#please be nice to me my tablet was Not Behaving

[bookofmormonmemes]

[upat4amwiththemoon]

Andy Herrera x DeLuca! sister reader. Carina brings her sister to the firehouse and they both secretly fall for each other. Then one day Andy gets hurt on the job and after she is released from the hospital she goes and confesses her feelings to the reader. After secretly dating for about six months the two are caught kissing by both Maya and Carina who both freak out but are happy for the two. Fluffy and angsty, please?

All you need is love

Summary: Meeting your best friend’s girlfriend’s sister.

Pairing: Andy Herrera x DeLuca!reader

Warnings: none

Word count: 1494

a/n: can we talk about how underrated Andy is in her own show??

masterlists | guidelines

Looking around the downstairs of the firehouse, Y/N has an impressed look on her face as she nods. “Your girlfriend is the captain of this place?” She peeks into the barn where the firetrucks are located, letting out a small ooh sound.

“Yes.” Carina laughs, her brows raised as she stares at her younger sister. “You like it?”

“Yeah, it’s cool.” She shrugs, trying to seem nonchalant, but Carina knows her sister.

Grabbing her arm, Carina starts leading her upstairs. “Let’s go, they’re cooking dinner and we’re joining them.”

Y/N gasps. “Is this one of those situations where your girlfriend tries to make a good impression on me, because you won’t date someone who doesn’t get along with me?” The words come out quickly, at times stumbling over them.

“No.”

“It totally is.”

With a sigh, Carina rolls her eyes. It is that kind of situation. She just doesn’t want to feed Y/N’s ego by letting her know how valuable her opinion is to her. But she knows.

When they walk into the kitchen, Y/N notices Carina’s girlfriend stiffing a pot, having seen a picture of her, but she isn’t the one who takes her attention. A brunette setting the table is. It’s like she can’t take her eyes off of her.

“Carina!” Maya exclaims when she notices them. “You’re here early.” She turns off the stove and walks over to the two, wiping her palms to her pants first.

“Our shift ended early.” Carina kisses her before pulling her near Y/N. “This is Y/N, my sister. This is Maya, my girlfriend.”

“Hi!” Smiling, Y/N shakes Maya’s hand. “Nice to finally meet the famous Captain Maya Bishop. Carina talks about you all the time. Maya is so hot. Maya is so muscular. Look at this picture of h-”

“Y/N!” Carina slaps the back of her head. Giggling, she steps away from Carina’s reach, rubbing the spot she got slapped on. “Behave.”

She rolls her eyes. Maya looks between the two, not sure how she should react to the two sisters. “Uh, it’s great to meet you too.” She points behind her, where the rest of the team is, introducing everyone to Y/N. They all wave and smile, saying their his, but Andy walks up to them.

“Hi!” She shakes Y/N’s hand. “You’re doctor too?” Andy looks at the white doctor’s coat she is wearing.

“Yes, I didn’t want to be the family disappointment by not becoming a doctor.” Carina glares at her, but Y/N ignores her. “I’m in general.”

“Awesome.”

The two stand a little bit too close to each other for someone who just met each other, but the others pay no mind to it. They just finish cooking the food and gather around the table, immeasurable bombarding Y/N with questions.

She answers to them to the best of her ability, though most of her attention is on Andy.

Humming quietly to herself, Y/N looks through the patient files on the tablet. She keeps glancing at her phone, frowning when there’s no new notifications. Her and Andy have been texting nonstop ever since they met, but now, Andy hasn’t answered to her in hours. Usually it doesn’t take her that long even if she’s working.

With a sigh, Y/N pockets her phone and sets the tablet down to a table. She has a surgery in half an hour, but until then there’s really nothing to do.

“Y/N!”

She turns towards the sound, her brows furrowing once she notices Andy walking towards her. “What are you doing here?” She meets her halfway. “Did something happen?”

“There was an accident during a call, but I-“

“Are you okay?” Y/N’s eyes start going up and down Andy’s body, looking for any significant injuries. She has a bandaid near her eye, but nothing else catches her attention.

“I’m okay. I wanted to see y-“

Y/N interrupts her once again, “are you sure? Did you already see someone? I can page someone over.” She takes out her pager, but Andy grabs her hands.

“Y/N, I’m okay. I wanted to see you, because I need to tell you something.” Nodding, Y/N stays quiet, giving her the space to talk. “I have feelings for you,” she starts, her voice quieter now, “and I would really like to take you out on a date.”

A big smile appears on Y/N’s face. “That’d be nice.”

“Okay, great.” Andy nods, smiling too. They look like two lovesick fools in the middle of the hospital hallway. “I’ll pick you up today at eight?” She raises one of her brows. “Wear something casual.”

“Got it.” Grabbing the tablet again, Y/N starts backing up slowly. “I have a surgery to go to, but I’ll see you today.”

Andy waves with a grin before walking away, feeling victorious.

Knocking on the door frame, Y/N walks into the locker room. “Hi, mi cara.” She smiles when Andy turns around.

“Hey,” she walks over to her and grabs her hand, pulling her deeper into the room to kiss her, “I am so happy to see you here.” Andy grins, moving them towards the rest room.

Y/N giggles. “I’m happy to be here,” she kicks the door closed once they’re inside the room, “the others have already gone home?”

“Yeah,” she kisses her, “we have all the time we need.” Pulling away momentarily, Andy pulls the doctor’s coat off of Y/N. “You look incredibly hot in your scrubs.” She eyes her body up and down.

“Even when I’m all hot and sweaty?”

“Even then.”

Rolling her eyes, Y/N pushes Andy to sit down on the bed before getting on top of her, draping her arms over her shoulders. “You look very hot in your work clothes too.” She mumbles, going back to kissing her.

Andy grabs the sides of her waist so she wouldn’t fall. Y/N’s hands are about to go down to the hem of Andy’s shirt, but the sound of the door opening interrupts them.

“Y/N?”

Their heads snap towards the now open door, where Maya and Carina are standing, both shocked to see them together.

“Carina!” Y/N struggles to get up from Andy’s lap. “What- what are you doing here?” Andy stands up as well, her eyes wide. Truth to be told, she’s kind of scared of the Italian, especially now that she walked in on them making out.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing?” Her hands start moving in the air. “Since when have you two been together?”

They glance at each other. “Like, six months.”

“Wh-“ Carina groans, throwing her hands in the air while mumbling in Italian, which makes Y/N scrunch up her face. “Six months and you didn’t think to tell me?”

Y/N shrugs, “sorry, there was never really a right time, so, you know,” she glances at Andy, trying to come up with some kind of explanation, “it just never came up.”

Carina has her arms crossed over her chest and her face is in a deadpan look. Maya has a tightlipped smile on her face, “well, I’m happy for you two.” She turns to look at Carina, her brows raised.

With a sigh, Carina walks over to hug Y/N and Andy. “I’m happy too, but you are supposed to tell me things.” She points at Y/N once she has backed away from them, giving Maya room to hug them both.

“I’m not ten anymore.” Y/N smiles, holding Andy’s hand.

“You’re still younger.”

She sighs, but nods, there’s no use to fighting Carina. “We were about to go out to eat, do you want to join us? Or did we interrupt something?” Maya smirks, looking at the jacket still laying on the ground.

“Maya!” Carina looks at her with wide eyes. “That’s my sister.”

“Oh, shut up, you had a study on orgasms.” Y/N picks up her jacket and puts it on. “We’ll join you, but I think we have to change first.” She looks at Maya and Carina’s nice, fancy clothes before turning to her and Andy’s work clothes that they’re still wearing.

“We’ll wait for you in the car,” Maya states while they step out of the room, “don’t take too long!” The door closes.

Andy turns to Y/N. “That’s one way for them to find out.” Laughing, she grabs Y/N’s hips. “I’m guessing you’re borrowing some of my clothes?” She mumbles and smiles when Y/N nods. “I love to see you in my clothes.”

“Don’t start anything now.” Y/N raises her brows, pulling away from Andy to go to her locker and grab some of her extra clothes from there.

“After dinner?”

“Definitely.” She kisses Andy and winks at her, before going to the bathroom to change her clothes, leaving Andy to the locker room with a grin.

[gumnut-logic]

Please sort these into ascending order: The amount of kittens that Virgil has rescued from trees. The amount of phone numbers Scott's gotten. The amount of sealife that Gordon has freed from nets. The number of stars that Alan has wished upon. The number of trolls who really, really regret any interaction they've ever had with JT5. 😘😘😘

The Interview

It has taken me some time to finish this one, and it refused to behave. Apologies for the delay.

Many thanks to @onereyofstarlight and @gaviiadastra for read throughs and putting up with my crazy.

Also, thank you @flyboytracy for asking in the first place. you continue to inspire me :D

Some of you may have read the first couple hundred words already, as I posted the first tiny bit as a Thunderfam SOS earlier in the year, but there is now a good 2800+ words along side the beginning.

I hope you enjoy it. ::hugs you all::

-o-o-o-

“So, Virgil, all reports have you as the kindest and I quote ‘squishiest’ rescue operative in International Rescue. Your followers would like to know…” Kat peered down at her tablet. “How many kittens have you rescued from trees?”

The big man just stared at her. She had to admit, it wasn’t an every day question, but that was Tumblr for you.

“Umm…”

Alan snickered.

Scott frowned.

Gordon had a grin on his face fit to outshine the sun.

John rolled his eyes. “58.”

“Hey!” Virgil glared at his brother.

“Someone has to keep count.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

The astronaut straightened in his seat, obviously affronted. “What?”

“It’s 86.”

“What?!”

“Not every one was on the clock, John. What was I supposed to do, leave them meowing?”

Scott facepalmed.

“Eos, you were told to monitor.” John frowned at his suddenly glowing watch.

A female voice snarked through the timepiece. “I have my reasons.”

“Reasons?”

“Virgil does do our supply runs, you know.”

John’s jaw dropped and Kat was hard up trying to keep a straight face.

Gordon wasn’t helping with all the giggling either.

“Virgil, I thought we had that under control.” Scott’s voice was ever so tolerant.

“I do! That is over ten years. That is only eight point six cats per year.”

Gordon snorted. “How do you save point six of a cat, Virg? Wouldn’t call that a successful rescue, bro.”

“On average. And besides, sometimes it was the same cat.”

All four of his brothers were staring at him.

Virgil squirmed where he sat. “Mr Fluffy got stuck several times.”

“Mr Fluffy!”

“I repeat, what was I supposed to do? He’s Parker’s cat.”

Scott facepalmed again as Gordon cracked up laughing enough to almost fall off his chair. John appeared to be arguing with his watch, and Alan was tennis-spectating between each of his bothers apparently not really sure how to react at all.

Kat couldn’t help but smile.

This was an interview of a lifetime and would make her career, but she had to admit it went beyond all that. The five brothers were being alarmingly candid and she was concerned that the interview wouldn’t make it past IR security.

Kayo had seemed nice enough on the ranch, but here in the studio…the woman’s eyes tracked everything. She had a team in the building, who knew where, and as a group they were nothing short of terrifying.

A little bit overkill, Kat thought.

It wasn’t like they could be overheard.

The Tracys had decided to attend the studio, but under the rigorous eye of their security…which had scoured the place clean. Only Kat, her tablet, and two holorecorders were allowed in the soundproof room. And all recording would be reviewed by that same security.

If Kat was attempting to gut the Tracys like she had originally threatened to, this might have been a problem, but as hinted on the ranch, they were not who she had thought they were, and their answers only drew her closer to the idea that perhaps the world didn’t really deserve this amazing family.

“Okay, Fish, you think I’m hilarious. How many times have we had to stop on the way home to save some sea life? Not that I begrudge you, life is life, but….hey, what is the difference between fish and cats?”

Wow, Virgil knew how to frown when riled up.

Gordon grinned, unrepentant. “Probably the tree part.”

Virgil folded his arms and totally grumped.

“Gordon?” Scott’s voice had an edge to it Kat had heard in the field.

Uh-oh.

“Yes, Scott?” Gordon appeared oblivious, but John had looked up from his watch and was frowning as much as Virgil.

“How much sea life are we talking about?”

Gordon blinked and maybe picked up on the eyebrows aimed at him. “Umm…”

Scott straightened in his seat. “Thunderbird Five, report.”

John rolled his eyes again. “We’ve spoken about this.”

“Are we including Tracy Island wildlife in this equation?” The pert young female voice spoke from John’s watch again. Really, it appeared to be a Rolex, as expected for a billionaire, but it was obviously something else.

“I want everything, Thunderbird Five.”

“Six thousand, four hundred and twenty-three, with a margin of error equal to several schools of tuna and one mola-mola.”

“Hey, I saved that mola-mola.”

“The mola-mola didn’t think so. It bit you.”

“Mola molas don’t bite.” But Gordon had his arms folded, much like Virgil now.

“I beg to differ. That was three stitches.” Virgil’s frown almost split his face in half.

“You’ve been injured?!” Scott was at full glare.

“I was doing my job!”

“Your job is to save lives, Gordon. We don’t have the resources to-”

Gordon waved an arm and nearly hit Virgil in the head. “A life is a life, Scott!”

“We can’t save everyone!”

Gordon shot to his feet. “But we can try. You’ve said it yourself many times.”

“Gordon-“ Scott rose to his feet.

Which prompted Virgil to stand up, one hand going to Gordon’s chest, the other to his advancing big brother. “C’mon, guys.”

Scott’s eyes darted to Kat and she stared wide-eyed up at him.

Gordon continued to glare as Virgil hustled him back to his seat.

“We will discuss this later.” Scott was pointing a very pointed finger at his aquanaut brother.

“Sit down, Scott.” Virgil turned his eyebrows on his eldest brother and the man backed off. He obeyed, but was still glaring, this time at Virgil.

Kat had no doubt that there would be an extended discussion on this subject in their future.

She also made a note to check on the mola mola issue. Could be something of value in that angle. Perhaps a one-on-one interview with Gordon and saving sea life.

The men settled down under the glare of Virgil in the middle. At this point, Kat was grateful she had set the chairs up the way she did. Scott was on her left, followed by John – who was glaring and mumbling at his watch again – Virgil, Gordon and Alan.

Alan appeared to be stuck on the outside of this little circus.

Maybe she could fix that.

“So, Alan, your fans are a rather active bunch.”

The young man startled, his eyes widening like he was stuck in a spotlight. “I have fans?” It came out an octave higher than she expected.

She smiled. “You most certainly do. A very active and solid group actually. We have a number of questions from them.”

“Oh, um, fire away.” His smile was brave at least.

Kat was ever so aware of the eyes of his four eldest brothers now currently targeting her.

She got the message. Be kind to the kid.

Or else.

“Okay. You are known as the astro brother.” She could have said ‘astro boy’ but her survival instincts nipped it in the bud. “Several people would like to know which star is your favourite?”

“Oh, that’s easy. Mom’s star.”

The room froze.

Not that anything actually changed. No one moved or said anything. But...

Something walked across Kat’s skin, raising her hackles.

She knew the Tracy’s had lost their mother early on. It didn’t take much to confirm that, it was public knowledge. Alan had been one at the time. He couldn’t possibly remember her.

“Which star is your mother’s star?”

It was John who answered. “Vega.”

Alan blinked in his direction and frowned. “I can talk about Mom’s Star, can’t I?”

There was silence for a moment.

“Yes, you can.” It was Scott and his voice was emotionless.

Scott had been sixteen. He most definitely remembered his mother.

“John used to take me up onto the roof of the farmhouse and we would stare at the stars for hours. Did you know that Vega has five confirmed planets?” And Alan started talking astronomy – the star’s distance from Earth, its gravity, spin, the whole bit. Alan obviously knew his stars well.

But Kat was stuck on those five planets and she couldn’t help but glance at the other four brothers, all of whom would have been affected by the loss of their mother.

They all had their professional faces on and she knew she had lost the relaxed atmosphere. She needed to get back to a lighter topic or risk losing this interview completely.

She glanced at her tablet and scrolled through the many questions awaiting an answer.

She grabbed one. “Do you ever wish on any stars?”

Alan blinked at her. “Uh…” But then he frowned, turning to Virgil. “Hey, how can 86 cats be over ten years, Eos has only been with us for three!”

Virgil’s eyes widened. “Uh…”

“Yeah, I see what’s happening here. And you!” He pointed at Gordon. “That means…”

Gordon glared at his little brother. “That means I’m doing my job.”

There was an uneasy silence after that. Scott had his eyes on her. Blue lasering her every movement.

Kat swallowed. She was a professional. She had handled presidents and prime ministers…

Electric blue reminded her of exactly who she was talking to now.

She looked away and down at her notes. “Okay, onto another topic.” She forced a smile. “Many of these questions relate to your love lives.”

All the brothers sat us straighter, shuffling in their seats.

Scott’s gaze redirected like the high beam it was, directly onto each individual brother.

She straightened her shoulders. “You’re listed as the five most eligible bachelors on the planet. Any lucky prospective partners?”

The silence was a gaping hole in the room.

“Scotty’s had a few.” Of course, it was Gordon.

Every brother glared at him.

He held up his hands in an attempt at total innocence. “Hey, I’ve been there! Virg, too!” He elbowed the heavy lifter in the ribs. “You said he asked that pilot lady out while hanging off a cliff.”

Virgil was frowning again.

Gordon rolled his eyes. “Johnny! You have to have numbers on that. How many phone numbers does he have in his little black book?”

“Gordon!” Scott, Virgil and John were almost symphonic.

That quirky female voice piped up again from John’s watch. “53.”

“Eos! Stand down.” The Commander’s voice struck out.

There was a high pitched ‘hmph’ from John’s watch and light from the device died.

Kat was hard pushed to ignore the flush on Scott’s face. Was that a touch of embarrassment?

But it was Virgil who spoke. “Ms Kavanaugh, certain sacrifices are made to do what we do. I would appreciate some understanding.” He elbowed Gordon in the ribs, obviously in revenge and a touch harder than friendly. “My brother knows this.”

Maybe there was a reason why this family hadn’t done a proper interview together before. Alan was staring at his brothers again, this time with something akin to fear on his face.

It was Gordon’s turn to frown and fold his arms across his chest.

Virgil glared at him. “Not funny, fish.”

“Just trying to help.”

Kat began to wonder if there was any footage that could be saved from this interview. At this rate she had nothing other than rescuing cats from trees.

“So why do you do it?” The question tumbled from her mouth without thought, not without a little exasperation.

All five brothers sat up straighter.

Scott. “Because when you-“

John. “-call for help-”

Virgil. “-you deserve to know-”

Gordon. “-somebody is out there-“

Alan. “-listening.”

They spoke together, over each other, but all with the same words. The passion in the room was a living thing and Kat could feel the purpose.

“This obviously means a great deal to all of you.”

A single nod from the Commander. The soft smiling big brother she had witnessed earlier was gone and what replaced him was ever so formidable.

The brothers may play around, but underneath it all were five men determined in their mission. Five of the richest men on the planet willing to devote that wealth, and their lives, to helping others.

Those blue eyes glistened.

Kat found her heart beating ever so fast.

Someone cleared their throat.

She blinked and found it was Virgil. He had the smallest of smirks on his face and his eyes were dancing in the lighting. “Do you have any further questions?”

And she found herself blushing. “Uh, yes.” She fiddled with her tablet as she gathered her thoughts.

“John, there are a number of questions for you regarding the capabilities of Thunderbird Five, ranging from ‘seeing me waving at you from my backyard’, all the way up to playing the stock market and accusations of espionage.” She drew in a breath. “Do you have any comments?”

John was the quiet and serious one. Red hair and the most gorgeous green-blue eyes she had ever see on a man. Actually, come to think of it, all the Tracy men had fantastic eyes.

The Commander’s blue were still trained on her.

She kept her attention on John.

He was a bit of a mystery as the least seen in the media. He was the Voice Who Answers, the Eye in the Sky. She wondered how much he actually saw and heard.

The man was unruffled under her full attention. “I see and hear what I need to.”

She blinked. That was very precise wording.

“Do you miss being at the centre of the action?”

“What do you mean?”

“You live on Thunderbird Five, don’t you?”

“Yes. Some of the time.”

“You often have to watch your brothers step into dangerous situations. Do you ever want to join them?”

“I do join them when necessary, Ms Kavanaugh. I am as much a first responder as any of my brothers.”

Kat held up a hand. “I know that, John. Your speciality is space. But you often have to watch from afar. How do you cope with that?”

Alan bounced up in his seat, almost jumping to his feet. “John is with us all the time. Without him, there would be no rescues.”

“But he is stuck up on Thunderbird Five-“

Scott cut her off. “John is our communications expert. He works just as hard as any of us, sometimes harder. It is not an easy job.” His eyes flicked to his younger brother. “But John is the master of it.”

“But don’t you feel helpless being so far away, only able to watch?”

Alan snorted. “John does so much more than watch.”

She targeted the youngest. “Like what?”

“He helps all the time, he-“

“Alan.” It was a single word from the Commander that had her missing that big brother persona all the more.

“But he does!”

“Alan.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll shut up.” And boy, the youngest could throw a pout better than any of the brothers so far today.

She ignored it and focussed on John. “Your thoughts?”

“Ms Kavanaugh, I do what I need to do.”

“And what do you need to do?”

“What is necessary.”

“To save lives?”

The was the briefest of hesitations. Another journalist may never have noticed.

But she did.

His answer was simple. “Yes.”

“I have a Tumblr user who claims you reprogrammed his tablet from space and now it will only play nursery rhymes.”

Those green-blue eyes darted to his right. “Perhaps you should ask him why I did it.”

“Aw, c’mon, John, it’s been six years!” Gordon’s voice was a whine. “You mess up every new tablet I buy. I said I’m sorry.”

Virgil frowned at Gordon. Virgil apparently frowned a lot. “What are you doing on Tumblr?”

Gordon switched from John to Virgil. “Well, derr, it’s the only decent blogging platform left.”

Kat scribbled a note that @gordonthesquid was actually Gordon Tracy. Thinking about it, it was pretty obvious.

She turned back to John. “How many times have you done that?”

“As many times as it takes to stop Gordon from messing with my possessions.”

“Six years, bro!”

“You’re a slow learner.”

“Ass.” The aquanaut crossed his legs and arms and turned his back on John.

Between the two of them, Virgil sighed.

Kat made a mental note never to piss off John Tracy.

Those blue eyes still hadn’t left her.

Note to self: never piss off any Tracy.

Perhaps it was fate that broke both her legs and prevented her from screening her attack on the Tracys.

She had the strongest feeling that she would never have seen him coming and no-one would have found the bodies much less counted them.

John emanated quiet confidence…and power…as he held her gaze.

Perhaps she had better wrap up the interview.

“I have many other questions to ask, but I know it has been a long day for all of you, so one last question.” She drew in a breath. “Is it worth it?”

“Yes.”

“God, yeah.”

“Of course.”

“Always.”

Scott was watching each of his brothers as they spoke, but stared at them a moment longer before answering himself…ever so quietly.

“I hope so.”

-o-o-o-

[ask-carmenpondiego]

Chapter 21: No Place Like HQ For the Holidays

Once back at VILE HQ, the jet lands and the team disembarks, M procuring a wheelchair with his shadow powers and strapped Carmen in while he started to hum some carols. The mare sulked having to stay seated and not walking on her own. She did want to get up and about with these new augments so it wouldn’t slow her down. Deep down she knew it was for her own good and health to stay off her legs so they can heal properly within the cybernetic casing. “Can I at least have crutches?!” She had asked before they departed. “What? No! You put pressure on your arms the same way as your legs? You’ll blow the sutures and start bleeding all over my equipment!” She remembers Skyggja scolding her.

Blendin had already opened the double doors for the moving to begin. It didn’t take long for the HQ to be swarmed with flying and crawling drones carrying crates and boxes. Kiros went on ahead to help direct the drones with Skyggja’s help after Carmen explained which parts of the top floor was theirs. Carmen wheeled herself out of the way and into the living room, next to the big screen tv which blipped on by itself, 079’s face showing up rather annoyed. It took one look at Carmen and sighed. “Oh great. One of you is broken. This is why we cant have nice things..” She raised an eyebrow and smirked, “Good to see you too, 079. I’ll be adding two names to our household and they will be setting up a lab upstairs on the penthouse floor, so there may be another computer system connecting to ours. PLEASE behave and cooperate with these new agents. I don’t doubt they will attempt to delete you somehow if you start shit with them.” The ai rolled its eyes. “I’ll highly doubt they can but I suppose I can see what I can do to assist. I make no promises.” Carmen smiles and gives an awkward thumbs up, still getting used to the feel of the augments. “Thats all I ask, just a solid attempt in peaceful coexisting. I’ll even give you more monitors if you wish for around the HQ~” 079 gave a deadpan look with confetti and balloons on the screen. “Hooray. Now I wont have to squeeze into those abhorrent tiny screens on your mobile devices. Some of you really need to clear the phone storage from all that porn..”

Blendin hops over with a tablet to show his mother, “Hey Mom, I had some help with M and Kiros and.. 079? Anyway, we came together and we are working on a present for you! I am trying to share the knowledge of the ley line door travel system to your system so you can do what I do! Now, this stuff is super top secret so I could get in a whole lot of trouble for this if I’m caught BUT Kiros insisted that 079 will keep it under lock and key so no one else can track it! And there may be a way to even hook it up to your time machine! M said he’ll tinker with that later.”

Daring had wandered in and stayed a fair distance away and watched the two discuss the travel system. She scoffed as she saw Carmen get excited and hug Blendin, perhaps a little too tight. She didnt realize the added strength she had due to the new blood and augments, that is until he yelped. Daring was still trying to unfluff her feathers as she watched. She was glad a life wasn’t lost, even if it was one she still didnt trust. Perhaps she could tolerate her mother but she certainly kept her opinions known.

As far as she could tell, her brother had fallen right into his mother’s trap and just handed over the ability to steal everything from under everyone’s noses. There must be some way to stop it all. Her thoughts were jarred to a stop as striped arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind, picking her up and twirling her around, “Adora!!! This is a wonderful surprise!! Welcome home!! Lemme give you a big hug! Rrrrrrrr!” Waldo had snuck up on her in a way he would describe as very dad-like. Daring shrieked and flailed in his grasp, “Let me go! Help!” Carmen turned quickly, hearing the screech and instantly relaxed when she saw Wally try to be silly. “Wally!! Let her go, she’s not in the right mood right now.” He let her go with a playful pout, “Aww alright. I was just excited to see our baby girl again. You grew so tall! Look at you! Pretty soon you’ll fill out and be even more like your mom. She sure did give the attractive and smart genes to you, kids.” Daring huffed and straightened her clothes and tried smoothing out her feathers once again from puffing up “I am NOTHING like her! I may be glad she’s still here but I still think she’s up to no good!” She pointed to her smirking mother.

Wally looked over at Carmen for the first time since she came back and stopped short, worry plastered across his face. “My light! Are you ok? I heard there was an incident but it wasn’t specified how bad! What.. your hair, your arms.. legs.. your color.. what happened?!” Carmen started to explain, then when she heard the words coming from her own mouth, the realization of everything started to hit. Her eyes suddenly were pouring tears, and her new hands shook. She finally had a moment to truly process. She reached up to Wally who knelt down and embraced her so tightly, crying as well, “Please.. my light, please take this as a sign to stop. I know you are trying to help cure me but let’s.. just try to find a doctor or something. You’re risking your life to save mine, the accidents are getting more frequent and more dangerous… I want you to stop stealing. Please.” Carmen wiped her eyes, pulling away as she calmed down, making herself push the panic aside, “I can’t. I still have to try. Its what I’m good at, its what I do. Its not like they’ll accept me back into the detective programs..they’ll just throw me back into that horrible place to forget about me.” Blendin hugs his mom around the neck from behind the wheelchair, nuzzling comfortingly, “We wont let anyone take you or any of your agents away from us! And we’ll find a cure, Right Dad?” Wally smiled a little worriedly, “You said it. Now lets get you cleaned up and settled from that trip, maybe some relaxing time in front of the tv or something..” Carmen scoffed with some tears still brimming her eyes, “Relaxing in front of the tv? So I can get lazy and fat you mean?” She teased, wiping her eyes.

Daring crossed her arms and stood brooding from across the room. Ninoga and Kiros were lifting a heavy piece of furniture through the doorway and had to pass in front of Daring. She caught a glimpse of the muscles on both agents and blushed, looking away. “Excuse us, little snack. Don’t want to squish you.” Kiros chuckled with a low teasing rumble, winking at her. She turned scarlet in the face and hurried over to her family, “Guys, where’s the bathroom?!” Wally pointed just down the hall as Carmen looked at her and then at Kiros having a belly laugh while the young pegasus rushes off. “So THATS why it smells like Teen Spirit on Prom Night in the jet! Kiros! You are a scoundrel!”

Kiros shrugged as he held the furniture while Ninoga was pivoting, “I didn’t do a damn thing but I know you wouldn’t have me any other way!” He grinned, now on the move to set the furniture to its proper place. Lekir set a box down, which was picked up by a crawling drone and scuttled off, the vesk stepping out of its way with a bit of a gruff. “Its already like an infestation of these drones, you sure you wanna bring them here?” Carmen nodded, “I can tell this is the break they needed, just like they gave us a break. We have the room and they can be very helpful to us.” Lekir crouched beside her as Wally was busy looking through the tv channels. “How are you feeling? Any pain or anything?” She brushed her fingers through Carmen’s hair as Carmen put on a smile, “I feel great, I cant wait to try to get back on my feet. Wally wants me to relax… and to stop thieving.”

They look over to Wally who had been channel surfing and was currently dancing to some up beat music, occasionally singing along, before changing the channel again, “Mum!….Dad!…..Bingo!…..BLUEY! Man, Kid shows are so fun these days!… Ooooh baking competition! Thats not a cake!!… IT IS A CAKE!! Blendin! Are you seeing this?!” Lekir dropped her face to deadpan, “You? Stop thieving? Heh, thats not going to happen, is it?” She watches Wally pretty much jostle his son in excitement of a purse being sliced and revealing cake. “I will never be able to fathom what you see in him..” She stands up, her hands on her hips. Carmen smiles, “I dunno, he makes me laugh like theres not a care in the world.”

That night, after all the moving had calmed down, they all gathered around the dining room table. A couple stacks of pizza were on the kitchen island nearby, half already emptied. Carmen looked around as they all chattered, dishes and cups clinking, and all she could think about was that she had spent so much time trying to get to this point. But she found it was all worth it. She finally had connections with her family and made new family along the journey. She actually felt complete for once in a very long time.

The sounds of the gathering played over a speaker for a few moments more before a hand reached and switched it off. “This does not sound like a funeral dinner, does it?” A lower ranking gentleman in a suit lowered his head, “N-no sir. It does not.” The one in the chair facing him turned, picking up the umbrella that was placed onto the desk between them, inspecting it closely. “What does it sound like to you?” The younger rank, gulped, “A..a happy celebration, sir?” The blade sliced out from the tip and back in with a press of a button. “A happy celebration. Now. Your task was simple. I see no malfunction in your equipment so the failure rests with you. You told me, no. You ASSURED me that you would have this taken care of.” The lower rank stammers, “I made sure she was gravely hurt, at the very least, if she had a big enough injury, she would not continue.. we wouldn’t need to resort to eradicating her..” They look at the expressionless form of their higher rank. “It seems like you have forgotten what we stand for. Therefore, I will rectify your errors and put you on a path of clarity.”They press a few buttons on the console as a swarm of nanites suddenly covered the lower rank for a split moment and then returned to the opening they had come through. The lower rank just collapsing to the floor, all signs of life removed without cause nor damage or anything, as if every bit of life force was simply consumed and destroyed right from the source, without so much of a sound from the victim. Within moments, two workers came in and took the body to the incinerators. They press the intercom, “Send Mali Negatta into the field, we have a holiday gift to give the thief on this naughty list.”

A voice came over the intercom in return, “Hey all, this is Mali, I’m not available right now but I will return to accept any jobs starting in the new year! Otherwise, stop calling. Byieeee” The higher rank sighed and sat back in the chair. “What a christmas miracle. Well, all things come to those who wait..”

[strangerthingslover69]

Your Russian Guard ~ part 2

Warnings ~ swearing, some nudity and attempted harm ~

You are awoken by the sound of your door opening. From all the events that had occurred the last forty eight hours you were grateful you managed to get sleep, you don’t know how much but at least it was some. You open your eyes as you see a guard entering walking towards you. ‘Morning American. Doctors told me to make sure you take these’ he hands you some tablets and a cup of water. It’s the same blue eyed man who was cruel but kind to you yesterday. You sit up slowly from your so called bed and look up at him. ‘What are they?’ You ask looking at the tablets. ‘Just take them. If you want that leg to get better.’ He sighs at you putting them in your hand. Reluctantly you take the tablets and water. Popping them into your mouth and gulping them down with water. ‘Open’ he points to your mouth. You open your mouth confused. ‘Ahh so she does follow instructions quite well. Good girl’ he says leaning down looking into your mouth. There’s something about the way he says ‘good girl’ it makes you feel something. ‘Have to check you did take the medication.’ He says standing back up straight. ‘They must be feeling very nice today American. They say you can shower. Follow me’ he says walking towards the door. You try to stand but as soon as any pressure hits your leg it’s too much. You really are trying, you slowly and agonising take small steps towards the guard. You can tell he’s getting impatient with you as he sighs. ‘I-I’m sorry. I’m trying’ you say in a small voice. He walks over to you and hooks his arm around your waist. Just like yesterday. ‘You are very lucky I am so nice American’ he says as you both walk out of your cell. It’s bright as you walk along to where ever the shower was. You walked past many guards and prisoners. Most calling something at you in Russian or wolf whistling. ‘Ignore them American. Most have not seen a pretty woman in a long time.’ He says as you go down another corridor. Did he just call me pretty? You think to yourself. Your about to speak when another guard stops in front of you. ‘Well well well. Hello my feisty American. You been behaving for Antonov here?’ He says bringing his hand to stroke your cheek, you move away. It’s the same creep as yesterday, the one who kept touching your thigh. ‘She’s been fine. They letting her shower so were on our way now’ the man replies who you know as Antonov now. ‘повезло ублюдок, нужна помощь с ней?’ (lucky motherfucker, need any help with her?) the creepy guard replies looking you up and down in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable. You don’t mean to but you grip tighter on Antonov’s waist. ‘извините, они хотят, чтобы я позаботился о ней, вы нужны для нашего другого американского друга’ (Sorry they want me to take care of her, they need you for our other American friend) Antonov replies. You wish you could understand what they were saying. The other guard grunts, ‘Shame. I could have helped you in the shower pretty one’ his eyes scanning your body up and down. ‘At least I can go see your American friend. Bye bye for now’ he says shoving past you making you lose your balance almost. ‘He’s going to Hopper? Is he okay?’ You ask with pleading eyes up at Antonov. ‘Come American. You need shower’ Antonov replies starting to pull you with them. ‘No! I need to know about Hopper, please!’ You say turning towards him, your hands coming up to his chest. ‘Please, j-just tell me he’s okay’ you start sobbing at him.

Dmitri feels conflicted. Here a young woman crying frantically in front of him wanting to know if her American friend is okay. He doesn’t like to see any woman cry. But you are the enemy. You have to be. He listens to your pleads and sees the sadness in your eyes. Other guards turning to see the commotion. ‘You need to stop, you are going to get me in trouble’ he replies in hushed tones. ‘Then tell me if Hopper is okay!’ You shriek at him. Probably not the best idea to lose your temper at a Russian guard stuck in a Russian prison. One of the guards is making their way over to you both. Dmitri spots him and his demeanour changes. Grabbing your chains around your wrists and yanking them so your hands will drop. He drags you to the showers by your chains. Making you fall over, he’s dragging you across the floor. You scream for him to stop as it sends pain all over your body but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t stop till you’re in the shower block. Still with chains in hand he lifts you from the ground. ‘American I told you to stop. You are going to get us both killed. Your friend is okay and alive. Now time for shower.’ You nod thankfully to him, he could get into serious trouble you never thought about consequences for him. You turn and walk to the shower, stopping in front of it. No curtain, no privacy. You turn around and see him facing away from you, you can’t help but smile at his kind actions. ‘Antonov?’ You say in a small voice, he turns his body and faces you. ‘H-how do I shower? I’m a bit stuck?’ You jest towards your chains. ‘дерьмо’ (shit) he mumbles to himself. He slowly approaches you. ‘I am not allowed to undo your chains. That can get me into serious trouble. Another guard was foolish enough to do the same and the prisoner ended up using them as weapons, broke the man’s nose. There are no women working here. So I can help you or I can get another-‘ you cut him off before he continues. ‘No! No other guards. There all pervs. C-can you please help?’ ‘Of course, I will unbutton your top first, if that’s okay?’ He asks looking at you for permission. You nod looking away, it was awkward enough already without making eye contact. You can’t believe this is what your life has come to. Unable to take your own clothes off for a shower. Having a stranger do it for you, the enemy. But you’d rather him than any other guards. You feel Antonov fingers starting to unbutton from the top to the bottom of your shirt, brushing your skin. As each button is undone your heart races a little quicker each time as you realise your going to be bare in front of him. He reaches the last button and you wait for him to move your shirt down, he doesn’t. ‘Trousers next, can you do them?’ He asks looking at you. You finally turn and see a difference if his face. It’s more of a kind face than earlier. The deep blue eyes with little wrinkles around, his soft features resting around them, full pink lips that sit a small moustache above them. It catches you off guard how pretty this man is, you don’t realise you’ve not answered yet. You clear your throat and reply, ‘I can do it.’ He nods and turns around, you start to reach down to pull down your trousers.

‘Well hello there American, looks like I’ve come at the right time’ the creepy guard is back. He walks over to you but is stopped by Antonov. ‘давай оставь ее в покое’ (let’s leave her alone). ‘в одиночестве? почему? мы пропустили бы шоу’ (Alone? Why? We would miss the show) the guard responds in a suggestive tone. He shoves Antonov to the side and makes his way over to you. ‘Antonov may be too much of a pussy to see you. But I am not. Let’s see what you’re hiding under here pretty.’ He says as he starts to pull your shirt off your shoulders. ‘You are beautiful’ he states as he stares at your bare chest, you try to giver yourself but he smacks your hands away. He rips your blouse off you and throws it on the floor. ‘Perfect. Now let’s get rid of these-‘ he says reaching for your waistband of your trousers, he starts to pull them down but is stopped. достаточно! тебе может нравиться пугать женщин, но мне нет. если ты не хочешь, чтобы Иван услышал об этом, я предлагаю тебе отвалить!’ (Enough! You may enjoy scaring women but I do not. Unless you want Ivan to hear about this fuck off!) Antonov shouts at the man. ‘Мудак. я оставлю ее. на данный момент. ты не всегда можешь быть здесь, чтобы защитить ее’ (Asshole! I will leave her. For now. You can’t always be here to protect her) the man replies to Antonov looking even more annoyed. He turns back to you staring at your bare chest. ‘You got lucky this time American’ he snarls before exiting the shower room.

You stand there speechless and half naked. Antonov comes over to you, ‘I’m sorry American. He’s a real pig.’ You are frozen, you can not move. You are slowly realising this is your new life. Being degraded and looked at like some kind of sex doll or object. ‘American?’ Antonov’s hand moves to your shoulder. You are brought back into the room by his warm touch making you flinch. You look up into his eyes. They are so different to the others. Not scary. Not mean. Right now they look sad. ‘I-I can’t believe this is it. I-I’m stuck here. All alone surrounded by pig men. My best friend is all alone. I-I can’t do this. I-I’ you completely break down. Tears pour down your face. ‘I-I just wanted the gate closed. I-I just wanted a normal life’ you sink down to the floor on your knees only to remember the pain in it, you fall into your side in a crying mess.

Shit. What do I do? Antonov thinks to himself, he’s never had to deal with anything like this before. It’s always been men. Pathetic men who do not deserve anything more than here. But you. You were fragile. This wasn’t a place for you. He didn’t understand what you were talking about with the gate but he ignored that. You were making him feel terrible about being here. He wanted you out. He wanted you never to of come. He leans down next to you and scoops you into this arms, you silently cry as he lifts you towards the showers. He puts you down carefully so you’re sitting directly under the shower. You don’t look at him once. He shouldn’t be doing this but his actions are too quick. He reaches for his key to your chains and unlocks them. Leaving only one arm and one ankle still chained. ‘American’ he lifts your chin up to look at him. You don’t flinch at his touch, his hands around rough but gentle. ‘Shower, I will wait over here and make sure no one else interrupts you. Okay?’ He tells you in a sincere tone. You wipe your nose with the back of your hand and nod. ‘Thank you Antonov’ you say in a whisper. ‘Dmitri. You can call me Dmitri he says with a warm smile. ‘Y/N. Not American’ you say with a smile back. He nods and gets up turning around blocking the entrance. You use the wall to help you back up. You are able to take off your trousers and knickers and stand under the fairly warm shower. It feels like a breath of fresh air on your skin. It makes you feel somewhat better. Next to the shower is some soap. You wash your hair and body throughly. You look over at Dmitri who is still stood facing away from you. Maybe he wasn’t so bad. Maybe he wasn’t the enemy. Maybe he was one of the good ones, if that’s possible? You look down at your almost free body, you see it covered it marks and bruises everywhere. You knee still healing slowly in the cast. You could run. Well you could try. Most likely to be killed in the process. There was no escape even if you were partly free. The thoughts soon leave your head as you hear Dmitri’s voice. ‘There’s towels in the cupboard and fresh clothes. When your done I will put your chains back on and the doctors will look your leg over.’ ‘Okay, thank you’ you say turning of the shower. You walk to the cupboard and grab a towel quickly drying yourself as you feel the cold. All dry you put on the oversized clothes. ‘I’m all done’ you say and Dmitri turns back, walking back over to chain you back up. You put your wrists together so he can lock them back together. You watch as he turns the lock and bends down to do the same for your feet. ‘Thank you Dmitri’ you say looking down at him. He clicks the lock into place and locks them back up, your chest pressed against each other. He looks down on you as his height is much greater than yours. ‘It stays our secret though. Okay Y/N?’ He asks, you can’t help but get butterflies hearing him say your name. ‘Okay’ you say smiling at him. He returns the smile and you stay that way for a little while before leaving to see the doctor. He helps you walk again, arm round your waist almost seeming to be holding on more tightly than before. You can help but look up at him occasionally. You knew it was wrong. You knew he was the enemy. You knew what Hopper would say. But you mind and your heart knew how you were feeling. For the first time since being here you felt safe. You didn’t feel alone. You almost in a weird way felt some form of happiness. What an earth was happening to you? You knew that to but were to afraid to admit it. Not yet anyway

[simeons-sinful-saint]

Summertime Happiness

(OM) Boys (excluding Simeon, Solomon) x GN!Reader

Synopsis: the beach episode

WC: 3.2k

Note: it’s summer, and I miss the beach. I really want to go so I projected it here. I will say this is a part one bc I plan on writing smut for part two and you get to pick which ending you want. For example, you could pick to spend the night with Diavolo or you could choose Mammon. I’m challenging myself to write for each character so we’ll see how that goes.

“Beach! beach! Beach!” Mammon, Asmo, and Levi were chanting in the back of the car.

“Guys, we’re not even halfway there.” You groaned. They had been like that ever since you got to the human world. They then started squabbling about what to do. Mammon then tried to steal Levi’s tablet. Asmo seemed to ignore them completely.

“This would be our first human world beach! Of course, we’re excited. Just think of all the photos I could post.” Asmo was gleeful, the main person who suggested this trip.

“Well can you guys keep it down. I’ll turn this car around if you don’t!” They shut up, leaving you able to concentrate on the road, “You guys are lucky that Lucifer is in the other car.”

“I didn’t know you could drive MC.” Satan was in the front seat next to you.

“Of course! I’ve been driving since I was 16.”

“I’m sure you could teach Mammon how to drive safer.”

“Oi! Quit insulting me!”

“Honestly, why couldn’t Belphie be in my car. He’d just sleep.” You grumbled under your breath.

“I still don’t understand why Diavolo would want to come here when he has a beach of his own. Besides the beach is stupid.” Satan was now complaining. The choir in the back started up again, and you could feel the headache develop.

Instead of listening to them, you turned the music up to drown out the noise they were making.

That’s when Barbatos gave you a call. You answered it hands free, “hello?”

“MC, it seems the young lord would like to visit the nearest rest stop. He wants to see a human world gift shop.”

“There will be gift shops at the beach!”

“You don’t understand MC! I heard rest stop gift shops offer a wide variety of trinkets that the state offers.” Diavolo sounded too excited for you to say no.

“Also, Beel ran out of food, and we don’t want him to rampage in the car.” Lucifer sounded annoyed, probably because he got put in the back seat since Barbatos was driving.

“I’m hungry…” you could practically hear Beel’s stomach growl from the backseat as well.

“I suppose we need to fill the cars up with gas as well. There should be a rest stop at the next exit.”

“Understood. We’ll follow you to the rest stop of your choice.” Barbatos hung up. The music resumed. Hopefully, they didn’t hear the commotion from the back of your car.

You pulled off the next exit to arrive at a big gas station/truck stop. Parking your car at a pump, the others got out of the car to stretch their legs.

“You guys go ahead and get some snacks or drinks. Make sure to get me one too. The others should show up shortly.”

They walked into the shop thankfully not arguing. Barbatos shortly pulled in at the pump opposite of your car.

They also got out, and Diavolo practically ran to the shop with Beel following behind him.

“Lucifer, please don’t let them get into any trouble. That’s the last thing we need.” He nodded already looking annoyed. Upon inspecting their car, you could see Belphie peacefully sleeping in the back seat.

Barbatos walked over with a map consulting you on the best route to the beach. Their D.D.Ds didn’t have human world GPS, and of course, they didn’t have any human world phones to access it (and you weren’t planning on buying a new phone.) With a pen, you highlighted the route after consulting your GPS. You knew that Barbatos wouldn’t get lost behind you, but it was nice having this assurance.

Barbatos then turned around and excused himself from your discussion, heading towards the gas station shop. You tended to both of the cars, making sure that they were filled up and ready to go.

When you saw all of them come back to the car, Mammon was thrown over Barbatos’s shoulder.

“Put me down!”

“I’m sorry MC, but Mammon will be riding with us now.” You didn’t even want to know. Beel now was in your car, which solved part of the headache that was going on.

Lucifer simply texted you:

Mammon tried to steal

You knew that Mammon was going to be harshly punished in Barbatos’s car which he deserved. The last thing y’all needed was for the cops to come and arrest Mammon.

You noticed how many bags of souvenirs Diavolo was putting in the back of the car. It looked like he swept the store clean of everything. Same with Beel but with food.

“Beel, please make sure to not get food everywhere in my car. My parents would kill me if I ruined their seats.” He nodded and kept chowing down on the bag of chips he got.

Satan just shook his head and handed you a granola bar and a soda. Thankfully someone remembered to get what you asked for.

You all loaded the cars back up and set off once more. This time your car was quieter, and you were so thankful for that on the rest of the way to the beach.

—

“Finally! We’re here!” Asmo exclaimed when you parked the car at the condo y’all would be spending time at. Barbatos shortly pulled in next to you.

They got out of the car and met up with you, “We’ll need rolling carts for all of our luggage and supplies. They should be in the lobby’s office.”

Lucifer and Barbatos left to go fetch them and check in to the condo for you.

It was surprisingly easy to get all of the suitcases, beach supplies, and coolers up to the room. You made sure to get a big condo so everyone could get their own room (saved yourself the headache of who will be rooming with who.)

“Alright everyone, time to set up the ground rules!” You gathered everyone to the common room, “Make sure you all remember your human world names. Please do not stray too far from the others. We do have the beach for ourselves here, but the public beach isn’t too far from here. Please be careful to not wander that way. We have an itinerary for dinner and free times. Please do try to behave yourselves over the week we are here. Other than that, we’ll have fun!”

They all agreed and left to go unpack their stuff.

“I really hope we can get through this without any trouble. We’re spending too much money being here instead of being in Devildom.”

—

The sand was nice and warm. The sunlight danced over the waves, making the ocean sparkle. Lucifer and Barbatos already got the umbrellas and beach chairs prepared, so all the rest had to do was get into swimsuits.

Running out to settle down on a chair basking in the sunlight was your first objective.

“MC, you need to apply sunscreen before you sit out in the sun.” Barbatos walked over with the spray on sunscreen.

“Right. I forgot.”

“MC, I can help you put on your sunscreen!” Asmo ran over to you, “Then you can rub it all over my body.”

“Oi! If anyone is going to rub sunscreen on them, it’s going to be me. I’m their first so I have that right!” Mammon was quick to swoop in and grab the bottle out of Asmo’s hand.

“You can’t use that excuse every time. Especially since you’ll never admit how you feel.” Satan was the next one to take the bottle.

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, you know you’re a simp.” Levi came up to y’all, “O-Of course I will apply sunscreen on you MC. Who am I kidding you’ll never pick me.” You could hear every mumble under Levi’s breath.

“What on earth are you all doing?” It was Lucifer, “they are perfectly capable of putting sunscreen on themselves.”

“But their back! They couldn’t possible read that part,” Asmo flirted, “and I’m the perfect person.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and took the bottle out of Satan’s hands, “I’ll put on your sunscreen MC”

“No fair! How come you get to do it?” They started to whine. Honestly at this point you didn’t care who put it on you.

“Thank you, Lucifer,” you turned your back towards him so he could apply the lotion on you. Feeling his hand run up and down your skin did feel nice.

The others continued to bitch at Lucifer about it.

“Haha! Your brothers are lively as always.” Diavolo stood next to Lucifer, who only sighed at his comment.

“I’m afraid so.”

Now that everyone was prepared, Mammon, Asmo, Levi, and Beel ran towards the water. Belphie was already asleep on a beach chair. Satan sat next to him with a book in hand. Diavolo was forcing Lucifer to build a sandcastle with him, while Barbatos helped by carrying buckets of ocean water.

A smile grew on your face as you ran towards the ocean yourself with a floaty, finally able to relax and play with everyone there.

When entering the nice warm water, you’re immediately dunked in. Rising back up,

“Mammon! You ass!” You move your hair out of your face.

“It’s ok MC, he did the same to me. He has a death wish,” Asmo looked furious. Every time he’s swim close to Mammon, he would simply swim away.

“Didn’t peg you as a good swimmer.”

“The great Mammon can do many things!” His laughter was infectious, and your anger fizzled out as you see the brothers chasing each other.

“Ugh, what normies.”

“What did you expect to do out here Levi?”

“Well you see I saw in this anime called A Trip to the Beach turns into a romance story and-“

“Forget I asked. I’m surprised that Mammon didn’t dunk you.”

“The water doesn’t scare me.”

“Makes sense. You do kind of control water. I guess this would be the best place to summon Lotan, besides the fact this is a human world beach.”

“Hahaha. I have no plans of doing that. My Ruri-Chan towel and bag would get soaked, and I don’t want that.”

“Right…”

You then heard eating sounds in your ear. Turning around, you see Beel mouth full of fish, “You can’t just eat the marine life here!”

“But I was hungry…”

“Then go to shore and grab some of the food we brought down here!”

Beel took you up on that offer as soon as he finished devouring the fish he caught with his bare hands. You just prayed he left something for the rest of you, lest you have to go back to the condo and get more.

Mammon quickly swam back and hid behind your back, practically using you as a shield.

“Don’t use MC to protect you!” Asmo was coming in hot. You dunked yourself under the water for Asmo to finally catch Mammon and push his head in the water.

Upon both of you returning to the surface, you shook your head to get the salt water out of your ears.

“You pushed too hard Asmo!” Mammon bitched.

“You brought this upon yourself!”

“Can you both shut up? I’m trying to fantasize about Ruri-Chan.”

“Stay out of this otaku!” They both shouted at the same time. Levi clammed up.

“Of course, they think I’m some weird gross shut in…”

“Oh Levi, that’s not true. Just let those two idiots fight and dunk each other under water. Let’s go back to shore and hunt for seashells!” He felt better from your words. Grabbing the floatie that seemed to be abandoned (you’re glad it didn’t float away into the sea), you both swam back and went to dry yourselves off.

Beel was devouring all of the food in the coolers you brought.

“Satan! Why didn’t you restrain him?”

“Huh, it’s not my job to keep Beel from eating everything. That’s Belphie’s.” You glanced to see that he was asleep basking in the summer sun.

“Of course.” You turned your attention back to Satan, “why don’t you come with Levi and I to hunt for seashells?”

“No.” It was immediate and caught you off guard, “I’m at the climax of this book, and I’ll do beach stuff when I’m done. Except go into the water.”

“Still don’t get it, but whatever.”

You grabbed the necessary supplies to gather seashells, and you made your way back to the shoreline with Levi by your side.

“Let’s see if we can find one that’s not broken! I’d love to get to a nice cone shaped one” Levi cheered up.

So far, you’ve only found broken sand dollars and pieces of broken corral, “well this isn’t great.”

“Oi! Why you hogging MC all to yourself?” Mammon always knew how to ruin a moment.

“Hey, Mammon~”

“Y-yeah?”

“You want a dollar?”

“Yes! Giving money to me is an investment-“

You simply placed a sand dollar in his hand causing Levi to practically die, howling about how you got him good.

Mammon just stood there looking like he could turn to dust at any moment. You couldn’t help but laugh.

Satisfied with your haul, you and Levi placed the bucket of shells back at the beach chairs.

“Still reading Satan?”

“Yes, and it’s getting good so leave me alone.” You roll your eyes in response. Levi said he would chill with Satan in the shade, something about getting his daily log on bonuses.

Shrugging, you turn on the group you hadn’t visited yet.

“Lucifer! Diavolo! How’s the sandcastle coming?”

“Well…I tried making a sand sculpture of Lucifer, but it doesn’t look anything like him.” Diavolo pouted. Upon looking at the pile of sand, you tried to hold back your laughter. If this was supposed to be Lucifer, then Asmo should really give him a makeover.

“The important thing is you tried Diavolo,” Lucifer tried to hide his annoyance, but of course he was bad at that (he would never admit it though.)

“Maybe we should take a break, my lord.”

“I guess so.” You felt bad and patted Diavolo on the back.

“You’ll get it right the next time you do it. Here why don’t I show you something humans do on the beach!”

Diavolo perked up, and the three of them followed you back to the shaded umbrella where their beach chairs were. You sauntered off and grabbed four bottles of beer and a bag of limes you cut up earlier (thankful that Beel didn’t eat them.)

You handed them the beer as well as a bottle opener, “Ok, so typically on the beach with this brand of beer, you push a lime into the neck of the bottle. It helps add flavor to the drink of the summer here.”

You demonstrated for them, even though Barbatos was a step ahead of you anyway. Diavolo looked at it all with wonder, taking a sip after preparing it, “Fascinating! Is this really what humans do?”

“Some. I like to do it when I go to the beach. It’s nice and relaxing. Plus, the advertising says to do this.”

“I do have to say, it does add a little aromatic flavor. However, I’ll have to decline drinking more than I already have.” Barbatos handed the bottle back to you. Even though you knew he had his reasons, it bummed you out a little.

“Well Lucifer! What do you think?” Diavolo turned towards his friend who was happily drinking his.

“Honestly, I needed some sort of break after being in the sun for so long.”

“Well, I’m glad I was able to help.” Lucifer smiled at your response, praising you about how you’re always a help to everyone.

You sat down next to them on the sand and just took in the calmness of the beach air, the smell of salty sea water filling your nose. It was enjoyable to have one moment of relaxation.

“Hey MC! Belphie’s awake! Help us throw him into the ocean!” You could hear Mammon from the other side of the beach.

“Your brothers are always so exciting, Lucifer,” Diavolo was laughing and was waiting for Lucifer to laugh along with him.

“More like a headache…”

“I’ll go over there so they don’t bother you three. Remember to get the relaxation you need. The three of you work way too hard, you deserve a break. That goes for you to Barbatos! You don’t have to be a butler here.”

He laughed at your comment, “So noted.”

Satisfied, you ran back over to the others.

“If you like to live, you’ll let go of me” Belphie was trying to fight, but with Mammon, Asmo, and Levi together, he didn’t stand a chance.

“Same for you Beel! Put me down so I can finish my book!”

“Nah, you can finish your book later. We’re at the beach. You should have fun with us!” Mammon had a death wish. They managed to pull Belphie and Satan into the water. Belphie at this point had already given up.

Satan, however, was like trying to bathe a cat. Extremely unhappy about it. He screamed profanities and was about to go apeshit, until you were by his side and holding his hand.

“It’s ok Satan. They just want you to have fun.” He huffed in response with a hint of blush developing on his face.

Finally, all of you were in the ocean, splashing water at each other, seeing who could hold their breath the longest, and float around letting the water massage your worries away.

The fun eventually was coming to a close. The sun started to set, and everyone went to pack everything up.

“Hold on!”

They turned to look at you who has a mischievous look on your face, holding up sparklers in their face, “They’re a lot of fun to have on the beach too.”

Everyone was about to decline until, “Ohhhh, that sounds like fun. I’ll do it with you MC.”

Diavolo started to take sparklers from your hand and went to get a lighter.

“Well, I guess I can do it too.” Mammon said.

“It does sound like fun. Plus, I can take all sorts of photos to post when we get back to Devildom.” Asmo ran to be by your side.

“Don’t eat the sparklers Beel,” Belphie said walking over with his twin.

“W-well it’s a normie thing to do, but if MC wants to do it then I will too.” Levi took a sparkler from the packet.

“As long as Lucifer isn’t going to participate then I will too.” Satan said.

“Too bad because Lucifer has to do this too!” Your words sounded very adamant, leaving Satan with no other choice.

Lucifer sighed but then smiled, “As long as your happy MC and Diavolo.”

You squealed in happiness. As you lit the sparklers, everyone waved them around. Asmo took photos of everyone with theirs. Mammon tried writing words (they didn’t look good.) The rest were happy to chase each other with Diavolo and Lucifer standing on the side. Diavolo was mesmerized by the sparks shooting out, and Lucifer couldn’t help but laugh with him.

Barbatos filmed the entire thing for everyone to remember later. One of the best days ever.

—

After showering, you noticed the night was still young. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing now.

You didn’t want the night to end too soon. Hitting up the town seemed like a good idea.

You sat thinking of who you should bring with you.

[ayellowcurtain]

Sobbe where Robbe gets sick, maybe food poisoning or something like that, and Sander races over and is super caring and just looks after him. All the fluff in the world please ☺️☺️☺️🥺🥺🥺

To Robbe: how are you feeling?

Sander bites his lip, tapping his feet as the dots appear and disappear a few times on his conversation with Robbe.

To Sander: I'm okay

Ish

I think it's food poisoning.

Sander sighs, standing up, grabbing everything one hand can reach while still staring at his phone. Robbe never says he's sick. He'll play it cool, and so an okay-ish is already worrying.

To Robbe: I'm coming over.

He puts his phone on his table as he shoves all his pens inside the case, checking to see if Robbe gives him any answer but he doesn't which makes Sander move even faster.

He grabs some clean clothes, and puts his hoodie back on, knowing Robbe will need it when he gets there. His toothbrush, underwear, notebook, sketchbooks, pens, phone and headphones. There's not much he needs other than that, considering the most important part is already there.

He's not sure what can make food poisoning better so he checks with his mom. Her being a doctor always comes in hand.

"How is he feeling?" She asks, her attentive eyes looking through her lashes the second he appears in the kitchen, still typing something on her computer.

Sander sighs, opening the fridge to see what he can take to Robbe. He grabs his bottle of water, some leftover food he ate last night and puts it on the island, opening his bag to make everything fit.

“Probably terrible but he’s acting chill about it.”

His mom snorts, putting her computer aside for a second. “And I assume you’re going there and you won’t be home for a second.”

Sander looks up through his lashes this time, lifting his eyebrows. Yes, he doesn’t know when he’s coming back and his mom is already thinking and quietly tell him to know when to leave, to not annoy Robbe’s mom too much, to let his boyfriend rest for as long as he might need.

“Don’t forget to tell dad or he’ll call and annoy me every five minutes.” Sander leaves his bag open, walking around the island to leave a quic kiss on his mom’s temple, grabbing his tablet that he left there earlier while doing his homework.

“Please, don’t forget your medication.” She says and Sander nods his head, rolling his eyes as he makes another pit stop at the cabinet he leaves his medication right next to the fridge so he won’t forget to drink it with his water every morning. He shows her the plastic container and shoves it inside his bag, leaving home, texting Robbe to tell he’s on his way.

He goes the short way, constantly checking but Robbe doesn’t send any more messages. His mom is the one to open the door for Sander, smiling always so sweetly, already hugging Sander and he’s used to it by now, asking how Robbe is.

“He’s still resting in his bedroom. I just made him some soup and left some water for him to keep drinking. But tell him to do so or he’ll forget.”

“Yeah. My mom said he should just rest, drink water and go back to eating slowly.” Robbe’s mom nods her head, locking the door behind him, helping him take his jacket off.

“He didn’t eat anything today, but I gave him lots of water. He said he was going to watch some movie while he waited for you.”

Sander smiles just thinking about it. A soft, sleepy, needy Robbe that’s probably warm from staying under the covers all day long, hiding in the dark, watching a movie or sipping on the soup his mom is forcing him to eat.

“Do you want to eat anything?” His mom asks while waiting for Sander to get rid of his boots. “I made some pasta for myself, but you should here in the kitchen if you want. Robbe will kill you if you eat around him.”

Sander snorts because Robbe actually would. He’s hungry but not too much so he can wait until later, when Robbe will sleep before he does and he has some time to kill before he gets sleepy himself.

“I’ll eat later, thank you.”

She smiles and nods her head, going back to the living room so Sander can go upstairs and meet his sick, beautiful boyfriend. He knocks on the door and puts his head inside, smiling when Robbe finds him instantly, smiling.

“Hello, sleepyhead.” Sander closes the door carefully behind him, locking in case they end up sleeping naked because it’s too hot for clothes under the heavy comforter.

“Hi. You took forever to get here.” Robbe whines, pulling his comforter to his chin. Sander sighs, and rolls his eyes fondly, taking his jeans off, leaving it with his bag on the chair, watching as his boyfriend move to the side to make some room for him.

“You want me to close the curtains?” Sander asks already moving to he big window. It’s a bright night outside, the full moon shining with no cloud to get in the way. Robbe still as beautiful as that first night, and Sander loves to see him under the moon light but that’s not practical for a night in, cuddling in bed with one of them feeling like shit. He closes because he knows the answer, he was just being nice by asking.

“I can’t seem to pay attention to any movie I try to watch.” Robbe explains, pushing Sander’s side of the comforter down, opening his arms, ready to lock Sander close to him using all his arms and legs.

Sander sits on the bed, taking his hoodie off, offering it to Robbe and he grabs it but doesn’t put it on, just keeps it on his side of the bed for later. By the way the mattress is burning hot, Sander can tell his boyfriend has a fever but he doubts Robbe doesn’t know that already so he lies down, purring when he gets close enough where he can feel an almost completely naked Robbe, even softer than Sander imagined, his underwear rolling up his thighs a little bit.

“How are you really feeling?” Sander asks again, gently resting his hand on Robbe’s ass, helping him hook his leg around Sander’s waist.

“Fucking hot.” Robbe complains.

“You really are, my god.”

“Shut up.” Robbe hides against his neck, and Sander can feel his hair strands damp still, sticking to Robbe’s head a little bit. “You don’t even believe in him.”

“I believe in God because whatever that is, it made you.”

Robbe laughs softly, and doesn’t answer with some smartass comeback. He’s already completed relaxed, and Sander is sure he has no energy in him. But maybe the fever is a sign that the worst is almost over. Hopefully tomorrow morning Robbe will be fully recovered.

“You’re so handsome. And I love you so fucking much, Robin.” Sander whispers against the top of his head, pushing all his hair to the side, keeping what he can behind Robbe’s ear.

He stretches his neck as much as he can, seeing the empty bowl on the nightstand.

“How was the soup?”

Robbe only nods his head, and Sander kisses what he can reach without moving of his face and hair, pulling the cover to his shoulder. Normally he would pull it to his chin but that way Robbe would be completely covered and he would melt away.

“You wanna drink some more water? Try to watch the movie again?”

“No.” Robbe says with his pouty voice. “We’ll watch tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay, captain.”

Robbe looks up at him and Sander leaves a gentle kiss on his lips.

“I love you. Thank you for coming.”

“It’s my pleasure, cutie.” He runs his hand from the small of Robbe’s back to his ribs, checking his arms, and neck too. “Tomorrow we’ll also take a bath in the morning, before your mom wakes up.”

Robbe purrs, hugging him tighter.

“And you’ll behave yourself because it’s just a bath to see if it helps with this fever.”

“Sander...” Robbe whines, and pouts and makes his whole scene and Sander watches, kissing him longer this time, loving the feeling of their lips sticking to each other when he moves away.

“If your fever is gone maybe we don’t have to behave so much.”

Robbe smiles, nodding his head, kissing Sander for a long time now.

[zackcollins]

when i first heard your heartbeat || jack campbell

masterlist

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! I’m deep in the feels for a certain goaltender. So, uh. That’s why this exists. As for the premise of the story, I absolutely plead the fifth. I say as a Canadian citizen living in Canada where the fifth amendment doesn’t exist. Anyways. Since I have to answer the question, I want the reader to be me so fucking badly. Happy? Alright. Now that that’s sorted. GIF credit to marc-andrefleury!!

Warnings: This fic mentions infertility and miscarriage. It’s nothing graphic, promise! It’s just mentioned as a way to further the storyline. But I’m warning about it because I know how much some people struggle with it or have struggled with it. If you need to avoid it, I completely understand and no hard feelings, okay?

Word Count: 2.4k+

Title: Lady by Brett Young

Additional: The reader is feminine this time! Or, well. The reader is anyone that has a uterus and can get pregnant! Because I specifically mention the reader having a uterus but men can have uteri too (*gestures at myself*). So, do whatever you will with that. I do call the reader a feminine term (Ms.) but it’s only when being called back to the exam room. So, you can still probably imagine yourself in the reader’s position if you have a uterus but aren’t feminine. Okay? Okay. I hope everyone enjoys this!

Sitting in the waiting room, you noticed that Jack was bouncing his left leg up and down and fidgeting with his hands. You placed your hand on his knee; he stopped bouncing and fidgeting immediately, slotting one of his hands over top of yours as he looked over into your eyes. You shared a soft look, no words being exchanged in the process. The two of you had been together long enough to be able to reassure the other with only looks. You still smiled when Jack asked if you were alright.

“Yeah,” you mumbled, guiding Jack’s hand up from his knee to kiss the back of it. Jack smiled fondly, brushing a stray piece of your hair behind your ear. You hummed in appreciation as you fell back against the waiting room chair. “Just a little nervous. You?”

Jack nodded, linking your ankles together in front of the chairs. You smiled, dropping your head against his shoulder; he brought his arm over and draped it across your upper back and shoulders. “Yeah, same, flowerbud.” Jack placed a kiss to your temple, squeezing you gently against him. 

Taking your hand, you ran it over Jack’s knee in an attempt to soothe his ever apparent nerves. You looked up at your fiance, noticing a thankful expression on his face. He nodded briefly to affirm that he was thankful before he pressed another kiss to your temple. You swung your interlocked ankles back and forth, chuckling when you heard Jack huff an amused breath above you.

“That nervous, huh?” Jack’s question came out sounding more concerned than anything. It even came out sounding more like a statement than a question, if you were being honest. All the same, Jack ran his arm comfortingly along your upper arm and helped you in your effort to swing your ankles.

“This is a big thing, bud,” you said, sighing and running a hand down your face. You glanced up at Jack and noticed that he was looking at you with concern. You smiled softly, patting your fiance’s chest. “Of course I’m gonna be nervous. Who wouldn’t be? I promise I’ll be fine once we get in there though. Okay?” Jack went to respond but he closed his mouth when the door beside the reception desk swung open and shut with a resounding thunk. 

Looking over, you saw a nurse standing there. She was holding a clipboard and appeared to be scanning the paper that was clipped to it. After a moment, she turned to face the seating area, clutching the clipboard to her chest.

"Ms. (Y/L/N)?" The nurse looked around the room. You noticed that the only other people there were a teenager and his mother. The teenager was playing on a Nintendo Switch and the mother was doing some work on a tablet computer. 

You swallowed thickly as you lifted your head from Jack's shoulder and unlinked your ankles. Standing from the chair, you grabbed Jack's hand and guided him off of his own chair. Jack gave you a quick hug before he walked with you across the room to where the nurse was standing. The nurse raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't say anything as she led you and Jack through the door and back into one of the rooms.

Once you were in a room,the nurse closed the door and instructed you to lay on the examination table. Jack quickly stood beside you, grabbing your hand without having been asked. You mouthed your thanks as you rolled the hem of your shirt up to your ribcage, squeezing your eyes shut in the process.

You heard the nurse walk across the room and heard the chair on the side that Jack wasn't on creak as the nurse sat down. You swallowed nervously, wlibg yourself to open your eyes and look at her. When you did, she was holding the ultrasound wand and a bottle of medical gel. You swallowed again, looking over at Jack. Jack nodded, running his thumb across your knuckles in an attempt to soothe your nerves.

"Are you ready?" The nurse asked, popping the top on the gel bottle. When you nodded, the nurse squirted the gel on your stomach. Shivering, you tried to recoil from the feeling of it on your skin. The nurse chuckled as she clicked the bottle closed and placed it back in the basket attached to the ultrasound machine. "Sorry. I probably should've warned you that it was going to be cold."

"No, it's fine," you said, sighing in annoyance. "It wasn't that bad anyways."

When you looked up at Jack, you could tell that he was trying his best to bite back a laugh or a smartass remark. You took your hand and swatted your fiance on the elbow, smirking when he huffed in defeat. You also cast him a stern, although soft at the same time, look to tell him to behave himself. Jack simply chuckled and gave a half-assed smile in response. You rolled your eyes as you looked back at the nurse.

She didn't seem to have noticed what had happened because she was looking at the ultrasound machine. She appeared to be pushing buttons and trying to find the right settings to get it to work. She pressed a few more buttons before nodding a moment later, turning to you and grabbing the wand again.

“Alright,” she said, adjusting herself in her seat so that she was in a better position to use the wand on your stomach. “Are you ready to get this show on the road?”

You heard Jack scoff as you chuckled, nodding along to what the nurse was saying. “Yeah. Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“What about you, dad?”

“I’m the baby’s dad, not her dad,” Jack replied, sounding a little confused at that assumption.

The nurse sighed, shaking her head as she placed the wand on your stomach. You took your hand, patting Jack’s elbow sympathetically looking at him with just as much sympathy. Jack tilted his head in confusion, raising his shoulders, lifting the hand that wasn’t holding yours, and contorting his face into a look of confusion to express that he had no idea what the hell was going on.

“Jack, bud,” you said, looking up into your fiance’s eyes. “That’s what she meant. She would’ve said grandpa if she thought you were my dad.”

“Oh,” Jack mumbled. You saw his face wash over with a nice bubblegum hue as he looked between you and the nurse. “Sorry. I’m nervous.”

“It’s fine. A lot of first time parents are.” The nurse looked up from where she had been moving the wand along your stomach and turned to the ultrasound machine. She pressed a couple of buttons and it brought up the sonogram image of your uterus and the baby inside of it, though there wasn’t really much to see because you weren’t that far along. The nurse pointed to the screen and circled her finger around the tiny black and grey image of the baby. “There’s your little one. I’d say you’re about eight to ten weeks along.”

You felt tears prickle the corners of your eyes. Before you had a chance to wipe them away, you heard Jack sniffle from beside you. You looked over and saw that he was already crying, tears streaking gently down his cheeks. That sent you over the edge, making your eyes open up and leak tears down your own cheeks. Jack brought your hand up and kissed your knuckles while running a thumb along the pulse point in your wrist. You shivered because the sensation of crying mixed with the sensation of him touching your pulse point was nearly too much to handle.

“Would you like to hear the baby’s heartbeat?” The nurse cut in, making you and Jack both look over at her. 

You looked up at Jack; Jack nodded fervently, a large smile present on his tear stained face. You turned back to the nurse and nodded, wiping away some of the tears on your cheeks. “Yeah. We’d love that.”

The nurse smiled as she turned to the ultrasound machine to press a couple of buttons. There was the sound of static for a moment then the nurse moved the wand and the faint sound of a beating heart could be heard through the speakers on the machine. You looked up at Jack and Jack looked down at you. Both of you burst into tears as you listened to the sound of your unborn child’s heartbeat. It was so surreal because you had tried to have this baby for the last four years. Four years of failed treatments. Four years of negative pregnancy tests. Four years of miscarriages. Four years of anguish had finally led up to this moment. A moment where you got to hear the heartbeat of a baby that was growing inside of you. A baby that was as much a part of you as they were a part of Jack. It was almost too much for you to handle. And, judging by the look and tears on Jack’s face, it was almost too much for him to handle as well.

“Do you want an .mp3 file of the heartbeat?” The nurse put a reassuring hand on your hip. “Hearing it obviously means a lot to you.”

“Yes, please, oh my god,” you and Jack blurted at the same time, tears falling harder down your cheeks as you both looked at the nurse.

The nurse nodded, taking her hand away from your hip. She pressed a button on the ultrasound machine and you heard a beep that was much the same as that of a voicemail recording. After a few moments, the beep sounded again and the nurse turned back around and pressed the button again. It was at that moment that she set the wand down and handed you some paper towels to clean your stomach off. You thanked her as you wiped away the gel that was left, tears starting to subside. When you were done, Jack took the paper towels and threw them away in the garbage bin across the room. When he returned, the nurse was typing something into the machine. When she was done typing, a second or two passed before you heard your phone chime in your pocket. Pulling it out, you saw that the nurse had emailed you the .mp3 file she had just recorded. You felt the tears starting to ramp back up, but Jack placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder calmed you down enough to stop you from crying again.

“Alright. That should be it for today,” the nurse said, clasping her hands together. “If you need anything, give the office a call. Otherwise, I’ll see you in two months for your next appointment.” You and Jack nodded as the nurse reassuringly patted your knee. “Take as much time as you need to gather yourselves. There aren’t any more appointments until after lunch.” With that, the nurse stood from the chair and walked out of the room.

Jack looked at you, bending down and placing a soft kiss to your forehead. You grabbed his wrist and soothed your thumb along his pulse point. You revelled at the fact that Jack shivered at your touch, finding it a small accomplishment because he wasn’t usually one to get flustered like that. When you ran your thumb along the pulse point again, he shivered again, proving to you that he was just as overwhelmed by this whole situation as you were.

Without saying a word, you unlocked your phone and opened up the email app. Bringing up the email from the nurse, you clicked the .mp3 file and downloaded it onto your phone. Once again, without saying a word, you made a few changes to the haptics and dropped the phone in your lap. Looking up at Jack, you nodded down at the device, squeezing your eyes shut nervously.

“Why don’t you text me what time you guys play tonight, I accidentally deleted it from my calendar when I put in this appointment.” If that was a lie, Jack didn’t need to know.

Jack nodded, pulling out his own phone. After a moment, you saw him typing away on the screen and then heard him send the message. A moment later, you heard your phone go off. Looking up at Jack, you saw him frozen in place, his own phone dangling to the side of his hoodie pocket. He carefully slipped it inside before he wrapped you in a massive hug. The next thing you heard was your fiance sobbing into the crook of your neck and felt his body vibrating against you. You brought your hands up and ran them soothingly along his back, mumbling sweet nothings softly into his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

When the phone went off again after you hadn’t cleared the notification, Jack stepped back and wiped his eyes with his hoodie sleeves. He looked down at the phone and then up at you. You saw a small smile on his distraught face. You took your hand and interlaced your fingers with the fingers of one of your fiance’s hands. Jack smiled a little more fondly at that, squeezing your hand. You squeezed back, running your hand along Jack’s elbow.

Jack heaved a heavy sigh before he looked back down at you, a fonder expression on his face. You ran a hand along his elbow again, smiling just as fondly in return. Jack leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your temple, brushing some of your hair aside with his free hand. You hummed, leaning into the touch.

“I can’t believe I finally get to be a father,” Jack mumbled, voice marred by how hard he had been crying. “I’ve waited my whole life for this. Waited four years with you. And all those years were worth it because I finally got to hear my baby’s heartbeat. Something I thought would never happen. And it’s happening with the love of my life. Can you believe that?”

You felt suddenly overcome with emotions as you sat there. You dropped your head against Jack’s chest; Jack took his hand and cradled your head, carding his fingers through your hair. You hummed softly at the sensation of his finger against your scalp. It felt nice to have something calming in all this chaos.

“Yeah, I can believe that,” you said, voice somewhat muffled by Jack’s chest. “Because all of it’s happening with the love of my life too.”

[magicofsimplestories]

Supernatural 2.0: #10 The Fog

[Back to Foreword and #1 Meet Kira or #9 A Deal]

“I’ll pick you up at midnight”

“Nice to hear you too, Dean”

“We’ll go with my car”

“It would be great if you told me where we are going”

“To the Lab”

“What will we do there? Both you and I looked through…”

“I got a magnet key”

A short silence of surprise on the other side of the phone made Dean smirk victoriously.

She’s impressed.

“What did you do to Caitlyn?”

He exhaled. Not impressed. 

Caitlyn, Kira’s friend, happened to serve at the local military base. Dean figured out quickly that as any 5th rank officer Caitlyn had a magnet key to the big door at the Crater Lab - the only thing that neither Kira nor Dean could crack so far. Dean had to practise his persuasion skill to put Caitlyn in a more… agreeable mood. Luckily, he was impressively talented in persuasion.

“Your Caitlyn is fine. More than fine, actually… Anyways. She gave me the key. Get ready, I’m on my way”

Along with the magnet key Caitlyn gifted Dean a digital map of Lab’s basement. While Dean was dealing with the lock, Kira studied the map on his tablet. 

“There are two corridors down there. The first one is just in front of the stairs. The second one is on the right”

“Our common officer friend kindly advised to take the one in front. It leads to the main quarters. Let’s check it first”

Easy to say hard to do. 

“Dean, I don’t like this blue fog there”

“Me neither”

“Let’s try the other corridor. There might be a different way to the main quarters”

But there wasn’t.

“Dean, you shouldn’t go there without any protection mask”

“I don’t have a choice”

“Dean…”

“Wait for me here”

“Dean! You, stubborn Winchester ass, turn back!”

He didn’t make it to the middle even. Coughing, dizziness, tears. His feet didn’t hold him and as soon as he stepped back into the “clean zone” he landed on the floor. A second later he felt Kira’s cool fingers on his cheek. 

“Dean, why didn’t you listen”

He coughed again and forced a smirk.

“Cause I’m a stubborn Winchester ass”

She exhaled in irritation and moved her hands away (even though Dean would gladly prefer otherwise).

“You’re right, we need masks”, he said lifting himself up on his hands. His vision was still blurry but the dizziness faded away. 

“Oh, really?”

Kira’s childishly sweet bitterness made Dean smirk again. He gave her a short smily look. 

“I’m fine”, he said standing up.

“You’re reckless”, grumbled Kira standing up next to him.

“Yeah, it happens to me…”

“Dean,…”

She lifted her big blue eyes on him and he finally realised that she was not irritated or angry. She was scared. 

“Hey”, he interrupted her making one step closer. “It’s all right. I promise to behave next time”

“Yes, please”, she mumbled and before he even had a chance to realise it she stepped towards him and gave him a hug. 

“Let’s go back to the city”, he whispered in her ear after a couple of cozy seconds. “The mask quest we will accomplish tomorrow”

“I have a friend who works at a regional lab. We could meet and interview her”

“Perfect. You’re good with making useful ties, Kira”

“I’m a journalist, Dean. It’s my job to make useful ties”

“You’re a good journalist then”

[Read next: #11 The Quest]

[abarbaricyalp]

A classic, there was only one bed!

I'm just now realizing there was no ship name here. My brain just auto-filled SamBucky

I also realized, setting up the document, that I combined the 'only one bed' trope with the 'omg they were roommates' vine in my brain

(Always taking prompts)

Read on AO3

The Grief of Down

“Mr. Wils-- Captain Wil-- Mr. … Captain America,” a frazzled concierge greeted before Sam’s eyes had even adjusted to the light in the hotel lobby.

“Mr. Captain,” Bucky scoffed under his breath at Sam’s side. “That’s a new one.”

Sam jabbed his elbow into Bucky’s ribs.

“There’s been a mistake, Captain,” the concierge said. “We didn’t realize Mr… Sergeant Barnes would be attending with you. We don’t have any more rooms.”

“That’s fine,” Sam said with an easy smile, trying to calm the man down. “He can stay in my room.” He held out his hand and the concierge shook it slowly.

“No, I’m afraid, we didn’t put you in a full suite. It’s just a one-bed room.”

And Sam and Bucky both waited probably too long to respond. Sam was never sure how to approach a subject like that with total strangers. Of all the jarring things he expected from the unfortunate fame of being Captain America, people believing they knew everything about him, when they really didn’t, wasn’t one of those things he could get used to.

“Well, weapons of mass destruction don’t mind sleeping on the floor,” Bucky said, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. “Key?”

“Oh my God?” Sam breathed disbelievingly and elbowed his ribs again. “Can you behave?”

The concierge looked like he was about to pass out. “Of course. I’m just so sorry we couldn’t make accommodations. All of the suites were booked by other participants of the conference months ago. I tried to find the best room I could,” he explained absently, too quickly for Sam to try to keep up with. He looked around the foyer as the other man scrambled behind the desk to check him in. Bucky leaned his shoulder against Sam’s back and Sam tracked his eyeline to a table of pastries set out before shrugging him off.

“We literally ate, like, two hours ago,” he said.

“We stopped at a McDonalds and they didn’t even have Sprite. I need a sugar hit.”

“I think that’s biologically impossible for you.”

“Oh, ‘cause I’m a super soldier I can’t want things for myself?” Bucky asked, more facetious than Sam thought could fit into a single voice.

“You’re the worst.”

“Mr. America-- I mean. Mr. Wilson, here’s your keycard and an extra for Mr. Barnes.” The man’s face was so red, Sam started to feel bad for him. “There should be an itinerary of events in your room. If you need anything, call down and let us know. We’re working with the conference organizers and can reach out to them for you as well.”

Bucky reached out for the keys and tapped them on the desk twice before heading to the elevators without waiting to see if Sam was coming or not. Sam shot an apologetic look at the concierge and then followed after Bucky.

“You’re a real asshole, y’know,” he said as the doors opened and they stepped inside the elevator.

“I’m a tired asshole and I’ve been thinking about this bed since you woke me up this morning,” Bucky answered. He dropped his bag by his feet and shook out his arm like the metal could get cramps.

“I don’t know what you’re tired for. I drove most of the way.”

“I’m tired from worrying about you driving.”

Sam snorted. “I’m a much better driver than you.”

“You had to take a break halfway here,” Bucky said. And Sam knew it was bait, but he couldn’t help the incredulous laugh that came from his chest.

“Oh, I had to take a break halfway here?” he asked.

“Yeah, I distinctly remember crossing into Texas, getting through all those pine trees and then you stopping the car on the side of the road.”

Sam backed Bucky into the corner of the elevator. “Is that how you remember it, Barnes?” he asked.

“Why don’t you tell me your version of events, Wilson?” Bucky purred, looking exactly like a cat in the cream as he let Sam crowd him against the wall.

“I remember you begging me to pull over and practically flipping into the backseat. I remember you bein’ half naked before I even got back there. I remember you trying to knock out the window when you wanted us flipped over so you could blow me.”

“I don’t recall any of that,” Bucky said saccharinely, hands going to Sam’s hips to pull him closer. “Remind me again what, exactly, we did.”

Sam rolled his eyes, let his lips graze Bucky’s cheekbone and then stepped back in time for the elevator to ding on their floor. “Maybe later, Barnes,” he teased and grabbed Bucky’s bag before walking out the door. He shot an easy grin at a woman in the hallway, gave a kid a high five, apologized to both for Bucky sulking up behind him.

“Sometimes I hate how good you are at this,” Bucky grumbled behind him as Sam took the keycard from him. He rested his cheek on the back of Sam’s shoulder while Sam fought with the door. It took three tries before it finally swung open, which was enough time for Bucky to have closed his eyes and already started daydreaming. He was not pleased when Sam stepped away, but it was quickly remedied by the sight of the bathroom. He stepped inside, looking at the sleek, granite countertops, the deep sink, the wide showerhead over a huge bathtub.

“I think we could both fit in this tub together, Sammy,” he called.

The thought sent a thrill through Sam’s traitorous body. As much as he wanted to focus on being Captain America and the speech he had to give, more than any of that, he wanted to curl up in the big bed in the middle of the room and let Bucky get back to what they’d been doing four hours ago. He wanted to relax in a giant bathtub while Bucky drew nonsense patterns in the soap on his back. He wanted to check into a hotel and not have to explain that it was no issue that he and Bucky would share a room or even a bed.

Although, one time, it had ended with them pushing two queen sized beds together and then checking out very, very late.

“I can’t imagine what the suites in this place look like if this is just a one-bed room,” Bucky said, appearing in the bedroom portion of the room.

“Probably just means they have a kitchen and couch,” Sam said. He held out his arm and Bucky grinned, took his hand and let Sam pull him close.

“You got any nerves you need me to work out of you?” Bucky asked, dragging his hands down Sam’s back until he got to his waistband and could start to pull his shirt free.

“A speech is a speech,” Sam said. “More worried about babysitting you in public,” he said with a grin.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the nuisance,” Bucky agreed and finished pulling Sam’s shirt off before making quick work of his own. “But I’m a hot one, so…”

Sam laughed and pushed Bucky back onto a bed that had more than enough room to share. “I think you were trying to recreate our escapades from the road,” he said, climbing over Bucky’s hips until he could press his body along Bucky’s, mouth finding Bucky’s neck, his collarbones, his shoulder.

Just for now, he could be a man in a nice hotel room with his partner and nothing else.

“Are you kidding me?” Bucky asked, loud enough from the bed that Sam heard him over the shower and sink running. He leaned out the bathroom door, one hand curled around the towel at his waist, the other holding a toothbrush in his mouth.

“Whmm?” he asked.

Bucky, still delightfully, distractedly, naked and tangled in the sheets, held up his tablet. “We’re the front page of every celebrity gossip tabloid this morning.”

Sam’s stomach turned over but then Bucky shifted and exposed more of his thigh and the worries flew out of Sam’s mind. He turned and spit toothpaste into the sink. “What for?”

“Captain America and sidekick Bucky Barnes were seen checking into a conference hotel late yesterday afternoon. Sources at the hotel say that while they split a room, there was only one bed,” Bucky read.

“Oh my God,” Sam replied blandly. “There was only one bed.”

Bucky snorted and then continued. “Speculation has run amuck in recent months about the relationship between Wilson and Barnes, especially when they’re between saving the world and chose to lay low along the Gulf Coast. Together.”

“It’s not our fault that no one can put two and two together. You think AJ and Cass are ever not talking about their uncles?” Sam pointed out.

“Yeah, but no one’s taking the word of a ten year old as gospel. Or asking him in the first place.”

Sam laughed softly and shook his head. He finished rinsing out his mouth and came back to the bed, curling around Bucky’s side and kissing his jaw. “Come on. We can think about saying something later. Right now, why don’t you come get in the shower with me?” he suggested, running his hand down Bucky’s chest and kissing his shoulder.

“Or,” Bucky said and smoothed his hand over the bedspread. “You could stay here with me. Make the most use outta something that’s causing us a whole lotta grief,” he countered. And wasn’t that a tempting idea. “Come on, it’s not like we’re payin’ for the water. The shower’ll be there when we’re done.”

Bucky pulled Sam down into that big bed and Sam couldn’t be happier to be sharing it right then.

[mrs-han]

Forever

@mrs-mc-han: Hiiiiii! Can I please please please request an MC who is super loud an extroverted! She doesn’t mean to or really even notice. she tends to yell when excited and use a lot of hand motions and laugh loudly. and she was never aware of it until she heard one of Jumin’s employees gossiping in the bathroom at C&R and goes to Jumin in tear apologizing for making him seem unprofessional. If you do this I will be so happy🥺🥺I love your work! Thank you💕

~~~

Gurrrl! I went through three different drafts because none of them felt right! But I finally settled on one! Here we go!

~~~

"Ow!! Don't -!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Jumin carefully sat you up, his hand on your lower back. "I added too much pressure this time... I'm sorry, darling."

"No, don't apologize, Jumy... it's so nice of you to help me to begin with," you smiled forcibly, gripping his hand.

"It wounds me to see you in so much pain," Jumin sighed, his fingers lightly trailing over your shoulder blades. "How long do you need to rest?"

"Six weeks," you moaned, turning and burying your sulky face against Jumin's neck. "Which is impossible, by the way. What am I supposed to do for six weeks!"

"Rest, obviously," Jumin jested, poking your cheek.

"... Rest, obviously," you imitated. "I mean! What else am I gonna do? Huh? What, I can't do anything except rest?"

"Calm down," Jumin cooed, winding his arms around you. "I'll tell you what. How do you feel about coming to work with me, hm? It's remote, quiet, and you can stay in my office."

"And do nothing?" You pouted.

"I have plenty of board and card games that will keep you busy. Or, you can bring your tablet and play the games you have on there. What do you say?"

"That sounds like... a reason for you to spy on me," you smirked.

Jumin batted his eyelashes. "So what if it is?"

"That sounds like a plan," you giggled, kissing his cheek. "To coming with you to the office, not to the spying."

"Drats," Jumin said stoically, lifting you from the couch and placing you on the bed. "Did you take your medication, love?"

"I did," you blushed, realizing for the millionth time how lucky you were to be reminded. "Come here, hubby. Cuddle close."

~~~

The height of C&R's structure never failed to frighten you. You stood dumbfounded as Jumin gathered your things and grabbed your hand.

"Are you all right?" He smiled, tightening his hold.

"Did you guys expand somehow? The building looks ten times larger than when I was here last!" You smiled, throwing your arm out and flinching shortly after. "Ow! Ow..."

"Be careful," Jumin uttered, rubbing your back. "The building hasn't gotten any bigger... it seems my proposal for cat tree extension has been denied."

"You made a proposal for a cat tree extension?!" You laughed.

"Oh, look. I'm going to be late. Let's go," Jumin mumbled hastily, leading you delicately to the inside of the building.

The sights and the interior sounds were more or less the same since you had last visited. Hurried footsteps and the sound of passes that approved access mixed with the familiar smell of citrus - your senses were overtaken and overwhelmed.

"Why do you look so shocked? You were here just last week," Jumin chuckled, easing you past the security booths.

Before you could respond, you heard a familiar pair of heels making a beeline towards you. You turned and glowed as Jaehee, folders in hand, stopped and bowed towards Jumin.

"Mr. Han -"

"Jaehee!!"

She straightened and smiled as you crashed against her, hugging her. She tucked her folder under her arm and gave you a reassuring pat. "How have you been, MC? All Mr. Han talks about is how you injured your back."

"Even during meetings?! Jumin, shame on you!"

Jumin turned his head, hiding his flushed expression.

"Don't be too hard on him. It's a rarity to see how much he cares for someone other than his cat," Jaehee quipped under her breath.

"We're going," Jumin blurted, grabbing your arm and leading you to one of the many elevators.

"Yes, Mr. Han," Jaehee said quickly, fixing her glasses and her posture.

~~~

"What happened to your office?!" You shouted.

Jumin pursed his lips and blinked quickly. "I felt the need to redecorate."

You rushed into the office and threw your arms open. "Jumin, there are pictures of me everywhere!! OW!!"

"Don't strain yourself by yelling, darling."

Jaehee quickly closed Jumin's office door behind her. "Forgive my sudden intrusion towards this heartwarming conversation, but Mr. Han?"

"Ah, yes. The meeting."

"Jumin, you are -"

"Silly? Adorable? Quite the catch?" Jumin crooned, massaging your back.

You faltered and wrapped your arms firmly around him, giggling as he peppered kisses to your face.

Jumin hummed gently, his fingers curling over and into your hair. "I'll be back, my love. And when I come back, I'll give you the massage you deserve. Don't miss me too much."

"Impossible. I miss you already if only you knew -"

"Mr. Han," Jaehee spoke more pointedly.

"All right, all right." Jumin sighed, the stars in his eyes now replaced by businesslike determination.

"Be strong, my brave man," you grinned.

Jumin grabbed your hand, planted a firm kiss on your palm, and turned quickly, lest Jaehee fire another warning. You closed the door and bit hard at your lip as you observed Jumin's gallery.

Photos of you sleeping, smiling, holding Elizabeth the Third - even pictures of the highly publicized wedding day - were scattered with the finesse Jumin naturally possessed.

"I love you so much, you silly man," you said under your breath, running your fingers over his desk and finally settling yourself on his seat.

You managed to keep yourself busy for half an hour, drawing hearts on Jumin's notepad and playing a round or two of virtual Uno. Boredom was a hell of a demon, so you figured there was no harm in walking around.

Opening the door to his office, you peeked your head through and slid out. You were greeted with polite smiles and inclined heads as you walked through the floor, making you feel... oddly uncomfortable. No doubt, everyone was polite to you because they knew who you were - if you were to make one complaint, Jumin would take immediate action.

But you pushed your suspicions of trivial matters aside and smiled widely towards the ostensibly friendly employees.

Your brows furrowed, and your shoulders tensed the longer you were outside of Jumin's office. You understood what Jumin meant; that feeling of suffocation seemed to hover over your person and only caused more stress to your back as you unconsciously hunched.

You traveled to the café, desirous for some breathing air - there had to be some sense of normalcy where people ate. Still, heads turned as soon as your footfalls could be heard, and more disturbingly flashy smiles were shined your way.

Cramped and in agony, you retreated quickly to the nearest restroom, rubbed your neck, and yanked your phone out.

Hey, honey! Are you almost done?

Jumin usually answered you immediately, but his response still hadn't come your way. Pushing a stall door open, you slumped into the toilet seat and continued to try to work the knot on your back.

"Jumin, shame on you ~!"

Laughter reverberated through the restroom, and you froze in place.

"She's so tacky!"

"And so loud. Could you hear her from accounting?"

"Yes! No offense to Mr. Han, but the least he can do is put her in her place."

"Ha, no offense to Mr. Han, but he chose poorly. My daughter would be a much better candidate."

"Isn't your daughter twelve?"

"Well, Mr. Han does seem to go after those with a... childlike... disposition!"

Earsplitting laughter echoed through the room, through your ears. You pulled your knees to your chest and brought your hand to your mouth to muffle any outbursts of emotion.

"Considering how serious he is, you would assume! That he would choose a practical, serious woman!"

"Where is she from, again?"

"America, from how she behaves."

"That explains the lack of discipline."

You closed your eyes.

"How long would you give them?"

"Six months."

"Ji-Yu! That is far too generous! I give them! Three months!"

"Ladies, ladies. She can't live in a world as glamorous as Mr. Han's. They will divorce as quickly as they met. A country bumpkin will always return to the landfill they came from."

"Are we still on for dinner tonight?"

"Are you paying?"

Another bought of laughter resounded... then, silence. You stood slowly, legs shaking and back aching more than it had that morning.

You went from wanting full transparency to wanting the false reassurance of superficiality.

"So stupid," you murmured.

~~~

"What's next on the agenda," Jumin demanded as he walked straight to his office.

"A meeting at 1430 with Amorepacific," Jaehee answered, easily keeping pace with her boss.

Jumin slid his sleeve up, checking his watch. "Good, I have time to eat lunch with my wife."

"Enjoy your time with her, Mr. Han, but please be in Boardroom D ten minutes before the meeting."

"Yes, yes, fine." Jumin pushed the door open and was greeted by your swollen red eyes and dripping nose.

"Welcome back," you sniffed, forcing a smile.

Jumin's nonchalant expression immediately shifted to one of anxiety. His brows creased, his eyes grew, and he flew to your side. "Darling, what... why are you crying?"

Your voice quivered. "Can I go home?"

"Talk to me," Jumin urged, grabbing your hands. "Is your back hurting you? Did anyone try to come in?"

"No, no... I just... I want to go home," you cried, pulling your hands from Jumin's and covering your face.

"All right... all right, darling," Jumin cooed, grabbing his phone from his back pocket. "I'm calling Driver Kim right now -"

"No," You blurted. "I want to go home. Where I came from."

Jumin paused... then quickly snapped into action, carefully grabbing your chin. "Speak to me. Darling? Why are you saying these things."

"Who am I kidding, Jumin? I can't... I'm not cut out for this life. I'm not cut out for you, you...! You deserve way better than me. You need a woman who's mature, demure, graceful... that isn't me, and you'd be much better off if -"

"Stop," Jumin boomed.

"You just told me to talk to you!" you babbled.

Jumin's anxious eyes eased. "Is that what this is about?"

You closed your eyes. "I heard a gaggle of women talking while I was hiding in the bathroom... Jumin, they're right."

"Are they?" Jumin asked.

"Well... yeah, I mean... they even attacked you, saying how interested you were in childlike women..."

Jumin wiped your tears with his thumbs. "Mmhm. Complete strangers weighing in on the depth of our relationship... it never occurred to me that I should take their opinions to heart."

You hiccupped. "All I'm saying, Jumin, is... I didn't realize how ridiculous I made you look... I didn't consider it."

"What is there to consider?" Jumin asked gently. "You would rather take their words to heart over how happy you make me when you smile? How fast you make my heart beat when I see how eager you are to explore different things? How, in a sea of millions, your eyes are the only ones I will ever look for?"

Your lip quivered.

"Others will have our opinions of us, but you will always be my wife. No matter what is said, I will always come to you. I want you to realize this, that you may finally lean on me... that you will irrevocably trust that my love for you is infinite.

"... Jumin!" You sobbed, tears streaming down your eyes. "You weren't supposed to make me cry more!"

Jumin roughly tugged you in and held you fiercely, kissing the top of your head. "No more talk of you leaving me... don't go anywhere. Stay by my side, and rest assured that I will stay by yours."

"Forever?" You squeaked.

"And ever," Jumin whispered vehemently. "Ah... your back -"

"Don't you dare pull away from me, Jumin," you half-joked.

"... Ha. I wouldn't dream of it, my dear. What do you say we grab some lunch, hm? Your choice."

"Sure... fifteen more minutes like this, first," you replied, your mouth pressed against Jumin's chest.

Jumin laughed and rested his cheek atop your head. "Excellent plan."

[dontcare77ghj]

Bedside Manner

Natasha x reader x Wanda x Pepper

Tony had renovated an entire floor of the Tower into a medical wing out of necessity. He'd employed an array of doctors to be on standby because he had to. Made sure there were enough medical treatments for enhanced and non-enhanced individuals alike.

Tony did all this because the Avengers were a bunch of clumsy fools. 

Those were Tony's words whenever someone asked him to describe the team. 

Natasha would usually cut in and add that he was apart of that statement, which would generally cause a small argument between the two.

You and Pepper would fondly roll your eyes at the two before Pepper would change the topic.

If you wanted to be honest, the four of you spent too much time in the medical wing for your liking.

For Natasha and Wanda, it was an occupational hazard. The two were Avengers. They defended the Earth against aliens, and assholes too injuries were a part of the job.

You had also been put into the medical wing a handful of times. Not because you were an Avenger, no, you were a civilian, but because you were just a klutz in general. Something your partners found very endearing to your embarrassment. 

Pepper was the only one in your relationship that didn't find herself in a hospital bed every other weekend. The woman could be hopping a marathon in ten-inch heels and not so much as falter.

Waking up in the medical wing, in a bed or by someone's bedside, became a regular occurrence in your relationship, much to Pepper's horror. 

"Knock, knock." You rapped on Pepper's door. "I had an appointment with my favorite CEO." You smirked, leaning in the doorway.

"Sweetheart, I didn't know you were coming." Pepper smiled, looking up from her work.

"I wanted to surprise you." You said, entering and closing the door behind you. "I also come bearing gifts." You added, holding up a greasy paper bag.

"Do I smell fries?" Pepper asked, taking it out of your hands. "Oh, have I ever told you how much I love you?" Pepper groaned before kissing your cheek.

"Once or twice." You smirked, taking a seat across from her. "I thought I should feed you before you waste away."

"Good call." Pepper nodded. "I might have to work through dinner, thought I was going to have to skip lunch too." She said, munching on the given fries.

You sat with Pepper talking about your days as she ate and continued filling out paperwork.

"Miss Potts, Miss L/N, Dr. Banner has asked me to alert you that Miss Maximoff has been admitted to the infirmary floor."

"Ow!" Wanda whined, pulling her wrist into her chest.

"Yep. That's a sprained wrist, alright." Bruce said, moving to pick up a roll of bandages. "A pretty nasty sprain too."

After FRIDAY alerted you to your needed presence, you and Pepper had raced up to the infirmary to see Natasha waiting by Wanda's bedside.

"How did you sprain your wrist?" Pepper sighed. "Nat left you alone for ten minutes.

"A lot of things can happen in ten minutes." Wanda protested. 

"Not wrong," Natasha smirked, squeezing your thigh. 

"Nat!" You gasped, pushing her hand off your thigh. "Jesus!" You exclaimed, cheeks turning red as Natasha cackled.

"Can the two of you behave for five minutes?" Pepper sighed. "We're in the infirmary, and Bruce is right there."

"I didn't even do anything." You protested.

"Wanda, how did you sprain your wrist?" Pepper asked again. 

"I was practicing using my powers," Wanda mumbled as Bruce wrapped her wrist. "I lost concentration, and a bookend hit my wrist." She admitted. "Please don't laugh."

"No-one's laughing." You assured her. "Sometimes, things just happen, and you get hurt."

"Y/N would know that the best," Natasha commented, receiving Pepper's elbow to the ribs. "Ow."

"Everyone has clumsy moments." You said. "It doesn't mean we're going to think any less of you if you accidentally injure yourself."

"Like the time Y/N walked into a door," Natasha smirked.

"Okay, you know what, Romanoff?"

"Relax, we still love you despite how clumsy you are," Natasha said, throwing her arm around your shoulders. "Trust me, Wand, it doesn't matter how clumsy you are, you'll never be worse than Y/N."

"How badly is she hurt?" Pepper asked as she rushed into the waiting bay.

"We don't know yet. Cho is still checking her over." You said as you and Wanda stood.

"What happened? Are the two of you okay?" Pepper questioned, pulling the two of you into embraces.

"We're fine," Wanda assured her. "Nat pushed Steve out of the way and got hit. We had to force him to go to the debrief instead of waiting with us."

"God. I hate the three of you. You're going to make me go grey before I hit my prime." She sighed, sinking in a chair.

"You love us." You reminded her, taking a seat beside her.

"I do. I won't deny that." Pepper said, taking one of yours and Wanda's hands and squeezing them tightly. 

A door snapped open, causing the three of you to turn quickly. Cho came out, standing in the doorway as you all jumped to your feet.

"How is she?" Wanda asked outright.

"Natasha's okay. She has some bruised ribs and, judging from the bump on her head, we're assuming a concussion as well, but we think she'll be just fine." Cho told you, holding the door open.

"Assume?" You asked. "What do you mean, you assume she has a concussion?" 

"Natasha hasn't woken up yet." Cho sighed, leading the three of you to Natasha's bedside. 

Natasha was plugged into several IV's and to a heart rate monitor. She looked so peaceful resting in the white bed, but it did nothing to quell your anxieties.

"But that doesn't mean anything bad." Cho quickly added as Pepper and Wanda sat beside the sleeping redhead. "All my scans indicate there to be no brain trauma or any similar issues. The worst injury is a possible concussion. I'll give the three of you some space." She said before leaving.

"I'm gonna kill her if she ever does anything like that again." You sighed, sitting beside Wanda.

"Get in line," Pepper said, pulling out her phone. "I'm ordering her favorite chocolates."

"The Russian or German ones?" Wanda asked.

"Would it be overdoing it if I got both?"

"Get both. You get hungry after a concussion, trust me." You said.

"Fair point." Pepper nodded. 

"I'll order us some dinner," Wanda said, pulling out her own phone. "We could be waiting for a while." 

Natasha woke up two hours later. Her concussion was apparent from the second she woke up, but she did appreciate the company and the chocolates.

You hated days like today. All three of your partners were out and busy while you were at home with nothing to do.

Natasha and Wanda had left at the crack of dawn, so you hadn't seen them since the night before, and Pepper had left at seven before breakfast.

It was only noon, and the day was dragging, so you decided to busy yourself with tedious household chores.

Laundry was next up on your list. The four of you usually sent all your clothing out for laundering, but you needed something to do.

You had just overloaded a tall basket and were making your way down the stairs when it happened. A shirt fell out from the basket at the wrong time, and you stepped on it.

The basket flew from your hands as you slipped down the long flight of stairs. You were out before you hit the bottom of the staircase.

Non-reader POV

"One of us needs to inform Steve the war ended. He doesn't need to be drill Sargent anymore." Wanda muttered, drying off her hair.

"I get where he's coming from, we do need to be a team, but I agree with you," Natasha said, packing up her duffle.

Steve had demanded everyone arrive at the compound at dawn for training exercises. He'd spent the next seven hours forcing everyone into team, partner, and solo training simulations until everyone was feeling the hurt.

"I can't wait to go back to bed." Wanda sighed. "Maybe we can coerce Y/N to join us." 

"That does sound nice." Natasha smiled. Natasha was pulling her hair into a ponytail when her phone rang shrilly. "Go for Romanoff."

"Agent Romanoff." Cho greeted. "I'm required to inform you that Y/N is in an infirmary bed. Again."

"What happened?" Natasha asked, gaining Wanda's attention.

"Y/N had a fall and has broken her leg," Cho informed Natasha. "It's a minor fracture, the bone didn't pierce the skin, but she will be in a cast for at least six weeks. And I'd like to keep her here overnight."

"Have you called Pepper yet?"

"No, I haven't been able to reach Miss Potts. My call went to voicemail."

"Wanda and I will be right there," Natasha said before hanging up. "Y/N broke her leg. Call Pepper let her know it's a code pink."

Reader POV

"Hi there, got yourself into a bit of a mess have we, sweetheart?" Wanda asked as she entered with Natasha on her heels.

"Please save the mocking until my next dose of pain blockers." You begged, leaning against your pillow.

"No-one is going to mock you," Wanda said as she and Natasha took seats beside you.  

"Yet. No-one is going to mock you yet." Natasha smirked. "Because if it were anyone else, this is kinda funny."

"I hate this." You groaned. "Cho said I can't even go home tonight. Last time I ever try to do the laundry."

"It was a sweet thought, dorogoy," Natasha said, taking your hand. "But from now on, let's just send laundry out."

"Jesus Christ, I'm going to kill one of you these days," Pepper said as she rushed in. "Are you okay?" She asked, pulling you into a hug.

"I'm fine, Pep. A little bruised, a little broken, but I'm fine." You assured her.

"We can all see your leg, Y/N," Wanda said, tapping on the cast. "Cho says you're gonna be in it for six-eight weeks."

"Which means bed rest," Natasha told you.

"Lots and lots of bed rest." Pepper agreed.

"When she wakes up, she'll need to be on bed rest for at least a week," Cho explained, leading you, Natasha and Wanda forward. "That means no strenuous activity in the slightest. I don't even want her reaching for her tablet."

"No work. Got it." Wanda nodded.

"She can try walking a few steps every day to avoid pneumonia. No baths for two weeks, showers are okay, but she has to pat the area dry.  Now, full recovery after a surgery like this is about four weeks, but Pepper's a fighter, so it could be three."

"Is there anything else we should know?" You asked as you all entered Pepper's room.

"I think I've covered all the bases. When Pepper wakes up, make sure she drinks some water, and then FRIDAY will call me down to check her over." Cho told you before leaving you all alone with Pepper.

"God, she talks about us giving her grey hairs, I think I just lost a decade off my life span." Natasha sighed, collapsing heavily onto a chair.

"I'm waiting for my heart attack to kick in." You agreed, sitting on the arm of Natasha's chair.

Earlier that day, Pepper's appendix had burst. The four of you had been having breakfast when it exploded, and Pepper collapsed to the ground in pain.

Natasha had called Bruce and Cho while you and Wanda set about trying to help Pepper. Before you could actually process what was happening around you, Pepper had been whisked away to the med bay, and the three of you were in the waiting bay.

"She's going to feel like shit when she wakes up," Wanda commented, putting another pillow behind the woman's head.

"That is an understatement." Natasha snorted. "Thank God Cho's got her hooked up to the good stuff."

You, Wanda, and Natasha sat in Pepper's room, quietly talking, for three hours before Pepper began waking up.

"Hi, hon." You smiled, taking one of her hands. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” She groaned, turning her head towards you. “Have I ever mentioned how much I hate being in the medical bay?”

“Don’t think you have, sweetheart.” Wanda smiled.

“Well I hate it.” Pepper said firmly. “No more, we’re all banned from being in here from now on.”

“You’re really out of it, aren’t you, kisa?” Natasha asked, pushing hair off her face.

“I love you though. I love all of you.” Pepper added, as though she hadn’t heard Natasha. “Even if you all give me grey hairs.”

“We love you too, Pep.” You told her, pressing a kiss to her hairline. “Despite you just giving us a heart attack.”

The four of you spent more time in the med bay than any of you wanted, it was almost a second home, but there was one good thing that came out of your time in the infirmary. The four of you all got to work on your bedside manner.

Taglist

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Natasha Romanoff Taglist

@natasha-danvers @5aftermidnight @ohfuckno

All women

@imnotasuperhero​

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Little Things in Life - 2

Warnings: cheating, non-consent sex (series); nothing for this chapter

This is dark!Steve and explicit. 18+ only.

Series Summary: Your suburban life begins to show cracks and your next door neighbour, Steve Rogers, seems intent on shattering what’s left.

Note: Chapter 2! So I’m in between too many things. I always appreciate your guys’ patience and reading. You know how it be; I’m a mess. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Based on this drabble

On Wednesday, you spent the morning working in your office with one eye on Kayla. You’d be relieved in the fall when she could go to school and you could focus a little better. Well, you’d see which you felt when the time came.

You had lunch in the backyard at her plastic picnic set and played on the slide. You checked the time as you went inside and a knock sounded at the door. Kayla followed you as you answered it. Steve greeted you with a cool smile.

“Sharon just went off to see her mother,” He said. “So I figured, we can sneak out now and grab the flowers.”

“Uh, yeah,” You waved him in as you turned to Kayla. “You wanna go for a car ride?”

“I want ice cream,” She clapped her hands. 

“You want ice cream?” You asked as you knelt to fix the strap on her shoes which had twisted. “Well, if you’re good in the car, we’’ll take you by the shop. How about that?”

“I hate looking at flowers,” She crossed her arms. “They bite.”

“Only if you touch the cactuses,” You chided as you stood and grabbed your car keys from the hook and the old leather purse that sat on the low bench. “You don’t mind if I drive? Her seat’s a bit of a hassle to move around.”

“Nope,” Steve kept his foot in the door as the sunlight slatted down his tall figure. “We should have a couple of hours to beat Sharon. I really think it’ll be a nice surprise for the weekend.”

“This weekend?” You wondered. “I don’t know. We’d till have to plant everything.”

“I could toss in another bottle of wine for your trouble.” He offered.

You shook your head. He’d sent you home with what was left of the Pinot on Monday and it still sat in your fridge. Beckoning to you as you laid next to an empty space. Or worse, an indifferent Logan. His work consumed him and he often spent hours poring over it or even rushed out to appease his demanding boss. Well, you had your Saturdays and those were always nice.

“It’s fine. I’m not much of a drinker.” You said. “The helmet.”

“The helmet?” He tilted his head. 

“Selfie,” You pointed your keys at him as you took Kayla’s hand. “For the extra effort.”

He shrugged as he opened the door.

“Fine,” He said. “So, you and Logan coming to the party?”

“I know I am,” You locked the door behind you. “We’ll see if Logan can keep off his phone for more than twenty minutes.” 

You led Kayla to the car and Steve stood just behind you as you helped her in and strapped her into the seat. You closed the door and turned back.

“Yeah, he’s definitely been a bit… absent,” Steve commented as he went around to the passenger side. “You know, the last time he came over to watch the game, I changed it to the Orioles and he didn’t even notice.”

“It’s work,” You climbed into the car as he mirrored you. “I can’t say I don’t do the same. I’m cutting crusts off sandwiches and plotting my next lesson.”

“Multitasking,” Steve mused as he closed the door. “But I’m sure the sandwiches are still great.”

You turned the engine and looked at Kayla in the mirror. She kicked her feet impatiently in her seat as she hummed.

“There’s a little leapfrog toy in the glove compartment,” You said to Steve as you backed up. “You wanna get it for her… she’ll start singing soon if you don’t.”

🏠

Kayla chose some daisies for your front garden as you showed Steve the pansies. They were small and simple. You mixed in some freesias and some heather, too. Steve picked out a new set of garden tools to give to Sharon as well and a pair of cute floral gloves. 

You paused as you checked out and glanced over at your neighbour. You couldn’t recall the last time Logan had done more than grabbed a pizza on his way home. And he always forgot that you couldn’t stomach pepperoni. Oh well, you supposed it was the gesture that counted.

You carefully loaded the tray of plastic pots into your trunk as Kayla demanded her scoop. She had behaved quite well. Steve picked her up as you crossed the street and headed for the parlor at the opposite corner. You neared a cafe only a few doors away and Steve pointed to the painted moniker on the glass. 

“You know I heard that place is good. The coffee is from--” You stopped short and Steve turned to face you. “What’s up?”

You backed up and glanced at the license plate of the black Volkswagen. The same scratch on the bumper, the same numbers. You blinked and pulled out your phone. No messages. You looked to Steve.

“That’s Logan’s car but why…” Your voice trailed off and you neared the cafe window. 

You peered in and searched the tables. Your husband’s dark hair was visible just towards the corner of the shop. You recognised the woman beside him. Karina, his boss. Her ginger curls were drawn back into a large bun and she turned to giggle at Logan. You could see his hand on her thigh as she stole a bite from his muffin. Your heart stopped.

“Come on, let’s just…” You blinked at Steve and his eyes were aimed through the window as Kayla tugged at his tee and whined for ice cream. “Let’s go. I could go for some mint chip.”

Steve hesitated before he turned back, careful to keep Kayla away from the cafe as you passed it. 

“Mint chip? Boring.” He taunted after a moment. “What about you Kayla? You like cotton candy ice cream?”

“No, I want strawberry!” She chimed.

“Strawberry?” He reached for the door with his free hand and pulled it open. “Bleh! I’d rather a plain and very boring vanilla.”

“I like strawberry!” Kayla argued.

“How about black cherry?” Steve followed you inside. “You old lady.”

“I’m not old. I’m only four.” Kayla huffed. “You’re old!”

“I am,” He chuckled as he neared the counter. 

There was only one customer ahead of you as you perused the flavours. You barely read the signs for each bucket as your head was a blur of indiscernible voices and lights. You could only see Logan and his hand in Karina’s lap. Was this why he was so obsessed with work? ‘Work?’

“Mint chip?” Steve nudged you out of your trance as the aproned server looked at you over the glass. “One or two scoops?”

“Um, actually I’ll get a scoop of the butterscotch. In a cup, please.” You found it hard to speak. 

You approached the til and Steve insisted on paying. You sat against the wall and poked at your ice cream as Kayla made a mess with her cone. You did your best to keep her tidy with a napkin but she dripped enough down her shirt to drown the unicorn on its front. You reprimanded her as she refused to finish the last of the dry cone and you cleaned up the table with Steve’s help.

You crossed the street so that you didn’t pass the cafe again. You peeked over and Logan’s car was still there. You got Kayla into her seat and searched around for her tablet. You took out the headphones with bunny ears you had gotten her for her birthday.

“You wanna listen to some Wiggles?” You asked.

“Yeah,” She pulled them on and you unlocked the small tablet and put on the music player. 

You handed her it and she brought up the frog game she liked to play. You ruffled her hair before you backed out and dropped into the driver’s seat. You glanced at Kayla before you pulled out. Steve was silent beside you.

“You didn’t seem very surprised... you knew?” You asked quietly. His lack of answer was telling. “Did you do this on purpose? Did you know they would be there?”

“No, I… I didn’t know they’d be there,” He said.

“But you knew… about her?” You gripped the wheel tightly.

“He told me about someone else but… he said it was a one time thing. A slip up.” Steve admitted.

“One time,” You scoffed angrily. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m sorry.” He said softly.

“For what? You’re not my husband,” You steamed. “Unless, you’ve been helping him sneak around but I highly doubt you have the time for that when you have a newborn at home. Oh but if she’s older, it’s fine. You can get away with it, you can--”

You took a breath and hissed. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t--” You growled and hit the steering wheel. “It’s not your fault. I just… I’m so embarrassed. And you knew. You knew!”

“I thought of telling you, I just didn’t know how,” Steve said. “And if I had known they were going to be there, I wouldn’t-- Well, I’d still be a coward.”

“It’s really not your problem. Not your marriage.” You leaned closer to the windshield as you focused on the road. “Can we… can we plant the flowers tomorrow? I gotta get Kayla cleaned up and I have dishes in the sink…”

“Sure, sure,” He said. “That’s fine. I get it.”

“Does Sharon know?” You croaked.

“No.”

“Please, don’t tell her.” You gulped and glanced in the rear view as Kayla tapped the tablet. “I couldn’t-- I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

“Are you going to… confront him?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know,” You muttered. “I don’t know if I can. I…” You looked over at him as you stopped for the sign. “Really, don’t worry about it. Please.”

🏠

You barely said a word to Logan that night. You couldn’t find any and besides you hadn’t much of a chance as your husband was just as late as ever. And when he’d finally come to bed, you waited for him to snore before you crept out.

You snatched his phone and retreated to the hallway. You sat just outside your bedroom door as you scrolled through the messages; the pictures. How had you not suspected a thing? How had you trusted him so completely?

You told yourself that time had worn on the marriage. Your sex life was strained but it would even out again. And the communication, that just needed a good talk and you would find time for that one day. But… you were wrong. It was a shell.

Your eyes teared up as you thought of Steve. He and Sharon were so perfect. They had it all. Everything you pretended to have. And he still cared for her. He wanted to make her a garden of her own. Wanted to do something for her as she spent her days taking care of their child. All you ever got was heartburn.

You took Kayla to daycare the next morning so that you didn’t have to be there to see Logan off. You drove back slowly and found yourself on that same street. You parked and strode down to the cafe. Inside, it smelled of beans and cinnamon. You ordered a latte to go and half-dozen cookies.

Your car was filled with the scent of caramel and you pulled up to your house with dread knotted in your stomach. Could you get past this? For Kayla? You opened the car door and turned to hang your legs out. You held the box of cookies on your lap and inhaled the aroma that floated from the sweet latte. You couldn’t go inside. You couldn’t face the empty house.

“Hey,” Steve frightened you as he jogged up your drive. He wore his track shorts and a tee. He glistened from his morning run. “You okay?”

You nodded and forced yourself to stand. You elbowed the door shut and set your latte on the roof of your car as you locked it.

“Cookie?” You offered the box.

“No, no, it’s a bit… early.”

“Sharon home?” You asked. “Awake?”

“She is.” He said. “I was just on my way to relieve her. My shift starts soon.”

“Oh,” You took the latte and he eyed the logo on the cup.

“Where’s Kayla?”

“Daycare,” You answered. “I thought it would be better but… it’s just lonely.”

“Come over,” He said. “Come see Sharon and the baby.”

“No, I couldn’t--”

“She’d appreciate the company,” He urged. “The adult company. I think the baby talk is driving her crazy.”

You looked across the street and then back to your house. 

“Alright.” You relented. “Thanks.”

“And if we end up hitting the felt…” He kidded.

“Sure,” You rolled your eyes and followed him down the drive.

🏠

Sharon looked immaculate. She had a four month old baby in her arms and glowed like the Madonna. She greeted you with a warm smile as Steve pecked her cheek and then Sarah’s head. You slipped out of your shoes and followed her into the living room. As you sat on the sofa and set down your coffee and cookies, she handed you the baby and offered you breakfast.

You lied to her and told her you had already eaten. You looked down at the child; blond, blue-eyed, beautiful. Steve neared you as Sharon retreated to the kitchen and the sound of the blender came muffled from the doorway. You glanced up at Steve.

“You want her?” You offered.

“She likes you,” He sat next to you and waved away the offer. “She can’t stop looking at you.”

You looked down and the blue eyes shone up at you. You smiled and rocked Sarah as you leaned back against the cushion.

“I guess it’s a bit of a moot question now, but you ever thought of having another?” Steve asked.

“You always think about it.” You said. “But often think better of it.”

You looked over at him as the noise of the blender died. His eyes were much like those gazing up at you. Bright, intent. You felt almost shy as he watched you. You tore your attention from him and brought Sarah closer to your chest as she reached up with her small fingers. You cooed at her and touched her cheek.

“Here,” Sharon handed Steve a green smoothie and sat with her own. “You didn’t bring Kayla?”

“She’s at the daycare.” You explained. “She missed her friends.”

“She’s such a sweetheart,” Sharon said and her eyes drifted down to Sarah. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen ours so calm.”

“You will. I found it came in phases. Sometimes it’s non-stop, sometimes their angelic.” You mused. 

Your stomach clenched as you thought of Kayla when she was that small; as you wondered how it had become all so twisted. Was it the kid? Was it you? You blinked away the dampness in your eyes and turned to hand Steve the baby. He took her and you reached for your latte. The caffeine wouldn’t help your nerves but the momentary warmth would soothe you.

🏠

On Friday, Sharon had a hair appointment so Steve came over to interrupt your paperwork. You brought Kayla with you as he set Sarah up in her plastic seat on the lawn. 

He helped carry the flowers over from your garage and you set to the task of weeding and digging out spots for the new buds. You had a short time to get it done before Sharon returned.

Kayla liked Sarah. She showed her the flowers and the new doll she’d gotten from your mother. You knelt beside Steve as he took your direction and you found yourself reaching over each other, distracted only as you kept the children entertained between unpotting the plants.

There was a tension lingering. Words unsaid. You caught Steve’s glances and the pity in his tone. You dusted off your jeans and stood as you stepped back to admire your work. He watched you then and you felt like snarling at him. You could see his sympathy and it sickened you.

“Amazing,” He rose and came to stand beside you. “She’ll love it.”

“I’m sure she will,” You said. 

You bent and started to stack the empty plastic planters. You piled them all into the tray and gathered up your little set of tools. 

“Me and Kayla should go, it’s close to nap time and--”

“I’m not tired,” Kayla said. You looked at her sharply.

“Please, why don’t you come in and… have some lemonade before you go?” Steve said. “Just a little while.”

“I don’t know. Sharon will be--”

“Sharon always gets her nails done when she gets her highlights,” Steve assured you. “Besides, she’s not dumb enough to think I did all this by myself.”

“I like lemonade,” Kayla said and tugged on your belt loop. “Only pink.”

“Pink…” He bit his lip. “You know, I think I might have some.”

“Fine, I’ll go put this stuff away,” You said.

“I’ll get the kids inside.” He lifted Sarah from her chair and offered his hand to Kayla. “I think it’s good for Sarah to socialize.”

You nodded and quickly retreated across the street. You shoved everything in the shed and stopped as you went to replace the latch. Had it all been pity? Had Steve discovered Logan’s secret and decided to start bugging you out his own guilt? It felt entirely mocking. Worse, humiliating.

He shouldn’t be worrying about you. You snapped the locked close through the loop and spun the dial. He had a wife and kid. He needed to worry about them. Not you and your denial of your splintering marriage. You crossed the street and kicked the dirt off your boots before you entered. You unlaced them and found Kayla in the living room.

She sat in front of the TV as Sarah was sprawled out in a playpen. You checked on your daughter then followed the subtle noises of activity to the kitchen. You entered as Steve tore the top off a frozen lemonade mix. It was pink like he promised. 

“I could add some vodka to yours,” He offered as he squeezed it out into a pitcher. 

“Look, Steve,” You neared the other side of the island. “You don’t have to atone for what Logan is doing.”

“What?” His eye lashes flicked up as he looked at you. “You don’t think-- You know, we’re friends, right? You and me? This has nothing to do with Logan.”

“Oh no?” You challenged. “I’m not that great at pool and I hate baseball.”

“Is that all I am? A felt table and ESPN?” He asked.

“No, but, come on,” You sighed. “I don’t want to be your pity project.”

“You’re not,” He said as he added water to the pitcher. “That would be Bucky.”

You couldn’t help the snort. He returned to the island and began to whisk the mixture.

“And to be honest, it’s been a tough couple months. Pent up in here with a crying baby. I’m sure you know how it is. Talking to people who can actually answer me with more than a spit bubble is like a breath of fresh air.” 

He smirked and went to grab glasses from the cupboard. He poured each and pushed one across to you as he took the other two.

“And you already said you’d come to the party so don’t even think of backing out now,” He passed you as he went to the door. “Sharon’s looking forward to it.”

[lokilickedme]

The Ballad of Best Buy, or The Song of Samsung

So husband is gagging for a new tablet after breaking his old one (don’t ask, suffice to say I now have something new to bring up next time he starts acting like a dick) and he thinks Best Buy would be the best option for acquiring said tablet.  Best Buy is one of the few places around here rabidly enforcing masks and distancing, so I agree to go with him, because A) he’s useless and B) he’s useless.  Tom, I say (yes husband’s name is Tom, lucky me, that doesn’t cause any weirdness for me during intimacy AT ALL) - Tom, you’re useless, you know this right?  And he says yeah, because that’s the right answer and he might be useless but he’s not completely stupid.  I’ll go with you, I say, but you gotta behave.  He says yeah okay, because again he’s got enough smarts to realize and accept the simple fact that I’m the only way he’s gonna come home with the correct device.  So we mask up and hit Best Buy under the pretense of he’s gonna act right and I’m not gonna come home with yet another thing to yell during our next fight.

You know how the Best Buy guys are, right?  In your face until you need help, then suddenly nobody works there.  So we’re hanging out in the Samsung department and it’s been several minutes, and husband isn’t a patient guy, he’s already pacing and acting stupid.  I go to the front and snag myself an adorable little bluevest in the interest of not having an incident, we need help in the Samsung tablets department I say, and adorable bluevest says yeah sure I’ll send somebody over.

And then he doesn’t.

And he doesn’t.

And he doesn’t.

And husband is acting stupider and stupider as the minutes go by, which is a situation you don’t want to find yourself in.  We’ve been back there like 15, 16 minutes now, which to normal people isn’t a huge deal but this isn’t a normal person, this is Tom and he’s about to morph into the final boss from Altered Beast in the Samsung section of Best Buy, and we’ve tried to wave down multiple bluevests who all just keep on going, so I’m heading for the front to snag another more trustworthy bluevest when I turn around and all I can do is start to yell

NO

NO

NOOOOOOOO!!!!

It’s one syllable, I should be able to get it out in time but naw he’s already done it before I get to the N part and there’s nothing left to do now except go stand by him and wait for the cops to come because dipshit has yanked the security alarm dongles out of every Samsung tablet on the display table.  All of ‘em.  Best Buy (the whole damn place) starts making this noise like the aliens have not only landed but are assfucking every male on the planet with pinecone encrusted cricket bats soaked in red chili oil while the women cheer and now I’ve got a decision to make - I can stand there and point at him when security finishes their break and finally puts in an appearance or I can blame the bluevest that never sent help, but the thing is NOBODY COMES -

Kid you not, we wait what feels like longer for someone to come shut off the screaming alarm sirens than we did for the nonexistent help guy to show up and now the exits are locked, people can’t come in or go out and we’re all going deaf because there’s nothing louder on Earth than the alarm dongles in Best Buy.  And they just let these things scream for no kidding several minutes and it’s bouncing off all those tall warehouse walls and the TVs are vibrating and people are yelling, dogs are dropping dead in the PetCo next door and me and Tom are standing there by the Samsung tablets and he’s holding all the dongles in his hand and I figure we’re in this now, might as well own it, so I stand there smiling next to my gigantic scary looking husband until a haggard scowling bluevest finally comes with a set of keys bigger than my head and starts frantically searching for which devices are actively destroying the eardrums of the 50 or 60 customers currently complaining at the front of the store.  Husband tosses his handful of dongles onto the display table and the bluevest gives us A LOOK

It’s like a full minute before he gets all the alarms deactivated and as soon as the last one shuts off he turns to walk away and I say HOLD ON A SEC

This guy looks like he’d rather liaison with the pinecone aliens than perform customer service on us but we came in here to buy a Samsung tablet GODDAMMIT and we’ve been ignored to the point of committing a misdemeanor

So I launch into the ten or so questions that I already know the answers to but that husband needs to hear from someone in a blue vest because, ya know, I’m a girl and all and he’s like that, and bluevest begrudgingly answers them all and tries to walk away again so I’m all HOLD UP

He sighs and turns around again and I ask husband is this the one you want?  He says yeah I think it is, can we get one of these please and the bluevest gets down on his knees to get one from the locked case underneath the display and we hear this godawful sigh that might as well have been as loud as the damn dongle alarms and then he says

“They’re out of stock.”

Geezus christmas I’m eyeing dongles myself now

Okay how long till they’re back in stock?  Two days, but please don’t come in here to get it, we’ll have it shipped to your house.  I’m laughing and Tom is eyeing more dongles and this guy just wants to get away from us so we say yeah okay thanks and btw we coulda walked out with like 20 of these things before you showed up, he says yeah thanks for not doing that.  We gather our kids from the gaming department, bathe ourselves in the hand sanitizer at the exit and go two doors over to Target where the Samsung tablet he wants is on sale for $20 less.

Long story short Samsung tablets are nice but yanking all the dongles out at Best Buy to protest shitty service is a dick move and you shouldn’t do it but if you’re with a Tom and he does it, don’t forget to grab one of those HOW WAS YOUR VISIT TODAY? questionnaire thingies on your way out and write his name on it with a confession to the dongle incident and drop it in the mailbox in front of Target while he’s getting the car.

[thegreymoon]

Word of Honor

Oh, this poor evil baby 🙁

He’s hoping that this slimeball will go public with their relationship, like he isn’t already grooming the younger model right under his nose to replace him as soon as he’s done using him. 

***

What the absolute hell. I am once again watching the wrong episode! 😠😠 What the fuck is wrong with me and my brain!! At least I caught it earlier this time, smh. Anyway. Back to the real episode 27 now 🤬🤬

***

Oh, sweetheart 😢

He’s preparing to meet Ye Baiyi and die, isn’t he? He fixed A-Xu’s painting and then gave himself one last good day with the man he loves and their child. This is his goodbye 😭😭

***

Oh, ZZS intercepted him first!

He knows. He absolutely knows. 

***

Here it comes 😱😱

I don’t want!! Please take us back to the happy scenes!! 

***

Yep. Zhou Zishu knows. 

***

LMAO, he’s really going, “I don’t care what he did, you’re taking him over my dead body!” 😅

***

This would be an absolutely gorgeous fight if it wasn’t so upsetting 😕

***

He’s magnificent 🔥🔥

***

Ye Baiyi is just ridiculously powerful! Like, ZZS and WKX are top tier masters of martial arts in this universe, not to mention its most effective and dangerous killers! This is established! And yet Ye Baiyi takes them both down in a couple of moves. He barely breaks a sweat! 

***

All my tears 😭😭

***

Aww, yes, Ye Baiyi! 🤗🤗 I knew I stanned you for a reason!!

***

Also, I think it’s hilarious that his condition for sparing Wen Kexing was that he ‘learns to behave’ 🤣🤣 I know that he meant that he should learn to behave like a normal human and not cause chaos and carnage wherever he goes, which is a tall order for someone who was raised by murderers and had his entire psyche warped since childhood by torment and hate, but considering all of YBY’s previous interactions with WKX and how he thinks he’s an ill-mannered brat, I found this pretty funny 😆😆

***

Aww, my guilty puppy 😢

Just like Gu Xiang, he’s ready to die, but he doesn’t want his found family to know what he is and hate him for it 😭

***

They are such idiots, and so in love, and so adorable!! 😭😭

I love them so much, they are so healing!! 

***

Aww, look at these two puppies being all adorable!! 🤗

***

WHO ARE YOU CALLING EVIL??

I WILL PERSONALLY COME THERE TO FIGHT YOU!! 🤬🤬

***

Oh, thank goodness.

Somebody did spoil me for this early on, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. I don’t see how Chengling cound forgive him if he was the one responsible. The deaths of his family were so horrible and cruel. 

***

Oh? 

So, Scorpion has the piece of armour that Zhao Jing claimed was stolen? And this is also what he gave to him as a ‘token of his sincerity’? I never made the connection!  

***

LMAO, he’s a child 😂😂

But he hasn’t had anyone to play in so long 😢 It was just horror and misery for years and years!

***

The one thing I really appreciate about this how are all their beautiful costumes 💜

Especially his gorgeous outfits!

***

Anyway. Moving on to episode 28 properly now! 

***

Never mind the BL, I don’t understand how they managed to get her past the censors 😶

***

They are gorgeous!

These robes are so beautiful! 

***

How is his face so smackable? 😠

He’s just so easy to hate. 

***

Okay, so I have never personally killed a chicken, but I’m pretty sure this is not how you do it 😂😂

***

LMAO, well, that went as well as could be expected 😂😂

***

LOL, his wisdom!! 😂😂

Why is this so funny to me? 😂😂

***

The expression, I mean. Obviously, it’s not funny that the best of his generation is dead while he’s still alive and stinking up the place.

***

This disgusting filth, he spat on her memorial tablet!! 🤢🤢

I am so going to enjoy seeing you die 😠😠

***

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.

***

I HATE HIM, I HATE HIM, I HATE HIM. HE’S THE MOST LOATHSOME KIND OF MAN THERE IS AND HE HAS JUST RUINED MY DAY.

Scorpion, baby, you can do better than this! Please do better than this!!

***

I can’t even watch these two eat after that scene just now. I feel nauseous. 

All the hate for abusive men. I can’t stand them. They ruin everything. 

***

Somehow, I doubt that’s going to be the case, but OK.

***

Oh, so it was *just* on his desk, was it?

There is zero chance this was not intentional and that this whole thing is not a trap for Zhou Zishu. 

[coffeebeannate]

From This Prompt List

“If a person is destined to have a soulmate in this life, they will find that one of their eyes has changed colour, reflecting the colour of their anticipated soulmate.

For this to occur, the two must be in close proximity to one another (most studies say no less than several miles, but others claim that there have been some variations), and that, upon meeting, the eyes will revert to normal.

In some legendary, and notable cases, the eye colours will remain heterochromatic for the rest of their lives.

Of course, keep in mind that these stories are not always the same, and not every couple has a soulmate status. And that there is nothing less valid about non-soulmate couples.”

“Nicky?”

Nicky looked up, hastily closing the cover over his tablet, “Ah, sorry, can I help you?” 

“The computers broken, again.” His co-worker sounds the most interesting combination of annoyed and sheepish, “Do we have to call tech support?”

“No, no, let me take a look, it’s alright.” Standing up from the desk, “The one we use for catalogue searching?”

“What else?”

He sighs, muttering curses under his breath, “Thing is about as good as a piece of scrap metal, at this point.” Resigning himself to an afternoon tinkering with the world’s most stubborn library resource computer. “It’s alright, go back to work, I’ll let you know if it decides to behave.”

“Thanks, Nicky, call me if you need help.”

“Yeah, yeah no problem” Facing the not-ancient but absolutely useless desktop, “You going to behave, or do we have to fight?”

Predictably, the computer blinks at him, Nicky sighs again and settles before it.

---

It isn’t that Nicky hates his life. Because he doesn’t, and despite what people might think, he’s fairly content. Working full-time as the head librarian might seem like an outdated job, but Nicky’s only 32, and he likes to argue that libraries are a vital part of society. Upgraded as they are, and some facets available entirely online. Besides, he had a degree in the stuff, and plenty of practice.

Andy might’ve had a series of interesting names for his life. His small apartment, three cats, more books and tech than is strictly necessary for a single man to have, and a car that is really a ridiculous thing, but it runs and he loves it and maybe the radio doesn’t work and it has no AC and the heater is also dying, but it’s a good car and he happens to find it charming.

He’s fine.

He’s dated, some one night stands, but nothing sticks.

“Are you reading that book again?” Andy asks, when she catches the soulmates book opened up on his tablet for what is definitely not the 10th, 12th, let’s not talk about it time.

“I think it’s comforting,” Nicky retorts, catching her look of disbelief.

“You know that in most cases, that shit’s a load of crap, yeah? Quynh and I have been married for eight years, no issue. She’s my soulmate, magical eyeballs aside.”

“I know I know..I just think it’s sweet.”

Nicky does not tell her that, for the last six or seven months he’s been glued to the damned thing. Everything feels antsy. He’s not an anxious man at all. His life has never felt empty, nor hollow. And yet, a few months back everything started feeling weird. Like he just couldn’t settle. Bee’s beneath his skin. Ghosting sensations across his scalp. Tingles.

He’d casually mentioned it during his yearly physical, but the doctor determined nothing out of sorts physically, and Nicky had been delaying calling a psychiatrist.

“Maybe you just need a change of scenery.” Andy suggested, stirring too much sugar into her coffee. ‘Maybe your library is finally getting to you.”

Nicky had declined to respond, but filed it away in the back of his mind regardless.

--

The morning that it happens, Nicky is running late, and doesn’t bother to look in a mirror much beyond ‘brushing teeth and running a comb over hair” before heading into work. 

They’re finally upgrading the useless front computer, and he has to let the techs inside. Meaning he’s supposed to be at work an hour before he’d usually be, fiddling with his keys and muttering apologies as he opens the door fifteen minutes after he was supposed to let them in. Offering to buy them coffee for the troubles.

He’s that sort, after all.

He stands in the early morning crowd rush at the cafe yawning and buzzing, body thrumming with tension he can’t pinpoint, nor understand. It’s ridiculous and by the time he stumbles his way through the unfamiliar order, he feels much like he’s about to explode from it all.

The techs are thankful for their coffees, at least, Nicky tries to do some work in his office, and by the time he finally takes a break from his unsatisfactory work, it’s nearly noon.

There, in the libraries Men’s Room, is when he finally notices it.

His left eye isn’t grey, or green, or blue.

(Or whatever true colour his eyes seem to think they are)

It’s dark brown. So dark Nicky can barely see any other colour to it beyond pupil.

He blinks. Splashes water across his face, scrubs his cheeks.

It’s still there.

He takes a selfie with his camera, and stares.

Still there.

It’s still there after work, and the next day, and the Friday when he meets Andy for their usual after work time at the bar, Andy staring at him.

“So it’s not a contact?”

“No, I don’t wear contacts, or glasses! You know that.”

“You think your flowery soulmate shits legit then?”

“What else could it possibly be, Andy?”

Andy studies her beer, for once, she has no answer.

---

It is an extremely boring Wednesday morning when Nicky scrolls through his emails and finds something that bothers him for absolutely no reason at all.

It’s from one of the other departments, and it’s about the national art show being hosted at their oh so esteemed library. Nicky’s library is a popular venue because the building is historic and has a nice receiving room.

That’s not what bothers Nicky. He looks forward to this show. And it’s the first time he’d be in charge of much of it since becoming head librarian some eight months back, but no, it’s the shows headline artist that is prickling at him for yet again, reasons he can’t discern.

Nicky scrolls past the necessary details, but keeps going back to the beginning.

Headline Artist: Mixed Mediums. Classics with a Twist. Yusuf al-Kaysani

Nicky saves the email.

Again, no reason at all.

--

“Do you think it means anything?” He asks Andy and Quynh while four beers in and sitting on their couch.

“Some artist’s name you’ve never even met or heard of?” Quynh snorts, ‘Yep, definitely cracked some universal secret code there Nicky.”

He sighs, “Hand me another..”

Maybe they’re right.

Maybe he’s being ridiculous.

--

“Sorry, are you uh,,Nicky..Genova?”

Yes, okay, that does sound odd. But to his credit! He was named  Nicolò thank you very much. His mother had made some comment about classics, traditions, blah blah.

“Yeah! Sorry just let me-”

He’s at the top of a ladder, fiddling with a birds nest, of all things. The outside of the library (again historic building) attracted plenty of them.

“Take your time, I don’t usually yell at people on ladders, on principle and all.”

The voice is nice.

It’s the dumbest thought Nicky has had in his head in months.

“Good practice, that.” Finally gasping the nest, starting to climb down the ladder, “Okay!” When he’s returned to solid ground.

“So, what can I do for-”

Nicky, quite elegantly, forgets how to think. Or breathe. Or do anything appropriately life sustaining like that.

The man before him, nice voice man, his brain helpfully supplies. is..gorgeous. And see, Nicky has SEEN gorgeous men and is nicely partial to them. But this man is gorgeous, attractive and, most distractingly, has one blue-grey-green who actually knows eye, and one dark brown one.

And! Nicky notices, has completely lost his own ability to speak. The two of them seem to amend this moments later by pointing at each other’s face mostly rudely, stunned and confused.

Nicky seems to find intelligent language first, but only manages to say, “..Are you Yusuf al-Kaysani?”

The equally stunned gorgeous man confirms this, and Nicky is quite sure he either faints, or dies.

(He does neither of these things, thank you very much)

“..It’s nice to meet you, Nicky.” Yusuf says, finding actual intelligence far before Nicky does. Nicky just swallows.

--

Their eyes never reverse to their birth states.

Not at the first date.

Not at the proposal.

Nor the engagement party.

Or the wedding.

--

10 years later, Andy remarks that ‘the most romantic bastard she knows’ would indeed, find an even MORE romantic sap, and that they’d have the perfect book romance.

--

Joe’s cleaning out the closet one evening when he finds a well-worn paper back version of the novel that Nicky had read endlessly on his tablet all those years ago.

“Hey babe, you never told me you had a paper copy of this.”

“Hmm?” Nicky pokes his head out of the bathroom, “I do? Oh, yeah, it’s a bit worn out.”

Joe flips open the cover of it, peering down into the slightly musty paper, reading aloud and finding his way to join Nicky at the vanity.

~~

“Before reading this book, we must advise and remind that soulmates in this manner are rare, and that there is little scientific study to show a truth. Please do not fret if you never fall into this concept.”

Nicky hums, accepting the arm to his waist, the familiar kiss to his cheek, ghosting along the side of his lips.

“Go on,” Nicky says, casually.

“You know this story, my heart.” Joe chuckles, but continues.

“This rare phenomenon has been observed throughout history..”