#seeing familiar faces with fresh new designs left a big impression on me when starting 02 like wow everyone’s really grown up a lot!!!

[asteraws]

digimon 02!!

[winterscaptain]

long shot.

Aaron Hotchner x Gender Neutral Reader a joyful future fic - no context required

a/n: this is in response to this ask in kind of a loose way, and also fulfills kiss prompt #6 (on a falling tear). i sat down and wrote this all in one sitting this weekend and it makes me smile SO MUCH. tell me what you think! i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it :) this one takes place in au!december 2012

words: 2.3k warnings: alcohol use/mention, allusions to sex, language

summary: “i couldn’t have dreamed you into existence because i didn’t even know i needed you. you must have been sent to me.” - kamand kojouri

It’s a rare early night off in December and you all make the ill-advised choice to go to the bar closest to the base for some drinks and dancing, completely forgetting that academy graduation is tomorrow. 

There’s part of you that feels aged by the whole thing. Even newly-minted agents your own age look fresh-faced and about a decade younger than you feel. 

When you all walk in, there’s a bit of a hush, a lull, in the conversations around you. You find eyes on you from all directions and realize your faces are familiar ones, and in the case of Aaron and Dave, almost-famous ones. 

Aaron pulls you further into him, almost shielding you with his body as you navigate through the crowd that parts before you. It seems like an eternity before you find a table, but Derek, Aaron, and Spencer hold down the fort while the rest of you manage drinks. Strategic postings at either end of the bar is likely going to get you the best return, so you fan out accordingly. 

It’s unsurprising in the least when the bartenders make a beeline for you all, getting your orders down and drinks started over the shouts of NATs - many of them already blasted with three or four shots under their belt. 

While you wait, you can still feel a fair few pairs of eyes on you. You meet one pair, set in the face of a rather handsome new agent about your age. He smiles at you, and you shift your eyes away from him, your expression unmoving. 

He apparently takes that as invitation enough. Out of the corner of your eye, you spot him as he winds his way to your side. 

You meet Aaron’s eyes across the room, and there’s a smile in them. You offer the smallest twitch of your lips and a wink. Watch this. 

Oh, I’m watching, his eyebrows say. 

“Hi.” The young agent finally reaches your side and offers his hand. You take it. “Agent Mark Sullivan.” 

You smile thinly and introduce yourself. “So, I take it you’ve just received an assignment?”

He laughs, making an attempt at charm. “Alright. You’re a profiler,” he says with confidence. “What gave me away?” It’s a challenge.

It’s also a long shot. A really really long shot. 

There were plenty of people in the vicinity that would be reeled in by his warm smile and handsome jawline, but your fine man (currently sprawled back in his chair with an arm on the back of the chair and a hand over his mouth to cover his smile) stands head and shoulders above the rest, sometimes literally. 

“Well,” you start, making a show of eyeing him from head to toe, “Your papers are still in your pocket and you’ve left your ID tag on, against academy and bureau regulations.” 

He startles and snatches it off his lapel, tucking it into his pocket. 

With a little smile, you soothe his embarrassment - it’s a play only designed to endear yourself to him. “It tells me you’re proud, excited. I felt the same way when I received my assignment and credentials. It’s a significant accomplishment.”

You can’t quite tell in the irregular darkness in the room, but he looks almost like he’s blushing. “Thanks.” He collects himself after a moment, putting his bravado back on. 

Your eyes flicker to Hotch once, twice. He’s still watchful. Amused. 

“So, I was lucky enough to see your lectures with the BAU and I must say...it’s impressive.” 

He says that like it’s some kind of validation. 

I need validation from this clown like I need a hole in the head. 

“Thanks. I’m usually rather modest, but I think it’s alright to say the BAU is a very fine unit.” If you’re honest, you’re talking about one particular unit chief’s...um...unit, specifically, but that’s neither here nor there.

He smirks. “What would you say if I told you I got a placement on one of the BAU teams?”

You raise your eyebrows. “Really? That’s quite the accomplishment.” A pair of arms wind around you and a kiss is pressed to your temple. 

It would also be a lie.

You smile and flip in Aaron’s arms, completely ignoring poor Mark. “I was just getting you a drink,” you explain, gesturing vaguely to the bar behind you. 

“I see. Did you get me -”

“Double scotch, neat, aged at least fifteen years? Yes, sir.” 

He smiles. “You know me so well.” 

“I sure do.” You pull him down by his tie and plant a firm kiss on his lips and shove him off with a smile. “Go. Sit. I’ve got it.” 

You turn back to Mark with a breathless sort of laugh. Aaron always makes you feel a little flushed and you’re happy to play it up for the benefit of the moment. “Sorry about that.” 

Mark, you find, is reconsidering his strategy. His face, while still outwardly warm, harbors a kind of calculated look to it that would almost be funny if you weren’t so eager to see what kind of trick he’d pull next. “So, Hotchner?”

“What about him?”

Mark shrugs. “I dunno. Doesn’t he have a kid?”

You nod. “Yep.” 

“And he’s a widower, right?”

“Yes.” 

Mark laughs a little. “Wouldn’t it be kinda nice to, I dunno, have some fun for a little while?”

You frown at him, and your drink arrives at the hands of the frazzled bartender. You pull the fifty from your sleeve and pass it to him with a smile. After a sip, you ask. “What do you mean?”

“It seems like a lot to take on, you know?” He backpedals upon seeing your squint. “I mean, I’m sure he’s a great guy, but wouldn’t it be nice to have someone...I dunno -” He restores his confidence and leans on the bar. Again, his moves would probably work on someone else, but you were a lost cause. “- easier?”

Aaron’s scotch arrives. You pick it up in your free hand and shrug somewhat breezily. “Maybe.” 

You brush past him, leaving Mark a little confused and a bit stunned. When you return to the table after much jostling, you take a seat right on Aaron’s lap and pass him his drink, reclining in his arms. Scanning over the crowd, Mark’s frowning face sticks out like a sore thumb and you try not to look too smug. 

Other than Rossi, the rest of the team is already out on the dance floor, so you know Aaron doesn’t mind having you close. 

He sets his scotch down and wraps his arms around you kissing the underside of your jaw. You lean into his touch and smile. 

There’s nothing easier than this. 

+++

There’s something a bit sulky about Aaron when you settle next to him in bed. You squint at him, looking for his eyes as they follow the loose pattern on the bedspread. 

“Hey.” You bump his shoulder with yours. “What’s on your mind?” 

He shakes his head a little, still not meeting your eyes. “Nothing. Just thinking.” 

With a roll of your eyes, you throw the covers off and sling a leg over him, straddling his thighs. You tap your palms on his pecs on-beat with your begging. “Come on. Tell me tell me tell me tell -”

“Jesus, alright!” He cuts you off with two hands over yours, his thumbs running fondly over your knuckles. “I just…” He huffs, already a little frustrated with himself for feeling put out. 

You slide your hands out from underneath his, running up over his collarbones and shoulders to find the hair at the nape of his neck. 

“I couldn’t help but overhear…”

You let all your breath out in a huff. “Oh, Aaron. He’s a stupid NAT who knows the only way to come after you is to come after your history.” You kiss his cheek and tuck into him. “He was trying to be a big-dick boy and it didn’t pay off for him.” 

There’s a halfhearted laugh from underneath you, and his hands wander across your back. “He is right, though. It would be easi-”

“If you say ‘easier,’ Aaron Hotchner, I’m going to lose my shit.” 

He sighs, and you pull back, tipping his chin up with a finger. 

“Hey. I love Jack. He is not an added weight in my life. He does not make my life harder in any way. Your son,” you emphasize with taps on his lips, “is the light of my life and I wouldn’t ever want to be without him.” 

Aaron’s eyes get a little misty. For his sake, you ignore it and continue. 

“I never feel like a replacement for Haley. I’ve never once minded leaving room for her in our lives because she’s my friend and I love her and I love you. I loved you before we lost her and I’ve loved you long after. This baggage keeps my feet firmly planted on the ground.” 

Aaron takes a deep breath, and his voice has the smallest of wavers when he speaks. Before he even starts, you concede to let him share what he’s feeling, if only to rebut it. “But you could - you could have so much. You could have someone ten or fifteen years younger who - I don’t know - could do things with you that thirty-somethings do. You wouldn’t have to spend your weekends at soccer games or your evenings rubbing Icy Hot on my bad knee or dealing with me on rough pain days or raising your voice because I can’t hear shit on my right side.” 

He shakes his head, and you brush the tears that fall with your thumbs. “You could have - You deserve, so much more...” The rest of his words go unspoken, but you hear them anyway. 

You deserve so much more than me.

Your eyes sting and you blink rapidly, letting your tears wet your lashes. Leaning forward, you kiss away his remaining tears, shifting your weight to wrap your legs around his waist and get as close as you can. 

With your head on his left shoulder, you whisper, “Aaron, I don’t want someone ten or fifteen years younger. I don’t care what I’m doing on my evenings and weekends because I get to spend them with you.” 

You pause for a moment. “And, I don’t need boys. I’m done with boys.” 

You lean back, looking him square in the eye, or at least trying to. “I have a man who has silver in his hair because he worries and is in his mid-forties and it doesn’t fucking matter. I have a man who is the subject of so many crushes and fantasies at the academy it makes me want to vomit.” You laugh a little at your own joke, but he’s still focused on the seam of your shirt at your collar. Changing gears, you bring your hands to the sides of his neck, feeling his pulse jump under your thumbs.

“I have no need for boys because I have a man who treats me with kindness and respect. A man who is thoughtful, who isn’t afraid of himself. A man who knows himself, who loves his son, who invited me into his life when he didn’t have to because he’s brave.”

A couple more tears fall down your cheeks and you frame his face with your hands. “You love better and more courageously than anyone I have ever known.” 

You sniffle a little. “Aaron, honey...I love you. I wouldn’t want anything else, or anyone else, for my life, to be my partner, my best friend, the person I love. Odds have it that you’ll be my husband and the father of any other kids we might acquire and that we’ll grow even older and grayer together.” 

You let a little facetious smirk cross your lips. “And I’d like you to look at me and tell me I’d be happy with some dickhead named Mark with a business degree who wears shoes well-outside his pay grade.” 

That does it. 

Aaron smiles and pulls you to him with a hand at the back of your head. Your lips meet and you can taste the saltwater, but it doesn’t matter. 

He pulls back to look at you, and he really looks at you. His eyes roam hungrily over your face as if trying to memorize every line and curve and lash and budding wrinkle he finds there. 

You simply melt in the dark brown of his eyes, watching him take his time. 

Even then, as you expected, there is some doubt - not in you, of course, but in him. “Really?”

“Really.” You hold up your fist between your faces, pinky extended. “Pinky promise.” 

He smiles a little and links your pinkies together, twisting your hands to kiss your knuckles. Your hands drop into your lap and another little smile crosses your face. 

“What?” He asks.

You shrug. “I’m also thinking about how thirty-something-year-old boys absolutely suck in bed. I can pretty much guarantee that you’re better at - well, just about everything.” 

He closes his eyes and smiles, looking the picture of a happy house cat in the sun. You draw closer, running your nose along his. He leans toward you and captures your lips again. 

The next few hours? Don’t worry. They’re spent proving your point.  

+++

tagging: @arganfics @quillvine @stxrryspencer @agenthotchner @hurricanejjareau @ughitsbaby @rousethemouse @criminalsmarts @shrimpyblog @genevievedarcygranger @ssaic-jareau @good-heavens-chris-evans @davidrossi-ismydad @angelsbabey @writefasttalkevenfaster @venusbarnes @hotchsflower @ogmilkis @marvels-agents100 @hotchslatte @risenfox @mrs-dr-reid @captain-christopher-pike @dwellingsofrosie @pan-pride-12 @sunshine-em @word-scribbless @jdougl-love @sageellsworth05 @dreila03 @forgottenword @aaronhotchnerr @ssa-morgan @buckybau @sana-li @tegggeeee @abschaffer2 @ssacandice-ray @ellyhotchner @lotties-journey-abroad @mrs-joel-pimentel-23-25 @laneygthememequeen @violentvulgarvolatile  @mooneylupinblack @ssareidbby @violet-amxthyst @bwbatta @roses-and-grasses @lcvischmitt @capricorngf @missdowntonabbey @averyhotchner @mandylove1000 @cevanswhre @qvid-pro-qvo @jeor @spencers-hoodrat @infinity1321 @zizzlekwum @popped-weasels @evee87 @nuvoleincielo @this-broken-band-girl @reidtomestyles @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @winqhster @spencerelds @the-falling-in-the-danger @nattylite49 @crazyshannonigans @softbibxtch @iconicc @mangoberry43 @andreasworlsboring101 @kerrswriting @mac99martin @itsalwaysb33nyou

[mochegato]

Hope on Board

Chapter 6 – Everything Happens in Its Own and Usually Most Inconvenient Possible Time

Chapter 1     Chapter 5

The gala was going better than anticipated.  Despite feeling like she stuck out like weed in a field of flowers, things seemed to be going well.  Marinette had talked with more people than she could remember and they all seemed to walk away happily and interested in her work except for a few pompous assholes who couldn’t keep their eyes off her growing chest.  Admittedly, she was showing more cleavage than she anticipated, but she was blaming that on the baby that was enlarging her chest already.

Luckily, she had Adrien to watch out for her and keep them from doing anything more than just look. More importantly, Tim seemed impressed with her designs for the gala and could pick out the outfits that were hers. That was two big checks for the night. The rest of her life might be going to hell, but at least this night was going smoothly.

Whereas she felt like she was an imposter in the ranks, Adrien seemed to blend into the crowd seamlessly. Laughing sensibly at the right times, sharing knowing looks that confused Marinette with the other party goers, smiling politely at the right bad jokes.  He led her to the right people to get to know and whispered in her ear the right things to say to them.

She watched Adrien flourish and felt a twinge of guilt.  This was the product of his dad.  She was benefitting from Gabriel’s abuse toward Adrien.  She grabbed Adrien’s arm to get his attention and looked up at him with sad eyes.  He gave her a soft smile and excused them politely from the conversation they were in. “It’s okay, Mari.  I’m okay,” he assured her.  He looked back out to the crowd.

“How about a fun one next?” he urged her.  

Marinette gave him a halfhearted smile and nodded.  If he could do this then so could she.  He was doing this for her.  She could hold up her end.  She nodded and smiled politely at people as she passed.  One woman lit up at her so Marinette stopped to talk to her, letting Adrien continue on without her.  After a very amusing conversation with a breath of fresh air named Selina Kyle, Marinette searched for Adrien in the crowd.  Luckily, he hadn’t wandered too far away.  She caught his attention and he turned to her with a wide smile.

“And this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  Marinette, this is Richard Grayson.”

Marinette looked over to the new man, still trying to keep all the names of people she had met already. There were too many names.  There was no way she was going to remember this new person’s name.  She looked in the new man’s eyes… familiar eyes and a familiar but strained smile. Why were those eyes familiar? “Fuck…” Marinette let out before she could stop herself.

Adrien froze.  Richard froze.  That name wasn’t right.  That definitely wasn’t the name he had given her.  Did he give her a fake name?  

“Uh, hi.” Dick offered with a strained smile.  “It’s nice to meet you. Dick Grayson.”  He wasn’t sure what their relationship was, but if she was in a relationship with Adrien, he wasn’t going to intentionally destroy it despite the twinge in his heart. That would explain the hasty exit from his apartment though.

“He is Bruce Wayne’s son,” Adrien gently reminded her, “Tim’s brother.”  

“Fuck!” Marinette groaned out louder. Tears were starting to appear in her eyes.  This could not be happening.  Not here.  Not now. She was not prepared for this conversation.  She was supposed to be networking for her job, for the partnership and her store. She did not have time for this!  Why now.  Why after all their searching and attempts to retrace her steps did it have to happen now?

He was Tim’s brother and Bruce Wayne’s son.  One of, if not the richest man in the world and the current holder of her exclusive contract.  Dick was going to hate her.  He was going to think she trapped him into this.  He was going to think she was a manipulative bitch who shouldn’t be allowed to raise children and take the baby away and never let her see it.  She would only get to see him or her or them whenever Richard took them out in public.  The baby was going to get a new mother and would call her ‘Maman’.  And what if that new mom didn’t like having a stepchild?  What if she didn’t love them like they deserved?  What if they thought Marinette didn’t want them?

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked quietly.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Marinette exclaimed shaking her hands to release anxiety.  She could no longer breathe and tears were starting to gather in the corner of her eyes.

“Mari?” Adrien looked between Marinette and Richard a few times before a realization set in.  “Oh my God.  He said his name was Dick.  It’s him! It’s ladybug shirt guy!” He said with a smile.  “We found him!  I’m telling Chloe.  She is going to die.”

“No!” Marinette jumped at him to grab his phone, attracting the attention of the people around them. But at this point, Marinette no longer cared.  She had more important things to focus on.

“Well, I have more mingling to do and you,” he pushed Marinette toward Dick hard enough for her to stumble and Dick to reach out and steady her, “have some talking to do.  Good luck.  I won’t go too far.  Let me know if you need me… for anything...”  He looked at Marinette sincerely with his last statement before giving Dick a less friendly look.  “… anything at all.”

Marinette looked up at Dick through her lashes.  Her fear was radiating out of her and it made Dick want to wrap her up and hold her until she smiled.  “How… how have you been?”

Marinette looked around them noticing now close everyone was and a few people who were leaning back expressly to eavesdrop.  She eyed them warily and responded loudly enough for them to hear, “We haven’t caught up in a bit.  Let’s go somewhere and talk where the music isn’t so loud.”

Dick followed her eyes and nodded, leading her out of the ballroom and into the closed section of the manor.  He could feel the apprehension as she walked, making him nervous as well.  He didn’t know what was about to happen but he could tell it was significant.  He just didn’t know if it was good significant or bad significant.

“We should be good here. Nobody but family is allowed back here.” He looked around anxiously as if to confirm, but really it was just something for him to do, something to focus on besides her.  “I was hoping to talk to you after… after that night but realized I didn’t get your number.  I tried going back to the club to look for you, but...”

“It closed.  Yeah… I tried going back to the club, too.” Dick brightened up at that.  She had searched for him too.  It wasn’t just him that wanted to try for something more.  “I wanted to maybe just show up at your door, but I think I was still drunk when I left and…,” she scrunched up her face in uncertainty, “I saw all the weapons on the counter and when I heard you waking up in the bedroom, I just ran.  I didn’t pay attention to where I was.  And then I thought about the weapons and thought… maybe I shouldn’t.”

The realization hit Dick and he cursed under his breath.  He was going to kill Jason.  “My brother is paranoid, Jason not Tim, who you apparently know.  Living in Gotham is bad enough but he… we get targeted a lot so he… those were his weapons, not mine.  I swear.  None of them were mine and they normally aren’t even there, I just wouldn’t let them take them to the club,” he rushed out to try to assure her.  

Her eyes searched his. He held his breath praying she found what she was looking for, or not finding it, depending on the question she was trying to answer.  Whichever answer let him talk to her again, he hoped she found it.  After a few moments, she must have found some answer because she gave him a weak smile and nodded slightly.  Dick let out the breath he had been holding.  She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but Dick would take it. He could work with it if she gave him a chance.  He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.  Now he had a chance, what was he going to do with it?  “So… how have you been?”

“Pregnant,” Marinette answered quickly, instantly regretting not saying it more sensitively, easing him into the realization.  She had freaked out, it stood to reason that he would as well.

Dick’s eyes widened in shock and his breath shortened.  He looked down to her belly and back up to her face.  A look of panic was plastered on his face.  He was not ready.  How did it even happen?  He thought they had used precautions.  And he had provided the condom and put it on so it wasn’t as though she could have sabotaged anything.  Holy shit! He was going to be a dad.  How was he going to balance that?  How was he going to be a dad and Nightwing? Shit!  He couldn’t take care of himself.  How was he supposed to take care of a child?  He was pretty sure they ate more than cereal.

“I’m so sorry!” Marinette rushed out seeing his whole body going into shock.  “I’m so very, very sorry!  I swear I don’t expect anything.  I don’t… I didn’t… This wasn’t on purpose.  I swear!  I wasn’t trying to get pregnant.” Tears were now freely falling down her cheeks and marring her dress.  Thank God she had waterproof mascara but the water stains were still making their mark.

“How…”

She chuckled mirthlessly. “Did you know semen leaks out before the… end?  Cuz’ I didn’t.” She wiped tears away as she spoke.  “Or rather I did, I just didn’t think it was enough to do anything.  But, if you’re truly lucky, that’s enough.  So if you wait to put a condom on until just before… the end, you can still get pregnant.”

“And you… you’re sure…” He didn’t know how to ask the question tactfully.

She drew a sharp breath and looked down wiping away a few more tears.  “Yeah.  I… I broke up with my boyfriend a little under a year ago.  There… um… there hasn’t been anyone else since then.”  

He nodded dumbly.  That was pretty conclusive.  Unless there was a sudden case of immaculate conception going on, that was his baby.  “Okay.”

She turned her eyes to him, her expression somber.  “I didn’t… I don’t expect you to do anything, not participation, not child support, nothing. I just… I thought you deserved to know even if you don’t want to be involved and I understand if this is too much for you.”

Dick looked up at her in surprise.  She was giving him an out.  She wasn’t expecting him to be a dad and help take care of them.  But for some reason, that realization only made his heart clench tighter.  Did he want an out?  Did he want to miss out on his child’s upbringing?  All of their firsts?  Their first step.  Their first summersault.  Their first word.  Their first laugh.  Their first breath.  

He didn’t.  He didn’t want to miss out on those things.  He pulled himself out of his spiral to see Marinette starting to turn away to leave.  He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could get too far away and pulled her into his chest, hugging her tightly.  “I want to be involved.  I want to be there.  I want to help.”  She froze for a few seconds before hugging him back just as strongly.  Her crying increased in his arms and he held her through it.  He wouldn’t let her go through any part of this alone, not anymore.

“I don’t know what you need, but I want to help provide it for you and… and our baby,” he said gently, pulling away just enough to wipe away her tears.  

She nodded at him, turning her eyes up to match his.  Dick felt his chest tighten.  Her eyes were glassy with tears but still gorgeous and captivating.  He moved the hand wiping the tears to cup her face. His thumb gently stroked her cheek. He leaned down toward her but her hand clasped over her lips before his lips could reach them, blocking his way. Her eyes bugged out and she ran to the trash can before throwing up.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, collapsed on the floor next to the trash can.  “And morning sickness has officially begun.  And it’s early.  Just so much luck.”  She looked up at him with an apologetic smile.  “Sorry you had to see that.”

Dick chuckled lightly, “Well, I did want to be there for all the firsts.  Come on,” he gently grabbed her hands to help her up, “let’s get you some water to rinse out your mouth and cleaned up a bit.  If you want to stay, I’d love to escort you around.  If you’d like to go home and rest, I’d love to take you home.  If you want to go somewhere and talk, I’d love to take you wherever you want.  But either way, can I get your phone number… and last name?  I want to help figure things out with you.  Maybe… if you’re interested… maybe go on a first date?  If you want to try for a relationship…. I mean… I understand if you don’t want to risk…”  

His stuttering cut off when she started giggling.  He looked up to match her eyes, a look of hope finally finding their way back into them. “I would really like that, too. And it’s Dupain-Cheng.  Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  It’s nice to officially meet you, Dick Grayson.”

Chapter 7

Tags:

@dickinette-february @demonicbusiness @ichigorose @iloontjeboontje

[barkkletshunt]

Those Worth Fighting For Part eight

I feel like I’m really pushing out these parts right now lol It’s been so long since I’ve had a few days off to work on this. I hope you like it! 

Part one             Part two

Part three           Part four

Part five             Part six

Part seven         Bonus scene 1

Part eight (You’re here)

Taglist: 

@ladybug-182 @fruit-snacc-ace @miraculous-simmer7 @lavenderjunes @use-flamethrower @fan-written @all-mights-asscheeks @birdie-posts

Marinette looked over her pajamas, wondering why she thought having a pajama date as one of their first dates was a good idea. It was her idea and she wasn’t going to go back on it, but oh God why didn’t she own any cute pajamas? 

“Marinette, I thought you wanted to have a laid back date? Why are you stressing out about your outfit?” Tikki knew Marinette better than anyone else, but even she had a hard time understanding her current holders mind sometimes. “Why not wear your comfiest pajamas?”

The blue haired girl looked over to the pajamas she had worn the night before, the comfiest pajamas she owned, and sized up the hot chocolate stains and the tear on the left leg from when she got it caught on the balcony bar. She meant to fix it, but with school and her other projects as MDC the PJ’s were put on the backburner. “Yeah, no, that’s not happening. I’m still trying to impress him.”

“Then what about the set your Grandfather bought you for christmas?” Tikki asked, floating above Marinette’s shoulder to look at the silk pin striped PJ’s. “Those are impressive!”

“But they’re too impressive. It won’t look natural and it will come across as I’m trying too hard.” The woman began biting at her lip, looking over the other pairs of pajamas she owned. “What if I wore the pair Chat Noir bought me? They are comfortable, kinda cute, and they come with slippers to match.”

“The Ladybug ones?” Tikki thought it over for a moment. “They are nice without being too nice, and comfortable without being overworn. I think they’re a good bet!”

Marinette changed into the pajamas her former hero partner had given her, and tucked her feet into the boot slippers that matched. Although they were too big for her as a teen they now fit her perfectly now that her body looked more like her body as a heroine. She was taller now, and from constant training with her mother and Kagami her muscles had grown strong and resilient. She still couldn’t leap from building to building as a civilian, but she could certainly hold her own when it came to freerunning and parkour. 

“I wonder what he’s going to wear,” she said absentmindedly to her kwami as she changed, stripping off her school clothes and hopping into the pajama pants successfully without falling over. “Something flashy, I’m sure.”

“Maybe he has normal pajamas and is worried you’ll think he isn’t as fancy?

“Ha, I wish. He’s fancy through and through.” Marinette laughed, pulling the shirt over her head. “Maybe I can convince him to dress like a normal person like the rest of us mere mortals. He’d look really good in a turtleneck.”

She looked herself over in the mirror and sighed. She looked too much like Ladybug for her own comfort. While they were the perfect level of baggy, and the colour was slightly off from her actual suit, having red pants with black polka dots made her take a second look at herself. 

The shirt was white, with a pun on it, with red sleeves that matched the pants, and even the booties matched the ladybug pattern to tie everything together. She either looked like someone who absolutely loved Ladybug, or Ladybug herself trying to throw off someone's scent by pretending to be a die hard fan. Either way, she needed to change.

Knock, knock, knock.

Or she would change if Felix wasn’t so damned punctual.

Marinette grabbed her coat and the baked goods she got from her parents earlier and headed towards the door. On the other side was Felix, looking as handsome as ever. She could see baggy track pants underneath his black trench coat, but none of that mattered the second he leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on the top of her head.

“I brought you coffee.” His voice was soft, as if worried saying anything would stop the butterflies that began to flutter in her stomach. “Are you alright with pizza tonight? I was running errands all day and I didn’t have a chance to pick anything up to cook.”

Marinette wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, feeling him stiffen for just a moment before returning the affectionate gesture. It wasn’t the first time she had hugged him since reuniting with the blond, but it was the first hug she had given him that she allowed herself to savour. 

She could feel his back muscles through his thin coat, and wondered briefly what he did to make them so defined. In his suits it was hard to tell how muscular he was, but from the hold he had on her she figured he was a lot stronger than he looked.

It was just a simple hug, but he held her like he was afraid to let her go. Maybe it was just her mind going haywire from how good the man before her smelt, like fresh soap and coffee. It was warm and clean and she loved it. 

The hug was over too soon and both parties let go with mild embarrassment at how much they enjoyed it. They looked at the walls and the floors, anything not to meet each other's gaze until they finally did. Neither could help the laughter that bubbled from their lips at seeing how the other felt the same way. It was easy and light being with him, and she wondered if that was how the starting of love was supposed to be. 

“So, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are you ready to go back to my temporary Parisian home with my cousin and his fiancee and look over the seating placements?” Felix asked, trying to regain his air of formality but failing as his smile kept returning. He offered his arm to her, finally giving up on hiding his giddiness at their first official date. “And start preparing the invitations to what I assume is half of France itself?”

“Why, Felix!” She giggled, taking his arm and walking down the hallway of her apartment building with him. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Felix was a gentleman. This was an irrefutable fact. He took the bag of baked goods from her to carry it himself, he opened the car door for her and waited until she was in and buckled before closing the door and getting in on his side. He made sure to get out of the car first to hold her door open for her again, and did the same at the front door of the house. It didn’t even seem like he was trying to impress her, it was just his natural habits. 

“Fel! Mari! Good timing!” Adrien’s voice called to them the second they were in the house, before Felix had a chance to take her coat and hang it up. “We’re in the living room.”

The two looked at each other, their confusion etched upon their faces. 

“Well, better get this over with.” Felix sighed, slowly unbuttoning his coat and taking it off. Revealing the black t-shirt underneath with the design of a suit printed on the chest. She wanted to laugh. Of course, how did she not think of it? This way he could still wear a suit to bed! “Oh, it gets better. I have a matching pair of slippers to yours.” 

As Felix reached into the closet to put his coat away, he pulled out a pair of familiar looking slippers. She hadn’t seen them before, but she had seen up close where the design came from. The slippers Felix put on resembled Chat Noir’s boots. Without planning it out ahead of time the two of them matched. No wonder they liked each other so much.

When they made their way to the living room, with a slight detour to the kitchen to set down the pizza and the baked goods, they saw Kagami and Adrien sitting on one of the sofa’s dressed like they came right out of a 90’s parent teacher conference. Kagami wore a blouse Marinette was sure she had never seen on her friend before, and Adrien wore a dress shirt with a sweater vest over it. They both had glasses on, and she knew for a fact neither of them needed glasses. 

Adrien looked at Marinette and seemed to freeze for a moment before returning to his disappointed face. 

“What’s going on?” She began to ask, but the two crossed their arms and nodded towards the couch across from them. 

Marinette and Felix sat down, looking confused as ever. 

“Marinette, darling, we need to talk.” Kagami started, her monotone voice not matching her words. “We were informed today about something that shocked us to our core.”

“We’re not mad that you didn’t tell us,” Adrien continued, nodding along. Marinette noticed the model was wearing a fake mustache. “Just disappointed.”

“And what, prey tell, was I supposed to tell you?” She wanted to laugh. She knew their game, she knew exactly what they were playing at. It didn’t make it any less hilarious to her. 

“And Felix, I expected better from you than withholding secrets from me.” Adrien fake cried onto Kagami’s shoulder, who only patted his back in an attempt to soothe him.

“It’s okay dear, as her father I will handle this.” Kagami whispered.

“I thought I was the father, that’s why I’m wearing the mustache.” Adrien lifted his head.

“You’re the emotional mother who doesn’t know how to handle her daughter's secret life, and I’m the father who will be stern but also loves his wife despite the facial hair because you have a beautiful spirit.” Kagami stated. 

“You’d be a great dad.”

“I already am.” Kagami adjusted herself. “Marinette, how could you not tell us you were dating Felix?”

Felix stared at his cousin and his fiancee. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Had Adrien always been this goofy? Had Kagami?

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry, it’s still new. This is our first date.” Marinette leaned forward and grabbed Kagami’s hand. Felix groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. If he wasn’t already smitten with the blue haired woman, he was sure he’d fall for her again right then and there. His cousin and his soon to be wife, correction, his family loved Marinette so much that they had these silly little jokes and the woman had no problem playing along. She was every bit of the family already and if they were that protective of her then he knew he was falling for the right girl. 

“First date so far, but thankfully you two have given us enough excuses to spend time together that we’re bound to have more dates in the future.” Felix nudged Marinette lightly with his elbow. “Maybe we’ll even, gasp, become a serious relationship and rival your fame.”

“You will if Alya has anything to say about it.” Kagami mumbled. 

“What?” Marinette squinted at her friend, but Kagami shook her head and refused to answer. 

“Well, do I need to grab my sword and threaten you not to hurt my daughter?” Kagami asked Felix, all joking leaving her. 

“No worries, Ma’am, er, sir? I will treat Marinette with the utmost respect.” Felix gave a salute to the Japanese woman. “Now can we go and finish our mission of preparing the invitations to your wedding? While we may be dressed for night time, we aren’t planning on working all night.”

“Speaking of how you’re dressed,” Adrien’s voice wavered for a second. “Marinette, where did you get those pajamas?”

She looked down at herself. How was she supposed to say that the former black cat of Paris gave them to her alter ego self for Christmas? She wasn’t. “A friend got them for me, I’m not sure where he bought them from. Why? Are you jealous?”

Adrien laughed, but it almost sounded forced. “You got me. I wanted them, but oh well.”

Kagami looked at her fiance who just waved her off.

“Well, those pajamas look good on you, M’lady.” Adrien stood up and offered his hand to Kagami who took it and followed his lead. “We’re going to go spar for a bit. Let me know if you two want to join us!”

M’Lady? When had Adrien ever called her that? 

“Well Miss. Bug, shall we be off?” Felix’s voice snapped her out of her train of thought, and then immediately threw her down another hole of questioning. Did he just call her Miss. Bug? The same way that Alley Cat did? Was it just her pajamas making the two blonds act this way, or was there more to the story? God, she was beginning to sound like Alya. 

“Pizza first, invitations second, and third movie time! Sounds good?”

“Anything sounds good if you say it.”

Marinette’s cheeks burned. With all thoughts of Chat Noir and Alley Cat forgotten, the two of them left to the kitchen.

[ey8508]

Hidden Weapon [暗器迷局]

Rumors and Secrets: Li Zeyan (李泽言）| Victor

Li Zeyan SSR: A Great Secret

【 Everyone wanted to know how he sat on the highest chair with confidence.】

Note:

R&S for this card (CG above)

Chapter SPOILERS up to Season 2: Chapter 6-9 (read at your own risk)

Contains 5 chapters

Translation isn’t 100% accurate (or include grammar errors)

Every part for LZ’s dialogue would be in “this setting”

Do not repost to any other site (reblog is fine)

Chapter 1 Page 1 BLACK SWAN Investigation Log. Permission level: normal Name: Small syringe experiment Experiment recorder: Senior Experiment Researcher Jagger Experiment contents: [Day1] Investigated the illegal drug "small syringe" that is popular in the underground market and secretly went undercover. Page 2 .... [Day4] Send a preliminary investigation report to the BOSS, and receive a reply instruction. Nox will take the lead in handling this task, and everything will be under her command. [Day5] Seized samples of suspected small syringes from special channels. [Day6] The sensory organs can’t distinguish the components of the sample, and decided to make the injection. The experiment risk: high.  This application was rejected by Nox on the spot. [Day7] The experiment sample is missing. [Day8] Received BOSS order, this experiment was terminated and abolished. Page 3 This is the first time Jagger has been frustrated in an experiment since joining BLACK SWAN. Fortunately, before he became a BS member, his life has not been smooth, so he can bear it. Since he was young, he discovered that his Evol distinguishes chemical components through his body, he has been struggling to become a scientific researcher.  It's just that he behaves badly and has a violent personality, getting narrower and narrower in his career.  Finally, after conducting an experiment that violated the bottom line of ethics and morality, he was jointly expelled from academia and was not allowed to step into the laboratory for life. Page 4 The night when the people from BS found him, he was living alone in a warehouse somewhere in the suburbs.  So he picked up the beer can beside him and slammed "What BS! Don't bother me!" Looking at Jagger on the ground like a puddle of mud, the member had to take out his mobile phone and made a brief report to his superiors. "....Okay, understood, I'll start preparing now ." He hung up the phone, took out a delicately designed holographic projection metal box from his arms, and placed it in the open space in the middle of the warehouse.  A few minutes later, I only heard the box "drop" shooting a blue light from the dot in the center. After the light shot up and down in the air for a circle, a slender shape figure slowly emerged. Page 5 Jagger narrowed his eyes and looked at the holographic projection in front of him, and saw a man sitting on a leather chair, his entire face hidden in the shadows, only his bright leather shoes and neat suit trousers could be seen. Jagger couldn't help but spit into the air. "What is this shameful sight!" As soon as the voice fell, the BS member beside him looked up at him almost immediately and even took two steps closer.  Jagger shrinks his neck subconsciously. "Look- " Page 6 The man in the projection knocked on the armrest of the chair twice, and the member immediately retracted his gaze and stood back to where he was before. "As far as I know, you were jointly expelled from academia three years ago and you are forbidden to participate in any experiment for life." The man spoke slowly, his voice low, but he revealed an unstoppable momentum. "So what?" "BLACK SWAN can give you the opportunity to re-enter the laboratory" Page 7 "Heh, BLACK SWAN is so famous, so many eyes are staring at it in the society, once my name appears in the laboratory, someone will immediately take notice and you'll be in trouble." "Who said that your name will appear in the laboratory?" "How do you contradict yourself? You said that BS gave me a chance to re-enter the laboratory, and you said that my name would not appear in the laboratory. Could it be you," said Jagger. His eyes suddenly widened. "Giving you a new identity is not difficult for BS." Chapter 2 Page 1 The turbidity in Jagger's eyes lit up instantly.  He opened his mouth and didn't know what to say. "Since you have some knowledge of BS, it is not difficult to know that BS's social resources are top-notch. BS's power is more than enough to support you to do experiments and..." Although he couldn't see the man's face clearly, Jagger felt the man's direct gaze. "Join BS, the worst situation is better than you are now." Page 2 Jagger realized that this holographic projection is a bidirectionally visible BS technology that has already reached this level of advancement. He lowered his head and glanced at himself, his face suddenly hot.  After the man behind the barrier said these words he slightly cleared his throat as he raised his hands signaling to cut off the phone. Blood instantly rushed to the top of Jagger's head, and he unwillingly picked fresh from the opponent. "Since BS is so powerful, why should the superior BS leader had to invite a little man with a poor clothes?" In such a big pomp, he had guessed the identity of the opponent just now, and he broke this point, it was just a momentary quick guess. The other party's movements seemed to give a chuckle. Page 3 "For talents, I will do my best." The tone was steady, without a trace of irritation. Jagger suddenly felt that he had lost in the game. But it is precisely because of this sentence that he willingly joined BS. It takes seven inches to strike a snake. This is the first thing Jagger learned from the BOSS. But that was the only time Jagger had direct contact with the BOSS. After joining BS, he never saw the BOSS again. Not only him, but almost all the members around him.  Perhaps it was the first meeting with the BOSS that left a deep impression on Jagger, and when he has nothing to do, he put this sentence on his lips- Page 4 "Have you seen the BOSS? I mean, the BOSS himself." The member who was asked was stunned for a moment: "How is it possible? Seeing BOSS is like seeing an ancient dragon. I heard that even during the board meeting he's behind the barrier and no one can see him at all. In our organization, I heard that there is only one person who have actually seen him. Jagger nodded, indicating that he knew this person: "You mean Nox?" The other party sneered: "Don't call them just by their code names, we are below them, but we call them with the honorable 'Miss' " Jagger was puzzled, and the man came immediately interested. Page 5 "Don't tell it to others. I have something else to tell you..." The member looked around again, then lowered his voice, "They all said that the relationship between BOSS and her is unusual. Although the they remain anonymous from the outside world, BOSS is often doing things from behind the scenes to maintain Nox. Some time ago, have you heard about the leak of the Evolver identity of artists under Nox? It is said that after this incident, many board members asked to punish Nox at the meeting, but they were all blocked by BOSS. Jagger snorted, but didn't answer.  Although he is very curious about the identity of BOSS, he has never been interested in this kind of gossip. Chapter 3 Page 1 Soon after this conversation, Jagger was appointed to join the investigation and experiment of the illegal drug "Small Syringe", and the leader of this mission was Nox. He was in trouble for a while, not because he discriminated against women, but since joining BS, BOSS closed one eye to his "pioneer" experimental methods. At least, his experiments have been carried out very freely. However, Nox's acting style is notoriously conservative. If she is told that he is doing bold experiments, she should be taken earlier notice. In addition, if the relationship between Nox and BOSS is really unusual according to what the member said last time, then Nox's opinion will be adopted by the BOSS, she is 'a hot potato'. He has to seek the consent of the BOSS before Nox can stop him. So he pretended not to know, and after obtaining the preliminary investigation results, he sent the investigation report to the BOSS as usual, but he did not expect to receive an immediate reply: Page 2 "Nox will take the lead in handling this task, and everything will be under her direction." The next day, the informant sent a sample that was suspected to be a small syringe. He flexed his hands and went to his head for a while. First, he experimented with the sample by smell and taste, but he could not distinguish its components. So he made a decision to inject the samples to himself.  After deliberation, he asked Nox for instructions. Sure enough, he was directly rejected by Nox on the spot. Out of desire for the results of this experiment, he decided to lie about the loss of the sample and intend to conduct the experiment secretly.  Unexpectedly, he was caught by the BS inspection team that night, and even reported the situation to the BOSS himself the next day. Jagger didn’t expect to see BOSS again, this is actually the case. Page 3 "Since the application has been rejected, why did you still do it?" 

A familiar voice came from behind the barrier, mixed with a trace of fatigue. "It stands to reason that I can perform general drug component analysis from sight, taste, touch or smell alone, but the composition of this sample is complicated, hence these are not enough. If I allow injection, once the sample enters my blood,  I can feel the state of its movement in my body. Through my body's reaction, it should be possible to analyze it." "Do you know why Nox rejected your proposal to do the self injection for the samples?" Page 4 "This is because there is only one sample. If there is no experimental progress after the injection, all the efforts will be ruined." "She checked your information. Every time your body is injected with a drug, it will cause irreparable damage. It will not take long for you to die in this type of experiment." Jagger was stunned. "Although BS is in a critical position, it never needs to use the lives of any members as a stepping stone." "This experiment stops here." Page 5 "Also, Nox's orders, should not be disobeyed anymore." .... After the meeting with the boss, Jagger's heart was mixed, and he sat in place and meditated for a long time. It's just that the brain, which has been in contact with the most direct chemical elements all his life, will not know this inexplicable emotion. However, he knew very well that this BS 'Miss' was indeed a bit capable. Chapter 4 Page 1 BLACK SWAN meeting minutes Permission level: advanced Recorder of the meeting: Member of the board of directors, Assistant Mr. W. Content of meeting: Page 2 【Previously, the "small syringe" incident set off a huge wave in society. This meeting mainly focused on "whether BS should develop a drug similar to the small syringe O-tube". During the meeting, some members expressed support for this approach, believing that BS, as an organization centered around Evolver and human evolution, should take the lead in researching such drugs to screen ordinary people and accelerate human evolution. Another part of the members believes that it is too early to invest in development projects before investigating the main cause of the small syringe incident and the role of the drug, and even BS should crack down on the market value of small needles from all aspects to restrain such cases. Drugs are being re-developed to fundamentally eliminate such drugs. Page 3 The two voices stayed at each other during the meeting. In the end, the BOSS decided to investigate the small syringe incident first and postponed the development of such drugs indefinitely. 】 From the beginning of this meeting, Mr. W's heart has been hanging. Since the introduction of the small syringe, the internal voice of BS has become noisy, and those desires that have been hidden have begun to move around. Many people want to get a share of the small syringe. However, what worries him is not these noisy sounds, but the thoughts of the person behind the barrier.  If that person also thinks that the power of BS is enough to develop EVOL!  Evolution potion, then the road behind BS may be even more difficult. Page 4 Mr. W looked at the faint figure behind the barrier, and seemed to be sitting upright and calmly at the moment.  Even though there was a verbal battle in the conference room, the man always looked like he was out of the picture. Until a member spoke: "I don't know about this, what is the BOSS's opinion?" Everyone finally calmed down and looked at the barrier at the end of the round table. Mr. W leaned forward unconsciously, and had to admit that he was looking forward to know what the BOSS would answer. .... When the young BOSS first took over the office, Mr. W also had a questioning attitude. Page 5 After all, BS had just experienced a mighty internal turmoil at that time. Whether the BOSS was a hero created by the time or whether it was really capable of this position, no one knew. In addition, BOSS has never announced his identity since he took the office. Except for Nox, no one has seen him in the entire BS. Whether it is the core mysterious high-level Twelve or the board of directors, they can only communicate with him through a barrier, which has caused dissatisfaction among many members. These people formed a small group in a very short period of time, trying to pull him into the abyss before the BOSS sits firmly on the throne of the BS leader. Before they did it, even in the early days of their small group, they had already been taken up by the BOSS.  He quickly uprooted the group and carried out a cleanup inside BS. Overnight, these people disappeared from BS without a shadow. Page 6 Mr. W has inquired about the whereabouts of these people through various channels, but has never found any clues. These people seem to have never existed in this world. Mr. W still remembers that in the earliest meeting after the small group was eliminated, the BOSS was silent for a long while. After sometime, many people who had been eager to move in their hearts and had not had time to put it into practice almost lost their breath. The person behind the barrier spoke: "The remaining few people who plan to instigate rebellion, the reason why you are left is because you are still helpful to BS." "Take care of the extra hands and feet within three days, don't let me do it myself." Page 7 As soon as the voice fell, many of the people present changed their faces slightly. Fortunately, he was used to looked calm under such situations. After re-adjusting the rigid posture, he realized that there was actually cold sweat behind his back. Since then, the noisy sounds inside BS have finally quieted down. Mr. W began to appreciate the decisive decisions made by the BOSS and is actually celebrating with the new change. Page 8 But that was the only time Mr. W heard such obvious emotions in the mouth of the BOSS.  Later, many meetings were held in BS. He observed that no matter what level of personnel the questioning voice was, whether they agreed with the other party’s point of view, BOSS always respected the other’s point of views and stood at a higher level. Neither makes people too ugly, nor does it show one's position too much. This allowed the members of the organization that had always been fighting to put down the war for a while, and the internal balance of BS reached an unprecedented balance. Mr. W believes that at the age of BOSS, few people can do this. Put aside the identity of a member of the BS organization, Mr. W has never seen such a method in business for so many years. If you have to name someone who can be compared with him, Li Zeyan, the president of Huarui, has a style similar to that of BOSS. It was not that he had never suspected that it was the same person, but no matter how he investigated and inquired, the information he got was very few. Chapter 5 Page 1 Maybe he stayed in a high position for too long, and there was nothing new to pass the time, so Mr. W gradually regarded the inquiring of the boss as his personal task. In addition to trying his best to investigate the identity that matches it in society, he will deliberately talk against the BOSS during meetings in an attempt to find clues.  However, no matter how he made a fuss, the people behind the barrier will always stay calm and undisturbed. As the leader of BS, BOSS can handle everything without any leakage. Page 2 At first Mr. W just felt dull. But over time, as an older member, he found that this was a serious problem. He realized that there seems to be a certain trait missing from the BOSS, which is a human commonality that any ordinary person should have. If you have to be clear, you can call this trait a human touch. For a while, this is indeed not a great thing, but it is precisely because this thing is so common, so precious enough. Mr. W is worried that people who lack this trait will not sit in the position of leader for too long, or that such person will once again lead BS to an extreme. Page 3 "What is my opinion, it is up to you to convince me." The deep voice pulled his thoughts back to the meeting room, and seeing the other members in deep thoughts, he realized that the BOSS had just answered the question of the member just now. He lowered his head and modified the voice in his heart a bit, then raised his hand signaling to speak. "What we should do now is to figure out the ins and outs of the main incident, who developed the small syringe and for what purpose the opponent is an enemy or a friend. These key information are very important." Page 4 After hearing this, many members tried to refute, but they were preempted by the BOSS. "All the resources of BS have always revolved around Evolver's evolutionary issues. At this time, instead of developing evolutionary drugs, they are investigating small syringes. Is it not upside-down?" Members supporting the research and development of drugs echoed. Mr. W's heart sank. Does the BOSS support the development of such drugs? He tried to swallow the suspicion that was surging up, and couldn't help but tried to make an excuse. Page 5 "On the contrary. At this stage, ordinary people already have a lot of opposition to Evolver. In addition, after the main incident, many ordinary people and Evolver's body have suffered varying degrees of damage. The development of small syringes is very powerful. It may come with a hostile attitude. In the long run, Evolver evolution is a major event for all human beings. If we do not investigate clearly and blindly follow the trend to develop evolutionary drugs, then we are likely to fall into each other’s trap. It'll makes things difficult for BS to move forward with evolution in the future." Page 6 Perhaps he said too much. Once again, there was silence in the conference room, only the sound of regular fingers tapping on the tabletop came from behind the barrier, which sounded a certain kind of calmness. Mr. W has a foreboding that perhaps BS's development of evolutionary drugs is already a certainty, and perhaps his painstaking persuasion is just futile. Just when he was frustrated, the sound of the man's fingers tapping on the tabletop stopped. "The reason is good enough to convince me." "The development date for the evolution drugs will be postponed indefinitely." The meeting room became noisy again, and many members were angry. Page 7 "I said, my decision is determined by your rhetoric." "Of course I respect different opinions. As long as your reasons are valid." Those members who had been crying out to support the development of the drug were hesitating at this moment, and could not give a reason strong enough to bring the situation back, and had to accept their orders and took their seats. "Since there isn't, that's it for today." The BOSS issued an eviction order and the meeting room was cleared within a minute.

Page 8 Only Mr. W is still sitting on the spot, he has an important question that he wants to confirm to the BOSS. "BOSS, what is your side of position in this matter?" The BOSS seemed to stand up, walked behind the chair, and finally stood by the window behind the barrier. "My position has been made very clear." Mr. W walked out of the conference room with this answer, which was not an answer. Page 9 The moment he stepped out of the door, he suddenly remembered that before he had a long discussion in the meeting, the BOSS raised a sharp question uncharacteristically.  This question seems to be on the side of the members who support the drug, but it was after answering this question that the BOSS was quickly ‘convinced’ by his own reasons. Mr. W stood there thinking for a moment, then he stretched his brows and frowned all day. It turned out that today, I was ‘utilized’ by the BOSS. Everything he said today was just that the BOSS used his own mouth to silence other members. But this kind of use is very useful. Page 10 After thinking about this, Mr. W let out a long breath. The problem he had been worried about had been settled.

[popculturebuffet]

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: The Master of the Mississippi! or “How Much Satisfaction Can There Be?”

Hello everybody. I’m back to the life of scrooge mcduck.. it’s been an eternity hasn’t it and that’s for a simple reason: I had other reviews to do, especially comissions, I kept pushing this back further and further as while I love this series i put my paid work ahead of any other projects, until Kev, i.e. the guy paying for most comissions out and out asked that this be done before I got to the rest of The Ride of the Three Caballeros. It’s also why I finally put a loose schedule in place, to keep projects from slipping so the MANY retrosectives and what not I have going can move along at a steady pace and I can slot in comissions easier, 5 bucks an issue or episode if your curious. So now things are a bit tider, i’ll try to have an installment of scrooge’s storied past up a week from now on, so keep an eye out for that, minus christmas week as I have something else planned Duck Comics wise. So with all that out of the way and any exposition able to be baked into the plot proper, we can FINALLY get back to the life and times of scrooge mcduck

PREVIOUSLY ON THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE MCDUCK:

A Young Scrooge got his inspiration, his start and also scared the crap out of some asshole scooby do style. Also his sister Hortense was adorable. SO there’s that. But eventually with some inspriation from what he didn’t realize was a ghost, Scrooge decided to head to america to find his Uncle Pothole. So that’s where we left off, with Scrooge heading to

Since then as the scrapbook page explains, Scrooge has worked his way up the Missippi to Louieville, Kentucky... which is where Rosa lives, and it is not a concidence it’s set here as a result. But much like how the Marvel staff being in new york in the 60′s lead to that universe having it’s unique and vibrant New York setting that’s lasted to this day, sometimes a creator using where they live as the basis can lead to really great and intresting stuff and here he had a valid reason as Louieville was one of the main hubs on the Mississippi river and thus a massive boomtown. 

Not the kind of boom town I meant but I can never say no to boomtown. But yeah it’s not only a bustling hub usually anyway, but things are extra amped up given it’s Derby time. I mean the Kentucky Derby’s no steel ball run but what could be? So naturally the crowds are booming and scroogie is impressed. I mean he’s a 13 year old boy from a poor community in Scotland. This is huge to him. But he has no time to dawdle and asks the closest random gentleman where he could find his Uncle Angus, who was mentioned last time and is the one needed for this. The guy is genuinely helpful and points him to his uncle... but as I only noticed on this read through also uses a knife to swipe his bag by cutting the handle off. It’s part of why I admire this series so much: rosa snuck so many small background gags into the margins you can always find something new reading it or always get something fresh out of it.  We also meet Gyro’s grandpa Ratchet. 

I mean there’s no might about it. David Byrne is rich and he’s the delightful weirdo we all deserve and the autistic icon I needed. 

I have no context for this, I just figured searching David Byrne in Tumblr’s Gif Search would find something delightfully batshit in that way only hec an do and I was right. 

So as the tweenager enters the gambling establishment, we find Uncle Pothole, whose playing poker with local asshole and tophat enthusiast Porker Hogg...whose name keeps tripping me up as I write this as he’s not the only pig named porker I know of but is far less memorable than this one

He and Pothole are playing cards, and while Porker can go on for days he can’t go on for eight weeks.. or even two days really and prepares to finish it. He puts up his boat the Dilly Dollar, which Angus takes offence to since Porker sank his. Angus offers up the location of the Dreenan White, a legendary, and real legend at that, riverboat that sank. Since Angus was a Cabin Boy on the boat, he knows where it is. So the final hand is dealt and Angus wins with five aces, mostly because Porker’s ace ejector jammed. When Scrooge questions if this is dishonest, Angus explains their under riverboat captain rules which basically means you can cheat your ass off and it’s not only expected it’s an insult NOT to. So Angus takes Scrooge with him, seeing the boy as a good luck charm and finding out to his shock Scrooge is his nephew, but gladly takes his newly found relation under his wing as he relates to his coming to america to find his fortune, having done the same. 

Angus is the first of Scrooge’s many mentors and easily the best part of this chapter. He’s lively, intresting but a contrast to scrooge, someone whose not AFRAID to work but wouldn’t mind an easy victory or giving up the adventure game, as he ends up doing. He’s a lively, clever guy and very charming. I”ll get back to the mentor part of it in a bit, but needless to say in a chapter that i’ll admit, and get more into the why as we go, is not one of life and time’s better chapters, he’s a highlight.  So the two get to the Dilly Dollar while Hogg decides to follow to find where the Dreeynan Whyte is. As for why he hasn’t drudged it up Angus simply can’t as the Mighty Missisippi’ s too muddy for that, making another mark twain quoted joke about it. But Scrooge mentions the clarity pills from Ratchet, meaning he has a way to do so, and Angus is now elated and decides to head there to get his fortune, specifically near Monkey’s Elbow kentucky, which while relocated slightly to fit the story, is a very real town and an objectively great name for a town, much like Forty Fort, which is also a very real town name. Hogg overhears and after being literally booted out of the boat, as we’ll see literal asskicking is a McDuck family staple, goes to recruit some hired goons. 

Yes hired goons, as every good villian needs some hired goons. And these specific goons.. are a bit.. familiar. And you’ll find out who they are under the cut!

Yup it’s the Secret Origin of the Beagle Boys. And if your wondering “Wait are they immortal too?” well. their not these are their grandpas. Also Hogg’s whole complaint about “wearing them if there yellow” just.. bugs me. They .. they aren’t cowards.. Grandpappy’s just being smart and knows his sons are excessively dumb, as is family tradition. They have no issue with committing crimes, they just don’t want to be arrested by the first Navy boat that finds them. That’s just.. common logic. This is one of Life and Time’s weaker atrributes: Due to being built around barks stories, that means most of his foes here are the random greedy asshats of the week Scrooge faced who had some loophole to his fortune or the grandparents of said assholes. With the exception of hte Beagles, who show up a few times, Glomgold and Soapy Slick who wihle a minor vilian is at the center of one of the best chapters of the story, most of these guys are just forgettable hooligans. Not terrible, and the stories around them are good enough to make it enjoyable but nothing really distinct from what Scrooge normally faced outside of his origin story. Really Barks was simply stronger at STORIES than he was at creating villians: As Magica, The Beagle Boys, Gladstone, Rockerduck and Glomgold all show he wasn’t untalented at it, it’s just more often than not he fell back on some random asshole.

Instead of using a dedicated Rogue’s Gallery of intresting baddies, most writers of most comics just used villians of the week and maybe ONE OR TWO designated hitters. Batman’s Rogue’s gallery wasn’t big enough to form their own country at this point is what i’m saying, it just meant Rosa had to build more vilians of teh week. It dosen’t drag the story down entirely, as the story is about SCROOGE and his growth: sometimes the villians are just a secondary ingrident in a good story. But it’s still something very noticable and one of the weaker parts of the story, it’s just like I said, with the story being more on Scrooge and where a lot of his personality came from, it’s something I really didn’t notice before and really dosen’t bother me now I have. The villians are weak btu the hero is so intresting and grows so much it just dosen’t matter. Their there to provide Scrooge with opportunites to evolve, and the really good ones are saved for the best moments of that and for when a villian IS needed to change scooge as a person. So it all evens out. 

So naturally the next day when the McDucks head to get the pills, Hogg’s beat them to it, and when Ratchet refused to cut cards for his stock had them beat Ratchet while they were at it. Though oddly Angus assumes he’s just passed out while Scrooge is the one to recognize someone knocked him out. You’d think a well experienced guy like Angus would know that eh whatever. Point is Hogg is ahead and Angus dosen’t have a crew... though Scrooge and Ratchet naturally volunteer since both have skin in the game: Scrooge wanted a job with Pothole anyway and Ratchet is out a job and out his pills. Angus gladly takes them on.. but accidently sets the Dominos in place for one of Comics!Scrooge’s worst behaviors down the line. 

Yeahhh.... Pothole is partially responsible for Scrooge criminally underpaying his staff and family. That gag.. is easily one of , if not my least faviorite part about Rosa’s work. It’s a holdover from Carl Barks work naturally, and one that makes some sense: Rosa set his work shortly after barks, so some time in the 1950s, having barks works take place around when they were written. There isn’t a strict timeline of what happened which year outside of life and times, but Rosa’s works are delieberate period pieces. That’s not a bad thing and if he’s going to base most of his stuff around stuff Barks did, then it’s a good call to make.  The issue is the execution: While with Barks it was in part because there was less income inequality, it was also clearly a bit of satire, as Donald was the every man and companies could be unfair, cheap douchebags then as they are now. IT feels more like a joke on Scrooge. Donald still puts up with a lot of stuff, but he’s more liable to complain. In the Rosa stories.. it feels more like he just makes Donald the butt monkey and it dosen’t play well as.. Donald dosen’t want to be there. He has every RIGHT not to want to be there as he’s not being paid a decent wage, not being compensated in any other ways, and could be searching for a boss who actually pays him a living wage. Donald is more the victim in Rosa’s stories but he simply doesn’t realize this, or the fact it’s even worse since Donald is you know RAISING THREE CHILDREN AND SCROOGE KNOWS THIS BUT DOES NOT PITCH IN ONE EXTRA CENT.  So already without even adding the decades on, it hasn’t aged well.. but add in the modern day business where it’s a STRUGGLE to get states to raise minimum wages, the job market was hit horribly even BEFORE Corona came and made things worse, and companies horribly abuse their employees to ludcirous extremes such as time crunch in the video game industry, black friday in retail and of course the house of nightmares that is the amazon warehouse, and I say that being a frequent use of amazon.. just because I rely on a company dosen’t mean I have to LIKE doing so in any way shape or form. 

What i’m saying is Scrooge’s actions were already bad, making this joke fall flat, but it comes off as downright unfunny after all of that. Even given the times Scrooge was raised in it’s just not a funny gag that “oh ha ha a 70+ year old man ever learned right from wrong when it came to paying his family or workers”. It just paints scrooge in the worst light possible as man who never grew, in at least one aspect, from being a goddamn tweenager and is easily one of the weaker moments of an otherwise epic and well crafted saga, and as i’ve said of Rosa’s exemplary work as a whole. 

Anyways the race is on and with the DIlly Dollar gaining on Hogg’s Cotton reiver witch, Hogg has them ram into the boat and flip it over. And no i’m not descrbing a sex act. In a show of competence while Blackheart Beagle’s actions send them close to the falls too he just uses the dilly dollar as a ramp. We also get a really cool flipped over panel as our heroes are waterlogged. A snag boat shows up, I assume it removes snags and dangerous objects and complains about rescuing them. .even though CLEARLY they had some kind of accident. It’s.. never a good look to complain about having to save someone’s life or livelyhood unless that someone is Tucker Carlson. Then it’s ABSOLUTLEY okay to grumble a bit about having to do the right thing. 

So after a quick gag we’re introduced to a chekovs gun as a massive tree sprouts out of the river and spooks Scroogey.. and Angus who explains it’s a “sawyer”, something that happens when a dead tree falls in a river.. sinks in.. and then can rise right back up suddenly, violently and boat destroyingly. 

So our heroes head on and find the location and Angus dumbly assumes that Hogg, who had a clear start is just lost.. and not you know lurking in the bushes watiting to strike. And strike he does as he once again rams hard and long into the Dilly Dollar, leaving it on a sandy shore. Schwing. Our heroes are landlocked but Hogg, just to earn himself a dare to be stupid award, gives the Beagles their deed, and tells them theirs diving equipment. You can take a wild guess what happenes next. 

Angus understandably laughs at his misfortune because it’s funny.. and Hogg responds by dropping him down a well. Before Scrooge can raise a benefit concert to send his love down a well, Angus asks Scrooge to join him instead.. and soon we find out why as the Beagles only find a wrecked town. Turns out thats where Monkey’s Elbow WAS, and they build the new town near it.. with the farm Angus ended up at being where the wreck is now. 

Our heroes explore the wreck which honestly, looks really damn impressive, a muddy destroyed riverboat hauntingly beautifully lit by candle light, which Scrooge is holding naturally. I may of had my criticisms for Rosa this chapter, and I will again, but it’s moments like this that reinforce that the man is still one of the best comic book artists i’ve ever seen and knows how to beautifully meld his art with storytelling. 

Speaking of which our heroes find the safe with the money. Angus is ritch but Scrooge.. dosen’t get how he can be happy. Scroogie questions “How much satisfaction can there be in having your life’s fortune handed to you? “ It’s easily the best moment of the chapter.. while it’s only two panels before we get to Angus moving things right along... it really speaks to Scrooge’s character. Even as still a naive boy from Glasgow... his whole life has been hard work, effort working your way up. To just.. LUCK into fortune like this baffles him. To be satisfied with that and not seem to have any amibation to use it to go further, to make more of yourself. To be more. While he hasn’t quite got his love for adventure yet, we’ll get there next time, even now there’s a hunger inside him, a desire to not just get rich, that’s all fine and good.. btu to have EARNED IT. To truly feel like he made his way. 

And it perfeclty makes sense with his background: Scrooge was raised with nothing, and found out at the start of the story his family had lost everything, a once glorious clan reduced to a poor starving family on the edge of Glasgow. To him it can’t just be about getting Money.. he wants to bring his clan back. To make his family happy and proud. To make sure his father’s faith as the last of their line wasn’t misplaced. He has a lot of expectation on him and that’s bred his character. Angus.. just sorta left at a young age and has been incommuincado. He dosen’t really care about family or legacy.. not that I don’t think he would’ve sent some money back to buy the castle, I just think he was never that concerned with his family’s legacy like Scrooge despite coming from a similar cloth. He wanted the money, but Scrooge cares about the money.. and his family. It’s what anchors him. What keeps him from his worst impulses and keeps him grounded.. for now anyways but that’s a ways off. Point is it really speaks to Scrooge’s character. 

But soon the beagles find our heroes, and a fight breaks out.. and naturally even without years of experince yet, Scrooge is still a McDuck and while previously his fighting was based on ingunity.. this time the little runt’s just out for blood and suprises the beagles with a clump of mud and then beating the shit out of them. When one of them tries to respond by wacking him with a piece of wood... he instead breaks a collumn and with the dreenan unable to handle the mud without it... the place starts to collapse. However our heroes don’t make it out unschathed as the Beagles capture them and the gold... for some reason. Seriously Scrooge dosen’t fight back or anything nor does angus they just.. let hte beagles overpower them. WHen Scrooge fully fought the grown ass men just a few mintues ago. What the actual hell. 

But we do get another Badass Scrooge Moment, as once hteir on the ship, Scrooge mentions another treasure.. which baffles Angus despite you know.. the boy clearly playing at something. Yeah whlie I do like Angus.. he can be grating in parts and here he just comes off REALLY stupid. But after being tortured by running on a boat, with the beagles mistaking Angus’ genuine confusion for being a bastard man, which naturally their impressed by, Scrooge fessses up.. and you can see exactly’s coming.. the sawyer raises the boat into the air and harpoons it. The beagles try to play off the port authority but scrooge unmaks those “infamous beagle boys”.. and thus names one of his greatest threats. Blackheart vows revenge while our heroes go for a sasparillia..though Scrooge keeps the money.. as he says the memory of that adventure is worth more than anything. As for the Gold, the goverment took it back, but did give them a reward, and Angus only dosen’t give Scrooge a share because he’d have to refloat it, but offers him a job and the dollar in two years at a bargin price. Alls well that ends well. A truly poetic way to end the chapter and prepare scrogoe for the next... TO BE CONTINUED...

FINAL TH...

Yeah.. as you probably know this is NOT the end of the chapter. Instead we go on for a bit more. And a few more pages would’ve been fine, to help bridge the gap.. we see scrooge get the Dollar at a bargin price as his uncle promised, though the deal turns out to be a bit of a lemon as the riverboat industry has dried up. But then.. we get a couple page adventure with the beagle boys, where the beagles try to steal the goverment gold scrooge is transporting, Ratchet helps him escape, and we DO get the utterly badass image of scrooge driving the boat onto land and it exploding and causing a massive flood> While that is awesome.. the pacing just takes a huge hit and it’s easily why this chapter is one of my least faviorite. It probably would’ve been better if they just had a passage of time montage of events at the start of the next chapter and ended on that bit before.. but instead it just goes on a bit and really tries my patience every time as instead of moving on to a bold new adventure.. we just get some filler to help pad things out so Rosa can get it to the right page length. I don’t blame him, sometimes shit happens, but it dosen’t make it any more fun to read.  So the Dollar is scrapped and Scrooge is back at the bottom with barely a cent to his name. But he’s resolute: since the river boating days were winding down anyway he’s going west to become a cowboy, and heads off on the Wabash Cannonball as a fireman, i.e. the guy who stokes the engines, to make his way there. So we end our story for now and again.. this would’ve been much better condensed but whatever. We’re finally done. 

Final Thougts

As you could probably tell but I saved for here, and I outright even said this is one of my least faviorite chapters and one of the weakest if not the weakest. Part of it is the structure issue I mentioned, but the other part is it just.. isn’t as intresting at least to me personally. The rest of life and times have pretty unique stories that while not removed from genres Scrooge stories have covered, use the story of his rise to make them really pop as we slowly see how the iconic Scrooge we know became the legend and what shaped him that way. Here while we get bits of that, it’s mostly just a standard uncle scrooge story but with him as a kid. It’s not a BAD one, it dosen’t drag the whole of life and times down and it’s servicable but it just feels a bit more standard for Rosa’s work. Still enjoyable, but nothing really spectacular like the next two chapters. On it’s own or as one of the side stories it would’ve been fine but as part of this huge sprawling masterpiece, it’s just a bit underwhelming and just makes me eager to get to the next part every time rather than really suck me in as much as the others. Again the pacing dosen’t help with that and only makes it drag further. It just dosen’t have the weight the other ones do character wise and as such just makes me want to get to part 3 already, which naturally that story within a story dosen’t help with. Overall while not a bad comic, I don’t think any part of life and times is truly bad, it’s still not a GREAT comic like what’s to come or what came just before. 

NEXT TIME ON LIFE AND TIMES: Scrooge heads out to the wild wild west.. though instead of a giant mechanical spider he fights some cattle rustlers and meets Teddy Roosevelt HELL. YES. 

Until then, happy holidays and later days!

[kaioken16]

Unspoken Affection

Mallek Week 2021 - Day 3

Day 3: AU day (Bloodswap AU) Word count: 2544 Rating: Teens and Up Character(s): Mallek Adalov, Original Character, Diemen Xicali

AO3 link

A/N: This is a sequel to a entry I wrote for last year’s Mallek Week titled ‘Friend or Foe’ for a purple blood!Mallek and my OC, you can read it here.  CW: mentions of blood, injury, violence, and death.  (side note, the bold text are flashbacks scenes.)

Summary: Mallek smiles as he watches him, lost in his thoughts as he comes to a conclusion regarding the human that had been under his care for the last year...

You sit there on your couch, you feel a sense of content as you were always relaxed around these two. After all, you knew you didn’t have to put a front or a shield around them as opposed to the rest of your crew.

You can’t help but stare at them from the corner of your eyes. Zack was cleaning a nasty cut that Diemen got earlier after a fall, your friend was always durable but he wasn’t invincible. And of course, the human’s medical care always overtook everything and he insisted that he clean and wrap up the wound.

He was applying some kind of ointment that he made from a plant that grew far off in the outglut. As you know at least 68% of Alternia’s plantlife was lethal in one way or another from poisonous to literal troll-eating traps. But this plant secreted a fluid that had something Zack called ‘antiseptic’ properties and so he used one of his strange alien tools to combine the fluid with some sopor slime to make this special formula which was perfect for cuts and wounds.

It was great. But it stings like the acid rain that falls over Alternia or getting attacked by wasp lusii.

“Ah!” Diemen flinches when the other presses the cloth dipped in the solution against Diemen’s cut.

“Stop squirming, or I’ll have to start all over again.” He tells Diemen, as Zack carefully cleans the wound, the piece of cotton fabric was soaking up the dark crimson.

“You don’t gotta worry about it-!” He let out another yelp in pain. You can’t help but smile. Not that you were smiling at the sounds of Diemen’s pain but rather just happy…

You’re happy to be around them.

Things had been crazy since you met Zack last sweep.

That chance encounter where you saved him from those rival subjugglators. From that point on you were inseparable, what was supposed to be a few days turned to weeks, then months. He was something different, obviously being an alien had that glamour to it. All trolls were different too, but also similar at the same time, but Zack wasn’t a troll…

Everything about him was foreign, his appearance, his nature. There probably wasn’t another like him anywhere else on Alternia. He was a curious being to you, yeah he bled a candy red blood, but aside from that, he had many interesting qualities.

He was strong but fragile.

You knew that it would take little effort from someone of your build to crush him with their bare hands, and he knew that too, and yet… How many times did he throw himself into harm’s way to protect you or Diemen and a complete stranger? Even when the odds were stacked against him.

But you knew that his strength was beyond just the physical sense, he had the strength of heart. He was so compassionate, kind, fierce, brave. Even when he was scared, like genuinely terrified he was honest about it.

Sometimes when you look at him, you would honestly see like some fragile lost purrbeast. Those big yellow eyes filled with such pure innocence, he’s the kind of guy that would be an enemy even after they tried to kill him. Someone like him would never have lasted this long on Alternia without you. So you took some precautions when he had to venture outside…

Zack was sitting on the couch, and Mallek was knelt in front of him, on the ground beside him was a small makeup kit that he and many other subjugglators used for their face paint.  

He had carefully painted the unique pattern worn by him and members of his crew. Mallek had gotten some of the old clothes that he simply outgrew, a hoodie that originally has his sign but he graffitied it with various art and tags used by his gang, some purple jeans, and plain white trainers.

It wasn’t too big or Zack too tight, but it kinda hung off him in a cute way. He had also given him some purple gloves, and finally, a bandana that was gonna wrap around Zack’s face.

“Alright, just one last final detail…” Mallek says as he grabs a set of fake detailed horns, curved shaped and wielded to a band, that only had a strap on the end to tighten. He then carefully puts around Zack’s head and clicks the lock-in.

He pulls the hood over Zack’s head and voila!

“There... all done. Now, all we gotta do is get something to hide your face, and then you’re good to go.” Mallek smiles, admiring his handiwork, he grabs a mirror to let Zack see.

“Cool, I could definitely pass for a troll dressed as a clown.” Zack was impressed, it was perfect, between only being able to go outside at night, and most purplebloods always wearing this paint, he could pass as one of them.

“Yeah. But still the same rule. You stay right beside me, don’t leave my sight, or don’t go out alone.” Mallek was very clear as it was still risky for Zack to go out by himself at least with this clothing he’s covered up completely and if he should somehow bleed the red will be hidden.

“Okay. Makes sense, I won’t leave your side.” Zack nods as Mallek blushes faintly.

“R-right, let's cover your face up.” He looks around until his eyes land on the fresh purple fabric that was a custom order from a friend, it was worn by a few crew members and would wear it sometimes. He wraps it around the human’s face, tying a knot at the back.

That was a clever idea on your part, and so far now has caught on, you were careful when taking Zack outdoors. It was a pain and sometimes you thought it could be frustrating for him, but it was for his own good and he understood that too.

Because let’s be honest you know that on his own he would last about an hour or so. And that’s if he laid low and avoided others. You really don’t know what possessed you to keep him, after saving him and giving him a place to crash for a couple of days you could’ve easily let him go on his way. But no.

You told him he could stay for as long as he needed. Obviously, he was intimidated by you, but you couldn’t really blame him. Look at you, you stood a glorious 8ft tall, between your aggressive clothing, intimidating face paint, and the fact that you were armed to literal teeth. It was no wonder he was initially wary of you.

But he wasn’t afraid of you. More like he stared at you with awe and it was due to the fact that your appearance didn’t match your personality after all. You had been affectionately referred to by many who got to know you on a personal level as the most calm-headed, least murderous purpleblood.

You had always had control of the raging seas that inside of you, in fact, that’s what made you more dangerous. Controlled rage was more effective and wild, you know exactly how to inflict the right amount of pain and how to swiftly deal with your opponent.

Taking a life wasn’t something that you were familiar with.

But Zack… He wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Not to say that he couldn’t fight and that he couldn’t kill someone, especially with those freaky powers of his. It’s that he wouldn’t kill or even like to fight for that matter.

Those hands of his… They were made to help, to care for, loving hands that always soothed you and anyone else they touched.

Your hands… You’ve inflicted pain, they’ve been stained with blood, bruised from throwing punches You were no stranger to violence after all.

Zack was worried, it had been so long since Mallek left to deal with “business” as he called it. Of course, Zack knew that was code for his gang’s activity or dealing with a dispute with another gang. Normally when Mallek left he would come back in a couple of hours, with a few cuts and a hoodie stained with blood that wasn’t his own.

But it had been at least 6 hours since he left and he hadn't messaged in that time and he always checked in with Zack. He was so tempted to go out and look for him, but where would he look? Besides, it was dangerous to go out without his disguise but Zack wasn’t ready to waste time getting that all together.

He’s standing in front of the door, the only thing between him and the outside. His hand reached for the handle, it was a very foolish, dangerous move he was about to make, but he was gonna do it anyway. He couldn’t stand around and just do nothing. Suddenly he grips the handle and pulls it open, and waiting for him on the other side was Mallek!

He stood there, his clothing torn apart, stained by blood, his face was bloody and fresh with bruises and cuts, purple trickling down his lip. He looks like hell as Zack just stands there staring at him, the purpleblood just looks at him but then starts to sway his body, taking a single step as he then collapses onto Zack who manages to catch him. “Mallek! H-hey! Mallek?!” Zack cries out to him but it’s no use as he’s already passed out.

Zack somehow managed to get Mallek to the couch, thankfully he was still breathing, just unconscious. Thankfully he didn’t have any serious wounds, and he knows that he’ll be okay, he could heal from this. And yet, that didn’t ease his heart, he feels so helpless as Mallek lays there, so all you can do is just sit there, holding his hand tightly until he wakes up.

...

“I don’t like fighting, or hurting someone… But I get it. Here is your world, it’s kill or be killed, death and violence are the norms here.” Zack sighs, before looking over to Mallek.

“And you, every day you have to face death, from the drones to other trolls, the climate!” Mallek knows this all, of course, it wasn’t news to him after all, it was just the way of things.

“Yeah, this place is designed to make monsters… Not enough good people, or people living in fear of accepting it. Survival of the fittest and all that nonsense. But you don’t gotta worry about it… We’re all used to it, we were born in it.”

The human’s expression dampens, it bothers him how much Mallek was just okay with all this. “I’m sorry. But I can’t accept it. I wish I could do more… If there was more I could for you, and the others.”

Mallek just stares at him, he doesn’t say anything at first. He chuckles. “You don’t have to apologize. This has nothing to do with you, it wasn’t your fault our world is like this.”

“It’s very cute…” He smiles at Zack, gently touching his forehead. His action causes a reaction from Zack making his cheeks heat up, darkening with a shade of blush.

Maybe human beings as a whole were cute, but truthfully it was more so your own biased feelings towards him. But after that incident and then the conversation between you two all those months ago, you came to the decision to ensure that the ugliness of violence, bloodshed, and death would never reflect through his eyes. Though that was easier said than done, being the leader of a gang, and constantly fighting after subjugglators for territory and drone attacks.

You know that there were those who couldn’t be reasoned with, if they learned of Zack’s existence, he would be hunted for his blood color by various trolls for many gruesome purposes. And he was precious to you, important and you would protect him, along with all those who you cherished. No matter what.

“There, all done.” Zack finishes wrapping the bandages around Diemen’s arm, the shortest of the three examines with his arm before smiling at the human.

“Gee thanks.” Diemen spreads his fingers around, shaking his arm slightly.

“Try to be more careful in the future.” Zack instructs Diemen who is just rubbing his bandages a little, Zack then holds out his fist and Diemen responds appropriately as they bump fists.

Another grin spreads across your face. Diemen then runs off, something about getting some food and that he would be right back. And you know by the food he meant nothing but hot dogs. Now it’s just the two of you, and Zack then glances over to you and notices you smiling, and returns the expression. He then approaches you, and sits beside you on the couch, instinctively you pull him close, throwing your arm around him.

He closes his eyes, a warm smile. Since you were sure that Diemen was gone, and it was just the two of you, you then pull Zack up onto your lap, his arms wrap around your neck, his head against your chest. You enjoyed having him close to you, it was mutually comforting to the both of you, he had told you that he always felt safe like this, from that first meeting when you literally picked off the ground and carried him home with him.

“Are you okay? You’ve been really quiet.” He asks you, his voice was a little slow, peaceful even.

“I’m okay. Just thinking about stuff, no need to worry.” You reply back to him, speaking in a soft, hush tone.

“If you say so.” Zack responds, he was probably trying not to pry you think, but you know that he tends to worry.

“You know… The chances are that Diemen will probably get another random injury within the next few days right?” You make a joke at the expense of Diemen’s usual careless nature when it came to him getting minor injuries or just getting into trouble.

“Ha. Yeah… I figured as much.” Zack chuckles.

You look at him, giving him a little squeeze. “Yeah, but still I know it’s pointless to tell you not to, you always treat mine, Diemen, and some of the guys when we get injured whether from an accident or fighting some assholes. And that’s who you are.”

That was one of the many things that you loved about Zack. His kind nature, the way he cared for everyone, it was such a warm feeling, a light that welcomed everyone he interacted with. Maybe that was the reason you were so set on protecting him, driven by this need to keep him safe and ensure that while remains with you that no harm would come to him.

You got lost in your thoughts again, and you look down to see that Zack has fallen asleep on you. You can feel your face warm up with blush when he nuzzles against your chest. Seriously, this was adding more to your theory on the cuteness of humans, but honestly, it was more that you found him so cute. You smile, gently stroking his hair with your claws, laying back on the couch to get more comfortable.

[wizardofrozz]

The Perfect Pair

Warnings: swearing, violence, angst, blood and gore, character death

Pairing: Loki x OFC

_____________________________________________________________

Chapter 18: Hello Brother

I shot up into a sitting position gasping for air despite the burning in my lungs. Slowly, breathing became easier, suppressing the spike of anxiety but only momentarily as I stared at Violet’s unmoving body; I dropped my head, rubbing at my eyes, waiting. I heard a gasp then coughing a few feet away; quickly, my mind caught up, and I crawled across the floor to Violet.

           “Hey, you’re okay,” I soothed, rubbing her back as she choked on fresh air.

           “That was fucking miserable,” she hacked, pressing a hand to her chest. I burst into a fit of laughter, sitting back on my heels, and dropped my head onto her shoulder to steady myself.

           “Gods, I love you,” I managed through giggles.

           “And don’t you forget it,” she shot back, snickering. “Now, where the hell are we?” I lifted my head, breathing through the last of my laughter to look around the room but still having no answer.

           “No idea,” I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter; missiles are probably already flying towards the Avengers compound.”

           “Son of a bitch. Odin really couldn’t make that any less uncomfortable?” Violet swore, rubbing her chest.

           “Come on, you pain in my ass,” I laughed, getting to my feet. Violet grumbled in protest but grabbed my outstretched hand, gingerly getting to her feet. “Get changed, and we’ll go.” I took a deep breath and my simple attire started to morph; green and black leather crawling over my skin, my cloak fluttering down behind me, the familiar weight of my helmet settling on my head. I looked over at Violet, watching her armor materialize; her raven black hair braided tightly, charcoal breastplate swirling with purple accents appeared along with rich black cloak that fell around her. “Add some new designs?” My eyes followed the soft swirls of purple that littered her cloak.

           “Shut up, plain black is so boring,” she mumbled.

           “Ready, my love?” I reached for her hand, smiling softly; she thought for a moment before meeting my eyes.

           “Almost,” she whispered. I raised an eyebrow, but my silent question was answered when her lips met mine. “Now I am.” I laughed, shaking my head as my eyes fell shut; I reached for my brother, magic tendrils flowing in all directions in hopes of finding him.

           “There you are, brother,” I whispered, teleporting us with ease.

           “Oh gods,” Violet gasped. I opened my eyes slowly and was met with a sight that could only be described as apocalyptic; the compound was in shambles, falling in on itself, smoldering debris everywhere.  

           “It doesn’t even look like we’re on Earth,” I whispered, squeezing Violet’s hand.

           “Are you scared?” she asked suddenly.

           “Terrified.”

           “Thank god I’m not alone,” she whispered. I looked down at her, fear creasing her beautiful features, only adding to my panic. “We have to get moving. Do you know where Thor is already?”

           “Not exactly. I followed him to this point, but I didn’t try for an exact spot,” I explained. Violet and I jumped when a blinding bolt of lightning exploded a few hundred feet below us, signaling we found Thor.

           “Safe to say we found him,” Violet laughed. Her laughed died off when Thanos slams Thor on his back, beating down on him repeatedly. “When are we supposed to step in!” Violet whispers harshly.

           “When we can get to Thor without running face-first into Thanos. Even with five of us, we can’t beat him,” I bark.

           “We may not make it to Thor,” she gasps. I snap my gaze to my brother to see Thanos leaning over him, pressing an ax into his chest.

           “We have to help.” I grabbed Violet’s arm, but she ripped away, her eyes still glued to the scene unfolding.

           “Look,” she mumbled to the left. I flicked my gaze away from her in time to watch Captain America catch Mjolnir; I almost choked on my own saliva, causing Violet to snort. Thanos kicked Thor through a pile of debris before facing Captain America; Thor tumbled a few feet away, landing with a thud on his back.

           “Now’s our chance,” I stated, grabbing her hand. When I opened my eyes again, my beaten and bloody brother lay unmoving a foot in front of me; Violet pulled me closer, nudging Thor’s leg.

           “Hey! Get up!” she half-yelled, kicking him harder. I ran my eyes over Thor, noticing his larger body shape, thick braided beard, and dreaded long hair.

           “I didn’t know we were taking on the likeness the Vikings imagined,” I snorted, keeping my eyes on his face. Thor’s forehead wrinkled, his eyes moving under his eyelids before a deep groan escaped his lips.

           “I was thinking the same thing. The beard is pretty impressive though,” Violet added, raising an eyebrow.

           “Usually, he keeps it short, makes him look younger,” I snickered.

           “W-wha…” Thor tried, his arm shifting at his side.

           “Come on, big guy, open those pretty blues,” Violet called, kicking his leg again.

           “Hey!” I protested, slightly hurt.

           “Are you really going to doubt me now? I’m your wife that came back from the dead to rule with you,” she deadpanned.

           “…alright, got me there,” I admitted, rubbing my neck. Thor screwed his eyes shut tighter, his arm finally moving, very slowly, towards his face, rubbing between his eyes.

           “I’m losing it,” he whispered, scrubbing at his face. “I'm still hearing their banter from beyond the grave.” Violet glanced over at me, raising an eyebrow as she tried to hold back a laugh; I covered my smile with the back of my hand, moving my gaze back to Thor.  

           “Can you lose your mind later? We have shit to take care of,” Violet grunted, shifting to place her hands on her hips. Thor froze, his eyes flying open, trying to adjust again; his eyes slowly grew wider as he looked back and forth between Violet and me.

           “What the fuck…” he whispered, his eyes still moving.

           “Woah, he uses that word?” Violet laughed.

           “But…” Thor tried again, only to fall quiet.

           “Listen, Lebowski, if you yell that we’re alive again, I’m putting you back to sleep.” Violet popped a hip out, her hands still resting on them as she glared down at Thor.

           “Lebowski?” I asked, my face scrunching in confusion.

           “What, I’ve watched movies before,” she shrugged.

           “How did you escape? I-I watched you both…” Thor stumbled over his words, tears forming in his eyes.

           “Come on, let’s get you up,” I offered softly, reaching a hand to him. I pulled Thor to his feet, throwing his arm over my shoulder to steady him; Violet wiggled her way under his other arm to help him walk.

           “To answer your question, you should probably thank your father for sending us back,” Violet said, smiling up at Thor. He turned to look down at her for a few seconds before turning his gaze to me again.

           “Odin did this?” he mumbled, supporting more of his weight on his own the longer we walked.

           “Yes, but we can discuss this later. We have a Titan to take care of.” I smacked Thor’s back, stopping in my tracks, not wanting to get too close before Thor could hold himself up.

           “We can’t win,” he groaned. Thor straightened up, rolling his head on his shoulders, stretching his arms; he already looked better than a few minutes ago. “Five of us isn’t enough.”

           “Good thing there are more than five of us,” I smirked, pointing towards the growing portals. I stepped behind Thor, resting my hand on his shoulder and grabbing Violet’s hand, teleporting us next to where Captain America stood.

           “Thor,” Steve said with a relieved sigh. “Wait, I thought you two were….dead,” he stumbled.

           “Doesn’t stick,” Violet joked, jabbing me with her elbow.

           “We’re here to help,” I added, glaring at Violet, who only smiled back sweetly.

           “Thank you,” Steve said with a smile. “I mean it.” Steve turned to look at the growing army but turned back to us. “You’re going to need earpieces.” Then, with a flick of my wrist, I felt a pressure in my ear and noticed Violet flinch, touching her ear.

           “Done,” I chirped; Steve smirked, shaking his head. I looked over my shoulder, noticing more people pouring out of portals, getting closer; a Pegasus circling overhead, caught my attention.

           “Hey.” I nudged Violet, pointing above our heads; Violet’s face lit up when she recognized the flying animal.

           “Bea? Bea!” she screamed, waving her arms. The winged horse descended, landing gracefully a few feet away, trotting towards us.

           “No fucking way!” Bea shouted, a huge smile spreading across her face. Violet blew her a kiss then turned back towards Thanos’ army, taking a deep breath.

           “You ready, trickster?” she asked, looking up at me.

           “As ready as I’ll ever be,” I sighed, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. Violet twirled the impressive long sword that materialized in her hand, squaring her shoulder. I sucked in a deep breath, deciding to use a long sword as well, and relaxing slightly when the weight settled in my hand.

           “Avengers!” Steve screamed. I chanced a glance back, swallowing a gasp at the sheer number of people filling the space behind us. “Assemble.” The misfit army erupted, battle cries filling the air as everyone took off towards Thanos’ army. Chaos commenced as the armies clashed, bodies slamming together with loud thuds; Violet was thrown back into my chest, roaring in anger.

           “Throw me up!” she yelled. I responded without hesitation, launching her in the air and using the momentum to throw a ball of magic at an approaching Chitauri. My sword materialized in my hand again as I slashed through an Outrider, pushing closer to Violet, who was jumping and spinning like a deadly dancer. I jumped out of the way of a giant fist as a man, who I assume was the Falcon, slammed into the massive creature’s chest, stabbing his metal wings into the gorilla.

           “Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?” Hawkeye’s voice erupted in my ear.

           “Get those stones as far away as possible!” Steve answered. I ducked, dodging another large punch, knocking the gorilla back with another blast of magic.

           “No! We need to get them back where they came from,” Bruce shouted.

           “Bruce!” I heard Violet’s voice next.

           “Violet?! You’re alive!” Bruce exclaimed. “Loki?”

           “Hello, Bruce!” I yelled, grunting as an Outrider slammed into my chest.

           “No way to get them back. Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel,” Stark’s voice cut in, interrupting our greetings. I struggled against the weight on my chest, holding back the creatures snapping jaws; suddenly, the weight was lifted, and the Outrider was knocked away.

           “Now’s not the time for rest, brother,” Thor laughed, pulling me to my feet.

           “Hilarious,” I snorted, shaking my head as he flew off again. I shook my head, landing a kick against the chest of another Outrider, sending it flying back. I heard the faint sound of music from somewhere off in the distance.

           “Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?” Steve’s voice came through again.

           “Yes! But you're not gonna like where it's parked!” Bea shouted. Ignoring the intercom system, I glanced around, catching a glimpse of Violet, eyes glowing an unnerving bright purple before a blast of magic burst from her chest, knocking numerous Outriders back. I tore through the few Chitauri between us, almost stumbling into her from the force of ramming my blade through one a Chitauri.

           “Hey baby!” she yelled, yanking her sword up through the upper body of an Outrider. I noticed her cloak was gone, and she was covered in gore but smiling so brightly, it could put the sun to shame.

           “You’re incredible,” I laughed. Violet winked before yanking me forward, twirling to bring her sword down on another creature. I regained my footing and fell into a rhythm with Violet, gracefully moving around her as we tore through the endless hoard of creatures. When the first cannon exploded from above us, Violet and I froze, watching missiles rain down on the battlefield.

           “Well shit,” Violet grunted. I huffed a sigh, close lining a passing Outrider before stabbing it in the chest then spinning to avoid being tackled.

           “What the hell is this?” Falcon’s voice erupted in my ear. I backed up into Violet as I looked at the ship, seeing the canons changing direction.

           “What the hell?” she mumbled, narrowing her eyes.

           “F.R.I.D.A.Y., what are they firing at?” Stark said this time, but I didn’t hear the answer.

           “Something’s coming through the atmosphere,” Violet said, pointed at the crackle of light flying through the clouds. A figure emerged from the clouds, bursting through Thanos’ ship, tearing a hole through it, causing an explosion.

           “Oh yeah!” an unfamiliar voice screamed.

           “Danvers, we need some assistance here,” Steve’s voice cut in.

           “Danvers?” Violet mumbled, raising an eyebrow at me; I shrugged. “I think it’s time,” she says, nodding over my shoulder. I glanced back, realizing how close we got to the van everyone was looking for and catching a glimpse of the Titan stalking through the battlefield.

           “Go, I’ll watch your back,” I stated, ushering her forward. Violet jogged towards a group of three women I didn’t recognize, stepping into Thanos’ path; I couldn’t fight the terror that seeped into my bones as I watched her face off against the Titan again. I fought off two Outriders, catching a glimpse of the blast that threw Thanos back as a streak of light flew past. I jogged closer to Violet, meeting her halfway, only to be knocked back slightly by a wave of energy.

           “What do we have here?” Thanos laughs, his eyes falling on Violet and me. I closed my eyes, forcing as much of my magic as possible into a compact ball between my hands; quickly seeing Violet mimicking me, I nodded, pushing the magic forward. The green and purple wave of magic launched Thanos back, sending him skidding through the dirt; I tried to step forward, only to fall to my knees, head spinning. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Violet is bent at the waist, close to falling too.

           “Brother!” Thor yells, wrenching me to my feet, smacking my face.

           “Go!” I yelled, pushing him forward when I noticed Stark slamming into Thanos. Thor hesitates for a second longer before attacking Thanos with help from Captain America. “Vi?” I called, still a little unsteady on my feet.

           “I’ll be okay,” she pants, swaying as she stood again. We tried to move forward, only to notice a second too late that Thor’s body was flying right for us, knocking us off our feet; the three of us rolled a few times, landing in a heap.

           “Damnit, Thor!” Violet cried. I tried to blink away the black spot in my vision to find her; I shouted at the sharp kick to my kidney. Well, that’ll clear my vision.

           “Hold still!” Thor yelled at Violet. Thor gently rolled onto his back, relieving the pressure from my chest and the weight off Violet’s legs.

           “Everyone okay?” I panted, pulling myself into a sitting position.

           “Wonderful,” Thor grunted, sitting with his back to me.

           “I’ll live,” Violet groaned, getting to her knees next to me.

           “We should go….” Thor vaguely gestured towards Thanos. “It’s-“A blinding white light cut off Thor. “No…” Thor blanched, snapping his head towards me, scrambling to his feet.

           “Thor!” I called desperately, reaching a hand towards him. Thor pulled me to my feet and reaching down to yank Violet to her feet by her arm.

           “No, Odin told us how it should go!” Violet whispered harshly, jogging after Thor. I stopped as I rounded the corner of the debris, causing Violet to run into my back. “What…” she broke off.

           “It did,” I whispered, slowly dropping to one knee next to Thor. Violet followed my lead, dropping her head forward, sighing raggedly. Thor sniffled next to me, wiping at his face aggressively; I threw an arm over his shoulder, pulling him close. He froze for a moment before sagging against me; Violet crawled around to his other side, rubbing circles on his back. Thor wrapped an arm around her, letting her head fall on his shoulder while he rubbed her arm.

           “It’s over,” Thor whispered.

_____________________________________________________________

Series Masterlist | Chapter 19

Taglist:

@criminalyetminimal​ @marvelfansworld​ 

[clocktowncourage]

@dcviated

Lifetimes after a young soldier named Atro disappeared in a mysterious mansion, a horse carriage pulls up to its front door. Its three passengers are tired. They must have come a long way, if the fresh layer of road dirt on the carriage and the sweat soaking under the horses’ tack is any evidence. But arriving at their destination seems to breathe new life into them, and they exit the carriage with an energy that wasn’t there before.

Kafei looks over his shoulder at Avver, the Clock Town soldier who’s on his way to tie up the horses. Avver nods back at Kafei. Kafei’s father, Mayor Dotour, is used to people doing things for him and walks on ahead, smiling slightly at the perfect weather. Kafei turns back and catches up to his father, who is ambling on with a combination of purpose and aimlessness that reminds him of an oversized bee.

He noticed that Dotour is treating Avver like scenery, and it doesn’t sit right; Kafei isn’t from his parents’ generation, and he certainly isn’t a politician. He doubts his father will ever change, there will surely always be tension between them. But somehow, this trip has been unusually pleasant. They talked about books and history, which had become a welcome topic of conversation for a trip focused on initial efforts to rescue a lost library. Kafei was surprised by how much Dotour knew about history, an interest he usually accepts as too niche to talk to most people about. And Dotour seemed surprised by just how much Kafei knew. Sometimes Dotour doesn’t like to learn that people know more than him about things. But that was okay too, somehow. Things have been going so unnaturally well that Kafei is almost waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“There it is,” Dotour says with satisfaction, crossing his arms and looking at the old mansion. “Let’s get your books.”

“Well, the town’s books,” Kafei laughs humbly. “It would be the opposite of helping your image for the election if people thought that I was taking the books.” He looks back over his shoulder at Avver again, for new reasons entirely.

But Dotour doesn’t answer him. Just bobs his head from side to side noncommittally. And suddenly, the other shoe is on the ground, and Kafei knows.

“You didn’t... you didn’t come here because of publicity that will help you win the election,” he says slowly, looking at his father. “People in Clock Town don’t care about books and they don’t care about history. This isn’t part of your campaign at all.”

Dotour makes a noncommittal noise and shakes his head from side to side again. Now he’s smiling. Kafei is not. Kafei was being caught in webs before he was trying to catch people in them. The feeling of suddenly finding that he’d been carefully steered into something of the old man’s design is familiar and humiliating, even if it’s well-intentioned this time around. There’s a memory of a child’s bafflement at trying to keep up with an adult, tangled up in the experience. Was his father smarter than him? Or just older?

“If you want to spend time with me, you can just spend time with me!” Kafei snaps, taking a step back and glaring. “Play the sad violin about Mom being too pushy to communicate with all you’d like, but I’m not her!”

“It is for the campaign,” Dotour says, suddenly serious. Kafei blinks. Dotour sighs, a warning tell that he’s going to cooperate but sees it as a special sacrifice he expects credit for. “I have been running a town that makes my son want to disappear,” he says quietly. “What would you think of that, in my place? You’re quite right that no one cares about history or restoring a library. But it will only be seen as respectable and mature if a mayoral candidate starts caring more about things like that. I want to make Clock Town a place where you want to live, Kafei.”

Kafei never could have predicted just how many people would really notice if he disappeared for a month without warning. For a moment, all he can do is stare at his father. He’s not sure how he feels about this. Then he thinks about it some more and decides he’s angry.

“No,” he says, finally. “You don’t get to do this to me. You can’t tie me up in a grand gesture that’s hidden behind twelve layers of secrecy and put the responsibility on me to magically guess what it represents and do all the work to make that heal our relationship. The minute things get hard when we have real conversations, you always tap out, you blame things on other people, usually me. And for the record, you treated me like I was invisible for a long time before I disappeared. Do you want this conversation? Do you really want this? Is this for my benefit at all, or just for you? If you apologize for literally anything, I’ll talk to you. Literally one thing.”

Dotour looks taken aback. “Well... well I don’t know what you mean by an apology,” he says carefully, not looking at Kafei. “I thought the day has been going pretty well so far...”

Kafei snorts like exactly, then storms into the old mansion by himself, leaving Dotour blinking in the sunlight. The worst part of this is, they have a trip of several hours ahead of them just to get back to town, and they’re probably going to spend it fighting. Or sullenly silent. Kafei runs the conversation over in his mind. Was he too harsh? Would Dotour spend half this much energy wondering about his impact on Kafei? The library, at least, is exactly what he hoped it would be. He almost forgets about the fight as he takes in just how many books are here.

Then he steps on an old bloodstain. And the one who’s been trying to be remembered crosses paths with the one who’s been trying to disappear.

_______________

When the horrible sensation stops, Kafei is lying on the floor of the mansion. There’s something on his face. He slowly reaches up to touch it. It’s cold and metallic, and he can’t get it off. Okay. He sits up slowly and inspects an awful swollen bite on his right arm. How? When? Why?? He doesn’t have to roll up his sleeve to see it, and his outfit doesn’t even have sleeves anymore, he’s wearing a loose tunic and sandals.

He’s just taken all of this in, and suddenly a group of soldiers with spears are running towards him, shouting Atro! Atro!! His days tangled up with the Curiosity Shop man’s little operation have left him with a strong impression that he’s got nothing to say to soldiers and policemen and the like. His thoughts immediately go to how guilty he might look, how he might talk his way out of the encounter. But this group treats him like a long lost friend. And then he realizes that they’re wearing the same outfit that he is. When that clicks, he smiles and acts like he recognizes them, mind racing, looking for clues about what in the world is going on. His ‘buddies’ help him stand and bring him back out of the mansion, supporting him between them no matter how much he insists that he's just fine (a lie). 

The first major clue comes in the form of meeting Captain Keeta face to face. There’s no question it’s him. The other soldiers call him that, and he looks just like the illustrations Kafei has seen in books. Now his legs really do fail to support him, completely. What!! How is this possible?

The history books write Captain Keeta as quite the positive figure, like someone you’d want to be friends with. Face to face with the man, Kafei suddenly understands that a military commander from a country that actively wages wars is like, an ultimate kind of cop. Kafei feels guilty for lying to the soldiers and acting like Atro. He feels guilty for things he did back in his own timeline. He feels guilty for things he might do in the future. But Captain Keeta, it turns out, also cares quite a lot about looking out for his soldiers. He asks Kafei about the wound. He shows real sympathy for the injury.

But then he asks him why there’s a golden spider mask on his face. And then they try to get it off, and they can’t. And then Captain Keeta wants to know why they can’t get it off. And when Kafei doesn’t have a good answer, Captain Keeta arrests him.

Well, not really. But the Captain sure as hell knows that his soldier didn’t go into that spider-infested mansion with a mark of the enemy stuck to his face. The bite is suspicious too. He doesn’t say, You’re under arrest, but he does say that the mission will be delayed and that he needs to take Atro back to the capitol to be seen by a shaman. And until they can get a shaman to look at Atro’s situation, there will unfortunately be a possibility that Atro could be a danger to the other soldiers, so he’s placed under a sort of quarantine. ...Saying that Kafei got arrested sure does capture the gist while saving time.

The journey to the capitol is uncomfortable. Kafei is able to gain some sympathy and push away suspicion by maintaining that he has amnesia from his experience and can only remember his name. But Captain Keeta hasn’t been told any details that would explain amnesia from natural causes, so that simply makes him more suspicious about just how bad this curse might be. The two soldiers who come with them are friendly, but they mirror the Captain’s suspicions, which really drives a wedge. Kafei considers wryly that the universe heard that he didn’t want to ride back to Clock Town with his father just to fight or stew and gave him an alternative. No, yeah, this is worse. He also finds out that Atro is only eighteen, and he almost laughs out loud, at that. Is it just his fate, to keep getting cursed into some form of tater tot? He’s oddly calm...he’s grateful for it, but he has no illusion that it will last.

When they get to the capitol, there’s a huge celebration going on, and... could Kafei be blamed for slipping into the crowd at the first opportunity? That’s his go-to reaction to being arrested, at any rate. He genuinely feels guilty about stealing a keaton mask (Ikana had keaton masks!) from a partygoer who isn’t paying attention to their stuff. Unfortunately for the partygoer, having a big spider stuck to his face, and being seen in that state, and getting caught, is scarier to Kafei than the guilt. Artfully swiping some meat on a stick from a vendor only feels right, for completing the disguise of definitely belonging here. Then the music changes and everybody starts dancing in an area over there, and Kafei rushes over and slyly takes the hand of a silver-haired girl. He asks her how this one goes, bobbing to the music like he’s having a good time, like he’s a happy puppy who’s just met a new friend. He’d definitely forgive Anju for rushing to go dance with a boy if it was to distract people trying to arrest her again. Not that anybody would try to arrest Anju. Oh wow, he really pities the self who will have to deal with all of this shit that’s going on, once the shock wears off.

[kyungsoomint]

YOURS: Emotions

credit to respective owners for photos

Member: Park Chanyeol (박찬열) / Byun Baekhyun (변백현)

Genre: Angst, Fluff & Smut (Later on)

Word Count:  3.8 k

Notes: So for this one, I tend to overdo it. I said to myself that I should stop but sometimes you just can’t :) Apologize for any mistakes made!

YOURS:

| Above & Beyond | Emotions | Endless Night | Moments | Future |

Next Update: August 9

Seoul, 3 months later

"Well I know that you need a car because you don't like people driving you around," her father said, "That's why I bought you a car" he extended his hand to give BMW's car key to her. "You don't have to dad, I'm fine with everything" she was deeply moved by another kind gesture of her foster father. "Oh please! I know that you love big car, SUV and you used to own an Audi. So I thought maybe, getting another SUV with the different brand seems like a fresh start for you" she was awed at the fact that he knows she likes SUV best more than a sedan. She was adopted by a couple, Kim Youngchul and Kim Eunkyung at the age of 7 years old. At that time, she wasn't even sure if someone wants to take her as their daughter and yet there they were raising her as their own child with all of the love and expensive gifts they bought for her. She was grateful for the fact that she's raised by a loving couple and also eager to pay them back.

It was 9 am when Baekhyun came into her office, with the biggest boyish grin she has ever seen "How's your flight yesterday?" he was leaning into the door frame. "It was nice, great weather with no air turbulence" she automatically smiled at him. Baekhyun is just that person that always brings up a smile on people. "Well, that's nice. Anyway, we have a board meeting in an hour. It'll be interesting to meet everyone on the board!" She was about to question him about the 'interesting' part but he quickly got out of her room after saying bye. She shrugged away her thoughts by continuing what her father has left her with pretty much already organized works. She happened to understand the way her father works, so it wasn't a big problem for her.

The meeting room was massive, pretty much designed for board or investors meeting. There was floor to ceiling window that brings light into the dark atmosphere. Black furniture mostly with some touch of black granite. "Good morning, Junmyeon" she greeted Junmyeon who just entered the room. Junmyeon was followed by a much taller man behind, that person sat in front of her. She would categorize as handsome as fuck sitting in front of her, that person didn't look familiar for her. In which, Baekhyun realized that they haven't got to introduce each other, "Oh! So this is Oh Sehun, our Chief Marketing Officer" Sehun then waved his hand, "Hello, I'm Oh Sehun. You must be (Y/N)!" His eyes were projecting excitement. She replied to his enthusiasm with a smile and non, just after that, Chanyeol entered the room. Not surprisingly, his aura radiated throughout the room. She knew even if he smiles, he will still radiate the same energy, the same dominant energy out of him. It's just simply not because he lacked smiling but there's that too.

The meeting started as soon as Chanyeol sat on his chair. They were presenting about weekly reports such as marketing strategy or how well the products received by their customers. Most of the time (Y/N) just took notes to understand the company more. She noticed the way Chanyeol was giving out comments to everyone, in most stoic yet dreadful ones. Whilst, Baekhyun smiled every time he talks about something. He seemed passionate about what he's doing, even if the CEO's not him. "Let's end the meeting here. Baekhyun, I want you to look out a more efficient way of producing the new product, something that doesn't lower the value" his brows were squinting together, "And, (Y/N) I need the weekly financial report by 3 pm. Please report to my office by then". Sure, it's very Chanyeol, she thought to herself. Only three hours to compile everything, she tried hard not to roll her eyes at him, well because of course, he's her boss for fuck's sake. She could see that Baekhyun was giving her an apologetic smile for his friend's usual behavior. It didn't shock her at all, she knew that even if she had so many experiences before, she still has to prove herself to Chanyeol. Man of an action not words, that's what he's. One thing for sure, she immediately thought that it's better to work for Baekhyun than for Chanyeol. She was also unsure why Baekhyun didn't take the role of the CEO since they started the company together.

Back at her office, sure the work environment that she's in made her think from important to the most unimportant stuff. There were lots of stuff going in and out from her mind from how good looking everyone is, how could you even manage to have good looking people with an amazing brain? And there's Chanyeol, she knew that Chanyeol was being skeptical of her. She wanted to prove to him that she got the position not solidly because her father too, she has great potentials, her performance used to be praised by the previous company. Sure if there wasn't her father, she wouldn't be here, but she crawled herself up into this peak point through sweat and tears. Even if she knew that she might lack stuff yet she's ready to prove himself to him.

While overthinking, suddenly Baekhyun entered the room with his fresh cologne blazing through the air. "Hello! How are you doing so far?" Baekhyun entered with a cup, where it seemed to be coffee? "You are gonna be used to Chanyeol" he continued with a smile "Here's a coffee for you, to get through the day". Baekhyun's surely a nice person, with a very bubbly life of course. He sat in front of her, "So, how's your first day?" Baekhyun placed his hands on the table and wrapped his fingers all together. "Well, it's nice to have some pressure and I'm also used to that" she took a sip out of cup and Baekhyun gave a sigh. "Chanyeol is always like that in the first place, eventually he will warm up to you. I can guarantee you that, he wasn't even like the idea of my existence, look at we now" Baekhyun scrunched his eyebrows together, "Hmm, he still hates me sometimes but I do know sometimes what he shows outside doesn't reflect what he's feeling inside" Baekhyun turned into a big grin kid. She returned him with a smile, "You two almost look alike, the fact that I talk much more than the two of you, that horrifies me" Baekhyun pretended to look scared of her. "You talk a lot, Mr. Byun, that's why probably I talk lesser than you" Baekhyun huffed, "Why is everyone keeps on telling me that? But surely those who said that love me" Baekhyun winked at her which earned a laugh from her. Baekhyun sure is a silly person, she thought to herself. "Okay then, I'll disturb you again later on, just because you have a report to be done in 1 hour" Baekhyun went out from her office. Baekhyun sure was loud and talkative but he's the person that will light up the mood for the room. She kinda liked that about him, he made her feel easier to work here by having those types of vibes.

She made her way into Chanyeol's office 5 minutes before 3 pm, she hasn't been inside but she saw his office while her father and Junmyeon were showing her around the office. She met his secretary in front, if she wasn't wrong, his name's Jaejin. "Sir, Ms. Kim is here to hand over the report," he said through the phone. "You can go inside Miss" he was giving a polite smile to her. She went inside his office and she mesmerized by the black interior of his office. Sure, black does give a feeling of safety and comfort to her. His office faced the busy street of Seoul with ceiling to floor length glass. It's almost dark yet warm experience at the same time. Everything in his office seemed to be nice and well designed. "Do you find my office that interesting?" Chanyeol broke the silence which made her jump a little bit because she was so focused looking around. "I love black, so I should say that is place is nice and interesting. I love the ornaments, everything in this place seems nice and comfortable" she turned around to have a good look at his office while smiling. She suddenly realized what was she doing and feeling embarrassed, she handed him the report he asked earlier. "Here is the report you ask, 3 pm sharp, sir", Chanyeol shot his head up after hearing the word sir came out of her mouth "Please call me Chanyeol, as colleagues, I think sir seems too old for me" well, once Chanyeol actually smiled. That was the first time she sees him smile whereas, he rarely showed any emotions before. She was amused to explore that side of him which made her slip out a little back. She tried to gain composure as soon as possible while Chanyeol turned his head into the report. He scanned the report pretty fast, "Impressive work for such a short amount of time" he placed the report at the side of the document that he was signing before she got there. "Working under pressure is my forte", Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at her and leaned back into his leather comfy chair. "Well, you will be looking forward to more of that in the future, you good to go" she gave him a nod and turned her heels around to exit his office. "I almost forgot", she turned to face him again, "Tomorrow, we are meeting one of the key investors. I need you to go with me, 11 am" there was what she would call as a bossy attitude with calmer vibes getting out of him. He used phrases that someone would take as a bossy/possessive person yet that person talks with confidence and calm energy. "Sure, where?" She questioned him. "Don't worry, I'll drive you there" he replied. "Well, okay then" she walked out of his office and realized the fact that he said he'll drive her there.

The rest of the day went by quickly before she realized that the sun has set itself for more than 1 hour where everyone has gone home. As she walked out of her office, she noticed that light still coming from the corner of the big hallway, that's where Chanyeol's office located. Out of curiosity, she made her way down to his office. His secretary was nowhere to be found so she straight out knocking into the wooden black door. She sneaked her head through the door, "Aren't you going home?" She was curious knowing that having a black-themed office at daylight is awesome, at night, well it's scary. "I usually go home around 9 pm, if you are curious" there was a slight flush coming out from her cheeks, fortunately, Chanyeol's office was dark at night so she believed that he couldn't see it. She hummed, "Thank you for the information" she almost wanted to roll her eyes. "Have a good night" he replied with a nod and left his office. Chanyeol could hear the clacking sound of her heels fading out, almost how he heard her approach his office before, the same Valentino black heels. He was taken back by her sudden visit into his office, but like always he plays it cool. After she left his office, she was questioning herself about her unexpected visit too, clearly, auras were clashing. She wasn't the type of person that could be dominated nor was he. So there's a reason why and also she won't be easily be scared of someone. Mainly that's the reason why she was brave enough more than other people to stop by Chanyeol's office, peeping through the door and asking stuff that most people didn't do.

Seoul, the next morning

"I love driving. Also, I love off-road big SUVs. I hope that's sufficient enough to answer your questions" Chanyeol said which answered most of the questions going through her mind. They were standing in the lobby when a grey metallic G-class Mercedes Benz approached them. Unimportant thoughts started to flow through her mind, quite unexpected for a CEO to use G-class since they usually use S-class or such and of course, they don't drive by themselves. She was shocked and amused at the same time by Chanyeol's impromptu answer. "It's written within your face, don't people do that a lot to you?" He said as they were already inside the car. "No. Pretty much not a lot that can identify or find within me" she replied which earned a nod from him, the car fell into silence mode. Chanyeol sure didn't do much of the talking, when he does, he's really good at it. There was an instant urge coming from her, something that she wanted to ask, "Do you know that you radiate that sort of dominant energy all the time?" There she spat it out, in front of her new boss. Chanyeol turned his face to her for a second but she failed to notice because she was looking out of the window. "Does that bother you?", she hummed in response to him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Chanyeol lightly tapped into the steering wheel, "We both know that we have the same energy going. Doesn't it always bother people like us?" There he said 'us', she was taken back by his use of describing her and him. He seemed to take a lot of interest only to the company and himself and him saying that seemed like a different world. At the same time, Chanyeol didn't realize the word he's using was something he didn't usually use as for people to people conversation. After that, the car ride fell into silence again. She could say that Chanyeol's very interesting person and you could say much like him to her too.

They returned to the office around 1 pm, whereas the work has pilled up alongside with a crumbling stomach. Suddenly, Baekhyun perked up from the door. "Hello!" His voice sounded very energetic like always. "I know you haven't got to eat lunch yet", Baekhyun placed a brown paper bag into her desk, "So I bring you some salad with sesame dressing". Her lips formed into an 'o', "Wow, how do you know?". Baekhyun sat in front of her desk while opening his own salad, "I called Mr. Kim to ask about what kind of dressing you usually have?" He said with a playful smile. She mixed the dressing and salad together, "And why are you doing that?". Baekhyun tried to answer her but failed miserably since his voice was getting muffled by a mouth full of salad. "I said, It's because I want to impress you of course" he then proceeds to stuff more food into his mouth. "Well, it's impressive, thank you Mr. Byun Baekhyun" Baekhyun continued the rest of the lunch with endless topics like he wasn't going to run out of it anytime soon. She found Baekhyun as a very interesting and outgoing person, she talked to her almost like he has known her for such a long time as if they have been friends for years. "So last Sunday, I went cycling at the park and I almost face plant myself into dog poop, as I said almost, I think it's within 2-3 centimeters from my face" Baekhyun made a 'yuck' sound. She let out some light laugh and packed the finished foods into the bag again. "I'm looking forward to more stupid stories", he gave her continuous nods "Sure thing", he gave a wink and went out from her office. Baekhyun's a fun person to hang out with, time went by fast with him.

Weeks and months went by as she has fully adjusted into the company. Chanyeol has taken her to more key investors for financial report presentation. One time she thought that Chanyeol was very keen to keep her busy not only behind the table. The more she worked with him, the more she understood him. That day was another day of investor meeting, "I'm going to drive today, not you" she took the lead out of him without hearing Chanyeol complained behind her. They made their way into the basement where (Y/N)'s car was parked. "I didn't know that this is your car, the car that somehow always park next to me?" Chanyeol was amused to know that the car that's always park next to him, which is also an SUV was droved by (Y/N). "Yeah. How about that?" She opened the car door and both of them got inside. "You were surprised to discover that I drive such a car and now look at yours, it's massive." For once, she really got to roll her eyes at him, "I'm sorry, did you just roll your eyes at me?" Chanyeol has fully turned his body to face her. "Weren't you being judgemental at me?" He continued. As the car approached into the street, she then proceeds to face him, "Then, I'm sorry, sir". Chanyeol proceeded a huff of disagreement, she knew how much he hates to be called that from the directors, "What did I say about the sir, I'm not that old". Her eyes were focused on the road, "In my knowledge, I know one thing for sure that you are older than me, sooo" there was a slight smirk forming from her lips, "using sir sometimes does suit you".

"I love driving big SUV, I used to drive one too in NYC" she broke the usual car ride silence which earned her a nod from Chanyeol. "Isn't driving SUV makes you feel you can see everything clearer and better?" It hit her at the perfect spot, "YEAH RIGHT?" Her voice was louder than he has ever heard before. "Sorry, you were startled weren't you?" They were stopping at the red light, "There are of course many things that I don't know about you and that one counts". There was a sudden urge coming from her that wanted to say well you too not so different. It was around 5 pm when they arrived to have the meeting. That's why the sun has set when they finished. "Let's grab something before I drop you off. I'm guessing that you are a picky person, regardless I'm still picking the place" she said before Chanyeol was able to cut her. "Impressive, you don't even need my opinion" Sure she could sense his sarcasm well, "I do need to impress my boss still" she shrugged. She stopped at a parking lot, "I see nothing here" Chanyeol said. "Of course we need to walk it's a narrow street, cars can't get in" they got out of the car and walked side by side, which was awkward yet comfortable as the night summer air blazing through.

"You thought, I'm going to take you to some fancy restaurant right? Nope," she said as she scooped the soup with rice into her mouth. "I'll say that I kinda like it" sure, of course, he liked it, the restaurant has been here for what? More than 30 years? "I might drive BMW, wear expensive clothes but let me say this, I like this type of food. Right here" a smile escaped from her lips, for once she saw tenderness from his big round eyes. She quickly drifted her gaze back into the food. "I'd like you to take me places," Chanyeol said which made her shot her head up again, back at him. Then, it hit him "I MEAN RESTAURANT like you know, foods, nice foods" he almost shouted and struggled to find the right words. It was followed by a nervous laugh from him which laugh's also rare when it comes to Chanyeol. "Sure, it's not like I'm going to resign tomorrow" she gave a cool shrug, masking that inside part of her was scrambling like crazy.

She drove back to S&S Co. Building where the time was 10 pm already. Surprisingly, they found out that they have already closed the access to the basement. "Shit, I forgot to tell them that my car's still inside" Chanyeol pressed his hand into his forehead thinking what a dumb shit fuck he is. Of course, (Y/N) would feel bad if she just left him there, "I can drive you home" Chanyeol was still trying to get hold of his assistant, "I can grab a taxi, that's fine" which earned a disapproval huff from her. "No, I actually insist on doing it since you pay for the food before I can!" With that, she hit the gas and drove away from the building. Chanyeol sighed at his defeat, "Now, where do you live?". "You need to turn right" he pointed out into the street. "I-Park Samsung" those words alone brought her head to face him. "I-Park?" And Chanyeol replied with a nod. "What tower?" She asked more and more to fulfill her curiosity because she lived there too. "102. Why you ask?" The more she asked the more relevant it's to her. "What floor?" She continued to ask him, "Floor 45" fortunately, she was stopping at the red light. She quickly glanced at him, she wanted to know whether he knew she has been living on the same floor with him or not. Chanyeol was giving her a confused look which means he didn't know. The thing's there are only 2 units on the 45th floor. "I'm not sure whether you know or not. But I live there too, same tower" she released one deep sigh, "same floor. Which means we have been neighbors for months" Chanyeol's eyes widened, "I thought you are living with Mr. Kim?" He questioned. "Fun fact of me, I like to live alone probably because I spent much time alone abroad" little did she know that Chanyeol understood what she's talking about yet he didn't expect her to live next to him. It was thrilling yet exciting to know who's your neighbor, knowing that her neighbor's not a psychopath or some sort of crazy person. But the fact that the person's Chanyeol embedded more meaning.

The next day, she offered to drive him into the office. It was weird coming out from the door at the same time while entering the door and seeing the same person too. But Chanyeol was polite he actually said thank you at her. Another rare thing she experienced. As she got into her office, Baekhyun burst into her office with a maroon suede suit. "I just want to inform you that" he took out his phone and show an image at her, "In two weeks, we will have the 8th anniversary of S&S. This year we are throwing a party at one of the Clubs owned by us. You need to come" Baekhyun said excitedly. She could only reply to him with a yes following with nods. "Good, now I have to do some works" Baekhyun left her office. She was left with her own thoughts, shit, a party? How long has it been since the last time I went.

[romewritingshop]

Wake up Parker! Chapter Fourteen: Rivals know better

Relationship: Peter Parker x Tall Older Reader (Peter is 22 and Reader is 26/27)

Warnings: Acknowledging feelings

Word Count Total: 1878 (This Chapter)

Tagged: @bggerbtch @technicallykawaiisoul

Summary: Peter Parker is a student in the city of Brooklyn. He’s lazy, spoilt and he procrastinates a lot. He meets a woman named (Y/N), She’s recently moved to Brooklyn for an independent life. Something Peter is fascinated by. Over the course of a few months, Peter needs to realise that he has to grow up and become responsible for his life.

WAKE UP PARKER! MASTERLIST

“Moving to a new place isn’t easy, but once you take the first step of saying: “Yes you can!” It gets easier. Trust me on this.”

(Y/N) tapped her fingers against the metal table, eyes darting between the paper in Clint’s hand and his facial expression. After three days, she was finally able to finish the article. She was anxious for Clint’s reaction, hoping that if it was enough to impress him, it would impress Mr. Barnes. Clint put down the paper and took a look at his friend. She straightened her posture and adjusted her black jumper.

“Well?”

Clint held up a finger and finished off his quinoa salad, taking a sip of his water and turned to (Y/N) with a bright smile.

“I think it’s great. It’s clear and I feel your personality from your words. It’s powerful. Why are you not a writer?”

(Y/N) smiles before she slaps Clint’s arm.

“Did you have to make me wait for your praise?”

Clint rubbed his arm.

“Yeah! I had to get some food in me before I could vocally express my admiration.”

She gave a nod and spotted Mr. Barnes from across the room, talking to Steve.

“Do you think Mr. Barnes will like it?”

“He’d have to be an asshole not to like it. You should go show him now.”

(Y/N) gave a nod and stood up with purpose. Clutching to the single sheet article and walking away from the break room towards Mr. Barnes. He finishes his conversation with Steve and spots (Y/N) heading towards him. Just the person he needed.

“(Y/N)! Good, can you get me my coffee and then I need to see you in my office to start the layout plan for the fashion section?”

(Y/N) gave a nod and followed Mr. Barnes to his office, trying to get his attention. He stopped in front of his office door and glanced back at (Y/N), seeing she had a paper in her hand.

“Mr. Barnes, I wrote this article and wanted your feedback, if you get a moment.”

“(Y/N) can I please get my coffee?”

She gave a nod and Mr. Barnes went into his office and closed the door. Surely he was busy and he’s always grumpy without coffee. She took a deep breath and went back to the break room to get Mr. Barnes some coffee.

Meanwhile, Peter was at home lazing around again. Three days and he hasn’t seen the outside world. Peter went to the kitchen and took a hard look at the eggs in the fridge. His worst enemy as he picked an egg up and examined the shape. He could never understand why it was so difficult to crack an egg but he did not want to risk a mess. This time he would go out and eat. He quickly got dressed into a Rick and Morty print t-shirt and dark jeans, grabbing his rucksack and the house keys to head out to a restaurant. 

The fresh air was doing Peter wonders and he was regretting staying indoors. Looking at the various sized buildings, he spotted a small restaurant. The logo was a man in a white apron tossing a pizza and smiling. Peter rolled his eyes at the obnoxious logo but was intrigued to go in, pushing the door and slipping into the place. He felt like he had been transported into Italy as he looked around at the stone and wooden designs. A man standing by the host podium, comes around it and smiles at Peter.

“Hello! My name is Luis and I’m your host for today. We have a table over there so if you’d like to take a seat and then we’ll come around to take your order.”

Peter gave a nod and followed Luis’s direction to a small single table, taking a seat and flipping through a menu to see what’s to eat. As he looked at the menu, he noticed groups of people laughing and smiling. Peter felt a little lonely as he thought back to his college friends and the time he shouted at them. He shook his head and called a waiter over to give his order. Half an hour later, Peter ate a whole pizza and some garlic knots. He was content with the food and the waiter came to take his credit card.

“Guys! Don't worry. This is my treat, I'll pay.”

Peter raised an eyebrow at the familiar voice and turned towards the window to see Wanda and some girls with her. Shit! Wanda! She seems to have noticed him as her smile falters and Peter turns away, fascinated by the salt shaker on his table. A waiter comes back to him and holds a small black wallet to Peter.

“Sir, your card has been declined.”

Peter’s eyes widened as he took a look at the card and double checked with the waiter. He gave a solemn nod and Peter put the card away. Shuffling through his wallet and realising he doesn’t have any cash to pay for his meal. He was about to apologise when Wanda came over with her purse.

“That's ok. I'll pay for him.”

Peter was surprised his worst enemy was offering to pay for his meal. Peter felt bad as he turned to Wanda.

“Wanda, that's really sweet of you. Thank you so much. I'll pay you back.”

“Peter it's okay. Save the ‘I’m grateful’ speech for another time. It doesn't suit you.” The waiter took her payment and walked off to the cash counter. “Anyways, I just got a job so I'm treating all my friends to lunch.”

Peter smiled as he pointed out the obvious.

“Not exactly friends, are we?”

“No. Not exactly. I'm sorry that you failed, Peter. Just wanted to say that.”

There was the old Wanda as she gave him pity. There was one thing Peter wanted to know as he called out to Wanda.

“Hey Wanda, why do you hate me so much?”

She stopped and turned to glance at Peter, the events running clear through her memory.

“Three years ago, I came to Brookly to join our college. I had the right grades, but I was late with my application. I was in the admin office, having an interview with the head of Economics. She got a phone call from a ‘Tony Stark’. Told me to wait outside and I heard her talk to Mr. Stark about you. I almost didn’t get my place because you took my seat, Peter. 

“The admin officer called me in and said that they couldn’t take in anymore students and that I’d have to try again next year. I was lucky that the week before college was meant to start, someone dropped out of the course and I got their place. I’m smarter, I work harder, and I'm more deserving than you. But life has always been easier for you, hasn't it? Think about that carefully, Peter.”

Wanda walked off to her group of friends as Peter took a moment to let her words sink in. She was right, she was more deserving than him but being Mr. Stark’s son has its perks. Mr. Stark really did his best to offer Peter the best of life and Peter was too much of a brat to see that.

After the lunch, Peter decided to head back to (Y/N)’s apartment to lament over Wanda’s words. He trudged up the stairs and spotted the last person he thought he’d see. Michelle. She was standing by the front door with a big black bag of things as Peter frowned. He shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled (Y/N)’s house keys. Pushing them into the lock and opening the door and letting Michelle into the house. Tossing the house keys on top of the drawer on the left of him and dropping his rucksack on the dining table.

“Michelle, what are you doing here?”

“I came to ask you to go home. Mrs. Stark is worried about you.”

Peter felt anger rise in him as he was reminded about the night he left and the moment when his friends passed and he didn’t. He didn’t want to go back and prove Mr. Stark was right about the fact that Peter was useless and lazy. Never amounting to anything successful as Peter sat on the dining table with his arms crossed and his gaze away from Michelle’s face. She closed the front door and stood a meter away from Peter as he refused.

“No.”

“But Pete, you have to go home some time!”

“He cancelled my credit card, Michelle. There's no way I'm going back now.”

“But he's just angry, Pete. Just like you. The both of you messed up. You need to understand from his side.”

Peter did not need ‘Graduate’ Michelle Jones telling him what to do. He brought his head with eyes blaring.

“You're the one who doesn't understand, Michelle! You topped the whole damn college. How can you know what it feels like to have failed? Just leave me alone!”

Michelle felt her anger flare up. Every single time Michelle has always excused Peter’s bratty behaviour but this time he had gone too far. Way too far and assumed that she had no feelings.

“Fuck off Peter! I don't know what it feels like to fail? I fail every time I go home and see my dad praise my brother for getting an ‘A’ in his maths test. When it comes to me he says: ‘You got 95% on your economics exam, Michelle! You can do better than that.’ You’re lucky your dad pushes you to do the best and that he cares about you!

This is the first time in my life I have succeeded through my hard work. I have to work twice as hard to get half of what you get Peter. You're not the only one with problems, so stop being a jerk! If you really want to know, I didn’t get the internship with Quentin Beck. Something my dad expected.”

Michelle heaved heavily as she watched Peter’s face, his mouth gawping like a fish. Peter had sensed that Michelle and her dad had tension but he hadn’t realised that it was because her dad couldn’t care about his daughter’s success. Peter felt really stupid as Michelle glared at him. He closed his mouth and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m. I’m sorry Michelle.”

“It’s fine. I got a better job offer at the Xavier institute.”

“I know I'm being a jerk.”

Michelle smiled and reached into her rucksack and pulled out an orange coloured file, handing it to Peter. Peter flicked through the file, listening to Michelle’s words.

“You are a jerk but it’s okay. You do know you can always try again. That's why I got this for you. College application form and some of your things.” She offered the black bag and Peter went through it. “I knew you wouldn't go back home. Just thought I'd try.”

“Thanks.”

Michelle smiled as she watched Peter pick out all his games and magazines before picking out his camera. Examining it and smiling as he realised he could take photos again.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE BREAKING POINT

[trickkombowerskru]

Road Trip-Henry Bowers Imagine

Request: Anonymous: Hey can you do an imagine where the reader gets a call saying she has to go pick up henry from juniper hills and she is like super successful and she isn't sure if she should but she ends up doing and they have a super cute road trip to her house and it's all fluffy. Also I love your work❤

A/N:I kinda went nuts with this prompt bc I really loved it so this one is real long strap in folks

Warnings: None

You exhale after an exhausting day at work, as you take off your coat. After an entire day of meetings, finalizing pieces, and reviewing editorials you were beat. You wanted nothing more than to get into the bath and have a glass of wine.

Then to follow that up by changing into sweats, and watching whatever new awful movie hit Netflix recently to turn your brain off and relax while you could before you had to be up the next morning to do it all over again.

As soon as you poured your wine your phone ringing obnoxiously loud killed the mood. You pick it up not recognizing the number at all, but seeing it was a call from Derry, Maine. Just upon seeing the town, a familiar feeling struck you, something that was pulling you to answer.

“Hi is this Y/N L/N?”

“This is she. “

“Hi this is Katherine with Juniper Hills Asylum.”

Why the hell was a random mental hospital calling you?

“Can I ask why you’re calling?”

“Ah yes, due to good behavior and new found evidence in the case that he did not commit these crimes, Henry Bowers is to be released early, and to the first person on his emergency contact form, which is you.”

Hearing his name again made you feel like you just got punched in the gut. And then you know the feeling. It was everything your first boyfriend had made you feel. You needed to take a minute to debate whether you would go.

“Oh I have another call I’ll call you back soon.”

“Alright.”

You think of all the pros and cons, you were in New York now which was a while 7 hours away, and it was one am, in order to get there by morning you’d have to leave at three or four. On the other hand you would feel terrible if he was thrown out on to the streets or something. Also the fact that the feelings were slowly coming back, along with memories.

You quickly call your assistant since you decided you would go. Who knows? Maybe it could even be fun.

“Hey Addison? Yeah something just came up I won’t be in tomorrow until late in the afternoon, maybe not at all.”

“Is everything alright Y?N?”

“Yeah fine, fine I just need to go on a business trip in Maine.”

“Oh okay I’ll be sure to get the email out”

“Thanks Addison you’re the best.”

You quickly called the number back.

“Hi Katherine I’ll be there.”

“Great tonight is his last night, he’ll be released to you when you arrive.”

“I can get there around 10.”

“10 am got it, we’ll let the other workers know.

You put your wine glass in the fridge and then proceed to grab a bunch of caffeine. By the time you had to go you were more than awake. The closer you got to Derry, the more memories came flooding back to you. Along with guilt, you remember when everything went down, and how you would go to see him.

Then you graduated and once every few days became once a week, once a week to once a month, and by the time you left Derry it was once every few months, and you had to break it off.

You hated hurting him like that, but you had no choice, seeing him even less would just hurt your relationship. You moved to New York for college, and worked your way up to the ladder to where you were now. Currently you were the CEO of a really large fashion magazine, really creating an empire.

You laughed to yourself remembering all the dumb shit you two got into, how he carved your initials into the kissing bridge, your first kiss, your first time, and just everything else.

It felt weird to be back in Derry, you never really forgot it, but you had somehow forgotten enough. Enough where you had made up enough to seem believable in interviews in case they had asked you about your childhood.

You take a deep breath to calm yourself down when you finally pulled into the parking lot. A sense of dread filled your entire body as you were lead down the halls into the lobby by a worker.

Before you entered you could see Henry waiting through the clear double doors, you smiled seeing how nothing had really changed. he still had that rough and tough small town charm and even still had his mullet, which you would be sure he got cut, later.

When the doors open, the look of awe on his face is so heartwarming. He had no idea it was you who was picking him up, his heart swelled seeing you again after all these years, looking somehow even more beautiful.

He was never mad at you for leaving, he actually understood it, and if he held you back, he would hate himself even more. So yeah while being stuck in this hellhole he still loved you and thoughts of you made him smile.

“Y/N,” he asks.

“Hey,” you say softly.

“Hey,” he replies.

Without missing a beat you are hugging, almost wanting to cry at the way he clutches to you as if you were his safe place.

You sign the papers and he practically takes your hand and runs out.

He takes a really deep breath in once outside.

“Aw finally some fresh fuckin’ air.”

“They didn’t let out out?”

“Eh sometimes, but not for long, I swear being stuck in those walls drove everyone even more fuckin’ nuts... it’s the little things you miss the most, but they add up ya know.”

“I guess get that. Like what?”

“Uh fresh air, a nice cig, good food, just to name a few,”

You nod the ride began extremely awkward. Not a word was said from you at first, worried he may have just been secretly mad or something.”

He seemed to pick up on this right away, as after about 25 minutes he looks over at you an smiles.

“I ain’t mad at you.”

“What?”

“For leavin’ I ain’t mad.”

You nod, feeling a weight taken off your shoulders.

And shortly after as cheesy as it was “I Melt With You”  comes on the radio. You smile and turn it up, looking over at him. It was your song back in the day because of a whole running joke. In no time you two are singing terribly at the top of your lungs and laughing.

“God remember that night we snuck out to go to prom. I still have no clue how I got you to go with me.”

“You were my girl, and beside I knew that shit would get me brownie points, and what happened it did.”

“Yeah yeah whatever you say Bowers, you still cut up the dance floor.”

“Maybe,” he smiles.

You pull to a halt when you reach one area.

He looks around and chuckles when he sees you get out of the car.

It was the kissing bridge, you look around and then see it, the carving he made all those years ago, still clear as day, you run your hand over it and grin.

You take a picture with you phone and then head back to the car.

“It’s still there. God I remember that night, on the way back from that shitty horror movie, first time you told me you loved me, after you did that carving.”

“Yeah...” he breaths out still taking in how gorgeous the sunlight bounced off the side of your face

The rest of the ride flies by filled with reminiscing and laughter.

You make stops every now and then at gas stations to refuel and get snacks and drinks.

Henry even surprises you with what you always used to get back in the day.

“You remembered?”

“Layer the blue and the red, blue on top, and then since for some reason it’s such a damn pair like we are a two pack of Slim Jims and I get one. ” he shakes his head with a laugh reciting what you used to say to him all the time when you went on snack “runs” back in the day as he pulls apart the pack, handing you one of them.

“I’m impressed. God it’s been so long since I have this absolute garbage combo!,” you exclaim taking a really big sip of the Slurpee.

“So where are we goin’ anyway? Where do you live?,” he questions a s he takes a bit of his Slim Jim

“New York,” you say his eyes light up and you can see a cute sense of childlike wonder in them 

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Once you hit New York you notice Henry’s eyes go large again  as he looks around at the hustle and bustle of the city and all the shops and stuff. Now though the crashing effects of the caffeine were starting to get to you, but you wanted to get Henry settled in, and then get him a few things, considering his old clothes definitely wouldn’t fit him, and lord knows he probably wanted out of that hoodie and uniform.

You take another sip hoping that the sugar will be enough to keep you up.

When you pull up just by the size of the outside of the building Henry was taken so back, but that was nothing compared to his face when he got inside.

“Holy shit Baby! This is like a fuckin’ mansion how do you not get lost? What do you do to live here?”

“I uh, I run a fashion magazine, and help design stuff, CEO of the company now actually,” you say feeling flustered hearing him calling you “Baby” again.

“God damn!”

“Yeah it’s pretty nice.”

“That’s an understatement.”

You laugh as he looks around.

“Okay so I’ll show you the bathroom so you can showers, and then I’ll just give you some men’s designs I have lying around here, then we can go out and I can get you a few things,”

“Hot water,” Henry says as you start walking him to one of the bathrooms.

“Huh?”

“That’s another small thing you miss, hot water.”

“They didn’t give you hot water?”

“They did at first, but then the damn shower busted and they never got it fixed.”

“Well you can take all the hot water you want, just leave your clothes on the chair there and uh I guess I’ll uh-”

“Burn em.”

“You want me to burn them?”

“I ain’t ever wearin’ that shit again, not like you wanna keep it.”

“Okay noted. I’ll burn it, and I’ll leave you fresh stuff in the guest room 2nd door to the left from here.”

He nods and starts stripping before you leave, making you laugh.

“Can you wait till I leave?”, you joke.

“Ain’t nothing you ain’t seen before,” he smirks, making your slight blush come back.

“Yeah well it’s been a while since I’ve seen it. I don’t know if anything’s changed<” you tease and drift your eyes downward.

“Only for the better Darlin’ not much to do in that hellhole, but walk around, watch the shit they had on the tv, read somethin’, or workout.”

You laugh again and shut the door, heading to your design room. to get him something casual, but nice. You luckily had some down played stuff from a shoot coming up. Sure you liked fresh stuff on your models, but you could always wash the stuff, and have it pressed to restore it. 

You quickly retrieve his outfit from the bathroom and lit your fire place throwing in stuff one by one slowly so it doesn’t grow too large, then grab some more caffeine to stay awake. 

Oh yeah you were going to for sure gong to crash at like 7 or 8 tonight and there was no way you were going to try and go in today, you’d be falling asleep during any meetings.

You pick up your phone, calling Addison again to let her know.

“Hey Girl.”

“Hey.”

“I just wanted to let you know that the maybe has definitely turned into a no go today, I am exhausted.”

“Aw I’m sorry, make sure you get some rest tonight okay?”

“Oh trust me I will soon. Just wanted to let you know that way you knew that you and Mark were still in charge and heads of the meetings and all that. I mean you can call or text if you need something during them of course, but yeah just wanted to give you a heads up on that. Plus they are smaller meeting anyway so I know for sure you guys will handle them perfectly.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course,” you say as you hear the shower finally shut off.

“I gotta go, but good luck I know you two will do great!”

“Alright. Thanks for the heads up. I can put an extra shot of espresso into your latte if you want.”

“Oh yes! I know I’ll definitely need it, I know I’m still gonna come in tired despite how much sleep I get tonight God knows I won’t wanna get up thanks. Okay see ya.”

“Bye.”

You turn around and your breath hitches for a minute when you see Henry in the outfit you had chosen. He almost looked entirely different then he did when you picked him up now that he was in actual clothes.

“So how do i look Sweetheart could I be in Vogue or what?,” he jokes striking a ridiculous pose with a smolder on his face.

“Sure. 

You let him pick out whatever he liked, along with helping him with a few things, and making sure he head a few nicer pieces and a suit, then go to the barber’s shop.

“Okay I know it’ll be shocking and all, but Hen....the mullet has to go you need to update your look for a full 2016 makeover.”

The look on his face was priceless.

You tell the guy how to fix it at least a bit, making sure the mullet goes, he could style it up if he wanted, but something told you he would just leave it with the slight bangs he had. either way it was for sure an upgrade.

When he was done he looked in the mirror, ran his hand through it a bit, you could tell he liked it. Then he puts his hand on the back of his neck, feeling it.

“Feels weird. Like I always had it.”

You laugh.

“You look good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you find yourself leaning in, in the slightest way to kiss him before catching yourself, your phone ringing saved you so you stepped out to take it. It was Addison making sure of a few things before the meeting started, but you were thankful for her timing.

You went back in mentally kicking yourself for that. Hoping he didn’t notice, which it didn’t seem he did. Like it would be weird after all this time to just pick things back up where they left off right? 

Like it had been forever and sure he may have been being flirty all day, but that could also just be because you were taking him in. Also would he even want that?

You shake your thoughts and then go to the apple store where you had the field day of teaching him his way around a modern phone. Were you spoiling him a bit? Yes. But you couldn’t help it, despite these feelings coming back, you wanted him to be able to find his way around the city, even if it wasn’t by your side.

Once you leave of course it starts to rain, you quickly rush into the house, changing into comfy clothes and grabbing a blanket. You eventually drift off, waking up somehow in your bed to the loud crash of thunder.

Did Henry carry you here? How long did it take him to find your room? Did he tuck you in or did you just pull up the blankets yourself? The thunder takes you out of your thoughts along with a squeaking sound. 

You check your phone it was midnight, you fell asleep around 7, and you had around 5 maybe 6 more hours before you had to get up, and head into the office. While you did wanna go back to sleep, you still felt pretty refreshed from that nap. First thing first though you wondered what that noise was. 

You pull on a hoodie and quickly find your source when Henry’s door was open. You see him toss and turn, seeming to be stuck in a nightmare. You knew he hated storms back then, they were harsh and loud, and reminded him of the lashes his father gave him.

It made sense that without any form of comfort over all these years, along with whatever else piled on top of that, that he would still be afraid. He wakes up in a gasp, wiping the cold sweat off of his forehead.

You gently knock on the door he looks over and slightly smiles seeing you.

“Hey,” you gently say.

“Hey Doll.”

“You still hate storms.”

He nods.

“Yeah. Yeah they're the fuckin’ worst.”

“Well now that we’re both up you uh, you want me to make some cocoa?”

“Yeah..sounds nice.”

“You still want that dash of cinnamon?”

“Please.”

“You got it”

He sits on the couch, hugging one of your pillows, as you get to work on the cocoa., when it’s finished you add the final touches, and can’t help but sneak a glance at him shirtless, when he releases the pillow to take the mug.

He was definitely right in that joke earlier you notice that he for sure had lots of muscle still built up. You try and shake yourself out of your thoughts, but this time it just holds there.

“Um do you wanna sleep in my room tonight? It just sounds like your fear has gotten worse. I’d hate to leave you alone with that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Once the cocoa is done, you put the mugs in the sink and go back to the couch. The thoughts cloud your mind again when he lays next to you, and you want nothing more than to either be held or to hold him. You just decide to let it out before it bottles up.

“Hey Henry?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you um...do you still have feelings for me?”

“That obvious huh?”

That took you for surprise.

“No actually I was in my head all day about it. When I got that phone call the other night some feelings came back, but once I got into Derry and saw you again they hit me like a damn bus. I just wasn’t sure how you felt.”

“Well now you do, the thoughts of you were the only thing that could get me to even crack a smile in that shit hole.”

“Do you...do you still love me?”

“Princess I never stopped.”

You lean up and finally after all these years kissed him again, and that was the final nail in the coffin with every single emotion blasting through your body. You pull away and he caresses your face.

“You had no idea how badly I’ve wanted to do that all day or to just do it again for so long.”

“Come ere’,” you say and as if it’s nothing has changed.

You remember the first time he came to you in the rain, not caring it was pouring or storming, he needed you after a particularly rough time from his dad. It was also the first time he came to you after his dad, and after a bit of comfort he told you the truth.

He shifted over into your arms, and you started to do what always used to calm him down, running your fingers through his hair.

“I missed you,” he says smiling up at you.

You kiss him again and quickly drift off again, getting back together with Henry or even really seeing Henry again was definitely not how you would have expected to spend a day, but you weren’t complaining.

He was here in your arms again and you were going to be here for him this time. You would be here to help him heal, to help him grow, and everything else.

[moon-ruled-rising]

as the rain hides the stars | xvi

XVI: smiling for miles in pink dresses and high heels

read it on ao3 or Wattpad

I was reading slim Aarons and I got to thinking,

I thought.

Maybe I’d get less stressed if I was tested less like,

All of these debutantes.

Smiling for miles in pink dresses and high heels and white yachts

-Lana Del Rey, “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have, but i have it”

Dany could hear the conversations happening in the other room and dreaded what awaited her there. She looked in the mirror again, hoping that she could find another thing to fix so she could delay her departure from the safe space. She went to tuck her hair behind her ear and noticed the shining rock decorating her finger.

The ladies would all be asking about it. Especially if they noticed that it was different than the one she’d been wearing. None of the ladies at court made an effort to get too close to Dany, keeping a safe distance from the foreigner in their midst, but they still saw things and whispered. If anyone asked, Dany would say it was being resized. That would slake their thirst for new rumors but it would start fresh ones too. Anything to keep them entertained she supposed.

In the mirror she could see the ivory dress bag containing her wedding gown. The whole thing had arrived from White Harbor with the designer that morning for a fitting. The wedding planner reached out to as many Westerosi designers as she could and they raced to send in their portfolios. After looking through them all, Dany selected a northern designer named Jeyne Poole who worked for a well-known fashion house in Norvos. Her submission was an unused design for an upcoming bridal collection.

Dany cast it aside at first, claiming it wasn’t her style, but when she looked at the sketch again she saw potential. She and Jeyne worked together to achieve what Dany now considered her dream dress. If she was only going to be married once she at least wanted the dress to be perfect. 

Hanging next to the monstrous bag were two dress options for the engagement party. One of ivory tulle and the other of champagne chiffon. They were both modest lengths and clearly meant to invoke the word ‘bride’ without being too obvious. She chose the champagne dress as it was darker and featured a thick sash of lavender silk around the waist, then she swept her hair into a simple yet elegant knot at the nape of her neck.

Styling her hair on the go was a trick from princess training she found increasingly useful. All of her appointments were scheduled one after the other, she barely had time to breathe between them let alone manage the various costume changes. Dany preferred it that way. If she kept herself distracted she wouldn’t think about anything else but the task at hand.

She slid the last pin into place and glanced at the tiara sitting in its case, surrounded by red velvet.  A simple band with a fringe of raised silver points glittering with little gems.The sparkling piece wasn’t hers, it was on loan from the Queen’s personal collection. Catelyn wore it to her engagement celebration and wedding and claimed she would be honored if Dany wore it too. 

With a gentle hand, she grazed her fingertips over the uneven points before lifting the tiara from its cushioned nest. The fringe sparkled in the moody lighting of the room and Dany realized it was meant to represent icicles. Without any blue tinted stones, it looked more like dozens of little swords. It gave Dany a fierce look once placed atop her head and she was grateful for it. She needed strength now more than ever.

“Dany?”

Jon stood in the doorway, dressed in the semi-formal attire required of the official engagement party. She noticed his eyes flicker to the large dress bag.

“Is this the dress?”

“Yes,” she answered before turning back to adjust the tiara.

She watched, partly in horror, as Jon reached for the bag.

“You can’t look at it!” she whirled around and intercepted him.

“I didn’t know you were superstitious.”

“I’m not. I’d just rather not tempt fate.”And risk fucking things up more than i already have.

“Okay, I won’t look at it. Are you ready to go? I don’t think our guests will appreciate it much if the couple of the hour is late.”

She adjusted the high neck of her dress and fought the familiar urge to run. She promised herself no more running.

Accepting Jon’s arm, he escorted her to the neighboring room. They paused outside the heavy door as their names were announced. She tried not to tighten her grip on his arm when it hit her that there were no rules regarding PDA this time. And people were expecting the young love-birds to act like they actually liked each other. And while they had come to an understanding between each other, Dany wouldn’t label them as friends.

The ring caught her eye again. A small smile escaping her at the reminder of the unnecessary proposal. It was such a sweet thought, no ulterior motive and he didn’t make a big deal out of it. She doubted her deserving of a ring with so much sentimental value but she saw at once why Jon picked it. It was geometric and different, simple yet powerful. 

Dany swallowed her stubbornness, it was time for her to step up to the plate. She slid her hand to plant it with Jon’s. She didn’t intertwine their fingers. There was no need to, it wasn’t that kind of gesture. There were no words between them, only smiles as the doors opened and the attendants politely applauded.

For an event on a joyous occasion, there was a bit of somberness to it. There were no real decorations but a banquet table of finger foods and several members of the waitstaff meandering around with trays of champagne. Dany wanted to grab one but she and Jon were ushered to the head of the room before she had a chance.

They would accept congratulations from a long line of courtiers, organized by precedent. There were the Dukes of large swatches of land and the Lords of castles and strongholds. Down to the smaller, ceremonial titles of Baronet and Earl and the knighted citizen who happened to be at court that day. Someone was announcing their official titles and names but Dany was already on autopilot. Sentiments like ‘thank you’ and ‘we’re so glad you could be here’ slipped past her lips with unconscious ease, her mind barely registering the actual words anyone was saying. 

There was an art to it, she supposed, being able to shake hands and smile and be grateful while her mind was somewhere else. She’d employed the same trick half a million times at the required state functions and once or twice at college parties. 

As the Duke and Duchess they were addressing took their leave, Jon’s posture grew tense. It was enough to make Dany shift back to manual. 

“His Grace, Roose Bolton, Duke of The Weeping Water and Lord of the Dreadfort.”

A man with eyes as cold and unforgiving as winter itself stood before them. The pink shield shaped pin on his lapel glinted, showing off the red blood drops and the shape of man without skin.  His gaze chilled Dany’s blood and she stepped closer to Jon. 

“Your Highnesses, my congratulations on such an advantageous engagement.”

Despite the room buzzing with the sounds of smaller conversations, it seemed eerily quiet as Bolton spoke. His voice soft and lacking the boisterous quality the other courtiers possessed. It made his compliment sound more like a nasty piece of gossip he shouldn’t be spreading.

“And my best wishes on a long and happy marriage.”

From the tone of his voice, Dany knew he was praying for exactly the opposite. She reinforced her smile and wrapped her hand around Jon’s arm in what she hoped was perceived as a loving, possessive manner. 

“Thank you for your kind words, your Grace, we are wishing for much the same.”

She looked up at Jon in affirmation. Breaking out of the odd state, he grinned at Dany with much the same false pretense as her hand on his arm. The Duke’s face remained in its unimpressed scowl as he left them to face the next people in line.

Dany had half the heart to ask if they could take a break but the assembly of attendants was so long there was no time. She took a deep breath and tried to shake it off. It was no different than the few occasions she’d had the displeasure of dealing with Cersei Lannister, whose mannerisms were as fake as her waistline. At least Dany wouldn’t have to deal with that woman on a regular basis anymore.

Once they’d made it through the long and impressive list of courtiers, she and Jon split up to meander through the room and socialize on a more personal level. Dany was about to raid the food table when she was tapped on the shoulder. Expecting it to be Catelyn about to scold her manners, she was surprised to find a lady of the court she hadn’t yet been introduced to.

She was taller than Dany even though she wasn’t in heels and wearing a simple wrap dress of forest green. The lady looked like she was meant to be gliding down the runway at a couture show instead of couped up at court. 

“Your Highness, I wanted to compliment you on the engagement and your beautiful dress.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Dany was a little put off. None of the court ladies made an effort to befriend her and she wasn’t sure if the lady’s intention was good. Dany smiled anyway, if they kept talking she would figure it out. 

“Princess Sansa was telling me about your charity in Essos and I got curious.”

“It’s not my charity really, it’s a non-profit that was willing to let me work with them.”

“And what do you do there?”

“Mostly photo ops but I love interacting with the children and I help make the food for the shelters. It drives my family insane because we’re not supposed to champion causes that concern real people.”

“That’s pointless. How are you supposed to help the people of your country if you’re not allowed to?”

“Exactly! Gods, I’m so glad there are more people with common sense here.”

“I’m Dacey Mormont.” she extended her long arm out to Dany.

“Nice to meet you, Dacey.”

“I’d love to introduce you to some of the other ladies. They’ll be nicer if I’m with you,” she promised.

Dany agreed and allowed herself to be led to a group of other ladies. She noticed Wynafryd Manderly among them. After she was introduced to the ladies, one of them blurted, “Can we see it?”

She knew what they meant but was still taken aback.

“Of course,” she stuttered out, offering her hand. 

They gathered around and gaped at the stone, whispering about how it was Princess Lyanna’s and how pretty it was. Dany detected a little jealousy but that was to be expected. Any of them would kill to be a princess. Hell, they would commit war crimes to be queen and all Dany had to do was be born with the right name.  

The ladies did seem too bothered by it though. They asked her questions about where she’d traveled and what schooling in Essos was like. They were vastly more interested in Dany, for when she tried to change the subject to one of them, it somehow came right back to her. 

Dany felt bad that she’d assumed the Northern court was anything like the one she hailed from. These women were genuine as far as she could tell, asking her about her opinions on fashion and even current events.

As Dacey was telling Dany about Bear Island, she looked past Dany’s shoulder and smiled.

“Your Highness, I apologize for stealing your fiancée but she’s been so busy planning that damn wedding, me and the ladies haven’t had a chance to talk to her.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jon shrugged.

Dacey started talking to him about something but Dany was distracted by the feeling of a pair of eyes on her. It was Roose Bolton. 

“What is his problem?” Dany blurted and immediately regretted it.

Dacey pursed her lips, “I’ll let you handle that one, your Highness.”

As Dany’s new friend slipped away, Jon followed her gaze.

“Bolton’s had a stick up his ass since I can’t remember when. I don’t think I have to explain why he’s not pleased about this whole ordeal.”

“He’s more than welcome to join the club,” Dany muttered and took a sip of her champagne.

Jon scoffed, “I hope you’re watching how much of that you drink.”

“I am. Why?”

“Something tells me you would be sharing some strong words with His Grace if you were drunk enough.”

She hummed in agreement, “More than words. First it was the condescending attitude and now he can’t keep his eyes to himself.”

“He’s just playing mind games, trying to get under your skin. Ignore it.”

Dany nodded and took another sip of champagne, finding comfort in the way the fizz felt on her tongue. She looked at the other members of court and noticed they all had sigil pins somewhere on their person.

“What is Duke Bolton’s sigil?”

“What?”

“His sigil pin had a man without skin, is that a metaphor?”

“Quite the opposite,” Jon began, “A long time ago, when the Boltons styled themselves the Red Kings, they practiced flaying. They used the skins as decoration in the Dreadfort and some accounts say they wore them as cloaks, but they don’t like to talk about that part. It’s illegal now, of course, but they’re still mad about it.”

“They were kings once. Any man that had to give up that kind of power would carry a grudge so strong it became generational.”

Jon chuckled, “I suppose your right.”

The herald banged his staff and the volume in the room dropped, everyone turning to see who was late to the party. Dany couldn’t believe someone missed it but she was still unfamiliar with all the title holders at court.

“Her Majesty, Queen Elia of House Martell. Accompanied by Her Royal Highness, Crowned Princess Rhaenys II and His Highness, Grand Prince Aegon III of House Targaryen. And Miss Missandei of Naath.”

Dany’s heart swelled and she had to hand her glass to Jon so she wouldn’t drop it as the doors opened. She pushed through the crowd, forgetting that she was supposed to keep her princess composure. Dany felt a tear slip down her cheek as she threw her arms around her best friend.

“I thought you weren’t coming until the day of the wedding,” she gushed to Missy’s shoulder.

“I wasn’t supposed to but Galazza’s cashing in a favor you owe her.” Missy patted the press badge on the neckline of her dress.

Dany knew all too well what that meant so she promised Missandei they would talk later as she gave Elia a quick squeeze.

“Aunt Dany, you look so pretty!” Rhaenys gaped from beside Elia.

“Do I?” Dany carefully dabbed at her eyes to make sure they were dry.

“You always do,” agreed Aegon.

“Even when I look like this?”

Dany stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes, her nephew bursting into giggles. Jon came up beside her and she quickly returned her face back to normal.

“Rhae, Aegon, I want to introduce you to Jon. He’s going to be your, uh, uncle,”

For some reason, the phrase felt strange leaving her mouth. Bringing him into the family meant adding another title to his already long list. Prince, future king, son, brother, soon-to-be husband and uncle, and somewhere down the line a father.

Gods, she hadn’t even thought about kids. She knew they were necessary and expected for the heir to a throne but hopefully it was far down the line for them. Dany didn’t even know if she was completely ready for kids. She wanted them of course, she’d known since a newborn Rhaenys was placed into her arms. 

 She remembered her sister-in-law’s nervousness about all the pressure to start having kids. Elia was twenty-two when she and Rhaegar were married and twenty-four when she had Rhaenys. So Dany wasn’t too far behind in the heir-making game but she couldn’t believe she would have to join it soon. 

Rhaenys and Aegon were wary of Jon, Sansa was the only Stark they formally met and even then they were reserved, but once he got down on their level the two were as talkative as ever. If Jon and Dany had the same luck as Rhaegar and Elia, maybe kids wouldn’t be a challenge. She needed to take her mind off it’s current course so she turned her attention to Missy and Galazza’s favor.

“She heard you’re not letting the press cover the Northern wedding so in exchange for saving your ass a few weeks ago, she wants the rights to document the whole thing. It’s going to be the first story in her new publication The Green Grace. She’s branching out.”

“We already made a statement about barring the press from the ceremony. If I let Galazza in, I’ll have to let everyone in. And you know I don’t want that.”

“Galazza figured you’d say that and that’s why she sent me. We figured it would be easier if it was somebody already invited to the wedding.”

“You majored in Public Relations, why does she have you playing field journalist?”

“It’s just this one assignment. And all she needs are my notes and some photos so she can hand them off to her real writers. Although, she would love it if you would let a couple, more qualified, people in.”

Dany sighed, “I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow and see what I can do.”

[ericsonclan]

Meeting Clementine

Summary: Kenny convinces Lee to give adoption a chance and brings Clementine to meet him for the first time.

Read on A03:

“So, how are you and Duck doing?” Lee asked as he handed his friend Kenny a beer.

Kenny let out a long sigh, taking a swig of the drink before answering. “It’s been some fucking year. Katjaa’s been out of the hospital two weeks now, but it’s gonna take a hell of a lot longer than that for her to really bounce back,”

“She’s a fighter,” Lee took a sip from his own beer, looking round the bar. “She beat cancer; she can make it through the recovery,”

“I sure hope so. We almost lost her back there, Lee. Raising Duck on my own…” Kenny shook his head. “I couldn’t imagine it,” He glanced over at Lee, then looked down at the table. “I heard about you and Claudia. Sorry I couldn’t be there when all of that went down,”

Lee shook his head. “There was nothing that could’ve been done anyway. Claudia’s moved out… and I’m stuck in that big house we’d planned to start a family in. It’s a weird feeling, being in such a huge place all alone,”

Kenny looked like he was about to say something, but then a voice crackled over the microphone. “Alright folks, it’s time for Mueller’s weekly Trivia Night to begin!” Nick, the host, shielded his eyes from the lights as he looked out into the crowd. “Hey, I see we have some familiar faces back after a long time! Lee, Kenny, good to have you back!” There was a round of applause from those in the bar who also recognized them. The pair raised their beers appreciatively. Six years of attending Trivia Night at Mueller’s and they’d never missed a week of it until this last year from hell. With Katjaa in the hospital and Lee’s marriage collapsing around him, it just hadn’t seemed like a priority. Now that they were back though, it felt like life was finally returning to normal in some small way.

“Alright, first question,” the mic crackled again. “Independence Day was first established as a holiday by Congress in what year?”

Lee’s hand came down hard on the buzzer. “1870!”

“That is… correct!” Nick rang the little triangle that dangled from the mic stand while his partner Luke manned the whiteboard that tracked the points.

Lee pumped his fist in satisfaction. Civil War history was his forte, but anything within American history was a good bet for him. He had history and literature covered while Kenny had the sciences down pat.

“Liver!” Kenny called out in response to the question “what is the largest internal organ of the human body”. Another ding from the triangle, another correct answer.

Lee shook his head in good-natured disbelief, taking another drink from his beer. He’d asked Kenny back when they’d met how he remembered so much random knowledge and Kenny had shrugged it off, saying his brain was like some sort of sea sponge, soggy and absorbing everything round it. Now they were back in the proverbial ring and he was still as sharp as ever, hand poised beside the buzzer, ready to strike as soon as the next question was given.

Things progressed smoothly throughout the rest of the night. They didn’t end up sweeping Trivia Night as they had for several weeks in the past, but they’d accrued a respectable score, keeping things close between them and their main competitors while everyone else lagged behind. Now it was dark out though, time to pack things up and head home.

“Lee,” Kenny started, “Before you leave, there’s something I was meaning to talk about with you tonight. Should’ve brought it up earlier, but there just didn’t seem to be a good time,” Lee raised an eyebrow. “Go on. I’m listening,”

Kenny fidgeted nervously with his trucker cap. “I know that before things went south with you and Claudia, the two of you were considering adoption. I was wondering if that’s something you’d still be interested in,” He raised his hands up. “Now of course, if this ain’t a good time for you, you can tell me to fuck right off. But there’s this one girl I’ve been trying to find a good home for for years now, and I think you two might be a good fit. She’s not a bad kid or nothing, it’s just that life seems to like kicking her when she’s down. Figured you could relate,” Kenny had been the one Lee and Claudia had approached with thoughts of adoption back when things were going well. Given his job as a social worker, they knew he could help them through the intricacies of the adoption process. However, they’d been looking into getting a baby. Lee wasn’t sure if he could handle that on his own.

“How old is she?”

“Just turned fifteen,”

Now raising a teenager was another problem in itself. Lee saw that Kenny had noticed the indecision in his eyes.

“I know, I know, it’s not an easy age to start with. Hell, Duck’s the same age right now and some days I think he’s worse than when he was a toddler. But this girl’s special. Kat and I were seriously considering adopting her ourselves before we got news of the cancer. I just want her to have somewhere safe to grow up at least till she ages out of the system. But it doesn’t have to be you if you don’t want it,”

Lee pursed his lips thoughtfully. “What’s this girl’s name?”

“Clementine,”

---

It was about a week later when Lee found himself in his kitchen, anxiously looking out the window as he waited for Kenny to arrive with Clementine. He had decided to give this a shot. He trusted Kenny’s judgment enough for this girl to deserve that at the very least. Lee still wasn’t sure if he was cut out to be a teenager’s dad, but if Clementine was as special as Kenny seemed to believe, then just maybe this could work.

He set down his coffee mug as he saw Kenny’s truck pulling into the driveway. Stepping out to his front porch, he gave an awkward wave before walking forward to greet them. Kenny hopped out of the truck, giving Lee a quick hug and patting him firmly on the back.

“You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,”

Kenny nodded, motioning to the young girl who’d just stepped out of the car. “Lee, this is Clementine. Clementine, Lee. I’m gonna head out for a few hours, give you two some time to get to know each other, then I’ll be back to pick Clementine up. You good, kiddo?”

The girl nodded noncommittally, looking around the outside of the house with a sort of jaded boredom.

Lee cleared his throat awkwardly, extending an arm to the house. “Wanna come in? I just make a fresh pot of coffee,”

Clementine nodded, following without a word. The kitchen was immediately to the left of the entryway. As Clementine took a seat, Lee searched for another mug. “Sorry there’s not much décor around the house. My wife and I had just moved here back when we were planning to start a family, but, well, things happened and now it’s just me in this big ol’ place without a clue about interior design,” Way to go, Lee. Telling this kid about your history as a sad divorcee is a great way to kick things off.

Clementine simply nodded politely, taking the cup of coffee that was offered her. Lee had a fleeing panicked thought as he wondered whether it was appropriate to give coffee to children. Then he remembered Starbucks was a thing. Shit, Lee, you’ve gotta calm down. She’ll smell your fear. Lee took a long sip of his coffee, watching Clementine. She seemed like a normal enough kid, though a bit closed off. On her head she wore a baseball hat emblazoned with a blue D. He wondered what it stood for. “You a baseball fan?”

“My dad was. He gave me the cap,”

Now that he looked more closely, Lee could see how worn out the thing was. Dirt and dust were caked over every inch of it, and maybe even a flew splatters of blood. The embroidery on the D was starting to come loose in one corner, causing the tip of the letter to curl out from the hat. The cap must mean a lot to her. “You know, Morgantown High has a pretty good baseball team from what I hear. The coach there used to be in the major leagues,”

“That’s cool,” She didn’t sound impressed.

Lee cleared his throat. “Have you had anything to eat yet? I should have run out and grabbed some sandwiches for us,”

“I had a granola bar,”

“Now that’s no sort of proper breakfast!” Lee walked over toward his fridge, searching for what he had handy that was healthy and fresh. It was pretty bare, just the basic like eggs, milk… Now wait a minute. Lee walked over to the pantry, rooting around in it for a minute before finding what he was looking for. He popped his head out of the pantry door to look at Clementine. “Any chance you’d be interested in making some pancakes with me? We’ve got eggs, bacon, O.J… we could make it a full on breakfast feast,”

Clementine’s eyes widened a bit at the offer. She looked pleased though. “Sure, that sounds fun,”

“Alrighty then! You get out the ingredients, and I’ll find us some bowls and pans,” With that they set off on their missions, Clementine assembling the milk, eggs and pancake mix while Lee banged around in the pots and pans drawer before finding something fitting. He wasn’t sure where any of the old cookbooks were (if Claudia had even left any), so they Googled a recipe and got started from there. As Clementine stirred the mix together, inspiration struck Lee. “You know what? Now that I think of it, I’m sure I have some bananas stored away somewhere. Do you like those in pancakes?”

Clementine nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. “Do you have any.. chocolate maybe?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Lee reached up onto the top pantry shelf. “It’s a bit musty, but that’ll cook off, right? Worth a shot,”

Clementine chuckled, taking a cup measure and ladling the first pancake onto the frying pan.

Lee cautiously plopped a few pieces of chocolate on top of the bubbling mass, watching it with curiosity. “Let’s see what else we can find that’d go well with pancakes, shall we?”

In the end, they found the bananas, a stray container of blueberries, some stale walnuts that Lee threw in with his own banana pancakes, and a few raspberries. Lee was worried there wasn’t any syrup, but Clementine took the initiative, bravely scouring the depths of his pantry until she found it. She plated the pancakes while Lee finished frying up the bacon. They sat down together once everything was ready, their mouths watering.

Lee watched in contentment as Clementine attacked her stack of pancakes. Damn, this girl could eat. It made him wonder if her last foster home had been feeding her enough. The sleeves of her shirt were pushed up to avoid getting syrup on them. He noticed a nasty looking scar sticking out by her left sleeve, but decided it was best not to ask about it. She also had a scar indenting her forehead, small yet noticeable. This girl looked like she’d been through hell and back. He could see why Kenny wanted to protect her.

“Do you… want to hear a little bit about me?” Lee offered. “I’m not super interesting. I work at WVU as a history professor, specializing in American history and the Civil War,”

“I like history,” Clementine responded through a mouth full of pancakes.

“Well, alright then!” Lee felt the history geek in him getting excited at the prospect of a new student to take under his wing. He started going through some of his favorite historical events: the Battle of Fort Sumter, Antietam, the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth… Clementine listened with what appeared to be genuine interest, munching happily on her pancakes and providing surprisingly insightful questions from time to time. Lee found himself losing track of the time. He was genuinely surprised when he heard Kenny’s truck pull up in the driveway.

“So soon?” Lee’s face fell. He saw Clementine’s do the same, looking down at the table. Lee leaned forward conspiratorially. “Maybe if I invite him in for a cup of coffee, we can get a few more minutes. How does that sound?”

Clementine nodded appreciatively. “Yeah, let’s do it,”

Lee stepped out to meet Kenny as he made his way up the steps of the front porch. “Back so soon?”

“Soon? It’s been almost two and a half hours,” A smile crossed Kenny’s face. “I see the two of you hit it off then?”

“She’s a good kid. I can see why you’re fond of her. That foster home that she’s at right now, are they feeding her right?”

“Clem’s actually between foster homes right now. Her bag’s in the back of my truck,”

“You mean…”

“If you’d like, we can sign the paperwork for you to foster her starting today,”

Lee felt a rush of excitement run through his veins. “Alright, let’s do it,”

He and Kenny stepped inside, walking into the kitchen just as Clementine was finishing the last of her pancakes.

“Hi, Clementine. Have a good time?” Kenny asked.

Clementine nodded, but looked down as she got up. “Is it time to go?”

“Actually, Lee here was wondering if you’d be interested in staying. What do ya think, Clem? Would you like to stay here?”

Clementine’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Seriously?”

Lee nodded, a warm smile on his face. “You’re welcome for as long as you want to stay. There’s a guest room just down the hall. It’s nothing fancy, but feel free to move anything around in there however you like so you feel at home,”

Clementine seemed genuinely touched at his words. She looked away, clearly unsure how to react to such good news.

Kenny chuckled, tossing her the keys. “Go ahead and grab your stuff. I’ll get Lee started on the paperwork,”

Clementine caught them, bounding out the door before either of them could say anything else.

“Well,” Kenny placed a hand on Lee’s shoulder, “You’re a dad now. Or a surrogate dad at least. I wish you the best of luck,”

“Thanks,” Lee looked out the window, watching Clementine as she hurriedly grabbed her stuff. “I think it’s gonna be a really good thing. For the both of us,”

“I couldn’t agree more,”

[rogerblackwolf]

The Jungle Dragon

-Year 1967-

The alarm rung loudly as the clock reached the morning hour, it's ringing silenced when the one sleeping slammed his hand on it followed by a tired groan. The man laid on his back looking at the ceiling, his eyes adjusting to the low morning rays piercing through the crack between the curtains. The next thing he saw was the face of his wife who was asleep next to him, her face towards him as she laid on her side. Gently he brushed her hair from her face enjoying how beautiful she is, finally she stirred opening her eyes a bit and smiling at his touch.

"Morning." She said quietly.

"Morning hon." He responded before gently kissing her.

"We should get up. Can't waste the day after all." She said as she sat up in the bed, slipping out from under the covers to don her robe.

"You're right I guess." The man responded as he sat up and rubbed his eyes before getting up. The couple went about their morning routine as was normal; the wife began cooking their breakfast as her husband went outside to fetch the paper and take in the sight of their suburban neighborhood. He waved to a couple of his neighbors as they passed by before he returned inside to the smell of bacon and toast. He turned on the radio, tuning it to the station they enjoyed before getting a cup of coffee and sitting down at the table. He unrolled the paper and browsed through the many stories, there had been a few focused on riots in cities about the ongoing war in Vietnam, as well as other issues.

"Anything new in the paper, dear?" His wife asked as she fixed two plates of pancakes, bacon, and buttered toast along with her morning tea.

"Not in particular." He said sitting the paper to the side to dig in. As he did he couldn't help but look at his wife from across the table. She was Korean with shoulder length dark brown hair, her eyes were a dull grey, and her body was slender with some defining curves. Her name was Su Yoon, they had met at an Army hospital in Seoul where he had been treated for shrapnel to his left leg and minor frostbite in his fingers. Seeing her face was the one thing that made the stay bearable and her agreeing to marry him was the single greatest day of his life, one of very few.

"Daniel, is something wrong?" Su asks noticing his stare.

"Hmm? Oh no I'm fine." Daniel responded before returning to eating. She continued to watch him for a moment before he spoke again.

"I was thinking we could go to the park, maybe have a picnic."

"I would like that. The garden's flowers will be in full bloom." She said.

"I remembered you do enjoy the sight." He added as he cracked a smile.

They soon wrapped up breakfast and finished getting dressed when a knock at the door caught Daniel's attention. He went towards it, noticing a black four door sedan park in front, once opening the door he was met with two men dressed in black suits. The two also wore black aviator style sunglasses with reflective black lens.

"Daniel Braxton?" One asked

"Can I help you gentlemen?" Daniel responded

"Yes, sir you can. We need to bring you in. Your expertise is needed." The second man said

It was then the two men showed their badges, to the untrained eye they looked like official CIA Agent IDs. But he knew that they weren't from the CIA.

"Give me a minute." Daniel said before closing the door and checking on his wife. Without saying a word she knew what he was about to do as he got his coat and gave her a kiss goodbye before leaving.

A couple hours afterwards they arrived at a private airfield, where he was then escorted to a waiting SH-3 helicopter, also known as a Sea King. Once he was seated and strapped in he definitely was out of his element, the occasional shaking made him nervous but he put it out of his mind as they neared their destination. Daniel looked out of the window next to his seat and immediately noticed the shape of the building, the Pentagon. Daniel was escorted off the helicopter and into another motorcade, where he met a familiar face. He was an older man around the age of 60 and dressed in a black suit.

"Director Webber, pleasure to meet you again." Daniel said as they shook hands.

"Pleasure's all mine Agent Braxton." He replied.

The motorcade then drove into a secure parking structure, from there the Director escorted him into the Pentagon through several checkpoints before finally arriving in a secure room with the director and another person who was watching several closed circuit televisions. When the man turned around, Daniel immediately stood at attention, for he was in the presence of the President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson.

"At ease son, there is little time for that now." He said taking a seat at the head of the table.

"It's an honor Mr. President." Daniel said as he took his seat.

"So you're probably wondering why you're here. The answer is we need someone of your particular expertise. Show him." President Johnson said to the general closest to him.

"This radio transmission was isolated from last night by our technicians in Saigon. At 0400 hours a patrol of 15 men from Whiskey Company engaged with what they believed to be NVA soldiers at this position here 20 miles northwest of their Firebase." Webber said revealing a recording device and a tactical map of South Vietnam along with troop movements from various units. He then played the recording, the first sound Daniel could identify readily was the sound of gunfire followed by orders to pull back. What he didn't expect was the sound of trees being crushed and something large letting out a hissing roar before it cuts out to static.

"Two patrols went out at approximately 0600 hours to investigate the site only to find that no bodies were left. Just the weapons and the equipment like the radio and backpacks were recovered." Webber adds

"And why was I selected?" Daniel asked

"The attack happened close to another Firebase that is controlled by our allies, the Republic of Korea's Tiger Division. They have expressed some concern of this thing because not a week earlier their firebase suffered a loss of 7 men from whatever it is. We know you speak Korean, and Tiger Division wants to volunteer six of it's best to your hunt." Director Webber says

"When do I begin?" Daniel asks

"Immediately. The Bureau said you were the best they had. Mr. Braxton...Get it done." President Johnson said.

Braxton nodded before the meeting adjourned and Director Webber escorted Braxton to the bowels of the Pentagon where he met another man, roughly in his late 20s or early 30s and wearing a blue shirt with light colored dress pants.

"Braxton this is one of our researchers, he's going with you to help on your hunt." Webber said.

"Colin Wyman, pleasure sir." Colin said extending his hand.

"Likewise. Can you use a gun?" Daniel asked him.

"Yes I've been trained." Colin said.

"Then stay close." Daniel responded.

Director Webber led the two men to an armory where some rifles were being loaded into weapon crates. He'd noticed the rifles a few times when he was on base in Virginia, it was called the M16 but it seemed different from the ones he'd seen before.

"Mr. Mason, ensure these two men are geared up and ready. They ship out at 0300. Good luck Agents, may your hunt be a success." Director Webber said before leaving. Mason shows them to the armory and told them to get what they needed.

Daniel browsed over the new M16 rifles before holding one in his hand, it was lighter than the M1 Garand he was issued in the Marines.

"That's the new XM16E1, or M16 if you prefer, don't let its lightweight design fool ya this puppy is due to replace the M14 pretty soon. It's got a forward assist and a twenty round magazine, it's also chambered in the new 5.56 round. More control and accuracy due to less recoil." Mason explained.

"Impressive. I'll take the M14, the 1911A1, and this knife." Daniel said taking a kabar knife whilst putting the M16 back on it's rack. Colin settled for a 12 gauge shotgun, an Ithaca Model 37, and grabbed his satchel of scientific gear. Finally the two men were suited up for the jungles of Vietnam. After several grueling flights the duo arrive at their destination the next morning, meeting their contact who takes them to the Firebase. Here they met with the Korean volunteers, six men who had been trained by hardened vets of the Korean War. Daniel briefs the men with help from Colin whilst also ensuring they get to know their new M16 rifles. Once everyone was brought up to speed, the team boarded a Huey and took to the sky. Once they were high enough Colin took out a device resembling a geiger counter. He waved it side to side as they flew, when the device started beeping everyone looked at Colin as the pilot flew towards the signal's origin. The signal held steady as Daniel spotted a open field for them to land. Once the landing zone had been secured the team ventured into the jungle whilst keeping an eye out for any NVA Forces, who had been active in the region for some time. Daniel had two men take point whilst he protected Colin, the remaining four kept their eyes and ears open to any sign, anything that shouldn't be there. One of the pointmen crouched down slowly finding a speck of blood Daniel noticed as well as he scanned the area, the group carefully steps into the foliage finding scattered AK-47s, a few mutilated corpses, and even a pair of legs under a toppled tree with no torso, Colin resisted gagging.

"These are NVA." Daniel says

"A patrol?" Colin asks

"No, too many weapons, more like a whole platoon." Daniel said seeing the blood is still fresh so their quarry was nearby. As they investigate the site Colin photographs a set of tracks whilst also trying his device, Daniel tapped his shoulder making him see a clear trail of crushed foliage and several toppled trees. Daniel had him stay close as the group followed the trail, reaching a low river splitting the jungle, Daniel crouched next to one of several big boulders. Colin heard his device as the beeping intensified to a long tone, Daniel and the others already saw the source.

Easily 45 ft long from nose to tail covered in a spiky leathery skin, a pair of horns extended from the back of it's head and it's orange eyes stared at the group as it stood in the sunlight. One flick of its tongue made it reveal it's row of meat hook like teeth, it looked like a dragon with its front legs propped on a log, the claws digging into the bark. Daniel noticed the twinges of fear in the young men, looks he had seen many times before.

Without warning the beast charged with lightning speed, everyone only managed to get a burst of fire from their rifles as it slammed right in the middle of them. Somehow it missed the group and Colin rolled out from under it whilst firing his shotgun into it's belly. The beast let out a screech of pain as it swiped and bit wildly as it was set upon by the soldiers. One of the team even managed to stab the beast with his knife, the small blade stabbing deep into the underside of the leg. The beast let out another screech as it retaliated with a swipe of it's clawed feet sending blood and body flying into a tree.

Daniel fired his M14 taking out an eye, which made him it's new focus. The beast turned and charged Daniel with it's mouth open, at the last second Daniel dodged making the beast slam its head against a boulder with such a crack he was surprised it was only stunned. He quickly drew his kabar knife throwing his body into the neck of the beast, his knife stabbing and slicing a gaping wound that poured blood all over the surrounding area. The injury sent the beast thrashing in pain before it finally collapsed in a heap, Colin was in awe that it was still breathing albeit with great effort. Braxton pulled his 1911A1 from his holster, emptying his magazine into the beast's head.

The team then tended to their wounded man, whose injuries were shallow and a bad concussion to top it off, Daniel knew he'd survive which gave him some relief. Once Daniel made sure his team was all good and Colin had the photos along with some samples, they followed protocol by destroying the beast with thermate grenades. Colin noticed a few of the men talking among themselves and a couple in particular were animated in their gestures.

"What're they saying?" He asked Daniel.

"They can't believe what just happened." He replied.

Colin had similar thoughts but he knew that for other Agents this was just another day, if they came back.

Daniel radioed an extraction which arrived once they made it back to the field. The trip back to the Firebase felt shorter somehow but he didn't mind, once they arrived Daniel and Colin had received thanks from the Base commander for avenging their fallen. The duo were then taken back to the airport where they took several more flights back to D.C. and delivered their report personally to Director Webber and President Johnson.

Colin and Daniel then got back into civilian clothes before they finally parted ways

"If you're ever in Virginia, my door is open, me and my wife will receive you gladly." Daniel said to Colin.

"I just might do that. See you around Braxton." Colin said before leaving him to be escorted to his transport home.

When Daniel finally arrived home it was late at night, but his house's light was still on. He took a breath before entering, and is surprised by his wife waiting for him.

"Welcome home dear." She said with a smile.

Daniel couldn't help but return the smile before embracing her. The couple then went straight to bed as both were glad that Daniel was finally home again.

[capmackie]

tell me again (that we’ll be lovers & friends)

aka the Prom!Sambucky fic no one asked for.

Bucky should’ve known better.

In reality, he does know better. He knows that prom is not somewhere he wants to be; knows that without a shadow of a doubt, actually. Knows it’s all superficial and just another reason for teens to be cajoled into spending exuberant amounts of money to impress people they’ll most likely never see again. Most of all, it’s incredibly pretentious.

Today’s the big day and Bucky’s been irritated since he woke up, no, actually ever since he shelled out a hundred bucks for his ticket. But as the realization dawned on him that he’ll have to play nice with the same people who’ve never spoken more than two words to him in all four years, the irritation reared it’s ugly head again. It peaked as his mom snapped countless photos, pushing him to smile and pose. It’s all too much and Bucky feels a headache forming at the base of his skull.

At her insistence, she places a rose on his lapel, sticking him with the needle in the process. Bucky’s certain that’s a sign from the universe that going to prom is a bad idea.

***

Bucky, standing in an extravagant banquet room, so over the top, he kinda wants to hurl, quickly realizes that going to his prom was, indeed, a bad idea.

The theme is ‘Winter Wonderland’, which is bad enough but considering it’s currently June, makes the idea even worse. There’s bouquets of carnations dressing the tables, fake snow litters the ground. White curtains, adorned with sparkles, line the floor to ceiling windows, along with hundreds of LED strings lights attached to the ceiling. There’s a balloon arch bracketing the entrance, a sign welcoming the students to ‘Brooklyn High Prom 2019’ hangs off of it. Further inside, he can see the DJ booth. His principal’s on the one’s and two’s and he almost wants to laugh at how ridiculous the sight is, almost.

He feels unease down to his very core, certain that the night’ll end in one of two ways: some drunk asshole picking a fight with him (again) or him standing on the outskirts of the party, isolated, as he finds himself more often than not.

Bucky revels in his loneliness; having realized early on that the only person he can rely on, the only person he can trust is himself. But those thoughts are easier to drink down when Bucky’s minding his own business, holed up in his room. In those moments, his loneliness covers him like a blanket, heavy yet comforting. But here, in a place designed for social interaction, Bucky feels confined by his loneliness, feels it magnified times a thousand.

Coming here was a terrible idea.

The possibility of saying ‘fuck it’, turning on his heels and going the fuck home is lighting every nerve in his body on fire. He could do it; no one’s seen him come in and if they did, they definitely don’t give a damn about him leaving. In the blink of an eye, he can be back home, can ignore the disappointing look his mother will give him, can be in his own space thanking whatever deity out there that his high school experience is almost over.

He’s about to do it.

Bucky’s so close to leaving that relief starts to flood his body when his eyes fall on someone he honestly wishes he never met sometimes.

In hindsight, he understands why he’s here, at prom surrounded by people he doesn’t like, wearing an ill-fitting suit and uncomfortable shoes. It’s the same reason why he does almost anything; the same reason that turns Bucky pliant with just a smile. And that reason is on the dance floor, milly-rocking his life away, in a fitted plum suit with paisley accents.

Sam.

***

If Bucky could go back in time to the first day he and Sam met, he probably would’ve just stayed his ass in bed. But alas, missing the first day of the new school year, especially after missing about three months of your junior year, is frowned upon. For some reason.

The hustle and bustle of kids running to classes as the bell rings or ignoring the bell altogether to continue their conversations in the hall is all too familiar to Bucky. But now it feels different, feels overwhelming.

But Bucky knows the scenario isn’t different, it’s only him who’s changed; the last time he was in this hall he had a flesh and blood arm on his left and now... he doesn’t. Anxiety begins to creep up his spine, his breath shortening out and his head starting to spin. Steadying himself with his forehead placed on his locker, the coolness grounding him, Bucky’s brought back to reality just as the second late bell begins to ring.

Pulling out his schedule, he focuses his attention to more tangible dangers, like being late to his first class and having to sit in the front because all of the slackers have taken the back seats. Adjusting his backpack then his jacket to cover more of his left arm, he grabs his textbooks and sets off to AP Human Geography.

As the teacher assigns partners for the course-long project, Bucky slumps further down in his seat, willing the floor to just swallow him whole. He looks around the room and cringes when he sees who he could possibly be paired with.

But then the teacher is speaking to Bucky, telling him there’s an odd number of students in the class and Bucky’s welcome to join an existing group or work by himself. Before he can give his answer, one Sam Wilson comes barreling through the door, throwing the teacher an apologetic smile, clamoring to find the first empty seat.

There are three things Bucky instantly becomes hyper-aware of at that moment:

1) Sam’s arrival now means there’s an even number of students in the class (fuck)

2) the only open seat is right next to him

3) Sam has the most gorgeous smile Bucky’s ever seen

***

Throughout the semester, they gradually become friends. Bucky’s convinced that it’s only because of the project but when Sam’s walking home with him after they realize they’re actually neighbors (who would’ve thought?) and when Sam’s saving him a seat at the lunch table where the popular kids sit (Bucky declines every day, Sam doesn’t stop inviting him) or when Sam remembers to walk on the right of Bucky (never the left) and when Sam never questions those moods Bucky sometimes finds himself in (the ones he can’t shake, the ones that pull him under so deeply he can only hear tires screeching and glass cracking and the sound of metal on metal and -), the line between general politeness and something more blurs so much, Bucky sometimes isn’t sure that it’s still there.

It’s that blurry line that Bucky finds himself tiptoeing on when one day—he and Sam are on his front porch, soaking in the fact that they’re finally done—Sam asks the big question.

“So, who are you taking to prom?”

Bucky looks up so fast, he almost catches whiplash. Prom hadn’t even been a thought in his mind. He’s focused on more important things like college (and Sam), getting a fresh start in a new city (and Sam) and the threat of Sallie Mae looming over his shoulders (andddd Sam).

The confusion must register on his face because Sam is now laughing and smiling and Bucky hates when he does that. Because Sam doesn’t just laugh and he doesn’t just smile. Sam doesn’t just do anything, his personality is too bold, too vivacious to do anything half-assed.

When he smiles, it starts at his mouth, full lips curling upwards, that stupid gap in between his front teeth making an appearance. Then it lifts to his eyes, making them go big, the brown in the irises shining ever so brightly. Sam’s smile is enough to light up continents, can feed power to third world countries if he chooses to. The only thing greater in the world than seeing Sam smile is making Sam smile and Bucky reckons it’s the same as looking into the sun for too long; the heat of the rays warming him, making him feel special. Then, inevitably, it starts to burn; the too harsh rays focused on him intensely, making Bucky squirm.

Bucky’s been on both sides of the equation. He’s seen Sam throw that megawatt smile at someone, has had that smile on him and Bucky’s not sure which scenario makes his stomach drops the fastest.

With a flick of his right hand, Bucky dismisses the idea of going to something as silly as his high school prom, listing off a dozen of other things he would rather do with his time.

But Sam smiles at him, lighting Bucky insides on fire, and promises him it’ll be fun, that Sam will be there to make it fun and that he won’t leave his side until he’s sure that Bucky is indeed having fun. Bucky wants to say no with every fiber of his being but he just can’t; not when Sam’s looking at him adoringly, smiling a little and then wider and wider until the smile completely takes over his face, as he sees Bucky slowly coming around to the idea of going to prom.

In the end, Bucky is grumbling something about Sam being an asshole and when Sam laughs his signature laugh, Bucky has to turn his head away lest Sam will see him smiling too.

***

Prom is in full swing by the time Bucky’s arrived and is finished with having his existential crisis.

The DJ’s just switched records and a slow song is drifting through the speakers, teens coupling up to slow dance together. It’s so cliché, Bucky’s eyes almost roll out of his head. But then Sam notices him, face plastered with one of his signature smiles and starts to walk his way.

Bucky’s just about to give Sam grief for the patterned shirt he has the audacity to wear in public when Sam nods toward a secluded corner, beckoning Bucky to follow him. As soon as they’re away from the watchful eyes of teachers and parent chaperones, Sam pulls out a silver flask.

“It’s the only way to enjoy these things”, Sam answers when Bucky shoots him a questioning glance.

Bucky’s about to argue that this isn’t a good idea, that they are both underaged, that authority figures are right there, but most importantly, that he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to handle himself around Sam if he’s intoxicated. But Sam’s smiling, looking at Bucky through his lashes and it makes Bucky’s heart lurch and the words Bucky wants to spit out get stuck on his tongue. Before he knows what he’s doing, he’s taking the flask and the taste of Jack Daniels is coursing through him, swallowing his protests and inhibitions all the same.

It’s only after Bucky is six whiskey swigs deep that he finally realizes he’s made a mistake. Somehow they’re on the dance floor, right in the middle of the crowd, being pushed and pulled as the crowd jumps around to some trap song.

But Sam is keeping his promise of not leaving Bucky’s side and it’s so kind and noble, just like he is.

Bucky can see the questioning glances Sam’s other friends are giving him, all the while ignoring the glares directed toward Bucky himself.

But Sam doesn’t play favorites, treats everyone with respect, even moody and pouty and sour people who insist on self-imposed isolation. Sam still befriends them, still walks with them home after school, still makes time for them, still respect their boundaries, still supports them even when they don’t see anything worthy within themselves.

Six whiskey swigs later, standing in a banquet room that looks more like a wedding than a prom, surrounded by people he hates, in an ill-fitting suit and uncomfortable shoes, Bucky Barnes realizes he’s in love with Samuel Wilson. Realizes that he’s been in love with Sam for a while now, actually.

Bucky’s ready for his flight or fight instincts to kick in, waits for the telltale signs of his anxiety to flare up but nothing happens. His classmates are continuing to do whatever the hell they were doing before Bucky’s came to his grand realization. The world, shockingly, continues to spin on its axis. It’s almost like Bucky finally coming to terms with his feelings for Sam is normal.

Honestly, who would’ve thought?

Maybe it’s the alcohol coursing through him that makes him feel so lax or maybe it’s the weight that’s finally been lifted off of his shoulders, but Bucky feels positively giddy at the notion that he loves Sam. Feels the endorphins multiply when the thoughts cross his mind that he should tell Sam right now how he feels.

There’s a small voice in the back of his brain begging him to reconsider; begs him to realize that someone like Sam could never and would never love someone like Bucky back. Bucky with all of his flaws and all of his darkness; it would be selfish to ask someone like Sam, a literal ray of sunshine to love him back, the voice says. To pull Sam into Bucky’s own patented abyss of despair is just cruel.

But then he looks up and he and Sam are now making eye contact again and despite everything that’s telling his mind no, Bucky decides to tell his heart yes.

He’s turning to face Sam before his mind can catch up and repeat how terrible of an idea this is. But Sam’s smiling at him, always smiling at him and like everything else in the past school year, it wills Bucky to believe in himself. Gives Bucky the courage to let go, to relax, to...

What happens next is an out-of-body experience and Bucky isn’t even sure what is happening but his body is on auto-pilot and he’s reaching out to grab at Sam’s jacket and pull him into a fervent kiss.

He doesn’t know how long he stays wrapped up around Sam, his flesh hand cradling the back of Sam’s head and his metal one fisting the man’s jacket. What he does know is that he never wants it to end, knows that he never wants to pull away from the warmth radiating from Sam’s mouth on his, from Sam’s entire body pressed up against his.

Truth be told, it’s always been Sam, it’s been Sam since the very first moment Bucky saw him. Bucky knew he was enamored by his geography partner when Sam first sat next to him or the first time Sam spoke to him or the time Sam did literally anything. He could list off hundreds of examples of when he had started to fall in love, but the only thing of importance right now is Sam, in his arms.

Faintly, Bucky can here the other students around him react to the scene that has just played out in from of them. Bucky can practically feel their weighted gazes on his back but he doesn’t care. The only thing on his mind is communicating to Sam how much he wants to be his.

Bucky’s so wrapped up in his own emotions that he doesn’t feel the gentle hand on his lower back, leading him back to the corner where the silver flask is still neatly hidden from watchful eyes.

“Did you mean it?”, Sam questions.

Bucky’s trying to read his expression but he can’t.

For the first time since he’s known him, he doesn’t see a smile on Sam’s face. Panic starts to set in at the idea that Bucky has ruined his only friendship over a stupid kiss. 

What in the hell was he thinking?

“I’m serious Buck, talk to me please”, Sam is pleading and Bucky hates it, hates seeing any other emotion on that beautiful face but pure, unadulterated joy.

“I - fuck Sam- I just want to be with you”, Bucky stammers out. If he would’ve known how the night was gonna go, he would’ve prepared a speech but alas. It’s just him and his brain trying to formulate a coherent sentence that explains just how much Bucky needs Sam.

“You are my friend - shit - my best friend, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t want anything more than that”, Bucky starts.

The floodgates are opening and he can’t help himself now, every emotion he’s ever felt are all rushing to the surface. He doesn’t even know what to say, doesn’t know how to make it coherent, he just knows that he’s gotta make Sam understand.

Has to make him understand that what he feels is so intense, he can’t even express himself eloquently. Has to make Sam understand he only accepted admission to NYU cause that’s where Sam is going, has to make him understand how blind his mind is at times, how he can’t see anyone else but Sam.

But he just can’t get the damn words out.

It frustrates Bucky that he’s right on the precipice but can’t tip over fully, his own mind sabotaging him. But he hopes that Sam will understand him and his non-verbal cues, hopes that Sam doesn’t think he’s an idiot, Bucky just hopes, okay? He needs this to work, damn it because the man still wrapped up in his arms is Bucky’s endgame, there will never be anyone else.

Sam initiates the next kiss and it’s nothing like the one before. This is one is soft and exploring; this kiss feels like acceptance, feels like understanding, like Sam heard everything Bucky’s been desperately trying to say.

Bucky presses their foreheads together and exhales shakily, groans thinking about all of the trouble he’s caused tonight. He’s just outed himself in front of a few of his classmates but the voice in his head, always springing to action whenever Bucky fucks up, is surprisingly quiet and Bucky counts that as a win. Cuts himself some slack for the first time in a long time.

Sam pulls back first, a mischievous grin on his face, and plants a kiss in the middle of Bucky’s forehead.

“I knew you loved me”, he laughs and Bucky agrees.

He’s known for a while now.

AO3