#so they took it upon themselves to schedule basically a supervised call

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

People sure do be testing my patience today. 

[sxfterhearts]

66. [6:04 pm]

“Damn it,” Mark cursed under his breath as the two of you exited the restaurant and was immediately met with menacing grey clouds that threatened to spill rain droplets over the innocent people roaming the streets. “We were supposed to have a picnic by the Han River, but I guess it’s not possible now…” He trailed off, clutching the bag of takeaway dakgalbi in disappointment, his shoulders slumped and his lips forming a deep pout.

“It’s fine, Mark,” You reassured, huddling closer to him as a strong gust of wind threatened to blow you away. You locked arms with his and guided both of you towards the subway entrance.

He huffed out a huge sigh. “I had the perfect date planned, Y/N! We were gonna get dessert at that bingsu place you like, then watch the sunset from Namsan Tower.” Mark continued, his sorrow clearly written all over his face.

“Mark, baby, I don’t mind,” You tugged him along, making sure that he got out his T-money card in time and urged him towards the correct train line that would take you two back to his apartment. “As cliché as this sounds, I honestly don’t care what we’re doing on our dates, as long as I get to spend quality time with you.”

It was true, considering how both of you were final year university students and already had insufficient time on your hands due to the continuous stream of work, assignments, tests and exams. You could understand Mark’s disappointment, though. This was only your third official date after he asked you to be his girlfriend, and he had planned each date meticulously, exceeding your expectations every single time.

Unfortunately, the past few weeks have been tough. Midsemester exams were coming up and Mark was bombarded by emails from the anxious first year students he tutored for a marketing unit. You had to prepare a presentation for your research project as well, and your supervising lecturer had been far less helpful than you’d imagined. Overall, the time apart made you miss him even more. It seemed like it was harder to meet up with Mark compared to before when you were just friends. Previously, the two of you made it a point to invite each other over for dinner or grab drinks together regularly. Now, it was getting nearly impossible to clear your schedules because of the urgency of your respective deadlines. Time with each other was scarce. You found a small part of yourself wishing to go back to those simpler days filled with impromptu meetups and midnight ramen sessions.

Miraculously, the two of you boarded the train and were fortunate enough to find two seats next to each other. “Well, I can’t argue with that.” Mark whispered close to your ears and pressed his warm lips against your temple. Your eyelids fluttered shut at his soft gesture. It had been nearly two months since Mark asked you to be his girlfriend, and you still hadn’t gotten used to his kisses. They always left a tingling sensation in your stomach.

A short fifteen minutes later, you entered Mark’s apartment. Although you had visited his humble abode many times before, you couldn’t help but to linger in front of the shelf standing beside the TV while your boyfriend got out the plates and cutlery. A fond smile worked its way onto your lips as you perused the vast collection of photos he had on display. There were older, framed family photos of the young Tuan siblings standing beside their seated parents, all wearing identically radiant smiles, and another faded picture of Mark’s baby photoshoot. A polaroid photo album that consisted of more recent snaps stood proudly in the centre, opened to a page containing Mark’s favourite polaroids. They were mostly from his trips back to LA with his family and close friends, and a couple from weekend getaways with his university friends.

Your gaze fell upon a particular polaroid that caught your eye. It was a candid shot of you taken by Mark on the night he asked you out. He had sent you a text near midnight asking you to come over for ramen. You turned up shortly after in slippers and an old band t-shirt with your hair messily tied up, the novel you were engrossed in tucked under your arms. As you leaned over the counter to catch a glimpse of his signature dish, Shin Ramyun with an egg (the egg whites for him and the yolk for you), he sneakily whipped out his Polaroid Camera and took a quick shot. Later that night, you nearly choked on the semi-runny egg yolk when he suggested that the two of you should go on a movie date together.

“Babe, food’s ready. Come and eat while it’s still hot.” He called as he made his way to the living room, placing the dakgalbi on the coffee table. “Are you looking at my photo shrine again?”

“Photo shrine?” You repeated, chuckling at your boyfriend’s interesting choice of words.

Mark unveiled the tasty prized possession as you sat cross-legged on the floor, beside him. “Yeah, it’s a photo shrine because it contains pictures of people and memories that hold a special meaning in my heart.” He gave you a lopsided smile as he waved a piece of fragrant, spicy stir-fried chicken in front of your lips, beckoning you to open your mouth. You accepted gratefully. “My favourite picture of all is the one of me lying on the ground with my sister’s baby on top of me.” He continued teasingly.

“Hey!” You let out a muffled exclamation as your mouth was filled with the well-seasoned meat, feigning jealousy over the fact that your polaroid wasn’t his favourite.

Mark laughed heartily, clearly amused at your reaction. “I’m just kidding. Of course yours is my favourite. You’re my favourite human.”

You hummed happily upon hearing that. “Are you sure about that, Tuan?”

Mark’s thumb came up to the corner of your lips to wipe off the reddish stain from the sauce. “Such a messy eater.” He commented as he raised the thumb to his own lips and licked the remnants off. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Y/N. I said you’re my favourite human, not my favourite living thing. Milo still takes the top spot.”

Right on cue, the white fluffy ball of fur trotted towards Mark from his usual resting place in his bedroom, tail wagging eagerly at the attention. “Hi Mi Mi, my baby. I’ve missed you.” He picked Milo up and cradled him in his arms, giving him several loud smooches as the puppy licked his lips.

You playfully sighed in defeat at the pair’s blatant display of affection. You were about to give him a snarky retort when you were abruptly disrupted by a deafening crack of thunder.

Milo padded over to the glass door leading to the balcony, barking furiously at the dark skies. The puppy refused to calm down until Mark scooped him up, babying and distracting him by scratching his favourite spot behind his ears. “Silly baby, it’s just the rain.”

“Great…” You remarked sarcastically. The summer rain usually lasted for hours, which meant that getting back to your place would be a huge hassle. “I’m gonna have so much fun taking public transport in this weather.”

Mark placed Milo down between the two of you and the puppy cosied up next to your feet, nudging you lightly with his head. The sight warmed your heart. You’ve known Mark ever since he got Milo and you’ve basically watched him grow up, but it was always a pleasant surprise when the puppy acted so comfortably around you. “Stay over then?”

You nearly choked on the dakgalbi that was halfway down your throat. A sip of water later, a soft “What?” left your lips.

It was the first time you would be sleeping over at each other’s houses, or sharing a bed, for that matter. Your response was totally understandable. Mark could feel the tips of his ears heat up and flush dark red, somewhat embarrassed that he brought up this topic in the first place. “I mean,” He added hastily. “I don’t want you going out and getting sick. I’ve got a towel and a spare toothbrush. You can take a shower, change into my t-shirt and a smaller pair of boxers. And I can take the couch if you’re not comfortable with sharing a bed.”

It was a very tempting proposal. You nibbled on your bottom lip, silently wondering whether it was too soon for you to sleep over at Mark’s. He did make a strong argument, though, and judging by the violent whacking of raindrops against the glass doors and windows, the rain outside was relentless and wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Staying dry and warm within the comforts of your boyfriend’s home definitely beats walking back in the rain. “Alright then,” You replied finally, putting a nervous and embarrassed Mark out of his misery.

“Okay.” He replied without missing a beat. “Sure, cool.” An awkward air hung above your heads at the thought of you spending the night at his place, of saying good night and good morning to each other in person. It was the next step in your relationship; yet doing domestic things like brushing your teeth next to each other and exchanging kisses filled with morning breath excited him to no end.

“But like,” You paused, uncertain. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch. If that’s okay with you.”

“Yes, totally okay with me.” Mark said quickly, barely containing his smile. He tried to feed you another piece of chicken, unable to handle the awkwardness any longer. “Here, have some more.”

//

Mark stirred awake as his mind registered a ticklish, cold sensation near the bottom of his neck. Reluctantly, he blinked away the last traces of sleep from his eyes and stole a glance towards the source of his discomfort.

His eyes laid upon your sleeping figure and your face, framed by your mildly dishevelled hair, resting upon his chest and left arm. Your mouth was agape, indicating that the wet patch close to his collarbone was a result of your drooling. A small hand was splayed possessively across his torso, while your legs did a good job of tangling themselves with his. Soft snores were released amidst the chirping of birds outside his window. Despite the fact that he had lost all sensation in his left arm and was starting to get uncomfortably warm from the body heat you were emitting, he stayed as still as possible to admire you for a little longer.

Mark couldn’t stop beaming at the sight. He wouldn’t mind waking up to this every single day for the rest of his life.

So far, he had learned three things on your third date: you brushed your teeth in the funniest and most adorable way possible, you clung to him like a teddy bear in your sleep, and you were a heavy, heavy drooler.

It was almost as if you could sense him teasing you in his head. Just as he was preoccupying himself with counting your long and plentiful eyelashes, your body shifted in search of a comfier position. Mark thought it wasn’t physically possible for two bodies to get any closer, but you somehow managed to position your entire body on top of his.

“Babe,” He croaked, his morning voice gravelly and rough.

You cracked an eyelid open slowly, trying to face him but digging your chin into his chest in the process. Mark wiggled slightly at the discomfort. “Morning.” You yawned, seemingly unaware of your current position.

“Good morning to you too. Listen, I always say that you’re the perfect size and the perfect weight for me, but right now, can you please do me a favour and roll off my body?”

You complied, landing onto the other side of Mark’s single bed with a soft groan. “Right, m’sorry. How long was I there for?” Mark noted with amusement that when you were awake, you were far less clingy in bed. It seemed like you were purposely trying to maintain a distance between the two of you by lying as far away from him as possible.

“Not long, don’t be sorry.” His arms worked its way around your upper body and pulled you closer to him, returning you to your original position. “I want cuddles. Don’t run away from me, you were so eager to get closer when you were sleeping.”

“I wasn’t…” You denied weakly, burying your face into his muscle tee. You inhaled a deep breath of his scent, a mixture of fabric softener and vanilla body wash. It was familiar and comforting, which lulled you back into your slumber.

Mark chuckled as he sensed your body relax in his arms and heard your breathing deepen once more. “C’mere, gimme my morning kiss before you fall asleep again.”

Grumbling at the thought of Mark smelling your horrible breath, you leaned upwards to give him a quick peck. He wasn’t satisfied though, and held your head close to his, deepening the kiss with an expert flick of his tongue against your chapped lips. Sleepy and defenceless, you let him have his way with you. It was a slow, lazy make out session, but it still managed to leave you breathless. The two of you smiled in bliss once you pulled away.

“Okay, satisfied. Go sleep some more, sleepyhead.”

[mshermia]

No. 03 - Nothing Left To Lose - Part I

Whumptober Prompt No 3. MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY

Manhandled | Forced to their Knees | Held at Gunpoint

The reversal of the Snap added 3.5 billion people back to Earth’s population. 3.5 billion more people to house somewhere, 3.5 billion mouths to be fed, 3.5 billion people who return to a world that was not expecting them to ever come back.

In the aftermath of the victory over Thanos, Peter Parker finds himself in a bit of a situation. Instead of helping the "little guy", what is he supposed to do when the "little guys" start helping themselves to the property of others. Tony finds out that his billionaire status doesn't really help that particular situation.

###

I'm using my own Fix-it to Endgame "Like You'd Know How It Works" as a basis for the timeline, though the prompt will work fine without having read that story. The important part is, that Tony's not dead.

Baseline: 2 weeks after Tony is brought back from the multiverse.

###

AO3 Link

###

People never did tell you what it would feel like to come back from the dead. Possibly because people had very little experience with things like that. The odd person being found after they had gone missing for a long time, maybe even been presumed dead, that was one thing. Something like that might happen from time to time. But full-on coming-back-from-the-dead? Well, Tony had always been a pioneer when it came to living through the weirdest shit.

To be fair, to him it wasn't a resurrection per se. He hadn't been dead after all, just his other-dimensional self. Well, just... And the other version of him remained quite dead still, thank you very much, and in all honesty, he wasn't anywhere close to being cool with all that yet. Possibly ever. So there was no way he'd let that big brain of his even start to muse over what was basically his corpse that lay buried not too far off their house. Chances were, he'd never be cool with thinking about that part. So, he didn't. Didn't think about it. Didn't talk about it. Just waiting for it to go away. Which it would. In a few years. 50, give or take.

He rubbed both hands across his face, an active effort for his brain to change the channel. He was supposed to be paying attention to the furry beasts in front of him.

"Seriously, Gerald, you're acting as if it wasn't in your best interest to keep your neck un-wrung. Fluffy, Tiny, let's go."

Gerald didn't like the barn. He was used to grazing wherever and whenever he wanted, nobody's schedule to follow. A free spirit after Tony's own taste. But there was a reason why their stock had grown from one fairly independent alpaca to a flock of three. Damn poachers. Or rogue hunters. Something along those lines, he hadn't inquired in that much detail. They had decimated the two herds in the near-by village, only Gerald's new barn-mates had been able to flee.

And apparently, the Stark's had expanded their life-saving services to the community's life stock now. Well, Pepper had decided they would and Tony wasn't going to question whatever it was that made Pepper happy, not any time soon. His family was the only thing that mattered now. Not the village's life-stock-politics, not any kind of politics. He had retired from everything that didn't directly involve making the people he loved forget about that little death-mishap.

Tony grimaced to himself. Semi-officially retired at least. Yes, in the long run, he was likely to consult for the team and there was always Peter's neighborhood-avenging to support. He'd never leave the Spiderling hanging, no pun intended. But right now, there was some healing he had to supervise. Emotional healing that could only be done with lots of hugs and kisses. With hot chocolate by the fire and glasses of cold wine by the lake. With breakfast in bed and comfy afternoon board game sessions. With nights spent sitting next to his kids' beds, for their benefit of course, not just his own. That was why he had come back with his little protegee after all. For them. And Tony would do whatever it would take, even if it involved wangling three alpacas at once.

Those very alpacas who were very reluctant to move into the barn. Even with how remote the cabin lay, they weren't safe outside anymore, not with the sun slowly setting in the west. But all the pulling on Gerald's head-collar just didn't get him moving, not until Pepper took pity on her dear husband and lent a hand. While she was pulling on the leash, Tony was pushing against the stubborn buck's backside. Alpacas didn't usually tend to kick with their hind legs. That was horses... right?

He groaned, rolling his stiff neck from one side to the other as the gate clicked shut behind Pepper. "Remind me again... Why did we agree to this?"

Pepper didn't bother to send him a scolding look as she wrapped the security seal around the gate's locking mechanism. "Because we're good neighbors?"

"We are?" He smelled like damp fur. When did wet fur and barn animals become his life? "Since when exactly? Was there a house meeting? Did I miss it?"

"Mh... do you need a reminder of the process of negotiation?" She took a step towards him, one hand in his shirt pulling him close against her, their lips almost close enough to touch. "You smell like wet alpaca."

He pulled in an affronted gasp. The hand that was still holding his shirt pushed him away from her, her lips stretched wide in amusement. "Come on, Cesar. Maybe I'll remind you after a hot shower."

"Hey!" He followed after her. "Cesar? Really? First of all, Gerald is not a dog, second... how about during the hot shower?" He had caught up with her, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. "I could think of a couple of other things that—"

"Boss." Tony froze as FRIDAY's voice rang in his earpiece. "Captain Rogers is on the line."

"Oh, but whyyy?" He cringed, not just because it was evident from Pepper's face that whatever road that moment had been leading them down on, was gone. Replaced by the kind of dread he was supposed to shield her from.

"He is asking to speak to you. Immediately."

As Tony groaned again, Pepper blew out a shaky breath. "Everything okay?"

He only pulled a frown as he told FRIDAY to put the man through and didn't bother with any niceties. "What's going on?"

"We need you." Rogers' voice was low and solemn.

"Excuse me? I'm retired." The nonchalant quip was second nature to him but he couldn't deny that the Captain's voice gave him the creeps.

Pepper stepped a little closer and whispered a pained "No!", worry radiating off her like someone had flipped a switch.

"Yeah, we don't really have time for that right now, Tony." Rogers seemed even less inclined to take Tony's demeanor in stride than he usually was. "It's your pet project."

Deep down, Tony had suspected something like this. They knew not to call him for anything but this. "What happened?"

"He's in the middle of a bit of a situation. You need to get here. Now."

"Tony, what's going on?" The way Pepper's hand curled painfully tight around his wrist, she seemed to instinctively know what was up.

There should be a process, how he made those decisions. There should be but in all honestly, it was likely redundant since there was no question as to what he would do if the kid was in trouble. Whenever the kid was in trouble. He didn't hesitate, not even for a second thought. "I'm sorry, honey." He pressed a kiss on Pepper's cheek - any light-hearted banter about alpaca-smell forgotten - as he tapped the nano housing unit hidden underneath his shirt.

"Gotta make sure the kid's safe." He pried Pepper's fingers off his arm. "I'm sorry, honey."

The thrusters engaged before Pepper could draw a breath to argue. He was so retired. He was so retired and they all knew that. It could only mean one thing: the kid was in deep shit.

His heart was racing. This shouldn't even be happening. The kid... he had given the kid the best protection anyone could imagine. The Iron Spider had held up against the ugly purple Grape. Nothing on Earth could... he swallowed hard. He had just been back for a couple of weeks. He was just getting some normalcy back. His family.

Time seemed to crawl by as he shot across the New York sky. The route took him straight to the coordinates that FRIDAY had extracted from Peter's suit. Tony had sent out a call to the kid. When Peter didn't answer he sent out another. This one Peter rejected outright. Still too far out to access the team's comms, Tony and his thoughts had another couple of minutes to imagine the worst until they finally arrived in Queens.

The location was a rather unremarkable looking warehouse, some windows smashed, a couple of doors off its hinges. A little more prominent was the number of police cars parked around the property. There were at least 12 of them, more sirens approaching from the distance. None of them attempted to intervene or even talk to him after the suit had touched ground within the police's perimeter and he made to walk into the building. The picture that presented itself in front of him didn't match what Tony had been expecting. Not in a good way. In fact, it came very close to giving him a heart attack that was going to get in the way of all the supervised healing he still had to do.

Rogers and Barnes in full Super-Soldier outfits stood opposite his boy. His boy had his back turned toward his teammates and stood smack in the middle between them and a whole group of people, their faces mostly covered with scarfs or other contraptions. Some of them were frozen, eyes wide as they were staring at the Avengers in front of them. Others behind them were quietly emptying the shelves of the warehouse. Boxes upon boxes were ripped open and their content vanished in backpacks and large carrier bags. One of the looters however had a very tight grip on a middle-aged dude, a handgun pressed against the man's temple.

Tony froze where he stood, still hidden in the shadows of the entryway.

"...and I get that." Peter's arms were stretched wide. One in front of him at the crowd of people, the other towards Rogers and Barnes like he was urging them to stay back. "This is just not the way to do it, okay?"

With a pressing need for more information, Tony's eyes roamed across the warehouse. Besides the guy on his knees with the gun to his head, a few more people - he counted 10 of them - had been cuffed to three of the large storage shelves. Only a couple of people were standing guard over them. Most of the other intruders were busy stuffing their bags with everything they could— Food. It had just dawned on Tony what was stored within this facility. Canned goods and boxes of what looked like pasta, beans, or rice. These people were stealing food.

"You get it? You don't get anything!" It wasn't the guy screaming those words, just someone else in the crowd, a young woman. "When's the last time you had a warm meal, huh? We came back to nothing!"

"You have every right to be angry." The kid had turned a little away from the hostage, his arm still signaling for calmness. "Coming back to this was a shock. For me too, okay? But this... you don't want to do this. Just... just take the food and you can let him go, okay? This isn't you!" Tony's eyes shot back towards his Spiderling, frowning. "This is— hey... stop! Don't!"

The guy with the gun was pulling on the hostage's shirt, forcing him to balance himself a little more upright on his knees, squirming in his hold.

Rogers had shuffled a little closer. "You don't want to do anything rash now, son."

"Fuck off, traitor," the man spat back at the Captain.

"Stop, just..." Peter's eyes were still on the hostage and his abductor. "I told you to leave, Captain! You're not helping!"

"Spider-Man—" Rogers was interrupted, Peter's voice echoing off the warehouse walls.

"I said, leave!" The boy almost seemed to be panting.

"FRI," Tony whispered inaudible to anyone else because of his suit. "Vitals on the kid."

His heart rate was high, unnaturally high for Peter even during a mission. A close-up provided by FRIDAY confirmed that the boy's hands were positively shaking.

"I can help you, okay?" The kid swallowed hard. "I know that you wouldn't do this if you didn't have to. I can help you and I will, but you have to let this man go. Please."

The group's leader turned from Rogers back to the boy. "You don't know shit about what we want! People are dying because of this jackass! Because of people like him!"

The guy's eyes had found Tony and that seemed to be his cue to advance out of the shadows.

"What the fuck is this, Robin Hood?" Eyes still studying the scene in front of him, a murmur went through the crowd.

Peter spun around, his spider-eyes wide as he looked straight at Tony. "No, no, no, no, no!" He mumbled, his voice echoing in Tony's earpiece.

"You know I can still hear you on the comms, right?" Tony shook his head, sticking to the team-only communication himself now. "Kid... what the fuck is going on?"

"It's... it's fine." Peter's head spun back and forth between Tony and the looters. "Just go home. I got it all under control!"

Tony kept his eyes on the kid, fighting the urge to step any closer. "The dude over there has a gun pointed at this other dude's head. Nothing about this looks like anything's under control. Can we just..." Tony dipped his head to the corner of the room.

"How about I drop, erm..." Peter swallowed hard, still looking back and forth between Tony and the ongoing hostage situation. "I can just drop by when I'm done with all this, okay?"

"How about no?" Tony made a face even though behind the face-plate, it was only for his own benefit. "How about you web this dude up and get some actual control of the situation instead?"

"I got this!" Peter's voice walked a tight rope between urgency and badly suppressed panic. "Just go home, Tony! Please, please just leave!"

There wasn't much that could stun Tony Stark at this point, but an outright dismissal by his intern slash mentee would do it. "Excuse me, did you just—"

"Get the fuck away from us!" Tony's eyes shifted to the looters behind the kid, the guy with the gun was getting antsy. "This is none of your business!"

To Tony's right still a little ahead of him, Rogers inched a step closer to the scene. "Let's just stay calm and figure this thing out, hm?"

"S-stay back!" Another guy from the crowd of looters stepped a little closer toward the main action. He, too, was holding a gun though his arm was dangling loosely next to his body. At a closer look, Tony could spot quite a few weapons, shotguns, knives, and bats in the hands of everyone not currently ransacking those shelves. The group was made up out of a variety of different people, young and old, he could even see some children stuffing tote bags in the back. It was starting to dawn on him, why neither Peter nor the two Super-Soldier's to Tony's right had jumped in guns blazing, not yet.

A whole group of seemingly normal people brought their children to loot this warehouse for all the food they could carry. All of a sudden, the decimated numbers of his neighbor’s alpaca flock left him with a different kind of headache. There seemed to be more to this than he was presently privy to.

Tony cleared his throat, speaking to the whole room. "Unless you want to eat this dude, too, how about we talk about some of your demands, hm? Find a compromise everyone is happy with and nobody gets hurt over?"

For a second, the man's gun twitched towards Tony before he pressed it back against the temple of the man kneeling in front of him. "Shut the fuck up, you murderer."

Ouch. Tony pursed his lips. He hadn't heard that one in a long time.

"Hey!" Peter stepped closer to the crowd, clearly an attempt to shield Tony from their view. "Watch your fucking mouth, asshole."

His jaw popped open and Tony was quick to make an abortive motion towards Rogers and Barnes to stop them from advancing like the kid had done. This was escalating quickly.

"Of course, you're protecting your sugar daddy, you insect. You stopped being a hero when you started wearing this guy's fancy suits. You don't give a shit about us! You haven't in a long time!"

The Spiderling flinched back from the open hatred spewed at him. "I... that's not..." He shook his head, pulling in deep breaths. "I don't want to hurt you, okay? I want to help. We can still all walk away from this."

"Hurt us?" The young woman's voice from before was shaking but still rang harshly through the otherwise quiet building. "We haven't eaten in 2 weeks! We have no place to stay, nowhere safe to sleep!" She pointed a hand at the man on his knees in front of her accomplice. "People like him are selling the little food that is left in the city for 10 times the regular price. We have no money! Nobody helps us!"

"We're here to help now, young lady." Rogers' deep voice always rang with such sincerity, they could only hope it would convince at least some of them. "What you're doing right now is not going to help you!"

"You're not helping us, you want to help him." She pointed at the man on his knees in front of them. "You care more about his property than about the fact that we're starving!"

"Right now," Barnes' low growl surprised Tony more than most of the things happening around them. "We care more about the gun that your buddy there is pointing at the man's head, darling."

"I'm not your darling, jackass!" She spat at Barnes.

"Stop. Stop this." Peter sounded almost scared. "Please."

"He doesn't deserve this kind of money." She barked out before her eyes landed on Tony. "Nobody does."

Tony's eyes stuck with the young woman, his mind racing. Money... was that what they wanted the guy for? His money or plain revenge... maybe a little bit of both. Time to find out what their priorities were.

"You want to take all this out on someone, huh? Alright, Let's do that. How about you let the civilian go and take this up with a bigger fish, hm?"

"No." Peter spun around. "What are you doing? Don’t!"

Tony got a step closer, his focus shifting back to the man that was the group's apparent leader.

To Tony's undeniable satisfaction, the guy's feet shuffled back a couple of inches though his eyes never strayed from Tony. "While you're hiding behind your tin can?"

He had expected as much and his hand was ready to fly up and tap the nano-housing unit. Jaw set, his PR mask in place, the nanites retract just enough for Tony to exit the suit, leaving his armor behind him but still perfectly ready to engage if necessary.

"Stop!" Peter's voice was far from strong now, only a panicky high-pitched squeak. "Mr. Stark, don't!"

Rogers was next to Tony with a couple of long strides, his voice low. "What do you think you're doing?"

Tony cleared his throat before he dragged his gaze away from the looters towards the Captain. "Hostage negotiations?"

"Put that suit back on!" Rogers growled next to him. "That's not why I asked you here."

"You asked me to help." Tony was holding his hands up just below his shoulders, fingers spread wide. "So, I'm helping."

Roger's chest was heaving with deep long breaths. "Getting yourself killed is not helping, Tony."

"I'm not getting myself killed." He had his eyes still steeled on the group leader, careful not to be caught off guard by a trigger-happy hippie. "I'm taking a calculated risk."

"No, you're not." The Captain's hand shot out, holding Tony back with a strong grasp on his arm. "If anyone will be offered up to trade places it—"

"I don't think your bank account will be as attractive to them as mine," Tony hissed. "No offense, Capsicle." He pulled his arm free from Rogers' hold and advanced a few more steps before the kid could get a hold of him. "So, here I am. Let this dude go."

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Thank you guys for reading!

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'm always happy to hear everyone's predictions and theories, so let me know how you think Peter and Tony might get out of this one in the comments. Likes and Reblogs are really appreciated!

Hope you liked it! More whump and more for this timeline will come soon! You can find more from this timeline on my WIP Page.

The Fix-it this is based on: Like You'd Know How This Works

[kelanfilms]

First Shoot in the Age of Covid: My Secondary Role

[Nov/December 2020]

Going into 3rd year I knew I wanted to push my confidence and get onto other sets, so I decided to get a role that I’ve been wanting to do for a while: Assistant Director. I jumped onto the “Gripped” team to help them out onset and was excited to do so. For the main shoot, I’d be missing my main groups shoot, which usually would bother me (not that it didn’t), however, with Karina being my AE and script supervising/running onset, and 8+ people being on the set already, I felt I wouldn’t be much of an addition on the set. With Covid regulations as well, and Covid still running rampant in Edinburgh I didn’t feel confident going to such a busy set.

Due to not being told by any of the Gripped crew, I missed the test shoot, but was told by some attendees that “They need an AD”. Apparently some creative differences onset were leading to problems, so I was curious going onto this set as to how it’d go. I read the script and prepped before heading to the set for Day 1. On Day 1 you could see what people had been talking about, Claire G and Anton had some creative differences to iron out, but all they needed was an intermediary (this time, me) to help them see that they actually just need to listen to each-other rather than try and be constantly right. We got our schedule and shot-list for the day ready and the shoot went… really well. We ran on time and everyone in the set was in good spirits as they settled into things. By the end of the day we all left feeling good.

Shoot day 2 went well too, however started off rocky. Anton and Claire both didn’t know what to shoot. We had the actors for another day so why waste them? So I had to really encourage them to think about their edit, what did Anton want Sully to use, what extras did they want. Claire G wanted cutaways and close-ups for extra B-roll for Sully, but Anton was resistant to this saying “Sully will work with what he gets from Day 1, he can use what he’s given”. I remember feeling a bit of frustration at this and not understanding how a director wouldn’t want to jump on the chance for more footage, but if Anton had faith in Sully to use the day 1 footage well then… I had faith too, but I still wasn’t gonna let him waste a day. (Update: 9th December, 1 Day after crit. Looking back, the fact Anton said this… makes me so glad we pushed him for the 2nd shoot day because without it I don’t think they would’ve had ANYTHING to show at the crit). Eventually I compiled a list of shots from the previous day we would retake, some closeups, and other shots and we got started and yet again… it went off great.

(Anton also had time to film a 7minute shot of the Billy Crystal Oscar opening… not only did this slightly confuse me, I can’t be the only one who doesn’t get Billy Crystal at all. Here’s hoping they don’t use all 7 minutes! Update: 9th Dec… Might not have been 7 minutes but, there’s too much Billy Crystal in the final edit and I, still, don’t get it.)

I really enjoyed my experience being an AD for this group. Anton was a good director to work with, his effort with the actors was lovely to see onset. However he does need to be more confident in himself when it comes to the crew. There wasn’t a lot of communication about his vision before the shoot so all the crew members were very confused as to how to approach the script. Part of my job on the set became communicating Anton’s plan to the Sound Designer and DoP to aid their job, but even I still didn’t fully understand him. Perhaps it was just indecisiveness but I think if Anton had full confidence in one creative idea, and communicated with his team a bit more, the project would’ve gone a lot more smoothly. But, that being said, the group were a pleasure to work with and clearly cared a lot for the production they were working on. Despite differences in their test shoot everybody was extremely professional in front of the actors, and the environment was really nice to be in.

[Update: 9th December, 1 Day After the Crit]. I wouldn’t usually comment on another group’s crit, but after being on such a wonderful shoot and seeing so much work put into this project I was disheartened to see the end result and the crews comments at the crit. I’d heard a week or 2 before that the edit wasn’t going well. From the 2 shot edit to not hearing any updates I could see the toll the editor’s absence was taking on the crew. 5 days before the crit, myself and Mairi contacted Claire G to get the footage for their film. I had seen the film get shot, heard Anton’s vision at the time (and to be honest at this point Anne Marie needed something), so Mairi and I offered to edit the full thing the next day after our doc had picture-locked. At this point Klaudia decided that they’d see it through, seeing as we had other projects to work on. But Mairi and I stayed on standby… just in case.

[At this point I want to applaud Klaudia for her role as producer, because I know she feels like she didn’t do her best due to the issues with the delayed edit. Not only was she persistent in trying to get the editor to complete work, she contacted the Director constantly and tried to keep her groups moral up. On the set she aided me in ensuring we were on time, made sure the actors were comfortable, and ensured Covid Safety Regulations were met. She took temperatures every couple hours and checked the team felt well to come to set. As someone who’d been feeling anxious even leaving my flat on the morning of the shoot, I felt so confident and safe being on that set by Day 2. So if you’re reading this Klaudia, well done.]

Upon seeing the film at the Crit I did feel bad for the team, every member had played their role well and the shoot had been an amazing experience. Anton and Claire definitely spoke themselves down when they spoke about their creative differences. Sure they started off rough, but the change I saw between the start of shoot day 1 and the end of day 2 was amazing. They put their differences aside and started to listen to each-other and it was nice to see them begin to collaborate (really shows their dedication to their craft when they put their mind to it). Despite being two VERY different people they behaved professionally in front of the actors and got along well (despite what they said at the crit), which helped create a really wonderful atmosphere onset.

It is just a shame that the editor let his team down. The footage from Day 1 had been nice, or at least usable to create a basic 2 person film, but unfortunately he only used the Day 2 Footage (Claire G has been through the edit and figured out he didn’t sync the sound, so didn’t use Day 1 as there’d been no camera sound to use that day). It’s unfortunate he didn’t reach out to his team about his issues because had he a couple of days after getting the footage requested a reshoot, I would’ve jumped at the chance to work with that production team again. I won’t say much more because I’m sure that team’s blogs will be interesting… but it is sad to see that in 3rd year there is this kind of work ethic happening. When working as a crew we are a team first and foremost, friends or not outside the project shouldn’t matter, we work together. And we communicate, not just walk off and complain behind folk’s back that something isn’t working.

But all in all my experience as an AD for Anton and his team was the best I could ask for, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. And despite how the crit went I do hope the team feel proud of their contributions to what was a really good production to film.

[Side Note: I think I’ve found my calling as an AD, being in charge and making a wee schedule on Excel? Love it.]

[sysullivan]

👀 So, what IS IT really that you do?

Indignation, ever-present on Sullivan’s features, intensifies when in the presence of the ship’s medic but, especially upon hearing his question. “What is it I do?” he repeats, words dripping with venom. Perhaps it had been a mistake to presume the man educated due to his title.

An In-Depth Look at Your Role as Steward - Volume 2 

Now that you have all the facts pertaining to the many facets of your position, we can move onto the more political and diplomatic aspects of your career.

“Grievances should never be confused with your chief responsibility as a steward: to build a united, organized, and involved membership in your workplace.”

Remember? You read that on page 1.

Sullivan didn’t read that on page 1. He never got to see page 1 or any page from the first volume. Captain Yang went over some basic responsibilities during his orientation, but the first few months he spent on the ship were a lot of trial and error. The atmosphere was quite tense, undoubtedly due to Sullivan’s previous affiliations. So - the first rule he technically read is that grievances are not his chief responsibility as Steward. 

As you might be able to tell, he’s taken that sentiment to heart.

Building a united, organized, and involved membership in your workplace.

Job Description —The Chief Steward carries out his duties and responsibilities under the direction and authority of the Captain, and First Mate, when necessary. As the person ultimately responsible for the interior of the vessel and for providing superior hospitality service to meet the owner’s and guests’ expectations, the Steward will also train and manage any lower-ranking crew under his supervision. Excellent service, hosting, and managerial skills are a necessity, as is having a good degree of creativity and adaptability.

Overall Responsibilities (Italics and strikethru are Sully’s personal notes based on his experiences on the job)

Responsible for the everyday smooth operation of the ship’s interior departments, which means being adept in the arts of housekeeping services, laundry procedures and wardrobe management, food and beverage service and cleanup, and entertaining while maintaining proper etiquette and a high-energy, can-do attitude at all times. - It does not seem to matter how hard I try - this ship is always a rutting mess.- The Captain is an absolute heathen, some sort of wild desert-beast. That being said, it seems the use of etiquette, high-energy, and can-do attitude is not a requirement for my position. This is a great relief.

Responsible for directing, motivating, and training the lower-ranked crew—which includes the assignment and scheduling of rotational duties and implementing Human Resources procedures and guidelines- No one listens to a gorram thing I say!!!- Prefacing all statements to crew members with ‘Captain says’ has improved results

Providing valet services and overall guest care. (Note: In the hospitality industry, “valet” refers to any employee who performs personal services for guests. Valet services may include tasks such as packing and unpacking guests’ luggage, caring for their personal items and specialty garments and even making daily activity arrangements for them.)- Making sure rent/fares are collected in a timely fashion seems to be my #1 priority

Protecting, maintaining, and caring for valuable interior items and surfaces, such as artwork, silks, china, crystal, linens, fine woodwork, and marbles - Captain refers to all valuables as “scratch.” I admit, it took me far too long to understand what in the ‘verse he’s been talking about all this time.

Creating, implementing, and monitoring a financial planning system that includes accounting and budgeting for interior department needs- Systems implemented and monitored successfully. Keeping enough funds on hand for the astronomical amount of catastrophes and near-disasters this crew encounters is proving to be the real challenge. 

Creating, implementing, and maintaining an information management system of interior inventories and maintenance procedures- Work in progress. Foodstuffs consistently disappear and turn up in random bunkers. Ship is probably infested with some sort of rodent. Must remember to wear shoes at all times and keep quarters locked securely. 

Provisioning to maintain inventory supplies and cover guest usage- Taken to hiding supplies myself. There’s no telling how much food and drink will be consumed after the crew celebrates a successful job. Provisioning for this strange bunch is proving to be more difficult than expected.

Collaborating with the executive chef regarding meal service for the guests- Cheap bastard FINALLY hired a chef!

Creative planning and quality service of theme dinners and occasional guest parties- Getting harder to cover the fact that I’m planning birthday festivities for crew members. Ephraim now asks whose name he should write under ‘Happy Birthday’ when I subtly supply him with ingredients for cakes.

Keeping all interior storage areas organized, orderly, and maintained- IMPOSSIBLE

Crew uniform purchasing- Thankfully this is not a responsibility that is mine. Even more thankfully, the crew (overall) seems to be capable of dressing themselves.- ...I can’t imagine what type of uniform the Captain would require everyone to wear. There’d be giant black boots involved, I’m sure.

Writing and updating all interior manuals and guest-information documents- My own personal records are filling up quite nicely. It seems most believe I’m utterly disinterested in their incessant chattering so it’s become quite easy to take notes unnoticed.

Maintaining and displaying knowledge of international etiquette and protocol- Again, the Captain is a heathen so my use of etiquette and protocol are nearly useless. At least Ms. Lihn appreciates my attention to detail.

Watchkeeping in accordance with the list of responsibilities of the crew - I should show everyone that’s accused me of being a brown-nosing tattletale this section of the manual!!!

Exterior-crew support as needed (requiring proficiency with exterior lines and fenders)- It seems to be the Captain’s preference that I do not leave the ship unnecessarily. This is also my preference.

Selecting, purchasing, and serving fine wines, specialty teas, and cigars, which may require advanced training- Very few of the permanent crew members would know a fine wine if I hit them over the head with a bottle of it.- I’m not complaining. This actually makes my job a lot easier.

Planning and managing destination experiences proficiently- After trying to plan a few sightseeing trips at certain ports, I’ve given up on this endeavor. I will do my explorations privately.

Assuming full responsibility for certain onboard safety tasks (as assigned by the first mate) in an emergency- Luckily, there have not been many responsibilities assigned to me during emergencies. I’m not sure if it’s collective doubt that I’ll be able to function past breathing during an emergency or that the crew is actually, quite surprisingly, very proficient when it comes to disaster management.

Additional Responsibilities

Screening potential passengers and crew members before acceptance onto ship

Coordinates passenger arrivals and departures to and from ports

Assess special requests from crew and passengers and acquire specific item or pass along to the Captain for approval when necessary

Make sure crew is paid accordingly to their involvement in specific heists

Provide Captain with details on incoming employment requests

TLDR; Sullivan tries to plan for all foreseeable circumstances in regard to keeping the Serenity and her crew supplied with any and all necessities. He is also responsible for acquiring many of these necessities at the most cost effective level possible. He is responsible for passenger acquisition and general voyage satisfaction. Taking care of crew members in regard to their quality of life while employed on the ship. He manages nearly all monetary transactions; payments from crew/passenger/clientele and payments to crew, etc. He screens most of the incoming requests for passage and potential jobs/heists and passes along background checks and appropriate investigative tasks to the crew’s hackers to assess threat potential before presenting said cumulative information to the Captain. Does his best to keep the ship’s contents organized and accounted for; a nearly impossible task if he does say so himself and he does.

Unspoken Truths

The Captain’s word is law. Unless Sullivan believes their collective death’s inevitable. Then there is a lot of protesting for no reason because, the Captain’s word is, in fact, law.

Sullivan’s confidence and perception of his authority comes directly from the Captain’s strength. To be clearer - Sullivan can’t back up anything he threatens if the Captain doesn’t enforce it. So there is some potential danger when it comes to choosing battles with him. You might end up calling his bluff and getting him to back off or you might end up with a not very pleased Captain banging on your cabin door.

If Sullivan says the Captain likes something a certain way, it’s more likely that Sullivan likes the thing that way and he’s relying on no one asking the Captain his opinion. Granted, the things that Sullivan is particular about usually relate to some manner of organization and it’s likely Jaewon wouldn’t have an opinion if someone did ask him. It’s easier for everyone if you just let Sullivan have his way.

Re: All Topics - It’s easier for everyone if you just let Sullivan have his way.

Sullivan cares VERY much about being a useful member of the crew. He cares VERY much about being efficient and reliable. He cares VERY much that everyone who boards the Serenity feels at least a little bit like they’re at home. He cares VERY much for each and every one of the Serenity’s crew and passengers, but slightly less for Noi.