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youngbeezer · 3 years ago

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You should do sharing a milkshake with Kevin Hayes!!!

Referenced Post

Prompt-- 8. Sharing a milkshake (w Kevin Hayes)

A/N: Here's another blurb from the 14 oddly romantic things blurb set. Ok, so I'm sorry this kind of took forever to finish (I was having major writing block). I also don't think this turned out that good but..

Thanks for requesting, hope you like it

Word Count: 1459 (also turned out way longer than I imagined)

Warning(s): none i dont think ?

join my taglist :)

The final buzzer echoed throughout the half full arena, signalling the end of the 2020-2021 Flyers season. I wait a few minutes up in the press box, surrounded by all the other family members and WAGS. We all watch the players give their final appreciations to the loyal fans in the stadium and make their way through the tunnel.

I let out a little sigh when I saw everyone else in the room start making their way out the door and to the locker room. I take one more final moment to take in all my surroundings before we all leave this place for a good few months. I watch the few remaining fans weave their way through the seats, the zambonis making their way onto the ice, and the janitors getting a head start on cleaning.

“Hey a/n, you coming?” Ryanne, one of my closest friends and the captain's wife, asks.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” I sheepishly rush out as I rise from my seat to meet her at the doorway. She gives me a knowing smile before leading the way down to the locker room.

When we finally make it down there, a few of the guys have already started making their way out. Claude is one of them, and as he comes over he gives me a half smile trying to put on a brave face. I give him a quick hug and assure him,

“Great season cap.”

“Thanks y/n.” He gives me a genuine smile at that and another pat on the back before making his way over to his family.

I wait patiently for my boy to make his way out, and occasionally give a few of the other guys hugs and reassurances. Finally, I see Kevin walk through the locker room door trailing behind Nolan Patrick, who both make their way over once they spot me in the crowd. Nolan makes his way over to me first and says a quiet “hey” before going in for a much needed hug.

I don’t say much except for the standard, “I’m proud of you”, “you played great,” and give him a few back rubs. But once I see my boyfriend finally make his way over here, I give Nolan one last smile before wrapping my arms around Kevin’s neck and pulling him as close to me as possible. He immediately buries his head into the crook of my neck, where I notice a few wet spots hit my skin. I bring my hand up to tangle in his hair and soothe sweet nothings into his ear to try and calm him down.

“I love you so much Kev. No matter what happens or how the season ended, I am always going to be so incredibly proud of you.” I reassured softly, giving his shoulder a few sporadic kisses.

He eventually pulls away clearing his throat and gives me a gentle smile. He brings me in for a sweet kiss that tells me all I need to know. That he appreciates me and my words, and that he’s going to be okay.

“Hayesy, you two coming out with us?” Scott questions us, giving me a quick smile before bringing his attention back to my boyfriend.

“Nah we’re gonna have to pass on this one, sorry.” He answers, giving me a knowing look.

“No problem. See you soon bud. Bye y/n.” Scott gives Kevin a little pat on the back and me a quick hug and then makes his way out of the arena with his girlfriend and the rest of the group who are going out.

Now Kevin and I have always had a tradition that we started back when he was still playing with the Rangers. After a particularly tough game for Kev, he didn’t want to go out with the team, but he also didn’t want to go back home and sulk. So, on our way home from the game, we ended up coming across this diner. We went in, got some food, talked for hours, and we shared a milkshake. We always share a milkshake. Even though it is not technically on Kevin’s diet plan for hockey, it is a comfort food (and if we’re being honest, I drink more than half of it most of the time anyway) but it always seems to do the trick of making the night a little bit better. Now after games, Kevin just needs to give me one simple look, and I know right away that it’s a diner night.

I grab ahold of Kevin’s hand and wait for him to grab his hockey bag before trekking through the Wells Fargo Center and out to the parking lot. We got lucky that when we moved to Philly, we straight away found a cute little diner like 10 minutes from the stadium. So as soon as Kev’s bags are in the trunk and we are both situated in our seats, I start the engine and make my way towards one of our favorite spots.

Luckily when we arrive, there are barely any other customers so we get seated right away. Our waiter, Sally, waltz’s right over to us with her ever present grin.

“Hey you two. It’s good to see you again!” She greets us. Sally was our waiter the first time that we came here and right away warmed our hearts with her happy go lucky personality and charming presence. And every time we came here again, she always walked straight over to our table to greet us and get our usual order. She has been a huge part of making this place such a great escape.

Kevin’s face brightens up with Sally’s presence and he replies back, “It’s good to see you too Sally. How are the kids?”

“Oh they’re great hun. Thanks for asking.” She beams. “Can I get you guys your usual?”

“Yes please.” I smiled at her. Sally nods back and makes her way into the kitchen to place our order.

I bring my attention back to my boyfriend to find him already with his eyes on me. He intertwined our hands together, and even brought one of them up to his lips to give a little kiss.

“Thank you for being here with me.” He confided.

“Of course Kev. I meant what I said earlier. I am so so proud of you and of everything that you accomplished this season.” I declared back.

Before he could say anything else, Sally arrived back at our table with our order.

“Here you are darlin’s. A chocolate milkshake. With two straws.” She gave me a quick wink before retreating behind the diner counter.

“You know you’re seasons technically over… so we could have both gotten our own milkshakes. I wouldn’t have told anyone.” I tease a little.

Kevin scoffs a little before retorting back, “You’re only saying that because you just want an entire milkshake to yourself.”

I let out a giggle and gave him a shrug before taking the first sip of the chocolate heaven.

“I’m just kidding Kev. I wouldn’t change our tradition for the world.” I genuinely smile back at him.

Kevin is silent for a moment and just continues to stare at me as I [religiously] sip the chocolate milkshake.

“You know I love you right?” Kevin claimed.

I pause mid-sip to look back up at him. My face softens at the fondness I see on his face and I go to give his hand a quick squeeze.

“Of course. I love you too.”

“C'mere.” He smirks at me, beckoning me to meet him halfway across the table. Our lips meet into a passionate kiss that speaks volumes on how we are both feeling at this exact moment. There is absolutely no one else either of us would rather be here with at this moment, in a tiny little diner pouring our hearts out to each other after the Flyers season just ended.

From New York, to Winnipeg, to now Philadelphia. No matter where we both are, as long as we have each other, then that’s all we need. But Sally and this chocolate milkshake are a great bonus.

“Mhm, that’s good.” Kev mumbles against my lips as he pulls away.

I chuckle confusedly and raise my eyebrows up at him before asking, “What, my lips?”

“Nah, the milkshake. You taste like it.”

Now I am full on cackling in this tiny diner, causing every head to turn in our direction. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sally smiling from ear to ear watching us.

I shake my head at my ridiculous boyfriend, who is now practically gulping down sips of the milkshake and I bemusedly reflect,

“God, I love you so much.”

Taglist: @heatherawoowoo @barzysandmarnersbitch @joelsfarabees @barzy-xoxo @hockeyplayerstories

Tagging a few othr people so this doesn't flop,,,,

@luukasreichel @jamiesdrysdales @frederikanderson @carepriceisgoodathockey @lovereadinghockeyy @prettyboyjackhughes @gigissports @cherrylita @turcsandzegras @iwantahockeyhimbo @bb-nhlqueen7 @2manytabsopen

#kevin hayes #kevin hayes imagine #philadephia flyers #nhl imagine #nhl blurb #nhl fic #nhl moodboard #hockey #hockey imagine #hockey blurb #hockey fic #my writing #hope you liked it!#14 oddly romantic things blurb set #claude giroux #nolan patrick #scott laughton #flyers #philly

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collecting-stories · 4 years ago

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Streetlight pt. 2 - JJ Maybank

Request: so i just read your imagine “streetlight” and i was loved it!!! i relate to it on another level ☺️ so i was wondering if you were gonna do a part 2? 👀

Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

“You don’t have to hang out you know?” You mentioned, placing your small stack of books down on a folding chair so you could inspect the shelf in front of you, pulling out a title that caught your eye. 

JJ was standing beside you, pulling on the straps of his backpack and complaining that the wifi signal didn’t work in the basement of the library. He had shown up this morning, on his day off from work, asking if you wanted to hang out. 

You hadn’t shown up to the boat outing he’d invited you on last Saturday, figuring it was a nice but empty gesture. He had to talk about something while he walked you home right? It wasn’t like he actually wanted to spend time with you. But when you told him you couldn’t hang out, you were headed to the library’s biannual book sale, he invited himself along. Everyone must’ve been busy, you figured. 

“I’m fine.” He promised, pulling a book off the shelf and skimming through it, “see look, I’m browsing, maybe I’ll buy this.” 

“You’re going to buy,” you paused to read the title, “The Hobbit? Do you like sci-fi.” 

“Dunno,” he shrugged, “what’s that like nerdy stuff like Star Trek?” 

“Yeah, nerdy stuff like Star Trek, JJ. Really, you don’t have to stay.” 

“Well I am.” JJ countered, “How much are these anyway?”

“A dollar.”

JJ nodded, tucking the book under his arm and heading for the end of the aisle. You watched him for a moment, thinking maybe he was going to pay but then he turned the other direction, heading further into the room and disappearing into a new aisle. You stayed in your spot for a little while longer, adding three new books and finally putting the tote bag you’d brought in to good use, placing your ever growing collection in before going to find JJ among the shelves. 

You knew it was silly, because you were sure that he had only come along out of boredom or because there was nothing better to do, but you liked the idea of someone coming with you. Whenever your parents used to come along they would complain about your insistence to show them every book you got and read the back. You doubted JJ really wanted to endure an hour of hearing you talk about books but it didn’t matter, just the thought of being able to share this with someone was exciting and you couldn’t help being a thrilled with the idea. 

“Hey!” JJ’s voice caught your attention and you turned to see him sitting against an uncovered piece of wall, a small stack of books in front of him and one in his hand. “Did you know they have a book version of It.” 

“Yeah uh, Stephen King wrote It in like, the 80’s.” 

“It’s great.” He held up the thick book in his hand, “it’s way different from the movie but I really like it so far.” 

“I’m glad you found something you liked. What else did you get?” 

“Oh, okay. I found Jaws, Jurassic Park, that Hobbit book, and this one...I think our teacher mentioned it like...last year or something.” He held up the last book in his pile and you grinned. 

“Heart of Darkness, it’s a great book. Kinda Ready or Not-ish in the sense that they hunt people for sport.” You replied. “Do you want to look at more or we can go?” 

“We could grab food. I know Kie’s off but her dad might give us a break on lunch.” JJ mentioned, grabbing his books and following you to the stairwell where they had set up the checkout table. “What’d you get anyway?” He asked, pulling on the bag a little to try and peek inside. 

“I’ll show you at lunch, the unveiling is my favorite part.” You replied, positive the smile on your face was a little too exuberant. 

“You’re such a nerd.” JJ teased though there was a distinct level of fondness in his voice. 

“I just mean,” as the woman at the desk handed you back the bag of your books you clutched the handles, waiting for JJ to pay, “you can look at them whenever, it’s not a big deal. I just was thinking, you know, we can sit down and...but it’s fine-“

“Whatever you wanna do.” JJ replied, shrugging. He followed you up the basement steps to the main floor and out onto the sidewalk. The Wreck wasn’t too far away, just a short walk, but you were starting to feel antsy from trying so hard not to make yourself sound stupid and failing at it miserably. 

“I think, I’m gonna head home.” 

“Oh,” JJ frowned but you missed it, already turning toward the parking lot, “are you sure? Foods like, two minutes away.” 

“I’m kinda tired but I really appreciate you tagging along. As my dad says, I’m a hard person to like,” you said, smiling away the self-deprecating joke. 

“Guess I’ll see you around.” JJ pulled on his backpack straps, his books now safely inside as he watched you walk to your car and get in. 

Despite JJ still continuing to work for your father as the summer came to an end, you did your best to avoid him. Not as far as army crawling through your room to avoid the window though you had given it a moment of consideration one afternoon. 

You wanted to ask him if he’d finished any of the books he bought and if he liked them. If he regretted going with you to the booksale or if he’d actually enjoyed himself. But you were too nervous, so you did the best thing you could think of and ignored him. Until you couldn’t anymore. 

You were coming home from the beach, having gone by yourself just to spend the morning reading before it got crowded with last minute tourists, when you walked into your room to find JJ there, standing at your desk, holding a picture of you with your grandma in Maine last spring. 

“What are you doing in my room?” You asked, startling him and causing him to drop the frame on the carpeted floor, thankfully not breaking it. 

“Sorry, sorry, your dad told me to use the upstairs bathroom-“

“Which isn’t in my room.” You replied, dropping your beach tote on the floor and walking further into the room.

“Yeah,” JJ laughed a little, “I just wanted to see if you were home.”

“I was at the beach.” 

He perked up at the sound of that, immediately trying to picture how cute you would look out on a surf board with him. “How’s the surf?” 

“I don’t surf,” You barely even went in the water, “JJ, why are you in my room?”

“I told you-“

You cut him off, “Why are you still in my room?”

“I just wanted to talk to you. Listen I don’t know if maybe I wasn’t being clear or you aren’t interested, which is cool, ya know...but I really like you. I was kinda hoping we could get a second date, since you cut the first one short.” He explained, leaning against your desk.

“What are you talking about...we haven’t been on a date.” You replied, crossing your arms and frowning. You definitely would’ve remembered someone asking you on a date, especially someone like JJ.

“We went to the book sale.” He replied as if that was obvious.

“Yeah cause you showed up at my door and wanted to hang out cause everyone else was busy.” You said, giving the explanation for the day that you had created in your head.

“What are you talking about?” JJ asked, repeating your question from earlier, “John B and them were at the chateau.” 

“What?”

“Wha...wait, what is going on?” He said, running a hand through his hair out of mild frustration. He had come over because you were avoiding him and he was hoping to catch a chance to talk to you, maybe figure out what happened.

“I thought you wanted to hang out cause you didn’t have anything else to do.” You said, as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet.

“Are you kidding me right now? I wanted to hang out cause I like you. I wanted to take you to lunch, hence a date.” JJ replied.

“Oh.” Stunned was an understatement as you stood there staring at him, a little dumbfounded. “Why do you like me?”

“Well don’t say it like that.”

“Like what?” You asked.

“Like it’s so unbelievable.” He said, “look, I really like you. You’re really cool and I actually read all of It so, I think we should go out.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah seriously.”

“Okay, uh, right now though? Cause I’m kinda sandy still, honestly.” You replied.

JJ smiled at you, “yeah, I’m technically supposed to be cutting the grass right now.” As if on cue you heard your dad call JJ downstairs, no doubt wondering about the lawn mower still sitting in the middle of the lawn. “Tonight though?” He asked, walking passed you.

“Okay.” You nodded, biting your lip as you watched him leave your room. The fact that JJ Maybank had just told you he liked you and wanted to take you on a date all because your dad forced you to go to a dumb party was crazy, a little unbelievable, but you couldn’t stop yourself from being excited about it.

taglist: @maplelattes22 @poguesrforlife @freckled-and-daydreaming @chasefreakinstokes @millie-753 @fangirlwithme @alex12948 @katherine097 @tangledinsparkles @carbonated-beverage @mariofgreengables @damonsalvawhore27 @dopedoodes @dolanfivsosxox @belledutchess @poguelifeeee @faded-blue @parkerpetertingle @thebookwormlife @summer-clouds-and-long-days @jellyfishbeansontoast @minigranger @hoewkeye @love-someone-special @tiredfeels @strangerthanfanfiction713 @the-only-nana @tomzfrog @mozz-are-lla @vindictive-hearts @poguestyleskye @ssprayberrythings @jenahbell @beautyandthebleh @gothackedalready @teenwaywardasgardian @sarahcxmeron @haha-fuck-you-thot @stillbelieve398-5 @rewindlr @queenniccimicci @kissessforharryyy @thedarkqueenofavalon @alytavzla @bqmblebee @linniep @nerdypartytrashpsychic @xxchxrryxx @spencer-reid-is-a-cutie @mirjanak @danielladreaming @obx-saltlife @youngestxhearts @spnobsessedmemes @wowitswondergurl @celestialmaybank @mybnkjj @pineappleandcherries @mysterious-adventurer @justawilddreamerchild @rhyetaylor62 @calm-rejects @oh-annaa @aiifandomsunite @x-lulu @ceruleanjj @wicked-laugh @obxwriterfan @allie-mcginn @pcterparxer @literarycharleton @khiaraaa-in-spacee @crushe-s @teamnick @daydreamlilys @collectiveuniverses @activist-af @mdgrdians @buckys-sunflower @vindictive-hearts @copper-boom @talksoprettyjjx @5am-cigarette @smiithys @dontjinx-it @outerbanksbro @mysticsthinking @heavenlymama @louisolos @rudy-pankow-needs-an-oscar @babymatilda @raekenliar @lemur46 @under-a-canyon-moon @calums-betch @jolomez @timotaychalabae @summerkaulitz

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callioope · 4 years ago

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Thoughts on Critical Role Campaign 2 Episode 133 below the cut!

Post-Battle Capeleb Scene

Me to spouse as I was pressing play: “I apologize ahead of time for any squealing this episode may cause.”

Cut to Capeleb picking up Essek after the battle! All King Kong style!!! Shoving him in front of the two clerics like “Heal him!!!” ahhhh that definitely got a squeal ... incidentally just as my husband was starting a call... oops.

Bonus: Caduceus being like “dude I wanna heal you too”

Bonus 2: everyone like “Caleb you can put him down” Caleb: nO *puts Essek on his back* i mean caleb knows better than anyone you gotta protect the squishy wizard

Bonus 3!: Jester’s comment about “He doesn’t think clearly when he’s an animal.” and Essek’s “Evidently!” lol

Let the Cleric Rest!

Okay earlier in the episode, when Laura was insistent on “guys we need to start our long rest ASAP,” I felt that in my bones. I play a cleric in the Tomb of Annihilation campaign I’m in, and we spent 3 or 4 sessions stuck in a dungeon filled with poison gas where we took 1d6 poison damage every hour. So no long rests there. Top that off with the fact that we’ve been in the Chultan jungle even longer, and we don’t get long rests unless we can find and secure a very safe location, and the pain of being a spellcaster and not getting a long rest is REAL.

And then no one was acknowledging her at first! Yeah later Fjord and Beau were like “yeah yeah we agree” but she had to say it so many times!!! And I kept shouting at my screen “listen to Laura Bailey!!!” thinking “my dudes you can do ALL of this talking and planning while you rest pleeeeze get that rest it” because I play a cleric too and running out of a spells is a thing.

Of course, having finished the episode/in hindsight, I’m actually not sure if the even had a full 8 hours from the moment Jester finished her Commune with Artagan to the moment the Tomb Takers arrived, but still. I feel so bad for Laura right now knowing she only has ONE SPELL SLOT left and they’re going up against the Lucien and Cree. She’s clever so I’m sure she’ll think of something but that just is a really sucky feeling going into any battle knowing you don’t have a lot of slots left, let alone The Super Scary Big Battle ahead. soo. yeah. Gonna be worrying about that all week through the end of the next episode.

Also side note but jeez poor Laura rolling two one’s on that Heroes Feast. She needs to cleanse her dice or buy new ones altogether. she has the WORST luck with rolls.

TOWER TALK & TOUR!!!!!

IT!!! FINALY!!! HAPPENED!!!! I have been longing for Essek to see the Tower since episode 124 if not longer and at last! It was wonderful. AND CALEB SHOWED HIM THE NINTH FLOOR!!! amazing. fantastic. and what a talk. what a talk. ughh yes. they didn’t really have much time in the Tower outside of the Heroes Feast and the long rest but i’m sooooo glad Caleb got the chance to give the tour and they could talk. YAY!

Pursuing Lucien & Cree

Does anyone have any ideas of what they can do here? UGHH i wanna speculate on the best strategy for them (just because I find it to be a fun thought exercise). Like digging through the collapsed tunnel might take too long? Although we have no idea how long Lucien and Cree need. Hopefully the lack of the rest of the 3 Tomb Takers slows them down somewhat but who even knows at this point. I’ve been wondering if there are any teleportation spells that might work -- but Essek’s teleport is way too high to risk in Aeor right? Wonder if there’s any spells to magically clear the rubble? I’m stumped on this one. Super excited to see what they do but in the meantime while I have to wait would love to ponder this puzzle.

Fjord & the Rangers

not super wanting to like dive into intense discourse about this but like. I did have thoughts so here goes. I don’t blame Fjord for making the decision that he did, he had to make a spilt second decision and it seemed very in character for him to choose what he did. It did seem like he was trying to stall to help his party members get more rest, and it makes sense that he’d want to do that, BUT. here’s the thing. Battles in DND only take a minute or so TOPS. There’ s no way the battle itself would slow down the TT. If you’re hoping to delay the TT, you gotta hope the rangers can do enough damage to force them to at least take a short rest if not a long one. That’d only give an hour and that’s still not enough for the long rest the M9 need.

ALL THAT SAID!!! I think there’s a very good chance that whatever that battle did helped lower the TT’s HP enough so that the traps the M9 laid could finish off the three members it did. So I don’t think it was in vain. Worth it as a delay tactic? Ehh not really. Worth it to hurt the TT? Yes.

And while I do think that Fjord and Essek knew the chances were high they were sending the rangers to their Doom (a) I think the rangers being here in Aeor know that’s an everyday possibility to begin with, and (b) I still think there’s a chance they might have been able to survive/flee. Maybe the TT decided to push past them and fled from the skirmish themselves? Yes it’s possible everyone (including Dagen T_T) fell during that battle, but I don’t think that’s set in stone.

Also I don’t think the TT would think it’s weird to come across the rangers, they likely already knew they were there. And another thing -- even if they were like “Hmm rangers coincidentally by the entrance we were going to use?” Look they know the M9 became unscryable AND were trying to stop them. I honestly think the TT knew to be on the lookout for TM9 no matter what. And in hindsight -- which obvs Fjord did not have but we know now -- Lucien way underestimated them bc hey, despite everything, the trap still worked. Like, very much of what the M9 was trying to do during this whole arc was keep their cards close to their chest so Lucien would underestimate them. They really did lay the groundwork for that when they were traveling with them. Yeah technically they sort of revealed some of their hand during the Gelidon fight buuut they also ran from the TT limping later that day. So. Yeah. Anyways.

I’m rambling now and gotta go start dinner. But those are my initial thoughts!!!! Happy to engage in polite discourse. Main things I love talking about are theories for what happens next!!! and also hello, this is my first like, big post in the tag although I’ve already posted a few times in the shadowgast tag.

#critical role #critrole c2 #critrole spoilers #shadowgast

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wowweeharrystyles · 5 years ago

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Part 9 | The Jumpsuit, Falling & (more) Ripped Trousers | 6.1k words

Sequins & Zippers’ Summary: An internship with Harry Lambert transformed into a job of a lifetime - Aurora Del Gatto finds herself touring the world with the one & only Harry Styles as his ‘Head of Wardrobe.’ Aurora is nothing but nerves & excitement as she packs her bags & almost 100 custom designer suits that belong to an unbelievably kind rockstar. She never thought she’d fall in love on top of it all.

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Masterlist

a/n: I hope y’all are doing what you need to during this crazy time. All the love to you all !!! 💕also...a little bit of niall in this part... go stream HBW !!!

The loud knock on the door causes Harry and Aurora to jump and scramble to sit up on the couch.

“Heard there’s a curly headed boy in here!”

A once blonde, now brunette head pops into the doorway. If the irish accent wasn’t enough to give away who it was, his face surely does. Aurora messes with her hair and Harry wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, trying their best to compose themselves. They had made their way back to Harry’s dressing room from the empty arena before Harry was to be pulled away for training, soundcheck and all the usual pre show prep. One thing led to another and the episode of Friends Aurora had pressed play on was long forgotten.

“Niall!” Harry exclaims, jumping off the couch. He hugs his old friend as Aurora is frozen on the couch. Harry hadn’t even mentioned the possibility of Niall coming to the show tonight. It didn’t even cross Aurora’s mind that in Dublin (duh), that Niall might be in attendance. A deer in headlights describes Aurora best at this moment. “Haven’t seen ‘ur hair this messy in ages! Who do you have here with you?” Niall jokes, his laugh filling the space. When Harry steps out of the doorway to invite Niall in, he fixes his hair and Niall’s laughter stops. Niall lets out a surprised “Oh,” with a small laugh.

“Uh, Niall, this is Ror- uh, Aurora,” he corrects himself, a dopey smile forming on his face.

“Lovely to meet you, Aurora,” Niall offers a hand out to her.

“Wasn’t how I was intending to introduce the 2 of you, but here we are,” Harry adds.

“Uh, great to meet you as well, Niall,” Aurora says as she stands up. She shakes his hand. “Harry, you could’ve said he was coming,” Aurora comments directly to Harry.

“It wasn’t for sure yet and I kind of wanted it to be a surprise,” Harry tells Aurora.

“A surprise?” Niall questions. “For Aurora?” He continues to question as he gestures to Aurora, a small look of confusion on his face.

“Ugg,” Aurora groans, to no one in particular, “Harry, please don’t.”

“Hey, if you’re going to rub in my face that you were once a ‘Niall girl’,” he uses air quotes to pester her more, “then I’m going to have some fun with it.” Niall’s laugh echoes off the walls of the dressing room.

“I’m gonna need more of a story behind this,” Niall says through bouts of laughter.

Aurora groans again, rolling her eyes at Harry before turning back to Niall. “Wish we could've had this conversation over some drinks, but here we are.”

“We could get drinks right now, I know where the bar is,” Niall adds.

“I’m technically working… so drinking is a no,”

“But making out on the couch is fine?” Harry asks through a chuckle, Niall’s laugh joins in.

“Oh god, the 2 of you together is really gonna be like this huh?”

“Like what?” Harry asks.

“You 2 picking on me and just overall, chaotic.” The 2 former bandmates shrug their shoulders when they make eye contact.

“Anyways,” Niall circles back to the original request, “I need the story. Correct me if I’m wrong, but did Harry say ‘Niall girl’?”

“He sure did. I made the mistake to share that I once had One Direction posters on my wall growing up. Definitely pumped Harry’s ego a bit and I had to bring it down by informing him that I was a quote unquote a Niall Girl back then.” Aurora sighs and then laughs at the face Niall is making at Harry. “Ni, you don’t have a chance anymore, so stop even entertaining the thought in your head,” Harry says as he tosses an arm around Aurora’s shoulders.

“How much does it kill you that she had posters of me in her room?” Niall asks Harry.

“Don’t wanna talk about it,” Harry states with a straight face.

“Can we not talk about any of this anymore?” Aurora questions, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment still. Both Harry and Niall’s laughter fill the room once again and Aurora can’t help but smile at the 2 old friends.

Harry ushers them both to the empty couch and chairs to sit back down. Niall opts for the chair after grabbing a sparkling water from the fridge under the vanity counter. Niall seems carefree and comfortable. Harry doesn’t talk much about being in the band or the other guys much. It’s not that he avoids it at all costs. If it comes up he’ll talk but he doesn’t volunteer the conversation himself. Aurora does know that he keeps in touch with Niall the most. She had caught him giggling at something on his phone recently and when she asked what it was all he said was that Niall sent him a joke.

“I’ve seen the suits you’ve got our boy Harold in, they’re incredible, really,” Niall comments to Aurora.

“Oh, yeah, I only helped pick some of them out, thanks though,” Aurora says shyly.

“Don’t do that,” Harry interrupts. “You’ve done more than that.” Aurora only blushes slightly and shakes her head.

“Getting him in clothes is the hardest part, honestly,” Niall comments.

“Why does everyone say that?” Aurora questions. “Gemma made the same comment and Lambert alluded to it as well.”

“Harry over here was barely dressed half the time and would put up a fight when he was told to put pants or a shirt on for anything. Quite a show off back in the day,” Niall shares.

Aurora laughs, “Well, I haven’t had much trouble.”

“Think there’s something more in it for him when he listens,” Niall says.

Harry rolls his eyes at Niall. An alarm rings from Harry’s phone.

“I’ve gotta head to sound check, wanna come with, Ni?” Harry asks as he stands up. Niall agrees to join and the 2 boys stand up to leave.

“Have a good sound check,” Aurora says before pressing a kiss to his lips quickly. “Niall, seriously it was great meeting you. I’m assuming you’re staying for the show?” He nods, “Great, I’ll see you later then.”

“Great to meet you too. See you later, Aurora,” Niall says, his blue eyes bright and his irish accent strong.

| | | | |

Harry’s dressing room becomes a common room tonight and by the time Harry has to get ready, his whole band is in here. Niall’s tagged along with Harry since he got here earlier and Aurora has enjoyed the commotion for once. Niall is sharing a story about one of the many shows they had done together when Aurora finishes prepping Harry’s jumpsuit for the show. She joins Sarah on the couch while waiting for Harry to be done with Ayae.

“He falls flat on his arse,” Niall continues telling the story. “In front of a sold out arena. No idea what he even tripped on or anything, to this day.”

“Hey!” Harry interrupts. “There was a loose flap on the stage!” He defends.

“Buddy, I really don’t think there was, but keep telling people that if it makes you feel better.” Harry rolls his eyes at Niall.

“Ror, I’m ready!” Harry says as he walks towards the wardrobe cases. Aurora gets off the couch to help get him into the jumpsuit.

“Hey, Mully just messaged saying he was here,” Niall says to Harry. “I’m gonna go find him.” Harry and Niall hug for a moment, a few pats on the back, Niall wishing him good luck. Aurora smiles at the two. No love was lost between them. Though Aurora doesn’t know everything about what that time was like, she's grateful that behind all the rumors and drama Harry and Niall still get along like they did when they first met on the X Factor. She’s most grateful for the fact that Harry has someone who understands it all. Someone who can relate to him and someone to share those memories with. She’s supportive and understands what she can but she wasn’t there.

Harry’s band, Ayae and Helene follow Niall out the door leaving Aurora and Harry alone, just as it happens every night.

“Okay, here ya go,” Aurora says as she hands off the jump suit to Harry. He steps into the jumpsuit and pulls the sleeves up on his shoulders. He lets out a grunt when he goes to button it close. “What?” Aurora asks with a look of worry on her face.

“Uhm, fits a bit tighter than it did last,” Harry says slowly.

“Oh no…. Can you close it?”

“I mean, yeah, I think it’ll be fine, just not as roomy as it was for the Late Late Show.” Harry fastens the buttons up the front and adjusts the fabric in a few spots before he looks up to Aurora.

“Turn around for me,” she directs to inspect that it’s still okay to perform in. As he turns around Aurora’s jaw drops, “Oh.” The jumpsuit certainly fits tighter than it did last. “Uh, is it comfortable?” She stutters out.

“Uh yeah,” Harry moves around a bit. “Does it look okay?”

“Honest?”

“Well, yeah,” Harry says, slightly confused.

“So uh, it definitely fits tighter… but it looks really good.” It’s all that Aurora can say. Her brain actually cannot form anymore full sentences. It’s not that the jump suit looked bad when he wore it for the Kiwi performance on the Late Late Show almost a year ago, it’s just that it looks better than it did. Harry turns to Aurora to try to figure out what she’s thinking.

“What?” Harry asks when Aurora’s face is unreadable. He chuckles a little when her cheeks turn a light shade of pink under his gaze.

“Well your ass looks great.”

“Rory!” Harry yells, almost startled by the comment coming from her.

“What?! It’s the truth!” She says with a short laugh. “Let’s just say all those training sessions are doing their job.” Harry shakes his head, a small huff coming out of his mouth before a dimple inducing smile covers his face. He’s drawn towards Aurora and the look in her eyes. He can’t put his finger on it. When he gets his hands around her waist, instinctively he pulls her as close as she can get to him. Her hands grab on his shoulders and then slide down to his biceps. She lets out a small giggle as Harry presses his face into her neck, his lips landing on the soft skin below her ear. Aurora moves her hands to his chest to push him away from her to get him to stop tickling her neck with the soft touch of his lips. Pressing up to her toes, she kisses him square on the lips quickly before she pulls away from his hold. “Just don’t stop training.”

She pretends like nothing has happened and goes to grab Harry’s socks and shoes. She openly watches him as he puts them on. She follows him into the large, echoey bathroom as she always does. Hopping onto the counter she watches as he goes through his routine.

“So what’d you think of Niall?” Harry asks curiously, his face reads a hint of caution but also approval. Being the one member he has stayed in contact with the most, he’s hoping she likes him as much as he does. He’s also nervous. He’d be lying if he said the image of Aurora’s childhood bedroom with Niall’s face plastered on the walls wasn’t haunting his mind.

Aurora can see his brain churning as he asks the question and she smiles a little at the almost nervous look that is now on his face. “Crazy to meet him if I’m honest,” she shrugs. She sees Harry take a deep breath, his shoulders rising but not falling when he breathes out a shallow breath. “I’m glad you’ve kept in contact with him.” Aurora’s trying to direct the conversation to be about Niall and Harry not Niall and Aurora. She can tell he’s thinking too much. “Harry?” He hums at her as he finishes brushing his teeth. “You know, even though I had posters of Niall on my walls, I did take them down a long time ago. My mom found them in the back of my closet and they were there for a reason.” She sighs. He thinks too much and there’s reasons he thinks too much. She just doesn’t know why yet, but that conversation is for another day. “Babe,” at the pet name, Harry looks at her, “Niall wasn’t the one who took care of me when I burned my arm with a steamer. He doesn’t bring me coffee exactly how I like it or flirt with me by getting me new sneakers,” she laughs lightly. “He doesn’t make me laugh on a daily basis or know exactly when I could use a hug.” Now Aurora has hopped off the counter and is standing next to Harry, looking at him in the mirror. “He’s not you. He never will be no matter what. I may have had posters of him on my walls 4 years ago but that doesn’t matter anymore.” Aurora turns to face Harry and he follows her movement so they’re face to face now. She tucks a rogue curl back into place before continuing. “You’re all that matters, okay? I’m here, with you, yeah? Please stop thinking so much,” she pleads. Harry nods minutely. A small smile appears on his face, the cliche twinkle is back in his eye and he uses one hand to pull Aurora’s face to his, kissing her softly.

“You know I get in my head a lot,” Harry says quietly when they pull apart from each other. Aurora offers a small smile and sighs at him.

“I know, but you need to talk to me about it. Tell me when something isn’t sitting right, tell me anything. I can read you pretty well but I can only do so much.”

“Promise I’ll work on it as long as you promise me you’re a Harry girl now,” he mocks. Aurora groans as she pulls away from his hold.

“You know, you’re really good at ruining the moment?” She jokes as she walks back to the main part of the dressing room.

“You can’t deny you don’t adore it!” Harry yells back. She laughs and it echoes through both rooms and it makes Harry smile.

Aurora turns around when she hears him walk back through the door. There’s still a ghost of a smile on his face when he looks at her. She huffs, unable to form a thought when she goes to give the last look on his jumpsuit.

“What?” Harry questions, a sparkle in his eye.

“Nothing,” she brushes her thoughts away. Harry raises an eyebrow at her in question. “You look really good,” she admits with a shrug before turning away from him. She starts to pick up a few things to put away but Harry is quick to grab her waist and turn her around. She only sees the smile that’s covered his face for a moment before his lips are on hers.

| | | | |

Everyone has been spending the extra days off at the hotel’s private pool. They nap and read and just enjoy the time off. Harry and Aurora are sitting on a cushion covered wooden sectional that sits in the corner of the pool area covered by large yellow and white umbrellas. Regardless of the heat, Aurora snuggled into Harry’s side, his feet crossed at the ankle, propped up on the bench in front of them and his arm around her shoulders. He has one of his woven fedoras on and sunglasses covering his eyes. Aurora traces over the butterfly tattoo on his stomach, idly as he hums and rests his head on top of hers.

“This is nice,” he repeats for the hundredth time this afternoon. Aurora giggles in response. Harry turns his head and places a soft kiss to her hair. Harry starts humming again.

“Is that a new one?” Aurora asks.

“Ahhh not yet, just a little melody that’s been stuck in my head.”

“Are you writing for the next album?” She asks as she reaches for his cross necklace. Aurora fiddles with it between her thumb and pointer finger.

“Not purposefully. I’ll write whatever comes to me or record a voice note or something so I can use it later if I want. But not really thinking about the next album yet. I want to enjoy the tour and the first album more before I get into the next ” he shares, looking down at her.

“That makes sense. It seemed like it was always a quick turnaround for the band. Must be nice to enjoy it all and not have to think about the next thing when you’ve just started the first thing. ” She drops the necklace and her hand slides up the side of his neck and stops at his jawline. Aurora’s fingers trace lightly over the harshness of it.

“Yeah it’s been nice, more enjoyable” he smiles down at her. “Not that it wasn’t enjoyable-”

“Don’t have to explain yourself, I understand what you’re saying.” Aurora’s fingers don’t leave his jawline, only grip it harder to bring his face down to hers. His breath fans out across her face before his lips land on hers. She smiles when he pulls away for a brief moment. He mirrors her smile before going in to kiss her again. Between their smiles and the small giggles coming from both of them, they barely can connect their lips.

It’s when they’re laying in the same spot later, cold margaritas on the table nearby, the sun setting off in the distance when Aurora gets a glimpse of Harry that makes her heart swell. His face is soft as he enjoys the view. A tint of red covers the top of his cheeks and nose, the sun having made a mark. Everything feels so normal, so mundane. Three full days spent in the Australian sun has only made Aurora’s heart grow fonder of the curly headed boy that she’s tucked into. With nothing to do but enjoy each other’s company, laugh with their friends and soak up the sun, she’s had a lot of time to think about everything. She’s thought about how thankful she is that this is her life, that while working, this is the break she gets to take, that her job is to dress the man she’s falling in love with. She’s thought about that last part a lot. She’s not sure she’s falling in love with him so much as already fallen in love with him. She’s there. She fell and she fell hard and she’s there. She’s fallen so hard that a small glimpse of him in the light of the sunset is enough to make her want to give her whole self to him.

Aurora thinks about it the whole way back to the hotel room. Harry even asks why she’s so quiet. When she responds with “just thinking” he doesn’t stop the questioning there.

“Ror,” he whispers.

“What? You’re the only one who can think too much?” Aurora jokes as they walk into the elevator.

Harry sighs as a small smile ghosts his face, “what’re you thinking about, love?”

“Uhm, can I tell you once I’ve figured it out?”

Harry angles his body towards her so he can see her face completely. He pulls her closer to him with the hand that is at her waist. He kisses the top of her cheek then her temple. “Sure,” he says quietly, “just don’t go making up stories in that pretty little head of yours, okay?” Aurora nods.

Once they get back to the hotel room both of them take their turns to shower and get ready for bed. Aurora’s sitting on the bed, Harry’s rolling stone tshirt on and scrolling through her phone when Harry walks out of the bathroom.

“Did you call your mum?” he asks. Aurora mentioned that she wanted to when he hopped into the shower.

“Mom was asleep, but I called Leila,” Aurora explains.

“How is your sister?” He asks as he wrings out his hair with the towel one last time, tossing it back in the bathroom.

“Good…” she answers broadly, not totally focused on the conversation.

“Ror, you’re still thinking hard about something.”

“Yeah, no, I know. Promise I’m fine. Leila helped a bit.” Harry gives her a questioning look as he sits down on the bed with her. “I’m still trying to work it out in my head, okay?” He nods slowly at her. “We’re fine. I promise we are. Nothing to worry about,” she explains as she reaches for him. She’s endeared by the caring look in his eyes. He looks rested and calm and his skin has tanned a bit.

She pulls him into her rather than finding her spot tucked into his side. His hair is still damp and she knows if she touches it too much it’ll go all frizzy. So instead, she smoothes it down so it doesn’t tickle her neck too much. He willingly wraps his arms around her torso, his legs automatically finding her bare ones underneath the sheets and weaving with them. Subconsciously she starts to trace the ink that litters his arm.

“Ready for the show tomorrow?” Aurora asks after some silence.

“Yeah,” he answers slowly.

“Is it hard to go back to touringn after a small break?” She asks, curious. She always hated going back to school or work after long weekends or short trips. His job is different but it’s work, all the same.

“Uhm, it normally is a bit hard yeah, but feels a bit different now, this time.”

“What’d you mean by that?”

“It’s all a bit different now, used to be such a routine, go home for a few days or family and friends would come to me when I had a few days. It was always so hard when they left and I had to get back to work. Not that-”

“Not that you didn’t enjoy it,” Aurora finishes for him.

“I say that a lot, huh?”

“Don’t need to explain it to me, remember? I understand.” Harry sighs at Aurora’s words and lets his hand that's sitting on her hip find the hem of his t-shirt she’s wearing and slid underneath. He gives the skin at her hip a light squeeze before he lets the heat from his hand radiate on the skin there and rub circles into her flesh haphazardly.

“Right, well it was hard then cause I’d have to say goodbye and it was always for an unknown amount of time. I should’ve been going back to work well rested but I would stay up for hours in the night dreading having to leave or them leaving me.” Harry stops his movements and wraps his arms around Aurora tighter, his face burying itself in Aurora’s neck and breathing in the smell of her shampoo. He pulls his head away only for a moment to share the rest of his explanation. “But it’s different now because it’s my tour and it isn’t how it used to be and I’ve got you with me. And as long as you’re not planning on going anywhere I don't’ have to dread going back to work cause you’ll be there too.”

| | | | |

Aurora decides to watch from the mix tonight in Melbourne and by the time Harry makes his way to the Bstage she doesn’t regret the choice at all. Harry can spot her any night, but tonight is different. He catches a glimpse of her as he walks up the metal stairs, Mitch following not far behind. She still has on the black and white floral jacket. The one he wore years ago. The one he gave her, while sitting on the very stage he’s walking up. Only the stage was in an arena in a different continent. His smile mocked the glimmer of the gold foil on his suit and shined right up until the moment he focused on the next song.

“One, two, three, four,” he almost whispers into the mic. Mitch starts to play the guitar and Aurora’s heart swells when Harry starts singing ‘Sweet Creature.’

If anyone would ask Aurora what her favourite song of Harry’s is she’d probably end up listing the whole album. Right now though, her favourite is ‘Sweet Creature.’ If it were actually possible, his vocals would melt her heart into nothing. There’s something about it stripped down like this, it’s the most similar to how he sings when he’s on his own, when he’s with Aurora. It's the most similar to how he sounds when he’s in the shower or when he’s getting ready in the mornings. He’ll sing his current and old favourites and sometimes mess around with the melody of some of his own.

“You will bring me home,” he belts. “Sweet creature, sweet creature, when I run out of road,” he sings with his eyes closed, full heart and soul poured into each note. He lets the audience sing the next line. As Mitch’s guitar fills the speakers on its own and the audience screams louder, Aurora can tell Harry is trying to avoid turning in her direction but he can’t fight it. He turns his head to where she’s standing. She watches as his jaw softens. His eyes search the small section he knows Aurora’s standing in. When he finds her, a smile appears on his face. A dimple and the crinkles at his eyes follow the turn of his lips. His eyes twinkle. Maybe from the lights. Maybe it’s the result of the emotion of the song. Maybe it’s because he’s just seen the girl he’s in love with, singing along to his own song, in his old jacket with a look on her face that could be described as nothing short of absolute adoration.

He doesn’t linger long. He knows that he can’t stare at her from the stage forever and his cue is coming soon for the last line of the song.

“You will bring me home,” his voice sounds through the speakers, deep and clear. It rattles Aurora’s chest a bit.

Harry thanks Mitch and grabs his own guitar, now solo on the small stage. Even though Aurora can’t pick one favourite from Harry’s album she could give you at least her top 5 favourite One Direction songs. ‘If I Could Fly’ is without a doubt in the top 5. Aurora does think Harry’s version on his own is the best version of it. Every night she’s thoroughly entertained when Harry tries to quiet the audience before he asks them to sing the chorus for him. She can’t help but take on the smile that appears on his face when the entire audience is singing, in unison, the song he poured his heart into years ago.

As the song comes to an end and the opening of ‘Anna’ begins, Aurora’s eyes follow Harry as he walks down the stairs and back up the path that is littered with flowers and sparkles and signs and fans yelling his name. She sees the pile of flowers that sit on top of a crate at the edge of the mix near the bstage stairs and smiles. She can’t help but think how lucky she is to be standing here, wearing the Gucci jacket of dreams, getting to dress the rockstar that has just tossed his planet painted guitar over his chest and falling in love with him all at the same time.

| | | | |

The golden Calvin Klein suit is the last Aurora can take, she thinks. He screams sunshine in this. Just like that day in Amsterdam - so many things go back to that day in Amsterdam - the bright golden colour of the suit has the same effect that the yellow t-shirt did.

Aurora's tucked up in the corner of the couch in Harry’s dressing room. Harry is sitting in the chair in front of the vanity mirror, Ayae fixing his curls after Harry messed them up a few minutes ago. She can’t stop catching his eyes in the mirror and they both laugh quietly each time. When his hair is back in place and Harry thanks Ayae, he walks to where Aurora is on the couch. He raises an eyebrow up at her.

“You know,” Aurora starts, “there’s this thing,” she laughs nervously. “I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s gonna sound crazy, but you’re-you’re like,” she pauses before continuing, “sunshine. My own personal sunshine.” Harry tries to hide a smile as he places his hand on top of Aurora’s that is resting on her knee. He bends down and presses a kiss to the top of Aurora’s head.

“Don’t sound crazy to me, love. If I look like sunshine to you, then I'm your sunshine.”

Aurora pulls her hand out from underneath Harry's and grabs his face with both of them. She locks eyes with him for a short moment before pulling him down for a kiss.

| | | | |

Aurora and Helene are laughing while looking through the photos Helene took during the show tonight in Sydney. Some of the photos of Harry are quite entertaining to say the least.

“This one!” Aurora yells when Helene clicks to the next photo. “You have to post this one.” Helene laughs at Aurora’s eagerness. “It’s perfect.”

“Oh is it?” Helene pesters.

“His hair looks incredible. The lighting is perfect,” Aurora compliments. “And- and,” she stutters out, “he looks like sunshine.”

“You’re really in love with him, huh?” Helene asks with a newly serious tone. Aurora smiles at her before sighing.

“I mean, yeah,” she shrugs as if it’s not that scary. As if being in love with the world's biggest pop star isn’t something to be scared of. Like it’s not this terrifying idea, cause it’s not. At least not right at this moment.

He’s her sunshine and she’s in love.

| | | | |

“Do not tell me that was the sound of something ripping!” Aurora yells from across the large backstage space in Brisbane. She doesn’t dare to turn around to see the chaos that is happening surrounding the ping pong tables. She takes a deep breath as silence fills the room. Silence apart from Harry's laugh, that is.

“Oh, Rory,” Harry calls through fits of laughter.

When Aurora turns around her jaw drops and she has to force herself to take a deep breath so she doesn’t yell.

“15 minutes!” calls the stage manager. Aurora’s heart sinks before it starts to beat rapidly.

“Fucking hell,” she whispers to herself. “Take them off, I gotta fix ‘em,” she tells Harry as she reaches into her bag to find a needle and black thread.

“I’ll just put a different pair on. It’s fine,” Harry says as he walks towards Aurora.

“It’s not fine Harry. I’d have to steam another pair of pants, which will take more time than we have and anyways, we don’t have any other options. We only packed what was needed for the Australia shows.” Aurora is frustrated. 15 minutes before the show? Really?

“Oh,” is all Harry lets out as he slips out of the ripped pants.

“You just had to be doing trick shots right before the show, huh?” Aurora half laughs, half scolds as she sits down to stitch the rip up the inside of the leg of his pants.

“Sorry, Ror,” he offers as he begins to watch her get to work but his name is called back at the ping pong tables and he runs back to his game.

“Should probably put your shirt and jacket on at least!” Aurora calls after him, not looking up. “Won’t have a minute to spare once they're finished!” She doesn’t look up, too focused on the work at hand. It’s not till she hears the band and stage crew cheer not 2 minutes later that she looks up.

Harry’s standing at one end of the ping pong table with only his boxers and tall black socks on, a look of pride covering his face. The paddle outstretched in one hand and he’s taking in the cheers as he does on stage.

Now Aurora’s angry. Here she is doing her job, trying to fix the pants Harry has ripped almost the entire length of while Harry is off, still playing around, now 10 minutes till the show is supposed to begin.

“Rory!” he sings. “How’s my girl doing over here?”

“Not your girl right now,” she says shortly. She doesn’t look up to him. She just keeps focusing on weaving the thread in and out of the black fabric. She does see his feet stop in its place, just at the edge of her range of sight. Backstage begins to quiet down a bit.

Harry’s band gathers at the stage door ready to go when they're told to do so. There’s murmurs from the stage crew as they get everything ready. Aurora takes a deep breath to try and calm the shakiness in her hands.

“Ror, why’re you shaking?” Harry whispers. Aurora hears the click of Helene’s camera.

“Trying to fix your pants, less than 10 minutes till the show,” she answers quickly.

“I can go on stage late, it’s fine. Take your time, love.”

“Harry, please, I’m not your girl right now, I'm not ‘love’, I’m trying to do my job. Just let me fix these, I’ll call you when they’re ready. Now, go put on your tank and jacket, please.” Aurora isn’t messing around and Harry’s figured that out now.

“Yeah, okay,” he says solemnly. “Pushing start time by 10 minutes!” the stage manager announces instead of giving the 5 minute warning. “Officially, 15 minutes till new start time!

Although Aurora is angry with Harry for ripping his pants in the first place and now pushing back the show to accommodate her she relaxes a bit and her hands calm down.

A few minute pass and when she knots the final stitch she calls for Harry. Standing up from her spot she turns the pants right side out. When she finally looks away from the pants she sees Harry standing in front of her, the top half of his body much more covered than the bottom half.

“Thank you” he whispers to Aurora as he takes his pants from her. “I’m sorry,” he says as he buttons them close. When she meets his eyes she can’t help but smile softly at him. She sighs heavily, weaving the needle that’s still in her hand on the shoulder of her shirt, just like her mom always does.

“Out of all the suits to rip before the show it was the simple black Givency one. Really?” Aurora messes with the collar of his jacket quickly, pulling it so it sits evenly on his shoulders. “Gotta respect me when I’m working okay? I’m here to be your ‘Head of Wardrobe’ first.” Harry nods, understanding. “I know the line is blurry, but when I’m trying to fix your clothes in a timely manner and you’re acting like a spoiled rockstar, you gotta check yourself. I’ll be your girlfriend after the show and we can laugh about how you ripped the entire inside seam of your pants then. Right now, though, I’m annoyed and a little angry. You shouldn’t have been playing ping pong like that in your suit in the first place, but I am not your mother, so, yeah.” Aurora shakes her head.

“I’m sorry,” Harry offers again.

“Thank you, but it’s fine. We’ll figure this out eventually,’ Aurora shrugs. “You’re all set. Good luck,” she says as she pushes him towards the stage door.

“Be my girl for a minute?” Aurora’s eyebrows furrow at the question. “Just want a good luck kiss,” he explains.

“Hasn’t stopped you before,” Aurora says challengingly.

“You’re not making the line any clearer,” he challenges back.

“Shut up and let me kiss you,” Aurora states as she grabs his face in both of her hands. His hands find a grip on her waist before dipping his head down and meeting their lips lightly. He lets one hand drop, the other smoothing around her waist so he can hold her whole body with the one. He presses another kiss to her lips before he pulls away. He grabs her waist tightly once more and presses a kiss to her cheek.

She watches as the sound manager sets up his in-ear and weaves it through the back of his jacket. Harry adjusts the cords and the piece in his ear quickly and spares a last look at Aurora who’s standing where he left her, arms now crossed against her chest, smiling back at him. He mirrors her bright smile for a quick moment before turning around and disappearing through the doors.

#harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #sequins & zippers #aurora on tour #harry styles fanfiction #one direction imagine

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changingourdestiny · 5 years ago

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Coronation Part 1: New Year, New Mischief

Summary:

It's New Year's Day at the Tower and Fireteam Paralight, along with Cayde, are laughing over the events of the previous night. But when an excited Marcia drags them down to the Annex with seemingly no explanation, they can only wonder what in the name of the Traveller is going on?

Next Part: Here

It’s been a little over two months since Fireteam Paralight took on the horrors of the Moon with Eris Morn and Marcia Wyverk, and things have seemed to have gotten crazier since. From killing the Undying Mind in multiple timelines to saving the legend known as Saint-14 (and a fan-boy moment from Adam), Paralight have had their hands full. And as the three of them know all too well, they’ll only get crazier from here. But nothing could prepare them for what was to happen… It was New Year’s day on Earth. Even on a cold morning like this one, the courtyard was still fairly busy with Guardians either returning from twilight patrols or heading out for morning ones, while some were just stumbling out to get fresh air while recovering from hangovers caused by the night before. Rae leaned against the Tower railing as she looked out over the City. Rae was never one for alcohol, so she was fully sober the whole night and had the pleasure of remembering all of the…interesting events that played out. Her thoughts were interrupted by a yawn as a sleepy Cayde strolled up beside her, leaning back against the railing. “Good morning.” Rae smiled. “Mornin’” Cayde mumbled as he stretched his arms. “Told ya not to stay up so late.” Rae chuckled as she shook her head. “And miss the entertainment? No way!” Cayde chuckled as he recalled the events of last night’s New Years party. “Did I miss anything?” Rae asked as she stood up straight. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. From what I heard, Blaze had Firefly record the whole thing and put together a compilation vid.” Cayde reassured, “Though I kinda feel bad for the massive headache that-” Cayde cut himself off as he spotted a very proud-looking Blaze and a tired-looking Adam approach them. “Ah! And here comes the star of last night!” Cayde laughed. “Ugh…what happened last night?” Adam groaned; hand pressed against his forehead. “You haven’t told him yet?” Rae enquired, turning to Blaze. “Figured I’d wait until I was with you guys to show off the finished product.” Blaze grinned as Firefly popped up beside her. “I got all the best bits and put them into a little video for all to enjoy!” Firefly chirped. “Wait…best bits? Best bits of what?” Adam asked, giving everyone confused glances as Stormbringer hovered beside him. “I’m sorry, Adam.” Stormbringer apologised, “I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen.” “Back up.” Adam held up his hands, “What the hell happened last night?” “Well…” Rae began, “After midnight, Saint wanted to challenge people to a drinking contest. And you decided it’d be a great idea to take him up on the offer. He was fine, but…we found out you’re a serious lightweight.” “Oh no…” Adam’s face went noticeably pale, “Please tell me I didn’t do anything dumb.” “If ya didn’t, I wouldn’t have this compilation!” Firefly replied as she began to show the video. It featured Adam giggling at nearly every little thing, marching around while singing in Swedish, going around and telling all the Titan’s that they’re his best friend, including Zavala, Sloane, Shaxx and Saint, and even a clip of him going around with Storm displaying a picture of Petra while Adam told the others to ‘look at his lovely girlfriend’ and how ‘he’s the luckiest Guardian this side of the solar system’. Blaze, Cayde and Rae just chuckled as they watched Adam’s face get redder and redder before the compilation finally ended. “I gotta say, Adam.” Rae began, “You’re quite the extrovert when you’re drunk.” “Please tell me you haven’t shown that video to anyone.” Adam begged. “Nah, I didn’t show anyone.” Blaze grinned as Firefly disappeared. “Thank the Traveller…” Adam breathed a sigh of relief. “But I did send a copy to Petra.” Blaze snickered before running off. “BLAZE, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!” Adam yelled as he took off after the laughing Hunter. “I don’t know who to feel bad for – Adam or Blaze.” Cayde chuckled “She asked for it, in fairness.” Rae shook her head, “Anyway, we should get to our posts before Zavala has our heads.” “Guardians. It does not matter that your head is practically exploding. Get out there and fight the Darkness. War. Poetry. Knitting.” Rae laughed at Cayde’s Zavala impression before suddenly stopping and covering her mouth. “What?” Cayde asked, confused. “As ‘amusing’ as your impressions are, Cayde, it’s time you got back to your post.” Cayde froze up upon hearing the familiar voice of the Titan Vanguard behind him. “A-aha! Right! See ya, Zavala!” Cayde grabbed Rae’s arm as he took off towards the Hanger, leaving Zavala shaking his head before heading to his own post. ——————————————————————— “Happy New Year, Amanda!” Rae greeted as she and Cayde entered the Hanger, Colonel fluttering over to Cayde before nestling in his arms. “Mornin’, you two. Happy New Year!” Amanda called from under the Sparrow she was working on. “Good morning, comrades.” Rae heard Saint call as he descended the steps of his ship. “Morning, Saint. All good after last night?” “Ha! Last night’s contest was child’s play. Although, I cannot say the same for Adam. How is he?” “He has two headaches.” Cayde replied, setting Colonel down on the ground before following Rae to Saint’s ship. “Two?” Saint asked, confused. “Yeah. One’s in his head an the other he’s chasing around the Tower.” “Ah yes! The little Hunter that was filming. Blaze, yes? Which reminds me, what is the name of the Hunter with the little mark under her eye? Black hair, scars on the cheek.” “You mean Marcia?” Rae asked. “Yes, that’s it. I saw her looking about the hanger earlier.” Saint replied, “She seemed excited about something.” “Uh oh…” Rae began, “When Marcia gets excited over something, that thing’s usually not something good.” “There you are!” Rae and Cayde jumped upon hearing Marcia’s voice echo through the hanger. Marcia rushed over to them from the hanger entrance with a beaming grin on her face, “You two. With me. Annex. Now!”, grabbed their arms and began dragging them away. “Okay, this is happening then!” Cayde exclaimed. “See ya, Saint!” Rae called as they were dragged out of the hanger. “Is it always like this here?” Saint asked. “Yup. Pretty much.” Amanda replied. ——————————————————————— “Hurry it up!” Marcia dragged Cayde and Rae down into the Annex. “Can you at least tell us what you’re up to?” Rae asked. “Nope. Not now. Not here. Too many ears. It’s bad enough I need Vanguard help for this, but I need as much help as possible.” Marcia replied, before shooting a glare at Cayde, “Plus, a certain someone still owes me for their stunt a few months back.” Marcia dragged them into Drifter’s room in the Annex where he was there with Adam and Blaze – the latter having a noticeable bruise on her forehead. “He caught ya?” Rae asked. “He caught me.” Blaze replied, “Worth it, though.” Rae rolled her eyes playfully as Marcia finally let go of her and Cayde. “So mind telling us what you’re up to now?” Adam asked. “She didn’t tell you guys either?” Cayde asked as he watched Marcia rush about the back of the room. “Nope.” Blaze shrugged, “We asked Drifter, but he hasn’t a clue either.” “All I know is that she’s been running ‘bout the solar system ‘investigating’, as she puts it, since you got back from the Moon.” Drifter replied, tossing a coin into the air, “When she got back last night, she began rushin’ about the Tower saying stuff like ‘I got it!’ and ‘How’d I not think of this?’” A small crash was heard from the corner of the room followed by a small “Ow!” from Marcia. “Hey, be careful back there, yeah? I like my mess where it is.” Drifter called behind him. “Sorry!” Marcia called back as she emerged from the corner with a rolled-up map, “Okay, so ya’ll know how I’ve been getting those power surges, yeah?” she began, “Well, I didn't get the answers I was looking for on the Moon. But I think I know where to take the next step...and I'm gonna need some good ol' Paralight backup!" Marcia unravelled the map, “This look familiar?” “Is that…the Dreadnaught?” Rae asked. “Is that one of my maps?” Cayde added. “It’s a COPY of one of your maps…that I stole…and then put back…so it’s technically borrowed. But that ain’t the point!” Marcia replied, “After we got back from the Moon, I came to the conclusion that while it wasn’t the Pyramid that was causing the surges, it was definitely the Darkness or something similar. So I travelled to different patrol zones to see if I could see if anywhere provoked a similar reaction. I got nothing, until I arrived on Titan. My surges began to act up again and that got me thinking ‘Okay, so it’s not the Hive…so does it have something to do with the orbit around Saturn?’. Then I looked up and noticed that I could see Saturn from there…and a certain ship still hanging out in its rings. That’s when I had a serious ‘Duh!’ moment. It’s the Dreadnaught! The ship of the Taken King himself! In fairness, I should’ve figured it out from the start.” “So what do you need us for?” Adam asked. “I wanna get up there and find answers.” Marcia began, “But I can’t go up there alone. It’s Taken central, for Light’s sake, and it’s still teeming with Hive and some Cabal stragglers. There’s no way I can take ‘em all on my own, even if I didn’t have unstable power surges to worry about. So I need some capable hands to watch my six. Drifter’s already offered to tag along, but I knew I’d need more on board. So I figured ‘Hey! I’m on good terms with Paralight! And Cayde owes me. So why not?’. So what do ya say?” “Yeah, no.” Rae replied as she turned to walk away. “That’s the spiri- wait, what!?” Marcia exclaimed as she darted in front of Rae, “Why not?!” “The Vanguard have prohibited patrols on the Dreadnaught since the Red War. And I’m not getting my Fireteam in trouble nor am I putting them in danger because you want to go on a suicide mission.” Rae replied sternly, “Besides, what are we getting out of it? I’m not putting my friends at risk if there’s no outcome for us.” Marcia sighed before her expression turned serious, “Okay. I’m going to tell you something, but it’s to remain in this room at all costs until this mission is over, yeah?” “I’m listening.” Rae raised an eyebrow. “I…have a hunch of what I might find up there. It’ll be one of two things. I don’t wanna say what outcome A is in case it turns out to be outcome B, which is I become fully Taken or lose all control of my powers or something. If outcome A happens, though, it could be a major turning point in this war. If outcome B happens…I need people I know can put me down if I lose myself…people I can trust. Which is why I need you to help me with this. Please.” Rae stared at Marcia for a moment. Marcia had a stern and serious expression on her face, but Rae could see in her eyes that it was masking the fear and desperation she felt inside. Rae turned to Cayde and the rest of her Fireteam. “We’re in if you are, Sunrae.” Cayde spoke. Rae sighed in defeat as she turned back to Marcia, “Alright. We’re in.” Marcia’s face lit up as she grinned, “Hell to the yeah! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Get prepped up and meet me back here at 8am sharp tomorrow. We got a ship to storm!” Marcia darted out of the room while whooping in excitement. Rae sighed, "What did we get ourselves into...?" To Be Continued…

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relaxedreptile · 6 years ago

Text

It’s On Me

Pairing: Bang Chan X Reader

A/N: This was loosely based on a request. I’m sorry for the large gaps between posts, I’m trying to get used to my new classes and new schedules. My schedule will semi-permanently clear up after this weekend as an ongoing project will be finished up. Please be patient!

Happy Valentine’s Day.

For the first time in two years, your alarm clock fails to wake you up.

It actually woke your roommate up instead and they, bless their soul, shook your shoulder while you were lost in your imagination, dreaming about passing grades.

You were only five minutes late to start but that screwed up the entire floor’s shower schedule and some asshole from down the hall decided to steal the last stall, leaving you to watch as the mirrors fogged up due to the shower you were not taking yourself.

That knocked you another ten minutes behind schedule.

You threw on the first set of clothes you found on the floor that you deemed clean enough, grabbed your keys and ducked out the door.

You hated yourself for it, but knew you wouldn’t regret it as you walked into the coffee shop on campus.

No matter how late you were going to be (and how embarrassing it would be to stroll into class late, coffee in hand), you knew future-you would appreciate some caffeine.

You tapped your foot in line, trying to decide what to order. You settled on a plain latte, knowing it would take less time to make than the other things on the menu.

You reached for your wallet to pull out the five dollars you would need to pay, your stomach dropping when you realized you had left it back in your dorm.

Trying to gain the courage to walk out without ordering anything (and after sitting in line probably looking like an impatient bitch), you looked around to see if anyone was watching you.

“Good morning!”

Just your luck! You were next in line.

You stepped in front of the counter, fiddling with your fingers as you tried to make the most apologetic face you could muster. You felt extremely awkward in this situation and knew you had to make this quick to make sure you didn’t hold up the line any further. It didn’t help that the barista taking your order was extremely cute and had the most endearing dimple.

“Uh, good morning. Sorry, I must’ve left my wallet back at my dorm… I’m sorry for holding you up.”

“Don’t worry about it, that happens to everyone at least once. What can I get for you?”

You stared at the boy in front of you. Did he understand what you were saying?

“I don’t-”

“Have any money,” he finished, “I know, but that’s alright! I could never deny anyone their daily dose of caffeine.”

“Are you sure?” Accepting this offer would go against every manner in the book but your eyes were already starting to droop from drowsiness.

The barista named Chris, according to his name tag, flashed you his dimple one more time.

“It’s on me.”

With a little bit of extra leg power, you made it to class on time. Your teacher was five minutes late anyways, but that just gave you a little bit of time to enjoy your latte, your name written in neat, curvy letters on the side of the cup.

You had never really understood the hype around coffee, especially when it just meant waking up even earlier to get it. You still didn’t understand why people went out of their way to get their hands on this stuff, when seeing a barista smile was all you needed to instantly forget about your rough morning.

“You’ve never seen him around?” You asked your roommate.

“The only Chris I know on campus is blond and has no dimples in sight, maybe he uses a nickname?”

“But wouldn’t Chris be a nickname?”

Your roommate shrugged and handed you a couple of your shirts that had gotten mixed up in their clothing.

“No matter what his name is, he has to be a student here if he was working at the shop. Just keep an eye out, you’re always holed up in bed anyways.”

You scoffed but didn’t say anything, knowing they had a point.

“I saw a flyer outside of the bathrooms, some music group is performing at the coffee shop tomorrow night. It’s not a party! So you can’t give me the same excuse as always and who knows, maybe this is your chance to find your mystery boy.”

“What are the chances he’s going to have the same open mindset as you and want to check out this random group?”

“Believe it or not, Y/N, most people like trying new things in college.”

“Are you sure I look alright?”

You stared at yourself in the mirror hanging on the back of the door (technically your roommate’s), scrutinizing your outfit and pulling at the accessories you had added on to the outfit.

“You’re never this insecure about the way you look,” your roommate noticed. “Is it because you’re going to be reunited with your mystery man?” They teased.

You laughed along with them, brushing the statement off. Right now, you were just excited to spend the night with a friend. They were right about you not going out too often but you wanted to make sure you made a good first impression on your campus’ night life, especially if everyone was going to be the kind of person who listened to an amateur music group.

“What did you say the name of the group was?”

“3RACHA, I found some of their music on SoundCloud and they’re not too bad but I’m not a big fan of rap.”

“You’re telling me we’re going out to a cafe to listen to a bunch of college kids rap?”

“Technically the youngest one is still in high school.”

“You’ve really done your research,” you teased.

You dashed out of your dorm room before your roommate could throw anything at you.

The two of you had made it just in time for the lights to be lowered for dramatic effect, grabbing one of the last open tables and settling in quickly so as not to disturb the surrounding silence.

“I didn’t know they had so many fans,” said your roommate, referring to the large number of people who had come to listen.

Before you could agree, the two of you were shushed by a nearby table.

Two short guys walked onto the makeshift stage in the back corner of the cafe, catching everyone’s attention desire their small statures.

The shortest one had a cap pulled down so low you couldn’t even see his eyes and instead had to focus on the sharp jawline that was framed by jet black hair and shaved sides. The boy following behind him had a jawline to match, but chubby cheeks to go with it. While his looks may have contradicted it, he had a confident air about him. He shot a smirk into the crowd before he started talking and you swore you could hear someone gasp at the gesture.

“Uh… thank you all for coming out tonight! We’re 3RACHA as you can tell by all the posters,” he scratched the back of his head, “my name’s Ji-J.One and this is-”

“SpearB,” the shortest boy growled, clearly agitated by the fact that he almost didn’t get to introduce himself.

“We’ve got three new songs to show you guys and if you like them enough you can listen to them on Soundcloud! Our first song is called ‘Runner’s High’ and was produced by the one and only-”

“CB97.”

Everyone in the crowd turned their heads to watch the last boy run up onto stage, microphone in hand and dimple in full view.

“Oh my god,” you whisper, trying to get your roommate’s attention before you were shushed yet again and the music started.

The song wasn’t bad at all, kind of impressive actually considering it was made by a couple of college boys with the help of one still in high school. If you weren’t in the back of a dark cafe surrounded by what seemed to be kind of die-hard fans, you’d go on your phone right now and find a way to download it.

You didn’t catch the title of the next song but your friend next to you visibly perked up when mystery-cafe-boy shouted out some of their favorite JYP artists. You knew this detail would win their approval of “CB97”, if you ever got the balls to go up to him after this.

Thank god (and your roommate) for picking today to give you the confidence boost you needed to go out.

“Are you gonna go up and talk to him?”

The two of you were awkwardly sitting at your table, watching as the cafe started to close up and the trio started putting away their laptop and speakers.

Your friend had to stifle a laugh when you told them how CB97 was oddly familiar and made sure to mention that you should thank them by paying for dinner tomorrow night.

“It’s not like I know him! What do you expect me to say, ‘hey, I’m the one who you gave a coffee to for free the other day because I was dumb enough to forget my wallet’?”

Your roommate shrugged and looked over to the three boys who were obviously ready the leave.

One second they were there sitting next to you and the next they were up on their feet heading directly for “J.One”.

You had no time to react or ask them what the fuck they were doing and they were too far away for you to eavesdrop on as you watched them out of your peripheral vision, looking away slightly to not seem so obvious.

You watched as the two other rappers walked over to your roommate and joined the conversation and you chose that exact moment to look directly at “SpearB” to try and read his lips, making eye contact with him.

He smiled at you asked your roommate a question right after, causing the whole group to turn and look at you.

You were already on your feet before your friend had a chance to wave you over.

You were extra mindful of anything discarded on the floor that you could potentially trip on and end up making a fool of yourself.

After introducing yourself (your eyes only flicking to Chris’ for a second) your roommate took over.

“This one was raving at the table about your guys’ music.”

Only internally.

“What was your favorite song?” Chris asked you.

While your heart fluttered, your mind was clear and when you told him it was “Runner’s High” he seemed pleased with himself.

“This was our first time performing it live, we’ve been working on it for weeks trying to perfect it,” SpearB admitted.

“I’m glad I came out to hear the finished product.”

“This one here never gets out of the dorm, always studying or doing homework.”

“He’s the same way,” SpearB revealed, gesturing towards Chris.

The barista-by-day, music producer-by-night looked sheepish, scratching the back of his neck.

“If he’s not working on his own song, he’s helping us with one of our own. We probably get really annoying, actually.”

“Not at all, I like working! Music is what I love.”

“How long have you guys been doing this?” You asked.

J.One told you it’s only been a few months since they started posting their music but that they’ve been working on it basically all their lives, even if it wasn’t necessarily together. When SpearB and Chris were placed in a dorm room together randomly and both of them needed help moving in their equipment, it was basically love at first sight.

“We found Jisung at an open mic event one night or another and invited him into what we were trying to start up.”

“Jisung?” Your roommate was staring holes into the boy in front of them.

“At your service,” Jisung replied with his cheeks flushed pink.

“I’m Changbin and this is-”

“Chan,” he waved to your roommate before turning to you. “But we’ve already met.”

“You actually went out for once?” Jisung teased the boy.

“Not quite, I made her a latte a few days ago.”

“Not only that, but he refused to let me pay.”

“If I remember correctly, you had forgotten your wallet.”

“This is the one?” Changbin smirked.

“You told them about the most embarrassing moment of my life?” You played up the dramatics.

“He practically wouldn’t shut up about how cute you were, I’m surprised he didn’t write a-”

“Jisung! Changbin! How about I help you two bring your stuff back to your dorm?”

“It’s only a couple-”

“Nonsense, see it as payment for your performance. You can tell me all about the next project you’re working on!”

Leaving you and Chris...Chan...CB97 alone in the middle of the cafe save for the lone employee screwing around in the back, your roommate took both of the other boys by the arm and dragged them outside with their things.

“So,” you broke the silence, “how many fake names do you actually have?”

The boy in front of you laughed, a high-pitched chuckle finding itself out in the air.

“Chris is like, my English name, it’s on my documents as a first name while Chan is written as like, a middle.”

“An English name?”

“I’m from Australia. Chan is my Korean name but I basically use them interchangeably, hence the name tag.”

You couldn’t think of anything to say after that, not wanting to make a joke about having multiple names and somehow insult him with any possible ignorance.

“You came out of your dorm for this?”

You smiled, laughing a little to yourself at the fact that a part of you was hoping you might see your mystery boy again if you came.

“My roommate saw a flyer and looked you guys up,” Chan grimaced. “They only had good things to say, I swear! But I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and came out too.”

Chan’s gaze fell to the floor as he fiddled with his thumbs.

“Do you plan on going out again any time soon?”

You cocked your head to the side, kind of confused by his question.

“Maybe, if you are, I could come along?”

You giggled at the implication, nodding and laughing again when Chan looked visibly relieved at your answer.

“I can give you my number and we’ll find a time where we’re both free and actually willing to leave our work behind.”

“I’ll make sure to take a couple of long breaks.”

Wanna meet me after my shift and we can go out somewhere?

As long as there’s a latte ready when I get there.

Consider it done. Don’t worry about paying for this one, it’s on me.

#bang chan #bang chan fluff #bang chan angst #bang chan smut #chan fluff #chan angst #chan smut #stray kids #stray kids fluff #stray kids angst #barista!chan #rr:bang chan

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weepingvoidpenguin · 6 years ago

Text

I’ll Help You

PART 2

Summary: Carlton Drake has officially crossed the line in terms of morale and humanity. He’s threatened your boss, Dr. Skirth, to manipulate her into staying with the project just as he’s manipulated all the victims he’s putting at risk to further his own twisted research. And once you witness a man die right in front of you because of it, you couldn’t continue on. Shamefully enough, you’re too scared to leave, you know how Carlton is and it terrified you to no end so when Dr. Skirth comes up with the idea to involve and ex investigative journalist, your desperation get the better of you and you agree to tag him along. You find yourself spending more and more time with him until it seems like you can’t pry yourself away and he grows increasingly protective of you when you vulnerably express your fears to him.

Warnings: Swearing . . . that’s about it for now

Word Count: 3,259

Part 1

After receiving the call from Eddie you immediately called Dora, letting her know of his decision. He’d told you to meet him at his place and you would go from there.

You hopped out of bed and threw on a pair of leggings, black, a long sleeved t-shirt, again, black, and your shoes, wow, even more black. If you were being honest with yourself, adrenaline was starting to coarse through you and you liked it. This scandalous, technical, breaking and entering past hours with intentions to make Carlton Drake crash and burn was thrilling.

You pulled your phone out of your jacket pocket and sent Dora the address to Eddie’s apartment before heading there yourself. You’d only lived a few blocks down but BOY the difference in neighborhood those blocks made. Your apartment was decent, cozy cottage-like feeling to it and the outside wasn’t too shabby either. It was in a pretty good neighborhood with relatively happy people. You knew most of your neighbors and weren’t afraid to speak to them when you saw them in the halls.

You walked the distance from your place to Eddie’s letting the cold of the wind settle into your bones by the time you got there. Your teeth clattered against each other and the loose strands of your hair flailed and slapped against your face. You turned your back towards the wind and hugged yourself for additional warmth. It’d been significantly warmer earlier in the day when you’d asked Eddie for help but now, hours later, the temperature must have dropped almost twenty degrees.

You checked your surroundings before pulling out your phone and dialing Dora’s number again.

“Hey, are you almost here?” you asked once she’d picked up.

“I’m still sneaking out of the house, I’ll try to be there as soon as possible,” she responded.

You told her it was fine and hung up then kept your hands tucked in your pockets, trying to avoid exposing them to the freezing wind. You lightly bounced in your spot, moving just enough to hopefully produce more warmth and fight off the cold making its way to the core of your being. Your arms stiffened and your body tightened once the tips of your fingers began to go numb.

Would it be awkward to wait for Dr. Skirth in Eddie’s apartment? Would he even invite you in if you asked? You didn’t think he was a bad guy but you would gladly freeze to death before facing the awkward tension of strangers conversing for the first time.

So you stayed put in your spot right outside his doorway. Hoping, more like praying, that Dr. Skirth would show up any second and offer you the warmth of her car.

But when you could barley move your fingers due to their stiffness, you tapped out. Your heels dug into your shoes as you rushed over to the door and looked for Eddie’s apartment number before pressing it with the backside of your wrist.

“Hello?” You heard a gruffy voice speak after the buzz sounded.

“Mr. Brock?” You asked but didn’t wait for confirmation, “It’s (Y/N), Dr. Skirth’s running a little late and I didn’t bring a car so I was wondering if I could.. um... come up for a second?”

You stood there, in the cold, waiting for him to make up his mind and after a few seconds, the front door buzzed open and you grabbed the handle through your jacket and slung the door open. The first thing this shabby looking place offered you was mediocre warmth, and you were gladly taking it in. The tips of your nose, ears and fingers ached with pain as they regained feeling and you ignored it as much as you could as you ascended the elevator up to Eddie’s apartment.

The ding of the elevator and the sound of the doors sliding to reveal a dimly lit hallway made your heart catch in your throat. Why? You weren’t sure but taking those first few steps out and reading the numbers on the doors made your stomach drop the closer you became.

You were almost at the end of the hallway when a door practically flew off its hinges and a girl, half dressed, like, literally she was still putting some of her clothes on, walked out. A man with what you could only describe as a beer belly and shaggy, somewhat majestic hair slapped her ass as she exited.

You stepped to the side as she practically crawled past you and stuck as close to the opposing wall as you could. You kept your gaze glued on the floor, already knowing that Eddie’s apartment was across this guy’s own and slithered towards his door.

Please don’t talk to me, please don’t talk to me, please don’t talk to me.

“You’re new,” the shaggy-haired man hiccupped.

Fuck.

You nodded your head softly and peered up, “Just visiting,”

The drunk man scoffed a bit, “I didn’t know he had any friends, let alone a piece of ass like you,”

Your eyes widened and your knuckles almost punched against the door with Eddie’s apartment number on it, letting him know you had arrived.

“Y’know,” he started, his breath vomit-inducing even with the few feet between you and his voice obnoxiously loud enough to make dogs down the street howl, “if he doesn’t get the job done you can head on over here and I’ll finish you for him,”

You gulped and spun around, no longer wanting your exposed side to be facing this asshole. Now, if it hadn’t been for the fact that you thought, in his ridiculously drunken state, that he might actually harm you, you wouldn’t chewed this guy out left and right. You probably would’ve thrown in a few fuck off’s and shrimp dick every now and then but this dude was getting closer to you and you were already as plastered to Eddie’s door as you could get.

You opened your mouth to respond when the solid frame of the door gave way and you tumbled backwards. Luckily, you made contact with another solid frame before you could fall on your ass. His chest was firm against your back and his hand holding your waist to keep you in place was supportive. But overall, he was warm and you couldn’t help but slink towards its source.

You almost fluttered your eyes closed at the comfort the man behind you provided but the tension between the two neighbors kept you alert. Eddie’s hand slithered away from your waist and gripped onto your elbow, his breath blew a few strands of hair into your face but how warm it was against your ear and cheek caused you to accept it instead of fight it.

“You okay?” He whispered to you and you could swear you felt his lips graze your ear.

You nodded slowly, pressing against him a little more just to create some distance between you and the drunken asshole. “Fine,” you responded.

Eddie slowly took a step back and you almost whimpered when the warmth of his chest was no longer available for you, “Get inside,” he huffed and once you entered his apartment, he shut the door behind the two of you.

“What a douche,” he whispered under his breath before eyeing you up and down, “Sorry about him, he doesn’t usually cause me too many problems but he’s never been a problem for guests.” He brought his hand up to scratch the back of his neck and with a meager smile muttered, “Probably because you’re the first,”

You put on a weak smile and nodded, “It’s okay, that’s probably the last time I’m gonna see that asshole,” (It’s not), “so hopefully no more situations like that,” (There will be).

Eddie lightly chuckled and motioned you towards a seat at the island, “Sit, please.” He pulled out a chair for you to sit on and stood on the opposite side of the island.

You trudged towards the seat and took your place before peering up at him. He seemed skittish, his hands rubbing together and his gaze everywhere except you.

Aannnddd here’s the awkward silence that you were previously dreading.

“So, it’s cold,” Eddie chirped up, seeing your nose and how red it still was.

“As hell,” you responded then cocked your head to the side a bit, “which doesn’t make very much sense but you get what I mean,”

He chuckled weakly but nodded all the same.

“So,” you spoke up after a few more seconds of tension, “what made you give us a call?”

His skittish behavior stopped and he stared down at the countertop, almost lost in a thought, “I had to check something first,”

“And what did you have to check?” You asked, noticing his hesitation to continue but prying anyway.

“I had to check with an old friend of mine.” he scoffed, “She was just reminding me that I had nothing left to lose,” the words dripped out of his mouth with a weight that you felt as though you had to hold.

“I’m sorry,” you looked down at his folded hands on the countertop.

“Nah, it’s fine. I had to make sure that chapter of my life was closed anyway, I wanted to see if I was ready for the next one,” his fingertips twitched and you looked up at him, noticing how he was watching you before awkwardly focusing back on his hands.

“I mean about what Carlton did to you,” you said, “About what we’re doing to you,” you trailed off.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” his voice grew exponentially in volume, “no one’s forcing me to do this. This is what I do. I investigate. I call people out and report on wrongdoings. It’s who I am. I’m doing this because . . .”

You sat there, eyebrows raised and waiting for him to continue.

“Because this is where the next chapter is taking me,” he finally finished.

“So are you?” You asked, catching his attention.

“Am I what?”

“Are you ready for the next chapter?” you unzipped the thin jacket and shimmied out of it once you felt warm enough.

Eddie stood up straight and just watched you. Watched as you slipped your arm out of each sleeve and tucked your hair behind your ear to get it out of the way, “Yeah,” he said, a soft smile on his face as he held his hand out to take the coat from you and hang it up, “I am,”

He hung your coat up by the door and turned back towards you, “Now let’s talk about this Mr. Brock thing,”

Dr. Skirth called your cell phone about twenty minutes later. She was pulled up in front of the apartment and asking where you were.

“We’re heading downstairs now.” You motioned towards Eddie, who had a stern talking with you about calling him Eddie and not Mr. Brock, and grabbed your coat off the rack.

“We?” You heard Dr. Skirth ask incredulously over the phone.

You broke out a false smile, as if she could see it, not wanting to repeat yourself because if you had it would sound like a big deal and it wasn’t. “Yes,” you drawled out.

“(Y/N),” Dr. Skirth teased, making kissy noises over the phone as if we weren’t about to potentially die over letting Eddie into the Life Foundation.

“We’ll see you down there,” you quickly said and hung up the phone.

“She’s outside?” Eddie asked.

You nodded and walked over to the door, opening it slowly and hoping that one dude wasn’t there still. After checking if the coast was clear, you headed towards the elevator and waited ‘til Eddie locked everything up. He entered with you and you left the warm confines of the building momentarily to replace it with the warmth in Dora’s car.

Once in, you greeted Dora and she greeted Eddie, explaining that the plan was a simple ‘in and out’. Get Eddie in, let him take photos and then get him the fuck out without being caught, for all our sakes.

You nodded in unison and put your seatbelt on before looking over at Dora and wondering why she hadn’t pulled away yet.

“We?” she mouthed.

You rolled your eyes jokingly, “Shut up,” you mouthed back.

A few minutes later you were at the security gate of the Life Foundation. You checked in with Dora, giving the security guard your badge passes and without hesitation, he motioned for the two of you to be on your way.

The reality of what you were doing, and its potential consequences, were starting to get the better of you. What if you guys were discovered giving Eddie a front row seat to the inhumane things Drake was doing? You were sure a slap on the wrist wasn’t the worst he would do to you and knowing him, he’d make it slow and painful.

Your stomach dropped and the nerves building up in your jittering frame were hard to ignore. Dora noticed immediately and parked in the nearest spot and turned towards you.

“You don’t have to come,” she whispered, and suddenly threw her door open and hopped out of the car, not waiting for a response from you.

But you knew she was trying to spare you, trying to keep your hands clean of the matter. And by leaving before you could respond, she was attempting to not allow you a choice.

It was only when you’d stayed glued to your seat in fear that Eddie opened your door slowly and bent over a bit, his arms sprawled on the frame of the door.

“What’s going on?” His gruffy but gentle voice spoke.

You almost didn’t hear it, too submerged in your fears of the ‘what ifs’ to get out of your head. “What if we get caught?” You asked under your breath. “I mean, he will kill Dora if he finds out and he won’t hesitate to get rid of me, he’s wanted me gone since I first got here,”

The knot in your throat tightened and physical pain emerged from your chest as tears began to well up in your eyes, “What if he kills me?” you accidentally voiced.

Eddie ducked his head a little so he was in your line of view and you couldn’t ignore him, “Hey.” His hand hesitated to reach for you and he decided against it, “Nothing’s gonna happen to you, I promise.” His body blocked your view from Dr. Skirth, “If you don’t want to come I’m not gonna force you,”

You stifled a sob that would’ve racked your body and shook your head, “I have to.” You attempted to look over Eddie’s frame at Dr. Skirth but failed, “She’s just as scared as I am, she’s only better at hiding it,”

Eddie looked over his shoulder at the doctor and nodded, “She obviously doesn’t want you involved in whatever is about to happen,”

“She doesn’t want to be involved in whatever is about to happen.” You took a shaky breath in and out then shifted in your seat to get out of the car, “But if we don’t do something then no one else will,”

Eddie took a step back and allowed you to leave then closed the door behind you. You walked past Dr. Skirth, hoping she didn’t notice the redness in your eyes, and scanned the lock with your pass.

Here we go.

Dr. Skirth explained the reason Carlton was doing the atrocities he was. She told him everything from the mission failure, which Eddie already knew about and lost his job over, to the symbiotes in the lab waiting human trial.

Your heart tightened and your breath hitched when steps echoed throughout the place, obviously getting closer. A security guard was making his rounds. Your eyes widened and you looked up at Dora, noting the fear lingering in her eyes too.

“Go!” She motioned to the two of you, scanning the lock with her key card and pushing you both in the room, “Let me handle this,”

You stumbled back but watched as the doors closed in front of you and took Dora out of your sight. You reached out to the door, almost opening and coming up with the excuse that Dora should’ve waited for you before she left if the security guard were to ask but a tight grip on your arm pulled you back.

“Have some faith in her,” Eddie reassured, “She knows what she’s doing,”

You pried your eyes away from the door and looked at him, “Do we really?”

Eddie’s hard gaze softened as did his grip on your arm. You sighed and walked past him, leading him directly to the ‘experiments’ that were happening and you observed as he took picture after picture.

You twisted around and walked back towards the door to keep a lookout, the hairs on your neck standing straight up as you tried to listen to everything happening around you.

And that’s when it happened, a loud crash emitted from the last place you left Eddie and your heart skipped a beat as it rose into your throat. You hurried over to see what was happening when you heard yelling and shouting.

They sounded desperate.

“I don’t know how!” You heard Eddie scream.

“Eddie don’t open the door!” You shouted back once he came into view.

“I have to!” he shouted, slamming what looked like a fire distinguisher against the glass panel.

“Eddie!” You ran over to him, trying to reach him before he succeeded, “She’s got the symbiote!”

But it was too late. Eddie smashed the glass to pieces and the woman, Maria, pounced on him like prey. You saw the symbiote enter him and your body went rigid. You weren’t sure how he was going to react to the symbiote, if he was going to be uncontrollable or have some sense. Either way, your biggest fear was him rejecting the symbiote and dying because of it.

You were so engulfed in Eddie’s well being that you hadn’t noticed the sirens and alarms go off. The room flashed red and the intercom stated there was a breach in your section.

Shit.

“Eddie!” You shouted, grabbing him by his hand and desperately trying to pull him up, “We have to go!”

Eddie took a second to try and piece together what was happening, the puzzled look on his face slowly turned to concern.

“Go!” Eddie shouted, pushing you away from him. “Get out of here! I promised nothing was going to happen to you and I meant it, now go!”

“B-But-”

“(Y/N), hide NOW!” he shouted at you, jolting you out of your daze and running towards the bathroom by Dr. Skirth’s office.

Just as you managed to shut the door behind you, the sound of another one opening followed by multiple shouting, arose. It didn’t take long before the gunfire started.

You locked the door and crash against the cold tile on the floor, bringing your knees up to your chest at the same time.

Eddie.

Christ, you couldn’t believe you’d left him out there, he should’ve hid with you. But he knew. He knew that if they didn’t find anyone in this section then they were just going to search until they did. And it was going to look really bad if they found you with him.

A tear trickled down your cheek as you sat in the dark bathroom, waiting until the coast was clear.

Please be okay.

~~~~~

Tags: @lunalustrix @marvelgirl7 @tomhardy41

Hey so I know some people didn’t ask to be tagged but asked about a part 2 so I’m just letting you guys know that it’s here and waiting for you!

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lacklusterswirl · 5 years ago

Note

Ash x Ceil fic? I suggested it earlier in a different context :P

“Am I taking requests?” Kinda… if you send it in I’ll write it eventually… but I do prefer angst most of the time soooo :p

For those that don’t know, Ciel is an OC who’s technically from an original story of mine, but sometimes shows up in R6 stuff I write just cause he’s also JTF 2.

This time, it was Ciel who asked for help, and Rainbow answered. Ash hadn’t seen him since Buck and Frost were first recruited, and when they… well, just leave it the fact that they know each other. But for a budding romance that was already so slow to start, she doesn’t know if he would ever be interested in someone like her for more than just a one night stand. She was intense, stuck-up, and just had to be in control, and he was trying to keep himself from falling back into a similar pattern. And for good reason. Uncertainty tends to kill romance, and she thinks she sees that here too.

Warnings: Mentions of injuring, gunfights, cannon typical violence. (~2.4k words)

“You again?”

Ciel looked away from the blueprints of the building they were preparing to infiltrate. There were strings and pins around the map like he had spent hours on it, but they weren’t the focus of his attention anymore. “You’re part of a Canadian op. Who else were you expecting?”

“Excuse me, ma’am,” another man bumped into her as he went to stand by Ciel. No doubt, despite the impressive stripes on the newer man’s shoulder, Ciel was still higher rank. He always had to be on top, that bastard. He wasn’t even in his fucking uniform, the slob.

As if he read her mind, he looked up and smirked. “Do you plan on joining us anytime soon?”

Ash rolled her eyes and stepped in to take a closer look at the pins. “Sledge and Blitz will be here soon. They had to stop by and get some kind of special badge to walk around.”

“And you made it here first?” The stranger chimed in. His name tag said Millier though, so that must’ve been his last name.

Ciel smirked and looked back up at his own pins. “Ne sois pas méchant. She’s a guest.” Ash just rolled her eyes.

During the briefing, Ciel was calm and didn’t seem to make a big deal out of the op. It was simple. Go in, clear, and get out. No secondary objectives or anything. However, a simple op like that wasn’t why you called in an international org like Rainbow. All these thoughts were over ridden the entire time though because Ash swore that he was making fun of her for something. His eyes seemed to stay on her for a moment longer than the others, and it made her wonder if he was trying to tell her something more subtle. So, afterwards, she stayed behind.

“Something wrong, Ash?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Well, I’ve never been better, thanks for asking.” He took a seat on the table so one leg was off the other ground, but the other was still touching the floor. Even now, he seemed in control. As he always was. From the moment she met him to now, this was always how he was.

“There’s nothing else?” She didn’t misread him. For how guarded he was, his patterns were quite simple. “I know you, you know?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to come out around town with me and Millier tomorrow. Bring your team if you’d like. I know Millier wants to hear about your work.”

“So, this has nothing to do with Buck?”

Ciel gave that coy smile to show that she was right. “I figured that if you didn’t want to tell me, that it wouldn’t be an answer I wanted to hear. You do make the teams after all, eh?”

“Buck… well, he’s moved on.”

“And Frost?”

“She’s doing well, if that’s what you want to know. Knows her way around a mission, and is always a comfort to have on your side. She’s fine as well. They aren’t concerns of Rainbow.”

He made some vague agreeing sound. “And you?” Those green eyes settled on her, and she almost felt uncomfortable.

“I’m well. Nothing new has happened, though I was surprised to hear that you called in help this time. Pulling favours? Must be important. You didn’t sound so stressed when you were talking.”

“I can’t disclose much. But know that your organization’s presence here is very welcomed.”

And by the tone of his voice, he meant it.

You don’t send in two higher ranking officers, one of whom was a legend, and three Rainbow ops for just any mission. And so, this was about what Ash expected. They were engaged in heavy fire from the moment they were deployed. Ash looked over at where Sledge was taking shots through the side door and giving a short report every time one went down.

Blitz was with the Canadian ops while they were going straight through the front door, and from the sound of things, they already made their entry. This wasn’t good. They were meant to enter at the same time, but Ash and Sledge were still posted at their door, unable to set foot in the house.

“Lobby clear, but footsteps are approaching from upstairs— CONTACT!” Ciel’s breathy voice broke her away for a quick moment until bullets flew at her again. She nodded at Sledge, they couldn’t fall any further behind. Together, she and Sledge broke into the kitchen and started clearing enemies who were fleeing from Ciel’s team down the stairs and into their waiting crosshairs.

An explosion sounded from above them, and Ash had to take cover from the bullets raining from above. She glanced over at Sledge but saw him testing his left hand.

“Sledge?”

“Grazed my arm when I was breaking down the door. Starting to feel it now.”

“Shit… Stay safe, we’re almost done. Let me know if it gets too bad.”

He nodded and they turned around the corner to take out the last few terrorists in the room.

“This is Ash, we’re going downstairs.”

“Copy.” That was Millier. Why was he the one responding?

“Ash, what are you waiting for? Count me down,” Sledge hissed. Ash nodded and counted them down. The moment they landed, they immediately went back to back as they cleared out the room. Out the room and taking a corner put them in a good position to take out a few without direct engagement.

“This is Mil reporting, top floor is cleared, but Ciel got thrown in the blast from earlier.”

Ash’s heart stopped.

“He’ll be ok, just a little shaken.”

She sighed, relieved, though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why it mattered so much. It wasn’t like she could do anything about it now either. She and Sledge had to continue their assault.

When it was all done, and Ciel was safely extracted, there was a tense silence on the plane. Ciel had his eyes closed, trying to block out all sound, while Millier was preparing dressings and ice packs. As for Rainbow, Blitz and Sledge were staring at Ash, expecting an outburst. That was her reputation after all. She was intense, focused, too stuck-up, and hot-headed. However, she waited until debrief before demanding the whole story while Ciel was in the infirmary.

They were clearing out the master bedroom, and Ciel was about to push in when Blitz motioned that he would take point with the shield. As he moved forward though, Ciel must’ve caught something on his sensor because he lunged at the German operator while Millier covered them. It was unneeded though. The C4 killed the only terrorist in the room and Ciel had gotten thrown into a wall. Blitz was a little shocked, but fine otherwise.

“I don’t understand. I have a shield for a reason,” he complained the moment Ciel stepped into the briefing room.

“Your back was facing it, what else was I gonna do?” Ciel responded, taking a seat with a slight grimace. “It was calculated though. I knew the layout of the room, the number of enemies, and my own strength.”

“That… I—”

While Blitz stuttered a little trying to come up with a response, Ciel just smiled at Ash and Millier. “How was the rest of debrief?”

“Elle est trop—”

“Elle peut nous comprendre, Millier. Dis-le à moi plus tard.” Ciel gave Ash a small smile and nodded at the rest. “You are all dismissed. Thank you, Rainbow, for coming in. Things would’ve been a little hairier had that been just a two-man op.”

Blitz and Sledge both stood to leave the room, and after a moment – and a few seconds of unsure eye contact – Millier followed them. Ciel waited until the door was closed until he spoke to Ash.

“Millier interrupted earlier, but what did you think of the mission?”

“Why do you care? It’s over,” she helped him pack up the files, reaching for things that would otherwise hurt him to stretch and grasp for. “It’s a success. Congrats.”

“Oh, come on. I can tell you’re mad at me. And a little bit mad at yourself too?”

Well, since he asked for it. “You shouldn’t have gone upstairs. You shouldn’t have entered before I did.”

“The plan was set in motion. Millier and I are best suited to more enclosed spaces, and Blitz had a shield. It was the right team. And entering didn’t lead to any mistakes.”

“It desynced us.”

“It didn’t matter if we were in sync or not. That C4 was ready for us, and it would’ve been thrown whether or not we were synced.”

“The mission wasn’t perfect.” Ash slammed a stack of papers down on the desk in a perfect pile.

“No mission is.” Ciel grabbed them and packed them away haphazardly.

Ash glared at him. “Our reputation—”

“Will not be affected.” Ciel was counting photos, only looking up once to take in her expression.

She could feel the heat creeping up her neck, as she said the next line. “You almost died.”

There. That made him stop. “I didn’t… You know what? Stay here, I’ll be back.”

It took perhaps ten minutes and Ciel was back with a bottle of golden liquid and two glasses. “It’s to help you destress,” he said, offering the glass he just poured. “Drink it slowly though, I would like you to help me finish up here.”

“You aren’t in charge of me anymore,” she smiled around the glass, but complied anyways. God, she hated whiskey, but the soothing burn was a comfort.

Ciel paused as he was placing the next batch of papers in a box. “You know,” he placed his hands on the table and looked Ash directly in the eye. “Millier loves you. Not like… a romantic love, but he is obsessed with your skill and how you command your unit. He admires you. As do all the soldiers you work with, even the ones who don’t really show it. Cut yourself some slack.”

“Can’t get complacent. Not everyone can take ten years off from this work to raise a child then come back basically the same.”

“It’s not complacency, it’s called forgiveness. And everyone made sure to let me know that… gah, that I had… changed.” He made a motion to his general body, and Ash got the general idea. “Yet I had to forgive myself then too.”

She stopped moving her hands as she noticed he hadn’t done anything in the past few minutes. “Get your ass moving or else we’ll be stuck in here for hours.”

He chuckled, but went back to work. Another moment of silence passed before he spoke up again. “I know you still don’t like Buck because of me.”

Her eyes flew up to meet his. “I don’t hold anything against Buck.”

“Except the fact that I was engaged to him about fifteen years ago, and yet I still request regular check-ins with him and Frost, while I haven’t talked to you since… that night.” The way he looked at her while still organizing told her that he knew exactly what he was doing, and the reaction she wanted to give was what he was expecting.

“Is this how you work?” she asked him. There, he wasn’t expecting that.

He tilted his head slightly to the side and looked back down as he started scribbling on a new set of forms.

“Is my handwriting not neat enough?”

With Ciel, as she had learned the first time, it payed to be direct. He wasn’t one to be easily offended, especially if there was no intention. “Are you trying to get me to be one of those girls and boys for you?”

“… One of those girls and boys? You make me sound like I’m constantly hooking up with people.”

“…Aren’t you?” She gave him an even look. For how responsible he was in every endeavor he took, relationships were not one of them.

“Not constantly. No one can do it that often. I certainly can’t. I am getting older,” he smirked, finally standing up and placing the last pile in the box. “You know me. If you want something, it’s best just to ask.”

“I don’t want to be just another one-night stand for you again.”

“You don’t have to be, I mean, you’re already moving onto a two-night status, aren’t you?” He picked up the box with a quiet huff and started to turn away before freezing in place to face her once more.

“I think I get what’s wrong,” he murmured. “You think that I think that you’re easy. And that I don’t respect you.”

Ash stared back, refusing to give anything away, which, in itself, was a giveaway.

“Eliza…” Him saying her real name was… it was bringing back memories she’d rather leave alone. “I won’t judge you for who you sleep and don’t sleep with, and I know you like to stress over the things you don’t know, but… don’t think of me as someone you need to stress over. That’s the last thing I want to be to you.”

“Then how about tonight, Skye? I know you have to check with Iris first, but after… well, I haven’t been in Toronto before.”

He flashed her a smile that practically glowed. “It would be my pleasure. Just don’t make fun of me too much when I get stiff. Age is unpredictable. So are nitro’s.”

“Does this mean you’ll stop ignoring my requests to put operators in your missions?”

“Not a chance!” He spun and leaned against the door with his back. “Knowing you, you’ll outdo too many of my newer soldiers, and they’ll never gain any leadership experience working with you. Ask again when I’m in charge, then I’ll consider it.” Ash was shaking her head at him. “What? You’re too good for some of them!”

“What a jealous old man,” she shook her head.

“Oh, come off it now, I can’t be that much older than you, right?”

“Aren’t you like fifty?”

“F-” his eyebrows furrowed. “Fifty? What did Buck tell you? I’m the same age as him!” She chuckled, and he let the mock frown change into a more satisfied smile. “Come knock on my office when you’re ready.”

“See you then.”

The door closed behind him, and she turned to back her gadget. The bastard always tried to get her to fucking relax, and it worked every time. As long as she didn’t see her operators with this blush, she was sure she could save face. Or not. What were they going to say to her anyways?

#r6s #rainbow six siege #r6s fanfic #fanfic #r6s ash #ashxoc #answered #i mostly edited it #hopefully no mistakes :p

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othersquadsystem · 2 years ago

Text

Lost count after half. Gonna just list them ( and what they’re listed as ) then count. This can double as an interests list ( will tag who depending )

- Anime Dweebs ( Kay, Liked the original Glitter Force )

- Undertale Fans ( Kay, guilty as charged )

- Friday Night F-ck You ( Kay, Likes the music a lot )

- Homestuck Edgelords ( Kay, Still need to finish 😭 )

- Five Nights At Freddy’s ( We literally have two fictives and Kay’s a casual fan )

- Owl House ( C-C-C-C-Combo breaker. 1 fictive, 3 Fans ( Kay, Lykan, Sabrina ) )

- Among Us ( Enjoyed by a lot of the system, specifically know Altheo, Kay, King and Pix enjoy it )

- TikTok Tweekers ( We have an account which we posted one video and nothing else svsiegsggs. We’re on there for the System Content mostly )

- HyperPop Weirdos ( Kay, Thanks for the compliment. I know I’m weird and I can’t help that funky music goes brbrbrbrbr )

- Security Breach Fans ( Again- fictives and casual interest for Kay )

- Miraculous Ladybug Fans ( Kay, I need to catch up bad… )

- DDLC Fans ( Kay, Okay can kinda understand this one? But seriously they warn you about the content booting up the game )

- Lion King Fans ( Kay, 🤨❔❔❔ )

- Tally Hall Fans ( Kay, technically? Know the band for one (1) song and nothing else. Ruler of Everything slaps and I’m right ( /nsrs but still it’s very good ) )

- Monster High Fans ( Kay, Why you gotta do Monster High like this? It was so progressive and cool and amazing it didn’t deserve to end so soon )

- Animal Crossing Fans ( Kay, Altheo, Fern and others. It’s a very nice and chill game and has so many fashion options )

- Disney Fans ( Kay, huge part of childhood )

- WOF Fans ( Kay, Kinda get this one too but like- isn’t it rated teen or something? Anyway Funky Dragons go brbrbrbr I will always love dragons and these books has some cool ones along with amazing story, it can just get graphic sometimes )

- Danganronpa Fans ( Kay, Great story and interesting concept, characters never fail to amuse but again it can get graphic so kind of understand if this is a kid friendly server ( but then why some others…? ) )

- Omori Fans ( Kay, Amazing story and characters as well as representation. I semi casual-kin Kel and relate to Hero. That’s all 💙 )

- Sonic Fans ( Kay, Sonic’s awesome with the music series and the characters, shame a lot are done so weird nowadays but hear the movies are fixing that 👀 )

- Villanous Fans ( Kay, Very interesting concept and very funny. Pretty entertaining every time too. Amazing to see other villains in this show )

- Mario and Luigi Fans ( Kay, What you have against my boy Luigi? Either way it’s an amazing series and if you mean the rpg series specifically I don’t see what the problem is, it’s my favorite part actually )

- Epithet Fans ( Kay, I need to catch up. That makes 3 )

- Deltarune Fans ( Kay, Deltarunes Epic )

- Taylor Swift Fans ( Kay, Why…? Just why? )

- Hazbin Hotel Fans ( Kay, Cool show so far with interesting characters, can’t wait to see where it goes )

- Amazing World Of “Gumba” ( Kay, Am I allowed to count this due to the misspell? P sure this is what it’s supposed to mean anyway. It’s a neat and funny show, and the finale was so cool )

- GUMI Fans ( Kay, I…. Just don’t understand???? )

- Miku Fans ( Kay, I…. )

- Ed Sheeran Fans ( Kay, At this point I’m just gonna stop listing the singers )

- Any Anime Fandom ( Kay, Again- Glitter Force. Guess we’re double banned again )

- Uses discord, didn’t know what else to put here cause dunno if those terms mean anyone on discord or just specific people but it’s where we chat the most so????

- Omori Fans ( Kay, Why is this on here twice? At least for FNAF it was different parts of the fandom assuming the other was for earlier games )

- Baldi’s Basic Fans ( Kay, It’s an interesting game and I like Playtime, would play jump rope any day )

- Madness Combat Fans ( Kay, Here for Tricky specifically )

- Vocaloid Fans ( One of the things Kay listens to most and Fern likes some songs, soooo. Double ban for two people?? )

- Splatoon Fans ( One of the peoples biggest interest and many have been dragged in. We would not last long ( before a ban ) )

- Invader Zim Fan ( Kay, Neat show, kinda understand with the one episode XD )

- Portal ( Kay, I am a portal now /j. Either way great series amazing characters, I am heartbroken /hj )

- Portal 2 ( Kay, Saying more would be redundant. Double ban? )

- ANY Sims Game ( Kay, )

- Franbow ( Kay, Cool game, been forever since I checked something on it )

- BATIM ( Kay, It’s a very neat game, looking through the lore is interesting and the ending was very unexpected in a great way )

- Helluva Boss ( Kay, Very neat show but I haven’t kept up in forever- )

- LGBTQIA+ Fans ( A lot of us aren’t cis and/or straight, proud and very supportive )

That’s 42 not counting doubles or those that can fit into other categories, 46 counting, at least 91 ( or 92 ) counting everything. We are the bannedest of the banned

for the love of god please look at this list of banned fandoms from a MCYT discord server my boyfriend sent me

#reblog bait #reblog #tw my little pony #tw mlp

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itstimeforspring · 6 years ago

Text

i can see the clouds are moving faster now (5 of ?)

title from ‘hold on’ by tobymac. so sorry for how long this took to get out into the world -- but here it is now. a thousand and five thanks to @love-with-you-i-have-everything for reading over this! also tagging @kmomof4 and thank you so much for all of the encouragement, always!

previous installments of this fic are here. also find on ao3 and ff.net here!

“Mom, have you heard from Ashley Boyd lately?” Emma asked, taking a bite of her grilled cheese. Her face was perfectly bland and cheerful. For all her family knew, she was simply catching up on old friends and enjoying the extra cheesiness of the grilled cheese. She took another bite. It was very cheesy. Henry must have put in an extra few slices. Good kid, he was.

Mary Margaret canted her head as she thought. Henry reached for the wavy fries even though he’d already eaten a serving and a half from his and Mary Margaret’s plates. Emma reached out and lightly slapped his hand away from Killian’s share and the boy pouted. “From the last I heard of her, she and Sean had gotten married and taken Alexandra to New York. I’m not sure when that was, though, or what they’ve been doing since. Why do you ask?”

Killian reached for a single fry, shoving it into his mouth with a strange grace, albeit lack of manners. The only evidence of his tension was the tremor in his scarred hand. He finished chewing and swallowing before speaking, giving Emma some hope for the table manners of their future children. “Swan and I were discussing her old schoolmates, and she remembered what had become of all of them except for the aforementioned Ashley.” Mary Margaret nodded, fully accepting the truth.

David took a meditative bite of grilled cheese. His appeared to have a hamburger stuffed inside the fried cheese post-grilling. Emma took note; maybe Robin would appreciate that the next time the Hoods came for dinner. “Sean’s a good kid. Really great with Alex, last I saw them.” David caught a bit of mustard from his sandwich—it wasn’t even a grilled cheese anymore, apparently, or at least it didn’t deserve the simple title—with a fry and continued his lunch without a care in the world.

“Alex was sweet, at least when I watched her in high school,” Emma added, suddenly longing for her father’s calmness. There was only so much more of this skirting-around-the-real-topic she could take. Judging by the tremor continuing in Killian’s hand, he was about done with the conversation. They were used to being able to jump straight into their real topic, although that usually involved pointing a gun at someone’s head.

Mary Margaret made a noncommittal hum before her eyes darted to Killian’s hand. “Are you okay, Killian?”

Killian glanced down at his hand and noticed the tremors. His face smoothed out and he sighed slightly, staring at his hand and forming a fist, the shaking slowing almost immediately. Emma reached for his hand and he let her take it, although there was nothing she could do except squeeze his hand so that his muscles could focus on something aside from stress. “Aye, I’m fine. The nerves don’t really know what to do with themselves anymore, sometimes causing tremors. The doctor said it should stop eventually.”

The doctor had really said, “These tremors, man, it’s almost entirely psychological even with the nerve damage that’s technically causing it. From what you’ve described, it’s gonna show up when you’re stressed, so don’t risk too much in poker, you’ll lose. I also recommend therapy for theoretical PTSD.” Of course, Killian being who he was, Emma had noticed that the shaking really just manifested when he was frustrated. Not particularly stressed, but generally during interrogation.

“Anyway—” thank goodness for little brothers and their tendency to interrupt “—I was wondering who would like to take me Christmas shopping tomorrow,” Henry said, leaning forward. Mary Margaret and David both froze, glancing back and forth between each other, Henry, and Emma. “Unless you’re going to say I’m old enough to take myself, but I’m not expecting that yet,” Henry continued drily.

Emma thought about it. Today was December 20; Christmas was in five days. Only five days to find something for everyone, all the people she hadn’t seen in long enough that she had no idea what to get them. Henry would probably be help with that. “I’ll take you, kid, as long as you promise to help me figure out a present for whoever’s coming on Christmas.”

Henry beamed and nodded before trying to look cool again. Emma tilted her head as she looked at her little brother. The sheer joy on his face… what did that mean? Mary Margaret clapped her hands together. “That’ll be wonderful, Emma! And if you’re gone with Henry, that means Killian can help me with the decorations!”

Killian froze and stared at his mother-in-law. “What kind of decorations are entailed in that description?” he asked, and Emma tried not to laugh at him. He’d never really done a massive Christmas like the Nolans always put together, and they were masters at managing to do four weeks of decorating, baking, and shopping in five days. It had been quite the shock when David had explained how it all worked right before her first Nolan Christmas.

“So that’s settled,” David said cheerfully. “Emma and Henry will do their shopping tomorrow and Killian and Mary Margaret will get the decorations started while I go to work. The petty thieves wait for no one, not even Christmas.” Emma answered his grin with an uncertain one of her own, and Killian merely looked concerned.

“Killian,” Emma sighed as she flopped back onto the bed.

“Yes, my love?” he asked from the bathroom.

“Stop staring at your own face and get in here.”

Killian stepped out of the bathroom, looking decidedly peeved. She would have laughed at his precious face but his eyes were too serious and he held his hand stiffly by his side. “My hand’s getting worse, Swan.”

“Do you want to go to the doctor tomorrow?” He stared at her for ten seconds, not moving from the doorway. Emma rolled her eyes. “Call me optimistic, but I’ll keep asking. It’s like how you kept asking if we had to go to the hospital in Russia and I kept saying no even though you were about ready to drag me there. Remember that feeling and you’ll know how I feel.”

He took a short, exasperated breath before speaking. “You had been shot. I was being a proper partner, concerned for his girlfriend.” His voice was about as amused as his eyes, which were now throwing daggers at her. “This psychosomatic tremor does not compare, my dearest love.” Finally he turned the bathroom light off, letting the room drown in the sudden darkness. There wasn’t so much as a street light outside to light the room.

Emma sighed again as Killian gently nudged her under the blankets so that her back was to him. “What are you going to do about it, then?” His hand landed on her stomach without much grace and she started massaging the shaking hand. Killian sighed happily.

They were silent for ten minutes, soaking up the other’s warmth and relishing the fact that they were completely alone. “I love you, Swan,” Killian murmured, his voice already raspy with sleep.

“Oh, no, you can’t go to sleep yet,” she whispered back. He pulled her closer and kissed her shoulder.

“As you wish,” he groaned, just under his breath. “What is it, love?”

Emma took a big breath. “What are we going to do about Ashley and all of that?”

“Can we do anything right now?”

Emma raised an eyebrow even though Killian couldn’t see it. “We can track her down and find out what’s happening. We can look around town for whoever she’s taking orders from, assuming that they’re here too. There’s a host of things we can do, Killian.”

Killian kissed her shoulder twice, letting his mouth linger over an old scar from a bullet three years ago. Emma held her breath for a moment, wondering how much further he was going to go. “I know I was anxious to find out what was happening earlier, during lunch. Which is probably the reason I started shaking, incidentally one of the worst possible side effects from an explosion.” He tilted his head and kissed the base of her neck. “But Henry reminded me of something.”

“What’s that?”

“Christmas is in just a few days.”

Emma rolled over to face her husband in one smooth movement. He took that as an invitation to pull her even closer and she couldn’t really argue with his interpretation. Peering into the darkness of the room, she almost saw the grin on his face once he came into focus and she couldn’t hold her own smile back. They spent a minute smiling stupidly at each other—the smiles were the reason that Ariel and her husband Eric called them real-life Disney characters. Apparently even from the beginning they’d had some sort of lovesick gaze, and it had also been enough for Regina to make them partners—until Emma remembered their conversation.

“What about Christmas?”

Killian leaned forward enough for their noses to nudge together. “We came for Christmas, love. Your parents invited us for Christmas. Obviously whatever’s happening with Ashley is a problem, and we’ll deal with it. But we have to pretend that Christmas is the most important thing right now.”

“Because it actually is.” Emma finished his thought.

“Indeed,” Killian murmured sleepily. “You’ll go shopping with the lad tomorrow and I’ll assist my mother-in-law with decorating, which I’m sure will be a lovely bonding experience for all of us. I do hope that I’m at least capable of hanging lights. I think your mother would laugh at me otherwise.” He kissed her quickly.

“You decorated our tree last Christmas, even if it was only three feet tall, and it was beautiful. You’ll do just fine.” She kissed him, lingering a little longer, before closing her eyes and preparing to shut her brain down for sleep.

“We can find Ashley later,” Killian whispered. “We’ll do it together, later.” Emma nodded, squeezing her eyes closed. The last thing she felt was another kiss on her forehead and his whispered “I love you, Emma” before she drifted off to sleep.

“Come on, Emma,” Henry called from a few steps ahead. “We’re probably too late already, because someone forgot it was Christmas, but I want to make sure I can find something for everyone!”

“You’ll find something, kid, don’t worry. And it wasn’t just one person who forgot. It was all of us idiot adults.” Emma jogged a few steps to catch up with her little brother. They’d just dropped off their dad at the police station for his second-to-last work day before Christmas, leaving Emma and Henry to browse the town. “Who’s coming for Christmas, anyway?”

Henry looked up at Emma—not too far up, he was almost as tall as her and this line of thinking was going to make her depressed—as if she were the stupidest person he’d ever met. “Don’t you remember?”

“It’s been a really long time, Henry.”

Henry scuffed his shoe against the pavement. “Yeah, that’s true.” He lightened up as quickly as he’d gotten grumpy. “It’s you, me, Mom, Dad, Killian, Ruby, Granny, and Dad said he’s maybe inviting Graham and Leroy. Mom wanted to invite more, but Dad said we didn’t have any more room.”

Emma thought about the guest list for a moment. Graham, she’d known for forever; there would be some excellent faking involved there. Leroy, well, he never cared about her love life and they could probably wear their wedding rings and he wouldn’t notice. “Sounds great, kid. You didn’t want to invite Violet?” she teased. That would absolutely make the day, if she and Killian and her father got to watch Henry bumble around with his family and his crush at the same time.

Henry blushed as red as Killian did when he asked her out the first two times. “Mom told me to, but she said she and her dad were going down to Boston for the week.”

“Oh, you poor thing!” Emma emoted. Henry only turned redder, so she let the thing go, even though she was rather longing to meet the girl of Henry’s dreams and fancies. Probably for the best, though, as Killian would have taken it upon himself to tease his younger brother-in-law quite mercilessly. He had no such qualms in making fun of his fellow species in regards to the fairer sex, as he’d termed them.

They turned into the first store of the day. Henry went immediately to the blankets in the corner while Emma trailed along behind him, eyes sharp for anything her parents might fancy as well as Ashley. She and Killian had agreed that they would spend the day with family, enjoying the time and the season and the frankly frigid temperatures, but Emma couldn’t stop herself from keeping a look-out. The last time she’d forgotten to keep her eyes open—Emma shuddered, the table of necklaces in front of her shaking as her hands clenched on the edge of the table. Killian was okay, and Henry would be fine.

They were fine. It would be okay. That would be her mantra for the day, she supposed, grimacing at the jewelry.

Emma already had a necklace for her mom in her suitcase, and she’d found a tie for her dad five months ago. Maybe she could convince Killian to go back out with her to get a present for Henry, so she didn’t have to try to hide it during the current shopping trip.

Her parents would have found something for Granny and Leroy. That left Ruby and Graham. Ruby would be tricky—a continuation of the “don’t tell everyone we’re married” bribe. Graham would probably appreciate a watch. She glanced over the watches and found a piece that looked sheriff-like. Success. Killian would probably also like it, since it looked relatively old and did not possess the “digital nonsense that prevents people from reading a simple clock,” as he had ranted on one memorable date night several years back.

With the watch in hand, Emma decided that it was time to return to the little brother. “What’d you find, kid?” she asked when she was a few steps away from Henry. He jolted visibly and Emma mentally sighed. She was wearing her most comfortable shoes, which meant they were perfectly matched to her feet in such a way that she was silent without even concentrating.

“How did you walk that quietly?” Henry half-shrieked.

“Sorry, kid, I think it’s the shoes,” she apologized as succinctly as she could, resolving to walk with a little less finesse for a while. “Find anything good?”

Henry let the shoe thing go after one last glare, then he turned to the blankets he’d been staring at. “Dad keeps complaining about how cold it is in the house, because he’s old. Do you think he’d like the red one or the blue one?”

Emma stared at the blankets. The red one looked more like their dad—a little more professional, didn’t look quite as cushy but was still soft—but the blue one would match the living room better, even though that really wasn’t a big deal in their house. “I don’t know, Henry. Try flipping a coin and, if you don’t like what the quarter says, go with the other one.”

Henry nodded solemnly as Emma handed him the coin. He assigned the blankets and flipped the coin in silence, finally reaching for the red one. “Good method, Emma.”

“Thanks,” she said as he laid the quarter back in her palm. She scrambled for something to say. “Tell me about Violet,” she finally decided on.

Henry flushed bright red and walked as quickly as he could toward the cashier. “Shut up.”

Emma grinned.

An hour into the shopping trip—they hadn’t found anything in the next quaint little store, so had switched to the next one in search of things for their mom and Ruby—Emma’s phone blared out its happy ring.

As she glanced at the screen, she handed Henry a twenty and the bracelet set she’d found for Ruby, waving toward the cash register. “Mom?”

“Hi, honey!” her mom’s cheerful voice rang out. Emma watched Henry purchase the bracelet and her mom’s new ceramic bird. “Just calling to check on you and Henry!”

“We’re fine,” Emma replied cautiously. Through the phone, she heard another voice.

“What are you doing? Are you calling her? For god’s sake, I’m fine!” Killian. His voice was muffled, since he was probably several feet away, but she could hear the frustration from miles away.

Emma motioned to Henry, and they abandoned the store for hopefully better reception. “Mom? What happened?”

“Your boyfriend was hanging some lights, and—”

Emma interrupted. “Is anything broken? Hand the phone to Killian.” She turned to Henry. “I think Killian’s broken himself. Do you mind if we head back a bit early?”

“I’m done,” Henry said, wide-eyed. “Is Killian okay?”

“I’ll know if he ever answers—”

“I’m fine, love. No need to cut the excursion short. I just fell off the ladder and twisted my ankle. Should be mended in a few hours with the sheer amount of ice that’s currently resting on the poor thing.” Emma grinned. Killian was probably only barely not glaring at his mother-in-law.

Suddenly, Henry laughed, apparently hearing Killian’s grumbles through the phone. And possibly from miles away, just like the frustration. “We’re on the way home, babe,” Emma added to Killian. “Even if just to save you from the frozen peas.”

And, amid manly protests, she hung up the phone. She allowed herself to seethe for a moment. How was it that Killian Jones, one of the CIA’s greatest on the East Coast, was able to get out of a firefight in Budapest with nary a scratch, or go on a jog through Chicago at night and escape all sorts of trouble, and yet the moment she left him alone with a string of lights and a ladder, he was laid up on the couch? It made no sense.

Emma breathed deeply, leaving the rest of the frustration for the husband’s ears. She turned to Henry, who was being ridiculously patient throughout the whole thing. “Did you find good stuff for everyone? I’m sorry that this hasn’t ended up being much of a bonding experience.”

Henry grinned up at her. “Are you kidding? You’re here, in Storybrooke. This entire Christmas vacation is a bonding experience.” He continued, leaving her to drown in guilt once more. “I think so. I got the blanket for Dad and the bird for Mom. Oh, and I found this for Killian—” he rummaged in one of the shopping bags “—if you think he’ll like it.”

Henry held out a compass, about two inches in diameter. The needle wasn’t pointing north and it looked vaguely like a small child had gotten ahold of it at some point in its life. It was perfect. Emma leaned in and pulled Henry into her side, suddenly overcome with how sweet her baby brother was. “It’s great, Henry. He’s going to love it.”

“Don’t tell him what it is.”

“Of course not,” Emma said, offended. “What’s the fun in that? Did you get anything for Violet?”

Henry blushed bright red again—she really needed to stop teasing him about this before he popped a blood vessel somewhere, but she was curious if Henry thought the friendship warranted a special Christmas present. He pulled out a small notebook, blue and purple colors marbled into a masterpiece on the cover. “She likes my notebooks, and she said she wanted one once even though she doesn’t like writing that much. So… do you think she’ll like it?”

He stared up at her earnestly, begging for some sort of reassurance. “She’ll love it. Haven’t met her, but I’m sure she’ll like anything you get her.” And there was the big sister reassurance and love she could provide.

They walked the rest of the way to the Nolan home in silence. Emma kept her arm wrapped around Henry’s shoulders, but she didn’t feel much need to talk. The faint smile on Henry’s face was more than enough.

Emma sat down on the couch next to Killian, trying not to let any emotions except vague concern channel through. Killian wouldn’t appreciate the amusement—but seriously, though, he should have been better than this—and her mom wouldn’t understand and wasn’t allowed to understand her frustration—this was also her partner, and they had important plans for the evening.

“How is it feeling?” Mary Margaret asked, her soft, sad eyes putting the average Labrador’s to shame. “Can I get you anything? How about some hot chocolate?”

Emma patted Killian’s hand as he replied, “I’m just fine, thank you, Mrs. Nolan. I really appreciate you caring for me when most of the house remains undecorated.”

Mary Margaret waved her hand about as she started work on the unsolicited hot chocolate. “No problem, dear! And call me Mary Margaret! You’ve more than earned it.” Within moments, she’d finished the hot chocolate and placed it in Killian’s hands. Emma just as quickly took it away to prevent accidental spills, since that seemed the theme of the afternoon.

“Mom?” Henry appeared in the kitchen. “I can help with the decorations, if you want.”

“Oh, that would be great, honey! You’ll watch Killian, right, Emma? I have more frozen peas if the first ones start thawing. Let me know if you need anything!”

In the blink of an eye, her mom and Henry had disappeared to finish with the lights and other decorations. Emma wondered for a moment how Henry was going to be much help with the whole endeavor, but then she remembered that Henry was taller than she was, and she’d helped their mom with the lights plenty of times.

She sighed. So much growing up had happened while the CIA kept her away.

Finally, she turned to Killian. He turned immediately after she did, no doubt fearing some sort of Emma anger at the fact that he’d managed to hurt himself when she wasn’t there to prevent it. “I’m not mad,” Emma said. She was a little frustrated, vaguely triggered by the last time she was too late, and slightly disappointed that she and Henry had had to come home a little early, but it wasn’t bad.

“Why would you be mad?” Killian scoffed softly, but he settled a little further into the couch cushions, glaring at his ankle. “It’s a two and a half.”

Emma relaxed, leaning into his side. The explosion and its aftermath had been a ten on the scale of Killian-you-have-an-excellent-pain-tolerance-but-sometimes-it-will-fail. The average hangnail made a solid one, and the time he broke his arm while under the influence had warranted a happily-screeched six. A two and a half wasn’t even close to bad by his standards, and he was probably right when he said he didn’t need a doctor.

“What happened, anyway? You’re normally better than this.”

Killian sighed and rested his cheek on her head. “We were having a wonderful discussion about the Christmas lights, my childhood traditions, and my intentions toward you when your mother asked a startling question that sent me to the ground.”

Emma tried to turn her head to see his expression, but Killian didn’t shift enough to allow the movement. They sat in silence for a moment, Emma picturing Killian’s face when Mary Margaret asked the question, whatever it was, that made him fall off a ladder. Or the roof. She wasn’t quite sure. She waited for him to say whatever the question was, but he remained silent. “Fine, I give up. What did Mom ask?”

Killian laughed and took her hand, moving his head just far enough that he could kiss her knuckles. Emma took the opportunity to move, facing him to get the full benefit of Killian’s story, which naturally included his face. “She offered her ring, if you must know.” Emma blinked. Killian laughed again. “Yes, my love. Both of your parents approve of me. Of course, I knew it would happen since I am devilishly handsome and overwhelmingly charming, but—”

Emma stopped him with a finger pressed to his mouth. “If your next words repeat how much of an idiot I was for not bringing you home five years ago, I will hit you. Regardless of damaged ankle.”

“The thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” Killian grinned. They sat there and smiled at each other for a minute. They were married; it was allowed. “If the ankle turns out worse than I imagine, how many death threats do you think Regina will send me?”

Emma rolled her eyes and stood to check on the state of the frozen peas. “So many. I probably won’t be able to save you.”

“Well, it’s been a nice run,” Killian sighed, wincing as Emma poked at the purple swelling around his ankle. He’d be able to walk on it perfectly fine in a few days, she guessed. She rewrapped it and leaned down to kiss him.

“I’ll avenge you,” she whispered when she pulled away.

Killian smiled. “I appreciate that, Mrs. Jones.”

Emma finished wrapping the last present and sighed. “They look fine, love,” Killian called from the bed.

She stood up and stretched, then leaned back down to gather up the gifts to take them downstairs. “But they don’t look as good as my mom’s, and you know it.”

She heard Killian searching for a diplomatic response as she skipped down the stairs to put the presents under the tree. That had been the after-dinner exercise—her dad and Henry went to get the tree, she and her mom moved the furniture around to make room for it, and Killian had limped around to try to help. Mary Margaret Nolan and her appreciation for her daughter’s boyfriend insisted that he and his twisted ankle stay comfy on the couch.

Emma was still reeling from the fact that Killian had been given maternal permission to propose. It’s not like he really needed it—the wedding rings secure in her purse proved otherwise—but it was still pretty awesome. Her dad’s unspoken permission a few days ago had been something, but her mom was a much harder nut to crack.

“I thought you’d be asleep already, Emma.” David’s voice broke out of the shadows and she started, mentally cursing herself for paying more attention to not letting Henry’s box fall instead of her surroundings. How was it that just a few days in Storybrooke, a town that was clearly hiding something, were enough to lower her defenses so much?

Emma finally saw her dad, sitting on the couch before the tree. “I wanted to go ahead and get everything wrapped and under the tree. You know, get something done before—Mom.” Her dad’s smirk gave it away before she even saw the giant pile under the tree. She sighed and started setting everything up, scattering her and Killian’s offerings in with the rest. “How does she do that?”

“I don’t question your mother, Emma,” David said, deadpan. “She’s too magical for that.” Emma leaned over and hugged him, ready to bid a goodnight and head upstairs for strategy. Before she could step away, David grabbed her hand. She glanced back down, just barely preventing herself from snatching her hand away. He met her eyes, searching as only he could. “Are you happy, Emma?”

“Mom’s happily ever after project for me can probably close down shop,” she answered. “Why?”

Her dad grinned, releasing her hand. “Just making sure. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, since we adopted you. That you’d be happy again.”

Somehow that made tears come to her eyes. She leaned down and hugged him again. “I am happy, Dad. So happy.” David kissed her forehead and she stepped away.

“I’m glad. Now go to bed,” he whispered. Emma nodded and took the remaining steps to the stairs, walking up slowly and glancing back down at her dad. He was still staring at the tree, but Emma thought he was smiling.

She stepped into her old bedroom with a similar smile. Killian glanced up when the door closed behind her. He grinned when he saw her. “What’s the smile for?”

“My dad’s pretty cool. All happy I’m happy and stuff.” Emma stepped over to his side of the bed and Killian tilted his chin up to meet her kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too, darling.”

They smiled for another few moments until Emma thought about the clock. “It’s 9 PM,” she said, leaning over her suitcase. She hadn’t bothered to unpack it, even though her mom had emptied out the drawers for them, which really made it look like she’d hoped Emma would change her mind about New York and move back in. Which wasn’t going to happen.

“What’s particularly significant about the time except for indicating the time for sleeping?” Killian asked, stretching and sitting up straighter.

Emma pulled out her grey leggings, loose black shirt, and tighter black undershirt and waved them in Killian’s direction. She closed the bathroom door behind her and changed, wondering how she was going to find Ashley unless the other woman showed up first. Since Ashley supposedly didn’t even live in Storybrooke anymore, Emma didn’t even have an address to go off of. It probably wasn’t even necessary for her to go out tonight, but she wanted to do some scouting and remember the town when it was veiled in shadows.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, ponytail secured and gun tucked into her waistband, Killian was glaring. She leaned back a little, not quite expecting the level of vitriol normally kept for an incompetent rookie who hadn’t learned how to use the safety on a gun. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m looking for Ashley. We need to figure out what’s going on here, Killian, and—”

He interrupted, as expected. Emma mentally slammed her forehead onto a table. “You’re going without me?”

“You may not have noticed, but you can’t fit your foot inside your boots right now! How are you going to do anything useful?”

Killian winced, and Emma sighed. She’d gone too far. She opened her mouth to apologize but Killian spoke first. “I may not be able to go now, or be useful or anything like that, but I don’t want you going alone.”

She finished tying her best shoes. It wouldn’t take much, just a few more steps, and she could be out of the door. She was fully prepared to table the argument for much later, or never again. “I can do it—”

“Of course you can do it alone! I don’t doubt that! I also don’t doubt that without me with you, you’ll get yourself very badly hurt! Do you remember even a little bit of our first mission in Shanghai?”

Emma did. She had wandered away from Killian and gotten shot. The blood loss had been impressive, and they’d rapidly abandoned their mission. She was also not amused by the comparison. “It’s just a run around Storybrooke, Killian! The worst I expect to see is a cat fight, and if anyone sees me, I’ll just be the weird girl who left home more than a decade ago in favor of the big city.” She took another step toward the door.

“I don’t want you going alone,” Killian said, pressing his fingers into his temples. “We work best together, Swan. Or have you forgotten that we’re partners as well as husband and wife?”

Just as Emma realized that their voices had risen beyond what would be considered normal for a nighttime conversation, a door closed. She glared at Killian, who glared right back, and silently opened the door. The do-not-disturb sign that hung on Henry’s doorknob swung gently. She closed the door again and took a deep breath before turning back to Killian.

She pitched her voice far lower. “Henry probably heard most of that last declaration, just so you know. You get to work on the explanation, since you started it. I’m going out to look for Ashley, since there’s a possibility that she’s working for someone who tried to blow you up. Thankfully, you’re incapable of following me.”

With that, she stepped over to the window. She’d escaped out of these windows a thousand times in her less-than-squeaky-clean high school years, and her consequent career hadn’t discouraged such behaviors.

“Emma…” Killian said, almost under his breath. He moved to the edge of the bed, abandoning the latest ice pack. “At least promise me you’ll be careful, darling.”

Before Emma could step to the window, Killian leaned forward and pulled her to him. She met him midway with a furious sort of kiss, still too unrelenting for any sort of intimacy. It was Killian’s admonishment and Emma’s admission that it was probably not the best plan. But she wouldn't wait. She couldn't.

Emma pulled away as quickly as they'd clung to each other. Killian sighed, running a hand through his hair. She took the few steps to the window and swung a leg out, hunting for the brick she used as a foothold. “It’s been almost seven years, Killian. Do you really still need to tell me to be careful?”

By the time Killian replied, she was standing on the grass below her window. “Always.” Her window clicked as he closed it.

Regret and adrenaline coursed through her as she jogged to the street. But Emma couldn’t stop to wish that she had waited until Killian understood that she couldn’t stay. She had a woman to find.

#i can see the clouds are moving faster now #captain swan #ouat #cs ff #ouat ff #my ff

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gear-project · 6 years ago

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Hello, there seems to be tale of a new Guilty Gear installment rather than an Xrd addition from the recent anniversary interview. Honestly I'm a bit saddened by this especially considering the statement made for newer games to be simpler (I also really just wanted Testament to eventually show up in Xrd with all its crazy mechanics rather than a new game). But anyway, can you confirm how true this rumour is?. Is it really that Xrd has come to an end after what feels like a short time?.

Since Baf0’s conversation on Twitter on the Dengeki Report kinda blew it up, I’ll reiterate it here (since Dustloop posts don’t last forever… full translation courtesy of RedSilverSnake):

—The password to unlock Testament and Dizzy in the arcade version of X was “misosoup,” apparently because a programmer working on the game was overheard saying, “Now I want to drink some miso soup…”[I mentioned this earlier. FYI GGX also had a button code in the console versions. Look it up at GameFAQs.]

—The development team was casual with naming conventions at the time, to the extent that one of the ideas of what to call what became roman cancels was “cosmetic galaxy.” [I explained some of GGX history, Roman Cancels are wordplay for Roman Candle, a Firework… this symbolism actually transferred all the way to Revelator when Sol talks about Fireworks in one of the closing chapters of the story.]

—There was a question about Fanny from GG Petit, but Ishiwatari says he can’t answer anything about her because he wasn’t involved in her creation. [Sammy Staff were part of the people who assisted in her creation, but the GG character poll suggested that Ishiwatari wasn’t above putting her in a future game if players still wanted her to appear.]

—Advance had a unique move for Venom that Ishiwatari meant to hide, but it somehow made it into the game. [They describe it as a Bomb technique, which I think was hinted at in Night of Knives as well when Millia clashed with Venom. There’s an item called Calvados Bomb in MOM Mode that generates poison which might have stemmed from that idea.]

—Not everyone who worked on XX knew that Bridget was a boy, which led to a shocked exclamation from a designer. [Story Mode states officially that Bridget is Male and identifies as Male, wishing to become more “manly” as part of his interests. 4chan be damned.]

—When the topic of the series’ bosses being women came up, it was mentioned that Leopaldon’s gender is unknown, but Ishiwatari says that he thinks the dog piloting it may have been female, thus keeping this tradition unbroken. [Gears can be considered “gender neutral” in some cases, because of their DNA, but yes the Dog inside Leo’s mouth COULD be Female, but we don’t know for sure!]

—Leopaldon’s designer did the effects for Jam’s new super in Xrd. [It was also said that Da Eun, Kum Haehyun’s Head Maid was the girl who appeared in Korean #Reload’s original stage.]

—Overture’s total development time was five years, so Ishiwatari says he has a lot of memories about it. [Black memories, I assume, given the reception. >_>]

—The name of Overture’s genre, melee action, has a double meaning; the “melee” part is homonymous with the Japanese word 命令/meirei, which refers to orders, like the ones you give to servants in the game. [Hopefully they’ll do something more improved in a Crusades-like setting someday ala God Eater.]

—Ishiwatari was fixated on how roman cancels could be changed in Xrd, and Pachi recalls racking his mind over the suggestion that they be possible at any time, even during a downed state. [FYI the only way to cancel a knockdown is to recover before it! BlazBlue has Emergency Rolls and Quickrise motions for this reason, also there was a hack in Accent Core (PSP version codes) that could allow for unlimited cancels in to anything at one point, so the coding is there for it!]

—One idea that was tested during Xrd’s development was being able to roman cancel KOs, but this caused a bug among certain characters where they’d just fall right after getting up following the RC.[This is where the idea of Resurrection came from (related to the Gill boss character from Street Fighter III).]

—Bridget was #1 on the Revelator poll to decide the next playable character until the very last day, when Dizzy got a sudden boost. [Poor Order-Sol…]

—The staff had specific ideas for other characters in the poll, such as Izuna dashing rather than having a regular walk (like in Cross Tag Battle). [I’m sure he’s still in the works for the next game as Izuna was mentioned in Revelator.]

—One of Haehyun’s attendants actually debuted in the Korean version of #Reload, having been added to one of the stages. [Her name is Da Eun, and she is voiced by Elphelt’s VA in Kum’s Episode!]

—Ishiwatari also says that Xrd is probably finished as of Rev 2, and maybe hints that work has already started on the next real sequel.

Now, on to THIS:

As I said, GGXrd Revelator (excluding the add-on Rev2) is technically the SECOND of the Xrd Series… Rev2 (while it is a standalone game now), is the equivalent of “X Plus” to Guilty Gear X.

Most likely there is production for a THIRD XRD game… Revelator’s story hints at it, AFTER STORY hints at it, even the GUILTY GEAR BEGIN novel suggests something’s going to happen after REVELATOR…

So you KNOW something is gonna happen. Basically the statement is “We’re done with Revelator Add-ons”, is what they’re saying.

So the next GG is gonna be BIG. That’s all you guys need to know. Keep supporting ARC System Works, and maybe (JUST MAYBE) the next GG will get a dub like BBTag has!

All we have to do is support any releases (including GG1 and Accent Core for the Nintendo Switch, Steam, and PS4 releases). Guilty Gear The Missing Link should be coming in the next few months along with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R.

I’m banking on this because HAPPY CHAOS (a hinted character) says so! So you should believe in HAPPY CHAOS!

#GG Fans just gotta be Patient!

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wrestling-and-such · 5 years ago

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My 10 Favourite Matches of 2019

Ok, so I was planning to release this days ago, but school caught up and now everyone is over 2019. But I’m still gonna finish this list anyway cause I said so. Shhhhh... let me have this...

So, I see a lot of people talking about the best wrestlers or best matches or best promotions of the 2010s. But I only just got back into wrestling in 2019, so I don’t feel as though I can talk about the entire decade. Instead, I decided to make a list of my favourite matches of just 2019. Now, these aren’t the BEST matches, these is my FAVOURITE matches, and thus subject to my own opinion. And obviously spoilers for each of the matches ahead. Got it? Good.

Honourable Mentions:

Grizzled Young Veterans vs Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) vs South Wales Subculture (NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff)

The Women’s Wargames Match (NXT TakeOver: Wargames (2019))

A-Kid vs Will Ospreay (Triple W Total Rumble 9)

Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley (AEW All Out)

Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks (WWE Hell in a Cell (2019))

10: Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW G1 Climax 2019 - Day 6 Jul 19th 2019)

I liked Dean Ambrose. I love Jon Moxley. So, what happens when you put one of the most legitimately badass wrestlers in the world today with perennial fellow badass, Tomohiro Ishii? A straight up brawl between two of the best brawlers in the business. Moxley was at his violent and unhinged finest, while also refining that brutality in a more serious and direct manner. We even got to see a more technical side of Moxley that we weren’t presented in WWE’s “sports entertainment” landscape. Also, ISHII DIVES OFF THE TOP ROPE THROUGH A TABLE, ISHII DOES NOT DO THAT GUYS, YOU JUST DO NOT SEE THAT, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT. Ishii is one of those wrestlers in NJPW that I instantly connected with, and he worked his ass off in this match, and basically the entire G1 Climax. And with a match like this, I would like to see him in more. Amazing.

9: PAC vs Ben-K (Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2019))

So, Disclaimer; I do not watch Dragon Gate. I’m sure I should, but I don’t. That being said, I absolutely loved this match. From what I’m told, there was another match at Kobe World that might have been better than this one. But if I’m being honest, it would have to be REALLY great to top this one. Ben-K, through just one match, became one of my favourite wrestlers today. Dragon Gate is a promotion primarily made up of Junior Heavyweights, so it’s somewhat strange to see a wrestler like Ben-K among their mix, as he’s primarily a power and ground based wrestler. Nonetheless, his style was completely in-sync with the high flying PAC. PAC is a sadistic son of a b%&* throughout the match, as usual. However, when he lost he made sure he put Ben-K over HARD, even risking his stable’s own credibility to do so. If you want a great underdog and redemption story, this is definitely one to watch.

8: The Revival vs Undisputed Era (O'Reilly & Fish) (NXT Tapings: Nov. 20, 2019)

Anyone who’s seen this match will know where I’m coming from. A sleeper hit on the road to Survivor Series, everyone who recognized the abilities of those involved knew something big was going to happen. Despite, traditionally being Heels, The Revival were the de facto Babyfaces in this match, with the single goal of showing the world why they were so big in NXT. And they did, in a showcase of Tag team wrestling at its finest. Matched up with the technical excellence of the Undisputed Era, this match produced GOLD. Its all the fixings of a great Revival match: blind tags, fluid tag team moves, climactic hot tags. All topped off with a surprising chemistry with the almost always excellent Undisputed Era. I love you Revival. Now please go somewhere else to do your thing. I would like to see it.

7: Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole (bay bay) (NXT TakeOver: New York)

This was the first NXT TakeOver show I had ever watched, as I had just missed the Phoenix show and hadn’t had the chance to watch it before the Wrestlemania weekend. That being said, what an introduction to TakeOvers this was. The entire New York card was probably my favourite WWE PPV of the year (save for one other NXT PPV mentioned) and this match was just delicious sugary icing on the cake. And I don’t even like icing that much. Johnny Gargano is by far one of the best Babyfaces in the world and draws sympathy like no other, most people recognize this. But what this match did differently than his other matches was introduce us to his uncanny ability to suspend you disbelief. And Adam Cole was an integral foil for Johnny, even if it was never planned, as I don’t think Tommaso could have gotten this out of Johnny as he was only one man. But when the rest of the Undisputed Era came out to assist Cole, Johnny took down all of them, and you believed it possible. It wasn’t a cop out like we see so many times on the main roster and its main event scene. It was genuine, heartfelt, underdog resilience that we hoped, we knew, and we saw pay off in the end.

6: WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match (WWE Elimination Chamber (2019))

I know, I know, many people prefer Kofi Kingston’s Wrestlemania triumph over “The New” Daniel Bryan. However, for personal preference, I enjoyed Kofi’s Elimination Chamber Showcase just a little bit more. Essentially, this is where KofiMania started. Kofi was an incidental figure in the match due to Mustafa Ali getting injured, but he nonetheless seized his opportunity and put it all on the line for one of the greatest matches of his life. This isn’t to say that the other members of the match didn’t play their part either; Daniel Bryan may have been more conniving than ever before, Samoa Joe was a literal machine during his time in the match, Jeff Hardy was at his high flying best, AJ Styles put his technical excellence on display once again, and Randy Orton actually felt threatening for once! However, this was Kofi’s night, and this is where it all began.

5: Rhea Ripley vs Shayna Baszler (NXT Tapings: Dec. 18, 2019)

As of this writing, Shayna Baszler is basically headed to the main roster, so it was almost a shoe-in that Rhea Ripley would be walking out of 2019 as the new NXT Women’s Champion. However, the skill and strength of this match was making you forget about that and question whether or not Rhea could actually get the job done. But she did! And it was great! Shayna’s new style lends itself as both punishing to her victims but also rewarding to those who know what they’re up against. And for a while, Rhea was especially rewarded for her close understanding of Shayna and her ability to read her out, as seen in her previous match with her a few months earlier and the Women’s Wargames Match. But when that ability was hindered by Shayna when she finally managed to injure Rhea’s arm, you were left on the edge of your seat the entire match worrying about the outcome. And that’s what a match is supposed to do, even if the outcome is somewhat predictable. Even still, sometimes its best to just give fans what they want, and that’s exactly what they did.

4: Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi (NJPW G1 Climax 2019 - Day 16 Aug 8th 2019)

I showed this match to a friend who had never watched pro wrestling in his life and had no interest in it. I still showed him this match and he actually had a lot of fun watching it. When you take two big beefy bois and have them run into each other for about 22 minutes, you get this wonderful match. The story of this match is a classic case of one-upmanship, with the two men battering each other while no-selling each others moves throughout much of this match. This is also helped by the fact that these they look like they’re actually hitting each other in the face. One of the hardest hitting matches of the year, this was the Japanese Strong Style at some of its finest with how stiff the strikes were. That’s not to say there wasn’t much technical work in this match either. Nonetheless, I still feel as though this explanation doesn’t do this match justice. It’s still available online, so just go watch it yourself right now. Please.

3: Candice LeRae vs Io Shirai (NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2019))

I’m gonna be honest, this match is kind of helped by the fact that this took place in my home country of Canada. Don’t care, this was a phenomenal match either way. Context: Io Shirai had just turned heel, and Candice LeRae had just been dropped onto her head. Onto a chair. Being honest, she’s probably taken worse bumps on the indies, but still bad though! So Candice wants revenge, and she’s given this match at TakeOver. And it is wrestling at its finest. The story is so simple; one wrestler hurts another wrestler and the two have a match because of it. And it’s made all the better thanks to that match being great. That night in Toronto, LeRae even got more sympathy behind her than Johnny Gargano, who, as noted earlier, is a sympathy magnet. And Io proved herself a heel not through necessarily nefarious means (though there was some of that), but by simply being a fantastic technical wrestler, revived with a new heel persona. Made all the better by a resilient babyface opponent who Io literally had to choke out in order to put away. Candice LeRae is a tough f*&#ing cupcake, dammit.

2: Walter vs Tyler Bate (NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff)

Another contender for one of the world’s best babyfaces, big strong boi Tyler Bate helped put on my favourite match at my favourite WWE PPV of the year, the ever so underrated NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff. Walter is one of my favourite wrestlers, and I’m saying that as a guy who probably likes spots a bit too much. His old school catch wrestling style stands out amongst his contemporaries, and know one understands the fundamentals better than him. But what really stood out in this match was actually when he was on the back foot, selling for Tyler in a way that suspended your disbelief. And when Tyler managed to actually LIFT Walter up you really felt as if this David would conquer his Goliath. And when he didn’t you felt genuinely heartbroken, but not cheated. And that’s the important distinction. Thank you boys.

1: Cody vs Dustin Rhodes (AEW Double or Nothing)

Ok, you guys knew this was gonna be here. It’s on most people's lists, but nonetheless, I just loved this match a lot. Even as a kid, I remember not thinking much of Cody Rhodes. Goldust was neat, if a little weird for me as a kid. Like many people, I expected this match to be good and very emotional, but not great. Then it happened, and I was blown away. The buckets of blood, sweat, and tears spilled in this match would in theory be enough to turn some more squeamish eyes away, but it was so powerful that I’m not sure that too many people could actually take their eyes off it. Dustin was there to prove that, even after all these years, this old gunslinger’s still got it, with a technical smoothness to rival even the younger guys on the AEW roster. Meanwhile, Cody proved a dastardly but nonetheless sympathetic, nay empathetic, heelish wrestler who was tortured by his own actions in trying to put down his older brother. Nothing I say could truly capture the beauty of this match, but the sheer fact that I found it beautiful is a large reason why I’ll continue to watch wrestling for a long time to come.

#wwe #nxt #njpw #wrestling

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