#there's a few shows I almost did but I am currently in MADDIE IS COMING BACK mode so | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dammit-neal · 3 years ago

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I just. I just thought about Eddie holding baby Jee-Yun? And singing to her while she clutches at his finger with her tiny meaty baby hand??

Maybe Buck freaked out a little because she was being fussy and wouldn't settle, and its probably nothing but hey, who better to call than Eddie, who conveniently has the day off and cuts off Buck's panicked rambling with a soothing;

"Its okay, Buck. Give me ten minutes, okay? You're doing great. She's probably just restless."

Eddie gets there and sends Buck off to cook dinner or shower or take a nap, scooping Jee-Yun out of her travel crib and making sure she's changed, warm, fed and content. And its been so long since Christopher was this tiny, but holding Jee-Yun makes him think back to that tiny, wriggly little bundle in his arms for the first time, back before it all went to shit.

Eddie pacing slowly around the lower loft, singing quietly, tickling her little chin, grinning when she giggles and gurgles at him. And he can see so much of Maddie and Chimney in her already. She's got Maddie's eyes and Chimney's lopsided grin.

(And for a little crack, maybe Buck catches this scene and is so overwhelmed he just blurts out; "put a baby in me!" And Eddie is like; "... What?" 👁👄👁 Which cues a hilariously awkward but heartfelt confession of feelings on both sides.)

Hey hey! So I like I told you I started this a while ago and then got SEVERE AND DEBILITATING writers block, and it sat waiting for new life. And then 5x03 happened, so Hello, new life! I hope you love it!

With You, My Life, I Will Get Married

Warning: mild spoilers for 9-1-1 season 5 episode 3.

Chimney was out searching for Maddie.

After shifts, on weekends, whenever he had a second, he was either spending time with Jee or out searching for her mom.

In times when he was on the search everyone at the 118 was making time to watch Jee Yun. Mrs. Lee was doing what she could, but couldn't always be available, and when that happened, Jee would spend some time at Bobby and Athena's or by Hen and Karen. And when they had too much going on, or when either of the uncles felt like they weren't getting enough time with their beautiful niece, she would spend time at her Uncle Buck's or Uncle Albert's.

Uncle Buck got lucky this time.

Eight hours in and everything had gone wrong. Buck shoulders were damp with spit-up, baby drool, and snot and all Jee seemed capable of doing was crying, crying, crying.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know what I did wrong, and, and now--just, Jee, please, it's okay, I'm here--!"

She continued to yell and Buck got more and more panicked. "Your Uncle Albert's gonna be here in like 5 minutes, Jee, okay? And then, maybe, maybe he's better with you? And will make you happy, and then--Oh God, what have I done wrong--"

A knocking at the door sent him back on his feet, swaying toward the loft entrance. It opened before he could get there, however, and he stopped where he was, a furious Jee Yun screaming in his ears as Eddie Diaz, not Albert Han, walked in.

"You look like you're having fun." Eddie's eyebrow was raised and his mouth quirked in a teasing smile.

"Eddie...?" Buck's momentary shock was interrupted as Jee let out another wail. "Um, sorry, this isn't the best time at the moment, but Albert--"

"--has a date tonight and sent me as his relief." Eddie reached out and plucked Jee Yun from Buck's arms. "And you have a date with your shower and a few hours' sleep."

"I--no, it's okay, I know you just got off shift--"

"Buck." Eddie shifted Jee to one arm, and the other rested on Buck's chest, over his pattering heartbeat. He met Buck's eyes, his own calm despite the bundle of adorable chaos still screaming bloody murder into his shoulder. "Go shower."

"...Yeah, okay."

***

She truly was one of the cutest babies, even when she was liable to wake up the neighborhood with her noise, Eddie thought with a smile as he re-seated her over one shoulder and began to firmly but gently tap her back.

"Your Tio Eddie is going to assume this is a gas issue, okay, chiquita? Christopher used to have this all the time, and he would scream and cry." Eddie huffed ruefully. "I was useless at it then, but Shannon showed me what to do." He kept tapping at her back. "Good set of lungs means a healthy baby, good job, Jee. Now, let's see if we can't get this gas out of you so you can calm down and you and your Tio Buck can get some sleep, okay?"

Eddie started circling the room, the sun beginning to set as he heard he shower turn on.

"There you go, see? Your Buck is going to get all showered since you drooled all over him, and then you both can get some sleep, how's that sound?"

He was answered with a burp far louder than Jee's small body should be capable of making. Then a sweet gurgling sound as she nestled her chin into his shoulder.

"There, feel better, mi princesa?" Eddie whispered against her soft, downy hair. "When I was small and got upset, and my parents got annoyed with my sulking, they'd send me to Abuela. And she would sit me down on her lap, just like this," he sat down on Buck's couch, and settled Jee Yun against his broad chest, rubbing her small back with a large warm hand. "And she would hug me until I forgot what I was so upset about. All I could think about was the smell of her perfume and how much I wanted to be like her one day.

"Then Pepa would come out and yell at both of us that it's about damn time we came into the house, dinner doesn't make itself." Eddie laughed at the memory. Jee made a small discontented noise and Eddie stood up again, walking toward the kitchen, where he saw the half-formed works of bottle making on the counter. "Shhh, princesa, Tio Eddie's gonna make you a bottle." With Jee over his shoulder, sounding more and more on the edge of hunger-panic, Eddie quickly assembled a bottle then leaned back against the kitchen island and cradled Jee Yun in his arms, pressing the nipple to her mouth, which she accepted gratefully.

"Better, yeah? Where was I...? Oh." Eddie smiled. "Once we were inside, Pepa, Abuela and I would make arroz con leche. Abuella would wash the rice, Pepa would be tutting the whole time about too much sugar, but she would always wink at me and add just a bit more before the cinnamon." Eddie couldn't help the smile that stole over his face as he remembered Abuela's warm kitchen in her El Paso ranch house before she and Pepa relocated to LA. In winter, the windows would fog over from the heat of whatever was on the stove. When she left, a lot of Eddie's heart left with her.

"They used to sing me the song too, you know?" Jee gurgled around her dinner and Eddie smiled again. "Well, I wasn't planning to sing it, but you drive a hard bargain." Eddie's poked Jee's soft cheek with a finger and began to sing.

Arroz con leche se quiere casar con una viudita de la capital, que sepa tejer, que sepa bordar, que ponga la aguja en su campanal.

(English translation: Rice with milk (rice pudding) Wishes to get married With a little widow from the capital. Who knows how to weave (or knit), Who knows how to embroider, Who puts the church steeple in the bell tower.)

***

Eddie was no American Idol contestant, but his voice was soothing and good. Strong. Listening to him sing from his seat on the stairs, Buck almost felt like he was where Jee currently snuggled, right against Eddie's chest, as his bass voice sung the gentle Spanish lyrics, harmonized by the occasional happy noise from Jee Yun.

Yo soy la viudita la hija del rey. Me quiero casar y no sé con quien. Contigo sí, contigo no, Contigo mi vida me casaré yo.

(English translation: I am the widow The daughter of the king, I want to get married and I don’t know with whom. With you, yes. With you, no. With you, my life, I will get married.)

Buck's head knocked lightly against the banister, body relaxing. He wasn't wearing a shirt, just the softest sweatpants he owned with a towel draped over his shoulders to catch water from the mess of wet curls on his head.

Eddie's so hard on himself all the time. I don't get it. He's such a good dad.

Dazedly, Buck's eyes fixed on Eddie's mouth as he repeated the verses again. Then Eddie sighed.

"Afterward Pepa would ask me who I want to marry and Abuela would laugh at me, and I'd always complain--" Jee gurgled again. "Like that, yes. But honestly, it was nice... Even though between you and me, Pepa can't sing very well at all." Eddie's lips quirked again in a smile. "Kind of like your Uncle Buck."

Buck startled at his name and looked up at Eddie's eyes. They twinkled back at him in the dying last light of the day, Eddie's golden skin lit by the last rays of the sun. Buck felt his face heat with a blush, knew there was nothing to do about it.

"Sorry, I should've--"

"Feel better after your shower?"

Buck sighed and smiled. "Yeah. World's better." He stood, stretching out his long legs as he descended the stairs. It was full dark now, but Buck didn't feel like turning on a light. "I can take her now."

"Nope." Eddie met him midway, hand on Buck's shoulder turning him around. "You're both getting some sleep now." One hand on Buck's shoulder, the other holding a drowsy Jee Yun, Eddie guided him back up the stairs, and pressed Buck down until he was sitting on his bed.

"Eddie, are you sure--"

"Shhh." Eddie deposited Jee into Buck's arms, then sat down behind him. "You can hold her for now." Eddie's hands skimmed up Buck's warm back then pulled the towel off Buck's shoulders, laying it on top of Buck's head, where a corner flopped over his eyes.

"Eddie?"

"Hold still, Buck."

Eddie's strong hands curled into the towel and Buck's hair, rubbing vigorously to get it dry. "Seriously, anyone who has ever seen your hair at work would marvel at how different it looks before you comb and gel all the life out of it." He rubbed vigorously, and Buck felt himself relaxing back against Eddie's chest. Tomorrow, he might look back at this and feel embarrassed. He might have to apologize. Tomorrow, he would go back to hiding how much he felt for the man who was drying his hair, still absent-mindedly humming the Arroz con leche tune under his breath. But for now, Eddie was too near and too warm and too... Eddie. And Buck found that he couldn't deny himself Eddie right now.

Buck cleared his throat and made himself focus on their conversation. "I used to wear my hair naturally, but people said it looked floppy. Made me look like a puppy."

"People are stupid sometimes, Buck. You know this." Eddie's thumb traced the shell of Buck's ear. "And if you think slicking back your hair makes you look less like a puppy, you really shouldn't be bothering." He snickered as Buck tried to shoulder his chest and Jee made a noise of complaint.

"So I just look like a puppy all the time, huh?"

The towel dropped. Eddie's arms came around, holding onto Buck and Jee Yun both. "I think you're a beautiful man, Buck."

The air in Buck's chest hiccupped out of his mouth. His heart picked up speed as the places where Eddie's hands rested on his stomach seemed to heat from within. "Y... Eddie?"

"Shhh. Sleep now. Jee's asleep, but who knows for how long." Eddie's voice was gruff, embarrassed. "I'll just--"

"Stay?" It came out too high, too soft. Buck cleared his throat and tried again. "I mean, if it isn't any trouble, and--"

"I can stay." Eddie's arms tightened around Buck again and he pulled him backwards until Buck could lay out flat on his back, before pressing Buck's head down on his pillow. Then Eddie pulled Jee from Buck's arms and sat back against the headrest, legs folded together, Buck's niece cuddled again against his chest. "Sleep now."

"Okay." There was so much Buck wanted to know. To say. It all got stopped in his throat as fear tamped it all down to squirm in his chest.

"Eddie?" The word found its way out.

"Hm?"

"...Nothing."

A sigh. Then, "Come here."

Buck didn't hesitate, moving his head off the pillow and onto Eddie's lap. Eddie's spare hand found its way back into his curls and tugged lightly before stroking through them, gently, so gently.

"Sleep now."

"Okay. But," Buck's jaw cracked around a large yawn. "Before... you have to know..."

"Hm?"

"You are... so beautiful... Eddie Diaz."

Buck felt Eddie's hand tighten in his hair again, before releasing, fingers wandering down to trace his eyebrows, his nose, his lips.

"Sleep, querido."

As Buck's eyes slipped closed, and awareness almost dropped away, he swore he could feel lips press lightly right above his eye, on his birth mark.

"Contigo mi vida me casaré yo."

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asavt · 4 years ago

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Another cookie squad Headcanons

Featuring Sparkling, Vampire, cellphones and the Espresso and Madeleine Story of how they came together. Consider it an AU now baby!

-As a note, when I say the squad I'm mostly referring to the adults, so no worries about Walnut or Creampuff useless I mention them too

-Each one of the squad has been in Sparkling's bar at last once. There's no need to say who has been there the most. Sparkling has a time every time someone besides Roguefort comes, because to him it's mostly like "Oh I'll finally know the continuation to the burnt toast accident or maybe the cat catastrophe? Maybe a new POV of the--"

He practically knows a lot of what happens in between the squad.

-As another note, Sparkling's bar is called Milabo (You know, like the song from Zutomayo of the same name, which, btw, I relate a lot to Latte)

-*A great part of this “AU” is kind of inspired by the song. Part of its lyrics and vibe.

-Vampire is there most of the time when the squad visits the bar (it's almost as if he never leaves the bar and this is definitely not me low-key putting sparkvamp in this oh no--) Sometimes the fakes his sleep to listen to the things others say (Which is how he knows most of Rogue's pan-ic).

-Walnut has been in Sparkling's bar too, but at day and for case-solving purposes only. Sparkling will give her some alcohol-free drink for free sometimes (mostly because he gets along pretty well with the nut family and because Almond usually pays him whatever he serves her).

-If the squad had cellphones (and probably an app like discord because.), their group chat would initially be called "Coffee mage appreciation group" and then be changed to "Coffee bean appreciation group"

Coffee Bean: Can we please change the group name and mine?

Guided by the Devine: No <3

Coffee Bean: Fuck you.

-*And they all would dedicate half their time to make fun of Almond but with love.

-Espresso has been mistaken for a dark mage before by Almond. It was how they meet actually. Almond had pulled him to interrogate him and got a long lecture on the differences between black magic and coffee magic.

-Madeleine gets along rather well with Roguefort. Rogue seems impressed by Maddie’s acting skills.

-Madeleine is currently living with Espresso. Out of his armor most of the time. He usually takes care of keeping the house clean and preparing meals (He never really had to cook before but the first dish he made wasn’t bad at all). Sometimes he will tag along Almond in the detective’s work, or Almond will ask for his help.

-I’m still unsure if I want the Almond/Roguefort/Latte to be romantic or platonic. But honestly? Both are good. Latte is pretty close to Almond and Roguefort but not in the way she is with Espresso (that makes them look like siblings jkashduawhu). Perhaps I’ll keep it platonic.

-The Espresseleine/Madespresso story of how they came together, because I seem to not be able to write it down JSHALDHUIWADWA-

--It happens after the Puppet Show mini quest. Madeleine starts to ask for Espresso's "assistance" in different mission that are given to him. Angel is there too, of course.

--During these missions is that Essy clarifies that no, they are not friends, no, he does not like Madeleine. Bringing up the knight begin too prideful and self-centered if not all then most of the time.

--Is not until one of their missions goes wrong, were Angel is knocked out and Espresso (seeing and knowing that if Madeleine is knocked down too they might not be able to go back to the kingdom ever) pretty much receives a rather big attack for Madeleine is that he kind realizes the facts given by espresso true. All while he is carrying Essy and Angel back to the kingdom, running and exhausted too.

--Clover begin kind of a mediator between the two (I want to see more of my son--)

--"Devine, protect us" Should happen too after this. An scenario like, Madeleine coming to think something like "I'm the shield, the one who goes on the front line and receives the blows for those who can't, always looking straight ahead... but if I am doing that then who watches my back? Who do I rely on and trust to take care of most enemies so the damage received is not overwhelming...?"

Power of team work baby!!!

--As a note to this, Maddie getting his cape damaged as well as his hair. So, you get short hair Maddie~

(I've been drawing him with short hair in secret now I have an excuse to show)

-- "You...cut your hair..." *Madeleine touches the points of it with one of his hands, pensive* "...pft it'll grow back!"

--There's also this "Search for your own light" thing between Angel and Maddie. Angel encouraging Madeleine to do so. Maybe Madeleine giving his best wishes to them for their wish to fly before they decide to part ways.

--Madeleine trying other ways to befriend Essy. Which at first Espresso mistaken as the knight usual attempts to befriend anyone he sees out of habit and attention seeking, but once they realize the feeling is completely genuine, Espresso is rather perplexed.

--"You can't just befriend people by buying them gifts (although I do appreciate them)" "Then what?" "hmm..."

--Said gifts used to be rather expensive things, simple though. Eventually Madeleine settles to just pass by Espresso's place, give him any food he had bought that day (which usually is glazed donuts), ask if he needs any help with something (getting a vase, materials, moving things), and if not then he just says his good byes, best wishes and silently leaves. (A note on the "silently leaves": Madeleine is pretty much used to speak loudly and enter loudly anywhere, he still does this at this point, but when it's about Espresso he is a bit more quiet, a bit showy over his entrances still, but less loud, and he actually knocks the door)

--Madeleine eventually manages to go out with Espresso to other places that aren't some place in the forest full of enemies. Probably after some more visits to his place and more calm talks between the two, Madeleine brings up that Espresso tends to act a bit cold or distant towards a lot of people, and that, although he understands his discomfort at begin in public spaces or too long out of his work, he should try and open up a bit. This reminds Essy of a certain friend he hasn't seen in some time, and from whom he keeps getting letters.

--Shenanigans.

--There's still some bickering between the two, always with a playful undertone though.

--Espresso explains Madeleine, one time the knight has gotten Espresso wrapped in a blanket burrito again and got him to bed, that sometimes, no matter how tired he might feel, he is simply unable to sleep. Part of a headcanon of mine that coffee magic has this side effect on it's users, prolonged usage of this kind of magic will induce a high caffeine kind of state, which on the long run can fuck up the user's sleep schedule. Madeleine understands this, but remains stubborn about keeping Espresso in the bed so at last he can get some rest from his work and clear his mind a little, the idiot falls asleep in the process and Espresso doesn't try to wake him up.

--This happens several times after, neither of them thinking of the implications of not begin bothered by the sudden closeness they share until it's too late.

--Espresso realizes first that he has slowly, yet nicely, fallen for Madeleine. I think I talked about this before but I'll do it again: Is in one of the times Madeleine has gotten Espresso to bed to get some rest, Espresso not begin able to fall asleep and Madeleine doing again. Is while he thinks of how he has gotten to know Madeleine for real, not the Knight Commander from a noble family or the Chosen by the Devine, but as he is, that he comes to think that "Ah.... I love him" and he remains calm about it.

--Espresso doesn't overthink it, just thinks that, if Madeleine ever got an interest in him, he would surely show it. So he waits. Even if in the end his feelings aren't mutual he knows he'll do just fine remaining friends.

--Madeleine realizes not many days after. And the realization hits him like a truck. Alone in his place and probably in bed looking at the ceiling thinking about Espresso. Once he realizes and thinks about it a bit more his face gets all red and chooses to scream in the pillow.

--He would think about telling Espresso as soon as he can, after all, he doesn't want his feelings to make their friendship weird. He values it, a lot. Maybe because his friendship with Espresso it's the first one where he genuinely wanted to become friends with someone.

--Espresso takes the confession calmly, gets all flustered after they kiss for the first time.

--As a few extras of this: Madeleine goes back to the Republic, asked to be seen by his family and Espresso goes to Parfedia, where a few students have applied to his class to his surprise. When they see each other again is at Parfedia (Madeleine sending a message to Espresso beforehand about his arrival) -there was this one drawing I did once of Maddie running to hug Espresso, something like that happens-. Madeleine gets very clingy for some reason, which they speak later and comes out as “Home doesn’t quite feel like home…” “Why is that?” “I don’t know… maybe I’ve become used to be around you”

--Espresso lets ends up letting Madeleine stay with him until he either feels like returning to the Republic or is called back, whatever happens first (though none will happen for maybe a year or a little more).

--Ends with Madeleine meeting Latte and Almond.

#Headcanon time baby!#The cookie squad #Espresso Cookie #Madeleine cookie #espresseleine #madespresso #Roguefort cookie #Almond cookie #Latte Cookie #Sparkling cookie #Vampire cookie #Walnut cookie #Bar gays

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hmslusitania · 3 years ago

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ngl everyone standing around claudette like that was just, what?? like, does no one else in LA have an emergency? and what she did was good, not gonna deny that, but it's not something josh hasn't done before or abby or sue or maddie or anyone else, y'know? and then she was so mean to may for no damn reason?? and josh just stood by and said nothing and THEN he gaslit may about it. idk what they're going for, but so far i hate it

Anon 2 said:

no but the "i have to get home and feed my cat." "you have a cat?" "no." thing literally had me going biiiiiitchhhh what is your fucking issue? that was just so unnecessarily mean. and like, i know this storyline has just started but i hate it and i don't really get what they're going for with it. esp not with josh gaslighting may as well, which tbh seems ooc for him. the whole thing is just uncomfortable.

Anon 3 said:

Claudette reminds me of one of my coworkers too, I’m currently at my desk after having had to speak to her and it has only aggravated my anxiety further along side my period.

I am going to be super curious where they're going with Claudette. My friend @starry-eyed-guttersnipe theorised when we were watching the episode last night that we're going to learn that Josh did not lure Claudette away from her last job, she was on the brink of getting fired and abandoned ship at the first opportunity to come her way, and I think she's bang on the money.

To the two of you who used Tumblr's favourite buzzword gaslighting, I'd just like to remind everyone that for it to be gaslighting, there does have to be an element of intention about it, and the person needs to be lying about something on purpose, and from the very little we've seen, Josh has no idea he's wrong. He is wrong, and he's coming at it from a bad angle, but based on a few of the expressions he had during the Claudette scenes and his comment about them "coming up together" I think -- for now, since we know almost nothing about this storyline yet -- they were in the same training group the way Maddie and Linda were, and I get the impression they were friends. Whether they were genuinely friends, or whether Josh had the arguably reasonable internal defence mechanism of "befriend the mean girl so she's not mean to me" remains to be seen. I'm going to be very interested to see what Sue has to say about it all the next time we have her there at dispatch. My hope is Sue's gonna be the one to show up and be like "Oh yeah no we had to take her because Valley was about to fire her."

On a more general note, I think whatever this storyline with Claudette ends up being, it's going to be relatable to a lot of us. Because who among us has never had a coworker like Claudette? They're awful, even when you aren't the person they've picked to turn into their verbal punching bag the way Claudette seems to have picked May (and had previously picked Linda, apparently, but I feel like the timeline saw her leave pretty soon after Linda and Maddie's group was hired). People who are wandering around your work place being mean and catty to make themselves feel like the top dog are just gross, and we've all had the displeasure of knowing one. I'm looking forward to May besting her in a dispatch call and the veil of disillusionment getting torn off Josh's eyes.

I personally have liked dispatch storylines since season 2, I find logistics interesting, so as of right now, it's the most concrete storyline I'm looking forward to observing this half-season. On account of everything else still being sort of ephemeral and nebulous as yet, with the exception of Chimney's storyline which is just heartbreaking. I'm looking forward to May getting to grow into her own and kick ass and take names. It's what she deserves.

#the ghost ship answers questions #anon #anon(s)#9-1-1 #911 spoilers #911 season 5 speculation #may grant #claudette colins #josh russo

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gayhotpriests · 4 years ago

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been here all along [fic]

Or; there are traces of Buck all over the Diaz household. 1.8 k

Read on ao3

The coffee maker beeps in the kitchen, the sound carrying all the way into the bedroom the second after Eddie turns off his alarm. A cool breeze comes in through the window Eddie left open last night by mistake, and in the couple steps it takes to go from the bed to the door, Eddie has picked up at least six different clothing items, not even all his, from the floor and the chair in the corner that soon gets tossed into the laundry basket. He stops briefly by Christopher’s room to make sure his son is awake (he’s not, and a cranky five more minutes is heard from under the covers) before going into the bathroom to start his own morning routine.

The bright, red firetruck print that greets him has never failed to make him smile, not once ever since one particular Thursday, maybe two years ago now, when Christopher and Buck spent a couple of hours in the mall looking for a birthday present for one of Chris’s friends but bought a very much not needed set of shower curtains instead, along with matching firetruck soap dispenser and cup. They even have little firefighters painted in the tiny plastic windows, and Christopher might be almost twelve now, but the day he gets tired of his Buck’s gift is yet to come.

A month into the school year, the Diaz family’s mornings have looked mostly the same every day, and this fine Monday proves not to be the exception, as Eddie finds out a few minutes later. A certain blond man is still asleep on Eddie’s couch, and instead of doing his workout, Christopher is sprawled on top of him, snoring lightly. Buck’s legs are twisted in an awkward angle to fit in the couch and one of his hands brushes the fluffy carpet beneath the sofa (the one he picked in an attempt to convince Eddie that his house needed personality), the other holding onto Chris, whose face is completely smushed against the other’s shoulder. Bright blue crutches that Chris has started to grow out of lay in a disorganized pile next to them.

(If Eddie’s heart beats a little bit faster- if his hands itch to hold them too and join the sleepy pile, well. They don’t need to know.)

“Alright, sleepy heads, school starts in an hour! Get up!”

Eddie owns a perfectly functional coffee maker, a classic machine with only one button and no special features, that makes his coffee the same way every day, and has done so for almost five years without signs of obsolescence. He’s a simple man with simple tastes, but Eddie’s perfect, simple coffee maker, is currently collecting dust inside a box in the attic.

A steaming cup of coffee, however, is waiting for him on the counter when he steps into the kitchen, complete with milk foam, a shot of caramel, and two sugars: the product of the stupidly expensive machine Buck and Chris had plotted to get him, with all the smart features and Starbucks level settings that Eddie did not need. Using the machine is extremely complicated, too, so once Eddie found out how to input the settings for his drink of choice, he stopped allowing anyone to mess with it. Eddie drinks the sweet concoction religiously every morning, without a fault.

He sips on his sugar bomb slowly as Buck cooks breakfast, eggs, and sausages with toast, fruit salad, and a cup of warm milk for the only kid in the house. The sound of the sizzling pan and the knife hitting the cutting board fills the room along with the smell of homemade breakfast, something that screams of home and family, uninterrupted until Christopher shows up fresh from the shower and in clean clothes, with his restless morning energy and promptly sets to chatting their ears off. Buck keeps the conversation alive and gets the boy to help with mixing the fruit salad while he recounts the last episode of their favorite cartoon they had seen together the previous night. Buck makes surprised sounds at the right times, throwing a few "No way! Tell me more!" for good measure, even though Eddie’s pretty sure he remembers the episode perfectly as he asks the right questions to launch Christopher off in another direction at least three times.

Eddie finishes his coffee, leaves the cup in the sink, and turns to the cupboard to start setting the table.

Three days before school started, Christopher told Eddie that he’s big enough to use big people knives and after a long phone call with his son’s Occupational Therapist, and another with his own therapist, they had gone to the store to get him a cutlery set that could allow him more independence while still on the safer side, and Buck had found the perfect one: the knife has a blunt tip and slightly serrated edge, and a round plastic handle decorated with tiny green and blue dinosaurs.

“Daddy, don’t forget the dinosaurs, please,” Christopher asks politely, just like every day, because he refuses to eat with any other fork or knife. Luckily the set came with six of each, so everyone can use them during breakfast as Christopher prefers.

“Yeah, and don’t forget the big spoon for the fruit salad,” Buck chips in, pointedly looking at Eddie. Clearly, he still hasn’t let go of the last few times he has forgotten the big spoon for the fruit salad. In less than five minutes, they’re seated around the table eating, Christopher’s feet kicking excitedly against Eddie’s when they congratulate him for the A he got in his latest science assignment.

Both his son and best friend clear their plates first, smiles on their faces accompanied by crinkled eyes as they laugh. Eddie has to scold Chris on talking with his mouth full only once- a new record, and Buck only twice, tapping him on the hand with the spoon, reminding him to lead by example and not be a terrible influence on the kid. Buck mumbles a sheepish sorry every time, ducking his head in embarrassment, and Eddie just rolls his eyes and shoots him a fond look. He watches them, joins the laughter when Buck teases him, or when Christopher tells a story from school, warmth filling him up from the inside out.

Soon enough, the time’s up and Christopher goes to brush his teeth and get ready to leave while Eddie and Buck load the dishwasher and wipe the countertops, barely any words exchanged as they move around the kitchen. Eddie checks the calendar by the fridge, next to Christopher’s old artwork and the polaroids held up by fruit magnets. PT at 11 am, Frank’s at 3 pm, reads in the bold block letters of Buck’s handwriting, under Eddie’s own scribble of C’s swimming lessons at 3.30 pm. Eddie makes a face at the overlapping schedule, chews on the inside of his cheek. He’s too late to ask Carla to take Christopher for him, as he gave her the week off a few days ago so she could go to DC for a certification. The last few therapy sessions had been at noon, but PT was pushed up to eleven and so his entire schedule was unexpectedly messed up, and Eddie will have to run from the clinic to Christopher’s school and then take him to the pool, but he’s not cleared to drive yet so he has to account for cab ride expenses and a whole new timeframe now, too. God, he should have gotten this figured out yesterday.

Back in El Paso, when Eddie had worked three jobs, he had once forgotten to pick Christopher up at school because his shift ran longer than usual, his phone died and the teachers were unable to reach him at the construction site. His parents had been called instead, being the second emergency contacts, and they had stared him down later at night while they told him all the reasons he was a bad dad and Christopher should live with them. Don’t drag him down with you, Eddie.

A hand lands on his healthy shoulder, right next to the base of his neck, and Eddie looks away from the calendar to meet a pair of bright blue eyes next to him. Buck watches him for a second before opening his mouth, careful.

“Hey, Eds, I noticed today looks a bit tight and I was thinking I could ask Bobby to let me out for an hour so I can go pick Chris up and drive him to his lessons, or maybe ask Maddie if I’m on a call,” he says, and the knots in his throat slowly start to dissolve, as he stares up to his friend’s calm face. His shoulders slowly start to relax, the injured one pulses with pain. The warmth of Buck's fingers makes the little hairs on his nape stand up as he swipes his thumb twice over the patch of uncovered skin in a comforting gesture.

“Yeah, thanks, man,” Eddie chokes out.

Buck smiles, and it’s all it takes. The fog lifts.

“Sure, I’ll text you in case I can’t make it so you can let the school know Mads is going to get him,” Buck continues, but he’s not touching Eddie anymore. Eddie takes a small step back, fidgets with the dishrag he still had in his hands as Buck starts to make his way to the living room, picking up his jacket, “you get to pick him up after, and already I left you guys some leftover stew for tonight's dinner in the fridge," Eddie keeps his eyes on Buck while he talks, takes a few steps closer to his friend, but not close enough. "I have a sixteen-hour today, so you tell Christopher goodnight for me, alright?”

“Of course,” his voice is too tight, and it must show because Buck bites his lip and reaches out his hand again, but doesn’t touch. At that moment Christopher burst back into the living room and yells out as if Buck isn’t right there to hear him.

“I’m ready, Buck!”

With a last smile, Buck turns to the door, putting on his shoes quickly and pulling his bag out of the hallway closet. Eddie leans down to place a smooch on his son’s cheek, which makes him laugh, and throw his head back with a loud “Bye, dad!” in his ear.

“Alright buddy, let’s go, let’s go!” Buck exclaims and Christopher bolts out the door, followed by his Buck, and Eddie stays at the threshold until he can’t see the Jeep past the corner of the street.

It’s barely eight o’clock and he still has chores to get done before PT, but Eddie just drops facefirst into the heap of blankets on top of the couch, drowning in the smell of his family and he aches for the picture he saw earlier that morning, sleep falling slowly over him like another blanket. A short nap is calling his name from the dream world, and the last thing he sees before going under is his pillbox for the pain meds next to a bottle of water, a pink post-it note stuck on the tag, big bold letters were carefully written on it. I know you forget but please take these before leaving home! xx. Buck.

Eddie falls.

#my fic #hey i wrote a thing #soft domestic buddie #pre relationship #buddipher #buck's love language is gift giving and acts of service #english is not my first language #buddie fic #eddie diaz #evan buck buckley #christopher diaz #buckley diaz family #be kind im nervous #oneshot

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oh-my-damn · 3 years ago

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The Kiss

Chapter 3 of my Stucky x OC story on Wattpad; Electric - Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes

Find the first two chapters here.

Check out my Wattpad for more chapters, there’s currently more than 150 chapters published, as of 15/8-21.

Story is rated M for mature as it contains a lot of smut. Kink warnings can be found in the Author’s note on Wattpad (there’s a lot..)

Warnings for this chapter: Kissing, make out session (Stevie moves fast in this story), some grinding and pining. Also a bit of angst and confusion.

MADELINE

Lunch was awkward.

After I brought up Bucky, Steve continued to act weird for the rest of the meal.

He barely said anything.

After a while of awkward silences, we finished eating and Steve left the kitchen. I went to the gym to get some basic training in, expecting Steve to come meet me as planned.

After about an hour or so of me training weights I realize Steve is not coming to train me as he was supposed to, and so I decide to go back to my room.

I honestly thought he knew and that bringing up Bucky would be a good thing. I had no idea he would react like this.

I am lying on my bed contemplating what an idiot I am as I hear a soft knock on my door.

It's so quiet that I barely hear it but I do.

"Who is it?" I yell out.

It takes a second for someone to reply but when he finally does I hear his magnificent voice.

"It's Steve. Can I come in? I won't dare to open the door before you allow me to."

I chuckle to myself. "Yes Steve. It's safe. I am dressed. Come on in"

I sit up on my bed as the door opens and I see Steve standing in my entryway.

He is looking at me in a way I can't decipher.

Is he mad at me? I don't know how to read this man.

"Madeline" he says as he closes the door behind him, "I'm sorry for the way I reacted earlier and that I didn't show up for training. I just didn't know that was how you met or got your powers, and the mentioning of Bucky in that context was a surprise to me."

He looks wounded as he speaks and it makes me feel instantly guilty.

He walks a few steps into my room and continues, "Bucky and I are at a fragile stage. He is still getting rid of the programming HYDRA did to him and he has been back and forth to Wakanda. I was his mission so it's been difficult for him to get fully back when it comes to our friendship. I hope you know my reaction had nothing to do with you but mainly due to mine and his relationship currently."

He looks down to his feet and he seems so vulnerable, my first reaction is to hug him.

I want to touch him and hold him close and make him feel better but I restrain myself.

"Steve, it's okay. I understand. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

He walks a bit further into the room and is now standing at the edge of the bed where I'm sitting.

He looks to the bed and then at me and asks "Can I sit?"

I nod silently and he places his beautiful self on my bed.

I could have jumped out of my own body right there.

As I look at him he continues.

"It's not your fault Madeline. You didn't know. How could you know? I understand you were just trying to find something we had in common and I appreciate it."

He smiles to himself as he looks down.

I reply "Yes well, I guess I was just trying to make it seem less awkward between us..."

He suddenly turns to look at me.

"You think it's felt awkward between us?" He looks at me with a confused expression.

I look at his beautiful blue eyes and reply, "Well... Yes. I haven't been sure if you really enjoyed my company or not. Half the time I feel like I'm a burden to you. So I was just trying to help you relate to me."

He looks at me for a second and then turns away and chuckles to himself.

"What's so funny?" I ask him, annoyed.

He looks back at me and then says "Nothing's funny. Actually, it's all very frustrating. I'm very sorry you thought I didn't like you. It's actually the exact opposite."

He studies my face as he finishes his sentence and I freeze.

What did he just say?

Before I can even think properly his face is right in front of mine and he breathes heavily as he says "Madeline? Can I kiss you?"

I study him and he looks so genuine and pure and I instinctively nod.

He puts his lips on mine so fast I don't even realize at first but once I do, I feel it.

I feel it all. The heat. The impulse.

The electricity.

As he kisses me deeper I feel my energy surge through me.

I have never been kissed like this.

I have been kissed before, yes, but it was never like this.

It never felt like electricity.

And for a person with actual energy coursing through her body, electricity is well.... electric. Quite literally.

As he puts both his hands on my jaw I put mine on his neck to grab his hair and as I do, a tiny electric shock comes out of my finger tips where I touch him.

I hear the spark and I quickly pull away in panic.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

He rubs his neck and looks at me. "Doll, what was that?"

I blush a bit and look down.

"That might have been me..."

He tilts my head back up as he locks eyes with me.

"I thought you said you were in control." He smirks.

My cheeks turn even more red as I reply "I guess I lost it a little bit there."

He grabs me by the back of my neck and pulls my hair, his lips almost touching mine.

"I will never blame you for losing control with me because I have been losing mine since the first time I saw you. And you could never hurt me darling... I'm Captain America, I can handle you when you lose control" and then he crashes his lips onto mine.

Our lips move in perfect synchronization and it feels amazing.

He pulls me closer and as a result, pulls my hair a bit harder and a moan escapes my lips.

This seems to affect him and he deepens the kiss.

I open my mouth a bit and suddenly our tongues collide as well.

He moves while kissing me and I feel him position his body between my legs, his manhood throbbing against my crotch and I moan once again.

As I do he pulls away and watches me intensely.

I see the lust and heat in his eyes and I feel the same.

He must see it because in one swift motion he switches around and pulls me onto him so that I am sitting on his lap. He grabs my hair again and pulls me into another deep kiss and as he does I am grinding on him. I can't help myself. This feels so good I just want to feel him deeper. I want more.

I grind against him and I feel him hardening underneath me.

As I start to rub myself against him a moan escapes my lips once again and it fuels him further.

He pulls me away, his breath heavy and quick as he studies my face.

As he is about to pull me back in for another kiss, a loud noise interrupts everything and I quickly jump off his lap.

"Hello, Madeline. Are you there?"

Visions voice interrupts us abruptly and his loud knocking ruins the mood.

Steve and I look at each other as we try to gather ourselves before allowing Vision entry but he doesn't wait and suddenly he storms through the door.

I scramble to compose myself in the few seconds I have and Steve does the same.

As Vision enters my room he keeps speaking.

"Madeline, I couldn't wait to meet you, Wanda has told me so much about you so I thought I would introduce myself and we could..." he pauses as he sees Steve Rogers sitting at the end of my bed.

I managed to hurl myself off his lap but I doubt my cheeks have reached their natural color yet and I can tell that Steve is still on edge after what happened.

Vision looks from me to Steve and he pauses and looks at him for a second, tilting his head to the side. Only after that he speaks again.

"Captain! I didn't expect you here. I was just coming to introduce myself after Wanda has told me so much about our special new recruit."

He moves a bit to the side and I suddenly see Wanda smiling at me and once she realizes what she just walked in on, she waves at me awkwardly and then says "Maddie, it's just been so long I wanted to say hi. And Cap.. Hello. Hope we didn't interrupt anything."

I look at Wanda with widened eyes and I don't know what to reply.

Luckily, Steve replies quickly "It's all good you guys. I was just talking to Madeline about our training sessions for the next few days.."

He turns to me and we lock eyes and I can tell he was hoping for much more than what's happening right now.

As he gazes into my eyes he says "Madeline.. I will see you later and we can discuss further. I will come back once you're done catching up. Is that okay?"

As he says the last part I see the spark in his eyes.

"Yes, of course Captain Rogers. I appreciate your understanding."

I smile back at him shyly and after I do so he looks back to Wanda and Vision standing in my doorway.

"Alright then", he stands up from my bed and walks towards the door. Vision and Wanda move away a bit to give him space.

He turns back to me and says "I will see you soon then. I have some stuff I need to handle now..." He smiles at me shyly but Wanda and Vision don't see.

I am still sitting on my bed as Wanda walks towards me.

"Maddie! Come up here! Give me a hug! It's been so long, I've missed you!"

I stand up and she pulls me into a warm embrace. Behind her I can see Vision staring at me, probably trying to figure out what just happened here.

He's not the only one who would like to know.

What did just happen here?

Wanda sits down next to me on the bed and we catch up.

She tells me stories about her latest adventures and I listen as attentively as I can.

In the back of my mind I am still thinking about Steve and the way he was kissing me just a few moments ago.

She introduces me to Vision and they talk for a bit and although they are very sweet and interesting, I am still thinking about Steve. I feel guilty but I just can't keep my mind off him.

After a while Vision leaves to go work in the lab and I am left with Wanda. She turns to me.

"So. Vision is not human and doesn't understand these things. But I know what I saw. Now that he left... tell me everything."

I look back at her with a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

I try to sound nonchalant but by the look on her face I am failing. She grins at me and taps me slightly on the shoulder.

"Maddie! Stop playing! Steve Rogers was sitting on your bed when I walked in! You can't fool me!"

She looks at me and her gaze is locked in. I try to avoid her eyes but there is no way. I'm not getting out of this.

"Well..." I say.

I look down at my fingers as I twiddle my thumbs and I can feel my cheeks blushing.

I look back up at my beautiful friend who has been one of my closest confidants since I gained my powers. Wanda knows, she understands everything I went through. We shared many memories and thoughts during my trainings and I do trust her more than anyone right now.

I look away for a bit to gather my thoughts and as I look back at her she looks at me with expecting eyes.

"He kissed me."

Her eyes go wide and she slaps my thigh a little harder than I would have liked and yells "WHAT!"

She looks me up and down with a surprised look on her face and once again I have to look away as to not blush.

When I turn back to look at her she grabs my hand.

"Maddie. That's crazy. Do you understand what this means?"

I furrow my eyebrows and look back at her, "No, what does it mean? What do you know?"

She sighs and gathers her thoughts before replying, "Steve Rogers met the presumed love of his life during World War II. He went in the ice and came back seventy years later only to find her old and having had a husband and family. He never moved on. He has never loved anyone else. Either this is very important to him or you are just a distraction to him. I know how you have felt because you've told me however you need to figure out whether this is real for him or just a distraction before this goes any further."

I look Wanda in the eyes to try and study what she really means but she is sincere. All I get from her is honesty. I look down to my hands and realize what a bad mistake I've made.

I don't want to be Captain America's distraction.

I don't want to be anyones distraction.

As I look at Wanda and the serious look on her face I realize I must distance myself from whatever entanglement this would have been until I know what he wants for sure.

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221bsunsettowers · 4 years ago

Note

idk if you're still taking prompts, but if you are... Eddie saying #14 from the caretaker dialogue prompt to Buck?

I’m always taking prompts, they are what keep me writing! :)

14) “You’re so cold...”

(This takes place during 3x05, in the grocery store, post Eddie and Buck’s fight. From there, it veers off canon. Also, there are a few mentions of blood in the beginning.)

Buck watched the team run out of the grocery store and into the parking lot, watched them start to handle whatever road rage incident was currently occurring. He stood there, an observer, a damn outsider, seeing Eddie with his back unprotected, an empty space where Buck knew he should have been.

But he’d blown that, hadn’t he? He’d tried so hard to get back to his team, to Eddie, and instead he was alone in a grocery store, holding a jar of that applesauce Chris liked the best (Buck had promised him they would learn how to make homemade applesauce, but that was never going to happen now, was it?), no one to share it with.

Another loud yell came from the parking lot, startling Buck out of his isolated mind, and the jar dropped, smashing on the floor. “Shit,” Buck muttered, bending down without thinking to clean up the mess.

A sharp slash of pain shot through his hand, and Buck winced, glancing down to see a large gash sliced across his palm, blood pouring out onto the piece of glass that had caused the unexpected issue.

Rational Buck knew he was still on blood thinners, knew this was most likely a highly problematic injury, but the Buck who had been left alone in the aisle of the grocery store simply went through the motions, figured he could fix this up himself when he got home. Added gauze and large bandages to his basket, apologized for the mess as he paid for his groceries, and began walking out the door.

The door seemed really far away, much farther than normal, and the sounds from outside that had previously been so loud were now almost completely muted. Buck felt like he was trudging his way through swamp mud, every lift of the foot an effort, and why was he so damn cold all of a sudden? Was the cashier yelling something? Buck was suddenly too tired to turn around to find out.

Too exhausted. Too exhausting. Right. Made sense. Too exhausting to be Buck, to be around Buck. Buck was glad he was too tired to hold onto any of these thoughts for too long, he imagined they might finish what Eddie had started, finish ripping Buck apart from the inside out if he could really get at the root of them.

Stumbling into the door seemed to make it open, so Buck found himself tripping an exit from the store, falling onto his knees. He let out an involuntary scream as he landed hard on his injured hand, then stared at the blood as it made rivers, following cracks in the sidewalk, creating pools in the crevices.

Oh, Buck thought. Oh, that’s bad. Oh, shit. He had never even considered this pathetic way of dying alone when he thought about it.

Then there were hands on his forearms, and he knew those hands, knew them better than his own, but when he tried to focus on Eddie’s face everything blurred together, so he closed his eyes.

“Buck! Don’t you dare close your eyes! Buck!” Eddie was screaming, and then-”Open your eyes, Evan!”

Oh, Buck thought. That was new. That was nice. Evan sounds nice.

Buck tried so hard to blink his eyes open, he didn’t want to disappoint Eddie yet again, but everything kept getting just that little bit darker, that little bit heavier. He felt the combination of familar touches on his hands, Eddie’s skin, gauze wrapping tight, and then he was swaying backwards, the effort of staying even a little upright completely impossible.

“Hen!” Eddie screamed, his voice sounding hoarse, and then Buck felt the pressure switch, someone else tying the gauze off tight while Eddie encircled Buck from behind, arms around his chest, and Buck’s head landing limply on Eddie’s shoulder.

“You’re so cold...” Eddie choked out, voice shaking with a terror and sorrow Buck couldn’t understand, not in any sort of recent context, not in any world where that lawsuit existed.

Buck knew the answer to this one, tried to get out "From blood loss," show he still knew what he was doing, but he was just too tired. The last thing he sensed was being picked up and carried off in Eddie's arms.

***

The beeping was what woke him up. By now, Buck thought, you would think that sound wouldn't even phase me, the number of times I've been in this hospital. He kept his eyes tightly closed. If he didn't open them, then he didn't have to see that he was alone again. That Eddie had just done what any firefighter would have, got the patient to the hospital and left.

"Didn't leave, Buck." Buck felt the comforting pressure of Eddie's calloused fingertips circling around his wrist, Eddie's breath on his skin as Eddie let out a soft, sad chuckle that sounded so much like a sob, Eddie's voice shaking as he said, "I never should have left you for even a second."

"Add thinking out loud to the list of stupid things I've done," Buck whispered, keeping his eyes closed as he turned his head away from the sound of Eddie's voice.

"Buck, what were you thinking?" Eddie asked, but there was no anger in his voice, only sadness teetering right on the edge of full despair. "You know you're on blood thinners, you saw how much you were bleeding, and your plan was what exactly? Did you really think you could get yourself home and just wrap that up with some gauze and be fine? We were right outside!"

"I'm already too exhausting," Buck mumbled, tears stinging his eyes as he pressed them tightly closed. "Didn't need to add to that. I need to get used to being alone, taking care of myself. Was always going to end up alone anyway."

"Buck, what-I don't-Buck, please look at me," Eddie pleaded. Buck felt Eddie's hand graze his cheek, cup it gently. "Evan, please look at me." Buck let himself lean into Eddie's touch, couldn't stop himself even if he could bring himself to try. Opening his eyes, there was Eddie, looking absolutely wrecked. His eyes were red and watering, hair disheveled, nails picked at to the point of splitting.

Buck opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Eddie put a finger up and shook his head. "You are not allowed to ask if I am okay," Eddie choked out, rubbing his hands over his face. "It doesn't matter how I am, it matters how you are, Buck." Reaching over, Eddie grabbed Buck's uninjured hand, clutching it to his chest. "I need you to believe that, I need you to believe that it matters how you're doing."

"But I screwed everything up," Buck insisted, and Eddie shook his head.

"Buck, you just wanted to get back to doing your job, none of us could have known what that lawyer would do," Eddie assured him. "And we, the team, we want you back. I want you back."

"You do?" Buck hadn't known his voice could come out sounding so small. Apparently Eddie hadn't either, and Buck watched as fresh tears sprang into Eddie's eyes.

"There's nothing I want more in the world," Eddie promised, before taking a deep breath and lifting Buck's hand to his lips. "I'm so sorry. I screwed everything up. You matter so much to me, Evan. You are worth everything to me and to Christopher." He punctuated his words with soft kisses to Buck's fingertips.

"That's really nice," Buck said, voice stronger, a smile catching the corners of his lips, and Eddie sighed in relief, shaking his head with a laugh as he kept a grip on Buck's hand.

"What, the apology, or the kisses?" Eddie teased, resting his chin on their intertwined fingers.

"Well, both of those of course," Buck teased back, and then his voice grew serious. "And the part where you called me Evan, and when you told me..." Buck tilted his head back, trying to blink back tears. "When you told me I matter. That I'm worth something."

"Everything, Evan, you are worth everything," Eddie said firmly, pushing the chair aside to climb onto the hospital bed, carefully perching himself as close as he could to Buck. He carefully picked up Buck's bandaged hand, holding it delicately between his own like it was something precious. "You have to take care of yourself, and you have to let me take care of you, please. When I saw you outside the store, I was terrified. I can't lose you. I get worried when you get a damn papercut, let alone when I see you seemingly bleeding out like that."

"I'm so sorry, Eddie," Buck said earnestly, looking up at Eddie. "I had every intention of fixing myself up at home, I really thought I could do it by myself."

"I know," Eddie sighed, "I promise I know that. But you don't have to, okay? You don't have to do that alone, you don't have to do anything alone. I'm here. I'm not leaving. Christopher will be here as soon as Carla gets him from school. The whole team is out there in that waiting room, Maddie's on her way from work. You're not alone, Buck. You can let that worry go."

And oh, Buck thought, that's new. That's nice. Not worrying about being alone.

And then Buck found himself sobbing, full body cries, and Eddie was pulling him into his chest, holding him tight, murmuring soft words into his hair, words like love and got you and it's okay, it's going to be okay, always, Evan always.

When Eddie's lips moved from Buck's hair to Buck's mouth, it felt like a natural progression, that this was always where they were heading, all along. Together.

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eepytheartist · 4 years ago

Text

TTTE: Magic Beyond the Engine

Greetings guys, gals, nonbinary pals and everyone in between. Welcome to the Information Page of TTTE: Magic Beyond the Engine, where you can get context to whatever the hell I post on here. There’s a lot and much is subject to change, so buckle up butter cups because we’re going for a ride.

Table o’ Contents

1. Basic Story

2. Characters

3. Personal Headcanons

4. Canonical Relationships within TTTE: MBtE

5. Other Notes

6. Link

I) Basic Story

Several years ago in the year 20XX, a facility located in [REDACTED] was doing experiments involving a mysterious golden substance and what it could do for the human race. Its goal was to eliminate the need for high-maintenance engines to save money. However, much of what was done ended up being a total flop, except for one. A little girl, Madison [REDACTED] was the only successful trial the facility was able to produce. This girl didn’t know why or how she even got here, but knew that her family didn’t want her, and instead gave her up to this [probably very illegal] facility. For years the scientists running the experiment pushed her to her limits, training her to pull lines of cars weighing several tons. They were delighted by what she could do. They had finally compacted the strength and speed of an engine into a human. However, bad luck struck as the facility went belly up, when Madison was 21. News of the facility spread, and so did news about her. Humanity didn’t take her well, and she was labeled an outcast. Though, in the light of things with her negative fame, Sir Topham Hatt found out about her and thought she’d be a wonderful addition to the railway along with the new tank engine he just bought! So she was picked up by this cheeky little shit, and her story working alongside sentient engines unfolded.

II) Characters

A) Thomas

The one who picked up Maddy. He was awfully confused by her, but respected her nonetheless. Still his cheeky self that everyone seems to just adore, Thomas quickly became best friends with her, protecting her whenever she needed it. Thomas sometimes gets a little too cheeky, and pushes her off the edge. Pranks ensue and Thomas is usually left bumbling for apologies. Who knew something so small could be so dangerous. He also commonly gets called ‘Tommy’ by the wee lass, something he absolutely despises. It only fuels her need to use it.

1) When human, Thomas stands at about 5′ 7″ or 170 centimeters. He’s clad in a simple hoodie that matches his paintwork with a big 1 on the back, and plain khakis. He wishes he could have something else, but he doesn’t get paid and his driver and fireman refuse to lend him money. His hair is fluffy and rather short and is a few shades darker than his paintwork. Maddy likes to braid it when she’s bored and he hates it. Her favorite part though, besides honking his bulbous nose like he was a clown like she does with James, is his eyes. They were a beautiful shade of ocean blue. If he wasn’t such a shit, she’d get lost. He can’t brag though, she basks in all the colors her friends have.

“Why does she get to swear and I don’t? It’s not fair!” ~T

“Maddy’s an adult, Thomas.” ~E

“Well so am I you old fart!” ~T

B) Maddy

Little Maddy. Don’t call her Madison, she hates it with a passion and refuses to explain why. She currently stands at the age of 21, but looks much younger. She had overheard at the facility that a side effect of the mystery stuff was that she aged like an engine, so she could be around for hundreds of years if she wasn’t stupid. At just 5′ 3′’ or 160 centimeters, Maddy is the shortest out of all the engines on the railway, even Bill and Ben. Her hair is a medium shade of brown, kind of long, and it mostly covers one of her eyes, which are, as Thomas describes, “As if the sky could make steel.”. Shy when you first meet her, Maddy is quick to come out of her shell and be just as much of a shithead as Thomas and as angry as James, if not worse than the two combined. Her outfit was rather simple, a dark scarlet hoodie with her number on it, and dark grey or black leggings. She liked it that way, she looked good and it was flexible and comfy. When she first arrived with Thomas, she felt something click with James, despite him being an utter jackass to her. After begrudgingly showing her around and having to shunt trucks, the duo became good acquaintances. It wasn’t until after James’ accident that the two became best friends, being asshats together and generally being a happy sight. He’s the one Maddy is generally seen with if she’s not working on her own. Soon enough, though, something started brewing within her heart.

“Ah crumbs, he’s in a mood.” ~T

“James is always in a mood.” ~M

“Fuck both of you.” ~J

C) Edward

Ah, Old Iron. He was there when Thomas and Maddy first arrived to the island. Like most that laid eyes on her, his main worry is that she was itty bitty. Usually calm and collected unless something goes majorly wrong, Edward was quick to unknowingly swoop her under his wings. When Thomas started poking fun at him for being fatherly, Edward nearly keeled over. An engine can’t father a human, can they? He guessed they could as soon after Maddy just gave a shrug and accepted the Number 2 as her father, after being given away by her own. It didn’t take long for Edward to actually father her, asking how her day was, sometimes folding her laundry, comforting her, scolding Maddy James, y’know, dad stuff. He earned the name ‘Dadward’ from her, and his heart melts every time she says it.

1) As a human, Edward looks like a kindly old man and a youngin’ at the same time. He stands just a bit shorter than James at 6′ or 183 centimeters. With short, almost midnight-blue hair, Edward is the perfect gentleman. He even has a small pair of gold glasses that set snuggly on his nose. His eyes are a lovely shade of steel blue, something he gets flustered about when Maddy compliments him. His outfit consists of a white dress shirt with a dark blue tie, a blazer matching his paintwork with his number on his right arm and dark grey dress pants. He’s not usually in his human form, but when he is, Maddy unusually asks for a lot of hugs..

“Will you two leave her be?” -E

“But look how red her face is!” P&T

“FUCK THE LOT OF YOU-” ~M

D) James

Ah, James. One half of what his friends call “The Red Disasters”. He’s still his normal, vain ass self. He has a soft side, everyone knows it but virtually no one can get to it. Except Maddy, who can get to it quite easily. Though, when they first met, all he did was make fun of her. Well, they made fun of each other, but still. They had the complete opposite of favorite jobs, they still do and always will. James loves pulling coaches, she hates it. She loves trucks, he despises it and always tries to weasel his way out. It usually doesn’t work. He’s earned many nicknames from her: Jamsey, Jimbo, Buzzy, Buzzy Butt, the list grows. Two of them came from the mistake about telling her the story about the bees, the other.he’s not too sure. What he is sure of, though, is that Jimbo has spread than to more than just her and he hates it. It fuels her though, so he’s gotta be careful. Originally, though, James didn’t know what to think of her. After the accident, his boiler felt all fluttery and he pushed it down to just being ill. He had to learn the hard way about what romantic love was. He knew how to flirt, it got people to love him more! But what that flirting did, though, he was completely foreign to.

1) At 6′2′’ or 188 centimeters, James stands as the third tallest among the main eight. When he still had his black livery, James’ human form basically had him looking like what I can simply describe as a butler, though he had a vest and a red tie instead of all black. After, though, he had quite the change. His long, black hair now had dyed red tips and his right ear had a cute little heart piercing. Hair covers most of his left eye, which is what Maddy lovingly described as, “You managed to make the color of red rust beautiful.”. He thinks his hair looks cool only according to Maddy. He usually wears a long-sleeve, dark red button-up shirt with three dark grey stripes on both arms and grey pads on his shoulders. His number was sewn onto his left breast. Maddy pokes fun at him for looking like a band geek, but she nonetheless likes it. His outfit is simply finished off with grey pants. Sometimes, though, he’s seen wearing a solid red hoodie that Maddy got him. He won’t admit that it’s his favorite piece of clothing.

“Honey Bee, you’re acting irrational-” ~J

“DON’T MAKE ME GET THE BEES-” ~M

“NOT THE BEES-” ~J

E) Gordon

There isn’t much to say about Gordon. He’s his usual, grumpy self. We all know deep down he’s a good engine, though. Gordon’s...rather indifferent about Maddy. He doesn’t dislike her, but he doesn’t see her appeal either. Nonetheless, she’s an awesome part of the team. She does the most important job: listening to James bitch so they don’t have to. Of course, though, like the rest of the team, he’ll defend her if need be. Gordon has a heart, he just doesn’t like to show it.

1) Gordon’s the tallest, at 6′8′’ or 203 centimeters. Everything about his human form is perfect. His hair is just a tad darker than Edward’s and a teeny bit shorter. He keeps it slicked back most of the time, but it’s hilarious when he has bed head. Maddy got a picture once and sent it to James just in case he forced her to delete it. Just like most of her friends, Gordon’s eyes were her favorite, they were a blue similar to his hair, but a few shades lighter. Maddy remembers a time she complimented them and Gordon puffed away all red in the face. His outfit consists of a three piece suit, in his paintwork color of course, a white shirt and a red tie. His number is on his right breast.

“The Express isn’t that important.” ~M

“Why I’ll tell you-” ~G

“Is her intent just to piss him off?” ~E

“Yes. It’s both of ours.” ~J

E) Henry

Maddy’s favorite engine besides James. Thomas is insulted that he isn’t even considered one of her favorites. Henry gushed over her the first time she came. He must protect the small. Love the small. If James suddenly didn’t exist, Henry would be her go-to. She adored puffing through the forest with him, looking at all the trees and wildlife. Maddy would take pictures of flowers she’d find while strolling through and Henry would just ooze over them. Once she showed him a photo of a squirrel holding a wild flower under an oak tree whose leaves were just started to turn different colors, and the big engine cried with joy. He requested she print the picture out so his driver could carry it for him, and she did. It was his absolute favorite.

1) 6′6″ or 198 centimeters, what a height to be. At second tallest, Henry is the definition of a gentle giant. His resting face looks nervous, but he’s usually not nervous at all. His hair is a forest green, not too short, not too long. Actually, Maddy’s favorite part of him is his chicken-wing bangs. Of course she loves his eyes, which are a lovely jade green, but the bangs take the cake, Whenever they hang out, she likes to play with them when he talks about plants. He finds it comforting. His outfit is literally just a more modest and fancier workman’s outfit, but matching his livery, with his number on his right breast. It made sense, since he was usually one to do heavy work.

“You don’t like the rain either?” ~H

“The last time I went out in the rain I derailed Percy.” ~M

“Why were you even out in the rain!? You’d catch a cold!” ~E

“Fat Man said I was the only one available and told me to suck it up. I did catch a cold. James tried making me soup, remember?” ~M

“What do you mean tried..?” ~H

“He forgot to cook the chicken beforehand. I got salmonella.” ~M

“So that’s why you were bedridden and wouldn’t talk to him for a week after..” ~H

G) Percy

Ah, little shit number two. Thomas’ partner in crime. When he first met Maddy when he arrived, he teased her relentlessly for being short-tempered and short in general. After giving him the silent treatment though, Percy was a bit nicer. He and Thomas still tease her plenty enough, but they tease about things she usually won’t kick their asses for. He likes Maddy now. Plain and simple.

1) Second shortest, 5′5″ or 165 centimeters. He holds those two inches with pride. Percy uses them against Maddy very frequently. Maddy won’t hurt him though. She physically can’t. His little baby face, those big ol’ light green eyes, that short light green hair, his cute little outfit [which consists of a shamrock colored shirt, black suspenders held up by gold buttons, and dark green shorts]. If he was any smaller Maddy would die. James sometimes gets jealous by how much she gushes over Percy, but doesn’t exactly blame her. Percy’s adorable and he damn well knows it.

“Ha, you’re short.” ~P

“You’re short too.” ~M

“I’m taller than you.” ~P

“Won’t be for long when I take your kneecaps.” ~M

H) Emily

Ah, Emily. The first girl engine she met. They made damn good friends, too. They gossiped whenever they had a chance. Maddy usually talked about shit James has said, and Emily just gossips about anything and everything. They were will to throw hands for each other, with Emily more willing to for Maddy. Maddy would throw hands just as an excuse to do it. Emily still loves her, though.

1) Emily currently stands at 5′8″ or 173 centimeters. She isn’t as girly as she looks, either. Her hair is short, with half of it buzzed off. Maddy would describe her as someone punk-ish. Of course Emily’s personality doesn’t reflect that at all, she just chose to look like it. She’s the only other engine besides James to have piercings, usually with two black on on the top of her ears and hoop earrings to pay honor to her engine build. Emily was a little more casual than her friends, usually seen wearing a simple green dress matching her livery. Her eyes were a very dark grey, almost black, with flecks of brass scattered in there. Maddy told her once that she was the prettiest girl she’s every seen and Emily nearly crashed.

“James being a bitch again?” ~Em

“What do you mean again?” ~M

“I can hear you.” ~J

“I know.” ~M

I) Others

Other characters consist of secondary characters within the story who do not play as big a role. There are a few who teeter on the edge between primary and secondary characters, such as Duck, Donald, Douglas, Diesel, Diesel 10, and Lady. They play an important role, but not enough so to have their own descriptions. Diesel’s..y’know, Diesel, the twins think of Maddy as their long-lost sister, Duck..well, they like to poke fun at James together when he’s not droning about the Great Western Railway, Diesel 10′s goal is to get her to say something about Lady, and Lady...no one’s really sure yet. Then, as of right now for true secondary characters there is Oliver, Toad, BoCo, Bill, Ben, Mavis, and Salty. There’s more to come, but that’s what I got right now.

III) Personal Headcanons

-The engines can eat and taste in both forms. They don’t know where it goes when they’re engines and don’t feel like finding out.

-James learned to cook for Maddy when she couldn’t for herself.

-For the longest time, James was the only engine with his own phone.

-He learned hip language and Maddy started regretting every choice in her life.

-Maddy comes to Salty for him to tell her stories when she’s bored.

-Rain is Maddy’s one weakness since she has no way of covering herself.

-She, along with her friends as humans, run with skates that reflect their wheel configuration. The wheels retract when not in use. [I’m thinking about switching to roller blades, we’ll see.]

-Maddy intentionally starts beef with the Scottish Twins because she thinks the fighting is hilarious.

-Thomas will occasionally beg Maddy for a cotton candy sucker. Specifically cotton candy. She doesn’t know why either.

-Thomas initiated a prank war with her once. He lost.

-Gordon once bet her that she couldn’t pull his heavy goods. His driver was out 30 bucks because of him.

-Maddy tortures Duck with duck puns.

-Maddy still trick-or-treats for free candy.

-Emily once convinced Maddy to derail James for the fun of it. She was subsequently chased around the island.

-James is the ultimate flirt and he uses that against Maddy, who flusters very easily.

-Percy loves Teddy Grahams.

-Edward likes loves to tell others about his daughter. Maddy does not. He is becoming too dad-like.

-The Scottish Twins know damn well that Maddy simps for their accents and they intentionally use it against her if they can.

-Maddy knows about Diesel’s ducklings. It’s the only reason she decides to befriend him.

-James utterly hates Diesel for many many reasons.

-Like many others headcanon, Thomas can’t cook. He fucked up a cup of ramen once and Maddy still refuses to let him live it down.

-Edward refuses to let Thomas and Percy swear. They hate it. James and Maddy know this. They swear more because they can’t.

-James and Maddy are at a tie for worst potty mouths. The twins don’t count. That’s not fair.

-Oliver thought Maddy was an engine for like a month before he met her.

-Maddy dislikes the Mainland. Not the engines there. They’re cool.

-If Maddy isn’t around, James sleeps in her bed with her hoodie.

-Henry worries for Maddy all the time. More and Edward and James combined. He just doesn’t show it.

-Gordon says he has no opinion on Maddy, but he really does like her.

-No one knows where Maddy’s really from. She won’t tell them either. Not even James or the Fat Man really know.

-Want more? Just ask!

IV) Canon Couples within TTTE: MBtE

~James/Maddy

~Edward/Henry

~Emily/Thomas

~D10/Lady (In the past)

~~We’ll see about others as the story progresses~~

V) Notes

- Lady is the reason the engines have sentience. She is not the reason for their human forms. That will be explained later.

-Maddy is much more resilient than an average human, which is why most accidents don’t just straight up kill her.

-As stated before, Maddy can now live for hundreds of years if she’s careful enough. She won’t age as fast as a normal human, so who knows how long she’ll be baby-faced. Not that she cares, more opportunity to trick-or-treat.

-The engines can get frisky, but no babies. Don’t even think about it.

-Maddy will eventually give in and buy beds for all her friends to give them an opportunity to sleep like she does.

VI) Link

Silly me, I forgot to give a link to my story! Shame on me for making you search, that won’t happen again, here you go!

Sodor’s New Worker

________________________________________________________________

And that’s really it. If you have any questions, please please please please please ask!

UPDATED: August 3, 2021

#sodor's new worker #TTTE: MBtE #ttte james #ttte maddy #ttte thomas #ttte edward #ttte emily #ttte percy #ttte henry #ttte gordon #ttte oc

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lady-grace-pens · 4 years ago

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Wip Excerpt: HTKAG

In light of this wip hitting another 10k word goal recently (currently sitting pretty at a whopping 120k/150k 😅), another excerpt is due! This babe I wrote today, buut I actually loved it so much I knew I had to share it with y'all right away. That all being said, let's stop wasting time and get straight into it!

Our scene begins with Allister entering a restaurant to have dinner with Mikko, Fingal, and Perci, but Perci is late.

—

Upon telling the hostess Fingal’s name, she leads me away to the right half of the room. Off in a booth stowed away in the corner sit Mikko and Fingal jabbering away mid-conversation. Once they notice me, they stop and smile.

“Hey! There’s the man of the hour,” Mikko exclaims, throwing his hands in the air.

“Not late, am I?” I grin, taking a seat beside him.

“Nope. Right on time to get some drinks,” Mikko starts smouldering at our hostess.

“With what money?” Fingal retorts with a glare.

Mikko blinks, struggling to come up with a defense. It seems he mustn't have anticipated Fingal to interrupt his attempt at flirting…

“Wha - With our money, of course,” he laughs, trying his best to make a smooth recovery.

“Aye. Which is why we’re not using my money to buy alcohol while a minor is here.”

Mikko doesn’t reply. Then again I suppose he doesn't need to, his confusion is written all over his face.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about Perci. He’ll be here any minute.”

“Oh! Fuck, that’s right. Him. Well obviously he won’t be getting any. And come on! You know how fast I can down a beer Fin! It’ll just be a few. Just a few rounds! Don’t be an ass.”

“Watch yourself Mikko, it's not polite to use such language in the presence of a lady.” I chime in, giving the hostess a polite smile.

“Oh I’ll show you what’s not polite-” Mikko says before slapping my head.

I try to hit him back, but he catches my hand before I can. Before we know it, we’re caught in a ridiculous slapping fight, both laughing our asses off.

“Not in a restaurant, not in a restaurant!” I speak through gasps, trying to end things.

Mikko obliges, tossing his hands back in his lap.

“A waiter will be right with you,” the hostess makes a case to look at each one of us except for Mikko before finishing her sentence, “... gentleman.”

Much to my surprise, Mikko doesn’t seem to be affected by that backhanded insult. Instead he kicks his knees up against the table and rests his head back, totally listless.

“Mikko, I would’ve thought you’d be more offended by that.”

“Huh? Why would I be offended at something when it’s true?”

“I’ll say. You and Al couldn’t be any more opposite. If there’s anything larger than the truth, the fact that you’re not a gentleman is way beyond it.”

“Exactly. And Mikko, you are aware of the fact that she was just a hostess, right? It isn’t even her job to serve us drinks.”

“I... “ Mikko laughs before leaning over the table again. “Listen. You two just don’t get it, do you? No. You don’t. Allow me to be the one who graces your palettes here, eh? Let me tell you what I’m gonna do. Okay? I’m gonna give you a tip. A piece of advice that will change your lives forever. All for free! You don’t even have to pay me. All you gotta do is listen. Got it? You both ready?”

Fingal and I share a look. I can tell we’re thinking along a similar vein of confused intrigue. We should most likely stop Mikko here, as whatever will come out his mouth won’t be anything good. However, we’re both too stunned to stop him, so…

Mikko beckons us to lean closer to him. Fin and I oblige. We’re almost touching heads when at last our dear mentor speaks once again, in a hushed voice. “It’s not about what you say. It’s about how you say it.”

…

There are no words. For about a minute straight Fingal and I are just staring at each other wearing the same expression that exudes two questions. ‘What the fuck? You’ve heard that too, haven’t you?’

Soon after that’s established and our shock subsides, we burst back to life. Fingal starts us off with, “Dammit Mikko. What the fuck? Where did you learn that? Who taught you that?”

“Some guys from the bar! Why, what’s wrong with it?”

“Which guys from the bar?”

“I don’t see how it-”

“Mikko. Which guys from the bar taught you this?” Fingal insists, a flash of anger showing in his eyes.

Mikko seems to notice this, and complies straight away. “Leo, John, Peter and Paul!”

Fingal buries his head in his hands. This sparks my curiosity. I haven’t heard these names before, but Fin clearly has.

“I can’t say I’m familiar with them, who might they be?”

“Bar friends-” Mikko starts, only for Fingal to finish for him.

“Jokesters. Jerks. Cheapskates always looking for a laugh. Assholes. Can’t wait to give them a piece of my mind.”

Mikko shrinks away from Fin. His head is turned away from me, but I don’t need to see it in order to know how stunned he is. It’s expressed flawlessly through the abnormal quietness of his voice. “Fin? What’s up, why’d you-”

“Because those dicks have been filling your head with shit like this every damn time I turned my back, Mikko! Dammit, this - this is why you always get rejected! Universe, I just wish you would’ve checked with me first about things like this. Not some strangers you barely even know, yet idolize them anyway.

You wanna know how you get a girl Mikko? Huh? You be nice. You be nice to them, you talk with them, and you listen. Compliments and flirting, all that helps, of course, but not forever! And you sure as hell can’t build a relationship strictly off of it. Okay? Standards and expectations vary from girl to girl, but with each and every single one there are a few things that you just have to do. Be nice, have respect, help them just for the sake of helping them! Don’t expect anything in return. Overall just - just be a decent fucking human being. That is how you get a girl.”

Mikko sits there, staring at his brother. I can’t help but do the same. In every respect, Fingal is right. Of course he is. It’s just… rare that we see him so worked up. I can hardly believe my eyes. I can hardly believe my ears, I… I can’t imagine how Mikko must be feeling.

Oh so gradually his head sinks down into his lap. He slumps over, and I swear I can see fractions of tears reflect the golden light radiating above us.

“Can’t believe I’m actually telling you this when you’re eighteen. Fucking eighteen,” Fingal scoffs, crossing his arms.

“I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be. I’m not mad at you. This is my own fault, I blame myself.”

“Aw, come on man! That’s even worse,” pouts Mikko.

Fingal then turns to me with an abruptness that makes me jump. “Al, what’s up? You’ve been quiet for a while. You can back me up on this, can’t you?”

“I…” I force a chuckle to try and lighten the air some. “I don’t think that I’m currently in a position to give advice like this, to be honest with you.”

Fingal leans his elbows on the table, holding his head with one hand. “Why? Something happen with Maddie?”

“Oh, did it ever,” I shake my head.

—

Aand that's all you guys get for spoiler reasons! Lmao

(also because that's all I've written today but shhhh don't tell anyone)

Buut yeah. Legit I swear I didn't mean to go so hard on feminist Fingal 😂 I mean don't get me wrong here, he's absolutely right and I'm keeping it in. But still, the words just kept on coming and coming and we ended up with this

y'know

yeah

writing is super fun sometimes

Plus tbh, writing the part where Mikko is stroking his ego and whispers his ‘top secret trick to get women’, I was literally laughing out loud 😂 like he's just so wrong, and I love how horribly Mikko fails in life. It's just super funny to me, I enjoy it a lot.

Fingal, however, clearly does not enjoy it, lmao. Legit I had no clue he could be so protective until today! Especially over Mikko. I mean I always knew their dynamics, but today… it really hit home for me.

Go back and look at the line of dialogue Fingal says right after Mikko apologizes (a rare occurrence, actually).

It’s just one little piece of dialogue, barely a few sentences! Yet I feel like it hits you. You know? It reveals so much about his and Mikko’s vibes, their situation. A pair of brothers poor and orphaned by their birth parents and raised by their grandmother, who is only growing older and weaker each year. Fingal, the eldest, having to take responsibility often. He feels pressured to raise his little bro, and feels like he's failed when Mikko turns out to be the way he is. Ya know? It's just one little thing of dialogue but I feel like it makes you feel the pressure Fin has to bear in a situation like theirs. Even if it’s only for a moment.

And Mikko! While he does incite a lot of the comic relief in HTKAG, I wouldn’t call him a strict comic relief character because that's never what I had in mind while writing him. He and Fin actually play a vital role in the plot of the story! Much more than what I can currently reveal to y'all.

Buut anyways, I'll stop rambling now. I really hope you guys enjoyed this little excerpt just as much as I adored writing it :)

—

taglist (let me know if you want to be added or removed!): @vampire-with-a-pen @writingonesdreams @justyouraveragewriter @kazenokaori @dahladahlabills

#creative writing #writing #my writing #my wip #my writing wip #wip #wip excerpt #writblr #writeblr #writers of tumblr #writeblr community #writing excerpt #writing community #wip: htkag

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jalapeno-princess · 4 years ago

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Broken-Hearted Girl

Mark Tuan X Reader

Genre: Angst with a happy ending

Word Count: 8.7K

Summary: After a petty argument escalates into Mark saying some things he didn’t mean, the two of you end up breaking up on your third anniversary. For the rest of the week, you find solace in your family and you learn how to live with a broken heart.

A/N: I don’t even remember how I stumbled upon this song but after listening to and falling in love with one of their other songs “Friend’s Don’t” by Maddie and Tae, I already knew I was going to like this one also. I recommend you listen to it while reading this imagine, the song really does tug on your heartstrings. I’ve been extremely busy for the last few weeks and so I wanted to put a hold on writing (even if just for a few days) but I’ve actually been staying up till the wee hours of the morning (I feel as if I might have insomnia but who knows) and I actually had a really bad mental breakdown earlier, so I needed something to help calm me down and take my mind off of my negative thoughts. Writing is my favorite escape from how cruel this world can be sometimes (although, my writing is literal shit haha) (and i really don’t care for how I ended this and I’m actually kind of unimpressed with this story) but I hope you guys enjoy it! (I have never been in a relationship before so I haven’t experienced the pain of a heartbreak (and I’m sure knowing my sensitive ass I would actually die)

Hey, mama, how do you get a red-wine stain Out of your favorite dress? Black mascara off a pillow case Cure a one-too-many headache Mama, can I come and maybe stay a few days? This weekend or next And hey, how do you get a red-wine stain Out of your favorite dress?

How does he sleep at night? Mama, the nerve of this guy To leave me so easy Am I gonna be alright? I wanna kick myself for fallin' so hard Mama, can you die from a broken heart?

This was not how tonight was supposed to end. Usually, anniversaries were meant to be extremely romantic. They were meant to celebrate the amount of time you’ve been in a relationship with your significant other and to relish in the love that you had for one another; yet here you were, storming out of your boyfriend—well, now ex-boyfriend’s truck towards your apartment with tears streaming down your face.

You were too focused on getting inside and just collapsing to the ground that you couldn’t even remember how the night ended so terribly. Just a few hours ago, Mark picked you up with the intentions on surprising you for your third anniversary together.

The two of you practically couldn’t even keep your eyes, let alone your hands off of each other to the point where Mark was just going to say fuck it and show you just how much he loved you and how happy he was to be able to call you the love of his life with his head between your thighs. However, things didn’t go as planned.

In fact, you had a hard time processing that he told you he planned on spending the rest of his life with you just a few moments before the argument broke out. As soon as you unlocked the door and stumbled inside, you immediately sank to your knees and let out the most heartbreaking cry you didn’t think you were capable of. Not once in your life did you ever cry as much as you were right now.

Sure, you’ve lost a few loved ones, failed a couple of very important tests here and there and sometimes you and Mark would watch some of the saddest movies every now and then but nothing ever hurt you as much as Mark’s last words did.

My life would’ve been so much easier if you weren’t in it.

Each word felt like a stab in your gut. At the time, you knew you said some things that you didn’t mean and that you were sure had a negative effect on him; but nothing you said was even half as bad as hearing him practically say he regrets your entire relationship.

It made you overthink the last three years of being with him. Mark was in more or less words, the perfect boyfriend. He was quite the gentleman; he always held doors open for you, pushed you on the inside whenever you’d be walking on sidewalks, pulled out chairs for you, always asked how your day was going and if you were eating all your meals on time.

He knew your coffee order by heart, he’d buy you cute little things he would see that he thought you would like and he even made you a few playlists of songs that reminded him of you. He took care of you as if you were the most delicate little dandelion; but that didn’t mean he wasn’t rough or dominant behind closed doors.

Mark knew you like the back of his hand. Three years would do that to someone; he knew each and every mole, freckle, beauty and birthmark on your body. He was well aware of the scar on your knee that was shaped like Texas and how you got it from playing football with your cousins. If perfect was a person, it would be him.

Everyone who knew of him wanted to be his friend. Mark was a social butterfly; he had a tendency to be friendly and kind to whoever he encountered. His golden heart, extremely kind and generous personality was got you to fall in love with him; on top of his indescribable good looks and charismatic charm. After knowing each other for over seven years, you’ve grown accustomed to having Mark in your life.

Even before the two of you started dating, he was there for almost every milestone in your life. He was there when you got accepted in to the college of your dreams, he was there when you got an internship with a company you’ve been wanting for a long time, he was there for your first time getting drunk at the young age of 16 and he was the one to rub your back as you threw up the following morning.

With that being said, he was also there during some of the darkest times in your life. When your grandmother passed away from cancer, it felt as if your entire world fell apart. She was your best friend and you were completely devastated as soon as your mom called you and told you the news of her passing. Mark was at baseball practice around the time that you were heading to the hospital, but once he heard of what happened, he wasted no time in making his way to where you were and pulled you in to his chest the moment his eyes landed on your frail figure.

It took months of grieving, crying over her absence and Mark constantly whispering sweet words of comfort for you to come to terms with her death and you were entirely grateful that you had someone so patient and understanding as Mark was to be there for you during such a traumatic time. What was going to happen now when he was the reason why you were so distraught?

Losing your grandmother was extremely painful and even after all these years, you weren’t completely over her death. However, knowing that man you loved more than life itself no longer wanted anything to do with you was a different kind of pain. Although there were a few times in your relationship that you and Mark would disagree, not once did a fight escalate this badly before.

Your relationship was one that everyone around you seemed to envy. Everyone and their mothers knew just how much Mark loved you and it was obvious by your words and actions that you felt the exact same way. His mom always used to tell you that your love was one for the ages; you both cared for one another in ways that only people who were genuinely in love could experience. For two people who’ve been in a relationship for as long as you and Mark have, you were still in the so called “honeymoon stage” where you constantly had to be around each other even if all you did was laze around all day doing nearly nothing.

Just being in his presence always made you feel so at ease; so serene. Home wasn’t necessarily a place you lived in or just a roof above your head. Home wasn’t just a place that gave you shelter; home was where you felt the safest, the most comfortable and home was where you were happiest. For the last seven years, Mark Tuan was your home and now, you were homeless. You always felt so protected and loved whenever you were around him and you hated every moment spent away from him.

The more time you spent crying on the floor, the more you came to the realization that tonight’s events actually happened and Mark was no longer your person. Although neither of you actually called it quits, you knew by the tone of his voice and in his facial expression that it was over. Even if he were to come back to you within the week begging you for forgiveness, you don’t think you could ever forget how his words screwed you up mentally and physically.

When you decided that you had cried all the tears you had in your body and that you were wasting your time crying over someone who couldn’t give less of a shit about you, you got up from your spot right in front of the door and slowly sauntered off in to the kitchen. Anyone who knew you were aware of the fact that you hated alcohol.

You weren’t a heavy drinker, and you were sure it’s because you spent your teenage years getting high and wasted to the point where it was no longer fun to do now that it was legal. The bottle of red wine that was in the back of your cupboard was a gift from Mark’s friend Jackson for your birthday a couple of months ago and you didn’t want to seem rude by not accepting it since you didn’t care for red wine or just wine in general.

But now, you were extremely grateful for his choice in gifts and you made it your responsibility to finish the entire bottle in one sitting before you went to sleep. That’s if you could even find it in yourself to even go to bed. Your mind was filled with thoughts of Mark and what he was doing right now; if he regretted what he said, if he knew you were currently suffering and beating yourself up about the argument.

How could the two of you go from being seconds away to ripping each other’s clothes off, to you drinking imported red wine straight from the bottle to take your mind off of your broken heart? As you continued to drink the wine, it was in that moment of sitting on your kitchen floor and banging your head on your refrigerator that you noticed your front door had a dent in it. You wouldn’t be surprised if you were to go up to it and see that you broke it by how hard you slammed it out of anger, but at this point you didn’t even care.

Your mind, your heart and your body were so numb that nothing else seemed to matter and if anything, the door represented your mental state and your relationship. Seeing as how you were the definition of a light weight, it didn’t take you long to completely knock out on the hard tile. Although that last sentence continued to replay over and over; taunting you as a painful reminder that you were living your actual nightmare, it was the fact that he gave up on you so easily as if you meant nothing to him that really killed you.

Was he planning to breakup with you and used this argument to actually go along with it? How long ago did he decide he no longer wanted to be with you? Everything seemed to be going so good for the two of you; so when did he decide he had enough of your relationship? You weren’t surprised when you woke up the next morning with an extremely painful migraine and a crook in your neck.

This is why you despised any type of alcohol and never understood why Mark and his friends constantly went out to bars whenever they hung out. However, you felt as if this was going to be your way to ease the pain and knowing that alone made you want to cry again. After taking a few moments to process what you were going to do for the rest of the day, you got up to take some pain killers and to look at your current state to see how much of a mess you probably were.

Almost half an hour later, you found the strength to get up and walked to your bathroom. Your head was throbbing and your bones ached from sleeping on the floor, but nothing hurt even half as much as your heart did. As soon as you saw your reflection, you didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. You looked horrible. Your hair looked like a bird’s nest; tangled and all over the place. You had mascara stained on your cheeks, your eyes were puffy and if you weren’t so numb, you would’ve screamed at the wine stain in the dress you were wearing; your favorite dress to be exact.

Mark bought you that dress a couple of months ago because he knew it would look good on you and he was right. The first time you wore it, it didn’t stay on for too long. It was your favorite dress for many reasons; not only did your boyfriend buy it for you, but as someone who was extremely insecure with her body, no matter how many times Mark would make it known how much he loved your body and thought you were the most beautiful and sexiest woman to exist, the dress made you feel beautiful.

You wore this dress with so much confident but now, it was stained with a deep maroon color right around the chest area and it was a brief representation of the hell you were going through. Like the fool that you were, the fool who was madly in love with the person you wished you could hate right now, you checked your phone to see if he tried to get in touch with you at all and you felt your stomach sink when you saw nothing.

No texts, no calls, no voicemails, no “I’m sorry, I made a mistake”, no “I love you” or “I miss you.” Couples went through breakups all the time so why did you feel pathetic for something you weren’t at fault for? The rest of the week felt like you were dreaming the same nightmare over and over again. You could still see the anger and rage in his eyes when he told you that you were annoying and that he wasted his night with you when he could’ve gone out with his friends. You were sure there was a chance he was with them right now and you didn’t care at all.

If he was so quick to let you go without a care in the world, you weren’t going to allow yourself to cry over him no matter how much you wanted to. But you were only human. Three years may not be considered “a long relationship” and you were still kind of young to get married and settle down but you knew Mark was the man you wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of your life with. The two of you talked about your futures on multiple occasions and every time Mark would talk about his plans, you were in each one.

On the fifth day, you came to terms with the idea that it was really over. You tried lying to yourself by thinking that he was going to come back and that he just needed some time to calm down, but you gave up on that idea entirely knowing how Mark could be. Two things about the older boy that you could do without was his pride and how stubborn he could be.

He tried his best not to show you those sides of him because he didn’t want you thinking negatively of him or being afraid of him; however there were occasions where he would get in to it with one of his friends because he always had to have the last word. With that being said, you knew Mark wasn’t going to give in. He wasn’t going to initiate reconciling with you even if that’s what he wanted because that’s just who he was.

A week away from work was what you needed to really try and get yourself together again. It wasn’t until your mom called asking how you were doing and if you and Mark wanted to stop by for dinner that you realized you weren’t okay nor were you ready to go out and put on a fake smile while pretending nothing was wrong. When your mom called you, you let her go to voicemail multiple times.

Although your mom was your best friend and you probably needed someone to be there to comfort you during your heartbreak, you weren’t ready for pity or sympathy. The only person you needed was Jack Daniels. You hated what you had become in less than a weak and you hated that you allowed Mark to have this effect on you. It was only natural for you to be responding to your breakup in this way; you were only human. But you were now a pathetic alcoholic who was wasting her time crying over a man who was no longer in her life.

Three shots of vodka, two beers and one shot of tequila later and you absentmindedly left a lengthy voicemail to your mom, telling her exactly what happened all the while begging her to let you stay at your parent’s house for a couple of days. Maybe even weeks. Deep down, you knew you needed to be around people no matter how much you enjoyed being alone because your mind always found away to think about Mark.

You told her how Mark yanked out your heart and stepped on it repeatedly. You told her about getting drunk every single day for the last week, how much you hated him for what he was putting you through and how you hated that you were letting such a stupid boy control your emotions. You also asked her if your dad could come over on one of his days off to take a look at your door. She didn’t take long to respond back to you nor were you surprised when you heard her knocking on your door while she quickly pulled you in to her embrace once you opened it.

“Oh yeah sweetheart, you really broke your poor door. Come here baby, mama’s got you.”

She helped you bring your bags to the car and the two of you stayed in silence the entire ride to your parent’s house. You had a feeling she had a few questions she wanted to ask you and that there was a couple of things she wanted to say but you were glad that the only noise in her car was the sound of the air conditioner. You weren’t ready for any kind of human interaction or a conversation you knew would drive you even more crazy.

All you wanted was for your mom to rock you back and forth like how she used to when you were younger and tell you that everything was going to be okay even if you lost all hope on it being so. When she pulled up to the garage, she told you to stay put so that she could help you get out of your car and you felt like such a child. Out of all your siblings, you were the closest one to your mom and even if you were an adult living on your own with a full time job and everything, you were always going to be her little girl.

Seeing your child cry was always painful for a mother, but because the reason behind your sadness was something out of her control, she felt like she couldn’t do anything but console you and get you whatever you needed to try and make you feel better. Once you made it inside of the house, she led you to your old bedroom and let you get settled in so that she could prepare you something to eat. You didn’t have the heart to tell her you weren’t all that hungry; you haven’t had much of an appetite in the last week and you were sure she noticed your sudden weight loss.

A part of you wanted to ask her to forget about it, especially because being in your old room brought back so many memories of Mark and how he would sneak in on school nights and how the two of you would stay up talking about anything your hearts desired. Being alone wasn’t something you’d think you’d ever get used to, especially because Mark was like your shadow. Wherever you went, Mark followed and unlike most people who would probably complain about his clinginess, you enjoyed it profusely.

Knowing that Mark always craved your presence and needed to be around you to maintain his sanity made your heart flutter. This has been the longest you had to be without him and every day felt like an entire month. It’s as if time went by frustratingly slow because the universe was aware of your heartbreak and wanted to make you suffer for whatever reason you were unsure of.

Taking a look around your old bedroom, you could feel your chest grow heavy when you saw the few pictures you had of you and Mark from when you were growing up and tears were soon building up at your eyes. The two of you looked so happy together; you were just a couple of kids who dreamt about so many wonderful things that life had to offer. Little did either of you know that one day, you would fall in love with one another before you could even comprehend the meaning behind that silly four letter word.

You silently cursed to yourself for getting all worked up again; you came to your parent’s house as a way to heal on your own and to surround yourself with people who love you and care about your well-being. You just needed to have some kind of support system or else you’d drive yourself crazy back at your apartment thinking about what you could’ve done to have prevented the breakup from happening. The gentle knock on your door took you by surprise and you almost ended up dropping the frame.

She released a long sigh before she walked over toward you and took the picture from out of your hands. The last thing your mom wanted to do was to make you even more upset by saying something to trigger you or cause you to overthink. But she couldn’t handle seeing you so broken; so defeated especially because you were an actual ray of sunshine. Your smile alone could light up an entire room and your personality was so bright and bubbly, people enjoyed your company because of your enthusiasm.

As much as your mom liked Mark to the point where she would secretly plan out your future wedding with his mom whenever they’d go out to lunch together, she wanted to find him and make him regret what he did to her baby girl. She was shocked to say the least when she got your voicemail and at first, she couldn’t even understand what you were saying because your speech was so slurred and she couldn’t hear a word you were saying through your tears. Mark made it known to his surroundings that you were his entire world and all he cared about was making sure you were well taken cared of and that you were happy, healthy and got everything you deserved. You were so agitated just by seeing his photo and you wanted to scream.

He was probably already over the entire thing and although it killed you to think like this, you couldn’t help but feel as if he was already looking for someone new. Why else would he have left you so easily? There must’ve been someone on the side but who were you kidding? That man planned an entire night out for you; to celebrate your life together. Your mind came up with all these different reasons for the breakup so you could get some closure but you weren’t stupid. You knew Mark loved you, you just couldn’t find a reason why he would tell you he regrets your relationship and wishes he never met you.

You despised yourself for trusting Mark with your entire being; for allowing him to see each and every part of you. The good, the bad, the ugly. You hated that he was the only man you’ve ever loved with your entire physical, mental and spiritual being. You were upset with yourself for falling so hard for him and giving him the control to do such a thing to your heart. The feeling of being in your mom’s arms again after moving out almost two years ago was extremely comforting and very calming.

She ran her fingers through your hair and continued to stay silent and waited until you stopped crying completely before telling you exactly what was on her mind. After your sobs slowly died down, she tapped on your forehead to get your attention.

“Sweetheart, have I ever told you the story of when your father left me back when we were in college?”

You shook your head in disagreement but widened your eyes in shock at her revelation. From what you were told, your parents were college sweethearts. Your dad fell in love with her when one of their mutual friends asked him to pick her up from work once and he was extremely grateful that their car was in the shop at that time or else he would have never met his soulmate.

They’ve been together for over twenty years and not once have you heard this story, but now you were heavily interested. You always loved hearing stories about your parents relationship; it gave you high hopes for your own relationship and since you were going through a breakup right now, you could only hope the story would lift up your spirits.

“We were together for only three months at the time and it was the first relationship I had where I genuinely cared for him. He was so kind, so flirtatious and used the cheesiest pickup lines to make me laugh. I knew he was going to be someone special in my life. Unfortunately, at the time your dad was the only one in his group of friends that was in a relationship. They told him that being in a relationship was “lame” and that he was still so young to be wasting his time being tied down to one girl. He tried to defend and fight for our relationship, but his friends continued to pester him over it, so he broke up with me. I was devastated, I cried for hours on end and couldn’t eat anything. But he showed up only three days later with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a bucket of fried chicken. He told me he loved me and refused to be without me. It was quire romantic if you ask me.”

You giggled at the idea of your dad asking your mom to take him back with some Popeyes. You were upset to hear that your dad’s friends coerced him in to breaking up with her. However, you were happy to hear that it didn’t take too long for him to realize your mom was it for him.

“He’ll be back y/n. I know he will. That boy—he loves you. He doesn’t need to say it out loud, I can tell in his actions and with the way he looks at you that he’s head over heels in love with you. His mom also mentioned it a couple times; he’s—what is that word kids your age use these days? Whipped for you? She said he has stars in his eyes whenever you come up in conversation. It’s serious when a boy talks about you to his momma. One day when the two of you are married with a family of your own, you’ll look back on this little bump in the road and laugh—“

“Please don’t say that. You didn’t see the way he looked at me when he told me all of those hurtful things. It didn’t even feel like he was my boyfriend, it was as if I was looking at a stranger. It makes me wonder, did he ever really love me if he had no problem leaving me?”

“I’m serious y/n. I don’t know what things were said that night or how things ended up the way they did, but when it’s real, when it’s love, you just know. He probably looks just as bad and if not worse than you do. I know it hurts. Breakups are rough, especially because it’s obvious you and Mark were made for one another. But what have I always told you? If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, then it’s yours forever and if it doesn’t, well baby, it just simply wasn’t meant to be. He was probably just in the heat of the moment and said some things he probably didn’t mean. I’m sure he’s regretting this entire thing. Mark’s a smart boy; if he knows what’s best for him, he’ll be yours again in no time. Until then, get out of this funk y/n. There’s so many wonderful things in the world to do and to be grateful for. Do you really want to look back on your twenties and regret wasting your time crying over a boy when you could be doing so many different activities and go on so many adventures?”

You released a frustrated sigh and shook your head again. She was right. You were tired of crying and drinking so much. There was only so much alcohol your body could handle and it wasn’t worth all the hangovers.

“Maybe we should tell your dad what happened so he can mess around with him a little bit and teach him a lesson.”

The idea and the way your mom said it made you let out a genuine laugh. Your parents were always so protective over you and it was probably because you were so kind-hearted that people tended to take advantage of how polite you could be. However, even if she meant it as a joke, you were nervous at what your dad would do if he found out about what Mark said to you and how the breakup was slowly killing you. You were a daddy’s girl and your dad never failed to do anything to make you smile; even if it meant scaring your ex-boyfriend which you knew you didn’t want him doing.

Your mom stayed with you for a few hours until it was timed for her to make dinner and you ended up falling asleep because of how mentally exhausted you were. No matter how much your mom loved it whenever you stayed over, she didn’t want you to get used to running away from your problems and hiding when things got too difficult. She wanted you to learn to live without him on your own. Your mom knew that you were going to be okay. Maybe not right now, but one day you would heal from this entire situation and realize that your breakup was a learning experience.

Plus, you had to return back to work sooner or later or you would lose your job completely. A cloud of sadness came once your dad pulled up to your apartment complex and they offered to walk you to your door but you weren’t sure if you’d allow them to leave if they did. They both pulled you in for hugs as they said their goodbyes and you actually cried as you watched them drive away. Why did life have to be so complicated? You were so unhappy to the point where you thought you would actually die from a broken heart.

The aspect of dying from a broken heart was extremely devastating; you’ve heard about it on multiple occasions. It was normal for people to be so sad, so distraught and have no energy or motivation to do anything. They wouldn’t eat, sleep and only spend most of their days crying out what was left of their hearts. You didn’t think going through a breakup would cause this much damage to you and your well-being; but contrary to what your mom told you, Mark wasn’t just any boy. He was the owner of your heart and you understood that he could torment you like this because you allowed him to.

You stopped by the mailbox to see if you got anything before heading up to your apartment. When your parents were driving you back to your place, you decided that you would actually get up and do something today. Whether it was tidying up your place from how messy it had become from your one too many drunken stupors, or going to the cleaners to get that wine stain out of your dress. As you began to approach your unit, you noticed there was something sitting right in front of your door.

The closer you got, you realized that it wasn’t just something, it was someone. Your heart felt as if it was about to jump out of your chest when you realized exactly who the person was slumped up against the wall. It was exactly a week since your fight and you weren’t sure if it was what your mom had said about your love and how beautiful it was, or because you were miserable without him but you wanted nothing more than to wrap your arms around him and beg him to come back to you.

You expected to be angry if you were to see him again because of all the trauma you suffered through; yet seeing him tugged on your heartstrings and it was as if you pushed the entirety of the last week to the back of your mind. When Mark heard footsteps coming towards him and he looked up to see who it was, he had to hold himself back from running towards you. Your mom was right, just like she normally was.

This week was one of the worst weeks of his entire life. He was suffering without you. He never hated himself more than he did when he said all those things and he hated himself even more for not running after you as soon as those spiteful words fell from his mouth. You were the best thing that has ever happened to him, and if things were to end up differently that night, he would’ve been able to show you exactly what you meant to him in more ways than one.

He wanted to call you, to text you and to tell you how stupid he was and how he didn’t mean a single word that he said to you but words were never his forte. Nor did he want to give up his pride even if it meant preventing this last week from ever happening. It was all his fault, or so he kept telling himself and he couldn’t go one more day without you in his life. It was too much for his heart to withstand.

He was going to do everything in his power to get you to forgive him, even if it meant having to stay away from you for a little while longer for you to completely heal from this experience. As soon as he drove away from your apartment that night, he knew he fucked up and accidentally punched a hole in his wall out of anger. He was so selfish; so insensitive and didn’t think that his harsh words would have any negative effect on you.

After hearing your little jabs at him, he wanted to hit you where it hurt the most but if he knew then what he knew now, he would’ve kept his mouth shut and just dropped you home so that you both could calm down and not say everything you both said to one another. You let out a deep breath and tried to prepare your heart to hear why he was there and to be ready to fight if the situation called for it.

“Hey.”

You looked up at him and you could feel tears brimming at your eyelids. He looked so tired and you knew for a fact that he must’ve cried with how his eyes practically mirrored the puffiness of yours. The dark circles under his eyes were more prominent and his face looked smaller than it already was. It made you cringe; Mark was never one to portray himself as someone weak or someone who had feelings and emoted whenever something was up with him. If he had a problem, he’d deal with it on his own and this was no different.

Good. He deserved to have suffered as much as you did.

“Hi. How long have you been here for?” He shrugged before scratching the back of his head; something he normally did when he felt like he was in the wrong or whenever he was embarrassed and you took it as the former.

“Um—since Wednesday I think.”

Your eyes widened in shock at his answer. Wednesday? So that means he was sitting outside of your apartment for the last three days?

“Wait, you’ve been here for three days? Are you crazy? Mark, you could’ve gotten sick! It’s cold out here! And what about food? Have you even been eating? You look so malnourished, why would you—“

“You and I both know why. I fucked up. Big time. It took me a while to think about it at this perspective because I was just so mad and I wanted to blame you for the way things ended that night but I came to the conclusion that this was my fault. I’m the one who fucked up something so amazing, so beautiful and so perfect because I was a fucking asshole y/n and I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

In order to prevent wandering eyes of your neighbors, you opened the door and motioned for him to walk inside so that the two of you could have your privacy.

“Shit y/n, what happened to your door? You have to practically force it open—“

“You don’t want to know. My dad is supposed to come over this weekend to try and fix it. I think the hinges must’ve came out or something. Can I get you something to eat? Drink?”

He shook his head and you could see in your peripheral vision that he was hesitatingly reaching out for your hand, probably in attempts to bring you to the couch so he could continue the conversation from where the two of you began from but he just walked over to the living room and took a seat. You wanted to hear everything he had to say and you were going to make it a point to let him know what this breakup did to you.

His focus was on the multiple empty bottles of alcohol sitting on your coffee table and because he was well aware of how much you hated alcohol, it was apparent that you must’ve had it really rough if you felt the need to turn to alcohol for solace. When he felt like he was ready to talk, he turned around to face you and released an exasperated sigh.

“I’m sorry it took so long to come here—oh, these are for you. I actually had to go back to the store because the first two bouquets actually died probably because they weren’t being watered and I bought your favorite cookies—but I got hungry so there’s only three left.”

He handed you the beautiful bouquet of sunflowers and you giggled at the sight of only three cookies in a big container but it made you smile nonetheless.

How romantic.

You politely thanked him and placed both of the gifts down on the table before speaking up.

“You should’ve called me, I wouldn’t allow you to have waited out here for me. Are you crazy Mark? What if something happened to you—“

“Then so be it. I’d probably deserve it. Fuck, you don’t understand how much of a mess I was without you and how much I’ve been suffering because the image of your pained face would not leave my mind once this entire weekend. I had a feeling you weren’t home when you weren’t answering the door but then again, you could’ve looked through the peephole and decided you wanted nothing to do with me and I wouldn’t have blamed you. The old lady next door was kind enough to offer me some food here and there but I’m sure she probably thought I was a thief or something when she first saw me. I should’ve called but you and I both know why I didn’t. I kinda wanted to give you your space because I’m sure what I said probably got under your skin. I ruined our special day and I’m sorry if I broke your heart—with the way you’re looking at me I’m sure I hurt you pretty badly huh.”

You looked up at him with a melancholic look in your eyes; that had to be the understatement of the year. If you didn’t have your family around to help you take your mind off of your failed relationship, you were sure you would have ended up in the hospital sooner or later.

“You broke me Mark. You made me feel like I was worthless. You made me think there was someone else or that you fell out of love with me and I genuinely wanted to die. Pathetic right? I just—I didn’t know how to function without you and waking up every morning felt like a chore. At some points I felt like I couldn’t even breathe. I’ve heard heartbreaks caused by breakups were an unfathomable pain that are impossible to bounce back from and some people even die from a broken heart I just never would’ve thought it would happen to me. Especially because we were so happy; so in love and I would have never thought one stupid, meaningless argument could cause us to separate. You made it seem like leaving me was so easy and hearing that you wished that we never dated in the first place is what truly fucked me over. I became a fucking alcoholic because of you—I blamed the entire breakup on myself even if I didn’t say anything that I knew would inflict any sort of pain to you because the idea of hurting you hurts me. It’s sad to know you don’t feel that way.”

“That’s where you’re wrong y/n. I regretted everything that I said as soon as I said them but the damage was already done. Please believe me when I say this, I didn’t mean a fucking word. That was just the anger and the irritation talking for me. My life before you always felt so empty, and once you came in to it, you made everything so much better. You filled my life with color and made my heart soar by just the mere thought of you. I could never regret you or our relationship; you’re all I could ever want or need in this hell forsaken world. You know the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you—“

“BUT YOU DID MARK.”

You didn’t mean to yell, but it was all the built up emotions you’ve been holding in that finally released itself and you knew you wouldn’t be able to forget the way he shivered at your tone. Not once in the many years of knowing you did Mark ever see you so mad. You were always such a shy and introverted person; he didn’t think you were capable of such an intonation. He hated that he was the reason for your hostility and he was afraid that it was too late. It may have only been a week, but what you went through was enough to change your warm-hearted personality in to a cold and aggressive one.

“Nothing will ever change the fact that you gave up on us��on me. If you knew there was a chance that your words would affect me the way that they did, then you wouldn’t have said anything at all; but you said it all without hesitation like you did mean it. I was coming to accept our breakup for what it was. Sure I was hoping you would come back; hell this is the closest I ever felt to God because I found myself praying every single day for him to show me a sign. For him to heal me and make it known that I would be okay. I’d be lying if I said I’m not the least bit content that you’re here but—I really don’t know what to make of that.”

To your surprise, he made his way toward you and reached for your hands. As intimidated he was by how you were acting towards him, he knew he had to grow some balls and man up, or he would lose you forever and the tiny box that was in his pocket would no longer have any use.

“I don’t know what to say or do that would explain how sorry I am and how much I wish I could go back in time and prevent any of this from happening. I don’t know how to stop you from hurting, and to get you to forgive me—I‘ll do anything to fix this y/n. Please—tell me what to do. I can’t—I can’t lose you. Tell me you don’t love me, and then I’ll—I’ll—fuck, there’s no way I can let you go. Please baby—you asked God for a sign and I came here tonight to try and fix my mistakes. That has to mean something right?”

Hearing him sound so desperate, so willing to do whatever you wanted him to in order to bring your relationship back to what it was made you feel so many emotions. As much as you wanted him to give you some time to think, you knew you’d take him back. It was going to take some time to forgive him, and to get his words out of your mind completely, but Mark was everything you ever wanted for the rest of your life.

Why were you going to continue suffering on your own and staying away from him when all you wanted was to have him back in your life? You cupped his cheek softly with your palm and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. Feeling him smile against your lips sent a fire through your veins; Mark’s kisses always had quite the effect on you. His lips were so pink and so pretty and you loved every single moment that they were pressed against yours.

“You can start by paying for my dry cleaning. I got a huge wine stain on the dress I was wearing because I got drunk.” He giggled in to your neck before placing a chaste kiss there.

“Done. You silly girl. God, I missed you so much baby. I also think I have something that could win me some brownie points but I hope tonight ends the way last week should have.”

The question of what he was referring to was at the tip of your tongue, but before you could emit anything, he was now kneeling on the ground right in front of you and pulled out a red box. Your heart began to race on a you put two and two together; he was going to propose to you.

“I know, this is probably not how you wanted this to happen and I promise you I had different ways in mind on doing this—but after losing you, I realized that it didn’t matter how, where or when I would ask you to spend the rest of your life with me; all that matters is that I did. I was actually planning on proposing you at the beach once we were finished eating, but I chickened out like the coward that I am. And I guess I was irritated with myself and took it out on you that night and I know I said it so many times, but I will continue apologizing until I make up for all the pain I’ve put you through. I’m sorry y/n. I don’t deserve you—I don’t deserve being able to do this right now but this last week without you made me realize that I can’t live if I have to do it without you.”

He grazed your wrist with his thumb and you were sure he did that to calm down his nerves, but it was so cute. You loved seeing him so flustered and so nervous and you loved knowing that you were the reason behind his now shy demeanor.

“I’ve been in love with you for longer than I can remember. Every time I would drop you back home once we hung out back in high school, I felt this emptiness in my chest. Then I realized how much I loved hearing you laugh knowing that I was the reason behind it. I loved spending time with you and being around you. I loved the feeling I got whenever we were together. You and I can literally do nothing but I’m my happiest when I’m with you and that’s when I realized you were more than just a friend to me. These last few years with you have made me the happiest man alive. You mean everything to me baby—I wish I would’ve told you this sooner so we wouldn’t have wasted time apart but I’ll make up for it the rest of my life—if you let me of course. I’ll take good care of you my love. I’ll continue to love you and give you the world on a silver platter. Y/n, will you do me the greatest honor and marry me?”

You were sure if someone else were in your shoes, they probably would’ve said no right off the bat. Heartbreak really did change a person. It made your whole aspect on life change for the worse and you knew you weren’t the same person you were a week ago. But you’ve dreamt about this situation on many accounts. There were times where you’d sleep over Mark’s place and you’d stay up looking at him in admiration and thinking about what your future together would look like.

Sure, you would have preferred this surprise before all the unfortunate events that happened, but you were excited and speechless nonetheless. You sank to your knees and sat down on his lap; bringing your hands up to his face and pulling his lips up to yours. You couldn’t help the snicker that fell from the back of your throat when you felt a tear fall from his eyes on to your cheek. His hands were tight on your waist as he deepened the kiss, licking and sucking on your lips before all but gently shoving his tongue in between your teeth. When you felt his excitement pressing against your core, you pulled away and ignored the choked out whine that fell from his lips as you placed your forehead against his.

“Yes. I would love to marry you Mark. I love you so much, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Thank you for coming back to me love.”

The way he was looking up at you pulled on your heartstrings; you couldn’t wait to tell your mom of the news. You knew she would probably hit you with “I told you so” but she would also be extremely happy for you. He abruptly stood up and took you with him, wrapping your thighs around his waist. You knew exactly what his plans were as he made his way to your room and you were excited to say the least at what he was going to do with you.

Once the two of you entered the bedroom, he didn’t waste anytime throwing you on to the bed and attacking your face with kisses as he ran his hands along your body; needing to touch you everywhere. Right as he began dragging his fingers along your clothed heat, he gripped at your chin and made sure you were making direct eye contact with him.

“You know, since your door is already broken, I don’t see any problem in breaking your bed also—ow! What? You’re going to be my wife one day soon, so it’s only natural for me to want to fuck the living shit out of you in celebration of our engagement—I’m actually starting to reconsider this whole marriage thing. Give me back that ring, I’m gonna go sell it and buy me the PS5–“

“You wouldn’t dare Tuan, I’ll end you—“

“Just shut up and let me love you damnit.”

You couldn’t stop the laughter that came after his little complaint. You still had yet to process that Mark was currently on top of you, ready to make love to you and to show you just how much he missed you. He playfully poked your cheek to break you out of your trance and squeezed your butt as a force of habit.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“I’m just really happy, that’s all.”

He gave you his signature cheeky grin and left a long, sloppy kiss on your lips.

“Good. That makes the two of us, and that’s the only emotion you’re going to feel now that you’re stuck with me. Now, let’s make up for lost time shall we?”

Can you ask daddy if he's got time To come and look at my front door? It got slammed last night And now it don't close right And just promise that you won't tell him everything And keep that pistol in the drawer Mama, please don't say I'm gonna laugh about this someday You didn't see the way he drove away

How does he sleep at night? Mama, the nerve of this guy To leave me so easy Am I gonna be alright? I wanna kick myself for fallin' so hard Mama, can you die from a broken heart? Oh, a broken heart

Can your knees give out from prayin' so hard? (Prayin' so hard) Can you go blind from cryin' in the dark? (In the dark) Was it ever really real If he don't feel like I feel?

How does he sleep at night? Mama, the nerve of this guy To leave me so easy Am I gonna be alright?

How does he sleep at night? Mama, the nerve of this guy To leave me so easy Am I gonna be alright? I wanna kick myself for fallin' so hard Mama, can you die from a broken heart? A broken heart

#got7 imagines #got7 #mark tuan #got7 mark #mark tuan imagines

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ladyfantasy98 · 4 years ago

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Danny Phantom Fanfic Idea -- Danny, Vlad, & Dan (+ Dani!)

I’ve been thinking way too much about Danny Phantom lately. Oh well.

But a story idea that came to me a while ago was a possible Vlad redemption arc. I’m fine he didn’t get one in the show, and it’s a little hard to imagine after how he treated Danielle and all those clones -- but the idea of Old Vlad in The Ultimate Enemy (and even his mini realization in Phantom Planet after Jack flies away) shows that Vlad is capable of realizing and regretting his mistakes and possibly fixing them.

So, the story idea -- Dark Danny/Dan Phantom escapes from the Fenton Thermos and travels to Danny’s current timeline (whether that would be after Phantom Planet I’m not sure, I had mixed feelings about the movie, but anyway) and seeks out Danny and/or Vlad, causing untold destruction in Amity Park.

Danny, in the middle of a battle with Vlad, of course recognizes him immediately and is terrified/infuriated. Once Danny and Dan reveal who he is to Vlad, Vlad is shocked and horrified at what the combination of him and Danny/their ghosts -- something he’s always wanted -- actually is, and begins to question how much he’s let his ghost side influence his schemes and desires (not that I’m excusing Vlad’s own actions or saying he was possessed or anything, but Dan’s existence has given him food for thought)

Eventually, Danny and his friends manage to trap Dan again, probably with Clockwork’s help (who may or may not have been meddling in things...), maybe with Vlad’s. Then he talks with Vlad, revealing to him how his older alternate self regretted his past actions, put aside his hate & lust for Jack and Maddie, and helped Danny fix the timeline. Based on this, Vlad decides he wants to try and be better & have a healthier relationship with Danny.

Which eventually leads this exchange:

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

Vlad breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself. He spoke his next words slowly, carefully, trying to order his thoughts.

“I...I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About myself. Self-reflection, I should say. And I’ve...realized something. Likely the very same thing that my other future alternate self did before he had his change of heart.” Vlad began to pace in front of his desk, not looking at Danny. For his part, the teenager seemed less suspicious; he had extinguished his ecto-rays and his posture was less rigid. He watched Vlad go back and forth, back and forth.

Vlad continued, his voice rising in pitch, “I looked at Dan Phantom, who is, who was, you -- me -- us. I looked at him and I - I saw the truth. The truth that -- me, stripped of my vanity and selfishness and ability to lie to myself -- and you, stripped of all compassion and hope and - and childish innocence -- Well. There was nothing left but hatred. You hated me and I hated myself. That was the truth.”

Vlad stopped his pacing abruptly and spun to face Danny. Full of raw emotion, he cried,

“But I don’t want that to be the truth, Daniel! Danny! I - I - I want to be better! I don’t want that to be my future! I know this is asking for -- for too much, really, but I...if you could...would you...” Vlad trailed off, struggling to get the words out. The back of his neck was wet with sweat -- he hadn’t realized how hot he’d gotten, whether from his pacing or his emotional distress, he couldn’t tell. Danny watched him, arms crossed, an inscrutable expression on his face.

Vlad took another breath to calm himself, and finished weakly,

“Would you give me another chance? To be...good? To truly be your...Uncle Vlad?”

Silence. The hands on the wall clock ticked by slowly, painfully, the only sound in the room. Even with Vlad exerting himself, his and Danny’s breathing, as half-ghosts, was barely perceptible in the quiet room. Danny simply continued to stare at Vlad, his bright blue eyes trained on the older man’s. Vlad’s heart beat painfully -- yet slowly -- in his chest as he awaited an answer.

Eventually Danny sighed. He uncrossed his arms and said, in a quiet voice, “Yeah, I get that. Seeing what you’ve become...learning how your choices changed you for the worse...and seeing that and wanting it to never happen...I get it. I do. Dan did for you what he did for me -- he scared you with what you could become if you don’t change your ways.”

The younger half ghost fell silent once more. Vlad stayed quiet, not wanting to interfere with or influence the other’s thought process.

“I’m not ready to forgive you,” Danny said finally, a thoughtful frown on his face. “And I’m definitely not ready to trust you.”

Vlad nodded, accepting this. But he couldn’t help the hope that sprouted inside him at the unsaid, implied Yet in Danny’s words.

“But...” and here Danny’s gaze softened. His mother’s gentleness and his father’s joyful friendliness, never mind the color, were evident in his eyes. How had Vlad never realized before what a beautiful combination that was? “But you’ve clearly thought about your actions and you’re asking me for a second chance. So...I’m willing to give you one.”

The sprout shot up into a full-grown plant. Vlad let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Th-thank-you, Daniel. Danny. I - you don’t know what that means to -”

Danny held up a finger, cutting Vlad off. “Hold up. Not so fast. I’m not God; I have conditions. I have to make sure you’re not tricking me.”

Vlad sobered up at that. He nodded solemnly. “Yes. Of course. I understand. What are your...conditions?”

“Don’t come near my family,” Danny answered firmly. “No showing up unannounced, no sabotaging airplanes, nothing. I see you around my parents or Jazz, and this...experiment is over. I’ll come to you, you don’t come to us. Understand?”

Vlad nodded again. He had much to make up for to Jack and Maddie as well, but honoring their son’s wishes was the best way to start atoning. “I understand.”

“And don’t you dare do anything or come close to Danielle,” the boy added, practically spitting. His eyes glowed green for a split second, punctuating just how serious he was about that particular condition. “You’ve done far worse to her than to me, and I don’t want you even thinking about her, you got that? If she wants in on this forgiveness/redemption thing, than it’ll have to be her decision. We go at my pace, her pace, not yours. Got it?”

Vlad met the boy’s protective fury with an understanding sympathy, and regret. “Yes. I understand. Anything you need me to do, or not do, and I will listen to you, Danny. I am completely at your mercy. And about your pace, I understand that, too. It’s alright if I do all this and you don’t ever forgive me. I don’t deserve it.”

He sighed, and finally looked away from the boy -- almost a man, really; he would be eighteen soon, never mind all the growing-up he’d done in the past few years as a superhero -- and stared up at the white ceiling.

He could still feel Danny’s eyes on him, however. And when the younger half-ghost cleared his throat, Vlad glanced back at him -- widening his eyes a little at what he saw.

Danny was holding his hand out to him. “Yeah, well, fruitloop...you know what they say. The journey of a hundred miles begins with one step. Or, something like that.”

Vlad smiled and grasped Danny’s offered hand.

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

So...yeah. That’s how I imagine a Vlad-redemption-arc would begin.

Whether or not Dark Danny would also get a redemption arc...I don’t know, maybe. Perhaps he could bond with Danielle (who I don’t think existed in Dark Danny’s timeline, because if Vlad took Danny in after his family and friends’ deaths, then there would be no need for a Clone program) over the fact that they both wouldn’t exist without a (unnatural, unequal, immoral, but still) combination of Danny and Vlad.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this! Comment or DM me.

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eleventhdoctorsangel · 5 years ago

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Can you hear me screaming please don’t leave me

Summary: Bobby Nash and his niece were always really close. But on one fateful day he and his team were called to her house after her suicide attempt. After saving her his niece decided to go in the same line as work.

The summer went by fast. Within that time I have passed all of my tests to become an EMT. Only Uncle Bobby and Athena were there the day I passed my test and got my assignment to the 118 of course. Uncle Bobby made sure that I was put with the 118. Still no one beside him and Athena knows. I have also been spending time with Buck, Hen and Chimney. Just like Buck promise he and I went to a concert. We went to see Falling In Reverse (RIP Derek Jones I’m going to miss you.). When the mosh pits started Buck protected me as if life deepened on it. I just laugh my head off and Buck thought I lost my mind. I was used to mosh pits and I guess Buck wasn’t but he face was still priceless. Within all the time that I’ve spent with Buck so far he told me about his family, his sister Maddie, and his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend he wasn’t so sure about that situation. Anyways I’m currently on my way to the station to surprise everyone and tell them the news. I wasn’t the only new member that joining the 118. There’s a new guy named Eddie Diaz. I really only knew his name since that was all that Uncle Bobby told me.

When I got to the station the rest of the team was out on a call so there weren’t many people there. So I went upstairs and sat on one of the couch as I waited for everyone to get back. I texted Uncle Bobby to let me know when they come back so that I could hide if I needed to. I was playing on my phone when I could hear footsteps approaching me. “So you must be the Captain Niece.” A voice say. I look up from phone to see a very hot guy sitting on the table that was in front of the couch. I put my phone in my lap. “I’m guessing you are Eddie Diaz.” I said. “I am.” Eddie said. “Well I’m Y/n it’s nice to meet you.” I said holding out my hand. “Well it’s nice to meet you Y/n.” Eddie said as he shook my hand. “Eddie huh it that short for Eduardo or Edmundo?” I asked. Eddie looked kinda shocked. “How did you know?” Eddie asked. “I’m observant. So which is it?” I asked. “Edmundo.” Eddie said. “You look like an Edmundo.” I said smiling a little. “Why thank you. So Y/n what made you decided to do this? Because no offense you are really small.” Eddie said. “None taken but I can handle my own. As for why I chose to do this is a circumstance I went through I guess you can say.” I said. “Well I would like to hear all about it if you don’t mind telling me.” Eddie said. I shook my head. “No I don’t mind. It was a few months ago. I wasn’t exactly in the best mind space again. I’ve dealt with depression almost my whole life as with self harm. I tried to kill myself for the third time. I tried when I was thirteen and again when I was sixteen. I know that I can’t change what I’ve been through but I want to help people so they don’t have to feel or go through what I did.” I said as showed the scars that were on my wrist. Eddie took ahold of both of my wrist as he ran his thumbs over them then looked up at me. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that.” Eddie said. “Thank you Eddie that means a lot.” I said. “I guess that makes since now. The captain told me about a lot of people here are protective of you.” Eddie said. “Yeah that would make since. So I told you about myself some now why don’t you tell me about yourself.” I said taking my hands out of Eddies grip putting them in my lap.

Eddie told me about his life that he was in the army and that he has an extremely adorable boy name Christopher and that poor Christopher has cerebral palsy. Eddie even told me about the situation that was going on his wife and how didn’t know what he was going to do about it and how he was going to explain it to Christopher when he does. I told him that whatever he decides that Christopher would understand in time and that he might be the one who might take longer to get over it than Christopher. I made sure that Eddie knew that if he or Christopher needed someone to talk to that I will be all ears. Eddie seemed relieved when I said that. Uncle Bobby finally texted me saying that they were on their way. I smiled as I started jumping slightly in my seat. “Well someone seems excited.” Eddie said. “Well I asked my uncle to text me when they were on their way back because I want to surprise everyone.” I said. “So no one besides the captain knows?” Eddie asked. I shook my head. “Well I hope you have fun surprising them.” Eddie said as he got up. “Are you not going to say to see their reaction?” I asked. “I hope I’m still here. I have to get back home to Christopher.” Eddie said. “I understand that. I hope to meet that little cutie soon.” I said. “Christopher would really like that. So I guess I’ll be seeing you around.” Eddie said. “Yeah see you later.” I said giving him a little wave.

I stay sat on the couch until uncle Bobby told me that it was safe to come down. When he finally I got up from my spot and made my way down the stairs. “Okay that is a beautiful man.” I heard chimney say. If I had to guess it was probably Eddie that were talking about. “Where’s the lie and I like girls.” Hen said. “Who in the hell is that?” Buck said. “It’s Eddie Diaz a new recruit. Graduated top of his class just this week. Guy was working a station six for time and a half but I convinced him to join to join us.” Uncle bobby said. “What do we need him for?” Buck asked. Which made everyone laugh. “He severed multiple tours in Afghanistan and he’s an army medic he’s got a sliver star. It’s not like he’s wet behind the ears. Beside he’s not the only new face that going to be around here.” Uncle Bobby said. Taking that as my que I finished walking down the stairs and over to everyone. “Yeah now you guys are going to have to deal with me a lot more.” I said. “Wait are you serious?” Buck asked. “Yup I passed my test last week.” I said. Buck smiled as he hugged me. “Welcome to the team sweetie.” Hen said. “Thank momma Hen.” I said. “Come on I’ll introduce you to him. He likes to be called 8 pack.” Uncle Bobby said as Hen and Chimney went with him to go say hi to Eddie just leaving Buck and I. “Raw Sliver star.” Hen said. “Better drop some more pounds there butch.” Chimney said. Buck looked back towards the locker room and kinda glared at Eddie. “You know I can see the steam coming for your ears. What to share with the class.” I said. “We don’t need that guy around here.” Buck said. “I’m pretty sure they said the same thing when you came around. Just take some time and get to know him Buck. He’s a nice guy.” I said. “How can you be so sure about that?” Buck asked. “Because before everyone got here we talked. Just talk to him Buck who knows you two could become best friends.” I said. “Yeah but you’re my best friend. A best friends that should have told me about this.” Buck said. “I wanted it to be a surprise. Come on admit it you were surprised Bucky bear.” I said. “Ok fine I was surprised. But you should have told me I would have been there when you took the final test.” Buck said. “I know but Uncle Bobby was there. I wasn’t alone. I have to go change but I’ll be right back.” I said as I left to go to the ladies locker room so I can quickly get change so I can get ready to start my first shift.

Luckily I was able to get change before we had to go out in a call. “So what kind of experience is my first call going to be?” I asked. “A guy fell on to an air compression butt first.” Uncle Bobby said. “The million to one shot.” I said. I could hear people trying not to laugh even uncle Bobby was trying not to laugh. “Come on get in the rig.” Uncle Bobby said. I nodded and made my way inside the fire truck. Buck was sitting on one side of me and Chimney was sitting on the other side of me. I out the head set on and we made our way to the call. “So sliver star huh?” Chimney asked. “Yeah.” Eddie said. “Did you save a platoon of something?” Chimney asked. “No no. Nothing like that uh just a convoy.” Eddie said. “Eddie you heard about the hot firefighter calendar?” Hen asked. I look at Buck to see him glaring at Hen. I playfully nudge him. “I’m sorry the what” Eddie asked laughing at little. “For charity.” Hen said. “So is your full name Eduardo?” Buck asked. “No.” Eddie said. “People every call you Diaz?” Buck asked. “Not if they want me to repose.” Eddie said. “Something gotta give we got Cap, Hen, Chimney, Buck. We just can’t call you Eddie.” Buck said. “Can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.” Eddie said. “I like to always operate under the assumption that nothing he says is serious.” Chimney said. “Oh come on Bucky bear you know we love you.” I said nudging him.

When we arrived at Hector’s Rim and Tire shop Uncle Bobby was the first to go talk with the worker while the rest of us got the Medical stuff that we were going to need. We were lead over to a like who had blew up like a balloon. “Okay Hector can you hear me? Alright hang in there buddy. Alright let’s get him on his side maintain pressure on the wound.” Uncle Bobby said as He, Eddie, Chimney, Buck and I helped with lifting Hector off of the air pressure. “It’s a hundred pounds per square inch pumped through his entire body.” Buck said. Hen started to check his heart rate with a stethoscope. “Breathing shallow. He’s heart is racing. Airs filled his stomach, his chest, even behind his eye lids. I’m more concerned about the space around his heart and lungs.” Hen said. “Ok Eddie start a nasal cannula. Chimney get him some morphine.” Uncle Bobby said. “On it.” Chimney said as he went over to Hector’s side grabbing his hand and tried to stick him. “It’s like trying to inject a needle into stone.” Chimney said. “The pressure is pushing everything out. I can’t even get any air through the nostril.” Eddie said trying to get the nasal cannula on. “Jugular venous distention, tachycardia, hypotension, diminished breath We’re looking at tension pneumothorax.” Hen said. “The air pressure is collapsing his organs. We need to get in there and drain the fluid. Buck I need you to get a 14-gauge angiocath. We need to start decompressing the pleural cavity. Y/n I need you to cut away his shirt.” Uncle Bobby said. I nodded as Chimney handed me a pair of scissors the I cut away at Hector’s shirt so it would be easier for Buck. I stood back up so Buck could have room to work. “Alright. Alright.” Buck said. “You want me to help?” Eddie asked him. “I got it.” Buck said. “Hang in there Hector.” Uncle bobby said. “I’d go lower.” Eddie said. “What? Um no. Second intercostal space. Midclavicular line.” Buck said. “The chest wall is thinner at the fifth intercostal at the anterior axillary line. It’s a decrease chance of injuring any vital organs. I’ve treated guys with collapses lungs in combat.” Eddie said. “Do it.” Uncle bobby said. “Please?” Eddie asked as he held his hand to Buck. Buck handed the syringe to Eddie. “Thank you.” Eddie said as he stuck the syringe parallel to Hector’s under arm then undid part of it as the air started to leave Hector’s body. Hector let out a breath as he opened his eyes. “That’s it Hector breathe. Nice and slow.” Uncle Bobby said. Then we got Hector on a gurney and I help Buck pick stuff up and take it back to the rig.

A/n: I know that I have another way of watching season two. But I usually watch the stuff I need with subtitles and I can’t with the way I've been watching it. So I might have to be this story on hold until either it get back on Hulu or it comes out to DVD

Overall Taglist: @the-broken-halo-writer

#evan buckley imagine #eddie diaz imagine #hen wilson #eddie diaz #evan buckley #chimney han #9-1-1 imagines #9-1-1 imagine #9-1-1 on fox #kelsee's works #Do not reblog unless it's from me

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siren-theories · 5 years ago

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Maddie Bishop's treatment by the writers in Season 3

(tl, dr: Maddie deserved better this season) SPOILER WARNING: This post includes spoilers up to and including Episode 308 “Till Death do us part”. I apologise to the readers for - after a long hiatus - not writing another analysis post first. But I felt the way Maddie was written in Season 3 deserves its own post. So let us take a look at the the way Maddie was written in Season 3, the inconsistencies with her earlier established character traits and the possible justifications for this treatment of her by the writers.

I. Introduction

I generally do not like to post about a show which has not finished its current season. That is because a lot of developments only make sense in retrospect and only then the viewer can know why the writers decided to emphasize certain developments. As such, I am usually trying not to write episode reviews and engage in wild speculation about what will happen next episode. I much prefer writing after the end of a season.

Looking back on all the shows I have seen in my life, there are only a few that come to mind that had a great third season. The West Wing and the Wire are the prominent examples that come to mind.

(Shameless West Wing Plug. I so miss this show and its intelligent characters, especially in the current political climate).

Other shows meanwhile go completely off the rails (like Andromeda, which never recovered from its Season 3). So in general I tend to be very forgiving to shows entering their third season, not expecting much. Thus I would usually not write something like this.

But: I worry about the treatment of a character I feel very protective of, the chracter who is my favourite character in the show: Maddie Bishop.

(Vivat regina.)

Her being my favourite character might be surprising to the reader considering most of the posts on this tumblr are about Ryn (and to a lesser degree Ben), while I have written only sparingly about Maddie. But that is simply because Ryn and Ben are more interesting characters to analyze. Emotionally, they tick the "lets root for them" box for me, despite - and because of - their character flaws. Those flaws always add to the story in a fascinating and dramatic way.

But Maddie Bishop I RESPECTED right from the start. This is in no small part because I always felt drawn to her analytical, logical, scientific side. In cheesy terms, I felt a bond with her because I could easily think of me acting the same way she did in many situations. For me, she was easy to emphatize with, easy to like and very easy to root for.

But this season has been hard to swallow in some respects.

In the words of the Godfather:

(Tremble in awe of my awesome MS Paint skills)

Note that this does not apply to all of Maddie's actions. In fact, the vast majority of her actions this season are no big deal to me and fit her character. Many of the actions Maddie seems to catch a lot of flak for on other parts of the internet seem perfectly justifiable to me as they do not go against the core traits of her character.

I have no issues with many major decisions Maddie made this season, including but not limited to:

She is totally right to re-evaluate her relationship with Ben. Everybody should probably do so when their boyfriend confesses that he let somebody intentionally drown. (It also is not the first time they have broken up. One breakup per season seems to be the norm with those two, not the exception.)

Her hiding the fact of Ryn being her girlfriend to Robb was the right and logical choice. Most people do not talk about their sexuality in face-to-face situations with strangers. Let’s remember that they all agreed to hide their relationship even when having dinner with Ben's family...so why would people expect Maddie to refer to Ryn as her girlfriend to strangers?

I am also okay with her deciding to pursue a relationship with Robb. Even though I view him as a giant waste of screentime he seems like a good guy in total. (I really hope his introduction pays off in future seasons because right now it feels as if he has taken double or triple the screentime he should.)

I could go on but I feel the point has been made. What I am however definitely not okay with are the instances where Maddie acts like a complete idiot. Those show a massive failure to respect established character traits by the writers.

Because one thing Maddie Bishop is not is an idiot.

She probably is the smartest character on the whole show. And she is definitely not a hypocrite - in fact, her strong moral core is what made her that great of a character in Season 1 and 2.

Let me just highlight a few situation this season where I disliked heavily how Maddie was written.

II. Revealing the secrets of the Sirens and their existence to a total stranger ?

“Remember this big secret people are literally getting killed over? I wonder if I should talk about it to this guy I met for a few coffees...not like letting other people knowing about it has ever hurt somebody....Ian? What is an Ian?”

Over the span of a few days, Maddie does the following in Season 3:

Reveal information about the Sirens to a total stranger, even going so far as to show him secret Siren history in the cave

Bring a complete stranger into the maritime laboratory (what exactly could have been her thought process here, what did she hope to gain by this?)

Doing the above despite being repeatedly warned not to do so

I can live with Ben being an idiot and refusing to heed warnings until it almost kills him because that is who his character is - somebody who lets his emotion, empathy and character flaws get the better of him at times despite his good intentions. Him taking stem cells is thus consistent with his character and at the very least a justifiable writers decision. To a lesser degree this also applies to Ryn and her total lack of impulse control. Ben and Ryn making bad decisions it is very consistent with their characters - and yes, this even applies to making stupid decisions. (For Ryn, agreeing to work with the military in Episode 207 “Entrapment” is but one example).

But this is NOT Maddie and never was.

The Maddie from previous seasons was so very invested in keeping the secret that she hid it from her own father in Season 1. This led to the awesome scene between her, her father Dale and Ryn In episode 107: “Dead in the water”.

She hid this secret from her own mother in Season 2 (heck, she even hid her relationship with Ryn from her). She hid Ryn from her best friends, her former boyfriend and her coworker. And yet, suddenly some stranger from outside town waltzes in and within the span of a few coffee dates she goes and spills the beans to him? After being explicitly warned not to do so? Without even being in a relationship with Robb at that point and knowing next to nothing about him? If you had held a gun to my head and forced me to pick somebody who would be dumb enough to just reveal the secret of the Sirens to outsiders, Maddie Bishop never would have been my answer.

I could see Ben “Bad Judgement” Pownall and Ryn “No brakes on this train” Fisher doing so. I expect Xander and Calvin to be trash at keeping secrets because that is consistent with their past behaviour. But Maddie? No. Not Maddie. Not the girl who hid her mother’s addiction from the world as best she could. Not the woman who was okay keeping Ryn a secret from her own father. And not to a total stranger.

This is Ben-level stupidity. Actually, it is worse than that. Blabbing about the mermaids to a total stranger without being under any kind of duress is by far the most stupid thing any character has ever done in this show. It risks not only Maddie herself, but also the Sirens as a species. It is even worse than Xander telling Nicole about Helen's family burials at the end of season 2. It is irresponsible and completely outside Maddie's established character traits and her past actions. It is unbelievable.

III. Killing is different when my (animal) girlfriend does it

Besides turning her into an idiot, the writers also turned Maddie into a hypocrite in stating Ryn letting Ian drown is different than Ben doing the same. Nevermind the fact that Ryn has actively killed people (and probably will continue doing so).

(Why is it different when two people react exactly the same?Because.....reasons. The best reasons. People tell me they are the best reasons. My uncle went to MIT and invented these reasons. Big brain time.)

So the writers had Maddie claim it is different when Ryn does exactly the same thing as Ben. It also is okay for Ryn to kill somebody who was no real threat to Ryn (or Maddie with Ryn being there). Remember when Ryn killed the drug dealer in Episode 205? Ryn was toying with the guy throughout the whole fight and clearly enjoyed killing him in a brutal manner. She even grins during the fight once she realizes the guy has no chance against her.

And yet, Maddie was okay with this. But it is not okay for Ben to let somebody drown who was a) a homocidal maniac who used his car as a deadly weapon, having attempted to run Ben over twice previously b) somebody who could not be trusted c) who had just kidnapped a drugged-up Ryn.

I cannot remember when I ever groaned in frustration at anything Maddie had done or said throughout the course of the show. This must have been the first time and it is especially jarring in response to the following scene in 206:

(Ryn does not. The writers might.) As I said above, I am more than okay with Maddie evaluating her relationship with Ben, what I am not okay with is her immediate declaration that Ryn killing people is different...because she is Ryn? And I hate how it has one particularly ugly implication - that to Maddie, Ryn killing people is just what she does. The conclusion to be drawn from that is that Ryn is indeed a predator/animal first to Maddie than a human being.

And this is obviously inconsistent with Maddie's earlier actions.

First, she did not mind somebody eliminating threats before. She was okay with potentially having to hurt people in order to defeat the sonic cannon in Season 2. She was “willing to fight” to protect Ryn and her species. And several times Maddie carried loaded guns and was ready to use them herself in the series.

She also always believed in Ryn's humanity. I am sure the many scenes between Ryn and Maddie in Season 1 and 2 are fresh in everyone's mind. Suffice to say that Maddie has always believed in the humanity of Ryn, starting with the car scene between the two in Episode 102 or the trust scene in Episode 103, which I have linked below.

youtube

(and where did this dynamic go btw?) Which ties in neatly with my next point:

IV. The Marginalization of Maddie regarding Ryn and Ben

Let me start by saying that breaking up the trio to focus on Ben/Ryn (and probably continuing to focus on those two) is not something I want to critize from a storytelling perspective. Final judgement on the storytelling will be reserved until the end of the series. As this issue is inextricably linked with “shipping” preferences, I think at this point I have to explain where I stand on the issue. I would prefer Polymarine as I think it really fits the characters best...but I can live with Ben/Ryn. This is in no small part due to Eline Powell and Alex Roe doing some of their greatest work on this show playing off each other. See for example how in Episode 306 they improvised with her hair sticking to his body after a hug and turned that into a tender gesture...great impromptu acting without breaking character. If the writers want to explore this (or any other) relationship further I can respect that decision from a storytelling perspective because I think the payoff will be satisfying to me as a viewer. Even though I feel it would have been better to explore Ben/Ryn in the context of Polymarine I begrudgingly accept the right of the writers to tell the story the way they want to.

And If nothing else it leads to stunning visuals - image credit to @crayonboxhearts, more gifs from this scene at the link.

But I dislike the way in which the writers set it up and executed it this season because (as outlined above) it sacrificed some of Maddie’s core character tenets and had her acting out of character.

Having the trio become a duo on its own in an organic way without the above would have been preferable IMO. There were enough angles the writers could have chosen to facilitate that in a believable manner. They could have focused on the connection Ryn has with Ben, they could have had family reasons...et cetera pp. And they also could have used some of the issues Maddie has in her own past to justify a breakup. All of this would have been (IMO) preferable to what we got.

What we got was something that felt as if it was written to check some boxes to set up the future plotlines and in doing so marginalized Maddie with regards to her importance to Ryn, Ben and the overall story.

Granted, the show tried to show Maddie and Ryn's feelings for each other and they spent some time showing Ben moping after her - but in light of the significant strides made in the Ben/Ryn dynamic these scenes feel more than a bit hollow.

And anybody who has watched episodes 308 could just see the role of Maddie as it relates to interacting with Ryn and Ben getting smaller by the minute. Ryn and Ben now have their own little circle, one which only seems to include Maddie on the periphery. Nowhevere was this stronger on display than in Episode 308, with Ben and Ryn making lifelong promises to each other.

Ryn: “I will live on Land. With you.” Ben: “On land. You mean, stay human?” Ryn: “Yes. Here. Together. Human.” Ben: “What about Hope?” Ryn: “She can be with us. As a family.” Ben: “I can’t ask you to do that.” Ryn: “It is my choice. When it is time, I will be human with you.”

Notice how Maddie was not even mentioned once during that conversation? And yes maybe it would have been a bit weird to include her in the dialogue . However this is not an isolated incident. Later on Maddie is not even in the same frame when Ryn and Ben actually exchange a wedding ring and make a “til death do us part” promise. Let me repreat this: They are exchanging wedding vows and Maddie is not even in the frame.

(Yes, technically not wedding vows, but only due to the circumstances surrounding them - the sentiment and meaning was there. FFS, she is even wearing white).

And sometimes it is something as simple as Ryn in 308 kissing Maddie on the cheeks and Ben straight on the lips.

There could not have been a more clearer message than the contrast here. And this was clearly intentional on part of the director considering these frames followed each other immediately.

And then of course we get the followup scene on the docks where Ben is literally standing in the middle between Maddie and Ryn, before turning and following Ryn, both leaving Maddie behind. Observe the contrast between that scene and the pier scene in Episode 203.

203:

308:

(Ngl,seeing her standing alone there in the dark hurt) And some of that can be viewed as a logical development of Maddie no longer being in a relationship with Ben (and whatever kind of relationship Maddie has with Ryn, it is clear that Ryn is not staying at Maddie’s place at all). Siren has always been about the relationship of the main characters within the tight-knit circle and it is clear that at this point in the story Maddie is not part of the inner circle anymore.

V: Maddie’s role in the story

And if Maddie would be doing something else, something central to the story of Bristol Cove, something that would valiate her character and make her essential to the plot in other ways, it might be enough for me or at least end up softening the blow. But is that the case?

The side characters that have the closest connection with her (Dale and her mother Susan) have not even appeared once this season. And we had Xander replace her in her role as the gun-carrying backup which Ben calls first when stuff goes down in episode 306. So far there has not been a critical “Maddie moment” this season that was absolutely essential to the plot. She figured out the reason why the pool was not working in Episode 307 but it was Ben who came up with an actual solution to the problem.

(A caveat: Ben usually is the one who figures out solutions in the show (cf 208) so I might just be overreacting here.) But what exactly is left of the crucial role that Maddie had at the start of this season? Is she still as important as the other two main characters with regards to story development? I really hope the Finale will make me look like a fool for even asking that question. But I hate having arrived at a point where it even is a question once can ask legitimately.

VI: Previous acts of plot

This is not the first time the writers have decided to ignore established character traits in order to tell a certain story. I have written before how it made no sense for certain storylines of Season 2 to play out the way they did in Episode 214 and 215 - except in the context of them serving the overarching plot.

Specifically, Ryn not knowing Ben's last name despite living together for weeks and months and suddenly going haywire after hearing it made little sense. And yet it was clear why it had to happen - because the writers wanted to tell a specific story. (A longer argument for what happpened and why can be found in the middle of this post if you do not want to take my word for it.) They wanted to do so because it led to great payoffs for the viewer:

1) We had an awesome discussion between Maddie and Ryn in Episode 214

(Remember how emotionally intelligent Maddie was in that situation? Where did scenes like that go?)

2.) It led to several great scenes between Ben and Ryn and also provided further justification for Ben’s choices in 216.

In retrospect, the plot contrivances of 214 were done by writer's fiat to setup a scenario that would test the relationship of the trio. This created more drama and paved the way for a satisfying payoff at the end of Episode 215/216. In doing so, the writers allowed character inconsistencies and plot contrivances to steer the story towards a predetermined outcome, to the detriment of character logic and past character developments.

And we can see a similar trend developing here. The end goal of the writers seems to have been the rock scene between Ben and Ryn at the end of Episode 308.

And if you assume this to be the end goal in the current plot development...if the goal was to focus on Ben and Ryn...then there needs to be a breakup. Because huge parts of the storyline (stemcells, them going swimming, them making promises to each other etc.) do not work with Maddie in the picture.

But was it necessary to sacrifice parts of her character and have her acting in a manner inconsistent with her established traits in order to do so? (Maybe they had to rush it because of lack of episode time, but then why waste so much time on Robb and Helen’s ghost stories?).

And there is another problem: The success of this plot development will heavily depend on whether it will fit the personal preferences of the viewership. As I said above, while I would have preferred Polymarine I can live with and enjoy Ben/Ryn or Maddie/Robb.

But for die-hard polymarine and Maddie/Ryn shippers, I feel the results might be somewhat different. And this is only made worse by Maddie being unfairly treated by the writers in order to facilitate the overall plot development. I suspect many Maddie fans (regardless of their shipping preference) will have been disheartened about how the writers made Maddie behave this season.

I know I was.

VII: The parallels between Episodes 108 and 308 - and why they worry me

And there is another meta-reason why I am deeply worried about Maddie and her role going forward. And this has to do with the way in which Siren’s previous ten-episode season has been set up. In Season 1, it was Episode 108 that cemented the character development happening in that season. Episodes 109 and 110 served to defeat the big bad of the season and to introduce temporary setbacks that had to be solved at the start of the following season before the characters returned to the dynamics establied in 108.

In short, while Episodes 9 and 10 were exciting, Episode 8 of Season 1 is the pivotal episode of the season. Ryn’s desire to learn and to stay on land, her first steps into human society...all those happened in that episode. There are also strong parallels in the way 108 and 308 treated Ryn’s relationship with Ben, even ending their screentime in the episode with a impactful scene between the two (”Will you sing to me” / “Til death do us part”). Other parallels include both episodes featuring an important event in a human’s life (a wake/a marriage), both episodes involving the whole Bristol Cove community etc.

And like 108, 308 was (IMO) a near-perfect episode in terms of performances, pivotal scenes and dialogue. Just by the sheer number of extras, costumes etc. involved the writers clearly wanted it to be important. And it was important. It greatly drove forward the plot and I personally rate it as one of my favourite episodes of the show on its own for that reason.

But there is one major difference that seperates 108 and 308: Maddie was very much still in the picture (literally) and a plot-driving force in her own right.

And this worries me.

I expect the final two episodes will be about defeating the big bad of the season, as it was with Season 1. Maybe the season will even end the same way as Season 1 - with Ryn being on her own for a bit. Maybe she even goes back to the water for a longer time (or is forced to do so due to circumstances). But I also expect character development in season 4 to largely use 308 as its base.

And now you can see why I am getting concerned here about Maddie’s diminished role. I really hope the writers have not forgotten what a wonderful character they created in her and find better ways to use her in season 4.

There are plenty of options within Siren to give her meaningful screentime again (her spending more time with Xander and Calvin for example would also give more screentime to those two, which I would love to see). But whatever the writers chose to do in the future, I really hope that it does not involve Maddie acting out of character again.

Conclusion:

The way the writers wrote Maddie in Season 3 is not something that I agree with, nor does her diminished role in the central dynamics of the story sit well with me. Did it completely ruin the show for me? No. The mysteries of the sirens, the Pownell family saga, the question of whether Ryn has to permanently return to the sea, her child and the whole Ryn/Ben dynamic kept me entertained - and will do so in the future.

But Maddie being this off-base and not being in the main picture definitely does diminish the show for me - and I think I am not alone in this. When I look at the failed opportunities for her character it saddens me in a major way. Even though Season 3 is still an enjoyable and entertaining season for me, it could have been much more.

#siren #siren freeform #maddie bishop #maddie #ryn #polymarine #character analysis

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sammysdewysensitiveeyes · 4 years ago

Note

“One cannot say that I am unwilling to suffer for my principles.”

“You call that suffering? I thought it was no big deal. Easy job. That was your whole argument to Maddie, right?” All the same, Pyro had been snapping pictures on his cell phone and uploading them to Instagram all day.

“There’s a certain amount of suffering involved,” Sebastain said with an expression of disgust. “Some of these people are not diligent about brushing their teeth.” He took a sip from the glass of whiskey beside him, swirling it around in his mouth, almost gargling before the inevitable swallow.

“It’s not like you’ve even had that many customers.”

“Yes, and that was my original point exactly! Men are far more likely to frequent this type of attraction, since there is greater social pressure against women showing public displays of lust. And who is most likely to lure in male customers? Maddie, for certain. She has both the looks and approachable charm. Claudine would also work, but she has a certain coldness. Ms. Dastoor, of course, radiates such nun-like prudishness, I can only imagine customers partaking out of charity. Of course, my useless son would have also been a success, I imagine. He very pretty and has a sufficiently debauched air to him.”

“So, your point is that you’re just not handsome enough? That is what you’re saying, right Shaw?” Pyro grinned, Whether Sebastian succeeded or failed, Pyro was enjoying every awkward second of this.

“No, Allerdyce, that is not my point.” Sebastian merely sounded tired. “And you’re certainly not one to say anything about physical attractiveness, you horse-faced Outback stick insect. My point is that I am not what you might call easily approachable. Many have said that they find me intimidating.”

“Maybe we should have put you in the dunk-tank instead?” Pyro mused. That would have been almost as funny, especially if Sebastian was wearing one of his more expensive suits. But the pictures he was getting out of Shaw’s current predicament were gold. Emma was already messaging him demanding video.

“Maybe this entire debacle is a disastrous mistake by our Quiet Council, which will only serve to humiliate and lower the dignity of all mutants world-wide, reducing us to cheap entertainment – “

Sebastian broke off as a customer approached.

The Hellfire Gala, mutants mingling with humans, had been a great success, but largely focused on the wealthy elite. Then the Quiet Council had decided that they wanted something a bit more down-to-earth and family-friendly – the Krakoa Carnival. Like the state fairs that Pyro had attended once in the US, but with super-powers. The Marauders were supposedly there to help with security and crowd control, but had wound up running their own gigs as well. It was a good way to make some cash. The Quiet Council hadn’t actually said that they could charge money for the attractions, but they hadn’t exactly said not to, either.

“One, please,” giggled a small child, not more than six. She held up a dollar. Sebastian grimaced down at her, then turned his face slightly, leaning down.

“On the cheek, young lady,” he said, in the tone of a martyr marching to the gallows.

There had been some disagreement between Maddie and Sebastian about her role in the fair. Maddie claimed it was sexist, Sebastian argued that it was mere practicality, and a surefire money-maker. That it was simply business, and an extremely easy job. Maddie had insisted that if it was so easy, and not at all degrading, Sebastian should do it himself. And this was one of those glorious times when Sebastian had dug his heels in, determined to prove his point.

Which was how he had wound up manning the Kissing Booth.

The child, lifted up by her mother, licked Sebastian’s cheek. He recoiled with a snarl of disgust.

“That is not what you paid for, child. You paid for a kiss. Did your mother not teach you to honor your business agreements?”

The child giggled hysterically, and the mother smirked.

“Gosh, I love your character. Are you like, a young Ebeneezer Scrooge? I don’t remember him ever being that ripped,” she said.

“I am a businessman, and I hope your spawn has had all its shots,” Sebastian growled, rubbing his cheek with a handkerchief.

“And you don’t even break for a moment. You are doing such a good job. I’ll tell all my friends, their kids will love you,” the mother exclaimed, dragging her child off with her.

“Well, maybe that’ll drum up business,” Pyro drawled.

“Allerdyce, do you not have your own booth to man?”

“I can multitask,” said Pyro lazily, glancing back at the fire he had going just a few feet away. He had started out as a fire-eater, but this had quickly devolved into “Burn anything for $3.” Then after some scolding from Storm, who had happened by, and a disappointed look from Haven, he had adjusted his sign to read “Burn anything non-living for $3.” It was a remarkable hit. Kids were willing to fork out $3 to toss just about anything into the fire and watch it go up in sparks and maybe a few fancy shapes if Pyro were so inclined. (And people said his fire obsession was unhealthy! Obviously he was just tapping into something primal in human nature!) The money was, of course, going straight into Pyro’s pocket.

“As I was saying before,” Sebastian said, still vigorously wiping his cheek and scowling, “This is simply not a practical set-up. I am attracting far less customers than someone like Madelyne would have. It would be different at a proper Hellfire Club orgy – where, of course, there would be no horrible children – but I wasn’t meant for this cutesy high-school nonsense.”

“That kid seemed to love you.”

“If that child comes back again, I may be unable to to resist hurling her into the sea. It wouldn’t technically be killing her. Probably.”

“You oughta be running a “Punch Me in the Face,” booth, Shaw. People would definitely pay top dollar for that.”

Sebastian straightened up, a glimmer in his eye.

“Allerdyce, I am absolutely loathe to admit to you ever having a good idea, but I suppose even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Help me change the sign.”

In the end, Shaw made several thousand dollars.

(OOC: I sat on this ask for ages trying to dream up the stupidest possible scenario to put Sebastian into. I’m still not sure if I succeeded.)

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cilldaracailin · 4 years ago

Text

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Hello my Tumblr lovely’s.

Here is the next part in this story.

Hope you all enjoy.

Thanks so much for all the love and comments on this one so far :)

Suze xx

3 “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”

“So, what was that all about? The ID?” Asked Taron as they sat down on the base of the stone statue, the little green area on the opposite side of the canal much quieter than the town and where the parade had been, only a few people walking around heading home after the parade and duck race.

“Jane is in the musical society and is a fan of yours.” Robyn smiled. “She knew who you were as soon as you walked up even with the green hair and shamrocks on your cheek.”

“And that I wasn’t Dean Edwards?” He chuckled.

“She is a huge Elton John fan and adored your performance in Rocketman. Believe me, I saved you from an onslaught of questions and pictures.”

“You really haven’t told anyone about me, have you?” He asked her quietly, pulling at the orange fabric on the duck in his hands.

Robyn looked to Taron, taking in his strong side profile, noticing how he kept his eyes on the duck in his hands. “Not really no.”

“Can I ask you why?”

Robyn looked away from his face and to her own hands. “It’s not that I haven’t been sharing the news around that I know you and of course my friends and family know what happened in Florida as well as the gospel choir and musical society and of course the parents and the girls in work…”

“So, a lot of people really know.” He interrupted with a little smile.

“Those who are important to me know Taron. I am not keeping you a secret, but I am not shouting from the rooftops that my new best friend is a wonderfully talented actor with a heap of awards under his belt. You know how much I love you Taron and how important you are to me, how important our relationship is to me and I have seen first-hand how horrible the unwanted media attention is for you and for me too that I don’t really feel the need to share what we have with those who don’t deserve to know about it. You are a very special person Taron and only those who I can trust get to know about you.” Taron reached over with his free hand as she spoke and held her right hand tight in his left. “I know it’s a bit different for you because at times you live your life in the public eye and I am there with you too and you know I am ok with that Taron, you know that.”

“I do.”

“But I only share the most precious things in my life with those I fully and truly trust and believe it or not, it doesn’t include most of Kilcreen. By only introducing you to those I have full faith in, means my home will always be a sanctuary for you Taron, a place you can come to when you need too. Somewhere you can freely walk around without your hat and eyes on the back of your head on the constant look out for a rouge photographer.”

“And I know that means a lot to you too. Even though you accept that aspect of my life, I know it is something you can find difficult.”

“Taron you know I don’t…”

“I know Robyn and when you accompany me on the red carpet and stand willingly with me, I know you are there to fully support me and be there for me without a question and the way you keep protecting me is something I don’t think I will ever get used too but I appreciate that being photographed when you are just out getting a coffee with me is something very unsettling for you at times.”

“At times.” She agreed. “So like I said, it’s not that I don’t want my world to know about you, I just want to keep a bubble for you when you need it and Taron, I honestly don’t mind getting photographed with you. It gives me more photos for my wall!” She laughed as he let go of her hand and went straight to tickle her. “But on a serious note, I am always here for you ok? No matter what and like I said, it’s not that I don’t want to share you, it’s just I need to be absolutely sure those I can share you with will be respectful to you.”

“Jane’s not one of them?” He asked.

“Oh, she is. Don’t worry but it’s not the time or place for a photo opportunity and I already gave her the piece of paper you signed for me when we went to The Prince of Egypt together.”

“The one you pushed into your bra.”

Robyn laughed. “Yeah that one.”

“You still gave it to Jane after it had been in your bra?”

Robyn’s nose crinkled up as she looked at him. “Jane has boobs too and wears bras.”

Taron laughed a little nervously. “Not where I was going with that chicken but ok sure. Just you gave her the piece of paper you had in your bra.”

“She really didn’t care Taron. It had your signature on it and I really didn’t need it.”

“Or to sell it on eBay.” He added.

“Nope.”

“Robyn?”

“Yep.”

“Thanks for asking me to come over for St. Patrick’s Day and for keeping my bubble for me when I need it.”

“Anytime rocketman.” Robyn slipped right arm around his waist, inching a little closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder.

Taron looked at the duck in his hands, which was now looking a little bit sad, his costume and feathers destroyed with water. “Poor rocketman.” He pulled a very soggy orange feather from the duck. “Though to be fair, after I had finished filming in that outfit, I looked pretty much the same. It was so hot and I was so hot and was melting in that onesie.”

“I can only imagine.”

“And the weather was so unbelievably heated and humid. It was so uncomfortably muggy.”

“Some of those outfits looked very heavy and stifling.”

“That dress was a killer.”

Robyn chuckled. “Your face never showed that though.”

Well I am an actor.” He replied. He pulled the envelope which he got from Jane with the prize money from winning the duck race from his coat pocket. “This is yours.”

“Erm nope.” Robyn lifted her head from his shoulder and pushed it back towards him. “That is your prize. Your duck won.”

“Because you bought it for me.”

“Because you wanted one Taron.”

“Because it is a Kilcreen St Patrick’s Day tradition. This is yours.”

“Absolutely not Taron. It’s your prize.” Robyn took the envelope from him and pushed it inside his coat. “Yours.”

Taron took the envelope out again. “It’s ours and we keep it for when we meet up and do things together, like having dinner later or a few drinks. So…” He opened the envelope and took the notes out and split the money in two. “You keep half and I keep half and when it’s gone it’s gone so we spend it wisely and keep cwtch away from it.”

Robyn laughed and she put the money in her purse, while Taron did the same for his wallet.

“I can’t believe you bloody won. I have had a duck in this race since it started and never won.”

“I told you Robyn. You are my good luck charm. Have been since I met you in Florida.” Taron leaned over and went to kiss her cheek but we met with a face full of hair as Robyn turned her head as the loudspeaker set up on the green for the day squeaked as a voice started to speak.

“And now we have a performance from Kilcreen’s Gospel Choir, directed by Maddie Lyons.”

“Shit!” Robyn scrambled to her feet cursing. “Shit fucking shit balls!”

“Robyn?”

“The gospel choir! The performance after the duck race! I bloody forgot!” Taron started to laugh as Robyn brushed herself down. “What are you doing! We need to go!”

She bent down and grabbed his hands, yanking him to his feet and took to a run, still holding onto his right hand, almost dragging him behind her, until he caught up. She sprinted up the stone steps and down the bridge and road that led into the The Square, glad that Taron kept up with her. They moved through the crowd, Robyn apologising as she bumped into people as they went, still hauling Taron behind her. She stopped suddenly, Taron bumping into her.

“Stay with my mam.” She instructed him a little breathless from their quick run and with a mouthed apology to Maddie, snuck into the choir group, finding her place in the front row, still trying to catch her breath as she joined in with the song they were singing, picking up on the harmonies easily.

Lizzie looked to Taron who was grinning and trying to catch his own breath. “And you were?” She asked him.

“On the green by the train station. Lost track of time.”

“Hmm I am sure.” She looked to his hands and saw the duck he was holding. “So, you won then?”

“Ahh yeah, I did,”

“What did Robyn decorate that duck as?”

Taron blushed a little. “Erm it’s actually like one of the costumes I wore for the Elton John movie.” He explained. “Feathers and all.”

“You wore something like that?”

Taron chuckled. “It was a bit more elaborate but yeah I did.”

“I actually think I remember.” Lizzie replied. “The one at the start of the movie?”

“That was it.”

“And Robyn made the duck look like you?”

He laughed again. “Not me exactly but more so the outfit.”

“Uh-huh.” Lizzie answered turning her attention back to the choir as they started to sing another song. “Sure Taron.”

Glancing at the duck in his hands, Taron looked up to where Robyn was standing in the choir, his heart hammering in his chest and not from the quick dash they had made to get to her choir. He caught her eye and immediately saw a blush rise to her cheeks and knew it matched the ones on his.

“So, you invited Robyn to another event of yours?” Asked Lizzie having heard the choir sing the song they were currently singing many times before, she was happy to miss it and engage in a little chat with the man beside her, not yet having the chance to talk to him on his own.

“Yeah I did. It’s the premier in London for the movie I finished filming in February.”

“The one that was stopped because of what happened in Florida?” Asked Lizzie.

“That’s the one. Matthew, the director, put a lot of hours in to make sure it was ready for the original release date in April and I really want Robyn to go with me. It’s because of her that I was even able to finish filming.”

“Robyn was telling me you are working on a new film at the moment too?”

Taron nodded. “Yeah. That was the reason why I was late coming over. My schedule is pretty full on and it changed at the last minute. Matthew is the director for this one too and he finalised his cast at the weekend and organised a last-minute script read through. Just something I had to go to.”

“But you still made it here.”

“I promised Robyn I would.”

“And when I first met you, I asked you to look after my daughter and you promised me you would.”

Taron heard the change of tone in Robyn’s mothers voice and he closed his eyes as he waited for yet another lecture from another strong woman. “Lizzie…”

“I know you love her Taron.” His words were not only cut off but caught in his throat and he turned to look at Lizzie seeing so much of Robyn in her features and his eyes moved to meet hers. “And I also know she loves you too and you don’t need to look at me with that doubtful look. I don’t want to bring the subject of New York up but for Robyn to still be fully giving her all to you after that, I know she loves you. It’s been a while since I have seen her excited over a weekend away or a phone call or a teddy bear.” Taron smiled. “You made her day with that present, believe me. Even I tried to find one for her and could not.”

“Sometimes my job does have its perks. I was so happy to find something to make her smile.”

“You make her smile Taron, frustrate her too but definitely make her smile.”

“I try too. Lizzie, I can’t explain to you how important your daughter is to me.”

“You don’t have to Taron. Your actions, the majority of your actions show me that, but I just want to say one thing Taron. Robyn has been deeply hurt in a past relationship. I don’t know if she ever talked to you about Keith?”

Taron nodded. “She mentioned him once or twice.”

“Fucker, if you excuse my French. I tell you something, if I ever see his face again…” Lizzie’s words trailed off. “Sorry Taron.”

“It’s ok. I don’t actually know the whole story but I know he was a fucker as you call him.”

“As her mother you can understand that I will never let any man hurt her again and I know you are not him Taron and from how Robyn speaks about you after she has been with you, I know you treat her with the upmost respect and to be fair, I don’t think I need to worry about Robyn standing up for herself.”

Taron nodded his agreement. “I have seen it first-hand. It is not something you need to be concerned about.”

“But I just need you to promise me that you will look after her. She has this strong exterior but underneath she is a vulnerable young woman who just needs to be loved without question. I am not going to lie to you Taron, some aspects of your job worry me.”

“The media.” Sighed Taron.

“Got it in one.”

“I can’t promise you that I can keep every photo taken of us together from the media Lizzie, but I can do my best to try. I have a wonderful team who work with me.”

“And I have already seen how hard they work for you and I very much appreciate what you have done for Robyn so far but just the things people write about the two of you, about Robyn.”

Taron groaned. “Please don’t read them Lizzie. Robyn doesn’t read them. I don’t read them. I understand it is hard not to, but it is the only way to deal with it, by not reading it. Unfortunately, it is just something that comes with my job and it is very unwanted attention I get.” He reached for her hands. “Mothers just have a knack for knowing things and you are right, just like mine was. I love Robyn and I mean properly love her like head spinning, goose bumps and racing heart love her. She has been a constant comfort in my life since I met her and gotten me through some tough times and saved my life but please trust and believe me that I am always there for her too when she needs me and always will be no matter what. She is a beautiful, intelligent woman who literally holds my heart Lizzie and I promise to treat her with the respect and love she deserves, the same she has shown me.”

Lizzie smiled. “Thank you, Taron.” She leaned in and gave him a close hug. “And before you even think about it, Robyn hates massages.”

“Sorry?” Asked Taron confused.

“My daughter is very good at giving them but hates them.”

Taron felt his whole face flush and as the hug ended, he saw a wicked smile on Robyn’s mother face. “You heard about that then.”

“I am her mother. She tells me things.” Lizzie watched as his blush stretched to his neck. “And I need you to make sure you look after yourself because I need you to look after her.” She smiled at him. “She loves anything to do with her hair though.”

Taron smiled back. “I figured that one out already.”

Lizzie lifted her hands and placed them on his cheeks. “From what I have seen Taron, you are well fitted for her, but she is my only child.”

Although Lizzie’s tone was a little light, he could hear the warning in her words and nodded under her hands. In the same way as Robyn did, Lizzie stroked his cheeks a little before her hands fell from his face and she turned her attention back to the choir.

He had expected a speech at some point from Robyn’s mother and it wasn’t the angry one he had been waiting for but rather an almost plea for him to look after Lizzie’s most precious possession, her daughter. Her words spun around his head. Robyn loved him? Well he knew that. He knew Robyn loved him; she had told him herself. In fact, she had told him less than ten minutes ago as they sat on the green but Lizzie spoke as if Robyn’s feelings ran deeper.

“Hey Taron!” Robyn’s dad came and stood beside his wife. “Enjoy the parade?”

“Yeah I did.” He answered, his thoughts still on the conversation with Lizzie. He shook his head, deciding he just didn’t have the energy at the moment that it would take to think it through and turned to look at the choir as a cheer went up around him and Robyn took the few steps forward to the microphone.

“Happy St Patrick’s Day!” She spoke. “Thanks so much for sticking around to listen to us having a good old sing song. We have been working on a new song and sure we’re going to give it a whirl and see what happens with it. It’s not what we would call performance ready but if you know it sing along.” Robyn looked for Taron in the crowd and gave him a quick little wink and before she moved and picked up her guitar, Taron recognising the instrument as hers straight away having played it himself. He stared her down and once she started playing the opening riff, his whole body rose with surprise his face going straight into a smile.

“Know this one?” Lizzie asked him seeing his face light up.

“Might just know it.” He answered, his eyes closing as the music for Tiny Dancer filtered through the speakers, Robyn taking the lead vocal as she played guitar, the choir supporting her with a wonderful chorus of harmonised ohhs and ahhs.

Taron pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly opened his camera to video the performance. He wanted to keep a copy of it but also have one for Elton too, knowing he would want to see this and would thoroughly enjoy not only the gospel take on his song but the fact that Robyn was singing it. For the second verse, the whole choir joined in with Robyn and she took a step back from the microphone, so her voice didn’t carry louder the others. He naturally just sang along, enjoying how the crowd around him joined in too, the beautiful acoustic version of the Elton John song along with the crowd making it an exquisite version. Robyn stepped forward to take a solo verse again and her eyes locked on his the whole time and he knew she could see him singing along and he gave her one of those full grin smiles he had when he was truly in his happy place.

This song was more than just a song from the movie he was in, more than just an Elton John hit. It was the song he had in his head as Robyn taught him to control his breathing in the 7/11 when he was panicking, the one she had gently sung to him as he lay in pain in the ambulance and the song he had taken to singing while he was in her kitchen when he visited her, even videoing himself singing it on Robyn’s phone for her. It was their song, one that they had bonded over, one that brought a tear to his eye as he just closed his eyes and listened. It already held such a special place in his heart from his time filming Rocketman but now it held such a different emotional connection and he would always associate it with Robyn. He had heard Kilcreen’s gospel choir perform before, even joining them for a rehearsal and their harmonies were so on point, the difficulty increasing as the song moved through to another verse, Taron hearing Robyn’s voice taking the chorus herself again. He didn’t even think about singing along and naturally did so, his own voice louder than those around him but he didn’t care. He had to sing along and even with the slight crackle and wobble in his voice from tiredness, he didn’t stop until the song had finished, only himself and Robyn ending the song, Taron a little flustered that he had kept going when everyone else had stopped but he was so caught up in the music he hadn’t noticed.

As a huge cheer went up for the performance and Taron was brought down to earth as he had been floating on a music high. He looked to Robyn and saw that once again her eyes were locked with his and he mouthed ‘thank you’ to her and she nodded back to him, before she moved to put her guitar back taking her place back in the front row. The choir sang for another ten minutes and had finished their set just as a few drops of rain started to fall, the crowd starting to disperse quickly as the rain threatened.

“Taron, John and I am going to head on home. We normally have a meal with my sister who lives next door us on Patrick’s Day. She cooks us up a proper Irish meal.”

“Robyn isn’t going?” Asked Taron, wiping away a single raindrop from his forehead.

“She normally does but don’t you have plans for the day? Something about Guinness and a céilí?”

Taron nodded. “Yeah that was the plan but if she normally has dinner with her family…” Taron’s voice trailed off.

“Robyn can have dinner with us whenever she wants Taron. She only gets to see you for two days. She planned a completely Irish themed evening for you. Go and enjoy yourself.” Lizzie gave him a quick hug. “She wants you to have a good night so go and do so. It was so lovely to see you again.”

“Thank you Lizzie and you too. I will look after her for you.”

“I trust you completely with her.”

With another goodbye to her parents, Taron then turned to look toward the choir all of who had already left, just Robyn and Maddie staying behind to tidy up. He strolled over to them. “Need some help?” He asked, getting a big grin from Robyn who nodded. “What can I do?”

With some instruction from the two woman and with his help, the three had all the wires, cables and speakers put back in Maddie’s car as well as the microphone stands, music stands and keyboard within fifteen minutes.

“Thanks so much Taron. That made my life a lot easier.” Said Maddie.

“No problem. Thanks for the performance. I think Kilcreen gospel choir might be my favourite.” He laughed.

“You are already a member Taron, no need to suck up to the musical director.” Laughed Robyn as she swung her guitar case on her back.

“You know where we practice Taron and are welcome whenever you want.” With a quick goodbye, Maddie hopped in her car, giving the horn a beep as she drove off.

“So Tiny Dancer?” Asked Taron as he turned to Robyn. “Who came up with that song choice?”

“No idea.” She answered him, shrugging her shoulders and it was an awkward hug that Taron gave her as he held the duck in one hand and he couldn’t wrap his free arm full around her guitar. “Guess you liked it then.”

“It was beautiful. Haven’t heard it sang like that before.”

“Heard you singing along.” Robyn answered him as he let her go. “You should have come up and joined us.”

“You didn’t need any help and I thought you didn’t play in front of people.”

Robyn shrugged her shoulders once more. “Guess I changed my mind. We should make a move before those clouds actually break into a proper shower. I just need to drop this home before we head for some food.”

“That is fine by me.”

#Taron Egerton #Taron Egerton Fanfiction #Taron Egerton Fanfic #Taron Fanfic #Love #Friendship #Cuddles #Laughter #Protection #Bubbles #Singing #Thoughtfulness #St. Patrick's Day #Gospel Choir #Tiny Dancer #Mothers #Robyn and Taron

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