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prompt-master · 4 years ago

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Familiar New Beginnings

Hajime woke up that morning already feeling a barrage of unimpressed emotions. He knew his routine by now, had it memorized forwards and backwards. He would do chores around the island, check up on the others still in their comas, then have a video chat with Makoto to update on their status. Despite surviving the impossible, Hajime’s life felt surprisingly uneventful. There was a certain layer of dreariness that stuck to his daily life now. He tried his best to wash it off, but there was always leftover residue no matter how hard he scrubbed. Afterall, many of his friends were comatose, the four others were dealing with their own demons, and nothing in their routine ever seemed to change. He had hope that things would change… but it all felt so…

Hajime groaned, ruffling his hair in the bathroom mirror. If he wasn’t careful, he would sound just like Izuru.

‘And what is wrong with that?’ Speak of the devil.

‘I don’t know… everything?’ Just like that the conversation was over as quickly as it had begun.

He and Izuru were… Well, it had gotten better that’s for sure. Just a month ago the two were constantly clashing with each other. They had argued over everything from moral differences to petty squabbles. At times they had even fought for control of their body, which looked downright scary to the others whenever they got a glimpse. Now… Hajime didn’t really know how to describe his relationship with Izuru. He doesn’t like him, but he doesn’t hate him anymore either.

Not that it mattered much. Izuru wasn’t a part of his daily routine except for the fact that he was always in the back of his head observing. And Hajime was taking things one day at a time.

What mattered right now was getting to the restaurant for breakfast, a quick meeting, and chore assignment. It wasn’t really necessary (Izuru reminded him of this every single morning meeting), but the mini tradition was nice. It was like a small reminder that they were in this together. The morning meeting really could make the difference between a bad day and a good day. Kazuichi slinging his arm around him, talking about stupid guy stuff. Sonia trying to work out the chore assignments but getting distracted with more fun conversation. Fuyuhiko pretending to be bitter and serious, but everyone could see he was enjoying himself. Akane of course would always be energetic as Hell. Hajime swore she could always pull them out of a funk with how much of a driving fight she had (even if she mostly used it for her hunger). Morning meetings reminded Hajime how lucky he was to have escaped with them. They reminded him why he was fighting. They reminded him although things currently felt dreary and repetitive, something good would come out of it. Morning meetings were simply wonderful.

At least, that’s what Hajime would have said a day ago.

Because today’s morning meeting was garbage. There was no way to sugar coat it. He had barely gotten to talk to any of his friends, and although they made his favorite breakfast he was instantly handed a chore list that could only be described as annoying. After reading over the list, Hajime looked up at Sonia.

“Seriously?” The list consisted solely of the most difficult unwanted jobs, not to mention the fact that many were on opposite sides of the island.

“I’m terribly sorry, Hinata-kun.” Her smile didn’t look sorry though. Before he could get too bitter, Izuru had to remind Hajime that her smile hasn’t been as bright ever since getting her despair memories back. She did a polite bow, one in that over exaggerated foreigner way, “the others have been incredibly down lately so I wanted to try and ease their workload.”

Hajime could already feel a hefty weight on him, “why me though?”

There was a shift in her eyes, a quick glance that she tried to hide, “I figured that…”

Of course she had, since she glanced at his red eye after all. If only she realized how uncooperative Izuru could be. Sure, he had the Ultimate Ultimate living in the attic space of his head but it meant nothing when all he wanted to do was watch.

Regardless, Hajime nodded. Taking some load off his friends back may do them some good. He knows he heard Kazuichi screaming from a nightmare last night. Probably about the death machines he built.

“But just this once”, he had said.

He could practically feel Izuru mocking him in his dead toned way. Throughout the day of trying to get his chores done and ignoring Izuru’s sudden comments about being bored he would hardly get to see any of his friends. It sucked, but sometimes it had to happen, he supposed. They weren’t on an island vacation after all, they had to keep the island self sustaining. All in all… an incredibly lackluster day as he had feared. It was this brand of nothingness that left Hajime feeling vague within his own body. The lack of stimulation allowed him to fade out until the next chore was done. It was a numbness over his body as his brain went into autodrive.

And he hated it.

Feeling like he was floating, feeling like he has no control of his body. That reminded Hajime of how close he was to simply not existing anymore. In fact, sometimes he still wonders if he doesn’t exist. Maybe he’s just Izuru, and this is Izuru’s weird way of coping with everything.

‘Don’t be idiotic, Hajime.’ Izuru said, pulling him back into reality. Right. He was working on the farm. ‘You have survived one of the final trials between hope and despair, against Enoshima Junko herself. Yet you still doubt your own existence. How boring.’

Hajime laughed through his nose, pulling another root out of the ground. Izuru certainly had a strange way of cheering him up. Maybe Hajime was the strange one though, because it worked.

‘Careful, Kamukura, you almost sound sentimental.’

There was a beat of silence. For a moment Hajime thought that was the end of the conversation. It wasn’t unusual for them to have short bursts of conversation that cut off suddenly. When he spoke again, Hajime wished he had the talent Makoto did. He wished he could see beyond Izuru’s tone to hear the meaning behind them. Even though it was the same flat, uninterested, soft voice he had heard a million times before, he felt as though there was something unseen within.

‘I have told you this before, but that particular trial was one I had set up myself. Your existence is a display of significance and impossibility. Do not disappoint.’

It wasn’t too odd to hear this sentiment from Izuru. In fact Hajime had heard it from the moment he woke up. His very existence was the defining reason Izuru gave hope a chance. It clearly meant a lot to Izuru, even if continued to claim he could feel nothing. Still, Hajime couldn’t help but wonder why Izuru was saying this now. Izuru didn’t say anything without purpose. Ah, he didn’t want Hajime to be moping around all day. That would be much too boring. Hajime decided to give Izuru some control over the body just this once, to let him play around in the dirt and with the bugs within. For a man who could do anything, he always found interest in such simple matters. It was almost charming.

Hajime must have nodded off at some point, because when he had come back into the driver’s seat not only was the crop work done, but so were several other chores on the list. Hajime couldn’t even process that for a moment, having to confirm both with Izuru and his own eyes multiple times to be sure. It was always odd blacking out and finding his own body had done something without him. ‘You didn’t have to do all that’ Hajime had said. ‘I was bored’ was all he got in response. Typical Izuru.

Although Hajime could still feel the aches of labor throughout his body, he had to admit that the break was a welcomed one. Even if Izuru hadn’t intended for it to be a relaxing moment, Hajime supposed sometimes taking the backseat didn’t need to feel so life ending. After all, like Izuru said, if he could survive Junko, he could survive today. And tomorrow. And any day.

Hajime’s step had a bit more vigor in it now. He felt just slightly more energized. He could tackle the few chores left on the list now. He was certain that without Izuru occasionally throwing in a comment, Hajime would fall asleep while cleaning.

With the chores list done, he had to do some inspection on his comatosed friends. It was certainly a tough job to handle, but Byakuya - er… The Imposter- had recently been showing some promising signs. For both The Imposter’s sake and his own, Hajime would keep this work flow going. He had to, even if he felt tired. Besides, the sooner he finished with that, the sooner he could call Makoto, and the sooner he could lay in bed and go to sleep. Just imagining that left Hajime feeling happy, maybe with some luck he could even convince Izuru to not interrupt his sleep out of boredom.

“Yo, Hinata!”

Strangely enough, outside the hospital was Kazuichi, seemingly waiting for him. As Hajime approached, Kazuichi pushed off the wall he was leaning against and jogged up to him.

Hajime placed his hands in his pockets, ignoring Izuru’s gentle scoldings about how that was rude and closed off body posture, “Hey Souda, what are you doing here?”

Kazuichi flashed a smile full of teeth, “The others decided to throw a dinner party, so I came to let ya know. Cuz y’know, you’re invited, of course.”

“A dinner party?” Hajime couldn’t deny the temptation. “What for?”

“We’ve been all working so hard ‘n stuff!”

“Ah, so it’s just an excuse to party.”

Kazuichi glared and pointed at Hajime in accusation, “hey hey we deserve to have this man!”

Hajime laughed, rolling his eyes, “well, I guess so. It sounds like fun, I hope you guys enjoy yourselves.”

“Hold on. What do you mean ‘you guys’?”

“Well... “ Hajime rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m pretty tired in all honesty. Besides,” Hajime glanced at the hospital, “It feels a bit wrong to celebrate right now.”

Kazuichi’s eyes widened, and he began waving his hands side to side, “you got to come!”

“I do?”

“Yes!” At Hajime’s continued confusion, Kazuichi took a step back to try and calm himself down, “It would be weird without you, we need you to join.”

Hajime tried to wave his hand in dismissal, “I’ve done a lot of work today, Souda-”

But Kazuichi just clasped his hands together and began begging, “please Hinata!” he said. Geez, Kazuichi was always pushy when it came to this sort of stuff but…

‘Enough. Just agree to go.’

‘We need rest. You’d be bored anyway.’

‘Rest is far more boring than a predictable dinner. Besides, you wish to go, so I see no point in refusal.’

Hajime sighed. How did he always get pushed into antics like this? “Alright, Souda, Alright, I’ll go.”

Kazuichi threw his fits up into the air in celebration, “Fuck yeah! You won’t regret this Hinata!” before Hajime could make any more small talk Kazuichi ran off towards the island bridge.

“I’m gonna tell Owari to bring the good booze!” He yelled.

Hajime cupped his hands over his mouth, “Don’t drink too much!” They still had work to do the next day afterall.

A dinner party huh? Seemed a bit out of the blue, but the others like to do little activities to keep morale up. He supposed this just had to be another example of that. Hajime yawned as he entered the hospital, already knowing that he would be up late tonight. They would probably meet for this little get together at around six or seven at night. And thanks to the simulation, Hajime was still used to ending the day around ten. Maybe he could convince Sonia to let him sleep until late the next day, Izuru did have Ultimate Psychologist on his hand after all. He could be incredibly convincing when he wanted to.

‘Absolutely not.’

Oh, c’mon. Hajime hadn’t even shared that thought with Izuru!

‘You’re predictable.’

Hajime rolled his eyes, getting to work at the hospital. Before he knew it the day was essentially over. There was little to no progress to report, but Makoto assured him that things were looking up regardless. Makoto assured him that every day. Although in this particular call, Makoto did seem to hold more kindness to his smile than usual. He told Hajime to take the day off tomorrow, which was odd. Hajime hasn’t taken many days off at all since waking up. The only exception was back when he and Izuru would fight more often. Why would he take a day off now? Perhaps Makoto could tell he needed a good night's sleep?

Either way, Hajime just had to survive the dinner party. And at least this would be genuinely enjoyable. It would just be him, his friends, and the bottles of alcohol around them.

Akane greeted him at the door, “Hinata!” she yelled, smile bright as ever.

Kazuichi of course wrapped an arm around Hajime once he saw him, shaking him back and forth.

Sonia held both of his hands in hers, guiding him to the food she and Akane helped prepare. Honestly, he was surprised the food was still on the table. But it did look good.

Fuyuhiko had handed Hajime a glass, telling him he was certain Hajime would enjoy the taste of this particular alcohol.

It was almost like they were a normal group of college kids on a friday night. They told stupid stories of their past, drank, and ate their hearts out. Occasionally Hajime would let Izuru take control to take a sip of a particularly bitter drink. But all in all no one got too wasted, mostly because Fuyuhiko wouldn’t let them.

Hajime was laughing at one of Kazuichi’s many rejection stories when Sonia tapped a glass with her spoon. Moments like these reminded Hajime of why Sonia was titled after such an impressive talent. It wasn’t simply a role she was born into, she carried all the traits of elegance and leadership in her posture as she gathered everyone’s attention to her. Back straight, and kind smile, Hajime wanted to give his undivided attention.

“Every day I feel so grateful to have become your friends,” She said, “we have all accomplished so much, and we only have more goals to seek in our future.” She turned to face Hajime specifically, “and we have you to thank for that, Hinata-kun.”

“Huh? Me?” Well that wasn’t right. In fact if Hajime hadn’t been so depressed as a teenager Izuru wouldn’t have existed. And then Izuru wouldn’t have helped end the world. And then he wouldn’t have put Junko into the Neo World Program.

Izuru reminded him that if he had refused the project, Hope's Peak Academy would have simply targeted another student.

“Yeah, you!” Akane smiled, punching Hajime hard in the shoulder, “We definitely wouldn’t have left without you!”

Fuyuhiko looked up from where he had been sitting with his arms crossed, “And these idiots would have never figured out the trials without you.”

“It was a team effort.” Hajime tried to stress, “We all have done so much-”

“Bro!” Kazuichi yelled, “Just let us appreciate you, holy shit!”

Hajime laughed as Akane filled up his cup with another round of liquor, “Seriously Hinata, do you ever loosen up? Maybe we need more food.”

Hajime took a sip, cringing a bit at the burn it brought his throat. Akane did always like the more intense stuff. “Did you guys throw this all together just to be nice to me?”

It admittedly was nicer than looking back on the past as they had grown accustomed too after gaining back their old memories. Hajime had to remind himself often to look for the future instead, and it sounded like the others still want to as well.

Sonia’s smile fell from royal elegance to that of a close friend, “it’s almost midnight you know.”

“I wonder what the new year will bring,” Fuyuhiko was watching the red sky through the window, “can’t get worse than this bullshit.”

Fuyuhiko choked as Akane slammed a hand onto his back, “It’s going to be a great year! I can’t wait for coach to wake up! I’ve got so much shit to show him, and Minimaru ain’t as good at massaging.”

“So that’s what this is all about, huh?” Was it really New Years Eve already? Hajime felt like there was something else he was forgetting but before he could think more on it…

“Is everyone ready to count down?” Sonia asked, eliciting sounds of approval (and cheers from one Kazuichi).

“Ten... “Sonia looked at her watch and took charge of the count. She really did make a good leader.

“Nine” All of Hajime’s exhaustion felt lost. It was a short few seconds, but everyone seemed so excitable. It was contagious.

“Eight” The others had gathered close to each other, letting Hajime get a full view of the carefree joy on their faces.

“Seven” He wished he could wake up those unconscious to join them. He’d have to work twice as hard this year to make sure they all got to celebrate together.

“Six” But that was what this was all about anyway. They were looking to the future, just as they had promised in the game.

“Five!” The excitement in their voices grew, Hajime just as loud with them.

“Four!” Because it was more than just about looking to the future.

“Three!” It was about making the future.

“Two!” They were going to take the future in their hands and make it worth living through all that despair.

“One!” And Hajime couldn’t be more thankful to make this future with them.

“Happy Birthday!” “Happy New Year!”

Huh? What? Why did everyone else yell about..?

Everyone was smiling ear to ear. He could see they all had these smug proud expressions as if they’d caught him in the act. Did he..?

“Wait a sec,” Hajime looked at everyone’s faces one by one for any signs of the truth, “is it someone’s birthday…?”

He was met with blank stares. Shit, he must have forgotten someone’s birthday and now he looked like an idiot because he was the only one who didn’t know. Hell he didn’t know it was the 31st until a few moments ago!

Hajime fidgeted, now feeling bad for getting so caught up in work that he’d forget something like this, “I’m...who’s birthday is it? Why did no one tell me... “

Kazuichi was staring at Hajime like he was an idiot, and that was saying a lot, “Dude… it’s your birthday!”

“...Really?”

“Did you forget your own birthday?!” Fuyuhiko yelled, then he turned to Sonia, “I told you this surprise bullshit was stupid.”

“I thought it would be cute… ”

“Man… '' Akane looked flatout depressed, “I held back on eating the cake and everything and you weren’t even happy.”

“What?! No, no, I just-” Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling embarrassment redden his ears. “I really didn’t know.”

For just a moment Hajime retreated back into his head.

‘Did you know about this, Kamukura?’

‘Of course.’ Izuru had known everything from the moment they had woken up. And he’d known about the party since Sonia had handed them their chores list.

‘And you didn’t tell me..?!’

‘I thought that it would be amusing.’

‘Well. Are you amused?’

‘Predictably… yes.’

Sonia looked down at the floor with a defeated posture, she sunk down into one of the restaurant chairs, “I’m sorry Hinata-kun… the others said we should have just told you about the party but I thought that since… “

Kazuichi propped elbow up on the table, resting his head against his hand. Even he looked defeated, Hajime wondered how much effort they put into this surprise, “We thought since none of us have celebrated our birthdays in years that it’d be nice to make a big deal out of it.”

“Wait, hold on just a second everyone.” They were right, none of them had properly celebrated their birthdays for a few years, Hajime even more since he was quite literally erased, “This all is very sweet! I just… didn’t remember. Usually it’s colder around my birthday…”

It didn’t seem to do much to uplift the mood, but he could see the urge to tease Hajime for his forgetfulness on their faces.

“Really, all of you. This means a lot to me.” Hajime could imagine them formulating their plan for this party. Making sure he was out of the way, getting together to brainstorm different ideas. Not to mention the hand baked cake, he could only imagine what the kitchen must look like right now. He knows they must have put their entire hearts into this. “I’m really lucky to have all of you.”

The others smiled at Hajime, glad to see that their efforts weren’t for nothing. At the end of the day, they had just wanted to make Hajime feel special. And although the surprise wasn't as big of a hit as they had intended it to be, they had the rest of the day to make Hajime feel as special as he really was. Now if only this awkward silence would go away-

“Pah...what’s with all this depressing atmosphere when there’s a perfectly good cake right here in front of us?!” Akane cried out, cutting Hajime a slice before cutting herself a massive piece.

Sonia beamed, hands on her hips, “Owari-san is right! The party must go on!”

“It’s ‘the show must go on’, Sonia.”

And just like that the high energy was back. It may have been twelve in the morning, but all of them were ecstatic as though it was just a fun afternoon. They even had gifts prepared for him, stuff they all had to create themselves since there weren’t exactly any stores open on the island. Sonia had put together a book for him, full of photos of them courtesy of Makoto and the Neo World Program’s leftover data. She left some space in the book for new memories when the others woke up. Akane had gotten him an assortment of pretty shells she’d found along the shoreline. She had also gotten him a rather gross looking squid, claiming she pulled it right out of the ocean for him. Kazuichi had gotten him a handmade phone. He said the internet doesn’t exist still, but he was trying to replicate as much of the fun as he could with his limited coding knowledge. Apparently Alter Ego helped him with that stuff. Fuyuhiko’s was a lot simpler, but he knew it meant a lot. It was a handmade bracelet of twined hay. At Hajime’s confusion, Fuyuhiko had lifted his sleeve to show a matching bracelet on his own wrist. Looking away with a flustered expression on his face, Fuyuhiko had said it was a way to show their brotherhood.

Now Hajime poked at his cake. It wasn’t the best tasting cake he’d ever had. It was messy, and too sweet, and a bit undercooked. But somehow that’s what made it the best cake he had ever had. It was so… homemade. And that’s what made it really special to Hajime. As he ate more of his cake he thought to himself about how they wanted to make his first birthday in years special. Hajime began to dig through his mind for the last memory he had of someone putting in effort for his birthday with little avail. His birthday came right after New Years Eve parties. People were usually too tired to then turn around and celebrate some kids' party. He didn’t have any friends either. There was a reason he specifically was selected for the Kamukura Project. Hajime could have disappeared at any moment, and no fuss would have kicked up a storm. Not even his parents would have batted an eye. Sure, they had spent a monumental sum of money to get him into the reserve course, but that was also the exact reason they had grown to resent him. They spent a fortune to get their useless son an opportunity to become something, and nothing had even changed. Looking back, Hajime’s life had been a lonely mix of drowning in low self esteem and being uncared for.

But now these guys...his closest friends… they were changing everything he knew about his life. Hajime didn’t know it was possible to feel so loved.

‘I have never had cake before’

Oh. That’s right, Izuru was still here. Like he always was. That was another change in his life. Did it have to be so unwelcomed though?

Hajime pulled back to let Izuru take the driver's seat for a moment, watching distantly as he picked up a fork and put it in his mouth.

‘The amount of frosting on this is offensive to the craft of baking.’

‘That must mean you like it, then.’

‘Indeed.’

Izuru continued to eat pieces from his cake. Hajime decided to simply let him, it wasn’t often Izuru found something that interested him. He’s sure in just a few more bites Izuru will give back control willingly once he gets bored of the overly sweet taste. He might as well let Izuru join in the celebration.. Wait…

‘Hey, Kamukura, what about you.’

‘What about me? I am eating cake.’

‘But they’ve only been celebrating me.’

‘That is because it is not my birthday.’

That… did make sense. Just because their body was made on this day didn’t mean Izuru himself was.

‘When is your birthday, then?’

‘I do not see why it matters.’

Moments like these reminded Hajime that although Izuru was a man who had everything, he’d only been living for a few years now. He was sitting here absolutely pleased and amazed with the idea of an overly sweet cake. Had Izuru ever celebrated his own birthday?

‘Just tell me. We’ll celebrate yours when the time comes around.’

‘You cannot throw a celebration for someone who feels nothing.’ Bullshit, Hajime thought. But he kept that one to himself.

‘Humor me, wouldn’t it be interesting to see what we come up with?’ Everyone deserved that chance. If Hajime, the unloved talentless reserve course student could get here, then why couldn’t Izuru?

‘Very well. I first awoke on June Ninth.’

June Ninth. June Ninth. June Ninth. Hajime repeated the date in his head to commit it to memory. Just a month ago, Hajime would have scoffed at the idea of celebrating Izuru’s existence. Maybe his life hadn’t been so unchanging as he thought. Just a month ago, Izuru would have never cared about Hajime’s birthday. It didn’t seem like change was happening on the surface, but they were there. Slowly moving. Always making progress. Is this what hope meant? Would they one day become more than just headmates? Maybe they’d become… friends?

‘I’ll make sure you have a great birthday, Izuru.’

Izuru was smiling just the slightest. Or well, this smile was as wide as it could get when Izuru was the subject matter. ‘Focus on your own birthday for now, Hajime’ that was his way of saying happy birthday, ‘ensure that this year you do not disappoint me with your existence.’

For once Hajime had a strong feeling that he won’t.

#danganronpa #sdr2 #hajime hinata #izuru kamukura #sdr2 spoilers #fanfic #fan fic #should i tag the others? lemmie know lol #happy birthday hinata <33333333333

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greekgeek21 · 3 years ago

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Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - they steal an old pirate ship

I'm alive!! I'm so sorry for just ditching you guys, but I was in Shasta for a week and didn't have any internet access so I wasn't even able to say that I was gonna not update. But I hope this nice, semi-long chapter makes up for it! Reminder that this is also available on FF, Inkitt, Ao3, Webnovel, and Wattpad

On a completely different note, I'm going to be starting to write a book. Like, a real published book. It'll take a few years but I'm determined and I love the idea I thought of so if any of you are interested, email me at [email protected] and I might be willing to send some samples. I want input, badly. And all the people in my life are biased. Total strangers on the internet are totally made for this, right?

I recently got into readers marauder era fanfics and I'm already in too deep, gays (and yes I meant to say gay, we all know it if you're reading pjo fanfiction). There is no escape.

Anyway, I'm running out of prewritten chapters, so I have to get to writing that while preparing to write a book. Wish me luck! Happy pride month! 🏳️‍🌈✨

- your author

Ω ♆ Ω

"Run it by me again. Just one more time," Steve asked, still highly confused.

They had made it to Florida and were now at a private dock. Percy had just briefly explained his control over any water vehicle and the Captain was not getting the point.It was understandable. Percy still barely got it.

However, they didn't have a whole lot of time, and every second they wasted discussing Percy's weird powers was another second Annabeth's captors had to hurt her. They did not have time for this.

"We are going to steal a boat, and I'm going to sail us the rest of the way," Percy sighed.

"Ok, but, how are we going to sail it if only you know how to do it?" Steve asked.

Even Piper was getting frustrated now. "He can control the boat! We won't have to do anything! The boat will listen to his will! Oh my gods!"

"But how is that possible!?" Steve shouted.

"How would I know?! I was just born with the freaky powers!" Percy yelled right back, getting fed up with this never-ending conversation.

Jason decided to cut in before things got too out of hand. They had to save Annabeth.

"Guys! This doesn't matter! What matters is that we save Annabeth, and we can't do that if we're stuck here arguing over something that is out of our control," he said.

Percy huffed. "He started it."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "How does Annabeth put up with you?"

"Honestly? No idea," Percy smirked.

"Let's just get going, team. We have a boat to steal, right?" Tony asked.

"Yep. And I think this place has the perfect one for the job." The son of Poseidon then started walking away, apparently following his weird sailing powers.

I guess we're supposed to follow him, thought Piper.

Ω ♆ Ω

"This is supposed to take us through the most cursed waters on the planet?" Bruce asked, looking the boat up and down.

"Yes. Isn't it beautiful?" Percy said and smiled, running his hand along the side.

Tony leaned over to Frank. "Is he seeing the same boat we are?"

Frank just shrugged, used to Percy's weirdness by now. Honestly, it was a little hard for him to imagine the team taking what was in front of them to Polyphemus' island. It seemed like it wouldn't survive the normal ocean.

To be clear, what Percy was suggesting they take was an old pirate ship, currently on display inside of a warehouse at the dock. It was covered in dried-up barnacles, and the mast was split in half. There were also holes all along the sides. It was a miracle the thing hadn't crumbled already.

"Yes, Tony, I am. This thing will run for me. It doesn't even need to be repaired, I can handle that. The only thing that matters is that it is built to withstand the type of waters we're going out in," Percy said. "We need all the advantages we can get."

Natasha, to everyone's surprise, spoke up, "I think we should trust Percy. If he says it'll work, then it'll work. He's the son of Poseidon, right? Nothing can hurt us while in the ocean. Am I correct, Percy?"

Jason cleared his throat and gave Percy a significant look. The Avengers needed to know that they were basically powerless in the triangle. The older teen looked ready to explain, but Frank spoke before he had the chance.

"Actually, no. The Sea of Monsters is outside of Poseidon's realm of power, hence the name. Percy won't have the same access to his father's domain as he does out here," he said, "So, basically, we're entering a dangerous situation, with no backup, and an inexperienced team. Should be fun, right?"

The Avengers were shocked, to say the least. Not at what the boy had said, but who had said it. As far as they had seen, Frank wasn't as confident as his physical form portrayed. They were wrong. Frank was confident, and his friends were proud of him for it, too. It had been a large transformation from when Percy had first met the son of Mars.

"Well, I think we should start heading out. We want to get as far as possible before the sun goes down, right?" Piper asked.

"Right," Percy nodded.

She wasn't really certain about all of this sailing stuff. Sure, she had been on the Argo II, but that was different than an actual boat. For one, it could fly and was controlled by a gaming console. She hadn't really bothered learning how to actually run a ship for that.

But now, she had to act like she knew what she was doing, and that was scary. The Avengers may put on a confident front, but she saw the insecurities in all of them. Some were harder to find than others, but finding insecurities was her specialty.

They really were going into a completely unknown situation. At least Piper and the Seven had been in this world for a little while, but the Avengers hadn't even encountered a monster before. It would sure be a shock when they were faced with some of the worst ones for their first fights. So, she and the rest of the demigods had a responsibility to be the examples, no matter how much the "adults" liked to point out that it was "ethically wrong" for them to do that.

Ω ♆ Ω

Turns out, the kid hadn't been lying about being able to sail the ship. Tony would be the first to admit that he was skeptical of the structure of the vessel, but he was proved wrong when, after the group had gotten the thing into the water, it had started to magically prepare itself for departure. Not a single drop of water leaked into the interior; it was like the water simply moved around the holes.

It was spectacular!

Before he knew it, the group had settled into the boat and were moving away from the dock. The Avengers were marveling at everything around them, considering that Percy wasn't even steering the thing, and yet it was supposedly moving in the right direction. To add to the shock, the ship's parts were moving themselves. It was not logically possible, and yet there Tony was, watching it unfold like some kind of acid trip.

"This is...amazing," he muttered, leaning against the rail with Leo, who he had taken a certain liking to. They were a lot alike.

The son of Hephaestus grinned, "Right? I told you guys Percy had cool powers. You should see him with Blackjack or Arion. It's wacky, man!"

"Who's Blackjack and Arion?" Tony asked, noting the new names.

"Oh. Right, I forgot. Blackjack is Percy's pegasus, and Arion is Hazel's horse. Percy can talk to them because his father created horses," Leo answered.

And just when the man of iron was getting used to all of this, he was pulled back into astonishment.

Ω ♆ Ω

After a couple hours of mingling and exploring, Percy called the team up to the deck. He had started to feel it a while ago when he knew it was still a distance away, but now he knew that they were approaching the Sea of Monsters.

It was a blank spot for him. Everywhere else, he could feel the ocean's power thrumming, waiting for him to control it. But here, there was nothing. Considering they were in the middle of the ocean, it was pretty obvious what it was. That was how he had tracked the place down without a map. It was his blind spot. He would just follow the blankness like it was the North Star.

Once everyone had gathered, he told them the news, and to say the atmosphere changed was an understatement. What smiles they had had disappeared, and their expressions turned serious.

"It's time, guys. Get ready. The first thing we're going to come up on is Scylla and Charybdis. We have to go through them to get into the sea. Now, I've planned this so that we should hopefully be able to pass through without any problems, but with six demigods' luck, we shouldn't rely on that too much. Charybdis only feeds three times a day, so if I planned this right, we should be able to pass over her without a fuss. Everyone got it? Be prepared for a fight, but don't expect it, please. We don't need any more reasons for the Fates to curse us."

Hazel stepped up, "Should the Avengers help us if we end up fighting something? Or should they just observe how we deal with monsters first?"

"We can handle ourselves," Steve defended.

Jason sighed, fed up with the same old arguments, "Alright, that's it! The Avengers will let us take the lead in any fights we may or may not end up in. They will not do anything without one of our approvals because we have actual experience with these beings. They will not be put on the sidelines, but they will also not be on the front lines. Does that work for everyone?"

Percy sent a thankful grin to his cousin, "Thank you, Jason. And yes, it does."

Jason just nodded in return.

"Alright, gang! Buckle up! Make sure to keep your hands and feet inside the ship at all times, and remember, the sword points away from you. It's showtime!" Leo cackled.

Just as he finished, they entered a wall of mist, which was unsettling to say the least. The temperature dropped almost three degrees as they passed through it.

Percy pulled out Riptide before steering the ship towards Charybdis. Hopefully, if everything went to plan, they would be out of this Hades-forsaken place by sunrise.

But, of course, nothing ever went to plan on a demigod's quest.

Ω ♆ Ω

Maybe it wasn't the best idea for me to come, was Bruce's first thought as he got his first glimpse at a greek monster. He had taken refuge inside the sleeping quarters of the ship, practicing his breathing exercises. He was really hoping this didn't turn into a Code Green. This was definitely not the place to let the Hulk loose.

So far, it had been silent upstairs, so Bruce concluded that it was going good so far. He had researched the Greek and Roman myths before they had left and on the plane, and everything that he could find on Charybdis was not reassuring. It was true what Percy said, that she only ate three times a day, but nobody really knew when those times were. Until Percy, apparently. He had survived the Sea of Monsters, so everyone on this ship had to trust his judgement in everything they did here. Bruce could tell that the other Avengers were struggling with taking orders from a "child." But Bruce had learned to not underestimate anyone on his travels while in hiding. Plus, look up any demigod's name and there was a whole list of accomplishments to find.

If Percy said that he knew when the monster liked to eat, then he knew when the monster liked to eat. It was as simple as that.

So, ten minutes into their first obstacle, and things were going fine. Everyone was eerily quiet, but no sign of Charybdis or Scylla yet. Of course, as soon as someone thought about it, an outline of a serpent appeared in the fog surrounding the boat.

Frank was the first one to spot it. "Guys..." He looked up at Percy. "We have a problem."

He pointed into the fog and Percy cursed. "Oh schist. I knew she couldn't just leave us alone."

The Avengers had figured out that something was coming and were unsure what to do. The demigods seemed to be just waiting like sitting ducks for the thing to attack them, and that was not a good plan. The Avengers don't wait for their opponent to strike first.

"Alright, that's it. I'm going to see what it is," Tony mumbled, activating his Iron Man armor.

"No, Tony! That's not a good-" Piper got cut off as the billionaire flew off, "...idea."

If she couldn't yell at that idiot, she was gonna yell at his teammates. She turned around, prepared to cuss out some idiot "superheroes," but Hazel beat her to it. "What was he thinking?! Why didn't you idiots stop him?! He has no idea what he's getting himself into! That monster is NOT something you guys can handle without our help! Mortalium tam stultus!"*

Natasha appraised the small demigod. She sure was a young spitfire. And from what she had seen already, a powerful one.

"Ok, let's just calm down, alright? Tony should be able to hold his own until we can go save his stupid ass," Leo sighed. Working with mortals was draining.

They were always so brash about things. And yes, coming from a greek, that statement was pretty hypocritical, but it still wasn't a lie. He idolized Mr. Stark's work, but man if only the guy could learn some restraint and he would be perfect.

Just as Leo had spoken, an explosion was heard, followed by a muffled string of curses. Only Tony Stark could come up with those creative swear words, so at least there was proof that the guy was still alive. For now, at least. The group needed to get that soon.

"Alright, hold on! This is gonna get bumpy!" Percy shouted, steering the ship towards the sound of fighting.

He willed the vessel to move faster, and it, of course, obeyed. In his head, Percy was just thinking rush rush rush. They needed to get this fight out of the way and get to Annabeth right after. Percy was praying to any god that would listen for there to not be any more disruptions to their journey. He just had to be confident in his skills. He had done this before, so he knew what lay ahead of them.

And it was going to be a challenge.

Ω ♆ Ω

Tony would deny any claim of him being held in the mouth of a sea serpent by his leg. Cuz that didn't happen. Totally.

But if it did, then the rest of the questing group would have worked together to fend off the monster until they could get away. Percy would've used Riptide to stab the monster in the leg, while Jason flew up and used his gladius to cut open her eye. The rest of the group basically just put on a full-frontal assault until Scylla released their idiotic teammate. Leo blew some fire, Hazel manipulated the Mist so that the Avengers could all see it for what it was, Piper made it loosen its grip with her charmspeak, Frank and Clint released some well-placed arrows, Natasha fired some gunshots, and Steve sliced into it with his shield.

All in all, the thing realized quickly that it was outmatched.

Then, after Tony received a very stern reprimanding by Piper and Steve, the group carried on. They didn't have time to dilly-dally. Saving Annabeth was their top priority.

Ω ♆ Ω

Meanwhile...

"Let me go, you skatá!"* Annabeth screamed, kicking her captor in the knees.

She had been knocked out as soon as they had shadow traveled, so she hadn't woken up until an hour ago. When she had, her wrists and ankles had been shackled to a stone wall with imperial gold shackles. The terrorists had stepped up their game.

There was dim lighting, but from what she could figure out before, she was in a cave of some kind. They had completely cleared out the area around her, so there weren't any visible location markers. That is, until they moved her.

The people who had grabbed her were strong and bulky and covered in black. They had black combat suits with black ski masks covering their features. Stereotypically, Annabeth would've figured the goons to be stupid, but they kept her shackles on and put a sack over her head so they at least has someone smart on their team.

Annabeth was getting really sick of not knowing anything, though.

So that's where she found herself at the moment: as a "defenseless" hostage. It was quite comical, really. Did these idiots really think that she would go quiet?

She felt one of her kicks come into contact with a kneecap and heard a satisfying grunt of pain from one of the thugs. Good, she thought, I hope that hurt.

Then, she was thrown onto the cold, stone floor and forced to hold her head up. The whole situation was so stereotypical that she wanted to laugh. But then she also didn't want to come off as more psycho than her captors, so she kept it to herself.

"This is quite interesting," a voice said, "The prideful daughter of Athena, reduced to a simple mortal's hostage.

The sack on her head was yanked off, so Annabeth spat down at the man's feet, glaring at him with a burning hatred. Taking a quick survey of the room, Annabeth found that she was being held captive on Polyphemus' island. The room was the main room of his cave; the one where she, Percy, and Grover further blinded the cyclops.

"If you had actually gotten me on your own, it might have been impressive, but having to use monsters is just pathetic," she said.

The leader growled and kicked her in the jaw. It didn't have enough power to break it, but it did cause her to bite through her tongue.

Annabeth spit out the blood produced in her mouth, dirtying the man's shiny shoes. The guy would have to do a lot worse than that to scare her.

"Hmm... I like your spirit. It's going to be that much more fun when I break it," he hissed, kneeling down to her eye level.

"I hope you rot in Hades," is all Annabeth responded with.

The guy laughed. ACTUALLY laughed. So, he was a crazy sociopath hades-bent on tearing down the natural order of the universe, Annabeth decided, how nice.

Ω ♆ Ω

I kinda really love this and I hope you did too. Now, to get into some unasked political shit: Love is love. I like all genders, and I still don't want to see any of them practically having sex in front of me. So just, accept yourself and others for who they are and move on. Is that so hard? Happy pride month & happy Father's Day!!

- your author

PS Remember to comment, like, and reblog!

other chapters :)

Ω ♆ Ω

Bonus scene!

The group was spending time in the dining room of the ship when all of a sudden, Percy remembered something truly horrifying. Like, beyond disgusting!

“Oh, my gods! Guys!!!” he exclaimed.

Hazel rolled her eyes and said, “What, Percy?”

“Charybdis is my half-sister! Ew ew ew ew ew EW EW EW EW!!!” Percy shouted his answer.

Everyone simultaneously gagged.

(Inside, Steve was starting to get seriously concerned about these kids’ chaotic family.)

#happy pride 🌈#pjo #fanfiction #fanfic #pjo fanfic #ao3 #the avengers #mcu #marvel #superheroes #percy jackon and the olympians #heroes of olympus #wattpad #inkitt #webnovel

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muffintonic · 3 years ago

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Alright, I think i’m done BOTW 2 spamming for today. Anywho, time for some thoughts in general!

1) I hated how the shrines in BOTW were so cold and dark compared to the bright and lively nature outside (I wish they had all looked like the Master Trials challenge where there were trees and stuff incorporated inside), so I hope if we’re forced to have dungeons they’ll be more like the Wind Waker ones. 2) I hope they don’t make us use the grappling hook or anything like in Wind Waker to move around the sky islands (I hated that mechanic). 3) I’m probably one of the few people who wanted less Zelda and more of the Champions in HWAOC since i’m only really attached to BOTW (and we saw a fair amount of Tetra in Wind Waker)/apparently Zelda’s been sidelined in all the other games, so i’m hoping in vain that we get more Champions material in BOTW 2. Also, Link could stand to have some more cutscenes centered around him as well (the few we got in some of the sidequests in BOTW were great). 4) I only really somewhat care about Riju and Sidon, so I won’t mind if the new gang gets sidelined in BOTW 2 (I still think Nintendo wasted the found family/band of brothers aspect on the dead characters--I love them so much and they’re all I want!! The problem is, they’re dead and I don’t really care all that much about their replacements!!! I dunno, maybe i’m hampered by the fact that I can replay the original champions’ memories whenever I want/read their diaries, but I can’t rewatch the new gang’s cutscenes AKA i’ve forgotten their characterization since they don’t talk to me much now that the game’s over). It’d be great if they have some weaving storylines in BOTW 2 that will get me more invested in them, but currently i’m not that interested. 5) Speaking of which, I know it’s 100% not going to happen, but goddang if I don’t want the Champions to have been returned to life. Nintendo totally squandered HWAOC by not making it a true prequel/canon to BOTW (the Champions Ballad confirmed that the Divine Beasts had trials in order to be synced to the champs, so the new gen use of them wouldn’t have happened without that + Mipha thought Link had changed in BOTW yet says in HWAOC that he hasn’t changed + some scenes like “Champion Revali’s Song” never happened at all/got replaced with alternative scenes that really changed some dynamics + basically all of Revali’s time-relative characterization from his diary/pre-100 years of solitude got thrown out + I feel like Daruk got totally sidelined), so i’m still craving that Champions content. Also, I feel like it’s totally unfair that Zelda came out of 100 years totally unaged while everyone else died. Life seems to really suck for people in the LoZ universe who aren’t chosen by divine powers. 6) They’d better keep it open world and non-linear. I can’t go back to being forced to backtrack/trudge through things, I just can’t. BOTW was everything i’ve ever dreamed about in a game (truly open world + non-linear + interactive + meaningful story + lots of outfits + beautiful landscapes) with Skyrim previously being the only thing that came close to what I wanted, so I really hope BOTW 2 doesn’t deviate too much from that. 7) I really liked Kass in BOTW, but i’m not sure what direction they’d go with him in BOTW 2/i’d be fine if he sat BOTW 2 out. I worked so hard to complete all his quests in BOTW so he’d go back home to his family, GODDANGIT, KASS. 8) Someone mentioned that since the first trailer had underground aspects, we’re probably going to be playing as Zelda with the Slate there, and I agree. They didn’t make a playable model for her in HWAOC for nothing. 9) I want to be able to stable the deer and bears and stuff, but I know that won’t happen. Being able to ride the moose and rhino things from the Hebra area probably won’t happen either, but I want to ride them!!! 10) I hope there’ll be at least a few new buildings and stuff in the towns/they’ve started construction on some areas in Central Hyrule, but I guess that’ll depend on how long it’s been in-universe since BOTW. Or maybe not, considering how there’s still Karson and Hudson even though Bolson retired from Bolson Construction--insta-towns like Tarrey Town could totally be feasible if they wanted! 11) I have one foot in the camp that believes there’ll be time shenanigans in BOTW 2. HWAOC totally threw me off with it being an alternate timeline, so i’m not sure whether we’re going to be experiencing that again or time travel itself, but I definitely won’t be surprised this time around if Nintendo goes that route again (and it would be super interesting to see the Link from 10,000 years ago). I’m not entirely convinced that the Link we see exploring the sky in the second trailer isn’t our Link, mainly because he seems to still have on the blue boxers from BOTW. 12) I also heard that maybe this will be the last LoZ game ever since something something Demise something Skyward Sword something something lore from games i’ve only vaguely looked into (i’ve only ever played BOTW --> Wind Waker --> HWAOC)??? If so, it kind of sucks that I came in just when they started making games with playstyles palatable to me (I had to look up every single thing when playing Wind Waker, but BOTW let me solve things according to MY logic/I missed being able to explore in HWAOC), but at least it’ll end on a super high note/I won’t experience later disappointment, I guess. If BOTW 2 involves breaking the reincarnation cycle for the Triforcers, I would be really surprised. (On a related note, Nintendo making Ganondorf good would also be a 100% shock to me, but it would be great to end on that as a subversion. Yes, I want them to bring back the semi-complicated Ganondorf from Wind Waker.) 13) I hope they don’t rush releasing it. I heard they pushed back BOTW originally (I got it in 2019), but it came out fantastic for it! I know COVID’s been affecting things, so I really hope they’re treating their staff right and are mindful of crunch. 14) I want even more outfits (there seem to be at least two new ones, if the variant of the Hylian Tunic crossed with Link’s Champion’s Tunic counts). Give me all the outfits!!! Also, I hope we get even more hair variations in addition to the hair down option (which is all i’ve ever wanted since I saw the mod that altered the Ancient Helmet). 15) I wonder if we’re going to get a bonus for having both BOTW and HWAOC save data. 16) I wonder if we’re going to be keeping the Champions’ skills. I’m going to miss being super overpowered, if not. 17) I hope Nintendo doesn’t cave in and make surfaces climbable in the rain. Having that limiter is more realistic and Link would otherwise be too overpowered with a super climbing ability. 18) I liked BOTW’s scattered music that got more noticeable in populated areas because it was fitting for the post-apocalyptical/nature aspect. Hearing your footsteps in an open field and the buzzing of insects was super nice and prevented me from getting music fatigue (which i’d probably experience since whenever I play BOTW it’s for 5-10 hours at a time). I hope Nintendo either keeps that or makes audio options. 19) I heard that BOTW 2 is going to be super dark or something, and i’m okay with dark, but not GRIMdark, so I hope it doesn’t go that far. From what we’ve seen in the second trailer it still looks beautiful, but I hope it doesn’t do that thing that some games do where after the midpoint/a certain story point all the scenery permanently changes to be dark and scary (that’ll seriously hamper post-game playability for me if so). 20) If they expand on the Zonai, that would be super cool! Doubly cool if the time travel shenanigans involve them/ancient Link being one! 21) I kind of want windstorms to be a weather feature. We had lightning, heat, and cold, but no wind! No, I don’t count the wind geysers and the occasional breeze in Tabantha. 22) I want a chest in my house to hold more weapons than just the gear mounts. BOTW only had enough mounts for the champions’ gear, but it also had rare items like the Kite Shield and Forest Dweller’s Sword that you can’t get anymore once you use them up! 23) I want to be able to stable my horses at my house. What’s the point of that little area if you can’t stable your horse there! 24) Speaking of Link’s house: where is Zelda going to live? If the castle’s not reconstructed, it’d be neat if Link adds an extension to his house for her. 25) I hope they open up part-time jobs (think Mabinogi) as an option to earn rupees. Having to hunt for Luminous Stone deposits or feed Trott to make money can be such a chore. I think some of BOTW’s minigames/sidequests might count as those, but those minigames were either frustrating if your goal is to earn money (since most of them cost money to play in the first place and the mechanics weren’t always easy), or didn’t earn that much in general. 26) I wonder if Kilton is going to have updated items since the monsters seem to have changed. 27) I want to be able to dive underwater (mainly so I can explore the beautiful reefs over at Lurelin). A dive meter like the one from Super Mario Sunshine would be cool. Also, it’d doubly be neat if you had a separate stamina wheel for swimming and could permanently upgrade your swim/diving stamina (the speed+ swimming items just consumed your stamina faster, which was a pain)! 28) It’s definitely too late for this, but it’s a shame that the Hylians have so many face/body/hair and outfit variations, but the Zora, Rito, and Gorons don’t. The Gerudo were kind of okay with the hair and body variations, but the other races seemed to have a serious copy-paste problem. I guess technically some of the more important NPCs (ones with quests/cutscene triggers) had different coloring, but they were severely lacking in clothing variation. Also, the only old Rito was the elder??? At least the Gorons and Zora had some old folks besides their leader walking around. Very weird, but I don’t think BOTW 2 can fix any of this. 29) I wonder how they’re going to do the final boss battle, considering how epic/cinematic the BOTW 2x battle was. What can top fighting (on horseback, no less) a giant, flaming boar made out of malice? 30) I wonder what the Yiga are going to be up to, considering how Ganondorf seems to be somewhat kicking in BOTW 2.

#in other words: BOTW 2 HYPE REAL #i'm still going to queue things so there'll probably another BOTW 2 glut from me in a few days bwaha #(and probably some general BOTW stuff because MAN am i hyped)#i'm so glad i got into BOTW in 2019 because there's been content for me every year since and i am Living #botw 2

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colbybrocksmolder · 5 years ago

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Welcome To The Family – Colby Brock x Reader

“Colby.” You gasped, your hands flying to your stomach. The two of you were in the middle of cooking ‘breakfast’ (don’t judge a pregnant woman for wanting hash browns at 3 am) when something felt a little…off.

“Is he kicking?” Colby asked, his hands moving to smooth over part of your belly that your hands weren’t covering.

“Oh, he’s kicking alright. I think he’s about to kick the door down.” You answered, feeling a wet sensation fall down your legs. Being 37 weeks pregnant made it a bit difficult to find comfortable clothes so you were currently in your undies and one of Colby’s tank tops.

“Wait, what?” Colby asked before following your line of sight to the now wet floor. He started mumbling something to himself, his eyes still staring at the floor.

The reality of the situation hit you and you stayed silent for a moment before quietly laughing. “I swear I didn’t pee.”

His eyes shot up to meet yours. “You’re okay, right?” The two of you hadn’t moved in nearly a minute. You nodded, a few stray silent tears making a break for it and falling down your cheeks. Colby’s fingers moved to wipe them away. “Are you in pain yet?” he asked, cradling your face in his hands.

“Not yet.” You said, shaking your head. You were kind of afraid to move. You took a deep breath. “This is real.”

Colby couldn’t stop the huge smile that spread over his face. “This is real, baby.” He said, leaning over your belly to kiss you. “Holy shit, this is real. NATE! NATE, WAKE UP!”

Nate had been staying with you guys for about a month. Colby was too afraid to leave you home alone when he went to film and Nate was on break from school. Up in the loft, you heard Nate roll off the air mattress and hit the floor. “WHAT?!” He yelled, startled.

“Go wake Sam up! Y/n’s water broke!” he answered.

Nate flew down the stairs and out the door to get Sam.

Colby guided you towards your bedroom, holding on to you to make sure you didn’t slip or fall. “Do you want to change?” he asked.

“Honestly, I’m afraid to bend or move or do anything.” You said, the anticipation starting to settle in and overwhelm you.

“Baby, here. Sit down on the edge of the bed. I’ll get you changed.” Colby helped you sit and lean back, getting you into fresh undies. “Why don’t you just wear one of my really long shirts.” He suggested, grabbing one from the closet quickly.

All you could do was nod and breathe. He knew that trying to get you into anything more than that right now was going to be a struggle and he wanted to keep you as calm as possible. “I love you” was your quiet thank you after Colby had helped you change and get back up off of the bed.

“I love you, too. Both of you. So much.” Colby replied, kissing you and helping you walk back out towards the living room.

“I’M HERE! WE’RE READY!” Sam practically fell into your apartment, Nate following him in and quickly getting dressed. “Kat is going to meet us there.” He looked hilarious. He was dressed and had his backpack on, but his hair was sticking up all over the place and you’d never seen his eyes open so wide.

You chuckled. “Thank you, Sam.”

“Sam, grab the black bag by the couch and I’ll make sure she gets downstairs safe.” Colby said, remembering that you had packed an emergency bag for when this happened.

When you finally made it to the hospital and got checked into a room, Colby took a minute to text the appropriate people. Neither of your parents lived in California, so he sent them messages saying that he’d keep them updated. Letting them know that if they wanted to fly out that they’d have a place to stay between yours and Sam’s apartments. He then text the group chat with your friends. Colby had named the group chat “Misfit Island” like the old claymation Christmas movie. Your friends were definitely family, and everyone had insisted he text the gc when your water broke.

The first to show up was Kat. She had walked in with coffee for Sam and Nate and a Red Bull for Colby.

“How are you doing?” she asked, leaning down to hug you the best she could.

“So far so good.” You answered, smiling up at her.

Next to make appearances were Mike and Kevin. Mike wasn’t wearing shoes and Kevin wasn’t wearing pants. They were bickering about who looked dumber in front of the hot nurse at the welcome station when they walked in the room.

“I think you both look equally crazy.” You said, laughing at the two disheveled boys.

“Who leaves the house without shoes?” Kevin teased Mike, sitting in a chair next to Colby and throwing his arm around him.

“I was in a hurry!” Mike laughed, leaning down to kiss your forehead. “Hanging in there, mamas?” he asked, squeezing your hand.

“I am.” You smiled. “I think I panicked more than Colby did, though.”

Kevin shook Colby a bit with the arm he had around his shoulders. “My man stayin’ strong for his woman.”

Colby smiled over at you and then looked between Mike and Kevin. “Kevin, how did you remember to put socks and shoes on, but not pants?” He laughed, looking down at the baggy orange boxers Kevin was sporting.

“See!” Mike joined in.

At first you didn’t know if you wanted your friends to be hanging around during this whole process, but 30 seconds of Mike and Kevin bickering made you grateful Colby decided to text them. The rest of your friend group showed up throughout the day. You ended up being in labor for HOURS, but Colby never left your side.

Since you had about 15 people taking up space in the waiting room, the hospital opened up another sitting room for your group. This is when Sam busted out his camera. He set the camera up on a little shelf in the corner and told everyone in the group to take turns recording themselves. He wanted to make a video for your kid to watch when he was old enough to understand and appreciate it. He wanted to capture all of the anticipation and joy and love that your child was bringing to the group.

One by one, everyone in the group recorded themselves talking to your soon-to-be-born baby.

Kat’s was sweet. “You’re the first to make one of us a parent.” She had said, a huge grin on her face. “I know your parents can’t wait to meet you, but after them there’s a long line of people just waiting to love on the newest little member of our family.” She blew a kiss to the camera and ended her recording.

Corey’s was funny. “When your mom starts scolding you for making fart jokes at the dinner table, just blame me. She’ll believe you.” Corey had laughed, his energetic expression slowly being replaced by a softer serious one. “I know I’m a goofball and I hope that I get to be in your life enough that you know it too…I don’t take a lot of things seriously, but I swear on my life you can always come to me. For a laugh, for advice…Doesn’t matter. Your parents have been there for me more than most people know. They’re family. That means you’re family.” He smiled at the camera, taking a deep breath and ending his recording.

Aryia’s was thoughtful. “I didn’t realize I was really growing up until your dad busted ass running through our house with a pregnancy test in his hand. He was so happy, man. He couldn’t shut up about you.” He smiled but looked terrified. “Seeing Colby so confident that you were going to be the biggest blessing in his life made me start to think about what I want out of life and honestly? That scares the shit out of me.” Aryia said, shaking his head. “Oh, shit. I mean, crap. Ah, whatever. You’ve probably got a swear jar for me by the time you actually see this video.” He laughed. “What makes thinking about the future not so scary is knowing that your mom and your dad and all of our friends…they’ve got my back. They’re the best friends I’ve ever had. We’re like a big family…and soon we’ll be welcoming you into it.” Aryia threw up his usual peace sign and ended the recording.

Kevin’s was cheerful. “This is a beautiful day, kid. It feels like every time I turn around, someone I love is doing something new and amazing…but I think this blows most of those out of the water. You’ve got some cool aunts and uncles in this room right now. You’re going to grow up with rock stars and poets and comedians…” Kevin paused when everyone busted up laughing at something Corey had done. “See? We’re lucky to have each other. There’s a lot of love in this room, kid. You’re gonna grow up with the coolest family around.” He turned to snark back at something someone else said and ended his recording.

Jake’s was goofy. “For some reason recording this makes me nervous.” Jake laughed. “I know I’m weird and I make dumb jokes and I’ve probably still got weird hair whenever you’re watching this…but I’m calling it now, I’m going to be the fun uncle. I buy the best snacks and there’s cartoons constantly playing on my tv.” He continued to list reasons why he was going to make a great uncle. “You know, even though I know I’m gonna be the best, you’ve got a lot of people here that are pretty cool too.” He laughed. “And you’re all they’ve been able to talk about for like 2 whole months. Everyone keeps telling Colby his life is about to change, but really…I think you’re gonna change all of our lives when you join the family.” Jake waved like a little kid and ended his recording.

Mike’s was honest. “You know, life isn’t always going to be perfect. It’s tough. You’re going to go through some stuff that you won’t want to talk about or ask for help with.” Mike took a moment to think. “I’ve been there, little man. Your dad pulled me out of a pretty dark place in my life. I’ve had a lot of crappy friends and your dad came along and reminded me that there are still great fricken people in the world. You’ve got amazing people for parents. I know it’s not always cool to go to your parents for advice, but they’re always going to be there for you. And for those times when you need someone else…we’re all here for you. We’ve literally been sitting in this room all day just waiting for you to show up. The nurse even put a sign on the door that says, “Brock Family”. That’s us. We’re really excited to meet you.” Mike made a heart with his hands before ending his recording.

Nate’s was deep. He stared at the camera for almost a minute before he said anything. “I’m inclined to believe that life is what we make it. I’m not a big believer in fate. I never really had a reason to believe in anything but the here and the now…” He looked away from the camera for a few seconds. “See, I always had this idea in my head that we just bump into people as we walk through life and that sometimes it sticks and they stay, and other times it doesn’t and you move on. Consequence be damned. But I’ve gotten to know your mom pretty damn well over the last month. I’ve known your dad nearly my entire life. He’s probably the best friend I’ve ever had…but your mom? Your mom isn’t afraid of anything or anyone. Your mom is smart and kind and she’s got a knack for knowing when you’re full of shit so good luck with that as you grow up.” He laughed. “Your mom changed your dad’s life. Your mom has changed pretty much everyone in this room in one way or another. There’s nothing coincidental about her walking into your dad’s life. It’s not happenstance that the people here in this hospital waiting for you all found each other. That’s fate, baby. I think you drew the winning cosmic lottery ticket, because you’ve got quite the family waiting for you.” Nate smiled at the camera for a few seconds before standing and ending his recording.

Lastly, Sam sat and started talking. “Hey, little Brock. I don’t know what else to call you yet because your parents won’t tell anyone what they’re going to name you.” Sam laughed. “That felt crazy to say. At some point today my best friends are going to become parents.” He shook his head, a huge grin on his face. Sam waved at the camera. “I’m Sam…but by the time your parents decide to show you this video, you’ll already know that. I hope that by the time you see this that you’ve decided I’m your favorite uncle. I know Gage is awesome and all, but your dad and me…we took on the world, kid. We’ve done some crazy stuff together. I can’t wait to tell you the stories. I’ll tell them as many times as you want, I promise. Your dad is more than my best friend, he’s my brother. He’s the best person I know. Period. And your mom is the best thing that ever happened to him…I need you to know that I’m always going to be there for you guys. You and your mom and your dad. You haven’t even been born yet and I know I love you.” Sam looked away from the camera for a moment to wipe his eyes, trying not to full-on cry. He turned the camera to catch all of your friends just hanging out, laughing in the room. “You see these guys?” Sam pointed over his shoulder. “You’re going to grow up surrounded by more love than I think you’re going to know what to do with. Your dad and I spent a lot of time weeding out a lot of crappy friends over the years, but I think we’ve got it narrowed down to the best at this point.” He smiled at the camera. “See, I believe that you pick your family. It doesn’t matter if they’re blood related or not…”

The door to the waiting room flew open and an emotional Colby ran in wearing a doctor’s gown over his clothes. “He’s here.” He said, practically shaking. “They said he’s healthy and that everything went smoothly. They’re getting Y/n moved back to her room and they’re going to bring him to us in a minute.” He ran back out of the room. Cheers could he heard from everyone in the room.

Sam leaned back down to look into the camera that was still recording. “Welcome to the family.” He said, ending his recording.

#colby brock #Colby Brock x Reader #colby brock imagine #colby brock oneshot #colby brock fluff

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 4 years ago

Text

The Twilight Zone: A Product of the Times

Although The Twilight Zone technically started in 1959, in a lot of ways, it’s a 60s show.

That makes a lot of sense. Created in the tail end of the 1950s, the culture was already transforming into the society of the sixties. Sensibilities were changing, and so was television. America was entering the Space Race, the Cold War was in full swing, and the war in Vietnam was causing strife in the country. It was a scary time, and no show demonstrated that quite as well as The Twilight Zone.

Like the alien invasion/red scare horror movies of the 1950s, The Twilight Zone took what America was afraid of, and applied it to the show. Sometimes it was allegorical, sometimes it wasn’t, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what the episodes were saying. Nuclear war. Invasion. Loss of identity. Lack of control. War.

Why am I telling you this?

Simple. In order to analyze and understand a piece of entertainment, we also have to have an idea of what the culture was like at the time, to contextualize it. No film (or television show) is an island, and not only is it affected by pieces of media released around the same time, but by real world events and situations. Which makes sense, as the creators of the media are living in this society they are producing this media in.

The same holds true for The Twilight Zone.

Whether aliens were involved or not, these were real fears that Rod Serling and the crew behind The Twilight Zone utilized in their stories. It was a commentary on society, specifically the culture of the late ‘50s, early ‘60s. This made it extremely relevant at the time, but unfortunately, that can seem to be its biggest problem.

One of the questions that gets thrown around about older media has quite a lot to do with the relevance of a piece at the time of its release. A common argument is that, if it was relevant at the time, in a changed culture, the piece loses its significance. That the culture’s sensibilities and tastes have changed. That it’s ‘too dated’.

Those of us who enjoy older movies and television tend to encounter this criticism quite often: the claim that the entertainment we enjoy is ‘too dated’ for modern audiences to enjoy. Typically, this criticism applies to makeup, clothes, special effects, or acting, but also to a wider issue, the issue we tend to look at here.

The culture can’t help its clothes and makeup. It can’t help the technology, or special effects. If we take a step back and remember the context, we can forgive that form of dated, acknowledging that movies are made in a different way than they used to be.

Harder to accept is the ‘datedness’ of ideas.

These are the films and television shows built on the ideals of a culture that have since been discarded for a better understanding. Films like Revenge of the Nerds or Weird Science, that can be very hard to watch in hindsight. Movies or shows that don’t just include a few elements of dated ideas, but are based in them, irremovable from the cultural prejudices and problems of the time.

That’s the issue we look at here, and it’s the question we’re looking at today.

Does The Twilight Zone fall into the category of television shows that are too dated to appeal to a modern audience?

Let’s take a look.

At first, the answer to that question might seem kind of obvious. I’ve already stated above that the episodes were distinctly tailored for an audience with the fears most present in the 1960s. That, and the fact that there have been multiple reboots of the series since the original, would seem to point to the fact that of course it’s too dated. After all, if it needed to be updated for new audiences, that surely means the original doesn’t hold the same impact now that it did when it came out, right?

Well, it’s a little more complicated than that.

See, despite these remakes, reboots, and film adaptations, the general consensus is that none of them hold a candle to the original series, and it remains one of the most popular shows of all time. How can that be, if the original is ‘outdated?’

There are those who argue that Rod Serling’s original The Twilight Zone is timeless, or, as timeless as any piece of media can be. It’s black and white, with fashion, language, and references understandable to an audience of the early 1960s. But there’s something else there that speaks to a more forward-thinking set of ideas. At the close of the episode The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, Rod Serling has this to say:

“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices, to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy.”

Rod Serling, a Jewish-American who fought in World War II, had more than a few things to say about anti-racism. Being banned by the censors, he couldn’t address racism as it applied to the black population of America, but he could address it as it related to the Asian-American population, giving us episodes like Quality of Mercy/Nothing in the Dark and The Encounter, starring a pre-Star Trek George Takei. These were gutsy episodes to produce at the time, as were episodes like Big Tall Wish, episodes starring a diverse cast.

This is a big part of The Twilight Zone being affected by the culture, but in a game-changing way. It took issues that were present at the time, and reflected them in a way that showed understanding about the situation, and how wrong it was. In cases like that, it’s hard to argue that the show is dated, and that includes in its handling of the fears of the time.

Like I said earlier, although the stories in The Twilight Zone have a lot to do with fears at the time (nuclear war, etc.), it’s hard to argue that we as a country, or even as the human race, still don’t have these same fears. We are still afraid of ‘invasion’, of isolation, of captivity. In some ways, the brutal truth of these episodes holds up better now than it did when they were first produced.

In short?

Is The Twilight Zone outdated? Only in externals.

The ideas the show was based on holds up today as well as, and in some cases better than, it did at the time it was created. It’s an amazingly solid piece that’s relevance resides not only in the past, but well into the present. People still get invested in these stories, in these twists, in being uneasy by the end of an episode. The smart writing and intense storytelling are just as influential now as they were sixty years ago, and just as influential as they will continue to be in the years to come.

Thanks so much for reading! Remember the ask box is always open if you have any suggestions, questions, comments, or just want to say hi! Join us next week when we’ll be looking at the visual and audio storytelling of The Twilight Zone. I hope to see you there!

#The Twilight Zone #Television #TV #TV-PG #50s #Horror #Fantasy #Sci-Fi #Science Fiction #Mystery #Rod Serling

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one-spidey-boii · 5 years ago

Text

BUMMER SUMMER || peter parker; ch four

read ch three here

masterlist

an; i hope everyone out there is staying safe and sound. also, feel free to give feedback! i love to hear from you guys.

warnings; mentions of battle wounds (i.e. blood/scars/etc), future smut, mature language, fluff, angst, both peter and oc are 18+!!

word count; 2.1k+

edie's pov

"give up now, parker. i can do this all day." i say with a heavy breath as i hold peter in a headlock between my legs. we've been messing around with each other, showing off what we're capable of. somehow that led us to this moment.

he's struggling to break away from my hold. using all his strength to squirm away, he lets out grunts that eventually end with a big sigh as he gives up. only to try all over again a few seconds later.

"god it's like your legs are made of steel, this is inhumane." he puffs out, finally accepting defeat.

"oh. oh! my eyes! what is going on in here?" a voice booms throughout the room.

both our heads snap to the sound at the doorway to see happy standing there with his hands over his eyes. tony's voice can be heard in the hallway.

"what? why are you doing that, happy? oh lord! jesus children, it's only the first day." he shouts as he shields his eyes away from our general direction. i scramble away from peter and we each end up on either side of the blue mat that covers half of the room. both of our faces are flustered and shaded a guilty hue of red even though we weren't doing anything worthy of that feeling.

tony saunters over to a table on the side of the room and motions for us to join him. i hop up off of the ground, brushing myself off and moving my hair out of my face. i take my place next to mr. stark and peter follows in suit on the opposite side of him.

"okay so as you know- peter, take your mask off. what is this a kid's costume party?" tony pokes fun at peter who rushes to take the mask off and holds it down by his side. i can't help but let out a muffled laugh at the embarrassed boy. he meets my eyes with no readable expression, only holding it for a moment before focusing back on mr. stark.

he continues on, "alright. now that that’s handled... let's get some ground rules on the table." he looks at both of us in the eyes before talking again.

"rule number one, you must always be on alert. you'll be the only ones here for the most part, aside from the occasional visits from happy or myself.

number two, one of you must be here at all times. you can take turns going out and helping old ladies cross the street, or whatever it is that you guys do. hey, hey, i'm kidding don't give me that look, peter.

number three, i expect weekly updates from you. edie, you'll probably want to handle that.

and lastly rule number four, i just added this one because i didn't think it would be a problem, but who am i kidding? no hanky panky in my compound. got it?"

i snap out of my focused state at that last part. my mouth bobs open and closed like a fish as i search for something to say. never in a million years would i think about doing things with peter. just the thought of it made me shiver.

"hello? i need an answer." tony says as he looks between the both of us. it's then that i notice peter- again- is flustered beyond belief.

peter's pov

"you got it mr. stark." i blurt out. he gives one last glance between us and nods his head in satisfaction.

"good. i'll see you two crazy kids later." he responds with a wink as he walks backwards towards the door, giving us laser fingers before he turns and is gone from the room. i move my attention to happy who was trailing behind him.

"don't make me come back here more than i have to." he says with a fake smile and wave before disappearing as well.

i turn to the only other person left in the room. the said person who suddenly makes the butterflies in my stomach turn on each other to form an all-out war. the scary part about this feeling is...i have no idea why i feel it. and it's sprung up on me out of nowhere. all i know is that as of late, being around her makes me nervous, and sweaty.

"i'm gonna go...take a shower," i say pitifully. i internally scold myself for being so weird all of a sudden, but without waiting for an answer i bolt out of the room and make my way to my own space i’ll be staying in this summer. during my escape, i hear the faintest 'bye' coming from edie's direction.

finally in my room, i press the button that releases my suit from my body and shimmy out of it, starting to feel claustrophobic beneath its tight hold. while showering was just the first thing i could think of for an excuse, the idea doesn't sound so bad. i scramble through my suitcase and find all of the things necessary to take a shower. i carry it all to the bathroom and turn on the water.

while waiting for it to warm up, i stare at myself in the mirror. my hair is damp from the sweat that always comes when i wear my mask. i just look rough. my cheeks are red and flustered- an emotion i find myself feeling a lot lately- and the only reason as to why, is the reminiscent feeling of edie's thighs wrapped around my head. a combat move that is a bitch to be stuck in is now sending shivers down my spine in the strangest way. the feeling of her soft, yet durable suit against my cheeks is fresh in my mind. part of me wants to feel her actual skin caressing my face. just the palm of her hand. or maybe even her lips.

the scandalous thought hits me in the face when i remember who it is i'm thinking about. no no no. i'm just a horny boy who is thinking with the wrong part of his body. there is no way i can be thinking these things about edie. not my best friend, that would be so weird.

right?

it's nearing dinner time the next day after mr. stark and happy left to meet up with the others. i've done my best to stay in my room, but the nagging feeling in my stomach craved for any food other than the peanut butter crackers i smuggled in the middle of the night.

with a groan, i peel back my sheets and crawl out of bed. i walk over to my door and pull it open, checking both ways to see if it was clear. i sigh with relief as i see no signs of edie and step out into the hall.

it's not that i don't want to see her, but...i kinda don't want to see her. i took the time to myself to think of my messed up feelings. i haven't always felt this way. edie has always been my best friend, and that's all i saw her as. but when i realized i wouldn't see her for three months, my heart hurt and my stomach twisted. now that it's just the two of us, those feelings are magnified and blaring and overwhelming.

halfway to the kitchen i hear footsteps bounding down the hallway behind me. i whip around just to be tackled to the ground by an alarmingly strong body.

"where ya been, pete? i've tried to get you out of your room all day. by the way, i like the shirtless look." edie pants from above me with a cheeky wink. i feel myself melt at her words. she wanted to see me. who am i kidding? of course she did, i'm the only other one in the compound and she’s probably bored. i'm dragged out of my thoughts when the rest of her sentence hits me.

looking down i do realize i have no shirt on, only a pair of sweatpants that are now sitting a little too far down on my hips due to the way edie is sitting on me. i scramble out from underneath of her, keeping hold on the band of my pants to ensure no more embarrassment. my movements send her flying on her butt a few feet away.

"oof, okay. my bad." she says awkwardly, but continues, "hey i was thinking of going out tonight? kicking a little ass and whatnot. wanna be my guy in the chair?" she asks from the ground as i stand to fix my pants. i curse my cheeks as i feel them redden.

jumping at an idea, i suggest something else, "actually i-i'll go out. don't worry about me though, i've got karen. wouldn't wanna make her jealous." i say, trying to joke. her face drops slightly before covering it up with her bright smile. i wonder how many times she's done that without me noticing.

"right. spider boy doesn't need little ole me. i'll be here when you get back." she chirps as she hops up from the floor, "at least keep me in mind when you're out there. i'll be right here." she taps her ear and i notice the tiny piece of metal made to fit her ear perfectly. it's her comm that tony gave us to ensure we're always sure of each other's safety. mine is sitting in my room, untouched.

"okay, e. i better get r-ready to go." i stammer out and turn back to my room.

"aren't you gonna eat?" she calls from behind me as i make my retreat.

my mission to get food was unsuccessful.

edie's pov.

i watch peter stumble back down the hall, seemingly eager to be anywhere i'm not. i brush the thought away and cop it up to nerves. we're officially here by ourselves, i'm nervous too.

i turn on my heel and head to the kitchen, where i begin making mac and cheese. it's one of my favorite things to eat, so i double the portions for later. or maybe i'll be generous and share some with peter.

my ear piece makes a short static noise and soon peter's voice is flooding through my head, "i'm heading out now, edie. uh, i guess let me know if there's an emergency or something. but other than that i'll be offline." he says, immediately doing so before i can respond.

i huff and plop myself down on a stool, waiting for my water to boil on the stove. my heart begins to sink. if peter is going to be acting this way the whole time we're here, i don't know if i'm so excited anymore. sure, i know this is a huge responsibility on our shoulders but we can still have fun, right?

"a watched pot never boils." i whisper to myself as i let my head fall into my hands. soon after that i feel my mind start to slip into a calmer state, easing me into a sleepy trance. i try my best to fight the feeling, but as soon as my eyes slide shut, i'm done for.

"edie? e? what's going on over there? there's an alarm going off, edie. edie!"

my head snaps up off of the marble kitchen island as i take in the room around me. the pot of water is definitely boiling now. so much so that the smoke detectors have started going off.

"edie!"

i stand up, still trying to gather myself and run over to the stove.

"pete? gosh, sorry. it's nothing i'm fine, i was just- FUCK. oh ouch ouch ouch." i put my thumb in my mouth and begin to suck on it, apparently i'm not awake enough to realize the pot is hot as hell before i tried to move it from the burner.

"e? are you okay? i'm coming back, hold on." peter says, worry lacing through his words. i hop up and down silently, holding my hand to my chest.

"no, no. i'm okay, just a little accident in the kitchen, i'll live." i reply, doing my best to not worry the boy protecting the city.

"oh my god, you cut off a finger, didn't you? i thought knives were your thing! i'm almost there."

"no! gosh, peter, i'm fine. finish your patrol. i'll see you later." i rush out, now at the sink, running cold water over my burn.

"too late i'm already here." he says. there’s some rustling coming through the comm, and he lets out a faint curse, "the doors aren't opening. what the hell?"

there's a silence.

"mr. stark never logged my finger print." he says, defeated. i can't help but laugh at his misfortune.

"don't worry, peter i'm coming to save you." i say with a coy smile, glad he can't see how much i'm enjoying this moment.

"totally unfair," he mutters, "i was supposed to come save you. but then again, what ever would i do without you, wolfie?"

|| taglist; @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @whycantileaveyou @lovewolfspirit

wanna be added to the taglist? comment or send me a message :))

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marvelous-writer · 5 years ago

Note

Would you do a fic where Happy takes care of a sick Peter?

Absolutely!! I hope you like this!

Warnings for emeto and a lot of reading.

Link to read on Ao3

It was around eleven fifteen in the evening when Peter decided to call it a night from patrolling. He was tired and hungry, so he decided to stop off at a hotdog vendor along the way back to Happy’s apartment.

Yes, that’s right. Happy’s apartment.

With May being away on a girls trip with a few of her friends from work for a week, Happy had volunteered to let Peter stay with him while she was away. Of course, May had to make it weird by saying it would be some good ‘guy time’ for them. She’s been having him spend more time with Happy lately, whether it be leaving them alone for a few minutes whenever he picked her up for a date, or by her having him over for dinner during the week, ordering take-out those nights.

It’s been a little over three months now since May and Happy were officially dating and Peter still doesn’t know how to feel about it. Of course he’s happy for them… but it’s just so weird. Awkward is a good word to describe it.

He never even suspected anything before he found out about them dating, missing those steamy glances the two would share whenever Happy came to pick Peter up for his visit Upstate to visit the Stark’s at their cabin.

But so far, these past three days haven’t actually been that bad. May set up a curfew of twelve fifteen at night, which he’s been following. Happy’s been okay, a little awkward, but cool about him staying at his place in the guest bedroom. He’s been going back and forth between working on his tablet and making sure everything’s alright at work and checking in with Tony, which also included updates on Peter. Even though Tony already checked his suit logs daily, if not hourly, now that he was retired and had all of this free time on his hands.

“You have a text message from Mr. Hogan, Peter.” Karen chirped in his ear just as he landed on a nearby rooftop, balancing his three hotdogs in his hands.

“Can you read it for me?” He asked as he sat down on the building’s ledge, letting his legs hang off to the side.

“He wants to know if you’re on your way back and for you to remember your curfew.”

Peter let out an annoyed sigh as his mask disengaged from his head. He took a bite out of one of his hotdogs. “Tell him I’ll be home in twenty. Jus’ wrapping somethin’ up.” He said around a mouthful.

“Message sent.”

“Sometimes he’s such a worry-wart. He needs to chill.” Peter commented before taking another bite.

“Would you like me to send that as well?”

Peter’s eyes widened at that and he shook his head. “N-No no! Don’t send that!”

“I was only joking, Peter.”

Peter let out a breath and shook his head. “I think Tony’s newest upgrade to your coding was a bad idea. I can’t tell when you’re being sarcastic anymore, Karen.”

“Tony says it’s good to keep you on your toes.”

Peter smiled and shook his head. “Remind me to thank him for that.”

That meant that he’d probably have Morgan help him out with that one the next time he was up to the cabin.

Peter shoved the rest of his hotdog in his mouth and pulled out his phone from a hidden pocket in his suit, scrolling through instagram and twitter as he ate his other two hotdogs, bunching up the wrappers in his hand when he was finished. He sat there for a few more minutes before he stood up, engaging the nanotech in his suit, his mask covering his head once again.

He jumped down to a fire escape and leaned over, dropping the wrappers in an open dumpster, making sure they got in before he leapt from the railing, shooting a web off to the closest building as he swung away.

It was a little over twenty five minutes when he arrived back at Happy’s apartment, landing on the balcony. From here, Peter could see the man sitting in the living room on the couch through the glass windows, reading a book, dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

Peter was still getting used to seeing Happy without his usual suit and tie attire. He looked… a bit less serious and scary. He seemed more… chill.

But Peter would never let him know that.

“Hey, Happy.” He greeted as he walked through the glass door, disengaging his mask when he was inside.

“Hey, kid. Good patrol?” The man asked as he looked up at him from his book, his reading glasses perched on his nose.

“Yup. I stopped four muggings, helped an elderly woman with her cat that was stuck up in a tree, I walked a lady home, oh and I also helped a guy fix his car that wouldn’t start.”

“Sounds like a busy night.” Happy replied, slipping a bookmark in the page he was on before he closed the book and put it on the end table beside him. “You hungry? There’s some leftover spaghetti in the fridge.”

“Yeah, I’m starving.”

With his metabolism and all of the web slinging he did, he had already burned right through those hotdogs.

“I’ll go heat it up while you take a shower.” Happy offered.

“Thanks.” Peter smiled, walking towards the hallway that led to the bedrooms and bathroom.

He ducked into the guest bedroom where he was staying and grabbed a change of clothes before going to the bathroom to take a shower. Peter tapped on the spider symbol on his suit twice before the nanotech peeled off of him, leaving him in his boxers.

Peter grinned to himself as he placed the symbol on the counter by his clothes, still enthralled at how the Iron Spider suit worked. Sometimes he couldn’t believe that Tony let him keep it with how advanced and expensive the suit is.

When he was finished with his shower, he dried himself off with a towel before changing into his t-shirt and pajama bottoms, relishing in being clean, cooled off and comfy.

Peter went back to his room and threw his dirty clothes in the hamper and put his suit back in it’s charging port before heading down the hallway back out into the living room area. Happy was taking a bowl out of the microwave as he took a seat at the center island. Peter thanked him when he put it down in front of him.

“So, May called while you were out.” Happy told him.

“Oh? What’d she say?” Peter asked, twirling the pasta around his fork.

“Well, she and her friends are at the resort in Miami now.”

“So that hotel mixup is all fixed?”

“Yeah, all thanks to Tony for making a call to the Marriott down there so they could have an upgrade.”

Peter smirked. “Of course he did.”

“Well, you know how Tony is.” Happy smiled slightly.

Peter nodded with a smile, taking a bite of pasta. The kitchen settled into a comfortable silence as Peter ate, the sound of his fork scratching against the porcelain bowl filling the silence.

“So, I was thinking…” Happy was the first to break the silence, causing Peter to look up at him. “How about we do something tomorrow?”

It was painfully obvious that he was a bit awkward asking the question as he stood there, brows furrowed slightly.

Peter nodded, chewing around his last bite. “Sure like what?”

“Well… I was thinking you might want to go to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum? Tony was telling me they have a few new projects they’re showing the public this week.”

Peter was slightly taken aback by that. Happy actually wanted to do something with him that didn’t involve Spider-Man or May. Just Peter. May might have a little something to do with this, though. He wondered if Happy’s been talking to Tony about things to do around the city with him.

“That sounds cool.” Peter smiled.

“Yeah? We could head over there around noontime after breakfast?”

“Sure.” Peter nodded as he slid off his barstool with his empty bowl and fork in hand, walking around the center island to the sink.

“Great.” Happy said with a small, relieved smile.

Peter looked down as he rinsed out his dish and fork before placing them in the dishwasher.

“Tony offered for us to come up to the cabin on Friday. Apparently he bought a new boat and thought you’d want to take the first spin on it.”

“You mean he finally parted ways with that old pontoon boat that he swore he’d never get rid of?” Peter sarcastically asks with a knowing grin.

Happy smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his side against the counter. “Apparently so. I guess that old thing wouldn’t start a few days ago, even after he tried fixing it.”

“I’m sure Morgan wasn’t thrilled about that.”

“Didn’t sound like she was.”

Peter smiled, his gaze dropping down to the floor. He hasn’t been up to the cabin in a while so it would be good to visit, maybe they would even stay for the weekend. He missed Tony, Pepper and Morgan.

“Well, it’s late.” Happy’s voice took him out of his thoughts of the lake house.

That was his subtle way of telling him to go to bed without actually saying it.

“Yeah.” Peter nodded. “Uh, thanks for dinner.”

“Anytime, kid.” Happy offered him a small smile before he turned around and walked over into the living room, switching off the lamp, the center island lights illuminating the sleek apartment.

Peter bit his lip awkwardly as he walked over to the hallway as Happy moved around turning things off and putting things away for the night.

“Uh, I’ll see you in the morning.” Peter said, stopping at the hallway entrance.

Happy looked over at him and nodded. “Goodnight, kid.”

“Night.” Peter smiled before disappearing around the corner, walking down the hallway to the guest bedroom, closing the door behind himself.

The room was illuminated by moonlight as he walked over to the bed and sat down, picking his phone up as he leaned back against the wooden headboard. He sat there for a few minutes on his phone, hearing Happy go to his own bedroom at some point.

It was around twelve thirty when Peter decided to call it a night when his eyes began to ache from the brightness of his phone. He set his alarm for nine twenty in the morning before plugging his phone into his charger, putting it down on the nightstand.

Peter settled into the queen sized bed, pulling the comforter over himself as he rolled onto his side so he was facing the large glass window, looking out at the half-lit skyscrapers. From here, he could faintly hear the sounds of the streets below but he was too far up to hear everything compared to back at home with all of the traffic in Queens. It was so bad sometimes he had the worst time getting to sleep at night. But here, he could fall asleep pretty easily it seemed.

A few moments passed by before Peter felt his eyelids drooping and he eventually gave in, falling into a deep and peaceful slumber.

Only it didn’t stay so peaceful.

Peter woke up and instantly regretted that he did because he felt horribly nauseated and hot.

He let out a low groan, his brows scrunching together as he kicked the comforter off of himself, the movement triggering a sharp cramp in his stomach, causing him to tightly close his eyes.

Why was this happening?

A horrible wave of nausea overcame him a few seconds later, feeling something hot slowly sliding up his throat. Peter swallowed convulsively to keep it down for a few more seconds as he quickly got out of bed, determined not to throw up on Happy’s freshly polished hardwood floors. Black dots danced in his vision when he stood up, almost sending him back to the bed but he somehow managed to stay vertical on his shaking legs.

His hand fumbled for the doorknob in the darkness until he found it, opening the door and quickly walked out of the guest bedroom, beelining across the hallway to the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself a little too loudly. He found the light switch pretty easily, squinting at the sudden brightness as he made his way over to the toilet, opening the lid.

He knelt down with his arms wrapped around his cramping stomach, tightly closing his eyes as he waited for the inevitable to happen. And he didn’t have to wait long as another wave of nausea hit him at full force, making him gag into the porcelain bowl, his mouth instantly filling with hot saliva.

Peter spat into the bowl, his eyes still tightly closed as he knelt there and waited. Waves of nausea were still rolling over him as his stomach churned and cramped but nothing happened.

It was absolute torture.

Peter let out a small, pained groan as he lowered himself onto his knees, still leaning over the toilet, tears pooling in his eyes. He was breathing in small bursts, not really able to do anything else with the pain he was in. His stomach then convulsed, causing him to dry heave a few times before he retched, puking up his dinner and everything else he ate.

Peter took in a sharp, gasping breath in between heaves and violently coughed, only to vomit again.

He wasn’t sure how long it lasted before it stopped, leaving him gasping for air, slumped over the toilet, weakly holding onto it like a lifeline or else he’d fall to the tiled floor. His ears were ringing and everything was blurry and out of focus. Through the haziness, he was able to make out the rapid footfalls from down the hall before there was a knock at the door.

“Peter? You okay?” A groggy, yet panicked Happy called from the other side.

Peter opened his mouth to reply but before he could answer, he heaved again, vomit spewing out into the bowl.

“I’m coming in, alright?”

When it stopped, Peter was gasping again, tears freely falling down his cheeks. He tightly closed his eyes, coughing harshly into the toilet as he felt a hand settle on his back. Peter tried to let it ground him as he knelt there in front of the toilet, desperately trying to get a grip on himself but all he felt was embarrassment and shame.

Happy shouldn’t have to witness this. A part of Peter wanted the man to go but the childish part of him also wanted him to stay.

However, he wasn’t able to make up his mind before he was heaving into the toilet again, violently sick.

It just didn’t seem to stop. But once it did, Peter groaned, feeling Happy’s hand rubbing slowly up and down his back.

“You’re okay. You’re okay.” Happy was softly saying to him through the fogginess that seemed to take over his brain and ears.

Peter let out a shaky breath through his mouth and closed his eyes, feeling more tears escape from his eyes as he rested his forehead on the rim once again, wrapping his arms weakly around his aching stomach.

He stayed like that for several minutes, trying to focus on Happy’s hand running up and down his back and in small circles in between his shoulder blades.

“You think you’re done for now?” Happy asks after several moments.

Peter licks his chapped, dry lips. “Don’… Don’t know.” He weakly says, finding himself too worn out to speak.

All he wants to do is go back to sleep. Peter pushed himself away from the toilet a little, slowly moving his legs that were tingling with pins and needles, beginning to lower himself to the floor.

“Wait a minute, kid. Let me grab you something.” Happy says, stopping him, holding him up by his shoulder.

The next minute, he feels himself being guided down to the floor, a soft object being placed under his head. Peter let out a breath, relishing in being horizontal, lying on the cold tiled floor.

He blinks open his eyes when he feels a cool hand on his forehead.

“You’re burning up.” He hears Happy say, sounding concerned.

“S’rry.” Peter murmurs, letting his eyelids close again.

He was barely aware of his mouth and face being wiped, erasing any sign of sick from his face. He would have been embarrassed if he wasn’t so exhausted and miserable.

Peter only got a few minutes of rest before he found himself jumping up and puking into the toilet once again, Happy’s hand remaining on his back.

It was an endless, torturous cycle.

By the end of the seventh round, Peter was so done. His stomach and throat were killing him from throwing up so much and so violently and all he wanted was for it all to stop. But it wouldn’t.

Once he finished puking, he started crying, tears rapidly falling from his eyes and down his cheeks. He let out a pained, broken sob, echoing into the toilet as he weakly slumped forward, Happy grabbing onto him, saving Peter from dunking his head in his own puke.

“I’ve got you. You’re alright.” Happy’s words floated around him.

He was distantly aware of being lowered back to the floor, shivering and crying. He probably looked like an absolute mess but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Something soft and warm was draped over him and he curled into it, trying to take in it’s warmth.

Peter felt himself begin to drift off, welcoming the darkness that consumed him.

Peter’s heavy eyes slowly blinked open and he found everything to be a bit blurry. He registered that he was lying on the bathroom floor with his head resting on a folded up towel, another one draped over him. He breathed out through his nose and closed his eyes again, his whole body aching horribly but his stomach, head and throat were the worst of all.

He let out a small groan, stretching his legs out from their curled up position, feeling a hand go on his calf.

“Hey, you awake?” Happy’s voice came from behind.

He heard movement behind him before he opened his eyes, finding Happy in front of him, kneeling on the tiled floor with a glass of something in his hand.

“I’m sure you’re not feeling up to eating anything so I got you some ice chips. We can’t let you get any more dehydrated.”

Peter closed his eyes and shoved his face further against the towel beneath his head. “No… I’ll jus’ puke again.”

“No you won’t. Just try a few, okay?”

Peter stubbornly shook his head, gaining an exasperated sigh from Happy in return.

“Peter, you’re dehydrated. You need something in you or else I’m going to have to take you to the hospital.”

A spike of fear flashed through him at that. Peter opened his eyes and looked up, seeing concern written all over Happy’s face.

“Just try some, please.” Happy repeated, sounding exhausted and a little out of patience.

Peter breathed out a sigh through his nose and began to slowly lift himself up on a shaking arm, Happy helping him sit up the rest of the way, guiding him to rest his back against the vanity. Peter reached a hand out and took the offering glass filled with ice chips and brought it shakily to his mouth, taking a few pieces. He lowered the glass down and rested it on his lap, closing his eyes as he let the chips melt in his dry mouth.

“I want half of that gone.” Happy ordered as he reached forward and draped the towel around Peter’s shoulders.

Peter slowly nodded as he swallowed, bringing the glass up to his lips again for more.

This continued for several minutes until the glass was almost emptied and by that point, Peter’s hand was shaking so much that he almost dropped the cup if it hadn’t been for Happy taking it from him.

“You feel like going back to bed?”

Bed. A soft, warm, comfy bed. That sounded so much better than sitting here on the floor for another couple of hours.

“Y-Yeah.” Peter answered, his teeth chattering together.

When did it get so cold in here?

“Alright. Let me help you up.” Happy offered, standing up with a groan when his knees clicked from the movement.

Peter blinked open his eyes as Happy bent down, snaking his arms around his back and left arm. Getting up was an absolute struggle but with the man’s help, he managed to stand up on wobbly legs.

A wave of vertigo suddenly hit him and he had to lean against Happy’s side to prevent himself from falling back to the floor.

“M’ dizzy…” Peter mumbled, closing his eyes as his chin dropped to his chest.

“I know. Let’s just get you back to bed. Just hang in there a few more seconds.” Happy sympathetically told him, draping one of Peter’s arms over his neck.

Walking was quite the challenge but he managed to stay standing with Happy’s help before the man was helping him into bed. The guest bedroom was semi-bright from the sunrise in the distance, the golden rays of sun shining on the surrounding buildings out the window. Peter distantly wondered what time it was as he let Happy help him lie down in bed. It had been dark when he left the room earlier.

“Six fifteen.” Happy said from above.

Peter opened his eyes and frowned, finding Happy to be looking down at him questioningly.

“You asked me what time it was?” He clarified in a questioning tone, pausing from covering Peter up with the comforter.

Peter blinked, confused. He didn’t remember saying that out loud. “No… I didn’t.”

Happy frowned and reached over, placing the back of his hand on Peter’s forehead. “You’re burning up.” He draped the comforter over Peter, eyes searching the room before he turned around, disappearing from Peter’s line of sight. “Hang on a sec, I’ll be right back.”

Peter closed his eyes and let his head roll to the side, letting out a relieved sigh from the comfort of being in a bed instead of the cold, hard floor. He felt absolutely terrible but at least he was lying down now.

Happy came back a few minutes later, a washcloth in one hand and his phone in the other. He was talking to whoever was on the other end but Peter was too tired to focus on what he was saying. He blinked heavily up at Happy as the man draped the wet, cold facecloth on his forehead, relief washing over him. He hadn’t noticed that the room’s temperature had changed from cold to hot at some point, leaving him sweating and way to warm.

Peter closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh through his nose as a shiver passed through him.

“Yeah. No… yeah. Yeah, Tony. Yes. I’m going to take it now. Hang on a sec.” He heard Happy saying through the fogginess before he felt a hand gently shaking his shoulder. “Hey, Pete. You with me?”

Peter blinked his eyes open, struggling a bit with the drowsiness that had settled over him. The man’s face came into his line of sight, holding something out to him.

“I just need to take your temperature, okay? Think you can help me with that?”

“Yeah…” Peter slowly mumbled.

“Alright, open up.” Happy instructed before sliding the metal tip of the thermometer in his mouth under his tongue.

A few seconds passed by as Happy stayed at his side, still holding the thermometer, while Peter blinked up at the white ceiling, wanting nothing more than to just be able to sleep.

The thermometer beeped several moments later and Happy took it back, his face unreadable as he read over the number.

“What is it?” Peter mumbled.

Happy glanced down at him before looking back to the device. “It’s a little high but we’ll take care of it. For now, how about you try to get some sleep?” He said before standing up, pressing his phone against his ear again as he headed over to the door, starting to talk once more as he stepped out in the hallway.

Peter closed his eyes and tried to focus on Happy’s voice, hearing the man’s murmuring voice coming from the living room.

“… don’t know what happened. He seemed fine last night… yeah. I don’t think so. I don’t know what…”

At some point Peter just gave up on trying to listen because his head felt too heavy and stuffed up, making it hard to think. He began to drift off to the soft murmuring of Happy’s voice, falling into a deep sleep.

Peter blinked his eyes open, finding himself to be lying in his bed back at home. Something felt… off.

He frowned as he pushed himself up into a sitting position and threw his legs over the side of his bed, pushing himself to his feet as he took in everything in his room. A few discarded t-shirts and socks littered on the floor, his textbooks and notebooks spread out on his desk, along with his web shooters.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary.

“May?” Peter called out as he walked out into the hallway through his opened door.

The apartment was eerily silent as he walked down the hallway, stopping at the end beside the tall mirror. Something caught his attention in the corner of his eye, causing him to turn his head, meeting his reflection in the mirror.

His breath caught in his throat at the sight of himself, meeting his horrified eyes.

His t-shirt was ripped up, practically falling off of him but he could care less about that. It was the cause of the rips.

Peter’s eyes widened in terror as he raised his hands… all six of them up, inspecting them over before his eyes snapped back to his reflection, taking in the four arms that he had come out of nowhere.

Peter was panting now, panic bubbling in his chest, getting ready to burst any second. Peter opened his mouth and let out a gut wrenching, horrified scream.

Peter’s eyes snapped open with a scream that tore out of his throat, gasping as he jumped up into a sitting position in bed, throwing his arms out in front of himself. He had two harms, two hands, with ten fingers. Not six hands with thirty fingers.

He shivered when he felt sweat dripping down his back, as well as a drop sliding down his forehead.

Peter breathed out a groan and closed his eyes, falling back on his elbows as it felt like the air was being pushed down on him, threatening to suffocate him.

“Peter?” A voice panically called before he heard rushed footsteps.

Hands were on him and Peter opened his eyes, meeting Happy’s concerned ones.

“You alright? I was in the kitchen and I heard you scream.”

Peter blinked, his brows coming together as he shook his head. “I… I had a dream. My… My arms…”

Happy frowned as he sat on the edge of the bed, his hand resting on Peter’s shoulder. “Your arms are fine.”

“N-No… I had… six of them. I…” Peter veered off, closing his eyes again as his vision began to swim around dizzily, letting himself lie back down.

“Pete, it was just a bad dream. Okay?” Happy softly reassured. “You’re alright. You have two arms. See?” He said as he held onto both of his hands, feeling the man’s warm one’s in his.

Peter swallowed around the growing lump in his throat and nodded, opening his eyes again to look at their hands, weakly squeezing Happy’s hands. Tears were building up in Peter’s eyes and before he knew it, the tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“Hey, hey, what’s-”

“I-It was r-really scary.” Peter hiccuped. “I-I was a-alone and I just saw t-them. W-What if it actually h-happens?”

Happy gently squeezed his hands back, shaking his head. “That’s not going to happen, kid. I promise. It was just a bad dream. You’re sick and your fever is messing with you.”

Peter frowned, sniffing wetly. “F-Fever?”

“Yeah. Last time I checked it was up to one hundred and one point seven. I better check it again.” Happy said as he let go of Peter’s hands, reaching over to grab something from the nightstand beside the bed. “Open up.” He instructed, lowering a thermometer to his lips.

Peter let the man insert the thermometer in his mouth, feeling the cold metal under his tongue. He was far too exhausted and out of it to feel an ounce of embarrassment for all of this. He closed his eyes as they waited a few moments before the device beeped and Happy pulled it out of his mouth.

“One hundred and two point eight…” Happy mumbled, more to himself than to Peter. “We gotta get that down.”

Peter watched as Happy stood up and left the room, staring blankly up at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes for an uncertain amount of time before the man was back at his side.

“Here, this should help.” Happy said as he draped a cold, wet facecloth on Peter’s forehead.

Relief instantly washed over him, sending a few chills down his spine from the coldness compared to how warm he felt. Peter hummed and closed his eyes, grateful for some relief.

“We’ll keep that on for a little bit and see if that helps.” He heard Happy tell him.

Peter just hummed again in response. Happy began to talk again but Peter’s hearing faded in and out, not allowing him to comprehend what he was saying to him. Peter was distantly aware of the washcloth on his forehand anymore as he felt himself sinking back down into the black whole of unconsciousness.

He was fast asleep once again a few moments later.

The next time Peter woke up… wasn’t so pleasant.

He was in a deep sleep when awareness came to him all at once. His eyes flew open just as he felt something hot shoot up his throat and he didn’t have any time to react before he threw up, practically projectile vomiting lying down. Peter shot up as quickly as he could with a gasp, his eyes tightly closed as he threw up in his lap. He could feel something warm sliding down his neck and it only made him gag, sending more vomit onto his lap.

“Shit!” Someone exclaimed from nearby.

It felt like the round of puking lasted forever until it finally stopped, for the time being at least, leaving Peter a gasping, shaking, crying mess.

“Hey, hey, hey. You’re okay.” Someone said at his side.

Peter opened his eyes, snapping them shut once again when he saw the pile of sick on his lap, the blanket covering him completely ruined.

“H-Happy?” Peter’s voice wavered as he spoke.

“Yeah, I’m right here, kid.”

“I…” Peter swallowed thickly. “I don’t f-feel so good.”

“Yeah, I know. I know you don’t, kid.”

Peter’s brows pulled together as his lower lip wobbled. He felt absolutely horrible. His throat was burning, his stomach ached horribly… everything hurt and he felt like he was melting.

“I-I want T-Tony…” Peter said as a small sob escaped from his lips.

He felt Happy’s hand go on his back, rubbing a small circle. They sat like that for a few minutes, tears freely flowing down Peter’s cheeks as he shook, occasionally letting out a small, weak sob.

“Tell you what… how about we get you cleaned up and I’ll call Tony? We’ll see if he can get down here? That sound good?” Happy gently offered.

Peter shakily nodded, sniffing with a wince.

“Alright. Let’s get you up.”

Happy helped him untangle himself from the soiled blankets before helping him slowly get to his feet. Peter’s legs almost gave out from underneath him but Happy’s firm hold kept him standing as he was led out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

“You still feeling sick?”

Peter silently nodded his head, his throat too sore for him to talk.

“Alright.” Happy said as he helped Peter sit on the edge of the bathtub. “I’m going to grab you some clothes. Just stay here, alright?”

Peter nodded again as Happy turned around and walked out of the bathroom. He closed his eyes from the bright LED bathroom lights and slowly bent over, resting his arms on his legs, feeling too weak to hold himself up any longer. He just wanted to lie back down and go back to bed. His stomach was still churning away unhappily. Peter let out a low groan as he wrapped his arms around his aching stomach, face twisting in pain.

Why was this happening? His healing factor should be kicking this bug or whatever this was by now.

Happy walked back in the bathroom a moment later, pausing in the doorframe when he saw Peter’s face.

“Pete… you alright?” He asked, tone laced with concern as he put the stack of clothes on the sink countertop before kneeling down beside Peter, resting a hand on the teen’s shivering back. “What’s going on?”

Peter sat up a bit more with a wince. “M-My stomach hurts… and I…” He stopped and closed his eyes. “I just don’t feel good.”

Happy rubbed his back in small circles in a soothing motion. “I know you don’t, kid.”

They sat there for a few minutes until Peter’s eyes flew open and he lunged for the toilet when his stomach decided to rebel once again. His mouth filled with hot saliva immediately before he gagged into the porcelain bowl, a stream of spit dropping into the water. His stomach cramped again, a groan escaping Peter’s mouth.

“Nothing’s coming up…” Peter miserably whined as his eyes began to water up.

Happy’s hand resumed it’s position on his back but it did nothing to help him feel better.

Another cramp hit his stomach, along with a horrible wave of nausea and Peter found himself dry heaving over the toilet again for a few minutes before something finally came up.

He lost concept of time shortly after that, in between throwing up, gasping and crying.

When it was finally over for the time being, Peter was a shivering mess on the bathroom floor, pale under the LED lighting. Happy got up to get him a glass of water from the sink and crouched down to his level, holding it out for him to take. Peter took the glass in shaking hands, taking a few small sips before handing it back to him, resuming his position of slumping over the toilet with his head resting on the rim.

“Think you can move? We need to get you cleaned up and out of those clothes.” Happy said, breaking the silence that had settled over the bathroom.

Peter shrugged his shoulders without moving his head away from the toilet rim, relishing in the coldness on his burning forehead.

“Okay… uh…” He heard Happy mumbling to himself as the man stood up and opened a few drawers in the vanity beside him before he heard water running behind him in the tub. “Alright. You’re probably not going to like it but we need to get you cleaned up. How about you take a shower? Do you think you can do it alone or…” Happy said, clearly uncomfortable.

Peter weakly lifted his head. “N-No… I can do it.”

“Okay.” Happy said, coming to his side. “Let’s get you up, kid.”

Happy helped him up and sat him down on the closed toilet lid after flushing away the contents of Peter’s stomach. Peter blinked a few times to clear the fuzziness from his vision as he sat there, Happy going around in the bathroom getting everything ready for him. The man turned to walk out but stopped in the doorframe, turning around to look at him with concerned eyes.

“I’ll be right outside if you need me, okay?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah. Thanks, Happy.”

Once the bathroom door was closed, Peter let out a small sigh as he slowly stood up from the toilet and began to take off his soiled clothes, nose drinking in disgust as he realized that he had thrown up all over himself, mostly his shirt.

The shower was already running at a warm temperature, so he got in and closed the glass door behind himself, a violent shiver wracking his frame from the water hitting his overheated skin. But it feels so good.

Peter washed himself off before he gets to his hair, rubbing in the shampoo and conditioner mix that smelt like lavender. Thankfully the scent wasn’t too much for his overly sensitive senses because the last thing he wanted was to get any more sick than he already was.

How did he even get so sick to begin with? He hasn’t been sick since a few months ago when he caught a cold during his visit to the Stark’s cabin for a week-long visit. And that was nothing compared to whatever this was. It was just weird how suddenly he got sick this time around.

Peter frowned as he rinsed out the shampoo from his hair, trying to think back to anything that could have been the cause for him getting sick.

That’s when it hit him.

It could be because of the hotdogs he ate last night… so he had food poisoning? He’s gotten food poisoning once before, a year ago, when he had ordered a separate Thai chicken dish when he went out with May for dinner. She never had any of it so she thankfully never got sick. He had puked all night and stayed in bed for a whole day before he felt better.

Only this time it was way worse.

Turning off the shower after he was all done, Peter found the fluffy towel Happy had left for him on the hook and dried himself off, shivering as goosebumps spread on his arms and legs from the cold bathroom. He dried himself off as quickly and carefully as he could before he changed into the clean clothes that were left on the counter. Happy’s black t-shirt was far too big on Peter but he was grateful for it, along with the dark grey sweatpants.

He rubbed the towel on his head and managed to somewhat dry his wet curls, only making his hair a bit frizzy and more curly in the process. But he could honestly care less how ridiculous he must look at the moment, wearing baggy clothes with crazy hair and a bit delirious from his fever.

Peter finished up in the bathroom before he turned off the lights and opened the door, walking back towards his bedroom. Happy was throwing a new, white comforter over the mattress when he shuffled in.

“I think it was the hotdogs.” Peter miserably stated.

Happy turned to him with a raised brow. “What hotdogs?”

“I had some last night when I was on patrol. I think I have food poisoning.”

“Well that explains it then. I’m sorry, kid.”

“Me too.” Peter sadly agreed as Happy helped him back into bed, sinking down in the mattress. “I’m sorry I puked everywhere.”

“It’s alright. Don’t worry about it.” Happy told him, pulling the comforter up to Peter’s chin. “I’m going to get you something to drink and give Tony a quick call. You need anything else?”

Peter silently shook his head.

“Alright. I’ll be right back.” Happy said with a slight smile before he left his side, heading out into the hallway.

Peter breathed out a sigh through his nose and rolled over onto his side, brows pulling together in discomfort when his abdominal muscles protested from the movement. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore all of the aches that were coursing through his body.

One thing was for certain… he was never going to eat hotdogs from that vendor guy again, not even if they were free.

Peter was lightly dozing when Happy came back, gently shaking his shoulder. He sluggishly blinked his eyes open, only to see that Happy was holding out his cellphone to him.

“Tony wants to talk to you.”

Peter snaked an arm out from underneath the comforter and took the phone in his hand and brought it to his ear. Happy left the room again to give him some privacy.

“Hi.” He hoarsely answered.

“Hey, kiddo. Happy told me you’re not feeling so hot, huh?” Tony’s voice came on the other end and Peter almost wanted to cry in relief from hearing his voice, wishing that he was here with him now.

“No.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, bud. I wish I could be there with you now to make things better.”

“I wish you were here.” Peter miserably admitted, closing his eyes. Tony always made things better and the only thing Peter wanted was to be wrapped in the man’s warm, comforting arms.

“I know, bud. Tell you what… I can be there in forty-five minutes? I’ll stop off on my way and get you some wonton soup from your favorite Chinease place?”

A small, sad smile spread on the teen’s face. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Okay. Well I’ll be there in a little bit and I’ll let Happy know when I’m five minutes away. You just try to get some sleep and rest up, kiddo.”

“I’ll try.”

“Alright. I’ll see you soon, Pete.” Tony told him, voice full of fondness.

“Okay. Drive safe.”

Happy walked back in the room as they hung up. After talking with Tony, Peter did feel a little bit better with knowing that he was on his way. It wasn’t that Happy wasn’t helping him because he was and Peter felt horrible about all of this, but he just wasn’t Tony.

“He’s on his way. He said he’d call you when he’s fine minutes away.” Peter said, handing the phone back over.

“That’s good.” Happy nodded, pocketing his phone, putting a glass of water down on the nightstand for Peter. “Do you need anything? Want to watch anything?” He offered.

Peter shook his head. “No, I think I’m going to take a nap.”

“Alright.” Happy nodded. “I have some paperwork I need to get started on so I’ll be out in the living room if you need me.”

“Okay.” Peter said as Happy turned around and headed back to the door. “Hey, Happy?”

He stopped in his tracks and turned around and looked at him, eyebrows raised in question.

“Thanks for this… and taking care of me. I’m sorry, I know that this isn’t how you wanted to spend your weekend.”

A smile tugged at the corner of the man’s mouth as he shook his head. “It’s alright. I’d do anything for you, Pete.”

A warmth spread through Peter at that, feeling his cheeks heat up from the admission.

“Feel better, kid.” Happy smiled before he turned back around and left the room.

Peter smiled to himself and rolled over on his side, facing the curtain-covered window. He closed his eyes and pulled the blankets over himself more, hearing the faint sound of footsteps in the other room that lulled him into a peaceful slumber.

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shy-magpie · 4 years ago

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RQG 155

Wherein there are unexpected visitors. Live blog under the cut

Pre episode babbling: there really wasn't any way quarantine was going to last as long as the dungeon crawl, and (for all I joked about it) I really am satisfied with what we got. That was a lot of backstory and character moments in a short amount of time. Now we have a kobold, a mysterious attack on the inn, and an episode title referencing dragons? Nice consolation for them almost certainly being forced out of the basement or having plot come to them. Please be Skraak? Please be Skraak either trying to rescue them or at least be here as an ally? Oh well time to hit play: Weird energy? That’s promising Inevitable locked in a Cel(l) joke Zolf needs to be nicer about the Kobolds Alex needs tell us if this is Skraak or not before Hamid gets the blame Skraak(?) Just unlocked the trap door Nice outfit Alex, is it our Skraak? It seems to be Zolf wants Skraak to join them in quarantine. Cel doesn't see why to bother when Skraak's been in contact with hundreds of Kobolds Skraak gestures for them to leave and Zolf is going to be force the issue. This will go over well. Beats his defense by 1 Hamid is trying to play peacemaker again. Really Zolf? Couldn't have calmly refused to leave and explained through the door? I know you are under stress but you are low charisma, not stupid. Love you Cel, Skraak has been speaking to varying degrees since "My Liege" Hamid tries to explain, Zolf speaks over him to say they didn't explain because they forgot. Hamid apologizes to Skraak. Skraak starts to leave. Azu backs Zolf in preventing him from leaving. Skraak is subdued by Zolf & Azu Skraak is locked in with Hamid? No Zolf has some limits thank goodness. He did call Skraak one of them. Bound but not gagged as Hamid apologizes. Skraak points out that he just has to wait for the rest (of his team?) Skraak "monitor"ed them!?! Holy... I was merely comparing the situations, did he actually scry and see them held by a human in a small space underground beneath a trap door disguised by a table? If he thinks Wilde is their Shoin then how many pieces is he going to be in when Zolf gets out? Kobold lore please! Hierarchy is important and it was "considered a good idea to keep track of the saviors". Skraak is sarcastic in his tone when he uses the term and it sounds like at least Hamid & Azu object the instant they hear it, possibly others. Cel makes a pitch for quarantining the whole inn. Wilde is in the cupboard Zolf asks about the kobold numbers and makes some unnecessary remarks about the village & Jasper in particular being lost as he writes off Japan. Zolf is far too relatable for some who needs to stand the flame down before someone takes it personal. Deciding you've already doomed yourself along with everything you care about is a crappy way to avoid panic in the face of uncertainty. Cel tries to call him on it, he switches to "everyone else is infected and it will be our job to fight them". Scary thing is, while in the long term it would be a suicide mission, with their combined abilities they could make a serious dent in the numbers. Hope they are aware of the Hiroshima comparison if this is leading to calling for a air strike on Japan. They explain what little they know to Skraak who insists none of the Kobolds were sick but may not understand the symptoms. Possible kobold immunity? Gonna be annoyed if something Shoin did protected them. Skraak seems to be saying that no new people were exposed since his party of 7 followed the route of the party. Zolf wants to send them back under Skraak's guard to prevent any more coming for them. And they're back. Cel points out its better Skraak came since the kobolds didn't know to implement quarantine. They go upstairs. They form a phalanx and draw spear against the party when they don't see either Hamid or Skraak. Alex & Ben are doing the "these lines are already written we have but to speak them" routine while Bryn points out Alex doesn't get to sound like that when he's the one doing it. Very Hamid, if you know how this is going to play out and don't like it, just make another choice. Initiative and a lot of dice. Grapple rules. Not clear where Cel is/if they got grappled but it sounds like Zolf did and is throwing them off so he can check on the inn keeper. Hamid runs upstairs and every one of them kneels like Skraak did at their first meeting. Helen & Bryn both sound distressed. Should have cleaned up that unreadable little ficlet I made of Hamid going bad because he didn't know how to handle Kobold worship and accidentally took over Japan because he thought autonomy meant respecting their decision to look to him as their leader. The innkeeper is bound but fine. Zolf unties him and looks for Wilde. "Wilde is also bound and... Has a look best described as "the bleep? "" Zolf is a stress cooker and Barnes updates Hamid is flustered and embarrassed which buys him some small grace from Skraak who explains Hamid is "the biggest dragon here" Cel: Also you could introduce the concept of democracy. Eh skip em straight to anarcho communism if you ask me. Group decision meetings rather than just vote for the head dragon Hamid tries to side step a bit by suggesting they explain the situation and asks for their names. Hope Alex thought to name all seven before the cast does. Siggif the kobold might be pushing it. "Hamid the polite tyrant"-Lydia Break Alex skips them to "a large dinner" cooked by Zolf who got a nat 20 on how good it is. Cel speaks draconic. Neither Zolf nor Azu can make out the difference in their names. Because Alex is like that: didn't want to come up with 7 names, did want to block anyone else naming them. Bryn however has all 6 names and is going to give Azu & Zolf their translations. They aren't interested in the rest of the party and "insist on maintaining a guard phalanx around Hamid at all times". Helen points out this is Bryn's fault. Yeah he's been playing with Alex long enough to know "King of the Kobolds" would come back to bite him. Hamid should be embarrassed. Hamid is sat at the head of the table by the Kobolds. Skraak: it'll pass eventually Zolf: good Aw Cel asks about traditional kobold food and Skraak has to struggle to remember. (Cel seems disappointed meal worm burgers would be poisonous to non kobolds) Zolf is a grumpy boy Long story short it seems to be a controlled risk: no contact off the island; no reason to believe the kobolds are infected Kobolds might be immune Oh screw Shoin (sent waves of Kobolds as dungeon monsters) Zolf doesn't think that the level of contact the Kobolds had with infected adventurers without being infected is proof since they don't know how the infection is passed or activated. Hamid says they shouldn't rely on it but its reason to hope. Zolf needs to remember that team moral is a thing and quit taking things from Hamid especially in a way that could piss off their new housemates. Thank you Azu! Hamid is not stupid! You can say there is reason for hope and still be careful Hamid calls him on jumping down his throat at the slightest provocation, reminds him they talked about this and that trying to stay positive is not a crime. God it's weird relating to both sides of this argument. My bias is towards Hamid as being right, but Zolf is so relatable. You have any idea how hard it can be not to snap at some of these kids they are setting themselves up for heart break when they talk about school in the fall or hug piles at cons? Thank you Cel Zolf is going to leave and sit on the coast behind the inn because he considers the quarantine broken not expanded. Backing out of an unproductive conversation, especially one were others have pointed out you are being harmful is valid, giving into "burn it all" moods is not. Hamid moves to stop him because he gets that the inn is now their cell Wilde calls him back and says he was building to them talking to the borb. So there is a reason he's the boss. Zolf declares he wants some time not thinking about this, which is what he should have done several paragraphs ago. Ffs this can not be the first time he's had it strike hot/destructive instead of cold/immobilizing; it sucks but you don't let yourself make any permanent decisions, stay away from the breakables and try not to talk to much, it passes. Cel suggests he go to one of the upstairs rooms instead, he accepts the redirect with ill grace but does accept it. Barnes has pointed out that locking everyone in a small box makes things worse not better before. Aw did Alex not like the fandom begging for the platonic version of the lock em in a closet until they sort out their feelings trope? Azu: I thought we could make friends Cel: he seems quite opposed to that Azu: I feel like he'd be a really good friend but not very friendly if you know what I mean Cel:we I know he hasn't been at all friendly Azu: you're friendly! Cel: well thank you, I do try Azu: I think you are my friend Cel: I am so honored! Thank you so much Azu! That's delightful Carter declares Cel the only friendly one because he is grumpy about Azu stepping on him, stopping him from breaking quarantine, and drank all the good stuff. Barnes suggests they start fresh in the morning. Skraak explains the kobolds are expecting Hamid to step into Shoin's role as tyrant just one they like. Skraak: even if they know you're not a tyrant, neither they nor me will be abandoning you because that's how Kobolds work. Good Hamid is taking this seriously Oh no pressure Skraak The most chill inn keeper in the world Skip to lunch time Zolf is still making himself scarce, which is not the worst way to handle it dawning on you THAT YOU TRIED TO DESTROY A RELATIONSHIP YOU VALUE BECAUSE YOU WERE IN A MOOD Bryn makes the "he's secretly infected" joke. Bryn spotted the veins in discord avatar thing and Alex sounds so pleased Wilde is fine, stop asking Oh really we needed that insight in how Wilde thinks Brorb on the table Cel asks for a list of stuff to make into a Brorb access device. Between their bags of holding they have enough stuff for them to make do. Azu seeks out Zolf while Hamid & the Kobolds help Cel. No strike that she waits until someone needs to grab him for the Brorb interview. Alex! Ending on Azu finding Zolf staring out the window.

#RQG spoilers #Rusty Quill Gaming #long post #RQG 155 #RQG season 4 #live blog thingy

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richardlawson · 5 years ago

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Night Moves

My parents sold their house. The house they bought before my sister and I were born, in that weird slip of time I’m told was the late 1970s. They’re moving to Providence, city of my father’s birth, and a place where a modest condo can be bought, for two people facing next and (yes, we all must admit) maybe final chapters. Over the 4th of July holiday, I spent a teary two nights in the house, going wandering in Boston with a friend and then, just as it was time to leave for the train, taking last passes through the small expanse of the place. I cried. I made myself cry? I don’t know if the tears were real or forced or if forced tears aren’t actually real. But I did. Almost wept. My mom pulled the car out of the driveway and there was my dad, good old Dad, walking the dog up the hill, the last time I’d ever see that. I blubbed, discretely, until my mom asked me a question and then it was hard to hide. “It’s just a building,” she said, which is what I’d told myself, what my therapist had told me. It’s just a building. Just a thing that teemed with all the stuff of our lives for 40 years. And now it’s not.

The day before this goodbye, my family and I went to a wedding. My cousin’s kid got married, an assemblage of people I’d not seen in at least 20 years. It was held at a country club south of the city, and was full of that kind of straight wedding swagger I hate so much—is there no worse sight in the world than groomsmen in suits clutching bottles of beer? That effortful commitment to male casualness amidst the formalness? It speaks to such an ease, the way these men move through the world, that my sister and I were repulsed by it. During the wedding, a long and violent thunderstorm rolled in. But just before that, my family and I wandered the grounds of the country club, walked along the ridge of a hill that offered a view of the city, the whole of Boston laid out there in the hazy, humid distance. The four of us there, lined up and regarding it. It felt like a maudlin farewell. To this city we’ve all been so tethered to, just then rendered so small, so faraway.

I traveled a lot this summer, more than I had planned. I went to Provincetown for a few nights, my new favorite place, and felt the mid-June thrill of all that. I went to Los Angeles, mostly for work—a grinding reporting assignment that has yet to bear fruit but still could be something good, I hope—but also to see my sister. She’s so good at day trips, feeling so blessed with a car, and we drove up to Ojai, spent a late morning and early afternoon in its clenching, clean heat. We hiked a short distance to a waterfall, where barefoot kids were laughing and dogs were shuffling around. We went into town, roaming an outdoor used bookstore where I searched for my own book and, as ever, came up short. I’d heard so much about Ojai and, while finding it beautiful, was surprised by how little it offered. “You have to be rich to enjoy it,” I said to my sister as we got back in her car and, sealed up in the air conditioning, drove back to the city.

In Los Angeles, I spent a lot of time holed up in my hotel, a once-trendy place on the Sunset Strip that has a thumping pool club and is just the right amount of uncomfortable to feel cool. It’s a full-service place, so I could take my meals there, do drinks on the patio, barely leave the confines of it. I went a little crazy, swaddled up in the gray blanket of that place—its easy, healthy-ish, sour food, its lukewarm sauvignon blanc mood. I felt like I was there for a whole long Shining winter, growing a beard and going insane and locating some truer kernel of myself than I’d ever known existed. I let myself skitter out into the night on occasion, to see friends and revel, just a bit, in the riot of a city I hate. (I’m sorry, L.A. friends. I have tried so hard to like Los Angeles, but it makes me so stressed and unhappy and full of constant Sunday Scaries that I have to hate it. That said, I can’t wait to visit again.) But mostly I was alone, conducting halting interviews on the phone, pacing around in my cold room while tall trees fluttered in the balcony window. One uneasy afternoon, I watched a bug crawl around the enormous beanbag chair the hotel provided and figured it knew what to do with this lump of furniture more than I did.

I just got back from Fire Island, another place I have tried to love and—unlike L.A.—might finally be done with. What a dream of an idea that place is, and yet in execution, or at least in my admittedly narrow experience of it, what a drab and horny and exhausting thing it actually is. I don’t fit in there at all, which is a strange sensation for someone who has prided himself on being able to adapt, to quickly recover, to renegotiate physical and social spaces as needed. Fire Island, the Pines in particular, is a bridge past a bridge too far, I’m afraid. Not because I don’t admire its moxie, its Speedo tan-ness, its louche, buggy reverie. I love that people love it. I just feel sad that Fire Island is something like Paris—a beautiful dream I’ll never be able to actually step into, that I’ll never feel filling me like air, like smoke. (I Juul now—another life update.) But it’s good to have that conclusion—to know, because of increasing adulthood and experience, that it, hey, just isn’t for me. I wish it the best. I wanted to blow a kiss to the island as the ferry puttered away back toward Sayville. Goodbye, place! Goodbye, dream! Goodbye all you wonderful people who partied and yearned and grieved and fucked and fell in love there. See you in Ptown, maybe. All you lively ghosts, living and dead.

Fall trips loom. Film festivals, which are so much fun. I’m going to Venice for the first time, next week, and I am so stressed and excited and curious. I booked an Airbnb that’s not near the movies, that’s on the main island with all the canals and handsome gondoliers and luring, leering pasta. (My Fire Island diet nearly killed me, readers.) I chose holistic life experience over festival ease in booking that place and I hope I don’t regret it. And then it’s straight on to Toronto, a festival I love, a town I am growing to like, with people I know and with whom I’m so ready to pretend it’s summer camp again. Fall camp. Autumn camp. What a good time that will be.

But it will keep me away. I’ve been away so much this year, which has been exhilarating—I gave an award out on stage at a loud gay discotheque in Guadalajara, Mexico!—but also lonely, and denying. The thing I’ve sort of stylistically held for the end here is that I fell in love this year, and while it’s a new-ish, only nine-month relationship (“We have a baby,” I said to Andrew tonight), it’s still a totalizing thing. It’s impossible to look at all of this—parents moving, cities roiling, islands churning—not through the lens of that. How terrifically grounded I have felt this year, to something good and happy and intimate and huge in its smallness. This is the first time I’ve really written about him—a scientist, a smiler, a kind and gentle person who calms me and encourages me—and it feels a little scary to type it out. But there he is, suddenly a center.

When I was home over the 4th, my mom told my sister and me a story about our cousin, the one whose kid got married at the country club. I guess when this cousin was little, a toddler maybe, she would often say, “I need something.” Just that. That quiet little unspecific thing. “I need something,” she’d say in a small voice, tugging at pant legs and looking up at the adults hoping they’d understand and satisfy whatever it was she was asking for. I’ve thought about that a lot since my mom told us about it, there in the backyard I’ll never see again. I need something. I need something! I NEED SOMETHING!

Of course we all do. Need something. Need so many things. I get corny, thinking about it. I want to say what a mad and blissful and terrible adventure it is, to go chasing after that need. It is. But, again, that’s hokey. So I guess I’ll just end this ramble with a little moment, from Fire Island. I went to bed early one night, and was half asleep when some of the boys of tea came home. I heard them rumbling around upstairs in the living room, muffled laughter and bottles opening. It reminded me of being a kid in the house I grew up in, that will now be lived in by a nice family from Framingham who wrote a heartening letter to my parents about how much they loved the house. That feeling of life happening just beyond the light under the door. And maybe it is. But in that room on Fire Island that night, there was also the beautiful dark, also the hum of the air conditioner, the whine of the mosquito, and there was me, breathing and blinking and alive. That was so much, too.

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krreader · 6 years ago

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tomb raider.

pairing: kim namjoon x reader fandom: bts warnings: non idol!au ; tomb raider!au ; near death scenario genre: angst ; fluff ; action ; hints of crack

summary: namjoon wasn’t used to coming on missions with you. he was the voice in your ear that told you what to do and not your partner. but it was only on this mission that he realized how dangerous what you were doing actually was.. and how quickly he could lose you..

a/n: I’ll be honest with you, tomb raider isn’t the kind of game I ever played, but I’ve heard so much good stuff about it and I really like the plot so.. enjoy it ♥

“I don't think this is a good idea, (Y/N),” Namjoon said for what felt like the fiftieth time in over an hour. You merely rolled your eyes, pretending not to have heard it, “I know you just rolled your eyes.”

“Can you just trust me for once? It's not like we haven't done this a million times.”

“No, YOU have done this a million times. I'm the one who sits in a warm and comfortable office and tells you where your enemies are so that you can stab them from behind. That's a big difference.”

And now here he was, following you through a cold, wet and scary tomb, that made goosebumps form all over his body.

You had said he needed to come because this was a two man's job and you didn't trust anyone else to do it. And well, if he was being honest, he was glad at first that you only trusted him. But then, as soon as you two landed on this god forsaken island, he realized what a bad fucking idea it had been to come here with you when he had absolutely no training in this.. business of yours.

“See? I've done this a million times, so I know what I'm doing. You don't have to worry about anything. All you need to do is follow my lead.”

But as soon as you've said it, one of you must have triggered an automatism, because the next thing you heard were arrows flying in your direction.

You reacted immediately, pushing Namjoon down to the ground and letting the arrows fly over your heads like it was the easiest thing in the world.

And once you were sure that was it, you sat up, but were still straddling him.

“I told you,” you grinned, “I know what I'm doing.”

“I seriously hate you.”

“No, you don't,” you got up again and pulled him with you, “Admit it. This is exciting.”

“Exciting my ass,” he mumbled, wiping off the dirt from his clothing, “We almost get killed and it's exciting. You have some weird kinks, you know that?”

“Aw, thank you, that's so sweet,” you turned back around and continued walking, leaving Namjoon no choice but to run after you once again, “Run along then..”

“Are we even going the right way? I feel like we've already passed this stone twice.”

“They're stones, Namjoon, they all look the same. And I've memorized the map. We're going the right way.”

He would only believe that once he see's what he was supposed to see.

Which was a huge ass room, covered in an ancient writing that he couldn’t understand and something that reminded him of a maze.

And that worried him.

“Remind me.. why is this a two man's job?”

“I need you to wait here,” you pointed at a lever, “You need to open a door for me when I'm at it and it'll only be open for approximately five seconds, so make sure to only pull it when I shoot with my flare gun.”

“I don't like this, (Y/N). What if something happens to you?”

“We've got the walkie-talkies. Might as well use them, don't you think?” you pulled out yours and turned it on, “I'll keep you updated alright?”

And with a smile, you wanted to just turn around and leave, but Namjoon had suddenly grabbed your wrist, gulping down hard.

When he sat in an office, this wasn't nearly as hard for him as it was right now. Seeing you go into a dangerous maze, while he'd have to stand there and hope for you to come back.. it was different. Something inside of him told him that he shouldn’t let you go right now.. that he should keep you close..

“Come back, okay?” come back to me is what he wanted to say.

“Don't worry. I've got this,” you winked and gently patted his cheek, before you were off.

And a moment later, you disappeared.

He turned on the walkie-talkie right away and said: “You there?”

“Yep. See? Everything's fine.”

“Okay, then just.. I don't know, talk to me.”

“What do you want to talk about?” you smiled, trying to stay focused nevertheless, so that you wouldn't trip any other mechanism today.

“I don't know, tell me what you want to do when we're back home. Tell me what you're excited about the most.”

“Oh, my bed for sure. Or maybe those corn dogs that they sell around the corner. I love those.”

“Yeah? Maybe we should get them together after this,” maybe asking you out right now was the wrong thing to do, but he wanted to keep you talking, he was nervous and also dangerously close to having a mental breakdown.

“Kim Namjoon, are you asking me on a date?” you giggled, cutting some vines with your knife.

“Yeah. Yeah, because if I die today, then at least I want to know if you would have said yes.”

“You're not going to die. I'll prevent that from happening..”

No answer. He assumed that you were thinking about it, but..-

“Well? What would the answer be, then?” and there it was. That silence that he had dreaded so much. That silence that signalized there was something wrong, “Please tell me you actually just don't want to reject me which is why you're not saying anything..-”

But there was no response.

And the next thing he heard was something going off. A loud sound, almost like a bomb. But a smoke bomb. And then there was this stone that came rolling out of a shaft like in the Indiana Jones movies.

“No,” Namjoon whispered.

And even though he had absolutely no training in this kind of thing, his first instinct was to run and get you. His first instinct was to protect you.

And so he ran into the maze without a second thought, screaming your name over and over again, probably triggering a thousand of other dangerous things, but he did not care.

He just ran and ran and ran until..-

“Oh my god!” you had run against his chest and he immediately cupped your face to inspect you for injuries, but you both knew there was no time, the stone mowing down anything that was in its' way was getting closer and closer and if you weren’t fast, you’d be mush on the floor.

And so with your hand around his, you two started running, hoping for an exit, which was a lot harder to find than you had hoped.. because after all, this was a maze.

Also, midst finding an exit, you also had to deal with all the other traps that you two set off. Whether it be balls of flames being thrown at you or poison arrows shooting at you, you had to evade all of those.

And truth be told, you had no idea how you even managed to survive it all, you should have been killed by one of those traps, but there was this opening in the stone wall, moonlight shining inside the maze and you both knew this was the only way of getting out.

You managed to squeeze through just in time and managed to get out of the way before the rolling stone could hit you. It fell down the cliff and into the oceans that was a couple hundred feet down.

And then there you were, on a cliff overlooking that same ocean, moonlight reflecting on the water and if it weren't for everything that had almost killed you a second ago, you would have enjoyed this view.

But right now, both of you were just so completely out of breath that you couldn’t focus on the beauty in front of you.

“I fucking knew something like this would happen,” Namjoon said, his hands on his knees as he tried to get his breathing under control again.

“Ah, I don't know. I think it was quite a lot of fun,” you laughed, “And the view is quite nice too.”

“You really need to sort out your priorities,” he took a deep breath before speaking again, “You almost died, (Y/N). And I know you almost die every fucking time but..- I didn’t know it was like this. I didn’t know you were always this close to dying!”

Maybe you did need to sort out your priorities..

Because this guy that you've been working with for years, just jumped into a fucking death maze to save you, despite having no actual training in this field. This guy that you thought was merely a friend, but was actually so much more now that you were looking at him differently.

Maybe he should become a priority as well. And maybe you should be more careful because it seemed like your life mattered to someone.. it mattered to him.

And so once you were sure that your lungs were working properly again, you walked over to him and nodded.

“You're right. Maybe I do,” you grabbed the lapels of his jacket and just.. kissed him without even really thinking about it. Maybe it was the heat of the moment, but you’d like to believe that it was more. It was one full of passion, pressing your body as tightly against his as you could so you could feel his heart beating, while Namjoon didn't quite know how to react. He moaned into the kiss, so that was probably a good sign and when he finally relaxed, he placed his hand on your waist and held you close as well. And it was only when your lungs needed to fill up with air again, that you stopped, your nose still touching his, “So maybe we should go on that date once I take a break from this job..”

#bts imagine #bts x reader #kim namjoon x reader #kim namjoon imagine #namjoon x reader #namjoon imagine #rm imagine #rm x reader #bts #bangtan #bangtan boys #bangtan sonyeondan #kim namjoon #namjoon #rm #reader #requests

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romancingromanoff · 5 years ago

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What Happens At Disney Part 3/3

I know that all of the details aren’t completely accurate to the parks but please enjoy the final installment

Part 1 here//Part 2 here

The Disney workers were so glad that Tony and Bruce fixed the ride that they gave you all free fast passes and you got to skip the line. “You are all welcome. You’re welcome!” Tony was waving and loudly calling out to the crowds. You rolled your eyes at how he always felt the need to fuel his ego but decided against giving him another one of your talks since he had indeed fixed the ride.

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was a two person seater ride so naturally you pulled Nat up to the very front to sit next to you. Steve and Clint sat behind you followed by Bruce and Thor, who was very adamant about not letting the workers touch him when they went to pull down the safety bars. Tony got pushed to the back because, truthfully, no one wanted to sit next to him because he wouldn’t shut up about the fact that he had repaired the ride and everyone apparently “owed him,” but he just took it as an opportunity to fill up the entire car by himself. As you were all getting on they called to see if there were any single riders that could sit next to Tony, to which he protested saying that he could sue anyone that accidentally touched his suit, but changed his mind when the first single rider that raised their hand to volunteer turned out to be a very tall, slim, and tan blonde woman wearing super tight booty shorts and a thread of fabric around her chest that you guessed was supposed to be her shirt. “I’ll allow it,” he stated and the bubbly blonde giggled as she sat down and Tony put his arm around her shoulder.

It was a kid’s ride so there weren’t exactly drops big enough to make those butterflies in your stomach fly around at that zero-gravity-like feeling, but you still smiled and laughed as the carts twisted and turned up and down the little hills. Soon you rode into a cave filled with glowing gems and those weird animatronic animals that probably hadn’t been updated since Steve’s time. You all began to slow down as the various forest animals and dwarfs came to life with the music. The creepy glowing eyes of the deer weren’t easy to look over though. Nat made a sour face seeing how robotic they all moved, but you were having an absolute blast.

CLINK! A high pitched ring sounded throughout the cave, echoing off of the walls. It made the poor blonde girl that got put next to Tony almost jump out of her seat. If it weren’t for the safety bars she probably would’ve gone off the side.

“WHAT THE HELL, THOR?!” you screamed at him when you turned around and saw him smashing his hammer into the fake gems and diamonds that were encrusted into the walls.

“You said this was a mine! I’m just trying to get points any way that I can!” he retorted while Bruce had his hands in his head from the headache all of the noise was giving him.

“No, this isn’t that kind of ride, Thor. It is not interactive,” he looked disappointed as you explained it to him and he was silent for the rest of the ride, which was pretty uneventful (meaning that no more property was damaged) except for Clint teasing Steve with questions about what it was like to watch the movie when it first premiered.

After the ride you thought that it would be fun to go visit attractions that the rest of your friends would be interested in. For Clint you headed over to the Toy Story Midway Mania interactive ride where you got spun around a giant toy room and got to shoot various targets and plates. You knew that you were no match for his marksmanship skills, but had fun with the target practice anyway. It wasn’t hard to enjoy yourself when Clint was so into it. He was screaming at Woody, Buzz, and Jessie as they were trying to explain how to work the shooters. “Let us shoot already, damnit!” he yelled in frustration before going on to break all of the high scores.

Steve’s request for a ride was very simple and sweet, much like the person he was. The only thing he really wanted to do at Disney was go on the carousel so you headed back to the Magic Kingdom. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy the other rides, but back in his time the only rollercoasters he got to ride were at Coney Island and were all made out of wood. He just didn’t really understand the concept of interactive rides or super scary thrill ones either. At the carousel you were glad to wind down the pace a little bit and go old school as you all got on your own horses and the ride stirred on with the classic amusement park music.

You had also snuck a bag of popcorn on with you and were going back and forth between throwing pieces up in the air at Thor, Steve, and Clint who tried to catch them in their mouths. It was a little difficult since you were all constantly moving up and down and at different levels, but in the end Clint ended up catching the most.

“Well gentlemen, it has been a pleasure,” he said upon the conclusion of the ride.

“Barton, you are lucky that most of the pieces simply ended up caught in my hair rather than my mouth,” Thor commented as he was picking those same pieces off from his head. “But on any other occasion, I would have bested you.”

“Sure, buddy,” Clint laughed.

You and Nat gave each other a meaningful look and you both laughed at how annoying the boys were being. “You know, I could make this thing go ten times faster if you just give me five minutes with it,” Tony pestered one of the workers trying to get him to let him touch the controls.

“Tony, please, not again,” Bruce moaned and pulled at his sleeve trying to get him away from the obviously intimidated cast members.

“C’mon! I could make it go in reverse too! At least let me change the lights and the music. It could be disco themed! Bruce, I know you love disco.”

“No disco, Tony.”

“YOU CAN’T KILL DISCO!”

“You already tricked out one ride which is enough for today, Handy Manny,” you kill his hopes of messing with anything else right then and there.

“IN THE NAME OF DISCO-”

“TONY, SHE SAID NO!”

“Hey, settle down,” Steve hushed the two squabbling scientist. “There’s a show going on.” In front of the carousel entrance where a fairly large but somewhat unnoticeable rock laid with what appeared to be the handle of a sword sticking out of it, a cast member in purple robes and a giant gray beard was twirling around and gathering all of the little children around him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, which one of you thinks that they are worthy enough to pull this sword out of its stone?” A little boy around the age of 6 wearing a Toy Story cap that looked like Rex the green dinosaur was just about to wrap his hands around the handle when he was suddenly pushed out of the way.

“I am worthy! I AM WORTHY!” Thor yelled which made a couple of babies in strollers automatically start crying. “Hah. Mortals watch and see how a god wields his weapon!”

“Dear Lord, not again,” Nat groaned.

“Hmmmmpffffff!” Thor began pulling but to no avail. “NO, I AM WORTHY,” he told himself and then tried shifting the sword back and forth to shimmy out.

“NO DON’T DO-” the wizard flinched.

“ARGHHH!” SLICE! You threw your head back seeing him break the sword in two right at the handle which almost made the poor wizard guy faint. Thor just stood their awkwardly with the tiny blunt little sword in his hand. “It’s fine I can just-” he tried jamming it back into the rock but was way too forceful so he ended up putting an even larger dent in what was left of it.

“Does anyone have some glue?” Tony casually yelled around while Bruce was trying to hide behind a dip n dots cart mumbling “I don’t know them,” and pretending to be completely oblivious to all of the scared screaming children that had just seen a part of their imagination torn apart.

“I can’t say that I’m not surprised,” Natasha mumbled with her head slightly cocked to one side as she studied the scene. “It could be a really good piece of modern art I guess.”

“Oh no,” Steve flinched in pain at those words. “Please, not again with the modern art,” he cringed just thinking about those strange, abstract sculptures of plain shapes or made of weird materials that people called art these days.

“Well, I need a beer,” Tony piped up trying to think of a solution to cure everyone’s sudden depression.

“Is there a tavern around here?” Thor questioned.

“Yeah, actually, there is a tavern,” you were surprised to remember that there did happen to be a place for them to drink around here. “I think you’ll like it, Thor. It’s very, er… manly.” You smiled only half-sarcastically as you thought back to the Disney villain that owned the place. He had been one of your favorites as a kid despite his tendency to boast about his buffness (which is why you believed you were able to tolerate Tony and Thor) and awfully misogynistic world view. But, that’s Disney for you.

Gaston’s Tavern was a very rustic looking place that sort of tried to be half hunting lodge and half shrine to its namesake Frenchman. Upon approaching an entrance, there was a Gaston actor leaned up against one of the windows and hitting on basically every mom that went in or out. God, it made you sick. It was like he was Tony but without any smarts whatsoever.

“Who the hell is this guy?” Bruce wondered at the sight of him flexing his completely-not-fake-and-made-of-padding biceps.

“Welcome, everyone! Don’t worry, you will all have the chance to meet me, Gaston: the strongest, most handsome, and brave man in all of town. You may applaud,” the airhead was motioning for people to clap and a couple of other employees (not dressed up) responded with some cheers as if to play along.

“You sure that’s not Tony?” Steve whispered to you under his breath which made you smile. You gave him a look and winked at him as if to say, “that was exactly what I was thinking” and rolled your eyes.

“So you claim to be the strongest man around here?” Thor stepped forward a little bit too menacingly with the seriousness of his voice which caused a couple of people around him to gasp just laying their eyes on the perfectly sculpted body of a god. Before it could go anymore out of hand you ran up to him and tried to get his attention.

“Nope, nuh uh, Thor, this is just a guy playing a character; he’s supposed to say those things but he doesn’t really mean them. C’mon, you will break this guy’s arm worse than that fake sword and everyone knows that, so it’s okay because you don’t have to prove anything.” The nervousness in your quivering voice could not have been worse as you saw Thor trying to measure up this poor dude with the fake biceps and wig.

“Character? Pffff,” Gaston played aloof to the danger in the form of a giant Scandinavian looking lumber jack that was right in front of him. “Gaston is the strongest man in town and he isn’t afraid to prove it.”

“Buddy, I’m trying to save your life,” you spit at him.

“How about an old fashioned arm wrestling match?” Natasha suggests and you lightly slap her for encouraging this awful testosterone measuring contest. Thor and Gaston, however, are immediately down for it though you can see the rules of arm-wrestling being a lot different on Asgard which may actually result in this guy’s arm being completely ripped off.

“HOWWWWWW about we let someone else go first, huh?” your voice cracks which makes Natasha smirk. “Weakest goes up against him first, you know? And then Thor is the championship match?”

“Hold on, are you saying that you think Thor is the strongest?” Tony rips of his sunglasses to look you straight in the eyes.

“This isn’t a contest guys; obviously I’m the strongest!” Bruce plays innocent and coy with his shoulders shrugged but you don’t take his hulking out joke too lightly.

“Not when you’re this color you’re not. You’re first,” you shove up towards Gaston who’s had a wooden table pulled out to the front of the tavern just for the occasion. Then Bruce gets a little sweaty realizing that he actually has to put on his best performance and goes to sit across from the smirking playboy villain who’s already got his right elbow up on the table. You can see all of the fake padding under his costume’s sleeve from where you are, but you still aren’t sure how much muscle this guy actually has on his own. He’s fairly broad and definitely looks like he’s the type to have always idolized body builders, yet you still aren’t sure if that means he has a definite win over Bruce.

“Alright gentlemen I want a fair match,” says Nat. “Elbows on the table at all times, and 3, 2, 1-”

It was a pretty evenly matched fight as both men’s fists seemed to keep a nice right angle for the first few moments and none of them had a visible advantage over the other. You could see Bruce’s veins in the side of his face which always made an appearance when he tried to Hulk out, but Gaston also had some pretty good form and was gritting his teeth together as they both tried to exert more and more force against the other. The it seemed like it was bobbling more towards Bruce’s direction and his focus completely shifted to Gaston himself who he showed his teeth like a primate and growled at with a deep Hulk-like rumble in the back of his throat. That must’ve been enough to intimidate the guy because he stumbled with his grip for a second and Bruce took the opportunity to ram his hand into the table and take the win.

“YES! YES! I AM VICTORIOUS!” he screamed going in for a chest bump with Thor who had been chanting Banner’s name the whole time. “What do you think about that, GASTON?!” he and Thor were backing him up into a corner which did not seem like a good idea.

“Gentlemen, please, if we could all just- okay, security!” his voice suddenly switched to that of a your typical New Jersey accent but in a slightly higher pitch as he called for help and all seven of you looked at one another before pushing your way through the crowds to get as far away as possible.

“You know running is just going to bring even more attention to us,” Natasha quipped but you didn’t care about being stealthy at the moment.

“Just go!” you pushed her forward. The last thing you wanted was to be banned from all Disney parks after your first time setting foot in one. Panicking with no ideas on how to cover your tracks, you desperately snapped your fingers together and all of a sudden a grey storm cloud appeared just above Gaston’s Tavern and poured down gallons of water over the immediate area of the crime scene, soaking all the workers and making them slip as you ran off rain-free.

Unfortunately, a little girl about 7 or 8 wearing the same Minnie Mouse ears as you had watched your little trick which left her mouth frozen wide open before she could have taken a bite of her dole whip. You laughed nervously and one shoulder came up to your ear as you played dumb, hoping that she wouldn’t remember any of what she just saw or would ever be taken seriously enough for adults to believe her. “Heh, uh, unpredictable Florida weather, right?” you offered but her expression remained the same.

“I’m sorry, but is she the child or are you?” Natasha grabbed your wrist and pulled you along behind her while she tried to forget that she just saw you trying to reason about your spontaneous weather-changing powers with a kid that probably still wet the bed. “Very smooth, y/l/n.”

“Don’t think I don’t have a cloud specially made for you, Romanoff,” she releases a huff and takes a double take when you stick out your tongue at her but then resumes pulling you along with an even tighter grip.

“Yup, my girlfriend is a complete child,” she mutters to herself.

“SO,” you put on a big wide smile as you turn to Tony and pretend like you didn’t hear her. “Tony, do you have anything you’d like to do that doesn’t involve tampering with Disney property?”

“Actually, yes, there is one guy I’d like to meet. Or, rather, have Banner meet.”

At first you were certain Tony planned to throw Bruce into the It’s A Small World Ride or try setting him up with one of the princesses, but his actual plan was surprisingly pleasant.

“FINALLY! Someone who gets it!” Bruce was over relieved and had threw up his hands.

“Well, yeah, it’s not easy being green, you know?” Kermit the Frog was out sitting on a bench just casually giving out life advice when Tony had ambushed the poor muppet talking all about how Bruce and him had a little green problem in common.

“No, no it isn’t. Thank you so much for saying that!”

“What are you doing?” Natasha leaned in to Tony who had pulled out his phone.

“Oh, I’m recording this for instagram.”

“I mean, first off it just blends into so many things. People always think I’m some sort of walking bush.”

“Wow, people always think I’m a giant tree!”

“What the heck is Tony doing?” you ask as Nat wraps her arm around your waist.

“He’s filming it for instagram,” you laugh before tugging at her shirt to seriously look her in the eyes. “Hey, it’s almost time for the fireworks show. You wanna go somewhere we can be alone?”

“After you,” she offers up her arm which you gladly take while you walk next to her with your head on her shoulder. Moments like these where you could act like a normal couple were what had you hanging onto life for so many years throughout all of the struggles. You had looked forward to, no, dreamed about having someone that loved you for years. And while your relationship with Natasha wasn’t normal as neither of you were normal people, you cherished sharing these simple moments with her.

Bribing the ride operator to stop the ferris wheel when you and Nat reached the very top was so unlike you, but definitely a great decision.

“Isn’t this a little bit unethical?” Natasha criticized your usual goody-two-shoes self. Pink, blue, and white fireworks began shooting off in the distant sky lighting up the cloudless view you had of the horizon and the stars coming into view.

“So are the things I want to do you,” you try to keep a serious face but can’t help but laugh at the raised eyebrow she gives you. Her magnetic pull brings you in closer and soon the fireworks going off are just background noise.

“I adore you,” she whispers just before your lips touch and the real fireworks start to go off, ending the perfect day at the most magical place on earth.

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