#the sped up version was the only one that would play sorry guys

[redularium]

The Potts Method .

Gone, gone, the girl in brocade

Gone, the words we might have said

Howl winds, because she is dead

And gone, gone, gone

[catapparently]

~The Glass Ballerina's Reputation~

Chapter 2 : Gorgeous

CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 3

Summary of Ch1: Flashback for poor Avery. She'd always play games with her mom. One day, when her mom was in the hospital, she gave Avery one last game and sent her on a treasure hunt. In the end, Avery only found Libby's phone number. By the time she made it back, her mother had died. Libby moved in with Avery in her little apartment above her mom's old antique shop and helps her co-manage the store. Nash comes in one day to buy a dagger and hits (nicely) on Libby. Avery angry.

Nash had been stopping by the antique shop more and more often lately. It was painfully obvious that he was here to see Libby. Avery didn’t like him in the slightest; to her, it seemed like he pitied their situation. Every time he stopped by, he bought one of the pricier items with his fancy card. She wasn’t a fool; she knew exactly what he was trying to do. He didn’t need to step in. They were doing just fine. After Avery had contacted her two years ago, Libby moved into the apartment above the little shop with her. She fell in love with all the antiques, and so,  she decided to help her out and co-manage while Avery went to school.

The dainty bell on the door rang. It had been her mother’s pride and joy when it was first installed. The shop had always been her biggest dream ever since she’d been a teenager. Having a bell that rang everytime a customer came in made her mother feel like it was ‘a real shop’. Avery looked up from her history textbook to silently judge whoever had entered the shop this time.  

Nash. Again. Of course, but this time he had company. Two boys followed him closely, both taller than him. All three were carrying cardboard boxes. One of them was about an inch shorter than the other one and had pale blonde hair. If her poker face weren’t perfect, she might have laughed at the sight of him in a fancy, stiff suit in the unbearable Texas weather.

She would have if she wasn’t so focused on whatever he was palming in his pocket. The outline of it faintly resembled that of a gun. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the counter.  

She wasn’t used to feeling fear, completely unfamiliar to that sinking feeling in her chest: the way her heart sped up, her thoughts jumbling and all of her senses hyper aware of everything around her.  

She wasn’t stupid. They clearly had money, and she didn’t even need to have seen Nash’s debit card to know it. It was apparent in the way that the three of them dressed and held themselves, looking at everything like they could own it and control it with a snap of their fingers. The gun could only mean one thing; they were criminals of some sort. Gangsters? No, gangsters didn’t have that much money or elegance.  

Her throat went dry as she recalled the headlines in the newspaper the other day: ‘Mafia territory wars in Texas’. She knew her gut had been right about this Nash guy. Not good for Libby.  

Nash grinned at her and set his box on the counter. 

“Hey, kid. We brought you some old, unique stuff that you could definitely sell for a lot.”  

“Libby’s not here,” she said, trying to calm herself down. If Nash- or whoever he reported to- wanted her or her sister dead, he would have killed her earlier.  

Mafia. Not good. But, if not good, why handsome? His brothers looked like younger versions of those Greek mythology figures in movies.  

She shifted uncomfortably. The blonde one was scrutinizing her face intently. She knew she wasn’t model pretty, just average with her ashy brown hair, but did he really need to look at her like something was wrong with her face? His pale grey eyes were honestly breathtaking, but he sure looked scary like this, stoic and unmoving. 

The other brother, brown-haired, elbowed him. “Cut it out, Gray.” 

Great. One evil-gun-brother identified. ‘Gray’.  

Nash cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah, introductions. Sorry, kid. These are my younger brothers, Grayson and Jameson.” 

They set their boxes on the counter too, and Nash started pulling out objects he brought and showing them to her. “ This is a really old typewriter, a limited edition. A Hammond 1, 1885. You could sell it for a lot. Then there’s-” 

He stopped short, and both he and Grayson turned to look at the other brother who had pulled out a glass princess ballerina from his box.  

“Why are you looking at me like that? We don’t have a use for it anymore, and it would cost a lot.” 

Avery felt her blood boil in her veins. Damn Nash and his obvious savior complex. She and Libby did not need saving. They were fine just the way they were. So what if they lived in a shitty little apartment and could barely afford the heating? They were alive and weren’t starving. He didn’t need to pity them and play charity.  

Jameson flashed a wide smile at her, meeting her eyes with his own striking green ones as he handed her the intricate glasswork. “How about you keep it? I think it suits you rather well.” 

Despite her reservations towards them and their intentions, Avery couldn’t help the slight warmth that rose to her cheeks as she took the piece of glass from him. “They’re dangerous, Avery,” she thought. “Bad guys. One of them has a gun.”  

Grayson stepped forward; leaning over the counter to stare right into her soul, as though ready to call her out on any dishonesty. 

“Say, Miss Grambs, have you ever heard of the name Kaylie Rooney, Morticia Rooney, or Hannah Rooney? Anybody with that last name?” He stared at her, and, even with his emotionless, controlled facade, she could tell that he was suspicious of something, that he definitely had an ulterior motive to ask her that.

Jameson glared at him. “That was my line to ask.” 

Avery ignored him. “How did you know my last name?” She frowned, crossing her arms.  

“I have my sources. Now answer the question.” Grayson retorted.  

“No, I don’t.” 

“No secret inheritances? Maybe your mother or grandmother? Relatives?” 

She wasn’t going to let this conceited stranger with a gun in his pocket boss her around like this. “My family is hardly any of your concern, and, for the record, my mother- Sarah Grambs- is dead, and I’ve never met any relatives.” 

Nash cleared his throat once more, the sound echoing in the silent room. Avery was considering giving him cough syrup as a fuck-off-and-leave-my-sister-alone gift.  

“Sorry about him, kid. There’s someone very important to us who’s missing, and we thought you might have seen something in this shadier part of the neighborhood. Grayson is, um, particularly emotional about it.” 

Lie. She thought that he’d be a better liar than this. She’d watched so many murdery mystery movies, and the handsome mafia guys always lied flawlessly. 

She felt even more insulted now. Not only was he trying to give her and Libby- though mostly Libby- more money by buying random stuff from the store, but now he was insulting their neighborhood, and, by extension, the fact that they couldn’t afford a place in a nicer one. Or Avery was too sensitive. Who knows? She’d become a lot of things in the two years after her mom’s death.  

Taking the lead, he ushered his brothers towards the door, a hand placed on each of their shoulders. Just as he was leaving, he spun around, remembering something.  

“Oh, but if you ever find out something about someone with the last name Rooney, just ask Libby to give ya my phone number, ‘lright? See ya.” 

With that, he walked out, joining his brothers in a sleek black car. Avery stared at them suspiciously through the windows, trying to ignore the fact that Libby was texting Nash, and that Drake would be furious if he ever found out. Jameson slid his hand into his pocket, feeling around for an object. She couldn’t see much from this far, but her eyes caught a metallic glint. A gun? Another weapon? Whatever it was, she was wary of them.  

Once they were gone, she closed up the shop for lunch. She went to the room behind the counter and sat on the worn-out couch, pulling out her old phone and typing “Hawthorne Texas” into the search bar. Nothing on Wikipedia or anything else. Finally, she found an article that read “Son of the head of Hawthorne Mafia, Tobias Hawthorne II, dead in fire on Hawthorne Island”. So her suspicions had been right. They were mafia. She scrolled through the article, and a picture of said Tobias II came up. She stared at it, an unsettling feeling churning in her heart. He looked painfully familiar, like an itch in the depths of your brain when you forget something, but you can’t remember what. She was very sure she’d never seen him before. Had she?

[dippydippycritiques]

First Impressions of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door On Switch

I want to start off by saying if you preordered TTYD, I am so so sorry! I went to GameStop to just pick up the game normally and the guy that worked there told me not everyone got their preorders day one because Nintendo didn't make enough copies. It was something to do with Amazon, I'm not entirely sure as part of what he was saying went over my head and I don't know how true this is, this is just what he told me, but I am having severe Fire Emblem Awakening flashbacks, ironically, another Intelligent Systems game that didn't have enough copies when it launched years ago.

I guess I just got really lucky with my copy because I just went into the store to buy one, I never preordered it, but the truth is I never preorder my stuff anyway. I have only ever done that once in my life for the special edition of Fire Emblem Echos. So I guess I'm old school and I'd rather go and grab the game myself then rely on a service to make sure my copy is there on time.

Anyway, with that out of the way. I am having a great time with TTYD so far! There are some issues, some that might be a me thing while others I feel need to be tweaked (I'll explain momentarily) but I have already put a few hours into the game and I am completely invested.

With that being said, here are a few of my issues thus far.

Firstly, The 30 FPS.

I am one of the ones that wished it was 60 FPS as when I first started the game, It did feel very sluggish compared to the original. However, I did adjust to it overtime and because I am enjoying the game so much. I did forget about it after a while. I just kind of wish Mario's running speed was a little faster. It could be me miss remembering since I haven't played the game in fifteen years, but he feels super slow. If they sped him up just a tad, it would be perfect.

Next, the music.

I turned that shit off and switched it back to the original as soon as I was able. None of them hit me as being better than the original tracks (at least for me anyway), and I became immediately turned off by them. If it's your first time playing the game, the new tracks probably won't bother you at all, but for me. The new tracks were super annoying to listen to. Some of them, especially the new Roughport theme, reminded me a lot of Yoshi's Island 3DS. The blaring trumpets were obnoxious and some of the very first tracks felt tacky. Worst too is the fact that when you do switch over to the GameCube tracks, not all of them are present! When you get a new partner, for example, that specific track is missing from the main game no matter if you switch to the old music tracks. Also, switching to the GameCube version does not apply to the new character themes, which I am ok with as I do like the change! It makes your partners feel more important and I do like them a lot!

Ok, now for the biggest issue I found so far.

The reaction times when it comes to your attacks, specifically, Koop's Shell Toss is...not the best if you catch my drift. In the original, I am pretty confident in saying that when you let go of the stick, the light needs to be red when you do, which is what the remake also tells you to do as well. HOWEVER, that's not how it works. In this version, you need to release the left stick BEFORE the light turns red because if you do when it lights up. The bar will almost ALWAYS pass the red indicator, which means you will not get the extra damage. I hope this situation is only specific to Koop's since, fortunately, you will probably be using Goombella more for single enemy focused attacks then Koop's, but this is something that does legitimately bother me and even when I delay it. I can't hit it every time like I did in the original.

Edit: I put two more hours in after writing this and I did get used to the shell toss imput command over time. I think the description is just misleading, and I don't remember exactly if it was worded the same in the original. If it was, the description needed to be changed here.

Other than that, I am in love with everything else! When I beat the game, I will post a proper review, but these are just my initial thoughts during the first couple of hours. I hope everyone gets there preorders as soon as possible.

[cutegirlmayra]

Oh here's a prompt idea: Movie!Sonic meets Game!Sonic and they marvel at how different they both are. Amy finally catches up after chasing Sonic and is heaven seeing two Sonic's. Movie!Sonic having never met another hedgehog let alone one as forward and open as Amy is enamored and Game!Sonic is conflicted if he's happy a version of himself is loosening up but worried Amy will take too much of a likening to him. So like a sprinkle of jealous Sonic but we know where Amy's heart lies.

PROMPTS ARE CLOSED DO NOT ASK FOR MORE PROMPTS, MY CUTIES I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU MUST WAIT.

You’ll find my response to this prompt here: The pajama blogs 24:25

Prompt:

After a dimensional rift is created by Game!Eggman, the game counterparts are flung into Movie!Sonic’s world.

After some zany fun and shenanigans', the two finally realize the ‘double-ganger’ wasn’t ‘Shadow’ or ‘Metal Sonic’ at all, but actually a different Sonic!

“Woah!” Before Game!Sonic could even say anything, mimicking Game!Sonic’s actions a second as they both think they’re staring in a reflection behind a fountain’s waterfall effect, Game!Sonic is the first one to to actually say something. “You’re-! The other me! Oh, this is awesome!” Zips to his other side, as Game!Sonic is amazed but kinda used to these things by now?

So he simply smiles, opens his mouth to say something but then Movie!Sonic continues to zip around him and lift different parts of him up.

“I saw you save that rich Chris kid from falling off that tower. I also save people from towers, long story, quick spark notes, they’re now kinda my mom and dad. Oh~ Buckles! Shiny, but why a buckle? Do you not know how to tie shoes? Me neither. Do slip-ons exist in your world? What’s your world like? Never really knew mine. Were buckles ever in season? Trendy? Why are your arms the color of your skin and why is your quills a solid form, do you compact them with gel? That’s a lot of gel. Why is your blue darker than mine but my fur tanner than your... again, skin? Why do you shave? Also, you look a little like a two-eyed cyclops-HEY!”

Game!Sonic, rolling his eyes at the young energy, swipes the Chaos Emerald from Movie!Sonic’s quills and moves away from him, waving a finger.

“Thanks, that’s cool, weird. Buckles are always cool. No, okay, yes but no, exciting and beautiful, that’s a shame. Always and forever, because they are, no gel, all natural, I guess I get more sun while you get more bleach, and nice joints, stick-figure.”

Game!Sonic waited a second... looking a bit confused and/or offended... before giving off a goofy grin and simply stating, “Touche.”

“Do you know what this is?” Game!Sonic pointed to the Chaos Emerald.

“No idea, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” Game!Sonic teased and hugged himself, “But in all seriousness, that weird, pudgy Eggman with the wild stache has been trying to snatch it from me like Chilifries!”

“Always the chilifries.” Game!Sonic shook his head and looked up as though relating hard with that, “Well, It’s important. I need 6 more of these... and wait, was Eggman ever NOT fat?”

The two stared at each other a second, and then Movie!Sonic looked away and puckered his lips back as though not wanting to say anything to the look that Game!Sonci gave him.

“Soniiiicc!!!”

Turning around, Game!Sonic winced and spread his mouth back, showing his teeth and an expression of ‘uh oh’ at the voice and figure coming towards them.

However... when Movie!Sonic turned around...

‘I know a girl who's tough but sweet She's so fine, she can't be beat Got everything that I desire Sets the summer sun on fire.’

As the song played, Amy’s quills swished around as she ran, her dress also scooted to one side and her smile lit up the world. She winked, but it was really just her ducking from the reflection of the water glaring her eyes and then jumped into a starstruck Movie!Sonic.

Game!Sonic looked down at them.

‘IIII~ Want candy~ I~ Want candy~’

“Oh! I’m so glad I was able to find you again, Sonic! Hehe! You can’t separate two fated lovers!” She squee’d, nuzzling in as Movie!Sonic’s eyes were a bit loopy but he shook himself free of the music and looked greatly conflicted.

On one hand, this is totally awesome.

On the other hand, fated lovers?!

“What just happened?” Movie!Sonic gently tried to get her off but her grip was ferociously strong. “Emm! Lady! I-It’s very nice-! Ah! To meet... you...toooooo!” He finally gasped for air when he got her off of him, but Game!Sonic just snickered into his hands.

“Amy, meet Other Sonic from this dimension. Then meet again.” Game!Sonic introduced them before giving a sarcastic look to her when he pointed back to himself.

She had to study them a second but then flew her hands up by her face, getting up off the ground she was sitting down on. “Oh my rings! I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

She leaned over Movie!Sonic, “Wow! Now that I look at you... you really do look young!”

“And I’m fluffy too.” Movie!Sonic zipped back up, shaking himself off as he suddenly turned poofy from the friction in his quills.

“Ah! Haha!” Amy pointed and got lightly zapped, then clapped as though easily-amused by his antics. “He’s so cute!”

Game!Sonic had to do a double-take, folding his arms as she said that...

“You’re even taller than Sonic!”

Then pouting.

“And you’re uhh... As pink as a gumball!” Movie!Sonic thought fast, scratching behind his head in his nerves and leaning one foot out and up towards her, then skidding it on the ground to then move closer to her, where he had placed it. “N-not that I like gumballs.” He saw Game!Sonic’s expression and immediately grew nervous, shaking his hands out in front of her, “They get stuck in your teeth, but the sugar is nice.”

Amy just giggled, “Amy. Amy Rose.” She offered him her hand and instead of taking it... though reaching out for it, he looked over his shoulder at Game!Sonic and stood back, bowing to her instead.

“You must be a secret princess or something from your world, right? Is he here to protect you or something?” Movie!Sonic threw a thumb back towards Game!Sonic as she giggled into her hands, then swayed back and forth as her hands intertwined and laid at her front.

“Hehe, he’s a charmer... for sure!”

She then noticed the Chaos Emerald in Game!Sonic’s folded arms as he groaned at how sweet they were being to one another.

“Oh! A Chaos Emerald! I almost forgot! I was trying to tell you I found one, but I lost it to that Metal silver robot...”

“That’s gotta be Metal Sonic!” Movie!Sonic suddenly stated, “I saw him come through the portal when you guys did!”

“Two Metal Sonics? Oh no...” Amy cupped her face, worried about their own world’s Metal Sonic... “But it definitely looked funny...”

“Yeah, Dr. Robotnik is a funny sort of fellow.” Movie!Sonic thought she meant the doctor...

“Umm...” Amy looked confused, about to correct him but Game!Sonic stuck out his arm.

“It’s nice to stay and chat like old pals, Amy, but we could use a direction on where he went with that Chaos Emerald.”

“Oh, right!” Amy immediately gave them the locations, and as they sped off, Movie!Sonic kept showing off for Amy instead of actually trying to get the Chaos Emerald.

It was annoying Game!Sonic, “Hey, focus, man!” he cried out as Movie!Sonic was too distracted to realize that the robot was shooting straight at where he had dived to catch the Chaos Emerald.

“Oh no!” Amy covered her eyes, but then threw her hammer, “Just kidding~” she jumped into the battle and saved Movie!Sonic.

He was deeply embarrassed after that, and found he was becoming lamer and lamer the more he tried to impress her, being clumsy and the like.

With all the flattery too... Game!Sonic started to worry about Amy.

“Hey, ease up, will ya?” He finally told Movie!Sonic. “You’re making me look bad here...”

“Wait, really?!” Movie!Sonic shook his head pretty quickly, “I thought you were being cooler than me! That’s why I tried so hard to make a good impression!”

“What? Dude, I know you haven’t known Amy for very long, but she’s not someone to judge that fast. She’s got a good sense of character, and she knows you’re just nervous, loosen up and quit trying so hard. You’ve gotta be naturally cool to be a Sonic.” he dusted himself off and gave him his typical Sonic smirk and wink, pointing out his thumb and index finger and tucking it up under his chin. “If you believe it, then you are it.”

“Ohhh... Attitude. Got it!” Movie!Sonic stopped trying so much to impress Amy and went back to the mission, only concerned about his image looking pathetic around her.

Later, it was clear Amy was favoring Movie!Sonic, trying to get his attention in normal ways again, but he absent-mindedly disregarded her each time.

Feeling ignored, Amy went to Game!Sonic, asking if she had insulted or hurt Movie!Sonic on accident, and wanted to make things right.

“Gee, you’re really worried about how he sees you, huh?” Game!Sonic was pitching up a tree-tent to sleep under, tying a rope below the tree as Amy nervously fidgeted.

“I just don’t understand! I didn’t do anything to make him feel like I wasn’t be polite or kind enough...” she twiddled her fingers, but then, just as Game!Sonic was gonna tell her the truth, she embraced him from behind.

“I’m glad you’re not like that Sonic... at least, when I talk to you, you hear me out, right?”

He suddenly had a crooked smile on his face, and all honesty went out the window.

His ears curled as though horns and patted Amy’s arm. “Oh, of course, Amy! I would never treat you so poorly...”

She sniffled, and he beamed even more.

“Tell ya what, maybe you should stick with our universe for a while... make you feel better.” He patted and stroked her head in a condensing way, smirking at his own devious plans.

Amy was now very dismissive of Movie!Sonic, causing him to wonder what he did wrong. She was a bit vicious in her absolute disregard for him, not like his unintentional way with her.

Discussing it with Game!Sonic, he put two and two together and realized he had turned her against him.

It sparked a rivalry, a figurative tug-o-war before Amy finally saw them both work together to help her when she was surrounded by Eggman’s robots, threatening to make her a lab-experiment.

“This Dr. Robotnik is nuts!”

“Wasn’t he always?” The two said at the same time, fist-bumping and chuckling, as Game!Sonic let Movie!Sonic carry her back to camp.

After that, they didn’t let Amy get in-between their fun, and they sort of bonded over it.

Amy... was still confused, but was now fighting for both their attentions, as they led her on thinking they were ‘just too busy’ but secretly just liking her work for their attentions instead of the other way around!

Oh, but she got back at them!

By the end, they had two nasty bumps on the head to prove it!

“Phew! That was fun, but maybe... I don’t think I’ll be seeing her again.” Movie!Sonic lightly rubbed his large bum on his head before... “Oh great...” His eyes shrunk as a yellow fox he now knew was ‘Tails’ arrived and with him... a new rosy pink hedgehog...

And the hammer thumping on the head never ceased from then on in~<3

[aloesarchives]

Imai Cosmo Headcanons

Alright, now it's time for sunshine boy Cosmo. 

(Edit: I am so sorry, I accidentally deleted this for some reason. Sorry for the inconvenience) 

You met Cosmo when you both were first years in high school. You just recently transfer to his school in the beginning of the year for reasons not disclose(just move to Japan, came from a different school, etc.)

It was a hard time making friends because you were new and no one would approach you. But it didn’t stop Cosmo from wanting to be with your friend.

Cosmo is pretty much a social butterfly and is always friendly to everyone. When he said hi to you, the first thing you took notice was his bubbly personality. After that encounter, Cosmo actually made it his goal to be your friend. Everyday at school, he would always talk to you when he has the chance. And during after school you two would hang out together whether it be eating out or looking at the latest version of some Martial Arts magazine.

Thanks to the time you have been spending with him, he’s one of your closest friends you have. It’s kinda known around the school that you two always hang out with each other.

You also come over to his house to tutor Cosmo b/c he wasn’t doing so well in math so you had to help out a homie. You did have some encounters with his brother, Meteor. You get along with him as the two of you share the struggle of taking care of Cosmo.

Cosmo’s enthusiasm is contagious and even when you kinda hit your lowest Cosmo’s vibe just somehow revives you and you smile once again.  

Cosmo’s energy is so bright and powerful that you feel like you’re standing in the presence of the sun and you need some goddamn visors to look because he’s just pure and happy all the time that it hurts your entire being. But it’s in a good way, sis.

Throughout the time you spent with Cosmo, you notice that every once in a while that he would have a bruise or a bandage on his face or arm when he wears his short sleeve shirt. Come to think of it, Cosmo somehow has some sort of injury that can’t be explained in normal terms. Even when you ask Cosmo when he gets his injuries and small scuffs, he’ll just brush it off with an excuse that wouldn’t add up or make sense to the injury. But again you don’t push it since when you try to press on the issue that Cosmo switched the topic immediately and has completely forgotten about the conversation.

You did at one point remember that Cosmo did have a small rebellious stage but one day he stopped for some reason you don’t know about. But even so, it doesn’t calm your concerns of Cosmo’s random injuries.

In short, he’s really bad at hiding them and not making something obvious. But you being you, you didn’t push on the matter out of consideration.

Now that I mention that, you also notice Cosmo getting ripped and becoming more muscular. Cosmo actually lets you feel his arms and back when you ask him, he’s completely fine with it. Fam, no gonna lie, it has a nice feel to it.

(Y/N):Hey Cosmo, have you been working out lately? You’re back has been getting toned as of recently.

Cosmo: Actually yeah, I’ve been working out more nowadays. Do you want to feel my back, (Y/N)?

(Y/N): Sure, if you’re fine with it.

Cosmo: Go right ahead.

*Proceeds to feels Cosmo’s back

(Y/N): Woah! You’re pretty ripped, Cos!

There were some subtle hints that Cosmo had that kept being in your sight. Like his physical strength when the class would play volleyball, or doing those fitness test everyone has to take, he was somehow on the top on it. Or at least there was a far seeable gap than he was to you and the rest of the class.

You, for sure, know Cosmo is hiding something when Cosmo would turn you down to hang out because he had some business to do. What only push your suspicions was when you were walking home one day from school and a car past by you. Although it was a nice car and you didn’t really care for it, the thing that caught your eye was who was in it. You saw a tan man with cool shades driving the car and Cosmo was in the passenger seat next to him. As the car sped off, you stood still on the sidewalk, completely confused. You’ve seen that guy before when you would go to the gym, but you didn’t put any thought to it.

I mean you don’t to bug him about all of this because you don’t want to be nosy and pester him about it. But you know Cosmo isn’t gonna spill the beans anytime soon so you keep it to yourself.

God, I really, really like to headcanon that Kureshi is a distant uncle/relative of your’s that you’re somewhat close to. You don’t tell Cosmo right off the bat because you thought it wasn’t super important. All you tell him is that your uncle owns a gym and during after school sometimes you go there to train/exercise with him. Cosmo doesn't think much of it too since you didn’t make a big deal out of it. But he was curious on what gym your uncle runs and that at you one point you mentioned he was a fighter too.

The way you found out was pretty much very coincidental. While you were at the gym, your uncle aka Kureshi mentions to you that he took up a student and took him under his wing. This was odd for you because you never saw your uncle to be one to take up someone for training. When he mentions to you that the person he’s training is around the same age and goes to the same high school, you were intrigued by who it was. The week you found out about this was the same week that finals/ heavy testing was being held and so you wanted to distress by going to the gym. You asked Cosmo if he wanted to hang out 2 hours before you go to the gym but he said he was going to do training at a gym beforehand and had to turn down your offer. You were kind of bummed out but you couldn’t convince him otherwise so oh well. Upon going to the gym, you get a text from your uncle that his student came to train and asked if you wanted to meet him. You said why not and when upon arriving to the gym, your uncle greet you and took you to see his student who was dealing some good blows to one of the gym’s punching bags. Upon further inspection, the boy looked familiar, too familiar. Without thinking, you blurted out Cosmo’s name. After stopping his workout, he turn to you and the both of you had equally shocked faces while Kureshi was having a kick out of it. When you looked at your uncle and asked if he was his student, the answer was fairly obvious and you just stood there while trying to process all of this. When Cosmo asked you why you were there, you explained Kureshi and stuff. It was a awkward few minutes before you decided to change into your workout clothes and doing some training of your own. After you were done with your workout, you took a shower and changed into some casual clothes. You waited for Cosmo to be done and the two of you would head home together after bedding your uncle farewell.

Since you caught Cosmo training, he couldn’t really hid it from you anymore because you saw him there at the gym and he had a entirely different training regiment than the average person. You got the courage to ask him about what’s the training for while telling him your suspicions. Cosmo kinda went silent, which is unlike him to do so especially in your presences. Then Cosmo just spills everything to you, the training, the bruises, the times he had to decline your offers to hang out, he explained himself to you why he had to it. At the mention of Kengan Matches and underground fighting, you thought this was like fight club or something. But snapping out of your thoughts, you didn’t see Cosmo any less differently and told him that his secret is safe with you. Cosmo is grateful for you and that he’s glad you’re understanding.

One day, when Cosmo didn’t come to Kureshi’s gym, you asked your uncle how he meet Cosmo. He told you that Cosmo got into a fight with a few guys that had him on the ropes before he stepped in himself to save Cosmo. While at it, your uncle ask about your thoughts on Cosmo and his potential in fighting. When you answered with a Cosmo having untapped potential, Kureshi made a deal with you. He said he’ll allow you to watch Cosmo’s matches and cover your back when you parents ask about your whereabouts. In return, you have to help him train Cosmo and update him on his matches. You didn’t even think about it, you just took the deal and the rest is history.

Another time, you met Mr. Nishihonji while training Cosmo. Apparently he used to use this gym a while back. After learning he was Cosmo’s sponsor/ fighting for his company, you do remember Cosmo subtly mentioning him in your conversations in the past and now you meet him in the flesh. He made a good impression of himself to you and ever since then you’ve been chill with him. The man means well so he doesn’t really give off any bad vibe that you can tell.

Mr. Nishihonji has picked up the both of you from school when Cosmo has a match. Once school is over, you two would head over to where his car is and people from your school would just gawk because who knew the two of you were hanging out with a rich man with a nice car. This happens a lot where you kinda get use to it.

Your crush/love for Cosmo is built up over time and isn’t too obvious  that other people can catch on but people close to you can see something is up with you when your around Cosmo. When people ask you about it, you brush it off as simple friendship you have for him. People won’t push it but people like Kureshi and Mr. Nishihonji can piece things together to where they have an fundamental understanding that you really care about Cosmo.

Speaking of Kureshi, your uncle Kureshi loves to fucking tease you about you and Cosmo. He really gets a kick out of how you get all tsundere on him when he does. It’s like an inside joke you have with each other and it’s family love, that’s all.

You never confessed to Cosmo because you 1.) don’t want to ruin or make the friendship awkward, and 2.) you don’t think Cosmo feels the same way as he is oblivious to your small actions/hints towards him.

And by the way, Cosmo is fucking oblivious to everything unless pointed out by him. This sadly includes your feelings, sis. This is one of the things Cosmo needs you in his life because of this. He’s oblivious to the point where you had to point out or explain things to him when he doesn’t get it or it goes over his head.

But your feelings becomes evident when the Kengan tournament goes under way and that you were invited to go with him. You watch on the sidelines, with Mr. Nishihonji of course, Cosmo’s matches. You knew after his first match ended that this tournament was something else when you saw the line up and after Cosmo fainted into Mr. Nishihonji’s arms after exiting the pit. You knew that Cosmo was not going to have an easy time in his matches and he needed to know this. Although you have faith in Cosmo, it’s not impossible to remember that this isn’t a simple walk in the park.

After beating Adam, Adam kinda just became your friend instantly. Like after Cosmo convinced him, he just stuck around the two of you. Even though you hate what comes out of his mouth, Adam isn’t really a jerk and tries to unlearn the things he has said to the two of you. When Adam stays in Japan for training, he literally becomes you best friend/ brother at this point. Adam is probably the only person that actually caught on

But the thing that has been bothering you is Cosmo’s naivety. There’s nothing wrong with his happy go lucky attitude. It’s just, Cosmo doesn’t seem to be grounded a lot in certain situations where he’ll understand the dangers/risks that come with this. Especially when it came down to fighting. You do warn him of being careful and taking the fight seriously, but he just say don’t worry and not really mean it. You knew that this would be problem because Cosmo takes his fighting skills for granted. You love the man but wish he would understand how grave some matches could’ve been if he didn’t take them down sooner.

But that fight with Akoya, oh my fucking god. First off, Fuck Akoya and his justice boner. Second, god this fight did some ever lasting damage on you. This was one of those surreal life changing moments that you can never forget even if you tried. The fight, in it of itself, was one of the most intense, gruesome, but slightly breathtaking things you have ever bear to witness. Although you hate to say this, this was the fight that Cosmo needed for his break through. This gave Cosmo what he’s been looking for in order to evolve and better his fighting.

However, this fight was to you was gut wrenching and mentally breaking. Like when you caught Hiyama helping out Akoya in the matches with Adam and Mr. Nishihonji, something was wrong by her desperate reaction to continue to help Akoya. Then the next you know was when you look down towards the arena, Akoya goes berserk and went total psycho on Cosmo. From biting a chunk of Cosmo’s leg off, cracking his ribs, and practically torturing him by bring him back to conscious after Cosmo pasted out. You, on the other hand, couldn’t shout as nothing would come out of your mouth no matter how hard you tried. Tears were building up, your heart was pounding out of your chest, it was hard to watch. Two things could’ve happened next, you either fainted from the immense fear where Adam had to catch you or you glued your eyes to the match and gripped the concrete so hard your finger nails got damage along with bleeding finger tips. Let’s go with the second one, then. The match in-front of you seem one sided and you feared for Cosmo’s life. But deep down, for some goddamn reason, you believe he can pull through if he found his motivation and drive. You called yourself stupid for having so much faith in him but he never has once let you down, so why should you? Once you said that Cosmo has a chance, Adam thought you were nuts but the unwavering hope said otherwise. For Cosmo, he has the classic anime protag shit where in a near death experience he has a bunch of flashbacks. Most of them was his time training with his master, however, some were times spent with you. With all the memories, Cosmo wanted to win, not just for his life and master, but for you as well. When Cosmo started to have his epiphany and turning the fight around in his favor, you never yelled as hard and as loud in your entire life. You bet his ass that he heard it. After the brutal few minutes, Cosmo came out the victor and you have never felt so relieve and exhausted in your life. You cried, fam, there's no doubt (I cried too, don't worry). When you came to get him and send him to the infirmary, you stuck to him for the rest of the tournament.

The fight didn’t make Cosmo realize he loved you, but it did stir up something inside of him that made him view you in a new light. In which he didn’t want to spend a moment without you. Man, you yelled at him for almost dying on you but spoke of your relief to him. He just apologizes and said he’ll win his next fight. It’s a very tender moment between the two of you.

What shock you the most was Kureshi suddenly appearing at the quarter finals tournament, he stated that he wanted to see Cosmo’s progress. It was odd seeing him but it was probably important as the tournament was nearing the end. He was up against Ohma which prove to be a powerful opponent. But alas, Cosmo was defeated by him. While he sat in one of the waiting rooms, you were right next to him, comforting him. Then you let your emotions speak for themselves, how you were proud of him for coming so far especially someone for his age, that he shouldn’t stop here and strive for more, and that you’ll give him your undying support. Then Cosmo pulls you into a hug and just cries it out, you smile and held him close.

After a few months after the tournament, Cosmo realizes he has feelings for you and confessed to you after he took you out to eat. And the rest is history.

Being with Cosmo is great (I say this with almost everyone, so bear with me). Being happy 24/7, a lot of hugs and kiss, spending endless hours with him. The man, himself, is a ball of sunshine at just happens to be your boyfriend.

The man loves you unconditionally no matter what. He doesn’t really have a preference on appearance. However, I’ll do say that if you’re shorter than him(he’s 5′6 i think), he’s over the moon because it adds some cuteness to you. The man loves you.

Cosmo really likes hugs and cuddles. He knows not the strangle you when he’s cuddling with you, but he loves to squeeze you tight. Meteor has caught the two of you sleeping on the couch in each other embrace in more than one occasion. Meteor thinks it’s cute and doesn’t disturb you two.

Cosmo is more than okay with PDA. He can’t really keep his hands off of you, yet he’ll respect your boundaries. He’ll hold your hand, arm around your waist or shoulder, giving small pecks to you. He’s not afraid of showing you off.

He’s a playful kisser, he likes to play around with you. But there are times where he does kiss you passionately, but that’s usually in private though. Before his matches, it’s a must for you to kiss him before he goes out and fights. Sometimes he kisses you out of nowhere and when you ask him, he just says I love you and stuff.

I can see him calling you baby/babe/ and love. It just sounds like him.

The man’s always hugging you from behind.

I’m gonna say since no one has said it louder: Cosmo with his hair slicked back makes him from cute to instant HOT. Deadass when you see he like with his hair like that, you cheeks heat up quickly and you just quietly freaking over his hair. You tell him that it looks better on him(which it does, btw) but he says it’s a simple haircut for him.

I headcanon that you and Kureshi gave him the idea to grow out his hair since it’ll suit him more. When his hair gets long enough, you sometimes braid his hair or brush it. To him, it’s a very relaxing moment since you’re kinda spoiling him.

Cheer for this man and he will definitely fight even harder in his matches. You’re his motivations.

Cosmo does have nosebleeds so make sure to bring some tissues.

Before the Kengan Omega, you had to help him take care of himself but after the two years he doesn’t have to, or rather not as much.

The only time you got jealous was probably when you found that Mr. Nishihonji took Cosmo to a brothel(?) and you finding out Cosmo had a taste for older women kinda sat with you the wrong way even though you two weren’t an item yet. You didn’t tell him out right what was wrong because you thought it was stupid to be feel jealous. It made you avoid Cosmo for like a day or two. You still haven’t told him yet about it and it will remain like that to this day.

You did take note on Cosmo’s estrange friend group aka the fighters. They’re not intimidating people. You actually had a run in with Wakatsuki on accident. Cosmo invited you to come hang out with him but you were busying with errands that you sadly had to decline. While you were fast walking to your next destination, you bumped into someone and tripped on your own foot. Before your face touched the ground, Wakatsuki caught you and helped you up. He apologizes for bumping into you because he didn’t see you. You said you were fine and ask what he was doing, he stated he was waiting for a friend of his. After you excuse yourself to continue your day, Cosmo comes around the corner as you left. While they were eating, Wakatsuki told Cosmo ran into you. When Cosmo said “oh, you met my girlfriend?” Wakatsuki had to pause because, like what?, the girl/person he bumped into was Cosmo’s girlfriend. Big shocker for him. Before you guys became a thing, Sakura, Sekibayashi, and Wakatsuki, would tease Cosmo about girls that would know him. I mean, they do this a lot when it was with you but to know the two of you ended up together caught them blind sided.

The fact Cosmo can take down opponents twice his size and age is pretty amazing in your eyes. Man’s short but damn can he pull off some impressive moves. Proud to call him your boyfriend honestly.

Food buddy, you guys love to eat with eat other. It’s pretty obvious that Cosmo loves to eat. The man takes you out to eat all the time, fucking bet on that shit.

When Cosmo loves you, he will LOVE you to death. Sure, you were hard on him when he’s training, but he is thankful for you being with him for the long run.

Being in a relationship with Cosmo is just full of fun and love even though it does get serious at some points. Cosmo never fails to show you that he loves you and how much you mean to him.

[officialthiamlibrary]

Hey! Do you know of any where one or both of them play a professional sport?

So sorry for the delay, but we are ready with our finds! These are what we could find, but if we are missing any then please let us know and we will add them to our list! 

All the Quads Are My Friends by never_love_a_wild_thing (Teen | Complete | 10K)

Tags: AU - Ice Skating, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Idiots in love, Social Media

Summary: Liam and Theo go to Figure Skating Worlds in Milan, ready to prove themselves to the skating world and end up falling in love along the way.

A Peek Inside: “Theo!” Liam shouted, “You can’t just post pictures of me when I’m sleeping!”

“Aw, but you were so cute, though!” Theo smirked at him. Liam decidedly did not blush. “I don’t think you can even see the drool in that picture.”

Liam gaped at him, trying to figure out how to express his unbridled fury without actually killing anyone. “I do. Not. Drool.” He gritted out.

Breaking The Ice by Bookwyrm (Teen | Complete | 8.8K)

Tags: AU Hockey, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Coming Out

Summary: Theo and Liam used to play for rival hockey teams. Things got explosive everytime they shared the ice, but now they've both been traded to the Beacon Hills Wolves.

A Peek Inside: Theo sat on the ice, and gently pulled out the tissues. When no blood flowed he asked, "What the hell is your problem? Are you just the human version of an overly aggressive chihuahua or is it personal?"

Liam gritted his teeth. "My problem is you are the worst kind of hockey player. You don't care about the rules of the game or who gets hurt, unless of course you hurt them on purpose."

Rings Of Fire by LI0NH34RT (Teen | Complete | 3.1K)

Tags: Figure Skating AU, Ice Skating AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Summary: Figure Skater Liam dreamed of being at the Olympics his whole life but when his partner Hayden breaks her ankle at a practice jump too risky, his dream seems over and done. 

Theo is a single skater because his attitude makes him incompatible with a partner but that doesn't stop their coach to pair them off in training – Will the flame of their hate burn them out or light up a different fire?

A Peek Inside: “I absolutely do remember that day. Actually that... unfortunate incident made me aware of the sparks the dynamic between you two has.”

“Sparks? More like fire hazard...”, Theo mumbles to himself.

It is true. Every time Liam Dunbar and Theo are in the same room, they fight. It's lucky they didn't share any ice time yet and that has mostly been due to the fact that single skater and pair skaters trained separately on a team as big as team USA.

Going For Gold by AJP_37 (Explicit | WIP | 15K)

Tags: AU Olympics, AU Swimming

Summary: Scott had just up and quit from the Olympic Swim team. 

And someway, somehow Coach thought it was acceptable to bring in Theo to take his place. 

Liam was not impressed. 

Until he was.

A Peek Inside: “But I want Scott back, I don’t want to swim with this guy.”

“Theo. His name is Theo.” Coach rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Liam when you give him the chance I’m sure he is going to be right up your alley.”

“Coach, he’s been in like three different scandals since the qualifiers.” Liam huffed, slumping down into the chair. “There was a reason why the selectors left him in college. He’s not ready for the big stage.” 

“And funnily enough that is what every single member of the team and coaching staff said about you.” Coach snapped back, leaning forward on his chair.

finding love on the offroad tracks by xTarmanderx (General | WIP | 10K)

Tags: Slow burn, Motocrossed au

Summary: When Theo Raeken is injured before a major motocross competition, his twin Tara decides to step up to the plate. While their father is overseas looking for a new rider to take over for the event, Tara begs their mother to keep it from him and let her try and race in Theo’s place. Disguising herself as Theo, she takes up the racing circuit to keep the family name attached to the event. Enter Liam Dunbar, a professional biker from a different circuit that immediately can tell Tara isn’t who she claims to be. Theo pleads with Liam to keep their secret and he agrees: on one condition.

A Peek Inside: Despite the recently added dips and new curve to the track, Theo took each challenge effortlessly and sped past his father for a second lap. This time, he risked a glance at the man and saw him shake his head, scribbling frantically down onto his clipboard. His teeth ground together and he hit the curve hard, losing momentum as he sought to right his bike. His grip grew tight, lips pinched as he committed his focus back to the track. His father may be hard on him, but he was nowhere near as unforgiving as the dirt.

Melting the Ice by ExtraSteps (Mature | Complete | 29K)

Tags: Hockey au, Scott is a prick

Summary: Liam's entire world is shaken up when Scott McCall, the captain of the Los Angeles Rams and Liam's mentor at the club, unexpectedly asks to be traded to the Dallas Stars. As Liam struggles to deal with this in both his personal and professional life, his teammate and friend, Theo Raeken, is there to help him in any way he can.

A Peek Inside: He already feels a bit better. As much as they’ve had their differences in the past, he knows that Theo would bleed for him, has in fact done so on multiple occasions, putting himself on the line to protect Liam. If anyone can make Liam feel anchored, its him.

Don’t Forget To Breathe by snaeken (Explicit | Complete | 28K)

Tags: Ice hockey, disabled character, depression, anxiety, mental health discussions, smut

Summary: Formerly a professional ice hockey player in the NHL, Theo suffered a career-ending injury on the ice which resulted in the loss of everything he held dear to him. No longer able to cope with his teammates pity, and the speculation from the media and the general public on how bad his injury really is, Theo runs away. He goes back to the hometown he left behind when he turned pro, hoping to find solace in a place which has previously caused him so much pain. After a chance encounter in a graveyard of all places, Beacon Hills local Liam Dunbar slots himself into Theo’s life, wanting to aid him in both his physical and mental recovery. Theo quickly discovers he’s not the only one who has demons, and when feelings become involved… well that’s just inevitable, isn’t it?

A Peek Inside: Even at this time of night, his phone is still blowing up on his night stand. Colleagues and fans and hecklers and press and god knows who else. He can’t bring himself to unlock it and turn off the notifications. Hopefully the battery will run dry soon. Even when he’s tried not to, he’s still seen snippets of the questions he’s getting.

[endof-theline]

Day 11- Tropetember: Time Travel

This is day 11 of super early Tropetember and I've gone with the prompt Time Travel! When Tony fell out of the portal, no one was sure what to expect... but it certainly wasn't a sixteen year old.

On Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32515678

“Holy shit, you’re Captain America” Tony blurted out as he blinked open his eyes, his body screaming in pain for some reason but the blonde hovering over him had taken his focus. This wasn’t some random blonde that was playing dress up, this was the real Steve Rogers in the real suit and he was hovering over him for some reason.

“Just figure that one out, Stark?” Captain America asked with a laugh before he started to look worried as Tony’s eyes flicked to the other people hovering around him, he didn’t know them but one was a huge, green, monster and the other looked like he was a play his mother would have dragged him too as a kid. Tony slowly realised that he was laying on his back in the middle of the street and the pain running through his body wasn’t the usual pain from Howard.

“Where am I? Who are they?” Tony asked as the panic started to bubble up in his chest, when he tried to sit up the pain in his chest made him gasp and realise that he was trapped in some kind of suit of armour “What the fuck is this?”

“You better not be kidding, Stark” Captain America warned him with narrowed eyes, Tony’s breathing had started bordering on hyperventilating as the other blonde guy knelt down at his side.

“I fear the portal has messed with his mind” Huge Blonde said to Captain America as Tony was left on the floor in a mess of confusion as fear.

“What portal? What are you talking about?” Tony questioned them and couldn’t help the tears of frustration beading at the corner of his eyes as they both ignored him, Captain America pressed his finger to his ear.

“We got a situation on the ground, Iron Man’s alive and responsive but seems to have some kind of amnesia” Captain America said and nodded along to whatever response he could hear, Tony wanted to shrink away as a woman with bright red hair came running over and glared at him like he was a puzzle she couldn’t work out “Do you know her?”

“No, should I?” Tony asked in reply and the redhead just shook her head as Captain America nodded at him, Tony just swallowed thickly as the panic started to creep back to the front of his mind “Don’t suppose you know how to get me out of this thing?”

“I do” Redhead said bluntly as she knelt down and messed with something on his side before the suit opened up and let Tony scramble out of it, his eyes going wide as he stared at what he had been trapped inside.

“Fuck, that’s so cool!” Tony laughed excitedly as he started to poke and play with the suit, he had kind of been right by calling it a suit of armour “Did my dad make this? How was I in it? You still haven’t answered my questions”

“Is it me or does he look younger?” Redhead asked before making Tony yelp when she grabbed his chin and turned his face to look at her, her eyes narrowed at him again as Captain America looked over her shoulder curiously.

“Definitely looks younger, smaller too” Captain America pointed out as Tony realised that the clothes he was wearing were hanging off of him slightly, almost like a kid wearing their parent’s clothes “How old are you, Tony?”

“I’m sixteen, answer my questions” Tony said bluntly as he pulled his chin out of Redhead’s grip before the monster roared and Tony cowarded away from it as it stumbled to its knees, the monster slowly shrunk down and changed to look like a normal man as Huge Blonde quickly threw his cape around him to cover him up since he was completely naked.

It didn’t go unnoticed when Tony flinched as a black car sped over to them and skidded to a stop, the man climbed out and even looked surprised to see Tony staring back at him “Anthony?”

“Nick!” Tony chirped as he scrambled to stand up before wheezing and falling back to the ground as the pain gripped him tighter, his vision blacking out for a moment and when he managed to open his eyes again Nick was crouched in front of him “You look different”

“So do you” Nick shot back making Tony smile before accepting his help to pull him slowly to his feet and Nick startled when Tony immediately hugged him tightly “Forgot you’re a hugger”

“Only for you, Aunt Peggy, Ana and Jarvis” Tony mumbled before letting go and moving to stand at his side as he looked over at the people around him who were looking at him with a mix of shock and confusion “Will you tell me what’s going on? No one’s talking to me”

“When we get to Shield, I’ll explain” Nick told him firmly and Tony huffed but nodded in agreement, he jerked into Nick when vans pulled up around him “Settle, they’re with me”

Tony just nodded and stayed glued to Nick’s side as the people who were around him when he opened his eyes helped move the suit into one van before climbing into another one, another blonde man came running down the street and grinned at Redhead before climbing into the van as well without even glancing at Tony. Nick led him into the car he came in and Tony stayed silent as Nick followed the vans back to, Tony assumed, Shield.

As soon as they were in Shield, Tony was whisked away to medical and fought with the doctors and nurses around him when they tried to touch him until Captain America came in and sat with him, the Captain held him as he realised there was something stuck in his chest and the doctors made him promise to leave it alone even as he panicked and cried in fear over the blue light in his chest.

Once the medical team left, Tony was left with Captain America sitting on the edge of the bed as Tony balled himself up and trembled nervously. It was clear that something had happened to him, he wasn’t even sure if it was the same year as he remembered since Nick had looked older and the technology was wildly different to what he knew.

“Tony-” Captain America started and Tony peaked out from under his messy hair “I understand this must be very frightening for you, believe me I would know, but all I’m asking is that you stay calm”

“Why won’t people tell me what’s going on?” Tony asked with a sniffle and Captain America’s shoulders hunched at the sound of his voice, a whimper slipping out his mouth when the other man said nothing before he couldn’t stop the tears again. He managed to stop himself from screaming but he still flinched and yelped when Captain America put his hand on Tony’s arm “Please don’t hit me!”

“Hit you?!” He exclaimed back and Tony’s eyes went wide as he realised that he had blurted that out, he scrambled off the bed and back when the blonde stood up “Tony, I’m not going to hit you”

“I’m sorry!” Tony squeaked out nervously, the promises Howard made of getting the man in front of him to beat him if he misbehaved repeating in his mind as he backed himself up against the small “I’m sorry, Captain, please don’t hurt me”

“Oh god” Captain America whispered as he tilted his head back up to the ceiling before crouching down in front of Tony with a gentle smile on his face “Tony, I swear to you, I’m not going to hurt you in any way. No matter what anyone has told you, I’m not going to hurt you”

“Y-You promise?” Tony asked hopefully, Captain America had been his hero and Tony had always loved him but seeing him in person and seeing just how big he actually was put some things into Tony’s mind.

“I promise, I won’t ever hurt you” Captain said confidently before he suddenly had to catch Tony in his arms as the teenager fell into him and sobbed hard into him “I’ve got you, you’re safe with me”

“Dad said you were gonna beat me!” Tony choked out helplessly, years of fear pouring out of him as his hero held onto him tightly and let him cry without shouting at him for it.

“Never, I would never do that” Captain whispered to him as he moved to sit on the floor instead, Tony almost sitting in his lap as he leaned into him heavily.

The door opened with a soft click and Tony tensed up and moved to bolt at a moment’s notice, he peaked over Captain’s shoulder to see that it was just the redhead and the man who was the monster had walked in and neither looked angry at him for crying. The man who had been the monster just walked over and sat down with them instead.

“Hi Tony, my name’s Bruce Banner” He introduced himself with a smile on his face that looked kind and it made Tony feel safe as he smiled back to him “I’m not a medical doctor, but I am a kind of doctor so I’ve been looking into what happened to you when Steve, Thor and I woke you up”

“Thor’s the big blonde guy?” Tony asked curiously and Bruce just nodded at him before Tony motioned to Redhead “And who’s that?”

“Natasha” She told him, still blunt, so Tony just nodded slowly and looked back to Bruce who smiled softly at him again.

“It looks like you went through the portal in this time, a younger version of you came out of the portal” Bruce explained and nodded when Tony motioned at himself for the younger version “It might be some sort of time travel or something along the lines of it, Thor’s gone to ask his people if they know anything about it, and we don’t know how long this you is going to be around or if it’ll ever change back to how things were. But, and I want you to really listen to this, you need to understand that young or old, you have a place with us as your teammates and we will always look after you”

“O-Okay, what do you mean by teammates? What team was I on?” Tony asked since it was clear that everyone else knew what Bruce was talking about because they were all nodding in agreement with him.

“You were a part of a team called The Avengers, it’s me, you, Natasha, Bruce, Thor and Clint who I’m not sure you’ve spoken to yet” Steve explained as he rubbed Tony’s back carefully, Tony leant into the touch as he nodded again “We’re superheroes, we saved New York today and you played a huge part in it, you saved the whole of New York today, Tony”

“I did?” Tony asked with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open in shock as the others all chuckled at him happily “So obviously you’re Captain America, like the coolest person ever, and you were the big, green guy, what do I do? What does everyone else do?”

“I am spy, similar to your Aunt Peggy but ever since I was a little girl, Clint is also a spy but he is also an amazing archer” Natasha explained and Tony could tell she was watching her words, but he ignored that since the information she gave was awesome anyways “And Thor is Thor, the God of Thunder and Lighting”

“That’s so cool!” Tony was aware that he was bouncing slightly as the others were all smiling at him happily “And me?”

“Remember the suit?” Steve asked and Tony nodded rapidly “You built it, you fight in it, you’re called Iron Man”

“Wow” Tony whispered as his young mind desperately tried to learn all this new stuff about his life. He was so cool when he was older and he guesses that explains the light in his chest if he powers a big, metal suit.

Thor’s people never ended up knowing what happened to Tony, nor could any of Shield’s scientists or Bruce for that matter. It didn’t matter though, Tony was happy to be away from home and he had taken it in his stride that his parents were dead. He had been hit pretty strong by the news of Ana and Jarvis but he understood that he was living in the future and that they had just passed of old age.

The team all agreed to make Tony’s time with them the best that they could since the teenager had let it slip about Howard’s treatment of him and Maria’s neglect, all of the team making sure that Tony would feel safe and cared for while he was around.

And if Tony happened to never go back, well then they would figure that out too and keep making sure Tony could grow up safe and happy and surrounded people that had fallen in love with him, Tony had openly sobbed with happiness when Steve had clapped him on the back and called him son so it was clear that Tony was also pretty in love with his new family.

The young Stark was finally happy, he was surrounded by love, and no one had to know that he prayed to anyone listening that he would never go back to his time.

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 13

CHP 13 YEEEE New month new CHAPTER, thanks to everyone who has been very patient with me! <3 

If you wanna read it in the Archive of our Own format, click Here!

Enjoy!

‘This is a nightmare.’ Aiden kept telling himself as he pushed past the people in the streets.

This is only a nightmare. He wasn’t rushing back home, he never spoke with Jesse, he’s not holding Olivia’s hat, Olivia’s not even here, she’s gone and he’s in bed. He’s going to wake up in a cold sweat, with the Sun in his eyes, gasping as he forgets whatever it was he was dreaming about. Just like every other nightmare he’s had.

Aiden glanced at the green aviator hat in his hand, holding onto it as if his life depended on it. He could feel bruises forming where Jesse had struck him; they’ll heal.

Aiden looked up, saw the spruce roof of his house, and sped up. He kept his eyes on the roof, not paying attention to anybody who happened to be in his way. He didn’t even pay attention to his friend, Cassie Rose, calling his name through the crowd and running towards him.

“Aiden--AIDEN.” Rose screeched to a halt and stuck her hands out in front of her, afraid she and Aiden were going to crash into each other. She ran all around town trying to hunt him down, and now that she’s finally found him, he was too consumed by his own worries to notice her.

Aiden finally tore his eyes away from the house and faced Rose, slowing down but refusing to stop.

“I messed up. I messed up.” He said shakily, rushing past the redhead. Rose followed him, practically having to jog to remain by his side. Usually she’d crack a joke about how this wasn’t fair, her legs were shorter, he should carry her, but with the way Aiden was behaving, his quickened breath and darting eyes, she knew now wasn’t the time.

“What did you do?” Rose asked. Aiden’s eyes locked with hers for a mere second, but that’s all the time she needed to see the fear.

“You’re gonna hate me.” Cassie Rose heard him say in a horrified whisper. He didn’t answer the question. Maybe he didn’t have to. She was feeling more nervous with each passing second, and she didn’t even know what he did yet.

Aiden could make out Gill and Stella’s heads poking out of the front door and felt his throat tighten. His body tensed when thinking of his friends’ potential reactions to his news. They need to know. He needs to tell them. They’ll hate him but they need to know.

The instant Aiden stepped foot into the house, Stella erupted with frantic questions. “Aiden, what happened?! What was all of THAT about? Oh, and you’re face--!”

Gill started going off, “One second you were goin’ to your room, th’next you were rushin’ outta this house without sayin’ a word.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It--” Aiden started pacing. He couldn’t stay still. He didn’t want to see his friends’ faces. He wanted to calm down. He wanted to think straight. He was still praying that he’d wake up.

Suddenly he heard footsteps racing down the staircase.

“Is everything alright?” A familiar voice asked, “We heard crashing.”

Aiden shot his head up and saw Jess and Olivia getting closer to him, Jess’ worried eyes locked onto him.

Aiden stepped back and pointed at them, “DON’T--”

His sudden shouting towards the two caught everyone off guard.

“Don’t come near me. Don’t look at me. Don’t--Don’t--!” He turned away and shoved his face into his hands. Out of all the times they had to be awake, out of all the times they decided to appear, why now? Why? He can’t look at them. He can’t. He hated glancing at them. Even if it was for a second, he hated it. He hated the memories that would flash by and fill his mind, he hated the hopeful feeling he’d get in that one second, foolishly believing they were actually okay, he hated these reminders of his past friends.

Aiden swallowed and stared at the floor, “Jesse--our Jesse--broke in.”

All talking had stopped.

“He knows Olivia’s here.”

Stella gasped, Gill’s eyes widened, Jess’ mouth hung open. No one said anything. Jess felt Olivia’s hand grab his and squeezed it.

“How did you--” Maya started but was cut off by Cassie.

“You told him?!” Cassie stepped closer to Aiden, clenching her fists.

Aiden stuck his hands out, “No--! Not directly!”

He stared at the green hat and squeezed it again, “He took Olivia’s hat, I told him she needed it back. I never said her name directly but--”

“But Jesse’s not stupid.” Maya finished. Aiden breathed in and nodded.

“Aiden, how could you?” Jess asked, slipping out of Olivia’s grasp as he stormed over to the man.

“Jess, don’t--” Before Aiden could start, Jess snapped at him.

“Don’t what? Don’t get involved in the mess you just got us in? Don’t get upset you put my friend in danger?! Don’t worry about this other Jesse--who sounds like such a wonderful person--and could be searching for Olivia as we speak?!” Jess’ mind kept switching between anger and fear. The image of Radar being carried back, beaten and sobbing, made his hands sweaty. He thought back to everyones reactions when they first met him, and how they treated him before they found out he wasn’t the other Jesse. He thought about Cavern City, and--and--What would Jesse do to Olivia? What would Jesse do to him?

“I didn’t have any other choice!” Aiden shot back.

“Yes you did!” Both Cassie Rose and Jess exclaimed, surprising each other.  

Cassie continued, “Why didn’t you punch him? Or throw him, or--or knock him out, or SOMETHING? ANYTHING.”

“Because I didn’t want to make things worse.” Aiden answered through gritted teeth.

Cassie sputtered, “Aiden, I hate to be that person, but punching him would’ve made the situation SIGNIFICANTLY better than what YOU just pulled.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with Cassie, but she’s right.” Jesse joined the red head’s side, “What about when we first saw each other? You thought I was your Jesse, got upset, and grabbed me. Why didn’t you--”

“That was different.” Aiden raised his voice.

“You aren’t our Jesse.” Aiden’s hands were beginning to shake as he stepped closer to Jess, who was now backing away.

Jess opened his mouth, but Maya got between the two before things could get worse. “What’s done is done.” Maya folded her arms. “Aiden messed up. We gotta work on fixing it now.”

“Maya’s right.” Stella started pulling on a strand of her hair while tapping her foot against the wooden floor. “With these two stuck here, The Awakening possibly planning something, and now Jesse knowing about Olivia, we have no time to argue.”

Olivia turned to Aiden, “Where’s Jesse now?”

Aiden shook his head, “I don’t know. He ran the opposite away.”

“That gives us some time to figure out what to do before he comes back.” Maya said. Then the room became quiet again.The only sounds filling the void was Stella’s foot tapping and wooden boards creaking from Aiden’s pacing.

Jess watched everyone think to themselves. No one was communicating or even standing close to each other, and while he wanted to speak up to get people talking, and get the feeling of progress actually being made, he didn’t know what to say. He returned to the stairs where Olivia stood and sat on one of the steps. He rested his head on his hands and sighed.

“You alright?” Jess asked quietly.

“No.” Olivia mumbled, slowly sitting down. ‘I shouldn’t be scared.’ She thought. She really shouldn’t. She survived a Witherstorm, the Admin, and other horrific situations, but in those cases, she knew what to be scared of, she knew what she was working with. What did she know about this universe? That there’s a creepy cult and an unstable version of her friend? She still didn’t know what The Awakening was capable of, nor the other Jesse. What’ll she do when he finds her? She hasn’t met the other Jesse yet--not that she wants to. Would she be able to tell the difference between her’s and the other? What’ll he do when he finds her?

Olivia glanced back at Jess and saw he was brainstorming now. She would love to hear some of his optimism right now. A light hearted joke, a comment poking fun at the situation, or just him telling her it’ll be okay. She needed it.

But she never got it.

“I guess we won’t be able to go out anymore, huh?” Jess muttered.

“No, you won’t.” Aiden approached the two, his arms crossed. “Jesse’s probably gonna start looking for Olivia here. We might need to hide you two somewhere else.”

“Not that I disagree with you, but where could we possibly hide them? Radar’s house?” Stella questioned.

Cassie groaned, “And what’ll Radar do when Jesse breaks in? Flip out again? Cry?”

“Cass--” Maya was about to start but kept her focus on the situation, “I don’t think Radar’s place is the best option either. If someone attacks, he’ll be unprepared. And I don’t think he’d be on board with Jess staying at his place after what’s happened.”

“We can’t do Hadrian and Mevia’s either.” Aiden said.

“Why not?” Gill asked, “They got some pretty good weapons! They could protect ‘em.”

“I know, but I don’t think they’d trust Jess either--” Aiden stopped. A lightbulb went off, “Unless we split these two up!”

“Not happening.” Jess shot the idea down coldly, “First you all treated me like I was some maniac, then you rat out my friend, and NOW you want us to split up?”

“This could be our safest option--” Stella spoke but was cut off by Jess.

“No, here is our safest option. You guys have plenty of weapons, Olivia and I can fight back, there’s plenty of hiding spots,” With each point he listed off, he kept getting closer to Aiden until they were face to face, “and I’ve been through much worse than one crazy person. We’re staying here.” Jess ended, snatching Olivia’s hat from Aiden’s hand.

“Fine.” Aiden said stiffly.

“Glad we… We got that settled.” Stella laughed nervously.

“If they’re staying here we should probably lock… Well… Everything.” Maya pointed out.

Stella jumped, “Right! We don’t know how long these two will be staying here!” She rushed towards the nearest windows and locked them before throwing the curtains over them. “Can’t risk Jesse--or anyone--seeing them!”

Gill sat on a barstool and stroked his beard. He watched Stella go from window to window, repeating the locking and covering process frantically. He watched Jess and Olivia talk quietly to one another, then his eyes drifted over to the table in the living room where the items for the flint and steel and book laid, then something clicked.

“Maybe we don’t gotta worry bout Jesse for long.” Gill said, a small smile forming.

“Hm?” Maya turned her head towards him as she flipped a light switch on. With no street lights or moonlight coming through the windows anymore, their house was beginning to darken.

“Well, I was thinkin’ that if we made th’flint ‘n steel, we’d be able to send those guys home. There’d be no Olivia or Jess for our Jesse to get, then we’d only have to worry bout The Awakenin’!”

Everyone stared at Gill. Stella stopped what she was doing to think about the plan.

“Two birds, one stone.” Maya shrugged, “We could do it.”

“Yeah, that could work!” Jess agreed, feeling a little more hopeful. Olivia nodded.

“Yes, but didn’t Petra tell us she’d take at least a week to find the rest of the materials?” Stella asked, her nails tapping against the glass of the window she had stopped on. Could they keep Jess and Olivia hidden for a week? Could they even stop their Jesse from breaking in after a few days? Locking doors and windows can only do so much.

“I can run over to Petra’s and see if she’s still home.” Cassie Rose spoke up, “I could tell her we need to speed things up and maybe look around her cave. She probably has some of the stuff we need in one of her chests.”

“But what if she ain’t home?” Gill tilted his head.

“And what if she doesn’t have the items.” Maya added.

“Then I’ll mine for the things myself!” Cassie said, already marching to the front door, “I’ll go to the Nether alone if I have to! I’ve done it before!” Cassie said.  

Cassie could hear Stella gasp and knew she was about to start lecturing.

“I’ve broken the law a bunch of times. I’ll be fine.” She said.

Stella closed her mouth and clasped her hands together, “I know, I know, but please be safe.”

“I will.” Cassie opened the door, but before she could leave, Stella asked for a favor.

“Since The Awakening is involved in this… Mess, do you think you could ask Radar to come over?”

‘Why me?’ Was the response Cassie wanted to give, but when she looked back at Stella and the rest of her friends, she knew she couldn’t complain.

She gripped the door’s handle, “Yeah, sure.”

And with that being said, she left.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stupid Aiden and his stupid slip ups in front of stupid JESSE. Out of all the nights to do something stupid he does it tonight. Cassie could only imagine what’ll happen in these next few days. Maybe Jesse--or heck, any other Awakening freak--might snatch Olivia and think she’s some weird zombie who’s been resurrected by their amazing ‘Hero’. Or maybe they’ll dig up her body from her memorial and do freaky cult things to it. What if they kill the other Olivia? Then they’ll have TWO dead Olivias.

This wasn’t the first time Aiden’s done something stupid because of Jesse, and it probably won’t be the last.

She wasn’t mad--Actually, that was a lie.

She was very mad. Not just at Aiden, but at everything.

It feels like everything has gotten worse since Jess and Olivia stepped foot into their universe. She and the others had enough problems to deal with before, but now having to deal with two look-alikes of their old friends, the dumb Awakening schemeing something, and now Aiden’s dumb stunt, their stress has been amped up by a thousand.

Maya’s right, though. There’s nothing she can do now to change what’s been done. She needs to focus on getting to Petra. Maybe Petra already found the materials despite it being a couple of hours since they last saw her. Then they could figure out how to make the flint and steel, and then they can send Jess and Olivia home, then they wouldn’t have to worry about their creepy Jesse. Easy!

‘And what if she doesn’t have the items.’ Maya’s voice echoed in her head.

‘Then I’ll get ‘em myself!’ She snapped back at the imaginary Maya. Though she knew if she did that, with or without telling her friends, she’d get an earful from Stella.

Cassie Rose could perfectly imagine what Stella would tell her after she would return from the Nether: “I cannot believe you! Going off on your own to the NETHER of all places, don’t you remember what happened last time? We were barely able to convince the guards to let you go!”

Cassie understood Stella was only looking out for her; she always assumes the worst case scenario will happen, but hopefully she understands stopping The Awakening is far more important than the law. They can’t sit through a bunch of paperwork in some stupid office to get a stupid license so they can hit a few rocks with a pickaxe or explore the Nether when there are caves and a portal close by AND easily accessible. They can’t waste any time.

As she continued moving forward, one yellow house caught her attention. It was the smallest out of all the surrounding buildings, only being a single story, but it was like a beacon under the night sky. The front light was on, but Cassie wondered if it was even necessary, as every light inside was on and were practically illuminating the entire street. The only few things that interrupted the beams of light were the leaves and stems of the many potted plants on the balcony. As she neared the house, her running soon slowed into a walk, and then she came to a full stop.

‘Speaking of wasting time…’ Cassie thought again, staring at the light, dusty yellow home in front of her. It was almost a struggle to stare directly at the house without being blinded. Of course the most obnoxious, unavoidable house belonged to Radar.

‘Radar can wait.’ She told herself, getting ready to move along. ‘Petra has the important stuff.’

‘You told Stella you’d ask him.’ She nagged herself, stopping again.

Yes, she did, but Stella should’ve known better than to ask her. She knew how much she couldn’t stand that little man. Why couldn’t she have sent Gill instead? Gill loves Radar! Stella could’ve sent anyone else BUT her, even Jess would’ve been a better choice.

She stared at the horrible house for another moment.

Maybe she could skip over Radar and claim she forgot.

Yeah, she was soooo caught up on getting to Petra’s, Radar just slipped her mind.

‘Don’t do that.’ Cassie told herself. ‘Stella trusts you.’ And they did need him, whether or not she’d liked to admit it.

The redhead let out a long sigh as she began trudging over to the front door, which shared the same color as the porch and roof. As she grew nearer, she was able to make out more of the plants’ individual leaves, the flowers began looking less like blobs and more like the variety of spherical, funnel, and bell shapes that they were, she could even decipher the different colors of the flowers despite the overpowering yellow light. A long, thin green leaf brushed past her hand, making Cassie flinch and swat at it.

She breathed in, inhaling the overwhelming floral scent which invaded the porch, and gave the walnut-colored door three, hard knocks. She was tempted to break it, but restrained herself.

Her shoulders immediately drooped when she listened to distant footsteps on the other side grow closer. Cassie was imagining the possible responses Radar would have in store for her and found herself getting tired of his voice already, despite him not saying a word to her yet.

The locks started to click and the knob began to turn. She shoved her fists into her hoodie’s pocket.

‘Just get it over with.’ Cassie told herself, ‘For your friends.’

Radar’s head peaked out from behind the door. The caution in his eyes blinked away when he saw it was only her.

“Oh, Ros--Cassie Rose. Good evening. What brings you here so early?” He asked, stepping a foot out of his house, noticeably tense.

Cassie held back her second sigh, “Hey, we’re kinda having some issues right now and Stella was wondering if you could come over and help.” She muttered.

“I don’t know if I could…” Radar’s words trailed off and he thought to himself for a moment, “I… I won’t be able to come over at this mo--”

“Bummer.” Cassie didn’t give Radar the chance to finish. She heard all that she needed to. She turned around and hopped off the porch, giving Radar a stiff wave, “I’ll be sure to let them know, see you.” She said flatly before taking off.

‘There, you did it.’ She told herself as she picked up the pace.

Cassie didn’t know what Stella was expecting. You can’t expect anything good to come from an Awakening member, former or not.

Stupid cult boy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The forest felt different when running through it alone. When she was walking here with her friends earlier, they managed to make this dark, noisy place feel familiar and gave it a sense of security. The same sense of security she felt when they started exploring stranger territories while on their way to collect weapons to destroy The Awakening’s lava beast. The memories of them huddling together as they navigated through the strange, colorful caves whose interior defied logic, or fighting Awakening members who were unfortunate enough to run into them in other chaotic forests far away from town were still fresh in her mind. No matter how bizarre or overwhelming the environments were, they were together, and they made those alien places feel a lot less foreign.

‘Jeez, that was almost five years ago.’ Cassie remembered. It felt like last week.

This was still the same forest with the same thick trees, the same blaring bugs, and the same cracked path, but being alone brought a different sort of familiarity to it. She was reminded of the times before she had met Aiden and the others, when it was just her and Petra. She thought back to the times she’d be rushing to the cave, running through here with the guards on her tail, shouting at her to return the goods she had stolen from the Night Market. She’d take sharp turns every few seconds to throw them off, listening to the men’s voices get quieter and quieter, causing her to smile widely and laugh to herself. The bizarre mixture of fear and enthusiasm--the possibility of getting caught or getting away--it was that combination which motivated her to run even faster.

However, the one thing that remained consistent during her years of going here was how stupidly scary it could be. There wasn’t anything to be scared about, but Cassie’s brain would trick her into thinking the tangled branches were one of those huge, venomous spiders who were about to lunge at her face, or the sound of a branch cracking was actually a monster ready to pounce on her. It was stupid, she knew spiders--though they have attacked her here before--were uncommon, and any other monster was MILES away from Obsidian Town, but that didn’t stop her from doing a double take at any strangely shaped silhouette her eyes would catch.

When she reached the entrance of the cave, she remembered one benefit about coming here alone: Walking along the cave’s path was much easier. On one hand, it didn’t matter if she came here with friends or by herself, she’d still be sandwiched between two cold, wet, stone walls. On the other hand, she wouldn’t be sandwiched between two people while navigating through the tight squeeze.

As Cassie walked deeper into the cave, straying further and further from the light, she realized she forgot to knock. This used to be her home though--technically still is--so does she really have to knock? You wouldn’t knock on your own bedroom door, right? But Petra always wanted people to knock, or at the very least, shout out their name in the cave. One time Aiden forgot to knock during a visit, and he accidentally slammed the door in Petra’s face. She wasn’t too mad about getting hit, but she did go off about the knocking. ‘What if I was dealing with a client?!’ Petra snapped, ‘Or working on something personal? You don’t see me barging into your house unannounced!’. This led to Stella pointing out Petra’s constant law breaking was much worse than forgetting to make their presence known, which led to Petra simply responding: ‘Yeah, but I still have manners.’

Cassie knocked against one of the cave’s walls as she continued walking, “Hey! It’s Rose!” She announced, just in case Petra didn’t hear the knocking.

Cassie kept walking and waited for a response. She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She was almost at the door and Petra hadn't responded yet. Petra never takes this long to respond. Cassie sped up, if there was even a chance something bad had happened to Petra, she wasn’t going to take her time. She didn’t want to be too late.

‘Maybe she left already.’ Cassie told herself, not wanting to jump to any wild conclusions yet. She knew if Petra got into any trouble, she could handle herself, and the last thing she needed was another person to worry about. When Cassie got to the door, she kicked it open; the wood collided with the stone wall and made a loud BANG. There'd be no way Petra missed that.

Cassie didn’t see her friend, but what she did see straight ahead of her was an activated Nether portal, confirming her suspicions. Petra was gone. She was a little sad she missed out on saying goodbye to her, but at least she knew she was safe.

‘Better start looking.’ Cassie started for the chests by the stone base where the portals stood. The closer she got to the portal, the louder it’s groans and crackles became, making it nearly impossible to hear herself think. She opened the chest, barely able to hear the wood creak, and knelt down--her legs freezing the moment they touched the cold ground, despite her wearing long pants. She threw her hand in and peered inside to see whatever random items were thrown into the chest.

“Cobblestone, a bunch of sticks, clay, iron, a bell--” She listed aloud, trying to speak over the portal’s racket. Surely ONE of the items she was looking for was in one of the millions of chests scattered around here--

“Thief.” Cassie heard a deep, muffled voice from behind say. She whipped her head around and froze when she saw the Crying Wither looming over. They stared down at her through the eye holes of their wither skull; the white paint coating it had peeled off over time, leaving strips of the skull’s original, charocal-black color visible once again. The strips were thickest under the eyes.

Cassie clutched her chest and breathed in, “Thanks for the second heart attack today.”

“Second?” The Crying Wither tilted their head. They offered their sooty, gloved hand.

Cassie accepted it.

“Yeah, you can thank Aiden for the first one.” Cassie said as she was pulled to her feet. The Crying Wither reeked of smoke, and speckles of the Nether portal were still hanging onto their black, buttoned-up vest and dark gray, long sleeved shirt, which had a few tears in them.

“Oh boy.” Petra took off the skull, “What’d he do this time?”

Cassie ranted about the situation, about how Aiden revealed Olivia--not directly, but that didn’t matter--and now everyone was freaking out. While Petra was listening, she had to remind herself there were now two Jesses. This must’ve happened after they both visited her.

Cassie kept going off for another few minutes, getting everything out of her system, then returning her focus on Petra. “...That’s why I’m back though. That li’l creep is probably gonna be taking Olivia and we need to get her and the other Jess home.”

“Right, I get that.” Petra nodded, “And I get that this is serious, but I’m doing this alone, I’d be lucky if I found any of your supplies in a week.” She said, walking to the edge of the stone base and stepping off.

Cassie watched her friend approach a double chest by the cave’s door. “I know.” She shoved both of her hands into her pocket.

“But…” Petra placed her wither skull on the floor and opened the large chest. She pulled out a neatly folded stack of clothes. Cassie’s eyes lit up when she recognized they were the same dark blue pants and long sleeved shirt she used to wear, topped with her old brown belt and gloves as well.

“The process would definitely be faster if I had an extra set of hands.” Petra smiled as she walked over to Cassie again, “Whaddaya say, White Pumpkin? Just like old times?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“... That’s so weird to think about.” Olivia mumbled, sitting on the guest bed, and hugging her knees with her hat next to her. Lukas is gone. That’s a statement she never wanted to hear. He was a couple of years younger than her when he went missing, too.

“Yeah. It is.” Jess was leaning against the only window in the room, looking away from his friend. One of his hands was gripping the lift of the window, tempted to throw it open and get some fresh air, but he knew it had to stay locked.

Olivia didn’t know what to say. What more could be said after hearing about her close friend’s disappearance? That everything is going to work out? That they’ll find him? That there’s a chance he’s still alive? Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they both knew he was most likely dead. With no knowledge of how he died, Olivia could only hope his passing was painless.

Olivia kept thinking back to the story and what had happened. Her alternate self was involved in the search party, yet Olivia felt a strange sense of grief for not being able to recall memories that weren’t her’s, and she failed a Lukas who wasn’t theirs. Olivia could tell Jess felt a similar way when retelling the story; he’d become so invested his voice would crack and tears would well up in his eyes during certain parts, as if he had experienced it firsthand. He’d pause at some moments to remember what he was told, or to find a way to reword the situation--maybe in an attempt to shine a more hopeful light onto it, to make the blow softer for her or for himself.

“Man, our universe is kinda nice compared to this, huh?” Jess sat next to his friend, laughing a little. He wasn’t sure why he was laughing. This wasn’t funny.

Olivia watched him play with his red suspenders as he continued talking, “Back home, you and Lukas are alive. I’m almost certain Ivor might be dead as well--or heck, the entire Order. We don’t have some crazy cult or a crazy me running around, trying to find you now--”

“Mad at Aiden?” Olivia asked, though she already knew the answer..

“You aren’t?”

“I’m…” Olivia let her mouth hang for a moment, “I don’t really know how to feel right now. So much has been happening, I don’t think I can be mad at one specific person with what’s been going on.”

“I’m not blaming Aiden for this entire mess!” Jess jumped off the bed suddenly and began pacing around the room, “I know these people are supposed to be ‘the good guys’ of this universe, and I want to try to make things better, but being surrounded by these people and the way they’ve treated me--! I was just starting to warm up to them, and maybe we could’ve moved past those bad first impressions but--but--” Jess pulled on a lock of his hair tightly and stared at the ceiling as his pacing became faster, “Aiden slipped up cause of a hat! A stupid…!” He threw his head into his hands, fingers tangling in his hair.

It was quiet for a minute, only the sound of Jess’ heavy breathing filled the room. When he heard Olivia quietly call his name, he peeked at her through his fingers. Worry filled her eyes, but she wasn’t worried about Aiden, about the alternate Jesse, she wasn’t worried about a single thing in this universe right now. She was worried about him.

Jess’ hands slipped off his face and wrapped themselves around his body. “I’m… I’m sorry.” Jess finally said, taking a step closer to his friend.

Olivia scooched to the side, making more room on the bed for him.

“Aiden didn’t mean to.” Olivia mumbled as Jess sat back beside her. “And I know this isn’t the greatest environment to be,” She placed her hand on his shoulder, “but they do want to help us, and they’re trying their best, even if they’re clearly struggling from time to time.”

That got a light chuckle out of Jess. Olivia felt herself grinning as well.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Jess rested his head on his knees. His smile started to fade, “Things are getting worse. I don’t wanna drag you down by being stressed constantly. I want to keep your spirits up, you know?”

“I do know.” Olivia inched closer to Jess, “Do you know how many times I’ve been afraid of being a burden with my constant worrying?”

Jess blinked and lifted his head up, “What? But--You know you’d never be a burden to me or any of our friends!”

“Mhm, it’s because I have you around to remind me that you care, and I can say the same thing to you right now.”  

The two pulled each other into what was meant to be a quick hug, but they found themselves holding onto each other for longer than expected. In this moment, the cold world around them grew warmer. In this moment, their worries went away. In this moment, they had each other.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Not their door, the front door on the first floor.

Jess went back to the window and peered down.

“It’s Radar!” A little grin appeared on his face. It was reassuring to see Radar better, especially after the last time they saw him.

“I think I’m gonna head downstairs.” Jess said, watching the front door open and Aiden welcoming their friend in. “They needed him for something and I’m kinda curious about what that something is.”

Before Jess could leave the room, Olivia stopped him. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if you accidentally frighten him?”

Jess thought for a moment. Radar knew he wasn’t the same Jesse who attacked him the night before, but the awareness meant nothing when he looked exactly like the other Jesse. “I could… Sit on the steps? He wouldn’t have to worry about looking at me.” Jess suggested.

Olivia nodded in approval and the two headed off. As they neared the staircase, they could make out Radar and Aiden’s voices. Aiden’s voice was much louder compared to Radar’s; they could hear more of Aiden’s explanation of the current situation, while barely being able to understand Radar’s responses. When they reached the bottom, they sat down and made themselves comfortable on the last few steps. Aiden glanced in their direction and gave them a quick wave--he looked stressed--before bringing his full attention back to Radar, while Maya, Stella, and Gill listened.

“Oh, dear…” Radar was fidgeting with his clipboard and pen, “And you’re positive those were Awakening members?” He found himself struggling to maintain eye contact with Aiden, and kept glancing at the papers on his board rather than his friend.

“They didn’t say anything about The Awakening, and I didn’t see them,” Aiden confessed, “but I don’t know any other group of people who wander around underground.”

“We heard voices--well, Aiden heard ‘em, but he wouldn’t lie about this sorta stuff.” Gill added.

“Worst case, Aiden just went crazy for a second and didn’t hear anything.” Maya said the comment in her usual tone, but her bit of humor seemed to do the job at making Radar relax a little.

“But at the very slim chance they were members,” Stella spoke up, not too enthusiastic over this possibility, “do you happen to remember The Awakening ever mentioning portals? I do recall them attempting to summon--or search--for The Hero.”

“Oh yes, that was one of the portals’ purposes.” Radar placed his pen in his pocket to stop himself from clicking it constantly, “However, another important purpose associated with them is their connections to the afterlife.”

All eyes were on him, urging him to go on. He gripped his board tighter and swallowed.

“The… The portals…” Radar started, doing his best to keep his voice steady, “It was believed that those who were loyal to The Hero would have their souls taken to the universe which he was banished to…” Radar continued to avoid any sort of eye contact with his friends, and focused on sharing the information they wanted to hear. As he kept talking, his nervous rambling soon gained confidence, the same confidence he used to feel when he recited what he learned during the gatherings in front of the Visions, in front of Brenner, enthusiastically talking about this wonderful knowledge he had been gifted. It felt like a switch had been flipped in his mind, and that familiar enthusiasm was rushing throughout him as he talked about how the souls kept in this distant universe were protected by The Hero and treated wonderfully as their reward for remaining faithful. How those who turned against The Hero, or doubted his power, would be sent to an eternal abyss. The Awakening had always tried to create the portal which led to this universe of bliss, Radar remembered the elder members sharing stories about how close they were to making it! How they were disappointed in themselves for failing, but content knowing their loved ones were safe, even after death. Those thoughts, those visuals, oh they were all so comforting. Radar, despite knowing how horrible The Awakening’s mindset is, still found comfort in this idea during the nights he’d be wide awake and sobbing. It was like an embraceful hug, arms holding you carefully, paired with a gentle voice who promised you everything was going to be okay. You’ll be safe. Who wouldn’t want such a tale to be true? To know that when those you cared about left, there was a way to bring them back, even if it was nearly impossible.

“... Perhaps--if The Awakening truly is planning on creating a portal--they want to revive their Sense after his demise!” Radar finished boldly, proud of this conclusion he reached and believing everyone was on the same train of thought as him. When he looked back at his friends, he was disheartened to see the lost expressions on everyone.

“The--their Sense.” Radar said again, thinking this was the detail they were stumped on. “The man with black hair? Beard? He was one of the leaders and ran towards us with his sword--”

“No, no, we remember him.” Stella gave him a small smile and clasped her hands together. “It’s just…” She mumbled to herself, trying to figure out the nicest way to word her next phrase without crushing Radar’s spirits.

“Radar, I love ya buddy, but that didn’ make any sense.” Gill said. Maya nodded.

“Yeah, I got a little caught up on everything else you were saying.” Aiden admitted.

“It… It makes sense… To me.” Radar’s voice fumbled into a whisper.

To me. Those words repeated in his head. Of course everything he said made sense to him, but how could people who’ve never stepped foot into a gathering possibly comprehend what Radar was going off about?

“I didn’t really understand it either, but you really got into it.” Another voice spoke up. Radar turned to his left and yelped when he saw Jess sitting there with Olivia.

“Please warn me whenever you’re in the room.” Radar pressed his clipboard against his chest, catching his breath. A twinge of guilt shot through Jess.

“From what I could make out,” Olivia said, “The Awakening might be creating a portal to the afterlife because one of their leaders died?”

“Yes!” Radar exclaimed excitedly. He spun around to face Olivia’s direction, covering his left eye with his clipboard to keep Jess out of his sight. “That’s essentially it!”

After the others finally understood what Radar was talking about, they discussed what should be done next. Everyone still agreed sending Jess and Olivia home was the most important priority, and arguably the easiest task to complete compared to stopping an entire cult. Maya reminded them there was still a chance The Awakening might not be planning this, or involved with anything portal related at all. Nothing was certain yet.

“Thanks for coming over again, ‘preciate it.” Aiden said to Radar, “We’ll be sure to update Rose when she comes back.”

“I’m still surprised she actually went to you.” Maya raised her brows.

“Yes, so am I.” Stella said, “But I’m glad she did! Hopefully she’ll come home soon, even if she returns empty-handed. I just want her in one piece.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Petra shot out of the Nether portal and landed on the stone ground with a loud thud, her sword slipping out of her grasp and landing on the ground with a clatter. She threw her sack of items on the floor and yanked off her wither skull, coughing widely, trying to get the smoke out of her lungs. She had barely escaped a huge fireball that had been shot out from one of those horrifying Ghasts, but had luckily spotted it in time and was close enough to her portal to dive through it. Her only concern now was whether the obsidian portal on the other side had sustained any damage. It shouldn’t have. Hopefully.

Usually Rose would have been on the lookout for any monsters while Petra would gather up the goods they had found that day. The two of them used to get their hands on great items like blazerods, glowstone, quartz, sometimes they’d stumble upon ruined portals and find an entire block of gold! And even though the two of them knew how dangerous the Nether could be, they’d often treat the place as if it were their own personal playground. They’d climb those bizarrely tall crimson trees, hiding in their thick, soft leaves that would get tangled in their hairs, or sometimes nudging and poking the deformed pig-like inhabitants with their swords until one of the creatures would inevitably get angry and they’d have to run away, laughing as they told each other they’d never do that again, knowing full well they’ll do again.

There were also a few Nether Fortresses within walking distance of the portal--some much farther than others--they enjoyed exploring together. With each visit, the three fortresses would be filled with a new assortment of hellish monsters who dropped amazing loot, or they’d find a chest they’ve missed before and find an assortment of items. Their favorite fortress, however, was the one north of the portal. It was the farthest one away, and also the smallest of the three; having only one room with three separate doorways, one being the entrance, the left leading to a platform outside, and the final leading to what remained of a large bridge. About a quarter of the bridge was left, and whether the giant columns which used to hold the rest had collapsed, or monsters tore it apart was unknown, but it didn’t matter. Petra and Rose would sit together at the edge of the bridge, looking over the ocean of lava--Petra could only look down for so long before getting shaky--and in the distance, they could see more land. Land that they’ve yet to explore. They could make out unfamiliar vegetations, crooked structures, large arches and floating land. They still had so much adventuring to do, they hadn’t even finished thoroughly searching the side of the Nether they were currently on yet!

Her and Rose made a pact, promising they’d work to explore the entire Nether together. They’ll leave no stone unturned; they’ll claw their way up every mountain, fight any monsters that stood in their path, and venture through the darkest caves together. That promise was made years ago, and though Rose doesn’t have the time to join Petra like she used to, Petra was still keeping her word. She wasn’t going to explore anymore of the Nether unless Rose was right beside her.

Ever since Rose moved in with Aiden and her other friends a few months ago, rummaging in the Nether has been a whole new level of difficulty. She didn’t mind the extra challenge, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t lonely.

Petra glanced at the sack on the ground and picked it up, it was light. Kind of disappointing when comparing it to her bags in the past. She loosened the rope around it and peeked inside; chunks of soul sand, mushrooms, and a whole bunch of glowstone. It wasn’t much, but it was still something. She placed the bag on top of the chest nearby the portal and let out a long, loud sigh.

“Rough day?” A voice asked, causing Petra to jolt. She immediately grabbed the sword on the ground and spun around, ready to fight the intruder.

“Wait, wait! I’m sorry--!” Jesse yelped, shielding himself with his arms. Petra lowered her sword and let out another sigh, this one out of relief.

“You’re okay,” Petra leaned the sword against the portal, “but why were you hiding behind my portal? You weren’t planning on attacking me, were you?” She raised a brow. It was Jesse’s turn to jump.

“No, no, no, no! I was looking for you, and I couldn’t find you anywhere, so I started walking around, but then I heard the portal making a weird sound and--”

“I was just being mean, I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” Petra chuckled. Jesse relaxed a little. She tilted her head at him, “Come on up.”

Jesse’s face brightened and he stepped onto the platform. As he approached Petra, the purple light and strange sounds coming from the portal grabbed his attention. His walking slowed as he turned his head to get a good look at this amazing structure. He doesn’t remember the last time he’s been this close to a Nether Portal, he doesn’t even know if he has been this close before. It almost didn’t look real.

And he kinda…

Kinda sorta…

Wanted to stick his hand in it. He really wanted to.

Petra must’ve known what he was about to ask, because before he could even pop the question, she said, “You can touch it if you wanna.”

His eyes sparkled and he gave a quick, excited thanks before shoving his hand into the portal’s glistening entrance.

To his surprise, the purple vortex was cold. He had always imagined the gateway that connected their world to the world of lava would’ve been excruciatingly hot. He didn’t mind being wrong, though, it was strangely pleasant. He’d move his fingers individually, able to feel them stir through the substance with no struggle at all. It was almost like… A small stream, one he’d find near the town’s borders, where he’d dip his feet in and watch the water continue to flow and swirl, undisturbed by his presence.

Jesse was almost tempted to shove his head in there, curious if it’d feel just as pleasant on his face, but then he’d risk throwing himself face first into the Nether. And he wasn’t ready for that. Maybe another day.

“So, why were you looking for me again?” Petra asked. Jesse pulled his arm out of the portal.

“I… I just needed to get--” He cleared his throat, “I just wanted to check on you, you know?”

“Not really.” Petra folded her arms, “I appreciate the thought, but you know I can take care of myself.”

“No!” Jesse blurted, “I mean, I do know that, but that’s not what I meant.”

Petra looked at him. He swallowed, “You’re not… Mad at us, are you?”

Petra blinked, “No?” She cocked her head, “Why would I be?”

Jesse crossed his legs and looked away, “I feel like we took Cassie from you.” He held his hands behind his back, “We busted in here one day, said ‘Hey! We’re gonna save the world!’, grabbed her, and next thing we know it, she’s living with us instead of you. And--”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Petra interrupted, “Jesse, first of all, you didn’t ‘take’ Rose from me, she wanted to tag along with you guys, just like how she chose to move in with you. You’re acting like she died or something, but she didn’t, right?” Her brows went up.

“Right. She’s still in one piece.” Jesse forced out a chuckle.

“Exactly. And guess what? Even if she’s off doing her own thing now, she still visits me. She’s allowed to do whatever she likes and I’m not gonna stop her. Besides, what sort of person would I be if I didn’t let my friends grow?” Her words were exactly what Jesse needed to hear. The frown on his face disappeared and he fixed his posture, much more energetic than he was seconds ago.

Petra found herself grinning at Jesse’s reaction, his happiness was rather contagious. She wrapped her arm around him, “And the best part about her visits is her tellin’ me what you and the others have been up to! Like fightin’ off cult members, or almost setting your house on fire--”

“Hey, that was Stella’s fault!” He laughed.

“Oh right, Miss Professional Baker.” The two of them laughed some more.

Petra kept going, “My favorite story from her so far is when you guys chucked one of those cult creeps into lava!” Jesse’s laughing stopped and he went a little pale, Petra kept talking, “Hero, every time I think about it it makes me pumped! Next time you plan on doing that, you gotta invite me.” She smirked.

Jesse’s throat tightened, “That was an accident.”

“Don’t be ashamed of knocking one of those sickos off this planet.” Petra gave him a light punch. “If I was there, you know I’d never shut up about it. Like ‘Hey! You’re talkin’ to the girl who killed a cult leader! You better watch it’!” She stuck her finger out and gritted her teeth, acting out the fake conversation.

When she saw Jesse still wearing an uncomfortable expression, she changed the subject. “How’s everyone doing in Obsidian Town?”

“Oh, good.” Jesse perked up, “Stella, Radar, and Olivia have been helping with the town’s repairs after that little lava monster incident.”

“Yeah, hardly even noticed it.” Petra rolled her eyes playfully.

“Right.” He chuckled a little, “Cassie, Gill, Aiden, Lukas, and I are gonna be heading off to another city to pick up some materials when the sun sets.”

“Sunset? Today?” Petra asked. Jesse nodded.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t stop worrying about you.” He admitted.

“Awh, I’m touched. BUT,” Petra started guiding Jesse to her cave’s door, “there’s no need. Like I said, I appreciate you checkin’ in, but it’s not necessary.”

“I know.” Jesse’s voice dwindled. They reached the door and stood there for a moment. Petra stared at him, he looked crushed.

“Buuuuuuut if you wanna…” Petra spoke up, “You can come over once a week? Every two weeks? Just pop in, say hi, catch up. You know.” She shrugged.

Jesse was back to smiling, “I’d love that! I can think of a specific day where we can hang out so I won’t scare you again!”

“I didn’t get scared!” Petra shot back, face turning slightly red. She opened the door and shoved Jesse out. “Now get OUTTA here, you got a city to go to!”

“Right, right!” Jesse hurriedly made his way to the exit. “I’ll see you next week!” He shouted, his voice bouncing off the cave walls.

“You better knock next time!” Petra hollered back with a big grin on her face.

[phoenixfeatherquill]

Midwinter (3/5)

AN:  More smut!

In Pelle’s dreams, he saw her dancing. 

It was the first time she smiled. No, that wasn’t right. She had smiled when he had given her the birthday sketch, touched that someone remembered her. That someone saw her. But while the smile had been sincere, it was tinged with Christian disappointing her. Christian hurting her. Even his art could not overcome that. 

But when she danced with her future handmaids, she forgot her pain. She was caught up in the embrace of his family, the exhilaration of the dance, and became…joyous. She laughed like a child, threw her hair back as she held the hands of her handmaids. Her laughter touched something deep inside Pelle and he knew in that singular moment that he wanted to make her laugh, make her smile, bring her joy…forever. And when her excitement disappeared, when she caught Christian’s disapproving gaze and her face fell…Pelle knew he wanted Christian to suffer. And suffer he did. 

But in this dream, it was not the violent music of the villagers that he saw Dani listen to. Instead, it was a woman’s voice, someone who sounded like his mother, singing a lullaby or a folk song from long ago. He realized with a jolt that it was the same song, but darker, slower, more melodic. And as Dani danced, a shadowy figure appeared and danced with her. The figure had hoofed feet and played the fiddle for her. He looked familiar to Pelle, like a younger version of his father, perhaps, but his eyes gleamed in the darkness. No, that wasn’t right…the eyes were burning like hot embers. The way the temple burned to the ground in front of them all last summer. But Dani was entranced and jubilant. 

The song was a popular folk song played all over Sweden, covered by everyone from metal bands to choirs. It told the tale of the devil disguising himself as a fiddler and leading a group of young women away from the comforts of their village into an eternal orgasmic dance until they fell to their feet. 

The Christian implications were clear. The Devil seducing wayward women who forgot their new God too easily. But for the Hårga, the meaning was obscured. The dark one, too easily defined by the Christians as the Devil, led the women in a willing sacrificial dance. They gave up their lives for the sake of the village, as was their way. And the dark one was not one half of a simplistic theological binary. He—or she, depending on the tale—was far more complex. The dark one represented the bloody darkness of sacrifice, of sexual desire, the pain of birth, the rot of and stink of decay, everything that was accepted and part of the life of the Hårga. Not as something to be feared or a punishment, but all part of a glorious dance. 

In his dream, he saw the fiddler dance with Dani. But instead of her falling to her death, the fiddler stopped his mysterious melody. He knelt before her and Pelle recognized the fiddler as himself—but shrouded in darkness with cloven feet. Dani touched the crown of his head. For she was the goddess. His goddess. 

Pelle’s eyes flicked open. Dani was nestled against his chest and his heartbeat sped as he looked at her. He dreamed of her as his May Queen, yes, but there was something more to the dream. The gods had sent it, surely. Dani was something more than their May Queen, their future leader. But what? 

He could not interpret dreams on an empty stomach. He wanted hot coffee and a large breakfast ready for Dani when she awoke. So he gently kissed her forehead and rolled away from her. She frowned in her sleep at the absence of his warmth and he stroked her head gently before heading downstairs. 

**** 

When Dani awoke, she was alone. 

She sleepily stretched out her arm, searching for Pelle’s warmth. She felt nothing but cold sheets and her eyes shot open. 

Winter sunlight flooded the master bedroom. She blinked blearily at her surroundings. Memories from last night flooded her mind, the black dress, the Hårga’s harmonies, Pelle’s tongue…heat filled her cheeks. 

She sat up a little and moved towards the left-hand window next to her bed. Snow blanketed the ground and frosted the trees. It looked like something out of a fairytale, out of Narnia. It was beautifully inviting and she felt the intense urge to walk around in it. She swallowed. Her family had died the night of a terrible snowstorm. Snow always seemed ominous and cruel. But here… 

She wrapped her blankets around her and she wondered again where Pelle went off to. Was he mad at her? Sometimes when she didn’t want to have sex but still wanted to cuddle with Christian, he’d get angry and leave in the middle of the night. She’d be too embarrassed to bring it up in the morning, and Christian would refuse to speak to her, icily drinking his coffee. This didn’t seem like something Pelle would do, but surely he’d heard Christian’s complaints… 

Dani hugged her knees and listened. She thought she could hear movement downstairs. “Pelle?” She called out tentatively. 

There was no response. She hugged her knees a little tighter and let the dread rise in her chest. 

Before panic could completely consume her, her door popped open and Pelle peered inside. 

“Did you call me?” He looked at her in concern, huddled in her blankets. “I was making you coffee. And some breakfast.” 

“I thought you might have left.” 

She winced—the words sounded pathetic out loud. But Pelle cocked his head, a little like a spaniel. 

“Go? Where would I go?” He teased. 

“I—I don’t know,” Dani mumbled. He went to her and sat on the corner of the bed. He touched squeezed her knee. 

“Sorry,” She rested her head on her knees. “I’m being paranoid. Christian would get mad at me if I didn’t—mornings would be awkward.”

Pelle frowned at that. “Why on earth would I be mad at you?” 

Dani combed her fingers through her hair. “I just don’t like waking up alone.” 

His eyes widened. She looked away from him in embarrassment. He came fully on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into his warmth and the two of them fell softly onto the bed. 

“I will never let you wake up alone again,” He murmured in her ear. “I promise. Forgive me?” 

There was nothing to forgive. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heartbeat. 

“Did you sleep all right?” He asked. “Would you like me to bring you your breakfast?” 

She nodded, still embarrassed. He held her warmly and stood, making his way out of the bedroom to retrieve it. 

He returned with a tea tray with a large silver coffeepot and thick white mugs. She noticed thin, dark slices of toasted bread on the tray and an assortment of spreads. She had been in Sweden long enough to recognize the fare, which included butter, cheese, thin slices of ham, pickles, cucumber, and tomatoes. 

“And something else,” Pelle said with a smile. He brought another plate that was stacked with waffles and Dani beamed. 

“I love waffles,” She took the plate and happily started eating. “My favorite food.” 

“I know.” 

Dani snorted. “Did Christian tell you that?” 

Pelle shook his head. “Do you remember when we first met?” 

She thought for a moment. Meeting Pelle? Honestly, meeting Christian’s friends had blurred together. She had seen them sporadically, the nights she spent at Christian’s apartment, the parties she accompanied him at. She didn’t remember the first time she met Pelle. 

“I know Christian introduced us,” She offered hesitantly. “But I don’t remember exactly when. Sorry.” 

Pelle shrugged. “I don’t expect you to. But I remember. It was after a…late night. Mark had dragged us all to a party across town. We stayed there till about 7AM. All I wanted to do was go back to my bedroom and sleep for the rest of time, but Christian wanted coffee and he didn’t want to go to the cafeteria by himself. He knew you’d be there and he didn’t want you to know where he’d been.” 

Dani frowned. Christian often told her that he’d had late night study sessions with the guys…it shouldn’t surprise her that this was less than accurate. 

“I hadn’t met you yet. I’d only been in the States for about a week—I arrived a little later in the semester…visa issues. I was heavily jetlagged, exhausted from the parties Mark dragged us to, and the last thing I wanted to do was cover for Christian.” Pelle grimaced at the memory. 

“But he insisted,” He stretched out onto the bed and took a piece of toast. “And we went into the cafeteria. All I wanted was coffee and the coffee machine was broken. I was muttering to myself in Swedish, so they wouldn’t know how irritated I was…and you came up to our table to say hi to Christian. You were wearing pajama pants, ones with little black bears on them. I thought you looked so cute.” 

“I was in my pajamas?!” Dani groaned a little. It was silly to be embarrassed by this reminiscence. But she was a college student after all, and no college student went anywhere before 10:00AM in anything but pajamas. 

“You were beautiful,” Pelle smiled at her and tugged a lock of her hair. “And you waxed poetic about how much you loved waffles, though your mother’s were better. I looked at you and Christian and thought about all the things Christian had said about you…and I felt angry. And jealous. For the first time, I was…envious of something he had. And I hated him for it.” 

Pelle had been…jealous? Of her? 

A draft made her shiver. “Was that—was that the reason you chose him? To come here?” 

He shook his head. “I chose him before I met you. But…the truth is, Dani, he made me so furious with him for how he treated you. I confess…I encouraged him to break up with you, along with Mark and Josh. But my reasons were entirely selfish.” 

A smile crept onto her face. “What, were you planning on asking me out if Christian had broken up with me?” 

“Certainly not,” Pelle stroked her back affectionately. “How could I ask the gods for such an honor? It would be like demanding the moon and stars come down and dance for me. No, I only wanted him to stop hurting you and treating you cruelly. But after you lost your family…well, I knew the only way to separate you both permanently would be our trip to Sweden. I never imagined he’d bring you as well.” 

Dani never imagined it either. She never intended on forcing Christian’s hand. She hadn’t particularly wanted to go to Sweden. But the way Christian had thrown it at her like a dagger, “if you’re so upset about it, you can come, I just didn’t want to invite you because you were going through so much!” He had expected her to turn him down. It felt good to take him up on the offer, to force him to tell the rest of his band that Yoko Ono was coming too. Even if she felt the rest of his friends’ displeasure acutely. 

Pelle ran his fingers through his hair and gazed up at the ceiling. “He nearly spoiled everything. I was…terrified that you were coming too.” 

She cocked her head towards him. Pelle’s admission was interesting. Like Josh and Mark, he hadn’t wanted her to come—but it seemed to out of a worry for her life, not because she was breaking up the band. 

“I can’t really say I’m sorry for it,” She admitted and Pelle laughed. 

“I’m a believer in a higher power, Dani,” He smiled at her in a tender way that made her heart ache. “When I learned that your birthday was over Midsommar…and the way you shone like the sun among my family…I knew you were sent here for a reason. I didn’t know what reason. I just knew I was the gods’ courier. And now…you are our May Queen. Nothing was coincidence.” 

Dani stared at him seriously. “What would have happened? If I were chosen to be sacrificed for Midsommar?” 

Pelle shook his head briskly. “Oh no. That would not have happened. Of this I am sure.” 

“But what if it had?” She persisted. “What would you have done?” 

He hesitated. It was because of Pelle that Mark, Josh, and Christian were all dead. The night Josh disappeared, Dani had woken up and seen both Josh and Pelle’s empty beds. She suspected Josh’s desperation to create a stronger thesis would lead him to do something reckless and she had no doubt that Pelle had distributed the consequences. She was no friend of Josh’s; he had considered her an annoyance and distraction of Christian’s. But when Christian had declared to him that the Hårga would now be his thesis…even Dani thought it was a scummy thing to do. 

“I would not have let it happen.” 

Pelle’s voice, so low and barely above a whisper jerked Dani out of her reminisces. She looked at him somewhat astonished. Pelle’s loyalty to his village was one of his distinguishing characteristics. It was an almost rebellious thing to say. And it seemed that he considered the statement selfish; pink tinged his cheeks and he averted his gaze in shame. 

He cleared his throat. “But it never would have happened. The moment Siv saw you…she sensed something about you. Everything aligned together. The day of your birth, Midsommar, your coronation…all of it was fated. You were fated to be our queen.” 

His eyes met hers. “My queen.” 

Heat coursed through Dani’s body. Pelle was looking at her that way, that heart-wrenching and tender way that made her feel short of breath. She felt the strong desire to kiss him again. 

 Well, why not? I am the May Queen, aren’t I? 

She brought her lips to his and she felt him gasp at her boldness. Last night it was Pelle who took control, who kissed her and apologized for taking the liberty. But she didn’t have to apologize. He was here to serve her, to adore her, to please her, and he seemed only to happy to oblige. She so loved how he tasted in the morning…a heady combination of dark coffee and sugar from the glazed rolls. 

Dani could feel him hardening against her and to her delight, it no longer made her anxious. It didn’t matter how much she turned him on, Pelle would never guilt her or get angry with her; whatever boundaries or limits she set for herself. The wild comfort of this made her kiss him even harder and run her fingers down his chest. 

She paused in her ministrations to observe him. He opened his heavy-lidded eyes and murmured, “Now I shall make you breakfast every morning.” 

She laughed and kissed him again. She wanted to taste him everywhere, the flavor of his cheekbones, the smooth curve of his neck, his lovely, golden chest. She pushed him down onto the bed and pinned his arms. He watched her in utter rapture. 

“I want you,” Dani admitted. “I haven’t…I haven’t wanted someone like this in a long time. Or I guess…I haven’t felt comfortable wanting someone like this in a long time.” 

His gaze was tender. “This is how it should be, Dani. This is how you should be loved. It…infuriates me that you’ve known anything else.”

She swallowed. “There’s something else.” 

Pelle raised an eyebrow. 

“When I have sex…sometimes it hurts. Most of the time it hurts, actually. My gyno called it ‘vaginismus’. I tense up and I can’t handle penetration. I was working with someone on it before—before my parents died, but…I just…” She looked away from him. “I’m embarrassed about it.” 

She released his arms and he immediately cupped her face. His finger stroked down her cheek, but she could not meet his gaze. 

“Did Christian know?” Pelle asked. 

“I told him,” Dani kept her eyes fixed on the bedspread. “I don’t think he believed me. He just said I was frigid and needed to relax. And then accused me of blaming him for our sex life being bad and I—it was just a mess.” 

She twisted a lock of her hair in anxiety. “But I wanted to tell you because—because I feel like you’re doing all the giving and I’m not—I’m not giving back.” 

“Oh, Dani,” Pelle sat up and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re thinking about this all wrong. This isn’t a transaction. You are not a vending machine; I do not give you affection in exchange for sex. This is an expression of my feelings for you and yours for me. I told you truthfully last night; if you never wanted to have penetrative sex, that would be all right. You are my May Queen, my summer goddess, and I will worship you however you want.” 

She gazed at him levelly. “But what if I want to give back to you?” 

He smiled at her. “Then I will gladly receive. But on your terms. Within your boundaries. With the knowledge that you can stop if ever you should feel uncomfortable.” 

Dani stared at him as he ran his fingers through her hair. He tilted his head in a silent question. 

“I was just wondering how I got so caught up in Christian when you were right there.” She murmured and it made him laugh. 

“I didn’t exactly make my presence known,” He chuckled and gently flipped her over on her back. “But now, my queen…with your permission…” 

Pelle’s lips traced down her skin and lingered at her breasts. She was rather small-chested; another source of insecurity in her previous relationship (Christian had made no secret of his preference for women with bigger tits) but Pelle worshiped them reverently with his tongue. She cried out when his tongue flicked over her nipple and sucked gently. His teeth grazed over the sensitive buds and Dani curled her fingers into the sheets. How was his mouth so good? 

His fingers stroked down the length of her sides until she felt them approach her inner thighs. She took a deep breath and tried to force herself to relax—always a lost cause, relaxation could not be forced. But she so badly wanted to just let go and enjoy herself with Pelle… 

“Dani,” Pelle murmured in her ear. His fingers lazily circled her thighs, nowhere near her core. She looked up at him. 

“Do you remember when we went bowling?” 

She thought. “I think so?” 

“It was in the fall,” Pelle told her and she felt the tension leave her shoulders as he continued to massage her thighs. “But a hot fall day. There was a large group of us. Boys against the girls. You and a few friends, Mark’s girlfriend at the time, a girl I invited for an even number…you beat us soundly.” 

“I…do remember that,” She reached up to touch Pelle’s beard. “And the girl you brought. She was pretty.” 

He grinned at her. “Vivian. She was dating a girl named Andrea. But a very fun girl. She told me not to invite her to things with Mark and Christian again. But she knew how I felt about you. She teased me mercilessly, especially when you came in that little sundress…” 

Dani buried her head in his shoulder. “You remember what I was wearing?” 

“Of course. A little white sundress with sunflowers on it. It was very…distracting.” 

His voice became husky and his fingers traveled up her thighs, barely grazing her. Electricity swam through Dani’s veins as she tried to remember why she wore a sundress to a bowling alley. 

“Oh,” She whispered. “That was it. It was—it was my mother’s birthday. We took her out for Sunday brunch. I didn’t have time to change…I was really worried about the dress smelling like cigarette smoke…” 

“You sat next to me at one of the little tables,” Pelle’s fingers teased her inner folds, stroking in and out—not enough for her to tense. He was as gentle as butterfly wings and Dani began to feel heat travel up her core. 

“I was trying so hard not to stare at you,” Pelle bit her earlobe and she squeaked. “I could not believe Christian barely looked at you.” 

Dani remembered. “He was talking to the girl you brought. Vivian. She was wearing a crop top. She had all these tattoos…” 

“Vivian thought he was ridiculous,” Pelle sucked on her earlobe gently. “But she thought it was funny to keep him distracted while I talked to you. You were swinging your legs back and forth. You smelled like strawberries and mint and I was losing my mind.” 

His fingers delved deeper inside her and to Dani’s surprise, she did not experience that familiar twinge of pain. His voice had relaxed her; she was becoming flushed and heated at the memory of her sitting in a bowling alley, innocently driving Pelle crazy. 

“What did—what did you want to do to me?” She half-panted and Pelle groaned at the question. His fingers probed deeper but still so gently, backing off at any sort of resistance, circling her clit with each penetration. 

“I wanted to take you, right there on that sticky table. I wanted to knock off all the beers and kiss you until you were breathless.” To show her his point, he captured her lips and Dani moaned at the vivid image. 

“I wanted to make love to you in front of Christian. Have him see you screaming and wet; lick every inch of you until you were trembling. I wanted you to feel every inch of me and I wanted to see Christian’s face as I did it.” 

Dani’s back arched as Pelle’s fingers entered her more deeply. It didn’t hurt. She didn’t know if it was because she felt so relaxed and sated in Pelle’s arms or if it was his husky voice velveting every single word he spoke, but for the first time, it did not feel like violation. She ached for him. 

But not yet. While his fingers thrust within her, his thumb rubbed against her soaking clit and just as in his fantasy, Dani cried out hoarsely, waves of pleasure rocketing her forward. 

“It’s almost a shame he is dead,” Pelle whispered in her ear, thrusting his fingers inside and out, over and over. “I wish he could see you like this. I wish I could’ve done this to him before he died. But I’ll not lie to you my Queen, when you sentenced him to death, I smiled and praised the old gods for you.” 

Dani was gasping. She watched dazedly as Pelle pulled his fingers out of her sopping core and, looking her straight in the eye, tasted her off his fingers. She tried to say something but it only came out in a sated moan. He then kissed her again and she could taste her own salty-sweetness on her tongue. 

She leaned back on her pillows and tried to return to sanity, Pelle’s fingers lazily carding her hair.

[19mrs-barnes17]

Decide

Summary: You neighbor’s clock is evil and the walls are very thin.

Part: 1/1

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: injury, hospital, ...that’s it?

Word count: 3.412

A/N: Gonna open up my requests for dialogue prompts with a pairing. Enjoy!

~

The noise was obnoxious, so early in the morning it echoed through the paper thin walls. With a groan you rolled out of bed and slipped into exercise gear. This was becoming a real inconvenience for your lazy natured ass and you did not appreciate it. Stuffing your card into the secret slit in your waistband you waltzed out the door, locking up your apartment as you slipped in your bluetooth headphones. When you reached the staircase you pressed play on spotify before sliding your phone into your single pocket on your thigh and speeding down the steps. 

Working out was not an activity you particularly enjoyed doing, but the reward of adrenaline and energy was enough that you began to mind the early wake ups less each day. They had become part of your routine and besides, you were far too nice to tell your neighbor that his alarm echoed into your room and woke you bright and early every day. You were stuck in the habit anyhow, if you didn’t hear the alarm you’d be worried. 

On the bright side your endurance was improving with each early morning jog, and yet your courage was at a standstill. Your neighbor was gorgeous, and an absolute sweetheart who had helped you move into your apartment two months ago. Yet neither of you had made a move. Not once.

Today you planned on changing that, tired of waiting for him to do something and done with worrying if he didn’t feel the same. You were in the mood to move against the grain, be the first to make a move. A to hell with it type headspace.

As you jogged down the sidewalk you decided to change your usual route, opting to run laps around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in front of the Washington Monument instead. The area was empty when you arrived, not a soul in sight as you began your first lap. Soon enough, however, you found that a man began to pass you repeatedly and often within the same lap. You knew it was your neighbor Steve, and boy was he driving you crazy muttering those three damn words every time he sped by.

“On your right.” Though you had your music playing, his voice still broke through, the vocals and instruments not loud enough to drown him out. You really wanted to retort or show him off, but you knew that you had to conserve your energy if you were to keep going. Your pride refused to let you stop before he did. While you kept a constant speed and never sped up out of spite, it took all of your energy to do so. 

“On your right.” You really were gonna let him have it for these taunts, they were killing you. He was relentless and you were becoming exhausted the more you heard him utter that phrase. This was ridiculous, just because you didn’t have the endurance of a super soldier didn’t make you weak. And yet, you’re stupid pride and stubbornness wouldn’t let you quit. 

“On your right.” You couldn’t help but let a laugh slip as he passed by, you could see a hint of a smile dance across his lips as he rounded the corner. When he reached the steps he slowed to a stop, you thanked the gods, reaching the same point a minute or two later and collapsing onto a step. 

“Has. Anyone. Ever. Told you. That you. Inspire serious. Competition?” Your words came out in chunks as you struggled to reign in enough oxygen, heart pounding in your chest like a beast. Steve shook his head with a smile, rubbing his neck as a chuckle slipped from his lips. “Well you do, kudos though, you have a terrifyingly good endurance.”

“Um, thank you?” You laughed softly, taking deep breaths as you leaned back on the steps with your head tilted toward the rising sun. “So, how are you liking the city?”

“Never lived in one before, only in smaller towns that no one knew unless they grew up nearby. It’s a faster change of pace, really keeps me on my toes.” He watched you speak with such intent, listening carefully. “And the people aren’t too bad.”

“That’s good to hear.” You pushed off the step and stretched out your sore muscles, definitely going to be feeling that later. Pulling out your headphones and stuffing them into your only pocket, you plucked out your phone and paused the playlist. 

“You have a place you usually go after a run?” He cocked his head to the side with a perplexed expression that was vaguely puppy-like. “To eat? Or get coffee or something?”

“Oh, uh no. I usually just head back to my apartment or work.” 

“Well if you’re not busy I’m headed to Jo’s down the way. She has the best pastries and I’m told the coffee is to die for.” He nods softly and you motion for him to follow you, eyes watching over your shoulder as he moves to your side. 

“Not a coffee fan?” You shook your head, gesturing that you were ‘kind of’ one but not really.

“I like the sugary frozen drinks, but straight up coffee doesn’t give me any energy and so I pretty much find it useless. I’m more of a tea fan anyway.” 

The smell of the coffee beans hit you and you couldn’t help but smile as you inhaled the delicious scent. It always betrayed you, made you seem like a fan or an addict but you simply enjoyed the scent not the taste. One peppermint tea and a cinnamon muffin later, you sat with Steve talking about your lives. Though you had read his in history classes and in museums, you preferred hearing the story from the source. The lives you led were different, on many accounts, and yet somehow the two of you shared a state of mind. You were different people with different thought processes, but you had similar values and hearts.

“Sorry, I’ll just be a minute.” Steve waved off your concern as you stood to exit the cafe with your phone to your ear. The conversation lasted longer than you would have liked, but telling your mother you had to go meant absolutely nothing. It may be a stereotype that mid-westerners take forever to say goodbye, yet it was so utterly true. Especially when it came to family and friends. Thankfully Steve was very considerate and waited with patience as you struggled to end the phone call that had accomplished its goal 10 minutes ago. 

He found it rather amusing to watch you visibly become a completely different person than he knew. Though arguably he had lived next door to you for two months and hardly spoke to you, and yet he knew you to be quite shy and not too talkative. But with someone you knew, words just seemed to flow consistently and naturally from your lips. The way your body language shifted intrigued him, made him want to become someone you felt that comfortable around. It was a version of you he had only seen in glimpses when running with you this morning. The way you loosened up when he teased you, the lightness of your laughter nearly making him swoon. 

Inside the building you went your separate ways, not crossing paths until the next morning when you bumped into him in the hall. You began to wonder if he had waited for you, as you had taken longer to get yourself ready that morning and stopped to snack on an apple. But you bit your tongue and followed his lead. 

“What do you do?” He stood at the bottom of the steps in front of you, watching you curiously as you sat upon the step with your chin in your hands.

“Like as a career?” A nod and you shrugged, a small smile tugging at your lips as he shook his head at you. “I’m a forensic pathologist, specializing in identifying causes of death essentially.”

This new routine became your new normal, every day you would run with Steve and talk about your lives. Each morning brought new topics of discussion until eventually they became the most absurd of thoughts. Some runs ended with silly banter while others were followed by analyzing bad dreams, each talk bringing you closer together. He was becoming someone you would go to when you were stressed or when you needed a second opinion. He was becoming your closest friend in the new city. And yet you still longed for more.

“How come you never go on any dates?” He nearly choked on his water, coughing words of confusion with a bemused expression. 

“I could ask you the same.” You shrugged with a fading smile, eyes trailing toward the window as you shifted on his stool. 

“Just not the object of any guy’s affection I guess.” 

“Maybe they’re too scared or nervous.” You smiled softly and returned your gaze to his gentle blue eyes that held a look you couldn’t read. “I don’t doubt that there are dozens of men interested in you.”

“Then these bastards should start speaking up, I’m pretty damn oblivious when it comes to signals apparently.” Steve mumbled something under his breath and you barely caught it. “What was that Rogers?”

“Nothing.” He was saved by the ringing of his phone, you could almost see the relief in his posture as he moved to his room to take the call.

You sipped your glass of lemonade slowly, eyeing the way storm clouds seemed to be gathering in the distance. Might be a rainy run tomorrow, but Steve always had a remedy for such situations. He provided you with one of his rain jackets, and even wore one himself after you insisted upon it. Even if he was genetically modified you were pretty sure he was not immune to the common cold. 

He emerged with a solemn expression and you immediately pushed off the stool, brow knit together in worry. Steve waved off your concern, explaining that he had been called in for a mission and would be gone for at least a week. You were bummed but understood that duty called and who were you to deny Captain America. 

“I wonder if I’ll just wake up that early out of habit for a few days.” 

“What do you mean?” You had forgotten that he still didn’t know that he was the reason you had begun to run in the mornings in the first place. 

“I only took up running because your alarm clock wakes me every day at an ungodly hour.” You cringed as you forced the words out, his expression growing more and more baffled. “Paper thin walls Steve.”

“So all this time…” You nodded, laughing softly at the way he seemed to kick himself for waking you daily. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m too polite.” He was reeling from this confession and a laugh of disbelief slipped from his lips and he gazed at you bewildered. “Plus, you waking me everyday gave me an excuse to finally get into exercising in the morning. Ever since I moved in, your alarm clock has been my greatest nemesis.”

His laughter was light and infectious, his guilt seeming to fade as his eyes squeezed shut and his smile spread from cheek to cheek. 

“Don’t know what I’m going to do without it for a whole week.” His eyes softened, mind seeming to be scheming behind them. 

“I could call you.” His gaze shifted to the floor as he rubbed the back of his neck. “If you want, keep you on track.”

“I’d like that, but your ass better factor in time difference.” His eyes flickered to yours and returned your smile. 

“Yes ma’am.”

The next morning he knocked on your door and sent you off on your first run without him in ages, while he hopped into a sleek black car and faded into the horizon. It was lonelier than you remembered, but his texts buzzing on your watch cheered you on. Without fail the man called the same time every morning, even if he was supposed to be in a briefing he delayed it for a minute or two. He did his best to send you silly gifs, which you had introduced him to, in hopes of making you smile. 

The mission had been extended. And without missing a beat Steve kept his promise, not missing a call and always sending you a goodnight text even if he still had a debriefing and would be up for another hour or two.

If you had learned anything about Steve, it was that he somehow found the strangest gifs you had ever seen in your life. They never quite matched what he meant and yet you began to become fluent in his gif language. You on the other hand were easily understood, your gif selection unparalleled apart from perhaps your brother. But Steve? Bless his heart, the man did his best and was slowly improving with time.

But in all seriousness, you had learned that he had the biggest heart of anyone you had ever known. He selflessly gave you a wake up call daily, made sure to check in so you didn’t worry about his safety, and always sent you to sleep with a text wishing you sweet dreams. Steve was sweet and he had an odd but sometimes hidden sense of humor. 

If he didn’t have your heart before... he did now. Totally and completely.

When the next morning she awoke to the ringing of her phone she expected his voice to be on the other end. However, when her mother’s voice emanated from the other end of the line she was perplexed. 

“Mom? What is it? It’s very early in the morning.” Her voice was shaky on the other end and you immediately sat up in bed. 

“It’s your brother, he’s in the hospital. There was a car accident, a drunk driver, he’s okay but he’s in surgery now.” 

You were anxiously tapping your foot on the rug of the waiting room, brain still not quite awake enough to fully process the situation. Your brother had come out of surgery but was not awake yet, so you sat with his fiance and your mother not speaking a word. The buzzing of your watch caught your attention, a text from Steve bringing you back to reality. You sent a quick response saying where you were with the room number included as the doctor approached. 

Steve was frantic on his way to find you in the hospital, his mind racing through thought after thought. He hadn’t felt this afraid in a long time. He hated the feeling. When he saw you standing in the hall grabbing a snack from a vending machine he released a sigh of relief.

“We really need to work on elaboration of details in your texts.” You knit your brow, arching an eyebrow as he read out your words. “In hospital, room 315. Don’t worry.”

“You can’t blame my tired brain, it doesn’t make sense earlier than 7am. Or even after if we’re being honest.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry I made you worry. I’m here for my brother, he just got out of surgery. Drunk driver hit him.”

His arms were around you in a heartbeat and you were momentarily taken aback before hugging him back. You would never have the courage to admit how good it felt to be held by him, the warmth and comfort he provided. When he pulled back you felt the absence of his warmth and almost shivered.

“How is he?”

“He’s okay, bed-rest for at least a month or so to recover. Lucky bastard made it out alright.” You smiled at your little brother through the open doorway. “Thanks for coming, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I might be here a while.”

“Of course I do.” You cocked your head to the side, not quite following his thought process. “You support the people you love, especially when something happens to one of their family members.”

You met his gaze, a weight being placed over your heart. You couldn’t decipher whether he meant that as a close friend or more, the line was too blurry to comprehend. Your mind was in a state of debate, running through the past month and half meticulously. Had he given signs that you had missed? You were never sure about what could be read as more than a friendship, always too afraid to be wrong. 

He must have sensed the conflict in you, reading it in your eyes or your expression. Steve took a deep breath and uttered three words you never thought you’d hear. Especially not from a man you had previously expected to remain your neighbor. They made your chest flutter, your cheeks flushing under his gaze. You were speechless, completely and utterly unable to form a coherent thought.

“Are you sure?” Minutes of silence and your doubt still won over your voice, his brow furrowing at the question.

“I’m sure.”

“How do you know?” You couldn’t help it, your mind simply couldn’t comprehend the idea that he had fallen in love with you in about two months. He was quiet for what felt like a long period of time before he finally spoke and rendered you once more speechless.

“Because you’re the first person I want to see in the morning. You’re the only thing on my mind all day when I’m supposed to be focusing on missions and briefings. And you’re the only person I can sit with in a silent room and be content.” He smiles and laughs, almost to himself before continuing. “I love the way you get so worked up about tv shows and their accuracy. I love the way you tilt your head to the side and furrow your brow when you see something that confuses the hell out of you. I can’t get over how you always seem to know every song that comes on the radio, or the lyrics to all the theme songs of the shows you watch. And I love that you find that a critical element of tv, and how you shame Netflix for having a skip button for the intro.”

“If it’s not good enough to watch every time then the show needs a new theme.” You say matter of factly and Steve chuckles as he shakes his head, raising his hands in surrender. “You know it's true.”

“I mean it Y/N. I love all the things that make you who you are. Even the flaws that make you a human being. Especially those.” Your lips part slightly in awe. “Because I love who you are and I love you.”

“I think I’ve loved you ever since you first mocked me on a run.” 

“I did not mock you.”

“You were cocky about your speed and you totally mocked my average speed.” 

“You are so dramatic.”

“Which apparently you love.”

“Got me there.”

“You’ve greenlit my weirdness as a trait of attraction. No turning back.”

“I have a feeling I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.”

“Oh you have no idea.”

You smirked, eyes twinkling mischievously at him and eliciting a laugh in response. He leaned in and kissed you fervently, your arms wrapping around his neck as he held you close. Steve’s forehead rested against yours, eyes gazing into yours intently.

“You’re going to experience a complete change in your sense of humor, trust me. I have a very twisted and odd sense of humor.” You place a hand on his chest and raise your brows. “You’re also going to end up swearing more often. These are simply traits that people always seem to acquire after spending a lot of time around me.”

“Can’t wait.”

“This also means I am likely going to become much more patriotic and heroic. And I may mess around with your shield, but don’t worry about that.”

“Mhmm. Sure.”

“This is just a taste of what you’re getting into.”

“Anything with you is something I can handle, because it means you are by my side along the way.”

“Jesus Christ I’ve unlocked Captain America’s flirt function, is it a switch or a dial?”

“Neither.”

“I’m going to become mush at this rate.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Never.”

~

Tags: @qtmeryr​ @broken-hearted-barnes​ @asphalt-cocktail​ @gstran18​ @cantnkrusshedevil​

Send asks to join character tags or the everything tag!

[wren-fell]

Stuck In Borderland

Chapter 5: Begrudging Cooperation

To me all the Borderland games are a violent version of childhood games (tag, hide&seek, etc.) Soooo I went from there! Enjoy more interactions as this creeps towards a Chishiyaxoc story!

Thanks for reading!

I gave the militants names because I couldn’t find any listed. All canon characters belong to Haro Aso.

Warnings: language, weapons, mention of death

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

Sayaka leaned against the wall with Kuina and Madoka, preparing for her own game tonight. She cast a glance over at Madoka. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and she had dark circles surrounding her eyes. Sayaka frowned, Madoka and her team came back late last night all covered in dirt from head to toe and very shaken up. The 5 of hearts… any of the games would have put them through hell, but a hearts game was both physically and emotionally exhausting.

“You don’t have to be down here with us Madoka,” Sayaka said with a smile, “we appreciate the support, but you can go rest.”

Madoka turned her head to look at her slowly and gave her a weak smile, “it’s okay I want to wish you two luck.”

Kuina smiled, “we appreciate it Madoka.”

Madoka nodded slowly and looked back to Hatter. Sayaka watched her nervously. Usually bubbly Madoka looked… defeated and broken. I hate this place...

“And let the games begin!” Cheers erupted from everyone in the lobby as they rushed towards the tables to get their assignments.

“That’s our cue,” Kuina said pushing herself off the wall.

“Okay, go get some rest Madoka,” Sayaka hugged Madoka who leaned into her embrace with a sigh.

“Yea, I will. See you when you get back.”

Sayaka hesitated, “yea. See you when we get back.”

They pulled apart and Madoka gave Sayaka a sleepy smile, hugged Kuina, and waved to them as she headed out of the lobby. Sayaka sighed as she watched her go with a deep frown on her face.

“You won’t make it through the night if you’re still thinking about her wellbeing instead of your own.” Sayaka turned around to see Chishiya standing there with his hood up and his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

She frowned and glared at him, “who asked you?”

“Just some advice. She made it through her game, now you make it through yours,” he said simply and walked into the crowd of people.

She huffed balling her hands into fists. He was so arrogant and selfish and… and… she squeezed her eyes shut, right. He was right… she needed to focus on herself right now, but that didn’t make her any less irritated with him.

“Hey, are you coming?” Kuina appeared in the crowd and pointed over her shoulder, “what happened?”

“Chishiya,” Sayaka grumbled in response, but walked past her towards the tables.

“Oh.”

Sayaka approached the table and was handed her folded number assignment. She turned to Kuina to compare, but frowned when she saw a 5 on her paper and a 3 on hers.

“Sucks…” she mumbled.

“I’ll see you when we get back though,” Kuina suggested.

“Right,” Sayaka sighed turning around.

“Sayaka!” She looked over her shoulder as Akiko pushed her way out of the crowd over to her.

“Akiko, hey,” Sayaka smiled.

“What group are you in?”

“5, you?”

“Oh, 7,” Akiko shrugged, “I’m with Kaoru and a couple of the other militants, so it’ll be fine,” she said with a smile, but Sayaka could see the uncertainty in her eyes as she tried to convince herself that was true.

“Right,” Sayaka nodded, “you’ll be fine I’m sure. You’re a really bright girl Akiko. Don’t let them shoot you down, okay?”

“Yea…” There was a long silence between the two of them, “I’ll see you after, you, Madoka, and I should grab a drink again,” Akiko smiled and turned to walk to the cars.

Sayaka smiled, “yea, that sounds fun. I’ll see you after,” she said with a wave. Akiko nodded and walked away leaving Sayaka standing alone.

She shook her head and smacked her cheeks, “focus.”

Walking out the front door Sayaka stretched her arms above her head, “let’s do this.” She turned her eyes to the car with the 5 spray painted on the side and immediately scowled. Her team for the evening consisted of 2 militants, a girl with long wavy black hair wearing a tactical vest over her bikini named Saiko, and a boy with short black hair and a frown named Kenji. As well as a random beach girl who looked like she was going to burst into tears at any second, and Chishiya. He smirked at her and waved as she walked down the front steps.

“Ugh, it’s like he planned this…” she muttered, in all actuality he totally could have he is an executive. She walked up to the car giving Chishiya a passing glare as she clambered into the backseat.

The girl who looked like she was about to cry sat down in the far window seat first and gave Sayaka a weak smile, “sorry, do you mind if I sit by the window? I get carsick.”

Sayaka stared at her for a second with a deep frown on her face, “fine,” she mumbled and plopped down in the center seat as Chishiya slid in beside her and slammed the door shut. All the militants in the cars whooped at each other like this was the beginning of some sports event, and revved the engines before peeling out of the parking lot.

The knuckles on Sayaka’s hands were white from gripping the seat beneath her trying not to be flung against either the young girl or Chishiya as they rounded the corners. The militants had brilliantly cut out all the seatbelts of the cars, citing that they “just got in the way”. In the way of what Sayaka really wasn’t sure, and honestly didn’t want to know. The car sped down the road slamming into a pothole going at least 70mph, and Kenji let out an excited scream. Sayaka dug her nails into the cracked fake red leather trying to keep her butt on the seat, while the girl beside her yelped and was slammed into the door. Meanwhile, Chishiya barely moved, and Sayaka glared at him from the corner of her eye. It was irritating how calm he was.

Kenji pulled the car up to the National Science and History Museum. All the spotlights were on in front of the building casting long shadows like ghosts waving them up the steps. Sayaka turned to the girl from the Beach waiting for her to get out, but she had folded into herself and was hyperventilating, “you have to play the game or you’ll die,” Sayaka pointed out causing the girl to wheeze and nod, but she didn’t move. Chishiya got out of the car on the other side and waved at the open door. Sayaka glared at him and stood up slamming her foot onto the seat and climbing out over the trunk glaring at him the whole time. He smirked, let out a breathy laugh, and started walking towards the entrance after the militants.

Sayaka frowned before turning her head to the young girl who was still sitting in the car shaking. You need to focus on yourself… she let out a long sigh and opened the car door holding a hand out to her, but I’m not completely heartless… yet. “Come on. My name’s Sayaka, we need to get inside.”

She turned to look up at her and wiped tears away from her eyes with a nod, and took Sayaka’s hand, “I’m Maiko.” They walked up the steps into the Museum the beep of the laser grid activating making Maiko jump.

“Just keep walking,” Sayaka said heading to the table at the center of the room to grab a phone.

“Facial recognition complete.

10 minutes until registration is complete.”

So far there was only the 5 of them from the beach and one other man who looked just as nervous as Maiko. Sayaka crossed her arms as she waited and dragged her eyes over the lobby. The museum back in the real world didn’t use many lights, and everything falling apart made it look even more dark and creepy. Skeletons of dinosaurs and whales were hanging unevenly from the ceiling like they were about to swoop down and snatch one of them up at any second. Stuffed taxidermy wild animals were decomposing and leaning at odd angles. The whole place was like a disintegrating cemetery beckoning them to all join the animals with this as their final resting place.

“Registration is now complete.

Game: Hopscotch, Difficulty: 3 of Clubs,” Sayaka watched the phone as the card flashed onto her screen.

“Rules:

Reach the finish line in the allotted time.

Time: 45 minutes.” Sayaka pouted, that was it? Reach the end? No other rules?

“Please proceed to the start, once all participants are inside the game will begin.” A door at the top of the stairwell lit up and they all turned their heads.

“Guess we’re going upstairs,” she muttered slipping the phone into the waistband on her shorts, and started for the stairs. They all trudged up and through the lit up door into a new room. Much like downstairs there were only exhibit spotlights that beamed down from the ceiling casting dark shadows around the completely empty room. Maiko was the last to enter the room, and the door slammed shut behind her making her jump.

“Your time starts now.” Another light lit up on the other side of the room showing a white circle drawn on the ground.

“Well that’s simple enough that’s the finish line!” The guy who had been alone in the museum when they arrived yelled, and started across the room.

“Hopscotch…” Sayaka muttered scanning the floor, her eyes widened, “wait stop!” She lunged forward grabbing the man by the back of his shirt and tossing him backwards as the floor gave out. Almost every square tile in the room fell away to the first floor below, all except ones that formed a hopscotch court across the room.

“Oh my god… I nearly died… thank you,” the man said shakily pushing himself up from the floor.

Sayaka rounded on him, “use you’re fucking head! It’ll never be that easy.”

He folded in on himself, and Sayaka saw Maiko take a step back. She turned her head back to analyze the tiles. Each was about three feet apart and there were varying patterns between being single tiles in a row and doubles, where you would use both feet was this normal hopscotch. In between was a 20 foot drop back down to the bones and decayed exhibits below. As she looked at the drop Sayaka’s vision swayed for a second and she took a step away from the edge digging her nails into her palms, just don’t look down.

“Well let’s get started,” Saiko said stepping forward her heels clicking against the tiles. She jumped forward onto the first solo tile and it lit up. Saiko looked down at her feet shocked, “is it going to explode?”

“I think if it was it already would have happened,” Kenji quipped stepping forward, “keep moving you bimbo.”

Saiko glared at him, but jumped to the next tile. Sayaka had to admit she was very agile even in 3 inch heels. The two of them kept jumping until they were 6 tiles in and paused.

“Hey, we can’t go any further!” Saiko called.

Sayaka frowned, “why not?”

“There’s a laser grid here.”

“What?” Sayaka stared at the tiles. This wasn’t like any hopscotch she had played, at what point did hopscotch have lasers?

“I’ll go next,” Maiko jumped forward onto the first tile, Sayaka watched her as she went. The first tile lit up, and so did the second, but when she landed on the double tile it stayed black.

“We all have to stand on the tiles for the laser to turn off and then we can advance,” Sayaka muttered and walked to the edge of the platform. Drawing in a deep breath she jumped after Maiko, just don’t look down. She landed on the other double tile, but nothing happened. Sayaka stomped her foot, “what the fuck.”

Maiko jumped forward onto the last single tile, and Sayaka pouted as it lit up the second Maiko’s feet touched it. She closed her eyes with a long sigh and jumped back one tile turning to Chishiya and the other player.

“We have to jump on it at the same time,” she said. Chishiya quirked an eyebrow at her and the smirk spread across his face.

Sayaka glared at him, but waved him on, “we have to do it together.”

He nodded and stepped forward pulling his headphones out of his ears and shoving them into his sweatshirt pocket. Sayaka sidestepped so she was standing on the edge of her tile making room for Chishiya to join her. He leapt forward onto her tile the closeness causing Sayaka to lean back and her heel to hang over the edge. She looked over her shoulder as she felt herself wobble uneasily, and stiffened when she felt Chishiya’s hands on her waist steadying her. Sayaka snapped her head forward to stare at him wide-eyed.

“Try not to lose your balance,” he smirked.

Sayaka’s eye twitched and she balled her hands into fists on his chest, “if my own survival didn’t depend on it I would push you off this platform.”

He didn’t reply just continued to smirk at her. With a sigh Sayaka turned her head to look at the double tile. If they had to land on it at the same time they would have to jump together, but the tiles were just barely over a foot wide. Groaning she looked back to Chishiya and held out her hand to him, “we have to jump at the same time.”

He nodded and took her hand. Slowly the two of them turned on the tile with each of them having one foot slipping off the edge. Sayaka drew in a deep breath and cast a glance at her hand in Chishiya’s. Why was this oddly comforting? She swallowed heavily, “on three.”

“One, two, three!” Both of their hands let go and they leapt off the platform. Their feet slammed onto the tiles at the same time and they lit up yellow.

“Oh thank god,” Sayaka breathed.

“The grid is gone!” Saiko said and continued forward.

The other player continued behind them, and they all moved forward until Saiko and Kenji came to the far set of double tiles. “So we have to jump together? Ew, I don’t want to hold your hand…” Saiko grumbled glaring at Kenji.

“There are 30 minutes remaining.” They all looked up as the voice rang out.

“Shut up and move over Saiko!” Kenji snapped and jumped forward to share the tile with Saiko. Despite their bickering they successfully made the jump to the double tiles.

“Let’s keep it moving!” Saiko ordered over her shoulder.

“God she’s bossy,” Sayaka grumbled.

Chishiya jumped onto the solo tile ahead of her and turned allow her room to join him. Sayaka tensed her muscles and jumped, but her foot slipped on the plastic of her flip-flop causing her foot to leave the platform a second too late. Her other foot hit the edge of the next tile a gasp escaping her lips as she started to fall backwards. Chishiya’s hand shot out grabbing her arm and pulling her forward onto the tile. Sayaka felt her cheeks heat up at how close they were.

“Thanks…”she muttered looking away from him her hands resting on his chest.

“The whole point of the game is to not fall,” he pointed out.

Sayaka glared at him, but didn’t say anything. She could feel herself shaking as her eyes darted back to the floor a long way below, and Chishiya’s hand shifted on her waist.

“Afraid of heights?” He asked quirking an eyebrow.

Sayaka looked up at him through her bangs, “it’s none of your business.”

“If you two are done flirting we want to finish this game!” Kenji called.

Sayaka felt her face heat up even more and she cast Kenji a dirty look, “okay,” she held her hand out to Chishiya who took it and they shifted to stand side by side, “on three. One, two, three!”

They landed together and the tiles lit up.

“That leaves one set to go! This is easy!” Kenji called as he jumped forward.

Sayaka frowned, “it’s like he’s asking for the game makers to throw a twist.”

There was just one more set of double tiles. Sayaka landed first and stepped aside for Chishiya to join her. He jumped forward landing hard and wobbling a little. Sayaka grabbed the sleeve of his sweatshirt to steady him and snorted, “you know you aren’t supposed to fall,” she mocked.

He gave her a sour look and stood up straight his hands resting on her waist again, “you’re one to talk. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Sayaka frowned she knew her cheeks were red and she desperately wished she could make the blood to drain from her face, “shut up. We have an extra player I could still push you off you know.”

“So could I.”

Sayaka watched his eyes. Always so cold and calculating she knew he would push her off if she got in the way, but why hadn’t he just let her fall before? There was one extra person in this game he could’ve teamed up with them.

“Are you ready to jump?” He asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Yea, yea I’m ready,” she said and he held his hand out for her. Sayaka took it slowly and turned on the platform.

“One, two, three!” Chishiya counted down and slipped his hand out of hers as they jumped off the platform. The tile lit up yellow and the final laser grid faded away leaving them a clear path to the winner’s circle. Saiko and Kenji were the first to jump and run into the circle their phones lighting up to congratulate them. Everyone else followed letting out a relieved sigh as the countdowns disappeared and their visas were displayed on the small screens.

“Congratulations all participants have been issued a 3 day visa.” Sayaka pulled the phone out of her waistband to stare at the screen before tossing it over the edge. It clattered to the graveyard below, and Sayaka glared at the still lit up screen shining in the darkness. It was like the makers were reading their minds before every game using their own fears against them.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here then!” Saiko called and was already stomping to the door. Sayaka looked over her shoulder to watch her and Kenji leave. Maiko and the solo player following, while Chishiya walked over to the pedestal in the center of the winner’s circle to pick up the 3 of clubs card.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, “something wrong?”

“Why didn’t you just let me fall?”

He raised his eyebrows at her and paused, analyzing her again making her feel small, “you were the lesser of two evils,” he said simply turning to leave. Pulling the hood back up over his white-blonde hair he walked out of the room leaving Sayaka alone to sigh.

“I should’ve expected that answer,” she mumbled and followed him out of the Museum.

 Sayaka followed behind the rest of the group as they all walked into the lobby of the Beach. Kenji held up his pistol and let out a triumphant yell that was echoed back by the other militants in the room. Sayaka rolled her eyes; they were acting like all of this was fun.

Another group walked through the door and Sayaka turned to see who it was. She saw Kaoru and the rest of his squad and searched the crowd for Akiko, but froze when she didn’t see her. A lump started to form in her stomach and she sucked in her bottom lip. Balling her hands into the fists she glared at Kaoru as he threw an arm around a random beach girl.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Sayaka turned around as Chishiya walked up to her.

“I wasn’t.”

“That’s the face you made during the executive meeting before you snapped,” he pointed out. Sayaka felt her cheeks heating up again and turned to look at Kaoru as he whispered into the girl’s ear making her giggle.

“She’s dead, and he’s acting like she didn’t even matter…” She whispered.

“That’s because she didn’t.”

She swung her head around to glare at Chishiya, “how can you say she didn’t matter? She was the only reason I survived the 6 of diamonds. She deserved to live more than that waste of space!”

“She didn’t make it. There’s no point in being upset about it. She’s gone, she doesn’t matter now,” he said firmly giving her a hard look, “if you want to survive Sayaka you’re going to have to start letting go of the people who can’t make it on their own.”

She stared at him. That was the first time he’d said her name. It was like all of the blood in her veins froze solid, but there was a fluttering in her stomach that made her want to vomit. She drew in a long shaky breath and pushed the feeling in her stomach deep down, “then why didn’t you let me fall?”

Sayaka didn’t wait for him to answer and turned walking out of the lobby leaving him standing alone. A smirk curled his lips as Chishiya dropped his head letting out a breathy laugh, and put his headphones back in his ears.

[lyssismagical]

no question, no competition, I love you more

Parker Febufluff - 5 & 6 – Dance Under the Stars & “I love you” “I love you more”

Read on A03

*

Harley was not sulking. Absolutely not.

He would not sulk over a dance he didn’t even want to go to in the first place.

Just because Peter asked him to Homecoming and didn’t show up, did not mean Harley was going to sulk. He wouldn’t.

“I’m going home,” he tells MJ and Ned. “Have a fun night.”

“He might show,” Ned tries, eyes shining with sympathy. “He didn’t stand on you up on purpose.”

Harley shrugs, trying to play it off like it’s not a big deal. “It’s whatever. I’ll see you at school.”

It doesn’t matter, he tells himself over and over again as he heads out of the gym and out to the parking lot where Happy’s already waiting for him. It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t care.

“Hey, kiddo. You feeling already?” Happy asks, a carefully extended olive branch. He normally stays quiet and pretends Harley doesn’t exist.

Harley shrugs, tucking his legs up to his chest and resting his cheek against the window. “Yeah, I’m fine… I just- I really liked him, you know?”

Reaching out, obviously awkward and nervous, Happy pats the teenager on the shoulder.

The car falls silent as Harley checks his phone for the millionth time.

His sixteen messages ranging from casual to worried to confused to angry, are all left on delivered.

Harley sniffles, turns off his phone, and focuses on the scenery blurring outside his window.

When Harley makes it up to the penthouse, a wave of nostalgia washes over him.

The whole floor is empty. Everything having been loaded onto planes while he was gone, taking everything to the new place upstate.

Harley’s been living with Tony for seven years, ever since Tony crashlanded in Rose Hill and offered Harley a spot in Manhattan with access to equipment, good schooling, and opportunities. So, he moved to New York, and now they’re moving again.

“Hey, kid,” Tony calls out, emerging from the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate. He passes one to Harley and leads him to the couch. “When I see Parker I’ll make sure to knock him upside the head for standing you up like this.”

“You don’t think it was for a good reason?” Harley asks. He doesn’t know if he has faith in his best friend of five years. Peter’s always been the kind of person to drop everything for the people he cares about.

Tony’s face creases in inquisition. “I have his suit. It’s in the last of the boxes we’re driving up ourselves. It’s not a hero thing.”

Harley shrugs, trying not to think too hard about what that means. “I just- He was so excited when I said I’d go with him. I didn’t think he’d just skip. Especially not without telling me first.”

Slinging an arm around the teenager’s shoulders, Tony sighs. “Maybe he just got scared. You said a stupid kid was always giving him a hard time?”

“More like everyone at the school but me and Ned.”

“So, maybe he just got scared that people would bully him worse for being at the dance with another guy,” Tony suggests. “Or maybe he was worried you’d get bullied for going with him.”

Harley shrugs and settles closer to Tony’s side. “I just wish he’d text me back.”

“How about, instead of sulking over a guy, you get into some comfy clothes and we watch one last movie here?”

Harley offers a small smile, trying to shake off the awful heaviness that lingers on his shoulders.

He wants to be angry, but all that’s there when he reaches for those feelings is worry. He’s worried that Peter’s hurt or something happened to him because Harley doesn’t believe Peter would’ve purposefully stood him up.

Even if Peter was worried about the things Tony suggested, he would’ve texted. He would’ve told Harley, or at the very least, Ned.

Peter’s been Harley’s best friend for five years, ever since they started going to Midtown High together. Even when Peter became Spider-Man, the first person he told was Harley. That’s how Tony found out to take Peter to Germany.

It doesn’t make sense that Peter was so excited to ask Harley to Homecoming and then he wouldn’t show. At least not without a good reason.

* Hours later, Harley wakes up on the couch alone.

The living room is dark, their movie long since ended. Tony’s gone. Their hot chocolates have been cleared away.

Harley’s phone is ringing. That’s what must’ve woken him up.

Eighteen texts from Peter, nearly as many from Ned. Four missed calls from Peter, as well. And Peter’s calling him again.

“What do you want?” he asks, voice thick with sleep and rough with anger.

“I have a good reason for everything. I promise. Just… Come outside. Please?”

Harley sighs harshly. He’s wearing his pajamas and it’s nearly one in the morning. The last thing he wants to do is go outside. But it’s Peter who’s asking him.

Peter who sounds hurt, upset, exhausted. “Please?”

“Fine. But I don’t give second chances easily, Parker. You better have some wild explanation for me.”

When Harley makes it outside, to the back lawn according to Peter’s instructions, he nearly collapses.

Peter’s wearing his old suit, the stupid sweatpants and hoodie, sans mask. With his suit jacket over top and his tie hanging untied around his neck loosely. There’s a string of fairlylights strewn in the tree he’s leaning against.

Worst of all, his ‘suit’ is stained dark red with what Harley can only assume is blood. He’s cradling one arm against his chest, breaths escaping him in little pained wheezes. There’s a nasty cut across his temple, already mostly closed but blood is drying all down his cheek and jaw.

“Holy fuck, Parker,” he breathes, hurrying across the grass to the boy. “Are you okay?”

Peter frowns, looking down at his suit like he didn’t even realize he wouldn’t be okay. “Oh shoot, I probably should’ve cleaned up a little better.”

He looks up at Harley, a little bashfully, and shrugs. “S’alright. It doesn’t hurt too much.”

“Fuck, what happened to you?”

“Toomes tried to take your plane,” Peter explains, crinkling his nose. “Had to make sure he didn’t get away with it. I’m really sorry about-”

Harley shoots him a glare. “Don’t you dare apologize for being a hero, dumbass, I don’t care. I need to get you to a doctor or something.”

Shaking his head, Peter pulls his cracked phone out of his pocket. It takes him a second of fumbling, fingers looking burned, to get it open, but he does and a moment later, a song starts playing.

Harley doesn’t recognize it, but it’s obvious what Peter’s suggesting.

“I didn’t get to dance with you at homecoming, but this is the next best thing, right?”

The fairy lights in the tree, the suit jacket and tie, the music. It’s Peter’s version of the homecoming he couldn’t make it to.

Harley opens his mouth to, he doesn’t even know, call Peter a dumbass? Or crazy? Instead, no words escape his throat. He just gapes at the boy standing across from him with wide hopeful eyes, and tries to blink back the tears in his eyes.

Peter lifts his hand out to Harley, a shy smile on his face. “You wanna dance?”

“First,” Harley finally says, closing the distance between them. He grabs Peter’s untied tie. “Let’s fix this.”

Peter shrugs, breathing still painfully off, and his hands are shaking as he tucks his phone into the pocket of Harley’s sweats. “Never learned how to.”

Once the tie is tied, Harley carefully wraps his arms around Peter’s waist.

Peter, obviously exhausted, leans into Harley’s chest gratefully. “Thank you for not hating me.”

The older teenager shrugs, sniffing. “You’re a superhero, Peter. I can’t be mad at you for not putting me before everyone else. You took down Toomes, I can’t be angry for that. You could’ve texted me, though. I was worried sick.”

“Left my phone in Toomes’s car. Met him in the parking lot when he was dropping off Liz. I stole Flash’s phone and called Ned to track mine so I could follow him.”

“For a genius, you can be so dumb, Parker. You could’ve, I don’t know, called for backup. You didn’t have to-”

Peter shrugs. “I just wanted to do something right for once. Now, we’re dancing, aren’t we?”

Harley does most of the movement, the other boy falling mostly limp against Harley. With all the injuries, Harley’s surprised he hasn’t passed out yet, but it’s obvious Peter wants this dance.

“Look.” Harley nudges Peter, getting him to lift his head. “You can see the stars.”

Normally, with all the air pollution in the city and all the lights, the stars are hard to see. Tonight, they shine nice and brilliantly overhead like they’re watching over them.

Peter smiles dopily, resting his chin on Harley’s shoulder. “I wanna do this every day.”

“What? Dance?”

“Mm, ‘n hold you.”

Harley can’t help the blush that touches his face, pulling Peter a little tighter against him. “Me too… I really like you, Peter, I have for a long time.”

Peter, face hidden mostly in Harley’s shirt, laughs against him. “Me too. Forever. Wanna be forever.”

They don’t have to say it. It doesn’t have to be made official. Harley doesn’t have to ask Peter to be his boyfriend, everything passes between them silently, as Harley sways them from side to side to the music.

If there’s anything Harley’s learned from living with Tony and Pepper is that superheroing makes life complicated. It makes the idea of permanency seem impossible. It makes everything feel like it’s sped up to the extreme.

Because you never know if you’ll get even another day with a superhero.

“I love you,” Harley murmurs, pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead. He needs Peter to know. Just in case.

He’d beat himself up for the rest of his life if something happened to Peter and Harley never got the chance to say it. With how bloody and limp Peter already is in Harley’s arms, the thought of losing the hero is already something Harley has to think about every single day. Just in case.

“I love you more,” Peter says against Harley’s collarbone.

Smiling, Harley presses another kiss to Peter’s temple. “Don’t think that’s possible, love, but I’ll let you win this time.”

[crystalelemental]

Another merge project completed, and this time, we have Lyn.  The original sword Lyn.  No her skillset is not done, I don’t even entirely know what I’m doing with it, leave me alone.

“Did you seriously get a unit you had no plan for to +10?”  Yeah.  Yeah I did.  It’s a long story, but I’ll get into it below the cut.  The short version is, this is a combination of Elibe fanboyism, and a personal goal.

I’ll start with this: I do really love Lyndis.  Hector’s my favorite of the three Blazing Blade lords, but Lyn is fantastic too, I just don’t think she gets enough play.  Much like Hector and Eliwood, I don’t know that Lyn would stand out all that much on her own.  It’s really the dynamic that makes them all work as well as they do.  Lyn is more rational overall.  She’s generally collected, and has a lot more direct survival skills than the others do, being able to track enemies and having all the knowledge of the plains.  Because of her non-noble upbringing, she’s got some similarities to Ike, in that she’s very direct and can get hostile with people she believes are definitively in the wrong.  She doesn’t play around.  It’s one of her charms.

As a unit, there is no other word for Lyn than “outclassed.”  “Thoroughly Outclassed” if you want a second word to really sell it, but oh my god.  Three years of powercreep took a bat to Lyn’s functionality.  The resplendent didn’t even salvage it.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s decent enough.  Neutral speed tier is solid, and the resplendent buff did help her defenses pretty well.  Attack is just...really unfortunate.  That’s with a boon at +10.  There are modern units with more attack than that at unmerged with -Attack.  While her weapon seems solid, with a built-in Desperation and Brash Assault, half the trouble is that even with that she won’t deal much damage, and Galeforcing in the modern meta needs a bit more power than she’s got.  Lack of sped up cooldown also doesn’t help with any potential tanking she wants to do, most units can do it better.  Like Say’ri, whose weapon effect is (conditional) Distant Counter.  Lyn’s just not that great.  She’s outclassed in most directions.  Speed creep means even with the boon she’s not that impressive, powercreep in general means her attack is lacking, and her defenses are only passable rather than exceptional.  Refine effects are interesting but the conditions are difficult to manage, and no matter what kit you build her with, something’s going to be seriously missing.

And yet...this merge project was an absolutely essential requirement for me to complete.  Sorry guys, this is going to get sad.

A long while back now, I connected with someone here on Tumblr who became a really close friend.  She went by Lucia.  It wasn’t her real name, but long story short, bad associations with her real name and wanted it changed.  Anyway, we were pretty close, and Fire Emblem was one of the points we’d connected on.  She was a part of why I picked up the game in the first place, she’d been playing since launch and thought I’d enjoy it.  I did eventually, and we got to discuss it for a while.  Lyn was her favorite character, and the base form was her main unit.  She was completely F2P, and the only character she ever tried that hard for was Lyn.  Her Lyn was +9.

A few years back, she was diagnosed with cancer.  She had gone through treatment, and it seemed like she was making improvements, but ultimately she didn’t make it.  She died a little over a year ago.  I wasn’t really able to do anything for her, aside from the usual “offer support.”  I didn’t even know it had happened until someone who knew her in person reached out.  When Resplendents dropped, and Lyn was the first one released, she was the first person I thought about, and how she wasn’t there to be excited for it, both the strength increase for her favorite, and that final merge for her most important project.  That was when I decided I wanted to make Lyn a merge project.  My experience with this game being what it is, I tend to spend on targets I’m interested in, and it wasn’t until this month that the revival fell at the start of a new pay period, and I could finish the project at last.  I’m really glad I could.  Lyn isn’t really a top favorite of mine on her own.  Under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn’t ever get a Lyn to +10 barring absurd luck.  But she has that association with my friend now, and as a result, is a really important character to me.

[imagineseclipse]

Stiles Stilinski x Reader-Unexpected

Your hands fell to your hips, fallen leaves blowing across your ankles as the wind hit your frozen body. Your lips were slightly parted as you stared forwards at the abandoned blue jeep. Your phone began to ring in your pocket-probably Scott and Lydia wondering where you had run off to.

Deciding to ignore the phone for the time being you continued to gaze at the vehicle in front of you. Over the past couple of weeks you had often found yourself being drawn to that jeep. At first you were confused because you had never seen it in your life but then other aspects of your life had seemed to fall out of place.

A sense of loneliness washed over you even when you were surrounded by your closest friends. The pack had noticed your sudden withdrawal, they had noticed the deep daydreams you would fall into.

Lydia waved her perfectly painted fingernails in front of your face, trying to gain your attention. The flash of colours waving before your eyes snapped you out of your daze. Your cheeks heating up as your head turned to face the pack. At least five pairs of eyes were staring into your soul.

“Y/n, this is the seventh time you’ve spaced out today and it’s only ten o’clock in the morning are you sure you’re okay?”Scott leant forwards to tap your arm gently.

It took you a minute to gather your thoughts that had been scattered all over the place recently, sighing as you looked over at your friends once more.

“Don’t you guys feel like something’s missing? Like-like somebody is missing?”you asked pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Yeah, I mean someone is missing everyone’s here but Liam he’s getting some extra lacrosse practice in before the game tonight”Malia informed you before taking a sip of her coffee that sat on the table.

“No-no that’s not it, I know that’s not it”you repeated, causing Lydia to become concerned at the discomfort evident on your face.

Strawberry blonde hair filled your vision as Lydia leant forwards, her body drawing closer to yours.

“Sweetheart everybody is accounted for nobody’s missing”she tried to reassure you, reaching up to squeeze your shoulder but the frown on your face deepened causing wrinkles to appear just above your eyebrows as you lightly shrugged Lydia away.

“You don’t understand, I’m not going crazy he’s supposed to be with us I know he is”you cried out finally, bowing your head as you ran your hands through your hair.

“Who is?”Scott’s confusion taking over.

“I don’t-I can’t remember, but his name his name is literally on the tip of my tongue I just-

“Calm down y/n, just breathe and explain”Malia’s hand gently clamped around your wrist encouraging you to start from the beginning.

“I’ve seen him, it’s like he’s there in the back of my mind I just can’t remember-we just can’t remember but he meant something to all of us I can feel it”you answered regretfully.

“Y/n, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t forget about a whole pack member, I would know if one of you went missing”Scott scoffed under his breath, you were becoming more stressed by the second. It seemed like your alpha and best friend didn’t believe you.

Lydia sent Scott a tight lipped scowl before turning to you once more.

“Where did you see him y/n? Maybe we can find him?”Lydia asked, her tone of voice becoming soft.

“In my dreams at night, I’ve been having them for a while now I just didn’t wanna say anything because there’s so much going on right now I just i really have this feeling-

“Maybe that’s all this is then, a dream. Look y/n I know that it may seem real but they are just dreams okay?”Scott interupted, offering you a sympathetic smile.

You stood from your seat abruptly, pulling your bag over your shoulder.

“No, this is different, I know he’s real and if you guys won’t help me figure this out then I’m just gonna have to do it myself but after everything we’ve been through and after everything we have seen I thought that someone in this damn group would’ve believed me”you croaked out, feeling worn out and defeated you turned your back to your friends. Storming off into the halls of Beacon Hills High school.

The moonlight bounced off the hood of the run down jeep as you inhaled deeply. You were so sure that you had seen this particular vehicle before. For some reason you felt so connected to the mysterious boy in your dreams, and as every day passed the sense of loss was so overwhelming you found it hard to breathe.

It was like a constant heartache, that only become stronger. Life had been miserable for you, and you wondered how you had ever lived like that without noticing that there was a problem. The dreams and the visions had made you realise that life was much better with the boy in it.

“You’re really not helping me here, c’mon give me something to work with I know you’re parked here for a reason I mean how would you even get here? Someone had to have parked you here”you mumbled to the jeep finally losing the plot.

“I know you belong to him, I just need a name that’s all I need”you cried out to no one in particular. Yes, you had definitely lost more than the plot at this point.

You waited for a moment or two, waiting for a sign, waiting for anything that would prove you weren’t entirely insane. After recieving nothing but silence you began to sob uncontrollably, leaning forwards to place your hands gently on the blue jeep for support.

The moment your hands touched the car material you felt the floor beneath you disappear, your eyes widening as you took in a deep breath. Before you knew it you were sat in the back of what seemed to be the jeep you had just been absentmindedly having a conversation with.

You didn’t have any control over your body as you lifted your head to glance at the drivers seat that was once empty. The brown haired boy who had been following your train of thought was now sat in front of you. Looking over to the passengers seat you saw...a version of yourself you hadn’t remembered. This wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. They had all been memories.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”The boy addressed you, his voice wasn’t deep but there was something about the way he spoke to you which made you freeze up, butterflies swarming your stomach.

“Not really, it was kind of traumatic I’d rather not relive the embarrassment thank you very much”you listened to your own voice ring out from the seat in front of you. The boy wearing the checkered flannel shirt tapped his free hand impatiently against his thigh as he sped down the streets of Beacon Hills.

A comfortable silence fell over the two of you before the y/n in your memory piped up again.

“How did you get here so quick?”

The boy whose name you’d been trying so hard to remember reached up to rub the back of his neck nervously.

“Oh y’know I was just going for a drive nearby when you texted-

“So you followed me basically”you replied, a hint of amusement lingering with your words.

“Thankyou for coming to get me, I was convinced that you were still angry at me from the argument we had earlier”you continued , your voice trailing away.

“I could never stay mad at you, I was never mad at you in the first place...besides it was my fault I should have never said the things I said I was being selfish”He replied, glancing over at you in the passengers seat.

“You were right though, all the things you said before you were right...”Memory y/n made eye contact with him properly for the first time.

“I was right?”he squeaked out, his eyes briefly looking at the road before meeting yours again.

“Yeah, you’re always right, I should have never gone on the date especially with that guy i don’t know why I ever thought it was a good idea he didn’t actually want me, I don’t know what I expected”you rambled on.

From where you were sat you could see that the teenager had something to say, and it seemed that this other version of you could see it aswell.

“You can say I told you so now, I know you want to celebrate being right”you scoffed out.

His eyebrows furrowed together.

“There’s nothing to celebrate- he hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh.

-y/n he doesn’t deserve you, you are way too good for him, you deserve to be treated like a princess and you should never settle for any less you hear me? I mean Jesus Christ look at you, you’re fucking gorgeous and he’s literally crazy because he’s just let the best thing that could have happened to him walk out of those stupid restaurant doors-not to mention the fact that he didn’t even check beforehand if you liked sushi we both know how you swell up with allergies even thinking about it”the driver of the blue jeep ranted passionately in front of you.

You watched as the two teenagers in front of you exchanged a glance that said a thousand words. Seeing things from the outside really did change perspective on things.

Your mouth had fallen open whilst watching this scene play out in front of you, tears streaming down from your eyes as you started to wonder how you could have ever forgotten this boy that was so clearly in love with you, how you could have forgotten the boy that paid attention to everything you did and said. How could you have forgotten the boy that had saved your life countless times promising himself he’d do it over and over again.

“I’m sorry y/n”the boy spoke out again, gaining your attention.

“Sorry? For what you don’t have to be sorry”

“I’m sorry because I’m glad he let you slip through his fingers”

That was it. That was the moment it all changed, that special moment in that jeep had made you realise that you had always been so dangerously in love with the boy in the checkered flannel.

“Just a name, say his name c’mon”you muttered from the back seat, wiping the tears from underneath your eyes. Urging the memory version of you to just say it once.

The y/n in the passengers seat turnt her head, a small smile growing on her face before she opened her mouth.

“Stiles”

And with that fifteen years worth of memories came rushing back to you all at once, knocking you out of the memory you had just relived, sending you on a trip down memory lane.

“Y/n, this is our first ever school dance and I don’t want to trip over my two left feet with anyone else but you”

“You really have a way with words did you know that Stiles?”

-

“Stiles promise me, if we both get to the age of forty and we’re both not married we have to marry eachother by default”

“I’m marrying you anyway y/n”

“Oh and when did you make that decision”

“When we were 4”

-

“You don’t care about getting hurt do you?!”

“I do care about getting hurt, I just care more about you getting hurt Stiles”

-

“Mieczysław Stilinski, why the hell are you hanging upside down from my roof, it’s like two in the morning”

“Well I did come here to tell my best friend that I missed her and I don’t want her to ever go on holiday again but I guess I’m now here to murder her for using my whole name”

“Stiles, I was gone for three days”

“Way too long for my liking”

-

“Hello pretty girl”

“Okay Stilinski what have you done now?”

“Wha-what would make you think- okay fine I did something”

-

“Y/n you need to go it’s dangerous you need to run, find Lydia and the two of you go somewhere safe”

“Stiles I’m not leaving without you I mean that was never even an option”

-

“What’s gonna happen when we go off to college are you gonna forget about me?”

“Y/n wherever you go, that’s where I’ll be”

“Don’t be silly Stiles I wouldn’t ask you to give up your whole life for me”

“I would though, I would give it all up for you”

“And I would do the same for you without a doubt in my mind”

-

“Y/n I can’t believe you, are you insane I don’t think you understand how mad I am right now you seriously just jumped in front of a bullet for me!? You could have died I could have lost you I-

“And I would do it again”

-

“Stiles, you came back for me?”

“Of course I did”

“You can’t be here, they’re coming and they’ll take you too, Stiles you have to go”

“We both have to go, I’m not going anywhere without you”

-

“Stiles”you gasped, returning from the visions you were having, your grip on the jeep had tightened and you remembered everything, you remembered him. Stiles Stilinski. You had been his best friend from the age of four, somewhere along the way the dynamic of your friendship had changed into something much more. He was your soulmate and you had forgotten him.

Your shaking hands reached down into your pockets searching for your phone so that you could inform the pack on your discovery. Just as you were about to dial Lydia’s number in the jeep sprung into action, the lights blinding you making you jump backwards abruptly.

Your heart began to beat out of your chest as you watched two hands reach up to grab the steering wheel. The boy you had been searching for so desperately popped up from behind the wheel. He looked flustered as his eyes flickered around his jeep settling on you finally.

Stiles stared forwards at your frozen body stood in front of his jeep, your eyes widened as they glanced back at him with shock. He realised in that moment that you had been the one to bring him back. Of course it had been you.

“Stiles”you repeated.

He was real, and he was sat right in front of you the only barrier between the two of you being the Jeep doors which crashed open as he fumbled around aggressively trying to get to you.

Your legs began to work again, running hurriedly around the side of the jeep to meet Stiles half way.

“You remembered”his voice was slightly hushed.

“I’m sorry I ever forgot”you mumbled out quickly before his lips crashed into yours, his hands wrapping around your body pulling you in closer. Your eyes fluttered closed and you felt like the puzzle was complete, he held onto you as if you were going to evaporate into thin air and you clutched onto his checkered shirt scared that he would leave again.

When the two of you pulled away it was only a matter of seconds before Stiles tugged you close again into a tight hug, you buried yourself into the crook of his neck as you felt his hands nestle in your hair.

“I can’t believe it was you, I thought Scott would- or even Lydia but it was you”he spoke out again.

“Why wouldn’t it have been me?”you raised your eyebrows.

“I don’t know it’s just, I’ve always- and you’ve never-

“Stiles seriously I love you but I thought you were supposed to be the smart one”you laughed lightly.

“Yeah maybe the tables have turned I mean you brought me back and you did it alone maybe you’re the genius”he smiled as he intertwined his fingers with yours.

“Well we’re gonna have to put our brilliant minds together because we have a nazi werewolf running around Beacon Hills, the pack need us”you informed Stiles who hadn’t been present during that fiasco.

“Let’s go get this show on the road then”Stiles sighed as he pulled you along gently, the two of you running towards the school hand in hand.

[grouptalekindnesssoulstories]

I was sitting in the shadow of the couch, my dark outfit lending me cover. I was stuck like this, and none of the others could see. Least of all, the side currently walking in. Roman was humming to himself, and I refused to come out. Unfortunately, he decided to fling himself onto the couch. I reached for the couch too late, and was tossed onto his shoulder. I froze, hoping he’d think I was some bug or something. He had an arm draped across his face, so I could get away clean if I was careful…

“ANXIETY! Did you conjure more of those ugly decorations to freak me out?” He yelled, reaching towards me. I scrambled away, making a leap just as his fingers brushed off his shirt. I made it back to the safety of the shadows. He huffed at my lack of answer and stood up to choose a movie. I took the chance to begin lowering myself to the floor. He was singing to himself as he flipped through them. Another set of footsteps started at the top of the stairs. I scrambled back up, wiggling into the crack. Not comfortable, but I didn’t exactly need to breathe. I recognized the eager footsteps as Patton’s and was relieved I was hidden.

“Another movie night? Should I get the others?” He asked, dropping blankets over the couch. There was a hum of approval from the creative side, and the steps retreated again. I poked my head out, seeing a blanket conveniently on the floor. I jumped into it, a soft thud the only thing indicating my presence. Princy was too busy picking a movie to notice. I ran under the couch as the quick patter of Patton and Logan’s precise footsteps came downstairs. 

“I couldn’t find Virgil. He isn’t in his room, and there’s no sign of him” Pat said anxiously, and I felt a twinge of guilt. I wish I could be my normal size. I didn’t like disappointing the fatherly side.

“Ugh. DOOM AND GLOOM! You’re gonna miss out on Mulan! I picked it with you in mind” Roman called. I poked my head out, using a bit of my meager power to make my voice echo from somewhere else. 

“I’ll be there in a minute. Just.. busy” The last word snapped back to my location as I ran out of power. I squealed and ducked back under the couch. The others accepted that as me doing something, so they started the movie. Logan was taking Patton upstairs after it finished when Princy got suspicious again. 

“Where is he?” He mumbled, hurt. 

“Oh, Princy… I’m sorry” I responded, not realizing he’d hear me. He dropped down on all fours, and reached a hand under the couch. I attempted to roll out of his reach, but his pinkie hooked on my hood. He automatically closed his hands and pulled me out. “Let me go!” I snarled, swinging around by one hand.

“Vir-gil?” His voice broke in confusion.

“Go away, I’ll be fine in the morning. I promise I won’t miss the next movie night” I snarled, crossing my arms. His eyes lit up at the subtle message and put me down on the table in the kitchen. 

“What happened?” He asked.

“I don’t know, ok? I just.. Was normal than I wasn’t. Maybe Thomas did something? I have no idea” 

“In that case, We’re both sleeping here tonight. A prince must protect his lov-lower class people!” He did his typical princy thing. I huffed, yet his hands were gentle as he scooped me up. He nestled me..almost carefully, in the palm of his hands. He made me promise to stay on the arm of the couch before running upstairs to find something to make it easy for me to sleep, He was trying hard to take into account that I may be normal sized by morning. Logan, being the observant idiot he is, came downstairs while I waited. 

“Ah, Virgil. I was wondering where you got to. Please assure Patton you are ok in the morning” He continued passed me, adjusting his glasses after finishing speaking to me. I pulled my hood up, and shoved my hands into my pockets.

“Yea, whatever. Not like I was purposefully avoiding his company” 

“I am aware, but it would still help you both. Sleep well” He went back upstairs, a glass of water in his hand. I was picking at the edge of my pants when Roman reappeared. 

“Ta-da! A hammock! That way, you can sleep in anyway you’d like, but it is adapted to give away if too much weight is on it!” He showed me a bright hammock. 

“Oh. Thanks, Princy. Roman. Thanks Roman” I blushed at the glowing smile he gave me. He lay down on the couch, putting the hammock in such a way that the table supported me, but I wouldn’t hurt myself falling on it. I climbed into it. He had forgotten about a blanket, so I just pulled my hoodie around me. I kept tossing and turning, unable to get to sleep. I finally gave up, and crawled to the couch. Roman was out cold, snoring quietly. I pushed one of his bangs out of his face, tucking it behind his ear with a smile. I put one hand on his shirt, focusing the little energy I had on changing it to his onesie. I toppled over as my vision swam. Princy had been shifting in his sleep, and his hand was underneath me at just the right time. I was crushed into his cheek, which I squirmed out of. I sighed and climbed onto his shoulder. I fell asleep listening to his heartbeat in its soothing, slow, steady way. . . 

“Virg?” A voice woke me up. I groaned, rolling over. I felt the warm, squishy bed. I didn’t want to wake up. Even if I was floating. It did smell like Pattoncakes, though so maybe I’d get up. In five minutes. I was trying to go back to sleep when I remembered. 

“Did it work?” I asked, before realizing what was going on. I groaned again, rolling to face Roman. 

“Nope. How did you manage to get onto my shoulder?” He asked, setting me down. A finger poked my head thoughtfully. 

“Logan, leave me alone. I’m not some experiment. I couldn’t sleep and your heartbeat is calming” I stood up, clenching my fists to keep myself from falling over again. I’d used far too much yesterday. Ro caught me as my body gave up. He offered me a small pancake, setting it next to me. He cupped his hands as he talked to the others. I started tearing off bites of the pancake, trying hard to focus on not passing out. 

“We have a problem, Virgil is still small, and we have a video today. If I’m not mistaken, Thomas is setting up now” Logan stated. I shuddered at the thought of having to endure a video in my state. 

“I’ll stay here to help him. You guys can handle this, we’ll be ok” Roman jumped in before anyone else could speak. 

‘Or.. Deceit could take my place. That way, there’s still a balance. I can...I can help him” I pulled myself up against Roman’s fingers. 

“No! Not happening” He pulled me to his chest, glancing around fearfully. I blinked away the dizziness. 

“I agree. It would be horrible if I actually helped wouldn’t it?” The snake leaned against the counter. Patton wordlessly offered him a plate. He took it, and pulled a chair over. 

“No. I’m not letting Virgil out of my sight if I don’t have to” He was stubbornly holding me away from my old friend. 

“I’ll be in your sight. What do the rest of you say? Willing to let Dee help?” I glared at the prince, before sighing and sitting down at his concerned look. “Or not. Maybe it is best I sit this one out. Get some more sleep to get back to usual” 

“Liarrr” The other side sang. I hissed at him through Ro’s fingers. 

“We can handle this Virgil. Just get some rest!” Patton called, and I waved a hand in acknowledgment. The other sides sank out of sight, except Deceit and Roman. 

“Dee, can… can you make sure my brother. My brother doesn’t show up? I don’t want Virgil getting hurt” Roman finally choked out. A quiet shift was all the warning I got before I was transferred to the gloved hands. I watched Roman leave too. 

“Worried I’ll hurt you or take you back”

“A little, yea. Perks about being like this is that Princy will come and fight to get me back” I shrugged, leaning against his fingers. He sighed and brought me close to his chest. I hummed a thanks and shifted my weight to it. I dozed as he cleaned up the space, a quiet hissing of complaints whenever he thought I was asleep. 

“You’re still here?” Roman asked a while later.

“What? Thought I’d go behind your back and hand him to your brother? Please, I don’t have that much of a death wish. Besides, I know… even if I’m still upset, he’s far too vulnerable like this”

“Thank you. You’re not so bad” 

“I’m so honored” He handed me over, Roman’s warm hands soothing me more than Dee’s heartbeat had. 

“Look at the Prince protecting the bad guy” I mumbled, mostly asleep.

“You’re not the bad guy. I love you too much to think that” was all I heard before I was fully asleep. 

I woke to a bunch of fabric around me. I started freaking, trying to find a way out.

“Virg?” A sleepy voice came from somewhere above me. A hand entered, open for me to climb on if I wanted to. I grabbed onto it, scared. I was pulled out to see a very sleepy princy, wearing a reddish, white version of my hoodie. The Prince’s sash was across it. “Sorry, I thought this would be easier to carry you, and it’s familiar, sorta?” 

“It’s..It’s ok. Just warn me next time. I thought.. I thought one of the others had me”

“I’d never let that happen. Here, want to sleep higher up?” He showed me an inner pocket, shaped like a hammock. 

“Nah. I need something to eat” 

“Oh, Pat left some leftovers. Hang on, they should be over here” He stood up, gently closing his hand briefly. He was digging in the fridge with his free hand when I got sleepy again. I felt him gently place me in the inner pocket, leaving the hoodie unzipped. 

“Thanks Princy. You’re far too nice to me now”

“No, you’re just less snippy about it” 

“Mhm. You just like me” His heartbeat sped up when he heard that. “...do you?”

“I uh.. I thought.. I thought you were just… playing hard to get…” He choked out.

“What?? I.. You like me?? Like, a boyfriend??”

“Yea, dark and spooky! I had a crush on you since the beginning! You were like, the darkness to my light, as sappy as that sounds”

“..oh. OH! Ima… Ima.. I dunno what ima do” 

“Trust me? You seem to be getting color back, but it's still not affecting your size. I promise, no harm will come to you”

“Of course. You’re my knight in shining armor. Now be quiet and let me sleep” 

[wtfobiwan]

Savior | Ralph Dibny x reader

Words: 1,604

I don't know why this took me so long to write. I gave up at the end too. But I really hope @kurtbastianlover likes this.

Warnings: death (I guess)

Y/N

"Ralph! Just, fight it, alright? Fight it! I'll save you!" I heard Barry yell, making me run into the speed lab, seeing Ralph on his knees with light glowing through his head as DeVoe began to move all his powers from Edwin's body to Ralph's.

"You already did, Barry," Ralph said before his eyes closed and his head dropped, Edwin's body falling beside Ralph. Tears pooled in my eyes as I cover my mouth. I watched as Cisco and Killer Frost appeared in the speed lab from a portal, Cisco falling to his knees, pressing his fingers to his ears. I looked back at Ralph, his head being pulled up slowly, a smirk resting on his lips as he stood. I watched as Barry phased through the floor and passed me in a blur before grabbing the tuning fork, trying to hit the ground to knock DeVoe out. DeVoe hit Barry with a sound wave, knocking him into the entrance of the running area. Cisco sent a vibe blast toward, but the blast with through a portal and hit Cisco, sending him across the room. Killer Frost went to hit DeVoe in the head, but the man grabbed her wrist.

"Melt," he spoke, Killer Frost's hair turning brown before she was lifted up into the air and thrown against a metal wall, her body dropping to the floor. The lights flickered above me as electricity swirled around my hands, the bolts of lightning and electricity shooting towards DeVoe as I lifted my hand. A portal opened in front of him, another portal opening in front of the first one, the electricity and lightning hitting me in the chest, throwing me against the wall behind me. I watched painfully as DeVoe walked through a portal, disappearing from sight before I passed out.

I woke up hearing soft voices around me, pain surging through my head as I moved. Caitlin was talking softly beside me, my eyes opening slowly, letting me look up at the ceiling. I felt pain in my arm, making me look down to see my arm in a sling. “What happened to me?” I asked Caitlin, making her turn to look at me.

“When DeVoe threw you against the wall, your collar bone snapped. It’s going to take a while for it to heal due to how much damage he did,” the brunette told me as she helped me sit up. She showed me the x-ray of my collar bone, allowing me to see three breaks in the bone. “Your powers should be able to heal you, but you obviously won’t heal as fast as Barry.” She informed me. I slid off the bed and walked into the cortex, watching as Iris talked to Barry and Cisco looked at the computers for any breaches.

We worked on finding Ralph for weeks, but had no success in finding him. I sat on the floor, rubbing my temples as I thought of a way to save Ralph. Iris and Harry returned to the time vault with Marlize and the chair DeVoe had used. “The only way to stop him is getting into his mind and saving your friend,” I heard the woman say, making me lift my head up to look at her. I quickly stood up and walked to Marlize, looking at the floating chair.

“I’ll do it,” I said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Caitlin and Cisco looked at me with concerned looks on their faces. I smiled at the two before nodding at them, getting in DeVoe’s chair before looking at Cecile, who smiled sadly at me before nodding. Marlize put the cerebral inhibitor on Cecile’s forehead. Marlize looked at me and nodded, silently telling me to put the cap on my head. I slowly put the cap on my head and let out a heavy sigh. Caitlin explained how I would get into Clifford’s conscience and Marlize hit a button on a tablet, transferring my conscience to DeVoe’s.

I fell through the dark matter portal and let out a grunt, getting up quickly and looking around. I watched as DeVoe floated over the street in his chair, forcing me to hide in the bus. “Y/N. What do you see?” I heard Iris ask me as I hid behind a seat on the bus.

“Well I see DeVoe and I’m hiding in the 405 bus until I get a clearing. Where do I need to go?” I asked the people that were watching over my body.

“You’re at where it all started,” Marlize said “Go to our house.” She told me. I turned into a little ball of electricity and sped to the DeVoe’s house. I shifted back when I got to the house and landed on my feet carefully. I walked into the house and looked around.

“Guys? There’s nothing here." I told the others, hearing the others talk to each other in confusion.

“Little vague for the viewers at home. What do you mean nothing?” Cisco’s voice echoed, making me roll my eyes before looking around the home more.

“It’s empty,” I told the team. I picked up a picture frame and flipped it over, seeing the cracked glass with no picture inside the frame. “It’s completely empty. Alright so where should I go?” I asked, not hearing a response from the team. I looked around the house more before hearing the team talking again.

“Harry had an idea. Go to Oxford,” I heard Cisco say as I walked down the stairs. I repeated the name of the college in a confused tone.

“The Hamlet of Boar’s Hill. The place where we fell in love.” Marlize’s voice echoed, I nodded before turning into a small ball of electricity and going to the location Marlize told me to go to. I got to the location and changed back, landing on my feet roughly and looking around, seeing a blanket and picnic basket set out on the ground, a car with the door open playing music, and a gazebo beside the parked car. I looked around and let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

“DeVoe’s not here. Is there anywhere else he would go?” I asked quietly, hearing silence on the other side.

“Sparky?” I heard someone say my nickname from behind me, making me turn around to see Ralph standing by the tree line.

“Ralph?” I asked as I walked to him cautiously. “I thought you were gone. I’m so sorry,” I said,  wrapping my arms around him.

“I missed you too, Y/N,” Ralph said wrapping his arms around me. I let out a relieved laugh and smiled. 

“Did you just say Ralph?” I heard Iris and Barry ask in unison.

“Yeah guys, it’s Ralph, He’s alive.” I told the others as I let go of the brunet. I smiled and grabbed his hand.

“How are you here? Did he get you too?” Ralph asked me, his question shocking me and forcing me shake my head quickly.

“Cecile is using her telepathy to transfer my conscious into DeVoe’s. We don’t have much time. Have you seen the good DeVoe?” I asked him, watching him shake his head. I let out a sigh.

“I just see the evil floating chair variety. He visits me all the time,” Ralph told me, a frown forming on his lips.

“In this place I do as I please, Y/L/N. The fact that you didn’t think I would calculate this feeble plan to rescue your friend is insulting. There will be no defeating the Big Bad this year, Y/L/N. See, You’re in my mind now,” DeVoe said, Ralph’s hand tightening around mine. “And there’s no escape.” I looked at Ralph, who nodded and we turned into small balls of electricity and left the area. I looked around the city and went to the university DeVoe had taught at. We got into DeVoe’s old lecture hall and we shifted back, Ralph nearly falling as he landed on his feet. Both of us ran to the stage and saw DeVoe, dead at his desk with a large hole in his chest. I covered my mouth and looked away from the body.

“DeVoe didn’t want the good version of him getting control back,” I told Ralph. Lightning crackled around my hands, making me look outside. “I know where we need to go.” We ran out of the university and we ran to the street there the 405 bus crashed. I saw the portal and pointed to it. “That’s the nexus of DeVoe’s mind. We get through that, We get out of here.” I informed Ralph. I watched as an army of DeVoes. I grabbed Ralph’s hand and looked at him.

We turned into small balls of electricity and we pushed through the DeVoes and went through the portal, my eyes opening quickly. I got out of the chair and walked to DeVoe, watching as his body shook and he yelled out. He dropped to the floor and went towards his chair before sitting against the wall.

“This is not my will!” DeVoe screamed. I crossed my arms and smirked.

“No, but it’s mine,” I heard Ralph say, DeVoe’s head shaking as Ralph took control of his body again. I helped him stand up and held onto him as he regained his footing. I smiled at and watched as Marlize overrode the command for the Enlightening. We all watched as percentage rapidly dropped to zero. We returned to S.T.A.R. Labs and smiled as Iris told us there was no more dark energy in the city.