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whatifxwereyou · 3 years ago

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The Oncoming Storm Part 19: Chou

Liu Kang x Reader and Kung Lao x Reader (gonna do both, two paths!)

Heyo, it's that time. Update time! One more Lao chapter after this. I'm ready for more DRAMA tho, delicious drama. Hope you're all doing well! I'm going to be out of town from the 9-15 but you shouldn't notice my absence since I'm preparing stuff to post before then bwahaha. NEW stories soon? Yes. Lots of planning so far. Much love. Sorry this is all over the place LOL. Kung Lao makin you even more confused, my lawd. Update on Tuesday!

Part 18 Part 20 Chapter Index

You returned to the stone path where you found tables had been setup to share with the other guests. Food had been setup nearby buffet style for a fee. You paid, grabbed your plates, and then took your seats amongst the others in attendance. With the exception of a handful of friends on a trip, they were all couples. A woman with short-cropped hair and dark eyes waved at Kung Lao excitedly. Her significant other offered a smile, then turned back to his food, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Oh, great, Kung Lao had made friends that morning.

“We saved you a seat!” She said once you were within earshot.

“She saved us a seat, Kung Lao.” You spoke just for him to hear, faking a smile.

“That was nice.” He urged his free arm around your shoulder and you sighed. Fake date or affection. Probably fake date. Were you winning? What were the rules to this game? Kung Lao sat down and made room for you to sit between him and the stranger. “Y/N, this is Sayuri and her boyfriend Kioshi. This is my girlfriend, Y/N.” It sounded awkward. Good. This was going great.

“Nice to meet you.” You bowed your head politely but couldn’t have felt more forced. Sayuri didn’t seem to notice. You could smell plum wine in her glass. It was extremely potent. If Chen were there, she would have spiked your drink, you were certain. Thank god for small favors. The good news was that Kung Lao could talk about anything to anyone and so you didn’t have to. They talked and you thought about other things while pushing your food around on your plate. It looked good. Really good. But you weren’t very hungry.

Your thoughts lingered on that kiss. It had escalated so damn quickly and you’d lost track of everything else. Just when you thought you had things figured out, Kung Lao had thrown you for a loop. You weren’t sure you’d ever forget how much you’d felt like a flower, petals slowly opening up just for him. Ugh. You couldn’t think about it. Focus, Y/N, focus. Kung Lao was animatedly recalling some adventure he’d gotten into in China with Liu Kang. Occasionally he patted your shoulder or nudged you and mentioned you which you returned in kind or smiled to acknowledge. Had to play the part, you supposed.

From what you could tell, hiding places would be in short supply. Much of the caldera was empty and flat. You supposed that behind the entrance gate would work. You could make short work of those walls between the two of you. That would work and it was a much better thing to focus on than the deep ache inside of you when you thought about Kung Lao’s kiss and calling you his girlfriend. How were you going to erase the guilt of breaking into a Buddhist Temple and desecrating it? You didn’t feel good about it at all. Maybe the truth would still work.

It wasn’t like you had a choice at this point. Whatever was in that well you had to get so you would do what it took. Ugh, you were going to end up being arrested at this rate.

Then, Kung Lao was stealing a pepper off your plate with his chopsticks. “Hey!” You scolded him and Sayuri giggled next to you.

“That’s what you get for not paying attention to my stories.” He ate the pepper with a grin. Even the way he ate was attractive. How incredibly unfair.

“Listen, you talk a lot, Kung Lao.” You batted your eyelashes at him playfully and the others at the table laughed. Kung Lao was going to make a snide remark, but you picked up one of the pork buns from your plate and shoved it right into his mouth. He coughed and gagged on it and you couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous he was. He took a bite of the bun and then set the rest of it on his plate but was smiling. “See. You talk too much. Going to choke on your food.”

“Jokes on you. I was going to steal that next.” Kung Lao took another purposeful bite out of it. Sayuri tapped your shoulder, cheeks red with drink and then she bowed politely. You had forgotten that most of the people there likely didn’t speak Chinese. You were kind of thankful for the language barrier.

“How long have you two been dating? Kioshi and I have been together for six months. This is our first big getaway together.” Sayuri smiled brightly and nudged Kioshi who slipped an arm around her proudly. Then he whispered something to her in Japanese before getting up and leaving her alone with you. She was sweet enough but you did not know how to answer that question. You and Kung Lao had not discussed any details about your cover. This was exactly why you hated lying. It was too messy. To keep up with the lie you had to keep lying and so things fell apart so easily. You had not thought this through.

“I… umm…”

Much to your surprise, Kung Lao slipped his arm around your waist and urged you to scoot closer to him. It took every single muscle in your body not to swat at him like you usually did. “We go way back.” He sounded natural. Effortless. “I’ve known her since she was… this high?” He used his other hand to gesture just above the height of the low table. He’d been awfully ready with that response.

“Oh, that’s so sweet! Childhood sweethearts? Did you know that you’d end up together even back then?”

“Umm…” You really were terrible at this but Kung Lao wasn’t. It made you wonder how much of this was actually a lie to him.

“We were like ten when we first started hanging out so I was just a dumb kid who didn’t understand any of that. I knew that I liked her but didn’t know what to do about it.” He shrugged and leaned close to your cheek as if to give you a kiss there and you leaned away and scrunched up your face so much that he instead laughed and buried his head against your shoulder.

“That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.” Sayuri giggled into her glass of plum wine. You turned to look at Kung Lao. He lifted his head and his eyes flitted back to yours.

“You’re terrible at this.”

“I am so terrible at this.” You were grateful for the language barrier more than ever.

Kioshi returned with a tray that held a familiar liquor bottle and small equally familiar glasses for sake. Your stomach dropped. “Drinks all around! New friends and the Autumn Festival.” He began to place the glasses in front of each of the guests.

“Oh, no, no…” You bowed and pushed the small cup away in rejection. “No alcohol for me tonight.” This was starting to feel more and more like an actual date you’d gone on with Kung Lao without even realizing it. It was hitting all the notes. Cute trip to a foreign place. Cute meal. Intimate conversation. You’d even made out a little. This was not supposed to be a pleasure trip. Also, and more importantly, you were not dating Kung Lao.

And you had kissed Liu Kang, so this was too complicated. No liquor! You could hear Chen in the back of your mind, telling you to drink, telling you to lower your inhibitions and just pick right up where you’d left off in the shrine.

“That’s probably for the best.” Kung Lao pushed his cup away too.

“Come on. Just one? For luck!” Sayuri pouted, pushing your cups back toward you.

“She won’t let it go until you do.” Kioshi chimed in. The rest of the occupants at the table were taking the cups gratefully with a bow as they were filled. It suddenly felt rude to turn down the drink so you took your cup back with a sigh. You supposed one drink would be fine. Then again, with the blood thinning problem, who knew? You’d be fine, you coached yourself. Kung Lao gave you a nervous look as though he were thinking the same thing. You were suddenly aware of how little you’d eaten. You picked up the last pork bun on your plate and ate it as quickly as you could. There. No more empty stomach.

Sayuri lifted her cup and the rest of the table did the same. So did you. The sake was hot and you took a sip of it and winced. Kung Lao downed his in one fast motion. He then set his cup aside, upside down so that no one would refill it. You were grateful for that. The last thing you needed was to be drunk while desecrating a Buddhist Temple. He continued his chatter amongst the others while you sipped until the sake was gone. Then you placed your cup next to his upside down. The sun had gone down, and the lanterns glowed a brilliant orange, illuminating the temple in warm light. You turned on the bench to face away from the table. Your cheeks were warm and the annoying overthinking had briefly stopped. At least it hadn’t taken you from zero to drunk.

Kung Lao turned to sit with you and with him, came the rest of the couples at the table. They gathered around in front of you and sat on the stone while swapping stories and histories. Some were schoolteachers, others were businessmen. Each came from an interesting and diverse background. You didn’t weigh in much. Your Japanese was just not good enough to keep up. The hum of conversation and the warmth of the sake were enough to make you sleepy.

“What about you, Kung Lao? What do you two do?” A stranger across the way asked. You didn’t remember introducing yourselves to these other people but you supposed that Kung Lao had captivated everyone’s attention. You had been more focused on why you were really there for the night. Kung Lao searched for the words to explain what it was he did. It was the first time that evening where he had struggled to come up with a lie. You decided to help him out with a little bit of truth.

“He’s a martial artist.” You patted him on the back and he forced a smile. You had done so purposely pretty hard. “And I teach martial arts.” You had. That wasn’t a lie. Immediately, people were gushing over you. “I just teach. He’s quite good.” You smiled at him, redirecting all of the attention back onto him. Sayuri leapt to her feet, wobbling with drink, excited.

“Oh! Oh! Show us something cool!” She grabbed your hand as though you had known each other far longer than an hour.

“No, no.” You laughed politely. “The sake went right to my head. I’ll pass.” You bowed. Much to your surprise, Kung Lao leaned closer to you.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine” You assured him. “But you should show off a little. You’re good at that.”

“I planned to. I need a partner but if you’re not feeling up to it.” He made another playful kissy face and you shoved him away, inciting more laughter. Kung Lao stood up, fingers brushing over the brim of his hat before he pulled it off and offered it to you to hold. You slipped it on top of your head instead. He patted the top of it. “I need a partner since Y/N won’t help me.” He spoke in Japanese as he walked into the sand below the stone path.

“Go! Kioshi!” Sayuri pushed her boyfriend to his feet but he looked incredibly nervous even if he did as he was asked. Kioshi bowed to Kung Lao after joining him in the sand.

“Now come at me.” He instructed and Kioshi did just that. Kung Lao grabbed his arm, twisted him back and then flipped him onto the sand, inciting a gasp from the crowd. But even as the man nearly struck the ground, Kung Lao crouched and stopped his momentum then helped him to his feet. Everyone applauded, and you offered him a slow, unimpressed clap. Kung Lao showed Kioshi how to do a few other moves then countered them. Poor Kioshi. He just wanted to impress Sayuri. You caught Kung Lao looking to you every so often and tried not to apply that exact thought to you. He knew you thought he was good. Right? He wasn’t showing off for you was he? Fake date or affection? You had no idea but you were pretty sure you were losing this game.

If he wanted to show off, you’d make him work. “Do a flip!” You yelled and Kung Lao looked to you as if to admonish you for putting him on the spot. Everyone else was chanting do a flip and you pointed to them as if he had no choice now. He rubbed his palms together then leapt back onto the stone walkway. He stepped to the edge of the stone and then instead of walking off, he flipped through the air, legs high above him before landing as if it were nothing at all. He really was a delight to watch. When he turned back around, he blew you a kiss and then pointed an accusatory finger at you. You covered your face with your hands as your cheeks turned red and Sayuri whistled almost directly in your ear.

This was a pretend date, you reminded yourself.

A pretend and very convincing date with Kung Lao.

It had felt so natural that you had to continuously remind yourself that it was pretend. Your face hurt from smiling and was red since he kept flirting with you even when he was just showing off something he had practiced his whole life. The crowd took over with simple requests and so he was preoccupied for a time and it gave you peace to recover from your embarrassment and for the sake to run its course.

When he was finished, the crowd politely applauded and thanked him for humoring them. You applauded with them and when he sat back down next to you, he sighed contentedly. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. The group had taken to talking amongst themselves again. Some discussed that the last bus would be coming to get them in the next hour or so.

Kung Lao turned to you and pulled up the hat on your head and tugged the strap free before gently tucking it beneath your chin. It was way looser on you and he tugged it with a smile to urge you a little closer. You averted your eyes but couldn’t hide your delight. “So, how’d I do? You didn’t seem too impressed.”

“You’re great Kung Lao, but you already knew that.”

“I know. I just wanted to hear it from you.” He took the hat from you and then slipped it back on his head. “Cute hat. I think I’ll steal it.” You watched the others chat and then Kung Lao stood and offered you his hand. “One last walk by the water?”

“Sure, I guess.” You sighed and took his hand before getting up. You were supposed to be discreet so that no one would notice you were missing when you hid. So much for that. Perhaps you would say goodbye in a moment and then find somewhere to hide until everyone else left. That would work. Kung Lao leapt off the stone path and offered you help down which you took. Then you let go of his hand walked closer to the water. Kung Lao didn’t follow you immediately, but you could feel his eyes following you.

Then he jogged to catch up with you. “Y/N?” You turned to face him, and he stopped in front of you. He took a purposeful step closer to you, denying you personal space. You were forced to tilt your gaze up to meet his.

“Yes?” You asked skeptically. He rested one hand on your hip, and you cocked a curious eyebrow as if to dare him to keep going. You would ten thousand percent pin his ass into the sand if you had to. He tilted your chin up and examined your face before letting his fingers brush down your jaw and over the side of your neck. His eyes followed the trail of his fingertips and you stiffened up but didn’t back down. He leaned ever closer and you very bravely, at least you thought it was brave, refused to turn away, even when his lips drew ever closer.

“…you’ve got something in your teeth,” he whispered with a grin. You laughed and smacked his hand away from your neck and then stepped back and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“I am going to knock you on your ass and throw you into that toxic lake if you keep that up.” You threatened, walking away from him.

“Well, that’s rude!” He caught up to you and so you shoved at him again with a laugh and kept walking while he stumbled in the sand. You heard him get closer again and so you turned to warn him that you were going to follow through on your threat but he grabbed your arm, pulled you close, and without any warning or pretense, his lips pressed against yours. He was still laughing and you could feel the reverberations of the sweet sound moving through your lips, down your throat and sending shivers down your spine.

It made you smile and as if they had a mind of their own, your lips betrayed you and kissed him back. He held you tight to steady you in the sand and then pushed a stray hair from your face, then urged you to tilt your head even further back as he opened his mouth wider to deepen the kiss, taking each moment greedily for his own. His lips still tasted like the damn pork bun that you’d shoved in his mouth and that made you laugh.

His arm slipped around you and his hand met the small of your back and pulled you tight against him. His warm body pressed against yours woke you from the romantic reverie he’d slipped you into.

“Nope,” you muttered against his lips and then pulled back, leaning away from him since his arm held you captive.

“Oh?” Eyes half-lidded, Kung Lao seemed confused as to why you’d stopped him. Your stomach dropped. That look in his eyes was killing you, something more than romance, closer to lust. Your stomach was doing flips again. Affection or fake date? This one was easy. “Sorry.” He very suddenly realized that it may have been inappropriate and pursed his lips while he searched for the inevitable elusive lie that he would feed you as an excuse for his behavior. “Got carried away.” That was not so much a lie this time.

“Sure you did. Because of all the people that we’ve lied to, right? Had to act the part of doting boyfriend? You came up with our origin story very quickly, by the way.”

“Oh?” He was again at a loss for words, very unlike him. He turned to look at where the others were still gathered on the stone path by the tables. “Oh! Yeah. The act. That thing. Right.”

“Wow,” you whispered but your brain was screaming. No words. Just screams. The panic was real. This was a mess. A huge mess. How had you slipped so naturally into these roles? There were no other words for it than a total and complete fucking mess. He let you go and then went on talking like nothing had happened. He tried to lead you along the sand again.

What were they going to do? What were you going to do? You couldn’t date them both! You had already kissed them both and felt terribly guilty about it. You even felt a little slutty which was never a word you would have used to describe yourself as much as Chen wished that you would.

Maybe slutty was too harsh a word. Your lips, at the very least, were very slutty.

Kung Lao was listing off potential places that you could hide while you waited for the monks to end their night. He’d managed to go back to being his normal self. You couldn’t turn that off so quickly. The rollercoaster was back and there was a huge drop just ahead. You had nothing to say, no input even when he asked you for it. You kept walking alongside him instead, the screaming in your head now mixed with chaotic laughter at the improbability of the situation. You had to make a choice eventually. But both of them were so different and your connection to them was even more so. You had to stop thinking about it. There was no solving this now.

“Did I make it weird?” His words finally slipped through all the screaming which stopped very suddenly.

“What? With your bad jokes and all the showing off?” You instantly found refuge in sarcasm. Oh god, you were so alike in some ways. Kung Lao cocked an eyebrow as if to say you knew exactly what he was referring to. “Oh. Oh, yeah, that kissing me thing you keep doing.”

“Yeah, that’s the one. That’s the thing.”

You huffed. Where to start? Most important of the things bothering you, you supposed. The truth. “I kissed Liu.” You were surprised by how confident you’d sounded. You hadn’t actually said it out loud before. “And I wanted to kiss him.”

Kung Lao did not seem surprised by this revelation. In fact, he seemed very unsurprised. “And did you want to kiss me?”

You stuttered because that was not the response that you’d expected. Wait. Did he already know? Were Liu Kang and Kung Lao gossiping about you? The screaming was back but this time it was angry. You pinched the bridge of your nose and then grunted in frustration and made to walk away. Kung Lao grabbed your arm to stop you.

“Did you?”

“Yeah, I suppose that I did.” Getting those words out was like pulling teeth. You didn’t know what anything meant. Everything was chaos and nothing mattered. “I can’t kiss you both.”

“I mean you did so you obviously can.”

“You know what I mean!”

“Do I?”

“It has to stop.”

“For you? Or for me? Or for Liu? You’re being very vague, Y/N.”

“Are you being purposely frustrating? For all of us, Lao.” You tapped his chest with each word and he laughed. “You have no idea how this is eating me up! I’m so confused. My heart hurts. No more. No more of it.” You weren’t sure how you were going to stand by this declaration when they just went for it so freely but damnit, you were frustrated.

“I guess that’s fair. Only sort of though. How come you get to decide? I’m part of this too.”

“Kung Lao, I swear.”

“Okay! Okay.” He avoided your gaze and his eyes were darting to the side. He was lying? About what?

“What? What’s that look?”

“Uh… ah… what look?”

“I thought you were a good liar, Lao! What’s going on with you?”

“I uh… nothing?” He looked so beyond guilty that you laughed in disbelief.

“Kung Lao? What did you do?”

“That list is way too long to go over right now. We’d be here all week and we have things to do.” He turned away.

“You’re hiding something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Y/N.”

“Why aren’t you mad, Lao? Aren’t you mad that I kissed your best friend? Hell, I kissed your brother and then also kissed you? Shouldn’t you be pissed? Why am I the one that’s angry?” Your voice was very high-pitched and he laughed at you again.

“What’s the point of being angry? I knew that you and Liu were getting close. Everyone knows. You’re obvious. I’m not stupid, Y/N. I just also decided not to give up.” He sighed but still avoided your eyes and kept checking to see if you were buying it or not. What the actual hell?

“I don’t know what you’re lying about or why you’re lying but I know that you’re lying, Lao. And I know that it’s something important.”

“We have so much to do, Y/N. You’re being crazy. Maybe I will stop kissing you.” He teased and you smacked his arm and gasped. He wasn’t taking you seriously! You took calming deep breaths. Now what were you supposed to do? That hadn’t gone at allhow you’d expected it to. It hadn’t helped you get any closer to a decision. It had only further confused you!

“Of course you will. Because I told you to stop.” You mocked him and he looped his arm with yours. “Let’s go say goodbye to these strangers before I really do push you into the lake and just yell about what a big liar you are.”

“As much as I would love to see that, it’s probably the wrong time to make a display of ourselves.”

“Says the man who has done nothing but make a display of himself all damn day.”

“You didn’t seem to be complaining. You didn’t even try to stop me.”

“No one can stop you, Kung Lao. You’ve made that incredibly clear.” You walked with him back to where the others were gathered. Kung Lao was then his usual charming self, chatting and telling the others that you had to go and had called a taxi to pick you up. You did your absolute best not to roll your eyes but you were seething. Why had you thought telling him would change anything? You supposed that you’d expected him to be angry that you had kissed him after also kissing Liu and would tell you to make a choice. But he hadn’t. Why? Was he afraid that you would choose Liu over him? He didn’t seem afraid of what came next like you were. In fact, he seemed like he wanted to drag this out. You were uncomfortable but you decided, in a breath, to let it go.

Whatever he was hiding would be revealed eventually and when it did, you would call him out on it and gladly. And you would kiss whoever you damn well pleased. For now, you just had to keep your head on straight and focus on the task at hand.

He’d kissed you like it was no big deal. The audacity of this man!

You waved at the others and together you walked to where you’d met the bus. Then you snuck around the gate surrounding the shrine and found a place hidden behind a series of rocks to wait and hide. It was what made the most sense. There was nowhere else to hide without being spotted with so many guests still remaining. As far as you had seen, there were no security cameras.

“You still mad?” He whispered after an hour had passed.

“Confused. Not mad.”

“Don’t be confused, Y/N.”

“Okay. Still a little mad. Almost snapped at you again.”

He chuckled and you pouted. He urged his arm around your shoulder and hugged you close. You were still a little mad but his hugs did feel nice. Comforting even. You were so drained. You hadn’t been prepared for the emotional toll this was taking on you. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t even know what you’re sorry for so don’t waste your breath.” You swatted his arm and he swatted your hand back. “I’m confused. That’s all.”

“Clearly. Look, I’m not mad at you. I don’t like that you kissed Liu but you’re figuring things out. That’s fine.”

“But Liu…”

“I can’t say that Liu won’t be mad about it but I mean, maybe that will make him seem less appealing.” He grinned and you groaned in annoyance and smacked his arm again. “It’ll all work out, Y/N.”

“It’ll all work out, Y/N.” You mimicked him and he laughed again. “I can’t believe that I have to sit stewing over this next to you, with your arms around me while we wait to break in there. God, I need something to punch.”

“This has been fun.” Kung Lao decided while trying not to laugh. Fun? You huffed again and then leaned your head back against the stone and closed your eyes. You had to stop the racing thoughts and find a way to be okay with what had just happened. Time would help, you decided.

And it did.

You fell asleep.

#kung lao #kung lao x reader #mk kung lao #max huang #kung lao/you #kung lao x you #liu kang x reader #fanfiction #angst #drama #romance #fanfic #ludi lin #mortal kombat 2021 #mortal kombat movie

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pixie-skull · 5 years ago

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AU Borhap # 6: Cute Moment on a Date

Before I go, yes I am going to attempt to make this open to anyone, but this creator wants more LGBTQ+ AUs, so this one just if you and x character went and the character’s thoughts. Please share your thoughts if this good or not in my ask box? :D Here are the rules too.

Another thing, this fandom includes real-life people and out of respect I do not condone anyone going to the listed and bother them, they may be celebrities, but are people too. :]

Inspired by this post and this one disclaimer, this mainly romantic fluff, but I am fine if this either read romantic or borderline sexual. I am also, curious who still making one-shots on this cast of celebrities or the Band Queen itself? I have cute ideas and want to request them. O.O Shout out to @impossiblepeggy I hope this adds good vibes to your day. :D

ONE MORE THING DEAR READER! =D 1st��+ 2nd + 3rd + 4th + 5th

Rami Malek: (loosely inspired by a dream I had, yes he comforted my overwhelmed/overstimulated self XD )

Rami tends to be quiet, yet he loves to do things that make those little butterflies take flight. This time he and you went to an open mic and you were getting a headache by so many stimuli. At the point during someone’s act, you sat down and he sat down next to you. You tried to keep it yourself the sounds and spotlights were too much. At a point one, he leaned over to check on you and notice you rubbing your eyelids and whispered with a hint of concern, but teasing,

“Hey Y/N are you alright?” you nod yet additionally says “I heard a solution for overstimulation is to kiss the sense that is overwhelmed, so in this case your eyelids?” and this makes you drop your hands and face this green eye gent.

“Oh is that so?” and now seeing you teasing him, a smirk grew across his mouth.

“Yes, may I try?” he asks and you want to respond and you close your eyelids and feel a gentle peck upon each lid. Only there was a moment of stillness after the last one was kissed. You peek an eye open and see him staring at you and his aura screamed for such silence his attraction. Leaning forward, to only be muttered rudely the person directly behind him;

“Excuse you, can we please watch Bri*or is that too much!?” and already overwhelmed, you rush out, sure a few more annoying grunts, but being overwhelmed never fun. Little did you know he followed and you turned around and trying to act fine, you see those emerald eyes widen more than usual in concern.

“Rami, you can go back, I am fine, I just needed to clear my mind” and turning around, you face the hallway wall. Only you heard faint footsteps and turn to see him have this soft smile. “What?”

“Now tell me why I would have any more fun without my significant other?” and when thinking, and rubbing your temples in thought going back and what to say, he leaned over to kiss your eyelids again. That gentle pressure and eventually arms around you, make your thoughts melt away. You open both eyes now and see him having his eyelids close, now you kiss each lid of his. Eventually, he opens those dark eyes and that tiny grin sneaks up again, yet this time you lean to kiss your partner.

*= I am not sure, but I dream Bri Larson doing stand up comedy. XD

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Joseph Mazzello: (I like few sports, baseball one of them)

You two went to a baseball game, Joe’s idea though. Funny enough being at the game, just you two focusing on the game, seemed not that much of a difference of cuddling and maybe letting him flipping to the baseball channel, just to see the score. However, today was extra cute, besides more of date due more affectionate to an extent, the weather had other plans. The day was already cold and windy, yet sharing a huge blanket and attempts to warm up, seemed not too odd. Joe though gave you more of the blanket, seeing he would hop up like the little joey he is, and cheer on the team when a good hit was made, sing to “Take me out to Ball Game”, and more, even get you food. However, by the eighth innings, you see it start to drizzle. Eventually, this little rain became a downpour and Joe gave you his sports jersey, even his favorite hat (if wearing one, he just puts on top of yours), and more to keep you warm. Luckily the team you two wanted to win won but at this point, your blanket became like you soaked and cold. However, poor Joseph was shrieving for all the layers he gave to you, even if you said no, he did not care, he wanted you warm. When heading to the parking lot and driving back to his place to drop him off.

“Joe-Joe, you are chattering away with how cold you are!?” You exclaim.

“I amm fiinnneeee Y/N” he mutters, luckily you put the heater on full blast and you see already happier results.

“Joe, are you sure you want me to stay the night? It is just rain” you ask.

“Y/N I insist, this rain makes the roads more slick and dangerous, and I do not want you in danger” and you jokingly sigh. “I mean it plleeeaaaassssseeeeee stay” he playfully yet also seriously whimpers.

“Okay, but I am making us warm drinks” and you can tell he felt happier knowing the plan of your stayover, made the little pink his cold cheeks warm up.

Finally, all settled in and both in two blankets of own, to keep warm, are putting away the mugs. When placing them away you hear him shuffling behind you.

“Y/N follow me please” and you nod and laugh a bit to see his dinosaur socks as he walks you to the guest room. He pats you sit next to him and he holds you close and whispers “Y/N can you please be the big spoon tonight?” and you smile and lean over and he cuddling in close your arms, while he also kisses your forehead, but before turning his head you whisper back a similar tone,

“Joe can I kiss you to warm you?” and he looks at you and mouths ‘yes’ and you do tiny pecks until he all cozy in your arms.

---

Gwilym Lee: (sorry is shorter than the other two)

Your two’s date is cut off for a sudden reshooting a few of Gwilym’s scenes. So when waiting for him, you decide to order a pickup of your two’s favorite couple meal. He comes back to your place earlier than expected and you stand like a deer in high beams or shocked and unable to react.

“Y/N is that *meal* with extra *side*?” You nod and just see his questioning look melt to a grateful smile. “Awww I feel bad you did this and I been so busy” and you now smile back at him.

“Gwilym, it is alright, comes on you big teddy bear, let’s eat”. After a nice meal he offers to take you home and when driving you notice he took a different route. Eventually, he took you to your favorite little park and both enjoy the empty place. If pushing the other on the swings, going down the slides the fastest, or just climbing the monkey bars, which he was too tall for. At one point when back on the swing, you asked him to push you again, but this time he did less huge pushes, and when about to ask what is up, he just looked down to you, and you got up, and both kissed.

---

Ben Hardy:

One type of date you and Ben both enjoy is acting like strangers and flirting to each other. This time you two were by the gym and you acted like you just came from the library and he sees you reading after a few lifts and leg exercises.

“Hmm, if I knew there be a book section I would also exercise my mind, as you seem to be doing” he smirked and you raise an eyebrow.

“Well with that lack of exercise, I am surprised you can talk sentences?” and he made a fake gasp.

“Uncalled for, I was just complimenting you? Is that too much to be nice to strangers?” and even some people were staring now and you laughed and the sense of being watched clearly he enjoyed. “Okay, let me start over?” and you fake chuckle.

“Okay?”

“Hi, that book I heard is amazing and I am Ben by the way,” he said waving and now you just laugh and he ends up laughing too.

“So shaking hands not your thing?”

“Oh I can shake, I just thought sweat and books do not work well?”

“I mean I know what is like a book and needs to be open, that sweat can be useful in” and at this point, you were giggling at how dumb this becoming. He keeps his smirk though and even licks lower lip.

“Oh? What is that?” and you get up and whisper yet loud enough some can turn.

“Maybe that mouth of yours” and you both trace the arms of the other and eventually neck to face. At the point he even lost his act and laughed, he picked up his things, yet with your hand in the other. When out of the gym by his car you two kiss.

“Well Y/N that was umm” and he just looked at you to see you laughing still, his criticism stopped, and he just kissed you more.

---

Lucy Boynton:

You both went to a mini local community art like a festival. Not quite like a fair, but something where arts can still paintings, homemade jewelry, and even people selling their own wine. You two took a few sips, well, maybe enough to get you bit tipsy. Again homemade wine sometimes not always perfected and you felt bad for Lucy to see her not like the drinks, so in attempts to show off to your girlfriend, you drank instead toss; plus it made the sellers feel better. Luckily you were not too tipsy, but you did compliment her more and she giggled as you explain how beautiful she is in various ways. After a little more walking, she bought you two food and help absorb the alcohol.

“Y/N You are so adorable, but please do not again” Lucy smiles brightly and you nod understanding. “I just hope you know too, if you are getting tired, we can head back” her sweet voice singing to your ear.

“Lucy, I did see one thing I want us to get?” you spoke after finishing your lunch and leaned in smiling and you both kiss gently.

“And what is that Y/N?” she said after her soft lips parted yours.

“Would it be cheesy to say I want it to be a surprise?” you asked and she shook her hair, making her lovely hair bounce.

“No, not all, just lead the way Y/N” and she stands up from the small table, you take her hand, and head near where you started. At last, you found it and she even let out a small giggle. “Huh, caricatures?” as she asked you paid and you both sat down. As you both talked a bit to the artist, while posing, you got lost in her eyes and hands, you squeezed her hands loving. She squeezed back and held fix eyes and when the artist implied done, you moved your hands up, as she held your face too, to kiss.

#bohemian rapsody movie #Bohemian Rhapsody #RamI Malek #joe mazzello #Gwilym Lee #Ben Hardy #Lucy Boynton #AU #alternative universe

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macandlacy · 5 years ago

Text

“His Baby” updates!

Chapter 5: Bedtime RoutineSummary:

Summary: From a prompt by HCShannon: Stuff like putting him to bed, swaddling him in blankets, then reading him a story.

John liked routine, and had had a self-imposed bedtime since he was a youngster. He adjusted it a little as he got older, but not by a lot. Really the only exceptions were gigs that ran late or the occasional study sessions. But he was good about budgeting his time, and except for a performance, he was rarely up past his bedtime.

Especially with Freddie around.

The singer had two modes and schedules when it came to John’s bedtime- at home, and on tour. When at home, it was pretty easy to keep John on his schedule; recording sessions simply ended when it was time to head home so John would have time to properly unwind and relax. His usual bedtime was around 11:00, depending on the schedule for the next day.

But when on tour, it was a lot more difficult. The more successful Queen became, the longer the after parties tended to go. Sometimes the show wasn’t even done until after 10:00, and then the party was going strong until the wee hours of the night. It could take hours for John to settle down after a good show.

So Freddie learned to play it largely by ear, although he always aimed for around 1:00 am when they had another show the next day. Midnight would be better, he fretted, but it was seldom realistic. The best Freddie could do was insist that parties were always at their hotel, so all he had to do was get John tucked in bed upstairs, and then he could easily return to the festivities. Clubbing was reserved for nights when they didn’t have a show the following day and John was allowed to stay up later.

People often wondered where Freddie had disappeared to, and Brian and Roger would just shrug. It was usually assumed that he had gone off with someone, and truth was, he had. It was just he had gone with John, and not a party person.

“I’m not tired,” John fussed.

“Yes, you are,” Freddie said. He started running a bath and made sure to add John’s favorite bubbles and bath salts. They’d all had showers just a few hours earlier at the venue, but Freddie knew a bath would settle John the quickest. He heard the tinkling of the mini-fridge and frowned.

“John, no more drinking,” he said firmly, going out the living room area. Sure enough, John was just about the pull the tab on a can of beer.

“One more?” John pleaded, using his puppy eyes. Fortunately, Freddie was immune to puppy eyes.

“Decaf tea,” Freddie said sternly. He started the kettle and picked out a chamomile blend. John huffed, but accepted the cup when it was ready and stomped off to the bathroom.

“Wash behind your ears,” Freddie called. John muttered something in return, waving his hand.

Freddie got the bedroom ready for his son, making sure the temp was set to how John liked it and fluffing the pillows. They were sharing a two bedroom suite, Freddie’s favorite set up when on tour as it enabled him to keep on eye on his boy, and he was nearby if John had a nightmare. The fact that John seldom had nightmares didn’t matter to the singer; he needed to be close just in case.

John emerged from the bath dressed in his favorite Disney pajamas and Freddie barely resisted the urge to take a photo; Deaky was just too cute for words. Of course it was also pretty funny to see John in a Disney shirt and his mouse ears, chugging a beer. Freddie allowed John to drink only on special occasions and finding a new Disney shirt had been rated a suitable event.

“Did you take your vitamins and medicine?”

“Yes, Freddie.”

“Good, good.”

Freddie tucked John into bed, fussing to find a channel on the television that would give some noise but not be annoying. Anything violent was of course not allowed, and the news could be distressing. Freddie finally found a nature documentary that looked suitably boring and adjusted the volume so it was just enough for some slight background noise. John was already yawning, pleasantly relaxed after his bath and having drank just enough to be sleepy without being drunk. “Alright dear boy, I will be back soon. Just call to the front desk if you need anything.”

“I’m fine,” John protested mildly.

“Of course you are,” Freddie murmured reassuringly. He continued to tuck the sheets and blankets firmly under the mattress until John was practically pinned to the bed, swaddled securely. “Do you want a story?”

“No,” John wrinkled his nose. “The television is fine.”

“Alright.” Freddie kissed his forehead. “Glass of water is on the nightstand. The light is on in the bathroom. I’ll leave the door to my bedroom open. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Freddie.”

John waited a few minutes to make sure Freddie was gone, and then started the struggle to get free. Tonight wasn’t too bad; some nights John swore that Freddie had tied him to the bed. He managed to get his arms free and from there it was easy.

John fetched his beer from the mini frig, and flipped through the channels until he came to the pay-for-view section. Umm…..”Hot Tub University: Bikini’s gone wild.” Sounded interesting.

***********************************************************************

Chapter 6: BreakdownSummary:

Summary: John didn’t ask for much. Just one little thing after a horrible day. And when he’s not happy, Papa isn’t happy….

"John Richard Deacon Mercury, unlock the door this instant, young man!" His full name. John was in serious trouble.

Notes:

From a prompt by Bella: Maybe John throwing a tantrum?? Or getting super overwhelmed???

Chapter Text

John handed his autism well. He knew what bothered him, and worked hard to avoid it. Of course, in the career he had found himself in, it was hard to avoid stress and noise was 100% part of the deal. But he could usually block things out when Freddie, Brian, and Roger were having an epic argument (he knew they wouldn’t actually hurt each other). He could block out the chaos from a typical sound check. Audiences screaming were part of the deal, and once he got over his stage fright, he was able to concentrate on the music and truthfully didn’t usually even notice a crowd until the show was over.

And all the other things as well, he could usually tolerate. Reporters yelling questions, cameras in his face, a different hotel nearly every night. Freddie, Brian, and Roger shielded him as much as they could, and John did his breathing exercises and usually all was well.

Usually.

The problem was when everything happened at once, or everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Sometimes, there was a simple straw that broke the bassist’s back.

And Hell hath no fury like Mama Bear Freddie, backed up by Big Brothers Brian and Roger.

The plane had been delayed, making them have to go directly to the auditorium for sound check. John hated flying to begin with, and it was worse when they had sat on the plane for an hour, unable to disembark because of a back log at the gate. Then it was the Sound Check from Hell, with everything possible going wrong. John could have done a better job with the electronics when he was eight, and none of the venue staff would listen to him or let him try to fix it.

They were supposed to have dinner at the hotel and John had been looking forward to the time to relax, but they had to stay at the venue because everything was running late. The last-minute caterer had done a very good job, but there wasn’t a toaster or slices of cheese in sight, so no cheese on toast tonight.

He had really wanted cheese on toast. He hadn’t had it in *days*. At the hotels, they always seemed to have toast available from room service, but at the venue, it was plain white fluffy bread. The caterer had vegetarian for Brian, roasted meat for Roger, and some spicy curry for Freddie that made John’s stomach hurt just to look at it. But no toast or cheese.

What the Hell?

Maybe he could write a song about it. *oooh, you make me live. You’re my best friend; cheese on toast* Or maybe *can anybody find meeee….soooooome, some cheese on toast….*

Okay, he recognized the signs when he was obsessing. Didn’t make it any easier.

He got through the concert well enough despite the new lights and pyrotechnics, which he didn’t really like, visions of cheese on toast dancing in his head and keeping him steady. They were playing the same venue the next night, so the plan was to go back to the hotel and sleep in. John was confident he could score cheese on toast at some point, maybe even at the after party (it wouldn’t be the oddest thing Queen had asked room service or the hotel concierge for, after all).

But no, it all had to go to Hell. The after party was a disaster. Hotel in process of renovations and nothing working. Someone (John was pretty sure it was Ratty) had told the hotel as a joke that Queen had become Vegan non-drinkers, and the only thing at the tables was water and raw veggies (even Brian was bitching about the lack of alcohol and protein).

And John became overwhelmed.

He didn’t want to cause a scene. So he locked himself in a bathroom off the ballroom where the party was being held.

“John?” Freddie was knocking on the door during within minutes, always keeping an eye on John during parties. “What is wrong, darling?”

“Go away!” John wasn’t in the mood to deal with anything. He had his hands over his ears and was sitting on the floor, rocking.

“John, open the door this instant. We’ve talked about this before, young man. We don’t lock doors.”

That was true, a rule that Freddie had made the day John moved in with the band. Roger was the only one who was allowed a locked door, and only when he had someone for the night because Freddie was afraid of John being traumatized by what he might see. Freddie said it was a safety issue; he want to be able to reach John at all times, especially when he was having difficulty.

“I don’t want anyone to see anyone!” John yelled. He knew logically he was in a loop now that was just getting worse and worse, but he couldn’t help it. Locking himself away was just making the scene bigger and bigger.

There was a murmur of voices. “John!” Roger yelled. Oh great, John thought, now his brothers could be witness to his humiliation. “I swear I will break down this door. Unlock it now.”

“I don’t want anyone to see me!”

“Darling, they won’t if you unlock the door now. We’ll all go upstairs together. Unlock. This. Door. Now!”

John just rocked more, and kicked the wall. “No!”

“John Richard Deacon Mercury,” Freddie said firmly, and Oh, Shit. John knew he was in trouble when it was his full name. Well, not really his full name…it was even worse. “I am going to count to 5, and the door better be unlocked by then, young man. One!”

Tears were welling up now. “It’s stupid,” John tried. He was embarrassed now. “I’ll be fine. Just let me be.”

“Dear, nothing is stupid if its effecting you. Talk to us. Two!”

“I just wanted…..” he stopped, unable to continue.

“What do you need, darling? But I am not stopping the count. If I get to five, Roger is going to break down the door. Three!”

Shit, he was doomed.

“Four!”

John kicked the door, and then reach up to unlock it.

Freddie shoved his way in, and thank God, shut the door behind him so no one else could see John’s humiliation. A grown man, sitting on the floor of a bathroom, crying because he didn’t have cheese on toast.

“Darling, what is wrong?” Freddie was all mother hen mode now, clearly brooding as he gathered John into his arms. “I know its been a stressful day, dear. Is that what’s upset you? You know you can tell any of us if things get to be too much for you at any time.”

“I was alright,” John sniffed. “But—” he trailed off again.

“What, dear? Tell me.” Freddie had a hand on John’s chin, making the younger man look at him.

“I wanted….cheese on toast,” John confessed.

Freddie, Bless him, didn’t even blink. “Well of course,” he said calmly. “It’s your favorite food. They didn’t have it at the venue?”

“No,” John felt like he was whining, but Freddie was listening intently. “Not there and not here, either.”

“Fuck!” Contrary to popular belief, Freddie did listen to some of Brian’s speeches about vegetarianism, and understanding dawned. “No cheese – milk, and no bread - eggs.”

John nodded. “No toaster even if there was,” he added. “And, and…noise. And crowds. And the new sound and lights.” He didn’t need to elaborate. Freddie was finely attuned to what could affect John.

“Those bastards,” Freddie snared. He gathered John in a fierce hug. “Don’t worry. We will get you set up right away. Let’s go upstairs where its nice and quiet and dark, and you can take a nice bath and eat. In fact, let’s get Brian and Roger for a sleep over? Does that sound nice?”

“I just want cheese on toast,” John said in a small voice.

“And you shall have it!” Freddie stood, pulling John up with him. He opened the door, and thankfully it was only Roger and Brian who were present.

“We are all going upstairs,” Freddie said firmly. “Fuck this dead party. We are going to have a movie night and order in cheese on toast. And if the hotel doesn’t have it, send I am sending Ratty to Hell *after* he finds a market and makes cheese on toast.”

“Sounds good to me,” Brian immediately said. They all knew about John’s possible triggers and how he needed the comfort of familiarity.

“Yeah, its been a pisser of a day,” Roger agreed. “I mean, the Hell? Vegan non-drinkers? What the Fuck? Brian, are you *sure* you didn’t say something?”

“Screw you, Rog. You know I would never say non-drinker. And whoever thought Vegan means only raw veggies is stupid. Mammals can’t survive without some type of protein, and that’s a fact.”

Forty minutes later, John was in bed, calmed by a lavender bath, and clad in his favorite pajamas. Brian and Roger, now in their own pajamas, had gathered the contents of all their stocked mini-bars (including Ratty’s), and were mixing drinks while Freddie answered the door for room service in one of his elegant robes. He had screamed on the phone for five minutes about the Vital Importance of Cheese on Toast, and given strict instructions on how to prepare it. He had threatened to come down to the kitchens to make it himself it he wasn’t satisfied with what was delivered.

Then he called rooms and screamed at members of their crew, making damn sure they all ensured in the future that cheese on toast was 100% available at all times.

And booze.

He also threatened Ratty in vivid detail about what would happen if he ever again messed with the availability of cheese on toast. And booze. In fact, Ratty was now officially in charge of providing cheese on toast at the snap of Freddie’s fingers, and Ratty was truly terrified at the threats that made been made. He went back to his room to write a formal apology to John, and may or may not have found a church to pray in for forgiveness and asked a priest for penance.

Freddie had, of course, made sure that John was in the bathtub with the door closed and water running so he couldn’t hear the threats he had made. He was rather strict about foul language used in front of his son.

Thank God, room service rose to the occasion and provided booze, real food, and yes, Cheese On Toast.

Freddie fixed John a plate and handed it over to the young man, who eagerly accepted it. Everyone settled on the bed and they turned on a movie. John didn’t care what it was and he suspected that no one did. What was important was that they were together.

“We are going to have another talk tomorrow about locked doors, young man,” Freddie said sternly as he wiped John’s hands.

“Yes, Freddie,” John said meekly.

“And you are grounded for the rest of the week. Not because you were upset, darling; that happens, and its fine. Never apologize when you need space and quiet. But you knew not to lock the door. I’m not mad; I’m disappointed.”

“I’m sorry, Freddie.”

He felt bad about having a break down over food, but thankfully his family still accepted him. John still wanted to write a song.

*another toast bites the dust. And another one’s gone, and another one’s gone. Hey! I’m gonna get me some…cheese on toast!”

*******************************************************************

Chapter 7: Zooday

Summary: From a prompt by mtnsam: Maybe you can do one where they take him to Disney or a zoo? :D

John generally did not like crowds. Ironic, he knew, given his profession. But crowds at concerts didn’t bother him too much. He knew he was protected on stage by his band mates and their crew and the crowd couldn’t actually get to him. (Actually, his most reoccurring nightmare was him falling off the stage into a crowd. Freddie could always tell when he’d had that nightmare and would get him some warm milk and sing until he managed to go back to sleep).

Where John really hated crowds was in public places. Stores, restaurants, overcrowded clubs, etc…. There was a reason he ordered a lot of room service on tour and was pretty choosy about what clubs he would remain at. Crowds were just too overwhelming. So much chaos. So much talking. But he was usually okay.

He was also a fully functioning, highly capable adult. Freddie thought he was about 13, but John knew he meant no harm in it, and John was usually content to let Freddie have his harmless delusion. It was annoying, to be sure, but there were lots of benefits such as sweets and not having to worry about picking out clothes. It was easier to just let Freddie lay out clothing for events and all John had to be concerned with was casual day wear.

And even though John didn’t like crowds, he had a few exceptions, and there were times when his tolerance of a crowd was made even better when Freddie had woken up convinced that John needed a fun trip.

Like when Freddie decided to take John to the zoo.

“John, darling, I have a surprise for you!” Freddie cheered one morning at breakfast. “There is a new mammal habitat at the zoo and we are going today!”

“Wow, that’s great,” John said happily. He loved going to the zoo and seeing all the amazing animals.

“Now, eat a big breakfast, because I am not letting you fill up on too many sweets,” Freddie warned, putting a plate of toast and oatmeal in front of his son. “We can get a treat at the end.”

An hour later, after Freddie had packed a bag with sunscreen and made sure John had a hat, they headed off to the London zoo. John was more than willing to put up with crowds there in order to see the animals.

“Remember,” Freddie said, going over the rules when on outings as they rode in the taxi. “You stay with me, don’t wander away.”

“I know Freddie.”

“If you get lost, find a zoo worker – they all have uniforms and name badges – and we meet at the nearest security station.”

“Okay.”

“Drink a lot of water; it’s very humid.”

“I will.”

“Do you have our phone number memorized if you get lost and security asks you?”

John tilted his head a bit. “Do *you*?”

Freddie shook a finger in mild amusement. “No back talk. Do you know our phone number?”

“Yes, Freddie, I promise.”

“You don’t go anywhere with strangers, *especially* if they have candy.”

“I remember our talks about stranger danger, Freddie.” Really, John was about to toss Freddie out of the cab and go to the zoo himself, but he knew it would hurt the singer’s feelings and he would never do that.

They lined up for tickets at the automatic tellers, and John rolled his eyes when Freddie purchased one adult and one teen. While Freddie was distracted, John discreetly and quickly purchased another adult ticket, ready to slip it into the gate attendants’ hand. He dealt with this quite a lot, and had gotten rather good at secretly buying the proper adult ticket.

It didn’t hurt to allow Freddie his little delusions.

They toured the new exhibit and had lunch at a picnic area, Freddie fussing and making sure John had more sunscreen applied to his face. Freddie also bought John another stuffy, and John just smiled, happily carrying the large stuffed tiger. They mutually decided to name him Simba.

After lunch, they ended up at the best part of all; the petting zoo. John was glad he and Freddie weren’t the only adults in the area without kids. There was nothing wrong in childless adults wanting to pet the animals too.

John looked over at Freddie, who was talking nonsense to a baby llama. Ummm…..maybe he did have a child.

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Chapter 8: My Best Friend

Summary: From a prompt by Wiggles91: How about when Autistic John wrote his first song about his wife Veronica "You're my best friend." And he is very scared to show it to his wife and to the boys because he thinks it's not good enough. So the boys bring Veronica to Rockfield Studios to help him with the song with encouragement from Freddie.

John had never considered himself a ‘songwriter’. He freely admitted he was sort of an accidental up and coming rock star. Had he set out to be a star like Freddie or Roger? Nope. Had he been determined to be a song poet and performer like Brian? Not at all. He had quite frankly auditioned for Queen because his father liked music and John’s therapist had insisted that he try to get out more.

And look where it had landed him.

In a very powerful up and coming band. With records released and more on the horizon. John just wanted cheese on toast and to play music, and yeah, he wanted Veronica. So sue him. He may be autistic, but he knew a lady when he saw one, and Veronica was all that and smart, and talented, and beautiful and just simply amazing.

And he was just plain John.

Veronica was SO out of his league. As was Queen. John kept thinking that everyone would wake up one day and realize it. But no.

Brian and Roger went out of their way to make John feel comfortable and part of the band. Every tiny bit he contributed was welcomed and applauded.

Veronica was simply….amazing. John honestly could not find words to describe what she meant to him. And this was from someone who thought he would never be loved, and really, truly, had not set out to find it. He was convinced that love was a nice feeling, but not one for him. Sure, someone people had had true love, and John respected and admired that. But it surely wasn’t for him. He wasn’t sure he would even *know* was love was.

And then he had met Veronica. At a disco, of all places.

And Freddie, the other most important person in his life after his Mum, sister, and Veronica, had done nothing but endorse Veronica. John had no choice but to put his worries aside, and trust in his Dad….er….he meant, Freddie.

And that had been a huge source of John’s nerves. He kept telling Veronica that he was different, and she just kept on smiling. Okay, she was training to be a teacher, and John figured that she had to put on that smile. But after a while he really began to suspect that she truly did understand, and did not judge him for it.

When he had to do certain routines to be comfortable, she just nodded, and even *helped* him. When he didn’t know what to do in a social situation, she was beside him, always smiling and gently helping him, acting as if his nerves were perfectly normal, and politely, sweetly, deadly, daring anyone to say otherwise.

If Freddie was his would-be-Dad, then Veronica was his would-be-Mum….but in a good sense. Not kinky or weird. It was really like his….wife….John finally realized.

Thank goodness he had the presence of mind to say Yes when she proposed to him.

Freddie for once was totally silent on the subject- just beaming with pride - but for the rest of his life, John suspected that Veronica had gone to Freddie and asked permission for his hand in marriage.

John didn’t lie…..he felt quite flattered and more than a bit woozy at the notion.

And the fact that Freddie always referred to John and Veronica’s children as his ‘Pautrō’ made John smile. He guessed they really were. Lord knew they would not have been born without Freddie’s encouragement. John would have been the virgin-in-a-rock-band if it wasn’t for Freddie giving him a pep talk and then shoving him in Veronica’s direction.

And Veronica. She was a wise, wise, woman of wisdom. Never underestimate her. John didn’t. He learned to just say “yes, dear,” and do as she said. It made life much simpler and happier. She was never wrong when it came to them. Thank God he could rely on her.

What was that saying? You could pick your friends, but not your family? In his down moments, John guessed that his band mates had to put up with him since they were family. But Veronica?

She *let* him sleep with her. On a number of occasions. Touch her inappropriately.

John was truly grateful.

And he was grateful when she showed up at Rockfield studio with a big smile and all her gentle strength.

“Play them your song,” she said gently.

“What? No!” he protested. It was crap, truly. He had just been messing around with notes and words. It wasn’t a *song*.

“Darling,” Freddie said, “Veronica already shared some of it with me. You simply MUST play it now.”

John shot Veronica a dark look, and she just smiled as usual. Okay, it was the sign that John was being ridiculous and he needed to go along with whatever she wanted.

“It’s dumb,” John muttered. “I mean the words, but it’s…..silly.” He wasn’t romantic. He didn’t know how to say things in actual conversations, let alone in a song. And now Brian, the lyrics specialist was smiling at him, and Roger, who could put words together almost as well as Brian was grinning in encouragement.

John frowned a little at Veronica….had she told the band? She smiled, and he sighed, knowing she had. Well, she did know best.

He went over to the piano and nervously ran his hands over the keys, trying to warm up. “I wanted to write a song for Veronica,” he mumbled. “But you know I’m dreadful with words. This is all I could come up with.” He cleared his throat, and reluctantly started to play.

Ohh, you make me live…You’re my best friend…

When he was done, Brian pulled him up into a hug before John could start making excuses about how bad a song it was. Then Roger was hugging him as well, and Freddie pulled Veronica into the group.

“Perfect!” Freddie was saying over and over. “It’s perfect!”

“John, you’re secret has been uncovered. We need more of your songs!” Brian said happily.

“I’m about ready to cry,” Roger joked, but by his smile and hug, John knew Roger was also pretty serious. “I can’t wait to play it.”

And Veronica just smiled, proud of her husband. She had known all along that he could do it. He just needed support and encouragement.

And his family would always make sure he had that.

***** Pautrō – Grandchildren

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Chapter 9: I remember it all

Summary: From a prompt by Bella: John has Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). Yes, it’s a real thing where he remembers *everything*. Yes, it can be a pain.

John was not consciously aware of it, but he had a video camera in his head. All he knew was that he had an excellent memory. He had used to think that everyone did, but around starting secondary school he had realized he was different in more ways than one. If it happened to him, he could remember it. He could recall with perfect clarity almost every single day of his life. What he wore, what he ate that day, what he did. Recall verbatim what he said and what people said to him. Ask him about the local weather on Saturday, the 14th of August 1965, and he could tell you.

He tried to keep it quiet and for the most part succeeded. He didn’t brag about it, of course, and tried to stay silent even when someone was very wrong about what they were claiming and John knew it. It did actually came in handy at times, such as when his mum asked what they had served for tea or dinner when the family last came over, or what presents had been given at the holidays five years ago. And obviously his memory helped with school work. He figured it was a photographic memory, and just let it go. Whatever it was, it seemed to work.

The first time Queen was aware of it was when Freddie was fussing about what to wear for their next performance a few months after John had joined the band.

“Did I wear the black or the brown shirt last week?” Freddie screamed frantically. God forbid he wear the same outfit two weeks in a row.

“Black,” Brian said.

“Brown?” Roger guessed.

“Are you sure?” Freddie was going nuts.

John sighed and looked up from his bass. “You wore both,” he said calmly. “The black shirt at the start, and then changed into the brown shirt during the break. With the silver scarf and black boots.”

All three were looking at him, and John nervously looked back down at his guitar. “He’s right,” Freddie finally said. “I sort of remember now.” He beamed and hugged John. “Thank you, darling. You are in now in charge of my wardrobe.”

Bit by bit, the band began to realize just how much John could remember. Brian conducted a test on him, quizzing him about weather, and John was never wrong. Brian quickly determined that John could only remember things that he had done, said, saw or did.

“It has to be personal to you,” Brian mussed on a long drive. “Something that you saw, or heard, or did. Like how you can remember the Scrabble score of a game that you played, but not one that you didn’t play or see. It’s an…..autobiographical memory.”

“So Roger is not the only one who is self-centered,” Freddie teased. Roger easily flipped him the bird from the driver’s seat.

“It’s a pain,” John said shyly. “I keep worrying that my brain will get full, or something.”

“Even the most intelligent person only uses an estimated 10-20% of their brain,” Brian mussed. “Even as smart as you are, I don’t think it will get full.”

“You can borrow some of Roger’s brain,” Freddie offered. “He’s not using it.”

“Shut up, Freddie.”

The band quickly learned how to put John’s memory to good use (Brian ruling that John being responsible for remembering Freddie’s and Roger’s wardrobes was not a good use, but still, it happened). There was a reason John took charge of band finances as he never forgot a thing that was said or written. He made even the nastiest of record producers unnerved by reciting what they had worn and drank at every meeting and knew to the penny what was spent.

“I am so proud of you,” Freddie beamed after one meeting where John quietly, humbly, tore a manager to bits. “By the way, what did I wear to the club last week?”

“I wasn’t there, so I don’t know,” John said wearily. “I keep reminding you that you have to either take a picture and show me, or tell me, or write it down if you want me to remember that.”

“My baby computer,” Freddie cooed, pinching John’s cheeks.

“Stop that,” John muttered. “Or I won’t tell you what you wore at the last concert and let you wear the same thing over and over.”

“Shit, don’t scare me like that darling!”

Even Brian was guilty of using John at times. “John, did this restaurant have vegetarian options?”

“You had the garden salad and mushroom soup,” John said. He didn’t need to look at the menu. “I had the hamburger, Freddie had the fish and chips, and Roger the roast beef.”

“Did we like it?” Roger asked.

John sighed. “I guess?” he said. “No one complained.”

“Great! Order for us, would you? I’m going to have a smoke.”

Roger wanted to know totally random things, such as how many sugars had he put in his coffee six months ago, and how many dates he’d had two years ago at Easter. But he was good about seldom ‘abusing’ John’s memory – better than Freddie and Brian, actually. He just occasionally wanted to know odd stuff. John figured they were all entitled to have their brains work in different ways and if Roger really needed to know what he had for breakfast on the fifth of last month, John was willing to tell him if he knew.

John learned to balance things. He had to have things a certain way, a routine no matter how difficult it was on tour, and his brothers did all they could to help. Anyone who crossed John in any way was first politely torn apart verbally by the bassist and then kicked out by Roger and Freddie while Brian loomed. Some wondered why the other three deferred to the quiet bassist for so much, but Freddie, Brian and Roger never said a thing.

He was their secret weapon, and they protected what was theirs.

****************************************************************************

Chapter 10: Stepdad

Summary: From a prompt by LadyOfLoriens: Maybe you could write something about Freddie meeting Jim? A second dad for our baby John?

Note: In this universe, Freddie does not have AIDS.

“How do you feel about children?” Freddie asked Jim as they returned to Freddie’s home after their official second date. Freddie was ready to scream to the world that he loved this man.

The Irishman smiled. “I love them,” he admitted. “I didn’t know you had any. I would love to meet them.”

“Just one son, John,” Freddie beamed. “How about we all have dinner together Tuesday?”

Jim chuckled as he kissed Freddie. “Sure. How old is he?”

“He’s just a child,” Freddie sighed. “But thinks he’s a grown up. It’s so cute.”

***** *****

“Well, you are a little older than I expected,” Jim said cheerfully.

“Oh God.” John sighed. “How old did he tell you I was?”

Jim shrugged. “He didn’t really say,” he mussed thoughtfully. “For some reason, I was picturing a 10-year-old.”

“I’m adopted,” John said dryly, taking a long drink.

Freddie appeared like magic and took the glass from John’s hand. “Now, Deaky, I said you could have a glass of wine with dinner, not before.”

“Its not wine, it’s vodka,” John said.

The singer stiffened. “Who gave you this?” he demanded. “Phoebe?”

“I brought the bottle with me as a gift, Freddie. I purchased it from a store.”

“With a fake ID?” Freddie shrieked. “Where did you get that from?”

“Its not fake, I keep telling you.”

“John Richard Deacon Mercury----” Freddie began to rant.

John looked at Jim. “Ignore him, it’s easier that way.”

“Ignore what? Is someone selling to underaged kids?” Jim was starting to look pissed. “Did you get pressured into buying?”

John blinked, a shiver going down his spine. “Jim, look, here’s my drivers license. Look at the date of birth. Please.”

“So many fakes out there,” Jim shook his head. “No wonder Freddie worries about you so much. So many bad influences.”

“I play in the band! I have since I was 19, which I am *not* anymore! Look at the date, Hell, look at me! I’m not a kid!”

“Don’t listen to him, dear,” Freddie said to Jim. “He’s acting out. He’s at that age, I’m afraid. Questioning authority.”

“I understand,” Jim smiled at Freddie, hearts in his eyes. “I can see why you are so protective of him.

“Jesus, I should have known,” John grumbled to Phoebe when the other man wandered into the room in search of booze.

“I like him,” Phoebe said seriously. “He’s a good guy, and I can tell Freddie is absolutely mad about him. I think they will be good for each other.” Phoebe reached out and patted John’s shoulder. “And he’ll be a good stepdad to you,” he teased.

“Shut up,” John muttered.

Dinner went well, until Freddie threatened to send John to bed without dessert, which led to John pointing out that he didn’t live there. Then Jim politely and innocently asked just how long John had been living on his own, which made Freddie feel like a bad parent. He dragged both Jim and John upstairs to show them ‘John’s bedroom’, proving that John did have a bedroom. John said he had only slept there twice (both when he was hungover after a party) and Freddie then really felt like a horrible parent, and Jim was going to leave him because he couldn’t be trusted and he was a dreadful person and he started to cry.

John and Jim both apologized. John ended up spending the night to prove to Jim that Freddie hadn’t thrown him out on the streets when he turned 18 (which, no matter how hard John to tried to convince Jim, had not been just a few months ago – he was in the 30’s for God’s sake), and Freddie calmed down enough to be happy.

Jim started referring to John as his ‘son’, and John knew he was doomed.

*****************************************************************************

Chapter 11: Operation D-A-T-E

Summary: From a prompt by Rogerina_Taylor:John going on a date. Freddie goes full mama bear mode. Maybe Freddie spies on their date or Roger or Brian.

Freddie stood in the center of the living room, tapping his foot. Nervous energy radiated off him.

“Jesus, Freddie, calm down,” Roger said from the couch.

“Calm down? Calm down? My baby is going on a D-A-T-E and you are telling me to calm down?”

Brian took a sip of beer. “Maybe because your baby is 20 years old and its high time he got out?”

“Yeah, even you had a date by age 21, Bri. I remember,” Roger smirked, and Brian hit his arm.

“My precious baby John is not you Brian, and – Thank God – not you, either, Roger. John is….special.” Freddie was about ready to tear his hair out.

“We’ve been tutoring him for weeks,” Brian said, trying to be logical. “He knows all about stranger danger and has memorized more than even I can say about safety. I’m surprised he is even willing to leave the flat, given all the scary stuff you have warned him about.”

“Yeah, I was about ready to live under the bed after your lecture this afternoon,” Roger volunteered.

“Hush!” Freddie hissed. “He’s coming out.”

John emerged from the bedroom dressed and groomed. Freddie fussed over him for a few minutes, adjusting a collar here, a jacket sleeve there. John looked amazing. *sniff* His baby was growing up.

“Now remember, don’t accept any drinks from strangers. Keep your ID in a separate place from your money.” Freddie was patting down John, making sure his directions had been followed. “You have phone numbers memorized, I know, but repeat them again.”

John sighed. “The phone here is 555—“he began. He kept reciting the numbers for local police, taxis, neighbors, and Scotland Yard. Freddie nodded in approval and made sure John had proper change for all calls.

“And the plan?” Freddie got out a piece of paper that had been carefully drawn up. Seriously, the Magna Carta had had less time in its drafting. Freddie, Brian, and Roger had all gone over it.

“7:45, leave apartment,” John began to recite again. “7:50, get in taxi that Brian has called for, but only *after* confirming the license plate.” Brian gave John a thumbs up. “Approximately 8:10, arrive disco. Call apartment to confirm my arrival from the pay phone out front before entering disco. Call you again from pay phone inside the disco once I have entered said disco. 8:20 meet Veronica at the bar, left side by the beer taps. Call again to confirm I am with Veronica. 8:20 – 11:30, dance. Three hours. I can have 2 beers, total, as can Veronica. Rest of time, order water. Keep glass in possession at all times. Do not accept drink offers. 9:30, order bar snacks. 11:30, call you before we exit disco. Approximately 11:40, call you once I have put Veronica in a taxi home. Include license plate of taxi. Approximately 11:42, I call you with license plate of taxi I am taking home. Should arrive home no later than 12:10. Make taxi driver stop and call if running late.”

“Good, good,” Freddie approved. He went to the bedroom to get a last-minute scarf for John and the bassist looked over at Brian and Roger.

“12:30. Sneak out of apartment and go to Veronica’s to shag,” John muttered. Brian chocked on his beer and Roger beamed in approval.

Promptly at 7:45, John left, clutching a piece of paper with the taxi number on it. Freddie had wanted to walk him out to the curb, but finally decided it might a little much. Roger and Brian exchanged glances, knowing that *something* was going to happen.

At 8:00, Freddie jumped up. “Alright, boys, here is the plan. Brian, you stay here for the phone calls. Roger, you and I are going to disco.”

“For God’s sake Freddie,” Roger grumbled. “John is an adult---”

“You take that back!” Freddie gasped.

“And he can go on a date by himself. What do you honestly think is going to happen? They are going to the lamest disco in all of Europe – it opens at 7:00 and closes at midnight - and Veronica is a nice girl.”

“Roger, stop being a sexist pig. A woman can be just as frightening as any man; more so, in fact.”

“Are you saying Veronica is frightening and is going to assault John? Maybe kiss him?” Brian asked.

“Brian, I thank you to not use such foul language and say such scary horrible things concerning John. Roger, get your damn coat now. We are running behind.”

Fifteen minutes later, Freddie and Roger were in the shadows of the disco, spying on John and Veronica. Freddie may have frowned a bit at how *physical* some of the dancing was, but he certainly couldn’t cast stones. They called Brian every hour, confirming that John had called as directed and giving updates. Freddie grabbed a taxi at 11:30 so he could be home before John while Roger stayed behind on John and Veronica duty, memorizing taxi license plates and calling Brian to confirm.

John arrived home to find Freddie and Brian relaxing while watching an old movie. Roger came in a few minutes later, saying he had gone on a last-minute date that ended early. It fooled no one.

At 12:30 AM, Roger gave another thumbs up to John as he quietly left the apartment. Freddie was in bed, asleep with dreams of his son innocently playing with kittens and stuffed animals.

Notes:

End Notes: What do you think? Would you like more snippets in this little universe? **I take Prompts for this universe!** You can comment below or message me at Tumblr “MacandLacysPlace” with requests.

Rules: may be gen, m/f, or m/m, but never explicit. Fluff! Austic!John will factor in on occasion. NO AGE PLAY or Infantilism; just pure fun and silliness. Great thanks again to LetMeEntertainYou.

Upcoming stories: Grandparents Day :-) Will John ever be allowed to date? Or drink?? Or drive??? (Papa doesn't drive, so why should his son?)

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nataliademarquis · 6 years ago

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hshqtask 005: get to know the mun !

001. name / age / pronouns

ashley, 17, she/her

002. which character(s) do you play?

natalia de marquis, lily liu, leo de bragança

003. nationality / ethnicity / timezone

american, vietnamese (a little chinese too, it’s in there somewhere apparently), cst

004. tell us a bit about your ( home / current country / city / etc. your pick)

you know the drake in my feelings music video ?? yeahhh that’s where i’m from. born and raised. i went to a new years party in the house that “kiki” lives in. also, my friend’s sister was an extra in one of the clubbing scenes and when drake came back to nola to perform he invited her to his afterparty and apparently he’s really weird. anyways on to new orleans

my favorite thing about it is it’s history/architecture/culture actually. i can prob talk about it for ages. the architecture is v interesting bc it’s french buildings but a lot of spanish influence. (there was a fire when it was under spanish rule so they rebuilt off the french let me stop before i get to the louisiana purchase) and the history of the city is really cool.

i can’t forget about the best part- mardi gras!!! well partying in general... very proud to say u can drink in public here. and there’s no such thing as last call bc u can serve alcohol 24 hrs technically. god bless us. even tho i wanna leave i have to say there is no place like new orleans

005. favourite color / fruit / season

pink and (emerald) green, dragon fruit, summer

006. favourite books + writer whose writing style you admire the most

ummm i honestly never have time to read books anymore, i used to love reading tho. i really love the catcher in the rye, it’s a basic ass book i know but i really like the lessons and story it tells.

007. what kinda music do you listen to + any fave bands / musicians

i literally listen to a little bit everything, mainly like pop rock, rap, and r&b... sometimes classical when i’m feeling it. my fave artists are like childish gambino, brockhampton, haim, jorja smith, kanye, travis scott.

008. what are you doing for a living / what are you studying?

i’m probably gonna go into biology/pre-med but i’m seriously considering changing to business (like entrepreneurship/marketing). idk yet i’ll see

009. what’s your dream occupation?

ideally i’d want to be kim kardashian- like just have random businesses and be super hot as my job. but for real, i want to be an anesthesiologist if i go the pre-med track. if i go business then i would want a business/idea of mine to be successful- or make a company and sell it for $$$

010. relationship status

siiinngggllleeee

011. coffee, tea or hot chocolate?

coffee

012. dream holiday destination?

i’d really like to go to japan... i’ve been to their airport but i want to actually visit

013. the thing you’re most proud about yourself

i love to help people. i went on a service trip to belize and built a house for a family and nothing made me happier- prob best and proudest moment of my life was handing over the keys.

014. tell us a bit about your family!

i have an older sister and a younger brother. i have a gazillion cousins but we have a close circle of like 15 of us and we’re super fun... we just reunited at a family member’s wedding the other day it was a grand old time

015. how long have you known your closest friend?

13 years and counting ;)

016. superpower you’d like to have?

teleportation. the amount of money i’d save

017. celebrity you’d like to meet?

kim kardashian pls don’t judge me i love her

018. guilty pleasures

i’m addicted to starbucks and that’s why i never have money

019. pet peeves

idk i’m a pretty forgiving person- but i hate when people are rude to waitstaff like servers and stuff esp when it’s obvious they have no control on what’s happening

020. do you have any hobbies?

umm i play the violin. i like to go to the gym (most of the time) and i like makeup and painting.

021. where would you like to live in the future?

austin, texas. i don’t think i can ever leave the south or go away from the equator. i wasn’t cut out for winter PERIODT

022. tell us a story about a thing that recently happened to you! it can be a funny, scary, sad story, your pick!

so i went to this music festival and my friends and i are in the crowd of this random dj’s set. my friend spots this guy and his friends and she’s like “i just know he’s british we have to go talk to them.” so she drags us over and we strike up conversation. turns out they’re australian, and super cool. we danced with them and stuff and we’re asking about their accents and they made fun of ours... and i’m dancing with one in particular, and he gives me his number and tells me what hotel he’s staying in. and i was like ummmmm. then they asked us to meet them at another set but we never made it and we never bothered to hit them up again, so rip to my australian lover LOL.

umm and we met some italian soccer players last week (they play for some college team) after getting pizza and we went out with them to a bar the next day. what country will we hit next? guess in the comments below

#hshqtask005 #i just got home from running errands and i NEED a nap and need to do some college stuff #be on later #enjoy this from my drafts #long post

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harrison-abbott · 3 years ago

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A PRETTY BIG GALLERY

I finally got what I wanted after 28 years of living. To have my paintings in a gallery; it’s what I’d been working on all my days and I thought these works were among my best. And I painted them across the best part of a year. And took photos of them and sent an application off to a pretty big gallery which was downtown and I got this congratulations email from them and I got a bit teary and they told me to call this chap who would organise dates with me to hold the exhibition. … Got the news in October and decided to hold it in December when folks would likely be merry with the festive atmosphere. And planned it up. The gallery wouldn’t provide funding for the event but they agreed to host it and so I put a lot of money (well, a modest amount) into it myself. For the alcohol and cheese and biscuits and whatnot. I bought the champagne glasses and all this brie and accompanying crackers and my flatmate helped me out with it and then both of us set up the exhibition room. Then there was a chap from the local newspaper who did a lil interview with me ahead of the opening night, to appear in the Culture section. Felt special. The date was set for 16th December which would be Friday night, for the opening night I mean. And I got prepared early. And spoke to a lot of my pals and they all gave me compliments and the world couldn’t be any better and it seemed like my past problems of self harm and depression and substance abuse were finally fading and that I would go on and on from here and become an influential artist and every time I saw my oil figures in these new shiny handsome gaudy frames up on these walls I experienced pride … So November passed and I was still working in a restaurant. But that didn’t matter – right? – because I had this thing to look forward to. Nights intensified along with the cold, which I liked. December came and there was a mad storm in the week with mighty amounts of snow. Which kinda took the gear out of everything and the city centre even had to close down for two days and nights because the fall was so heavy. The world changed for seventy hours and then after the snow came gargantuan rainfall which cleared it all away and then there was only chronic wind following and it was all impressive and strangely enjoyable. … And so my exhibition was set in the immediate aftermath of all of that and the week leading up to the big day was obliterated by non stop cold and wind – only wind and white skies and not even rain and then the Friday came. My flatmate was more nervous than I was. He himself wasn’t interested in art or anything cultural much but he said he like my stuff and he was a good guy in general so he was just trying to help me out and he began drinking quite early in the afternoon and I joined him, and he invited his mates along to the event also because he was far more gregarious than I was … … … The climax of the story is that eight people turned up on the opening night. Eight. A band of folk I knew from work turned up, totally hammered; colleagues from the restaurant I mean, and they were fun and immensely drunk and they had chipped in to buy one of the paintings. Altogether, because they lived in the same flat and they were being kind. And it was a lifeline. That snippet of kindness, that one small act. So those were the first folks that turned up and there were three of them and there were all these glasses and this catalogue of cheese and I didn’t even eat cheese anymore because I’d turned vegan five years back and the colleagues didn’t have much interest in artwork either and I honestly couldn’t tell whether they genuinely appreciated my stuff or not and they hung around and we all waited for other people to arrive. And five others showed up. One of them was my uncle, who had always admired my product, and another was his fiancé, who had invited me to their wedding which was due in January, and they were both old and goodlooking … Umm, and another was one of my friends who I used to go to art school with and he brought his partner (a boy, male) with him, who was charismatic, and they brought another lad along as well whom I’d never met before, and so the ten folk were in this wide room with the paintings strung on the walls and the awkwardness was almost tangible, because thirty minutes slipped by and there was no background music and the conversation was ironically trembled by the booze and even when folks ate the brie crackers the sound of the jaws munching was indulgent and I kept waiting for more people to arrive and it just never happened and it was only nine o’clock in the evening. And it was hard not to get black about it all. … So I did go sour and upset and dark and I had to pretend that I was happy and every person present was real kind about the mellow embarrassment of the situation and so they just told jokes and stories and I appreciated their words. And yet it wasn’t okay. After twenty eight years this was all my dream was. A realised dream: this was it? … A few hours later we had to leave because the gallery was shutting down. The building I mean. And we went out and proceeded to get wasted. … The next morning I went back there, because it was my duty to re-open the gallery. One old man came in about eleven o’clock. He smiled when he saw me. And analysed my paintings at a moderate pace. And left.

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roxannarambles · 7 years ago

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Title: Hidden Talents

Author: Roxanna Rambles

Fandom/Pairing: Fire Emblem - Heath/Legault

Summary: “They were both more than a little drunk, although Heath was definitely handling his alcohol a little more gracefully.”

They were both more than a little drunk, although Heath was definitely handling his alcohol a little more gracefully.

Legault was obnoxious at the best of times, always insisting on hanging about Heath despite numerous, vigorous attempts to repel him. However, Heath's usual irritation was subdued this evening, drowned out in the swirling buzz of ale. As such, he had allowed Legault to join him at his table, and even ended up in a lengthy conversation with him, although the conversation was turning progressively more nonsensical as the night wore on.

The entire group had the rare luxury of staying at one of the lordling's castles overnight. With no danger on the immediate horizon and the promise of a late start tomorrow, they were allowed to feast, to rest, and to take a well-deserved bracing breath. The spacious dining room of the castle was strewn with the evening's festives, many of Eliwood's army still eating, drinking, or talking and laughing, although plenty more had already retired for the night. The candles of the chandelier above them flickered merrily with light, and Heath found himself gazing hypnotically up at it after a while. His sixth-- seventh?-- pint of ale sat half-finished on the table in front of him, as Legault chattered away in his general direction.

The mysterious, lavender-haired assassin normally had an oddly cheery edge to his calm, relaxed exterior, but the more he drank, the more cheerful and talkative he became, simply underscoring and exaggerating the tendency. Heath had a feeling he would probably find it incredibly aggravating under normal circumstances, but he was actually finding it entertaining at the moment. He was especially amused that his smooth, velvety speech was starting to slip into a stereotypical drunken slur, and his normal careful modesty was giving way to flagrant cockiness. At the moment, he was getting riled up about castle security in Ostia.

"Trust me, Heath, honey, it's not anywhere near what it's cracked up to be. I've taken a few sojourns into here back in the day, and the guard arrangement was a joke even back then. Guys think a dozen knights decked out in so much armor they can't move is gonna hold up the entire fort."

Heath smirked, glancing across the room, observing,

"You might want to keep your voice down, Hector's still sitting not too far away from us."

Legault pushed back against his chair, hard enough to make the back tip briefly, and chuckled.

"I'm not worried about him. What'll he do? Lock me up? With Ostia's mighty security?"

Heath's smile widened to a grin upon hearing Legault tripping sloppily over the word 'Ostia.'

"Mmmm, it would certainly give the rest of our march some peace and quiet if he did lock you up."

Legault gestured at him with his mug of ale and said,

"You'd miss me. Don't deny it."

"I will most certainly deny it."

"I'd be out in a heartbeat, anyway. Was jailed by them once, y'know. Took me five minutes to escape, maybe less?"

"You're full of shit."

"I'm dead fucking serious."

Heath snorted into his drink, which Legault seemed to take as an affront to all things good and pure in this world.

"Heath, they posted a single guard outside my door. I picked the lock in under a minute. It was . . . it was insulting."

"Under a minute. Mmm-hmm. It was five minutes just a little bit ago."

"The extra four minutes was for knocking the guard on his ass! The lock took thirty seconds."

"Oh, now it's thirty seconds!"

"What part of 'under' a minute don't you get?"

"Psshh."

Legault fixed him with a fiery, challenging gaze, cheeks flushed from his inebriation.

"If you knew anything about lockpicking at all, you'd know I'm right. Theirs are pitiful for what's supposedly the mightiest military state of Lycia. I could pick one of theirs with my hands tied behind my back."

Heath laughed readily and sipped at his ale.

"I'd like to see you try."

Legault straightened in his seat, a cocky gleam in his eye.

"Yeah? Let's go. I'll prove it right now."

Heath laughed again, but realized the man looked quite serious.

"Legault, you're mad. And also drunk."

"You afraid of being proven wrong?"

Heath huffed in amusement, feeling an eagerness settle into him. Admittedly, it would be pretty delicious to see this poor drunken fool struggle so fruitlessly.

"All right, fine. I could go for a little entertainment this evening."

"Excellent," Legault said, springing from his chair, then grabbing onto the table before he could fall flat on his face. Heath cackled at him openly.

"How's a man who can't stand up going to pull this off?"

The man frowned at him, looking only briefly embarrassed before his dumb optimism kicked back in.

"Shut up. I don't need my faculties at 100% to do something this easy. Now follow me."

The pair of them shuffled out of the dining hall, unnoticed by the other partygoers, and Heath followed him up the winding staircase, nudging him up a few times when he swayed. It was only when they were wandering down the halls that Heath thought to ask where they were even going.

"Legault, where--"

"--which one is your room, anyway?"

Heath blinked slowly and took a moment to consider the question. His was . . . umm. Hmm. Which one was his again? There were too many doors in this castle and they all looked the same. He stared for a bit and then suddenly lit up.

"Wait, that one. At the end of the hall-- the second to last. Yeah."

"Ok, good."

Legault carried on down the hall and Heath suddenly exclaimed,

"Wait, why are we going to my room?!"

The assassin shot a grin at him.

"Calm down. We're just using your door. You have your room key, right?"

"Oh. Uh. Maybe?"

Heath patted his pockets, trying to remember what he did with it.

"I think I left it in my room, give me a second."

As Heath opened the door and entered his room, he twisted back and added emphatically at the man trying to follow behind him,

"Hey, no, wait there!"

Legault grinned but stopped in the threshold and waited. After a few moments, Heath managed to locate the room key he'd left on the nightstand beside his bed. He retrieved it and stepped back out into the hall, closing the door behind him.

"Good, now lock the door."

As Heath did as instructed, he felt a wave of disbelief at how stupid this was. He started to truly analyze the situation.

"Legault, what the hell do you plan on doing, anyway? Pick the lock with your teeth?"

The man in front of him broke out into an enormous smirk.

"Well, yeah. What else did you think I would do?"

Heath took a half-step backwards, feeling uneasy under his gaze.

"You're mad," he repeated himself. As if in response, Legault tugged the purple bandana from his hair, handing it to Heath. The wyvern rider frowned in confusion.

"What . . .?"

Legault turned around, settling his hands behind his back, and then shot Heath a look over his shoulder, darting a tongue over his teeth. He looked practically giddy.

"Tie me up."

Heath felt his already flushed face turning redder and he stepped back again reflexively, blurting,

"What?!"

Legault backed a little toward him.

"You want me to do this with my hands tied behind my back, don't you?"

Heath paused. Oh, right. He did say that.

Wincing, feeling awkward and mildly embarrassed, Heath stepped forward and took the bandana in hand. After straightening the fabric out a little, he looped the cloth around Legault's wrists and tied a fat knot. The man made a dissatisfied sound.

"No, make it tighter."

Heath huffed, snapping at him,

"Why do you need it tighter?"

"I don't want you having any way to claim I cheated, because I'm about to blow your mind."

Heath rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Hold still."

Legault made a sound under his breath that Heath didn't exactly care for-- it sounded way too suspiciously lewd-- but Heath undid the knot and wrapped the bandana again, tugging tight enough that it was probably just short of cutting off circulation, then knotted the bandana securely in place.

"How's that?"

"That's goddamn perfect."

Yeah, he was enjoying this way too much. Heath pushed the man forward.

"Just get to work. It's gonna take a lot to impress me."

"Well, you'd better prepare yourself to be impressed."

Heath watched as Legault sized up the door for a moment, then looked down at his ring of lockpicks.

Which were hanging off his belt.

His face seemed to fall a little as this realization sunk in. He slid a glance over to Heath. The wyvern rider crossed his arms.

"Well?" he said, pretending to be unaware of the problem that he was fully aware of.

Legault wriggled a moment, shaking his hips and jostling his belt. He tried bending over and reaching, but the ring of picks was hopelessly out of reach. He splayed his legs out and bent over further, hair spilling over every which-way, snapping uselessly at his own crotch. Heath put a hand on his mouth and tried desperately to squash his laughter, but it came out painfully through his nose.

"I-- I knew this would be good, but oh, gods. This is fantastic."

After a little more struggle, Legault straightened back up. His face was bright red from not only drunkenness but from hanging upside down, and his hair hung over him in loose strands. Sounding surprisingly coherent, he said,

"Perhaps you could allow me one small concession? While I'm pretty flexible, I admit I'm not actually a contortionist."

Heath grinned.

"Sure, if that'll keep this show going."

Legault turned and gave his hips a little jiggle.

"Then could you be a dear and get my lockpicks for me?"

Heath dropped his eyes down to the small golden ring of lockpicks dangling off his belt, just to the side of his belt buckle. Without stopping to think much about it, he reached out and snagged the metal loop with a finger, giving it a tug, but it was fastened into place. Frowning, he used his other hand to lift the excess flap of belt hanging in the way and examined the metal ring more carefully. It was fastened into one of the small metal holes riveted into the leather belt. He twisted at the ring and tugged again, but it was very firmly attached. He wrestled with the little fiddly bit of metal for a few moments, but quickly grew annoyed.

Growling, Heath leaned in further, trying to see how the stupid clasp worked, tugging at it with increasing aggression.

"How the heck do you get this off?"

"You-- don't pull, you just have to twist it."

"I am. It just won't--"

Legault made a little squeaky sound as Heath tugged again. The wyvern rider paused, suddenly painfully mindful of how close he had his face to the man's crotch. He snapped up like he was veering back from a cobra, catching the delighted look in Legault's eye, and growled at him;

"Why didn't you do this first?"

"Look, you almost had it, you just had to twist it clockwise a little more."

Heath glared, but twisted at the ring and was surprised when he felt it give way easily this time. It slipped from the belt fluidly.

Embarrassed over how obnoxiously difficult it had been for him, Heath thrust the ring of lockpicks towards Legault.

"Here. Take the damn thing."

The man's lips curved into a silly little smile as he returned Heath's gaze. Then he dipped his head down to Heath's hand and took the ring of lockpicks up in his teeth. Heath felt the wave of uneasiness return as the man grinned up at him salaciously. Heath swallowed and complained,

"Quit stalling. It's already been well over five minutes, you know."

Thankfully, Legault stopped looking at him like that, finally turning and approaching Heath's door. He spoke around the ring of lockpicks.

"I shaid I could pick it with my handsh behind my back. I never claimed I could do that part in under five minutes."

"Sounds to me like you're just making excuses. Honestly, Legault? I don't think you're going to come even close to doing this. You're a mess."

Legault chuckled a little, and then dropped down to his knees in front of the door, splaying his legs wide and examining the lock with sharp eyes. After a moment, he hummed to himself, as if deciding something. Then he gave his head a little toss, messily clacking the metal ring along in his mouth, rotating it until he reached the series of picks on it. With a few more jerks of his head, he seemed to reach the desired selection, and then slid his lips down the pick, wriggling it with surprising speed into position. With the handle of the pick in his teeth, he nudged forward, sliding the pick into the lock.

Heath watched in fascination as Legault made careful, subtle motions with the pick, lifting up, then pressing sideways a little. He actually looked . . . like he knew what he was doing. Despite himself, Heath drew forward a little, trying to get a better view. Legault grunted and pressed the pick deeper into the lock, smushing his nose up against the lock as he attempted what looked to be a difficult sideways motion. His expression was screwed up in deep concentration. Heath could hear the pick rattling a little inside, and he couldn't help but start to quietly hope maybe Legault might actually be able to do this.

However, after a little more pressing and clicking about, Legault leaned back slightly with a mumble. Heath found himself asking,

"Problem?"

"Jush a minor setback," he heard the man reply, his voice strangely low and calm. He jerked his head back and tossed the ring into the air, then snapped it up cleanly, moving a new pick into place with his lips. He pushed forward into the lock again, mouth pressed right up against it, giving the absurd appearance that he was french-kissing with the door. If Heath wasn't so enraptured by the bizarre spectacle, he would have laughed, but he was almost afraid to make any sound. Instead he continued to watch in a hushed silence.

Then, Legault made an excited mumble, so Heath supposed he must have done something promising. Straining, the man pressed his body flush against the door, craning his neck as he pushed for the right angle on the lock. His hair had long draped in messy strands over his face, but he ignored it, obviously doing things completely by touch. Shifting the pick in his teeth very carefully, Heath watched as Legault stuck his tongue out and slid it into the hole of the lock while still maintaining pressure on the lockpick.

Heath let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Was this man for real?

"You're going to get your damn tongue stuck in there--"

Legault rumbled a completely incomprehensible sound in reply, mouth preoccupied with a ridiculous level of acrobatics. Heath watched him flick his tongue around and press it in deeper, a sight that irrationally set off a hot flutter in Heath's chest. Aggravated, Heath was about to snap another warning to the man about getting stuck, but then there was a distinct clicking sound and the insane man made a choked noise-- of victory?

Heath stared as Legault withdrew his face from its intimate press against the lock, letting the ring of lockpicks clatter to the floor. He turned his flushed expression upon Heath, wearing the smuggest, most self-satisfied smile he'd ever seen. The man then licked his lips and invited him,

"Go ahead. Open it."

Heath was immobile at first, unable to really believe it. There's no way he actually . . . but at Legault's continued look, he came forward and grabbed the handle.

He twisted the knob and opened the door.

Heath turned. Legault had climbed back to his feet and was grinning at him. Heath continued to stare for a few beats.

"Okay," Heath began. He finally let the smile overtake his face.

"I hate to admit it when I'm wrong, but that . . . that was kind of fantastic."

"Right?!"

Heath chuckled at Legault's jubilant reply. He looked so happy.

Maybe this guy wasn't so terrible after all. In an amused tone, Heath asked,

"You want me to untie you now?"

Legault's brows curved upwards and he lidded his eyes in a gaze that was starting to become all too familiar. He answered in a thick, honeyed tone:

"Unless there's something else you'd like to do to me."

No, wait, no. Heath was wrong-- he was still terrible.

"Legault, no."

He flashed a smirk at him.

"You can't blame a guy for trying."

"Yes, I can. Now turn around."

This, as it turned out, was the wrong thing to say. Heath flushed hot again, scandalized at Legault's response and added shrilly,

"Don't bend over!"

Legault sighed, as if he somehow had the right to be exasperated.

"Heath, I feel like you're sending me a lot of mixed signals here."

"Fucking--"

"--yes, that's what I've been trying to get at!"

"AUGH!"

Heath backed off and fumed at him,

"I was going to help you out, but I think I'll just leave you like this now. Enjoy the night tied up like that."

He escaped into his room, shutting the door and locking it behind him. On the other side of the door, he heard Legault's muffled reply.

"Oh, c'mon, Heath, don't be like that."

Heath stalked over to a chair and sat down, grabbing a book.

"Goodnight Legault."

"Heeeeath. C'mon."

"Go away."

The door handle rattled a little. There was a brief pause.

"You do realize I could just pick your door again, right?"

Heath frowned. Goddamnit.

"I'll-- I'll hold the door shut if you do."

"Oh," came the reply from the other side. It sounded . . . sad.

"Okay," added the voice, growing even more pathetic and somber.

Heath winced.

Goddamnit.

Heath heaved a sigh as he got up to go open the door and help the moron standing out in the hall.

#fire emblem #fe7 #heath/legault #legault #heath #suggestive #mystuff #heath/legault fic #fanfic

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slightly-nerdy-rambles · 7 years ago

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SDV Prompt: Drinking Contest

So I’ve been dinking around with @dwarva‘s story prompt generator and ended up with the characters Emily and Lewis and the theme “Drinking Contest.” I got the idea for where I wanted this to go pretty quickly, and manged to write it out into a silly little ficlet. Not my most well-polished work, but it was a fun prompt :) I plan to continue doing little prompts like this and posting the finished ones from time to time; they make for pretty good practice. Enjoy!

Friday night at the Stardrop Saloon was always good for a chance to unwind. The Saloon regulars, who during the week often found the place to themselves, were joined by only-slightly-less regulars who counted on the place for a celebration of another workweek finished, and more often than not, they were joined in turn by random townsfolk who had decided they needed a chance to relax and catch up with the neighbors. All told, this was just the time and place for as much relaxing and catching up as anyone in Pelican Town needed.

Maybe a little too much of the former at times, Lewis thought to himself as he sat near the door and nursed his drink. Marnie was busy with a cow birth tonight, and would probably be hovering over the new calf and its mother until early morning, which left the town mayor without his usual drinking buddy. That was quite all right, he supposed -- he was a grown man perfectly capable of finding his own fun, and he had a pretty good relationship with most of the people in town. It seemed he had gotten a little too used to taking the front table with Marnie and chatting the night away, but it would be simple enough to break away from the habit and move.

It was quite possibly thanks to his attempts to figure out who to talk to that he noticed the disaster in the making. Shane was sitting at the bar in his usual corner, but at some point in the past few minutes he had been joined by Alex, Sam, Sebastian and Abigail. They were all having an... unusually lively conversation, at least for Shane, and from the cocky grins on half their faces, Lewis was beginning to get a distinctly bad feeling about where this was headed.

The mayor almost didn't tear his eyes away when Emily swept up to his table, notebook in hand and dazzling waitress smile at the ready.

"Hi, Mayor Lewis!" she chirped. "Would you like to order some food, or are you waiting for Marnie to get here?"

Lewis waved a dismissive hand. "Marnie can't make it tonight, but I think I'll wait on food anyway, thank you." His gaze drifted back to the group of young folks, and he frowned.

"Do you know what they're all planning? Please don't tell me it's a drinking contest."

Emily's hair whipped through the air as she turned to look at the group, and then she shot him a sheepish smile. "Umm," she tried, "Okay. I won't tell you then."

Lewis let out a low sigh. Those three could get loud on their regular 'Saloon Nights' as it was -- he did not want to see them all liquored up along with Shane and the local blustering jock.

"I'll just take this to the bar, if you don't mind," he told Emily, picking up his ale. "I want to keep an eye on those five in case I have to run damage control.

Emily's smile broke, and she put out a placating hand. "Oh, you don't need to do that! I already promised to keep an eye on them if anything looks like it might get out of hand. Besides," she added, a note of confidence returning to her voice, "I think they can pretty much handle themselves. They're more responsible than you think."

Lewis raised an eyebrow at the waitress. "Responsible," he repeated, a note of flat disbelief in his voice. "Really."

Emily nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Abigail isn't even out of college yet."

Emily shrugged. "So? A lot of people don't get through college in four years, and I for one think it's very mature of her to see it through."

"That's not my point."

"Mayor Lewis, if you're implying that being a college student somehow makes her an irresponsible drinker, I'll have you know that I hardly touched a drop when I was in school!"

Lewis snorted. "Fine. But aren't they all noisy enough when they come here?"

Emily's face darkened for a moment. "Well... Shane doesn't really say much in any case, but I don't think that's really a good thing for him." Her expression quickly lit up again. "But for everyone else, I think that just means they're having a good time! And I think participating in a group game like this would be good for Shane... even if it would really be better if there wasn't alcohol involved."

Hmph. Well, Lewis supposed the girl had a point, but he wasn't about to give up that easily. "Emily, do you even realize who all we're talking about? Even without Yoba-knows-how-many drinks in their systems, these kids have been responsible for balls going through windows, town-wide prank wars, rotten egg tosses, ruining the Luau soup for a lark --"

"--And all those things happened many years ago, Mayor Lewis. They've all had a chance to grow since then," Emily replied gently. She shot him another smile. "Look, I know these things can get out of hand, but that's why I'm going to be watching them. All I'm asking is that you try not to worry about it, okay?"

Lewis took a deep breath and let it out, his mustache ruffling in the breeze. He really couldn't argue with Emily there, as much as the whole thing bothered him.

"Fine," he finally said. With a small smile of his own, he added, "but I'm still moving to the bar. No point in keeping a table all to myself, eh?"

Emily beamed. "That sounds just fine. I should see if somebody else has an order yet -- I've been chatting too long already!"

With that, she swept away. Lewis chuckled to himself as he watched her go. That girl had so much energy, he didn't think any impending disaster would be enough to sway her.

* * * * *

Some time passed, and by Yoba it seemed Emily had been right. Gus had let her more-or-less take over bartending duties while he kept an eye on the tables, but it seemed that running damage control wouldn't be part of her repertoire tonight.

Not for lack of anyone getting drunk, though. Lewis was pretty sure that Sebastian had given up after his first glass of mead, and by now he'd turned his full attention to keeping Sam and Abigail from falling off their bar stools. Those two had collapsed against each other in a fit of giggles several minutes ago, the competition apparently forgotten. Alex and Shane were the only two still going, the former shooting the latter a too-heavy glare and the older man just staring ahead with a kind of grim satisfaction as Emily brought them another round.

"Are you sure you haven't had enough?" she chimed in as she set the pair of beers down. "It looks like you've already beaten half the group -- we could always call this one a tie."

Shane offered her a tiny smirk. "Emily, do you really want to deny me a chance to prove myself with one thing I'm actually good at?"

Emily clicked her tongue and shook her head, but left the men be. She caught Lewis's gaze as she did so, and offered him an encouraging smile. He returned it along with a small nod, glad that Alex and Shane were too caught up in their competition to notice. (As for the other three, they seemed to be caught up in some sort of joke Abigail had just made. Sam had started cackling like a hyena, while Sebastian was clearly less certain of the joke's humor, and Lewis ultimately decided that he didn't really want to know.)

The remaining competitors were about halfway through their beers when the door to the saloon opened behind Lewis and a newcomer joined him at the bar. He glanced over to see Elliot eyeing the competitors with a cool curiosity.

"Well, they certainly seem to be enjoying themselves," the young man said. "Might I ask what is going on over there, Emily?"

Alex overheard him and grinned, raising his drink in challenge. "Drinking contesht!" he bellowed. Jabbing his thumb to the side, he added, "We already beat theeeeshe nerds, ya think you can handle it, book man?"

It was at this point that Sebastian officially gave up, rolled his eyes, and grabbed his friends by the wrists to drag them back into the game room. Meanwhile, Elliot considered the challenge with a thoughtful little smile on his face.

"Hmm... Well, I suppose I could use the distraction. If you don't mind me joining in late, of course."

Shane shrugged in concession, Alex whooped, and Elliot moved over to their end of the bar. Lewis managed to catch Emily's eye one more time, and the expression she allowed herself once she was out of the writer's field of view was enough to tell him that she too remembered the time Elliot had unknowingly drank spiked punch at the Egg Festival.

Shooting one more inconspicuous glance at the far end of the bar, the mayor stood up to stretch and casually sat down a few seats closer to the competition area. Emily offered him a grateful smile as she went to fill a new mug for the latest contender.

After all, just a little extra caution never hurt.

#Stardew Valley #SDV #sv Lewis #sv Emily #writing #prompt #short story #This is the first time I've written Elliot I think #Actually it's the first time I've written many of these characters #They're fun

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mary-twig · 7 years ago

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAREST AND LOVELY ANGIE - @soreidy27. Here, have some of me singing, let’s say in kinda “Marilyn style”, “Happy Birthday to You”. If you lose your hearing after listening to it, I’m so so so sorry, I didn’t mean it!

BUT, HAHAHA, IT IS NOT THE END. I think you were right that I may have written something for you… So that is why my fluffy fic about Han and Leia going to a music festival is dedicated to you. :)

The fic was inspired by the real events my friend @paulinadeanz and I had experienced last week during Lana Del Rey’s concert. Although, not everything written here must be absolutely true, right? It’s a fan FICTION. ;) Greetings to @theorganasolo, a beta who helped me with my struggles against English, haha.

Just, you know, short, silly, Han and Leia going to a music festival. I encourage you to listen to Lana Del Rey’s “Coachella - Woodstock In My Mind”, as this song was the thing that inspired me to write this fic the most.

“Hey, I think we have to go this way!”

Her exclamation vanished into thin air, drowned out by the cacophony of thousands of excited voices and thick rain, which was hitting the ground steadily with its huge drops, adding to the already loud sounds.

She took his hand in hers, entwined their fingers, and conducted him to the big white tent, where a bunch of people dressed in yellow raincoats were checking some sheets of paper - most of which seemed to be soaked.

XXXXXX

The day began in Han and Leia’s apartment at 1000 hours with a resounding alarm, that had awoken both of them from their serene sleep. The upcoming evening had heralded a great dose of music, excitement, and unforgettable experiences.

This week on Coruscant was dedicated to celebrations on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Battle of Endor, the memorable moment, which had gone down in history as the triumph of the Rebel Alliance over the Empire and a very important leap in the better future for the Galaxy. The New Republic’s government had decided to prepare an enjoyable event to honor involvement, effort, and commitment of those people who had fought in that war, and of those heroes who had given all their best to bring back peace. That is why the “Coruscant’s Live Music Festival” had been organized, with a lot of wonderful singers to perform on stage.

Amid those artists was Lliana del Reya*, one of Leia’s favorite musicians, whose discography appeared to touch the Alderaanian princess’s soul and remarkably speak to her. When she had been informed that del Reya was going to be the biggest star of that event, she had immediately come to the conclusion that she wouldn’t miss it. And as it had turned out, of course, Han wouldn’t miss it too…

He wasn’t into music very much, to be honest. It wasn’t like he didn’t listen to it, avoided it, or couldn’t quote any name of any song. He knew some of the biggest hits: the biggest hits from Corellia, the biggest hits from his childhood, and since he had started his relationship with Leia – her personal biggest hits. He was well aware of her fascination with Lliana’s music, and the fact that she would like to see her live was so obvious to him as the high temperature on Tatooine. He wanted his girl to enjoy herself, so the natural order of things was his agreement to attend that festival with her. Simple rule – if she was happy, he was happy too.

And now they were here, standing in the rain, soaked from head to toe, and waiting for their entrance tickets to be checked.

The weather had been building to that point for the whole daytime: its own performance had begun early in the morning, when the sky had been encased with dense gray clouds. Then, in addition, to make the show more noteworthy for viewers, the mid-afternoon had been engulfed by muggy air. The culmination had come in the evening, rewarding the audience for their attention with a downpour.

XXXXXX

“Tickets, please.”

Leia opened her blue clutch bag with trembling fingers, visibly thrilled. She passed the tickets on to the man who checked them. She smiled widely and leaned against Han’s torso. He looked at her with quite the confusion, not knowing exactly what was happening. As searching for the reassurance that everything was alright, he wrapped his arm around Leia’s waist. At once the feeling of calmness reached him, finding Leia’s body eased his mind.

“Thank you very much, everything’s fine. Please, come to that stand on the right to get your bands,” the man informed, pointing at the other tent where people were putting concert bands on the participant’s wrists.

Leia and Han approached the stand fast, persistently trying not to tread on large puddles the rain had created.

The young woman greeted the couple and asked them for their tickets. Then she explained that now they would get their bands and that stripping them off means withdrawal from participating in the festival. Leia nodded and extended her arm. After she received her band, Han was the next one to be given his own…

“Umm… Sir? Can I put the band on your wrist, please?”

Leia prodded him lightly with her hand. He looked slightly disconcerted. “Han? Hey, what happened?” She put her palm on his cheek and made him look into her eyes. “You have to get the band.”

Han stared at her as if he had been abruptly woken up from the trance. He gave her a coy smile, pretending everything was perfectly alright, and turned his head in the direction of the woman waiting for him to put his wrist on the wooden block.

“Thank you, Sir. Here it is. Have fun, the main stage is straight, and the second stage is on the left side of the field,” the woman informed them.

After a few minutes they found themselves next to the immense blue tent, where sellers offered some junk food and drinks of all kind: alcoholic, non-alcoholic, everything you could ever desire.

Leia knew something was wrong. She didn’t want Han to feel uncomfortable, she wanted to have fun. With him.

She asked him openly. “Han, what’s going on? I see something’s not right. Please, tell me.”

He was clearly avoiding the answer.

“Han.”

“Uh, no, it’s just…” He realized what he had to say was embarrassing. He rubbed his neck, and said timidly. “Just, you know… I don’t have any idea what we can do here. I’ve never been to a music festival! It sounds, uh, weird, right?”

She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. And that was the reason of his self-consciousness?

“I want you to have fun, I know how much this thing means to you, ‘m sorry.” He averted his gaze from her face and focused it on his slightly muddy boots.

At first she had an urge to laugh out loud. “My poor Hotshot,” she thought. Instead of that she decided the more wisely would be to convince him that obviously it was not a “weird” thing to never attend a music festival before. They were here tonight, together, they were supposed to make the best of this evening! And Leia decided she would do everything she could to make it an enjoyable time for him.

“Han, please.” She couldn’t help but chuckled slightly. “There is nothing wrong about never being to a music festival.” She stood on her tiptoe, and bent his head to give him light, reassuring kiss. Not casting her eyes down from his hazel ones, she promised. “I’ll do my best to make you enjoy your first festival.” She kissed him once again, this time a bit more passionately, running her fingers through his thick hair, causing small flickers of pleasure to travel down his spine.

XXXXXX

It was 2300 hours when del Reya was about to get on the stage. Han and Leia were standing at the rear of the big crowd of people, who were impatiently waiting for their favorite artist to appear. Many of them were carrying carton peace symbols with themselves. As Leia got to find out, the symbols were going to be held up during one of Lliana’s songs, “Love”. It was a special action organized by del Reya’s fanclub from Coruscant. The couple decided not to move more into the front of the stage, because of Leia’s height, as she knew that being surrounded by many tall people she had noticed in the audience, was a bad idea.

They were very content now, full and after having a few ales. They had taken many pictures; the front of the smaller stage, with their hot dogs*, or just posing together with Leia’s arms wrapped around Han’s waist, and with his hand kept on her back. She had made a joke of putting them all on her Instastar profile. Well, she had been joking only partially… She knew she wouldn’t let all of those beautiful shots go unremarked…

Leia was constantly grinning, making Han delighted with her current mood. He didn’t feel self-conscious anymore. These few hours he got to spend with Leia there made him truly exhilarated. They had listened to some other artists before del Reya’s concert and enjoyed them thoroughly. Oh, and Leia, Han thought, how she danced, how she sang, how playful she was… And how her hips moved to the rhythm, oh Gods…

Awareness that she was having a good time filled his heart with pure joy.

It was obvious that Lliana showed up on the stage when the audience started shrieking with excitement. She looked ethereal… The elegant white dress she had worn was emphasizing her long, slender legs. Her face was the spotlight of her look, her white teeth visible for everyone from the crowd. The cries of happiness suddenly ceased when first notes of “Body Electric” issued from the instruments.

Leia couldn’t hide her buzz; she was beaming from ear to ear, looking like a teenager who got the chance to see their idol in the whole grandeur. Han, who was standing next to her, took her hand, and after a second felt a strong clasp around his knuckles. Leia’s motion confirmed his conviction that she was, indeed, highly eager.

After a few tracks, such as “Cherry”, “Shades of Cool”, “Blue Jeans”, and “Coachella - Woodstock In My Mind”, the atmosphere got more melancholic. Lliana was amazing; the audience loved her energy and the honest happiness radiating from her body. She said she was glad to be there, to sing for these people. The next song she performed with was “White Mustang”. As Leia loved this track, its melody and lyrics, she felt like she was drifting off to another Galaxy while listening to it, to the place where there is nothing else but music. She leaned against Han’s chest and closed her eyes. His natural reaction was to wrap his arms around her, feel more of her. He looked at her expression when one interesting observation came to his mind. How much music could give. It could be a shelter, a therapy, an addition to the party. It could be everything.

Han wasn’t one to claim himself as someone who knew technical aspects of music. Nay, he wasn’t one to think music can be something more than just a few accords and a voice of a singer, or just simple songs. When he saw Leia’s face, so peaceful, so intent, the realization hit him. Music equals emotions.

A few chansons later, the melody of the next song started issuing from huge loud speakers. “Ride,” one of Leia’s favorite numbers, filled her with sheer glee; she started singing along with del Reya. Han saw how much she wanted to see more of Lliana’s face and her posture, so he came up with a wonderful idea. He noticed how some guys did this with their girls and they didn’t seem opposed to it… Beforehand, he checked if anybody was standing behind them, not wanting to block the view, and when he was sure that there wasn’t anyone to have their vision violated, he crouched, and told Leia to sit on his shoulders.

“Han, are you serious?!” She shouted, clearly amused.

He smirked and responded. “Princess, just sit on ‘em, okay? You weigh nothing!”

She did as he asked, sitting on his shoulder during the whole song, feeling like one of those girls she had seen in holos from other festivals. She felt cherished, loved, light-hearted, and she appreciated the gesture enormously.

After Lliana sang “Off To The Races”, making fans laugh affectionately at this performance’s… unique choreography*, she started saying goodbye to the audience.

“I’m so grateful to perform for you today. You are amazing.” She smiled and sent a kiss to the crowd, which shrieked with excitement.

“There’s one last song I’d like to sing today. As we all know, we celebrate the first anniversary of the Battle of Endor there. That is why I dedicate “Love” to all those people from the Rebel Alliance, and now the New Republic, who fought bravely for the better future of the Galaxy, who work hard to repair what the Empire had broken. To all the heroes, AND…” She stopped for a second. “We can’t forget - to all those, who are simply in love.”

People, as had been said, held up their carton peace symbols. The whole festival area was covered with thousands of them, making Leia feel that thrilling atmosphere of a victory she had felt one year ago. The raining, which had been tapering off, disappeared completely then, leaving the air clear and brisk almost as if it was a miracle.

“Whaddaya say, Sweetheart? Was it worth this?” He was holding her now, kissing her temple and nuzzling his nose in her soft hair. They swayed softly to the melody playing around them.

“The weather didn’t freak you out, huh?”

Her answer was firm. “No.”

It doesn’t matter if I’m not enough For the future or the things to come ‘Cause I’m young and in love (ah, ah) I’m young and in love (ah, ah, ah, ah)

It was true. Love. This was the thing she could feel again, after all the years of constant fear from coming back to it - to loving someone. And she wasn’t scared of it anymore.

Leia nestled to his chest, and added. “I have my sunshine next to me.”

* You may know Lliana del Reya from my fic, “Perfect”. I had decided she must have been written in one more story… :)

* I don’t know if there are hot dogs in GFFA, but I wanted them to eat hot dogs, sorry not sorry.

* Just watch the clip from the link put in the title of the song. Please, it’s worth it.

#happy birthday angie #i wrote something #han and leia go to a festival #my fic #han and leia #hanleia #inspired by real events

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buckygirl-fanfiction · 8 years ago

Text

Sparks Chapter 10

Pairing: Bucky(POV) X Reader(POV) ft. other characters from the avengers team

Word Count: 5.5K

Summary: The avengers celebrate Thanksgiving at a bar together. y/n reveals something about her past to Bucky and they discuss their thoughts on ‘love’. After a lovely night the mole plans an attack to taunt y/n.

A/N: This is a story about two people building a great friendship and then slowly falling in love. y/n is a strong, independent, and smart scientist. She meets Bucky when she wakes him up from cryo sleep and they become friends. This is going to have all the angst / best friends falling in love / fluff / drama / & eventual smut ;) that I can possibly fit in it. This fic is going to be looong! So far my document is like 30,000 words. So editing is hard If you catch any grammatical or formatting errors let me know.

November 26, 2015

y/n’s POV

I am sitting at my desk trying to typing up a lab report. My arm still throbs, especially when i’m working and it’s distracting me. It’s been about two weeks since the break in. This is the second time in five months that i’ve been almost murdered and the second time in five months that i’ve been stabbed; this is getting old real fast. Since the Fourth of July i’ve had a total of sixteen stitches. I need to take a step back and reevaluate my life choices because i’m not a fan of all this action. I sigh and pull out the bottle of ibuprofen in my desk and take out two little pink pills and swallow them in hopes of dulling the pain in my forearm.

At least he’s dead I think to myself. That has to be a good sign, even though Tony told me it isn’t, i’m going to take Maddox getting shot straight through the forehead as a great sign. Yet, Tony and Steve keep insisting that Maddox’s attempt on my life only means that Hydra wants me taken out not taken in, which basically means Hydra now thinks i’m too much of a threat to be left alive. It’s sort of flattering. Apparently out of all the scientists out there Hydra picks me out as dangerous to their existence. Well, it does probably have something to do with me defusing that bomb in Time Square awhile back. Maybe they’re getting sick of my rad bomb defusing skills. I smile to myself. Who knew I would be amongst the ranks of Avengers as a threat to a terror group.

I look at the clock and it’s only 2:00 pm. Today’s Thanksgiving and of course i’m working. Well everybody is. None of us really have families so we don’t really make a day out of Thanksgiving like normal people do. A couple years ago Cho, Wanda, and I started a tradition of going to the local bar to celebrate and over the years the others who have no plans joined in. This year the group has grown and I’m looking forward to getting drunk and giving thanks with my friends. I absentmindedly reach for my cross pendant around my neck to once again realize it’s missing. I really need to replace it. I sigh and get back to work.

Bucky’s POV

It’s 2:00 pm and i’m walking down the street towards the deli around the corner to pick up my lunch. I’ve been thinking, over the last 2 weeks, about y/n and me and my feelings about her… for her. I’ve been having a hard time coming to terms with my feelings for her. But, after the break-in in her apartment that night; that night I killed a man for her without a single thought. I’ve been ruminating and i’ve come to a conclusion. I care about her, i’m attracted to her, way more than I should be. So, what’s stopping me? I’ve decided i’m going to do something about it. As soon as I work up some more courage. I wonder if the thing with her and the scientist is serious. I turn the corner and walk into the deli, I see Cho standing on line.

“Hey,” I say walking up behind her.

“Bucky,” she says with a smile on her face. Sometimes i’m still surprised that I have friends. New friends who are actually comfortable being around me. I owe that all to y/n if it wasn’t for her I would still be holed up and reserved like usual. It’s been a long time since I’ve been social. Her friends have become my friends. It’s y/n who brought my out of my shell and made me feel normal again. She makes me better. “Are you coming to the Founding Fathers tonight?”

“Yea,” I reply. The Founding Fathers is the local bar and we are all going to depressingly celebrate Thanksgiving there tonight. Since, we are all alone and have no family reunions or dinners to attend, we decided to spend the night together. It’s actually not as gloomy as i’m making it seem. We have a different sort of family, we have each other, and we’re going to be together tonight.

“Bring something sweet alright,” Cho says. “We can’t just survive off alcohol. I’m bringing pumpkin cheesecake.”

“How festive,” I say as I pay the cashier. We walk back to the tower together. Cho is my friend, right? I interrupt her rant about the commercialization of national holidays and ask, “Do you know if Dean and y/n are serious?”

She stops walking and raises an eyebrow at me, “Shouldn’t you know? You guys are like besties,” she laughs.

“Well, she doesn’t talk about him a lot,” I say. Yeah she mentions going out with him casually but she never talks about him in depth or in a serious context. Well maybe it’s too early they have only been going out for two months or so.

“Umm,” Cho says still giving me a quizzical look. “Same here she doesn’t really mention him a lot. y/n’s not like that… she’s casual.”

“What’s that mean?” I ask curiously.

“She’s not the… I don’t know how to put this. Um, she’s not the serious type.” Cho says. “Why are you asking?” Cho says realizing my intentions behind the question.

“I was just curious,” I say not wanting to divulge anymore of my feelings. I already think Cho has caught the implications of my line of questioning. I don’t want y/n and I to be the new topic of gossip for the group.

“Bucky,” she sighs. She starts walking again and I follow her. She’s silent for a moment, as if she is contemplating whether to tell me something or not. “You’ve know y/n for what? five months now?”

“Yeah,” I say getting a flashback to the first night we really spent time together. In that lab watching fireworks in silence.

“You’re a good guy and she’s never really gotten this close to anyone so fast before. She doesn’t really do that; Let people in easily. Yeah she has tons of friends but she only has a few close friends.” Cho says. “I don’t know what you guys have going on and I know it’s not my place. But…” Cho stops for a second. Again she’s contemplating whether to advise me or not. “What i’m trying to say here is… Don’t open that door unless you’re sure. Alright? Because if you’re not sure and you go through that door, then you’re just going to end up destroying her trust. And believe me when I say if you lose her trust, you will never get it back.”

I don’t know how to reply to that. I don’t know what Cho is talking about. y/n doesn’t trust easily? She doesn’t let people in easily? Those aren’t words I would use to describe her at all. The first time she met me she let me in. She was kind and outgoing and open. Maybe I don’t know her like I thought I did after all. Come to think of it every deep conversation we’ve had has involved me revealing something about myself. I’ve confided in her plenty of times. I’ve confided some of my deepest fears to her. And she’s always just listened and accepted me for me, but she’s never shared anything more than the typical. I always just thought her life was normal and that normal people don’t really have any deep seated scars to share. I sigh audibly.

“Hey,” Cho says once we get to the elevator. She puts her hand on my shoulder comfortingly and says, “make sure it’s more than a little crush before you do something. That’s all i’m saying.” Cho says as the elevator dings open at the 82nd floor. “Make sure it’s more before you gamble on it.”

“Could you not mention this to y/n,” I say referring to our conversation.

“No problem solider, i’ll keep your secret.” Cho says and winks before walking out of the elevator to her office. She leaves me with a lot to think about. Steve is one lucky son of a bitch I think to myself. He has everything sorted out.

…

y/n’s POV

It’s around 8:30pm when I get to the Founding Fathers. I walk through the colonial doors into the bar. It’s a homey place I think that’s why we all hang out here so much. All dark wood and bar stools and yellow dim lighting creating a perfect atmosphere of warmth and comfort. Everyone’s already here I see them sitting around one of the bars. A couple people are at the round high tables eating dinner. For Thanksgiving night the place is pretty full, not as deserted as one would imagine. I spot Cho and Wanda laughing. Cho’s sitting next to Steve. I guess their out as a couple now. I don’t think they could’ve kept their relationship a secret after Tony found out. They seem happy, she seems happy. I wonder how she keeps it together sometimes. Dating Captain America seems all scandalous and fun. But, at the end of the day she’s the one spending long nights at the lab alone worried about him when he is out saving the world; wondering if he is going to come back. I don’t think I could do that. It’s just so much unnecessarily avoidable stress. But, I guess to her it’s worth it. But to put your heart out on the line like that, I wonder what’s worth so much.

“Hey!” I say to everyone walking over to the bar they are sitting at. “I bought pecan pie.” I hand the pie over to Wanda who puts it on the bar counter alongside the other desserts. Bucky pulls out a stool for me and I sit down next to him.

To my right is Sam who says, “What kept you so long? Working late on Thanksgiving? How depressing!” he says jokingly.

“Talk about depressing. You guys are eating pie and getting drunk on Thanksgiving.” I fire back with a smile on my face.

“Hey,” Steve intercedes, “at least we are depressingly alone together.” He continues on with some meaningful monologue about family and friends that I only half pay attention to. I order a whiskey and sit at the bar half listening to everyones conversations. Nat is especially vibrant today because Banner is back from his research project in India. It seems like everyone is coupling up. Everybody is drinking and having fun and laughing. It’s nice.

I always get oddly depressed during the holidays. Especially the family themed holidays because of my mom. I decide to take a breather and excuse myself and walk outside to get some fresh air. I push the large dark wood doors of the bar open and the cold breeze outside hits my face. It’s refreshingly chilling. It’s still bearably cold during late November. It hasn’t gotten to the really cold period of Winter yet and i’m hoping the fall lasts a little longer before the bone chilling winter comes around. I walk to the metal bench outside the bar and take a seat. Absentmindedly I reach for the cross pendant that no longer hangs on my neck. It’s a quiet night. Only a few taxi’s and cars pass by on the street in front of me. I think about my mom, because she deserves to be remembered. She deserves a moment of silence to be thought of.

Bucky’s POV

After a couple minutes I decide to follow y/n outside. I grab a slice of the cherry pie I brought and two forks and head out. I find her sitting on a bench next to a potted tree with all its leaves missing, leaving only the exposed branches. Her arms are crossed probably because of the cold and one of her hands is on her collar bone. I walk over to her holding the plate. “Want some company?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says looking up at me with a bright smile on her face. I take a seat next to her and hand her a fork. “Miss your necklace?” I ask nodding my head towards the hand on her neck.

“Yeah, it’s still a habit. I still think it’s there sometimes and I reach for it,” she says the smile now leaving her face being replaced by sad eyes.

“It was your mom’s?” I ask curiously wanting her to open up to me. To confide in me like I confide in her.

“Yes,” she simply answers. Like always she’s reserved. I’ve never given it much thought until my conversation with Cho earlier today. But I want to know her. I want to know what lies deeper.

“You miss her,” I state trying to get her to open up.

“I do… very much,” she replies. She once told me her mom died from cancer when she was 15. But that’s the most y/n has confided in me about her mother. I didn’t think there was more to the story. I do now. I don’t want to bring things she’s uncomfortable with. If she is going to share she has to do it herself.

Just as i’m about to change the topic of conversation and give up hope that y/n might confide in me she says, “She was an amazing woman.”

y/n’s POV

I don’t know why i’m telling Bucky this. I mean he has earned enough of my trust. It’s not a matter of trust because I trust him with my life and I have. But, sharing, especially something as personal as the subject of my mom, isn’t something I do easily. “She was in the hospital for a year… before it happened.”

“That must of been hard,” Bucky says comfortingly putting his metal hand on my knee and squeezing.

“Well at first I had my dad with me. I was only fourteen and I believed them when they told me she would get better. My dad was very convincing. Somehow he talked all my worries away,” I say laughing. “He always told me she would be ‘all fixed up because modern medicine has the answer.’” Bucky sits in silence listening to me. “But six months in, the treatment was failing, she was getting worse and suddenly my dad stopped being optimistic. That’s when it got hard.” I sigh thinking back ten years back to that day. “When the person you look to for answers abandons you its like you lose a part of yourself.”

After a couple minutes of silence Bucky asks, “abandons you?”

“He left. He left me with their life savings and a note saying he couldn’t watch her die.” I’ve never told anyone this. Well, except Cho who i’ve known for years.

“Was this before or after?” Bucky asks his hand still on my knee.

“Before, she was still alive. She told me that they’d had a conversation and that she felt it was best for him to leave. She told me that she didn’t want him watching her fade away. She told me it was her decision. But I knew that was a lie. I think my mom just lied so I wouldn’t feel abandoned. Even with all that stress on her she still cared enough to protect my feelings.”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky says.

“It was a long time ago,” I say suddenly feeling exposed and way to cold. I plaster a smile back on my face and look at him. His bright blue eyes shine through the darkness back at me. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” I say hoping to move onto less emotionally loaded topics.

“Yes it does,” he replies and with his words I no longer feel so exposed, instead I feel free.

“I always wondered how he could do that. He loved her. I mean he had to you know they were married for seventeen years and had a child.” I sigh looking back at the street in front of me and the occasional passing bright yellow taxi. “But I mean I understand, I guess he didn’t want to watch the woman he loved die. He didn’t want to be stuck with her daughter reminding him everyday of the depressing memory of her for the rest of his life.” After a couple minutes of calming silence I continue, “she died 6 months after that.” Suddenly I feel a sense of guilt portraying my father in such a negative light. After all even if he did leave he didn’t leave me with nothing. He made sure I was taken care of financially. After all he was my father for fourteen years. “I mean I can’t blame him for not wanting to get hurt.”

I turn back to Bucky and find his eyes fixed on me. “Who is he not to want you?” he says. “When you love someone you accept all of them. Even the pain that they will one day cause you.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I say at his profoundly beautiful words. “I can’t relate though. I don’t really believe in the whole soul mate love thing. Which is good because if you want to save yourself a lot of pain and heartache it’s better to forgo the emotional commitment thing and just keep it casual.” I say.

“You really think it’s better to be afraid of getting hurt and not living then putting yourself out there and potentially finding something amazing?” Bucky asks looking at me waiting for an answer.

“Hey,” I say, “That’s where you’re wrong. What’s so amazing about love? And giving another person so much power to hurt you? It’s not rational. You can still have a lot of fun without handing your heart to someone.” I say winking at him. I already feel my walls going back up again.

“What about your friends?” He asks desperately trying to convince me of the value of love. I wonder why. “You love them don’t you? You give them the power to hurt you? What’s so different if you can let your friends in why can’t you let someone else in?”

“That’s different,” I say. “They’re my friends.”

“Not necessarily you’re still giving them the power to hurt you. Then in that sense you’re still being irrational.” He says trying to prove a point.

I get up from the bench and sigh giving in, “fine I guess you’re right. I’m irrational. I give my friends the power to hurt me. Every time you guys go off to save the world the rest of us are here hoping you guys don’t die. But you’re wrong because it’s not the same thing. I know my friends won’t let me down on purpose. They will always be my friends. Only tragic circumstance can separate us. But when you give someone you’re in a relationship with the power to hurt you, it means so much more because how do you know that one day they won’t wake up and decide they don’t love you anymore? Huh?? You see it’s not worth it. It’s not worth taking that risk. Because it’s not tragic circumstance that tears couples apart it’s irrational spontaneous unreliable emotions. One day you’re in love and the next day things change and it would be like you barely knew each other. Friendships means so much more. They are worth the risk in my opinion. Love… is not.” I look down at Bucky who is still seated hold a plate of half eaten pie. He almost looks defeated. I lean down and grab his free hand and pull him up. “Come on let’s go get drunk.”

Bucky’s POV

I can’t believe y/n doesn’t believe in love. It makes sense I guess to fear it after her father left her and her mother in such a heartless way. I finally understand what Cho ment earlier today. y/n doesn’t trust easily and friends mean more to her than a boyfriend ever could. Suddenly my desire to make a move on her, to tell her about my feelings, fades away. I don’t want to risk losing what we have for something “casual”. If the only way she can care is through friendship, than i’d gladly accept that. Before I can continue my train of thought I notice something that pulls me away.

We’re almost to the bar’s entrance when I notice it. y/n is walking in front of me so she doesn’t see it right away. Well not until it speaks. It: A young girl with wispy blonde hair strapped into a vest who stands in the middle of the street. Not just a vest, a vest rigged with explosives. “Hello Dr. y/l/n,” the girl says in a shaky voice. She’s maybe 50 feet away from us. I’m trying to calculate the best plan of action for y/n’s survival right now. I’d probably make it through the blast i’m a super soldier, but y/n. I spot a parked car about 10 feet away from us. Cover, I think to myself. That’s the only available cover. The girls shaky voice continues and y/n is now turned around staring wide eyed at the girl who is slowly approaching us. “Dr. y/l/n,” she repeats, “I… I bet you ca… can’t defuse this one in time,” she stutters. In the next two seconds before the girl explodes I grab y/n, picking her up, and with as much strength as I can muster up shove her behind the grey sudan that is parked 10 feet away. y/n lands right behind the car. She’s covered when the girl explodes. Me on the other hand I’m right in the line of fire and I’m splattered with a mixture of dead girl and shrapnel. I stand unmoved by the explosion and brace my face with my metal arm. I didn’t have time to turn off the sensory receptors on my arm so I feel the heat singe my metal arm when the device explodes in a cloud of orange.

y/n’s POV

I’m very disoriented. I hear a ringing in my ears and everything is smokey and I smell something burning. Meat? I smell burning flesh. Oh god. My back is against the silver car Bucky threw me against. My shoulder hurts. He shoved my pretty hard. Well obviously it’s going to hurt he is strong. I try to stand up and fail miserably at gaining my balance. I try again this time holding onto the car and pushing myself up with my wobbly knees I stand. I lean against the car and look over it to find Bucky still standing firm on the sidewalk with his metal arm bracing his face. “Bucky!” I yell. But I can’t hear anything. All I hear is a ringing in my ears. After a couple seconds I feel someone grab my shoulder. I turn around to see Steve. His mouth is moving. He is saying something to me. But I can’t hear him. “I’m fine. Bucky!” I yell at him unaware of the volume of my voice. I point towards the sidewalk where he is still standing. Steve leaves me with Nat and heads over to check on his friend. Nat holds me up against the car and puts both her hands on either side of my head and looks into my face checking for any blood. Wanda is on the phone probably calling HQ. Cho grabs my arm and looks at me to find any wounds. “I’m fine!” I yell again. This time I can hear myself. Very faintly. At least my hearing is returning. I collapse again and Nat catches me before I hit the ground. She puts an arm around me and with the help of Cho she walks me over to the bench that Bucky and I were sitting on just minutes earlier.

“Call forensics!” I yell at Cho who gives me a nod and picks up her phone. “The Shrapnel has to be collected if we are going to reconstruct the bomb!” I yell other than Bucky the only other thing on my mind is finding out who the fuck just tried to blow us up.

“Calm down!” Nat yells back at me. I can hear her a little better now. “Worry about that later!”

Bucky walks towards me with Steve. He looks terrible. His button up shirt is ripped and signed. He has a thin smear of blood on his cheek and I wonder if it’s his or the girl’s. He is covered in metal shrapnel. He walks towards me and collapses down next to me on the bench. We sit like this until an ambulance gets here. A paramedic checks me out and deems me unharmed except for a couple bruises from getting throw against a car. After about a half an hour my hearing returns to me and my disorientation wears away. I feel strong enough to stand up and I walk towards Steve and Bucky who are now standing talking to a man in a sharp black suit. The street has been closed off as a crime scene by the Tower security agents. Tony has managed to get local and federal police to lay off.

“These apartments buildings have to have private security cameras. Get the tapes back to HQ,” Bucky says to the agent in the suite. “I’m going to go back to the tower and see what Tony has.”

“No!” I say a little too loudly startling the agent in black. My sense of volume is still a little disoriented by the blast. “You can’t leave,” I say to Bucky, “You’re evidence.”

“I’m what?” Bucky says raising an eyebrow at me.

“You’re covered in shrapnel,” I say, “we have to get you back to the lab and remove it. You could have important particulate evidence on you.” He sighs. I walk around him to examine his back. I see sticky residue on the back of his head in his hair and I yell, “bag his hair,” at the nearest forensic agent.

“My hair?” Bucky says turning around to look at me.

“You have bomb residue in it,” I say before taking the blue evidence cap from the agent and putting it around his hair. With some reluctance I get back into the ambulance with me and back to the lab. We are understaffed most of our usual lab techs are on holiday or at home for Thanksgiving. So i’m stuck doing most of the particulate collection and other forensic work.

“You okay?” Bucky asks as he sits on the shiny metal table usually reserved for inanimate evidence.

“Did you have to throw me so hard?” I say jokingly trying to defuse the tension after such a high pressure situation.

“Well, I was trying to save your life so yeah.” He answers teasingly. “Did I hurt you?” He says this time his tone laced with worry.

“I’m fine,” I say reassuring him.

“How about you? You were right in the middle of the blast site,” I say still a little shocked at how he could be so unaffected. Except for the small stray pieces of metal sticking out of him.

“I’m fine. Just not a fan of being treated like evidence.” I grab the forceps and start picking out the stray pieces of shrapnel from his torn shirt. After i’m finished I say, “I have to take off your shirt there’s residue on it.” I slowly unbutton his shirt with my plastic gloved hands. He swallows his adam’s apple moves down his throat. I slowly slide the shirt off his muscular shoulders and put it on an evidence tray. I move behind him to the back of table he is sitting on and remove the cap covering his hair. I sigh. “I’m going to have to cut a piece out," I say referring to the portion covered in bomb residue and dead girl.

“No,” he whines. “No cutting. Not the hair. I like the hair. You like the hair. Everyone likes the hair. No cutting.”

“Fine,” giving in and grabbing a cotton swab and a pair of tweezers. This is going to take a while. After about 10 minutes of picking I successfully remove most of the particles and residue. “Okay.” I say taking a step back. “Get up,” he hops of the table and stands tall in front of me. “I have to take your pants,” I say pointing at the small splatter of blood and residue on his right leg. I move my fingers to his belt and before I can unbuckle it his takes a step back.

“You know y/n I can do that,” he says a little awkwardly. Aww, his modestly is adorable.

“No you can’t. Don’t contaminate the evidence,” I say before moving my fingers back to his belt buckle.

“You know i’m just gonna start reciting some saints alright?” He says before adorably mumbling the names of various saints under his breath. I unbuckle his belt and slide it out of the loops, “Whoa that just slides right out of there.” I hold back the urge to laugh. I move my fingers to undo his fly and this is the exact moment Cho decides to walk into the examination room we are in.

“Whoa!” she says with a smile on her face that says ‘what’s going on in here?’

“There’s particulate evidence on his pants,” I say rolling my eyes at her.

“Of course,” she says. “Uhh. Tony needs us upstairs in the briefing room… umm after you’re done.”

“Alright,” I say getting on my knees and slowly pulling Bucky’s pants down his legs. He is wearing a pair of white and red polka dot boxers. Curious. After he steps out of his pants I put them on another evidence tray. “I’ll go get you some clothes.” I say before taking off my gloves and throwing them out. I walk to the staff closet and grab a pair of blue scrubs.

…

Bucky’s POV

We were briefed on the current situation and the plan of action. Nothing new. The girl was still unidentified. y/n went back down to the lab to reconstruct the bomb and i’m upstairs still going through security footage with two other agents. I’m still wearing the blue scrubs y/n gave me.

…

It’s around 1am when we identify the bomber through DNA match. She was an intern here at the lab. She probably worked with y/n or on the same floor as her. We also figured out that she didn’t detonate the bomb. It was done remotely. Which probably means she had a partner or the more likely explanation she was forcibly strapped and locked into the device. She has no prior criminal affiliations and she’s only 19, a college intern. She doesn’t seem like a Hydra radical. She was probably forced to wear it and told to follow instructions or she would die. She died either way. I take the elevator to the 82nd flood and find y/n still at work reconstructing the bomb.

“Hey,” I say and she looks up from the counter she’s working at. “We identified the girl. Emily Bennett she was an intern here. Did you recognize her?”

y/n stops and puts down her tools and looks up at me. “Emily? She was so young. I… I didn’t get a good look. It was dark and it all happened so fast. Are you sure?”

“Yes we got a DNA match on file.” I say, “Cho did the identification herself.”

“She wouldn’t do this,” y/n says. “She was a nice girl.”

“We guessed it was more likely that someone coerced her into it.” I say, y/n looks sad. I hate when she’s sad. She’s usually never sad or she does a good job at hiding it.

“Why is this even happening to me?” She asks. “That girl didn’t deserve to die.”

“Someone in Hydra is just trying to get to you alright. When you diffused that bomb you got on their radar and when Maddox failed to take you out… They are you taunting you y/n.” I say trying to make her feel better. “This isn’t your fault you saved so many people,” I say. I don’t know what else to say to make her feel better. “I’m going to go grab a shower,” I say after a moment of silence. “You wanna stay over at my place,” I ask her.

“No, I’m going to stay up here and try to finish the reconstruction. The faster I get it done the faster we get some answers.”

“y/n you can’t let them get to you.” I say walking closer to her.

“I’m fine,” she says putting her walls up again. I see what Cho means now. She doesn’t trust easily. I wish she would just share her fears with me but she doesn’t like to admit she has fears. I guess i’ll just have to worry for the both of us. This mole is getting braver. Only someone on the inside would know we were at that bar tonight and only someone on the inside could get their hands on a intern. I stay with y/n for a while watching her work. Then I leave her to it. Working into the night.

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ecotone99 · 4 years ago

Text

[SP] Season's Greetings

With a ping the oven timer finished, interrupting the singer crooning on the radio, an old woman appeared in the kitchen drying her hands on a festive apron. Her light grey hair was in a style so old that it had started to come back into fashion and her face and general complexion was one of a doting grandmother. She took two trays out of the oven full of gingerbread, once these were put down more trays of raw cookies appeared in her hands and were put into the oven. The sides in the kitchen were cluttered high with various festive treats both sweat and savoury, every country in the world seemed to be represented. A knock at the front door distracted her from the pastry she was now rolling out, she moved not slowly but with the steady determination of someone who knew that there was no point rushing around in life. Not long before she reached it there was more impatient knocking at the door.

She opened the door onto a woman with straight hair as black as the night, she was wearing a skimpy set of fur lined winter clothes, somewhere between a sexy Santa outfit and ski wear. However, she was bent over supporting an unconscious man, whom was far better dressed.

‘Ah, Halley it’s nice to see you again I was wonder…’ She started before drifting off when she noticed the man.

‘Winny, no time for pleasantry I really need your help.’ Halley said gesturing with the man and without saying anymore she hauled him in through the door. ‘Can you get my bags, please.’

‘What have you done now?’ Winny asked after wheeling through some suitcases and shutting the door.

‘I found him half buried in the snow on my way up here, I don’t think he’s dead yet, but the weather is getting worse and I just didn’t know how much longer he had.’ She answered while repositioning her hold on him.

‘Very well, we will see what we can do, he can go in the downstairs spare room for a start.’ She said as she helped Halley in supporting the man.

‘Thanks.’ Halley breathed as the set off through the log house dragging the man with them.

‘I must ask why your wearing that getup my child its not good for the snow.’

‘Do not start with my clothes.’ Halley said through gritted teeth, in a tone that gave the distinct impression that if Winny wanted any more help moving the man the conversation should change. Instead they continued their journey in silence.

In the spare room they had him laid out on the bed, he was middle aged with dark hair and stubble, but otherwise unremarkable. Winny had produced an antiquated home healthcare book from somewhere and was now consulting it.

‘Right, we need to start by checking his pulse.’ Winny said closing the book and passing it to Halley. She felt around his wrist and neck looking for one. ‘Oh, drat I never was very good at these things.’

‘Why don’t you just check him the other way?’ Halley asked as she started to pace up and down.

‘You know I’d forgotten I could do that.’ She said and now put her hands on his heart and head.

‘How is he?’

‘Hold on. He is still here just very faint.’

‘Can you bring him back?’

‘I’ll try.’

Winny’s hands tensed as she threw her head back. The air in the room became heavy with the scent of mixed spices and alcohol, while the faint tinkling of sleigh bells and the long drawn out note of a choir emanated from her mouth. Her wrinkled skin tightened showing the intricate pattern of veins and arteries, with this they appeared to have some ethereal smoke flowing through them into her hands. Just a quickly as it started it finished and the room returned to normal.

‘That should do it.’ Winny said withdrawing her hands and rubbing her back. ‘Oh, that has set off my sciatica though. I knew that would.’

‘Will he be alright?’

‘I think so, I’d give him a few hours to rest then he should wake up. He reminds me of my late husband you know.’ She said while turning the man’s face around in her hands

‘Honey, every man reminds you of your late or ex-husband. Depending on which one you can decide on. Or on the odd occasion your son, again your memory of him changes with your mood and time of day.’

‘Uh it is getting to close to my season, it comes earlier every year, you know the grip on reality gets weaker the more they focus.’ Said Winny while she rubbed her forehead and turned to leave.

‘I know, but then it is only the 8th of November. Well we will treat this as your last anchorage till January.’ Consoled Halley as she followed Winny out of the room.

Halley joined Winny in the kitchen after changing into a more conservative turtle neck jumper and set of trousers.

‘You look a lot better now, it suits you more than what you were wearing.’ Said Winny looking up from a fish she was preparing.

‘These will end up looking the same by the end of the day. It happens to all my clothes in the end, thankfully in a few weeks it will calm down and take a whole month to ruin them. But it is the curse of my season where everyone seems to feel that women should dress in the most revealing clothes possible that have a scary theme.’

‘We all carry our curses, I just wish they weren’t so visible. Would you like something to eat or drink?’ Winny asked, gesturing to the food with her knife.

‘Umm… do you have anything savoury?’ Halley asked after looking round at the diabetic bed of sugared treats on display.

‘Oh, of course, here have a sausage roll.’ Winny proffered a plate of glazed sausage rolls, that appeared in her hand from thin air. Halley took and ate one whole.

‘OH God,’ Halley moaned after swallowing, she lent on the counter top for support. ‘Winny you are the only person I know who can make savoury food that doesn’t turn sweet in the mouth. I was getting sick of tasting sugar all the time and then the horrifying hint of pumpkin spice’ She shuddered.

‘I know where you’re coming from child. Personally, its chocolate and spirits I get stuck in my throat all the time.’ Winny said, transferring the fish into a tray.

‘Let’s not spend too much time on that topic, we’re here for a break from that. Have you seen anyone else since the last meet up?’ Halley asked.

‘Nobody’s visited me in o five years now.’ Winny said mournfully, she was now putting the fish inside the oven.

‘Oh, my dear you should have got hold of one of us. Me or Eve would have been able to come quickly.’ Halley put a hand on Winny’s shoulder, to provide comfort.

‘Don’t worry child, I go into the town once a week. They think of me as the kind old dear who lives in the mountain.’ While Winny perked her voice up for this her eyes still retained an immutable trace of sadness.

‘I saw Victor in July and Valentine the year before, but I haven’t seen Ray in a while, and I don’t think any of us has actually seen Eve in what must be a decade now. I’m getting very worried about her.’

‘The last I heard from her was that letter she sent out to us a couple of years ago. Maybe one of the others has seen her, we’ll ask them when they arrive, or Eve might turn up herself yet.’ Winny said gathering several plates full of snacks into her arms. ‘Get the napkins would you dear.’ She added as she left the kitchen.

Halley was helping Winny with the laying of cutlery at the dining table when a knock came at the front door again.

‘I’ll get it.’ Said Halley, finishing polishing a sauce spoon. She opened the door to a short man with greying hair. ‘Oh Victor, darling its lovely to see you again.’ She said hugging him and kissing his cheeks, the stench of tobacco and gunpowder poured out of his clothes.

‘Ah, mademoiselle Halley it is a pleasure as always.’ He said with a thick French accent, his breath was rich with rising alcoholic fumes. Halley helped him take his luggage to his room, before looking in on the man in the other spare room.

Winny found them in the Livingroom chatting.

‘Ah, Victor, I don’t suppose you’ve found someone lying half dead in the snow on your way up here too?’ She asked, carrying in more trays of food for the already groaning coffee table.

‘No, but Halley has been telling me all about it. How have you been anyway Winny?’

‘Oh, the same I’ve been keeping to myself you know the usual really and yourself?’

‘Excellently, I’ve had a busy year, my fourth of July was superb and Bastille day oh what a day. But, with the centenary of armistice coming up I am having a busy time in Europe on the whole these days.’

‘Sometimes I’m glad I don’t have some of your calendars. Just one month a year with a small booster in the middle that’s all I’ve needed.’ Winny said before turning to leave the room. There was a knocking at the front door again that made her rotate quickly to answer it.

At the door it was Ray, he appeared the same age as Winny, but he was taller and had a slight tan. There was a small puddle at his feet and drips of water were falling off the eves above him.

‘Winifred, my dear it has been such a long time.’ He said taking Winny’s icy hands and kissing them, his breath was so hot that it would have scolded a normal person.

‘A pleasure as always.’ She purred while his warmth spread pleasingly along her arms. ‘Do come on in and join the rest, at least before you melt anymore snow.’

Winny and ray walked arm in arm into the house, once the door shut behind them the puddle froze so fast that it cracked the porch and the light snow fall outside became a borderline blizzard.

‘I can’t wait to get out of these thick clothes and into my usual shirt and shorts, I’m burning up in here. But you know the perils of traveling incognito.’ Ray said unzipping his coat.

‘I wouldn’t know actually; I never travel that far. Anyway, you’re in my room as usual, all it leaves now is for Valentine and Eve to arrive. I’ll leave you with the others while I get some drinks.’ She said as they reached the Livingroom. As Ray walked in his outfit morphed itself into a Hawaiian t-shirt and cargo shorts.

‘Ray come join us we we’re speculating about the man I found in the snow.’ Halley said.

By the time Winny had returned with drinks, several glasses of wine and a two-litre jug of ice water, the conversation had moved on to Eve.

‘Well when I last saw Valentine, I shared some concerns with him, and he said that he’d check in on her.’ Halley said.

‘Why didn’t you go an visit her?’ Ray asked before taking a swig from the ice water jug.

‘I am now living in New York, I do three jobs a day to cover rent. Unlike the rest of you I can’t just make money appear in my hands all the time. Besides they don’t accept cash in hand these days.’ She ranted after a sip of wine. ‘Sorry that was a bit of pent up rage.’

‘Never mind, I’m sure that Valentine will be here shortly to tell us. Or you never know Eve may turn up before him.’ Victor said.

‘I doubt that.’ Winny started, as her face twisted in concentration. ‘Now that your all here I can sense him walking up the trail now and I can’t feel anymore of us in the area.’

‘Sometimes Winny you really know how to crush someone’s hopes.’ Halley said. ‘And anyway, the rest of you could have visited her yourselves. With the exception of Victor, we all appreciate how busy your calendar is darling.’ Victor gave a brief nod of acknowledgement while both Ray and Winny found other things in the room more deserving of there attention. They sat in a slightly awkward silence till there was another knock at the door.

‘I’d better go and let Valentine in.’ Said Winny.

Waiting for her at the door was a young man who could only be described in attractive terms, his face and build was hard to place but you’d swear you’d seen it modelling some clothes, or something that required him shirtless, or was it in a perfume commercial? Either way he made Winny wish she was back in her 20’s and a tighter dress.

‘Oh. Hi Winny.’ He said nervously but with an endearing cuteness to it. ‘Err can I come in?’

‘Umm…. Of course, yes, Valentine.’ She said after shaking herself out of mentally undressing him. As he walked inside every movement he made was like a great pose that enhanced his features, Winny had to hold herself back from just touching him.

‘Is anyone else here yet?’

‘Yes, everyone apart from Eve.’

‘Ah, I should go and see everyone then.’ He said taking his coat off in doing so a brief glimpse of skin from his torso became visible, Winny found herself twisting her apron with her hands in repression at this. She soon found herself with just the hint of Valentines cologne for company in the hallway.

When he arrived in the Livingroom Halley immediately sat up and made space next to her for Valentine on the sofa, by this point her jumper had gained a low V neck. As he joined her Winny drifted through the door behind him with misty eyes.

‘Winny, eat a mince pie. You’re practically drooling over Valentine.’ Halley said scathingly.

‘Oh, am I? I hadn’t noticed. Sorry dear I’ve gotten so taken up in hosting.’ She said before taking and eating a mince pie.

‘So, Valentine we’re all eager what news do you have of Eve?’ Ray asked.

‘Ah, yes, Eve. You’re not going to like what I’ve got to say.’ He started, anxiously fiddling with his fingers at the same time. ‘I went to her house earlier this year and, and she wasn’t there anymore someone else was living there. So, I asked around the neighbourhood and they said that, that the house had been abandoned, the police went in after she stopped paying her bills and they found it with all her stuff in, but she was missing. They tried looking for her but, without any leads or family and friends to press the issue they’ve given up.’ He finished focusing on his hands, silence engulfed the room.

‘So, should we assume she has dispersed.’ Victor said breaking the silence.

‘I don’t know.’ Valentine said.

‘What was the house like? When they went in.’ Ray asked, his fingers interlaced in thought.

‘Apparently, they found it full of chocolate bunnies and eggs, with a fine layer of dust over everything. Oh, also they found all the plants dead in her garden, like noting was actually growing in the entire property, not even moulds.’

‘Then in that case she has dispersed, that effect wouldn’t have happened from her just leaving.’ Ray concluded.

‘No.’ Said Halley. ‘She can’t have, Eve has always been full of life. She’ll have just gone away somewhere else and forgotten about her house, you know how she is always thinking of the future.’

‘It’s a nice hope but she has never been that absentminded before. She has dispersed, it is curse of being bound to human whim that we must all bare. No doubt she can make her way back though.’ Winny said, with a comforting hand on Halley’s shoulder.

They sat and talked about Eve for quite some time until they we’re interrupted by the man Halley brought in walking into the room.

‘Umm… where am I? What happened?’ The man asked, he lent on the door frame for support while rubbing his eyes.

‘You were found collapsed in the snow on the trail, we’ve taken care of you.’ Said Winny.

‘Thanks, I guess, who are you? I’m Mike by the way.’

‘We are, umm…’ Winny started.

‘Should we tell him the truth or lie? He will be compelled to believe whatever we say.’ Asked Halley, swilling her wine as she did.

‘He’ll forget, they always do after we leave.’ Ray said.

‘Very well then. The truth it is.’ Said Winny. ‘We are the spirts of your festivals or holiday’s if you prefer, personified and err… how do you put it.’

‘Metaphysically created and influenced by human abstract thought and belief.’ Valentine said.

‘Well that is one interpretation of us anyway.’ Said Victor, absentmindedly rolling a cigarette.

‘Wait, wait… I want to not believe you, but I can’t.’ Mike said.

‘That’s the problem when we tell the truth together. And Victor, outside with that my boy.’ Winny said, gesturing sternly finger at Victor. ‘You see, you believe in us and write ourselves so we can turn it on its head when we want.’

‘Urgh, well while this is all fascinating can you direct me back to normal civilisation please.’

‘I don’t think that is happening anytime soon Mike.’ Said Halley nodding towards the window. ‘By the looks of it that blizzard is going to last most of the night. I think one of us will have to walk you down tomorrow. Unless any of you can do anything about it.’

‘I doubt so, not this close to Winny.’ Said ray.

‘I only think I can make it worse, I used a lot to bring him back.’

‘What do you mean bring me back?’

‘You we’re very nearly dead, I only hope I did the job properly, there is a risk you might die of hypothermia in your bed next week.’

‘What? How?’

‘Well we’ll call it our little Christmas miracle.’ Winny said winking at Mike.

‘So, your Christmas then, I was expecting…’

‘A man, with a white beard and a bowl full of jelly for a belly, the whole Santa aesthetic?’ Winny cut across him. ‘Well there is more than just Christmas in Winter my dear. But yes, I’m those festivities.’

‘Then who’s everyone else?’

‘Midsummer.’ Said Ray.

‘Love and friendship.’ Said Valentine.

‘Remembrance and war.’ Said Victor, toasting himself with his wineglass.

‘Halloween and Día de Muertos. But I used to do the Harvest until you lot got rid of seasonal crops and stopped believing in them being brought in.’ Said Halley.

‘Where is Easter then?’ Mike asked, he’d been counting off his fingers.

‘We currently believe that Eve has dispersed or dissipated if you prefer. It can happen to us when there isn’t enough belief to keep us going; and like with Halley and the harvest spring isn’t what it used to be.’ Said Ray sombrely looking into his nearly empty jug of water.

‘How is that even possible, people still celebrate spring and Easter.’ Mike said dumbfounded.

‘Oh, they still celebrate but they don’t believe anymore, they just think that it’s the time when they get chocolate and other treats.’ Winny began. ‘The spirt has left most of our seasons, since time immemorial humanity has held itself close every midwinter to celebrate making it this far and that it isn’t long till spring with warmer days and more food. But now you all buy things and compete with each other over how festive you make everything look and how much food you’ve got. I’m sorry I’ve taken it personally, but it is true for all of us apart from Victor that what once was a communal affair has now become commercial instead.’

‘If we’re lucky we can shift over to something else, very few people observe midsummer with the fervour they used to. Now I have to get what I can out of you all taking holiday’s and tanning by the pool with drinks, I have to live in Australia or the south of Europe just to get the most of it.’ Lamented Ray.

‘At least I had something to move onto, Eve had nothing to transfer to other than becoming a giant chocolate bunny that just shits more chocolate. If she can dissipate what can happen to the rest of us what can happen to me...’ She broke into tears, Valentine put his arms around her and let her sob into his shoulder.

‘Its okay my child, Eve can return. We’ve done it in the past, remember the spread of Christianity? I disappeared for a decade when they came slaughtering through Europe and you, you were gone for some 25 years too.’ Winny said, unsure of if she needed to join in with physically comforting Halley.

‘I don’t really remember that, but then I was in America at the time.’ Said Ray. ‘But then I did have the tricky year when Krakatoa went off.’

‘I think I was in Asia at that time.’ Began Valentine. ‘I only started coming over to Europe more often when Genghis Khan started off.’

‘Ah, now I remember Christianity, all those crusades. Religions have kept me very busy over the millennia.’ Reminisced Victor. Halley had calmed down slightly and was no longer crying, after a brief silence Winny spoke up again.

‘Well if your going to be staying for the night I should sort out a change of clothes for you, I should have something leftover from my husbands, you should be the right size.’ She said whisking him off before he had a chance to object.

‘Ray, can you keep an eye on Winny please, maybe have a word with her tonight. I’m worried that she might try to keep hold of Mike rather than let him go home.’ Halley said.

‘I will see what I can do, but hopefully we can take him down to the town in the morning.’ Said Ray.

‘Maybe we can do it while she’s sorting breakfast or something, so she’s too busy to notice; just in case.’ Said Valentine. Without warning a loud crash and bang erupted from upstairs. Victor jumped in his chair and his eyes started a panicked flickering.

‘Victor! Darling, that was just Winny dropping something upstairs. Alright.’ Said Halley as she firmly gripped his hand and looked reassuringly into his eyes. ‘Why don’t you go and have a smoke outside.’

‘Err… Yes, yes. That sounds like an excellent idea.’ Victor declared getting up to leave.

A while later all of them were sat round the dining table, Eve’s place had been left empty and Mike had had another place prepared for him. Ray stood up at the head of the table, glass in hand to make a toast. He cleared his throat lightly.

‘Assembled sprits and our honoured guest.’ He began gesturing towards Mike. ‘It has been so long since we were last able to meet up together and, in our time apart we have lost our sister Eve.’ He gestured towards the empty chair. ‘And while this is now a sad occasion. We should not be disheartened instead we should use this to strengthen our resolve and look to the future it is what Eve would have done. At these tough times we should do our best to ensure our seasons pass with renewed enthusiasm and passion. Reminding the people that we are still a key part of their lives, we bind their families, and friends. We provide them with rest, with hope, with enjoyment, and with routine. So, with that I look forward to our next few days together with some sense of relief for the rest and company of my fellows. I think however it is appropriate to spend the rest of this evening thinking of our friend who is no longer with us. To Eve.’

‘Eve.’ The group toasted around the table.

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elricwest · 5 years ago

Text

For all those Nalu fans out there, here is my newest fanfic. Chapters are posted on fanfiction.net if you want to read there.

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"Things are looking up, oh finally…" For the first time in Lucy's life, things were actually really great. She had a great job as an editor for a publishing firm in the city she always dreamed of living in, Crocus. Her apartment wasn't what she'd always imagined she'd live in but it was a lot better than some of the places around town. But, her proudest achievement, she was in a solid relationship!

So many guys had come along but none had made the cut. From wish washy to self absorbed to complete asshole, Lucy had pretty much dated them all and had sworn off men… until she met him. They met through a friend and seemed to click immediately.

He was kind and sweet, considerate and doted on her every minute they were together… which most times wasn't long because of his job, according to him. He claimed he was some manager of the stars or at least of some important people.

They had been dating now for nearly eight months and Lucy deemed it time for the next step… meeting the parents. Or at least parent. Her mother had died a long time ago in a car accident when she young but her father, Jude, was still around. The small town she grew up in, Magnolia, was having their annual town festival and with many of Lucy's childhood friends coming home, it was the perfect time to introduce him. Her prince charming… Dan Straight.

She switched between humming and singing along to the Paramore song as she packed her bags for the week long trip. She hadn't been home in quite some time but she felt ready, well, namely all the expected check marks were checked off the list and no one could berate her anymore!

The sound of chimes tore her attention away from her suitcase momentarily. The familiar tone coming from her phone sitting on the dresser behind her alerted her who was calling. Ecstatic, Lucy picked up the phone, "Levy-chan!"

"Lu-chan! It's so good to hear from you! We haven't talked in a few weeks!" Lucy chuckled at her best friend. If you bottled pure joy into a bottle and mixed in some sunshine, that was Levy to a T. "Are you excited about the festival?"

Lucy held the phone between her cheek and her shoulder so she could continue packing. "Yes I am! I mean I am finally bringing a man along with me so everyone can stop asking me when I am going to find someone."

"Oh I know, I'm bringing Gajeel with me so he can join in the amazing pastimes of our quaint little town."

"You mean sitting around drinking alcohol and talking about one another?"

Levy paused before responding, " Umm… yeah pretty much." Lucy giggled in response. "so who is this mystery man you're bringing home?"

"I'm not telling…" Lucy replied coyly.

"Whaaaaa… not fair. I told you who I was bringing."

"You and Gajeel have been dating for months know that's no surprise."

"True, True. Hey! You excited for a good ol' Fairy Tail reunion?!"

Fairy Tail High… the place where teens of Magnolia discovered who they were and where that would lead them in life. Mostly for Lucy it was a time to break away from the dramatic life she lived. Her dad was constantly working and became a bit of a hermit after her mother died. What made it worse were the murmurs around town about her and her family, her only solace was her friends at school. But unfortunately they all went their separate ways after they graduated. This trip would be the first time in 5 years they would all be together!

Her feet mindlessly moved her away from the suitcase and towards the bookshelf in the other room. She pulled the familiar yearbook from its place on the shelf and sat down onto the nearest chair.

"Did you hear that Erza and Jellal confirmed?" Levy stated.

"Really? I thought they couldn't with their kids?"

"Erza's mom was able to babysit for them so they are coming out!" Lucy flipped through her senior year book, her eyes falling on a picture of Jellal and Erza. They always were the power couple. Her eyes landed on a picture of Juvia laughing right after she slammed a whip cream pie into Gray's face. "And Juiva and Gray are coming… has he asked her out yet?"

"I think their relationship is a mutual pining." Levy explained. "I heard Natsu confirmed."

Lucy's heart stopped… Natsu, her best friend growing up. The two of them were inseparable since they first met at the age of 5. They used to live right next door to one another, that is until her father's business went belly up and they had to move. Well, that and her father's health hasn't been the best lately so he moved into a two-bedroom house with their caretaker Mrs. Spetzo.

He defended her against the vicious bullies in the second grade, he taught her how to ride a bike when she was 7, he helped her make her volcano for her science project in the 5th grade, he stole her first kiss when she was 13, he had helped her through her mother's passing when she was 16… they vowed to stay in contact with one another after graduation… but what happened?

"Oh…" was all her mouth could seem to udder. She turned the page to see a picture of the two of them flexing their arms at the Field Day event.

A honk from outside drew her attention away from the book. Lucy stood up in such a hurry, she didn't notice the book fall to the floor. Lucy peered out the front window to see Dan sitting in his brand new convertible. She waved and signaled she'd be down in a second but Dan just waved her off.

"I gotta go, Levy-chan, my ride is here."

"Ooooh, enjoy, I will see you soon!" Lucy hung up, quickly grabbed her jacket and purse and took off out the door. Lucy practically skipped all the way to the car, a huge grin adorning her face.

"Hey babe!" she yelled as she opened the door and took a seat on the passenger side. Dan didn't seem to react to her presence at all so she decided to take her frustration out on the door. "Watch it!" Dan yelled. Lucy stared at him in shock. "Be gentle with her, she's new," Dan cooed as he leaned over her lap to pet the car door.

Lucy, obviously annoyed, said, "So where are we going tonight?" an straightened back up and began to drive away, "The fanciest restaurant in town."

"That sounds romantic!"

The ride to the restaurant was mostly silence mixed in with a splash of awkward conversation, mostly about Dan's new car. Lucy was happy to step foot out of it, hoping without the car Dan would actually take the time and talk to her.

"How many sir?" the hostess asked.

Dan wrapped an arm around Lucy's waist as he spoke, "Two and I believe I have a reservation under Straight." Lucy (pretended) not to notice his wink after talking to her and the blush of the hostess. As the two waited to be sat, Lucy took the time to look around the restaurant. The décor was beautiful and serene, an excellent place to go on a date.

"Dan?! Is that you?" The blonde turned to see an unknown man and woman walking up to Dan. "W-what are you guys doing here?"

"We are celebrating our anniversary tonight. Oh are you here with Angel?"

"Uhh…"

Lucy stepped forward and peered around Dan's shoulder. "Hello, I'm Lucy." The couple seemed very surprised to see her but was even more surprised when the male began to reach out to take her extended hand but the woman swatted it away. "Who are you?" she questioned.

"Lu…cy, I'm Dan's girlfriend."

The woman froze before slowly growing angry, "Interesting, considering Dan is married."

It didn't take two seconds before Lucy stormed out of the restaurant and began walking down the street back to her apartment. "Lucy! Lucy wait!" she heard in the distance. Lucy wrapped her jacket around her tighter and began walking faster. "Lucy, stop!"

"Why?!" she yelled as she whipped around to face the man she thought was 'the one.'

"We need to talk about this."

"About what?! How you deceived me for 8 months. Ugh, and to think I wanted to marry you!"

"Well, if I told you I was married, you never would have slept with me!" She snapped… Lucy balled up her fist as tight as she could, until her knuckles turned white, and she swung as hard as she could towards his stupid, cheating face. The impact sent Dan flying back onto the ground and left him knocked out cold.

…

Lucy threw open her apartment door, ran to her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She couldn't hold it in any longer as the tears flowed from her eyes. It looks like her track record for men still held true; well, now she could add cheater to the list. Why was her dating life so bad?! Was she doomed to be single the rest of her life?!

Her phone next to her began to chime. She glanced up long enough to see it was her father calling. Lucy reached up, grabbed the phone from the nightstand and declined the call. She let her face fall back into the pillow, not caring of the mascara that was definitely running down her cheeks and onto the pillow.

Within a few seconds, her phone sounded again. Lucy looked at the phone and saw her father's image on the screen. With a loud groan and as much enthusiasm as she could muster, she accepted the call. "Hey, Dad." She loved her dad, really, just sometimes he was a bit pushy with his expectations of her. Also… now really wasn't the time.

"Hi, honey, all packed for the trip?"

Lucy looked down at her thrown together suitcase, "Almost."

"I'm so glad you are coming home. It feels like it's been forever since you've been here."

"Yeah it's been some time…" Lucy said throwing a sigh in there.

"You know… I've been thinking…" Ugh! Not this again, she thought as she sat up.

When her dad though it was usually about her future, specifically with relationships. "You're almost 27 now and you're getting to that point where you've reached your peak physical attraction level…"

"Oh my Mavis, Dad!"

"What?! I just want my daughter to not be single for the rest of her life." Lucy face palmed, great way to bring this up.

"Why are you so invested in my dating life anyway?!" she yelled back. This was the last straw; she was tired of all the pressure to get married. When she was younger, it was about arranged marriages to better the company but since it went under its been about letting her pick who she married but it had to be sooner rather than later.

She had had enough of the constant nagging, I was time to take a stand.

"Because I would like to at least meet my future son-in-law before I die!" Lucy paused.

"What do you mean?"

Her father's sigh was audible on her end of the phone. "I met with the specialist today… He said it's the Big C and terminal."

"B-but you were doing great last week…" Lucy almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. She reverted to what she knew… logic.

"I have good days and bad days, but they seem to be few and far between nowadays." Lucy couldn't do much but stare down at the ground. Her mind was blank, her chest tight, and she couldn't seem to breathe.

"All I want, as a man in my last few days, is to meet the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with… to make sure you're taken care of after I'm gone."

"Dad…"

"But at least there's hope, right? This man you're bringing to the festival…" Crap! She forgot about that for a second. What was she gonna tell him?! "Dad… about that…" I was dating a married man so at least he would know the tips and tricks to a great marriage, right?! Ugh…

She took a deep breath to respond to her father, hopefully the truth wouldn't break his heart. As she breathed in, her foot hit something hard. Confused, Lucy looked down to see her yearbook she was looking at earlier face down on the ground. With a sigh, she bent down to pick it up.

"This 'mystery man…' Is he the one for you?" he asked. Lucy grabbed the book and stood up to place it back on the shelf, which only released some loose papers inside of it. Lucy sighed even harder before stooping down to pick them up.

Lucy turned over the first picture to see it was a collage of pictures of herself and Natsu throughout their lives. Her father continued going on about something in her hear but she was captivated by the images in front of her. She glanced over a photo of the two of them in a kiddie pool when they were younger, of Natsu in his football uniform and her in her cheerleader uniform… Her eyes lanced over all the photos until she flipped the paper over. The backside was covered with a handwritten letter from Natsu, his 'goodbye' letter which is customarily written in the yearbooks themselves.

Her eyes looked at every word before the signature on the bottom… the name she knew all too well. Beside the signature was a selfie he had taken of the two of the their senior year. Her head was slightly down and she was laughing because Natsu was kissing her temple. She smiled at the memory… she was so happy around him.

Her eyes began to widen, and her head turned and raised. Before she could think about what she was doing, she spoke, "Dad… what if I told you, you've already met him?"

#fairy tail #nalu fanfiction #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia

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anamchohan · 7 years ago

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The Japan Adventure

Hey everybody, upon some of your requests, I decided to do a basic write-up of our trip to Japan which may help you get excited and eventually packing for your own holiday there! I’m keeping this simple and more informative, and a more topical blog of the things I fell in love with there might be in the pipeline for a little later. I’ve organized this blog into: ‘Getting there’, ‘Accommodation’, ‘Food’, and the juicy ‘Itinerary’. I’ve given links right at the bottom.

My husband, my almost 3 year old daughter, and I visited Japan for 12 days and spent them ALL in TOKYO. Our flights were direct, from Dubai to Haneda airport and took about 9.5 hours. A 40 minute high speed train ride got us into the city. The flight back to Dubai was longer at 11.5 hours from Narita airport with a 1.5 hour train ride. So it’s unfeasible to pop in there for a weekend holiday. But anything longer than 5 days, and you should definitely put Japan on your list. Commuting inside Tokyo is a breeze which looks like a storm from the outside. Everything is accessible by trains, which are ever frequent and ever punctual, signed in English and closed from midnight till 5am, so stay out too late and you might be left stranded with nothing to do except kill time at 24 hour gaming arcades, karaoke parlors, tax-free shopping centers, bathing facilities and so on. EL O EL. Two Important commuting tips: Buy a little plastic passcard (named Suica or Pasmo) from one of the train stations, load it up with at least 1500 yen and you can swipe in and out of station gates like a baws like everyone around you. No buying a paper ticket for every journey. The cards can be used for up to 10 years, so save them for your next trip. *Wink* Also, once you’re off the train, keep your google maps handy and use the walking routes on the map app and make sure your gyroscope or the thing in your phone that pinpoints your phone’s exact location on the phone map is not broken by repeatedly being dropped on the floor. Husband’s well protected Android sensed even the turn on the spot he did, while my sleek Apple wasn’t sure if we had to go forward or backward. I blame the broken gyroscope.

Accommodation

Differently from our last trip to Japan which was before daughter was born, this time we decided to book our stay through Airbnb. We needed a studio, as opposed to a hotel room, for basic laundry/washing machine, I mean we were going for 12 days with a kid, and an attached kitchen, because I mean 12 days with a kid! Even if you’re not traveling with a bacha and are going for a longer trip, then there is something homey about waking up whisking up some eggs and tea yourself, and then starting the day’s processions without worrying about what to eat right away. You can simply do the hotel stay too. We booked two different locations for the two weeks there, to mix things up. Each location offered a different street life as we stepped down for the day.

Our first 6 days were in Akihabara, and the next 6 were in Shinjuku, both pretty happening places. When finding a place, look for the distance to the nearest train station. A 5-8 minute walk from station to home is ideal, or even up to 10 minutes, as there is much to take in as you walk down. The list of places to stay in, in order of priority based on my preferences of what truly captures the essence of Tokyo:

Akihabara

Shibuya

Omotesando

Shinjuku

Ueno

Ginza

All the above districts are on the main Yamanote Line, and this green line stops at all the major sights and sounds.

Every street and lane has either a 7/11 or Lawson’s or Family Mart that are open 24 hrs for anything you might need. Even prepacked sushi, which btw was pretty delish. A moment of appreciation for the high-quality milk there, so creamy and rich! Our late nights saw lots of milk and cookies with some anime or weird stage show on TV. Oh yea! Be sure to tune in to some interestingly weird stuff on the local Japanese channels!

A word of caution: Make sure you read Airbnb reviews by other travelers for your particular place and ask the host any questions and read up their terms and conditions before paying. In Japan, Airbnb is big business, and rooms are well maintained and serviced but you may still come across some unsavory surprises since it’s not a hotel stay, but an apartment building. However the great thing about how Airbnb works is that they keep your payment until you as the guest checks out on the last day and confirm everything was as advertised. Similarly, the host is guaranteed payment and won’t risk guests bailing out on them. They charge a small service fees for their troubles.

Food

So after the day’s processions would be coming to a close, the second part of our day would begin: the food hunting! The food joints in Tokyo are predominantly non-halal, which actually means more pork-in-everything worry, rather than more non-halal-chicken worry. Your options are asking for vegetarian food, but for them it just means yes it ALSO has vegetables. You could go to more hippy places and ask for vegan food, but harder on the pocket to do daily. You could also go to purely seafood places, and they’d be pretty much safe but they could include alcohol based soya sauce (aka ‘mirin’ a word they recognize). Your ultimate solution however, is to download the Halal Gourmet and Halal Navi apps on your phone. The apps have a list of values the restaurant could have such as ‘Halal Certified’, Muslim Chef’, ‘Halal Meat’, ‘Vegetarian Meal’, ‘Alcohol Free’, etc. Not all restaurants check all the boxes, for example, the place could simply be a buddhist vegetarian place and hence halal by extension.

Sadly, most of the results that showed up halal were Shawarma hole in the wall/ take-away kind of places, or Indian Pakistani cuisine. Finding LEGIT halal Japanese cuisine like Ramen and Sushi and Shabu Shabu was hard to locate, far and few in between, and strangely quite over priced. I wish we could have had loads more accessible street food type of halal experience, but hey things were way better this time than three years ago and they’re only getting better. I think I am off Shawarmas and Butter Chicken thalis for a while. In their defense, some of the best Afghani Nans I have had were in Tokyo!!! So don’t worry about being left desi khana-less in Japan. In fact, that’ll be the least of your worries!

The 24 hour convenience stores store a variety of rice cakes wrapped in nori (seaweed paper, so good for health), sushi rolls, tuna cakes, some seriously yummy chocolate crepe wraps, and tons of other snacks. HOWEVER. If you are absolutely particular about avoiding non-halal food (as we tried our best to do), then stay away from any and all cup noodles, instant noodles etc. They will most definitely contain pork or other meat broth, even if the flavor is vegetarian. Take some Maggi noodles with you from UAE/Pakistan, it’ll be a familiar lifesaver in the face of a late night grumbly tummy. Also take Snicker bars, because that’s a meal in itself in case you didn’t know. Also some of your favorite chocolate chip cookies, and umm, I took rainbow milk and Lipton tea bags. I was set.

Itinerary

Here comes the fun part! The places to visit and what not to miss. Do tons of research before you leave, and make a list of places to visit FOR SURE. Below are all the places we visited.

Akihabara

This is called the Electric town and has loads to see in terms of anime, manga electronics, video games, arcades, karaoke, etc. Even if you’re not a fan, walking about these blocks is like seeing Time Square on drugs and way more sprawling. In Akihabara, what you must not miss, especially for your shopping needs and even without them, is Yodobashi-Akhiba Camera, a 7 story department store that carries SO MANY PRODUCTS. And a 100 of one kind of that product. It’s a fun place to spend indoors in case of rainy weather, and must visit for buying tax-free cosmetics, skin care, souvenirs, Japanese made knives/blades, Zojirushi (the ultimate must have thermos or mug or lunch box. It will keep shit hot/cold for up to 3 days, tried and tested), camera and photography equipment, Japanese high tech watches, Kimonos, famous character merchandise like Hello Kitty, Pokemon, Star Wars, Disney, Marvel, Minecraft, Mario, like anything you can imagine, would most likely be here and it will be cool. Yodobashi Akhiba also has a floor full of restaurants, here you’ll find Cobara Hetta, a cozy Indian place that serves Halal chicken dishes and vegetarian thalis with proper roti or Afghani nans or cheese or chocolate nans!

Interestingly for us, Halloween was around the corner so we got to see loads of activities around town leading up to 31st October. This part of our trip was easily the highlight of our trip and I highly recommend a Japan visit during this time! I got waking nightmares seeing the horrifying oozing mutated costumes walk right up to me, constructed so professionally and thoroughly. Everything crazy and scary to see in Japan was out on the streets walking alongside us! It was the best time to be in Tokyo! (Take it from someone who has also visited at the tail-end of Cherry Blossom season and then it is just a different kind of country altogether, full of romance and beauty and exquisite Cherry Blossom flowers surrounding you and filling your vision). Similarly, if you’re planning a trip and can afford to be flexible with your days, then Halloween, Christmas, New Year, Cherry Blossom (March-April) and specific summer festivals are the times you’ll see the city in it’s dressed up charming full blown lights and sights form, and it’s just WAY more value added to your regular travels.

Another thing you have to do in Akihabara is visit one of those mega 7 story Sega gaming arcades. Even if you’re not into games, there guaranteed WILL be something quirky and awesome game that you’ll find. You will go in unsuspecting and come out pockets empty of all 100 yen coins and a big smile on your face! Or you’ll find high school kids making world records on the latest arcade games just casually everywhere, and it’s a TREAT to watch them doing that! Must visit.

And just generally go inside the various shops and up the lifts, you’ll find hidden gems EVERYWHERE. There are these crazy well-stocked adult toy shops as well, from where you’ll come out giggling, flushed red, and slightly happy-confused ? :D ? Finally, at the corners of these blocks you’ll find cutesy girls in English maid costumes inviting you to their maid cafes which is a whole bizarre sub-culture you’ll find plenty of literature on!

Harajuku

The must visit district, and within it the Takeshita Street. If there’s nothing else you visit in Tokyo, visit this street for a wild ride and a slice of Tokyo’s crazy! It’s the mecca for cosplayers, and you’re bound to run into whacky, cute, sexy, gothic or royal cosplayers, bringing their A game every weekend. They’re mostly school kids, so catch them before the zombie furries and the emo princes head back home and retire for bed. Pick up some blue hair color and purple eye contacts while here.

Shibuya

Here you’ll find the very very famous Shibuya crossing. It’s a 4-way junction with a 5-way pedestrian crossing and an infinite fun thing to do in the evening when you’re as packed as jam and important questions like why did the chicken not cross the Shibuya Crossing come to your mind! All those 4 lanes have tons of strange and fascinating sights.

We visited KiddyLand to show our daughter, it’s a store filled to the brim with toys stationery bags lunch boxes magnets keychains everything to do with….Hello Kitty! That’s just one floor though, there are 7 floors of goodies and I guarantee it’s not just for kids. Classy Minnie Mouse eyeglasses box anyone? You will for sure buy some beautiful looking junk you won’t really need but you’ll thank me later.

While we’re talking stores, just like Yodobashi-Akhiba mentioned earlier, Tokyu Hands is another awesome store filled with stories and sub-stories of organized Made in Japan products that will fascinate you. I ended up buying a VG-10 blade kitchen knife upon the husband’s fascination and insistence, and I am really looking forward to some serious onion chopping ladies and gentlemen.

One of my most favorite areas to walk around was in Omotesando, another area in Shibuya. Look for the back streets and the hidden inner fashion boulevard, it’s a small tree covered winding lane and makes for such a lovely stroll in the late afternoon with some really chic cafes and stores to just look at. It’s the hub of trends, much more local and homegrown than some of the more upscale parts of town like Ginza.

Hidden Gem: If you’re a fan of Ghibli Studio and Miyazaki films like Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle, or if you just love the idea of a quirky mechanical clock that comes to life, you’ll love the Giant Ghibli Clock in Shiodome (pictured below with some vital travel beanie babies!). It’s a bit of a hunt, but reach 4-5 minutes before the clock strikes especially on the weekends with a little extra show. The whole show only lasts for 3-4 minutes so be on time! Check the website for the schedule.

Ueno

We visited the Ueno Park and within in the Ueno Zoo. So one park, any ONE for sure must be on your travel list, they’re BEAUTIFUL. When in Ueno Park, keep the evening slot free for walking about Ameyoko Shopping Street, where you’ll experience the vibe of the street markets and find fun things to eat like chocolate covered fresh bananas with sprinkles. Yummy! Visit the Yoyogi Park on Saturdays and Sundays to see the city’s artsy teens do impromptu skill practice. We caught some fascinating cultural shows while there. Look up other parks online for more charming foliage and flowers, there are many many gardens around Tokyo. If you’re into animals, you’ll find a great variety at the Ueno Zoo: Panda, tigers, gorillas, elephants, giraffes, zebras, penguins, flamingos, hippopotamus, bats, polar bears. Yea, pretty much everything. The star of the show is the Panda, except when he went he was sleeping with his butt to us :D

If you’re into the coolest science museums, then you cannot BE in a better country. Ueno Science Museum and the Odaiba Science Museum with its planetarium are going to satiate those geeky hungers.

Odaiba

This is a good 30 minute train ride away from central parts of Tokyo, it’s a man-made island with a mix of things to do. For us there were two highlights of the place. First, the Palette Town Ferris Wheel ride, especially in the see-through box so you’re suspended at the top of the wheel with nothing but glass under you! It’s perfect for viewing the city’s famous and outright mesmerizing skyline. Only thing is it’s a little short at 16 minutes.

For more views, the Odaiba observation point gives the best view of the sunset and night lights that follow, across the Tokyo Bay and Rainbow Bridge overlooking the entire skyline of Tokyo. It’s extra windy and chilly here. Second cool thing about the trip out to Odaiba is seeing the towering life size Gundam robot, which puts up a lazer fighting show periodically. Check the schedule.

I think I am done with this not-so-basic-anymore blog! Ask me any questions you may have, I know I know, I have left out a few vital aspects like budget and traveling with a child!

Remember kids! Japan is not your run of the mill holiday destination like the picturesque South Asian countries like Thailand or the historical architecturally rich European countries. And you will still find incredible Edo history and surprisingly beautiful excursions in Japan. Rather, Japan is a place to experience a really well-preserved exotic culture with people who are simply fascinating with their sophistication and politeness, a country that is eons ahead of others in technology and innovation, with food which is exciting, and the whole city is alive with passion of a spectrum of interests.

All them Links:

Must Dos

Gaming arcades like Sega. Linking one of them:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1066443-d10094610-Reviews-Club_Sega_Akihabara_1gokan-Chiyoda_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

Takeshita Street, the cosplayers’ street in Harajuku

https://taiken.co/single/things-to-do-on-takeshita-street-harajuku/

Tokyo Government Observatory Buildings. Yes I didn’t talk about them but they’re free observation sites and must visit.

http://www.gotokyo.org/en/tourists/info/observatory.html

Places We Ate

Traditional Japanese Rice and Curry from Coco Ichibanya - Halal green color branch

https://www.halalgourmet.jp/restaurant/202472

Cobara Hetta, Indian joint with thalis in Yodobashi

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1066443-d1678589-Reviews-Cobara_Hetta_Yodobashi_Akibaten-Chiyoda_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

Shinjuku Gyoen Ramen Ouka - Such a gem of a find! Run by cute Malay girls in scarves. Serious traditional ramen with a side chicken dumpling to die for! They have long waiting queues!

https://www.halalgourmet.jp/restaurant/344742

Genki Sushi, Shibuya. Conveyor belt sushi, you get 45 minutes to be in and out of the place, it is always packed!

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1066456-d4234509-Reviews-Genki_Sushi_Shibuya-Shibuya_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

Some cool stores

Yodobashi Akhiba

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1066457-d3460595-Reviews-or30-Yodobashi_Camera_Shinjuku_Nishiguchi-Shinjuku_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

Tokyu Hands, bigger branches at Shibuya

https://www.tokyu-hands.co.jp/en/list/

https://matcha-jp.com/en/328

KiddyLand, visit the bigger branches

http://japanlover.me/kawaii/kawaii-travel-guide/kiddyland-toy-paradise-in-harajuku-tokyo/

Uniqlo. All the essential basic wear in great prices and even better quality! We stocked up.

https://tokyocheapo.com/shopping-2/fashion/uniqlo-the-best-things-in-life-are-cheap/

Visit DAISO! Everything is 100 yen :D Find other 100 yen stores too, like Can Do.

Other interesting stores are Loft, Muji and Don Quijote.

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themindfulword · 8 years ago

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A GLOBAL AWAKENING: A short play about the struggles of a modern-day Planet Earth

This play was written for and performed as part of the Vedanta 10 Minute Play Festival at the King Street Theatre in Sydney, Australia on June 8, 2014. (A man stands just outside the light) Man: Hello. Hello. Is there anybody there? Hello? Voice: Step into the light, please. Who are you? Man: I’m John. John Smith. Voice: What brings you here, John? Man: I was told that you might be able to help me. You see, my GP has diagnosed me with depression. Voice: I see. Man: He referred me to a clinical psychologist and he diagnosed me with severe clinical depression, multiple personality disorder, seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder. Voice: Is that all? Man: No, actually, in addition to that I’m a chronic alcoholic. I’m a drug user, both recreational and prescription. I undereat. I overeat. Sometimes I regurgitate. I’m prone to mood swings. You see, I can get very aggressive very quickly. I self-harm on a regular basis. And I just can’t give up the bloody cigarettes! My doctor and therapist have tried all manner of things to try and cure me of these afflictions, but nothing has worked. So that’s why I’ve come to you. Voice: I can help you with this… this… let’s call it "disorder" for the purpose of ease. Man: I think you’re trivializing it a bit. My problems are very complex. My therapist said as much, and I really can’t see a way out. I’m considering suicide. Voice: Disorder isn’t a bad thing. The whole universe is in perfect disorder. Man: What are you talking about? My doctor says— Voice: Your doctor sent you to me. Man: Yes he did, so please help me. Voice: Ok. First of all, I need to ask you some questions to get to know a bit more about you. Do you have any brothers and sisters? Man: Yes, I have seven. Some are closer than others. Voice: And is there any history of psychological disorders in the family? Man: I don’t believe so. I’m gifted, you see, and this has placed a huge burden on me from a very early age. Voice: In what way are you gifted? Man: I don’t wish to bore you with the details (pause) well soon as you ask, I am able to create complex systems that can replicate themselves. It’s taken me years to perfect the technique and it’s unique to me only. Voice: And what do you do for living? Man: That’s a difficult question to answer. If I was to sum it up I would say that mainly I rotate. Voice: Interesting. How old are you? Man: Old, but always new. Voice: But what is your age? Man: Four and a half billion... I mean 40... ish. Voice: What did you say your name was again? Man: Umm... John. Voice: UmJohn. And your surname, UmJohn? Man: Um... oh, alright. My name isn’t John. It isn’t even UmJohn. It’s Planet. Planet Earth. Voice: Planet Earth!!! The Planet Earth! Wow, I am very honoured to meet you. Yes you do have some issues. Man: Thank you. At least now you are taking me seriously. Voice: I most certainly can help you, Mr Planet. Man: Please. Just call me Earth. Voice: Earth, from now on, for this to work I need you to be open and I need you to be honest with me. Ok? Man: Ok. Voice: Now, you say you’re depressed. How does this manifest itself? Man: I just so feel so down in the dumps all the time. I don’t know why. I do try to be happy. I‘ve got so much going for me. I’m beautiful. And my humanity has created this amazing thing called the media. It’s a phenomenal achievement. But it constantly tells me what a bad person I am and how dangerous I am. I’m in a constant state of hysteria. And there are never enough of my internal resources to go around. But there are times, mainly when I’m asleep, that I feel at peace. But I always wake up to this wretched feeling again. I think I was happier not knowing the truth about myself. Voice: So this constant stream of images, words, judgments and put downs. You really believe that this is the truth? Man: Absolutely. My media says so. You couldn’t possibly believe otherwise, could you? Voice: Hmmm… perhaps. Moving on. This seasonal affective disorder, what does this do to you? Man: Well, initially, I used to find that I was down in the dumps for short periods, usually when the darkness would come. So I used my humanity to illuminate myself during the dark periods. That way I could bask in the light all the time and I would never be unhappy. For a short period of time, this worked. But then I started having trouble sleeping and I craved the darkness. I was desperate to get some rest. But when I tried to get my humanity to turn the lights back off, it couldn’t. Or it wouldn’t! Now I can’t work out which are light times and which were dark times. So I just feel dark all the time. Voice: How can we have light if we do not have the dark? (Pause) This multiple person thingy; how does this manifest itself? Man: I’m torn. My humanity is divided and I don’t think I can put it back together. Each part has assumed a different name. Some of them co-operate but others are in open conflict. There are even parts within the parts that can’t agree. I just can’t control it. Voice: There are no divisions. Man: There are! That’s why I self-harm. My humanities are attacking each other. Voice: You say you are trying to give up smoking. Why is this important to you?

Man: I’m polluting my body. The facts are there. I’ve been having hot flushes and my doctor says it’s because of the smoking. My media reminds me every day. They say I’ll continue to get warmer and warmer, until eventually I die a slow and painful death. Not only that, but my skin is getting thinner. I am getting sunburnt a hell of a lot more lately. Voice: So why do you do it? Man: It relaxes my humanity. You wouldn’t understand the pressure I am under. Being as naturally gifted as I am is not without its stresses. Voice: I am sensing a common theme here. Man: Really? What? A troubled childhood, perhaps? Voice: No. Man: My gift? Voice: No. Do I really need to spell it out? Man: I’m lost. Voice: Yes, you are lost. Man: What is it, then? Voice: Humanity. Man: (Laughs) You’re not seriously suggesting that humanity is the cause of all my problems? Voice: Well, in a way, yes. Man: Don’t be so bloody ridiculous! I can’t believe what you are insinuating. How dare you! Voice: All I am trying to say— Man: No, you hang on a minute. My humanity is a supreme intelligence that is unrivalled. In fact, it is completely unique. There is no other. I have been responsible for some of the most advanced scientific achievements. I have created tremendous works of art and musical masterpieces. I have been to the moon. I have stretched way beyond my solar system and I have been able to see as far as the most distant galaxies. Voice: Yet, you are considering suicide. Look, I’m not saying that your humanity is the cause of all your problems. But it does seem that your interpretation of this humanity is rather questionable. You see it as truth. Man: But my humanity is in me. It defines me. It is me. It is what sets apart me from all other planets in the solar system. Voice: Think about this for a minute; I agree you have a gift; for simplicity let’s just call this the gift of life… Man: Hmm. I do like that. Voice: Now, is this gift dependent on your humanity? Man: (Pause) I suppose not. Life itself was here before humanity. But if I didn’t have humanity, I would be ordinary, I would be— Voice: Just stop talking for a minute and listen. (Pause) Man: Yes? Voice: Sssh. (Pause) What do you hear? Man: I can hear a dog barking. I can hear a fan, an air conditioning unit. Voice: Ok, but underneath that? What can you hear? Man: Nothing. Voice: That’s silence. Out of silence comes all noise. But all noise returns to silence. Underneath your humanity is your pure divinity, the silence that is and always will be. What happens when your humanity’s time has come to pass? Will you quit rotating? Man: No. Voice: Will you quit being beautiful? Man: No. Voice: Your humanity will be your humanity. It will ebb and it will flow; it will come and it will go. Your divinity is for eternity. Man: (Realization) I am not my humanity. Wow. It is in me but it doesn’t define me. (Pause) (Earth turns to walk away, then stops and turns back around) Man: Wait a minute. Who are you? Voice: The sun. Man: Who? Voice: The Buddha. Man: Who? Voice: Oprah. Man: Who? Voice: God. Man: God? Voice: Divinity. Man: Who? Voice: PLANET EARTH. (Silence) (Lights out) Watch A Global Awakening here: Anyone is welcome to perform this play publicly for free, but first, please email details of the performance to the author at [email protected]. Jeremy Mohamed specializes in creative writing for performance. He is originally from the UK, but currently resides in Sydney, Australia. He is a keen proponent of mindful awareness and conscious living, and he uses this, among many other things, as inspiration for his work. image 1: a world map via Shutterstock; image 2: Global warming? via Shutterstock Click to Post

#divinity #Earth #humanity #mental illness #planet

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