#originally it was going to be written in parts but man oh man the flashbacks are a way better idea

[bloodlessbelmounte]

Eternity Will Bring You Near - Chapter 1

Masterlist

Summary:

Wade understood that Logan was from a world where Alpha, Beta and Omega were everyday terms, not exclusive to red-pilled incel fuckheads who kept inventing new performative male genders. Wade would've been classified as a Beta. Logan, however, was an Alpha - Wade's read enough fanfiction and yaoi manga to know what that means. Though it doesn't explain why Logan keeps sniffing him.

Pairing: Alpha!Worst Wolverine/Deadpool

Genre: A/B/O, Smut, Domestic-ish

Warnings: A/B/O Dynamics, Blood, Mild Gore/Body Horror, Masturbation, Additional warnings to be added as more chapters are uploaded.

Beginning Note: This was originally meant to be a crackfic but the bitch decided to become a multichapter project instead. I never thought I would get brain rot this severe over a movie of all things. The toxic old man yaoi really is a hell of a drug.

Cross posted to AO3

Heya kiddos- well actually no I hope you’re not kiddos. The following events aren’t exactly G-rated. Scratch that, not G-rated in the slightest. See the author’s girlfriend asked them if they had written anything gay before because and I quote “You’re the type of person I imagine would – you are very gay” and was very surprised to find her partner had, in fact, not written gay porn for a rabid audience (though they once wrote reader insert smut for one of the most rabid fan-bases – BTS anyone?). Lucky for her, the author’s autistic ass is currently hyper-fixated on my movie and has watched it twice. Now I know what you’re thinking: another re-imagining of the icon and highly erotic Honda Odyssey scene that the Tumblr girlies are going feral over? Sadly no, there are over a hundred-and-sixty interpretations of that situationship on AO3 already and the author is not up to that task. Self-conscious and insecure fuckface they are. Oh b-t-dubs, this will have mixed perspectives. So without further ado, let’s fucking do this. Maximum effort.

Deadpool didn’t imagine his epic team-up with his hero of heroes to end this way. With his noble self-sacrifice, blue anti-matter coiled around his wrist, coursing through his veins and dismantling him atom by atom and him helplessly reaching for the matter contained on the other side of this fucking bridge. No, to be honest, he imagined it ending with maybe a few drinks in a bar to celebrate victory before trying to convince Wolverine to hate fuck him. When have things ever gone his way?

You will never save the world. Ya couldn’t even save a relationship with a god damn stripper.

“Not now, flashbacks.”

Grunts of effort and pain as he was on the verge of dislocating his shoulder to just fucking reach the other fucking side. He had to save them. Give Peanut the restart he deserved. Give this world the hero it deserved. Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ was ringing through his ears as he knew he needed a miracle. And just like a prayer answered, Wolverine was right there with him, gripping tightly to his reaching hand and bridging the gap. He had a few precious seconds to appreciate the washboard glistening abs that were explosively -gloriously- exposed to his greedy eyes before Madonna and the pain crescendoed. Oh, what he would’ve done to at the very least get a bit of frottage from that meal of a man. Deadpool and Wolverine’s shouts of agony as energy tore through them intermingled, part of the chorus only he could hear.

White. Everything was white. Burning hot and blinding. Then there was…

Nothing. No pain. No heat. Just weightlessness.

Until his body collided with a wall with a thunk and sprawled onto the ground. He couldn’t get up immediately, his healing factor working overtime to patch up the spider webbing network of atomised damage. Once the pain was tolerable enough, Deadpool stumbled up to his feet with gritted teeth. What did people say? Pain lets you know you are still alive. Well, he was definitely alive then. The smoke and debris in the air made it hard to breathe let alone see through his mask, that wouldn’t do. Ripping the miraculously intact material off, Wade idly wondered why his clothes were fine. Did the universe decide he was too much of an eyesore to strip? Or more logically, Logan’s metal skeleton made him more conductive. Shit.

Wade scanned the destroyed room, trying to catch a glimpse of neon yellow. Panic seeped in when he couldn’t immediately spot the older mutant. Please don’t be vaporised.

“Wolvie? Peanut?!”

A groan came from across the other side of the wreckage. Groaning was good. Groaning �� in this case – meant pain or annoyance, which meant functional nervous system. Good. Good. Now, how to get across. Bridge is out of the question, it’s royally fucked. Which left clambering over crumbled walls that blocked the walkways. Goal set, Wade navigated his way over to roughly where he heard the groan emanate from, muscles protesting the whole time. Bright yellow peaked out from underneath the rubble. Logan’s knee to be precise. Wade sighed.

“Maximum effort.”

Wade got to work, moving aside the bricks that had landed on top of his partner, revealing a barely lucid Wolverine and- Holy shit. Big fuck off piece of metal shelving right through the stomach. Wade was pretty sure the only reason Logan wasn’t bisected was because of those metal bones of his.

“Take a deep breath, Honey Badger, this is going to hurt worse than the reviews for the Borderlands movie. Can you believe they’ve gotten a nine percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes while we have a seventy-eight? They weren’t too happy about all the rectal stabbings. Have they not heard of queer allegory? Though we’re ninety-five from audiences. Must be all the sexual tension between us.”

As Wade was prattling on – partly running his mouth as always and partly to distract Logan – he unsheathed his katanas and slotted them into the wound and wiggled them under the metal.

“The fuck are y’doing, Bub?” Logan seethed through gritted teeth, trying to sit up only to be pushed back down again by the merc.

See Wade wasn’t always an idiot- “Hey I take offence to that.” -but he could have a smart idea every once in a while, such as now. Knowing that he did not possess the strength to pull out - “My pull-out game is strong I’ll have you know.” - the sheet of metal, a proper application of force would allow him to lever it out. Taking turns with what katana he pushed down on, he eventually worked the shelf out far enough for him to straddle the other man’s lap and rip it out the rest of the way with a wet squelch. Next to come out were his beloved weapons which he wiped in his elbow crease then re-sheathed.

Immediately Logan’s thatched lickable abs started to knit themselves back together. And Wade couldn’t stop his hands from wandering; tracing up his chest and neck to grab those blowjob handles, lean down, and finally kiss the crotchety old fuck like he’d been dying to for the past seventy-two hours. Because in for a penny in for a pound, who knows if he’d see him again when all is said and done. Logan went stiff beneath him and Wade froze in place, knowing in his bones that he was going to get pushed off. But then Logan relaxes and his arms wrap around Wade’s waist to pull him closer, his tongue sweeps across the seem of scarred lips asking for entry. Which is enthusiastically granted. Blood and iron assaults Wade’s taste buds as teeth knock and tongues dance. Of course, being over two hundred would make Wolvie a great kisser, the man wasn’t contractually allowed a flaw under Disney. As much as Wade would have loved to carry on sloppily making out and maybe slip his hand down what remains of Logan’s suit, he knew that even though he wouldn’t mind beating the crap out of a bureaucrat with a raging hard-on, the man beneath him probably would. And so semi-reluctantly Wade broke away with a sigh, Logan’s hands shifting to lightly grasp his hips.

“We should show that motherfucker upstairs just how alive we are.”

Of course, you gays, gals, and non-binary pals know what happens after that. We march our asses up to those pencil pushers resulting in two iconic lines – one of which is an Oscar-worthy delivery of my favourite word. There were some extreme levels of sexual tension between B-15 and Peter, Logan and I regenerate my timeline meaning my plan fucking worked and Logan got to stay here. We also got a fat stack of compensation each for our efforts. Now we cut to shawarma and see things from a grumpy puppy’s perspective.

Logan knew to expect some differences between this universe and his original such as there still being living X-men. And he knew that there was the fundamental difference of a lack of secondary sexes here but the distinct absence of pheromones everywhere made the air here seem… cleaner? Almost overwhelming in its purity. The scent of pollution, of food being prepared, of dog piss on the pavement undiluted. No Alphas peacocking. No Omegas trying to suppress and get by. Just “average” people living average lives. Like what was happening in front of him.

Logan, with arms crossed over and leaning against a wall, watched in amusement (not that he’d ever admit to it) as Wade went to place his order at the shawarma place he had led him to.

“I’ll have one beedo beedo, a chocobo supreme, and a mountain boo bah. What would you like Honey Badger?” Wade asked his elbow on the counter top, head resting on his hand as his body was turned to face his partner, ignoring how the server was looking at him like he’d grown three heads.

“Sir, this is a shawarma joint, we only do shawarma here. I have no idea what a beedo beedo is-” The kid behind the counter tried to inform the ADHD-riddled regenerator only to be met with a finger over his lips as he was promptly shushed.

“We do the talking sweetums, you just be a little patient. Wolvie? Anything in mind?”

Some rest would be a good start, then a shower and bottle of whiskey. An explanation on that kiss back there. But food was a good start.

“Ignore his ramblings, he’s had multiple head injuries over the last few days. We’ll have two beef and one chicken, all the salad. Obviously tarator sauce in the beef and toum in the chicken. As for drinks, give us whatever beer y’d recommend.” Logan noticed Wade’s jaw drop out the corner of his eye as he rattled off a proper order. The kid behind the counter pushed the finger on his lips away and nodded, inputting the order and printing off the details to pass to the cook. “What? Did y’think I’d never had this before?”

Wade blinked at him, “Well… uh… to be honest yeah. Didn’t take you for the adventurist foodie type.”

“Need I remind y’of just how old I am, Bub? I was around when immigrants introduced this to the country.”

“Oh, so you’re the original trendsetter for your universe. Speaking of, I’ve seen the fanfictions and read the yaoi, did your world have fated pairs and heat cycles? Do male Omegas just have a dick and ass or do they have a vagina too? Or did they just have a vagina? Did you have to take suppressors for your ‘Alpha Ruts’ to reign in your primal instincts?” Wade’s eyes shone with curiosity as he fired off questions, “Oh are we going to have to deal with those now that you’re in residence here? Maybe I should ask that TVA lady to get you like an inter-dimensional prescription.”

Logan sighed and rubbed his face, he had been expecting this line of questioning. Honestly, he had expected them to occur in the Void after Wade got offended for being called a beta-

“What in the Andrew Taint bullshit is that? They have toxic masculinity red-pillers in your world too? And you’re one of them? For shame Logi Bear. That’s why you’re the Worst Wolverine.”

-and the subsequent misunderstanding was cleared up. At least in the Void, there were fewer witnesses.

“In order: Yes to both. Dick and Ass. Yes, it’s a pain to get by without them or a partner. And that’s all I’m telling y’because it doesn’t affect you.”

“That’s no fun. I need the juicy deets,” Suddenly Wade gasped and pointed at him, “Do you knot?! Bite on the nape of the neck? Oh, I think I might just pop a chub at this rate.”

Logan growled standing straight and emitting his pheromones on instinct, “Enough. As I said it doesn’t affect y’so y’don’t need to know.”

Silence. Finally silence. And the faintest smell of something sweet.

“Order up.”

Logan took his two beef and handed the chicken to Wade alongside a beer, his own stuffed into a jacket pocket. They sat outside the shop in silence and in the time it took for Logan to wolf down one and a half of his order, Wade had only finished half before he started talking again.

“You know, the Avengers discovered shawarma in the sacred timeline.” He said, mouth still full.

Logan glanced over at him, “They’d be lucky to have y’.”

Wade had a considering look in his eye as paused chewing then nodded. The guy still probably had his insecurities and self-doubt that Logan definitely exacerbated in the Honda. Just as they were about to take another bite, barking and the sound of scampering paws were heading right at the pair. It was that fucking dog.

“Oh~”

“Come on,” Logan groaned, head falling back.

“Fuck!” Wade threw his half-eaten wrap on the ground and began the daintiest clap Logan had ever seen done by someone other than a white girl, “Come over here my little munchkin! Yes, it’s you~. You’re a survivor.” Wade picked up the ugly little thing, squeezing her tight and kissing her on the head. “Oh, all is right in the world. Yes, it is.” Wade turned to him, eyeing him up and down, “So what are you going to do next?”

Logan shrugged, “I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

“That right? I’ll probably see you around,” A small smile was playing on his lips as he continued to gauge his response.

An impulsive thought wormed its way into his head, before he knew it he found himself quirking an eyebrow at the merc and proceeded to lie.

“Probably not. See y’, Bub.”

With that, he stood up and walked away as Wade continued to pet Dogpool. He threw the remains of his meal onto a table. A waste really. But all part of the plan. His pace was slow and measured, he was waiting. And when he heard the call of:

“Logan!”

He stopped, a small smile unable to be contained as Wade finally called him by his name. Not one of those childish nicknames. This had been what he was waiting to hear. He turned to face Wade, his expression schooled into a neutral facade.

“Stay with me- us.” Wade offered, pointing between himself and the dog.

Logan walked back over to him, “I thought y’shared a one-bedroom apartment with a lovely blind woman named Althea. Doesn’t sound like y’have much room for me.” Not much room in the apartment or his life. He wasn’t part of Wade’s world.

“There’s always room for one more. We have a pull-out sofa you can use. Not much privacy but it’s home. I only share a bed with Blind Al because I’ve been incredibly touch-starved since the breakup and need my bedtime cuddles.”

Logan huffed a chuckled, “That’s why I had to tie y’up, Bub.” A lie. In reality he had been planning to abandon Wade in that car. “Well, I’m not one to turn down a free roof over my head until I can sort out something more permanent.”

Before he knew it, he was following Wade to his home which was a lot closer to the TVA base and, subsequently, the shawarma shop than he had expected. Just down the street really. Meeting Al was sweet, it almost felt like being introduced to a parent back when he was a young man. And much like a mother, she swiftly turned in ire to Wade and slapped him on the arm with such precision Logan almost doubted her disability.

“Wade W. Wilson, you disappear after blowing out your birthday candles only to return with havoc in the streets and a man on your arm. You could have told us you were dating again. Peter was worried sick about you.”

It had been his birthday? The merc had spent his birthday trying to save his friends -his world – and was rewarded with a thorough verbal dressing down and a night of carnage in a car.

“Oh well, you know, it was the usual. I got abducted, told our universe was dying because someone had to go and nobly sacrifice themselves for the next generation of mutants. So then I hopped through multiple universes to find me a Wolverine who wouldn’t stab me on sight. Found this fella right here and got sent to the universal (not the studio) trash heap. Where I then proceeded to get my brain finger fucked by a bald long-nail-bedded bitch. Seriously they began at like her knuckle. Props to the costume department for that mildly disturbing detail.” Al’s inability to see didn’t stop Wade’s wild gesticulations as he described the events that happened to him. “And after a daring escape from her clutches, I had the best birthday car romp in a while. Became a real pin cushion for ‘im.” Wade sent Logan a wink.

Logan cleared his throat and avoided eye contact, a slight heat taking root in his ear at the implication behind those words. Al gagged.

“Wade, what I’m about to say is without a hint of homophobia: I don’t need to hear any more about your repulsive sex life. It’s bad enough I can hear you choking the chicken in the bathroom.”

Wade was laughing to himself as he meandered away from his now two room-mates and it was only slightly awkward until he returned with sweatpants and a tank top in hand. He shoved them into Logan’s chest along with a towel.

“Shower is through that door there,” He pointed to his right, “You reek of alcohol, blood, and Marvel H Christ knows what else. I doubt I smell much better – not like the Void had personal hygiene products lying around – but your odour can only be described as one of my twenty-eighteen suicide attempts from the second movie before I rewrote the events that triggered that spiral.” Wade looked off to the side, “You readers know which one I’m on about.” He mimicked an explosion sound as he ballooned his hands apart.

Logan was taken aback for a moment, processing that the seemingly always chipper buffoon had tried to kill himself at some point. However, he decided against acknowledging the trauma dump by just grunting his thanks. He took the offered clothes and beelined for the bathroom.

Alright fuck-os let’s focus on me again.

Shut up, Wade. I’m trying to write here.

Oh sure you are. I saw you reading other fanfics and some of my comic runs. And aren’t you on vacation now? I didn’t say you could take a break.

Sigh. Anyway…

Wade placed Mary Puppins on the floor and then immediately flopped onto the sofa, energy levels depleted and a deep set ache in his muscles. He waited for the sound of the shower starting before speaking.

“We’re not dating.”

“Not yet,” Al responded, somehow managing to give him a pointed look despite a) being blind and b) wearing sunglasses so he couldn’t see her eyes.

“The man hates me. Stabbed me many times on many occasions – not that I didn’t enjoy it.” Wade grumbled, sinking further into his seat.

“So why is he here?”

“He had nowhere else to go. I couldn’t just let him wander the streets after I abducted him. Not after he saved me.”

“So Vanessa announces she has a new boyfriend after you’ve been separated for two years and you went and kidnapped one for yourself. That’s a new kind of fucked up, even for you Wade.”

“Yeah I know, I’m a bigger fuck up than Ryan Reynolds accepting that Green Lantern role. I don’t need reminding. Again, we’re not dating. Manage to get your hands on some White Girl Interrupted while Feige’s attention was on the Void?”

“You might not be but you like him. You haven’t introduced someone to me like that since Vanessa. I still don’t know who the fuck Feige is but yes I did.”

“Good because I need some right now. I’m guessing you’ve put it in your sex toy drawer in an attempt to deter me but Al you always fail to remember very little disgusts me.”

Wade slapped his lap as he got up, signalling the end of the conversation. He went back to the bedroom and immediately opened the aforementioned drawer, sticking his hand in he rifled through dildos and vibrators of various shapes and sizes until he found a rectangular packet. Bingo. Oh, he was so going to build a snowman. Oh wait, this is fanfiction, not a movie, Feige has no control here. Wade can just say cocaine.

You guys are going to have to use your imagination here because the author doesn’t know how to write cocaine usage because they’re a pure little munchkin who only ever smoked weed like five times and sniffed poppers once.

Hey stop interrupting or I’ll make this a T rating.

Suitably buzzed and the throbbing ache of his muscles dulled, Wade grabbed a towel and a set of PJ’s to change into after his turn in the shower. His timing was seemingly perfect as he entered the living area just as Logan stepped out of the bathroom towelling his hair roughly, a steam plume framing him in a haze with the lighting hitting just right. The clothes lent to him a tight fit as they clung to the man’s muscular frame, hugging spots that weren’t completely dry yet. Dear lord, was that a dick print? Look at the size of that thing! He needed to French kiss whoever invented grey sweats. Whoever they are or were, he hoped they were getting laid six ways to Sunday. Wade found himself thanking whatever foresight he had since the white tank went near translucent in places like the dips of Logan’s abs and the swell of his pecs. He quickly wiped away the drool on the corner of his lips.

“Nice milk cans you got there, Wolvie. Hope you didn’t use up all the hot water,” Wade commented, eyes still roving over the other’s effortlessly erotic form. That’s the World’s Sexiest Man 2008 for you.

Logan slung the towel around his shoulders, a flush to his cheeks – from heat, Wade’s comment, or ogling who knows – as he seemingly took a moment to study the merc’s face.

“Is… Is that cocaine in y’nose? Y’pupils are dilated. Are y’high?” Logan scoffed in response, eyebrows pinched together.

Wade wiped his nose, “Did you know your pupils can dilate as much as fifty-five percent when you look at something or someone you love? Because I’m loving what a feast for my eyes you are.” He approached the grouchy man and rubbed a thumb between his eyebrows, which was swiftly slapped away with a grumble, “You shouldn’t frown so much, it’ll age you faster. As much as I am all for our old man yaoi dynamics I don’t want you looking like the Old Man Logan who shotgun blasted me.”

Wade patted Logan on the arm as he squeezed past him to get entry into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He chucked the towel and change of clothes onto the bathroom’s counter top, knocking over the toothbrush pot and a few other bits. He then stripped off the red leather suit, having to peel it away as dried blood and various other bodily fluids had acted as fucking glue. Bare as the day he was born, Wade turned the shower on and fiddled with the taps to get the temperature just how he liked it. Steamy, the same way he liked his homoerotic fight scenes.

Stepping in, Wade rolled his shoulders and took a moment to let the water ease his tight muscles.

“That’s the good stuff,” he moaned softly, tilting his head back eyes closed.

After what felt like a suitable amount of time had passed, he grabbed his loofah and body wash and went to town on getting the caked-on grime off of his scarred skin. The water flowing down the drain was a murky burgundy as sand, old blood, and who knows what else was washed away.

When the water turned clear Wade decided to focus on… other things. Mainly the beefcake wearing his clothes at that very moment, the walking wet dream he was. Visions of those sweaty tits floated through his mind, making his cock – which had already been at half-mast – twitch in interest. God, he had been dying to rub one out since he woke up tied against The Wolverine. He grasped himself firmly and gave a few tugs to get fully hard before teasing over the tip. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth as tried to stifle his whimpers. He worked over his shaft as he recalled how Logan had smiled during their scuffle in the Honda, how his blood had dripped onto the older man’s cheek and into his mouth – on those fangs. Logan had licked the blood off with an almost feral look in his eyes before launching him through the sun roof. Fuck. He wasn’t going to last with how pent-up he was. His grip tightened as he sped up his ministrations. He remembered the kiss after saving the multiverse as he came with an embarrassingly desperate groan. Logan had kissed him back. Had held him close. Yet when all was said and done, he had been ready to leave Wade behind. What a confusing, grumpy hunk. With a shaky exhale he turned off the shower.

Wade towelled off and got dressed. His chosen PJ’s for the night were lavender shorts and a Hello Kitty crop top. Hey – crop tops were invented by male bodybuilders to get around gym attire rules, so never let anyone tell you men can’t wear crop tops. With dramatic zeal, Wade threw open the door and strutted out of the bathroom. He was not expecting to have two pairs of hazel eyes looking right at him. One in disdain and one in… appraisal?

Laura. Laura was on his sofa. Why was she here? Oh god… did Laura hear him jerking off?!

“Oh.” Wade squeaked, mortified as his body tinged a dark red. “Hi there.”

The girl, so much like her father, grunted in response and turned away. Speaking of, Logan had yet to tear his eyes away and if Wade saw correctly, he seemed to be�� sniffing?

“Enjoy y’shower, Red?” The smirking fucker asked, then gestured towards Laura, “The TVA just dropped her off. She has nowhere to crash so Althea kindly offered her y’spot on the bed.”

Wade gasped and marched round to stand in front of the pair, “What? Where am I supposed to sleep? On the floor?”

“I’m not going to make y’sleep on the floor in y’own home, Wade. Y’ll be bunking with me on the sofa.” Logan patted the free space next to him.

Wade stiffly sat down in the offered seat and whispered incredulously to the older man, “What about my bedtime cuddles?”

“I’m sure y’can make do without.” Logan deadpanned but that infuriating smirk was still plastered on his face.

It was quite the jump from it just being Wade and Al in the shitty one bed apartment to there now being four people in the space of a few hours.

Wade huffed and crossed his arms, “We need to find a bigger apartment… Anyone feel like Chinese food?”

There was a chorus of agreement. Wade took Al’s phone off the coffee table and opened up the delivery app he used most, his favourite Chinese take-out was top of the recommended list. He put in what he and Al usually ordered then passed the phone to Logan. His former eyebrows shot upwards as the bi-centenarian successfully navigated the menus and selected what he wanted. It was Laura who seemed perplexed by the menu and the food listed. It was a sweet moment, watching Logan awkwardly explain what everything was when asked. Despite being virtually strangers, there looked to be a genuine connection forming already. Kin recognising kin on that instinctual level only Wolverines can experience. Wade took the time to tell Al and Laura all about the epic battle in the streets and how they saved the world with the power of hand holding as they waited for their food to arrive.

“You know Peter will have told everyone by now that you’re back with company,” Al remarked, petting Mary Puppins who had situated herself on the elderly woman’s lap. “They’ll be over tomorrow, I just know it.”

Wade felt Logan go rigid beside him, was he worried about Negasonic and the other X-men in his makeshift family? Oh, that was going to be a weird meeting wasn’t it. Not because they’d be seeing a ghost of their Wolverine, no. Their Wolverine was still alive and kicking, after all it’s twenty-twenty-four at the moment not twenty-nine which was when his timeline’s Logan was scheduled to die. See, Wade had used that TVA device to jump forward in time and exhume his remains because for the TVA all timeline events are happening simultaneously. So these X-men would be seeing a stranger who looked like their Logan, and Logan would be seeing the faces of those he had already lost in his world knowing he was going to lose them here too. Wade made a silent vow to keep Negasonic, Yukio and Colossus away from Westchester when the time comes. He liked those ones.

…Wait. All that timey-whimey stuff meant that Paradox, the dickhead, was going to set off the Time Ripper five years before this timeline’s OG Logan was meant to die. Was he really so impatient to ‘prune’ the timeline that he wasn’t willing to waiting for the self-sacrificing fuck to actually do the thing?

“Everyone except Weasel – his actor has multiple sexual assault allegations against him and that’s not a good look for us,” Wade interjected in a most likely misguided attempt to lighten the mood. All it got him, however, was Laura and Logan staring at him. “Hey, I don’t keep people like that in my social circle. I’m a good boy. Consent is sexy and if someone doesn’t take no for an answer, stab ‘em. Solves everything.”

Laura nodded at the sagely advice then looked towards the door and stood up seconds before knocking resounded from the entry way. Wade handed her the tip money as she walked by to answer. Food secured, Wade stood up, washed up some cutlery that would be needed and handed them out as Logan helped Laura to sort out the food and Al turned on the TV – Golden Girls was already playing. They mostly ate in silence whilst Wade made comments about the episode that was met with “Shut up” from various people. It wasn’t long until Al was retiring for the night and taking Laura with her to sort some things to wear. The girl was briefly sent out with bedding, blankets and spare pillows for the sofa.

“We should probably get the bed set up, sounds like we’re in for a long day tomorrow,” Wade suggested while clearing away the take out containers.

“We should… but we still have those beers from the shawarma place. In the fridge, if y’d like to have them now,” Logan offered, collecting up the dirty cutlery to put in the already overflowing sink. He grunted at the sight of it.

Wade retrieved said beers and handed one to Logan who released a single claw and used it to pop the cap off. He then did the same to Wade’s, who found that all too attractive, he had to think of puppies being kicked to stop himself from popping a boner then and there.

“Cheers. To saving the world!” Wade toasted, clinking his bottle against Logan’s.

“To saving y’world,” Logan grumbled, immediately taking a deep swig.

“Any particular reason you wanted to share a drink with me, Peanut?” Wade asked, sitting back down on the cushion he had previously occupied, eyes following Logan as he sat on the opposite side of the sofa with legs spread. Slut.

“Deserve it after the shit we’ve been through. Not everyday people like us nearly die.” Logan answered, gesturing between them.

“Thank you, by the way, for not letting me face death alone in the end. Despite the noble sacrifice, I wasn’t lying when I said I was scared,” Wade said, shifting in his seat to bring both his feet up. It just never felt right to have them on the floor.

Logan growled, “Couldn’t exactly let y’. As I said, I had nothing left to live for. Would have left me stranded here with no fucking clue who anyone was if y’had succeeded. Asshole move on y’part.”

Wade nursed his beer as Logan spoke. Truthfully, he hadn’t thought that far ahead in his rushed plan to save everyone. He placed his drink on the coffee table and tried looking anywhere but at the man casually spread across his sofa. Candid moments came as naturally as bottoming to him. Not at all.

“In that moment, when you offered yourself up and held that picture, I thought I needed to save those I cared about. Apparently, in the three fucking days we’ve known each other for, you became the tenth person in my world. Saving everyone meant saving you too – despite the stabbing each other.”

The silence that came afterwards made him uncomfortable, had him reaching for his beer to keep his mouth busy. He could hear Logan gulping down his before hollow glass clinking on MDF resounded through the room with an accompanying sigh. Wade finally looked at the other man, who just seemed tired. Ready to call it a night.

“What’s done is done, Bub. Just glad we both survived to see another day.” Logan pointed to the mostly full bottle in Wade’s hands, “Y’gonna finish that?”

“Oh, uh yeah. Hang on.” In a similar display to what Logan had done in that dive-bar he dragged him out of, Wade necked the bottle of beer, some of the liquid dribbling out the corner of his mouth. He impressed himself with how he managed to chug it down without needing to breathe – he thought those binge drinking muscle memories had long since faded. Once empty, Wade lowered the bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His gaze drifted over to Logan whose eyes, which were darker than usual (but that may have been down to the lighting), were locked on Wade’s throat.

“You good there, Honey Badger?”

Logan blinked a couple of times and shook his head, “Yeah just… just lost in thought. Let’s get the bed set already.”

Wade nodded and picked up their bottles, depositing them in a plastic bag that contained other used glass items. He then manoeuvred the coffee table out of the way so Logan could pull the bedframe and mattress out. It all felt rather domestic; pulling the bottom sheet into place, setting up the blankets and pillows together. The lights were turned off and the two men got under the covers. Wade really did try to go to sleep but for all his effort he was left tossing and turning.

“Will y’quit it? Is your ADHD so severe you can’t stay still even in your sleep?” Logan groaned, arm slung over his face.

“I wasn’t lying about needing bedtime cuddles, Logi Bear,” Wade hissed back.

Logan huffed and threw the arm closest to Wade over the younger man, “Fine. Y’can cuddle this arm. But just the arm.”

“Yay!” Wade cheered, eagerly rolling onto his side and wrapping his limbs around the offered arm like it was a tree to be climbed. “Goodnight, Wolvie.”

“G’night, Bubba.”

Did he just fucking call me Bubba?!

Wade was out like a light, the physical contact anchoring his racing thoughts enough to drift off peacefully.

That’s where you’re gonna leave it? I thought we were going to Pound Town?! THIS IS RATED E DAMMIT!

This was getting too long for a oneshot Wade. You’ll still get your trip to Fuckville don’t worry. It’s not tagged slowburn. Now go the fuck to sleep and I’ll see you next chapter.

[kimberlyannharts]

So I may have been slightly hyped for this book the past few months

For the three of you who haven't heard about this, MMPR: The Return is a story set in the future of an alternate universe of the MMPRs; one where Jason, Zack, and Trini didn't give up their powers upon the eve of the Peace Conference, and thus the team stayed together even after high school. But fast forward twenty-two years later, and the team has broken up due to some sort of tragedy - we know from the Re-Imagine prologue in the 30 Year Anniversary book, Zordon and Alpha were destroyed by Zedd and Rita. But other stuff seems to have happened too. What is that stuff? I guess we're about to find out!

Oh, and I should mention this was written by the original Pink Ranger herself, Amy Jo Johnson. (and her partner, Matt Hotson.) That might be important to know.

It's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1!

= Three pages in and Jason's already getting his ass kicked. You're forty-five years old, man, you should be at the club

= I know this was debated a bit when the book was announced - how it would line up with Thuy and JDF's passings, especially after coming off the heels of Once and Always, where the focal point was Trini's daughter taking up her powers after Trini's death. (For what it's worth, this book was first conceived pre-pandemic, long before OaA. Making comics takes a long time.) And while Tommy is still a bit up in the air (despite what we'll see in a few pages) Trini does seem to have definitively passed due to illness.

While I definitely get the frustration of Thuy's passing essentially sealing Trini's fate - especially in a comic book, where you don't have to worry about actor restrictions - I'm a little more generous towards it here because Amy and Thuy were close friends and she actually dealt with her death personally compared to how the OaA writers, well......didn't. And this issue is clearly paralleling Kimberly's motivations and feelings to Amy's real-life ones, so this just feels like another part of that.

(Also to contrast OaA's handling of Trini - a) her passing here isn't caused by a graphic onscreen explosion, proving the whole "well they HAD to show it onscreen for more impact!!!" was bullshit b) her friends AND THE WIDER COMMUNITY are actually grieving and talking about her impact on everyone as well as using the non-actor-restriction to SHOW it and c) The book actually gives her a JOB. TWO jobs!!!!!!! Yeah OaA why the fuck did you send ZACK to Congress WHEN IT CLEARLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN TRINI

also I like her middle-aged design. prettyyyyyy)

= onto lighter topics HEYYYY IT'S THESE GUYS!! Bulk and Skull are married and you just can't see the ring through Bulk's gloves, it's real and true

= speaking of which this whole flashback is adorable and nostalgic but I want to point out some background details

= Ernie is just trying to run a fucking business here

= go white boy go

= ZACK/KIM HAS FINALLY COME BACK TO ME MY FUCKING BELOVEDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God, when WAS the last time they actually talked one-on-one in the main series

= FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

= so along with some other stuff I'm definitely taking this as foreshadowing that Trini wasn't cut off from Kim like the boys were. That's the power of WOMEN (and also if we get Aunt Trini flashbacks with Olivia I'll fucking CRYYYYYY)

= Absolutely obsessed with Billy's face here

= D:

= So besides the Trini stuff I want to the keep the Once and Always comparisons to a minimum but it's very funny how both storylines involve Billy using a company as a front for his embezzlement schemes. At least his telecom company PROBABLY isn't war profiteering

= also Alpha's rose <3

= so anyway Jason's gone rogue and was pretending he's the main character until he suddenly went missing, as shown in the first few pages. And Billy and Zack want to become Rangers again to try and find him.

= but the thing is guys, Kim has won the idgaf war. She's depressed, she's traumatized, she spent twenty-two years raising a child with Tommy's genes all by herself, she's tired. She does NOT want to be wrapped up in Jason's midlife crisis drama

= Zack getting so mad and wanting to risk it all for Jason hell yeah those are my Jason/Zack crumbs

= Mysterious shadowy figure watching the old people drama from a distance, you are just like me fr

= OLIVIA THAT'S FUCKING OLIVIAAAAAAAAAAAA and she already sounds so CUTE. If you go back to the diner scene you can see the phone constantly buzzing until Kim finally puts it away. She's like mom. mom. mom. MOM

= also just because the tragic Tomberly family storyline already makes me want to kms do you think that ring is kind of small and plain because Tommy and Kim were so young when they got married and it's all Tommy could afford. And Kim still wears it to this day. I want to die

= It's already been confirmed that Selena is indeed referring to Sylvia here, so I won't talk about that. What I DO want to talk about is Kim's casual momwear. Those sweatpants!!!!!!!!!!

= It would be really funny if Kim just. immediately slammed the door shut

[itsclydebitches]

Oh man that was a doozy of an episode. I'll write a proper recap when I get to it, but I want to throw out some initial thoughts while it's fresh.

Warning, copious salt ahead.

The Jaune vs. Ruby fight... honestly, I'm way more Team Jaune here. Look, obviously Ruby is going through a very difficult time right now but 1. Jaune is not privy to most of that (he doesn't get to see her awful flashbacks like the audience does) and 2. He's been going through a "very difficult time" for several decades. He literally just watched a whole village of friends DIE because he helped defend Ruby against Neo's attack, right on the heels of her and the others completely dismissing that relationship. I literally don't care who's right about the tree, I care that our huntress heroes balked at the idea of spending even one day protecting defenseless civilians that were clearly very important to their friend WHILE he did all the dangerous work of looking for a way out for them all (the best of both worlds!). Then they had the gall to smile at him after he watched them perish and go, "They're not dead. It's what they wanted :)" They don't know that! Yang literally admitted just moments ago that they do not know what happens at the tree, but now they're 100% sure that the paper people have resurrected into a better state because that's a nice, simple narrative. Even if they were sure of what happens, that's still a terribly difficult loss to deal with. As they saw with the Prince, people can come back from the tree COMPLETELY different, with little of their original personalities intact. If that's not a kind of death I don't know what is.

I hate that Yang responds with, "Hate that!" when they learn that Jaune did them the honor of keeping them close, bestowing all their names onto his new family. I hate that they can't put themselves in his shoes for longer than a few seconds and jump straight to him being "crazy." I hate that they're lost and aimless in this world, Jaune has spent a lifetime mapping its secrets, and yet they decide that they can't count on him. Why? Because he failed to have an easy answer ready when they needed it and has failed to hide that - surprise - things have been difficult for the lifetime he's been fighting alone. As he himself says: how dare I fail to solve all our problems.

Toss in the fact that we've had eight Volumes of Ruby demanding leadership at every turn, displaying full confidence in front of Jaune and reassuring him that yes, she knows what she's doing. I have soooo many problems with how Jaune is written, but my god, looking at things from a purely in-world perspective, he has EVERY right to be pissed as hell at her. Ruby promised she knew what she was doing. Jaune defended her decisions to Ren. He was put into a position where (according to RWBY's "logic") he had to kill a friend. Then he's dropped into a horrific alternate reality - a result of Ruby's failed plan - and yet spends his life waiting for her return. He devotes himself to her: looking for her, trying to find a way out for her, keeping her weapon safe for her, naming a new friend after her, and yes, protecting people like she helped teach him to. Obviously the others are all a part of that too, but at its core Jaune has spent decades following Ruby's leadership, despite how badly it failed him.

And then what? After all those YEARS what does he see when they finally reunite? A Ruby who is ungrateful to have her weapon back, is dismissive of his life here, stands uselessly while the others fight the battle for her (again, Jaune can't see inside Ruby's head), and then when defending her results in the DEATH of his village? How does she respond?

"What about me?"

Ohhhh my god, girl!! Yeah, yeah, no one gets to plan their breakdown, but I was still seriously side-eyeing her "Is this a bad time for you?" Yes, Ruby, it is a bit of a bad time because a village of people just died and you're only concerned with how hard your own life is. Read the room a little? Jaune's "It's all about you!" was so satisfying, though his immediate apology afterwards was not. Honestly, let Ruby sit with this, please. As I've said this whole Volume, she'd have a leg to stand on if she'd actually been forced into this war: if Ozpin had manipulated her into joining Beacon, if fighting had been a necessity due to her silver eyes, if the adults around her hadn't said at every single turn: 'Stop wresting control you're not ready for and let us carry the load.' But she didn't. It's all about Ruby because Ruby MADE IT all about her, so no... to my mind she doesn't get to turn around and start complaining that others expect something of her. Especially when the expectations are so low like Jaune's, 'Can you maybe consider that I've been through hell for several decades, respect the life I've built here, and be grateful for what someone is offering you rather than complaining that things aren't perfect right off the bat?'

This episode was so weird for me because on the one hand it gave me a LOT that I've been looking for, but on the other hand it highlighted how much I've come to dislike the four main girls. Why are they disgusted with Jaune bestowing their names on new friends? Why do they dismiss him despite everything he's accomplished? Why does Yang plant herself in front of Blake when her baby sister is being mildly critical of her? (Plus, I'm really not a fan of this droopy-eared, people pleaser Blake. Bring back the fierce, opinionated fighter she used to be.) At least we're staying consistent with the group turning on each other and assuming they'll be attacked at the slightest provocation (yay Volume 6 callback). I made a note in my last recap that I loved the girls enjoying the chess battle together and that's largely because most of the time they don't act like friends, let alone family. WBY have been nothing but critical and dismissive of Ruby since they landed here. None of them have any real sympathy to offer Jaune. As much as I disagree with her overall stance in the face of what's happened, Ruby's "We're so happy for you" to Blake/Yang and her "Shut up" when Blake tries another stupid platitude were great. Thanks, sis, for only paying attention to your girlfriend lately and no thanks, Blake, you already kept me from trying to come up with a practical solution once this Volume. Another, "Things are bad, but..." isn't going to cut it anymore. They ALL treat each other so badly nowadays and I'm shocked whenever we get a group hug that supposedly conveys how much they truly love one another. Can't you all just be nice with more frequency? More of that wholesome support seen in the chess fight over the stupid gags, please.

(Actually, that's a big compliment I just thought of: the episode didn't interrupt the intensity of that fight with another joke. Great job.)

Of course, we're already seeing the seeds of the quick forgiveness: Jaune's immediate apology, Blake trying to be optimistic, all of them staring in concern as Ruby flies away. It looks like the writers have a general sense of the show's criticism, but not why that criticism exists. Yes, Ruby has gone through a lot and she has plenty of reasons to be frustrated and disappointed with her team, but Jaune is still right. I don't think the show is ever going to get that. Ruby has been positioned as the victim this entire Volume, the poor soul "forced" to shoulder this responsibility, everyone offer her comfort and sympathy with no acknowledgement of how this all came about... and having one (1) character say, 'No. You fucked up' doesn't change that underlying narrative. Jaune is just the new Ren, allowed to briefly pull back the curtain on Ruby's leadership, only to almost immediately pull it back. If anything, the fact that Ruby is upset at being leader just offers another layer of protection.

Ruby: I want to make the decisions!

Someone: We don't think that's a good idea, but it's kinda hard to stop you... Wait. Your decisions are bad.

Ruby: Excuse me? Don't you know how hard making decisions is? How can you criticize me when you don't know what it's like? I'm the victim here!

Ruby as a character is pretty impervious to real criticism now because everything she's ever done falls under the header of "The Leader." Once you position her as the victim of unwanted leadership (which again, she's not) it automatically absolves her of true responsibility. She never would have made bad decisions if she hadn't been forced to make all the decisions in the first place, ergo you're the problem for dragging this poor girl who was only trying to make the best of a terrible situation! Meanwhile I'm just

[gestures to Ruby eagerly agreeing to go to Beacon early]

[gestures to her arc where she rose to the challenge of being team leader]

[gestures to the fact that leadership/teams were kinda dissolved outside of Beacon and people only kept looking to Ruby because she demanded to be heard]

[gestures to her hunting down Cinder against Qrow's advice]

[gestures to "This is my fight too!"]

[gestures to her insisting on Jaune's stolen airship plan against Qrow's advice (again)]

[gestures to "We never needed adults to solve our problems!"] [gestures to her solely making the decision to lie to Ironwood and ignoring her teammate's disagreements]

[gestures to her being the face of hope for all of Remnant]

[gestures to her awful plan that made Penny human, forgot Cinder, and deliberately destroyed a Kingdom]

[gestures to the fact that Jaune is ALSO a team leader and ALSO has a personal grudge against the baddies and has ALSO spent longer than twice Ruby's lifetime playing the part of a literal #Hero trying desperately to keep people safe, only for her to show up, endanger his new family, not fight, and then the rest of her team tries to platitude their way through a 'It's not that bad' response to their deaths]

Man, if I were John I would have had a LOT more to say to this girl and her "What about me?" attitude alfkjasflajfds

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

director's commentary on Trophy please 👀👀

Trophy

Oh gods where do I even start-- my magnum opus, my beloved, the every-horrible-thing-I-could-think-of-happens-because-no-one-stopped-me (and boy did my best friend try) fic

This was so long I'm sorry-- as you can see, I always want to talk about this fic but have ✨anxiety✨. When asked about it though-- it's what my brain needs to allow it lmao. I do hope you enjoy :)

The first line was originally (as a thought) "I deserve this" , this was scrapped because the concept became irrelevant in later drafts (and now it may become relevant again-- who knows). The first bit before it cuts back to the race was originally the first of a back and forth kind of flashback thing. ex. chapter 2 would have taken place in the present with hints as to what happened, and chapter 3 would directly follow the events of chapter 1. If the way I explained that didn't make much sense-- that should be enough to show why this has since been changed💀

A single step away– but in the corner of his eye; a flash, a blur— and Zoom tackled him off the magnetar.

This was very intentional. I specifically wanted to mention just how close Barry was to winning as he did in canon. Makes everything that happens next all the sweeter, to me :)

There are many parts and lines that are going to hit so much harder later on and that's all I'll say about that matter for the moment.

“You really thought you could defeat me?” His low whine turned into a howl as Zoom pressed harder on an evidently broken rib. “Forgotten I’m the fastest man alive?” Zoom leaned further down and Barry bit his cheek to prevent a shriek. “Don’t worry.” Tone laced with venom, he wrapped a hand around Barry’s windpipe. Zoom’s mask was inches from his face, blocking the breach. “You’ll have plenty of time to remember.” He clawed at the hand desperately, struggling for air. 

This is one of my favorite scenes ngl. I wrote this whole excerpt after rewatching the Enter Zoom scene and wrote nothing else for the rest of that night lmao. Tis where you get the parallels between those first two lines and ones in that episode "You really thought you could defeat me?" is just slightly changed from "{Harrison Wells}, you thought you could defeat me {with this}?" And as I type this, I have discovered another layer to that parallel that is extremely relevant to the story. Holy shit this is awesome (I will not be saying. spoilers.) ANYWAYS; the other parallel line. "Forgotten I'm the fastest man alive?" comes from "Never forget, I am the fastest man alive." I love parallels. Let's just say that Zoom is very irritated and a little offended that Barry seems to think he {Zoom}'s less powerful than he is. May need a couple more reminders...

Knew I needed another really bad injury besides the broken rib to both bring the Enter Zoom parallels to a climax, and to make the next scene/s work. I thought "Hey! Speedsters can't run if their leg is broken!" and that was that.

“Now you can watch your precious multiverse die. Knowing you’re the one who destroyed it.”

This might be my favorite line and it is the only anything from the first draft of chapter 1 that made it to the final draft. Also I wrote it at 5 am because of course I did.

Somewhere behind the two speedsters, there was a scream

The person who screamed will not be revealed in this fic but I do know who it was and there is an in-universe reason for it besides simply directing the attention away from Barry. I wrote a companion piece off of that reason-- may post it if I feel like cleaning it up a little. But for now, feel free to theorize :)

And finally, to round out the chapter 1 fun facts and commentary-- something I've wanted to say since that fateful day it was posted.

Around 50% of chapter 1 was written on March 14th from 5-11 pm with no food, no water, and no bathroom breaks. I had the power of whump and the speedforce on my side and I was DETERMINED to post it on Barry's birthday and it fucking worked.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ASKING AND ENABLING ME BECAUSE I HAVE PUT WAY TO MUCH THOUGHT INTO THIS FIC AND AM DELIGHTED TO SHARE IT!!!

Fanfic Writers: Director's Cut

[iamprchung]

Conversation Mints 2: Rock Candy

After a disastrous Valentine's Day, Scully and Skinner, jilted by their dates, find themselves on a midnight cruise with Skinner's friends. Skinner's drunken longtime friend goes out of control leaving them shipwrecked and stranded on a cold night. Huddled together for warmth with nothing but champagne, Skinner and Scully are forced to confront the awkward encounter months prior that tested their professional boundaries and sparked a hidden flame. As the night deepens and the champagne flows, the question remains: will their rekindled spark survive the harsh reality of morning, or will they be left adrift once again?

Repost 2024 Original Post to Scuttlebutts: May 20,1999 No. 2 in the "Complimentary Mints" series Skinner/Scully Angst/Humor SPOILERS: Slightest mention of "Quagmire" situations. Rated: PG-13 ** To be honest the first part of this was written over a year ago (that's why this story's Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday) and I kind of got sidetracked with a wedding and the birth of a baby... all my own. Needless to say, I had a busy year. So here it is, the second part, long in coming, but here it is. I hope it lives up to all the high-jinx of the previous works. Enjoy.

Robert Hunter searched the ballroom curiously as he and his wife returned to their table. "What is taking them so long?" he said bumping into the table before he plopped into his seat.

Janet rolled her eyes. "Who, Walter and Dana?" Before Robert could respond she answered herself, "They’re on the dance floor, dancing."

"Oh, no, I meant Maureen and that doctor fella. They've been gone an awfully long-"

"Give it up, Bob," she sounded disgusted with him, looking for something to wipe up the champagne he had spilt when he bumped the table. "They're not coming back."

Robert looked at her with slightly glazed eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean they're not coming back," she told him, snapping up a discarded napkin from across the table. "Those two were just looking for an opportunity to leave together."

"What-- how do you know that?" Robert sounded indignant. "You only just met that doctor, Janet. You can't make snap judgments about people when you only just met them. You're always jumping to these conclusions. Besides, you know, I really don't think Maureen would do something like that."

 "Really?"

 "Yes," he answered and took a swig of his champagne.

 Janet shoved the napkin she'd just unwadded toward him.

 "What, did I dribble?"

  "No! Look at what's written on this, Bob." He took it, glancing at her confused.

 "I hate to say it, but I told you so," she said and took a triumphant sip from her champagne.

* " I didn't know what day it was; you held my hand. Warm like the month of May it was, and I'll say it was grand!" *

"Are you sure you never took dance lessons?"

Skinner's question was immediately answered by Scully's heel coming down on his foot.

She bit at her lip, "excuse me."

"I guess I spoke too soon," he chuckled.

"You jinxed yourself," she replied feeling foolish and dizzy. And oddly, there was humming in her ears too now.

Perhaps it was too much to drink or a lack of rest, the past week had been a long one full of overtime and eye-crossing paperwork. But more than likely it was a combination of both drink and fatigue... No, she realized, it was not producing this deep hum, but rather... Skinner.

The man was humming, so low and resonant she could feel it in her chest.

She caught her breath, overwhelmed by a flashback of her and her father. The security of his embrace as he effortlessly swayed with her around the room to her fierce delight; giggles and squeals ensuing.

It was so very odd, an epiphany, that she now recognized the similarities between her father and Skinner; disciplined and driven, no-nonsense and reserved.

She hesitated in step, drawing his attention down on her.

Skinner glanced back in the direction of the table. "Perhaps we should go-"

"Yes, I should go," she interrupted.

He looked at her, finishing what he had been about to say, "back to the table."

"Oh." Scully pursed her mouth.

He looked down then to the right, anywhere but directly at her. "If you're ready, then perhaps we should say our good nights," he announced.

Scully started to nod, but she was just beginning to have a nice time, finally. She felt like kicking herself, giving him the wrong impression by assuming he was ready to leave. No! She didn't want to go, but she didn't want to stay if he wasn't. So, what now did she have to look forward to? A ride home alone in a cab with some taxi driver?

Skinner let out an audible breath looking directly at her. "You came here in Farnsworth's car?"

"Yes."

Skinner nodded and said matter-of-factly, "I’ll drive you home."

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

 "...Finally, you make a good suggestion. That would be a decent end to this disastrous evening." Scully and Skinner overheard Janet saying as they walked up to the table.

Seeing the two of them, Janet looked surprised. She tried to hide the napkin with the note written on it, but Skinner had already spotted it unfolded in front of her.

"You're back so soon. We thought you would dance a while longer; it looked like you were having such a wonderful time." Janet tried to sound casual.

"I believe we're going to call it a night, Janet," Skinner said pulling Scully's chair out for her. "Our guests already have, as I know you're aware of."

Janet pursed her lips, looking down at the napkin she held beneath the table.

"Terribly sorry about that, Walter." Robert apologized.

"No need for apology."

"But it is still early," Janet announced glancing at her watch, "it's only ten thirty, Walter. And Robert did just come up with a fabulous way to end this evening in style."

"And what would that be?"

"Going out on the boat," Robert answered, delighted with his idea.

Skinner looked skeptical. "Don't you think it's too late to be doing that?"

"It's never too late to take the boat out." Robert scoffed.

"What kind of a boat is it?" Scully asked, her attitude shifting from doleful to enthusiastic interest. Little did she know how Robert loved to talk about this boat.

"A thirty-four-footer," he said with a gleam in his eye, "an aft cabin. It's the greatest thing having the topside just off the bridge, none of that running up and down the stairs. I feel like I'm navigating my living room around the lake..."

"Yes, well," Janet interrupted, laying a hand on his arm, knowing how he could go on and on about it if he was allowed to. She turned to Scully, "You'll see for yourself, Dana, as long as you two join us. I think a little jaunt across the lake would be a nice conclusion to the evening."

"What lake?" Scully wondered.

"Triadelphia," Skinner told her, “About an hour's drive."

"Come on," Robert said to Skinner, "it's not that long to drive up there."

Skinner considered this. "It’s about forty minutes."

"What do you say?" Janet pressed.

Skinner considered Robert a moment. Could he handle the boat? Was there too much of a glint in his eyes? Perhaps too much flush to his face? Had he had too much to drink? There was no question of how much was "too much" when going out on the water, but he had been out there with Robert when almost a half case of beer would go in an afternoon and the man stayed as straight as a post.

Skinner glanced at Scully, better judgment shaking its head at Robert's boating idea, but then there was her. Her evening had gone about as well as his, and it looked like this idea had brightened her sprits. Honestly, he thought, the suggestion did sound tempting, but he would have rather it been his boat alone to invite her out on a midnight cruise. His imagination drifted on a lazy wave of whiskey… Surrounded by water, there would be clever conversation motivating a casual closeness, then the furtive brushing of arms and hands, caresses passed over contours and curves accentuated by the clinging style of her dress...

Okay, he stopped the line of thought; perhaps it was best to be with others... "Would you like to?" he asked Scully, his mouth dry.

It looked as though she thought about it for a nano-second before the smile crossed her mouth. "Yes," she answered, first looking at him and then the Hunters, "I would love to."

***************** ♥ ****************

"Um, how long, exactly have you been... boating?" Scully asked Robert with visible discomfort. She was a tad suspicious it hadn't been long, and that in conjunction with his drinking was not giving her slightest sense of serenity. She had kept the drinking to a minimum but still felt like a Beck song was playing on repeat in her head.

"Oh, gosh, nearly twenty years now- whoops!" Robert interrupted himself, side stepping the liquor sloshing from his glass.

Aside from the fact that she didn't believe she had ever actually heard a person use the term 'whoops' until now, Scully now chalked up Robert's ineptitude to too much drinking. She glanced over at Skinner who was already standing up to address his inebriated friend at the helm.

"Robert, maybe we should take it back in now," Skinner suggested smoothly.

"Her, Walter," the man corrected, "a person always refers to the ship as her.'"

"Yes, well, this is still just a boat, dear," Janet told her husband brashly, not exactly straight herself. "And it's time to take it back in."

Again, Scully found herself just beginning to have a good time when it had to end. It was for the best, though, without a doubt. They had been out on Triadelphia for a little over an hour and perhaps drinking far too much on top of what had already been consumed at the hotel. Especially Janet and Robert; her comments to her husband had become increasingly curt and indiscreet while he had become more unstable on his feet and less accepting about what she had to say to him. Scully had the same uneasy feeling she'd gotten when watching 'Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf' the first time and actually the second time as well. Unfortunately, she found herself cast in the film this time, and knowing the potential ugliness about to erupt before her.

This was all rather unfortunate because aside from Robert and Janet's increasing disrespect for each other, Scully was enjoying Skinner's company very much. His conversation had been charming, much like that he had shared with her at the hotel, as well as a casualness to his manner that had closed a great deal of space between them on the deck. But he seemed distracted, directing an air of reserve toward the Hunters, which made her suspect that he regretted coming out on the boat; that he had considered the issue of how much everyone had drank and the possible dangers of going out on the lake afterward.

"Janet, please," Robert called back at her, combative, "don't say it's just a boat. She's the most- whoa!"

The craft lurched abruptly, knocking Janet to the floor, and nearly sent Skinner over the side. Scully's heart jumped into her throat. "That's it," she heard Skinner growl under his breath as he righted himself.

"Okay, that's it," Janet repeated sharply.

"We need to slow down," Scully told the man as she moved from her seat next to him at the controls.

"When the hell did they put that buoy there?" Robert wondered to himself, heedless of Scully's instruction to slow down.

"Don't those usually mean to take caution?" Skinner called out as he helped Janet steady herself.

"Robert, slow down, now," Scully sounded breathless, alarmed as she insisted, straining to see ahead.

"Oh, come on, we're hardly moving at all," he dismissed her, pushing the throttle forward. The increased speed pushed Scully and knocked Skinner and Janet off balance. "Now, we're moving," he called out and laughed as Janet fell back onto the bench seat.

"Slow it down, Robert," Skinner snapped back at him.

"Oh, keep your pants on. I've got it under control."

"Slow down," Scully told him urgently, latching onto the console, "this is dangerous. Please, slow it down."

"Would you for once listen, Robert," Janet shouted, trying to get back up from the bench seat. "You never listen to anyone..."

"All right," Robert called out, craning his head back to look at her. "I have had just about enough of that kind of thing out you tonight."

"And what kind of thing is that, the truth?"

"Robert," Scully pointed, urging him to turn back to watch the water.

He waved her back like a pesky insect, focusing again on Janet. "No, this barking. You've been yapping at me since we stepped foot on this deck."

"Robert, please focus and slow this thing down," Scully tried again, deciding to simply take the controls away from him.

"What? What? It's all right, Dana..." he refused to let her.

"I haven't been barking at you," Janet barked back at him.

"And you wonder why I never let you get one of those little Yorkies- it's because you already sound like one!"

Janet's mouth went slack. "What?"

"Yap, yap, yap! Yap, yap-"

"Knock it off," Skinner boomed marching over to Robert and Scully, "stop this nonsense and slow this thing-"

"Look out!" Scully shouted, grabbing the controls, knocking Robert off balance and out of the way.

Dead ahead, illuminated in the headlight, a cluster of rocks jutted out from a small island in the water.

"Hold on," she yelled cranking the wheel hard, pulling back on the throttle.

Her attempt was futile. The mid-sized motorboat’s starboard side smashed against the knot of rocks, throwing everyone to the deck. Chairs skittered across the deck and toppled over with the champagne bottles that were rolling around and clattering against each other.

The sound of rushing water was immediate.

"We crashed," Robert said, sounding and looking stunned.

"Is anyone hurt?" Scully groaned lifting herself up from the deck.

"No," Skinner and Janet replied, Robert just stared into space.

"Scully, are you all right?" Skinner asked.

"yes, fine," she answered looking at Robert. "Are you hurt?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he just repeated, stunned, "we crashed."

"Someone get on the radio for help," Janet instructed as she pulled herself up from the floor and onto the bench seat once again.

Robert didn't move from his cross-legged position on the deck.

Disgusted, Scully huffed at the man's inaction and crawled to the radio. "Mayday, mayday," she called out to anyone who was listening, "this is the Trivial Pursuit, we are taking on water..."

"Where are the vests?" Skinner questioned looking around the deck, throwing open cabinets and lockers. "Janet, is there a raft?"

"Here, I'm sitting on the locker," Janet announced moving to open the locker which doubled as a seat.

"Mayday, mayday," Scully continued, slapping at the radio, "this is the Trivial Pursuit, Triadelphia lake- Damnit!"

"What is it?" Skinner asked pausing from lugging out the raft long enough to look back at her.

"The radio is out!"

"The batteries..." Robert muttered and started crawling toward the cabin hatch. Opening the door, he looked down into the cabin, seeing water gushing throughout. "She's going down..."

"Vests, are there life vests?" Skinner asked again as he wrestled the life raft out of the storage locker.

"Here," Scully called out over the sound of rushing water, holding up the vests.

"We should have been wearing these to start with," Skinner grumbled grabbing one to hand to Janet then another for himself.

"Too late now to worry about what we should have been doing," Scully yelled purposely in Robert's direction.

Robert Hunter looked around them, stilled stunned, “we crashed.”

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

Water lapped against the rocks, Scully shivered, and Skinner fumed as he listened to the Hunters arguing in circles around the rocks he and Scully were marooned on. Sometimes closer, sometimes farther away, but none the same they were still going in circles in what had turned out to be a two-man raft.

Everything had happened so quickly that Skinner never had the opportunity to consider options, let alone argue for Scully to have taken the second spot in the raft with Janet. Instead, Robert and Janet had jammed themselves into the tiny dinghy, promising to send help back as soon as they got to shore.

"...it's all your fault, showing off like some teenager," Janet's shrill voice drifted out of the darkness.

"I was only trying to have some fun. Now, please, shut the hell up before I..."

Skinner couldn't make out what the threat had been. He didn't strain to hear the rest either, he'd heard enough.

"At least he said please," Scully murmured over her arm that was propped atop her knees.

"We should have confiscated that raft."

She looked at Skinner. "It was their boat."

"It was also their fault it sank." He reminded her, watching her take her vest off.

"So, by default," she paused, shivering as she padded the rocks with the vest, "we should have commandeered their life raft?"

Skinner released a breath of resignation, watching her make a seat of the life vest, looking very much like she knew what she was doing.

She did to a certain degree; she had been here before-- not here, of course -- but in this situation, with Mulder when he had been chasing the legend of Big Blue in Georgia. Their boat had sunk thanks to her unpolished navigational skills, and they ended up marooned on a rock in the freezing cold- but only a few feet from shore as it turned out. Only, that was not the case this time. She squinted into the darkness; she and Skinner were very much "out there." At least this bunch of rocks was more actually a tiny island, unlike what she and Mulder had been stuck on.

Scully reseated herself on her on the life vest, and Skinner didn't think what she had done was such a bad idea. It wasn't as though the vests were offering them any warmth, he thought, taking off his own vest. Perhaps if the things were dry, if he and Scully were dry... But they weren't. They were soaked and the wind was beginning to blow. At least there were a couple of frail bushy saplings clinging to a sparse covering of soil, angling steeply toward the water just behind the more even area where he and Scully were hunkered down on. If they were lucky, these puny things would offer some obstruction to the wind.

Taking off the vest, Skinner was eyeing the paltry landscape of their unfamiliar environment when he caught sight of Scully leaning forward as if she was about to tumble back into the water.

"Hey," he called out, moving to grab her. She sat back up before he could catch her arm, holding up a bottle of champagne she'd retrieved from a cooler bobbing in the water. It was only one of the many things from the boat that were floating around the area.

He eyed it, saying after a moment, "you didn't happen to see a space heater floating by?"

"At least there's this," she responded to the sarcastic remark.

He plopped down heavily; feeling excessively disgusted with the situation as he again heard the sound of the Hunters fighting in the distance.

"They're over there now," Scully jabbed her thumb to the left.

Skinner grunted, taking the champagne from her. "We should have taken the raft," he grumbled uncorking the bottle and offering Scully the first drink.

She looked at the bottle, considering the absurd politeness of his offer of the first drink. "We should have gone home," she corrected him sourly, taking the bottle.

He glanced at her and nodded, looking out into the darkness, listening to the vague arguing in the distance. "We should have never left home..."

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

Still wet, but warmer by the time they had polished off half the bottle, Skinner's attitude had improved significantly. "Sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip..." the Assistant Director recited while waiting his turn at the champagne.

Scully didn't bat an eye, only passed him the bottle picking up where he had left off. "A trip that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship..."

"The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed..."

"If not for the courage of the fearless crew the minnow would be lost..."

"The minnow would be lost," they said in unison.

After a long pause, Scully wondered, "what's the rest?"

Skinner thought about it a beat, hummed to himself a bit before shaking his head.

"I think we missed an entire verse," she announced, taking the champagne back.

"Hmm," he murmured.

Only the sound of water lapping against the rocks and the faint hint of arguing from somewhere in the darkness filled the space between the two of them.

"They're over there now," Skinner motioned straight ahead.

Scully listened for a moment, catching only the slightest hint of bickering. She shook her head, wasn't this the perfect end to an even more perfect evening? She thought hunching her shoulders forward, tucking her legs up closer to her chest. It had looked fairly hopeful there for a while at the hotel, perhaps the start of a harmlessly romantic evening with a man who was interesting and polite, and sensual.

Then, for a while, before the Hunters began biting at each other, there had been several moments when she and Skinner had made seemingly unbreakable eye contact. Their gazes locked and she had been certain that her eyes confessed a universe of sensations she was finally feeling again.

Scully edged her eyes sideways to look at Skinner. He now looked as miserable as she felt, his jaw held tightly; maybe to keep his teeth from chattering, but more than likely because he was burned up over this whole fiasco. She had pressed her chin into her arms to keep her teeth from chattering, but the effort was beginning to fail.

Warm socks. She could have been curled up on the sofa with big, thick, warm socks on, watching a movie and drinking something other than champagne. Warm socks...Yes, that was the primary thought on her mind now, she mused glancing down at her bare feet and legs, replacing all the slightest of whimsical, romantic notions contrived by champagne under star lit skies.

Tucking her legs up closer to her chest she tried not to shiver.

"How did you end up with Farnsworth?" Skinner asked unexpectedly as he handed over the champagne to take off his tux jacket.

Scully opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, completely taken aback by first, the question, and then the reason for him to be taking his jacket off.

She stole a glance as he peeled the jacket off, exposing the white damp tux shirt clinging to his well-defined chest and muscular arms.

"You know I could ask the same of you about Maureen," she turned the table as he moved close to her, lowering the jacket over her shoulders. The garment was wet but held an odd warmth from his body heat, a strange sensation but l it was better than just the sleeveless dress.

"Fair," Skinner said settling back down, "but I asked first."

"Mulder was right," she muttered and took a draw on the champagne bottle, "Frohike probably would have been a more interesting date. Goat skins and all."

"He asked you out?" Skinner sounded confused.

She laughed. "No. No, I was referring to something Mulder said about the true meaning of Valentine’s Day. Fertility rites and young men dancing around in goat skin thongs chasing off wolves and taking young women..." she hesitated, feeling his stare. She looked at him, the picture of naiveté. "The erotic ancient Roman ritual of Lupercalia."

Skinner turned to look out into the darkness. "Why am I not surprised."

"Because," she said wriggling, trying to reposition the label in her dress, "we've come to expect such eccentricities."

"Thongs?" He said quite suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"What's the point?"

Catching on, Scully shrugged. "No panty lines," she enlightened him, indifferently.

"If panty lines are the greatest problem in a person's life, then they're doing pretty well."

She thought about his observation for a while before agreeing with a nod, handing over the champagne. "Panty lines and what check design to choose."

She sighed and hung her head, a misty pool of champagne clouding her thoughts, allowing the oddest of things to mingle in her mind. Erotic, ancient rituals conducted by firm, toned men frolicking around bon fires, trim silhouettes broken only by the unfinished edges of their loin cloths. Moving from among the fervent revelry, conspicuous by confident mannerisms and prepossessing stature, a man drew her attention, demanded it.

Harsh shadows cast by savage fires guarded his face and strengthened the bold contours of his athletic frame as he moved toward her in this notably unique notion. As he came to her, waves of knowledge washed over her, understanding that he would take her, consume her in a blaze of glorious pleasure.

She wanted to make light of the dark, see beyond the severe shadows, see this man's identity. But, sight unseen, she knew who approached her within the safety of this private vision. A sensual man who she only recently realized as one who stirred her like no other.

With incomparable light allowed by her resignation, Walter Skinner stepped into the light of the fires, studying her with wanton intent gleaming in his dark eyes. His bare chest heaving and covered in a glistening layer of perspiration, his arms held at his sides as though with the last threads of control. She traced the trim contour of his stomach, her eyes tracing the line of his hips as it dipped into the band of a lean pair of briefs--

Wait-- What?

That's enough. Scully shook her head, blinking her eyes several times. There was just something very wrong about envisioning your superior in his... Wait a minute, she didn't have to Invision Skinner in his briefs, she had been there, done that. Well, not exactly done that... oh, but...

"The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure," she suddenly broke into song, drawing only peripheral attention from Skinner. "Five passengers set sail that day for a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour..."

Her rendition of the theme song faded as she wriggled against the distraction of the label in her dress; the weight of Skinner jacket had pressed it into her back, and it was driving her nuts.

"What's wrong?" Skinner wondered, watching her squirm.

"No, it's the label in my dress."

He watched her fidget for a minute or two before reaching out to lift the jacket away from her back. "Just pull the thing out, would you?" he instructed, faintly annoyed.

"I would if I could, but I can't reach it."

He let out an exasperated breath. "Where is it?" he asked, hooking his fingers in the collar of the dress, pulling it away from her neck.

Scully jumped at both the abrupt move and the cold of his fingers against her skin.

"Sorry," he apologized pulling his hands back to rub them together and breath on them, all the time his eyes fixed on the fall of her neck and the tendrils of damp hair dangling from her once tidy hairstyle.

"Where is it?" he asked again, reaching into the collar with warmed fingers.

His fingers brushing against the back of her neck set every nerve ablaze. "Uh," she was feeling lightheaded as she reached around her back to point, "it's about here."

Skinner stared down at the area she was pointing at. It was a great deal lower than he had assumed it would be. This label wasn't coming out by simply reaching down the collar... Unzipping was going to be required.

He cleared his throat, no longer feeling the cold. "You'll have to unzip this some before I can reach that- it- the label."

"And-- it's just too cold for that," Scully gibbered, yanking the jacket back up around herself, refusing to open the door to a dangerous opportunity created of champagne and completed by poor judgment.

Skinner sat back down hearing what he thought were the Hunters bickering in the distance. He shook his head reaching for the champagne. "I think we're going to be here a while," he declared before taking a swig with all the verve of a rummy slogging through a dark alley.

"I think I would have complained a half hour ago."

He looked at her, eyes a little glassy. "What's the difference between now and then?"

"I could feel my feet then," she said and tucked her nose back down behind her arms that she had propped atop her knees.

Skinner glanced at her feet seeing she had lost her shoes somewhere during this misadventure. Attractive, yes, but they hadn't been much to start with, yet they would have still offered some protection against the cold.

His eyes drifted from her bare feet up the measure of her legs; full, well-turned calves curving into smooth thighs partially bared by the hiking of her skirt. Hastily he looked away, refusing a reply to reawakening desires he thought he'd put behind him months ago.

Taking a gulp of crisp air, he straightened himself, denying time to those thoughts. "Here," he said handing her the champagne bottle then moved to take his jacket from around her shoulders, "let's try something..."

"What...?" Scully asked, her voice raspy.

"Put the jacket over your legs and feet," he told her doing so.

"But what about...?"

She saw that he was attempting to be suave, even debonair, but there was an embarrassing amount of awkwardness to his actions caused by alcohol.

"Shh," he hushed her, scooting around behind her back.

Oh no, this is it, she thought feeling his arms coming around her from behind, how could she resist this? It didn't matter how she did it, she just had to. She had to keep in mind how insane this situation was that they were in; the cold air, their wet clothes, her bare feet, no real hope of being pulled off this rock for who knew how long - maybe not until morning - and none of it mattered for the moment. Only his touch, the warmth of his body, meager as it was through her wet dress, still she could feel him against her.

She shivered.

"You're still shivering," he said, pulling her closer against his chest. "Better?"

She swallowed, grasping at the last threads of a steady voice. "I... I can't complain."

"Good."

They sat like that for a very long time, very quiet, very still. Scully listened to the even sound of his breath feeling his chest rise and fall against her back, enjoying the closeness and relishing the warmth.

"You never answered my question," he said close to her ear.

Scully hesitated, affected by his breath grazing her neck. "You didn't answer mine, either."

"Again, I asked you first."

She thought about it for a moment, how had she ended up with Farnsworth? No, she didn't want to think about that right now. All she wanted to do was enjoy this moment because God knew it was the best part of the whole evening so far... so far.

"He asked me out, and I said 'yes,' and that is, as you put it, how I 'ended up' with him."

Skinner looked thoughtful, then, "So, any man asks you out and you just say yes?"

Scully twisted, glancing back at him. What he had said and what he was fishing for were two very different things.

"And Maureen?"

Her turn had put them even closer to one another. Her eyes were clear, spellbinding. And despite all they had been through wearing at her appearance, she looked radiant, truly beautiful and sensual beyond measure. His breath was captured, his chest constricted, his thoughts cluttered by judicious reasoning battling against instinct and indiscriminate want.

"I was cornered." Skinner confessed, his eyes darting away from hers. "It was an unavoidable arrangement."

Scully felt the muscles in his arms bunching up; his whole body was tensing against her. Was this line of questioning making him uncomfortable? Perhaps he didn't want to think about Maureen as much as she didn't want to think about Farnsworth.

"So you didn't ask her...?"

He was already shaking his head, frowning hard. "No," he declared, "never in a million years," he paused, thinking for a moment. "She offered nothing of interest to me."

"She’s attractive," Scully observed, feeling like fishing herself now.

 He shrugged. "In her own way.”

“Oh, come on—”

“No,” he interrupted her, “All women are attractive in their own way. So, Farnsworth,” he shifted,” He’s no Quasimodo, I noticed."

"Beauty is skin deep," she declared. "Not really my taste, anyway."

"Intelligent, though, I’m sure."

Scully shook her head. "Pedantic."

Skinner chewed on that one for a moment, amused. "Pedantic, huh?"

"Yes, very," she said beginning to giggle.

Skinner was chuckling, too. "Then why would you go out with him?"

Scully's giggles drifted away, and she answered, turning her eyes up to his again. “I was bored,” She admitted.

He looked at her, considering her an instant before a wholly hopeless impulse overwhelmed him shifting his focus from her watchful eyes to her lips.

Hesitantly at first then with more urgency they began to move together, bridging the distance between their lips...

* "...if I fall shy at all..." *

Scully's smooth brow creased as she looked into his eyes intently. "I hear music..." she told him.

Skinner listened, brows furrowing.

* "... com'on, baby, finish what ya' started..." *

 "So… do... I," he slowly replied, puzzled.

* "... I'm incomplete!" *

It was then that the lights hit them.

They jerked away from one another, Scully sucking in a startled breath sure her heart had stopped. “Oh," she gasped, looking as though someone had slapped her.

Skinner appeared more vexed than anything, cursing under his breath.

"Hey!" A voice from out of the light just over the blast of music. "Did we interrupt anything out there?!"

"No," Scully yelped, getting to her feet hurriedly, "no, not at all."

* "... right on time you will arrive..." *

"Hey, man, turn down the music!" The man shouted back at someone aboard the party barge as the spotlight was angled away from Scully and Skinner.

Scully, no longer blinded by the searchlight, could see a sea of smirking faces surrounding a man standing at the rail of a bobbing party barge.

"Did the Hunters send you?" She called back.

The man frowned around a half grin, "Hunters?" he called back. "As in head or deer?"

The insipid remark received a meager round of laughter from the curious partygoers crowding the rail to peer at the stranded couple on the tiny island.

"Smart-ass," Scully heard Skinner say as he rose to his feet.

"Maybe duck hunters?" the man continued to joke.

"Son of a-"

"No," she broke Skinner off, "a man and woman, in a raft? Have you seen them?"

He shook his head. "Never seen them. What happened, everyone go for a swim and forget to lower the ladder?"

"Our boat sank," Skinner told him, sounding annoyed by the almost casual chitchat being exchanged.

"Man, ain't that the damnedest thing," he declared and began motioning them toward the boat, "well, com'on, we'll take a look for those Hunters and get you to the shore."

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

It was a party but no one on board was decked out like Scully and Skinner had once been. Now, though, even street bums would have looked formal next to them. Scully felt bad enough knowing she looked like a drowned rat, Skinner was looking pretty rough around the edges too, but hearing someone in the crowd declare, "oh my gawd, look at them," made it that much worse,

Once they were on board the barge, Greg, the smart-ass as Skinner had dubbed him, found Scully a pair of tennis shoes then began cruising the immediate area for the Hunters. But after half an hour and no sign of the bickering rafters, Skinner and Scully were taken into Deer Point. It was a small marina town with only a bar still open for business.

Looking like something the cat drug in, the two trudged into the bar heading straight for the phone in the back the bartender had pointed to when asked. Needless to say, they drew more than a few stares as they wound their way through the tables toward the bar.

Scully went into the ladies’ room while Skinner phoned for a cab. After trying to pull together the lose strains of hair and straightening various ruffled areas of her person, she started to go back out but stopped, looking at herself in the smudged mirror over a dingey sink. Her hands started to tremble as her heart began to thunderously pound in her chest as she thought about what had nearly come to pass out in the lake.

They had been so close... they shouldn't have been that close, but they had been. So close to crossing a boundary set by their place, their working relationship to one another. But this wasn't work and it wasn't fair that concern about work, their status and position to one another should intrude on the near most perfect moment- She closed her eyes, pressing out the alcoholic fog still clouding her mind.

She breathed deeply, looking into the mirror again to wipe at the smudged mascara beneath her eyes. She looked terrible and tired; no man in his right mind would be interested in her in good light... Who gave a damn?

"They don't come out this far," was the first thing Skinner said to her when she came back from the bathroom. "None of the cab companies will come out this far, this time of night."

"None?"

He shook his head. "I just called the five listed in this thing," he jabbed at the shredded excuse for a phone book dangling by a cable under the phone.

"Are there any shuttles or..."

"We would have needed a reservation. We wouldn't get any one out here on such short notice... shit."

They stood silent, thinking around the sound of glasses clanking, the jukebox blasting from bad speakers and people with curious stares passing them in hall for the bathroom.

* "... the old man is down the road..." *

Skinner vaguely recognized the sound of John Fogerty's voice rattling out of the speakers before Scully reached for the phone.

"Who are you calling?"

She hesitated, glancing at him briefly then away. She didn't really know what else to do at this point. Calling her mother was out of the question; having the woman get out of bed and drive all the way to nowhere wasn't something Scully had ever asked of her and wasn't about to do now.

"I'm calling Mulder," she reluctantly told Skinner, almost deciding to do so at the same moment.

Skinner tensed immediately.

Scully glared at him. "Well?"

“Fine.” He hissed, aggravation flooding him. "Go ahead."

Who else? He thought. Who else could possibly round out the chaos that was this evening?

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

"Where are you?" Scully asked her partner after finally having to call him on the cell phone when there was no answer at his apartment.

Skinner listened, catching sight of possible trouble coming down the hall as Scully talked to Mulder; a wobbling man with alcohol reddened eyes, leering at Scully.

* "... he bring a strong man to his begging knees. He make the young girl's mama cry..." *

"I need you to pick us up... Lake Triadelphia... with Skinner," she said into the phone sounding more irritated by the second. "Triadelphia, yes, with Skinner."

"Just tell him to stop asking questions," Skinner growled watching the man weave his way closer.

"Mulder, will you come out and get us or not? Skinner tried the cab companies and none of them will come out this far this time of night--"

"Skinner?"

Both Scully and the Assistant Director turned to look at the inebriated man now standing directly behind them now.

"Do I know you" Skinner asked him.

The man threw his head back and then forward in an exaggerated nod. "No, man, but I know you- Free Bird, man!"

"What?"

"Sweet home Alabam-"

"That's Skynyrd!" Skinner blasted at the drunk.

"No, Mulder, we haven't been to a concert..."

"Baba Ban, Baba Ban," the man began to whine as he air guitared around the narrow hallway.

"Mulder, will you just... Yes, a bar in a place called Deer Point... I don't know what the name is- It's the only place open... Oh, all right," she turned back to Skinner, "what's the name of this place?"

"Baba Ban, Baba Ban, Sweet home Alabama!" The drunk kept repeating.

"Two Bucks," Skinner told her through gritted teeth.

"Sweet home Alabama..."

"It's called Two Bucks... It's doesn't matter," she told Mulder again, "it's the only place open around here..."

"Sweet home Alabama..."

"Will you shut up?!"

The drunk froze, blinking at the petite yet loud and demanding red head glaring back at him from the phone.

Even Skinner took a step back from her after that outburst.

"No, not you," she snapped into the phone, "never mind who, just get out here... how long then?"

"Man," the drunk said to Skinner, "she must still be upset about the crash." With that said, he wandered off down the hall to the bathroom, dejected.

Skinner shook his head. "Jesus, what decade is he living in?"

Scully hung up the phone, taking a deep breath.

"How long will he be?"

She looked at Skinner as if she had forgotten he was there with her. "Uh, about twenty minutes."

"That soon? Where was he?"

"He wouldn't say."

Skinner looked into the bar, inspecting the patrons. His jaw ground as he glanced around for a secluded seat, but there were none to be seen. The place was small, and even with just a few people inside, it looked and sounded more crowded. There were no secluded booths or tables; everything was out in the open, so there would be no quietly disappearing into the woodwork until Mulder got there.

There were a couple of places at the bar, toward the end. It looked better than a table out in the middle of everything to Skinner.

"Come on," he grumbled taking Scully's arm, "let's try to fit in."

The bartender raised up from where he had been resting on the bar, talking to a woman, and gave Skinner and Scully a circumspect glance as he started over to them.

"Can I get you two something?"

"Coffee, please." Skinner said.

 Scully nodded. "I'll have the same, please."

The bartender just looked at them for a second, then said, "I'll have to make a pot."

Skinner nodded. "Sounds good."

"Are you sure that's what you want, just coffee?"

Scully looked at the man in disbelief, feeling a certain sense of deja vu. "Yes, we'll wait, thank you."

"Where skies are so blue..." the drunk came singing out of the hallway into the bar.

"At least he remembered a couple more lyrics," Skinner observed.

"Hey there."

Scully turned looking directly into the face of another man she had seen at the other end of the bar when they sat down. His gaunt features were split by a crooked smile. Her first instinct was to turn away, dispatching him with a concise rejection but she and Skinner were going to be here for a while after all.

"Hi," she tried for her best polite voice.

Skinner's attention was already on the man. He didn't like the looks of him, he didn't like the looks of anyone in the place, but this guy was talking to Scully which put him that much lower on the popularity list.

"They've got a good jukebox in this joint," the man told her, looking her up and down, "and you look like you were born to dance. How about it?"

"No, but thank you," Scully begged off the ungainly invitation.

The man looked at Skinner, sizing him up. "Okay for now," he told Scully, grinning. "But I'll get me a dance before this night is over."

"Sure, you will," she said when he was out of ear shot, "just not with me."

"I can't take you anywhere, can I?" Skinner off handily teased.

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

To be continued.......

[adrianathetransbitch]

Sorry for the holdup about the fic, I was spending Christmas with my family 😂 anyway, the fic is dark(if you couldn't tell from the first part and oh, yeah I forgot to mention that one of the events is inspired by my life... (Peterson R*****g Nicky) so I used my experience so I could treat it with respect that it needs so yes, now I present to you:

Act:3: Intro

Nicky Roth is washing up his plates in his one room apartment that he bought with his left over college funds. (this version of act 3 takes place in 2008 FYI)

All of a sudden a bald man with a toothpick in his mouth and a tropical shirt shows up, (it's his landlord) placing a note on Nicky's door.

Nicky opens the door. As he sees it, gets to packing his bags and goes to his car, calling his parents.

Turns out that they are on holiday and had left the key under the porch, letting him stay for 2 weeks until they comeback and get him sorted with a new place before summer ends.

So, Nicky drives home.

To Raven Brooks.

(Alpha 2 intro goes here)

But instead of the phone call Nicky gets in the original game, he instead sees a newspaper on his doorstep "Peterson found dead in his cell", Nicky looks at the words written as he then sees images of his past the neighbours face grinning at Nicky, Nicky's bruise and scars, Petersons face behind the glass in visitation and Nicky being on a hospital bed.

Nicky runs to the bathroom and vomits violently and cries, passing out on the bathroom floor.

Act: 3

Nicky wakes up and sees the neighbours house, fully renovated and with 5 floors and a makeshift windmill on top with a rollercoaster around the whole house, he isn't I raven brooks, he's in his own made-up town of catharsis.

This house kinda works like the "HN: diaries" house, with the elevators, cameras and limited attempts. (10 in specific)

The fear rooms are back but with a new addition, "memory cells".

Memory cells are flashbacks, plain and simple, you have the "basement cell", the "prison cell" and the "friend cell".

They are all very self explanatory.

Ending 1: suffer:

The bad memories draw Nicky to end it all, this ending is accomplished by being caught 10 times and experiencing "basement cell" or anything of the other cells/fear rooms.

Ending 2: buried with my memorys:

The neighbor buries Nicky in his dream, burring him and his memories in catharsis forever. Accomplished by being caught 10 times.

Ending 3: wake up:

You wake up and remember it but you feel like you barely know anything else. Achieved when only going into the basement and experiencing the fear rooms.

Ending 4: it hurts to remember but helps to understand:

Aka the truth ending:

Nicky experiences it all but when opening the basement door, there is now a room.

The final boss: The child eater:

A huge inside out, mechanical and fleshy monster, resembling the neighbor.

Beaten by using the powers you get from the fear rooms and beating it into an inch of its life, you wake up, covered in tears and vomit with a note right next to you saying "the past is a key to the bright future my child, with a golden apple coin next to it.

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Odd Squad UK -- "Should Odd Acquaintance Be Forgot" Episode Followup, Part 2

Ooooooh Ozzie origins. Oooooooooooh big bad origins. Ooooooooooo origins. Does it scare you?

Let's continue below the break!

(A post-editing note: I was informed that Leonie is, in fact, a girl, and not a boy like I thought. I'm keeping the LGBTQ+ theory because we've already gotten gay triangle villain and they could extend that to child villains too, but keep in mind that Leonie is a girl and not a boy. That's my bad.)

Setting aside the fact that they used the right flashback effect this time...Orli, please. Stop talking about math, just for a second. I'm begging.

Equilibrium! Starlight Glimmer! Equality!

...Sorry, I'm just tossing stuff out there.

Ohhhhhhhh...Barb E. Q.

Okay, that's actually kinda clever, NGL. But man, they are taking any schtick and applying it to people, huh?

I get that Oxandra is part of the Terrible Three, but...Onom was unique in that he went out onto the field a lot. Why are we extending that to her as well, as opposed to her staying in the Lab?

Kinda feeds into my complaint about departments not being a thing anymore.

To be honest, I expected all of them to hate even numbers, so restricting that to one of them is a nice touch.

LMAO WHAT THE FUCK????????? I JUST DID A WHOLE COUGH AT THEM HAVING OWLS??????????????????????

You guys think Agent Owl is there too? From "Follow the Leader"? In disguise?

OH OH F U C K GEE JESUS CHRIST ORWELL JUMPSCARE HNNNNNNNNGH.

Fucking threw my phone because whoof was I not expecting that.

No, no, no, that's the TripAdvisor bird. Or...uhhhh...shit, that one owl mascot for that one glasses company who I forget.

You can easily get them mixed up, Orwell. 'S okay.

"Well, they were smart, but they needed some guidance."

Congratulations, Ozzie! You just described every fucking child villain in this entire fucking franchise.

HoooOOOOOOOOOOLD UP. He made them a manual? He...didn't tell them to read the thick red book seen in past seasons, which definitely sure as hell wasn't written by him?

That's...very stupid. Give 'em the Agent's Handbook and go re-fictionalize that instead of breaking continuity like this, Ozzie.

See, this is actually playing into the psychology of children. You show a kid floating stuff and they'd probably laugh at it.

Look at all those Eggman's robots Lorem ipsum text!

He...oh my God, he printed the manual backwards?

CASE IN FUCKING POINT. Even putting aside the fact that this is incredibly flawed, there's an Odd Squad printing press that would have spotted the mistake like *snappy fingeys* that. Ozzie is not a part of the Odd Squad printing press.

This seal man thing is both hilarious and creepy at the same time.

And this is just stupid and contrived at the same time. Poor Ozzie's got such a lack of confidence that he has to make a cake to celebrate not 6 years of working together, but 6 days.

So if the almighty leader likes symmetrical numbers...man, he'd have a hell of a time with Villain X then, huh?

AND WHAT THE FUCK MAKES YOU THINK HE QUIT BEING A FUCKING DIRECTOR BY RUNNING AWAY?????????? THEY'RE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE BRUH WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS LOGIC.

...Okay, I blame Tasha more than I blame Ollison, but still. Ozzie got overwhelmed and ran away. That doesn't mean he quit on the spot; if he had, that would have been enough reason for Ollison to drop this promise of revenge. Ozzie still quit, but it was far away from their prying eyes.

Making a case in point as to why this show really should be animated: if it were, he could've gone to the Big O or the Little O and gotten this straightened out. But both Millie and Shazdeh are too old to reprise their roles now, in this live-action hybrid feature, and so this is what we're stuck with: Captain O doing what they should've done.

Ohhhhhhh, so the Department of Help was created just for him? Okay, makes sense! I kinda thought that was the case!

But it doesn't explain why he plopped Opie into it (or why Captain O did) after he got promoted versus just dissolving the department and letting her stay in Mail. AFAIK, we never got an actual reason for why Opie became the new head of the Department of Help beyond "yeah, you're nice enough and you'll do great". She's nice, but she's insanely stupid, which doesn't bode well for a help-based department.

...Unless they put her in there because she's too stupid for the field...?

For a half-second, I actually thought this would be Silly String, which, in this universe, has binding properties.

...'Scuse me while I go weep.

No...no, Ozzie, no. You explicitly said they were smart but needed a little guidance. "Smart but needs guidance" does not mean "is brain-dead enough to not recognize a book was printed backwards".

God, this is just so painfully convoluted. Olando's backstory made more sense than this and it was tainted only by bad writing! Even The Shadow's backstory made more sense than this and the only problem with her was strictly in her reformation!

I hate everyone who told me Mark wrote this episode, because y'all are fucking liars. And if Mark, Tim, and/or Adam had written this episode, it would have been so much better.

Fool them once, okay, sure.

Fool them twice, fine, I guess.

Fool them thrice, it's getting a little concerning.

Fool them four times, now it's irritating.

Fool them five times, your ass is getting ground into the soil before you're dead.

"you left us! abandoned us!"

uses a gadget that's designed to put their ex-leader out of commission

Leaving you, putting them to sleep, it doesn't matter. The point is that, either way, you have no guidance.

Considering we saw Oxandra wielding at least one gadget as a villainess, who's to say she doesn't have more on her person that can inflict direct harm on her enemy that doesn't put them out of commission, but instead wounds them enough to where they can't do much of anything, like, say, the pies from the pienado?

I've heard talks that this gadget is, in essence, a gun, and firing it at Ozzie would kill him. I'm...somewhat inclined to agree. It's a little muddled because of bad writing (and again, we've had death allusions written by more experienced writers who did it much better, like the aforementioned pienado), but sure, fandom founder deems this a murder attempt. It's about the closest we're gonna get in this trainwreck of a series/season. (I also wanted my "stuff that got past S&P" count to go past 75 and straight to 100. Thinking back on it now, there's no way 12 episodes can amass 15 incidents.)

...Oh.

Huh.

Well then.

WELL THEN.

Talk about fuckin' unexpected 'cause WHOT???????

The fact that she has enough power to fight off the effects of the gadget before succumbing to them is fucking wild, and frankly, huge props to her.

That being said, this has impact, but with more episodes and more time to explore this story, it could have hit so much harder. I'm feeling the same emptiness as I did with Olando and his backstory. And funny enough, both backstories can be attributed to one thing:

Shitty fuckass writing.

History really is doomed to repeat itself, and this franchise is slowly getting cooked.

This, on the other hand, is just incredibly bad editing.

Now, see, if I enter into a state of delusion big enough, I can imagine that the pattern on this key is the symbol of the Big Office department.

Which would be cool, but no one decided to really think of that because we're playing by Precure rules now where seasons aren't canon to one another. (And Precure actually does it a lot better when you don't have someone screeching in your ear about the franchise timeline.)

Can...can the oddness get out by itself? Because there is no way they got into the lift and released oddness themselves, on their own physical power, within se- hold the fuck up, is that our first look at Headquarters?

...Oh my GOD IT IS. WHAT THE HELL. LITERALLY JUST A WHOLE-ASS FIXTURE IN TOWN LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO.

It's not in the death context, of course, but given how Captain O is out of commission and given the fact that this is a finale episode, they got balls to drop "dies" like this outta the fuckin' blue. They could have easily gone with "I hate it when my battery goes!" or a simple "aw man, I lost the video!"

(On to Part 3!)

[crystalcanis]

Teaser for 2024!! Chapter 1 might have ended but the horrors continue.

Where to read my comic! LINK (coming to tumblr sometime this year hopefully)

I'm going to put some personal thoughts regarding chapter 1 below, it's there if you want context on how I see this story, but it can be ignored if you don't want to read a wall of text! I hope the teaser looks nice and spikes interest! I think this next chapter is going to be a fun one.

Arc 1 Chapter 1 was written when I was still in highschool, I have graduated college by now :' ) So needless to say, I am very excited to be jumping into the second arc of this story and be done and over with the stuff my teenage self wrote. 

I scripted Arc 2 Chapter 2 relatively recently (almost done scripting Arc 2 Chapter 3 too), so it has my current writing style and pacing! I'm really proud of it personally, I think its fun but I guess there is that underlying fear of people maybe not liking my current approach to the characters. Specially because I know this comic seems to be the favorite amongst my current two because of how long it's been around! Even if I made little edits on the way, Chapter 1 was basically the same script my teenage self wrote... I had to follow the planned pacing and events, and oh gosh there are so many scenes I would write differently (all the ones before we meet Noriel, basically.)

My biggest personal complain with chapter 1 is that I don't think I was clear enough with the theme of the story nor did I give it much justice : ( and that in part goes with my younger self just, not having enough experience writing heavier topics at the time. This story is based on my personal experiences with xenophobia, it's about xenophobia, back when I scripted chapter 1 I knew how it FELT like, but now as an adult I have been able to go deeper and analize why I feel that way, why people treat me the way they do, and much more that I plan to properly explore going forward. This doesn't mean that other people connecting with this story through other forms of bigotry like racism, transphobia, homophobia etc is wrong, though! I have seen your explanations for why and it's sooo so fair, I don't mind this story reasonating with how general bigotry feels like at all, intersectionality is a thing for a reason. But I wish to explore xenophobia as it was intended :]! It's personal to me. And the world of Ales is so HUGE! Chapter 1 did not give the worldbuilding justice either! There is so much to explore and I'm excited! I can't believe my younger self wanted to end the story here, man. Insane.

The only thing that's closest to my current writing style in chapter 1 is actually the flashback with Noriel and Kana we saw this year! That wasn't part of the original script, and I added it in preemptively, knowing I would need it for context in the new chapters but that I wouldnt have space for it later, it needed to happen Now or never. So I guess that's a good reference for what to expect! But fear not, just because chapter 2 and onward is technically an updated approach to things, that doesn't mean what happened in chapter 1 wont affect anything! Quite the contrary oh boy! What happened in chapter 1 is a big catalyst for so many things that happen in this story, and why Noriel and Kana act the way they do. I think it's going to be great and I can't wait to share it, I just hope other people like it as much as I do!

[vicky82gargoylesfan]

My Thoughts on X-Men 97 Episode 10 Tolerance is Extinction part 3

The whole season has been absolutely fantastic, brilliantly well written and it hasn't even been predictable, I wouldn't never has guessed of what happened in Episode 5 and killing a major character off. They did so well not revealing spoilers.

Episode 5 - Remember it, is my favourite episode.

The voice cast were absolutely fantastic, especially Lenore Zann, she was amazing and deserves an award.

Rogue was my favourite in the original series and she's still is now, I just love her and she has been through so much.

This was a fantastic final, it was really intense and I was at the edge of my seat throughout the episode. The score was amazing, it gave me goosebumps a lot.

Spoilers

The episode started off with a flashback, I assume this is Vietnam. I noticed they used the song Turn, Turn, Turn by The Byrds in this.

Oh so this is not a flashback, Charles is in his head.

The power comes back on and there are so many cameo's, Silver Samurai again, Iron Man, Captain America again and he got his shield back. Also Daredevil and Dr Strange, who's using his power to perform surgery.

With the power back on, the Prime Sentinels are back on and they are now turning on humans.

More new cameos, they show Wakanda, Black Panther and Okoye. Cloak and Dagger, don't know much about them but I recognised them straight away. Omega Red, out of his containment tube and Dark Star, don't know who the other guy is. Finally we have Alpha Flight and Psylocke.

Oh damn, Cable admitted he tried to stop the Genosha Massacre 200 times and he's in tears, that's heart-breaking.

EEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!! The Phoenix!!!! Hmm, I wonder if this means that Jean and Madelyne were swapped after season 3.

Love Storm's little laugh.

Oh wow beautiful animation, love the imagery of the Phoenix.

The Phoenix stopped Bastion and the Prime Sentinels have been deactivated, hopefully they will be turned back to normal.

Oh wow!!!, she's stopped Sinister too by ripping out all the DNA he stole.

LOL at Morph mocking him.

Oh damn, Bastion is not stopped and has ripped out Cable's arm and uses it to change himself.

Oh wow, I love the design of Bastion new form.

Oh, so this is Bastion's Second Coming form, I haven't read the comic book story (which I will at some point) but I sort of know what happens.

Oh damn, so he's going to Asteroid M and use it to destroy earth.

Oh damn, Wolverine is poor shape, hopefully he will able to heal himself. Cyclops knows he likes Jean.

Charles has to repair Magneto's mind from his psychic attack, at least he doesn't leave him, like he did in the comics.

LOL, looks like a psychic zoom meeting here.

Aww Rogue, she's repeating the line that Gambit would of said if he was there.

"Odds may be bad, but the cards are always in the X-Men's favour"

Also

"His name was Gambit, Remember it"

Rogue's in tears while she says it, while beating the shit out of Bastion. this was awesome fight scene, love her doing the Thunderclap.

Oh no!! Bastion has the upper had and tries to strangle her. He seems to like strangling women, first Storm and now Rogue.

Oh thank goodness, Sunspot saves her, was really worried for Rogue.

Oh, so Black Panther is T'Chaka, not T'Challa.

In Magneto's mind we see Rogue, Scarlett Witch, Quicksilver and Polaris in a boat, So Magneto cares for Rogue a lot and be part of his family.

I was really worried that Bastion was going to kill Kurt.

Great fight scene, Nightcrawler, Jubilee and Cyclops fighting Bastion. Cyclops using his Optic blast at full power was amazing.

Oh wow, love the character development with Jubilee using her powers as a Catherine wheel (I think) that she was taught by Abscissa.

Oh wow, she really messed Bastion up, ewww he looks gross.

Awesome, Beast, Jean, Storm and Morph, arrive inside a Sentinel.

Cool, Morph turned into Sauron.

Oh damn!!!, President Kelly agreed to launch missals at Asteroid M, that's not good.

I doubt Bastion is dead, I bet he will appear again.

Oh Morph, you are Fantastic.

Oh no Jubilee falls out of the falling Asteroid but luckily Roberto saves her, erm I assume there in the atmosphere, otherwise they wouldn't be breathing.

Oh well done President Kelly, you basically destroyed the world.

Oh no!!! they going to sacrifice themselves to stop the Asteroid from hitting earth.

Scott saying goodbye to Cable was really emotional, I just love Jean using her powers to stop Scott's Optic blasts and let Cable see his eyes.

Oh my gosh!!! when Cyclops took his visor off to use his full optic blast at the asteroid, he was crying.

Oh my gosh!!!! this music, giving me chills.

ahh, Peter Parker and Mary Jane!!!!! He got her back then.

Awww, Morph admits he love's Logan.

Yesssssss, Magneto is fine and helps stop the asteroid.

look at Rogue's smile, she hasn't smiled like that for a long time, she deserved it.

Wait!!!! where did the asteroid go!!!!! it just disappeared. I'm so confused right now.

Oh wow 6 months later!!!! Graydon Creed is back and running for President!!!! I guess that means we will see him in season 2.

Oh wow!!! pictures of other characters.

Hmm Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are off world??? does being in live action MCU movies and FOX Movies count as being off world, lol.

Archangel is missing presumed dead, did he secretly get on asteroid m and got zapped to the past too, to finally kill Apocalypse, lol.

Jubilee, Sunspot and Cable are all AWOL, I wonder where they went

So we left with Colossus, Magik, Iceman, Havok, Kitty, Emma, Exodus and Dust (which I don't know much about them both). Will they appear next season and have a bigger role.

Bishops back!!!!

Oh wow!!! the X-Men have through gone through time.

Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X and Magneto are in Egjpt 3000 b.c. and encounter Apocalypse.

Jean and Cyclops are in the future 3960 and encounter Mother Askani (Rachel) and young Cable, so there doing the the Adventures of Phoenix and Cyclops comics where they help bring up Cable in the future.

I wonder where Storm, Logan and Morph are.

Love Beast's "Oh dear" at the end.

Ahh!!! Mid credit scene!!! Apocalypse is here in the present and he's holding Gambit's card, which means he's going to be resurrected as the Horseman of Death (still need to read the comic story)

Oh man season 2 is going to be nuts and possibly more emotional trauma for Rogue.

[jamiesfootball]

7, 18, and/or 28 for whatever fic you want!

This got super long so I'm putting it under a cut

7. How did you decide what character(s) would narrate the fic?

Fic chosen: the one that makes you sick

This one came to me in pieces. Usually when I'm figuring out who's going to narrate, the choice is driven by how the plot presents itself when the story is first taking shape. In this case, Keeley's pov is the one that came to me first as the one watching things unravel in Brazil with Jamie. Shortly after I began writing that, Roy's pov closed in as the person who Knows what happened to Jamie in Amsterdam. Jamie texting him from Brazil wasn't in the original game plan, but it filled itself in as Roy grew to have more reason to believe that something had gone wrong. From there, Jamie's pov extended itself naturally as the person experiencing everything. Once I had that, the flashbacks to how we got to that point layered in, and the story in its entirety snapped into shape.

Looking over my fics, I actually don't use multiple narrators that often within one story. If I do, they're usually broken into chapters or parts. So this was an interesting exercise for me

18. Talk about your editing and revision process

Fic chosen: Oh God You're Gonna Get It (You Have Not Been Given Love)

I've mentioned before that the editing process for this one is extensive, but this one is really just a souped up version of my usual editing process.

Rereading

I am a very non-linear writer, so the first thing I try to do is reread everything and make sure I didn't completely forget to write a section. When I'm blocked on a transition, I will usually leave myself a note in [brackets] so that I can easily find that section later and fill it out. I'll also bold sections that I don't think are particularly well-written so that I can come back and fix those too. Fixing those are my main obstacle, so to help resolve things:

Highlighting

I have two highlighting methods, one for narration and one for dialogue. For narration, the goal is to switch to a different color highlighter every time there's a big idea change. This helps me find what I call 'floating ideas', which are either an idea that's gotten separated from its topic paragraph and needs to be moved, or a new idea that I've introduced without setup or resolution - essentially, fluff that doesn't serve a purpose and can be cut.

For dialogue, the goal is literally to only highlight the dialogue itself. None of the dialogue tags, movements, details, etc. Only the words. This helps me focus on how the words flow as a conversation. This is also useful for visually identifying if I've gotten too verbose between dialogue beats.

Audio

When in doubt, I use one of those voice robot things to read everything back to me. This is good for picking out the overall flow and rhythm of the words. It's also useful for finding typos after I've reread something a hundred times.

The next chapter of OGYGGI(YHNBGL) is currently on the audio phase for the first 4 scenes, and on the highlighter phase for the final scene, which is a beast.

28. Write a new summary for the fic, but badly

this one was hard so I did a couple

The Dick String Incident - Local team would rather tie strings around their dicks than even consider asking their boss to repeat himself

Oh God You're Gonna Get It (You Have Not Been Given Love) - how much therapy can one man cram into summer break

You're Gonna Go Far, Kid - what if life isn't a finite story you can win but instead an infinite series of decisions that gently shape your future when you're not looking? and also you made bad decisions with yorkshire pudding?

Muzzled - two traumas for the price of one muzzle while the author attempts to reverse engineer a ransom/hostage situation

Loosely Tangled - how many people can I have touch Jamie's hair in one story (answer: about 9)

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

Weekend WIP Game

Thank you for tagging me, @rmd-writes and @thisbuildinghasfeelings!

I know I am very late to this, but it is still technically the weekend here in the Pacific time zone, so here we go. I'll be using the questions for Artists/GIF makers. (There are also questions for writers in @welcometololaland's original post!)

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only work on one project at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more).

1. WIP List:

I am so afraid to see these all written out in a way where I can count them. [deep breath] This is a rather mixed-up list of gif sets for 911 Lone Star, Schitt's Creek, and The X-Files. Also, since they're gif sets, they don't really have titles, just nicknames:

husbands fancy dinner lizard arc kisses quotes of devotion come rain or come shine spin instructors flashbacks yes way meet the parents until i'm okay, too pile of good things best man wedding attire tk stays capable and decent unspectacular things endless act of being loved gravity of hearts simply the best reassuring head kisses he's a jungle cat wedding behind the scenes soft light/tooms/squeeze hope is messy iris/tk arc you are good and i love you

2. Which WIP is your most complex?

Oh gosh. Anything that involves coloring of more than one scene, really. That's what slows me down. And pretty much all of these fall into that category. Which is a big part of why they're not done yet.

3. Do any of your WIPs involve you using a technique/style that you haven't used before? What inspired you to try it?

Um. Possibly? I'm not far enough along to know for sure, but I think a couple of them might involve trying out a new text treatment.

4. Which WIP do you expect will take you the longest?

I am historically a very bad judge of this. Lol. There are plenty of potential obstacles in that list. I'm afraid to jinx it/make things worse by saying anything specific.

5. Which WIP are you finding the most enjoyable to create?

The "lizard arc" set has been very enjoyable to play with. And I suspect that "he's a jungle cat" will be very fun to eventually get back to.

6. Do you have a favourite character to draw/stitch/paint/depict? Are they in many of your WIP projects?

Hmmm. Not really. I mean, I certainly tend to focus on my favorite ships, but I can't really pick a favorite from that group.

7. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

All of them. Because I am self-taught and constantly second guessing absolutely everything.

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of creator's block?

I suppose so. Although It's more lack of energy or just… utter frustration that results in a WIP getting a time out.

9. Do any of your WIPs contain characters outside the main ship? How are you finding creating those?

Yeah, definitely. There are a couple on that list that focus on other relationships.

10. What emotions are you hoping to convey through your WIPs?

It varies. Some are angsty. Some are meant to be funny. But I think, in general, they are all trying to convey love.

11. Are there any features/details you are finding challenging in your WIPs?

[gestures wildly at the lighting teams on every show, thwarting my best efforts to see what's going on]

12. Which WIP has the most complex shading/colouring?

Don't know yet. All of them. Lol. I can tell you that the "fancy dinner" set has been in time out for months now. Because of lighting and coloring.

13. Which WIP has the most complex background?

Not sure this one applies to me.

14. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for?

Oh, I really don't know. My opinions here change all the time.

15. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

I normally do not remember my dreams. But very recently, I dreamt that I had finished one of those sets. I was very disappointed to wake up and realize it wasn't true.

16. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other art doesn't?

Hmm, I don't think so.

17. Are any of your WIPs commissions?

No, but some of them are friendly requests or things that came about from chatting here on tumblr.

18. Do you have a character that is more difficult to draw/stitch/paint/depict? Are they in many of your WIP projects?

I'm going to go with Patrick Brewer. That boy's face just… goes nuclear bright whenever I try to brighten a scene overall. There are a lot of rather pale characters on that show, but they take pretty well to coloring/brightening. He does not.

19. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs.

Um. Some items have been on that list for years. They're not abandoned, I promise. I am just not in charge of the creative process.

Since it is barely the weekend for me anymore (and no longer the weekend for many of you), please consider this an open tag!! If you'd like to play along, go for it. Even if the weekend has passed you by.

[booasaur]

Kristi's fiancee was originally supposed to be a man but Chloe was like, nope, Kristi's gonna have a woman fiancee. The show showed Kristi and Kenny's story in season 1 to make us root for them. I think whether Kristi's fiancee(e) was a man or woman, it was always going to end the same with Kristi and Kenny being the slow burn couple.

Ooo I have a theory! Remember when Kenny was telling Father K about how his dad wandered out of the house? And then Mama Liu got mad at her husband for doing that because he 'knows better' and then Kenny told her, "Mom, he has dementia. He's not trying to fucking piss you off."

I could potentially see Kristi opening a door or window when high and Kristi getting mad at her for it. But Mari isn't opening the door to piss her off, she's an addict. She needs help.

Oh, that's interesting, that it came from her. And it's a cool change, I'm always in favor of going away from the "default", as it were, but I think you still need to be mindful of what the changes represent.

Sadly too often, the new character's just there be a plot device, so then it kind of sucks that sometimes, for example, the only lesbian or Black character is there to be be an obstacle for someone else's romance. And it's not like they have to be the winner or whatever in every love triangle, but they should have their own agency and motivations. And you know, a well-written character should have their background reflected in them. It doesn't have to be in huge ways or all bad things or all good things, it's simply a fact of life that we go through different things. Like in San Junipero, a pretty famous recent example where the writer decided to switch to f/f, it wasn't simply a m/f romance now with two women, their sexualities were key parts of their stories.

Though, it's also important that Kenny's Asian and there still aren't many male Asian romantic leads. Heh, it always gets messy when different kinds of rep get pitched against each other (The 100 and Supergirl war flashbacks) but I guess I just want thoughtfulness in how it's done, either way. Nobody should be just a plot device, even the whitest straightest character! And indeed, a character who only appears in the second season to be killed is a bit hmm.

Having said that, it's been a few eps since you sent this in, and since then, I don't really know that Kristi/Kenny HAVE been framed as this inevitable love story, but I don't know if anyone on this show will even get that. Both because it's a horror and anyone can die, but you notice how it tends to go up and down on characterization from one week to the next, depending on what's needed. The calmest, most rational person will be an idiot and then vice versa, it could be that Kristi's totally focused on Mari right now, and then next season realizing she's in love with Kenny or whatever.

Sorry I waited so long to answer that we couldn't really discuss your theory about how Mari's addiction might affect things, but in last night's ep, that almost happened! She was close to opening a window!

Now, though, I wonder what'll happen. If she, Julie, and Randall are all being affected by this new thing, feels like next ep, the season finale, will be to rescue them. Julie's a main so I'd expect her to survive, but Mari and Randall are far more up in the air. :x

[da-rulah]

Omg I just read part 4 of Mayors Daughter…….

THE ANGSTTTTT OH MY LAWD!!!!! IT WAS SO GOOD!! And the flashbacks to Mary’s childhood?!? You almost got my crying over here 🥺😭 (and that’s a good thing)

I’m so freaking excited for the next part to see what happens to mary and the mayors daughter (which btw FUCK THE MAYOR HE’S A PIECE OF SHIT)

In all, this was so beautifully written omg omg omg. Thank you so much for this beautiful series 🫶💖

Thank you SO MUCH my lovely!! 🥰

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

Ugh honestly, the Mayor is the WORST. He's so much worse than everybody thinks, isn't that always the way with politicians??

Mary's childhood wasn't originally going to be such a big part of him but I just couldn't help myself, digging deeper into his back story and explaining just a little bit about why he's as complex as he is... Poor man's saviour complex started YOUNG.

I'm so so glad you loved it, and thank you so much for the wonderful compliments! 😭🖤

[the-mandawhor1an]

Wolke's Masterlist

For all of my other works »click here«

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Guided by the stars, connected by the force (Ongoing Series) - Din Djarin x OFC

illustration by @kenobiwanx

Wolke’s thoughts: I'm keeping most of my ramblings from the masterlist for now. The TLDR: This was a daydream, turned into a fic, into a roleplay, and now back into a fic that I'm publishing. It'll take a while.

Pairing: Din Djarin x original female character

POV: 3rd person, past tense – For now it'll be written mostly from Maia's perspective, I might sprinkle in some 'omnscient observer' paragraphs here and there.

Synopsis: [Story begins right at The Mandalorian: Chapter 8] Din is on the lookout for a Jedi to take the little green troublemaker off of his hands. The lightsaber-wielding, slightly larger troublemaker he stumbles into on Nevarro might not be the Jedi he was looking for, but he is definitely the Mandalorian the pretty brunette has been searching. Will she finally find out what is so special about this man in silver armor? 

Tags: 18+ content, MDNI! Age gap (11 to 12 years, OC is 28/29) soulmates trope, force sensitive main character, fluff, romance, hurt/comfort, ... (more will be added as story goes on)

Chapter overview: 

Chapter 0: [Flashback] The escape

Chapter 1: The ally

Chapter 2: The crimelord

Chapter 3: [Flashback] The stranger

Chapter 4: Two suns

Chapter 5: [Flashback] The hunter

AU interlude - Prey

Chapter 6: The past

Chapter 7: The present

Chapter 8: Revelations part 1

Chapter 9: Revelations part 2

Chapter 10: The future

Somewhat related solo works: 

Chapter 11: Choices and regrets

Chapter 12 in progress

Ask game - Maia's favourite memory

6 month roleplay celebration – Commission + Drabble

1 year celebration – Maia Prime drabble

Fanarts:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

I still can't believe that doodles of Maia exist already. Feels unreal.

Additional notes:

As this is the first tumblr-specific project formatting might be off. I will try to make it as pleasing to the eye as I can

Headers and dividers might be edited as an after-thought 

@zaddymandalorian will probably beta all or most of these chapters

Content warnings will be listed for each chapter – the whole work is considered 18+! Some chapters will be SFW but you will need to read all to understand what’s going on

I am not yet sure about how to handle smut – I really enjoy reading filth but when I write it, it tends to be “less vulgar” than what tumblr is used to; but this is a thought for the later chapters any way

Well well after some time on Tumblr... I'm sure this doesn't even count as a slow burn

Oh, and for the sake of it being mentioned somewhere: Not an English native; I have been exposed to it for just about two decades by now though 

While I might not be artistically gifted enough to draw fan arts, you have the permission to do so – please tag me if you do! I also have commissions of this pair in the pipeline, so stay tuned for that

I do cosplay – you might get a glimpse or two of what Maia looks like in my mind 

Of course: Feedback is appreciated. Even if it's just a string of emoji

Dividers made by @saradika-graphics unless otherwise specified

[denimbex1986]

'...The Toymaker will take center stage in the 60th anniversary's third special, "The Giggle," where Neil Patrick Harris will take on the role and unleash the villain's full power on Earth.

With The Toymaker set to return as part of Doctor Who's 60th-anniversary storyline, Davies has opened up to SFX Magazine about why he selected the villain as a main antagonist for the milestone celebrations. The showrunner explained that he enjoyed writing The Toymaker for his balance of intimidating and humorous moments, seeing that the character was a figure that could easily be understood by audiences unfamiliar with the older continuity of the classic era while promising that the story would be rewarding to existing viewers. Check out Davies' full explanation below:

My lord, one of the most exciting days of my writing life was writing page one of "The Giggle" script, when I realized how brilliant The Toymaker was. I thought he'd be a good villain, that I'd have a laugh with him. I started writing the script and thought "This is the best villain ever created." So powerful. So funny. So dangerous. I love him! Obviously, that was written before the streamer was decided. Bear in mind, a lot of this went into production. It could have been Netflix, it could have been Amazon. It could have been anyone - You could say any name there that we went to. It's our job to go to every streamer in the world. All of them were very interested. So I'm writing this knowing that no matter where it went out it would go to a bigger audience - So do you have to explain who the Toymaker is? I've got to say, in a science fiction setting, a great cosmic villain called the Toymaker played by a big star kind of makes sense anyway. Spier-Man could swing into an apartment tomorrow and meet the Toymaker, and you'd go "Oh,it's that kind of villain." So he makes sense enormously. There's a flashback. Let's say it. There is a flashback to Michael Gough, which is wonderful. It's funny, when I handed in that script my agent went "Ooh, I remember the Toymaker, played by Michael Gough." So there's a very powerful memory of him. She's not a science fiction fan at all. So where we thought there'd be possibly resistance to old characters and old continuity and adventures, there's been none. As long as there's some nice clarity to it. They will ask "Who's this? Who's that?" But they know equally that fans will come on board for that. It's been lovely. It's been really lovely.

Why Doctor Who Took 57 Years To Revisit The Toymaker

While The Toymaker took 57 years to return to television screens, there had been attempts to bring the villain much sooner and fulfill the First Doctor's prophecy from "The Celestial Toymaker." Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor was originally set to face the being in the classic era's season 23 episode, "The Nightmare Fair,"...However, with a change in format and a lengthy hiatus, the story was never produced for the television series.

As such, The Toymaker has returned across Doctor Who's expanded media, showcasing his power in comics, novels, and audio dramas...With the 60th-anniversary also adapting Beep the Meep (Miriam Margolyes) to screen and the Toymaker returning to a toyshop, "The Giggle" could similarly be inspired by these off-screen encounters.

While other classic foes are more recognizable to general audiences, The Toymaker is one of the Doctor's most powerful classic enemies due to his reality-warping abilities that even left the First Doctor trapped. Pulling from the show's long history can be difficult due to wanting a striking balance between respecting lore and being accessible to newcomers, but Davies took that into account during the writing process. As such, "The Giggle" will be a worthy reintroduction for one of Doctor Who's oldest, most powerful villains.'

[sarah-sandwich]

Okay I’ve gotta ask about A Series of Mysterious Snappenstances

lmao thanks! It's...the working title obviously haha

This is my much delayed (to the point of irrelevance) endgame fix it fic! (with a heavy helping of parkner) I'm not even going to waste space talking about it I'm just going to share the beginning and let you wonder 😘

Present

Peter hangs back from the service at the lake until Aunt May, with a comforting but firm arm around his waist, guides him closer to the dock where Pepper and Morgan are sending off Mr. Stark’s arc reactor. He hasn’t cried yet. Well, not today. Well, not here where the Avengers could see. Well, the remaining Avengers. His throat aches with the need to release the pent up agony in his chest. He lost him. He really lost him. He spent years vying for Iron Man’s— No, for Tony Stark’s attention, his favor, his pride, and only got it during the five years he wasn’t here to appreciate it. And then he lost him.

When the staggered clusters of people standing on the lawn start to break up, some heading inside for refreshments and conversations while others start towards the procession of parked cars that line the long drive, he makes his excuses to May and splits off towards the small trailhead visible in the treeline beyond the house. He only needs a minute to relieve the ache in his throat and siphon off some of the misery coalescing in his chest without humiliating himself in front of Earth’s mightiest heroes.

He doesn’t expect someone else to have had the same idea.

His cheeks are already wet, vision obscured by tears, when he rounds a bend and nearly walks smack into a tall, light-haired figure in all black. They’re all in all black.

“Shi— Sorry,” he says as he dodges around shiny black dress shoes and manages to kick dirt over his own. He hastily scrubs his face with the backs of his sleeves but his suit jacket is depressingly water-repellent.

“It’s alright.” The stranger's voice is light and cushioned by a southern drawl but Peter gets the feeling that he’s annoyed. He has no idea why he thinks that but his gut says it’s true. Face damp and sleeves smeared, he looks up and meets stormy eyes. A spark of recognition flares within him only to fade as quickly as it came. Try as he might, he can’t put a name to this face. Crooked squashy nose, eyes blue like a rain cloud under serious eyebrows, his hair that shade that straddles the line between brown and blonde and is trimmed neatly and styled with gel. It looks… wrong, somehow.

“Are you alright?”

He realizes he’s staring and steps back with a shrug, throwing a cast away glance at the surrounding forest before finding his gaze drawn right back to the boy in front of him. He’s his age, or somewhere near enough to it. Who is this guy? “Fantastic,” he deadpans and surreptitiously tries to wipe his sleeves on the butt of his slacks. Who decided on the dress code for funerals? Funeral dress should be all knits and cotton. Comfortable, light, and absorbent. This polyester hell is miserable.

“You knew Mr. Stark?” The words are out of Peter's mouth before he can call them back. To his credit, the guy raises his eyebrows and gives him a look like duh. Why else would he be all the way out here dressed in fuddy-duddy funeral clothes?

“Mr. Stark?” the guy echoes with a sardonic edge. “Was he your boss or something?”

Peter winces. Was. “Sort of. I’m… was his intern.”

The guy’s gaze sharpens and seems to take him in anew or perhaps for the first time. “Peter Parker?”

Peter blinks. “Yes? Who are you?”

“Harley Keener,” he says and actually sticks his hand out to shake.

Peter wipes his hand on his slacks before he takes it. Harley’s hand wraps around his, warm and calloused. Something niggles at the back of his mind. A feeling. A memory. Deja Vu. He says the words that come to his mind as though he’s spoken them before. “The potato gun kid?”

A smile curls Harley’s lips, crooked and hinting at mischief of days gone by.

_________________________________________________________

Plain of the Lost: Date Unknown

“Yeah, that’s me,” Harley says, teeth bared in a shit-eating grin that wrinkles his nose. “Did he tell you I saved his ass? More than once.”

Peter hazards a half-smile. “Yeah, he might’ve mentioned it.”

Harley puts his hands on his hips and looks around at their dusty little camp. It’s not much. There aren’t any materials to build anything. The only things they brought with them are the clothes on their backs and whatever they may have had in their pockets when they got snapped. The best they’ve been able to do is mark out small territories. None of them are depressed enough to call them ‘homes’ yet. This is temporary. Whether they’re called back to Earth and their normal lives or they move on to some kind of afterlife, they all agree this can’t be it. This is purgatory, not an ending but a transition to something else. It has to be.

“So what’s the application process like for this place?” Harley asks. “And what kind of deposit are we looking at? The usual one-month plus first month? What are your rates?”

Peter shakes his head. He’s out of practice with this whole socializing thing. He’s usually the one making jokes and trying to keep people’s spirits up. To have that energy directed at him has him wrong-footed. “There’s not much but I can give you a tour and if you’re interested you can sketch out a spot for yourself.”

“Sure, sure. Where’s yours? We can start there.”

Peter hesitates. “I don’t have one.”

Harley looks at him then, head cocked to the side in consideration. “Why not? You’re not sticking around?”

Peter runs his tongue over his teeth. That’s not it. He already decided the best way to find his people would be to stay in one spot and make sure his name gets around, let them find him, but… “I don’t need one. I… This is for them. Not me.” He gestures at the huddled masses, clumped in small groups playing games in the dirt or solitary and staring up at the never-changing sunset or down at the dirt that doesn’t stick to clothes or feet.

Harley watches him. “So you see yourself as above everyone else?”

“What? No, I… Not above.” Not below either, but separate? Definitely. There are a number of New York accents in his little corner of the Plains. The more he gets the word out there that Spider-Man is watching over this area the more of them arrive. It doesn’t matter that he stopped bothering with the mask. It doesn’t matter that he’s a regular guy underneath it. A kid, some might say. They still treat him like he’s some kind of authority. Someone important. Someone who can help. He tries to keep things casual by making bad jokes and goofing off but they take it as him putting on a brave face and being the light in the dark.

“They don’t think of me as one of them,” he slowly explains. “I don’t want to make them uncomfortable by being around all the time.”

Harley frowns at him. “So where do you go?”

He shrugs. Mostly he walks the perimeter of the area. There’s nothing else really to do. If anyone wanders close enough he asks if they’d like to join their little community. Most of the non-earthlings keep walking and some humans too, but mostly people are relieved to find a place to stay, a place where they aren’t alone or lost.

“Okay well how ‘bout this,” Harley says with conviction, “you show me around and I’ll pick us a spot. We can be neighbors.” He flashes another crooked grin like this is all a big joke, like they’re kids playing house and one of them needs to be the dad while the other is the pet dog that causes as much imaginary mayhem as possible while the other sighs loudly and straightens up the cracked bucket that sometimes functions as the kitchen table and sometimes as the TV.

“Alright,” Peter agrees more to put an end to this conversation than any reason else. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Maureen.”

“Lead on.”

_____________________________________________________

Present

“Yeah, that’s me,” Harley says, and his grin fades. “I should probably get going. I keep getting weird looks from…”

He trails off but Peter knows he means the Avengers. “Hold on,” he says without knowing where he’s going with it. Harley eyes him warily. “Let me at least introduce you to Morgan. She was telling me about all the stories M— her dad told about me. I bet he told her about you too. She’ll want to meet you.”

Harley chews his bottom lip and casts a sideways look in the direction of the house. Then he shrugs and says, “Alright. Lead on.”

That sense of deja vu washes over him again but he ignores it and starts back the way he came. Harley falls into step beside him as he brushes at his cheeks again.

“I don’t look like I’ve been crying, do I?”

Harley looks at him and his lips twitch. “Yeah, but a respectable amount of crying. Don’t worry it’s flattering.”

He trips on a root and lets Harley take the lead to hide his warm cheeks.

~*~

He’s hiding in the lab when Harley walks in. Pepper talked them both into staying the night, not that it was difficult considering Morgan is the one that made the request. That little girl is impossible to say no to. May left hours ago and he ducked into Mr. Stark’s garage for some respite after Morgan was put down for a nap and it appears he’s, again, not the only one to have the idea, but this time he was here first.

“Hey,” Peter says.

Harley stiffens and the exhaustion wipes away from his face as he straightens and locates him in the room. “Hey,” he says in return and then his gaze drifts beyond him to the holoscreens that hover over his shoulder. “Snooping?” he asks.

His tone is flat but Peter can tell he’s trying to make light of… Of everything.

“No.” He pulls a face and shrugs. “Well, sort of I guess. I was curious if he kept working on some stuff we had in progress when the— the blip happened.” The blip. What a dumb term. He has to keep reminding himself that’s how everyone has been referring to it all these years. It feels wrong in his mouth but he doesn't know what the alternative would be.

Harley hums thoughtfully and perches on the edge of the workbench. His seat puts him much higher than Peter on the rolling stool, his head only coming even with Harley’s hips.

“Why would he work on Spidey stuff? I thought you got blipped with the rest of us.”

Peter’s heart jumps into his throat.

Harley looks down at him. “What?”

He works his jaw then says lowly, “He told you?”

“Told—? Oh. No, he didn’t.” He frowns into the middle distance for a moment then shakes his head. “I think I’ve known for a long time. I don’t remember when I figured it out.”

“You don’t remember,” Peter repeats acerbically.

Harley shrugs. “Wasn’t important, I guess.”

Yeouch. Okay that’s something he’s going to dwell on later. Some random kid in Tennessee shouldn’t be able to figure out his identity, not even a kid connected to Mr. Stark. Especially if it wasn’t even important, if he wasn’t even trying. It’s alarming to say the least.

Silence falls around them as Peter half-heartedly pokes through the files from before the blip and Harley stares at the screens without comment, without blinking. Peter wonders if he’s even seeing them. Time passes, he’s not sure how much. He hasn’t been any good at tracking it lately. It’s almost like he expects no time to pass at all but then he looks at the sky and finds the sun has been moving steadily across it and it shocks him back into the present.

“Do you remember it?” Harley asks out of the blue.

“What?”

Harley turns his unblinking stare on him, something haunted in the depths. “The blip. Being blipped. Do you remember anything?”

“I get… impressions,” he admits. Orange. Always orange. There’s a specific shade that makes a trapped panicked feeling well up in his chest and he knows it’s because of that place. Fear, helplessness, frustration, boredom, but also safe, protected, cared for. A sense of home that he doesn’t understand. He feels like he found something there and unwittingly left it behind. He has muddled dreams that he wakes up from feeling inexplicably sad and lonely. No one else feels like this, or at least no one has talked about it, but there was something there. Something that he wants back. He just can’t remember what.

Harley nods like he expected as much.

“What about you?”

Harley looks away. “Same. I feel like I…” He shakes his head.

“Like you what?” Peter digs.

Harley frowns at the holoscreen but again seems to be looking through it, past it to some great beyond. “I feel like I’ve forgotten something important.”

Ask me about a fic on this list and I'll ramble about it