because he canât, Max smirks âUnlike Harry, I bet heâd actually know how to -â
âOh my god -â
âWhoâs Harry?â
You jump at the sound of Steveâs voice and your hand freezes midair, interrupted on its way to hit Max again.
âNo one.â
âHer ex.â
I will murder you before sunrise - thatâs what the look you direct at Max promises.
Steve hums, taking a seat on the other side of the fire. âAnd what didnât he know how to do?â
His smirk tells you heâs already assumed.
I want to die.
No.
I want them to die.
âCook.â You declare, glaring at him. âHe didnât know how to cook.â
âWas terrible at it,â Max reinforces with a sad tone.
You have to refrain from rolling your eyes.
âThatâs a shame.â Steve states in his deep voice, a hint of laughter detectable in it. âEvery man should know how to cook.â
âI wouldnât call him much of a man.â Max inputs.
Fucking hell.
The comment is probably a little harsh, but Max is your best friend.
Harry had been your first and last attempt at a relationship. Heâd been nice enough but⊠well, that was it really. Just nice, tolerable⊠passionless. Youâd stick to the fictional men in your romance novels.
âCan you cook Steve?â Max asks, as casual as ever.
You turn to him with wide eyes.
âIâm a great cook.â You can clearly hear the laughter in Steveâs voice now.
âOf course youâd think that.â You jab, looking from Max to him.
Steve meets your irritated gaze over the fire with a smirk. âIâve never had any complaints.â
âWell,â You shrug, biting back âDoesnât mean they walked away satisfied.â
âI wouldnât say they walked.â
Max chortles next to you, choking on his own spit while heat floods your face and neck.
âOkay.â Standing abruptly, you state âIâm going to bed.â
Their laughter follows you all the way to your sleeping bag.
[TWO DAYS LATER]
âI smell so bad.â
âIâm glad you said it.â
âOh, because you smell so much better.â You mock, eyeing Max.
The wetland has been punishing. Youâre covered in mud, bug bites, and drenched in your own sweat - not to mention every part of your body aches. Itâs unpleasant, to say the least.
In an attempt to distract yourself, you decide to tell Max some more historical fun facts.Â
Well, theyâre fun to you.
âYou know, Valverde drew the map to the treasure before his death because he wanted to give it as a gift to the King of Spain.â You begin, âThe King sent out an expedition to find the treasure but -â
âThey were unsuccessful - obviously, and the friar that was accompanying them died in a swamp.â Steve gazes around, âThis very one most likely.â
You purse your lips at his interruption, but canât find it within yourself to be annoyed.
âAlso,â You try again, addressing Max. âThe Spanish conquistadors would constantly dig up large quantities of platinum while searching for gold and while we know platinum to be more valuable than gold -â
âThey dismissed it as junk because being so rare, they didnât know what it was. All they knew was that it wasnât gold, so they would dump it as scrap.â Steve concludes, his shade covered eyes looking over at you.
âThey threw away one of the rarest and most precious metals on Earth because their lust for gold, something that only had value because they gave it value, blinded them to the true, unique treasure in front of them.â
It feels like the air has been knocked out of your lungs.
Forcing a huff, you feebly respond âWould you stop that?â
âStop what?â Steve smirks.
That damn, all-knowing smirk.
âKnowing⊠things.â
Wow, good one. You really got him.
Steveâs smirk widens into a grin. âWhy kitten? You like it when I talk smart?â
Yes, it makes me want to climb you like a tree.
âNo, I just prefer not being interrupted.â
âSomeone please correct me if Iâm wrong.â Max pipes up, âBut is this hellhole about to end?â
You gaze ahead and see that Max hasnât gone mad. The wetland is indeed about to end.
âWeâll set up camp on the outskirts of the swamp.â Steve directs, glancing at his watch. âTomorrow weâll head into the moorland, thereâs a lake on our path and we should reach it by afternoon.â
[THE NEXT AFTERNOON]
âItâs the prettiest thing Iâve ever seen.â Max sighs lovingly, admiring the lake. âI dibs using it first.â
You shrug, âWhatever.â
After three days covered in filth, what harm could waiting an hour or so longer do?
Besides, you wanted to take your sweet, sweet time.
Leaving Max at the lake, you and Steve trek into the forestry further up from the lake. Itâs a stark contrast to the thickness of the Amazon rainforest, the trees still tall but slim and spaced out almost evenly.
Steve selects a spot far enough away from the lake to give anyone using it privacy and starts setting up camp.
Max wanders up a little while later, after everything has been set up and a small fire is burning steadily.
You tell Steve he can go next and heâs quick to rise.
It feels like you wait an eternity, but you know itâs just your eagerness to be clean that drags the time out.
The moment you spot Steve approaching through the trees youâre on your feet, heading for the lake.
At the lakeside you remove your clothes, leaving your bra and underwear on. You soak your clothes first, scrubbing them clean before laying them out over the rocks around the lake to soak up the afternoon sun.
Finally, you delve into the lakeâs cool waters.
You donât rush, taking the time to rub every part of yourself spotless. Afterwards you lie on your back and float around the lake.
When your face starts to feel too hot from the sun, you submerge yourself underneath the water and hold your breath for as long as you can before coming back up.
Breaking the surface of the water, you keep your eyes shut while you run a hand over your face, removing the excess water.
When you open them again, you flinch.
âDo you mind?â You all but shriek at Steve whoâs sitting on a large boulder at the lakeside, watching you.
He smirks, âNot at all.â
Glaring at him, you hiss âThatâs not what I meant.â
âI know.â
One of these days Iâm going to kill him.
Swimming up to the edge of the lake, you keep everything below your neck underwater.
âWell pass me my towel would you?â You snap.
Steve raises an eyebrow and itâs only then that you realise heâs not wearing his sunglasses.
Blue.
His eyes are blue.
Youâre too far away to see any great detail though.
Steve raises his other eyebrow, bringing you back to reality and making your teeth grind.
âPlease.â
Leisurely, Steve reaches for your towel behind him on the boulder and holds it out to you, as far as his arm will extend.
âAre you serious?â You ask, exasperated.
He shrugs, âIâm afraid itâs the best I can do kitten.â
Groaning, you bite out âFine, close your eyes.â
A moment passes before he eventually does as you demanded, his eyes shutting.
âNo peeking.â You enforce, squinting at him.
When youâre certain he canât see anything, you rise out of the water and quickly approach him.
The second your hand grips the towel Steve tugs on it, sending you toppling onto him.
You fall face first into his solid chest while your hands scramble for purchase to push yourself back.
âWhat are you -â
The words die in your throat when you feel his warm, rough hands grasp your waist and spin you around before bringing you back down to sit on his lap.
âLet me help you.â Steve husks into your ear, his beard pleasantly scratching at your skin.Â
His right hand presses against your bare stomach, holding you in place while his other hand picks up your towel again, swiping it over your left arm.
You open your mouth to object, but then his right hand is gliding up your wet skin to lightly wrap around your neck, tilting your head backwards so he can move the towel over your chest.
Any fight you might have had leaves your body in a giant whoosh, his touch turning you to jelly.
âThere you go,â Steve cooâs. âItâs not healthy to always be so tense kitten.â
Fuck you.
Thatâs what you want to tell him, but instead you whimper as he suddenly drags the towel down and over your underwear.
âItâs been a while, hasnât it?â
Since you pleasured yourself? Yes. Since you had a man touch you? Even more of a yes.
But he hadnât made you feel anything close to this.
âThatâs okay.â Steve whispers, as if you had answered. âIâll take care of you, itâs what Iâm getting paid for.â
Abandoning the towel, his fingers dip behind the band of your underwear and youâre almost panting in excitement.
Heâs so⊠big around you, caging you in and overriding your senses.
âPoor kitten,â Steve teases, dragging two of his fingers along your slick folds. âJust dripping for me, huh?â
You want to punch him so badly you -
âOh.â You canât help but moan as his thumb presses on your clit, lightly circling it.
Instinctively, your thighs squeeze together and both of your hands wrap around his wrist to stop the action.
Youâre embarrassed by how sensitive you are.
It has been a while.
Steve hushes you, âI know, I know.â Using his left hand to pry your thighs apart, he begins circling your clit again. âJust relax, I got you.â
His words seem to have a pull over you, as your body instantly relaxes in his hold.
With your body pliant, Steveâs fingers dip down further and slowly push into you - first one, then two.
Your hips eagerly lift to meet his hand.
âGood girl, fuck yourself on my fingers.â The vulgar sentence sets your face on fire while also making you clench around his digits with a gasp.
How the hell does he know just what to say?Â
Itâs like heâs read one of your books.
Steveâs fingers start to push into you faster and a bit rougher as his thumb continues circling your clit.
Your stomach tenses, the coil within you already about to snap and god you want it, you want it so bad, so, so bad -
âPlease.â You mumble, not recognising your own voice. Itâs so airy and desperate. âPlease let me come.â
Steve releases a guttural groan beside your ear, the sound rumbling against your back while his arousal pokes at your ass.
His thumb quickens on your clit as his fingers keep pumping into you, nudging just a bit more before -
You moan loudly when he hits the sweet spot inside you.
Steveâs warm breath tickles your cheek. âCome for me baby, make a mess on my fingers.â
Crying out, you whine Steveâs name as your orgasm collides with you.
Itâs like the blood in your veins is replaced with fire, your body intoxicatingly hot as you jerk in Steveâs hold, riding out your high on his still moving fingers.
Steveâs murmuring in your ear, but itâs all white noise as you come back to yourself.
âFuck.â You whisper when you feel a little less lightheaded.
Removing his hand from beneath your underwear, Steve raises his fingers to his mouth and sucks them clean. You watch him, mouth slightly ajar.
âHow was that kitten? Was it good?â Steve asks once heâs finished, his blue eyes shining down at you.
Theyâre a light blue - baby blue. At first you think theyâre pure blue, but then you see just a flicker of green within them. Somehow it makes them even prettier.
Itâs a shame heâs always hiding them away.
âVery.â You breathe out honestly, your mind still muddled.
Steve grins and lowers to brush his mouth over your cheek, the feeling of his beard making you shiver. âThe chef appreciates your compliment.â He teases.
Drawing the connection back to that night days before brings you out of your orgasm-induced stupor and kicks your brain into gear.
What the hell did I just do?
Pulling yourself from Steve, you stand - your thighs still shaking a little, and snatch your towel off the ground. Wrapping it around yourself, you collect your clothes from a nearby rock.
When you turn back around you find Steve still sitting in the exact same spot, contently watching you with a lazy smirk, like nothingâs out of the ordinary - like there isnât a large tent in his pants.
Your core throbs at the sight and you quickly look away.
Marching past him, you donât respond when Steve calls out âIâll be up soon kitten, I just gotta wash some of my clothes.â
The smile in his tone is obvious.
Heading for camp, you try to process what just happened.
Did I really just let Steve finger me?
âOh god, Max.â You groan, dreading his reaction.
Just act natural, he wonât know if -
âHello there, you took your - wait.â His eyes narrow.
To avoid looking at him you begin drying yourself and re-dressing.
âWhat?â You ask, trying to sound casual.
Max strides over to you and grabs your chin, forcing you to face him.
âNo. Way.â
How the hell -
âDid you fuck Steve?â Max whisper-shouts, his brown eyes wide with excitement.
âNo!â You respond in the same tone.
âThen what -â
Gesturing for him to be quiet, you check your surroundings before answering âLook, he just⊠gave me a helping hand, alright?â
It was less painful to just tell him, otherwise heâd never drop the subject.
âDid he ask for a helping hand back?â
So damn nosy.
âNo.â You sigh, exasperated.
Max grins, âI knew heâd be good to you.â
Squinting at him, you retort âWhat does that mean?â
âNothing.â Waving you off, he sits back down by the fire. âWas he good at it?â
Looking over your shoulder again to make sure Steve hadnât snuck up, you quickly answer âHe was great at it, now can we please forget this ever happened?â
Max lets out a chuckle while you finish zipping up your pants. âGood luck with that darling, you canât exactly avoid him out here.â
Fuck, heâs right.
What were you thinking?
You were supposed to be searching for lost treasure - the find of the century, not getting some from your guide who you literally cannot escape from until this is all over.
A guide who is going to be unbearable after this, as if he isnât already.
Dropping your head into your hands, you let out a pained whine.
Itâs fine. Everything is going to be just fine.
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Trick or treat! Happy Halloween, Nika! đ§Ąđ
Edit: @dystopicjumpsuit I forgot to color Mic's fangs white in the original so they didn't really show up.
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send this to all your favorite moots and pass the pumpkin round! KEEP THE PUMPKIN TRAIN GOING đđ€đđ€đ
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I don't know if you've already been asked this (if so, please ignore my post), but are there any FB&C characters with confirmed sexuality or gender? I loved playing your game! It was a wonderful experience and it's one of my favorites ever! Love from Brazil!
hi anon!
lera is a lesbian đ§Ąđ€đ©·
nika is not only not human but the social structure under which she was "raised" is so different from our own that her understanding of those concepts would be meaningless to try to describe. she just wants friends :-)
love from kazakhstan đ°đż
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he  furrowed  his  eyebrows  in  confusion  as  he  tries  to  figure  out  what  those  degrees  would  be  at,  moving  his  phone  around  before  positioning  him  in  front  of  the  other  where  she  could  be  seen  in  the  background  "  well,  okay,  say  cheese  i  guess.  "  he  chuckles  before  taking  a  snap  "  wait  wait,  you're  expanding  ?  what  are  you  going  for  ?  i'm  sorry,  but  the  lighting  was  good.  "
Â Â ïżœïżœÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â â   â .   â  terrible,  you should've moved the angle like, i don't know, maybe another sixty degrees to the right ?  â  aka the exact angle where her face would be in the selfie too.  â  oh no, don't tell me i'm here talking to you about my plans to expand my brand  &  you were trying to take selfies  instead  ?  â
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Welcome to the Solar Sys Archive!
Here you can find each of our intros and other information about us. We will be posting unrelated and silly stuff here.
Our main blog is a bah (build-a-headmate) blog where we take requests, and share free alter templates. @solarz-headmates is the blog. Please check it out, we'd really appreciate it!
đđđđđ§Ąâ€ïžALTER INTROS â€ïžđ§Ąđđđđ
Name: Emily
Age: 15
Pronouns: She/Her
Gender: Cisgender
Orientation: Lesbian
Role(s): Host, Protector
Sign-off: đ„©
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Tia
Age: 19
Pronouns: She/They/Star/Meow
Gender: Bigender, Xenogender
Orientation: Bisexual
Role(s): Co-host, Caretaker
Sign-off: đ
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Toby
Age: 15
Pronouns: He/Him
Gender: Cisgender
Orientation: Demiromantic/sexual and Panromatic/sexual
Role(s): Social Alter, Floater
Sign-off: đź
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Nika
Age: Ageless
Pronouns: She/They
Gender: Transfem
Orientation: Lesbian
Role(s): Persecutor
Sign-off: đłïžââ§ïž (idk why she chose this.. -đ„©)
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Sophie
Age: 6-8 (age slider)
Pronouns: She/Her
Gender: Cisgender
Orientation: Unspecified
Role(s): Little, Mood Booster
Sign-off: đ§ž
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Miyuki
Age: 20-23 (age slider)
Pronouns: They/Them
Gender: Nonbinary
Orientation: Unspecified
Role(s): Gatekeeper, Announcer
Sign-off: đ§Ș
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Simon
Age: 17
Pronouns: He/Him
Gender: Cisgender
Orientation: Pansexual
Role(s): Distracter, Social Alter
Sign-off: đ§
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Sara
Age: Ageless
Pronouns: Xe/Xae/Ae/It/Them/She/Star/Gneep
Gender: Xenogender
Orientation: Pansexual
Role(s): Mood Booster, Caregiver
Sign-off: đœ
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Eli/Elijah
Age: 14
Pronouns: He/They
Gender: Demiboy
Orientation: Gay
Role(s): Gatekeeper, Memory Holder, Protector
Sign-off: đ
Faceclaim/additional media:
Name: Trinity
Age: 13
Pronouns: Xe/Xae/It/They/He/She/Aer/Paper/Whisp/er
Gender: Xenogender, Genderfluid
Orientation: Pansexual
Role(s): Fill-in-host, trauma holder
Sign-off: đȘ
Faceclaim/additional media): (brown haired one, white hair is a ockin.)
Name: Mike (preferred mame is unknown)
Age: 15
Pronouns: He/They/She
Gender: Genderfluid
Orientation: Unknown
Role(s): Trauma holder
Sign-off: đŠ
Faceclaim:
Name; Athena/Keith/Mic
Age: 22
Pronouns: He/She/They
Orientation: Pansexual
Role(s): Social Alter, Fill-in-host/cohost
Sign-off: đ€
^ recently formed yayy???....
(more people to deal with... - đ§Ș)
COLLECTIVE USERBOXES
#system#alter intro#did osdd#traumagenic system#did system#system things#plurality#plural community#plural system#plural#pluralgang#actually plural#traumagenic did#non traumagenic safe#endo safe#pro endo#endo friendly#willogenic#tulpamancy#pro endogenic#endo system#endogenic#tulpa safe#pro tulpa#lgbt#lgbtq#lesbian#bisexual#pansexual#gay
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@nikahar asked: 𧥠ORANGE HEART â our muses' friendship
Acredito que a amizade da Nika com o Damon seja um tanto quanto caótica, no sentido da Nika conseguir fazer o Damon sair um pouco da concha dele e topar fazer algumas loucuras com ela; mas é uma amizade que também tem seus momentos mais calmos e introspectivos por causa do Damon, onde ele serve como uma ùncora pra colocar os pés da Nika no chão, ouvir os problemas dela e tentar ajudar como puder.
#⟠ââ and the stars they'll guide me on â 04 ; dynamics.#w: nikahar#⟠ââ and the stars they'll guide me on â 11 ; headcanons.#⟠ââ and the stars they'll guide me on â 09 ; ask game.#⟠ââ and the stars they'll guide me on â 10 ; aesthetic.
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hi đ„șđđđ
hi nika! đ„ș𧥠how are you??
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