#this movie ripped my heart out and buried me alive actually

[pigeonconcert]

she's dying

[lightwise]

TBB S3E7 Reactions

Alright, in lieu of an analysis this week, you guys get some extra long reactions from me. Spoilers for Extraction under the cut!

- Of course the operative is still alive after being completely buried by rocks

- You okay there Rexy boy?

- Aww, Crosshair helping him up

- “There’s always another way” feels like foreshadowing

- CX does sound awfully like Tech when he’s grunting. Either that or DBB has only one way of making groaning noises 😂

- The rim lighting in this episode is such a pain for making screenshots but so satisfying for watching

- The modified clone theme when Wolffe lands 😭

- Wolffe was really getting 3PO flashbacks there with that disgusted sigh

- Isn’t Hilo a canon commando?? Or is he from legends?

- I will never get over how realistic light looks in this show

- There’s no way that CX just caught himself with his hands

- “We’re waiting on you” they’re not leaving Crosshair behind this time 🥹

- Lol Batcher. Licking cute clones faces. Always the priority

- How is this CX such a good shot??

- Oh Wolffe definitely has a constant headache. Idk how he’s actually put up with being in the Empire this long.

- This purple atmosphere is so pretty

- “I’m much worse” — SCREAMING. And the little tilt with his helmet to make his point clear? This man can have me however he wants. Anytime, anywhere. Call me, baby (I hope someone laughed at that lol)

- So Hunter does hear the ships. I wonder if his senses are more tuned for mechanical vibrations and animal life than people

- Lol Howzer is this really the time for a heart to heart?

- “Loyalty meant something to me” 🫡

- Lol that TK Trooper sounded like a mid-Atlantic 50s movie star

- How is the operative this nimble? Seems suspicious

- Smoke bombs are CF99s signature

- Interesting that for once the stun bolts are being used ON the Batch instead of by them.

- Wrecker and Batcher are a great team

- Hunter just dropping that TK and then Crosshair taking out their ship. Phew

- Also not suspicious at all that they’ve neutralized all the TKs and left the clone troopers for later.

- How did Crosshair sense the operative coming up behind them?

- RIP Nemec 😓

- “Too bad” 😩😩😩

- Oh Cross, you know you’re not the best at hand to hand combat. This is a very bad idea

- That waterfall is pretty though

- Dear lord why did they have to make these scenes so dark

- Oh fuck. I can’t even tell who threw who off the cliff

- The whole squad going after Crosshair even though he told them to get to the extraction point 😭

- CX obviously knows Crosshair and has beef with him. Again, for the millionth time—WHAT THE HELL DID HEMLOCK DO TO ALL OF THEM

- “You had your chance to be one of us. You chose the wrong side”. Really can’t wait for this to be explained.

- Crosshair’s reflexes are so fast for being all gangly limbs

- Okay I seriously almost had a heart attack here (this is a rewatch so my reactions aren’t immediate but holy cow I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing watching Crosshair almost drown. Don’t you dare do it Jen!)

- It is v suspicious how fixated on Crosshair CX is even after he’s neutralized him

- Thank GOD for Howzer

- Okay, I can breathe a little again

- That’s…an awfully long fall for someone to survive

- The TBB team took the water scenes from The Crossing in season 2 and said, yeah, how about we just make that a million times better 🤯

- “That’s not Echo”. No, no it is not

- Good to know that Rex is still considered dead by the Empire (although that honestly seems strange that CX in season 2 knew who he was). That’s heartbreaking that Wolffe thought he was dead this whole time though

- Wow. The respect these two men have for each other

- “Oh I did. Lost a lot of good men that day” *cries in TCW season 7*

- Idk how Rex keeps going honestly

- His voice may be gentle but his face means BUSINESS

- Rex 🤝 Omega - believing the power of friendship can save anyone and anything they come across

- Fuck your orders Wolffe

- “I’ll make sure you’re given a fair trial” you really have no idea who you work for Wolffe do you

- Hunter being willing to stand down when Rex asks him to

- “I know you. As your brother, I’m asking you to do the right thing” the brotherly reunions this season are just paralleling all over the place

- Gregor the handsome fellow that you are. I swear his pauldrons get bigger every time we see him

- “Let my people go” the Exodus vibes are strong here too

- Guess we’re gonna be finding out what makes this CX so special. Still can’t believe he survived.

- Rex just lost almost all of his men again 😣😭

- The sheer respect and care that Hunter and Rex have for each other. The hand on the shoulder. The losses that tie them together. The worry and earnestness in Hunter’s face and tone when he tells Rex he can’t win. He doesn’t emote this much to people he doesn’t consider family.

- The ways Hunter still is hesitant to do anything but run and hide, and Rex still can’t give up. Not quite yet.

- How Hunter won’t be able to either until they know what is really going on with Omega.

[thesolferino]

⤷ note: apologies for losing your request, anon, but thank you for requesting! this is my first time writing a full fic in second person, so bear with me, and i hope this is what you were looking for <3

The Great American Bake Off

pairing: corpse husband x gn!reader

word count: 3.6k

genre: fluff

summary: you’ve been jealous of rae and her closeness with your boyfriend since the dawn of time, but things change and friendships are made once she comes over for one hell of a cooking video.

Corpse, among many other things, was a man many wished to have.

It’s the truth; even if he didn’t have a YouTube channel through which millions kept up with everything from horror stories to Among Us gameplays, people would still turn heads and whisper whenever he spoke - that attention more than multiplied when he started blowing up and his social media presence grew.

With growth come numbers, and there are always people behind said numbers. Through them, Corpse makes wonderful friends - through them, you had met him, too. All the way back, during his horror narration days, you had grown to like him - really, who wouldn’t?

A DM you once sent after a few drinks, when you claimed to your friends you’d get the “deep-voiced man of your dreams” you often talked about and they, in turn, challenged you to message him, was nothing short of a joke and the idea of him responding was merely a pipe dream. What you hadn’t expected, however, was a response, which wrecked your brain at noon the next day, where your head throbbed with embarrassment, guilt, pride, happiness, a melt of hatred and gratefulness for your friends, panic and the remains of alcohol that tugged at every part of your skull.

It had turned out to be more than a great idea, though, because for the next few weeks you were constantly talking. You learned so much more than he let on in videos, and during late night calls you found out everything from his favorite clothing brand to his favorite color to his thoughts about his own mortality and then back to his favorite cereal. Audio calls and short voice messages turned into hours long FaceTimes that led you from friends to something more. And after a year or so of dating, you packed your bags and made it to sunny San Diego, ready to lay in his arms and sweat bullets.

Safe to say Corpse’s social media presence had its good sides. However, with all good things come bad things too, and you weren’t sure if the bad things were bad at all or you were simply too jealous.

Corpse made wonderful friends thanks to his YouTube channel. He met people he could confide in, meet, people he could talk to about his worst problems, people who would listen - he met people he could have fun with, with who he could forget all about the real world and his own issues, and simply laugh his heart away, play games until the late hours of the night.

If he had to name his closest ones, they would have to be Dave, Loey, maybe Mykie, possibly Jack, and Rae. And that is exactly where the root of the problem stood.

Rae is beautiful, and everyone who denies it must be either dumb or blind. She’s drop dead gorgeous, and funny, and kind, and smart, in a way that made you want to rip your hair out. You wanted to hate her so bad, because the jealousy ate away at you like a damn disease, but you couldn’t, because she was perfect Rae, and as much as you hated the fact she seemed to be perfect inside out, you just couldn’t hate her as her. It was impossible, you concluded.

You convinced yourself you weren’t jealous every time you heard him yelling or laughing at her from his office room - or at least you attempted to do so. Your lunch would turn sour and end up forgotten because you’d be way too focused on listening in on what he was doing and trying to make out what she was saying to even eat at the same pace you previously were. Jealousy ate away at you, no matter if you admitted it to yourself or not.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Corpse, of course. On one late night when you couldn’t sleep and neither could he, as per usual, you turned on a random comedy that you half-heartedly paid attention to, his fingers combing through the knots in your hair peacefully and the slow pace of the movie lulling you to sleep slowly. That is, before his phone rang and lit the mostly dark room. You managed to sneak a glance at the notification before he had, and the familiar bitterness seeped between your ribs as always upon seeing the name displayed at the top of the message, more than awake now.

You visibly stiffened when he laughed at the message and typed something back, shifting your head in his lap as some subconscious attempt at getting him to pay attention to you instead. He put his phone down and you huffed, eyes locked on the TV screen as you pretended to be extremely absorbed in the movie even though you weren’t quite sure of the difference between the protagonist and antagonist anymore. His hands didn’t return to your hair, and that somehow made you even more annoyed.

“What’s up?” Corpse quietly spoke up, barely over the volume over the already quiet movie.

“Nothing.” You said, quicker than you wanted to, and you bit your tongue in cringe when you realised it was an awful lie. Corpse seemed to think the same.

“That’s bullshit. Seriously, what’s wrong?” He asked, and was met with pure silence. In reality, you were hoping he’d simply never realise you were somewhat jealous, because you knew you were being stupid and unreasonable, but you couldn’t help wanting him all to yourself. Admitting it out loud made it so much more real, and so much more embarrassing that you would rather bury yourself alive than admit to being jealous of Rae, of all people.

After a few seconds of silence, save the laughter of characters on screen, he spoke again.

“Are you jealous?” The hint of a teasing tone in his voice made you want to rip your hair out of your skull. Was it really that damn hard to believe that yes, you were jealous of an extremely close friend of his? Was it a crime?

The clenching of your jaw seemed to give Corpse enough of a response, and his hands returned to running themselves through your hair as he giggled to himself. 

“What’s so damn funny?” You borderline spat, causing his movements to halt for a second before continuing with even louder laughter.

“I don’t know, just the idea of you being jealous of Rae is so funny. I’ve noticed the way you roll your eyes whenever I text her in front of you. You’re not exactly sneaky, you know?” His words made blood rush straight to your face, cheeks heating up in embarrassment. How long has he known this for?

“Sorry. I don’t…” you exhaled and attempted to smile. “I don’t know what’s up with me. I’m so jealous nowadays. I don’t even know why.”

“There’s enough of me to share with everyone, no worries baby.” he replied, teasing tone still yet to dissipate as you slap his knee in mock offense and he starts wheezing.

“Absolutely not! Fucking excuse you, I’m not sharing with anyone!” you gaped at him as he kept laughing.

That was the end of it - or at least Corpse thought so. Needless to say, he was wrong.

Your mood would instantly turn sour whenever he’d laugh at one of her messages, and you attempted to push down every eye roll whenever he’d sit on his phone, between your legs, back turned to you so you could see everything, and open Rae’s DMs again. Sometimes you managed, sometimes you couldn’t help it, but you did your best to do it whenever he wasn’t looking. Because you truly knew you were being unreasonable, especially whenever you have to relay situations like how he had to postpone a date one time because Rae asked him to play Rust for a bit longer and you almost ripped all your hair out of your skull in frustration back to your best friend who just turned Rae and Corpse into the villains in the situation because that’s what best friends are supposed to do.

Not like he was going out of his way to talk to her a concerning amount, they mostly talked in groupchats and on streams and that was only a few times weekly, but it did absolutely nothing to calm the green monster growing stronger in you every day, fed by every laugh she got out of him.

The green monster fucking loved it when Corpse excitedly announced to you that he’s finally meeting his friends for the first time, and by friends meaning Rae, Sykkuno and Karl. You, however… were far from impressed.

He paced around the room in excitement, a mix of obvious anxiety and joy evident on his face, and he fiddled with the strings of his hoodie with shaky hands as he very proudly announced that he would be the second tallest person in the room through a blinding, pearly grin, and seeing him so electrified couldn’t help but make you shut your jealous thoughts up, even if just for a little bit, and mirror his grin back to him.

What did, however, make you as anxious as him was when he announced they’d a) be coming to your shared apartment and b) making a cooking video - it sent you into a panicked mom mode as you dusted every corner of every room and vacuumed everything from the kitchen to the balcony and Corpse did nothing but record you as you anxiously rambled and laugh at you from his place on your bed.

When the dreaded Saturday finally came, and the first person to arrive, Sykkuno, rang your doorbell, you squeezed Corpse’s hand to stop him from nervously toying with his rings and opened the door, and you greeted the man like he was your own brother and not a person you’d seen probably a total of three times through the computer screen and someone who’s seen you maybe two times, from the pictures Corpse sent him, in your best attempt to make both of them more comfortable. It actually kind of worked - turns out Sykkuno is a pretty affectionate guy, too, and a conversation started as soon as he stepped in. Corpse gave you a look when you pulled away from Sykkuno’s half-hug, and you almost laughed out loud at the irony when his phone lit up with a notification from Rae announcing she was almost there at that exact moment.

She had kept true to her word; ten minutes or so later, another ring was heard and you gestured to Corpse to open it this time as you gave Sykkuno his cup of water and resisted any and every urge to roll your eyes or do something otherwise bitchy and stupid. Corpse did as told, and you watched them hug and listened to Rae squeal in excitement through the open door of the living room and decided to plaster a smile on your face for as long as you could muster before you remove yourself from the situation when they start filming.

Unfortunately for you, the first person she locked eyes with was exactly you, and they lit up an even prettier brown (if that was even possible) as she beelined to you and you barely got a greeting out before she engulfed you in a large hug, arms wrapping around your neck as she swayed both of you side to side.

“Oh my God, you must be Y/N! I’ve heard so much about you, it’s so nice to finally meet you!” Rae cheered into your ear before she finally pulled back, before shooting an infectious grin at you that you couldn’t help but return back.

“All good things, I hope.” you chuckled as she moved to greeting Sykkuno, and nodded her head with an enthusiastic giggle of her own. You eyed Corpse for a second who simply leaned against the door frame, watching the whole thing unfold with somewhat of a proud smile on his face, before Rae turned back to you and your attention was on her again.

“Of course! Corpse is very much a simp for you, you know that?” She said and both you and Corpse laughed, especially him, who nodded his head in agreement as she sat back down, still beaming at you.

“Well, I’m happy to hear that.” you respond before turning back to Corpse. “Where’s Karl at?”

“He’ll be here in half an hour or so, he only landed recently.” he said. You nodded and moved to sit on a nearby chair to leave space for the guests on the couch.

Karl ended up arriving in twenty minutes and apprised everyone of the information that “his taxi driver is a psycho that, apparently, doesn’t fear stop signs or the police” before setting up the camera in your kitchen and tried his best to attach lapel mics on everybody (admittedly, it took way longer than it should’ve, but he eventually managed and that counted as a win in his book). You reluctantly agreed to be the judge of the finished product when they’re done cooking, and Karl was there for the purposes of being a cameraman and making jokes off screen so he agreed too, albeit way more enthusiastically than you.

The two of you sat behind the camera as the three of them lined up, Corpse wearing a mask and his signature eyepatch (that he didn’t really need, but those two did their job in preserving his privacy) and introduced what they were doing. Corpse was obviously very anxious, hands fidgeting constantly and shivering like a dog after a bath despite the hoodie he was wearing in 100 degree weather because of the shower of sweat that was now drying on his body, and that was partly why you were there, supportive smiles, encouraging cheers and all.

They were making Mexican ground beef tacos, and despite knowing Corpse can barely make a sandwich without setting at least two dishes on fire, you still cheered him on proudly and repeated he was part Mexican himself roughly 5 times a minute, claiming he was going to kill it.

“Kill it? More like kill one of us- CORPSE watch what you’re doing with that fucking knife! You’re proving my point!” Rae yelled at him as he giggled in delight, watching the woman gape at him in pure horror and Sykkuno watch his movements completely entranced as he played with the knife in his hands.

“You’re just mad that he’s going to make tacos fifty times better than you.” you said to Rae, chewing down on some M&Ms that Karl and you shared (both of you decided on a genius plan - you’re going to eat the whole bag before they’re done with cooking so you can claim you’re full and therefore can’t eat the atrocity that will most likely be the tacos).

“Don’t gas me up like that, Y/N, you are well aware I’m shit at cooking. Expect absolutely nothing from me.” he replied over the sizzling of the meat on the pan, throwing a whole spoonful of chili powder into it, earning loud yelling and scolding from your side and loud laughter from Rae.

“HALF A TEASPOON! Half a teaspoon, how have you not remembered this already?! We’ve made tacos a million times now, oh my God, you’re actually stupid.” you yelled at him, arms flailing in the direction of the seasoning to emphasise your ‘half a teaspoon’ point as Rae doubled over in laughter and Sykkuno looked into the pan with a concerned and somewhat afraid look. Just as he peeked in, the overwhelming smell of chili powder started biting away at his eyes, and he jumped away with a yelp.

“Jesus, Corpse!” he exclaimed, rubbing his eyes with his forearm as the whole room burst into laughter and Corpse suspiciously inspected his beef.

“What were you saying about your ‘Mexican king’, Y/N?” Rae asked, pulling out a few tortillas and putting them on the table. You huffed, grabbing another handful of M&Ms.

“Giving him up to God. He’s the only one who can help, at this point.” you said. She giggled in response and Corpse let out some sort of protesting sound and waved his knife around in complaint. “I don’t know who this man is. He broke into my kitchen and now I’m here.”

“Hey, I pay half of your rent!” he said, and you were about to reply but Rae dropped her meat into a pan full of overheated oil, and a loud hiss and some sort of a scream overtook the room as a cloud of steam shot into the air and she frantically looked around for the wooden spoon so the meat wouldn’t stick to the pan. You simply sat and laughed, eating the candy like it was popcorn and you were watching a shitty cooking show - it wasn’t that far from reality, really.

“Um, I just realised I don’t make many tacos, actually.” she said as she helplessly stirred the meat, turning to you with pleading eyes. “What seasoning even goes into this? Y/N, will you help me? Let’s team up against Corpse!”

You tilted your head in thought, but before you could even speak, Corpse spoke up.

“That’s not fucking fair, that’s-that’s against the rules.” he turned to you. “You won’t betray me, right?”

You laughed at him, adjusting in your seat. “I gave up on you ever since you added, like, 3 kilos of seasoning into the meat for no reason.” then you turned to Rae. “Sure, let’s do it, babe.”

Their loud yelling immediately started mixing, Rae’s cheers contrasting Corpse’s protesting. She stuck her tongue out at him meanwhile Corpse shot her the middle finger, and she turned back to you with a grin.

“Alright, what do I put in?”

Roughly twenty unnecessary and extremely long minutes later, the tacos were done, two each for each of them. Rae’s looked the best - probably because you guided her through the whole thing - next to Sykkuno’s, whose you were genuinely intrigued to try. While Corpse was arguing with Rae, he burned roughly half of his already ruined beef, and Karl made the very nice observation that it looked like a bird shat in a tortilla, which you proclaimed as the highlight of the video.

Since you and Karl claimed you were full, the three of them simply swapped tacos between each other as to be unbiased, and the two of you watched in amused suspense. You were actually quite interested to see what the end results were - you were first anxious and quite annoyed you even had to participate in the first place, because it meant losing your mind from jealousy, watching Corpse and Rae giggle and act all domestic while cooking, but jealousy simply dissipated somewhere half through the video as you watched the three argue if cheddar cheese belonged on tacos or not and Rae laugh at every stupid joke you cracked. Now, you sat, fully immersed as you stared at Sykkuno’s face; the poor guy ended up with the misfortune of having to try Corpse’s taco first.

“Zoom in, zoom in!” you whispered into Karl’s ear who complied and zoomed into Sykkuno’s face. He bit into the taco, chewing for a second before his face twisted in disgust and you began wheezing when he grabbed a tissue and spit it out, immediately grabbing his glass of water. Rae laughed at him as well, mouth full of his one, which she claimed she actually liked but it wasn’t as good as the “Y/NRae-co” as she proudly called it. Corpse silently ate Rae’s taco and refused to give a review on it because he was upset he got defeated, but the fact that he scarfed down the whole thing in a minute or so was enough of a review.

“Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad.” Corpse exclaimed when he saw Sykkuno’s bite in the tissue, grabbing the second taco he made and biting down on it. The whole room burst into laughter when he roughly swallowed, tears obvious in the one eye that showed, because of the overly spicy beef.

“What are you motherfuckers laughing at? It’s not that bad, I stand by tacorpse.”

“Tacorpse is actually genius. The one good thing you came up with during the entirety of this video.” Rae said and Corpse mumbled a fuck you in response.

“Well, I think we can all agree that me and Y/N’s taco was clearly the best.” she said, clasping her hands together.

“I actually think mine was better.” Sykkuno said, to which she pushed his plate out of the frame.

“Nobody asked you anything.”

“Don’t bully Sykkuno, I’ll fucking kick you out.”

“Oh yeah? I’m pretty sure Y/N would kick you out before they’d let you kick me!” Rae said, accusingly pointing her taco in Corpse’s direction.

“Alright, let’s wrap up the video.” Karl laughed behind the camera, and the three of them all turned to properly face it and end the video.

“Thank you all so much for watching, this has been an… interesting video, to say the least. Uh, thank you to Karl for filming this whole disaster, thank you to Corpse,” Rae gestured in his direction, “for lending us his kitchen, thank you to Sykkuno for probably getting us more views on this video, and also a big thank you to Y/N, Corpse’s better half for making this video way more interesting and helping me make probably, like, the best taco I’ve ever made.” she grinned and you shoved a peace sign in front of the camera.

“If you liked this video, check out Sykkuno and Corpse’s channels, they will be linked down below, and please click like and subscribe to support the channel! Again, thank you all for watching, see you later, bye!” she finished, and with that, Karl turned the camera off.

Silence engulfed the room. You sighed.

“Alright, who’s gonna clean this shit up?”

[intercoursefluids]

The Impromptu Sleepover Part 2 (Final)

One day. All she asked for was one normal day. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? A single completely average day is not too much to ask for.

Unless of course, you are Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Then it’s impossible.

People around Marinette start crying as Scarecrow walks into the room, mothers hiding their children behind them as everyone holds onto each other, scared of what’s to come.

Marinette shudders at the pure animosity radiating from the man-turned monster.

Adrien, ever the faithful friend, mistakes the slight shake as fear and shifts so he covers her from the villain’s view.

Everything is quiet before Scarecrow starts on his evil monolog (not that anyone cares).

Tuning him out Marinette looks around, trying to come up with a plan to get everyone out before a shrill scream and crying fill the air causing her to snap back around.

Some of Scarecrow’s goons are holding a woman back as a small boy is dragged up to the monster himself.

Grabbing the boys are he holds the trembling child painfully tight before reaching behind him and pulling out a canister.

Seeing as how Marinette planned this whole trip she made sure to know all about the local heroes and villains.

And the knowledge of what that bastard was going to do to that poor kid squashed any sense of self-preservation Marinette had.

Rushing forward she manages to make it past the few armed men standing between her and Scarecrow and rips the kid away from him just to get blasted in the face by the fear-toxin.

Ringing fills her ears as she collapses to the ground, voices shouting from the corners of her mind.

All of them shouting how they failed her, she should have done better. That she never should have been chosen.

One voice rings out crystal clear amongst all of the other roaring voices.

You said you would save me, M’lady. I should have known better than to trust someone like you. After all, you aren’t even worth the Ladybug miraculous. I have to say, I’m disappointed in you Bugaboo.

Her head jerks up at her partner’s voice, tears streaming from her eyes as she comes face to face with someone she never wanted to see again.

Chat Blanc.

Voices surround her as explosions sound in the distance. Her parents, her friends, everyone. All screaming at how she failed them, how she should have stopped when she had the chance.

Children’s cries fill the air around her, only these are different. They don’t echo from within her head, instead, they come from around her, slowly grounding her. Reminding her that this is just some monster’s trick.

The fear is still there, prominent as ever, but now her focus is on getting everyone out. She hasn’t failed yet.

Slowly uncurling from the ball she had formed she looks around. Forcing herself to see past the bloodied faces of people she failed to save.

All around her everyone is still the same, the hostages in the same places, same as the gunmen (even if they look smug at her suffering).

The only one missing is Scarecrow himself, and turning ever so slowly to face Chat Blanc her fears are confirmed.

In Scarecrows place stands her beloved kitty.

Pure unadulterated rage fills her as he dares wear her kitten’s face.

Lunging at Chat Blanc she hears the startled screams as she attacks him before the rushing in her ears takes over, leaving her deaf to the sound of shattering glass as the heroes arrive on the scene.

Having the advantage of surprise on her side she manages to pin him fairly easily tying his arms behind his back with her visitors’ pass before spinning around to help take down the rest.

An arm wraps around her, trapping her arms to her side as she struggles, a hand coming up to cover her eyes as she tries to getaway.

Quiet shushing and words of reassurance reach her ears causing her struggling to slow.

“W-who are you?”

Marinette winces at the tremor in her voice as she takes stalk of her surroundings.

Her head is tucked under their chin as their surprisingly strong arms hold her in place, one hand still firmly over her eyes.

“My name is Damian. I’m trying to help keep you calm until they can get you the anti-serum.”

She chuckles even as she shakes in his hold.

“It’s not normally a good idea to grab a girl from behind if you want her to calm down.”

He tenses slightly.

“Right, I didn’t think that through. Most people see what they are most afraid of so I thought if I took that away it would help you calm down.”

Marinette doesn’t reply for a while, opting to try and match his breathing instead of replying. All the while subconsciously leaning more against him.

“It’s working I’ll admit, you just went about it horribly. Can we sit down? I feel like my legs are about to give out.”

She feels him loosen his hold and fumble with something behind her before the hand over her eyes is replaced with a piece of cloth. He takes her hand leading her over to a wall before sitting and pulling her with him, tucking her into his side and draping something over her shoulders as her shaking picks up again.

“I’m sorry, can you tell me about yourself? It’ll help me keep my mind off of the panic.”

She feels him nod shifting again so she's leaning more against his chest.

“I have 3 older brothers. Richard, but everyone calls him Dick, Jason, and Tim. I lived with my mother until I was 10 so I’ve only known them for 6 years. They are all adopted but I don’t think anyone even remembers that half the time.”

Marinette can’t help the soft smile that takes over her face as she wraps her arm around him (why is he so warm???).

“You sound like you love them.”

He scoffs.

“Not in a million years, they’re annoying. Grayson is overly dramatic and a hopeless romantic, Todd is a trigger-happy hothead, and Drake is an insomniac, workaholic with a caffeine addiction.”

Marinette can’t help but giggle, her overwhelming fear slowly receding enough for her to think.

“They may be ‘annoying’ but they’re your family, I can tell you care about them.”

Damian makes an offended noise even as he wraps his arm around her rubbing her arm up and down.

“The only person in our family that I actually like is Alfred, he’s our grandfather and the only reason any of us are still alive, but, I guess they aren’t as bad as they used to be. Not that I'll ever admit that to them. Their egos are big enough as is.”

Marinette is about to respond when another voice cuts her off, causing her to cling to Damian as her heart rate picks back up frantically.

“Too late, I brought the anti-serum for your frie- Hey is she okay?”

Damian pulls her into his lap, rubbing her back even as he scolds the other person.

“She’s still being affected by the fear-gas dipshit! I just got her to calm down again, give me that!”

One of his arms leaves her body as he reaches away from her, he starts whispering to her again as something pricks her upper right arm.

It only takes a minute for the anti-toxin to work, causing Marinette to sag in relief against Damian as he keeps his arms around her.

“Seriously Todd! You should have known better than to startle someone like that!”

Marinette takes deep breaths of air, slightly surprised by the smell of Damian’s cologne before realizing she has her arms wrapped around his neck and her face buried in his shoulder.

“Yeah, you’re right. My bad demon-spawn.”

Damian scoffs adjusting Marinette in his arms so he can sit up instead of leaning against the wall.

“It’s not me you should be apologizing to, nitwit!”

Marinette sits up slightly kissing Damian’s cheek as she takes the makeshift blindfold off before returning to her earlier position.

“Thank you, Damian. You didn’t have to help me, much less stay with me and calm me down. You’re really sweet, you know that?”

His arms tense around her before cackling fills the air.

“Demon-spawn? Sweet?! I don’t know who you’re calling sweet but it’s most definitely not my little brother.”

Damian groans as ‘Todd’ keeps laughing, instead directing his attention to Marinette.

“Do you think you’re okay to walk? The cops will probably want to take a statement.”

She nods and they slowly rise, Damian, supporting her the whole time. Once she is finally standing up straight she turns to look at the boy who helped before coming face to face with the greenest eyes she’s ever seen.

Her breath catches in her throat as she meets his electric emerald eyes for the first time since they met.

They stand there, in complete silence before a camera flash breaks through their quiet bubble.

Turning towards Todd, Marinette studies his features.

Pale skin, blue eyes, and black hair with a tuffet of white at the front.

“What do you think you are doing,Jason?”

Todd now dubbed ‘Jason’ grins stepping away from his brother.

“Ooh, the first name. You only use that when you’re pissed. And I’m sending this to the group chat, no one will believe me if I say that you were civil with another human being!”

Damian glares.

“You have ten seconds to run, Todd.”

Jason wastes no time running away as quickly as humanly possible.

Damian goes to follow him but stops when Marinette grabs his arm.

“Help me over to the officers? I’m still a little shaky.”

His sharp glare softens as he leads her over to give her statement.

10 minutes later, they are both sitting on a bench waiting for the police to finish getting statements from the rest of the hostages and for the armored truck that will transport Scarecrow to arrive.

“One time when I was 11, Todd and Drake decided it would be a good idea to kidnap my turkey Jerry and hide him away after buying a raw turkey and cooking it for dinner. They said they found it wandering around outside and decided it would be a good idea to cook it.”

Damian shakes his head in fond exasperation.

“That is the closest I had ever come to crying in front of my brothers. I ended up running and telling Grayson what they did and he got so mad. They ended up fessing up that it was just a prank and they didn’t mean to actually make me upset. They ended up going out and buying a bunch of junk food and pizza before we had one big movie night together.”

“We all ended up falling asleep in the living room all piled on top of each other. Father was so surprised when he came home and he didn’t even send us to bed. He got changed and joined us in the living room. We all ended up sleeping in a giant pile on the floor that night while Alfred took the couch.”

Marinette smiles up at Damian, he had been telling her about himself ever since she had asked him to and she honestly enjoyed it.

“They sound wonderful Damian. Hey, when do you think they are going to-.”

“Mari!”

Marinette is cut off by one of her favorite blondes as he latches onto her body.

“When you rushed forward I tried to follow you and ended up getting hit with the gas and had a panic attack, and then when they gave me the serum I couldn’t find you and had another panic attack, and they couldn’t calm me down for a while and then they had to take my statement but I still couldn’t find you and I’ve been freaking out the whole time. What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”

By the time Adrien finally stops rambling his head is in Marinette’s lap and his arms are wrapped around her waist.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, but you shouldn’t have even followed me, that was dangerous and stupid and your dad would destroy me if anything happened to you.”

Adrien snorts.

“If you don’t want me to follow you then don’t take off running.”

Marinette groans, not acknowledging the fact that she is still leaning against Damian.

“Adrien, you are far too ride or die for your own good.”

Adrien sighs, leaning back to look at his best friend.

“Yeah well, Chloe is probably gonna kill us both if we don’t get back to the hotel soon. She heard what happened and has been blowing up my phone since I came to. Ms. Bustier won’t let her leave though.”

“We are so dead. She’s going to actually kill me this time. Damian? Would you like an invite to my funeral? You’ll need a tux.”

Before Damian can even try to respond Adrien cuts him off.

“Oh! There's another person here… Who saw me acting dramatic…. Oh no.”

Adrien's pale face contrasts brightly with Marinette’s, which is bright red from restraining her laughter.

“Okay, okay this is fine. It’s fine. We have two options here, A: We kill you so you can’t spill our secrets or B: You become our friend and are kept under surveillance.”

Damian raises an eyebrow at him not even bothering to acknowledge how dramatic he is still being.

“No.”

Marinette finally breaks, cackling like a witch she rips a piece of paper from her ever present sketchbook and writes her number down.

“Here, this is my number in case you want to stay in contact. Come on Adrien, Chloe is going to kill us.”

She grabs Adriens arm and starts to run, ignoring his protests of ‘He knows too much to be left alive!’ in favor of trying to make it back to the hotel with her other favorite blonde.

She didn’t see the soft smile Damian sent her way as he puts her number in his phone…

But Jason did, and soon will ever other wayne if the video he sent to the family group chat had anything to say about it.

[ghost1643]

Melban corpsebride au

(don’t worry no one stays dead)

now also be warned this will be a seven deadly sins idea but will focus on the melban ship, which is a crack ship but I love.

So with that let's begin.

~~~~~~~💍~~~~~~~~

Okay so as we begin, Ban is new engaged. We see him rushing around with King joking having as much fun as can be seeing as they will be brothers in a matter of only hours. Everything seems perfect as they stand with the rest of their friends, minus a certain blond for reasons that will become apparent later.

That is the moment Elaine walks down the isle. Ban tears up just beaming holding her hand. He is just so happy. Everything is going perfect and he finally has a loving wife he always wanted..

That is until she drops dead during the kiss.

Now Elaine has always been sick ever since she was young. She almost died multiple times and was told her heart was weak for years. So she was expecting to die before she got to old. She prepared Ban and everyone she knew for it. She had a will. She had a grave stone set and even had her own funeral picked out. Yet, she never would have guessed as she leans in for the kiss on her wedding day that her racing heart would suddenly stop.

Neither did Ban.

All he knows is that their lips met for less then a second. He held onto her hand thumb rubbing over the ring as their lips brushed together. Then she got cold. Like suddenly cold as the winter air. He could hear the crowd cheer and as he leaned back, she dropped down to the ground dead. From there it was a blur.

Ban could remember people screaming. He could remember the panic as he tried to help. He remember carrying Elaine to a doctors....yet from there his mind goes blank. He just remembers sitting near her grave 3 days later watching as she is slowly buried, tears springing to his eyes watching her disappear bellow the ground, leaving him too soon.

From there, well he just sits in bed for days on end. Or at least he thinks so. He just remembers seeing her grave every time he closed his eyes for weeks on end as his brother in law takes care of him day in and day out. As he is cared for Ban builds up a wall. He swears he will never love anyone again until he sees Elaine. He is not going to move on ever. He is just going to wait until he can see her face again smiling and bright as ever. Until then he is happy to be alone for the rest of his life.

And he keeps to his word...He never loves again...That is until the incident three years later...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~💍~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we open back up it's three years later and King and Diane are finally getting married. Ban is his same old self, but as mentioned before he kept to his word. He has no other loves and drowns his sores in booze whenever he has the chance.

The day before the wedding they're having the usually batchellor party with Ban as a host. They are all drinking like mad during which having fun until Escanor has to go pee which all the Drunken idiots decided to do outside with him cause fun and only real men piss in the woods according to escanor.

Once they are all done peeing in the woods they start teasing king about messing up his vows during the rehearsal earlier that day as they walk back. This goes on until King snaps holding out the ring drawing them all to try it out here then if they think they can do better.

So they attempt to do just that.

Of course they are all drunker than a sailor and keep dropping it one by one. That is until Ban gets it just as they pass by a creepy tree. One that even creeps Gwother out, which is rare. No one can say why other than it just is a freaky tree with weird branches.

Hey those thoughts are drowned away as Ban recites the vow...Except half way through ten the vows are no longer King's. The vows switch to those he told Elaine the last day he saw her as his eyes water. Just as he finishes he leans against the tree looking down where he sees a branch sticking out of the ground that looks like honey hand. The same one that belonged to Elaine all those years ago.

And slowly he slips it on the branch before kissing it picturing it as Elaine's hand giving her a finale kiss goodbye. This do course is when a few tears fall as his friends help him up to his get. King tries to comfort him walking away forgetting all about the ring until Gwother screams in terror, which is rare. Nothing scares Gwother ever after all.

Then they see the branch digging it's body out of the ground. The body of a boy who has been stabbed with a bag over his head who stands before them making them all freeze up for a few moments wondering what is happening. Then he rips the bag off his head showing the face we all Know belongs to Meliodas saying one chilling line,

"I do..."

~~~~~~~💍~~~~~~~~

When Ban wakes up he is in purgatory with souls who have died but have yet to move on, who are the demons in the anime. Yet, unlike in the anime they are just happy to be around and don't plan to kill anyone. And amongst them all is Meloidas, Ban's new husband who is just so excited to have someone to love him again.

Just like in the movie Ban freaks out that he's married to a corpse and demands to know who he is. This makes a soul move onto a musical number, which is just remains of the day, where we find out how Meloidas died.

He was the son of a rich merchant who fell in love with a beautiful women who's family was hated by his own. Meliodas asks his father for permission to marry her and gets a no. So he packed up some money, puts on his fathers tuxedo, steals his parents wedding rings and goes to run off with his women. Yet, turns out she didn't love him. Instead she just wanted money to run off with with her real boyfriend. So they knock Meliodas out and burry him alive, where he wakes up deader than a door nail a few hours later. Once he makes his way to the land of the dead and realizes what happened to him he decided he would rather stay in the ground where he was buried for the rest of time.

Yet, when Ban put that ring on his finger he made Meliodas feel something again. He made him feel joy and...well now Meliodas is back under with his friend ready to move on.

Ban upon finding out he married a corpse, runs off to try and find a way back up for his friends wedding. He just has too. He climbs every little building or stair case he can before breaking down, having a moment of silence on top of the highest balcony where Meliodas winds him with a box. Ban just ignores him for a bit, which he expects to be interrupted. Yet, mel just lets him sit there. He lets him think some more. He even waits for Ban to talk to him first.

Slowly Ban sits down near the tinier dead boy looking Star struck. How did this happen? Did he really marry a corpse?

"It's a lot to take in I know." Meliodas speaks up slowly.

"Yeah....yeah it is." Ban blurts out looking over the village of the dead. It some how seems more....alive then the normal world of the living.

"I...I shouldn't have dragged you here before explaining myself." Meliodas sighs.

"Yeah not gonna lie that would have helped." Ban sighs before looking at his more human looking face. Mel turns to face him and they make eye contact for the first time and Ban could have sworn he saw his eyes before. "Is there anyway to get back home? I have somewhere I need to be..."

"I...I...look all I can say is, I should have thought through my actions more..." Meliodas blurts out.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well the underworld has a way out and in.."

"I mean obviously how else would I have gotten here..."

"Yeah the trouble is...Bel is it?"

"Ban actually."

"We'll Ban, you kinda have to be dead to go through the entrance back up..unless your a death mage....and I may...I may have trapped you here...."

"What?"

"Look I'm sorry-"

"HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW THIS?!"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW! IT ISNT LIKE I HAVE HAD THIS HAPPENED BEFORE!!"

They just late at each other for a while before Meliodas sighs. "Look i..I know it's not much for trapping you here, but I..well I got you something..." he holds out the box he is holding.

"What? You trap me in the underworld-"

"Purgatory."

"Trapped where ever this is forever and give me a box! I don't want your damn gift!" He yells knocking the box to the ground, and out tumble some bones. He jumps back seeing their the bones of an animal that slowly start to reform into a Skelton dog. The same dog he had when he and Elaine first started doing out.

Ban finds his eyes shining as the dog jumps up on him giving him some nuzzled when something hits him. Something big.

Meliodas had gifted him a dog that died 6 years ago. A dog that had died before Elaine. Which meant, Elaine was here. She was somewhere here. He could see her again! He could say goodbye or even be with her forever.

"I know it's not muc-"

"Can you help me find Elaine?" Ban blurts out holding his Skelton dog close making eye contact with Meliodas.

"I...who?" Meliodas asks slowly crouching down to pat the dog, who just loves the attention.

"Elaine..she was my wife...."

"Oh-"

"I mean she was for less than a minute but I never got to say goodbye. It would mean the world to me if I got to see her even just one more time....would you know where she is?"

"I mean we had a girl two years ago who died on her wedding day but she moved all the way to the other side of the land of the dead to be a helper to the only death mage we have down here......but it's at least a three day journey.."Mel explains looking at his husbands face. Upon seeing the heart break in his eyes, he just sighs. He trapped him here as his husband, the least he could do is make him happy.

"I can pack my things and we can start our journey tonight...."

And from here the plot kind of goes like Shrek. They go on a three day journey to the other side of this realm. They journey trying to get there to find Elaine. And along the way slowly gain feelings for each other until they finally reach the mages home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~💍~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once at the mages house Ban makes a discover. Elaine has moved on. She moved on once she watched King get engaged, planning to see Ban again later. She moved on before Ban could learn a spell the revives the dead, giving their lungs breath once again depending on how long they have been dead.

And he's absolutely crushed. He never gets to see his wife again. He never gets to see his friend again. He is stuck here all because of Meliodas.

So they argue screaming at each other before Ban yells the only line anyone I know can remember about this movie. The way he says it goes like this.

"How was I supposed to kn-"

"I DONT KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN DEAD SO LONG I JUST FIGURED YOU KNEW!!"

"Ban, I have only been dead for like two month-"

"I DONT CARE IT IS YOUR FAULT IM HERE! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Well maybe you should have thought about the consequences before you asked me to marry you!"

"Why CANT YOU GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD, IT WAS A MISTAKE I NEVER WOULD HAVE MARRIED YOU IF I KNEW IT WAS YOU!"

And with that Ban storms out to sulk leaving Meliodas sitting in there looking heart broken. While alone Mel discovers that ban technically isn't married to him. It's for two living people to marry, and with one dead it doesn't count. So he's just dragged Ban down here for no reason.

So melio sacrifices his love. He waits until Ban comes in before breaking an egg over his husbands head, whispering a spell to send him back to the land of the living leaving him alone for the rest of time.

~~~~~~~~💍~~~~~~~~~~~

Yet, Ban doesn't want that. He went in to apologize and tell Meliodas he made him feel again. And now here he is sitting on the bridge his husband kidnapped him from. He is standing here in shock before Diane rushes over hugging him tight followed by all their friends.

He's then dragged to the wedding of his friends telling them about his adventure..and realizing he just screwed up and odd sort of love. A love he might never seen again when he dies...after all he might not have any unfinished business and just move on.

Yet, now here he is helping his friend get married feeling numb all over again. All he wants to do is die and go applogize. Heck maybe even go put flowers on his body's site. Hèll maybe even take one of the photos he just walked by of him to snuggle with at nigh-wait what?

He rushes back over picking up the poster to see Mel on it. Mel is the missing rich boy Dian mentioned when he came to town. Mel has been missing for two months. Only two months. Which means the revival spell Ban learned can be used on him.

He can bring Meliodas back to life. He can give him another chance. It's all he can think about as Escanor asks what's wrong.

And with that he's off.

Ban rushes to the forest, friends hot in pursuit scared he's broken down again all the way to Meloidas's buried spot. Once there he starts the spell using his own blood, jsut two drops, for the blood to be used in the spell.

"What are you doing?" Diane panicked rushing to stop the bleeding.

"Stop! Stop please!" He yelled jerking back.

"Ban what's gotten into you?" Merlin asks trying to help.

"Please I just need to see him again! I need to see Mel again and aplogize! I need to make it up to him!" He screws crying a bit. Everyone freezes up before Diane asks what else he needs.

From here everyone helps with the spell, yet some think it's a odd way of moving on from Elaine. Maybe it's a figurative way to release her soul near a creepy branch or something.

At least that's what Diane things before the branch starts to grow skin and scratch at the ground making her scream. Everyone screams befroe Ban drops to his Knees trying to dig the hand up in a blind panic screaming that he needs help. Escanor drops near him, then Gwother, then king and soon Meliodas sits up clinging to Ban gasping for air.

He sits up as his flesh seems to regrow and his body pops back to the way it use to be. And with that he's back. Meliodas has been 100% revived in the arms of Ban. In the arms of his husband.

"Ban i-what did you do?" Mel blurts out.

"I brought you back."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why? I thought you said you wouldn't have-"

"Mel...you made me feel again."

"What?"

"Ever since I lost Elaine I was numb. Nothing mattered. My whole world was grey and all that made me think was booze. It made me feel like I was floating. Other than that nothing else. Then you came...and you brought light back. You brought beauty back into my world. You showed me joy. You showed me fear. You showed me someone cared. And it made me feel alive again. So if I have to do a spell to revive you that may tie you to me forever so be it...I just want you here, next to me...if you'll have me..."

"Oh I-"

"OH BAN! That's so romantic!" Diane squeals tearing up making a Mel jump and blush seeing all those people. They all blush waving hi before Mel giggles.

"I see you have friends you weren't lying about..."

"Oh yeah! Mel these are my buds, and guys this is Mel my...my..."

"Husband. I'm his husband." Meliodas smiles kissing his cheek.

And with that kiss, they're together for a very long time. For the rest of their lives actually. The entire time as happy as can be...

(anybody have any other ideas for more corpse bride au’s?)

[tu-mint]

Amendment

A/N: Sooo I’ve been meaning to share my Mortal Kombat stuff on here for a while, I wanted to wait for the movie to come out first 😅🤣

TW: mentions of torture & sexual assault

In which Shang Tsung and the Black Dragon are officially put down and Earthrealm's defenders are able to return home, but Raelynn is stuck in her thoughts, but one of the young Kombatants is able to help her reconsider the negativity in her mind. (Based around MK11 & Aftermath but w/ a twist?)

Raelynn knew this all too well. With her entity as a half god, a change in time would do nothing to erase the horrifying memory in her mind back in the Black Dragon's dungeon -- at least, that's what it felt like. Hours upon hours of nothing but brutal beatings, each kick, punch, and swing as harsh as the last. While it wouldn't have hurt too much being that she was stronger than the average mortal, the bindings fused with the dark power of Shinnok's amulet extracted much of her godlike strength and left her as a helpless bait to be shredded and mauled at by the jaws of vicious and starved predators, desperate to take a leap at the prey before them. It still seemed unbelievable how she was alive even after all the bruises and cuts and blood...but she managed. After all, those shallow wounds were all but nothing comapred to--

The demigoddess shivered involuntarily and inhaled sharply. Thankfully, everyone aboard was too immersed in their own activities to notice her sudden actions, but she knew she wasn't stable enough with where her thoughts were treading. Her eyes searched for her son who was currently speaking in a group of the younger Kombatants. A yellow strip of cloth with an intricate design she couldn't make out was fastened around his bicep, and she wondered where it had come from until her eyes peered at the young male he stood beside. Takeda, son to Kenshi and pupil under Grandmaster Hasashi, was missing the usual yellow band that adorned his head as a reminder to those that he was a member of the Shirai Ryu clan. His short onyx locks blew freely but he didn't seem to mind all that much, instead grinning down at Haru who wore the cloth proudly. Cassie and Jacqui mirrored the telepath's reaction, the blonde pulling out her phone and snapping a picture. The sight warmed her heart and she was thankful the young fighters didn't look upon her son with irritation, but rather genuine care and happiness. When Haru had told her of the adventures and stories spent with them, a pang of guilt struck her for the early misjudgement on her part, believing they were just frivolous juveniles that only gained their high positions due to the status of their families.

Wishing not to allow her brooding to draw unwanted attention, Raelynn slipped silently to the back of the ship. Her efforts did not go unnoticed by Raiden who stood near the hull of the ship, but he decided against speaking with her in that moment.

He recalled the time he had found her, bound like a dog and covered in welts and lacerations big and small. She was curled into a ball, shaking and burying her face into her knees. It was then Raiden became aware of the state of her clothing, torn and barely covering her form as if someone intentionally ripped and pulled at it to expose more of her. Immediately he slipped out of his own robe and pulled it across her trembling form, respectfully averting his eyes. As he helped Raelynn stand to her feet, his eyes widened as countless more bruises and marks made themselves visible, tiny splotches of smooth brown skin barely surviving. These people had clearly put her through a very long, thorough beating, and it was evident that they were in no means hoping to show mercy. No, they wanted her dead. Raiden had teleported into the SF ship and rushed her to the infirmary room. People cleared the way immediately and knew better than to question his sudden appearance as he brushed past them while carrying the barely conscious woman to a bed near the back. He knew the Kombatants would be able to handle themselves well, so he stayed and began the healing process.

It was during this time he realized that Raelynn was no mere mortal, but a half god created by the hands of Cetrion. While it was difficult at first for him to fully trust her said intentions due to her creator's betrayal upon the Elder Gods, he had seen her heart's purity during the mission. The thunder god knew that she was making the best of efforts to redeem herself of past mistakes, and Liu Kang recognized this as well. A twinge of concern fell upon him just then as he knew that she still had much she needed to recover from. Whether she would eventually open up to him or not didn't matter, he would be patient and assist her as best as he could.

Raelynn took a seat upon the thick wooden rail and swung her legs over to face the bloody depths of Netherrealm's ocean. She wasn't afraid of falling nor coming across any odd sea creatures knowing that she had flying abilities, but of course she also wasn't dumb enough to try and test her strength or reflexes. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she looked on at the overlapping waves, allowing her mind to space out and roam. Her fingers tapped on the rail in a rhythmic pattern, and she suddenly was reminded of something. Her hands came together and moved in a circular motion, stretching further until the form of her solar powers had become a guitar. She clutched the neck and hugged the body of the instrument under her other arm smiling to herself.

Upon visiting the islands of the Pacific in the past, she had learned about the aspect of music through vocals and tools that produced a pleasant audio. The demigoddess found that these brought her a sense of peace and tranquility, and immediately she wanted to learn the ways of this fascinating revelation. What came as an interest to her in the beauty of music was the endless techniques for a new sound, new sensations, new reactions, and day by day, there was always the creation or discovery of another. She allowed her fingers to delicately pluck and strum a mix of chords, a tingle settling in her chest at the euphoria beginning to wash over her. Her hands moved on their own accord, finding a steady tempo and following a pattern with an occasional switch. The nerves that built up in the pit of her stomach had eventually disappeared into wisps of nothingness. Her eyes began to slowly close and she hummed quietly wanting no attention to be drawn to the back of the ship. It seemed to work decently, until-

"Wow, you're part god and a singer? Gotta say I'm definitely jealous."

The woman’s fingers froze in place already in position to strum a new chord. She craned her neck just enough to glance over her shoulder at the intruder, already knowing it who it was. “My life is nothing to be envious of, Specialist Briggs.”

Raelynn heard footsteps tread closer and tapped on her guitar. The younger woman climbed onto the rail and threw a leg over the other. They sat for a moment in silence, staring off at the deep scarlet waters swishing and rolling about. “I owe you an apology, Specialist.”

Jacqui’s eyebrow quirked and her eyes fell upon the half god. Raelynn took her silence as a sign to continue. “I apologize for my behavior towards you and your friends throughout most of the mission. Even after I had caused harm upon your lives and nearly killed your fiancé, you still ensured trust in me. That I could never understand, but-"

"It wasn't easy." The half goddess shifted her attention to the soldier. Her face was impassive as she watched the waves. Raelynn couldn't tell if her expression was a good or bad thing, but she decided against trying to get her hopes up. A great deal (if not all) of her acts under Cetrion were cruel and groundless, and she held no anguish up until the time she had to come face to face with the truth of her doings. It tore her day and night, and meeting Hajoon had her convinced that she would be able to leave the life of corruption far behind and start fresh. Of course, the facts couldn't be hidden forever, and the half goddess found herself back in the deep hole of falsehood, surrounded with nothing but fabricated offers to a better life. She scoffed mentally. That opportunity was officially closed off to her. It seemed as though disaster was always a few steps away, eager to ruin her chances at something sound, and risking it a third time was nowhere near appealing.

"There were many instances where I questioned why the Chosen One defended you to such an extent, especially after it was SF that provided for your recovery." Jacqui's voice had brought her out of her thoughts. "Trust me, I was beyond ready to blast a hole or two through your head a hell lot of times." She paused. "But spending time with Haru and hearing your whole deal...I understood you." Raelynn's brows raised slightly, not expecting such a considerate response.

"I couldn't imagine a life finding out that the one who was supposed to be my caretaker, my protector, my safe haven, was actually the one who robbed me of all that. My mother..." Her words trailed off and she peered down into her lap. She tightened her jaw and bit her lip to keep from releasing the tears awaiting just behind her eyes. Raelynn almost reached her hand out in an effort of comfort but stopped, not wanting to ruin the intimacy in the moment. Jacqui lifted her head and continued. "Man, it would kill me if she'd ever done something like that...growing up believing that everything was all good and sweet, and everyone just hated her for doing what I thought was the right thing, thinkin' it was my own folks who were the crooks trynna steal me away and take my power from me..." She scoffed. "Seein' my dad as a revenant then manipulated by Kronika was betrayal enough, and it hurt like hell. Point is, I realized that you truly had no malice in you. You were just takin' orders and tryin' to keep your mother—uh, Cetrion, happy."

And it was true. Raelynn trusted completely in the virtue goddess as any child would their guardian. She worked vigorously in carrying out the Elder Goddess' wishes, longing to eventually gain any sort of praise or affection, but it was rare that those occurrences came to past. Most of her upbringing revolved around unanswered questions and the constant urge to do better, trying at all costs to win approval. But like a fool, she allowed her heart to get the best of her, put her through the worst of hells just to seek out a foolish desire that would never be anything close to genuine. That's what messed her up in the first place, and she couldn't—no, would not dare to do something as stupid as that again. It was only her and Haru. Nobody else.

"I am...appreciative of your understanding, Ms. Briggs," Raelynn spoke after a long moment of silence. "You and your comrades are owed a huge debt on my behalf."

Jacqui chuckled and shook her head, then turned to look at the demigoddess. "You're damn right we are!" The two women shared a laugh on the rail. "Actually, I believe there is a way to pay back this debt."

"How so?"

"Well, Takeda and I's wedding was put on pause due to this whole mission, and it cost a lot to find decent live music. Cassie offered, but we're trying to have a simple proper wedding, not a drunk karaoke session. And you have the voice of an angel—well, a god in your case. If you can strum a few chords and sing a few notes for a few hours, I'll consider you free of deficit."

Raelynn cocked her head and raised a brow. "That's...that's all?" She figured the woman would request of something more extravagant, like a prolonged lifespan or giving her supernatural abilities. Jaqui nodded and crossed her arms awaiting an answer.

"I...very well, Ms. Br-"

"Jacqui. That formality stuff is weird if it's not comin' from General Blade." The demigoddess was taken by surprise again. She gave a single nod and looked on at the waves which now fell into to a more mellow and calm pattern.

Perhaps it wasn't just Haru and her against the world. Every person aboard had their story, their differences, their fall outs, but they were able to cast it all aside at an effort for peace upon a world that did almost nothing for them in return. Some aspects of the Earthrealm were odd, she thought. It was going to take a lot of time to get used to these people, but maybe, just maybe...

There was a sense of hope.

[meliorist-midoriya]

remember me

synopsis: what was he supposed to save, when there was nothing to fix?

pairing: midoriya x reader

genre: bittersweet angst

warnings: n/a

word count: 1.4k

a/n: my first songfic, and it’s revenge angst for @animatedarchives​- i love this song so so much. stan umi, y’all, i love her music and vibe. the song absolutely has has has to be listened to on repeat as you read this for the full effect!

now playing...

                ⋆┄┄┄┄┄┄┄✧┄┄┄┄┄┄┄ ⋆

⠀ ⠀     ⠀    » remember me «

⠀ ⠀   ⠀ ⠀  0:23 ─〇───── 3:19

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀  ⇄   ◃◃   ⅠⅠ   ▹▹   ↻

                ⋆┄┄┄┄┄┄┄✧┄┄┄┄┄┄┄ ⋆

Wrote you a letter…

Now that I’m here without you

The lighter spun in his fingers idly as he watched the smoke curl into the air and out of the open window. He ignored the cloying smell of ink and photo paper burning wriggling into his head and kindling the beginnings of a migraine, tossing another photo into the flame instead. Midoriya didn’t smoke, the silver lighter a well-meaning yet outdated gift, but it came in handy when there was anything that needed to be lit quickly.

Like the photos and letters sitting on the tray before him with their curling edges alight with flame, his smiling face edged with glowing embers and crumbling into ash. 

He always thought that burning memories would be something done out of anger, emotions running passionate and high as the people in the movies took a lighter to their ex-lover’s photos through angry tears and a pull of their third cigarette.

Midoriya knew now.

He only felt numb.

Even as he held the lighter to another paper, watching as the small flame leaped onto the corner of a letter you had written him and ate through ink and old love. Emerald eyes scanned the words again as the letter burned them away, almost as if he was trying to rekindle the feelings that once burned so brightly.

Ashes couldn’t be rekindled, though.

Finding nothing other than a dull ache of nostalgia, he dropped the burning paper into the tray with the rest. This wasn’t like him, it never was. Midoriya was a hoarder by nature, always collecting little trinkets and the memories that came with them. Maybe he was tired of clinging onto these memories for so long. A humorless laugh passed through as his lips as the flame died.

This probably isn’t what Bakugou meant when he told him to throw his feelings away.

Hope that you’re better

Hope that you found someone new

Did he hate you? God, no. Far from it. But he didn’t love you either. Not anymore.

Neither did you.

Where there used to be overflowing love, then a deep seated ache, now was only a void. He knew there was supposed to be something there, but all he found was cordial acknowledgement of a love lost that he knew wouldn’t return. The look you shared with him when you two crossed paths on his patrol earlier today told him all he needed to know. You felt the same.

Maybe that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, ripping him into the cruel reality that the memories he clung onto were just that. Memories. No remnants of love for him to remind himself with, to agonize over and let himself drown in the nostalgia. Oh, he’s tried already, too many times to count, but maybe he ran out of tries, the ache turning numb and the box of letters and dead love only feebly tugging at a corner of his heart. He had to tell himself to feel sad at that point.

Maybe that was for the better.

Another photo went up in flames.

'Cause I'm getting older

Know that I've changed

And I can't go back now

Nothing's the same

Wasn’t love at first sight supposed to always last forever? Those cheesy romance movies you two used to watch together were a joke. A caricature of people yearning for the impossible. Oh, how he wished to go back to those days, where you two were young and stupid and absolutely infatuated with each other. Where interlocked pinkies would make his face bloom with twenty different shades of red, where a brush of lips in an empty hallway were quick and shy.

You two had grown, though, and weren’t in love with what you’d grown into.

His admirable determination turned into horrifying stubbornness and self-destruction, your own ambition now driving you into the ground. What you two had fallen for in each other became your undoing, the rose-tinted glasses slipping off and leaving you two with an empty shell of what you used to have.

That’s all it was in the beginning. Infatuation.

It never grew into anything more.

Midoriya slipped another photo from the pile and actually looked at it before he held a flame to it. At the sight of it, his breath hitched and the lighter paused halfway.

Oh. This picture.

You, holding out the camera to take a selfie of you two on your picnic date as you leaned your head on his shoulder, the crown of daisies and baby’s breath you had woven sitting in his still too-messy hair (he swore up and down that he tried that day. You believed him). You were both smiling, and a distant, long-forgotten promise of another picnic in that very field bubbled up from his subconscious.

Now his heart decides to desperately mend the void again? The tears came unbidden, streaming down his face as the corner caught flame and he tossed the photo in with the rest. He made no move to wipe them away. God, hasn’t he cried enough already?

Midoriya wanted to say that this was grief, heartache. This was nothing but nostalgia and regret.

He didn’t love you anymore.

Nostalgia for those happy memories as he watched them burn away.

You didn’t love him anymore.

Regret for not trying harder to save the last dregs of your relationship.

There was nothing left to save.

He let out a shuddering breath and rubbed at his eyes, blinking away tears and the spots that danced in his vision from blankly staring at the flame sputtering and flickering in front of him for too long. Crooked fingers slipped another picture from the pile, and he winced at the sight of it, the nostalgia and regret sinking into his heart and settling like lead. 

Two in a row, how fun...

Did he remember you taking two photos that day?

We made plans like we would always be

We said by now that we'd have everything and more

I never thought that we'd be dreaming on our own

What would happen to that house on the hill that you dreamed about? Or the future dog that he wanted to raise with you in that house? Wishful promises that soon became empty, set for a future together that would never come. When we have a little more money saved, you would say. When we have a better place, he would respond. Neither of you made good on these promises as your love for each other turned cold and fizzled out.

Midoriya wanted to build a future with you. Really, he did. Spurred on by late night talks of what fate had in store for you, the hopes and dreams you wanted to achieve with him and he with you.

What would happen to those?

You two couldn’t even keep that promise of another picnic, let alone a future together.

…He could always put the ring money into his savings.

Will you remember the way that I was

Will you remember the way that you felt when you're next to me

These were things he’d never let himself think of before, brushing it off to keep himself from letting the despair of a crumbling future eat him alive. Now, he was being swallowed whole, the disappointment, regret, and crushed hope mixing and curling into is very being and ripping him apart until he was nothing but his grief. He heaved as sobs ripped themselves out of his lungs, the flame turning into a too-bright blur through his tears and he buried his face into his hands, rubbing at his eyes until stars bloomed in the darkness.

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. You would never have to see him falling apart over burning photos and old memories, instead with the sad smile he bid you farewell. He would never have to see you doing the same (if you even did), his last memory of you as his lover forever being you smiling that same sad smile he wore. He could cling onto nostalgia all he wanted, but at least you would never see him falling apart in his room at 3 in the morning.

These were the last tears he would shed over this.

He could at least promise that much, he told himself as he sucked air into his lungs. He could at least keep this one promise. Midoriya sat up and he steadied himself, vision blurred but scarred hands steady as he held up the brittle paper, the box next to him empty.

These were the last tears he would shed over you.

Midoriya flicked the lighter open, and your confession letter went up in flames.

I think that was it.

[starryknight09]

Six feet under

Febuwhump Day 9: buried alive

Read on AO3.

________________________________________________________

“This will teach you to stick your nose in other people’s business.” The boss guy, Marco or Bob or Josh or whatever his name was, said.

Peter rolled his eyes even though they couldn’t see it through his mask.  He tugged again at the cuffs holding his wrists together behind his back, but no dice.  They must be made out of vibranium or something, which meant this guy had spent a pretty penny to catch him.  Peter almost felt flattered.  After all, he’d only spent the last couple weeks busting all the guy’s dealers and cleaning up the drug ring that he’d tried to set up in Queens.

“Put him in.” The boss guy commanded.

The two lackeys holding onto each of his arms pushed him forward until they reached the open coffin dangling by pulleys over a dug out grave.  Well this looked fun.  The men at his sides lifted him up and slammed him into it with a coordination he didn’t think they’d possess.

“Hey!” He protested but the lid snapped shut before he even had a chance to attempt escape.  He pushed against the cover with his feet but it didn’t budge.  Was this thing lined with vibranium too?  That could be problematic.  A second later he felt himself falling before his back slammed into the coffin again, presumably having landed at the bottom of the six foot hole dug out under it.  Ouch.  That had kind of hurt his wrists, which were still trapped behind him by the stupid handcuffs.  

“Hey Karen?” He didn’t know why he whispered.  There was no way the goons could hear him.  But somehow being stuck in a casket made him feel like he owed it some kind of reverence.

“Yes Peter?”

“Uh night vision please.”

His mask switched to the view filter as requested, but it didn’t help.  No secret hidden trap doors made themselves known.  Not that he’d expected them to.  No, now he could just see where the bad guys thought he’d spend his final moments of life.  The thudding of dirt hitting the coffin lid made his heart rate increase.  He was literally getting buried alive right now.  Yep.  This situation was definitely not ideal.  

“You appear to be in an undesirable position.” Karen said, completely understating it.  “Would you like me to call Mr. Stark?”

“Um…” He kicked his feet up against the lid as hard as he could.  Over and over.  After a handful of times, not so much as a splinter appeared.  He knew he probably should be panicking right about now, but he wasn’t because he still had his suit.  The bad guys hadn’t even considered that he’d be able to call for help.  So, all in all, this was just a minor inconvenience.  

“Yeah.” He agreed with a sigh.  “Call him.”

“Hey Pete what’s up?” Tony answered on the second ring and the tension that had been building up in his chest unfurled.  “Madame Secretary was just asking if you were still planning on coming up for the weekend. You are, right?”

“Ok, so don’t freak out.” He started, not quite sure how to explain his dilemma without Tony going postal.

“You saying that is making me freak out.” Tony replied, voice tense.  “What’s going on?”

“Ok so I might be in a bit of a situation.” The rain of dirt thudding above him had slowed.  He wondered if they were using some kind of equipment because shoveling by hand definitely would’ve taken a lot longer.

“Uh huh.  What kind of situation?  Start using your words kid.”

“Ok, first, I just want to let you know that I’m ok.  I’m perfectly fine.  So when I tell you, don’t go flying off the handle.”

“You’re really not making me feel any better.” Tony interrupted.

“I’m, um, kind of stuck.”

“That’s not an explanation.  Start explaining.” Tony said, and Peter could tell he was in the suit now because of the almost imperceptible tinniness of his voice.

“I’m sort of…” He winced before just ripping off the bandaid.  “Buried.”

The heavy silence almost weighted him down more than the pounds of dirt on top of him.

“I’m sorry.  I think I must’ve misheard you.  You’re what now?” Peter could tell he was freaking out.

“I’m buried.  As in underground?  Pushing daisies?  Six feet under?  I don’t know how I can make it any clearer.” Peter explained, trying to keep a lightness to his tone.

“The attitude isn’t cute.” Tony snapped and a few seconds later Peter heard him release a long calming breath.

“Seriously Tony I’m ok.  Just…I can’t get out of this by myself.”

“You promise?  You’re not in any danger of asphyxiating?”

“Um, not imminently.” He answered.  For a chemistry class project last year, he and Ned had figured out the amount of time a human could actually survive buried in a coffin, which had seemed a little morbid at the time, but now was turning out to be quite useful.  He knew he had at least a few hours before things would start to get dire, so he didn’t have to panic, because he had every confidence that Tony would have him out by then.

“You’re really not helping out my stress levels here kid.” Tony complained.

“Sorry.”

“Just hang in there.  I’m tracking your suit.  I’m twenty minutes away.” Tony said, then asked in a panic, “You’re in your suit right?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok good.” He heard Tony take another deep breath.  “So how did you manage to get yourself in this situation?”

“I’ve been working on busting up a drug ring in Queens the past couple weeks and apparently I really really pissed off the head honcho dude.” He explained, trying to roll into a more comfortable position, so not all his weight was on his wrists.  His hands were starting to tingle.

Tony snorted.  “So this guy decided to…bury you?”

“Yeah he even put me in a coffin.  I think maybe he was trying to be poetic?  But I don’t know.  Seems like a waste of money.  Like, aren’t coffins really expensive?”

Silence met his question.

“Um Tony?  Are you still there?  You didn’t fly into a power line or something, did you?” He tried not to sound scared, but if something happened to Tony, he was dead.  Literally.

“I’m here.” Tony said, but he didn’t sound quite right.

“Are you ok?” He asked.  Tony always used to joke about having a weak heart but after he’d barely survived the snap it’d actually become true.

“Am I ok?  You’re the one literally stuck in a coffin underground and you’re asking me if I’m ok?” Tony’s voice got more high pitched.

“Um yeah.”

“I’ll be ok when I get you out.  How does that sound?”

“Ok.” He mumbled, feeling appropriately chastised.  

“Just do me a favor.” Tony requested.  “Keep talking to me.”

Peter smiled.  That he could do.  

“Just no more talk about being buried, underground, or coffins.  All right?” Tony added.

“Sure.  No problem.  So last week at practice, guess what Flash did…”

“You’re making that up.  Morgan did not say that.” Peter laughed.

“Yes she did!  I swear!  If you don’t believe me, ask her.” Tony said.

“Don’t think I won’t.”

“Oh, I know you will.”

Peter made a mental note to do just that.

“I’m here kid.” Tony said, much more solemn than a second earlier.

“Oh thank god.” He said with a desperate exhale.  “Because I have to tell you I’ve been trying really hard not to think about it, but it’s starting to get hard not to think about it.”

“I know.”

“Are any of the goons here?” He asked, curious, because if there were, that would be the last mistake any of them would ever make.  Tony wasn’t someone you wanted to cross.

“Goons?  Who uses that word?”

“I do.  I like it.”

“You sound like some 1960’s mobster, but to answer your question, no, none of them are here.  Looks like they hightailed it out of here after burying you.” Peter could tell he was disappointed.  No doubt Tony wanted to exact his revenge.

“So…what’s the sitch?  How long until you can get me out of here?” He tapped his foot anxiously against the end of the coffin.

“The sitch?  Seriously kid, what kind of movies have you been watching lately?” Tony joked, which must be good news, because if he was capable of joking around then his situation must not be too dire.

“Good ones.”

“I’m afraid I don’t believe you.  I’m going to need a chronological list.”

Peter rolled his eyes but the next second he got distracted by a humming scraping noise.  “Hey!  I hear something.  What is that?”

“I’m digging you out.  Hopefully it won’t take too long.  Just sit tight.”

“Don’t worry.  I’m not going anywhere.” He joked.

“What’d I say about being cute?”

“Um, don’t do it?”

“Oh, so you do hear me when I talk.  You just don’t listen.” Tony said, but there was no bite to it.  Peter could tell he was still stressed, so instead of continuing the banter, he stayed quiet and waited patiently to be freed.

He had no idea how much time had passed but eventually he had the sensation of being lifted and placed back on solid ground.  A couple seconds passed and he heard Tony grunt and swear.

“Um, I think they might’ve used vibranium on the coffin.  I couldn’t kick through it.” He warned, figuring Tony had tried to open the lid and failed.

“Forgot to mention that little detail, huh?”

“Oops.” Peter smiled.  “You didn’t throw your back out did you old man?”

“Here I am saving you and all I’m getting is sass and more sass.” Tony mock complained.

“You can still get me out right?” The nerves hit him again.  Wasn’t vibranium impossible to damage?  Isn’t that why it’d been used to make Cap’s shield.  What if he was still stuck in here and he was going to suffocate and—

“Relax Pete.  I’ll get you out.” Tony reassured him.  “Contrary to popular belief, vibranium’s not indestructible.  You just need a high enough and concentrated enough heat source.  And some time.”

“Like a laser?”

“Exactly like a laser.” Tony said and Peter didn’t think he was imaging the pride in his voice.

“Do you have one on the suit?”

“Of course.”

Thank god.

“Hang in there.  This might take a little time.”

Peter tried to stay patient, but the closer he got to his release, the more difficult it was to wait.  He just wanted out.  At least he could follow Tony’s progress.  The seal around the coffin lid glowed visibly as Tony lasered away at it.  Tony hadn’t been kidding about the time comment.  It had to have been close to forty five minutes before the laser finally made it all the way around.

Before the glow from the last bit of lasering had faded, Tony ripped the cover off.  Peter squinted from the light, but he could make out Ironman standing over him.  The helmet nanobots retracted and Peter gave Tony’s pale face a wide smile.  He didn’t get a chance to say anything before Tony grabbed his upper arms and yanked him up and out of the coffin, pulling the mask off his face the second he’d set him on his feet.  

Peter smiled.  “Oh thank you.  That’s so much better.  Except…ooo ow!”

“What?  What’s wrong?” Tony asked, looking over him frantically for some kind of hidden injury.

“Nothing.  Just I was lying on my hands and they fell asleep and now, oh, ow, the feeling’s coming back and they’re all tingly.  Ow ow ow.”

Tony let out an audible sigh of relief.  “So you’re good?”

“Besides still being handcuffed?” Peter complained at the cuffs still around his wrists.  “Yeah, I’m good.”

Tony rolled his eyes but gripped his shoulders and spun him around.  “Hold on.  I’ll get you free.”

A minute later, his wrists sprang free and he winced, the movement irritating the tingling.  Regaining sensation was slightly overrated.  He glanced down at them, noticing Tony had left the thick cuffs on but had sliced through the chain that connected them.

“There.” Tony declared and twirled him back around.  “You good?”

He nodded.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“In that case…” Tony pulled him into a relieved hug.

Peter hugged him back, squeezing tightly, not needing to worry about controlling his strength since Tony was still in his suit, although hugging the suit wasn’t quite as comforting as hugging the real thing.  He kind of wanted to ask Tony to get out of it, but he didn’t want to act like a scared little kid.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled once the normal appropriate amount of time to hug had come and gone.  Clearly this had bothered Tony more than he’d let on.

Tony kissed the side of his head and finally released him, but Peter could still see the remnants of tension on his face.

“You scared me kid.” Tony admitted.

“I know.  I’m sorry.” He hung his head.

“Let’s just agree this was a one and done.”

“Agreed.” Peter nodded.  “I have no plan to end up in a coffin anytime soon.”

“Good.  You better not.” Tony said like a stern warning but the hint of fear in his eyes belied it.

“Can we go home now?” He asked, exhaustion hitting him hard as the adrenaline faded.

Tony nodded.  “I’ve made the executive decision that we’re moving your weekend visit up by two days.”

Peter let out an amused exhale.  “Ok, but when we get back, can you get these things off me?”  He held his arms up to show the cuffs still dangling around his wrists.

“I don’t know.” Tony said, the nanotech re-forming the mask around his face.  “I think I might leave them on for a day or so as your punishment for getting yourself in this situation and practically scaring me to death.”

“Tony.” He whined in protest.  He didn’t think the man was actually serious, but you could never be too sure.

“Or if you want, we can discuss a more suitable punishment.” Tony said, the Ironman armor making his voice sound more serious and intimidating.  At this point, though, Peter knew Tony wasn’t completely kidding.  Some kind of consequence awaited him.  Probably not the cuffs staying on, but something.

“Hm that coffin’s looking better and better.” He joked, pretending to look at it longingly.

“Not funny.” Tony said sternly in what Morgan had coined his ‘dad voice’ before grabbing him around the waist and blasting off into the air.

“Hey can we stop for ice cream on the way?  I feel like getting buried alive in a coffin is kind of an ice cream situation.” He said, loud enough so Tony would hear him over the wind.

“No.  No ice cream.  God, you and Morgan are the reason I have so many grey hairs.”

“I thought that was from old age.”

“You’re really scoring lots of points today Pete.”

Peter grinned.  “Are you sure we can’t get ice cream?”

“No!”

“So you’re not sure?”

“No.  No ice cream!”

Later that night, after Tony had gotten the cuffs off him, and they’d had some time to emotionally recover, Peter ate his bowl of chocolate cookie dough ice cream while he watched Moana, sandwiched between Morgan and Tony.

[purplejeon]

warmth is the promise of affection yesterday, today, and tomorrow

— taehyung x female reader — vampire hunters!au — anathema: a drabble series | PG-13 — there are 1443 words because i love love you — fluff because taehyung is a certified sweetheart; a bit of brooding so i guess that’s angst

When the sun rose today, Taehyung had plans. Several dozens of them. It's been a few weeks since the two of you decided not to be in the constant presence of the other, not when his musty wet-earth scent has been sticking to your skin.

How that came to be was quite an affair and is a different story altogether.

Right. So. About that game plan.

Taehyung had been and is still very much against it, but he knows it's for the better. It may be difficult for them to capture Taehyung, a vampire-Hunter, but you're just a human, albeit a Hunter, and regular weapons work on you.

He isn't sure if it's a good thing he's unaware of the fate of Traitors.

Huffing the thought away, Taehyung buries himself under a thousand layers of clothing. It's still freezing outside and it will not do well to call people's attention unnecessarily. That, and he also needs to bury his telltale vampire scent beneath laundry soap and musky perfume.

He also has plans to take you out to the movies—a plan he knows you won't agree to easily. At least not when the sun's still up. Taehyung needs to be inconspicuous if he wanted you to agree at all. He hopes you’d agree.

Taehyung misses the toe-curling anticipation you only get when you're in the movies, the too wide and too tall screen that overwhelms your senses, the cheap Popcorn Smell™ that makes your mouth water, and the collective gasps at the shocking events.

But more than that, he misses you and everything he had always been doing with you. Taehyung knows that you're risking your life being with him and he's resolute in making today normal.

Like nothing big has changed.

Like he isn't a vampire.

Taehyung just wants to focus on making you happy, as he had always done. Fiancée or not, you're his partner-in-crime, and for everything you've done for him, you deserve to be happy.

As it turns out, the day has other plans.

At first, he had been too caught up in his thoughts to realize what it was, but when he finally does—well. It is impossible to ignore it now. He becomes stiller than a statue, eyes sharp and breath paused.

You sniffle, loud and clear.

It doesn't matter how you're several kilometers away from him. Your voice is something he has always been attuned to—something that got more intense after he turned.

Sniff.

There it is again.

It doesn't require experience to understand that no, that isn't a cold and yes, you're actually crying.

Taehyung does not hesitate even for a millisecond. Immediately, he is out his door and in front of yours, humans and Hunters be damned. He himself be damned.

All that matters to him right now is how to make you stop crying. It breaks his heart when you're crying.

"What's wrong, Chip?"

His voice startles you; you whip your head towards him mid-sob. You pale a little and Taehyung understands. You probably didn't expect him to come over today, especially not at this hour, but here he is.

You blink once, twice, then you shudder.

Taehyung's heart breaks at how swollen and how flushed your face is. He wonders how long you've been crying and how long he hadn't noticed.

Whoever did this is irrelevant. Whoever it is will pay, Taehyung will make sure of it. But for now, those tears need to stop.

"Come on," he remains outside your door, his arms wide open. "Let me in so I can give you a hug."

"Taehyung?" You manage to choke out, disbelief still on your face. You stare at him and he stares at you right back.

He shifts on the balls of his feet, arms still raised awkwardly. It doesn't seem like you'll be coming to hug him anytime soon, so he pushes just a bit more.

You usually liked his hugs.

"Let me in," he repeats, warmth swirling within his body as a ghost of a smile finds its way to your lips. "You look like you need a hug."

That's, uhhh, mostly a lie. While you do need a hug, Taehyung needs it more than you do. He hates when he sees you like this, folded over and lost. It feels so wrong.

You are strong and you take pride in that.

Taehyung takes pride in supporting you when you need it.

An angry flame of hatred burns within Taehyung, easily overpowering the quiet flicker of happiness that had been present a few minutes ago. Taehyung hates what he's become because he can't rush to you in the ways he usually would. Because he can't do what he usually could.

It gets frustrating sometimes.

"Taehyung, it's 9 AM. What're you doing out and about?"

The flame quiets and Taehyung smiles. Of course, his safety is your first concern. You don't mind how you're cold or how you're tired. Or how a full-fledged vampire is standing at your door and that there might be a Hunter around and—Taehyung harshly cuts that train of thought off. The point is you should really be more concerned about your safety.

You're a Traitor now.

You should also be more concerned about how dry your throat is. Taehyung makes a quick note to get you to drink as much water as he can. Later.

"Uh, I really kind of need you to let me in now, Chip, because most people would be freezing here, outside, right now. I am not. You're freezing right now. We can't have you frostbitten, can we?"

It seems that was the moment you realized that yes, you're actually shivering and slightly numb from the cold.

"Oh, shit. Come in, Taehyung."

"There we go. So who're we going to punch in the gut?"

You smile bitterly.

"It's nothing, Tae. I'm just having a little crisis."

You don't want to expound, but the things left unsaid hang heavily in the air. Taehyung braves the waters and asks the question you probably hoped he wouldn't.

"Because of me, yeah?"

Pain and guilt flicker on your face, but you cover them all up. A wrinkle appears on your forehead, and Taehyung reaches out to touch it.

"If it is, you do know I will willingly surrender to you, right? There won't even be a fight whatsoever."

"That makes it even worse," you look at your hands as you whisper. "I don't know how to fix this."

"Then don't. We'll find a way somehow. It's just been a few months, Chip. We'll be fine for a few more. There's no rush at all."

"But if they find us—"

Gloom settles on Taehyung's shoulders, but he tries to smile anyway. You look at his fangs, and it makes Taehyung feel a certain type of way.

"If they do, I'll fight them and take you away. As hostage."

You smile dimly.

"A willing hostage."

Taehyung chuckles at that. He feels a little guilty because he's feeling a tad bit too excited at the idea of you running away with him, in exchange for you practically gambling for your life against him and against the Hunters. It's a no-win situation for you, but an us-against-the-world situation for Taehyung.

Us.

Horrible it may be, Taehyung likes the sound of that.

"A hostage who will never get hurt as long as I'm alive. I'm your knight in ripped jeans and baseball caps."

"And a mullet, it appears." You reach out to touch his nape, but you pull back, a little wary.

Taehyung can't deny his disappointment, but then he realizes you pulled back because he froze. Deathly still.

He wants to kick himself on the head.

"Hey, I look good in it. Bet I can make you swoon."

You make a face and Taehyung feels accomplished. If you're making those expressions now, then you're surely feeling better. Your smile is adorable and Taehyung would like to keep seeing it for as long as he lives, so he decides, right there and then, that he'll never let any harm befall you again. There won't be any do-overs, unlike last time.

This is the last chance.

"You know, you're disgusting half of the time, annoying the other half. Oh, and you got a dumb brain up there, but my life sucks less with you around. Thanks, Taehyung."

"You do realize there's a lot more sucking when I'm involved, right?"

Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows at you.

"Will you stop talking? Oh my God, I'm trying to be sentimental here."

"I didn't say anything wrong though?"

"Taehyung!"

Taehyung decides this is a great way to spend today too. His plans will have to wait.

[maemi324]

Black Coffee

Hey there friends! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Today i come at you with a new piece for a new My Hero character! Well new to me writing him.  Here we have....Villain Deku! Inspired by this tiktok! https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJUywn9t/ it just screamed Villain Deku to me. This is my first time writing him, so if he seems a little OOC, that’s probably it.  Here are some songs I listened to while writing this 1. headless waltz- Voltaire 2. Don’t go by the river- Voltaire 3.House of Myth, Such horrible things, Gorey Demise, Grave Robber, Greatest Show Unearthed, Aim for the head, Buried Alive- Creature Feature 4. Spooky Halloween Mashup, Syndicate: Underground- Cover by Peter Hollens. Warnings: Robbery, Guns, violence, let me know if theres more I need to tag please! Only edited by me, so I’ve probably missed some stuff! With that! Let’s get into it!

Dawning light streamed in through the windows, the scent of coffee heavy in the air, steam from the hot drink you made rising softly. Soft music flowed through the room, other employees taking the chairs off the tables and whipping them down. 

You sipped your drink, your eyes barely staying open as you leaned against the counter.  It was far too early to be awake. Pain flashed through your mouth as you reluctantly swallow, your tongue protesting not only being burned but the now cool air that touched it. 

It was too early for your own nonsense. 

As the sun rose in the sky customers began their daily migration to the bean and leaf juice they all craved. Thankfully it was still rather early, only a handful showing up, and even fewer deciding to take a seat and enjoy their purchases. 

“I can help whoever’s next?” you call out, closing the cash register and looking up to the new customer with a bright smile. 

Bright viridian eyes stared back into your (e/c) colored ones, ones that you hadn’t seen in a very long time, since middle school in fact, his green hair cementing just who he was. Recognition dawned in his eyes. 

“Y/N?” “Midoriya?” 

A surprised laugh bubbled up, catching you by surprise, “I haven’t seen you in months- years even!” a short glare from your manager got you ready to enter in his order. Taking a peek behind him you saw that the line had lengthened considerably. “Y-yeah, it has been quite a while hasn’t it?” He stated his order, as you typed it in and gave him the total amount. He must have been pretty tired still as he stared into your eyes. You waved a hand in front of him, snapping him out of his daze as his face flushed a deep red, frantically digging his hand into his pockets to fish out his wallet- where had the damn thing gone- oh it was in his hand already. 

Even after all these years, Midoriya was still just as much of a spaz as he’d always been. He moves to the drink pick up location, leaning against the counter as you made his drink. “I wish I had more time to talk, but with the line growing…” 

“Well What if I came back later today? Or tomorrow?”  You prepped the cup, adding a drizzle of caramel to the sides, offering him a kind smile

“Yeah, I’d like that,” 

You handed him his drink and sent him off with a wave. A disgruntled Karen decided to ring the service bell as you hadn’t jumped back to take her order. 

Why did it have to be a Karen?

Unfortunately you were unable to see him later on that day.

However, just as you turned the sign from closed to open that next morning, you were surprised to see those same bright eyes aimed at you. 

“Well, you’re here quite early” you teased, opening the door for him as you walked in. It would be a while yet before people came into the little shop. He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes looking tired with circles under his eyes, “It’s been a long night,” He laughed off your look of concern, “Just work, nothing too terrible! I just thought I’d swing by earlier before I had to get back to it” 

Your coworkers paid no mind as the two of you walked to the counter as you made him and yourself a drink, taking a seat at one of the tables. No one was here and wouldn’t be here for a good half an hour. 

“So tell me, how have things been? Is your mom alright?” 

“Huh? Oh! Yeah she’s doing fine, still at the same place! She’s retired now actually” “Oh, good for her! I hope she’s enjoying it” you sipped at your coffee, thanking just about everything that you didn’t burn your tongue in front of him. 

“But what about you Midoriya? Last I checked you were wanting to become a hero?” While it would have been hard to be a quirkless hero, It wasn’t impossible. It probably wouldn’t get you ranked in the top five or even the top twenty, but so long as you were a good hero, what did rank matter? 

His eyes shifted from contentment to something a bit more sad, a deep sadness that surprised you. Just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, a hesitant laugh served as a cover. “Well, I did try, but eventually I just gave up. It just hit me that no matter how much I worked, I’d just be in the way of the pros. I could do some things sure, but...it’s not...it wasn’t enough. So I took a step back and found myself getting into computers, fixing them up, making sure they’re running properly. It’s...It’s nice” 

You place a hand over his, an overwhelming urge to comfort him raced down your bloodstream. His hand jolts at the sudden touch, but he doesn’t bat your hand away. “I always believed you’d make an incredible hero” it made you feel guilty that you hadn’t been there for him when he clearly needed someone, anyone even just to listen to as his one and only dream crashed around him. 

“I know you did, I appreciate it (Y/N),” he offers you a more content smile, “But I’m happy where I am now, really! Plus if I was a hero, I might not have met up with you again” 

You let go of his hand, though not before he gives it a gentle squeeze, picking up your drink and taking another sip. 

“I’m glad to see you're happy though, you said you were fixing computers?”

“Yeah! It’s not a big thing really, just a little repair shop. Clients bring me their various electronics, I clean them and fix them up! It can be really challenging sometimes, especially when it’s an older model! I swear I’ve seen some that I could have sworn were from the early nineties!” 

You listened as he rattled on about his clients, his eyes lit up, a subtle blush on his cheeks as he talked with his hands. More than once you had to back away from getting a straw to the eye, but you hardly minded. 

It became a regular thing, He’d come to the shop at various hours of the day, typically right at opening, on your break, or right as the last customer shifted out the door. You always had his favorite drink ready for him, though you had to fight him to keep him from paying. You didn’t mind after all, paying for his drink. He somehow always managed to sneak in the exact amount into your pockets or purse before he left, leaving you to discover it when he was far and unable to take it back.

The ass.

The more you met up the more open he became, you both talked about work and your grievances there. Now you were talking about anything and everything, TV shows you’d recently watched, movies you were excited to see, stupid stories about Karen's getting owned was a personal favorite. 

However His favorite happened to be the news. He was still hero obsessed as he’d always been. However, there was a more...critical insight into it. 

“Ugh” he huffed out, turning his attention from the TV, though muted, the subtitles were still on. It was currently showcasing Endeavor, how he rescued some civilians from a collapsing apartment building, from a disgruntled worker who had turned to villainy when kicked out of their apartment. They decided to take revenge on the landlord, though it quickly turned to chaos as the entire complex crumbled.

“What is it?” You paused from chewing on the straw to take a sip, “ is it Endeavor?” You knew damn well it was, but it was better to let him process through his words. “Yes! Look at him, smug as can be. He doesn’t even care about those people he rescued, He’s shown no comfort towards them, not even a glance to the children he’d saved. He acts as if he’s too good for them. A real hero would be reassuring, give a sense of calm to everyone involved in a rather tragic turn of events”  he sipped at his drink angrily, nearly choking on it as you patted his back.

“ You mean a hero like All Might?” you offered, knowing that the hero had a special place in his heart. 

Instead of the perky response you would have expected, his lips turned to a thin line, staring into a far off place beyond the TV.

“Yes....just like All Might” 

Figuring he was still going through the appalled emotions from Endeavor, you didn’t press the matter, turning to focus on something else, his latest client, or even a Karen you had encountered earlier that morning. He took your bait readily, eager to listen.

It took you awhile to notice, but during your lunch breaks, on the days he didn’t come in early, he would always be watching the news. He’d rip them to pieces with a barely concealed snarl. He’d rant and rave, while keeping in mind the other customers. He talked about the villains even, and how they were people as well, forced into unfortunate situations, where were the heroes then?

As much as you would have liked to stay in the hero worshiping normalcy, the more he went on the more you began to realize, heroes were actually rather corrupt. You could feel yourself becoming angry alongside him. Why did they do that? What about the people they were rescuing? What about these so-called villains?

You shook your head from your thoughts, looking down to see your next customer that afternoon, a young girl no more than ten years old just out of school and looking to buy a snack and a small drink. 

You sent her off on her merry way, happily sitting down at a table and munching on her snack. Checking your watch, you realized it was time to take your lunch. You sat down at your usual booth and waited for Izuku, sipping at your own drink.

The bell by the door went off, your eyes instinctively looking to see who had entered. Time slowed down as three men came in, guns at the ready and masks pulled over their faces. The first had a black mask, the second having a red one, and the third having a white one.

“Alright! Nobody moves, and no one gets hurt!” the first one shouted, as horrified shrieks went off in the small shop. “Put your hands up and go over there!” he motioned with his gun to collectively gather in a corner. You obeyed along with everyone else in the shop.

The second one aimed his gun steadily at the barista at the register, “No! Not you, you’re going to fill this with all the money you have!” He threw a bag over at the barista who shakily picked up the bag where it had landed, tears running down her cheeks. 

The third held out a bag to the gathered group, “ Put anything valuable in here! Watches, Jewelry, Money, Phones, all of it!” He shouted, an elderly woman shakily began taking off her earrings, another gentleman taking his wallet out. 

The young girl stared with wide eyes, tears falling rapidly down her cheeks, face red as she tried to be quiet, but her hiccups would not allow her. When red looked over at the little girl, her wails increased tenfold.

“Hey! Shut up before I give you a real reason to cry about. You don’t want that do you?!” he shouted, taking a step forward the girl took an extra step back as she put her arms out in front of her to protect herself.

“I said QUIET!” he raised his hand.

Your body moved on it’s own. 

You took the hit for the young girl, your cheek stinging from the impact. That didn’t matter, not over the safety of the little girl, the roar of your heartbeat thumping against your cheek.

“What the hell?!” “Just leave her alone! She’s a little girl, she’s just scared!” You held your arms out, effectively blocking her from view. The elderly woman took the girl to her side, watching for the slightest movement from the robbers.

“ So you want to take her punishment? Is that it brat? Fine,” He shoved you down to the ground easily, glancing over to the young girl, “Take this as an example of what happens when you disobey me!” 

You couldn’t hear anything, your sight blinded as well as his foot collided with your stomach, sending you rolling across the ground. He pinned you down as he punched you, over and over again, arms, stomach and your face, seeing stars as your head hit the ground.

Izuku...Izuku please....

You didn’t know what you wanted from him, whether it was to save you from the pain somehow, or to not show up at all in fear he’d try something heroic like you did. 

The shop doors burst open, a cloth or tape like substance shooting out from someone you couldn’t see, wrapping quickly around the robbers, dragging them to ram into one another, the shock of it making them let go of the guns they held so tightly onto. You faded in and out of consciousness, even though the sounds of battle continued on.

It was all a blur as you slowly came back into reality, sitting in an ambulance being checked over by a nurse. The other heroes who had arrived stood before you, scolding you for your actions.

“What were you thinking?! You put yourself and the girl at risk! They could have made you watch as they hurt her!” 

What was I supposed to do, let her be beaten?

“There were so many other things you could have done! Next time think through your actions before you do anything!”

What could I have done? You fail to mention what else I could exactly do. I didn’t even know what I was doing.

But you didn’t say that. You took the abuse as the nurse began to shoo them off, proclaiming that they’d made their point, nothing more could be said. It wasn’t long before the nurse gave you your results. You were a bit battered but otherwise alright, you’d bruise like hell but you amazingly didn’t have a concussion. Once you were home you were to Ice the bruising spots. With that they sent you with your things back home.

Upon entering your home you changed out of your clothes, something bubbling under your skin. It felt so up close and in your face you couldn’t decipher it. You changed into some incredibly soft shorts and tank top, wincing as you moved to change. 

The silence was too much in your apartment, with shaking fingers you called the only person you could.

“(Y/N)?” “Izuku..” something in you snapped as you heard his voice, a sharp gasp turning into a sob. “(Y/N)? What is it, what’s wrong?”  “I...Can...can you come over? Please? I...I don’t think I can over the phone”  “What? Yeah, Yeah of course, I’ll be right there!”  You gave him your address and hung up after that, flopping onto your couch and hugging a pillow.

It only took him twenty minutes to arrive, but it felt like forever and a second simultaneously. The swift knock at your door startled you out of your blank and racing thoughts. He was dressed in casual clothing, some jeans and some random white button up, a thin green vest over top. Your vision blurred as he stepped in at your allowance, going head first into his chest as you sobbed. He grunted from the impact, but wrapped his strong arms around you regardless. “ Shhh, shhh, it’s alright, I’m here. I’m here” he cooed softly into your ear, “ Here, let’s go to the couch alright?” You nodded but didn’t let go. You shuffled your way to sit on the couch with him, only parting to readjust his hold.

“There was an attempted robbery at the shop today,” you sniffed, resting your head on his shoulder, “ There was a little girl there...she was so scared, she was crying. The...one of the robbers got angry at her, which made her more scared. So I...I took the hit for her”

He lifted your face gently, examining the forming bruise. His frown showed his worry, but he didn’t comment on why you ran to this girls side, “ I was wondering about this black eye I see” You nodded, continuing your story, “Yeah...He didn’t like that I’d taken the hit for the girl...so as an example he beat me up. I don’t remember too much after the ‘heroes’ arrived.” you spat.

“But the heroes arrived and saved everyone, that’s good right?” he prodded. If you had been more aware, you would have heard the underlying tone in his voice. He didn’t really believe the heroes had done well, not with how you spat their name as if it was venom. 

“They told me i was stupid for putting myself in front of the girl, that I should have done something else! What else was I supposed to do? My body moved on it’s own! They could have tortured the girl to get a rise out of me, or hurt the both of us…” As you said those words, another sob tore from your core. “Maybe they were right, maybe I should have just...I don’t know. I’m so sorry I didn’t think of anything faster.”

Izuku cut you off gently cupping your face in his hands, thumbs softly brushing away stray tears. Your eyes refused to meet his.

“Oh darling, look at me,” hesitantly you looked into his eyes, filled with concern, determination and...something else you couldn’t quite place, but it was so soft...so powerful. “You’ve done nothing wrong, you are perfect darling. Without you, that girl could have ended up beaten, or worse!” 

The endearment was new, but not unwelcome, his words wrapping you in a soft blanket of safety.

“You did nothing wrong, you are perfect, everything about you, you’ve done nothing wrong. So please, don’t apologize” You leaned forward to hide in his chest as his words brought a fresh wave of tears. He gently rubbed your back, taking care if you so much as winced to move his comforting circles. 

“It isn’t right that they lectured you. You had just gone through a traumatic event, you needed reassurance, kindness. You aren’t trained to be a hero, you acted on instinct. An instinct that hardly anyone else in that room had. They acted so wrong to you” he whispered, “Those ‘heroes’ are what's wrong with the hero society as a whole. Things need to change”

“But I don’t know how to do that, or where to even start” you whined, your hiccups slowly dispersing. 

“Join me” 

Wait...what?

“Join you...I don’t...I don’t understand…” You look up at him, searching for any hint that it was a badly timed joke. You found none. 

“When I told you I worked with computers....I wasn’t lying, but only technically. You see, I work with this group, as a hacker. We’re going to show the world what these heroes really are, and the need to fix them. The roaches will have nowhere to hide, not from the public, and certainly not by the hero commission”

That was...quite a bit to process. He was a Villain?! All this time?! 

You were shocked, your heart sinking to your stomach. “Why...why didn’t you tell me?” You knew why the second you said the words...but you needed to hear if those were the same words he’d say back. 

“If I’m being honest darling...I was scared. You were always so kind, so soft hearted, to learn you were talking with a villain? Plus, it wasn’t like I could just...tell you in the shop right?” the corner of his mouth lifted up into a slight smirk, though it quickly vanished.

You thought back to today, how angry the heroes had made you. How many others did they tell the same thing when they were just trying to help? How many children paid the price? How many people? 

But the feeling of fists landing on you echoed back in your rapidly increasing heartbeat. You couldn’t do that again, not against a villain, not against heroes, not against anyone!

“I...I’m not cut out for villain work Izuku, you see what happened to me! I...I couldn’t go through that again...I don’t want to go through that again”

He pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, warmth blossoming from the spot. “You don’t have to, just...supporting me is enough, more than enough” he took your hands in his, gentle circles rubbed into them. “You wouldn’t have to quit your job, or move, or anything, just knowing you support me? It fires me up, I have to do this, for you, for everyone, to right the wrongs that have been done. What do you say?” his green eyes were lit up in hope.

Your hands squeezed his, “I do.”

[itstittycitybaby]

Seven Years (John Wick x reader)

A/N: A bit nervous about this one ngl but oh well. Hope you guys enjoy :)).

Light angst. 1468 words.

Summary: You and the infamous John Wick are reunited again after seven years. You had faked your death to escape the cunning grasps of being an assassin, but the man who was like a father to you had died. Judgement and Vengeance has called; its grasp tight and refusing to let go.

His lifeless body laid in front of you. Blood pooled beneath his corpse as he laid there, his eyes open. A sob threatened to claw its way out of your throat. Tears pooled in your eyes as you stood there, looming over the man who was like a father to you. “Oh Marcus,” a cry croaked out, escaping your throat. Your fingers clenched into your hands as your nails dug into the leather palms of your gloves. Marcus’ eyes were open; his once pale blue eyes a haunting ghost white. Kneeling down, you gently closed his eyelids. He looked at peace now, like his soul had accepted his fate. Gently, you soothed down his graying hair. Even in death, Marcus was still beautiful.

Your hands trembled as you stood above Marcus. “Viggo’s gonna pay,” you gritted out. “I promise.” Pulling out a nice red rose from the inside of your jacket, you placed it above his body. His arms were pulled as if he was holding it nicely in his hands. It looked similar to sleeping beauty, you laughed bitterly. How funny that the Prince was too late. The air felt cold and empty. The underlying sadness of it bit you at the core and the reminder of how lonely you were after all these years. Marcus didn’t even know you were still alive. He had thought you died after your last job. Regret bubbled in your heart and another cry threatened to escape. Marcus didn’t even know that one of his most fellow agents, that was like a daughter to him, was still alive after all this time. That your death wasn’t real. You could see it now; the reunion you always dreamed of. Marcus would’ve understood why you did it. Why you left him and John. He would’ve been so happy. “I’m sorry Marcus, I’m so sorry.” Your voice broke as the words left you. Leaning down, you gave him one last kiss on his head before saying goodbye.

The stingy sensation of someone watching you made you turn. The hairs on your neck stood up and the feeling of something crawling on you wouldn’t go away. There, stood the person you hadn’t seen in years. One person you hoped you wouldn’t run into. John Wick.

Helen was not the first woman John had ever loved. Yes, he did love her with everything he had, but his heart had always held onto someone else. Helen understood; how lovely and understanding she was. Now, she was ripped from him, just like how you were all those years ago. John had met you in his earliest years of his profession. The Continental was lively as ever. Women and men alike clad in suits and dresses. Laughter and chatter mixed in with the lively voices of the performers on stage. John had to discuss an important matter with Winston, knowing he’d be at the bottom of the Continental. What he didn’t expect, was to find a woman sitting across from him already. “John,” Winston greeted him as John strolled over to the booth he usually sat at. “Winston,” John replied. In the corner of his eye he could see your eyes study him with interest. Winston introduced the both of you once he noticed the gleam of interest in John’s eyes. Your lips pulled into a smile; your eyes warm but muddled with curiosity. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Wick,” you said, raising the wine glass to your lips. John’s curiosity bubbled at the friendly nature that surrounded you. Either you were new and the life of an assassin hadn’t worn you down, or you were just kind hearted and easygoing. John figured it was the latter. You excused yourself leaving John and Winston to converse in private. His gaze followed you as you left. A knowing smirk graced Winston’s lips as your form disappeared all too quickly.

The dark warm eyes you had known all those years ago were hard and unforgiving. They were once filled with mirth and admiration, but now there was a simmering rage beneath them. The infamous Baba Yaga. A cut circled around his nose and a nice purple bruise bloomed on his cheek. John’s hair was peppery now; the beard he started growing out all those years ago was trimmed nicely, the angles on the jaw were cut sharp. There were lines around his eyes proving how much time had passed. Silence stretched between the two of you as you stared at one another. John looked disbelieved as he stared at you. You were supposed to be dead. “John,” you said breathlessly, “John.” He stood there unmoving. The way you said his name was like the chants of a prayer. The image of you beneath him begging for the sweet release played in his head like a movie. An image that he forcefully buried once he had wedded Helen. 

“I watched you die,” John finally spoke, the mere words coming out in a rumble. “I watched you die.” The lump in your throat hurt to swallow as unshushed tears threatened to fall. His hands clenched into fists and they trembled. His cold gaze settled unto Marcus. The rose was stark against his pale skin. John felt a pang of sadness seeing his friend dead on the floor like that. He pushed it down, tending to more important matters at hand. “I know. I’m so sorry John. I did what I had to do.” John’s jaw clenched at the words. His best friend, the first person he actually loved was alive after all these years. 

“John, be careful alright?” He was in his trademark black suit as he gathered his stuff. It was late that night; the stars kissing the sky as they shone brightly. You stood in the doorway in your silk pajamas as you watched your lover starting to leave. “I will, promise.” His soft lips kissed your forehead before he pulled away. 

You could still feel the remainder of John’s lips after all these years. John looked angry, hurt as he stood there. The dangerous glimmer in your eyes did not help ease your thoughts. They spoke loudly in fear of what was going to happen. The quiet whispers though, were the scariest. They mocked you silently as you stood there with tears rolling down your cheeks. Probably look like a mess, you mused. “Are you gonna kill me?” If John were to end your life, you couldn’t find yourself to care. How fitting would it be to die at the hands of your old lover. Oh, the irony. Though, you deserved to after leaving him like that. Hopefully, you’d be able to join Marcus’ side again, where you belonged. A bitter laugh left his lips. “No. Why would I?” You gulped. “Well I’m standing here alive. Makes me wonder if my “death” didn’t matter all that much,” you tried to joke. His eyes narrowed; the glare cut sharply at your heart and his lips turned into a frown. “Even after all this time and you still crack jokes at the worst times.” John’s hands curled into fists.  Okay, you deserved that. “What are you here for then, John? I thought you retired.” “I did, but judgement calls. And with judgement, vengeance follows.” Nodding you said, “Well you better hurry. They left a while ago.” “Any idea where they went?” You shook your head. A tear rolled down your cheek as you glanced at Marcus. “I just got here.” 

John’s heart tugged as he saw the loose tears you tried so hard to keep in. He tried to ignore it; it felt like a betrayal. Move on, John. Be happy for me. You deserve to be happy, a soft voice piped up quietly as he tried to sort out his thoughts. It sounded like her. “Come with me,” John blurted out. “I’m sorry?” Your voice was shocked. He couldn’t blame you; you thought he hated you. Angry, yes, but John could never find himself to hate you. He could only feel the desperation of having someone again. Something he figured he wouldn’t feel again. “Let’s bring vengeance together. For Marcus.” More tears spilled down your cheeks. Using your arm to wipe them away, you nodded. “For Marcus,” you repeated, shakily. Reaching into the holsters of your black cargo pants, you pulled out your infamous dual pistols.

“After all these years, you still carry Bacon and Eggs with you,” John said dryly. A chuckle escaped your lips. Looking down at your pistols you said, “These were the first guns Marcus ever gave me. It feels right.” Raising your head up you gave John a weak smile. “Let’s kick some ass.”

Seven years. Seven years John had watched you die in the explosion. The infamous pair of deadly assassins now reunited again. 

[doomedandstoned]

10,000 Years Take Us Into The "Gargantuan Forest"

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

Review by Billy Goate

Album Art by Francesco Bauso

Leaving the world For salvation yonder Quest for eternity To suns beyond

Gazing upon our past Out into forever To a future obscured What glory awaits?

To begin another week of awesome original content at Doomed & Stoned, we're getting you better acquainted with the Swedish juggernaut 10,000 YEARS.

Last summer, the band dropped their eponymous debut to welcome ears and in just a few short weeks 10,000 Years come roaring back with a follow-up. Y'all know I'm a sucker for a good concept album. The eight-track full-length record 'II' (2021) picks up the trail of the Albatross research vessel, which has been galavanting 'cross the nether reaches of the galaxy on a potent rocket fuel made of sludgy stoner rock and doom metal.

If that sounds epic, wait'll you get a load of what's next for our interstellar crew. It helps if you picture the following text as a Star Wars-style screen crawl, slowly working its way up the page against the backdrop of a starry night.

After narrowly escaping the confines of the strange planet and its surrounding dimension, the Albatross and its crew finally return home to Earth. The re-entry is rough and the ship crashlands in a forest. The earth that greets them is vastly different from the one that they left.

When the ship travelled back to earth through the wormhole, it created a rift in the space-time continuum which propelled them far into the future, as well as allowing the Green King and other ancient gods from the other dimension to cross over to our dimension. They have since taken control of not only the earth, but the entire solar system.

After various harrowing experiences and encounters, the truth finally dawns on the surviving members of the crew. They are indeed back on earth, but ten thousand years in the future from when they started their journey. And to make matters worse, they find evidence that the Green King has been known and worshipped by secret cults and societies on earth for millenia, since before humankind even existed.

The surviving members of the crew come to the conclusion that the only way to set things right again is to repair the Albatross and take it back through the rift again in order to close it.

Now that's a saga I'm ready to get invested in. George Lucas, eat your heart out!

The record revs to a start with "Descent," a track that can best be described as terrific panic. It had me thinking of KOOK's "Escape Velocity" from their recent second album, though that's an eight-and-a-half minute slow burn and this is a quick twenty-six second fall from the sky. I wish this little notion had a chance to develop into something longer, but regardless what a thrilling way to open an album!

With rapt attention, I'm waiting to hear what comes next. The ship seems to have crash landed deep inside a "Gargantuan Forest." As an aside, it would be a blast to smoke a bowl o' something (anything, really) with Erik Palm (guitar), Alex Risberg (bass, vox), and Espen Karlsen (drums) just to gab it up a bit about sci-fi lit and horror flicks. I mean, check out the trove of B-movie greats referenced in their preface to the new single (which Doomed & Stoned is debuting today):

In this ABSURD (1981) video, 10,000 Years enter a FOREST OF FEAR (1980) as they access THE BEYOND (1981) and enter a BLOODBATH (1971) with THE BOOGEY MAN (1980), otherwise known as the Espbeast. The Espbeast stalks and haunts the bodies and minds of the characters in this C-grade homage to the horror movies of yesteryear.

The characters FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE (1976) through insane NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN (1981). If they survive the AXE (1974) they may still end up in an INFERNO (1980) and risk being EATEN ALIVE (1976). All the same risks face the viewer, so don’t watch with the lights out, don’t watch by yourself and DON’T GO IN THE WOODS ALONE (1981). Because after all, isn’t there an Espbeast in all of us?

10,000 Years have picked the ideal setting for the music video. The forests of Sweden stand tall and dark, the ground packed with snow. Screw you, Blair Witch Project -- this is where I want the next found footage flick filmed!

The song opens with a mysterious theme on solitary electric strings, surrounded by hazy reverberation. Drums and bass accent the motif as it's repeated several times over. Dazed by their graceless fall to earth, the crew wander about, checking one another for injuries, seeing if the faithful Albatross has even hope of another journey. As the shock begins to wear off, their hopeless plight reveals itself.

Screaming from the sky Blasting through the atmosphere

Come to rest On the forest floor Still alive What fresh new hell is this?

Surrounded by swamps A strange bleeding from the earth

Giant trees A dense horror taking root Same old sun Unfamiliar rays shine down

Is there something lurking about in the Gargantuan Forest? I'm sure no one wants to wait until nightfall to find out! The so-called "Espbeast" (which the band may actually have been first to name) is more than likely some strange amalgamation of guitar and creature, ripping through foes like a berserker of sound with scraps of High on Fire's "10,000 Years" echoing perversely through the treetops as it stalks and ultimately slays you. Nobody wants to be around when the Espbeast is on the prowl.

Now see, I'm letting my imagination get carried away! Then again, maybe that's what the band had planned all along -- for listeners to join in the fantastic adventures of these cosmonauts, to see through their eyes and feel through their body as they touch foot to strange soil. What will our adventurers find next?

The answer comes all too soon: "Spinosaurus!" This gruff beast charges angrily through the woods knocking things about, displacing rocks, snapping branches, royally pissed and ready to make somebody pay for the noise that snatched him away from a damned good nap. The repeated note riff, with its odd strumming pattern, does a nifty job of representing the crude movements of the Spinosaurus as it lumbers about the forest. Eric is a virtuosic mess of frantic tremeloes and wiry noodling against Espen's stampeding drums, as Alex narrates the scene with a terrifying shout:

Is this our earth? No time to dwell Dorsal sail cutting air Cretaceous ghost made flesh

Staring into Dead end eyes No place to hide Theropodic annihilation

Teeth into flesh!

What the crew is experiencing on their homeworld thus far seems foreign, almost ancient. Through some curse of Einstenian logic have we zipped through a wormhole only to return to the distant past? "The Mooseriders" are about to challenge our assumptions about what's possible on this Rock.

Thundering hooves crack the sky Dark robed wizards appear in the light Travellers in ether descending Protectors of the realm

These are the oath-bound eternals -- interdimensional templars, if you will -- who have arrived at this precise moment in time to take on the Green King. Complex rhythmic drumming with precisely stricken odd beats, is accompanied by a hyperactive bass and progressive metal riffmaking. Together, the band conjures the trot and hustle of the approaching entourage. A wilding guitar heralds a message from the great protectors:

The hour draws near The endgame is nigh Divine prophecy Even death may die

The mood now turns stately. A brave theme is introduced and developed with dashing prowess. This track would fit perfectly into a playlist with Mastodon, Ape Cave, and Zirakzigil. I found Alex's vocal approach especially appropriate for the frantic depiction of "antlers clashing with steel" in this battle to the finish. "Even death...may...DIE!"

"Angel Eyes" greet us on the B-side, and it's not a cover of the Jerry Cantrell song (though that would have been unexpectedly awesome). No, the hard-charging mood and raspy vocals are pointing to something far more apocalyptic.

Hooves of burning coal Let loose upon the world

Return of the warlord Eternal fire scorches the earth

Heavenly gaze Order through chaos

At times Alex seems exasperated, practically out of breath, as he gives these dire words his all. It's a style the 10,000 Years frontman owns as well as his counterpart, Simon Ohlsson of Vokonis, who has a comparable vocal attack. A bass-fortified guitar establishes a second theme that adds a Wagnarian touch of high drama, and this ushers in the song's curtain fall.

If 10,000 Years is to be compared with High On Fire at all, the rumbling riffstorm "March Of The Ancient Queen" surely merits it (to say nothing of their mutual love of alternative histories).

Her royal blood Once ruled these lands Generations Buried by time Dynasty of dust Rise from the sands Rise from the dead The Green King's servant

March!

March Of The Ancient Queen - Single by 10,000 Years

That last lyric is uttered with the most blood-curdling all-caps conviction that I was immediately drawn into its sentiment, miming "Maaaaarrrrrch!" with my ugliest war face on every time it came up in the song. The NWOBHM-style finish is so deftly executed that it comes across as orchestral. 10,000 Years paint with big, bold strokes here.

"Prehuman Walls" is a welcome shift down, with its chugging "Bury Me In Smoke" tempo. You sludge fiends will find moments of Zen here, with riffs that bend and twist and saw 'neath the summer sun. The crew have chanced upon a temple of sorts, though not one made with human hands. Nothing seems to make sense here at all. It's like Area X from the film Annihilation (2017), where everything is a contortion of reality. Then the "truth settles in." This alien monstrosity, we find, bears the mark of the sinister Green King. We thought we'd escaped him, only to find that he both followed us and was here millenia before.

Unholy worship Feed the Green King Eyes pried open Sanity stripped away

At last, we reach the final track in our journey: "Dark Side Of The Earth". So many revelations have been made in this second chapter, so many loose ends that need to be tied off. Naturally, a third chapter must be written. "We must go back, set it right," deliberates an exasperated Albatross crew. "We must go back, whence we came."

Dimension walls broken down The fabric ripped and torn apart Thread the needle once again A journey of ten thousand years

We must go back, set it right We must go back, through the tears

Insanity the only way The dark side of the earth

Following these words, the song develops instrumentally and the mood gets quite emotional. I found myself drawing parallels between this "bastard version of earth" and our own, wondering if we ever can go back and make it right. For us, perhaps it should be about moving forward, for there is no golden age or better time to which we can return. We make this world a heaven or hell tomorrow by the choices made today.

The album was recorded by Tomas Skogsberg at Studio Sunlight. Totally diggin the awesomely swamp landscape that Francesco Bauso of Negative Crypt Artwork created. It reminds the five-year old me of Luke's sopping wet landing on Dagobah, though guitarist Alex Risberg says the band's more inspired by Planet of the Apes than by Star Wars.

The album will be released on June 25th as a special vinyl "Green King Edition" by Interstellar Smoke Records pre-order here), a cassette tape "Forest Edition" from Ogo Rekords (pre-order here) and "Swamp Edition" from Olde Magick Records pre-order here), with the digital and compact disc formats handled by Death Valley Records (pre-order here).

10,0000 Years have in II their most accomplished album to date, with powerful moments that will stay with you long after the record's stopped spinning. Fans of High On Fire, Black Tusk, and The Sword listen up! You might just discover your next favorite band.

Give ear...

10,000 Years - Gargantuan Forest (Music Video)

Some Buzz

Having previously played together in the original lineup of Swedish underground heavyweights Pike, Erik Palm (Guitars) and Alex Risberg (Bass/vocals) found their way back to each other, musically, in early 2020. The creative fire reignited and stoked to a burning inferno and through a mutual love of heavy riffs and thundering stoner rock, doom, and sludge metal, 10,000 Years was born. Finding a drummer would prove to be an easy task and with Espen Karlsen the final piece lay firmly in place. The groove they fell into during the first rehearsal hasn’t stopped rumbling since.

After spending the first-half of 2020 writing and rehearsing, 10,000 Years recorded their self-titled debut EP during one weekend in June in the legendary Studio Sunlight with equally legendary producer Tomas Skogsberg. The self-titled EP was released on July 10th and immediately struck a chord with the heavy underground worldwide, and 10,000 Years garnered rave reviews and accolades.

10,000 Years by 10,000 Years

10,000 Years' musical and lyrical world revolves around the tale of the terran class III exploration vessel Albatross and its mission to explore the Milky Way and nearby galaxies in search for a possible new home for humanity. The EP tells the tale of its first foray into space and what happens when the crew accidentally travel through a wormhole and end up in an adjacent dimension populated by ancient gods and giant beings, ruled by the Green King. The EP ends with “From Suns Beyond,” where the crew make it off from the strange planet, back out into space in search of a way back home. The new album picks up the story as the Albatross blasts through the atmosphere of a seemingly unknown planet and crashlands headfirst into strange new adventures.

II by 10,000 Years

Now, less than a year after their first release, 10,000 Years are back with their first full-length effort, aptly titled 'II' (2021). Picking up right where the EP left off, II continues the story of the ill-fated Albatross mission and its exploration of time and space through a skull-crushing mixture of stoner rock, doom, and sludge metal. The album will no doubt continue to build on 10,000 Years' already golden reputation and prove to be an even bigger hit with the heavy masses.

Follow The Band

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[arigatouiris]

Catching Feelings — Connor [07]

Pairing: Deviant! Connor x Reader

Word Count: 3084

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of period, sexual references, fluff, clumsy!reader, timid!reader (not for long), mentions of anxiety, inappropriate boss behavior (basically Gavin being Gavin)

Author’s Note: Okay so a lot happens in this chapter and yay finally Connor realizes what he has to do! Let me know what ya’ll think! Oh and should I make it a bit steamy in later chapters? You know *wink* *wink* 

Also, those who want to be on the taglist, just send me an ask~

Summary: (y/n) gets some guidance.

Chapter Seven: Upgrade

○

It had been four days since Connor had decided he would take the upgrade. 

During those four days, (y/n) had been the most supportive, teaching him things that people in new relationships would do, kissing a lot more than usual—for some strange reason, kissing Connor left her breathless, he was like a fresh drink of water on a hungover morning; she never knew she needed him until he showed up and said hello.

But, this isn’t about Connor actually. This is all about her.

(y/n) tried not letting her emotions show. In the past, there was only one person who cared for her, only one person who let her know she was not alone. And that was an android. Once the revolution had begun, and the government began to take away every android from people’s homes, (y/n) did not just experience the pain of losing a cherished object—Maria was not just an object, she was never an object. Maria was her mother, her father, her confidante, her best friend and a whole lot more. Maria was everything the universe had failed to give her.

This wasn’t unusual for (y/n), growing feelings for an android. Ever since she was a child, she had seen them as people—she didn’t know if Maria ever became deviant or if she was always deviant. The idea of deviancy only made sense to her, it’s just growing and becoming a teenager after being a child, or moving into adolescence after teenage. It was natural, and even if Maria was deviant, Maria’s love for (y/n) excelled her own parents’.

(y/n) sat and watched as Connor continued to fill file after file, a warm look in her eyes as she thought about Maria. It was her android confidante who had told her that if androids were to ever love, then they would love in the purest form—not because they didn’t know how else to love, but their emotions would be raw and without corruption. (y/n) loved listening to her nanny, she loved everything about her and here she was, being loved by another android, not knowing if she was right in feeling the same.

Oh, she liked Connor more than she gave herself credit. She tried keeping it in, she tried hiding just how much—she was scared to be clingy, she was scared if she would push him away but a part of her mind kept telling her that Connor would never leave her.

No matter how clingy she got, no matter how insecure she felt about herself, no matter how depressed or low or manic she got on days, Connor would stay by her side, accepting her change in emotions, accepting and reveling in them, growing with them, knowing exactly what to say, or if he said the wrong thing, then he would make all the effort to correct himself. Just as much as she would.

But, the fear remained. The fear of having Maria ripped from her arms stopped her from stepping any further in feeling anything more for the android detective. If Connor ever left, then it would be all for her. And she wasn’t willing to take that chance.

    “Would you like to watch a movie tonight?” Connor asked, holding her hand as they walked home that evening.

She was buried in her thoughts, unsure why she was feeling all that she was feeling. Connor blinked and sensed she was low, before tightening the grip on her hands. She smiled a bit before looking up at him.

    “I’d like that very much.” She said, still feeling strangely depressed.

Was she leading him on? What if she made him take the upgrade and then she was the one who left him? Oh, but she wouldn’t leave him—she knew how she felt, she was scared of how much she liked Connor, and that fear was stopping her from actually revealing herself.

    “Is something wrong?” He tilted his head, asking earnestly.

She shook her head, smiling widely.

    “Nothing’s wrong.”

He felt uneasy again. That strange feeling that let him know that something was wrong, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. He was tempted to ask her, but he knew she wouldn’t answer. Perhaps, what was wrong was internal? Something that was rooted in her being? He blinked a couple of times, before thinking of a solution. He had known her for close to five months and in all those months, there was only one week she would turn quieter, a bit different from her usual peppy self.

    “(y/n),” He brought her attention. “Is it alright if I scanned your vitals once?”

She blinked, “S-Sure? Why, though?”

She was taken off guard that he had asked her first, her heart warmed at how seriously he took consent. Connor ran a quick scan and his suspicions were confirmed. He gave her a kind smile before taking her home first, helping her change, seating her on the bed with a couple of blankets. She was confused. What was going on?

    “I’ll be right back.” He said, before going out of the room, leaving her to her own devices.

She didn’t know why she was feeling so strange. Her heart went out to how understanding Connor was being, despite not having those upgrades. But, did she really deserve such an ideal lover? What if he grew tired of her? With the upgrade, there was always a chance that the androids could get bored or fall out of love. It was a possibility, only to make it as real as possible to human connection. She was scared, and just the thought of it filled her eyes with tears.

Connor returned with a bag in one hand and a tub of chocolate chip ice-cream on the other. Her eyes widened and she instantly got out of bed, standing beside it, as Connor approached her.

    “Your period is due in 5 days but it’s already arrived,” He said, handing her the bag with pads and tampons. “I don’t know what you use, so I got them all.”

She was crying now. She put her arms around Connor and hugged him, crying the whole time. She understood why now—and she understood why she didn’t think of her period as the reason for her mood swings. She was early and these things happened but when they happened out of the blue, it made it all the worse because she wasn’t ready. Connor embraced her back but pulled her away a second later, surprising her.

    “Do you need help in changing into—”

    “I can do it, Connor, thanks! You’re a sweetheart. And how did you know I liked chocolate chip?” She grabbed the bag and headed into the toilet.

    “I saw a chocolate chip stain on your shirt three weeks ago. I remembered that it was a flavor you had already eaten, and I looked it up on the internet that chocolate during your periods reduces stress and induces happiness. All I want is for you to be happy, (y/n).”

There it was again, the feeling of strange sadness. After changing into her pajamas and getting comfortable (the bleeding was so light it was strange how Connor got to know about it right on time). She walked over to the bed and saw that Connor had already changed. He was wearing a light blue tank top and black shorts. Upon seeing her approach him, he opened his arms.

    “Let’s cuddle.”

Tears filled her eyes once more but she wanted to slap herself at how silly she was being—

    “You’re so cute, (y/n). I have read that hormones are all over the place around this time. Let me hold you, and here’s some ice cream. We can order take in. Anything you like—”

    “This can’t be real, right? You just… You can’t just only care about me? Don’t you care about yourself?”

She was now sitting beside him on the bed. Connor looked at her before pulling her closer to him. He had learned to read the signs in the air now—he knew when to cuddle her and when she needed space. It was a lovely thing he had learned, he enjoyed every second. And whenever he loved her, he felt loved in return. He noticed how she would often look at him when he was working, as if he didn’t pay attention, and look away with a soft smile on her face. He noticed how her eyes would light up at the sight of him, how her smile lasted a bit longer, how her touches lingered, how her kisses were so intense.

He also noticed how much she was holding back, but he never knew why, and perhaps this is when he knew that the upgrades would help. It wouldn’t help him understand her, but it would help him feel—and maybe, ‘feeling’ is all that it took to keep a relationship alive.

    “It works like this,” he said, cradling her head into his chest. He smelled like detergent and fabric conditioner, and she found it comforting, “When I care for you, I feel cared for in return—”

    “Connor—”

    “And I’ll keep doing this till you give in and tell me why you’re holding back.”

Her eyes widened. She slowly looked up to see his face.

    “W-What do you…”

    “I don’t know why but I sense that you feel some sort of insecurity that is preventing you from being entirely yourself. I understand that you are doing it and that you will need all the space and time you need to accept that you are in a relationship with an android, and I will be here during that time. I—”

    “Connor… I didn’t… No, it’s not because you’re an android… In fact, it’s…” She felt troubled, not sure if she could say it.

    “You can tell me anything, (y/n). I will always think of you the same way. And you can also not tell me and I will not pressure you into—”

    “My parents would never look after me,” She began, cuddling closer to Connor. His grip around her tightened, and she felt warm. “They bought a nanny android, named her Maria. Maria… I don’t know if she ever became deviant, but she loved me. She loved me so much, she was my everything. I don’t think it’s weird that I like an android at all, Connor… It’s just…”

He waited.

    “I was shattered when they took her away. Even when my father passed away, I did feel sad, I won’t deny. And I know I’m not supposed to compare losses the way I am in my head, but I can’t help it! Maria being taken away made me feel like I lost my own life… I can’t… I am so scared to feel that with you.”

Connor’s eyes widened. Whenever he learned information about someone he didn’t already know, the sense of surprise that hit him was hard. He didn’t like how it felt, but with her, the emotion was different. Learning more about (y/n), a part of her life that he had literally no access to, it felt like seeing her bare. It felt sad, knowing the nature of the tale, but it felt exhilarating. He wanted to know more.

    “I will never leave you, (y/n). And… Now that I think about it, I was hesitant on letting you know about my feelings because I didn’t know if a human being could ever love an android. But based on what you’re saying,” He placed a hand on her cheek and turned her to face him. He offered her a kind smile, “(y/n), you know how to love and I would like very much for you to teach me.”

He kissed her after that and felt his hands automatically delve into her hair. She kissed back ferociously, her hands going to the nape of his neck and head, pulling herself closer to him, more, more and more. Connor felt his hand slide down her back, and then back up, from under her shirt—he didn’t know how he was doing it, he didn’t know who was telling him to, but the impulse was there. Perhaps, he had watched it in one of those kissing tutorials? He had no idea. But, when she let out a mewl, Connor paused.

She was breathing heavily, and her eyes were lidded. Connor took one look at her before knowing what this was.

Does arousal always feel this good? He felt nothing on the inside, no physical stimulation but the experience made him feel excited. He wanted to touch her more, he wanted to see her without the clothes she was wearing, he wanted to know what it felt like to be one with her—it was strange, how he wanted all these things but had no means of knowing what it felt like.

     “Connor… I’m sorry.” She said, raspily.

He shook his head, “I think I’m going in to take that upgrade tomorrow.”

She pulled away, but his grip was firm. She watched him with careful eyes, not sure if this was all it took. Maybe, the feeling again, was too intense?

    “I’m in love with you and I won’t regret it.” Connor said, smiling wide.

She blinked and smiled back, “I’ll come with you.”

○

The next morning, Connor and (y/n) headed over to Simon’s new headquarters. 

Jericho looked better and much, much more sophisticated now that they had the funding. As soon as Connor entered, he spotted Markus, who had seen Connor first. The android revolutionary leader approached them both and greeted his friend.

    “What brings you here, Connor?”

Perhaps, it was the first time (y/n) had ever seen Connor act embarrassed. She never knew it was possible.

    “I’m… This is (y/n), she is my partner.”

Markus nodded, “Do you work in the police department together?”

(y/n) giggled before Connor shook his head, “No. I mean, yes. She was an intern there before they converted her to a permanent employee. What I mean to say is…”

Markus’ eyes widened.

    “Oh, she is your lover?”

Connor nodded, his LED blinking yellow. He was very embarrassed. Markus smiled wider, before greeting (y/n). She couldn’t deny it, but he was very charming.

    “Simon’s upgrade then? I never imagined you to be one of the androids to take it, Connor. I can’t say I’m unhappy.”

    “Have you taken the upgrade?” (y/n) asked, curiously.

Markus nodded, “I don’t have a human lover, but I wanted to experience these qualities. Certain things aren’t meant to be left for curiosity only.”

(y/n) nodded before looking to Connor and smiling. Whenever she smiled at him in public, Connor felt that strange feeling near his thirium pump again. He decided to ask Markus about it.

    “Markus, there’s this… a feeling I feel near the thirium pump. Whenever she… Whenever she says something thoughtful or does something cute, I can’t begin to explain this constricting feeling—”

    “You’re feeling what is similar to what humans feel. It’s not uncommon. Nothing is actually going on near your thirium pump, it’s just your brain sending signals to your system. Your system comprehends them as a constricting feeling near your thirium pump. It’s genius, really.”

(y/n) and Connor were both wide-eyed. Markus was gorgeous and the way he spoke was enticing.

    “How is North doing?”

Markus smiled before saying, “We aren’t seeing each other anymore. But, she is doing great. She’s traveling. She didn’t get those upgrades in time, but she told me she’d give it a try if she ever came back to Detroit.”

Connor nodded. Markus nodded back and led them to a room, where one of the androids sat with a chip. All it took was a chip? It was strange. (y/n) was asked to wait outside, since placing the gonads and other organs would take close to 3 hours. Connor gave her one final kiss before taking the biggest decision in his life.

As (y/n) waited outside, she felt that nagging fear again. In a distance, she saw Simon with his human lover, who were both engaged—and the sight made her smile. Reese, Simon’s partner, was a handsome looking man with black hair and Asian features. Upon noticing (y/n) sitting there by herself, Reese approached her. Her eyes widened, and she looked beside her to see if he was actually coming to see someone else.

    “You’re the only human beside me here.” He said, smiling.

    “O-Oh… Um—”

    “I’m sorry if I’m intruding, but was that Connor with you?” Reese asked, sitting beside her.

    “Y-Yes. Connor from the revolution. I… I’m (y/n).” She chuckled in the end.

    “Nice to meet you. I’m Reese. Are you his lover?”

(y/n) bit her lip, “Actually… If you don’t mind me asking, how did you know you were in love with Simon?”

    “Hm, well. I knew just as I would have known if he was a human being. My heart acted funny, I cared more about him than I did for myself—”

    “No, actually… I’m trying very hard to not let my feelings for him show. I’m just… What if… After this upgrade, he decides to leave me? I can’t give him my heart and just… I don’t know if I’m making sense.”

    “You don’t want him to leave you. And you’re scared that if he does, you won’t be able to take it. Right?” Reese asked, grinning.

    “Yes! What… What do I do?”

    “First answer this,” Reese looked at her earnestly, “Do you love him?”

She gulped. She thought of all the times he had just observed her. There was no need for communication sometimes with the way he followed up and synced with her. He was understanding, he was sometimes frustrating when he didn’t know what he was doing, and that came with a great deal of innocence. She knew what she felt.

    “Yes.” She whispered.

    “Then you have to trust him. Ultimately, those upgrades are not what you’re afraid of. You’re afraid of him leaving you. And that can only be solved with trust. So it’s up to you.”

Her eyes widened. He made sense. She smiled at him before thanking him, as Reese congratulated her as well for her realization.

    “Oh, and (y/n),” Reese said, as he was walking away. “Once Connor has those upgrades, he’ll feel them activate right away.”

     “Oh, okay.”

Reese chuckled, “I’m talking about the gonads, too.”

She felt her face redden instantly.

○

series taglist:

@ggukachuu @rainbowsithlord @pan-puff-pride @tanya-diggory @toocoldoutsideforyou @margaret-mortem @ohhhhhhsweetfandomofmine @pandacookieowo @maajikcrossing @inthemarveldumpster @iwannabemorethanme @creation-magician @icetealemonade @saphirepearl @ninjarose23 @shaydeevee33 @spideyboipete​ 

[fickle-fixations]

Keep Me Safe

Diaval's bird body has become weak and he finds himself in need of a new one. What he wasn’t expecting was being restored by means both physical and of the heart.

Or, two goths falling for each other.

This takes place in the middle of the first Maleficent movie and can be considered a precursor to my Old War Bird series, which I am still working on, slowly but surely.

Word count: 2393 // Warnings: bones, body transfer/rebirth thing, mentions of memories of pain // Genre: pre-romance, hurt/comfort, a bit of angst, a bit of fluff, a bit of adventure

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

“Mistress,” Diaval began cautiously as he and Maleficent neared her home deep in the Moors. 

He held his breath for a moment, waiting to see if she would snap or turn him back into his original form.

She was silent, concentrating  on each step. It still hurt her to walk. Ever since her wings were ripped from her and her back was damaged, it hurt to do almost everything.

“I was wondering if you were aware,” Diaval fumbled, “Well of course you are, but, I thought I’d take it upon myself to remind you,”

“Out with it,” she demanded.

“You see, ravens usually only live about fifteen years. The longest I ever saw was an old bird who lived to twenty, but Aroura is nearly eleven years old now and that would make me quite old for a raven. I can feel myself getting weaker every time I fly and-”

“I’ll get you a new body tomorrow.” 

Diaval halted abruptly. He blinked a few times, his gaze trained on her curiously.

He had expected her to say that he should just deal with it or that she would find a new creature to be her wings. But this? He had known Maleficent for most of the years of his life and, from what he could tell, this was a grand gesture.

Still a selfish one, in a sense, but still, she could have very easily replaced him. 

He kept walking and tried to hide his smile. He wondered if she could see very well in the dark.

The next morning, Diaval rose to keep watch with the sun, as he always did, though the night before he had hardly slept. He stayed up most of the night with questions swimming in his mind.

He wondered where this new body would come from. He wondered if he would be able to remember everything after he somehow inhabited this new body. He wondered if this really was a sliver of compassion in his cold mistress. He wondered why the thought of Maleficent doing something for him made him quiver and feel lightheaded and nearly weightless. 

He watched as the morning sun cast its warm light on his sleeping mistress.

The Moors began to come to life with sound and movement. Birds chirped and creatures flitted and scurried. Nyads sang from far upstream and the tree folk stirred but continued to slumber. 

And after a while, as she always did, his mistress awoke with a start, her eyes wild with fear. But, as always, it was only for a moment. 

She always looked peaceful when she slept and strong while she was awake.

Diaval was the only one who saw this part of her. The part of her underneath all the strength. The part of her that was plagued with fear and pain from her past. 

A moment later, her face was set in her usual cold expression again. Only then did he alight from his perch in the tree above her.

She turned him into his human form at just the right moment so his feet would touch the ground almost gracefully. He realized he couldn’t remember the last time he stumbled after being transformed. They had gotten quite used to little things like this. He quivered and felt light again.

“Good morning, Mistress.”

He always said that, though she hardly ever acknowledged it. When she did, it was usually with some harsh remark. 

“Diaval.” she replied simply as he handed her her staff.

Fluttering. Diaval realized that’s what his heart was doing. His heart was fluttering like a fledgeling leaving the nest for the first time. Excited and fearful and free.

Later that day, when the sun had just started to dim, Maleficent informed him it was time for them to get his new body.

As they began walking, Diaval was struck with a sudden, terrible realization. 

“Mistress,” he piped up, “I’m just now thinking that it really isn’t so bad after all. I’m sure if you turned me back to a raven right now I would feel as strong as ever! And, well if my wings ever do give out I could always walk.”

“What are you fussing about now?” Maleficent snapped, “Just yesterday you were whining and complaining about how weak you are and now you say you’re as strong as a young bird. Now which one is it? I won’t have you wasting my time, Diaval.”

The raven man ran his hands through his dirty, black hair, trying to figure out how to answer her without further inciting her anger. He looked down at the ground as he spoke.

“Well,” he began, rocking back and forth on his heels, “You see, mistress, while my body is becoming a bit weaker, I could never ask you to take the life of another raven simply for my gain. I don’t know how I would live with myself if-”

Diaval was cut off by the sound of Maleficent… laughing. He could hardly believe his ears. He looked back up at her and sure enough, she was laughing.

He had never heard her laugh before, besides a couple times when she was laughing at someone. But this was different. She sounded actually amused. Her laugh made him think he could imagine her actually being happy, once upon a time.

He saw her smile for a moment. Despite her fangs, her smile didn’t look menacing. He noticed how her eyes squinted just a little bit when she laughed. Her eyes or maybe her whole face just seemed a little brighter than they usually did.

In that moment, she looked to Diaval like a perfect mix between dark strength and the ghost of the bright, young, joyful faerie she once was, long before he met her. He couldn’t put words to how incredible she was to him. To him, she was beautiful.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, laughter still lingering in her voice, “You didn’t honestly think I would kill another raven to give you new wings?”

“I was worried for a moment.” Diaval tried to laugh it off as well, but he found it hard to rid himself of the fear he felt just minutes before. 

It was almost baffling to him that one person could fill him with so much fear and awe at the same time. But he never feared for his own life around Maleficent. No, he hadn’t felt that particular fear since the moment he met her.

“And here I thought you knew me,” she said, smirking.

They continued walking. She was leading him deep into the Moors. Deeper than he had ever gone. Even though the sun wasn’t getting any higher in the sky, the world around them seemed to grow brighter as time passed. The deeper into the Moors they went and the more dense the trees grew, the lighter the air became. Magic seemed to be stronger there. The depths of the Moors were full of life.

“We’re here.” Maleficent finally said.

To Diaval, they didn’t look to be anywhere in particular. She had stopped at a very ordinary looking patch of dirt at the base of a rather ordinary looking tree surrounded by very ordinary looking grass and foliage.

“Really?” he said sceptically.

“Really.” she said, flicking her hand and turning him into his raven form before he could ask anything else.

He instantly felt weak and tired again. He felt his bones creak with age and a heaviness in his head.

“Now,” she said, kneeling on the ground beside him, “This won’t take too long and this won’t hurt you as long as you work with me, and as long as you aren’t afraid. You have no reason to be afraid.”

Diaval shook out his wings and ruffled his feathers a bit. He turned his head to look up at her, first with one eye, then the other. In her eyes were nothing but calm and strength. How could he ever be afraid when he was looking into those eyes?

He nodded his head.

‘I trust you.’

She nodded in return, then reached back and plucked out one of his feathers. But her eyes never left his. 

He didn’t feel the need to caw in protest. It was hardly even painful. He just watched, transfixed as she worked.

She buried the feather in the dirt. She lay her hands on the patch of earth and it grew dark and moist. Something started to form beneath the dirt. As he watched whatever it was take shape, he felt her hand on the back of his head.

The body of a raven began to rise from the ground, but as it did so, he found it hard to concentrate on anything. His vision was getting blurry. He looked once more into Maleficent’s reassuring eyes before the world went black.

He awoke a few moments later. His vision and mind was still hazy but he felt a new life and strength in him. He saw that the other raven body was lying on the ground beside Maleficent, now. 

He watched as the feathers started to crumble. Then, all the feathers and flesh fell away to dust, leaving nothing but bones behind.

His mind was becoming clearer now and he stood, shakily to his feet. He realized the body beside Maleficent was in fact his old body. He was nothing but bones, but he was more alive than he had felt in a long time. He felt strong and he felt safe.

He looked up at her. He had always known she was powerful but he had never imagined she could do anything quite like this. He was grateful to her and he was in awe of her.

As much as she tried to present herself to the humans as a terrifying creature of death, he knew the truth. He saw it in how she protected and watched over Aurora. He saw it in how she paid attention to everything that went on in the Moors and how, deep down, all she wanted was for the other creatures to be safe from humans. He saw it now in how she had done this unbelievable act of giving him new life.

He saw her as a creature of life. One that he loved with his entire being.

That was the first time he had ever admitted it to himself. He loved Maleficent. The words felt as new to him as his new body did, but they felt just as fitting, too.

He hopped over to her, a bit wobbly on his new, youthful legs.

“Are you alright, Diaval?” she asked cautiously.

He cawwed and nodded. He looked down at the bones of his old body. He didn’t miss it as much as he thought he would, though he hated the thought of them just wasting away here in the middle of nowhere. 

He carefully separated his skull from the rest of the bones and laid it in Maleficent’s lap. Even though she didn’t know it, she held his heart, so it was only fitting that she be the keeper of his old body as well. He offered it to her as a symbol of his love and gratitude. His love that he thought he would never have the courage to admit in words.

She looked surprised, maybe even touched. She picked the skull up and held it gently in her hands.

“I shall keep it safe.” she said in a soft but resolute voice.

She wasn’t one for thanking people or saying ‘you’re welcome’ or anything of that nature, but he knew that her words meant so much more than that. Her words were an acknowledgment of his trust. He knew that, in a way, she cared for him too.

As she rose to her feet he decided to try flying with his new wings. He flew in tight circles not too far above her head. It felt so good to be able to fly without feeling tired as soon as he left the ground. He felt like he could fly faster than a hummingbird and higher than a dragon. Maybe he felt this way because of his new body, but maybe, this was just what it felt like to be in love.

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

About a week later, when he awoke in the nest he had built right beside where Maleficent slept, Diaval noticed a new ring on her outstretched right hand. He hopped nearer to his still-sleeping mistress’ hand. Upon further inspection he realized that the ring was made of the skull he had given her.

Pride swelled up in his chest.

She soon awoke, and this time, there was no blazing fear in her eyes.

He cawwed ‘good morning’ to her.

She didn’t respond but she sat up slowly, clutching at her back with her left hand. After over a decade, the place where her wings used to be still caused her pain nearly every day. Some days the pain was worse than others. Diaval knew that this physical pain always brought back terrible memories of however it was that she had lost her wings. Being in pain always made her angry and sad. Daival hated seeing her like that.

She squinted her eyes shut as she clutched at her back even tighter.

He cawwed at her, hoping to distract her from the pain.

“What,” she half-demanded, half-groaned as she opened her eyes again.

Diaval nodded at the ring on her right hand and puffed out his chest a little.

‘You liked it! You liked my gift!’

“Oh, stop being sentimental,” she said, rolling her eyes, “I’m simply keeping it safe, as I promised I would.”

Diaval flitted around a bit - if he were human at that moment he would have smiled.

“Now stop acting like a foolish little fledgling and help me stand up,” she sighed.

She flicked her right hand and he scrambled to his feet even while he was still transforming.

He held both her hands, steadying her as she stood. He absentmindedly brushed his thumb back and forth over the skull on her finger. He handed her her staff which she held in her left hand, while he still held her right. 

She looked down at their hands then back up at him, raising her eyebrow.

He couldn’t stop himself from grinning.

“It suits you.”

“I suppose it does.”

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

| I hope you enjoyed it! Would you consider buying me a ko-fi? |

@darkphoenixfae @dimensionbitch @hawkeyesgrl @reapeared @borrafey

@violetwolfraven

I hope you guys don’t mind that I tagged you in this one! I am working on the Old War Bird stuff but I thought I’d put this out there in the mean time :)

[valkerymillenia]

So... This is very embarrassing to admit as a long, long, long, looong time DC fan but I only watched “Under the Red Hood” today.

I read the whole arc in the comics and I caught a piece of the movie before but I only now watched the full thing.

Thoughts I had while watching it:

-Where the hell is Ra’s palace?

-Bosnia...? What?

-Where was Sheila in all this mess? We gonna act like Jason didn’t get his heart ripped out by her before he was killed?

-Where’s Tim?

-I never thought I’d like NPH voicing Dick but here we are (on that note- Dick, sweetie, that hair! What were they thinking?)

-Why...Why were they bandaging Dick’s leg OVER his suit? Wtf?

-Why is Red Hood so much smaller than Batman?

-You’re telling me Bruce “world’s greatest detective” Wayne brought home and buried a doll and nobody noticed?

-Since when is Ra’s so nice?? You don’t like unnecessary killing, wtf? You literally lead a group called League of ASSASSINS! I’ve seen you snap necks of loyal followers of yours just because they were disabled.

-Ok, I get why the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Jay because it’s just easier plot-wise than the mess in comics but... Oh, we’re going to pretend Ra’s wanted to bring Jay back out of the goodness of his heart, huh? And Talia is just there and unrelated, huh? K then.

-Where’s Tim??

-”Ally & Friend”? “You were my partner”? So... we’re just going to pretend Jason wasn’t Bruce’s son at all? Because, you know, it’s less creepy for him to fight alongside someone and say ‘I loved you’ if it’s a child partner and not his actual son. Well done, Warner/DC, you made it creepy *rolls eyes into oblivion*

-Joker’s voice just feels....wrong. Good acting though.

-Bruce saying that Jason was always a bad apple, violent and troublemaker and that if he hadn’t made him Robin, Jay would have grown up to become an evil criminal... WTF? 

Are we talking about the same (admittedly brash and loud) nerdy, polite, star-struck, sweetheart that was Jason “Robin” Todd? The guy that in Flashpoint (aka the reality where Bruce never met him) became a wholesome priest? What??? Why are you invalidating the trauma that made him Red Hood by implying he was mean from the start? Why you doing my baby dirty, Warner?

-WHERE IS TIM?

-The whole “I forgive you for letting me die” and “because he took me away from you” scene? Tears, man. TEARS! My poor heart.

-The ultimatum between Bruce, Jason and Joker? A little flawed but still very good! Maybe better than the comics actually... But that’s just my opinion because I never liked the ‘batarang to the throat’ scene.

-WHERE. IS. TIM???

-”This changes nothing.” Bruce, just admit you love the boy and you’re glad he’s alive. 

-Very good action scenes, slightly cheaper animation in idle scenes. Still great.

All in all, very good movie, I liked it and, from an unbiased point of view, I can see how someone who doesn’t read the comics would love it. 

But once again my Timmy gets screwed over in the adaptation, and I don’t like the implication that Jason was a mean kid before his death, or that Bruce didn’t consider him a son. Also, Ra’s is way too nice in this movie and it gives me the creeps.

[madasthesea]

COULD YOU WRITE A STORY WHERE TONY CALLS PETER BABY OH MY GOSH THAT WAS THE CUTEST THING!!!!!!!!

i. on accident

Tony figured that since he had been dealing with insomniafor well over ten years now, he would have no problem adjusting to having ababy. He was so, so wrong.

He doesn’t know what it is about adding a baby to the mixthat makes him so exhausted, but at the moment he’s sprawled nearly boneless onthe couch, trying to keep his eyes open to make sure Morgan is doing alright.Sleep sounds really nice right about now.

As it is, though, Peter’s coming over in just a minute andTony probably should be awake to greet him.

As if Tony has summoned him, the elevator doors suddenlyopen.

“Hi,” Peter calls as he enters, kicking off his shoes. “You looklike death.”

“Thanks, Parker,” Tony mumbles. “Oh, hey, could you grabMorgan’s binkie? I left it on the counter.”

“Sure.” Peter’s young and energetic and doesn’t have a three-month-old,so Tony doesn’t even feel slightly guilty about having him get it when Tony hasbeen trying to force himself to get up for the last fifteen minutes.

Peter comes over and hands Tony the binkie, then makeshimself at home in the small amount of space Tony has left on the couch.

“Thanks, baby,” Tony mutters, his eyes half closed.

Until he realizes what he just said.

Really, it was bound to happen eventually. Tony calls Morgan‘baby’ almost more than her own name, and one of his favorite nicknames forPeter is ‘buddy.’ It’s a perfectly logical, understandable slip when he’s astired as he is.

It doesn’t make it any less embarrassing when Tony’s eyes flyopen and he sees Peter staring at him stunned with a dark blush coloring hischeeks.

“Um,” Peter says. There’s a crooked smile slowly turning uphis mouth. “Did you just call me baby?”

“Nope,” Tony says hastily. “I was… talking to Morgan.”

Peter raises an eyebrow, seeming to enjoy Tony’shumiliation. “And what exactly were you thanking her for?”

They both turn and look at where Morgan’s having tummy-timeon the floor, blowing spit bubbles and batting at a stuffed animal. Tonyflounders for a moment.

”Existing, Peter,”he finally snaps. Peter laughs.

“It’s ok, Mr. Stark, you can call me baby if you want.”Peter’s smile turns sharp. “Afterall, everyone must seem like babies when you’reas old as you are.”

“Watch it,” Tony warns, the threat losing all manner of heatwhen he slumps back against the couch again, a small smile tugging at his lips.

He hears Peter go over to Morgan and start cooing at her.Tony opens one eye and watches as Peter drops down onto his stomach in front ofher.

Tony smiles. His babies.

It actually sounds kind of nice.

ii. injured

Peter’s screaming.

The bullet wound would have been bad enough, but after onlya minute it becomes apparent that the bullet has been poisoned.

Tony’s already called for MedEvac, but Peter’s screaming andsobbing and now there’s nothing Tonycan do.

He wishes he could hold the boy’s hand with his own, but hehas to keep the gauntlet engaged or Peter will break his fingers. He’s alreadycrushing the suit enough that Tony will have to cut it off.

“Peter,” Tony begs. “I know it hurts, kid, I know.”

Peter sobs again, tears mingling with sweat on his face. He’slaying against Tony’s chest, Tony’s arms holding him up. He’s thrashing so muchTony can barely keep hold of him.

“Tony,” Peter pants, seeming barely aware of what’s going onaround him. “Ugh, Tony, please.”

“Just hold on, ok?” Tony says, keeping his voice low so itwon’t break. His eyes sting but he can’t move his hand up to wipe the tearsaway.

Another wave of agony must race through Peter because hescreams again, the sound tearing out of his throat, ripping it raw.

Tony squeezes his eyes closed. He presses his lips hard to Peter’stemple.

“It’s ok, baby,” Tony whispers. Peter doesn’t even hear him.“It’s ok. I’m here.”

Over the sound of Peter’s next whimpering sob, Tony hearsthe quinjet above them.

“Oh, thank heavens,”Tony breathes. He kisses Peter’s temple again. “It’s alright now.”

iii. sleeping

Morgan goes down to bed easily for once, which Tony willnever complain about.

He carefully closes the door to her nursery before makinghis way back to the living room, where Peter is waiting to start another movie,which will almost instantly put him to sleep. Tony would put money on it.

“Alright, my infant is asleep,” Tony announces as he comesout. “Now time for my grumpy teenager.”

“’M not grumpy,” Peter grumbles into the decorative pillowhe’s laying against.

He is grumpy. The poor kid had been up til four in themorning working on a project, and despite protesting that eight is too early togo to bed, he seems ready to collapse at any second.

Honestly, Tony wouldn’t mind joining him.

“Whatever you say, kiddo,” Tony says.

Peter gives him a baleful glare that means he knows Tony’shumoring him, but still sits up and lets Tony take back his place on the couch.

Tony stealthily shifts a little closer to Peter. Once themovie has started, he very gradually coaxes Peter into leaning against him.

As Peter gets heavier against him, his breaths slowing withsleep, Tony finds himself drifting off as well.

He stirs when Peter does.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter whispers.

“Yeah, baby?” Peter’s wonderfully warm and solid next tohim, a comforting weight.

“The movie’s over.”

“Sure is,” Tony agrees after blearily squinting at the TV,where the credits are rolling.

“We should go to bed,” Peter says, burrowing closer to Tony.

Tony hums.

They wake up the next morning still curled up on the couch.

iv. comforting

Peter’s trying to hide the fact that he’s been crying, andthat hurts Tony almost more than the fact that Peter has been crying.

“Kid,” Tony murmurs. Gosh, even looking at Peter’stear-stained face is enough to make Tony’s chest ache.

Peter’s bottom lip immediately starts trembling.

“Hi,” he says, and it must take a lot of effort to make hisvoice sound even close to normal.

“Baby,” Tony tries again, because no matter howunacknowledged it is, he knows Peter likes that nickname. It’s what May callshim, it’s what Tony calls Morgan. He thinks it makes Peter feel like someone’schild again, like family.

That does it. Peter’s face screws up, then he’s practicallythrowing himself into Tony’s arms.

“Hey, woah.” Tony catches him clumsily, but draws Peter asclose as he can, trying to hide him in his embrace.

“I was too late,” Peter hiccups. “I could-couldn’t save her.”

Tony swallows, buries a hand in Peter’s hair. It doesn’t matterhow long Peter’s been Spider-Man, every time someone dies it hits him just ashard. As much as it breaks Tony’s heart, having to hold him while he cries, he hasnever respected another hero more. It’s so much easier to let it numb you, butPeter never does.

“I’m sorry, Pete,” Tony whispers. “I know how hard it is. Iknow.”

“She was twenty-one,” Peter wails.

“Oh, baby. My Peter. It’s not your fault.”

They’ve had this conversation before and they’ll have itagain. For now all he can do is let Peter cry.

v. saying goodbye

“Kid.”

It’s so quiet amid the chaos, but he has Peter’s attentionin an instant.

“Tony?” Peter’s voice is tremulous. He knows something’swrong. Even if he can’t sense it, he can hear it Tony’s voice.

“As soon as you have the chance, grab the plans and run.”

“And what are you going to do?” Peter asks. Tony can’t seehim, they’re on opposite ends of the building. He would give anything to seehim again.

“I’m going to give you that chance.”

“Tony, no,” Peteryells, but Tony talks over him.

“You should have time to get out. You’ve got to hurry, Pete,ok? Don’t stick around once you’re clear, just go.”

“No, no, I won’t—”

“It’s going to be ok, baby,” Tony says without thinking. Heshouldn’t lie to his kid, but he needs… he needs something, permission orcourage or absolution or somethingbefore he blows up the building and himself with it.

“Please don’t do this,” Peter is sobbing over the line. “I’mcoming right now, we can figure this out together.”

“You’re my kid. You know that, right?” He’s already inposition.

“I know. I know. Please, Tony.”

He thinks about Morgan. About Peter.

His babies.

“Now.”

There’s nothing but roaring, scorching red. Then suffocatingblack, ringing with Peter’s screams.

i. to other people

He is, admittedly, a little loopy from pain medicine when Steve,Nat, and Sam come visit him. They’re not really supposed to be there, but theyare. He figures he isn’t really supposed to be alive, but he is, so he doesn’tsay anything.

Pepper comes in after they’ve started running out of smalltalk, bless that woman. She’s carrying Morgan and Peter trails behind her.

Steve, the sap, practically knocks the other two over as heclaims holding Morgan first.

“That’s my baby, Morgan,” Tony says. He’s not slurringanymore, which is a relief. He’s still a little lightheaded, which is less ofrelief, since he’s pretty sure that’s why he then waves a hand at Peter andsays, “And that’s my other baby, Peter.”

Peter stammers a small, “Well… he means… um…”  

Pepper comes to his rescue. “Adopted baby.” Ok, she kind of comes to his rescue.

The three Avengers exchange confused looks, but Sam rolls withit. “Ok. Nice to meet you, Peter.”

“You too,” Peter mutters, then comes and sits by Tony’s bedand pulls up his hood to unsuccessfully hide his blush. He still holds Tony’s hand, though, so he’s obviously not too mad.