#no fr the moment i saw her feet on the table i knew I couldn’t save my opinion of her

[nyatawia]

I haaate this situation sm im a non confrontational person but like… im also not a doormat yk i let ppl walk over me but theres a limit to my patience and apparently that limit is putting your dirty feet on the table where i eat

[videogamelover99]

[Gravity Falls] Waking Days Ch. 5: Riddle Bot

Summary: Bill Cipher is reborn, but not in the way he would have wanted. Stuck as a mortal and relying on those who brought his downfall, he realizes that maybe he didn't lie as hard as he should have. [AO3 Link] Characters: Bill Cipher, Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines, Stanford Pines, Stanley Pines, Jheselbraum the Unswerving, The Axolotl Pairings: past BillFord Rating: T

A/N: TW for child violence and child death in the first scene. Thank you to @megxolotl and @nexstage for beta-reading. Comment challenge: solve all the riddles! Enjoy!

---

When the stranger came, the residents of Dimension 52 were weary. It was no surprise. Most had been refugees, their homes destroyed, and anything new, to them, was a worry at best, a threat at worst. 

Baragerth had been born in this dimension. And while his parents were afraid of ever bringing up what had gotten them to flee, he did not share that same primal terror. He knew they were safe. The Oracle had made it so.

And the stranger was just a little girl. Starving and lost, she looked like she could hardly lift a bucket, much less harm anyone. He’d insisted they take her in and care for her until she was well enough to tell them who she was. 

It had been a mistake.

Now, his eyes frantically searched the path up to the mountain as he shoved his way through the crowd of panicked villagers, who were getting their hands on whatever weapon they could find. 

He spotted the Oracle soon enough, her gait steady, her hands hidden in the sleeves of her robe. Freed momentarily from their frightened stupor, the people parted to let her through, watching as she made her way to the center of the crowd, in front of the barricaded door to Baragerth’s cottage.

Baragerth quickly made his way toward her. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Her seven eyes met his own, and her gaze was kind. “You couldn’t have. You were doing what you believed was right.”

“If it’s really him-”

“It is.”

“Then-”

“It will be alright,” she said, this time loud enough for the surrounding crowd to hear. “Open the door, please.”

They took down the barricade. A woman next to Baragerth started trembling as Jheselbraum reached for the knob. 

He entered after her. Whatever dim light that came through the blinds was hardly enough to illuminate the shadowy figure across the room.

The girl was sitting in a chair, her feet propped up on the table in front of her. The chair would tilt back ever-so-slightly, almost enough to topple over, just on the brink. She looked bored. Her head snapped up unnaturally when she saw them enter. 

A wide, chilling grin spread across her face.

“Well well well well well, finally!” She tsked, playfully tilting the chair even further back. “Was thinking I’d have to start killing ‘em off after all. You sure take your time, lady.”

The girl’s voice was shrill and nasally, too loud for the small room they were in. She hardly blinked, and the stretched, maniacal grin never left her face. Baragerth felt nauseous just looking at it.

There was no fear in Jheselbraum’s voice when she spoke. It was calm and measured, a lake without ripples. “Why are you here, Bill?”

The girl blinked, seemingly surprised. The legs of the chair cracked against the floor as she settled them back down on the ground. He could see it now, the unnatural yellow glow of her eyes. “Dunno. Figured I’d stop by, see what you’ve done with the place,” the girl- no, the demon, shrugged. “Not often I find someplace I can’t take a peek at. Neat trick. Anyway, I don’t exactly do well with not knowing.”

“Well, you’ve seen plenty,” Jheselbraum said. “Or maybe you’d like a tour?”

The grin slipped from the girl’s face. “You don’t get it, do ya?”

“I get that you’re wasting my time.”

Baragerth flinched. The girl looked shocked for a moment, before she laughed, long and loud. “Hey, I like your guts, not gonna lie. Or maybe it’s stupidity.” She snapped to her feet, and someone at the door shrieked in fright. “You think that big frilly thing you call a god can save you? Well, sorry to disappoint, but he’s not exactly the proactive type. You’re banking on a mistake.”

“I’m not banking on anything.” There was an edge to Jheselbraum’s voice, but it wasn’t anger. Nor was it the calm she’d been with just a few moments ago. The edge was steel. “You just don’t frighten me.”

Bill Cipher scowled, all traces of humor gone from the body he was puppeteering. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, lady.”

“Do you?”

There was a flash of recognition in the demon’s eyes, but it was gone quickly, dismissed. Taking a step back, the thing in the poor child’s body eyed the cups and bowls piled high in the kitchen, not cleaned since Baragerth discovered who his new ward really was. “You remind me of someone, Seven-Eyes. Unlike you, she knew when things had to change. Which is why whatever you think is keeping you safe,” Cipher’s eyes darted to them. “It’ll fail.”

Things happened too fast for Baragerth to follow. Cipher reached for a kitchen knife. Jheselbraum freed a hand from her sleeve, holding a handful of shimmering powder Baragerth had seen her use for exorcisms. Baragerth stumbled back as the demon snatched the knife and plunged it into the girl’s stomach.

Then Bill Cipher was gone, leaving behind nothing but a streak of mad laughter. Jheselbraum darted to the girl, Baragerth close behind. The child looked at them with wild, frightened eyes. She collapsed. She mouthed something, her lips sputtering blood, before the spark of life in her gaze faded away into nothing.

Jheselbraum sat next to her for a long time. No one said a word, not Baragerth, nor the few villagers at the door.

The Oracle gently closed the girl’s eyes. 

“This is my fault,” said Baragerth.

“No. This would’ve happened no matter what we’d done. Bill Cipher’s actions are predictable when you know what message he wants to send.”

She tried to stop it, though. Inevitable or not, she tried to save the girl’s life.

“I must tell them what happened,” Baragerth said, and Jheselbraum nodded. 

“Go. I will join you.”

He looked back once, halfway out the door. Jheselbraum had not moved, her hand on the girl’s head. With a look of painful regret, her seven eyes fell shut. 

—

Hanging out in an alternate dimension with questionable places of origin was not Dipper's dream scenario, simply because he didn't even conceive it to be possible. Now though, it was close to something like heaven.

"Hey, what's this one do?" Dipper carefully pulled out a mesh of wires and gears that was wedged between the wall and a large, cardboard box. It appeared that cardboard was a multi-universal invention.

Jheselbraum the Unswerving, now known to the Pines family as "Nora", turned from the bottles she'd been rearranging to look. "That's a thermometer.”

"Oh," Dipper said, trying to figure out how this thing could possibly resemble a thermometer. Nora took it and tossed it in a box they'd been using for trash.

"You know," Dipper began again, turning back to the giant pile of stuff he'd been looking through. "When you said you needed help with Spring Cleaning, I didn't think you meant a trillion years' worth of it.”

“Does this dimension even have a Spring?" Mabel asked, sticking her head out from the other room. 

"Every dimension has a Spring."

“Really?” said Dipper.

“Really.”

“Excuse me.”

An old, steady voice cut through their conversation.

The creature standing at the entrance of the temple looked ancient, his tentacle-framed face lined with wrinkles. He seemed to be dressed in some kind of robe, similar to the one Nora had worn when they first met her. His fishy eyes were patiently trained on Nora, who, when Dipper looked back, was smiling fondly.

“Baragerth,” she greeted. “What brings you here at this early hour? You’re still due for your morning stroll on the lake.”

“Heh, you snoop through everyone’s morning routine?”

“Just yours.”

“That is a way to make an old man feel special,” his smile briefly fell. “It’s for the meeting.”

Nora blinked. “That’s today?”

“It sure is.” The tentacle man took off what Dipper realized was a hat, and wrung it politely in his hands. “I figured you’d be busy; I might as well remind you.” His eyes fell on the twins. “Alien children?”

“Some interdimensional friends. They were kind enough to help me.”

“That’s right!” Mabel said. “We’re on Spring Cleaning duty! The little vial in the corner melted my sweater!” She showed off her sleeve, half of it eaten away by the substance.

“I…see…” Baragerth cast a questioning look at Nora, who shrugged.

“They’re fine.”

“If your little friends can handle it, I think it’s best we head over now, or else…”

Nora made a face. “Karen.”

Baragerth nodded. “Karen.”

“Does every dimension have a Karen?” Dipper asked.

“Unfortunately.” Nora cast a look at Dipper and Mabel. Mabel grinned. “Maybe-”

“We can handle this,” Dipper interrupted, looking a little red. “Don’t worry. You must have…an important meeting to get to! The fate of the universe… important…maybe?”

Baragerth laughed, “Well, it’s certainly the fate of someone’s universe. Or Jompu’s shop. And let's not forget that land dispute that’s been brewing between the Dondon siblings.”

“Heaven forbid one has a tree more than the other,” Nora muttered.

“That…”

“Sounds boring,” said Mabel.

“B-but you can still count on us! We got this,” Dipper leaned on the edge of an open crate. The vials inside rattled a little. 

Nora frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yup! Nothing to worry about! We’ve dealt with more complicated things than Spring Cleaning.”

“Well, I suppose I could leave you for a few hours,” Nora tilted her head slightly, as if in thought. “And I don’t see a future when this goes horribly wrong.”

The other three people in the room winced. 

“Literally,” said Nora. “I can see the future.”

—

“Wow, what was all that about?”

“What was what about?” Dipper nervously turned to the box he was sorting through.

“‘Y-you can count on us!’” Mabel mimicked Dipper’s high-pitched stutter from two minutes ago. “Your voice cracked like, five times in that one sentence. What are you so nervous about?”

“Nothing! I just want to help!” He put down a glass goblet with a little more force than necessary. “I mean, she helped us defeat Bill! Indirectly, but still. We owe it to her, don’t we?”

“Hm,” Mabel eyed him suspiciously.

“And it’s an opportunity to snoop around! Like- hey, what’s this?” Dipper grabbed a strange-looking metal contraption. “Crazy alien stuff! Don’t you wanna mess with crazy alien stuff?”

“That’s a whisk,” said Mabel.

“Huh? Oh.” Dipper rotated the handle, and the blades spun with it.

“Come on, you can tell me! Wait, it’s not a crush, is it? Cause this time she’s not just three years older than you, but like, a bajillion.” 

“No! No, definitely not,” Dipper sighed, and put down the whisk, leaning against the crate. “She’s just Grunkle Ford’s friend. I wanna make a good impression.”

“Oh, I get it,” Mabel grinned and rolled her eyes. “She’s into the same nerd stuff you and Grunkle Ford are into, so you wanna show you can handle it.”

“Kinda, yeah,” said Dipper. “She’s cool, okay?”

“Dunno if you’re using ‘cool’ right,” said Mabel. “Though I love the vibes,” she pointed at a large tapestry of a pink amphibian creature. “This guy looks like he knows how to party. Don’t you, buddy?” The tapestry, of course, stayed silent.

“Laugh all you want, but there’s stuff she knows no one on our planet has even a brief understanding of,” Dipper pulled out his new journal. “And I’m gonna be the first to discover it! I’m gonna ask the right questions! After I prove I’m a trustworthy recipient. I just can’t do it sorting boxes, there must be another way.” He took a pen from his pocket and chewed on it.

“Heh, well, good luck with that. I’m gonna go see what’s up with those glittery jars!” Mabel disappeared back into the room she’d been sorting through. 

Dipper tried to think of a way to impress Nora, but nothing came to mind. She’d seen all their adventures, hadn’t she? What else could he do? Build some new contraption? Figure out some puzzle? Find a lost civilization?

When none of his ideas felt sound enough, Dipper closed the journal and stared at the stain behind the helix-shaped lamp. It looked alive. Just as he got enough courage to move the lamp out of the way and check, Mabel burst through the bead curtain that led to the other room, saving Dipper from his fate. "Hey bro, look what I found! Come look!"

Dipper followed Mabel to the corner she'd been sorting through.

Whatever it was, it was covered by a plain white tarp. Mabel pulled it away with a flourish, sending a cloud of alien dust into the air. "Ta-da!"

It was a robot. A very chunky, primitive looking one, from what Dipper could tell. Its eyes consisted of four camera lenses worked into a grey metal hull, dulled with age. It didn't have a "mouth", so to speak, but instead a set of strip lights on the lower part of its head that kind of looked like one. The head was way too big for its small, cone-like metal body. It had two arms with claw-like pinchers on the ends that were set stiffly at its sides.

“Huh,” said Dipper. “It’s some kind of…robot?”

“Well, duh,” said Mabel. “What do you think it does?”

Dipper circled the robot slowly. There was a switch on the robot’s back. After a moment of hesitation, he flipped it. 

The robot made a startled dial-up noise. Its eyes glowed faintly. The light strip that served as its mouth lit up all at once, before dimming, the entire body emitting a quiet hum.

"HELLO DESIGNATION1_MABEL, DESIGNATION2_DIPPER. PROPHECY_BOT SYSTEMS ONLINE. WHAT IS YOUR QUERY?"

"Woah," Mabel said. "It knows our names?"

"'Prophecy bot'?" Dipper asked. “What’s a prophecy bot?”

"Maybe like, a fortune-telling robot?" Mabel asked. "Hey Prophecy Bot, what's my fortune gonna be today?"

The robot beeped for a moment, its lights flickering. "PROPHECY #176-14 FOR PINES, MABEL, CONTENT: THE TREES OF THE COW PASTURE ARE GREEN. TREES BEYOND IT YELLOW WITH AGE."

"Wow," said Mabel. "A riddle."

Dipper frowned. "It sounds like a fortune cookie. That had a stroke."

“Hm,” Mabel tilted her head, looking at the robot up and down. “Do you think Nora built it?”

“That, or she got it from someone,” Dipper said. “Prophecy Bot, what number am I thinking of?”

“PROPHECY #176-15 FOR PINES, DIPPER, CONTENT: DIPPER PINES ISN’T SLY. THE NUMBER HE’S THINKING OF IS CLOSE TO PI.”

Mabel laughed. “That one rhymed.”

“I was thinking of pi,” Dipper muttered, a little embarrassed. “The first ten digits of it, anyway.”

“Prophecy Bot, what’s your deal?” Mabel asked. “Why are you stuck in our friend’s crummy old closet?”

“PROPHECY #176-16 FOR PINES, MABEL, CONTENT: DEFECTIVE IS A DESIGNATION WE MUST GIVE TO ALL CREATION.”

“Huh,” said Dipper. “So it’s defective.”

“That’s mean,” Mabel said. “It’s not defective, it’s special!”

“How are you defective?”

“PROPHECY #176-17 FOR PINES, DIPPER, CONTENT: CIRCLES AND CIRCLES I GO.”

“What?” said Mabel.

“Okay, that one’s just nonsense,” Dipper frowned. Something was slowly clicking into place.

“Prophecy Bot, who’s the prettiest girl you know?” Mabel batted her eyelashes.

“PROPHECY #176-18 FOR PINES, MABEL, CONTENT: JULIANE.”

Mabel frowned. “Who’s Juliane?”

Dipper’s mind was already busy concocting a plan. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“Don’t you see? This robot is defective. It gives you these riddles that you have to solve, and most of them don’t make any sense out of context. If I figure out a way to fix the base programming that causes it to spout nonsense then-”

“You’ll figure out what Nora couldn’t?”

“Yeah!” 

“And then you’ll be just as big of a nerd as Grunkle Ford?”

“Yeah! Wait-”

“Ha! Gotcha.”

Dipper walked over to the robot and tilted his head this way and that, hard in thought. “It’s gonna take a lot of debugging though. Are you gonna help me?”

“Heck yeah! I’m great at catching bugs!” Mabel punched her open palm.

“Not those kinds of bugs.” Dipper turned to face the Riddle Bot. “Let’s do it.”

—

As they descended from the mountain, the heavy forestry and weeds gradually gave way to stone structures, shops, houses, and basic facilities that made up the small village in the valley. Dimension 52 was minuscule compared to others, consisting of only a few cluttered star systems, and aside from some passersby looking for the Oracle’s guidance (or trouble), it did not see a lot of action. 

Baragerth was used to the sleepy nature of the town. It had been there for thousands of years, as long as he remembered it, and with it, the Oracle, always in the same place, never truly changing except for the different forms she took on. 

This one was much smaller than the others. Humans themselves seemed fragile and minuscule compared to the residents of most dimensions, so it was strange, why Jheselbraum the Unswerving would ever want to take on the appearance of one.

“How goes the task?” Baragerth asked lightly.

Beside him, his companion was unreadable. This, too, he was used to. “Progressing,” she answered, matter-of-fact and to the point. “How are things here? How are your people?”

“Your people are doing quite well. Save for a few tree disputes and the like.”

“I am hardly fulfilling a leadership position.”

“No. You’re the strange immortal we invite over for tea once in a while, in the hopes you’ll bless us with good harvests.” She gave him a look that was not hard to read. It was not amused. “Only joking! No sacrifices or prayers in your honor. Still, we would not be half as prosperous if it weren’t for your guidance.”

“The least I could do,” Jheselbraum said quietly.

“Oh, don’t be like that! Half of them could figure it out on their own if there wasn’t an easier option.”

“Half of them would still have a real home if it weren’t for Bill Cipher.”

The mention of the name chilled him in a way that Baragerth had a hard time shaking off. She was right, of course, but it was always a painful reminder.

He had never seen his home dimension. His mother had fled it millennia before she gave birth to him. Still, seeing some of the haunted looks in the eyes of his people could only have him guessing at the horrors they had seen. 

“I think we take your kindness for granted,” he said quietly.

Jheselbraum laughed, not very warmly. “Kindness is one thing. Paying off a debt is another.”

“You know I won’t pry into what happened-”

“And I wish it stayed that way.”

“But whatever you think you’re holding yourself accountable for is irrelevant now. He is gone.” Baragerth closed his eyes. “And good riddance to that.”

“Yes,” the oracle said, her face once again a calm mask. “He is gone.”

A young boy came running. It was Miko, the son of a scribe who came from the 43rd Dimension. He was out of breath when he stopped in front of them, his little rock-like legs trembling from the strain of running uphill.

“What is it?” Baragerth asked.

It took the boy a moment to recover. “Meeting’s been moved,” the boy gasped out. “You’ve gotta see this.”

—

“Riddle Bot, what's in my hand right now?”

“THE TRUTH SHALL BE REVEALED WHEN IT IS NOT CONCEALED.”

…

“Riddle Bot, what’s for dinner?”

“FOOD FOR THOUGHT IS THOUGHT OF AS A THOUGHT.”

…

“Riddle Bot, why are you so useless?”

“INSULTS MAY GET YOU POWER BUT NOT MONEY.”

…

Dipper didn't have the strength to raise his head from the floor and properly look at it. It felt nice, laying there, not thinking about his failure.

Next to him, Mabel was sitting propped against the robot, looking bored out of her mind. 

But he couldn't quit now.

“Riddle Bot-”

“Oh, give it up, Dipper!” Mabel gave him a half-hearted kick. “It was fun at first but all it's been giving us is a bunch of boring nonsense!”

“But if I can decode the answers-”

“Ughhhh.” 

Dipper glanced at his open journal lying next to him, and the dozens of “prophecies” he recorded there. He had plenty of data, so why wasn't this working?

“Maybe I just need to look at it from a different angle.”

He flipped the journal upside down.

And now he was acting like his sister. Maybe he had given up, if he was resorting to her methods of silliness. 

“Hey Riddle Bot!” Mabel asked. “What’s the meaning of life?”

The robot’s circuits whirred. They both held their breath.

“42.”

“That one makes the least sense!” Dipper ripped out the page of prophecies and threw the crumpled-up ball at the robot. It bounced off, the robot remaining completely unfazed. 

His eyes landed on the page underneath.

No way it was going to work. Dipper had spent weeks on the answer and came up with nothing. The clue Bill had given him had been utter nonsense. 

Still, maybe the way to fight nonsense was with more nonsense. Maybe-

“Riddle Bot, what’s 16°C to 18°C, and no higher than 24°C?”

The robot beeped as it processed the query. The motors inside it hummed, as if before takeoff. It swerved its head.

Mabel and Dipper backed away. 

Then, all at once, the robot’s body slumped, and the lights in its eyes went out. 

“Aw, you broke it,” said Mabel.

“Oh no,” Dipper walked over to it, tapped it on the head, and tried to lift one of its arms. “No no no, I really messed up.”

“Hey, come on, it’s not that big of a deal-”

“Not that big a deal?! Mabel, I broke one of the Oracle’s creations! What are we gonna tell her when she comes back?”

“One: she probably totally forgot she even had this. It was gathering dust in the corner! Two-”

Behind him, the robot suddenly roared to life. Dipper jumped away, then watched with a mix of horror and fascination as it turned its head this way and that in frantic, jittery moments, the lights in its eyes blinking on and off in a kaleidoscope of colors. 

Then it froze, staring straight at Dipper. “PROPHECY #199-3333333… FOR PINES, DIPPER, CONTENT: SHE IS WATCHING.”

It jerked itself from the spot it had been in, and with uncoordinated movements made its way to the nearest wall. 

“Wait-!” Dipper cried.

The robot raised its metal arms and, with a force Dipper didn’t think it capable of, smashed a hole in the wall. 

Chunks of bricks rained around it as it leaped through the hole. Two rocket thrusters appeared out of its hands in midair, and it flew, down the mountain and toward the town.

---

[next]

[prev]

[first]

[writingsforanyone]

Celebration

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Y/N

Warnings: Underage Drinking

Type: Fluff

A/N: Weasley Twins and Y/N are in their 6th year, No Tri-Ward Tournament ; also the spacing is really weird i’m not sure what happened when i copy and pasted from my notes but i’m sorry!! enjoy :)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Gryffindor’s were notorious for throwing the best parties for every occasion. Especially after a Quidditch win. The biggest game of the year between Gryffindor and Slytherin had taken place just hours before, and after a landslide win, the lions were ready to party. The team’s star chaser, Y/N Y/L/N, had scored a whooping 7 goals for the team, with her fellow chasers Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson scoring 3 and 2.

Now, Y/N was being hoisted on the shoulders of her two best friends, Fred and George Weasley, and every Gryffindor from fourth year and up was cheering for her.

“Look at our best friend!” said George

“The best chaser Hogwarts has ever seen!” Fred added on

Y/N laughed and said to her best friends,

“Okay okay now put me down!”

“You’re okay with flying around on a broom but not sitting on your best friends’ shoulders?” Fred said with a smirk

“I can control my broomstick, I can’t control you two!” Y/N said with a smack to Fred’s head. In one quick motion, Fred pulled her from his shoulder and into his arms bridal style and added,

“Is this better?”

“Much better,” Y/N answered with a smile.

George, Lee Jordan, and the rest of the Quidditch team looked at the pair and rolled their eyes, not surprised about the flirty interaction between the two. While Y/N and the twins had been inseparable since their first day on the train, over the past year Fred and Y/N’s relationship had changed into something more. Flirty banter, lingering touches, and stares across rooms, it seemed obvious to everyone except the two that their feelings towards each other were more than just ‘best friends’.

Fred finally put Y/N down and grabbed her hand, leading her to the large round table in the back of the common room that was filled with all kinds of drinks. He grabbed two bottles of Ogden’s Old Firewhisky, handing one to the girl on his side and keeping the other for himself. Y/N opened the bottle and took a long swig, letting the burning liquor slide down her throat. Fred moved his hand from hers and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her into his side.

“You played really good today darling. Couldn’t take my eyes off of you the whole game,” Fred said looking down at her.

She looked up at him and winked, nudging his side before saying,

“Only because I had my favorite beater to protect me. And George too of course.”

Fred laughed and kissed her forehead, before pulling away and excusing himself to go find George and Lee, leaving Y/N to go find the rest of her friends. She spotted Katie, Angelina, and Alicia Spinnet across the room and made her way over to them, grabbing another bottle of Firewhisky before she left the table.

“There she is!” said Alicia say before pulling her into a hug.

“Hey ‘Licia,” Y/N said pulling away.

“So what was that over there?” Katie said, nodding her head over to the table where Y/N had just been with Fred.

“That was nothing, you lot know that’s how Fred and I are,” Y/N retorted while rolling her eyes, grinning at the same time.

Her three friends rolled her eyes, but changed the subject nonetheless, knowing Y/N was too oblivious to her own feelings. The group of girls talked for a while, eventually moving over to the table covered in alcohol and getting more, gradually getting more intoxicated as the night went on. Y/N knew she would have an awful hangover in the morning, but grabbing her fifth bottle of Firewhisky, she couldn’t care less. The group went their separate ways after a bit, going to find more of their friends to talk too. Y/N made her way over to the golden trio who was sitting on one of the couches. Being best friends with the Weasley twins and staying at the Burrow all the time meant Ron became sort of like a younger brother, and with that came with seeing Harry and Hermione in the same way. Y/N noticed Hermione nursing a bottle of spiked butter beer, half empty.

“‘Mionie! Bottoms up! We’re celebrating tonight!” Y/N announced, coming up in front of the girl.

“Jeez Y/N how much have you had?” Ron said.

“Four? Maybe five? I think I lost count” the girl giggled out, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take Hermione from you both, and we’re going to dance.”

“Wha- No I don’t dance!” Hermione exclaimed, but she let Y/N pull her up anyway. She placed her now-empty butterbeer on a side table by the couch, and Y/N led her over to the alcohol table yet again, grabbing them more drinks to keep them going. They then made their way over to the coffee table that was right in the middle of the makeshift dance floor, and Y/N quickly stepped up on it and started dancing, urging Hermione of join her. The younger girl rolled her eyes before stepping onto the table next to her friend. The two girls started moving to the beat, slowly getting lost in the music that was blaring from the speakers. Y/N took a long drink from the liquor bottle in her hand, before she spotted two familiar heads of red hair in a corner of the room. Fred watched in awe as his best friend swayed her hips to the beat, her white tennis skirt showing her curves off, and her red crop top rising as she lifted her arms above her head, showing her sculpted abs from years of Quidditch. Her white heeled booties made her legs go on for miles. Y/N knew he was staring at her, and started swaying her hips a bit more seductively, and raised her arms a little higher than before.

Y/N knew how she felt about Fred a long time ago, but after convincing herself that he didn’t reciprocate those feelings, she pushed them deep down and tried to forget about them. She saw how he was around other girls, and that did nothing but confirm her thoughts. That didn’t stop her from flirting with him, and she assumed that him flirting back with her was just his charming personality coming out. She had known the twins for 6 years, and while they had been her best friends ever since, her feelings towards Fred slowly changed compared to the ones she had for George. While she saw George as a best friend, a brother, she eventually fell in love with Fred’s charisma, his laugh, the way he treated her and protected her. He always made sure that she ate and slept enough, and was there for her every time the stress of school and Quidditch piled up. He would let her cry on his shoulder while he held her until she eventually fell asleep, and wouldn’t move until she woke up. He was always able to put a smile on her face when she was having a bad day, whether it be with a simple joke or with an elaborate prank. Whenever Gryffindor would throw their parties and she had one too many Firewhiskys, he would always make sure she got up to bed safe, and was there to cure the hangover the next morning. If Y/N got detention, he was first in line to cause a disruption that would land him in detention right next to her, even if it was with Snape. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, and while Y/N thought it was just him being a best friend, there was so much more to Fred’s actions than she knew.

Y/N let the music take her away, dancing like no one and everyone was watching at the same time. She danced with Hermione and grabbed her hand, spinning her around while they laughed. They lost track of how long they had been dancing, but it had been long enough for them to both have finished the bottles of alcohol in their hands, now discarded on the floor. Eventually, Hermione turned to the girl and said while laughing,

“Okay I need a break. I’m exhausted.”

“Who am I supposed to dance with now?” Y/N whined looking at her friend

As Hermione stepped down from the table, she looked up at Y/N and said,

“Ask Fred. He’s been staring at you this entire time.”

Y/N turned and immediately saw Fred in the same place he had been before, still staring at her with a soft smile on his face.

“Freddie! Come dance with me!” she called out.

The redhead immediately made his way over to the girl, noticing how she was involuntarily swaying and tripping over her own feet. As he approached the table, he spoke to the girl,

“I’ll only dance with you if you get down from that table. You’re too drunk to be up there.”

“But dancing on the table is fun Freddie you have to try it,” she answered, pouting.

“I’ll try it another time I promise,” he said laughing, “Right now I don’t want you to fall and get hurt.”

“Fine, you’re no fun,” Y/N mumbled, attempting to step down from the table. Fred shot his arms out and grabbed her waist, picking her up and setting her on the ground before she could fall face first off of the surface. Y/N wrapped her arms around his waist and put her chin against his chest, looking up at him.

“Now will you dance with me?” Y/N drawled out, pouting up at the boy.

Fred laughed looking down at the girl and nodded, and she quickly let go of his waist and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the middle of the makeshift dance floor. Just as they stopped, a new upbeat song started playing, and Y/N squealed and announced that she loved the song and immediately started dancing again, swaying her hips and raising her arms above her head yet again. Fred put his hands on her hips from behind and let her dance on him, swaying against her. This typically happened between them at every party, but what Y/N didn’t know was Fred looked forward to this every time. He looked forward to having the girl he loved dancing against him, with her attention solely on him and the music. He relished in the moments they got to spend just the two of them. He had told himself over a year ago that his best friend didn’t feel the same way, no matter what George and Lee thought, or even the rest of his family members. When Y/N had gone to the Burrow to spend the last two weeks of summer break with the Weasleys before their sixth year started, Molly had questioned Fred on why he hadn’t asked her out yet. He told her multiple times that they were just friends, but he knew she didn’t believe him.

Fred remembered the exact moment he realized he was in love with his best friend. During their first Quidditch game of the season in their fifth year, Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw, and he hadn’t seen one of the Ravenclaw beaters hit a blunger towards Y/N. All he saw was the blunger hit her in the back, and her body falling off of her broom. He dropped his beater’s bat and ignored every call and shout from Olivier Wood telling him to stop fooling around. He flew downward as fast as his broom would take him, and managed to catch Y/N’s limp body moments before she hit the ground. He carried her all the way to the Hospital Wing, despite protests from Madam Hooch telling him to put her down and let her handle it. He stayed in the Hospital Wing for 3 days waiting inter to wake up, leaving only to shower and change out of his Quidditch uniform. George brought him food and sat with him for most of the time, but left when it was time for him to sleep. Fred slept in the chair next to her bed and skipped all of his Monday classes, but he didn’t think twice about wanting to be there when she woke up.

During those 3 days he sat in the hospital, he realized just how strong his feelings were for his best friend. He realized that he couldn’t live without her, and that he wanted no one else. No one made his heart race the way Y/N did when she walked into the room. He had fallen in love with her sarcastic banter and the way she could give just as much as she could take. He had fallen in love with her bright smile and her captivating eyes. The had a way with always encouraging him with her motivating words when it came to school, Quidditch, and even his pranks. She supported him through everything, but had no problem scolding his and George if they pulled a prank or did something that she knew could get them in trouble. She fell right into place with his family, treating his younger siblings as her own and getting along with all of his older siblings. His parents loved her. Family is everything to Fred, and Y/N fitting in with the Weasleys was everything to him. If Fred was sick, she was right next to him making him soup and tea, getting him medicine and helping him get better. She would lay with him and sing him to sleep, staying all night to make sure didn’t have problem through the night. She didn’t care if she got sick, all she cared about was making sure Fred got better. She helped him study so he could pass his classes, even if it meant studying less for hers. She had taken the blame for his reckless actions for than once, so he could avoid getting in trouble yet again. Fred had realized that he wanted no one else by his side, and because of that, he sacrificed telling Y/N his feelings in fear that he would lose her completely if he did.

Fred shook himself from his thoughts and focused on the girl in front of him. He bent his head down and kissed her on the cheek, then moving down and placing one on her neck. He moved his hands from her waist and spun her around so she was facing him. He placed his hands on the exposed skin between her skirt and her crop that had risen up. She looked up at him and smiled, wrapping her hands around his neck, not faltering her dance moves once. He locked eyes with her and didn’t look away, a small smirk playing on his lips. He pulled her closer so she was pressed completely against him, and she tightened her arms around his neck without a second though. They continued dancing like this for a few more minutes through a number of songs, before Y/N started to pull away and asked,

“You want to go get another drink?”

Before Fred could answer, she grabbed one of his hands that rested on her waist and started walking towards the back of the common room. She attempted to weave her way through the crowd, but bumped into multiple people instead. By the time they reached the table, Fred was holding onto her to keep her upright.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink tonight, love,” Fred told the girl.

“But Freddie we’re celebrating tonight,” she pouted to the boy.

“I know but you can’t even stand up straight. I think it’s time to get you to bed.”

“You want to get me in bed?”

Fred laughed and shook his head, before wrapping his hands around her waist and walking Y/N towards the door to the boys dormitories. When they approached the door, he turned her to face him and she stuck her arms up out of reflex. He picked her up with ease and she wrapped her legs around his waist and nuzzled her face in his neck. Fred opened the door and climbed up the stairs until he reached the door to his room, opening and closing it behind them. When they reached his bed, he attempted to sit Y/N down but she clung to him and said,

“No don’t let me go Freddie.”

Fred leaned back so he could see her face and she picked her head up to look at him. She flicked her eyes down to his lips and back up to his eyes so fast that Fred wondered if he had imagined it, but when she did it again he knew he wasn’t seeing things. He kissed her forehead before sitting her down on his bed. He turned to his trunk and pulled out one of his shirts and a pair of flannel pajama pants for Y/N to change into. He handed them before saying,

“Go and change then we can go to bed.”

“I love wearing your clothes,” she said before getting up from the bed.

“You can wear them whenever you like,” Fred said with a smile as she disappeared into the bathroom. He changed into a pair of pajama pants and took his shirt off before filling up a glass of water and setting it on the table beside his bed. When Y/N emerged from the bathroom, she headed straight for his bed and sat on the edge. Fred handed her the glass of water and told her to drink it, and she finished the entire glass before saying,

“Fred?”

“Yes love?” he answered.

“Will you ever see me as more than just your best friend?”

Fred wondered if he had heard her correctly and moved to stand between her legs, and then asked her to repeat what she had said.

“You heard what I said Freddie. Am I just a best friend to you?”

Fred softly placed his hands on her cheeks and moved her head to look at him. He let out a breathe and decided it was now or never.

“You’re everything to me Y/N. You’re my world. You’re so much more to me than just a best friend. I can’t imagine not having you by my side everyday. I love everything about you; your smile, your eyes, your laugh. The way you’re always there to help me and support me. You’re my best friend but you’re so much more than that. I’m in love with you Y/N.”

Y/N took his words in and smiled. She felt herself started to sober as he spoke each word, and started to tear up. She felt a single tear slip onto her cheek, and Fred wiped it off with his thumb out of instinct. The girl placed one of her hands over one of his and whispered,

“I’ve been in love with you since we were 14 year old.”

Fred’s smile only grew, and he leaned down and softly pressed his lips against hers. His lips were softer than Y/N had imagined them being, and the kiss was slow and sweet. She moved her lips against his and moved her hands to his waist, pulling him in closer. The kiss grew from soft and sweet, to hard and passionate, both of them trying to express years of unspoken love to each other. Neither of them wanted to pull away first, but before long they both needed to breathe, and slowly pulled away at the same time. Fred leaned his forehead against hers, and placed another soft kiss on her lips.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Fred whispered.

“You should have,” Y/N retorted with a smile. Fred only chuckled before letting go of her cheeks and pulling back the comforter on his bed. Y/N wordlessly climbed under the covers and scooted over so Fred could get in next to her. He laid down and opened his arms, inviting the girl to lay with him. Y/N placed her head on Fred’s chest and tangled her legs with his, before placing a few kisses on his shirtless torso.

“This was the Quidditch celebration we’ve ever had,” Y/N mumbled, already starting to doze off.

“I love you Y/N,” Fred whispered back to her, pressing a kiss against her hair. He knew she was tired and had began to fall asleep, but he didn’t miss the “I love you too Freddie” that fell from her lips just before she passed out for the night.

[shesclearlya3]

i loved you first p.4

pairing: Xavier Plympton x Reader

word count: 2,332

warnings: violence, language, fluff, oops

part 1 | part 2 |  part 3 | part 4 | epilogue

4.

Your life seemed to flash before your eyes.

Chloe Smith was in tears; her red hair matted while her makeup from the night before smeared under her eyes. You had never seen her look like this. She was always fabulous. You'd admit it now, even knowing she was crazy.

"Chloe..." Xavier said softly, his hands slowly rising as she continued to cry with her eyes on you. Your eyes fell to the gun hanging by her side, her finger fiddling with the gun. She was going to cock it eventually. 

"Sit down!" she shot at you, and you didn't hesitate to take the spot next to Xavier. You realized you should have stayed away from him, but Chloe didn't comment, only raising the gun at the both of you.

"You don't have to do this," Xavier said, his voice hesitant. You knew he was trying not to cry, and you were right there with him. "This isn't worth it."

"You're worth it!" she yelled, pointing her gun directly at him now. "You're worth it, Xavier." she cried, her voice wobbly. You had never heard anything like this in your life. This all had to be a really fucked up dream.

You knew it was probably best to keep your mouth shut. Chloe hated you; you didn't want to push her any farther and risk putting Xavier in any more danger than he already was. 

Your thoughts were overshadowed when Chloe turned her attention back to you, her voice venomous when she asked, "What do you have that I don't?"

I'm not psychotic, clearly.

 You instinctively snickered at that, which was a huge mistake. You watched as Chloe's eyes went dark before moving the gun just inches from your face and fired. 

You and Xavier both yelled; he grabbed you and pulled you down as the bullet whizzed right by, almost hitting your ear. Your heart was now in overdrive as Xavier took this opportunity to rush forward and tackle her to the ground. You screamed as they wrestled, desperately looking for a phone to dial 9-1-1. 

You hoped that a neighbor would call the police. You weren't particularly close with them, but you were friendly enough to keep an eye on one another. You started to cry when you realized your phone was dead, and you didn't know where Xavier's was. 

There was no way you could sit back and watch this unfold. Chloe was screaming, cursing your name as Xavier wrestled the gun away from her. You looked around for something heavy, figuring this could be your Paul Sheldon moment.

You spotted an ugly vase that Xavier's mother had gifted you when you moved in together. It always sat underneath the accent table, collecting dust. You snatched it, looking to see that Xavier was somewhat able to pin down Chloe. But the struggle for the gun was still ensuing. Your ears rang as another shot went off, striking the lamp your grandmother bought you.

The last thing you wanted was to hurt him accidentally. You lunged for the pair, catching Xavier's eye last minute as he fell off her, falling to the ground. You smashed the vase against Chloe's head. A cry escaped your lips when a jagged piece broke the skin of your palm. Chloe shrieked, before falling unconscious. 

You gasped, falling to your knees as Xavier wheezed on the ground. You glanced down at the now bloody head of Chloe, who was still breathing. 

"That fucking bitch!" Xavier snapped, sitting up. You watched as he grabbed the gun, switching on the safety. "We need to call the police."

"I-I couldn't find your phone," you said shakily, stumbling to your feet, your eyes still on her unconscious body. 

Xavier had to dig underneath the cushions, but he found it. There was just enough battery to report the incident, and he stayed on the line as you both moved far away from her, almost sitting on top of each other in the corner. 

Your chest felt like it was on fire. The tears wouldn't stop as you hung onto Xavier, who gently shushed you while he spoke to the operator. You wanted Montana, you wanted Brooke. 

You were so shaken up that the panicked knocking on the door caused you to shriek. The operator on the phone was worried, as Xavier got up to investigate, before letting out a "fuck!"

"XAVIER! Y/N! IT'S ME, IT'S CHET AND MONTANA! OPEN UP!"

Xavier wrenched open the door, explaining to the operator that you were still waiting on the police.

"We already called the police, they're not here yet!?" Montana yelled, rushing past the boys to where you were cowering in the corner. "Chet was outside when he saw Chloe arrive and called them."

She brought you into a hug as you hid your face in her neck, wishing for all of this to stop. You heard Xavier ask why Chet was outside, in which he replied, "Because I'm not dumb, I knew the bitch would be back."

You always adored that Chet was so protective of your friends. You had to smile, feeling your heart lift slightly as Montana held you tightly, shielding your face from Chloe.

It seemed like an eternity when the police and ambulance finally arrived. Ray ended up showing up sometime later while you were outside, claiming that Brooke was stuck at work and wished she could be here. 

You watched with your friends as Chloe was wheeled out on a stretcher; her hands cuffed as they loaded her into the ambulance. Your debacle caused some attention, as concerned neighbors and strangers gathered around. You slowly started to feel better, but the fear of almost being killed kept creeping on you. The paramedics cleaned up your wound and bandaged it.

Because your apartment was now an active crime scene, you and Xavier were forced to room with Montana and Brooke at their residence. You had gathered your things before riding over with Xavier in the back seat; his grip on you was still tight. 

You were pleased when Ray and Chet came over later that night with packed bags. They insisted on the group being together for support. You had hugged your friends more in the past few hours than you have all year. You knew they were as equally scared as you were, while simultaneously trying to ease your stress. 

That night after everyone settled into bed, you were restless. It was well past three in the morning, your boss already notified about what transpired and you needed some time off. Xavier was in the bathroom, almost begging his boss to give him some time, too. 

You waited until he finally came out, visibly lighter as he crawled down next to you, peeking to see if you were awake. The unexpected action caused you to snort, and he smiled at your laugh. 

"I'm sorry if I scared you," he whispered, settling down beside you. "My boss finally cut me some slack for once in his life."

"I think you should just quit, they don't deserve you," you whispered.

"Trust me, I've been telling myself that the day I started," he joked, and you felt hopeful that things could be normal again. "y/n, I just wanted to let you know that you saved our lives today."

You frowned, shaking your head, "You had her pinned to the ground. If anything, you're the hero."

Xavier shook his head, scoffing, "Don't be ridiculous, you knocked the crack-whore out."

You cackled at that, hiding your face in the blankets as Xavier's blue eyes widened, playfully shushing you as Ray snorted in his sleep a few feet away. "Keep it down!"

"Then don't make me laugh!" you seethed, yet your tone was playful. "You should know by now that you make me laugh without trying."

Xavier beamed at that, settling down to lay beside you. He was delighted to hear that, now smiling like an idiot at your compliment. You moved closer, putting your head on his chest as he wrapped an arm around you.

"I don't mean to make light of the situation," Xavier said softly, starting to run his hands through your hair. You closed your eyes in peace. "But I'm glad we were with each other today. I could never live with myself if something happened to you because of me."

"I need you to stop blaming yourself," you scolded. Xavier's face flushed, and he was staring at the ceiling with a hurt expression you couldn't see. "I told this to the others, and I'll say it to you. You didn't know. Montana..." you smiled, "She has a suspicious nature, and she's right ninety percent of the time. Montana had an equal hand in this."

"I should have known, though," Xavier said, frowning. "I was her boyfriend. I was going to move in with her!"

You smirked, "They say you don't really know a person until you live with them. Or something like that."

Xavier finally smiled at you, "Something like that?"

"Yes. That's what my mom said when I told her we were living together."

"Huh," Xavier said, his hands still running through your hair. "Your mom is a wise woman."

"Of course she is, why do you think I'm the way I am, hmm?" you joked.

"I guess that would explain a lot," he said softly. You laid there, your head still on his chest as you listened to the sound of his beating heart. 

In mere seconds he could have been taken away from you. 

You didn't realize your nails dug into his chest until he winced, "Ouch, y/n?"

You gasped, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Xavier." you said, rubbing the spot on his chest where you hurt him. 

"It's alright," he said, before placing his hand over yours. "I'll be here when you wake-up."

You tried to fall asleep then, but images of Chloe holding a gun in your face was a plague. Xavier was still awake, staring at the ceiling as he stroked your hair. He could feel your wildly beating heart, and he wished there was something he could do. 

Xavier was always the strong one of the group. You could always lean on him whenever you needed, even if he was struggling with something himself. But he wanted to save everybody, even though he knew it was impossible. His own past haunted him, and this was just the newest addition. 

The clock slowly ticked towards five in the morning, and you were still unable to find peace. You eventually sat up, Xavier's arm falling to the side as you sighed, rubbing your eyes.

"y/n?" he asked, sitting up beside you. You gave him a weak smile, which he frowned. "Do you need me to call someone?"

You shook your head, "I just think sleep is off the table for us tonight." 

He laughed quietly, looking around the dark room to see Montana hanging partially off the couch. Brooke was right on the floor beneath her, her legs over Ray's stomach, snoring.

"I feel safe with everyone here," you admitted, glancing at Chet, who was curled up with a pillow. "I always felt safe with you guys."

"Me too," he admitted, taking your hand. "I know I've made a lot of bad decisions in my life. I always felt like I wasn't supposed to be here, you know?" Your heart hurt hearing that. "I got myself in so much bad shit, and I guess I still do that. But I'd always find my way back... I had my friends. I have you."

You wiped at your eyes, knowing Xavier hated to see you cry. "You've always had me." you laughed weakly.

"I wish I would have stopped being so stupid-."

"Are you kidding?" you laughed now, a little too loudly, you may add. "You just told me last night you were always flirting with me! You're the clueless one? Please."

Xavier gave you a smirk, and you reached up to pat down his messy hair. His blue eyes were bright in the night, and you knew you'd always be able to get lost in them. 

"Do you think it would be inappropriate if I kissed you?" Xavier asked, tilting his head at you playfully. You blushed deeply, thinking of all the times you dreamed of this happening. 

"I don't want you to feel like you have to rush into anything with me..." you admitted, smiling shyly at him. 

Xavier nodded understandingly, "I normally would say that too. But today was an example that we're not promised anything, y/n. I don't want to waste any more time with you than I've already had."

You couldn't believe this was happening. After a silent agreement, Xavier leaned in, pressing a deep kiss to your lips. It was better than you ever imagined, your hands gently twisting in his hair as his arm slid around your waist, pulling you in tight. Xavier kissed you until you couldn't breathe, pulling away with a satisfied smirk. 

"That was amazing." he grinned, keeping his arm around you as you smiled back. 

"I know, thank you." you joked before you were startled out of your wits when you heard Montana mumble into her pillow, "Oh, thank God they finally kissed."

Your mouth fell open when Brooke tiredly said, "About time!"

"You guys heard them kiss? Gross!" Ray slurred.

"Were you guys listening this entire time!?" Xavier yelled, your shock finally wearing off as you laughed loudly, hiding your head under your blanket.

"Only the last few minutes," Montana said, turning over. "Thank fuck, you guys were driving us all crazy, not dating each other."

"You guys are the worst!" you cried out as Xavier laid beside you, a broad grin on his face. 

"But you love us, y/n," Brooke giggled softly, "Goodnight."

You and Xavier finally fell asleep minutes after your friends fell back asleep. Chet stirred, peeking at you guys from his thick pillow. He smiled before laying back down to sleep.

taglist: some tags still aren’t working :( 

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[muse-oleum]

The Flower Shop, part 3

Kingsman - Harry Hart x Fem!OC

Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; 

Hey folks! Here’s the third installment of my series. I hope you enjoy it! We’re getting into it, finally. Also, I’ve just added another prompt list that you can find here, go give me some inspiration!

Word count: 1.7k 

Warnings: none 

The camelias shivered in the evening wind. By their place on the windowsill, they overlooked the entire room, with its large bed, desk and the man sitting there. 

Harry’s books and notebooks had all been lost when his house was bombed to the ground, so he’d had to start again. Over the course of the past few weeks, he had purchased several anthologies and was still looking for new publications on the subject of entomology. 

He missed his old notebooks, relying entirely on the scribbled pages of the battered pad he’d used during his time away. 

Harry rarely referred to his time as an amnesiac entomologist as anything else except his “time away.” He was still grappling with the strange sensation of having recovered his life but he wasn’t so sure now, after so many months wishing for freedom to go find his butterflies, which life he wanted to lead. 

Kingsman had been his home for decades, ever since he’d left the army to become a secret agent. But before that? He’d been so invested in becoming an entomologist that it almost surrounded him in a shroud of wing dust for the rest of his career. His home was full of them; his head was full of them; and his heart was full of them. 

None of his friends had ever understood his passion for the small insects. To be honest, Harry himself did not understand it fully.

His father had been very fond of gardening, and his mother never allowed him to squash any insects he found in his room. Even if it was the biggest spider in the world - at least to the eyes of a little boy - she would just pick it up in a tissue and let it free outside. He had always supposed his interest came from them. But now, looking back on how he had cleaved to his ephemeral friends, he wondered if the root for his interest did not run deeper. 

Perhaps he was fascinated by their transience? The manner in which their sense of purpose carried them to their death? He envied that. The whole of the animal kingdom, except humans, seemed to have a purpose. Harry had lost his and didn’t know how to regain it. 

Sighing, he turned off the nightstand lamp, plunging the room into darkness. Before falling asleep, he remembered his promise to Rebecca to come fix her garden shed. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. At least, he had that to look forward to tomorrow. 

Monday ----, 9 a.m

The chime of the doorbell accompanied Harry’s entrance into the flower shop. At the end of a cold February month, the sight of so many blooms was a welcome start to his day. 

“You’re an early riser!” 

Rebecca stood at her cluttered counter, snipping twigs off small branches. Harry watched, strangely fascinated, as she arranged them in an elegant bouquet. She seemed to know just where to place them. 

“It’s for a wedding,” she said, matter of factly. “Apparently, the bride is fond of forest weddings and decided to go for a woodland theme.”

“A forest wedding in February? Good luck to them.”

Her singsong laugh echoed through the shop. 

“Yes, the groom seemed rather resigned, poor chap. Let me just finish with this one and then we can go look at the shed.” 

Harry followed, calling after her, “I didn’t bring any tools, I hope you’ve got something I can work with?”

Rebecca popped her head out of the shed. “Come and have a look for yourself. It’s in quite a state, but it still stands. My dad was strangely proud of that.” 

Harry fit his broad-shouldered frame inside the small shed as best he could without towering above her. Rebecca caught his eye as he attempted to squeeze himself in, chuckling slightly.

The shed was small, built out of wood that had begun rotting many years ago. Daylight filtered through cracks along the walls and dust shimmered in the air. In the corner, a box of tools, its bright red colour contrasting strangely with its surroundings, was waiting patiently for its next use. Rebecca had arranged a large pile of fresh wood and wooden panels next to it, probably to restore the cracked walls. 

“It’s dismal, I know, but the roof is still in a really good state so i’d hate it to collapse entirely.” 

Harry gently pushed against the walls. The wood cracked and moaned but it held. The problem was the rot, which had weakened the overall structure. 

“I’m afraid if you want it to stand for any number of years, we have to tear it down completely first. The wood is rotting. Best to rebuild entirely.” 

Rebecca nodded, biting her lips nervously. 

“I don’t want to ask you to do that, I thought it just needed a few repairs. But tearing it down and rebuilding it is a job for my brother; he loves to demolish things to rebuild them.” 

A small part of Harry’s heart - which he refused to acknowledge - rebelled at the idea. 

“Nonsense, I said I’d help and I will. We will just need a lot more wood than that.”

Wednesday, some weeks later ----, 6 pm

Dropping by Rebecca’s shop had become part of Harry’s routine. Nearly everyday after work, he’d go in, buy a few flowers and go. Every weekend, he’d drop by and work on the shed. He was grateful for the distraction it provided and, slowly, began to acknowledge that Rebecca had wormed her way into his heart. 

Harry Hart had never dared to think too much about love. The Kingsman code was explicit: no attachments, no weaknesses. Eggsy and, on occasion, Merlin, had expressed how incredibly stupid and bigoted the Gentleman Guide was but the former Arthur had been uncompromising. 

Kingsman was slowly adapting and changing, especially after Poppy’s missile catastrophe. A new Arthur had yet to be found but under the capable supervision of the older agents, amongst which Harry and Merlin, the newer recruits were coming into their own. Kingsman was still not operating at full capacity, what with the HQ and the London shop in ruins, but it was getting there. 

Exhausted, Harry shook out his umbrella outside the shop before coming in, tucking it neatly in a corner. It had been a long day: recruits to assess, Merlin to check on (he was adjusting to his wheelchair but threw a few dignified Scottish tantrums along the way) and paperwork to work through. 

The smell of freshly cut flowers greeted him and, immediately, he felt better. March had brought an early spring and the blooms were peeking shyly from under their green little sprouts. 

Harry heard a commotion in the back room and, nerves on alert, made his way slowly towards the garden. Carefully popping his head in, he saw Rebecca, on the ground, looking under the sofa and murmuring soft words of encouragement. Eventually, a small kitten emerged, sniffing her fingers curiously. He meowed a few times, noticing Harry by the door, and meowed even louder, asking for food. 

“I believe this little lad is hungry.” 

Rebecca gasped, nearly bumping her head on the sofa. 

“Harry! You scared the living daylights out of me!” 

He held his hands up, taking one step in, chuckling slightly. 

“My apologies. You looked terribly busy.” 

The shabby little cat, meanwhile, completely disinterested in the antics of those two humans, had made his way towards the kitchen, no doubt drawn to the smell of soup hanging in the air. One or two loud meows later, a large bowl full of ham and leftover meat had been placed for him by the table and he happily forgot all about everything else. 

“I found him in the street this afternoon. It was cold and he was shivering and crying, so I brought him in. He wasn’t a fan of being carried somewhere new and he hid under that couch for a solid hour before you came in.” 

“Well, he’s one lucky cat.” 

Rebecca laughed softly and shook her head, her long curls bouncing around her forehead. Harry resisted the urge to tuck one behind her ear. Tying an apron around her waist, she made her way towards the stove to check on the soup. 

Harry observed her, sleeves rolled up to reveal creamy skin, feet tapping lightly to no rhythm in particular, curls pinned up by a clip, out of the way. He felt his heart give a little tug and, unable to stop himself, took a few steps towards her. 

She didn’t seem to notice, absorbed in diagnosing what exactly was missing from the soup. The warm smell of tomatoes made Harry’s mouth water. He could tell what was missing from that distance. 

“Have you added basil?”

She looked up at him, noticing his closeness, and a pretty blush spread over her cheeks. She tasted one more spoonful before smiling broadly, dashing out of the door and back again. She came back with a shriek, shaking the droplets out of her hair. Harry couldn’t contain his smile. 

Suddenly, as she was taking off her boots, a sparkling flash of blue caught Harry’s eye. Looking more closely, he froze. There were two blue butterflies, Adonis blues, flying around her head. One settled into the mass of pinned curls, the other kept looking for a perch. 

Harry’s heart soared. how he had missed his butterflies! Their gentle movements mesmerized him and, unconsciously, he took a step forward. He didn’t notice the curious look Rebecca shot him when he reached up to touch one of the butterflies. She didn’t stop him, didn’t move, as if she knew something was happening that she couldn’t see. 

Harry felt the flutter of the butterfly’s wings on his fingers and smiled. Rebecca had never seen him smile like that before. He had never smiled happily, always offered small, sad, smiles. She wondered what it was that made him so happy tonight. 

The moment ended when their eyes met, Harry blushing furiously and taking a step back; Rebecca reaching up to touch her hair, her blush deeper than before. 

“I’m sorry, I-”

“I’ve never seen you smile like that.” 

Her tone was curious, not displeased. Harry couldn’t help but answer honestly: 

“There were butterflies around your head. Blue ones. I’ve always loved blue butterflies.” 

Rebecca frowned slightly. Butterflies? In this season? Surely that was impossible, and she would have seen them. Harry lowered his eyes to the ground, realizing how utterly mad that must have sounded. He was ready to take his leave when she said: 

“I love blue butterflies too.” 

Taglist: @justawriterinprogress; @tonystrksslut; @emilyyblackkk; the-sea-belt; @flybi91

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[wkemeup]

Guiding Light (1)

series summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get the intel and go home. Until everything goes wrong and you’re taken captive by Hydra and now, Bucky can’t breathe without you. Not until he brings you home. If he even can. pairing: bucky x reader chapter word count: 5.5k warnings: hold onto the fluff while you can 😈 🖤series masterlist 

Sweat dripped along the side of your face, beads tingling against your neck as they ran down from your brow. Dampened flyaway hairs, a brush of your sleeve over your lips, and you stalked your prey, stalking around Natasha as she sent you that teasing smirk, warning you she was readying to pounce. It was her only tell.

An agonizing minute of circling the ring, just pacing around one another, waiting for someone to strike, and Natasha dove forward at you. Her hands gripped onto your shoulders and she swung her body weight out around your waist to send you barreling to the floor. Your back landed hard against the mat with a heavy thud and even Sam cringed from the sidelines as he watched.

In the moment of distraction as Nat glanced over to Sam who had started throwing playful taunts at her, you kneed her right in the hipbone and rolled out from under her weight, gaining the advantage enough to swing your legs against the back of her knees and send her tumbling to the ground. Red hair flowing up around her head like a halo as you pressed the heel of your hand to her chest, kneeling proudly above her.

A smile broke out on her face through labored breaths. “Well shit.”

You laughed, extending a hand to her and she took it graciously. After you helped Nat up to her feet, you bent over the ropes of the ring in an attempt to catch your breath, taking the weight off of your tired legs. Muscles aching and skin glistening in the aftermath of the long-winded training session, you reached for your water to find the plastic empty. Sweat dripped off the edge of your chin to the mat beneath you as you crinkled the bottle in your hand and tossed it into the bin.

Nat wordlessly handed you her own, half-filled, and offered you a swing. You took it gratefully and chugged back the remainder, a sliver spilling out the sides of your lips though you hardly noticed it amongst the sweat. You handed it back to her and she sent you that cocky smirk again, shaking her head in a laugh.

You narrowed your eyes and she nodded cheekily towards the double doors of the gym. Following her gaze, you clench your jaw at what she had been eyeing.

Bucky.

Towel draped over his shoulder, gym bag filled with gloves and boxing tape hanging from his left hand, as he walked into the gym with a natural swagger that was sure to have you biting on the edge of your lip. 

He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants he had stolen from Sam’s closet nearly a year ago and a thin SHIELD t-shirt that didn’t do much to hide the ripple of muscles beneath the fabric. His left arm reflected under the florescent lights as he walked, unashamed of the appendage within the constructs of the compound. He’d come so far from the shy, withdrawn man you’d met three years prior.

You must have been staring too long because Bucky narrowed his eyes on you, even from the distance, smiling softly, just barely a curve of his lips, but it was evident enough to set a wave of butterflies in your stomach. This man managed to intimidate every stranger he came across, stood six feet high with a build that could take down most men and carried a past filled with such horrors and violence. He shouldn’t be able to be as gentle and as kind as he was with you. But he was. And he is.

He was a paradox. An enigma. He was everything all at once.

A flush rushed to your cheeks and you waved awkwardly at him, ignoring the way Nat struggled to choke back her laughter. Bucky returned the gesture, lifting his hand subtly, and nodding at you. The unspoken connection you shared incredibly obvious to those around you though you made every effort to stifle it when they asked.

Bucky set his bag by the wall, reluctantly dropping your eye, and began wrapping his hands.

“You guys are absolutely pathetic, just so you know,” Nat teased under her breath. “You tell him how you feel, yet?”

“Nat!” you hushed, shoving her in her side enough to make her unsteady on her feet.

You stole a glance back at Bucky to find him caught up in conversation with Sam, though neither of them appeared to be particularly pleased about it. He seemed to be distracted enough to not have overheard Nat’s comment, even with his advanced senses, which let your heart slow again.

A steady sigh left your breath as you brushed the sweat from your forehead, and you admitted, “he knows how I feel, Nat. I don’t gotta say it.”

Nat rolled her eyes, though she still wore that smile on her thin lips. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Y/n.”

Your relationship, or lack-there-of, with Bucky wasn’t exactly easy to define.

The first day you met Bucky, he had already been living in the compound for a few weeks. You had been out on a month-long reconnaissance mission in Guatemala while he was getting acclimated to his new living arrangements and you missed the apparent welcome wagon. Though from Steve’s retelling, Bucky wasn’t exactly thrilled by the sudden influx of new people in his life wanting to know him and his business, trying to reassure him of a truth of his innocence he wasn’t ready to hear. He stayed seclusive to his room and barely spoke a word to anyone outside of Steve.

It took a whole week after you'd arrived back home before you ran into him for the first time in the kitchen. One morning, well before the sun had risen from behind the trees, you found him pouring what looked like his second cup of coffee. 

You were dressed in your running gear, folding your right leg behind you to stretch the tops of your thighs, when he brought the mug to his lips. He sighed as he took a sip of the steaming coffee and you noticed that he looked years younger when he didn’t wear that constant scowl upon his face, when he thought no one else was around to see something softer, something vulnerable.

He had caught you staring and set the mug on the table, his features hardening in a protective layer. 

You jogged over to him and extended your hand, a careful smile on your lips as you introduced yourself; an agent of SHIELD who had spent nearly five years in combat missions before Steve personally requested your transfer to the Avengers Initiative. He’d seen how you worked when you’d been assigned to his team on a few missions overseas and how you defended him without much of a second thought against Hydra’s double agents in D.C. You knew Steve well by that time and you were more than happy to take permanent residence in his team.

Steve had told you so much about Bucky that it didn’t even cross your mind to tread carefully around him. From all of Steve’s stories from the forties and working closely with him and Sam to help track Bucky down from behind a computer after the chaos in the capital, you felt like you knew him, like he was an old friend you hadn’t seen in years.

He had stared at your hand for a few awkward seconds before he finally gritted his teeth and shook it. His grip was firm, solid, and you tried not to focus on the rough feel of the callouses on his palm or the warmth of his skin. You smiled pleasantly at him as he grimaced back at you, like it took all of his energy just to tolerate being in the room with you, though he tried. It wasn’t personal and you didn’t take it as such. You could recognize trauma when you saw it.

He dropped your hand almost immediately, eyes darting to the floor. You made a note to be more careful of initiating physical contact and the fact that he liked his coffee black, and gave him a quick nod, telling him simply you were happy he was here, and left for your jog.

Determined to get to know the new member of the team and help him get settled amongst the admittedly chaotic nature of the compound, you learned his routine. He largely kept to himself, sneaking out of his room only to escape to the gym in the late hours of the night and steal food from the pantry when no one else seemed to be around. He was still in survival mode; sneaking around like he didn’t belong, as if he believed if he was caught eating it would be taken away. Even if he knew he was safe, it came as instinct. It was something he would have to unlearn.

It was around five in the morning before your runs that you’d find him in the kitchen, pouring his cup of coffee. He wasn’t as startled by your presence anymore but he still retreated back to his room after his mug was filled.

One week later, you began starting the pot for him before he even made it out of his room, leaving out the plain white mug he always seemed to use amongst the sea of novelty cups and colorful glasses the team had obtained over the years, and took your position by the wall to begin stretching. 

The look of surprise on his face, though incredibly subtle, was enough to get you beaming. You made every effort to suppress it as to not make him uncomfortable but the sweet way in which his hand grazed over the mug, the sigh in his shoulders, and the shake of his head as if he simply couldn’t understand why anyone would do such a thing for him, no matter how small, pushed the smile out of you anyway.

He glanced back at you, gestured to the coffee in question, and you gave him a slight nod. He swallowed, pushing out half of a smile you were certain took most of his will power to produce and he poured his freshly brewed cup. It was your first victory with him.

After a while, he started to sit at the counter while he drank his coffee as opposed to sneaking back off to his room. He’d sit in silence, staring off into the kitchen as you stretched a few feet away. He’d leave as soon as you said your goodbye and made your way outside.

The morning you found him standing in the kitchen, wearing running shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt he must have borrowed from Steve, you couldn’t stop the grin that pulled at your cheeks. So quietly you almost didn’t hear it, he asked if he could come with you, mumbling something about how Steve had been on his ass to get some fresh air.

You took a risk and teased him by asking if he would be able to keep up with you, despite being a super soldier and all. It was the first time you saw a crinkle by his eyes, the softest of smiles on his lips that made your stomach turn. While you didn’t speak another word as you ran, he stayed at your pace the entire time.

It became part of your routine. You’d meet Bucky in the kitchen, go for your morning run together, and end up back in the kitchen for coffee afterward. It took a few days of that before he started talking to you and once he did, you never wanted him to stop.

He was shy; quieter than the Bucky that Steve described from his childhood, though he was incredibly observant and far more intelligent than the papers gave him credit for. His voice was rough from a lack of use but you noticed quickly that the words seemed to spill easier from his lips when he talked about Steve. He told you about how small Steve used to be, about their adventures as kids, and how he’d have to rescue Steve out of nearly every fight, though it seemed to be reversed these days.

The first time you laughed at something he said, it wasn’t even an intentional joke, but the flash of surprise on his face made your heart swell. He looked at you like you were something from another world, that the very idea of him doing or saying anything that could produce such a beautiful sound was so completely foreign to him. He started smiling more after that.

Soon, you started spending time with him outside of your morning runs. He’d find you outside as you read on your favorite bench down by the water and he’d sit contently just staring out into grounds as you continued your book, stolen glances up at him every few pages. You’d catch him while he was training by himself in the gym, sweat dripping down his brow as he beat the life out of a punching bag, and sarcastically ask if he wanted advice on his form or if he wanted you to grab Sam to try his right hook on next. It was the first time you’d seen him laugh; full bodied and echoing through the gym. You knew instantly from the twist in your stomach that you needed to hear more of that like it was the air you breathed.

Months later and it evolved to meeting up on the roof of the building with blankets and hot chocolate so you could show him the constellations and consistently sitting next to one another on the couch after you all but begged him to come to movie night with the team. It turned into dragging him into the city to visit old landmarks and new bookshops and sitting on the floor of your room listening to the latest playlist you’d made up for him.

It became quick glances at one another when you didn’t think the other was looking and sprinting down the hall the first time you heard him scream in the middle of the night. Cautiously wrapping your arms around his shaking form until he caved against your touch, too afraid and panicked to keep up his guard, especially around you, and you held him through the early hours of the morning. It turned into asking FRIDAY to alert you when his pulse started to increase in his sleep and a nightmare was coming on so you could catch it before it began.

He started to let you touch him even when he wasn’t being ripped awake from the darkest corners of his mind a few months after you met.

First it was his hand when you noticed the anxiety radiating off of him when Tony insisted the team take part in a fundraising gala to help with the Avengers’ public image. A soft brush, just barely noticeably, but Bucky thought about it the rest of the day. Then, it was his forearm as you reached across the table to give it a squeeze casually as you tried to grab his attention while he’d gotten lost in his thoughts over his cereal and he’d burn his eyes to the spot where your touch had left him, feeling empty without it.

While you could feel the unspoken connection you shared, though you denied it was anything more than friendship despite Sam and Nat’s teasing, it was the first mission you went on together changed everything.

You were both assigned to the west wing of the building, seeking out intelligence on a known arms dealer, when a stray agent had gotten the upper hand on you, striking a blade right between your ribs. Blood pooling at your stomach and you fell to your knees, watching as horror flashed over the blue in Bucky’s eyes, quickly replaced by a rage you’d only heard stories of as he killed the combatant.

He gathered you into his arms, holding you tightly to his chest, as he shouted into the coms for a med evac. You’d never heard his voice shake like that before. He was screaming at you to stay awake as the darkness took over your vision, and you swore you had seen tears in his eyes.

When you gained consciousness again, Bucky was sitting in a chair on your right in the med bay. His hand wrapped so tightly around yours, you couldn’t quite feel it from the ache it left behind, unaware of his own strength. The relief that washed over his features when you woke, the pale blue of his eyes clouded by the strain of red lines and dark circles below, confirmed what you had been wondering. That he cared as much as you hoped he did.

After that, you were no longer shy about seeking him out when you needed him. This unspoken, undeniable, connection you shared kept you afloat. Three years since you first met the reserved, withdrawn soldier, and he had become your best friend, your closest confidant, the one person you put above everything else.

He was everything, though you never said it aloud.

Saying it to one another made it real, made it something that could be taken advantage of and targeted by your enemies. It was too vulnerable to admit those kinds of feelings, to confess that you’d fallen in love with your best friend, with the man who had given up so much of himself and struggled just to look in the mirror most days, because if anyone else knew, if your enemies found out the extent to which you’d go for him, what you’d do to ensure his safety... they’d be able to extort you for almost anything.

You wondered if Bucky felt the same, but you didn’t dare ask him.

So, you kept to seeking one another out when the nights became too dark, cheeks flushing red with gentle smiles, watching one another’s backs on missions even if you had to go out of your way to do so, curling up next to him on the couch, and accompanying you on your morning run. Close and still never close enough.

Stolen moments. Real moments. But hidden. From the world and from yourselves.

“Y/n?”

You blinked rapidly, startling yourself back to focus. Nat was watching you with a mischievous grin that only confirmed she knew exactly who you were thinking of.

“Don’t even say it,” you warned and Nat held up her hands in surrender. She nodded towards where Bucky had been standing and you realized he had crossed the plane of the gym and was heading in your direction.

“Hey, Y/n,” he greeted softly, climbing up into the ring and swinging his legs between the ropes.

“Hey,” you responded breathily and you spotted Sam rolling his eyes teasingly behind Bucky’s back.

“Thought you might want a real challenge in the ring,” Bucky offered, the left of his lips curving up just enough to lift at his cheek.

“I’m hurt, Barnes,” Nat scoffed, feigning offense as she jumped down from the platform to join Sam on the sidelines. The two of them snickered to one another as they both headed towards the free weights on the other end of the gym.

Alone, you tucked a strand of damp hair behind your ear and looked up at Bucky. It was a wonder how you still managed to feel this nervous around him, like a kid with a schoolyard crush. Even despite all the time you’ve spent with him, the nights innocently curled under his sheets to protect one another from the horrors in your sleep, the time spent stitching each other up after missions gone wrong, and the completely obvious fact that he was so enamored with you that he could hardly stand to go a day without seeing you, you still couldn’t get used to the butterflies in your stomach.

“Think you can handle a round with me, tough guy?” you taunted, a smile tugging at your lips.

Bucky chuckled, that sweet kind of sound that you thought about when you were in your worst moments. “’Course, I can. I’m worried about you, sweetheart.”

There is was. Those little pet names he gave you. You didn’t suspect he did it intentionally as they slipped out with a different name depending on the day, but you noticed rather quickly he didn’t share those names with anyone else.

“You forget I’ve taken you down before,” you teased, stepped out back into the ring and stretching your arms behind your back until you heard a soft pop. “Don’t hold your punches this time.”

“I am a super soldier. You remember that, don’t you?” Bucky smiled, shaking out his legs as he followed you to the center of the ring.

“Yeah, a super soldier that’s got an affinity for Pixar movies and a certain ice cream shop in Coney Island. Remember that? Rainbow Sprinkles?”

He pressed his lips to a thin line, shaking his head at the nickname you had doled out to him the day he worked up the courage to venture out to the old memory with you. He was shocked to find the family owned shop he visited with his little sister still standing and he ordered the same thing he used to get back when he was young. You couldn’t let it go the whole walk around the city, laughing and clinging onto his arm for support, though he didn’t much mind that at all.

The deadliest assassin of nearly two generations and he orders rainbow sprinkles on soft serve vanilla ice cream.

“Watch yourself, Y/n,” Bucky grinned, adjusting his stance as he cracked his neck to the side.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Bucky shrugged and you let out a breathy laugh.

Then, you charged.

Bucky was exceptionally skilled in combat, but you were trained by some of the best fighters in the game. You could hold your own against him, even in the stray moments he forgot to hold back the full force of his strength.

It wasn’t because he underestimated you that he held his punches, because he saw you as an equal on the battlefield before he ever saw you spar, but because he was capable of ripping a door off its hinges on pure accident and could dent a solid metal bar with his grip. He had to be careful with you, for more reasons than he’d say aloud.

Your left swing was caught by his forearm and you spun around to plunge your elbow into his ribs, sending him back a few feet in the impact. He chuckled to himself, urging you on, and he easily defended your next three punches, blocking each one before you could land against his body. On your fourth swing, he caught your first in the air and twisted your arm to a painful enough position for you to let out a shout and he released you.

“Told you to watch yourself,” Bucky teased, pacing around you in the ring. “You’re telling me what you’re gonna do before you do it. I can see your hits coming from a mile away.”

“Oh, so now you’re teaching me a lesson?” you laughed, shaking your head.

“Maybe I am, doll. Don’t want you getting caught off guard in the field.”

“I didn’t seem to have any trouble against Nat,” you countered, raising an eyebrow auspiciously.

“Well I’m not Nat, am I?” Bucky said carefully, gently, a more serious tone to his voice. “There could be more super soldiers out there, and they won’t hold their punches like I do. I just want you to be ready for it.”

You paused, watching as the teasing nature upon his face quickly fell to the anxious twitch of his jaw line. It was in small moments like these that you were reminded of the man you knew in the beginning; timid, insecure, trying his best just to believe that maybe not everything he touched turned to stone. He'd come so far since you’d known him but he had moments where he was still afraid, still nervous he could lose everything all over again, and it peaked through in glimpses, especially when it came to you.

“I know how skilled you are but I just... I want to make sure you’re prepared,” Bucky sighed, lowering his hands. “You can understand that, can’t you?”

“I am prepared for it, Buck,” you replied, moving closer to run a hand over his bicep, bringing chills and calm in its wake. “You can see my hits coming because you know me better than anyone else. Some random bad guy in the field isn’t going to be able to read me the way you can.”

Bucky nodded, his tongue running against his teeth as he took in your words. It took him a minute, and it usually did, to bring him back from the dark thoughts in the corners of his mind.

“Alright? Let’s get back to it,” you smiled, shoving Bucky lightly in the shoulder to pull that grin back onto his lips. It took a moment longer, but as he watched you jumping to circulate the energy back into your muscles, he couldn’t begin to suppress the smile that etched its way back to his face.

This time, he came at you. Right arm swung out to your shoulders and you ducked to the side, dodging his punches in a rhythm you could only find when it was Bucky opposite you in the ring. Almost in a dance, you circled around the ring, catching a hit to his side that caused him to grunt and he clipped your hipbone hard enough to make you step back a few paces.

It wasn’t until he overswung with his left hand against your cheek that you saw the perfect opportunity. You let out a feigned cry, gripping at the side of your face as you stumbled your feet to the edge of the ring, collapsing against the ropes.

It stung, but no more the ache in your muscles and the hits from Natasha you sustained. It was expected that he’d get you at least once, but you milked it to get the upper hand.

“Y/n!” Bucky shouted, frantic nerves in his voice as he rushed over to you. His large hands set on your shoulders, exceptionally gentle, and carefully turned you around to inspect the injury he believed he caused. “Shit, shit, I’m so sorry, doll. Let me see it. Are you-”

The moment you faced him, you pounced, sending the two of you barreling to the ground. Bucky landed with an oompf and your full body weight on top of him. His hands gripped at the fabric of your shirt to keep you steady in the fall, though he winced as he adjusted his head against the mat.

You smirked, the pride of getting Bucky to the ground a feat not many could claim.

“You faked it, didn’t you?” Bucky grunted, a teasing grin on his lips.

You shrugged, tucking a hair behind your ear as it fell down onto his face. “Maybe you can’t read me as well as I thought you could.”

Bucky chuckled, staring up at you. The cool of his left hand reached up to brush a fallen strand of hair behind your ear; an unconscious, almost instinctive movement he didn’t realize he was doing until he felt the flush of your cheeks register in the plates of his fingers.

His laugh faded away the longer he kept your stare, though that look of something between awe and longing stayed present on his features, almost permanent. Perfect, ocean blue eyes held your gaze, impossible not to find yourself lost in.

His hands unbunched from your shirt and you felt them flatten against your hips. Strong hands holding you still but giving you the leniency to move without resistance, giving you the choice to stay and you took it without a second thought. Heart pounding in your chest as your eyes flickered down to his lips; perfect, pillowy, and parted, panting.

The whole world seemed to stop spinning in that moment; a moment you’d found yourself in more times than you could count, though it never seemed to move further than the longing glances, so desperate to close the space between you. The hardened muscles of his chest so evident against yours, the thick curve of his thighs, and his hand pressing so delicately into your hips.

It was so familiar, this dance; ending up in positions like this where it would only take a breath, a moment of courage, and a lapse of a few inches between you until your lips were on his. It was something you’d thought about constantly; wondered what it was like to kiss him, to touch him, to hold him intimately in a way few others ever did.

His eyes were on your lips and you could feel the thunderous beating of his heart through his chest. Too many times you’d been this close, on the edge of something more than friendship that you’d been longing for but too terrified to take the plunge, too many almost kisses and almost confessions. Maybe if you just leaned forward a little, he’d meet you half way...

You let out a shaky breath, eyes daring to dart to the shades of blue, falling closer, his lips ghosting over yours so subtle you could hardly feel it when suddenly, a cough echoed through the gym.

Heart skipping a beat, you turned your head to find Sam standing at the edge of the ring, arms folded over his chest and an eyebrow raised amusingly.

“If you two are done staring into each other’s eyes, we got a mission.”

You scrambled off of Bucky, muttering an apology as you brushed the wrinkles from your tank top. Bucky offered you a hand, helping you back to your feet, and you noticed his release was slower than usual, his fingers trailing against the back of your palm.

“What’s the op?” you asked.

“We need to obtain intel from a Hydra base,” Sam answered, eyeing Bucky with a careful stare. You took a step closer to him, the cool metal of his left hand brushing over yours. “It’s just us, Cap, and Nat. Suit up. We leave in ten.”

With that, he turned and headed back to the double doors, leaving you and Bucky alone again.

After the doors closed behind him and silence took over the gym, you turned to face Bucky. He was stiff, hands clenching at his side as he kept his focus on the wall at the far end of the room. The sharp clench of his jaw reflected in the muscle twitching in his cheek.

“Buck? You gonna be alright?” you asked carefully, keeping your voice as steady as you could manage.

He nodded, though he still couldn’t look at you.

You slipped your hand up the side of his arm, rubbing it soothingly and intentionally let it rest against the flesh of his shoulder, upon the marred skin over the thin layer of his t-shirt. He swallowed, his shoulders relaxing somewhat as you dug your fingers against the scars, massaging the tender area. It was all the seemed to ground him whenever Hydra was brought up, let alone when he was asked to walk right into one of their bases.

“I can talk to Steve,” you suggested. “I’m sure he’d understand if you sat this one out.”

The first time he went on a mission to a Hydra facility, he had been locked in a room identical to the one they kept the soldier in and you found him in the heat of a panic attack, curled up in the corner of the cell. It took nearly seven minutes before he recognized who you were and the fear in his eyes wasn’t something you easily forgot. It had been better since then, but it was always a struggle.

There had only been one time when you convinced him not to go, when he gave in and listened to your pleas. While he stayed him, you had been hurt, badly; caught up in a reign of hellfire from Hydra combatants he would have been able to protect you from, or so he told himself. You’d come home with so many bruises, he had a hard time finding a patch of unmarked skin as you were carried in Steve’s arms through the hanger to the med bay.

He couldn’t risk that happening again.

“No. No, doll. I’m good,” Bucky said, pushing out a smile you could tell was forced. He wrapped his arm over your shoulders, hugging you against his side for a moment as he worked on stilling his heart.

You leaned against him, content to let him hold you as long as he needed before he found the strength to head off to his room to suit up.

“I’ll be with you, you know. The whole time. You won’t be able to get rid of me if you tried,” you reminded him, nudging his side playfully and drawing that smile from his lips you adored. Genuine. Crinkling by his eyes. A relief in his chest.

He should have held onto the feeling as long as he could.

---

this is definitely a set up for the shit that goes down in part 2 that really kicks off the whole series, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! feedback is always appreciated 🖤

tags 🥊 @musiclover1263 / @pies-wands-and-more / @buckygrantbarnes / @mywinterwolf / @breatheeagainnnn / @jewelofwinter / @panic-naran / @fairislesheets / @kaliforniacoastalteens / @captain-hammer-of-asgard / @daydreamsquad / @deanssweetheart / @maybesomedaytho / @montypythonsholysnail / @saharzek / @jillybeaner13 / @chubby-dumplin / @searchingforbucky / @alohafromhell1 / @tabalugax / @shesalatesh / @whyamidoingthistomyselfhelp / @aliensbecameourstyle / @bucksgoat / @serpensortiaaa / @trash-rats-unite / @hungry-pasta / @nervosaa / @lbuck121 / @sweetheartbarnes / @get0verit

[adsosfraser]

The Stone’s Toll Chapter Two

Read on AO3

“Mrs. Randall, ye have a visitor.” Claire stared at the nurse, curiosity plain on her face. 

 She left and softly closed the door behind her. Minutes later, Claire heard the click of the lock again and strained her neck towards the noise. 

 Graham smiled sheepishly as he shuffled into her room. He held a small bouquet of heather, thistles, and gorse wrapped in twine. 

 “Hello miss, tis lovely tae see ye again. I picked these just this afternoon on my way here. I was lucky they were all so close together.” The boy searched the room and put the flowers in the empty vase on the table to her right. “I don’t know if ye remember, but I found you up at the standing stones. Well my mam always said to watch out for the faerie hill but I was a wee bit curious ye ken. I’m glad I took a wander over because… sorry miss my mam always tells me how I go blethering on about nonsense and such so that’s just to say I hope you are feeling better miss..?” 

 “Claire Fr.. err Randall.” Claire couldn’t help the smile at the young man's youth and almost naïveté, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the ordeals of the past months.

 She reached out her hand for him to shake. 

 “It was very kind of you to come visit Graham. Thank you.” He blushed at her compliment.

 “Well I brought some cards because I ken how boring it is to be locked up in one of these rooms. And the radio is a pounding nuisance sometimes as well. Last year I stumbled on one of the fence posts I was putting up when I was helping down at auld Hamish’s. The nail went straight through the leg and I ended up here a day. Mam was absolutely furious at me, boxed my ears till they rang for weeks. My mam’s a nurse here so it’s no trouble at all that I’m here right now visiting. I guess I get special insider privileges. I come here after school to do my schoolwork and she says I’m no bother. That’s what I was just doing before I decided to pop in here Miss.”

 Claire welcomed the ramblings of Graham. It was a nice distraction to the morbid thoughts that lay festering below.

 “Well I appreciate the company. My… husband just left to prepare things for our short stay here. I’m sorry I’m rubbish at most card games, but I’ll go my hand at it.” 

 The two chatted companionably and he even managed to pry out a laugh or two from her. Claire pushed down feelings of familiarity of Fergus and the boy before her. He couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than the boy she had just left behind hours ago, with the same long-lashed dark eyes and dark hair. Tears sprung at the thought of her son and she turned out of view to wipe them away. 

 “Do you have any fours?” Graham interrupted her thoughts. 

 “Ach! It feels like I’m being cheated here.” Claire flashed a smile and pushed forward the two cards on the table between them.

 “Hello darling. It seems you’ve made a new friend.”

 Claire stiffened at her husband's entrance into the small hospital room. Graham flicked his gaze between the two of them, sensing the tension. He awkwardly picked up the game in front of them and shoved the cards into his pocket.  

 “Yes. This is Graham Munro, the one who helped me to the hospital.”

 “Thank you for bringing my wife safely back into my custody Graham. I’m sure she has lots to tell me, and would appreciate time to rest.”

 Graham cleared his throat. “Well Miss Claire, I wish ye a speedy recovery. Twas a pleasure to meet ye.” 

 “You as well Graham. Thank you for the flowers.”

 The boy reached out to squeeze Claire’s hand and smiled warmly. He turned on his heel and raced out to the corridor. 

 Moments later, Frank shoved the table to the side and knelt by his wife’s side. He reached out to hold the hands that rested on her lap. Claire flinched at his touch once again and Frank furrowed his brow. Frank felt a squeeze in his hand and smiled up at her. She put on a strained smile as she stared down at him. He finally noticed the silver that encircled her right ring finger and made to take it off. She pulled her hand violently from his grasp and guarded the jewellry to her chest. He pushed off the reaction to the shock the doctor had described. He just needed to be patient. 

 “Darling, everything is prepared at the manse for our arrival. You’ll rest here tonight, recover, heal, and then I’ll bring you over in the morning. I left your suitcase there and I’m sure you’ll have enough to get you through our stay.” He walked over to a chair near the window while he spoke and placed her stays in his hands. 

 “Alright.” Her gaze was transfixed on her fingers in her lap. 

 “This is… remarkable Claire, where on earth did you find these?” 

 “Hmph.” Claire offered as a reply, almost mimicking the Scottish noise her husband always made.

 “Right I’m to leave with Reverend Wakefield to visit over some archives again. You’ll be in good hands here for now.” 

 A nurse wheeled in a cart and instructed Claire to rest. She gathered the sterile bandages from the metal tray and pulled back the cover of Claire’s hospital gown to display the burns flicking across the cream skin of her stomach. She winced as the nurse applied the salve against her sore skin so she took pity on her poor patient. The nurse pushed a syringe into her IV line and Claire’s limbs instantly relaxed. Her head filled with cotton and she wasn’t able to hold it up herself, until she let go of the tension within herself and slumped down on the stiff mattress. 

 It was cold and she was only in her shift, a white shawl draped across her shoulders. Piles of men dotted the ground and a bunny twitched its nose at her before sprinting away. There, underneath the corpse of his enemy, lay her husband. His body was covered in blood and crusted with dirt and deep scratches marked his body: the result of war. 

 “Are you alive?” She stretched her hand out towards his cheek.  

 Her hand cupped his stumbled jaw and his skin blazed against hers. The fever shook his body and sapped his energy. What little he had left was spent twisting his neck in her direction. A light dusting of snow covered the bloody grass of the moor. All too soon, she was pulled away and the sight of him faded from her grasp. 

***

The hours passed and the logs burned to small sticks, Frank replacing them every so often with new wood. He turned towards the table that held a half-empty glass, plying himself more and more with alcohol as the glass drowned in the weight of the drink. Claire worked tirelessly the precious few days where her husband hadn’t yet pressed her for an explanation, flipping through all available resources to find any trace of Jamie. Mrs. Graham had been a wonder in helping Claire but her attitude regardless would not have changed anything. The search was futile and failed to bring what she wanted. She couldn’t look for the family that was alive that she had left behind. The sacrifice and promise she made meant nothing with the outcome that soon became her every thought. She abandoned them all for a thought of a future, not even a live, breathing one.

 She spoke of her time with Jamie, reluctantly giving only the necessary pieces of her life, an outline that she would be able to view events from outside. She stepped out of her life and watched herself ramble on, an outsider and onlooker to a tragic event. That wasn’t her, those things couldn’t have happened to her. Claire finished her final thoughts in a daze, looking anywhere but Frank. 

 “Give me-excuse me please Claire I need some time to think this over.”

 Claire poured another glass for herself and slammed the burning liquid back along with a large pill from the hospital.

 Frank returned a few hours later, having thought in great depth. Claire’s thoughts were muddled. She couldn’t remember how many glasses she had.

 “Claire I can accept that you’ve had this… relationship with this man. I will never understand your feelings for him, but I can accept that you had this experience, and that leaving him broke your heart.” 

 “I don’t think you understand. I was with a man for two years, and I loved him deeply as his wife.” 

 “A point you’ve made several times and which I’ve said I understand. Now let me tell you this. I love you Claire, unconditionally, nothing you could do could stop my loving you.” 

 “Darling I’ve been offered a position at Harvard. I was thinking we could move to Boston together. Start over. Leave all...this behind.”

 She didn’t care. He was dead. She might as well have been too. Frank could do as he bloody well pleased. Her mind focused on the patterns of the carpet below her, forcing out any other thoughts. Her finger swirled in spirals in one spot on her thigh, mimicking what she saw.

 “Alright. ” 

 That was the first time Claire had looked into his eyes since her disappearance. His brown eyes were soft and crinkled in an attempt towards a smile to his wife. She couldn’t find the malice she desperately searched for. She needed the anger, the sharp coldness. It was too much. Frank kneeled at Claire’s feet and he reached to pull her down into his embrace. He brought her down to his chest. She stiffened. 

 “Claire, you've made me so happy. I know we’ll be happy. Together.” 

 “T-together? You mean for me to come along?” 

 “Of course, darling. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

 Claire only nodded in response. She knew she’d never be happy with Frank anymore, or anyone for that matter. She didn’t intend to live long, but what option did she have to resist a husband? Frank kissed her curls and pulled her head to his shoulder. He sniffled and pulled back, placing both hands gently on her face. 

 “But we must put the past behind us. You must promise me. No more searching for him. Let him go.”

 “Yes. That’s what he made me promise.” She was reminded of another promise she had broken and another pang stabbed her already distressed heart.

[a-walk-in-silence]

Wired On Coffee

Pairing: Steve Rogers x fem!reader

Word Count: 5.5k

Summary: The time heist was successful, but losses were made. It's time to assemble the gauntlet and end this thing for good. But is this really the end?

Warnings: Endgame, character death, mourning, cursing, mentions of experimentation, survivor's guilt, HYDRA, backhanded comments, lewd comments/situations (still v PG-13 in this sense, not so much the language), violence, Everybody Will Live AU (*insert the Doctor Who gif here*)

A/N: WELCOME TO THE SEQUEL OF THE SEQUEL OF- this is old. Okay fr tho we're almost done! One more part! Holy crap! This is a rough chapter but hopefully everyone loves it cuz things should get a LITTLE BIT easier in the last one? I hope?

Past Part | Masterlist

Your feet planted firmly on the platform as you grabbed onto Steve's arm to try and balance yourself. Your mind was whirling, so much had happened. But little did you know that it would be getting worse.

Across from you, Clint collapsed to his knees, dropping the stone onto the platform. Even though he had only been gone for maybe half a day, he looked exhausted. A quick look around told you why. There was an empty space in the circle. "Clint?" you cautiously asked, taking a step towards him.

He looked up at you, pain etched across his face. "A soul for a soul," he said, eyes filled with a sudden anger. "That was the price for the stone. The life of someone you love. And we fought to keep the other alive. I guess she won."

You kneeled down next to him, gently reaching out to grab his hand. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have sent you two there. I-"

He flinched, tearing his hand away from you. "Who do you suppose we should have sent? You and Tony? Rhodey and Tony? Bruce and Nat? Whose life are we dealing with? It doesn't matter." His eyes were cold as he glared at you.

"Clint, I didn't mean to-" you started, but he once again cut you off.

"No, you didn't mean to hurt anyone. But you weren't there." You looked down at your hands, unable to meet his angry eyes. "You didn't see her lifeless body at the bottom of the cliff."

"Barton, that's enough," Steve said, grabbing your arm and pulling you away. "You're hurting. This is a blow to everyone."

Steve held you as Clint left. Once gone, there was an air of silence that filled everyone. It almost didn't feel real. She had just been smiling at everyone, saying she would see us in a minute. Well, it was a minute later. And she wasn't here.

It was an hour later and everyone, save Nebula and Rocket, were gathered outside on the dock. Everyone was quietly in their own thoughts, trying to come to terms with the fact that Nat was dead. Steve was quiet, more so than usual. You had seen him at Peggy's funeral, and how broken he looked. You probably didn't look much better. But this was different. He only had Peggy for a few years. But Nat was one of his closest friends, up there with human Bucky and Sam. And he'd lost them all.

You rested your head on his shoulder, glancing over at Tony as he stared out across the river. He looked sad, but you knew his mind was already running through all the steps that needed to be done. You knew he would crash eventually and just break down, but he would be strong.

"Did she have any family?" Tony finally asked, breaking the silence. "Anyone that we need to tell about… this?"

Steve shifted, causing you to sit up. "Yeah. Us. We were her family." You watched as he blinked away the tears in his eyes before turning back to look out across the lake. "We can't even have a proper funeral for her."

A loud grunt made you look over at Bruce as he flung one of the benches into the lake. You flinched away from him, curling into Steve's side. Bruce finally sighed, sitting down on the dock. "She can't be gone."

"Well she is," snapped Clint. He wiped away his tears before looking at everyone. "She's gone. And she wouldn't want us to sit around and cry over her. She died so we could get the stone and bring everyone back. So we might as well honor her memory and bring everyone back."

Clint left, and everyone stayed on the dock, just for a little while longer. It was hard to move on when it was so sudden. How could anyone move on? Even if she wasn't directly your friend, or your family, it still hurt because you knew her, and Steve and Tony knew her. They were hurting. And so were you.

After another 30 or so minutes, everyone slowly found their way into the compound once more. You followed Tony into the lab, where all of the stones were laid out on a table. You knew the next step was making a glove to channel the power of the stones. So you and Tony got to work right away, being the only two that were able to even think at the moment. Progress had to be made. People needed to be brought back.

A couple of hours later, while the prototype was being tested with two of the stones to see if it could withstand holding them, Scott and Bruce joined you, trying to help as best as they could. Since you happened to have the steadiest hands, you were the one who was running the controls and moving the stones into place. Meanwhile, Bruce took over in helping Tony with the design. And Scott? Well, he was the coffee runner who also occasionally managed to bring up a good idea.

Things were moving along well for a good hour or so. You were moving the space stone into place on the glove when Steve walked in. "Can I take Y/N? We need to talk."

You sighed to yourself, guessing that this wasn't going to be a conversation about Nat and how he was hurting right now. "I'm busy, Steve," you said, eyes never leaving the task at hand as you slowly moved it closer into place.

"Y/N, we need to talk," Steve said again, causing you to almost drop the stone. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Tony and Scott physically flinch, eyes now focused on what you were doing. "So can we please talk?"

Your lips pressed together into a fine line, annoyance etching across your face. Your hands were now shaking more. "I said I'm busy."

"Y/N-"

"Steve!" You dropped the stone, causing everyone in the room but you to jump for cover. But nothing happened, and you knew this. "What is so important? What part of today do you want to discuss? Could it be about seeing my mom? The fact that I created some kind of portal and was glowing blue? Or the fact that I'm some kind of fucking experiment? Or what about the fact that because of their fucking experiments, I'm the reason my mom's dead? Maybe you want to talk about the fact that I talked to my aunt and uncle for the first time in years and they didn't even know me? Which one do you want to talk about?"

Everyone was staring at you in varying degrees of confusion and shock. Tony, who had managed to miss that whole cluster fuck with your mother, looked the most shocked at your outburst. Clearly it was all new information to him. And Scott and Bruce were just confused.

Steve leaned against the doorway, and he almost looked hurt by your outburst. But too much had happened in the past 24 hours, and you couldn't really take anything more. You'd hit your limit for the day. Death. Revelations. Heartache. Extreme highs. You'd had enough.

No one talked so you sighed, turning back to your work and picking the stone back up with the tongs. "Unless you're here to screw my brains out and make me forget everything, I don't want to talk about everything. It's been too much, okay? Everything. The kiss. My mom. Peggy and Daniel. Nat. I just can't handle this right now." You put the stone into place on the glove before glancing over at Tony. "What stone is next?"

"Reality," he said. In his eyes, you saw the concern in his eyes as he watched you. Nonetheless, he got the next stone ready for you, shooting a glance at Scott. "Go get two coffees, Tic Tac." Next, he looked over to Steve. "Go. She's agitated right now and we can't have her dropping anything again."

Steve sighed behind you, followed by the sound of two receding footsteps. Everything was quiet once more as you went back to work, placing the stones in their proper place. Tomy didn't force you to talk, even though you were sure he had about a billion questions. The air was stiff and tense with unasked questions that had very obvious answers. So when Tony left the room, you knew who he went looking for. You didn't stop him, but you knew his curiosity was getting the best of him.

He was gone for a total of 20 minutes, but he managed to return before you put this last stone in place. The glove was finished. The end of this entire fiasco was coming up fast. And you weren't any better for it.

Once done, Tony clapped you on the shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I know you don't wanna talk about it, but you need to." You shot him a small glare. He put his hands up in defense. "Hey, you're talking to the king of unresolved issues. Not talking about stuff leads to anger and lashing out at people you love. Even when they are unbearably annoying."

Sighing, you set down the tongs you had been holding before standing up. "Fine. While you guys undo the snap, I'll talk to Steve." Before anyone could argue, you went and found Steve, leaving the lab where they would be performing the snap in search of Steve.

Your search didn't take long, as you found him sitting in the large open kitchen, staring into his cup of coffee. You didn't wait for him to notice you before you spoke up. "What did you want to talk about, Steve?" You tried to keep your emotions under check, to not yell, but you could still hear the slightest hint of annoyance in your voice.

He glanced up at you for a moment before looking back at his coffee. "Look," he started before pausing. He was silent for a few seconds, trying to gather his thoughts. "I… when we went to the past… with your mom and all of that stuff. We both found out things about you and your family that we didn't know before. You learned about a part of yourself that was hidden really far down. So I went looking through all of the leaked S.H.I.E.L.D. files to try and find some reports for you." He leaned down to his side and pulled out his laptop from the bag settled by his side. He turned it on and opened up a few documents before turning the computer in your direction. "I don't want to force you to talk. I know you, and that you need time to process things before you can just talk about everything. But I figured having all of the information would help you process and fill in the blanks."

You walked over to the table, sitting down in front of the laptop. On the screen was a document detailing your mother's stay at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. You skimmed over a majority of it, not necessarily understanding a lot of the jargon. "What… what is this?" 

"It's your moms full record. Apparently the doctor in charge was someone who was outed as Hydra shortly after you were born. His experiments influenced the trials that lead to the Maximoff twins having powers. Basically the folder shows that they had been lying to… well, to your mom the entire time, just so she wouldn't question any of the medicine they were giving to her. Daniel and Peggy had no clue what was happening, so there's no need to be spiteful towards them. Not that you are, but… just in case you had that doubt." When you glanced up at Steve, you saw that he was staring at his coffee, unable to look up.

"I'm sorry for snapping," you finally said after a few minutes of silence had passed. "You're hurting and I should have just sucked it up and talked. I put myself first, and that was wrong." You reached, grabbing his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "It's okay, you can call me an ass. No snarky comments. I'll bite my tongue and you can be a jerk to me because I definitely deserve it."

He shook his head, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. "No, I don't think I will." He squeezed your hand in return. "I know you're a major pain but I do love you. Even when you make it difficult." You laughed, which finally made him look up at you. "Though I make it just as difficult, I'm sure."

You smiled, scooting closer to him. "I love you, too, pain in my ass." Leaning across the table, you pecked him gently on the lips. "I'm also sorry that I embarrassed you in front of the Science Bros with the sex comments."

"I almost took you up on the offer, you know," he teased, fingertips brushing slowly against your arm. You laughed before kissing him again. He tugged at your hand, pulling you around the table until you were sitting on his lap. When you finally separated, his hands found their way to your hips. "I could still take you up on that offer."

"Something life changing is happening on the other side of the compound and you want to have sex? Really?" You playfully pushed against his shoulder before lightly pecking his lips. "What would Peggy think?"

He groaned, forehead resting against your shoulder. "If you mention her one more time I swear-"

You interrupted his rambling by twirling your fingers in his hair, gently tugging his face from your shoulder so you could kiss him. A laugh rumbled in his chest.

A loud crash made you jump back, looking around. "What the hell was that?" you asked, looking around.

His face nuzzled into your neck, leaving light kisses across the expanse of skin. "Probably the snap," he mumbled. "It was that explosive when it was Thanos."

Your eyes fluttered shut, enjoying the soft kisses, but something just wasn't settling right. "Mm Steve, stop, stop. I don't think that was the snap. They were in a room with metal paneling to protect the glass. I think something is wrong."

His hands finally let go of your waist, so you got up. You headed towards the sound to find a giant gaping hole in the ceiling over the quantum platform. And above that was a giant ass space ship.

"Steve-" you started but you heard him running behind you. He was already off, running for the room where everyone else was located. But you heard some kind of metal grinding against metal coming from above. "Steve wait!"

But it was too late. The ship fired at the compound, blowing it sky high and sending you flying in the air. You had a split second to get the nano tech to make your suit and keep you from, ya know, dying from fall damage or something. You closed your eyes as the nanos enveloped your body, and when you heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. greet you, you opened them and activated the boosters, sending you flying sideways parallel to the ground. The impact knocked the air out of your body, and you were definitely hurting.

"Steve? Tony?" you called through the intercom. "Is anyone listening?"

You looked towards the compound, feeling your heart shatter.

"I have eyes on the glove," came the strangled voice of Clint. "I'm in the sewers somewhere. I'll try and find my way topside with the glove."

"And we're trapped," Bruce added. "I've got Rhodey and Rocket. Water levels are rising."

You surveyed the terrain and spotted Tony walking towards someone. "Tony, is that Steve?"

"Yeah… come on, buddy, you gotta get up." You watched as he helped Steve get to his feet and decided to fly over to join them. "You lose this again and I'm giving it to Morgan, got it?"

When you landed, you grabbed the shield from Tony. "Now come on, I would obviously get first dibs on bobsledding on this thing. Afterall, who's gonna teach Morgan how to do it?"

Steve snatched the shield, raising an eyebrow at you. "That's assuming I'm losing it again, L/N."

"Given your track record, it's more likely than you think, Cap." He rolled his eyes as you bumped against his hip playfully before looking around. "Okay, so that's a giant ship."

"And that's a Thanos," Tony said, motioning towards the Mad Titan. He was just sitting there. Not fighting. Not commanding an army. Just… sitting there.

"So that is," Steve said before looking at you. "Tony and I have this. Plus, I see Thor. You should go and work on recovery, see who needs help."

You wanted to argue, say you could fight, but you saw the pain in his eyes. Also, Bruce was definitely panicking in the back of your mind. You nodded in response, using the heat sensor in your suit to locate where exactly Bruce and the others were. Once spotted, you were flying away, going after them. You worked on moving as much rubble as possible, vaguely aware of the fights going on around you. You could hear Clint talking through the intercom before gasping, and you looked around. "Barton, what's happening?"

There were so many voices in your head with this intercom bullshit and you really just needed to get to Bruce. But then you heard thunder. You turned around just in time to see Steve holding Mjölnir.

Woah.

You really should be focusing but, if you were being completely honest… "That's hot."

"Y/N, focus," Steve said before going back into battle. You watched him for another couple seconds before blinking and remembering that shit that was happening around you. Right! You had to get to Bruce.

You continued to work on moving the rubble when a voice filled your head. "Y/N, Tony's currently knocked out and my messages aren't getting to him. Should I initiate Project Old Man Alarm?"

You smiled to yourself at F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s message. You had managed to rename a few of Tony's protocol names a couple days ago and you were glad he didn't notice. "Of course, we can't let him sleep through the battle, now can we? What about everyone else? Can you scan the battlefield and tell me what's happening?"

"Of course," she responded. "Thor is currently down, but his vitals appear to be fine. Captain Rogers is currently fighting Thanos, though there appears to be a wound in his leg from getting stabbed."

"He was what?"

You were certain she said something in response, but a voice was suddenly talking over the intercom. It was a voice that you hadn't heard in five years, and it almost brought a tear to your eye.

"Cap? On your left."

All around you, bright yellow portals appeared and thousands of people walked through, joining you on the battlefield. Nearby to your current location, a portal opened and out came the people who had disappeared on Titan. You couldn't even comprehend everything that was happening. And when the ground opened up under your feet and gave birth to a Giant-Man holding Bruce, Rocket, and Rhodey, well you almost lost it. Giant-Man was truly a sight to see. A part of you was relieved that they had been competent enough to get shit done because you clearly hadn't been that helpful.

But you were so happy to see everyone here, breathing. The second snap had worked. And now? You had one hell of a fighting chance.

"Avengers!" came the shout from Steve. You turned to look at him, watching as he summoned Mjölnir. "Assemble."

"You know, that's still really hot," you commented without even realizing that everyone definitely heard that. Luckily you had the guise of everyone going into battle to cover it, but some people definitely heard it.

A scoff came over the intercom, and you smiled when you recognized Tony's voice. "Jesus, Y/N, really?"

You shrugged before going off to fight. "Where am I needed, Cap? Aerial support? Ground team?"

"I need you on the glove. Keep an eye on it's location and make sure it stays as far from Thanos as possible," he responded.

"But we need to get them back to their proper times," Bruce responded in the voice chat. "We'll destroy those other timelines if we don't."

"No can do," said the voice of Tony, and you spotted him on the battle field alongside Pepper in the Rescue suit that the two of you crafted. "Thanos destroyed our quantum tunnel in the blast."

The line was silent for a second as you flew overhead, spotting the glove being carried by Clint away from some of Thanos' mutant henchmen. You quickly swooped down, using the blasters to take out a few of them in one go. You hadn't yet been able to formulate a plan when someone else joined in. "Hang on! That wasn't our only time machine." A moment later, you heard the sound of a car alarm that was set to the sound of La Cucharacha. You flew back into the air, trying to spot where it came from.

"Does anyone have eyes on an ugly brown van?" Steve asked. You looked over the battlefield, but you really couldn't see it without letting the glove out of your sight. Luckily, someone else managed to spot and they responded.

After a short conversation in which Scott said he would need 10 minutes to get the machine working, you flew down to Clint as he was overrun by Overriders. You blasted them away before turning to the voice of the Black Panther as he called out to Clint.

"Give me the gauntlet, Clint!"

You blasted away a few more of the Overriders before taking off into the air and keeping track of T'Challa as he made his way through the crowd, heading for the van. Thanos was going after him. You were about to dive down when Wanda herself decided to take him on. You sighed in relief until you saw Squidward levitating the glove away. You instantly dived down, snatching the glove and giving Squidward a good blast in the face as you went. "That's for calling me a pet, asshole!" You then saw Peter, open, and looking a little lost. "Hey Spiderling! Catch!" When he looked over at you, you tossed the glove to him, and he used his webshooter to grab it before running off. Once again, you took off after him, blasting Overriders and Chitauri as they came. But he still got overrun, even with your help. And that's when he activated Instant Kill Mode.

"Jesus, Tony, why the hell does a 16 year old have an Instant Kill Mode?" you questioned as you landed. You blasted away the more of the enemy.

"You have one, too, ya know. Might help with the problem," was all Tony said before going back to the fight.

You were considering activating when Peter yelled about being overrun. "Steve!" you shouted over com.

Before you could explain the situation, he spoke up. "Heard it doll. Heads up, Queens!" You looked over your shoulder and managed to narrowly avoid getting clobbered in the head by the flying hammer. Peter managed to latch onto it as it was flying before falling off a second later. You instantly took off, catching him before he hit the ground.

"Gotta watch those butterfingers, Spiderling. You're gonna get hurt." As if some kind of dramatic irony, you then dropped him onto the back of the flying Pegasus that was manned by some badass warrior chick. Probably a friend of Thor. And if you weren't taken, and she offered, you definitely wouldn't turn her down.

You instantly shook away the thought before watching the battlefield raging on below you. Everyone was raging on. Tony and Pepper were fighting side by side, Peter was falling out of the sky holding the glove, and Steve was kicking major ass.

Wait! Peter!

You dived straight down, trying to catch him before he fell and got really hurt. You knew the suit would probably save him from most injuries, but he definitely didn't need to get hurt. But at this rate he would beat you to the ground. "Come on, come on…"

And then you flew through a portal, popping up through the ground right below Peter and catching him. His downward momentum definitely forced the two of you into the ground, but at least injuries were minimized.

"Holy shit, since when could she do that?" Pepper asked. You looked up to see her flying around, shooting at Chitauri as she went while also avoiding falling missiles. You were going to answer her until you became very distracted by the missiles suddenly pointing into the sky.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., what's happening?" Tony asked, and you heard her response loud and clear in your head.

"Something just entered the upper atmosphere."

You watched in amazement as a glowing burst of energy rammed into the ship. The explosion was beautiful, and the falling pieces of ship gave you one less problem on the battlefield. Plus, you had a new ally.

Carol landed right by you and Peter as you were going over his injuries. His side was still in pain, but you managed to prevent any broken bones. You glanced up and smiled at her.

"H-Hi, I'm Peter Parker," Peter said, holding on tightly to the gauntlet. You shook your head, laughing at how ridiculous it was that he introduced himself to everyone on the battlefield. But it was endearing… you guessed.

"Hey Peter Parker. You got something for me?" He nodded and handed her the glove. He made some comment about how it was impossible to get through. But then everyone was there, surrounding Carol. You joined them in feigning off the oncoming attacks. You had even managed to hold back Thanos himself. But then he threw his sword, and it knocked out the van's quantum portal before Carol could get inside. You were about to run after it until Thanos flung you like a ragdoll. Your head slammed into a rock and you gasped in shock.

"Your head has suffered major injury," said F.R.I.D.A.Y. in your head. "Should I inform Tony that you are in need of medical attention?"

You groaned, sitting up. "Don't you dare. I'm not out yet." Getting to your feet, you watched the scene unfolding before you. Thanos had the glove, and Tony tackled him.

"There was a spike in energy in Tony's suit. Power levels are beyond the max."

Shit. Shit! He had the stones.

You didn't hesitate in flinging yourself in his direction, boosters kicking in as you gained distance on him. Before he could snap, you flipped over his head, grabbing his hand in your own. A warm energy hummed through your body as the stones transferred to your suit.

You landed on your knees. Tony looked horrified as your helmet lowered. You gave him a smile and snapped your fingers, willing away Thanos and his army.

You were suddenly standing in some kind of weird, orange dimension. You were confused as you looked around. You weren't sure what to expect, but when you saw Nat sitting there with Bucky on her lap, you almost broke down.

"Great cat you have here. I was almost convinced I would be seeing Tony or Steve here. Ya know, since they're a bunch of idiots. But instead it's you." She scratched Bucky's head, casting you a casual look. "Things work out with Steve?"

You walked over to her, sitting next to her under the pagoda. "You could have seen for yourself, you know. He misses you. Everyone does."

She smiled, looking back down at Bucky. "It's really lonely here in the stone. They gave me this one because you were the one to snap. He'll leave when you do in a couple minutes. But it's cold in here. I did get to see Bruce, though. That was nice."

"So this is inside the soul stone?" you asked, glancing around. The orange color definitely added up. So did the cold feeling.

"Yes, and you're part space stone. The other stones were calling to you." She moved Bucky from her lap and stood up, facing you. "The space stone protected your otherwise fleshy organs. You'll probably have some minor burns and nerve damage, but you'll otherwise be okay. Well, until the boys yell your ear off." You both laughed. "Take care of them all for me, okay? You have some big shoes to fill, but I know you can keep them all in check. After all, you succeeded where I didn't. You somehow managed to make Tony and Steve get along for more than five seconds."

She looked up at the orange sky, a sad look on her face. She knew her fate was to be stuck in the stone. But why couldn't you free her? Maybe… maybe your powers could help you…

"Nat," you started, but everything started to turn bright around you. "Wait, what-"

"It's time for you to go," she said, smiling sadly at you. "Goodbye, Y/N."

"No wait!" But it was too late, she was gone.

Your body was flung backward from the energy blast, sending you flying. You were prepared to hit stone, so when you landed on somebody, it was a surprise.

"Get… the stones… off." Your voice was strained, hand burning from the snap. There was too much energy coursing through you. Your hand scratched at the nano suit, trying to smash off enough of the suit to create a glove that could be removed. You were gasping through the pain coursing through your body.

"Where in the hell is she?" said the voice of Tony as you pounded against the nano suit. "Where is Y/N?"

"She's with me," Steve said, stilling your hand from pounding into the suit. "Tony how do we remove the stones from her hand?"

You heard Tony land next to you as he looked at you with anger. "First we get those off of you, and then I'm going to chew your ass out for that. You could have died!"

You grimaced, watching as Tony used the blaster to cut the nano suit away from your hand. Once free, you pulled your hand free, gasping in relief. "Shut up you… self-sacrificing… asshole… You… would have died, Tony. I can't lose you, too. Morgan would never forgive you."

They were silent as the other Avengers and Guardians formed around you. Pepper looked both relieved and pissed off at both of you, but especially Tony for trying that shit first. And you could feel the silent anger that Steve was trying to hide for your safety. You were certain he would absolutely yell at you about it later, after you had time to recover. And you probably deserved it. It was so fucking stupid. But could you really lose Tony? Your brother?

No, your heart wouldn't have been able to handle it. So yeah, you acted without thinking and didn't even say anything. It was stupid and dumb and maybe you would have had some kind of excuse if you had had another second of thought, but you couldn't afford that second. He would have died. At least your body could handle it.

So they could stay mad. And they could yell. But you did the right thing. Plus, you had a plan.

"Steve, I need the gauntlet," you said, reaching for it.

"What? No!"

"Absolutely not!"

Tony and Steve both shouted at you at the same time. You flinched from the loud sound but nonetheless persisted. "I need to see the soul stone. I can bring back Nat."

A quiet voice spoke out from the crowd. "Let her see the stone." Everyone turned to see Clint. He looked like he had gotten one hell of a beating, but he was still standing tall. "If she can bring back Nat, I say we let her."

And so the stone was placed in your hands. You concentrated on what you had seen in your mind. The orange pagoda with Nat sitting underneath it, her red hair in a braid. You thought of her sad smile and hopeless stares as she waited for the next person to try and use the stone.

Then the doorway appeared.

You stepped through, looking around in curiosity. "Nat?"

She looked up from where she was sitting by the water's edge, a confused look in her face. "Y/N, what are you doing here?" 

"You really think I would just leave you here?" You shook your head, a smile on your face. You reached a hand out to her. "Come on. I know some people who would want to see you again."

The two of you left in through the open doorway, stepping back into the battlegrounds. Nat looked around in shock, seeing Earth again as if it were the first time. There were shocked murmurs that went around as everyone saw Nat, alive, and standing before them. Clint dropped his bow and went up to her, hugging her as if there were no tomorrow.

You stumbled away from them and that's when you ate shit, passing out before you even hit the ground.

----

Next Part

Taglist:

@thedaydreamingwriter​ @hollandroos​ @tomhollandd​ @cxptain-capsicle​ @jinthusiastsss​ @janieavalos​ @ilovesupersoldiers​ @laic2299​ @artaxerxesthegreat​

[royalcordelia]

The Peace, The Storm (1/1)

(In which Gilbert discovers he missed a very vital piece of information sitting on his kitchen table. Spoilers for 3x09)

“Suddenly, he saw her there in her mother’s garden. Sun on her shoulders, wind in her hair. The smell of the flowers she held in her hand and the pollen that fell from her fingertips. And suddenly [he] was only a man with a taste of nectar upon his lips.” - Hadestown

+++

The Island had funny ways of telling Gilbert that he was in its favor. It was subtle in its tender attentions, entangling over his heart when he was sailing in far off places and giving warmth when he returned to its shores. It was faithful to him the same way a friend was, nudging him in the direction the young girl he’d been wandering aimlessly for since his train had arrived from Charlottetown. 

Anne. Just the thought of her made his breath shudder in his chest. 

Soon, his mind was full of her and he wasn’t aware of where he was wandering. The only thing he knew was that walking meant that he could rest content with his memories for a few moments longer, and relive them until he eventually found the real thing. His eyes searched the scenery, discovering traces of her in the Queen Anne’s Lace and the fluttering butterflies that danced from blossom to blossom. 

He was so drunk off of the thought of her that he barely registered when she actually appeared before him, laying in a bed of grass on the same cliffside where he’d remembered her. It was her hair he saw first, tangled up in the long grass like a spreading flame, but then he noticed her arms spread out at her sides. Her fingers weaved like wind through the grass, slow and numb. A thick rush of longing constricted Gilbert’s throat, making it impossible to call out to her. Her spirit radiated out, heavy, but sweet like pollen. 

With greater ease than he anticipated, Gilbert called out her name. 

Something Gilbert couldn’t name overcame Anne’s expression, and she shot up to her elbow. Her gaze claimed him, yearning and yielding in its intensity. She wanted to run away, that much he could see, but something kept her fixed to the ground. The lashes of her eyes were red at the brims, and streaks of tears had marbled onto her cheeks. 

“Have you been crying?” he asked dumbly. She turned her face away, sunset orange hair failing to shield the tremor in her lip. 

With delicate movements, Gilbert situated himself at her side, sitting beside where she lay. How simple it would be to lay flush beside her and bury his face into her shoulder where her red hair was bundled. His fingers twitched at the thought of how soft her skin would be, how her presence would soothe him to his soul. 

To keep himself from doing this, he found his words. 

“I was sorry to hear about Ka’kwet. Marilla told me of your plans to write to The Globe. I could proofread your letter before you send it if you like.” Anne said nothing. Gilbert shifted. “I suppose you’d prefer that Miss Stacy read it.” 

Still, Anne was silent. Gilbert glanced over at her and found her fingers shaking and clutching at the grass for a lifeline. It wasn’t like her to sit so still, to isolate her pain to herself. 

“I’m sorry I was away when everything was happening,” he murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder. As if he had doused her with boiling water, Anne rushed to her feet and began to hasten along the cliffside path. 

“Anne?” he called out. Her pace only sped up, so he called again. “Anne!”

This time, her footsteps froze in the path. Against the greenery of the plains, she cut the silhouette of a woman, strong in her shoulders with her coppery hair spinning to gold in the breeze. Gilbert knew he should say something -  especially if he nearly suffocated every time she existed too closely to him. 

Then she was spinning around, and stomping up to him. Her arms were crossed protectively against her chest, but her glare shot right through him. She entered his space, shattering his sense of reality, sending him tumbling backwards. More tears trickled down her cheeks but she didn’t seem to notice.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me?” she demanded.

Gilbert gaped, shaking his head in utter confusion. 

“What- I-...Anne, what are you talking about?” 

Her teeth clenched together. Gilbert could feel her boring into him - begging, and begging, and begging. What for, though, he didn’t know. When he said nothing, the resolve in her disintegrated away, and Anne resigned. She stumbled backwards a step, nodding bitterly. 

“I want my pen back,” she stated coldly. Gilbert bristled. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad being at the receiving end of her ire if only he knew what he’d done to hurt her so badly. A few traitorous ideas entered the back of his mind, but he refused to entertain them. No, he thought, she couldn’t possibly...

“My apologies,” Gilbert said slowly. “I didn’t realize I still had it.” 

“You didn’t- ” Anne choked. “I’m fairly certain I mentioned it in the note I left you. You know, the one that I laid my entire heart out on. The one you blatantly ignored without even acknowledging it!” 

“Note? Anne, I never-” 

“Or maybe you just decided to stop reading it after the part where I told you I love you! Did you crumple it up and burn right then and there or did you tear it up and throw it with the kitchen scraps?” 

Gilbert was stunned into silence, but only for just long enough for him to gather his wits.

“What did you just say?” 

Anne’s glare lost its bite, melting away into a raw ache that Gilbert could feel. Another tear slid down her face, disappearing into the tall grass. She filled her lungs with the summer air, but her hands still shook. Gilbert wanted to grab them, but instead he gave her space to articulate her thoughts. Finally, she spoke in a soft tone.

“I said quite a bit, but I imagine the part you’re referring to is the part where I said that I’m dreadfully in love with you.” She wiped her hand across her cheek. “I tried to tell you sooner, but you were never home. That’s when I left you a note-” 

“-Anne,” Gilbert interrupted. “I didn’t receive any note.” 

Her brows knit together.

“I left it right on the table. Underneath the water pitcher.” 

Gilbert shook his head. He didn’t care about the logistics of how the note went missing. All that mattered was that there was one - a beautiful, handwritten note from Anne Shirley Cuthbert that contained the astonishing fact that she loved him. 

His breath was swept from him once again. Anne loved him. She had tried to tell him, but all she’d received was silence. 

The sea would be right to swallow him up for the things he put her through. 

“When I came to you that night-” he stammered.

“-I was drunk, and confused, and terrified,” she explained, tucking her arms closer to her. “How could I tell you to choose me when I have nothing to offer you.” 

It was at that moment that Gilbert realized that a man must speak things clearly to be understood. No more dancing around the truth, no more sending unspoken messages. Just the words as they appear in the dictionary, the truth as it exists in his heart. Yet, he barely needed any words at all to be clear. 

“I love you,” he confessed on a heartsick whisper. “All the things you offer me, they’re more precious than anything I could ever have in this world.” 

Anne’s eyes widened until they blended with the periwinkle sea behind her. A watery sob escaped her lips that was half-way a burst of relieved laughter. Her cheeks lifted in a lovelorn smile that sparkled in amazement. His own chest turning blissfully lighter, he continued.

“You should know that I’m not engaged to Winifred, and I never intend to be. Truth be told, I’m not certain I’m ready for marriage yet. One day I will be.” He paused. “I hope that won’t come as a disappointment to you.” 

“Disappointment? ” Anne cried. “You’ve just told me that you’re not engaged and that you love me and you think I’m disappointed?! Gilbert, I think there are so many places that we need to journey as individuals before we start a life together, and that doesn’t disappoint me at all. How glorious it is to have my feelings met and matched.” 

Venturing forward, Gilbert reached for her hands, which Anne gladly offered. His thumbs grazed the softness of her skin, sending a thrill up her arms. 

“What now?” Gilbert asked. 

“I humbly suggest an arrangement,” Anne offered, beaming up at him. 

“Of what sort?” 

“Courting has too many rules. I propose we take things at our own pace and follow our own rules. We can call ourselves what we wish and do what suits us. We’ll be free to do  grow as people until the day comes when we’re ready to come together.” 

Gilbert considered this, approving most of it. 

“I don’t want to be just friends, though.” 

Anne shook her head. “Me either.” 

“Then I accept your proposal, Anne,” Gilbert said with no mock formality. “And I give you mine.” 

Anne stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him and peering up to see what he would say. Instead, he pulled a pen from his pocket and held it out before her.

“Write to me. Rewrite me that note I never got to read, write me if we attend different schools, write me when you’re sad or elated. Write me when need a reminder that for me, it’s only you. I want to hear what you have to say, always.” 

Anne pulled one of her hands away from his waist to take the pen and hold it close to her chest. 

“I like the sound of that,” she said. 

Gilbert opened his mouth - whether to tease her, to praise her, to apologize, Anne didn’t know. Nor did she care. She rose to her toes and pressed her lips to his, lingering a few seconds longer than she originally intended. It was just long enough for Gilbert to take her face in her hands and return the kiss. When he pulled back, he rested his forehead on hers and shared her breath. 

“What did your note even say?” he wondered. Anne shrugged.

“Things you know now. If I were to write a revised one, it’d go like this…” Anne cleared her throat. “Dear Gilbert, thank you for coming back to me. I love you, Anne.” 

Gilbert brushed a piece of her hair away from her face with a smile.

“Mine would say: Dear Anne, thank you for not giving up on me. I love you too. Yours, Gilbert.” 

They settled back onto the grass, holding hands and telling their stories from the start. Gilbert’s began the day he met her in the forest, the day he trailed behind her and had unknowingly sewn himself into the fabric of her heart. Anne’s story jumped around in time as she struggled to put into words the feelings she’d always harbored for him. Behind them, the sky bathed them in magenta light. The island shared in the storytelling, turning their words into gold beneath its red soil. 

[miracleboiz]

Making a Home Ch.23

Kita Shinsuke had experienced a lot in life. He had been raised with his grandmother, a loving foster parent and for some time he followed in her foot steps before finding his own path. He thought his foster care license had expired before getting a call at three am with two small boys thrust into his arms. Miya Osamu and Atsumu, from broken homes but still fighting. Thirty days before his license expires. Thirty days to make a choice, keep the boys or let them be separated into different homes. Thirty days to fall in love with them.

Words: 4k

Relationships: Ojiro Aran/Kita Shinsuke, Gen

Warnings: Mention of past child abuse, non-graphic abuse

Not from Kita, but it is mentioned. I will post any warnings before any panic attacks or vague descriptions of abuse.

Read below or on AO3

“No more jackets!” Osamu screamed as the front door started to close behind him and he immediately started to wiggle out of it without unzipping it. It caught around his shoulders and he whined, turning to look for his brother only to find himself alone.

He turned back around, eyes landing on a rather amused looking Shinsuke holding a plate of snacks.

“Hi Kita-san! I fell!” He called out, a giddy feeling rising in his chest when Shinsuke blinked at him. He couldn’t say why, but watching adults get confused was one of the funniest things he’d ever seen.

Osamu grinned as he twisted, trying to escape the jacket when he heard footsteps and froze as he recognized Oomimi. For a moment, cold dread poured into his stomach and he took a step back. He was waiting for the order to grab his things, or worse, Rika-san walking in behind him ready to take them away.

He was about to bolt, run back out to Aran and beg him to help when someone crashed into him from the right.

“Your house is huge!” Hitoshi’s voice screeched in his ear as they toppled to the floor.

“Hitoshi-kun be careful.” Shinsuke called, a chuckle following and Osamu relaxed. Shinsuke wouldn’t be laughing if they were being taken away, not after he’d been so upset Rika-san had been mean to them.

Osamu didn’t care what Atsumu said, Shinsuke cared about them… Atleast… Osamu really hoped he did. Osamu loved Shinsuke, he was never scared around him, ever!

Even when Osamu had been with other foster parents, he’d been waiting to be smacked, waiting for the shoe to eventually drop and the pain to start. He’d never felt really safe until now, and he never wanted to leave. He just didn’t know how to get Shinsuke to want them back.

“Why’re you two on the floor?” Rintaro’s voice made Osamu and Hitoshi look up, grinning at the confused looking six year old who was looking over the couch at them. He was wearing the butterfly hair clip that Osamu had let him borrow the night before, tucking his hair away from his eyes.

“Why aren’t you?” Hitoshi shot back, giggling with Osamu and finally rolling off of him. He reached down, trying to tug Osamu up to his feet. Neither of them moved to free Osamu from his accidental jacket trap.

“Because I’m not weird- Oh here comes the hugger.” Rintaro shrunk away as the door to the store opened and the room was invaded by the two oldest of the Matsukawa’s.

Shinji, as Rintaro guessed, made a bee-line for Osamu and wrapped his arms around him almost immediately. Osamu giggled, shoving against him to try and return the hug as well as he could.

“Where’s ‘Tsumu?” Shinji chirped, wiggling and shaking Osamu by default. “We missed you at school today!”

“Shinji, darling, what did we say about shaking people?” A new voice called as the door shut behind Osamu. He glanced back to see his brother looking more than a little confused about the number of people in front of him.

“Not to shake babies!” Shinji called, ignoring the man’s sigh of defeat as he turned to follow Osamu’s gaze to Atsumu. He froze, lips twisting into a frown as he tried to figure out how to hug both of them without letting go of Osamu.

“That is not what we said… Partly what we said, but honestly, Shinji stop shaking people.” The man laughed and Osamu looked over at him curiously. It took him a moment to recognize Hajime in the thick coat before he shed it and wrapped it over an arm. Hajime blinked over at him before smiling and giving him a small wave.

“No,” Shinji insisted, shaking his head, “it’s how I’m friend… fr… friendly!”’

“I’m pretty sure rattling someone’s brains isn’t friendly.” Takahiro’s voice followed as the door opened again. He had multiple boxes in his arms, followed by Akira holding a tiny box very determinedly in his hands.

“That’s because you’re weird.” Shinji chirped, finally letting go to try and shake Atsumu next. Osamu laughed as his brother was enveloped in the older child’s arms and was forced into a hug, Atsumu didn’t seem to mind much. Osamu wasn’t really sure why Atsumu didn’t have a problem with Shinji holding onto him but would attempt to bite Osamu if he tried.

Then again, Osamu let Rintaro borrow his butterfly hair clips and wear them for school today and he had tackled his brother for trying to move them on Saturday.

Osamu paused, wondering if he could get Hitoshi to hug and shake his brother. Atsumu probably wouldn’t bite him, he’d definitely bite Shigeru though… but maybe he wouldn’t bite Rintaro… but would Rin let him hug….

Osamu thought it over and didn’t even realize he wasn’t alone again until he felt the zipper being undone. He blinked back to himself, staring at the neutral face of Shinsuke as his foster parent pulled the jacket off.

“Did you have fun with Aran-kun then?” Shinsuke asked softly and Osamu thought about telling him that Aran loved him, but maybe it wasn’t the time for that. So he reached forward and laid his hands on Shinsuke’s shoulders.

“I hope you and Aran-kun learn how to walk together soon.” He chirped before turning and running off toward Takahiro as he lowered the boxes onto the new kotatsu that had replaced the table in between the couch and tv.

He didn’t see the look of complete confusion as Shinsuke turned to stare after him before he turned to welcome Atsumu into the house.

Atsumu shrank down slightly when he realized that Shinsuke was now focusing on him. He pressed against Shinji as if he was trying to hide behind the older child and couldn’t quite manage it even with Shinji’s shaking. It was slightly relaxing, the soothing swaying, pulling up the oldest memory in Atsumu’s mind. One so old it felt more like a wish then a memory of being held close and rocked as he pawed at the face of his mother smiling down at him.

Just thinking about the moment made pain shoot through Atsumu’s chest. She’d left him too, like everyone else. Even Shinsuke didn’t want them and seeing him so close after yesterday...

Atsumu hurt. He wanted to burrow his way into Shinsuke’s arms and cry, beg to not be given away. Beg him not to hate them. Atsumu had to keep reminding himself that Shinsuke didn’t want them.

He wanted to grab his brother and run back outside, drag them both back to Aran. Beg him to take them home now so Atsumu didn’t have to hear Shinsuke lie about caring for them, about wanting them around.

Atsumu knew better. He knew Shinsuke wasn’t happy with them, why else would he have tried to give them away to Rika-san? Shinsuke wouldn’t hurt them but he wouldn’t be happy until they were gone. Atsumu wanted Oomimi to take them away last night, but Osamu had been so shattered by the idea that Atsumu hadn’t been able to utter the request again after Osamu started crying.

Even if it was just for a few more days, Atsumu wanted Osamu to be happy.

He didn’t know if Aran would really take them or if Osamu would be happy but… 

No one had ever caught Atsumu when he fell before, or told him he was a good brother or a good friend. No one had ever said they loved him.

Atsumu wanted to stay with Shinsuke too, and wanted to stay with both of them. He loved them and it hurt thinking that he had to choose one or the other no matter what. Shinsuke wasn’t dating Aran and Aran said they weren’t ready for that.

Even if Shinsuke decided he did like them, did want them, Atsumu didn’t want to lose Aran. He didn’t want to keep losing people.

Why couldn’t he just have a family? 

Why was everything so hard?

“Atsu?” Shinji’s voice was right in his ear and it jolted him back to himself. The arms tightened around him, grounding him as he realized Shinsuke was crouching in front of him looking concerned.

“Atsumu? Did you hear what I said?” Shinsuke asked carefully and Atsumu had to swallow down a sob to shake his head. “That’s alright. I was just letting you know that we invited Osamu and your friends over to play games for a bit and stay the night.”

“O-oh… why?” Atsumu asked slowly, blinking as he recognized Rintaro, Shigeru, and Hitoshi all crowded around Osamu and Takahiro. Rintaro glanced back, holding up a small peace sign when he saw Atsumu looking before he was looking up at the baker.

“ ‘Cuz we missed you!” Shinji chirped before Shinsuke could say anything, giving another wiggle and shaking Atsumu almost violently. “You weren’t at school and Kita-san said you didn’t have a good night, so we’re going to make tonight super great!”

“Ah, yes, that.” Shinsuke hummed, looking rather fond at Shinji’s happy chattering. Maybe that’s why Shinsuke didn’t like them, they weren’t happy like Shinji.

“And if you get too tired you can always go to sleep early.” Shinsuke softly, trying to offer him a smile but it seemed to fall flat as concern washed over him again. “But tonight’s all about you and Osamu, okay little- Okay?”

Atsumu’s chest ached at the slip up. Osamu was ‘little one’, Atsumu wasn’t anything important. He slowly nodded his head, turning away until Shinji’s arms fell off and he could tug off his jacket.

Osamu was happily kicking Atsumu’s legs as the sun started to dip below the sky. The kotatsu was heaven after the hours at the skating rink and even Atsumu had slowly started to relax. He gave his brother a half glare, trying to kick back around Shigeru’s legs who had put himself between the two of them after their first squabble.

“This is happy fun times,” Shigeru had declared, “if I can’t punch Rintaro then you can't hit each other!” 

“You did that.” Osamu had heard Takahiro mutter to Hajime as the personal trainer sighed and shook his head. “Let’s get his energy out with taekwondo, it’ll be fine, you said.”

“Atleast he stopped trying to throw dumbbells?” Hajime tried to offer before Osamu grew too bored of the conversation and turned back to his friends.

“Are you okay ‘Samu?” Hitoshi asked around a bite of roast, juice was slipping down his cheek and within seconds Rintaro was wiping his face off. “Ya look a bit sad.”

“ ‘m fine!” Osamu smiled brightly at him, ignoring the way his stomach rolled as he glanced over at the dining room where the adults had seated themselves to enjoy their own dinner. Aran hadn’t come over and Osamu had been hoping he would.

Shinsuke always seemed to relax more with him around, though there was something… different about him right now. Osamu couldn’t quite put his finger on it, maybe it was the way Shinsuke’s shoulders were dropped as he hummed around his cup. Maybe it was the fingers that weren’t tapping out on the table but calm and the glances over to them with a slight smile.

Osamu could only hope that it was because Shinsuke was happy to see them and wasn’t because he finally managed to get rid of them.

“Are you sure-” Hitoshi tried to push but Shinji tugged on his shirt and he fell quiet again. Shinji gave Osamu a smile that he couldn’t understand, but he wondered if maybe Shinji knew more than he said. Shigeru was giving almost the exact same smile as he put his legs between the twins’.

“How was school?” Atsumu asked tentatively and they all jumped as Rintaro dropped his head on the table.

“Terrible, absolutely terrible.” He complained, making Hitoshi giggle.

“Sensei made us write about our parents, and Rintaro finished early and she told him to make it longer.” Hitoshi explained and Shigeru and Shinji started to laugh too as Rintaro whined.

“Three times. Three times, I had to write more about my parents.” He kicked under the table unhappily, only stopping when Hajime called over to watch out for the heater. “I don’t even know them! … So I wrote about Hajime-san and Issei-san.”

“He wrote all about the bakery and Sensei kept asking why his parents were called Dr. Suna, then.” Shigeru wheezed, ignoring Rintaro’s glare. “And… He.. He tried…”

“Rintaro-kun said they had a doctorate in bread.” Hitoshi said as Shigeru fell backwards, writhing with laughter. Rintaro’s entire face was bright red and he shoved a bite into his mouth to try and save face.

“I’m sure Tatay and Babba would be happy to know you think so highly of them.” Shinji tried to comfort him, but the snorts escaping him just made it impossible. Rintaro groaned, pressing his head back down onto the table again.

The pressure in Osamu’s chest seemed to relax for a moment and he flashed a smile at his brother who nervously returned it.

Osamu looked up at the sound of someone standing up, blinking at the approaching form of Shinsuke. He didn’t think they’d been too loud or annoying but maybe Osamu wasn’t being good enough-

“Dessert is in the fridge when you are done eating,” Shinsuke explained softly, stepping out of the way as Shigeru and Hitoshi immediately scrambled to stand up and rush to the fridge. “Or now I suppose.”

He hummed, walking over and kneeling in Shigeru’s spot between the twins. Rintaro and Shinji scooted closer together to give them a moment of privacy, quietly talking about bread degrees. Rintaro insisted they were probably real and Shinji seemed concerned as to why they needed one.

“I’m going to be with the others for the night, but if you need anything please let me know.” Shinsuke said softly and Osamu could see the difference in him. Something changed. He was so… relaxed. Osamu prayed it wasn’t because they were going to be taken away.

“And tomorrow, I was planning on going to visit my grandmother. Would you like to go with me after school? We can do your schoolwork at her house.”

Atsumu frowned and swallowed before he looked to Osamu. It took a second before Osamu knew what his brother was thinking but he did.

“That’s really late though… You don’t get off work until it’s dark and… then you do paperwork… Will your grandmother be awake then?” Osamu asked slowly, keeping his eyes on Atsumu until he was sure he had asked the right question.

“Actually, I will be leaving work before you get off school so I can finish my paperwork when you get home. That way I can spend the rest of the day with you.” Shinsuke said, looking at them the same way Tooru looked at his kids. Osamu wanted to cry from that look alone and he knew Atsumu did too.

“I thought-”

“Nothing is more important to me then you two.” Shinsuke said quiet but firm, looking them in the eye one at a time. “Absolutely nothing. Not work or even Aran and Akagi and Oomimi.”

Atsumu didn’t seem to realize he was crying until Rintaro was trying to wipe them away with his shirt. He glared at Shinsuke for a moment but relaxed as Atsumu reached out to hold onto Shinsuke’s shirt sleeve for a second and Osamu latched onto his arm immediately.

“I…” Atsumu started, swallowing and looking over at Rintaro and Shinji who were watching. They looked concerned but excited and Rintaro offered him a supportive smile.

“I w-would... “ He puffed up his chest and Osamu relaxed as he recognized his brother’s brash and bold nature coming out. “Please take us to visit, Sh-Shinsuke-san. We’ll be good and we would… like to spend more time with you.”

Atsumu tripped over the words but he was staring resolutely at Shinsuke’s shirt as if he could draw courage from the pale blue fabric. Osamu wasn’t sure what made him want to cry more, seeing Atsumu not looking terrified or that Shinsuke genuinely seemed to want them.

“Of course… I’ll let you be with your friends now, don’t forget your desserts and you can turn on the playstation when your plates are off the table.” Shinsuke said softly, patting both of their heads before he was standing up and letting Shigeru have his spot back.

They watched him walk away then Shigeru pulled out a second plate from behind his back with two slices of pie and ice cream.

“I snuck your desserts, this way we don’t have to leave the kotatsu, it’s so cold without it.” Shigeru smiled brightly as Hitoshi revealed his own hidden treats for Rintaro and Shinji.

Osamu glanced at his brother and reached over to swat at his face playfully. The whine that rose up made Osamu relax, they'd be fine. Hopefully.

[fatandnerdy30]

The Itsy Bitsy Spider 11

Adrian slammed into his work space with an angry scream. He kicked a few tables, including one Phineas was working at. The blonde man stared at him. "So how was your day?"

"Not good," he growled. "SO we got a new gig...we're working with Hydra." The tinkerer's face went white. "Wait, wait, what!? You said to never get involved with them, and now you're telling me we're involved with them?" Adrian nodded. "Yes. But not by choice. They have Liz and Doris." Phineas was stunned to say the least. "Justin Hammer has them, and he's working for Hydra, so that means now so are we." Toomes growled again, punching the wall. "Hey, hey, what's all the racket out here? I'm trying to take a nap," Herman yelled as he stormed out of the back. Adrian turned with a smile, and Shultz knew he was in trouble."I'm sorry, Herman. I didn't mean to interrupt your bedtime with my damn life!!" Adrian yelled, picking up a piece of scrap and throwing it at Herman, who dodged it. "Whoa! Man, calm down!" "Calm down!? I'll be calm when I've got my goddamned family back!!" The man put his hands up placatingly, and backed away. "Okay, okay. So, what's the job?" Adrian sat down heavily, slamming his elbow on the table, his head falling into his palm. "We have to take something back," he mumbled, massaging his temple. "That's easy," Phineas smiled. "Who do we have to steal from?" "That's the hard part...the Avengers." Phineas made a face. "Oooh yeah. I can see how that would be tough. Um," he began sifting through his pile of stuff when they heard a noise. All three men tensed and turned, only to see Hammer walking through the room. "Gentlemen, ugh," Justin snarked while looking around. "I have to invest in a better hideout for you, seriously. What is this, a junkyard? Yeesh." The man tugged on his suit jacket and brushed off his sleeves, flicking off imaginary dirt. "Hammer, what are you doing here?" Adrian growled, getting up. "Oh, you know, I wanted to come 'hang with my homies', get to know you guys, yadda yadda yadda. Justin Hammer, by the way," he introduced himself to the two men looking at him like he had three heads. "Yeah, I know who you are," Herman said. "Oh, good to know my reputation hasn't diminished since I was in jail. I just got finished making a deal with Oscorp for an assembly factory to make my androids. This place it perfect! It's got balls to the walls adva-" he got cut off by his phone. "One moment, gentleman," he reached into his pocket. "Hello?" The trio looked at one another, then snapped their attention to Hammer, who had started yelling at the phone. "What do you mean I can't get what I ordered?!" Justin screamed as he waved his hands, taking a deep breath a second later. "Alright, alright. Let me see what I can dig up while I'm here. No, I am not going to tell you where I am, because I'm sure you know and am tracking this phone as we speak." He ended the call with a frustrated sigh. "Lemme borrow that," he asked the blonde man and immediately walked past him to the computer, pulling out a USB and plugged it in, then started typing commands. "And....there we go!" He stood and smiled. "And what was that, exactly?" Adrian asked, leaning against the table. "Well, I got a call from Mr. Ward, an agent of Hydra's, who said that my shipment of droids wouldn't be arriving. I fixed that, so they should be at my lab within three hours." The man shrugged. "So, here's the plan gentlemen." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bruce had joined the four person group with the rest of the team and Tony had to roll his eyes. "Oh I see, everyone hears I'm springing for lunch, and then you all come running. Where are the others?" "Yup," Clint said, winking at Morgan and Peter who were giggling. "Wanda and Bucky decided to go do some googly-eyes at each other and Sam is out there somewhere, probably trying to train to get faster than Cap." "Hello Peter," Bruce said to the boy, who shyly waved. "How are you feeling?" "I-I'm okay," he said. "Just have to get used to the enhanced senses." "Oh yeah, about that. Bruce, I'd like to run a few tests with him before he leaves, you know, before and after," Roger's said, smiling at the boy in Tony's pocket. "Only if I'm there to make sure no one gets hurt," Tony said, noticing Happy jogging towards them looking frazzled and red in the face. "What happened to waiting for me?" he gasped angrily. "But that wouldn't keep you on your toes. Come on, lets go." he started walking towards a limo since there were a lot more of them now."Happy, take us to the nearest place with a salad bar," Mr. Stark called as soon as everyone was in the car. His guard looked at him in the rear view mirror with a deadpan face."Do I look like MapQuest to you?" he asked grumpily, buckling his seat belt. "Who even uses that anymore?" the billionaire asked, raising a brow. "Do you want me to drive? I can get us to something rather than complaining." "No! I will drive, thank you very much." Happy sighed and typed something into his phone, then started driving. Peter climbed out from the man's pocket and jumped over the window, pressing his whole body against it and watched the huge world go by. "Hey, lollipop guild, get down before you fall," Mr. Stark said. "I would swear they used jumping spider DNA with the way you get around." "I won't fall. And maybe they did," the boy said, looking back. The man grunted as Morgan climbed over his lap to join Peter, her head above the boy. "Look what you started, kid. I swear, you're an instigator," he smiled at the two kids smiling at him then turned back. Morgan started playing a game of banana, the two poking each other whenever they saw a yellow car, Peter almost falling a few times with the force of Morgan's pokes.. When they grew bored of the game after a half hour, Peter lounged on the window, basking in the sunlight, while Morgan was busy asking Thor questions about Norway. Tony smiled and leaned back, taking Pepper's hand. Peter opened his eyes when his senses told him someone was coming. Doctor Banner had moved to sit nearer to him, smiling and showing his hands. "I promise I have no needles," he joked, making Peter smile. "Hello, Doctor Banner," the boy said, letting his feet hang from where he sat in front of the window. "Hello, Peter." he looked nervous, which was funny to the teen, because he was the much bigger person here. "Listen...I know you don't trust me, which I understand. But, I...well, I hate being a source of fear for you, for anybody, really. I've had too much of that in the past." He sighed and took off his glasses. "What I'm saying is-" "Doctor Banner," Peter interrupted the man, blushing. "I...I am scared of anyone who wears a lab coat. I know you're a good person, but you're still a scientist at heart. I know you get excited about what I'm capable of, and that's what makes me nervous." He looked down at his fingers, twisting them together. "And I know that you are a scientist as well," Bruce said. "I know that you're wondering what you're capable of, too. And I'm willing to help you find out. No needles, no IV's, I promise. Maybe you can even help figure out how to help fix you." The teen looked up at the man. "About that...I was wondering....maybe you can help me with something I've been trying to figure out? I mean, I have the formula in my head, but, I can't reach everything I would need. It would help me get around by myself a little better when no one's around." He couldn't believe he was asking a scientist for help. But, Doctor Banner hadn't hurt him yet, not even when drawing blood. He'd been kind and gentle, and that put Peter at ease a little. If there was someone he could trust, it seemed like it was the man in front of him. "Oh, yeah sure!" Bruce smiled, his eyes lighting up. "If you could write it down, I can help you, no problem." There was a jerk in the motion of the car and everyone looked around. Peter turned and looked out the window, his face going pale, his head buzzing like crazy. "Get away from the window!" He cried just as the glass shattered. Doctor Banner was the closest to him to grab the boy, pulling him away from the window. Morgan had been thrust to the floor, Pepper over her, a blue armor forming on the woman's body as she protected her child. "Bruce," Tony warned the doctor, who nodded. "I'll try!" he shouted as a car next to the limo crashed, the entire vehicle shaking from the impact. "What the hell is that!?" Clint had his head out of the sunroof, a bow in forming in his hands from his ring. He stared up at what looked like a man in a wing suit, with green eyes glowing from his helmet. Another missile was loading and pointed directly at the limo. Clint looked back. "He's got missiles!" he warned, seeing Tony jump into action, the suit crawling over his body, sunglasses dissolving into it as well. "Get Peter and Morgan out of here!" the man's robotic voice said, then he jumped through the sunroof. Bruce stared at the little teen in his hands and Morgan who was gripping onto her mother, sobbing for her not to go. He couldn't leave her here, but he couldn't leave the rest of them to deal with this mess either. "Bruce!" Pepper shouted. "Go!" she thrust the little girl at him, Peter had already crawled up to the man's shoulder so he could take the girl. "We're already calling in reinforcements!" "Stark! All I want is what you stole!" the man floating above the car said, his voice projecting through his helmet. "What is this guy talking about? Clint asked from on top of the car, shooting his arrows one after another. There was another explosion just as the doctor opened the car door, and Bruce felt the heat of the flames hit his body, and there was nothing he could do. The pain hit him hard, so hard, it turned his skin green. He tried to force the Hulk back, but it was too late. He could feel the rage monster coming out, feel his muscles ripping and tearing before he fell into blissful nothingness. With Morgan in the monster's arms, the Hulk suddenly exploded from the limo, roaring his anger at the man floating in the sky. Morgan sobbed as she was swung from the green monster's arm, holding on to the green giant's muscles for safety. She looked back to see her mother staring in horror as her daughter was subject to the Hulk. She felt eyes on her and looked up to see the green thing staring down at her, its eyes soft and gentle, like Doctor Banner's. "Hulk keep safe," he whispered gruffly, his vision moving to Peter who stood on the green man's shoulder, staring at him. The boy's face filled with fear when Hulk started moving his hand toward the boy. "Hulk keep both safe." Peter could only gasp as the monstrous hand engulfed him in darkness. "Hey!" he pounded on one of the fingers, which twitched, but that was it. "Let me out! Please!" Hulk on the other hand was paying the small boy no mind, focused on dodging the bullets that sprayed at him from the robot that had appeared on the scene out of nowhere. They felt like horsefly bites, stinging and annoying him, but it seemed like they were only trying to get him, and everyone else was just a deterrent. Hulk turned his head, baring his teeth with a growl. "No more!" he roared, feeling the girl in his arm jump. That got him angrier. He roared at the robot, keeping the girl in front of him to keep her safe. He ran as fast as he could, until suddenly his legs were bound from behind, tripping the Hulk up, sending the kids flying. He could see Morgan, but Peter was too small. The teen cried out as the feeling of buoyancy, feeling his stomach raise up to his throat. It stopped when he was caught but, it wasn't human hands he was in. Metal fingers were all around him and at first he thought it was Mr. Bucky, but when they opened and a robotic face stared down at him, he screamed. The droid suddenly jerked and the hands let Peter drop. The boy screamed as hit the ground, rolling a bit, and saw Morgan just on the edge of the highway border, the chunk of concrete destroyed by a truck that had crashed into it. Peter was in pain, but he had to get to her before she fell into the oncoming traffic that was rushing to get away from the battle below! The boy got to his feet, grimacing as he took a few steps, his eyes on the little girl. Morgan was moving, sobs coming from her. The girl rolled a fraction of an inch, then suddenly there was no more ground. With a cry, she scrambled to grab purchase, feeling the asphalt scraping up her fingers until she could feel the wetness of the blood. She sobbed, feeling her legs flailing and looked down, letting out an ear piercing scream. She felt something and looked to see Peter standing before her, his hands grabbing her sleeve. "It's alright!" he cried. "I've got you!" the boy panted as he planted his feet, his grip on the girl's sleeve relentless, pain filling his face. "Just keep your eyes on me!" he cried. He groaned as he pushed against the border, feeling his shoulders pop he screamed, but he still kept pulling, and a second later Morgan moved an inch toward him. He felt his heart flutter and forced himself to keep going, keep pulling. Soon her torso was over the road and the girl used her arms to help pull herself up, letting Peter fall back, panting. The two were trembling for very different reasons, but they were safe. "It's okay," Peter reassured the girl who was staring at him with trusting eyes. She was safe, that was all that mattered.Then, their sense of peace was destroyed by a robot appearing behind them, its lifeless red eyes in its gray tin head focused on Peter. "Get down!!" Peter cried, and the girl turned, her eyes widening. "DADDY!!" Morgan screamed, covering Peter with her bloody hands. Suddenly, something flew from above and knocked the robot down. "Are you alright?" Sam asked, firing his gun at the robot, frowning when nothing happened. "I want my daddy!" the girl sobbed, rubbing her face with one hand. Peter put his hand on her thigh, rubbing it gently.. "It's okay. I'm here. Can you move?" he asked the girl, who nodded. "We have to get away from here, so your mommy and daddy can fight without worrying, okay?" He waited for the girl to nod. "Good girl. Now,-" he was cut off by a large piece of asphalt dropping from the sky, landing on top of him, the weight pinning half his body under it. He cried out from the pain, unable to move his legs, feeling the gravelly surface grinding his skin down every time he tried. He felt it shift and looked up to see Morgan trying to lift the rock from him. "Just run!" He screamed, watching another robot flying over head, focused on the little girl.  "GO!" Then, Thor was there, grabbing the girl, but  apparently he didn't see Peter and took off. "Peter!" Morgan cried, her bloody hand still reaching for him. "We have to go back for Peter! He's stuck!" "I can not do that, Morgan. We need to get you away from the battle first, then I will go back for the small one! Now hold on." The girl sobbed into her 'uncle's' shoulder for her friend. ~~ Tony shot the bot, their design looking familiar, while keeping an eye on the flying guy at the same time. "Friday, give me a scan on both targets." "On it boss," the AI replied.Tony ducked a car thrown at him, then heard a familiar roar followed by a thud. He glanced over his shoulder to see the Hulk down, but then snapping the bonds that entangled his legs a second later. "I'm on the scene," Sam's voice came over the communicator. "Oh shit, is that Peter?" The man's voice sounded shocked. "Anyone know if this kid has super strength?" "Just get my kids out of here!" Tony snapped, too upset to miss the slip up, because he couldn't get to them himself. He missed what Sam said, Friday's voice speaking up. "The man in the suit is Adrian Toomes, boss," Friday told him. "He's a small time thief." It seemed as though Toomes were searching the ground, even getting a little closer. "What's he doing here then? How about the droids?" Tony asked, shooting another robot down, chunks of asphalt went flying. Where the hell were they coming from? "I can't get an exact location!" "That's just great," he muttered. "Thor, we could really use your hammer here, buddy!" "I'm a little busy at the moment, Stark! I have your daughter, I'm taking her to safety," Thor told him and Tony felt his heart start beating again."Just Morgan? What about Peter?" "I could not find him and it was getting too dangerous," Thor replied. Tony turned when he heard Pepper's repuslors go off. "Pep, can you find Peter!?" The woman grunted as she blocked a robot's arm, then blasted it. "I can't shake this guy!" She yelled. "I don't want to put him in danger!" Natasha grunted as she shot at the flying man, watching every one of her bullets bounce off a blue shield. "Shit. My bullets can't pierce his armor!" "Let me try," Wanda flew in from nowhere, getting right in the man's face. "Hello." She lifted her hands. "Goodbye." Suddenly before she could make contact with her powers, an energy pulse was shot at her, making the woman cry out as electricity shot through her body. "Wanda!" Bucky screamed. He watched his girlfriend fall to the ground and screamed, lifting his guns. But, as much as he shot, they didn't make a dent in the man. "My turn," Tony said. He lifted his arm and his armor shifted to a plasma gun, the whine of the weapon powering up in the man's ears before it exploded from him. Just as it was about to hit, something lit up on Adrian's suit and spread around him, stopping the blast with a wave of blue. "Nice try, Stark!" Toomes spoke with amusement. "Your weapons can't touch me! I'm invincib-" Rhodey came flying at the man from behind, tackling him between his mechanical wings. "How about a man?" he asked, bringing the man down. They skidded to the ground, sparks flying from their suits until they stopped. Rhodey punched Toomes, the man's head snapping back, one wing sparking and crooked from the fall. "Big mistake," Toomes said. His hand sparked and before anyone could warn him, Rhodey was sent flying from the man and Toomes scrambled to his feet, and git into the air with a struggle. The colonel came crashing down on the roof of a car, shaking his head. "Okay, no one saw that?" he complained. "Quit complaining, he's getting away! And someone find Peter!"" Tony snapped, his repulsors already firing up, but stopped when he found himself staring at a man's face projected by the robots surrounding him. "Hello, Tony."

@sparrowrider @letsbeinspiredby @carttorchdeatth @6inchicon @ixlovexirondad

[mydearduchess]

11.2.19 12:08am

Dear Duchess,

It’s been just over a day since your passing.  I am still in shock.  I have so many things I want to say to you.  And so many I want to never forget.  

So, I made this blog.  To vent.  To cry.  To remember.  Everything.

Coming home after my first day back to work for the week on October 30, 2019...I wasn’t expecting to see you dying.  You threw up on your blanket again that morning in the bathroom.  And then threw up all the water you drank into the bathtub.  I move you quickly from behind the toilet because it was easier to clean up in the tub.  You curled up in the back of the tub then, as I got ready to leave for the day.  Construction was supposed to be bad again, so I was in a rush to leave.  I pulled your tiny body from the tub, set you on a clean blanket next to your water bowl, and kissed your head.  I said, “I will see you later,” before leaving the bathroom and going to work.  I was fighting a head cold, so I felt pretty bad that day.  My head hurt.  I wanted to stay home another day.

The Sir messaged me later that night before I got home that he was in the bedroom with you kitties, though I assumed he just meant Blade.  When I got home, closer to 1am on Halloween, that’s where I found you all.  Except, instead of loafing on the bed, you were on your side, laying on a pillowcase on the dresser.  Soaked into the pillowcase and your tail was urine.  

You had peed and just laid in it.

For a cat going through Renal Failure, this was a sign to the veterinary student in me.  Because as much as I wanted to say it wasn’t time... you also had hardly eaten that morning, and all day... and I had to work... and it was Halloween.

But it was soon time.  This was the moment I have been dreading for over 18 years.  

I pulled up a seat next to the dresser and cried as I pet you.  Your fur had long been unkempt, it was greasy and thin.  Sir didn’t quite understand my sudden reaction.  But I knew.  So, I talked to you, and cried, and pet your bumpy head.  Those Mass Cell Tumors sure got everywhere, huh?  I told you that it was okay, you could let go.  Let go of the pain, and the fatigue, and the worry.  That I loved you.  And thanked you for everything you taught me and did for me.  You saved my life when I was so low I wanted to die.  You kept me sane and comfortable and loved when dealing with my parents’ issues and my horrible homesickness.  You taught Dana and Joe and so many others what it was like to love a cat.

And I prayed.  For a miracle.  For answers.  For myself... how would I recover?

You see, my Dear Duchess, you were so special, and so smart, and so loved.  There will never be another feline quite like you.  I will never have another companion like you.  The relationship we shared... it was... I can’t describe how unique it was and will ever be.  We grew up together, though you aged so much faster.  You were an integral part of my childhood, my adolescents, my innocence.  

Maybe that’s why this feels so final?  I have grow up... and you won’t be there to share my experiences with me anymore.  I won’t be able to introduce my children to you.  No cat will ever share what we had.  

You were the best cat.  You did tricks.  You came with us on walks and in the car.  You were my guinea pig when I was a child... you taught me about trust.  And you trusted me.  Solely.  

So I hope you don’t hate me for the choice I made that night.  I wanted you to pass at home, in my arms, in your sleep.  I stayed up all night, crying, and trying to hold you.  All you wanted to do was be alone.  Eventually, you spent most of the night sleeping on my pillow, as you had a million times before.  My “hat cat.”  You occasionally bumped my hand with your head, resting it in my palm.  I felt your purrs in your throat, though I could not hear them.  It was a blessing to have that one more time.  You slept quite soundly that night, although you routinely woke up to pee...once on me.  That was okay though.  I didn’t mind.  I got to have you a little longer.  

I called in to work for the day... 10/31/19... I had slept maybe 3 hours.  I called the vet office too.  We made an appointment later in the day... 3:40pm.  I had just 5 hours left with my beautiful, sweet kitten.

So I got some of your favorites.  Milk, fritos, etc.  You know what you loved.  You got cottage cheese too.  We called Mom and William... they got to say good-bye over Facetime.  You stayed curled in my lap on the cloud blanket.  We all knew this was the right time.  Mom finally cried.  After weeks of me fretting and calling her, she finally cried for you.  They loved you too.

Dana and Evan were coming to support us.  While we waited for them and the time grew closer, we brought all 5 of our beautiful kitties to the bedroom to share a can of fancy feast (something you hadn’t had in a while, as you ate a lot of baby food).  You, being the queen, at on the dresser, while the jesters ate on the ground below you.  Let’s be honest, Duchess, you ran the house.

Soon, we were preparing to leave.  I put you in your blue camo harness and leash set, opting that a crate wouldn’t be necessary for this last adventure.  As we left the house, it was cold.  Some snow was on the ground.  I held you close to me, and asked Dana to take some final pictures of us together.  I have so many pictures of you.  But not many of us together.  I kissed your head.  Then Evan wrap the blanket over you and helped me get in the car. 

You looked out the window the whole ride there... even though it was only a few minutes.  It was like you weren’t sick at all.  We were just going for a ride.  I kissed you again and again and whispered so many things to you.  I started to cry again.

They got us in to the room quickly.  A blanket was set on the table, but we put ours on top.  It smelled like home.  Like me.  Like you.

They spelled your name wrong on the papers (don’t know who this “Dutchess” is, but I crossed it out and put the correct name).  I signed the euthanasia and cremation paperwork.  It was finalized.  Not a lot of room to change our minds.  

I asked for just a few more minutes.  You got so many pets.  You rubbed.  I asked Sir to kiss your head and love you, then Dana.  They loved you so much.  The vet came in, and you immediately got up to greet her.  Always the social cat.  You were so good.  

They let me hold you to set the catheter.  She couldn’t use your left leg, due to a tumor bump being right over your vein.  So she clipped a spot on your right leg.  I held off, and she got the catheter in on the first stick.  Your vein was tiny.  You were likely very dehydrated.  But we got it in.  

I didn’t want you to be sedated, but I guess that’s just protocol at this vet.  She put the ketamine in and you slowly started to slump in sleep.  I kissed you and told you I loved over and over.  I was the last thing you saw, and smelled, and hear, and felt.  

As she asked if I was ready, I fell over your body and cried.  “I love you.  Thank you.  You are such a good kitty.”  My ear rested on your chest and I heard your quiet, slow heartbeats come to a stop.  Dana, Sir, and Evan had their hands on me, but I was so hyper-focused on you.  By the time I looked up, the pink fluid was all the way in.  There was no going back. 

The vet had to listen.  She said you were gone.  I asked for a bit of time with you.  I hugged your limp, warm body to me.  This was the good-bye, my dear.  Dana helped me get pictures of each of your feet (FR, FL, RR, RL), and then stamps of them as well.  They aren’t perfect, but that’s okay.  I will get tattoos of all your feet.  You can walk with me forever that way.  

I requested to bag you myself.  I would be the last one to touch your body.  As I placed you in the black cadaver bag, I hugged you hard, one last time.  I tied it.  Placed the paperwork on it.  I left the exam room to ask if I could place your body in the freezer too.  I have to see what time their truck comes on Wednesday.  If I can, I will take you from the freezer and into the truck before your body is finally carried away from me forever.  The next I will see of you is a bag of ash. 

I hope it’s okay that I have you cremated.  I was so worried that if I buried you somewhere, and then moved, that I would never be able to visit you or have you again.  And this way, as I told my Sir, you will be placed in my own coffin someday, to forever be with me.

That’s the story of your death.  I don’t want to forget these details, although I’m sure some of them will fade.  All you need to know and remember is that I LOVED YOU THE MOST.  You will forever be my beautiful, sassy, smart, wonderful kitten.  You will never be forgotten, not by me.  Every cat, every pet, every person, will be compared to you.  And that’s just it, none will compare.  You were my child, my friend, my confidant, my longest relationship aside from my immediate family.  But I guess, in a way, you were my immediate family too.  

And you were over 18 years.  We always celebrated your birthday on Valentine’s Day (2/14/02)... but you were born in the late summer... of 2001.  75% of my life so far has been with you.  From Valentine’s Day to Halloween of 2019... ironic that these are the holidays for you. 

I will write to you often.  And someday, we will meet over that Rainbow Bridge.  Just wait close by, I will be there.  

Love, Missy

[jul-bilant]

Prince!Seokmin/DK

oh my god g u ys  ss dhsdfz,hjv

yall have nO IDEA HOW AGGRAVATED I AM LIKE DSJSHCBHJ

i actually finished this already but tumblr kept on crashing like??? 

hhhhhhhhhh-

anywayyyy this was actually a request but when i checked my inbox,, it disappeared ;-;-;-;-;

so yh, sorry it took so long :’VV

warning! a bit of bloodshed, mentions of murder and drugs and a bit of swearing

s o 

prince seokmin amirite ladies

sosososososo adorable and cheerful like

the epitome of happiness

he has a really good singing voice too !!

so the whole kingdom just fawns over him as he sings lol

but he also really cares for his kingdom and the people he loves

so when you hurt the innocent, prepare for prince seokmin to come at u

so you’re just a norm villager 

and it’s quite late at night, but you forgot to run an errand so you’re doing it last minute

bad idea ik but thts how desperate you are jnsdkjfbskjcb--

you were rushing and took a breather when you suddenly heard rustling in the bushes behind you

you turn around, panicking

literally everything in you was telling you to run

run n   o  w

but you couldn’t move

you were paralyzed, too scared to function properly

the rustling stopped but you still couldn’t move, you were still paralyzed in fear 

and that was your downfall

a hand tugged your hands from behind and pulled you towards them, placing a hand on your mouth as well

you tried escaping from the person’s grip, but it was useless, you were too weak

“got you now, you rat.” 

you knew who that voice belonged to, 

but you just couldn’t believe it

before you could even emit another sound, you were knocked out

when you woke up, you scanned your surroundings

you were in a spacious room with golden designs embedded into the beige walls

but what you were most concerned about was that you were bound to a chair by ropes 

you tried to look behind you but there’s no use, your feet were tied to the chair’s legs

suddenly, you heard the door open from behind you

“i’m her to get answers, and you better give them to me.”

????

the hell??????

“listen, i don’t know what’s happening, but whoever it is that you’re trying to catch, it isn’t me.” you told seokmin

“shut up, i remember your face vividly. there’s no way i could forget it.”

he took your chair and spun it around for you to face him

when your eyes met, you gave him the deadliest glare you could possibly muster

he pulled out a pocket knife and held it against your neck harshly

“where did you hide them?” he asked through his gritted teeth 

“hide what?” you wince at the pain

“the drugs you used on the victims!” he pressed on your neck a little harder

you bit your lip in pain as you felt your blood trickle down a bit

“i’m telling you! i’m not the criminal!” you retorted and he scoffed

“liar! i’m not falling for whatever bullshit you’re spewing-” 

“prince seokmin!”

he was cut off by one of his guards calling his attention

“prince seokmin! we found the actual criminal! the girl is innocent!”

seokmin immediately pulled away from you and bit his lip

he growled in frustration and gripped his pocket knife tighter

you gave him a look, your eyebrow raised and you huffed

“told you. now are you going to untie me or wha- hey!” you yelled when he rushed out of the room 

you groaned in frustration and annoyance

and also in pain because your neck was still bleeding

a few minutes later, the door opened

and who walked was none other than prince seokmin

you didn’t look at him. because you knew that once you did, you’d have to restrain the strong urge to rip his face off

you thought he was going to untie you, but nope

well. he did, but before that. he got on one knee and bowed 

“i.. i’m sorry. i just couldn’t risk possibly endangering other people by setting a criminal free..” he said

“perhaps i could make it up to you?” he offered

you scoffed. “by what? paying me? shallow for a prince who almost killed me.” 

he thought for a while while untying you

“maybe you could live here for as long as you want and be treated like royalty? would that satisfy you?” he suggested

you were dumbfounded and speechless for a good minute

“you can’t be serious, what about your parents? won’t they get upset at you?” you asked him

“no, i just have to explain what happened and they’ll be alright with it.” he said

“well..” you thought about it

“what do you say, y/n?” seokmin reached out his hand 

wait he knew your name?

as if he read your mind, he answered,

“don’t ask, i have my ways.”

you shrugged, well he is the prince

“alright then.” you took and shook his hand

he helps you up and doesn’t let go of your hand just yet

“follow me,” he says and leads you to the little clinic they have in the palace

he sits you down on the bed and takes one of the first aid kits

sitting beside you, he opens it 

“again, i’m so sorry...” he says, feeling guilty about harming you

“it’s alright.. i would’ve reacted like you in that kind of situation anyway..” you assured him with a slight smile

he smiled back, feeling better that you forgave him

he lifted your chin with his finger, “stay like that for a while,” 

he starts treating your wound

as he treats you, you wonder off into your own thoughts

‘how do i explain this to mother and father?..’ 

you thought about how worried they might be at the moment

while you were zoning out, seokmin got the perfect idea of teasing you, just to have a little fun 

taking a band aid, he came closer to your neck and placed in on the wound, but instead of pulling away, he

wait for it

he fr  e a k i n 

k i    s   s  e    s    y o   u   r    n  e   c    k

and bOI

were you hella flustered

you immediately pulled away and stared at him 

“w-wha- what the hell was that for?” you almost shouted

he started to laugh quietly, “nothing, just wanted to see how you’d react.”

you were as red as a cherry (bomb) and he found it really cute

*cue his adorbs giggles jfdkjvbssejnckj*

“well, you should really get some rest..” he got up and called a maid

the maid bowed to you, “greetings, miss y/n.”

you were shocked

“oh, hello, you don’t have to bow to me..” you told her

she smiled, “we really don’t mind, miss y/n, and it;s prince seokmin’s order to treat you royally.” 

you look to seokmin who had a slight smirk playing on his lips, “i told you you’d be treated like royalty.” 

the maid led you to your room and gave you a nightgown to change into 

“thank you,” you told her as she bowed and left

quickly changing into the nightgown, you plop down onto the soft bunch of pillows

you covered yourself with the blanket and fell asleep in an instant

the following morning, you woke up to see a note left on top of the bedside table

‘did you sleep well? hopefully, you did. breakfast is ready, meet me after you eat on the 8th floor. -prince seokmin’

you placed the note back on the bedside table and stretched

you see that a casual gown was left for you to change into

you bathed and did your hair, changing into the gown afterwards

you got to the dining room pretty quickly, you had a good sense of direction and could easily navigate through places

you finish eating breakfast and head to the 8th floor as seokmin said 

and as expected, you were greeted by a beaming seokmin

“come here,” he took your hand 

“where are we going exactly?” you asked and he gave a brief reply 

“my favorite place to go to.”

you found yourself in a room filled with various instruments and a stage 

seeing the harp that was displayed, you sat down and admired it

although you didn’t know how to play other instruments, your mother’s favorite instrument was the harp, and so it was yours too

“you know how to play?” seokmin asked you

you nodded and starting strumming the strings, creating beautiful melodies 

seokmin recognized the song and started singing along to it’s lyrics

you would be lying if you said you weren’t mesmerized by his voice

you almost strum the wrong strings, being distracted by his voice

“you play really well!” seokmin complimented you

you thanked him, telling him he had a really gifted voice 

you both spent quite a while just staying in that room, but he had princely duties to do so he took his leave first

you stayed though

you spent a good portion of your day just playing the harp and making more melodies and letting nostalgia engulf you

this went on for weeks and these meet ups gradually get longer and longer

sometimes neither of you notice that it’s already 10 pm or smth lmao

yall r cute jhcflcjhc--

one night, you were awaken by a knock on your door

you slowly get up and open the door to see a butler

“miss y/n.. i apologize for interrupting your sleep, but a woman who claims to be your aunt is downstairs, she says it’s an urgent matter.”

you quickly thank him and quickly rush downstairs to find your aunt crying hysterically

in a frantic state, you rush to her and ask her what was wrong

“y-your parents... y/n i-.. i’m so s-sorry..” she sobbed weakly

“w-why? what happened to them?” you asked, scared of knowing but in dire need to

“t-they.. they were murdered..”

tears brimmed your eyes 

“wha-.. h-how?” 

“someone broke in.. they robbed the house and shot them...” she explained trying to catch her breath

you on the other hand were hysteric

it dawned upon you that you haven’t tried contacting your parents and it’s been weeks since you’ve disappeared

you felt like a good for nothing daughter

you disappear for weeks and live a royal life, leaving your parents behind

you felt awful

the cries you let out eventually were heard by seokmin so he panicked

he went downstairs and saw you and your aunt crying

he got concerned and approached the both of you and asked what happened

since you were too upset to actually form coherent words, your aunt explained everything

seokmin felt bad and enraged that someone would do such a thing 

he told your aunt to spend the night here to ensure her safety and asked a maid to assist her to her room

slowly, he takes your arms from your face

“y/n?..” he engulfs you in a hug and lets you cry out your sadness

“hey..it’ll be alright.. we’ll catch them and give them the punishment they deserve..” he comforted you

“come, you should sleep, you’ll get a headache in the morning if you don’t.” he helped you to your room and tucked you in your bed

he stood up, about to exit your room

but you stopped him from doing so

“don’t leave..” your voice came out rough and weak from sobbing

hearing your plea, he couldn’t say otherwise

“i won’t..” 

he got into the bed with you and took your face in his hands

“don’t worry, okay?.. i’m always here for you..” he told you softly

you nodded 

“i-..” you paused,

“believe you.”

in that moment, seokmin took a risk

something that would change the way you see each other

getting closer (sumi chage--), he closed the gap between the both of you

he kissed you passionately, you could feel his love radiating from the kiss

pulling away, he ran his hand through your hair

“i love you, y/n..”

“i love you, too, seokmin..”

and you both fell asleep, cuddling each other

[xaz-fr]

The Story So Far

@deadpool-scar-bro @hikayelastoria @cornsnoot-fr @redlion-fr @mushroomdraggo @murdoch-fr @tales-around-sornieth @frxemriss @rainhearts-hatchery @rexcaliburr-fr @starry-ampelope @plainstriderbard @reanimatedfr @voltaic-ambassador @sirensage-fr @journey-taken-fr @ally-fr @golden-lionsnake​ @rookfern-fr @fr-dew​ (let me know if you’d like to be added to the lore pinglisn't)

Ty and Heliconia are in dragon form, Nads is humanoid for this one

Been waiting to move on with my lore (fucking Astra) before I gened Tyberion here and now I finally did! Fully gened except for his WC scroll which woin'thappen until later in his and Nadalin's lore.

Fresh Coat

Heliconia didn't like what he was doing. Why he was doing it. He looked at his hide in the reflection of a too small mirror. It looked different now. He looked different. He wasn't sure how much he liked it now that it was like this. It was a big change but he'd worked for it. He'd spent a lot of time away from Nadalin to look this way, for her. He swallowed.

“How do I look?” he asked his mother who was laying on a sack chair casually, looking at him preen. He tried to smile but felt too nervous to do so.

“Like you value form over substance,” she said, face disapproving.

“That sounds like something father would say,” he said. It made hi, feel bad. His mother didn't deserve that. But he knew now that she was as manipulated by his father as he had been. 

“No, your father would say that you are a disgrace to survival,” Heliconia said. “And that if you cannot get by with yourself and just change everything about yourself to survive than you aren't worthy of surviving.”

“Well thank the Eleven he isn't here then,” Tyberion said.

“Your Charge doesn't care what you look like, son. Neither should you,” Heliconia said.

Tyberion’s head fins closed in annoyance. “I think I look nice,” he said. He had had several of the others help him decide what scrolls he would take the time to gather. Aten had been a great help. Him and Astra actually. It was striking how quickly Aten’s mood had changed once his sister started living with him in that house to the South. If Tyberion didn't know any better he'd say the miserable lout was happy. 

And he knew his Charge didn't care what he looked like. But he cared if Nadalin thought he looked good, handsome. The plates along his chest itched thinking about it, right over his second heart. Oh Gods he was going to go see Nadalin soon. That was terrifying. “Does looking this way please you, son? Did you not like the way you were born?” Heliconia asked him.

“Mama,” he said, looking at her, “I was born in a decaying bay full of disease and rot to an insane sire and… you,” he tempered his words. He knew that Heliconia’s words were just bred from fear that he would abandon her. She had her own Charge but Tetra just saw her as a friend, a slightly annoying one at that. “My looks weren't exactly either of your primary concern. And you look lovely,” he added, “but I'm not there anymore. I need to look like I belong in this place. I can't when I literally look like I crawled out of a plague infested not.” His friends would never say it but Aten’s lovely niblings asked why his displayed genes were ugly. Aten had, of course, instantly hushed them and told them that was rude but Tyberion had felt that deeply.

“I suppose,” Heliconia allowed but still sounded unhappy. “And you aren't doing this to get back at me?”

“Mama, no,” he huffed. “Now we should leave. You need to go help Tetra, it's getting rather late in the day.” He went over to his mother and pushed her to his feet. As he did he realized how much bigger he was than her. He hadn't even noticed when he's grown larger than her. It happened while in the Hall.

Heliconia clambered to her feet. “Yes, I suppose so,” she sighed. She rubbed her head against his affectionately. “Don’t come home too late now.”

“I won't,” he promised and then before Heliconia could say anything else he practically bounded out of their shed of a house. Not that it mattered. All they did was sleep in it. It was a warm, dry, place to sleep and little else was needed. It was practical, serviceable, fit Heliconia’s sensibilities.

Once outside Tyberion lept into the air and flew out over the mangroves to where the wind stirred. He landed amid the bamboo stand and made sure he still looked okay. He was very nervous about Nadalin seeing him like this for the first time. He'd been away for a bit getting all his new look applied and now… and now he was showing his Charge that he'd changed. It shouldn't matter of course. She was his Charge. She shouldn't care he looked different. But he hoped she did. Because he had… other feelings for her and oh wasn't that something he could never tell his mother without her getting cross with him. A Guardin and Charge was a sacred bond between two things. She claimed that you couldn't and shouldn't be romantic with your Charge. Of course she did have the bad history of his father pretending she was his Charge  warping her perception on what was and wasn't a valid thing you do with ones Charge. At least that was what he told himself so he didn't feel guilty about his feelings.

After making sure he looked alright he stepped out of the bamboo and down the path to where Nadalin's little hut was. She was, as always, at her work table. But at this time of day she was freshly out of bed and drinking a cup of morning tea from Shai’s fields. She was idly making notes of some sort in a notebook and didn't notice him until his shadow fell across her. She looked up and for a moment she looked confused. “Tyberion?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“By the Wimdsinger!” she got to her feet and came around her table, looking up at him. “I didn't even recognize you! But look at you, you're all scrolled. Where did you get so many scrolls?” Her Wimd eyes were bright and curious and not at all as judgemental as his mother’s or as disapproving as he had feared.

“I was saving,” Tyberion said. “It was a busy time for use you know, with the Night of the Nocturne.” He'd never worked so hard I'm his life. “What do you think?” he asked, still nervous.

“Bring your head down here, let me see you,” she said and he obediently lowered his head down to her level. He supposed he should have realized he was hard to see while she was in her dragonoid form.

She took his entire head in her hands and his facial fine snapped open. She had a kind smile spread across her face as she looked him over. “Yes yes, very handsome indeed,” she said with teasing approval. Tyberion’s eyes widened at that. She thought he was handsome!? He tried not to think too much about it. Aten also called him handsome and Aten wasn't interested in him like that. No use getting excited.

“You think so?” he asked her.

“Why not?” she beamed at him. Then she frowned, “Your mother said otherwise didn't she?”

“… Maybe,” he allowed.

“Uhg, you need to stop listening to her, Tyberion. You're much better than she acts like you must be.”

“Yes,” he just agreed. It did upset him that the two most important women in his life, his mother and his Charge, did not get along at all. He found that just agreeing with them about whatever they said about the other without offering any counters or judgement was the best way to go about it. “But you think my new display looks nice?” he said to distract her from her opinions on Heliconia. 

“Yes,” she said nicely. “Your future mate is going to be very lucky to have such a well general mate,” she patted his snout. No that was not the reaction he wanted. “You going to help me with so,e work today or does someone else need your services?”

“I am at your disposal, as always,” Tyberion said. Fjord liked to drag Tyberion into helping him and Aten around the Hall because he was still in dragon form and between him and Aten (who was smaller at the shoulder but longer than him) they could bully any piece of lumber or masonry into submission. Johanna also said there would be no working for a while. She was quite exhausted from the Night and needed a respite.

“Great. I need some help cutting down some of the bamboo. It's getting a bit out of hand.”

“Of course. I was rather hungry today, I think I can handle some bamboo.”

“No you silly,” she cried even as she laughed. He gave her a dragon’s smile. 

[captnbarnesrogers]

Who You See

Pairings/Characters: Billy Hargrove x Reader, Max, OC Teachers Warnings: Angst, attempted sexual assault, swearing, safe sex, Billy beating some dude’s ass, oral sex (fr), Billy’s abusive dad Summary: After a bad night, Billy tries to break up with you. Word Count: 3k+ A/N: This is my first Billy fic, let me know what you think! Billy tags are open now 😊

The school bell had rung, and everyone had walked out of the classroom filled with educational posters and diagrams. Chatter filled the room and suddenly, your teacher knocked on your desk.

“Bell has rung, Y/N.” He smiles, empty mug in his hand.

“Well, would it be okay if I stayed in here for a little longer? I have to study for this chem test.” He stood there for a moment deciding.

“I guess,” He chuckles, “I’ll close the door so it’s a little quiet for you, okay?” You nodded, “Okay. See you tomorrow, Y/N.” He walked towards the door and stopped in his tracks to greet someone by the door, “Mr. Hargrove.”

“Sir.” He replied. Mr. Howard looked back at you and you nodded implying you would take care of the situation before he walked out with a smile. Billy walked towards you with a toothpick placed between his lips and stopped by your desk, “I need help with studying trig, think you can help out?” You walked from your desk and stood in front of his before leaning up and placing a kiss on his lips.

“Sure.”

Billy Hargrove was a man of many faces. One face he showed everyone, another to his family, and his real face was only for your viewing. To everyone else Billy Hargrove was tough and almost cool enough to be the King of the entire school but to you Billy was the one who urged you to better than you ever did. He helped you study and learn even if he couldn’t understand it himself. Sometimes he’d get insecure and be so out of himself he’d just lay himself on your shoulder and sigh at the sight of you. Some days he’d need rough kisses to forget who he was but most days he would leave chaste kisses on your body as he reminded you how much he cared for you. You’d promised that you’d stay no matter what.

“What are you even doing in here? It’s lunch time, you nerd.” He laughs, tracing his fingers on your books.

“Studying for the chem test?”

“Shit, completely forgot about that, can you help me with that too?” You giggled and grabbed your books off the table, “Let me carry those.” You pulled your books away and you shook your head.

“These are my books, carry your own.” You kissed him, “You didn’t even have to ask.” He grabbed your hand, kissed your temple and led you out of the classroom, closing the door behind you both.

You were considered the ‘odd’ couple of Hawkins High since A. You both weren’t entirely fond of each other when you first met; B. Billy wasn’t exactly the commitment type, and C. What would good little Y/N be doing with a guy like Billy Hargrove? Some people couldn’t understand and that was okay because it wasn’t their relationship, it was yours. Like every day at Hawkins High School, you received weird stares and envious glares, but Billy just held your hand tighter and pulled you closer. You wished people knew the Billy you knew because he was nothing but kind and caring but you knew the reason why he was the way he is. He’d opened up to other people before and he was taken advantage of and on top of that, his relationship with his father wasn’t exactly the greatest. It was nothing short of terrible.

You first met Billy during his first time roaming the halls of Hawkins High. Being your clumsy self, you were late for class and bumped into him.’

“Goddamn it, this is going to lower my attendance.” You spoke to yourself. You looked at your side and clipped your bag shut. You suddenly bumped into a hard body, making you fall to the ground.

“Hey there, Squirt.” You rolled your eyes at him as he helped you up.

“Squirt yourself, dude.” He scoffed and stood in front of you.

“I’m Billy, new here, don’t know where the hell I’m going, I’m feeling like an airhead.” You sighed.

“Well, where are you headed?”

“English with Miss Radford.” You took the paper in his hand to make sure he had the room right.

“Come with me.”

“You don’t have to take me to class, I’m not three.” You rolled your eyes.

“How about you chill because we’re going to the same place?” Billy laughed nervously. He had never really felt like this before, to be told what to do by a girl. He found out quite attractive that someone was putting him in his place but of course, he had a reputation to uphold. When you arrived to the classroom, you opened the door and at the same time, you and Billy tried to get through the door, in turn, made you stuck which fuelled your annoyance with this stranger even more. You groaned as laughter filled the air.

“Miss Y/L/N, it’s nice of you to show up and you’ve brought a friend.” Miss Radford says, pushing up her glasses, “Introduce yourself, Mr…”

“Hargrove.”

“Mr. Hargrove.”

“I’m Billy, moved here from California,” You watched as the other girls fawned over the blonde-haired man with hungry eyes, “and I’m going to make that girl,” He points at you, “fall in love with me.” You stood up from your seat.

“You’re a fucking hoser!” Gasps commenced as he laughed at you. Miss Radford was wide-eyed, while Billy blew a kiss at you.

“Y/N, you’ve earned yourself a trip to the principal.”

“But-”

“Go.” You walk to her desk and grab the office slip from her hand, beginning the walk of shame to the principal’s office.

By lunch time, you were at peace although you were given a warning by the principal which seemed to be the cherry on top of your sundae; today was not your day. You sat inside the library checking out some books for your biology class when suddenly someone sat in front of you at the table.

“’Sup.”

“Why do you hate me?” You groan, looking up at the ceiling like there was some God watching you suffer.

“I don’t, I just like to annoy you.”

“I can tell, it’s your first day and you’ve already pissed someone off.” You looked back down at your book, reading on. He sat there tapping his nails on the wooden table and suddenly, you slammed your book shut and looked up at him, “Can I help you?”

“You can actually, I’m new here-”

“No shit.” He laughed.

“I need someone to show me around.”

“Well, can you find one of the freshmen to do it because I’m kinda busy.” You picked up your books and walked out the library doors, only to be followed by him.  He started walking beside you.

“See, the thing is, I don’t like the freshmen, they’re annoying little narbos but you,” he puts his arm around you, “I like you.” People started staring at you as soon as his arm landed on your shoulder.

“Find yourself a bimbette who’d be interested.” You shrugged off his arm and began walking away from him, leaving him stranded in the hallways by himself.

When the clock struck three, you made your way out the doors of the school and towards the alleyway home. You felt a presence following you but shrugged it off as rats being chased by stray cats. Suddenly, you were pushed onto the alleyway wall. You dropped your bag and books to the wall as a boy began to tear off your jumper. As quick as he grabbed you, he was pushed off of you with a force, making him fly a few metres away from you. On top of your attacker hovered a jean-jacketed, blonde-haired man, his fist drove into the guy’s face and you ran over to pull him off.

“Billy! Stop it, Billy! You’re gonna kill him!” He fell on you as you pulled him back. He panted, and he helped you up, pulling you close to him.

“Let’s go.” You stared at the guy on the ground, groaning and spitting out blood on the floor, “Y/N, let’s go!” You ran towards him to catch up with his quick strut. Mindlessly, you ended up in his car. You clutched on your jacket and tried to breathe, “Are you okay?” You nodded, “Y/N.”

“I- I don’t know what happened- He- He just came out of nowhere…”

“We have to wait for Max but I’m driving you home, okay?” You nodded.

“Max?” You questioned.

“My stepdad’s kid.” You flinched when the back-passenger door opened.

“Who’s this?” The redheaded girl asked with curiosity, “You know dad won’t let her in the house-”

“Shut the fuck up and get in the damn car, Max.”

“Don’t speak to her like that!” You snapped, “She’s your sister!” He scoffed, and you noticed his knuckles turn white on the steering wheel as he turned the engine on.

“That’s bullshit, she’s not my fucking sister.”

“Billy, whether you like it or not, Max is your sister, she’s a part of your family, even if it isn’t by blood, so don’t speak to her like that.” You looked up at the rear-view mirror and watched the sides of Max’s mouth widen into a smile, a sign that not one person had stuck up for her before.

“Whatever.”

“Max, I’m Y/N.” You turned in your seat and held a hand out to Max. She shook it and smiled, mouthing a ‘thank you’. You looked down at her feet, noticing a skateboard, “You ride?”

“Yeah, you?”

“I did when I was your age.” Billy found himself with wide eyes, unexpected of a girl like you, “You know what, I kept my board, it just needs a change of wheels but maybe we can ride to school together some time?” She nodded.

“Sure.” You turned back to watch where Billy was going and pointed him in the right direction to your house. Soon enough, Billy pulled up to your house and you opened the passenger door, grabbing your bag and books. You got out and peeked your head in the window.

“Thank you, Billy.” He nodded, his stare straight ahead, hand on the steering wheel. You turned your head to Max, “Will you let me know if your brother gives you any trouble?” Max nodded and smiled at you, waving goodbye as the engine of Billy’s car revved away.

At two am, your head was spinning from all the studying and you were starting to fall asleep when you heard a knock at your bedroom window. You saw a silhouette of a person but not a face. Out of your bedside table drawer, you grabbed a bottle of pepper spray. The light knocking continued and once you opened your window, Billy stumbled into your room.

“Jesus Christ, you scared me.” You clutched at your night gown, “What are you doing here, you zeek?” He stood up from the ground and in the light of your room, you saw the bruises on his face and the tears that ran from his eyes, “Holy shit, are you okay?” You put your hands on his shoulder and led him to the bed, sitting him down, “Who did this to you, Billy?” He sat there in silence, “Okay, um, just let me go get the first aid kit.” When you turned to walk towards your door, Billy pulled you back to him, his head crashing with your stomach, his arms wrapping around your waist. You felt him start to sob, “God, Billy, what happened? Who did this to you?” Your hands stroked his hair and rubbed his back. You felt oddly close to this man who you’d met earlier that day but somehow you also felt like this guy had never really let people see him like this and kept it all bottled up. After a few minutes of calming him down, he let go of you, letting you sit beside him.

“My dad.” He whispers.

“What?”

‘My dad, he did this to me. It- it happens a lot.” He stammers.

“Jesus.”

“Y/N, I have nowhere else to go around here and I don’t wanna go back there.” You stood up and faced him, confused, “One night, Y/N.”

“One night?” It took you a minute to catch on to his suggestion, “Here!?” He nodded. Your arms were folded, and you thought about it for a second. It wouldn’t be too bad, and you were helping someone out. You sighed, “One night, Hargrove and you’re not staying in my bed with those clothes on.” He chuckled.

“You want me to sleep naked in your bed?”

“No, you moron, I’m getting you some clothes from the spare closet.” You giggled. That night Billy had never felt safer. He felt warmth and care, something hadn’t felt in a long time.

Since that night, Billy kept you close and cared for you until one day he admitted to you that he had, in fact, liked you. Now, ten months on, he still felt the same feelings for you, but he felt like his home problems were getting in the way. He was a changed man, to say the least, he was kinder to Max, he kept his anger intact, he wasn’t a player but the only thing that hadn’t changed was the way his father treated him. He turned up at your window like every other time. He entered your room with wet eyes and bruises on the sides of his mouth.

“You could’ve used the front door, mom and dad are away for the week.” You turned around and saw his state, “Jesus-”

“We need to break up.” He choked.

“What?” You walked towards him, “Why?”

“Because we do, Y/N!”

“I- I don’t understand, what did I do?” You caressed his cheek and forced him to look at you.

“It’s not you… Y/N, I’m- Just- My life is fucked up! I’m fucking up your life!”

“No, no, no, baby, no, that’s not true, you’ve- you’ve made my life so much better! Billy, please.” You leaned up and kissed the tears away from his cheek.

“I’m so fucked up, I don’t understand how you can be with me.”

“Because I love you.” You cried. He looked up at you. It was the first time you had said it.

“You what?”

“I love you so goddamn much, Billy Hargrove, I don’t care what you were like in the past because I can see you changing and I am so fucking sprung up on you and I just-” He stops you midsentence and crashes his lips onto yours. He slides his hands under your thighs and carries you to the bed, laying you down gently. His hands travel up your thigh and up your waist, your night gown rising up. You stopped for a minute to throw your night gown off. You quickly threw off his jacket and t-shirt and he began kissing down your body. He left a trail of wet kisses on your bra covered breasts, down your stomach and just above the waistline of your panties, making you buck your hips. He kissed your covered clit which made you buck your hips onto his mouth as your hands gripped his blonde hair. Your bra strap had fallen down your arm as his fingers tangled themselves on the sides of your panties and pulled them off in a quick move. You shuddered when the cold air hit your pussy. He placed his mouth around the hardened nub, making you gasp and bite your bottom lip. Your hands tugged his hair tightly when a finger entered your wet entrance. You arched your back as he pushed his finger in and out, hitting your g-spot repeatedly, while his moth continued its assault on your clit. You bit back a moan when he added a second finger, going in and out with a come-hither motion faster, “Billy! Oh god!” He could feel you getting close and stopped, climbing up your body with his wet fingers. He looked you dead in the eyes and sucked off your wetness off of his fingers. If anything, that only made you wetter. You pushed his lips onto yours, his hands now gripping your hips tightly. You sat up and grabbed a condom from your bedside drawer and feverishly started taking off Billy’s belt. You unzipped his pants and pulled out his hard cock. You stroked him slowly, making him tilt his head back while he was on his knees on you bed. His mouth was agape, and his eyes were rolled back in pleasure. Suddenly, he pushed you down to the bed, took off his pants and rolled the condom on his shaft. He hovered over you and kissed your lips.

“You ready?” You nodded.

“Yes.” The head of his cock teased your pussy before fully sheathing himself inside of you.            

“Fuck, y-you are so good to me.” Your hands held onto his biceps tightly as he snapped his hips into you.

“Oh fuck- O-oh fuck, Billy!”

“I know, baby.” He rested his forehead onto yours and leaned down to kiss you. You dug your fingers into his biceps as he thrusted faster and harder into you, “I’m gonna fucking cum!”

“Me- Me too!” The pace of his thrusts were beginning to slow and become erratic as both of your climax begin to approach.

“Cum for me, cum for me, sweetheart.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh fuck!” Waves of electricity crashed throughout your body as you came, clenching on his cock, his orgasm following after yours.

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” He chants, his hips going tense and still before rolling off of you and putting the condom in the bin. He covers himself again in your bed sheets, pulling you closer. He pulls you in for a kiss and smiles, his hand moving your hair out of the way, “Do you mean it?”

“What?”

“That you love me?” You nodded and kissed him.

“Completely and utterly sprung on you, Hargrove.” He kissed you once again before chuckling.

“I told that entire English class that I’d do it.”

MASTERLIST

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@winchester-negan-one-shots @stevette60 @marvelous-fvcks @marvel-fanfiction @potterhead1265@zoejohnson8 @frickin-bats @iamwarrenspeace @kenmen02 @captianwintersoldier @noelia8villa @bucky-bear-barnes@hollycornish @capsheadquaters @duncedgoofball @abouttimefortea @buchananbarnestrash @minervaem @barnes-heaven @buckyywiththegoodhair @mellifluous-melodramas @heartmade-writingbucky @hellomissmabel @justanotherbuckydevotee @alphaabucky @firebendergirl33 @naenae87 @sunnyfortomorrow @aya-fay @terraling @topthis808 @savebxrnes @lediskogirl @mizzzpink @janellexox0 @potterhead1265 @lara-ludbey @bread-poet-society @nichola-royse @jjlevin @shliic

[potentiallymrsdevorak]

In Fields of Flowers (The Arcana)

Chapter Five: Tea Roses (I’ll Remember, Always)

Pairing: Julian x Nijah

Summary: Nijah has contracted the plague. How will she spend her last days? Will Julian find a cure in time?

Word Count: 4700~

Author’s Note: Long overdue but this is the final chapter in the series! I’ve really enjoyed writing it but will probably not do another series for a long time! They are a lot of work (if you know me from the last fandom I was in you would know lol). I really hope you guys enjoyed and I will still continue writing!!!

Tagging: @drunkenomnist, @rromanovv, @juliandevoraknsfw

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The first day was not as bad as she anticipated.

Sure, her body ached a little bit, but without noticing the red sclera, she would have never known she was sick.

She was quarantined right away, in the same room she has been in ever since she started treating other patients. Funny how the tables have turned, she thought as Dr. Satrinava came in to run tests on her. Her thumb rubbed against the ring that sat on her finger, twirling the band round and round in anticipation.

“You too, Nijah?”

“Seems so.”

The doctor tisked and shook their head, looking over their notes. “So it says that you saw it this morning right after you woke up. Was there something you may have done to cause the spread of the plague?”

“I took off my mask right after my last patient died.”

“Ah, I see.” Satrinava answered, scribbling frantically in their notes. Nijah knew they were silently judging her, for that was something they had taught all the apprentices not to do a long time ago. “It spreads much quicker than we anticipated…” Muttering a few key notes to themselves, they folded the paper and placed it in their pocket.

The doctor began a series of tests and treatments - some that were quick and practically painless, and some that felt horrible and lasted all day. She was forced to lather herself in animal bile, dance until her feet nearly bled, drink an herbal mixture that tasted nothing like she had imagined, and a few other things that truly made her feel even worse than before.

“Dr. Satrinava...do you think that all of this will work?” Nijah asked as she inhaled the scent of a dead rat through her nostrils. She silently applauded herself from not gagging.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try…” They said before packing up their medicinal cart. “I will be coming back with your dinner soon. Thank you for being cooperative with me today.”

“No problem...as long as the cure is found soon.”

“By the way,” they added, “as you were changing into your patient’s gown, I noticed that there was a document left in here for you.” They handed you a piece of paper, folded ever so perfectly. She knew exactly what this was.

As Dr. Satrinava exited the room, she curled up in the corner of her cot, opening the delicate piece of paper slowly. The way the ink traveled across the paper made her feel a sense of relief, and she swore his scent was embedded in the paper itself. It was as if she was in his arms all over again as her fingers trailed over every single word he had written for her eyes only.

My darling Nijah,

It pains me so much to leave your side. I would even be upset if I was only gone for a day. However, I do not know how long I will be away from you, which breaks my heart the most.

If you are reading this, it means that I am already at the palace in Vesuvia. Funny, isn’t it, that the castle was what brought us together and now it is tearing us apart? It’s a bittersweet irony that I cannot stop thinking about.

But although I cannot be with you now, I want you to know that my heart only longs for you. You’re the one I want to come home to every night, to wake up next to every morning, to spend every waking moment of every day. I can’t stop thinking about it, a life with you is the only thing I want.

One might think how I fell for you so quickly. Call it fate, call it destiny...when I first saw you in the ballroom, I knew I had found the one. You’ve been so kind, so sweet, so caring and loving to a man who doesn’t deserve anything at all...when I’m with you, Nijah, I’m home.

I promise I will marry you. I have another ring picked out so I may properly propose to you. We can take our time or we can rush things...whatever you want. I’m going to give you the life you’ve always wanted.

Wait for me. Please.

I love you,

Dr. Julian Devorak

Nijah held the paper close to her heart and clutched her swollen stomach with the other hand, the tears overflowing from her eyes. She realized she could never give him the future that he deserved.

And that made her feel worse than the plague ever could.

By the second day, her spirits were already low.

When she fell asleep the night before, she felt nothing but emptiness. She missed having Julian by her side, let alone anyone around her, and she tossed and turned in the cot until she finally drifted off to sleep. However, her mind was only filled with nightmares, waking her up after what felt like a few moments of sleep. She could feel the eye bags bulging as she woke up, not even able to be cured by a fresh breeze.

She knew that her body was aching and trembling, so much that even Dr. Satrinava was concerned. They ceased to do too many treatments that day for her sake, but still made their best attempt to give her some relief. But even the leeches weren’t enough.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not really.” Nijah eyes the parasite sucking her blood out of her. This probably isn’t good for the baby, isn’t it? “It just makes me feel a little more...drained.”

The doctor chuckled under her breath, eyes twinkling a bit as she carefully peeled off the creature. “Even at your worst, you’re still trying your best. I respect that, Nijah.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

They placed the leech back in it’s jar and prepared to leave until tomorrow. “I will have someone else bring your dinner momentarily. I think it might make you feel better than the leeches.”

As if right on cue, there was a knock on the door to the room. The door creaked as another plague mask with a plate of warm food came into view.

“Hello?”

Nijah knew that voice right away, her entire face lighting up. “Katja!” She sprung up out of her seat a little too quickly, making her knees wobble as she fell right back into her spot.

Katja rushed over to her side. “Hey, don’t hurt yourself!” She laughed as she helped Nijah get settled in. She placed a soft blanket over her legs and placed the plate in her lap.

Dr. Satrinava nodded at the two friends, a smile crossing over their features. “Then I will leave you to it, Doctor 193.” And with one last wave, she was gone for the evening.

“Nijah, Nijah...what am I going to do with you?” Katja crossed her arms over her chest. “How in all the seven hells did you catch the plague?”

“I’m not the smartest, you see,” Nijah said with a mouth full of potatoes, “and I took off my mask after my last patient died.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I didn’t want to fill it with my tears.”

“Oh, that’s right…” Katja remembered their conversation previously in the dining hall, and how Nijah’s best friend from home had to die under her care. “I guess that is valid. Didn’t think the plague would spread so quickly, huh?”

“Definitely not.” Nijah moved on to the meat, chewing it roughly. It was more tender than she was used to.

“Have you heard from Dr. Devorak since you left?” Katja wiggled her eyebrows and gave her a smug grin.

“No, but…” Nijah sighed. “He wrote me a letter that I read yesterday. And he wanted me to stay here until he came back from Vesuvia, but it seems like that will be impossible now.”

Katja’s eyebrows knit sadly, her gloved hand rubbing against Nijah’s leg. “I’m sorry, dear.”

“He wants to marry me, Katja.” She confessed, holding out her ring finger for her friend to see. “He wants to spend the rest of his life with me. And I can’t even give him that.”

Katja’s gaze trailed over to the golden band, shining in the dim light of the room. “It’s beautiful, Nijah…”

“Want to know the worst part?” She choked up, her right hand pressing her stomach. “I’m...I’m pregnant, Katja.” She squeezed her eyes shut, the vulnerability of revealing such a huge secret frightening her.

Katja’s jaw nearly came unhinged from her skull. “Nijah...when were you going to tell me?” She shuffled closer to her friend, holding her ear next to her friend’s stomach. “How far along are you?”

“I have no idea. Jul-I mean, Dr. Devorak and I have...done it many times.”

Her friend’s face twisted in confusion. “Wait a minute. Just how many times are we talking about here?”

“Well…”

And so Nijah told her the whole story, how she met Dr. Devorak as a stranger at the masquerade, how he quite figuratively (and literally) swept her off her feet. From the enchanting first night they spent together to the time he cornered her in his office, telling her to forget that there was anything even between them. How Luka had tried to kill her if she didn’t let him have her body for the night, and how Dr. Devorak saved her life. She didn’t leave out any details, any moments, any words that he may have said. She wanted Katja to know everything.

A huge weight lifted off her shoulders as she finished the story. “And then he had to leave. Just like that. And he still doesn’t know…”

“Nijah…” Katja shook her head and let her gaze cross across the floor.

“And there’s no way he’ll ever know. He’ll never be back in time...to give me the cure…”

Nijah’s eyes overflowed with tears once more, a sensation she has become quite familiar with. She was hopeless by this point. She would never see Dr. Devorak again. She would never tell him that she had been carrying his child for months. She would never get to marry him. She would never spend the rest of her life with him.

In fact, she would be lucky if she even got to take a step outside of the walls of her cell, holding her back as if she was a prisoner. Nothing could save her from this terrible fate.

Katja knew her words couldn’t help her friend this time. As Nijah cried, she held her friend close to her chest, at least trying to give her one last bit of comfort before she was gone forever.

The third day was the worst of them all.

Nijah could barely feel anything but fire burning through her body. It hurt to move, to blink, hell, it even hurt to breathe. The ring and the rest of the clothes made it feel like something was holding her underwater, not giving her any room to catch her breath. Every time she coughed, it was like she was being stabbed in her chest. The blood splatters on the floor and on her hand made it more believable, as well.

She curled up on her side in the cot, not wanting to move a muscle any longer. She was ready to leave this world.

Katja came and saw her one more time. She was surprised to see her dear friend in such a terrible state. It looked like she hadn’t eaten in days, her body was nearly skin and bones, and she looked much paler than normal. The red dots on the ground were what worried her the most

“Wh...what happened here?” She asked with a worried tone, getting down on her knees to examine the spots left all over her side of the room. “You didn’t try to...” she continued, looking at her friend’s wrists.

As if on cue, another cough racked Nijah’s body, blood spurting out of her mouth and landing right at Katja’s feet. She fell deeper into the cot, feeling defeated. She was essentially hopeless.

“Nijah…” Katja muttered, a gloved finger rubbing through the droplets, “This...we’ve never seen something like this in a patient before. Have you?”

Nijah shook her head to the best of her ability. She thought she saw Selene cough up blood, but she couldn’t remember in her state.

“This...this is the biggest breakthrough we’ve made yet!” Katja jumped up, immediately jotting down as many notes as she could. “We can take samples of your blood and run tests on them. Valdemar and Satrinava could send the data results to Dr. Devorak and it could get him closer to the cure for...for…”

Her eyes fell on her dying friend. She had never seen someone she cared for looking so malnourished, so horribly fucked over in this way. A wave of sadness crashed over her mind as she came to sit next to her on the cot. 

“Ah, Nijah...I have a lot to thank you for. Not just for this. But I think you’ve made me better.” Katja took her clean gloved hand and patted her on the back. Nijah winced a bit, taking a gasp of air (that, of course, made her feel much worse).

“Ah, probably not the best thing to do right now.” Katja placed her hand in her lap, interlacing it with her other fingers. “...I mean it, though. Your kindness to me has helped me not be so bitter. Involving me in your life has made me feel like a part of something bigger than myself. I will cherish this friendship forever and ever. I’ll…” she sniffed, holding back tears. “...I’ll never forget you, Nijah.”

As she stood to leave, she opened her coat pocket and pulled out an iris. “I saw this while I was walking the grounds last night...and I think you would want it more than me.”  She placed the flower in front of Nijah’s hands, giving her friend one last smile before she left her forever.

“Goodbye, Nijah. Sweet dreams.”

As she shut the door behind her, Nijah decided to follow her orders, closing her eyes as her fingers gripped the frail flower stem, hoping her dreams would be better than reality.

I’ve been in this place before, she thought.

It was the same flower field from her first time meeting Selene. The same one she saw when she spent her first night with Julian. This was her favorite place. This time, there was no cloudy red skies or thunderstorms. The flowers bloomed gracefully, the sweet fragrances flowing from their buds, and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. The only thing she could see was life.

And she could feel the life inside of her, Julian’s child. She looked down and saw that her belly had swollen to twice its size underneath her cropped shirt and long pink skirt. She held it tenderly, rubbing it and wondering what her baby would look like when it was finally born. Had she and Julian talked about baby names yet? She kept on imagining that she would name him Azrael, but only time would tell who they will become.

Suddenly, she heard a voice come from behind her. She was surprised to see that Selene had reincarnated herself, wearing a flowing white dress, much different than her usual attire.

“Nijah! You’re here!” She shouted, hopping through the flowers to embrace her friend. She took great care to hold the baby bump, too. For Selene, the child would be like family to her.

As Nijah squeezed her friend around the shoulders, she felt someone else’s presence behind her. “Good to see you’re okay, hun.” That voice had to be Katja, she thought as her own arms held them all together, as if they were three peas inside of a pod. Their feminine scents overwhelmed Nijah’s nose to the point where she was almost dizzy.

“It’s so good to have you all here.” Nijah smiled as her friends released her, joining hands with each of them. These women meant so much to her, and she would be forever thankful for their roles in their lives. She just hoped they knew that.

Before long, a tall figure made their way through the flower beds. Nijah, of course, knew who they were right away.

“Dr. Jules!” She shouted, joined by the giggles of the women right beside her.

As he came even closer, she could see the happiness on his face. Finally, she thought, we can have the life we have wanted for so long. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, his hands cupping her face so perfectly.

“Ah, darling. You look as beautiful as ever.” He crooned, his hands moving down to the bump in her stomach. “And Odine is looking nearly as good as her mother.”

Nijah rolled her eyes. “How are you so sure it will be a girl?”

“I’m a doctor, my dear. I know these things.”

Her knees felt weak as he flashed his signature grin. She couldn’t resist it. He had a hold on her that she could never break free from, and she was just fine with that.

He turned around on his heel, looking back at her over his shoulder. “Are you ready for your next journey to begin?”

Without hesitation, she answered, “Yes.” And together, they all moved forward through the flowers, off into the setting sun.

And in that moment, her hurting soul finally left the world.

Julian was very busy at the palace, doing his best to find a cure. It turned out that Count Lucio had contracted it himself, although unlike the rest of the city, he had managed to have it for weeks and not die. It was a medical mystery to the doctor, but a pain in the ass for his coworker.

“Sometimes, I wish he would just die already.” Asra muttered under his breath as his fingers brushed against the book spines on the shelves in the library. 

Julian rolled his eyes, diving back into his work. For some reason, the magician rubbed him the wrong way. It was something about his cat-like smile making him think he was a suspicious person. His flat-out disdain for the Count was nothing but offensive to him, let alone the entire city. And the way his white hair bounced as he walked...Julian wished he could tame his curls to not have a mind on their own. He was completely jealous.

But, his mind trailed back to the woman who held his affections. He thought of her blonde, flowing hair, the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, the freckles dotting her cheeks and shoulders that he secretly loved, reminding him of the stars in the sky. He thought of her voice saying his name, her laugh directed at something witty he may have said or that he may have ran into a door frame. He thought of her fingers, touching him delicately across his face, making him feel at peace once again...

A knock on the door jolted Julian’s thoughts. A servant entered the room, a scroll rolled up in his hand.

“Dr. Devorak. This was sent for you.”

“For...me?” He asked, his cheeks feeling warm. He’s never received any sort of letters before, even when he was just beginning his practice.

He thanked the servant and unrolled it right where he stood. But, as he began to read it, he slowly sunk back into his chair, similar to his smile turning into a frown.

Dear Dr. Devorak,

I hope this letter finds you well. Unfortunately, I am writing this letter to bring you terrible news. Nijah has died of the plague.

She contacted it while taking care of her best friend, Selene, who passed after you left for the palace. Nijah may not have told you...she tended to keep her burdens to herself, didn’t she? Anyways, she caught it quickly after making a fatal mistake after her friend died. Although her mistake was tragic, her symptoms have given us further research to test and send to you in hopes that it will help you find the cure.

She is in a much better place now, Dr. Devorak. She spoke of you so highly, and she is so proud of your accomplishments. She loved you so much. Her final wish was to be buried with the ring you gifted her.

I hope that you continue to work hard so we can find a cure to the plague. We will be sending more research we have found once we have finished our tests. We are all looking forward to your discoveries, Dr. Devorak.

From,

Dr. 193, Katja Kuznetsov

Julian read the letter over and over again. He wished it wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. He had been at the palace for less than a week…

And he already lost the one thing that would make this task seem worth it.

Feeling defeated, he slumped over his desk, crumpling the letter in his hands. He felt the tears soaking into the sleeves around his forearms as his shoulders quivered from his emotions. He didn’t care if his sobs were audible or not. He didn’t care what Asra or Count Lucio or anyone thought of him.

His heart had broken completely. The love of his life was gone, because he couldn’t find the cure quickly enough. He had lost the woman who had given his life meaning. And there was no way to get her back.

Unless…

A candle flame went off in his mind. His lifted his head up to face the other man in the room, eyes and face red from his tears. “Asra.” He shouted desperately.

“Dr. De...Julian, are you okay?” Asra arrived to his side, placing a hand on the doctor’s shoulder.

“You are a magician, are you not?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I…” Julian hesitated, his voice trembling. “...I just lost someone very near and dear to me. Is there...a way to bring them back?” His vision was filled with sadness, but Asra could see a small glimmer of hope deep in the doctor’s grey eyes.

“Hmm,” Asra contemplated. “There is one way I know how. But it will take a lot of work on my end.” The magician’s hand trailed from Julian’s shoulder to his cheek bones. “What would be in it for me?”

“Oh, please! I’ll do anything you wish. Just please...save her.” Julian got down on his knees, folding his hands together and shaking them pleadingly. He was a man that wasn’t afraid to beg. Especially for the one thing he truly needed in this world.

Asra chuckled under his breath, his hand moving up to the auburn hair and pulling against it roughly, jerking the doctor’s head back. He got down on his knees, pressing a searing kiss right underneath his jawline. Julian squiremed, his face flushing. This felt so wrong, but as Asra’s teeth nipped his skin, he moaned rather loudly. It was definitely feeling so right.

The magician’s mouth drew away, curled in his signature smile. “Meet me at my shop after sunset. There are a few things we need to discuss first.”

Julian’s fingers ghosted over the mark Asra left on his skin. Did that just happen? He thought as he felt the magician’s fingers untangle from his hair. His mind was in a daze. Never before has anyone touched him in such a way. His eyes glazed over as he watched the magician stand to his feet and begin walking out the library. He shook his head, bringing him back to his senses.

“D-do you...want me to walk you home?”

Three years later…

“Wow. What a strange night.” Nijah mutters to herself as she looked out into the dark streets of Vesuvia.

First, her magical master Asra has suddenly left on a journey to another unknown world, one that he was keeping a secret from her. These trips were not unusual to her, but the fact that he was keeping it so secretive made her more suspicious than usual. She knew he was hiding something from her, but what could it be?

Then, the Countess has visited not long after he left, then requested that she move into the castle to assist with some sort of grand plan after she had read her tarot cards. She didn’t mind the countess too much, but knew that Asra would not be happy if she were to up and leave the shop for such a long time. Then again, she was the widow of the wicked Count Lucio, so she may have some evil scheme up her sleeve as well. She wasn’t sure if she could trust her.

What could happen next? She thought as she released the door, her attention turned back into the shop. It had been her home for so long. She didn’t remember how she got it, all she knew was that it was her and Asra’s home. It felt strange to her, though. She never thought she would own a magic store, let alone learn any magic from Asra. The past few years had really been an experience for her, and she felt like in a past life, she would have a calling doing something else.

Oh, dear, she thought. With all this trouble, I completely forgot to feed Gris. I must go bring her the cabbage I promised her. The thought of her manatee familiar all alone made her heart wrench. She started to make her way towards the kitchen to make her animal’s favorite snack.

Then, as the candle in her shop blew out, she froze.

The door had taken much longer for it to shut than normal.

“Strange hours for a shop to keep.”

What the…

She turns her head around, trying to see where the sound is coming from in the dark, only the light of the stars guiding her.

“...Behind you.”

Sure enough, when she turns, she sees a tall, dark figure looming against the door. He continues to speak, his voice muffled by his plague mask:

“Now, sources say that this is the witch’s lair...so who might you be?”

Nijah feels her heart racing in her chest as the masked figure comes closer and closer. What does this doctor want? She furrows her brows, concentrating on conjuring her magical powers. She twirls her fingers as she mutters a spell, a ball of water forming between her hands. She intended it to hit him right in the chest, a defense spell Asra had taught her a long time ago.

“Oh?” He laughs as he grabs her wrist with his gloves, the water between her fingers dissipating into thin air. He has her body trapped against the wall and his towering frame.

Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

What the hell is she supposed to do now?

“He’s been teaching you all his tricks? Unfortunately for you, I’ve seen them all befo-”

Reaching behind her, fingers grazing along the windowsill, she grabbed a glass bottle and smashed it on his forehead.

“Ack!”

Knocked loose by the blow, the stranger’s mask clatters to the floor. He’s bent over on the stones by her feet, trying to regain his composure. Nijah points the what’s left of the broken bottle in his direction, waiting for the moment she needed to strike again.

Nijah didn’t realize until it was too late that the bottle had been full, the water soaking his hair and the single globe amaranth lying on the floor around him. Bracing herself for the worse, she tightened her grip on the bottle as he slowly brought his head back up

Her racing heart stops cold when he lifts his bloodied gaze to hers, nearly dropping what’s left of the bottle.

“You do have guts.” He stated, his eyebrows furrowed.

She knew this man once. Everyone did. But she felt like she knew him a bit better than others might. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but she assumed she must have known him a long time ago, before her memories were lost. Maybe they were friends? Curly auburn hair, strong nose, pale skin, and those eyes…even though one of them was covered in an eyepatch, she still knew.

The band she felt on her ring finger felt much heavier than it normally did.

“Do...Doctor Jules?”

He gets to his feet once again, brushing the glass off of his coat.

“Haven’t heard that name in years...Nijah.”

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