#that Steve talks around referring to her by name is awkward but it’s because he doesn’t know it

[sjsmith56]

A Better Man, Part 1 - Preparation

Summary: Bucky Barnes, a shy general contractor with a shady background, offers to help a single mother get her inherited house renovated. It should be simple.

Length: 4.9 K

Characters: Bucky Barnes, named OFC, named OCC, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson.

Warnings: Bucky’s awkwardness, trust issues, teasing, practical jokes, association with criminals.

Author notes: This is primarily a romance between two people who have been hurt in the past. There will be moments of angst and even some darker memories and events but this Bucky is a soft and sweet guy.

Part 1

All three of the men stood outside the building, waiting, just like they did every Tuesday for the past month.  Bucky Barnes, the man who owned the building, where his general contracting business was located, pulled out a package of cigarettes, offering one to the other two, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson.  Both declined. 

"She doesn't like cigarettes," said Steve, pulling out a package of gum instead, offering one to Sam, who took a stick, sliding it out of the foil paper before inserting it in his mouth.  "Says it's not good for the baby."

Bucky put his cigarette back in the package, then stuck his hand out for a piece of gum instead, making Steve and Sam grin.  He had it bad if he was willing to chew gum for her.  To be fair, the other two gave up smoking around her themselves, after meeting her for the first time 5 weeks before.

"Here she comes," said Sam, nodding his head towards the end of the block.  "Best part of the week, right there."

The "she" they referred to was Andrea Hart, a single mother who moved into the neighbourhood over a year before but only started walking past their building in the past month and a bit.  They watched as she pushed the baby stroller towards them, her long hair softly bouncing in the light breeze, smiling at other people who saw her walk this way every Tuesday at 3 pm, enjoying the way she radiated something good in every step that brought her closer. 

"Good afternoon," she called out, as she approached the three men.  "Were you all waiting for me to walk by?"

"Yes," said Sam and Steve simultaneously, just as Bucky said the opposite.

Bucky glared at the two men, but he smiled back at Andrea.  "We were taking a break and enjoying the sunshine when we saw you coming so we decided to wait."

"How's baby girl this afternoon?" asked Sam, peeking into the stroller.

"Wide awake for once," answered her mother.  "Would you like to hold Lily?"

Sam grinned.  "Yes ma'am.  I've held a baby before.  My sister has two boys, and I looked after them when they were little."

She reached into the stroller, then lifted out the cutest doll of a baby girl, dressed in a bright yellow romper.  Sam expertly cradled Lily in his arms, smiling down at the baby with a look that the other two men had never seen before.  It obviously worked as Lily gurgled happily at him.  Steve leaned over and poked his finger into Lily's chubby little hand, grinning when she grasped it tight.

"I think she's adorable," he said, in an admiring voice.  "She must bring you such joy."

"She does," smiled Andrea.  "I just wish her dad thought the same way."

"He still not helping you?" asked Bucky.  "We know people who could talk to him.  Just give us his name."

"No, please leave him alone," she answered, the light within her dimming a little.  "I appreciate the offer but he's a lost cause.  Just as well, because then he would have to be part of our lives, and I don't want that.  We're better off on our own."  With a shrug, she smiled again.  "Well, we better be going.  I have to pick some things up at the grocery store."

Sam reluctantly gave Lily back to her mother.  Bucky watched Andrea's face as she laid the baby back inside the stroller, her face soft and full of love for her little girl.  The guy who got her pregnant must be a real asshole for not wanting to be part of their lives.  What he wouldn't give for someone like her to be waiting for him at the end of a workday.  With another smile and a quick wave Andrea left and they watched her walk away until she was out of sight.

"It's not right," said Sam.  "That lovely lady and that sweet baby deserve the best."  He looked at Bucky.  "We are going to talk to the father, aren't we?  He needs to at least be financially responsible."

"You heard her," replied Bucky, taking the gum out of his mouth, and dropping it into the bucket of sand outside the door of his building.  He pulled a cigarette out and lit it, taking several long drags and blowing the smoke out forcefully.  "Find out who and where he is and whether he can afford to support that baby.  Don't do anything to him.  I just want information."

Two days later they met in Bucky's office.  Sam turned on the Smart TV and sent the photos he had on his phone to the big screen.  It was obvious with the first one who the baby's father was.  The first picture of him handing off a shipment to a local drug dealer was all that the three men needed to know that he was bad news.

"Shit," muttered Bucky.  "Brock Rumlow."

"Hydra Contracting," said Sam.  "He doesn't usually handle deliveries but their usual guy, Walker, got himself arrested for beating someone up.  The new ADA is making an example of him, although Pierce is trying to get the charges dropped or reduced."

"How the hell did she get mixed up with him?" asked Bucky, his frown threatening to leave a permanent crease between his eyebrows. 

"Flat tire," said Steve.  "Right in front of one of their chop shops.  He changed it for her, asked her out then swept her off her feet.  When he got tired of her, he left her high and dry."  He looked at Sam, who shrugged.  "Bucky, Hydra has been associated with a baby trafficking ring.  I'm not saying Rumlow would do that to his own daughter but ...."

"If he's not willing to acknowledge her as his daughter then he might not care," stated the dark-haired man.  "Do we have anyone in their organization who can keep an eye on him?"

"Yeah, Quill has been working as security at the strip club.  Rumlow's there most nights.  Do you want someone watching her during the day?"

There was no answer for Sam for a long time, then Bucky sighed.  "She's not working, is she?"

"No, she's on leave.  She seems to have a bit of money from an inheritance, but she'll likely have to go back to work before Lily is a year old.  She was a teacher."

He stubbed the cigarette out and rubbed his face with his hands.  Of all the men to become involved with, Rumlow was one of the worst.

"Do we have anyone on the city payroll who can be doing work near her place?"

Steve flipped through a list on his phone.

"Mrs. Parker's nephew," he said.  "He's in the general landscaping department as a labourer.  Could be trimming some trees that are on public property near her place."

"Arrange it," said Bucky, glancing through the door where May Parker, his receptionist, was on the phone.  "I want to know her other walking routes as well.  Might as well get people staked out on them."

Sam and Steve glanced at each other.  "That might leave us a bit thin," said Steve.  "Unless I spring for more who are on the city payroll."

"Do it," ordered his boss.  "I don't want her to walk anywhere without eyes on her."  He looked up at them.  "Yes, I like her.  I just want her and her little girl to be safe.  It's not like I have plans to ask her out."

With a grin at each other, the two men left, and Bucky sat back, resting his head on the back of his chair, then closing his eyes.  Unable to help it, he thought of Andrea, like he had every day since he first wondered why Sam and Steve waited outside the office at the same time on Tuesdays, starting five weeks ago.  It was two weeks later when he joined them and saw her for the first time.  Sam, who had always been friendly to the ladies, greeted her; commenting on what a fine day it was for a walk.  Then he asked about the baby as if they had known each other for some time.  The jerk had even inquired about the baby's first tooth coming in then shared what his sister used for teething issues.  Andrea had been so grateful for the advice.  Bucky tried to remain indifferent but since that day he couldn't help but wonder if someone like her would ever be interested in someone like him.  With a sigh, he opened his eyes and stood up.  It was no use hoping for someone like Andrea.  Considering the type of work he had to take on, no decent woman should come within 20 feet of him.  He grabbed his jacket and told Mrs. Parker he was going for lunch. 

Half an hour later, he found himself in line at a hot dog vendor, ordering a chili dog and coffee.  Taking it with him, he sat on a bench in a nearby park, taking the first bite.  Watching the people milling about he didn't notice that someone was approaching him until the woman spoke.

"Chili dogs, huh?  I didn't see you for a hot dog guy."

He looked to his right, surprised to see Andrea, by herself.  His first reaction was to stand up, with his chili dog still in his hand, which made her grin, then he gestured to the bench, waiting for her to sit down before he did. 

"Where's Lily?" he asked, after he finished chewing the bite he was in the middle of.

"My friend is watching her," she said.  "I had an appointment with the bank."  He raised his eyebrows.  "Just some things to do with my house.  I inherited it and it needs some work, so I have to get a loan to pay for the renovations."  She looked away for a moment.  When she turned back, he noticed her eyes were glassy.  "They turned me down, so I might have to sell it."

"Why did they turn you down?" asked Bucky.

"Because I'm on maternity leave, and technically not working," she sighed.  "I'm living on the money I inherited but it's not considered income.  It's enough for me and Lily but not enough to pay for the improvements."

"I'm sorry," he frowned, noticing that he was still holding his partially eaten chili dog.  Standing up, he tossed it into a nearby garbage can, then sat back down with her.  "Maybe I can help."

She smiled wanly then looked away.  "That's nice of you but we barely know each other and only to say hi."

It came out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think about what he was saying.

"Go out with me," he said.  "We can become better acquainted."

Andrea seemed amused by that.

"You're not serious.  I have a six-month-old baby that I'm nursing.  I can only go out for a few hours."

"Then have me over for dinner," he said.  "I can look at your place and see for myself what you need doing.  I know lots of tradespeople who would give you a good rate on any necessary renovations if I asked."

It seemed to take forever for Andrea to answer and for a moment, Bucky thought she was going to turn him down.  Then she breathed out noticeably and looked at him.

"Alright," she said.  "Tomorrow, 6:30.  Let me give you my address and phone number.  Don't dress up and don't bring alcohol as I can't drink while I'm nursing."

He grinned, handing her his unlocked phone for her to put her information into his contacts.  Before she handed it back, she called herself and answered the call on her phone, saving his information in her contacts.  Then she stood up and walked backwards away from him.

"Don't be late," she said, before she turned forward as he watched her until she was out of sight, followed discreetly by one of his men.

By the time he got back to the office, Sam and Steve already knew he was seen with her.  Then he told them about getting an invitation to her place for dinner.

"You did what?" asked Steve, while Sam looked at Bucky, not believing what he just told them.

"I asked her out, but it's hard with a baby so I invited myself for dinner at her place instead," he replied.  "She needs work done on her house and I said I could look at what needs to be done and recommend tradespeople who could do it for a good rate."

"I hope you're not thinking of some questionable tradespeople," said Sam, "who sometimes use stolen materials or cut corners."

"Not for this job.  I would insist on quality work."  They still looked askance at him.  "I can assess her security situation as well.  It was a spur of the moment thing.  It's not like I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend, or anything."

"Bucky, she's a single mother," said Sam.  "You don't want to mess with her heart.  That would be cruel.  Considering your track record ...."

He sighed.  What did they think he was?  He wasn't a slimy lothario preying on a lonely woman.  He was a slightly shady businessman, who was doing something kind for a nice lady who had been taken advantage of by an asshole.  Dinner with her was just being friendly, nothing more.  He sent the pair of them off, telling them to make themselves busy and leave him alone.  They did, but not without making jokes about him getting soft and gooey inside. 

They were even worse the next day, asking him every hour if he was psyched up about dinner with Andrea.  He finally had enough before lunch time and left, heading out in his car.  He didn't even know where he was going then was shocked when he found himself parking outside his mother's condo building.  Taking it as a sign he headed inside, going up in the elevator as it went up to the 27th floor.  The elevator doors opened, and he walked down the hallway towards her door, slowing down as he got closer.  Just as he decided to turn around the door opened and his mother, Winnifred Barnes, gestured to him.

"You made it this far," she said.  "You might as well come all the way in.  Mrs. Parker said you left the office."

With a sigh, he stepped in, following her to where she had lunch already set up for the two of them.  Whenever he needed to talk seriously about something he often showed up at her place for lunch.  He sat at one of the empty chairs, taking the napkin and spreading it across his lap, as Winnifred had raised him with manners.  Then he waited while she served herself first.  Placing some food on his plate, he took a bite, chewed it well, and looked at her.

"So, tell me about her," said Winnifred.  "She must be something if she's got you this bothered."

"How do you even know about her?" he asked.

"Darling, I'm your mother," she smiled.  "Plus, Sam and Steve report to me on any woman who draws your attention.  Don't even try to get them to stop.  I have dirt on them."

"She's a single mother of a six-month-old baby girl," he answered.  "Teacher, living off an inheritance while she's on maternity leave.  The baby's father is a douchebag."  She frowned at him.  "Sorry, he's an associate of one of our rivals.  Swept her off her feet then abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant."

"I already know that."  She took a bite of her salad, then a drink of water.  "What is she like?"

"I hardly know her, but she makes me want to be a better man."  He took another bite of food.  "Her parents basically threw her out and even though she has every right to be angry at her situation, she's so full of light and joy.  The look she has for her baby is a look ... it's a look I want to feel on me.  I would give it all up for her if she felt for me what I feel for her.  I would go legit."  He looked his mother in the eye.  "Is that what you wanted to know?"

She put her cutlery down and placed her hand on his.  "That's what I wanted to know.  Does she know what you really do?" 

"I think she suspects but no, I haven't said anything to her.  I'm having dinner at her house tonight.  She needs some renovations done on her home and I offered to assess them.  Figured I could point some of my more honest subcontractors towards her and give her a good deal."

She sighed.  "You know, I was in your shoes when I met George.  My father didn't have any sons, so I took control of the business after he died, then I met your dad, and he was drawn into my world."  She smiled.  "He could handle it, being a veteran.  Could she handle it if you stayed in?"

For a long interval Bucky didn't answer, then he shook his head.  "I don't want her involved in it.  It would dim her inner light.  Plus, it would make her and her daughter targets.  She doesn't deserve that."  He sighed.  "I don't even know if she thinks of me in the same way."

"Well," she smiled and patted his hand.  "Until you find that out, it's something that you don't really have to worry about, is it?  No matter how it turns out, just make sure that she's protected.  Even just showing up at her place for dinner can make some of your rivals take notice of her."

He nodded.  "I know.  I've already put people on watching her.  I won't let anyone hurt her."

She smiled indulgently at him, then changed the subject to something more trivial.  By the time Bucky left he felt more confident about the dinner.  His mother must have phoned Sam and Steve because when he went back to the office, they didn't make any jokes about him and Andrea.  That lasted until he was ready to go home and change.  He grabbed his jacket, reaching inside a pocket for his car keys, but pulling out several condom packages instead.  Coming out of his office he heard them both snickering and just shook his head at them, before storming out of the main door without a word.  He didn't see the disapproving look Mrs. Parker gave the pair.

When he got to his condo, he showered, shaved, applied some cologne, brushed his teeth well, and put on some dark wash jeans, a button up shirt and a sports jacket.  He looked at the small pile of condoms on his dresser and shook his head again.  Animals: those two were so crude.  It only took 20 minutes to get to Andrea's place which would make him early, so he kept driving until he found a florist, and bought some flowers for her.  She said not to bring alcohol but didn't say anything about flowers.  It wasn't until he was almost at her place again before he wondered if they were appropriate.  When he parked, he looked up lavender roses and groaned at the symbolism behind them; love at first sight.  If he went to get different flowers, he would be late, and she distinctly said not to be late.  With a shake of his head, he grabbed the bouquet and walked up the steps of the three-story brownstone to the door, pressing the doorbell.  Andrea appeared moments later, opening the door.  She looked great, wearing a top and jeans that hugged her in all the right places. 

"Right on time.  Come on in."

He followed her to the kitchen, handing her the flowers.

"These are for you."

She smiled a full smile that made her face light up in a way that made Bucky dizzy.

"They're lovely, thank you!" 

Putting them on the counter she reached for a vase but even on her tiptoes she couldn't grasp one, so Bucky reached over her and put it on the counter.  Quickly, she filled the vase with water, then cut the bottoms of the stems.

"You didn't have to buy me flowers, you know."

"I didn't want to come empty-handed," he answered.  "Where's Lily?"

"I fed her and put her down.  She should be out for several hours.  How have you been?"

Bucky shrugged.  "Honestly?  Nervous about coming over.  I don't go out much."

"A handsome man like you?  I don't believe that."  She arranged the flowers.  "I was nervous, too.  I think I've changed my clothes about three times.  Mind you, the first time was because I leaked."

He frowned at her in confusion, then she pointed to her chest.  It couldn't be helped, as her gesture made him look right there, at a pair of beautiful, full breasts.  Swallowing hard, he forced himself to look in her eyes instead.

"Ah, right.  That must be embarrassing if it happens at the wrong time."

"Tell me about it."  She grimaced, then placed the flowers on the table, which was nicely set for two.  It reminded him of how his mother always set the table for them to eat together.  "Can I ask you something?"  He nodded.  "What exactly do you do?  I noticed your building doesn't have a sign."

"Shit," he thought, then he breathed.  "I can do this." He smiled at her.  "I'm a general contractor.  That's why I know a lot of tradespeople.  What about you?  You said you're on maternity leave."

"Teacher," she replied.  "Elementary school.  They weren't exactly happy that a single teacher got pregnant.  Not the best role model."  Bucky tried to look sympathetic.  "Anyways, why don't you stay here, and I'll bring supper out."

"I can help," he offered.

"It's okay.  I've got it."

She brought lasagna, then went back for salad and garlic bread.  For him, she offered soda but poured herself some milk.  Deferring to her to serve herself first, Bucky waited to help himself.  The first bite of lasagna was good; more than good.  It was really good, and he told her so.  That brilliant smile displaying her inner light came out again and he felt his heart beating against his chest wall, wanting to see it more.  They talked about all sorts of things, laughing and joking about people they worked with.  He shared some funny stories about Sam and Steve, while she told him about her grandmother, who lived alone in the house, then invited her to live there after she found out she was pregnant.

"She died when Lily was just a month old but at least she saw her only great grandchild.  Excuse me."

He could hear her crying in the kitchen and got up from his chair, approaching her, then gently pulling her into his arms. 

"You must miss her a lot," he murmured, as he rubbed her back, not believing how good it felt to hold her, but wondering what else he could do to comfort her.

Andrea nodded, then pulled away and reached for a tissue.  "Sorry to lose it like that," she sniffed.  "My parents weren't happy with me, but she just took me in, no questions asked.  I think my parents are also angry that she left me the house.  I got the feeling they were counting on it to fund their retirement dreams."

"Why don't I help you clean up and you can show me what needs to be done," he suggested. 

She agreed and they cleaned up the dishes together, then she took him to the third floor, showing him the water stains on the ceiling, an indication that the roof needed replacing.  From there, they walked down to the next level, and she showed him a bedroom with water damage around the windows, which looked original.  He took a good look at them, reluctantly noting that they needed replacing.  The main floor, where the living room, kitchen and dining room were, seemed to be in good shape but she pointed out that there were water stains on the ceiling in the living room.

"The bathroom is right above this corner, so there must be a leak," she said.

"Might be that," he stated.  "I would have to open that ceiling up to be sure.  There might be an opening in the brick façade there that's letting water in.  Not the easiest thing to fix without tearing something apart."

She stopped in front of a door.  "This is the worst part," she said, as she opened it, then turned on the light that lit up the stair well.  He followed her into the bottom floor, where she turned on another light then showed him the electrical panel.  "This isn't good, is it?"

He looked at the mass of different wiring that snaked out of the panel, giving out a long, ominous breath.

"No, it's not.  You have aluminum and copper wiring mixed together in there and that's dangerous.  It's a fire hazard.  Fixing this would be a priority and it won't be cheap because they'll have to rewire the entire house.  That means they have to open walls and ceilings up, replace the junction boxes.  It's a big job, will cost a lot of money, and will take a while.  You wouldn't be able to live here while it's being done."

"Shit," she swore, then she started crying again.  "I knew it.  I had another contractor in here and he said none of it was a big deal.  I went to the bank for the money based on what he quoted me.  I should have known he was stringing me along."

"May I ask who you talked to?" asked Bucky, concerned it was one of his guys.

"Sitwell Renovations," she said.  He felt relieved that it wasn't one of his.  "Do you know them?"

"Yeah, they're sleazy," he replied.  "Do you have someone you can live with?"

She shook her head.  "No.  My closest friend is in a one-bedroom flat, and my parents won't even answer my calls.  There's no one else I know well enough to ask."

Just then the overhead light went out and they were caught in darkness.  Bucky felt her hands on his chest and placed his on her arms to steady her.  As their vision adjusted to the darkness, he could make out her face in the faint glow from the light in the stairwell.  She was so beautiful in the dim light.  Her pupils were dilated, and she looked up at him in a way that made him feel like a teenager again.  He really wanted to kiss her but instead he pulled his cell phone out and turned on the flashlight, aiming it at the floor.

"Smart idea," she said.  "I should get a new light bulb in there."

He shook his head.  "Honestly, you need to move out of here until you get the wiring redone.  I'm serious about it being dangerous.  The longer that mess is channeling electricity the bigger the risk of an electrical fire."

"I have nowhere to go." 

Her hands were still on his chest, and she was looking at him in a way that made him feel something he never felt before.  There was a rushing sound in his ears, but he felt like he could hear both of their heartbeats at that moment.

"Move in with me," he offered.  "I have a three-bedroom apartment.  It's in a secure building, with in-suite laundry.  You can take Lily's furniture with you, but it's fully furnished so you don't need to bring anything else.  I'm working everyday but I can be the general contractor for this job, get it all done the way you want, with all the proper permits and qualified tradespeople.  We can work something out for payment because I'm doing alright so I don't need it up front or all at once."

She stepped away from him.  "Why would you do that?  You hardly know me."

He swallowed and looked down before looking at her again.  Tell her the truth.

"I like you, a lot.  You've been dealt a bad hand, and I can help you.  I don't expect anything from you ... you know, nothing like that."  He ran his one hand through his hair.  "I think you need a break and maybe a friend."

While he spoke, she moved away a little bit more.  Her face had changed, become harder and less trusting.  No, I'm not being a creep here.  Please, let me help you.

"I think you should go," she said, in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.  "Please, just go."

It felt like he had just been doused with a bucket of cold water.  Reluctantly, he nodded his head and moved forward, waiting while she stepped aside to let him pass.  Without a word, he went up the stairs then to the front door, looking back at where she stood at the doorway to the basement.

"I'm sorry if I offended you.  My offer is genuine.  If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

He opened the door and stepped out into the night air, taking a deep breath.  Then he unlocked his car with his remote and got inside, looking at her brownstone for several moments before starting his car up and driving away.

Part 2>>

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[thatmexisaurusrex]

if we got a second season of tfatws what would you want to be in it 👀

Oh my gosh, such a good question to ask! 😆 A very hard one too Cassie, lemme think on this 🤔

Okay, a few things that would be a must would be:

A "Meanwhile, on the boat..." moment, or perhaps a montage of moments where things are happening throughout the MCU movies that happened post-TFATWS and Sam and Bucky are just 😂 on the boat, hearing about the events after the fact. I keep thinking about the scene in season 7 of Supernatural where they montage Dean commenting on what Castiel does with his new godlike powers while Dean fixes his car, but it doesn't have to be like that (3:16-3:46 here for reference lol).

Sam needs to save Bucky from falling. Sam had someone he couldn't save in the air. Bucky didn't have anyone to save him when he fell. Sam and Bucky both need that catharsis and it's wild that didn't happen in the first season.

Sam flying around as Bucky snipes at things 😂 Again - how did that not happen in the first season?

Sam and Bucky must either be already roommates or looking for an apartment which will be the place they will live in together.

Sarah, AJ, and Cass must be in it as well as other people we've seen like Carlos, Tommy, Isaiah, and Eli.

Another song by Curtis Harding must close the show's next sunset ending (it MUST be a good ending where they look into the sunset again, I'm sorry, I don't make the rules). Perhaps Can't Hide It by Curtis Harding?

Joaquín! There must be more Jay, I refuse to believe there wouldn't be so much more Jay in a season two.

FLASHBACKS. WHERE. WERE. THE. FLASHBACKS. Gimme Sam and Riley flashbacks, flashbacks of Sam with his family, gimme more info on Sam.

Can we???? Get more info on Sarah too???? Like was she married before??? Who are Cass and AJ's dad or dads??? How does she feel about Sam disappearing for a huge chunk of years??? I just want to know more about her.

And GIDEON. GIVE SAM HIS OLDER BROTHER.

Also, GIVE SAM BIRD TELEPATHY, YOU COWARDS, AS WELL AS A FALCON NAMED REDWING.

AYO AND ANEKA VISIT. THEY HAVE TO VISIT. LET AYO AND ANEKA BE BESTIES WITH SAM AND BUCKY.

Acknowledgment that Sam found Bucky in Europe but kept Bucky's secret and visited Bucky. Also that Sam visited Bucky during his time as a goatherder in Wakanda, possibly with a reference to the costco tub of lube 😂

MORE EPISODES. GIVE US MORE EPISODES. GIVE US TEN EPISODES AT LEAST, YOU COWARDS.

Things I can live without but I think would be a waste if they aren't in a hypothetical season two:

A huge and exciting action sequence during a New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade with Sam being the King of that parade.

There's a team of villainous jugglers in the Marvel comics called the Death-Throws. I really want them as secondary comedic villains who may or may not be kind of good people a la Jessie, James, and Meowth from Team Rocket in Pokemon movies. Just let Sam and Bucky have some comedy villains in the background doing their thing, Marvel.

Visiting Steve on the Moon. I just think Sam and Bucky deserve space shenanigans. I will also take a Facetime, if that's too out of budget, though.

Misty Knight cameo where Sam and Misty either imply or outright talk about being exes. Probably amicable, though, it would be funny if Sam's a bit awkward about it, but Misty's chill with him.

Karli resurrection. She deserved more of a redemption arc than Walker. Bring her back to life, Disney, I dare you.

Bucky and Falcon!Redwing don't get along. More because Bucky is jealous than anything else.

A VISIT TO WAKANDA! Do they go to Birnin Zana? Do they visit the town Bucky was living in as a goatherder? Do they go to Ayo and Aneka's home for dinner? Maybe they possibly only let Sam into the country while Ayo is like "I told you to lie low for a while, White Wolf" to Bucky 😂

Baron Zemo can have a cameo, if only because Anthony Mackie was bummed that Daniel Brühl isn't a part of Cap 4.

Wildest Options I Don't Think Would Happen But I Would Love:

SamBucky wedding. It all takes place the days leading up to their wedding. Or, if I'm being more realistic, a wedding. Like, if, say Sarah and Rhodey were getting married or Carol and Valkyrie or perhaps Ayo and Aneka.

SamBucky kiss? Though, again, highly doubt that and I'm really okay with SamBucky not being canon.

Fourth wall break where Feige himself walks into a room, sits down, and apologizes about how he treated Sam Wilson's character in the MCU and promises to do better. He pulls out an entire slide show and the episode is just him talking about how he will be integrating Sam more thoroughly into the MCU. I'm talking how specifically Sam will cameo, where he will cameo, pitches for other projects Sam will be heavily tied to, the works.

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

Fate is Definitely Drunk

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: fluff-ish, very meet cute if meet cute was more panicked and frozen in shock, cursing b/c I can’t write without cursing apparently

Word Count: 1,050

Summary: Everyone has the words their soulmate will first say to them written on their skin somewhere. You have the most average words in the known universe so you assume you’ll have a soulmate that matches that. Fate ain’t happy you underestimated her.

A/N: This is part of my marvel soulmate series. I did a whole thing. Sort of.

Soul marks were a funny thing. Mysterious. Unpredictable. Seemingly random. Science tried to understand it, but no matter how many studies they pushed out there never seemed to be a concrete answer. Some people referred to the marks as, ‘Scrawls of Fate’. That’s what it had to be, right? Fate pulling the strings, dragging people together, and creating happy endings or whatever.

You weren’t bitter.

And yes, that’s probably what bitter people said, but you were not bitter.

Not more than the average human at least.

You’ve seen dream couples meet because of the words on their skin. You had a friend in elementary school find her soulmate in the first grade. Yes, they got stuck with words said by their toddler selves, but they were stupid happy. You had just attended their wedding six months ago. It was sickeningly beautiful. Most of the couples you’ve seen get strung together were doing pretty well. Nothing special or crazy unique, but they were content.

That was the goal, right?

To be content.

Anything above that was just extra, and there was nothing wrong with extra, but if you walked around thinking the fates owed you extra then of course you’d be disappointed. That was your view of it at least. Even as a kid you never really got worked up over your words. They were simple, average, and you wouldn’t be surprised if a handful of other people in the world had the exact same mark as you coincidentally.

‘Terrible weather, huh?’

Your soul mark was literally the epitome of small talk. You’ve seen a lot worse though. A friend in high school had the words, ‘Fucking fish’ on their arm. You were still very curious as to how that would’ve come up in conversation. Maybe you needed to reach out to him later just to see if he had met his soulmate yet.

The sound of your name brought your eyes up from the table in surprise. The gaze of all the other brand-new interns were zoned in on you, and the only reason you remembered the initial ice-breaker question was because it had put you off on the tangent your brain got stuck on.

“Nope.” You shook your head quickly and offered the group a smile that you hoped was less awkward and more ‘happy to be here’, “No significant other at the moment.”

The group leader, your new boss, was a chirpy brunette named Janice who was living her best life right now. Her smile filled her entire face and she seemed to radiate sunshine. Which was cool for her, but you couldn’t imagine being that excited on a Monday morning unless you were on something.

“I was hoping Tim would be back by now.” Janice hummed, drumming her nails on the table, “I was gonna have him pick you guys up some coffee. Nothing like a caffeine boost before we move onto the program training.”

You raised a hand, “I’ll go grab us some coffee.”

“You will?” Janice beamed. “You’re a saint. Just tell the barista that I sent you.”

The group gave you their orders, that you jotted down into your phone, then you hurried out of the boardroom with a sigh of relief. It was nice to finally stretch your legs after being stuck in there for the last couple hours. Honestly, you were so thankful to have this job. You were just a low-level grunt working the mail room and answering phones, but you were a low-level grunt at Stark Industries. Everybody said that’d look fantastic on your resume and since you had no real future plans right now it seemed like a safe bet.

The coffee stand was on the first floor in the lobby and was packed. It took a good ten minutes just to get to the front of the line, but you weren’t in any kind of rush. You ordered the coffees then wandered off to the side to wait for them to be made. Your eyes drifted to the large lobby windows that were currently being pelted with rain. You loved storms. It was funny that rainy days brought you such comfort, but you always figured it tied into your soul mark. You were never actively hoping for anything, but maybe your subconscious just knew this would be the setting you’d find the one in.

The barista called out your name and you turned away from the view. You grabbed the drink carrier that had five cups balanced on it. Before going upstairs, you drifted a little closer to the front doors and paused for just another second to stare outside. The board room you were stuck in had no windows at all, and only this close to the door could you smell and hear the rain.

Someone stopped a couple steps to your left and you couldn’t help but look over at them as they undid the clasp holding their umbrella closed. It took two seconds for you to realize that the person standing beside you with their umbrella was Captain America. Your eyes widened in shock. He always looked so big and in charge on the news, and in person he was legitimately intimidating. Tall stature, broad shoulders, and God, he was good looking. As in, who the hell had the right to look so good so casually??

Captain America glanced at you, his blue eyes meeting your gaze, and though your brain screamed at you to look away and not stare like a frozen creeper, you couldn’t move a muscle. You just stood there looking like the idiot you felt like. He politely gave you a tiny nod and warm smile. Captain America motioned to the door, “Terrible weather, huh?”

You felt the words on your shoulder tingle and your jaw fell loose in disbelief. Captain America just gave you one more nod before walking to the door. He opened his umbrella and you lost sight of him out in the storm amongst all the other walking umbrellas.

Had he just…?

Had you just…?

The drink carrier slipped from your hands and five full cups of coffee hit the tiled floor causing a disaster at your feet. You couldn’t even register that people were looking at you or that the hot coffee had burned your through your pants’ leg or that you were now standing in a pool of caffeine.

You gasped, “Oh, fuck me.”

[next chapter]

[outer-spec]

OCtober 2024 Day 10: Personality

(holy shit how the fuck did i forget to post anything for like six whole days??!? i totally missed some of the mandatory days too, i feel so dumb. i was so excited about doing this challenge this month but i was so busy with schoolwork i completely forgot 🤦 anyway days 5 and 6 are under the cut because i did do those i just never posted them on time)

Steve β

stupid

insensitive (but in like. an endearing way)

insecure

selfish

hesitant / anxious

Juno β

quiet

determined

conflicted

Tora β

bitchy (but in like. a cool way)

argumentative & petty

secretly really sensitive but refuses to admit it

vengeful

reckless

Neil β

silly

sensitive

optimistic

Steve α

silly

evil and sadistic

petty

stupid (but hates when people point it out)

insecure

Juno α

mysterious

quiet

domineering

Tora α

power-hungry

cruel & evil

domineering

Neil α

vengeful

pessimistic

conflicted

misc. ocs

Dr. Moss: friendly, grandfatherly, shameless

Terry: silly, morally dubious, insensitive, unhinged

Keith: anxious, friendly, shy

False Human: vengeful, sensitive, brave

The Girl: quiet, introverted, friendly, determinated

Atto: awkward, silly, flawed

Code: shy, exhausted, calm

Guro: extroverted, unfiltered, edgy

OCtober is by @bweirdart

OCtober 2024 Day 5: Re-Designed OC

ok when i first made Tora her name wasnt even Tora. and she wasn't even an oc. she was supposed to be like. an anthro GLaDOS fused with Vriska. (VriskOS?) She was a really smug evil & manipulative girlboss, and she had silver hair. but now shes a petty insecure antihero girlfailure. shes not like Vriska at all, more like a combination of Karkat and Asuka. however her friends still call her a vriska kinnie as a joke, and she hates it when they do that.

OCtober 2024 ⭐ Day 6: Past

Obviously, my ocs all looked like child versions of themselves as a child

my hexagon ocs:

Most of the characters are American, but Steve is from the UK. Specifically, he's from Bristol because that's where the guy he's based off of is from.

Steve dropped out of college and moved to America, because he heard they had less taxes there.

Juno was born in America, but her parents are Japanese and Brazilian.

I think of Steve and Tora as trans (FTM and MTF respectively), but this isn't really something that comes up in the actual story much. So their child selves would have looked like the opposite gender as they are right now, probably.

Tora probably would have transitioned super young, but because of her tomboyish fashion sense at the time, she didn't look very different after her transition.

Steve probably wouldn't have realized he was trans until much later, maybe around high school (or whatever they call high school in the uk). He had a ton of dysphoria as a teen, but assumed it was just Freudian penis envy, because he just seems to me like the type of dumbass who would think penis envy is real.

One time I had to draw child versions of them, but I wasn't sure which genders to draw them as, so I gave them androgynous hairstyles. I think it suits them.

Neil is a robot, so he's only about a few years old. He doesn't really have a "childhood", but he is less naïve as he was when he first got built.

Tora has a complicated relationship with her parents. Her dad was a good dad, but her mom was a bad mom, and Tora feels like her dad didn't do enough to protect her from her mom.

Steve mostly has a good relationship with his parents, but they are immature and have a tendency to talk over him. 

Maybe that's why Steve is so talkative, because he had to talk a lot to get a word in edgewise. First ever only child to get youngest child syndrome  

They're nice people, but they have a lot weird, oddly specific beliefs that they will reference in casual conversation like it's common knowledge:

Juno: Steve, are you religious? Steve: No, not particularly... Steve: Although, one time my dad said that the Rapture already happened in 1971, but the only person who went was D.B. Cooper. Juno: ...what?? Neil: No, wait, let's hear him out.

[xenon-demon]

After my original musings on the Streamers!Stobin & Deranged Fic Author!Eddie AU (post linked here), here are some more thoughts, Ronance Edition:

In this universe Nancy is also a streamer who uses Nancy Keene as her professional name (in reference to the pseudonym used by the authors of the Nancy Drew books, Carolyn Keene), except her content revolves around political commentary and reporting on whatever major news is breaking on the internet. She focuses on correcting misinformation and providing reputable sources for things, since we all love purposefully spreading misinformation on the internet (surely we all know the meme I’m referencing), mainly so that when she issues or accepts a challenge to publicly debate someone she knows she’ll aboslutely wipe the floor with them. Her political commentary is pretty iron-clad as well, to the point where it just makes the conservatives look bad when they say she doesn’t know what she’s talking about because not only is it obvious she does, but she probably wrote the book that everyone else learns about it from.

So Nancy Wheeler is usually very no-nonsense in her content. The most casual her streams ever get is when she’s doing a Q&A stream and might deign to answer a couple of questions about her personal life, as opposed to her political leanings or thoughts on journalism-related topics.

This is why no one really knows how to handle it when she pops up as a special guest on BirdBox_’s twitch stream. What’s more, they’re playing Minecraft together, and Robin is busy building their base and making it look all pretty while Nancy goes charging into the mines for resources.

Neither of them address it for the entire two hour stream, just acting like it’s totally normal and common for them to collaborate together like this - and from the way they’re interacting, they’re clearly close. There’s a few moments that come across as awkward, where Nancy makes a joke that Robin laughs just a bit too hard at, or Robin rambles on about something the way she does and Nancy’s response comes in too late, her webcam showing she’d just zoned out and stared at her screen. These moments are outnumbered by the number of times they genuinely thrive in conversation, such as bouncing off each other and one-upping a joke until they both get killed by a creeper because they got distracted laughing. (Nancy was so mad about that one, she had 10 diamonds in her inventory that just got lost forever.)

Seeing how well they get on, and how much they’re both clearly enjoying it, both Nancy and Robin’s fans decide to just roll with it. There’s a healthy subset of Nancy’s fans who have wanted to get to know her a bit beyond her professional persona and hope she doesn’t feel pressured to only make that kind of content, and Robin’s fans are enjoying seeing a different side of her to the one that comes out with Steve. It’s a win-win-win; the fans get some great content, and Nancy and Robin get to spend some quality time together and get paid to do so. Fantastic.

Afterwards, Robin is an absolute mess, obsessively watching and rewatching the VOD and bemoaning how obviously smitten she looks. She won’t stop on her own, so Steve has to hide her laptop in the one place she’ll never look for it - the drawer in his bedroom containing his sex paraphernalia. (Which is really not as exciting as that makes it sound; Steve wishes he was having sex even a fraction as wild as some of the stuff his fans imagined him doing, but then just getting laid at all would be a good place to start. It’s hard out here for the hopeless romantics who want to get laid but are sick of it not meaning anything.)

Meanwhile Nancy, nearly a thousand miles away in Boston, has her sights set on a brand new mystery to solve; is Robin Buckley an appreciator of women? Does she by any chance kiss girls? How does she feel about the colors orange and pink, especially when there’s a white stripe in between them? Or the colors pink purple and blue for that matter, but Nancy’s already bringing those ones to the table. She’s absolutely not letting herself entertain any thoughts of what might happen if Robin is gay, since that would just be setting herself up for disappointment if she’s not. The internet seems convinced she’s dating her roommate-and-best-friend-and-business-partner, but Nancy’s never trusted the internet’s popular opinion before and she’s not about to start now.

Robin and Nancy keep streaming together. The ones on Robin’s channel are them playing games like Overcooked, Animal Crossing, a tonne of Minecraft (which Steve joins in on eventually and keeps building the ugliest houses ever), and on a few notable occasions It Takes Two. The streams on Nancy’s channel are less frequent, and usually consist of Robin popping in for a Q&A stream, but there’s been a few times where they’ll bounce back and forth off of each other in one of Nancy’s political commentary streams.

Before long people start shipping them. It’s mainly Robin’s fans, since Nancy’s fans are not the fandom type of people, but with all these new streams Nancy’s been doing with Robin she’s starting to build that sort of audience for herself as well. Robin is equal parts thrilled and mortified, because oh my god they think I should date my crush and are writing stories about me doing just that this is the best day of my life, but also oh my GOD poor Nancy must hate this and is never going to stream with me again. She doesn’t calm down about it until Nancy is asked about it on stream a couple of weeks after the shipping started to get really out of control - and that was all thanks to someone deciding to @ Robin and Nancy on twitter under a thread where someone had written an absolutely deranged fanfiction about them through the medium of fake social media screenshots.

(Nancy takes a long sip from her cup of tea before reading out the next question from her chat window. “Dear Nancy, how do you feel about being shipped with BirdBox_? Or people writing about you? Because BirdBox_ gets that sort of thing a lot but you haven’t had to state any boundaries about it before.”

Nancy hums to herself. “That’s a good question. You’re right, I haven’t had this kind of audience before - not that I mind, I love Robin’s fans and I’m so thrilled you’ve all seemed to welcome me in to your space.” Nancy leans back in her chair and looks off into the middle distance, her foot absentmindedly spinning her chair a little as she thinks. “I would say... it’s ultimately up to Robin. As you said, she has experience with this, and I trust her. Whatever she says her boundaries are, I have the same ones.”

Nancy looks back at the camera and smiles, pleased with her answer. After a moment, however, her eyes widen and she rushes to add, “And don’t make sexually explicit or inflammatory content about me, but I would hope that’s obvious enough that you wouldn’t do it anyway. And I would hope Robin’s told you not to do that too.”)

If Nancy’s quietly thrilled that people think she should date Robin, and is using this as a way to put the ball in Robin’s court about how she feels about dating another woman (maybe even dating Nancy specifically?), then that’s Nancy’s business and Nancy’s business alone.

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

I am not from the US, I know nothing about the country except what I learned from having a hyperfixation on Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, all I know is according to google Emerson has a Boston campus so badda bing badda boom that’s where Nancy is. Stobin meanwhile live in Chicago, and I haven’t decided where Eddie is yet but my gut says Indianapolis. Actually yeah after thinking about this for five seconds I’ve decided, Eddie & the CC boys are from Indianapolis and grew up there.

Also for context, the gang (Steve, Robin, Nancy, the Party, basically everyone but Eddie and the CC boys) did still go to high school together in Hawkins only for the older teens to move away for college/to live their lives away from the shackles of rural midwest America. Upon finding out they all became streamers/internet content creators, Nancy reached out to Robin and Steve to say “hey, I don’t know if you remember me from high school, but I remember you!” and things snowballed from there until they became friends. (I haven’t decided if Steve and Nancy just never dated in this AU, or if they did and it was significantly less of a big deal due to the lack of Upside Down trauma. Plus I’m imagining them in their early-to-mid twenties here so even if they did date they’ve had longer to get over it.)

[justsomerandomfanfic]

hi, can I please get a romantic match up for marvel and for dc? im an intp, 5w4, slytherin, true neutral, and a capricorn. I'm cisgender and my pronouns are she/her, and I'm bisexual with a heavier preference for guys. I'm 5 foot 2, fair skinned, and midsized. I also have brown curly hair just below my shoulders and light brown eyes. I'm usually wearing cuffed jeans, a shirt with some show or movie reference on it, and converse. My hobbies are writing (novels and poetry), reading (books and comics), baking, watching shows and movies, sometimes drawing, and playing piano. I love mythology and ancient history, and I'm very interested in anthropology. I would love to work in a museum, as well as become an author one day. I struggle with social anxiety and depression, but once I open up I can be prone to rambling to people I trust and I use humor a lot to cope. I'm a very loyal friend who loves to help solve problems. thanks so much if you get to mine!

Thank you for requesting a matchup! I hope you enjoy it! <3

---

Marvel;

Steve Rogers:

⭐ You met Steve when he saved you during the 2012 alien invasion, brought to you proudly by Thor's brother, Loki; you almost didn't blame the god since he was practically the reason you got to meet Steve in the first place

⭐ And, as if by fate, you bumped into him again, and again, where you may ask? At the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum; believe it or not, you worked in the Captain America section, unknowing that you'd ever bump into Steve there; well, you recognized him, even when he wore a cap and fake glasses

⭐ Steve remembered you, how could he forget you? He was awestruck the moment he saved you from that large piece of falling concrete; he didn't waste the chance of spending time with you, getting to know you while wandering the museum

⭐ Soon enough, the two of you grew closer and closer, and with the help of hype from Bucky and Sam, Steve asked you out on a date; you of course said yes, going to a small cafe back in Steve's hometown, drinking coffee or tea as you told Steve all about your love for writing and him, his love for drawing

⭐ Steve finds you incredibly smart, is always protective of you if you are having a panic attack after a stressful day, and loves how you light up when rambling about ancient history and other topics you love; Steve is also fond of the memories when you and him got matching converse, writing the other's name on them, and Steve won't hesitate to try and bake with you when he can

---

DC;

Clark Kent:

📰 You met Clark when you joined The Daily Planet, being the new secretary, you were busy returning some paperwork when you bumped into him; if felt like your world was going to explode, not only because you had bumped into someone on your first day, but because the person you bumped into was very attractive

It was very awkward, at least to you, but Clark, the one you bumped into, was so sweet; he apologized, offering to buy you a coffee at lunch since it was his fault that he bumped into you

Clark found you beautiful, from the way you spoke and shyly looked away at points to the way you played with your hair nervously, he felt bad that you felt so nervous around him; but as time goes on, you slowly grow out of that shell of yours and really, truly begin to enjoy your time with Clark

After a while of being friends, you actually got the courage to ask Clark out, and believe it or not, he said yes, and the rest is practically history; from cute dates, to long walks in the park talking about anthropology and photography, and even moving in with one another; you were inseparable

Clark trusts you completely, you being as loyal as they come, he finds the courage to tell you that he was Superman, and you were beyond happy that Clark trusted you that much to tell you; you both are soulmates, even though he came from the stars, you like to joke about him being your guardian angel, overall, you two are incredibly happy together

---

[2007digitalremaster]

Additional ST daemon headcanons

This post is supplementary to my post about characters' forms - this one is just about the daemons themselves because it was fun to imagine them while I was researching :)

Steve: Steve's daemon has a slightly awkward pointing habit, occasionally forming a living arrow at Nancy from a distance or telegraphing his intent during a basketball game, but he's usually able to play it off coolly. It does occasionally come in handy though, like when she's already pointing at demodogs or the flashing lights at Starcourt mall before Steve's even noticed them. She tends to be the one to take his parents' perspective in his ear, and part of his personal deprogramming journey is for her to stop parroting Mom and Dad. Has some kind of long pretentious Greek/Roman name like "Anethencia" and emphatically did not have a nickname until probably Billy started referring to her by one as part of his social status campaign when he arrived in Hawkins.

Billy: Though Billy goes through pains to resemble a stallion, his daemon is actually a mare. She has a middle-length but plain name like "Juniper" and he calls her by a single-syllable nickname like "Jude." Her size forces people to make room for him, but they have actually been practicing separation since well before she settled in such a large form - it serves as a way for them to assert/confirm their control over themselves and as a mild form of self-harm (though they would never admit it). They can't be miles apart, but they can put enough distance between themselves that Billy can appear unsettlingly daemonless if he wants to. Billy rides his daemon occasionally, especially when his car is in the shop or when he needs to get away somewhere quiet; it freaks people out to see but they shut up quick when he points out that small daemons ride on their humans with no one batting an eye. She has a quiet, stable personality and rarely speaks, so when she does talk, you listen.

Eddie: Eddie's daemon is male, which is something he used to be sore about as a kid but eventually grew to embrace as another way he doesn't conform to society's expectations for him (i.e. very cool). He has a name that was given by Eddie's parents' daemons, but they both absolutely insist he is not referred to by it - of course, they've never come up with an alternative that's stuck, so Eddie calls him whatever flits to mind on the day (Tooth Rat, Dio Jr., Roach, etc). Since Eddie hasn't shut up about how much he loves his daemon's form since he settled, most other people call him "the poss" (or sometimes "the boss" if they've misheard or just think it's funnier). The poss basically has the same personality as Eddie, and usually eggs him on when he's doing something stupid.

Nancy: Nancy also has a same-sex daemon. When she was growing up her parents (mostly Karen) took great pains to shelter her from any period-typical negative insinuations, and it wasn't until she was in middle school that she learned about the various rumors and speculations around why someone might have a same-sex daemon. By this age she had become defiant and book-smart enough to decide it was all nonsense, even if it still hurt and isolated her. Her daemon is intensely romantic and daydreamy, and Nancy has had to learn to rein her in when she gets too lost in a fantasy. She has a long but recognizable name like "Chrysanthemum," and Nancy calls her by a common-human-name nickname like "Chris" or "Chrissy".

Jonathan: Jonathan's daemon's settled form presented a bit of a learning curve for him, because although she doesn't ever mean to hurt him, if something happens that makes them angry and they both feel the impulse to clench their fists, an owl in "shoulder parrot" position can easily draw blood. After their first accidental piercing incident Jonathan and his mother scraped together the money for a secondhand leather shoulder pad so she can safely rest on him, but he worries about wearing it out faster than they can afford to replace it and so only wears it when he absolutely needs her close by, like when he has a test at school or when he's working a customer-facing position that requires his daemon be as close as possible for "professionalism's sake." Otherwise she sticks to a radius, resting on streetlamps, tree branches, gutters, or anything else perchable nearby. Jonathan's daemon shares his passion for art and has a keen eye for composition, and is very protective of his brother Will's daemon. She has a family name like "Ruth" that was passed down from a grandparent's daemon.

Robin: When Robin was very young, the idea of her daemon being a boy or a girl confused her, and she would bounce back and forth between pronouns with the vigorous (but equally confusing) support of her parents. When they started school all of their classmates assumed her daemon was male, so they went along with it, and eventually, when they realized she was gay and that her daemon's gender could be a flag that outed her to the rest of Hawkins, they quietly made the decision that he would definitively and exclusively be referred to as male and that would be the end of it. It wouldn't be until several years later that they would finally have the language to describe that he's agender. Robin's daemon rarely speaks to others, mostly because Robin talks more than enough for both of them, but in private it's very common for the two of them to chat well into the early hours of the morning. He has a companionable but cautious personality and a vaguely hippie-sounding name like "Soren."

[mlobsters]

supernatural s12e20 twigs & twine & tasha banes (w. steve yockey)

upside to netflix having the recaps again? s1 snippet and i can coo over baby sam and dean. downside, they start bringing in references to witches, crossroad demons, ketch and his fact finding mission, baby lucifer with joseph!cas and mary!kelly and i'm already exhausted and want to do something besides watch the episode.

hope racist asshole grandma gets her just deserts and wasn't just in here for kicks (yes)

i'm digging the witch lady accessories. so this is mom of those random hunters we met briefly in asa fox? i know the recap was a couple minutes ago but i don't retain names very well

realizing i am expecting sam to be (at least acting) cool, calm, and collected about everything so seeing him kind of looking worried (briefly) about what's going on with cas got me a little more concerned too.

DEAN How? Seriously I mean up until now if Cas messed up, if he did something wrong, but he thought it was for the right reasons, I got it. Right? But last night, when I looked at him, I did not recognize the guy staring back at me.

the lighting is doing good things for him so far. saw it's another richard speight jr directed episode. dean's capacity for baggage stowing when it comes to cas is pretty expansive

SAM Their mom's on a hunting trip and hasn't been home in a week.

so that's why we got that little pilot bit in the recap. thanks for the reminder, show

........what

DEAN Mom. Hey, uh, just wanted to let you know that, uh, me and Sam, were uh, we're heading out on a case with those witch twins, uh, Max and Alicia. Um, I'll text you the info, but, uh…I know the Brits have got you running nonstop. So if you can help out, that'd be great. Um… and even if you can't swing by, can you call me back? Just some stuff going down that's… kind of got me spun out. Be good to talk to you.

oh, dean. and us with the fakeout torturing mary, no it's just a shifter taking mary's appearance, of course. hokay

ALICIA Nah, I don't have it. It's just kind of a lot of noise to me. Magic is definitely their thing, you know? SAM Yeah. When I was growing up, Dean and my dad had the same thing with hunting, that bond.

oh, sam. and the awkward talking about mary because he still barely knows her because she's never around!

the dialogue that didn't make it into the episode, okay then. that interaction definitely did not make it clear that they knew mary was dead even though it seems logical of course hunters would know since sam and dean are hunter-famous

LOL good for you, sam. returning that awkward energy to the creeper coming out of the cellar

a) personal space who needs it b) why is dean doing this. must be a jackles choice. his humor seems to go broad with dean. anyway he held a wine glass like a person who has been around wine glasses before in 11x12 🤪 (and he does indeed later in this episode too. shouldn't have let him get away with that :P)

spn s11e12 don't you forget about me

(pining for some of the monster of the week episodes like this one in s11, hit my sweet spot of domestic family goodness in all the right ways)

mary finding out mr ketchup is a torture happy emotionless ass, blah blah. gets interrupted so she doesn't call dean after listening to his rather vulnerable message.

TASHA Yeah. Family's always complicated. Parents always seem smart and strong and perfect. It's only when you grow up that you realize that they're just people.

dean getting life advice from the twig monster wearing a tasha suit? and leaving his phone in the room while he goes off a-huntin' - where's the pocket patdown, dean-o? phone keys wallet phone keys wallet. and now you missed mom calling back of course. at least she left a nice message

well this scene having one of the kids finding the body of dead mom is awful. and it just keeps going.

and mary finds out mr ketchup's true colors and they got to have a brawl. mary brought brass knuckles to a taser fight, boo

um. surely they didn't just kill the sister??

SAM You did the right thing. You saved him. DEAN Yeah. Yeah, he seemed super saved. You know, I was watching them, this loving family. The kind we should've had. And now just like that, it's gone. SAM Dean, you couldn't let Max make some deal for his soul. DEAN Sam, we do terrible things all the time to save each other. I mean, that's what you do for family. Who am I to stop him? SAM Well, he's strong. He'll be all right. DEAN Yeah, I'm not so sure.

lol okay, show. see, what sam and dean do for each other is just regular sibling things! max giving up his soul for the witchy power and stick doll sister because it's better than her being totally dead. now she's just his doll he can control but otherwise she's mostly herself? sounds reasonable. also, is it better to have had the happy family and lose them or never at all?

ALLso, i guess that's the only episodes alicia and max are in? wtf. just for the parallels of it all? fucked up, man o.0 but where do you go with sold your soul for some unknown period of time to live out your days with your twig sister that isn't even more miserable. i guess that's their happy ending 🥴

shocker, evil bmol "rogue agent" torturing lady is back on the job to do some enhanced interrogation to mary. insert eyeroll

what a random episode to have so close to the end of the season. i guess this writer also did the asa fox episode

[raineydays411]

My Father's daughter pt 3

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

Summary: Back at the Tower, Y/n has a talk with Pepper.

a/n: ohhh another part finished!! some new characters will be revealed next part and i’m so great full for @social-media-imagines-by-me fir helping me create them💕💕

You were furious.

You stormed into your room and slammed the door, finding satisfaction in the loud bang it produced. You then ripped through your drawers and closet, pulling on some work out clothes and some gloves. You then marched out of the room, slamming the door again, startling Sam and Bucky who happened to be passing by.

"Geez kid, slam it a little harder I don't think it fell off the hinges yet." Sam jokes, but you were in no joking mood so you swirled around with fire in your eyes.

"You okay doll?" Bucky softly asks, pushing a frightened Sam to the side. You sigh, knowing it's not fair to take out your anger on them.

"Sorry Sam, it's just...my biological mom is here and wants me to move in with her."

"Oh..." Bucky says, not good with things like this, " Do you want me to like...kill her or..."

"NO" You laugh, " It's just I haven't seen her in nine years and she has the audacity to come up here like it's nothing?!"

Your anger returns, " She thinks that just because she pushed me out of her vagina"

The two men cringe at the words

"That she can just claim me? That's not how it works!" You shout, " And, she brought her fucking husband. The man she left us for! Who does that?!"

Bucky looks at Sam, mentally asking him what they should do. Sam just rolls his eyes and turns back to you.

"Come on kid, it looks like you wanna punch something."

and with that he lead you to the training room where Steve was training with Peter.

"Come on queens, you gotta stay on your feet" Steve k=jokes as he, again, trips Peter.

"Mr. Rogers, do you think we should take a break?" Peter pants.

You stride pass them, not bothering to say hi. They look at Sam and Bucky for an explanation and just get a shake of the head.

"Hey Y/n that's my punching" Steve started to say when he saw you throw a hard punch to the bag, "Nevermind..."

You ignore the group behind you, opting to pummel the poor punching bag in front of you.

Your mind flashes back to your mother and her words.

"A girl needs her mother"

*punch*

"Oh petal I wanted to call"

*punch* *punch*

"Come to Gotham. Meet your siblings!"

*BANG*

You look down to see the punching bag flew off the hook and is spilling sand on the floor. You were confused, as you knew you weren't strong enough to do that, not even when you were angry.

"Wow, I guess Cap didn't secure that hook again."

You jump, not expecting someone to be there, as you heard Sam, Bucky, Steve, and Peter leave. You turn to see Pepper there looking at the bag in surprise. You sigh, stepping away from the mess and taking off your gloves. You make your way to the bench and take a swig of water.

"Did you need something Pep?" You ask, avoiding eye contact.

"Well, i was just wondering if my kid was okay. But given the fact that you punched that bag like it would restore your honor.."

You knew you shouldn't have showed her Avatar.

"I'm assuming your not." She finishes.

You give her a half smile, looking down at your hands.

"Y/n" She says, " Talk to me."

You finally speak, "Why now?"

Pepper frowns, understanding that small phrase, ' I don't know."

"She's not my mother." You state, " She...she might have been once but now?"

Pepper nods," I love you."

You smile, the words reassuring you, " I love you too Pep."

"Come on, your messing up your manicure." She says with a smile, standing and extending a hand towards you. You feel your demnor soften and your mood lighten. Pepper always managed to make you feel better.

"Yeah okay..thanks." You say, taking her hand and letting her pull you from the bench, " Are you hungry? Cause I am>"

"Y/n we just ate!"

"Like an hour ago"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Days went by and you hadn't heard a peep from Christine. It was like she went off to lick her wounds and just decided not to reach out again.

Which didn't bother you one bit.

But apparently the universe wanted to fuck with you because when you came home from a day out with Peter, there was your mother, Bruce Wayne, and all six million of her fucking kids sitting on the couch.

"What the fuck?" You say causing the attention to turn to you.

"Language" Peter says, You smile softly at him before then turning to glare at Tony.

"Don't look at me, it was your moth-uh Peppers idea." Tony stumbled, looking rather uncomfortable sharing a drink with the man that his...wife? girlfriend?... whatever she was left him for.

"Pep what?" You asking, softening your glare because you'd be damned if you disrespected her.

"I just think it'd be best if we clear the air and get everything out on the table." Pepper said in that tone she uses when she's dealing with difficult people or the press. You called it her CEO tone.

"Now, go take your bags upstairs and wash up. And I'll pretend that you aren't an hour late"

"It was Peter's idea..." You mumbled and walking to the stairs that lead to the bed rooms.

"It was not!" Peter shouts following you to the rooms to help with the bags.

Christine watched as her daughter walked out of the room, playfully arguing with Peter. It was as if she were a whole different person, carefree and playful. Totally different from when she was glaring and stiff when talking to her. It broke her heart hearing Tony refer to Pepper as her Mother rather than Christine. But what did she expect?

Damian scoffed catching her attention, "Mother I do not see why you've dragged us here, that girl didn't even acknowledge us."

"Damian, enough" Bruce said, not looking away from his awkward conversation with Tony.

"Gee if only I could do that with our kids." Tony mutters into his drink.

"Does Y/n argue often?" Bruce asks trying to engage in conversation.

Tony laughs before fondly speaking, " Sort of. She isn't the type to back down when she thinks something is right. There was this one time I caught her arguing with one of my business partners about his "condescending tone and misogynistic attitude"."

""And did she apologize after?"

"Hell no. She glared at me and told me apologizing just for his ego would be demeaning her experiences as a woman. Although to be fair he was an asshole."

Bruce chuckles, " She sounds like a well rounded young woman. How old was she then?"

"Ah about 10, it was funny seeing this little girl argue in a Justin Bieber shirt argue about the patriarchy with a full grown man."

Bruce and Tony shared a laugh, picturing the scene.

"You must be very proud of her." Bruce mentions after they quieted down. Tony let a small smile escape.

" I am. She's had a rough life, and I..." Tony trails off, " She means everything to me. Without her...I don't think I'd be the same person I am today."

And with that, Tony downed his drink and stood, " Want another?"

Bruce smiled and accepted, watching Tony leave. He can tell that the man was close to his daughter. A bond that formed due to a loss, they both grew from it and grew closer. He understood, thinking about his own children.

Pepper and Christine were having a somewhat similar conversation, although it was a little more tense.

"So...Pepper-"

"Virginia." Pepper said, cutting her off.

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Virginia. Pepper is a nickname my family calls me."

"Oh. Okay, Virginia, how long have you known Y/n and Tony?"

"Oh about nine or so years. I was promoted to assistant when I saw how much of a mess Tony was." Pepper said casually.

Dick and Jason tensed, overhearing the tense conversation between the two mothers. But before Dick could interrupt Jason sat him back down.

"I wanna see what happens."

Christine continued, " And when did you become a..more permanent around the house?"

"When I saw that Y/n the one taking care of Tony." Pepper said in a serious tone, "She was the one making sure he didn't choke on his vomit and eating cereal as his flings walked out the room. Then he got kidnapped...and y/n was alone. So I made sure she’d never be alone again.”

Christine heart sank. She knew about the whole kidnapping thing. Why she didn't step in, she doesn't know. It's just another thing she regrets to this day.

Before Pepper could continue, she heard two sets of footsteps and voices

"All I'm saying is, if he looks at me funny, I'm fighting him and that's that."

"Yeah maybe not the best impression on..." Peter cuts off when they reach the living room. Eyes again on the two of you.

"Let's get this over with." You muttered, saying bye to Peter and making way over to the couch to sit next to Pepper.

"Y/n!" Christine says happily, " I'm glad you're here. We brought you something!"

She pulls out a box and she carefully hands it over to you.

You look at it suspiciously before getting a nudge from Pepper.

"Thank you." You grit out. Earning a glare from Damian and Cassandra.

You open the box to see...cupcakes.

"They're the peanut butter strawberry cupcakes you used to like. Remember? I used to bring them when I came to see you." Christine says, trying to bring up good memories.

You frown and close the box, " I'm allergic to strawberries."

Lie.

Pepper casts a glance towards you, "They look lovely, let me take them into the kitchen, I'll check on dinner."

And with that she takes the box and leaves into the kitchen. Leaving you and Tony alone.

"So...Stark" Damian started fixing his gaze on you.

"Yes, Wayne?" You said, matching his energy.

"What exactly is it you want from my mother?" He asks, earning a groan from his older brothers.

"Well, I'd appreciate it if she left me alone." You say with a straight face.

Christine frowns but before she says something Damian speaks up again.

"Tt, all this drama for the likes of you? It's honestly disappointing" He drawls, trying to get under your skin.

"Damian!" Christine scolded.

"Well, I apologize for not meeting your standards. I'd try harder if I cared what a toddler thought of me."

Jason let out a surprised chuckle while the rest of the family looked on in shock. Tony just rolled his eyes.

"I do not understand why Mother insists on rekindling her relationship with you. You obviously weren't worth the effort the first time around." He spits, causing the rest of the family to gasp.

You however, just laugh, " When you figure it out, let me know. It's probably the same reason she puts up with you."

Damian glares, about to start in again when Jason cuts him off " Shut up Demon. She got you man."

"Tt"

"I'm Jason, and anyone who can out that brat in check is good in my book." He says sending you a smirk.

You smile back, " I'm friends with Loki and Wade Wilson, I'm hardly affected by anything anymore." Your dad rolls his eyes again, he’s not exactly enthusiastic about your choice in friends.

You like this one. Probably the one you're gonna be able to stand in this family.

"Don't hog her Jason!" Dick shouts pushing him away before turning to smile at you, " Hi! I'm-"

"Dick Grayson. I know, you spilled your champagne on my dress a few years ago at a New Years gala." You say, still a little bitter about it.

"Oh. heh, right, sorry about that. Again." He says sheepishly.

You turn to Cassandra, " You're Cassandra. You and your friend cornered me in the bathroom."

Cassandra scowls and looks away.

Then you turned to Tim, " And you need to learn how to secure your fire walls better."

Tim looked at you confused, "Um excuse me?"

You smirked, " Just a suggestion. I assume you don't want people to know about your...bats in the attic?"

The whole family froze.

You knew? There was no way.

"Kid, are you hacking again?" Tony said exasperatedly, " You promised you'd stop after the last time."

"Hey it's not my fault Shuri didn't think about changing her password." You say defensively, “ and it’s not like you were complaining when you had me hack into SHEILDS databases”

“What was that!?” Pepper shouts from the kitchen.

“Heheh, nothing dear.” Tony shouts back then in a hushed voice scolds you, “ I gave you fifty bucks to keep that a secret.”

“I didn’t say what you had me retrieve.” You said smugly leaning back in your chair.

Bruce didn’t know how to feel.

On one hand, this teen that objectively hates his family, knows their biggest secret. She can singlehandedly destroy their family and expose them. And she has the means to.

But on the other, she’s a perfect fit for their family. She gets along with Jason, doesn’t let Damian get under her skin, and from the looks of it can definitely take care of herself. Only thing is, again, she hates his wife and by association, his family.

“I’m sorry, hacking? You know that’s illegal right?” Tim asks, still in shock that you got past his security systems.

You turn to him and in a bored tone replied , “Yeah? and?”

Tim stuttered for a bit before going quiet with a blush. It was adorable really.

You had to hold back a laugh, it was fun getting this stuffy family all riled up. Especially when you can see the disapproval in Christines face.

“Tony, you let our daughter participate in illegal activities??” Christine asks with a raised brow.

The table goes silent at the tone of her voice. Knowing that when she uses it someone is really in trouble.

But you roll your eyes because how are you supposed to know what that tone means?

“I let my daughter express herself in a ...healthy way. She knows her limits.” Tony replies cooly, taking a drink and looking back into the kitchen wondering where Pepper went.

”Obviously not. Tony she has no regard for the laws at all! You think i didn’t see the headlines last year?!”

Ah yes, last year you had a slight scandal where you may have punched a pap for trying to get a picture up your skirt but who wouldn’t?!

“ And you let her hang around criminals and terrorists?!”

You scoff, “ Oh please everyone in the Avengers was a criminal or terrorist at least once.”

“Not helping kid.” Tony says, “Christine, you and your family have no right to come into my home and judge my family. I’ve been civil. Hell maybe a little too much. Mainly because if I wasn’t, my wife—err Fiancée, would kill me.”

You snicker, earning a few glares.

“Look the point is, don’t tell me how to raise my daughter. Especially because I was doing it all alone.” Tony finishes with a sigh.

The table goes silent. You were getting tired of all the tense silences today.

“ Look.” You turn to Christine, “ I get that you probably feel guilty or something because you ditched me. And I appreciate that or whatever.”

You were not good at this.

“ But I don’t wanna live with you.”

Christine looks down sadly, “ Y/n I just...I just want to get to know you again. You’re my baby.”

Before you could answer you heard a crash come from the kitchen and smoke fill the rooms.

“ Pepper?!” You cough, “ Dad what’s happening?!”

“ I don’t know. Stay here” He says summoning his suit.

“FRIDAY?!” You shout, but not hearing the AI.

The Wayne’s all looked at each other in panic. They didn’t bring their suits, thinking it was just a dinner.

You turn to them and shout “ Come with me, and stay low!”

You start to lead them to the stair case, knowing that the rooms were relatively safe.

“Come on!” you yell when they don’t follow you.

Christine stands from her seat and makes to follow you before being stopped by Damian.

“Mother we cannot..”

“Damian, I’ve had about enough of you. Let’s go.” She says sternly and follows you. The rest of the family following behind as Bruce nudges Damian.

“ Come on son.”

“Father we don’t know where she’s leading us.” Damian says stubbornly.

“There’s nothing we can do right now.” he coughs.

The sounds of punching and the blasts come from the kitchen.

“Let’s go.”

They finally join the rest of the family. You have them crouched in the hallway.

“ This is James’ room. Dad had it modified just incase he was ever triggered into the Winter Solider again. No ones getting through this door when it’s locked.”

You usher them in.

“Come on Y/n” Christine says reaching a hand out to you.

You smirk, “ What? and miss all the action?”

You close the door and lock it before leaving. Laughing at their surprised faces.

The room is silent.

“ She’s awesome!” Jason says with a laugh.

[sortasirius]

what makes you think the writers want deancas? not trying to be an asshole, i'm just genuinely curious as to why you think that. i know berens' episodes are pretty heavy with subtext so i can see why you'd say that he wants it, but i'm not so sure about the rest of the writers/dabb. it seems like meghan isn't a huge fan either, given her "they twisted it so fast" tweet :/ of course she's a very new writer (think she's only writing one ep this season?) but still

OKAY this is a great question, welcome to my dissertation.

I’m going to address the end of your question first. Meghan is actually DeanCas positive, she has been for quite a long time. She actually, a few years back, posted a picture of her reading a literal book about Destiel and captioned it “writing reading” or something like that.

This whole thing just comes out of a boiling over of tensions because of how nasty fandom twitter can be. Like I said here, I think this has just gotten blown out of proportion, they shouldn’t have posted all this randomly disparaging stuff, but also like...can you blame them? The fandom is a lot, we always have been, and they’re probably also under a gag order not to talk about the finale, and are annoyed that people keep asking.

So nah, Meg is not anti Destiel.

To the first part!! So let’s take a look at the show runners since Cas has been around.

Seasons 4 and 5: Kripke

Seasons 6 and 7: Gamble

Seasons 8-11ish: Carver

Seasons 11ish-15: Dabb

So starting with Kripke. Okay, yes, I will be the first to admit that we have some pretty incredible Destiel moments in these seasons, but it’s less directly written into the plot and much more from Misha and Jensen’s uhhhh ~chemistry~. The only times it was directly written into the script was when the episode was handled by someone like Edlund (“On The Head Of A Pin,” “The End,” “My Bloody Valentine”). And you have to remember, if in season 5, there are moments here and there where you’re like huh that’s suspiciously romantic dialogue, remember that Cas took Anna’s place. Anna was supposed to be endgame for Dean, but due to a myriad of issues and Misha’s general greatness, Anna was replaced with Cas.

Onto 6 and 7. Hmmm. Gamble. 6 and 7 are my two least favorite seasons and that’s no secret, and that’s not only due to the plain old weird shit in the overall storyline, but also that homegirl killed off Cas in s7 and then Bobby like four episodes later. (Also it ALWAYS rubbed me the wrong way they couldn’t have Baby in that season lol). We still had some great DeanCas moments, but again, it wasn’t really written into the overall arc (until they had to change the end of season 7 because of tanking ratings and bring Misha back lol, anyone remember the fact that Dean kept Cas’ jacket and would randomly dream of him? Yeah.). But we still had those moments, those distinctly romantic moments, probably the best example in these two seasons is from Edlund again, specifically “The Man Who Would be King,” I wrote a little about that here.

We move onto Carver, who gave us, at this point, the most overt DeanCas season with season 8 (season gr8 is a better name imo), and this is the first time Dean and Cas’ relationship is directly written as an arc of the season.  I mean, you have everything in Purgatory, Dean “seeing” Cas everywhere, the fact that he felt so guilty that Cas stayed in Purgatory that he manipulated his own memories to think that he was the one that failed Cas, because he couldn’t comprehend that Cas would want to leave him, and let’s not forget Dean snapping Cas out of Naomi’s hold on him in “Goodbye Stranger.”  It was a very obvious shift, not enough to alert the general audience, but more than enough for most of us in fandom.

It’s also important to note that this is when Andrew stopped co writing with Loflin and started writing his own episodes (”Hunter Heroici” anyone?)  I like Loflin fine, but Dabb was able to stretch his legs a little bit more once he stopped co-writing, and we also began to see some DeanCas themes in his solo episodes.

In any case, them and their issues being a big part of the seasons continued with Carver, and Berens entered the scene, his first episode (”Heaven Can’t Wait”) is one of my favorites, with human Cas and the fanfiction gap and Dean and Cas just generally being awkward and funny and sweet.  This is Bobo’s FIRST episode, remember that.  He comes right out of the gate with it.

Also in Season 9, this is when Dean takes the Mark of Cain, and the Cas/Colette mirror is born, so obviously, Dean and Cas are the fabric of the season once again.  This is also the season where Metatron says Cas is “in love with humanity,” and then immediately refers to Dean as Humanity so uhhhh yeah.

Onto season 10, Dabb and Berens continue with their greatness (I could write pages on the DeanCas date in “The Things We Left Behind” alone).  And then we have one of the best scenes in the entire show in “The Prisoner” where the Cas/Colette mirror continues and Dean, driven by grief and pain and rage and the Mark, still doesn’t kill Cas.  He still can’t kill Cas.

Season 11 is important because it takes choice away from both Cas and Dean, and shows us, as the audience, how much losing each other takes out of them. We saw in season 10 how much losing Dean takes from Cas, but what about Cas losing Dean?  Dean loses his choice with his connection to Amara this season, and loses even more when Lucifer reveals he’s been possessing Cas, and plays on Dean’s connection to Cas like a mockery.  It’s also worth noting that, similarly to season 8, Dean breaks out of the connection with Amara when he’s worried about Cas, and that’s something that even SHE is surprised by.

But then season 12, the beginning to the Renaissance.  This is when we get the writer’s that become important for what Dean and Cas are today, and, truly, why I believe they want canon Destiel as much as we do.

This is the first season with Dabb’s writers: Davy Perez, Meredith Glynn, Steve Yockey, and of course Bobo all come in with their incredible talents and gave us episode after episode of good content.  “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets” is probably my favorite, probably the best example of what I’m saying.  An episode where Dean is called out by an enemy directly, told to “roll the dice” on Cas’ life.  And Dean won’t, it’s not even really a hesitation.  And this comes from a character that has known Dean for ten seconds.  I also wrote more in depth about this episode here.  There are also some.....distinctly domestic details we get this season, specifically in “The Future” (written by Berens and Glynn) with the mixtape.  The most tropey of tropes mixtape.  Yeah, I’ll just leave that one here.

And then season 12 ends with Cas’ death, but also with the parallel between Sam and Dean with Jess and Cas.  Sam literally has to drag Dean away from Cas, just like Dean had to drag Sam out of his burning apartment in the pilot.  The episode drives it home in every way that it can: Dean is the one left kneeling by Cas’ body, while Sam goes to find out what is upstairs.  Dean is the one who stares at the sky, finally broken.  This isn’t a random thing, this is Dean’s whole arc, it’s the entirety of the beginning of 13.  Dean’s pain, his anguish, his anger.

Season 13 starts with them burning Cas, with Dean, who has begged God to bring him back, who has split his knuckles punching a door, standing, staring at Cas’ pyre with brokenness on his face.

I mean.....

Anyway, season 13 is where it gets interesting (well, I think all of this is interesting but I’m a writer nerd so).  So Cas comes back from the Empty in “Advanced Thanatology” written by Steve Yockey, and then a wombo combo of “Tombstone” by Davy Perez next (”Brokebacknatural” as the PR said at the time).  Listen.  This is the part that SPN crossed a line that they couldn’t come back from.  With Cas being Dean’s “big win,” the fact that Dean and Cas watch movies together, “I told you, he’s an angry sleeper.  Like a bear.” Talked about it here.

This is where, in my opinion, the network stepped in, but the damage was already done.  They had already established that Cas was Dean’s big win, that Dean’s poor coping was not due to Mary’s disappearance, but solely due to Cas, and that Dean and Cas have more married energy than anyone else.  The network had nixed blatant canon at this point, and they writing room had been pushing the boundaries of what the network would allow. 

After these episodes, we see a marked drop off of DeanCas heavy scenes.  They’re still there, still a part of the fabric of the season, but not as...obvious as it had been in early season 13.

And this continued through season 14, we’re back to scraps of Destiel scenes here and there, but to me it always felt like there was something bubbling under the surface, something distinctly unsaid in the themes of the season, even after the walk back of obvious “Dean and Cas are in love” scenes.

And then we get to season 15, which, y’all know I talk about all the time.  What’s important here is that Bobo and Glynn are both executive producers, calling more of the shots than ever before.  Additionally, it’s important to note that, though they only co write occasionally, Glynn and Berens refer to each other as “work husband” and “work wife.”  Each episode has just turned up the volume, and, not for the first time, but certainly the most obvious, Dean and Cas ARE the season.  Sure, they’re trying to beat God, they’re trying to finally find peace, defeat the final big bad, but really?  This season has been about Dean, and Dean’s relationship to Cas.

And not only do we have obvious and clear Destiel in nearly every episode, but we have episodes like “Last Call” which canonize bi!Dean (wrote about that here).

And, maybe most importantly so far, we have “The Rupture,” the breakup, and “The Trap,” Dean’s confession (both written by Berens).  And here’s the thing.  These episodes feel connected, but also feel like they’re missing something.  Beren’s last episode is 15x18, “The Truth.”  We’ve all spec’ed about what could happen in this episode, and I think *I* know what it’s leading to.  But for it to be leading to that, it means that the network has to have approved what we’ve all been waiting for years for.

Who got this change to happen?  Who got the network to change their minds?  It wasn’t us.  It was them.  I am fully convinced that Dabb and Berens quite literally put their careers on the line for Dean and Cas.  They believe in them, they’ve shown that from the beginning, but the only thing standing in the way was the network, never allowing them to take the final step. 

So, to answer your question: I think the writers want canon DeanCas because they’ve already shown us that they do.  Take a look at their episodes, at Dabb’s, at Beren’s, at Glynn’s, at Perez’s, at Yockey’s.  They’ve been telling us what’s going on with Dean and Cas for years.

Sure, I’m not in their heads, I guess I don’t know for *sure* that this has been their thought process, but if we put it all together, from the marked shift when Dabb fully took over in s12, to the change right after “Tombstone,” to the new shift, the blatantly romantic shift in season 15, what else is there?

I’ve said for a long time that we, the SPN fandom, are beyond lucky to have the writer’s that we do.  They’re all going to go on to have prolific careers and we were lucky to get them at the end of our little show.  I give them a lot of credit for what we have in the show today.

Just remember, they’ve been telling us in all of s15 who Chuck is.  He says he’s the writer, right?  But a writer who doesn’t have control of his characters?  A writer who wants to do the same ending over and over because it “works”?  That doesn’t sound like a writer, it sounds like a network exec.

They’ve been showing us what they want for years, and the way s15 is going?  I think they may have convinced the network to let us have it.

[pappydaddy]

Eternal Flame (s.h)

A/N: Finally have another request done! I am getting them done slowly but surely lovelies! Anywho, this was requested by the lovely @the-weeping-author! She is one of my moots and one of the first friends I made on this platform! You guys should definitely check out some of her work and she has recently revamped her blog! I love this song with all my heart so I was beyond excited to get a request with this as a prompt! So, without further ado, I present this fic to you lovelies! Hope you guys enjoy it💛!

P.S: I added a 70s and 90s reference in here😉.

Disclaimer: Eternal Flame came out on the album Everything in 1988, but for this fic (set after season three - 1985/86) let's just say it came out around then.

tv show/movie: stranger things

pairing: steve harrington x fem!wheeler!reader

requested

sequeal to right behind you

steve harrington taglist: @the-weeping-author

warnings: angst, awkwardness, just being a teen in high school who has a crush, insecurity, sibling insecurity (fellow siblings know what I am talking about), comparing oneself to their sibling, fluff, sappy speeches.

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- not my gif -

There are a lot of things in life that are hard to navigate. Growing up, your thoughts, school - and that’s just to name a few, but there is one thing that is the hardest to navigate (let alone deal with) and that was feelings. Romantic feelings were pesky things that cause a flurry of butterflies to flutter around your stomach, making you feel both enlightened and like throwing up all at the same time, that also causes your mind to turn to mush at any given second, that made you question everything and anything about yourself. Y/N hated romantic feelings, but in the past, she had found them somewhat navigable, but her ability to navigate the troublesome tangle of those stupid feelings slipped past her fingers the second they became tangled with her familial feelings.

Of course, she thought she was perfectly fine when she struck up a friendship with her twin’s ex-boyfriend, but she was proven horribly wrong within six months of their friendship when she finally clued in that the little fires burning under her skin whenever he touched her wasn’t just because he produced an unnatural amount of body heat. To top it all off, his actions were completely unreadable now that it was revealed that he actually had a heart that cared for more than popularity and hair products like she once believed. Normally, she could figure out if someone liked her, but with Steve, his soft touches and warm gaze confused her. She couldn’t tell if the softening of his eyes when they looked at each other was his natural, kind self or if he was envisioning a golden circle surrounding her like an angel. But the worst part of it was, it didn’t matter if he did like her back, it wasn’t like it would work out. He dated her sister, her better-at-everything sister. How could she even compare to Nancy? How could they date without it being completely weird? However, even though it was utterly hopeless, the flame within her heart burned warm and relentless, warming her body with misery and love.

“Hey, Loser,” Robin snapped, tossing a piece of popcorn at Y/N’s forehead, hitting her right between the eyes. She jolted, looking up from the open textbook and binder sprawled out in front of her, taken back by Robin suddenly pelting her with food. “Could you stop thinking about the Dingus for like five minutes and help me with this question? I’ve tried to do it, but each time I keep getting a different answer.” Robin complained, gesturing to her own books on the floor between them.

“I wasn’t thinking about Steve.” She lied, leaning across the popcorn bowl in the middle of the midst of them and the school books. Robin gave her a look.

“Sure, and I was thinking about kissing Rob Lowe,” She remarked sarcastically, watching as Y/N turned her book around, looking for the question. “Number 19, part one,” She told her. Y/N nodded, eyes instantly dropping to the question, scanning it over with furrowed brows. “And I know you were thinking about Dingus because you had that sad, ‘I’m-in-love-but-it’s-so-tragic-and-doomed’ look you always have when you think about him.” Robin informed her dramatically.

“I do not have a look-” She gasped.

“You have a look,” Robin nodded, making Y/N slump against the foot of her bed, huffing as she tossed the textbook over the bowl of popcorn, almost hitting it, but the spine of the book just barely missed it as Robin caught it. “Hey, don’t take your frustrations caused by teenage love and attraction out on the popcorn. Use your pillow for that like everyone else.” Robin snipped.

“Nobody actually screams into a pillow-”

“Who said anything about screaming?” Robin cut her off with furrowed brows making Y/N scoff when she caught onto what her friend was alluding to.

“You’re disgusting.” She stated, picking up her pencil and tossing it at Robin who dodged it easily, wiggling her perfectly groomed eyebrows suggestively.

“It’s a decade-old trick, might make you less crabby too.” She quipped, tossing the pencil back to Y/N with a smirk on her lips. Grabbing the pencil, Y/N huffed, setting back to work on her own homework.

“By the way, I can’t answer your question, I suck at physics,” She told her, earning a grunt from Robin. “Don’t know why that’s such a surprise, I all but failed physics last semester if you don’t recall.” She reminded her, taking a piece of popcorn and tossing it into her mouth. Robin rolled her eyes, muttering to herself as she stood from her criss-cross position on the floor, her books in her hands, her pencil in her mouth.

“Fine, I guess I just have to go get the children to help,” She said, her voice muffled by the pencil between her lips, but she spit it out, causing it to ping off her notebook, rolling down to where it met her stomach. “Come with me.”

“What? Why? You can’t talk to a group of fourteen-year-olds by yourself? Just give them pizza money and they won’t attack you.” She commented, looking back down at her work, answering one of the questions, but Robin stopped her by stomping her foot, making her raise her eyebrow as she turned to look at her.

“They intimidate me when I ask them questions about physics and stuff, they are too smart and it makes me feel inferior,” She justified her fear. Y/N shook her head making Robin groan, her head falling back from her friend’s reluctance to join her to talk to the boys. Marching over, she kicked over the bowl of popcorn, making Y/N gasp and look up at her with wide eyes, only to see her smirking down at her. “There, now you have to go and get the vacuum so that means you can come talk to your brother with me.”

“I’ll kick you over,” She muttered, pushing herself up off the floor, following the happy Robin out of her room, closing the door behind her out of habit, their socked feet shuffling along the carpet, “You're popping a new bowl.” She told Robin as they jogged down the stairs to the main floor.

“I think you can manage that,” Robin told her over her shoulder as she rushed into the TV room where the group was gathered, eating pizza and watching some sort of Sci-Fi show on TV, taking full advantage of Y/N’s father and mother being away for her father’s Christmas party (Holly having been shipped off to their grandparents for the night). “Hey, I have a math problem that I need help with.” Robin told the group, sliding in front of the TV making them groan.

“Move!” Dustin whined, trying to see around Robin as she stood directly in front of him, blocking his view entirely. Steve looked up from his sports magazine at the intrusion, nearly falling out of Y/N’s father’s lazy-boy when he spotted her standing there, waiting for Robin to be finished.

“H-Hey, Y/N,” Steve stammered, trying to correct himself as he stubbled out of the chair, throwing the magazine carelessly on the cushion behind him. Y/N looked over at him as he walked towards her, his hand combing through his voluminous hair. “Done with your homework already?” He asked, jamming his hands in his jeans front pockets.

“No, Robin just didn’t want to come down alone so she kicked the bowl of popcorn over, I came to get the vacuum and pop more.” She told him, making her way over to the supply closet, pulling the vacuum out, collecting the long cord.

“I can pop you some more, saves me from having to listen to them trying to teach Robin physics again.” He told her, making her heart flop like a fish out of water. That’s the thing. She had no way of knowing if he was offering to help her out of the kindness of his heart or because she also made his heart flop around like fish out of water. She wanted to groan out and run through the TV room window out of frustration, but instead, she cleared her throat, trying to stop the flailing of her heart.

“You don’t have to do that, Steve.” She reassured him, walking into the kitchen with the vacuum in her hand, leaving Steve to trail after her. With his big brown eyes and overall attitude, he was pretty much the picture of a puppy right now and that wasn’t doing much to soothe the urge Y/N felt to coo at his adorableness.

“Please, your parents left me in charge and I don’t really feel like welcoming them home with the house burnt down-”

“That was when I was eight and it was an accident,” She cut him off, grabbing the last stove-top popcorn pan. “Besides, I’ve made popcorn plenty of times since then, I think I can handle it.” She added on, taking the cardboard off the top, showing the shiny tin. Steve snatched the popcorn from her hand, swiftly turning on the burner and placing the pan on top.

“Just accept the help, I know it’s hard for you, but just do it for once,” Steve told her, his hands on his hips as he sent her a stern look that dared her to challenge him. Licking her lips, she rolled her eyes and sighed, giving in. “Good,” He praised with a nod, pleased that she listened. “Now go up and vacuum, I’ll bring it up to you when it’s done.” He told her. With another sigh, she obeyed, mostly because she couldn’t stand the mixed messages nor the overwhelming feeling of her heart-melting like butter over hot popcorn.

____

“You just don’t get it, Robin,” Y/N shook her head as she pushed her soggy cafeteria pasta around her plate with her plastic fork. Robin rolled her eyes at her best friend as she stared solemnly down at her food. “Even if he does like me back, how can it work? He dated my sister. My twin sister.” She looked up to emphasize the last part.

Shrugging, Robin took a drink of her juice. “It’s not like he’s trying to replace her with you, you guys are nothing alike.” She pointed out, proving Y/N’s point that she doesn’t understand it.

“That’s not the point!” Y/N exclaimed, a bit too loud, as she dropped her fork in her pasta. A blush invaded her cheeks when she realized people were sending worried and confused glances towards the pair. Breathing out an awkward chuckle, she slid back in her seat, hunching over slightly in an effort of getting away from her schoolmate’s glances.

“Well, please clarify for me,” Robin mused, pressing her lips together. “What exactly is the point, Y/N?” She asked, assuming that she was just overeating. Y/N nodded, pleased that Robin was willing to actually try and understand where she was coming from. Shifting to sit in her seat normally once again, Y/N pulled a disgusted face when she noticed her fork was now submerged in the gross pasta.

“The point is that a relationship between Steve and I would never work because he dated my sister. Do you know how awkward it will be telling her about us,” She paused, carefully picking up her sauce-covered fork and a napkin. “Oh, yeah, and Nancy, I’m dating your ex-boyfriend who also happens to be the first person you ever slept with,” She looked up as she wiped her fork with her napkin, seeing Robin pulling a face twisted with disgust.

“I didn’t know that he was the first person she slept with. That makes that one point valid, just that one,” Robin agreed, taking a bite out of her sandwich. Y/N huffed, not understanding how Robin wasn’t seeing the problem. Frustration tensed her shoulders as she aggressively stabbed a piece of pasta with her fork. “But it doesn’t matter if Steve and Nancy dated, what matters is that you guys love each other.” Robin told her, growing frustrated as well.

“Okay, let’s forget about the Steve-being-Nancy’s-ex dilemma for a second and evaluate what you just said,” Y/N sighed, gently resting her fork on her clean napkin. “How can I know if Steve actually like-likes me or if he just likes me as a friend,” She posed the rhetorical question, letting her hands dart through the air around her as she spoke. “I mean, yes, there are times where it seems like he might like me back but then he turns around and treats you or someone else the same way and I am left there questioning if it was just my imagination. I honestly cannot tell if I am just making the possibility of him actually having feelings for me up in my head or not!”

Robin clicked her tongue. “Seems like you’re just overthinking things.”

“Oh, you think I am overthinking all of this, huh,” Y/N’s eyebrows jumped challengingly at Robin who was taking another drink out of her juice carton. “Decode this one romance guru,” She tapped the table with her pointer finger twice, making Robin glance down at it out of reflex. “Remember when we went to visit Steve at Family Video during your day off,” She paused, letting Robin answer her with a nod. “Remember how he gave me extra free candy to go with the movie we picked out-”

“Yeah, but how did he turn around and do the same thing for someone else?” Robin interrupted her, but she simply held a finger up to her.

“I dreamed of that interaction for weeks after that. That night I went home and danced around my room like I was in a damn movie. I was over the moon thinking that he liked me. Then, the next time I went into Family Video to return the movie, he gave another girl extra free candy as well!” She ranted, her eyes wide as she made her point.

“That girl was Max-”

“I’m not saying that he gave her free product to girls he likes or is attracted to, I am saying that him giving people free extra candy is something he must do for all his friends.” She stressed, earning a nod of understanding from Robin.

“I can see your point there,” She paused when the school bell rang out, signalling the end of lunch. “I have to get to physics, but we aren’t done talking about how ridiculous you’re being about Steve and Nancy having dated years ago.” Robin told her sternly, pushing her chair back. Y/N rolled her eyes, staying in her seat as she had a free period after lunch.

“I’m not being ridiculous, you’re just not getting it.” She shot back.

“Whatever, oh, and you don’t have to drive me home today, Steve is picking me up and taking me to our shift.” She alerted her before walking off to join the flow of other students trying to dump their trays and get to class. Y/N watched her friend leave the cafeteria before looking back down at her even soggier pasta. Heaving a sigh, she dropped her fork to her plate and stood as well, getting ready to head to the library to work on her assignments.

____

“Yeah, Dean said that we just have to worry about predicting the chemical and physical properties of organic compounds based on their respective structures and how organic chemical reactions affect human health and the environment for the assignment.” Y/N told Robin over the phone after phoning one of their other friends for help.

“I’m so happy, I finished the whole thing at work tonight and of course Steve had to be an idiot and read over the assignment sheet and make me doubt,” Robin spoke in her ear over the phone. Y/N laughed, being able to visualize Robin rolling her eyes. “I had a whole freak out, I wanted to call you on the store’s phone and ask you to clarify, but then we got busy and I couldn’t.”

“When you first called me, I started to freak out, I did it all in my free period and I really didn’t want to re-do the whole thing tonight,” She agreed, flopping onto her back, careful not to pull the whole phone off her nightstand table. She blinked up at the ceiling, twirling the coiled cord around with her finger, tangling it. “I’m just glad that at least one of us pays attention in class. Dean said that Janet, Jackson, Michael, and Christine have already called him freaking out over the assignment tonight too.”

“I believe it. I mean, Janet, Jackson, and Christine are too freakishly like Three’s Company not to have so sort of problem to solve every night.” Robin joked over the phone.

“It is a little freaky, isn’t it,” Y/N agreed, giggling along with Robin. “The resemblance is practically uncanny! Personality and appearance!”

“The only difference is that they live in Indiana instead of California. Everything else is pretty much a dead match,” Robin hummed. “Hey, sorry, my mom is yelling at me to get off the phone, apparently she needs to use it. You’re so lucky to have your own line.”

“I don’t have my own line, I share it with Nancy and Mike. It’s just Nancy is never here or she’s always asleep when I use the phone and Mike uses the radio instead of a phone,” She clarified. “But I’ll see you tomorrow at Dustin’s, I assume Steve is driving you-”

“Actually, I need you to pick me up. I meant to tell you that. Anyway, see you tomorrow.” Robin hung the phone up abruptly, shocking Y/N. Blinking, she shrugged, pulling the phone away from her ear and working to untangle the cord, trying to keep it as neat as she could. Sitting up, she placed the receiver back down on the base, sighing. Turning her head to glance out the sliver of her window, her curtains didn’t block off, she noticed the silver moon high in the star-filled sky.

“It’s such a beautiful night out,” She whispered to herself, standing from her bed, swiftly moving to her bay window and pulling the curtains open farther. She had closed them when dusk fell, assuming that it would be a normal cloudy December night, but now that the moon was high in the night sky, she found she was quite wrong in her assumption. Taking a moment to admire the night sky, she let her hands slowly slide down her curtains until they fell to her side, the silver glow of the moon captivating her like a painting. “I am so glad I stayed up this late tonight.” She breathed out in awe as a shooting star darted across the glowing sky.

Squeezing her eyes closed, she made a wish, a feeling of childlike wonder and excitement washing over her as she did. Slowly, she let her eyes flutter back open, instantly being met by the moon once again. Backing away from the bay window, her bare feet scuffed against the carpet on her room, the satin of her new frilly, baby pink nightgown ticking the middle of her thighs as the hem swished and danced with her movement. There was no way she was going to sleep anytime soon, not feeling tired at all after talking to Robin and Dean. She gracefully moved over to her record player, placing the needle back down from where it hovered, starting back off where she had stopped it to answer her phone a good hour ago.

Humming along with the opening notes of Bell Jar as she turned the volume down, aware that her twin sister and brother (whose rooms were the closest to hers) were asleep. She didn’t have to worry about her parents and baby sister as Holly’s room was beside Mike’s, closer to the other side of the house and her parents were out on a date night (as suggested by the marriage counsellor). She moved away from the record player, her hips swaying with the catchy beat of the song. Swiping the new JC Penny catalogue off her dresser along with a pen, she settled into her window seat, letting the natural light of the moon illuminate the pages.

Bringing her knees up, she rested the open catalogue on her thighs, not caring as the short skirt of her nightdress flopped unladylike, nobody else was in the room but her, plus her parents obviously were out having a good night without a thought of coming home anytime soon. She flicked to the section that interested her, circling anything that she thought she would like by its number listed on the side, tapping her foot against the cushion of her bench seat.

She had no idea how long she sat there circling things, but she knew that she had made it past the clothing and shoes in the catalogue. Sucking her bottom lip between her teeth in concentration, she flicked through the nightclothes, circling as she went. Just as she was about to circle a matching short and cami set, a clatter sounded below her window. Freezing, she tried to talk herself into glancing out her window, but she was too scared to see if it was some sort of crazed burglar or interdimensional creature ready to terrorize Hawkins once again. She held her breath, listening for the sound again. When she decided that whatever had made that noise was gone, she resumed her circling, her toe-tapping once again. Flipping through her catalogue to find the furniture she would take an interest in she found her foot stopped tapping as the song filtered out but picked back up once Something to Believe In started.

Circling the full-length mirror on page 408, she let out a surprised shriek when something was thrown at her window. Her catalogue and pen flew out of her hands as she fell off her window seat with a thud and a groan. Another pang sounded against her window as she slowly got to her feet, both too nervous and soar to move any faster. Rubbing her hip, she peered out her window, squinting as the light shining from her room made it hard for her to see her lawn. “Steve,” She whispered in question, making out a familiar figure standing below, waving their arms when they noticed her looking out the window. Clicking her tongue in a disapproving manner, she worked to unlock her center window and pull it open, letting the crisp winter air fill her warm, cozy room. “Steve,” She hissed, sticking her head out her window. “What the hell are you doing?” She asked, shivering as she only wore a satin nightdress with short sleeves.

“Can I come in, I’m a bit cold and I need to talk to you.” He called up, being mindful of her sleeping family. He watched her as she pressed her lips together and shook her head, unimpressed with his unexpected arrival.

“You couldn’t have called me on the phone or waited till tomorrow? My siblings are all asleep and I don’t want to try and put Holly back down.” She sighed, questioning why Steve couldn’t have just thought through his actions and found a simpler way of talking to her other than showing up on her lawn, almost waking her family up. This wasn’t a romantic comedy directed by John Huges, he didn’t even have feelings for her so why was he showing up at her window trying to sneak in like he was her boyfriend?

“No, it can't be said over the phone or wait till tomorrow. I need to tell you now and in person before I chicken out.” He answered her, shifting his weight nervously.

Rolling her eyes, she sighed again at his persistence and pickiness with telling her whatever he needed to. She was almost positive it wasn’t something overly important, he tended to be dramatic. “Fine, crawl up the lattice,” She nodded to the lattice reaching from where the house disappeared under the ground to where the overhang of the roof started. “Mind the plants-” She tried to warn him, but it was too late, he hissed as his hand fell right on a sharp edge of the sharp remains of the coral honeysuckle that blooms every late spring.

“Sorry!” He called up to her sheepishly, earning an eye roll in return before she pulled her head back in and unlocked the window closest to the lattice, closing the middle one. She stepped away from the window, watching as the sheer, floral curtains blew gently in the freezing breeze. Suddenly, as she heard Steve climbing closer to her window, hissing occasionally as he hit another sharp stem, she became very aware of the curler she used to perfect her signature bouncy curtain bang style.

“Oh my god,” She whispered, panicked. She rushed to her vanity, hoping to be able to pull the curler out of her hair before Steve got up into her room, but the thud of him ungracefully falling into her room sounded before she could even think about touching the curler in her bangs. She turned around, her hands resting on the edge of the white painted wood. In her haste to look as if she hadn’t planned to take the curler out and play it cool, she nearly knocked over her barrel curler and the jar of foundation that cluttered her vanity top. “I should have just let you in the front door.” She muttered, making him think it was because of his inability to sneak in, but it was really because she would have been able to save herself the embarrassment of being seen with her curler.

“Really thought I wouldn’t fall this time,” He breathed out, trying to catch his breath. He hopped up from the ground, closing her window, cutting off the flow of the cold air. He sighed, straightening his jacket, looking around her room. He had been in her room many times before, but those were only to tell her he was here or to pop his head in. He had never actually been in her room for more than a minute, let alone to stand in it. He gazed around, comparing it to Nancy’s room. Y/N had posters thrown up haphazardly on her walls. Posters of actors, bands, celebrities in general. Nancy had a few posters, but not as many as Y/N had. His eyes darted to the dresser that stood across the room from him by the closed door. Perfume bottles, nail polish, a stack of new magazines and catalogues littered one side of the dresser top, the other half being taken up by her record player. “Why do you have a dresser and a closet?” He pointed to the closed folding doors next to the vanity Y/N stood at.

“I use the dresser for my records,” She told him. He nodded in understanding, his eyes dropping to the bed that stood only a foot or two away from him. Her room was a decent size, she had enough room to move around even with all the furniture in it. It was a basic pinked-hued room, much like Nancy’s, but this had a different feel to it than her’s, Steve just couldn’t put his finger on it. “Uh, so you said whatever you had to say couldn’t wait long so-” Y/N trailed off, waiting for Steve to get to the point.

“Oh, uh, yeah, about that,” He cleared his throat, looking back at her just as Eternal Flame started to play throughout the room. “Robin talked to me at work tonight, she made me see something that has been right in front of me for so long.”

“Okay, what did she tell you?” Y/N asked, but Steve didn’t hear her, too wrapped up in his own mind.

“Like it was so obvious, I have no idea how I didn’t notice it,” He paused, looking straight at her again. “She told me that you like me,” At those words, Y/N’s blood ran as freezing cold as the wind howling outside. Her heart stopped, heat crawling up her cheeks. He was probably here to reject her, to tell her that he could never date his ex’s fraternal twin sister. “She also told me that the way I’ve been acting around you was making you question if I like you back or not,” Y/N squeezed her eyes closed, bracing herself for him to tell her that he didn’t like her back and it was all in her head. Every touch, every warm glance. It was all created by her imagination. “After she told me that, I just wanted to kick myself because of how stupid I was to not see what I was doing-”

“Look, Steve,” She interrupted him, just wanting this to be over with so she could crawl under her covers and cry. She opened her eyes again to look at him. “I get it. It’s either that I’m just a friend or you can’t bring yourself to date your ex’s sister. Everything that I thought was you expressing a crush towards me was just my imagination, a school-girl dream. I don’t care which it is, just please turn me down and get this all over with so we can both move on with our lives.” She pleaded, trying to hold in the tears as she realized that if he was turning her down, this would probably be the last time they spoke to each other.

“Turn you down,” Steve blinked, his voice rising as he questioned whether she actually wanted to date him. “I’m not turning you down. I’m trying to tell you that I love you.”

“You love me?” Her mouth fell open in shock. Robin was right.

“Have since you took down that demo-dog that pounced at me in the junkyard,” He explained. “Well, at least that’s when I figured out that I liked you, which was pretty shit timing since I had just gotten dumped by your sister. I only figured out that I love you this summer when we were almost killed by Russians-” He ranted, cutting himself off. Heaving a sigh, he let his hands slap his thighs, shrugging awkwardly as he waited for her to say something. “So, yeah. I wasn’t turning you down.”

Y/N blinked, letting her grip on the edge of her vanity go. “But what about the fact that you dated and slept with my sister? You were her first, wouldn’t us dating be weird?” She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest subconsciously, pulling her shoulders up in an effort to enclose herself protectively, not wanting to end up hurt if Steve agrees that it would be weird.

“Nancy is just another ex, it wouldn’t be weird to me. Would it be weird for you?” He asked, suddenly worried that she would be too uncomfortable being with someone.

“No, I guess not,” She admitted. Sure, she was constantly being compared to Nancy by her parents. She constantly was pestered about how she should focus less on boys and more on school like Nancy did or how she should dress more conservatively like Nancy. Y/N was smart, she applied herself to school, but she also loved music, hanging out with her friends, and all the other things that came with being a teenager. Nancy didn’t. Nancy much preferred to toe the line, going to the occasional party, but she spent most of her time with Jonathan or doing homework. “I just,” She paused, looking off to the side to avoid Steve’s powerful gaze. “I’m scared that once you date me, you’ll constantly compare me to Nancy and it’ll ruin your feelings for me.”

“Hey, hey,” Steve breathed, crossing the room to stand in front of her, his fingers just barely touching her chin to make her look back at him. “Nancy and I broke up for a reason. I didn’t realize that I didn’t love her until she broke up with me. We didn’t work well together and that connection wasn’t there. If anything, I was unknowingly comparing her to you.”

She gazed up at him with wide eyes, his fingers still on the underside of her chin, keeping her head in place and fuzzing up her mind from thinking straight. She gulped, trying to ignore the butterflies and dirty thoughts swirling in her head as they stayed in this position. “But how could you have been comparing her to me when we had only just met after you guys started dating?” She asked.

“I don’t know, I just know that part of the reason she felt like our relationship was bullshit was because it was. We were both telling each other that we loved one another, but we really loved other people.” He confided in her, taking a step closer making her swallow thickly again.

“You’re sure it won’t be weird for you?” She asked again, worried. Steve nodded, his eyes flicking around her face, lingering slightly on her lips making her subconsciously swipe her tongue over them, worried they might be chapped.

“Positive.” He whispered, his fresh, warm breath waving over her lips teasingly.

“How are you so sure?” She whispered back, her eyes focusing on his, amazed by the warm pools of brown and gold his eyes were.

“Let me show you. Close your eyes,” He told her softly. She instantly let her eyes flutter closed, trusting Steve without a second thought. Slowly, his fingers left her chin to trace down her neck and the slope of her shoulder making her shiver. “Give me your hand,” She obeyed, lifting her hand as his fingers traced down the length of her arm. She jumped a little when both his hands grabbed her right one. She could feel him slowly pulling it across the short distance between them and lay it on his chest under his unzipped jacket, her hand feeling not only the cotton shirt he wore but also the warmth of his chest. Her cheeks instantly flared, feeling like they were on fire. She knew he could see her blush, but he didn’t laugh or anything. Instead, he made her hand press harder against his pectoral, making her blush deepen. She gasped lightly as she felt the quick beating of his heart that skipped every so often. She barely noticed his hands leaving her hand, resting on her wrist now to keep her hand pressed against his chest. “Do you feel my heart beating? Do you feel how it feels like it’s doing flips?” He asked, his voice light as he bore his entire heart to her.

“Yes.” She nodded, her voice just as light. It was like his heart was performing a gymnastics routine for her.

“Do you understand that it’s doing that for you? You are the one making it do that.” He told her. She let her eyes flutter open, their eyes connecting instantly, her lips parting slightly as she stared up at him in awe. Taking a step closer, they stood toe to toe, her hand still pressing into his chest.

“Steve,” She breathed. “I love you too. The fact that you felt like you had to show me your heartbeat to prove your love for me-” She paused, blinking up at him. “You put your heart in my hand.”

“So, want to give us a shot?” He asked, smiling down at her, making the butterflies flutter faster around in her stomach.

“Of course I would.” She answered a smile of her own stretching across her lips just in time for Steve to see it before he crashed his lips to hers, his hands leaving her wrist to rest on her hips. Her other hand flew up to his chest, her fingers grasping the soft fabric of his shirt as she melted into his body. The kiss was like a breath of fresh air after being in a stuffy car for so long. She almost whined in need when Steve pulled away from her lips, smiling that goofy smile she loved so much.

“I think I should be with you.” He joked, winking at her as he referenced the song that was now playing on the record. Y/N laughed, her head falling against his shirt, careful not to mess her curler up. Steve laughed as well, their laughter mixing like beautiful music, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her to his body.

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 19

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The atmosphere changed in a snap. Everyone had felt it, except Peter.

Peter's early arrival had you all floored, especially you and Bucky. Oblivious to Peter, you were both dumbfounded, like deer caught in headlights. But this wasn't the best time to process what was going to happen next. You had to think off your feet. Yoy had to show Peter that there was no more than surprise in your faces.

Peter was finally here. That's what matters right now.

The instrumentals of Hungry Eyes kept playing in the background. Bucky's microphone created a feedback sound once he let it rest on his sides, making you all wince. Peter ditched his bags (which magically doubled), and strode towards you, engulfing you in a hug. Although he reeked of damp, mossy grass, and wood, you hugged him back.

"I got in early! How great is that?" He greeted you with enthusiasm laced in his voice. "Oh god, I've missed you, y/n!" He said into your ear.

The rest of the group, laid back on their comfortable seats, watched the whole thing unfold in front of their very eyes. You’d definitely pay to see Nat's look on her face right now.

"Yeah, you did!" you patted his back before pulling away, giving him the best smile you could do. "I've missed you, too. Welcome back, Parker. It's been quite a damn week without you."

Bucky was solid as a rock before Peter moved towards his spot (Bucky gave me a quick glance and a wry smile which you then returned; afterwards, you bit your lip looking at the exchange between the two) and hugged him tight as they exchanged their formalities. "It's nice to have you back, Peter."

"It is nice to be back." Peter replied, pulling away. "Whew, that one week went by real slow, huh? Feels like ages!"

"Yeah." Bucky glanced at you one more time. This time, it was longer. "No kidding."

"Alright everyone, it's nice to see you all together."

The group mumbled agreeably.

"Sam," Peter acknowledged, doing his signature finger gun pointed towards him, "I don't even know why you're here but I will as soon as I take a quick shower right upstairs and get these bags sorted out."

"You might want to take a long one there, buddy." Sam breathed out, fanning the air. "You smell like a caveman."

"Sam." You scolded, shaking your head.

"Yes, babydoll?" He jeered, which you and Bucky didn't like.

Most especially Bucky.

And Peter as well.

You gave Sam a look, hidden from Peter's view, of course, careful not to raise any kind of suspicion. But boy, was Sam giving you and Bucky a hard time. The group knew why he called you that, of course. But not Peter.

"Babydoll?" Peter repeated, a confused expression crossing his face as he turned towards you. "Why is he calling you that ridiculous nickname?"

Peter had always hated when men called you, as he put it, "ridiculous" nickname. You knew if he could punch them all, he would but because of Steve's number one rule (no fighting in the bar), he couldn't. It all started ever since you worked in the bar. You weren’t getting much attention when you were a waitress but you guess, when men see a woman behind the counter making their drinks, apparently, they think you’re easy, and naive, and would fall for their "charm" by calling you nicknames. One minute you’re "darling", the next you’re "doll" or "baby" or, the worst of them all, "mon chéri."

God, did men really think women would be turned on by a French nickname with a horrendous French accent? Perhaps, the idiots do.

You suddenly wondered if Peter felt the same.

"He's just kidding." You mumbled, taking him away from the group. "You know how Sam is."

You started to lead him further towards the door where his bags were.

"I know how he is, y/n." He grew more agitated now, triggered by what Sam had called you. "I've known him longer than you. Okay, what on earth is going on here?" Peter turned around once more, facing them all. His hands were all over the place. Exaggerated gestures that furthered his confused state. "What happened in that one week I was gone? Jeez."

"Hey." You made Peter focus his attention back towards you by grabbing him by the shoulders. By this time, the instrumentals on the karaoke machine were gone. "We get that you're really confused right now and you're tired so why don't you go and take a shower. The night is still young, Parker. I promise we'll tell you everything the second you come back here."

Of course, not everything.

The dead air whistled around, which you hated. He glanced at the group, who was waiting for a response. Their eyes were all on you and Peter. He finally let out a sigh, his shoulders slumped. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, it's just been kind of a long drive."

With that, Peter scurried towards the apartment to set down his bags and take a shower. He left a trace of awkwardness in the air once he left.

"Is it just me," Nat started as you walked towards the booth, "or did he grow taller? Did he go to, like, a magic place or something?" Everyone looked at her with knitted brows. "Jesus, I'm just lightening up the mood." She said, hands raised up.

You strode towards Sam, a rush of heat climbing its way towards your face. "Seriously? You had to call me that?"

Sam chuckled nervously, eyes flickering between you and his best friend. "I-it was just a joke! I didn't know he'd take it seriously. And helloooo," he said in a singsong voice, dragging the o, "I'm drunk."

"Being drunk isn't an excuse. It should never be." Bucky said, leaning against the booth. He stood with much authority which you found enticing. But you digressed. "You still shouldn't have said it."

"And besides," you chimed in, "Parker hates it when people give me nicknames."

"Alright. I am sorry." He said. His eyes examined you and Bucky. "But how do you think he's going to react when he finds out his favorite person in the world is calling his best friend babydoll in bed?"

You were dumbstruck. Like it was some kind of question in a trivia game you didn't know the answer to. You couldn't think straight hearing the fries grinding in Nat's teeth, probably enjoying the drama unfolding in front of her eyes, Steve's fingers tapping on the wooden table and Nick's fast breathing.

You took a deep breath, and tried hard to ignore all these annoying sounds.

Sam was right. If Peter's reaction to the nickname was already bad, what more if he knew about the truth between you and Bucky? How could he possibly react to it?

"Look." You said, approaching Bucky, and grabbing his pinky with yours. For comfort. "We're still not ready to tell him but we will."

"Yes, soon." Bucky agreed.

"We're just finding the right time."

The truth was, you weren't any close to finding the "the right time." You had been racking our brains since last night on when to tell him. After setting on the when, then you’d move to the next phase of the plan which was how. Now that Peter had come back, you knew you needed to think and act fast before he found out about you and Bucky from other people.

"In the meantime," you said, grabbing your phone and finding Marco's name on my contact list, "let's just enjoy this party as it is. Steve threw this party for a reason and we are going to enjoy it. With or without Peter. No blabbing or hinting — yes I'm talking about you, Sam — about me and Bucky. No nicknames, no references. Nothing."

"You're asking all of us to keep your dirty little secret?" Nick asked. "While we're all drunk?"

"You and Sam are." Bucky chimed in, grabbing their beer bottles. "Steve and Nat aren't so I'm keeping a close eye on you two." He turned towards you, faces close in proximity, and gave you the bottles to stow away. "No more drinks for those two idiots."

Youbnodded and took the beers away from Sam and Nick which earned yoy a couple glares. Nick pouted afterwards like a baby, eyeing the beer bottles in your hand. "No, Nick. I'm cutting you off."

"Take his, not mine!" Nick whined, tilting his head towards Sam. "I didn't blab. This idiot did."

"I don't like your tone, man." Sam argued, mimicking Nick's state.

"One more drink and you'll blab. And please stop acting like kids." you sighed, walking towards the counter, stowing the beer bottles in their cases. Ypunlooked on your phone once again, called Marco and ordered three large pizza boxes — pepperoni, meat, and cheese pizza. All of Peter's favorites.

By the time the phone call ended, Bucky approached you with soft, doe-like eyes. The group resumed singing, Sam and Nick once again hogging the machine, clearly not taking your advice. Sam kept yelling at him to "cut the check!"

"How're you feeling, doll?" He asked, going under the pass through.

"Well, it's now a surprise party." You heaved a sigh, turning around to find a drink with much more of a kick to get you through the night. Your eyes found an unopened bottle of vodka in one of the cabinets. You didn't hesitate to grab it, along with a dry vermouth and some olives.

Bucky's eyes were on you the whole time, watching you making yourself a mean martini. Ypundidn't care if Steve saw you just now. Right now, you needed this. Just one glass to calm your nerves.

Younstirred the liquid with the olives in a stick before downing the whole thing in one gulp.

"As hot as that was," Bucky said, referring to how you drank the martini and how younmade it, "that's your last drink for the night. I'm not letting you get drunk for the wrong reasons. Once was enough."

You set down the glass on the counter with a thud. You lifted your hazel eyes to meet his blue ones. "You're paying for this, by the way."

He chuckled. "I know. I'll take care of it."

You looked cautiously at the door, dreading Peter. Knowing he won't probably be here for another hour, you approached Bucky, discreetly grabbing his hand. It took you a moment to put your thoughts into words.

"James, if we tell Peter, we need to be... sure. Of this. Of us." youbwatched your fingers brush against him on the wooden table.

"We've talked about this, y/n. I am." He reassured, walking closer this time. "It's a big risk but it's one I'm willing to take."

The idea of you jumping into this together, jumping into it with caution gave you a big relief. But right now, it wasn't just an idea anymore. It was real.

It was real in the way he snaked his arm around your waist, in the way he pulled you into a soft, deep kiss, and in the way his lips lingered on your lips. You pulled away, your bodies still close. At that moment, it was just the two of you. Never mind the loud karaoke machine, or the faint noises of the traffic outside, or Sam's out of tune rhythm.

It was just the two of you. In your own little afterglow.

"You're a big risk I'm willing to take." He whispered the words so slow that they swirled around you, pulling you even closer.

"And you're mine too." you smiled.

Several minutes have passed since your little conversation. Nat had teased you and Bucky of being whipped for each other. Of course Sam joined, and then Nick who chanted a little song he made, which, for the life of you, you couldn't even remember. The rest didn’t understand a word he was singing other than the words "Bucky" and "y/n."

Steve, on the other hand, had been silently drinking his beer and eating the whole time. You once gave him an are-you-okay look and he just nodded in response, giving you that classic tight-lipped smile of his.

Bucky was seated beside you, your thighs grazing each other in the little booth. Even accidental touches brought you comfort.

And isn't that just the best damn thing?

Peter had come in after the little performance Nick just gave, thankful that he didn't walk right in the middle of it. Behind him was a staff of Marco's who delivered the pizza boxes. Everyone hurrah'd. You grabbed your wallet from your back pocket but Steve stopped you, handing some bills to the guy.

"Steve, I could've gotten it." You said after the pizza guy left.

He shook his head, setting down his beer on the table. "It's your party, kid. I'm not letting you pay a single cent."

Nat scoffed. "She made herself a drink just earlier. You should charge her for that."

"Woah, y/n drank? That's new." Peter chimed in, squeezing himself in the booth, sitting at the edge. Between you were Sam and Nick. "What else did I miss?"

And so, you told him everything — well, not everything. Only from when Steve fired you (him lying about how why he even came up with it which Peter bought), to Bucky convincing you to take the project collaboration with Sam, to finally agreeing to it, to the whole meeting that happened just three days prior, and to how you’ll proceed from there. Youndidn't know if Nat and Steve wanted to reveal their little thing to Peter so you kept your mouth shut. Not wanting to do to them what you didn't want done to you and Bucky.

"My god," Peter commented, "that really was a long week! I'm quite disappointed I missed all of that!"

Oh, Parker. If only you knew the whole truth.

In return, he gave the gist of the whole corporate retreat. He finally told you where he and the rest of his team went but it was some place you couldn't even pronounce. Some cabin by the lake far away from Manhattan. He didn't bore you too much with the details. All you knew was that they went fishing, hiking and camping in the wild while team building. Along with the stories were photos of him and the place they were staying.

You frowned thinking it would've been fun if he were with friends. Like you guys.

The whole time, Bucky held your hand under the table or rubbed your thighs discreetly so as to not draw much attention.

Nat was an exception. That redhead saw everything, smirking once in a while. You gave her a discreet look from time to time.

Peter congratulated you, toasting his pizza with yours. Thankfully, he didn't need to drink tonight ("No drinks for me tonight or for the next few days").

"Wow, you really came out there like a new man!" you chuckled. He laughed right back but for just a mere moment. His expression changed while taking a bite of his pizza. You began to be nervous as to why this kept happening. Younneeded to go to the toilet.

Getting out of the booth was a chore. Nat, Steve and Bucky had to get up before you could even stand up. Youndidn't get why you didn't just stick the little tables together to make a long one.

You were in the toilet for a little while, leaking everything that youndrank tonight. Your head felt a bit dizzy but younmanaged to stand up afterwards. The voices of your friends were inaudible against the wooden walls. Except Nick's booming laugh.

Once you opened the door, you were greeted by Steve who was standing still, waiting for the toilet to become unoccupied.

"Sorry." you apologized. "Was I too long?"

"No." He replied shortly. You tried to walk past him but he caught your arm. Younlooked at his hand, confused. "Are you sure about this Bucky guy?"

"What?"

"This whole thing with Bucky. You can't actually be serious about this."

Taken aback, you wiggled out of his grasp, successfully yanking your arm out. "And who are you to tell me that?"

"You just met this guy." He answered. You still felt his grip on your arm by his stern tone.

"Weren't you the one who kicked me out of this very bar just for me to go to the roof to meet with this guy that I just met?"

"I thought you would've ended whatever thing you had going with him."

You scoffed. "You're not my father, Steve. I know you have this weird father or brother thing you have with me but I'm an adult. I can take care of my damn self."

"What about that night you were insanely drunk?"

"That... that was a one-time thing. A mistake is what it is!" younhissed. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Y/n, listen — "

"No." you cut him off. "You listen. Just because you and Nat haven't figured out whatever the hell is going on with you two, doesn't mean you can shit on my relationship. Before you comment on my dating life, I suggest you fix yours first. I'm happy. Bucky's happy. We're both happy. Please mind your own business."

Before you could even go back to the group, Steve called your name. Youngroaned, turning around. "What now?"

He sighed. "You're really going at great lengths for Bucky. Keeping secrets from Parker and all that. Is it really worth it?"

You stood there. Silent. Trying to find your voice.

"Well, I'm about to find out." You replied, turning around, hopefully for the last time. "Later, Steve."

You went back to the group and continued to chat with them. Steve got back after a few moments. His streak of silence was broken when Nat revealed something none of you had ever known before.

"Did you guys know that Steve was a journalist before he became a bar owner?" Nat said, looking at Steve.

You raised your eyebrows, the pizza caught in mid-air. A curiosity sparke, pleased with the new information you had just acquired.

"Steve Rogers? A journalist?" Peter scoffed unbelievably, leaning back against the seat. "No way. No, I don't buy it."

"Me neither." Nick butted in. "He doesn't look like the type. Nuh-uh."

"It's true!" Nat argued. "Tell them, Steve. Come on!"

Steve forced a chuckle, avoiding all your waiting gazes. "Yeah, it's true. I was. I used to work for the New York magazine."

"Why'd you stop?" Bucky's voice surprised you. It was the first time you’ve actually heard him talk to Steve first, except that time when you first introduced them.

Steve's eyes met Bucky's. A strange atmosphere picked up. You couldn't quite point out why. "I was sticking my nose up where it didn't belong." He replied. "I got fired because of that. Boss said I was too... intuitive."

"Isn't that what journalists should be exactly?" You asked.

"Too much of something is bad too, I guess." He shrugged, retreating back his eyes.

"Huh." You said, observing Steve. Eyes stolid. Bearing no emotions at all. "Well, look who's good at keeping secrets. Steve Rogers."

He hummed. "We all got secrets."

And then Nick revealed a ridiculous secret ("I hate the bank! I don't have a bank account!") that lightened up the mood.

The night went on after that, Steve avoiding any questions you had about this past life of his. Nick had the most ridiculous questions followed by Peter. But the night had to end as well. Thankfully, it ended sober.

Leaving Steve, Nat and Nick behind, Bucky, you and Peter headed up the stairs, the elevator ride filled with deafening silence. One you very much loathed. Between Bucky and you was Peter. It was killing you not to touch Bucky.

Bucky left, merely dropping you off in your apartment. He told you he'd come by tomorrow morning to get his stuff that was still in Peter's room.

It killed you not being able to kiss Bucky good night, watching his back getting smaller and disappearing behind the elevator. Peter closed the door after that.

"Boy, I'm tired." You yawned, stretching your arms up. "I'm gonna go ahead. It's nice to have you back, Parker."

Before you could even go to your room and have a nice sleep, Peter called for your name. You lazily replied.

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you do it, y/n?"

Confused, you turned around, meeting his gaze. "What?"

"The project with Sam." He said, walking towards you. His footsteps were heavy in each step. As heavy as his voice was becoming. "Bucky convinced you. Why'd you say yes?"

Trepidation filled your body. A kind of weakness you loathed. But you tried hard to stand on your ground, masking your anxiousness.

The noises outside the apartment, out on the streets mirrored the voices in your head.

"It was a big business opportunity." you found your voice. "A collaboration. And I didn't have much choice knowing that I was going to get fired."

But it seemed like Peter chose not to listen. "For years, I have been trying to get you to work with me. Years, y/n. Years." He sighed in exasperation. His eyes were bloodshot, tears badly wanting to escape. "Why couldn't you have said yes to me?"

His last words were so strong and sharp like a knife piercing right through your flesh, leaving you to bleed out in the open. You opened your mouth to speak, to say something, to say that you were sorry but unfortunately, no words came out. Peter breathed, releasing his strong gaze. "Good night, y/n."

He left you standing there in the middle of the room, realizing now that it would be harder to tell him about you and Bucky. Once you finally had the energy to carry your weight towards your room, you treaded towards it slowly and opened the door, only to be met by a soft knock on your window.

You nearly jumped at the sight outside the window.

"Jesus, Bucky!" you hissed, immediately closing the door behind. You opened the window and let him inside, closing it afterwards. "How did you get there?"

He was panting, trying to catch his breath. "Fire escape."

"It's freezing cold outside." you scolded, grabbing him your blanket and wrapping it around his huge figure.

"I know." he replied. "Maybe you can warm me up." A cheeky smile started to play on his lips as he approached you.

You giggled. "Bucky, not now."

"I'm sorry, doll. I just couldn't leave without a good night kiss."

My heart melted at his words. You placed your hand on his jaw and pecked his lips. He pulled you in closer. You smiled in the kiss.

"Neither can I."

You kissed a little bit more, a bit more passion this time, the window framing you perfectly in the nighttime.

You pulled away, feeling a bit guilty about Peter in his room.

"We need to talk, James." You said, breaking what was a lovely atmosphere. You’ve already had two confrontations today. What was another one?

You sat on the bed and patted the space beside you. Bucky frowned, sitting beside you. "What's wrong?"

"Peter's kind of upset with me accepting your offer to work with Sam." you went straight to the point. "He's been trying to get me to work with him in his company he works at ever since he got the job but I've always declined. And now, I think he's mad or even jealous that I said yes to you. God, you should've seen him, Buck. His eyes were so wide, and red. I've never seen him like that. It didn't look like Peter at all."

It took him quite a while before he spoke. "Do you regret taking up the offer?"

"What, heavens no!" You answered. "Bucky, this has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. You're one of them too, of course." You said, seeing his doe-like eyes once more. "I'm just getting a bit more scared now. What if there is no right time for us to tell him? What then?"

He clasped your hands with his large ones, making you stop your trembling. You didn't even notice your hands shaking until now. "There will be a right time, y/n. Right now, we just have to keep this our little secret for a while until we can tell him."

"What happens when he doesn't approve of this?" You started to ramble on once more. "Of us? What happens then?"

"Sweetheart, you don't know what's going to happen but we'll make it work."

You didn't respond. You just kept staring at your joined hands.

"I promise." He added.

You finally nodded, releasing a breath you didn't know you were holding. "Okay."

"Now, if it's okay with you." He moved a little bit closer, kissing your cheek. "I can spend the night here." Another on the other. "With you." then on your lips.

"Peter's in the other room." you whispered in the kiss, amazed at how the mood changed so quickly.

"That's why I'm gonna need you to be quiet, babydoll."

[itstheimpossibledream]

Only A Play-Part 2

Word Count:3053

Pairing :  AU Henry & FemBlack! Reader

Warning:Angst, soon to come Smut

Summary: Y/n and Henry still trying to navigate their mutual attraction but, their job is making it harder to deny.The next chapter is already written, there’s sex in it I swear.

"So today I want you guys to focus on working with Dana" Steve began 

"She's our resident intimacy coordinator, I've already gone over the scene with her and she's going to make sure it goes over as smooth as possible. We're going to get her assistance a couple times during this process but today we're going to empty out the studio so have fun, play and get to know eachother. Today is just a day for you two to find some comfortable physicality with eachother." Stephen winks at you and then begins ushering tech and the few ensemble members out of the room. Friend or not, anyone attracted to men could not deny that Mr. Cavill was absolutley gorgeous, as wasted as it may be. In all honesty you hadn't spoken much aside from that snowy day outside the studio. He did begin to bring coffee and Kal to rehearsals and you tended to find the snuggly, bear of a dog always next to you when you were waiting for a cue but, it wasn't as though the two of you had had a heart-to-heart and resolved any of these unspoken differences. And as far as the scene was concerned your heart was doing backflips unable to tell which action would come more naturally, to kiss him or to hit him.

"So I'm seeing a lot of passion here! O !Please remove your shoes for today's lesson." Dana cuts in breaking the silence. Both of you look down at the wood paneled floor. Now was the time where you really had to work, you think to yourself while slowly slipping out of your shoes. 

“Unfortunately Dana, “ Henry begins, immediately charming the brakes off of her. 

 “ At this point of the play I believe her character is quite conflicted, as a woman she obviously wants to give in to him but, at the same time she knows she'll be letting down her family and he will too, they'll live a life with no family outside of the one they create for themsevles. It's quite powerful.But, a tough emotional point to bring oneself to."

"That may be how Christopher sees it -" you snap referring to his character. You are suddenly aware that you sound way more upset then you had intended to. "She doesn't want have sex with him because if she does she's giving up more than him,she always has.That's the whole story of their relationship. " you say, allowing your words to be the dam between the flood of  frustration you want to direct his way.

"So as you said we both have a lot of emotions here, we need to work on honing them into something that could potentially work itself into this explosion of passion okay?" Dana jumped excitedly. She looks exactly like what you would have expected from an intimacy coordinator.She wore a long moo-moo like dress and chunky amber jewelry.She smelled of a ton of weed, not as though you were really complaining but, it all added to the aesthetic that had washed into the room on her heels as she had entered. 

"I want to begin with an exercise- Mr.Cavill I know you've done scenes like this before so please work with me if I touch on some things you've already heard." she says leaning over and squeezing his forearm while winking. Great even the sex scene coordinator thought he was hot.

" I'm going to give you the space to choose but I want you both to just slowly go through the scene and when you hit a line that feels acceptable you remove an item of clothing. On stage you've both agreed to full nudity but today I just want to push you to do what feels comfortable!" Quietly you both moved to the opposite ends of the room, hitting your marks to begin the scene. You said your first few lines focusing on washing the dishes, the studio didn't have running water so it ended up being more like mime washing dishes. You were so much more professional than you were proving to be in this moment but, the second Henry removed his shirt you couldn't help but feel embarrassed. On his first line?Really? That was so like him ,so pompous.  And even more upsetting how ridiculously attractive he was. God was his body sculpted from marble? Nothing but pure muscle rippling evenly, he seemed somehow tanned, despite the blistering New York winter. You focused hitting your next line perfectly ,completely unphased by his topless body.With the following delivery you shrug out of your jacket, revealing your tank top. Thank christ you had expected to have a hook-up with a bartender after today's rehearsal. You weren't in full lingerie but, you were definitely in a matching set. A matching set that happened to make your ass look great. You held that in your back pocket, knowing you had every right to parade about, naked in the same room as someone who was a shoe-in to be named 'World's Sexiest Man'. You went for it, pulling off your tank top with your next line. This is when your blocking got physical. You had run this scene before but, running it scantily clad was an entirely different matter. You were supposed to  straddle him. That seemed simple enough. You stood before him, gingerly sliding one knee up onto the couch and then swinging another to the other side of him. 

"Are you sure?" he whispered, low and slow. You hated how during the scenes he actually had moments of completely brilliant acting where you could see an amazing talent. Then, you felt his hand on your knee. It was absurdly large and warm, so warm. You froze. You didn't want to do it but, you froze.Your eyes flitted all over the room, desperately looking for a way out , to end the scene. You feel his hand move up your thigh, it's the blocking, he's just doing his job, you remind yourself. But, something in you makes you afraid of his touch. You look into his eyes and you can tell he's noticed you shrinking under his touch. He clears his throat and drops character.Changing his intention toward Dana.

"I'm sorry can we start over? I completely forgot my line." he smiled at her.

"Sure! That was really great I think just focus a bit more on your intention. It's funny I think you guys had more sexual tension at the start of the rehearsal than at the top of the scene!" she laughed to herself. "Okay, let's take a step back, relax , stand up !  Stand up!" she says, jumping to her feet. The two of you peeled yourself apart from each other and you found yourself looking down at your perfectly perky breasts feeling more insignificant than ever. You could feel your face heating up by his move to take the blame for the scene. It was much more gentlemanly than you were expecting from him. 

"How about we take a break and come back in twenty? She suggested after a few warm-ups of jumping around and saying self -assuring mantras out-loud. After half a bottle of water, redressing, boring stretches and pretending to avoid eye-contact with Henry your rehearsal was finally up.

“ Oookay guys good stuff. Goooood stuff ! So for the weekend tomorrow I know Stephen had you signed up for a few meet and greets and publicity shoots but, I actually think that if you guys could set aside the time that you do spend together to get physically comfortable it could do a lot for your onstage comfortability. Hand holding, general petting or stroking, you may even want to try a light sitting on the lap, just anything really to get you more used to one another. This relationship needs to seem as effortless and fluid as possible.” She smiled “ also note that my number is free for 24/7 communication so if something comes up for you emotionally in this work feel free to get in contact with me, even if it's just to chat my door is always open!" she beams,collecting her water bottle and other assorted scripts she was reading through at the beginning of the rehearsal. 

Stephen reenters and, he and Dana go to the corner of the room to talk. 

You work your back pack onto your shoulder and begin to head for the door.

"Wait up!" Henry calls out from behind you. You whirl around and almost bump into him. His sweatshirt is baggy but unzipped enough that you can see the small tufts of hair playing at the tops of his chest, his baseball cap pulled way down over his forehead. Those blue eyes shined bright from the shade under that baseball cap. 

"What are your plans for tonight ?" he asked, slightly exaggerating his breathing from the light jog across the room. You searched the room awkwardly,looking for an out. What is it with him? Why did he think, especially after the last time the two of you had spent alone together, that you would ever want to be included in his plans for the night.  

"Perfect Idea!" Stephen exclaims from across the room. "You guys use tonight to bond as much as possible before tomorrow afternoon's interview session yeah?" 

"Uhhhh sure ." You agree, not wanting to seem like the town buzz-kill. You turn shrugging towards Henry. He smiles, seeming almost relieved that you agreed without putting up a fight, as Steve moves to rejoin Dana in the back

"So uhhh my place or yours?" he asks in a half hearted joke. 

"Uhhh" you definitely don't want him at your place, where there is laundry strewn all over the apartment . 

"I mean I have to feed my dog and run some errands anyway so my apartment would be ideal."

"O great! Okay yeah , let's do that then." you pushed on the door and headed for the elevator, the ride down to the lobby of the rehearsal studios was entirely silent, filled with awkward shuffling and avoided eye contact. Only punctuated by a short uber black ride in silence to an apartment on the upper east side. Ofcourse he lived on the upper east side.The doorman was polite as you followed behind him, clearly him bringing strange women up to his apartment was not entirely unheard of. Once in the room, you asked where to sit your bag down, your afternoon ritual usually included a trip to the gym, that is what had become your me -time since college. He motioned you to his guest room, in which you were shocked,contained a shower, granted the entire tiny room was a shower but, being a guest in New York with your own bathroom was definitely not an everyday thing. Especially, for a little black girl from the south. 

"Is it okay if I shower before we grab dinner?" you ask.

"Oh! You wanted to grab dinner?I was just going to order chinese."

"That's fine! " you ungracefully exclaimed from the other room.Shit. Hopefully he didn't think you really meant grab dinner like on a date.

"Do you have a special order?"he asked, appearing in the doorway. You turned around slightly alarmed that his voice had gotten that much closer.

"I love everything!" you smile, he looked down at the floor nervously. "but shrimp lomein is my favorite." you say unzipping your jacket and placing it on the bed, your bra was working overtime holding you up and you made a mental note to order another one exactly like it. He cleared his throat and there was a second of silence. You could feel his eyes slowly darting around the room trying not to look at your chest. As actors, especially ones who have to do nude scenes together you didn't think it would be a big deal to him that you were getting ready to shower. You had mentioned on the elevator earlier that you had wanted a shower. Taking off your jacket just seemed like the right next step, nothing to feel weird over. 

"Sounds Good!" he exclaims, finally showing you his full smile, for the first time since the rehearsal process had started. God he was a sight, he had removed his hat and you noticed how perfectly his hair curled onto his forhead.It was adhered by sweat but, not the weird homecoming- football helmet sweat, you get from your highschool crush. This was a grown-man glistening infront of you. It sounded ridiculous, the situation itself was ridiculous,why was he even sweating ?

"Sorry-I uh- I didn't know you were showering right now. We can talk about it later if you-"

"It's fine" you say, stepping in and  laying a hand on his forearm.His eyes shot down to your hand then immediately back to your eyes, sure to avoid seeming like he was staring at your breasts. He clears his throat again and you can smell the faint cologne on him as you watch his adams apple bob. The air in the room changes and you feel him shift away from you. You mumble a thanks for the dinner as you hear  him close the door between you. 

Your shower was perfectly steamy and warm, much unlike your brooklyn apartment that had charm and character but, a much worse hot water heater. As you washed away the dirt from the day you tried not to think of Henry, of what he must think of you for absolutely chewing him out just a few short weeks ago. He seemed to have gotten over it but, at the same time perhaps he was just trying to be the better person. As much as you hated to admit it he had completely accepted your scathing critique and was now treating you like the highest paying guest at a five-star resort. You turned down the hot water, basking in the last bit of steam and enjoying the first true silence of your day. Reaching an arm up, you grab a towel, wrapping it around your body. You stretched out for another towel that you had laid across the sink, somehow your legs completely slipped from under you and you crashed to the floor,grabbing the sink for leverage. Really all you did was knock over some toiletries that you had put on the sink earlier and you could feel your cheeks heating up. It was weird to be embarrassed in a room by yourself but, you knew he must've heard something. You sat on the floor, allowing your chin to rest on the top of your knees. You desperately needed a moment to breathe. Life had been so stressful lately, and you possibly had let off a bit too much steam on him. He was actually a nice guy, sure the accessible information on him didn't make him look amazing but when it came down to it once you explained how you felt about him he had worked so hard to seem normal and accessible. For whatever reason  he seemed to respect your opinion as an artist. The knock at the door kept you from becoming completely lost in your thoughts. It knocked again and you could hear his feet shuffle on the hard wood outside of the door, the nails of the large dog clicking the floor next to him. 

"You okay in there?" It seemed earnest enough.

"Yeah!" you called back "My mind has really been somewhere else lately, I just umm lost my footing- that's all." 

"Okay well let me know if you need anything." It was cheery but helpful. Once you heard him close the door to your room you got up and got dressed as quickly as you could, fumbling to get sweatpants on without accident. Today was definitely not your most agile day. You finally let your hair down and put on just the smallest amount of mascara to make your eyes pop.It was an effortlessly hot look that had worked for you for years, especially in college. You closed the door behind you and gently padded your way to the kitchen. The apartment was cozy, Kal was curled up on a rug in the corner of the room while Henry portioned the food onto pristine white plates. You noticed the baseball cap was back on and at least thanked god for giving you that small assistance in removing the temptation to touch him by running your fingers through his hair.

"So you order takeout but refuse to eat it out of the container?"you asked jokingly as he whirled around from the counter.That smile appeared on his face again and you knew you were putty in his hands,The way he filled out his navy blue t-shirt was unbelievable.

"It's less calories this way." he winked. Thank god he had a sense of humor.You returned his smile now sitting in the chair closest to the kitchen. The conversation veered from workout routines, to body image stress as a performer and then back to work. You found yourself sucking a noodle wishing he'd bring up something else. You absolutely could not do a night of niceties and small talk at this point in your life but, you also weren't ballsy enough to walk right up to him and tell him you wanted him.

"Y/N?"he asked

"Yeah?" you jumped being pulled once again from you daydream

"Do you wanna run lines or watch tv or something?"he asked shyly

"Yeah I mean -we can run lines if you want I just thought we were supposed to bond by talking or something." you laughed trying to take the edge off the awkwardness of the scenario.

"Well what do you want to talk about ?' he asked, leaning back in his seat, baseball cap over his eyebrows.His jawline was so sharp it could cut ice, it dawned on you that he was actually much too goodlooking for his own good. 

You picked up a fortune cookie at the center of the table and tossed it to him.

"Read me your fortune."you smiled seductively. He raised his eyebrows at you but, something must have convinced him because he simply shook his head and said.

"Okay."

[allaboardtheussharringrove]

So @billy-baby mentioned That 70’s Show and Harringrove, and it reminded me of a *whole ass* set of hc’s about a 70’s/Stranger Things AU that has been sitting in my notes for literal years collecting dust, so here it is:

-Billy & Hyde would be besties, probably neighbours in the same shitty neighbourhood

-They headbang to hard rock and metal, jam to 60’s & 70’s rock while drinking TONS of beer and hotboxing the Camaro and El Camino, respectively

-Bands they’d have in common: AC/DC, Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, KISS, Judas Priest, Van Halen, and Led Zeppelin just to name a couple

-Hyde always gives Billy shit for like, never wearing a shirt, Billy gives Hyde shit for his ever-present sunglasses & sideburns

-They know each other’s parental problems, and take refuge in the Forman’s basement/the empty Harrington house (yes, we’re talkin’ a Hawkins, Indiana/Point Place, Wisconsin mashup here)

-Billy still has a major crush on Steve (Harrington that is, Steven Hyde will only be referred to as Hyde [and that possible name mix-up could cause some hilarity whenever anyone calls out “Steven”, and some embarrassing rumour drama for Billy, Steve, & Hyde (or omg a block party at the Formans where Kitty calls out “William! Steven! Michael!” And she turns around and has Billy, Will, Hyde, Steve, Mike, and Kelso starting at her expectantly)])

-Billy probably also thinks Eric and Kelso are kinda cute, but total dumbasses, they both definitely annoy him

-Fez would have a totally awkward and hilarious crush on Billy, and you just know Billy would flirt with him on purpose just to make him nervous (this might make Steve a lil jealous and annoy him to no end)

-Jackie would have the BIGGEST crush on Steve, after Kelso, and drag him around to go shopping and shit, he would tolerate it but Billy would absolutely hate her as a “bitchy rich entitled snot-nosed brat” cause she would be vocal about him being poor and he’d have to be calmed down by Hyde and Steve all the time

-Billy would give Hyde an unimaginable amount of shit for going out with Jackie, hooo boy!

-Steve would get a kick outta Kelso, but I think he and Eric would be pretty close friends, with Steve always pushing to hang around at the Forman’s cause Eric’s parents are always present, as opposed to his empty house (he adores Kitty Forman for SURE as the mother he never had)

-But the gang would surely hold parties at the Harrington’s....and only sometimes get away with it (both these groups are known for their KEGS! and the 70’s teens would lose their damn minds over Keg Kings Billy & Steve)

-Billy would put the charm on for Kitty sometimes just to see her blush, and Red would get annoyed and just a little threatening saying something like “Like to see how charming you are with my foot up your ass” and Billy being the abused kid that he is automatically takes it a little too seriously- probably flinches, goes a little pale, stutters out a “Yes sir, sorry sir”

-This would make Kitty and Red a bit concerned, pay a visit to the Hargrove household- I wouldn’t be surprised if they experience Neil putting Billy down or catch a glimpse of a smack or something and they would for sure take action with Red intimidating Neil cause you know he could

-Anyway! Girls. Robin and Donna would be THE BEST FRIENDS EVER, cause Donna had no other cool girl friend to hang out with and you just KNOW Robin might have an “itsy bitsy” (huge) crush on Donna, cause she’s Hot Donna, also they’re both super into female empowerment (and honestly, when Donna/Eric break up I could see her maybe falling for Robin too)

-Donna and Billy would be buds, she might like him for a hot minute but be cool with him being gay (Out of everyone in the 70’s gang, I think he’d most likely share this with her - cause she’d probably figure it out - even if it’s just to gush about their dumb, brave, pretty brunette boys to each other)

-Max would LOVE Donna, not just because of the hair (but also redhead solidarity is important), but because they’re both badasses and would totally vibe together- Max, Billy, and Donna would be an unexpectedly fun trio (and Billy would complain about having to drive the “GingeTwins” around all the time or something to that effect)

-And Jackie having to babysit Erica (because Donna does it sometimes, but she’s out for the night) would be the best thing ever good lord, Erica would put Jackie in her place, but they’d probably make up some schemes together too

-Also Erica would be absolutely appalled at having a similar name to Eric, she’d probably call him something along the lines of “Supreme Nerd” or “King of the Nerds” and have an endless supply of unimpressed looks for him during their debates of whose name is better

-Eric would totally join Mike, Will, Lucas & Dustin in their nerd exploits (STAR WARS!) And he and Dustin would get into loooong nerd debates

-I think Kelso would join Dustin & Lucas (and maybe the other boys too) in doing mischievous experiments including but not limited to: pyrotechnics, wrist rockets, radios and electronics... He’d begrudgingly listen to the scientific explanations of the boys (which would all fly right over his head) and they would have a moderate success rate, but also have to run away from the trouble they’d get in

-Lucas and Hyde would always be cool, but after finding out about Hyde’s biological dad they could become closer (Hyde’s dad and Lucas would have the best banter)

-Will and Eric would geek out over comics, and I think Eric would be super nice/supportive about seeing Will’s drawings

-Jonathan would be pretty quiet at first, but might talk to Fez since they’re both kinda the odd man out in each group (and he’d be genuinely NICE to Fez, *side eyes 70’s teens*)- then he’d be roped into doing random/stupid/mildly illegal stuff with the gang

-And despite Billy & Hyde being besties, I think Jonathan would bond with Hyde over shitty dads (plus I think Hyde would love Joyce, and she’d be another offer of refuge for him & Billy) and WEED WEED WEED

-Actually that might definitely be a sub-trio: Jonathan, Billy, & Hyde- they’d all have each other’s backs when it came to family drama (and later on when Hyde gets his record store, he’d offer them both jobs and Jonathan would be over the fuckin’ moon and work there)

-Billy would for sure work for Red in his muffler shop, and Red would take him under his wing, probably unwittingly become the father figure Billy never had.

-Nancy, hmmm, well she’s on the richer side of town so her and Jackie might be friends? but she’d for sure get annoyed with Jackie’s shallow bullshit

-OH and Robin would also hate Jackie I think, ‘cause of her entitlement and relentless obsession with boys (poor Jackie, I’m not setting her up for anything great here huh)

-So that’d be why Steve is friends with her, if only ‘cause he feels bad when she alienates herself from the rest of the teens, they (and I hate to say this) *could possibly* date for like 5 minutes, it’d be a REALLY hard time for Billy...and Kelso. And those two would probably come up with some hairbrained scheme to break them up (and succeed, but each get ripped a new one because of it)

-But at least the group of teen girls would be bigger if Donna, Robin, Jackie, and Nancy all hung out together sometimes (and if they tried to have a sleepover or something there would be toooo many idiot boys trying to creep on them, I think Billy would be the voice of reason and tell them they’re all being dickheads)

-And he’d give Fez a fuck ton of shit for being such a voyeuristic creep, probably make him stop hiding in people closets (wait what? Fez is like constantly coming out of closets in that show?! hello?? is that a thing??? Oh ho-ho they’d have a whole talk about that)

-Steve would get a kick outta Fez, probably think he was the funniest dude on the planet, as I’d say they’re the goofballs of the group (and yes, I am mostly excluding the King Steve narrative from this and using only cool mom Steve, cool? cool.)

-Steve might also have a lil crush on Donna, (‘cause a strong personality and blue eyes is like his kink, we all know this) but Eric would throw a fit about that and then they’d be all buddy-buddy discussing Donna & Billy (I think Eric being kind of a dumbass about his own gay kiss might put Steve off for a bit [and make Billy super hesitant and real pissed], but I also think Eric would be cool with hearing Steve out about his big bisexuality-discovery-adventure)

-Donna and Eric trying set Steve and Billy up by saying they’re all gonna hang out, and then like locking Billy/Steve in a room together or something and leaving😈

-When Billy/Steve’s relationship comes out, Hyde’s reaction is probably “That’s cool, man” Kelso would make some corny statement about how hot *he* is, Fez would probably fangirl over it with big ole heart eyes, Jackie would be like “weird, whatever”, Kitty would get flustered and then overly excited about it after a while, Red would be uncomfortable but okay with it saying something like “I better not catch you two dumbasses doing anything in my house”

-Ohmygod, Red as a father figure to Billy, Kitty as a mother figure to Steve, and they end up being so supportive of the boys ‘cause they have to put up with so much parental shit (say what you want, but the Formans have compassion) and they convert their house/backyard into a little private prom for the whole gang just so Billy/Steve can dance together and be themselves

-Billy, Steve, and Robin would die laughing every time they saw/talked to Leo. And I feel like Robin would talk her way into a job at the Photo Hut and then just end up being the manager and hires Jonathan herself to do the developments

-And you know how Hyde is always punching Kelso in the arm? Well he’d always get one, and Billy would punch the other arm as he’d classify Kelso a special kind of idiot, they’d always be teasing Kelso together, but Billy (and Steve I’m sure) would have some wicked BURNS that Kelso would love

-Steve and Kelso as friends? Sure, pretty boys gotta stick together~ especially when Steve gets called that by Billy, and then Kelso insists he’s a prettier boy, and Billy either rolls his eyes or flirts aggressively cause Kelso doesn’t understand WHY that’s Steve’s nickname, and it’s a whole can of worms you guys

-(And I didn’t forget about El, I’m just not quite sure where she fits in this AU... she probably doesn’t have powers and is the new kid who moves into town cause of a bad home life, she’d befriend Max in school and then I think Donna would take her under wing, then she’d be a hit with the teen gang cause she’d break her quietness with witty comments/one-liners, and since she’s very intuitive still, she gravitates towards Billy & Hyde and there would be some touching heart-to-hearts about shitty parental situations followed immediately after by inappropriate offers of beer to which she responds with a firm “gross”)

-And finally, *the Circle* would be so much bigger and funnier with the Stranger Teens in it

[tonystarktogo]

Last part of the time travel crack ‘verse for now (and sorry for making you all worry about the scepter, I didn’t mean it that way, it just seemed like a good cut-off point tbh):

"The scepter! Did anyone keep an eye on the scepter?"

"I assure you," Agent Agent, who looks a little singed and has a bandage wrapped around one ear, yet continues to rock the personality-free drawl that tricks people into thinking he’s not worth paying attention to, speaks up, "that the scepter is still safely in SHIELD custody, Dr. Banner."

Banner scoffs.

Rogers grimaces.

Barton winces.

And oh, all other issues aside, the vindication of this moment is glorious. Tony feels fully justified in the doubtful look he aims at the screen. You know your show sucks balls when even your own operative doesn’t buy what you’re selling.

"That’s great," Banner says in a painfully droll voice. "But I’ll feel a lot better when we hand it over to our resident Asgardian prince for safekeeping rather than put it into a secret high-security facility and hope for the best. Like the one you stored the Tesseract in took Loki what, five minutes to take over?"

Woah, talk about burn. Tony doesn’t bother muffling his snicker. Who’d have thought Banner has it in him?

[continues under the cut]

"Hang on, wouldn’t it be better—" Rogers interrupts before Fury or Coulson can come up with an excuse, which judging by their sour-slash-carefully-blank expressions isn’t as easy as they’d like it to be.

Banner raises one hand. It shouldn’t be a power move on part with his green counterpart squashing a car in his fist, isn’t even particularly aggressive but for some reason Rogers shuts up. Immediately. The bright, eerily green eyes might have something to do with it. 

"If you’re going where I think you’re going, I advise you to reconsider," Banner growls, the vocals deep enough that Romanoff reaches for the nearest weapon. "Even setting my personal issues aside, it’s not worth the risk."

Barton sighs with what sounds less like exhaustion and more like sad resignation. "Hate to say it, Cap, but he’s right. Sending the scepter off-Earth with the Tesseract is probably the safest course of action we can take right now. We can’t count on being that lucky again."

"Agent Barton," Agent Agent’s words drip with such a pointedly polite friendliness, it’s a wonder he doesn’t spear his own tongue on it. "Please desist in trying to hand off objects that pose an immediate threat to global security to an unvetted alien who, while a valued ally, is in line for the throne of a foreign world."

And wow. Tony’s not gonna win a prize for his sensitivity any time soon, but there’s some things you just don’t say to a guy who got brainwashed into doing an alien’s bidding less than forty-eight hours ago. Going by the way Romanoff has gone rigid, she agrees.

Luckily for everyone present, Barton doesn’t bat an eye at the dig. He leans forward instead, elbows placed on his tights, the picture of relaxation. As long as you ignore the expression on his face that could possibly pass for a smile. If you catch sight of it out of the corner of your eye. Through a dirty mirror. 

"Not that I’m not glad to see you alive and well, Phil, because I am. But getting my head rolled once was already one time too many and if the Tesseract is powerful enough to draw fucking aliens to it then it’s too fucking powerful for us to protect." Barton’s voice becomes progressively lower as he continues his little not-having-any-of-your-shit rant. "More people are gonna get killed over that thing. Good people. Because we don’t have the damn resources to keep it safe. So if we gotta bet on Asgard for this, then that’s what we’re gonna fucking do because to be frank with you sir I’d rather lead the hostile aliens to a world ready for interstellar warfare than my own."

Thor straightens from where he’s been fixated on Loki for the past hour or so, trying to crawl into his brother’s skull through willpower alone by the looks of it, and dips his head in Barton’s direction. "Thank you for your faith," he says gravely, as though Barton hasn’t straight up told everyone in this room he wants to use Asgard as a shield-slash-sacrificial-offering. "I hope my people will prove worthy of it."

"Should be fine." Banner shrugs with a nonchalance Tony envies. "’s long as we take care of your murderous sibling first."

Thor winces. Loki’s face loses whatever expressiveness it had left and it already was at state zero: emotions not welcome here to begin with. 

But. Tony tilts his head. Why not just call Loki by his name? Unless, of course, Banner isn’t referring to him. But how would the infamous Hulk-slash-brilliant-scientist have gotten himself wrapped up in alien family drama? And is there a form Tony can sign? Because he hates being kept out of the loop.

"Avengers!" Fury snaps before things can get any more awkward. Which, good for him, but in Tony’s fine opinion he should have taken the win and be done with it. There’s just no winning against whatever type of madness — not to mention feelings — these people are so inconsiderately spreading inside his walls. "You’re not bartering off our best chance to defend ourselves against alien invaders, have I made myself clear? That’s an order."

Rogers scoffs at the screen and damn it, Tony’s determined not to like the guy but the way he just smirks humorlessly as he stares Fury down, all aww shucks did you want the pretty, glowy thing too and well too damn bad for you makes it hard. Especially when Rogers goes that little extra mile and asks with a plain as day air of who fucking cares: "Whatever gave you the impression that this is a negotiation, Director Fury?"

It’s just too great a line to resist and Tony is only human. He makes a sharp gesture with his hand and JARVIS disconnects the call before they witness Fury pop a blood vessel. Let that be Agent’s problem for the time being.

"So," Tony states after a moment. "Besides all but declaring war on SHIELD, the organization two people in this room are officially employed by, for the record, and dealing with Reindeer Games over there, what’s the plan?"

Nervous shuffling. Awkward grins. Badly-hidden glances going back and forth. 

Perhaps most notably, nobody protests the declaring-war-on-SHIELD part. Tony would ask but frankly he’s still on his first glass of scotch — meaning way too fucking sober for whatever madness the answer to that question will undoubtedly raise. It’s a sad, sad day in the history of mankind when Tony is the voice of reason in a room filled with one-person-armies.

"What about Shawarma?" Rogers, apparently the most uncomfortable with the pressing silence, blurts out.

Tony gives that pitiful attempt to change the subject the nice try, have to admit I didn’t see that coming but you’re gonna have to give me more than that look it deserves. As it turns out though, he may have been overestimating his present company’s average ability to read a room.

"I could go for a bite," Barton pipes up, earning himself a soul-shriveling, dead-eyed, where the fuck did I go wrong with you and how have I not killed you yet stare, courtesy of Romanoff that he brushes off with admirable ease. Still not moving an inch away from her either and if Tony’s noticed the way her hand’s been edging ever closer to the knife strapped to her calf, there’s no way Barton hasn’t.

"Sounds good," Banner chimes in with a twisted amusement that makes Tony want to scratch his eyes out. "I know just to the place."

*

They do eat Shawarma together. [All of them, even Loki, because Thor insists his brother is far too thin. Considering Barton doesn’t protest and the only person Loki tries to stab with his salad fork is Thor himself, nobody comments on it.]

As if to add insult to a very long list of injuries that Tony is dying to poke and prod at, the food tastes delicious.

*

Okay so the whole antagonizing SHIELD thing wasn’t planned, but I figured in this AU there was no drawn out battle and no bomb and so there was no ‘thank fuck we’re even alive right now’ relief to take the edge of. Instead everyone is pissed off and frustrated (if for very different reasons) and not outright attacking the helicarrier right now is about all the diplomacy Steve has the patience for at this point.

[figurativelyliteraly]

BNHA Headcanons: Todoroki Shouto

Todoroki is v socially awkward and out of touch w pop culture references, and so he lowkey has no idea what a lot of what the class is talking about, esp Kaminari. So he has a lil notebook that he writes things that he wants to check out when he has time, like the one Steve Rogers has.

It’s actually Kirishima that finds out about it first, and instead of making fun of him like Todoroki thought he would, he starts explaining some of the most commonly used references made by the class.

Slowly the rest of the class catches on and they make sure to explain any references they make during class that might not be obvious.

Kaminari prepares a PowerPoint presentation and essentially holds a meme class one weekend. Everyone attends cause honestly even they don’t get some of his more obscure memes

(It ends in a Kahoot meme quiz that was meant as a joke but everyone gets way too into it, which is how class 1A ends up with detention for a week, after Aizawa walked into the common room to find half the furniture broken and Bakugo seething in the middle. Somehow everyone ended up making their nickname something that would piss him off. Midoriya is the only one whose username was something unrelated, as he named himself ‘allmightjr’)

((Midoriya’s nickname was actually ‘if naruto was an extra’, because behind that sweet and innocent act is someone who loves to watch the world burn. ‘allmightjr’ was actually Uraraka channeling her inner Aizawa w a logical ruse to give Midoriya an alibi. Other notable nicknames were Kirishima’s (‘Bakugo but nice’), Sero (‘Bakugo’s mom’), Ashido (‘Bakugo but hot’), Hagakure (‘kInG eXpLoSiOn MuRdEr’), Todoroki (‘does is Bakugo gay’), Momo (‘Best Jeanist’s #1 fan’), and Jirou (‘actually passed the provisional license exam’). The one that caused Bakugo to snap, however, was Kouda’s, not that anyone would know it. His was ‘come get yo chihuahua’))

Todoroki stumbles across his first conspiracy theory while learning about pop culture references and memes, and goes down a rabbit hole of theories that just get more and more ridiculous.

(The meme in question is the one about dinosaurs getting flipped off of of the flat earth after the asteroid hit one side of it)

Conspiracies quickly become to Todoroki what quirk analysis is to Midoriya. The rest of the class makes jokes about it but even they aren’t immune to how convincing Todoroki is when he’s explaining how the moon landings was faked, his blank face giving way to one full of passion, with his eyes burning with conviction and hands waving around to emphasize his points.

Midnight is in the middle of her history class and calls on Kaminari to answer a question about something. He’s excited cause he actually knows the answer, and so he goes on for 5 minutes about how the pyramids were made with the help of extraterrestrials, and that they’re actually secretly hiding alien technology that they can activate to send signals to other planets. Midnight is speechless, and gives him participation points anyways, cause the kid looks so happy at finally having an answer, enough though she asked a question about the history of hero laws or smth.

Todoroki def has a list of conspiracies about Class 1A and pro heroes in a notebook he always has on him (the class doesn’t know how it survives the *many* times he bursts into flames cause of Midoriya, and at this point they’re not gonna ask), and he’s just in the background checking things off any time there’s a dramatic reveal.

Todoroki loves spicy things, lowkey to cause Endeavor doesn’t, so sometimes when he’s home he’ll add more spices to their dinner while Fuyumi is distracted. Endeavor sweating and looking uncomfortable as hell but pretending not to be in pain is always fun to watch. Plus he puts out his flames cause he gets overheated, so he doesn’t have to see his ugly ass fire mustache

The first year after he starts using and training with his left side, his control is still a little shaky. It’s generally fine, but he has a bad habit of bursting into flames any time he gets flustered by something Midoriya says or does.

The rest of the class is used to it, and develop a sixth sense for it. Midoriya will say something and everyone close to Todoroki will take a step away from him just in time to avoid becoming bbq.

When Shinsou first joins the class, his eyebrows get singed cause he was standing right next to Todoroki when Midoriya told him that he looked really good in blue. He learns to spot the signs of a Midoriya-fueled surprise bonfire very quickly.