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bold-writing · 4 years ago

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The One With Whiskey Eyes || 9 || Precious Porcelain, Cracked and Broken

Warnings: Violence, Swearing, Threats.

Words: 3600+

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~9~

Iris and Barry emailed back and forth a few more times over Sunday, usually short and sweet since he was at work and Iris didn’t want to distract him from his job. Luke had surprised her with an email later in the day, saying that he’d bugged Barry into giving him her email address with a wink emoji at the end of the sentence. She’d just shaken her head with a smile as she pulled out some food for a simple dinner.

She had started her Monday with a positive outlook, having gotten much better sleeps the past couple of nights and therefore back on her game when she stepped into work. Emailing Barry and Luke had been one of the first things that she had done in the morning, somehow feeling right at home with the new addition to her routine.

The first couple of hours had gone smoothly, and Iris had been relieved to be back in her element with something to do with her time. Her coworkers were especially happy to have her back, thinking that she was going to go back to her usual routine of taking any and all hours that she could get her hands on; instead, she’d called the owner that morning and had discussed getting her schedule changed to allow for more free time on weekends and maybe evenings.

They had happily agreed, since she hadn’t taken voluntary time off since she had started there.

Her day was going smooth and by the book, Iris able to get lost in her thoughts as she priced and scanned the new books they had gotten in while manning the counter. Her coworkers were among the shelves, stocking up the empty spaces and cleaning up the messes that customers left behind.

Unfortunately, that good day didn’t last long.

“Miss, I can’t take this book,” Iris denied as she pushed the worn novel back across the counter. “Not only do you not have your receipt, we do not even sell that here.” They hadn’t gone through the painstaking process of transferring all of their files to computer for nothing, Iris was able to search for any book title and know whether they sold it or not.

“I lost the receipt, sorry! But I bought this book here, just last week!”

“Well it’s in terrible condition for having been bought a week ago,” Iris answered, motioning to the heavily cracked spine, bent front page and stains along the bottom corner. “We have strict rules here; you must return the book, with your receipt, within fourteen days of purchase.” Iris motioned to the taped up sign that was located just over Iris’s right shoulder, stating the rules that Iris had just said.

“I would like to talk to your manager,” the woman finally demanded with a deep scowl. She was several inches taller than Iris on flat ground, and she was now wearing four inch heels that made her absolutely tower over the younger woman.

“Hi,” Iris smiled back, remaining firmly rooted in place as she gave a small wave—almost, but not quiet, mockingly.

The woman’s face morphed into a livid frown before she snatched the book from the counter and turned on heel so fast that Iris was surprised she hadn’t spun right off her heels. She watched the woman leave, allowing Iris the satisfaction of once more having been able to pull the ‘I am the manager’ card. Iris glanced over to the coworker that was stocking just a few feet away from her, hiding a grin as she tucked more books on the shelf.

“You enjoy that too much,” she called over to Iris, amusement colour her features.

“The look on their face is the only thing that makes being the manager worth it,” Iris answered as she resumed her work of unboxing, pricing and scanning the books to put everything in the system. “Makes you glad we put everything on a computer system a couple years ago?” she offered, getting a laugh from the younger woman as she nodded eagerly.

“I don’t know how you stay so calm when you have people like that,” Jessica, the younger girl who had been there for nearly five years, added on as she finished with the box that Iris had given to her and moved over to collect the other one that Iris had priced for her.

“It helps that I go into a situation like that knowing they’ll ask for…well, me.” Jessica snorted at Iris’s explanation before the two women returned to their work. Iris pulled her long braid over her shoulder in nervous habit, her eyes double checking the computer screen to make sure that the correct number of copies had been entered before she opened a new page for the next box.

She was wearing a pair of thin black compression gloves, keeping her hands warm and protecting them from being cut up or dried out by the boxes and books, while also hiding her mark from prying eyes. Those that she worked with had gotten so accustomed to her wearing the gloves; they didn’t usually bring them up anymore. However, now and then they would make bets about whether or not it was a soulmark, and what it might say that would make her hide it.

The next box that Iris opened was a hardcover sketchbook, one of their best-selling sketchbooks; which made her smile as Barry popped into her mind.

She had barely tagged one book when the bell over the door signalled that someone else had entered the store. Having heard the same thing every day since she worked there, Iris didn’t even look up from the counter this time. “Welcome to Pages of the World; if you need any help just let me know!” she called from her place behind the counter while sticking another price-tag on the sketchbook.

“Yea, you can fucking help me, brat!”

Iris flinched while looking up from her work, the booming yell of a man charging up to the counter making her want to tuck tail and run. Women she could deal with, they always came off as less terrifying to her than men did after all these years. Even Jessica flinched behind the display she was setting up, looking between Iris and the irate man wearily.

“Excuse me?” Iris stuttered out in surprise, unable to supress the fear that had her leaning back. There was still a counter between the two of them, but Iris couldn’t find the assurance in it.

“You turned my wife away just because of a receipt? What the hell kinda customer service skills do you have to honestly be a manager?” Oh course it had to be the husband. Somehow, Iris figured that the couple had planned this. They would try to get a free fifteen dollars for a used book that was not from this store; if the wife’s sob story about losing the receipt didn’t work, the husband would come in and try to scare her into doing the non-existent return.

“Ones that do not concede to liars,” Iris snapped back with more bravado than she actually felt. “The rules are clear, and I do not appreciate your immaturity with the situation; I am a grown woman, there is no need to call me a brat, sir.”

“Clearly there is! You’re supposed to please your customers, you think I’ll ever come back here?”

“The best thing about being the manager here is that the owner has assured me that I can refuse service to anyone that I want. I assure you, sir, I do not want you or your wife to ever come back.” Iris’s tone stayed level and calm the entire time she was speaking, not once raising to the point that it could be considered yelling.

Beneath the counter, Iris subtly slipped off the metal bracelet that she wore around her wrist with the keys she needed for the different locks within the store. When unclipped, it was four inches of metal that held four full sized keys on the end of it. She was not opposed to swinging it at the man’s face if he tried anything.

His face was red by the time she finished speaking, his jaw locked tight as he fixed a glare on Iris that she was sure was supposed to scare her into relenting. “Now, I will have to ask that you leave this store before I am forced to call the authorities and have you escorted out.”

Standing behind the display, Jessica was watching the entire thing with wide eyes and a jaw close to dropping. Her manager, tiny little five foot Iris that was about one hundred pounds soaking wet, was holding her ground against a six foot tall man that looked like he could throw her with one hand. Her voice had wavered in the beginning, but then she had successfully collected herself and was able to keep her composure.

“You go ahead and call them, but I am getting my refund!” the man roared, reaching toward the buttons on the register to Iris’s right—which was rather stupid, since none of them would open the register unless Iris actually unlocked it first.

Similar to what she had done with Luke in the grocery store, Iris reached out and swung her chain of keys down onto the back of his hand, the man hadn’t even been able to hit a single button before he was recoiling in shock at the sharp pain that accompanied her attack. “This will be your final warning,” she almost growled out, her free hand poised over the phone.

Majority of the employees here were woman, so the police were on speed-dial just in case ‘911’ would take too long.

“You fucking cun-”

He never got the chance to finish what he was saying before he was suddenly slammed down onto the counter, drawing a startled yelp from both Iris and Jessica as the women leapt backward from the sudden action. A pale hand was holding the wanna-be robber by the back of his neck, pressing his face into the polished counter with considerable force, the other hand keeping the man’s arm tight behind his back in a very uncomfortable looking angle.

“That is not how you speak to a lady, and it’s especially not how you speak to mine.”

Iris damn near choked on air when she heard the familiar voice, this time with a more average American accent, and looked up the pale arms that had the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, a sweatshirt left unzipped to expose an average undershirt and a necklace of some kind dipping down beneath the fabric. She stopped breathing entirely when her familiar handwriting was brought to the forefront of her attention. It was in her cursive, so she couldn’t read it from here, but there were many scattered along his forearms and another that shown at his left pectoral.

“What the fuck, man, get off!” the man snarled, though he was still useless to fight against the newest soulmate for Iris to meet. Had it not been for the lack of accent, she would almost think that it could have been Luke, but that would have been pushing it.

“You don’t talk to people like that, ya hear me?” he demanded while pushing the man’s face down against the counter with more force, getting an uncomfortable groan in response. “Huh?” he pressed again when no verbal response came.

“Alright!”

Nodding in satisfaction, her nameless soulmate hauled the man up from the desk and turned to face him with a hard glare. “You ever come back here and you’ll be dealing with me.” Iris had to strain to hear, but the threat was as clear as day. Then he shoved the man to the side, in the direction of the door he’d come through minutes before, and watched to make sure he left without touching any of the meticulously arranged displays.

Only when he’d ran passed the store windows and disappeared from view did his bark blue eyes turn toward Iris, who had remained silently shocked from the moment he’d first slammed her would-be robber down on the desk. “You alright, doll? He didn’t hurt ya?”

Iris opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out. She couldn’t even think of forming words as the world suddenly went blurry around her and she could feel the heat in her cheeks as her blood fled from her already pale complexion.

Without a word, she suddenly turned and sat on the nearby desk chair that she used while doing paperwork, the sound of rushing footsteps alerting her to someone behind the desk before Jessica’s terrified face came into view. “Iris!” she called, apparently not for the first time, and reached for the older woman’s face to feel her strikingly cold cheeks.

Another hand against her shoulder, much larger and holding more weight behind it, drew Iris to look to her right with limp neck muscles barely keeping her head up. Barry? No, not Barry. Not Luke.

Who?

“It’s alright, doll, you just take your time,” he assured gently, his tone having changed drastically from when he’d first starting speaking to the other man. Even when he’d addressed Iris, he’d sounded more confident and sure, almost proud of Iris’s defense. Swallowing around a suddenly dry mouth, Iris tipped her head back in an attempt to let some cool air get to her face. She knew that to another it would feel cold with lack of blood, but she felt like she was blushing red as a tomato with how hot her cheeks were.

Suddenly, cool air was blowing against her face gently as Iris took a moment to think through her breaths and bask in the refreshing feeling.

“Iris? You need me to call someone?” a new voice called timidly. It was Sarah, a twenty-one year old woman who had worked for them since she was eighteen. She’d latched onto Iris immediately, since both women were naturally quiet and usually shied away from loud, extraverted situations.

“No,” Iris breathed out softly, beginning to feel better from sitting down a moment. “Thank you, Sarah. I’ll be okay. Do you mind taking over here for a moment, though?” Opening her eyes and looking over to her young coworker, Iris was relieved to see her nodding eagerly and stepping around the counter to take Iris’s spot. “I just need some air. Come get me if you need the keys, alright?” Jessica stopped fanning her with the booklet she’d picked up, stepping back to give Iris room.

“Take your time, okay? We’re perfectly fine on our own for a few minutes.”

Reluctantly agreeing, Iris turned away from the other two and reached out for her new soulmate’s hand to draw him after her, toward the front entrance. The large windows had benches in front of them for the people walking by to sit, so she immediately went for one of those.

Her soulmate followed her willingly, sitting down next to her as Iris settled down on the sun-warmed bench. “You alright, darling?” he asked quietly, keeping his tone gentle as he looked at Iris’s pale, pinched expression.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she mumbled tiredly, belatedly thinking that she probably should have thought of something better to say to him for first words.

“I’d rather I know what you’re going through than to be somewhere else and left to worry,” he answered easily, reaching out to pull her closer across the small bench. It left her pressed in against his side tightly, the warmth of his body helping her to relax somewhat. “That stuff happen often?”

“No,” she assured immediately, shaking her head before she let it tip to the side and rest her temple against his shoulder. “People don’t usually get so…worked up. When I mention the cops they usually take off running.”

“That guy was an asshole,” he grumbled angrily with a dark expression blanketing his features. It was not an expression she was accustomed to seeing; both Luke and Barry were more upbeat, they didn’t outwardly glare or glower. “You sure you’re alright?”

Her mouth and throat still felt abnormally dry and her heart was racing a bit faster than usual, but she could tell that there was blood returning to her face and her hands weren’t trembling like before. “I’ll be okay. I haven’t had that happen in a long time; just got overwhelmed for a minute.” He nodded in something akin to understanding, reaching up to sooth her hair gently with a gentle, assuring touch. “So, it’d be nice to have a name for my savior?”

He laughed under his breath at her timid tease, nodding in agreement. “That’s true. I’m BT, doll, and I’m damn glad I ignored Barry and came to see you today.”

Iris’s answering smile was shy and she couldn’t help but to silently agree with his words. “I’m glad, too. It scares me to think what might have happened if you hadn’t intervened.” Lowering her eyes, unable to keep looking into the deep blue—they were darker than Luke’s and Barry’s, she hadn’t thought that was possible. Instead, she looked down to where his forearms were left bare from his rolled up sleeves. Her familiar scrawl was looking back at her, especially one mark that was apparently long enough that it wrapped around his wrist three times.

A shorter one on the outside of his forearm was familiar to her; Wow, hello. Her words to Luke made her snort in amusement, reaching forward to trace the black cursive that stood out against BT’s pale skin. “It’s so strange to see my writing on someone else,” she mumbled to herself, aware that he could hear her.

BT leaned away from her suddenly, then proceeded to pull up the side of his sweater and shirt that he was wearing to expose the left side of his torso. I’m sorry you had to see that was written across his side, starting at the base of his ribs and trailing down along to the hem of his pants.

Her lips parted in surprise as she looked at the dark words, repressing the urge to reach out and touch them. Barry and Luke hadn’t outwardly tried to hide their skin or marks from her, but they had worn warmer clothes when she’d met them and therefore had masked any of their marks. BT was the first to wear something that exposed his marks willingly, feeling as though he had nothing to hide.

And to go even further, he had gone ahead and pulled up his shirt to show her the words that she had just spoken to him. She was left trying to not look at the cut of his hip that proved something she’d already assumed—he was incredibly fit.

“I…can’t show you where mine is,” she admitted softly, her cheeks warming with a blush as she remembered where BT’s mark was—curving along her left ribs, following the natural curve that was beneath her left breast.

“Now ya got me curious,” BT teased gently, not wanting to push her too far when she was still clearly shaken from what had happened. His smile softened as he straightened his shirt and shuffled her closer to him again, returning her to her place pressed against his side. “I don’t wanna leave ya here alone; feels wrong after that.”

He motioned with his thumb in the direction that the guy had run off, probably hopping into a car that his wife was still waiting in. “I’m not alone,” Iris argued tiredly. “There’s three other people working today, and it’s just a simple bookstore. Things like that never really happen. I do get the odd person who tries to trick us by bringing in some used book for a return, but that guy was…determined.”

“Is it all girls in there? Because no offense to you all defending yourselves, but I doubt anyone’s gunna be intimidated by four short girls trying not to let him rob the place.”

“We have David in as well,” she assured. “He’s closing today, because I opened the store.”

BT seemed to relax slightly as he nodded in understanding, a thoughtful look on his face as he pondered for a moment. “When do you get off? I’ll come get ya!”

Iris wanted to stop him, to deny him from interrupting his schedule for her, but she already knew that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I finish at four today; come here around quarter after?”

“You got it, doll.” BT leant forward suddenly to smack a kiss against the side of her head in assurance. “I’ve gotta get going, though. Barry’s already gunna be pissed if he finds out that I came here…well, more like when he finds out. Barry knows freaking everything.”

Iris stood up with BT, already feeling a thousand times better after she’d had some time to get fresh air. “Thanks for your help, BT. I’m definitely glad you came here when you did.” BT grinned broadly before he reached out to snatch her up, pulling her against him abruptly in a near bone-crushing hug. She was jarred for a moment before she returned his embrace and hugged him back, revelling in the warmth that he emitted. “I’ll see you after four.”

She backed away from him reluctantly, smiling shyly as she trailed her hand along the covered mark on his left side. BT smirked back, knowing what she was doing, as he nodded his affirmative. “Sure thing, doll. I’ll be waiting out here for you, a’right?”

“Deal.”

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#Split #Split Movie #Split 2016 #James McAvoy #Barry Split #Barry #Dennis Split #Dennis #Patricia Split #Hedwig Split #Imagine #Fanfiction #Fanfic #Split imagine #Soulmate Imagine #Soulmate AU #Barry/OC #Barry x Reader

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prairiesongserial · 3 years ago

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epilogue 17

Ezra left before the sun came up. He did so quietly, loading a trunk full of his things into the bed of one of the caravan’s older trucks, and departing before anyone had the chance to wake up and question why he was awake at such an ungodly hour. Not that he wasn’t questioning that himself. He supposed he could have stayed behind and made more noise about Johannes forcing him out - could have tried to take some of the circus with him, the same as Iris had - but he didn’t have enough fight in him for that.

Worse still, there was a part of Ezra that doubted anyone else from the circus would have come with him. He hated leaving Johannes behind to tell the story of what had happened, hated that everyone would hear Johannes’s version of events, but maybe no one would have believed his own version of events in the first place. Maybe no one but Ezra thought that what he’d done to try and preserve the circus’s safety had been worth doing.

Ezra rolled down the window as he drove, letting the wind whip through his hair, and watched the sun slowly begin to peek over the horizon. What Johannes was doing was stupid. Deeply so. Trying to raise a short-notice army to go up against Hemisphere…it was nothing short of insane. He was going to die, if someone didn’t do something about it, and so was the rest of the circus.

Ezra would have loved for that to not be his problem.

The door of the trailer banged open, and Ezra jumped. He’d known he couldn’t hide forever, of course, but he’d also been holding out hope that he and Johannes were both too tired to have a confrontation tonight. Johannes, Val, and Friday had already been back at camp for a number of hours, and Johannes hadn’t bothered to come looking around for Ezra until now.

Johannes was mad, though. Ezra could see it in everything from his expression to the rigid way he carried himself as he stepped inside. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Johannes this livid - except for maybe when a large chunk of the circus had up and left with Iris. But that had been different.

“Out,” Johannes said. He wasn’t even bothering to speak in Yiddish. Apparently he no longer cared about being eavesdropped on. “I want you out. Gone by morning.”

“What -” Ezra began, then cut himself off. “Is this about Friday? I told you, I tried to help her.”

“She seemed to think differently,” Johannes said. He was scowling, his blue eye flashing dangerously.

“She doesn’t know what she saw,” Ezra snapped.

“She said she confronted you about trying to kill Cody!”

“And she did,” Ezra said. He wasn’t happy about how that conversation with Friday had gone, to say nothing of the way it had been interrupted. But there had been no point when he’d so much as considered killing her. The circus was beyond saving, now that Lady had decided she wanted the four of them alive.

“We were talking - yeah, about that - ” Ezra continued. “That’s when the bridge got attacked, and we spun out, and she fell out of the truck. I tried to pull her back up on the bridge.”

“She said you pushed her,” Johannes said. Johannes gave him a look that was totally unfamiliar, coming from him. It put the fear of God in Ezra because he knew it - that was Judith’s ice blue eye staring him down.

“She’s being dramatic,” Ezra said, swallowing. Ezra worked with the burlesque tent - he knew characters like Friday. She was convinced she was always in the right, even when things were a little grayer than that. She looked the other way when people - or the world - didn’t act the way she expected. “She was wrapped up in the idea of me sabotaging the truck, and she saw what she wanted to see. But I’m telling the truth. When I saw her going over, I tried to save her.”

“I don’t believe you,” Johannes said simply, like the words didn’t hurt more than taking a punch.

“Fine,” Ezra said, winded. He had no other way to respond. It had been obvious for some days that Johannes didn’t trust him anymore, even if Ezra had only been trying to keep the circus safe, but it was another thing entirely to hear it put so plainly. “You don’t have to. But I’m telling the truth.”

What reason did Johannes have to trust Friday over him, anyway? Friday and Johannes hated each other. Ezra couldn’t envision that the brief time they’d just spent together in the city had changed any of that.

“I want you gone by morning,” Johannes said.. “Don’t make a big to-do about it. Not that you would.” He breezed past where Ezra was sitting at the table, making his way back towards his bunk. “You can take a truck, and as much of your stuff as you can pack.”

“Where am I supposed to go?” Ezra asked. He couldn’t just drive away from the caravan without a plan. It was hard to drive anywhere on the East Coast without a plan, or at least an idea of what route you were taking. Especially if you were traveling alone.

“You’re smart,” Johannes said, derisively. “You’ll figure it out.”

Roadside shops became more and more frequent as Ezra neared the northern border of New York. He’d been trying to make good progress ahead of the caravan, mostly to ensure that they didn’t cross paths on the main road, but Ezra felt confident enough to stop around midday to fill up on gas and a meal. He paid, ate a dubious turkey sandwich in the truck, filled an extra gas can from the backseat just in case, and stepped back inside the small store to ask to use their phone.

“You got the number, or should I dial the operator?” the girl behind the counter asked, handing over the receiver.

“I’ve got the number,” Ezra said, and recited it to her.

“Leave you to it, then,” she said, once she’d punched the number in, slipping out from behind the counter. Ezra watched her shake a cigarette out of her jacket sleeve as she walked outside, and wished fervently that he’d remembered to bring a box of his own.

The phone rang, and rang again. It rang five times, enough for Ezra to contemplate hanging up, before someone picked up on the other end.

“This better be good,” Judith Madsen said.

“It’s me, Mame,” Ezra said. He paused. Where the fuck did he begin?

The line crackled as Mame waited for him to go on.

“Uh, I’m coming up to visit,” he said. “There’s some stuff you should know before I get there.”

17.14 || 18.1

#story

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liliesoftherain · 5 years ago

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My Hero Academia Main 3 Boys x Reader

Ch.9 Accidental Backstory?

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7 Ch.8

Another chapter out! This will be my last post for a bit, finals week is next week so after that then I’ll get back to it but for now, I need to focus on passing chemistry ;-; But more to come soon no worries! Enjoy!

TAGLIST: @rizamendoza808 !(: @iris-suoh !(: @quicksilverfangirl !(: @shortperson202 !(: @noodlenerd101 !(: @matchamidoriya !(: @thorsbtch-captainnoobmaster69me !(:

“We’ve reached the halfway point but it’s still anybody’s game! Class 1-B has made an unexpected showing, but can they keep it? And who will win the 10 million points in the end!?”

Your team glared at the offenders who had the audacity to not only steal your headband, but also piss off the hot head of the group. You assumed the rider knew of Bakugou’s explosive nature and was trying to use it to his advantage. What he didn’t realize was it wasn’t a smart idea to anger Bakugou, it was going to be their end.

“Quit provoking him Monama,” one of the students muttered,” we don’t want to stoop to their level.”

“I guess you’re right,” The Monama kid sighed,”It’s not very heroic of me. Besides, you know how these things work. Heroes are always being surrounded by villains with nasty intentions and desperate attempts of some kind of revenge.” His smirk widened.

You felt your eyebrow twitch. This guy was talking about nasty intentions when he’s the one trying to get under your guys’ skin? He hated your class and he was using that as fuel, if that wasn’t some type of weird payback/revenge, you didn’t know what was.

“You have no right to call us out for the same bullshit you punks are doing!” You spat back before you could stop yourself,” You’re acting on some petty-ass hatred for our class, doesn’t that make you villainous as well?”

“My my,” Monama glared at you,” what a dirty mouth on this one. You should really muzzle your dog, Bakugou.”

Bakugou felt any patience he had snap at that very moment, his eyes burning with rage as his body began to shake. He saw red and then let out a yell in frustration.

You were annoyed at this ugly boy calling you a dog, but before you could respond Bakugou’s aggressive scream sliced through the air, effectively shutting you up before you even began.

“Bakugou man calm down, he’s trying to say crap to rile you up! Don’t fall for his trick otherwise we can’t get our points back if you aren’t thinking straight.” Kirishima grunted, even though he was pretty pissed himself at this guy for calling you out.

“SHUT UP! Isn’t it obvious? I’ve never been calmer. Lets fucking go after them already!” Bakugou yelled back.

“Whatever you say..!”

With that your group took off, sprinting after the other team while they only stood still. You were confused as to why they weren’t moving, but you had no time to express your concerns as another on of Bakugou’s shouts filled the air,

“You think you’re tough, huh? You think you can talk shit and get away with it?! Well I got news for you, DIEE!”

A loud explosion ripped through the air, but Monama dodged last second and brought a hand up to Bakugou’s face and set off an explosion of his own back at him. You gasped loudly, and your team managed to get some distance between the other, not before Monama was able to slap Kirishima’s head. You looked up at Bakugou and saw scorch marks on his cheek, and you glared at the smug boy across the way from you.

Bakugou’s teeth grit in frustration, his cheek stinging from the damage taken. He was pissed, how did this guy have such a similar quirk? Nearly the same as his own, it was ridiculous.

In an attempt to get the boy back, you brought your right arm up and shot a beam of light. Making sure it was hot enough to leave a mark, but not too hot that it'd really hurt the kid. You just wanted him to get a taste of his own medicine. However, Monama simply brought an arm up and it hardened, your light unable to do any damage.

“You both have impressive quirks for sure, but I think you’ll agree when I say mine is better.” Monama said smugly.

“What? My quirk too?” You heard Kirishima say in surprise.

“You bastard, so you can copy others quirks huh?” Bakugou deduced with a frown set firm on his face.

“Wow you figured it out, congrats, I guess even idiots can understand some things can’t they?”

The team was ready to charge at Monama when you were all cut off by a wall of sludge. You glanced to your right and saw another team creating the substance. You assumed they were classmates and they were looking out for each other. You sent another ray of heat towards the new team, as the guy wielding the sludge quirk quickly used it to protect himself and effectively stopping his attack on you guys.

They left shortly after, telling Monama to watch out while they did. The boy in question only smirked at your team, causing tension to rise higher.

“ONLY 3 MINUETS LEFT!”

“I can’t move! I’m stuck!” Kirishima panicked. He was trying to remove his foot from the gunk of that one boys quirk, but it hardened on him and he was utterly stuck. You put a hand out and used the heat from your light to break through the substance.

“Stand still Eijiro, I’ll melt it away!”

Once he was free, you guys charged again, heading straight towards at Monama as his team had started to walk away from you. Bakugou’s patience was running thin so he jumped off of your support and blasted away, shouting the whole way.

“You losers get back here!”

“He really has got to start letting us know when he’s going to do that.” Sero sighed.

You knew it was going to be pointless for him to charge again the same way and expect a different result. You were sure all he needed was a touch and he could copy your quirk, after all he did smack Eijiro. But who’s to say what the actual mechanics of it is? Does he need to touch Bakugou again to use his quirk, or does he have them all set like a speed dial and can change quirks in the blink of an eye?

Best thing to do was try to give Bakugou the upper hand by making it to wear Monama was off guard and unable to use Bakugou’s quirk against him. Making sure he had his eyes on the hot head flying towards him, you sent a blast through the air. Making it change to a solid when it collided with Monamas unsuspecting chest, allowing the boy to be thrown back. His teammates being the only thing to keep him from falling off while Monama grabbed his chest in shock and pain.

One member of his group yelled out his name as Bakugou quickly approached, and since Monama was winded, the student used his quirk and trapped Bakugou in a giant bubble. He was pounding on the thing as he floated in midair inside of it, the student snickering at the sight.

“Ha, you look pretty stupid fighting with air.”

“Well it seems we’re okay for now,” Monama thanked his own teammate before throwing a heated glare at you,” you’re going to pay for that-”

“Oh yea?” You smirked, not showing any fear. You weren’t scared of this brat. ”Bring it on you chump. You thought I was all bark and no bite eh? Maybe I do need some type of muzzle or restraint because if not, you best believe I’ll kick your ass.”

“No, you need a muzzle because you’re a filthy animal in every sense of the word. You think you’re better than us, but you’re scum just like your boyfriend and the rest of your class. You’re the reason the female dog has it’s nickname you bitch-” The sound of glass breaking cut Monama off.

Bakugou broke free of the prison he was trapped in and punched Monama across the face before grabbing most of the headbands around his neck. Thinking quickly, Sero shot out his tape and caught him right before he hit the ground, yanking him up and bringing him back to your group. His landing this time was much smoother than the first as he quickly settled on your guys’ arms.

Bakugou was absolutely livid. How dare that background character trap him in a stupid bubble and make him look weak in front of everyone. How fucking dare that droopy eyed asshole call you a bitch when he was the only bitch he saw here. And worst of all, how dare those motherfuckers still have one headband left. He wanted them to go down, no headbands, zero-points-you’re-out down.

“You should really warn us before you jump dammit.” Sero grunts out.

“Shut up.” Bakugou barked back, not in the mood.

“It’s alright, at least we’re advancing now!” Kirishima yelled out excitedly.

“No!” Bakugou growled, starting to smack Kirishima’s head,”We’re not done yet! We’re going to make sure those assholes have nothing left, we’ll fucking obliterate them. Then we’re going to be the indisputable champions of the game.”

“I wasn’t able to brace myself when I jumped,” He continued, you and Sero gave each other a look as he was still smacking the other boy’s head. Said boy taking no care. “Let's get our points back, then take down Deku and get his 10 million.”

“Right! Let’s go!” You all agreed, his words firing everyone up.

“Elbow guy, tape them! Get the back!” Bakugou lifts his left leg, giving Sero the opportunity to shoot, blocking the other team’s right side.

“My name is Sero dammit!”

“Glow worm! Can you trap them there!?” Bakugou lifted his right leg for you to do the exact same thing.

“Don’t you doubt me Bakugou!” You yelled, sending off a large blast that was bigger than the others you’ve used.

It was larger than your normal beams but still pretty small, reaching just under your hips. You made sure to keep the heat up as you manipulated the light to warp on their left side and behind, creating a barrier. You all rushed forward, faster than before. The heat you created caused Monama and co to stagger back, and get caught in Sero’s tape. The were unable to move out of the way as you all rushed up on them.

Bakugou raises a fist as the guy who originally trapped him was creating another bubble, this time to act as a shield. In one punch Bakugou effectively smashed through it, easier than the first one. You saw the other groups eyes widen as Baugou kept his fist outstretched and made a grab for the last headband.

“Woah did you see that folks, Bakugou is a force to be reckoned with! We also saw some impressive moves from his group members, like Sero from class 1-A, and of course our little miss Hakamata! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT WITH ONLY 30 SECONDS OF THE MATCH LEFT!”

You dropped your small heat barrier, and you all skidded away from Monama and towards the giant ice slabs. Once close enough, Bakugou sent off an explosion hot enough to melt the ice and wide enough for you all to run through. Once inside, Bakugou jumps off of the group and uses his quirk to help him lunge towards the two other clashing teams, lead by Todoroki and Izuku.

“Who’s got the points!?”Bakugou yelled as he looked back and forth between the two points, seeing Midoriya going after Todoroki he knew.

“DAMMIT ICYHOOOT!”You held your breath, waiting for Bakugou to snatch the points.

“TIMES UP!”

But alas, things never went the way you wanted them to. Bakugou belly flopped onto the ground as Present Mic announced the end of the match. You couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of your lips at the sight of the hot head face-first on the ground.

“SHUT UP, WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY!?” He turned his head and snarled, obviously not as amused as you were.

Sero and Kirishima joined in with their own laughs and Bakugou felt a vein pop as he moved his face back towards the dirt and screamed.

“Let’s take a look at our top 4 teams shall we? In the number one spot, we have team Todoroki! Second place is none other than team Bakugou! As for third, our team is-oh wow, team Shinso! That’s a shock! Finally, last but not least, in fourth our last team is, TEAM MIDORIYA!” The crowd went wild.

“Man we were so close to first.” Kirishima sighed.

“Yeah sure, but we’re continuing so it doesn’t matter.” Sero shrugged.

“I don’t think our fearless leader agrees with you there.” You giggle while watching Bakugou as he slammed his fist on the ground throwing a fit.

“He’s like a rabid animal.” Sero muttered.

“You okay Bakugou?” You asked. He kept his face planted in the dirt, ignoring you.

“Now let's take an hour break for lunch before we start the next activities! Hey EraserHead, let’s grab some food!”

“I just wanna nap.”

You walk over to Bakugou and poke him with your foot.

“Are you coming with us or are you going to lay there all day.”

“Fuck off.” Bakugou got up and glared at you, before walking away on his own.

You shrugged at the other boys, walking with them to the entrance before catching sight of Izuku and his team. The poor boy was crying his eyes out, and that made you want to laugh. He was a total baby, just like Bakugou. They were pretty similar in various ways, but all different at the same time, it was weird.

“You guys go on ahead and I’ll catch you later!” You told your two teammates, and they nodded back in agreement before making their way out of the stadium.

Walking over to Izuku’s group, it wasn’t hard to miss the giant tears that fell from his eyes. You placed a hand on his shoulder and your heart squeezed at his big watery green eyes that looked into yours at the action.

“You guys did amazing! I’m glad you were able to find a great team Izuku.”

“Thank you (y/n)! It means so much!” He started to cry even harder at your praise.

He was just so happy that he made it, so happy you made it, he was just so happy. More tears started to fall, practically sending him into the ground. You sighed before grabbing onto his hand, trying to lift him from the ground. Everyone was walking away to the lunchroom and you wanted to make sure you both got a spot.

“C’mon Deku let’s go get some lunch! I’m starving!”

He agreed and you both walked towards the entrance, but were stopped by someone suddenly before you got the chance to reach it. You had to stop yourself from running into their chest, looking up in confusion.

“Todoroki?”

He didn’t answer you, choosing to stare coldly at Izuku, and you felt some protect-izuku-at-all-costs instinct kick in, you tsked and crossed your arms.

“I just need to talk to Midoriya.” You looked at the boy in question, and while he had looked a bit nervous, he seemed just as confused as you were.

“O-kay?” He finally tore his gaze away to look you in the eyes. You felt your heart thump and blamed it on the icy gaze he held.

“Now. Alone.”

“Yeah whatever, thanks for asking politely.” You grumbled out.

Looking at Izuku to make sure he was okay to be left alone. He just nodded politely and you smiled at him. Smile turning down as you walked away, passing by Todoroki, shoulders brushing as you did. Well, more like your shoulder and his bicep, what’s it with these boys being so tall?

“I’ll see you later Deku.”

Todoroki didn’t let your attitude bother him, he knew you were still wary of him for calling you out and he didn’t blame you. While he held no ill will, this was something he had to speak about alone to Midoriya. He already said his two-cents to you, and he hoped you’d understand. This wasn’t a fight he wanted with you, only with Midoriya

You guess Bakugou was right to call him IcyHot, but not just for his quirk. His mood really did flip on a dime, and while you thought Bakugou was an arrogant jerk, Todoroki beat him by a mile. You felt angry, but at the same time you didn’t. You saw something else in him when you two talked, even if it was only for a second. You didn’t want to feel this was about him, but it always seemed like no matter what good deed he ended up doing, the blunt and nasty attitude washed it all away. You hoped that he could maybe one day it could be different, that he could be a friend. As of right now, you didn’t think you could call him that. No matter what you both went through during the U.S.J, or even the shared understanding of being a child of a top 10 hero.

You will admit, while you didn’t realize Todoroki was Endeavor’s son at first, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Especially after the training with AllMight, that quirk couldn’t have been mistaken. You glanced back, seeing them both walk towards a different entrance. While doing so you ended up locking eyes with Todoroki for a split second before turning away. You huffed, feathers ruffled and belly empty. You just wanted some food, and you needed some water in your system.

Making your way through the corridor, you were about to walk outside in the direction of the lunch hall when a was hand pulling you back. You yelped and quickly spun around, bringing your fist up your fist to counter attack.

“Hey knock it off or I won’t let you come.”

“Bakugou?” Said boy was holding your fist in an attempt to stop you from punching him. You muttered a sorry before letting your hand fall to your side, and cocked your head at him in a questioning gaze.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think? I want to know why the hell that damn IcyHot finds Deku more of a threat than me. So I’m going to listen to what he has to say. You in or not glitter bomb.”

You bit your lip, looking into his ruby red eyes. While you wanted to know what was happening, because you were curious, another part of you knew it was wrong. Plus you were hungry, tired, and thirsty. You just wanted to sit down.

Bakugou was getting annoyed at how long you were taking to answer, and he really did not like the way you zoned out while staring at him, biting you lip like that. No not one bit, what the hell was your problem.

“Oi glow worm I’ll leave you fucking here I don’t have all damn da-”

“Yeah shut up lets go!”

You both snuck around to one end of a hall, stopping before it opened up when you heard Izuku’s nervous voice echoed off the walls.

“So you brought me here, now what?”

You held your breath, afraid to even breathe at the idea of being caught. Your heart was thumping in worry, you wanted to make sure Izuku was okay.

“We should probably eat soon, the cafeteria is going to be busy! Don’t you think?” Izuku spoke out once more after not getting a response.

The tension was killing him, it was different when he was with Kaachan, at least he was more open about his feelings that way, and he had some idea on how to deal with the explosive attitude. He’s never dealt with silent intimidation before. Oh what he wouldn’t give to be sitting down and eating with you, he wanted to know all about how your fight with down, and he wanted you to be interested in his too!

“I was overwhelmed,” Todoroki’s voice broke him from his thoughts, “and that made me break the promise I made to myself a long time ago.”

You looked at Bakugou questioningly and he just shrugged in response, eyebrows drawn together.

“None of our team members felt it, but I did. I was the only one in that moment who could sense your true power. It reminded me of AllMight, and when we experienced his quirk first hand.”

“Oh yeah? Um, okay, is that all?”

“I’m trying to say, your power feels just like AllMight��s. Midoriya, tell me. Are you really AllMight’s secret love child. ”

You had to slap a hand over your mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Bakugou glanced down at you with a disgusted expression as your shoulders shook with silent laughter. He motioned for you to be quiet, but you can hardly contain yourself. Just the thought of Izuku and AllMight being father and son-

Your movement stopped as you allow yourself to think about it; they were always together, they did have some similarities in their quirks, and Izuku really did look up to AllMight. Was it really that far fetched? Quirks didn’t have to 100% resemble your parents, it’s not like you had your dad’s exact quirk after all. The only thing you and your dad did have that was similar was you could manipulate properties. His was clothing while yours was light particles. Your quirk was a mix of both your parents, who’s to say that’s not the case for Deku?

“No no way! That’s not it at all I swear! But I guess if I said I wasn’t you would think I was saying that to protect my identity and therefore not believe me anyways so I guess it really doesn’t matter if I say yes or no because if I said yes well then why would I be lying about that, and if I said no then you would always be suspicious and doubting so I guess there really isn’t a good way to tell you it’s not true because-”

“Midoriya.”

“Ah, r-right, anyways you’ve got the wrong idea. Why would you even think that.”

“You wouldn’t be the only offspring of a Pro Hero in this class if that were the case. My father is the hero Endeavor, you’ve must’ve heard about the number 2 Hero.”

You gulped, would he bring you up? Or would he respect any privacy you had?

“And then there’s Hakamata.”

Of course he wouldn’t. You felt Bakugou’s stare on you but you kept your gaze at the wall in front of you, not looking at him.

“Wait, (y/n)? What does she have to do with anything?” Izuku demanded.

He may have been frightened, but he didn’t like that Todoroki was bringing you into something that had nothing to do with you. He felt some confidence flood his system as he narrowed his eyes at Todoroki.

“I don’t know what your issue is with me but I can handle it, you don’t need to be dragging her into anything! She’s a good person and you can’t-”

“Don’t you get it?” Todoroki sighed, growing annoyed by his rambling. Why was he making such a big about you anyways? It was pretty exasperating. “Hakamata is the daughter of the number 4 Hero Best Jeanist. While she may be a concern in the future, I don’t have a grievance with her at the moment. But if you were connected to the number 1 hero in any way, that just means I have even more of a reason to beat you.”

Izuku felt his eyes go wide. You were the daughter of the number 4 Pro Hero? That was so cool! But then he realized the full weight of Todorokis’ words and frowned.

“What do you-”

“My old man is ambitious and he aims for the top, but he’s never been able to best AllMight. The Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure. He’s still going, trying to take down AllMight. One way or another.”

“Todoroki, I don’t understand. Why are you telling me all this, what are you telling me?”

“Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?”

Your blood ran cold and you felt your hands shake as you balled them into fists by yourself. He was the result of a quirk marriage too? Your head started to ache and you just wanted to be anywhere but here. It was bringing up some memories of your own that you really didn’t want to deal with. You heard Todorki’s voice break through your own metal breakdown.

“People trying to find potential mates solely with the intention of creating powerful children. Like old-fashioned arranged marriages. My father was a man who had many accomplishments and money to throw around, so he bought my mother from her family and used her quirk. Now he’s raising me to usurp AllMight.”

Izuku’s gasped.

“I refuse to be a tool for the scumbag that did that to my mother. I only ever remember her crying. She called my left side unbearable before she poured boiling water on my face... I picked a fight with you to show my old man what I was capable of doing, without having to rely on his damn quirk, and that I can take first place without using it.”

You felt Bakugou tense next to you, and you did as well. It was a terrible burden to place on a child, and you felt anger towards his father. You knew he was a terrible man, but this? How sickening. You heard their footsteps fade away and you shared a grim look with Bakugou. Your mind flashed with images from your childhood and you closed your eyes.

With heavy limbs you walked away, not even bothering to wait for Bakugou. Your past wasn’t something you needed to be thinking of at the moment, so you just needed to act like nothing happened. You shouldn’t have gone with him and listened in on those two. You knew it was a bad idea, curse your nosy nature.

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r3b3lgrrrrrrrl · 4 years ago

Text

A LunaTic and her Gunn (Part 111) "This Isn't My Fault"

@crystalbaby12 @backoftheroomandnotbelonging @5sosfam1dlover @rosefilledhearts-blog

On his way upstairs Colson realizes he's much more wasted than he had thought. Stumbling behind Luna, he bangs into the bedroom door as they enter. Throwing himself onto the bed, he let's out an intoxicated groan before rolling over and extending his arms out for Luna to join him.

"Hi." Colson beams while wrapping his long arms around her once she's on the bed with him.

"Hi." She sighs out as a satisfied smile settles on her face.

Being tucked inside Colson's hold is the only thing Luna's wanted all day. Slipping one of his large hands around her face, he holds her in place with his other. Dipping down, he kisses her wanting mouth.

"You have to fucking tell him." Luna's mind starts to nag her as Colson distracts her body. "But do I really though? All it's gonna do is start a bullshit ass argument... And for what?" Luna continues making out with Colson until the consistent mental screams of "TELL HIM!!!" become too much to bare.

"I'm sorry..." Luna breaks away from him with a shameful look.

"For what? You're home." Colson drunkenly shakes his head while trying to pull her back in for another deep kiss.

"No... I know but that's not what I mean. He kissed me again. Which I STOPPED.... But... I kissed him GoodBye before I left." Luna admits as she adamantly pushes Colson away from her and sits up.

Looking deep into her oceanic eyes, he knows she's serious when he sees the ring around her iris's begin to blaze. As he watches them light up, the dangerous yellow flames rage wildly inside their blue home. For the first time, her beautiful eyes scare the shit out of him. His heart sinks before hitting full throttle as he processes what she just said.

"Calm it down, Kells." He tries to control himself mentally but alcohol and other substances are clouding his brain.

"YOU FUCKING WHAT!?!" Colson barks as he flies up into a sitting position too.

"It's not what you think..." Luna starts as she sits up onto her knees.

"What I think is that you be out here kissen' MOTHERFUCKERS all willy nilly!" He shouts at her. "What the fuck would you do if I told you some shit like that?" He asks as his jaw clenches and he jerks his head at her.

"You're acting like I fucked him." She argues even though she knows he's right.

"I swear to fucking Christ, LUNA!!" Colson is shouting at her again as he jumps off of the bed. "Don't fuck with me." He warns while pacing. "I knew I shouldn't have let you go down there in the first fucking place." He mutters a bit too loudly. "How you gonna act like kissing someone isn't a big fucking deal?" He balks at her as he whips around on his unsteady feet.

"LET ME?" Luna howls with laughter at Colson's ridiculous words. "Oh, Sweetie, I know you're tore up, but you're not fucking stupid." She continues to laugh at him as she shakes her head. "You don't LET ME do shit. I do what I want.... And... what are we... In sixth fucking grade? I kissed him GoodBye. You're the fucking Master of Cheating, so don't come at me about some dumbass kiss shit." She scoffs as she rolls her eyes, standing up also she unbuttons her pants and begins to undress.

"If I'm The fucking Master... You're The GOD DAMN Wizard." Colson snarls at her after taking a huge step towards her. "I never cheated on someone for a year while fucking living with them." He breathes into her face, his angry tone laced with the familiar smell of Jamison.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" Luna stops undressing as she asks him, mouth hanging wide in shock while her shirt dangles in her hand.

"That YOU, Miss High and Fucking Mighty are The Wizard of Cheating." He cocks his head to the side as his eyes shoot daggers through her soul.

"Okay..." Luna says in a low, calm tone as she begins to look around for her clothes, not realizing her shirt is still in her clutched hand. "I want you to go back downstairs to Phem and all the other bitches that were hanging on you when I walked in." She tells him as her heart pounds into her ribcage

"What the fuck? What? No. This is my fucking room. I'm not going anywhere." Colson cuts back, confused by her logic.

"Fine." Luna shrugs as she stops looking around and pops her unknowingly free hand on her hip. "I'll leave."

"Fucking WHAT? You can't just leave." Colson shakes his head as he scrunches his face up at her.

"Watch this Wizard do what THE FUCK SHE WANTS." Luna snarks as she realizes her shirt is in her hand.

"You're a fucking idiot." She scolds herself for a multitude of reasons. Luna HATES fighting with Colson. Whether he's right or not though... There is no one, no system, nor no dick that will ever control Luna. In any manner.

"You're not fucking going anywhere." Colson states.

Before she can pull her shirt on, Colson shoves her back onto the bed with all of his force. Slamming his palms right into her shoulders. It sends her flying so fast that she loses her grip on the shirt in surprise. Jumping on top of her, he traps her body with his straddle as he holds her down with her arms pinned across her chest. Where Luna was once hurt, confused and calm; now she's beyond livid.

"Get the FUCK off me." She growls at Colson as she tries to buck her hips up under his weight.

"No." He replies as he leans down closer towards Luna's face. "You're not going anywhere."

"Colson... I fucking swear..." Her threat is cut off by his aggressive kiss.

Holding her firmly in place. He presses his body down harder onto her wild hips. He can feel her give in as her tongue begins to dance violently along with his. Pulling away, she grabs his bottom lip between her teeth. Holding him for a sweetly painful moment.

"You better not let me up as you fuck me cuz Imma lay you out." Luna threatens Colson in a husky voice as he sits up and studies her, keeping her tight in his hold.

"So tighter?" Colson asks with a smirk as he pulls on her arms harder, watching her response.

"Much tighter." Luna challenges him as her shoulder throbs and her pussy lips swell from his authority while their eyes stay locked.

"You gonna run if I take my pants off?" Colson eyes her.

"I don't know..." Luna slightly jerks her head. "Guess that depends on how much I really wanna FUCK you, now doesn't it?" She answers as she cocks her lip and eyebrow at him.

"Keep your arms crossed. If not... Fuck you..." Colson challenges Luna back as he let's go and rises above her.

Standing over top of her body, Colson grabs the ceiling beam to steady himself. Unbuttoning his ripped, red jeans, he pulls them down along with his briefs. Using two hands, he grips the beam tighter as he uses his right foot to wrangle his left leg free. Hoping to not crush the body below him. Stepping from side to side of her, Colson grows more than frustrated as he drunkenly tries to free himself from his leg cages. Luna lays still, trying not to laugh as he wiggles around like a dumbass.

After mentally consoling himself out loud to Luna's amusement, Colson's finally free from his pant chains. Grasping the beam again with all of his might, his drunk ass is swinging around loosely. Leaning down a bit too far, he almost falls on Luna as he drunkenly realizes it's her he was trying not to stomp on. He laughs loudly as he looks down at her, immediately pleased by her still crossed arms while her eyes watch him and lips hold their own small smile. He's so intoxicated he forgets what they're fighting about.

"You're there!" Colson slightly shouts at the sight of her.

"I'm here." Luna replies as she continues to watch him.

"I love you." Colson gazes down happily at her as his body sways back and forth. "Shit... I'm fucked up, Loons..." He laughs. "I think need a minute, Kitten..." He trails as he drops down on the bed beside her and curls his naked body around her.

"I know, Bunny..." Luna coos softly as she let's him settle into her right shoulder.

Stroking his hair, Colson nestles deeper into her chest and arms. Luna starts running her nails along his scalp for a bit before looking around. To her relief there's a full joint in the ashtray and a lighter within reach.

"Thank you Colson and The Ever Loving Weed Gods..." Luna thinks as she exhales a deep hit while still running her nails through his hair. "Well, that was some shit..." She sighs to herself as she looks down at him. "He's gonna be fucking dick tomorrow..." Luna realizes as she puffs on the joint. "I can't believe he said that to me.... See, that's why I don't tell people shit. Judgmental ass fucks." Luna sighs out another deep hit as she looks down at Colson.

Finishing the joint, she slips down into the bed. With his body wrapped around her, she feels a weird anxiety interrupting her normal comfort.

"Fuuuck... I wish I could get to my bag..." Luna's mind moans. Trying to mentally manifest a Xanax, an Ativan... Anything "Fuck... I'd even take a fucking Valium suppository at this point." She slightly starts to bug out under Colson's weight. "Fuck this." She decides.

Holding her breath, Luna slowly shifts and wiggles out from under Colson's naked body. Slipping off the bottom of the bed like a snake, she stands up.

"FUUUUUUUCK." Her brain roars as she tries to survey the room.

Spying her bag, she grabs it. Heading into the bathroom, she opens a window. Digging through her bag, she locates her Newports. Lighting one to steady her mental insanity, she begins to riffle through her bag again. Finding 1,2,3 of her traveling stash, Luna stares at the pill bottles. Lined across the counter are Xanax bars, Percocet 30s and 800mg tablets of Seraquil. As she reaches for all three bottles, she remembers she's in Cleveland and that Casie's home. Opting for a half of a bar instead of her heavy sleeping pill, Luna drops her head under the faucet for a mouth full of water before letting the pharmaceutical miracle fall down her throat. Still staring at the bottles, she finds her joint box in her bag before chopping up a 30. Sitting on the toilet, she let's the familiar drugs swirl around her as they calm her wretched soul.

"You knew he'd be pissed... Yeah, but you also said you wouldn't sidestep him either, sooo...." Luna argues with herself as she puffs on the joint. "I hate this so fucking much...." Her brain whines as she stands up. Looking into the mirror, she drops all expectations and personal beliefs as she stares into her own eyes.

"Who do you REALLY want?" She asks herself out loud as her heart spins like a wheel.

Rolling over every significant name. Colson. Justin. Tommy. Jackson. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Like the carnival game, it hesitates. In her soul, the clicker lingers on Justin's name before flipping over to land solely on Colson's .

Still staring at herself, Luna let's out a gentle sigh of relief. "Thank you...." Her mind kicks out to her surprise. Catching her breath in her soul, Luna studies herself as she takes another hit off the joint.

Annoyed with herself, she shakes her head as she sits back down on the toilet. Allowing her brain to roam, it swirls wildly around her subconscious thoughts and feelings regarding the last three years.

🎼No one//Really knows//How hard//Life was//I try not//To think about it//Now because//I've finally//Found you🎶 Luna's brain sings to Colson.

High and feeling like she's finally capable of laying still, Luna strips off her bra and panties. Slipping back under Colson's dead weight, she settles into him. Letting out a content sigh, she allows herself to let go. Falling into him fully. Forgetting for the moment Life and all it's physical and emotional pain along with their fight from less than 2hrs before.

---------------------------------------------------

Luna wakes up again much earlier than she'd like. These things happen when her soul is unsettled. Colson is knocked, softly snoring as his slim body consumes the bed and Luna like a rock.

"How the fuck can someone so skinny be so fucking heavy...?" Luna huffs in her mind as she squiggles out from under his clutches.

She rails a perc and burns a joint before heading downstairs to smoke a cigarette. For as much as she bitches about not being able to smoke in public, Luna prefers a smoke free home. Call her a hypocrite... It happens.

Checking her phone outside, she has a text from Opie asking if she's okay. She responds with a Yes before texting Gemma an apology for leaving so abruptly.

"EVERYTHING about yesterday was a fucking shit show." She sighs as she stumps out her Newport.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Inside, downstairs is a wreck. Skipping the living room that holds a snoozing Mod, Phem, Noah, Caroline and Pete, Luna heads to the kitchen.

Standing silently, she stares at the mess. "It's like Oscar the Grouch took a shit in the sink while Roger from American Dad had a full fledged orgy on the countertops." She thinks, slightly impressed with a horrified look on her face. "Fuck me." Luna immediately regrets coming downstairs.

There is not one human in This World that would describe Luna as domestic. Of all the compliments and insults... Cleaning anything would not land on ANY CHART OF HER LIFE. Standing in Colson's kitchen, Luna's at Def Con Five.

It's fucking disgusting. There's random leftover drinks, beers and food. Clothes. People. Trash. Everything. All over the floor. The furniture. The house. Luna carefully steps over it all as she makes a cup of coffee and bops to Modest Mouse. Thankful that she knows that she's up to date on her vaccinations as she makes her way around the destroyed kitchen.

Draining and dropping beer cans, bottles and solo cups into recycling, Luna tosses out whatever rancid food is on the counters. Collecting the dishes that are in her radius, she loads the dishwasher and wipes down the counter.

"What the fuck am I doing?" Luna says out loud as she looks around in disbelief and bewilderment at the kitchen and broom in her hand.

Luna starts to question her whole existence after finding herself sweeping. "YOU are fucking Maleficent NOT Sleeping Beauty!" She yells at herself. "You loooove to sleep though." She quickly responds, always up for a argument inside her own head.

"Looney?" Casie's sleepy voice interupts Luna's mental breakdown.

"Morning, Dill..." Luna answers nonchalantly over the broom before she sweeps the pile into the dust pan. "You and Kev hungry?" She asks spying the alien as she empties the pan into the trash and washes her hands.

"Yeah... " Casie nods.

"What cha guys want? Eggos? Cereal? Bagels? Do you guys even DO bagels?" Luna asks with a hint of smugness while opening the bottom freezer door.

"Kevin thinks we should have eggs and toast. That's easy." Casie answers as a matter of fact.

"Does KEVIN know how to make eggs?" Luna asks as she slightly snakes her head.

"No. Don't you?" Casie answers curtly.

"Nooooo.... What would make you think I know how to make eggs?" Luna answers the ludicrous question with another ludicrous question.

"Cause you're a grown up...?" Casie says as she gives Luna a questionable look.

"But I'm not." Luna laughs at the absurdity of the thought. "Where's your phone?" She asks, trying to get a grip of herself, her life, Casie, Kevin and these fucking eggs. "Nope... Get over here and YouTube that shit." Luna declares as Casie tries to slide back into her seat at the island. "We'll learn together, Dilla." She asserts as Casie comes back over, leaving Kevin safely at the island.

Deciding they need tunes, first and foremost, Luna grabs her own phone. Without consulting Casie, she kicks The White Album on. Dancing around the kitchen the young girl helps Luna find utensils and ingredients as they sing together to Casie's delighted surprise. There's something so pure about knowing a song without knowing you know the song. Watching the moments when Casie's mind figured out that she knew certain ones had made Luna's soul jump in delight.

Standing to the side of the tall, slender girl, the two watch the YouTube video intently as they try to scramble eggs in a pan. Laughing at the instructors accent while trying to be serious.

"She's just like her dad." Luna thinks to herself as they sing Rocky Racoon together while scraping around the pan of eggs.

"He said 2mins.." Casie contests Luna while looking at the pan of their sloppy mess.

"He also used three eggs and we used twelve." Luna laughs. "It's gonna take longer because the quantity is different." She explains.

"So, it's like math?" Casie asks looking up at Luna as she makes the connection.

"Yes!" Luna beams as she continues to help Casie move the eggs around the pan the way The Man on YouTube said.

Luna doesn't cook. Luna doesn't eat scrambled eggs, so she has no fucking idea what's supposed to be happening right now. Convincing Casie to chill and replay the video, she's pretty sure she knows what scrambled eggs are SUPPOSED to look like. In her honest opinion, they're like halfway there.

"I don't think this is working, Looney...." Casie complains as she grows tired of the egg pool and goes to sit with Kevin.

"It's okay, kiddo... Take a break. You wanna do your toast?" Luna asks as she continues to move the lumpy gloop around the pan, feeling confident as she slowly watches it become solid.

"Yeah... You want some?" Casie asks, eager to start a new task as she stands back up.

"Sure..." Luna shrugs as she studies their experiment. "Come're.... I think the eggs are doing their thing." Luna shows Casie as she hands her the spatula and steps aside.

"Just scrunch 'em?" The kid asks.

"Yup. Like this..." Luna answers.

Taking Casie's hand, she shows her how to drag the spatula across the bottom of the pan. Switching directions, she shows her how to do it again while pointing out how the drippy, uncooked eggs fall into their clear path for a reason.

"Why?" Casie asks confused.

"So they can be scrunched and cooked too..." Luna laughs again as she kisses the top of Casie's head, she doesn't really know but it sounds good. "Is our toast ready?" She reminds the younger one.

"Yup. What should we put on it?" Casie asks another question as she pulls the hot bread out by her fingertips.

"We got jelly?" Luna asks as she moves the pound of eggs around the pan, slow and steady, like a turtle... It's what The YouTube Man told her to do.

"What's jelly?" Casie cocks her eye at Luna.

"Fucking MidWest, Man..." Luna snarls with a mental annoyance. "I can understand no lox... Or good bagels but fucking jelly.... Come on man... It's fucking squished fruit juices." Luna stares at the huge pan of eggs that she's been cooking for the last decade. "And I'm gonna be a fucking resident here...." Her brain scoffs at herself. "Oh, shit, they look like real eggs... Holy SHIT, I think I'm making eggs!!" Luna starts to freak out.

"Hey, Case!!" Luna yells excitedly. "Come check this shit out!! WE GOT EGGS!!" Luna shouts at their victory, making all her mental doubts evaporate.

"WE GOT EGGS!!" Casie shouts while high fiving Luna with a wide grin as she looks at their accomplishment.

"What do I do with it now?" Luna asks with genuine concern as she holds onto the pan.

"I don't know... We got toast and jam. Wanna just eat it?" Casie shrugs at Luna.

"Sure..." Luna agrees as she tosses a pot holder on the counter.

Setting the pan down, Luna grabs two forks, salt and pepper. Casie bringing over the toast and butter before locating the JAM. Luna butters both of their toast as they pick bites of their eggs out of the pan beside Kevin.

"This is so gross. Why's it so chunky?" Luna complains as she tries to smear jam on Casie's toast.

"I don't know... But it's delicious... And Kevin likes it." Casie states with a smile a she takes a huge bite out of her slice.

Luna tries not to SideEye Casie as she takes a solid bite from their pan of eggs. She may love the girl and her father but toast is toast and a bagel with smear is fucking heaven. She doesn't even know what jam is. Expect that it's chunky and gross. Fuck Kevin's traitor ass opinion.

"Take a bite." Casie asserts as she thrusts her jam covered toast in Luna's disgusted face.

"Okay..." Luna reluctantly says.

Casie shoves the hard, flavored bread into Luna's mouth before she can fully prepare herself. Chewing with her eyeballs wide, she nods at Casie. Deciding the crunch is nice with the sweetness. It's not a bagel but it's okay.

"Alright... Toast is okay with jam." Luna agrees with Casie. "But bagels are the best." Luna teases her favorite girl with a dozen kisses as she nuzzles into her giggling face.

Kevin, Luna and Casie continue eating their eggs while they chat and munch on their toast. Talking about school, the latest gossip on Casie's friends, boys, clothes, what they wanna do for their birthdays and how Casie REALLY feels about Luna and Colson getting married.

"Am I getting a sister?" Casie asks bluntly as she stabs her fork into the pan.

"What? Nooooo, Dude... Why? Why do you want a sister so badly?" Luna asks as she watches Casie's reactions closely.

"It doesn't have to be a sister... I just want SOMETHING." Casie answers like Luna knows what she's talking about.

"For why?" Luna asks completely confused and turned off.

"Because with a brother or sister you have a friend forever." Casie answers with a simple shrug. "Who talks." She says, glancing quickly over at Kevin to make sure he didn't hear her.

"Oooh, kill my soul..." Luna mentally moans at the girl's logic, truth and sweetness.

"That's why?" Luna's stares at Colson's daughter while they sit next to each other at the kitchen island.

"Yeah." Casie shrugs as she reaches for more eggs. "And they can do half of my chores too." She says with a nonchalant tone.

"I fucking love you." Luna laughs as she leans over to kiss Casie's head.

After they finish their breakfast, Luna suggests Casie and Kevin watch TV in her room since the rest of the house is still a disaster and littered with bodies. With a full belly, it's an easy decision. Casie's lived this life all her life. Happily retreating into her personal oasis with Kevin in tow after kissing Luna on the cheek.

"Oh!! Will you wash my yellow shirt for today?" Casie stops to ask Luna.

"Didn't you just wear it yesterday?" Luna questions her.

"Yeah, but it's my favorite shirt." Casie explains.

"Sure... Bring it down. We just made eggs, I'm sure we can figure out the washer." Luna answers with a shrug.

"Thanks!!" Casie shouts as she drags Kevin up the stairs.

"Kids are so fucking weird..." Luna thinks as she watches her go.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Dooon't...." Luna exhales with a cough as she tries to warn Colson from the back door.

She is not in time. Colson takes two steps onto the wet kitchen floor before he finds himself on his back. Luna only pisses him off more when she keeps laughing at the sight of his confused face twisting and arms flailing around as he went down. It was definitely not his most graceful moment and it was fucking hilarious.

"Here, Bunny, lemme help you..." Luna offers out her hand, trying to contain her laughter.

"Fuck you, don't touch me." Colson angrily spews as he gets up from the floor, he may have forgotten why he was mad at her last night but he sure as hell remembers this morning.

"Seriously?" Luna asks gently, using EVERYTHING inside of her to not scream the question at him.

Colson looks around the clean kitchen. Peering at Luna, he decides it must've been her who cleaned it. Pulling one of the large canisters across the counter, he opens it. Staring straight through Luna, he doesn't break eye contact as he picks up the jar of sugar and dumps it all over the floor.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM!?!" Luna can't help but scream now from the mix of anger and shock.

"That shit looks sweet. Wanna kiss it too?" Colson taunts Luna with more than just his words.

"You're a petty fucking cunt." Luna shakes her head at Colson before turning on her heel and disappearing upstairs.

Feeling content with himself, his feelings change when he hears Luna loudly trot down the stairs and out the door. His head is throbbing as he stares at the pile of sugar on the floor.

"I don't think we can call that a win..." Colson sighs to himself as he collects the dust pan. "Damn... I didn't even know I owned a mop..." He thinks as he rubs his sore elbow.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"You're up early, Buddy..." Pete says as he sees Colson in the kitchen. "Are you fucking cleaning?" He scoffs like they're in a fourth dimension.

"Yeeeahhh.... Loons... Ahhhh... It doesn't matter." Colson sighs. "Get out of my way." He huffs as he reaches for the dish detergent and starts the dishwasher.

"Wanna burn?" Pete asks as he lights a joint.

"Yeah." Colson sighs again as he sits down with him at the kitchen table.

"Where is said LunaTic at anyway?" Pete asks as he passes the bone.

"I don't know... We were fighten' and she walked out. She's probably on her way back to fucking New York for all I know." Colson says with a heavy tone of irritation in his voice.

"What's up with you guys?" Pete asks his bestfriend learily while he accepts the joint back.

"I don't fucking know." Colson coughs out his answer.

"Well, what the fuck were you talking about the other day with that whole Wouldn't Be The First Time shit?" Pete continues to pry as he inhales.

"Fuck. I was hoping he'd forget about that.... She's gonna fucking kill me" Colson slightly panics. There is no way for him to lie to Pete that would be even slightly believable.

"I was just pissed and talken' out of my ass." Colson tries to brush him off.

"Alright. I'll ask Loons myself." Pete shrugs.

"Don't you fucking..." Colson starts to bite back before Pete interupts him.

"YO!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING OVER THERE!?!" He yells in a panic pointing to the dishwasher.

"HOLY SHIT!" Colson screams as he jumps up.

Colson used Dawn. Not a dishwasher tablet. Dawn. Causing the dishwasher to explode with massive amounts of bubbles. Making both tall men run around the kitchen, hollering like idiots.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO!?!" Pete yells at Colson.

"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" Colson shouts back as the bubble pile grows larger and larger.

"Why the fuck are you... OH!! MY!! GOD!! WHAT DID YOU DO!? WHERE IS LUNA?!!?" Rook begins to scream with the two of them as he enters the kitchen.

Hearing them from outside, Luna comes back in to complete chaos. Pete is crouched down on top of a chair, looking like an overgrown Gollum while still hitting the joint. Colson continues running around aimlessly while he freaks out and Rook is screaming her name as the massive sea of bubbles attempts to consume him whole. She stands in silent horror as she observes the scene.

"Where did you go?! How do we stop this?!" Colson cries out when he sees Luna.

Slipping and sliding, he rushes over to her. Losing his balance on the way, he disappears into the pile of bubbles. Luna can't help but laugh as the memory of him falling earlier flashes through her mind.

"It's not FUCKING funny!!" He yells at her before yanking her down with him.

"I fucking hate you!" Luna shouts as she spits out a mouth full of bubbles and lunges for Colson.

The dishwasher is still pushing out loads of bubbles as the two of them wrestle out their feelings aggressively in the foamy mess. Coming in to put an end to the unbelievable nonsense, Slim slips immediately trying to get to the dishwasher. Pete's still on the chair getting high as Rook slowly disappears.

"Guys..." Casie stops in her tracks when she sees the state of the kitchen.

"GET KEVIN THE HELL OUTTA HERE!! HE CAN'T HANDLE THIS!!" Pete shrieks at the girl in sheer terror as he cups the joint.

Casie doesn't move. Just stands there watching with Kevin as Noah, Mod, Caroline and Phem join her. Rook can't be seen anymore as he screams for someone to STOP THE FUCKING BUBBLES. Luna and Colson are still rolling around on the floor slap boxing each other as Slim army crawls to safety. All the chaos stops when Benny, the only actual human being amongst them, calmly makes his way over to their enemy by gripping the walls, cabinets and appliances. Finally shutting the dishwasher off.

The room is overfilled with bubbles. Rook is legit lost. Pete is stuck on the chair. Slim wants to know What The Fuck happened as everyone else puts their two sense in. Benny's busy looking for Rook while Casie and Kevin walk away from the "adult's" bullshit. Meanwhile, Colson and Luna can be found somewhere on the floor together.

"This isn't my fault." Colson begins to protest at the sticky nonsense surrounding them.

"I don't even wanna fucking know." Luna sighs out with a laugh.

"I'm still mad at you." He tells her lowly as he leans over for a kiss.

"I know." She replies softly, kissing him back as they lay tangled in each other amongst the huge mess.

It's not even Noon and Colson has a baseball game later. If yesterday was a Shit Show, today is already shaping up to be amazing.

---------------------------------------------------

To be continued...

19 notes · View notes

domesticatedantelope · 5 years ago

Text

tongue-tied

Pairing: Colt x MC

Rating: Explicit, 18+

Word Count: 3296

Summary: The one where Colt takes Mercy home. The one where he makes her forget.

@brightpinkpeppercorn @desiree-0816 @liamzigmichael4ever @leelee10898 @choicesarehard @lovehugsandcandy @client-327

Mercy stares down at Colt’s hands cradled in her lap, mapping the battered hills and valleys of his knuckles. Before Logan, before the crew, she’d never even seen a fistfight - and now for the second time, she finds herself tending to bloodied hands, tearing an alcoholic swab open with her teeth.

Colt barely flinches when she dips the pad between his knuckles, watching her work in silence. There’s only the muted sound of their breathing as she cleans the last of his split knuckles with the lightest touch that she can summon, the swab stained red with blood between her fingers.

She pulls a length of bandaging from the first aid kit spread open between them and tugs Colt’s hand gingerly to the center of her lap.

“You’re getting pretty good at this.”

She flushes, glancing up to meet his gaze. “A silver lining,” she says, and tucks the tail end of the bandage neatly into place, her thumb rolling a soothing circle into the palm of his hand before she reaches for the other. “To hanging out with car thieves.”

A smirk tilts the corner of his mouth. “At least there’s one.”

She remembers the enamored way he kisses her, and thinks that she could probably name a few more.

“You don’t need to patch me up,” he tells her evenly, pulling her from her thoughts. “They’ll heal fine on their own.”

Mercy bends to press her lips to the fresh bandages around his hand. “But they don’t have to.”

Colt studies her with a crease between his brows, the lightest shade of pink dusting his cheeks. His palm slides in to cup her face, thumb soft along the line of her jaw, tilting her head up toward him as he leans closer. His eyes flicker down to her mouth, warm with longing, but he waits for her to close the distance.

Slowly, gently, she sets her lips against the split at the end of his mouth before kissing him fully, falling into his hands when he pulls her against his chest. In their urgency, they knock the first aid kit from the couch, and neither bother looking back to watch it scatter.

He touches her like she is something precious, like she is porcelain between his hands, but his mouth is far from gentle. He nips with teeth and licks into her mouth with all the ardor of a starving man, and her eyes still ache from tears, her blood still hot and livid in her veins, but Colt is here, throwing himself into her arms and clumsy heart, and there is no mistaking the voracity with which he kisses her for anything but real.

Mercy can taste the iron salt of blood still on his tongue. Kissing her must hurt him, but he doesn’t let it slow him down, pressing her back into the couch and deepening the kiss with a hoarse moan.

“Mercy.” He ducks his head and begs the name against her throat, grazing his teeth down the soft hollow where her pulse pounds. His mouth conquers a greedy path over her collarbone, seeking the dip between her breasts. She will be nothing more than blush and bruises by the time he’s finished with her, and she wants to feel it happen. “Mercy - fuck. You gotta tell me what you want, sweetheart.”

The endearment fills her with a rolling heat; he’s never called her that without the bite of condescension in his voice, and right now, breathless, pleading it against her skin - she feels that she could ask him for the sun, and he would find a way to steal it from the sky.

Mercy swallows thickly, grasping blindly for the proper words when Colt is doing everything he can to scatter them. “I don’t…” Her cheeks blaze hot at the sensation of his palm rising the sliver of bare skin above her hips. “I… I haven’t…”

“I know.” He cups a hand gently around her jaw, leading her gaze up to his own, tracing his thumb over her blushing cheekbone. “It’s okay.” He soothes her with another languid, teasing kiss, sucking her lip between his teeth until she’s breathless in his arms and desperate to feel more of him. “I want what you want,” he promises, and pins her with a searing, hungry look, his pupils wide and black against dark iris. “So tell me, Mercy. Anything. I’ll give it to you.”

She’s thought of this - of him - so many times, dreamed and daydreamed about his hands, his wicked mouth, how he would take her, make her scream; but she can’t bring herself to force those phantom pleasures into words.

“Make me forget,” she says instead, and leans into his hold, trusting his touch. “Make me feel better.”

Devotion hardens in Colt’s eyes, and then he’s kissing her with renewed passion, hauling her up against his chest as if she weighs nothing at all. “Oh, I promise you’ll forget,” he pants, dark with intent, and Mercy whines under his mouth, clinging to the shifting muscles in his shoulders as he carries her through the apartment.

She locks her arms around his neck, her eyes drawn to the tempting stretch of olive skin that spans his throat. She licks her teeth and tests her lips against his jaw, parting to flick her tongue and then tease lower, charting a trail of sucking kisses down his neck. She feels his muscles tense beneath her lips and hears a ragged groan as he sways out of step.

“Christ...” Colt lifts her higher in his arms, growling against her skin. “You’re askin’ for trouble, Mercy.” He nips roughly at the bend between her neck and shoulder, the pleasure-pain drawing a blissful shiver up her backbone. He shoulders past the bedroom door, and then the whole world tilts around her when he tips them both across his bed, where they fall together in a heap of tangled limbs.

The sheets are cool against her skin, but Colt is warm, his body heat and weight pinning her down so perfectly while he adores the soft skin of her shoulders with his teeth and tongue. She feels rough fingertips tracing her spine, slipping beneath the hooks of her bra.

“Colt… please.” Maybe it should embarrass her, but nothing’s ever felt so right as Colt between her thighs, and she would watch the world collapse around them both before she let him go.

“Begging me already?” A crooked smile curls across his face. His fingers weave into the dark mass of her hair, tilting her head back to expose the column of her neck for further exploration. “I’m just getting started.” He is meticulous as he undresses her, christening each inch of skin he bares with avid kisses, as if he is determined to learn every single line of her by heart.

Mercy is not so patient. She shoves his jacket back over his shoulders, tugging at his shirt until he finally relents and yanks it above his head.

“Eager,” Colt teases, watching her with lidded eyes as she admires the lean muscles of his chest. Slowly, he lets his gaze roam her bare skin, savoring the sight of her sprawled out across his bed. His throat bobs when he swallows, groaning into his teeth. “Mercy. You don’t know how good you look.”

Her cheeks flare with heat. Under that hungry look of his, she feels abruptly bashful, open and exposed like she has never been before. “Am I everything you imagined?”

He flashes her an easy smile, reassuring. “You’re better.” He circles his thumb over a blue-red bite mark at the base of her neck, then ducks his head to soothe it over with a gentle press of lips. She skims her nails through his hair, unable to suppress another moan as his mouth trails the tender valley between her breasts.

“Ah-!” Mercy barely locks a whine behind her teeth, thighs clenching in around him.

With a glance up through his lashes at the eager desperation on her face, Colt drags his mouth over the dusky peak of a nipple, rolling a lazy circle with his tongue. The soft curl of his tongue sends beats of pleasure sinking down between her thighs, where her body throbs with need like a second pulse. She doesn’t expect her reaction, the sudden seize in her muscles, fingers twisting into fistfuls of his hair. A startled groan rises his throat, the stiff weight of his cock twitching between them, and she’s struggling to shape the words of an apology when he rounds his mouth over her skin and sucks in earnest.

“Oh god… Colt, that’s...” She cuts herself off with a whimper, squirming under his hands as he releases the swell of her breast, shifting to devote the same urgent attention to the other. His palm leads a teasing path down her stomach, pausing at the lacey hem of her underwear. She feels the question in his touch as his fingers hover barely-there shapes above her panties.

Mercy arches up into his hand, tugging at his hair between her fingers. “Colt, please! I can’t take any more teasing.”

With a breathless smile, he nudges the cotton down her hips until her thighs spill open before him. She grapples with the brief instinct to hide, but when his eyes find the wet heat between her thighs, something like pain flickers across his face, a hunger so deep it hurts.

“Fuck.” Colt huffs a winded laugh, burying his face against her leg to bite at the soft skin there. “You are so perfect.” He trails a series of rough kisses up her thigh, and when his fingertips trace lightly down the slick folds of her sex, her body jerks beneath him at the flare of pleasure that rips through her.

“Ohhh my god, you’re wet.” He draws his thumb over the swollen bead of her clit and watches her from under heavy lids as she squirms in response. He sweeps her thighs into his hands and yanks her closer, parts her legs around his shoulders and flashes one last wicked smirk before finally, finally, he sets his mouth between her thighs.

She feels his lips first, the delicious rasp of stubble on her skin, then his tongue working slow spirals, and everything else falls away, the world and all her worries narrowed down into the torturous sensation of his mouth between her legs. In that breathtaking moment, she forgets everything else, forgets her name and how to speak and all the heartbreak of her afternoon, and there is only blissful nothingness.

Mercy makes a sound she’s never made before, somewhere between a moan and broken sob, her words unraveling into a strangled mess of syllables that vaguely shape his name. She presses the back of her hand over her mouth to stifle the rise in her voice until Colt reaches up to gently nudge her wrist aside.

For a few frantic heartbeats, they lock eyes, and a smirk tilts the end of his mouth. “I want to hear you,” he says, rough with want.

A shiver grips her spine in greedy fingers. She twists her hands around the sheets instead, clinging for something, anything to ground her as he sucks her clit between his lips, and the hot pull of his mouth sends licks of rapture clawing through her tender nerves, so good, so sharp, so much and not enough all at the same time. Her toes curl where he’s thrown her legs over his shoulders, thighs trembling against his hands. Past the blinding waves of pleasure, she can feel his fingers hunting up beneath his mouth, finding the dip between her folds and pushing in to the first knuckle.

Fuck-!

Her mouth falls open, and a wild moan lifts from her lungs, her hips rolling to take more of him. “Colt! Oh god, Colt, please, please…”

Groaning, he obliges, teasing her with slow rolls of his tongue as he fucks his fingers deeper, finding a span of nerves that triggers seismic shudders up her spine. His fingers feel so long inside of her, so beautifully thick, filling her where she has only ever felt like empty spaces, and she’s still reeling from the first twinge of ecstasy when her hips start rocking to meet his touch.

“That’s it, Mercy.” Colt nuzzles his face against her thigh, crooking his fingertips until her head falls back with a sobbing wail. She wants to see his face, to watch him watching her, to see his mouth between her legs, but her eyes roll back with every curl of pleasure that breaks over her. With her knees locked behind his shoulders, she drops a hand into the soft mess of his hair, seeking an anchor.

She has no point of reference, but -

Colt is absurdly good at this.

Mercy would laugh if she had any breath left in her lungs. She’s not sure why - she’s not quite sure of anything anymore, only the tight, sweet pressure twisting somewhere deep inside of her, glimpses of something solid at her fingertips, just barely out of reach. “Colt -” She doesn’t know how to express, can’t focus when she’s teetering, about to fall, but she needs, she needs -

Somehow he understands (he always does) and surges greedily against her, sucking, shaping circles with his tongue, and every touch is liquid fire, she is going to combust.

His free hand hunts across the sheets until he finds her wrist, slipping their fingers tight together, and her heart swells with affection when his thumb strokes soft over the back of her hand. He squeezes once, his mouth too full to speak, but it feels like I’m here, like I won’t let you go. She vaguely registers the sting of blissful tears along her lashes before every sensation strings together in this perfect harmony and -

Mercy falls apart.

She screams and clings to Colt’s hand like a lifeline as the rush consumes her. She grinds into his mouth, chasing that firebrand of bliss as his fingers fuck her through it, her shaking thighs wound tight around his head. Her thoughts fade out into the black behind her eyelids, and she is lost among the darkness as wave after wave of perfect bliss wash over her and leave her gasping, shattered - love-drunk and alive.

It’s everything she wanted.

Colt lifts his head from between her legs with a heavy gasp, grinning as he licks the taste of her from his lips. His cheeks are flushed with effort, dark hair a mess of tangles from her careless hands. He looks pleased, and proud, and still so eager, as if he’s ready to devour her again and again and again.

With shaking fingers, Mercy reaches out to swipe her thumb across his swollen mouth, and she can’t help the fascination in her voice when she finally manages to find it. “Perfect.”

Colt kisses her fingers, her palm, catching her hand to follow the length of her arm until his lips reach hers. Feeling bold and thoroughly undone by the force of her climax, she searches gentle fingers down the contours of his chest. She feels his breath hitch when her nails dip past the waistband of his boxers.

“Mercy…” He nudges his mouth at her jaw, his muscles tense beneath the skin. Conflict wages in the features of his face.

With a tipsy smile, Mercy flicks the button of his jeans. “I want to touch you.”

Colt runs his tongue along his teeth, flashing her a wolfish grin. “Promised you anything, didn’t I?”

She fumbles with his jeans, shoving them impatiently down his thighs. Colt lets her press him down onto his back, reaching for her hips when she climbs over him. She can feel him hot and so, so hard against her thigh, twitching as her legs fall open around him.

Mercy curls her fingers curiously down the length of his cock, learning the shape of him, glancing up in delight when Colt stiffens and jerks beneath her. She firms her grip, teasing her thumb under the swollen head, feeling him throb into her touch. Her head spins at the size of him; just his fingers felt so thick, but the thought of sinking herself down around him sends her stomach into tangled knots of nerves and anticipation.

The muscles in his stomach tense with every shift of her hand, his gaze racing transfixed between her mouth, her breasts, her fingers wrapped around his cock and back again. When she licks her lips and sinks between his legs, parting to take his cock over her tongue, he grinds out a curse and watches with wide eyes as her mouth dips slowly around him.

“Oh, fuck, Mercy-!” Colt’s head falls back with a strangled moan, his fists clutching the sheets until his knuckles pale. She feels his hips flexing under her hands, straining against the urge to move, and she soothes him with a soft hum in the back of her throat, rolling her tongue around the head of his cock and bobbing slowly deeper.

He threads his fingers gingerly through her hair, mouth slack in fascination. A shudder trembles through him when she rounds her lips and sucks, his voice crushed down into a frantic whine. “Shit, Mercy, that’s - fuuuuuuck.”

Encouraged, Mercy pulls away to drag her mouth down the side of his cock, slicking her fist into a lazy rhythm that has him fucking desperately into her grip. His chest heaves rapidly for breath, long fingers locked into the sheets when she dots kisses down his ribs, laving his stomach with attention while her hand twists lovingly around him.

“Mercy.” He wets his lips, stifles a moan into his teeth. “That’s so good, sweetheart.” His hips nudge up and up, wordlessly urging her for more.

She pins him by the thigh with her free hand, setting her mouth against the thick head of his cock and sucking softly as she pumps him in her fist. She takes him deep over her tongue, then deeper, feeling him against the back of her throat, and she holds him there until her lungs ache and wet tears stream down her cheeks.

Colt is a shaking mess when she pulls free, pleading her name in whispered prayers that warm her racing heart. “God, Mercy, please, I’m dying for you. Please.”

Mercy holds his gaze as she parts her lips around his cock once more. And when he bucks his hips against her, she only holds tighter, sucks deeper, watches the ecstasy ripple across his face until finally he seizes up and comes across her tongue. A frenzied groan rolls up from deep within his chest, and his hips thrust hard under her hands, thighs clenching as she swallows him down.

In one long sigh, the tension all seems to drain from Colt’s muscles. Panting for breath, he tips her head closer to kiss the wet curve of her mouth, his lips unmistakably soft in the fall back down.

“Perfect,” he echoes with a crooked grin. He brushes a kiss across her knuckles, amusement glinting in the deep brown of his eyes. “Did I make you forget?”

“A few times,” she assures him, cheeks burning up into another blush. “Honestly, it's gonna be hard to remember anything else for a while.”

Colt laughs, still breathless, and his smile is more carefree than she’s ever seen. “Good. I wouldn’t mind being the only thing on your mind.” His thumb strokes the curve of her cheekbone, that same light, careful touch, like he fears he will break her. “You’re the only thing that’s ever on mine.”

Mercy curls into the crook of his arm as his breathing starts to wind back down, and every beat of his heart feels like its own silver lining.

#ride or die #rod fanfic #choices ride or die #colt kaneko #colt x mc #ns*fw #playchoices #when your girl is sad so you go down on her #we stan colt 'not even dirty talk?' kaneko for life #in other news: the return of 'sweetheart' as a pet name and why it's annoyingly cute more at 11 #mc: mercy castellano #ship: power couple #ps if i missed tagging you or tagged you and you didnt want me to please lemme know! cheers!#dom writes

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thiswreckageivebecome · 5 years ago

Text

You Never Listen (Sebastian Stan/OC Oneshot)

Pairing: Sebastian x Emily (original character)

Warnings: Language, sexual reference, Angst!

Word Count: 4624

I rose from the couch, needing a break and a good stretch from the countless numbers of hours my husband and I had been binging Pixar films, crying and laughing all the while.

"Babe, I need a break, I'm going to clean up this mess for a few minutes." Sebastian whimpered in response.

"Noooo," he complained drawing out the word to an almost obnoxious length. "Don't clean. Stay here with me," he attempted to pull me back down but I was able to yank my wrist from him just in time.

"Seb, we have to clean up at some point and honestly, I need some time off the couch for a change. I feel as though I've been bedridden for two months and I'm beginning to get pressure sores." He rolled his eyes quickly and scoffed.

"Fine then. I'm going to stretch out and take up the entire couch then." His slender body quickly stretched the entire length of the couch and he snapped the tiny blue velvet and créme dappled cashmere blanket that barely covered half of him and pulled it up under his chin as if I was going to try and stop him. It was then my turn to roll my eyes and instead of scoffing, I simply grinned and shook my head. I felt my auburn hair begin to fall out of the loose bun Sebastian had tied up for me earlier as I cried within the first scenes of Up and my grown-out curtain bangs kept getting caught in wet from the tears. I pulled the hair tie out and I saw the blonde ends still holding strong, but it wouldn't be long before they were completely grown out and it would be back to its normal burnt sienna shade. I looked forward to it so that I could begin experimenting with something else again.

"Seb, don't you want to go back blonde when I do my hair next?" I asked, picking up the bowls and plates and stacking them to carry a bulk to the kitchen.

"Do I want to because I want to," he asked shiftily, "or do I want to because you want me to?" He grinned mischievously so that just the tips of his teeth showed and I could tell by the way his lips sat, that tongue would soon make its way to the corner of his mouth. Sure enough two seconds of silence passed and my prediction was correct. I simply deadpanned in his direction, halting on the clean-up, holding the look for about five seconds in total before returning to the dirty dished and half-empty take-out containers.

"I surprised myself that I liked it blonde. It isn't my preference, but it's something different. I was just asking."

"Oh, but there was so much behind that asking, wasn't there?" He began to sit up which put him in punching reach and I knew he was doing it just for that purpose. If I gave into his teasing and attempted to lay hands on him, he would pull me back onto the couch with him and I could let go the idea of cleaning up. I held my ground and with arms full, I began retreating to the kitchen but not before I cast the guillotine words over my shoulder: "Do whatever you'd like; as long as you don't grow that fucking Gillooly 'stache back I don't care."

I quickly emptied my arms on the kitchen counter as I heard his feet hit the floor and the shuffling grew to a boisterous level. I knew he would be behind me in a flash. I was right, he quickly grabbed my waist from behind, prodding and caressing my sides causing my body to spasm and erupt with laughter and squeals.

"No! Seb," I said in between laughs and when I had the lung capacity. "Seb, stop. Mercy, please!"

"You can just pretend it's my mustache tickling your sides." I couldn't help but laugh harder at his response. I caught sight of his eyes and saw the shift. They flashed and I could practically see the fire light within as his tickling became less tickle-like and more licentious. He gripped my waist tightly and picked me up. I let him, monkeying my legs around his slim hips. He held me there for a moment as I could feel multiple levels and areas of tension.

Tension seemed almost visible as we scrutinized each others' features. Tension in the air solidified almost synchronously with the throbbing I felt through our sweats. I tightened my grip on his hips as his hands rose quickly to my scalp, long, thin fingers extending into my hair and then scrunching in order to gently tug a handful. He stepped forward abruptly, shocking us both, I believe, and when he did, I felt it before I could react. There were excruciatingly loud crashes as about seven glass and ceramic dishes hit the tile floor with an exquisite amount of force.

"Shit!" I exclaimed. "Fuck me! I can't." I pulled away from Sebastian with more force than I meant to, consequently slamming my head into the glass-encased white cabinets. The glass in the cabinet busted and I felt the sharp pain as the glass shards cut into my scalp. "DAMN IT! FU- OWWW!"

"Oh shit, Em. Are you okay?" Sebastian had nothing but concern on his face but I was livid and in pain which definitely didn't lead to a calm and forgiving disposition. How it had taken this long for some shit like this to happen, I'd forever be amazed.

"Yes, Sebastian, I'm just freaking peachy. Our good wedding china is broken because your dumbass wanted to be fancy and shit and now my head has cuts and gashes in it. I'm fucking perfect. Fucking move out of my way and be careful where you step."

"No, Em. You stay there, I'm going to run a towel here with some water and then I'll-"

"No, you fucking won't. You'll move out of the damn way." I reached out and pushed him in the direction of what looked to be a clear path lacking in broken shards. He stepped out of the way as quickly as possible, attempting to miss anything that would cut open his foot. I grabbed the ashen towel from beside the sink as I hopped down, careful of where I stepped and placed it on the back of my head.

He turned away from me long enough to go grab the broom from the corner of the micro kitchen. I began following him.

"I'll clean this up and you can go-" he began to say before turning around, surprised to see me right there.

"No, I've got it. I don't need you to do anything else." Even I could feel the heat generating and emanating from my pores so that it wasn't surprising to see the Aegean nuances that always appeared and began to circuit around his normally cerulean iris' when he began to get angry. "Good," I thought, "Let's fucking do this."

"Em," he began, attempting to remain calm, "I'm sorry that I broke the dishes and that your head is hurt, cut open to be exact, but why do I feel like your reaction is a little ove-....out-of-character."

"Overboard, huh?" I swiped the broom from his hands, turned, and began sweeping up all of the fractured shards. "You want to know what's not overboard? This minuscule fucking kitchen. I've been telling you for four damn years this kitchen is too small. Yet, do you listen? No, you don't. We just keep on trying to cook together, burning each other all the time because we can't move one inch without bumping into one another or we drop dishes of food making a mess that one of us has to clean up, normally me. Not to mention that trying to entertain for your damn famous friends is a motherfucking nightmare." I got the last bits of shards into one final pile, sweeping them into the pan, and walked over to the trash, proceeding to slam the shards in there so there was more clatter and breaking into smaller pieces.

"Woah. Hold the fucking phone, Emily. First off, we both tend to be pretty clumsy so I don't think you should blame the light burnings and spilled dishes on the size of the kitchen. Sec0nd, I do fucking clean this apartment. I've always cleaned this damn apartment and I've been doing just fine with this kitchen for longer than the four years you say you've been telling me we need a bigger one. Plus, I don't recall you say-"

"Yes, Sebastian, we're both clumsy. Yes, you clean, but that doesn't invalidate my argument and you damn-well-know it. Oh, and I'm sorry, I'm so glad you could live just fine in this small kitchen without me for all those years. I can make this kitchen great for you once more." I strode off, stomping all of the way, past Sebastian's motionless stupefied position. The veins I could see in his arms from his clenched hands seemed to be physically vibrating and his cheeks has lost quite a bit of its typical cool tawny color yet I pushed forward. I reached the restroom we shared and slammed the door, causing the containers on the counter to do a small shimmy. I heaved the kitchen towel I had laid around my neck while sweeping against the wall with all the strength I had in my body. However, the blood that had clotted from the wounds must have reopened and somehow it hurt like hell. "OW! Fuck!!"

I was even more angry now at the wounds so I began grabbing other towels and unbreakable things in the bathroom and began throwing those against the wall. I had often used this strategy of anger management since I was young. Whenever my parents would piss me off I would pick up shoes and throw them against the clothes hanging in my closet as hard as I could, so as not to alert anyone of my hulk-like rage, until the majority of the anger had expired. Today, it seemed, would be no different. I grabbed a clean rag out of the drawer and wet it before placing it on the back of my head in attempts to clean the wounds a little bit. They weren't that bad, I was just being overdramatic; arguments with Seb always made my dramatics 27 times worse than normal. I heard the hasty padding of Seb's feet down the hall. I turned and locked the door quickly before he reached it. The doorknob jiggled but abruptly stopped as he knew I had locked him out on purpose.

"Emi, are you alright? You know, besides the cuts and gashes in your head..." he lightly tossed my words back at me. I looked at the ceiling exasperated.

"I'm just brilliant, Sebastian," I bit back at him.

"Will you let me in?" He braved the question after a brief pause. I could hear the tension in his voice, not out of anger, but out of concern. For some reason it made me even more furious, transforming my exterior to have more the consistency of concrete than brick.

"Honestly, I don't really want to talk with you right now. Just the sound of your voice is grating my nerves."

"Shit," I could hear the surprise in his voice but I had a feeling a snarky comment was to follow. "I'm sure glad you put that bit in your vows because then I'd be worried you had divorce papers being made up in there at this very moment."

"Sebastian. Please, for the love of that small-ass kitchen, shut the fuck up. I'm not joking with you. I'm tired of that kitchen. I'm tired of you brushing it off and not doing anything about it." I finished cleaning my scalp and threw the rag in the sink before unlocking and slinging the door open so swiftly that it started the both of us. "It's like you don't even care about the way I feel about this. Oh, and I know what you were going to say earlier. You don't recall me saying that much. Well guess what, Sebastian, I didn't say a lot about it the first two years we knew each other because we weren't fucking married. I didn't have a place to, so yes, I would jokingly slip it in but after we were married I only bring it up on a monthly basis and how long have we been married, Sebastian?"

"Two years," he paused so I waited, "and I've loved you for four."

"See, Sebastian, you think that's sweet but what you're doing is you're using that to try and melt my frustration. You're not FUCKING LISTENING! You just want it to go away and everything to go back to normal. You want me to accept that and sweep my feelings under the rug but I'm getting pretty fucking sick of sweeping up my feelings, much like those shards of our wedding dishes now, and placing them in the trash. I've been doing it for two years and I'm just getting tired of it." I sat down, somewhat beat down, and sighed. His eyes, constantly alternating and intermixing between arctic, sapphire, and even at the briefest of seconds, teal shades, had followed me as I crossed to the middle of the room, paced back and forth in front of the bed, and ultimately stopped to show him how exhausted I was by all of this. He was speechless so I continued.

"Seb, look. It may seem small to you...not the kitchen, my feelings, just to be clear...and no I don't hound you about it because in the grand scheme of things it isn't like it's going to make or break our marriage and no, I don't need a ton of fancy things; I hope you know that. I just really do feel like it'd be helpful to have a bigger kitchen. It's one thing I really would like. Sometimes I just feel like I'm living in a bachelor pad and that was fine when you were a bachelor or when we were first married...but there's two of us now-there has been for two years-and we do like to entertain. By the way, we like to entertain our friends, not just 'your famous friends.' I'm sorry I said that. They're our friends no matter what heights or depths of the well-known totem pole they're at."

"I didn't realize it bothered you that much."

"It only does sometimes. Today being one of those times apparently." There was an extended silence but I felt I had said enough for now so I let him break through the quiet in the room.

"Serious question...how many times do we really entertain, though?" My eyes made an involuntary elongated blink before opening wider than before as my head shook in shock. This is what he chose to say? I rose from the bed and backed away, still facing him, taking in the subdued amaranth rising from within.

"Are you serious? That's your response to all of this? That's your argument?"

"I'm not arguing; I'm just asking."

"Oh, but there's so much behind that question, isn't there? Go ahead, let's lay it all out on the metaphorical fucking table. Let's do this," my voice rose in decimals with each word. He rose from the bed as well.

"Alright, fine, fucking fine, Emily. I don't understand how we were having a perfectly nice day. We enjoyed movies, laughing and crying together, snuggling, everything was fine. Then we're joking and teasing, then we're about to have sex and then seemingly out of nowhere, you lose your top. You fucking freak out over a few broken dishes and a few scratches. I didn't actually do anything to you and you act like I've ruined your life and you've been living in hell with me these past two years." He began walking towards the bedroom door. "It's like it's completely out of the blue and I don't fucking understand why we're fighting." He walked into the hallway, throwing his hands in the air, and began making his way back to the living area. I fell in pace with him quickly, right on his heels.

"Have you listened to one damned word I've said? Oh, silly me, that's my whole point in this argument, isn't it. That you don't listen to what I say or how I feel." He turned on me just as I caught up to him.

"I listen to everything you say. In fact, I've hung onto every single word you've said to me since the day we met, believe it not. You may think I'm only attempting to diffuse a situation and 'melt' your heart and exterior when I say things like that but I'm only sharing the truth. I don't know how long or how many times I have to try and prove to you how much you mean to me."

"Just because you hear doesn't mean you listen, Sebastian!"

"Tocmai pentru că auziți nu înseamnă că ascultați, spune ea," he said wryly.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" I questioned, my anger reaching new heights.

"I didn't say anything to you!"He scolded back, pacing.

"E ca și cum ne-am căsătorit pentru o bucătărie dracului."

"Oh, speak in fucking English," I said, my voice lowering but still filled with a magnitude of frustration and annoyance. "The only reason you're speaking in Romanian is so I won't know what you're saying, but I can tell you're mocking me, you asshole."

"O batjocorește, spune ea, dacă numai ea știa ce spuneam, va râde până acum, în ciuda faptului că mă bat în realitate."

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" I asked, crossing my arms and jutting out my hip to the right, full of attitude, which he turned and saw. "Yeah, I remember that word."

"Oh, you remember that word, huh? It doesn't mean that you know what I said just because you know one word."

"Oh, listen to this miracle, you're listening."

"Oh good God, woman," he cast his hands in the air, rolling his eyes simultaneously. "I told you, I listen. I listen. I-"

"Says the one who-" I attempted to interrupt him but he walked up to me and placed his hand over my mouth, silencing my rebuttal.

"I hear that you hate when I play entire film scores on repeat that don't have any lyrics in them. I hear you every other Saturday morning when you say that while you love purple, you cringe just looking at grape jam. I hear you when you mutter under your breath anytime we pass someone who has clearly just finished a huge stinky blunt. I'm listening when you tell me your ideas for how Endgame should have gone. I'm listening when you explain how to fry chicken despite how many times I've burned it because you 'have faith' in me, as you say. I'm listening when you tell me that in your dream kitchen, you'd have anchor-colored cabinetry with pewter and pearl herringbone tile on the floor and marbled granite countertops, all finished off with a clear crystal backsplash. I am listening all the time. I know you want hooks under the cabinets to hang coffee cups on and the pull-out pantries everywhere you turn like you always loved when you watched "30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray," growing up. I know you want a double-sided fridge with a bottom freezer and an extra deep freezer somewhere else. I know all of that. I do listen. I listen and I act." His words shocked me, literally shocked me. I felt energy course through my body as if I had stuck a fork I was holding in an electrical socket.

"Se-"

"Which is why I have something to show you, if you'll come with me." I only nodded, still moved by his words so that I no longer had any of my own. He took me by the hand and dragged me out of the apartment. As we walked through the city, we remained silent. I didn't know where he was taking me. I was still processing the concept that he remembered so many details. We ended up at East 57th. He stopped walking at 303 and dropped my hand. Out of his pocket appeared keys I had not seen before.

"What is this, Sebastian?" I questioned, curiosity blanketing my voice. He retrieved my hand once more and I followed him into the elevator where he pressed nine. "Sebastian, what is happening?" He couldn't stop himself from grinning before I saw it, but he bit his lip in an attempt to stop himself from grinning more. "Sebastian! Wha-"

"Just be patient for once in your life," he said chuckling and licking his lips as he often did when he was a little nervous. The elevator doors opened and he pulled me forward. "Alright," he stopped right outside the elevator, "now, I know it's not Riverside Drive, but I did the best I could." He handed me the mystery keys and motioned for the first door we saw. It was labeled "9C." I could only look back and forth between the door and him.

"Sebastian, what are you saying?" He gave me a gentle nudge towards the door. When I barely moved, he placed his hands on my waist and pushed me forward from behind.

"Go ahead, unlock and open it." He grabbed my elbow to assist as he knew my brain wasn't quite connecting to my body. I unlocked the door, and pushed it open. "It's yours, not Will Truman's, but yours, " he whispered in my ear, leaning in close, arms draped around my torso. "It's ours," his tepid lips brushed my ear through my hair. He continued to guide me forward. As I walked in, I saw what appeared to be the living room. There was one couch and it resembled the one Anthony had lied about years ago during an interview, small cashmere blankets and all. To the right, my eyes widened and I could practically feel them brighten. He let me go and walked into the kitchen, leaning against the counter, unquestionably pleased with himself. He stood, grinning, tongue moving across his lips, eyes afire, with all the attitude of Tony Stark.

"Seb...it's...Seb...you...did this?" It was the exact kitchen I had talked about down to the colored grout.

"You didn't know I was such a handy-man, did you?" He teased, the right side of his face constricting in attempts to not bust forth with laughter so I did so for him.

"Yeah-right," I stuttered out between giggles. I ran to him and jumped into his arms, entangling my legs around his waist. "I can't believe this, Seb, it's so beautiful!!" I showered his face with kisses, all of the rage from earlier non-existent. He caressed my back as he spun me slowly around so that I could see everything but I didn't pay it much mind. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Well," he said, placing me on the kitchen island, "planning or in the process of?"

"Both."

"I've been planning since...well...since you agreed to marry me. The process started about six months after we got married. I had to find the real estate in the city that would allow me to have it redone how we wanted. Then, of course, since you only mentioned anything on a monthly basis, it took a while to get everything designed and to the contractors and interior designers." I didn't think I could be anymore shocked than I had been only moments ago but yet again, here I was, utterly dumbfounded.

"Sebastian. I'm so sorry for being such an ass."

"Nu mă așteptam la nimic mai puțin, în plus, te iubesc mai mult decât orice în lumea asta."

"Te iubesc...I love you too." He began to kiss me gingerly, first on the lips before moving slowly to my temples and placing his hands hesitantly in my hair behind my head so as not to hurt the tiny cuts I had been so dramatic about earlier. I began to reach to his waist as his lips moved across my skin. I tugged at the hem of his shirt, simultaneously pulling him as close to me as possible and lifting ever so slightly, hoping he would get the hint.

"By the way, I didn't mean much of anything I said earlier," he mentioned quietly. "I was really just trying to get you riled up enough for...well..."

"Hot, angry sex?" I questioned bluntly.

"Well, it is our go-to argument ender." He began to nibble across my collarbone and up my neck.

"So that's why you pick fights with me, huh?" I finished asking breathlessly as his cool hand raced up and inside the front of my shirt.

"To be honest, yes, 99% of the time." I cackled and tugged his shirt up and over his head pushing him away. I jumped down from the island simultaneously and beckoned him back. He removed my shirt and then lifted me, kissing from my neck down my torso as low as he physically could.

"So tell me, Mr. Stan, are you going to fuck me until tomorrow on this beautiful marble to officially christen this our new home?" He huffed, air caught in his throat at my unexpected words. "I can't bear to mess up that beautiful couch and it doesn't look like there's many other options." Once he gained control of his voice again, he placed mthis the island once more, this time laying me back and crawling on top of me, straddling me. He leaned in close.

"There is actually a bed," he pulled down his sweats and shook them off, "but I'll take fucking you on the counter, on the floor, in the shower, wherever you'll let me. Everything is finished and the furniture will be here." He paused, leaned back and yanked down my sweats one leg at a time. "I made sure all of it was covered in 70's plastic...does that make you angry?"

"You just want to make me angry, don't you?"

"Just enough."

"Then you know what you really need to say to me, don't you?" I thumbed his briefs, pulling on them just enough. He huffed again as my hand moved closer to him. I pretended I was in the process of removing my panties but in actuality, I just wanted to feel him throbbing for the second time that day.

"*NSYNC is the worst boy band of all time," he responded darkly. I grabbed his hand, pushing them underneath my panties and he began to work. Before we knew it all of our garments were gone and there indeed was a mess on the floor and the counters. We made our way that night to every single room of our new home. There was a tremendous amount of yelling with different intensities and various obscenities. There was hardly a place in that apartment our bodies didn't meet and we felt each other throughout the night.

When we awoke the next morning, finally making it to the bed, we were sticky so we showered and considering there were no linens we dried off in the best way we knew how to get our bodies heated up at lightening paces, and all the while looking forward to our next fight.

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #sebastian stan one shot #sebastian stan fic #fanfiction

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winchestersandsuperheroes · 6 years ago

Text

Seeing Ghosts (Leonard Snart x Reader)

Pairing: Leonard Snart x Reader

Words: 2473

Warnings: This is 99% angst... I apologize in advance. I wrote this awhile back to deal with the feelings that episode gave me.

Summary: The reader has a hard time coping when Barry brings Snart to help steal the dominator tech from Argus.

A/N: I'd probably be willing to make a second part to this if you all want it.

Siberia 1892

“So what exactly was your plan? Light the place up?” I asked Snart as we headed back to the Waverider.

“Hey, we got out didn’t we,” he drawled.

“I think that building looked better on fire,” Mick said from ahead of us and I rolled my eyes.

“Oh my Jesus,” I mumbled under my breath. “You know Rip is going to be livid when we get in there,” I started “And that,” I gestured toward the direction that we came from “That was all you guys, if you two had stuck to the plan. We would have been in and out.”

Snart rolled his eyes. “You know that’s not my style,” he replied with his signature smirks, which at that moment I wanted nothing more than to wipe it off his face, preferably with my fist.

“But Rip specifically said-”I started but I was cut off.

“I don’t care about what Rip said; his opinion doesn’t matter to me. There’s only one person on this team whose opinion matters to me,” He said cryptically. I turned to him. There was a look in his eyes that I couldn’t quite read. A look that said that maybe, just maybe, he was talking about me. But why? I didn’t have time to look into it too much, because then the look changed to one of someone on alert.

“What’s up?” I asked. “Nothing, you go on ahead. I’ve got this,” He said with a wink. I just shook my head and continued on towards the Waverider.

Siberia 1892 (Third Person POV)

Snart watched Y/N walk back on to the time ship before turning and pulling his cold gun out to face whomever was behind him.

“Hello Flash,” he said gun pointed at Barry.

“I need your help,” Barry spoke.

“Barry Allen, the hero of Central City. This is Siberia in the year 1892. We’re a little out of you jurisdiction,” he said putting his gun back in its holster.

“Yeah, hear me out,” Barry started walking closer. “I want to recruit you for a mission.”

“I’m already helping a bunch of idiot do-gooders. Sorry I’m up to my fuzzy hood in team work,” Snart replied turning back toward the Waverider.

“Would it help if I said please?” Barry asked.

“No, you already have a bunch of super hero types in your life why ask me?”

“Well you have a particular set of skills,”

“Great movie. Last time we tried to be buddy-buddy it didn’t work out so well,” he paused. “For you. Why trust me now?” he asked

Barry didn’t respond. “Spit it out or I’m going to step on to that ship and pretend like this conversation never happened,” Snart threatened.

“Iris,” Barry finally replied.

“Oy, girlfriend,” Snart

“Fiancé,” Barry corrected.

“Mazel tov,” he joked “What about her?”

“If you don’t help me she’s going to die,” Barry explained.

“True love, that’s your pitch?” Snart looked unimpressed.

“It’s all I’ve got. You know what it’s like to care about someone. What was I beginning to interrupt back there with Y/N?” Barry tried a different tactic.

“That, was none of your business,” Snart said before quickly changing the subject. “And I suppose saving your girlfriend requires us doing something less than lawful.”

Barry nodded “We need to break into ARGUS and steal an alien power source,”

“Flash, thief. That’s my kind of mission. One condition, my rules,”

“Your rules,” Barry agreed.

Central City 2017

I couldn’t stay on that ship after Leonard Snart died. It was too hard. So when we came back to help fight the Dominators, I decided I needed a break from time travel for a while. I left the Waverider and went back to helping Team Flash. My heart was healing with the help of my friends. With each passing day I felt myself moving forward. Fake smiles became real smiles. Even in the current terrible situation the team was in, I knew that I was doing much better than I was when I stepped off that time ship.

We were currently less than a day away from Iris’s death date. Tracy had finished building the bazooka, it was just in need of a power source. A power source that was currently housed at ARGUS. Barry and Cisco came back from asking Lyla about it, with no luck.

Barry’s current solution, steal it. From ARGUS. Brilliant. He ran off after Iris’s comment on none of us being master thieves.

We were all waiting around for Barry to come back from where ever he’d gone. I sat at one of the desks combing over every file we had on ARGUS security. I was no master thief, but I had to do something. I couldn’t sit around and do nothing when we were hours away from my friend’s death. H.R. was telling an extremely outrageous plan to Cisco. I rolled my eyes, continuing my research as he went on.

“Hello Joe. Cisco. Iris, love the ice, sparkly.” I couldn’t breathe. I had to be imagining this. I had finally going insane. “Y/N, what are you doing here? I thought you’d still be on the Waverider,” it couldn’t be. I slowly turned away from my research. And he was there, Leonard Snart, alive and well.

“Captain Cold,” Cisco said confirming that he was indeed there, and I wasn’t losing my mind.

“Snart, what the hell are you doing here?” Joe asked confused.

I seriously felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. He had to be from the past. How could Barry do this? Well I mean I understand why, but a little warning would have been nice.

“Snart’s going to help me break into ARGUS, get the power source,” Barry explained, the world was spinning, I needed to get out. So I did. I got up and rushed out of the room.

I was pretty sure I heard Cisco call after me. Cisco was my best friend, and therefore the one who understood best how broken I was after Snart died. I didn’t turn around, I just kept going until I was outside the building.

Third Person POV

“Awkward. I can see you all have a lot to talk about. I’ll be down in your lab, getting everything ready,” Snart said before heading towards the lab.

“Barry, are you out of your mind?” Iris asked.

“I thought he was with the Legends?” Joe asked.

“Yes,” Barry said in response.

“No, he dead,” Cisco corrected.

“Well I...” Barry started.

“You time travelled again,” Joe cut him off.

“Yeah,”

“That’s what got us in this mess in the first place,”

“I thought you said you would never do that again,” Iris spoke up.

“I also said I would do whatever it takes to save you. That hasn’t changed. And I’m pretty sure you all feel the same way too, right?” Barry explained. “Look I’m not changing time. I’ll put him back right where I found him after we get what we need.”

“Fine, you say we need Snart’s help, we need his help,” Joe agreed.

“Guys, is anyone going to address the elephant in the room?” Cisco asked. “Am I the only one who saw Y/N run out of here on the verge of a panic attack?”

“I.. I..” Barry couldn’t find the words.

“Snart and Y/N got close on that time ship, didn’t they?” Joe asked.

“That’s an understatement. Why do you think she came back? His death broke her, to the point that I thought she might not ever get the pieces picked up,” Cisco explained.

“She told me she was staying to help with Savitar,” Iris looked shocked.

“The only ones she told the truth to were me and Cisco,” Barry spoke up.

“So all that time…” Iris looked hurt, “I had no idea she was suffering,”

“She was really good at hiding it. Now if you all will excuse me, I’m going to check on my friend before we all meet down in the lab,” Cisco took off to find Y/N.

Back to Y/N

I knew I needed to pull it together. I had to go back in there, for Iris. She needed me right now. I couldn’t revert now. But he was there. I just… I couldn’t look at him. It hurt too much.

I sat down on the curb and tried to steady my breathing. I could do this. I was strong enough. I already lost him; I didn’t want to lose my friend too. I would pull together, for Iris. But the more I told myself that, the harder the task seemed.

“Y/N,” It was Cisco. He sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. I leaned into him, thankful for the comfort. He was definitely the best friend that I could ever ask for. My breathing steadily slowed, until I was finally able to speak.

“I have to go in there and help,” I said.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I’m pretty sure everyone would understand. Plus I can’t risk losing my best friend in that pit of despair again. I need you here and happy,” Cisco was always looking out for me.

“I have to do this for Iris. I’ll be okay, and if not, I’ll pretend I’m okay. I’ve done it before, I can do it again,” I replied.

“Okay, but if you aren’t really okay, please promise me you’ll talk to me, that you won’t take this on your own again,” Cisco pleaded.

“Deal,” I agreed as we both stood. I would do this.

Cisco and I walked into the lab where everyone was already gathered. Snart was standing in front of blue prints.

He made eye contact with me, and I tried to look bored, but I knew his calculated stare could see past the façade.

“My guess is the power source is most likely here,” Snart pointed to the lowest point on the blue prints.

“Why there?” Joe asked.

“Because it’s the deepest part of the facility,” I answered, void of emotion, before Snart got the chance.

“Somebody was paying attention in class,” Snart smiled at me. I didn’t have the energy to return it. But he was right, I had paid attention. This wasn’t the only thievery I’d ever watched him plan, there were plenty of times his skill set was put to use on the Waverider.

“Yes, because it’s the deepest part of the facility. And if it’s as valuable as you say it is, then the deepest recesses of any facility are usually the most secure.”

“hmm… Smart Snart,” Cisco giggled at himself, “Smart Snart,” he repeated “I’m gonna keep hacking away and find out for sure,” he walked off.

“Do you have any idea what else might be down there?” Barry asked.

“Doesn’t matter. There are only four rules you need to remember,” Snart started. I’d heard this one before too. “Make the plan. Execute the plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan,” he listed. “Follow my lead and you’ll be fine,”

“I’m trusting you,” Barry said.

“We all are,” Iris added.

“Just don’t sit me at the single’s table at the wedding reception,” Snart joked.

“Just out of curiosity, you have a plan for getting in there?” Joe asked.

“I’ve got that covered,” Barry assured him.

Just then H.R. and Tracey walked up. This resulted in Tracey learning Barry’s true identity. They then walked off.

“Alright Joe, I need you to take Iris some place far away from here, far away from me,” Barry

“Barry,” Iris tried to argue.

“I can’t know where, if I know then Savitar knows,” Barry

“I’ll get Wally. We’ll keep her safe, don’t worry.” Joe walked off. I started walking off so Barry and Iris could have their goodbyes. But I was soon followed by a certain parka wearing Rogue. I should have seen that coming.

Once we were far enough away from Barry and Iris, he spoke up. “So, do you want to tell me what the future version of me did to make it so you can’t even look me in the eye?” He asked. I kept walking. “Nothing,” I said without turning around. “You never were a good liar, Y/N,” his voice was close enough to make me jump.

The Waverider, Somewhere in the Temporal Zone

“So, do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” Snart walked uninvited into my room.

“By all means, come on in. No need to knock or anything,” I said sarcastically, putting down the book I’d been reading.

“You didn’t answer my question,” He sat down on my bed.

“I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong with me,” I lied.

“Don’t ever play poker, you are a terrible liar,” He said and I rolled my eyes in return. “I’m fine Snart,” I repeated.

“You see, here’s the thing, I don’t believe you. I want to know the truth, and I always get what I want one way or another,” That sounded a little bit like a threat.

“I’m not in the mood to play your games right now Snart,” I picked my book back up, attempting to wait him out. He’d get bored and leave eventually, right?

‘’I’m not playing any games,” he said plucking my book out of my hands and setting it a safe distance away from me.

I was not amused. I glared at him and tried to reach for my book. He moved it even farther out of reach.

“This would go a lot faster if you would just tell me what your problem is, then I could get out of your hair,”

“What if I told you that you were my problem?” I asked with a challenge written in my eyes.

Central City 2017

“We are not talking about this right now,” I said flatly, attempting to get away from him. I was pretty sure I would break down if I was around him much longer.

He grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him. “You know I don’t give up that easily,” he said releasing my wrist.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Because it will change the past, mess up the timeline?” He taunted.

“Yes, it’s the first rule of time travel,” I knew he wouldn’t actually care about the timeline. He didn’t care much for rules, unless they were his own.

“And since when do we follow that rule?” he asked, still as infuriating as ever.

“This time I can’t break it, as much as I selfishly want to break it. As much as I want to change the past, I can’t. It’s not an option this time,” I coming dangerously close to losing it and it was getting harder to hide my emotions from him.

I quickly walked away from him, so he wouldn’t see me break down.

#leonard snart #leonard snart x reader #leonard snart imagine #Captain Cold #captain cold imagine #captain cold x reader #legends of tomorrow #The Flash

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callboxkat · 6 years ago

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Quiet (part 10)

Author’s note: Are you ready for the angst?

Warnings: selective mutism, college, food mention, misunderstandings, panic attack

Word count: 1164

Masterpost!

It was Friday evening, the second weekend in September. The evening before, Virgil and his new friends had spent the night playing board games. Virgil had been unsurprised to learn that Logan was almost unbelievably good at Scrabble. He kept playing words that the others would claim weren’t real, only for their friend to pull up its definition on his phone.

Tonight, even though they had hung out so recently, another movie night was scheduled.

“It’s tradition!” Patton had said in response to Virgil’s questioning look, his eyes pleading. “You can’t break tradition!”

Virgil, of course, had relented. So here he was, waiting outside the library where Patton always picked him up. He checked his phone for the time, and when he looked back up, he saw Patton’s headlights coming up the street. As the car pulled over at the side of the road, Virgil gave the driver a small salute as a greeting. He shouldered his backpack and approached as Patton opened up the car door.

One obligatory hug later (which Virgil pretended to not like as much as he did), they were heading towards Roman’s house.

…

The movies picked out for that night were Moana, The Little Mermaid, and Snow White. Virgil thought that that was a lot of Disney, but to tell the truth, he was more of a Disney fan than he usually let on.

Roman was there of course (in his usual prince outfit), as were Logan and Patton. Joan and Talyn came too, but they could only stay for the first movie.

They waited to order food until they started the second movie, since Talyn and Joan had already eaten. After bidding their goodbyes to the two nonbinary pals, Roman turned to the others for an important discussion.

“Pizza again?” Roman asked.

“Roman, how many times must I tell you, pizza is not a healthy meal! We should get something with more nutritional value!”

“Well, if you don’t want pizza, you don’t have to eat any,” Roman pointed out. Logan was conspicuously silent. As much as he complained about the unhealthiness of eating a lot of pizza, the others all knew that he secretly loved it. After a long silence, in which Roman grinned at a slightly uncomfortable Logan, Roman picked up his cell phone and dialed the number of the pizza place.

They watched the second movie, munching happily on pizza. Virgil had a glass of tea, as did Logan, Roman had root beer, and Patton had a glass of water.

The movie was still playing when they finished off the pizzas. Logan and Patton both got out their wallets, as usual, and took out a few bills to help pay Roman back for the food.

“Hey, V,” Roman said. Virgil was painfully reminded that he still had yet to tell the others his actual name, but the more time that passed, the more daunting the idea of doing so became. Roman continued, “Why don’t you chip in? Patton said you’ve got a job now, plus we’ve been picking up the tab for a few weeks now, so….”

Virgil froze.

He had already eaten the pizza. He couldn’t take that back. But even with his new job, he just didn’t have the money to help pay. All the money he’d earned so far had gone to paying for textbooks and tuition. He barely had anything left for himself; in fact, he had a grand total of $3.26 in his wallet. He knew because he had checked that morning.

Everyone was looking at him expectantly. Virgil’s chest felt tight, his pulse pounding in his ears, his jaw locked shut even as he tried to say something, anything, to break the horrible silence.

Roman was clearly getting annoyed. Logan looked somewhere between impatient and confused. Patton was glancing between all of them, tapping the tips of his fingers together silently.

It certainly didn’t help that Virgil’s expression, he knew, was all but blank, probably making them think he was just denying their request by not bothering to respond.

“What?” Roman said after a while. “It’s only a few dollars! It’s not like I’m asking you to pay for the whole thing, or all the pizza you ate at other movie nights.”

“Roman,” Patton began, “he doesn’t t—”

“He can talk, Patton! I’ve heard him! You’ve heard him! He just doesn’t because he thinks he’s better than us! And now he’s here, taking advantage of the free food and movies, all because you think he’s some delicate little flower. Just because he had a panic attack when you first met doesn’t make him a good person.”

“Maybe he forgot his wallet!”

“Roman, I will happily pay for V’s—,” Logan cut in, only for Roman to interrupt.

“That’s another thing! We don’t even know his name!”

Virgil’s breath was coming too fast, and he was starting to get lightheaded. The others continued to argue, but their words began to warp until Virgil couldn’t understand. He couldn’t breathe.

He had to get out, had to get out, he had to get out of here—!

“Where are you going?” Roman’s face loomed in front of him. Virgil must have stood up. He didn’t remember.

Virgil opened his mouth, but all that came out was a puff of air. Confusion briefly flashed through Roman’s expression, before being replaced with annoyance once again. Annoyance that changed suddenly to anger as the glass of tea Virgil had apparently still been holding fell out of his numbing hand, spilling all over the junior’s pristine, white prince costume.

Roman was livid. He was yelling, barely two inches from Virgil’s face.

Virgil snapped out of it and pushed past Roman, feeling like he was only half there, and walked outside the house. Patton and Logan were trying to help Roman with the tea staining the floor and his clothes, and didn’t immediately follow.

As soon as Virgil got out of the others’ sight, it was like the dam broke.

Hot tears streaked down his face, and his breath started coming in great, whooping gasps that didn’t seem to bring any oxygen to his desperate lungs. Virgil sprinted down the dark street, desperate to get away, get away, get away. He didn’t know which way he was going, but he followed the dark street, then ducked into an alley because even the street lamps were Too. Much.

Quite suddenly, Virgil was on the ground, asphalt stinging his knees and hands as he fell. He was overwhelmed by dizziness, and he still couldn’t catch his breath. His flight had, of course, only made things that much worse. There was something, something that could help, that breathing exercise Patton had shown him, but Virgil couldn’t focus enough to remember what it was.

I can’t breathe! Virgil wanted to scream, but all he did was collapse on his side, barely aware of it as his senses failed him. The world stretched, thinning impossibly, until it all faded to nothing.

Tag list: @patton-loves-coloring @starryfirefliesbloggo @purplesoul-at-hogwarts @lotusthatexists @lizaelsparrow @awesomelissawho @amuthefunperson @bunny222 @astraastro @momolinia @hamilin-manuel-miranda @goldenkiddos @afilhadehades-blog @virgeofselfdestruction @theresneverenoughfandoms @iris-sanders-athena @syndianites

#oh boy #so angsty #Thomas Sanders #sanders sides #Logan Sanders #Patton Sanders #Roman Sanders #Virgil Sanders #quiet fic #ts fanfic #Sanders sides fan fiction #fanfiction

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octaviainthewasteland · 6 years ago

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Wonder Woman: on female characters in comics PART 2

part 1, 2, 3

Please bear in mind that English is not my first language!

Part 2: Useless pretty, sexy bad and second-hand skirts

Summary: A classification of female characters in comics.

Before we get going, an important note: this is not character bashing. I may sound extremely critical and snide at times, but it doesn’t mean that I hate these comics or these characters or even these authors! Batman, for instance, is my absolute favorite fictional character. I also have the biggest soft spot for Harley Quinn and Lois Lane. However, it doesn’t mean that it gives them a free pass. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Text under the cut.

In the previous chapter, we’ve touched on ‘fridging’ and why it’s not cool (ha-ha see what I did here). Due to particular conditions, women were pretty much absent from the picture and therefore, could not influence how women were portrayed for a while. Male visualization of women turned out to be quite… limited. Reading comics, I have noted that female characters in the comic books can generally be divided into four categories. There are, of course, some exceptions, but the percentage is far too small. As I thought about these categories, I’ve realized that three out of four are constructed though the sexism of the superhero narratives, while the last one is in a constant struggle against it. There are damsels in distress, femme fatale, gendered spin-offs and the female superheroes. Some characters fluctuate from one category to another, or fit into more than one. Let’s talk a bit more about the first three, so it’ll become clearer, why the female superheroes are so important for representation of women.

The first category is the damsel in distress: the mother or the aunt, the girlfriend, most often powerless.

It includes such characters as Lois Lane, Vicky Vale and Iris West. Interestingly, all three of them are journalists, which arguably justifies their rash behaviour, which often lands them in trouble. They are nice, generally understanding, but quite often annoying, as they manage to land themselves in trouble yet again. It’s like they don’t understand that they should just sit down, because they either land in villain’s hands or they pressure the hero to quit heroing. With time, they have become snarky and easy-going, and obviously able to take care of themselves (until they aren’t) but the truth is, they are indistinguishable. They are cut out from the same piece of cardboard, as precious time for character development cannot be wasted on them, and they serve as conscience, motivation and ‘someone to come home to’. They are the classic ‘women in the refrigerators’ (Simone, 1999) and their interests and plot arcs rarely transcend the love interest, or in case of Iris and Aunt May, the relative of a superhero.

Probably the most notable example will be the Injustice franchise, where Superman becomes a tyrannical dictator, stricken with grief after the death of Lois, who has also been pregnant with his child at the time (Injustice: Gods Among US [I] #1, 2013)*. The comic series depicts the extent of Superman’s psychological trauma, as he is deceived by the villain into killing Lois with his own hands, thus, focusing not on the tragedy itself, but solely on Superman’s reaction to it. By the end of the series, the reader still has no idea, what kind of person was Lois. She is not important, what is important is that now the superheroes have an excuse to fight each other. Nobody in the comics really mentions her. The only time someone does, it is to reprimand Superman for his actions, all while Superman plans kidnapping Lois from another dimension because she’s just replaceable. Of course, this isn’t a story about Lois, but if a main heroine of Superman family cannot get a decent dealing, what’s there to hope for, for a lesser female character? We do not see her family or friends. She doesn’t really have a life outside her husband and it is precisely her connection to Superman that gets her in trouble. I might be picky, but having a joint surname (Lane-Kent, West-Allen, Watson-Parker) isn’t enough of a feminist statement for me.

The second category is the femme fatale or a seductive villainess, such as Talia al Ghul, Poison Ivy and Catwoman.

Most often, she is attracted to the superhero and tries to sway him of his righteous pass with her female charm, while he treats her as a lesser threat than male villains, because he believes she can be ‘good’ again. If she rejects the ‘good side’, she gets further from humanity and, thus, loses her chance for sympathy, absolution and happiness. Seductive villainesses often find themselves in a situation where they have to resort to their sexuality to distract their opponents or to persuade men to work with them. They are reduced to sexual objects for the male characters and by extension for the spectator, meaning the reader of the comics (Mulvey, 1975: 62).

They perform the role of the seductresses, trying to lure the hero from the path of righteousness and virtue. While being positioned as the erotic object, they are at the same time completely dehumanized. Talia turns from a villainess in love, who cannot decide on her loyalties, into a full-fledged assassin, and she is portrayed as a cold-blooded maniac, who drugs and rapes Batman, brainwashes him, clones their son and kills him (Robin: Son of Batman, 2015). In Harley’s absence, Poison Ivy does not value a human life at all, manipulates people and is more plant-like than human (Austin, 2015: 294).

The relationship between female empowerment and male disempowerment can be described as dichotomous. There is a prevailing narrative that a woman with power is a threat (Austin, 2015: 286). She defies male dominance and dares to enforce her own rules and focus on her own desires. The man tries to regain control over the dangerous woman. (Mulvey, 1975: 67) Notice how generally these women have a good cause at heart: Talia’s aim is to preserve the planet from disastrous actions of human kind; similar to Poison Ivy, who is concerned with flora; Catwoman protects felines and girls and women of lower classes and is essentially a version of Robin Hood. Harley Quinn has a mental illness, and copes with it by adopting animals and looking after them. Killer Frost is a heat-vampire and when she finds a cure (Firestorm) she pretty much stops attacking people, because she was doing it only to survive. Another interesting observation: it is their connection to men that pushed them to extremism. Talia is manipulated by her dad (who assures her of his love for her to save him on numerous occasions, but in the end kills her and uses her body to store his consciousness (BTAS)). Pamela Isley is nearly murdered by her male colleague. Selina is sexually abused by men. Killer Frost is locked up in a working reactor. I would assume everyone knows what’s the deal with Harley. Most often it contrasts with the actions of the hero: he tries to help her, make her normal again, fix her. This perpetuates a stereotype of how women are wrong about their prejudice against men, because ‘not all men are like this’. What is also inevitably and unknowingly created is that these women do not need fixing, it would change them at core. They aren’t even evil, as much as they would only help a cause if they believed in it. Even if they try to change for a man, they relapse: but through relationships with women, they are healed and they are able to embrace their power and be good, be evil, be something in the middle – and being true to themselves at the same time.

Obviously, I am going to talk more about Harley Quinn. In the case of Harley Quinn, Joker physically and psychologically abuses her, manipulates her, makes her lose her job and her degree, drives her mad and so on. When she exercises her agency and comes close to killing Batman, successfully trapping him – something Joker himself had not succeed in – he angrily sets the boundaries between himself and Batman, their relationship, and Harley, who must only follow orders (Mad Love #8-72, 2009). Man games are one thing, and woman must never intrude! Harley learns it the hard way – it costs her almost every bone in her body. Joker ‘owns’ Harley and when she leaves him, he is livid and immediately sets to return her into his possession (Gotham City Sirens #10-26, 2011), exemplifying how Joker is unable to accept Harley’s existence beyond him (Austin, 2015: 285). On the other hand, Batman tries to establish his authority over her by bringing her to justice and rehabilitating her. He perceives her as a victim and someone, who despite being as dangerous and cunning as Joker (Mad Love #8, 2009), still needs saving. Harley is caught between two men, and while Batman is genuine in his desire to get her away from Joker (plus he doesn’t have romantic feelings towards her), it’s a no-win situation for Harley, because she can’t break away from her dependence issues. Enter Poison Ivy. By making Harley immune to all toxins, she both makes Harley stronger and cancels her main advantage over her. Poison Ivy doesn’t see Harley as a sidekick or a child who doesn’t know any better – she makes it possible for Harley to keep up with her. It also transforms Poison Ivy’s character. From then on, writers have abandoned the trope of Poison Ivy’s occasional boring crush on Batman.

The third category is the ‘spin-off franchise baggage’ (Scott, 2013). It is quite easy to spot this type of characters, as their names are literally the derivative of their male (the original) counterpart: Batgirl, Supergirl and She-Hulk.

She does not have a sound or at least unique backstory, she is essentially the female version of the character, but secondary to him: weaker, less interesting, less popular and less developed (Fretheim, 2017: 32-33). Supergirl is another survivor of Krypton; She-Hulk was created literally by blood transfusion from Bruce Banner to his cousin, Jennifer Walters (they wanted to give her his rib, but it sounded vaguely familiar for some reason).

Sometimes such a character can break out of the limited space, provided by the legacy of the common root of the aliases (Bat-family, Super-family), for example, Barbara changes her line of activity after injury and Batgirl becomes Oracle, a character in her own right, giving voice to a readership with disabilities. It is also an example of how ‘fridging’ can be turned into a positive character development. In the Killing Joke, Barbara is harmed only because of her association with Jim Gordon, and the thematic purpose of her injuries is to provide emotional stakes for Batman. Nevertheless, she doesn’t stop being a hero and doesn’t become a liability. She is unique and interesting to read about. However, while it is possible, it is also reversible, as in 2011 Barbara puts on the Batgirl suit once again (Cocca, 2016: 78). Rarely, she can become more popular than the original hero, like Hawkgirl.

In terms of visual representation, it is quite easy to retrace sexual discrimination in the way that the male and female counterparts are portrayed. Although men with super powers do not need muscles to lift cars, they look jacked, a bit too much really. Hulk is positively ugly. Women, on the other hand, cannot let themselves be caught looking a tad less than ready for a Playboy photo-shoot.

Where male superheroes are embodying the ideal of masculinity, they are fit, muscled, and attractive – they are essentially the asexual subjects, while even their own gender-bent versions are put into suggestive poses and are given revealing outfits and heels (Batman: The Drowned #1, 2017).

Last but not least, the category of the female superhero. She is created as a distinct character, with her individual backstory and a set of powers. She is Wonder Woman, Starfire, Black Canary.

The female superhero has her own backstory and her own set of powers. This doesn’t mean that they’re saved from the male gaze, unfortunately. The image above is one of the most modest costumes of Starfire I have found. This is particularly Starfire’s curse:

The female superheroes stand seemingly separate from the male superheroes, but men are still the part of the equation. Damsels, seductresses and knockoffs are directly linked to the male superheroes in forms of extensions of the mythos. The female superheroes exist in a state of eternal struggle against the male superheroes, male villains and male readers. According to O’Reilly, the female superheroes are restricted not only by the authorities, but even by their own sex (O’Reilly, 2012).

To understand the mechanism of gender politics within the comics, let’s examine Wonder Woman against the male superheroes, namely Superman and Batman. While deconstructing their dualistic natures, we encounter a paradox of Otherness (Fretheim, 2017: 10-11). Every superhero has a secret identity. This duality attracts the reader, by making him or her identify through resemblance with the superhero’s disguise as the everyman or everywoman. The comic book promotes the idea of inclusivity, participation. It indulges the fantasy, providing the impression of the activist participation. (Pitkethly, 2012: 216) Superhero defeats the villain and saves America, and the reader feels like he or she has contributed to the victory of ‘truth, justice and the American Way’. It is no coincidence that the popularity of superhero comics correlates to the periods of the high and low threat (Peterson, Gerstein, 2005: 887). In times of the high threat, such as the Second World War, there is a significant increase in interest for ‘powerful’ and ‘tough’ fictional protagonists (889).

Superman is also a meek reporter Clark Kent. Bruce Wayne is also a caped crusader Batman. As a superhero, Wonder Woman, too, exists as a heroic person and an alter ego of an ordinary woman, Diana Prince. Her otherness is expressed through being an Amazon, a super-powered being and a half-goddess. However, as a woman, she is also forced into position of the Other to Superman and Batman (De Beauvoir, 1949). If you’re unfamiliar with De Beauvoir, she referred to the socially constructed concepts of women and femininity in her Second Sex, written a year after women got the right to vote in France. The standards of the so-called femininity were established by patriarchal society and every woman was obliged to live up to these standards. De Beauvoir described the cultural symbols and social pressures put on girls from the very young age. Girls were taught to be passive and submissive, she did not have a choice as she was defined by the male dominated world to be a mother, a grandmother, a housewife. Men were the one, the neutral, the common, while women were the Other. While a man was the creator and the subject, a woman was an object in his power and always secondary to him. She also talked about the social taboos such as menstruation, criticizing pseudo-science that invented the idea of the biological inferiority of women. Menstruation was not the topic to talk about in public, since the very ancient times girls and women were locked in their houses during the periods. The female body is regarded as the Strange, Different, the Other. There is a cult of appearance; the women learn how to manipulate people with their looks. There are certain norms of how a real woman should look. The praises of female virginity and restrictions of the expose of the female sexuality were listed among the other ways in which the male society discriminated the female accumulation. Wonder Woman is, therefore, pitted as the Other to the male superheroes, while being alienated from other women.

So we can see that no category of the female characters in comics are any better than another or have it any easier than another. Nonetheless, the figure of the female superhero is important, because it is a definite step away and open resistance to being background or second-hand. Girls couldn’t relate much to Lois, because, honestly, they were not supposed to – she was not their fantasy, she was male fantasy. There were some female superheroes prior to Wonder Woman, but yet again, they were created by men for men, and girls didn’t want anything to do with them. Industry naturally assumed that the reason is girls being generally uninterested in comics. As Dr. Marston noted, ‘not even girls want to be girls’ (Lepore, 2016: 187). He set to change that, and hence Wonder Woman was born.

*it needs another note: Injustice series is actually one of my favourite comic runs ever, and it has great female characters and great character development and is simply amazing. But it’s based of a game, and they had to work with the game premise, and they did a fantastic job doing it. Still, as I love it dearly, I’m allowed to critique it and so I will.

**despite the name, Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane is a wild and fun comic.

Bibliography

Simone, G. (1999). Women in Refrigerators, available at: http://www.lby3.com/wir/

Austin, S. (2015). Batman's female foes: The gender war in Gotham City. Journal of Popular Culture, 48(2), 285-295.

Mulvey, L. 1999. ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.’ In Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, edited by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, 833–44. New York: Oxford University Press.

Scott, S. (2013). Fangirls in refrigerators: The politics of (in)visibility in comic book culture. Transformative Works and Cultures, vol. 13

Fretheim, I. M. (2017) Fantastic Feminism: Female Characters in Superhero Comic Books. Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo

Cocca, C. (2014). Negotiating the Third Wave of Feminism in "Wonder Woman". PS: Political Science and Politics, 47(1), 98-103.

Cocca, C. (2016). Superwomen: gender, power, and representation.

O’Reilly, J. D. (2005). The Wonder Woman Precedent: Female (Super)Heroism On

Trial. Journal of American Culture 28.3: 273–83.

De Beauvoir, S. (1949). The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books

Pitkethly, C. (2011). The pursuit of identity in the face of paradox: Indeterminacy, structure and repetition in Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 1-7.

Peterson, B., & Gerstein, E. (2005). Fighting and Flying: Archival Analysis of Threat, Authoritarianism, and the North American Comic Book. Political Psychology, 26(6), 887-904.

Lepore, Jill. (2015). The Secret History of Wonder Woman. New York: Knopf.

#Wonder Woman #catwoman #Harley Quinn #poison ivy #supergirl #dc comics #marvel #she-hulk

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redlanternavengerelf42 · 7 years ago

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NO, FUCK OFF, I DO NOT ACCEPT A WESTALLEN WEDDING WHERE JOE, WALLY, CECILE AREN’T THERE AND IT ALSO GETS YANKED FOR THE O*L*C*TY WEDDING. FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU FUCKING RODE IN ON.

YOU DO NOT KILL OFF MARTIN STEIN AND THEN HAVE THEM HAVE BARRY AND IRIS HAVE A SHOTGUN WEDDING WITH OL**E AND F*L*CITY AS THE ONLY WITNESSES AND THE BEST MAN AND MAID OF HONOR IN A CEREMONY THAT’S LITERALLY THROWN ON SCREEN RIGHT AFTER THE DIRT HITS MARTIN’S COFFIN AND WE SEE JAX, CLARISSA, AND LILY ALL MOURNING HIM TOGETHER AT HIS FUNERAL AND FUCKING F*L*CITY AND OL*V*ER HAVE TO FUCKING PULL FOCUS FROM WESTALLEN *AGAIN* AND CAN’T EVEN LET THEM HAVE THEIR OWN FUCKING WEDDING WITHOUT PULLING THEM INTO THEIR BULLSHIT FUCK THIS.

THERE’S JUST SO MUCH FUCKING WRONG WITH THIS. I’M SO GODDAMN PISSED. SO MANY OF THESE CHARACTERS DESERVED FUCKING BETTER.

FUCK ALL OF THIS. YOU COULD HAVE JUST ENDED IT AFTER MARTIN’S FUNERAL WITH EVERYONE GOING TO DO THEIR THING, BUT NO.

Look, I’m sorry for the Caps-lock raging, but I’m SUPER unhappy about this. I’m glad the Ol*c*ty shippers are probably happy, but couldn’t Iris and Barry have had their OWN goddamn wedding without Ol*c*ty pulling focus AGAIN. I’m cool with Barry and Iris wanting to just have a private ceremony after everything, but ceremony should have involved Joe and Wally, who were fucking SHOVED TO THE SIDE during this crossover, at the very least. Cecile also very much should have been a must-have on the invite list, and I’ll even argue that Cisco, Caitlyn and Harry should have even been there. Any ONE of those people had more right to be there than fucking Ol*c*ty. That “best man” spot deserved to go to Wally or Cisco.

And, like, fucking F*l*city can’t even let them say “I do,” before she has to interrupt and barge in... Just like they had to disrupt the wedding rehearsal dinner with their f***ing dram. For FUCK’S SAKE.

And really, don’t Ol*c*ty shippers, as much as I hate the ship, deserve to have something with the people closest to those two characters there? Like, it isn’t even WestAllen that gets the raw end of the deal here. I don’t even like the ship, and I feel like Ol*c*ty also got a disservice here.

WestAllen could have had a nice, quiet, private vow exchange in S.T.A.R. Labs with Joe, Wally, Cecile, Cisco, Caitlyn, and Harry all in attendance, and it could have been in the next episode of “The Flash.” The next episode of “Ar**w” could have had F*l*c*ty tell Ol*v*r that she changed her mind, and Diggle could have still married both couples in two separate events that would have at least have respected both couples.

And to get back to the fact that we literally JUST had Martin Stein die. Stein, who was a Jewish man that died fighting Nazis when he was so close to going to his family and retiring. Stein who just wanted to spend time with his wife, daughter, and grandson, gets shot by Nazis and dies just short of getting the happiness he deserved. Jax just lost his second father figure. He had to pretty much pull the plug. We literally cut from the scene of him mourning with Lily and Clarissa, and had characters (Barry fucking INCLUDED) who were at his funeral and put shovels of dirt on his casket, and you cut straight to fucking THIS?

Like, there was enough good about this crossover that you could have just gone a different direction, and it would have been okay... But this is just terrible fucking writing.

The FUCK OUTTA HERE with that noise.

I’m so fucking done right now. I don’t think I’ll stop watching “Supergirl,” “The Flash,” or “Legends of Tomorrow” (I stopped trying to force myself to like “Ar**w” a long time ago), but I’m still pretty fucking livid.

And look, any Ol*c*ty shippers (Who may also be WestAllen shippers, because people can like more than one thing at a time) who happen to read this who ARE happy right now, I honestly don’t mean to throw shade at you. I’m trying to make sure I tag this with anti- tags and misspell the ship, characters, and show name because I’m really not trying to spew venom at you just because I’m angry about this. So, if this shows up in any of your tags, I’m sorry, I don’t mean for it to, and if you let me know I’ll try to see if there’s something I can change to keep it out of your tags. I’m going to tag it with the overall show tags (other than “Ar**w,” because I’ve been pretty harsh on it in this post), so I can’t guarantee it won’t come up in the CW stuff in general, but I’m going to try to keep it out of tags specifically aimed at you, like the ship tags or the F*l*c*ty character tag. Like, if you’re happy right now, keep right on partying. None of the things that are sending me into this Red Lantern level rage are your fault, and I can’t blame you for being happy that your ship got married even though I dislike the ship and I hate how it happened. If you guys are happy right now, congrats. If you’re happy that they’re married but are mad at how it happened because you don’t feel like they got respected, either, we can commiserate a bit on that.

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storytellerofuntoldlegends · 7 years ago

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Prompt idea I'm too nervous to try writing: One of the Side's eyes change colors depending on his mood, and no one notices until they're nearly black one day from sadness/red from anger, and whatever you want can happen afterwards. You choose what colors represent which emotions, which side, and any relationships (I love them all). Angst is appreciated but fluff is also wonderful. Sorry if it's a bad prompt it's just an idea I had. You're an amazing writer!

A/N: This is an amazing prompt! I put a slightly different spin on it, but it’s still the same basic idea. I’m also now obsessed with this au, and will probably write more of it in the future. Enjoy!

Tag List (let me know if you want to be removed/added!): @thuriweaver @bloodropsblog @justanotherpurplebutterfly @cosmic-chu @lynlinked @imnotamermaidimanangel @lollingtothemax @sombraplayslazertag @softbludemon

Patton was at the core of a lot of Thomas’s feelings. And not that this was new news, all the other sides knew this. There was a reason they called him the “heart” after all. However, there was something odd that happened to Patton because of his emotions. His right eye would change colors. While his left eye would stay the same warm brown color, the other would change according to his emotions. When he was happy, it would be a golden yellow. When he was sad, it was a dark blue, so dark it was nearly black. When he was scared or anxious, it would turn purple. When he was calm, it was light blue. And the list of colors could go on and on.

So yes, Patton’s right eye could change colors. And he hated it. It made him feel ugly and out of place. Thankfully, none of the other sides seemed to notice his… condition. That is, until now.

Patton was fuming. Someone was being hateful towards Thomas, and while at first it made him sad, he was now livid. He just couldn’t understand how someone could be so awful! Because of this, his eye was blood red and was practically glowing. He was angrily pacing back and forth in his room when suddenly, there came a knocking at his door. He marched over to the door and flung it open to see Logan standing there with a concerned look on his face.

“What?” Patton hissed.

“I just wanted to see how you were holding up. You are Thomas’s ‘heart’ and I wanted to-” Logan’s sentence was cut off by a choked gasp as he looked Patton in the eyes. And just like that, the anger was gone. Sadness clenched around Patton’s heart like a vice, because now Logan knew and was probably disgusted by it. The once blood red eye slowly started to change into a deep, dark blue. He started to close the door, but was stopped by Logan.

“Patton… your eye, how long has it- why does… that’s absolutely fascinating,” Logan rambled. Patton stepped backwards in confusion. His dark blue eye started to shift to a lighter tone, and it now looked slightly more purple than blue.

“It’s… j-j-just sorta always d-done this,” Patton stammered, looking down at the floor. Logan reached out and lovingly grasped Patton’s jaw, gently forcing him to look up and meet his gaze. Patton’s eye now became a vibrant purple, and his heart was pounding out of his chest.

“So beautiful. Why does it change like that?” Logan murmured. Patton blushed, and his eye shifted to magenta.

“It- it has to do with what I’m feeling. The different colors represent emotions,” Patton explained sheepishly.

“That’s incredible. I feel like an idiot for not noticing it sooner,” Logan replied softly.

“You’re not an idiot, Logan. Besides, I’d rather not have anyone notice it. I hate my different eyes,” Patton muttered. The magenta color started to fade, and his eye once again became the dark blue. Logan gasped, and his other hand came up to cup Patton’s face.

“How could you say that? They’re gorgeous and simply stunning! I think it’s fascinating how your right eye changes because of your emotions. And if I wasn’t falling for you before, I definitely am now,” Logan exclaimed in a rush. Patton’s eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed once more. His right eye shifted yet again and became magenta.

“What?” Patton gasped. A blush spread out over Logan’s cheeks and the tips of his ears grew red.

“I said that last part out loud, didn’t I? You probably think I’m an idiot,” Logan said, stepping back and removing his hands from Patton’s face. Patton’s eye became a light pink, and he reached out and clasped Logan’s hands.

“You’re not an idiot, Logan. I could never think that of you,” Patton murmured, his brown eye and pink eye meeting both of Logan’s brown ones. Logan tentatively stepped closer.

“What does pink mean?” Logan asked. Patton smiled.

“I think it means that I’m falling for you too, Logan,” Patton replied. A true grin broke out over Logan’s face.

“May I kiss you, Patton?” Logan murmured, moving closer to Patton. Soon, their lips were practically touching, and their breaths were mingling together.

“Yes,” Patton breathed out. Logan closed the distance between them, gently pressing his lips to Patton’s. Patton released Logan’s hands and brought his own up to tangle in Logan’s hair. Logan’s arms snaked around his waist and tugged Patton even closer.

When the two of them finally broke apart, each of them gasping for air, Logan noticed that Patton’s eye had changed once again. It was a shimmering golden yellow, with tinges of pink on the outer rim of the iris.

“Due to your eye, I’d say you’re feeling a mix of joy and love,” Logan theorized. Patton giggled.

“Yup!” he replied enthusiastically. Logan hummed in appreciation, and leaned in to kiss Patton once more.

#sanders sides #patton sanders #logan sanders #logicality #heterochromia #angst #fluff #fic request

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hotpinkstaples · 7 years ago

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KO-D Blues: The Current DDT Main Event Scene

Anyone who first heard about Cyberagent acquiring DDT back in fall of 2017 knew that change was coming. It often does with acquisitions. Sure, the general understanding was that there would be more capital to float ideas and new projects, bigger paychecks for the personnel, but with great power comes great responsibility- more capital inevitably comes with more stakeholders.

Customers, as in the DDT audience, has been the longest and most consistent stakeholder at DDT pre-aquisition, simply because of the fact that up until fall 2017, DDT was a technically an independent whose business strategy tapped into the niche puroresu market that craved the absurdist, outlandish, and overall nontraditional approach at professional wrestling in a market that was flooded with similar content (don't @ me, but every Ace is the same kinda Ace across the big Five promotions, with a lil tailoring here and there). They have several sister promotions each doing their own thing, all part of the DDT umbrella, but running their own hijinks for their small, but loyal fanbases that buy the tickets and merch as loyally as any person consuming the mainstream content.

But after fall of 2017, they were no longer a successful indy, but now a cog in a larger machine aiming to make money. They were acquired, there's technically a new boss in the story, and even though at first it didn't seem like much would change, something has.

When Shuji Ishikawa won the D-King Grand Prix, I was livid for multiple reasons. I knew there was no way in hell he was gonna win the belt off Takeshita because by that point, it was common knowledge that Shuji would be over in AJPW the entirety of April for Champion Carnival. There was no way in hell a DDT could put their top belt on a man who had to disappear for a whole month, no matter how loyal he was to his mother promotion, bc that would have inevitably started a war between President Takagi and Uncle Jun. My pick was always Daisuke Sasaki, but some wanted Akito, some Yukio, the possibilities were endless because they're full-timers, and all of them amazing wrestlers, and we already knew Harashima was well on his way to lighter feuds and semi-main event status because his Ace days are coming to an end. We knew, but we didn't fret because other people were just are ready for an amazing push, but the victory went to the man who was already known to be a special attraction at Sumo Hall. There was a reason why HaraMarufuji had to drop those belts at Sumo Hall, and only half of it was to push Higuchi, because the other half had to salvage whatever dignity the men had left bc NOAH didn't book HaraMarufuji for shit and DDT could barely make do with Marufuji's sporadic appearances. Sometimes, it works out (like with Yuko), but a lot of times it just doesn't. So Shuji wasn't gonna win, we knew, but DDT management still played the game of thrones, and that led to the upset at Judgement 2k18.

The polls wanted Shuji. The fans wanted Shuji. Deep down, I feel like god wanted Shuji too, but no one can stop Management when it's high on one person regardless of how much the fans, the culture, the whole damn industry wants otherwise. Everyone else becomes an afterthought. People who have worked hard to keep the company alive are no longer in line to get a nice push. Suddenly, everyone becomes food for the top guy, no matter how good the build-up was for the other players, no matter how hot the crowd was for the opponent, no matter how willing the crowd was to forget that Shuji had AJPW dates to fulfill in two weeks, just because they loved the build-up to the Sumo Hall show and wanted Goliath of DAMNATION to come out as champion and give Ryogoku a concert to remember. But reality won in the end, and Shuji got pinned, and there went January through March, straight to the garbage because they fed Shuji Ishi-fucking-kawa to a 22 year old boy who can barely cut a promo and keep a crowd hot after winning a main event.

It's a tragedy from three ends because 1) Takeshita's literally a fucking novice who's only been wrestling for five or so years and is literally in the age group of the current trainees of the damn promotion, 2) he has no character or personality to speak of that people can get high on except the select few that enjoy his 'notice me Endo-san' yandere tirades, and 3) ... he lacks the spirit of DDT.

If DDT was all wrestling, everyday, I'd be watching NOAH's shitty booking and eating ice cream while trying not to let my soul slip outta my mortal coil, but that's not what DDT is. DDT is fully fleshed out characters and over-the-top storylines, DDT is gay-friendly and intergender-wrestling friendly, it's gimmick fuckery for everyone in the promotion, everyone gets to have more than one character, BOYZ shows run social critiques on heterolinis, YAROZ act out the hypermasculine thotheads, Ganbare lets Imanari have emotional meltdowns during ring takedown, TJP has zombies, BASARA has a deathmatch samurai for an Ace, and a wig is the crown for anyone who wants to be general manager of the promotion. It's content fuckery at its best, and it's fun. Takeshita Konosuke? He's not fun.

I'm not gonna try and dissect why he's not getting over, but the fact of the matter is- he's not getting over. And yet- and yet he's still being pushed like he's king of the world. Suddenly we're back in Sumo Hall, and the crowd's dead for Konosuke. A couple of weeks back, when Takeshita lost, he flipped. There was something there, a spark that came and went regularly since Takeshita and Endo began feuding, a rage that bubbled to the surface whenever Takeshita couldn't get his way. There was a character- a semblance of a character worth looking forward to because there was an unparalleled emotion there that was almost tangible.

But like a dying flame, the spark fizzled out, and we were left with an inconsistent character. Like is you mad? Is you happy? You never fuckin know with Take, man. The only consistent thing about him is his undying love/hate for Endo-san.

So Takeshita won, Shuji bowed out, and then Shigehiro Irie rolled up. Suddenly, there was some hope again, because Shige had his own storyline that made sense in the grander scheme of things. With Management so gung ho behind Takeshita, it was excellent storytelling to bring in the guy who has WORDS for the promotion who conned him out of a D-King Grand Prix spot, and had him consider quitting. But Shigs had his own story, his own reason for being, a freelancer like Shuji in his own right, but still tied to the Motherland, to DDT, at the end of the day. Still a heel, but a heel of the people- and if he wins at Max Bump 2018, a champion of the people.

Akito, on the other hand, is gonna be ten years in DDT next year, and he's one of the best wrestlers on the roster, but is still one of the most underpushed (understandable as his character is rather bland even if his skills are exceptional). Coming out with a bad Prix record, he then went on to question Shige's right to challenge. Like an older brother protecting the golden baby of the family, Akito stood up against a literal beast. And he lost. More than that, he was shamed. What's a person to do?

So what changed? Over the years, a number of champions have held the coveted KO-D. OK, maybe 'coveted' is pushing it. It's a hot title, aight? It's the top guy's title, whether that top guy for the moment is Harashima, Kudo, Ibushi, Ishikawa, Sakaguchi, Togo, Poison Sawada Julie, Dino or Mikami. But that didn't mean the title didn't change hands. For its eighteen year existence, its changed enough times for a title spanning forty years, but DDT went from zero to hero. Suddenly the belts weren't all jokes, the talent wasn't just here for the shenanigans, but for an actual chance to be the rightful King of DDT. So what changed?

Across Harashima's nine reigns over eleven years, he clocked in well over a thousand days. Takeshita is on his second reign, at 22, and clocked in almost five hundred days over eleven different defenses. The push is real, but the push isn't getting over. So I wonder again- what changed?

Everyone knows the worst civil war a promotion can get into is the war with its own customer base. The crowd died at Sumo Hall after Takeshita retained, and they were barely waking up again when Irie popped up. The story's there- the Old Guard of DDT having to deal with the new Management that came with the acquisition, Irie's need to show Takeshita that DDT is still what it used to be, even if Shigs is bitter and jaded that things have changed so quickly, the constant, nagging feeling in the back of every DDT fan's mind that 'jfc, we gotta deal with Takeshita again?” There's only so much a promotion can do until the push fails. We still have to fill up seats for Peter Pan. The hottest stable on the indies for the last two years was DAMNATION, but now that their push and hype was used on Shuji and Goliath's been slayed, what's next for them? Shige is almost certain to lost at Max Bump because anyone who slays Takeshita, will be slaying the Future and taking back DDT for whatever reason. That's not happening at Korakuen with a guy who's been MIA since December. Harashima's time is over. The generation of DDT wrestlers that came after 2005 are still lagging in the midcard, and times are... intense. We have a Sumo Hall double show coming up in 2019, and it looks like we really will be hosting Tokyo Dome if 2020 if we continue at this pace.

So what changed?

I don't want to give up hope yet because I trust that crowd sentiment matters to DDT, but with Takeshita's victory at Judgment, his lukewarm hype, and now the setup to feed heel!Shige to Takeshita in order to fluff him up as a face... it's not looking too great. Shige losing now means the Old Guard loses a warhound. One of the few things that can salvage his loss is Akito having a heel turn, but the turn hasn't been triggered in years, and seems unlikely even now when the moment is most opportune. There are... no challengers left for Takeshita with a proper build. The one man who was capable of running with his push had to lose to Mike Bailey. We're at a standstill right now- halfway to the dawn of a new era, but moments away from severe backlash because of the near omnipotent reign of a boy king who can barely keep his emotions in check around his ex-bff/love of his unfortunate life. Given, DDT didn't die even when Ibushi quit, so I doubt Takeshita's lackluster reign is gonna kill the promotion dead... but it doesn’t spell out a good future if there's meant to be a cycle of this lackluster character work.

Especially if they intend for him to be the Ace for good.

Alas, the main event scene at DDT right now is rife with mixed feelings while we prepare to work the five hundred other side-projects DDT has going, while preparing for a fall Peter Pan, with no clear picture of who will be the two men standing face-to-face at the last marquee event of the year. We'll see at Max Bump if Shige can win one for the Old Guard and take the belt off Takeshita long enough to build up other characters that can have formidable reigns, but until then, it's a rocky road. At least Smile Squash held it down for the crowd :/

#ddtpro #konosuke takeshita #shigehiro irie #akito #sanshiro takagi #real talk #Wrestling #real sad hours over at ddtpro tonight lads

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papermoonloveslucy · 4 years ago

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THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH

January 28, 1949

“The Absolute Truth” is episode #28 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on January 28, 1949 on the CBS radio network.

Synopsis ~ Liz and George bet each other that they can each go for 24 hours without telling a lie. Even a little white one.

Note: This was the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode "Lucy Tells the Truth" (ILL S3;E6) filmed on October 8, 1953 and first aired on November 9, 1953.

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benadaret was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Cooper. The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

REGULAR CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born as Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz (above right), a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) and Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) had not yet joined the cast as regular characters.

GUEST CAST

Joseph Kearns (Rudolph Atterbury, George’s Boss) appeared on “I Love Lucy” as the psychiatrist in “The Kleptomaniac” (ILL S1;E27) and later played the theatre manager in “Lucy’s Night in Town” (ILL S6;E22). His most famous role was as Mr. Wilson on TV’s “Dennis the Menace” (1959). When he passed away during the show’s final season, Lucy regular Gale Gordon took over for him, playing his brother.

Jean Vander Pyl (Miss McKane, Salesgirl / Bank Operator / Evening Bugle Operator) is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon “The Flintstones.” Coincidentally, Wilma’s best friend was voiced by Bea Benadaret, who will later play Iris Atterbury, Liz’s best friend on “My Favorite Husband.” On radio she was heard on such programs as “The Halls of Ivy” (1950–52) and on “Father Knows Best” before it moved to TV. She died in 1999 at age 79.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers, we see a story unfolding, a story that started a week ago, one night when George and Liz were walking home from a movie…”

George admires a set of golf clubs in a store window, while Liz admires a hat. George mistakes it for someone’s leftover lunch - a mess of vegetables. Liz tells George that it is an original and costs $75 and that she has asked the store to hold it for her, lest Iris Atterbury get it first.

GEORGE: “Good! She’s got the face to go with a New England foil dinner!”

George is comparing the hat to a traditional New England meal that is wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked over an open flame. It generally includes seafood and/or shellfish, as well as corn on the cob.

George forbids Liz to buy the hat so next day Liz returns to the shop to tell the clerk (Jean Vander Pyl) not to hold it for her any longer - she'll take it! At home, Liz cuddles up to George. Liz notices he is wearing sports clothes and George confesses he has been given the day off. He is off to play golf with Cory Cartwright.

Note: Although Cory Cartwright was a recurring character at the start of the series (first played by Hal March, then John Hiestand) but was written out at the end of 1948. Here he is merely referred to.

As soon as George is gone, Liz shows off her new hat for Katie the Maid, who, like George, also thinks it looks like a businessmen’s lunch of vegetables and mistakes a turnip for a mouse. Liz says she will not wear the hat in front of George until she can pay for it herself. She only ordered it to keep Iris from getting it. George suddenly returns and Liz covers her face with the newspaper to keep him from seeing the hat. George sees the hat. Liz fibs and says that Iris asked her to pick it up for her, but George knows that Iris has been out of town for a week.

Liz bursts into tears - but knows it won’t work so quickly gives up. George is more upset about her lying to him than the hat and makes her promise always to tell the absolute truth. The phone rings. It is Mr. Atterbury (Joseph Kearns) who is concerned to hear that George is ill and can’t come to work. Liz realizes that George lied, too!

MR. ATTERBURY: “He said he felt like his head would be split open at any minute.” LIZ: “You know, he may be right.”

With Mr. Atterbury still on the phone, Liz hatches a plan. She calls George to the telephone, telling him it is Cory wanting to know if he still wants to play golf.

LIZ: “It’s for you, George Washington.”

Liz is referring to the story (likely apocryphal) about a young George Washington (later the first president of the United States) cutting down his father’s prized cherry tree, then taking immediate responsibility by saying “I cannot tell a lie” and admitting to axing the tree.

When George picks up the phone he thinks he is speaking to Cory and says he couldn’t feel better. Mr. Atterbury says George better get to work at once, or be fired! George is angry that Liz has tricked him. George claims that it accepted business practice to fake illness. George wants to take the hat back and get some golf clubs. Instead Liz and George strike a deal: the first one to tell a lie before 24 hours are up has to pay the other $75 for the hat or the golf clubs.

End of Part One

After a public service announcement about the importance of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the show resumes.

The first truth to be revealed is that George has been playing poker after work, and Liz is livid about it. After a brief argument, they kiss and make up.

GEORGE: “It won’t do any good. I’m getting those golf clubs or my name isn’t George Cooper.” LIZ: “Goodbye, Sam.”

While George is at work, Liz plots with Katie to win the bet. She will disguise her voice as her Great Aunt Liza from Syracuse, whom George despises, and telephone him with a creaking old voice. Trying out the old lady voice, Katie says it sounds like Lionel Barrymore’s grandmother!

Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954) was an actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director best known as the villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. He also played Ebenezer Scrooge and a variety of curmudgeons.

George recognizes Liz’s voice immediately and tells her that none of the people she sent to the bank to trick him worked either. Liz is mystified. She didn’t send anyone to the bank. George realizes that the men from the Income Tax must have been real! Thinking they were phonies, he told the man everything about his tax returns. The other person George thought was a phony was a news reporter. He gave her an interview for a story titled “The Truth About My Wife”!

Liz is hysterical, and calls the newspaper, but it is too late - the interview will be front page news tomorrow morning. Liz is aghast that George has told that she lies about her age, her hair color and how she wakes up in the morning.

When George comes home, Liz is eerily cheerful. She has invited Mr. Atterbury home to ask George what he really thinks of his boss. Liz can’t go through with it. But George reads Mr. Atterbury the riot act about how horrible his job is - and promptly quits.

Instead of being angry, Mr. Atterbury respects his honesty and gives him a promotion and a raise! George is so happy he offers to buy the hat for Liz. Liz says he should do it before tomorrow’s evening paper comes out.

LIZ: “That’s right, George. I wrote a little article, too! ‘The Truth About My Husband’.” GEORGE: “Oh, no!”

In the bedtime tag, Liz wakes George out of a sound sleep at 4 in the morning. Liz thinks she heard a burglar downstairs - so George gets up and checks. But he has been tricked.

LIZ: “George, while you’re up would you get me a glass of water?” GEORGE: “Oh, Liz!” LIZ: “I’ll hate myself in the morning. Goodnight, George!”

End of Episode

The Announcer reminds viewers that Lucille Ball will soon be seen in the motion picture Sorrowful Jones.

#My Favorite Husband #I Love Lucy #Lucille Ball #Richard Denning #Jean Vander Pyl #CBS #Radio #Sorrowful Jones #Ruth Perrott #Bob Lemond #George Washington #Lionel Barrymore #NATO #1949 #Joseph Kearns

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real-life-pine-tree · 7 years ago

Text

Seed of Darkness: Hopes, Dreams, and Wishes (9/?)

All it takes it one bad seed to spoil the whole bunch. An AU collab with @violetganache42.

Although things were beginning to look bleak for Yuya, he wasn’t the only one dealing with the harsh reality of the Reverse conflict. Dennis, Sylvio, and Julia were all taking refuge on top of a building in Iceberg Zone, still trying to calm down after witnessing Celina “liberate” Zuzu. Even though they were all upset by what they were forced to watch, Sylvio and Julia were both confused and lost on why this happened and if it relates to Dipper and Reed not getting a chance to have their duel and how Yuya’s duel with Iggy ended. Dennis overheard their wonders and had a feeling these events must be connected with what was going on, so he explained to them everything he knows so far about the Reversed Duelists.

A few minutes passed and their conversation was almost done wrapping up, but it was cut short thanks to the arrival of a certain someone. A light blue light glowed in front of them and it revealed the silhouette of a young male teen. The light faded away to reveal Yuri and Dennis couldn’t be happier to see his friend again. Sylvio and Julia, on the other hand, were more baffled on how he looks exactly like Yuya and this other lookalike they saw when the Battle Royale started.

Dennis faked a smile. "Oh hey," he told Yuri. "It's you. So how's it going, Yuri?"

"Did you find her?" Yuri asked, referring to Zuzu.

That caused Dennis' façade to slip. "I did," he answered. "But..."

Yuri knew what his friend's hesitation meant. "Celina got to her, didn't she?" he asked.

"I tried to protect Zuzu!" Dennis explained. "But Celina was able to Reverse her, just like when she confronted Lulu and Rin!"

Unfortunately for him, the bad news did not sit well with Yuri; in fact, he was showing signs that he was livid about this. His eyebrows and lower right eyelid were twitching, his hands had the urge to clench into fists, and he felt his arms—and maybe his entire body—tremble. Dennis had only one job to do and it was all wasted; before he could have time to yell, Julia interjected by stating what happened. The way Celina Reversed Zuzu was unlike the usual method of Reversing Duelists; she transferred Reverse energy to her Standard counterpart instead of dueling her and it left Dennis with no time to counteract. It was most likely how she Reversed her other counterparts, but it wasn’t like he was doing a bad job at protecting her; he knew what he was doing, so seeing a different Reversing technique caught him off guard. He thought the Pendulum cards were the Reverse Duelists’ weakness, but it looked like they were fooled about it all along.

"Why did Declan even say Pendulum cards are their weaknesses?" Yuri questioned.

"He explained his reasons to me when he gave me my new Abyss Actors deck," Sylvio answered. "He actually confronted Celina, but before her associate could duel him, she stopped him and said he has Pendulum cards."

"WHAT?" Yuri asked.

"Those were apparently her exact words," Sylvio said. "Declan was the one who came to the conclusion that they're the Reverse's weakness."

Yuri let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his brow. "My gosh, what an idiot..." he muttered.

"I beg your pardon?" Julia asked.

"Don't you get it?!" Yuri asked. "Celina used those words on purpose to trick Declan! She wanted him to make more Pendulum cards!"

"For what?" Sylvio asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Yuri admitted. "But perhaps we can get a Reversed Duelist to..." He held up his Starving Venom Fusion Dragon card. "...cough up some information."

Julia and Sylvio looked a bit unease at Yuri's suggestion. "Don't mind him," Dennis said. "Yuri's my childhood friend. I learned to tell when he's joking."

Meanwhile, Yuya had taken cover somewhere within Jungle Zone to hide himself away from the public, fearing the Void could take over any moment to fulfill its plans further. Surrounded by dozens of trees, he was hidden away just enough for him to be alone with his thoughts. He was holding a card in his hand, which was shown to be Queen Dragun Djinn, the same card Yuto gave to him shortly after regaining consciousness. She meant a lot to him because from the moment the two boys crossed paths with each other a couple days ago, it had already evolved into a much deeper connection with them. He could feel it. The link he shares with his XYZ counterpart. Even though it was shrouded by the fear and sadness of recent events, he could sense how strong their bond is.

"Geez, can you lighten up already?"

The mysterious voice caused Yuya to look away from his card and sharply raise his head to see where it came from. He looked around to see where it came from until he saw a mysterious teen standing next to his left, staring at him with his red and green heterochromia eyes. Yuya was more focused on where he came from instead of why his coloring felt oddly familiar.

"Who are you?!" Yuya asked, alarmed. "And where did you come from?!"

"Calm down, Yuya," the teen said. "It's me, Odd-Eyes! Well technically I'm Double Iris Magician in this form, but it's still me."

Yuya examined the colors Double Iris Magician had and realized the latter was right; the hat resembled the upper half of his head, the shoulder blades were similar to his torso, the lower body mirrored his dragon legs, the gauntlets were reminiscent to his 'wings', and his dual-colored eyes retained the same red and green hues. Heck, he even has a sword based on his dragon form! He was amazed by this discovery yet curious on how Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon can transform into this Double Iris Magician person.

"How did this happen?" Yuya asked.

"I'm not even sure," Double Iris admitted. "I heard you feeling sad about this Reverse stuff when suddenly, poof! I gained this second identity." He looked at his hand as he flexed his fingers. "It kinda feels weird having a human body..."

Yuya, however, didn't respond. "I also heard this weird voice in the back of my head telling me to 'unite as one'," Double Iris continued.

“Unite as one?” Could it be this Void’s doing? Well, maybe not because it has already chosen its human host, but what about Odd-Eyes—or Double Iris, in this case? Could there be another creature of some sort persuading him into doing a dark cause? Is this creature owned by the Void? That could be a possibility because it was gradually getting stronger as the time passes by, so there was no telling what danger would unfold for his Performapals, especially his signature ace.

"Oh, stop worrying about that," Double Iris said. "Maybe that voice is suggesting us to unite as one, which could explain my new form."

Yuya let out a massive sigh of relief at this hypothesis; if that voice was telling Odd-Eyes to work together with his owner as a duo, they could stand a chance against the Reversed Duelists and maybe even the Void. It was actually neat that he was granted the ability to transform into his magician variant in the heat of the moment, possibly due to wanting to give Yuya a nudge to get one step ahead of the new enemy. Does that mean Yuto and Yugo's signature dragons also unlock something similar to what Odd-Eyes can now do?

"Is that why you unlocked this new form?" Yuya asked. "To help me out?"

"Sort of," Double Iris admitted. "But I mostly want to tell you that you're not the only one dealing with a demonic being inside your heart. I feel it too."

"How?" Yuya asked.

"It's the Void's main Unit, Omega Glendios," Double Iris explained. "Every time the Void takes over your body, Omega Glendios does the same thing to me. So far it happened twice: once during your duel with Iggy and once when you revealed yourself to Yuto and Shay. And just like how hearing Sora allowed you to fight back, it allowed me to fight back as well."

Realization struck Yuya's face. "So you're in the same spot I'm in."

"Pretty much," Double Iris replied.

This wasn’t good at all. Whenever the Void takes over Yuya, Omega Glendios does the same to Odd-Eyes—well, currently Double Iris Magician—so he becomes Odd-Eyes Joker Dragon? This was, without a doubt, a serious case of double trouble because a demon and a Unit are both working together to control an aspiring Dueltainer and his odd-eyed dragon. No wonder Joker Dragon vanished after Iggy was defeated; his Pendulum incarnation seems to be just like Yuya, transforming into a darker variant of himself before reverting to his original state.

"So this is how you're going to stop it?" Double Iris asked. "Sit and hide away from everyone else?"

"It's the only way to prevent anyone else from getting infected," Yuya explained.

Double Iris let out a small chuckle. "Then I guess you forgot the whole reason why we're here."

"Huh?" Yuya asked. "What reason?"

"To win the Arc League Championship," Double Iris explained. "Before that incident with Iggy, you wanted to win so you could become a pro. But you can't become a pro if you refuse to duel."

"But the Void-" Yuya started to say.

"Forget about that demon for once!" Double Iris interrupted. "We can't let it distract you! You need to get your head in the game so we can complete the Battle Royale and win!"

Double Iris has a strong point; the Void and the Reversed Duelists might be starting to make themselves known, but they have a tournament to win. Right now, they have to concentrate on winning the Battle Royale so that they can set their future forward, regardless of what stands in their way. It’s like what Yusho said; he has to keep pushing himself forward in order to obtain victory; that is what reminds him of a pendulum: if it swings one way, it’ll swing back, so persisting in these challenges will have a positive result for Yuya.

"I guess you're right," Yuya said, finally smiling again.

"That's the spirit!" Double Iris encouraged. "Now let's find our next opponent!"

Back with Yuri, Dennis, Sylvio, and Julia, they had inadvertently found an opponent of their own. From on top the building they were on, they saw a person walking through Iceberg Zone with an activated Duel Disk and they all made it out to be an Obelisk Force soldier, but Dennis and Yuri both knew he was no ordinary member of the Obelisk Force. The base of his Duel Disk was no longer shaped like a shield but now had the Link Joker emblem tattooed on the oval design; additionally, the blade was changed into a longer and skinnier jagged shape instead of the usual sword shape. The two Duel Academy students instantly recognized it as a Reverse Academy-issued Duel Disk, meaning this soldier was Reversed. Sylvio and Julia couldn’t determine if he really was Reversed or not, but they were informed his markings were concealed underneath his helmet, so it would be harder for everyone else to tell. The only way for them to identify the soldier as Reversed is the Duel Disk they were carrying.

Seeing how there was a good chance more Reversed Duelists could pop up any minute, confrontation was probably the best option at this point. Right now, Yuri was quite glad they chose to confront the Reversed Obelisk Force soldier because he backed him into a corner and was prepared to further back him up with the help of his trusty pet. With the required materials and conditions met, he whipped out his Polymerization Spell card in order to fuse his two Predaplant monsters since their Attributes were DARK.

"Arise, my beloved pet!" Yuri announced. "Emerge in all your wondrous glory!"

Shortly after the two Predaplants swirled around in two brightly colored aura, a dragon exited out of the “Fusion portal”, stretching his head out and opening up his mouth with streaks of saliva stuck in between the jaws, a dark yellow-green orb lighting up as his tail extended, and raising his body up to let out a roar as his red and yellow orbs and toxic green eyes began to glow on his body, joints, and face before locking into his attack position. That monster was Yuri’s ace monster: Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, a Level 8 DARK Dragon-Type monster with 2800 ATK and 2000 DEF. Requiring two DARK non-Token monsters as Fusion materials, he can gain ATK equal to an opponent’s special summoned monster on the turn he was Fusion Summoned until the End Phase. Also, once per turn, Level 5 or higher opposing monsters can be targeted and have him obtain its name and effects. Lastly, if he was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, all of the opponent’s special summoned monsters get destroyed.

"Now talk," Yuri ordered as his pet snarled at the Reversed soldier. "Why were you ordered to not duel anyone who has Pendulum cards?"

"How should I know?" the Reversed soldier asked in response. "The Void didn't say why. All it said was to leave the Pendulum users alone until its master plan was complete."

"You liar!" Yuri shouted. "Now talk before I rip your head off!"

Dennis was alarmed by the threat. "That's enough, Yuri," he said.

"No, it's not," Yuri replied. "Don't you recognize him?"

Dennis looked at the soldier. "Should I know him?" he asked.

"You should," Yuri said. "It's Chazz Princeton of Obelisk Force Branch OK-BLD."

Dennis looked alarmed at that reveal. "So?" Julia asked.

"Obelisk Force Branch OK-BLD is home to the more ruthless Duel Academy students," Dennis explained. "They were all deemed as sadistic and twisted, preferring to kill instead of card people."

"Precisely," Yuri agreed. "The only way to get through their thick skulls is to speak their language."

Throughout his years growing up at Duel Academy, he became aware of how lethal the OK-BLD branch is, especially during the time when plans were being made to conduct their first Invasion to commence the Arc Area Project. Of course, despite it being a huge success, there were very few fatalities caused by these heartless students, including Chazz. Whenever Yuri and Dennis thought about it, it admittedly boggles their mind on how a dueling branch as cruel and torturous as them would even be permitted to conduct these murderous actions, especially since they were part of Leo’s duel school at the time. Julia and Sylvio agreed with the students because resorting to murder was just as bad as—if not, worse than—carding people; they’re both terrible tactics, but one of them certifies the fact the victim never comes back to life. Despite this, Yuri has developed enough knowledge on how to…interrogate them, to say the least, and today was the perfect opportunity to test what he learned and acquire why all Pendulum users were to be left for last.

"Now then," Yuri said, looking back at Chazz. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." A twisted grin appeared on his face. "But I hope you refuse to corporate because I prefer doing the hard way."

A frustrated sound came from Chazz's throat. "Fine," he said. "The Void wants to encase this whole planet in its dark shadow. It gets stronger with every person who receives its gift."

"But why leave all Pendulum users alone?" Yuri asked.

"I told you, the Void never told us why," Chazz repeated. "It's almost like it's deliberately hiding information from all of us. Even asking the entity itself doesn't work."

That was an unexpected reason as to why Void told the Reversed students to avoid the Pendulum users, but at least Yuri, Dennis, Sylvio, and Julia now have a reason as to the reasoning behind Celina telling Barrett to not duel Declan. It’s not that Pendulum cards are their weakness; there’s something about them that makes them stand out above the Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ cards, but what is it? Is it because they're immensely powerful? If so, then is the Void using it to its advantage to cloak the world into darkness? Does he have something special planned for the Pendulum users to help further achieve his goal? Just when it seemed like one question was answered, more seem to pop up. Now it seems the group has to find a way to get to the main source, confront the Void, or even both. After all, it’s not human, so who knows where it’ll be.

"I see..." Yuri said. He snapped his fingers, commanding Starving Venom to grab the Reversed soldier. "Now take us to the Void or I'll have my pet snap your neck!"

A dark laugh came from Chazz. "You really think I'll do that?" he asked. "I don't even know where it is. And even if I did, I wouldn't want to ruin its master plan."

"What are you saying?" Yuri angrily asked.

"If you want to speak to the Void, go find it yourself," Chazz answered.

Using the powers given to him by the Reverse, Chazz flawlessly escaped from Starving Venom’s grasp and vanished from Iceberg Zone, leaving the dragon and the four Duelists behind. Yuri always knew the latter was arrogant under the Professor’s command, but this was just ridiculous. How on earth were they going to find the Void if they have no clue where it is?

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard nearby, with the source of the sound coming from two Duelists.

"Vat's the last time...you steer," a Russian girl said.

"Me?" an India boy asked. "I thought you were the one steering!"

"Well vat would explain how we got here," the girl said.

The boy noticed the nearby group. "Hey look, we happened upon some Duelists!"

Julia and Sylvio knew who the duo was; even though they never faced off against them, they watched their impressive duels and they had an idea on who they both were. The Indian boy was Halil and his partner for the Battle Royale was a Russian girl named Olga. They must be looking for other Duelists to face off against after Zuzu and Gong won against them. Seeing as they must have obtained Pendulum cards since then, the four were worried about them for two reasons: they’re unaware of the looming new threat from the Reversed Duelists and they’re uncertain why the Void isn’t targeting the Pendulum users, but they know it’s going to be bad and they don’t want them to fall the same fate as everyone else or worse.

"Uh... Sure did," Dennis said, faking a smile. "Care for an autograph?"

"N'yet," Olga replied. "I care for a Pendulum card."

"Sorry, but that'll have to wait," Dennis said, glancing around in case Reversed Duelists showed up. "We're in the middle of something- Yuri, what are you doing?"

"Saving their lives," Yuri said as he typed in something into his Duel Disk. Then he activated the communication feature. "Did you receive my current coordinates?"

"I did," a voice spoke from Yuri's Duel Disk. "I'm picking up on some unknown Duel Disk IDs. Which ones do you need us to transport?"

"Those two," Yuri answered, gesturing his Duel Disk towards Halil and Olga.

"Thanks Yuri," the voice spoke again. "I'm activating the transport setting...now."

Just then, the pair’s Duel Disks’ screens lit up an icy blue glow that rapidly cloaked their bodies; right before they disappeared, they heard Dennis telling Halil and Olga what was currently going on was for the best for them and that everything will be explained once they appear at the desired location. And with that, the light grew brighter from where the duo were standing before vanishing them away from the Standard Dimension. A crisis has been averted; if things go well, they will be teleported to the Fusion Dimension momentarily.

"Are you sure that was the right thing to do?" Dennis asked.

"Of course, I'm sure," Yuri replied. "As we speak, Aster is helping those two adjust to their temporary living arrangements."

"What?" Sylvio asked. "That's all?"

"There's nothing else we can do," Yuri explained. "With just about every Duelist transported to the Phoenix Resistance, the Void won't find any more potential recruits."

Of course, that was just in the Standard Dimension alone and there were still only about a handful lingering around the Action Field. One of them managed to stumble across Yuto, Gong, Shay, and more importantly, Sora, who was shocked to see that they had encountered with Syrus, one of the Void’s commanders. Devastation had crept up to the former like a shadow casting above someone because he couldn’t believe that one of his Obelisk Blue classmates had fallen victim to the Reverse; they had known each other for years and had gotten closer with their companionship, so discovering the Void had sucked it away from them shattered his heart into pieces.

But that was the main reason why Sora decided to be the one to take on his classmate; he wanted to rescue him from his Reversed prison because Obelisks have to stick together and look out for each other, even in the toughest situations. He was determined to get his friend back and the combination of his persistence and his Fluffals, Edge Imps, and Frightfurs was paying off as their intense duel progressed. He always knew Syrus became a strong Duelist under the Professor’s guidance, but seeing him with Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse on the field gradually made him livid up to the point where he was absolutely furious. Furious that the Void would do something this heinous.

With only a couple hundred Life Points left and two monsters on the field, Fluffal Mouse and Edge Imp Sabres, he began his turn by drawing a card, revealing it to be Polymerization. He then activated Fluffal Mouse’s effect; because it’s in attack position, two more copies of it are special summoned onto the field. Three Fluffals and one Edge Imp. He has the right number of Fusion Materials to bring out another Frightfur monster, one that his allies have never seen before.

"Alright, you Reverse scum!" Sora said. "Here comes the good part! Good for me, that is. I fuse Edge Imp Sabers and my three Fluffal Mice. Edge of sharpness and mayhem of mice! When the four come together, you will pay the price! I Fusion Summon Frightfur Tiger!"

A plush body was cut horizontally in half by a giant pair of luminescent scissors that glowed light purple with hints of light blues as the blades snipped shut. A plush head resembling a tiger turned around with its menacing green eyes and let out an evil laugh, with two glowing magenta eyes glowing from inside its mouth. It landed onto the Monster Zone to reveal itself to be Frightfur Tiger, a Level 6 DARK Fiend-Type Fusion monster with 1900 ATK and 1200 DEF. Its Fusion materials consist of Edge Imp Sabres and at least one Fluffal monster. If it was Fusion Summoned, it can target cards the opponents controls up to the number of Fusion materials used and are destroyed. Every Fightfur monster gains 300 ATK for every Fluffal and Frightfur monster Sora controls and he is allowed to control only one Frightfur Tiger.

"And now, Frightfur Tiger's special ability activates!" Sora continued. "So that hunk of junk is going straight to the dump!"

Frightfur Tiger extended its scissor blades forward and surrounded Life Pair Cycroid - Reverse in between them, clamping them shut to destroying it from the field. Syrus was left in a major pickle; without his Joker monster, he won’t deal 400 damage and attack directly for every Locked monster on the field…and it terrified him. He has never seen anyone muster up enough strength to take on a Reversed Duelist, let alone push them on the brink of defeat.

"Next my tiger gains 300 attack points for each Frightfur monster I have," Sora continued. "And I have one right now! So that's 300 extra points. Now, for the real Duel Academy, time to end this! Frightfur Tiger, attack! Bash some sense back into Syrus!"

Frightfur Tiger lunged itself towards the other side of the field and bared its plush fangs down on a scared Syrus. It got onto a nice grip and used its paws to lock itself into place before going out with an explosion that sent him flying past Yuto, Shay, and Gong before tumbling down a nearby ancient staircase, with his circular glasses falling off his face and landing near the stairs. Once he landed face first on the ground, all his Life Points depleted to 0; the outcome was quickly followed by Sora rushing towards the stairs, grabbing the glasses, and running down to see if his friend was okay. His allies followed him to double check if defeating a Reversed Duelist really does turn them back to normal.

"Syrus?" Sora asked out of concern. "You okay?"

Before he could have time to receive an answer, Sora and the others stopped about three-quarters of the way down to see Syrus wincing and groaning in pain. His body was coated in the same dark red aura, but something different was going on. The aura started rising up into the air from its host and briefly unveiled its bold, blood red, demonic face, complete with a short screech as it continued expelling itself. Just then, a rapid jolt sped up the process further, fully getting rid of it and leaving behind what might have looked like an unconscious Syrus.

Sora quickly climbed down the rest of the stairs and ran to where the latter laid, flipping his body over and holding him in his arms to see if he wasn’t badly injured. Based on what was shown, he suffered a minor arm injury, so it wasn’t too serious; however, there was something more attention-catching on Syrus’ face. The markings he once bore were now gone and there was no longer a shadow covering from his forehead to underneath his eyes. Speaking of which, did they also showed signs of him finally free from the Reverse? Sora lightly shook his classmate and called his name to at least try and help him regain consciousness and it felt like it would last forever until Syrus’ eyebrows started twitching. His eyes were also tightly shut, but they began to open, revealing a remarkable sight: they no longer appeared soulless and his pupils and white highlights have returned, and the first thing he saw was Sora, who was so relieved and overjoyed to see his friend had returned.

"Sora?" Syrus asked, sounding a bit drained. "What... What happened?"

"Syrus!" Sora happily exclaimed. He hugged the Roid user. "You're alright!"

"No seriously, what happened?" Syrus repeated, pushing Sora back. He noticed Yuto. "And when did Yuri grow out his hair?"

Shay and Gong turned their heads to face Yuto, who was scratching the back of his head and has shifted his eyes off to the side because he wasn’t sure if he should explain that he happened to be Yuri’s XYZ counterpart. This is now the second time that there are still people who may not be able to tell the difference between himself and the other counterparts even with his glasses on, much to his unfortunate disappointment with a hint of embarrassment.

"It's complicated," Sora said as he proceeded to type something into his Duel Disk. "Commander Phoenix should be able to explain everything to you."

"I do remember hearing something about the Professor's murder," Syrus recalled as he put his glasses back on. "But everything else is a blur- Wait, did you say Commander Phoenix?"

"I sure did," Sora answered. "I just sent him a message explaining how I freed you, so he should be activating the transport system any minute now..."

Syrus was at a loss of words after what Sora said. Freed him from what? Did something terrible occur at Duel Academy after Leo was killed? What is Aster doing, holding some kind of refuge base somewhere in the Fusion Dimension? Whatever happened, was it also responsible for making him forget what happened after learning the unfortunate news? At least he was grateful to know one of his classmates was there to rescue him from being used a puppet of some sort. He suddenly felt a small yet sharp pain coming from where his arm was barely injured; he hoped Aster was able to round up some surviving doctors to help form a medical clinic for any other survivors.

But that was what made him realize Duel Academy could still have a chance; whatever enemy it is that’s threatening all four dimensions any survivors and reverted Duelists will band together to settle the score that once caught them off guard. With this revelation in mind, he mustered up enough energy to lean forward and give Sora a hug for saving him, in which the latter returned. As they continued to embrace each other, a bright blue light flashed from Syrus’ Duel Disk and engulfed him, transporting him to the Phoenix Resistance. Sora got up from his knees and wiped away any lingering tears that might have formed; he then looked up to the sky, knowing one of his closest friends has escaped the clutches of the Reverse and there is still a spark of hope somewhere in the Fusion Dimension.

#Seed of Darkness #yugioh arc v #Yuya Sakaki #cardfight!! vanguard #Link Joker

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